#this is actually my problem with the directing in 10 years ticket

[airenyah]

glad you enjoyed 😊 (also i apologize for the many typos, i was really tired that day and definitely couldn't be bothered to proofread hahaha)

anyway, as i've said this is really just the tip of the iceberg. there are many important things that i haven't even mentioned yet, such as actors actively listening to each other (this is pretty difficult! and you can tell when actors aren't listening to each other and that's usually a bad thing → unless the character is supposed to not be listening. again it's all relative to the specific scene).

on that note: "wahrnehmen". a word that means to perceive, to (take) note. the "actively listening" point falls into that, an actor has to take perceive their co-star's words, but not just that, they have to perceive every single sound (actively hear and notice it), they have to perceive every single thing they look at (actively looking at it and taking note of it), they have to perceive every single touch whether they're the one doing the touching or the one being touched (actively feeling it), etc... actually i have an example of this (surprise surprise it's bad buddy and ohm again. so much brainrot even after a year has passed help me). i'm going to talk about this at the end of this reblog in this separate post though, because i want to point out some other things i've mentioned as well

you also have to mean everything that you say or do. if you don't mean it then you will come across as a person reciting some lines and going through the motions rather than a "living" character (i don't really know how to put this, i hope this makes sense hahaha. i'm trying to say the character seems like a real living person then)

i also didn't say a single thing about conflict, the importance of which was really hammered into my head by both my camera acting teacher and my mom (their fave sentence on this topic: "where's the conflict?"). even my voice teacher has talked about this (the feedback he gave to my colleague on her monologue? he was missing some inner conflict which would have made the monologue a lot more captivating). and conflict doesn't mean the obvious conflict written into the plot, the script (that's the scriptwriter's problem). in acting this conflict is the inner conflict a character has that isn't necessarily in the script and it's an actor's job to find that conflict and show it to the audience. a character portrayed by an actor who shows a lot of conflict will be more interesting than a character portrayed by an actor who doesn't show conflict (you can see the difference really well if you compare the 2009 kdrama "you are beautiful" with its taiwanese remake! and comparing these two versions also showcases really well how boring it is when actors keep doing the same thing over and over. i actually had a whole analysis project going on about this with a friend and i wish i could sit you down next to me and go through it with you as well)

a beautiful word that i stole from my monologue teacher is "dagegenspielen" and it's yet another one of those where i have no clue how to best say this in english. the literal translation is something like "to act against" or "to play against". basically it's when an actor is going against the plot/the genre in a very specific way. for example when they are in a tragedy but they don't act or behave in a tragic way (last year i was doing the "wherefore art thou romeo" monologue. and in the beginning i struggled a lot and my beloved monologue teacher would constantly tell me "your acting is too tragic! the audience knows this is a tragedy but juliet doesn't know it at this point, so why are you being so tragic?"). a tragedy is already very heavy from the plot alone and if an actor then portrays every scene in a tragic way too then it will just get exhausting for the audience. so it's an actor's job to lighten the tragedy and make it easier to digest for the audience, giving them a break from all the drama. besides, the actual tragic scenes will hit you even more that way (my monologue teacher would talk a lot about "fallhöhen" aka the hight of the drop. if you bring your audience up to a happy place then the drop down to the sad place will be much higher and it will hurt a lot more. but if you're already in the sad place then the audience might slip and fall on their butt which might sting for a moment, but they'll immediately get up and continue on, not thinking about it ever again. but bring the audience up to a high point and let them fall, that'll be much more painful and they'll take a while until they've picked up the pieces after the drop)

god this is is already getting so long again and i haven't even mentioned communication yet. as an actor you are never alone on stage or in front of the camera. you have to create relationships with every other character. that refers to the characters that are currently in the same space as well as characters that are not in that scene at all. but not just characters! you have to create a relation(ship) between your character and every single object they interact with, in fact with the whole world around you (this is where the point of actually perceiving everything comes in!). once you have learned how to look out for it, it gets really obvious when an actor is only in their own bubble and doesn't communicate well with their co-stars (my camera acting teacher would always talk about "futter geben" - feeding your co-stars. if you offer a lot to your co-stars they will have a much easier time to respond to you and take it further)

honestly, there are so many more things i take note of when i analyze acting, but it usually comes to me as i'm watching something. i mean this got even longer now but trust me, there are things still missing that i'm forgetting about right now or that i can't explain. also i'm not sure that all of this even makes sense to someone without experience. it really botheres me that i can't just sit everyone reading this down and show some clips and point very specific things out, comparing them with other, similar scenes and concepts, etc.... but this is a tumblr post, so this will have to do

I appreciate everyone's good advice to just drop the damn thing, but for some reason I feel compelled to keep watching Candy Color Paradox, and then complain about it. It's feeling like my experience watching War of Y, although they are very different shows, in that I'm fascinated by it's successes and failures. And I now want to find out what the show ends up saying (either intentionally or not) about the morality of paparazzi journalism. I did notice that two minutes after I paused to write my last post Kaburagi was questioning the ethics of what they did and how it impacted their subject, so I have some hope that the show is at least trying to say something.

However to avoid polluting the tags with my negativity for people who are enjoying the show, I'll keep my criticism below readmores.

Before I get into that, are the editors at the magazine trying to match-make Kaburagi and Onoe? 🤔Because they keep singing the praises of each of them to the other one. 👀

I think the biggest problem for me is that I just don't think the actors are very good. According to MDL they're both idols and don't have much previous acting experience, and I can tell. They're both trying their best, but there is this awkward amateurism to their acting that is distracting me and makes the characters feel less real. I'm just now watching the scene with Congressman's secretary, and it's clear just how much more comfortable this older actor is on screen (at least before he sexually assaults Onoe). He moves and talks and inhabits his body in this unselfconscious way that is engaging to watch. And in the scene when Onoe is talking to his bartender friend, Masayan, my eyes kept being drawn to the bartender, even though all he was doing was listening and nodding. But he just seemed so much present and real.

I bring these two other (much more experienced) actors up because it affirmed for me that it wasn't just my imagination. Both young actors have this tentativeness to their physicality, which really doesn't work for the supposedly cool and dominating Kaburagi, but neither does it feel like it matches the awkwardness that Onoe has. It feels like the actor's own awkwardness, rather than the character's, somehow. It doesn't help matters that they both seem made-up and styled like idols rather than journalists. They just both look so young.

They're not terrible, they both have some nice moments, and Onoe's face especially is growing on me. I think he's the stronger actor, actually, he has this wonderful wide-eyed way of looking at Kaburagi that temporarly creates the illusion that these two have chemistry. The roles I suspect are actually deceptively hard to do well, balancing complex emotions with slapstick comedy. I'm not an actor, but I imagine that's something that requires a lot of experience to pull off well. But it does mean that the chemistry isn't really there, that Kaburagi's philosophical musings feel shallow instead of like insights into a moral crisis, and that Onoe's panic about falling in love doesn't ring true for me.

And oh my god that final sex scene in the car, there was no connection there, it felt like they were each in their own world, not like they were reacting to each other. Which I get, it probably feels much safer for the actors to approach it that way. But it's so obvious on screen. At least a JBL is willing to portray sexuality on screen, I guess? Next step is helping inexperienced actors get comfortable with it. (Eternal Yesterday and Utsukushii Kare were on a different level all together, production and direction wise, and the actors in Old Fashion Cupcake are such pros that they probably could have managed it on their own, though I imagine they had support. And thus concludes the list of JBL I've seen that have attempted more than dead fish kisses.)

The other problem is a mismatch of my expectations and what the show actually is. I keep wanting it to be more serious; it touches upon these complex issues—the sexual assault, ethics in journalism, Kaburagi's feelings about trading sexual favors for information—and then glancing right off of them. Whereas I keep hoping for them to dig in. But it seems very devoted to it's yaoi roots, particularly with a sexually aggressive seme and a blushing maiden uke, and not interested in going much deeper.

And since this is my space to vent, I just watched another show where a completely untrained person was miles better at tailing people and taking covert photos than than these two are. The shows are completely different in tone and budget, so perhaps it's not fair to compare, but it did make me laugh. (I don't want to spoil that show, though it's barely a spoiler, but it's this one for anyone curious.)

[leporellian]

thoughts on broadway and/or the tonys and/or musical theater in general

fuck i never did get around to this LOL here we go

broadway... compels me in some weird way. like for every single complaint musical theatre fans lob at opera- 'it's too much about spectacle!' 'it's too elitist!' 'it's funded by rich people!' (which that last point in and of itself is. Have you ever been to europe. but the way in which opera criticism is uniquely USAcentric is a convo for another time) are all... like... right there in musical theatre on broadway.

arguably those are even more of a problem over in musicals. musicals have Brand Identity. when you think of wicked, every wicked production is specifically built to look the same, with no real difference in direction or performance besides individual casting. (and also that infernal dragon, for some reason, that they never even really actually use except for like one moment where it wiggles around a bit. a lot of my memory of seeing wicked in 9th grade is just remembering how absolutely disappointed i was that they had a big dragon animatronic and they never used it in a satisfying way! like, what the fuck! anyway, again, tangent.) even if there isn't a cohesive brand there's the matter of rights settlements, and certain creative restrictions, and on top of that there's the fact that it is incredibly hard to go watch broadway musicals if you don't have transportation and monetary access to them. (and don't get me started on whatever the fuck "bootleg trading" is. like man they're even inventing capitalism in new places. hello.)

opera meanwhile is the wild fucking west. most of the standard rep works are in the public domain. there's only 1 standard rep opera i can think of off the top of my head that has any creative restrictions in the performance license contract, and given the one creative restriction with that one is "please have black people play the black characters and don't do blackface you freaks jesus christ" i'm totally down w/ it. if you want to go watch opera, there's thousands of recordings on youtube and on specialty sites like operaonvideo.com that just act as a huge performance archive. opera is genuinely one of the most accessible art forms there is with the advent of the internet.

(man remember when hamilton had basically a free raffle for 10 dollar tickets every week or whatever that was? meanwhile the opera company in my college city literally just sells 11 dollar tickets to students and every time you buy one from them it acts like it now has a blood debt to you. crazy.)

broadway is like genuinely so capitalistic it baffles me, godbless. and i do WANT to understand musical theatre better but a lot of the time it just sort of whizzes past my head and i have no idea what to make of it. (that, and theatre kids are.... Well. Yeah)

THE TONYS are equally baffling, but instead of broadway which feels like some strange dystopian world, the tonys have a distinctly alice in fuckin wonderland shit to me. there are opera award shows but none of them are nearly on the same level as the tonys. it's cool that the trophy spins around i think. i think its very obvious the tonys largely exist as a further marketing mechanic and not as like... actual awards, but to be fair thats the point of all awards shows at this point anyway. (well, that and making a lot of people very angry.)

looking at this year's nominations for example. here are some of my thoughts: i forgot about the some like it hot musical, i genuinely have no idea who the audience of that is meant to be. CORN MUSICAL??? who the fuck made a CORN MUSICAL and WHY? &juliet terrifies me with its existence. the plays should unionize together. i dont know why i was surprised ben platt is there i thought he just kind of faded into the walls after the dear even hansen movie or something. isnt new york new york a frank sinatra song. oh shit the sweeney todd revival already premiered? (i dont keep up with broadway news) why is there a corn musical. also when i looked up the tony awards i accidentally typed in 'the toby awards' which is apparently an award show for building design. Anyway thats my analysis as someone who is genuinely so clueless about current broadway news

[fmlyuura]

bnha logistics dont make sense - students ver.

based on this post:

Not gonna lie, I spent a few hours trying to figure out Japan’s logistics in my mind. According to the BNHA wiki, only Todoroki, Bakugo and Midoriya were born in Musutafu, which is a fictional prefecture supposedly near Shizuoka. Besides them, only Jirou and Tokoyami live in Shizuoka. So, here is the problem: while the public transportation in Japan is good, it still is a big stretch to say that all UA students are able to commute to school-home everyday, especially when considering that the typical school day has a duration of at least 8.am till 4pm (which is the average school day without counting clubs, which aren’t so common at UA. However, if we take in consideration that the students are seen going home as the sun sets in the first season, just after the first combat lesson from All Might- early spring, going by the Japanese school calendar-, it's solid evidence that school days can go until roughly 6pm.).

Some of the first year students, like Shouji, live in Fukuoka, in the Kyushu region. The train(the public transportation train, not to be mistaken for the bullet train, which is too expensive to be taken on a regular basis) takes at least 5 hours to go from one city to the other. Kamakiri from 1-B is even worse, as he lives in Nagasaki. Just the trip from Nagasaki to Shizuoka takes approximately 7 hours by public transport and 5 by bullet train. 

Uraraka, the only student who gets explicitly confirmed to be living in an apartment without her parents, was born in the Mie prefecture. A quick google search confirms that a train ticket (the fastest method between car, bus and train) takes a bit more than 2 hours on the trip (quick fun fact:a Shinkansen pass with the duration of 7 days costs 50k yen, which roughly translates to 336 dollars!)

Here the bullshit gets worse: Iida, Hagakure, Sero, and Ojiro from 1-A, Shoda, Bondo and Kaibara from 1-B are all said to be born in Tokyo prefecture, and not a single one of them is mentioned to be living without their parents or in apartments closer to UA. Iida also implies that he still lives with his parents(before the dorms, of course). The trip from Tokyo to Shizuoka is said to take around 2 hours and approximately 20 minutes, so, unless every single one of them wakes up at least 5:40 am (not even counting the time it takes to eat breakfast, wear the uniform, exit the house and walk to the station), they won’t be able to make to UA at 8:00 am.

Not to mention, of course, that Iida canonically is a big nerd who always gets to school early, so-

Assuming the heroics classes are consistent and the students leave school around 6pm, and estimating a rough timing of 10 minutes to go to the train station, and another 10-minute walk to their homes:

6.pm + 10-minute walk + 2:20 of train ride + 10-minute walk = 8:40pm

(note: Musutafu is speculated to be in the eastern region of Shizuoka, having direct connection to the sea. It means it shares borders with Kanagawa, and potentially has a direct connection with Yamanashi. Tokyo is directly north of Kanagawa, so in theory, is one of the closest prefectures geographically. It can’t be actually confirmed due to Musutafu being a pure fictional location. The rest of the students, except for the ones that live in Aichi(Yanagi, Yaoyorozu and Asui) and Nagano, which also share a direct border with Shizuoka,)

In conclusion: unless at least 80% of the first years already live in Shizuoka (or Musutafu, actually), they would have less than 10 hours to sleep, study, train, interact with family and friends and take care of their basic necessities. 

BNHA doesn’t make sense. Honestly, what the fuck.

[an-inbetween-place]

11/10/24

I’m not even sure how to start this. This week has been a mess of emotions — and what builds on top of that is that I can’t help but feel like every which direction I look int is telling me how to feel. How I should react. How I should BE feeling.

And that makes me confused.

I guess that’s what happens when the nation is so polarized.

The 51 v 49 points metaphor really holds. In all the thoughts that are bubbling up in my mind.

Let’s tackle what feels slightly less emotionally grueling. What I have less skin in the game around.

Four more years of Trump.

It’s funny! When I first read those words .. they didn’t really sink in.

And then once they sunk in .. it was heartbreaking to read.

Truly, this last year .. I feel like I understand what heartache feels like.

(Not the manifestation coming true…)

But now… I feel almost nothing? I feel almost like .. it’s going to be okay? 

I don’t know what it is — the time, the last hour or so that I just went full send in on articles, or .. some of Brandon’s influence in actually listening to his polices and speeches.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m always going to think he’s an asshole and undeserving of power.

… It’s probably the fact that he won the popular vote that is aiding and accelerating acceptance.

I mean it’s also the fact that I DID WHAT I COULD! I can’t even say that the electoral college let me down! I voted with my one vote and the American public did the same and … yeah we SPOKE. And that’s that! It’s futile for me to do much else (at least right now). (Of course I can volunteer my time and my $$ for my preferred candidate and plug more into that system but … I mean just being honest, I really don’t know if I’ll do that! As the hypocrite I am!)

And not to give myself an out but .. I do think it’ll be fine. It’ll be 4 years of irritation and annoyance that he’s the figurehead of our country but … I do think I’ll turn out alright on the other end. And I know that’s my own privilege speaking out. And I know that’s giving myself a little bit of an out. But I really have seen the turnaround to acceptance.

Seen? Participated in.

Because I hate to say it but truly, the media IS sensationalized. And I stand by my comments about him being an utterly repulsive and repugnant person… butit’s’s not as bad as the headlines make it out to be.

Man, how have we got here? Truly crazy.

Let’s get into the meat of the problem. Or at least (selfishly) the core of what impact this has on me and where my thoughts have been this week.

How does this affect me & B?

It was … truly shocking for me to hear/learn about B’s support of Trump. 

I know that’s silly but I suppose I just assume we’re the same unless a conversation or an event leads me to think otherwise.

And … tbh I feel like this was an inevitable event. (What was that spidermen meme around this? OH, I cannot interfere, this is a canon event).

Hate to say it but Mickey called it — I do like an old school man. I want a man to take care of me, to take care of the household, to protect us and to be a strong figure.

So of course why wouldn’t he support Trump? AND I DO MEAN SUPPORT LIGHTLY… as in he didn’t vote (even though he would have if we were in a swing state and he was registered in time … so the clarification is really unnecessary).

Trump’s campaign ran on promising a better economy (so more $$ to support “our family”), cracking down on immigration (semi-financial benefits but relates to crime & etc) and … well other stuff that I cant really come up with a correlation at the moment.

When it comes to the big ticket items, we agree. I can see the rationale when it comes to what I feel more left on and he comes in with a more “rational” rightish thought.

It really comes down to culture politics and the fact that I think I’m more accepting and he’s more limiting due to one off cases.

The question is … is that enough? Are the shared beliefs enough? Can I accept him as he is — as a trump supporter?

I do feel a slight tinge of shame associated with it. That it says something about ME.

Which of course — it does! But really what it should say is that I am open-minded and not bigoted.

Because I do think a majority of my girlfriends (who mostly happen to be a politician every 4 years…) would treat this as a dealbreaker. 

And more power to them.

But it’s nothing to be ashamed of! If anything, that is a clear example of the divisiveness that is pushing us into this state of the nation.

June had a good point — that this should really should be a check in on the rest of our relationship.

Do I feel okay about his career, about our future together (financially), about him raising our future children?

I think the career and financial concerns… I think I need to weigh those more closely this year. I am giving him a shot — I am saying that I’ve never felt like we can’t do something because of monetary reasons but of course it bothers me that he still lives at home.

Like … I think I made up my mind that I am not staying in the basement any longer.

It’s not an innovative thought in any way but I do just want to see if we can just be happy together.

Because coming out of spending the weekend together… I am just happy today.

I don’t want to say goodbye to him.

I love him.

And as much as I’m trying to figure out what that all means… I do know that.

That he’ll always have that place in my heart. That I’ll always feel that.

The care he shows to me… the way he makes me feel safe.. the way he sees me… the way he puts up with my antics… I know other men could maybe do the same but I do love him for that. Beyond what he does for me… his slow and steady nature… his goofy cute sleepy state… his dorky love for history and plane videos… how he shows care to his family and me … I love it.

This drink is stronger than I thought and I have to pee!! None of this makes sense!!!

[lesser-mook]

50 Cent Turns on Democrats

Migrants my ass, if they here illegally, fuck em.

If you did the process legally, welcome home.

More so,

If Capitalism is so goddamn bad, WHY is EVERYONE coming here then? This is how you know Communism & Socialism are full of goddamn shit , or at least? The people trying to turn countries into that. Those that talk the loudest about why Socialism works, are usually saying that in a Capitalist paradigm where their benefit is due to Capitalism, not the crap they’re preaching.

Mfs want you to believe being an American Nationalist is a bad thing,  Socialism should take over America..... or how about INSTEAD of the Socialists in America complaining, why not simply get the fuck out and go to a socialist country.

But here is where they stay anyway, why? People are full of shit.

Let them do their thing, let us do ours, these people trying assimilate America need to stop trying to morph us into something we're not. Just like you wouldn't go to China and tell them to become Capitalist: Reason number one, cause you know you wouldn't get away with that shit. Which tells you enough by itself.

Their Government will shut yo ass down, they can control the internet, thus they control the language, they control who sees the content, sounds a lot like Youtube. Coincidence? Oh yeahh, definitely. (Doesn’t smell like assimilation to me, no definitely not.) Sounds ideal doesn't it.

The Chinese are under lock & key, but you want to tell me what America would be better off as? While speaking freely online in a Capitalist country? 

Fuck. Off.

Live in America, then go to China with the same energy, give it 10 years, send a postcard and tell us how great it is.

If yer gonna complain about America, then face the issues concerning specific policy, not just an economic methodology because bitching and moaning about America gets you likes or makes you sound like you're ahead of the curve, when you’re just theorizing at best.

Point being, on policy--

 Why are we handing out resources to migrants that we're not giving to black people in Section 8 who need better environments for their American born babies or homeless that are shitting under Bridges, living in boxes, freezing to death.

Then NewYork has this policy going on where the inner city is being designed to be as anti-homeless as possible, to where benches are welded & have spikes on them to make homeless people feel pain if they sleep on them, even the sidewalk is off limits.

SO you don’t just give them opportunities to not be homeless or any of those empty ass buildings the city is NOT using, buuuut yer handing out free plane tickets & money to fucking migrants, who likely didn’t come here through due process????

What the fuck makes them so special?

How are AMERICANS  already here being treated no better than animals, living off low wages/tips  but invaders get handouts. What the actual fuck.

That sounds like Capitalism failing, but in reality, politicians on THEIR level simply need to take care of their own first. That’s it. It’s really that fucking simple.  

(Cause word to the wise, every nation has it's own problems regardless of what system they're using. If you know of a country with ZERO problems? Point us in that direction.  Or better yet, WHY aren't YOU living there already? )

We need that conversation being had more than college bums theorizing socialism is the answer when migrants are RUNNING FROM socialist /communist governed nations.

Getting a Passport, getting on a Delta flight and getting the fuck out of America is frankly, not that difficult.

Streamers for example, who champion socialism, WITH MONEY might I add, still won’t leave and remain here. 

Funny how that works.

If capitalism was really that shitty, the people that propose America should become communist/socialist, wouldn’t stay in America and they would fucking leave to a nation that already upholds their idea of ideal economy.

I repeat, they won’t leave. Because they’re all full of shit.

The world ain’t small, but thanks to the Airline system. It’s not as big as it used to be. The people wanting socialism have zero fucking excuse.

And on top of that, I repeat, WHY IS EVERYONE clamoring here & other Capitalist regions like the U.K, if Capitalism is so goddamn bad.

So sick of the gaslighting from mfs who hate America like a funky Ex-Girlfriend, won’t pledge, post pictures of themselves flipping off the land they stand on, “Capitalism, Reeeeee!”, have definite opinions, ready to debate pointlessly, and yet their ass is glued to American soil anyway.

[garudabluffs]

Ticketmaster cancels Taylor Swift general sale ticket sales set for Friday                     NOV.17,2022

Surging demand overwhelmed a presale of tickets for the 2023 tour, and Ticketmaster said there wasn’t enough tickets left for the general public. Many fans have expressed outrage at the tour rollout.

“Tickets have been reselling for as much as $28,000, Reuters reported.”

READ MORE https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/11/17/taylor-swift-ticketmaster-presale/

Comments 714 

"...resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests” — four-times its previous web traffic peak."So almost half the earth's population tried to buy Swift tickets?

‘He said that a competitor promoted (?)) Swift’s show and chose Ticketmaster to sell the tickets because “we are, in reality, the largest and most effective ticket seller in the world.” '  Ummm, isn't that what a monopoly is?” Reply:”No, there are other ticketing companies they just don't have capacity to sell 2.5 million tickets.”

FYI - the Taylor Swift tour is not being promoted by Live Nation.  Her promoter is Louis Messina, whose company is owned by AEG.  AEG is Live Nation's largest competitor, and has their own ticketing company (AXS.com).

“Ticketmaster is the only DIRECT 1ST PARTY ticket sales company which makes it a monopoly.  Their connection with/to LIVE Nation which bought up and continues to buy up most of the venues which after purchase only sells tickets through Ticketmaster makes it a monopoly. Unless tickets are sold directly by a venue ( and there are very few that still do) any ticket selling company other than Ticketmaster is a scalper ticket seller who is using algorithms to get the best seats and who in turn jacks up the prices to make a profit. Only way to resolve it is to STOP selling tickets online. Make people provide ID in person to buy the tickets and to show the same ID for the same tickets at show time.

Eric Church tried to play venues not connected to TM or LN he found it  was impossible. Eddie Vedder and others tried yrs ago to stop the sale involving TM & LN and no one listened then.Hopefully this TS ticket mess will bust open the scam that is TM! “

“The venues have an exclusive contract with Ticketmaster. If you want to have a concert at a large venue, you must use Ticketmaster.”

“Taylor Swift is a well curated marketing initiative in which PR teams, publicists and make up artists seem to play a bigger role than music.”

“The company is the one who sold to the bots. I joined the verified fan list the minute it opened and was placed on a waiting list. The company is known for scalping it's own tickets and it's a problem when all of the large shows less than 10% are actually made available to fans. Now they are also using the dynamic pricing, when a Bruce Springsteen show the cheapest ticket was $5000 it's a monopoly that needs broken up. Tickets were being listed for $35,000 for this show and the company charges ridiculous fee's twice for every ticket. Anyone who thinks that she was the one getting all of this money is a fool.”

“I was lucky to get tickets during the verified fan and Capital One pre-sales, but d*mn, that dynamic pricing is brutal!  Floor and pit seats in Chicago were like $500+!  The nosebleed seats were going for $109!  I get to spend the next year paying off my CC now for our tickets :/  Most of the decent seats are way too pricey for the average fan..... “

BAN  THE  BOTS “The president of Ticketmaster just said on CBS Evening News that they knew their queue was full of bots not just legitimate individuals and did and apparently do nothing to filter them out.  This is where the super massive secondary market of tickets comes from.  Authorized scalpers and price gougers should be ILLEGAL ! “

“ Bollocks.Most of the tickets were dumped onto Stubhub by TM (owned by TM) with the artist’s approval. She takes a cut off the upsell. Happens all the time.” Nonsense. StubHub is not owned by Ticketmaster.

Tix were $119 each...so $55 in fees on a $238 purchase.  Ridiculous.

“What we were trying to say was: this could get worse if someone doesn’t fight it now,” Vedder told me in 2009, just as Live Nation and Ticketmaster were set to merge. “And apparently it looks like we predicted the future.” (Independent, 2019)

[clonetrobed]

top jeffery "poor lil meow meow wet cardboard box puppy dog eyes screaming crying throwing up lip quivering putting a big blanket over and bringing tea to" winger moments?

oh GREAT question i know you’re probably not looking for a comprehensive list but i wanna see how many i can actually come up with

(under the cut bc this got LONG, and bc tumblr only allows 10 pictures per post i had to compile them weirdly but they correspond with their numbers on the list)

1. first and foremost we have "i skated by my whole life until my law firm found out i was faking my degree and i'm very sad that now i have to study for my community college spanish 1 test" 2. when the life changing kiss was just britta owing him a favor 3. "i just saw my crush making out with the crunchiest hippiest dude in school what does he have that i don't my nipples are SO much bigger than his" 4. "maybe if you put stain remover on a turd you don't get a diamond you just get a turd with less direction in life"

5. dating slater but still in love with britta 6. someone's mommy gave him too much praise and now he can't cope with being bad at pottery 7. no one gives a shit that he’s leaving the room 8. tfw u find out you're an unlikable leading man :/

9. his bisexual awakening 10. daddy issues pt.1 11. tfw you share a vulnerable memory but it turns out your friend was just doing another fuckign homage 12. it was a particularly small egg :(

13. “i know the paintball guy is hotter than me but i’m offended that you would mention it” 14. bio 101 “well well well if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions” 15. *uncomfortably remembering that kissing a 19 year old again would be gross of him* 16. daddy issues pt.2 “jeff tell us about your father” “i’m gonna go get a drink”

17. when he couldn’t tell anymore where jeff ended and the dean began 18. tfw you find out your fun mom friend made you piss your pants as a kid and traumatized you away from playing foosball until your 30s 19. daddy issues pt.3 “my daddy said he would stay with my mommy forever and he left” 20. really brutal when howie schwartz wins most handsome young man over you even though it’s his bar mitzvah 

21. needing to find out why britta was so obsessed with her ex boyfriend named after a kickboxing vampire movie 22. daddy issues pt.4 23. daddy issues pt.5 24. daddy issues pt.6 you keep this ticket stub in your wallet

25. jeff winger hero at law 26. “no i’m not in love with britta i just have aa drinking problem jk it’s both” 27. not that we have time to Unpack All Of That but everything about GI jeff 28. “we saved greendale.......and now they’re gonna sell it”

29. i’m jeff winger and i’m gonna save us all with the power of my Feelings 30. that time he had to win back the dean’s love and affection 31. “every single one of you is gonna leave here except for me” 32. “i was right everyone’s leaving me hello darkness my old friend”

[kyotakumrau]

2021.03.10 USEN STUDIO COAST 2nd session with Toshiya and Kyo

Fujieda and Takabayashi again came on stage when the tables were ready and after greeting everyone and introducing themselves F asked fans to give band members a loud applause👏

Toshiya and Kyo came back and they both changed for the second session!

Unconfirmed until DIRT announcement, but most likely T was wearing DIRT items: light grey cardigan and black and white floral print set, top and bottom, with a thick white stripe with black frame on the sides. Plus sunglasses.

Kyo was wearing Madaraningen, MANG white shirt with the tie and black slacks, white socks with colorful accent, gold choice of Madara jewellery. And big glasses.

They sat in the same order as for the 1st session.→F K T Ta

T: I'm Toshiya, yoroshiku onegaishimasu

K: I'm Kyo.

The whole time during the 1st session K was turned slightly to the right, but during the 2nd session he was basically sitting facing F.

F: (after he talked about Rock-May-Kan footage) It's the first time you performed Ochita koto no aru sora. Did you have any trouble with it?

T: hm. Chorus is hard.

F: continues fast.

T: yeah. But you just practice and get used to playing it.

F: Shinya said that thanks to the rehearsal you did as the rhythm section songs he got them back quickly.

T: I see. He should be grateful😆

F: How about you, K? Any trouble?

K: don't know (he's looking to the left side of the venue)

F: you've only performed it once.

K: wah! (still intensely looking at the left wall of the venue or somewhere that direction)

F: 😱?! why are you looking there?? Can you see anything?!

K: thingy there is moving and moving...

F: whaaaaat, don't scare us like that!

K: ... (he continued to look there).

👻？😂

F: Didn't you play Jealous first time in a really long time? Wasn't it hard?

T: it wasn't a big surprise, we were planning it originally for the SOGAI tour.

F: the cancelled tour.

T: We were waiting until the last moment to see if we can go on with it or we have to cancel, so we had the proper rehearsal for the tour. So when rehearsing it for Rock-May-Kan show it didn't feel like it's been a long time.

F: K you said it was embarrassing to remember and perform it?

K made the 'robot move' from PV with a totally blank face😂

F: you also played Umbrella, so will you be playing more old songs?

K: Anything is okay except 'Toriko'. There's a drums solo in the end, it's so long and the switch to the next song gets so confusing.

T: How about we leave S and just go?

😂

Then they talked how Shinya fans and other fans would react.

K: Wouldn't fans be troubled with [he made the robot move]?

😆

F: you T don't mind old songs?

T: they're fine/no problem.

F moved the talk to the flyer and their new artist photo.

K: Auspicious/celebrating. Like New Year. And osechi.

F: I see, if using food to explain it's like osechi.

F: How was the filming of the PV?

T: Really long. But speaking of refreshing/Sawayaka, do you know the hamburger shop with that name?

F: it's in Shizuoka (F then again got very enthusiastic talking about how delicious is the meat there, how very juicy etc)

T: so PV is like that (like a juicy meat😂).

F: the single cover art is very unexpected for you.

K: I know and like this artist from before, I asked her to do it for us. I really like it.

After that was time for the merchandise topic. F announced that he confirmed that the rechargeable heat pack can also work as a charger/power bank. K who asked about it in Yokohama and was then told that no, it's just a heat pack just gave him such a look. F, you're not gonna get out of this alive😂

K: ...it'd be such a good item in winter, so it's for the next one? We don't sell it in winter, only for warm season. Wow, heat pack for the warm season...

/s by K👌💯

F started to enthusiastically advertise the towel saying like a muffler it can be worn on a cold day to keep you warm, and K...😂

But T was also poking so much fun at F with his reactions, 'oh I see! Wow!' 😂

T: I think we haven't had wristbands in a while.

K: what are you actually supposed to do with it?

F: you can wipe the sweat off (he gestured wiping sweat from his brow)?

K: I see. Then what about the towel then? (he also gestured using a towel with one hand and a wristband with the other at the same time [kinda like the Jealous robot move], the look he gave F and that pause when he waited for F to dare to answer, oh my, F, you're so dead🤣)

But T and Ta said that guitarists actually use it to keep sweat off their hands etc.

K: so with all of these fans are settled for the show at Tokyo Garden Theater?  (F was nodding to all listed items) These and the ticket and we're good? And the train ticket? Ah no, commuter pass? What should they wear? (F: The hoodie) But then we don't sell any bottoms, should fans go without any pants? What? But we have two items to wipe sweat!

F: fans can bring the travel pouch, usb, they all fit perfectly in the bag! All good items especially if you come from outside of Tokyo.

K: and no bottoms😆

F: well, they need extra money for the ticket and their own bottoms.💦

F also advertised venue limited edition of Ochita.

K: so there are no plans for normal sale? When it gets sold out that's it?

F: yeah.

(it's contradictory with Kaoru's tweet, not sure if I trust F😂)

After that we moved to the section with questions from fans. F as usual split the papers so everyone got some, K this time didn't even read them, just putting them in F's pile😂 but then he was leaning over all the time trying to read what F was looking at😁

F said there many questions about where T stands on the seat choice.

T: on shinkansen I prefer window, on the airplane aisle.

F: why?

T: if I need to stand up to go to toilet etc it's easier.

F: but on the train you prefer a nice view, I see. Shinya said he prefers window seat any time.

T: He's a kid.

F then told her about the rest of the seat preference story (table down idea and S not needing to stand up at all).

F: "are you okay with the pineapple in a sweet and sour pork? Is there any food you're not okay with?"

K: I don't mind. I don't like milk and coriander. But there's something, not exactly food, that I totally hate. You know when you go to a shushi restaurant, conveyor belt sushi, there's alcohol to clean your hands. (K then said if there's a perfume like smell in it you can't enjoy food or something like that).

K (looking at the venue wall calmly): oh it moved.

F: WHAT??!😱

😂

T: I don't mind the pineapple, it's actually very good to help make meat more tender

F: Is there any food you hate, T?

T: The food F doesn't like.

(does it exist??😂)

K: F, you have to understand pineapple's feelings.

F:

K: I thought you F would get pineapple's feelings.

F: I'll try to step in pineapple's shoes...

K: Pineapple is often disliked, but it's being helpful...

K tried to sway F a bit more into becoming a pineapple...

Ta: I'm ok with it, pineapple's feelings are safe.

T: "please tell us F's one good point and one thing you would like him to improve". F is so popular.

F: Not at all😅

K: despite the pineapple...

F: so, T?

T: He can appreciate food/has good appetite, is energetic. Something to fix is that he answers everything with そうっすね/yeahsure

F: K said something similar.

T: About Tooru (he used Takabayashi's given name), he's very good at laying groundwork for projects. Something to improve... well, when I think of something I'll let you know (to Ta).

Ta: Anytime.

K: Ta's good point, he does his job in a matter of fact manner. He doesn't exactly has something to fix, but he can't eat cheese, so fe when we go abroad he can't have pizza.

K: there are so many things F should fix.

F: That ﾊｲﾊｲﾊｲ・yeahyeahyeah

K: ...🙃 just answer with one proper はい

K also complained again about F's eating manners that he opens his mouth too much when eating, sometimes also will turn his head when eating ramen like it's easier to eat (K demostrated F eating posture, arms high and head turned - a bit like Jealous robot pose😆)

F: any good points?😆

K: ...hm. You make every place comfortable. I can relax with you, I wouldn't be speaking at all if you weren't here.

Both fans and F went 'Aaaaaw😊'

Ta: "are there any electronic goods you want right now?"

K: ...hm, solar panels.

F: does that count as electronic goods?

K: isn't it electronic? I want one you can put on the roof and make your own power.

T: yeah, solar panels would be nice.

K: And you can sell electricity to power companies. It's expensive at first, but after 10 years you can start make money, also you can use it if there's an earthquake.

F: can we get it at the store?

K: Why not, you could carry it home on your back!

F: Maybe not...

K: Can I put one on you F?

F: No.

K: then tattoo the giraffe on you, one long giraffe stretching from neck to knees.

F: You like giraffes.

K: Yes (noded)

K got so excited about the giraffe, F won't hear the emd of this idea😂

F: " do you have a favorite female idol or singer?"

K: This morning I was listening to Togawa Jun, レーダーマン.

F: you T?

T: No one in particular. But ones from the past.

F: like globe?

T: isn't it wrong age?

K: globe is the band with Sam?

F: I think that's TRF, in globe it's Mark Panther and Komuro Tetsuya.

F: "how about favorite artist or band you like?" Or just music you like.

K:  I'm listening now to Sekiri (赤痢), an old female band.

F: foreign band?

K: From Japan, with 3 female members.

T: I just use shuffle, listen to music without choosing who to listen to.

F: It's a streaming age now.

T: Is it?😆

F: Ok we still have plenty of time, "what's your shoe size?"

K: 24.5, for sports shoes 25.5.

T: 27, for sports I go bigger, maybe 28 or 29. Boots are better just right. But why do you need such information?😅

F: Usually fans can't ask such things, like do you pull your hoodie strings? (?)

K: I don't.

T: it depends on my mood.

F: ok, not much time left now, we will finish soon.

T: but you just said we have plenty??😆

Ta: "what your favorite album/single cover art?"

T: to pick just one is tough.

Ta: S said that Oboro is in his top 5 now.

T: Favorite cover... hm... what is it, I know, MISSA!😆

F: it's cool, it has members photo.

T: it does?😂

K: For me its DUM. It really captured album's worldview.

F (unsure): are you angry?

K: S answered that Oboro is in his top 5 to the question what's your favorite? Why?😑

F explained the situation, that it wasn't to the same question, K just replied 'I see'.

And then when F just wanted to finish K said they should do all of the leftover questions, but without thinking too long, very rapid q&a

(and absolute nightmare to write down but so SO entertaining🤣 sorry I'm not sure about all the questions it was TOO FAST)

K: hurry up!

F: (something about some time in their life)

K: now, next.

F: what about T?

K just rushed him😆

F: food you want to eat now.

K: choboyaki

F: T, a fragrance you like (?)

T: Aroma.

F: sakura season will start soon, do you have favorite spot?

K: when is soon supposed to be?

F: T, is there something you want now?

T: No.

F: K, do you color your hair by yourself?

K: Yes, next.

F: Bread or rice?

T: Both.

F: what do you buy in convenience store?

K: sweets

F: what do you do first after waking up?

T: open eyes.

D: which convenience store do you like best?

K: Convenience store.

F: do you eat skin on the chicken?

T: I like the skin best.

F: (how do you deal with stress??)

K: stress.

F: T, do you sleep naked or wear pajama to bed?

T: Pajama.

F: (something about Oboro photo shoot???)

K did the robot move in reply😆

F: which style of clothes you like when shopping?

T: simple.

F: To finish, what's your favourite obento side dish?

K (gave F disbelieving look): You want to finish with this?

F: We asked others tok, everyone had different preferences.

K: what were other members answers?

F: for Kaoru green beans or asparagus, for S hamburger, Die... we talked yesterday, but what was it?

K (seriously): I like unagi.

(marinated eel is delicious, but also very expensive, so definitely not a side😅)

F: it's delicious.

K: It is.

T: is this really needed? Don't have one, just nothing that makes food soggy... Ah, but you know when you have a pickled plum on your rice, you move it and there's this pink spot with plum flavor? I like that!

Then it was really the end and time for the last comments.

Kyo: I don't have anything.

F: By this you surely mean you're looking forward to seeing everyone in May...

K (killer face): ...💢

Toshiya: Thank you for coming today. We are having a concert in Tokyo Garden Theater on May 6th, please come if you want to. Thank you.

[jungshook69]

.:☆.°☾.Jealous.☾°.☆.:

DISCLAIMER: This doesn’t represent the members’ actions or the army’s actions in any manner it’s pure fiction. This is an original work, do not copy. The taglist is open if you want. Taglist is now closed.

WORD COUNT: 871 words

PAIRING/S: Hoseok X female reader

GENRE: Established relationship au ; Oneshot/Imagine

WARNINGS: None

ABOUT: This oneshot is part of a 7 part BTS imagine called “Jealous”. This oneshot is a reaction imagine of how each member would get jealous of their s/o in a given situation.

7 PARTS: Namjoon || Seokjin || Yoongi || Hoseok || Jimin || Taehyung || Jungkook

STATUS: Complete

☆.。.:*・°☾.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☾☆.。.:*・°☾.。.:*・

“What if they don’t like me?” you say nervously rubbing your clammy palms against the material of your skirt.

“Don’t worry babe, they’ll love you.” Hobi said grabbing your hand in his and planting a peck on your knuckles.

With your hand still tightly bound with his, he led you to the room where the photoshoot was going to happen. You were meeting your boyfriend’s bandmates for the first time, and of course you being you, were a nervous wreck.

But all of that nervous energy left you the moment you saw Hobi’s warm smile directed at you. And it wasn’t so bad after all. He introduced you to all the members and stayed beside you as long as he could. Soon it was his turn for the individual photoshoots.

You stood there watching him pose, thinking to yourself, how lucky you were, to have him in your life, when a voice interrupted your thoughts.

“Hi Y/N”

You tore your gaze away from your boyfriend to meet eyes with Namjoon. “Hello Namjoon”

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Hobi hyung talks very fondly of you.”

“The pleasure is mine.”

“So, you’re an English major huh?”

“Yeah, I actually want to write books, but I couldn’t take that career path due to a few monetary issues. So I had to go into journalism to secure a salary. Now that I have a stable financial income, Hobi has convinced me to revive my interest in writing, so I’m doing some research now for my upcoming book.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Preferred author?”

“I’d go with the classic, Charles Dickens”

“Ahhh a classic. I’m more of a Thomas Hardy guy.”

“You’re into… literature?”

“Yes I love reading, it’s my favorite pass time. I feel at peace when I read.”

“Same! I spend most of my days at the Chungwoon literature library”

“Oh wow, me too. We’re pretty alike huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so” you said returning his warm smile.

“Oh you have dimples too?” he says pointing out.

“We really are alike.” you said laughing out loud.

“Well I’d love to talk to you about a few works if you ever have time. But unfortunately I have to take a leave now, it’s my turn for the photo shoot.”

“Sure I’d love that.”

“Bye Y/N, it was nice talking to you.” he said walking away.

“Bye Namjoon.”

You turned your gaze away from the conversation you were so engrossed in, only to find Hobi missing. You ask around a few staff and learn that he was last seen retreating towards his changing room. You finally make it to his dressing room after troubling at least 10 staff members for directions.

You open the door and you’re greeted with the sight of his bare back as he slips on his white t-shirt. “Hey babe, how was the photo shoot?”

“Good” he says in a soft voice.

“I didn’t expect you to leave me alone, but thank god I found you, I would’ve gotten lost if it weren’t for the kind staff mem-“ you stopped your little rant as you realized Hobi’s expression remained unwavered as he began cleaning up the place, hanging his clothes up on an empty hanger.

“Hey what’s wrong?” you ask concern laced in your voice which he must’ve sensed since he laughed an unhearty laugh and responded dryly “Nothing, everything great.”

“Okay even an interviewer could tell that was a fake laugh. What’s going on babe?”

“It’s- It’s nothing. It’s stupid.”

“Come on babe tell me, you’re worrying me.”

“It’s just that… immediately after my photo shoot, I was gonna surprise you with tickets to the Yoon Dongju literature museum… and spend some alone time with you… just you and me… but I guess you were busy talking to Namjoonie”

“Oh were you jealous babe?” you said poking fun at him.

“No” he said looking down at his feet. “But I know how much you love literature… and I know I’m not good at discussing the topics you love to talk about… but I want to try so you’d be able to talk to me about something you’re passionate about”

“Okay all jokes aside… I’m sorry, but I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. Hobi you know I love you right? And it’s okay if you don’t like literature… I mean I don’t try to indulge myself in dance do I? I love you for who you are baby, please don’t change yourself for me, or anyone for that matter.”

“Thanks babe.” He said moving forward and embracing you in his arms. As soon as your head hit his warm chest, the sound of his heart thumping being music to your ears, you felt all your worries being washed away.

“You still up for that museum tour?” he asks meeting your gaze.

“Absolutely, as long as I’m with you.” You replied smiling.

“Well let’s go we don’t wanna be late now do we?” he says grabbing his jacket.

He then places a quick peck on the corner of your lips as he giggles like a 5 year old kid, “Inappropriate work kiss, too quick can’t stop me.”

You blush at his action and hurriedly leave the room before your face turns too red.

☆.。.:*・°☾.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☾☆.。.:*・°☾.。.:*・

A/N: Here I wanted to show that Hoseok is the type of person who always puts others needs before his. Even if he’s upset, he prioritises solving other people’s problems first. He’s an absolute angel and I don’t know what we did to deserve him. And he deserves all the love in the world.

Don’t forget to follow @jungshook69​ for more content:) You can check out more works of mine here. Have a great day:)

TAGLIST: -

[snarksandkisses]

What I think about COVID-19 this morning - Malia Jones, PhD, MPH

What I think about COVID-19 this morning

March 5, 2020

 Maybe I'm the closest thing you personally know to an infectious disease epidemiologist. Maybe not--I'm not an expert on this virus by any stretch, but I have general knowledge and training from studying epidemics that is applicable, so here are my thoughts. 

 First and foremost: we are going to see a tremendous increase in the number of US cases of COVID-19 in the next week. This is not because of some new pattern in the spread of the disease, but rather due to a major change in the requirements to be tested. Until yesterday, if you had flulike illness but had not recently traveled to China, Italy, South Korea, or Iran, you could not be tested. This is just the way healthcare works, you get tested if you meet the case definition and the case definition included travel.

 As of yesterday, you can be tested if you are sick and have a doctor's order to be tested. So expect things to feel a lot more panicky all of a sudden. We will see hundreds or thousands of new cases as a result of testing increases.

 Second: is that panic legitimate? Sort of. This is not the zombie apocalypse. The death rate of 30 deaths per 1000 cases is probably a wild overestimate. (The denominator is almost certainly wrong because it is confirmed cases--and we only confirm cases when we test for them). That said, even at 3 per 1000 cases, this would be a big deal. A very big deal. By way of comparison, the death rate for influenza is between 1 and 2 in 1000 cases. So, yeah. Roughly 0x to 30x worse than a huge global flu pandemic? That's a problem.

 Unlike flu, COVID-19 is not *particularly* dangerous for children, so that’s some happy news. It is dangerous for older adults and those with lung conditions, so we need to be extra careful to protect those populations from exposure. 

Also, for millions of Americans, getting any serious illness requiring a hospitalization is a major problem because they can't pay for it. And our health care system is probably going to struggle to keep up with it all. And with China basically closed, our global economy is going to take a huge hit and we'll feel the shockwaves for years. Those are real concerns.

 What can we do? Our focus should be on *slowing down the spread* of this disease so that we have time to get caught up. Here is my advice:

 1. Wash. Your. Hands. Wash them so much.

The current best guess is that coronavirus is transmitted via close contact and surface contamination. A very small study came out yesterday suggesting that the virus causing COVID-19 is *mostly* transmitted via contact with contaminated surfaces.

I have started washing my hands each time I enter a new building and after being in shared spaces (classrooms especially), in addition to the standard practice of washing after using the bathroom and before eating. Soap and water. Hand sanitizer also kills this virus, as does rubbing alcohol (the main ingredient in hand sanitizer).

 There is no need to be obsessive about this. Just wash your hands. A little bit more effort here goes a long way. 

 2. Don’t pick your nose. Or put your fingers in your mouth, on your lips, or in your eyes. Surface contact works like this: you touch something dirty. Maybe it's an elevator button. Virus sticks to your hands. Then you rub your eye. Then you touch your sandwich, and put the sandwich in your mouth. Now there is virus in your eyes and mouth. See?

 You may be thinking, but I don’t pick my nose because I am an adult! An observational study found that people sitting at a desk working touched their eyes, nose, or lips between 3 and 50 times per hour. Perfectly normal grown-ups, not lowlifes like my friends.

 2a. There was one note that came out suggesting that face masks actually promote surface contamination because you're always adjusting them--i.e., touching your face. I don’t know if that’s true. But face masks should not be worn by the public right now, unless you are the person who is sick and you're on your way to or actually at the doctor's office. The mask’s function is to prevent spit from flying out of your mouth and landing on things when you cough or sneeze. It flies out of your mouth and is caught in the mask instead. If you are the person who is sick and not on the way to the doctor, go home. Let the people who really need them have the masks. Like doctors.

 [ETA on 3/6/2020 honestly people I am getting so much push back on the mask recommendation!! The world is running low on masks. If everyone wants a mask so they can feel ok about keeping their Daytona Beach Spring Break plans and then hospitals in India can't buy them anymore, shame on us.]

 Coronavirus does not appear to be airborne in the sense that doesn't remain floating around freely in the air for a long time, like measles does. You are probably not going to breathe it in, unless someone is coughing in front of you. If someone is coughing in your face, feel free to tell them to get their ass home and move 6 feet away from them. (Yeah I know, if you have a toddler, you're screwed.)

 3. Sanitize the objects you and lots of other people touch, especially people outside your family--like door handles, shared keyboards at schools (brrr), salad bar tongs, etc. Best guesses are that the virus can live on surfaces for 2-48 hours, maybe even longer, depending on the surface, temperature, and humidity.

 Many common household cleaning products will kill this virus. However, white vinegar solution does not. You can make your own inexpensive antimicrobial spray by mixing 1 part household bleach to 99 parts cold tap water. Spray this on surfaces and leave for 10-30 minutes. Note: this is bleach. It will ruin your sofa.

 4. "Social distancing." You're going to get so sick of this phrase. This means keeping people apart from one another (preferably 6 feet apart, and sanitizing shared objects). This public health strategy is our next line of defense, and its implementation is what will lead to flights and events cancelled, borders closed, and schools closed.

 For now, you could limit face-to-face meetings, especially large ones. Zoom is an excellent videoconferencing option. If you spend time in shared spaces, see #1. Ask your child's school about their hygiene plan, if they haven't already told you what it is. If I were in charge of a school setting, I'd be hand sanitizing the s*** out of the kids' hands, including in and out of each space, and taking temperatures at the door. I am planning to email our school nurse right after this to ask if they need my volunteer help cleaning surfaces.

 If you can telecommute, do that a little more. If you are someone's boss and they could do their job remotely, encourage them to do that. 

 Avoid large gatherings of people if at all possible, especially if they are in an area with cases OR places that lots of people travel to. If you attend group events and start to feel even a little bit sick within 2 to 14 days, you need to self isolate immediately. Like for a tiny tickle in your throat.

 5. All your travel plans are about to get screwed up. If you are considering booking flights right now, get refundable tickets. ETA: most trip insurance will not cover cancellations due to a pandemic. Look for "cancel for any reason" trip insurance. 

 Considerations for risks related to that trip you’re planning: how bad would it be if you got stuck where you are going for 3 to 6 weeks? How bad would it be to be isolated at home for 2-3 weeks upon your return? Do you have direct contact with people who are over 70 and/or have lung conditions? If those seem really bad to you, rethink your trip, especially if it is to a location where there are confirmed cases. 

 6. If you are sick, stay home. Please! For the love of all that is holy. Stay at home. Your contributions to the world are really just not that important.

 7. There is a good chance some communities will see school cancelled and asked to limit non-essential movement. If someone in your family gets sick your family will almost certainly be isolated for 2-3 weeks (asked to stay at home). You could start stocking up with essentials for that scenario, but don't run out and buy a years' worth of toilet paper. Again, not the apocalypse. 2 weeks' worth of essential items. Refill any prescriptions, check your supply of coffee, kitty litter, and jigsaw puzzles.

 8. I do want to remind everyone that when public health works, the result is the least newsworthy thing ever: nothing happens. If this all fizzles out and you start feeling like ‘Wah, all that fuss for nothing??’ Then send a thank-you note to your local department of public health for a job well done. Fingers crossed for that outcome.

 9. Look, I think there are some positives here. All this handwashing could stop flu season in its tracks! We have an opportunity to reduce our global carbon footprint by telecommuting more, flying less, and understanding where our stuff comes from. We can use this to think about the problems with our healthcare system. We can use this to reflect on our positions of privilege and implicit biases. We can start greeting each other using jazz hands. I'm genuinely excited about those opportunities.

 There is a lot we don't yet know about this virus. It didn't even exist 90 days ago. So stay tuned, it is an evolving situation. The WHO website has a decent FAQ. Free to email or text with questions, and you can forward this to others if you think it's useful.

 May the force be with you. 

 Malia Jones, PhD, MPH

maliajones@gmail.com

 I’m an Assistant Scientist in Health Geography at the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I study social contact of humans, and spatial patterns of infectious disease, among other things. 

   P.S. The number one question I am getting is, did you really write this? Yes. I wrote this. 

 I didn't write it for professional purposes, so I didn't put my work email on it. It was really just meant to be an email to my friends and family in advance of what I expect to be an escalation in the panic level. But it was apparently welcome information and went viral on FB. I've decided not to edit out the swears, even though I wrote this with a much smaller audience in mind. 

 Thanks for checking your facts! Go science! 

[livthedragon]

Dream SMP Animal Rescue Center AU

The L’Manburg Animal Rescue Center (LARC) is a well-known institution dedicated to the well-being of all animals known to man. The facility receives animals from all over the world, and has staff fit for any creature that gallops, swims, flies, climbs, or runs into their care. With hundreds of acres of land at its disposal, the Rescue Center is equipped to care for animals that cannot be released back into the wild for as long as they may live. Come and visit with our season pass, or drop by anytime with admission tickets half off for the kids! Anyone 15 or older is welcome to come and volunteer their help towards these wonderful beings!

~

Alright, now that the official canon stuff is done, I’d like to make a few quick notes on pthis AU! First off, this was inspired by Dazenightmare’s Grocery store AU, so go check them out as well! If you have any idea or comments about this piece, the ask box is always open! Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and without further ado, I present my DreamSMP Animal Rescue Center AU!

-Liv💫

(P.s, I’ll be setting things up by showing the character’s official staff introductions first, and then my personal notes on them! This is how most things will be presented!)

~

Our Wonderful Staff!

Listed below is all of our fantastic employees, each with important and essential jobs to keep LARC running smoothly! If you ever need anything, they’ll be happy to help!

~

Even though they all have differing roles and places in the hierarchy, the staff have always been tight-knit friends, almost a family. But, like any family, they definitely have their spats! As I come to think of more stuff I might edit this, but so far the employees are Nihachu, Puffy, Eret, Philza, Fundy, Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, Quackity, Techno, Ranboo, Purpled, Ponk, Awesamdude, George, Dream, Sapnap, Bad, Skeppy, Karl, Hbomb, Jack, Jschlatt, Foolish, and Ant. (Official names for introductions are Niki, Cara, Eret, Phil, Floris, Wilbur, Tommy, Toby, Alex, Dave, Ranboo, Grayson, Ponk, Sam, George, Clay, Nick, Darryl, Zak, Karl, Liam, Jack, Johnathan, Noah, and Antfrost,  in the same order as above. These are the real names of most of the characters, I couldn’t do the ones that haven’t done a name reveal. (I didn’t change Wilbur because it just did not feel right) If there’s a character you wanted to see that’s not here I’m sorry, it means I just don’t know enough about them. (I’m so sorry Punz fans, I’ll add him eventually but I’ve never watched him before and don’t want to improperly represent him!) The minors (Ranboo, Tommy, Tubbo, and Purpled) are technically volunteers and not employees, so they’ll be presented separately. I mention the Regulars (regular patrons) a couple times, these include other MCYTs! So keep an eye out for special appearances! Sadly, SBI is not canon in my AU. It just didn’t make much sense to me as I tried to write it, but if you want to interpret them as family you can! (They’re still very close, so they act just like a family even though they’re not related by blood!)

Clay - Clay is the manager of our facility, and has run it for 3 years now! He’s proven to be a capable and fun leader, and you can often find him wandering about with some other staff members! If you ever see him around, don’t be afraid to ask him for anything!

~

Dream - Since Dream is the founder and main leader of the SMP, making him the manager made the most sense! He kinda has two ‘settings’, his official business mode for when he needs to handle serious work, and his more chill mode he presents when he’s just hanging out with everyone. He’s never really pulled the ‘I’m your boss so listen to me blah blah’ thing before, he actually prefers to emphasize that he’s on the same level as anyone else, just with a fancy title. He’s only brought out his manager mode when it comes to his employees a few times before, like when one of Tommy’s pranks went too far, and when George was slacking off just a bit too much. Other than that, he’s a nice guy who considers all of his employees his friends, but he’s often busy with ‘manager things’ as he says.

George - Our trusty head of security, George is responsible for keeping our guests safe! He’s in charge of things like security cameras, patrols, and safety regulations regarding people. He’s often found manning the cameras or patrolling about! If you ever get lost or feel unsafe, he and the other security members are always ready to help!

~

George - He sleeps. A lot. When it says ‘often’ manning the cameras, that means always. Always manning the cameras, and 9 times out of 10 he’s sleeping. He patrols like, once a day for the bare minimum time purely because he has too. The only reason he isn’t fired at this point is because he has uncanny luck. Every time anything comes up that he’s needed in he’s always awake, without fail. Every time a crime (not really crimes more like petty stuff, vandalism and shoplifting from the souvenir stands) happens he always sees it. No one knows how, because he’s always sleeping anytime else. Despite that, he’s a pretty nice guy that everyone gets along with, and does his job good enough to keep people safe.

Nick, Sam, and Cara - Our loyal security guards, who faithfully patrol and protect! It”s their sworn duty to keep animals and people alike safe, and can always be turned to if needed! They can be found rotating between the different wings of the center, and are glad to help with any issue! You can easily identify their signature blue uniforms!

~

Sapnap - Since George is nearly always ‘occupied,’ Sap is usually the one who handles planning patrol routes and shift changes. Although he can definitely be mischievous or a jokester at times, he does take his job seriously. He’s kind to the little kids that visit, and likes to give them tours whenever Ponk and Eret are busy. He’s loved among the regulars, and knows them all by heart. He’s pulled his fair share of pranks (most often with Tommy, Skeppy, and even occasionally Dream to help him) but he takes care to not cause any serious damage. Overall, he’s a prankster, but he loves his job and fellow employees.

Sam -  Although he’s officially a security guard, he’s more like the resident handyman. Whenever there’s a problem with any electrical or plumbing systems (usually the fault of Tubbo, the poor kid breaks everything he touches) Sam usually handles it. He’s reliable, he doesn’t pull jokes like Sapnap does, but he can respect a good one. Despite being rather intimidating at first, Sam is gentle and can often be found helping Ant with the birds or Wilbur with the gazelles. He cares deeply for everyone, especially Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Purpled, and helps protect people whenever a Karen comes into the picture. He’s the one who helps elderly people cross the busy paths and gives directions to lost tourists.

Puffy - When she was first hired, people wondered why she chose to be a security guard. She was gentle and kind, and tried to avoid any and all conflict. But when a group of teens were spray painting the reptile house, it became obvious. Those kids not only volunteered to clean it themselves, but asked if they could help clean up garbage around the paths while Puffy stood over their shoulders. She’s been famous for her lectures ever since, and can even get Techno and Tommy under her thumb. Her gentle side definitely helps, and because she’s far less intimidating than the other guards, she’s the one who helps lost kids find their parents. She’s confident in herself, and shows it. No one questions her while she’s on patrol, despite being the smallest of the guards, she’s one of the strongest.

Eret and Ponk - Our lovely tour guides, they’re in charge of all the tours around the facility, from the reptile room to the butterfly greenhouse! Whenever you book a tour, one of these two will be in charge! They’re kind and energetic, and can be found with the scheduled tours all over our institute!

~

Eret - Eret is the more comedic of the two, often slipping in sarcastic jokes here and there on the tour. He’s not afraid to hide who he is, and he’s well known among the regulars for wearing extravagant outfits every now and then. Of course you always have the occasional Karen, but the moment one starts to approach him one of the security guards ‘conveniently’ needs his help. Whenever there’s some sort of event like a holiday or birthday, Eret is usually the one who volunteers to plan it. His parties are legendary, everything is always planned to perfection, and always runs smoothly. No one knows how he does it, it’s like he can predict catastrophe before it even happens. Tommy is mildly scared of him because not one of his pranks has worked on him, he always manages to get out of it (While looking fabulous, of course!) Despite his sarcasm and nonchalant behavior, he loves his job and ‘family’ he’s found!

Ponk - Definitely the more energetic of the two, he never seems to run out of stamina when he gives tours. He’s popular with the little kids because he gives out little stickers at the end of the tour, most often custom ones of all the famous animals. Whenever he’s off duty, he has a game he plays where he mixes all of the vending machine drinks together and sees who’s brave enough to try it. Sam is usually the victim, he has a hard time saying no to him! He’s been known to join in the occasional prank here and there, but never anything crazy (Like the famous Tiger incident, Tommy got suspended for a month after that…) He really cares about all his friends, and always comes into work with a smile!

Zak and Darryl - Responsible for running the various shops around our rescue center, these two are dedicated workers who can always be relied on! They’re always willing to lend a hand, and can be found at their respective stores! Don’t be afraid to say hi or ask for help!

~

Skeppy - Most definitely cannot be always relied on. I mean, he’s Skeppy, what do you expect? Whenever he’s on duty he’s responsible enough, but when off duty he’s even more of a trouble maker than Tommy! His stand isn’t usually as busy as BBH’s, so he has a lot of free time to goof off. He uses most of that time to plan pranks or tease BBH, much to his annoyance. Despite Skeppy always teasing him, he considers BBH his closest friend and would do anything for him. He’s faced his fair share of consequences and punishment, but he’s always managed to weasel his way out. He’s crafty and a troublemaker, but he’s also a good friend and a loyal worker when it counts.

BBH -  One of the most loved members of staff, he gets along with everyone he meets. He’s kind beyond measure, and never hesitates to help. Pretty much the opposite of Skeppy, who often annoys everyone. But opposites attract, maybe that’s why they get along so well! Whenever Sapnap and George are busy, Dream usually turns to BBH for help and advice. Since the stands aren’t busy all that often, BBH usually helps out wherever he’s needed, he especially loves helping Wilbur with the butterflies. Like Sapnap, he also gets along great with the little kids, who love to hang out with him! Because of Dream’s soft spot for him, he managed to get permission to bring his dog, Rat, into work to ‘help’ him at his stand.

Alex - Alex is our responsible janitor and handyman, always ready for anything that could happen! He’s hardworking and kind, with a good sense of humor! You’ll find him wherever he’s needed, always willing to help!

~

Quackity - Like I said, Sam is more of the resident handyman, so Quackity usually handles the cleaning. He tried to fix wiring on the meat freezer one time because Sam was busy, but it did not… end well… he somehow flooded the whole room. The introduction isn’t entirely wrong, he is responsible and hardworking, but he’s not exactly ready for anything that could happen. It’s not his fault, it just seems that no matter how much he prepares some new problem he’s never dealt with before comes up. Like when the peacocks escaped, or the infamous Tiger incident. (When he saw the destruction that caused he just dropped his mop and said “I’m taking my vacation time now, fuck this”) He still has his sense of humor though, he enjoys yelling at Karens in Spanish to scare them off. He’s yelling about the weather, but they can’t tell the difference.

Karl - Our fantastic admission worker, he’s the first face you see when you walk in! He’s in charge of admitting all of our guests, and to answer any questions you have before entering! He can be found at his booth helping anyone and everyone!

~

Karl - Still had his signature good attitude and positive outlook, he’s probably the most willing to help people. Since he’s the only admission booth worker (Schlatt occasionally takes over, but he’s usually busy with his own stuff) he doesn’t get much break time in the busy season, but when he does he usually spends it with his friends. He’s goofy and kind, with a giggle that quickly got him loved by the regulars and everyone else he meets. On the slower days, usually in winter when the tourists aren’t around, he likes to sit everyone down in the break room and tell grand stories about different points in history. These tales quickly became enjoyed by even the most reluctant members, much to his suprise. He’s a very skilled storyteller, but he’s also very humble and insists he’s mediocre. He’s a great guy and loved by everyone around him, the perfect first face to see when you enter LARC. Recently, however, people often catch him stealing glances at two certain individuals throughout the day…

Johnathan - Our loyal help desk worker, he’s here for any issues you may have during your time at LARC. He’s here for anything you need, from booking tours to answering questions. Johnathan is in charge of making sure your stay runs smoothly and is as enjoyable as possible! You can find him at his desk all throughout the day!

~

Jschlatt - I have no actual reason for why he has this job I just thought it would be funny. Out of all the members of the rescue center, he’s the one who’s mastered the customer service smile and voice the most. He’s kind of had to, considering what his job is. Surprisingly, it isn’t as hellish as it would seem. Most of the time it’s just people booking tours or asking simple questions, which doesn’t require that much interaction. Dealing with Karens is a rare occurrence, but not unheard of. He just hits them with the “Lady, I am not paid enough to deal with this. Either go talk to the manager or ask Karl for a refund, now at least move aside so I can do my damn job.” He has a lot of free time because of this, but he’s not allowed to leave his post so he just plays Solitare on his computer and chats with whoever’s nearby. Even though he’s sarcastic and reluctant, he is a good worker and gets the job done. He rarely shows it, if at all, but he does care for all of his fellow workers and enjoys his job because he gets to be around them.

Phil and Liam - Our specialized veterinarians are equipped for any animal that needs their care, from elephants to bats, scorpions to dolphins. They’re both capable and experienced, and can be found wherever they’re needed to do their jobs!

~

Philza - Definitely a capable vet, he’s probably people’s first choice when they need help. He’s worked at a few other places before LARC, but he insists that this is his permanent job until he retires. Although he tends to focus purely on work when on the clock, when he’s off duty he opens up a lot more. He enjoys out with everyone in the break room, most of all Wilbur, Tommy, Techno, and Ranboo. Sometimes his wife comes in to volunteer for a day, much to everyone’s enjoyment. Since Phil is the resident dad, she was named the official mom of LARC and was given a very fancy cardboard crown. Despite his reluctant behavior on the surface, he can be passionate at times… rarely. Very rarely. He once chugged one of Ponk’s concoctions from hell and walked away unscathed, mumbling “I drink more caffeine on my good days, try again with an extra 10 energy drinks mate.” Ponk has practically worshipped him since, no one had ever been able to take any of his drinks before Phil. Overall he’s a good natured guy who loves both animals and people, but tends to avoid the public paths because it’s so crowded.

Hbomb - More of Phil’s understudy than an official vet, he’s still learning quite a bit. That doesn’t mean he’s not capable, he’s great when he’s working on animals he’s familiar with or illnesses he’s dealt with dozens of times before. This is his first job as a veterinarian, and he found it quite overwhelming at first. Despite this, he quickly won over his fellow staff with his charm and humor. When asked who his best friend is, he jokingly answers “Fundy!” While Fundy violently shakes his head no in the background. He’s relatively carefree, but he can absolutely get serious when his skills are needed. He’s fine with not being the go-to guy to help with the animals, he’s content with helping Phil whenever he’s needed and sticking to the sidelines.

Niki - Our lovely Marine Biologist, she keeps the aquarium and other aquatic exhibits running smoothly. She’s an expert in her field, and we can go about our days knowing she has everything under control! She can be found most often in the aquarium, but keep an eye out for her around other exhibits!

~

Nihachu - Because the aquatic exhibits are the smallest and have the least amount of animals, Niki can usually run it smoothly. She’s passionate about her job, and has loved animals since she was very little. She originally joined LARC purely for experience, but as time went on she just… never left. She has no plans to either, she loves the strange family she’s found, and the constant flow of new animals keeps her on her toes when it comes to her passion. She never really wanted fame or riches from Marine Biology, she chose to do it because of her love for zoology. On her off time she usually hangs out with Puffy or Wilbur, since their jobs place them near her area. She’s a lovable and soft spoken, but can be serious when needed. She more than pulls her weight in LARC, and has proved herself many times over.

Dave - A spectacular zoologist who specializes in predators and their behavior, Dave handles even the most deadly of animals with calm mannership. He has experience with every apex predator, and treats every animal he cares for kindly. He may seem unapproachable, but he’s willing to help anyone who needs it. He can be found all around LARC, but most often by the big predators.

~

Technoblade - He has proved the statement “Technoblade never dies” many times over. Many. Times. Over. He’s faced bears head-on with no safety equipment (which is not good, please use safety equipment when around wild animals) and come out unscathed. All of the permanent predators at LARC that can’t be released have acknowledged him as an equal, and accepted him into their hierarchy. Even the most aggressive of the big cats hold respect for him, but not through fear. Techno refuses to ever, ever use fear as a tactic to win over animals. He claims it’s not right to rule over other beings through fear, especially such regal ones. He takes his job very seriously, and hates his interactions with animals interrupted. (Tommy did it once and he swears to never do it again.) He’s very skilled, but he often gets put aside when the inspector comes around every 6 months because of his refusal to use required equipment. He may still be as serious and no-nonsense as ever, but he holds his friends close. He doesn’t like to be in the public eye, so he stays as behind the scenes as possible. Like Jschaltt, he doesn’t show it much, but he cares for everyone in LARC.

Wilbur - The counterpart to Dave, Wilbur is our herbivore specialist at LARC! He’s responsible for the majority of the herbivores in our institute, from gazelles to horses! You can find him all around our facility, and if you’re lucky you might catch him feeding the animals!

~

Wilbur - He’s the opposite of Techno in a lot of ways besides just his job. Will actually likes to be in front of a crowd when doing his job, and even got Dream to add an official feeding time for the popular animals so people could come see. His intentions aren’t vanity though, he just likes seeing how happy it makes everyone. Because he cares for the majority of the animals at LARC, he can often be found with Phil and the other animal caretakers. He’s especially close to Phil and Tommy though, and Tommy often finds ways to change his schedule to be closer to him. (Tubbo usually follows Tommy, and then Ranboo follows Tubbo, it’s a whole chain reaction.) On his off time he occasionally causes mischief with other staff, but he’s chill most of the time. He cares a lot about all of the animals he cares for, and makes sure to form a bond with each and every one. Every now and then he brings his guitar to work, and can be found quietly strumming it and humming along in secluded places. Sometimes he even plays it in front of the animals, much to their confused enjoyment. He might be carefree most of the time, but he takes his work seriously and has a close bond with everyone at LARC.

Floris - Floris is our resident field specialist, here to use his experience to help wherever he can! He’s often one of the first to see new animals or release old ones, and always does it with a smile on his face! You don’t see him as often as the other animal caretakers, but he can be found throughout LARC!

~

Fundy - He’s been all over the globe since he graduated, since he got to study under a rather eccentric zoologist. No one knows why he decided to work at LARC and not somewhere more recognized, but they’re not complaining. Whenever he’s on break, he likes to retail all of his adventures in a dramatic manner, but no one knows if they’re true stories or not. Sometimes he shows proof of his escapades, but most of the time he leaves it up to everyone to decide for themselves. But whether his stories are true or not, he definitely has the experience of someone who’s travelled the world. No matter the animal, he seems to know how to predict their behavior perfectly. He’s as excitable and loud as ever, but he loves his job and all the creatures he’s gotten to work with. Oftentimes he’s in charge of keeping tabs on animal behavior, so he’s the first to note when something changes or goes wrong. He has journals full of notes on different animals, both from LARC and his time traveling. He’s definitely passionate and dramatic, but he’s also a good guy that just wants to help animals.

Antfrost - A fantastic mammalogist, he’s been at LARC for a few years now and has proven himself as a great scientist. He knows how to deal with a variety of mammals, from the tiniest bumblebee bats to the biggest elephants! If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask him!

~

Ant - Like Niki, this is his first real job in zoology. He was out in the field for about a year and a half, but he was basically an errand boy for the bigger names he was working with. That’s not to say he’s not skilled though, he’s fantastic at what he does. He often asks Fundy for his notes on the various animals to get to know them better himself, and has read the majority of his journals. He was timid around everyone at first, but he gradually got close to his fellow staff. It was the same when it came to big animals, Wilbur had to help him during his first time with the elephants, giraffes, and other large mammals. But soon he got used to them, and now he spends most of his time with animals. He has no plans to leave LARC, he’s found that this job is more than enough to keep him busy and happy. He’s a bit shy, but when he opens up he enjoys being around everyone.

Jack and Noah - These two, although not often seen, and essential for keeping everything running like a well-oiled machine! From lending a hand wherever it’s needed to helping prepare food, Jack and Noah work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything is a-ok! If you ever do spot them, they’re ready to help with whatever you need!

~

Jack - The more experienced of the two, he’s been working at LARC for a long time now. He can be mischievous at times, but he’s responsible and knows his job is important. He struggles a bit to be close to everyone, despite the fact he’s been at LARC for a long time. He’s acquainted with most of the staff, but he’s not sure if he can really call anyone a close friend. He does have a good relationship with Tommy and Niki, but they always have so much going on and often overlook Jack. He grins and bears it though, keeping his loud and comedic attitude. He’s often all business and work, but there are times he wishes he could just be friends with everyone, and envies the very social members of staff like Quackity and Tommy. He may be a bit distant from everyone, but he still gets along with them… at least that’s what he always tells himself. He’s a bit stubborn, but overall a good guy who’s willing to help

Foolish - Foolish has only been working at LARC for a few months now, but he’s already made quite a few friends, both animal and human. When he’s working he tends to stick to himself, but when on break he enjoys hanging out with others and having casual conversation. He actually has a little corner of the break room for his hobby, making mini-models! He’s very good at it too, he has an intricate Egyptian setup that everyone likes to ogle at every now and then! Every so often he stays after for a bit to work on them, and no one has the heart to disturb him when he gets into it. He spends a lot of time with the animals, especially the aquatic ones. He seems to be drawn to the aquarium, and he’s often caught staring at the ocean tank. He’s positive and high energy most of the time, but he’s not to be underestimated.

Our Volunteers!

Volunteering is open for anyone interested in working at LARC non-officially, as long as you follow our rules and are 15 or older! Our current volunteers are

Toby

Tommy

Grayson

Ranboo

This is subject to change at any time! If you’re interested in signing up to be a volunteer, contact us either through our official website or our in-person help desk!

Volunteers aren’t allowed to be up close to any of the large or dangerous animals for their own safety!

We hope to see new volunteers soon!

Tubbo - He breaks. Everything he touches. Much to Quackity’s dismay, who’s often stuck cleaning it up. He doesn’t mean to break things, he just… does. Despite being quiet and even shy at times, Tubbo is without a doubt the most chaotic person in the entirety of LARC. He doesn’t pull off jokes or pranks like Tommy and Skeppy, he just subtly radiates chaos wherever he goes. He and Tommy are in charge of helping the westward wing (The area with the Africa, North America, and Insect House exhibits, as far away from the Aquarium as possible because Tubbo will break everything) and occasionally the Reptile House. A volunteer’s work isn’t exactly exciting, they mainly cut up and prepare food and do whatever Jack and Foolish are too busy to. Tubbo doesn’t really mind though, he finds the work rewarding and even fun at times. Even when the food he has to prepare is especially gross, some time helping Wilbur with the beehives always makes him happy.

Tommy - Oh man, Tommy… what problems hasn’t he caused? It seems that everywhere he goes he can manage to cause trouble, often roping Tubbo and Wilbur into it. It’s a miracle he hasn’t been fired yet (can you fire a volunteer? I don’t know) despite everything he’s done. He did get suspended for a long time after the Tiger Incident, but that’s the worst punishment he’s faced. He’s also not allowed to be near any of the people that come to LARC because last time he went “Vlogging” and scared away multiple guests. That was Jschaltt’s busiest day and he still has not forgiven him for it. He’s often stuck behind the scenes with Tubbo preparing food, but every now and then Wilbur, or even Techno if he’s lucky, lets him help feed the animals. When he’s off duty he can be found pestering Wilbur, Phil, and Techno or getting yelled at by Dream for causing problems. Despite being nothing but a troublemaker, everyone around him can’t help but have a soft spot for him. And on rare occasions, you can catch him leaving gifts for people to show his thanks for dealing with him.

Purpled - Probably the most laid back of the Volunteers, he’s actually allowed within 40 feet of the Tiger enclosure. (Although he has been known to solve problems by chasing people with a foam sword and yelling “Bedwars!!”) Since Tommy and Tubbo are usually on food duty, Purpled’s the one who delivers stuff to various places around LARC. This results in two things, no one ever being able to find him when they need him and him randomly appearing behind people when they least expect it. Seriously, he’ll just appear out of thin air to scare the shit out of you 5 minutes after you need him. He doesn’t even try to do it, he just… does, somehow. He’s a good worker though, and doesn’t complain much. He somehow managed to convince Dream to get an Xbox for the break room, and every break he gets he challenges random members of staff to a game of bedwars. He beat almost everyone without a hitch, except Technoblade. Currently they’re tied at 38 wins each, and Ranboo brought in a whiteboard to keep track. He may be a bit reluctant, but he likes LARC and can’t see himself leaving anytime soon.

Ranboo - Probably the most shy of the Volunteers, he tends to keep to the background and avoids the big, public areas. Because he’s the gentlest (and the most trustworthy) of the helping staff, he’s usually the one who gets the jobs involving animals. This usually includes helping Niki give the ducklings baths and feeding the deer with Wilbur, but like it says he’s not allowed near any potentially dangerous animals. He’s the tallest person at LARC (but by far the kindest) which results in him often scaring the animals at first, much to his dismay. Because he’s also on the taller side, Wilbur taught him a few tricks to seem less intimidating, which helped greatly. When he does open up a bit (usually around Tommy and Tubbo) he can be a bit mischievous and chaotic, but he knows when to stop. He hopes to become an official member of LARC one day, but for now he’s content with being just a volunteer.

Remember, LARC always welcomes guests, new or returning! We hope to see you soon!

Thank you guys so much for reading, this AU took me waaayyyyyy too long to write, and I’m psyched to finally have it done! I’d be super happy to answer any asks you guys leave, or any questions you have in the comments! Again, thank you so much, and I hope you enjoyed!

-Liv 💫

[justapayneaway]

So, I've always wondered what are your thoughts on Harry Styles? I have a mixed opinion on him so was just curious to your thoughts on him.

On one hand, I don't really care for his music outside a couple songs and he's...not a great actor lol (though I will withhold judgment on that front until I see him in a full blow role, Dunkirk was eh and he was barely in Eternals) . His music videos are pretty cool I guess but again his music is kinda meh for me personally.

I hate a lot of his fans lol, some of the worst of humanity are in that lot. I also honestly can't figure out how much of what he does is queerbaiting and what is genuine. He certainly likes the gay aesthetic but he sure does love to date exclusively women lol. But I guess that bit is always dependant on if you believe in Larry or not, which is another can of worms I won't go into because then this ask would be 10 pages long.

Sorry for dumping all this on you, I'm sitting in a docs office waiting for some test results and got bored lol. rereading this I'm coming off as very critical of him but this isn't a ask of me trying to rag on him or anything. He's not the most talented singer from One Direction but the dude oozes charisma and he's a lot of fun to watch on stage performing. I do overall think I like him but Im just...conflicted I guess? Just looking for an outside opinion and yours is one I value highly :)

Oh this is a can of worms and a bit of a controversial ask lmao

Okay so I'm mostly meh about him. I don't usually care what he is doing or even very interested in it. I'll reblog one or two things randomly and that's it.

My problem and lack of interest is mostly due to the fact that he is everywhere! I'm sick and tired of seeing him in movies, on the radio, every single show, etc. I know it's the brand that the Azoffs built in the last 7 years, hell that 1DHQ started building in 2010.

Also a lot of his fans are the worst and after what they did to Liam they made me pull away from Harry to be honest. I've seen him perform in 1D and not ashamed to say that he has a lot of charisma while performing and he is very good at it. The thing is that a lot of the times I can't see the genuine side of things too. It's all a brand in the last 2/3 years. It's all a bit overrated personally.

Happy that he is successful and achieving all he wants, but I just don't care a lot. The best thing I did last year was actually getting my money back on the ticket I had for his concert in Lisbon lmao

[atsumiye]

BAE I WANNA HEAR THE STORY PLS

OMG ALICE I WAS LIVING MY BEST LIFE SO HERE IS MY STORY ABOUT MY FIRST TIME BEING DRUNK :D

BASICALLY my friends had convinced me to go to this basketball game bc tickets were cheap and I was like okay why not so we went and then they convinced me to try this beer specific to the place we live in and the problem is that i am in fact STUPID and hadn’t eaten anything at all that day and the place we live in has alcohol with a really high alcohol content in everything and i’m a lightweight so this was never meant to end well��� anyway we buy the beer and start drinking only to find out we have a minute before the game starts so we decide to chug this huge cup and run inside. it made me a bit giggly which is normal for tipsy riya <33 so here comes halftime and my friends want to go smoke outside and then somehow bc i don’t actually remember how but somehow i end up with another beer that i yet again HAVE TO CHUG so by the time the game ends i’m out of it!! and the streets are so icy bc of the weather and so my friends are holding on to me and i’m just saying things that make no sense and i don’t remember much of what i said but i do remember my friends laughing bc i’m normally the composed mom friend. ANYWAY we decide to go to a bar and we are sitting at this table and this guy comes up to our table and is like “can i sit here in waiting for someone i won’t talk to you guys” and so we say yeah bc why not and i know that sounds irrelevant but he comes back later in the story so then one of my friends decides we should do tequila shots. AND LET ME PREFACE THIS BY SAYING IVE NEVER HAD TEQUILA BEFORE and i’ve lived a very boring life okay so i was like yeah:D with that exact face too. we took 2 shots each and my opinion in tequila: i literally couldn’t taste it. now a few minutes later and the guy at our table leaves and come back with a tray of some orange shots and says he bought it for us so of course we take some with him (also side note but pls do not take shots from strange men:((( ) and then he goes to BUY US MORE SHOTS BUT THESE ARE BLUE AND SO PRETTY AND THEY TASTED GOOD anyway at this point i’m 2 beers and like 10 shots in and i’ve never had this much alcohol in my life and i’m barely standing up straight!! but i was loving it heheh so they want to go out and smoke so I go with them and we are talking in english bc of me and this group of guys comes over and here’s where riya’s wattpad moment comes to fruition. so they are all excited to talk in english to us and OMFG this guy who is totally my type comes to talk to me and i’m actually ready to piss myself bc he’s so tall and has a cute little accent and smells like cigarette smoke and i’m ready to climb him like a tree. so they ask us to dance with them inside and we go and my little bf grabs my hand and pulls me away from my friends to dance with me and i’m like laughing and he keeps whispering in my ear and i’m actually ready to melt so he asks me to go outside on the balcony so he can smoke and we do BUT this is a moment where i sobered up a bit bc THIS MF TRIPS AND FALLS it was such a big ick😔 like he lost at least 6.8 hot points for falling like that. and we go outside and start talking we exchange snapchats and all that and he’s leaning over and i’m like omg this man is about to kiss me on a crowded balcony when HIS FRIEND INTERRUPTS AND SAYS SOMETHING and so we all start talking and that’s when i find out this information that CRUSHES my soul bc my little bf??? HES 20 YEARS OLD. HES YOUNGER THAN ME.

and I know it doesn’t sound that bad but i literally went on a 468363 minute rant like a month before about how I won’t breath in the same direction as a guy younger than me and so now i’m like “babe you’re 20??” and he’s like yeah how old are you? and i’m ready to cry when I tell him i’m 21... ANYWAY then i find out his friend is 22 so i’m like “😏 omg you’re 22?” and my younger bf is like “stop flirting with my friends you’re supposed to be flirting with me” and when i tell you i literally screeched i mean it that was so hot. so now my other friend comes out and we start talking to her and ALL OF A SUDDEN this man slides his hand under my jacket and sweater and starts rubbing up and down my back and also getting a little touchy but i liked it so it’s okay and i’m like leaning on him and then HE FUÇKING KISSED THE TOP OF MY HEAD A FEW TIMES??? actually was ready to drop to my knees🧎🏻‍♀️ he tried to get me and my friends to go to a club with his group but we said no and went back to my place and crashed. i messaged him on snap once i got home and we talked for a bit but he’s a bit weird when he’s not drunk😔 but to this day i still think about our little domestic moment bc it makes me wanna cry and i think i’ll add it into my writing from now on too bc god what was that man on

[rpf-bat]

We Float Among The Wreckage

Pairing: Mikey Way x Reader

Genre: Drama, Romance

Summary: Written for Gothtober 2020, Day 10.  Prompt: “Sirena”. 

Mikey makes big plans to take his girlfriend on a cruise vacation...but, she breaks up with him, the day before the ship is supposed to set sail. Heartbroken, he asks you, if you would like to accompany him, instead. 

You woke up, feeling excited. Today was the day, that your best friend, would finally return from a months-long tour with his band. You’d missed Mikey so much. You couldn’t wait to see him again. 

You dressed quickly, humming one of their songs to yourself, as you wondered, if you should call him, and ask what time he wanted to meet up. You’d bought so many comic books while he was away, that you wanted to loan him, to read. You were looking forward to hearing stories about his travels, too. 

You had just finished brewing a pot of coffee, when you heard a knock at the door. You answered - and found just the face, that you were hoping for. 

“Mikey!” you grinned, pulling your friend into a hug immediately. “Welcome back!” 

“Hey, Y/N,” Mikey smiled weakly. “It’s great to be back in New Jersey. How have you been?” 

“I’ve been great!” you replied brightly, releasing him. The excitement in your eyes began to fade, when you realized that Mikey was frowning at you. 

“What’s wrong?” you asked, realizing something was up. “You look really sad…” 

“I stopped by my girlfriend’s house, before I came here,” Mikey explained. 

“Oh, yeah?” you replied, raising an eyebrow. “How’s she doing? I bet she was even more excited to see you again, than I was.” 

“...Not really,” Mikey sighed deeply. 

“Huh?” you blinked. 

“I don’t want to have this conversation in your doorway,” Mikey said sullenly. “Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” you nodded. “You want a cup of coffee?” 

“Oh, yes, please,” Mikey said gratefully. He sat down at your kitchen table, and you poured him a steaming mug.

“You like it with two sugars, right?” you asked, handing him the packets. 

“Yeah! Good memory,” Mikey nodded. 

Of course I remember what he likes, you thought to yourself. He’s one of the most special people in the world to me. 

You sat down, across from him, and watched him pour the sugar into the mug, and stir the coffee around with his spoon. Satisfied, he took a sip. 

“So,” you asked softly, “are you going to tell me what happened?” 

“I went over there, thinking she’d be happy to see me, after three months, right?” Mikey groaned. “Instead...she told me, that she thinks we should see other people.” 

“She broke up with you?!” you gasped. 

“Yeah,” Mikey said, burying his head in his hands. “I…I can’t believe it.” 

“Mikey, I’m so sorry,” you said sympathetically. 

“I’m like, in shock,” he confessed. “She said that I’m never home, because of the band, and that she doesn’t want to be in a long-distance relationship.” 

“I’m really shocked, too,” you admitted. Sure, it hurt a little, having Mikey gone so often. But, that just made the days when he was home, even more special. 

“The worst part,” Mikey revealed, “is that I had just bought tickets, for a cruise, to surprise her.” 

“Really?” you gaped. 

“Yeah,” Mikey said sadly. “I was going to make it up to her, for my long absence, by taking her on a four-night cruise to Bermuda. It’s a really cool ship, called the SS Sirena. They’re supposed to set sail, from New York Harbor, tomorrow afternoon.” 

“Oh, no,” you grimaced. “Is it too late, to get your money back?” 

“Yeah, I already called the cruise line,” Mikey confirmed. “They said that the tickets are non-refundable.” 

“Fuck,” you swore. “What are you going to do with them, then? There’s not enough time, to try and sell them.” 

“Exactly,” Mikey nodded, seemingly at a loss. “I mean, I guess I could take the one ticket, and go to Bermuda by myself. But that sounds….really depressing.” 

He was right - no matter how sunny the beach might be, traveling alone, would probably suck. 

“Well,” you offered, “what if I went with you?” 

“Are you serious?” Mikey asked, eyes widening. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I mean, Bermuda sounds really nice, this time of year. We could just have fun, hanging out as friends. Hopefully, it will take your mind off her.”  

“That actually sounds really nice,” Mikey agreed. “Will your boss let you take off, though, on such short notice?” 

“Yeah, I have a bunch of unused vacation days, so it should be fine,” you assured him. “I’ll start packing tonight.” 

“Thank you, Y/N,” Mikey smiled softly. “I was really bummed out when I got here. But, the idea of taking a trip with my best pal, makes me feel a bit better.” 

“No, thank you!” you chuckled. “I’m really looking forward to it!” 

You only hoped, that the vacation, would be able to help him get over his heartbreak. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

He picked you up the next day, and quietly helped you load your luggage, into the trunk of his car. You could tell, by the absence of his usual chatter, that he was still feeling down. 

“What time does the Sirena leave port?” you asked, trying to distract him, from his thoughts of her. 

“Three o’clock,” Mikey replied listlessly, getting in, and buckling his seat belt. “But, they start boarding people, at one.” 

“Ok, it’s noon now,” you calculated, checking your watch, as you climbed into the passenger seat. “It only takes about half an hour, to get from here, to the Port of New York. But, there might be some traffic, when we go through the Turnpike. So, it’s probably smart, to go ahead and leave now.” 

“....Yeah,” Mikey said. His eyes, seemed a thousand miles away. 

“Mikey,” you said seriously, putting a hand on his shoulder, “listen...are you sure you want to do this?” 

“What do you mean?” Mikey asked, looking over at you. 

“I know I invited myself along,” you frowned, “but, if you’re really not feeling up to this, and you want to just stay home, I get it. It’s not too late to call the whole trip off.” 

“No, I don’t want to do that,” Mikey insisted. “If I go home now, I’ll just sit around my house, and cry about her. Besides, it’d be a waste of nine hundred dollars.” 

“That’s how much you spent on her?” you gaped. “And she just ditched you, like yesterday’s trash…”

“Her loss,” Mikey said defiantly. “Screw her….let’s go have a good time.” 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You arrived at the port, with time to spare, and completed the check-in process, without any issues. Now, you were officially on the ship. 

You looked down at the card in your hand, that the cruise liner staff had given you. 

“That’s your room key,” Mikey explained, “and also, like, a credit card, that you can use to pay for food and drinks.” 

“Oh, okay,” you nodded. You had never been on a cruise before, so this was all new to you. 

“We’re gonna be on the lower decks,” Mikey added, directing you towards the elevator. You followed him quickly. 

The elevator took you one floor down, and Mikey led you to a door, at the end of the hall. 

“This should be it,” he decided, using his card, to unlock the door. 

You entered the room, apprehensively. It wasn’t much different, you found, from a hotel room on land. But, you noticed one glaring problem, immediately. 

“Mikey,” you pointed out, reddening, “there’s only one bed.” 

“....Oh,” Mikey blushed. “Fuck, Y/N, I didn’t even think about it.” 

He originally booked this room, for him, and his girlfriend, you realized. So, of course he planned on them sleeping in the same bed. 

Bringing you instead, had been a last minute decision. So, even if it had occurred to him, he probably wouldn’t have been able, to swap the one-bed cabin, for a two-bed one.

He’s already having a really rough time, you considered, so I’m not going to pitch a fit about it. 

“There’s no couch, or anything,” Mikey noticed, looking around the room. 

“It’s fine,” you decided. “You paid for this whole trip, so, you take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.” 

“What?” Mikey protested. “No way - my grandma raised me to be a gentleman. If I told her I made a girl sleep on the floor for four days, she’d never forgive me! You can have the bed.” 

“I don’t want to make you sleep on a cold, hard floor for four days, either,” you argued. 

“Well, what other choice do we have?” Mikey shrugged. 

“Look,” you sighed, “how about we just decide this later? I’m hungry. I think we should go have lunch.”

“Alright, fine,” Mikey acquiesced. “I heard that the ship restaurant is actually pretty good. Let’s go.”

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as the hostess seated you at your table, Mikey started looking over the drinks menu. 

“It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” you frowned. 

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Mikey shrugged. “We’re going somewhere tropical, so why not order one of those fruity little tiki drinks, with the paper umbrella and stuff?” 

“Yeah, why not, I guess,” you agreed. You had a feeling, that he was still depressed about his ex. But, who were you, to tell him he wasn’t allowed to drown his sorrows? 

“What can I get for you guys?” asked a smiling server. 

“Two Bahama Mamas, please,” Mikey said quickly. 

“....And we’ll try the coconut shrimp, too,” you added. You didn’t want him drinking on an empty stomach. 

“No problem,” the waitress smiled. “Coming right up! By the way, Karaoke Hour starts at four o’clock!” 

“Good to know,” Mikey said absently. 

After the woman walked away, you turned to him. 

“Would you want to try the karaoke thing?” you asked. “It sounds like it could be kind of fun.” 

“I don’t know,” Mikey hesitated. “I’ve been playing music every day, for the last few months in a row.” 

“Yeah, you’ve been playing bass,” you reminded him. “Not singing.” 

“Bass is what I’m, like, actually good at,” Mikey said nervously. “All the singing talent in the family went to Gerard.” 

“Nobody’s expecting you to be perfect at it,” you pointed out. “It’s just for fun. But, if it would make you feel better, I could do it with you.”

“Like, a duet?” Mikey asked, seemingly comforted by the idea. 

“Yeah!”, you grinned. “I think it would be fun!”

“I need a couple more drinks in me, before I get up on that stage, even if you’re gonna go with me,” Mikey insisted, reddening. 

“Alright,” you laughed. “Let’s make this night interesting.” 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After the Bahama Mama, Mikey downed a pina colada, and a Blue Hawaiian. He became more chatty, and less sad-looking, as the empty cups piled up beside him. 

“Alright, what song do you wanna do, Y/N?” Mikey grinned, flipping through the karaoke booklet, that the waitress had given to him. “We need somethin’, with a guy part, and a girl part…” 

“What about ‘Interlude’?”, you suggested. 

“You mean, the song that Morissey did with Siouxsie Sioux, back in ‘94?” Mikey guessed. 

“Yeah! That one!”

You knew that Morissey was one of Mikey’s all-time favorite musicians, so, you were hoping, that singing one of his songs, would cheer him up. 

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Mikey agreed. He swayed slightly, as he stood up, to walk over, to the karaoke stage. You took his hand, to keep him from stumbling. 

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” you asked, biting your lip. 

“I’m awesome,” Mikey slurred, swinging his hand in yours. “C’mon….please sing with me, Y/N?” 

You found that you couldn’t resist, his puppy dog eyes. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You stood on the stage, clutching your mic nervously. There were a few curious people, milling about, watching you. It wasn’t a huge crowd - then again, the trip had just started. 

“You ready?” you asked, looking over at Mikey. 

“Born ready,” he said, with liquid confidence. “Let’s go.” 

The staff member, who was running the event, queued up the music for you. You began to sing Siouxsie’s part: 

Time is like a dream

And now for a time you are mine

Let's hold fast to the dream

That tastes and sparkles like wine

Mikey stepped closer to you, as his voice joined yours, singing Morisssey’s verse:

Who knows if it's real

Or just something we're both dreaming of

What seems like an interlude now

Could be the beginning of love….

Something about the way he looked at you, when he sang the last line, made your heart race. You wondered what the hell you were thinking. He had, after all, just gotten out of a two year relationship yesterday. 

You told yourself to focus on the song. Your voice harmonized with Mikey’s, as the chorus kicked in:

Loving you is a world that's strange

So much more than my heart can hold

Loving you makes the whole world change

Loving you I could not grow old

You chanced a look at Mikey again. You realized, with a start, that something in his expression, seemed off. Was he….crying? 

“N-no,” Mikey stammered, choking up, as he sang the next line, “Nobody knows, when love will end….” 

He stopped suddenly. The background instrumentals went on without him, as he failed to sing the next lyric. 

“....Shit,” Mikey swore loudly. The onlookers all stared at up at him, confused. “Shit, I’m sorry….I can’t do this….”

He dropped the mic, and suddenly ran off the stage. 

“Whoa, Mikey!” you gasped. “Where are you going?!”

You motioned for the staff member, to kill the audio track.

“....Uh, sorry, everybody,” you said awkwardly, into the microphone. “I think this performance is over….”

Without further adieu, you took off running, after your friend. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You found him in the cabin, sitting on the bed, sobbing. 

“Mikey, what happened back there?” you demanded. 

“I didn’t know that my love was gonna end, so suddenly,” Mikey said, sniffling. 

“Oh,” you realized, feeling guilty. “The song just made you start thinking about her again, didn’t it?” 

“I...I don’t wanna think about her,” Mikey slurred. “But, I can’t stop, Y/N. It hurts.” 

“Hey,” you said gently, sitting down on the bed beside him. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

“No, it’s not,” Mikey sobbed. He dove into your arms, and pressed his face, into your shoulder. His frames poked against your collarbone. 

“Sssh,” you soothed him, stroking his hair. “Mikey, c’mon, you’re gonna bend your glasses up.”

He picked his head up, for a moment. You gently pulled the glasses off his face, and set them on the bedside table. 

“Now, you can put your head back down, if you want,” you told him softly. 

“O-Okay,” he stammered, and lay his head against you again. With the barrier of the glasses removed, you could feel his tears, wet against your collar. 

“....Why doesn’t she love me anymore, Y/N?” Mikey asked, his voice muffled, by your shirt. 

“I don’t know,” you confessed, stroking the back of his head again. “I think you’re a really lovable person.” 

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Mikey wept. 

“I’m not,” you insisted. 

“How am I lovable to you?!” Mikey demanded, picking his head up. “I made you babysit me all night….I got drunk, and emotional, and I ruined your karaoke song. Everybody was staring at us, when I just took off like that. I know they were…” 

“I don’t care what they think,” you shook your head. “I care much more about you, Mikey. I just want you to be okay. I thought taking this cruise would make you feel better. But, it doesn’t seem, to be helping you at all.” 

“Nothing’s gonna help me,” Mikey said dejectedly, flopping backwards onto the pillows. “I’m hopeless, now. Nobody is ever gonna love me, ever again.” 

“That’s not true!”, you told him. “I know you loved your ex, but she’s not the only girl in the world!” 

“There’s no girl on Earth,” Mikey said, staring up at the ceiling miserably, “who would want to date a guy, who is on the road, all the time. How do you love somebody, that you never even see?” 

“I love you, Mikey,” you said emotionally. ”I’ll take whatever time I can get with you. Even if it’s short, it’s special to me.” 

“You love me, as a friend,” Mikey spat. “That’s not the same.”

“No,” you shook your head. “Mikey...I’m being serious. I love you, in the same way, that you loved her. I have, for a long time.” 

“....What?” Mikey gasped, picking his head up, and staring at you in open shock. “Y/N, what are you saying?!”

“You were with her,” you confessed, surprised to find yourself, speaking these feelings aloud. “You were taken, so I kept my feelings quiet. But….the truth is, I always wanted you for myself. I don’t care, that you tour a lot. Four days with you, is better to me, than four months, with anyone else!” 

“You...really mean that?” Mikey asked, eyes wide.  

“....From the bottom of my heart,” you vowed. 

Suddenly, Mikey grabbed your hand, pulling you forward, on top of him. 

“Wh-What are you doing?” you breathed. 

He cupped your cheek with his hand. 

“Kiss me,” he breathed. 

“I shouldn’t,” you hesitated. “You’re drunk, and you’re emotionally vulnerable, and…”

“And I want you,” Mikey insisted. “Y/N, I should have chosen you from the beginning. I’m sorry, that I never realized how you felt about me. You’re more loyal to me, than she ever was.” 

He raised his lips, to meet yours. He tasted like rum and coconut, and maybe it was wrong, but you kissed him back, savoring his sweetness. 

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you tighter against him, and kissed you again, with greater ferocity. Your hands roamed each other as the kiss deepened. How far was this going to go?

“....There’s nowhere else, for you to sleep tonight,” Mikey panted, “so, please, please, Y/N, stay with me all night.” 

You pressed him down harder, into the bed, that you no longer had any problem sharing. 

“There’s nowhere else, that I’d rather be.” 

[tinycaprisun]

a song about it raining somewhere else

title: a song about it raining somewhere else characters: chuck taylor x trent beretta word count: 3822 part: 1/1 warnings: mild cursing, and like that’s kinda it? maybe mild angst? but also i’m a baby and it becomes fluff by the end? a/n: howdy, this is not another i’m back i’m back piece as much as it honestly is. no, see this time- this is actually a gift! 2 days ago was @trentjinshi’s birthday and i wanted to write him something! so i sat down for like 6 hours with my goopy goblin gay brain and spit out this obvious magnum opus. so, like, don’t hate it please. also hugest happy birthday to emil again!! yeehaw... i’ve technically already sent this to u

You know, of all days to have the soul crushing realization that you’ve secretly been in love with your best friend, Trent should have expected it to happen on Valentine’s Day.

The man had garbage luck anyways, and good things seemingly never happened to him. So when Chuck animatedly told him he had a date that night with some girl, Trent’s heart shouldn’t have blown apart like he had been shot. Sure, he pretended to be supportive of his buddy, returning his radiant smile despite the effect never reaching his eyes, And yeah, he wished him all the best, telling the taller man he hoped it went well.

But did Trent mean any of that? Fuck no! He was dying on the inside, mourning the loss of a relationship and love he didn’t even know he wanted! Perhaps he should have considered himself lucky that he didn’t start bawling his eyes out on the spot. The New Yorker had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve, so the crying really was not out of the question at that moment. But he contained his feelings somehow, moving on through the rest of that afternoon like he was trudging through a snowstorm. Slow, cold, and slowly dying from the inside out.

So that led him here, sitting in his car as the rain started to come down, refusing to turn the damn thing on. He didn’t want to go back to his hotel room. Because if he did, it would remind him of the obvious. He went home alone tonight.

Chuck wasn’t alone. His friend had a probably beautiful person with a perfect personality sitting across from him at a fancy restaurant. A person who wasn’t him. Why couldn’t Trent be his perfect date? He would laugh at his jokes, softly hold his hand as they walked in from the parking lot, pull his chair out for him, admire him like he was the sun-

A harsh banging came from his left, rhythmically tapping against the glass of his car window in time with the rain drops. Trent’s head jerked up from where it had defeatedly slumped against the steering wheel to see who was trying to get his attention.

It was a security guard, holding an umbrella in one hand and wavering him off with another, politely telling him to leave the premises as the arena building they were at was closing. To be honest, getting a ticket from not leaving and instead rotting in that parking lot forever sounded like a far better time than he was having. But, he didn’t have a choice. Story of his life.

Trent started up his car, quickly leaving off into the vast night with only his thoughts to keep him company. And that was rapidly becoming annoying. The singular thing on his mind was one person, and how all this time, his feelings were so obvious. Every time he even glanced in his friend’s direction his heart rate would spike. Before now, he had chalked that up to coincidence or - considering it was Trent and how his body loved to torture him - underlying health conditions. Evidently, it was neither of those things.

One would think he would catch on to his festering crush sooner; considering he thought the entire world of Chuck and whenever he had to go more than a few days without seeing him, he would get a weird sense of longing to be back in his presence, but nothing ever wanted to work out that way. Life thought it would be much funnier if Trent felt like he was being ripped apart at the seams by a simple sentence.

Between the still processing of what it even meant to have a crush on your best friend, and knowing that right now he was out with some other person having the time of his life, Trent was not feeling great as he drove down the freeway. Grumbling under his breath, he flicked the radio on to fill the car with something other than his problems. A song the brunette had never heard before crackled to life, being about part of the way through.

By the time we get there, everybody will be drunk The chairs will be on tables and the band will be unplugged We're gonna look real good, but we're gonna look real rude I'm sorry I'm not sorry that I'm-

Fucking perfect! The last person to mess with the radio in Trent’s car was Chuck, and bastard left it on one of his stupid country stations. Trent didn’t even like country music! That didn’t stop him, however, from a few days ago when they were driving from city to city and let Chuck put on whatever he liked, even if it was something he was going to hate. He would make tiny sacrifices like that all the time for his partner, because he knew it would earn him one of those sunlit smiles. Trent really would do anything to make Chuck happy, and had been since they met.

Late to the party with you Oh, who needs confetti? We're already falling into the groove And who needs a crowd when you're happy at a party for two? The world can wait 'Cause I'm never late to the party if I'm late to the party with you

It... It was a love song?

“Throw me off a fucking bridge.” Trent mumbled to himself as he exited an off ramp. Seriously, who out there was tormenting him and making him have possibly the worst day ever? What omnipotent being did he piss off? He thought he was an alright dude, not getting into other people’s business and sort of keeping to himself. Most days he made an attempt to be somewhat nice to others and never did any of that vile or cruel shit. And yet, he was cursed to drive home while listening to a love song in a genre that he hated, and only helped to remind him more of his best friend.

Let's promise when we get in that we'll try to get right out Fake a couple conversations, make the necessary rounds These kinda things just turn into "Who's leaving here with who?" But I just want 'em all to see me come in late to the party with you

Wasn’t that a funny line. Wanting others to see the person you’re with because of how much you loved them? Trent understood that. Whenever he would go anywhere with Chuck, he would always want people to know he was there with him- whether he realized it or not.

He could talk for hours about him. It could be the simple telling of a funny story, or gushing about how good he was in the ring. Or how great of a friend he was. That made Trent wonder about what Chuck would be like if they were together. His mind wandered, dreaming up scenarios and infinite possibilities as he pulled into his hotel’s parking garage.

The musing didn’t stop when he killed the engine, happily ending that fucking song that was starting to piss him off with how cute it was. Trent pushed himself out of the car, gathering his singular bag from the trunk and wandering inside through the rain. Which, if anyone was curious, was even worse than it was when he left. It was coming down in buckets now, being slung into the New Yorker’s face by the wind.

Checking in was easy enough, having the briefest of conversations with the man at the desk who happened to have a thick southern accent.

Chuck had an accent, but only when he drank a lot. It took about 3 and a half beers for it to come out, but by that point he didn’t care all that much to hide it. He wouldn’t be trashed, as he was a pretty solid drinker and had made putting strong shit back a hobby over the last few years. Trent knew exactly how it sounded, though. A smooth Kentucky accent that always caused him to punctuate the last word of his sentences and pronounce certain things differently. Never anything like “y’all” or something southern like that, after all Chuck wasn’t that dime store cowboy they worked with.

The thing Trent remembered the most about Chuck’s accent was how he said his name. He would draw it out, almost like he was whining, except it was low in his voice and always accompanied by a wide grin. One that’s toothy like Cheshire Cat, and annoyingly sweet like bubblegum. Trent idly wondered if he tasted like bubblegum too, but the thought turned vivid fantasy was interrupted for a moment by the elevator reaching his floor.

The brunette slowly approached his room, still partially entranced by the ideas he had created in his mind as he unlocked his door and slipped in. From there, it felt like he wasn’t even alive anymore. Not in a morbid sense, but as in he wasn’t participating in the concept of reality at that moment. Trent was so disconnected from his actions, it was almost as though he was outside of his body and looking in from somewhere else. So much so, that when he snapped out of his revere from his phone buzzing, he was lying in bed wearing only his boxers.

Not that what was on his phone was of any importance to him. All Trent saw were notifications for things he didn’t care about, the only thing sticking out was a short text from Orange sending him more condolences over his current “issue”. Damn, he was acting like someone had died, not his friend’s heart being broken. Trent didn’t bother responding, tossing the device back on the bedside table and rolling over to face away from it.

The alarm clock on the other stand read “10:17 p.m.”, blinking at him like the piece of shit was broken. It also only now occurred to Trent that he had never turned the lights on while he was basically astral projecting. So he was bathed in darkness, with the only illumination being that digital clock and the street lights below outside the window.

Was he going to fall asleep at a respectable time? Because deep in his bones he could feel the shroud of tiredness creeping through him from all of the emotional energy he drained today. And with that, Trent grabbed one of the unused pillows and wrapped himself around it, cuddling it tightly and not bothering to get under the bed covers.

Maybe if he tried hard enough, Trent could pretend the pillow was something else. --

Who in the hell was knocking at his door at - the New Yorker stopped his angry brain tirade to peek at the clock again - 11:53 at night? He had only gotten to sleep an hour and it was cut short by who knew what. If this was Orange coming to tell him he had broken another hotel microwave by “forgetting to take the metal spoon out of his mac and cheese”, Trent was going to fucking kill him.

Getting up from where he lay, Trent stumbled blearily across the room to the door. In those few seconds, it processed with him that his hair must have come untied while he was sleeping because it was messily draped around his shoulders. Among that, he was still only dressed in boxers, riding rather low on his hips. Maybe he had a restless sleep even though it was quick?

He didn’t care what he looked like though as he slowly pulled the door open with a yawn and blinked from the harsh light flooding in from the hallway. Trent prepared to open his mouth and berate his shorter friend when he heard a sniffle come from in front of him.

Chuck was standing on the other side of the doorway, soaking wet from the rain. By the look on his face, it seemed as though he had been crying as well, with red eyes and a running nose. His eyes didn’t meet Trent’s as he all but whispered, “H-hey, man.”

Did the longer haired brunette care that his friend was ice cold and drenched from head to toe? No. That was why without words, he dragged his friend into the room and hugged him tightly, letting the hotel door slip closed on its own. Chuck didn’t need to be told twice to hug back, nearly crushing Trent from the strength of his shaking arms.

They stayed like that for a good while, with Trent rubbing soothing circles into his back and letting him rest his head on his shoulder when he began to weep again. That was before he slowly drew back, silently taking Chuck’s hand and guiding him to his bed so he could sit. Trent grabbed the comforter and wrapped it around his friend, figuring he could just use a blanket later when he needed to sleep.

“I... didn’t even tell you- what’s wrong..?” murmured the Kentuckian, slouching in on himself and bringing his knees up so they were closer to his chest. He must have been really cold. Trent paused for a moment, looking with a pained yet sympathetic smile.

“Don’t need to. You’re upset, and I gotta fix that.” He wasn’t sure who hurt him, or even what, but just let it be known he was going to destroy whatever it was.

“Well, uh, t-thank you?”

“Yeah, dude. I-” Love you. “Care about you. You’re my friend and shit. Hurts to see you cry.” With that, Trent carefully maneuvered around Chuck and hopped off the bed to go rifle through his clothes for something dry he could wear. And- probably some pants for himself. When he first opened the door, he couldn’t help but notice Chuck gave him the slightest look up and down, with his cheeks going red afterwards. Trent assumed it was only because he was cold, and the warmth from his bedroom had fucked with his internal body temperature.

While digging through his bags trying to find some of the clothes he always packed for his friend - and if it were any other day than today, Trent would have told you it was because he was just being a nice guy. He knew better than that now. - Chuck began to talk again. “Date ditched me...”

“They didn’t show up?”

Chuck sighed. “No, she did. But- when her ex came around... She would’a rather been with him.”

Trent grabbed the extra clothes and stood, turning around to face Chuck who was staring off into the corner. Considering how already destroyed his heart already was from earlier, he was a bit surprised it still had a few more pieces that could shatter at this sight. Coming back over, he set the pile to one side of him, then sat back down on the other. “Chuck...”

“I don’t know what I expected? Every girl, or hell- every guy, I’ve ever tried to date has never worked out for me. I don’t get it.” Oh, Trent should not have been so happy to hear those words. Well, he wasn’t happy to hear most of them, and was hurting for his friend, but two of them in particular stuck out to him like a sore thumb. Every guy. That meant Chuck had been on dates with men. That meant, even though it was fucked up to think about this at the moment, that Trent still had a chance.

“You just haven’t found the right one, man. None of those assholes from before deserve you anyways.” Chuck brought his gaze back over to Trent, eyes glassy and expression- disbelieving. His hair was matted to his head, still wet in some places, but mostly stuck in small spots to his forehead. Everything else about him was still about the same caliber as that, slowly drying and clinging to parts of his body that weren’t being disrupted by the comforter.

“Or maybe I didn’t deserve them...” Something- came over Trent then. There wasn’t a word for the mix of emotions he felt upon hearing that. But what he could feel were his hands taking either side of his best friend’s face and holding his head up to where he would look him in the eyes.

“That’s not true, you and I both know that. Anyone in the world would be lucky to have you.”

Chuck honest to god laughed at that and tilted his head. “Name one person.”

Fuck. For all intents and purposes, the answer he desperately wanted to give was ‘Me’, but that never came out of his mouth. Instead, it was like Trent was suspended in fear, unable to say what he wanted for the thought of being rejected. Or somehow even worse, him thinking it was a joke and getting upset with him. So, Trent said nothing, trying to think of a different response that would be true, but didn’t give himself away.

That was the nail in the coffin, though. Chuck took his silence as an answer, unable to provide a single person who could possibly want to be with him. The other man shook Trent’s hands away from his face, hurt welling up in his eyes with a grimace as he moved to grab the clothes that were gotten for him.

“See,” Chuck hobbled to a standing position, holding the clean garments close to his sodden chest like it was going to protect him from the pain he was feeling. Trent, just say something, anything, he yelled to himself whilst watching Chuck shuffle over to the bathroom and pull the door open. He flicked his eyes down to the floor for a moment before coming back up and locking onto Trent’s. “No one could ever love me...”

“Chuck-” Trent was too late, Chuck had already disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. And God damn it, his stomach had sunk to the depth of his being, twisting and turning like he was going to be sick. He should have said something. Even if it meant ruining the only thing he really had left to care about. There was his job, his other friends, his family and that; and while they meant a lot to him as well, he truly believed in that moment, and probably for some while now, that Chuck was his world.

As goofy and kind of bullshit as it was to hear, that’s what he felt like. That this guy he’s known for a good chunk of his life was his sun, moon, and every star in the sky. And Trent knew he’s never felt that way about another person. He knew that no other person on this Earth - or fuck, any other planet - could beam at him when they pull an upset and win a match together like he could. No one else made his chest feel warm whenever they complimented him quite the same way that Chuck did. There wasn’t a soul who had the same giggle, the wit, the determination, the personality- fucking any of it. No one had quite what his best friend had, and that was why he loved him.

Trent had no idea how long Chuck was going to be in there, or if he was ever going to come out. Knowing him, he could stay in there all night, not wanting to face the world again- let alone his friend. Even still, he got up from where he was and placed himself a few paces away from his bathroom door. Within his head, he hyped himself up, vowing that no matter if he got scared or felt like everything was going to go wrong, the New Yorker was going to tell him the truth.

Approximately 4 minutes later - if you asked Trent it felt like 10 years - Chuck finally emerged from his hiding place, dressed in some of his friend’s clothes and with shockingly drier hair. Not sure why he was so surprised that he had run a towel through it or something, but that didn’t matter. The taller man seemed confused as to why Trent was standing at the door, but before he could ask what was happening, Trent said, “I do.”

Chuck squinted at him with a, “What?” but it came out choked off and shaky, like he wasn’t prepared to speak.

“You said no one could ever love you, and that’s not true. Because I love you,” He wanted to protest, but now that Trent was talking, he couldn’t stop. “And I didn’t realize it until today, but I seriously am so in love with you that I don’t think I could picture my life without you. You mean everything to me and I would do anything for you just to see your beautiful smile or hear you say my name. And I know it sounds like I’m lying and that I’m trying to make you feel better, but I’m not. If I think about it, I feel like I’ve loved you forever but never realized it, and I wish I could have known sooner. Because you need to know that you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and I would be the luckiest guy in the world to even have a chance with you-”

“Trent-”

“I love the way you purposefully send me a string of those stupid emojis over text because you know it annoys me. I love how you can make anyone feel better with just one smile and your passion for loving others. I love how much you love animals and how every dog you see, you consider kidnapping-'' Trent had become so caught up in his declaration that he hadn’t noticed his friend had moved from in front of him and Chuck’s lips were on his.

Before he could even do anything; not even get a gasp at the sudden action, Chuck was already pulling away, breathing as if he had just run a mile. His face was bright red and his hands were holding either of Trent’s arms as he searched his face for a reaction. Or anything really.

“I- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” It felt as though Trent was living in one of those shitty romantic comedies he secretly liked to watch, because he was the one who cut Chuck off while speaking with an somehow even more desperate kiss. He felt him respond almost instant, bringing one of his hands up to Trent’s face to cup it gently as his own arms latched cautiously onto Chuck’s hips. And that was where they stayed, for who knew how long, but every second of it was exactly where they wanted to be.

You know, of all days to have the life-changing realization that you’re secretly in love with your best friend, Trent - and Chuck for that matter - hadn’t expected it to happen on (the day after) Valentine’s Day.

[phandom-against-onision]

You have probably already informed yourself, but here is a masterlist anyway.

MAJOR CONTENT WARNINGS: BLACKFACE, SLURS, RACIST COMMENTS, CHILD PREDATORY COMMENTS, NSFW CONTENT, BEASTIALITY, TRANSPHOBIA, MISHANDLING OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, OUTING AND MORE! PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Shane Dawson has been shown to mock black people on several occasions, saying the n word, doing blackface and creating stereotypical recurring characters.

When beginning on YouTube, Shane had a character called “Shanaynay” who was supposed to be a “ghetto-white girl”. When playing her, Shane often used ghetto stereotypes. She was a recurring character from 2008-2011. Although he has long stopped playing this character, he was continuing to sell the merch and profit off his racism as recently as last year!

He has also done blackface in his character skits, and said the n word as Shanaynay. On one of these occasions, he called an actual black woman a “n*gga bitch monkey woman”. Watch the full video for all occasions.

Here are some additional comments on this matter.

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Shane Dawson has acted inappropriately with and around minors for a long time.

He has probably done this even more than his blackface, and that’s saying something.

This clip, which went around last year, contains him calling a 6-year-old child sexy and admitting to googling CP. This is from his Shane and Friends podcast, which contains a lot of explicit clips.

He has also asked his teenage fan to “show herself” and “shut up and twerk”. This is from 3:55 - 4:29 in this video.

One of the instances really going around on Twitter at the moment is him pretending to jerk off to a picture of the then-11 year old Willow Smith.

A reminder that her family has not forgiven him, so neither should you!

Honestly, there are way too many occasions of this. Please check out this Twitter thread which lists a lot of times he has made inappropriate comments and did inappropriate things.

Another very distasteful thing he has done is claim to solve the murder of an actual six-year-old child, profiting off “speaking” to her spirit.

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Shane Dawson has joked about bestiality on camera multiple times.

This is just straight-up weird. It went around a lot last year, but in case you’ve forgotten, here is a playlist of a few clips. He also rubbed his face in his dog’s crotch but I can’t find a direct video of that by itself.

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Shane Dawson is transphobic as hell.

Watch this full video for the details where he uses trans as an insult and says tr*nny while knowing it is a derogatory term.

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Shane Dawson has promoted and supported terrible people and channels.

This has been a long-time criticism of his viral documentary series, but it is still important to remember.

Let’s start with the problems with this in chronological order. 

His first viral documentary series was The Truth about Tanacon.

Tanacon, to begin with, had several issues. Despite big dreams, it failed spectacularly due to lack of organisation and preparation before the event. There were many last minute changes and it generally lacked several necessities in events. Some issues were disorganised registrations, reserved meet and greets that didn’t go through the system, clashings with VidCon (a bigger event), inappropriate content creators, adversied content creators that didn’t appear, condoms in the goodie bag, lies about free tickets, no food, no room for anything, one hallway, lack of regulation in wristbands, underestimation of guests, overly expensive merch, no cooling system, no fire solutions (meaning they kicked everyone out) and it goes on. 

Despite actual people suffering due to the incompetency of Tana, Shane made her out to be an innocent martyr. This gets even worse as you realise than Tana has been exposed for several racist comments throughout her YouTube career.

Shane is clearly shown to be a terrible interviewer, presenting more as a friend than someone who is willing to find the “truth” of Tanacon. Instead of learning about Tanacon from an unbiased journalist, we get an obscured version of what happened, engineered to sympathise with Tana instead of her admitting to her mistakes.

Yet, this somehow was only the beginning of the problems with the documentary series, as the next one was with Jeffree Starr.

I don’t even know where to begin with the problems with this.

Firstly, Jeffree is perhaps the most problematic YouTuber who is still popular on the website. He has been exposed as racist, sexist, supporting of rapists, terrible to fans, transphobic, ableist, fatphobic, homophobic, insensitive to suicidal people, sexualising of minors, fascist and violent. Check out this thread here for the full details and proof of these claims.

Shane is not stupid. He is aware of these controversies, but has continued to support Jeffree. When a fan called him out, he was extremely rude and was very mad, and supporting all the hate the fan was getting.

The entire documentary series is about him befriending Jeffree, and making him out to be a good person. 

Jeffree should NOT be given a positive platform like this, and he should NOT be continuing to get away with being “cancelled”. So many other YouTubers have been “cancelled” for lesser things, yet Jeffree manages to always get away with it.

The next documentary series was the Jake Paul series. This is perhaps his most controversial documentary series.

Shane is not a therapist, a psychiatrist or a mental health professional. Even though he did consult some people, they are not allowed to diagnose people based on suspicions and videos. Yet, throughout the entire series, he calls Jake Paul a sociopath, and using that label to justify everything he has done.

Jake and Logan have both stirred up some of the biggest controversies on the platform, yet Shane gave them the ability to thrive. Like he did with Tana and Jeffree, he humanised him and edited it to the audience would sympathise with Jake. He has been exposed to scam his young fans, been rude to his neighbours and cast members, made light of serious disorders like anxiety, saying the n word and doing several things for clout, such as “marrying” Tana Mongeau.

As addressed in the documentary series, Alissa Violet, Jake’s ex-girlfriend, has shared her stories of physical abuse in the Team 10 mansion in private life, yet Shane did not fully address this or even mention this to Jake in the episode after. This further proves that Shane is incapable of running a documentary series with such deep themes as he will gloss over them or not address them properly.

This issue is further seen in his documentary with Eugenia Cooney.

A warning that I have not actually seen this as I have heard it contains triggering subject material which I do not wish to subject myself to in interests for my personal mental health - I am only going off the statements of experts and viewers.

In theory, this documentary could have been brilliant. After all, it is two people who have gone/is going through eating disorders and discussing it. However, experts have said that this could be harmful and it is easy to see why.

As much as I do not like Shane, I, and experts, do believe that he had good intentions behind this documentary. However, it probably would have been better if they consulted an expert regularly throughout the documentary when handling a touchy subject. After all, many of Shane’s viewers are young and/or influential, and a correct portrayal of a subject which is terrifying and real to many people watching is very important.

Here is an excerpt from this article about how he handled this:

Other fans were concerned with Cooney's safety, given that she referred to having an eating disorder in the past tense, signaling that she may not be considering further treatment.

"She certainly looks like she is physically healthier, but mentally she still seems like she's struggling a lot and she tries to cover it with her overwhelming positivity," another comment on the video says.

Experts who spoke with INSIDER — and who have not personally treated Cooney — are wary of considering Cooney's treatment a success story.

"When we are in the midst of our eating disorder we are very, very good at wearing masks. We're very good at playing a role that is very convincing and wants to let people know that we're okay," Chevese Turner, the Chief Strategy & Policy Officer for the National Eating Disorders Association, told INSIDER."A month of treatment is just barely scratching the surface of the road to recovery. While she put on a good face and was very chipper and cheerful, I'm not convinced that's what's going on inside. How do any of us know for sure?"

While both experts told INSIDER they believe Dawson had good intentions, they also expressed numerous concerns with the way the video presented the reality of eating disorders, and Cooney's recovery in particular. Turner says having Cooney share her story could be very cathartic, but she worries how much of her appearance was intended to resurrect or preserve her career."What's essentially happening is that people are bullying her online for her looks and her body and that does have an impact, it impacts all of us when that happens. For someone with an eating disorder, the impact can be devastating. I think [Dawson is] trying to help in his own way, but probably the thing that would help the most is her having more time in recovery," Turner said.

"I don't want to speculate, but obviously her success on YouTube is a driving factor to get back to work. None of us know if she's fully capable for that work and I would want to believe that the people around her who care about her most are confident that she can handle it," she continued. "I hope that they'll encourage her to take a break."

Overall, it has been shown that Shane is unfit to handle a documentary series with his evidently extremely biased views, and he should consult more professionals when editing. Although many people would argue that he has good intentions, it is possible to have good intentions while being irresponsible. Shane is aware of his large audience, and his influence over people around the globe. He should be more careful when creating a video with strong themes which many viewers may be suffering through or offended by. 

Either than his documentary series, Shane is also friends with other problematic people outside it - most infamously, Trisha Paytas. 

Trisha Paytas’ brand has become being extremely controversial. However, this doesn’t excuse that she has done and should not normalise her behaviours. She has been proved to be very transphobic and homophobic, as well as racist, ableist, abusive and insensitive to people with mental illnesses and disorders, notably DID. She lives to stir up drama on YouTube and more recently, TikTok. Despite being aware of this, Shane has continued to be close friends with her and excusing what she does because she’s just Trisha.

He has also openly supported far-right people on Twitter, giving harmful conspiracies a platform on his channel.

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Shane Dawson has contributed to destroying growing/popular channels.

When 20-year-old growing YouTuber Bobby Burns released a video giving valid criticism to Shane Dawson, Shane featured him on his channel and pushed him as a heater.

This was not a thing which only happened once. Shane decided to continue to feature him on his channel, branding him as a hater. However, Shane’s dedicated fanbase did not like this and began to send hate to Bobby. Due to the lack of popularity, Shane stopped interacting with Bobby and didn’t feature him in any more videos without attempting to “save his career” like he has done with so many other people.

That is not to say that Bobby is faultless. I am not that familiar with his content, but I have heard that he did contribute to his channel’s demise, which makes sense. However, as a huge content creator, it was irresponsible of Shane to take a growing channel and brand him as a negative hater. He is aware of his audience, and that is important to remember. When he has such a large fanbase, he needs to be more careful with the videos he is showing them, and the characterisations of YouTubers.

However, what Shane is going under fire most recently is his involvement in the James Charles scandal last year.

Despite denial, Shane has been proved to play an important role in the “cancelling” of James last year, encouraging Tati to upload the video and making false accusations of predatory behaviour. This was highly likely done to degrade a competitor’s palette so his collaboration with Jeffree would be more successful.

Recently, he posted these screenshots on Twitter and then deleted the Tweet.

This proves his blatant immaturity. Somehow, James, the youngest of the four YouTubers involved in the scandal, has grown up the most. Shane was a part of the downfall of James, causing him to debate suicide. His defence for this was saying that he “needed to be served a slice of humble pie the size of the fucking Empire State Building”.

James Charles is not faultless, and he should not be made out to be an angel or a martyr in this situation. However, no one deserves to have suicidal thoughts, and anyone who defends this by saying that it was the humbling he needed is disgusting.

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Shane Dawson attempted to out Dan and Phil for views and clout.

As a bisexual man who has opened up about his fear of being outed when he was closeted, he should be ashamed of everything he did to Dan and Phil.

Like many YouTubers at the time, Shane used the Phandom to get views and subscribers. In doing this, he objectified and sexualised Dan to his young and influential audience. Check out this video where he said that he wanted to facefuck Dan in an orgy while watching a video where he just turned 18. In that clip, he also split up Dan and Phil into “cute” and “not cute”. 

It even went to the point where he asked the Psychic Twins about the sexuality of Dan and Phil. In this clip, he accuses them of queerbaiting as well as supporting the Psychic Twins’ invasive and insensitive comments about them not dressing gay enough, diss of them refusing to go on their podcast and outing and stereotyping them. This was as recent as 2017.

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There are actually a lot of other reasons why Shane is under a lot of controversy at the moment. Here were my sources, and some further reading for anyone interested:

THE PROBLEM WITH SHANE DAWSON: a thread

shane dawson sexualizing young children: a thread

One of YouTube's biggest stars made a viral 'documentary' about another YouTuber's eating disorder. Experts say it could be harmful for its subject and audience.

Jake Paul tried to use looting for YouTube views, and is facing charges. These are all the ways the controversial star has stirred up outrage in the past.

Trisha Paytas’ racism

THE PROBLEM WITH JEFFREE STAR: a thread

EVERYTHING WRONG WITH TANACON: an ongoing thread

So what from here? Shane has released an apology video, but words don’t mean anything without action. Here are some suggestions for what he could do to actually show further improvement.

He could stop doing conspiracy videos in the harmful and biased style he is known for, and delete his videos despite the views.

He could stop being friends with such toxic and controversial people.

He could donate his money and time to helping out the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and to black charities/organisations in general. It does not negate what he has done, and it is not in my place to forgive him if he does do that, but it would represent his improvement.

He could formally apologise to the parents and the family of the children he has sexualised.

But he will probably not do that. However, as a hater of cancel culture, I hope that he does improve as a person. It is not my goal to send hate, but to inform people. Sending Shane death threats or insensitive comments are the last things we need. To criticise him for doing that, then doing it yourself is hypocritical and harmful. Instead, we’ll just have to inform ourselves and wait for the future.