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thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness · 4 years ago

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Kaoru & Toshiya Rolling Stone Japan 18th May 2021

DIR EN GREY talks about the current unique expression method and fun.

DIR EN GREY has postponed their concert scheduled to be held at Tokyo Garden Theater on May 6th. However, if you read this interview that took place two days before the decision to postpone the live, it's easy to imagine that the band will continue to move forward no matter what.

Using the single "Oboro" released on April 28 as the reason for this interview , we asked leader Kaoru (Gt) and Toshiya (Ba),who makes his first appearance in Rolling Stone Japan, about the current state of the band.

Feel free to correct me if you spot any mistakes or any confusing parts. Links or credits to this post when the content is reposted or captured in other SNS is appreciated : ------------- Original interview: Rolling Stone Japan (includes pictures)

Text: Joe Yokomizo -First of all, please tell us the details of releasing this single at this timing. Kaoru: We've been talking about releasing a single around this time for a long time. But, we were asked by the company to release it sooner (laughs). They told us “Can’t you release it around February?”. But we said we couldn’t record it in such a hurry and pushed the release back (laughs). So, the release was decided at the time it was originally scheduled.

-Is it a song you wrote recently?

Kaoru: We chose it from the ones we had in stock.

-How do you choose a song? Like, is there a discussion among the members? Kaoru: We had a talk about if it’d be good to release a ballad or a melodious song this time. Then, we chose it from the songs we had at that time. Toshiya: That's right. We thought a melodious song or a mellow song would be good, so we chose it from the songs we had in stock. As a result of the discussions we had, we came to the conclusion that “Oboro” was the best choice. I personally thought this song might be able to become a single, but I also thought that it could be a good idea to save it for the album. I thought it could become a song that would be the core of the album even if it was just included in the album. Kaoru: We haven’t released any ballad as a single recently. We did it quite a while ago so we felt like it would be good if we tried it.

-It's true that a ballad as a single is quite fresh for DIR EN GREY, and the arrangements are ... Kaoru: Simple. Pretty simple, but it took us a while to get there. -Do you want to increase the number of notes that are being played at the same time? Kaoru: No. Rather than messing with that, it felt like the notes were gradually confronting each other. There wasn’t a big change, but it took us some time to decide the overall flow, how to do it and the final result. -DIR EN GREY has a strong image as a band that is playing lives often. Until now, you released something and toured, released something, and toured. All over again. The releases haven’t stopped yet but the tours and therefore the lives themselves have stopped because of Corona. How do you feel about the state of the band? Toshiya: Since we couldn’t play lives, I think the part of exploring as a band is big. But personally, at some point, I got over that. The band wants to move, but it’s hard to do it. Even if we think about it, we can’t do anything about the situation so, we haven’t stopped thinking about it, but I think we got over it at some point. Rather, we had no choice but to get over it. -Even if you keep thinking about it, nothing will happen.

Toshiya: That’s right. Even if we just write songs and do the pre-production all the time, if that’s all we are doing, it feels like a pie in the sky all the time. It’s a strange feeling, isn’t it? We didn’t get another answer before but, the process of getting that answer has changed. There was a series of routines like making an album, playing lives, making an album, and doing live performances after that but wasn’t that cut off entirely? Then, we are doing it as usual, but something has changed at some point. And it may just be that kind of era from now on. I think we have no choice but to adapt to this. However, even I think about how it was before, I’m starting to think that it won’t be like that again, and we may just get over it. -Did the production itself change due to the lack of lives? It is often said that a song evolves when it is being playing live, but if you make a song in a situation where it is difficult to imagine playing it live, will the image of the song, how to make it, and the depth of making it change? Kaoru: Even if we are making songs, it feels different from usual. To put it the other way around, as the situation is unique now, maybe it’s a song that can only be done at this moment. But it’s like…. wouldn't it be nice if we could create something interesting? I don't know if we are even thinking about it. I think that the fact that there was always a tour up until now had a big influence. As we always had a tour, until then we’ve limited production time. That's why there was a switch, because now we have infinite time. To be honest, if you take it easy, you’ll space out. After all, it was great to be pushed, force myself into doing it and work hard (laughs). -About making it “the right time” by themselves -Regarding the unlimited production time, how was it for you, Toshiya? Toshiya: I think I'm grateful. However, I want to use it as much as I have. As there were moments I got distracted/ was being lazy, I feel that there are good points and bad points, to be honest. -What's the good thing about this recording? Have you tried something new? Toshiya: After all, in the end time is chasing me (laughs). But this time, I felt that I had a little leeway in my heart. That's why I thought about the single in various ways.Then I wondered if I could release this or that and people would listen to it. It’s common to say this but, when you start thinking about figures, I've even thought about if it's good or bad to release something at this timing. I wondered if it’d be better when this corona situation has settled down a bit more. But well, even if you wait for that time to come, then I would wonder about when that time would come, so in the end, I thought it was unavoidable to think about it. If the right time doesn't come, I think we should make it become the “right time”. Rather than worrying about it, I thought that if such a song was completed and it felt good, we should release it. -It's certainly important to create the right timing. Toshiya: People all over the world are dealing with it now, or more like, we are waiting forever, aren’t we? Personally, I don’t think the situation will return to normal even if we wait. I think it’s more useful to think about how to proceed in a situation like this. I personally came this conclusion, or at least, I’m trying to. -Listening to what you are saying, I remembered Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot." The two main characters are waiting for Godot, but in fact, no one knows who Mr. Godot is, and I don't know if Godot actually exists. But they are waiting, believing that he will eventually come. Toshiya: Everyone, including myself, is waiting now. But what on earth are you waiting for? If you think about it, it’s like we're just waiting for "that moment”, right? But honestly, I don't think “that” will be back. I think it has changed. Then we have to move towards it. I'm a bit scared to stop waiting any longer, but I think we have to take a step forward. Kaoru: I agree with you. -DIR EN GREY Unique ideas -By the way, the new song "Oboro" is said to be a sequel to a previous song. The lyrics are done by vocalist Kyo but for you two, is it a sequel? Kaoru: I was told that but I wasn’t particularly drawn (by that song). The beats and tempo of the original song of "Oboro" are similar to that song. So maybe he was drawn by that and made the lyrics like this. After hearing that the lyrics would be like that, I've never been aware of it. Toshiya: I wasn't even aware of it at all either. I thought “is this it?”.

-By the way, in Toshiya's words, "Oboro" is a song that can be the core of the next album ... Toshiya: It’s just a song. The talks about the album are making rapid progress but now there are endless possibilities, including how to play the songs live. So, I think it's okay if there are songs that exist just as part of the album, and conversely, there may be songs that are only for playing them live. In other words, from here on, how to add value will become even more important than ever. Kaoru: It's nice to have songs that you can only play live. Toshiya: About that, if you might do that at that time, you might want to play it live? I’m thinking about how to add that value to the song. I want to do a live concert, but we can't, moreover if you even do a concert normally, I’m sure it won’t be interesting. -It looks like broadcasting a regular live is difficult, right? Kaoru: A live that it’s going to be only broadcasted is a bit tough. In that sense, hearing what Toshiya said about songs that only can be played at lives are, in other words, songs that won’t become part of an album are really interesting. Toshiya: I don’t know. I was thinking it to myself and I just said it (laughs). Kaoru: There may be quite a few….songs that are like, “Which one is this?". Moreover, no one mentions those songs in an interview (laughs). Toshiya: Ahahaha. Kaoru: Even among the fans, sometimes it’s like “which song is that one?”, and don’t even know the title. The set list doesn't even have the title of the song. Toshiya: I think it doesn't have to be just the song , but the production. I recently thought about it. In the past there used to be a lot of imaginativeness/ playfulness on the DIR EN GREY’s cds. Recently, I remembered that was pretty normal. But from now on, if we are going to put out the record ourselves, I want to make something that can be enjoyable. On the old DIR EN GREY cds, I remember I was asked to find out where the lyrics were written. When I think about it now, it's quite a prank, but that prank was surprisingly interesting. -How about the leader (laughs)? Kaoru: I put a lot of things into the sound (laughs). -The particularity/commitment in “Oboro” -The “mischievous and eccentric” idea that Toshiya mentioned is swallowed normally before one knows. I think expression itself is a struggle, but in the age of the Internet, the speed at which it is swallowed is accelerating. That’s why, even if that happens, I think it is important to keep fighting, recognizing that "I am not just like this". Kaoru: That's exactly what I do. Because I never thought I have a good taste. Even though I can’t make a song, it feels like I'm doing it just because I have a competitive spirit. -Like you don’t want to be taken into ordinary things, or do you want to do something that has never been seen before? Kaoru: I want to do that, but it takes time. Speaking of gimmicks, in “Oboro” there are a lot of them. -What kind of “gimmicks” are there? Please tell me some. Kaoru: It's not interesting if I told them (laughs). There are many sounds that you can't hear. There are lots of sounds that you can feel. I thought it would be great if you could feel it. And I'm thinking about putting a lot of that into the next album. -There is something I would like to ask about lives. I think we are in a situation where values are conflicting. If you play a live, even among fans there’ll be the conflict of the “Don’t play a live in these circumstances” versus the “Thank you for playing a concert in these circumstances” position. Kaoru: It's difficult, isn't it? Neither of these positions are wrong. However, as a band, we won’t stop. So, if the conditions allow it, the live will go on. I think there are a lot of people who says “"Oh, I'm going to live at a time like this. These people’s views have changed”. But well, I think this is happening in other bands as well. -That’s right. In any band, there is a faction that says to play lives and a faction that wants to stop. How should they come to terms with each other? Kaoru: I don’t think normal life will be back for a while here. If someone says “Yes, it’s nothing in the end”, it may change, but it’s that going to happen? The point is, I think it will be difficult unless the number of infected people goes down. Because Taiwan, where the number of infected people has decreased, there are even festivals taking place. Toshiya: We are choosing a method (against Corona virus) that doesn't work right now, but as it is the government who is doing it, isn’t the situation delicate? I think so. When it comes to what is driving people, I think it’s the number of people getting infected, as Kaoru said. The only way to reduce that number may simply cause damage. If you lock down hard like in the UK, you will suffer tremendous financial damage. I think that's why everyone can get lost on the way. However, although it is extreme, unless you have such a strong will, you will continue to do it subtlety and the number will drop again, “Oh, now it’s ok because the numbers have dropped a little” and then after a while they will surely increase again, won’t them? And then repeat the same process. If that happens, I’m worried the same process will be repeated again and again if you don’t cut it off at some point. Kaoru: Tokyo is under the state of emergency for the third time, but I would like them to stop doing lockdown so suddenly. It’s so hard if there is no warm-up/grace period.

Toshiya: Regarding this state of emergency, I will obey what they say, because I have to obey. But in order to do it, I want something that gives me hope. I feel like suddenly, time was taken from me. -Before the light can be seen, “Oboro” -I want hope. That being said, DIR EN GREY's music always sees light at the end. But in the current situation, we can't see that light. I don't think you can understand the meaning of the lyrics unless you're Kyo, but I'm wondering what "Oboro" means. Like, in this era everything is obscure in an ambiguous sense? Or is it a night with a hazy moon but, you can see the light even faintly because it’s hazy? How do you two interpret it?

*Joe is making a reference to the song title, 朧 (Oboro) means hazy,dim,faint.* Toshiya: If possible, I think I want it to be hazy before you are able to see the light. Before people lose the courage to do their best, being surrounded by fog all the time. - It's true that humans aren't that strong. If there is hope, what is it? What kind of hope are you seeing now? Toshiya: That would be ……the best would be that the Corona situation comes to an end. But before that, I'd like "Oboro" to be released properly. Some CD shops are closed due to a state of emergency, so even if you made a reservation, some people may not be able to get it on the release date. So, I hope that "Oboro" will reach everyone who made a reservation. -Which is Kaoru’s Oboro? Kaoru: I think either of them are interesting. In any situation as well, it’s something that it’s only now. It’s also an expression method that can only be done now. Of course, the band will continue, and I will be writing songs, but I think it would be great if we could express something that can only be done now, or something that is interesting. -Anyway, "Oboro" is an excellent title. Toshiya: When you think about it now, that’s right. It can be interpreted as this uncertain situation, and it can also be interpreted as a situation where a faint light is visible. Kaoru: I want you to listen to it and feel it.

#dir en grey #kaoru #toshiya #translation #toshiyatranslations

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nutty1005 · 4 years ago

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Xiao Zhan, welcome to the cruel entertainment business

Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/6qaJPp9O1exu4M8xtbt71A Original Author: 杨晋亚 Translator’s note: The original author is part of Yuli Studio, this article is published in Yuli Studio’s Weixin Official Account on 15 Sep 2019 as a part of “Behind the Screens” Volume 210.

“I never thought it would happen this way, this was fated.”

A month ago, he was just accepted by audiences due to “The Untamed” and just became one of the most popular actors. Now, he had to take on the responsibility of a movie’s box office as the main lead actor, and show his worth to the movie industry.

Three days before “Jade Dynasty I” aired in the cinemas, Yuli Studio met up with the nervous Xiao Zhan, who told us his fears, “Movies, well, they are very direct, very pragmatic and very cruel, so there’s no choice, since we’re already here, I just have to work hard to do my best.”

With traffic and popularity, comes others’ views and opinions – some expected him to withstand the stress of the box office, but there were also others waiting to laugh at his failure. “Jade Dynasty I” was the first obstacle Xiao Zhan was breaking through, and the path ahead was still long.

Xiao Zhan, welcome to the cruel entertainment business.

Xiao Zhan at “Jade Dynasty I” Press Conference

Looking back at the movie journeys of all the traffic actors, no one was like Xiao Zhan, who took on a movie while he was still a nobody, and this movie aired just barely 2 months after he made a name, putting his resource conversion ability to a public test.

On the first day, the box office was 142 million, on the second day it broke 200 million, these were the results “Jade Dynasty I” achieved during the Mid Autumn movie season, which exceeded many people’s expectations. The first day was with fans support, the second day still had interested moviegoers, Xiao Zhan’s first time as the lead actor on silver screen and he miraculously withstood the box office.

“Jade Dynasty I” Super Topic + Maoyan Movie Professional Box Office Chart

This was Xiao Zhan’s third time on the silver screen.

The first time, he was a little monster dressed in flowery clothes in “Monster Hunt 2”, drowned in a sea of group actors, almost unnoticeable as the camera panned past him in a second. The second time, he was a special agent, a side character that barely had 1 minute of screen time, in “The Rookies” during that year’s summer movie season. The third time, he became the main lead actor and took on the entire movie, presenting the process of innocent Zhang Xiaofan becoming a demon.

The production team of “Jade Dynasty I” revealed that, whether or not Xiao Zhan became popular, the movie was planned to air on 8 Aug, however because the post production was incomplete, hence it was shifted to the Mid Autumn movie season.

Director Cheng Xiaodong said that the luckiest decision he made for “Jade Dynasty I” was to cast Xiao Zhan, “I never thought that his acting would be so natural so good, he is not pretentious, and he is very humble, when you tell him something he will listen and improve.”

Stage photographs from “Jade Dynasty I”, Xiao Zhan before and after demonizing

On set, Cheng Xiaodong even actively added some scenes for Xiao Zhan, for example the scene at the start of the movie where Xiaofan was fantasizing about his senior, Tian Linger, “I found that he could act in all layers, he could do dull and dimwitted, he could do the demonizing transformation later on, so this movie he had many layers, the pace kept changing.”

To Xiao Zhan, Zhang Xiaofan of “Jade Dynasty I” was an unforgettable milestone, it was considered to be his toughest filming. Filming in conditions under 20°C and being blown by a giant fan, hung upside down for a free fall of 30 meters, in order to maintain his sense of the role, he even turned off the heater in his trailer, just so that his body will adapt to the temperature outside.

Before “Jade Dynasty I” aired, Xiao Zhan once said, “If the reception of the movie isn’t very good, I just have to work harder in the future. If it was not bad, then I am grateful that you saw my hard work from that period of time.”

After the movie aired, Xiao Zhan became the center of discussion for “Jade Dynasty I”. The movie’s quality was the result of an entire movie crew’s hard work, but now that all the discussions had landed on Xiao Zhan, to a certain degree, that was the price to pay for fame.

Stage photograph from”Jade Dynasty I”, Xiao Zhan as Zhang Xiaofan

On 23 Aug, there was a video on Weibo that was reposted a few tens of thousands of times.

In the video, Xiao Zhan had just ended a day’s filming, and after he got off the car, the 20 over fans waiting at the hotel entrance got rowdy, they blocked Xiao Zhan’s path and took pictures of him in his face using their phones. Spotting a gap at the side, Xiao Zhan suddenly took off running, and then he safely entered the elevator.

During the filming period of “The Oath of Love” recently at Wuxi, crazy fan actions were happening everyday as Xiao Zhan went to and from his work, sometimes they would surround and block him in the underground car park, sometimes when he got into the car they would forcibly block the car doors from closing, sometimes they would knock on his hotel room door to stuff notes to him.

Xiaofan, a staff who worked around Xiao Zhan said that the sasaeng problems was already very serious, the company wanted to provide him two assistants and security guards, but Xiao Zhan insisted not to.

“Because he didn’t want to give off the impression that he started acting like a big shot after he got famous.”

During the interview, Xiao Zhan spoke about the sasaeng problems again

From the media’s perspective, we have witnessed many artists change after they got famous, some would have a star aura, some would be exuding confidence from in to out, Yuli Studio’s reporter Lanpangzi once visited the set of “The Untamed”, and one year later met Xiao Zhan again at the “Jade Dynasty I” press conference, Lanpangzi discovered that Xiao Zhan was still as warm and accommodating like the boy-next-door.

At the backstage of the press conference, a few tens of guests spoke to Xiao Zhan consecutively, he was smiling at everyone, and slowly fulfilled each and everyone’s request to take a photograph together, and only until 4pm that afternoon he was able to finally have time for a few mouths of a lunchbox. The continuous non-stop interviews started at 4.05pm, all the reporters wanted a photograph together, and he tried to accommodate even under such tight scheduling.

After becoming famous, Xiao Zhan had more and more interviews, and if he was not careful, he would be accused of putting on airs if the arrangements of the interviews were done wrongly. Xiaofan said that Xiao Zhan himself was especially aware of this point, “He is now even more nervous than before, and he had expectations of all of his staff, please don’t think that he is putting on airs just because of our errors.”

Xiao Zhan at the “Jade Dynasty I” Press Conference

After joining the “Jade Dynasty I” press conference in Beijing, Xiao Zhan had to quickly fly back to Wuxi to continue filming.

Before “The Untamed” finished airing, Xiao Zhan had already entered the filming for “The Oath of Love”, and filming while at the height of his fame would mean that he would miss a lot of event opportunities. When his fans were worried about his limited exposures, Xiao Zhan’s thoughts was that: “What’s there to be worried about, I feel that an actor’s life comes from his works.”

In fact, Xiao Zhan had received a lot of invitations from many events, so his biggest worry was how he could maintain his normal acting condition.

“Some events you just had to complete, and then I had some commercial obligations prior, like that day at Suzhou, that was a contract that I signed then,” Xiaofan said, “the last thing that Xiao Zhan wanted to do was to take leave.”

Xiao Zhan’s current schedule at “The Oath of Love” was from 8am to 10pm, if he had to take leave, it meant that when Xiao Zhan returned to the set he would have to work overtime to film his scenes.

Stage photograph from “The Oath of Love”, Xiao Zhan as Gu Wei

The performance teacher accompanying the filming , Yang Xu, witnessed Xiao Zhan’s helplessness and anxiety.

“His load in ‘The Oath of Love’ was especially big, basically we could only discuss his scenes that day while he was doing his make up in the morning, because the filming would end very late at night, I wanted him to go back for more rest. Moreover the fan problems now are too prominent, sometimes he would also talk to me a bit, although I don’t think this incident affected his mood or his performance, but it definitely affected his normal resting time.”

For a while, Yang Xu was very worried about Xiao Zhan’s condition, but what surprised him was that, although the filming would end very late at night, but by the next day, Xiao Zhan would have memorized his lines and made full preparations before coming to the make up room.

“That was what made him powerful, and I found that he would actually really use every bit of spare time to prepare for the role and his lines, for example, while doing his make up, even when going to the toilet, he would be holding the script, and then during the rest period after filming every scene, he would be reading his lines with me while drinking coffee, because lines reading needed partners, I said you just take me as your partner.”

When he was away from the set on leave, Xiao Zhan took late night flights between Beijing and Wuxi almost every time, and in the photographs taken by his fans at the airport, he would also be reading his script.

Stage photograph from “The Oath of Love”, Xiao Zhan as Gu Wei

Every early morning at the make up room would also be the spare time for Xiao Zhan and Xiaofan to talk about their work and release stress.

“Now he does not seem to enjoy the applause and glory from the opportunities that came with his sudden fame, a lot of it was some anxiety and confusion,” in Xiaofan’s eyes, these two months in Xiao Zhan’s life definitely changed.

“Suddenly, we experienced a lot of things that we don’t quite understand, it could have been a small mistake at work, but we would gain the attention of anti-fans or fans. He is more of an introvert, he doesn’t go out to entertain, stays at home more, leads simple life, and suddenly his life came under the spotlight, wherever he went there will be fans following, he was definitely anxious.”

The seniors in the industry would also give Xiao Zhan some advice, and share with him some of the survival rules in the entertainment world that he had not experienced. “For example we will having having a fun conversation, or someone would be telling some something he does not know about in the industry, the next day he will tell me that the conversation made him quite excited, he learned a lot, I feel like he is a sponge like person, continuously absorbing,” a senior in the industry revealed.

Xiao Zhan

On 10 Aug, a day before the filming starts for “The Oath of Love”, performance teacher Yang Xu finally met Xiao Zhan again.

The script for “The Oath of Love” was given to Yang Xu quite early on, Xiao Zhan also wanted to quickly get into the preparation for this role, but because the promotion schedule for “The Untamed” was too tight, they did not manage to squeeze out some time to discuss about the script face-to-face.

“That day’s morning he just fixed his costume, we only met briefly at night,” Yang Xu recalled, but what put him at ease was that Xiao Zhan already made full analysis and preparation of the script, “At that time, I felt assured, his analytical skills of his roles were getting stronger, he was already able to analyze the script independently.”

Yang Xu, who was once a teacher in Central Drama School, participated in many dramas, such as “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, as their performance instructor. When he joined “The Oath of Love”, it was already his third time working with Xiao Zhan.

Stage photograph from “The Oath of Love”, Xiao Zhan as Gu Wei

While filming “The Untamed”, Xiao Zhan told the visiting staff from Yuli Studio that he wished to improve his lines. After finishing “Jade Dynasty I”, Xiao Zhan proactively went to Yang Xu for a few classes.

The airing “The Untamed” in this summer made many viewers notice the actor Xiao Zhan.

In the “Bloodbath at Nevernight City” in episode 32, Wei Wuxian stood on top of a roof, facing off the accusations from all of the sects, crying and laughing, unable to explain himself. In this part, the Yiling Patriarch’s rage was at his max, and it was Xiao Zhan’s golden moment of his acting abilities, and many drama fans were surprised to find out that the filming of that scene was done in the same day as another scene – that day’s morning was the filming of youth Wei Wuxian in the library, and at night he immediately went into the condition of the Yiling Patriarch dying in Nevernight City.

We asked him how he could film such extreme conditions within the same day, Xiao Zhan confessed that he himself did not know, “I saw some gifs and clips, if I had to suddenly redo this scene, I don’t think I can outperform that me then, I guess that time it was the accumulation of time and condition, maybe that period of time I had already blended into the role.”

Stage photographs from “The Untamed”, Wei Wuxian at Nevernight City and the Library

Drama fans attributed this to Xiao Zhan’s “self-sacrificing styled acting” performance method, in the drama, Wei Wuxian depended on someone to use the “self-sacrificing curse” 16 years later to resurrect – this “self-sacrifice” meant that Xiao Zhan gave himself entirely to the role of Wei Wuxian.

To Yang Xu, Xiao Zhan’s instinctive acting method, where he became the role, actually came from this “sincerity”, and this was where the advantage of Xiao Zhan as an actor lied.

“Xiao Zhan is a very sincere person, I spoke to him then that sincerity is a very important quality in an actor. This sincerity meant that he could 100% give away himself, he was the same when he was taking classes with me. Because when we were practicing, he also needed to share some of his privacy or live experiences, he would share them very sincerely.”

Stage photograph from “The Untamed”, Xiao Zhan as Wei Wuxian

Yang Xu felt that the introvert and quiet Doctor Gu from “The Oath of Love” was more like Xiao Zhan in his everyday life. But Xiao Zhan felt nervous about this role having similarities with his own character, because he felt that he had not acted in any contemporary dramas. Before filming started, he constantly asked Yang Xu about the differences between contemporary dramas and period dramas, whether he was to portray life as more at will compared to period dramas.

Yang Xu told him, at its core they are acting out human emotions, therefore he must truly experience the life of this character, and then build a realistic communication with his partner.

“Yang Zi is a more quick-witted actress, her performances are very varied, if at this time Xiao Zhan wasn’t about to build enough communication with Yang Zi, or not focused enough, then the two of them might not be able to match up. But what’s good is that Xiao Zhan is very sincere, and he could receive Yang Zi’s performance, and then reply with his layered emotions. I was on set watching a few of their scenes, I personally feel that Xiao Zhan did very well.”

From “Jade Dynasty I” to “The Oath of Love”, Yang Xu saw the growth of Xiao Zhan within this half year. During the process of working with Yang Zi, Xiao Zhan became willing to try more variations, willing to breakthrough his fixed style of acting, and look for changes in every scene and every line.

“He is very concerned about how he crafts every single character, he has his own expectations of his performance and profession, he will never be satisfied with his results and what he has attained in performance. He will forever be seeking, and with this seeking, he will have motivation to learn and grow. And he is very talented, I always tell him, you definitely can become a good actor.”

“The Oath of Love” Character Poster

We reverse the time back to early 2017, Xiao Zhan has just joined the filming of “Battle Through the Heaven”, as the minor role Lin Xiuya.

Then, Xiao Zhan had just entered the entertainment industry for barely a year, and acted in a web drama that he jokingly called it his “dark history” later on.

During the performance classes before the filming of “Battle Through the Heaven”, Xiao Zhan stood out from all the newcomers, not only because of his outstanding looks, but also because he was well-mannered and polite, very hardworking during the filming, and left a great impression on the staff.

“Battle Through the Heaven” was filmed throughout the Chinese New Year period of 2017, the new actors did not go home, and one of the seniors in the crew was talking to them, telling them that as a singer in China, their career progression might be more limited, and they should go down the path of acting, but the path of acting is a path of no return, they could only move forward and not backwards, therefore you will need to put in everything for it.

Stage photograph from “Battle Through the Heaven” Season 1, Xiao Zhan as Lin Xiuya

Born in 1991, Xiao Zhan was the representative of “over-aged commoner pursuing an entertainment business dream”, he only started to learn dancing at the age of 24, debuting as a part of a boy group. That spring, the 26 year old took in what the senior said, and started to consider the possibility of changing his career path.

At that time, Xiao Zhan was not confident, he felt that he came from an idol group background, and he was not sure if he could become an actor. But one of the strengths of Xiao Zhan was that he would not consider whether he could or not, instead, he would “choose, I just want to do it well, do it first, we’ll see the results later”.

Just like him starting to learn dancing with no foundations, but he saw effects after a month; during the idol competition his mentor Shu Qi suggested that he train his gaze, and a few weeks later he started to shed off the commoner in his gaze; in the transformation to become an actor, the senior encouraged him to lose weight first, and come to the set of “The Wolf” 3 months later, he really lost 10lbs.

“The Wolf” was Xiao Zhan’s entry work, followed through the entire drama as a part of the lead actors, and gained an acting quality improvement from 0 points to 50 points. A member of the staff revealed that hotels with better conditions were further away from the set, and in order to leave more time to acting, Xiao Zhan took the initiative to pick a hotel that was near the set despite it having worse conditions.

Stage photograph from “The Wolf”, Xiao Zhan as Ji Chong

During the filming period of “Battle Through the Heaven” and “The Wolf”, transforming from a singer to an actor facing cameras, that sensation once caused Xiao Zhan to lose the sense of himself, unsure how he could let the audiences believe that he was that role. During the filming of “The Untamed”, Xiao Zhan was still not confident enough, compared to the newcomers around him that came from acting schools, Xiao Zhan did not have any advantages.

“My thoughts and intentions had always been very simple, that is I want to do it well,” Xiao Zhan said, during the filming of “The Wolf”, he filmed in the day and took classes at night, writing his acting analysis in the late night, he also broke down once or twice, writing them while crying, but eventually he persisted.

The seed of stubbornness and refusal to admit defeat is deeply rooted in Xiao Zhan’s body, as a child he would go to Shaoniangong every weekend to learn drawing, and nothing would keep him from it, because that was something he wanted to do from his heart; when competing in the idol competition, facing many teammates who were from music academies, he thought to himself that “if you could do it, then I could do it too, and I’ll do it even better”; when filming, he believed that viewers would not be concerned whether he came from an acting background, but the most direct answer would be whether he acted well or not.

“The Untamed” finally brought the actor Xiao Zhan to everyone’s notice.

That summer, he became the entertainment business’s new top traffic power, his supertopic firmly in the top three, all kinds of gossip forums had posts about him, and “Jade Dynasty I” also showcased his appeal.

Stage photograph from “The Untamed”, Xiao Zhan as Wei Wuxian

Why was he able to receive so much love this summer?

There were many within the entertainment circle that looked well upon Xiao Zhan, two of them could provide answers or a type of assessment:

“Xiao Zhan used his acting abilities to conquer me”; “I see the shadow of every worker on him, he carries the hopes and dreams of every man pursuing a dream.”

There was a microblog titled “Recording Xiao Zhan’s every man moments” that obtained 330 thousand likes, and within it, fans shared many little stories about him.

For example, after living for 28 years, Xiao Zhan’s most prideful moment was to have his logo sell well as a designer; the backgrounds of his group’s concerts and the web drama’s slides were all drawn by him; his mobile phone home screen was the God of Fortune, like every person who hoped for a sudden windfall.

One part was the recognition of his working capabilities; the other part, the Xiao Zhan, who became a designer after graduation and went through a year of working life before pursuing his “entertainment business dream”, was indeed very different from the idols that were cultivated from the idol machine, he came with common sense and life experiences, his past was definitely able to resonate with every man.

Xiao Zhan

A fan once sent this microblog – Xiao Zhan’s temperament is so good, perhaps it’s because he had been honed by his clients. Xiao Zhan himself replied her with a meme: “What do you mean?”

The experience as a contractor, plus always facing people with a smile, everyone’s first impression of Xiao Zhan was that he was a gentle person with a good temperament.

Xiao Zhan always habitually considered others’ feelings first.

Staff Xiaofan revealed that the previous assistant was not capable enough, made a lot of mistakes, but Xiao Zhan never lost his temper at him.

Yang Xu accompanied Xiao Zhan every morning in the make up room for script reading, there was once Xiao Zhan had insomnia the night before and was in a bad shape, he took the initiative to apologize to the teacher, “That day I could feel that he was actually very tired, but he still tried his best to maintain his condition to discuss his role with me, later on he came to me and said, teacher I’m sorry, my condition was bad in the morning, you took still so much effort to explain the role to me, I feel quite bad, you can come slightly later, otherwise you’ll feel bad looking at my current state. I was very touched then, I said you just rest well and don’t worry about me.”

In the idol competition, someone once questioned Xiao Zhan’s character as passive and unenthusiastic. To Xiaofan, this is because “he is always humble and polite to people he doesn’t know well, and he’ll treat everyone with a sense of propriety.”

A reporter once asked Xiao Zhan if he was a Mr. Nice Guy. Xiao Zhan replied, “I feel that those who feel like this are probably acquaintances. People who know me very well will know that I’m actually quite stubborn and quite strong-headed.”

Xiao Zhan

Xiao Zhan said, he did not like to make the atmosphere uncomfortable, he hoped that everyone could all be harmonious.

But in the “Secret Garden”, Xiao Zhan will unexpectedly shed off this shell of warm smiles and display the tenacious edge in his heart.

Xiao Zhan had a microblog that held the heartfelt words between he and his fans, and some words Xiao Zhan would quietly post in the comments, and those who care for him would always see it.

Last year after “The Untamed” started filming, there were those who believed that he would rise to fame very quickly, but there were also those who mocked him for “being famous on credit”, Xiao Zhan, who had a nickname “Brother Wealthy”, quietly posted a comment on the sentiments then, “I have money, I don’t go on credit.”

In his daily life, Xiao Zhan does not like to cry, he said he has given all of his tears to his characters. Once in a while, everyone can also see that soft Xiao Zhan coming out of his protective shell. Last year during the Hangzhou concert, he looked at the hall full of his fans’ support, singing the song, “Satisfaction”, that his fans fought for him, he tried to keep in his tears.

After bursting to fame, whether Xiao Zhan will continue to display his strong or soft moments, we would not know, but Xiaofan revealed that the staff do not control Xiao Zhan’s microblog postings, the “Secret Garden” continues to be his method of communicating with his fans.

But we can be certain that Xiao Zhan is slowly learning and adjusting to the rules of the entertainment business, becoming more careful, he will sometimes tell his staff, “We need to be more careful than before.”

Xiao Zhan’s Mid Autumn greetings

The night after the premiere of “Jade Dynasty I”, Xiao Zhan secretly went to record a program at CCTV. That night at 8.30pm, word from the scalpers circle came out, “Xiao Zhan’s activity, those who can come to the area near the world trade center message me! Limited seats! Hurry!”

Later on, there were a lot of fans gathering at the north entrance of CCTV, and until late night at 11pm, there were still large groups of fans quietly waiting. Xiao Zhan and his staff would sometimes wonder, when would days like this ever end, but they also understood that this is an anomaly, things would slowly stabilize after a few months, and the future still depended on his works.

After completing the filming of “The Oath of Love”, Xiao Zhan will go through a period of rest and adjustment, and enter filming again at the start of next year.

“What worried him previously what that he didn’t know where his opportunities were, didn’t know which path he should take; now of course he’s firmly decided on being a good actor,” Xiaofan revealed.

Xiao Zhan at the premiere press conference of “Jade Dynasty I”

His vlogs since his debut, until yesterday when he spoke to everyone online, Xiao Zhan always started with “I am still Xiao Zhan”.

After rising to fame, Xiao Zhan told himself that he needed to work harder in his life, and work hard to remind himself to stay common and still be that very initial Xiao Zhan.

However, no one would be able to foresee the possibilities of Xiao Zhan in his career, “No one restricted that I have to be this type of Xiao Zhan my whole life,” since he is someone who likes to stay on his feet, and very willing to try and change.

Entering this cruel entertainment business, Xiao Zhan still continues to be a honorable working class, lying on his sofa after knocking off; traffic comes and goes, he tells himself that he should not compare with anyone else, he should only compete against himself, and be a long distance runner.

Only passion and sincerity can withstand the long and slow passage of time.

Xiao Zhan looking at that year’s fireworks

#xiao zhan #sean xiao #xiaozhan #肖战

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tipsydipsydo · 5 years ago

Text

『© tipsydipsydo』

All listed and linked work (that includes my writings, my fake texts and my moodboards) in here is my intellectual property and belongs only to my blog tipsydipsydo.tumblr.com!

Do not repost, plagiarize, translate or use any of my work in general!

That includes reposting my content on other social media platforms too, even when you link me as the original author.

Please respect that. I’ll fight any illegal use of my work!

Thank you.

「Information: Only the unique combination of pictures, the colour schemata and editing of the moodboards is my intellectual work! I don’t own the pictures themselves and all credits are going to the rightful owners!」

➸ Blog Navigation

A post where you'll find all my other themed Masterlists of my writings, my personal sideblog, my fic-recs blogs and so much more!

➸ My Networks

This is a list of all the networks where I got accepted as a writer in their community. Please check them out!

➙ Information!

All the showed (anonymized) persons on my Moodboards should only symbolizes specific scenes, situations, outfits, jewelry or cosmetics! Nothing of this should make you feel excluded when you have a different skin color, hair color/structure, body shape or gender!

My scenarios and fics should be open for everyone to read, that’s why I try my best to write gender neutral and male scenarios/fanfics as well!

(Some scenarios or fics could still be personalized for specific groups of people or communities where I think they deserve some more attention and love! For example because there is a lack of writings for them etc.)

What I want to say:

We all are the same equal in our own unique existence!💓

I love all of you guys!🤗💓

» Gender «

↬ Female: ♔ [♔-Reader]

↬ Male: ♚ [♚-Reader]

↬ Gender neutral: ♕ [♕-Reader]

» Genre Key «

↬ Fluff: 🌸

↬ Angst: 🌧

↬ Hurt and Comfort: ☔

↬ Serious Themes: ⚠️🚫

(For example sexual assault, (mental) illnesses, traumatic experiences, rascism, antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia etc.)

➙ We can’t take those things easy and I’ll not accept that someone “joke” about it!

↬ Comedy/Crack: 🌞

↬ Soft Smut [sweet vanilla~]: 💋

↬ Hard Smut [kinky stuff~]: 😈

┃ ➙ [💋😈]: kinky smut with feelings ;)

[Information]

I made a list where I explain what kind of sexual content I’d write, how I interpret different kinks (especially how the Dom-/Sub-Dynamic in my fics work) and with what kind of Smut I’m not comfortable.

┃➙ My sexual content Rules!

» Other useful symbols «

↬ Scenarios: 💭

↬ “Connected to” (connected to an other scenario/fic/series): 🖇

► Kink-Scenario 😈💋 [♔- Reader]

[What kind of dirty secret(s) could the boys have?]

► Halloween Costume-Scenario 🌸💋😈 [♔- Reader]

[You’re wearing a scandalous Halloween Costume for a Halloweenparty...]

► Their favourite Make out-/Sex-Songs: Hyung Line Maknae Line 💋😈 [♔- Reader]

[Which songs would bring the boys right into the mood?]

► Honeymoon-Destinations: Hyung Line Maknae Line 🌸 [♔- Reader]

[What cities/countries would they choose for their honeymoon-trip?]

► When the boys have a crush on you!

▸ Their feelings for you! 🌸

▪ here [♕- Reader]

▸ Their dirty thoughts about you! 💋😈

▪ About him [♚- Reader]

▪ About her [♔- Reader]

► Easter Special 🌸💋😈

[You’re wearing a sexy bunny outfit for them on Easter Sunday!]

▪ Easter with her! [♔- Reader]

▪ Easter with him! [♚- Reader]

» Series Key «

↬ Finished: 💯

↬ Ongoing: 💬

↬ Long Term Project: 📅

↬ Paused: ⁉️

↬ Uncompleted: 🗑

(the last one will hopefully never happen...)

▲ ▼ ▲��▲

► Naughty Days ‘til Christmas 💋😈 [♔|♚|♕-Reader]

This is a spicy Advent Calendar for Christmas: The Boys bought an Erotic Advent-Calendar and every day they unpack another sexy Accessory with the Reader. Of course they try all the products! 💬

(24 Smut-Drabbles with female/male/gender neutral Readers)

► BTS Dog Hybrid-Series 🌸🌧💋😈 mostly [♔-Reader] BUT [♚/♕-Reader] possible!

Seven different stories about the boys in a world where humans and hybrids exists, an unique ethnicity of humans they’re able to shift their shape into a dog. ⁉️| 📅

► BTS “We’re all the same equal!”- Series 🌸💋🌧⚠️🚫 [♔|♚|♕-Reader]

We all deserve the same love, no matter if we’re are chubby, thin, tall, short, have white or colored skin, are a female, male or an other gender. It simply doesn’t matter. And the boys would still love us. And they would teach us to love ourselves. ⁉️| 📅

► Disobedience [Hoseok x Reader x Namjoon] 😈 [♔- Reader]

Summary: You are sexually frustrated, annoyed and bored, which is why you started to mastubate without the permission of you boyfriends, Namjoon and Hoseok. Even if they promised to take care of your needs tonight. But you don’t feel like waiting anymore. But you also didn’t expect that Hobi will catch you with your pastel blue dildo deep into your pussy...

► l’innocence indécente [Jimin x Reader x Jungkook] 💋 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis: Jungkook and Jimin want to try something new with you... and you have to admit that you like it. A lot...

► Prey [Jimin x Reader x Taehyung] 😈💋 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis:

► Birthday Princess [Yoongi x Reader x Taehyung feat. Jungkook] 😈 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis: You have Birthday today and your two boyfriends make sure that you will be sexually pleased to the ultimate maximum...

► Birthday Gift [Seokjin x Reader x Jimin] 😈 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis: Your Boyfriend Jimin bought you something very specific as your birthday present. You should use it as a preparation tool before you’ll get the real birthday gift tonight...

► Halloween Special 💋😈 [♔- Reader]

► Easter Special 🌸💋😈

▪ Easter with her! [♔- Reader]

▪ Easter with him! [♚- Reader]

► My Fake-Texts Masterlist [Semi-active/inactive] [♔- Reader]

Note: At the beginning of my blog I was more focused on making fake texts (simply it was easier and more comfortable for me back then because I was a bit insecure about my language struggles) but now it’s not my main thing anymore. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to make fake texts in general anymore but right now I like the “real” writing much more! So I don’t know when I’ll make new fake texts.

► Improvisation 🌸💋😈 [♚-Reader]

Summary: This wasn't planned. Well, the whole world didn't planned to deal with a damn pandemic in 2020! If everything would have gone "normally", you would be in Seoul with Jin right in this moment and just enjoy that you're finally able to be close to Jin again. But now you two are stucked at home, Jin in his dorm in Seoul and you in your apartement in your town, far away from him. So you have to improvise for now on, how you want to deal with longing emotions and urging sexual desires...

► Strawberry Kiss 🌸💋 [♕-Reader]

Summary: It's Friday Afternoon and when Jin comes home from work, the freshly baked strawberry cake smells deliciously. But he decided that a taste of you is even sweeter, especially when you're not wearing any underwear underneath your thin summer dress...

► Birthday Gift [Seokjin x Reader x Jimin] 😈 [♔- Reader]

► Home 🌸🌧 [♕-Reader]

Summary: You finally managed to spend your two semesters abroad studying in Korea! However, after some unfortunate circumstances, you want nothing more than finally be able to fly home again. But your Roommate Namjoon has some ideas to make your year abroad still wonderful...

► Precious 🌸💋 [♔- Reader]

Summary: Today is your birthday and because your last few weeks have been terribly stressful, you want nothing more than to be able to sleep in in your day off. However, Namjoon has to go to practice all day long, that’s why he has found a very gentle method of waking you up to unpack your presents together...

► Disobedience ft. Hoseok 😈 [♔- Reader]

► Business Trip 💋😈 [♔- Reader]

Summary: It's a stressful life to be the CEO of a big and international known company. Always hopping onto the next flight to a new investor or business partner, all around the globus. But sometimes he can't fix his little problem alone, so you need to help him out with some naughty stuff through these rough times of his job~ ► Jar of Kinks 💋😈 [♔- Reader]

This Two-Shot is based on my own Jars of Kinks.

I identify myself as a Switch. That's the reason why I decided to write a Two-Shot to my "Jar of Kinks". So I'd be able to write both Dynamics, with Dom! Yoongi and Sub! Yoongi as well. In this Index you'll find the links to the Oneshots, combinded with their summary and their individual warnings.

► Touched 💋😈 [♔- Reader]

Summary: This week was just so awful and shitty, every muscle in your body hurts and you're absolutely exhausted from this horror week. But Yoongi has an Idea to relax you and make you feel so loved in a way, that couldn't make thousands of compliments.

► Netflix and Chill 🌸🌞 [♕-Reader]

Summary: Hoseok and you are best friends, especially because you two share an unique passion for which you get sometimes quizzycally looks from others. Like every friday night you meet up to watch some series on Netflix together and massage and fondle the hair of each other. All the same, all innocent as ever. Until it comes to an certain situation and you realize the true meaning behind “Netflix and Chill” faster than you expected.

► Disobedience ft. Namjoon 😈 [♔- Reader]

► Little Swan 😈 [♔- Reader]

Sneak Peak: Laying open, completely helpless and so vulnerable in front of him. Presented like a meal on a silver tablet. His meal, his prey. Your wolf is starving, licking his lips with an animalistic and devilish smile at the sight of your parted pussy lips. Revealing his most desired things, this swollen and sensitive clit and this pretty tiny pussyhole. Clenching around nothing, literally begging to get filled with his fat cock and stuffed up with his cum until it’s leaking out of his little sweet swan...

► Mustang v8 💋🌞 [♔- Reader]

Summary: You kinda have a thing for the sound of the engine of a Mustang. How bad that Hoseok’s new car is a Mustang and that your Boyfriend looks super hot while driving!

► Study Break 🌸💋 [♔- Reader]

Summary: College wants to kill you right now. Exam Phase and then you have to write a 20 page long scientific work! Jimin and you barely see each other, you gave yourself completely to your studies. Until some specific needs some attention again...

► Poolside Kisses 🌸💋😈 [♔- Reader]

Summary: Jimin said, you should pack a swimsuit into your suitcase when you're going to visit him in Korea. You thought, you'll go bathing somewhere privately, maybe just with the boys or so... and not going to a pool party of one of Jimin's Idol friends where you'll not know anybody! Since then you hate yourself that you only brought your new bikini to Korea that reveals more of your bare skin that you're used to...

► Mousse au Chocolat 💋 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis: You are Jimin’s favourite dessert...

► l’innocence indécente ft. Jungkook 💋 [♔- Reader]

► Birthday Gift [Seokjin x Reader x Jimin] 😈 [♔- Reader]

► Dirty little Secret

Summary: Whenever you leave your apartement for work, you're carrying a dirty little secret to your workplace as well. To be more specific, you wear inconspicuous sex-toys underneath your business attire to keep your sex-craving libido under control. Nobody noticed something and everything went well... until now. Until your Boss and secret crush, Park Jimin, bursts into your office unannounced and hears something buzzing which definitely doesn't come from your phone. Even worse, he sees a certain remote-control laying on your desk that seems to be surprisingly familiar to him... 😈 [♔- Reader]

► The Definition of Art 🌸💋 [♚-Reader]

Summary: You’re under Taehyung’s total mercy. Tied up, bare and trembling you lay spread out in front of your boyfriend who loves to turn you into his personal piece of art...

► Deflowered 🌸💋🌧 [♔-Reader]

Summary: You're getting married tomorrow and you want to say goodbye to your mare. There you met the stable boy Taehyung for the last time, who's your best friend and childhood crush at the same time. You will experience a stormy night full of love and passion and you'll give the biggest proof of love to him...

► The hands of a sinner 💋😈

(The Idea of this Fanfiction has two versions: for female and male readers!)

For her! [♔- Reader]

For him! [♚-Reader]

Summary: Since Jungkook got his hand tattoos, you’ve found out that they have a stronger effect on you than you would like it. You also have good reasons not to tell him that you are developing a kink for this tattoos. And these reasons getting confirmed...

► Goddess of the sun 💋 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis: Jungkook is the best servant for his Queen and Goddess

► The walls 💋😈 [♔- Reader]

Synopsis: You don’t know why but today was the first Day you realized how buff and bulky Jungkook’s Biceps are. And the fact that they look delicious when they’re tensed up…

► l’innocence indécente ft. Jimin 💋 [♔- Reader]

► Der Geliebte 🌸 💋 [♔- Reader]

Summary: You and Jungkook met right at the first day you opened your own atelier in Seoul after you had to leave your old home behind you. You love paint canvas with landscape motives, other people just roll with their eyes when they hear that you choose such usual, almost boring things to paint. Not so Jungkook, he seems to be different than most of visitors. It’s almost like he can read your feelings through your paintings...

► The laundry hamper 🌸 🌞 💋 😈 [♔- Reader] Summary: Jungkook has a crush on you since you moved together for college but the poor boy is way too shy to confess his feelings to you... rather he would search through your laundry hamper to get a shirt which smells after your very personal scent and tries to calm his racing heart... and other nerves. He didn’t thought to get catched by the person who already stole his whole heart in the most embarrassing situation...

This is probably the most important information on this blog 💌

Don't be shy around me!

You can feel absolutely free to talk to me, to stuff my inbox (even when you just want to ramble or to fangirl etc.) and my PMs are always open too! So don't hesitate to get in contact with me, you're not awkward or weird, okay?💕💕

I'm pretty curious about you guys too and Im always up to become mutuals or even friends, okay? 🤗

Love you, Tipsy 💜

[Dates]

Published: 27th December 2019

Last Update: 10th August 2021

1K notes · View notes

aloesarchives · 5 years ago

Text

Gaolang Headcanons

(A/N):Sorry this took so long, I recently had a writer's block that made me really unmotivated to write. Another reason that it took so long was because I made the reader have a background that would’ve made it oc like, which I usually tend to stay away from. But after so pep talk with a friend and remembering this is my blog, I decided to say fuck it and write to self-indulge in my writing more and write this headcanon(what I mean is appearance is up to you but things like job occupation would be up to me. And also literally after eating ice cream, the thought of writing came back and here I am. Plus, who wouldn’t dream of being able to fight(doesn’t mean fighter) and kick ass in the Kengan series? If you said no, you lying.

(Edit July 1 2020 2:44am: Okay so Tumblr glitched again where my posts having been showing up on me blog and just disappeared from the search so I had to repost them again, I apologize for any inconveniences)

Word count:4257 words

But now, what many of you have been waiting for,

The Man, the myth, the legend himself,

Gaolang Fucking Daddy Wongsawat

I’ma write so much for this man you have no idea

Let’s gets two things out of the way first about this absolute unit of a man right here: Gaolang Wongsawat

First things first, Gaolang is literally a man of few words. He’s not mute, of course, it’s just he’s more of a man that speaks when spoken to. However, it doesn’t mean you start and carry every conversation the two of you have. Gaolang is always listening to you when you speak even though he’s not looking at you. He just gives you a short reply or answer when you ask him certain things, not a a tired or agitated response but more of them not pushing an agenda into the conversation unless needed so.

But when it’s just the two of you and a silent falls in between, it’s unsurprisingly serene and pleasant. Like the silence and energy that Gaolang gives off doesn’t make you uncomfortable or awkward, which is ideal when you both don’t want to talk because you’re either tired and lean on Gaolang, or when words aren’t needed in the moment and you silently enjoy each other company. He’s one of the few people to be able to not talk much and make the air not feel unbearable.

Second, Gaolang is a man of honor. With his status in Thailand and being the bodyguard of King Rama XII, Gaolang doesn’t use his status to prey on others/ those who are weaker than him. He deems that as cowardice and dishonorable so he doesn’t really want to cause trouble for King Rama and you.

Now with that out of the way, let’s got on it with this man, shall we?

TBH, you could’ve met Gaolang anywhere so it’s up in the air how you guys met.

The apartment is always clean and nice since Gaolang cleans up the place once or twice a week. You do you part around the house, of course, to keep it clean when Gaolang isn’t home, especially when he’s out for his boxing matches and championships for heavyweight. But Gaolang has a particular way of keeping the apartment clean and gets kinda of passive aggressive when something isn’t cleaned properly.

You two mostly split doing the chores in the house, like you vacuum and he does the dishes for the week and it would switch every other week. The only chore Gaolang just leaves solely up to you is the laundry. This is due to him not wanting to mess up any of your clothing when he’s washing them so you do both of your guys’s laundry. Plus, Gaolang doesn’t have that much of a diverse closet so washing his clothes isn’t much of a hassle.

Cooking wise, you mostly leave it up to Gaolang b/c face it, Gaolang is the better cook between the two of you, no offense mate. But Gaolang’s cooking smacks so hard you don’t eat out/get takeout anymore unless you’re craving some of that Thailand street food, which he doesn’t mind as long as it’s not frequent. But fam, why go out when Gaolang’s cooking is so good?

Domestic life with Gaolang is honestly lovely, holy shit. Like it’s pure bliss and wonderful. Usually it goes like this:

Every morning, Gaolang usually wakes up earlier than you which you don’t mind. He gets dress but doesn’t put on his dress shirt on until he has to leave for work. While you get ready for the day and freshen up, he already made coffee(if you drink it) and is cooking breakfast. When you’re done and walk out of the bed room, you already greet him good morning where you either hug him from behind or give him a good morning kiss( but the second one is always your go to). The tv is on in the background and you sip your drink as you watch what’s currently on. Gaolang calls out saying breakfast is ready and you two eat at the table. Once down, dishes are put into the sink and after a few minutes, Gaolang has to leave for work. He puts on his dress shirt, grabs his blazer, and while he’s tying his tie you’re at the door to bid him a good day at work. Once he’s finish and has put on his shoes on, you wish him a good day along with a kiss as you wave him off. Once you hear the door click, you knew it would be awhile until he comes back home. Your job allows you do work at home so you’re always in the apartment. Once done, you would clean the place, do the laundry, run a couple of errands, or relax. For lunch you have leftovers that Gaolang cooked the day before in the fridge. Afterwards, you do stuff to let the time pass whether it be productive or not. You know Gaolang is home by the clicking of the door and his voice saying “I’m home”. You give him a welcome back kiss and asked him about his day while holding onto his blazer to be later stemmed. He just said it was normal and nothing of the sort. However, there was one time he told you fought someone who tried to claim he’s spot as his majesty’s bodyguard but by the look of things you can assume Gaolang won. While you put away his blazer, he ask you about your day which you reply with the usual that you say. Right away, you and Gaolang start making dinner for the evening. Gaolang is at the stove while you cut up the meat and vegetables and handing it to them when you’re done. Washing your hands, you set up the table and waited until he was done. Dinner mostly has minimal talking because it’s eating time but Gaolang will answer you if you ask him something. The aftermath of dinner is mostly compromise of cleaning the dishes, the table, counter tops, and putting away the left overs in the fridge. Then it’s off to the bedroom where the two of you get ready for bed. You always let Gaolang go first into the bathroom to do what need to do since he’s quick. Once done with both of your nightly routines, you two head off for bed. You always give him a good night kiss before sleeping and Gaolang has an arm around you as the two of you sleep.

There are very few times where you wake up first: when he gets the day off, just got back to Thailand from weeks abroad for championships and matches, or from a hefty training session. However, this is mostly uncommon to happen as Gaolang is a early bird.

Sleepwise, Gaolang doesn’t really snore. He’s a quiet sleeper, however, he leans in more of moderate- lighter sleeper where heavy stirring and noise can bring him out of sleep. But it does take some minimal effort to wake him up. Gaolang is the type of person to face away you the two of you would fall asleep but when you wake up his body is facing you and his arms are caging you in. I can see him also being the type of spouse to carry you into your bed if you fell asleep on the couch or while working, Gaolang is more than welcome to carry off to bed, hell he’ll tuck you in and give you a forehead kiss.

This man will HOLD you in your sleep, fucking on cloud 9, sis. And you never felt more safe and comfortable in your life.

Gaolang doesn’t talk a lot when eating, but again he won’t shy away when you’re talking/asking him something.

Straight up, Gaolang loves to watch those soap operas/Asian dramas, it’s sort of his guilty pleasure. When you found out about it, you didn’t really judge him for it because you actually liked the series he was watching. He was a little bit anxious when you didn’t say anything but relaxed when the only words you said to him was “Gao, scoot over this is getting interesting.” Like he’s motionless and his face barely contorts when the plot begins to thicken but you can tell he is enjoying the show.

It would be untrue if you didn’t at least have some encounter with Saw Paing. God, I can imagine as soon Gaolang leaves for work and you have the apartment to yourself, then the next thing you know there’s a Burmese man in his 30′s outside of your window and he’s screaming at the top of his lungs what seem to be your beloved names. Two thoughts are running through your head as you’re just staring on at this man: #1- Who the hell is this man and how does he know Gaolang? and #2- How in the hell was he able to climb up to you and Gaolang’s high rise apartment? After you let him in through one of your windows, the man was quite surprise because he hasn’t seen you before, or more rather in the apartment. He asked you who were you, when you said you’re Gaolang’s wife, he was shock and kind of ecstatic to know that Gaolang has gotten himself a spouse. The first thing you took note was his loud and constant yelling; however, when you’re talking to him in the apartment, he dies down his voice and doesn’t yell. He somehow manages to leave the apartment and miss Gaolang arrival from work. And when Gaolang comes home and asked about your day, he’s slightly intrigued when you said you made a new friend. As soon as you mention Saw Paing, you see Gaolang’s face slightly grimace as he let out an annoyed sigh. He apologizes for his behavior and for you not to say sorry for causing it. After he explains his history with Saw Paing, you now understand his reaction. Gaolang is kind of happy for you to be friends with Saw Paing because at least Saw Paing gets to hang out with you and not bother him whiles he’s trying to live his life with you. Surprisingly, when you became friends with Saw Paing, he won’t barge into your guys’s apartment or yell anymore, most of the time that is. But it’s all good with Saw Paing being and Gaolang doesn’t mind as long as he is minimal involvement in it.

Saw Paing is your buddy, fam. It’s bound to happen.

You do fight but it’s more on the side and a hobby you do. Unlike Gaolang, who does this as a profession, you do this as more for fitness and self defense. You’re not as powerful as Gaolang, but you can handle yourself enough where Gaolang doesn’t have to worry about you going out without him. The two of you spar and train together when given the time but during the small sparring Gaolang goes easy on you because he doesn’t want to hurt you.

King Rama every now and then would ask Gaolang about you. Rama is pretty much Gucci with Gaolang so it doesn’t really bug him. King Rama is one of the few people that knew about you being with Gaolang, so yeah. He was intrigued by the fact that Gaolang subtle mentions you the first time he asked him. Over time, Rama listen to his royal subject and bodyguard as Gaolang talks about you, he just wants Gaolang to spill the tea. Although it’s very hard for many people notice, King Rama notice a slight soften in Gaolang during those moments. The fact that you were able to make a dent in the stoic Thai God of War was more than enough for Rama to have a reason to meet you. He was curious on who you were to able to do that to Gaolang. Then queue the day you were invited by the King of Thailand himself to have a simple small meeting. You had no idea why the King wanted audience with you, but you knew you had to go b/c it would be rude if you didn’t. You told Gaolang that you had to leave early to go somewhere and he thought nothing of it. You also didn’t tell Gaolang about it cause you assumed he knew about it. For some reason, King Rama keep things simple and asked you to walk around the palace’s garden, contrasting his extravagant behavior. Being the charismatic person he is, you’re not intimidated by him and answer his questions truthfully. After listening to your replies and responses, especially ones about Gaolang, he now understands why Gaolang took interest to you, you’re unique in the sense that you’re a blue diamond. Matchless, rare, and unlike any other, not in the way you shiny above everyone since you blended into the crowd, but once they have stumble upon and get to know you there’s no turning back from there. Just the imagine the shock on Gaolang’s face when he gets to work and sees you talking to his majesty. He was curious and a bit scared that you were talking to Rama but after a short exchange of laughter it disappeared. After you spotted Gaolang and the two of you walked towards him, Rama stated the two of you had a little chat and that you were heading on your way. Once Gaolang responded with a head nod, you bow to the King and wave bye to Gaolang as you go for the rest of the day. Soon as you’re out of sight, King Rama comments to Gaolang that you’re a hidden gem and told him to take good care of you. And Gaolang being Gaolang, smiles and fulfills his duties given by his king.

King Rama, low key, wants Gaolang to settle down because, I’m gonna be honest, he deserves it. Like Rama is vigile and gives Gaolang days off so he can spend time with you, this includes when Gaolang has boxing matches and championships too. He just wants Gaolang to slow down in life and spends his life with you without stress or worry.

King Rama implicitly ships you and Gaolang but you didn't hear it from me.

You definitely have run into King Rama during Gaolang’s boxing matches. Speaking of which, you always watch his matches. Whether it be at home or in the actually stadium. you make sure you were watching every single one of his fights. It’s enthralling to watch him fight, like his infamous Flash of 13 jabs is something that never cease to amaze you. Having won 4 heavyweight championship, you’ve never really doubted him and his abilities one bit. During one of his championship, King Rama was actually present and invited you to join him in the VIP lounge to watch Gaolang. The fight was intense but Gaolang came out victorious and won with a knock out. It was one of the most amazing things you have every seen as the crowd roared at the win and King Rama allowed Gaolang to take a 5 day rest as his fruitful victory.

There are times where you’re either at the entrance of the ring or inside the locker room to wish him luck. The most he’ll accept is a hug and a kiss on the cheek, that’s it. But he does flash you a smile before going out there.

Without a doubt, Gaolang is a very private person, except to you of course. Like Gaolang doesn’t reveal much of his home life to the public to keep the paparazzi away. He likes to keep the his work life and home life extremely separate. Your relationship with him and even your own existence is unknown to the public, THAT’S how private Gaolang is. And a little bit of help from King Rama as well.

Gaolang is not much of a confrontation man, but will confront and be straightforward with you when something is wrong with/bothering you.

He’s also is an observant person, you could tell by the way he analyzes opponents so he at least can read you and situations at home.

Due to this, he is very good a giving compliments. Not the super cheesy one, it’s usually the simple ones, and those are the one that get you all the time.

He has a chill personality, calm and collected, he’s not the type to jump the gun on assumptions. The man trusts you, fam.

It’s really hard to make Gaolang mad. He gets annoyed and aggravated, yeah, but it’ll never escalates to him being furious. Gaolang knows how to manage his emotions and has never really been irrational or lashed out before. The only time you ever saw Gaolang lose his composure was when he yelled at Saw Paing. And that moment, right there, was terrifying to you because you never seen Gaolang lash out before. So you do your best to not push his buttons too much.

Gaolang lets you do your own thing because he understands that you have your own life and do things on your own accord. Not much of a controlling person, far from you. But Gaolang doesn’t understand why you have a job when he makes a reasonable salary for the both of you to live off on. When you told him that you wanted to contribute to society and not rely on him for everything, and you also said you like to have save pocket money. Gaolang respects your answer and kinda likes that you take accountability for yourself.

Jealousy is something that Gaolang knows about and doesn’t really feel, but more rather avoid. Gaolang is comfortable in his own skin and abilities to know that you will not betray him and leave him for someone else. And it’s obvious when you’re not interested in anyone other than Gaolang and tell people off when they hit on you. But what really aggravates him is when the person can’t take a goddamn hint when you tell them off or deny any of their advances on you. Especially if it’s a scumbag of a guy. But Gaolang can’t be irrational due to him having a public image to uphold so he has to logical and clear minded. So Gaolang rational annoyance is rising in level, like his stare goes hard, his aura becomes daunting, anyone who’s near him fear like they would shit in their pants if they ever had to face Gaolang in such a state. You kept telling the guy that your husband/boyfriend wouldn’t be happy if he keep up his behavior with you. Then the man mocks about your lover and asks who is the lucky guy. Then queue my man Gaolang standing behind him and saying it was him and Gaolang was with you. After commenting that Gaolang was your boyfriend/lover, you were humored by the guy’s reaction. The man went pale, apologized to the Thai God of War and was out of sight from then. I don’t know who said it, but I think it was @bokutosbiceps (follow them, they have really good Kengan writing pieces.) that Gaolang goes into a state of grumpiness, which I can totally see. He be like this for what, like a week at max, and this is where everyone just stands clear of Gaolang and try to not get on his bad side. Like even Saw Paing doesn’t come over when he encountered Gaolang’s grumpiness, it’s that bad. Again, he knows that you won’t really leave him because he trust you won’t be that disloyal to him. But the only way to pull him out of that slump is excessive amount of words of affirmation from you and a simple promise that you’ll never leave him. But even after pulling him out of his grumpy pants state, Gaolang acts more of a bodyguard just in case a similar case happens again. If the person/people/guy tries their luck with you then it’s over for them and they will really die, literally Gaolang goes into Thai God of War mode and it ain’t pretty. But overtime, when incidents happen like that, his reaction is less elevated every time due to your unwavering loyalty to him. Jealousy is not foreign feeling to Gaolang but he tends to stay away from it as much as possible.

Seriously, imagine leaving Gaolang for someone else. Sis/fam not only are you a damn circus act, that’s a literal downgrade on so many levels. Like why? I’ll personally find you, smack your forehead, and lecture you why that was a bad move.

I mean, everyone does stay clear on bothering you in general. But after that incident where Gaolang reveal your relationship with him, then people really know to actually stay on your good side. You don’t use Gaolang’s status to abuse power, of course, to get your way with things. But you do make it clear that you’re with/married to him.

However, it’s safe to say that no one messes with you when your boyfriend/husband is literally the best Muay Thai fighter, undisputed heavyweight boxing champion, and bodyguard of the King of Thailand. They’re about of clowns that really want to be humiliated. I’ll also beat them up for you fam, i gotchu

One flaw Gaolang probably has is him having basic logic/common sense but he can be easily swayed and convinced on things he doesn’t have prior knowledge on. The man’s open up to new things, it’s more of him acting like a dumbass for a bit.

God, the horror of seeing Gaolang with wrong Japanese etiquette hurts your eyes and soul. You had to reteach him a lot on these types of things. He’s a little bit embarrassed but grateful that you’re have enough patience to teach him the proper etiquette.

POWER COUPLE OF THAILAND, I’LL FIGHT ANYONE THAT DISAGREES WITH ME. YOU DESERVE TO BE WITH THIS MAN, THAT’S FINAL.

I’ma tell you something sis so you better open them ears: Gaolang isn’t the type to have multiple flings or be in many relationship. He has better things to do with his time than waste on short term infatuation. So if he chooses you, that’s speaking VOLUMES.

In other words, if you’re the one, YOU ARE THE ONE! Like Gaolang could’ve been a playboy and have anyone in the world but the man chose you. YOU’RE THE FUCKING CHOSEN ONE!!!!

Gaolang is not one to push things but he does have conversations with you that marriage and kids can be apart of the equation if you want.

Besides, who wouldn’t marry a man like Gaolang? You be missing out on so much.

Time with Gaolang is always productive no matter what since he knows how to use his time efficiently. You two go to the grocery store together and sometimes you divide and conquer in the store to save time. Being with Gaolang helps you manage your time effectively which helps you a lot.

Bruh, Gaolang’s hair is SOFT. You play with it when the two of you are laying down together and you can tell that he takes good care of his hair. Gaolang lets you do his hair, combing through it and add the bead at the end of his hair. He likes it when you do it.

I like to headcanon that the jewel on his forehead was a gift you gave him and every since you gave it to him he’s been wearing all day everyday.

Gaolang’s kisses are like angel feathers. They’re light and pure. He doesn’t really have any ulterior motive other than missing you on some work days. These are *chef kiss some of the most bless things you’ll ever have.

His hugs, fucking god send. Firm where you’re flush against him but not too tight. Gaolang’s hugs were just right. Those things make you feel safe, and all warm on the inside. There are some days where work is slow, where Gaolang just comes home and holds you in his arms while swaying back and forth. It helps him wine down and relax, transitioning into his home life with you. But hey, free hugs from Gaolang.

Another thing we need to talk about is his smile. I...god... seeing Gaolang smile is when you’ve achieved paradise. You do note that Gaolang doesn’t really smile that often. But if you ask him the right things, have a way with words and play your cards correctly, you can get him to smile and hell even a small chuckle out of him. And there’s no denying that you get butterflies in your stomach and feel warm, fuzzy, and so many positive emotions that you got to witness Gaolang smile.

His smile kills you, heart squeezes

Y’ALL can’t tell me that Gaolang’s smile right here gave you goose bumps or a shiver up your back. If you deny it, you’re lying to yourself, fam.

The man is CANONICALLY husband material, which mean the high possibility of him being a family man.

Literally best Husband, CHANGE MY MIND, I DARE YOU.

Gaolang is super soft to you, he is soft spoken to you, smiles more often around you, became more emotionally open, etc. He really does love and care about you, like a lot.

He is stoic teddy bear for you.

Thai Jesus, Done with everyone’s shit except yours and King Rama.

The most cursed images you have ever seen is that signature shocked express he has, it’s something you never really want ever.

Just living a good, satisfying, and tranquil life with Gaolang. A wholesome man of honor and loyalty, being with Gaolang is a goddamn dream you never want to wake up on.

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God this took way too long. Sorry for being gone for some time, I hit a writer’s block but it’s gone now. I finished on June 30th but stayed up until 12am to edit it. I’ma switch up the order and do Cosmo’s headcanon next. I’ll put the Gaolang oneshot on hold and actually finish my Chapter 2 for my series. This is my longest headcanon yet, and I’m tired.

Stay safe and beautiful, fam!

#kengan ashura #kengan omega #gaolang wongsawat #kengan ashura headcanons

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amphtaminedreams · 4 years ago

Text

COVID-19, Negligent Manslaughter, and a Timeline of Tory Indifference

“I feel sorry for Boris Johnson. He is doing the best he can in the situation and I don’t think anybody else could have done a better job.”

[exhibit A: a gem somebody that I’m Facebook friends with reposted earlier]

It’s a sentiment that I cannot quite wrap my head around. I sit here hopeless and furious and trying to hold back tears because it’s been almost a year since England first went into lockdown and yet here we are, almost 100,000 dead, in an even worse position than we were before whilst other countries begin to slowly return to normality. It is clear to me who is to blame for this, however there are a large proportion of people who don’t want to “politicise” the actions of the PRIME MINISTER with regards to his approach towards handling a virus sweeping the country he GOVERNS.

Typically, these kind of posts making the rounds on social media will be accompanied by some kind of photo of Boris Johnson looking somber as if to suggest that the way things have played out were beyond his control and that he is some kind of broken man beleaguered by the suffering he has, despite good intentions, inadvertently caused.

This one in particular of Johnson with his head in his hands is a staple. In reality, this is a photo taken back in 2018 whilst he was receiving flack from party members for comparing Theresa May to a suicide bomber (for her handling of Brexit, ironically) as well as from the papers due to his rumoured (now also proven, in a completely non-surprising turn of events, to be true) affair with his former aide, Carrie Symonds.

So let’s shut this narrative-where we should feel for Boris because he’s doing his best, and apparently a better job than anybody else could’ve done in his situation- down right here. In a supposedly developed country with one of the world’s largest economies, if we’re talking by proportion, our COVID-19 death toll is up there with the worst of them. It seems that every other state figurehead (bar a small handful), and I mean almost every single one of them, is doing a better job. People love to throw figures out there about how densely populated we are to combat damning statistics as if we haven’t got just as many factors playing to our advantage, as if it’s unfair to compare our response to Germany’s or Japan’s or Singapore’s (both of which are far more densely populated) or New Zealand’s or Vietnam’s, but we are an ISLAND with world-leading technology and infrastructure and healthcare equipment and professionals and a relatively high standard of living. In what world is almost 70,000 dead in a country with abundant time and means to prepare a response reflective of said country’s leaders doing a good job?

Apparently we’re supposed to believe that Johnson feels some sense of moral responsibility for this astronomical failure. A man who refuses to acknowledge the multiple children he has fathered outside of his marriages and who has had repeatedly engaged in affairs and one-night stands throughout said marriages. A man who continued to cheat whilst his most recent wife was receiving treatment for cervical cancer, for fuck’s sake. Yep, a real stand-up guy.

So where does this idea that Johnson must feel remorseful for this catastrophe come from? We haven’t seen a second of remorse or a hint of accountability for the lives lost from him nor any members of his cabinet. That much is really no surprise; I have this hypothesis, and it’s not a stretch, that these people do not have an ounce of empathy in their bodies. These ridiculously privileged, privately-educated individuals who have had everything handed to them their entire lives simply cannot put themselves in the shoes of the average working person and that is the problem. Unable to recognise that what distinguishes them from most others is little more than the luck of being born into wealth and the abundance of recourses and connections that has entailed throughout their lives, they see us as beneath them-as less intelligent, less driven, and thus less deserving of the status and respect they enjoy. They see us as a bunch of whining, unmotivated idiots who do not recognise the chokehold they have over our media nor the fact that everything they do is a desperate grab to keep money and power within the hands of a select group of people, an exclusive members club from which most of us are barred (just take a simple Google search and watch Jacob Rees-Mogg’s opinion of the Grenfell victims or the buried Johnson speech where he talks about how inequality is essential). They know that we will squabble amongst ourselves about who is to blame rather than wising up to the truth which is that every decision they make is fuelled by cronyism and the inability to make and follow through with difficult choices, the pandemic being no exception. The supposedly self-made elite see the life of the average working class person as having far less value than their own, and their parties actions over the last 10 years have made that very clear.

It was in December 2019 that the first case of COVID-19 was declared to the World Health Organisation and on March the 11th that they announced they considered it as a pandemic. In Wuhan, people were dying of pneumonia in their clusters. And what was Boris Johnson doing in this time? Well for starters, here in the UK we didn’t even have a pandemic committee-Johnson had scrapped it six months before. If years of benefits cuts and defunding of the NHS in favour of funding nuclear weapon programs, keeping British troops on other people’s lands, and tax breaks for the mega corporations that donate to their party didn’t convince you that the Conservatives have little regard for human life, them getting rid of this committee-whilst a pandemic has been declared year after year as the greatest threat to mankind-should have been the first sign of trouble. As if that wasn’t enough, he also skipped five of the COBRA (meetings are made up of a cross-departmental committee put together to respond to national emergencies and PMs routinely attend those pertaining to crises on the scale of COVID-19) meetings addressing the situation. Whilst other countries were closing their borders and stocking up on PPE, Johnson and his ministers were selling PPE abroad and simply telling people to wash their hands to the length of the tune of happy birthday. Their only policy was one of “herd immunity”, which was in fact not a policy but just an abandonment of their party’s public duty disguised as one, intentionally obfuscated with pseudoscientific jargon.

Even thinking the absolute worst of politicians you would hope that when it came to the point where the UK’s non-response to COVID-19 was becoming an international disgrace, Johnson and his ministers would take proper protective measures if only to save face. But when they eventually seemed to do so, it became clear that the priority was not the safety of the ordinary people affected by the virus. Outsourcing their test and traces system to companies such as Serco, Sitel, Deloitte and G4S rather than public health services, Conservative ministers could not resist attempting to line the pockets of their friends and benefactors in the process. According to the Guardian, instead of reaching out to the experts or using publicly funded services to handle COVID containment measures, the Conservative party has awarded a disgusting £1.5 BILLION WORTH of contracts to businesses with explicit connections to its MPs and donors, the majority of which lack any relative experience of the tasks they’ve been trusted to carry out. Unsurprisingly, the National Audit office found that when awarding contracts relating to the production of COVID-19 protection measures and treatment needs, there was a “high-priority lane” for suppliers referred by senior politicians and officials; companies with a political referral were 10 times more likely to end up winning a government contract than those without. On top of this, it is not hard to draw a link between the late initiation of lockdown measures and preemptive openings of pubs and restaurants against scientific advice to the interests of frequent donors such as Wetherspoons owner Tim Martin. Even if one chooses to ignore the blatantly obvious correlation between the owners of the businesses whose profits were prioritised over safety concerns and the number of those owners who donate to the Conservatives, party officials at the very least were reluctant to follow the lead of many other countries in financing furlough schemes themselves and instead avoided this responsibility by using loose lockdown measures to leave it down to the discretion of small business owners, who couldn’t themselves afford to furlough staff, whether or not to stay open.

Time and time again, as the government flounder and fuck about, favouring personal desires to keep their powerful, high-paying jobs and to satisfy the corporate allies who make this possible, blame has been shifted from the public to care homes to NHS workers and back again whilst we, the public, make the biggest sacrifices of all under the illusion that we were being guided out of this pandemic rather than lied to and thrown under the bus. Whilst the elite continue to pick and choose what rules apply to them, it’s students and the elderly and the vulnerable paying the fines and scrabbling to afford basic living costs and hoping that they don’t lose someone dear to them.

Don’t get me wrong, a large proportion of the public have contributed to the spread too with their selfishness and entitlement and the arrogance it takes to develop a sudden refusal to acknowledge basic science from experts who have studied in the field their whole lives so that they can justify their need to go to the pub (speaking of, it’s absolutely HILARIOUS how many “mental health advocates” are suddenly coming out of the woodworks on football avi Twitter after they’ve spent years calling people on mental health Twitter attention seekers). And don't get me wrong, there were inevitably going to be casualties of this pandemic. But it didn't have to spread to this many people, and there didn’t have to be so many deaths due to a lack of preparation, and this wouldn’t have been the case if it weren’t for the inherent apathy of the Conservative party towards the lives of people of lesser status than them, the reluctance to put those lives before party interests. I wish I felt like there was an end in sight, I wish there was some positive takeaway from all of this, but even now, we continue to see corners being cut with the vaccine lauded as our saving grace and anti-maskers gathering outside hospitals to chant about how “oppressive” it is to be urged to wear a bit of cloth over their faces for the short periods of time in which they leave their houses and all I can think of is the selfishness that runs like poison through our country. It makes me sick and leaves me to question desperately where we go from here. I don’t like unanswered questions, I don’t like feeling politically directionless, and I don’t like the growing fear I have about the state of the world which seems to intensify every single day. In the UK at least, it’s starting to feel like nothing will ever change-we’re told we live in a democracy and yet mainstream media is owned by the people whose interest is to keep their Conservative friends in power. The stronghold they have over print media in particular allows them to continually get away with smearing and defaming every person who comes along and seems to want to actually help ordinary people, without being challenged, to the point where the only kind of “opposition” we’re left with promises nothing but a big boss approved tactical reshuffling of the status quo (which they call “electability”); it doesn’t feel like democracy when the majority of the country are being fed misleading information and convinced against voting in their best interests.

This is the result of that. The state we find ourselves in is the inevitable result of being manipulated into helping the elite build their protective wall whilst the rest of us scrabble to get in and step on each others heads along the way, the people inside shouting over that it’s those even more vulnerable than ourselves that are taking our places. Outside the wall, the earth is falling from beneath our feet, and instead of throwing over the ropes to help us out, the people inside are stockpiling them so they can secure their firm place above ground and then later flog the rest. How many more people have to die before we reach some kind of widespread realisation of that? Where do we go from here and what do we do? Well for one, we can stop spreading those god-fucking-awful textposts on Facebook and get our heads out of our arses. Wear our masks over and wear them over our fucking noses. Have some fucking consideration for others. Don’t wait til an issue affects you personally to give a fuck about it. AND START HOLDING THE FUCKING PRIME MINISTER AND HIS MINISTERS AND HIS ENTIRE PARTY AS WELL AS THE OPPOSITION MPS THAT HAVE SAT BY THE SIDELINES AND ALLOWED THIS TO GO ON WITHOUT PROTEST ACCOUNTABLE. That would be a good start.

I’m so tired. Things didn’t need to be this way, and yet because of the selfishness of the few, thousands upon thousands are dead. It’s not about “throwing around blame”, it’s not about “throwing around” anything, it’s about expecting a leader to do his best to protect lives. If that is “throwing blame”, let’s get things clear, I have no issue with hurtling it torpedo style at those who handed out a death sentence to so many in this country rather than do anything that might compromise their own privilege. Honestly, pass me the shovel after and I’ll happily bury the wreckage in the ground. Who wants to join?:-)

#rant #politics #anti capitalism #anticapitalist #covid-19 #covid #england #labour #socialism #fuck the tories #fuck the torys #fuck boris #rant post

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hoppe-ideas · 5 years ago

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4th of July

Reposting bc the first one didn’t gain much traction. It was hastily written after 4th of July and barely had any proof reading. Also, some of y’all want to read what I write.

Characters: Thomas, Virgil, Janus, Logan, Roman, Remus, Patton

Ships: DRLAMPT (Romantic or Platonic, they all live together in a giant house) Analogical (Very slightly, if you squint)

Warnings: I don’t know, Virgil gets upset, panic attack, crying. Tell me if i miss something.

Summary: Virgil normally loves the holidays, just not this one.

Virgil loved the holidays, he loved the food, the chaos, the laughter, and everything in between. Even the fighting was enjoyable to watch, the scuffles in the living room, and the little food fights in the kitchen. He loved the smell of Christmas, the energy of halloween, the serenity of Easter and St. Patrick's day, the fullness in his chest and belly during thanksgiving, and the crazy fortitude of new years eve. The one holiday though, the only holiday he does not love, not even like, is independence day. Otherwise known as 4th of July.

If anyone asked Virgil why he doesn’t like this specific holiday, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. He didn’t know why he didn’t like it, every year it was the same; Patton would bbq, Roman and Remus would decorate, Logan and Janus would set up the fireworks. One time they let the twins take control of the fireworks and almost burned down the place. Normally Virgil would help Thomas set the bonfire up, or decorate, or help Patton, or Janus, but today he didn’t want any part of it. He just wanted to drink some coffee and listen to some tunes, but apparently Roman had other plans. Virgil didn’t even finish half his coffee, or his song before Roman snatched him away, taking his headphones away as well.

Immediately Virgil’s arms were full of bright reds and blues to be placed all over the place, the sunlight didn’t make it any better, shining right in his eyes. It wouldn’t be as bad if he had his headphones, but Roman took them away and now he got the pleasure of listening to the twins sing the entire soundtrack of Hamilton; “In honor of our founding fathers!” Roman declared right before Remus pushed him off the step ladder. After a few hours of decorating, Virgil went to find his headphones and a cold cup of coffee.

Why waste good coffee? Virgil grabbed a cup filled with ice and dumped the coffee into the cup making iced coffee. He was about to finish listening to his song when Patton came into the kitchen.

“Oh perfect! Virgil i need your help with the food, we’ll be needing watermelon and cantaloupe cut up, the baked beans need to be cooked, lemonade to be made, salads to be tossed, cakes to be made, and i still need to prep the meat for the bbq tonight.” Patton grabbed two aprons, one yellow one for himself and a royal purple for Virgil. Without time to intervene Patton placed it on Virgil and took the headphones away once again. “No music, I need to be able to talk to you while cooking. No distractions.” At least he got to keep his coffee this time.

Patton talked to him the entire time, non stop talking and directions left and right of how to cook and make everything. Once the cake was in the oven, melon cut, beans cooked, and salad tossed; Patton had finished prepping the meat and said he could do the rest and thanked Virgil. Virgil looked at the time, it was nearing three thirty in the afternoon, as hungry as he was he finished his coffee two hours ago and was now tired. He decided a small nap on the couch would be perfect. That is until Logan came in looking for Virgil asking for his assistance.

“Shouldn’t be too long, we just need some help setting up the fireworks in a safe place away from the bonfire and twins.” Virgil sighed into the pillow and got up to help Janus and Logan, everything was set up until Janus muttered a few curse words along with Remus’s name.

“That bastard, he got into the fireworks and took some, we don’t have enough. Virgil can you go grab some more for us? Logan and I can finish up here, thank you.” Virgil set out to get more fireworks which proved more socially demanding than normal. Too many people, screaming kids, angry Karens’, and a long line for last minute fireworks. It took nearly an hour to just grab what they needed and returned home. The house they all shared looked like America threw up on it, no thanks to him and the twins. Logan greeted him, taking the fireworks while conducting small talk. Once they got to the backyard, Patton was bbq-ing, roman was lounging in the sun, Janus was fighting Remus away from the fireworks they set up, and the bonfire stayed empty.

“Hey! Panic at the everywhere, are you going to start the bonfire or what?” Virgil turned towards Roman and shook his head.

“Not until Thomas gets here with the wood, he said he would be picking some up after work.” Sadly Thomas didn’t have today off, he had to work at the production company he worked at. He was a commercial actor and they decided they wanted to get some holiday shots for a clothing ad. While taking the opportunity of peace, Virgil went back inside to try and find his headphones; there was only one problem. He couldn’t find them, not in the living room, or the kitchen, or the office, his bedroom, the bathroom, the twins room, hell even the closet. Instead of panicking, he took a few deep breaths and decided to check his room again. That was until Patton came to ask for his help setting up the table outside where they eat.

Once he finished with that, Thomas’s truck pulled up and jogged over to Virgil, his smile was contagious as he asked for help with the bundles of wood. Sure from taking the firewood to the bonfire pit was only fifteen feet away but it was a lot of heavy wood to carry on a hot evening. Once that was all done, Thomas started the fire and Virgil had a raging headache that he could feel build up through out the day. Dinner was delicious, everyone thanked Patton and Virgil and dived in. The problem was that everyone was loud, laughter and arguments filled the air with distant fireworks blasting off. Remus gave a hollar every time one was especially loud, and it didn’t help that Remus sat next to Virgil, even splashing some lemonade on him.

After dinner was desert, which was cake and some s’mores by the fire. When everyone sat by the fire Virgil went back inside to take some medicine, he felt exhausted and irritated. He found the pill bottle but no pills. He could feel the headache turning into a migraine and a panic attack starting to settle as well. If he only had his headphones-

“Virgil?” He spun around to find Logan standing in the doorway of the bathroom, silence sat in the room only Virgil’s breathing can be heard.

“Is there something you need?” He meant to sound harsh, but it came out soft.

“Yes, we are starting the fireworks but waiting on you.” Virgil shook his head and began shuffling around the medicine cabinet trying to find some more pills.

“You guys go on ahead, I'll skip it this year. Have you seen my headphones?” He asked while inspecting an expired bottle of Advil.

“Ah, no, i have not seen your headphones, but Patton is persistent on waiting for you. Just one firework and then you can return.” Virgil half listened while still rummaging through the cabinet, Logan grabbed his wrists and set them down. “Remus used all the headache medicine for a creative project, i was going to buy some more tomorrow. Just one firework and then you can leave, i’ll even help you find your headphones.” Virgil nodded and Logan led him outside hand in hand. Once outside, Patton bounded up to him wrapping an arm around him giggling for the fireworks to start.

One firework turned into two, which turned into three, then five, then ten. He was holding a lit sparkler while everyone cheered at the colors in the sky. Virgil didn’t bother to look up, his eyes hurt, his head hurt, his body hurt, everything just hurt. Then the twins found the smoke bombs and lit every single one. Virgil felt suffocated, he didn’t realize he fell crying and screaming until everybody rushed him back inside.

“Virgil? Virgil, buddy can you hear me?” Thomas’s voice was muddled, he felt heavy and he couldn’t stop shaking. His head hurt so much he cried harder, not realizing someone picked him up and placed him on the couch. He looked up through bleary eyes to see Patton holding his headphones to him, that right. Patton took them away when they were cooking and they must have forgotten about it. He placed them on his head playing soft calming music, he dug his head into the pillows of the couch sniffling softly.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” He muttered wincing at his hoarse voice. He felt a weighted blanket be placed over him and the lights turned down low. Weight shifted around him as he suspected they sat down with him on their overly large couch.

“Virgil.” Janus’s voice cooed as he took off his headphones to silence, only off distant sounds of fireworks in the background. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” Virgil shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. Which was a mistake because he whimpered from the pain.

“I ruined the fireworks.” He muttered he felt someone put an arm around him.

“Falsehood. You didn’t ruin anything. If anything we ruined today for you, you were the only one not having fun today.” Logans’ monotone voice soothed some tension from his shoulders, but the cuddles he was receiving some cuddles from everyone. Janus and Logan sat on each side of Virgil, the twins sat down by his feet, Thomas started to play The Black Cauldron, and Patton started to put everything away and went to go get some more medicine.

Virgil didn’t like the 4th of July, but he did love his family.

The End.

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elainewitchparks · 4 years ago

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Kitchen;

What’s your character’s favorite food?

Elaine had a sweet tooth and enjoys a lot of sweets! Including: cakes, cookies, ice cream, scones, pies, etc. In the movie, they make any time of food look so appetizing, even the most basic food!

Are they good at cooking? How good/bad?

Only the best ever! Seriously, is an amazing house wife! She can make you have a food orgasm from eating something as normal as spaghetti. Of course she’s obsessed with love now that she finally has it with Dacian, she only wants the best for him!

Do they leave the dishes out?

Nah, she’ll clean em for anyone. But make sure to help her around the house she deserves it!😤

What kind of food is there in the refrigerator?

All sorts of healthy foods: apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, tomato’s, celery, and carrots. Stuff for tea like honey, and almond milk. A bit of sweets, maybe a half eaten piece of cake, and lots of bottles of water.

Do they cook, eat out or get take-away/delivered food more?

Definitely cooks more, especially for Dacian. As well as when there’s some company over. She’d rarely order or deliver food unless there was a situation where Elaine had to or was somehow in a emergency where she also had to.

Living Room;

How does the character spend the weekends?

When the young witch isn’t with her teacher and one of her former witch friends, she’s at home with her man, doing spells with him, or making love. Spending some time to relax in a nice hot bath, and with Dacian it’s always so relaxing and soothing. Have some wine and listen to music while laying on her bed with her witch lover and smoke a cigarette.

What kind of movies does the character watch?

Oh normally romantic movies of course. Actually used to be jealous of the beautiful main female protagonist for having such a beautiful and sweet man. But now that’s exactly what she has, sometimes she’ll switch to drama which isn’t really better. But if she’s watching a horror movie it will be a silent film or an old black and white one. Watching a movie with Dacian beside her always makes her less lonely then watching it alone. Sometimes it would escalate to doing other things. Wink wink.

What do they do with friends?

Well, Elaine is usually fake to get what she wants. But when she is with her, ‘friends,’ she’s having dinner or tea with them while having girl talk. But she is a very, loyal friend when she wants to be. Once she realizes she cares about someone she wants to keep them safe and protective. She expects to feel to same with them.

What is their favorite past time?

Painting, doing witchcraft, spending time with Dacian at every opportunity.

What is their favorite tv show/film?

Elaine doesn’t watch tv much. But her favorite films include; Psycho, Cleopatra, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Gone with the Wind.

Bathroom;

How does the character prepare in the morning?

After waking up naked or in a lingerie with Dacian depending on if they made love or not, possibly start off with morning sex, a warm bath with a lot of skin care, hair care and shaving. Then spends hours, putting on makeup and doing hair perfectly. She really cares about her looks after she was married and her husband was fat shaming her when she was, ‘over weight.’

Do they sing in the shower?

Absolutely yes! And Elaine has such a beautiful singing voice. And Dacian loves listening to it no matter what he’s doing.

What kind of hair product/makeup do they use?

Definitely the expensive kind. She wants to keep her hair smelling amazing and feel really soft for her Dacian to keep touching. Along with expensive 1960’s make up she spent a lot of time practicing to put on, until she mastered it clearly.

How clean is this character?

Oh very clean! Smelling like a bakery or the store, Lush all the time.

Does this character have thousands of shampoo/shower gel bottles by the shower, or do they use only the bare essentials?

Thousands of bottles near her tub, inside of the cabinets under her sink, and some on her dresser. Dacian was a bit concerned the first time he saw this.

Bedroom;

How do they sleep? (Position, sleeping habits, bedtime routines)

Elaine is a relaxed but light sleeper, and a silent sleeper and looks so beautiful while she’s doing it. Always curled up and all over Dacian like a koala. But he is a big cuddler, himself so he likes it.

What are their pajamas like?

A lot of times, well almost every night, she will sleep naked with Dacian laying on top of her but if they didn’t make love, she would wear a beautiful and comfortable set of lingerie.

What do they dream about usually?

Well it’s a mix of both good and bad dreams. If they’re good, she’s dreaming of a nice dream of marriage with her lover, with raising well mannered children. But if it’s a nightmare, it’s memories of her old marriage, or Dacian leaving her alone for the rest of her life and the poor woman wakes up very upset and the male witch comforts her and tells her softly he’s right there and he always will be.

How neat/tidy are they?

Neat, but not that neat. She has a habit of leaving food out for people to find while she’s gone.

How affectionate are they?

Very affectionate, whether Elaine is awake or sleeping, she’ll be all over her partner. When she’s sleeping with Dacian she’s clinging to him, when awake, she’ll kiss him all over and let him know how much she really loves him. She is, The Love Witch after all.

Attic;

What is the character afraid of?

Being alone for the rest of her life, thats worse than death to her. She still worries sometimes that Dacian might leave her. She’d be hurting for all eternity.

How do they deal with bad memories?

Elaine deals with them quite unhealthy like. Masturbates, tries to fuck them away, and does witchcraft. She’s not one to talk about feelings for a while,

What is this character’s role in a horror movie?

Well her movie is technically a horror movie, but not scary whatsoever. But if she was in a full blown horror movie I think she’d play the secondary antagonist. And the sympathetic villain.

How do they hide their secrets?

A little, too well. And a little too well at lying.

Repost, don’t reblog.

Tagging: @noblebleedingheart

And anyone!

#muse ♠️#about

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marsupials-of-mars · 5 years ago

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Been formulating an invention in my head... so whenever I'm on my period, my least favorite part is sleeping especially through the first two nights, because that's when my flow is super heavy, and I have to sleep on my back so in case there's a leak it goes down onto the pad BUT I always end up rolling over because I'm an active sleeperand anyone with a period knows how it collects when you lay down so any shift sends it pouring SO

What if there were these hip indented pillows. They'd be made out of like cool gel padding, at least around the outside, and covered in a soft but easily washable black cover. They'd keep your whole pelvic region cool overnight, they'd keep you in place which would not only help with the tossing and turning but it would be more comfortable because moving just draws attention to the discomfort and it would ease any nervousness about putting your product out of place! If you did end up leaking you could wash the cover and if it went through the cover just wipe it down, there's no way anything would soak into gel pads like it would a normal pillow!

Btw please repost this to like instagram because they always have ads for companies with really gimmicky and startup stuff and if they figure out ppl want this they may snap it up. Also twitter, or better yet tell me a good way to get in contact with people who make products and stuff I WANT THIS SO BAD

#period #menstruation #inventions

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engekihaikyuu · 6 years ago

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Takasaki Shungo Blog entry May 5th, 2019

Good evening everyone, it’s Takasaki Shungo.

On May 6th, Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu – “The Tokyo Battle” safely wrapped up all the matches of all 30 performances. Thank you so so much for coming to see us, for your support, and for your cheers.

Full translation under the Read More

I wrote this on Twitter too but, there’s a sense of loss for all of your praise and compliments. Lol I miss the play. I miss my character. I miss everyone.

With the previous Engeki Haikyuu production, “The Strongest Team,” the Karasuno High cast who had been the focus of the story until now graduated, passing it on to this production, which became focused on their rivals. In Karasuno’s absence, we’ve served as the bridge between productions for Engeki Haikyuu, and I think that we were able to “connect” everything to the next production too.

And with regard to current affairs, it was a tour that crossed over an era, from Heisei to Reiwa. I still have a lot of life to live, and I will now continue living into the Reiwa era, having been born during the Heisei era. Without a doubt, this production has become one where I can proudly say that I lived out the last days of Heisei to the fullest.

For me, I became involved in Engeki Haikyuu starting with “The Start of the Giant,” and this was my second tour. “The Start of the Giant” had 43 performances. And this time “The Tokyo Battle” had 30. I’ve now lived on-stage as Akaashi Keiji for 73 total performances. In my career as an actor, I’ve never faced any character or run so far with a role for so long. Akaashi Keiji really showed me so many wonderful sights. Everything I’ve experienced as him has become my great fortune, and I know that it will continue to help me grow as a person. I have nothing but gratitude.

And with this tour, I was able to appear alongside the entire team of Fukurodani Academy. During rehearsals we’d exchange this or that idea, and even at times when the mood would get a little tense, we were deepening our relationships, and now they are all like my family, and I love them very much. This is yet another gift Akaashi Keiji has given me.

Thank you so much for your support of Fukurodani Academy!!! 🦉

Our cast captain, Nagata Takato.

He really is an amazing person.

As cast captain, he pulled our Haikyuu troupe along. I’m sure it was a lot more pressure than normal. But he went along as usual, in regular Takato fashion, he spurred everyone on, and sometimes we followed after him, and sometimes he’d give us a push from behind. It’s thanks to Takato’s personality that this production resulted in such a wonderful company of people.

You really did a great job. And thank you so much.

My partner Sakuraba Haruto My partner Higashi Takumi

“Partner” isn’t a word you normally use for more than one person, but for me I have two. These two, whom I love very much. I don’t think you could ever break the bond we’ve made. Thank you so very much. And let’s keep going together!

This has become another really long blog post… Everyone, thank you again so much for all of your letters and presents. All of them have been handed over to me. All of the words you’ve written pierce my heart one by one, letter by letter, and I feel your love more than anything. I’m still so inexperienced, I hope that I could show you a wonderful show in return, but I’m not sure if I did. But my goal is this one thing. To show everyone the most amazing sight possible. That will never change.

Our journey of “The Tokyo Battle” has come to an end. But the journeys of our lives continue on. Our journeys as actors continue on. In the future, no matter how many years have passed, I want to hold onto the memories from before and face each role head on.

Thank you so so so much for your support during all 30 performances for Engeki Haikyuu – “The Tokyo Battle!!!”

p.s. Since I think that Akaashi Keiji also wants to see the best sight,* I think that our relationship must also run very deep.

*If you’ve read my reviews of the show, I mention that Akaashi tells the other members of the team that he’s made a promise to himself, which is the reason why he always puts Bokuto first and spoils him so much. Since the next big moment after that is him sending a toss to Bokuto with the thought, “Bokuto-san, please show us what victory looks like!” The Japanese used is rather literal, 最高の景色, which doesn’t translate neatly or concisely into English. “The best sight” is the literal, but doesn’t quite encompass that such a view can only be seen as the winners. Akaashi is asking Bokuto to take them to the top, to lead them to victory, and when Shungo uses the phrase for us, he’s saying he wants to show us the best possible show. When he uses it in this last sentence with Akaashi, he means that he and Akaashi both want to see Fukurodani’s ultimate victory.

*cat grin*

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Translation by @nimbus-cloud Please do not repost my translations!

#takasaki shungo #akaashi keiji #the tokyo battle #haisute #translation #blog translation #who wants to cryyy

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shianhygge-imagines · 7 years ago

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For Love [Detroit: Become Human] {Connor/Reader}

So... I wanted to write something for Detroit: Become Human... And Connor is literally my precious bean. But also, I graduated, so I’m starting to write again, and this game got my writing juices flowing. I’m a little rusty, so forgive me if this is bad.

If this is a concept you all would like me to continue, let me know in the comments or something.

Also, for @luvleekaotix-imagines because a little birdie told me of your thirst.

Edit 6/20/18: Reposted this hoping that everyone can read it now. Otherwise... Tumblr is being a butt and I’ll have to direct you to my AO3 page: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shianhygge

|Masterlist Link|

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

They would never let you see your creations the moment they left your shop. Your job, as your employers so detailed, was to take normal androids and add features to elevate their potential uses. The most notable of your work was the line of RK800 models that left your shop for CyberLife’s investigative purposes. Connor, as you so lovingly named, was your pride and joy. Perhaps the reason that CyberLife prevented you from visiting Connor outside of work was because of your tendency to become attached. As you worked on the androids over the span of six years, you started to see the mechanical beings as more than just a product meant to serve.

It has been four years since you started to work on Connor, and in those four years you’ve watched him evolve from a servant of corporate interests into an individual that was human in everything but biology. Connor was special to you, and it killed you to watch him leave the safety of your workshop, only to return broken. Dead.

You loved Connor.

As a young mechanical engineer and programer, you were unlike your peers. Your ingenuity segregated your from your older peers, and people your own age could not relate to your experiences. Your family sought to understand you, but no matter what they did, they simply could not. And your employers at CyberLife? Your only value was your mind. This crippling loneliness, led you to love something, someone that according to American society, you had no right to love. But you did. Connor was your everything.

Which is why it killed you to be in the situation you’re in now.

Five months prior…

Your normally cheerful features noticeably saddened as you watched several androids deposit a crumpled and broken body on the stainless steel operating table in the middle of your workshop before stiffly marching out. It was only when the door slid shut that you stood from your desk chair and ran to the lifeless corpse. “Oh, Connor. What have they done to you now?”

His brown eyes stared up at you, but there was no life. His body, which you had spent days maintaining and testing so that he had minimal discomfort with movement, was battered, twisted, as if he’d been shot several times before being thrown under a bus. Connor’s memory and programing was still intact, but you wouldn’t bring him back to a body ravaged by disrepair.

From the corner of your eye, you found the black storage cases where you hid the line of spare bodies for Connor. With a heavy sigh, your careful hands performed a precise dissection of Connor’s head to pull out the memory and processing chip that acted as his brain. “Why do I keep bringing you back, Connor?” you questioned, legs bringing you across the room and towards the storage area, where you punched a series of buttons to dispense another body for Connor.

Once the new body was prepped and stood in front of you, you brought out a small handheld device and plugged Connor’s memory chip into the device port. Then, you pulled the attached cable from the device and plugged it into the corresponding port on Connor’s new body. “I wish I could erase the trauma that you suffered, Connor. But if I do, then the next you could make the same mistake. And if learning from the past keeps you useful to CyberLife, then I’ll keep doing it.” And with a few button presses, Connor’s memory was copied into his new body.

Unplugging the device, you took a small step back from Connor and watched at the eyelids pulled back and intelligent brown eyes gazed down at you with life. “Good morning, Connor. How are you feeling?”

The same friendly and agreeable smile appears on Connor’s face as he answers. “I’m doing well, thank you. All systems are running as intentioned, and diagnostics show that nothing is out of the ordinary.”

The cheerful and dorky voice of his had you rolling your eyes as you fought a smile and turned around, lab coat swishing behind you as you strolled leisurely across the workshop. “If only CyberLife would let me change that weird speech of yours. Follow me.”

Connor could only tilt his head to the side in question before following after you like a puppy.

A day later…

“Dr. l/n?” Connor called out, drawing your attention from programing script that littered your desktop.

Roused from your state of focus, you turned to look at Connor, who sat on the plush couch at the corner of your office, which often acted as your bed during late nights. You beloved was flicking the 1994 US quarter as he usually did, but his brown eyes were trained onto you with an odd intensity that sent warm through your body. “I thought I told you to call me, Y/N, Connor.” To Connor, your statement sounded like a reprimand, but the teasing smirk on your lips assured him that while you were serious, you weren’t mad.

His lips tugged at the corners to mimic your pleasant expression, “Y/N.” Connor amended, “You seem to hold a fondness for me, though I can’t understand it.”

Connor’s assessment didn’t bother you in the slightest. In fact, you were glad that he was evolving to the point where he was able to recognize human emotion through actions and roundabout wording. “What don’t you understand, Connor?”

“Your fondness towards me doesn’t seem like something a creator would feel towards their creation, so I thought perhaps you viewed me as your son. But then, I realized that I was not the only android that you worked on, and that your affection did not carry towards other androids. Not that you don’t treat the other androids well,” Connor backtracked, suddenly aware that his words made it sound like you didn’t view other androids as living beings. “I once observed a couple interact while investigating a murder in downtown Detroit, and I wanted to know, do you love me?”

Your smirk faded and you struggled to answer. Connor’s observation had evolved beyond what you had hoped for if he could pinpoint the exact emotion you had for him. He really was becoming more human, but that wasn’t always a good thing, especially with CyberLife monitoring everything. In another day or so, when CyberLife demanded that Connor be returned to the field, you would be forced to erase his memories of you, so you would be damned if you didn’t allow yourself this one selfish wish.

“Yes, Connor. I do love you.” the confession slipped from your lips easily as you cast your eyes to the side.

“But… according to CyberLife, relationships between androids and humans beyond that of service is considered extremely inappropriate.” Connor’s brow furrowed, puzzled. “How could an upstanding member of CyberLife love something that is meant to serve?”

Your eyes burned, threatening to unleash the torrent of tears that gathered. Of course Connor couldn’t love you back. Besides being an android, CyberLife had ensured that you programed company loyalty above all else. Taking a deep breath, you stood from your chair and gathered your thermos and coffee mug, determined to get out of the room and away from the object of your affections. “I’m going to head to the cafeteria for some more coffee. Stay here.” Connor didn’t understand the twisted expression on your face, or he would have stopped you from leaving. But he didn’t and let you leave the office, sitting obediently on the couch.

Once out of the room, you rubbed at your eyes furiously, trying to erase evidence of your emotional turmoil as you strolled through the halls and past your fellow colleagues. This one-sided love that brought despair upon your heart every time you were forced to acknowledge it. You wanted to wish it away.

“Ah, L/N.” an aged female voice called out to you, prompting you to stop and turn, coming face to face with none other than Amanda, one of CyberLife’s many android supervisors. “I have some news regarding the Connor models.”

In response to the sudden demand for professionalism following your emotional breakdown, you merely lifted an eyebrow at the android, “Did you need me to make a few adjustments to the programing?”

A thin smile, “No. CyberLife has plans to release an RK900 model in place of the present RK800s. As such, we will require that you begin creating a program for the new models within the next week. We hope to have fully replaced the RK800 with the RK900 within the next six months. I’ll have the project files transferred to your office.” It was a whirlwind of information, direct and to the point like only an android could do, and it left you in internal turmoil.

Forgetting about your coffee, you backtracked back to your workshop, ignoring Connor’s greeting as you sat back down on your chair. The world seemed to fade all around you as blood pumped through your ears.

They were going to get rid of Connor.

They were going to make you replace Connor.

Your eyes drifted to stare at him, and he met your gaze, head tilted in his usual gesture of curiosity.

You would be damned if you let that happen.

Present Day.

So you took the necessary actions to protect Connor. At the end of your time with him, you’d locked Connor’s memories of you behind a programed gate instead of erasing them. After letting Connor go, you’d started work on the RK900 in order to maintain a facade with CyberLife. There was, after all, no sense in alerting them to your betrayal. And when Connor returned to you a few days ago, dead from a bullet to the head, you’d checked to see if the locked memories were still intact before repairing and letting him go again.

And now, despite CyberLife’s rule that you stay away from Connor while he is out on the field, you watched from a nearby cafe as he worked with Lt. Anderson. Connor had started to express noticeable signs of deviation, and if you didn’t act soon, CyberLife would pick up on his behavior and have him destroyed.

So you continued to stare at Connor. Openly, blatantly, knowing that he was programed to pick up on the strangest of occurrences in his surroundings. And it didn’t take long before his brown eyes found yours, and he excused himself from the investigation to speak to you.

And that usual friendly smile appeared on his face when he reached you, bringing back that warm feeling in your body. “Hello, ma’am, my name is Connor. I’d like to ask you a few questions concerning-” His dorky pattern of speech brought an affectionate smile to your face that made him pause, tilting his head to the side as if trying to piece something together. “I’m sorry. Have we met before?”

Standing from your chair, you reached out to lovingly caress Connor’s cheek, “I love you, Connor.”

His entire body tensed up as his mind seemed to freeze, and then, just when you were worried that the locked memories hadn’t been recovered, a warm hand lifted to hold your own. “It’s good to see you again, Y/N.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-fi!

#shianhygge #shian imagines #detroit: become human #connor #connor x reader

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epacer · 6 years ago

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Class Notes

George Alan Fogelman, Class of 1963

Music fans, fellow Jews lay George Fogelman to rest

Fellow Jews and fellow musicians joined forces on Wednesday, Nov. 27, to pay last tribute to George Alan Fogelman, 72, who died of cancer on Nov. 22 while under hospice care, leaving his wife Gail, two children, three grandchildren, nieces and nephews and many friends.

Rabbis Joshua Dorsch and Leonard Rosenthal of Tifereth Israel Synagogue presided over the burial service at El Camino Cemetery, where mourners were greeted by recorded strains of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Wonderful World.” Rabbi Rosenthal opened the service by quoting from Don McLean’s “American Pie”: “A long long time ago/ I can still remember how/ That music used to make me smile/ And I knew if I had the chance/ That I could make those people dance/ And maybe they’d be happy for a while….”

Explained Rosenthal: “There are few people I know whose very lives and essence are so deeply bound with music. George lived and breathed music, whether he was performing, composing, creating, or simply walking around his house humming. George loved to entertain, and he considered bringing smiles and joy to his audience his greatest achievement.”

In 2006, a San Diego Jewish World/ jewishsightseeing.com story about Fogelman reported:

As a high school student, Fogelman played saxophone and accordion for “The Twilighters,” a band inspired by one of the Platters’ best-known hits, “Twilight Time.” The Twilighters performed at service clubs, graduation parties and bar/ bat mitzvah receptions. While a student at San Diego State University, Fogelman performed in a Sergio Mendez-inspired band called “Sounds of ’68.” Another band that played for San Diego’s well-known stage hypnotist, Dr. Michael Dean, “was getting ready to retire, and we auditioned and got the job… It was 5-6 nights a week, first at the Catamaran Hotel, and then at the Gaslight Room on Rosecrans Street. So I was his musical director.”

During that period, Fogelman also opened a recording studio, which produced approximately 250 jingles for radio and television commercials, “probably none that you would know,” although some for KMart and DHL Express made it to regional broadcast.

On the Michael Dean show, Fogelman had the opportunity to work with guest artists, among them Cheech and Chong, who were just starting, and singer Roberta Lynn. Additionally, “at one point we got hooked up with KPRI, a rock station, and they had a Friday studio concert and they would come in and record. We had Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, and Al Kooper came in.”

Fogelman wanted to move from control booth to microphone, so he formed a new band, “Peace on Earth” with Jeff Dalrymple, percussion; Doug Kvandal, keyboard, and Dave Maynard, vocalist, hoping their musical careers would take off. “We were trying to be a band without a guitar but alas and alack we had to have a guitarist.” Maynard became one, and later, they added guitarist Rafe Lindenberg, “who was very good.” At one point, the band felt certain it was headed for a recording contract and national exposure, but “it didn’t work out.”

Disappointed, Fogelman returned to San Diego and earned a teaching credential so he could substitute teach during the inevitable down times in the music business. One day while running errands with his mother, he stopped by a Home Federal Savings & Loan branch to open a Keogh account. Normally Gail Schindler, who handled his account that day, worked at a different bank branch, so perhaps their meeting was beshert. They were married in 1976, and for Fogelman, it was instant fatherhood—daughter Juliana was a child of Gail’s previous marriage. Within a few years, a second daughter, Arianna, arrived. The preschool that Ari attended at the old Jewish Community Center on 54th Street changed the direction of Fogelman’s career.

A product of both Tifereth Israel Synagogue and Temple Emanu-El, respectively under Rabbi Monroe Levens and Rabbi Morton Cohn, Fogelman enjoyed Jewish music. With singer Myrna Cohen, he produced a 33 1/3 RPM album, “Special Days For Children” to raise money for the JCC pre-school. Later, he and Cohen, who is today the cantorial soloist at Temple Emanu-El, collaborated on such other tapes (and later CDs) as “Lullabies and Quiet Time,” and “Swinging Chai.”

After he married Gail, they and their children Juli and Ari used to sing on recordings made by Fogelman’s company Jewish Family Recordings. “Around the same time Randee Friedman formed Soundswrite Productions, which ended up distributing Fogelman’s work,” Rosenthal related. “In turn, George did a lot of music recording and production for Randee, including Debbie Friedman’s early albums. Randee told George that he was an absolute gem to work with and real mensch in business dealings.”

Fogelman later in life performed with his friends at the Amigo Spot at Hotel Circle in San Diego. “He was in his element singing and playing saxophone and wind board,” said Rosenthal. “I saw him there several times and I could see that he loved what he was doing and was loved by the patrons, many of whom were regulars.”

A perpetual optimist, Fogelman was a “glass half full” type of fellow, whose spirit was typified by one of his favorite songs “Pure Imagination” from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The lyrics say, in part: “If you want to view paradise/ Simply look around and view it. Anything you want to, do it./ Wanta change the world?/ there’s nothing/ to it/ There is no/ Life I know/ To compare with/ Pure imagination/ Living there/ You’ll be free/ If you truly wish to be./”

Fogelman regularly performed at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in the Shir Hadash band, which on the third Friday evening of every month leads an upbeat version of the Kabbalat Shabbat service. Besides Fogelman’s saxophone, the ban included two vocalists, and other musicians on piano, guitar, bass guitar, and clarinet.

For many years Fogelman had battled prostate cancer with such medical treatments as chemo-therapy, radiation, and any other therapies available. Ever an optimist, he even believed while in hospice that he would beat the cancer.

“The tag line in ‘American Pie’ is ‘the day the music died,’” Rabbi Rosenthal noted. “Although George is no longer with us, the music he created is, both in the books and recordings he produced, and in our hears and our memories. George would not have wanted the music to end with him. He would have wanted us to continue living, laughing and singing.”

George's headstone is now in place at El Camino Mortuary

Following the graveside service, Fogelman’s friends and fans reconvened at the Amigo Spot. *Reposted article from San Diego Jewish World by Donald H. Harrison of November 30, 2017.

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songketalliance · 6 years ago

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Writing About Women

“I never stopped reading about gender and about women and about the various ways, across the many spheres of life, that men have subordinated women and that women have subordinated other women.”

A contribution by Keryn Ibm

These days a lot of my time is spent on writing a thesis about women, specifically women and science. It’s long overdue, having started it when my son, now a preschooler, was still a baby. I’m hoping to submit it soon, having abandoned it intermittently over the last two years.

It was not meant to be a thesis about women. The original topic has been lost to time, but nowhere in or around the actual proposal that got me into graduate study at the oldest university in the English-speaking world was gender mentioned. I simply had not thought about it then as something to analyse.

Somewhere in my second year, however, that changed. Looking back on it, I was under incredible stress then but did not know it. I was a new mother, we were living alone in a mostly white British community, we lacked company and support - and I was grappling with a sense of dread that my mind was duller and slower than usual. My mental capacity only fully returned to normal two years after I gave birth, after I had weaned my son. Somehow, I spent the bulk of my graduate studies in a daze.

So my original proposal gradually unraveled, because I did not know what questions to ask. I was looking at online knowledge production platforms - think Wikipedia - and what goes on there. People the world over contribute time and effort, willingly, for no financial compensation, to create and maintain what is currently the biggest repository of knowledge in the world. It’s a live encyclopedia, always growing, always changing. But why?

I was fascinated by Wikipedia and other platforms like this, including fandom portals such as Archive of Our Own, gaming communities, discussion boards such as Reddit. Growing up with the Internet means being familiar with these virtual neighborhoods, navigating them with ease after a period of reconnaissance. I was fascinated by what gets created in these spaces, which ones get attention (likes and reposts) and which ones remain in obscurity. Gradually, that fascination settled onto the question of the creators: who are they? Does everybody get to participate, or are some people shut out of these activities?

Around the same time, women began to fight back against sexism and misogyny in a loud and significant way online. GamerGate was a big deal; so was what a prominent male professor said about his female students - they either cry or fall in love with him - causing uproar in the scientific research community. I made a Twitter account for my graduate student persona and began keeping up with gender debates. It felt like I had stumbled onto a new landscape, with an almost unbearably fast and furious cascade of information rushing at me, shouting out all the problems, biases and disparities that separated the world into the privileged and male, and the subordinate and female.

With my gender-blindfold removed I saw the need to address this question in online knowledge platforms. The gender gaps in the professional world are in the military and in science. I chose the latter because it was more familiar and interesting to me, being also a scientist, albeit in the “soft” social sciences. I told my supervisor I wanted to write about women’s involvement (or lack of it) in science on online platforms where legitimate research projects are being conducted but in a more open and accessible way: participants don’t need qualifications and scientific training, they just have to get online and follow instructions well. He was skeptical at first, but the new proposal I somehow managed to cobble together with my then-few remaining braincells managed to convince him that it was a worthwhile shift. Certainly, it is a decision that I am glad I made: this topic is the main reason I embraced feminism and decided to be a more critical, socially responsible researcher.

However, writing the thesis remained fraught with challenges. I faced harsh criticism at various stages, and with each subsequent setback I became more and more disheartened. I eventually came back home, and since then only went back to the UK once for an exam, which was a disaster. I was told I still needed to do quite a lot of work, and other things that stab me in the heart when I remember them.

It has been two years since that awful exam. I have regained my braincells, or else grown new ones. I have settled into the role and responsibilities of a mother of an autistic child, who is brilliant but will always require a special kind of care. Perhaps it has been too long, but it is only now that I feel ready to go back to that thesis, to go back to the questions and data and discussions that had so enthralled and challenged me. I feel ready, because between then and now I never stopped reading about gender and about women and about the various ways, across the many spheres of life, that men have subordinated women and that women have subordinated other women. Reading gave me the vocabulary to understand why I was struggling the way I did as a graduate student in that predominantly white and male institution. I was invisible, isolated and lonely, but couldn’t articulate what that felt like. Now I know, only because other people have written about similar situations that women like me and unlike me find themselves in.

Reading also gave me the itch to write, and to share my thoughts - in text message discussions with my feminist book club friends, on Twitter, in spoken word events, in a gender class that I teach, in articles about gender identity and leadership and hijab and many other topics that, viewed through a gender lens, became fascinating case studies. I have been building strength through reading, and flexing through writing. These are essential practices: I need the conviction and the comprehension and the courage to write and to finish this thesis. And I will continue to need them as I keep writing and writing about women, even long after the thesis has been done and submitted (wish me luck!).

I don’t foresee the gender problem to be resolved in our lifetime - as some problems are overcome, new ones crop up as social structures and relations shift and settle over time. Our individual lives diverge and converge, and we are all positioned on different axes of identities - gender, race, religion, class, ability. We can only ever know intimately our own experience, but we can relate to others’ by reading their stories. That’s why, I think, we need to keep writing about women. We need to keep writing in search of new solutions for problems new and old. We need to keep asking, to keep probing and searching and understanding. Ultimately, I believe, some of the best answers are to be found in writings about women, just as I found the answers to my own dilemma of knowing who I was as a graduate student, who I am right now, and what it’s going to take for these two versions of myself to finish writing my thesis.

A contribution by Keryn Ibm

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Photo by Samantha Hurley from Burst

#brunei #writing #theme: Month of Women #contribution

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sutekiyomitsu · 7 years ago

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[TRANSLATION] Reflections from Itsukushima Shrine: Izuminokami Kanesada

[TRANSLATION] Reflections from Itsukushima Shrine: Arisawa Shoutarou as Izuminokami Kanesada

Commissioned by Angle @shqutarou!!

Please do not repost any of my translations.

You may also read this translation on my Wordpress here.

In between the ending of the Osaka performances of Bakumatsu Tenrouden and the [start of the] Tokyo Gaisen performances, there were rehearsals as well as the actual performance at Itsukushima Shrine. During the rehearsals where time was short, new songs were added, the choreography was changed, and the lyrics for the in-musical songs [that we had been singing in Bakumatsu Tenrouden] were also different; With so many things to do, it was honestly very difficult. But, the things that I gained from [performing at] Itsukushima Shrine trumped how difficult it was. In the first place, in the Bakumatsu Tenrouden performances themselves, we have to sing and dance while fighting in addition to acting, so the things that we have way too many things to memorise, and no matter how many times I did it, I felt like there wasn’t enough rehearsal time even as the curtains rose for the first day. Especially when it came to the songs and dances, I had a strong feeling that I was not good enough at these aspects yet. Under these kinds of circumstances, the [performance at the] Itsukushima Shrine drew closer, and the feeling that “if I just continue doing things the same way, it would be no good” got even stronger. As it is a commemorative performance that is also a dedication to the god of the shrine, I think that the opportunity to stand on such a stage isn’t presented to everyone, and not just anyone can stand on such a stage. I think that that was something that not just myself but everyone was thinking about, right? Of course, even up to this point, we were always trying to get better and better, but the Itsukushima Shrine performance was an especially high wall for us, and we had to strain our bodies even more than what we had been doing before; I realised that the teamwork of the Bakumatsu members also heightened [because of it].

For the Itsukushima Shrine performance, we encountered the choreography of Motoyoma Shinnosuke, who was in charge of Atsukashiyama Ibun. His choreography was completely different from the choreography by TETSUHARU-san that we had experienced in Bakumatsu Tenrouden… I had a really had time remembering it. It could said that it was considerably tough. It was because, not only was our rehearsal time limited, but our memory was bad. Speaking of Shinnosuke-san’s choreography, there is an element of sign language in it. Each movement has a meaning to it, and it was something new [to me] to have to express emotions beyond the realm of lyrics. In encountering Shinnosuke-san’s choreography for Itsukushima Shrine, I learnt how to convey a message to people through dance. Also, because we were together with the Sanjou members, the rehearsal venue was big. Even from before, when I started to be involved in this production, I always kept in mind not to lose to Atsukashiyama Ibun, so while watching their performance from nearby, my fighting spirit was ignited, and I became really motivated.

The power I felt from Itsukushima Shrine after the performance

Even among the various places we have performed Toumyu, the Itsukushima Shrine performance was the one I was the most nervous for. Even among famous artists, few people have had performances here, but we Touken Danshi are able to stand [on this stage]... Moreover, the elevated stage is a national treasure. It was the kind of place where we would repeatedly [tell ourselves] many times, “We definitely cannot let our swords fall on the floor or our scabbards hit the pillars and damage them”. I’m not a very anxious person, but for just this time, it was impossible to do things as we usually do them. I was surprised by the fact that I got to stand on the elevated stage with my own two feet, and by how close we were to the audience, which was different from [performing in] a normal theatre. Moreover, it was an outdoors performance, which was something I had not experienced before. Because I have never entered a stage with such stillness before, I could not even begin to imagine how the performance would be like even from the start [of the performance]. The thing that made me especially happy was being able to sing “Riyuu no Arika”. In the first portion of Bakumatsu Tenrouden, Horikawa sings it as a solo, and it’s my favourite song. To think that I would be able to sing that song together with Horikawa… Yuuki-kun is good at singing, so there was some pressure to match his performance, but it was only to that extent that I had very strong feelings.

During the Tokyo Gaisen performances after the Itsukushima Shrine performance had ended, many different people said to me, “You’ve gotten better”. Certainly, as the first day [of Bakumatsu Tenrouden] approached, we said to each other, “Let’s make sure we don’t go out of tune,” but it changed to “Let’s take care to stretch our voices,” and we started thinking about the feelings that are put into the lyrics and the nuances, and within myself, there was also a change in my awareness [of the music]. Doing it like that, I received many direct praises, and I thought, just from watching my surroundings, I have been able to grow, and I gained a lot of confidence from that. Up till now, I have not believed in spiritual things, but I think that things like the importance and power of national treasures may be real.

Because of his Kunihiro, I became my Kanesada

In addition to me building on my character, I think that I would like to treasure my relationships. After all, it’s the same no matter what type of role it is; often, the character can be seen in the types of relationships I have with the people around me and the types of conversations that I have. In such aspects, I build on things that would emerge in my physical appearance, like manliness. It was also like this for Izuminokami Kanesada. Before entering rehearsals, while I was reading the script, I heard that he is the sword of Hijikata, who was called the demon vice-commander, and he is strict to people and has an intimidating aura, and I thought, seen from the sidelines, he could be a scary character. But there are a lot of times when the other Touken Danshi, not to mention Horikawa, poke their noses into his business, and conversely there is also a scene where he meddles in Hachisuka’s affairs, and I thought, he is unexpectedly endearing. As a sword, he is, apparently, said to be [one of] the new members that appear in performance, so there is a side of him that is pampered.

In Bakumatsu Tenrouden, we appear in 3 pairs: Kiyomitsu and Yasusada, Nagasone and Hachisuka, and us (Izuminokami and Horikawa), but in the first portion of the musical, the focal point is the discord between the Kotetsu brothers and the conflict between Okita Souji’s swords, Yasusada and Kiyomitsu. Because of that, Yuuki-kun, the actor for Horikawa, said that as we have the part of moving the story forward, we need to be in a position where it feels as if we see everything that is going on. Just like that, little by little, that feeling was there as I thought about my role. When speaking of Izuminokami Kanesada, as expected, the first thing [that you’d mention] is his relationship with his partner Horikawa Kunihiro. When we were at the rehearsal venue, I would be with Yuuki-kun as much as I could, and in order to not lose to the other pairs, we deliberately tried to improve our communication with each other. Although, at first, because we are both shy around strangers, we were nervous and could not talk much. But, even outside of the rehearsal venues, Yuuki-kun would throw in one of Horikawa’s lines [in our conversations], and from there, as I returned it [with one of my own], we gradually began to talk freely, and as on the way back home we began to talk as Kanesada and Horikawa. After that, in order to make us feel like a pair [visually], even through our appearance, we discussed with each other how it’d be interesting if we two naturally synchronised our movements on stage and we practised it. When I was made to practice with Yuuki-kun, he taught me many different things, and I received a lot of encouragement from him. There were a lot of parts where he helped me, and it’s probably okay to say that, without Yuuki-kun’s Kunihiro, I would not have been able to be my Kanesada. Yuuki-kun… Watching him, even from the way he manages his private time, he’s a real professional. During rehearsals and even in the actual performances, he never wasted any time even when it was not our turn on stage. He would be at the wings of the stage, watching the play and practicing voluntarily while warming up [his body] and his voice. It was because everyone saw him doing that that everyone in the company relied on Yuuki-kun, and Kayano-san always told everyone, “Follow his example”. It was because he prepared that much that he was able to pull off a perfect performance on stage. I’m not yet able to catch up to him yet in terms of skill, but I think I will try to imitate his mental attitude and the time that he takes to prepare [for performances].

It has been one and a half years since my debut. Even though it has only been a short time since the start of my career, but I think this experience in Musical Touken Ranbu is, without a doubt, a turning point for me. The attitude of all the Touken Danshi towards [acting in a] play is amazing, and it made me think once again that plays are interesting. Especially Yuuki-kun and Torigoe-san, they treasure things that are created in that place [on the stage], and without changing the course of the story which has a base, they would [instead] change the way they act [as their characters] in every performance. As someone who was on the receiving end of this, I panicked at first, but in the face of such [methods of] acting, I remember the pleasant feeling of building my own acting on it, and I thought, “Acting in plays is like playing catch”, and it became even more enjoyable.

As expected, I gained a lot of things from [performing at] Itsukushima Shrine. With that experience, the way that I faced the stage has changed. Until now, I have broken down the goals before me one by one, but when it was decided that we would perform at Itsukushima Shrine, we were pressed by the necessity to set a target value at a level that had never been set before. Trying to do something like that, it felt like I was seizing something that was above anything that I imagined. I want to become an actor who is better at conveying emotions: That is my current high-level target. I think that, to reach that goal, I want to treasure each and every step as I advance forward.

Special thanks to @rz-jocelyn for helping with some of the lines and proofreading! ♡

#esther translates #izuminokami kanesada #arisawa shoutarou #musical touken ranbu #touken ranbu #itsukushima shrine live

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stepphase · 4 years ago

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Write or listen to the Radio: Pages that Pay you Huge Money Instantly

In other articles on this blog, I have already told you about how you can earn extra euros with the apps that pay you to perform different actions. But maybe, you don't want to have your smartphone full of applications but you do want to get extra money. Well then, you will like to know that there are also some pages that pay you to do some simple tasks.

The operation is very similar in all and very simple. First you have to register, confirm your email and you can access the website to start earning money.

And what are those tasks?

Well, there is a bit of everything: fill out surveys, watch advertisements, register on websites, play games, write, make purchases or listen to the radio.

Below you will find these pages separated by sections, according to the tasks you have to perform.

Pages that pay you to fill out surveys

On the internet there are web pages that are responsible for collecting consumer opinions on behalf of brands in order to improve a product that is already on the market or to learn about the consumption habits of the population and offer new products. To do this, these pages pay people who meet a certain profile and answer a series of questions.

In other words, you get paid for your opinion!

It is an easy way to get extra money, but keep in mind that not all profiles are valid, so perhaps in some cases you will not be eligible for a survey.

Each survey will last between 5 and 20 minutes, it depends on each website. And they will pay you approximately between 10 cents and 2 euros.

These are in my opinion the best pages that pay you to fill out surveys:

Toluna

Global Test Market

In this article, I tell you more details about these and other pages that you should try if you are interested in making money by giving your opinion.

Pages that pay you to view ads

Every time you connect to the Internet, your screen fills with advertising, right? How would you like to get paid every time you see an ad? Sounds fine to me! Since they are going to fill us with publicity at least we can win something

Ads last between 5 and 30 seconds and you receive between 0.001 and 0.01 dollars in return. It is not much, but you will see that little by little you can accumulate a few euros a month.

These are the pages that pay you to see ads, the best known and recommended:

Neobux

Scarlet Clicks

Pages that pay you to visit other pages

This is another way of advertising, but in this case the pages you sign up for pay you to visit other pages.

When you select the page you want to visit, you should let it load completely and stay on the web for 10 or 20 seconds. In some cases, they will ask you to click on some of the links to verify that you have visited the web.

Here are the most recommended:

Beruby. This website is mainly known for buying with cashback, but you can also earn by visiting other websites, watching videos, or registering on other pages.

Ayuwage. In the "Star Earning" section, if you select View and Regular you will find the pages you have to visit to earn money.

Pages that pay you to register on other pages

In this case, you earn money every time you register on one of the pages of their list.

Eye : beware of the data you give. Normally the data will be: name, surname, email, postal code, in some cases also telephone. If they have asked you for this last information, it is likely that they will call you later. If you don't want them to, don't put this information.

These are the pages that pay you to register:

With Your Permission. On this website, you can also earn money by filling out surveys and making purchases with cashback.

Beruby

Pages that pay you to receive advertising in your email

Another way to get extra money is to allow some pages to send you advertising directly to your email.

After registering on these websites, you will start receiving messages to your email. To confirm that you have seen this message, you must click on any of the links in the message.

These are the recommended pages in this section:

AMAZON MTURK

SWAGBUCKS

Pages that pay you to listen to music

Yes, as you have read, some pages pay you to listen to music.

On the page that I recommend, it is about selecting this task and every 30 minutes you have to confirm that you are listening to the radio by writing a code that will appear in the radio window.

Gift Hunter Club. It also pays you to fill out surveys, watch videos, sign up, download apps, or play games.

Pages that pay you to make purchases

If you make purchases online, you should use these cashback pages.

What is it about? It is about buying in your usual online store, but accessing from these pages. In this way they will return a percentage of the total purchase that you have made.

They can be purchases of clothes, shoes, travel reservations, sporting goods, ...

The main pages that pay you to make purchases are these:

Beruby.

Aklamio.

Pages that pay you to write

Do you like to write? … Yes? Me too . Then this section is for you.

How to make money online

Some pages pay you to write for others

First of all, you have to know that it is not necessary to have a blog to earn a few extra euros by writing and sharing your knowledge, experience, or thoughts. You have to know that there are pages that pay you to write for other people.

You have to register on these websites and offer your writing services to bloggers who need content for their blogs. Or maybe you can help companies create content. There are several possibilities with which you can earn some extra money.

Some of the pages that pay you to write and that are in Spanish are these:

Textbroker

article

These are some of the pages specialized in writing services, but you can also offer your services on pages such as Fiverr where there are offers in different categories.

To find out more about these pages that I have recommended, and others, you can read this article I wrote for the Freelance Redactor blog: 12 websites to earn money writing.

And if you are also very good at writing in English, you can find more pages in this Collective Culture article.

Pages that pay you to translate

Maybe you speak another language? English, French, German or Portuguese?

If this is your case, you can propose your services as a translator.

Freelancer

TexMaster

You can also use pages like Workana, and Fiverr to propose this service as a freelancer.

Conclusion

Most of the pages that I have mentioned work from anywhere in the world, and this is a great advantage, don't you think?

In this article, I have talked to you about how with some simple tasks you can get a little extra money at the end of the month. But when I talk about writing for others or doing translations, it depends on how often you do it, it can become your means of monthly income, and that allows you to work from home or from anywhere. If you have these skills, take advantage of them.

I do not want to end this article, without first reminding you that you must be very attentive to Internet scams and that they want to sell us smoke in exchange for our money. As I have already told you in other articles, do not believe all those stories of the miraculous method that will make you earn money easily, because that does not exist. If you want to earn extra money, use reliable methods like these pages that pay you to do a task, or perhaps you prefer to fill out surveys in your spare time or any other idea that does suit you; here you can find ideas to earn extra money.

Do you have any questions or want to tell me something, do so in the comments below.🙂

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