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kafus · 23 days

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as the resident ceo of likodot, what are your thoughts on the scene in episode 9 where dot ends up being the one who gives liko the courage she needs to tell her father that she wants to continue traveling with the RVT?

AH YES. THIS SCENE. I HAVE MANY THOUGHTS. THANK U FOR ASKING. apologies if this post is messy i have brainfog but i wanted to answer it anywayyyy

dot and liko's early connection is pretty interesting to me because at the time of this episode, the two barely know each other. dot first appears in episode 7 and this happens a couple episodes later in episode 9... not a lot of time has passed.

at this point in episode 9, liko knows that dot:

is murdock's niece and around the same age as her

is a tech wiz who wrote the app the RVT use to maintain the brave asagi and talk to each other

is good at gathering info online too

is a social recluse

does not eat very well/doesn't eat with other people

is interested in legendary pokemon, mysteries, that sort of stuff

and of course, she has heard the gurumin theme song coming from dot's room, and seen her quaxly, which leads to the iconic misunderstanding that dot is a huge fan of gurumin and not... literally gurumin lol

on the other hand, liko has no idea what dot looks like, does not know anything about her history, and has not had a proper conversation with her - their only communications have been through her bedroom door, first through quaxly bringing her and roy notes (which are drawings to interpret and not even actual written words), then when dot yells angrily at her to shut up/go away because she's interrupting dot setting up for her livestream, and then when dot finally budges just enough to mention her interest in legendaries & mysterious things.

by all regards dot is probably more of a concept to liko at this point than a whole person; a disembodied sometimes-voice who belongs to someone that deserves to be reached out to, but who hasn't actually been reached yet. this is overtly clear with her misunderstanding about dot being a gurumin fan - liko is piecing together who she thinks dot is with very little context clues and actual interactions and she is literally drawing the wrong conclusions lol. at most right now liko is interested in dot because of the whole gurumin thing... and because she's just a compassionate person who can't imagine that the person behind that door is a bad one, or someone who should be ignored, so she's compelled to learn more and reach out and figure dot out.

and that's the thing. liko is just naturally the sort of person to want to go out of her way to reach out to dot despite knowing pretty much nothing about her personally, and even having their first couple of interactions be rude ones. she follows through - she takes dot's lunch to her, makes sure to say "i'll talk to you later" and thank her for things, in a way that roy isn't (not to say that roy doesn't care, but liko is focused on her in particular). sure, the idea that they have a mutual interest in gurumin definitely helps, but she was interested before that and wasn't thrown off by her rude drawing of roy losing to fuecoco even before she started associating dot with gurumin. and this, especially coming from a peer and not a worried adult, is certainly foreign to dot and she kind of doesn't know how to deal with it, but it means a lot to her.

^ i think this bit at the end of episode 8 after liko and roy walk away is a really good summary of how dot is about all of this. she's reclusive, doesn't like noise, likes being in her own space, and she's "supposed" to find people like roy and liko irritating... but she can't help but smile about them being around, and while thinking about them.

oh, and of course dot has been overwhelmed by liko's compliments towards her work as gurumin even though liko doesn't know that's who she's complimenting. she's a popular youtuber and i'm sure she gets compliments from people all the time, but this is definitely a foreign experience for her in person, coming from someone verbally like that, not to mention how genuine and passionate liko is about it. i mean it makes her blush like this okay come on:

ALL OF THIS is to say that liko is a meaningful person to dot at this point, despite how little liko actually knows about her. liko has reached out to her in a way that no one has before, has directly complimented her work/passion, and has responded to her rudeness/antisocial behavior with even more curiosity instead of shying away.

so like of course when it's possible that liko is going to leave, she's upset about it and wants to do something about it. this is such a new situation and she's still so reclusive that she needs a little push from landau (who knows her well enough to tell she has emotions about this despite her not exactly wearing them on her sleeve), but the feelings she has about liko are enough to push her through, just enough to leave a wordless drawing by her door, which is massive for her at this point in time.

liko's response to this is understandably not super expressive or emotional, and in fact right after seeing the drawing, she first has a far more emotive conversation with mollie and orio and then roy, before eventually taking the drawing with her to dot's door and thanking her. she still doesn't know dot that well and honestly even though she was thinking that dot was opening up a little bit, she probably didn't expect this gesture. she doesn't know how meaningful her reaching out to dot has actually been.

regardless, she understands the meaning of the drawing and once again goes to talk to her, even without expecting a response back, and is able to go leave and tell her dad she wants to stay on the brave asagi, so it obviously contributed to her courage. it's proof that even this person who she barely knows cares about her and wants her to stay, and it also rewards her efforts of reaching out and proves to her that yes, dot is opening up and receiving liko's attempts at reaching out - her advances aren't unwanted. how's she supposed to leave now that she's sunk this time and effort into connecting with dot? dot is not the only reason she wants to stay of course, but it's a piece of the puzzle. she can't just leave now that they've made this connection successfully!!

dot says this after liko's already left, but regardless they've made a connection in their own unique, nonverbal way, and of course everything between them continues to grow from here.

so anyway all of this is to say i think it's fascinating the way these two connect mostly without words and through action/gesture at the start of the series, and i think the lopsidedness of their connection with each other is actually pretty interesting and reveals how much liko's compassion and efforts affect dot early on. she really is the vessel through which dot comes out of her shell and that's evident from the beginning

ALSO as an aside, very cute that dot does these little doodles at all? they aren't bad!! liko also draws... even though dot doesn't seem to take it as seriously or have it as an actual hobby i think they should draw together i think this would be cute JIOSJDOF

#kiki was here #asks #anonymous #likodot #dotliko #guruminshipping #horizons #im normal btw #i hope this post makes sense ive been writing it on and off for like 2 hours #distractions brainfog etc but the autism drives me anyway #long post #pokemon horizons #anipoke #trainer dot #trainer liko

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netherworldpost · 5 months

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Sorry if you've been asked this before, but how do you get started working in, as you said, weird quasi-startups?

This is a history retelling, not advice, because the world I came up in doesn't exist anymore. I'm in my 40s and started in the '90s.

If you skim over all of this WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE END HERE IS A LINK TO SAID VIDEO IT IS A CONDENSED VERSION OF IT from a local design firm.

The video is not a rick roll. This one is though.

Now I hope you can trust me. This is a long post. I'll use HACKERS to break it up.

I have no connection to Coudal.

Or Rick Astley.

I get into the nitty-gritty Small Scale Stuff

Jim Coudal gets into the nitty-gritty of the Medium-to-Large Scale Stuff... in 2011. The basics remain the same.

I am realizing in linking this that I don't think Coudal Partners exists anymore? I think they shifted their entire focus to Field Notes notebooks?

Anyway, still relevant.

(No -- 1994... and... maybe a bit earlier I can't remember that far back)

As I say -- this is history, not advice -- I'll try to pepper in some advice.

In some ways that's bad (Flash animation used to pay really well when weighed against what it took to learn how to do it).

In some ways that's good (things like Stripe and BigCartel and Shopify and MailChimp and Tumblr exist).

I was an anxious, studious kid really into mythology with very little access to it. I had access to the internet for about 6-8 hours a week, so scrambled to cram as much into my brain as I could. A reminder this is the early to mid 1990s.

I realized at some point that websites could be built without special tech. I explicitly remember seeing a web hosting company have a late night television ad on Conan O'Brian, offering a few megabytes of space free.

I learned HTML.

Then CSS launched, and I learned CSS.

(...yeah, this... this was the '90s)

From there I learned Macromedia Flash (later Adobe Flash) because it could do things I couldn't do with programming -- because of my own limitations, the web's limitations, free server limitations... etc.

I learned Flash the same way I learned HTML and CSS -- taking things apart to see how they worked, making my own stuff, breaking things down (and just breaking things)

At some point I was able to secure my own computer + internet and just hammered things constantly until I had a grasp of the basics.

So with that technical background...

"I am a web designer, do you need a website?" I would just offer up. Friends on forums, people in shops, a few cold calls that didn't work out great because I'm not a talkative person.

Just. Constantly. Networking.

Which is an accurate but kinda useless term, right?

"How does one network, does one just shove business cards into the face of everyone they meet and say 'I am a business person'"?

...yes.

Diners, comic shops, tattoo parlors, independent restaurants.

To illustrate the differences of when I started versus today -- any time I went somewhere that didn't have a website, I would ask the person behind the counter --

"Hey are you thinking about launching a website?"

When it wasn't the owner/manager at the counter and they would say something like "I just work here," I'd ask for the manager's contact info to follow up.

The success rate of "I ask" versus "I get money out of this" was maybe 1%. Just constantly asking, constantly trying to build the business books.

Never taking things personally when ghosted or just ignored or it fell through.

Cool but it's 2023/2024... so... the second half of my story may help.

I eventually gathered up enough clients and student loans to go to school for design. I have mixed opinions on this.

I had a few teachers who needed Extremely Cheap Intern-Level Labor and I was able to parlay my web experience into these opportunities.

I learned print design, branding, color theory, the basics of art in school.

I learned better business models by doing business and fucking up and getting burned and taking notes on how to fuck up less and get burned less the next go-round.

I applied for an ad agency job and hacked their website to rebuild it to show I could build websites and they were like "okay well we have to hire you now because we're in love with you / we fucking hate you"

(both emotions at the same time) (I worked there 11 months then went to grad school / see above art school link, it also applies)

Great thanks but maybe get back to advice?

I made things. I still make things.

Pins, buttons, shirts, bridge models, a chair, a lamp, I hired blacksmiths to learn about blacksmithing, I traded logos for beer, a theater company needed artwork so I engaged in a multi-prong trade of theater tickets and candy and / and / and / and with various other friends / clients / non-sense makers.

I made things and if people didn't have money to pay for them, I took some of their product.

Sometimes I paid other people with that product for things I needed, sometimes I paid with my labor for things I needed... etc.

Kept doing that until I could leverage skills acquired against people with money. Meeting them the same way.

"Hey who does your website?"

"Hey who does your menu design?"

"I like your logos, do you have someone working on your brochures? Oh you hate your logo? Okay to be honest... I was using that as an opening line. I hate it too. Want to chat about redoing it?"

I fucked up a lot. I got burned a lot. There was more success than failure so I was able to keep going.

Modern Day Translations

A lot of that will work -- build a portfolio, keep it updated, if someone mentions they are launching a whatever, chat with them -- but also look at freelance agencies.

If you work for trade, then scale the work offered for the product received. Don't be afraid to say "nope, out of scope."

People who will take +50% of the commission but help you find the commissions and handle the tax paperwork.

Ultimately, the basics are the same.

Make stuff. Put it into a portfolio.

Get comfortable introducing yourself.

Learn not to take rejection personally.

Keep going. The number of clients I would get on the first project discussion was probably 5-10%. It would take an average of 18-24 months, average, before I'd get money out of people. MEGA EMPHASIS -- A LOT OF -- MEGA EMPHASIS "hey remember me? I didn't have budget before, but now I do!"

By "make stuff" I mean.

Stuff.

(Things I have actually made)

Websites, blogs, writing, temporary tattoos, posters, ads, animations, plush toys, paintings, poems, books, rubber stamps, ads, grocery store packaging.

A whirlwind of stuff.

"That sounds expensive and difficult"

Yes. That's the bad news. There is no magic solution to it aside from "be careful with your time and cash and contracts and good luck."

I am not a soft person who is going to promise you everything is going to be okay and if you just work hard enough then things will work out and if you're talented enough then money and clients and business will come to you.

The brutal reality is it is going to be extremely difficult for as long as you do it and my #1 piece of advice is "constantly evaluate if you would find more happiness in a traditionally structured job doing weird stuff on the side."

It is absolutely possible to make a weird job.

It gets easier if you have financial support from family and/or a partner who will help you survive the lean times. I mention this in the spirit of honesty -- a lot of folks with weird jobs had/have one, or both.

In my opinion, this isn't talked about enough, and it leads to this mystic "This person must be doing well and I can't get off the ground, ergo something is wrong with me / my work / my process / my..." -- not necessarily.

Right, wrong, or indifferent -- some people have extra-to-their-personal resources help that allows them to make stuff. More, bigger, and/or faster.

I had the advantage of starting 30 years ago when the talent pool was smaller and harder to find and the work was harder to understand by people who were hiring.

Take what you have and try to make more of it being careful to spend as little as you can with it as it grows.

That's the essence of business.

Everything else is salad dressing.

SO MANY WORDS

I'll wrap up:

Start small and affordable

Figure out how to keep going when you want to stop but can keep going

Figure out how to stop when you want to keep going, but can't

Figure out how to start again when you have to stop

This isn't a moral or ethical dilemma -- it's business.

Cold, hard, ruthless business.

"Does it make sense to continue putting resources into this? Yes? Keep going.

"No? Pause.

"It never will make sense? Do this as a hobby, possibly an extensive and advanced hobby, possibly as 'this is my job in the sense I spend my resources here and the tasks I do for a company for money are life maintenance, on par with brushing my teeth."

Never work for free. Barter to a level mutual benefit.

If you want to work with other people, build a portfolio and keep it stocked with the stuff you want to do. Make up your own projects from literal scratch.

Most of the time, real work is better than personal work

BUT personal work is always better than no work.

This is cross-sectional -- if you want to make logos, it's better to show real work logos.

If you don't have any, make personal work logos and fold these into real work brochures, which you WILL DO but DONT WANT TO DO, as you build your logo business.

As your logo business builds up, replace real work logos + keep personal work logos and reduce brochures until you have enough (of either form) of logos to just have a logo portfolio.

Here is that video from Jim Coudal again talking about his (former?) design firm, Coudal Partners, and how it evolved to partner to create Field Notes

youtube

A final disclaimer:

I do not know Jim Coudal, I've never worked with him or FIeld Notes, they don't know I exist in any capacity. His projects are significantly larger than anything I have the appetite to tackle (I like small, weird things nearly exclusively)

This video + countless similar talks helped me build me up to where i am with advice, ideas, and the strength to get through the invariable weird / hard times.

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snorkling-in-sodasea · 6 months

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Moments of Stupidity 13

Well, I guess I was misinformed or mistaken on when exactly the newest episode was gonna come out. Although I'm still making the post in early November and yeah, I'm certain the episode will still in this series of posts because, really, every single episode before it - excluding the pilot - have had stupid moments that progress the plot. If anything, the newest episode will be a shocker if it didn't have anything like that itself

Unhappy Campers -

Well... Moxxie's got a shit ton of stupid moments that pretty much carried at least a bulk of the plot so I should list them all before anyone else. So here goes

1) Moxxie made up pointless background stories for both himself and Millie. You two are on an assassination mission, not working as spies to gather information and shit. Even if you did need information, you didn't need to come up with too-complicated backstories for a simple hit

2) Moxxie completely ignores his wife's pointing out of the culprit. While he may have a point in that they shouldn't just assume shit, the culprit was so painfully fucking obvious that the guy should have been the first option they tried. Didn't Sherlock Holmes say in the book he comes from something about 'eliminating the obvious'? That means, by never investigating the most obvious thing about their case, it just makes Moxxie look even more inept at investigating if he covered all options except for the most obvious one

3) Moxxie just went up to a bunch of pre-teen girls, hijacked their conversation with bits of made-up info that just sounds so damn cringe as it goes on, and just expected that to work. It's like, even if he hadn't talked to a lot of teens before, especially while he was growing up, wouldn't he still see them around as he goes around town in any ring? Hear them talk? Could his upbringing really leave him so clueless that he would think that telling a bunch of teens who never met you before about periods would endear you to them? Even just spewing out stuff about yourself like it's trivia, does that really sound all that welcoming?

4) Moxxie decides to get so butthurt that a bunch of pre-teens don't like him that not only does he berate Millie for fitting in so effortlessly but also decides to care more about getting their approval than actually. Sure, throughout the week, he is watching through binoculars, no doubt trying to find the culprit, but he still lashed out at Millie because it still mattered more to him that he didn't get the kids' approval while his wife did. It was super damn obvious in the choice of words and how they were said so it was all so stupid, the kind of priorities Moxxie had. It never even occurred to Moxxie to use Millie's popularity to find answers. Seriously, if Moxxie couldn't get info, then why not Millie? Those kids would have told her anything she wanted to know

5) There was a little moment when Moxxie met up with Blitzo again. Blitzo says that he's trying to find his sister, kicks down the door, and yells out Barbie's name. Barbie yells Blitz's name back. Moxxie still asks is Blitzo knows her. And since there's fucking circus pictures of Blitzo and Barbie hung up in the office, then how the hell does Moxxie not have any inkling of Barbie's existence prior? Even without the pictures, and even though Barbie was disguised, the whole scene of Blitzo and Barbie meeting up with each other combined with Blitzo saying that he's looking for his sister makes it pretty damn obvious

Now a stupid moment that both Moxxie and Millie share together is that they don't try all that hard to keep up the charade that at least Moxxie thought was so important to maintain. It's even stupider for Moxxie because he's the one who made up the cover story that they're brother and sister. Yet Moxxie's complimenting Millie like he's attracted to her while they're on stage and still disguised as brother and sister. Then they fucking fuck on stage in front of cameras, because they decide that they're so horny that they simply shouldn't care where the fuck they are or who's watching to literally fuck around. Honestly, Blitzo might not even needed to try all that hard to watch Millie and Moxxie have sex since it's like that. No wonder Moxxie never found out until the episode Ozzie's that Blitzo has watched him and Millie do it a shit ton of times

Let's not leave Blitzo out of the equation, too. For the most part, he was a selfish jackass for creepily investigating the whereabouts of his sister who didn't want anything to do with him. The thing is, he apparently wanted to meet up with said sister so damn badly that he completely neglected a mission that came up. Blitzo had the fucking gall to chew Moxxie out for being so incompetent at this mission when it was thanks to Moxxie being incompetent that Blitzo even got to see his sister in the first place. Seriously, Blitzo might have just ran into a dead end or even gotten a hurt or dead sister because Moxxie had a braincell and didn't stop Millie from investigating the boathouse. Really, he's upset at Moxxie's ineptitude this episode but that's exactly what ended up doing him a solid this time. Besides, Blitzo also gave the mission to Moxxie to handle because he decided his company and the job a client came with didn't matter nearly as much as finding his sister so what place did Blitzo have to get on Moxxie's case for taking an entire damn week?

Even without all that, there's still the fact that Blitzo still acted like there was any remote chance in the end that Barbie was actually going to take him back. The asshole makes Barbie out to be the bitch for never contacting him, especially when she got of rehab - which is massively hypocritical given the fact that, in order to be shocked that Barbie checked out months ago, Blitzo had to go for that long without ever contacting his sister himself - accused Barbie of making Blitzo go through investigating and searching for her despite the fact it was entirely voluntary on his part, and never called off the hit that would leave Barbie without a job yet Blitzo still offered a chance to catch up like everything's going to be hunky-dory

Oh, and let's not forget a fucking huge-ass plot hole that makes Blitzo and also the rest of I.M.P. huge-ass idiots concerning the entire fucking premise of the series. At least, what was supposed to be the premise. I'm talking about the Asmodean Crystals. Apparently, those crystals are even better than the Grimoire in every possible way. Far more portable than the Grimoire, could easily avoid situations where you need to escape like in Truth Seekers because there'd be no spell to read or look at, and the crystals provide disguises that the Grimoire apparently doesn't - or maybe I.M.P. were too stupid to even think of trying and using spells from the book that would provide disguises. Yet no one in I.M.P. has a fucking crystal. No one even brings it up after Loona asked about disguises in Spring Broken. How the hell does anyone go for this long, almost halfway in season 2, without even thinking about getting a crystal? Millie might be one thing because she's someone living kind of isolated, at least not as crowded-looking as Pride or Greed seem to be, and she's never characterized as someone who goes out of her way to fixate on details. As long as things are fine, there's no need to think all that deeply. But what about Loona or Moxxie or Blitzo? Loona was the one who first brought up disguises so why the fuck wouldn't she also bring up the crystals at any point? She called the imps out for being so stupid to not have disguises, even if it was in worry for her own well-being, so why didn't Loona check with anyone about getting some damn crystals? Moxxie is the one most fixated on details and should have known about the different ways to go up to the surface. If not, he would have researched it; he seems like the type to do that. Blitzo is the one who's trying to start up his damn business. Even if he's a lazy ass who pushes his work onto others so that he doesn't have to do any heavy lifting for his company, you'd think that Blitzo would at least find some way to go up to the surface in the first place. He went to steal the Grimoire because he knew that was a way to do it. Did Blitzo really not look into more options than stealing a powerful book that a Geotia would definitely notice if it was missing? How the fuck did Blitzo think that mugging some cubi demons for their crystals would be too much work and/or be too dangerous than stealing the fucking Grimoire?

#helluva boss #moxxie #millie #blitzo #ranting

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unironicallycringe · 1 year

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So last night, at my NYE family gathering, my cousin innocently brings up something that instantly ages me 84 years and I crumble into dust.

"Remember that one LoZ fic you showed me about Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf getting transported to a convention in our world and going to a cosplay contest?"

I hadn't up until that point, and I couldn't remember anything about it except for small details. So today, I went on a hunt through old archives, and I just wanna say, I had a *grand* time seeing all the early 2000s LoZ isekai-type works. Legitimately. Like, I say this 100% genuinely, these bring SO much joy, they are SO fun and I feel like we ALL wrote stuff like this! Bringing your favorite characters to your world and writing about their ridiculous adventures! Going to theirs and telling them about modern inventions! Crossing over your favorite universes that have nothing to do with each other! Having the depth of your character interaction be "huh, this is weird" and then they just go on an adventure! It is PEAK Kids On The Playground Energy and I adore it.

Cropping names/identifying info/metrics even though it's easily-findable because idk people on the internet are weird. Just as a courtesy, really! These are like 20+ years old and I'm sure their writers probably have like, adult things to worry about nowadays and maybe don't even use the accounts anymore, so while I don't feel super concerned, I'd rather be polite.

Personally, I know I had some kind of Banjo-Kazooie/Harry Potter crossover floating around in my 10yo brain in The Year Of Our Lord 2003, and I remember drawing comics about Shadow the Hedgehog teaming up with Scaler from Scaler™, then there was my Dragon OC Who Was Also A Sith(?) dating General Grievous (the actual body horror cyborg tragedy, yes that one) -- wait I still have a picture of those two actually...

Anyways, as you can see by my username, I started to embrace my "cringe" and it genuinely brings me joy to look back on old isekai or crossover works like this and think of how much my younger self would have devoured them and gotten inspired.

But back to the original topic - so what about that long-lost anime convention fic????

We found it!!!

Turns out it was late 2000s so I was a couple years off, and I didn't need an archive after all because it's still up. It's a fun little story called "Yes Those Are My Real Ears" by Seldavia!

I'm sharing the actual fic in question because I genuinely enjoyed looking back on it. I trust the smallish circle of followers I have to not be weird about it, but if this breaches containment, uh, please don't be weird about, just enjoy this 2008 Convention Nostalgia! Be polite and leave a nice comment if you enjoyed it :)

#Yes Those Are My Real Ears #seldavia #ffnet #fanfiction #fanfic #legend of zelda #loz fanfiction #zelda fanfiction #zelda fandom #shea muses aloud #god bless fanfiction archivists tbh

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spaceorphan18 · 2 years

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This interview made me want to read a tell all book even more. What is your opinion about the idea of a tell all book or docu series with a lot of tea? Would you like to read it, or you don't want more drama

Meh.

The only thing I would probably read would be something that Chris wrote. And he's not going to be the one to write a tell all book. I think Naya wrote the closest thing to one, and I think Kevin and Jenna's new podcast (which I'll probably listen to) will shed some light any kind of drama going on. Their old podcast did a little, too, but it wasn't as scandalous some might think.

But I honestly doubt there's anything hugely shocking yet to be revealed. My hot take is that these kids were in their early twenties and did what most kids in their early twenties do -- have a lot of sex, consume pot gummies, and drink a lot of alcohol. Unfortunately a few of them were doing hard drugs (Cory, probably Mark) but I don't think that was the norm. The only difference between them and most college students is that they had way more money -- but also had a spotlight on them as well.

I think the first three years of the show were a bit hardcore, because they were working /a lot/ and being all thrust in it together for nearly three years straight made everyone really tired. And like any group of people thrown together for a long period of time -- especially at that age, they're going to be fights and annoyances.

The last three years, the original cast was somewhat burnt out and I'm pretty sure (as Kevin did say) all of them went through just being over the show, especially after Cory died. But other than Lea being difficult, I don't think there was much drama coming out of the last few seasons.

The who hooked up with who question is only a curiosity (to me) cause I can't quite work out the meshing of - everyone was hooking up with everyone - with all the info I've gathered over the years - so it's more like a puzzle I'm trying to solve more than any interest in anyone's actual life.

As for everything else, I don't really care. Everyone else got along like a family, and I think we've proved again and again that Lea was a shit person. I guess what else is there to know?

I guess I keep mentioning Chris stuff - only because people were so hard on him during season 5 - and a) I think it's unfair since everyone was kind over it at that point, b) some of it was intentional acting, and c) he was thrust into the middle of the drama with Lea for those last three years - I don't blame him for not wanting to be a part of it.

But honestly, at this point -- the actors are so far from the show, I prefer it that way? I still love the show and the fictional characters, and I don't really care what what was going on behind the scenes.

#that's how s.o. sees it #lots of thoughts on lots of things

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thegentlemansexcuseme · 1 year

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THE BEACH | Danny Boyle | 2000

I remember this coming out during my brief backpacker phase. I wasn't hardcore and never travelled anywhere as exotic or far-flung as The Beach, but in rough-n-tumble hostels in Tavira, Tallin, and Tromsø I encountered the wandering spirits, the happily lost, who did indeed seek out the world's hidden corners.

This is a subculture of people who have done what many dream about and have slipped the surly bonds of the work-eat-sleep cycle and committed themselves to a life of nomadism as though answering a religious calling. Or maybe they opted to run from something and never thought to stop. The reality of it is an unmoored hand-to-mouth slog, but it looks liberating. I'm not referring to gap-year students traipsing about Machu Picchu; I'm talking about those whose every step furthers them from whatever they are leaving behind, steps that never lead them back home.

And, anyway, what I've discovered is that you don't need to join them in their perpetual drift from place to place on a shoestring budget, since the people who do so bring their stories with them. The Columbians, the Koreans, the Belgians, and the Aussies - always, everywhere, the Aussies - gather and share hair-raising stories, from run-ins with drunken gun-toting Russian squaddies to eating goats' heads with the Mujahideen, and the running of the bulls in Pamplona (the usual ice-breaker is invariably amusing encounters with bewildered Americans who, taken away from Buttsville Arkansas, notoriously become the most clueless, fish-out-of-water innocents.)

The primary reason for these passing ships sounding their horns to each other was to exchange information. Secret hobo-code stuff for vagabonds. Cheapest beds in cheap digs: where, where and when and how; local markets, where to get cash-in-hand work as a plongeur or market porter for a day, a month, or six; as well as info on nod-and-a-wink side street bars, and, yeah, places the bovine herds of [*spit*] tourists don't (yet) know about.

Alex Garland clearly understood all of this when he wrote The Beach, a novel based on his time in the Philippines, which is captured in fleeting moments in the early scenes of Danny Boyle's heightened, glossy adaptation. Except the hostel rooms are all wrong—where are the four-high bunk beds with a mountainous, snoring, boozed-up German always comatose on the bottom bunk?

The book was becoming as ubiquitous as Lonely Planet's "Europe on a Shoestring," something of a bible in backpacker circles at the time, when I read it in a wooden cabin in Lillehammer, watching near-mystical banks of fog creep over the mountain tops with a hot chocolate in my hand, so the film was eagerly awaited.

Danny Boyle is renowned as a director who imbues his films with a strong sense of style, albeit this is often achieved through editing. He sets the tone with punchy dance music and restless quick cuts between action; he's very good with energy and pace, which is cool for the scenes set in Bangkok, but he's not one for lyricism, and so the large portion of the film set on the island feels no more paradisiacal than an episode of Magnum P.I. The reefer smoke and bustle of Khoa San Road are captured, but the salt-stained ennui of Ko Samui is at best picture-postcard stuff.

The film primarily fails because the concept leads us to assume that we'll be allowed entrance to a hidden, secluded enclave, but instead it's simply a strip of sand and a group of moderately unpleasant dropouts playing Swiss Family Robinson. The narrative focuses on the corrupting and destructive nature of tourism and how the destruction of natural idylls should be left to locals. But, of course, while the long axis of the movie, much like in a Scorsese film, indicates no, this is horrible and tragic, and it damages everything surrounding it for no valid cause, the individual components, the moments, all say yeah, this is some pretty cool shit.

At least, I think the scene where Leo imagines himself in a Nintendo game was meant to be cool.

Just to drive the point home, I suppose, Boyle and his crew had the location bulldozed of trees and vegetation so that it would look like a sunbather's beach on the Costa Del Sol.

Leonardo DiCaprio, washed ashore following Titanic, received a Razzie nomination and a slew of sniffy reviews for this, but he's much looser and likable here than in his awkward presence as Jack Dawson.

Evidently under studio pressure, he replaced Ewan McGregor, a move that soured McGregor's relationship with director Danny Boyle. The question remains: would The Beach be a better film with Ewan as a Scottish backpacker in place of the bronzed pretty boy Yank? Neither are particularly strong actors, and Leo has that deadened blankness to him that blights many former child stars such as himself and Ryan Gosling, while McGregor is able to pull off a wide-eyed cheeky-chappie quality that would have helped, but this is still one the best roles of Leo's Imperial Phase.

But we don't feel anything for him because his character is so sketchily written, and things just happen out of the blue, like him developing a relationship with a French traveller when there has been no chemistry between them, or the video game bit, which might have made some sense if the character, as in the book, was shown to be a Game Boy addict, but otherwise things just happen out of the blue and the lead character just bounces from one situation to the next.

It is unfortunate that Danny Boyle was unable to capture the narcotic, hallucinogenic atmosphere of the novel or retain the evocative tone of the opening scenes throughout the majority of the film. Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge lose focus and eventually control of the film's plot, like they did in A Life Less Ordinary.

Yet, "Pure Shores" by All Saints is still a banger, and, for me, contributes to the film's nostalgic charm and almost makes me long to don my Goa flea market hippie beads, army surplus boots, and Mountain Warehouse clearance sale rucksack once more.

Letterboxd

#The Beach #leonardo dicaprio #Danny Boyle #Alex Garland #backpackers #travel #movies #movie reviews #2000

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kuchenackerman · 4 years

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you're an eremika fan so i figured i'll ask haha. i wrote my first EM fanfic and i'm so apprehensive about actually uploading it. i don't think i'm too bad a writer, but self proofing can only go so far and i'm concerned as to whether it'll actually gain any traction or not. do you know if people still read eremika fanfics/how do you gather the confidence to post your work? :/ also ur rad!

First of all, congrats on writing your first eremika fic! I wonder if by this time you already published it though? You sadly sent me this ask when I was focused on writing and editing an update to my own EM fic, so I probably was reserving my last two adhd braincells to be able to finish it lmao, which is why I didn’t reply in time and then... I forgot to do it and for that I’m very sorry!

If you still don’t publish your fic or you’re still interested on my answer, I’ve seen other people go through a similar struggle, and as a fellow writer I can understand your concern regarding of whether your fic will gain traction or not. When it comes to this last thing, it often depends on many factors, like on how active the fandom is by the time you publish your fic, on what people are looking to read about lately (i.e. fluff, angst and/or smut) and on the ship developments (or lack of it) currently going on in the manga. For example, as far as I remember, after chapter 123 dropped people were writing and reading oneshot fics about the “what am I to you?” flashback, and basically the same happens whenever we get some tasty (?) and especially angsty EM-related scenes in the manga (including chapter 112, lol). Writers get inspired to “fix” or develop these panels further and readers crave that content as well, so they kinda jump on it right after it gets published. In these cases, authors often get a quick and decent amount of feedback in a short span of time, which is amazing. When you are one of these authors with the ability to swiftly pull out a wholesome oneshot related to a fresh eremika scene, I guess you don’t have to worry THAT much about whether it will get at least a bit of attention or not, because people are going to be thirsty for that content and will consume it as soon as it’s available. Most of these readers are going to show appreciation for it in terms of likes, reblogs, kudos, comments, etcetera, without you having to wait too long.

When we publish fics that aren’t related to the manga current developments and stuff, the first thing to do is to be able to get the reader’s attention with a catchy summary and the proposal of an interesting plot / situation between Eren and Mikasa. To increase the chances of people reading your stuff, it’s also important to make a post with the fic’s link and info here on Tumblr and on other social media platforms like Twitter, always using the eremika tag.

And yeah, I assure you there’s a lot of people who still read EM fics. There’s even been an interesting influx of new eremika shippers thanks to what’s been going on during the timeskip and in latest chapters. However, between 2013 and early 2015 the SnK fandom overall was way more active and also fic writers got way more feedback. We have to consider that there was a more limited supply of EM fics back then of course, especially in 2013-2014, so I guess the feedback was also way more concentrated while the demand was kinda bigger than nowadays. If you’ve checked old fics mostly on FFnet that were published years ago, you probably already saw and know what I mean. I mention this because it’s important to not compare the amount of feedback that most EM fics receive today with what those older fics got. The reality of the fandom is too different now after the initial hype...

Regarding your question about gathering confidence, well, in my case I don’t have confidence issues in general and less when it comes to fandom. What I do is to just do something I feel like doing, enjoy the process of doing it and then put it out there without further questions. I don’t think I’m the best writer or anything, but I do believe in the value of what I write and of the other things I make. There are a few times when I look at what I’ve written and I’m like “pfft this sucks” and get very critical about it, while at other times I’m like “ohh, that’s some good shit! I really wrote that myself, huh? *pats own back*”, though most of the time I’m mainly conscious about the effort, love and creativity I pour into what I write among the enjoyment (and suffering lmao) I experience when I’m on it, which makes me appreciate it more. In your case, you already wrote something and you know it involved a degree of effort and time, so why not going ahead and sharing it? Even more so when showing it to others was your intent since the very beginning~

I think it’s totally worth it to share what you’ve written rather than never allowing it to see the light of day because of self-doubts. As with many other situations, you take a risk when you put something out there for others to see and dissect, but you also get the chance to receive nice responses that can make your day and, since readers provide you with feedback that help you to be more aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you also get the chance to improve your writing skills.

We love the same amazing pairing and it deserves way more content and love, so please, give it a try and share your fanfic with the fandom!

#JUST DO IT ANON!!#idk if this is coherent at all but I tried ok #eremika #replies #Anonymous #my engrish sucks today so I feel like I wasn't able to properly express myself #anywaaay

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moonhatake · 5 years

Text

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND FUCKING THEORY (SPOILERS FOR THOSE NOT PAST 118 AND PAST 80 ish)

This theory is about what might happen soon and possibly the end of the story

**inhales**

THIS IS MY CONTRIBUTION AND I'M PUTTING MY HAND DOWN AND SPOUTIN OUT SOME THEORIES OKAY LET'S START.

**claps hands** THEORY RevIEw

First off ever since they found Norman things have felt a little icky to me and as we all know, a story like this doesn't give you happiness and let's it stay happy. People have said that Norman came back too early but I think that's intentional. The gangs all back together now, but there's gotta be a catch.

Let me also add how Norman looks much older than them. Idk if this is just the way the author drew him, but I think it could show how Norman isn't on Emmas and Rays level anymore since Norman hasn't spent all that time boogieing with them. (Inspired by a best buds theory) So him looking older could be a symbolism thing

He was experimented on at the place he was held captive at and now is older, which could be plausible once we gather more information.

Okay Back to the Trio

Okay everyone's back yes it's all great, but in chapter 120 Norman talks about his plan to eradicate all the monsters. Basically an all out war and everyone is on board, all except Emma. I mean look at this face.

Is this the face of someone who agrees with whatf Norman is saying? Okay we have that established and it is confirmed that Emma doesn't really want to kill the monsters in chapter 122 and is conflicted with that. Emma wants to find a peace for both worlds and that's a really interesting take since the monsters have been basically eating them, but Emma makes a good point in chapter 122.

Now I'm pausing here and going to

RAY TIME

Ray has gone through hell and back for Emma since Grace field to the forest to goldy pond and till now. He follows Emma and believes in her plan to create a peace, since time and time again, she has shown him there is another way. When Ray wanted to leave everyone back at Grace Field, Emma (With ghost Normans help I guess) showed Ray they could do it and save everyone. When Ray and them were in the forest it was Emma who was the light in darkness and believed that everyone can push on. And then at Goldy Pond. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. THAT. GODDAMN. ARC. THE AUTHOR AND THE ILLUSTRATOR ARE FUCKING MADLADS. Emma's goddamn plan on how to beat the monsters was so fucking cool, but in the end Emma gets hurt and they're all in the cave like "ooohh shit we gonna dieee too many peeps hurt" but then like Oliver is like, "leave us, we dead anyways" and everyone is like "Noooooo", but after all this Ray says

Nobody is being left behind. Emma's words are now his and since he's seen that Emma can do it, then maybe even he can do it.

Now back to chapters 119 and so on. Ray has been seen to be on edge and it looks like he doesn't even trust the place nor Norman

I mean he has the look of concern on his face and I think the authors are hinting something at us because they wouldn't add this in just because. In chapter 121 where everyone was having fun and stuff, we see everyone smiling and it's all nice but yet there are subtle images of Ray being left out.

I think now that Norman and Emma are fine and they're all fine, he feels like he's not needed anymore. His soul reason to keep on living and pushing was to protect his friends. They're in a way, his Ray of Light aahahhahaha **cries in a ball**

I think now, Ray feels left out and like I said not needed, but he's still willing to protect them because he loves them. Although there are some things Ray sees in Norman that is suspicious. Ray isn't stupid and sees more of a bigger picture. Obviously he knows that something is up with Norman, but is just playing along right now because Emma is happy. Basically I would like to say is chapter 121 is the

Calm Before The Storm

So I'm pretty sure we're going to get a spitfire of pain after these chapters.

Now to the Main Point

I think what's going to happen is that Emma's gonna go to Norman and tell him that war is not the answer and that they should go to the "Seven Walls" thing and Dragon eye, (idk it was kinda weird but...)

...because back around chapters 102 and 103 where they went to that creepy temple thing with all the ancient artifacts, Emma and them ALREADY found a way to get in using

But then they were attacked just then. :^( so sad we all know who yeets to heaven.

But when Emma tells Norman this it's one of two things, either Norman refuses to go and pushes his plan for war or Norman agrees to check it out JUST FOR EMMA and pretends to find nothing so he can push for his war. Because I'm sure Norman doesn't want to be goodie goodie with the monsters.

So here it is...

Emma might break from Normas party and might take a small group of people including Ray and find their own solution back at the temples. There might be some people opposed to trying to find a peaceful solution and that's when Emma's original party breaks up. Idk for sure who might stay with Norman (Gilda and that other dude? Probs? Cause with Norman it's safe?). As Emmas party breaks up and leaves, Norman plots for his war and the story soon becomes like a race to see whos solution will prevail

Because we have seen Ray feel iffy about Norman, Ray might make his own group and leave FIRST. Why? Maybe because he feels like he isn't needed anymore OR the fact that Emma wants to stick with Norman a little too much and isn't listening to him. Ray might take an even smaller group and leave to go find info about the monsters or go back to the Feilds to save Phil for Emma, because he feels like he can do it without her. Idk if he would tell her that he is going. I feel like he would but that would mean Emma wants to come. For most of the story it's always been Emma and Ray and now it's his chance to actually be an individual. And it might be a prove to himself thing. In the meantime Emma argues with Norman and that's when she splits from Norman. In the meantime, Ray and Emma try to keep touch as they both do different things, because they can't all go to save Phil and then run back to the temples. That's a lot of time and also Norman is planning his war. So Emmas going to temples, Rays freeing Phil and Normans plotting a war

Norman and their crew go to where Phil is and save him, but some arguments happens (maybe they were going to kill the mama of that house but Emma says like, "no don't kill her.") and BAM! As the house burns up with FLAMES, Emma decides to go to temples and takes some peeps with Ray, while Norman takes the rest of the kids and goes back to plot his war. Then it's a race.

**side note** if this does happen and Ray does want to leave in all of this and be his own third party and disappear to do his own thing, during the showdown in the end of the series, Ray will probs pop out and help Emma

OR?**kinda weird theory

Norman is trying to find the super human kids and make an army outta them and trying to experiment on kids to enhance them for an army. Ray finds out, almost killed. Tells Emma and Emma doesn't believe. Confronts Norman. Norman a hoe and lies to her. Ray makes his third party and leaves. Norman then comes clean like a little bitch. Emma leaves to temples (maybe after Ray leaves her a note on what he's doing)

Conclusion

Basically what I'm trying to say is I think the Trio is going to split and it's going to be where the kids have to choose sides and it's a race to find the right solution.

Just my opinion though, I could be missing a bunch of things but this is what I see. Oh and going back to way Norman is shown earlier than people think, this is why. To start the second phase of the plot. Let me know what y'all think, I'd really love to hear from ya. Thanks for reading till the end. I know it's long as hell.

#promised neverland #yakusoku no neverland #tpn norman #tpn ray #tpn #tpn emma #tpn spoilers #tpn theory

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