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thedreadvampy · 3 years

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Ok please if you don’t mind saying - who is Stuart semple and what did he do? I’m so confused. Like I recognise the name and I think he might the an artist or something but I have no idea

He is indeed an artist! He’s a English multidisciplinary fine artist best known for his ongoing beef with English sculptor Anish Kapoor over the 2016 exclusive licensing on the process to make Vantablack colour coating, which meant Kapoor was the only artist allowed to use it. Then Stuart Semple made Pinkest Pink pigment and said it was available to everyone but Anish Kapoor, and there was a big blowup which there’s a lot of documentation of - it was very memed.

Since then, Semple has made a bunch more pigments, most of them with the available-to-everyone-but-Anish-Kapoor disclaimer, and the beef periodically flares up, although I will say as time goes on it seems to me to have got increasingly one-sided given that Kapoor has pretty much wandered off.

(I’ve used several of his colours, btw. Pinkest Pink is pretty good. Blackest Black, his attempt to make the blackest possible paint (as opposed to Vantablack which is a nanofibre coating) I was pretty disappointed in, I’ve honestly had better light capture from mid-range art shop paints. His other pigments vary in quality - some I really liked, some I was meh on, but I think Blackest Black is the only one I was actively unimpressed by)

Anyway. Where I come in is much less exciting.

A few months ago I reblogged a post on Tumblr asking about Semple from a discourse tag (my reblog did not tag or @ anyone), and I made a glib comment where I said (very truthfully) that while I thought he was pretty decent at pigments, both his paintings and his online persona came across pretty adolescent to me.

so it turns out Stuart Semple is an inveterate name searcher (hi Stuart if you’re reading this!)

(Side note: I actually should have guessed this from 2019 Twitter when he saw and commented on an untagged thread I wrote about him and Kapoor’s beef (which was because I’d seen an article in which Kapoor, a British-Asian man, said that the racist Prevent strategy was liable to drive young British-Asian men into the arms of terrorist groups by making it clear their country hates them reblogged on Semple’s account with a caption claiming Anish Kapoor was pro-terrorism, which, while tongue-in-cheek, isn’t a neutral statement for a white person to make about an Asian person and was a pretty phenomenally bad-faith reading of Kapoor’s actual words) and in my thread I pretty much said that when the story had broken, I, like everybody else, had found it very funny and been firmly on side with Semple’s bit, but I felt that a) after a couple of years it really wasn’t very relevant any more and it had started to feel less like Fighting The Power and more like bullying the amount of Semple’s web presence was devoted to talking about Anish Kapoor; b) that it was a shame that Anish Kapoor was increasingly only known as The Vantablack Guy given that I really like a lot of his work and c) that continuing to frame a Jewish person of colour as the Face of the Artistic Elite was a bit weird given how overwhelmingly white the high-end art world is. but I digress. Semple responded to that thread, I don’t really remember what he said, it wasn’t an acrimonious response but it was a bit Oh I Didn’t Do Anything To Tag You?)

so anyway he found my reblog and commented saying ehhh I don’t remember, something along the lines of not feeling like I was being very kind and that he was trying his best. also I think he said I had accused him of being racist? which again the actual Tumblr post literally just said I thought his art and persona came across as juvenile and I think in the tags? I mentioned that I thought it was time for him to step off the Kapoor beef.

then he screencapped my post, including my profile picture and username, and posted it on all his socials with a kind of :( people are so mean on Tumblr :( caption and um

idk if you know this about Being A Public Persona With Tens Of Thousands of Followers but. if you post someone’s identity and say ‘I do not like what this person is doing’ it. can get messy fast.

uh I don’t follow Stuart Semple (see the original post I made) but he commented to make sure I knew he’d posted my post on Instagram and “all my followers like your wig :)” which. according to my partner who did go and look at the time, the Instagram comments were largely about how I was an ugly non-passing trans woman aka “man in a wig” which. throw the whole suitcase out. There were a good few days where I got a lot of angry anons, ranging from ‘stop bullying Stuart Semple!!!!!’ to ‘die in a ditch graphically’ to ‘how can you claim to have opinions on art when You Are On Tumblr’ (I have been a freelance illustrator for 7 years and I have a Masters in art and design) to ‘your art sucks and you’re fat and ugly’ and my personal favourite ‘how can u be cis and use she/her pronouns you dumb snowflake’

(within that furore was a whole branch where someone was like ‘sex worker huh bet you’re bad at it’ and I was like ‘yep! that’s why I don’t do it any more! it’s hard work and it involves a lot of self-promotion and customer skills which I don’t like and am not good at!’ and this was a Whole Thing where they kept trying to insult me (much like today’s anon) about my supposed failures as a Slut Who Is Bad At Sex and I kept going like ‘ok but here’s how that just. doesn’t make sense in reference to what sex work actually is so like, ok?’)

and Stuart Semple and I were also having a conversation which, depending on your perspective I would call his attitude either conciliatory or passive-aggressive, there was a lot of ‘me and my followers would never say rude things about you :) keep up the art kiddo :)’ and being charitable I would say he was trying to be nice while being angry, and to avoid escalating (but with the added context I got later about the wig comment, I think that interpretation of his behaviour maybe. has some cracks?) and ultimately he took down the posts, we had a brief conversation about keeping pet reptiles (apparently he has a lizard) and we left it on, if not good terms, at least peaceable ones.

however I still periodically get messages about it from angry Semple stans. and I’m not sure the argument was resolved, in that I still very much think it’s fair to make criticism, including quite harsh criticism (which I’m not sure ‘adolescent’ is), on art which is put out for public display and enjoyment, and that it isn’t a personal attack to post a criticism of someone’s public-facing work and statements on social media unless you actively target it towards them (for example, @ ing them), and Semple still thinks there’s no difference between a random blog with under a thousand followers criticising a public figure’s work and a public figure with 100k followers on most platforms criticising that blog (out of context - he clipped out the post I was reblogging from and my explanatory tags, and looking at my blog you may notice that 90% of my nuance is in the tags) while giving his followers all the information to find said blog.

(also as multiple people have remarked. if you want to say it’s an unfair criticism to call your online presence immature, being a middle-aged artist who as far as I can tell has a net worth over a million who spends your time name searching yourself in order to get mad at untagged mild criticism from strangers on the internet and share it on all your socials for your followers to join you in Being Big Mad is uhhhhhhh. it uh. it’s not like. not super thin-skinned and immature)

(also also I just googled his net worth and unsurprisingly I can’t find a source on it I’d consider reliable, but I did find multiple articles about him getting in trouble for breach of contract and nonpayment for gallery employees, including two accusations of him writing a big defensive blog post then changing it after a few hours to a very short post saying I LOVE YOU so like idk how true that is but it does seem. consistent with the above interactions.)

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dreamaboutwhathappens · 4 years

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the man was FILLED with easter eggs and metaphors. here they are!

1. being in the room where it happens

in the lyric video for the man, we see a woman working so hard to try and get to where all the men are -- on top, both physically and metaphorically. in the music video, we see The Man starting out here, just another normal day at the office. another normal day in charge, and on top.

2. “i’d be a fearless leader”

The Man not so much as walks into the room and makes a few comments before getting applause for his work. at the same time, every desk in this office can be seen with a mountain of papers, files, and books stacked on top of them. for all the hard work that these people are doing in this office, The Man gets all the applause for a fraction of it.

3. the subway

now, obviously what we have here is what you have on any and every subway or other form of local transportation -- that one asshole who feels entitled to take up as much space as he wants at the discomfort of everyone around him. while i could get into how mansplaining is a metaphor for men feeling the right to take up more space in society then women, i won’t. instead, i want to focus on all the little details on this subway that tell men they can. at the very, very top of the frame, we see text at the bottom of an ad that says “because you DESERVE what you want” and the posters on either side of The Man tell us “mother nature doesn’t stand a chance” and “capitalize on the feeling”. this is how society treats men. they should get to do whatever they want, based only on their feelings or wants. this notion will become important in the subway station.

shoutout to the girl in the miss americana hoodie! i think we can safely say she’s listening to lover on her headphones.

4. the newspaper

for this image, i turned the brightness WAYYY up so we could read the newspaper. the leading headline is “what man won the year in celebrity dating?” with the caption “who crushed it this year?” one headline says “years most eligible CEO’s” and another says “men in love in sports”. now, i don’t have to tell you that taylor swift was vilified for her relationships. these headlines show the difference between how men and women are treated when it comes to relationships. what’s it like to brag about getting bitches and models?

on the back cover, we see a contrast between how men and women are viewed in society. the ad dedicated towards men has a very strong and tough vibe to it, and the article beneath it carries the title “it’s men against boys with no ladies around.” in fact, the only mention we get of said “ladies” is in the “style section” where we see two sexy, rail thin women posing at fashion shows. while society views men for their strength, women are supposed to be objects of beauty and desire, and nothing more.

5. here lies taylor swift’s reputation (and all her previous albums)

now, obviously, the sign says “missing, if found, please return to taylor swift” and grafitied on the walls are the names of the albums whose masters taylor does not own. remember when those ads on the subway told men that you DESERVE what you want? that’s what empowered The Men who stole taylor’s masters to take them. they wanted them, after all! let’s also remember that The Man is can be seen pissing on the wall in this shot. it’s a metaphor for The Men who own taylor’s old albums and are essentially pissing on all her hard work. we can also see “KARMA” written in big letters in the middle of all the albums, which invokes a lyric from look what you made me do: “all i think about is karma, and then the world moves on but one things for sure, maybe i got mine but you’ll all get yours”. pretty sure karma is coming for The Men who own taylor’s masters.

if you look closely, you can also see a sign to the left of The Man that says no scooters! sc*oter bra*n is not welcome at the 13th street station

6. “i’d be just like leo in st. tropez”

for your viewing pleasure, i have included an image of leo in st. tropez. we can see women in bikinis, and every sort of expensive, luxurious form of leisure you could think of. during the verse where we see The Man on the yacht, she sings “they’d say i hustled, put in the work, they wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this i deserve”. this is reminiscent of The Man when he was in the office and how, no matter how much work he did or didn’t do, he is heralded as a genius. the point of saying she’d be just like leo in st. tropez is not to try and call out leonardo dicaprio for going a cruise and having some fun. people should be entitled to celebrate and vacation however they please. the point is that women should be able to do the same thing.

7. The Man’s “walk of shame”

this is a metaphor for how men in society are treated when they take a misstep. while women can be criminalized and thrown the wolves, it appears that men always have people on their team, and in this case, hands lining up to be high-fived. men often are not held to the same standards as women, and even when they do something wrong, they face very little backlash for it, and normally have their own set of groupies or supporters telling them that they were really in the right (and they are allowed to believe it).

at the back of the hallway, there hangs a portrait of The Man pointing at the camera, as if to say “you ARE the man.” it feels like uncle sam, but in a “ i want YOU for us army whatever your heart desires” kind of way.

8. world’s greatest dad

the bar for men is so low that when they do the very minimum (in this case, merely look after their own child), they get commended for it. imagine if this were a woman. would she be applauded? no, she would probably be reprimanded for being on her phone and ignoring her child, like The Man did here.

9. bragging

this one is pretty self-explanatory. what’s it like to brag about raking in dollars and getting bitches and models? what’s it like when it’s all good if you’re bad and it’s okay if you’re mad? in this scene, we see The Man telling all his buddies about the bitches and models and dollars, and then freaking out on somebody.

10. raking in dollars

who's on the 100 dollar bill? he is! the serial number on this bill also ends in 13. i thought there might be more hidden goodies here, but if there are, the video isn’t in high enough resolution to tell. the only other thing i can make out was that it said “for motion picture use only” which i thought would be an easter egg until i rendered it in photoshop and could read it clearly. oh well!

11. raising money for the women’s charity

a problem we see in society a lot is people of privilege being an ally only by action, not by everyday behavior. here, we see The Man benefitting a women’s charity, but all throughout the video we haven’t seen him go out of his way to respect or give a voice to women. even in this shot, a woman stands on the sidelines while The Man takes all the glory. while he raises money for women, he has no other character traits that show he actually cares about them.

in a different shot of this scene, a water bottle from taylor’s merch can be seen on the sideline.

12. the unimpressed umpire

this is taylor’s dad! his name is scott. in a video full of mediocre men, scott is our resident Good Man :)

13. the freakout

in 2018, serena williams unleashed on an umpire who accused her of cheating and stuck her with her third penalty of the game -- penalties the whole crowd was certain she did not deserve. she even said at the time “To lose a game for saying that, it’s not fair. How many other men do things? There’s a lot of men out here who have said a lot of things. It’s because I am a woman, and that’s not right.” this is a DIRECT representation of this. it’s as they say, it’s all good if you’re bad, and it’s okay if you’re mad.

14. the hat

the hat our tennis attendant is seen wearing says “TS” in big letters, and in a circle around it, it says “i’d be a fearless leader, i’d be an alpha type.” taylor’s dad can also be seen wearing this hat.

15. the one where lover is NOT the happy couple’s first dance

first of all, this shit makes me SO uncomfortable. this is obviously an allusion to all the men who marry MUCH younger women, which is poignant because, again, taylor suffers mercilessly for her relationship choices, and they’re nowhere near as abhorrent as this. something also worth mentioning: scott borchetta is turning 58 this year. i’ll let you figure the rest out.

16. mr americana

any taylor swift fan will know that in january, taylor released a documentary with an intimate perspective on her life titled “miss americana” which focused a lot on the struggles taylor has overcome in her career. choosing miss americana to be a part of this video is a wise choice, because it highlights those same struggles that taylor is tackling in this music video. we can probably assume that mr americana faces significantly less struggles.

every part of this poster has been revamped to be man-centered, even down to the star role - tyler swift, not taylor.

17. take two

here, our director tells The Man that he needs to be sexier, and more likable. this reflects criticism that taylor and other women in the public eye hear almost daily. as i mentioned before, women in society are valued only as objects of beauty and desire, and here, we see the script flipped to bring that to light.

in this final scene, we leave the fantasy world of the music video that The Man is starring in, and go to what appears to be a woman-dominated world, insinuating that the universe of the music video is one opposite to our own. this drives home the claim that if taylor were the man, she would be the man.

18. dwayne the rock johnson

i thought that having the rock voice The Man was really poignant. think about the rock’s career -- started out as a wrestler, is now an actor, but he’s known for his kindness and his dedication to social justice. if you asked me if he had ever been a part of any scandal, i would tell you no. and that’s exactly who The Man is. that’s exactly who this song is about, and that’s who taylor is. she has had an insanely successful career spanning over a decade, crossing into multiple different genres and fields, and excelling at all of it. she’s friendly, hard working, a social justice warrior, and a philanthropist. but all of those things are pushed aside in favor of the negative. using the rock as The Man was the perfect way of finishing off the statement,

“if i was a man, i’d be the man.”

#the man #taylor swift #directed by taylor swift #lover #the man music video #this took me SO LONG to finish #i've had class and meetings all day so i have been writingi it since like eight am #BUT I FINALLY FINISHED IT #ii'm sure some of these things have already been said #but i just love writing posts like this so much #and this video was FILLED with meaningful and poignant stuff #i can't get OVER it #this video said EVERYTHING #i.....#there's nothing left to be said #i love it so much #random thoughts with grace

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bethadastra · 6 years

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A WIP Thingie

Alright. @garrus-vakarus and @daddyvictus tagged me for this thingie, so there’s no socially acceptable way to sneak out of this now.

Art

(none of these have titles because idk how to title art that isn’t a sarcastic caption??)*

Spec Reqs for a Special Someone: It’s a giftie, so I can’t reveal anything here!

Commission: I prefer big reveals for things made in other people’s name, so I’ll just say that this is an illustration for a great fic. It’s super sweet and fluffy!

A Destiny drawing: a doodle of my Titan and a Good Bug Friend

Turian Bible Study: A drawing inspired by real life and awful conversations that involve Mordin pretending to be the Holy Spirit.

Baby Turian Comic: a comic that I’ve had for months that just refuses to be properly composed. Like, half of the panels are perfect and complete and the others are just garbage.

*I have about a half dozen more in my Ideas folder, but they are barely more than giant sketches so we’re not counting them.

Writing

(hold on to your titties because I don’t know how to finish things and I have Very Specific Interests) (Published WIPs are linked to AO3)

Spec Reqs for a Special Someone: Can’t say much more! It’s a gift!

A Leather & Lace Oneshot: a smutty little one shot for L&L week. Don’t want to ruin the surprise so tough it out for a week or two!

On and Off the Mat: A small, but explicit, look at Sara Ryder meeting Tiran Kandros before going to Andromeda, and all of the buildup and fallout that comes of it.

Heavy Ammo: A long-term WIP that is solely smutty oneshots. I have 5 other chapters in progress, and only one chapter published; that can change if someone sends me alcohol.

Aqua Regis: a romantic monstrosity of what might have been if Hannah Shepard had been sent to Palaven to serve Primarch Fedorian during the early years of reparations. Features lots of feelings, baby Jane, and royal-grade frickle frackle. ~23k written

Archangel & Gunn: An AU in which Garrus is actually good at roleplay and takes advantage of it in the most explicit way possible. ~7k written.

A Macen & Avi Story: the story of Avitus Rix meeting (and falling stupid-in-love) with Macen Barro. Lots of angst and feels and crying. ~6k written.

A Medieval Shakarian Story: Pretty self explanatory. Shepard is a Lady™ that gets wooed by a super suave & knightly version of Garrus. In a surprise that I haven’t fully figured out how to work with, I’ve spent over half of my word count playing with an awkward but naughty spinoff where Ashley gets taken in as a ward for Nihlus where he lives. Good stuff. Also, the geth are just sentient hellhounds and they’re delightful. ~38k written.

Charon: A First Contact story. An engineer gets separated from her human ship and becomes a sort of fugitive while a turian patrolman tries to get her back to the relay before all hell breaks loose. Think of a boy-meets-angry girl in a world without translators, and a burn as slow as heck. A pithy 3k written.

I would tag people, but almost all my writer friends have done this??? @kestrelsansjesses @bronzeagelove @wafflesrock16 @squigglysquidd @thunderheadfred if any of y’all haven’t done this consider this my puppy dog-eyed attempt to bring you into the fray? Also any followers who have read this far, considered yourself tagged and tell me so I can read more awesome stories!

#Beth does a thing #WIP meme

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greed-the-dorkalicious · 7 years

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So as some of you know, I’ve been working on chapter 8 of BLaD, but now that I’m working on the rewrite it probably won’t be finished for quite some time. Plus I have no idea how many scenes I’m going to have to change, and I can already see some problems with this one... A lot of it, if not almost all of it, will probably be scrapped. But I don’t want what I’ve already written to go to waste, so I’m going to post it here.

Chapter 8, about half finished, still labeled as chapter 7 in the doc:

“I want a TV for my room.”

Dio raised an eyebrow as he glanced up from his chair at Jonathan, who was looming over Dio with his arms crossed and lips drawn tight into a frown.

“Making demands now, are we?” Dio questioned amusedly. “And here I thought you were polite.”

“After everything you’ve put me through, I see no reason to be polite. You told me I could have whatever I want- except for, you know, my freedom- so I want my own TV,” Jonathan repeated.

Dio snorted. “Really, where have your manners gone? What would that little wife of yours say?”

Jonathan actually laughed out loud at that. “You’re joking, right? Some of the most vulgar things I’ve ever heard anyone say were things Erina said about you,” he pointed out bitterly.

Dio frowned briefly, looking grave for a moment, before quickly returning to his usual smug demeanor.

“Fine. I’ll see to it that you get a TV,” he promised.

Jonathan smiled slightly, nodding in satisfaction. “Th- Good,” he said, quickly correcting himself after almost saying “thank you”; politeness was a habit for him, but it was a courtesy Dio did not deserve.

Dio snickered at Jonathan’s slip-up, but Jonathan paid it no mind as he abruptly turned around to leave. He walked with conviction, not in the mood to be in Dio’s company any longer than necessary.

“By the way, a friend of mine will be joining us for dinner tomorrow,” Dio called after him.

Jonathan ignored the offhand comment, leaving the room without looking back.

---

Dio had stayed true to his word, and within a few hours a TV was brought to Jonathan’s room, along with a lovely wooden cabinet to house it.

“Alright, that should do it,” d’Arby declared as he arranged some cords so they were out of the way. “Let me know if you have any problems.”

“Thank you,” Jonathan told him. From what he’d heard from Jotaro, d’Arby wasn’t exactly a shining beacon of morality, but Jonathan still just couldn’t help but be polite to anyone other than Dio.

D’Arby nodded, and placed the remote on the nightstand before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Several moments after d’Arby had left, as Jonathan studied the TV’s remote, Jotaro materialized in the air next to him. Though he did catch the telltale shimmer of light out of the corner of his eye, it felt more like Jonathan sensed Jotaro’s appearance than anything.

“Why do you need a TV in your room?” Jotaro asked, sounding slightly puzzled, although (as usual) his face showed little trace of emotion.

Jonathan smiled at Jotaro. “It’s for you, silly,” he answered with a slight laugh.

Jotaro frowned in confusion. “For… me?” he repeated hesitantly, confused by the answer. A TV? For him? Why?

“I thought it would be nice, give you something fun to do when I’m reading or whatever,” Jonathan replied. “And the only other TV is in the living room, and I know you don’t come out when there might be other people around, so now you can watch whatever you want without having to hide,” he explained with a gentle smile.

This... was surprising to Jotaro. Which was to be expected; He'd spent the past month living a solitary, hellish existence, with his friends and family gone. His only companion was Jonathan, who was nice enough, but usually busy with his own misery. Jotaro had almost forgotten what it was like to actually receive attention and care from someone else.

"...Thanks," he said honestly, feeling somewhat speechless.

Perhaps Jotaro's face showed more gratitude than his voice did, because Jonathan smiled widely, seemingly quite pleased with his accomplishment. "You're welcome! I hope you like it," he said excitedly.

Hesitantly, Jotaro reached for the remote, staring at it for a moment with a feeling he couldn’t place. Suspicion? Hostility? Some sort of vague feeling like it wasn’t real? It had been so long since any sort of positive anything had happened to him, it almost seemed like his brain (...his figurative brain, anyway) had deemed it a trap of some sort, that it was too good to be true, there had to be some sort of catch. The very concept of something good happening had become so foreign to Jotaro that it made him anxious. It felt like if he dared to indulge in a moment of pleasure, he would suffer even more in punishment.

“...Jotaro? Are you alright?” Jonathan interrupted, pulling Jotaro back to reality.

“Yeah, why?” Jotaro answered.

“Well, it’s just… You’ve been staring at the remote for a while now,” Jonathan pointed out worriedly.

“Oh. Uh, sorry,” Jotaro replied with a frown. What was he doing?

Jotaro shook his head in disbelief, and tried to remind himself that there was nothing wrong. As bizarre as it felt, the TV truly was a good thing- his and Jonathan’s only, not one of Dio’s shallow luxuries, but a thoughtful gift from Jonathan to make Jotaro more comfortable. The TV was safe.

With Jonathan watching him excitedly, Jotaro turned the TV on and began flipping through channels.

It took a little while before Jotaro found something he liked. He caught snippets of soap operas, talk shows, news, reality shows, cartoons, and documentaries, but none of them really caught his eye. Not to mention the language barrier; Jotaro was fluent in Japanese and English, and knew a fair bit of Italian, but naturally, everything on TV in Cairo was in Arabic.

Finally, Jotaro found something he instantly recognized: a familiar movie that was surprisingly not in Arabic, but English with Arabic captions.

“Ooh, this looks interesting. I wonder what it is?” Jonathan commented, watching the people on TV run around.

“It’s called ‘Star Wars’,” Jotaro answered. “It’s a movie about… Well, war. In space. Pretty self-explanatory. It’s one of the old man’s favorite movies.”

Jonathan watched the TV with interest for a few minutes. It certainly seemed fun and dramatic, but it was also clearly in the middle of the movie, so Jonathan didn’t really understand what was going on.

“Is that the protagonist?” he asked Jotaro, indicating the character currently speaking: a man with brown hair, a vest, and a gun.

Jotaro shook his head. “That’s Han Solo. He’s a smuggler. He’s gramps’ favorite character, he always used to say Han reminded him of himself when he was younger,” Jotaro said.

“Well, he’s certainly rude enough,” Jonathan agreed with a laugh. Jotaro, however, said nothing in response; he had gone quiet, frowning after accidentally bringing up a sore subject.

Jotaro stayed silent for several more minutes before finally speaking.

“He took me to see the sequel twice, you know,” he began quietly. “We were visiting in New York when I was 10. The first time, we all went- me, mom, dad, gramps, and grandma… He liked it so much he wanted to see it again, but nobody else wanted to, so I said I’d go with him.” Jotaro paused for a moment before continuing, looking thoughtful.

“...I didn’t really want to see it twice,” he admitted, voice shaking slightly. “I just…” Jotaro trailed off, unable to continue. With eyes downcast, Jotaro ran his hands through his hair, repeating a nervous habit Jonathan had seen him do so many times.

Jonathan put a hand on Jotaro’s shoulder in a silent gesture of sympathy.

“You really loved your grandfather, didn’t you?” Jonathan asked gently.

Jotaro nodded, face buried in his hands. “I should’ve… I should’ve said so. I should’ve been nicer to him. And mom…”

“I know. It’s alright. I felt the same way when I lost my father,” Jonathan admitted. “There’s no point in worrying about it now. I’m sure your family knows how much you care about them,” he promised.

Jotaro said nothing, continuing to hide his face as he tried to compose himself. Jonathan respectfully left him alone, though he himself almost felt like he might cry.

After a few minutes, Jotaro managed to calm down, and let out a tired sigh as he returned his attention to the TV.

“So, do you think you can tell me a bit about the plot?” Jonathan asked, seeing that Jotaro had settled down.

Jotaro nodded, and began pointing out characters on screen. “The blond guy is Luke Skywalker, he’s the protagonist. The girl is Princess Leia. The creepy looking guy in black is the main villain, Darth Vader, and the old dude is Ben Kenobi, he’s sort of the mentor character,” he explained.

Jonathan watched with interest, nodding thoughtfully as he took in this information. “So, is the princess the protagonist’s girlfriend?” he asked curiously.

“Nah, she’s his twin sister, although they don’t know it yet. Also, Vader’s their dad,” Jotaro answered.

“Hey! Why’d you have to ruin the plot twist?” Jonathan gasped, looking slightly hurt and offended.

Jotaro blinked in surprise. “Oh, sorry,” he said casually.

Jonathan shook his head in dismay, but nonetheless returned his attention to the movie.

“Woah, those swords look fun,” he commented in awe.

“They’re called lightsabers,” Jotaro explained. “Pay attention, this scene’s important.”

As Jotaro said, Jonathan paid close attention to the battle on screen, as two characters- the villain and the mentor, he recalled- dueled with glowing swords. Jonathan could hardly bring himself to blink as the lightsabers clashed again and again, producing brightly colored flashes and strange noises, and then-

“...Did… did he just die?” Jonathan questioned hesitantly, staring at the pile of brown cloth where the mentor character had stood. (From what little he’d seen, he couldn’t help but think that that character reminded him of his own old teacher, Will Zeppeli.)

“Yeah. It’s cool though, he shows up as a ghost every so often,” Jotaro answered, showing little emotional reaction to the scene he’d clearly seen many times before.

“Aw, stop telling me everything-”

Before Jonathan could finish his sentence, a loud knock came at the door. Next to him, Jotaro disappeared just as quickly as Ben Kenobi, while Jonathan sighed at the interruption.

“Come in,” he called out unenthusiastically. Of course their moment of leisure couldn’t have gone uninterrupted, he should have known.

The door opened with a creak, revealing, of course, d’Arby.

“Lord Dio would like me to inform you that dinner will be served in 20 minutes,” d’Arby announced.

Jonathan frowned irritatedly. Of course. Of course.

“Fine,” he replied simply. “Is that all?”

“Yes,” d’Arby replied tersely. He nodded his head in a polite gesture of acknowledgement before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Jonathan sighed once again and flopped down on the bed, one hand behind his head. “So much for finishing the movie, I suppose,” he mumbled to the empty air, as Jotaro was still hiding. Knowing him, Jonathan guessed he wouldn’t be back for a good five minutes or so.

The clock on the wall ticked ominously, Jonathan’s stomach growled, Luke Skywalker screamed, and Jonathan groaned in frustration at everything.

---

Reluctantly, Jonathan entered the dining room at the specified time. Although Dio had said one of his “friends” would be joining them for dinner, there didn’t seem to be anyone there but Dio.

“Hello, Jojo. How are you enjoying your new TV?” Dio asked, leaning casually against a wall with his arms crossed.

“It’s- Hold on, you’re wearing that to dinner?” Jonathan questioned in disbelief, raising an eyebrow and wincing slightly at Dio’s… “outfit”, which seemed to be more hole than clothes.

“Yes, why?” Dio replied with a shrug.

Jonathan took a deep, sharp breath in as he continued to grimace at Dio’s outfit with a mixture of disgust and pity.

“You know, considering that is my body, I’d really prefer it if you wore something… More modest and less ugly,” he said slowly.

Dio rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. I’ve seen you wear three shirts and a vest at the same time. You are not in any position to judge my fashion sense,” he pointed out.

“At least my three shirts covered my nipples,” Jonathan retorted with a scowl.

“My nipples are perfectly covered!” Dio insisted.

“Sure, until you move at all. God knows how you even managed to get that thing on without getting tangled up,” Jonathan said dryly.

“Oh, stop being dramatic. You sound like an old lady.”

Before Jonathan could respond, the argument was interrupted by a knock on the doorframe, and an attention-grabbing cough.

“Ah, Pucci! Good to see you!” Dio exclaimed with an unsettling amount of genuine feeling, as Jonathan turned to look at the newcomer.

Whatever sort of vile monster Jonathan had expected Dio’s “friend” to be, the person standing in the doorway was not it. Rather, Dio’s “friend” appeared to be a teenager, with short, silvery-blond hair contrasting against his dark skin, wearing what looked to be some sort of priest’s robes. He leaned against the doorframe with a slight hint of a smile.

While Dio and the newcomer engaged in some sort of conversation, Jonathan couldn’t focus on what they were saying. He was too shocked and uncomfortable with how… innocent the young man in the doorway seemed to be. This was Dio’s “friend”? A priest? And a young one at that! How old was he, Jonathan wondered? 18? 19? Perhaps he wasn’t really a young priest, but some sort of shapeshifter, secretly a 40-year-old criminal mastermind… or… something. Jonathan hoped that was the case. The thought of this boy being under Dio’s thumb was enough to make him feel sick.

“Jojo, I’d like you to meet my friend, Enrico Pucci. Pucci, this is my adoptive brother, Jonathan Joestar,” Dio introduced the two.

“I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Pucci said as he offered Jonathan his hand. He gave a smile that was unsettlingly warm- that was to say, it was genuinely friendly, which was the unsettling part. A friend of Dio’s shouldn’t seem so… normal.

“Um… Hello,” Jonathan replied confusedly, shaking Pucci’s hand with slight hesitation. What was the catch? There had to be a catch, right?

“How was the trip?” Dio asked Pucci casually as the three of them sat down.

“Oh, I can’t complain. I slept through most of it, after all,” Pucci replied. “I am pretty hungry, though. What are we having for dinner?”

“Steak and caviar, unless you’d like something else,” Dio answered.

“No, that sounds great, actually.”

As Dio and Pucci continued talking, Jonathan stared at them, completely slack-jawed. Their conversation was just so bizarrely normal. Civil. Friendly. It sounded like a conversation between an actual, real, ordinary pair of friends, and not a teenage priest and a hundred-year-old mass murderer vampire with a god complex. Jonathan had seen so many strange, twisted, horrifying things over his weeks at Dio’s mansion, and indeed in his life, that they’d become the norm. Seeing Dio, the devil himself, act so sweet and casual was far more unsettling than anything he’d seen yet.

Evidently, Jonathan’s horror and confusion showed on his face, as Pucci glanced at him with a concerned look. “Is something wrong?”

Jonathan stammered awkwardly, struggling to express his feelings in words. “I… you… I don’t-”

“You’ll have to forgive my brother, he’s been dead for a century,” Dio interrupted. “He’s still getting used to things and he’s a bit confused right now.”

Jonathan shot Dio an incredulous glare. “I am not!” he insisted. Pucci, on the other hand, had a more sympathetic look on his face.

“I understand. This must be quite disorienting for you. I’m sorry,” he told Jonathan, putting a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort that felt, frankly, quite condescending.

“Really, I’m fine,” Jonathan repeated, but didn’t press the issue further. Instead, he decided to change the subject.

“So… Pucci, was it? Are you a priest?” Jonathan asked. He kept his tone polite, though he was suspicious of Pucci; Whether Pucci was another unwitting, naive victim of Dio’s charisma, or if he truly was of Dio’s character, Jonathan didn’t know. It was bad either way.

Pucci laughed slightly. “No, no, I still have a long way to go before then. I’m in training at a seminary in Florida. I only started less than two years ago,” he explained.

“And… how old are you?” Jonathan continued, somewhat dreading the answer.

“Sixteen. I met Dio last year,” Pucci replied with a smile. Jonathan felt his stomach drop.

As Jonathan looked at Dio with a wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression of pure horror, Dio deliberately ignored him. Instead, he turned towards the doorway.

“D’Arby! What’s taking so long?!” Dio shouted. Though he was only mildly irritated, his commanding aura made his shout as terrifying as a normal person’s rage. (Pucci seemed unfazed.)

Within seconds, the sound of startled footsteps could be heard coming from down the hall, and d’Arby appeared in the doorway, looking slightly nervous.

“My sincerest apologies, Lord Dio. The new chef isn’t quite used to the kitchen yet, but I will ensure he works faster,” d’Arby promised.

Dio raised an eyebrow. “What new chef?”

“If you may recall, Lord Dio, you ate the previous chef,” d’Arby explained.

“Did I,” Dio replied in an uninterested monotone.

“Yes. You did.”

Dio sighed. “Very well, but if the food’s going to take this long, at least bring out the wine,” he told d’Arby with an air of boredom.

D’Arby nodded and bowed deeply. “Yes, Lord Dio. I will get right on that.” D’Arby immediately backed out of the room, presumably to go fulfill Dio’s orders.

By the time Dio finished his conversation with d'Arby, Jonathan had- for the most part- regained his composure enough to continue speaking.

“Pucci, this may be something of a difficult question, but… Are you aware of what sort of person Dio is?” Jonathan asked cautiously.

“Yes,” Pucci replied. A simple one-word response, but unwavering, with a terse, brisk conviction that said he knew exactly what Jonathan meant.

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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #116: BETRAYAL!

October, 1973

Here we go! Part three of the Avengers/Defenders War! Well, technically parts 2 and 3. For some reason.

So you just know that as soon as she tells him not to fall in the volcano that both he and the Surfer are going to be wrestling around in it like its mud.

Lil’ Vision doesn’t approve of Wanda being so close to an active volcano but this is only the typical cover exaggeration. In the comic, her situation is a lot stupider.

And lets just say that its not the only way in which this cover is telling fibs.

So, last time: the Avengers had decided to pay a visit to Dr. Strange to get him to explain the strange disappearance of Black Knight.

This time:

Dr. Strange politely but firmly discourages any visitors.

(Also happy ten year anniversary, Avengers!)

But seriously. Dr. Strange put a spell on his door so that if any touched the latch, they’d be sent hurtling through the air. Its safe to say that he probably wasn’t expecting any packages today.

This also doesn’t do much to endear the Avengers to the doctor.

Although what gets Iron Man’s goat is that Dr. Strange claims to do magic stuff. Which is dumb. Magic is fake and dumb. But rigging repulsors or whatever scientific explanation to your door doesn’t inspire trust.

Thor just starts banging on the door. And Dr. Strange’s manservant Wong answers to tell the Avengers to fuck off. The doctor is busy with vital research and does not wish to be disturbed.

Thor really doesn’t like when doors are slammed in his face, so he huffs and puffs and CHOOM!s the door down with Mjolnir.

If the Avengers are so impetuous that mystical warnings and straight up telling them to get lose won’t work, Wong will just beat them up.

Except Mantis. Mantis happens. Bye Wong.

And then as the door Mantis just flung Wong into opens, "several Avengerial eyes snap wide at what they see within that darkened chamber.”

There’s some new vocab for you.

And then a new spell blows all the Avengers out of Strange’s house.

But the Avengers have seen enough. Their Avengerial eyes saw the Black Knight, turned to stone, with Dr. Strange determined to keep them out.

So Thor yells at nothing that the Avengers aren’t licked, nosiree, they’ll be back once they figure out how to fight all this stupid magic.

Meanwhile inside Dr. Strange’s house, he has no idea what has been going on with the Avengers at all. He knows there was a disturbance but the mystic seal he placed around this room took care of it and that’s all he cares about.

Let me just state here that if he had talked to the Avengers now, several issues of story and a / War would not have happened.

Anyway, Strange recaps the Evil Eye for the other Defenders and for the readers. The Evil Eye belonged to Prester John of Avalon, who was accidentally woken up from a 700-year snooze by the Human Torch and Wyatt Wingfoot.

And then Johnny stole the Evil Eye because he believed it could be used to destroy the Great Refuge that Crystal of the Inhumans was imprisoned within.

Except the Evil Eye was building up energy toward an explosive overload so Prester John and Wyatt Wingfoot had to follow the Human Torch and shoot the Evil Eye out of his hand with a polarizer gun.

And then it exploded. The Evil Eye, I mean.

But instead of being destroyed, it was split into six identical fragments and scattered to Osaka, Japan; Rurutu, French Polynesia; Ft. Wayne, US; Los Angeles, Also US; Monterrey, Mexico; and Sucre, Bolivia.

Apparently this was how the Evil Eye was designed by the people of Avalon. So that anyone who used the device at full power wouldn’t get to use it a second time.

Long story short, Johnny Storm ruins everything.

Anyway, six fragments. Six Defenders. Pretty self-explanatory really. Hawkeye and Valkyrie will take the southern two fragments. Silver Surfer and Namor will cover Rurutu and Osaka respectively. Hulk will jump hella high to Los Angeles. And Dr. Strange will guard the Black Knight and head to Ft. Wayne when another Defender returns to take his post.

And then they split up.

But meanwhile: the villains. Dread Dormammu and also somewhat dreaded Loki.

But Loki is having second thoughts. First, Dormammu hasn’t restored his vision yet. But second, it just struck Loki that if Dormammu conquers Earthrealm, he’ll have access to Asgard. And Loki may be a villain but he’s a proud Asgardian as well. Clearly only he should conquer Asgard. Not some dude with his head on fire.

And since he’s currently banned from Asgard, that only leaves one person he can turn to for help. But boy does it make him Thor to consider.

So Loki projects himself in front of the Avengers. Not that he can tell. He’s blind. But he loudly requests that whoever he’s talking to bring his half-brother to him.

He doesn’t bother explaining who his half-brother is but luckily he did appear in front of Thor.

Thor immediately starts yelling at him about deceit and trickery. Because family.

But he’s wise to do so because Loki can’t help himself. He lies. Because otherwise he’d have to admit some amount of tiny blame for everything. And that’s ridiculous.

Instead, he tells the Avengers that the Defenders have hatched a plot that threatens the universe. And describes them in the least flattering way possible.

Dr. Strange, who hides himself away from most mortal men.

Valkyrie. Remember her? She kicked your asses.

Hulk. I mean, everybody knows he hates humanity.

Namor. He’s always declaring war on the surface world and yelling Imperious Rex.

Silver Surfer. Man, he is so bitter at being stuck on Earth. Bitter enough for evil? Yes. That exact amount.

And finally, Hawkeye. Would you instantly believe a trickster god telling you that your friend has turned against you? When it’s Hawkeye you would!

Before his projection ends, Loki tells them where the Defenders have headed. But can’t or doesn’t tell them which Defender go where. So the Avengers pretty much split up arbitrarily.

Captain America goes to Japan. Because he hasn’t been to Japan in a while.

Wanda and Vision will go to Rurutu. Probably to scope it out for their honeymoon.

Swordsman will go to Bolivia. He feels bad about the time that he tried to conquer South America.

Mantis wants to stay by Swordsman’s side but she has a hunch that Black Panthe will need her aid at Ft. Wayne.

Thor will go to California. Its the most central location so if any of the other Avengers need help, he’ll be close at hand.

And Iron Man will go to Mexico because its the last one left.

And then they split up. In... I can’t tell if those are Quinjets or not.

So we reach part 2. Er, chapter 3: The Silver Surfer vs. the Vision and the Scarlet Witch!

Nice logo face off.

So anyway, with Tomie the board, Silver Surfer got to Rurutu in no time but now he’s been flying around the island dozens of times without being able to find the Evil Eye fragment.

And then some probably offensive natives start worshiping him as a shiny volcano god.

He’s not all about that but them mentioning the volcano reminds him that the volcano is the one place he has not checked. So then he takes off.

The natives figure he’s trying to lead them somewhere and follow him.

Silver Surfer can fly through stars so a volcano isn’t that much of a big deal for him, in terms of just wading into the lava. Still, the Evil Eye isn’t going to be easy to find. He’ll have to handle this delicately by blasting the shit out of the volcano.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch and Vision arrive over Rurutu. In a weirdly flying saucer model of Quinjet. I swear, the Quinjets change every time I see them.

Despite the plausibility of Loki’s story, a story told by a trickster god mind you, Vision is having doubts. He doesn’t want to attack without exploring peaceful alternatives and maybe giving conversation a chance.

So he flies off to scout ahead.

Scarlet Witch thinks he’s being too logical. The pieces all fit together. The Black Knight was taken away by Dr. Strange and others in costumes. The Hulk, Namor, and Valkyrie have all been Avengers foes before, Silver Surfer has struck out at mankind in melodramatic snits as often as he has helped it, and Hawkeye is Hawkeye and believes that the Avengers have wronged him.

Meanwhile, Silver Surfer accidentally triggered an eruption by blasting the shit out of the volcano.

The eruption blows Scarlet Witch’s Quinjet out of the sky. Because she was flying way too close to an active volcano.

Vision spots her falling and swoops down to catch her, talking the whole time about how he’ll be able to save her if he acts rather than talks. Talking is a free action, Vision.

Setting her down on the ground, Vision sees that she has some second-degree burns and seared lungs but she’s not permanently damaged. And then he sees Silver Surfer crawling out of the volcano, wondering what’s going on.

And Vision flips his shit.

See, Scarlet Witch said he was too logical. But when it comes to times where she’s hurt or endangered, he’s a bit too emotional. So he goes from logical to livid in the space of three panels.

And he just tackles Silver Surfer right into the volcano.

I guess at full density, Vision can withstand lava.

Also, Silver Surfer is confused by what Vision is doing here and why Vision just tackled him into a volcano. But neither can hear the other over the roaring volcano. And as the caption box notes, waist-deep in molten lava is no place for a meaningful dialogue anyway.

I sort of disagree. If you could stand waist-deep in molten lava without dying, you should definitely have at least one conversation in such a place. If only so you could tell people that you did. Although you might have to yell.

Anyway, productive exchange of ideas is definitely not going to be happening here. Not with Vision trying to drown Silver Surfer in lava. Which is confusing on a number of levels. I mean, first, unless Silver Surfer is denser than molten rock, good luck keeping him under. Second, does he even need to breathe?

Not that it matters because the Surfer summons Tomie to PLOW! right into Vision.

Not being much of an aggressive person usually, the Surfer decides to surf on out of there. But he runs into the crater wall due to the smoke.

This is not a proud moment for either of them, really.

And yet, kind of cool. Put it on a rock album cover.

Meanwhile, the definitely offensive natives have taken the volcanic eruption to mean that their shiny, shiny god needs to be appeased. And hey, they just so happen to have found a strange girl lying unconscious near the volcano. Shouldn’t look a gift sacrifice in the mouth.

They place her in the path of the lava flow. Once she’s sacrificed, then everything will be better forever.

Meanwhile inside the volcano, the dumb two continue to fight inside a volcano. A blast from Silver Surfer accidentally dislodges the Evil Eye fragment from where it was hidden, probably in the crater wall?

Both heroes leap and grab it and start wrestling over it.

Silver Surfer is frankly confused. Black Knight is an Avenger and a teammate of Vision. Why is he trying to prevent the Defenders from saving him?

Probably because you never told the Avengers, his teammates what happened to him, and blasted them out when they came looking for answers, leaving them vulnerable to lies from a god of lies making them assume the worst about you??

Seriously, how long has Black Knight been a hat rack in Dr. Strange’s sanctum? And at no point did he think to drop a line to the Avengers to explain what happened?

There’s a lot of coincidences that keep the heroes from talking - the accidental eruption completely souring Vision’s talkative mood, for one - but this all could have been avoided if Dr. Strange had done one, obvious thing!

Anyway, the Evil Eye (fragment) is thought activated and with these two unfriendly boys wrestling over it, the Evil Eye fragment responds with a powerful blast that rockets the two out of the crater.

Between running into the wall and this, things are getting pretty slapsticky considering that they’re wrestling inside a volcano.

Silver Surfer and the Vision race anew to grab the Evil Eye (fragment) but Vision spots Wanda in the path of the lava and successfully prioritizes.

While Silver Surfer grabs the Evil Eye fragment and absconds, Vision gets Scarlet Witch to safety.

And Vision can’t match Silver Surfer’s flight speed but if he can find the Quinjet radio in the Quinjet wreckage, he can warn the other Avengers that the Defenders are out for blood and must be met with full force!

And Silver Surfer rockets back towards New York so he can warn Dr. Strange and the other Defenders that the Avengers seek the Evil Eye for their own ends and will attack without cause! The Defenders must be ready to fight them to the death!

Womp womp

This is how we get misunderstanding fights. A lot of jumping to conclusions and bad timing.

I mean, I joke but its fairly believably set up. The Defenders lineup is almost tailor-made to make the Avengers suspicious of them. Half of the Defenders are people that the Avengers have fought before! Another one is their jerk friend who ragequit the team. Between that and the unexplained circumstances behind what happened to Black Knight (unexplained because Dr. Strange is absentminded or something), the rude way that the Avengers are given the brush-off when they come looking for answers, and Loki’s warning, the Avengers were primed to think the worst of the Defenders.

Its a little more inexplicable from the other side. Yeah, Vision did attack Silver Surfer out of nowhere. RIGHT AFTER Silver Surfer made a volcano explode in an area where Vision was. And he saw Vision with Scarlet Witch afterward.

Way to take no responsibility for your actions, Silver Surfer.

Although I get the sense that the Defenders will have their own reasons to be wary of the Avengers explored in later parts.

Actually, the Avengers/Defenders War reminds me a lot of JLA/Avengers. I’ll try to remember to explain my thoughts regarding that when we get to the end.

Next time we get three more chapters in the Avengers/Defenders War (which well and truly has earned its Avengers, Defenders, /, and War by this point! I mean, wrestling in a volcano happened...) and fights between Iron Man and Hawkeye as well as between Dr. Strange against Black Panther and Mantis.

Doesn’t seem that sense is going to prevail any time soon. Good news for people who like watching superheroes punch each other in the face.

#Avengers #Defenders #Loki #the Vision #Scarlet Witch #Silver Surfer #Dr Strange #Strange is bad at hospitality #and at telling people things about their teammate #Silver Surfer is no volcanologist #Vision goes from calm spock to murder spock in three panels #and for some reason wanda decides to come back to the place where she almost got lava'd to death for her honeymoon #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging

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beastgamerkuma · 5 years

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The way of the samurai has been fantasized for generations. If you walk the path of the bushido, you are supposed to be a warrior of honor. Many stories of warriors standing off against one another only fueled by the desire of combat. Here we are with Samurai Shodown also known as Samurai Spirits which came out on June 25th, 2019. This is a prequel to the famed SNK series, but does it live up to the legacy?

Story of Samurai Shodown

It is the year 1787 and things are going through a change. However, there is a darkness looming over the lands figuratively and literally. It is up to the newly appointed Shogun, Matsudaira Sadanobu, as he ushers in the new era, but first, he is going to need the back up of some willing warriors. Through these 16 warriors, who will it be to reign fury or bring peace as the world reshapes?

I started off the story mode with Darli and Genjuro both having their own agendas naturally. Genjuro has been a personal favorite of mine because he is fueled by his own desire to spill the blood of enemies. At times I think he is thirsty for a defeat looking for a worthy opponent. He is kind of an Akuma of the SNK world.

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The newcomer Darli looks straight out of Monster Hunter sporting a huge weapon that is a huge saw blade. Her story is simple, she was raised by both pirates and carpenters and is trying to build an unsinkable ship to venture off and seek a new journey.

But all 16 of our warriors are drowned to this darkness, this death that looms over all.

Gameplay:

You can’t go into this button mashing mostly, it has a level of patience and tact. I am currently on the PS4 with some simple buttons where you have square for light, triangle for medium and circle for heavy slash. The X button is your kicks. The should button will utilize the combos of the face buttons in which you will need to press to perform your power moves.

If you hit R1 you can dodge attacks, while R2 can cause a grab that will stun your opponent so you can do a devastating move. You have an ultimate finisher which is a last resort slash that can end your opponent. Once you hit the L2 button you will burn your meter completely, if you hit L2 a second time you will perform a slash that will instakill your opponent. If done right, but it seems it is a bit nerfed online as an opponent I faced used it on me with my health at 65% leaving me with 15% left.

When you go through the story mode it will take an average of 15 minutes or less depending on how you execute your kills. The end boss who is this scary demon lady going through something. She has a funky fight system switching to fully armored floating lady in a Kimono to a naked shy spirit. You do the most damage in her vulnerable form by forcing by using heavy attacks constantly on her full form. Be mindful of her fighting fans that can do deadly damage.

The Modes of Play

Every fighter should have enough modes to give you the right experience in longevity. Samurai Shodown features the following.

Story: Self Explanatory

Dojo: You can practice, fight your ghost or download others ghost to improve on your skills and make a better ghost.

Online: This includes ranking and casual play.

Ironman Challenge: Take on 10, 50 and 100 opponents in this survival mode.

There will be an online leaderboard as well as an offline leaderboard. If you want to appreciate the art style of Samurai Shodown, you can stop on by the gallery area to see movies you unlocked and other artwork. There is not much else going on, but if you play through the modes you can unlock titles for online battles.

I highly recommend going through the tutorial mode which you can learn all the outs and ins of combat. You will learn how to dodge attacks which is one of my favorite features or disarm your opponent. You can fight without your weapon, but you will not do as much damage. Hit Light attack to pick back up your weapon just an FYI.

All Around Art Style

Samurai Shodown hits the right points showing an upgrade from the 2-D style that we all know. Honestly, I feel a game like this deserves the anime style of Arcsystem Works. With the flashy moves and exaggerated characters, it would have been better in an Anime style to give it more flare.

Sound quality is on point especially when you clash with weaponry or perform the perfect block. You have the option to turn on or off how mature you want the battles to be. While I had the mature content turned on, you can see battle damage of each fighter. The blood splatter across their bodies and faces as well as a fierce finishing strike that will leave you in awe. Not bad if you ask me.

The Bad:

First off the price tag is too high for this game, it feels a bit underwhelmed while playing. There was a lot of drag and drop not really standing out on its own as a must-have. There is something lacking either in the presentation or the art style (which is a personal opinion), but just felt bland, like an unseasoned piece of Fried Chicken. Looks good, but there is little to no flavor.

Also, the Ironman Challenge. I get there are only sixteen fighters in the game, but why in the 10 opponent challenge I am seeing duplicate fighters either showing up 3 or 4 times. That is so weird, I can understand the fifty or hundred trials but ten?

Conclusion:

Samurai Shodown has the potential to be a great game, but again that price tag doesn’t feel reasonable. Also, what is up with the weird gap with the DLC? 2 characters this year and 2 more in 2020 sounds awkward to me. I do believe they could have opened up this prequel with 10 more characters making it a nice 26 character roster. In the end, I have to give this a rating of RENT IT.

I picked up Samurai Shodown at J&L games in NYC and no I am not affiliated with them or getting a commission. This beast just giving props to the local stores. Check them out for all things import copies and domestic gaming. – Beast Out –

Beast Review: Samurai Shodown The way of the samurai has been fantasized for generations. If you walk the path of the bushido, you are supposed to be a warrior of honor.

#Fighting Games #Game Review #PlayStation 4 #Samurai Shodown #Samurai Shodown Darli #Samurai Shodown Games #Samurai Shodown Shiki #SNK #Xbox One

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luckyluciano2 · 5 years

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Hunting Backpack Review 2018

Well the results are in:

My team and I ran these bags through the ringer on all different types of hunts just to name a few Blacktail in California in July, Early Muleys in AZ in Aug, Oregon Roosies in Sept, High country muleys in UT in Sept , Coues deer in Oct/Nov , Even Treestand hunting whitetail in New York, Braving the bitter cold on rutting mule deer in South Dakota in Nov and finished it off with late season bull elk hunt in AZ. Each bag was was worn by at least one of my guides and myself some got a third opinion as well. I really feel like if you want to get an honest review out it needs to be done this way: different hunting styles, different body types, hunting different species, in different environments .

Hunting Backpack Review 2018

The Backpack review 2018 Test parameters:

Weight

Perceived Weight

Ease of use

Organization

Durability

Warranty

Components

Mounting accessories

Comfort

Ergonomics

Features

Blacks Creek – Answer pack

Stone Glacier- Avail 2200

Mystery Ranch – Cabinet

Initial Ascent

Kifaru Fulcrum

The Hunting Backpacks we reviewed……

Day plus packs:

Blacks Creek: Answer on Talon Frame with Knicknack Hip sacks

Blacks Creek Answer Pack

$680.98 as tested

First impressions – My first impression I didn’t get a lot of help or direction from the representative when I phoned in to get info on the pack. But with the help of their website I was able to decide on the Answer.

Receiving the pack – The pack was well made and very intuitive very easy to figure out how it operated. The grip frame feature makes it super easy to switch from different pack options to suit different hunting needs in fact its the easiest of them all just unzip the Answer pack from the Talon frame and zip on one of their other packs to meet your other needs.

Hunting with the pack – Its quiet, no creaks or cracks, It’s easy to adjust the shoulder straps and hip straps while on the move. It’s easy to strap a bow, a tripod etc. The over-sized hip belt pockets were both a blessing and a curse they held a lot of the gear you need in an easy access spot and they are internally organized to help speed up what you are looking for, but because of their size I found they rubbed on my arms a bit and it was annoying after few days of hunting elk. one of the features I really liked was that it had plenty of hidey-holes to organize your gear and that you could get to items at the bottom of your main pouch without tearing apart the whole bag.

Pros: The Blacks Creek Answer has a lot of little hidey holes to separate gear and keep you organized. The pack is well constructed and is outfitted with just enough tie down straps in intuitive attachment spots, the main bag is a true 2000cuin pack unlike some of the others we tested, the side bottle pouches double well for carrying spotting scopes and tripods, I liked that the side belt pockets were large enough to carry radios and gps plus internally segregated to organize little things like elk diaphragms. We found this pack to be a very capable meat hauler that could carry a lot of weight. Lastly the Talon frame with its zip on and off feature makes it very easy to switch to a larger pack for those longer trips Cons: Even though this pack could carry a lot of weight it was the least comfortable out of all the packs we tested, even with its thick padding and bolsters we could not seem to adjust it to fit well under heavy loads in one of our tests before taking them in the field I wore each pack for 6 hours sitting walking just doing daily routine with 75 lbs in the pack and I found this pack to cause the most fatigue

Mystery Ranch : The Cabinet

Hooded Pack Fly and Belt Pockets

$565 as tested

First impressions – The worst customer service out of all the packs we tested the rep I spoke to was not helpful at all I end up speaking to friends and doing research online to find the pack to test turns out I should have tested the popup 28 instead it was a better day+ pack .

Mystery Ranch Cabinet

Receiving the pack – The pack was well made and at first glance I thought It would be my favorite out of all the packs. It Has the two large side pouches, a front bag with several zippered pockets and expandable to to carry meat and or more gear. The open area between the pockets looked like it would be a great place to stuff extra clothes and to carry my tripod and Phoenix shooting bags glassing pad.

Hunting with the pack – By far my favorite hip belt! It was the most comfortable hip belt out of the whole group, the contour of the shoulder straps for my body type were very comfortable as well, the tops of the shoulder harness was not my favorite however the pack was very low weight and surprisingly did well with loads as well. Its quiet, no creaks or cracks, however not very easy to adjust while on the move. It was super cold in South Dakota where I hunted with this pack so I’m not sure if that was the reason but I had a hard time getting things buckled and unbuckled . The open area that I thought would be a blessing was a curse I found it very hard to get my tripod in and out of it and because of the design every-time you need to access items out of the side pouches I would have to undo all the straps which was quite cumbersome. Its sad because I really liked the way this pack felt to carry around but it end up being my least favorite to hunt with. I will say this the Hooded pack fly is a super cool feature and I will be keeping this to use on my other packs

Glassing off the Mystery Ranch pack

Pros: Very well built you can see the detail in the workmanship. This pack for me especially had the most comfortable frame system the hip belt and shoulder straps were markedly more comfortable then some of the other packs. The overall weight of the pack was very light and perceived weight was very light as well I had very little fatigue carry weight with this backpack. Cons: on paper I liked the idea of the way this pack opened up and had basically 3 main compartments. Plus the design had a place to slide your tripod down the center and when carrying loads you could essentially wrap the pack around your load to keep it from shifting… but once I got this pack in the filed I realized quickly that I really did not like the design I found my self tearing through the pack to get to items I needed and in the super cold weather I had a very hard time attaching and opening the clips, I also didn’t care for the way you carried your bow on the pack (horizontally)

Stone Glacier: Avail 2200 on X-curve frame

Access Bag ads 800 cu in

Accessory pockets

Swing Pocktes

$752 as tested

Stone Glacier Avail 2200

First impressions – Speaking to the guys over at Stone Glacier was a pleasure the rep had hunting experience, understood my needs and was very helpful in helping decide on a pack. I also like that they are so involved in conservation .

Receiving the pack – Showed up within days of my order. Good looking design, very intuitive and not sloppy. The pack was well made very self explanatory I didn’t need to go look at videos on youtube to figure out how to use it although they have multi how to videos to help you . Clips and buckles easy to adjust and came with extra to modify attachment points.

Hunting with the pack – This was my favorite to hunt with I could hardly feel it was back there, super easy to access my gear, no squeaks or noises, customized-able to the needs of the hunt. I used this hunt on 2 hunts: elk hunting in Oregon for roosies and tree-stand hunting in NY for whitetail. And it adjusted to fit the needs of both hunts. I was impressed with it in OR because its very well suited for run and gun style hunting super nimble and sleek. I love packs that I can keep on while stalking game and don’t get in my way or hinder my movements. Side bar: Do this… the next time you try a pack on (its one of my pet peeves), hunch over as if you were stalking game and trying to stay low. If your head hits the pack before you reach full extension or you cant look forward without standing up for me this is a problem and the bag design is flawed.

My little back pack test

This pack had the greatest range of motion. My other biggest pet peeve is having to tear apart the whole bag to get to items I want in my pack. This pack was very well organized and made even more so with the use of the swing out pouches . The one major draw back was the pockets were not designed in a manor that they add to the capacity of the bag they took away from it. which kinda sucked and was my only complaint about this bag.

Pros: It was the lightest overall weight pack we tested, very nimble super comfortable, even under weight the perceived weight was one of the lowest of the day pack bunch and for me was my overall #1 pick, it was simple and well organized, I always had what I needed without having to search a bunch. It wasn’t intended to be used this way but I could mount the bow holder on the side of the pack to carry my bow out of harms way and without it hitting me in the back of the head. Also when stalking in on animals most of the other packs don’t allow your head to extend all the way back while hunched over with this pack you could. The harness was micro adjustable and very easy to customize it to the user. Cons: even though stone glacier lists this as a 2200cu in bag its more like 1500 the internal pockets and external pocks when filled take away from the capacity of the main bag. Its not as nice to carry tripods and spotter on the side because there is no true pocket there just a stirrup or strap to secure the tripod. I wish they would have added a pocket instead.

Large Multi Day packs

Initial Ascent: IA4k

Frame, Suspension w/Lid + IA4K Bag + Pannier Load Carrier + 1.5L Platypus Water Bladder Kit and Hip Belt Pockets

$698 as tested

IA4K Pack Initial Ascent

First impressions – The Guys over at Initial Ascent were top notch they took the time to make sure I knew the functions of the pack and give me suggestions for use during different hunting scenarios. Plus they had me take measurements and sent me the pack already fitted to my frame and build . The pack has an excellent warranty as well

Receiving the pack – Super quick delivery came already fitted to my body. Solid frame that’s ridged and lightweight . The pack was well made and after a short learning curve it was easy to use. Clips and buckles easy to adjust and there are other points of contact that straps can be moved to on the frame withing seconds for attaching and or re adjusting how you want to carry gear.

Hunting with the pack – I spent a week chasing elk with this pack and Jake my head Guide carried it for 3 rifle coues deer hunts and we had the same consensus this was a work horse. But don’t let the burly appearance fool you this pack has a lot of great features and its a pleasure to carry and use in the field. I have to admit the first day or so it took me some getting used to how to pack it so that I could be efficient with it but once I did, I found the pack very functional and smooth sailing. Perceived weight was minimal and I was surprised how much weight I could carry. The only thing that kinda bothered me a bit was the the side pockets I think they could do away with the stretchy pockets that are over the tripod and spotter pocket they just seemed to get in my way and weren’t strong enough to hold water bottle which I believe they were intended to be used for. I had a love hate relationship with the front stretchy pocket its was awesome to stuff my Jet stream jacket into for easy access but the material caught on briers and cats claw and caused it to “pill” up. For a big load hauling bag with a meat shelf this bag was quite nimble and easy to maneuver much more so then the Kifaru in my opinion but I didn’t have a lot of time spent with the Kifaru . However, as compared to other large multi day packs I have owned and tested it was far better at organizing and accessing the gear I needed. As a side note most people don’t think about this but when it came time to dismantle the pack and throw it in the wash to get rid of the blood I found it super easy to take it apart and put it back together in fact in order or easiest to least easiest to clean it was #2 over all: 1) Mystery Ranch 2) Initial Ascent 3) Stone Glacier 4) Kifaru 5) Blacks Creek

Pro:s this is a hauling machine super stiff sturdy frame that is surprisingly light, I like the “guide style” lid to store binos and other frequently used items, the other accessory pocket was just enough space to carry other essentials that need to be easily accessible. I enjoyed the integration of a designated spotting scope pocket without scarifying the water bottle pockets . The full zip design lets you get to items at the bottom of the main bag without having to tear apart the bag. The frame design allows you to carry deer quarters on the sides of the bag which is very comfortable and helps with balance Cons: I wish the stuff pocket in the lower front of the bag was a zip pocket for more organization. I would have liked to have been able to adjust the lumbar up while keeping the shoulder straps in place. The material used on the stuff pouch and the water bottle pocket not designed for use in the desert the cats claw just ate em up

Kifaru: Fulcrum on a Duplex Lite frame

So this is the only pack I didn’t get to spend much time with but has been extensively tested by my hunting partner Charles Whitwam at Shadow Trekker Adventures for the better part of a year. I did get to pack out my Hog with it and hunt 3 days of rifle coues deer so I do have some insight to offer but I decided run with a write up from Charles.

Kifaru Fulcrum – 7800c.i.

Add on guide lid – 1200 c.i.

2 med belt pouches – 215 c.i. (each)

1 bottle holder

Total C.I. – 9,430 C.I.

$965 as tested

Kifaru Fulcrum

First impressions – My first impression came from speaking with Aron Snyder, (the Kifaru rep/face) when deciding what pack to go with. This experience was incredible, he gave me his cell phone # and it was ask away. I told him my needs and we narrowed it down to a few choices. Once I chose the Fulcrum and Duplex lite frame I was then impressed to be giving my measurements (height, weight, waist size, inseam, back profile) to Kifaru so they could get the pack set up for my body. I was really looking forward to a more custom set up as many of the packs I’ve worn in the past have been a bit too “universal” or “general” fitting. Skipping ahead here a bit but the pack fit me perfectly.

I certainly had enough room with this bag and then some. Speaking of “then some” the day I got the pack I put my wife in it and carried her around.

Receiving the pack – I could tell it was well made, the zippers were strong and the material would stand up to abuse. That’s huge. The bag itself boasts a giant center compartment with two zippered cylinder shaped wings (perfect for spotting scopes) on each side that can be used on their own with the center bag compressed underneath for more of a “day pack” set up or that can easily wrap around the center compartment for full loads. Inside the main compartment is a small zippered pocket where I keep my tags and a sleeve for a camelback. The detachable “Guide Lid” (which also can be worn separately as a small day pack or stalk pack) can be positioned on top like a traditional bag top or further down the bag, I decided to put it on top. On each side of the hip belt I placed the belt pouches and on the left side the bottle holder. I can put a small camcorder in one pouch along with snacks, then I can put a go pro and headlamp in the other along with some extra snacks if needed. The bottle holder actually allows you to take a nalgene in and out without having to take your pack off and it keeps its shape so you can continue to do this, if you’ve worn a lot of packs you’ll know what I mean.

Hunting with the pack – Its quiet, no creaks or cracks, my previous two packs were a bit loud in this department. It’s easy to adjust the shoulder straps and hip straps while on the move. It’s easy to strap a bow, a tripod and hiking poles on the pack. I can get to most everything I need while on the move and if I do need to take my pack off to get into the main compartments the two way zippers make that a cinch by being able to access items at the bottom of your pack first. The weight stays on your hips the way it’s supposed to and not on your shoulders. I personally think a lot of people don’t truly understand what that means until you’re wearing a pack with actual weight in it and the bag doesn’t sag down below your hips. The Duplex Lite frame load lifters are what solve much of these issues. I haven’t been in an absolute downpour however this particular bag is quite water resistant (Kifaru does make waterproof bags) and I haven’t needed to put the rain cover on it. I’ve now carried out a mature blacktail buck, wild pig and two elk. One 3.5 mile trip was a rear leg and front leg of a mature bull elk at once… whew! I placed one leg between the frame and the bag (meatshelf was included) and the other leg went in the bag. The pack also came with two extra compression straps beyond what is on the bag which attach from one side of the frame to the other. These really help with pack outs to get everything cinched down as tight as possible

Pros –

You can carry the kitchen sink

Compresses small enough that I can use as an all hunts pack especially with the two zippered wings to use with main compartment tucked away

User friendly adjustments while wearing

Maximum comfort with maximum loads – not that 120lbs isn’t going to suck anyways but the bag makes weight distribution the best it can be

Extremely durable

Customer service and warranty is amazing!

You can customize this bag to add extra pockets & smaller compartments/bags

The frame will work with many other bags if you wish to have different bags for different missions.

A top handle and bottom handle for moving the bag around when off your back – really beneficial when heavy or when dragging.

Custom fit to your body.

* the main compartment zips & unzips its entire length, making it really easy to access & load up large items that aren’t uniform in size.

Cons –

This particular set up can really expand so your straps can tend to get a bit long if you don’t wind them back up, but who does that?

I could probably use a few more pockets inside of the main compartment just for organization

I’ll probably replace the “guide lid” with the “organizer guide lid” to solve the previous issue. The “guide lid” is really just a zippered bag which would work better with a more organize-able main compartment. Again, this is more because of the combinations I chose.

The pack is not ultra light. This is meant for hauling and comfort. Only a con for someone looking for that ultra light feel but in my opinion will sacrifice comfort come the pack out.

Somewhat cumbersome to stalk with

Hunting Back Pack Review 2018

South Dakota

Hunting Backpack Review 2018

Kifaru Fulcrum

IA4K Pack Initial Ascent

My little back pack test

Avial 220 day pack with X curve frame

Stone Glacier Avail 2200

Glassing off the Mystery Ranch pack

Mystery Ranch Cabinet

Blacks Creek Answer Pack

Hunting Backpack Review 2018

Conclusion:

I honestly like features on all the bags we tested each one seemed to do something better than the other and not one of them really did it all but since we cant all own 5 different hunting backpacks the one I felt suited me and my hunting needs the best was the Stone Glacier Avail. The Cool thing is because I’m running the XCruve Frame I can always pick up one of their other bags to put on this frame to meet the needs of a different hunt. I don’t know….. I feel like I may have to sit down and come up with a backpack of my own to solve all my gripes and meet all my needs with one pack or at least sit down with one of these manufactures and help them design one… who knows keep a look out I may just do that in the near future…..

Hunting Backpack Review winter 2018 Hunting Backpack Review 2018 Well the results are in: My team and I ran these bags through the ringer on all different types of hunts just to name a few Blacktail in California in July, Early Muleys in AZ in Aug, Oregon Roosies in Sept, High country muleys in UT in Sept , Coues deer in Oct/Nov , Even Treestand hunting whitetail in New York, Braving the bitter cold on rutting mule deer in South Dakota in Nov and finished it off with late season bull elk hunt in AZ.

#backpack review 2018 #blacks creek #hunting backpack review #Initial Ascent #kifaru #Mystery ranch packs #stone glacier

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lindyhunt · 5 years

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The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags for 2019

Did you know an Instagram post with at least one hashtag averages 12.6% more engagement than a post with no hashtags?

Hashtags are powerful. They can help your posts reach a target audience, attract followers in your niche, increase engagement, and develop a more positive and recognizable brand image.

Here's the thing, though: with great power comes great responsibility (#spiderman).

Hashtags can skyrocket your business to new heights, but if used too frequently or without a clear strategy in mind, they become pointless and inefficient, e.g.: #happy #superhappy #ecstatic #jumpingforjoy #whatsanothersynonym.

We want your business's Instagram posts to receive optimal engagement, so we've put together an ultimate guide for using Instagram hashtags in 2018. With this guide, you won't just attract followers -- you'll attract the right followers.

Why are hashtags important?

Hashtags are essentially Instagram's sorting process. With around 95 million photos posted on Instagram every day, it's difficult for Instagram to efficiently deliver the right content to the right people. Hashtags help your post get discovered by viewers most interested in seeing it.

Krystal Gillespie, HubSpot's Social Media Community Manager, explains the importance of hashtags this way: "Hashtags are like a funnel. For instance, #marketing is incredibly broad and attracts all types of posts. We've found #digitalmarketing or #marketingmotivation gives us a more specific, targeted reach. The audience searching for these hashtags are also trying to narrow their search to what we offer related to Marketing, so we're actually reaching more of the right people."

Essentially, hashtags are a better way to categorize your posts. They help you reach a target audience, and more importantly, they help your target audience find you. These users are more likely to engage with your post because your post is exactly what they wanted.

Top Instagram Hashtags 2018

#love

#instagood

#me

#cute

#tbt

#photooftheday

#instamood

#iphonesia

#food

#motivation

Adding one of the most popular Instagram hashtags to your post doesn't necessarily mean you'll see more interaction. Since the hashtags above are so popular, they are being used by millions of people, so your post will most likely be obscured by the competition. Narrowing your hashtag topic is important, but we'll get to that next.

Here are some of the top Instagram hashtags of 2018.

1. #love

Instagram users build their photo galleries on good feelings. For this reason, the #love hashtag is ever present next to the pics of friends, family, vacations, and beautiful scenery.

2. #instagood

Occurrences of this hashtag are inspired by the @instagood Instagram account, which scours the Instagram community for excellent photos and videos that are just too #instagood not to share. Add this hashtag to your content for a chance to be reposted.

3. #me

This is the quintessential selfie hashtag, indicating to the Instagram community that the photo it's captioning is a picture of you.

4. #cute

#Cute puts your content in a pool of Instagram photos and videos that elicit "awes" from all over the Instaverse. If you think your puppy is the cutest puppy that ever lived, it deserves a photo with this esteemed hashtag.

5. #tbt

#Tbt stands for "Throwback Thursday," and encourages Instagram users to post an old photo of themselves or an event they're reminiscing over. Everyone likes content from the good old days -- here's your hashtag for enjoying the nostalgia.

6. #photooftheday

Managing a business account? This hashtag is a surefire way to attract more followers and repeat visitors. If you plan to post daily content, all around a common theme, add the #photooftheday hashtag to increase your exposure.

7. #instamood

#Instamood is all about the vibe or emotion a photo or video elicits. Pretty scenery, a day at the beach, or a night out with good people were all prominent under the #instamood hashtag in 2018. Landscapes are a popular starting point when figuring out what to post on Instagram, according to Jumper Media, and they fit into this hashtag perfectly.

8. #iphonesia

#Iphonesia is dedicated to the burgeoning community of Instagrammers in Indonesia.

9. #food

Meal pics are the bread and butter (no pun intended) of a people-oriented Instagram account -- and 2018 was no exception. Use the #food hashtag to caption your next delicious Instagram photo.

10. #motivation

On Twitter, #MondayMotivation encourages inspiring quotes and messages to help people start the week off on the right foot. On Instagram, the #motivation hashtag has come to caption anything from a photo of a user after a big gym session, to a computer screen right before he or she gets to work.

The above 10 hashtags might have helped define Instagram over the last year, but there are still plenty more that end up trending every year. The following hashtags can help inspire photos and videos that Instagram users always seem to find captivating -- and are sure to in 2019.

Top Trending Instagram Hashtags

#life

#travel

#fitness

#repost

#igers

#instadaily

#followforfollow

#likeforlike

#nofilter

#ootd

#fashion

#fun

1. #life

This one goes out to all the photos and videos that encompass the essence of your life.

2. #travel

Away for the weekend? Show your followers where you are, using this hashtag to indicate you're traveling somewhere new.

3. #fitness

Get in on a trending community of workout warriors with photos and videos from your best exercise sessions, using the #fitness hashtag to share the moment.

4. #repost

Reposting is a common function on Instagram that allows you to share content from other users, with credit back to the original user. Use the hashtag, #repost, to tell others on Instagram that you were inspired by this photo or video.

5. #igers

#Igers is short for "Instagram users." If you've got a photo or video that encompasses the Instagram community, show your solidarity with this colloquial hashtag.

6. #instadaily

This hashtag is similar to #photooftheday -- one of the most popular hashtags of 2018 above this list -- and is perfect for Instagrammers who post every day.

7. #followforfollow

Interested in building a fast list of followers on Instagram? #Followforfollow tells everyone who browses this hashtag that you'll follow users who choose to follow you. This hashtag is always trending highly.

8. #likeforlike

#Likeforlike is similar to the #followforfollow hashtag explained above. Use this hashtag if you want to increase engagement on your Instagram account, telling users that you'll like their photo or video if they like yours.

9. #nofilter

Instagram offers so many different filters to help enhance photos, it's practically assumed that any picture on Instagram has been edited. But if you're posting a pic that was beautiful all by itself, let the world know that this gem didn't need a filter to look so nice.

10. #ootd

#Ootd stands for "Outfit of the Day," a hashtag dedicated to Instagram users who love showing off new clothing and styles on a regular basis.

11. #fashion

#Fashion is a fairly self-explanatory hashtag. Fashion brands and clothing models alike are some of the most prolific users of this hashtag.

12. #fun

If it's not fun, it's not Instagram-worthy. Make it known to millions of Instagram users that you had a blast in your latest photo or video with this popular hashtag.

How to Use Hashtags on Instagram for Business

Keep your hashtags organized.

Figure out your magic number.

Narrow your hashtags.

Research what other people are hashtagging.

Test out related hashtags.

Follow your own hashtag.

Create a brand campaign hashtag.

1. Keep your hashtags organized.

To create an efficient hashtag system, you can use Excel or an Instagram analytics tool. If you choose an excel sheet, you'll need to manually keep track of which hashtags you use, how often, and which ones correlate to your most popular posts. Over time, you'll see relationships between certain hashtags and your most popular posts, and this can help you decide which hashtags work best for your brand.

If you have a more advanced social media team, you might want to consider a tool like Iconosquare, which automatically stores top hashtags and provides reports on which hashtags reach the most people.

For smaller businesses with limited budgets, Krystal Gillespie says that, "an excel sheet is the best way to start. Once you get more advanced I would highly recommend using a tool to track the data. A manual system can get overwhelming when you're posting three times a day and using about 20 hashtags per post."

2. Figure out your magic number.

Most top brands -- 91% of them, to be exact -- use seven or fewer hashtags per post, so it's easy to assume that's the magic number for everyone … right? Krystal explains that this isn't always the case: She told me HubSpot has been more successful with hashtags ranging in the low 20s.

The point is, you can't know how many hashtags work best for you until you test it. For HubSpot, it took the team several months to find a number that worked best, and during our trial period, we ranged from seven to 30. Give yourself the same flexibility for trial and error.

3. Narrow your hashtags.

There are two big reasons more specific, smaller-volume hashtags are better for your brand: first, you can compete in a smaller pool. HubSpot, for example, doesn't typically use the hashtag #marketing because it's too broad. If you search #marketing, you'll find pictures of restaurants, inspirational quotes, before-and-after hair style pictures, and memes.

The randomness of #marketing leads me to the second reason specific hashtags are a good idea: as a user, I'm more likely to find what I need if I search for something specific, and when your business comes up for my specific search request, I'm more likely to be happy with what I found.

Krystal explains: "Keeping a hashtag close to the interests of your brand really helps. We try to use hashtags tailored for a specific topic and then narrow it down further -- for instance, we'd use #SEOTips if our marketing post was mostly about SEO."

Think of it this way: #dogs is more popular, but it has a wide demographic. If I search #goldenretrieverpuppies and I find your post, I'm more likely to engage with it because it's exactly what I wanted.

4. Research what other people are hashtagging.

An easy way to generate hashtag ideas is to make a list of your followers or competitors and research what they're hashtagging on their own photos. It can also be particularly helpful to research what influencers in your industry are hashtagging -- by definition, influencers are people with a large social media following, so they must be doing something right.

5. Test out related hashtags.

When you type a hashtag into Instagram's search bar, Instagram shows you related hashtags in the scroll-down menu. Instagram also delivers related hashtags on the next page after you click on a hashtag. This is a simple way to create a longer list of hashtags to try out.

6. Follow your own hashtag.

Another way to use Instagram hashtags for your marketing purposes is to follow your own hashtag. Krystal explains, "On Instagram I actually follow the hashtag #hubspot so I can find anyone who talks about us and connect with them. As long as your account isn't private, people will be able to find you via the hashtag."

Following your own hashtag is an effective way to engage with other people talking about your brand and develop better relationships with them.

7. Create a brand campaign hashtag.

This is the trickiest item on the list, but if done successfully, it can pay off big time. Some businesses have successfully attracted followers by creating their own campaign hashtag. A campaign hashtag needs to be funny, clever, or at least memorable in order to work.

Campaign hashtags are particularly useful for promoting a new product or upcoming event, or even just inspiring people. Red Bull, for example, encouraged followers to post Red Bull pictures with a #putacanonit hashtag (see what I mean about clever?). LuLuLemon, rather than running a more traditional ad campaign, developed a positive connotation for their brand by asking followers to post real, active pictures of themselves with a #sweatlife hashtag.

Now that we've covered the importance of using Instagram hashtags for your business, you might be wondering how to search for Instagram hashtags within the app, or how to use the search function to find related ideas. If you're unsure of the technical process for hashtag searching, here's how:

How to Search Hashtags on Instagram

To search hashtags on Instagram, tap the magnifying glass at the bottom of your screen, then tap the search bar at the top. Selecting the "Tags" option will enable you to search hashtags and related hashtags based on the popularity of each one.

1. Open Instagram and tap the search icon.

Instagram wants you to use hashtags, and has made it extremely easy to find the perfect ones for your post. To start, open the Instagram app on your mobile device and tap the magnifying glass at the bottom of your screen.

2. Tap the search bar at the top of your screen.

The search screen on your Instagram might first send you to a newsfeed-style page with suggested content based on topics you've demonstrated an interest in on social media. To switch to a hashtag search, tap the search bar at the top of this page, as shown in the screenshot above.

3. Tap "Tags."

Once you've tapped the search bar at the top of your screen, Instagram will give you four options with which to filter your search. Instagram refers to hashtags as simply "Tags," as shown in the screenshot below. Tap this "Tags" option, then tap the search bar above it, and begin searching topics for which you want to find a trending hashtag.

You don't have to include the pound sign (#) in your search -- your results will be the same with or without it -- but you will need to use this pound sign in the caption of your photo once you choose a hashtag.

4. Browse hashtags based on post count and current content.

Voila! You should see multiple options for hashtags based on your search. Browse around at each related hashtag that Instagram suggests for you -- you might find that a hashtag with slightly fewer posts includes photos or videos that are more in line with the content you're posting.

Happy hashtagging!

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bexster716 · 7 years

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Back in September of 2015, Chris and I booked a spring trip to Walt Disney World to participate in our first ever RunDisney event, the Darkside 5km. Fast forward to January 2016; we found out we were pregnant with our beautiful baby girl, Wendy. It certainly explained why I was tired and craving all those burritos, but now we had to decide if we were going to cancel our trip to Disney World and lose our resignation payments for RunDisney, or brave it and then have a tale to tell. In case you haven’t figured it out, we decided to go and run too. I’m not going to lie to you; the idea frightened me a little bit, pregnant at Disney World, what could I do there? Would I be too tired? Would it be hot and would I be miserable? After going, I can confidently say, it was the best trip to Walt Disney World Chris, and I have ever taken together! Like the best and I couldn’t recommend it more!

So if you have a trip booked and have just found out you’re pregnant; first, congratulations, second, don’t cancel your trip just yet! I’m sharing my ten tips to make your trip a magical and memorable one before your little bundle arrives.

Figure out what trimester you’ll be in when you head to Disney World. Fatigue and nausea didn’t plague my first trimester, but I have friends who were absolutely miserable during their first trimesters. We went during my second trimester, and it was incredible. I didn’t feel like my belly was getting in the way of anything, and I felt like I had a lot of energy. My tip, you are the only person who knows how you feel. Listen to your body. OH, and listen to your doctor. I am not a doctor; please do not come here seeking medical advice, I majored in history, not medical studies.

Pack comfortable clothing and shoes. I know we live in an Instagram world, where cute tops and pretty shoes look great. Disney while pregnant is no place to bring out the 4-inch heels. Mind you, I personally couldn’t wear heels to a Disney Park, even if I weren’t pregnant, but you do you girlfriend. My recommendation is to bring your comfy clothes and shoes. Let them be cute. There are plenty of cute dresses, tops, and shoes that are still uber comfortable. I learned the hard way not to wear unbroken into, pretty sandals in the parks, so now I bring two pairs of comfortable runners and sandals that have been broken into. Also lots of leggings. Pregnancy and leggings, so comfy.

Let go of any expectation you have from past Disney trip. Doing Disney World while pregnant is such a different experience compared to doing Disney not pregnant. I didn’t expect to race around the parks like we usually do. We took it super easy. I mean, besides the RunDisney 5km, but I had been running before and throughout my pregnancy until my doctor told me to stop. We walked slower, enjoyed the surroundings, and people watched more than usual. We didn’t focus on much on the rides, we enjoyed our walks, eating at restaurants we hadn’t eaten before, watched shows, and interacted with characters a lot more.

Take breaks, especially a mid-day break. I don’t think I have to tell you that Florida is a hot place. It is especially hot at during the mid-day hours. I’m an early bird so I would head to the parks bright and early in the morning by myself, then I would head back to our resort at 11 am, grabbed some food, and we would hang out in our room for a bit or by the pool. After a few hours of relaxing with my feet up, we would head back to a park and enjoy our evening. If I felt tired at any point during our day, we would sit down in a shady spot, or hop on an air conditioned ride, hello Carousel of Progress. Just take it easy, and listen to your body. If you need to stop, stop. There is always something to look at or do at Disney World, even when you need to stop and rest.

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Make fastpasses with characters. Characters love interactions; it doesn’t matter what age you are, they will love interacting with you. When we went, the characters were so excited when we told them that we were celebrating our pregnancy. So make fastpasses with the characters, it’ll make sure you aren’t waiting around for hours to have our picture taken, and you’ll cherish those photos for years.

Stay hydrated. Like I mentioned before, Florida is hot, and you’ll probably be walking a lot more than you do at home, so remember to stay hydrated. I cannot emphasize this enough. I have literally watched men, women, and children wheeled away for lack of hydration. Being pregnant, that’s the last thing you want to happen. It’s not a difficult thing to do, and you don’t have to carry around pounds of water to do it either. If you head over to most counter service locations and ask for a cup of water, a Cast Member will give you a cup of water, free. Yup, you heard me, it’s free. So there are no excuses. Stay hydrated.

Know which rides are pregnancy-friendly. There are t0ns of rides at Walt Disney World, and there is something for everyone there. You will need to come to terms that you will not be able to ride everything, but you will be able to ride most of the rides and that’s not even mentioning the shows that you’ll be able to watch! There is so much to do there. If you are curious as to what you won’t be able to ride, I’ve included a list below. But just think of it this way, if it has a height restriction you probably shouldn’t ride it. Other than that, use common sense and just listen to your body.

Magic Kingdom:

Splash Mountain

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Space Mountain

Big Thunder Mountain

Tomorrowland Speedway

The Barnstormer

Epcot

Test Track

Mission: Space

Hollywood Studios

Rock n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

Star Tours – The Adventure Continues

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Animal Kingdom

DINOSAUR

Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

Kali River Rapids

Primeval Whirl

Avatar Flights of Passage

Kilimanjaro Safari (however, I went on while pregnant and it’s essentially equal to a bumpy car ride)

Treat yo’ self! I don’t think this should just apply to Disney World but find a moment during your pregnancy to treat yourself to something nice. While we were at Disney World we decided to treat ourselves to some nice dining experiences. It doesn’t have to be a dining experience, it could be anything. Get a relaxing spa package, make reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table, or go on a mini shopping spree at Disney Springs. Don’t want to overspend, then have a day by the pool and relax. The pampering possibilities are endless.

When in doubt, ask a Cast Member. This one is pretty self-explanatory. I have never had a bad experience with a Cast Member in the years that I have gone to Disney World. Each one was more than happy to help when I had a question or problem. Some have even gone above and beyond my expectations. When we went while pregnant, I was renewing my husband’s annual pass when the Cast Member at the window noticed my ‘I’m Celebrating button’ and asked what we were celebrating. When I told her we were celebrating our pregnancy, she pardoned herself and went to the back room. When she returned, she handed us a gift certificate to use on any baby item at any shop on property. We were blown away and couldn’t stop saying thank you! The Cast Members are at of the best parts of Walt Disney World.

Enjoy this magical vacation with your love because your whole world is about to change. This. I don’t think I even need to explain this one. Disney Vacations with a child if so different from solo trips or couples trips, so enjoy this vacation for what it is, and then you can plan your child’s first trip to Disney World, which is a whole other magical experience! I promise, Disney World with your child is pure magic when you see their faces light up. If you are looking for tips for bringing your infant to Disney, you can check out the following posts I wrote about it.

Walt Disney World with an Infant

So you’re taking your baby to Disney World: the Attraction Guide

Are you expecting and planning a trip to Disney World? Or have you vacationed at Disney World while pregnant? What are your tips?

If you know anyone heading to Disney World, share this with them.

Have a magical one!

Pregnant at Disney: 10 Tips for surviving Disney World while pregnant Back in September of 2015, Chris and I booked a spring trip to Walt Disney World to participate in our first ever RunDisney event, the Darkside 5km.

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