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eponymous-rose · 4 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E92 (Jan. 28, 2020)

This week’s guests are Laura Bailey and Marisha Ray!

Announcements: At 4 PM Pacific on February 4, season 2 of All Work No Play premieres! Pre-sale tickets for autographs and photo ops for C2E2 are available now via Epic Photo Ops! Lots of “super-secret but majorly exciting announcements” to come this week on the website!

Episode 92: Home Is Where the Heart Is

Stats for this episode: it has been 69 episodes, 6 levels, and 212 Exandrian days since the Nein last saw the reformed bandits. The Nein haven’t killed anyone since episode 86, a campaign 2 record (Laura: “I know, I’m aching!”). Jester cast her 50th Guidance spell this episode (on herself), and it’s been 50 Exandrian days since the Nein last partook of a bottle of Lionett wine together in Trostenwald.

On initial expectations vs. reality for their characters’ fathers: Laura: “I had no notion of what he was going to be. I literally wrote that he wooed my mom, that he wore lots of rings on his fingers, and that he went off to get his place ready to come meet him, and that was all.” She notes that she knew Jester was half-water genasi, but she wasn’t there the first time they met the Gentleman to ask any leading questions. Marisha: “I had this struggling panic for a while. I didn’t know how he was going to play him. There was a strong possibility in my head that my parents were great, and were just like, ‘We were trying so hard, we’re so sorry.’ It was pretty crazy the way he actually played it. And it did feel like, he sucks, yeah, okay, no.”

On Fjord’s heart-to-heart with Beau: “I felt like Beau and Fjord had good pirate-ship bonding time. It’s been a bit since Beau and Fjord checked in, so that was a cool Fjord-Beau moment that was nice to have, like, we’re still bros, it’s great.”

Jester just wanted to make Beau feel better, especially as she realized that she’d been a little oblivious in cheering about how great her dad was: “It was so crazy, the minute we got there and you reverted back to the initial Beau, the first Beau that we met, and then even further past that. It just killed Jester to see that.” Marisha notes that the moment when Jester pulled Beau aside, she was about to lose it: “I tried to work Beau in a direction of growth, and getting to a point where she’s not angry and snappy and just fucking lashing out at people. So Beau’s going to try to keep her cool, and then I was literally sucking in the air, and you were like, ‘Come here,’ and that was just enough to get the reset button and the calm. She’s not in a place to forgive her parents, but Jester talking about the poison of holding on to all of that was kind of what, I was like, okay. I can use this in that moment to not have to make it about forgiving my parents right now, or ever, but to be able to start to heal and separate from that and that past. And for Beau to forgive herself.” Laura, after the game, was worried that it came across as Jester trying to get Beau to forgive her dad, and Beau notes that not seeing even a fraction of the effort the Gentleman has put forward kind of wiped that possibility out.

Beau’s grown a lot since she was last home. “The Mighty Nein has helped Beau trust in other people around her and come out of her shell and learn how to control her outbursts and her blaming other people and her anger. That’s so far from the Beau that was in that house.” Marisha was actually startled at herself when Beau snapped at Nott over the horse. “It was immediately all those bad thoughts were coming back, so it felt like Beau was on the verge of reverting.” Laura: “Nothing makes you fucking regress to your childhood mannerisms and behaviors faster than going home.”

Jester believes that “love is stronger than anything else”. She knows her parents still love each other, so “any of those other crazy things, they can work through.”

On whether Beau’s dad is really worried about her: “I think he cares to the extent that anyone cares about anyone’s general safety. I think he’s concerned about himself first, and what he has, and then I think he’s concerned about Beau next, after that. But I don’t know, maybe I’m being incredibly harsh. But there is, to this point, that element of what’s the twist.” Laura notes that she got a really high insight check on Beau’s dad. “There’s a reason that I was like, maybe give him open ears” at that moment.

Cosplay of the Week: a very detailed Molly! (GalacticLeah, photo by Fricbergsean)

On potentially leaving the Lionetts destitute if they destroy the hag, Laura and Marisha say, in unison: “Fuck the Lionetts.” They note that they’ve got the resources to make sure T.J. will be fine, and that’s all that really matters.

Has Jester forgiven her father? “I don’t think Jester’s angry at him. She’s very empathetic. She’s very good at going, okay, I see it from your side. And I think she was afraid more that something bad had happened to him. Obviously, if he could have returned, he would have, because he loved her mother so much. So I don’t think she’s angry at him. I don’t think, necessarily, she doesn’t think he’s perfect, but she’s making the best of the situation. I think she’s just happy that he’s around. Make up for lost time.”

Brian asks about how different it is to be supportive of each other and exploring backstories in this campaign versus with the last campaign’s more archetypal characters. Marisha: “It feels like the campaign has been very muddy and not black-and-white. The same for every person’s individual backstory issues.” She notes that there’s a lot more ambiguity. Laura: “Vex wasn’t empathetic. She was sympathetic sometimes, but sometimes when Keyleth was going through something, Vex was like, come on, get your shit together.” Brian notes just how different everyone’s characters are this time around. “It’s awesome!”

Laura notes that TJ ran up to Beau and called her sister, which means that they’ve been talking about her consistently for him to recognize her. “So there is a level there.” Marisha notes that Beau has very mixed feelings about her mom, too. “She’d never offer support, or want to challenge Thoreau.” So now she’s wondering if her mom has been quietly talking her up to TJ, or if it’s both of them.

Fan Art of the week: Beau and TJ! (by ItsMalenyLopez)

Jester’s perspective on the Gentleman’s partners: “You can sleep with people, but don’t form a fucking relationship with them. That’s the difference.”

Marisha, on working with difficult topics on the show: “The audience goes away in the moment. Yes, it’s hard, yes, it’s cathartic, and yes, it’s something on a whole other level. It’s why roleplaying games are so fucking awesome, because they allow you to do that.” Marisha notes that she has a great relationship with her own parents, but getting to explore is interesting. “It’s hard to describe.” Laura: “There’s a safety there, to be able to dive into these places.” Marisha: “With all of these issues, these issues are skinned, but the root of them are often very relatable issues that everyone goes through. So there is a certain amount of catharsis to that. So while I personally had a good relationship with my parents, I’m accustomed to feeling shut out, feeling misunderstood, going through psychological abuse, all of those things. And, of course, everyone knows someone who has probably experienced those things first-hand, so you can get a sense of understanding in some ways, but there’s layers of everything that you’re doing that can totally think back to things that were from your life.” Laura: “I think that RPGs are so great for just humanity in general, because it really makes you see things from another person’s perspective.” Marisha: “It takes time. I don’t recommend anybody try to do something like this out of the gate with your first game.” Laura: “No, I mean, we’ve been playing this game together as a family now for eight years. And we’re just now getting to stuff like this. All that time of building trust and being able to know, okay, if I go to these levels, I’m going to have the support of the people around me.” Marisha: “The whole thing is a trust fall.”

Jester’s opinion on the M9′s worry about the Traveler’s cultishness? “Well-meaning but paranoid.” Before leaving the Lavish Chateau, she barely told anyone about the Traveler, and they all just accepted him as her imaginary friend. “She knows he’s godly. She knows how powerful he is. There is a little bit of ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ seeing how other gods deal with their... constituents?” Laura notes that she has absolutely no idea what Traveler-Con is going to be like.

Beau has always been aware that her tattoo has the jade/tarot connections with her father as well. “That’s why Beau was so salty with Molly when he was trying to tell fortunes from the beginning. It’s all layered. Didn’t intend for it, but jade just happened to be the one that boosts wisdom.”

Marisha and Laura both note that defeating more traditional enemies can be easily resolved in a way that can be used to block out the things that are really bothering you. Family issues, on the other hand, usually don’t have a simple resolution.

#talks machina #talks machina spoilers #critical role #critical role spoilers #long text post

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buckthegrump · 4 years

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Why Can’t I Say That I’m In Love?

Summary: As a young girl you went into town with your parents to see the villagers. That's where you met one little boy who would change your life and your heart. But as the princess of the kingdom, there are things that are expected of you. Falling in love with the baker’s son is not one of them. Baker!Bucky x Princess!Reader

Word Count: 3505

Warnings: Angst, a little bit of fluff,

A/n: This is my entry for @daffodilsbucky ‘s writing challenge my prompt was Royal AU and yes I did just post a different royal AU and no I’m not going to stop

It started when you were young. No more than eight years of age. Your parents had taken you from the castle into town, it was a tradition for the royal family to go and visit amongst the commoners at least once a month. It was supposed to show the subjects that the royals were relatable.

You had been excited to go and see other kids. The castle was a lonely place for a young princess. You’d really only met one or two kids that weren’t royalty. One of them just so happened to be your best friend Natasha.

The royal governess was accompanying you because your parents would need the extra help keeping an eye on you. And it would give you a special opportunity to have some hands-on learning.

It was a perfect autumn day when your family went into town, well the weather was perfect. As it would turn out the act of going into town and being amongst the commoners was rather boring when you’re eight and not allowed to play with any of the other kids.

That is until you reached the bakery.

“Mr. Barnes,” your father greeted the baker, “I have a request if you could -”

You stopped paying attention as your father spoke with the baker and his wife. You looked over to the end of the counter that held all cakes and pastries to find a boy half-hidden behind it. After a quick glance to the grown-ups in the room making sure they weren’t paying attention, you snuck over to him.

“Hi,” you whispered to him, “I’m Y/n. What’s your name?”

He stared at you blankly and your heart dropped. He probably didn’t want to be friends with you because you were the princess, or maybe you’d introduced yourself incorrectly.

“I’m Bucky,” his whisper was much quieter than yours had been and you almost missed it but your mom had often said that she was sure you had abnormally great hearing.

“Do you wanna be friends?” You asked.

“Can a princess be friends with a baker’s son?” His brows knitted together in confusion.

You paused. “I don’t know, but even if it’s not allowed I don’t care.”

Bucky looked over at the adults who were still engaged in whatever conversation they were having.

“Ok,” he finally answered, “let’s be friends.”

* * *

You saw Bucky often enough as a child, he would often accompany his father or mother to the castle whenever they had business with the king and queen. More often than not, Y/n was in a lesson when he came around but she’d gotten very good about sneaking around.

But then when the two of you became teenagers and started seriously learning the art of your trade, you barely saw him and when you did it was either in court or at a ball. In your kingdom, the balls that the royals held were open to everyone. So you would catch his eye across the room and he would smile at him.

During court, Bucky would often come to bring you a gift. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for people of the kingdom to bring a gift, a lot of them did in exchange for a problem to be solved. But Bucky never really had a problem.

Come his turn, he would approach and hand your parents and you sperate gifts. It was always a pastry and it was always wrapped in some sort of parchment.

Yours was smaller than the king and queens but you didn’t mind a bit for Bucky would always put little decorations on your pastry. Then one day you noticed that the parchment had a note written on it.

I know we are not able to speak privately much anymore, but you are still my friend.

The handwriting was beautiful but you supposed it should be since Bucky decorated cakes. It wasn’t long after that when you realized you were in love with the baker’s son.

* * *

You were walking through the gardens one spring afternoon, it had been raining almost non stop the week before so the lands were especially green. As you walked leisurely along the path, you stumbled into something.

“I’m so sorry your highness,” came a familiar voice. You looked at who you’d run into to find Bucky. “Forgive me I did not see you approaching.”

“The fault is mine, James,” you said with a curtsey, “for I was not paying attention.”

“Your highness -”

“You do not have to be so formal, James,” you looked around the garden, “we are alone.”

“Call me Bucky and I will,” he bargained.

“Are you trying to barter with a princess?”

Bucky smiled and turned away a blush creeping onto his face. “It would seem so.”

“I agree to your terms, Bucky.”

“And how are you today, Y/n?” You almost forgot to answer. The way he said your name had your heart beating at a rate that could not be healthy.

“Splendid, it’s a lovely day outside. After the winter we had, I was unsure if I would ever be able to walk outside again without multiple furs on.”

“I can’t imagine that the castle gets that cold,” he teased.

His blue eyes were sparkling, you weren’t aware that eyes could sparkle like that. Or maybe that was just something that was specific to him.

“I was more referring to the stables.”

Bucky frowned slightly. “Why were you in the stables?”

“I had to help tend to the horses, one of the stable boys broke his leg and they would’ve been understaffed and forced to stay much later than necessary. So I helped.”

“I can’t imagine that tending to the horses is a job for a princess.”

“Maybe not,” you conceded, “But I don’t mind the work.”

You stood there with Bucky staring at you and you at him. You wanted to tell him, the words were begging to fall from your lips. But that wouldn’t be fair to him. If a princess confesses her love for someone below her in rank, a few things were likely to happen.

One, the person would take advantage of the princess’s love and abuse it. Two, the person could laugh and walk away calling the princess naive. Or three, (the one you believed to be the most likely in this situation) they would feel obligated to reciprocate the feels despite not having.

And you weren’t about to have Bucky feel forced into anything, it was probably just a crush because Bucky treated you differently than everyone else. There’s no way it could be love. And even if it was it wasn’t like you would know, having never been in love.

“Thank you for stopping to talk to me your high- Y/n,” he bowed his head not breaking eye contact with you, “I hope to see you again soon.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Bucky. I do hope you and your family are planning to bake the cakes for the upcoming ball,” you smirked at him, “It is my birthday you know.”

“Well of course, who else would make you a honey cake,” he smiled.

“That’s my favorite.”

“Yes, I know.” He bowed again and walked away.

* * *

“Natasha, there’s no need to worry,” you said as your friend helped you with your corset, “it is merely a small infatuation.”

Natasha snorted, very unladylike but you found it funny. “Please don’t try and lie to me. I’ve seen the way you look at each other. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“James would never -”

“He may not mean to, Y/n. But because you love him, you give him the power to,” she said in a low voice.

She was one of the only people who had the fortitude to forgo your title in favor of your name regularly. She never did it in front of other people but it’d taken you years to convince Bucky to do the same.

“I do not know what you mean by that, Natasha,” you lied.

“I am talking about the fact that after this birthday you will be courted by men all across the land who hope to have your hand in marriage. And James may not take to kindly to you being pursued by prince after prince. Especially since he will never get the chance to.”

Natasha was right, she normally was but you had gotten into the habit of not telling her that or her ego might not fit into the castle any longer. Your 21st birthday was right around the corner and then it would be time for you to find a husband so when the crown was passed along to you, you would have someone to rule with you.

And you understood why a union between two different kingdoms would be advantageous. But you were apprehensive of the notion that you would have to marry someone that you’d only met a few times before. Not to mention that you would be married before you actually got to know them, it seemed idiotic that this was customary.

“Well, I think you will find that he is not in love with me.” You put your arms up and Natasha helped you into your dress. “He’s never giving me any indication that he is.”

Natasha sighed theatrically. “Y/n, that’s because he’s afraid that you don’t fell the same way.”

You quickly changed the subject to something else as you finished getting ready for the ball.

* * *

The ball was in full swing and you’d already danced with two dukes or lords or whatever they’d called themselves. Both of them had stepped on your feet as you danced and one had commented on how quaint it was that you enjoyed tending to the horses.

When your mother had asked if you liked either of them you gave her a disgusted look, which she laughed at quietly, then told you to keep your face neutral.

The festivities were nowhere near over but you’d snuck out for a moment as you’d done many times before. You walked to a room a few doors away from the grand hall. It was quiet but you could still hear the band playing faintly.

“You know,” a voice said from the doorway and you spun around only to find the one person you actually wanted to see. “It’s considered bad form for the princess to leave her own ball.”

“But it’s so boring,” you whined.

“Y/n, it’s your birthday ball,” Bucky reasoned. He was leaning against the archway in his trousers and nicest shirt with a formal coat over it.

“My birthday isn’t for a few more days, and that doesn’t change the fact that it’s boring me.”

“Well, what would you suggest we do about that?”

“I might have more fun if I got to dance with the someone I actually want to dance with,” you admitted.

Bucky smiled at you and pushed himself off the wall. He walked towards you as the band continued to play their lively tune, once he got to you he held out his hand which you gladly took. As if the band knew what was going on, they switched to a slower song.

Bucky wrapped one hand around your waist and held your hand in the other. You place your free hand on his shoulder and he spun you around the room.

The world seemed to melt away and it was just the two of you dancing. Even if the room hadn’t been empty, you wouldn’t have noticed. Hell, someone could walk in on you and Bucky and you probably wouldn’t notice.

The song ended and Bucky pulled away from you. You dropped your hands to your sides and watched him carefully.

“Thank you for indulging me with a dance, your highness.” And with that, he bowed before exiting the room, leaving you alone.

The rest of the ball droned on, you almost fell asleep standing up multiple times. The only thing that was keeping you awake was your thoughts of Bucky. After that dance, you couldn’t help but wonder if Natasha had been right and he did have feelings for you.

* * *

Two years passed since your 21st birthday, and your parents were still trying to find you a suitor.

It was becoming hard for them to find someone for you to even look at without your face twisting into disgust when you’d already found someone. Not that anyone other than Natasha knew your true feelings.

Bucky didn’t even know, but that was because you hadn’t told him. And you weren’t sure that you ever would.

Over the two years, your parents held countless balls. All of which you’d snuck out of just to have one dance with Bucky. He always met you in the same place and held you close no matter the tempo or style of song the band was playing.

It was only ever for one song, and it never felt long enough. Words were rarely ever spoken between the two of you and when they were it was a simple greeting. If a full conversation was made you would slip up and tell him.

But what good would telling him do? You were to marry a prince or duke. And telling Bucky of your true feelings would only end badly for one or both of you. So you stayed quiet. You enjoyed what little time you got with him.

* * *

Prince Peter Quill. That was who had been spending a fortnight at your palace. He was planning on proposing, you could feel it.

You were just hoping and praying that he wouldn’t do it at a ball because you had no intention of saying yes. It wasn’t like his kingdom was the strongest one in the land and it would be what was best for your people. Quite the opposite actually.

Luckily, Peter had the good sense to propose in a private setting before a ball your parents had set up in hopes that you would say yes.

When he got down on one knee and asked in the most unimaginative way if you would marry him you asked if you could think about it. He agreed and you ran off to hide in a tower.

Bucky was in the room you’d gone to hide in.

“Apologies, your majesty,” Bucky bowed his head, “I thought I would be alone up here.”

“No, James, I thought the same but you were here first so I will leave -”

“Nonsense,” he cut you off, “this is your home. I’m only here to bake the cakes for tonight.”

He began to leave but stopped when he was right next to you, he looked over at you. You were clearly distressed and it seemed like he had something to say.

“May I speak candidly?” He asked.

“Do you fear that I would ever punish you for what you say to me?”

“No, but I felt that would be warning enough for what I’m about to say may not be what you want to hear.” He closed the door that you’d opened turned so he was fully facing you and you did the same.

“Bucky -” you whispered but he held up his hand.

“This is not my place but I feel I should tell you. And I need to do so before you are promised to another. I am not fooling myself by thinking that what I am about to say will change what you are going to say to the prince.”

He stopped and shifted on his feet and you felt all the air leave your lungs.

“I am in love with you. Honestly, I fell in love with you a long time ago and if I had been smart I would’ve stopped coming to the balls and dancing with you because I know it’s going to hurt when you tell me that you aren’t in love with me. But I’m selfish. I enjoyed the fantasy that I’d made up in my head that you could possibly love me too. But I’m but a baker’s son. I’m sorry to burden you with these truths but I would never forgive myself if I took it to my grave. Y/n Y/l/n, I love you.”

Bucky bowed his head slightly and rushed out the door. You were stunned, so much so that you couldn’t speak or move. It felt like a lifetime before you remembered to breathe again.

For a brief moment, you smiled to yourself. He loved you. You reveled in that fact before the reality of your situation kicked in.

You needed to talk to your parents.

* * *

Bucky was pacing around his house, he still lived with his parents and little sisters since he had not yet taken a wife. Everyone in the village kept asking why he didn’t just pick one of the many women who fawned over him. He did not have the courage to tell them that he only had eyes for one.

And now he’s confessed his feelings to the princess, who was probably laughing at him to that prince who looked to become king of this land.

Gods, he was a fool. Now he would have to leave this kingdom and find refuge in another.

The door to the cottage opened. He wasn’t expecting to find you when he turned around but that’s who was there. You were in a simple green frock, but your hair looked ready for the ball in a few hours.

“Your majesty, if this is about earlier -” he began but you held up your finger cutting him off.

“After your declaration, I spoke to my parents.” Bucky’s breath got caught in his throat in fear of what you would do to him. He knew he should’ve just said nothing. “And as it would appear, when you are the only heir to the throne people actually listen to you. It is probably a good thing I didn’t figure this out sooner or I would’ve abused that power.”

“Princess -”

“You need to stop cutting me off,” you said sternly and Bucky snapped his mouth closed. “I turned down Prince Peter’s proposal. For more than one reason. When I was younger my mother always told me that when the time came for me to marry I should find a prince that would kneel to propose. Not one of the princes or lords that have asked me has done so.”

Your tongue darted out to wet your lips before you continued.

“Then when I spoke to my mother today, she told me that if I was not to marry anyone with a title I should at least find someone I trusted enough to rule alongside me.”

This was it, Bucky thought to himself, this is the rejection.

“And I cannot expect something from others if I am not willing to do the same. My parents once told me that I was never to bow or kneel before anyone who was below me in rank.” You took a deep breath before lowering yourself to your knees.

“Y/n,” Bucky's voice was barely audible.

“James Barnes, you have never let me down. You have been nothing but kind to me since I met you. You said that you were being selfish all those times you danced with me but it was I who was the selfish one, at any point, I could’ve stopped. But those dances were and continue to be the best part of the balls.”

“What are you doing?”

“And I continue to be selfish even now. I went to my parents and convinced them that marrying me off to someone outside the kingdom wouldn’t be best for the people, because I’ve already found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?” You asked. You looked up at him, eyes wide with fear.

Bucky walked over to where you were kneeling before him and mirrored your position. He took your hand in his.

“Typically the man proposes to the woman,” he whispered.

“If you had proposed it would’ve been under the pretense that I would have to give up my crown and something tells me that you wouldn’t do that.” You squeezed his hand. “But that’s not an answer. I understand if you say no, for I’m not just asking you to marry me. I’m also asking you to become king.”

“I would do anything if it meant I got to be with you.” He smiled brightly at you. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

Unable to control yourself you lunged forward and kissed him. He didn’t hesitate to kiss you back, cupping your face with his hand.

You pulled away and he whined at the loss of contact.

“I didn’t get you a ring,” you muttered.

“You can have my grandmother’s ring,” he said as he stroked your cheek with his thumb.

“Usually the person who proposes provides the ring.”

Bucky chuckled. “Yes, well, there are a lot of things unusual about us.”

“Yes,” you agreed, “I suppose there are.”

#daffodilsbucky1k #Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes AU #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x you #baker!bucky

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maraudererasmut · 4 years

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what kinds of things did you do when you were first practicing digital drawing? did you use reference images? where did you find them? anything you would recommend to a baby drawer with a short attention span for instructions?

Well, first and foremost, I’m gonna take a moment to do a little fangirl wiggle, because I’m a huge fan of your work! Thank you for messaging me!

I’m gonna include a lot of info here, so bear with me! I’ll try to break it down so that it’s easy to understand, but if anyone ha any questions, feel free to ask!

The absolute most important thing for starting out drawing is practice.

You’re going to hear it from everyone, everywhere, but it’s so very true. When I first started digital drawing, I made sure to use my tablet every single day. Now, that doesn’t mean I spend three hours each day trying to do something amazing; some days I only had a few minutes here and there, but I’d try to sketch something rough, something loose, maybe just a doodle. Maybe it’s a face one day, maybe it’s just a bunch of swirls and stars the next. It doesn’t matter what you draw, as long as you are developing the habit of drawing! No matter what it is you are doing, you’re learning! Playing with brushes to see how they feel on your new drawing program? Learning! Trying to see if one way of colouring is better than another? Learning! Drawing the same nose over and over and over again until you like what you see? Also learning!

Another key step to learning to draw is to identify what you like!

What does that mean? Well, look at other artists who inspire you! Why does their work appeal to you? What is it about their drawings that you LOVE? Once you realize what it is that makes something beautiful to you, you know what to practice and how to learn to adopt that into your own style!

@burdge is an excellent example for illustrating this. They are a fandom artist that has been around for so long, nearly every fandom artist I know has been inspired by them in one way or another!

So what is it about Burdge’s art that I love? I love the closeness that’s portrayed, and the softness. But those are very arbitrary things that are difficult to identify and even more challenging to implement. I love the noses. I love the proportions. I love the hairlines! I love the body movement! Those are things that are a bit easier to pick out and start practicing!

This leads so well into my next point:

It is okay to copy someone else’s work if it’s for practice!

Let’s break this one down, just to ensure that nobody accidentally misinterprets what I’m saying: It is okay to copy someone else’s work if it’s for practice. It is NOT okay to copy someone else’s work and post it, claiming it as your own! If you use a reference picture, generally speaking, most artists will post which reference they use, but I know that I often forget to do that as well! But using a reference picture is different than copying.

When you copy someone’s work, what you’re really doing is working on identifying what you love about it. You’re practicing drawing in their style! And that’s totally fine! When you’re first starting out, it’s actually really helpful to be able to use someone else’ expertise and practice to guide you to draw something you love! A lot of people have it in their heads that copying = bad. And sometimes it does. But I think it’s important for new artists to get rid of that notion in their heads. Practice is practice. When you practice cooking, you copy other people’s recipes! You’re not going to post those recipes online and say you created them, but you CAN feed them to your friends and you CAN eat them yourself! And if you do post pictures of your food? You can say whose recipe you used and thank them for a great meal!

We were all starting at one point, and every artist I know started by copying something.

Use reference pictures! Use them liberally! References are helpful!

Yes, some artists are so good that they do not need reference pictures. That’s fine. Good for them! I’m very proud of them!

When you’re first starting out, you don’t have to worry about that! Don’t get into your own head and tell yourself “Real artists do XYZ, blah blah blah, etc.” None of that is helpful. Use whatever is available to help you improve!

Now the question is what actually makes good reference pictures? Well, everyone uses something a little different. Some people use faces of famous actors, some people use stock photos, some people use other people’s drawings that are specifically made for references!

What do I do? I save every single photo I come across that inspires me into a folder. I have tons of folders labeled “Reference: Pose” or “Reference: Remus” or “Reference: Gay”. (That one is smut references. :3 )

I use blogs like @posereference and @fantasyartistreference, which I follow on here! I’ve gone through their content and saved photos that I think will inspire me in the future. Sometimes I don’t do anything with them. Sometimes I use them!

I also take advantage of stock photos. That includes ones that adobe puts onto the internet as well as ones that other artists put! Senshi Stock on Deviant art is an excellent resource that has made a TON of photos available to artists to use for FREE!

Google is also my friend! I like to google terms like “Couple Pose Reference” or “Couple Kissing”. If you include search terms like “pose reference” you often find that you get things specifically created for artists to use to help with poses!

Look at all the helpful poses!

Now, this leads us to my next point:

How to use reference images

Everyone does this part differently, too! I’m going to show a few different examples. Let’s use this amazing reference sheet by @kibbi as our example!

Some people like to have their reference photo beside their drawing space, to use for them to look at, simply as a guide:

Some people like to have their pose reference in a layer beneath their actual drawing on a lower opacity so that they can trace right over it:

Often times, what you end up doing is using your traced sketch as your base for your drawing, with your actual drawing over top of it. Essentially, you’re using this time to identify what you DO like about the reference pose and what you DON’T like about it, and changing it!

See how different it’s looking already? I put my own style over top of it, but I used the pose as a reference because I really liked it!

((EDIT: I JUST REALIZED THAT I GAVE SIRIUS THREE ARMS. I AM SO SORRY, GUYS!!!!))

Side by side comparison for the curious:

Eventually, a time will come where you can do simple poses like this without the use of a reference. That’s amazing! You will be so proud of yourself! But if you still need to use references for complicated poses or foreshortening, remember not to beat yourself up about it. It is OKAY to use reference poses, and it is OKAY to take advantage of resources that are available to you! Just try to remember to cite your sources, just like we all did in school! :P

Practice Anatomy

Try doing things like figure drawing! Use sites like Quick Poses to give yourself a timed figure drawing session, if you’re up for it! The more you practice bodies and anatomy, the better you will get at drawing them! Don’t focus too much on anything being perfect; remember to say loose and just aim for general shapes and general proportions.

This isn’t the greatest example, because I didn’t do any dynamic poses, but here are some rough figure sketches:

See how loose I was? See how little I cared about it looking nice? That’s the best way to start a sketch! Just with loose scribbles!

The same thing can apply to faces:

Learn the rules, and then learn when to break them!

Just like writing, where you have “rules” for writing an essay, in drawing, you have rules for anatomy! But… I don’t always love to follow those rules. It’s important to understand human anatomy (if you plan to draw humans), and then figure out where you want things to be exaggerated in order to create your own style! Here’s an example:

The same rules apply to musculature! It’s important to understand what muscles go where and how they move in order to properly draw them consistently! However! That is something a bit more complicated that we can go into another time! I don’t think that would be included in my simple break-down of drawing!

And… last but not least…

Have fun!

You’d think this one would go without saying, but I’m going to specify it anyway. If you are NO LONGER enjoying drawing what you’re drawing, STOP. Don’t just draw humans because I told you to practice anatomy! If you’re not having fun, you’re going to grow to resent it, and we don’t want that! Draw whatever it is that you want! If you want to draw the same two men hugging over and over and over and over and over (Case in point: my entire blog), you do that! Ignore everything I said about knowing anatomy and about reference pictures and about anything! Just do exactly what makes you happy, nothing more and nothing less. Practicing should be fun, and the moment it’s no longer fun, you’ll begin to lose your passion. So… move on to something else that’s fun! Tired of drawing Wolfstar? (Pfff, that’s impossible, but okay). Move on to Drarry! Or to Linny! Or to a different fandom! Or to flowers! Or to still life! Or to whatever you think will bring back that spark!

Because that’s what drawing is all about. It’s just another form of expression and another way to have fun!

ANYWAY! I know this was SUPER long! I hope it was at least somewhat helpful! I’m not an expert, not by any means, but I enjoy doing this, and I am still working on improving! If anyone has any more questions, shoot me a message!

#ask me things #ask me stuff #ask maraudererasmut #drawing guide #drawing tutorial #basic drawing tutorial #not even really a tutorial #Just... drawing stuff #my art #art how-to

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thisblogisalsoboundforglory · 3 years

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WHAT I HAVE BEEN READING LATELY

Kage Baker’s Company Series

In the Garden of Iden

Sky Coyote

Mendoza in Hollywood

The Graveyard Game

The Life of the World to Come

The Children of the Company

The Machine's Child

The Sons of Heaven

The Empress of Mars

Not Less than Gods

Nell Gwynne's On Land and At Sea

Black Projects, White Knights: The Company Dossiers

Gods and Pawns

In the Company of Thieves

Ø Science Fiction written by a woman with Asperger’s. Wildly uneven. Main protagonist is female, but there are lots of POV characters, male and female.

Ø Big ideas.

Ø Lots of adventure, some action.

Ø Small doses of humor.

Neil Gaiman

Good Omens (with Sir Terry Pratchett)

Neverwhere

Stardust

American Gods

Anansi Boys

The Graveyard Book

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Ø Neil’s books are a road trip with Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and a baggie full of sativa.

Ø Ideas are incidental. The Milieu’s in charge.

Ø Adventure happens whether you like it or not.

Ø Cosmic humor. The joke’s on us.

Connie Willis’s Oxford Time Travel Series

Firewatch

Doomsday Book

To Say Nothing of the Dog (and the novel that inspired it – Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat)

Blackout/All Clear

Assorted:

The Last of the Winnebagos

Ø Connie loves her historical research. Blackout/All Clear actually lasts as long as the Blitz, but anything in the Oxford Time Travel series is worth reading. Doomsday Book reads like prophecy in retrospect.

Ø One idea: Hi! This is the human condition! How fucking amazing is that?!?

Ø Gut-punch adventure with extra consequences. Background action.

Ø I’d have to say that Doomsday Book is the funniest book about the black death I’ve ever read, which isn’t saying much. To Say Nothing of the Dog is classic farce, though. Girl’s got range.

Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash (After the apocalypse, the world will be ruled by Home-Owners Associations. Be afraid.)

Cryptonomicon

Anathem

Seveneves

Ø Neal writes big, undisciplined, unfocused books that keep unfolding in your mind for months after you’ve read them. He’s a very guy-type writer, in spite of a female protagonist or two. Seveneves, be warned, starts out brilliant and devolves into extreme meh.

Ø Big. Fucking. Ideas.

Ø Battles, crashes, fistfights, parachute jumps, nuclear powered motorcycles and extreme gardening action. Is there an MPAA acronym for that?

Ø Humor dry enough to be garnished with two green olives on a stick.

Christopher Moore

Pine Cove Series:

Practical Demonkeeping

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Okay, yeah, Christmas. But Christmas with zombies, so that’s all right.)

Fluke (Not strictly Pine Cove, but in the same universe. Ever wonder why whales sing? They’re ordering Pastrami sandwiches. I’m not kidding.)

Death Merchant Chronicles:

A Dirty Job

Secondhand Souls (Best literary dogs this side of Jack London)

Coyote Blue (Kind of an outlier. Overlapping characters)

Shakespeare Series:

Fool

The Serpent of Venice

Shakespeare for Squirrels

Assorted:

Island of the Sequined Love Nun (Cargo cults with Pine Cove crossovers. I have a theory that the characters in this book are direct descendants of certain characters in Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon.)

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal (So I have a favorite first-century wonder rabbi. Who doesn’t?)

Sacre Bleu

Noir

Ø Not for the squeamish, the easily offended, or those who can’t lovingly embrace the fact that the human species is pretty much a bunch of idiots snatching at moments of grace.

Ø No big ideas whatever. Barely any half-baked notions.

Ø Enthusiastic geek adventure. Action as a last resort.

Ø Nonstop funny from beginning to end.

Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London Series

Rivers of London

Moon Over Soho

Whispers Under Ground

Broken Homes

Foxglove Summer

The Hanging Tree

The Furthest Station

Lies Sleeping

The October Man

False Value

Tales From the Folly

Ø Lean, self-deprecating police procedurals disguised as fantasy novels. Excellent writing.

Ø These will not expand your mind. They might expand your Latin vocabulary.

Ø Crisply described action, judiciously used. Whodunnit adventure. It’s all about good storytelling.

Ø Generous servings of sly humor. Aaronovitch is a geek culture blueblood who drops so many inside jokes, there are websites devoted to indexing them.

John Scalzi

Old Man’s War Series:

Old Man’s War

Questions for a Soldier

The Ghost Brigades

The Sagan Diary

The Last Colony

Zoe’s Tale

After the Coup

The Human Division

The End of All Things

Ø Star Trek with realpolitik instead of optimism.

Ø The Big Idea is that there’s nothing new under the sun. Nor over it.

Ø Action-adventure final frontier saga with high stakes.

Ø It’s funny when the characters are being funny, and precisely to the same degree that the character is funny.

Assorted:

The Dispatcher

Murder by Other Means

Redshirts (Star Trek, sideways, with occasional optimism)

Ø Scalzi abandons (or skewers) his space-opera tendencies with these three little gems of speculative fiction. Scalzi’s gift is patience. He lets the scenario unfold like a striptease.

Ø What-if thought experiments that jolt the brain like espresso shots.

Ø Action/misadventure as necessary to accomplish the psychological special effects.

Ø Redshirts is satire, so the humor is built-in, but it’s buried in the mix.

David Wong/Jason Pargin

John Dies at the End

This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It

What the Hell Did I Just Read?

Ø Pargin clearly starts his novels with a handful of arresting scenes and images, then looses the characters on an unsuspecting world to wander wither they will.

Ø Ideas aren’t as big or obvious as Heinlein, but they are there to challenge all your assumptions in the same way that Heinlein’s were.

Ø Classic action/adventure for anyone raised on Scooby-Doo.

Ø Occasional gusts of humor in a climate that’s predominantly tongue-in-cheek.

Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St. Mary’s Series

Just One Damned Thing After Another

The Very First Damned Thing

A Symphony of Echoes

When a Child is Born*

A Second Chance

Roman Holiday*

A Trail Through Time

Christmas Present*

No Time Like the Past

What Could Possible Go Wrong?

Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings*

Lies, Damned Lies and History

The Great St Mary’s Day Out*

My Name is Markham*

And the Rest is History

A Perfect Storm*

Christmas Past*

An Argumentation of Historians

The Battersea Barricades*

The Steam Pump Jump*

And Now for Something Completely Different*

Hope for the Best

When Did You Last See Your Father?*

Why Is Nothing Ever Simple*

Plan For The Worst

The Ordeal of the Haunted Room

Ø The * denotes a short story or novella. Okay, try to imagine Indiana Jones as a smartassed redheaded woman with a time machine and a merry band of full contact historians. I love history, and I especially love history narrated by a woman who can kick T. Rex ass.

Ø The ideas are toys, not themes. Soapy in spots.

Ø Action! Adventure! More action! More adventure! Tea break. Action again!

Ø Big, squishy dollops of snort-worthy stuff.

Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell Series

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

A Monstrous Regiment of Women

A Letter of Mary

The Moor

Jerusalem

Justice Hall

The Game

Locked Rooms

The Language of Bees

The God of the Hive

Beekeeping for Beginners

Pirate King

Garment of Shadows

Dreaming Spies

The Marriage of Mary Russell

The Murder of Mary Russell

Mary Russell's War And Other Stories of Suspense

Island of the Mad

Riviera Gold

The Art of Detection (Strictly speaking, this is in the action!lesbian Detective Kate Martinelli series, but it crosses over to the Sherlock Holmes genre. If you’ve ever wondered how Holmes would deal with the transgendered, this is the book.)

Ø Sherlock Holmes retires to Sussex, keeps bees, marries a nice Jewish girl who is smarter than he is and less than half his age and he’s mentored since she was fifteen in an extremely problematic power dynamic relationship that should repulse me but doesn’t, somehow, because this is the best Sherlock Holmes pastiche out there. Mary should have been a rabbi, but it is 1920, so she learns martial arts and becomes an international detective instead. Guest appearances by Conan Doyle, Kimball O’Hara, T.E. Lawrence, Cole Porter, and the Oxford Comma.

Ø Nothing mind-expanding here, unless the levels of meta present in a fictional world that is about how the fictional world might not be as fictional as you thought come as a surprise to anyone in the era of tie-in books, films, tv, interactive social media and RPGs.

Ø If these two geniuses can’t catch the bad guys with their dazzling brilliance, they will happily kick some ass. Adventure takes center stage and the action sequences are especially creative.

Ø Amusement is afoot.

Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next Series

The Eyre Affair

Lost in a Good Book

The Well of Lost Plots

Something Rotten

First Among Sequels

One of Our Thursdays is Missing

The Woman Who Died a Lot

Ø In a world where Librarians are revered and Shakespeare is more popular than the Beatles, someone has to facilitate the weekly anger-management sessions for the characters of Wuthering Heights, if only to keep them from killing each other before the novel actually ends. That someone is Thursday Next – Literature Cop.

Ø Mind-bending enough to give Noam Chomsky material for another hundred years.

Ø Adventure aplenty. Action? Even the punctuation will try to kill you.

Ø This is a frolicsome look at humorous situations filled with funny people. Pretty much a full house in the laugh department.

Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series/City Watch Arc

Guards! Guards!

Men at Arms

Feet of Clay

Jingo

The Fifth Elephant

Night Watch

Thud!

Snuff

Raising Steam

Ø If this were a game of CLUE, the answer would be Niccolo Machiavelli in Narnia with a Monty Python. Everything you think you know about books with dragons and trolls and dwarves and wizards is expertly ripped to shreds and reassembled as social satire that can save your soul, even if it turns out you don’t really have one. Do not be fooled by the Tolkien chassis – there’s a Vonnegut-class engine at work.

Ø Caution: Ideas in the Mirror Universe May be Larger Than They Appear

Ø The City Watch arc has plenty of thrilling action sequences. Some other of the fifty-million Discworld novels have less. Every one of them is nonstop adventure. Most of the adventure, however, takes the form of characters desperately trying to avoid thrilling action sequences.

Ø Funny? Even though I’ve read every book in the series at least ten times, I still have to make sure I have cold packs on hand in case I laugh so hard I rupture something.

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gibsonmusicart · 4 years

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Thoughts For the Aspiring Musician

by Christopher Knab

I have been watching, studying, and analyzing why some musicians ‘make it’ and others don’t for a long time, and I have given up trying to come up with some magic formula that every up and coming musician can follow on some imaginary road to success. It doesn’t work out that way. Today more than ever there are countless advisors like myself who offer tips to developing acts and ‘struggling musicians’, and all too often we try to inflict some ‘step by step’ process on musicians that will help them become tomorrow’s superstar. In fact, I think as Americans in general, we are addicted to self-help books and formulas for success. What is missing in our day-to-day lives that demands such lofty goals from us? Is there a difference between the attitude of successful, well known acts and the attitude of upcoming acts? Why do some musicians make it big, while other equally talented people songwriters and musicians never get their music heard by the masses? What specific skills and/or inherent talents do the successful artists embody that so many ‘wannabees’ do not? Is it charisma? That special something that many artists seem to exude the minute they walk into a room? I think that is part of it, but many successful acts have as much charisma as a pitcher of milk, and yet do quite well for themselves. How about a lot of money? Yeah that seems to be the one sure thing behind every star. There are always major labels with deep pockets who know how to spend the money to push their acts into the hearts and minds of the public, right?…well lets talk about that for a moment. Money can only push something out to the public for their acceptance or rejection…that’s all it can do. Nobody reaches into their wallets and purses and spends their hard earned money on anything….unless there is some real value in what is being offered to them. Think about it. Today there is a lot of what some observers call ‘shallow and immature’ lyrics and disposable pop music out there on the charts….and yet, no one who bought that music would cop to that criticism. The people who buy the latest sounds on the pop charts bought that music because it gave them some kind of pleasure. It meant something to them. I think we should look at what sells and what is successful from this standpoint; music fulfills the needs, wants, and desires of any group of fans because they identify with it. And they like a song because they can hum it in the shower. The ONE thing that all successful acts have in common when they cross over to mass appeal is great songs! This is true as well for the more edgy artists who seem to eek out a living from smaller fanbases, they still write compelling songs that touch the hearts and minds of their fans. Whether or not you personally ‘like’ hit songs or not has nothing to do with it. Enough somebodys coughed up $15 each to prove your tastes are not always the most accurate barometer for what other people may enjoy. What other thing is it that successful artists and bands have that separates them from those who struggle. My answer is business savvy. Yup…that’s it. Somebody somewhere in every successful acts history had enough business savvy people behind them to make them the stars that they are or were. NOW….listen up! It isn’t as simple as you think. Historically that business savvy may have been solely the talents and skills of a weasel-like manager, or record label executive. It may have been the unscrupulous business practices of shady lawyers and booking agents, as well as greedy club owners, or money hungry publishers. My point is that no matter what the behavior of a particular music business gatekeeper may have been…they got a certain part of the job done…they broke on through to the other side of the competition, and got their act’s song into the ears of the thousands of music fans. And to do that, I can assure you they had a plan. There are no short cuts to success, and there just isn’t enough room at the top for everyone who makes music to make a living from their music. But there is a balance that can be obtained in ones life. With the tools available on the Internet, and the technology of downloadable music now an every day reality, no musician who writes great songs should have that much problem realizing modest successes with their music. Be careful of the "10 Steps To Musical Success" and the " What every A&R Rep Is Looking For" articles and books. I have written some articles with such titles, only because they are my way of getting the attention of an ever growing group of music star ‘wannabees’. Once I get their attention, I try to give them proven tactics and strategy tips that are time-tested ways that record labels and industry professionals work. In reality, there are no 10 steps to anything! There is the conscious involvement, and commitment to your music and the business of music. That, and relentless dedication to the art of making music. Remember that the world of commercial music is a world of dollars and cents, whether you like it or not. But that does not mean that Art and Commerce cannot walk hand in hand…they must do that. I teach a history of popular music course, and it never ceases to amaze me how often history repeats itself when it comes to the question of artistic achievement and music business savvy. Most ‘artists’ in the truest sense of the world are narrowly focused people who never take no for an answer. No matter what challenge comes their way, they have no recourse but to turn to their creative side and get lost in their music as a way of staying alive, in the truest sense of the term. Then, along comes a business person who either is or is not ethical, but knows the music business inside out, and hears the magic in their music, and does what it takes to get that music heard. More and more as the decades unravel however, those people are becoming the artists themselves. We live in a capitalist, consumer driven society. The successful musicians of tomorrow will be those people who either attract dedicated, knowledgeable business men and women to do the marketing and promotion for them, or take that responsibility on themselves and realize that no artist has to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of their music to make some money with their music. Being a musician/business person means you have to be able to write and perform great songs, and then produce them with a contemporary sound, AND you have to take the time to read Billboard and other music business trades and tipsheets, AND also find time to call club bookers (over and over), read bad and good music reviews, stay in touch with your fans on a regular basis, AND still put on a great show when you're exhausted or sick. Do you know what being a professional musician is really all about?…entertaining people. Entertaining the public as a life commitment involves getting yourself into a deep sense of personal commitment to your art. It seems to me that artists who are able to that have come to grips with the notion that success is more an internal experience, and not necessarily one that will be satisfied by a money-hungry music industry that defines success only in dollars and cents calculations. Looking at the work habits of most big stars, I think they all have an ‘Entertainer’ inside them. That's what allows them to succeed in all areas of the business. That is what keeps them going during the fifth press interview of the day, and all the other crap that has nothing to do with music and everything to do with the business of music marketing. When an upcoming artist finally ‘makes it’, the pressure to keep producing sellable music is huge. So the ‘artist’ has to be healthy and ready to create on demand. You may be asked to hit the road for nine straight months, then make a world-class album immediately following the grueling tour. What it all boils down to is that stars have to be on top of their game, both artistically and business-wise. It is essential to create a balance between music and business early on. First make sure your psyche is in the right place. You know, screw your head on right! Be honest with yourself regarding what things you are and aren't willing to do to be successful with your music. Then, make a plan. Map out how you will improve your skills in both business and art. Put it on paper. Try living the 50% business - 50% music rule. Make sure you honor your business commitments and always act professionally. Make sure you keep your artist side healthy and creative. Take days off, take walks in nature, take time to noodle around that song idea that just popped into your head. Such activities will help keep the artist inside you healthy and able to nourish your creative juices. Being a famous musician is not a "normal" life. To survive and thrive requires a special set of skills. The good news is those skills can be learned and developed. Every bit you learn now will benefit your career plan down the road. Believe in yourself, and never stop improving. Your hard work will pay off, if not at the cash register, at least with a sense of personal satisfaction for having done the best work creatively and business-wise, that you could.

Source: Music-Articles.com

#music career tips #music industry articles #music career advice #music career articles #music business articles #unsigned musicians #unsigned artists #unsigned bands

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qqueenofhades · 5 years

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Do you think society as a whole understands and values history? I don’t think they do. And I don’t understand why.

HoooooWEEEEEE, anon. What follows is a good old Hilary History Rant ™, but let me hasten to assure you that none of it is directed at you. It just means that this is a topic on which I have many feelings, and a lot of frustration, and it gets at the heart of many things which are wrong with our society, and the way in which I try to deal with this as an academic and a teacher. So…. yeah.

In short: you’re absolutely right. Society as a whole could give exactly dick about understanding and valuing history, especially right now. Though let me rephrase that: they could give exactly dick about understanding and valuing any history that does not reinforce and pander to their preferred worldview, belief system, or conception of reality. The human race has always had an amazing ability to not give a shit about huge problems as long as they won’t kill us right now (see: climate change) and in one sense, that has allowed us to survive and evolve and become an advanced species. You have to compartmentalize and solve one problem at a time rather than get stuck in abstracts, so in that way, it is a positive trait. However, we are faced with a 21st century where the planet is actively burning alive, late-stage capitalism has become so functionally embedded in every facet of our society that our public values, civic religion, and moral compass (or lack thereof) is structured around consumerism and who it benefits (the 1% of billionaire CEOs), and any comfortable myths of historical progress have been blown apart by the worldwide backslide into right-wing authoritarianism, xenophobia, nationalism, racism, and other such things. In a way, this was a reaction to 9/11, which changed the complacent late-20th century mindset of the West in ways that we really cannot fathom or overstate. But it’s also a clarion call that something is very, very wrong here, and the structural and systemic explanations that historians provide for these kinds of events are never what anyone wants to hear.

Think about it this way. The world is currently, objectively speaking, producing more material resources, wealth, food, etc than at any point before, thanks to the effects of globalism, the industrial and information revolutions, mass mechanizing, and so on. There really isn’t a “shortage” of things. Except for the fact that the distribution of these resources is so insanely unequal, and wildly disproportionate amounts of wealth have been concentrated in a few private hands, which then use the law (and the law is a tool of the powerful to protect power) to make sure that it’s never redistributed. This is why Reaganism and “supply-side”, aka “trickle-down” economics, is such bullshit: it presupposes that billionaires will, if you enable them to make as many billions as possible without regulation, altruistically sow that largess among the working class. This never happens, because obviously. (Sidenote: remember those extravagant pledges of billions of euros to repair Notre Dame from like 3 or 4 French billionaires? Apparently they have paid… exactly not one cent toward renovations, and the money has come instead from the Friends of Notre Dame funded by private individuals. Yep, not even for the goddamn cause célèbre of the “we don’t give a shit about history” architectural casualties could they actually pay up. Eat! The! Rich!…. anyway.)

However, the fact is that you need to produce narratives to justify this kind of exploitation and inequality, and make them convincing enough that the people who are being fucked over will actively repeat and promote these narratives and be fiercely vested in their protection. Think of the way white American working-class voters will happily blame minorities, immigrants, Non-Murkan People, etc for their struggles, rather than the fact of said rampant economic cronyism and oligarchy. These working-class voters will love the politicians who give them someone to blame (see: Trump), especially when that someone is an Other around whom collective systems of discrimination and oppression have historically operated. Women, people of color, religious minorities/non-Western religions, LGBT people, immigrants, etc, etc…. all these have historically not had such a great time in the capitalist Christian West, which is the predominant paradigm organizing society today. You can’t understand why society doesn’t value history until you realize that the people who benefit from this system aren’t keen on having its flaws pointed out. They don’t want the masses to have a historical education if that historical education is going to actually be used. They would rather teach them the simplistic rah-rah quasi-fictional narrative of the past that makes everyone feel good, and call it a day.

The classic liberal belief has always been that if you can just teach someone that their facts are wrong, or supply them with better facts, they’ll change their mind. This is not how it works and never has, and that is why in an age with, again, more knowledge of science than ever before and the collected wisdom of humanity available via your smartphone, we have substantial portions of people who believe that vaccines are evil, the Earth is flat, and climate change (and 87 million other things) are fake and/or government conspiracies. As a medievalist, I get really tetchy when the idiocy of modern people is blamed on the stereotypical “Dark Ages!” medieval era (I have written many posts ranting about that, so we’ll keep it to a minimum here), or when everything bad, backward, or wrong is considered to be “medieval” in nature. Trust me, on several things, they were doing a lot better than we are. Other things are not nearly as wildly caricatured as they have been made out to be. Because once again, history is complicated and people are flawed in any era, do good and bad things, but that isn’t as useful as a narrative that flattens out into simplistic black and white.

Basically, people don’t want their identities, comfortable notions, and other ideas about the past challenged, especially since that is directly relevant to how they perceive themselves (and everyone else) in the present. The thing about history, obviously, is that it’s past, it’s done, and until we invent a time machine, which pray God we never fucking do, within a few generations, the entire population of the earth has been replaced. That means it’s awfully fragile as a concept. Before the modern era and the invention of technology and the countless mediums (book, TV, radio, newspaper, internet, etc etc) that serve as sources, it’s only available in a relatively limited corpus of documents. History does not speak for itself. That’s where you get into historiography, or writing history. Even if you have a book or document that serves as a primary source material, you have to do a shit-ton of things with it to turn it into recognizable scholarship. You have to learn the language it’s in. You have to understand the context in which it was produced. You have to figure out what it ignores, forgets, omits, or simply does not know as well as what it does, and recognize it as a limited text produced from a certain perspective or for a social reason that may or may not be explicitly articulated. The training of a historian is to teach you how to do this accurately and more or less fairly, but that is up to the personal ethic of the historian to ensure. When you’re reading a history book, you’re not reading an unmediated, Pure, This Was Definitely How Things Happened The End information download. You are reading something by someone who has made their best guess and has been equipped with the interpretive tools to be reasonably confident in their analysis, but sometimes just doesn’t know, sometimes has an agenda in pushing one opinion over another, or anything else.

History, in other words, is a system of flawed and self-serving collective memory, and power wants only the memory that ensures its survival and replication. You’ve heard of the “history is written by the winners” quote, which basically encapsulates the fact that what we learn and what we take as fact is largely or entirely structured by the narrative of those who can control it. If you’ve heard of the 1970s French philosopher Michel Foucault, his work is basically foundational in understanding how power produces knowledge in each era (what he calls epistemes) and the way in which historical “fact” is subject to the needs of these eras. Foucault has a lot of critics and his work particularly in the history of sexuality has now become dated (plus he can be a slog to read), but I do suggest familiarizing yourself with some of his ideas.

This is also present in the constant refrain heard by anybody who has ever studied the arts and humanities: “oh, don’t do liberal arts, you’ll never get a job, study something worthwhile,” etc. It’s funny how the “worthwhile” subjects always seem to be science and engineering/software/anything that can support the capitalist military industrial complex, while science is otherwise completely useless to them. It’s also always funny how the humanities are relentlessly de- or under- funded. By labeling these subjects as “worthless,” when they often focus on deep investigation of varied topics, independent critical thought, complex analysis, and otherwise teaching you to think for yourself, we therefore decrease the amount of people who feel compelled to go into them. Since (see again, late-stage capitalism is a nightmare) most people are going to prefer some kind of paycheck to stringing it along on a miniscule arts budget, they will leave those fields and their inherent social criticism behind. Of course, we do have some people – academics, social scientists, artists, creatives, activists, etc – who do this kind of work and dedicate themselves to it, but we (and I include myself in this group) have not reached critical mass and do not have the power to effect actual drastic change on this unfair system. I can guarantee that they will ensure we never will, and the deliberate and chronic underfunding of the humanities is just one of the mechanisms by which late-stage capitalism replicates and protects itself.

I realize that I sound like an old man yelling at a cloud/going off on my paranoid rant, but…. this is just the way we’ve all gotten used to living, and it’s both amazing and horrifying. As long as the underclasses are all beholden to their own Ideas of History, and as long as most people are content to exist within the current ludicrous ideas that we have received down the ages as inherited wisdom and enforced on ourselves and others, there’s not much we can do about it. You are never going to reach agreement on some sweeping Platonic ideal of universal history, since my point throughout this whole screed has always been that history is particular, localized, conditioned by specific factors, and produced to suit the purposes of a very particular set of goals. History doesn’t repeat itself, per se (though it can be Very Fucking Close), but as long as access to a specific set of resources, i.e. power, money, sex, food, land, technology, jobs, etc are at stake, the inherent nature of human beings means that they will always be choosing from within a similar matrix of actions, producing the same kind of justifications for those actions, and transmitting it to the next generation in a way that relatively few people learn how to challenge. We have not figured out how to break that cycle yet. We are an advanced species beyond any doubt, but we’re also still hairless apes on a spinning blue ball on the outer arm of a rural galaxy, and oftentimes we act like it.

I don’t know. I think it’s obvious why society doesn’t understand and value history, because historians are so often the ones pointing out the previous pattern of mistakes and how well that went last time. Power does not want to be dismantled or criticized, and has no interest in empowering the citizens to consider the mechanisms by which they collaborate in its perpetuation. White supremacists don’t want to be educated into an “actual” version of history, even if their view of things is, objectively speaking, wildly inaccurate. They want the version of history which upholds their beliefs and their way of life. Even non-insane people tend to prefer history that validates what they think they already know, and especially in the West, a certain mindset and system of belief is already so well ingrained that it has become almost omniscient. Acquiring the tools to work with this is, as noted, blocked by social disapproval and financial shortfall. Plus it’s a lot of goddamn work. I’m 30 years old and just finished my PhD, representing 12 years of higher education, thousands of dollars, countless hours of work, and so on. This is also why they’ve jacked the price of college through the roof and made it so inaccessible for people who just cannot make that kind of commitment. I’ve worked my ass off, for sure, but I also had support systems that not everyone does. I can’t say I got here All On My Own ™, that enduring myth of pulling yourselves up by your bootstraps. I know I didn’t. I had a lot of help, and again, a lot of people don’t. The academy is weird and cliquish and underpaid as a career. Why would you do that?

I wish I had more overall answers for you about how to fix this. I think about this a lot. I’ll just have to go back to doing what I can, as should we all, since that is really all that is ultimately in our control.

#history #rant #long post #i'm sure i have more to say #but that's enough for now #anonymous #ask

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hope-meets-despair-imagines · 5 years

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I was wondering if I could request relationship headcanons (or anything works!) with Byakuya Twogami (the ultimate imposter). Maybe what you think he’s like when dating someone and to have someone like him and not who he’s impersonating

Okay, okay, so as someone who tends to hide my true self from others unthinkingly, this ask put me into full uwu mode! Remember that deception and hiding oneself isn’t always a mark of a bad person, it just means that getting them to be honest with you will be a reward for your patience and support! I saw “have someone like him and not who he’s impersonating” and ran with it, feel free to send this in again if I focused too much on that and you want something else!

♤ Mod Kokichi ♤

Relationship Headcanons for the Ultimate Imposter!

Ultimate Imposter:

So generally speaking, you would have to have a lot of patience with him. He’s very… let’s just say wary about someone who says that they like him for himself. He hardly ever shows his true self, and almost never with anyone but himself in the room, so how would you know? In the beginning of your exchanges with each other the imposter is wholeheartedly convinced that you’re just saying it to try and flatter him.

The sweet-talking works regardless of his preconceived notions, but that’s not to say that you should leave them unattended. He and his lack of openness about his nature is something that should not be overlooked, in fact, I’d wager that if you didn’t try and help him come to terms with himself that he would just assume that didn’t actually love him, and that you just love his masks.

It’s a very slippery slope with him, so you’ll have to be careful until you can convince him that yes, you do love him, and no, he doesn’t have to put up airs around you. A good way to go about getting him to understand is to point out the things about himself that he can’t hide but still go unnoticed by the majority. You’ll prove that you’ve been paying more attention to him than anyone else ever has and that you really do see him, not just his current persona.

Let him know of the way that you smile while thinking about how he subtly helps others without thanks, and how much he means to you. Tell him of the way his kindness touches your heart even through his disguise. Divulge the way you get lovesick thinking about how dedicated and knowledgeable he must be having impersonated so many people with so many different talents and interests, how impressive it is that he must be a jack of all trades to do so. He thinks he has hidden all of himself but what he doesn’t know is that parts of his true self leak through all the time. To those that look for it, at least.

When he knows just how well you can see into him he’ll be a little awestruck. Because he’ll realize that the only person to have ever tried to look at him was you, the only person to truly see him was you. Not himself, not his classmates, it’s you who looked for the parts of him that he gave up on trying to find. He might even tear up only to try and brush it off a second later. The imposter will most likely brood on it alone for a while, still trying to wrap his head around someone actually paying attention to him in the way he didn’t know he wanted but he’ll eventually come to you and give a few very impassioned words of thanks.

It might not be much to someone else, but you knew that it took a lot of vulnerability for him to be able to thank you for doing something that he’s always told everyone he didn’t care about. His words might have been few, but the fact that he let his true self shine through a little more to you for any amount of time at all was his real thank you present, and seeing the way that you lit up and smiled at him when he did made him understand that you knew that too and you even appreciated it. He’s sincerely touched.

From there it’s just a lot of trying to make him be more forward with you. Getting him to tell you his actual opinion, instead of the one he thinks you want him to say. Making him show you his true preferences and hobbies instead of the fake ones he’s picked up. Little things that will challenge his mindset but won’t make him crack under pressure. It’s a slow going learning process, but it’s one that will make your relationship one of the strongest and long lasting. He would be very hard pressed to let you go after you’ve done so much good for him, so even any fights you have are very quickly made up. His straightforward nature and his unwillingness to see you go make sure that you sit down and talk about it after the both of you have cooled off.

In the end, everything you’ve tried to help him with just makes him want to support you just as much, and he’ll make good on that in any way you can think of. He’s found a way to balance his talent and himself fairly well thanks to you. Instead of thinking that he has to copy someone just to exist and be seen he uses his talent to benefit himself and those he cares about, thanks to your love. He’s an imposter after all, and making people feel good about themselves is part of the art of deception.

#danganronpa #danganronpa imagine #dr imagine #sdr2 #ultimate imposter #byakuya twogami #danganronpa x reader #fluff #mod kokichi

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senpai-no-lie · 4 years

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So I Finally Finished A Route in Three Houses: A Review of Mechanics

I also finished the DLC, but I figured I’d split my thoughts of the DLC, the first route I played, and my general opinions on the mechanics into separate posts for length and coherency reasons

Overall: I liked the idea of a lot of what they tried to do, but the execution was hit and miss. Additionally, some of the stuff that was interesting and new at first quickly became a chore. Purely on mechanics, I would say 3H was worse than both Fates and Awakening; Echoes is a toss-up.

What I Think 3H Improved Upon:

Combat Arts! I loathed how combat arts worked in Echoes. Attached to the weapon? So freaking dumb. I thought there was a good variety of different arts your unit could learn, and if they decided to keep weapon durability, I think having combat arts tie into that was a good idea

Forging. Ugh, do I hate weapons durability, but at least I could repair my weapons pretty easily (outside of the Relics, which I hardly used, as a consequence). Realizing I could craft Levin swords was also a big game changer for me. I also hated how limited and mysterious forging was in Echoes, so I’m glad 3H didn’t hide what the weapon could become behind ???. Still think Awakening had the best forging, as broken as it kinda was lol

Paralogues...? I thought most of the paralogues were a fun challenge and were good opportunities to learn more about the characters who aren’t as vital to the main (meager) story. Sort of wished you could’ve recruited some other the other houses’ members via paralogues (akin to picking up your children from Time Travel/Deep Realm daycare)

Demonic Beasts I liked them. They were a change of pace from regular enemies, which is a plus in my book.

Stat Gains and Level Design, at compared to Echoes. I feel like they borrowed a lot of ideas from Echoes, since that was the last game (excluding Warriors), but with some improvements. The stat gains in Echoes were notoriously awful, and as someone who is a bit...anal at times about evenly leveling all my characters, it was the Literal Worst to put all that work into chumps like Est and Atlas and Clive and they still sucked. Also, the maps in Echoes started to run together and just be like a slog, so good job, 3H, for not being as bad as your predecessor. (Though the general lack of gimmicks in the story chapters and reliance on fairly so-so maps with objectives like route the enemy/defeat the commander over and over could’ve been furthered improved upon)

What Was A Bit Meh:

Timed Activities This is petty, but it just stressed me out when a game put a timer on something. I stopped doing the advice box and didn’t bother with tea parties pretty quickly because while I could suspend the software to have the extra time to look answers, it wasn’t fun or a good use of my time.

So Many Activities During Exploration Too much, in my humble opinion. A good chunk of them were ways to gain support with units or minor increases in skills, so I think it would’ve been better to condense activities. Like, lost items??? I was able to A support every single available unit on my first playthrough without to much difficulty without that. I’d scrap the advice box and also combine seminar with the tutoring in some way.

Classing System It was a neat idea, to have that much freedom with classing units, and tying reclassing to skill level instead of purely level, but it was also equally annoying to spend in game weeks trying over and over to get a character to pass an exam. And the concept of the exams make even less sense post-timeskip. I liked the flexibility, but I think they could’ve scaled it back a bit (especially to make the game less intimidating to new players) so it wasn’t so tedious.

DLC I like the creativity of deciding to just do an entire side story DLC instead of typical bonus maps. However, having completed the DLC side story, outside the notion the chapters were a bit more challenging (which in itself is a balancing act between engaging and tedious), and perhaps giving us more info about Byleth’s mom... it was kind of meh. Story was fairly cookie-cutter and the lack of any animated cutscene was a bit disappointing, those some of the stills were nice.

Things I Just Didn’t Like:

The General Aesthetic Is this a mechanic, not necessarily, but it’s more appropriate to talk about it here than another post. For one, I just never liked how plasticky all the characters look. I commend them, I suppose, for deciding to fully voice act the game like Echoes, but I wish they hadn’t if it meant I had to look at vacant-eyed characters talking in a half-circle before every fight and after every fight. You can’t unnotice that almost every cut scene if all the characters standing perfectly still, talking in a half-circle. Additionally, sometimes their mouths don’t even move when they talk!! The face portraits had maybe a quarter of the personality they’ve had in previous games, and I miss how crits were done in Fates.

Non-Mission Activities Made the Actual Story Chapters Feel Secondary For my first playthrough, I just decided I was going to grind for as many supports as possible, since the first half (or more than half) of each route is exactly the same. However, I noticed that I often felt that having to stop and do the mission was getting in the way of my other aims, or I would more or less forget what was going on in the story by the time I had to do the mission.

Reliance on Using the Monastery as Homebase I know a lot of people ripped on Fates’ My Castle, but I feel like that was a much less intrusive base of operations than the monastery, because none of the things in My Castle had to be acknowledged if you wanted to bulldoze through several chapters in a row or do paralogues or DLC or whatever. I understand they put a lot of work into the Monastery, but it was hell to navigate around (I just fast traveled rather than navigating lol), made a lot of story chapters feel awkward (we’re in the middle of a war, but after every battle we gotta go back to the Monastery and dick around for a month), and really bloated up the game.

Recruitment At first, I was pretty gun-ho about getting all the units I could, and it was exciting to get a bunch of new units based on my efforts to seduce recruit them (especially Ferdinand-- he was such a bastard to get despite being the second unit I tried to recruit), but then you have them all and suddenly Edelgard’s enemy forces feel like a joke (it’s just her and Hubie Dubie, p much) and you realize everyone feels like a flake if they’ll join pretty much any side no matter. Additionally, because of how recruitment works, outside of Byleth and the main lord, and to a lesser extent the retainer, a good chunk of the characters have very limited to no importance to the plot. The rest of your house has about average FE involvement in the plot, such as commentary or exposition dumping, but they don’t feel like they matter when you can feasibly never use them if you recruit enough from the other houses.

#fire emblem three houses #FE 3H #fire emblem 3h #my opinions about fire emblem

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pellucii · 4 years

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@eiriini replied to your post

“(( Hm… Queen Corrin…. ))”

[ Do iiittttt ]

(( alright I got the blessing of miss queen kamui so queen corrin time: ))

It's about 5 years from the end of Fates to Corrin’s Coronation as Queen Regent of Valla alongside her Consort.

Likely within Year 1 she has an Actual Wedding with whoever she eloped with during the war (which, ofc, I’m still on my bullshit and it defaults to Mr. Subaki). There was a small ceremony during the war (likely lead by Sakura, actually, given the timeline of Rev; regardless of Subaki being her husband or not Sakura IS a member of the clergy + with The Party the longest compared to, say, Azama) but it’s nice to have an Actual Wedding ya feel? How pushy she is about it depends on who she marries, because for some partners they’re definitely going to be pushier than her (read: Subaki wants to give her the world and that means he practically demands having an actual wedding even though their small ceremony during the war was already pretty planned out by a small rushed ceremony’s standards)

She spends a lot of time trying to split her time between her family as best she can so that everyone can get her attention properly now that the blades are down and things have settled.

also working as part of a lot of humanitarian efforts to help rebuild after the war and help folks get back on their feet.

and she’s studying up on the political policies of her brothers and other nations to synthesize the best approach for Valla when she figures out what she wants to do because she has no clue about what’s up with ruling and might as well learn from examples

I think she does spend some time spelunking Down There in Valla to learn what she can about her heritage, and isn’t quite sure if she wants to refound the kingdom or just let it peacefully die and be only a historical memory... it’s a tough call.

As for learning who Dad is, I think she ultimately pries it out of Lilith after some quick deduction with regards to her draconic capabilities + poking about it. She’s a little fucked about it, and likely apologizes to Azura on Anankos’s behalf, but ultimately the bad feelings pass rather quickly since she’s a lot more emotionally adjusted after Fates and understands Anankos was hardly a father at all to her. What she mostly mourns is family that she never got to know.

I think what ultimately sways her to refounding Valla is thinking about if Nohr and Hoshido broke out into war again, and thinking hey maybe I try to make a kingdom that’s best of both worlds + a country founded on the notion of being a neutral party/mediator in affairs.

So some petitioning and requesting of land gets factored into prior mentions of humanitarian efforts, she starts asking around if anyone’s willing to give Valla 2.0 a shot and works out how best to divy up land received from Nohr and Hoshido

Anyways as for how long she rules, that’s a tough question and relies heavily on the unanswered one of how long she and her descendants will live. Dragons in FE have shown to be more likely killed by one (1) anime dude with a sword and the power of friendship than of old age, so their lifespan near as we can tell is basically infinite, but Corrin is also human and that probably mixes shit up a bit. I imagine she’s gonna live for a couple millenia at least, I wanna say maybe like 10k tops? A LONG ass time in terms of human years, but she will eventually die. Eventually.

She tries to rule gently as much as possible, and is known for frequently talking with her people as well as being a passionate patron of the arts. She also eventually uses Dragon Veins to help establish a garden that persists for quite some time and becomes a popular destination for those come to visit the kingdom of Valla.

she likely retires from ruling after a century or a few, perhaps 500 years max, after feeling she’s set a long and good enough example. She’s a capable leader and a natural diplomat, but it certainly takes a toll on her and she doesn’t think its something she could do for the rest of her life. Not to mention she believes that the kingdom shouldn’t come to rely on her leadership and can ultimately stagnate if she rules too long

this retirement manifests as two stages: first she initially stays in Valla for some time to make sure her nation transitions smoothly, but eventually she goes to the Sevenfold Sanctuary and takes up residence there, occasionally going out and about to travel the world but largely staying there and observing matters of the world and allowing those who seek power or her guidance to come test their mettle. She is an Old Wise Lady in Retirement, after all.

Also she holds onto Yato for awhile, but eventually the sword is kept as an heirloom of the Vallite royal family just as Siegfried, Raijinto, Brynhildr, and Fujin Yumi had been in Nohr and Hoshido.

all this isn’t to say that she won’t come and verbally bitchslap an inheritor of her kingdom if she’s displeased with how they’re running things. She’ll still be quite vocal about political matters, even if she’s not ruling anymore, and she is happy to offer her advice or come put in a word (or mindful claw) to help settle disputes.

Her consort WILL die long, long before her or her kids... im emo...

Speaking of kids, she likely lets to original trio (Twin Kanas and [Caeldori]) get first dibs on most matters that pass down to them, be it just things to inherit from her or opportunities offered. Whether either Kana or their sibling take the throne next is very dependent on the family, and in the case of Subaki’s family I think Caeldori is willing to take the challenge head on.

they are also likely not Corrin’s only kids. She’ll always fondly remember her first partner, absolutely, the bond that’s there is one she will always feel the keenest, but ultimately will come to understand that she’s going to live a very long time and that love can be found again, so she’ll probably pick up extra lovers and spouses over the ages and every other century one might hear of a new dragon kid running around. Such a rumor decreases over time, however, since fertility issues might start coming up from being. you know. fucking old.

as for how long her kids live, their lifespans have a shot at being as long as Corrin’s, but likely not a day longer and very likely shorter in terms of raw numbers. The Kanas and [Cael] might pass around the same time as Corrin, due to their ages being so relatively close (a mere decade instead of hundreds of years), but anyone after that might live a fair bit longer due to the disparity in ages.

As for degeneration, it likely starts setting in eventually, and Azura’s lineage does help stave it off quite a bit with magic singing, but eventually I think Corrin chooses to pass on while she’s still fairly sane. She records everything of her story she can in every detail she can think of for the sake of historical records, and then to her descendants and still living children she spends a day or a few telling them all such things herself before being quietly put down, passing on peacefully and with far less struggle than her father.

down the line she is remembered fondly by all and, in some circles, as a goddess (and her children folded into the pantheon as well), which she would find rather amusing... depends on how much you wanna argue she’s still watching from the afterlife.

#eiriini #~memories in the waves #((wow I had a lot of thoughts about post canon cowwin...))#((anyways its 2am didnt mean to wordbarf sfjhdahgdskgh))#((does all of this make sense? maybe not tune in when i wake up))#((for now I sleep))

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relishredshoes · 5 years

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Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group. (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Aurette and welcome to Behind the Quill, thank-you for letting us get to know you a little better.

I'm deeply honoured to be asked.

A true titan in the world of SS/HG fic, many of our readers will have broken their hearts over your story The Tattered Man.

Okay, let’s jump right in.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Honestly, it was a whim. Long before I thought of writing, I needed a login name to read fanfic. It was a play on Auror. I had no idea it was an actual name.

Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most?

Hands down, Snape. I know that might sound strange, but he was the one that clicked. My niece introduced me to the books. Being in my 30s at the time, I already had kids of my own, so I didn't identify as one of the students. I loved Harry from the start but he had this uncanny ability to keep being wrong about nearly everything. The character who best expressed adult annoyance with that was Snape. And I do love a good jerk. Snape was a jerk.

Do you have a favourite genre to read?

I'm a sucker for fantasy and science fiction. I hated reading as a child. All there was available when I was a kid was Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys and it was insipid. I glommed on to mythology early but once I'd read all the books in my library on the subject, I gave up reading at all. That was about 4th grade. Children's books in the 70s were total garbage and YA books only had one author: Judy Bloom.

Ironically, my first job was working in a bookstore. It was a college bookstore, so it was all textbooks. I wasn't even a student, so I had no interest in any of them. One semester. A Lit prof assigned Fahrenheit 451. The cover art caught my eye and I read the blurb. Then started reading the book. I finished it in about 5hrs. It blew my mind. I had no idea writing like that existed. And the book was about someone discovering the value of books. It was intellectual Inception waaaaay before that was a thing.

After that, it was like a switch flipped in my head. I sucked up books air. I was never without a book or two. Or three...

Do you have a favourite "classic" novel?

Obviously Fahrenheit 451. I'm going to go ahead and say Les Miserables as well. I was in my 30s when I finally read it and sobbed like a baby at the ending. The care and tenderness Hugo showed when portraying these disposable lives were so unique for that age. Sadly, even today. A lot of our culture is wrapped around the belief that only the wealthy have value and beauty is a pathway to wealth. The poor and ugly are a constant plague to be shunned or dealt with, not humans with crushed dreams that deserve to be valued in their own right. Look at how often fanfic recreatesSnape as handsome or Hermione as gorgeous. Those are always the least interesting stories. (hops off soapbox)

At what age did you start writing?

Whatever age I was when I wrote Safe House. Probably 40ish? That terrible little fanfic is literally the first thing I ever wrote beyond shopping lists and emails. It's an ugly child, but my first, so I love its pointy head. I intentionally leave it up so new writers can see my learning curve. No one starts out good. Read my stories in reverse chronological order and you'll see they get a little worse each time. That's how much I grew as I learned the craft.

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Reading tons of it. I was at a total loss after the book Deathly Hallows came out and it was all over. Reading it had become an event in my house. My husband and I would snatch the book out of each other's hands "You've had it long enough. My turn." And then there were no more...

I couldn't even tell you how I found fanfic, but it kept me sane. I keyed in on SS/HG because at the time there was a noticeable difference in the talent level in that ship. I must have read SS/HG fanfic for a solid 2 yrs before I took a leap and wrote my own. I was inspired by the amazing stories, but also by the crappy ones. "Heck, I could do better" became its own form of allowance. So I had a small 'what if' and just went for it. Of course, it was crap, everyone's first is. But taking the leap and writing it was a huge thing for me to have done.

What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

I'm a sucker for a story where characters overcome emotional adversity, both external and internal. If you squint. You'll see that theme repeated throughout my fics.

What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

None. Nothing else ever grabbed me as a sandbox I wanted to play in before or after HP.

If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

Gosh, I don't think I would change a thing about JK Rowling's work. Things I would change would only be me forcing her story to fit my preferred ideal. However, if you think about it, her world, the good and the bad, challenged all of us to churn out 100,000+ what ifs. Some out of anger. Heh.

As for fav piece of fanon, probably that Malfoy jr was Snape's godson. He's totally not, but whoever started that created a great layering of the dynamic between them that you can share in so many tones.

Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

I was a stay-at-home mom when I was writing most of my fanfics, so I wrote in a chaotic and very noisy environment. I didn't listen to music when I wrote, but music was often the inspiration. When I would get stuck in writing, I would leave it and go listen to music that was emotionally similar to where I wanted the story to be while I thrashed out plot points. Colossus by Afro Celt Sound System is amazing for plotting a prelude to a battle.

What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Gosh, there are so many. Sadly, many of the authors who first inspired me are gone and pulled their fics off the web, like my fanfic bestie Dressagegrrrl. I would have to call out Pet Project by Caeria as the one I found most inspiring. Anything by ApolloniaV is pretty high up there in my book. There are dozens I'm forgetting. There was one called Resurrection Man about Snape accidentally creating a hilarious Zombie apocalypse. Best. Fic. Ever. It disappeared from the web when the author moved on. An incredible loss.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

Total pantser. The obvious effect is to drive the story right off a cliff and be unable to salvage it. It's why I vowed to never start posting until I had a rough draft ending. Too many dead stories waiting for an ending that never came. But an outline for me is a killer in disguise. I lose interest in telling the tale because I already did in the outline. The fun part is over. Sitting at a keyboard typing your fingers off, while muttering, "What the hell are these people doing? Who's writing this stuff?!" is an amazing experience.

What is your writing genre of choice?

In fanfic, I ran with every genre there was. Mostly I wanted to see if there was one I couldn't tackle. Most of my o-fic is a hard-to-define mishmash of fantasy and sci-fi. I want to write romance, but it always turns into something complicated and angsty that no longer fits the box.

Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

The Tattered Man.

Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote?

It came off exactly as I'd planned in my head. A rare occurrence for me.

What did you learn from writing it?

I could make people cry with my words. Up to that point, I'd made readers laugh and yell and blush, but to get a reader to the point of actually weeping? That's not easy. JK Rowling did it with ease. It was a challenge.

How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

It's very personal. My father had just died. He'd had cancer, and it might have got him in the end, but what actually killed him was being sent home with a feeding tube and the wrong instructions. None of the homecare nurses realized the mistake until his kidneys shut down. It was devastating. When I next took up writing, I was still hurting so I tried to make others feel what I felt at a death that didn't have to be. It was crazy easy to write. I wrote it all in one day. Based on the reviews, I achieved my goal. It helped me work through my loss. Pretty sure I gave a few readers PTSD. My bad.

What books or authors have influenced you?

My all-time favourite book is Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons. Definitely a classic among the eighteen people in the United States that read it. The man was a shockingly gifted author and I was devastated when he passed away. His ability to just drop you into the action from the first page and not bother to explain what's going on is sadistic genius.

How do you think that shows in your writing?

It led to my belief that a writer is always better when they assume their readers are smart. Grab their interest and just run. They'll catch on and even pass you with their theories of what's going to happen next. I've no patience with stories that spell out everything in minute detail. They're tedious and insulting. Less really is more. On the other hand, writing over your reader's head is just as annoying. Intentionally using obscure SAT words in your story just makes you a pretentious twat. Unless your character is a pretentious twat and it's part of the dialogue. In that case, twat away. *gigglesnort*

Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

My family all knew. They were tremendously supportive. Especially Mr. Aurette, my personal Snape. Outside of my family, I was less forthcoming. Mostly because it was so crazy hard to explain. I think it's a lot less weird now, but back then? It was far more stigmatized.

How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"?

That's a hard one. For someone who'd never tried to write a story before, it was an amazing journey to realise what I could do. That changed me forever. Having the instant feedback of reviews was intrinsic to that experience. The downside is you can get sucked into writing for reviewers, and they will tell you clearly what they want and expect. That can stifle. I knew no one wanted The Tattered Man to end the way it did. I was pretty terrified of the reaction. But it's what I wanted. It was the entire point. I wrote that ending for myself, but I cowered after posting.

How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I absolutely loved interacting with my readers. I made some real-life friends and some really great fic buddies all over the world. I watched them become friends in reviews too. It was a really great experience. Spam-posting a fic would often take on a festival atmosphere. Unfortunately, when my review count started to really take off, I couldn't cope with the sheer numbers the same way. There weren't enough hours on the day to reply to everyone. Trying to personalize my response to a review grew overwhelming. I actually grew quite depressed over it. Connecting on a more removed, professional level seemed cold. I connected the most on Livejournal when that was a thing. But I had to back off. "Aurette" became far more witty and wonderful than I was in real life. Everyone wanted a piece of her. I couldn't keep up with the bitch. Lol. I faded away from most interactions on social media out of self-preservation. Even tiny fame can make you whacko.

What is the best advice you've received about writing?

There's a few that come to mind.

1-If you want to be a better writer, kill every adverb you come across.

2-Read your words out loud to yourself. If you run out of breath, your reader will run out of patience at that exact point.

3-Dressagegrrrl was the one that finally made me see how playing POV ping pong within a scene was something that marked my writing as an amateur.

4-Stop trying to be clever. Be clever, if you are clever, but don't try. It comes off hamfisted every time. Readers hate that.

5-Never, ever, ever post something you wrote that day. You've left half of it in your head and you can't tell. It's awful.

6-If you're not even a little embarrassed by something you wrote 6 months ago, you're no longer growing as a writer.

What do you do when you hit writer's block?

That's a bit of a sticking point. Stress is a muse-killer. Anything you can do to rid yourself of stress will help. Writer's block is usually the result of something going on elsewhere in your life. Fix that and the creativity will come back.

That said, my life has turned into constant stress with the result being I no longer write at all.

Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

Everything has. 'Write what you know' is true for fantasy too. Whether it's heartbreak, or a drunken hookup that turned into love (Hello, Mr. Aurette) or a moment when you were a child and ignored or teased, or maybe the bully, all of it makes it's way into the emotional truth of a scene or character, no matter how outlandish the setting.

Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser?

I have a Dropbox full of stories I've run into the wall or had to leave half finished, both fanfic and o-fic. No teasers, because at this point I don't think they will ever see the light of day. Never say never, but the light of hope is dim.

Any words of encouragement to other writers?

Anyone can write and everyone has something to say. Be open to the process. Part of that process involves having a stranger tell you that your shiny new love is really shit. Being defensive only prolongs your shittiness. Embrace criticism. Sometimes, the process of justifying something can actually buttress your choice, so you double down with better results. Other times, you'll see your idea wasn't working after all. Be ruthless in your editing, but don't delete. That scene you cut because it caused everything to go off the rails could be a different story trying to get out. Take that leap, you fail at everything you don't try, so why not try something you really want?

Thanks so much for giving us your time.

It's been my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity. *waves to my readers*

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #severus snape #snape #pro snape #pro snape community #snamione #hermione granger

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silenthillmutual · 5 years

Text

okay. warning for negative bc this is kind of a vent post?

so. i’m still working on unlearning a lot of things that i had kinda drilled into my head with my mom that i did not realize were bad until recently? or things that i could not easily voice were having negative effects on me until recently. and i’m kind of thinking about how my mom is very. hhhhhhhh.

my mom does not have a life outside of work. and not like, “oh she’s very dedicated to her career” sort of way. but like, she does not believe in taking time off. and i think in the way our capitalist environment functions that always comes off sounding very admirable. it’s not.

because what that equates to is like, she works to avoid other things in her life. she says that she can’t afford to take a break or any time to herself and my best friend and i had told her repeatedly that if she really wants a relationship she is going to have to take time to devote to that which means working less if only by a little bit! and that i have told her that she should take time to herself to relax whether she had a relationship or not because it’s not healthy to obsess over work the way that she does.

and. i guess she does a bit now. i saw recently on her fb that she went to colonial beach w her boyfriend and like. good for her. but that doesn’t erase that she is constantly harping on me, even from a distance, to do like. everything all in one day. and that i should be working 40+ hours a week and that if i don’t do that, that i’m lazy.

like my mom’s version of workaholism is to view herself as the rule and not the exception, which i can see in certain contexts how that translates into “oh so she’s not full of herself” but it’s actually really the opposite! because i think it takes a special brand of narcissism to assume that everyone is and should be exactly like you and that if they are not they are failing and that is their own fault.

so, my mom has fibro, like on top of all of that and i wonder if she’d feel better if she didn’t constantly push herself into working all the time. and the truth is that she’ll look at any time i spend online regardless of what i’m doing (bc she doesn’t ever care what i’m actually doing on there, to her it’s all the same) as time wasted and an addiction to the internet. and she thinks that everyone else w fibro or w any chronic or mental illness can work exactly as much as she can because if they do anything less they’re being lazy.

and i think you can kinda see why it’s an issue for a licensed therapist to think or feel that way.

so like. i have never pursued any job that says it’s part time, under $10 an hour that wants me to work 39 hours a week (one hour from full time in the commonwealth of va), no benefits, 8 hours every day, retail, with a massive list of responsibilities. because i know that i can’t handle doing 8+ hours which is how much it’ll wind up being if they want me to open/close (taking into consideration traffic and people who just will not fucking leave), like i had to struggle to work 8 hours at a job i actually LIKED without thinking of working at fucking target or some shit for 8+ hours a day. i can’t do it. between the anxiety and the autism that sounds like something that will make me absolutely want to die and i know this because i tried that at party city for three days and came home in tears every single day and my feet hurt so bad i couldn’t move.

and my mom’s response to that was like. just deal with it! just push through it! you have to!

you’d think a therapist with a chronic illness would be more compassionate than that.

but my mom’s whole life is focused on work and i don’t even think it’s because she just loves her job that much. she just refuses to do anything outside of it. she has a dog and a cat (MY cat I adopted her she is under MY legal name and that dog is basically my dog, he was my baby) that i was under no circumstances allowed to take with me regardless of where i went or when, but that she does not...enjoy. at all. she is constantly bitching about the pets and she bought an automatic feeder and self-scooping litterbox and hired pet sitters not for the occasional trip out to her boyfriend’s but for like a regular thing because she is at home as little as possible. every single second that she can spend at work she will.

and she hated that i didn’t spend 6-8 hours at work (more counting traffic) and then want to spend all of my free time looking for a second or different job and cleaning the house and cooking all the meals and running all the errands and taking care of the pets. with no help.

and that’s part of what i mean about her working to get out of having to do other things. because she also works so much so that she can get out of eating. like. ever. her body image issues are so fucked up that she will eat one meal a day and be like “ugh i’m such a pig i’m so fat i should stop eating maybe then i’ll lose weight”. and then she’ll deny that she he has an unhealthy relationship to food and claim she just “doesn’t have time to eat” even though she apparently has time to bitch at me over facebook or henpeck her boyfriend and read 8 different versions of her horoscope in an hour + longer breaks

like i’m sorry but if i could eat in 30 minutes with my coworker calling me to panic on the other end bc everyone decides to come into the library at the same fucking time then i think maybe. just maybe. you can eat a goddamn granola bar in 2+ hours while sitting at your desk instead of saying “i should be writing notes” and not actually writing your fucking notes!

what really kinda. bothers me all about it. like in addition to all this super unhealthy stuff that makes her occupation as a therapist hypocritical as hell is how she criticizes me for doing the exact shit that she does.

by which i mean. holding other people to my standards.

i’ve worked a lot at not being judgmental of other people and challenging my own notions of what is right and acceptable when i find myself judging other people. it’s really hard. i think it’s connected a lot to being autistic and the kind of biases that we’re all brought up into and it’s why travelling and secondary education are really important, not even just because of learning aspect (although liberal arts forcing you to take classes outside of your comfort zone. i think helps a lot in this too) but because meeting people from all different kinds of backgrounds makes you look at things from different angles you wouldn’t have otherwise, because if you never leave you never broaden your horizons.

so when there are still standards that i hold people to it’s. i try to just hold people to “not being a total asshole to everyone around you” as a relatively basic standard that i don’t think should be controversial? but even when i voice that opinion - like, literally, i went to richmond cc with two friends and when i got back i was telling my mom about this guy who was very loudly, specifically so that i could hear his unsolicited opinion of my cosplay, talking about how bad/boring jojo was because he knew i was dressed as someone from jojo and he wanted me and everyone else around him to know his opinion of jojo, then went and started mocking his friend for wanting to buy a gba instead of a gameboy sp bc his friend and i both saw the mother 1+2 and mother 3 cartridges and was just being an asshole! again! and i was just complaining to her after the fact about this guy being a dick and my mom’s response, not even like an “i don’t get it but i’m sorry” first was just

“well maybe he’s autistic”

and! i’m sorry! but that! doesn’t fuckign fly with me! i said “so am i that doesn’t mean i go around being an asshole to everyone at con”

and she was like “well maybe he’s not as high-functioning as you you can’t hold everyone to your standards”

NO! NO MAYBE HE WAS BEING AN ASSHOLE BECAUSE HE’S CIS WHITE GUY AND THINKS EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW HIS OPINIONS! do you know how many fucking people go to con are autistic????? a whole shit ton of us! do you know how many poc, trans, nb, not-straight people loudly voice their opinions to make the people around them including their friends feel like shit? NONE OF THEM! NONE OF THEM! NONE OF THEM! ONLY THE CISHET WHITE GUYS WHO THINK THEY’RE TOO GOOD FOR COSPLAY FUCKING DO THAT!

and it’s so irritating! like i’m not allowed to talk about my autism EVER and even when my standards are REALLY FUCKIGN LOW i’m being too judgmental of others but she’s allowed to talk about how everyone who doesn’t work 40+ hours every week and starve themselves is fucking?? lazy????

unreal. un fuckign believable.

#nori talks #nori's adventures in moving out

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axelegandersson · 6 years

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Hey, I love "The Bar". Is it safe to assume more is eventually coming?

Hi, I am going to hijack this question to address some thoughts I and some critics have on my work. But to start with I will answer the question with: Thanks! And maybe. It’s possible.

It depends entirely on whether I feel the fandom could benefit from it to being delved into further. Because what “Target Sighted”, “High Four” and “The Bar” is is a sort of... in-universe perspective on the fandom’s overwhelming shipping between Nick and Judy.

To break the art-artist distance a bit (entirely), the art comes down to ask why WildeHopps is such a huge ship, and what impact it has on the fandom. (And contrary to popular belief, I am not against the ship in any way. It’s cute and they have great chemistry! I understand why it’s so enticing to ship them, and I don’t want people to stop shipping them just because I don’t. I do not believe that I am any more correct in my headcanon than anyone else.)

Target Sighted: Friendshipping is Dead

But let’s start at the beginning: At the end of the movie, Nick and Judy are the greatest friends there is. They went through a lot together, hurt each other, and mended that hurt together. They saved Zootopia, and its very ideals Judy had echoed since she was nine, and helped Nick to stand proudly on his own two paws yet again.

And so that means they need to fuck.

And I wanted to challenge that notion by posting “Target Sighted” in which Nick and Judy hang out, have fun, and enjoy each others’ company... while not being romantically attracted to each other. Partially because I simply felt it was sorely underrepresented in the fanworks where Nick and Judy simply were the best of friends. Just to show that they can be together constantly and have banter without the need to smooch muzzles.

Then I released “High Four” as a continuation, which took a more focused look on the ship’s place in the fandom itself, and its prevelance. I used the ZPD as a metaphor for the fandom in this, and how the fandom’s look on the Nick-Judy relationship actually would look like in-universe.

High Four: Are They or Aren’t They?

Everyone assumes they’re dating, even though we have no signs of that in the film beyond great chemistry and a “You know you love me” comment (that everyone apparently knows is a romantic confession rather than a platonic comment at the end of a barrage of platonic banter and platonic jabs at each other (Say “Platonic, platonic, platonic” three times in a mirror and your best friend will appear behind you)).

(Sarcasm aside, am I saying there’s zero chance they meant that in a romantic way? No, I am not, but it is far from being as clear cut as the ship makes it out to be. Are they in love with each other? Not sure. Are they not in love with each other? Also not sure.)

Back to the “High Four” comic: Despite this real vagueness on Nick and Judy’s status, everyone in the “Are they/are they not dating” betting pool agrees that they are dating without any actual confirmation. And suddenly the new betting pool is “can they have kits together?”

And that perfectly fine idea in fanfic writing and artwork became the new great question the fandom struggles with. The question moved from “Are they in love? Let’s discuss” to “They obviously are in love, so can they have kids together? Let’s discuss” as the ship became so big that even non-shipping became a fringe idea.

The Bar: Do You Have To Sex the One Closest To Your Heart?

And so we came to “The Bar” a year+ later that shifted the focus away from the ship and onto the mindset some shippers have: “They like each other a lot, and they have great chemistry. They have to be romantically involved. They like each other too much to be ‘just’ friends.”

And I disagree wholeheartedly with that.

Can romance be greater than friendship? Absolutely, and congratulations if you find someone whom you are both the best friend and romantic partner with. That is the gold standard of a relationship. I say that without sarcasm.

But you can also have a best friend and a romantic partner, in which you like your best friend more. Is that a weird notion? If you are a heterosexual guy and your best friend is another guy, whom you went through hell and back and have great chemistry with, does that mean you can become such good friends that you need to get romantic? Is sexuality something you are born with, or something you... “choose” or learn?

Question to shippers: In your headcanon, was Judy always attracted to foxes, or did she choose or learn to be that after she met Nick? And vice versa with Nick?

I do know that it is part of a fandom’s culture to ship everything left and right (heck I bet there’s a Woody and Buzz ship out there somewhere (and I respect those who ship that (don’t send me pics, please.))) and I want people to keep on shipping WildeHopps. But please, don’t generalize and mistake a great friendship for a bad romance. Best friends aren’t lesser than romantic partners. Their relationships don’t have to mean less just because they don’t bonk the carrot.

And romantic partners aren’t necessarily lesser than best friends! A romantic relationship doesn’t mean it is lesser than a friendship! They are two different scales, not polar opposites.

And because I feel so many get sucked into the idea of “they like each other so much, so they have to be romantic” because we want good things to happen to Nick and Judy (unless you are going for a tragedy (I am looking at you, @mistermead (I loved JiD, by the way) and so we want to give them the best relationship we can think of which erroneously is thought to always be romance, forgetting that maybe... your strongest relationship might be with your best friend, instead.

But Why?

So why am I not shipping them? Why don’t you want the rabbit and fox to bonk, axel eg andersson?!

Because I simply don’t think they are attracted to each other. It’s as simple as that. It has nothing to do with that I am allegedly anti-ship, that I allegedly think romance ruins friendship, or just hate popular things because I am an grumpy old man. And a Grinch.

Nope, it’s because when I saw the movie, I saw them as friends. I saw the “You know you love me” as friendly banter and not a proclamation of romantic attraction.

And that’s it. That’s why I draw platonic content. And I wanted to cater to the underserved niche of friendshippers who saw it the same way I did.

And many saw it them as a romantic item when they saw the movie. And that is just as fine.

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moonlight-at-dawn · 5 years

Note

Any recommendations for your followers things outside your main passions on Tumblr? (FFXV and Full Metal Panic!)

MOST OF MY RECS ARE SO OLD I CAN’T MAKE GRAPHICS FOR THEM AHHHHH

BUT HERE!!!

Video Games

Mana Khemia ~Alchemists of Al-Revis~

PS2/PSP

Robust NG+, Multiple Endings, Character Affection

Part of the Atelier series of games and my personal favorite of the lot

Cry with me over Cat Dad Sulphur

Atelier veterans can be amazed over PLAYABLE!!! PAMELA!!!! (and her SKILLS!!! SHE’S OP!!! AS!!! FUCK!!!)

Infinite Undiscovery

XBox360

Writers are Shouji Gatoh (Full Metal Panic!) and Ryo Mizuno (Record of Lodoss War)

NG+, an amazing postgame dungeon that can make you cry if you’re as attached to a certain character as I am

Canon romance is realized before the end, so you get to experience some of it in more than just a ~happily ever after~ way :3

Fantastic cast, lore, cutscenes, an interesting battle system that I personally love and can be challenging at times, especially during the obligatory “separated from the party” section of gameplay

I can’t count how many times it made me cry okay

Lunar Silver Star (Story/Harmony)

multiple systems, best bet today would be PSP -Harmony version

A fucking CLASSIC, every JRPG fan should experience it AT LEAST ONCE

Okay I’ve sadly never watched in Japanese but TOMOKAZU SEKI’S FIRST(?OR DAMN NEAR?) ROLE WAS AS KYLE OKAY, I LOVE HIM, HE’S MY FAV SEIYUU

Disclaimer: Some of the humor… has not…. aged well… I realize. There’s some slightly predatory-gay/predatory-trans tropes in, but not every character views those random NPCs that way at least??? Jessica doesn’t seem to mind the trans priestess at least?

Look, I’m one of those people that tends to love the mascot characters that everyone else calls annoying, and I WILL DEFEND NALL WITH MY LIFE, YOU WILL RESPECT HIM, GIVE HIM FISH, AND THANK HIM WHEN HE RESURRECTS YOU GODDAMMIT XD

(And hug Nall in Lunar 2, Ruby isn’t as useful as he was, but she’s cool too)

Maybe I’m a baby but again, I cry, multiple times lol

LOVE STORY OF THE CENTURY, ALEX AND LUNA ARE GREAT AHHHHHH

Atelier Series in general

I recommend Mana Khemia first and foremost, but most of the Atelier games have their own charms :3

They all tend to have some angst, yes, but are ultimately feel-good and 💖~

Not as scary as all the time limits for jobs might seem. The time is very generous as long as you aren’t screwing around until the last minute lmao so it is great for casual gaming~

AUTHORS/BOOKS (I have a fantasy bias lol)

Tamora Pierce

I started reading her books something like 20 years ago, and I still enjoy them to this day

I bias towards Tortall books, but the Circle of Magic is also amazing (and one of the main 4 from it is a lesbian POC blacksmith~)

My favorite set is the Beka Cooper trilogy. These ones were also a bit experimental in style, in that they’re written as diary entries aND SO!!!!!! GOOD!!! It PAID OFF BIG TIME, I WAS BLOWN AWAY

Mercedes Lackey

I’ve only indulged in her Valdemar/Velgarth novels so I can’t speak on her other series’ bUT

I seem to have a thing for when authors break out of their comfort zone lol because my favorite of these are the Mage Storms trilogy. This one is very broad, focusing not just on Valdemar, but the main character is actually a Karsite (the historical enemy of Valdemar), and the Empire also plays a big role and just, ahhhhhh, I love seeing more than just Valdemar and the Hawkbrothers and Shin’a’in ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Magic’s Price ;;o;;

Brandon Sanderson

I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of his books lol

His Cosmere books all interlink so when you read outside of wherever in it you started, it’s really cool to see all the similarities and the few worldhopping characters that make appearances in multiple worlds

HIS WORLD BUILDING IS FUCKING IMPECCABLE OH MY GOD I COULD JUST STUDY HIS WORLD BUILDING TECHNIQUES FOR MONTHS IN FACT I HAVE BEEN

Really amazing and diverse cast of characters, social aspects of the ‘verse is almost never divorced from the characters, their experiences, and their story. It’s really amazing to see it all~

Magic systems involve clear rules for manipulation of existing forces. Things don’t happen just because ~magic~

Stormlight Archive is where I’ve started and I’d also highly recommend it just because I cannot stop loving this cast and revisiting it over and over and over I’ve listened to the audiobooks like 4 times and they’re all between, what, 38~52 hours long?

Even when you might not like a character at first, revisiting their story is just… HNNNNN NEWFOUND LOVE AND APPRECIATION

ELHOKAR, I’M TALKING MOSTLY ABOUT ELHOKAR

One of the spren in this world, the Cryptics, represent “the fundamental mathematics by which natural phenomena can be explained” tO GIVE AN IDEA OF HOW ROOTED IN REALITY THIS STUFF IS LOL SANDERSON GOES HARD HE DOESN’T FUCK AROUND WHEN HE BUILDS HIS WORLDS

Uhm…. That’s mostly it for my recommendations I think lol, I don’t really watch much in the way of TV….. (I’d recommend NCIS seasons 3-11 though - Ziva David is my reason for life but her leaving made it hard for me to continue and then the writers broke their fucking promise not to do her dirty while she wasn’t around and while it made for a beautiful story for DiNozzo’s departure, THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT)

and when it comes to my taste in anime, it’s fairly easy for me to find stuff to reblog lol… so…

WELL NO, HERE

SWORD ART ONLINE

YEAH I SAID IT

It’s “cool” to hate on it but it’s not nearly so bad as people make it out to be. People just like to spread vitriol about it because it’s popular, and you know how popular shit gets treated like the fucking devil around here. Asuna’s not some damsel in distress not even when she’s a prisoner in the ALO arc, she’s always got her own agency and is always working towards her goals and freedom and victory

And wtf is this nonsense people like to say about Kirito cheating on her?????? HE DOESN’T. HE LOVES AND RESPECTS HER AND HE DOESN’T FLIRT WITH OTHER GIRLS YOU GUYS JUST DON’T HAVE A SENSE OF FUCKING HUMOR APPARENTLY CAUSE YOU THINK JOKING = FLIRTING

Anyways, great romance, I love the iconic line from BEFORE they got together when he says the whole thing about “Wouldn’t [learning something new about the one I love] mean that I get to love them even more now?” like HE’S SUCH A FUCKING CUTIE

*coughs* Don’t let the hate that spreads around about this (or anything else really) deter you from checking it. Wipe your minds of what you hear and let it stand on its own, decide for yourself how feel. Don’t go “Oh I hear they reduce Asuna to a crybaby in s2″ and then see it that way because it’s what you expect to see. This is a THING, by the way, if you get told something is great or bad for whatever reason, you’re a lot more likely to see it that way. So just, keep that in mind, and try to empty yourself of preconceived notions before looking at it, k? K. That’s my last recommendation for this post lol cause I’ve rambled on forever.

Let things stand for themselves, not on the backs of hearsay.

#misha rambles #long post

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camsforreal · 3 years

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10 Steps to Take to Be More Inclusive in Your Photography Business

Standing out from your competition can be daunting. One easy way to do this is to make sure your business shows you are inclusive and welcoming. A lot of photographers say they are inclusive, but they are not projecting that. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself to help you figure out where you can improve your business.

For decades, I have worked to help organizations, businesses, and governments, from the local level all the way up to the national level, learn how to be more inclusive. In November, I’ll be teaching on the international stage. It isn’t enough anymore to simply be diverse. You also need to be inclusive. A lot of people simply don’t know where to begin. Beginning is as easy as completing the following audit and making any necessary adjustments.

Question 1: How Do You Show if You Are Queer, Including Transgender Friendly?

When helping other businesses, this is one of the biggest areas in which they want to improve. There are multiple ways you can show and not tell that you are queer-friendly. This includes using gender-neutral language on your website and intake forms. If working in portraiture, it includes using language such as “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women” when discussing pre- and post-natal photography. It includes having a field to list pronouns on forms if the client chooses. It means putting your pronouns in your signature, on business cards, and on your website to signal to others that they can disclose theirs to you if they choose. These are just a few things you can do to show you are purposely thinking of all people in your marketing.

Question 2: Do You Have Queer Photography on Your Website and Have You Studied It?

Queer photography is its own genre. You need to be prepared to photograph queer people using both the method that people consider to be the default and the edgier angles found in queer photography. But it isn’t only camera angle and color grading, but also posing. Queer photography has its own unique posing that gets even more specialized when shooting transgender people. You need to know how to do figure study and boudoir for transgender people. You also need to be ready for all sorts of body configurations since you cannot ask people what is under their clothing. A good rule to follow: if you wouldn’t ask the question of your cisgender and straight clients, don’t ask it about your queer clients.

Question 3: If You Offer Gender-Based Photography Services, Are You Intentionally Including Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming People?

Maternity and natal photography. Breast/Chestfeeding photography. Boudoir. Figure Study. Birthing sessions. These are all examples of photography you are probably associating with cisgender women clients. But there are also transgender people who are not women who want these services. If you are happy to serve all genders for these services, then it is as simple as stating: “we provide services for all bodies and all genders.” If you only provide these services to women, does that include transgender women? If so, then state: “we provide services for all women.” And if you are not comfortable providing these services to all bodies, then research queer photographers in your area that are inclusive of all bodies and refer clients to them. You can do so by simply saying: “I am not yet trained in how to shoot transgender bodies. But I’m happy to refer you to X. They will do a great job.”

Question 4: Are You Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes in Your Posing?

This is a big issue. It happens when posing all people. I also hear it a lot when images are being critiqued, especially when the model appears to be a cisgender woman. It is time to challenge your gaze and shoot more to how the model naturally holds themselves and pose in flattering ways based on that. It is also time to shoot some personal projects to update your portfolio with imagery that reflects a wide range of gender expressions.

Question 5: Do You Have Plus-Sized People in Your Portfolio?

You are turning away a lot of potential clients before they even click on that contact page because your portfolio does not reflect all body sizes. I know a lot of people who want to shoot bigger bodies, but they don’t know-how. It is too bad that "Full Body Project" by Leonard Nimoy is no longer in print, because that book was a masterclass in how to shoot bigger bodies. Without models of all sizes in your portfolio, you are signaling that you are fat-phobic and not body positive. It may be time for another personal project.

Question 6: How Many People of Color, Especially Indigenous and Black People, Do You Feature in Your Portfolio?

Photography has been and continues to be a tool of colonization and whitewashing. Part of western society's very notion of “good” and “evil” comes from how Western photographers have processed black and brown skin to make it look darker and white skin to make it look lighter since the beginning of the art. Now, the issue is compounded by white photographers inappropriately processing black and brown skin using digital tools. If you are shooting Indigenous people, did you consult with them and get their approval before profiting off their experiences? There needs to be a disclosure saying this on your website whenever you collaborate with Indigenous people. And if your website is full of nothing but white-passing people, it's time for another personal project.

Question 7: When Shooting Non-White Western-European Places, People, Food, Events, Etc., Are You Shooting Appropriately or Is It Appropriative, and What Language Do You Use?

I’m not sure I can ever express the utter rage I feel when I see chopsticks in Asian food imagery when they don’t belong. Asian cuisine and Asian culture are not a monolith. When shooting food, places, events, etc. that are not native to you, it is really important that you take some time to do some research first, especially if you want to work with clients who are not from white Western European backgrounds. It is also imperative that you drop the word “ethnic” and “exotic” from your vocabulary if working with diverse, racialized clients is important to you. A Sikh or Muslim wedding is just as North American as a white Christian wedding. If you wouldn’t use the word to describe your own culture, don’t use it to describe the culture of another.

Question 8: Do the Images on Your Website Include Alt Text for the Blind and Visually Impaired?

Too many photographers still do not do this. Blind and visually impaired people buy photography services. It isn’t enough to simply say what is in the images. The alt text also needs to reflect the sensory experiences conveyed in the image. It is really easy with food because you can describe things like the “warm aroma” of whatever spice is used in a dish, as one example. Do the same in other genres. What does the clothing feel like? What texture can describe the fabric? Is there a smell in the breeze? Is the sun warm or cool? Is the river trickling or roaring? Are the birds chirping or squawking?

Question 9: Is Your Studio Wheelchair Accessible and Is This Information Stated on Your Website?

Legislation on accessibility varies wildly around the world. Even in countries that have accessibility legislation, a lot of businesses do not comply. I’m a wheelchair user. If I must ask a business if their place is wheelchair accessible because it isn’t listed clearly on their site, I won’t bother contacting them or giving them my business.

Question 10: Do You Ask Your Clients if They Need Any Accommodations, Including for Sensory Issues?

When I give talks about how to be inclusive, I can see the facepalm as it flashes across people’s brains when I talk about this, because it is something often on their minds as they have neurodivergent people close to them, and yet, they forget to make this one simple change in their own business. If you deal with families, be willing to accommodate the child who will need to wear noise-cancellation headphones throughout the session. It won’t ruin the images. You are capturing the truth of that person’s identity. If a person says they are sensitive to lights, dim them and only bring them up as the shoot starts, taking frequent breaks so the person doesn’t experience sensory overload. Most of the time, if you ask this question, you won’t need to figure out how to accommodate the need. The person will let you know how it can be done.

There are many more things you can do to show your business is an inclusive business. But these 10 things are things you can do now with little effort on your part but with a big reward.

Lead image by Prostock-studio, used under Envato commercial license.

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