#no he's not a persona/self insert it's like a branding thing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

burnedbyshoto · 4 years ago

Text

hawks_littledove.mp3

— You’re an avid listener to NSFW ASMR artist Hawks. It’s just your luck that he’s offered to have phone sex with you.

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pairing: takami keigo (hawks) x fem!reader

warnings: smut, 18+, slight abuse of power/influence, phone sex, masturbation, degradation, praise, nsfw asmr artist!hawks

word count: 5,018

a/n: my keyboard is broken and i could actually cry. but hey, hawks do be sexy even tho I would never trust him with my life. also LOL this might be a call out to a lot of us, do not be offended or I will cry.

kinktober day 14 main kink: phone sex | kinktober masterlist

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Fantasizing about being in relationships with fictional characters was entirely healthy and normal.

That was something you believed to the core. It was fictional; thus, no one but you were to be hurt at the end of the day. The character, being fake, could never have an opinion because you must be real in order to have an opinion. So when you were between boyfriends, you discovered a new anime, and before you could stop yourself, you fell hard for a character.

It started as a mild obsession.

You had looked up fanart via google images, your heart warming when you saw the plethora of different fanart. The anime itself had been in circulation for a few years now, the manga for much longer, so the content was endless. Then google images wasn’t enough, and you began crossing into Twitter and Tumblr.

The fanart became better, more engrossing, and definitely much more NSFW. And then, one night during your endless rabbit hole down Tumblr after your daily search on Twitter, you stilled when seeing a new type of content.

�� grey fullbuster x reader

The obsession grew worse.

So much so that you had followed nearly five hundred self insert writers and artists on Tumblr, and maybe seven hundred artists, meta writers, and thread makers on twitter. But three months into consuming all the content you could find, you came across a new name that made you tilt your head.

Hawks Fierce Wings

It was a name that was being repeated and heavily talked about on both sites. It was an ASMR artist, apparently, and you frowned at the thought. You didn’t have anything against ASMR videos, but you weren’t exactly sure how to handle an anime ASMR artist. Were they cosplaying while making all those weird ASMR sounds? You really didn’t have any idea, but due to the immense boredom of your lazy day in, you decided to hell with it and tried out his most popular video.

It was simply entitled: Hawks is Jealous.

Did you have any idea as to who Hawks was? God, no, you didn’t. But if it was just some random cosplay he was going to do, you didn’t think it was going to matter. So as the only slightly educated ASMR listener, you never truly became invested when it was a thing; you slipped on your earbuds and pressed play.

The introduction screen faded into an illustrated picture of a slightly handsome man, and some calming yet tense music played in the background. You shifted, eyebrows drew as you waited for the ASMR session to begin, and when it did, you were not ready.

“I saw you walking around with that asshole today,” a voice practically growled in your ear, and you froze.

Oh, no.

Oh, no!

For almost an entire hour, you sat glued to your sofa, your fingers digging into your lap as the jealous, spiteful words of this man named Hawks poured bitterly in your ear. His words were a near aggravated assault on you and definitely something you were beyond uncomfortable hearing from a stranger, but there was something about his voice that kept you there. Maybe it was the tenor of his tone or the way there was this sly, cunning scent to his words that he seemed to hide deep within his throat, but there was something that kept you there.

The second the passionate, heated kissing noises and heavy moans began to spill from his lips, you screeched, slamming your laptop closed as your cheeks pounded heavily.

Oh my god?!

It took a bit, but eventually, you were able to finish the audio and quickly figured out why he was an NSFW artist. You had never, ever heard a man eat a pussy fake or real as eagerly or vigorously as he did. Your hands were gripping the pants of your leggings, and your chest heaved.

Oh, motherfucking shit.

Finding out there were almost seventy other videos for you to still experience sent you scrambling for more, and eventually, you had to confess you were obsessed. Despite the anime fandoms you had discovered him for, Hawks seemed to be more famous for the content he created as himself. His real name was unknown by the looks of it, and he was only addressed as Hawks by his audience, something you caught on to quickly. So only after creating a new profile for his Youtube account, you made quick work of liking and commenting on every single of his already published seventy-eight nearly one hour and thirty-minute videos.

Each one was different.

Each one filled with various roadmaps on how Hawks' scenarios would play out for you — the listener. When he used his own persona, he called the listener his little dove or his chicken nugget, sometimes his KFC thigh, or his shish kabob.

You were glad at the very least he didn’t call you by any of those nicknames when pretending to fuck you at a speed only a “porn-is-my-only-education-on-porn” virgin teenage boy. You knew it wasn’t ideal, usually, but for some reason, it just worked. You commented on everything, read his summaries and thoughts on each video. Eventually, when you found yourself on his final, most recent video, you were ready to go a step further.

The Patreon app on your phone seemed jarringly out of place as you opened the app and subscribed yourself to Hawks' highest tiered option for the price of twenty USD.

And when you got your access to his page, you were immersed in more heavier, better content.

It was a goldmine in a sea of fools gold, and you absolutely went insane.

You weren’t sure if you were insane, needy, or just straight-up idiotic for scrolling to the very first Patreon post and indulging in the content Hawks created.

There was a stark difference between the warnings alone between the Youtube videos and the Patreon posts. While the porn was readily accessible on Youtube, the kinkiest thing that ever happened in a video was a slight implication that Hawks had left the listener on a vibrator and fuckmachine as he went to go talk to the visiting neighbors.

It was a slight, tiny zone out and miss a detail, but one you had clung onto like an obsessed psycho and even commented on in your comment on the post. Of course, Hawks hadn’t responded, not that you had ever expected him to because all things considered, a video that was eight months old and hadn’t done that well, to begin with, didn’t seem like anything he would remember: notifications and all.

But Patreon? Oh good, sweet, ravishing Patreon.

The very first video was of the following:

Stepbrother!Hawks fucks Stepsister!Listener in the stairwell during Christmas Dinner.

After praying and swearing to all the deities of the world that you were merely a person with a voice kink for this man and not, in fact, a perverted pseudo-incest worshiper, you clicked on it and began. It was downright sinful.

There were active voices whispered in the background as Hawks laughed about how fucking slutty you were for letting your brother fuck you like this. In the hallway, like a dog, where anyone in your joint family could walk out into. He laughed that you probably wanted it, how your wet ass pussy was greedily sucking him in, so how could you even begin to deny your lust for your brother.

You had to take a break five times during that audio.

Eventually, you do end up catching up.

Each video he had ever posted to your disposal, and most likely due to the different tier levels, you always commented on the videos. Even if it made you feel awkward for lusting over things months old, even if there were no other comments on the videos, which was much more common than you thought, you always commented and liked. It wasn’t anything ever crazy, you had seen the rarest comments bring a whole essay of analysis on why they loved it or the hating words, but you kept it simple.

Just something to keep Hawks spirits high without draining you even further of energy.

A simple: holy shit, that was hot as fucking hell!!!! you never disappoint me!!!

You never expected anything out of it; as a matter of fact, you had merely thought that you were doing the least by merely appreciating his creations when, one night, a few hours after you had gotten home. Your phone chimed with an alert.

Your mouth formed an ‘o’ in surprise; you hadn’t realized there was going to be a new release after he had just updated four days ago. Still, you popped in your earbuds and began the audio with a simple title.

i fuk ur stupid lil pus until u cri

He wasn’t precisely putting much effort into his titles these days, but his tags were definitely accurate and entirely explicit in what was to come. And in this newest video, the prominent tag was degradation.

You weren’t entirely into degradation, but still, you did what you had to do because you weren’t turned off by it. With the beginning sounds of the music playing in the background, you warped into the situation Hawks carefully carved.

But, oh?

Your face simmered with heat as Hawks dirty words dripped from the earbuds, the wet, squelching noise of your cunt and throat being fucked like some inanimate object made you soak through your panties as his disparaging words burned against your spine like a hot brand. After the thirty-minute audio was finished. Your body trembling with the aftershocks of an orgasm that had come despite the lack of actual stimulation of your clit, and you panted on your bed.

Opening your phone once again, you quickly liked the new audio and typed out your comment.

listen, i know i always comment about how fucking hot this shit is, but i have /never/ fucking soaked through my panties… you just did that and i expect a full refund for these panties 💦

You pressed send and, without so much of a second thought, continued your night. You had dinner, talked with friends, and ended the night curled back on the couch with a wine glass in your hand and a simple sit-com playing on the TV. The familiar sound of the Patreon alert rang in your ear, and you frowned, confused.

Grabbing your phone, you opened up the device and nearly shrieked at the sight of the information the notification that said:

Hawks F.W.: lets see those panties before i refund anything

A chill ran down your spine as you quickly put together the indications of this message, and you smirked, despite your quivering hands.

Me: I have a seven inch dick requirement before seeing any of the goods — yes, that includes my panties

And from that very moment, you began a strange arrangement between you and the NSFW ASMR artist Hawks.

Working was the worst part of your life, you would say.

At work, you would sit in your small 4x4 cubicle, your shelves stacked with plenty of papers and items you needed, not to mention the computer that took up the majority of your desk. You weren’t quite sure what your job here was, you sort of sat at your desk and did meaningless assignments when assigned, but you did nothing for the most part.

Before becoming an active Hawks stan, you would spend your time doing nothing playing video games. You had somehow managed to install a VPN onto your hard drive so that your employers wouldn’t be able to see what was on your screen outside of the home screen. They couldn’t trace what you did all day, but they could care less, given you got all your work completed on time and done in an over exceptional way.

But lately, since you had dropped into this… engrossed whore like relationship with Hawks, things changed.

To be honest, it still shocks you to no end when he tells you that he had always been aware of you. Well, with your consistent, ever appearing comments on his posts and overall enthusiasm for everything he posted, it was hard to not be aware. The mental image of your soaked through panties after a long day at his own work had sent him over the edge, and he finally messaged you.

Through the DM’s in Patreon, the two of you grew to become quite the friends with benefits. He would send you countless personalized audio files because you had quickly confessed to your voice kink and how his voice sent your stomach into hormonal knots. In return, you’d send the picture of an occasional soaked panty, and if he was lucky, an audio clip of your pathetic whines back to his audios.

You couldn’t complain about this arrangement.

But as the number of his patrons doubled, and he wanted to entice his subscribers with paying him even more money, Hawks began to offer a bimonthly personalized five minute audios for his $20 tier. The fans poured into that spot, and Hawks and proudly sent you the new number of adoring fans he was getting. On account of growing platforms such as Tiktok, the number of new listeners he got was nearly exponential, as he currently passed one million followers last week.

The cheeky bastard was also making enough money to stop working his regular work hours anymore. Choosing to transition slowly into his Patreon career while recording.

Hawks, however, seemed to have other ideas for your eventual personalized voice audio.

Hawks had simply asked if, by any chance, you were going to be working tomorrow the night before. Groaning loudly in recognition of your work schedule, you had texted him back that you were going to be working. Snidely including the fact that you weren’t rich like him, you needed the tedious old nine to five job.

Hawks: how utterly boring anyway u can b free around 2?

Me: Eh… probably not. Busy girl w busy schedule, ill be back from lunch so no break Why?

Hawks: well, u knw tht uve been amzing & th bst follower so i wanted 2 give u smthing better then the personalized audio

Me: Oh? Well, what is it?’

Hawks: pick up tmrw n find out

He had changed the subject immediately afterward by dodging all of your questions with ease. So you dropped it, and the two of you resumed a night of flirting. But now, sitting in your small cubicle, your eyes flashing to the clock that read 1:57 p.m., sweat began to build on your palm.

You peered down to your phone as you waited for something, anything from Hawks to show up. The fucker was too cheeky, evasive, and quick for his own good. You felt like pouting as you glared at the phone, waiting for the screen to light up.

And you stilled when finally, at precisely 1:59 p.m., your phone gleamed with light. You couldn’t abandon your computer mouse quicker than you did as you grabbed your phone, unlocking it, and reading the message from Hawks.

Hawks: do u have earbuds?

Me: Yes?

Hawks: good put them on n pick up

The moment you had read the first message, you were already pulling out your earbuds, synching them up to your phone, and placing them into your ear. But your jaw dropped when, for the first time, the call feature highlighted onto the screen, the time immediately changing to that of 2:00 p.m. The decline or accept button had never looked as daunting as it did right now.

Despite the call trying to go through, you still saw his follow up.

Hawks: if u dont pick up u wont get shit

[Accept]

You felt your heart hammering in your chest as both fear, apprehension, and excitement boiled through your veins, the hammering blood pounding in your ears as you waited for some sort of noise on the opposite side of the line.

“Little dove?” Hawks' voices filled your ears, and despite yourself, you smiled softly. The naturalness of his voice sends warm thumps down your spine.

“Hi, Hawks,” you whisper breathlessly, your head already checking to make sure your neighboring cubicle mates didn’t try to look over the divisions to stare at you. For the most part, the office building was quiet except for the phone calls, the clanking of computer keys, and the monotonous music playing softly on the speaker's head.

“Whatcha doing?” he drawled, and you felt your skin heat up when you heard the all too familiar sound of his shoes hitting the top of his desk, the soft whine of his chair as he leaned back onto it. “Are you really at work?”

“What do you mean, am I really at work?” you squeaked, half horrified at the way the lazy, warm heat of lust was infiltrating your body at the sound of his voice, and the annoyance that he thought you had been lying? “Of course I am; it’s two p.m. on a Wednesday!”

“Ah, so little dove-chan is a raging pervert who engages in phone sex to bypass her long hours at work?” Hawks sighed his tone that of understanding and dismissal. You splutter. “You never fail to surprise me.”

“I do not do… that!” you stammer, your face feeling like hot cinders, your fingers and eyes double-checking to make sure that the audio was going to your earbuds and your earbuds only. You also couldn’t help the way your eyes swept around you, trying to make sure you hadn’t accidentally invited unwanted attention. “I said I was busy!”

“But, you picked up my call?”

“You said, or else!”

“Mmm, okay, I think I see,” Hawks tutted, and although you had never seen what you supposed to be his handsome face, you could imagine a lazy, toothy smirk on his face. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind using your little cubicle to talk you into fucking yourself good for me.”

Your jaw drops.

It hits the desk, and the muffled shriek of utter humiliation is only silenced because you bit onto your tongue like a rabid animal.

“Aw, you sound so excited for me already, little dove. I bet you want to know what I’m going to do to you, don’t you? I just know that I’m going to make you feel so... good…”

“Hawks!” you plea in a hushed whisper, your heart hammering where you sat frozen like a deer in headlights. Sure, you had definitely played his audios before to pass the time, but never before in your existence had you had actual phone sex. This was riskier than just listening to his audios; his audios always had a pattern, a way to escape from the madness of his voice when people were closer than you’d like. But this? No, there was no escape. “I’m at work! I c-can’t!”

“But, fuck, I want you so bad,” Hawks' voice dipped into a gravely tone, his voice just perfectly scratchy enough that your shoulders trembled in unspoken, untouched want. “I want to feel your cunt around my cock, baby, your pussy is so hot and I want to be the fucking lucky bastard that gets to fuck you through your bed.”

“O-Oh my god…”

“I’ve been thinking of what your tits look like,” Hawks continues on, his voice continuing in the style you liked the most. It was raw, heavy, and deep. No character impersonations, just him, pure Hawks. “I hope they bounce the way they do when I imagine you riding me. I want to see you moan when I kiss the underside of your tit, I want to see your face when you realize that you’re my girl, nobody's else's, but mine.”

Heat floods your panties at his words, your shallow breaths making him chuckle on the other end.

“You’d be so lucky to be just mine, wouldn’t you, little dove?” Hawks snaps, his voice demanding a response, and you heave.

You look around, no one is near, and you croak out: “I’d be so lucky.”

“Louder.”

“I’d be so lucky.”

“Mm, there we go,” Hawks laughs, and your ears prickle for any noise that may indicate that someone was listening in. “What? Are you getting nervous that your needy ass will be heard by your coworkers right now? Answer me.”

“Mhmm,” you hum loudly, your cunt pulsing with more incredible heat and your hands shaking with a slight fear of being caught.

“Aww, don’t worry, little dove. I’m sure your boss will understand that you’re my newest fucktoy and will let me continue. Maybe they’ll want to join in?”

You whimper softly, shifting in your seat at that thought. You didn’t really want your boss coming anywhere near you, he was old and gross for one, and nothing could take the place of this beautiful man's voice in your ear right now.

“Oh, was that a no? You don’t want other people fucking you, do you, y/n? I bet you only want to have my cock in your tight little pussy, bet you want to watch the way that greedy little thing sucks me in, begging for my seed. Would you want me to cum deep inside you? You would like that little dove; you’d like to be full of my cum.”

“H-Hawks,” you keen as quietly as you can, your hips shifting uncomfortably in your seat, your heart hammering in your throat. The pressing heat in your cunt is growing, your panties growing with wet slick as Hawks' voice whispers down your ear, filling every empty and void space in your brain until you were having trouble focusing on the very much public spot you were in.

Hawks let out a soft, guttural moan, and you froze, face entirely combusting into an inferno as the familiar slick slapping of his fapping cock filled your ear. Immediately, you forgot everything.

“A-Are you—?!” you splutter, unable to find the words or the energy to come up with a way to ask if he was masturbating right now. Your eyes spun, your mind in a complete haze as soft, raunchy moans spilled from his lips, striking against your nerves and soul with each successive sound.

“I’m only trying to help you out here, dove,” Hawks growled, undoubtedly in effect to a rather loud smack of his fist colliding with his thrusting hip. “You’re the little office slut who picked up a phone call to entice in phone sex. I bet you knew exactly what I was going to do, and your pathetic, needy whore self caved to my instructions.”

Your fingers curled into the armrest of your chair.

“I bet this makes your boring ass job tolerable, the perfect distraction to a shit job, then imagining a few minutes of fucking yourself against my hard cock.”

“That’s not true!”

“No?” Hawks laughed, not believing you any more than you did. “So you wouldn’t hate it if I showed up and fucked you into the wall of your cubicle? You wouldn’t mind if I claimed your sweet-smelling pussy against your desk for everyone to hear? I know you can scream like a bitch in heat. I know that pretty little cunt of yours would milk my cock dry. Oh, I just know you would look so fucking sexy with your back arched, eyes closed, and you begging for hours just to cum. You wouldn’t cum without my permission, right?”

You gasped, heart fluttering, hammering in your chest as you shook your head, not trusting yourself to speak.

“I need a verbal answer, little dove.”

The heat in your core was blistering, your thighs shaking with your unadulterated lust and need as you ground into the cushion of your chair. All logic and moral long gone as he snarled and moaned your name in your ear, the slick of his fapping cock echoing like a great bell in your ear. You wanted to hear him cum, wanted to listen to the pithering sound of his echoing moans as he spilled the contents of his balls onto his hand — and how you wished it was your womb.

“I won’t cum w-without your permission!” you whispered, your skin shivering with your fear of being caught.

“God, you sound like such a dirty fucking bitch. I bet your pussy is fucking soaked already. Bet you really want to run that slutty embarrassed finger against your clit but don’t want to be caught by your perverted coworkers,” Hawks hissed, his breaths turning into steady, heavy hot pants. You mewl softly, confirming his spoken thoughts, and he huffs out a laugh. “How many fingers do you normally shove up that pretty cunt of yours, little dove?”

“T-Three!” you gasp, your forehead pressing to the cool of your desk, your eyes glazed over and looking at the entrance of your cubicle, fervently wishing that no one tries to check on you as you grind against your stable chair. “O-Only three fit.”

“Fuck, you really do have a tight cunt, don’t you,” Hawks snaps, the wet sounds of his fisting hand around his cock a beautiful melody in your ear that makes you whine at the back of your throat. “Bet you can’t even fit cocks up your cunt without lube, huh. You gotta stay on top, or else you’ll get hurt with how thick and long my cock will be up that baby pussy of yours.”

“H-Hawks!” you grit out, the friction of grinding on the seat no longer working.

“Go to the bathroom, now,” Hawks commands, the small gasps on his voice from his approaching orgasm more than enough ammo for you to do as told.

You sprint to the bathroom, the slick of your cunt hot, and evident to you as you sped to the bathroom. Your phone clenched in your hand as you locked the door behind you, glad the room was empty. Barely managing to get yourself into the stall, the toilet paper placed on the seat as you raised your legs up, already prepared. The skirt you wore was bunched above your ass, and the panties you wore, stretching out around your knees.

“Sounds like you’re ready to start fucking that pussy for me,” Hawks laughs, but there's no humor, just bite. “Put in three fingers, now.”

Without even arguing or caring, three fingers slip into your cunt, and you cry at the feeling of your fingers completely stretching you out. The smell of sex and slick filling your nose as your fingers slick up, fucking your tight cunt as you moan louder and louder for Hawks.

“God, your fucking pussy is so fucking wet, I can hear it from here!” Hawks moans, the frantic sound of his drilling hips gaining speed and momentum.

“I want it to be you!” you moan, your face burning in your humiliation. “I want it to be you fucking my pussy, claiming me in this bathroom. I need you, Hawks, I want your cock so badly!”

“Fuck,” Hawks gasps, something tumbling in the background. “Such sweet words for a fucking dirty ass cumslut,” he growls, and your legs shake, your clit and cunt thrumming with your increasing arousal and pit of tightness in your core.

“HAWKS, FUCK!” you sob as your hips try to start a merciless speed against your fingers, your body trying to match the speed in which Hawks was fucking his own hand.

“Keep screaming my name, whore.” Hawks gasps, his noises of pleasure beginning to grow louder and louder, your eyes crossing in satisfaction. “Screaming my name like the fucking slutty mess you are. All this shit just to get me to fuck you? God, you’re so fucking pathetic y/n. Begging for me, begging for more? I think you’re my favorite little dove ever, gonna make you mine whenever I get to fuck that pussy.”

“Hawks!” you wail his name again, your arms and pussy throbbing with the energy it takes to keep up with his inhumane speeds. Your vision seeing stars as you tremble more and more, your legs slipping from the toilet seat, yet. “I am your whore, your little dove. Please let me come, please! You fuck me so well, fucking hell, please, I needa cum, I needa cum!”

“Cum with me,” he snaps, his voice so deep, so dangerously smooth. It was precisely what you needed, the voice kink you had for his tenor exactly fulfilled entirely with that simple, last command. And just like that, your jaw slackens, head slamming backward, and pleasurable waves crash through you.

Your fingers still rock at your clit, and your vice gripped walls, your toes curling within your shoes as you soundlessly scream. Hawks, on the other end, is practically snarling, voice deep and altogether dangerous as grunt after grunt leaves him, and you can imagine the milk-white cum splattered all over his chest and hand. A beautiful, perfect sight that you wish you could see for yourself.

Exhaustion settles in your bones as you sit on the toilet, still entirely exhausted as you heave for air.

“I think that was the best fucking orgasm I ever had,” you mumble, your eyes closed, not ready to stand up and move. “Thank you.”

“I’m good at what I… at what I do,” Hawks stumbles, husky exhaustion ringing in his own voice. “Now, little dove, finish up work, and I promise there’ll be a surprise waiting for you when you’re done.”

Not entirely agreeing, but not disagreeing with his command to go finish you last… two and a half hours at work, you begrudgingly said goodbye to Hawks before washing your hands and exiting the bathroom.

When five o’clock came, you watched as your phone screen lit up, and your face flushed as you read the DM from Hawks.

Hawks: this is my fav audio now ↳ hawks_littledove.mp3 but you surprised me today, so in case u ever want to have more fun sometime call me 03-9183-2495 ;)

#hawks smut #hawks x reader #bnha #bnha x reader #mha #bbs kinktober 2020

2K notes · View notes

mythgirlimagines · 3 years ago

Photo

Here’s a brand new talentswapped Myth, just for this Tuesday! Get ready to dive into to a world of fantastical beings, for you are about to meet Myth, the Former Ultimate Novelist!

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BACKSTORY AND TALENT

With a rich inner world and a love for all things creative, Myth has been destined towards the arts, ever since she could hold a pencil. Despite her rather isolated childhood, Myth had a great starting support system in the form of her parents, elder sisters, and childhood friend Wyre. While Myth had a great variety of genres in her vast collection of works and future works, her main genre is a toss-up between romance and fantasy, with both of them being really passionate interests for her. Some of her most famous works include “Whispers of the Rain”, a mystery book series centering around a ragtag team of investigators snooping around for clues centering around supernatural happenings at the summer camp they attend, and “H34RT63AT”, a speculative sci-fi fiction work on a robot society that is capable of romantic feelings and copulation. Besides being famous for her literary works, Myth is also famous for her hospitality towards her fans, despite her eccentric attitude.

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RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Idol

As well as being Myth’s childhood friend and the only one of the Anons to know about Myth’s mysterious “base personality“ (aka. the personality Myth had before she started her illustrious career), Wyre is also the leading lady of the rock-idol group, “Saurus”. The members of Saurus, but Wyre in particular, are famous for their boyish charm and wild vocal performances, which matches with their punk aesthetic and appearances. Whenever either Myth or Wyre need privacy and time away from their massive fanbases, they regularly visit each other’s houses and relax with a good book to some good ambience music.

Outfit: A sleeveless black leather jacket over a ragged white shirt with her group‘s logo on the front, black pants with a red stripe on either side, black buckled boots.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Baseball Player

Despite her eccentric fashion and speech patterns and continual talks of an “eye of power”, Scar is famous amongst baseball fans for her strong throws and accurate bat swings. Off of the diamond and on the sidelines, Scar is commonly regarded amongst her team mates as being the “team mom”, always prepared with cold compresses and water bottles to her sore and dehydrated teammates. Despite her own eccentricities, even she is weirded out by the eccentric personalities of Myth, even if Scar considers Myth’s books amazing. Scar reminds Myth of her Fantasy persona, and wishes to combat with Scar, sword-to-bat.

Outfit: A purple and black baseball cap, a matching eyepatch on her left eye that she claims hides the “eye of power”, a white baseball uniform with a big purple “6” on the front and back, black shoes, scarf from original design.

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Fanfiction Author

Underneath the internet pseudonym of “FatherFigureFusion”, Fusion garnered fame for his well-written online stories that are beloved by mutual fans of his favorite works, whether they’d be cartoons, video games, or books. Upon finding out that one his favorite novelists is present at the Kibo-Con, this gentle giant just couldn’t hold still and wishing to bombard Myth with questions. Luckily, Myth has endless patience for her fanbase, and happily obliges to answer her underclassman’s questions. They love talking to one another about the trials and tribulations of the writing process, and regularly exchange their beta works together.

Outfit: Same outfit from his original design, but with fandom pins all over his hoodie and backpack.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Detective

Being one of the most competent homicide detectives in her hometown, despite her age, Fusion II has a great eye for investigation and an analytical mindset, just like her crime-solving parents. As hard as she tries to play up the “rebellious problem child and hardened grizzled detective” image, upon finding out that her favourite mystery novelist is attending the convention that she’s attended, her inner nerd and mystery geek just springs out, much to the detective’s embarrassment. Every time Myth talks to Fusion II about on-the-job incidents, Myth gets brand-new ideas for her future mystery novels, much to the excitement of II.

Outfit: Same outfit from the original but with a white trench coat and matching fedora, as opposed to a gakuran.

Just Anon, Ultimate Swimmer

Famous amongst the athletic community for his speedy movement through the pool, Janon seems to be the complete opposite when on the land: sluggish and lethargic. If it were up to Janon, he would gladly spend the rest of his life under the sea, without any annoying paparazzi and teachers to bother him. Because of the differing domains of their talents, Janon and Myth don’t interact much with each other, but Myth could sympathise with Janon’s struggles with an adoring fanbase. What Myth doesn’t know, is that Janon is a fan of one of Myth’s fantasy books, more specifically “Attack on Aquarius”, a story on the misunderstood mersharks.

Outfit: A blue and white shark hoodie (gawr gura) with nothing but pink and blue swim trunks underneath and matching flip flops on his feet.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Martial Artist

Sparkle is commonly known in tournaments by the self-made epithet, “THE COMBATIVE QUEEN”. Despite her eccentric attitude, her sparkly fashion and her genuine belief in magical girls and childhood desire to become one, Sparkle’s prowess in martial arts is nothing to be laughed at, for she dominated tournament after tournament with her combat skills. Just like with Scar, Sparkle reminds Myth of her fantasy author personality, who Sparkle happens to be a mutual fan of. Because of the martial artist’s emotional and over-exaggerated personality, both Horror and Romance Myth‘s interactions with Sparkle lead to inevitable comic gold.

Outfit: Hair cut into a bob, a sequinned leotard with a pink to blue gradient and magical girl frills, bandages tied around her arms and legs, contacts.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Programmer, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Clairvoyant

Egg and Wet Sock are as different as night and day, with Egg being energetic and all about tech, and Wet Sock being more sullen, aggressive and all about the supernatural. Despite the two differing domains of the twins‘ talents, there is one particular thing that they both have in common: their shared penchant for inserting unnecessary and cursed comments into every conversation they enter. While they love to playfully tease Myth with her cursed comments, when Myth switches to Horror Myth, they quickly submit to the true Queen of Cursed. The Queen of Cursed and her twin minions set out to spread the cursed, much to the dismay of the other Anons.

Egg’s Outfit: A green and blue tracksuit with pixelated earrings and white sneakers, glasses from original design.

Wet Sock’s Outfit: A black and white tracksuit and an ominous black cloak that goes over their head.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Lucky Student

With a passive and go-with-the-flow personality and a love for whatever is popular these days, Curious is as normal as one could get these days. In fact, winning the Hope’s Peak Middle School lottery was the most monumental event of Curious‘s entire life. Curious seems to be a people-pleaser, for they regularly flatter others and go along with what others say, which has a tendency to breed trouble. Because of Eldritch, Curious seems to be convinced that all of Myth‘s personalities are four separate people, and Myth has since given up trying to convince them, and now plays along with the separate people schtick.

Outfit: Same outfit from the original but with messier hair, patchy overalls and a clover design on their tie.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Affluent Progeny

As the most prolific child in an already prolific family, Nerd is the vicious and ambitious head of the DEXTER conglomerate, only the prime company when it comes to technology. Nerd always has at least one piece of his company’s technology on his person, just so he can blast away annoying peasant that get in his way, with Myth (Romance Myth in particular, with her alluring figure and maternal energy) being the number one target for his ire, much to the anger of her over-protective childhood friend. Myth isn’t stupid, and knows that Nerd just needs a little redemption arc to help him loosen up and realise his true feelings for her.

Outfit: Same outfit from the original.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

Mysterious sightings of a large group of helmeted people were spotted all throughout several towns in the area, and eventually they were traced back to the “Apocalypse NO” gang, a band of secret apocalypse preppers, who wish to topple the “oppressive“ government they claim to be living under. Eldritch is currently trying to indoctrinate the other Kibo-Con members into his biker gang, but only succeeded in indoctrinating Curious. Myth may not understand a good majority of Eldritch’s anti-government rambles, but she thinks that his biker gang would make for a good sci-fi plot. If only she can convince him that her alternate personalities are all the same people.

Outfit: A black motorcycle helmet that covers his face, an entirely black jumpsuit, spiky black boots, and a red scarf.

Dream Anon, Ultimate Soldier

Seeing Dream in person and hearing about her talent would leave one feeling shocked and confused. When you look at this bouncy, cheery, and childish little lass, you would never guess that she is a master at piloting tanks and aiming fire at foreign combat enemies. Now that she is off of the battlefield and into a school environment, she’s trying her best to adapt from the life of warfare that she was forced into at a young age. Myth may be no expert on warfare, but she did her research and even she knows that being exposed to such violence at that age can’t be good for a young girl’s mind, no matter how many times Dream denies it.

Outfit: A barrette that resembles a sniper’s scope, a dark brown sleeveless parka over a camo hoodie, blue jorts, and black army boots.

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Fashionista

Iris has had a passion for fashion ever since she was little, and with that passion, came a passionate following of like-minded people. With a belief that there is no such thing as a “fashion curse”, Iris carries herself with confidence and optimism that can be seen, even in pictures. When Myth first met Iris, the first thing the fashion icon did was compliment Myth’s patchy hand-me-down jacket, and how it went well with her otherwise high-class appearance, and that compliment makes Myth smile, just by thinking about it. Iris also appreciates how, just by a little change to her hair and jacket style, Myth can almost become a different person.

Outfit: A white beret on her head, a white jacket with a pink trim over a pink t-shirt and matching shorts, white boots, glasses and barrettes from original design.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Gambler

Despite looking and acting shy and innocent, in a good majority of situations, Purple is a mastermind, when it comes to the underground hive of gambling. With a hard-to-read expression and vocabulary, Purple is an enigma, even amongst her fellow gamblers. Fortunately, because of her talent, Myth can understand exactly what the verbose gambler is trying to say to her. According to the gambler, Purple came from a formally-wealthy family that lost all of its riches, and Purple resorted to gambling in order to win her family’s riches back. Needless to say, Myth both feels sorry for Purple and inspired to write a brand-new story.

Outfit: A black scarf with a card suit motive that makes her expressions harder to read, a black vest over a red tie and purple dress shirt, a black skirt, leggings and shoes from original design.

This series centers around an “eccentric” novelist, as she gains inspiration from the colorful individuals around her, and weirding the colorful individuals out with her odd personalities.

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APPEARANCE

Myth normally keeps her purple-dyed hair that reaches to her mid-back down, only to tie it up in different styles, depending on which “personality” takes over. As for clothing, Myth wears a brown and patchy jacket that belonged to her father, and has writing supplies stashed in her massive pockets, over a black vest with blue outlines, which in turn, is over a white dress shirt and a pink necktie. Myth wears a skirt that’s the same color as her vest, baggy gyaru-style socks and black loafers.

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PERSONALITY

The odd part about Myth’s personality and appearance is that it shifts, depending on what the genre of her latest work is, which, according to Myth, is meant to be “getting into the genre” and a sort of immersion/method acting.

Her personalities and genres go as followed:

Romantic!Myth: Wears her hair in a side plait, switches to contact lenses and ties her jacket around her waist. Carries herself with an almost maternal air. Very teasy and flirtatious, and loves to toy with others, gives off serious “Ara, ara!” vibes. A massive sucker for suckers.

Fantasy!Myth: Wears her hair in a ponytail and wears her jacket like a cape. The “Chuuni” of the personalities, acting like a ruler of a fantasy land and refers to others by similar fantasy-esque terms.

Horror!Myth: Puts her hair into pigtails, lets some of her bangs down and slouches down. The most cursed and pessimistic of the personalities, interested in the supernatural and prone to adding horrific and cursed comments to any conversation, much to the dismay of the Brain Cells.

Mystery!Myth: Pops the collar of her jacket, so it resembles a trench coat, puts her hair into a bun and wears a white fedora, so she basically resembles Carmen Sandiego. Very calm, pensive and analytical, and all about the academia aesthetic, acting like a hardcore and grizzled detective. Also a massive sucker for suckers.

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I have a feeling that you would enjoy this talentswap, considering this is one of your dream careers! Let me know what you think of this swap!

-Fusion Anon

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kingjinxii · 5 years ago

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Ren’s Ryoma Rewatch: Episode 1

In Which I Fall in Love with Soft Tennis Goro Akechi

Introduction

So, I’ll be honest. Ryoma is the reason I started watching Stars Align in the first place, because he looks like one of my other favorite characters, Goro Akechi from Persona 5 (the similarities end at appearance). I basically came into the show already attached, and the more I think about him, the more I believe that understanding him could be key to understanding Toma and possibly Maki’s character arcs.

The setup of these posts are simple: I mark down anything I feel may be key to understanding Ryoma, along with bits of Toma and Maki’s characterization that may help. Explicit canon and information are marked in bold, whereas my own speculation and inferences are marked in italics.

I hope people can use these posts to help understand Ryoma and the Shinjo/Katsuragi family dynamics!

7:28 - Middle school team hasn't won a match in 4 years

9:22-9:36 - First Ryoma appearance

Ryoma seems to wake up later than Toma. Figures, considering he’s a college student.

Ryoma is closer to Maki than Toma is to Maki in the beginning. They're close enough that Ryoma knows Maki moved back while Toma doesn't.

Ryoma calls Maki just “Maki” with no honorific. This is called “yobisute”, and denotes that Maki is an incredibly close, almost familial friend. However, Maki is also younger than Ryoma, so while the no honorific thing is important, it’s common for older Japanese people to refer to younger people by their first name, especially if they’re kids.

Ryoma also knows Maki likes astronomy.

Flower motif - white lilies. In Japanese flower language, white lilies are associated with purity. They’re also associated with girls who love girls, but I doubt that’s a meaning they’re implying here lol

10:49 - Flashback to little Toma from Maki’s POV. It’s done in pastel tones. Lucky 4-leaf clover!

11:05 - Book was a surprise gift from Ryoma. It appears to be brand new, in a bookstore shopping bag. It seems like Ryoma knew clearly in advance that Maki was coming, if he knew to buy a “welcome back” gift, and what day Maki would be at school.

Maki addresses Ryoma by his first name with no honorific, whereas Toma is referred to by his last name, with no honorifc. Maki referring to Ryoma in this way would usually be highly disrespectful (since Ryoma is 5-7 years older than Maki), unless they are just that close. Considering what I said about Ryoma referring to Maki in the same way, it’s pretty safe to assume they’re basically like best friends. Maki deosn’t seem as close to Toma, despite them being the same age. Still, even though he refers to Toma by his last name, he still uses no honorific, so they’re still friends(ish), even if Maki isn’t as close to Toma.

The book is the Astronomical Almanac, a star calendar and map.

Toma doesn't answer when Yuta asks if Maki is a friend. Toma doesn’t consider Maki a friend at this point in the story? However, he does smile, so they must still be friendly. It’s probably just evident of how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other last.

13:30 - Astronomical Almanac appears again

13:50 - Toma refers to Maki by his last name with no honorific, mirroring Maki doing the same.

14:55-15:53 - Ryoma appearance, in Ryoma's room.

Ryoma's room: Lots of leafy houseplants, green and brown earth tones. People have established that Toma is usually associated with green. Looks like Ryoma is similar!

15:10 - Magazines on Ryoma's bed: Both about sports. The top one features a soft tennis team, the bottom one is explicitly a soft tennis magazine. Might belong to Toma, as they are next to him rather than near Ryoma.

Ryoma notes that Maki just transferred so he might not have many friends. He believes this is the original reason Toma wants to invite him to the soft tennis team

15:18 - Ryoma is surprised the soft tennis team maybe get disbanded, and seems conflicted, but has a lukewarm reaction.

Nature photography on his corkboard. Right to left, an orca, two forest scenes, a fox, and a giraffe. While the riverbank is an important location in the show, you don’t see really anyone associated with water. So the orca is an interesting choice.

15:22 - Ryoma is a club alumni, who went to nationals.

Ryoma appears to understand what his brother is thinking well, practically finishing his train of thought (of Toma thinking Ryoma would want him to keep the club alive) before he could.

Ryoma believes in whatever the team decides. He doesn't think he should have a say, whereas Toma expected him to be upset.

15:45 - Ryoma has an iPad. (lol)

Toma assumes Ryoma thinks lesser of him. He appears to have low self-esteem.

Ryoma doesn't appear to chase after Toma to explain himself.

16:00-16:36 - Ryoma appearance with his mom.

Ryoma has a smartphone. I can’t tell the model but I’m going to assume it’s an iPhone considering he has an iPad.

More flowers, different from the ones from the previous day (sunflowers). Sunflowers are associated with respect and passionate love. (Uh...I’m gonna say a yikes here folks). Interesting to note that while Ryoma’s room is full of lots of leafy plants, there are no flowering ones.

Prefers just coffee instead of eating breakfast. If he’s still an athlete, he really should be more worried about his health! [Insert “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” PSA here].

Is in college, has friends (plural).

16:18 - Shinjomom attempts to guilt him into staying for dinner. She doesn't even say anything outright, and Ryoma already knows what she’s attempting to say.

Dad is on a trip, and may travel a lot.

Mom says Toma is "nothing like [Ryoma]".

Ryoma shuts down after his initial attempt at argument.

Ryoma calls his mom "kaa-san." It’s a pretty generic way to just say “mom”, but I do want to note that technically the standard was to talk to your mom is to call her “okaa-san”, so dropping the “o-” may denote slight familiarity.

16:30 - Ryoma likes his coffee dark. Maybe black. Just a little characterization note here: stereotypically in Japan, liking sweet things and having a sweet tooth are associated with children and femininity. Since Ryoma likes his coffee dark, he prefers bitter things, so going by stereotypes (as this is a trope-filled anime), we can safely assume he’s a fairly masculine guy.

Mom has dark thoughts around Toma. It appears to be pretty common.

17:03 - Moon and Venus, with seagull. I did say that there’s basically no character associated with water, but pretty much everything in this shot (aside from Maki’s fingers) has some sort of water connection. The moon pulls the ocean tides, Venus was named after a goddess that was born from seafoam, and a seagull...is a seagull. They’re associated with the sea. It’s in their name. I know there was a meta post by someone else about this shot a while back, and I’ll hunt for it later.

Maki Kyobate. Not super important to Ryoma, but Maki’s old last name is useful to note anyways. Maki’s shit dad can, as such, be referred to as Kyobate-san. Could maybe tie into why Ryoma refers to Maki by his given name, rather than his last name, considering the last time Maki was around, he must have been going by Maki Kyobate.

The Shinjo family is well-off enough that they don’t need to worry about money. Toma can afford to buy Maki’s uniform and equipment.

19:13 - Maki forgot/didn't know Ryoma was an alum.

Toma knows Maki cares enough about Ryoma that that information could be used as leverage.

19:18-19:24 - Ryoma appearance, flashback featuring little Maki. Is this their first meeting? Also important to note that, unlike the flashback of Toma from earlier, this one is not done in pastel tones, and instead is done in the show’s usual coloring style.

Ryoma either practiced at a shrine or hung out there from time to time.

Ryoma was already in middle school and on the soft tennis team the last time Maki was around. Considering he’s a college student by now, that puts him at around 19-21 years old.

Ryoma has seen Maki injured.

Maki knew Ryoma had a racket, but didn't know Ryoma was a soft-tennis player. “He had a racket back in middle school. So that must have been a soft tennis racket?” I’m putting the dialogue here because there are some interesting implications going on just in that one line. Maki knows Ryoma had a racket, but he didn’t know it was a soft tennis racket. If Maki and Ryoma are as close as they appear to be, they must have talked and hung out a lot, so it’s odd that Ryoma never...mentioned that it was a soft tennis racket, and that he played soft tennis? Unless Maki just straight up forgot, but that seems really unlikely.

19:23 - Ryoma's racket was red. Again, Toma is associated with green. Maki is also associated with blue. Their tennis rackets match their colors. Ryoma’s, however, is red. His bedroom is very green though. I know all the rackets that are used in the show are based on real soft tennis rackets, so I may hunt down the model Ryoma is using in this image.

Maki seems to want to join now that he knows Ryoma was apart of the team and approved of him joining. Again, he’s incredibly close to Ryoma, and that fact that this is the first thing that gets him to actually consider soft tennis is telling.

Maki only joins after asking for money. Since we’ve already passed the summer tournament, I just want to note that Maki earned 40000 Japanese yen by joining the soft tennis team and winning at the summer tournament. That’s around 370 US dollars, 480 Canadian dollars, 280 English pounds, or 330 Euros! Some some fun trivia.

Toma assumes Maki accepts joining without him saying anything. Like, seriously, he doesn’t even wait for an answer.

Toma is incredibly persistent. He chased after Maki for several days, and continually sweetened the deal for joining. That boy really wants Maki on the team, even if it’s just because he wants to win and not necessarily because they’re close.

Maki’s first racket is blue. Again, they’re all based on real soft tennis rackets and I know there’s a post with Maki’s model somewhere.

22:15 - Maki’s shit dad shows up. Pretty much everyone knows this, just noting it for posterity.

Recap

What have I learned?

In order from mostly canon to mostly speculation:

Ryoma is a young college student, around 19-21 years old, and a formerly successful soft tennis player.

He’s explicitly said to be in college, and that he was an alum of the Shijo Minami boys’ soft tennis team, and ended up going to nationals.

However, currently it’s unknown whether he stuck with the sport or stopped after middle school. He has sports magazines on his bed that focus on soft tennis, but they may belong to Toma, considering they’re positioned next to him, rather than, for example, on Ryoma’s desk or shelves. In fact, Ryoma doesn’t appear to have any magazines on his shelves, nor does he have any photos of soft tennis on his corkboard. (Toma doesn’t take the magazines with him when he leaves, so they could be Ryoma’s. I think there’s evidence leaning both ways. Hell, they could just be sharing them.)

He also seems surprised that the soft tennis club is doing so poorly, and when Toma suggests recruiting Maki, Ryoma’s first thought is of the camaraderie the team provides, and not necessarily about Maki’s technique or physical talent. This possibly shows he doesn’t/didn’t necessarily take soft tennis as seriously as Toma does currently.

Ryoma and Maki were/are relatively close friends.

Ryoma and Maki both refer to each other using their given names without honorifics. Ryoma knew Maki was coming back to their city, and knew with enough time in advance that he was able to prepare a welcoming gift for Maki, the Astronomical Almanac, which Ryoma knew Maki was interested in.

Interestingly, Maki wasn’t aware that Ryoma was a soft tennis player, despite him basically being his team’s ace player. If there were truly as close as they appear to be, it’s interesting that it was...never brought up at all. This may tie into my theory that Ryoma isn’t as into soft tennis as he appeared to be. Maybe he just had natural talent, and he was more into it for the friends, rather than the sport itself.

Ryoma has seen Maki injured, and considering this was back when Maki Katsuragi was still Maki Kyobate, aka when his shit dad was still living with him, Ryoma may know a lot about Maki’s abuse. Ryoma may have even been the person Maki vented to about his dad, and he might still be, considering they seem to still be in close contact. It’s an interesting friendship for sure, considering the age gap.

Maki and Toma aren’t as close as Maki and Ryoma are (at least, not in this episode, as they do get closer relatively quickly). Maki only refers to Toma as “Shinjo” (no honorific), so while they may have been close as kids, they aren’t as close now.

Ryoma and Toma are set up as opposites and foils.

A foil is a character that “highlights someone else's trait, usually by contrast.”*

Toma, again, is associated with the color green, which is also the color of his racket. However, Ryoma’s racket, as mentioned before, is red. Red and green are opposites on a color wheel in basic color theory. Still, it may be a stretch to say that Ryoma’s color is definitively red, because Ryoma is also associated with green and earth tones in his room.

I was going to save this for when I rewatch Episode 3, but I feel it’s worth mentioning here. Ryoma’s room is filled with leafy plants. Toma’s room has plant life too, but his plants are cactuses, plants that don’t need a lot of water, whereas Ryoma’s would. Again, opposites.

The plants they own can also hint at how their mother feels about them. Ryoma’s plants require a lot of water, and he’s his mother’s favorite, whereas Toma’s plants are ones that flourish in a dry environment, and...explicitly, Shinjomom hates him.

There’s a bit more contrast though, both in how they appear to approach soft tennis and how they approach conflict and resistance.

I already discussed in depth above how Ryoma doesn’t seem to be as obsessed with soft tennis as Toma is, despite being a well-known star player, so let me focus on the other contrast.

There’s two scenes in this episode where Ryoma is met with friction and immediately backs down, or ignores what’s going on. The first is when Toma is angsting about the tennis club shutting down, and he assumes Ryoma thinks that he can’t save it. Toma runs out of the room, and while Ryoma calls after him, we don’t see him try to explain himself, or even get up out of his chair.

The second is when Shinjomom is asking him to stay for dinner, using her hatred for Toma as leverage. She starts off subtle in her distaste for Toma, but Ryoma seems to immediately know where her train of thought is going. He tries to reply gently, but is cut off by her snapping at him, and he just...shuts up.

It’s becoming more and more clear to me that, while Ryoma is a fairly gentle and kind person, he’s really non-confrontational.

This is in sharp contrast to Toma, who spends days trying to convince Maki to join the soft tennis club. Toma knows his club is going to get shut down, he thinks his brother doesn’t believe he can keep it alive, but he doesn’t want to give up. He’s going to get Maki and his sharp reflexes on his team if it kills him, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Maybe it just has to do with maturity. After all, Ryoma’s racket was red, a color associated with hot-bloodedness and strong emotion. Or maybe, it’s just like Shinjomom says, in that “[Toma] is nothing like [Ryoma]!”

Conclusion

Both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, I think I covered a lot of ground of Ryoma’s characterization and role in this episode. Unsurprising since it is the first episode he was introduced, and surprising since...you know, it’s only been one episode. However, Ryoma doesn’t appear in most episodes in the series (he has appearances in episodes 1, 3, 9, 11, and 12, yes I did count), and this is the one where he appears the most, so I doubt most of my other recaps will be this long.

Still, I hope this was informative for some people, even if no one else is as obsessed with him as I am.

Is Stars Align and Ryoma my new special interest? Eh, maybe.

See you in the next recap!

#stars align #hoshiai no sora #星合の空 #ryoma shinjo #toma shinjo #maki katsuragi #ryoma rewatch #luxren.mp3

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hugotontheonbiquiffinarians · 5 years ago

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Arthur & The Myth of Sisyphus

(Arthur/staircase juxtaposed to Sisyphus/rock)

As disclaimer, this may be a generalised statement/inductive analysis, not unique to his diegesis. Will probably be too verbose for some to read, but writing is organic as breathing for me and if I don’t discuss my beautiful clown husband at length, I might very well be caught with a bruised and desiccated lung lol (as you can probably tell, academia is hæmorrhaging into my casual diction)

I’m typing this, more or less, to illustrate my (possibly exhausted) perspective on how significant the staircase is to Arthur’s narrative. Specifically focusing on how it relates to Sisyphus and his eternal struggle to push a cumbersome stone uphill. (Says this all the while knowing I’ll lose said focus by the end of this, oops) That being said, this also just might be some cathartic release in the form of diluted research.

All things considered, with an economy that appears to teeter just so on the verge of instability, most, if not all, may resonate with the impending sense of futility that accompanies society’s defective concept and subsequent flawed execution of ‘adulthood’, including, but not limited to: excessive demands imposed by draconian academia, 9-5 corporate mandates exercised to excess; in addition to parenthood (if applicable). All for the sake of feeding continued survival in a universe where life is erroneously scrutinised under myopic scope of legality. Summarily, we can all embrace solidarity in our respective sharing of adversity, attended by a seemingly endless, merciless journey towards acceptance.

Arthur is my most current muse within the fictional realm (irreplaceable, to boot) so this character study might be more gratuitous than enlightening, but, in essence, I often like to conceive him as a resounding echo that’s effectively sound in giving voice to the voiceless; whispered and indistinct though it may be. However, it could be said that the power of his presence resides, not in the delicate, understated nuance of his vocal tone, but rather the elegant and passionate language of dance pronounced by his feet. Namely, the Sisyphean task of climbing that emblematic staircase.

Whether suffering a daily, if not arduous, ascent one derelict step at a time, or dancing a rhythmic descent to liberation, Arthur’s soles bespeak of a soul that’s been tormented relentlessly throughout the near 40 year span of his existence. Heels throbbing with Weltschmerz, the resulting ache of his travails would often appear as little more than a numbing nuisance to be rubbed away upon a less whimsical return as the prodigal son. In this way, the audience might compare Penny’s impact in Arthur’s life to that of the onerous stone that plagues Sisyphus. Despite being an absent force to her son’s oppressive intimacy with these formidable steps, there is something to be said for the manner in which concern is essentially a wisp in the void when her child’s health utters a silent plea, a murmured urgency, for attention.

Perhaps, we could all agree that a fraction of Artie’s extroverted anger towards Thomas was only partially misdirected. As a means to demonstrate the implied difficulty Arthur expresses for emotional release, especially so for repressed anger, it would have been interesting to witness a scenario in which he doesn’t heed Penny’s request whilst hiding behind a closed door. Given the egocentric brush that paints a broad stroke to her demeanour, would he be vindicated in raising his voice a few decibels ? If for no other reason than to dispel frustration by virtue of necessity. Of course, this isn’t to undermine the fact that Arthur displays potential signs of regressive behaviour (not exclusive to his circumstance but nevertheless germane). A hapless symptom of afflicted childhood incited by an inflamed basis of Nature v. Nurture.

With nearly all sense of identity drifting aimlessly as unanswered queries, there could be reason yet as to why Arthur adopts his Carnival and Joker personas. Beyond factors of aspiration and affinity alone. As someone (myself) who could be classified with mild alexithymia, all the while being fairly averse to labels, the concept of employing alter egos solely to assist in self-expression may not be uncommon, if not muted in translation. In a way that isn’t explicitly stated, we could infer that Arthur enforcing a purpose to evoke genuine smiles and laughter is a means to compensate for those of which he was deprived during his formative years. Speaking as an armchair psychologist, there could be evidenced an intimation of placebo effect for the presence of Pseudobulbar Affect. While this syndrome affects the nervous system and is hence more physiological than psychological, the nature of its infliction could be considered as a bridge between the two.

Certain conditions, of which remain unknown, from his childhood may have contributed to the development of this condition, emphasising a noted relation to thinking patterns. My theory is that any measure of neurosis is directly proportional to the degree of physical complications that may manifest. Arthur is a fairly sensitive man. A rough sketch of this attribute can be observed even whilst Arthur is gallivanting as Joker. In fact, one could even venture to say that his identity is actualised in this form. Cliché ? Yes. But, no less pertinent. Furthermore, a deduction might be made in which Carnival alludes to being a medium that balances the dichotomy between Arthur/Joker.

Yes, these may be points that have been proposed ad nauseam 😶 You also may be wondering: Exactly what role does Sisyphus play in this ?

Ultimately, I’ve come to the conclusion (hagiography) that Arthur, while emotionally sensitive, hardly translates that sensitivity to his visceral being. Revisiting the first bathroom scene, maybe one could see the gloomy reflections of Atlas and Sisyphus reflected in one burdened man, lost in soulful dance. Summarily, he could never strike me as one to admit defeat. To succumb to the siren’s lure of quietus. As illustrated by every Joker rendition before him, Arthur Fleck is no different in how his philosophy materialises. Blending the colours of absurdism and nihilism. While the assertion seems contradictory, considering Arthur’s initial intent to commit suicide on live television, I do believe his animus was strictly encouraged by his comedic inspiration, opposed to an active desire.

Fundamentally, this leads me to my final point (although, admittedly, this isn’t the end, I could literally talk to death about this man, and I will). The contrast of comic styles between Arthur and Murray. This might be the understated controversy of discourse, and my perspective on the matter may be unpopular, if even acknowledged, but just to clear the air, the following assumption isn’t meant to excuse him or his actions. Rather, to offer perspective. If you observe carefully, you might notice that there’s no distinct disparity between Murray and Arthur’s sense of humour. Given the era and its dogged appeals to censorship, Murray’s delivery could be regarded as nothing short of condensed and disguised. As our dear Artie reiterates, comedy is indeed subjective, but, as a matter of course, the brand that either presents isn’t particularly risible given context.

As an audience, we only know Murray on a superficial level. We know he’s a comedian. By the end of the film’s duration, we might have dismissed him as the stock bully. His humour was cruel, callow and sadistic when dispensed towards a man who deemed him a pillar of admiration. However, similar could be said for Arthur’s execution. Consistently morbid and sardonic, these elements of comedy that provoke laughter for Arthur comprise a vague semblance to Murray’s comedic anatomy, despite how patently trite and puerile the latter’s jesting was, when delivered to our undeserving victim.

Arthur was thoroughly justified in his feelings of despondency and disenchantment. Yet, objectively speaking, depending on either side of contention, one’s perception may be determined by whether or not his sensitivity was merely exaggerated when juxtaposed to a comedian who was, more or less, just doing his job; albeit questionably. Unprofessionally. We couldn’t know exactly what Murray was thinking or precisely why he invited Arthur on his show. Surely, public humiliation wasn’t his prime agenda. Curiously enough, I seemed to detect an air of indifference expressed by him when Arthur confessed (*insert delusional gif*). As if it was to be expected.

Ipso facto, with how the sequence pans out, there may have been the possibility of Murray personally investigating the subway murders and considering Arthur a suspect, consequently aiming to extract his confession (a reach, I know ! ) but, maybe not...

Not when the theory of Arthur contriving delusions, having been situated in Arkham the entire time, chimes as possible reasoning.

That, in itself, is a paradox...

...Will we ever ?

#arthur fleck #joker #joker 2019

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ssfoc · 6 years ago

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Sea, I am late to the party, but I keep going back to your comments about the HSLOT photography: “The poor framing, the shitty proportions, half the photo blocked by some amorphous shadow, shit on the table that would have taken two seconds to clear, black and white erasure of a beautiful, sparkly fabric, Hélène inserting herself into the photo (she has inserted her “aesthetic,” now she’s literally in the photo), odd facial and body expressions, lack of warmth.” (1/2)

(2/2) “Yet the only thing we see is Harry’s pointer. His Renaissance-era hair. His classically proportioned face.” “He looks isolated and frozen. Curated and costumed.” —Does this not EXACTLY describe Harry’s public image? I think Harry was doing that intentionally to highlight the flaws of his image in literal images. Especially erasure of color in B/W photos. All those pictures of unhappy expressions in mirrors/reflections. His resigned posture in the photo highlighting his dick/sex appeal. PS – I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all your posts about photography and music theory. I don’t know much about either, and I’ve learned a lot!_______________________

I think the question of intentionality is a good one. At the heart of it, we don’t know whether the HSLOT tour photos’ effects are the result of auteurial intent (Hélène’s POV), of image and branding (Harry or his team’s meta commentary on his image), of a particular artistic style (“quirky”), or of photographic technique. Hélène’s can take technically good photos: her professional Instagram page shows photos of beautiful technique (though mostly not concert photos).

The function of tour photography is, in essence, documentary. Mostly it is to capture a slice in the life of the tour— an overall feeling, the spirit that the tour wants to convey. An outsider scanning Harry’s Instagram will notice that HSLOT photos aren’t like normal concert photos; they definitely show distinct editorial choices. They convey isolation, coldness, and awkwardness, and an aggressive, almost violent juxtaposition between Harry’s innocence and sexual appeal (sometimes erasing his beauty and substituting it with aggression). The collection of photos gives me a feeling of uncertainty in power and control. I wonder whether Harry is the one making choices about his tour, or whether choices were being made for him. While there are feelings of sheer joy and fun, there’s also a sense of things being overwhelming, too much, a claustrophobic sense of being hemmed in, a reluctance to be defined, a wish to be elusive. In these photos, it feels like Harry is trying to bury his real self under layers and layers of a superstar persona.

One thing is for sure, the photos aren’t boring! I think they will be interesting to look at for a long time.

#HSLOT tour photography #hstour 2018 photography #29 July 2018 #helene pambrun

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atlasifyllm · 6 years ago

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Because yes

1. Your first OC ever?

I would say Queen Mana, my self insert alicorn pony princess, but in all honesty I'd say my Littlest Pet Shop toys from 3rd grade that I gave each a persona or my mouse character "Licky" and his sister "Lucky". Yeah Licky had quite the unfortunate name. As for my LPS toys, I'm not sure which was my FIRST among all of them, but I do know the first ones were Trevor and Erica! They were a happy married couple~

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Ooh, I gotta say I have one for each story. Though among all of them? I HAVE to go with Cobalt Zaffre from DOTS: DD. Honestly my fave out of the DOTS peeps, I love his design (thanks Raven), her persona, his character arc, god I love this dickhead

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Honesty no? I did base Rose off of a friend's OC, but that was years ago and she's more original now.

4. A character you rarely talk about?

I gotta say Agent Silver and Agent Neon from MAR, mostly since I've been pretty dry with MAR ideas and have near no hope to revamping them both from their 5th grade counterparts. That and the protag of D.exe, since I'm revamping them too. Pretty much any character I've planned on revamping but haven't really gotten to yet...

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

COBALT ZAFFRE. I honestly feel like he's worth the fame, though I'm probably biased-

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

Yang and Tig! When designing one of them into DOTS, I created Yang with Tig's original palette concepts of 2016 with no intentions of bringing Tig into the story yet. Though that changed, and I brought Tig into DOTS: DD and got too attatched to their palettes to change them. I have thought of changing Yang's design, but I got too attached so Tig and Yang just so happen to share the same hair and skin tone.

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

The real question is who ISN'T apart of any story? I get too attached to OCs easily so I'd either need to make a story or put them into a story! I did have a void character for a week named Benvolio, though I found him a place in "Dragon Destiny"

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

I've never actually roleplayed before! I have thought of opening an askblog for Turquoise Sky from DOTS: DD, though I've lost most motivation for continuing it

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I'm too attached to my babies!

But in all honesty my brain makes so many character concepts that I could legit probably sell them at this point for the characters I REALLY don't need.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

I don't have a picture of her on-hand, but the first that comes to mind is Nio from Chrisis! Mostly due to her rainbow sleeves and cards...

A close second is Iris from the DOTSverse, though it's honestly just due to her hair being a gradient AND layer mode at the same time.

I'm sure there's more though, I can never keeo track of them all!

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “cinnamon roll”?

Rose Morganite from DOTS: DD and Nimbus Fulmen from AuAg! Both are sorta naive kids who don't know what's going in too well...

My other kid OC is basically Ed Elric except with Queen Moon's look-

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

fuck it i'm calling them out @ravenwolfie97

I REALLY LIKE SKYLAR BINCH

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Tig is sorta on the border between troublemaker and full-blown villain. Though my new OC Roman Rho from Dragon Destiny seems to fit that description? Others include Kaiser and Shadow from Last Light, Aquamarine from SOTGC, the entire cast of Sky Games, Viobalt and Charoite from Chrisis, Ater from the DOTSverse (somewhat), Ala Blaster from DOTS: SF, Reed from ROP, Akumu from D.exe, Mika from ZP, and... yeah I hope that's all of them

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

Cobalt Zaffre from DOTS has a pretty angsty backstory so far, though I can't spoil that right now. Iris actually has a sad story too, but I can't spoil that either. Have some runner ups!

- Bluebot (Beyond Repair) Bluebot is the only android that is utterly seen as useless by Eris, the main AI

- Storm Gray (Dragon Destiny) Storm was treated more as an experiment than child by the scientist who made him, having him be bullied by his scientist's son, Roman

- Ventus Fulmen (AuAg) while he isn't a full blown "angst son", Ventus got into prison thinking his girlfriend was shot dead by soldiers

- Viobalt (Chrisis) Viobalt is trying to strive beyond the void since his own universe was erased from existence by the creator

- Pretty much all the Darksiders in Last Light. Each Darksider succumbed to a dark, deep form of Despair, which caused them to turn into monsterous beings seeking revenge, acceptance, pain, or freedom

- The Squire (A Story Told) The Squire lost his kingdom to an evil king, and wants to try and get it back

Those are the ones from the top of my head!

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Oh honey I could talk about my OCs all year

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

I'm gonna say the scientists in Dragon Destiny, since out of the two other brands of scientists in my story (D.exe and BR), the DraDes scientists had to deal with organic matter way more in order to create the dragons. Vincent from D.exe is a close second, though he's more of a specifically neuroscientist than biologist

17. Any OC OTPs?

- Storm x Orlene in DraDes

- Cobalt x Ruri in DOTS: DD (and by extension, DOTS: SF)

- Ruby x Blaze in DOTS: DD

- Yin x Tigerlily in DOTS: DD

- Yang x Vio in DOTS: DD

- Ventus x Vepris in AuAg

- Momo x Ringo in PSG!

- Alpha x Zetto in DOTS: 5x5

- Iris x Alba in DOTS: 5x5

18. Any OC crackships?

- Cobalt x Yang in DOTS: DD. The two palabros honestly are hilarious together as a hugely dumb couple

- Reed from ROP x Zetto from DOTS: 5x5. This is a REALLY odd one, but one time I had a dream that created a new OC that looked like a fusion between the two with a dark blue color scheme. So of course I joked about them having a son, though it's extra funny when Zetto is just a humanoid snorlax made of pure light and eats flowers, and Reed is an energetic anime prince protag boy who's... well, not made of light. And of course, some crossover ships are absolutely hilarious

But my favorite:

- Turquoise x Cobalt in DOTS: DD. Gotta get that good ol fashion Oncest 👍

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

All the Chrises tbh, but especially Cobalt in particular. Cobalt (and by extension, the other Chrises) is based off of the guy who inspired me to continue making stories and OCs, and I can never thank him enough for helping me find that spark that gave me a purpose. Cobalt's everything to me, a coping character and a tribute to the man who inspired me to be this creative. I created the other Chrises because I want the creativity that the guy gave me to be a symbol of all my stories, and a tribute to the man himself. Cobalt as I've developed him has represented all the things that remind me of the guy, so he's the closest to him but also with my own twists I adore so I can't help but love him so much! Cobalt, out of all the Chrises, represents the man who's inspired me to be a creator to this extent the most, so he means so much to me. The other Chrises are a VERY close second, since they represent him in various ways too that is both a tribute to him and a symbol of me, though Cobalt represents him the most.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

HA! EASY! The Zero Percent crew 100% (pun intended)

Robin I can see sounding probably like a mix of the singer from Set It Off (Sorry I don't know his name!), Natewantstobattle, and I think Billie Joe Armstrong/Gerard Way?? There's so many good voices crie-

He likes rock music tho! He's in a band so that's a given but... yeah.

Elliot is a newer OC from the same story, but not from Robin's band! He's a lone singer cause I wanted a singer OC who sounded like Adam Lambert-

Outside ZP, I had the headcanon that Yang from DOTS: DD had an embarassing rap phase in high school. Ash Embers from the same story was also in a band, though it disbanded as soon as it was made ;n; I'm not sure if she was the vocalist though? Def rockstar, though. Cobalt I can see having a good singing voice since I've really liked Chris Niosi's singing (sing more Chris ;o;), and Ruri too since her voice claim is Rose Quartz from SU! Not sure on their genres, though... Other punk rockers include Ruby, I have been thinking her voice claim changing to Hayley Williams? Not sure, though...

Lastly, The Bard in A Story Told. She plays medieval music, though it's not particularly good since she'e pretty much a drunken bard who gets around by riding her horse backwards.

Anyway that's 20 questions, hope you 5 peeps enjoyed it, ehehe-

#mana speaks;#long post

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topicprinter · 7 years ago

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Yesterday my friend and I were chatting, he’s the founder of an article writing company and he’s been publishing a lot of new blog content - but failing to see the lift and traffic that he (and everyone else!) desires.After chatting with him and looking at his blog, I immediately realized that he was making a common blogging mistake and that adding just a few potential methods could drive a lot more traffic to his blog.At the core, he was spending a lot of time publishing content, but not enough time promoting it.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let me give you some context:I am the founder of a non-traditional PR agency that takes a digital perspective on gaining exposure for startups, entrepreneurs, founders, and other small businesses.I have worked with a multitude of clients from different industries and have helped them to drive more traffic to their site ---> by approaching PR with a blend of SEO and Content Marketing skill sets.Not only have we had clients placed in multiple top tier publications like Forbes, Inc., etc - but we have also leveraged our strategies to take dusty ol’ blogs and put a serious 250% increase in traffic behind them.I say this not to brag. All that to say, I’ve been around the block when it comes to driving traffic to blogs and websites.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The BIG Mistake That Most Blogs MakeDuring my time, I’ve found that BY FAR the biggest mistake people make is that they focus all their efforts on creating content and practically zero efforts to promote it and drive traffic back to the blog.People that succeed with their blogs do two things very well:1, Publish quality contentANDPromote it in effective waysI’m sure you heard it a million times that you need quality content ---> I don’t need to tell you that again.Let’s focus on the promotion aspect which is what most people miss or straight up ignore.So how then do you promote?Here is a brief overview of a few general strategies that I recommend - and one actionable tip for each strategy!There’s a million ways to do this - but for the sake of brevity...Here are a few actionable tips/strategies that will help you drive traffic to your blog:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Find out where your target persona is and engage there!“If you want to find a seagull, go to the beach shore” that is a wise tip from WordstreamThere are dozens of ways to identify and interact with your target audience but here’s one actionable example you can start with today.Step 1: Sign up for Quora and fill out your profile extensively (include your title and link to blog)Step 2: Choose a blog post to link to in your answerThe best type of blog posts are ones that are highly actionable and comprehensive in your given field.Step 3: Find a recent or high volume questionsFollow topics relevant to your industry in the search bar and quora will populate recent questions under the “write” bar.Step 4: Answer Question with helpful advice and link back to your blog postThe principle is to be straightforward with your answers and to provide lots of value through highly practical suggestions.Include the link to your blog in a subtle fashion and not in a promotional way.This will generate traffic to your blog through the link and through your profile.That’s just one example amongst many for targeting a community.Some other tactics you can consider:Find a directly industry related platform and interact there (DeviantArt for Art subculture, Activerain for real estate…etc.)Consider Facebook groups or LinkedIn groupsDive into relevant social platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. Leverage Influencer MarketingThere’s a beauty company called Ipsy Studios that leveraged Michelle Phan’s audience (she owns a ridiculously successful beauty vlog/ youtube channel) directing her followers to purchase their $10 glam bags.This helped the company grow to 1.5 million monthly subscribers with an $800 million dollar valuation.Insanely smart growth hack for any beauty company considering that Michelle Phan has over 18 million monthly views on her videos.You don’t need to collaborate with an influencer on that scale for your blog, but there are influencers out there that fit within your niche and your spend.Here’s one way you can reach out to those influencers:Step 1: Use Buzzsumo to search for Influencers.Buzzsumo offers a free trial. Use their tool and input in the search bar terms relevant to your industry and Buzzsumo will populate suggested Influencers. It will also show the reach of the influencer so you can decide if that level of influence suits your campaign strategy.Step 2: Build a relationship with the influencerSubscribe to their blog, follow them, comment and like on their content, share their content, tell the influencer if they have any errors.Step 3: Send a soft pitch emailAn example of an email may have wording such as “knowing you love writing about [insert topic], I thought I’d show you a topic I’ve also written.”Or if you’re willing to put some skin in the game, you can work out a lump sum or commission basis for each post or conversion that the influencer references you in!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. Use Guest Posting to your advantageGuest posting is near and dear to my heart because this was my bread and butter building my blog, accounting for a majority of my traffic increases.So what is a guest post?Simply put, a guest post is an article written and submitted to a publication by someone who is normal contributor to that website.You can include a link to your website within the post, and that ready-made audience will enjoy your post and click through to learn more about you.This is a great way to leverage an existing audience on an authority site and point people back towards your blog.Here’s an example of how I would approach acquiring a guest post:Step 1: Find Guest Post targetsThere are different type of publications that accept guest posts such as niche blogs, company blogs, industry specific publications, mainstream publications… the list goes on.One of my favorite tip is to insert your primary competitor in to the tool Ahrefs and it’ll show you a list of backlinks and where they have published their guest posts.Step 2: Get Your Guest Post readyYou don’t need to have your Guest post written at this point.One good way to discover a new topic that people care about is to go on Udemy and see which courses are more popular in your industry. Since people are paying for the course you have proof of demand!Step 3: Send Your PitchThis is the hardest part.My personal outreach approach is to build relationships with an individual in the publications. This means following their content. Asking quora questions that reference the other writer’s work. Sharing their work on social media.Once you’ve warmed up the relationship, then you can send your pitch. Some example wording: “I’ve noticed you haven’t written about [insert topic], I’ve recently conducted a 30 day experiment and I think this would be a perfect place to publish it.”Step 4: Write your guest postFocus on delivering VALUE in your guest post. Self promotion shouldn’t be the focus.Have highly actionable advice in your post as practicality is a consistent theme of top shelf content online.When inserting the link, put a link to your website in your author bio, or include the link as a relevant article within the post.That was a high level snapshot of my strategy. There’s a lot more intricacies that can generate you guest posts almost anywhere. I wrote a comprehensive step by step guide to guest posting, feel free to DM me if you'd like me to share it with you.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. Convert your blog into Infographs and post on Pinterest!People are very visual and love seeing a simple, visual summary of your content.Say you publish a new blog post such as “5 ways to start saving money today”, take a few minutes to take those 5 steps and build it into an infograph.This takes little time and can generate extra traffic.Here’s how you create and share your infograph:Step 1: Use a tool like PiktochartYou don’t need to have a design background to use these simple tools. Summarize the main points on your blog and add some icons.Make it look nice by keeping consistent with your brand colours.Step 2: Post it on PinterestGive a caption that explains why your content is useful. Include your brand name and a link back to your blog!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5. Become an author of a E-booksNeil Patel’s first tip to increase your blog traffic was to publish an e-book on Kindle Select.Self published books now represent 31% of all e-book sales in the Amazon kindle store.Link back to your blog in your e-book and that will generate some additional traffic.Step 1: Compile your content through your blog and other content and consolidate it into an e-book.I know it sounds daunting to be an author but don’t under value your content. You are an expert in your field. It just takes some repackaging of your content and knowledge.Step 2: Include a link to your website blog or newsletter in the bookPlace the link in the e-book. A call to actions may look like this “You can download the free report by going here” or “If you’d like to learn more tips on [insert topic], we have a free newsletter you can sign up for here, where we send exclusive tips on [insert topic].”Step 3: Publish the e-book on the Kindle Direct Publishing Select ProgramIsn’t it wonderful that we’re in the age where don’t need to connect with a publisher printing thousands of hard copies?Run a free promotion for the first 90 days so that the readers can read it for free to gain traction.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I hope this was of value to some of you. Starting a blog and growing it through outreach is no walk in the park but it is well worth the investment!I will be tracking my friend’s journey on their blog and recording our progress as we go! Feel free to DM me if you want to be updated on the progress.Stay tuned for more posts :)

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

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michaelandy101-blog · 4 years ago

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7 Examples of Influencer Advertising on YouTube

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/7-examples-of-influencer-marketing-on-youtube/

7 Examples of Influencer Advertising on YouTube

In a 2019 MediaKix report, 71% of entrepreneurs agreed that the standard of shoppers or site visitors from influencer marketing was higher than different marketing channels. So, we all know influencer marketing is usually a very worthwhile marketing technique.

When you have been excited about utilizing this tactic however are uncertain the place to start out, take into account YouTube.

In contrast to different platforms which can be normally restricted by time (assume TikTok and Instagram), YouTube celebrates long-form content material. This creates house for influencers to deep dive into matters and provides detailed opinions on services and products.

Past that, engagement charges on YouTube are the best when in comparison with Instagram, Fb, and Twitter, in keeping with a 2020 Influencer Marketing Hub report.

Now that buyers are turning more to YouTube for uplifting content, this provides manufacturers an enormous alternative to leverage the ability of influencers on a platform recognized for prime engagement.

So, what kind of movies can influencers and types collaborate on? Let’s undergo seven examples.

1. Day-in-the-Life Vlogs

One of the pure methods influencers incorporate sponsored merchandise into their YouTube movies is thru day-in-the-life vlogs.

Often completed with a morning or every day routine video, the influencer will take viewers via their day and point out the services or products as a part of their ritual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zero-_2RdIhzkQ

On this video, Natalie Barbu provides her viewers a peek into her every day routine, emphasizing her planning course of. She covers the advantages of software program like Asana and Google Calendar, and in the course of her video, on the 9:03 mark, she introduces Skillshare.

What’s efficient about this type of product integration is that it suits in organically with the influencer’s content material. Some adverts could be fairly jarring and disrupt the consumer expertise, which may result in advert skips and video drop offs.

The video title units the expectation that the main focus of the video might be planning. So, when Barbu introduces Skillshare as a platform to study new expertise (together with use Asana for planning), it is a easy transition.

One other method influencers take is mentioning the sponsor towards the tip of the video.

youtube

This video exhibits influencer, Mayuko, displaying her model of a productive work day. Close to the tip of the video (on the 7:08 mark), she thanks the model, Nord VPN, for sponsoring the video and presents the advantages of utilizing the software program.

With this technique, there is a danger that some viewers could not stick round to listen to extra concerning the sponsor, provided that engagement charges fall towards the tip of movies. Nevertheless, the sponsor is talked about at first of the video and within the description field, offering further alternatives for viewers to study extra concerning the model.

2. Hauls

Buying hauls and unboxing movies are a few of the hottest movies on YouTube amongst trend and life-style influencers. They may also be an efficient manner of showcasing sponsored merchandise.

What’s nice about such a video is that it would not require influencers to dedicate a whole video to a single product, however reasonably embody that product inside a broader class.

youtube

On this video, UK-based Influencer Patricia Otegwu, generally known as Patricia Vibrant on her channel, covers a variety of luxurious gadgets which can be nice for the autumn season.

She begins the video by framing the significance of occasional “treat yo self” habits. She then goes via a number of gadgets, explaining the reasoning behind every buy. On the 5:01 mark, she introduces merchandise from Lily Silk, which inserts in completely with the theme of the video.

As well as, mentioning the product within the first half of the video provides the model higher odds of reaching extra viewers.

three. Behind-the-Scene Tutorials

One other alternative for seamless product integration is in behind-the-scenes content material.

youtube

On this video, in style YouTube illusionist, Zack King, provides viewers a full breakdown of a few of his illusions. So, how precisely does Google match into this?

Properly, King first makes use of Google Meet and a cool hand-through-TV phantasm to introduce his convention room phase on the 1:59 mark. As a result of Google’s platform promotes digital convention conferences, it is a good, refined contact.

Then on the three:53 mark, he introduces Google’s Password Manager app to transition into his subsequent trick. It is an instance of how shortly and effectively you’ll be able to spotlight sponsored content material with out distracting from the principle function of the video.

four. How-Tos

It is one factor to clarify to viewers do one thing. It is one other to make use of a device that can assist them do it. Manufacturers and influencers typically use this method to introduce new product strains to the general public.

youtube

In a really meta instance, Sean Cannell, from the favored channel Video Influencers, provides viewers tips about get sponsors on YouTube utilizing the sponsored product, FameBit.

FameBit, not too long ago rebranded to YouTube BrandConnect, helps join manufacturers with influencers and vice versa. With that in thoughts, the channel – and its viewership – seemingly aligns very effectively with the sponsored product.

Cannell does a fast overview of the platform’s key options and spends the remainder of the video detailing his private expertise with the product. The overview is a superb instance of social proof, as that always carries extra worth than a easy product overview.

5. Comedy Sketches

Individuals like to chuckle, and a few manufacturers, like GEICO, are expert at turning bitter matters into humorous adverts that go away an impression.

youtube

On this video, comic influencer Caleb Glass, of CalebCity, does a hilarious sketch during which he asks a psychic to show their skills by guessing what he ate that day. If the psychic will get the reply proper, he agrees to fee the psychic to discover a hidden inheritance and cut up the money with them.

That is the place it will get good. The psychic guesses all the suitable substances however assumes that a dish that good needed to be cooked by a chef. Glass slams the sponsored product, Devour Foods, on the desk and tells the psychic they’re unsuitable because the dish was ready within the microwave. A screaming match ensues and the video ends with a product show.

This is why this video works: It performs on the concept that microwavable meals cannot be scrumptious within the context of one thing utterly totally different. Manufacturers with playful identities can vastly profit from utilizing comedic influencers to advertise their merchandise.

6. Product Unboxing and Opinions

Nothing brings me as a lot pleasure as receiving a brand new product within the mail and opening it.

It appears numerous us share that trait, as unboxing movies are extremely popular movies on YouTube. On this video type, viewers dwell vicariously via the influencer as they open up a product field and discover its options.

The success of this method lies within the skill to draw viewers at or near the decision-making stage.

youtube

When PlayStation launched the brand new PS5, the model collaborated with Justine Ezarik of iJustine, a tech, journey, and gaming influencer on YouTube, for this video. Usually, manufacturers will ship influencers free merchandise in alternate for unboxing movies and/or trustworthy opinions on their platforms.

With a lot of Ezarik’s channel centered on gaming expertise, her subscribers seemingly match PlayStation’s goal market and made her a super influencer to advertise this new product. Within the video, she feedback on the product’s futuristic look and light-weight controllers whereas including B-roll footage for close-up pictures of the PS5.

There are various methods to make use of such a marketing on YouTube. What manufacturers ought to prioritize when contemplating an influencer is whether or not the influencer’s model and values align with their very own. Secondly, to supply influencer marketing campaigns that convert, it is also vital that the influencer’s viewers suits the model’s consumer persona.

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creative-type · 7 years ago

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Worth A Thousand Words III: Oda and Stealth Character Development

So...what’s the point of the Skypiea arc? It’s a question One Piece fans and detractors alike ask. I don’t know the answer, but it was probably because Oda thought it would be cool. By its very nature One Piece is not a tightly woven story. Rather, it’s a sprawling adventure epic, and it does sprawl epically.

Skypiea is, however, an excellent arc when it comes to Straw Hat development, and today I want to focus on one scene in particular with regards to my favorite Nico Robin.

No, not that one.

While there is a certain significance to the fact that a survivalist like Robin would choose to side with the Straw Hats over the hugely powerful Enel, the moment Zoro catches Robin is more important to Zoro than Robin. He was the most openly against her, the one who trusted her the least for the longest amount of time. Here Oda is showing us in big flashing lights that, yeah, Zoro has accepted Robin as part of the crew.

But I don’t want to talk about big, flashy character moments. I want to talk about this

Robin actually gets a pretty decent chunk of screen time during the Sky Island Saga as a whole. It was easier back then because Oda was juggling six main characters instead of nine, but it’s pretty easy to tell he was giving Robin special focus.

This makes sense. Firstly, Robin was a former enemy, so there’s a need to separate Nico Robin from her Miss All Sunday persona. Secondly, as important as Robin’s dreams are to the narrative as a whole, her position on the ship is the only one that isn’t strictly necessary. Any pirate crew requires fighters, cooks, navigators and the like, but very few would deem “archaeologist” as a position needing to be filled. So immediately after adding her to the crew Oda makes up a situation where Robin’s skills are helpful and necessary

In this scene Robin also establishes she’s the only one in the crew who’s even heard of the sky islands, while giving some much-needed wisdom to Nami. This, along with what we’ve seen in chapter 218 and the end of 217 gives us what we need to know about Robin’s personality and position in the Straw Hat’s crew. Then shortly after stealing Jaya’s eternal pose from Masira (showing off yet another skill usually relegated to Nami) Robin almost disappears from the narrative entirely and is largely absent from the Jaya sub-arc.

To be fair, up until this point she had been wearing Nami’s clothes, and Robin is, like, almost a foot taller than she is. Some shopping is justifiable here, but it brings me to one of the most important things to keep in mind when analyzing Robin as a character:

Isolation and Distance

One of the best ways to visually convey that a character is emotionally distant is to physically separate them from other people. When Robin first showed up as Miss All Sunday she was sailing the ocean alone. During her confrontation with the Straw Hats about their route she sat far above them where she couldn’t be touched. She left that argument with only her rad turtle ship for company, and spent a surprisingly large amount of the Baroque Works Saga apart from Crocodile despite ostensibly being his partner in crime.

Robin continues to be less than engaged after joining the crew. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp fool off with one another constantly. Sanji and Zoro fight. Even Nami is known to smack the rest upside the head when they’re being stupid. Robin alone sits above all their antics, not showing her first face fault in a series lousy with them until well after the timeskip.

It’s pretty easy to pick up in the dialogue that Robin never calls any of the Straw Hats by their actual names, preferring to refer to them by their occupation (or their nose, in Usopp’s case). But the use of impersonal nicknames can’t be the reader’s only clue to Robin’s personality. Both Vivi and Robin have a habit of calling Zoro “Mr. Bushido”, but while the desert princess is kind, personable, and if anything cares a little too much, Robin is distant, standoffish, and at times even cold towards others around her.

You can even glean some insight from her fighting style. Robin doesn’t have to be in the same room with someone to kill them. She attacks from a distance, relying on stealth and surprise to snap necks and dislocate limbs. It’s brutally efficient and deeply impersonal, perfect for an assassin - or, perhaps, a young girl who was forced to learn on the fly how to fight against much larger opponents who showed no restraint or mercy.

This is something that was emphasized more in the anime where they had the benefit of knowing Robin’s backstory ahead of time and working little clues into the post-Alabasta filler. They’re a little on the nose at times, but episode 131 is a good example of what I’m talking about here, especially when emphasizing the fact that during the early chapters after joining the crew Robin often doesn’t speak unless directly addressed. To quote Oda in the Volume 71 SBS:

Reader: Robin always talks about creepy things in front of the crew. But her own thoughts, she often thinks of fun stuff like “cats” or “Dress Rosa”. Why doesn’t Robin talk about these things with the crew to make them laugh?

Oda: Even though Robin likes cute things, she’s a bit dark/creepy herself, so if she tries to put these cut thoughts into words there is a chance it may come out as scary/ominous. That’s the kind of woman Robin is.

Robin censers herself to avoid sounding weird. There’s enough evidence of her macabre sense of humor (spoke aloud) to assume that she has embraced her morbid self...most of the time. But Robin has been an outcast her entire life. Even before the Buster Call the citizens of Ohara were calling her demon/monster/creep/insert appropriate insult here.

(For those who don’t remember, the bruise on her cheek is from the other kids who were throwing rocks at her )

Robin spends large stretches of the Skypiea arc by herself, which further emphasizes the importance of what group interaction we do see. Robin has been hiding behind a well-crafted facade for nigh on twenty years because she needed to be a demon in order to survive the cutthroat world in which she lived.

Which takes us to point number two

Survival

Robin is all about living to see another day. Or she was until Crocodile shanked her (more on this below) Because of her past, she views the world through the lens of a survivor. It shapes how she thinks and how she acts, and Robin at this point doesn’t know any other way to live.

Robin has been miserably lonely for a long, long time, but believes if she allows herself to get close to others they’ll betray her. She learned the hard way not to trust anyone and that to let your guard down is to die. We see in Alabasta that Robin isn’t afraid to use deadly force against those who get in her way.

She’s got a bit of a mean streak, too. Though Robin didn’t kill Tagashi, she almost crippled her. That leg injury could have ended Tashigi’s career as a swordsman, which is almost crueler than killing her outright.

When Robin’s backstory is revealed in full the audience is always shown as Robin being the one betrayed, and never the betrayer. I think this helps garner sympathy, but her interaction with Crocodile shows that she’s not above a little backstabbing herself. Aokiji says that every organization she’s ever been a part of no longer exists, and I think that’s only possible if her reputation is at least somewhat deserved. When it comes to finding out the truth of the Void Century, Robin has literally the worst tunnel vision ever.

Which brings me to my last point

Openness to Change

Throughout the Sky Island Saga Robin is a woman who has lost her reason to live. Her only lead to the Rio Poneglyph was a dead end, and she doesn’t find Roger’s message until the end of the arc. That leaves a big chunk of time where she’s staying with the Straw Hats just because she can.

I think if she were as truly as fiercely pragmatic as she (and others) claim then she has no business on the Going Merry. Half of what the Straw Hats do is idiotic and should get them killed, and it’s amazing that they’ve survived this long as it is. Since Robin had resigned herself to death during the tail end of the Alabasta arc, we can assume that the idea of dying doesn’t bother her. Yes, Luffy made her go on, but she’s still stuck in this directionless limbo.

This is important because it gives Robin something other to focus on than the Void Century. Her desire to find the True History consumed her to the point where she was willing to work with Crocodile for four years and bring a “good” country to the brink of ruin. Without this obsession driving every decision Robin makes, she can take a step back and see the Straw Hat Pirates for what they really are.

The Stealth Character Development

Robin is not the focus of chapter 253. It’s a transition chapter situated between the first and second halves of the Skypea arc. The Straw Hats have reunited had their obligatory split the party moment that happen with frighteningly regularity. The crew are setting up camp as night approaches, comparing notes of what they’ve discovered so far.

Until this point, Robin has been with Zoro and Nami. These two make up 2/3 of the Straw Hats who showed initial distrust to Robin, and at this point Zoro stil hasn’t accepted her as one of their own. Yet they treat her with respect, and Nami especially seems to look up to her as an older sister figure.

Then Nami finds the other half of Cricket’s house, and without hesitation Zoro follows the comparatively weaker crew mate through the incredibly dangerous forest, which displays a trust for one another that would be very appealing to someone like Robin.

When the Straw Hats finally reunite, everyone is on good terms with one another. Remember, at this they’ve have stumbled into the middle of a civil war, made enemies with an unknown entity with a god complex, branded themselves as criminals, and almost gotten their ship destroyed. Some of their misfortune is just that - misfortune. But bad decision making plays at least a part of their current circumstance. It would be easy to turn on one another, and I think most pirates would. Just see how Usopp reacts when he sees what’s happened to the Merry

Anyone who has read the Water 7 arc knows how much Usopp loves this ship, but his first concern is Chopper. Compare to how any one of the Baroque Works agents reacted when someone failed a mission. Instead of falling apart during a time of crisis, the Straw Hats come closer together.

Chapter 253 begins with the crew setting up camp. Once again Robin goes off and does her own thing, this time finding a hunk of rock salt to use for cooking. Sanji predictably praises her, but he also reveals that he’s got a brain in his head by saying how important salt is to survival. Tick another box in the Straw Hat’s favor.

Every one of the Straw Hats helps set up camp, even the captain (useless as he may be). More than that, they each reveal a little of their talents. It’s sort of a reverse of what happens earlier in the arc when Robin showed off for the rest of the Straw Hat’s benefit. Through this Robin sees that the Straw Hats aren’t just good fighters, but smart and skilled as well.

After establishing the location of the gold and making plans for the next day, Robin makes a practical suggestion

This sequence marks the beginning of Robin’s stealth character development. She’s speaking here as a pragmatist and a survivor. Her point is valid, and any sensible person would have agreed with her.

The Straw Hat Pirates are many things, but sensible isn’t one of them. Luffy turns to Usopp in complete disbelief, while Usopp basically says “Go easy on her, Cap, there’s no way she could have known.”

Until this point, Robin has not been questioned by the Straw Hats. She’s not seen this sort of reaction directed at her, especially by Luffy. Her face says it all

Robin’s expression is pretty neutral here, but you can’t hide that sweat drop XD. She’s genuinely concerned that she’s made some sort of mistake. Remember, in Robin’s dog-eat-dog world a making a mistake is tantamount to death. She’s spent twenty years allying with people who at the very least distrust her, and more often than not try to kill her. And now, stuck up in in such a precarious position 10.000 meters above ground she has to be especially careful.

It’s okay, Robin, you’ve not done anything wrong. Luffy is just a dork

Note that Nami - the other survivalist in the crew - immediately jumps to her defense. They’re outnumbered by Zoro and Sanji, who have already made a giant bonfire.

Before we know it, the Straw Hats are partying with a bunch of wild wolves (Oda, plz...). They’re stuck deep in enemy territory on the night before a planned raid on the city of gold...and the Straw Hat Pirates are having a blast. Usopp’s playing the drums, Nami’s getting plastered, the rest are dancing their little hearts away, and Robin...Robin is smiling. This has got to be one of the most surreal, bizarre situations she’s ever seen.

Which brings us back to the image I started with

This says a lot about where Robin is at this point in the story. We can’t see her face clearly, but it’s established on the other half of the spread that she’s enjoying herself. Yet she remains distant, both physically and emotionally. The only thing that’s keeping Robin from joining in is Robin herself.

The Skypiea arc is important to Robin’s development because it rekindles her dream, but more than that it gives us moments like this where Robin is exposed to something she’s desired for twenty years, something we see later she’s always wanted but never believed that she would have.

The Straw Hat Pirates accept Robin unconditionally and show her a side of life that she’s never seen before. Even without knowing her entire backstory, by the time the Water 7 arc rolls around the audience genuinely believes that Robin would sacrifice her life, and the lives of every one else in the world, just to save the Straw Hat Pirates, and that wouldn’t be possible if Oda hadn’t given us this scene and others like it.

To put it another way, I fully believe that Robin would still make the same decisions during Water 7/Enies Lobby regardless of whether she found Roger’s message or not. The Skypiean Poneglyph furthers Robin’s part of the plot, but chapter 253 furthers her character arc.

What makes this all the more impressive is that Oda trusts his readers enough to figure it out for themselves. Unlike the anime, he never calls attention to Robin’s isolation and her gradual warming to the crew. Gan Fall wakes up on the very next page, and the focus shifts to more exposition, ending with the big reveal of what vearth is and why in the it’s so important. The development is stealthy.

Oda never makes a big deal of when Robin starts calling the crew by their real names during Thriller Bark. He doesn’t shove it in our face when she feels comfortable enough to tell Franky off for being stupid in Chopper’s body during Punk Hazard. He’s constantly using small moments all throughout the series to show how the crew has changed and grown, which is partially why people don’t think the characters have much depth.

It’s there, but without reading carefully it can be lost with everything else that’s going on. Just compare the Skypiean party to the end of Enies Lobby and tell me that Robin hasn’t changed. I dare you.

#One Piece #Nico Robin #Writing #Manga #Analysis #Character Development #Skypiea #Eiichiro Oda #creative-type analyzes

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roguishlyhandsomesecretagent · 5 years ago

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It didn't always feel within Rex to regard people with a lack of patience, unless they were truly on his nerves. Whether that was just him or his instinct to not make assumptions before he made any decisions could feel beyond him at times. Especially since he has wondering how much he was warming up to Max, being a spy or not.

"I supposed not," Rex laughed, with a slight tinge of sadness at the man's upbringing, "it doesn't look like it makes royalty look so good as it does on the outside."

Max gave Rex the impression that he found it easier to shrug and laugh about his family history as opposed to other things. He guessed it was easier to be entertained by the theatrics and comic side than to address the issues present. And didn't he know that.

Rex could still recall how ridiculous it felt every time he came home with his grades and they'd hoped he'd do better on the next assessments. They weren't exactly happy that he was always keen on gymnastics, either, unless they could find ways to insert themselves into his achievements. It appeared nothing was exactly good enough, and look how he ended up feeling later in life.

He didn't want to look up as the grin felt uncharacteristically him, hoping not to see the reaction of the man in front of him. He was either far too reserved or far too open at any given time, which didn't bide well when it came to meeting people. The heat in his face faded incrementally, and he looked up, hoping not to catch Max's potential stare in the first place.

He had momentarily looked away due to the possibility of also being caught staring, whether due to his own feelings or the observations of him by Rex. Whether he was used to this kind of look however, it seemed clear that both of them were just as aware of something they didn't want to admit.

Rex had always desired connection - like anyone would - but he'd fallen into bad places as a result and it left him reserved. He wasn't willing to shut people off and create a whole persona to deal with others, but of course, another side always spoke differently in a bizarre attempt to protect him.

He guessed he was surprised at the bitterness and anger in Max's voice, but he felt a dangerous warmth in response to it. He felt strange with other people coming to his defence, he was used to being self reliant, but Max seemed particularly vehement at what his parents did; though he was unsure how and if he wanted to show his gratitude.

"Well, I mean, I guess," he laughed nervously, trying to push back memories of that point in time, "not like they were already being hard on me. Them finding out kinda 'ruined their brand image'. You can probably see how I managed to deal with that."

Rex's face fell at Max's response. There seemed to be a close connection in their parents' desire to live through their children. It clearly caused both people a lot of stress, despite the directions they took to cope with the expectations. He looked at Max, offering a soft smile in sympathy. Not like he was already in deep with this man to wonder caring about what happened next.

"That's not something a father should have in mind for his children," he said, voice in both sympathy for Max and annoyance at his dad, "it's not pleasant to hear that he considered you a failure. If anything, I can certainly say my parents may have almost felt the same despite everything I did. It shouldn't be like this."

He couldn't stop himself from adding the immortal words, "I don't think we're so different from each other, as much as I didn't expect to say that."

Hey Maximus do you like men or women?

“Men exclusively~”

#(we're in deep here people)#(these two have opened up and it's w i l d)#(look at these sweet dorks)#rex dasher #RP #playmobil: the movie #emperor maximus #maximus-arcus-inimicus

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patricksilvrrozartistry · 8 years ago

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Ok, this is going to sound a bit strange, but I've been thinking about this A LOT lately and need to talk about it. I've always been the kind of person that can "read" people and learn about them by being around them. Recently (I'd say within the past few months), I've started noticing that I've been able to point these sorts of things out without knowing them very well or by just seeing quite a few pictures of them and being spot on with what it is I've picked up.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I want to talk about what it is that I really want to talk about. It's Jeffree Star. I know I've mentioned plenty of times in the past that he was an idol of mine when I was younger, but after the shit from his past getting dug up over the summer and him NEVER addressing it, I decided to distance myself from him. Every time I would watch a video of his I would get annoyed; it even got to the point where seeing pictures of him would annoy me. But recently, I saw a picture of him and saw something. This person isn't a real person. I've known this for a few years, but Jeffree has always been the kind of person to be shocking for the sake of getting attention, which is how he got so famous back in the Myspace days and is how he's still relevant today (besides his makeup brand, that is). The person I saw was a persona, not a real person. Who I saw was an over-exaggerated version of himself. But a little while ago, I watched a video he did with someone I followed (which was the only reason why I watched it, since I know from that particular series, you can learn more about the guest and I wanted to learn more about them) and saw HIM. Not the persona, but the real Jeffree.

I then realized something. Jeffree has talked about how he has pretty bad anxiety in the past. Maybe this persona was created as a way for him to exist outside of the anxiety. I know many drag queens/kings do this and normal people do it as well. This is how alter egos are created. You create a version of yourself that you can "become" in order to "escape" the realities of your true self. Trinity K. Bonet (a drag queen) once said on a panel that she started thinking of ways to push the [female] illusion further by possibly getting breast implants or by even transitioning. She realized in that moment that sometimes the persona takes on a new life and is always there, making it hard to differentiate between Trinity and [insert her boy name here] at times. This can easily be what happened to Jeffree. He created an alter ego to escape the hardships of anxiety and it took on a life of its own.

In that moment I saw HIM, I saw beyond the makeup, beyond the tattoos, beyond the hair. Beneath all of that is someone who's seen hell. I don't know if it's from losing a loved one (and I don't just mean to death, but also from rejection) or just from the struggles of life, but somewhere deep inside is someone scared. The persona comes along to help him get through each day, but that same persona has developed a nasty personality, because when it was created, that was a personality that resembled strength and protection to him, almost like a mirror of the nastiness that had been projected onto him.

You can also see HIM whenever he's talking about simple things about Nathan or even about the dogs. It's in his eyes. Whenever he talks about them, the persona seems to fade away and HE comes through. There's a peacefulness to him when he speaks of them. Same goes for his close friends. In the same video, he gave the guest a few birthday gifts. You can see in his eyes the love he felt for them. He truly cares for them and wants them to be happy. Seeing HIM in that video just has me worked up for some reason. It's almost as if I can sense that there is something up with him. It's almost as if he's afraid that he'll be alone and lose those that he cares about and that he wants to be able to let them know how much he cares about them before something happens.

Now I'll never be able to know if this is true unless I get to somehow talk to him about it or to possibly be in his presence (being with someone in person gives me almost accurate readings). Part of me wants to meet him so I can actually find out. This doesn't mean I've changed my mind on him completely and will reconsider using his products though. They just don't interest me and his liquid lipstick formula isn't my cup of tea, soooo yeah lol.

#me #ramblings #am i psychic #does this ability have an actual name #reading #people #reading people #Jeffree Star #alter ego #persona #beauty blogger

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megacross-ground-zero-rated-r · 4 years ago

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Warning for NSFT text.

I've had the phrase "self-made Renaissance man" rattling around in my head in regards to Smartass. Essentially it means between working hard jobs he takes on various creative and intellectual pursuits like cooking, learning languages, drawing and painting, etc.

The thing that's been ping-ponging around the most is his explanation of the N///SFW c///ommission business he ran out of his one bedroom apartment, how he tries to draw in customers that're conflicted about the nature of his service.

Quick note: I was thinking of giving him a trait of writing down his opinions and how he's improved artistically, hoping to leave a record that might one day be studied. A window into the life of an uneducated, low-class worker who decided to create as much as he could through the avenues available to him. He always explained it as a silly little thing, but the more pages piled up, the more he had to acknowledge that, yeah, this means something to him. If only for amount of time he sank into it. He's kinda got a lot going on already, though.

The living room looks relatively tidy, but still lived in. Wooden ammo and cigar boxes supplement his coffee table. He has framed posters of plays he was in, a giant print of Mae West above his musty, ripped up sofa. Knives of every shape and size are hung on a magnetic strip by the sink.

There is pornography papering nearly an entire wall in his bedoom. Adult and drug-related paraphernalia hung on the walls, on shelves and hooks, some of which are arm's reach from the bed. Two old but not quite vintage cameras are leaned in a corner on tripod stands. By comparison to the living room it's also physically messier.

Ever since his theater career and entrepreneural efforts in his youth, detailed below, he has built a personal brand on being a "sleaze", a party animal, an all-around societal menace. Amplifying that to the extreme in his personal space suddenly makes any deviation from the norm- Being a respectable middle class woman, or gay, or a physically disabled person who wants to see people like you treated as desirable, et cetera- Seem small by comparison.

"They're not carrying some grave sin here with them, see. The space I create can't be polluted any further than all this-" He does a quick turn on his heel and gestures with a grand sweep of his arm. "-No matter what lustful utterance spills from their mouths." He curls the fingers of his upturned palm, places his other paw on his chest, tilts his head to smirk over his shoulder. "So what does that leave?"

Pause for emphasis before he does a sharper turn. "It leaves the space to pollute them." His extended paw flattens to a knife, darts out in time with the emphasized word. "Of course they can't help the gears that start turnin', surrounded by such suggestive imagery. I'm setting myself up to be the villain, the tempter, that devil on their shoulder they've heard so much about." That's how the repressed ones approach it, anyway. "Besides, how jarring is it gonna be if it looks like a fuckin' doctor's office in here?'

For those who are only skittish, or visit him enough times where the corruption element wears off, it's having a space where they can be open about their desires. If he just lives like this all the time it becomes no big deal to admit, hey, I like ______ when there's ten different illustrations of that and more hardcore / niche interests plastered above you. Getting to the point where they can speak in more detail helps him give them a better product.

He understands it just won't be part of some people's personality to express themselves this way, but he hopes that a few can move past simple acceptance and join him in celebrating the erotic. At least while they're with him.

This all ties into his belief in the power of roleplay. Everyone benefits from having a place removed from everyday life where they can try on different personas, dramatizing their emotions. Sure, they can do it as a sex thing if they want, but it shouldn't be boxed into one or the other where they do it when they're real young and then stop or go out of their way to prove that it's not childish to wanna pretend for a while.

I imagine even back then their were some artists and performers, maybe ones that'd gotten famous and broken into other careers, making the argument that they're normal people who just happen to also be in the adult entertainment industry. "Fuck that. This is who I am and what I wanna do, and you can piss off if you gotta problem with it."

He's had his paw in selling printed media secondhand, illustrating the inside covers of novellas and inserting double-sided pages with lavishly colored scenes, collaging together custom pinup calendars. He took a job as a janitor in a bigger, Official studio to get a close look at the inner workings and make friends with the staff. One of his dream projects is painting explicit murals in a bathhouse / caberet bar / a brothel, like the old Roman ones.

((Yes, that means he had to mop up the mess. He's not at all squeamish about it. "Those sheets and costumes gotta be washed, too. And shower tiles scrubbed down... It's called a production for a reason."))

When pressed or talking to a like-minded person he will admit that he doesn't actually think his choice of subject matter or enthusiasm makes him any worse than if he just stuck to landscspes. Pointing to the shunga print and the French postcards to prove that people have been doing this forever won't erase the hangups just like that. He cannot earnestly make the argument that it’s 100% fine and normal to use a visual aid to most people in mainstream society and expect to be taken seriously. Unless they remember pre-Hayes Code days, maybe? And even then.

Wrapping it up in an over-the-top performance is fun, it's good acting practice, but still. It can get tiring. He wonders where the line between him and his persona is.

The history of Hollywood is steeped in many things, and it has the sex trade right at the top of that list. It's fascinating to see how the industry evolved, and I'm left wondering how much difference there is between east coast and west coast. Are they basically the same aside from west coast being more prolific? Is it just more well-known there and both have equally vibrant, robust communities?

#nsft text #smartass the weasel #adult entertainment #roleplay #swearing

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theconservativebrief · 6 years ago

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Steak-Umm — a Pennsylvania-based company that makes fast-cooking and heavily processed meat strips, sold in the freezer aisle at grocery stores — struck a nerve on Twitter Wednesday with a philosophical thread about the plight of millennials.

why are so many young people flocking to brands on social media for love, guidance, and attention? I’ll tell you why. they’re isolated from real communities, working service jobs they hate while barely making ends meat, and are living w/ unchecked personal/mental health problems

— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) September 26, 2018

“Why are so many young people flocking to brands on social media for love, guidance, and attention?” wondered Steak-umm. “I’ll tell you why. They’re isolated from real communities, working service jobs they hate while barely making ends meat, and are living w/ unchecked personal/mental health problems.”

It was social analysis with meat puns. It went viral immediately. Over the next six tweets, Steak-umm went on to consider the toll of student debt, helplessness/loneliness, internet-induced isolation, and depression on the millennial psyche. In a meta twist, it even took on the effect of … marketing campaigns.

they grew up through the dawn of internet culture and have had mass advertising drilled into their media consumption, now they’re being resold their childhoods by remakes, sequels, spinoffs, and other cheap nostalgia, making them more cynical to growth or authenticity

— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) September 26, 2018

Millennials, the steak strips observed, “have had mass advertising drilled into their media consumption, and they’re being resold their childhoods by remakes, sequels, spinoffs, and other cheap nostalgia, making them more cynical to growth or authenticity.”

Cynical to growth or authenticity, perhaps, except if it’s coming from Steak-umm. Yoda-like, or vaguely stoned, the brand has in the past year established itself as the philosopher-poet of frozen meat sheets. But what feels fresh — authentic, even — about the voice is that it’s weird, or unexpected, or extremely open about the strangeness of being a personified brand. It’s the melancholy desperation. And it’s part of a deliberate strategy.

As soon as the rant was posted, Jesse Bender, the account director at Allebach Communications, which handles Steak-umm’s branding for parent company Quaker Maid, got a call from Fortune. “The guy said, ‘I just want to see if you guys got hacked — was this an approved tweet?’ As much as people think that it came from left field, this is aligned with [our] voice,” he tells me.

Nathan Allebach, the 27-year-old social media manager who has become the voice of Steak-umm, has a theory of virality. Some food brand tweets, he says, go viral because “they do certain things that people don’t expect to see coming from a brand. There’s that shock: ‘Wow, I can’t believe a brand is saying this thing!’”

In the case of Steak-umm, though, the surprise is recognition: people seeing their innermost thoughts and fears reflected in the social media posts of a frozen-food brand. Since the tweets were posted, Allebach says, people are “just dumbfounded at the commentary and how they relate to it. I think at the end of the day, that’s what we’re trying to do.” Also, you know, sell steak.

“We’re trying to create meaningful content, so we’re not just posting nonsense,” he explains. “There’s some substance to it, but at the same time, it’s really lighthearted, and it’s centered around the community that we’ve built. We’re not taking sides or having a specific stance on anything.”

Yes, they’re talking about issues that are politics-adjacent — one might suggest that student debt and “unchecked personal/mental problems” are things that could have systemic solutions — but they’re not saying that, and they’re certainly advocating any particular stance. “We really want to be that sort of third way between a lot of the polarization that we see online,” Allebach explains.

According to him, the brand’s current voice was in fact developed, in part, as a response to trolling. (“There’s a certain subset of people who just don’t like brands on social media for whatever reason.”) Their now-trademark sign-off, “Steak-umm bless,” is intended as a strategy to “diffuse any type of tension.” The brand is a uniter, not a divider. It may have delivered “the most woke tweet rant of 2018,” but Steak-umm didn’t mean for it to be woke-woke. It’s not Nike here — it’s just a meat company with some things to say about post-recession ennui.

Steak-umm, of course, is not the only food brand trying to prove its chill authenticity on Twitter to capture a younger market. Fast-food chains, especially, have been successful at inserting themselves into the digital lives of consumers — often by stirring up drama with their anthropomorphized competitors and tapping into deep-seated customer loyalties. (Let us never forget the time Burger King “promposed” to Wendy’s, reigning champion of branded Twitter.)

Fast-food brands have adopted the social media personas of high school students, and it is just a matter of time until they all realize they are more the same than different at before-school detention. (In January, Steak-umm — already a favorite of weird Twitter — found itself in a fight with Wendy’s. Like everything else on the internet, it escalated quickly.)

Mostly, brand Twitter manifests as promotional information mixed with not especially successful humanoid dad-jokes — “early to bed, early to pancakes,” tweeted IHOP — but not always. Steak-umm is hardly the only food brand to get unabashedly weird. MoonPie, purveyor of decidedly un-hip graham cracker cookie sandwiches, has made waves with an aggressively internet-y persona. Like Steak-umm, MoonPie tweets exhibit a self-deprecating awareness that it is a brand advertising products. Also like Steak-umm, MoonPie’s tweets make varying degrees of sense.

What’s fascinating about Steak-umm tweetstorm, though, is that the sentiment is both dark and, more importantly, not particularly related to the product. It is not about eating. Minus the “Steak-umm bless” sign-off and the opening pun, it does not mention steak at all, -umm or otherwise. The closest equivalent may be the Twitter phenomenon Nihilist Arby’s, except in this case, it’s not parody. The nihilism comes from the brand itself.

The genius here is that it’s advertising, but it isn’t aspirational — like it says, millennials are too cynical for that. Instead, it mirrors our collective anxieties. People joke that the account is “one of Twitter’s therapists,” Allebach says, the frozen meat brand you go to for “life advice,” or “just to vent.” It’s not going to fix anything — it is, in its own words “a frozen meat company on Twitter” — but, you know, it hears you. The tweets don’t inspire cravings; they inspiring identification. Steak-umm is fed up too.

Steak-umm’s recent rant isn’t the only time the company has won brand Twitter by capturing our collective angst. Last October, the company drummed up viral support when it launched an impassioned #VerifySteakUmm campaign after being denied the blue check mark five months in a row without explanation. (The account is now verified.)

Was it marketing? Sure. But also, Bender told the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time, they really did want to get verified. In the fall of 2017, the verification process — always shrouded in mystery — was an especially hot topic. First, Twitter was under fire for verifying assorted white supremacists. Then in response, the company paused the verification process altogether, so for at least part of the #VerifySteakUmm campaign, Steak-umm actually couldn’t get verified. “Waging a fruitless war,” Fortune pointed out, “is part of the joke for Steak-umm, which is tapping into a deeper well of user frustration and confusion.”

Maybe that’s the crux of it. Steak-umm does the jokes and memes and petty inter-brand feuds like the rest of brand Twitter — but it’s also willing to go dark. It is sometimes miserable, being a person. And Steak-umm is a brand that understands the marketing possibilities inherent in that. Not fixing your misery — lots of companies want to fix stuff — but seeing your misery. Identifying with your frustration.

This is sadness marketing at its finest. What matters isn’t whether beef sheets can solve your loneliness; what matters is that Steak-umm knows you’re lonely.

if you’re tired of being alone then buy some Steak-umm. make some cheesesteaks. cover your couches in them. and your bed. your walls. become a beacon of beef and invite the world to bask in your glory

— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) September 8, 2018

But Steak-umm, as Steak-umm is very aware, is still a brand trying to sell you a frozen meat product that, Eater observes, millennials aren’t necessarily likely to even want. And apparently, it’s working. “We haven’t done a whole lot different in previous years in terms of traditional marketing,” says Joey Piazza, the director of marketing at Quaker Maid. “And sales are up double digits across the board … we’re reaching a new audience that we haven’t in the past.”

Original Source -> Steak-umm’s new marketing strategy: millennial angst with a side of meat puns

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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idolizerp · 6 years ago

Photo

[ LOADING INFORMATION ON POIZN’S LEAD VOCAL LOGAN…. ]

DETAILS

CURRENT AGE: 26 DEBUT AGE: 19 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 18 SKILL POINTS: 20 PERFORMANCE | 12 VOCAL | 08 DANCE | 00 RAP SECONDARY SKILLS: Acting

INTERVIEW

— disciple.

personas are both intricate and simplistic in nature. a bit of an oxymoron, but one that’s sculpted with a purpose. it needs to fit together almost puzzle-like in nature, a personalized copy that’s a part of the whole that is the group. and so rogun needed a public persona - one that fit in along with the rest of poizn, and one that was able to play with the snippets of truth that were deemed okay for public consumption. a palatable experience, after all, is the entire purpose of having a persona. there are some aspects that become slightly more complicated. rogun came from religion, an impressive school, grades that were reflective of this. but poizn’s image was one that was rough around the edges. it played up talent over anything superficial. and so things were rearranged, rogun’s stage persona is effectively two opposing halves that come together into a whole that is supposed to be harmonious. in a way, it mirrors parts of his life, like stepping into this role was one large, karmic joke placed upon him by a god that he wants to refuse.

— sinner.

poizn’s image isn’t boys next door. it’s not playful, or particularly cute. they’re rough and tumble. marketed as fake bad boys. or they were intended to be before the members went around revealing there was far more truth to that statement than most investors want to deal with. and so when creating poizn’s logan, he had to depict this in specified doses. at the beginning, this was played up a far greater deal than it is now. the bad boy aesthetic was replicated with leather jackets and instructions to fit cocky grins to his expressions when he caught sight of the fans. a debonair sort of attitude. ‘we want you to really pull in the fans,’ that was what was repeated to him in poizn’s early days. and rogun went with it. what teenage boy doesn’t have the desire to be idolized by thousands of girls willing to scream his name in an attempt to be noticed?

does it deviate from the truth? of course. being bad is almost unavoidable, everyone is at some point. rogun is often. his own attitude splits from the one given to him here, though. he might have been a player, might even still be one. but he doesn’t wear it like a trophy, an over-acted drama role. and in light of the years of poizn’s scandals stacked on top of each other, management has been leaning harder on the other half of his prescribed image. are walking him back from playing up a flirty, cocky sort of attitude. they have enough attitude controversies that they need to balance out that it seems fitting an initial fielded concept doesn’t matter so much anymore. and rogun can’t bring himself to care. the whole thing’s a show that he doesn’t want a part in anymore.

— saint.

poizn was meant to be troublesome in image only. the kind of group that was often paired with a dubious torrent of words that now make rogun cringe - ‘swag’ was one that came up often. this was never supposed to branch into real life, it was obvious when the members started to get into trouble. it was even more obvious when imperial was constructed, a play it safe version of poizn. which was why, when the group was being put together, rogun was still sat down and instructed to keep himself within that realm of idol-acceptable. they wanted to bring up parts of his past. the boy who looked rough, but was raised under the roof of a church. got the sort of grades that might appease mothers. a face that looked sweet enough, unless he twisted that self-amused grin into place that read of narcissistic afterthoughts and cocky behavior. grin sly at the fans, but then act caring when they slide an album across the table at a fan sign. ask if they ate well. a boy with a golden heart, the kind of spirit a girl might want to latch onto, pin down, can turn into a prince charming with a few ready-made ingredients. he was essentially pre-packaged with instructions, one that would appeal to the demographic at play.

and it did. does. this is the part that 99 has been asking for more of lately. is this truth? well, no. it never is. everything’s too simplistic underneath the spotlight. shaved down and nice. rogun is more than his stage persona, and he’s less. but he’s willing to play the part while he’s still signed, while they’re helping find acting roles for good behavior. can act mature in the face of enlistment in order to offset the behavior of his group mates. he might be over poizn, but you still need to present yourself in a certain way in order to get what you want. he learned this from his parents, a sentiment that he thinks extends to nearly all branches of life. and a lesson he’s not sure many in his group bother to understand. but then, that’s not his problem. it never has been. he just pretends like it might be.

he’s not as forgiving as he pretends to be.

BIOGRAPHY

— infancy.

a miracle. that’s what rogun was called by his parents. it was an empty title, something easily discovered if drilled into. but nobody ever had. everything in his family’s life was listed into grander categories. their piety, their faith led them down this road of fortune. or so it was told. so it was believed. the construction of their lifestyle, identity, morality was all stacked on top of the foundation of religion. a branch of christianity that unfolded into this megalith of a thing. a mega church that propagated things they swore they preached against. but what did rogun know of what was to come? a gurgling, swaddled creature bundled underneath blankets. rose-pinched cheeks and that constant reminder that he was miracle, just because his parents were a little older than their twenties when they had him. or maybe just because they wanted him to be. or at least pretend he was. to build reputation into their story. create their images into something holier. something to be revered. because with that awed sort of admiration comes money.

and apparently even the most devout aren’t able to turn away that lure. but money is, for some reason, never likened to sin.

— childhood.

it turns out that one doesn’t need to grow with an absence of triviality to be a good, devout son. after all, his parents had too much wealth. not if you asked them, of course. according to them, it was all necessary. needed for charities, to maintain the church. needed for their health, for future plans, missionaries, or their son’s education. rogun’s childhood was better than most. he can recognize this. he was raised well, even if it was knotted tight to their ideologies. ideologies he has never learned to completely sever to this day. and if well is defined underneath the umbrella of all things physical in nature. he had access to everything that he needed, he didn’t want for toys, and his parents were able to send him to well-to-do schools and academy programs. his family was a wealthy one, and it was evident in the brands he wore ( even as a six year old ), the house that they lived in, the way that he was raised.

it’s an interesting shade of wealth though, where it came from. and rogun has never bothered to look into the specifics of it. and as a child, why would he? so he played the part of the perfect son that they wanted. he studied well, and he did what he was told. he attended sermons and grew into his features. poured time into soccer under the trade off that he sit, listen, and learn his parents’ ideologies. a promise to mirror that image of themselves that they wanted to maintain. beliefs that they wanted to imprint into him. etch them deep enough that he wouldn’t be able to wash himself clean of it. their religion. their life.

and they succeeded in that, in the end.

— adolescence.

children are often raised in the image of their parents. mannerisms, ideologies, skills and points of opinion. these are seeds buried within someone’s being. something that’s watered through conversation and maintained through the care and cultivation of being raised underneath biased hands. bad or good, it happens to everyone. the terrible and the bland, it’s all folded together, parts used to create an entity. but it often doesn’t stay that way. a spitting image reflected back in a mirror. parents often, and sometimes without realizing it, expect that out of their children. but as they grow, they deviate. they begin to take their own form. sometimes they flower into something unexpected, despite the deeply wound roots of their childhood.

and of course, rogun grew into something more than their parents bargained for. it started out small. there were too many rules, and too many things that rogun wanted to do. the problem, sometimes, with marrying religion into a child’s life is that it’s not their own decision. and it wasn’t his. it left rogun wobbling on a shaky plank of a situation, one where he didn’t necessarily want to follow the rule of a god he was no longer interested in, and one where a part of his subconscious was unable to buck the teachings that his parents imparted on him. it’s a mental trap he’s still stuck in to this day.

but too much money mixed with too many rules never seems to work out all too well. rogun was someone to be envied, the boy that you point to as a shining example in the community. the person you wanted your own son to be like. that was rogun’s end of the bargain, and as long as he maintained this image for the community, he was able to get away with more than that behind closed doors for a while - as seems to be the way of the church in general. he made friends with boys in similar shades of wealth at the private schools his parents sent him to. ones who weren’t always theoretically held back by the bands of faith. now here we could insert some overused quip about being led into temptation. but really, when is that ever the case? rogun walked up to greet it willingly. sin is always more thrilling, isn’t it?

rogun, in his teen years, went to too many parties. the kind with bottles of champagne and imported alcohol. the kind with designer drugs and too much drama. it overflowed, spilled onto the floor and they all learned to lap it up like dogs. there were trysts, backstabbing, bullying, your typical high school drama. only dialed up, because everything becomes more superfluous and extravagant when money’s involved. looking back, rogun’s able to identify that this all started - his own act of snowballing rebellion - for the simple sake of rebelling. there wasn’t much more to it aside from that degree of wanting to fit himself in at school. but there were other groups he could’ve fallen in with. his life path has more to do with forcefully stretching his wings than it had anything to do with peer pressure.

and it was how rogun got himself entangled with more than he could really bargain with. something he’d later come to regret, but was momentarily enamored with. that call of dabbling in things that he wasn’t supposed to. it led to bumps in maintaining the image that his parents set up for him. though not ones that they thought were unfixable. and the kind of trouble that he got up to generally stayed among his clique of friends. their parents, who were equally reluctant to let their children's’ extracurriculars get out. and maybe they would have been. maybe rogun would’ve pulled away from it all, straightened himself out. but it very obviously didn’t happen. his parents were pushing for a specific life path, one that would lead him to eventually taking over for his father. really, it was a lucrative future. just not one that rogun wanted, and in all his teenage hubris he thought that his options were very well limitless.

new money meant a group of kids with stars in their eyes. they wanted fame, and so rogun borrowed their aspirations. all he had really wanted, in that moment, at seventeen, eighteen, was to escape out from underneath his parents’ thumb. to pull himself away from that promise of a future and break recklessly through the world until he found something that he decided was fitting. getting pulled into 99’s orbit was sort of by chance.

he didn’t necessarily walk in to audition, and he wasn’t pulled from the street. there was a gray area there, but one that’s never been revealed to the fans. there’s no point to it, really. one of his friends knew a scout for the company, and he asked if they could be introduced. connections get you far in life, after all. once upon a time, rogun had been thinking about perhaps modeling. but this was one of those foot in the door opportunities. there was no guarantee behind it. but the scout liked his look, and they invited him to audition. rogun wasn’t a once in a lifetime vocalist, he hadn’t been studying dance since he was a child. but he was athletic, his voice had a nice enough tone to it, and more than that, rogun really just had a very nice face, very nice proportions, and the kind of background a company could theoretically create a decent persona out of.

and so he was signed. unsurprisingly, his parents were not thrilled. but at eighteen internationally, there wasn’t much that they could do about it when he decided to deviate off of their prescribed path, didn’t follow that line into becoming a pastor.

— career.

rogun’s training felt more like a crash course. he was given vocal and dance lessons in order to heft him up to some neutral level where he could match the rest of the group that they were planning. that he was going to have a chance in. they were going to be rap-heavy though, apparently. and he knew he wasn’t slated for main vocal, main dance. he put in effort, it was an opportunity he thought he was after, so of course he did. but the expectations that were waiting for him weren’t as high as some of the others. a year later, and he was given the role of the lead vocal. his role wasn’t to pull people in with talent, he was meant to lean more on charm. to be good enough that nobody could drag the group down for his voice. and he could swing that.

in retrospect, 99 was probably the worst company that he could’ve signed with. there were too many scandals that swirled around the company. looming storm clouds, a constant threat of a downpour that would drown them in backlash. his parents were, obviously, disapproving. the silver lining in it all was that, while many of rogun’s group mates in poizn had heavy scandals, he did not. he had learned from a very young age on how to present himself, how to save face, how to project himself as that perfect son to the public. he learned very quickly that 99 was constantly appreciative of his efforts, how he kept himself out of trouble ( at least in the public’s eye ), how he was willing to play clean up and try to polish off poizn’s image whenever they dipped into a scandal.

but as rogun got older, the more he came to specific realizations in his life. that one, he had never really wanted to be an idol. that he didn’t much care for dancing his way across a stage, didn’t really want to insert his vocals between the rap breaks of his members. that two, the lifestyle wasn’t really conducive to his health. that all those connections, that all that money was on a different level ( and his parents had never cut him off in the first place, they had to save face and twist it all into a narrative that helped rather than hindered ). that addiction spiraled behind closed doors. that the tenuous grip he had on self control faltered. which led to number three, the mental problems that rogun grappled with only grew. his relationship with sin and salvation was convoluted. there were things that he wanted, that he did, and then there was the feeling of all-encompassing guilt. there was the refusal to be that strict brand of good that his parents wanted. the rejection of scripture. but rejection doesn’t just cast him away from that mentality, and so he’s burdened with the after effects. the toll it has on him. there are battles that go on in rogun’s mind, much the same as everyone else. but they breed toxicity and confusion, and they’ve proven to be all but impossible to escape.

rogun’s willingness to play clean up was what led into his earlier than expected army service. in 2016, there was some scandal or another, something either made or resurfacing. whichever it was, it doesn’t really matter to his chapter of the story. rogun hadn’t been a part of it, but he was in good standing with the company. he didn’t want his name embedded in it, and he also wasn’t looking to re-sign with poizn once his contract was up. that he was going to try to branch out into acting under a more focused company. all of these pieces were known, and they led to management approaching him with a deal. that they’d trade military service for better opportunities. rogun going early meant his name couldn’t be tied into anything. it meant sympathy, that he was going early to either a) get away from problematic members, or b) try to help their image ( how selfless ). rogun didn’t care about his prime musically, and was instead promised more opportunities for acting between poizn’s long hiatus-filled gaps. so he took the deal, decided to re-sign. whether or not it was a fool’s decision is still up in the air. but two years later in 2018 and rogun returned once more to the scene, his service behind him and a new career to try and create.

#id.bio #id.99 #id.poizn #id.choi minho

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