#they're not going to risk their paycheques

[beardedmrbean]

Nike, the NBA, and star player LeBron James have remained silent on China's increasing hostility toward the LGBTQ community, most recently when one of the country's most prestigious universities cracked down on students displaying LGBTQ flags.

Fox News reached out to Nike, the NBA and Upland Workshop – an advisory company founded and led by James’ spokesman and advisor Adam Mendelsohn - for comment on the crackdown but did not receive a response.

The silence comes after two students at China's Tsinghua University were reprimanded for distributing LGBTQ rainbow flags, according to a report in Bloomberg. The students were given official warnings and were prohibited from receiving scholarships and awards for six months, with the school warning that further violations could result in the students facing more serious penalties such as losing eligibility for civil service and state-owned-enterprise jobs.

News of the punishment for the students went viral on Chinese social media, but the posts were quickly deleted on China's tightly-controlled internet. The incident was just the latest in China's apparent crackdown on the gay community in the country, with Chinese President Xi Jinping pushing for a more conservative approach to gender and sexual identity.

ENES KANTER EXCORIATES THE NBA, NIKE FOR NOT STANDING UP TO 'BIG BOSS' CHINA: 'BIGGEST HYPOCRITE COMPANIES'

"This incident is the latest example of university authorities increasingly constraining space for LGBT advocacy and expression – even when it is mild and lowkey," Darius Longarino, a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, told Bloomberg.

James and the NBA have been vocal on a host of political and social issues in recent years, but have mostly turned a blind eye to Communist China's behavior on gender, sexual identity, and human rights abuses. Critics have largely panned the NBA and Nike in recent years over their ties to China, with the country representing a large new market audience for the professional basketball league and source of cheap labor for the shoe giant.

Former Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey, who currently works as the president of basketball operations of the Philadelphia 76ers, sparked controversy in 2019 when he took to Twitter to defend protesters in Hong Kong, encouraging followers to "fight for freedom" and "stand with Hong Kong" during China's crackdown in the independent administrative region.

The tweet, which was quickly deleted, created backlash in China and caused the NBA to lose valuable sponsorship dollars, even drawing a rebuke from James at the time.

"We all talk about this freedom of speech, yes, we all do have freedom of speech. But at times, there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself," James said at the time. "I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with... with Daryl Morey. But I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke."

#nunyas news #not a shock they've said nothing #if the public outcry isn't there #they're not going to risk their paycheques #over it at all

[shortpplfedup]

Chapter 4: The Midnight of Lifetime

Oy what a mess. Alan fully enters the story in this ep and we start to understand exactly what the hell is going on there. Newsflash: it's as heartbreaking as everything else in this show. We're at the halfway mark now, all the pins have been set up and it's time to start knocking them down one by one, because now we're invested.

We still don't know the inciting incident for the cold war between Wen and Alan, nor why they're still sharing a life despite being very clearly over, but we can guess at some of it. Wen's talked about living paycheque to paycheque, so it's very likely when the relationship ended he couldn't afford to move out. Alan is still trying to save the relationship, so he probably hoped that by letting Wen stay, proximity would breed forgiveness for whatever transgression he committed. It seems like partly for the sake of appearances, and partly in the hope that Wen will relent, he's asked Wen to conceal their breakup as part of the deal. Wen meeting somebody new is the destruction of all of Alan's hopes of reconciliation. Of course he would freak the fuck out. The whole thing's rotten, as resentment is heaped atop resentment, misery atop misery.

Meeting Jim was clearly a catalysing event for Wen. It's like he was sleepwalking and that night with Jim was a bucket of cold water dashed into his face. And every day since, every day he watches Jim live his life trying to do the best he can by the people he loves, he craves more and more to be one of those people. A situation that was unpleasant yet manageable has now become untenable, because he's seen how things could be. I appreciate that he didn't want to bring his mess to Jim's door, especially because 'complicated' is his line in the sand, but by not telling him anything he let him get blindsided instead. Wen's dad and Gong both warned him not to cross the streams, but he couldn't stay away from Jim until he could get away from Alan, he just couldn't.

To be fair to Wen though, he's not the only one who complicated things. Jim did that when he hired Wen, when he brought him into his little family even as he knew how Wen felt about him. Jim's a bit unfair, he clearly wants Wen around, he wants him in his life, but only on his terms, where he never has to risk his own feelings. He's clearly traumatised by what happened with Beam, to the point that he can't even contemplate a relationship that is both familial and romantic with Wen. In his mind, he gets to have one or the other but never both. Alan showing up shatters the illusion of a neat and uncomplicated divide between Uncle Jim and Jim the man. Because he shouldn't care right, there isn't anything between him and Wen. But he does care, very much.

That divide between Uncle Jim and Jim the man is also at the crux of his ongoing battle with Li Ming. I wonder how long Li Ming has been living with Jim, and why he's there and not with his mom. Jim named him, and he would've been about twenty when he was born, old enough to have some hand in his early raising. It's clear Li Ming sees him as a father figure; as much as they fight and argue, when Jim lays down the law Li Ming is immediately contrite. He respects Jim, he knows Jim cares, he knows Jim is trying. But he also sees the ways in which Jim has given up on himself and it makes him angry, especially at the idea that Jim did that for him. Nobody wants to be thought of as someone's burden to bear. And Jim's so focused on Li Ming's future he's lost sight of the present, of what both he and Li Ming need now. I don't dream he told Wen, you think Li Ming can't see that? That he's given up Jim the man to be Uncle Jim? Think he doesn't internalise it, feel it, blame himself for it? Li Ming doesn't want to be the reason Jim works himself to death in that diner, living hand to mouth.

Li Ming's frustration with his uncle is in such clear contrast to the patience, the unending patience he has with Heart. In a way I suppose it's easier, because Heart doesn't ask anything of him, unlike the mountain of expectations from Jim. Them waking up together was so darling, the way they were just soft and silly with each other, how they're not too worried about defining what's happening between them, just understanding that they care deeply for each other and they're attracted to each other and they want to see each other happy. Heart pulling Li Ming out of his funk was so beautiful, because it reiterates that this isn't one-sided, Heart can do things for Li Ming too. I know Li Ming starting to sneak Heart out of the house is going to come back and bite them hard, but it made me cry that he took this risk to give Heart community, to give him people to talk to who could understand him. Because Li Ming gets that Heart needs more than just him. As much as he cares he can't translate the world for him. Heart needs to be able to be independent to be free, and Li Ming doesn't know anything about it, so he goes to people who do. And then he also asks what he needs to do for Heart as well as seeing what Heart needs to do for himself and...these two are breaking me, I'm telling you.

Side Dishes

I appreciate Gong being a Gym Gay, we don't get enough of those in BL.

I really like the energy and chemistry between Earth and Papang whenever we flash back to Jim and Beam's relationship.

The passage of time in this show is neatly marked by the holidays, and it is proceeding apace. This ep spans from the morning after Loy Krathong to Christmas Eve, almost 2 months!

Please don't let Saleng have pawned Praew's dowry...

Oh no it seems like Ms. Hong is sick...what is Gaipa going to do it if he loses his mom?

Has Li Ming asked Heart to go abroad with him? Is that why Heart has the flyer?

Next week it looks like all the bubbles everybody's been living in are going to start popping one by one. I have a knot in my stomach just thinking of the fallout from that motorcycle accident.

#moonlight chicken #midnight series: moonlight chicken #the moon is beautiful tonight #bl meta series

[ifeelthereforeimnot]

Bro watching reality tv is like going to the zoo for me. Like this is sooooo far removed from my reality and interactions why are y'all yelling and why is everyone drinking out of giant goblets??

"GIRLYYYYY so which guys are you into?" You've been here three minutes and had two glasses of champagne how are y'all bonded already?? How have you even begun to perceive your surroundings, let alone other people??

"She's fake and I know she's fake. I can tell." She is....just like...sitting down over there somewhere. Is she deceiving us? Is she really standing? Fuck are you on about? Drink some more champagne and start yelling about it.

"I opened up about my bond with my grandma and he voted me off, what a snake!" Babydoll there is a six figure paycheque at stake. A lot of middle class white dudes love their grandmas. No one's giving you a hundred grand for it. This is a Television Program. It is a Pretend Game. He is not your "blood brother", you just both have blond hair and like the same basketball team you'll be okay.

"I took a risk and I think it paid off. I think she's proud of me." ???????? She just spent 43 minutes berating you for your decisions??? Can I visit the reality you live in? It sounds really nice in there.

Like where do they find these people? They're so violently extroverted and beautifully beautifully deluded 😘👌

#tessa thinks out loud #technically I can only think out loud #because I have aphantasia #therefore no internal monologue #quiet thoughts #it's quiet on set #someone talk to me about your outrageous opinions please

[chaosandstardust]

Hey, I just thought of something right after I sent you my other anon, about how I agree Kogag was the worst choice to raise Moroha... I mean, I don't watch this show and it's not like I think this excuses any of Koga's shit, but maybe Hachi & others thought that if MirSan raised Moroha, she'd be easy for Kirinmaru and Zero to find, given how Sess who knew MirSan was now apparently with Kirinmaru, and would definitely tell him that any dog hanyo living with MirSan would definitely be Moroha?

I have been thinking about this ask so much because it did give me a moment but what I'm saying is that I want a paycheque Sunrise because I'm pretty sure me and them have put more thought into this than you have.

First off, loving how "Kogag" is catching on. Let's keep it going, loves. 💖

Secondly;

(Putting it under the cut because this got long. Ty, write a short post challenge 😶)

What is more likely to cause a stir? A quarter dog demon child living in a village where they're known to protect half demons/part demons? Or a quarter dog demon child in a wolf tribe that likely has hundreds of members who are anti half demon?

If Koga was a guy who lived in the middle of nowhere in the mountains with like 2 or 3 people around, I could see your point, but he's co-leader (I'm giving Ayame her girlboss moment, he is her simp) of at least two major tribes. The series establishing that there is a Northern Tribe and an Eastern tribe makes me think that there's at least two other major tribes in Japan, and I don't think it would be a stretch to say that they likely interact regularly with some kind of societal system (Koga mentions elders that want to control his life and there's a religious system). That's at least two tribes of wolves, that haven't had the issues that the Northern or Eastern tribes have faced from Naraku, that are likely still very powerful and have lots of members, and that still hate half demons and eat humans.

We see in Shiori's episode, where she's created a haven for half demons, that demons are by and large not that accepting of half demons, still.

So, the show establishes 2 things. 1, there are more demon wolf tribes and likely at least 2 big ones. And 2, that half demons are not universally accepted by demonkind.

Moroha would cause a ripple effect wherever she went. It's part of her heritage. She was always going to stand out. But I think she has a less chance of standing out among humans that she would among wolf demons. Most of the time when humans realized Inuyasha's identity in the original was due to his ears and his hair color, two things that Moroha haven't inherited. The only thing she inherited physically seems to be teeth and claws, both things that can be disguised from a distance. She could probably pass for years as a full human in the right village, especially if they're on the outskirts of town and it's an "open secret" among the demon hunters. Miroku and Sango may even have been able to claim she's their fourth child.

I doubt that Koga and Ayame, regardless of the power they hold would be able to change the entire wolf society all that much in just a few years. There would absolutely be wolf tribe members who'd rat her out, and I'd argue she'd actually be in more danger of being discovered there. By sheltering her, Koga could possibly be putting his tribe at risk by making them open to attacks from not only Sesshomaru and Kirinmaru, but from the other wolf tribes as well. These are the things that you have to think about when you're being a leader, and I highly doubt that Koga isn't placed under intense political scrutiny considering his past choices.

Koga lost most of his tribe, abandoned his territory for months at a time and tried to marry a human. I can't imagine that wouldn't impact his political standing drastically, whether among his own tribe members or the larger society. And then he gets with the granddaughter of the chief of the Northern tribe, which probably helps him out while impacting Ayame negatively, then choses to bring in a part demon child of the woman he tried to marry that isn't even part wolf? Yikes. At best, Moroha would be subject to vicious gossip and bullying, which could make it's way over towards Kirinmaru. At worst, Moroha is literally basically food to them. She is three quarter FOOD.

When Towa meets Setsuna, Setsuna's human comrades are shocked to find out that she's half demon. All three of the girls just walk into villages no problem without any thought to their safety. Which makes me think that sensing demon energy isn't a very common skill among humans, even demon hunters. The wolves on the other hand can literally smell it. They can smell that she's mostly human. She is literally 3/4s food to them.

It's also not established at this point that Kirinmaru or Zero spent any time hunting down half demons after Moroha disappeared. It strikes me as very odd that they are so focused on like two or three half demons, when there are hundreds out there, at least. (Okay but imagine the last episode just ends with a character we've never seen before accidentally food poison Kirinmaru and that's a hanyou and, well, he's been killed by someone who is neither human nor demon 😂😂😂😂). So we don't really know what they were up to in the fourteen years since Inukag's disappearance.

Its not even all that I really struggle with. Don't get me wrong, sir Kogag is a stupid choice. I stand by that. It's the general apathy towards Moroha's existence by Inukag's BEST FRIENDS that I'm struggling with. I just have a really hard time picturing Hachi seeing Miroku, Miroku asking where Inuyasha, Kagome, and Moroha are, and after finding out the answer he doesn't immediately go "babe, want to visit the wolf tribe, oh, you're already on Kirara, KOHAKU WATCH THE KIDS!"

In terms of Sesshomaru knowing Miroku and Sango, well, I feel like MirSan would take that risk. They both have targets on their back from the work they're in, that's not something they're not well adjusted to. And if they moved after Kagome and Inuyasha disappeared, Moroha could've been a good motivation for that and it would've made them harder to find (also I'm assuming they'd throw some of my queen Sango's tricks Sesshomaru's way to get rid of the smell and Miroku would have something that would help with any demon energy moroha is giving off). Sesshomaru and Kirinmaru are both powerful enough that there really isn't a safe place for Moroha, and adding that in with the fact that there would be wolf tribe members would definitely rat Moroha out...

Also, Sango and Miroku saying "we can't take Moroha because it would put our family in danger" implies that Inuyasha and Kagome aren't their family. If we go by the timeline in Yashahime that Rin is 18 and Kagome is 23-25, they've been friends for at least 8 years. They've seen each other everyday. Sango and Miroku, who had already experienced a lot of loss in their life, would want to make sure that Moroha was well taken care of because that's their best friends' child. That's not some random kid who stumbled into the camp one day, that's Inuyasha's and Kagome's daughter. They would want her with them.

I don't think that the writers of this show put much thought over the whole "putting Moroha with Koga" other than "WE GOTTA HYPE THEM UP FOR WHEN HE COMES BACK, GUYS!" Because MirSan are obviously going to come back, that's a given, they're in the first episode, but you gotta be sure to assure the fans that there's a good chance that Koga would come back. Not that it worked, I dont think he is at this point, and Moroha hasn't even mentioned him at all.

Even if Moroha had to go into hiding with somebody who was not them, MirSan would definitely want to make sure that Moroha was well taken care off. I'm utterly baffled by this idea that they'd just let her go off into the wolf tribe without at least checking on her and making sure she's okay. Or demanding that Dumb Wolf Lady/Koga bring Moroha to see them as often as possible. (We were ROBBED of the Hisui and Moroha dynamic!)

I'm pretty sure you and me have put way more thought into this than the writers. You can e-transfer the cash, Sunrise. 😂

#anti yashahime #yashahime #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime spoilers #anti koga #moroha #inuyasha #inukagmor #inukag #sango #miroku #mirsan #anti sesshomaru #hanyou no yashahime spoilers #hanyo no yashahime

[nijuukoo]

I'm sorry if this seems like a personal question, but how did you convince or assure your family that art making was the career path for you? I'm currently trying to get back into art after taking a break but my family isn't happy that I want to return to it. Their main argument is that I won't have benefits like someone would working full time at a company & because of the unstable income. Even though I understand where they're coming from, but it still undermines what I want to do.

*whispers* thru a lot of emotional turmoil and anxiety _(:3」∠)_ I was told drawing should only be a hobby and not a career because my family believed you can’t make a good living in art, so I tried to back-burner it and did what i could studying sciences–it didn’t work out well; I had a lot of anxiety and went through some rough emotional patches in university. My mom and grandparents became a lot more supportive after they saw that i had a lot more interest in art than any of my uni courses (and also that i really wasn’t happy going down the science route). My dad’s disappointment lingered a bit longer, but now he’s fully come to accept that he can’t change what I’ve set my heart to, and my family’s really supportive now. In some ways, they’re right: In Vancouver, it’s a saturated industry–it is competitive, you are not guaranteed a position, and if you are, the company may only give you a temporary contract, and freelancing is definitely not a stable source of income. Your family’s concern is in the right place.

However, if this is something you truly want to pursue, you need to start beefing a portfolio, and investing in classes (online or in class) and tutorials to hone your skill and expand your skillset (this is important–nowadays, companies are more likely to hire someone who can do more than just one thing–i.e. being able to draw both characters and backgrounds, to illustrate and code, or illustrate and model in 3D etc etc). Talk to people in the industry (either by attending work conventions or with peers in that industry), you need that feedback and information to get to a destination that’s, for a lack of a better word, hazy and increasingly competitive.

Creating a portfolio takes time and commitment; art will frustrate you, but you will get better, your portfolio will get better. If you choose to freelance, you have to be aware of the risk. You need to understand that you will need to save more money when freelancing because your next paycheque is not always guaranteed. You need to be able to put yourself out there if you’re freelancing. Unless you hire an agent, you’ll need to push your art and yourself as an artist out there whenever you can. Making connections with people in the industry is your best bet–while your art can certainly speak for itself, it’s equally vital to reach out and talk to people.

if you are fortunate enough to land a job within a company, that’s great! you’ll have less freedom when it comes to the work you do and have less control over your own work hours, but your benefits are more guaranteed, and you’re still getting to do art! either way, your portfolio is the most vital thing. While you work on a portfolio, take a job that will help you make enough in order to achieve your art career in the future. Your happiness and how you feel you will succeed is important, and your family will come to realise that. Ask them + friends for help when you need it; starting your path to a career you want shouldn’t be a one-man journey. 

#ask #ghost-wanderings