#their first language is spanish so we all kind of speculated that because the way you refer to things is dependent on the subject

[fluffydice]

I have such a big soft spot for Leo calling Raph "big brother." It's not just a one-off thing, either. It's like, half the time it's used for Leo to play cute and try to get away with things, but other times it feels like a symbol of Leo's respect for him (Thinking "You're up, big brother" during the last Shredder fight).

Honestly I think I can imagine Splinter sometimes referring to Raph as their "nii-san" when they were tots, and Leo being the only one to really keep using it once they get older. He uses different variations depending on what he's trying to convey: nii-chan for when he's trying to be a little shit of a younger brother; nii-san at home/every day use; onii-san when he's showing respect for Raph's leadership; onii-sama, used sarcastically when he thinks Raph's being too smothering or a dicktator

[lilareviewsbooks]

The Goblin Emperor 5/5: I’m Bored and I’m Having So Much Fun

5/5 stars

446 pages

Contains: an emperor that doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing; kindness as like a plot point; court intrigue!!!

The Goblin Emperor has been on my TBR for years, now. I’d heard someone say, a long time ago, that it was a weird book, and that “you’ve never read something like this before”. Of course, my curiosity was piqued. I love weird, funky little books, that turn you upside down and shake you a bit, especially if they’re speculative fiction. So The Goblin Emperor went into my TBR, until this month, when the mood to read it finally struck me and I sat down with it.

But The Goblin Emperor is not best described by “weird”, in my opinion, nor is “uneventful” a good descriptor, either. I think those of you who have read the book will agree with me that there are several big events throughout the story that capture your attention and are major turning points for the characters. However, it’s impossible to avoid, when recommending this, the fact that it is… boring?

Let me be clear: I don’t mean this in a bad way, at all – I had so much fun reading The Goblin Emperor. Nor am I using it to suggest that Ms. Addison’s writing choices were inadequate. I’m using this word because I think it’s the best way to describe what happens here. 

I’ll explain myself: it’s not that nothing happens in The Goblin Emperor, but the pacing is slow. And not in a bad way – things just take their time. We follow our main character in an almost day-by-day basis. We watch him wake up, have breakfast… And at the end of the day, we are with him as he puts on his pajamas and goes to bed. 

And then there is the fact that Ms. Addison takes what I called an “almost anthropological approach to describing culture” in my review of the Teixcalaani Duology, by Arkady Martine. Much like Ms. Martine does in her two books, A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace, Ms. Addison takes her time to consider every move in its cultural context. If, in A Memory Called Empire, the most striking element of this approach is the Teixcalaani smile, which differs from how other parts of the world chose to do so, here we see this attention to detail in the elvish language.

In this world, “we” is the default first person singular. It’s the formal “I”, and “you” is the formal second person singular. Watching these characters drop this formality barrier or decide to put it up makes for a beautiful addition to the dialogue and character relationships throughout the book. It also, of course, tells us much about this world and this culture, which is bound tightly by strings of formality and tradition. (And is also a reflection of how other languages work, in the real world. French, Italian and Spanish, for example, have formal yous, as I’m sure other non-European languages do, too. This makes me super curious to see how this quirk was translated in languages that already have this as a feature. If anyone knows, please tell me!)

This almost-anthropological lens, however, adds a stillness to the story that makes it move slower, taking more time in each of the character’s movements. Which, in turn, makes this book a little more boring.

But, like I said, this is boring in a good way. This stillness, this slowness, allows us to spend ample time with our characters, really getting to know them. And the world sparkles around them, made so vivid by this attention to detail, this approach to a fictional culture. It feels alive outside of the pages, like we’ve only popped in for a visit, and the clock will continue ticking when we’re not there.

But the crux of the story, and the reason why it needs to slow down, the most, is our protagonist, Maia. Maia is the youngest, half-goblin son of the elvish Emperor, who scorns him. He is secluded to a remote location with his cousin Setheris, until a messenger arrives – the Emperor and all his other sons have died in a freak accident, meaning Maia has inherited the throne. With no education in politics and no friends, Maia journeys to court, where he will learn to rule.

And although he’s put in this position of power, and finds himself, in several ways, helpless and dependent on others, Maia never loses his kindness. He’s a generous soul who strives to make decisions for the good of others, and this is the axis around which the rest of the plot moves, slowly, forwards.

To really understand this kindness, to dig into it and be aware of its various implications, its causes, it’s necessary to spend quite a while in the company of Maia, as he blunders forward. And what a journey it is! I’ll tell you, “boring” might be a good word to describe this book, but so is “compelling”. When it hooks you, it hooks you, and it leaves you wanting to bury yourself further and further into this world, to know more, to spend more time with Maia, and find out all the intricacies of his language.

Thank you for reading this review! I’m working on a list of similar books, which will be called something like “Books for Humanities Nerds”, so if this sounds like your cup of tea, keep an eye out! Have a nice day :)

[zen-garden-gnome]

Long post about whiteness

I’m seeing a lot of false-start questions based on a narrow understanding of whiteness. Whiteness (and recovery from whiteness) can be tricky to unpack because it has a lot of layers that have been added over the years. So you’ll run into a layer and may be tempted to stop there, but it goes deeper.

1) Racial identity was a vague belief before it was officially named, but it’s not as old as many think it is. Prior to European Expansionism, travelers and merchants and militaries alike have generally referred to people based on their place of origin or their language. The idea of vaguely lumping hundreds of ethnicities together based on a handful of physical attributes started to kick up when Portugal began capturing and enslaving huge numbers of sub-Saharan Africans in the mid-1400s. As slave traders and “explorers” brought shiploads of captured, multi-ethnic Africans to Portuguese auction blocks to be traded all over Europe, what set these enslaved people apart from anyone else there (including other enslaved people) was a) the fact that they were to some degree darker than the Portuguese despite displaying a wide range of skin tones, b) were from Africa at the time, and c) were enslaved. When Christian militant and royal biographer Gomes de Zurara was hired in 1453 to write about the life and “accomplishments” of Portugal’s most famous slave trader, Infante Henrique aka Prince Henry the Navigator, he officiated, in writing, the idea that all these newly enslaved people were their own class of people with no differentiation between them. Here, race is a burgeoning social narrative invented to praise European slave traders, and this racial concept is defined in relation to slavery, African origins, and skin tone. Racial concepts appeared in tandem with racist concepts, because races began to be envisioned in order to excuse the abuse of others. The ideas of whiteness and blackness were birthed simultaneously, specifically around slavery, and they became deeply entrenched beliefs before they were ever officially named.

2. “Negro” became the first major racial term before “white” was widely used, binding the development of racial concepts even more securely with the practice of European slavery. In fact, race and racism became encoded in colonial-American law in 1640, when African servant John Punch ran away from his European buyers along with two European servants. He was eventually recaptured, as were his Dutch and Scottish companions. However, the colonial judicial system sentenced Punch to a lifetime of slavery, while the two Europeans had an extra year added to their initial servitude. This marks the first record of a Euro/American legal precedence for lifetime sentencing of enslavement based openly on race. John Punch’s African lineage and the other servants’ European lineage were the differences between their sentencing. Here, European origin was what freed a person from being of the “negro race” and therefore severely reduced one’s likelihood to enslavement. It was also the requirement for incoming settlers who wanted to be able to buy land. Only white people were allowed to develop inter-generational wealth, at a time when this continent was being carved up by land speculators for massive profits.

3. The concept of whiteness was officially named by Carl Linnaeus in order to rank Europeans as superior among other conceptual categories of people. It involved grouping hundreds of ethnic groups together to form white, yellow, red, and black races in he text “System Naturale" (1735). While primarily an introduction to our current taxonomy system, it included these racial categories. It was highly regarded by Europeans eager to cast themselves as superior because it a) created a popular “scientific” framework for excusing the most obscene (and profitable) crimes against humanity, b) officially outlined/invented the white race and identified it with everything good and the black race as everything bad, and then c) clearly defined Europeans as the basis of whiteness, “Homo sapiens europaeus.” Here, whiteness is coined to describe European ancestry, particularly in relation to “grotesque” non-whites.

4. An individual’s personal ideas of whiteness fluctuates with time and circumstances. As governments, social institutions, literature, etc all work to redefine history and clean up their image, people have different/less information to work with, but the effects are the same. The popular spoken definition of whiteness is often simply a reference to a relatively pale skin tone caused by European ancestry. Obviously there are pale people in other places around the world who aren’t European and weren’t related to the slavery of European Expansionism, so pale skin isn’t enough. The relation to Europe’s capitalistic global expansion is key. But what about European countries who didn’t go expanding this way, or whose involvement is harder to pinpoint? After all, most of the trading of enslaved indigenous peoples from Africa and North & South America were carried out by the Portuguese, Genoese, Dutch, French, British, Spanish, and Americans. Well, the rapid enrichment and development of the rest of Europe for centuries to come was specifically made possible by all the labor, resources, and capital brought in by this period of the European slave trade. European ancestry links every white person to privileges and developments born on the backs of black and indigenous enslaved peoples. Furthermore, simply being white makes one safer from these kinds of exploits, and today it also makes one safer from the effects of generations of racial prejudices and resource extraction on the global scene. Which brings me to...

5. Whiteness tends to involve one’s relative freedom. Freedom of movement, both physical and social, without immediate threat of policing. Freedom to explore one’s ancestral history without being blocked by 500 years of forced removal, renaming, forced childbirth, etc. Freedom to exist without having to actually know or respond to one’s racial identity. This one’s really important. Whiteness involves not having to think about being white, usually in relation to living in a country/region whose laws and norms are defined and enforced almost exclusively by other white people. Since whiteness and blackness arose mutually around the European slave trade, blackness is inherently tied to a lack of rights/freedoms and whiteness is inherently tied to an abundance of them. That doesn’t mean that every white person experiences these equally, and there will always be exceptions to the rule. But the exceptions don’t make the rule, and after centuries of globalized white supremacy, whiteness has become a subconscious signifier of power for people all over the place.

The big take-away is this: whiteness is inherently toxic. There is nothing positive to defend in whiteness. It was born out of ugliness and it is ugly to its core. That’s why it feels so bad. It’s why “white pride” is always ugly. However, the solution is not to disconnect from our ancestry. All that does is leave us trapped here, in an ugly set of circumstances, with no concept of who we are except what we’re living in, now. The real work to be done is to connect with our ancestry before whiteness, with the ancestors who related to the land as a living entity, before the land was limited in social memory to a source of private capital, servitude, and empire-building. This land, this Earth, is the backdrop against which all our relativity is measured. From this place of relative security, understanding, and development of the spirit, we can withstand the reality of our more recent ancestors, and finally heal from the last 1000 to 2000 years of trauma.

I know I’ve said this before, but now that I have this huge post, I’ll repeat it: Dr. Daniel Foor’s Ancestral Medicine is a really helpful book and/or course for this whole process. It’s not the end-all be-all resource, but it’s a great start! I’m also always down to talk about this stuff. Hit me up. I need to be able to talk about it, too.

(I should add, while blackness was created by white people and therefore was born out of the racism of whiteness, blackness was forced on people, while whiteness was claimed by the takers. It’s no white person’s place to have an opinion about "black identity.” White people started race, so white people are responsible for deconstructing our own race--no one else’s. We cannot be “post-racial” while everyone else is still living the violent reality of racism.)

[spotofimagines]

Rivals Last ~ Jadon Sancho

A/N: So I had this in my drafts before he signed with man united but that's fine, we move, we adapt. A third piece for the @footballffbarbiex summer challenge. Hope you enjoy it :)

Warnings: none - reader is female

Summary: You love both your brothers dearly, but being in the football world with them can make some things a little complicated.

gif by @archivesbvb - gif by @ermuellert - gif by @italynt

Being a footballer meant living in a special world. Being in a footballing family meant living in a special world too. Being the younger sister of Lucas and Theo Hernandez meant living in a really special world. But nobody told you just how crazy it would be for all three of those things to apply to you.

You truly love watching your older brothers play football. They teach you something new during every match you see; even though you play as a striker, their movements and handling of the ball always inspire you to play better. After all, it was their defensive skills that helped you become a good goal scorer growing up since they never let a tackle go unchallenged in the park and you had to find out how to manoeuvre around them. A lot easier said than done.

Currently Lucas is signed with Bayern Munich. In his time there so far, he has learnt the heritage, history, and importance of wearing the badge and defending its honour in every match they play, especially derbies. Having supported Lucas, it quickly became easy for you to support Bayern Munich too and celebrate their victories like it was your own team. You'd always managed to do it with the clubs both your brothers played for, letting the atmosphere of the fanbase carry you away.

You have just finished your second season in England with Manchester City women's team. You'd settled in nicely now, having learnt a lot of the English language and culture already. The experience was made so much easier because of the help given by your welcoming teammates and the staff that translated things into French and Spanish during your first months there.

Fans were a little disappointed during the 2019 summer transfer window when it was confirmed all three Hernandez siblings would be leaving Spain to play separately in England, Germany and Italy, joking that no one could know what might happen with you all so far away. However, to you, it made things easier, as Lucas and Theo would stop making so many awful jokes about each other's clubs, only to join forces to diss your club even more afterward. Now the only connection you have to the clubs you all play for is the want for your sibling to win with them. And it is a great feeling. A welcome change of pace.

But no new change to your life felt as good as your blossoming "relationship", situationship, whatevership, you have with Jadon Sancho.

It all started with you flirting back and forth on social media, which turned itself into countless hours of DMs no one else could see. You congratulated his goals and he congratulated your wins. All the light-hearted teasing and the warm-hearted compliments stayed in your own little bubble. The only thing peeking out was your silly inside rule that if you were going to comment on a post, it had to be emojis only, stretching to a few words if you really couldn't help yourself - but it would earn you taunts from the other for the rest of the night.

Some eagle-eyed fans noticed how you'd been liking each other's posts every time they appeared for a while now, but it just added to the fun and thrill you got from flirting with him so much.

You weren't meant to be forming a bond with Jadon. He played for your brother’s rival. He was supposed to be the enemy. Someone you should dislike with a snap of your fingers. Certainly not a boy to fall for like you have.

You couldn't help yourself. Lucas and Theo had helped you since you moved to England by being the steady rocks they always were, cheering you on from afar. Your new teammates had helped you since you moved to England by introducing fun things for you all to do together and taking you under their wings. But Jadon had helped you in a different kind of way. He gave you a new kind of comfort and reassurance when you talked. He became someone to turn to with all your interesting news and your curious problems. He told you the good places to visit around the city that he remembered from his time there and taught you English slang to make your teammates laugh. You spoke three languages to varying degrees now, and you'd managed to pick up more German vicariously through Lucas in two years faster than Jadon had done living in Germany in four years, so you'd clue him into rude German phrases you had asked Lucas about, alongside the French and Spanish swear words he used more often than English ones now when you text. 

Even though a language barrier comes up once in a while, you have both learnt behaviours from each other and crave the contact you share. Jadon was starting to drop everything to send replies to you, a change his teammates have noticed and jokingly mock him for. Little did they know the unknown girl they joke he is smitten over is the sister of their rival.

Theo is the one in your family you usually tell about the boys you go out with; boyfriends and dates have been shared with him since you were 13 and doting on your first crush. He does the same with his girlfriends; asking advice and telling you more than you need to know at times. So, when you all went home for a bit of family time around Christmas, nothing could stop him from noticing the tell-tale signs that you had something going on. He already figured out through persistence that it was another player you were getting involved with, and his insistent questioning hasn't stopped in his search for who the player is.

But you keep it hidden from Lucas, and you don't know when you'll tell him. He has been your protector since you were kids, comforting you on sad nights when no one else was there, teaching you little secrets about how to navigate through the world, he even punched a boy who teased you once at school. The idea of telling him you were chatting romantically to another player would be trouble enough, but telling him it was a Dortmund player might just end up in another schoolground incident. You hadn't wanted Theo to know for fear he'd go dishing your dirt to Lucas, but he discovered it on his own and there was nothing you could do.

Who knows what might become of this thing you have with Jadon, and lord knows your eldest brother owns a hard as nails death stare that just might do Jadon in, but for now you actually quite like having the secret. A little mystery tucked away up your sleeve.

The rush you always get when Lucas calls your phone as you're typing a text to the Englishman,  feeling as though the first words from the other end will be shouts of how he knows everything and he'll never speak to you again for keeping it a secret, fills you with dread at times. But it never is the reason he calls, and it turns out he is just making plans or has something funny to tell you. But the way your heart thumps as you go back to texting Jadon, that is part of the chase you have to admit you enjoy.

Hardcore fans online have noticed the past few months that when you do interviews in English, the odd slang term comes up during jokes - terms you hadn't used before and stem more from London boroughs than northen towns - so speculation of how you'd learnt these things easily coincided with dating rumors.

Lucas had seen the speculation online; seen fans trying to put your interactions with the Dortmund player together through both your instagram stories and comments and the tweets you both had liked about the other. Lucas had even grown suspicious of the little questions you asked him about Germany, German phrases and his lifestyle there, not knowing why you would need nor want to know those things. But Lucas doesn't believe it. He knows that you know better to mix with a Dortmund boy.

Sometimes an older brother just doesn't get it quite right…

Soon, the chance will come to really see if your connection is something you can build on. Jadon's new signing with Manchester United has been confirmed and he will be moving back to England. It is a great opportunity to get to see him more often, rather than the odd rendezvous point or clandestine trip during small breaks in the season. You'll spend more time face to face instead of over the phone. You'll get to wake up in his bed and him in yours, without needing to sneak away from hotel rooms afterwards. You'll maybe even get to go on a proper date, just the two of you, where you can flirt across the table your joined hands rest upon. Hanging out with Jadon won't be the first time you've spent time together in person. However, getting a full day with only the two of you where you won't have to pretend you hardly know who he is, and you won't have to pretend your eyes aren't meeting across the group of people you're in - it fills your stomach with knots and butterflies.

A certain pressure has fallen off you now Jadon has no growing rivalry with Lucas, but not completely. You won't be able to take back the way their teams made the other feel in the past, but the fact there won't be more of it next season comforts you a little. The biggest thing that will hold you back from going public before the new season starts will be the media, but that is an issue you can't even begin to worry about yet. You are too caught up in the excitement of being in the same town as Jadon to care. Rumours are spinning crazier than ever about you two as some of your liked tweets about his move got reposted by sports pages and fan blogs - now joking about him being your rival instead of your brother's - and yet it didn't stop you, no longer all that bothered about keeping a low profile now you both will be living away from Lucas. If he gets mad, all he will be able to do is shout down the phone, and whilst you never want that to happen, you know the time to flourish with Jadon and capitalise on the foundation you have already built is better than ever, brothers be damned.

There are big changes coming for the both of you, yet one thing will remain the same no matter the outcome of your relationship. You can't quite stop being football rivals.

[nellygwyn]

This is a niche post inspired by @alicehoffmans​ posting some incredibly vile screenshots of fans of The Spanish Princess (a show I haven’t and probably won’t watch, but am consuming through Tumblr gifs) saying incredibly disgusting things about Anne Boleyn and other mistresses (although Anne was never a mistress in the technical sense) of Henry VIII. Misogynistic, disgusting stuff, couched in that irritating as fuck Twitter stan language. I went on the offending people’s Twitters and Tumblrs to read more, because initially, I wanted to start shit, then I thought ‘These are probably just stupid teenagers who don’t know any better and are just super invested in a show, I won’t stoop to their level’ and then I saw one of them was fucking 4MOTHERFUCKING5 YEARS OLD and should know better. A grown fucking woman who purports to write historical fiction should know better about history, about the world, about reality. And here I am, writing this post. This got way longer than I expected because I am annoyed so...

Honestly, the main thing I gleaned from perusing their timelines: Some of you would do well to finally realise that kings had mistresses. We can go back and forth about how this was born from a sexist society, and a sexist attitude to the role & rights of a king vs a queen consort (and I would say ‘Yeah, it sucks’), but that is the truth of the matter. Your husband having extramarital affairs was part and parcel of being the wife of a king (and possibly, I’d argue, being the wife of a high-ranking man in general). Royal women who became queen consorts weren’t stupid, they knew this. Many of them tolerated it: take my favourite British queen consort, Caroline of Ansbach, for example. Her husband, King George II, took a mistress, Henrietta Howard, when he was Prince of Wales, mainly because he knew that, as heir to the throne, it would’ve been bad form to NOT have a mistress. Caroline’s nose was a bit put out of joint for a while, but in the end, she found she could have a fairly decent (if occasionally petty) relationship with Henrietta, who she actually made one of her Women of the Bedchamber. Caroline, in short, made it work. This is just something kings did, for centuries and centuries and centuries. I mean, in France, ‘maitresse-en-titre’ (the official mistress) was an actual fucking position at court. Calling royal mistresses ‘homewreckers’ doesn’t hold up to historical scrutiny, sorry. Worse shit was happening in the early modern era, worse than a king indulging in a bit of centuries-old bawdry with a woman with ambition, a sexuality, and sometimes, a romantic inclination.  

Does this mean that queens who knew their husband was having extra-marital affairs felt great about it? No. Caroline of Ansbach was pretty laidback but even she was a bit huffy at first. My favourite historical monarch of all time, Charles II, is pretty notorious for the amount of mistresses he had. His wife, Catherine fo Braganza, was actually warned about his proclivity for women, by her mother before she left Portugal, so she had prior warning but still, in the initial months and years of her marriage, it was hard for her. She had pretty public blow-ups with Charles about it, at first. And I haven’t seen TSP, so I can only speculate but it does look like they explore, on some level, the emotional impact infidelity in a royal marriage could have and that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean that you, the viewer, suddenly throw all critical thinking to the wind because you have quite a modern, visceral reaction to “cheating.’ I’ve been cheated on, at least twice, and it hurts, it’s shit, so when I read about Catherine of Braganza desperately trying to claw Charles back to, solely, her...yes, I feel something but I’m objective and historically literate enough to realise that that doesn’t automatically make Charles, a 17th century monarch, a deadbeat, and his mistresses all equally culpable in hurting Catherine. 

Many of you could do with injecting a bit of nuance into your discussions about women who, you know, actually existed, and had lives and relationships as complicated as our own. Stop calling women who were judicially murdered on trumped up charges ‘whores’ just because they, for a while, were ‘the other woman’ in a time where this was actually kind of completely normal. The only thing I might concede for someone like Anne Boleyn specifically is that it went further, and it became something a lot more “serious” than, say, the relationship Henry had with Bessie Blount (which KoA was able to make work.) This made it upsetting and ultimately disastrous for KoA (no one denies this because no one can) - but again, you were not there, you were not party to Anne’s feelings (or KoA’s, I might add), you do not know how the situation unravelled in real time. How do you know that, in a different time and a different context, you would not have ended up making many of the decisions these women did? You don’t know. And you never will know. Take a step back and be objective. Perspective.

In conclusion:

[korinthya]

THEORY       Robins and Handkerchiefs

♫ The boy I love is up in the gallery,    The boy I love is looking now at me,    There he is, can't you see, waving his handkerchief,    As merry as a robin that sings on a tree. ♫

 Hi everyone! Today I’ve got a new theory related to the song "The Boy I love is Up in the Gallery" whose hidden meaning passed unnoticed from my point of view. Of course, all of this is just speculation based on small details collected throughout the series, Steven Knight has the final word.       

So, let’s go...                                                   

  When Grace sings the song "The boy I love is up in the gallery" she mentions the handkerchief and the robin. On the other hand, Thomas is looking at her captivated but he is also listening to the music lyrics. This becomes a symbol between them, the song and its lyrics. 

It should be noted this bird is not red actually, in any case orange, but even in other languages this animal is considered red despite of its orange tones, (Anecdotally in Spanish is called ‘’petirROJO’’) that's why we have to focus on the ESSENCE of these details.

  Clothing and clothing accessories are also important because express secret ideas and messages.

Now, Thomas telling Grace to buy the matching dress with ‘his handkerchief’ (1x3)... He doesn’t mean Billy Kimber’s, but the boy’s in the song which will be a foreshadowing of her feelings towards him. Moreover, he’s never seen Kimber wear a red handkerchief, yet. The man appears for the first time in 1x2, but he is not using that.

So, why is Billy Kimber wearing a handkerchief of that color later? To mislead. SK does this to make Thomas' feelings for Grace unclear. The best example of this is at the end of that episode when she asks him why he changed his mind. Thomas doesn’t answer but it is obvious that he likes her, a lot. It is a way the author utilises to intrigue the viewer about what kind of feelings there are between them.

But it doesn’t end there, in subsequent episodes we find Thomas wearing a beige scarf to match her dress, implying they are on the same page. It is an element that links them once again. Yes, it isn’t a handkerchief; it is a scarf, even so, is still a pretty similar accessory. The essence is there.

After what happened that night, we never saw him wearing anything like that until now. Recently, we’ve seen him using a maroon (dark red) scarf in France. If you ask me, it’s the same colour Grace dressed for S1 and S5.

 But the most decisive proof of this theory was shown to us a few days ago... when a part of the PB team was caught in Scotland due to inclement weather. It was then when some sources reported there was a robin on the crew. They probably used this little bird to make reference to Grace in France, in order to finish that narrative arc created from the first season. In fact, the song in question is recovered in S4 during Thomas and Jessie Eden meeting for a similar purpose.

Source: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/peaky-blinders-crew-forced-seek-23503939.amp

So what’s the point of this?

I just want to clarify:

1. Thomas played along with Grace and she wasn’t aware of that 😝

2. There’s a real connection between all these elements and for that reason I think Grace (the real one) still has unfinished business in S6, and will appear alive at some point in the story. I mean, If she disappears after Thomas shots his hallucination (I do think that will happen), it makes no sense that they continue creating symbolism or manipulating the old one, in this case the handkerchief and the robin. It's exactly the same as with the swan thing. Why do you create a completely new symbolism for someone who is dead?

3. More Grace content is coming!! 👏👏👏

UPDATE 5/3/21

 Thomas Shelby wearing a suit and scarf suspiciously similar to the ones he wore to the charity dinner in S3. However, it’s not a flashback. The situation seems to be linked to an important event connected with Oswald Mosley and his fascist political party. And at the same time, all of this takes place in St George’s Hall, a building previously used for the secret meetings between Campbell and Grace and the fateful charity dinner. Once again, I think it’s not a mere coincidence, but one of many callbacks that point to Grace.

[thirillia]

I haven’t watched any supernatural in German outside of the first seasons. It was kind of my gateway to fully converting watching English shows in their original language.

But with everything going on in 15x18, from the Title to the dubbing, I have to know what they did to it. I feel like it’s my duty to find out, and tell all of you.

It could go either way. They could turn it platonic, generalised. They could do the exact opposite and turn everything gay. They could do a 1:1 translation. But since the dubbing seems to be already finished (since it’s speculated it will first be released on SKY at the beginning of 2021) I dont know about that. That is to say that I know nothing of the dubbing business whatsoever. I can just say what I experienced myself as a bilingual person.

They have had differences in episode titles in the past. They have dubbed something different because it wouldn’t make sense in German or just because it fit better in the lip syncing. But they also left stuff in that didn’t make sense in German or left in exact translations that turned into longer, faster spoken sentences than the original. There is honestly no say.

It would be kind of hard to generalise Cas‘s love confession, though, without it sounding completely ridiculous. Because in German there is, in some cases, a way to differ between a platonic I love you („Ich hab dich lieb“) and a romantic one („Ich liebe dich“) with two different expressions. We also have platonic „Ich liebe dich“‘s, but it really depends on the context. That being said, having Cas say all these things only to end with a „Ich hab dich lieb“ would just be bonkers. But it also wouldn’t count as a platonic expression anymore because of that reason. So if they try to erase the homo, they would probably shift it to plural: „Ich liebe euch“ to include Sam and Jack, like in the German dub for 12x12 when his „I love you“ was directed at all of them. But that’s about the only way they could pull that off and I’m not sure they will go there. Especially as it wouldn’t make sense really. Not with the whole speech just focussing on Dean.

Anyway, they didn’t erase Kaya & Clairs relationship as far as my friends told me. Nor Charlie in any way. So I don’t see why they would erase Cas. I mean, it’s the last season and it’s not THAT popular here. It doesn’t run in official German TV until a year later so... it’s not exactly the height of television here. Most people just stream it anyway.

It’s still a possibility, but not a really big one. The most possible outcome is probably close to the original, so I’m putting a "dub alá Latin America" on the opposite side of the spectrum of possibilities.

I don’t really have expectations for anything here. I can’t do anything about how they dub it. I also can’t predict it. But I am curious. So I’m going to find out and speculate. And I’d figured, maybe some of you want to find out too, after the Spanish dub. How other countries do it. So I’m gonna help you and find out!

[EDIT: For what it’s worth, they did subtitle it correctly. But then again, it’s only available on unofficial streaming services in Germany and these are probably just fanmade subtitles.]

[For a translation of the Castiel confession click here / For a destiel tease update of the German TV provider click here / For the translation of the episode title click here / For seeing the German tv provider being a tease 2.0 click here / For “at this point they’re borderline hellers” click here ]

[juliabohemian]

backhanded compliments & the art of commenting on other people’s creative content without being a complete twat waffle

WARNING: This is a long post.

I'm a word person. That's probably why, when I do find myself becoming irritated by someone else's unsolicited critique, it is almost always due to their choice of words. Words are important and very powerful. Words have different meaning to different people. Which is why we need to take care when choosing them.

Now, whenever possible, I will click on the profile of the person who left the unsolicited critique and try to get a feel for what type of person they are. Just so I can better understand why they might have left the comment in question. If it is clear they are not a native English speaker, I stop right there. Learning a foreign language is hard. English is one of the most ridiculous languages on the planet. So, mastering its nuances is a challenge for someone who may not have grown up using it. I’m sure I have offended at least one person with my Spanish, at some point. I’m working on it.

BACKHANDED COMPLIMENTS

When I say choice of words, I am implying almost exclusively to something known as a backhanded compliment. A backhanded compliment is a statement that seems, on the surface, to be positive, but is actually an insult. If you are not familiar with the backhanded compliment, I direct you to the mom from American Beauty who says to her teenage daughter "Honey, I'm so proud of you. I watched you very closely, and you didn't screw up once!"

There are a lot of reasons why people make such comments. It would be reductive to suggest they are all suffering from some form of insecurity, although many of them probably are. Some may genuinely believe that they are being helpful. Others may be jealous of the attention another person is receiving and want to either sabotage them or find a way to get in on the action. 

However, it is most likely that the type of person to give a backhanded compliment is either very young, very sheltered or very privileged. And thus, they may not realize that their opinion about something may not carry the same weight on the internet as it does in other venues. Or they may not realize that the world is filled with people who are more informed and more experienced than they are. They mistake their opinion for objective analysis and therefore, offer it freely and without hesitation.

Now, I would like to state that if you see something and you REALLY think it is problematic, you should absolutely offer your critique. Note: if you dislike or disagree with something, that does not make it problematic. Anything that promotes the maltreatment or marginalization of any living thing is problematic. Even so, you should stop and ask yourself whether your critique will accomplish anything or if it would be more worthwhile to simply report the post in question and move on.

That being said, here is MY analysis of some of the backhanded compliments I have received over the years (amalgamated for brevity), and a guide to leaving more constructive/supportive comments for the content creators in your life.

ARTWORK (including photography)

“Definitely not my style, but beautiful.” Do we need to know that it's not your style? If you think it's beautiful, just say that.

“This is so great, but it would have been better if you had used yellow instead of red!” Color choice is a creative choice and its value cannot be objectively measured. Just say it’s great and move on.

“Wow, this is way better than your old stuff.” Do I need to explain why this is bad? I hope not.

“Wow, you're really improving.” Slightly better than the previous one, but still bad. This is a really good example of something that might even feel like a compliment, but actually isn't. Saying that someone is improving is basically saying that it needed to improve. 

Unless you are speaking to your own student or a child, or a really close friend or family member who has openly shared with you their desire to improve as an artist, this is completely unnecessary.

It's important to remember that not everyone is doing things with the same objectives as you. Not every artist or photographer is aiming for technical mastery. If an artist creates something that is very personal and feels pleased with it, the last thing they want is for someone else to come along and tell them what’s “wrong” with it.

Really ANY comment that suggests that the piece of artwork in question would be improved if it were altered in some way is a no no. Unless you are an art teacher or someone has specifically asked for you to give them this information, or you are paying someone to make something especially for you.

FANFICTION (or really writing in general)

“Oh man...I was so excited when I saw your story summary, until I saw the pairing.” Do not comment on a story just to tell the author that you don't like their pairing. Ever. If you accidentally click on a story without seeing the pairing and you are disappointed, your feelings are valid. But there’s no need to let the author know.

"This was good but I don't think (character) would say (quoted dialogue)." Then, you should go and write a story with that character, but where they say different things.

"I noticed you used a semi-colon in the third paragraph. Semicolons are actually supposed to...." Critique grammar, punctuation, spelling and writing mechanics ONLY if you are the author's editor, the author's teacher, or if the author requested it. Period.

If you are commenting to point out what you believe to be a factual error, stop and ask yourself...is this really an error? Is the error intentional? Does the error represent the views of the author or the views of a specific character in a fictional work? Does this story have a reliable narrator? If not, might that narrator be misinformed or biased? And the most important question to ask yourself before correcting an author...do I actually know what the fuck I'm talking about?

Once, in a story, I referenced Copernicus and mentioned that he was imprisoned by the Catholic church. Which we know that he was. Someone commented to leave a long, bullet pointed explanation for how this is a common misconception and that the Catholic Church never mistreated Copernicus, along with many links to articles and videos as evidence. Guess who made all the articles and videos? The Catholic Church. SKIP!

When commenting on a fictional work, consider letting the author know how the story is making you feel. Speculate about what you think might happen next. Express excitement and anticipation. Ask a question for clarification about what you just read. And you can never go wrong by simply thanking the author for taking the time to provide you with free entertainment.

MEMES & JOKES

I love to make people laugh. I have been making people laugh since I learned to talk. This was actually bourne out of an inability to interpret facial expressions. I couldn't tell when people were angry or annoyed. But when they were laughing, I knew exactly how they felt.

That being said, people on the internet LOVE to tell me when something isn't funny. The only problem with this is that humor is very subjective and often very esoteric. I have made memes that I knew were esoteric and knew that not everyone would understand them. I have memes just for birdwatchers. Hell, I have made memes just for a dozen people who participated in a specific academic discussion. But it amazes me how people who don't get a joke are often most compelled to comment and let me know that it isn't funny. How can you know if you don't understand it? Is it so hard to imagine that things exist for which you are not the intended audience?

It's perfectly okay to comment and say you don't understand, and ask for an explanation. But if you look at something and think "I don't understand this, therefore it lacks value" you may have some growing up to do.

Before reblogging someone else's joke to add to the joke, stop and ask yourself whether your intention is to correct or improve upon the joke, or if you are attempting to laugh along WITH the OP.

We've all done this, I'm sure. I know I have. But it really inconsiderate to hijack someone's meme, meta or artwork with a completely unrelated discussion. I can't tell you how annoying it is to post something and check my inbox days later, only to find pages of notifications of people reblogging my shit over and over as part of some completely unrelated discussion.

Once again, if you're commenting to point out a factual error, ask yourself whether the error was intentional. I recently made a meme about the Star Trek films in which Data uses contractions. All of his dialogue is ridiculously out of character, in fact. Which is kind of part of the joke. But someone felt the need to reblog AND comment to let me know that Data wouldn't say that because he doesn't use contractions. Which I already know. Because, well, I’ve been a ST:TNG fan since the day it first aired on TV. I don't even know what to do with a comment that, to be honest. I kind of feel sorry for the other person for not grasping the joke.

So, how DO you compliment someone whose work you enjoy? Imagine yourself speaking to them in person. Imagine that they are emotionally invested in whatever they have created. Consider your objective. Are you expressing appreciation? Or is there something else going on.

And avoid qualifiers. 

When a compliment includes words like "if" or "but" then it's probably not a compliment. You would be so pretty IF you lost some weight is not a compliment.

Choose words that are unlikely to be misinterpreted. 

If someone's art or writing IS improving and you really want them to know, a good way to do that is to use the word evolving. Wow, I really like the way your art is evolving. This works because it implies that the art is changing over time, as the individual grows as a person.

I know what some of you might be thinking...ugh...it's like you can't say ANYTHING anymore! Aww...boo hoo, fam. As a person on the spectrum, I’ve spent my entire life dancing around other people’s feelings, navigating neurotypical subtext and struggling to say things without offending anyone. This is a cake walk compared to that. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if actually thinking about how other people feel BEFORE you share your opinion would require a great deal of effort on your part, it's possible that you're just an asshole.

TL;DR

Creators of original content are actual human beings with feelings. Don’t offer them unsolicited advice or criticism. Think before you comment.

[lisinfleur]

Knot on your tongue

The request:

Universe | Vikings, Lothbrok Trading C.O. AU Pairing | No pair Info | Modern Age AU, CEO! Ivar, Spanish Speaker! Friend! Business Woman! Reader, requested by anon for 5CW7 Words | 2273 ⁑ Warnings: Might content some language mistakes (non-speaker of Spanish here… Sorry!).

"It's always a pleasure to work with people like you, Señor Lothbrok," your father said, shaking that man's hand, treating him with respect, as if he wasn't at least thirty years younger than him.

But the man with which your father was dealing at that meeting was nothing less than the current CEO of the biggest trading company of the market, buying the actions of your father's company for an amount that would warrant his deserved retirement, your life, and probably the life of the children you weren't thinking of having yet. And even paying this amount of money, Ivar Lothbrok accepted to have you as a counselor in his administration of your father's boats and docks. The company would, somehow, still be in your family's hands, honoring the years of your father's life that were invested in building that business.

You were extremely satisfied in seeing that smile on your father's face, but you couldn't miss Ivar's expression and the confusion in his eyes with lots of the words your father spoke during that meeting. It wasn't hard to see his lips in clumsy curves that were practically denouncing his complete unknowledge of your mother language - not something you would expect from a man of worldwide businesses like him, but something you would expect from a man used to make the great majority of his deals past the Middle East or across the Russian territory: The Lothbrok company was expanding to the west with your father's company acquisition - which was another reason why you convinced your father it would be a good deal: your company was the first one to count with the Lothbrok Trading C.O. interest and support and with their financial investment, your business would multiply the routes, increase the number of boats and you were sure you would see your father's business swallowing great part of the concurrence around.

It was a dream becoming true for your old man, but also, it was a plan for a lifetime career for you and if you wanted to sustain this, you knew that keeping your relationship closer to the group CEOs would be something crucial.

Of course, you heard the stupidity around the former shareholders of your enterprise - naturally pissed off with the negotiation that took from them the shares they thought would be theirs entirely after your father decided to retire. All of them were betting your father would marry you to any of the Ragnarssons and when Ivar came to consolidate the negotiation, you heard tons of jokes and misogynist words saying things from your father putting a real trustable mind in front of his business to him marrying you to the lamest of the Ragnarssons to ensure your inheritance would come sooner.

What those stupid old misogynist scum-bags didn't know is that you were the head behind the whole project, you were the one who went to the Scandinavian headquarters of the Lothbrok Trading C.O. to make the presentations that convinced all the five Ragnarssons that your business was worth to be bought and that deal was valuable for their expansion plans. You had no plans to marry any of them or none of that shit they thought you would do. You were a hell of a shark in their sea and the big fishes didn't notice your talent until it was too late for their wallets and the deal was closed despite their discontentment.

And this talent was exactly what allowed you to notice Ivar's discomfort with your father's expressions he couldn't fully understand. So, when your father apologized for leaving the place without sharing the meal they were planning to since he had to prepare the documentation for his retirement, you smiled at Ivar, accepting his invitation for a casual lunch.

You took him to a traditional restaurant near your office almost to confirm your speculation: Ivar's forehead furrowed while he was trying to read the menu and since it was a not so famous place, the thing was entirely in Spanish, not translated to the English he was used to using in their international negotiations.

"I... I'll follow you," he smiled, using the classic exit for moments like that, but you smiled back at him, comprehensively.

"I can help you with the menu if you admit you cannot read it, señior Lothbrok," you joked, repeating your father's way to call him.

The two of you had already talked a lot in the last year for you and Ivar to have some more intimacy and so, you were already able to treat him informally when the two of you weren't stuck into any office around the world. Björn was more serious for you, more distant. But he and the other brothers were already close enough for you to smile at his eyes rolling on the other side of the table.

"You're really having fun with it, aren't you?" he complained and you giggled.

"To be honest?" you left open, receiving one of those discontents smiles of his, only to smile a little bigger at him. "Yes, Ivar. It is interesting to see an intelligent man like you struggling with a simple menu, afraid of making an order and ending up with a plate of sauce or something stupid like this in your table. Or losing the chance to get the waitress's number just because you didn't understand that ‘guapo’ has nothing to do with your condition." you giggled at his surprised expression.

Yeah, you noticed the confusion in his eyes and how he didn't know exactly how to answer at the giggles among the waitresses, not knowing if they were mocking him because of his crutch but surely taking it the worst way since anything about his condition was a weak spot for him.

"She said you're handsome. That's why she's looking at you since we got into the restaurant," you translated for his surprise, almost laughing when he looked at the waitress and then at you again, fully shocked with what she said.

"She..." he started and you completed.

"She's interested. Yeah, but you'll probably need an interpreter to understand whatever she'll say at the phone when you call. So, why don't you let me help you with my language instead of keeping struggling with your pride, uh?"

Ivar sighed, defeated. He was a man pretty full of pride and you couldn't blame him for this. During the time the two of you worked together you could really understand the deepest effort he made to raise his position so, you could completely understand his difficulty in admitting he needed some help.

"Fine..." he said, looking at you. "Fine," he repeated, more decided. "You're right. I need help with this thing. What the heck is a m... moe... mol-a-e-h," he rolled his tong and you smiled, trying to avoid giggling to prevent him to be offended.

"Mole. You say 'mol-eh'. It's a sauce. There is a lot of different recipes of mole, but this one is the mole poblano, usually served with turkey or chicken, see?" you showed him the picture at the menu, smiling with the attention in his eyes.

"Mol-eh," Ivar repeated, trying to get the pronunciation. "Mol-eh po... pobl...Jez... This will be a long ride," he sighed and you smiled.

"Nothing like learning your native Norwegian, my friend," you said, giggling this time of your complete inability to order anything but 'en fika' - that was a coffee with cookies you learned how to order in Swedish (The closer to Norwegian you would ever understand).

"I can try teaching you Norwegian in exchange. This way I won't feel such an ass when I start rolling my tongue to say these things... What's a po... poz...What is this?" he pointed the posole name, making you smile.

"Pozole. It's kind of a stew made with sweet corn, chili and pork or chicken. They have three variations here: green, white, and red, here... Verde, blanco o rojo," you pointed the words, teaching him how to say them. "It's a very spicy dish, but maybe you'll like it since you like challenges," you smiled.

"I'll try these so, one of each so I can see the differences," he smiled.

"Then make your order, Ivar," you smiled, pointing the waitress and causing him to gulp dry looking at you. "Say... 'Me gustaría las pequeñas porciones de Pozole, los tres.'" you taught, speaking slowly.

"Me gustaría... las p-pequeñas porciones de Po.. Pozole... los tres." he tried to repeat and you smiled.

"Almost there. Try again, slower. You don't need to speak in our speed," you advised, "Sometimes, we speak too quickly for the beginners, but you'll reach this point, don't worry."

"Me gustaría las peque-ñas porciones de... Pozole, los tres," he repeated, this time slower, more secure.

"Good. She'll get you, now call her..." you smiled, ready to make a little prank with him.

He raised his hand and the waitress who was looking at him came, shyly smiling at him.

"¿Cómo puedo ayudarlo, señor?" she said, and you nodded at him who softly cleaned his throat before trying the sentence you taught him to.

"Me gustaría... las pequeñas porciones de... Pozole." Ivar pointed the dish at the menu to ensure she would understand. "Los tres," he completed and she smiled, noticing he was learning to speak her language, softly reducing her speed to speak thinking he would understand her better.

"En un minuto, señor," she smiled looking at you, and you asked her for your favorite dish in that place, waiting as she took note of everything. "¿Algo más?" she asked and you smiled when he looked at you.

"How do I say 'not now?'" he asked and you smiled bigger.

"You say 'Ahora no, preciosa,'" you said, and he repeated, causing the waitress's face to burst in red as she smiled, leaving to take your orders with a giggle that caused Ivar to raise his brow.

"You tricked me," he said and you laughed, looking at him. "What did I say?"

"You said 'Not now, beautiful,'" you translated and he rolled his eyes looking at you.

"You're just like Hvitserk, always trying to get women in my life."

"Well, you should take the chances life is giving you, Ivar. You won't be young forever. And what's the matter of some drinks tonight with the beautiful waitress that's putting her phone number on the napkin of your tray right now? Uh?" you smiled and Ivar couldn't hold back his smile as well.

In the end, the two of you really became good friends and it was good to have some moments out of his business with you like that.

"You know you'll have to go with us, right?"

"I follow what I say, Ivar... I'm also in need of some moments out of the office," you smiled. "It will be good to have some fun tonight with your Spanish lessons," you joked and he smiled.

"Just keep in mind you won't flee from a night with my brothers and I when we come back to Kattegat..." he stated and it was your time to smile, surprised.

"We?" you asked, looking at him.

"As my personal counselor and future CEO of the Lothbrok Trading C.O. West Headquarters, I think you'll need to spend some more time with your colleagues..." he said as if he wasn't shotting in your face with those words.

"CE-What??"

It was his time to giggle, and he looked at you with security in his blues.

"Don't play the surprised one, Y/N. I can see your talent. You're a shark... Just like Björn and I. You're into this world until your neck and you know how to play with the tides here... If I will leave the West unity with someone of my trust, this person will be you. I settled everything with your father. He'll retire, and you'll assume. Your sector will be as big as mine, so I thought you should have a befitting position."

"But..." you coughed, still taken aback, "I thought the..."

"The positions of command are for the ones who know how to rule, Y/N. It doesn't really matter if you're a part of my family or not. The great secret of the Lothbrok Trading C.O. success around the world is that we didn't try to hold everything in our own hands. Of course, we keep the majority of the shares in the family and we're the heads of everything, but such as Björn has Halfdan right under him, I intend to keep you as my man of trust here. Or better saying, woman of trust," he smiled.

You never thought you would go this far so quickly, but you couldn't avoid smiling back at him.

"I won't betray your trust, my friend," you said, smiling proudly.

"I'm giving you this position exactly for knowing you won't," he answered, firm in his decision, showing you it was something that was certain in his head quite before you could ever dream with this. "We settle the documents tomorrow at the office. But now, I want to enjoy this Pozole and learn how do I ask that beautiful waitress about what time she leaves her turn so we can take her for a drink with us tonight..."

Ivar's smile became slightly malicious and you giggled as he sipped from the cup of water in his hand. His eyes on the waitress smiling at him from the door of the kitchen. It would be a fun time and a good way to celebrate your most recent success...

And maybe to help an introvert friend to get some good time for the night.

Do you like my work? Support me!

Tagged ones:

|| @bluearchersstuff​ || @ivarswickedqueen​ || @directionlessbuthappy​ || @akamaiden​ || @bang-kim-bap​ || @cris101071​ || @elysias-temple​ || @alicedopey​ || @captstefanbrandt || @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla​ || @lol-haha-joke​ || @normatural || @readsalot73​ || @rekdreams247​ || @slutforasoldier || @naaladareia​ || @laketaj24​ || @therealcalicali​ || @grungyblonde​ || @arses21434​ || @honestsycrets​ || @rabeccablake || @2thequietone4​ || @blackspiritshake​ || @vikingsbifrost​ || @wallabieswisher​ || @sincerelysinister || @lyanna-the-giantsbane​ || @chinduda​ || @isthat-tyra98​ || @xinyourdreamsx​ || @littledeadrottinghood || @thiahilmarsdottir​ || @queenbeeta​ || @notyouraveragegirl17 || @winchesterwife27​ || @gold-dragon-slayer​ || @mzliterarydreamer​ || @youbloodymadgenius​ || @alwaysbenhardysgirl​ || @marvelouuse​ || @tgrrose​ || @lif3snotouttogetyou​ || @lordsexmachine​ || @deathbyarabbit​ || @ietss​ ||  @hissouthernprincess​ || @thorins-queen-of-erebor​ ||

Want to be tagged? Ask me!

[inawickedlittletown]

Next To Me (1/6)

Summary: Buck and Eddie started off in different places but eventually they ended up in the same. Eventually, they ended up in love. 

Buck had never had a friend like Eddie before. Someone that burrowed under his skin and wrapped around him and became a part of him — like an extra limb, someone he couldn’t do without.

Ship: Buck/Eddie

Words: 4,199

Notes: This is far from my first fic, but it is my first fic in the 9-1-1/buddie fandom. I binged the first two seasons a few weeks ago and got caught up on the current season, read a few fics, and here we are. 

I wanted to write something that explores Buck and his past but also a realistic take on Buck/Eddie within the canon. As I wrote, I figured out that for it to work I would need to look at Eddie's past as well and so this fic was formed. 

Title comes from the Imagine Dragons song: Next To Me. 

Masterpost

Read on Ao3

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

Chapter One

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

The thing was that he always liked guys. Buck was an equal opportunity lover because people were people and a lot of people were hot. Girls were easier sometimes. A bit of smiling, some flirting, and most of them were welcoming him with open arms and Buck was not afraid of using anything at his disposal to close the deal. Even, on two occasions the ladder truck. Thinking back on that made him cringe. With guys there was always the awkward moment where Buck had to figure out if the guy that caught his eye was actually gay or bi. His gaydar was faulty at best. Worse, or equally as bad, when other guys looked at him they saw a straight guy. It was very rare for anyone to actually peg his sexuality before they got to know him. 

For a long time, Buck was all about the one-night stands. The quickies anywhere. Even sometimes in the view of other people. That was just easier. After all, it was his experience that the people he cared about always hurt him after some fashion of time. It happened with his parents, with his sister, with the boy he loved back when he was in high school, and perhaps even everyone that he considered giving a shot to. Keeping people at a distance was easier. 

Then, he became a fireman. 

His mother always wanted him to be a doctor or, if not that, a nurse like his sister. She had hopes that if it wasn’t a medical field that he do something that meant something. In other terms, she wanted him to have money and success. His father had probably cared at some point, but as early as the age of ten, Buck had known that his father didn’t like him. His parents should never have been parents. They were the kind of people that had kids because that was the next step after getting married and buying the house in the suburbs complete with the white picket fence.

If they had cared even a little, they might have bothered to be bothered when Buck announced that he was leaving Pennsylvania. His sister had been long gone since then to put up a fight. Buck had packed up his clothes and a few other odds and ends into his car — the one single thing he was taking that his parents had given him — and then he was on the road. It was only once he’d made into another state that he called Maddie to let her know his plans.  

“Hey, Mads,” he said. “So, I left home. Not sure where I’m going but I had to go.”

“Evan, oh my god. What—”

She only ever called him Evan when she was shocked or when she wanted to put a point across. After all, it was Maddie that first started calling him Buck since using Buckley felt weird considering it was her own last name and she didn’t like the name Evan. She had used it so widely that aside from their parents everyone knew him as Buck. 

“It was time. They were driving me crazy, Maddie. I just figured I’d let you know.”

There hadn’t been a plan when he left. Buck hadn’t even known he wanted to be a fireman, much less what he might do with himself. He picked up odd jobs on the road but never stayed long anywhere. He was nineteen and for the first time he felt free. Maddie called him every day, urging him to at least go to college. It didn’t matter where. She would even pay for it. He turned her down every time. The only thing he’d been remotely interested in was joining the Navy. The Navy Seals to be more accurate. It seemed sort of unattainable to him at first so he put it off to keep living the life of the free spirit. 

Back in Hershey, Buck had had a few friends. One of them was the boy he’d sort of but not really dated — the one that in the end turned out to be an asshole anyway. Most of the other friends had gone off to college but they kept in touch and if Buck happened to be near their schools if they’d gone out of state he went and visited. That was how he wound up catching up with Matt and meeting Matt’s new friends and joining them on a Spring Break trip to Mexico. 

When they all left to go back to school, Buck decided to stay behind. He managed to score a job at one of the bars and Mexico was just nice. The weather was gorgeous, the people were friendly — the locals more so than the tourists. There was also plenty of money to be made. Buck had taken Spanish in high school and it was enough to get by until he really started to pick up the language. The swear words came easy. 

It helped that Mexican girls and boys were not shy when it came to flirting with him and willing to teach him Spanish. He learned more than just Spanish during his stay. 

A full year went by before he noticed it. Buck stayed for another six months before a call from Maddie meant he actually had to go back home. She was getting married. 

It was somehow easier to face his parents and Maddie when he returned for her wedding. He didn’t like Doug much but Maddie was happy. It was possible their parents didn’t like Doug either but he was a doctor and they seemed like they were in love. Maddie was happy. 

Afterwards, Buck went back to Mexico and because he could, he travelled through Central America down into South America. He stuck mostly to the coast working at bars and restaurants  as well as other places and for seven months or so he just wandered. By then he was fluent in Spanish. He got back to Mexico eventually and then Maddie finally convinced him to go to school. She wanted him to at least have his Associate’s Degree. She worried about him. Then again, that was probably exactly what big sisters were supposed to do. 

“You can’t keep being some sort of vagabond with no home, Evan,” she said over a phone call.“There has to be something you want to do. Maybe school will help you figure it out and if not then you have a plan B to fall back on.”

Maddie had always been smart and Buck figured he’d listen to her. She was there with Doug and his parents when he graduated from Community College and Buck ignored her when she tried to push him to continue his education and instead, he spent some days with the family before leaving again and this time he was headed for California. 

Mexico had taught him that he liked nice weather and the West Coast seemed like the best option. He was far enough away from his parents and he and Maddie kept in touch. Emails and phone calls and texts. Eventually, though, they both just stopped trying. She was busy with her job and her new married life and Buck was content with his life. Buck wouldn’t lie and say that it didn’t hurt when she started to ignore him. 

California was different from Mexico and most other places. Buck rented a room and then found a job at a popular bar. His time in Mexico had given him skills with preparing drinks so he was hired after Buck showed off some of his skills. California was also where he felt the most alone. 

He had friends. Sort of. The kind of people you met up with at a bar from time to time. Not the kind you texted if you needed help or in an emergency. Drinking buddies, acquaintances met through his roommates. No one dependable and no one that would miss him if he disappeared. Not that Buck was even looking for real friends. The ones he’d had before from school all had their own lives and things going on and Buck didn’t think he even really missed them. 

Working at the bar also meant meeting a lot of different people. Buck hadn’t known it at first but a few celebrities stopped in from time to time. Mostly, though, the bar drew in other types. The creatives — producers and other executives looking to find their next big star. Some of them approached Buck. After a while he could tell why someone was looking at him from afar. Some of them were general looks of someone wanting him in their bed. Other times, it was the speculative look of someone that thought he looked like he would fit their next film. Buck turned them down every time. He didn’t turn down the girls or the guys hitting on him. 

It did bring along more trouble than it was worth. Buck was working in LA. He was a bartender without the stars in his eyes waiting for his big break, But everyone else around him — that was why they were there and the jealous looks thrown his way grew tiresome. 

Buck started looking for other jobs. None of them lasted more than a few months. 

He took a receptionist job at a gym for a little while. Then, he was a valet. Then, he tried and failed as a personal assistant. For a while he went back to bartending before he found himself working at a child care place. That was probably one of his favorite jobs. Buck loved kids. He loved the way they saw the world and how much the little things mattered and made them happy. Maddie told him he should be a teacher on the rare phone call they shared. 

Buck was considering the idea until he remembered that old dream of his. Joining the Navy Seals. It felt like the right time to revisit that idea. 

He lasted about five minutes. The training was horrible, worse than anything he’d ever gone through and yet somehow, Buck managed to do it. They didn’t even bother with you unless you were already at peak physical shape and even then the training was hard. He did everything right. His superiors thought he was good and Buck just kept pushing himself. 

He didn’t tell anyone what he was doing. By then contacting Maddie had gotten harder and harder. She didn’t call him back or respond to emails. Occasionally she texted but it gave him nothing. Buck stopped reaching out. He was all alone, so he buried himself in what he was doing. 

Bootcamp had seemed like the hardest part at first, but then came the real eye opener once he was in Pre-BUDS and it was made clear that he had to put his emotions in a box and lock them up tight. There was no room for that as a Navy Seal. Buck couldn’t do it. Even if he had wanted to, he was basically told he didn’t have it in him to be one. 

He left, just a bit dejected, certainly a little broken, and in the best shape of his life. The training had done something to change him — just a bit. But it didn’t mean that Buck knew what came next for him. Mostly, it meant that he appreciated things a little differently. Things like his emotions and his ability to care. It didn’t exactly stop him from picking up a gorgeous dark haired man a few days after the fact and falling apart under his touch in an unfamiliar bed. It also didn’t stop him from leaving the next morning knowing perfectly well that it was a one time thing. 

Afterwards he wandered around the country for a while like he’d done when he first left home. Maddie still didn’t answer calls or emails or texts but Buck wasn’t in any state of mind to let himself really worry. On Instagram she posted pictures of herself and Doug. Always smiling. She looked happy. When he left a comment, she never responded. 

Eventually, Buck made it back to California and the job at the childcare place welcomed him back. That was when it happened. One of the kids swallowed something and choked. Buck was the one to call 9-1-1 while one of his coworkers tried and failed to make the object fall out. The firefighters and paramedics arrived in minutes and Buck watched as they worked, getting the marble dislodged and checking the little boy over until they were satisfied he’d be okay.

The next time he was in an emergency was almost a year later. It was at the beach. It was late afternoon and the lifeguards were gone. Most people at the beach were staying on the sand, enjoying the late afternoon sun. A few kids kicked around water at the very shore. Then, they all heard shouting. A couple of teenagers were out in the water and one of them was caught in a riptide. Buck had been a lifeguard back when he was in high school, just a quick way to earn some money over the Summers and get to stare at pretty people. He wasn’t CPR certified anymore, but he knew what to do and there was no one else running to help them. So he ran, going in the water and swimming out to help, adrenaline rushing through him right up until the very end when he had the boy back on land and he was starting compressions. Others were trying to help and someone had called 9-1-1 but by the time they arrived the boy was already throwing up water and coughing as air finally made it into his lungs again. 

“You might have saved that boy, kid,” one of the paramedics said and touched his shoulder. “Good job.” 

“I — thanks,” Buck said. 

“You know, there’s always a need for first responders. We could use someone like you.”

And it was like a bell going off in his head. He’d never considered it before but it made sense. He wasted no time going for it. 

It was the best decision he ever made and maybe it was his experience with the Navy Seals or his sheer determination that made the entire process surprisingly easy. 

The written exam wasn’t hard at all and the CPAT was even easier. Buck was still in good shape from his Navy Seal training even a year later and everything they threw at him was not all that difficult. He could see some of the others straining but most of them had clearly prepared and were pushing themselves to do it. It was satisfying to be able to do it all. Even the psychological test turned out to be easy. 

He ended up at the fire academy really learning his stuff. A few months later he was a probationary firefighter and he was hired and assigned to an LA Firehouse. Fire Department Station 118. 

When he first joined the 118, it was just like any other job. Not in the sense that it was somewhere to work and somewhere to be but in that all the other firefighters saw him like everyone else always did. Some guy a little too cocky and a little too interested in literally anyone that crossed his path. That, after all, was something that didn’t change. Buck was still having sex. Lots of it and with anyone that seemed interested. 

Dating apps — or rather hookup apps — were sometimes the easiest way, but Buck still went out to bars to pick up a girl or a boy. He didn’t disclose his sexuality to anyone at work. He’d never had to before at the other places and it didn’t feel like something that he could just bring up not even when he found out that Hen was a lesbian with a wife and child. It was just that bisexuality came with a stigma and Buck was already not prone to labels. He also...well, he didn’t know how to talk about it and since it didn’t change who he was or how he did his job, Buck just kept it to himself.

For the first time in any job, though, he found people that he actually liked. Captain Nash in particular was someone he warmed up to quick. Enough so that he invited him to a Springsteen Concert a month into being a part of the 118. Buck felt comfortable with them and everyone welcomed him in maybe more so on a personal level than as a fellow firefighter. They all teased him about how much of a flirt he was. 

Buck hooked up with people all over town and somehow it was just a string of girls one after the other and none of them left an impression and Buck didn’t really care for or about them. It was like scratching an itch. 

It was once it started affecting his job that Buck started to think that it might be a problem. And he just had no idea why he was even so reckless and stupid especially when it was a job that he loved and possibly the happiest he’d been in ages. He shouldn’t have done anything to threaten that and yet something made him rebel. It made him thoughtless and when the girl he was talking to was offering to put out if he got to her within a certain amount of time — a near impossible task — it was a challenge he willingly took. He just drove off with the ladder truck and didn’t even consider how it might be a problem until he was back and he could see it on everyone’s faces that he’d screwed up. 

He did it again not a few days later, telling himself he was going to get away with it and that either way he’d still have one more warning to go before it became a real problem. By then, of course, Buck had it almost figured out. He had a problem. He self diagnosed as a sex addict. 

The thing was that he just wanted it all the time. With anyone. Mostly girls. Girls were somehow easier. Sometimes they were the very same girls that he met out on calls. Sometimes it was the girls that were impressed by his uniform. Chim was not wrong in saying that it made a difference and not just with women but with men too. He’d seen quite a few checking him out while on calls. 

Buck hadn’t actually expected for Cap to fire him. His whole world seemed to fall apart after that. 

Buck knew he was welcome on the team, but he also knew that they were all wary of him. He didn’t blame them. After all, they were all supposed to have each other’s backs and for that they needed to have trust and that didn’t come overnight. He needed to prove that they could trust him and Buck could admit even to himself that sometimes he rushed into things without thinking. It was lucky he had people around him that were experienced and knew better than him and that stopped him from making mistakes even if they also judged him for it. 

One thing that he noted almost immediately after getting assigned to the 118 was that everyone did seem to care about each other on a deeper level than co-workers. They were friends. They were family. Buck had never expected to be a part of that and yet there was a part in it all where he fit. The youngest firefighter of the house and possibly the most reckless...they all liked him even if they were still getting used to him out on calls. 

Buck loved his job. He loved the adrenaline and everything that came with saving a life. The first few calls had been nerve wracking and Buck hadn’t been fully prepared for what they were and yet he’d managed to jump in and help alongside everyone else. So being fired...having Captain Bobby Nash look at him that way...it felt like his life was being torn apart. Worse, after it happened he realized that it wasn’t just the job he loved, but everyone he had gotten to know there. Bobby, Hen, and Chimney especially stood out and he didn’t want to not see them every day.  

Getting a second chance when he thought he wouldn’t was eye opening. It made him change. He wanted to show them that he did deserve to be there and after a little while, he realized that they did know that. Bobby seemed to trust him more and the rest followed suit. Buck didn’t want to let any of them down. 

Unlike with anyone else he’d met since leaving Pennsylvania, Buck finally found people he could be himself with — be accepted by. Buck found himself sharing parts of himself with them — things that he’d always just kept to himself before. He told Bobby about the sex addiction thing and followed that up with talking to him about anything and everything because Bobby was just easy to tell things to and he didn’t judge Buck, either. He mostly seemed amused. He also tried to offer advice where he could. 

Before Buck knew it, he was part of the gang. One of them. They were more than co-workers. They became a pseudo family that he didn’t know he needed or wanted. Bobby was probably the one that Buck felt closest to — he saw the older man almost like a father...or at least what he had wished his father had been. 

Buck also found himself with a relationship. Abby was wonderful. Buck usually went for people his age or thereabouts so it was a little strange that Abby was seventeen years his senior. She just had such an amazing vibe about her and youthfulness that Buck loved. She was the first person in a long time to keep his interest even when they weren’t having sex. Abby changed him. Or maybe everyone did.

Having people that cared about him and that became his family...it made a difference. He didn’t need to fill a hole with meaningless sex. He had other outlets and other ways to express himself. Bobby had started teaching him to cook and Hen let him babysit from time to time — only when no one else was available. Chimney was hurt and recovered and came back and Buck appreciated life more after knowing he could have lost a dear friend. 

When Abby left, it was Chim and Hen that took him out for drinks and made it just a little better. Bobby and he had a talk about it the next day and it occurred to Buck that they were all trying to make sure he was okay and that they all thought he and Abby had broken up. 

In truth, looking back on it later, Buck supposed that a break up would have made more sense than how the next few months went with him living in her apartment convinced that one day she was going to just surprise him and be there waiting for him when he came home. It never happened. He’d sunk deep into denial about what Abby leaving really meant. 

He was kind of crushed by it in the months that followed her leaving. Work kept going and having something to do and to keep occupied with helped even if arriving back at Abby’s empty apartment always made his shoulders slump. 

Buck could tell that Chim and Hen were a bit surprised by how little interest he showed anyone else. It was as if they had been expecting Buck to just move on from Abby like he had with all those others and start picking girls up on calls again. Occasionally some of them did catch his eye — cute girls and boys alike. But Buck wasn’t that guy anymore. He’d been ready to settle down with Abby and he didn’t want to regress and use people like he had before. 

“You’re going to have to move on sometime, kid,” Chimney said one night while out at the bar.

“But, I don’t. Abby is coming back.”

Or maybe she wasn’t. Buck didn’t want to think about that. It was just that when they did get to talk that she never gave him any time frame. She sounded happy, though, and it was almost a relief to know that even if he wasn’t a part of making her happy even if it did leave him a bit bitter. Somehow, in spite of the whole Abby thing, Buck felt settled in his life and he had a new goal to achieve, getting chosen to be on the annual fireman calendar. 

Buck had started working out more specifically for it, focusing on a goal weight and goal percentage of fat on his body. Only one firefighter was chosen per station and Buck was going to be it. 

Then, Eddie Diaz showed up. And Buck hated him.   

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

Next Chapter

Notes: The next chapter should be up in a few days once I tweak it a bit and will focus on Eddie's side of things. As of right now I am planning on this being 4 chapters long but that could still change. Let me know what you think of this first chapter. 

If anyone wants me to tag you in future chapters let me know. Thanks for reading. 

[prosteticanimals]

10 Things Most People Don't Know About fireinsidemusic

Just one these types of millennial who knocked my socks off was this younger Woman named Anushka, a teenager in her early twenties. Her white t-shirt with "MILLENNIAL" in huge, black, bold letters just caught our rapid interest and we couldn't prevent considering her Special Talent Presentation, here at Nirmiti Academy. The Do it yourself (Do It You) Craft was her unique expertise. She represented a young deal with of your millennials. Moreover, it was her presentation that spoke extra of her as a millennial. She was a real go-getter when it came to existing her unique talent in a unique way. We could see her beaming with delight and contentment to showcase her distinctive expertise to others. She was so psyched that she was talking a mile a moment. She experienced a lot of to mention about it and she or he could go on and on and preserve us glued to her presentation. The millennials like Anushka and several Other folks are determined to work on factors which interest them. Concurrently, I could also see her being struggling to smile and present herself Fortunately. Long gone would be the moments to the millennials where they really feel current and luxuriate in their surroundings. These are the era who feel the continuous want for Digital notice which potential customers them to overshare their life and times on social networking or go inward in deep conscience to find on their own. This leaves them unconnected With all the Bodily world all over them.

Millennials can be a hugely praised and self-assured generation. They can be a really optimistic generation. They may have a greater will need to obtain existence activities in lieu of to accumulate materials prosperity, While they do like to amass things that might help them to delight in These ordeals. Millennials are one of the most educated generation. Since the value tag of education and learning has become so superior and continuing to climb annually, Millennials have grown to be quite savvy with regards to their instructional decisions. Unlike past generations who observed training like a ritual and an investment in their potential, millennials perspective education as an price, Except if it'll empower them to be able to be an improved person. They be expecting instruction that can help them prepare for The brand new alternatives and problems of the age, as opposed to helping them by furnishing fact-primarily based info/understanding. The millennials wish to be challenged by pondering the long run And the way they will contribute to creating a greater society and surroundings. They do not experience the need to come to be "textbook intelligent / book worms".

They are aware that points can be quickly found on line by their very own unbiased action. These are the generation that boasts and thrive on information at finger "simply click". Inside of a world of open up use of knowledge, it will make very little sense to count on the classroom as being a Discussion board for that transfer of knowledge.

In its place, the students Considerably prefer to master in the stories and experiences of Other individuals. These shared stories and activities assistance them to augment their particular encounter by Understanding in the accomplishment and mistakes of others. This helps them avoid creating a similar blunders as their influencers. As a result, they like to speculate more in their money and time on these applications which help them to establish various methods that they could include into their thoughts and final decision-creating method, therefore building a new skill established.

We are unable to disregard The reality that millennials also are a generation of uncertainties and fluctuations. These are the era who likes to help keep switching their gadgets. They grew up with know-how where by anything was at their fingertips. It will become disheartening for them not to get what they want once they want it. The majority of the items have already been handed to them with a silver spoon. This helps make them truly feel entitled to get what they want with out putting in A lot exertion.

However They can be the major workforce of the businesses currently, they do not believe in lifelong work. Lifelong commitment is a fairy tale for the millennials. They generally soar from on career to another since they are often searching for some thing new and much better. These higher expectations turn out to be their downfall and can make them fewer economically steady than their mom and dad.

Millennials are listed here to remain! They are really young, vibrant and energetic and they're the longer term. They are great belongings which the world will have to harness and use. These are the generation which is revolutionizing the planet. They are the budding leaders of tomorrow. They adopt technological innovation and stimulus in the identical breadth. This era can also be a collaborative and social technology that includes a focus on comprehending and setting up their expertise by means of different kinds of medium to find out the responses. It can be for your educator like us to provide an arena for engagement and discovery along with be considered a information specialist and mentor. It can be for learning platform companies like Nirmiti Academy to give an explorative and experiential expertise and produce out their true probable in everyday life and at work. It is this transformational journey that we at Nirmiti Academy look ahead to every single day to master, unlearn and relearn Using these youthful and magical era - the Millennials!

If the above mentioned title confuses you, you may well be missing out on a few of the very best possibilities the world wide web has to offer. Meanwhile, other people are expanding their Professions, getting ready For brand spanking new life as business owners, or are learning new techniques or increasing their knowledge base, normally at little if any Charge.

How are they executing this?

These are accessing MOOCs, or Substantial Open Online Programs. Although platforms are actually offered from elite colleges like MIT and Stanford for virtually ten years, open-supply classes proceed to improve in amount and popularity. Now, even some local people colleges like Wake Specialized University,Situated outdoors Raleigh, NC, offers MOOCs to a global viewers. This growing availability suggests There's now an unbelievable variety of courses available to anybody using an internet connection, in spite of area.

Topics MOOCs cover can differ from contemporary robotics and astronomy to Roman architecture and the American Novel Due to the fact 1945. MIT, for example, has courses centered all-around Mathematics, Engineering, Power and Science, in addition to a stunning variety of lessons concentrating on the Humanities and Fantastic Arts. The University of Michigan gives programs ranging from "Storytelling for Social Modify" to Python, info analytics, and device Finding out. You can also just take Management classes from HEC Paris by way of MOOC, rated via the Economist as having the second strongest small business university alumni network on the planet.

Some MOOCs are intended to be taken for awareness attained, but lots of programs also give you a certification of completion via internet sites like Coursera.org. Certificates of completion--that are unique from class credits--typically cost about $50. Money assist is available for many who qualify.

Factors to Consider a MOOC

There are lots of reasons why a MOOC course could be best for you outside of time management, Despite the fact that most MOOCs allow pupils to work at their own rate, meaning they effortlessly suit into most schedules, Regardless of how busy. Other pros incorporate:

An opportunity to try out A serious just before paying out for faculty classes. Everyone trying to decide over a job path, for The very first time or due to a midlife adjust of path, is aware the aggravation of thinking "Imagine if I'm Incorrect about my choice? The amount money am I going to invest prior to I understand this isn't for me?" MOOCs are a great way to 'dip your toes' in, so to talk, prior to the headache of coping with standard higher education courses and common university prices. You may try out as many courses while you have time for till some thing actually sparks your interest.

Just take classes not available domestically. There are actually pretty much A huge number of MOOC courses obtainable on the web. Even when you reside in Boston (wherever Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Boston Faculty and Boston College are all Found) or Various other comparable College-dense locale, you are able to possibly come across a category or two as a result of MOOC choices not available to you domestically.

Discover (or relearn) a language for free. Not only can you're taking a overseas language program without cost by way of MOOCs, but because of courses taught at foreign universities, You can even train your ear by listening to indigenous speakers. Have a class taught within the language you should find out and comply with alongside employing English subtitles. The 2nd method is a terrific way to effectively double your Discovering, but only works if you already have not less than an intermediate grasp in the language.

If Mastering One more language isn't really large with your to-do checklist, it's possible it ought to be: In 2017, New American Financial state noted employer need for bilingual staff members more than doubled given that 2010. This demand from customers proceeds to grow. Finest languages to check? Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.

Create up your resume with wanted competencies. Perhaps there is a far better job at work you know you can do, but your manager doesn't Feel you happen to be capable for it simply because you absence certain abilities. MOOCs are a great way to grow to be proficient in places like HTML coding, Search engine optimization analytics, or no matter what skill you have to come to be the ideal human being for that occupation.

Adhere to the backlinks in this article To find out more on a lot of MOOC classes. MOOCs can also be out there as a result of many different academic platforms, which include Coursera, Udemy, and edX. But MOOCs may be accessed directly via Each individual university, and can be found by making use of the following Google research restricting syntax entered into your google lookup bar:

internet site:edu MOOC subject

By way of example, if I enter web site:edu MOOC robotics, I get about 7,000 final results, like this Introduction to Robotics Specialization from Penn Engineering. By using this syntax, you are able to usually bypass the clearinghouses and find just what exactly You are looking for on university websites, even classes the clearinghouses might not supply.

Pleased MOOCing!

[staytheb]

Like Oh 2.0 - [EPILOGUE] 7 For 7

Previous Chapter: We Under the Moonlight Word Count: 5,208 Summary: It’s the year 2021 now and life’s a little different for both couples as their relationship is officially known.

Like Oh 2.0 masterlist

hello! it’s here. the last chapter just before the 2019 year ends. so the ending got a little revamp from it’s original posting and i’m quite happy with it as it reflects a little more of what happened in those years. but still it’s all fanfiction and just for fun. anyways, i had fun revising this and hope that i can write another long chapter fic in the future. other than that, thanks for being on this journey with me and happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

January 16, 2021. 00:00AM

It's another joyous year for AHGASEs out there! All the baby birds around the world have come together to celebrate and trend another year for GOT7 in the K-Pop industry! GOT7 and the fans alike are celebrating the group's seventh year with the hashtag #Happy7For7GOT7Day, but it is also to celebrate their departure from their former agency, JYP Entertainment. There were lots of speculations about what would happened with all of the members last year and finally it has been all settled out with good terms, especially for the seven members. All the members decided not to renew their contracts with JYP Entertainment and have left the company as a whole shortly afterwards. They will be resuming activities once everything is in order. Anyways, like other groups before them, GOT7 instead had established their own entertainment some time after and would be independently managing themselves under JJAI Entertainment.

The hashtag along with several others have been trending worldwide within four hours and continues to gain lots of love and attention from fans and non-fans alike. GOT7 has surely broken the seven year curse that most K-Pop groups goes through that ends their reign with one another. Still GOT7 is really showing that they can withstand it all as they wish for many more years with one another and to start a new journey as well. Despite all that has happened over the course of their years in the industry, GOT7 is seriously still going strong and AHGASE is definitely going strong alongside them. Anyways, Happy 7th anniversary GOT7! Please head on over to their newly created official twitter and instagram accounts to wish the group a happy seventh year anniversary if you haven't done it yet! Also, please me mindful of your words and only send good thoughts and vibes their way!

~~~~~~~

January 17, 2021. 00:26AM

BREAKING NEWS!

This is just in! Everybody is totally buzzing about it! GOT7 have just recently celebrated their seventh year in the K-Pop music industry with their fan-club, AHGASEs, just yesterday. Although it's barely been a day it seems that the group have something else to celebrate as well for two of its members. In particular it's concerning the two eldest members, Jaebeom and Mark. The two GOT7's members have released official statements from their agency about their personal love life. JJAI Entertainment has revealed that both Mark and Jaebeom have been in a secret relationship since two-thousand and seventeen and decided that now was the right time to announce their relationship status to the world. Both idols have asked for the public, the fans, and everyone else to respect the privacy of their loved ones. If any malicious comments or actions occur, then the idols will not hesitate to take legal action to protect themeselves and their loved ones.

We were able to investigate further without stooping low to get our information and it seems that Mark and his now wife have officially tied the knot just a few weeks back in December on the twelfth of Saturday. The wedding's theme was a Winter Wonderland fantasy of sorts and the ceremony was a small and private one that was held in Los Angeles accompanied by their immediate family, close friends, and a very few selected celebrities who were able to attend the special event. Our reports also states that the couple also has a two-year-old son by the name of Philip. As for Jaebeom, our informant says he just recently proposed to his girlfriend a few days before his own birthday. The couple also has a one-year-old daughter by the name of Alice.

Reactions to the news have been positive, negative, and others left in-between of the two. Many fans are thrilled and wished to hopefully see who these lucky ladies are as well as how the children may look like. Many of them couldn't believe that there are little GOT7 minis running around now. Other fans have voiced out their opinions of being lied to and that the idols shouldn't have waited this long to revealed such big news. Or well more like being in a secret relationship at all as it seemed there's some misunderstanding about a betrayal of being faithful to one another. For the neutral ones some have left comments that it's their life and to leave them alone because they can live it however they like and that the fans do not own them one way or another.

Either way, the best thing about it is that the positive vibes are winning out as fans and non-fans alike are totally wishing for happiness for both couples and that their privacy would remain drama-free as much as possible. Plus, we wanna respect our idols, right? They're just as much as human as we are despite the path they have chosen for their careers. Much so, we also wish the same for the respect that they deserve as the idol life isn't all that what it's cracked up to be. Sure they may have chosen it and knew the consequences, but still there's a need of respect and a boundary, right? Anyways, on behalf of all us here at K-Wave News, we're wishing the couples good vibes along with their little ones and hope nothing but happiness their way!

~~~~~~~

January 17, 2021. 03:57AM

MAJOR UPDATED BREAKING NEWS!

O-M-G! This is just in! I repeat. This is just in. Let the spazzing continue! All the more positive vibes going in with the new 2021 year! Yay!

Although it's only been a few hours since our last update, but we've been notified that both Jaebeom and Mark have uploaded a few things onto their Instagram accounts about their new immediate family from our lovely readers. The boys have just made their account public after having been privated since two years ago. Each upload has already received over two thousand likes, comments, reactions, and the numbers continue to soar despite some not so nice comments making in it as well. It also seems that many AHGASEs are supporting both couples and trying to encourage others to spread more love than hate and even gaining help from other fandoms as well to do so. It's a lovely gesture because these updates are seriously too cute to not love! If you're a hater, then please move on and go and focus on something else. There's no need for any hate whatsoever. Love and peace y'all!

Anyways, Jaebeom has uploaded three images to his account. The first image of the three that he'd shared shows his daughter, Alice, playing with his many adorable cats! The caption that was uploaded with the image reads something along the lines of, 'she loves them more than me TT_TT'. It's safe to say that the cats belong to her now. Ha. The second one is of the idol dad himself holding his daughter who smiles just as brightly as he does. She is honestly way too cute! Baby Alice really takes up after her father as we can spot some faint eye moles on the same side as her father. Of course we're sure the mother is just as beautiful and hope to see her in the future!

Anyhow, Jaebeom has captioned this photo with 'seeing her smile really brightens up my mood'. The last picture is a candid photo of the idol's fiancée eating a green colored macaron ice cream although her face is obscure and no clear view of how she may exactly look like. Maybe he got caught or he just wanted to tease us. Because we all know how much of a great photographer Jaebeom is, right?! So, we better get a clearer image in the future! So yeah, moving on, the caption for this image reads, 'Fate was the green tea macaron ice cream, but Destiny was all her in choosing to be a part of my life <3'. We're sure there's definitely a deeper story behind this and hope to find out in the near future if ever! Just didn't think we'll be able to witness this side of GOT7's leader in this lifetime. We hope we get more!

Now the next taken member, Mark! The oldest of the group and kind of makes sense for him to settle, right? No? Whatever. Moving on. The idol has shared a video and two pictures to his account. The one minute video clip is of the adorable baby, Philip, as he cutely speaks in several languages! He counts up to the number five in English, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and even Spanish. Wow. What a genuis child he may be because he's two and I'm totally jealous as I can barely even count in English alone and I barely passed Gerrman in high school. Enough of me, does this mean that the mother knows Spanish and Thai as we all know that Mark doesn't. Ha. Still, there's a pretty high chance the other members could be teaching little Philip too. Lucky guy. Total free language instructors right there.

Anywho, again moving along. The first photo shared seems like a candid shot of his lovely wife smiling and laughing, but Mark got caught or something in the process as she partially blocks her face with one hand while the other hand is used to try and move the device away. It's captioned with 'Always too easy to teased' and several laughing emojis. It's good to know that we're not the only one that has to put up with Mark's antics. Still, who knows how many times she has to put up with him compare to us fans, right? Haha. As for the other picture it's of baby Philip again. This time it shows the child happily smiling while holding the fluffy poodle, Milo, in his loving arms. Mark has captioned the image with, 'I feel like they don't need me anymore when they have each other TvT'. I mean, I don't disagree. I would, too if I was in the same boat.

So what do y'all think? I think it's fantastic. From these latest updates it surely appears that both couples are happy with their lives along with the happiness of their adorable children being total cuteness! Now that the male idols have revealed their actual relationship status to the world and the fans, it seems like that they aren't afraid to share some of those moments with others virtually as well. Still there's no information on the two females the two idols are with and no one else revealing anything else. Like, we don't know their names. We don't know if they were previous AHGASEs or maybe part of some other fandoms before meeting Mark and Jaebeom. Like we don't know anything about them, to be completely freaking honest. Some have gone and done some searching, but it's quite surprisingly nonexistence. Which is kind of surprising as we know a lot of netizens are good at searching up stuff and spreading it around. Right?

So far, all we know is that it's a possibility the two ladies were already friends before the duo had met the two GOT7 members and it bloomed from there on. One rumor suggests that the females were fans and they met at a fansign through connections. Another rumor claims that the females are distantly related to the other GOT7 members and were introduced at a concert. Even one rumor is going around that claims the two women were former JYP trainees and left the company because of the boys. Like who knows though. Anyways, we may never know, but please do show lots of love and support to both idols and their loves ones. Also please respect them and their privacy! If you wouldn't want to be bothered, then why bothered someone that would like the same treatment. So please behave and just act accordingly. Peace and love y'all! K-Wave News, out!

~~~~~~~

January 17, 2021. 9:37PM

"So, Mel, you and JB gonna have an engagement party?" Serena asked her sister while joining her in the kitchen after she had put the children to sleep in their nursery room which was originally the apartment of 503. The sisters had decided to combine both apartments of 501 and 503 to make it like one large unit for them to live in since having their kids. Although of course their other half have been trying to convince them otherwise to move out and to move in with them in their own apartment together for the past year. "Um, dunno yet." Melanie answered as she scrolled through her phone. "We just don't know if we should do it here or somewhere else."

"Somewhere else like where?" Serena inquired as Melanie explained further. "Hmm, back home since I have more family compare to JB." "Hmm true. Then what about the actual wedding?" Melanie shrugged with a sheepish laugh. "Um, again either here, but maybe Hawaii." She then added more as her memory recalled some of the places. "Another one is like somewhere in Europe or probaby Japan." Serena nodded before voicing out her opinion.  "If not, then y'all can just do them places for a honeymoon." "We haven't even discuss our honeymoon plans yet." "Well, y'all still got a long ways to go." "True, we do. I know I'm kinda planning, but JB's schedule is a bit busy so we just need to find time to talk and what not." "Hmm, yeah pretty much."

"Who knew, huh?" Melanie scoffed with a smile a moemnt later as Serena's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Knew what?" "Who knew that you and I would actually find a K-POP boyfriend, then get or become married to them, and later have an actual family. Like I mean, I know I wanted it, but I didn't think you would have it before me when you weren't even wanting it." Serena agreed with an even bigger scoff. "I know right? It's totally crazy. Like you got with JB who didn't want kids, but now the two of you have a daughter. Mark wanted kids and I didn't, but now we have a son." Serena huffed a bit before speaking again. "And like, I never wanted marriage and here I am married and now you're gonna get married like you wanted, too. It's so crazy."

"I know and it's so funny." Melanie stated with a laugh. "You've changed so much because of Mark." Serena rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as Melanie continued talking. "Do you remember when you had your little weird moment when you ignored Mark for weeks because you were pregnant with Philip?" Melanie reminded Serena who suddenly laughed at the memory. "It was because I was having an idol's baby, Melanie. We weren't even public with our relationship or even married for that matter. Besides we were together for a year at the time and I didn't know what he would have thought or do or think or whatever at the time." She explained before flipping the situation onto her sister.

"How about you when you were pregnant with Alice?" She asked her with a pointed look. "I wasn't the only one freaking out about having a baby and whatever." Melanie rolled her eyes at her sister's words. "I was also having an idol's baby, Serena. Duh." Melanie defended herself as Serena rolled her eyes. "Of course. Your emotions were seriously all over the place." "Yours were, too. Don't deny that." "True and I'm not gonna deny it, but I wasn't as emotional as you." "Right, bullshit. Your emotions were all over the place when you were prego. Don't you remember when you got mad at everything and everybody?" "Uh, no." Serena denied as Melanie glared at her sister with a look. "Seriously?"

Serena shook her head with an aloof expression as Melanie reminded her sister what happened at that time. "Because of your moody self during it all, poor Youngjae didn't want to come over for a month because he was afraid that he'll set you off and take it out on him again." "Oh yeah he did. Shit. I totally forgot about that." Serena recalled with a slow laugh. "Poor Youngjae, but I did make it up to him with new video games." "Yeah, and then you had to do the same thing with the others." "Right. Wow. I don't want to pregnant ever again." "Hmm, you'll have to talk that over with your husband." "We're not gonna talk about shit." "Mmhmm." "Whatever, Melanie." "Anyways, Serena, when are you gonna finally move in with Mark, huh? I'm sure he would love his wife and child with him at the end of the day in their own place."

"Well, honestly," Serena drawled out with an unsure expression, "I would rather not." "Why not?" Melanie inquired before realizing something. "Ah. Is it about the whole thing with the fandom and public eye and all that, right?" Serena nodded with confirmation before speaking with another reason. "Also, Mark lives with that one friend of his and so it's not like he can break his lease so soon since it's too early." Melanie scoffed with a laugh. "It's not like he doesn't have the money, Serena." "Oh, true, Melanie, true, but still he has to pay if he does leave earlier than expected. Besides, I really like this place and don't wanna part with it." "Yeah, I feel you on that. Aunt Julisa did major work to this place and did gift it to you and me after she left." "Mmhmm."

Serena switched the attention onto her sister. "Anyways, what about you, huh? What are you gonna do?" Melanie shrugged with a chuckle. "Seriously, I have no clue, to be honest with you. Like he wants us to live near his parents, which isn't a bad thing, but I guess just like you I don't want to part with this apartment either." Melanie glanced around the place with a tender look and smile. "There's a lot of memories here and I really know this area more than I do anywhere else if I have to move." Serena chuckled at her sister's words. "I do have to agree with you on that, too. I actually like this location more because I know it well enough."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that we're not gonna move out any time soon, right" Melanie stated with a knowing smile. "Yeah, basically." Serena agreed with a chuckle with Melanie joining in the laughter a second later. "The boys will be so sad." "They'll live." "What about Alice and Philip? The kids will be so sad since they've wanted to live with the pets, too." Serena rolled her eyes in good-nature. "Again they'll live, too, and get over it faster than their fathers. It's not like they don't see one another a lot and besides, the kids are still too young to be playing with the animals as they get grabby and the poor critters have to deal with that. Also, I don't want to deal with that on a daily." "Yeah, that's true, but hey, kids are kids."

The sisters looked at the time before looking over at one another with Melanie speaking up first. "I'm surprised no one has called or messaged us about the news being released." She paused to think for a bit before resuming again. "Well except for the ones that lived here as I meant the ones that don't live here." "I'm pretty sure it's because it's too early for them over there and they're still asleep." Serena answered before adding the last part. "And they don't follow K-Pop stuff so they won't see it right away." "Hmm, true, but I'm sure the twins will mention something later since y'know that those two are dating the other two older members, too." Serena laughed upon hearing that. "Oh, yeah, true. Shit, I can't  believe I forgot about that." "How can you forget about Jinyoung and Jasmine while Jeannie's with Jackson?" Melanie mused as Serena rolled her eyes before responding.

"Because I don't care about other people's relationship unless they want me to know about it. Plus, I'm still surprised that Jasmine gave up on Johnny and accepted Jinyoung, which isn't a bad thing, but I really thought Jasmine was gonna stick with Johnny as she had no interest in any other idol, but him." "Oh, my bro, I know, I know. I was hella shocked that Jasmine and Jinyoung liked each other, too. I mean Jeannie always liked Jackson, but I didn't think Jackson was interested in her like that as he wanted to focus more on his life and career, y'know." "Yeah, true, but the boys will be happy when they find out that the twins will be moving back to Seoul in a few weeks."

Melanie nodded happily. "Yeah, I know. Which reminds me, we need to clean out their rooms and make them livable again." "Oh, right. Also need to tell the boys to stay at their own places, too." "Psh, yeah right. It'll be a reunion and a big ass slumber party all over again." "Oh, please, I hope not. We're all too grown for that." "Says, you." "Yeah, I guess, but it's not like I can't deny it." "That's right. We're all family here and have changed for the better." "Yeah, that's true. I mean, honestly, look at how you and I turned out. So I guess things really do change over time for sure when you meet that person that's meant for you." "This girl." Melanie cooed in a teasing manner. "Mark really brought out your inner softie, bro." "I've always been like this."

"Mmhmm." Melanie hummed mischievously as Serena brushed her off. "Whatever, enough about me. Just go plan yours and JB's engagement party so that neither parents have to nag at y'all about the details." Melanie scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I'll have to nag him about all of this. He always just agrees with what I want, but I get he wants to make me happy, but he has to be happy about all of this, too. It's not just about me, but it's about him, too." "Hey, Happy Wife, Happy Life, right?" "That phrase is so overused, but it's kinda true." "For you." "Yeah, basically." The sisters laughed before Serena brought up a serious topic. "I'm just worried about what the fans will do now. I mean, I don't care since they don't know how we look like, but I do care about the boys' health and their careers though."

"I'm pretty sure it's just that the fans have matured over time and become calmer like back in twenty-nineteen. Some of them aren't teenagers anymore." Melanie reasoned and assured her sister. "I mean, the fandom's have been very supportive lately, but then again there are those sasaeng ones that get it over in their heads about things. Still, it isn't as bad as it was before, Rina." "True, Mel, but some are still young minded and closed minded, too. Also the reality for them is the fact that both of them are off the market while two more will be later in the future." "Bro, calm down. Just don't worry about it so much." "I know, Mel, but still, I just do. I can't help it."

Melanie started laughing as Serena frowned at her sister's behavior. "What's so funny?" "I'ma tell Mark that you're worried for him, but won't show it and let him know about it." Serena groaned with her face in her hands. "Ugh, please, don't tell him that. He's gonna tease me so much about it." "Why not? I find it funny." Serena groaned again while looking up at Melanie with judging eyes. "Ugh. To this day my misery is still your pleasure, isn't it?" "Yes, ma'am. It is." Melanie replied with a cheeky smile before speaking again. "But luckily the more positive ones have won out and aren't stressing the boys as much from what I know so far. Fortunately they are doing well and not suffering." "Unless they're not saying anything." "True, but they usually let us know about it though." "Yeah, that's true."

"Anyways," Melanie changed the topic. "I wanna do my hair like this." She showed her phone to her sister. "You think Chloe can do something like that?" Serena gazed at the image before nodding. "Yeah, but she's been busy since she opened her own shop several months ago." Serena went through her phone while speaking at the same time. "Um, just call her tomorrow and I'm sure she'll squeeze you in without any trouble as she works fast and has some skilled workers, too. Try for the early morning or just before she closes." "Alright, cool. I would rather trust her than anyone else." "I know." Serena let out a yawn while standing up. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night." "Night and dream of your precious hubby." Melanie teased as Serena rolled her eyes, but bid her the same thing with a laugh. "No, you dream of your precious hubby." "I always do unlike you." "Mmhmm."

~~~~~~~

January 18, 2021. 2:23AM. Mark~

Serena stirred awake when she felt arms comfortably wrapped them around her waist and pulled her against another warm and familiar body a second later. She slowly shifted her position to face her husband while placing an arm over Mark to rub his back a bit as he cast his wife a tired smile. "Hey." "Hey." Serena returned the same tired smile to him. "What time is it?" "It's almost two-thirty." "Did you eat already?" "Yeah, but I'll eat something proper later today though." "You better or I'll have to come by with packed lunches to make sure you eat properly." "Hmm, now that you mention it that actually sounds like a good plan, Serena." Mark said with a laugh as he hugs Serena closer. "The boys wanted to see Philip, anyways."

"Don't tempt me, Mark. I may leave Philip in your care then." Serena countered nonchalantly as Mark chuckled while entangling their legs together. "I'm pretty sure I've already done a good job with that, Mrs. Tuan. That's why we're married now." "Mrs. Tuan is your mom, Mark. Not me. Technically, I'm still Serena Vorasavane by paper and other legal stuff." She muttered against his chest as she was becoming sleepy again. "True, but you're still known as Mrs. Mark Tuan openly." "Yes, I know and everyone that knows about us, but not to your lovely fans I'm not." Serena replied with a yawn. "Now go to sleep before Philip wakes up in several hours." "Can't you just spend those hours with me before then?" Mark whined affectionately. "I heard that you were worried about my well-being."

Serena inwardly groaned knowing exactly that Melanie had told him of her thoughts, but didn't want to give in to her husband just yet. "You heard wrong and no. Go to sleep. We're already spending our life together forever, Mark. So for a couple of hours without interacting with one another you can deal with it until then." "Still my same tsundere baby girl." Mark cooed although Serena could tell he was still pouting as she chuckled sleepily. "Yes, I am, but please go to sleep, Mark. I'll make it up to you later with those packed lunches." She finally gave in as Mark grinned while placing a kiss on top of her head. "You're the best." "I know. Now sleep." She snuggled up against him as Mark softly squeezed her gratefully. "Make sure to give me triple extra." "Sleep and I will." "Alright." "Night, Mark." "Night, Serena."

~~~~~~~

January 18, 2021. 2:23AM. Jaebeom~

Jaebeom slowly eased himself onto the bed where Melanie was sleeping undisturbed, but she stirred when she felt the bed dipped too low for her liking. She turned to face her fiancé with a tired smile while sitting up. "Hey." "Hey to you, too. Sorry for waking you." He apologized as he leaned over to place a soft kiss onto her lips before making the both of them comfortable while cuddling against each other ready to fall asleep soon. "It's all good, Jaebeom." Melanie assured him before asking him about his day. "How was your day?" "Same as every day, but better now that you're in my arms." "Stop." Melanie chuckled as Jaebeom smiled before placing a kiss on top of her head. "You know you like it, Chaewon."

"Right, like as much as your cats do. Huh?" Jaebeom chuckled as he squeezed Melanie affectionately. "They were a part of my life before you entered." "Yeah, sure. Soon enough it'll all be about Alice and I'll just be an afterthought." "Quite true, but you'll always be my one and only favorite one." "Stop." Melanie said as she playfully smacked Jaebeom with his response just pulling her closer and tangling their legs together. "Don't want to and so you're stuck with me forever and ever." "I know." The female sighed as Jaebeom frowned. "Why does that sound like you're regretting it?" "Because I accepted the fact that I'll have to deal with you for the rest of my life and your cheesy softness. Plus, we have Alice so I can't let her not hang out with her father."

Melanie leaned up to check the time before making herself comfortable against Jaebeom again. "Now go to sleep, please. The baby wakes up in maybe five or six hours, I need enough sleep to deal with her until our nap time." "I'm sorry that I'm not around much to help you in raising our daughter." "It's okay. You're still in her life and she knows who you are, is what matters the most." "I know, I know, but we should have a free day soon and we can go do something as a family." "Sounds wonderful, but we'll talk later as it's too much to deal with right now when I'm sleepy." She told him with a yawn. "Good night, Jeffrey." "Good night, Melanie." Jaebeom smiled as he placed one more kiss on the top of Melanie's head before falling asleep soon after.

[captainnellbatoast]

SHARKS, SHARKS AND MORE SHARKS

The subject area I'd like to choose for my FMP is shark attacks which is a theme that I'm really interested in and have a pre-existing knowledge of. The subject of shark attacks is full of incorrect preconceptions that’s been majorly informed by the portrayal of attacks in cult films such as Jaws. These have completely moulded the culture of swimming in the sea worldwide, and the overall view of sharks. 

In particular within this subject I’d like to investigate the conflict between human and shark, exploring the villainization of singular sharks which has been heavily influenced by pop culture. I’d like to adopt a process focussed on pacing, suspense, conflict while introducing tone of voice and possibly conversational dialect to the language.

Before 1916 there was skepticism if a shark could even take down a human. In the summer of that year that would be immensely disproved as 5 people were attacked in 11 days on the shore of New Jersey, 4 of which were fatalities. This spree of attacks, which inspired Jaws, birthed the idea that there is a sole shark out there hunting humans, when in fact it is far more likely that a group of sharks moved into that area due to a migrational change, and at the height of summer and beach bathers there happened to be 5 attacks from a collection of sharks. More coincidence than not.

One thing that really fascinates me about this is the vilanization of a single shark which has led to the strange misconception that if you catch a shark around the time of an attack, especially if when gutted it has human remains inside it, your shore will now be safe. The relationship between sharks and humans widely exists as hunt or be hunted even though most people won’t ever encounter a shark in the wild. Does this fear stem from a power complex or is it purely survival instinct induced? Is the fear that we will be hunted or killed? Could this inform a discussion appreciating sharks as hunters and gorgeously engineered killing machines, through an act of respect? 

The chances of you being killed by a falling coconut are higher than both being fatally injured by a shark or surviving the attack. Despite most people having a grasp on this concept, or similar, the fear takes over when swimming in murky or even clear open water to the point that many people are fearful and have doubts whilst swimming on even British coasts.

How has culture informed this fear? Jaws has scarred many many children and adults from young ages due to Spielberg’s masterful avoidance of the 12 rating. It is quite hard to believe that it was, and remains, a PG rated film. When speaking to those who were born in the 70s about their first memory of Jaws they often remark how they left the cinema during the screening or how it took a long time to come to terms with their experience of it as they were shit scared. Some note not even wanting to get in the bath. I remember watching the opening scene at 9 on Youtube and then really struggling to grow a pair and get into the sea that summer which I found profoundly odd as I had always really liked monster movies and tended to be a very fearless child when it came to stuff like that. Films like King Kong, Jurassic Park, Coraline, Monster House, which a lot of kids had issues watching, I couldn’t get enough of, but what was different about Jaws though was it could be real. I was able to establish the impossibleness of the other films, but 9 year old me couldn't get it out of my head that unless I never got into the water again I would never truly be safe. I’m still not sure which bit of being attacked by a shark I was more scared for at that point, or if it was just the concept and visual of Alex’s raft floating back all bloody and solo- that stuck with me more than the gorey death bit because I found that kind of cool. Luckily for me peer pressure took over that summer and I got into the water and kind of eliminated that fear. It wasn’t until I went snorkelling in the Caribbean 2 years ago in deep open water that I had to confront this feeling again. Not being able to have 360 vision constantly in crystal clear water was almost scarier than being in murky waters. I have now decided that I think the scariest part of being attacked by a shark (for me) would be if I was in clear water and seeing it swimming straight at me from a distance because at that point nothing is going to be able to stop it. 

I could find legs in this concept of fear and begin a tonal conversation on disaster in general and how it is responded to, both culturally and socially. It also begins to beg questions of why are we so scared of the shark species specifically and not say jellyfish when the stings kill way more people annually than sharks. Is it all down to the teeth; the engineering of the shark? What is the land equivalent of the shark? - is there one? or is the shark far superior to any other creature to currently exist? And how has the term been reappropriated to describe a type of person - “he’s a lone shark” “you shark”

I really enjoy watching shark attack documentaries. I like how they remind me how powerless humans can be in a world they dominate, especially when they’re taken off land. By entering the ocean you’re on a shark’s turf at the end of the day so if you get got can you really blame the shark? The varying amount of damage each species can do really shows the dominance of sharks and how perilous an encounter can be. The fact that great whites remain as one of the only animals that humans cannot keep in captivity without them dying almost immediately is a credit to the species.

I also like shark attack programmes because of the suspense and gore that’s recounted. Some of the injuries seem so alien that they come across as fictional and like they’re part of films. I’m not squeamish so on the rare occasions they show in detail injuries and footage of the attacks it’s my lucky day.

As well as accounts of attacks, documentaries often cover and explore preventative measures in shark ‘hotspots’ which has increased my fascination in the species itself a lot more recently. For example, surfers are now encouraged to wear blue patterned wetsuits that mimic the surface of the water as black wetsuits make you look like a seal (shark food). The other issue with black wetsuits, and also patterned, often neon ones, is the shark’s inability to see colour due to its single long-wavelength sensitive cone type in the retina, which means any high contrast in the water is easy to identify and track.

Recently I’ve been researching how climate change will impact shark migration and therefore attacks. The warmer a shark is, the more energy it has for hunting and migration, and with ocean temperatures rising sharks are become more active and migrating to new areas now that the sea is warm enough to be inhabited. Sharks currently found off the Spanish coast and in the Mediteraean are predicted to move north for the first time ever, meaning they could be entering British seas by 2050. Sharks predicted to follow this migration pattern include white hammerheards, blacktips and sandtigers. I wonder if British coasts homed sharks what the cultural and societal response would be to this. This could also spark a speculative investigation into the future of the shark.

I still stand by my 10 year old self’s opinion that death by shark is probably the coolest way to go.

[mymelancholiesblues]

Could you do a headcanons one for Ada?

[I posted this earlier, but tumblr wasn’t showing it in the tags search, so I asked for a friend to send in the anonymous question to see if the tracking would work and well, it did. Go figure this fuckin’ site].

So, similarly to what I did with my Leon’s family and background headcanons, I’ll post here my Ada ones too. I’d like to repeat to please keep in mind that these are (obviously) my headcanons for Ada’s background and family and in no way is anyone else under the obligation to accept nor fully agree with them.

I’m glad that Capcom still hasn’t tackled Ada’s personal plot and character background, deciding instead to keep the mystery surrounding her character – and only opening very tiny holes for us to speculate.

My headcanons for Ada are very precious to me since I think that these would be the best way to further add complexity to her character and break down her purposes in the lore while also adding more layers to her relationship with Leon – and the rest of the main characters we saw her interacting with –, as the divisive line that separates Ada to the rest of them would transcend “work motives” and fall into conflicting worldviews, cultural convictions and ideology. I love to think that “as much as I wanted to trust you… I didn’t” line also applies to Ada, considering that her difficulties to trust in people would hold her back from ever explaining what she really believes in and is working towards to Leon, thinking that the prejudices his country always encouraged on the matter wouldn’t allow him to understand or even try to. We, as audience, know that the bond they share goes beyond that and would allow them to overcome these differences, but these characters aren’t aware of it.

Anyway:

– All she knows about her biological family is that her parents were political dissidents who left her behind when she was still a baby to flee China’s Cultural Revolution (let’s remember she was born in 1974);

– Lived in a very impoverished orphanage located in China–Vietnam border area that just barely had the resources to maintain the kids they sheltered. In light of that, she had to learn how to steal at an early age (six years old) so she wouldn’t starve to death;

– One day she tried to steal this Vietnamese man’s wallet, but he noticed what she was doing and of course caught up with her when she tried to escape;

– Realising she was just a hungry kid, he ended up paying something for her to eat, talked to her for a while and told her that if she ever felt hungry like that again she could find him at that plaza by noon. From that day on she would go back every day to that spot and hope to see him again;

– Despite life at the orphanage cultivating her to be a very wary and circumspect kid, she was still a small child, so it wasn’t particularly hard to gain her trust, which the man rapidly did so: talking to her every day and paying for something for her to eat;

– They talked about food, people, work, money… He spoke to her in a kind, friendly and comprehensible way, never in a patronising tone nor meaning to talk down to her just because she was a child;

– She started “working” at like… eight, carrying stuff around or fetching things people asked her to for the sufficient amount of money so she could have something to eat;

– Noticing that the man who helped her would occasionally disappear for an uncertain amount of time before reappearing as if nothing ever happened, she started asking questions. He would always respond to her in a straightforward tone, telling her that he was “working to help their people”;

– At thirteen, more inquiring than ever, she proposed helping him “to help their people” so she could pay back what he did for her;

– This Vietnamese along with two other men (a Chinese and, later, a Russian) were founders of an independent orthodox Marxist party. They helped working-class people that were marginalized by conflicts and man-made tragedies;

– Ever read about Unit 731 in Pingfang? So, here’s what I propose to you: Tao Shangzhi lost a precious part of him there (family, comrades, you decide). Met Thang Nguyên, who lost a son to the south vs north Vietnamese tension that the USA was financing, in a worker’s protest in 1965. Early 1976 they met trotskyan Vitaly Grebenshchikov, ex-KGB who defected the Soviet Union for their dawning participation in biowarfare programs, believing this to be the utmost unforgivable sign of URSS’ continued and escalating distortion of the communist agenda;

– Vitaly had the connections who possessed financial resources to make viable turning their party of three into a structured organization capable of acting;

– It was never clear to Ada if all along they planned in concentrating in particular individuals of oppressed groups specifically with the purpose of recruiting agents for the future, but the fact remains that throughout the years, Vitaly, the Russian, recruited three agents (two females, one Italian and one Romanian, and a German male), Tao recruited three (an Ethiopian female, a Mozambican male and a Cuban male) and Thang recruited two other females, one Korean and one Japanese, as well as Ada;

– Ada was the ninth member to be recruited;

– Having more people at varied age-groups, the party’s main focus was established in working to completely destroy the biological warfare and chemical arms trade industry by undermining it from the inside, as well as to collect information on biological threats to be at the forefront of the vaccination grounds;

– Although settling with twelve “fixed” members, the organization also had what they call “allied operatives”, individuals that weren’t fully recruited to their cause and in virtue of it, weren’t fully aware of their goals and means to achieve them, but could sympathize with part of the causes they did got to be informed of;

– Starting at fourteen years and a half, Ada trained with the rigour to be an Olympic class gymnast (she already had some sort of starting pointing in physical conditioning since she had to be fast to be a thief and strong to carry things around later in childhood);

– She also had thorough classes on history, geography, sociology and philosophy and some essentially basic-level in biology, mathematics, physics and chemistry;

– She can fluently speak in Mandarin, English, Japanese and Korean. Furthermore, she possesses reading and listening fluency in Russian, German, Italian, Spanish, Romanian and Portuguese;

– In her training, the most severe exigences were: knowing how to speak in English without ever giving away that it wasn’t her first language, and to maintain her composure in the most adverse of situations;

– Knows her way around Taekwondo;

– Prepared to be perfectly capable of handling various automatic weapons and firearms;

– She believes in her party’s cause, always did. She doesn’t believe, however, that humankind is worth the trouble since she was sixteen;

– Hates imperialism and was convinced that the North-American population consisted of conceited, self-absorbed and egotistical people (till she fell in love with one, ha)

– Only completed her trainings by twenty years of age, although she was already participating in “gathering intelligence” missions since fifteen;

– I love LOVE to think that even though she was bit more experienced than Leon, she wasn’t that further away from him in terms of “field capability”;

– I don’t think John Clemens was retconned with RE2R, but, rather, Capcom’s choice to suppress mentioning him in this game was just logical and appropriate since the guy died early JUNE of 1998 and it wasn’t even minimally plausible that Ada didn’t know about that (come on, she’s a spy ffs!);

– Anyway, remember Clemens was “transferred to the Arklay Laboratory outside Raccoon City to take over Birkin’s role as chief of research” but “did not have the stomach for Umbrella’s illegal weapons research” and “started to question the motives of the research there and repeatedly questioned the superiors”? Well, at first, Ada’s mission was to get close to John precisely because he could be an “allied associate” and help in exposing and dismantling Umbrella;

– Despite the respect and comradery between the organization’s members, the only member she was really close to was Thang, but he died in a mission. Seung-chae Lee and Shimizu Yuuko (not their birth/real names), Thang’s other recruits, aren’t emotionally close to Ada, but the three of them share a deeper level of mutual reverence and camaraderie in comparison to what they feel to the rest of the organization’s members;

– Also, the two know about Leon. They suggested recruiting him to Ada, but she strongly prohibited them to do so;

– When Leon says things about helping people and putting an end to injustice and inequalities, Ada almost reveals everything there is to be revealed about her to him. Almost;

And… that’s it! Next “headcanons post” will focus on more simple things I have in mind for RE Characters (including Chris, Claire, Jill, Sherry, Helena). Ada and Leon get a bit more because they’re my faves. Hope you guys enjoy.

[rem289]

Response to (idiotic) accusations made by some people against me and especially Aoimotion

(which is why I have to waste time writing this stuff)

Hi guys,

Here I am again, with a "small" update of the journal published a few days ago here on my blog  in response to an offensive, derogatory and defamatory post that unfortunately has been circulating for a month without the direct interested, I and above Aoimotion , being aware about it, as we weren’t intentionally mentioned, so we were denied the right to reply.

Of course I took care to reply immediately after discovering it, telling our version of the facts. But the post was soon removed, so all I could read were four short comments left by the owner of the blog on which the announcement was written, @spanish-vega

Needless to say, the cancellation didn’t bring benefits to its victims, since eliminating a post to the source on Tumblr has only the (partial) effect of hiding the identity of its author. Therefore, if you are interested in knowing what I am talking about, a copy of the accusations I’m going to reply to can still be found here.

This only shows how its content was a distorted interpretation of real facts that, once brought to light, irreparably refuted the veracity of the post in question, forcing the author, or more likely: the authors, to eliminate it before taking their own responsibility and have a real confrontation with me. Unfortunately, this action was too serious for me to ignore it. In this regard, I will now proceed to respond to the feedback I received from Miss Vega. There really would not be much to say, given that the comments (written, among other things, under HER OWN post), can hardly be considered an answer, so I will take this opportunity to focus on many issues that are close to my heart.

I want to warn you that in the following part the subjects will change often, sometimes I will refer to those directly involved or only one of them, sometimes to a wider audience, so sorry for this confusion, unfortunately the topics to be addressed are many.

Dear Vega, here we are again. I don’t know whether to feel more sad or worried by the fact that after all the time that has passed and even now that I have placed you before the fact, you say you have not regretted having  basically tried to ruin a person's reputation. In part I envy you, I would also like to face certain things with such coldness. On my way I have met many boring and dishonest people, yet I have never dreamed of defaming them publicly, notwithstanding all the evil they had done and the reason I could have. Same for Aoi, of course, who between the two was the most oppressed in recent years. But in your case perhaps, this is the only way to really solve the matter, since the private ways don’t work, or rather, only serve to make fun of me, taking advantage of my honesty and fairness. It’s too convenient to pillory someone publicly and then demand to settle things in private; you all have always speculated on the fact that both Aoi and I are much more mature and discrete than you, so we would never have put ourselves at your own level (or your own pettiness, depending on your point of view). In fact, it was supposed to be like this, but unfortunately my tolerance has reached the limit, you managed to make me infuriate as few have succeeded in my life, so now I will repay you with your own medicine, the only one you know and that maybe have some effect on you.

You affirm that your wish was to make the truth known to the Spaniards, but I think it was more correct to say: "the Spaniards had to know my version of the facts", given that this was the case. Because the intention of the post you wrote wasn’t to inform people, but simply to seek consensus and compassion from them. If you had even had the slightest respect for those who would have read, you should have also involved the parts you accused so that the readers were provided with more complete information and not just your distorted and incomplete version. But I can imagine that, from the perspective of a liar, the idea of acting in conditions of complete incontestability is very appetizing, so I cannot say I'm surprised. Embittered, but not surprised.

You also continue to reiterate: "you know what Aoi did to @landsec (sorry, the tag doesn’t work because this person has blocked me, I will return to this point later)". Obviously I know, as a huge amount of people know, thanks to the political propaganda that your friend has not failed to do. Aoimotion had a heated discussion with him, as a result of which she apologized in spite of, let me to reiterate it once again, the first to be wrong was Landsec, for the reasons I explained in the previous post and that you will surely remember (assuming that you have read them). Too bad that, in addition to this episode of which Aoi has largely repented, for her part there has been no other action directed against Landsec.  An intervention, perhaps more "important", happened later on my part. On this intervention, many words were spent in private, with the usual sharing of screenshots, but none in public. Perhaps, if the real problem were the things I myself told Landsec, it would have been more correct to address ME directly to make his grievances, rather than going through a person whose role in this feud is mostly incidental, and certainly not because Aoi or I asked for it. Anyway, some time later the famous translation policy post appeared on our channels. And here Aoi actually made a mistake, the only mistake that could be attributed to her: on DA, she signed the post with her name. She did it out of habit, because it was a few months since the account had passed from being “RemArt” to be “AoiRemArt”, so she tried to point out that it was now managed by two people, not just one. In addition, I let her write the posts because unfortunately it’s known that English isn’t my strong suit, so I agree it’s easy to associate her writing with her name. But it takes a lot of imagination to imagine that such a crucial and important post was written only by one of the two, from a common account, as if I had been watching while she was preparing the crime or, even worse, she had bound me and gagged me to deprive me of any freedom of speech, so she could freely do what she wanted. A fantasy that I prefer to call "convenience". The concepts of the post and the way in which they are exposed have been agreed both by Aoi and by me, as it has always been and as it still is, therefore, whatever offense you may have received in your opinion, be aware that it came fully in the name of both. The only thing I'm so sorry about is that I didn’t stop her right away when I saw that she had signed only on her behalf, because I gave people I thought smarter another opportunity to pour their hatred and frustration on her.

Anyway, I'm sorry to disappoint you, dear Vega, and all the rest of the people who share your thoughts, but even then you totally misrepresented what we were saying. We can only validate the Italian and English versions because they are the only ones edited by the original author of the texts: Aoimotion, who writes them personally and has full control. Since we don’t know other languages outside of these two, we have no tools or knowledge to verify the content of the text with confidence and to consider it 100% faithful to the original, correct or reliable. It’s pure and simple logic, concepts that should also be within your reach.

I’m sorry that my authorization has implied the opposite and has made you consider these texts as official, perhaps better than the original ones. It's probably another thing that I should have explained from the beginning. We don’t want to diminish the work behind it, but yours is still a fan-translation, certainly not considered as an official language released by us. If we did it we would take responsibility for making official a thing we don’t know, it would not be serious on our part.

About this, I take this opportunity to apologize to the translators for not having explained well right away that the first translations were authorized only by me and only by inexperience, due to the fact that I myself felt like I was using borrowed characters and I sincerely regret that all this happened, because if I had been more careful and far-sighted from the beginning, now there would be no translation in the first place and now we would have no problem.

Secondly, after all the conflicts that have existed, and still exist between us, not only I consider your vain attempts to flatter me ("incredible artist", "fantastic person" and so on) extremely hypocritical, but the thing that makes me laugh is how in public you proudly declare that you have no problem with me (feelings that, even if they were true, would not be returned from me anyway), when in private things go in a very different way.

I'm really sorry, Vega, that you spent your time writing a post in defense of Landsec, that you, blinded probably by some feeling that I don’t feel entitled to determine, called "one of the kindest members of this fandom". The same kind member who didn’t stop you when he had to and could do it, but made you cancel the post only when I intervened, exactly after a month. The same kind member who has denied any involvement in your actions, either in public or in private with me (I will spare you the agony of reading his own words because, unlike Landsec and probably many of his friends, we don’t have the same habit of divulging private conversations, even when we could take advantage from them, as in this case), running for cover,  reblogging my post as if he wants to declare himself on my side, pleading - we don’t know who - to leave him alone, and discharging all responsibility on you and yours impulsivity, and then, on top of the cake, canceling his reblog just five minutes after doing it. The same kind member that blocked me just two days after the answer to my post in which he recited: "I don’t have any problems with Rem" and "We. Are. Cool. ". I suppose he must have been very afraid of being ignored for the first time by me, after I’ve always endeavored to behave with maturity towards him in an attempt to smooth out the shameful situations created by himself. In light of the fact that I find myself writing this unhappy communication, when I could use my time in more pleasant and productive ways, I gather that I was the only one of us who ever intended to definitively close this story.

Fortunately, before Landsec took his "precautionary measures", I had time to realize that the post in which he announced his retirement (the real one, not the defamatory garbage written a month ago) had been promptly canceled by his main channels. Evidently, when a better scapegoat was presented to him, which would have made his gesture a heroic martyr, he thought well to change the version of events. I could make a lot of comments about it, but I think that's already self-commenting. In any case, a "proof" that this post existed can be found at this link  dating back to May 9th, in which it's clearly mentioned the retreat, already happened, of our kind member. 

Now you will ask, why insist on this point? In reality it's very simple: the author of the defamatory post, quoted and linked at the top, has accused us, -no, maybe it's better to be precise: only Aoimotion- of Landsec's withdrawal, inserting this accusation even as subtitle of her the post ("Motivo del retiro de Landsec") . But if this post that I found refers to the Landsec's withdrawal on the 9th of May, I can assume that his abandonment was announced at least a few days before the 9th of May. And if the very first private discussion between Landsec and us took place about fifteen days later (in May 23-24th); And if the post about translation policy we made that, according to the opinion of the author of the post, would have completely destroyed the good intentions to continue in the translations of her friend, was published on June 25th, I wonder: it’s possible that these people have the gift of clairvoyance? Or can I just assume that unfounded and ridiculous accusations have been made with the intention of demonizing a person and, at the same time, gathering support and compassion?

Returning to us, always wanting to quote his "hit and run" reblog, in fact it was the same Landsec who writes: "So if you have any involvement with it [your post, Vega], solve it yourself and LEAVE ME ALONE ". So, from woman to woman, I hope that you, Vega, have long thought and drawn your conclusions after this shabby show. After all, he practically left you alone in my clutches, after you had exposed yourself so much to defend him. He didn't even try a second to protect you like you did with him. A kind person like him, does he really deserve your loyalty?

The connections between people are simple as long as they are coalescing in the face of the possibility of slandering, mortifying and tarnishing someone. In that case, people are ready to swear loyalty, support and mutual affection from here until the end of time. As soon as the nuance of reason and congruence is destroyed by the reality of facts, this is how these bonds crumble and change into the vile, filthy and disgusting vault I have ever seen.

That would be great, since everyone is free to build their personal bonds in the way that best suits him/her ... if not that, these same people ready to tear each other if the situation worsens, even find the courage to distort the partnership between me and Aoi, painting it like a toxic relationship in which she manipulates me according to her will, and I'm reduced to a doll that is limited to executing orders or, in the best case, watching while she sows discord and destruction in the name of both.

At this point, you understand that I cannot ignore such a foul-smelling accusation, so let me tell you how things are: none, and again, none of the things I've said or done in the past two years have been influenced by Aoi. Because, you know, I'm also capable of independent judgment (ability that instead of many of you are missing, I noticed) and not only, I'm even able to get angry! I understand that it sounds absurd, so take a minute of meditation to assimilate this information, and then take a few hours, or days, or even weeks, to realize how all the things that you didn't like and that you think damaged you, that you considered more convenient to attribute to my partner, in reality they were the combined and harmonious effect of two minds that have always worked in perfect harmony, without never prevaricate each other. And perhaps, for many of you, the problem has been (and still is) just that. You can hardly forgive me for I have found a partner "out of the group" (who anyway I knew and with whom I had a firm friendship since well before knowing you, in case you didn't know or you were conveniently forgotten) with whom I chose to work closely, a person whom I admire and whom I appreciate, an I'm very fond of, who made me embark on a project for which I decided it was worth it, which goes beyond fame and glory and any other value to which you attach importance. Perhaps many of you have been wondering for months: "Why Aoi? Why not us?", and so, you decided to vent this suppressed frustration on her,  when perhaps, and I say perhaps, the person you really wanted to vent your livership was and is me.

I will not deny that, for the short time I attended your group, I appreciated your company. As I told to Landsec in the last message I sent him months ago, there were people among you whom I esteemed and respected and which were pleasing to me, but I always treated our relationship lightly;  I never thought there was anything between us that could go beyond kindness and mutual courtesy. We were acquaintances, and nothing more than that, and I'm really sorry if my attitudes (which no doubt were wrong) may have given some of you reason to think otherwise, or in any case to "elevate" our relationship to something more. But this has never authorized you to treat Aoi in the way you did, to denigrate her, to deride her and to accuse her of having performed actions on behalf of both, overshadowing my will and my ideas completely, as if there was no way that I could be something else than what you thought I was. Your myth of Rem always kind, always available and always friendly is an image that you have created of me, which absolutely doesn't belong to me, which I consider incredibly reductive and silly to apply on a person since, sorry if I always repeat the obvious, the reactions are adapted to the situations and you have given me many reasons to be anything but courteous and kind to you. All of this is a mirror of what your real opinion is of us, of the presumption that you have to know two people whom you have always chosen to see only the part that made you more comfortable, and probably even what is the limit of your reasoning ability.

And now I refer directly to the “translators”, I regret to find out that for a long time you have translated comics written by a person you don't esteem at all, as opposed to what you claim to think of me. I sincerely ask myself why you decided to put your blog and your "face" in a story and in dialogues that you thought so bad of, since apparently the only thing that you appreciated the comic were the drawings. Maybe you could create your own comic and think about the interactions between the characters, the story and the dialogues, and translate them into English as it is a far less demanding work than translating into your language.

From this point of view, I understand why you always want to boast about how much effort you make in translations, literally using every possible excuse to reiterate how hard and draining your work is. But then I wonder: if for you to translate from English TO YOUR MOTHER LANGUAGE is so hard, so demanding, then what Aoi should say, as she translates every day from our mother tongue (which I remind you, it's Italian. Maybe it was clear with me but not with her) to English and vice versa, if her work requires to? I’m sure that you too know that translating from English to your own language is not as difficult as doing the opposite, given that you proclaim yourselves to be certified and expert translators and you, Vega, also defined yourself as a writer, as if this title could authorize you to say all the balderdash that left your keyboard. Aoi has been doing this every day for more than two years, but I don't remember ever having seen her making noise for what she has chosen to do, not even when many people ignored (deliberately or not) her role as author in the comics and she would have all the right to point out that she was the mind behind those stories that everyone liked so much. For this, I cannot help but applaud the despicable courage with which you have diminished Aoi's work, who is a translator like you and even more than you, besides being so many other things that you aren't, and laugh at how you have mortified her while you were doing your master work by basing yourself on a translation that came well before you. Therefore, maintaining the scale of judgment with which you have always judged her contribution to comics: if you want to rate Aoi's work as zero, go ahead. But at this point, following your reasoning, I ask you: how should your work be defined? With a negative number? Or even better, with an imaginary number?

In conclusion, I regret that many people believed in Vega's version, full of holes and inconsistencies, without even ascertaining the veracity of what they were being offered. To believe in facts without evidence to support them is a very serious act, which sets out a very dangerous trend to this day. Dangerous for these people, and also for who / what is found in the crosshairs of such lies.

And speaking of these people, I would like to use this post to respond to some brilliant comments that I found myself reading under Vega's propaganda, released by people who arrived like flies that, attracted by the trash, got themselves gathered around it to feast festively, though mostly, I will do nothing but reiterate old concepts. I will not mention names, because there is no need; in any case, those who are curious can go to read through the comments of the post of which I attached the link above, although I don't recommend doing it to those who are particularly weak stomach.

When you accuse Aoimotion of having had, and still have, a very strong influence on me, there is one thing you're right about: if it was not for her, I would have stopped having any contact with the Zootopia fandom already two years ago. Probably my interest would be exhausted within a couple of comics, or even stripes, given the general attention that I can have in fandom, especially if it's fandom related to films and therefore self-contained stories. But then I met her, who overwhelmed me with her imagination, her enthusiasm and above all her pure and unconditional love for the narration, which pushed me to continue. To make a lot more comics than I had expected, to draw a lot more pictures of Nick and Judy than I would have done alone. 90% of what I have produced, and for which you have idolized me (and given the situation in which I'm now, I wonder how sincere these flattery were), exists because she was with me, by my side, close to every process of creation and always ready to advise me, encourage me and help me. So, when you accuse Aoimotion of having forced me to leave the fandom, you should instead thank her, for holding me into it a lot, so much more than I could have predicted.

When you accuse my style of drawing to be "Zootopian", know that first of all this is just a neologism devoid of any meaning, given that Zootopia itself is a Disney-style film and that then brings the style of his factory. And that just because dozens of artists have thrown into the cauldron called "Zootopia" any anthropomorphic animal their pen has created, doesn't mean that the same applies to me. In any case, know that my style is evolving and will evolve again and again, until finally this latest silly accusation will fall into the pit of the "absurd accusations" that are offered to us every day by this fandom.

When you accuse us of wanting to "steal Jack Savage from Disney", when you even use your time to create meme and "fun" comic of dubious taste, of which only the authors, the stupids and their little friends can laugh, hold on to mind that Jack Savage has always been, and always will be, nothing but a sketch on an artbook with a few lines of background, and that all we have built on him is OURS, including much of his physical appearance (which, like everything that is in this fandom, has soon become a collective good, like it happens in the best communist societies). And that we have the right and the duty to take it back, while you have neither of those to come and tell us something. If, as you think according to the legal knowledge of which you are definitely in possession, what we have in mind to do (which, incidentally, has not yet been disclosed to anyone, then as well as experienced lawyers, you're also skilled Espers able to read our minds; if I had your powers, now I would fight in the biggest tribunals of the world, not brawling from behind a keyboard) is wrong, we will pay the consequences; but if what we are doing is simply a nuisance to you, and it stings you as if you were thrown into a bush of nettles, I'm sorry to say that it is not our problem. Maybe you need to take a break from the internet, as I suggested to Vega and Landsec, to review your priorities and give a little more value of your time. Or you could "give yourself to horse racing", as we say in our parts.

Among other things, while we can afford to take away from Jack any connotation in common with his concept and have our fanbase almost unchanged, if anyone else tried to do the same would find himself in a second to swim in anonymity. I invite you to ask yourself why, and if you can, even to give you an answer. It would be sufficient to explain a few of our apparently incomprehensible reasons, and even the reasons for those whose main purpose in recent months seems to have been to discourage and mock us.

The Jack’s question is very well connected with another theme that we considered closed for months, but that obviously still doesn't really go down to some of you: the alleged plot against our readers, hatched by Aoi and me, which established to introduce our OCs in Black Jack, in order to impose them on you and force you to appreciate them and follow their vicissitudes.

We have always considered this accusation extremely funny (it’s a pity that the harassment we suffered because of it were not) and all in all, putting ourselves in the shoes of the average fan and reasoning (indeed, refusing to reason) as such, the thing could also make sense. So we let it go. This only until the moment we published Black Jack.

Once this comic ended (and even a few months before it ended), we reiterated several times that we would never treat Zootopia again. Of course, you understand that we couldn't write "WE WILL NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT NICK AND JUDY !!" at the end of each post or as a watermark on the pages of the new comic, otherwise some brilliant mind would have told us that we were paranoid and unpleasant. So, at a certain point, we stopped coming back to the subject.

At this point, as far as I'm concerned, anyone who has continued to follow us after Black Jack, has done so of his own free will. Perhaps it's hard to publicly admit that you find an interesting story that does not have Nick, Judy or the "Zootopia" tag inside; It’s easier not to express yourself, to avoid the risk that some friend, fervent supporter of the fandom (because now there are no longer supporters of the movie but of the fandom), can stone you on the spot. In this way, you have at any moment the possibility of turning silence-assent into fierce indignation, pulling out the fable that someone is manipulating you to force you to follow something you don’t like and don’t care about. I'm sorry if you felt obliged to follow us by some dark force that you could not fight back, it was absolutely not our intention. We have never been interested in gathering as much support as possible (if we wanted to do it, we would certainly emulate some eminent fandom figure who knows how to keep fans tight), what we always wanted is to express ourselves artistically in absolute freedom, and be judged without any "fandomistic" prejudice .

Therefore, I will reiterate it once again:

if you have no interest in our current work and/or continue to follow us hoping that one day we'll rekindle the desire to work again on Zootopia;

if you have decided to follow us because this gives you the illusion that we're still feeding the dunghill that this fandom has become;

if you’re bad and evil in the soul and find pleasure in spitting poison on a couple of artists who didn't do anything wrong (because now, honestly, what have we ever done to deserve certain crap? After all we have given you for a year or more, you should just learn to be quiet) ...

If you're one of these things, more than one or all put together, I warmly and DEFINITELY invite you to vanish and never return.

Regardless of everything, I'm here to reiterate that we will go on, while the best these people can get is to fossilize themselves where they are now. We are trying to do something big and original, bigger than a mere sub-project of another work, more original than creating new animals that stand on two legs and exist somewhere in the universe of Zootopia (without nothing to take away from those who do it, we simply have different ideas and different objectives). And you know, partly we have already succeeded, and I feel once again to thank Aoi about this, thanks to her characterization and her stories wich allows us to give our OCs peculiarity, to distinguish them from the crowd even if some people try always to imitate the character design of others artists. The more time passes, the more people from the fandom stop following us; but for each of them that leaves, two new readers follow us, people who often have nothing to do with Zootopia and its fandom. And if this is not a victory, I don’t know what it is.

Summing up, I would say that perhaps, rather than feeling angry at certain people, the most appropriate feeling here is compassion. But for respect of ourselves, it's right that even the most miserable and vile of individuals will learn what their place is; for how much compassion I can feel for them, I’ll never transact ever before a villainous gesture. Unfortunately, the more falsehoods are propitiated and stacked, the more the truth will be evident and lethal later. The more you are liars, the more you will be hurt when someone puts you in front of the reality of the facts, exposing your slanders for what they really are: snake venom. For this reason, from now on I strongly advise you to dose more carefully your nonsense, in order to avoid having to hide like rats the moment the truth will surface. This is the last thing I will tell you because, after this refreshing parenthesis, I hope I will never again have to deal with any of you, anywhere in the internet.

And if it were to happen, however, I beg you this time to call things by their real name; to strike directly and clearly who you REALLY want to hit, without first making a shield of people who have nothing to do with the problems you may have with someone. In any case, we will be ready to respond, using the most effective weapon in our possession, the truth; Therefore, I sincerely dissuade you from doing so.

[bluh-bluh-liveblogging]

Elite - First Episode!

So! Thoughts about the first episode of Elite that I just watched! I kind of… did not expect to enjoy this as much as I just did? The actors are great, I love picking up a bit of Spanish on the side (not a language I speak… like… at all xD) AND the filming is awesome!

Gorgeous imagery aside – and there sure is a lot of it – I also loved the way the narrative was structured around the murder that is about to have happened. This is an impression absolutely unique to the first episode of this series because this is where we see the story begin and end before the unravelling of story threads from the middle to the eventual conclusion takes place.

This episode was meant to suck you in and get you interested and HOO BOY HOWDY it accomplished its purpose! (For me, at least.)

Regarding the murder mystery, I really liked how the various forward-flashbacks were tied in with the overall story to manipulate the viewer‘s interpretation of singular scenes (adding emphasis on likely future developments like the enmity between Nadia and Lu comes to mind) and it did not feel overdone at all!

Regarding spoilers, mind, I‘m still at the first episode and everything here is pure speculation. Mostly. I should maybe tag spoilers for the victim reveal?

Because, let‘s face it. It was obvious who would die in the end the very second this character made an appearance. At least to me.

Now, because this is what I invariably focus on, no matter what media I consume, let‘s give the various characters in the show a not-really-in-depth-because-i-am-just-talking-into-the-void-and-not-submitting-a-report review!

First of all, Samu. He is the obvious main character, sweet, cautious and just interesting enough to distract from his nice-boy image that… burdens him tragically? His decision to completely opt out of demonstrating his abilities in English during class is interesting and… so far, the only interesting thing he has ever done, except for a few nice, witty one-liners. Don‘t get me wrong, I actually like characters that are capable of… not starting drama every few seconds and the fact that he‘s seemed to be the sole supporter of his family makes him likeable? But I just know that he‘s going to have SOME bullshit going on and make decisions that will downgrade my tentatively positive opinion of him severely. I KNOW IT. Also, I… really don‘t like Marina for some reason?

Marina, then! She also follows the stereotype of the main characters love interest – the Girl That Is Not Like The Others. Which is not necessarily a bad thing! I just dislike characters that, in turn, are more attracted by the attractiveness of rebellion than the actual people who represent it for them.

(But I really liked her chemistry with Mano (?) in the two seconds they interacted.) (But that is the problem! UGH, love triangles…) I really liked that she‘s HIV-positive though! I loved how that was represented! That was apparently the big drama with the previous scholarship student though? I also like how she doesn‘t give a damn. But all in all, hm. Meh. Not my type.

Mano (?) - Samu‘s older brother who just got out of prison! And we still don‘t know exactly how! He‘s demonstrated so far: an astounding inability to sympathize with all and any struggles his younger brother has faced AND come on. That was one obviously placed camera AND YOU DIDN‘T EVEN HAVE THE GOOD SENSE TO COVER EITHER OF YOUR FACES COME TF ON WOULD IT HAVE BEEN SO HARD??? Also, flirting with the girl his lil bro is obviously dancing around already and hogging her instead of calling Samu? Seriously? That‘s just an asshole thing to do, no matter how much better you two seemed to get along, dammit!

Anyway. Then there‘s Guzman. I don‘t like him (yet). He‘s protective of his younger sister which, nice, would he not also completely ignore her wishes at the same time. His relationship with Lu seems built on the desire of the two powerhouses of the school to present a united front and also have some sex in bathrooms, but… are they actually happy together? Wait, wait. Are they even together openly? Nooooo, wait it was such a big thing that they were seen having sex! Hm. In that case, I don‘t get the nonchalance with which Lu suggests her boyfriend seduce another girl just to blackmail her. Are you that sure of his loyalty? Probably! Is that a really awful and manipulative thing to not only force a stranger but also your own boyfriend into? Yes!

But. I also know his type. He‘s the asshole with hidden depths that appear in fleeting glances only at first and then, when gradually revealed, make him your favourite character. I know that at one point I will be supposed to love him and I, a weak victim of viewer manipulation, probably will. I know how that one goes. (I still love Bellamy from The 100 with all my heart and I have suffered for it. Also only watched to the third season!)

Aside from the fact that she is gorgeous and the archetypical bitch, except also super smart, I can‘t say too much about Lu yet. Except that I ship her with Nadia, not that THAT is ever going to happen, I guess. Idk I kind of like her. In her capacity of being a huge asshole, that is.

Nadia! HOLY SHIT I LOVE HER!!! SHE IS THE BEST! And holy shit, the hijab thing was a biiig gun to pull out in the first episode, but when else, also, good demonstration of institutionalized prejudice and discrimination! (I was so mad, good job! Well, fucking awful that this is a thing that needs to be represented, but good job! And her statement about them restricting her based on their own dumb opinions and NOTHING else and how this is her belief and nobody is forcing her to wear it? YES YES YES GOOD GIRL! Screenshots from that scene were what convinced me to give this series a shot and holy shit, it was delivered so well!) I can‘t even say anything meaningful here, I just??? love her??? She is sassy and smart and NOT interested in the drama (which will change VERY soon and hoo boy is she going to seduce the SHIT out of Guzman while also falling in love, but I don‘t even mind. That much.)

Then there‘s Christian. I… really don‘t care for the second-hand embarrassment he keeps subjecting me to? And his attitude towards drugs and alcohol? And… uh… almost everything else? BUT! He handles all of the abuse directed at him with the same charm and grace that at first seems absolutely moronic but is soon (him walking through the school naked) revealed as an iron-hard sunny attitude? And I respect that. A lot. I will probably come to respect this dude even more as the story evolves, but I still don‘t like his character-archetype. But that‘s fine!

Also, Carla and this dude! Waaaaait did she only hook up with Christian because her boyfriend who‘s name I forgot was into it? She did not seem all that comfortable afterwards, which hints at QUITE the different power dynamic in that couple than is expected of them! I am very curious!

And! Ander! OMG he is SUCH a sweetheart! Sorry, I still think that getting high and making a dating app profile is dumb, but HE IS GAY and hooking up with Omar and he! Is the cutest! And only deserves good things! Please let him be happy!

Omar, for that matter… hm. He looks very tired. Also, why is he selling drugs? He‘s… Nadia‘s brother? I‘d like to see more of their sibling relationship tbh but… hm. Don‘t know what to think about him yet, but the drug thing kind of is a turn-off for me? I really hope to get to know more about him though, especially if he IS going to have a thing with Ander!

And I have many more thoughts about this and I really look forward to watching the second episode at some point in my life (which… uh… might happen sooner or later, but since my method of choosing stuff to watch includes maths and does not include personal opinion… probably later?) but now I‘m getting hungry and am going to eat something instead of screaming some more into the void.