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jordanprice · 1 year ago

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June 11 - Himeji-jo

Dear the fans back home,

I hope you are doing well and that you are ready to hear about today’s adventures! I’m sorry this post is late, and I apologize for making you wait. Hope y’all are well :)

Today we visited Himeji-jo to see the Himeji castle. It was a long way there, but I would say it was worth seeing it.

When we arrived in the area, we split up for lunch. I went with Lauren, Bianca, and Emily to get food. It was some vegan restaurant that Emily found. When we got there, it said that they had a 90 minute wait, but they kicked out a group of people who had apparently been there for over an hour after finishing their meal, in favor of seating us. The others seemed to like their food good enough, but there was a problem with mine. The problem being it never arrived. The lady confirmed our order and everything, then I never got my food, and we didn’t get charged for it. So, I just literally didn’t get to eat for that meal, but it was whatever I suppose. I’m glad the others enjoyed theirs.

We then went to the castle. When professor smith pointed out all the positions for defenses and archers and stuff for the castle, Lauren made the joke that we seemed to make it in easily and that their defenses were lacking. It was really funny, and she kept joking about it throughout our time there. Every time we made it through another gate, she would comment on its ease.

I was then making a joke of my own throughout it on asking whether things were original that obviously weren’t (like tvs and ac and stuff). Just being like “do you think that’s original?” Lauren was then also joking about how much it would cost to rent out a room there, saying like it’s gotta be like four yen or something, and at least two yen. I always like gross over and under exaggerations as jokes. It’s been really fun having someone on this trip that gets my humor well and has a similar sense of humor themselves.

The castle itself was really cool to look at, and I do genuinely wonder how much of it is original and how much of it is like restored and stuff. Overall, I must agree with Lauren though… it was way too easy to invade.

Also, there was this well that was said to have some lady be thrown down it after she broke/was robbed of the tenth plate of a set of ten. People say that they can still here her counting to ten at night and stopping at nine. And all I’m saying is she is swimming in money down there. Literally as there are definitely at least thousands of dollars worth of coins down there, as well as I’m assuming water given it’s a well.

(You can sort of see the coins glimmering in the bottom of the well in this photo. Also, yes, someone from our group is trying to salvage a coin using an umbrella in the left of the photo.)

Lauren wanted to make it up to me for not getting lunch, by letting me decide where to eat for dinner. She’s vegetarian, but was trying to convince to go to a steak place to make up for it. Obviously I’d feel bad dragging her to a steak place, especially since the whole lunch thing wasn’t her fault at all, but I knew it would make her feel better about things. The problem is though, that everywhere either had no menu at all, had a set menu that did not sound appealing, and or was way too expensive. The one place we found was impossible to get to, and the replacement we found literally didn’t exist anymore. We ended up in what I could only describe as a cyberpunk speakeasy, and I ended up getting yakitori and it was really really good. The vibes of the place were so crazy on point I can’t even explain. I felt bad for Lauren as there weren’t really any options for her. She ended up getting strawberry pancakes, and I know she doesn’t particularly like pancakes, so it wasn’t the best for her, but she just seemed happy I liked my food, which was very sweet of her.

Overall pretty good day, but rip everyone’s suica cards. The suica carry is real, and it’s service will not be forgotten o7 (it’s the train pass for anyone wondering, and the round trip today used up a solid fourth of our total original funds).

Academic Reflection

Today I learned about Japanese castles and castle towns. I found it interesting how, as opposed to the tall European castle walls, those of Japanese castles were shorter. This was made up for, however, by the fact that they were on top of hills. This allowed for them to fire down on any possible intruders, without needing to have high walls to maintain high ground. I also liked how the walls were. More naturally sloped, and following that the of the land. This was better for bearing loads. Walking through the castle today, I could see why intruding it would be so tricky. It is on a hill, has multiple layers of defense with many archer holes in the walls, and it honestly kinda confusing if a layout if you don’t know your way around.

An interesting story we learned about was that of this lady who was thrown down a well. She was found to be missing one of ten plates by who I think was her husband, and out of anger he threw her down the well. The theories are that either she broke one or that this samurai whose proposal she turned down stole it from her. The well itself felt like a gold mine looking down at it. The bottom was covered in coins which I thought was actually pretty cool.

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mortimermcmirestinks · 2 years ago

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So uh, apparently people are sending asks to corporate blogs, Berry, you are much better at wording things than me, so can you please explain to people why that's a bad idea if they don't want tumblr to potentially be further sterilized and infested with ads?(please tell me your secret to wording things better btw)

I'll do my best! o7

TL;DR: sending asks to corporate social media accounts -- even silly or mocking ones -- is giving ammunition to advertisers, and the more that advertisers stay on [tumblr], the suckier the site will get for us, the users.

basically it goes like this:

Before anything else, you need to remember this: social media accounts owned by for-profit corporations are marketing tools, which means they're advertising. Corporations do not use social media outside of marketing; if you see a corporation using marketing, it is always an ad.

Anything you see from Marvel or Disney or Microsoft on [tumblr], Twitter, Reddit, or whatever?

Even if it doesn't say "sponsored", it's an ad, and that's all it is.

Every meme, silly behind-the-scenes video, apology video, announcement, relatable/personable post? They are ads, and ads are the product of advertisers.

A relatable meme posted by Marvel has more in common with an Avengers trailer than it does with a relatable meme posted by one of your friends, so for the rest of this post I'm going to just talk about corporate social media as advertisers, because that is what they are.

Now, advertisers want as many people as possible to see their stuff. Advertisers are exclusively in the business of grabbing attention.

This means that advertisers don't want to scare people away. Advertisers want their ads to be shown as broadly as possible, and they don't want their ads associated with uncomfortable or edgy things.

"Uncomfortable or edgy", of course, is a double-edged sword; on the one hand, when Sean Hannity defends a pedophile on Fox News, the ad boys will pull their ads, because yikes -- but on the other hand, when sex workers try to exist on [tumblr], the ad boys will also pull their ads, because of a long and stupid history of stigma associated with sex in the western world.

And important to remember: advertisers will give [tumblr] money while they're here, and whoever gives [tumblr] money determines the shape of the platform. (this is why you should blaze posts and do the paid ad-free browsing thing)

So here's where we talk about ✨engagement✨!

Engagement, invented by Sir Francis Engagem in 1836, is one of the banes of social media creators everywhere on the internet. It's less of an issue on Tumblr because Tumblr is a trashfire, but what is relevant here is the fact that engagement gives advertisers the means to make more ads.

If you send asks to Marvel:

Marvel will take that as a sign that people are seeing and engaging with their tumblr account, which means that people are seeing and engaging with their ads, which means that they will want to keep doing it.

since [tumblr] is a platform built on collaborative mechanics -- including reblogging, commenting, screenshotting, and, yes, asks -- unless the ask is truly rancid (and most asks, even mocking ones, are not nearly rancid enough to prevent this), sending anyone an ask is providing them with a means to, for lack of a better term, "make content", which, in Marvel's case, means make an ad.

Sending asks to corporate accounts encourages them to stick around and make more ads, which will lead to them having a firmer position on the platform, which will lead to them getting more control over the platform, which will lead to the platform slowly edging out all the "uncomfortable and edgy" stuff.

Do you like having queer spaces on the hellsite? Do you like having weird art on here? Do you like having bizarre memes and unique site culture? Do you like being able to say things like "kill" and "mental health" and "kung pow penis" and "I want to put Benedict Cumberbatch in a blender"?

Then ignore and block every corporate account you see.

do not engage. do not ask. do not reblog. block block block.

this post links to a compendium of corporate blogs. use it to block them fucking all.

spread the word

(and idk if I word things well or not? my go-to for wording things is to just try to make things as clear as humanly possible and be very specific about what words I use and when)

#rant #important #tumblr happenings

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shinygoku · 4 years ago

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Liar Revealed! A Bug’s Life Essay

A Bug’s Life is my favourite Pixar movie and thus, it turns out I have a lot of thoughts about it. In this case, what was originally my interpretation soley in response to points I’ve seen raised on YouTube and TV Tropes has spun off into this mega essay.... all focused on a single scene.

But hey, it works with one of the film’s main messages; that something big grows out of a small idea!

The scene is the most notorious in the movie, at least from what I’ve seen, and I’m inclined to agree it’s the weakest part of this giant clock. But why is it like that and how could it have been handled better?

As I’ve said, this is actually my favourite (albeit not what I consider their very best) of Pixar’s output, and I wouldn’t have been able to go into such depth without a huge amount of love for the finished product, flawed as it may be.

It’s also possible I’ll write a more generalised thing on what I love about the film in the future, but I won’t promise anything o7;; 🐜

The Lie is ...laid

Actually, I should talk about two scenes. First is where the Lie is established:

After the humourous mutual misunderstanding between the Circus Bugs and Flik, the former are quite horrified to discover they’re expected to fight the Grasshoppers off themselves instead of putting on a show. Ahh, that old classic~

But no, they want out and Flik, who has just been informed by them during the welcoming shindig, is understandably rattled and despairing over this addition to his list of failures. He says the fallout will not only brand him, but his hypothetical grandchildren as a Terrible Loser and even says he’s as good as dead as soon as the other ants find out. Owch.

Before things get too heavy, the focus shifts around until The Bird becomes the main immediate threat. The whole Bird scene leads the ants to become convinced the Circus Bugs are really amazing warriors and, as this is the first time in what could be years that they have a crowd cheering for them it’s the success and Flik’s later idea to make a Giant Mech in the shape of a Bird instead of planning any actual combat that convinces them to play along.

So, that’s the lie set up and solidified. Now for the eventual fallout:

During a fun party after the Bird has been built, an ominous force arrives... PT Flea, the Jerkass ringmaster who had fired the Circus Bugs. This local bug promptly ruins everything by literally shining a light on the Circus Bugs and their nature as such, and then Flik is accidentally outed as the Guy Who Thought Up The Bird.

The Liar Revealed Trope

I would link the TV Tropes article here, but as tungle doesn’t like external sites I’ll just quote the more relevant parts from it:

“Liar Revealed in the Internal Reveal of The Lie, the facade maintained by a protagonist which provides the primary dramatic tension for the plot. This usually sets up the third act where the protagonists are forced to deal with the consequences of the lie on top of any external threats.

There are a few usual ways this ends up. If the lie was for selfish reasons, the protagonist will doubtless face the wrath of those he lied to, but along the way end up having a change of conscience, and try to redeem themselves through good acts and An Aesop about "what really matters". If the lie was well-intentioned, the protagonist may still find that others turn their backs on him, but go on to carry through with what they said they'd do anyway, proving themselves a hero after all.

It's worth noting that this trope is particularly easy and common to misuse, either in the tendency of the protagonist to Maintain the Lie for reasons that make no sense except for dramatic tension or of the deceived to turn against the protagonist for the deception in spite of other considerations that should by all rights absolve him.”

And in the folder there’s a specific entry for this film:

A Bug's Life has Flik supposedly finding "warrior bugs" to save his colony after misconstruing a situation. When he realizes his mistake (that they're circus performers rather than trained warriors), he's forced to keep the lie going in order to not cause panic among the other ants. Once the colony finds out, it inevitably results in one of the most painfully Played Straight examples of this trope in animation history...

As you can see there, the dislike for this scene has seeped into the entry. Of course, TV Tropes is pretty informal and I like that, but it’s telling that this is a general perception.

Continue reading below the Cut! ✂

What I don’t like

So, I think my main issue with the scene boils down to... it’s very nebulous and unclear as to what’s so bad about Flik lying. Between the Council, the Queen and Atta, there seems to be a jumbled, confusing motive traffic jam that somehow results in what TV Tropes refers to the Liar Reveal Trope being played “Painfully Straight”.

But uhh, what’s the problem? Yes, Flik lied, but we know that wasn’t something he’d planned on doing, it was his attempt at damage control. The other ants don’t know that part, but still, what are they objecting to, specifically? That the Circus bugs are Circus bugs? That the Bird Plan was Flik’s? That.... lying is treated at an absolute moral failing regardless of the circumstances??

The council dudes are like: “OH WHAAAAT, the defence plan was by Clowns??” [No, it was Flik] “OH WHAAAT, we don’t have our mafia money prepared what if Hopper finds out we nearly sicced a fake bird on him!?”

The part about objecting to Clowns drafting the defence plans is actually the more reasonable explanation, but I guess they presumed warriors habitually made Decoy Bird plans instead of fighting themselves? There’s already a hole in their objections but it only gets worse.

The Queen is like: “Wow Flik evidently you’re a self serving prick. Anyway the best thing to do is pretend this never happened and no we’re not going to tell Hopper.”

Why the fuck would that happen? ‘Oh sorry Hopper we got sidetracked doing a ...thing... so we’re still picking your food no please don’t break my legs’

But also, why THE FUCK is this the plan? Some ruler you are, you old prune. ‘We have the bird all made and ready to go but oops the idea came from a DIRTY LIAR so we’re going to return to the doomed harvesting racket even though we’ve been set an outrageous amount and we can’t possibly hope to catch up and even if we had been picking the food the entire time it was established earlier on we won’t have time for our supplies on top of all that.’

Fucking.... astonishing lack of logic. YOU MORONS HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE, GO WITH THE BIRD! Flik himself says something to a similar effect lol

But noooooo, his arguably selfish lie [which is more Omitting the truth once he knew it, really] has forever doomed everything, apparently. Honestly it comes across more like they just hate Flik and see anything he invents as doomed to fail, so the second the truth emerges that he spearheaded the Mech Bird they dismiss it as a lost cause. Even though everyone worked together to build it, and Flik’s inventions weren’t the issue but him being awkward and clumsy. But seeing how Flik’s mere presence in his first scene seemed to drive the Council members into a quivering fury, it really does feel like their objections are from them refusing to give him a chance.

And then there’s Princess Atta. Hoo Boy.

In this scene, she comes off as being ridiculously vindictive, petty and hypocritical. This applies to the Council too, but it’s more galling coming from Atta as by now she’s realised that Flik gets a lot of flak [yay wordplay] from the others and she had resolved to give him more credit. BUT OOPS, that didn’t last!

She takes the Lying thing so personally, acting like he was cheating on her or something. “You lied to MeEeEee” well golly gee whiz, was there any particular reason why he would tell you the truth? Other than his rather obvious crush on you, that is? Cause that would still be a weird reason, seeing how the ‘lie’ was after he’d finally got a bit of decent treatment from the others, why would he wanna upset the apple cart?

He probably feared coming out and confessing to Atta [or anyone else] that they’d lose all faith in him and scrap a valid plan that was the only way out of the grasshopper racket mess. Which would be a bit silly and probably the result of someone with low self esteem and confidence issues overthinking the situation but it’s Exactly what actually happens!

It wasn’t a personal slight against you, Princess! To quote Helen Parr: THIS IS NOT! ABOUT! YOU!!

And wooow, you must be awfully chilly up there on your high horse, Miss “Lied to Flik to get rid of him earlier in the film”! Did you ever feel like fessing up? Like ‘hmm I’ve grown much fonder of this doofus, maybe I should be honest with him before engaging with some more light flirting’ ? Maybe if you had, he woulda been honest in return!

I don’t even see why she and the Council bothered lying about their Snipe Hunt ploy, seeing how now they act like he crossed a moral event horizon. Why even bother making a phoney baloney decoy idea to get him away, when they clearly dislike him enough to play the Brutally Honest card without fretting over his feelings. They coulda just ordered him to stay in a corner away from interfering but instead they’re willing to risk his life on a wild goose chase.

...And she then Banishes him! For what?? Lying? About what, the circus bugs or the bird plan? Both?? It really feels like her taking undue personal offence and the Council hating him and the Queen being old and senile.

So yeah, wow, this scene has what I think is the Unintended side effect of making me hate the stupid jerkface Ant colony as every named ant in it except for Dot fucking suck and throw Flik under a bus the second they deem him to be untrustworthy. In spite of, like, that the plan itself was solid and that the Circus Bugs have all been proven to be Good Eggs. They don’t give him a chance to explain and made their own bed to lie in, so I feel dark joy and satisfaction when the grasshoppers do arrive and kick them around some more.

Wow gee, if only you dumb ass ants had some sort of already made contraption to fall back on?

Why is it like this?

I can only make guesses here, be warned!

From what I’ve gathered of an older version of the story, mostly via Wikipedia, I kinda feel like the exposing would have fit that take better. In the beta version of the story, instead of Flik the lead would have been “Red”, who was a red ant and circus bug from the start. The first draft Circus lot woulda been out to scam the ants initially and I guess would have grown genuine fondness with time. The idea of an outsider flim flamming his way into the good books and later being exposed makes the overblown outrage a lot more understandable. But that’s my hypothesis for the direction they ultimately didn’t go in. Also look at how Red looks like a fuckboi here:

But in the final version, Red doesn’t exist! Flik is a part of the colony from the get go, but also apart from it cause no one likes him as, again, his ideas were good but poorly executed and he seemed to be a hindrance. But the ants should at least see that Flik is genuine in his attempts, that he’s trying his best and they should maybe cut him some slack.

The way the ants have their knickers in a twist doesn’t gel so well with the “Well meaning screwup” angle, especially compared to a possible “Opportunistic so-and-so who doesn’t have real attachments to the colony” route.

Also it may be worth noting up there where I put a TV Tropes excerpt, I bolded the relevant half of the run down, but it seems the other half applies much more to this first draft. Interesting...

So I don’t know, but I got the idea that the scene in the movie is basically a holdover from earlier that didn’t get sufficiently updated. The Liar Revealed Scene is the first thing I’d change if I were rewriting the script, and I might go back and change it again after other parts had been redone too, cause the story needs to flow from point A to point B etc. smoothly or else viewers will get annoyed and point it out in Youtube videos or overly long tumblr text posts.

How could it be fixed?

I’m not saying I’m sitting on the perfect idea of a rewrite. But the main thing is what I already touched on, the jarring disconnect between what happens and how the stupid ants respond.

Like, Atta’s sudden grabbing of the Jerkass and Idiot Balls in this scene. Wouldn’t it have been better if she was instead unsure and conflicted? She had lied to Flik earlier and, unlike the Council, was shown to actually realise Flik Has Feelings Too and apologised for the general lack of faith. She didn’t come clean about the Snipe Hunt Lie, so that could be weighing on her during this scene, maybe she would have been the only Council member to Not want to kick him out but felt pressured into it and hasn’t got into the groove of being the Future Queen enough to pull rank and talk them down from being hate filled twats. Maybe someone will mention the flirting that had been happening as muddying her judgement?

That’s my main idea, compare that with her barging in and taking undue personal offence and shooing him off. She’s supposed to feel like she’s doomed to fail too, so her facing a moral dilemma and falling on the wrong side of the fence could tie into that! (To be honest, her arc is kinda undercooked so hey, I’m killing two birds with one stone here!)

Flik being banished at all is a casualty of The Narrative, that he and the Circus Bugs have gotta go away temporarily for the finale to be cooler and more exciting. It’s a Necessary Weasel of writing and you’ll find them in every story ever made. Sometimes things have gotta happen cause Story Structure. The trick is having them more organic and concealed.

So yeah, have the Old Fogeys be in the wrong [which is so far unchanged] but also the majority of the ‘voting’. Make it difficult for Atta to choose between loyalty to the colony as a whole and her sense of duty versus trusting in Flik, who she now knows to always have his heart in the right place. She comes close to standing up for him and herself, but ultimately falters and gets pressured into the call made in the movie. She’s still ultimately responsible as leaders are, but in a much more sympathetic way.

Summation

This got way longer than I had initially imagined, and that’s even after I cut stuff in the editing process! Let’s quickly review the three main points I’m trying to make.

The Issue with the scene - A big song and dance is made over The Lie, but no reason why it’s such a terrible thing is offered. A perfectly sound plan is dismissed nonsensically.

Suspected reasoning for the writing - The tone matches a potential alternate story much better, where someone would have lied for self serving purposes instead of for the greater good.

A suggestion for a rewrite - Make it much more nuanced and fitting the character arcs. Give the characters a reason to react the way they do and have different responses per person. If the ants are going to drop the Bird plan, at least offer a more viable alternate route than going back to what wasn’t working before.

Does it really matter?

Well, I don’t expect a 22 year old film to suddenly get a rewrite, no. And I maintain that it’s a real gem which deserves much higher praise with the other Good Pixars instead of being so constantly overlooked.

Part of what spurred me to think about the scene and what I’d alter is seeing it referred to as ‘Kinda Bad’ in a youtube video that was talking about another Liar Reveal scene in another movie, and that is a bad take, but the point about how clunky this part is isn’t wrong. I don’t want people to dismiss the whole, beautiful image cause one section of it doesn’t vibe!

It doesn’t ruin the picture, but when people have something negative to say it’s this which is the magnet. And I’m kinda guilty of doing the same thing here, haha. But I wanted to really dissect and examine it, to figure out why it’s like that and to guess how simple it may be to rework. It’s bittersweet, but there ain’t such a thing as a perfect movie.

This has been fun for me to go into though, and it’s nice to get thoughts out from just swirling around inside my head, so even if barely anyone sees and makes it through this whole dissertation, I’m glad I wrote it out. It’s a funny way to derive enjoyment from the bumpy part of a beloved movie, but hey, I’ll take it~

#A Bug's Life #Liar Revealed Trope #Pixar #Disney Pixar #Disney #CutCat writes a very long essay

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bngtanah · 4 years ago

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I'm (not) With The Band. | Prologue

summary: Adrienne is an indie producer who is hired to help co-produce BTS’ next album alongside their resident producer; Suga. Despite the initial opposition on both ends, the pair spend time together, share a few stories, dreams and aspirations and begin to hit it off really well. Wrapped up in the whirlwind of late nights and heated disagreements and reconciliations, Min Yoongi and Adrienne Rolle find themselves growing closer and closer. One night they decide to cross the barrier between personal and professional and do their best make a relationship work against all odds.

pairing: Min Yoongi x Named OC

genre: drama, romance, smut

chapters: prologue| o1| o2| o3| o4| o5| o6| o7| o8| o9| 10| 11|

warning: light angst, smut, fluff, workplace relationship, slow burn, sexual themes, ambw, enemies to friends to lovers, developing relationship

a/n: still a fool. still re-uploading.

"It's good money, Adrienne."

Adrienne rolled her eyes quickly underneath her eyelids and switched her attention away from the woman sitting next to her.

"I get that but there is no way I'm moving to Korea, I can't even find Korea on a map!"

Adrienne and her older sister had been having this roundabout conversation for at least an hour and a half with no end in sight since neither side seemed interested in giving in.

"So what are you going to do? Just stick around here and make amazing songs for shitty rappers and musicians that don't wanna pay you?" Danielle's voice was monotone and completely lacking any tangible emotion but Adrienne could understand that this was her sister's way of trying to appeal to her common sense. "An opportunity like this doesn't knock twice, little one."

Adrienne bit back a witty remark because despite how much she didn't want to admit it she knew that her sister was right. She was barely making ends meet with the seedy pool of customers she had now and the select few that actually paid her on time only wanted to shell out pennies for what Adrienne considered high-quality work. There were times over the past few months when the money wasn't coming in and reactions from her clientele had her seriously doubting her talent that Adrienne genuinely regretted not going to college. There was no a guarantee that she would have been any better off than she was now but the constant 'what if' always made her second guess her choices when things weren't going her way. Her life now wasn't perfect but it was comfortable, she rented an efficiency from one of her sister's friends and worked a few odd jobs here and there to keep up with the bills. It was a simple life that she enjoyed and Adrienne wasn't so sure she had the courage to give it up.

"Alright, let's say I go for it" Adrienne stated in a softer voice.

"What happens if I can't keep up or they hate all my songs or they hate me? I wouldn't be able to come back here as a failure and honestly, Dani I don't know if I have what it takes to do this." Her voice wavered with raw insecurity as she nervously she began pulling on the ends of one of her long braids.

If Adrienne was being honest with herself, her own self-doubts were the main obstacle holding her back from just accepting this job. She was reasonably excited about the thought of moving to a different country and Danielle; who was married and expecting a child of her own, was the only family she had left. It was time for her to stop depending on her for so much and start carving out her own place in the world.

"Do you really think they would have contacted you if they didn't think you were more than good enough?"

"To be honest, I don't know why they reached out to me in the first place. All the music on my SoundCloud is in English and I've never heard of this company before they emailed me."

"Because it's good, dumb-dumb!" Danielle exclaimed while tugging on one of her sister's braids. "What's the name of these people again, you know I have to google," She asked with her phone already in hand.

"BigHit, I already looked them up. It's legit"

Danielle nodded but dismissed Adrienne's statement with a flick of her wrist, she needed to research everything for herself if she was going to send her baby sister off to some strange company for a job that may not even be real.

"Seriously, Dani I've looked it up they are an actual music company" Adrienne leaned forward to snatch the phone out of her hands, "They told me that if I decide to work with them I'd be working with a boyband called BTS."

"Boyband? Those still exist?"

"Yes! I was so confused at first but they're the real deal...which is another reason I don't want to go. I've been researching their songs from last year and the year before that and I don't know who's doing their music now but it's really good. Here, listen to this-"

Adrienne tossed her sister's phone back onto the couch and pulled her laptop off the coffee table and onto her lap, "It's all in Korean so ignore the words and just pay attention to the melody like I did" she informed as she pulled up 'Let Me Know', one of the recent tracks she'd been replaying.

Her eyes fell closed gently once she hit play and the first note rang out and Adrienne allowed herself to become lost in the music once again, she couldn't understand the lyrics but even without knowing the language Adrienne knew too well the feeling of heartache and desperation this song was meant to make you feel. That was always something she appreciated about music, no matter where you were from or how old you were a good song could bring people together in ways that words often couldn't. To Adrienne music truly was a universal language.

Once the song finished Adrienne put her laptop aside and looked up at her sister with a childlike stare, anticipating her reaction. "What? It's pretty" Danielle responded and Adrienne's shoulders immediately slumped downward.

"Pretty? Is that all you have to say?"

"Yup. That's my review, it is a pretty song."

"You sicken me, do you know that? If you weren't carrying my niece we would be pillow fighting right now." Adrienne grumbled and leaned down to pressed a kiss to Danielle's rounded tummy. She wasn't big yet but she was definitely beginning to show.

"I keep telling you not to get your hopes up, Lloyd's siblings are all boys."

Adrienne pursed her lips and ignored Danielle then whispered to her stomach. "Shhh, I can tell you're a girl."

"Stop talking to my fetus and get back up here, I'm not joking with you Andy I really think you should go for this job"

Adrienne bit the inside of cheek and slumped back against the cushions, she was silent for a few minutes as she tried to collect her thoughts and recall all the points that were made in their previous conversation.

"How am I supposed to fly half way around the world and tell these people that I can make better music than what they have now?"

Danielle sighed, her fingertips grazing over Adrienne's shoulder to gain her attention before pulling her into her arms to hug her and rest her chin against the top of Adrienne's head.

"Do you think you're talented?"

"Yes....but-"

"Butts are for ashtrays, Adrienne. You are talented and that's the end of it, when you worry too much about comparing yourself to other people then you start in with the doubts. You didn't go to them they came to you, that wouldn't have happened if they didn't know that you were more than qualified for this."

"I don't want to leave you."

"Oh little one," Danielle cooed and kissed Adrienne's scalp, threading her fingers through the younger girls braids, "I am going to be fine, I have Lloyd! And you're going to be making so many new friends you won't even have time to miss me."

Adrienne sniffed and wrapped her arms around her sister in a tighter hold, "You better not have this kid until I can come back and visit" She replied through the few tears that were falling from the brim of her eyes.

"Does that mean you're going?"

"I guess I'm moving to Korea."

"This isn't a joke, right? There aren't any hidden cameras, you're really going to let me do this?"

The excitement in Yoongi's voice was as foreign and authentic as the short happy dance he did in the middle of Bang Si-Hyuk's office before he caught hold of himself and regained his cool composure.

"Yes I'm being serious" Si-Hyuk answered with a tiny grin "You've been showing a lot of improvement lately and I think you should take the lead on producing the group's next release."

Pale pink lips spread into a wide and almost child-like grin, those were words that Yoongi never thought he would hear. He always appreciated being able to contribute a song or two to their albums but to have the control and relative creative freedom over an entire body of work for his group was a professional goal that he never thought possible so early in his career. It really was too good to be true.

"Of course..." Si-Hyuk spoke up again and Yoongi came crashing back down to reality.

"With your schedules and other responsibilities, it wouldn't be ideal to leave all the work on your shoulders alone."

"I assumed the producers here would be assisting me"

"Most of them are busy with other projects, we've decided to contract someone from the outside to co-produce along with you."

Yoongi nodded and leaned back in his seat, pressing his index finger against his lips in thought and to prevent himself from speaking out of turn. He didn't like this idea one bit and the previous feeling of excitement he had was dulled significantly by the thought of having to collaborate with someone he didn't even know. He wanted to speak up, voice his opposition before he was saddled with the dead weight of a co-producer who probably had no idea what they were doing. But he knew it wasn't his place to say no to a plan that was already in motion and he didn't want to jeopardize the opportunity he was being granted.

"Okay, when do we start?"

#min yoongi #suga fic #suga scenarios #suga angst #suga smut #bts x woc #bts scenarios #inwtb #bngtanah

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clairenchanted · 4 years ago

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wild sage; ocean spray; the earth in the high, dry summer.

a few things you remember, in no particular order. / previous.

o1. the room is dark and quiet with every thing that made it alive petering into nothing in the growing night. the television screen has gone to the complacent blue of the movie menu, and it spills insubstantially over kate’s face. it makes her face soft where it’s pressed against her arm and where her arm is pressed against ray’s. the shadows cast by ray’s hair grow darker, but he bleeds into light in the glow the further down his face is illuminated.

you cannot see victoria. she is sleeping on your shoulder. your back is against the legs of the bed, and you are on fire where she is draped against your side, you are on fire in every place that she touches you and you hold her unintentionally upright. you don’t understand what it means, to feel so blindingly alive in a room so dark and still. you don’t understand how you have not burned down the bedsheets at your back, the carpet under your thighs, the delicate and infinitely breakable form of her cheek her elbow her knee jammed up into yours.

it’s too quiet and far too loud. you sit for hours trying tread the water of your desperation, aching to understand why you are so acutely aware of your body. you don’t fall asleep.

o2. you look at your reflection in your sister’s mirror. you try to understand what you look like in her sweater, turning a little to catch the light in the slivery threads that slip through the seams almost unnoticed until you see them the right way. emma shifts on the bed. you hear the way sheets shift under her. you wait for her to say something; the tension in the silence wraps around your throat and begs for your voice.

deep maroon. you wonder if it’s too dark for you.

i don’t know, she finally says, with the precision of a scalpel.

what don’t you know? you don’t ask.

a little more silence. you think about how short golden hour lasts, and how much you’ll blend into the shadows of the basement as the party lasts so much longer.

she sighs. i don’t think it fits you right.

you don’t know what to say to that, or why you want to say anything. but the chord wraps tighter and you scramble to find the release: can you argue? do you want this? does it matter? what could you possibly need help with?

you look at emma’s reflection over your shoulder in the cool glass. your lips part; you don’t say anything. you take off the sweater and give it back.

o3. no one says anything on the ride back home from the police station. you stare out the window of the SUV and idly note the landmarks that pass by. you don’t remember the questions you answered, and you never asked about the paperwork that was filled out. you turn the memory of your father on the phone over in your mind for as long as you remember to -- something about forms, something about documents -- and then it’s gone.

the pitcher sage is growing. it’s april, so this makes sense. you know something about pitcher sage, or maybe you remember something, but the thought ebbs out to sea. you can’t smell them from here anyway, and you’ve never been anything but neutral towards plants.

when you get home, the foyer feels a little larger than you thought it was. maybe the ceilings are higher. something hot presses against your elbow; by the time you turn, emma is already a few paces ahead. you catch only the tail end of her look, the last pointed hook of it, before she is gone up the stairs. in the distance, echoing in this too big and meticulously kept foyer, the slamming of her bedroom door is the only sound.

your mother is wearing all black. she stands a few feet away from you at the crossroads where the living room branches off from the stairs. you watch her, cataloguing the things about her that stand out: her perfected waves frizzing at the ends; her lipstick smudging just at the corner of her mouth; the front of her dress is wrinkled. you don’t know why these details whisper to you, and you don’t know why you should care.

o4. when you and victoria are nine, you realize the true extent of your power. it’s a hot day -- it’s too hot in a way that it never really gets in california, all sticky with rare, heavy storm clouds gathering on the horizon. every time you shift in the sand, it burns your skin where it’s bare. it hurts. the back of your throat burns and it’s stupid -- it’s just a stupidly hot day -- but the moment your face turns red and your eyes sting, there’s a sticky, familiar hand on your shoulder.

c’mon, she says. she takes your hand and helps you stand. i think i have enough for ices.

she doesn’t, and you want to cry because victoria is so nice and it feels so unfair that you’re just fifty cents short. your throat aches; you want to yell, even though it’s useless and selfish and bratty. even though you know better. it’s hot and it’s not fair and you just want to eat ices with your best friend in the whole world so you can stay out here and not go back home.

aw. the ice seller guy probably isn’t as old as your parents but he’s old to you. you wonder if he’ll get mad at you both, but something breaks in his expression and he hands v’s money back to her along with two little ices, lemon and cherry. don’t worry about it, girls.

this is a magnificent superpower, but you both whisper to each other that you need to be careful with it. you laugh when v’s lips turn bright red as she eats, and then you can’t stop laughing just, just because.

o5. the hallways are packed with the throng. you marvel at the fact that you haven’t been trampled yet; you dread it, you dread its certain coming. you press yourself against the back of lockers, hugging your books to your chest. room 205 must exist somewhere but it doesn’t exist here and you don’t know which way to go.

more important things don’t exist here: the ocean spray, the smell of pitcher sage, the tang of lemon ices from the boardwalk. the burning heat of the august sun and victoria next to you. you knew this would happen once high school started -- you’re right and for a moment, anger lashes up your chest and into your throat. how dare the world be so large and loud and so lacking of anything that you can cling to and understand with each intimate breath. how dare the world do this to you, how dare it take you here without your permission and ask you to deal with it.

you manage to make it to english just as the bell rings. you sit in the back row, and you spend half the lesson curling notebook paper around your pencil.

o6. there has never been a bigger deal than the junior class trip. your grades have been immaculate -- straight a’s, a glowing report card, a need for nothing more at the fall’s parent teacher conference -- and you find yourself with a signed permission slip and a check for mr. chester.

we have basically two full days, v says solemnly, the two of you leaning over her spiral edged notebook. so we have to plan strategically. if we start with skiing, we’re not going to have time for anything else.

you picture mammoth mountain’s snow capped peaks, soaring high above the hot desert valley below. you picture leaving the heat-packed sand behind, forgetting the dry earth. you think of cute hats and gloves and scarves, and try to imagine what it feels to look at your own outfit on your own body with approval. with excitement. maybe you’ll manage it -- maybe you’ll leave the constant, gnawing anxiety behind in southern california behind for a weekend.

okay, you say, imagining v’s face red with the cold -- the tip of her nose, the tops of her ears. you smile to yourself and look at the notebook. do we have any time to hang out in the lodge?

absolutely not, she says primly, everything under control. this is a once in a lifetime thing until we get into some fabulous east coast college and we can go skiing all the time.

in between classes.

sure, sure. now look, if we do snow tubing and ice skating first, we have the whole second day to figure out the skiing and snowboarding trails.

you picture spinning in concentric circles over and over, hands linked, gentle guitar-heavy music wrapped around the scene. you nod.

sounds great.

we also have to sit with felicity for like, most of the time.

-- felicity? you wonder sharply. felicity? you ask gently.

she’s been making eyes at jake for like, the entire semester. she chews the words, deliberate and hard edged. something’s up. keep your enemies close, gus.

you are cold. you are very cold. you breathe through it and look at the schedule printed in v’s spiky, flowing script. oh. i didn’t realize that was still a thing.

it’s not anything. not yet. but i’m not going to let something just -- just happen between them. you know how i feel about jake.

do you? you should. you should know everything about v. you watch the notebook, and you tell yourself you’re not cold. right, sorry.

no worries. v waves a hand like it’s not a big deal. like it’s not important. that’s okay. it’s okay. just help me, okay?

this is part of your world now: the smell of books, the off white lighting, the hallways of your same old high school. but it suddenly feels very, very large again and you don’t know how to form the words.

okay? she asks idly, not looking at you.

you nod.

o7. three days after you all come home -- from the funeral by way of the police station -- your mother opens the door to your room. it’s past midnight. you blink at the sudden light, waiting until her silhouette resolves into something familiar.

she jumps a little when she sees you. you don’t understand why.

my god, she says. why are you awake?

you don’t know, so you don’t answer.

you watch her as she stands there, eclipsed by the low light in the hallway. part of you wonders, briefly, why she’s here, but then in the next wave the curiosity is dragged back out and you are left alone in your bed.

she finally moves. you don’t know how long it took her. she presses the door behind you until it is still open but only just. she crosses the room. she stands by the side of your bed. she sits, so close to the edge you think she might fall off. she reaches out and you blink when heat -- searing, brilliant, entirely strange -- covers the back of your hand. you feel her flinch, and you look down at her hand then back up at her face.

-- august. there is something rough in her voice that you don’t remember -- catching, steely, ragged. rusty. she reaches forward, pressing a hand to your face. her eyes are wide, brows up. she looks as if she’s searching for something, but you don’t know what it could be so you say nothing.

in one motion -- sharp but fluid -- she wraps her arms around your shoulders. you don’t move, but you don’t feel the need to pull away. august, she says, as if there is something to excavate in the depths of your name. august. please, can you -- please?

you don’t know what she’s asking, so you cannot answer.

in shattered pieces, she pulls back. she looks at you, one hand still on your shoulder. her expression pinches more, still at her eyes and lips. august, can you please say something?

what? you try to ask, because this seems like the most logical question, but you try for the sound and it rasps in the back of your throat, stinging with seawater. you grow colder. you try again, and nothing comes out.

your mother’s expression draws darker. she lets go of your shoulder. coldness rushes in to replace the burning warmth. i don’t know why you’re being like this. i don’t know why i try.

you don’t know either. there’s nothing you can say as she gets up and leaves, closing the door behind her.

#fiction #wlw #gus #death cw #drowning cw #mental illness cw

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rhodestozoe · 5 years ago

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𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐳𝐨𝐞.

( a lipstick mark left on the mirror , sexting in the middle of lectures , swiping an amex black card ) * ╱ hey , was that zoe rhodes i just saw ? yeah , i heard they’re a twenty year old and studying marketing and that they live in zeus . you might be able to recognise them by their pink fur ball keychain , but people around campus describe them as effervescent but also vain , which i guess makes sense since their mbti test showed up as enfp-a . their reputation would be completely ruined if people found out that she dealt drugs with her (now ex) drug dealer boyfriend , but let’s keep that between you and me … for now . + courtney eaton , cisfemale , she/her , sophomore . ( jocey , 23 , she/her , est , n/a )

whaddup party people?? it’s ya girl jocey here, aka the resident tumblr rping n00b not really but tbh probably kinda. chances are, i’m gonna fuck something up, so if/when i do, just, y’know, holla at me or something. v excited to be here, v ready to fuck shiet up & v down for all the plot, so hmu fam. plzluvme.

O1 ━ born into a wealthy old money family who made their fortune in real estate. dad owns a good chunk of new york city and other properties around the east coast, while mom is an heiress/socialite from australia.

O2 ━ as an only child who got everything her little heart could ever want, zoe definitely had it easy growing up. well, everything but her parents’ attention, namely her dad. spoiler alert: daddy issues? maybs. but what can ya do?

O3 ━ kind of the cliche manhattan prep school brat. zoe just lives in her own perfect, pretty bubble and can be out of touch with reality sometimes. she’s pretty clueless when it comes to the real world and basically just thinks that all the world’s problems can be solved with the swipe of daddy’s black amex.

O4 ━ a lot of people often write her off as a ditz with a credit card (half-true) and a serious spoiled princess syndrome™ (v true). zoe thrives on attention and will probs die without it tbh not really but y’know. but on the flippity flip, if you give her too much attention, she’ll get bored with you.

O5 ━ one thing you gotta know about zoe is the more she can’t have something, the more she’ll want it. refer to spoiled princess syndrome™. so you know homegirl’s dumb ass will always go for the fuckboys. every. damn. time. she’s the type to fall v hard, v fast and will give her whole ass heart to a hot fuckboy just like that. so are we really surprised that she agreed to deal drugs with her drug dealer boyfriend??? will she ever learn? stay tuned to find out. probs not rip.

O6 ━ she’s also a little bit of a slu though. “pretty in pink, not as innocent as you think” is essentially zoe’s aesthetic. not saying she once sexted in church, but not saying she didn’t either… why is she like this omg.

O7 ━ despite all of her glaringly big flaws (she’d rather die than admit she’s anything less than perf tho), zoe is a dece human being. she’s always been the bubbly, friendly type, and will do anything for her squad. does this mean she completely lacks personal boundaries and will butt into your personal life? absolutely. but she means well. and y’know, she’s too cute to be get mad at anyways.

O8 ━ fun facts: plz don’t ever, ever let zoe get behind the wheel, unless you have a death wish. she thinks she can drive, but she also thinks the black market is for goths, so??? she can also rap some sick tunes (mainly drake cuz she’s basic like that), and has the periodic table memorized. not that she knows what what’s, but she can tell you that francium comes before radium, whatever tf that means.

ok so this was highkey just a big ass rambling sesh, but das my bbg zoe! her wanted connections are here, but like the procrastinator that i am, there’s uh... kinda nothing there yet lol. i swear i’m working on it. BUUUUUT gimme a like, fave, RT & subscribe, and i’ll hit you up here or on discord (tbh i’m faster on there), and we can plot for our bbys/i will gladly ramble some more with ideas i got for her lmao.

#intro. ( zoe rhodes. )#belle:intro

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pengdaw2nd · 2 years ago

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Very fun Bloonarius this week.

Just here to put my weird ramblings about what I think about this week, all that below under the cut. Honestly, I'm just here for completion and not for the absolute best ranked time, so you can just follow my thought process if you want tips for sweating this week's Bloonarius.

Sunken Columns is part of the modern advanced maps, with it being Advanced, heroes should level up pretty quickly. Especially the 1x Heroes like Obyn, Etienne, and Geraldo.

We also get 1k starting cash instead of the usual 650 so that's a very small but cool headstart if you're planning to use Geraldo + Quincy Action figure.

I'm not sure how the 50 Monkey limit will affect normal play, as I'm writing down my thoughts before even attempting the Boss, but it might make leveling Paragons annoying. Also, if this is affected by Geraldo's Paragon totems I sweAR TO GOD NINJA KIWI.

The biggest scary thing I've noticed with these rules is the MASSIVE amount of tower restrictions. Almost all the Military Monkeys except Boat (thank god) as well as Engineer and Spike Factory.

For the Military Monkeys,

Sniper is pretty invaluable for boss fights, 5xx adds bonus damage for much-needed towers, and x4x or x5x could be great cleanup towers and give you an extra little bonus cash.

Ace is ok for bosses. The top path is probably inconsistent for dealing with clumps of Bloons, the middle path would not be that bad for cleaning up children for Tiers 2 and 3, and the bottom path is just free damage for late game, in my opinion, you're not missing much.

Heli is just bruh. The top and bottom paths don't do good enough for even regular Bloons for their price. However, missing the utility of the middle path's Support Chinook might be annoying.

Mortar is also bruh, the top path might be sad to miss for skull spawn cleanup, but Biggest One's might be too much money for Tier 2 and 3.

Sub is pretty sad to miss, but I doubt it can do any good on this map solely for the lower platform + water missing line of sight of the main path. However, the lack of Energizer for reduced ability cooldowns and First Strike for speed kills of tier 1 is pretty sad.

Thank GOD we still have Buccaneer. The bottom platforms are still plenty of room to farm normally, AND with merchantmen spam, so abuse Flavored Trades to your advantage! Oh, and Navarch of the Seas can still do good simply because of the fighter planes AND its passive and active hooks dealing with Tier 4 and 5's Skull spawns and natural Bloons.

For Engineer and Spike Factory,

Goodbye Bloon Trap and Overclock, o7. Bloon Trap is very good for antistaling and making a quick buck for Tiers 1 and 2, while Overclock and Permaboost are always good. Looks like our VTSG will be marginally weaker this week unless you bring Adora.

Spike Storm Spam and Super Mines will also be missed. The former does a crap ton of boss damage, especially paired with Super Brittle and Cripple MOAB (missing the latter sadly), and Super Mines is amazing on Tiers 4 and 5 especially if you have a Temple Buff. Literally free cleanup and Boss Damage.

Now how will my strategy change?

Hm..............

For Tier 1, I'm probably just gonna struggle with where to place my usual 204 Ninja Sticky Bomb, cleanup's not as bad as even on Elite as 420 Boomerang + Alch and Geraldo buffs literally shred. I might need extra Boss damage like x4x Assassins to pop Bloonarius sooner.

Tier 2 for me is usually xx5 Druid Avatar of Wraith + xx4 Druid Poplust army + cleanup, OR 250 Dartling MAD + cleanup. Since this is Sunken Columns ill probably just stick the former near the top right so I can still get that sweet sweet Flavored Trades buff.

Tier 3 just farm as hard as possible and get an Apex Plasma Master, preferably Degree 20+, simple as. Hell, maybe put it on a 5xx Buccaneer Carrier Flagship to abuse the juggernaut balls on the walls lmao.

Tier 4 just work on a degree 40+ Ascended Shadow lmao, that mf shreds Bloonarius and its skull spawns asap. Maybe on whatever side Bloonarius spawns, and in the middle.

Tier 5 is just an all out with all 4 Paragons, or at least 3, and a VTSG.

Ehhh. This boss fight's probably not gonna be that bad, I might have problems maximizing farming though, who knows. I will post the Elite setup and results later.

#bloons #bloons td6 #btd6 #bloonarius #bloonarius the inflator #yeah im super fucking sweaty how could you tell

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