#readingnote

[lenawin4]

For RebelCaptain Appreciation Week 2024, Day Five: Headcanons

Cassian could not remember a time when he starved. The same could not be said for Jyn Erso.

or: Cassian and his quest to feed Jyn.

-

It started weeks ago, when Bodhi drank too much Correllian gin (predictably, it was supplied by one Captain Solo; Cassian could never fathom how they shared the same rank) and stumbled out of the hangar in their arms. En route to Bodhi’s quarters, the pilot asked Cassian and Jyn if they had Jedhan ale, brewed for two months and aged for five years by a sect of the Guardians of the Whills, the ones who only studied the Force pedantically and never spiritually, according to Chirrut.

“My sisters could drink me under the table,” said Bodhi. “Three kegs and still more to spare, but they always had to drag me back home before I embarrassed them. Took a few holograms to embarrass me, though. Kept them; they sent them to me when I was, I was on Eadu. They wanted me to visit more often. I should have, should have visited more often, yeah?”

“You did what you could,” said Cassian.

“Anyway,” said Bodhi. “Gone now.”

“Not gone,” said Jyn, halfway gone herself. “Just waiting for us all.”

“Do you believe in that?” She wore the kyber crystal around her neck, still, and she meditated with Chirrut whenever she could, but she was also practical and lethally blunt. Did she look forward to seeing Saw, Lyra, and Galen again? If he had expired on that shuttle over Scarif, bloody and delirious and home in her arms, would she think he was waiting for her, too?

“My mother taught me to have faith. Did yours?”

“Yes,” said Cassian. Maybe he was not far from a certain level of talkative intoxication either. “We prayed. We hoped.”

“There you have it, Bodhi. Hope.” She squeezed the pilot’s shoulder and smiled.

Warmth spread across Cassian’s face, tingled down his spine, and grounded into his stomach—the way tree roots stretched across acres, ancient and complete. It was from the gin and the exertion of carrying a drunk man to his room. It was just that, and nothing and no one else.

READ ON AO3

[fordoggo]

Sooo I've read loads of shinran fanfics for years >> Shinran Masterlist

And I've decided to share my good recommendations of fics about ran finding out conan's idenity (this was posted in reddit as well):

RAN FINDING OUT:

Facade by platinum-breaker

Summary: Conan did not expect Ran to suddenly corner him one day.

The Face She'd never seen by ChibiRaccoon

Summary: In all the time she had known him, Ran had never seen that look on his face.

coming back to her by readingnotes

Summary: They broke him. They broke him into so many pieces, and now they're right in front of her, not Edogawa Conan, not Kudo Shinichi; no, now she's the detective, she has to solve this jigsaw puzzle and put him back together. He won't be the same. Of course not. But she'll fix him into the person he'll become.

Artificial Anxiety by Serinox

Summary: On that fateful day in Tropical Land, Shinichi turned away from chasing Vodka when Ran called out to him. Now they are in a relationship and things are progressing nicely. But events happen, which create a kind of artificial anxiety between them, that they have to deal with. Good times are easy, but can they get through the hard times too?

BACK WHERE HE BELONGS by jojoangel01

Summary: Takes part in Shinichis rebirth. Will he seize the day he was rewarded with after getting his body back? Will he be able to control his feelings for a certain person that holds his heart? PURE FLUFF, I mean it! SR, of course! What else? [COMPLETE!]

seven-percent by AngelicSentinel

Summary: Ran finds out at the worst possible time Shinichi is Conan. Now she's got to break them both out of the Black Organisation's lab, but time is running out.

The Mystery of Conan Edogawa by funvince

Summary: Ran Mouri is tired of the lies and evasions. She is determined to get to the truth behind her little house guest once and for all. But is she really prepared for what she may find?

Ran isn't an Idiot! by Baekho0123

Summary: What if Ran knew the truth right away? What if she knew who Edogawa, Conan really is? How much will that change?

Kudo Will Die by Ichthyophobia

Summary: Kogoro finds out. Conan, miraculously, survives the revelation. But only because Ran should get to kill him first.

The Gift of Love by EsTeLweNadia

Note: happens after the reveal

Summary: AU – After the defeat of the Black Organization. Sometimes, the greatest gifts of love come in small packages. Shinichi/Ran.

Feel What You Know by impossibleorimprobable

Summary: They killed her. They killed Mouri Ran. High school detective Edogawa Conan grew up cold, ruthless, and brilliant as ever. With his help, police took down the biggest crime syndicate in Japan. In the ashes, they found a child that bore too much resemblance to a girl that should have died ten years ago. The truth must come out. But at what cost?

OTHER FICS

The Case of the Missing Detective by Krista Perry

Summary: On hiatus, NOT dead. Please see my profile for details. ) A former member of the Black Org wants the secret of eternal youth and immortality, and he thinks he can get it by kidnapping Conan. Conan begs to differ.

The Darkness Inside by Akrim

Summary: Aoko receives a bunch of foreboding messages. It could be a prank but she still decides to consult with Kudo Shinichi - just in case it was not a prank. But it's Ran instead with whom she decides to decode these messages. But things are not what they seem and soon they have spun a web of lies, secrets and danger.

SIDE NOTE: if I can find more of the fics which is under a pile of files I've kept for so long. I will edit, feel free to add your comments and suggestions!

[trve-grimdark]

Next part of my Liber Chaotica fan reading is up

[ao3-whump-recs]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Friday (Marvel), Ezekiel Stane, Obadiah Stane (mentioned) Additional Tags: Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Tony-centric, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, you've heard of tony dealing with howard stark's a+ parenting as he parents peter, and i raise you tony dealing with obie's a+ mentoring as he mentors peter, Tony Stark Has PTSD, gratuitous amounts of lab time, Tony Stark's Massive Guilt Complex Summary:

He laid Peter down, disengaged the suit to catch the sticky, suited, web-coated hand that reached out to him. He felt each knuckle and squeezed the too-fragile, too-weak red and blue fabric with his bare hands.

“I’m okay. I heal fast,” Peter said. Helen’s team wheeled him forward. Tony pulled the rest of the mask off and brushed Peter’s hair away from his sweaty forehead.

“But it hurts,” he said, following.

“Yeah, it hurts.”

-

Tony starts to mentor Peter. He just has to deal with Obie's ghost, first.

[ardp13]

The Power of Books: How Reading Can Enhance Your Life

In a world filled with screens, social media, and constant distractions, it can be challenging to find a moment of peace and quiet. But what if we told you that there's a simple solution to this chaos - a solution that can open doors to new worlds, broaden your perspective, and bring joy to your life? That solution is reading.

The Magic of Books

Books have the power to transport us to faraway lands, introduce us to new cultures, and help us experience life from different perspectives. They can make us laugh, cry, and inspire us to be our best selves.

Reading is a form of escapism that can provide a much-needed break from reality and offer a chance to explore new ideas and concepts.

The Benefits of Reading

Not only is reading a form of entertainment, but it also has numerous cognitive benefits. Regular reading can improve vocabulary, increase empathy, and enhance critical thinking skills. It can also reduce stress, improve focus and concentration, and boost memory.

In short, reading has the power to enrich our lives in countless ways.

The Love Language of Books

For many, books are more than just a form of entertainment; they are a passion, a hobby, and a source of comfort. To these individuals, books are their love language.

The feeling of holding a physical book, the smell of its pages, and the excitement of turning each page is what makes reading such a unique and special experience.

Express Your Love for Books with a T-Shirt

If books are your love language, why not show it off to the world? A "Books are my Love Language" t-shirt is a perfect way to express your love for the written word and make a statement about your passion.

Whether you're at the library, bookstore, or simply out and about, your t-shirt is sure to spark conversations and connect you with like-minded individuals who share your love for books.

Conclusion

In conclusion, books are a source of magic, inspiration, and empowerment. They have the power to improve our lives in countless ways and provide a much-needed escape from reality.

So, why not show off your love for books and express your passion with a "Books are my Love Language" t-shirt? Let the world know that books hold a special place in your heart and that reading is your love language.

[kanastar-art]

into the pool

プールの中

(2014年頃)

[elsaruffieux]

On the Road and in the Street

C. Westerbeck - The post-war period in the United States (Notes from reading)

Topography: the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area Avant-garde: new and experimental ideas and methods in art, music or literature. Iconoclast: a person who attacks or critics cherished beliefs or institutions. Sui generis: unique 

Andre Kertèsz left Paris before the war to work in New York but wasn’t as popular as expected. He decided to stay anyway after the war as there were still more opportunities in the U.S. than in the EU. He was seen, by the Americans,  as an avant-garde photographer, not producing what they were looking for at that time, his work wasn’t brutal enough for them.

After the war, documentary photography changed, it went from “New documents” to “New topographic” (from the street photography of the 1950′s and early 1960′s to more landscape photography of the late 1960′s and 1970′s done in the west).

Something similar happened in painting: Abstraction started to appeared =a figurative vision, an imagery of humanity and nature, damaged in the aftermath of the war. Not talking too much (in photographs) was what people wanted and Kertèsz’s work (just like most pre-war EU photographer) was too controlled, almost too formal and had poetic symbolism and it jus wasn’t what the U.S was looking for. American and European documentary photography were really different but there were a few photographer who were able to be successful by mixing them together such as Elliot Erwitt (born in Paris but grew up in L.A.) who became iconic by doing so. 

Henri Cartier-Bresson only became known in the U.S. in 1947 and had already produced his most famous work.

‘The innovation lay elsewhere’

Robert Frank (swiss photographer) and William Klein (American) were also a sort of mixture between U.S. and EU.

Frank (The Americans, 1958) had to come the U.S to clearly “see” his subject with the eye of an foreigner. He was able, in his book ‘The Americans’, to show the struggle between the American dream that was often idealised by most people and the reality of the situation after the war and the great depression. He wanted to communicate his feeling of incomprehension. Klein, him,  had to leave his home country for Paris to be able to photograph it later with a more brutal truth (critical about the American dream).

Klein liked to attacks the viewer expectation “as vulgar and brutal as the News”. Due to his difficult childhood, photography became for him a weapon to “reveal the harshness of life”.

Other big names in documentary photography: - Garry Winogrand - Joel Myerowitz - Ray Decarava - Bruce Davidson (could show a sort of way to humanised anything he photographed)  - Tony Ray-Jones - Tod Papageorge - Diane Arbus - Danny Lynn - Lee Friedlander - Robert Adams - Lewis Baltz

[otosick-blog]

人は忘却する生き物だけど

未完成な殴り書き。

2019.6.29 reading note

僕はここにいるよ

その日は雨だった。ミスト状のやつ。傘をさす程じゃない。し、何となくさす気分でもなかった。

少しざわついた会場も、音が止まるとともに静まり返る。張り詰めた緊張感。一瞬にして雰囲気が変わった。

ステージ上にメンバーが現れて、ドラムの前に集まり、気合を入れる。

白く明るい照明の中、活動休止前の、最後のはじまりだ。

跳ねるようなリズム、少しはにかんだような表情、「性癖」が穏やかに始まる。後ろのスクリーンに映し出されたMVのなか、Vo.平田さんの声が響いた。

個人的感想だけど、平田さんの声は繊細な声、ではないと思う。ボーイズアルトみたいな感じではないし、どちらかと言えば腹から出る強い声だと思う。

だけど、ひたすらに優しい。伸ばした語尾であったり、時折掠れる高音であったりが、なんとも歌詞にマッチして染みるのだ。

曲の合間に自己紹介をし、「一生忘れられないライブにします」と告げる。

2013年のアルバム、「7+3」の一曲、「インスタントマイワールド」は最初が少しアレンジされていたような気がした。Gt.遠藤さんが、煽るようにギターを鳴らすハイテンポの曲だが、人の弱い部分に確かに触れてくる。曲の最後に、指で地面を指し示し、「僕はここにいるよ」と言い聞かせるように歌う。

（reading noteらしい、なんて、いちオーディエンスの分際で傲慢かな。）

一旦暗くなった会場には拍手が起こった。

そのまま始まる「サカサ」。こちらも「7+3」からだ。VJには逆転した歌詞が揺れるように映っていた。

サビの裏声の力強さと、演奏のスピード感に、思わず口元が緩む。間奏の低音が、キックが気管の辺りを揺らして、この規模感ならではの昂りが全体を��む。

どの曲だったか分からないけれど、遠藤さんの赤いレスポールがめちゃくちゃ格好良くて、その弦の上を自在に動く指に何度も目を奪われた。スピーカー横で耳を壊すのが好きな僕なんかは、いっそもっと音量を上げてくれってくらいにはアガッた。

彼らのイベント、「深呼吸」の雰囲気をお届け、と言って始まったアコースティックバージョンでは、たろちゃんこと太郎さんが登場。Bass.真貴さんと遠藤さんはスツールに座った。メガネの話をしたり、髪染めた？といったやり取りをしたりと、和やかなムードに笑いが起こる。

アコースティック一曲目は「たゆたう」。悲しさ、とか、やるせなさ、みたいな部分を正面から見つめた曲だと思っていた。けれど、今回のライブに於いてはそれだけじゃなかった。アコースティック特有の、温かみのある音がふわりと広がるような、どこか明るささえ感じた時間だった。ウィンドチャイムの高音がキラキラした音を奏でて、オレンジと白のライトが雰囲気を仕立て上げていた。

ここからは個人解釈なので、嫌いな方は見ないでなんだけど、時間を経て曲が変わる、というのを聞いたことがある。失恋ソングがフェスの定番になることだってあるわけでして。平田さんが昔書いた哀しい曲が、メンバーとセッションしていくうちに、ライブで何度も演奏するうちに、形を変えていったのかな、なんて考えていた。

終わり、を感じ始めたのは「食べ頃」からだった。その前のMCで、平田さんが真貴さんをじっと見つめている時があった。会場は不思議な間に笑いさえ起こってたんだけど、少し泣くのを堪えているようにも見えた。

(そこから始まる宇宙人の話は予想外すぎて笑ってしまったんだけど)

確実に演奏の音量が上がって、各々の楽器が抑えることなく、叫ぶように響き渡る。終わらないでくれって、そんな風に見えたのは僕だけじゃないだろう。

「あの頃に戻れたらなって/やけに年老いた気分」

歌詞の一節が、まさにこの瞬間を表しているようだった。アウトロが激しさを増すようにかき鳴らされる。CDと違ってフェードアウトしないのがまた感動を煽った。

ハイスピードに過ぎていく音の中で、泣くくらいなら活休なんてしないでくれよ、って考えて喉の上の方で渦巻いた。

最後の曲は「エンドロール」。スクリーンには彼らの名前が映し出される。その間にも曲は始まって、終わりに向かっていく。

「続きがあれば」「想いは届かずに/白くなって消えてしまった。」一つ一つ紡ぎ出される歌詞が、さっきまで考えていたことに重なる。

「エンドロール」が、というより、ライブ全体が。まるで映画みたいだった。この曲も伏線を拾うように馴染んでいた。

「人はどうしても忘れていっちゃうけど、それでもずっと、俺らの曲を覚えていてほしい」と言ったのはどこだっただろうか。

その時の平田さんが印象的で、時折口元を腕で覆って横を向いていた。

僕は聞く専門だから、“忘れること”が怖いのだけど、彼らは“忘れられること”を怖がっているように見えて、結局どっちも同じなのかもしれない。

僕はここにいるよ

このタイトルが、今になって落ち着くところに落ち着いた。

-----------------

アンコールとかもうちょい書きたいからそのうち付け足す。

一旦ここで。

[fboucheros]

Reading Notes #436 https://ift.tt/30SOxrl

[lenawin4]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Characters: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who), Rose Tyler Additional Tags: Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Scars, Implied Sexual Content Summary:

In the years they were apart, the Doctor collected jewelry, and Rose collected sonic screwdrivers. In Norway, they can finally give them to each other.

For TentooRoseMonth (Parallels) and @doctorrosebingo (Mutual Pining)

Part two to come later this week (also parallels-themed)!

-

“You died a lot, you know.”

Rose sat ramrod straight on the edge of the bed.

White sheets crinkled under her pale thighs, and the Doctor—a mere twenty-four hours post-regeneration with that bit of human genetics dazzling him with hormones and urges—found that he wanted to kiss her more than ever.

He couldn’t see her face, but he imagined her pout, her cheeks sunken in from the weight of such memories. Died a lot, she said. As if she didn’t understand that he wasn’t designed to exist without her guidance, not with this face.

Falling for her in an irreversible coup de foudre had bound his soul to hers. Losing her had unravelled him, and his sanity had seeped through the Lichtenberg figures forged from the invisible lightning strike. There’s no feeling whole without Rose Tyler.

She swiveled around to face him where he laid on his side in the itchy hotel bathrobe. She seemed to shrink in her own robe, and she looked as forlorn as a lost child, her faith tested.

He hoped his expression was as neutral as he tried to force it to be.

“It wasn’t just the one with Donna. So many universes, and you just, just gave up?”

“I’m a coward, Rose.” It wasn’t quite an explanation, but it would have to do. He averted his eyes from her glare as conviction rose like the tide.

The bed shook as she stood; she left behind an imprint of her thighs and tiny droplets of bathwater from her dripping hair. At the far edge of the room, where they had dumped their sandy clothes and scant belongings, she unzipped her backpack and extracted a pile of familiar relics.

“Those are all mine?”

Rose lined up five sonic screwdrivers inches apart on the bed. He swallowed his guilt and squared his shoulders, readying himself for an onslaught of guilt.

She pointed to the first, one identical to the one a universe away, in the pocket of a brown pinstripe suit.

“That’s from Donna’s universe. You drowned underneath the Thames, fighting the Racnoss.”

Fighting was a generous term. He exacted punishment, and even now, he wasn’t sure how much regret he really had.

“I took this from the ashes of a Sontaran ship, when you blew them up after the ATMOS affair. This is from a little planet called Messaline. Your daughter says hello, by the way. You died for her in that one.”

Rose continued down the line, her face ashen. “And now this, this I took from Martha. A Martha who’d lost all hope because a madman massacred billions, and instead of fighting back, you forgave him.”

A year later, the thought of that madman still slapped him across the face. Before he knew it, he was on his feet, staggering away from the bed.

The thought of Rose being in the same vicinity as the Master frightened him to the point of sickness, and the shudder she failed to suppress heightened his nausea.

“Rose, did you—did he—”

Rose held up the least updated version of the collection. Immediately, from the absence of gravitational manipulators and presence of targeted metallic disrupters, the Doctor determined which of his past selves had died and left it behind.

“And this last one was from the old you.”

“The soldier,” he said soberly.

“My old you.”

The Doctor moved to comfort her. Rose held her hand out.

“You never told me. You never said that you would’ve just, just given up if I wasn’t there, if I’d said no twice, if you’d never even met me.”

He crossed the room and took her hand. “I’m alive, Rose. I’m here right now.” 

“What about him?”

It’s a rhetorical question. If Rose saw the impact of her departure on him throughout parallel universes, where his death wish and his recklessness were rewarded, then she knew exactly what the other him was capable of doing.

He pulled her close and slid a hand down to her hip, stroked the curve of it with his thumb. She pressed into him, her nose brushing the crook of his neck, and her wet hair clung to his cheek.

For once, reality was a comfort.

Against all odds, he was the Doctor who held Rose Tyler in his arms, not the one who returned to a life of solitude.

If a day had passed in this universe, then perhaps a few hours had passed in the other. The Doctor, his Time Lord counterpart, would have taken care of Donna by now. He’d be all alone in the TARDIS, just half an hour after she’d been flown by a family for the first time in eons.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For once, I got lucky.”

Rose sniffled and nodded, her chin dragging against his collarbone. “Good. Must be a human thing.”

There it was: Rose’s gut instinct, the one that never failed him.

Yes, it must be a human thing. This metacrisis unlocked so much potential and life that he never thought possible as a Time Lord. Luck was just the beginning.

Rose pulled away and brought a warm hand to his cheek. “I just wanted to let you know. You died a lot. A lot. I think I’ll forget, sometimes, that you’re right here.”

“I’m sorry you saw that.”

Apologies were cheap and useless, but better than the alternative. There’s no explaining his state of mind after the war. After all, she saw it for herself.

Sometimes, on the days when adventure turned deadly, on planets like Messaline and that alternate, Master-ruled Earth, he dreamt of it.

He wondered if Rose did, too: Daleks melting into the dust, their screams echoing across the galaxies. The void’s emptiness, its irresistible pull towards nothing. Rose, falling.

He imagined her as haunted as he was, alone in her flat, listening to the hum of his old sonics as the stars blinked away.

The Doctor touched the one that belonged to the guarded, grumpy soldier and shuddered. “You kept them all. A ghost’s ancient tools.”

“I don’t know; I just had to. Maybe I felt like you were with me if I had them.”

Rose always stated her devotion simply; often, it was effective in knocking the breath out of his lungs and stopping his hearts for a moment. She did it on the beach and she did it on Satellite Five and she did it in a crowded London street before she offered him chips.

Now her chest rose up and down as she waited for his response. Her hair was half-dry, dampening the robe around her shoulders. The robe itself stopped mid-thigh; her legs were more toned than when he last saw her. It had been years, and there was so much of her that he wanted to learn and rediscover. How did she change in their time apart? Did she ever fall ill, did she ever get hurt? Who hurt her, and where did they live?

A thousand words rose but retreated down his throat as he deemed them inadequate.

It was his turn to pad across the hardwood floor.

From his slacks, he brought a tiny, tightly cinched velvet drawstring bag to her altar. He untied the gold string and laid his own relics in a line adjacent to her sonics.

He was no stranger to developing attachments to objects with unexpected memories. Some common item would remind him of her, and he would turn around with a half-told joke, only to realize no one would complete it for him. Still, he’d stuff whatever it was in his pocket before Martha or Donna could ask him who it was for. Sometimes, Donna could just tell. She’d give him that lovely smile of hers, the one she wore in her most compassionate moments, and he’d feel marginally better about buying presents for someone who would never receive them. Good old Donna.

The Doctor held a pair of gold hoop earrings to the light. “I’d just lost you, and the TARDIS brought me to Barcelona.”

He’d thought she was being cruel. But now he thought she’d tried to give him hope for this future.

“Now, the King of Barcelona is an absolute flirt. Really! So much of a flirt that he fell headfirst into a bounty hunter’s trap, and I spent five hours rescuing him from a three-headed walrus. The Queen, for my efforts, offered me whatever I wanted as a reward. These are hers.”

He pushed the earrings into Rose’s hand.

If he stopped to look at her, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kissing her, and they’d never get through everything he wanted to give her.

He dangled a pair of pretty rose threaders from his fingers. On the few days Io orbited around Jupiter’s Big Red Spot, he and Martha landed on the moon. He saw the threaders hanging from a shopkeeper’s stand, and he thought of Rose’s pink skirt, pictured her in those quiet mornings before they stepped outside, her makeup half done and her outfit laid out on her bed.

He went on and on: a frilly hair tie from Neptune and a sturdy claw clip from seventy-third century Brunstiona, an emerald bracelet from a world with five suns and a necklace of Lyra from a neighboring galaxy.

There seemed to be countless remnants of her scattered across that universe, reminders of her absence as tangible as the imprint of her body on the bed. He encountered them one by one, on the days when each step was a burden and on other days when he almost convinced himself he could move on from her, only to be proven wrong by a simple piece of jewelry. But he kept them because he had believed the same—that in keeping them, he placed himself in her orbit, and in spending credits on them, he sent her blessings across the void. Don’t wander off, he’d whisper. Don’t be too reckless.

When the Doctor reached into the bag once more, he found that he’d reached the very last gift he bought for her.

With human luck came human anxiety.

He’d never felt this way before. His singular heart seemed to circulate at twice the speed it was meant to, and sweat collected on his brow.

“This one’s different. Shan Shen has the best miners on this side of the universe. Jewelers from across the galaxy travel there to buy the finest gold, ore, and diamonds. It would have been a waste if I didn’t get this for you.”

While the universe shifted and suffered around Donna Noble, he bartered with a vendor with a thin frame and pronounced overbite. His two children ran around the stall and took turns tugging at his long brown coat. He indulged them with some sonic magic and awed them with invincible bubbles and floating jewelry, and the vendor gave him a hefty discount.

“Come back soon,” the vendor had encouraged. “I pray to the gods she’ll say yes. Maybe next time, you’ll have little ones of your own for me to meet.”

The ring was simple: a clear, uncut diamond perched atop a silver band.

But it was not an earring, or a bracelet, or a necklace.

It was a ring, and his intentions behind it were clear.

The Doctor raised his eyes from the pile in Rose’s hands.

She was crying. Obviously, he’d done something wrong.

“Too soon? It has only been twenty-four hours since I grew out of a hand, but I mean, I am me, and we don’t need to think about your dress or my tux or your family right now, it’s just that I want you to know—”

“Doctor, stop it, it’s not that.” She put the rest of her gifts on the nightstand and wiped her cheeks. “You didn’t even know I was looking for you.”

“I didn’t. But I knew I needed this when I noticed the name of the shop.”

Through her tears, she grinned, as fatal as her namesake. “Bad Wolf?”

“Bad Wolf Goods.”

“That’s not just any luck.”

It wasn’t luck at all. “It was you.”

“I wanted you safe,” she said, “but I wanted you happy, too.”

“There’s one way for you to do that.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Rose laughed her hurt and grief away. His fears flew out of the atmosphere and into the vacuum of space.

She held out her hand, and the Doctor slid the ring onto her finger.

“Blimey, that’s a big rock.” She threw her arms around him, and he smiled against her cheek. “Thank you, Doctor. It’s beautiful.”

“I love you,” he said, because once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop saying it.

“That’s never getting old,” she teased, before she said it back, warm and gentle and fulfilling. He hadn’t heard her say it since the beach, that first time they were on Bad Wolf Bay. This time it was said like a promise, not a goodbye, and he closed his eyes and knew this luck would last a lifetime.

When they pulled apart, she placed the pile of sonics in his hands. “What’ll you do with these?”

He could use one of the newer versions and keep the rest as spares.

But that didn’t feel right. He’d be stealing from the dead.

No, he’d better salvage these for parts and build his own. He could show Rose each and every wire and teach her how to make one herself. It could be one of the first things they’ll do together in this universe.

Just one more opportunity that human luck gifted him.

The Doctor dumped the sonics into his slacks’ right pocket.

He wished he could tell all those Doctors who died in bitterness what enduring all that despair would bring him.

The endurance was over, and the reward was this life.

“Thank you for keeping them,” he said, “but they aren’t mine anymore.”

She raised an eyebrow. “No?”

“Nope!” He beamed. “Guess what, Rose? I’m not dead, and you’re not in a different universe.”

“Points for observation, Doctor.” Her smile grew, playful and expectant. “What should we do about that?”

He untied the sash around her robe and set her down on the edge of the bed. He knelt down.

She ran her fingers through his hair, and the sight of her above him, lovely and ready and wanting, flooded him with very human desires.

“I think I might have an idea.”

[cloud-swimmer]

Intimate Life In Photography

The Photograph as Contemporary Art - Chapter 5 Intimate Life

- By Charlotte Cotton

“The use of seemingly unskilled photography is an intentional device that signals the intimacy of the relationship between the photographer and his/her subjects.”

Family images are usually taken at symbolic points in family life --- a dramatic / symbolic moments, with loved ones, usually staged. “What remains absent in such images, however, are things we perceive as culturally mundane or taboo.”

Art photography substitutes the flip-side of expected scenarios and takes as its subjects the non-events of daily life: sleeping, waiting, being bored, and uncommunicative.

Starting in the late 1980s, the stylistic signs in art practice has made its way into fashion photography. The fashion industry began to absorb these anti-commercial gestures into its advertising, and borrowed the aesthetic strategy from art photography in intimate life. However, without the authenticity of the photographers’ biography, fashion photography was bound to be the target of social campaign. 

Some influential photographers in intimate life:

Nan Goldin

The personal is the universal

“Goldin was consciously sequencing her photographs into themes that directed the viewer to think beyond the specifics of her subjects; lives and about general narratives of universal experience.”

Compared to social documentary, “...her intimate photographs are a genuine record of a personal life and not simply pseudo-empathetic observation.”

Nobuyoshi Araki 荒木经惟

“Araki's photographs of young Japanese women 􀇔re seen as a visual diary of his sexual life, for he clams to have had sex with most of the women depicted. His images are often seen as a kind of photographic foreplay, rather than a detached and exploitative voyeurism.”

Larry Clark - Tulsa (1971) & Tennage Lust (1983)

In Tulsa, Clark “...centre on a self-destructive combination of sex, drugs and guns in the hands of out-of-control young people. Tulsa contains grainy black-and-white photographs taken by Clark throughout his twenties, starting in 1963 [134]. They are hfs most strictly autobiographical works as they diaristically document his youth and that of his friends.”

Ryan McGinley

With full awareness of the traditions within the established genre of intimate photography, McGinley’s work shows a lack of angst and pathos apparent in earlier intimate photography, substituted by a knowing playfulness in collaboration with his subjects to help shape the narratives.

Larry Sultan  (b. 1964)

Sultan grew up in a suburban in California, which later became a source of inspiration for many of his projects. His famous project, Pictures from Home, vividly depicts the his family history and parents’ relationships. In his most recent work, Homeland, Sultan photographed the outskirts of a suburbs --- the marginal spaces and transitional zones invisible to most of people. These were the places where the young Sultan used to enjoy a piece of freedom. Sultan hired day laborers as actors for the landscape photographs and directed their action, drawing from sources such as his own childhood wanderings and their experiences as exiles.

Antioch Creek, 2018  |  Homeland, Larry Sultan

I am very intrigued by Sultan’s works, especially Homeland. The displacement in Sultan’s series of photos results in provocative dramas that provokes reminiscent emotions and thoughts about home. 

I feel I can deeply relate to the subject matter, the nostalgic transitional terrain, he worked on. These places do not provide very “useful” functions other than connecting places that can be named. They are the ambiguous zones that are invisible to most of people who are actively engaged in our modern society. However, these unnamed places are the dreamlands for children living around. I can remembered these anonymous places I hang out a lot when I was a kid --- a deserted beach on the way to my school with a sewer’s exit (my friends and I had lots of imagination about what inside the sewer), the empty grass field behind our neighborhood unit, etc. As I grew up, however, I went to school; I went to work; I hung out at places you can find their names and locations on Google map. Sultan’s photos of those marginal spaces he sought out as a child remind me of my personal childhood and make me think about the modernization of spaces and lifestyle. 

Today these places are occupied by the exile workers who travelled all the way from home in order to make a living. I found the juxtaposition is so interesting, especially when I think about the young Sultan and the exile workers shared these marginal spaces. While Sultan calls it home, the workers sitting under the same tree, longing for his home. What is the memory they have about this pace?  And what are they in common to share this space?  What make children like Sultan left this place? And what makes these workers come to this place?

[lknotesandplanning]

Reading notes. #readingnotes #planner #bujo #bulletjournal #planneraddict #bujoaddict #bulletjournaladdict #plannercommunity #bujocommunity #bulletjournalcommunity #plannergirl #stationery #stationeryaddict #planningroutine #plannerlove #plannerspread #personalorganizing #notetaking https://www.instagram.com/p/B8y0n92ha90/?igshid=t01g7jmhugko

[emotionalagency]

當代廣告學 Contemporary Advertising

006

他們花費了四個月的時間來尋找合適的廣告公司，最後馬丁選中了CP+B公司。這是一家享有盛譽的創作公司，距美國廣告大本營——紐約麥迪遜大道——的勢力和光環有1300英里之遙。馬丁說：“克里斯賓使我們相信他們表現出來的創意絕不只有單純的廣告，而是一種對公共關係、裝備和其他品牌的體驗，從而保證我們的營銷投入物超所值。”

……

“迷你買主之間的人口統計學特徵的確沒有什麼關聯……但你會發現，有可能購買迷你車的人都有一個共同的心態，他們是一些欣賞設計和風格的人，自信但不自以為是，成功但又各有千秋；他們喜歡自己去探索，不喜歡受營銷信息的狂轟濫炸。”馬丁如是說。

於是，他們所有的廣告都只突出新車型的小巧玲瓏和外在的神秘。

……

“絕大多數廣告主將自己的廣告預算花在投放頻次上，但我們卻寧可將資金拿來製造驚奇效果。而不是沒完沒了、讓人生厭的投放上。”

……

但切莫指望好事再來。在受其影響的迷你創意團隊中，CP+8主席喬克·波特（Chuck Porter）說：“這可就這麼一回，人們不會再這麼做，所以我們不得不想出點新鮮花樣。有時我想，如果我們還能按照老方法做事的話，那真是太容易不過了。可惜事過境遷，你必須不斷創新。”

007

廣告（advertising）是由可識別的出資人通過各種媒介，通常是有償的、有組織的、綜合的和非人員性勸服的，進行有關產品（商品、服務和觀點）的信息傳播活動。

廣告一般都與產品（商品、服務、觀點）有關。

008

當然，大多數廣告都會力圖勸服人——說服某人改用某一產品、服務或觀點。有些廣告，如法律公告則僅僅進行告知而非勸服，但他們仍然屬於廣告，因為它們符合廣告定義的所有其他要素。

……

口碑或口傳雖然是一種傳播手段，但並不是一種廣告媒介。它未經組織、公開贊助或有償支付。

009

當我們稱之為信源source的一方形成觀點，將其編碼encode為訊息message，然後通過某一渠道channel傳遞給我們稱之受者reciever的另一方時，傳播活動便開始了。受者必須將訊息解碼decode才能理解訊息。為了作出反應，受者還要形成新的觀點，將其編碼，然後將新的訊息通過某一渠道或媒介送出。對原始訊息的理解或反應構成反饋feedback，它也可以影響到新訊息的編碼。當然，所有的這些過程都發生在一個以噪音noise）由其他信源同時發出的多種哦呢訊息不協調的混合體——為特色的環境中。

如將這一模型應用於廣告中，我們則可以說信源就是出資人，訊息即廣告，渠道便是媒介，受者就是消費者或潛在的消費者，而噪音是競爭廣告發出的喧囂。但這個模型對於發生在廣告或其他有償營銷傳播中的過程來說則顯得過於簡單，它並未將構成廣告訊息所固有的結構或創意納入其中。我們還必須考慮許多相關的複雜問題，尤其是現在面臨著互動媒介的到來。互動媒介使消費者得以蒐集他們所需要的信息，即時操縱在電視或電腦上看到的東西，進而參與傳播活動。

011

他們雖然存在於現實的世界裡，卻不與讀者和觀眾直接見面，然而他們卻在文案的寫作和訊息的構成中扮演著關鍵角色。

……

對消費者來說，這些代表著出資人的人物就是訊息中的信源。

……

廣告是對現實生活的藝術模仿。

……

創意小組首先要考慮，是哪些情感、態度及動機在驅動著自己目標受眾的一部分特定顧客，然後運用自己的傳播符號創作出相應的人物、訊息和形象，將這些文字或圖像符號進行組合編排，並安排在最適宜發布該訊息的媒介上。

013

實際消費者（actual consumer）——相當於口頭傳播過程中的受者——在現實生活中構成廣告的目標受眾，出資人的訊息最終針對的就是他們。只有在出資人同意的情況下他們才可能看到、聽到或讀到訊息。

……

只有等消費者做出了反應，信源才能���確知道訊息是否被對方接受，以及對方是如何接受的。

014

廣告的反饋有多種表現形式：兌換優惠券、登錄網站、電話查詢、光顧商店、詢問詳情、銷售增長、對調查作出反應或電子郵件查詢等。

……

他們甚至可以利用初始訊息發送人的渠道即刻反饋返回信源。

……

市場營銷或營銷（marketing）是指對觀念、商品及服務進行策劃並實施設計、定價、分銷和促銷的過程，其目的是引起交易，從而滿足個人或組織認知的需求、慾望和目標。

015

營銷是一個過程（process），是一連串按順序發生的、經過策劃的活動或方法，其最終目的是在贏利的基礎上滿足消費者的需求。

016

任何廣告主的不道德行為，損害的都不僅僅是他們與其消費者之間脆弱的關係，而且還波及整個廣告業。

018

廣告主對人們的購買行為了解得越多，就越能引起預期顧客對自己產品的普遍認知。

019

工商業客戶大多知識豐富、老練精明，在作出購買決策之前，他們一般都要求廣告主提供詳細的技術信息。因此，從事企業廣告的人應該比那些從事消費品廣告的同行具備更豐富的產品專業知識和工作經驗。

020

營銷者通常把他們稱為4P：產品（product）、價格（price）、渠道（place）和促銷（promotion）。

……

國際廣告（international advertsiing）在國外市場促銷自己的產品，其廣告可以視各國不同的情況而使用不同的訊息，甚至可以在當地創作。

……

營銷傳播（marketing communication通常叫做marcom）指企業或團體為支持自己的營銷目標和戰略而創作和傳播的，所有經過策劃的訊息。

021

作為一種營銷工具，廣告使賣主到達的潛在消費者比銷售人員所能到達的要多，而成本卻較低。此外，廣告本身所具備的創意又使得賣主能為其品牌傳遞出某種形象或個性，充滿象徵性的意義和利益，推銷人員絕對做不到這一點。實際上，在所有營銷傳播工具中，只有廣告才具有這種能力。不過，廣告在信用方面不太盡如人意。

廣告可以打造品牌價值。在樹立品牌知名度、品牌熟悉度、品牌形象和鞏固以往購買決策方面，廣告都不失為營銷傳播工具中的上選，迷你車的成功充分證明了這一點。

026

公共關係中的“公眾”可以包括顧客，但絕不僅限於此。公共關係還涉及到員工、���股人、商販、供應商、政府管制部門和新聞媒體等。

……

雖然公關和廣告非常相似，但公關要求其創作實施人員具備不同的技巧，而且往往由公關公司而非廣告公司的專業人員來實施。

027

近年來，，隨著新型媒介的大量出現以及競爭成本的上升，精明的營銷人員一直在努力從自己的營銷傳播經費中取得更多的回報，結果是企業管理層越來越認識到：1）大眾媒介廣告的效益已不同以往；（2）消費者比以往任何時候都更成熟、精明，而且對社會持懷疑態度；（3）企業在廣告承諾和實際行動之間存在著巨大的差距；（4）從長計議，培養與顧客之間的良好關係遠比實際單純的交易更為重要。因此，目前的發展趨勢便是將廣告主由各不相同傳播代理機構創作的，並由不同部門發布的所有訊息整合起來，從而保持其同意性和連貫性。（整合營銷傳播IMC）

036

廣告作為營銷工具的功能與效用：

1、表明產品的身份，使該產品與其他產品區分開來。

2、傳播有關產品及其特點與銷售地點的信息。

3、引導消費者試用新產品並建議重複使用。

4、刺激產品流通。

5、增加產品使用量。

6、建立價值、品牌偏好和品牌忠誠度。

7、降低整體銷售成本。

044

英國著名文學家賽繆·約翰遜（Samuel Johnson）於1758年觀察到：廣告已多如牛毛，少有被人“仔細閱讀”的。因此，廣告若想引人注意，就必須要有“莊嚴的承諾”。這便是廣告誇大的開始。

048

在二戰以後的40年代後期和50年代初期這一段繁榮時期裡，消費者不斷大量地購買現代化產品作為往上爬的社會階梯。廣告進入黃金時代，創意革命開始。廣告更加註重宣傳產品所代表的社會地位、時尚、豪華或成功。

……

達彼思廣告公司（Ted Bates）的羅塞·里夫斯（Rosser Reeves）提出一個新的觀點，認為每條廣告都應該提出產品的“獨特銷售建議”（unique selling propositim，USP），即有別於其他競爭產品的特點。

……

市場細分（market segmentation），即按特定產品適應特定消費者的方法劃分消費者的過程。

……

定位戰略（positioning strategy）可以將某一特定品牌與消費者的某些優先需求結合起來，因而能有效地使該品牌與其競爭對手區別開來。

052

從需求方面來看，新富裕起來的消費者更加註重自己的生活質量。嬰兒潮一代的基本生活需求已經得到滿足，在這種情形下，他們開始關心如何節省時間和金錢，以便將這些時間和金錢花在休閒活動上，或用於購買那些他們認為代表某種身份的產品、服務和社會活動。

……

隨著20世紀90年代的到來，經濟衰退更加嚴重。傳統的廣告業發現自己已經深陷重圍，四面楚歌。人口過度膨脹也使其受害不淺。客戶希望從其促銷資金中獲得更好的回報；一些富有想像力的新興小公司也敢於去爭取（而且有的也確實贏得了）一些過去他們從不敢奢望的大客戶；電視觀眾具備了擺脫俗套廣告的能力；而建立在新技術基礎上的新興媒介有保證了廣告過程的再一次革新。在短短的三年內，廣告代理業失掉了13500個職位。大客戶脫離了麥迪遜大道，將不同業務分別給了區域性專業小型創作公司和媒介購買公司。但是，衰退並不僅限於廣告代理業，整個媒介行業——報紙、雜誌和電視網的廣告收入全都大幅度下降。在這兩年低谷期裡，美國約有40家雜誌社倒閉。

053

對一個具體的國家來說，廣告是否重要，取決於這個國家的發展水平及其民眾對促銷的態度。一般來說，個人收入較高的國家，其廣告支出也相應較高。

055

正如《廣告時代》所指出的那樣，廣告主的“聖杯”就是與消費者的一對一關係，有了建立在許可基礎上的，同意參與的，與消費者之間的雙向互動，這種關係的可能性越來越大。

056

我們正在目睹一場互動革命。廣告演變成了雙向的媒介，在那裡，有了個人電腦、網絡連接裝置、光盤和有線電視，消費者可以自由選擇接收信息，然後花上一點時間搜索自己想要的產品信息。有了互動媒介，消費者不必再“快進”或“跳讀”躲避廣告，而實際上會去尋找廣告。正如我們在第17章所述，這將成為廣告主到達消費者的一種革命性方式。廣告公司現在有機會再次證明：廣告創意不是為了獲獎，而是為了推銷產品。

從鞋鋪門口的簡單標誌到現在，廣告走過了一條漫長的路。今天，廣告已發展成為宣傳產品及其購買地點，描繪產品品質與價值，樹立品牌個性，同時表明買主個性的有力工具。廣告不僅反映社會及其慾望，也開創或結束某種時尚、潮流和信條——有時完全是靠它本身。

正式廣告用以傳遞訊息的那些技術造就了今天的廣告。過去，廣告總是一言堂；但如今，廣告已發展成了對話，媒介與訊息實際上已不再可以分割了。

對競爭優勢和效率的終極追求使廣告在近一百多年來的道路上風光無限。如今，企業正逐漸意識到，他們最寶貴的財產不是資金設備，不是調查能力，不是產品種類。在這個激烈競爭的全球市場中，他們最寶貴的哦財產是它們的顧客及其彼此之間的關係，保護這種財富已成了這些企業進入21世紀新的營銷重任。現在的企業都知道，只有保持言行一致，才能吧“關係營銷”做得更好。光憑出色的廣告已不再奏效，他們還必須將營銷傳播與自己所作的其他事情結合起來，這才是整合營銷傳播的真正含義。

058

作為一種社會力量，廣告在提高美國乃至世界人民生活水平的過程中發揮了推動作用。廣告使我們知道哪裡 有產品可買，並且賦予了產品個性，使我們得以通過自己的財力支持，加速了新聞自由的進展和許多非營利機構的成長。

063

廣告不是新聞，不是教育，也不是娛樂，儘管它常常扮演上述三種角色。

……

廣告是以大眾媒介有償空間與實踐的形式出現的推銷術。作為一種傳播手段，廣告自然帶有新聞、教育和娛樂的某些特性，但判斷廣告不應以此作為標準。廣告主之所以發布廣告，是因為他們希望廣告能幫助他們賣出某種產品、服務或觀念。

064

爭論是健康的一種表現。

……

自由市場經濟的基本原則，即在以四個基本前提——自身利益、眾多買方與賣方、完全信息和無外部性（社會成本為零）——為特色的體制中，在人們擁有自由選擇、自由決策的權利的條件下，社會才能得到最佳的服務。

065

正如法國當代廣告之父馬歇爾·布勒斯坦—布蘭契所說的，一個國家的廣告投入並非偶然地與其生活水平成正比。

……

20世紀60年代中期，動機研究之父、著名心理學家歐內斯特·迪希特（Ernest Dichter）說，產品的形象，部分是由廣告和促銷塑造的，它應該是產品本身固有的特質。隨後的調查表明，雖然廣告有時無法直接言明產品的品質，但其傳遞的有利形象卻可以暗示出產品的品質。而且，只要使更多的人了解產品，就可能使更多的人希望得到產品，進而提高產品的品牌價值。

066

我們的許多慾望都是出自情感的，社會的或心理的，而不是功能性的。我們向外表明自己是（或希望是）一個什麼樣的人的一種辦法就是通過���們所購買或展示的產品來實現，廣告使人們把產品與自己所希望的形象掛上了鉤，給他們提供了滿足這些心理需求與實現這些願望的機會。

067

在廣告投入較大的行業裡，廣告的高成本確實會使新生的競爭者難以進入。在某些市場上，這些獨家品牌也正是從這種壁壘中獲取巨大利益的。但是，廠房機器和人力方面的巨大投資往往是一個更加難以逾越的壁壘，這才是新（小）企業真正的進入壁壘，而非廣告。

……

通過向更多的人提供更多的“完全信息”，廣告可以刺激市場對某類產品的基本需求（primary demand），即對整個產品種類的需求，進而幫助新產品在市場上立足。在市場不景氣的情況下，人們只關心價格信息，廣告可以對選擇性需求（selective demand）——對某一特定品牌的需求——產生影響，而對於基本需求的影響，則只能是減緩市場下滑的速度；在正在成長的市場中，廣告主可以借廣告爭得一席之地；在成熟、穩定或下滑的市場中，廣告主只好彼此爭奪對方的份額，進行征服性銷售。

068

對整體經濟來講，豐富原則最能體現廣告的重要性。也就是說，在一個供大於求的經濟狀態中，廣告有兩大主要目的：（1）不斷告訴消費者他們有多種選擇（完全信息）；（2）為企業更有效地爭取消費者的金錢創造機會（自身利益）。

069

在我們對廣告的經濟作用展開討論時，我們主要側重於自由市場經濟的前兩個原則：自身利益原則和眾多買方與賣方原則，而廣告的社會層面一般與後兩個原則——完全信息原則和無外部性原則——有關。

……

廣告如想有效，就必須讓消費者對廣告產生信心。因此，任何形式的欺騙都不僅會削弱自由市場的完全信息原則，還有可能使廣告主自取滅亡。甚至連無意義（但合法）的誇張也有可能招致嚴重的後果，被認定具有欺騙成分。誇大（puffery）是一種誇張的、主觀的聲明，很難證明其“真”“偽”，比方“最好的”“最高級的”或“唯一飛行方法”等。

[hsuanhlin-blog]

reading notes-Don’t Make Me Think

September 5, 2019

Chapter 1. Don’t make me think

Classification, order

Name chosen

Distinguish links and buttons

Clear process

Self-evident or self-explanatory

Chapter 2. How we really use web

Scan: on mission, relevant (vs. read)

Focus on words and phrases matching users’ thought

Satisfice: Choi’s first reasonable option (vs. optimize)

Middle through (vs. figure out)

Designers could steer users’ act

Chapter 3. Billboard design 101

Conventions: size, height, location, appearance

“If you’re going to innovate, you have to understand the value of what you’re replacing.”

Clarity trumps consistency.

Visual hierarchies: prominence, grouping, nesting; Obviously clickable, tappable button (one color, no underlines)

No shouting (importance), no disorganization; format text (headings, short paragraphs, bulleted lists, highlight key terms)

[quoteornote]

This gem comes to us from #BobLefsetz’ #UpstartRules... Ignore the hoops, and make something amazing happen... Be sure to check out the #BobLefsetzPodcast in partnership with #TuneIn!

[tara-educ-art]