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mbti-notes · 3 years

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Anon wrote: Hello mbti-notes, How do you do? Hope you're having a good time in your vacation!

I'm a 25F (unhealthy, level 1) INFJ, and my mother (late 40s) is ISFJ. I- have some issues myself and it's affecting my relationships. I currently stay away from socializing and bottling up my issues and problems. If it gets bad I cry alone in the bathroom dealing with mixed feelings of love and resentment.

I don't know how to start but I recently realized my mother has toxic traits and this causes some inner conflict. I understand she has went through a lot in life (so did my dad, still typing him)...but I want her to realize she too is flawed, not just us. There are various times she hurt me with words and during some of those incidents, we end up fighting and I say things in anger that hurt her. She believes she is never in the wrong and adapts the victim mentality. Whenever I try to reason with her, she doesn't admit her faults and immediately brings up things I did in the past. She actually repeats whatever we say in a taunting manner out of spite. As I write this, I am realizing this sounds ridiculous.

While growing up, she hated me being close to my dad and manipulated me using the victim mentality, so she succeeded in making me dislike my father in childhood. One time when we fought, I told her, "now I understand why dad doesn't bother to clear up things with you! You never listen and twist words!" She took this as betrayal and thinks I'm completely on dad's side, who hurt her. I did not dismiss her pain. I want her to understand all of us are messed up and we need to work on ourselves and fix things.

I fear that as she grows old, she'll grow more stubborn and become narcissistic. I fear that I would become like her in the future after getting married and act like her to my children and spouse in the future. My parents themselves are unhealthy due to having grown up in unhealthy and toxic environments themselves, and their parents were bounded by toxic traditions like patriarchal misogynistic practices. I am afraid of this cycle continuing, the cycle of unhealthy parents hurting their children and they grow up like that too. What should I do? How do I make my parents realize we all need help and need to improve ourselves?

I know first and foremost I should be improving myself, but I am also worried about them. I am not saying I am perfect, I also have some toxic traits but I watch myself when interacting with others. There are so many I's and reeks of narcissism, need to stop that. Also realized that I'm probably having a problem with my parent's toxic traits, maybe it's my high standards not letting me accept these flaws. They took great pains to raise me and my sibling, but it also hurts me to see them like this, I just want them to be happy and be in harmony. Apologies for this rambling, it's hard to put them in order since English is not my first language.

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The main problem is that neither you nor your mom is capable of healthy relationship boundaries. When two people don't set, respect, and enforce proper boundaries, they easily end up in a vicious cycle of conflict, even when they love each other. Why? In a close relationship, two people know exactly what buttons to push and how to bait each other into conflict. Why bait each other into conflict? When there is a serious underlying problem and/or traumatic wounding in the relationship that remains unresolved, the two parties will rehash the problem or replay the trauma over and over again, in an unconscious attempt to achieve resolution or feel a sense of closure.

Unfortunately, resolution or closure rarely happens, because during the conflict, the pain is never truly heard or addressed. The cycle of conflict then gradually escalates, as both parties get more aggressive in wanting to be heard and validated. Each person uses the conflict to act out their unresolved ego dramas and traumas. You both claim to be victims and you use each other to reinforce the victim narrative. While it might be true that you are both victims in some form, it is unproductive to keep accusing each other of being the enemy or victimizer. Nobody will ever "win" this conflict because nobody is really listening to the pain that is being expressed. The blame game destroys the good will required to reach mutual understanding.

A repetitive cycle of conflict continues because BOTH parties are putting energy into it and perpetuating it. Oftentimes, one major contributing factor to the original problem/trauma was poor communication skills or hurtful communication habits. Until at least one of the two parties improves their ability to listen and communicate maturely, there is nothing to stop the cycle of conflict, short of severing the relationship for good.

Your mom has "toxic traits" that created a toxic environment for you growing up. You acknowledge that you have similarly toxic traits and want to address them. Good. You're an adult now. An important part of growing up is becoming independent and taking personal responsibility for the trajectory of your life. You make the decisions as an adult, so your problems are in your hands. Her problems are hers to handle. Your process of healing should not require anything from your mom or even blaming your mom.

The fact that you want her to admit fault, accompany you, or work on herself means that you are violating her boundary. You want her to change, when she isn't ready or doesn't want to. You use criticism to pressure her and that causes her pain. Her maltreatment of you during conflict is an expression of the pain that you're causing her. Similarly, the way that you mistreat her is the manifestation of the pain she has caused you in the past. The longer the pain remains unresolved, the more likely it is that the hurt turns into anger, then rage, then spite...

You don't like the ways in which she tries to manipulate you to be who/what she wants you to be. That's fair. But you're not fully recognizing that you're doing the same thing to her. You're essentially saying that you won't be able to grow up and move on with your life until she becomes the mom that you want her to be. In a way, you're holding the both of you hostage. It doesn't matter if you believe that you're being altruistic and it's "for her own good" - she believes exactly the same thing when she tries to change you. Trying to change her, against her will, amounts to an attack on her being. If you're not able to love someone as they are, you're in no position to help them. If you're not able to communicate with someone without causing hurt to yourself or them, you're in no position to help them. "Helping" is about supporting people in their efforts, not about constantly pressuring them to live up to your standards.

You are too emotionally entangled with her. You want her validation, her support, her empathy, her cooperation, her confession, her atonement, etc. It sounds like none of that is forthcoming, nor is it even necessary. As long as you can't face the reality of who your mom is and keep expecting her to be different, YOU are choosing to keep yourself tied to her and her toxic ways. Yes, everyone needs social support in life, but as an adult, you should no longer need a "mom".

To become independent, you need to draw your own personal boundary in life and work within it to heal your personality problems. When you become a capable boundary setter and carve out your own space in the world, you know to rest and recuperate within its bounds and you know to keep people out when they don't respect its bounds. If you need help or support with your healing, she is obviously not the right choice, is she? She is not capable of entering your boundary without the conflict arising again, is she? There's nothing wrong with needing help/support, but you are not going to find much success by seeking it from the least qualified of sources.

Children aren't born knowing how to conduct healthy and mature relationships, so they can't be expected to understand boundaries when no one taught them. However, as an adult, it is your responsibility to address that knowledge deficit, if you hope to break past patterns and have healthy relationships. Do you understand what a boundary is, how to set one, and how to enforce one? It's about respecting your own being, respecting the being of others, and learning how to mingle with people without allowing hurt or violation. I suggest that you work with a therapist who specializes in relationships and boundary setting. Judging by the nature of your disagreements with her, you need to work on your communication skills and conflict resolution skills too. See the related tags and book suggestions on the resources page.

#parent child relationship #infj relationships #relationships #boundaries #independence #conflict #ask

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general-mahamatra · 3 years

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This is very specific but do you have any headcanons about double dates between Jeanbilee and Silvercyclops? That or how do you headcanon Charles and Erik’s sexualities? I think of Erik as pan and Charles as gay.

Hehe... Oh I can do this.

For Charles and Erik’s sexualities, I definitely agree. Charles is gay and Erik is either bi or pan (that one I’m not too solid on).

With the double date, catch me putting this in a modern setting. It’s under the line since there’s a lot

Individuals

Scott

Scott was definitely against the idea of a double date

Why? Because it’s kind of awkward to go out on a double date where the other couple... one of them is your ex

Yeah he’s still good friends with Jean! He’s just not sure how to handle going out to an event with her in a sort of romantic setting. Especially because there’s that slight problem that you KNOW he’s kinda anxious. Like what if people who knew him when he was dating Jean finds him all close and romantic with Peter?

Of course that’s not gonna happen. Man’s just anxious

But Peter managed to convince him and assure him that it would be alright

“It’s just a movie, Scotty. No one’s gonna care,” Peter had said. “Literally it’s dark and the seats are set up in pairs, you don’t need to worry.”

Scott protested immediately with, “but what if--”

“I’ll pay for the popcorn and treats. And the drinks. I’ll pay for it all for you.”

Scott caved pretty quickly

Except he didn’t know that before the movie the group was going out to dinner because for some reason his mind completely omitted that information. By the time they got together, he remembered, but oh man. He was not prepared

Yeah he was dressed up because Peter was really insistent on him wearing something decent, but the fact they were going out to dinner skipped his mind entirely

He was antsy during the dinner at first. Really shifty-eyed and such and was overall just visibly nervous

But he cooled down fast

He had a lot of fun at the dinner, even if he was a bit awkward with Jean at first

But he loosened up. He found himself enjoying the event much more as time went on and he even managed to calm down enough to comfortably interact with Jean just like he used to

It was actually kinda refreshing

He had whole conversations with the ginger. While Jubilee and Peter were going off about their crazy ideas and plans and things that have happened to them over the past weeks, Scott and Jean were just talking about... life. Catching up on what they’ve missed since they split apart and inevitably pulled away from each other (Scott moreso than Jean)

It brought a sense of closure to Scott that he didn’t realize he needed

He found himself warming back up to interacting with Jean and was... happy with it

Peter

Oh Peter was excited for the double date

Ever since Jubilee ran up to him and proposed it to him he was completely on board. Hell, he even helped plan it out with Jean and Jubilee at times

It was actually Jean’s idea for Peter to convince Scott that things would be alright. She knew he was worried about it, even if it was all irrational. She also knew that he was their best bet on helping Scott out and getting him comfortable with the idea

So Peter did just that

He actually did a lot more than just blatantly tell Scott that he was going to pay for everything at the movies

Peter did a lot of minimal prodding. Stuff to get Scott to talk in a way that wasn’t too intrusive or anything (it’s honestly a special ability of Peter’s). It helped him understand what he was gonna have to do to help his boyfriend out

Because Scott had never been on a double date before

And Peter actually found that kinda funny

But when it came to the date itself, he was completely down for it. He wanted to do it since the moment Jubilee told him about it and he decided he was going to put about as much planning effort into it as her. After all, it’s not different from other... events they’ve planned in the past. They have a perfect system

The movie was his idea

He deemed it “necessary after eating at some dumb fancy place. Because who in their right mind is gonna go out to eat and then just head home at like, 7pm?”

(Peter was also the reason they didn’t end up going to a restaurant where you had to dress up SUPER fancy)

(Granted he wasn’t entirely successful. Jean shot him down and made him settle with having to dress up a little. She wasn’t going to drive them all to dinner if it was gonna be some fast food shit)

Honestly, him and Jubilee are on the exact same wavelength for the date

Jean

Jean was definitely the TRUE brains behind the double date

She was the one who mentioned the idea to Jubilee who then took the idea and ran with it, making it a true plan

She did it because, well, she’s always wanted to have a double date. It was only possible now that she was with Jubilee and her other friends were together

Besides, she like anyone else was aware of just how close Jubilee and Peter were. It was honestly a perfect plan

Scratch something off her bucket list while also getting the two away from their peers so everyone could actually catch a break from their high energy

Actual perfection right there

That and she could tell Scott was awkward around her, even if they’ve been broken up for almost an entire year by this point

There were a lot of times Jean tried to reconnect with him and get him to loosen up but nothing really worked until she came up with the double date

It would give her the opportunity to get her friend back while also allowing him to be in a sort of comfortable environment (she’s noticed the way he tends to cling to Peter whenever she comes around. She isn’t sure if she should be hurt by it or not but she knows he doesn’t mean ill will)

She has to admit though, Peter’s idea of a movie after was a great idea. It’s not something she would’ve put forward or even thought about

Then again... she wasn’t expecting the duo to take over the planning and make it a lot more “light” than an actual “true” date

Jean was looking to reserve them stuff out at a true fancy restaurant. Maybe get them to all dress up and put them in a romantic setting but she was quickly put in her place by Jubilee and Peter’s insistence that it’s a double date, they don’t need to be in a super romantic area

And honestly, they had a point

But she refused to let them make the event completely casual. If she was going to be involved in any planning, they were gonna go somewhere where they have to dress up at least a little

She won that argument easily

Jubilee

OH MAN

Okay yeah Jubilee was definitely the front runner with the planning and setting everything up

Even with the double date originally being Jean’s idea, Jubilee took it upon herself to plan it all out mostly because she wanted to treat her girlfriend

(You act as thought Jubilee doesn’t know her own partner’s bucket list. Jean literally has it written out in a notebook under her pillow, Jubilee has gone through it multiple times)

She wanted it to be perfect

Which is why she went to Peter

Jean was the one who planted the idea of going on the double date with Scott and Peter but let’s be real, Jubilee would’ve chosen the boys anyways. They were the best bet

Either way, she was ecstatic

She literally has so much experience with planning from the pranks and events she’s set up with Peter, she knew exactly what she was doing when she got with him to plan everything out

Jubilee was actually the one who chose where they were going to dinner

It was a nice Hawaiian themed place. A seafood restaurant with a tropical theme and generally considered a 4 or 5 star restaurant. It was a perfect place, especially with its looser “dress code” (it was basically a sort of business casual, for lack of better terms. If she tried to describe it she would just point to Scott wearing a nice button up with no tie and Jean wearing a cute blouse and flowy pants to match)

(The really funny part is her and Jean low-key made it out to Peter like super fancy restaurants require you to wear formal clothes just so he would cave and “go somewhere less strict”)

(He never found out)

But if she was going to be honest, her favorite part of the double date was the movie afterwards

It was the newest Men in Black and she was losing her mind throughout it

Did she tune out the boys while they were nerding out quietly to her right? Yes, yes she did. She was much more focused on the humor and action and experiencing it with her girlfriend

Overall

Not gonna lie, Scott definitely clung to Peter at first

Like that much is obvious, but it really wasn’t that... obvious? It was if you looked closely at how he hovered closer to the older boy or how his head always seemed to be turned slightly towards him during conversations as if looking to him for stuff to say

Peter noticed it for sure, just as Jean did

Both of them let it happen. Because even when Scott loosened up as the night went on, he still wanted to stick close to his comfort and they didn’t want to pull him away from that

Man just doesn’t handle break ups well

Honestly though, the dinner was wonderful for the entire group. There was so much laughter and chatting and catching up, especially since they aren’t consistently hanging out together anymore

Jubilee convinced Scott to try some really spicy squid dish that he couldn’t remember the name of for the life of him and Peter just... kept ordering more chocolate milk

(They quickly learned that he forgot refills aren’t free)

(That didn’t stop him)

Outfits

Scott: Nice blue button up and black slacks. Honestly really basic typical “oh that guy looks cishet” kinda look, especially with the very plain uniform look to him

Peter: Black button up with white specks across it that look like stars and some slacks as well except his belt was a bit more... decorative than Scott’s. (It’s colorful)

Jean: A cute, loose blouse with a nice white and red floral/watercolor sort of pattern that sits nicely on her frame with some flowy pants and flats. Her hair was done into a braid

Jubilee: A nice long sleeve sweater-like yellow top and a short white skirt with a pair of flats as well. She had her hair down and man was it nice and curly

Honestly everyone was dressed so nicely, it was almost a miracle

During the movie, the couples sat together. That’s a given. But the way they interacted was definitely different from each other

Jean and Jubilee were vibing in their seats. They had chocolate and slushies and popcorn and were overall having a great time just enjoying the movie. There wasn’t too much commentary other than them laughing together or making fun of something they saw on screen

(Jean one time did yell at someone for having their phone on in the movie...she’s that person)

Jubilee was constantly touchy with Jean whenever something crazy happened or there was something intense. Hell, she ended up wrapping around Jean and crying when her favorite character died

Jean took it and honestly... it made her soft

She didn’t know it was possible to fall even further in love

Peter and Scott, though, were different. They too had all the treats and candy and such like the other couple but they were much closer than the girls. They were BASICALLY cuddling (Scott will never admit it). Like come on, you know it’s true

Scott was curled up against his boyfriend. Like head resting against Peter as the older had his arm around him. You know the drill

Again, Scott will never admit to it

But the entire time they were geeking out. Both of them grew up with sci-fi, especially MiB. And BOTH were excited for the newest movie and were having a great time pointing out the aliens and all that stuff and just overall having fun

After the date, the drive was both full of energy and calm. It was 10 by the time they were leaving the theatre and honestly... it’s an experience none of them would give up for the world

...they planned another one for the future

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tosikoarts · 4 years

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SFW Alphabet | Kikuta

Ogata is next. You can check tosikowrites tag for more. Warning: there’s a lot under the cut.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Kikuta is so serious that it comes off extremely funny. He hasn’t been in a stable relationship for quite a while so getting back in the game gives him headache and upset stomach. For a person that pompous, with a damn jacket made of collected guns, he acts awkwardly sweet and romantic, and he is also a little afraid that it will push his potential partner away. In short, Kikuta is a mess.

Opposite to his own state, Kikuta wants to bring peace to his loved one’s life. He tries to pull off image of ideal man, one that will take off his jacket and cover a puddle with it just for his partner to stay clean. Seeing encouragement makes him more confident, less nervous, and therefore more refined. You’ll be drowning in attention, gifts, praise. Later, Kikuta gets comfortable with his own clumsiness and awkwardness and just laughs it away.

Relaxing together is a must. Impromptu rest in hot springs, not in those controlled by establishments, but in wild ones, is a great example. Reading aloud? Yep. Chilling under the blankets? Yep. Massages and back rubs? Yep. Kikuta manages to make everything wholesome. Thankfully, war couldn’t kill his kindliness.

He voluntarily takes on the role of a guardian angel to protect his loved one from world’s harshness. Kikuta wouldn’t want them to see what he has seen - pain, cruelty, disease - so he made it his goal to improve himself and the world around.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

The highest possibility of becoming Kikuta’s friend is either being soldier of 7th division or being nurse that patched him up few times. He is rarely seen out of his missions so chances to get acquainted with him randomly on a street are low.

Kikuta is the friend that bails you out of problems, no matter how serious they are. In a street fight, he will kick any thug’s ass and make them beg for mercy. If you lose the bid while gambling, he will offer his own money and give you a chance to win some back. Overall, you can always rely on him.

Get ready for philosophical conversations over the glass of whiskey. He likes to talk on a variety of topics, especially abstract ones, like life and death, moment and eternity, love and hate. Most of the reasoning comes down to Kikuta’s military experience but can you blame him for it? Many allegories with weapons: “time flies like a bullet”, “life is just being at gunpoint without realizing it”, etc.

Most likely, he will be looking for a person whom he can serve as a father figure. Kikuta needs someone to look after thou he will rather die than admit it.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Kikuta has to be in specific mood to initiate cuddles and receive them. If he is busy, he will give his partner a faint smile and ask them to wait a little. Surprise, he doesn’t like spooning since it deprives him of the possibility of seeing their adorable face. Half-spoon sounds good and gives more opportunities like kissing his loved one in the top of their head or ruffling their hair. Honeymoon hug is the all time favorite that he likes to initiate right before falling asleep.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Mediocre in both cooking and cleaning, but, boy, does he want this domestic life? Absolutely. Kikuta dreams about getting away from military, finding a new, maybe, not that exciting, stable job, and settle down with his favorite person and few pups. Hardly anyone knows about it, but thought about a small yard where one can sit and watch the slowly falling leaves in autumn or play in a first snow with his own child in winter makes him so soft. Waking up in the comfort of own bedroom, cooking dinner for the whole family, wandering around his own house… Kikuta can’t wait for it.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Comprehensive information about the break-up will be presented at its best in oral or written form. Kikuta addresses everything they are interested in, from reason to the wish to stay friends since his care for their feelings is infinite and he wouldn’t want to leave them without proper closure. After parting ways, Kikuta gives them space to recollect themself, let off the steam, and recover but he plans to come back in their life as a good friend (if they are okay with that, of course).

Kikuta is one of the people that got your back even after bad break-up. You could throw a tantrum, tell how much you hate his guts, and still he will check up on you, protect your name behind the back, and treat you with the same respect as always.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Typical traditional looks on marriage, would want to get married after 1-2 years of relationship. After the appearance of attachment, Kikuta can’t imagine himself with anyone else even if there is a more suitable partner right under his nose. His trust in them is immeasurable: their worst flaws do not don't bother him that much, and when they do, Kikuta tries to gently persuade his loved one into more appropriate behavior. Their past doesn’t matter either unless it is associated with straight-out high treason. Like he doesn’t justify anything but doesn’t seem to emphasize attention on the past wrongs. He is one of the most committed man around, really.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

You have to have Kikuta’s heart set on you for him to show the gentle side. He is polite, it's true, he knows how to court person, but he must force himself to put tenderness in action. Good news: it works like a physical exercise. The more often you do this, the easier it gets. Over time, Kikuta feels comfortable enough to call them pet names like angel or dearest, even in public, without worrying to appear vulnerable.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Not the biggest fan of the hugs, but likes to put one arm around loved one’s shoulder. There is no particular reason, Kikuta is just too awkward when someone hugs him. Only his fingertips land on their back or waist, never the whole palm, and he tries to keep some space between them too. The exception to the rule is first meeting after long time apart when Kikuta wants to press them into himself, hold them as close as possible, and live this moment to the fullest.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Hard to say. If Kikuta sees frivolous attitude on their part, if he feels that he is just another pit stop on the road of their love victories, he will keep confession for someone else. Also, Kikuta either chooses the best romantic moment to confess or does it in the most awkward inappropriate time possible, no in between. After this, he is still hesitant to throw sweet words to the left and to the right but he eventually thaws and turns in the softest man, muttering sweet nonsense in his loved one’s ear.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Kikuta can be characterized as selectively jealous with a high threshold of tolerance. He has few people he wouldn’t want see his loved one around and he doesn’t care about everyone else, seeing them as unworthy opponents. One of the chosen people is Usami. Despite belonging to the same division, Kikuta doesn't trust him one iota. Superior private irradiates chaotic energy and aggression that easily can transform into harassment just to annoy Kikuta and bug him. Another one would be Tsurumi, known for the persistent love conquest and violent ways of achieving his goals. The last one would be Tsukishima, simply because he looks like a competitive man in his silent seriousness and devotion.

Poorly tolerates his loved one acting flirtatious, especially with three people listed above. His main coping mechanism is distancing which allows Kikuta to think about the situation and make sure he isn’t overreacting. After that, he decides to discuss the problem since he does want to make this relationship work.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Sensual kisser. He starts out as a man who knows what he is doing, skillfully and gently, and grows pretty demanding over the time. Kikuta likes to kiss in a secluded environment where there is no need to worry about anything other than the person in front of him, completely surrendering to growing passion. Yep, lip biting, tongue sucking, everything at the right time and in the right place. Lip kisses are his favorite because Kikuta knows nobody does it better, okay, but he is down for anything else too. He likes to kiss his loved one on the neck as well as plant kisses on both of their hands. And where he likes to be kissed? Lips and, who would expect, clavicles, and chest.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Seeing little kid automatically makes Kikuta nervous since, despite the efforts made, he has difficulties in communicating with them. The only fear Kikuta has is not death, nor prison, it’s crying baby that won’t fall silent after few coos and short cuddle. After several unsuccessful interactions with kids, he wondered if he could become a good father in the future and self-given answer was depressing. If his loved one wants to have children with him in the future, they have to rake the mountain of his doubts.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Chances are you won’t catch Kikuta in the morning because of important business he has to run through the work week. Maybe, you will hear the sound of a slamming door or receding footsteps but nothing more. On the weekends, this man always wakes up earlier than his partner, and almost immediately gets out of bed. Half of the times there will be an easy breakfast waiting for you on the table, and the other half you’ll find Kikuta industriously doing varied housework Cuddles (or something more intimate) are rare, but Kikuta is more than willing to make up for it during the day.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Balances time at home and nights out well. Small dinner parties play great role in Kikuta’s life, he loves to invite guests to come over for a cup of tea and small talk or for whole evening of playing hanafuda. Kikuta isn’t the best host but with the help of supportive partner he will be more confident and better one. Spending time alone with the loved one, he likes to talk about the future and about anything at all, play games, or simply cuddle. If we speak about nights put, Kikuta is a big fan of Japanese theater, especially Western-derived shingeki that gained popularity in 1900s, and he insists going there at least once a month.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

First, he needs to get accustomed to the person, to observe their actions towards others so he can build an approximate image of them in the head. After the probationary period, Kikuta begins to gradually open up: his personality is revealed in short conversations over a cup of tea, in talk by the flickering fire, in single phrases like greetings or goodbyes. He often brings up old memories but needs a slight push to go deeper than nostalgic sighs. Never ever has word outburst so you’ll never hear information not meant for your ears.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Scarily cold-blooded when angry, but you have to push to piss Kikuta off, put some effort into it. He is used to deal with all kinds of people. Therefore, there’s already dozen of prepared lines of conduct that can be put to work when somebody is deliberately trying to mess with him. When angered, Kikuta’s first reaction is to shut the person up with one sentence if not a single word. Usually, it works. Sucks that it doesn’t when it comes to broken plate or spilled hellishly hot tea.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Here is the deal: good memorization doesn’t guarantee correct interpretation. Just like the case about the relationship between Ogata and Yuusaku, Kikuta may confuse something and come to the wrong conclusions, so often he chooses too subtly ask a leading question about thing that interests him. He is quite attentive and catches slightest changes in their behavior, listens carefully to the words they speak, but Kikuta can make a fool of himself once in a while. Like he forgot that they have a peach allergy (and he bought like 2 kilos) or they are scarred of big dogs (and he thought they would want to pet that sharp-toothed Kai Ken).

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

His favorite moment would be either proposal or moving in together. Both events mark a new stage in the relationship and keep him on the tiptoes. The day before Kikuta loses his composure: everything falls out of his hands, he cannot eat, cannot drink, cannot sleep because electrifying thoughts don't let him concentrate at all. The limbs seem foreign to him and Kikuta reaches new peak of awkwardness, tripping over his own legs. When the time comes, he is calm again. With the last bit of strength, he puts on a confident face and does his thing. The selected ring fits finger just right as well as his lips land exactly on theirs. After all Kikuta is absolutely sure of his choice and would not want to spend life with someone other than his chosen loved one.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

The closer the person gets, the more worried Kikuta becomes. You never know who is friend and who is enemy in the ongoing treasure hunt, who can stab you in the back because of newly devised action plan. To calm the soul, Kikuta may teach them self-defense both barehanded and with the use of firearms. Also, he is always straightforward about people to be careful with and people who can be trusted. For example, he will do his best to hide his loved one’s existence from 1st Lieutenant Tsurumi even if it means Kikuta has to stage their death.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Kikuta is your dream man when it comes to dates, he keeps things classy in the best sense of this word. Outside the military profession, Kikuta has the ability to appeal to the more refined side of himself and share his views with other. He is the one to take his loved one to historical museum or secluded beach at sunset, the one to look for a restaurant that follows Japanese cooking traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. The only thing that can make him late is the doubts while choosing the best bouquet. On the anniversaries, there’s no tangible difference since he is used to spoil them with attention pretty much every day. Performs home tasks diligently as well.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Kikuta can be stubborn as donkey, godlessly, unapologetically stubborn. On some occasions he agrees with what another person is saying but still does it his own way, without any explanation, just because he thinks his option is better. It is more common in in the professional field but may pop up in domesticity too.

Speaking of work, Kikuta tends to over-work himself when case includes the thing that really interests him. Digging in paperwork brings him a feel of being needed and sense of stability, both of which are not always present in relationships with people. A person can drastically change his mind and words, stab you in the back, leave… but work? Work could never.

Kikuta can be a bore that wants to stay in one place, talk with the same people, speak out the same ideas. Such company will seem dull to over-active, expressive, and extraverted people.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Oooh, you can’t tell it from his face, but Kikuta takes good care of himself. Not a metrosexual, but a type that wants to be presentable at any time. His style is consists of neutral dark colors, smooth lines, as the opposite of his sharp facial features, and even his casual stubble is thought-out accessory. Probably carries his favorite comb in inner pocket to keep his hair smooth.

He has a collection of neckties for all occasions as well as he knows how to tie them in different, often whimsical ways. Kikuta would really like to pass on his knowledge to the son since in his imagination this is excellent example of cool father-son interaction.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Impeccable self-control helps to get though the loss partially. Right after the break Kikuta excuses himself and leaves. He needs fresh air and, maybe, cigarette. Or a drink. Or start his evening routine hours earlier than usual. Crushing awareness comes day later, when he cannot habitually hug his loved one or get an unexpected kiss on a cheek. Heartsore grows harder and goes away for weeks before Kikuta gathers strength to let them go. Restrains himself from relationship for year or two and secretly hopes they will come back.

If they were killed, Kikuta does not pursue the idea of revenge at any cost. He bears the loss steadfastly, self-reflects through long conversations with Ariko, and plunges in overtime work. If Kikuta gets a chance to cross roads with a killer, he will strangle him with them with bare hands, looking straight into the eyes, and watching their life slips away.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Kikuta is a dog person that has never in his life owned a dog. When a stray dog runs up to him on the street, Kikuta always scratches it behind the ear, and asks “who is the best boy”. While in army, he took care of fluffy mongrel that was sneaking around the military base until First Lieutenant Tsurumi ordered to get rid of it. Kikuta still has a dream to adopt few dogs with his loved one so they both can take care of them (and the puppies).

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Eccentric personas. The man is already working with Usami, he is already under tremendous pressure, okay? His psyche can tolerate one freak but no more. Eccentric persona does not mean a common person who has one or a couple of distinctive features. We all have specific oddities. No, we are talking about a walking circus, loud, bright, and defiant. Kikuta tries to avoid this type of people at all cost.

Outrageous rudeness makes him tic too. Ill-timed swearing, terrible table manners, inability to behave in society. Small annoying details add up to one big picture that Kikuta physically cannot ignore. He'll definitely try to change that in person.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

Kikuta has an evening ritual he performs every day before going to bed. It starts with attentively checking if all the doors are closed, then he puts out the lights everywhere except bedroom and bathroom. While washing his face Kikuta makes plans for tomorrow. He revises them while choosing clean outfit for the next day and putting them next to his bed so in the morning he could instantly jump into his shoes, pull on pants, shirt, and run on important government affairs. Kikuta is mysteriously silent whole time. Attempts to break the silence with small talk result in short dry answers. This routine never changes, even if someone requires an urgent meeting, since repeated actions bring at least some stability to his life.

Calm sleeper until he has to share a bed with another person. Kikuta’s peaceful sleep turns into terrible insomnia, bags under his eyes start to resemble Tsukishima’s, and he feels just awful trying to explain another person that it is not their fault at all. Intensive training, special meditation, counting sheep do not work so he quietly lies on the back and listen’s to another person’s breath.

#golden kamuy #kikuta #golden kamuy headcanon #golden kamuy imagine #tosikowrites

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amphtaminedreams · 3 years

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If We Can’t Have the Parties, At Least We Have the Coats: Lookbook no.13

Hi to anyone reading,

It’s been a weird winter, right?

A winter that I REALLY did not need to buy as many clothes for as I have. You WILL save loads of money during this lockdown, I told myself. You WILL. And yet here I am in December, in exactly the same financial position I was in March. You would think that making the switch to an environmentally friendly wardrobe would mean I own less but now I no longer have the guilt of supporting fast fashion to hold me back, I’ve accumulated more clothes than ever. Part of a sustainable wardrobe is also about reducing your consumption so now I’ve mostly made the move towards only supporting transparent companies/small businesses, I can move onto the buying less part. I haven’t thrown any clothes away but still, I am not the clothes rescuer I think I am-more just an overdraft abuser. To add to that, for those of us actually following the rules (half the people I went to secondary school with flaunting their apparently unaffected social lives on Instagram, I’m looking at you) there aren’t actually all that many opportunities to wear new outfits. Not to go too first world problems, but it is a little shit when getting dressed up and doing your makeup is one of the things that you do to help you feel a little better, especially when the seasonal (and situational in these times) depression kicks in.

So yes, I have been extra af recently and combatted this with the decision to start making an effort to outfit plan for the most basic of tasks. We’re talking a full face of makeup and accessories for going into town to get a coffee or to meet a friend for a walk. I mean, I still go to Tesco in my trackies but if I’m seeing somebody else, I am sure as hell going to treat it as a reason to wear something nice. See the winter outfits section of the lookbook as your inspiration to do the same because I can guarantee you the sense of normality forcing yourself to take makeup off at the end of the day brings will actually make you feel a lot better. Genuinely the mark of exceptional times. We’ve also got the few days relief period over Christmas in the UK where we’re allowed to mix with a maximum of 3 other households, and ignoring the fact that it doesn’t really make any sense given that the number of people you could end up mixing with depends on the size of the households and is realistically completely arbitrary (I have a lot of feelings about how fucking moronic half the decisions this government has been making are but then again, what’s new?), I’m sure those of you with big families are gonna be partying. I’m only spending Christmas with my immediate family but I thought I’d put some more festive outfits together anyway. I know, I know, it sounds like I’m just bullshitting an explanation as to why I put this lookbook together when in reality I’m trying to make myself feel better about the damage to my bank account buuuut it really is more a case of being inspired by my Depop finds and if you are trying to quit fast fashion, I can’t recommend the app enough (especially if you know what you’re looking for). As I did in the last lookbook, I will make sure to include the tags of all the people I bought these pieces from but I also thought it might be helpful to make a note of some of the descriptors I used to find them so you can get more of an idea how to find the things you’re looking for too, as well as prices. I did include the names of the shops I bought the few fast fashion items I styled from too, mostly earlier this year or at some point over the last couple of years, on the basis that they may be a useful search prompt if you’re looking for something similar or the exact item-the majority are no longer available (disclaimer: I haven’t bought anything from Boohoo in a longgg time) to buy but you might be able to find an account that’s selling a used version. Don’t be put off by that-I’ve had to wash a couple of pieces but for the most part, that hasn’t been necessary. Charity shops usually wash things before they put them out, so you have nothing to worry about there either-I expect that they’re particularly thorough at the moment considering the COVID crisis.

Enough rambling from me for now! Enjoy!

-(SOCIALLY DISTANCED) PARTY SZN LOOKS-

Powder Blue Wide Brim Felt Hat/Fedora: £16.99

Structured White Mesh Oh Polly Mini Dress w/Ruched Detail: £27

Black PVC Beret w/Red Flame Detail: £14

Red Fit and Flare Dress w/Satin Corset & Tulle Skirt: £12

Black PVC Vintage Platform Boots w/Red Flame Detail: £27

White Satin Corset w/Straps: £8

Pinstripe Cropped Blazer Co-ord Set: £12.50

Oh Mighty Strappy Contrast Corset: £27

Contrast Check Cigarette Trousers: £15

Pink Topshop Gingham Blazer Co-ord Set BNWT: £35

White Strappy Corset w/Suspender Detail: £10

White PVC Beret w/Black Flame Detail: £14

Reworked Strappy Patchwork Sports Cropped Tee: £10

Black Combat Cargo Trousers: £5

Strappy Tie-dye Pretty Little Thing Corset BNWT: £15

PVC/Vinyl Zip-up Mini Skirt w/Belt Detail: £9

White Satin Cowl Neck Mini Slip Dress: £8

Urban Outfitters ‘90s Style Celestial Print Mesh Babydoll Dress: £15

-(SOMETIMES PRACTICAL) COAT SZN LOOKS-

UNIF Colour Block Oversized Jumper/Sweater: £25

Topshop Dark Wash Denim Kick Flare Jeans w/Frayed Hem Detail: £16

Vintage ‘70s Style Brown Faux Suede Western Blazer/Jacket: £15

Black Velvet High Neck Bodysuit w/Keyhole Detail: £4

Topshop Paisley Print Chiffon Midi Dress: £15

Brandy Melville Cropped Motorcross Slogan Slogan Tee: £13.60

Ragged Priest Gingham Cargo/Combat Trousers w/Utility Style Buckle Detailing: £33

Black Kappa Logo Beanie: £12

White Platform FILA Disruptors in Good Condition: £55

Black Fur Bucket Hat: £8

Celestial Silver Moon Detail Chain Belt: £18

Black Satin Cowl Neck Detail Midi Slip Dress: £15

Floral Print Platform Boots: £10

Blue Denim ASOS High Rise Mom Jeans: £12

Brown Vintage ‘70s Style Afghan Coat w/Fur Trim: £25

Teal Wide Brim Felt Hat/Fedora: £10

Topshop Floral Print A-Line Jacquard Mini Skirt: £7

Lana Del Rey Screen Printed T-Shirt: £9.99

Vintage Corduroy Contrast Stripe Trousers w/Kick Flare: £28

Anyone that read to the end, thank you so much as always and I hope this shows just how many in-trend pieces you can find second hand! I know I'm SUPER far behind to the point where it’s closer to the F/W2021 shows now than it is since the S/S2021 collections were showcased but I decided I am going to do a full length fashion week review. I also have a few moodboards planned and my next is gonna be one focussing purely on plus sized fashion as the feedback that I got from my New Style Icons post was that I could have included more bigger girls; I am so, so, SO passionate about body positivity and fat acceptance, especially since I know my own relationship with my body would be so much better if this kind of movement was more prominent when I was younger, so I don’t for a minute want anyone to think it was my intention to be exclusionary in any way. It bears repeating that I genuinely appreciate feedback in any form (as long as it’s not too mean and presumptive, lol) and I hope the next post doesn’t disappoint! It hasn’t been a good year for cinema due to COVID having lead to theatre closures, however I still do want to do another film tier ranking in the new year as that is something I really enjoyed doing last time. Any more suggestions are welcome!

As always, my inbox is always open if you need someone to talk to or just wanna chat about a post:-) I am constantly on the look out for new blogs to follow and people to interact with so any communication is welcome. I’m not sure if I’ll get another post finished before we enter 2021, SO I wanna say that I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and that this shitshow of a year DOES come to an end at 11:59PM on the 31st because THOSE MEMES ABOUT IT TURNING DECEMBER THE 32ND ARE NOT FUNNY! Here’s to our second attempt at our first year of the roaring twenties (because this past year it feels like we skipped them and went straight to The Great Depression, the likely incoming recession denial is real) and to happier times and good health for everyone.

Lauren x

DISCLAIMER: Background in the first 2 images are mine, others are not. I found them on Pinterest so not sure of the artists but if you do know, drop me a message so I can credit them!

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gwenbrightly · 4 years

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Of Milk and Cookies chapter 17:

*chanting* Brad chapter Brad chapter Brad chapter

Hi, hello, yes, this is Gwen with a brand new chapter of Of Milk and Cookies! I hope you enjoy!

Lloyd awoke to the all too familiar sensation of having absolutely no idea where he was. Over the past few months, he’d stayed more places than he could count on both hands, and the chaotic travel regime often messed with his head. Of course, it wasn’t very long before the memories of his frantic flight to the Ninjago City Hospital came flooding back to him and the slight panic dissipated. It must have been close to 2 in the morning by the time Kai and the others had managed to get the guest room in the teacher’s wing ready for him the previous night, and then Jay had tried to convince him to stay awake so they could catch up, but his exhaustion ultimately won out. Still, he had to admit that being here with his siblings nearby already felt so much better than being off preparing to meet with another stuffy town leader or dignitary. Why had he ever agreed to that stupid victory tour? The sound of his stomach growling prevented Lloyd from continuing this train of thought. Better find something to eat. He stepped out into the hallway, bracing himself for the chaotic whirlwind of energy that usually accompanied his fellow ninja. However, he was met with silence. Glancing about, he quickly located a note that had been taped to his door.

Lloyd, we decided to let you sleep in. We’ll be down in the cafeteria waiting for you whenever you decide to wake up.

- Kai

“Guess I’ll have to navigate on my own…” Lloyd muttered. The time alone would give him some time to process the fact that this was his first time visiting his old school in its current rendition. Had Nya already been home from the hospital, it would’ve been easier to pretend as though the school hadn’t been the very one his mother had left him at when he was barely more than a toddler. The one that had been the source of so much pain for him before he’d ultimately been kicked out. Hopefully the name change and inclusion of the ninja as teachers had been cause for some improvements, but Lloyd still had plenty of reservations.

He wandered down the hallway, trying to remember exactly where the exit to the teacher’s wing was. After a few wrong turns, he finally ended up at a door that appeared to lead to the courtyard. Lloyd stepped outside. It looked similar to the last time he’d visited, during that disastrous run in with the evil clones, except it was brighter, happier. The students who populated the courtyard were playing nice, relatively non violent games, or visiting quietly with each other. It was surprisingly peaceful. In the distance, he could see the freshly painted sign that marked the entrance. Much more welcoming than before. He turned to the left, heading for the cafeteria, trying not to let too many memories take hold of him as he wandered about. He cringed a little as he passed the tree he’d fallen out of and broken his wrist while trying to hide from Gene and the others. Even his favorite hiding place hadn’t been enough to save him that day. Lloyd shook his head. No use dwelling on the past.

“Um, excuse me,” a small voice piped up from behind him, “but you’re about to step on my hydrangeas.”

The Green Ninja froze and looked down. Sure enough, there was a pot of hydrangeas just waiting to be planted along the edge of the walkway.

“Oh. Sorry! I was just…” he turned to apologize, but his breath caught in his throat when he recognized the small form behind him.

“Brad?!” Lloyd choked out at the same time as Brad exclaimed, “Lloyd?!”

They stared at each other for a moment. Lloyd hadn’t even considered that being here meant he could easily run into one of his old classmates. He had no idea how to respond to this sudden reunion. Sure, they had parted ways amicably last time, but a lot had changed since then. Lloyd had changed, even if it was mostly his appearance.

“I…” he began awkwardly. Brad seemed no better prepared to process this turn of events.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with the delicacy of a cat coughing up a hairball.

“Nya.” Answered Lloyd, whose brain was suddenly only capable of one word responses.

“Oh. Right. Mr. Cole said she was fine and that Mr. Jay was just being a drama queen when he said she might die, but he didn’t mention anything about you…” Brad offered flushing slightly.

“I, uh, got here really late last night.” Lloyd explained. The smaller boy nodded.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They both just kind of stood there, not saying anything, for what felt like an eternity. Had they really already run out of things to say?

“Do… do you have anywhere you need to be?” Brad asked, finally. Lloyd shrugged.

“Breakfast. Eventually. Why?”

Brad returned his shrug.

“Dunno. Guess I was thinking maybe we could climb the tree. For old times sake?” he suggested, looking surprisingly vulnerable. Lloyd wasn’t entirely sure what the boy was really going for with this idea, but something inside of him desperately wanted to temporarily ignore the call of food. To pretend he was just a normal kid with a normal life, instead of an ageless war hero. And so, he decided that a few minutes hanging from the branches of a tree wouldn’t hurt anything.

“Okay.” Said Lloyd, surprising Brad.

The branches were much easier to reach now that Lloyd was taller. One of the few good things to come from that change, he supposed. He followed Brad up into the canopy of the tree, where the leaves created a delicate wall separating them from the outside world. They each claimed a branch, and sat, staring at each other.

“So. It’s been awhile.” Brad spoke first. Lloyd appreciated his efforts.

“It has,” he agreed.

“You’re way taller now.” Observed Brad. Lloyd had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He’d resigned himself to the comments about his height a long time ago, but the reminder still stung more than it should have.

“I am.”

“Do you have any idea how weird it is to be the shortest in class now?” Brad asked abruptly.

“You… you’re- you’re the shortest?” Lloyd snorted. It was strange how easily their interaction had spiraled into something more familiar, less awkward.

“Yep,” the dark hair boy bemoaned, “Even Sally’s taller than me now. Mr. Zane says that’ll change when I hit pooburty, but I’m not so sure I believe him.”

“I mean, Zane’s pretty much right about everything, so don’t give up hope yet, I guess?” Lloyd offered, smiling lopsidedly at his mispronunciation of puberty (a word that had been explained to him following the tea incident).

“I won’t.” Brad decided. He plucked a leaf and watched it flutter to the ground below. They fell into another, more comfortable, silence.

“So.” Lloyd said after awhile, trying to strike up another conversation.

“So. I… I should probably thank you. And apologize.” Brad stated, sounding more serious than before. Lloyd frowned and asked, “For what?”.

“Thank you for what you did when you visited last time – showing all of us that we didn’t have to be bad like everyone expected us to,” Brad told him, “and I wanna apologize because you should never have had to put up with everything I’ve done to you. I know it wasn’t- I wasn’t nice to you at all. And that sucks because you were my friend, and friends shouldn’t be so horrible to each other.” He finished, looking sad. Lloyd had never expected to get closure from anyone who had been a part of his experience at Darkley’s, not really. All the hurt and fear had started to dull after so many months away, and he had been fine with that. It was easier to just try to move on and forget. So the apology struck him harder than he would have expected. He brushed a quick hand over his eyes (which were suddenly damper than they should have been) and scrambled to find the right words.

“Oh. I didn’t even know if that would work, but I’m glad it did. Everyone deserves to be shown their inner light. And yeah, it does suck that things were like that, I’m not gonna lie. But it’s not like we were taught any better. It’s a learning curve – that whole being nice to other people thing.”

“I… it’s changed a lot for me. I never… I never thought I’d want to do better. But I do. I wanna be the kind of person you are – to help people and make them happy. And my dad, um, finally got arrested. So I’ll be living with my grandparents after the term is over. They’re really excited to have me. It feels so good to be wanted.” Brad told him, brightening. The boy had rarely mentioned his parents, but Lloyd had always known they weren’t really… present in his life. Or good people. It warmed his heart to see Brad flourishing like this.

“Well, congratulations on your new life, then!” Lloyd said, genuinely happy for his… friend. Yes, they were still friends, deep down. Beneath the regret of past mistakes. Beneath the awkwardness of one of them having grown up a bit more quickly than planned.

“Lloyd? I’m really glad we bumped into each other. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea but… it was.” Brad said with a grin, clearly appreciating Lloyd’s encouragement. They had both needed this conversation.

“Me too, Brad. It’s been… nice.” Lloyd agreed. The others were probably looking for him by now, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. They would, as always, find him eventually with those ninja senses of theirs. And they would, of course, be eager to catch up with him themselves, and he them. For now, however, Lloyd was content to stay here in this tree, an old friend by his side.

#ninjago #lloyd #ninjago fanfiction #myfics #of milk and cookies #Brad #Sometimes you write an entire chapter just to give two characters some closure

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handlewithkara · 4 years

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What I take away from Supernatural’s ending

Well the first thing I take away that once again creators are way too in love with killing their characters at the end (I wanted to say male ones, but TVD had a similar ending and I think they had a female showrunner). I often wonder if for some of them it’s almost a therapeutic step to get closure after being on a job for a long time. Or whether there is some sort of childish primal “I made it, I destroy it” in there, or wanting to make sure that the show can’t easily be revived and for somebody else to write their creations again.

It appears the Supernatural TPTB have gone on record on twitter that their finale was heavily impacted by Covid, that they originally wanted to do a lot more guest stars but couldn’t get them. If so, that probably contributed a lot to the finale being THAT brother focused. I will say though, though personally I would always be in the camp of telling people not to be unrealistic, if there was ever a show that could “Snydercut” their own finale, it would be this finale. Not to the extent of changing anything major, but they could easily do isolated scenes of the various characters in heaven and just cut them into the montage of Dean driving.

However, I don’t think that Covid is a substantial enough excuse for some of the creative choices they made. Most notably they could have followed up on Castiel’s big confession simply by giving Dean dialogue with the characters he did interact with in the finale (or even worst case by talking to himself). They had opportunities to handle it within the circumstances they were in and they did not take it. Again I wonder whether they thought they were doing fans a favor by leaving it open so everybody can project in their own truth, but I personally think this is pretty cowardly (especially since they could have addressed it more within dialogue and still keep Dean’s exact feelings vague).

I have said before that what struck me as baiting about the way the Destiel situation was handled wasn’t that Castiel confessed or even that his feelings might potentially not be requited. I always had a sinking feeling that they never had any intention of having Dean reciprocate on screen romantically (think the “friend” description line in the script) [so again they might have been thinking of it as a favor to keep it open]. Yet to me having a clearly onesided gay love would have been less baiting. In that case the writers could have reasoned plausibly that this is just the arc they see for Castiel. It would have fallen into other negative tropes like tragic!gay! but it wouldn’t have been baiting. If either following scenes had made it clear that Dean doesn’t see him “that way” or if the writers at least had gone on record and made it clear that that is the end of Castiel’s tale. It would have been disappointing but at least fans would have known exactly what they were in for. What makes the confession “baity” is Dean’s lack of response, which “baits” people to keep watching to see how he will respond (only to have exactly that never happen).

My last takeaway is on the nature of speculation and prediction.

1.) Temper your expectations. Generally, whenever the fans look for symbolism and “signs” in the text... just halve on whatever complexity you expect out of the writers. And then halve that again. IMO most shows are much simpler than people think. Yes, sometimes they surprise us with the occasional callbacks to the past and yes sometimes they do employ very simple elements of parallelism, but 10 times out of 10 whatever the fans think is way more detailed than what the writers think of.

2.) Speculation fans who call their fellow fans “honey” are always a bad sign. It’s too often an indicator of people who think they have the truth when everybody else doesn’t, which again, usually a bad sign. Refer back to point 1 on that.

3.) As much as I personally highly doubted that there was a big chance that the show was going to have Dean unambiguously reciprocate romantic feelings and as much as I’m highly dubious of fans using highly specific symbolism as clues or refering back to episodes 5 seasons back and use it as surefire clues of how the finale is going to pan out, I don’t think that some of the other speculations were so off the wall. A confession like Castiel’s does raise an expectation that it should at least be addressed in some way. Similarly, despite me being doubtful about how they would handle this, I did at least highly expect Castiel to be in the finale in some way. I’m not a hardcore SPN fan at all, but even I was aware that the show heavily used a promo picture of 4 characters (Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack) to promote the season. Add to that TPTB explicitly singling out Castiel in their various social media posts in regards to thanking people and shouting him out as to what the show was about, giving interviews about the finale being about the family Sam and Dean have built around them, it was enough for me to expect that finale would be more about how how the family has grown to be beyond just Sam and Dean, so for it to be just them mostly felt like them reverting.

Granted, this might just be me being grumpy that my expectations were wrong and hence me looking to Covid as an explanation to say: I didn’t read the signs wrong, it’s not that I read the show (family is SamDean+the friends they made along the way) differently from the writers (Sam and Dean to the exclusion of anything else).

In the end, this element reminds me the most of Supergirl and how fans have very different read on which parts of the story are “the important bit”. Is it sisters over everything or is it space family or the whole gang or is it Kara over everything? It is about Kara’s human connections or is it about Kara’s mission as a hero? Is Kara as a symbol a burden to be discarded or a good thing to be celebrated? And those are the things that a finale ends up having the final say on and those questions are often frustrating because usually those are multiple valid point of views that both have copious perceived “evidence” and they are heavily influenced by personal preference and personal experience.

Above all, the Supernatural ending has for me strengthened my unease with speculation and prediction and acting like something is a sure thing. That’s why I don’t really like predicting things, why I want to focus more on the things we already got. Because speculation is treacherous. I will still look at various elements of foreshadowing, but I want to do it more as a tool of judgement rather than as a tool of prediction. Less “they built up vigilante Alex, so this WILL happen” and more “they built so much effort into setting up this situation, it would feel haphazard if they didn’t follow up on it at all”.

I think people should never make the mistake that anything shown in a show is a promise to them. I think you can try to signal to the show that the fact that there is foreshadowing means that if it came true, you would find it extremely awesome, because fans love stuff like that. But never make the mistake of assuming you know where TPTB are going and that it’s a sure thing (and the further back your evidence lies, imo the less likeyl it is to still be relevant to the writers in any meaningful way, that’s why “they have been foreshadowing this since season 1!!!!” usually doesn’t impress me at all). Again, reduce your expectations of complexity and then reduce it again. It’s not that deep, writens usually are busy people, with hectic lives who don’t spend nearly as much time watching old episodes as fans do.

#spn #supergirl

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chaosbcrne · 4 years

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i've contemplated making this post for some time now and kept struggling when trying to find the right words to even begin with. i've come to the conclusion that there's no one good way to do this, especially coming out of nowhere as it is, so i'll just preface it by saying, to you, whoever might be reading this, you are under no obligation or expectation to read any further.

i am making this post to address as much as i can think of addressing, as a way of having proper closure here. this is not me trying to make a comeback or anything of the sort, it's just me trying to close the book for myself and anyone else who might feel concerned. so please, if you know enough to know why i disappeared, if hearing from me stresses you out, if my presence makes you feel unsafe to any degree or you know it might have a negative effect on your mental state or even just your mood, please do not feel any pressure to read on. you will not be out of the loop if you do not read this, this post will have zero impact on you or the community. this post will not be deleted or edited either, so if you can't stand to just ignore it, feel free to come back to it later.

before i get into anything, i want to apologize for any potential bad timing; i have not logged in here or otherwise seen the state of the dash since roughly two or three weeks after my last post (so about four months ago). i do not know who is or is not following me or who otherwise might see this post , i do not have the slightest idea of how the community fares these days. i apologize if this happens to be published at an especially bad time, or on the contrary it's a particularly good one, it's purely coincidental, and i encourage you once again to simply come back to this when it's more convenient if you do feel like you ought to read what follows.

as stated previously i have had no contact with this blog or any of the blogs that were previously associated with it in a few months now. i have no idea if what happened where i'm concerned was addressed publicly or not. i do believe it would have warranted a callout post, but i don't know if one was actually made. it makes it difficult to address when i don't know what people generally do or don't know, so i'll just say this: everything you've heard, if you've heard anything, is probably true.

the abuse, the gas-lighting, the suicide baiting, the mean or passive-aggressive comments, the talking smack about people in private. all of it happened, and it was happening for several months, and i'm not here to try to deny or justify any of it. i'm sure anyone who paid attention to the dash was able to observe that i had questionable vibes at best, and i'm here to tell you that it was much, much worse in private, and it was much, much worse for those who endured it than i could ever make it out to be.

for most of the time i was on here, i tried to advocate against elitism, clique culture and all around bad energies while being one of the main people to perpetuate them. i never questioned myself and if anyone confronted me, i took for granted that they were wrong and argued around it. i had a 'assume people are shitty until proven otherwise' mindset that resulted in a lot of unwarranted aggression, mistrust and guilt-tripping towards many people. i caused an immense amount of tension and distress, both on and off the dash, and never took responsibility for any of it at the time. for that, i am sincerely sorry.

there's only so much i can say without starting to list everything i've done to people individually - which i think would be inappropriate considering i am making this post without speaking to them first or otherwise knowing whether they've recovered or would be okay with me disclosing the details of our involvements.

however, i don't want to simply dismiss my actions by confirming i did them and moving on, either. if there are any allegations i should address or at least acknowledge in more details, please let me know. i just quite frankly don't know how to publicly take accountability for things that went on over the course of a long time, or that weren't always explicit, or that i may not realize the full extent of even now, seeing as i've never gotten to actually discuss them with the people concerned. i don’t want to make this a potentially triggering read for those who were involved by bringing up details without their permission, but i don’t want those who weren’t involved to assume my actions were minor offenses only because said details are lacking, either. it's important not to underestimate the gravity of the harm i've caused, and far be it from me to try and sweep it under the rug. in that sense, the only thing i can say is, make no mistake, i am 100% guilty of all of it.

what’s more, me admitting to my wrongdoings is only me going off of what i can remember. i can guarantee that all i've done is even worse than i make it sound, seeing as it's worse than i'm able to comprehend, for i was never the one on the receiving end of my behavior.

for the longest time i wholeheartedly believed i couldn't be a bad person because i never /meant/ to hurt anyone. i was wrong. i was a bad person because even when i knew that i was capable of unintentionally hurting people, i did not take responsibility or seek to correct my behavior. i always had (pardon the language) bullshit excuses to justify my actions and invalidate the pain of those i hurt, whether it was to myself or to other people. i thought my initial intentions mattered more than the effect they had, and therefore no harm was ever actually my fault because i hadn't intended it.

it's an incredibly toxic mindset to have. it's the same rhetoric with which racists, homophobics, ableists and such people can get away with racism, homophobia, ableism and so on without guilt- by convincing themselves that if they don't mean it that way, then it absolves them of blame, and whatever harm they cause is technically the victim's fault for taking offense to it. it's a very harmful thought process, and not at all the kind of person i want to be, and i'm sorry i hurt so many before i came to understand this.

for what it's worth, i am getting help. i am seeing a therapist once a week since may, with the goal of understanding where my abusive and manipulative reflexes come from and getting rid of them. beyond our weekly sessions, i was given an exercise to do on my own time, on a daily basis (or at least as often as i interact with others), meant to help me learn to believe in the inherent goodness of people and develop a kinder and more optimistic disposition towards them. i have also taken a summer course in communication in hopes of (re)learning how to properly listen and be more receptive of people's thoughts (and especially criticism), although that has admittedly not proven quite as effective as i'd hoped, so i am looking to consult with a specialist in that department when post-pandemic re-openings allow it.

obviously, none of these efforts make up for what i've done. they are quite frankly too little too late and will never erase the pain i've inflicted. unfortunately, they are also the only concrete action i can take to make amends after the fact, now that the damage is done. or so it seems from my current perspective.

if there is anything else i can do to make up for even a fraction of the harm i've caused, i would be very thankful to hear about it. if there is something i am at fault for that i may not be taking accountability for, i would also like to know. keeping in mind that, while knowing exactly how my behavior was problematic would allow me to better take the blame for it, this is not an obligation or expectation in any way. please only let me know about such things if you feel secure in doing so; do not feel pressured if you feel it would compromise you. my growth is no one's responsibility but my own. that being said, i know that i scared and bullied a lot of people into silence in the past, and i feel like inviting you to speak up about the stress or pain i've caused you is the least i can do to make up for it. if it's more empowering for you to ignore this and move on, by all means, just ignore this and move on.

if at all possible, i would also like to apologize for my behavior - more than just generally. i honestly believe that i have caused some manner of torment, whether directly or indirectly, to everyone in this community, and that everyone is deserving of an apology. i am fully aware that most of the people concerned likely feel unsafe at the idea of being in touch with me in any way, so i will not be reaching out to you directly myself, but with your permission, i would like to personally and individually apologize to anyone willing to indulge me for a brief exchange. i am not doing this to earn your forgiveness; i am doing this because i genuinely feel bad. if i can contribute to your finding closure by acknowledging how i've wronged you, it's the least i can do. i promise that i have no intention of using this as an opportunity to renew contact and that, should you do me this favor, you will be more than welcome to completely cut ties after the fact with no hard feelings on my end.

i can be reached in a fairly timely manner (as in, i am logged in on those accounts on my phone) on discord (Eph#2409) and tumblr ( @friendlifyre ). if a less instant method of communication is more comfortable for you, the e-mail [email protected] is at your disposal. if you don't mind the wait, you can also give me a nudge on this blog, as i will be (albeit rarely) logging in here to work on old drafts (without publishing them) until they're finished or i otherwise feel content with leaving this part of my life behind.

as a small addendum, i am humbly asking to please be civil if you use any of these methods to reach me. while i am arguably deserving of the death threats and insults coming my way, i am sharing these specifically to make open communication possible, and to make it easier to avoid me for those who wish to do so. i will not silence you if you choose an aggressive approach as i recognize it's ultimately what i deserve; i only ask that you at least consider that i am really just trying to do something right in the wake of all the wrong i've done, and i would appreciate if all related messages could remain constructive and not just mean for the sake of being mean.

as a conclusion i can only apologize once more for the bad vibes i brought into this community. it will be months if not years of active work on myself before i can confidently say that i have made progress and become a better person, yet i suspect a good number of people may carry with them the tension and fear i've instigated far longer. i am truly sorry. i can only offer, for what little consolation it might be, that not at single day goes by that i don't regret my actions and feel the weight of them.

if i could give my past self any advice, or anyone who indulges in similar attitudes, it would be to keep questioning yourself, to stop assuming you know better. just because your intentions are not bad does not mean they never affect people in a bad way. just because you can recognize abusive behavior in others, does not make it inherently impossible for you to be abusive. make an effort every day to consider those around you as individuals, even when it's easier to view them as parts of a bigger whole, of a community. learn not only to be kind but to think kindly, to catch yourself when you think mean thoughts and condition yourself to a more positive approach. assume people are good until proven otherwise. if there's anything you want to get off your chest that you wouldn't want divulged to the whole world, even when you think you're just harmlessly venting, you are ultimately spreading negativity and should work on getting rid of it from within instead.

it's always more work to improve than to stay the way you are, but you owe it to everyone else if not to yourself to be someone who's good to be around.

thank you for taking the time to read this if you have. regardless of who did or whether there is any kind of response to this, i will continue this work-in-progress that is my self and try to make sure i never put anyone else through what i've been putting people through here. i am glad i have the opportunity to acknowledge at least some of my problematic behavior and apologize, as it seemed, for quite some time now, the only logical step i hadn't taken yet in my journey to moving forward.

once again, thank you for reading this, and, assuming this is the last interaction we'll have with one another, i wish you the very, very best.

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krreader · 6 years

Text

my fault - the aftermath.

pairing: jeon jeongguk x reader ; surprise (: x reader fandom: bts warnings: language genre: angst ; fluff previous: x

summary: you were desperately looking to put an end to yours and jeongguk’s relationship, since your break-up didn’t exactly give you closure. but where there’s an ending, there’s a beginning as well.

a/n: I honestly don’t know how many of you have requested a part 2 for my fault, but here it finally is haha. hope you like it ♥

ask box | masterlist | fandoms | faq | multifandom reader blog

No calls, no texts, no visits..

..it's really as if he didn't care. As if he never cared..

That was probably the worst part of the break-up, thinking that not only had he wasted two years of his life with you, but you did as well. You spent two years of your life with somebody that you thought loved you, but clearly didn't, or he would have taken at least a bit of effort to win you back. A bit of effort to make you understand you were important to him.

But you tried to push through, tried to tell yourself that you were worth more than what he had made you feel these past months.

And just when you felt like you were finally at a point that you could at least breathe again and go a day without crying over this man you once called the love of your life, he was standing in front of your door, still looking as handsome as you remembered him.

“Please don't close the door,” he said when he saw your expression change. He felt like you would shove the door into his face again. For a good reason, “I.. I just want to say something.”

“A little late.. it's been three months..”

Three months. And yet it still felt like yesterday.

Getting over somebody you loved was hard, but getting over somebody you thought you’d spend your life with was harder.

You had thought you and Jeongguk would marry each other one day, would have children and life happily ever after.

And you still clung to that. Still hoped it was all a bad dream, especially now that he was standing in front of you.

But you had to remind yourself what he did.

You couldn’t give in anymore, even if you wanted to.

“I told my members about you..”

“What?” at that you started laughing. Earnestly, “So you hid me for two years and now that we broke up you tell them about me?”

“I know I should have done it a long time ago, I realize that now, but.. I would like you to meet them now. I don't think you'll ever forgive me, but they told me they all wanted to get to know you. I'm just here to tell you that and ask you if you wanted to get to know them too..”

Was he serious? Two whole years you tried to get to know his band members and two whole years he refused. You begged him to at least let you go to a concert to meet them, but he always refused.

And now he wanted you to get to know them? Now after it was over?

What fucked up game was he playing here?

“Why did you tell them about me in the first place? Why bother now?”

“They saw I wasn't well and kept asking me about it,” he fidgeted with his hands, “I don't know.. I just couldn't lie anymore, I guess. And it felt so good telling them about you. Made me realize I should have done it a long time ago.. especially when they were so interested in you and asked all sorts of questions about you. It.. made me happy.”

You weren't sure what to feel. Confusion because he showed up so suddenly? Empathy, because from the looks of it, he really regretted his actions? No, definitely not that one.

He had made his decision on not fighting for you and you wouldn't fall into that trap of forgiving him again.

You're worth more than that, (Y/N). Show him you're better. Prove to him that he lost an amazing woman. And show his band members that their perfect little maknae had fucked up by letting you go.

“Alright,” you nodded, “I'll meet them.”

Let them see what a great person you are. Let them see that you weren’t a desperate fan waiting down in the entrance hall of their apartment complex, but a girl that had loved her boyfriend so unconditionally, that she let herself be treated like shit for months.

Let them see how they all missed out.

“R..- Really?”

“But don't think you and me are going to have a happy ending. I'm only coming because I've always liked your music and want to meet them,” which was actually incredibly true. You had always been a fan of theirs.

The fact that you were coming was a lot more than he had expected, to be honest. He had thought you would refuse right away, so he would take whatever he could get, for whatever reason.

And maybe, just maybe, he could show you that he wanted you back.

Show you how much he really loved you and how much he regretted his decision every single day.

“(Y/N)?” Namjoon smiled at you.

“Yeah,” you extended your hand, “Nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise. Jeongguk.. told us a lot.”

“Well.. at least he's doing that after our break-up,” you followed Namjoon into the apartment.

“I'm really sorry for everything that happened between you two. I'm sure he didn't tell us the whole story, but..- you deserved better,” Namjoon loved Jeongguk, but treating someone you love like he had treated you was a big no-go and he wouldn’t defend him in this.

He couldn’t.

“I know,” you nodded, a small smile on your face, “Took me a while to realize it, but.. I know.”

Namjoon matched your smile and walked you into the living room, introducing you to all the other members.

While you chatted with them, Jeongguk stood at the back and just.. watched you all. Watched how easily you interacted with them, how much they seemed to like you and laugh at everything you said. He watched you smile happily, with genuine happiness. And for a split second he imagined you visiting for a different reason.

Because he finally introduced you as his girlfriend.

..not his ex-girlfriend.

But he’s had two years to do that. And he missed his opportunity.

“How long were you together?” Taehyung asked over dinner, “Jeongguk was really vague.”

“Two years,” you nodded, thinking about your next words very carefully, but feeling like you had to say it, “That's how much time he wasted on me.”

“Stop,” your ex shook his head, “That's not true,” he said instantly.

“Isn't it?” you put down the spoon and leaned back, narrowing your eyes at him, “Tell me, how many of you would hide your girlfriend from each other and your loved ones for so long?” you looked around, all of their heads dropping, because the answer was none.

Jeongguk, however, stared right back into your eyes and was hurt by the lack of emotions in them.

You used to look at him with so much love and adoration.

But that love must have died the day he left you. Like a lot of things that had died that day.

Instead of saying something snarky, or something that might hurt you, he just whispered: “I'm sorry, (Y/N). Truly,” because he was.

If he could turn back time and undo what he did, he would. He would introduce you to his loved ones and would tell them how much he loved you. He would take you out to dates and would show you how much he appreciated you every single day, would make sure you knew how much you were loved.

But that was impossible now.

Now, he had to deal with the fact that he had lost you. A girl that he couldn’t help but think was the love of his life.

And while his heart was breaking more and more, you were somehow feeling better by the second.

All those months, you had tried to find an ending to your story. You tried to move on, but something had always held you back.

Now, hearing him apologize to you..-

Maybe this was it.

It was only when you were on the balcony after dinner and he joined you, that you asked:

“You said you were sorry before. What are you sorry for?”

He stood at the door, watching your hair blow in the wind and thinking how stupid he had been for not seeing what he was seeing now.

“For not treating you right. For not loving you right. For not being the man you deserved,” he whispered.

Yeah.. yeah, this felt a lot like the end.

The end you had been so desperately looking for. The end that would help you fully move on and continue with your life.

Live happily again.. laugh again..

“I forgive you,” you smiled, “I told you that we won't have our happy ending. But maybe we were never supposed to,” you turned your head to look at him.

“Yeah,” he nodded, quickly wiping away the tear that escaped his eyes, hoping you hadn’t seen it, “Maybe some people just aren't meant to be together.”

But hearing these words come out of his mouth hurt him so much.

Because now he was finally feeling what you had been feeling all this time.

He finally understood.

You put your hand on his arm and squeezed gently, “Do me a favor, though. Treat the next girl right. And don't hurt her like you've hurt me.”

Jeongguk didn't reply, he simply wrapped his arms around you and pulled you towards him, “I'll always love you,” he whispered into your hair, knowing it wouldn’t change anything, but needing you to hear it anyways.

“I know.”

And you would probably always love him too.

But sometimes being with the person you loved the most hurt the most. And when that was the case, you had to take a step back and look out for yourself.

You now knew to never let yourself be treated this way again.

An important lesson that you would never forget.

“And I hope the next man will treat you like you deserve to be treated,” he leaned back, his hands on either side of your face and for a second you thought he might want to kiss you, but then he pressed his lips against your forehead, “Like I should have treated you.”

You finally felt free when stepping out of the apartment complex.

All that weight was finally lifted off of your chest and you felt like you were ready to take the world by storm again.

So yeah, this night definitely went a lot better than expected.

And would become even better, apparently.

“(Y/N)!” you turned around, surprised when you saw..-

“Hoseok? Did I forget something?”

“No, no,” he laughed happily, “I just wanted to take you home.”

“What? Why?” you furrowed your eyebrows.

“Because it's dark and I don't like the idea of you walking home at this time of night alone,” he put his hand in the pocket of his coat and held out his arm for you to take it, “Here.”

You looked at his arm first, then up into his beautiful eyes, a smile spreading on your lips.

Where there's an ending, there's a beginning somewhere just waiting for you to be explored.

And so you hooked your arm with his, saying, “Thank you very much, then..”

“My pleasure.”

And from the balcony, Jeongguk watched you two leave with both a crying and a laughing eye, knowing that Hoseok would treat you much better than he ever could have.

And if he trusted anyone with you, it was him.

“Where did Hobi-hyung go?” Jimin asked as he joined Jeongguk on the balcony.

“I asked him to take (Y/N) home,” he smiled as he turned around, “He uh.. seemed to like her a lot.”

#bts imagine #bts x reader #jungkook imagine #jungkook x reader #jeongguk x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook imagine #jeongguk imagine #bts #bangtan boys #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan #reader #jeon jeongguk x reader #requests

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nogoodmox · 6 years

Text

since it’s late n u guys have been so encouraging

i wanna preface this by saying....im not a Writer and this is pretty much the first wrestling-related thing i’ve ever written. also this was written at 3 am yesterday so pls keep that in mind ALSO it’s not very. romantic bc 1.) im not good with that stuff and 2.) it’s kinda covering the early stages of their relationship so they’re barely even friends yet! (this takes place right before war games!)

that being said thanks for being so nice abt it guys ur all the sweetest and i love u and i’m sorry this isn’t Better but constructive criticism would be appreciated! mwah!

Pete tapped his fist against his jaw in a needless effort to hype himself up.

The guaranteed brutality of his upcoming match didn’t faze him—brutality was his specialty, after all— but despite that, he couldn’t shake off an uncomfortable feeling.

Maybe it was the thought of having to rely on others for his victory, or maybe it was the thought of them relying on him. Neither were things that he was exactly used to.

He wondered, when the time came, if he would put himself in harm’s way for the sake of the others.

Pete thought of the last time he had relied on someone. It was ironic in a way, how the same person he had tentatively began to trust would be one of his opponents tonight.

He had never really thought of Roderick as a friend, just a sort of unavoidable ally. His eagerness had been irritating as was his general disposition, but Pete had chosen to put his trust in him. A choice he’d come to regret.

He liked to believe that the betrayal had made him all the more dangerous now. Not only could he use his desire for vengeance to his advantage, he’d also be sure not to make a mistake like that again.

Pete had operated just fine on his own for as long as he could remember. There were a select few times where he’d tried opening up, and each time he paid for it. It took a few experiences for the lesson to be drilled into his brain, but at least now there was no way he could forget it.

He should stick with what he knew best, and what he knew best was solitude.

Keep interactions short and bitter. You look out for one person, and that person is yourself. Everyone else is simply an obstacle or dead weight.

It was a philosophy he lived by, and one he truly believed in. There just happened to be times where he’d let it slip and thought maybe, just maybe, someone could be an exception. But they never were.

A steady knock on the locker room door disrupted his thoughts. A faint feeling of pain registered in Pete’s jaw as he realized he’d been tapping his fist against it this whole time. Before he could say anything, the door opened and Ricochet’s head popped in.

“You got a minute?”

Pete didn’t answer, he just raised an eyebrow when he noticed something in Ricochet’s hands. It looked like a tube of toothpaste.

Ricochet followed his gaze and held up the object, wiggling it in his hand. “Oh, this? Yeah, it’s kinda why I’m here, actually.” He walked up to Pete and held it out to him. Pete read the label, which only confused him more.

“White….face paint?”

The other man adjusted his North American Championship on his shoulder. “Yeah. Y’know, war paint for tonight. It was Hanson and Rowe’s idea. They figured we should at least look like a cohesive unit.”

“What’s the point of that?” Pete deadpanned. “Face paint won’t get us a win against Undisputed Era.”

Ricochet looked at a loss for a second, then sighed. “C’mon man. It’s to pump you up, get you excited to kick some ass. Plus it’ll look cool, yeah?”

Pete wasn’t very convinced, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue. He did admittedly like the idea of amping up the intimidation factor, not that he was going to tell Ricochet that. “Fine. Might as well fool people into thinking we’re a real team.”

“S’that supposed to mean? We’re a real team. Cole and his cronies are gonna see just how real we are tonight.” Ricochet declared, giving Pete a few taps on the chest.

Pete stiffened at the contact and glared at the highflier. Ricochet was someone who currently fell under the obstacle category in Pete’s eyes. He hadn’t forgotten the match where both their titles had been on the line. They never received closure, and Pete intended to change that next time they crossed paths in the ring.

He’d prefer for Ricochet to stay an obstacle rather than become dead weight.

“I’ve said it before, you’re just a guy carrying a piece of gold that I want. As for the other two, they’ve already got each other. We may be on the same side, but we’re not a team.”

The grin on Ricochet’s face weakened a bit. “Man do you like, practice this stuff in a mirror before you talk to anyone?” He chuckled at his own joke—was it a joke? The weight of Pete’s words didn’t seem to mean much to him, however, as he quickly bounced back. “Anyway, face paint, yes or no?”

“Sure.” Pete said.

“Great.” Ricochet tossed the tube of paint to Pete. “Doll me up.”

Pete barely caught the tube in time. He whipped his head up to face Ricochet, trying to make sure he had heard him correctly. “What?”

Ricochet had placed his title on the bench next to him and met Pete’s gaze expectantly. “What? I can’t put it on myself. There’s no mirror in here.”

“Then find one.”

“No can do.” He almost looked smug, as if he had planned this. “Bathroom’s closed for repairs, apparently Kyle and Bobby thought it’d be fun to flush Sullivan’s gear down the toilet. He caught ‘em in the act.” Ricochet let out a whistle. “It wasn’t pretty.”

Pete didn’t want to hear any more. For whatever reason, Ricochet was intent on sporting war paint, he might as well indulge him. After tonight, he could set his sights on what really mattered.

“Alright. C’mere.” Pete placed his championship on the bench opposite of Ricochet’s and squeezed some paint onto his fingers.

He lifted his hand only to pause suddenly, leaving it hovering in front of Ricochet’s face. “What’s their paint look like anyways?”

Ricochet thought for a moment. “It’s like…a V shape on each cheek.” He explained, tracing the motion over Pete’s cheeks with his finger. “Simple enough.”

“Right.” Pete grunted, doing everything he could to ignore the way his face had heated up. He pressed his fingers to Ricochet’s face and began painting the design, trying his best to keep his hand steady.

Pete came to a halt when Ricochet started giggling quietly. He gave him a strange look, pulling his hand away.

The other man took a moment to compose himself, then cleared his throat. “Tickles.” Came the simple explanation. Pete rolled his eyes and continued with his work, retracing the lines to smooth out the jagged edges.

He paused again to add more paint to his fingers, avoiding Ricochet’s gaze. Pete could feel the man looking at him and unconsciously tossed his head a bit to let his hair cover his face.

As Pete started on the other cheek, he noticed Ricochet hadn’t stopped staring at him at him, almost amusingly.

“What?” Pete finally asked, with a hint of challenge.

Ricochet seemed unbothered. “You’re just a lot more careful than I thought you’d be” He said, a little quieter than usual. It was unclear if the remark was meant to be teasing. It seemed sincere enough, but even if it was Pete wasn’t sure what the implications were.

Pete said nothing and averted his eyes again, finishing with a final swipe. “There.” He muttered. “All done.”

“Great! I’ll just have to trust that it looks good.” Ricochet reached up to touch his freshly painted face, then decided against it. “Alright, your turn!”

Pete froze, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

He wasn’t particularly keen on anyone paying close attention to his face.

It was bumpy and weird; he knew this. Acne scars and uneven stubble were just the beginning of it. It was something he’d learned to accept, but he wasn’t exactly dying for others to get a good look at it.

Regardless, he knew Ricochet wouldn’t take no for an answer. If he had, Pete wouldn’t have just spent the past few minutes spreading paint on his face in uncomfortable silence.

Ricochet took the paint tube from Pete’s hands. “You mind uh…” He made a hair flip motion. “Getting that out of the way?”

Pete looked down at his hands, covered in white paint, and decided to go with option two. He swung his head to the side—a little too forcefully—and flipped the blond mess back. He was satisfied for a moment before it came toppling back down in his face.

It was times like this where he seriously reconsidered growing out his hair.

“I gotchu.” Ricochet intervened, looking even more amused than before. He tucked Pete’s hair behind his ear to keep it from coming loose again. “Sure got a lot of hair homeboy.” He commented.

“Guess you can’t relate.” Pete replied bluntly.

Ricochet laughed out loud at that, almost too eager to make fun of himself. “Guess not.” He emptied what was left of the paint into his hand and got to work. Pete winced at the cold feeling, trying not to pull away. “But you know,” Ricochet continued. “The lack of hair could be the secret to my speed.”

Pete wasn’t fully sure if he was joking. “I reckon that’s why you got pieces missing in your eyebrows too?”

The highflier laughed again, this time not as loud, but a huge smile graced his face. “Man, you’re alright.”

Ricochet spread the paint on Pete’s cheeks with ease, moving just as smoothly as he did in the ring. Pete fought with everything he had to try not to break out into a fit of laughter. Ricochet was right, the feeling made him ticklish. His lip curved upward in a smile that he quickly pushed away.

“All set.” Ricochet finally announced, looking proud of his work. Pete didn’t doubt that the man had probably done a better job than him. “Now we look like a force to be reckoned with.”

Pete held couldn’t help but soften his expression a bit. He felt cool, and far more relaxed than earlier. Once again, he wasn’t going to tell Ricochet that, but he appreciated the feeling. “If painting faces keeps you from screwing up tonight, then so be it.” He replied with a shrug.

Ricochet shook his head, and if Pete didn’t know any better he’d say he was annoyed. “You never quit do you? Y’know we can do this whole rivalry thing without all the little remarks, yeah?”

“Cause make no mistake,” Ricochet’s tone grew serious. “I’m just as focused on that title of yours as you are on mine.”

The sudden change surprised Pete, but it didn’t faze him. After all, this was why he kept up his guard so high. He knew behind every person there was a set of intentions, and each interaction with him was a means of achieving them.

“I’m well aware.” Pete said evenly. “S’why I’m not buying this partner ruse. We’re not friends, and we never will be.”

Ricochet paused for a moment. “Just ‘cause you’re a future opponent, doesn’t mean we can’t be on the same page now. It’s no ruse, I’ve got your back tonight. I mean that.”

“Better to have your own back first.”

Ricochet lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck, looking unsure of where to go from there.

“You’re a tough nut to crack.” He said finally, leaning down to grab his North American championship. When he came back up, he was smiling again. “But I’m willing to prove where my loyalties lie out there. There’s no hiding in the ring.”

Pete eyed him for a moment, then nodded briskly. “That’s one thing we can agree on.”

“I’ve got another. We both wanna beat the hell out of those undisputed assholes, right?” Ricochet offered. “That snake Roddy’s gonna be out there tonight. If you ask me, you should focus on giving him the ass whopping he’s had coming instead of making enemies out of your partners.”

An odd silence followed his words. Pete didn’t know how to respond, and Ricochet’s intense gaze wasn’t making it any easier. In his heart Pete knew he had a point.

He was more than willing to take on all four members of the Undisputed Era himself, but he knew realistically he wouldn’t come out victorious. He needed Ricochet and the War Raiders whether he liked it or not.

Just one night couldn’t be so bad, right? Even if it involved putting his faith in other people. Ricochet had nothing to gain from betraying him. Hanson and Rowe, he wasn’t so sure, but considering how fixated they had been on the Undisputed Era for the past several weeks, it was unlikely.

Ricochet saved Pete from having to muster up an answer by reaching over and picking up his United Kingdom Championship. Pete’s eyes widened and he tensed up, ready to snatch it out of his hands.

There was no need to, however, as Ricochet placed it snugly on Pete’s shoulder.

He gave it a few pats, admiring the intricate design on the belt for several moments.

Ricochet took a few steps back, his own title sitting around his waist. “You look good.” He said finally. “Let’s do work tonight, mate.”

Pete’s partner tossed the now empty paint tube in his hand once, then turned to saunter off.

“Not your mate.” Pete replied in a half-hearted protest. He couldn’t see Ricochet’s face as he left the room, but Pete knew he was smiling.

“By the way, the bathroom’s perfectly fine. Just figured we could use a team bonding exercise.”

#heh #there u go #like i said not very romantic #but idk ihope u enjoy! thanks for being so nice guys <3333333 #mine #ig #writing for wrestlers like pete or dean is really really hard #cuz i love them so much im afraid im gonna mess them up

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sparda3g · 5 years

Text

Gintama Chapter 699 Review

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After 10,000 years, this series is free. It’s time to conquer Earth! But seriously, it felt like it has been years since we last have a new Gintama chapter. The last one wasn’t truly the final chapter, but only final to be released in Weekly Shounen Jump. Today, Sorachi is on a mission to finish the series for good with a proper sendoff. What way to make a comeback than delivering a chapter that define Gintama perfectly; hysterical parody, emotional driven characters, and action-packed ride with a gut-wrenching cliffhanger.

By the time you see the color spread, you’ll know we’re off with a great start with Silver Ball Z. It’s remarkable how accurate Sorachi captured the visual work of Toriyama. From the character’s angle to design, it’s well deserved achievement to capture the sensation. Kondo didn’t need alteration though; he’s already a gorilla, so only the style has changed. To make the parody even better, the good portion of the beginning is a recap done in Dragon Ball style.

This is one of the best “previously on” segment that I have ever seen. It’s quite brilliant to take advantage of switching from one magazine to another and start off with a recap to remind the fans what happened while have a good laugh. It’s not only the artstyle that has changed, but even the narration reflects the same way how Dragon Ball has done in the past. All it was missing was the soundtrack. It is gold, or silver, however you want to call this moment. I laughed so hard at Katsura designed as Yamucha, and Takasugi designed as Vegeta. Strangely enough, it captured their character too well. Before the chapter truly begins, Katsura strikes Gintoki with Wolf Fang Fist.

The comedy doesn’t focus only on Dragon Ball parody, but also on Sorachi himself. Apparently, because of more time and switch to Jump Giga, Sorachi is now putting effort to his work with great quality of art, even if it does resort to Dragon Ball. Oddly enough, this seems to be low-key true to other Mangaka, but I digress. Hilarious that Katsura buries Yamucha by calling it a loser role. Rest in Peace, Yamucha. The best part is the ending of the parody. I seriously think Sorachi believes all of it.

Now that Gintama is in another magazine, Gintoki has nothing to worry about. No more worries about One Piece overshadowing him and no more worries about the rising suns that are Black Clover, My Hero Academia, and Haikyuu!!! to overshadow him. He can now overrun the world of Jump Giga, starting with Akira Toriyama’s power. So much so, he pulls the exact same ending shot from Dragon Ball. That is pure gold. Could you imagine if the series did end the same way? We’re going to need Gintama Super then. Takasugi brings the scene back to reality with Galick Gun. Oh how I missed this series.

He does have a point though. If there were silver balls, why bother planning this ambush in the first place? There wouldn’t be any need to sacrifice and nothing will be at stake. Well, thank goodness, it doesn’t exist. We can’t ruin the excitement now. Of course, what Sorachi does best is to segue to a more serious matter from a gag. It’s true with silver balls, life would be much easier on them, but Takasugi has no regrets. He’s thankful that they made it this far with their own hands; no tricks, no magic, just pure talent. All thanks to Shouyo. This is the type of writing I missed from this series. From there on, it’s all action-packed with many things to offer.

I assume with all the time Sorachi has with Jump Giga, he has enough energy to add plenty of details and sequences to the action scenes without wasting so much spaces. Unlike Boruto, it uses the panels wisely for tension and suspense. It’s why the action starts with a bang, literally and figuratively. It’s the Disciples against the cult followers. That panel with all three kicking asses while feeling the excitement is great. Thankfully, it’s not all of the story that was being told here.

Although they reached to the Altana Terminal, the ship that crashed is absorbing the altana. That means Shouyo’s body is absorbing it and soon, Tendoshu will gain a new way for their immortality plan. This does raise the tension higher, now that we establish that they’re on a ticking time bomb. They have to rush all the way up there and when you look at the scene, it’s incredibly difficult. It’s baffling how much people truly desired for immortality this badly. That’s where we receive a really heartfelt moment during the heated action.

While the action goes on as it becomes intense, Katsura begins a heartfelt speech that is shared with others that ties in the morale of immortality and cherish the life you’re given. Even if they were to die, he will have no regrets. It’s hard to say if their reunion was joy or sorrow, but it’s certain if one outlives another, it would be impossible to find another person like them. They have ups and downs, trying to kill each other. Despite all of the troubles, their bonds can’t be severed. It’s the bond that’s worth limiting to. Honestly, I can’t do it justice without the mention of its sequences.

The reason why this was so heartfelt isn’t just because we know their friendship is truly one of the kind or how well-written the dialogue is. It’s the action set piece that drives the emotion home with great sincerity. Not only it was entertaining, but you can grasp the words’ meaning at its best, leaving you feeling really good and emotional. It has great effective use of the flashback panels and the focus view to leave a strong impact. Like how Takasugi holds Gintoki’s hand to show the comradery, the unbroken friendship. It’s so damn good to see this series back again.

Gintoki can relate to the followers on one thing: not wanting to die. He can understand their wishes because he too wants to live long and enjoy the sensation with his friends. The others have their own wish to meet Shouyo. They want to vent out their frustration, but they may never know how much of a beating they will give until they feel satisfied. Not even eternity would do. Those panel shots with all of them enjoying are sublime. That’s how you do friendship. Those three are the best. The one major downside is the old friend of mine: darkness and it raised death flags.

Katsura spots a rocket launcher and push everyone back to dodge. Only he takes the damage from the impact, weakened enough to slow them down. They then gets trapped by both sides of their pathway, which seems like the end for them. While I didn’t think of that, I was a bit worried on what’s about to happen with Katsura injured. Anything goes and that’s what happens next. The explosions erupt from the wall, essentially saving the three from their certain doom. That’s where the other best part of the series comes in: the characters.

It was clear that it was too much for the three to handle all of the enemy alone, which is why it’s a great time to bring back all other characters to the fray. I like how Shinseigumi orders them to comply and if they don’t, then more power to them, because they would love to show their power. It’s not just them, it’s every character that has been around for a long time. It’s like witnessing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Gintama Edition; everyone is here! All it was missing was that theme song from Be Yorozuya Forever. Book it, anime staff!

What makes the scenario even better is how they are reflecting the long grueling journey after being ruled by Amanto for 20 years. They went through hell many times, but the result is paying off greatly. After the war, it made them stronger than ever. It’s no wonder earlier in the arc, it emphasized the growth of the Samurai. No more they will feel fear from them; it’s time to take Earth back. It’s a message that reads, “It’s been a long journey for your favorite characters, but they learn and grow, and when they show the result, the journey ends.” It’s already building for the closure that we have been waiting for.

You can’t do this justice without the beloved main characters. Just when Otae blocks the attack, which by the way is the same shot from the anime preview back in Jump Festa, the two come to save the day. Most importantly, after for so long, they can finally say, “Welcome to the country of Samurai.” The monthly release schedule really pays off for the quality panels like the one with Shinpachi and Kagura. So great to see them again. I got to remind myself how heroine is treated as well as a main character that doesn’t overshadow the protagonist. Yorozuya’s reunion is so close. I can almost taste it.

Characters aren’t great without amusing interactions. Matsudaira and Kondo are cooperating from sky and ground, like the good old time. Despite their political differences, mainly on the marriage, they are great friends. No matter what timeline they’re in, it will always be the Era of Samurai. Hijikata and Sougo work alongside with Shinpachi and Kagura, while she rubs in that Yorozuya is better than Shinseigumi as Sougo denies that claim. Some things never change, but that’s the way we like them.

There is an interesting development regarding with Utsuro. Tendoshu are in the process of gathering the Altana, but they are on the verge of losing their cult. The head leader however is fine with the way things are going. Shouyo’s body is slowly gaining a new heart. That will leave his disciples carrying a spare that wouldn’t destroy Tendoshu’s plan. Now the question comes in: why would the head leader needs to revive Shouyo completely? That’s where things get twisted.

If you have watched the preview from Jump Festa, there was a very strange scene with Utsuro mixed with Tendoshu’s body. It turns out that was true and not only true, but Utsuro has stolen their will. All this time, the plan isn’t for the sake of immortality, but instead, to revive Utsuro under his will. It makes sense considering that they consumed so much blood that they just so happen to control it like it belongs to them. The blood is like a virus, soon it will overpower you and a new mind will be inserted; case in point, Utsuro’s. In short, he has returned. This begs the question. Will Shouyo return as Utsuro with a new heart? It’s quite freaky to see three Utsuros in one setting.

The elevator scene is like a checkpoint for Gintoki and others to cool down and talk for a moment. Katsura does the talking while the other two stay quiet. It’s due to what Katsura said about their people and friends; everyone has grown stronger. They aren’t weak to ask them for a favor, rather fighting to help them. You can say they grew accustomed to be the one helping, not vice versa. Jumping ahead for a bit, Takasugi asks Gintoki for the heart; influenced by Katsura’s words, but not really all bright. They have enemies waiting for them, essentially, this scene become calm before storm.

Shinpachi and Kagura are assisted by Kyuubei and her clan, preventing reinforcements to barge through. It is the series’ way to have certain character to say their words or blessing, starting with her. She wishes to fool around a little longer with Gintoki and others like the good old days. She would be happy if they ruin her marriage interview. How charming.

In the midst of tensed action scene with Gintoki and others at the elevator lobby, Tsukuyo and others fight off the reinforcements to open path for Yorozuya. She gets shot through her leg. Damn. Luckily, Sacchan and Zenzou are there to back her up. Interesting though fitting for Sacchan to encourage Tsukuyo to not to die, unless she is with her lover. Strange use of context about the crotch spot, but the meaning holds the significant value. She’s not planning to die; she will live to see Gintoki again. Sorachi sure knows how to please the pairing fans; I’ll take it. I like Zenzou’s words for him as well. If he doesn’t return, then say goodbye to Jump issues. That’s funny yet heartwarming.

It’s hard to review the segment with great justice with its transition between Gintoki and his friends. It’s worth mentioning because how the scenes greatly complements the segment about what Gintoki has lost and gain. Takasugi wants the heart because he wants him to enjoy the life he can still take back. While that is seriously nice of him, Gintoki’s response is even nicer. He is fine with the way things are, because he doesn’t need to take it back. He got everything there. That includes Takasugi; when they fought alongside, when they fought against each other. That’s Gintoki’s reason to be there; never to lose anything. God, I’m going to miss this series.

The ending is crazy, especially the cliffhanger. Just when we got a teary sentimental scene, shit hits the fan when the explosion erupted by the lobby door. Damn you, Michael Bay! The heart slips out and Katsura is the only guy that can grab it. I was struck when his hand almost reaches it, only to get stabbed by the staff. Damn, that looks bad. Hitsugi sends him down crashing. I don’t know where they landed, but if they are fine more or less, I sense a new battle.

The intensity doesn’t stop as Gintoki trying to hold on the rope, which is ripping his skin. Cringe. Takasugi has to make an opening for them to land, so he jumps towards the door and breaks it, badass style. Wow, that was close. That elevator breakout scene was so damn good. Another scene from Jump Festa happens with Takasugi holding his hand out for Gintoki to grab onto. A couple of panels are used for heartfelt friendship scene as well as tension. It’s all fine and well, until Takasugi’s hand weakens. Tendoshu stabbed him with a sword. That’s where the chapter ends. Dammit, Gorilla…

I know Takasugi is semi-immortal, but the fact is he’s running out of time. If anything, this lessen the time even further. For all we know, this could be his last extra life, so if he were to die again, that’s it. Not to mention, it’s Tendoshu or Utsuro behind him, so the battle will be tough for him, even if not killed. This chapter has set up a death flag for each disciple, one in which has the highest. That’s Takasugi. Will he die here? I honestly don’t know.

This chapter was long but that’s expected for a month worth of content. With that said this was a hell of a return. There was a hilarious parody that this series is known for. There were tons of great action with plenty of fun moments. Characters were stellar as usual with believable motivations and relationships. The art is very solid, worth taking a time off. The ending was jarring with a cliffhanger that can make a person skip a heartbeat. It’s Gintama. I don’t know how many chapter we have left, but I will savor this as long as I can. The next chapter can��t come any sooner.

#gintama #chapter 699 #review #spoilers

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occupy-kama-0401 · 5 years

Text

Some Notes about "Center" Occupation in Kamagasaki, Osaka

April 4, 2019

At this moment, the Airin Labor Welfare Center is being held occupied in form of a protest camp by day laborers and supporters. The occupation began on the 31st of March, when the center was scheduled to be closed. When Osaka prefecture and Osaka city government officials came at 6pm to close the shutters of the centers ground floor for the last time, a gathering of about 300 people prevented this with a sit-in. The subsequent discussions and negotiations continued until 2am, when the officials left the scene without having reached a conclusion, and the protesters remained and formed the protest camp which has continued until today. During these past four days, the protesters have slept on Futons made up in rows on plastic sheets and cardboard, eaten meals together which supporters have provided by donations, continued the discussion among themselves, from which different statements and articles have emerged, and have been waiting for further response and continuation of the conversation from the side of the government. At the same time, the camp is a means to an end in itself in the sense that the centers ground floor, where the camp is held, has served as a community and living space for the many homeless day laborers using the centers services. A large shelter from rain and wind, a place to rest and sleep, to use the toilets and wash rooms, to gather and spend time while waiting for work. Once shut, there is nowhere else for everyone to go. (The provided alternative is an exposed, bleak, narrow site enclosed by a fence and containing nothing but a few rows of uncomfortable and impossible to sleep on benches and a security guard, who is currently the only person who can be seen using the premises.) So the camp is in a sense a simple continuation of the everyday lives of the residential day laborers, a large proportion of whom are at least partly, or full time homeless, the centers ground floor inside serving as their living space during the day, and its outside along the shutters as their place to sleep at night. It must be understood what the closing of the center means. If it is devastating to lose ones means of making a living, how much more fatal is it to lose an entire communities place of spending their lives, the base of everyday existance, including not just practical necessities like using showers and doing laundry but have meals, hold gatherings, and play shogi (japanese chess).

A community whose way of life has already gradually been becoming less and less possible, more and more restricted, in recent years.

The closing of the center is just one of the many measures with which the city government has been gentrifying the area once known as Kamagasaki, and the larger area Nishinari. Despite the efforts at “cleaning up”, the area is still in stark contrast to most of the rest of the city and japan at large. Its long history of being a home to a mostly poor and precarious population has created a local culture and human relations which make poor and precarious lives possible, if not easier. A district shaped by a poor communities diverse efforts to survive. Where the street is still a public space to be used to communicate, to sell goods in pop-up shops, to sleep if out of money, and in the case of the Airin center, to find Day-by-day work in a system of networking between day laborers and recruiters (手配師 tehaishi), who come in vans searching for manpower. This day labor system has functioned mainly by direct communication between recruiters and laborers, with the centers regulations playing a minor facilitating role, also doing introductions and providing recruiting companies with permits. With the center watching over from the background, the transaction between the actually concerned two parties meeting and negotiating face to face every morning from the early morning hours around the center has been the base of many peoples means of survival since the 70s. But a different system is now being introduced by the new, temporary facility, a small building next to the center which can not possibly be called an alternative, being intentionally unusable in any sense of a community space, a sterile place incomparable in size and made for only the purpose of bureaucracy. Looking at the entire operation that the city government is undertaking, however, the true purpose can be identified as not change, but removal of the day labor culture and the laborers themselves from their neighbourhood which, proportionately to the rise in wealth of the surrounding areas, has become a displeasure to the eyes of officials. The attempts to gentrify Nishinari have not begun recently and have, though not yet obliterated, already deeply changed much of the areas appearance, and are steadily wearing at its deeper reality. The general fact, that less and less companies use the street recruitment day labor system, is a result of these complex changes and has been an ongoing process. The unusability of the new temporary center promises to cause even more companies to switch to other, mostly internet and mobile phone-based hiring systems, a trend which has already been replacing the direct human interactions as these have become more difficult with usable spaces disappearing in the city, just one of the many examples of social needs being relocated into the impersonal digital space as the material spaces of the city become unusable by its inhabitants.

Aside from the various problems of the new alternative facility, the fact is that it is a temporary facility, intended to be used only for a transitional period ・ a transition to what, however, has not been clearly stated. Currently, there is no clear statement as to the plans for a new permanent center, no promise that one will be built at all. Apart from the job mediation and the community space, the center has also contained a medical center, including doctor offices, and insurance support. This facility on the second floor of the building is intended to be kept open for use for the time being, as there is no current alternative, and it, too, has not been promised to be continued after the destruction of the current building. A further discrepancy is that the argument for closing the ground floor of the building long before the actual destruction of the building is the alleged unsafety in regards to earthquake resistance. A very confusing argument as the second floor of the same building is intended to continue accommodating the fully staffed medical facility. And as if the contradiction could become even deeper, the new facility has actually been built underneath a train bridge whose structure is older, and whose earthquake resistance decidedly more questionable, than the center that has been sheduled for closure.

But this contradictory and dishonest argumentation from administration, authority and government is neither new nor surprising, as the same patterns (and some of the same arguments) can currently be observed in the attempts at destruction of community spaces and initiatives all over japan, intensifying in severity and ruthlessness as the tokyo olympics 2020 are drawing closer.

So what are the demands of the occupation? The voices of the participants are diverse, and different groups and initiatives are involved. Currently, statements have been issued by certain parties involved, and while tonight, on the 4th of April, the first general assembly will be held in the camp, any one emerging statement will not be able to give voice to the diversity of the positions on site and the meaning and significance of the protest.

As a start, the three demands published by Inagaki Hiroshi on the 1st of April in the form of a two-sided poster can use as a beginning of the occupations basic demands at this moment:

Continue, or perhaps it should say, begin to listen and stop ignoring and silencing ・ the voices of the people whose lives depend upon the place you are making decisions about. The voices of people who have needs and rights as inhabitants of their city, including the right to have a say in what happens to their neighborhoods, and the power to fight back when being denied that basic right.

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yourkamagasakipost-blog · 5 years

Text

Some Notes about "Center" Occupation in Kamagasaki, Osaka

April 4, 2019 At this moment, the Airin Labor Welfare Center is being held occupied in form of a protest camp by day laborers and supporters. The occupation began on the 31st of March, when the center was scheduled to be closed. When Osaka prefecture and Osaka city government officials came at 6pm to close the shutters of the centers ground floor for the last time, a gathering of about 300 people prevented this with a sit-in. The subsequent discussions and negotiations continued until 2am, when the officials left the scene without having reached a conclusion, and the protesters remained and formed the protest camp which has continued until today. During these past four days, the protesters have slept on Futons made up in rows on plastic sheets and cardboard, eaten meals together which supporters have provided by donations, continued the discussion among themselves, from which different statements and articles have emerged,and have been waiting for further response and continuation of the conversation from the side of the government. At the same time, the camp is a means to an end in itself in the sense that the centers ground floor, where the camp is held, has served as a community and living space for the many homeless day laborers using the centers services. A large shelter from rain and wind, a place to rest and sleep, to use the toilets and wash rooms, to gather and spend time while waiting for work. Once shut, there is nowhere else for everyone to go. (The provided alternative is an exposed, bleak, narrow site enclosed by a fence and containing nothing but a few rows of uncomfortable and impossible to sleep on benches and a security guard, who is currently the only person who can be seen using the premises.) So the camp is in a sense a simple continuation of the everyday lives of the residential day laborers, a large proportion of whom are at least partly, or full time homeless, the centers ground floor inside serving as their living space during the day, and its outside along the shutters as their place to sleep at night. It must be understood what the closing of the center means. If it is devastating to lose ones means of making a living, how much more fatal is it to lose an entire communities place of spending their lives, the base of everyday existance, including not just practical necessities like using showers and doing laundry but have meals, hold gatherings, and play shogi (japanese chess). A community whose way of life has already gradually been becoming less and less possible, more and more restricted, in recent years. The closing of the center is just one of the many measures with which the city government has been gentrifying the area once known as Kamagasaki, and the larger area Nishinari. Despite the efforts at “cleaning up”, the area is still in stark contrast to most of the rest of the city and japan at large. Its long history of being a home to a mostly poor and precarious population has created a local culture and human relations which make poor and precarious lives possible, if not easier. A district shaped by a poor communities diverse efforts to survive. Where the street is still a public space to be used to communicate, to sell goods in pop-up shops, to sleep if out of money, and in the case of the Airin center, to find Day-by-day work in a system of networking between day laborers and recruiters (手配師 tehaishi), who come in vans searching for manpower. This day labor system has functioned mainly by direct communication between recruiters and laborers, with the centers regulations playing a minor facilitating role, also doing introductions and providing recruiting companies with permits. With the center watching over from the background, the transaction between the actually concerned two parties meeting and negotiating face to face every morning from the early morning hours around the center has been the base of many peoples means of survival since the 70s. But a different system is now being introduced by the new, temporary facility, a small building next to the center which can not possibly be called an alternative,being intentionally unusable in any sense of a community space, a sterile place incomparable in size and made for only the purpose of bureaucracy. Looking at the entire operation that the city government is undertaking, however, the true purpose can be identified as not change, but removal of the day labor culture and the laborers themselves from their neighbourhood which, proportionately to the rise in wealth of the surrounding areas, has become a displeasure to the eyes of officials. The attempts to gentrify Nishinari have not begun recently and have, though not yet obliterated, already deeply changed much of the areas appearance, and are steadily wearing at its deeper reality. The general fact, that less and less companies use the street recruitment day labor system,is a result of these complex changes and has been an ongoing process. The unusability of the new temporary center promises to cause even more companies to switch to other, mostly internet and mobile phone-based hiring systems, a trend which has already been replacing the direct human interactions as these have become more difficult with usable spaces disappearing in the city, just one of the many examples of social needs being relocated into the impersonal digital space as the material spaces of the city become unusable by its inhabitants. Aside from the various problems of the new alternative facility, the fact is that it is a temporary facility, intended to be used only for a transitional period ・ a transition to what, however, has not been clearly stated. Currently, there is no clear statement as to the plans for a new permanent center, no promise that one will be built at all. Apart from the job mediation and the community space, the center has also contained a medical center, including doctor offices, and insurance support. This facility on the second floor of the building is intended to be kept open for use for the time being, as there is no current alternative, and it, too, has not been promised to be continued after the destruction of the current building. A further discrepancy is that the argument for closing the ground floor of the building long before the actual destruction of the building is the alleged unsafety in regards to earthquake resistance. A very confusing argument as the second floor of the same building is intended to continue accommodating the fully staffed medical facility. And as if the contradiction could become even deeper, the new facility has actually been built underneath a train bridge whose structure is older, and whose earthquake resistance decidedly more questionable, than the center that has been sheduled for closure. But this contradictory and dishonest argumentation from administration,authority and government is neither new nor surprising, as the same patterns (and some of the same arguments) can currently be observed in the attempts at destruction of community spaces and initiatives all over japan, intensifying in severity and ruthlessness as the tokyo olympics 2020 are drawing closer. So what are the demands of the occupation? The voices of the participants are diverse, and different groups and initiatives are involved. Currently, statements have been issued by certain parties involved, and while tonight, on the 4th of April, the first general assembly will be held in the camp, any one emerging statement will not be able to give voice to the diversity of the positions on site and the meaning and significance of the protest. As a start, the three demands published by Inagaki Hiroshi on the 1st of April in the form of a two-sided poster can use as a beginning of the occupations basic demands at this moment:

1. No closing of the shutters of the ground floor of the Airin center. 2. Continued access to the toilet and wash rooms of the center. 3. Continue Dialogue and Negotiations regarding the future of the Center. Continue, or perhaps it should say, begin to listen and stop ignoring and silencing ・ the voices of the people whose lives depend upon the place you are making decisions about. The voices of people who have needs and rights as inhabitants of their city, including the right to have a say in what happens to their neighborhoods, and the power to fight back when being denied that basic right.

1 note · View note

themelancholyhill · 2 years

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I really wanted to send an ask sooner than this but I've had a busy past few days. I'm glad I'm over my covid now and having had it makes me appreciate the little things so much more. I also felt very isolated, in every way. I didn't have the energy to care that I couldn't engage in social interactions, I didn't have the energy to eat well, I didn't have the energy to care for myself, all of these add up to a dangerous slippery slope. I was already dealing with episodes of depression and having covid on top of that did not help one bit. I said to my friends on my IG that I didn't like going on there anymore because I felt like I had to pretend I was doing well mentally and I wasn't. I intentionally isolated myself socially, it's one of my maladaptive coping mechanisms. I've since returned to my IG but it always feels more draining to me to be on there, I much prefer tumblr.

I think it would be so incredibly hard for you to try to move on from Ray. It seemed like you guys had a rare connection, those are very hard to come by. It's disheartening to see that he isn't as appreciative of your bond as you are. I am so sorry this is weighing on your heart but your outlook on what you've learned is valuable and it is the lesson you are meant to take away from this friendship. I think we meet people in our lives at the right times, some are meant to be there temporary, to teach us a lesson we otherwise would never learn had we not met them. All "breakups" are hard to swallow, it's a type of severing, and sometimes, one person is ready but the other isn't. You said "if he comes back it won't be the same" - I agree. However, it might be better. If you both decide to repair this friendship and put in the same amount of effort in keeping it, I think it could be even better than before. I wouldn't call him a narcissist so soon (even though I know nothing about him). He might not be in a good position to tell you how he feels, or he might just be unable to articulate himself. Either way, you have good memories of him and even though it is hard to move on from this, you seem like you've discovered some closure on your end.

I wish I had time to send you asks whenever I want to but I honestly don't have a lot of time to myself. I have a 5 year old lol. I debated whether to tell you or not, and decided I would.

I want to end this ask by addressing what you said in your reply: "Due to what happened with Ray, I've become more self conscious with the way I interact with people - trying not to talk too much and avoiding getting a bit too personal so I won't get attached!" This sentiment made me quite sad. I have also felt similarly in the past, but you know, even if the connection is meant to be short-lived, I'd still want it to be the best it could be, the most honest and authentic. So even with people who I think are only around temporarily, I still give as much as I can. I am not telling you what to do, I am simply offering another perspective. I've been more appreciative of different perspectives lately, maybe you would find mine useful to some degree. ✖️

I'm really glad to see your ask, and don't feel the pressure to respond super quickly, I understand that people get busy and it's OK cause I know that you're still around.

I heard that the side effects of Covid are long-lasting and it includes: inexplicable fatigue. It kinda reassures me and allows me to take a step back and rest. I've established a certain rhythm with my online friends. I tend not to use my socials for a certain period of time, and when I come back, I don't get asked about my long absence. Still, I prefer being on Tumblr—it's more peaceful, ironically since people are still referring to it as toxic!

Now, Ray is very special to me. I've felt this way the very first time we started talking—I caught myself wanting to talk to him even if I had nothing to say. I see him as special cause he taught me a lot without explicitly doing so. I don't remember if I specified what I'd learnt, but I'll do it regardless. Not only I felt at ease around him cause he wasn't judgemental so I could be myself, but he also pushed me to try out new things and be more open to topics completely alien to me. One thing that sticks out is how I approach music. This might sound like nothing, but I've been giving a chance to artists I under appreciated in the past and it's making me discover new perspectives and a way to be more tolerant towards people generally speaking. I think I mentioned this but I've also learnt how to take things with a grain of salt, especially when dealing with people online—if someone leaves me on read and then replies days later, I won't be mad!

I was going to mention that I was feeling like I'd never hear from him nor even see him again, but the way you assured me that with him coming back things "might be better" truly makes me feel hopeful. I don't want to call him a narcissist either, and call me naive, but the way you're doubting this probability, without knowing him personally, warms my heart. The more I read about this type of people, the more horrified I become. It's one thing to be confused about a friend's sudden absence, another is to see them as being the worst people that walked the earth. They're seen as manipulative and feeding on their 'victims'' heartbreak. They use the silent treatment to see if the one hurt will come back, begging on their knees. Their weapons are passive aggressive behavior, manipulation and gaslighting. You can imagine how I'm feeling and how my confusion quadrupled. But I'm trying to process everything going on in my mind and my heart and still hope for the best—either see him coming back or having a definitive closure.

I know that you're in a long-time relationship, but I couldn't guess that you were a mother—masha'Allah! We say the latter to avoid "jinxing" the people we are talking to and avoid any harm to befall on them! Regardless of how busy you are, you don't have to send asks on a regular basis unless you have the time to do so—and remember, I'm taking things with a grain of salt 🤭

Your advice is golden and what happened shouldn't alter the way I usually interact with people. I'll give them the right amount of energy without getting burned out—always be nice and kind while sensing when reality is ready to bite. It's like living romantically, and instead of wearing rose-tinted glasses, you'll wear prescription glasses... idk if this makes any sense, but this is how I see it; keep your head in the clouds and your feet grounded in reality—here you go, two analogies out of nowhere 😄

I hope you managed to go out often and enjoy the warm weather—I assume it's starting to get warmer where you are! Tell me about your day, if you have time of course.

It's almost 11 pm and I can't focus enough to form coherent sentences, so I'll talk to you soon—take care and thank you so much for being here 🤍

#asks #V✖

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zdravstvuysclntse · 6 years

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ROLEPLAY PLOTTING CHEAT SHEET.

want new & exciting plots for your character ? long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start ? fear not ! fill out this form & give your RP partners both present & future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted. be sure to tag the players whose characters you want more cues to interact with, & repost, don’t reblog ! feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. template here.

ᴍᴜɴ ɴᴀᴍᴇ : Noun ☾ ᴏᴏᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ : discord and IM’s. Mutuals can ask for my discord any time, and my IM’s are always open to people!

ᴡʜᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴄᴋ ɪꜱ ᴍʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴇ, ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏ ? Noyabrina Beriyeva Olegovna is a Representative, the official name that refers to a species of physical manifestations of large pieces of land. Nonna is known as the Arctic Port City of Murmansk. At one hundred and three years old, she’s very, very young in comparison to other members of her species, and is therefore seen as the baby amongst her kind, much to her annoyance.

Murmansk was originally built for WW1, and became Russia’s main link to the Western world, shipping supplies such as weaponry to and fro via the City’s railways and port. Due to being built for war and during wartime, Noyabrina (Nonna) had a short childhood, quite literally. She grew to ten years old in the span of four years, and though her growth slowed down after that, her height never really caught up to her. Nowadays, Nonna stands at 5′2″, though she should’ve been at around 5′6″ 5′7″.

Currently, Nonna lives in the Murmansk Memorial Lighthouse, and spends most of her time at her job as a construction worker, indulging in large books, pining for her boyfriend, and spoiling her corgi Udacha rotten. She has a fair amount of demons and skeletons in her closet - especially regarding her temper - but now dedicates a lot of effort into being the best that she can be. Though, of course, it isn’t a walk in the park all the time.

ᴘᴏɪɴᴛꜱ ᴏғ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇꜱᴛ. Nonna enjoys a slow and easy life, but the majority of her interests lie within her job. Nonna took on an engineering apprenticeship during the 60′s, and has worked in that general field ever since. She tends to do whatever jobs need to be done, be it construction, risk assessments, engineering work, she’ll be sure to get it done quickly.

Nonna also has a rather unhealthy interest in the so-called supernatural, her curiosity was first piqued after learning about the three ghosts that haunt her lighthouse, but since then she has gone so far as to invest in a copy of the Lemegeton, something that has gotten her into trouble quite a few times.

Other than that, she finds joy and interest in the simple things in life, spending time with her friends and her boyfriend, going out for drinks and curating the museums that make up half of her home in her spare time.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ’ᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴄᴇɴᴛʟʏ. Mostly she’s been drinking and crying over Eurovision, or drinking to get over crying about Eurovision, or crying and then drinking to stop herself from crying. Other than that, her job keeps her busy and her friend Mister Melbourne has been taking up a little of her time as she tries to see him through his ‘recovery’ if you like. All she’s doing, really, is waiting for her boyfriend Lucas to come home from America, where he’s been for quite a while now.

ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ғɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. Nonna tends not to leave Murmansk all that often, partly due to the horrid Pulling Pains she sometimes gets when separated from her land, so if you were to find her, she’d be at work, or in her lighthouse. However, if you feel especially chatty, just ask the locals, Nonna puts a lot of trust in her human citizens, perhaps too much trust, so much so that they all know who and what she is.

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴘʟᴀɴꜱ. Idk if this is IC or OOC, but I’m going to assume it’s OOC. Right now, I’m hoping to improve my blog a little more, update some information pages, and hopefully get an actual biography for Olgá - my second muse - up and running. Other than that, I definitely aim to make more of these lore posts (check them out if you wanna!) because I really enjoy making them, I just simply haven’t had the time as of late.

ᴅᴇꜱɪʀᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ. Desired interactions are just more than I have at the moment! I’ve been busy busy busy with university until quite recently - hell I’m still kinda busy - so I’m keen to start boosting my roleplay activity up again.

ᴏғғᴇʀᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ. Any and everything! Really, just hit me up!

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴘᴏꜱᴛꜱ. I don’t have any open currently, I did have a few open for the Eurovision semi-finals, but I think they were all answered. Rest assured I will make more when I have the energy! I’m pretty burned out right now.

ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴇʟꜱᴇ ? I just wanna say that I am grateful for all interactions, and for everyone new who approaches me and talks to me, and if we’ve met before and have had some disagreements in the past, I hope we can talk stuff over and move on, or at least get some closure if that’s at all possible.

ᴛᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ʙʏ : I actually stole it from @gebeleixis

ᴛᴀɢɢɪɴɢ : The dash!

#Tag. You're it. Tag tag you're it. (Tag memes.)#ooc #alcohol mention

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digitalmarketingware · 3 years

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5 Ways to Help Your Small Business Succeed in 2021 | Online Sales Guide Tips

Welcome back

Angela Hausman, PhD March 17, 2021

It’s no secret that many small businesses struggled throughout the majority of 2020, some more than others. As we leave 2020 behind, small businesses need to look forward and begin planning ways to make 2021 more successful than its predecessor. Embracing new trends such as remote work or putting a greater focus on digital marketing to better reach a larger and more diverse audience can help your small business succeed. Make this a successful year for your small business. With the proper attention and strategy, you’ll grow your business tremendously and set yourself up for a great future.

Embrace remote work

Remote work became one of the biggest headlines over the course of 2020 due to the changing realities required to protect everyone from the global pandemic. Many businesses, rather than rushing to return to centralized offices, embracing remote work along with all the benefits provided, including increased productivity and reduced real estate costs. IBM alone saved $ 50 million in real estate costs last year due to remote work. It’s not just the companies and businesses that experience benefits from more remote work, but the employees, as well.

According to a study from Buffer, when asked the question, “Would you like to work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of your career?”, 98% of respondents said yes. There are many benefits to having a remote workforce or, at the very least, a hybrid one, with some in the office and some working remotely, often on a rotating schedule. First and foremost, remote work means companies are typically paying less on office space and rental areas, which represents huge savings for almost any business. It also means you spend less on various amenities that offices require, such as security, cleaning, and other expenses like food.

For the employee, benefits range from the flexibility that accompanies a remote work lifestyle, in addition to the time saved when employees don’t face long commutes. Many workers appreciate the additional freedom a remote work environment offers. Offering valuable benefits such as the ability to make doctor’s appointments without taking time off from work and being able to experience special moments with your kids means some parents get to see their child’s first word or step, something they might miss if they worked in an office. Our pets also enjoy having us home with them full-time, creating a symbiotic relationship that similarly relieves much of the stress we all face during the pandemic.

In an article on FlexJobs, they estimate the average person saves approximately $ 4,000 per year by working remotely. This savings comes through a combination of various costs associated with commuting and car maintenance, work-appropriate clothing worn into the office, and the increase in eating out for lunches and coffee.

Focus on digital marketing

Digital marketing is an area of interest for many businesses in recent years and will continue to grow in importance, especially for small businesses, due to the affordability and opportunity to focus on highly targeted markets offered by digital marketing. Small business owners find digital marketing an affordable and effective strategy either by itself or in addition to more traditional marketing efforts. Many people spend increasing amounts of time at home and online recently, which means that now is a great time to invest in digital marketing services.

With the right digital marketing strategies, people will find your business from anywhere using their phone or computer. However, generating traffic to your website means more than simply building a website thinking that visitors will come. You need a sound SEO strategy that helps bring your links to the top of a user’s search since most clicks go to links that are in the top three positions in the search results. Certainly, not showing up on the first page of search results means you get relatively little traffic visiting your website.

Once you get traffic to your website, your job isn’t over. An effective website drives visitors through the website culminating in a purchase or other type of conversion by building content that encourages visitors down the conversion funnel.

Thus, in addition to building a website, you must build a sound content marketing strategy focused on lead generation and conversion. Next, you must build supporting platforms across social media and use email marketing. Remarketing campaigns as part of a digital ad strategy also support the effectiveness of your website in generating conversions.

As businesses strive to grow their audience, digital marketing helps open new doors and opportunities for your organization. If people are unable to find your offerings, they are unable to do business with you. By effectively using a digital marketing strategy, you gain the ability to reach the 4.66 billion people who use the internet.

Keep your finances on track

One essential task for any business, but especially small businesses, is to ensure you have your finances in order. Especially for startups, financial strategies can make or break growth and success. Although it sounds patently simple, more businesses fail due to poor cash flow than from any other reason. Ensuring you make enough money or plan for other financial inflows to pay your bills on a consistent basis goes a long way toward helping your small business succeed.

Diversification of your financial inputs is a great way to start, but it’s also important to know how much each activity necessary for your business costs, so you can build pro forma income statements that project incomes and expenses. You also need to monitor the performance of each activity within your business to ensure you get the most bang for your buck, dropping activities that don’t meet your goals.

Many small business owners Raise money from family and friends or put their own money into the business, since these are often the only financial options available, especially during startup. These financial options are also attractive because they allow the owner more flexibility and control while also featuring low-interest rates and flexible repayment terms.

Here are a few options available for newer entrepreneurs:

Financials heavily influence the trajectory of many businesses; ensuring that you have a handle on the basics is a great way to plan for the future and the growth of your business. The Small Business Administration offers a collection of resources to help you manage your finances.

Although some of this is more rudimentary, resulting, unfortunately, in extremely costly mistakes in the long run. Ensuring that you have a stable financial base ensures your company is set and ready to grow and branch out as necessary.

Put your customers first

This might sound like an obvious point, but an ever-growing movement of supporting local and small businesses continues to pick up steam. Shopping local was always something many people try to do, but with the uncertain future and permanent closure of many local businesses, concentrate even harder to purchase goods and services locally. Although there are a few trade-offs when buying local, many people willingly support their local communities through tough times, especially when those local businesses or owners supported the community in good times. But, you can’t expect people to support your business if you failed to provide good quality service to customers in the past.

Customer retention is a key part of ensuring that your business continuously operates in the black. Hubspot shows that a 5% increase in customer retention increases company revenue by 25-95%. In addition, it’s often easier to retain current customers than it is to bring in new ones, so make sure that you focus on keeping your existing customer base before branching out and looking for new opportunities to help your small business succeed.

Find new customers

We spoke earlier about finding new customers using your website and SEO to get found online. There are lots of other options available to find new customers, including lead nurturing, networking, and building partnerships.

Email marketing is an effective tool for lead nurturing, especially when you employ list segmentation and personalize your email messages to individual subscribers based on their needs. According to Google data, “61% of people expect brands to tailor experiences based on their preferences.” Ensuring you give your customers the most tailored and unique experience is one key advantage that many small businesses have over the larger companies that struggle to personalize their offerings and interactions.

Networking and building relationships with other build businesses and influencers also help your small business succeed.

Invest in technology

As technology continues to evolve, there are fewer reasons for businesses and organizations to avoid new-and-improved offerings and enhanced business processes that support the customer experience. Although some businesses have certain traditions or are used to operating in specific ways, there are always areas where technology can improve quality or efficiency without distracting from the business and its core values. For instance, offering customer service through social platforms or employing chatbots to offer 24/7 customer service improves your performance and helps your small business succeed.

In addition, one of the fastest-growing technological industries is cloud computing, which, when simplified, allows businesses and employees to access data and information from anywhere over the internet. A Gartner study revealed that

up to 60% of organizations will use an external service provider’s cloud-managed service offering,

which is over double the number in 2018. The cloud offers savings in terms of lower equipment and maintenance costs, automatically acts as emergency backups in case of loss or damage, is easy to scale up and down given the organization’s current needs, and, through services such as AWS from Amazon, very cost-effective for data storage.

Conclusion

There are many pros to being a small business, one of the most influential ones being the agility offered by your ability to make decisions quickly without consulting many people and the wasted time that ensues. Utilizing this advantage to employ new ways of doing business, such as remote work for employees or various ways that you can use to put your customers first and ensure that you are retaining your loyal client base helps your small business succeed. Investing in digital marketing helps you find brand new customers at a very affordable rate, and the customers you find often represent those more likely to do business with you than through traditional marketing methods.

Financial stability is something that many businesses struggle with, especially in recent times. Only through a strong and stable financial foundation can you help your small business succeed. Optimizing your use of technology, finding the “goldilocks” point for your business, helps improve productivity and provides customers with better services than before. Although there are many avenues to help your small business succeed in 2021, it’s important to identify the roads that are best suited for your business and strive toward a strong year.

I manage Hausman and Associates, a full-service marketing firm operating at the intersection of marketing and digital media. We provide a host of digital marketing solutions including content marketing, email marketing, SEO/ SEM, social media marketing, lead generation as well as marketing strategy, branding,, market research, and a variety of… View full profile ›

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