#who the hell promotes an employee through twitter

[connectionviperror]

collection of the art i made for my fanfiction: who the hell promotes an employee through twitter?

and thank you ao3 user takitori67 for pointing out the images werent loading <3

CH1: he got better

CH6: FEDDY FAZBENDER??!?!?!?!

CH11: five nights in prison

im gonna include image ids on the fic sometime soon, just in case i dont fix the issue

#ao3 #fnaf #twitter fic #art #fnaf art #who the hell promotes an employee through twitter #bad_connection #jeremike #michael afton #jeremy fitzgerald #side note #it looks like a timeline of how invested i started to get into this fic #makes me wanna redraw it all lol

[daredevilwindypaws]

cackles

#fic name is-> #who the hell promotes an employee through twitter? on ao3:))

[helluva-dump]

Yeah I think I am officially done with the Helluva boss critical community… for good.

Before you guys flip your shit and accuse me of being a Stan, let me explain.

So I deleted my tumblr app and decided just to refreshen my mind and focus on other things. (Like my art, my own possible indie project, ect ) and being away for a while… it kind of made me realize how much of the critical community was becoming too much for my mental health.

Originally, I joined because season 2 disappointed with season 2, didn’t like how Vivziepop retconned things like the pilot, the possible workplace allegations, and of course… the fandom being super toxic as hell work promoting toxic positivity.

But holy shit…. Somehow the critical community is even worse than the fandom.

Like I swear nobody talks about what’s wrong with this community. I’ve seen blogs have such an unhealthy hatred to Viv where they post nonstop about her… it’s insane. Like when making account names “wah I hate Vivziepop”

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think all critical blogs act like this. I do in fact still follows few, only thing is the ones I follow don’t constantly whine and bitch all the time and actually do critique. And these reblogs I follow just do AUs, rewrites, and redesigns which to me I will always see as harmless fun since that’s what I wanna do.

As for the other half of criticals…. Hell, these people legit get mad and share screenshots making fun of fans with different opinions. Like, bruh, didn’t you guys get angry at stans for doing that to y’all? You guys are literally doing the exact same thing. And no I’m not talking about sharing screenshots of toxic fans that attack former employees and make excuses for a questionable workplace…. But like they’ll just mock fans that didn’t do anything bad.

I’m all for critiquing a fandom and there are Stans that have such an unhealthy parasocial relationships with Viv… but somehow I see people acting the same with their unhealthy hate obsession. Literally going through her IG and bitching and moaning…

Seeing people making assumptions about her and Gooseworks with the glitch x as well as Tracy just shows me how unhealthy this hate is becoming.

Yes, Viv and Tracy had a bit of a heated thing on Twitter. However, I don’t think it’s fair to assume she’s this evil evil hellspawn that’s plotting to destory glitch x. “She’s kissing ass to goodeworks with her fake smile” dude she’s probably a fan of their works, you really don’t know that.

Also, while I’m aware of the allegations concerning Salem (who I hope really recovers and they did really make this episode the best IMO)… it’s probably not fair to assume all employees get treated the same way… the only people that seem to know what went down are Erin, Ken, Salem, and Ashley Nicolas. Do I think the workplace abuse is possible? Yes, it’s why I haven’t bought any merch.

BUT the reason why I don’t like to discuss things like this is because half of the other stuff seems like flimsy evidence besides Salem’s vents. And I think it’s a bit risky to spread such misinformation and make assumptions. (One blog I’ve seen had so many anons sharing rumors and just go along with them which to me is dangerous…)

Like when the new episode aired, unlike everyone else, I actually loved it. This recent episode was so great it’s what I wanna see more of for Helluva boss. But eh… I noticed some haters bitch for the sake of it. Now, some of the critiques aren’t too bad, I did notice some flaws and I understand the concerns for salem. But like other half it’s just bitching for the sake of it…

Also I heard rumors how the deranged stalker fan of Fizz is a parody of critical blogs… tbh I highly doubt that because that trope always existed in cartoons (like Aggrestuko had one too) but considering a good chunk of “criticals” have a hate boner for viv, can you blame some fans for thinking that?

I really don’t like how the critical community became the anti community. Because not every critical person is an anti, I don’t even wanna fuck with that shit and I don’t ever wanna resort to that.

Hell, they drove one critical blog I loved away… over a bad miscommunication.🙃 and that blog was right, you don’t wanna make friends with this community with how some toxic people are.

Also I’ve been drawing a lot of Hazbin hotel stuff for my Heaven AU and it reminded me why I enjoyed Vivziepop’s ideas and stories so much. It somehow was helping me take edge away from my mental health.

I think it’s possible to still be a fan without labeling yourself as a stan or anti. That’s why I made this blog for. I was so worn out by the toxic positivity of the fandom, so this is my comfort space. But now I need to cut the critical community away since it’s now full of toxic negativity.

And as I said, I do plan to make an indie cartoon series and I feel like being part of this critical community is NOT gonna make me professional on my end. That being said, I don’t like Viv as she said things that rubbed me the wrong way BUT I’m not gonna let that kill my joy for Hazbin hotel.(and Helluva boss to an extent) I do think she has good ideas and they CAN work but she does need more writers than animators to help her execute them.

That’s why I’m only a bit more excited for Hazbin hotel lately

Now I’m not angry at anyone who followed me. I just wanna make some boundaries, and that being said, I’m still gonna critique both shows. However, I’m just gonna tag these posts as HH/HB critiques than HH/HB critical for now on. I feel like that’s more professional and more genuine if you wanna share opinions on stuff.

Just wanna get this off my chest, it’s what I wanted to express for a while.

And if fans come across this blog, don’t be afraid to interact I won’t bite. Everyone has their different opinions. I only have an issue with Stans that promote toxic positivity and dismiss employees that were treated badly is all.

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel critique #for now on #I wanna restart fresh #and I don’t want antis and Stans to interact with me #you guys need to touch grass with your obsession with viv #it’s hella creepy

[icedteaandoldlace]

How did the collective brain cell of left leaning young people on the Internet go from "you're actual scum of the earth if you leave your shopping cart in the parking lot and not in the designated cart return because you're giving some poor underpaid worker more work to do" to "shoplifting is something we should all do because fuck corporations", as if the same underpaid workers aren't affected by shoplifting as well?

I'm not talking about pay docking here (although some folks sure jumped on the "that's illegal just sue your boss :)" train fast despite repeatedly listing off reasons why it's not that easy when it comes to debates about wage gaps), I'm talking about inventory.

A daily part of my job is going down aisles (different aisles for different days) and writing down everything that's missing, and documenting whether we're just out of that product, or we have less than we're supposed to. If we're in the negative, I have to check anywhere that we might stock stuff that wouldn't fit on the shelf. If I can't find the missing product, I document the amount that we're short, and then our guy in charge of managing inventory has to go through and double check everything.

There is also full store inventory, which we do once a year, where we have to get a count of every single thing in the store, and when we have our list of negatives, we go over it multiple times, narrowing it down as far as we possibly can until we're certain we have an accurate count. The more things that are missing, the longer we have to be there.

Inventory starts on a Saturday and always carries over to Sunday. I work in a store that closes early every Saturday and is never open on Sunday, yet inventory weekend is the longest two work days of the entire year because we have to finish the count, we can't just call it a day at closing time (and obviously, it is the one Sunday out of the year where I have to go to work, so that's fun).

The store I work at actually pays really well, and we all got hefty bonuses in early 2022 because we made record breaking sales, so obviously, paying for your stuff does actually benefit the employees. But we still have to deal with shoplifters and rubber checks and all other forms of bullshit people try to pull to get stuff without paying for it. And none of these people are stealing from us because they're starving or in need of life saving meds and can't afford them; I work in a fucking construction supply store. It is employed people who make more than I do stealing stuff because they don't wanna spend their own money. I once found an empty pack of Sharpies that someone had shoplifted and left the packaging behind. If you're shoplifting Sharpies, it's not because you need something that you can't afford; it's because you're a dumb bitch.

Also, if we witness shoplifting firsthand, the proper procedure is to just let them walk out, but to take down as much information about that person as possible, such as what they looked like/were wearing and the license and model of the vehicle they were driving.

And it just grinds my gears to hop on Tumblr or Twitter and see some dumb fuck Comrade™️ who lives above the poverty line patting themselves on the back for being the voice of the working class, and talking about how jobs are hell and no one should have to work, and then go boasting about their shoplifting exploits because they're ~sticking it to the man~, and writing off everyone who criticizes the promotion of shoplifting as just some corporate bootlicker.

THE MAN DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR FIVE FINGER DISCOUNT CARDIGAN, BRENDA. THE WORKER YOU CLAIM TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH IS GOING OVER THE STORE WITH A CLIPBOARD TO CONFIRM WHETHER IT'S ACTUALLY MISSING OR JUST MISPLACED. YOU'RE GIVING US MORE WORK TO DO, AND IT'S MORE TIME CONSUMING THAN PUSHING A CART ACROSS A PARKING LOT. CUT IT OUT AND PAY FOR YOUR SHIT.

[nightswithkookmin]

RE BigHit vs Jikook

@sizzlingpatrolfox

I appreciate you trying to clear things up after my last post on this topic.

I skimmed through your rejoinder and I get where you are coming from. But it seems the point of my response to you flew right over your head too.

You know what gaslighting is great but do you know what whistling is and how the erroneous use of reductios- reductio ad absurdums, the act of reducing another's argument to absurd extremities in order to critique is a form of whistling- exposing a person to online attacks or placing a target on an individual's back?

I really, really don't believe BigHit would HIDE TWO PEOPLE interacting within the group either you know?

I don't think asking two people to tone things down or slow down because they are acting risqué is the same as HIDING those two peole. That's gaslighting and is tacky.

Are you aware that by intentionally misconstruing and misinterpreting my theories in the way that you are doing in your reblogs can subject me to unwarranted negative attention and could potentially lead others who come across your reblogs out of context to attack, disparage and critique me harshly unprovoked?

Cyber Trolls and bullies looking for attention on the bird app often use this tactic to direct hate and abuse towards individuals they've tartget.

They intentionally distort their targets words, twist it around, reduce it to something absurd that they know will inflame passions or take it out of context, and post it online to incite and direct mass hate and violence towards people knowing full well that not everyone who comes across the content they've posted would grasp the context or go out of their way to find the right context of those texts.

These people try and often succeed at weaponizing the mass attention by appealing to the crowds sense of 'cancel culture' as a means to suppress and oppress people they've targeted on the internet.

I have been subjected to this form of online abuse one too many times, I'm used to it by now. But I don't find it funny at all. People will intentionally distort and reduce my theories to extreme absurdities or take certain bits out of context and would post these to Twitter, facebook, their GCs or whatever platforms they have in order to fuel or direct hate towards me either because they don't like me as a person or they don't like the things I say out here.

And their go to code word of attack is always, Taekook_lives because they know how passionate half the fandom is about that person.

You refer to your statement, 'BTS are ashamed of ships' and 'Jikook gets punished whenever they look at eachother' as a literary resource, whatever you mean by that, but you made it seem in your post like it's a theory coming from me or one I had espoused when in fact it's a reductio from you.

Am I the author of those statements? No. Have I said or implied those premise. No. But you have. Those are your assumptions about my posts. The emphasis is yours not mine. It's your interpretation of my work and like you said YOUR opinion on my work.

But ask yourself. Would you be dragged and attacked for it if it gained attention or would I ?

Do you see the problem here?

I get called out for people's interpretations of my posts all the time which to me is ridiculous.

There is nothing wrong with misunderstanding a post, or falling on the fallacy of reductio ad absurdum to argue your points, it can be humorous sometimes but understand it's a fallacy especially if you are appealing to the extremes of the argument like you keep doing in your reposts- please credit those posts appropriately next time you quote me by using disclaimers such as 'the emphasis is mine' where you assume a a meaning out of my posts or use 'the reductio is mine' or 'I assume by this statement you mean' 'correct me if I'm wrong'

Get creative with it. Lol.

Where none of these markers are used I assume without prejudice malice rooted in the fiery pits of hell are intended and I treat it as such.

As for the rest of your argument about Jikook not being a brand. It's fine. Do you.

But I disagree. Jikook is a brand in of themselves within BTS.

I see them as a brand. I see them as being managed by BigHit as a brand.

Also, I believe BigHit is aware they are dating and they are well aware of instances where Jikook gets negative attention too like whenever Christian organizations in South Korea lead online protests against them for promoting homophobia in South Korea because of their 'fan service.'

Side note: People are out here screaming Jikook is fan service every day but apparently South Korean Christians disagree. Lmho.

As for how BigHit manages Jikook in instances where they attract negative attention, I think their approach to JK's Tattoo girl scandal says it all.

The company asked the shop to lay low until it all blew over. I assume this is the protocol. I don't think it's crazy for me or anyone to assume that BigHit does the same with Jikook and ask them to tone things down when they are recieving negative attention or are moving in a way that is likely to attract negative attention.

I don't know how you arrived at 'BigHit is hiding Jikook' when all I said is I felt around a period BigHit had asked Jikook to tone things down- perhaps because they had a strategic partnership in the pipelines but sure go ahead and compare me to Taekook_lives because what better way to punish me for the opinions you don't agree with or shut me up than to get the do before complain gassed up 13 year olds roaming these streets to come for me😊

Or better still set loose the Kookie monsters of tumblr on me- those are a lovely bunch😊

Unfortunately, tactics like these don't work on me honey.

I'm gay and a Christian.

Hell fire doesn't stop me from doing the gay. I don't think retweets from faceless chipmunks will slow me down out here💀

As for my theory on JK and Jikook getting punished when they breach company policies or come close to breaching their glass closet- actions have consequences.

They are employees at the end of the day and as much as they have self autonomy they are required to honor their contracts, terms of service, and obey company rules in order to continue to be employed by the company.

BTS themselves have talked about recieving punishments for defying company rules every now and then. Tae Kook have said they are partners in crime because they often get into trouble with the company and get 'scolded' for it. Jin have said he got into trouble with the company for cutting his hair himself or something. He's said he was pulled into a long meeting with staff over his hair once when he dyed it by himself- cross check, I don't remember accurately what that long meeting was about.

Jimin have said the same thing- getting in trouble for doing certain things that defy company polieces. BTS have said they aren't allowed to do certain things like drunken tweets, drinking or even swearing on VLive.

Do I think they get pulled into long meetings for a word or two when they act risqué yea. Do I think sometimes drastic measures are taken to serve as a warning or deterrent to others yes.

I really don't know why you find it absurd that I assume Jikook get punished for certain actions or that they get regulated by the company.

The look on RM and JM's face in the Be. TS Vlive when JK talked about preferring white to black to me is indication JK was going off script in that moment and was acting defiant as fuck. I don't think it's far fetched for me to assume JK wasn't supposed to say what he said or that he was going against the collective will of the group to uphold the kumbaya image of the group in that instance.

It's equally not far fetched for me to assume JM or RM would ask him as politely as possible to check his attitude next time during a VLive.

Hell, we've seen Hobi advice Jikook to be careful the way they conduct themselves on stage.

We've seen RM glare at, tap, and touch JK and the others several times on stage or during interviews and awards to get them to behave themselves and Tae has explained its because RM wants and tries to get them to act and look 'cool' in front of the cameras most times.

Tae did say he wasn't allowed to record a song with Jimin now didn't he?

Aren't all these a form of regulation? Why then do you think it's absurd for me to believe Jikook are sometimes regulated?

Please listen to BTS's song, A Typical trainee's Christmas to understand in what ways the company controls them. They've said it themselves, not I.

I recommend you watch Rookie King to understand the relationship between the boys and the company. Tae and Jin were not complaining about the company for no damn reason.

Of course they've matured now and their success guarantees them more status and freedom within the company as they are royalty and shareholders of BigHit but they are employees nonetheless.

Listen to RM- the leader of the group talk about that the company disregards their ideas and their creative inputs into their visuals and marketing I presume during the TaeNamKook YouTube live in 2020.

I promise you, just think of Jikook as real and in real life settings and the mystery will go away.

They are two gay men who work together under a company that is queer friendly but set up in homophobic society.

What advice would this company give them?

There you have your answer and if you still believe it's too fantastical to assume then agreed to disagree.

Sign,

GOLDY

[larryfanficwriter98]

Chapter One

-You Are My Favorite Distraction-

It wasn't that Harry didn't love his job. He did and he loved the company, but the building was understaffed, and Harry was doing five different jobs at once. His official title was Chief Media Officer, however at the moment he also filled in the roles of Chief Communications Officer, Chief Costumer Officer, Chief Listening Officer, and Chief Brand Officer. Granted most of those jobs could he pushed into three separate ones however the Manchester Branch wasn't exactly paying much attention. To say he and other Chief Officers were overworked and underpaid for all the work they did was an understatement. It came as no surprise when Janitors started getting fired then lower employees and then finally the first top level employee was let go. Despite Liam, Chief Networking Officer along with Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Human Resources Officer, in constant communications with the other Chief Networking Officer at the Main Branch located in London, nothing was ever done about it.

"Hey Haz, what do you think is going to happen?" Liam asked entering his office with his laptop and a few files.

"I think we should probably pack up our desks and find new jobs." Harry said as he continued to type out an email to one of their Manchester customers.

"But which position do we apply for?" Liam questioned.

"Your favorite." Harry guessed with a shrug, "can I help you with something Liam?" Harry asked looking over at his best friend since childhood.

"Yes, actually you can help me decide on what to do if- no when we get shut down." Harry sighed as he saved his work then stood up and rounded his desk, "I like working here...well not here but here."

"Yeah, so do I and I know it sucks because you done everything you could, we all did, but it's not our fault." Harry told him.

"I know that. I just-" They were interrupted by Liam's phone ringing inside his office across from Harry's, "We'll talk later."

Harry has worked for Preserve Earth ever since he was eighteen working in the warehouse having to wear tacky white polo shirts. Back then Preserve Earth was still new and was barely considered more than a small business. They only had biodegradable dinnerware like cups, silverware, plates, and bowls. Standard things. They had just started biodegradable bags of various types when Harry had applied for an office position in London. He had worked in customer service on the second floor for two years. Then the accident happened, and Harry hadn't been able to stay in London after that and had applied for a transfer to the, at the time, new Manchester location. He had started interning with the Chief Media Officer and then had gotten a position as his assistant. Fourteen months after that he had left to train new employees at Liverpool and Harry had been given the job six months later when he decided to stay in Liverpool.

He had been the youngest Chief Officer of the entire company which had gotten a lot of attention from everyone. Everyone had told them it was a bad idea having someone in their early twenties be the front man for the media. The President of the Manchester Branch had stood by his decision and by Harry and Harry had made sure to do his absolute best in his work and it showed by twenty-five, two years after being put in his position Harry had been wanted as the Chief Media Office by large corporate organizations all over the UK and even some from America. The Manchester branch revenue grew in twenty-eight months more than it had grown in the past four years it had been opened. The President had retired soon after and a new president came, and Harry had tentatively brought up social media and how it could grow the business and connect to the customers better and the new CEO had agreed to a trial run of six months. Harry watched a few training videos online and then started ''Preserve Earth Manchester'' social media profiles on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The first two months only showed minimal growth as Harry grew the platforms, but then he wore a pink suit and apparently it was very controversial, and his picture traveled everywhere and then they found his personal Instagram account which promoted his work because he did love the company and he really did love the products. Then the company had to start limiting sales of the products they sold to regular people like backpacks and water bottles and even ecofriendly biodegradable phones cases. Even then it was in high demand and had shipping wait times.

Harry had been called into the President's office while he had been on the phone with the Owner of the company. He had apologized as soon as he entered the room then had sat there quietly for two hours not able to listen to anything they said. When he had ended the call, Harry had wasted in silence for five anxious minutes before he had grinned and told Harry that he was welcome to keep the social medias and that he needed everything Harry had done and read by tomorrow so he could send it off to the other branches. However, they had been a few companies that had left the company as they didn't think a man in a pink suit was a good representation of the company. Or whatever the bullshit excuse was. Every President and the Owner had done a press release stating,

"Preserve Earth is an ecofriendly, biodegradable, and compostable company that is LGBT plus friendly. Our employees are encouraged to wear whatever they feel comfortable in as long as it is appropriate for their position. We encourage all of our employees to be their authentic selves and to be whoever they want to be and to wear whatever they wish to wear. The Chief Media Officer dress policy states and I quote, "The Chief Media Officer must wear business formal attire during press releases that will be aired on television. They are not required, but are encouraged to have their skirts, if they so choose to wear them, at their knee. However, they are allowed to wear them to their thighs, miniskirts are not allowed it must be two to three inches below the bottom. This is to prevent cameras from getting inappropriate shots of a person as they bend, squat, walk up or down stairs, or sit down this is not an act to prevent 'distractions' in the workplace. The Chief Media Officer is required to wear business casual attire to work unless told otherwise." With that said Mr. Styles did not break dress code policy and therefore will not be 'held responsible'. That is all thank you."

Harry had been very embarrassed and had apologized multiple times to his boss, but he had laughed and waved it off.

"Harry I'm forty-three years old and even I know that the world is changing for the better. You can wear whatever you want as long as I do see Harry junior or his two buddies down there. Got that?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Get back to work kid."

Harry had loved his boss and had been saddened when he announced his retirement only three years ago. Mr. Fritz wasn't a terrible boss right away, but after eighteen months Harry and everyone else got a pay cut. Which...okay it was reasonable since they wanted to divert some of the money towards opening another branch and Harry was paid a lot. Then six months later and there was another pay cut. Then employees started getting fired and well...here they were. Three years with a new boss and completely overworked and fearing they were next on the firing list.

"Excuse me." Harry looked up from his computer to see a woman dressed in a black blazer and skirt combo.

"Yes?"

"I need to speak to Mister Payne where is he office?"

"Directly across the hall he's on the phone at the moment."

"Thank you." Harry didn't bother reminding her he was on the phone and went back to typing when he heard another male's voice coming from Liam's office. Harry paused furrowing his brow as he listened to the conversation.

"Sir-" that was Liam, Harry knew that for sure.

"Your job was to contact my networking officers. Miss Caldor is head of Networking at the London branch. I had to find out this branch was broke was through my financial officers. I understand everyone here is overworked and I apologize for that however you did not do your job-" Harry stood up and stormed across the hall entering the office.

"Who the hell are you talking to like that?" Harry asked only faltering slightly when he noticed the large group of people in Liam's office one of them being the CEO/Owner of the entire company.

"Excuse me." Louis said raising a brow.

"Liam has been in constant communication with Eleanor since he started working here five years ago. They exchange weekly emails he told her when we got the first pay cut then the second then the firings. I've been in constant communications with her for over a year. So don't you dare come into his office yelling at him as if he's on the wrong when it was your side who didn't do their job. We barely have enough time to pee during the day let alone write twenty-five emails to your employee to make sure she takes us seriously. I don't give a damn who you are I will not allow anyone who has stuck out this long with this treatment to be blamed while your bullshit Networking officers spent three weeks in the Bahamas two months ago for doing excellent work while this man has put in one hundred hours a fucking week with three pay cuts in less than two years. Also let's not forget that when you first opened your second branch you promised one to two annual visits only for you not to show up for the past six years. So how about you talk to your officers before you come over here and start pointing fingers at people who barley sleep five hours a night for your company. If you would have let Liam speak before jumping down on him, I'm sure he would have been more than happy to show you the email your officer sent us telling us we are being overly dramatic, and no one can possibly work roughly fourteen hours a day. Which we don't we clock out after ten and work the rest of the six off the clock for free. You're welcome for that by the way. Also-"

"Harry." Liam hissed.

"What? No fuck this guy I have a whole lot more to say to this fuck head who thinks he can just waltz right in here and-" Liam covered his mouth and quickly shoved him out of his office locking the door once Harry was out, "Pansy!" Harry shouted before he closed and locked his office door around his office to stare at the document upfront of him. Harry slowly calmed down and continued working until he was interrupted yet again, but this time by three sharp knocks at his door.

"Go away." Harry said.

"Can I at least apologize?"

"There you just did now go away." Harry groaned when he heard his lock turn and he glared at Liam who held up the spare key Harry gave him out of trust, "you're a traitor."

"Sue me." Liam said pocketing the key as Louis Tomlinson walked into his office.

"May I explain myself?" Louis asked.

"That depends is this going to be where you make up an excuse of stress then I, for whatever reason, forgives you despite you not learning from it and doing it again later on? Because if so, then no you may not." Harry spoke as he continued to type too focused on getting this document finished before his train of thought left him.

"He watches too many Hallmark movies around the holidays, and I sort of messed up his tea this morning. He's pissy."

"And not sorry by the way so if you're expecting me to apologize after you I won't. I shouldn't have snapped nor cursed at you, but I don't regret it. Oh, and this isn't me trying to be rude this is me trying to get these words on screen before my train of thought leaves me for a different task." Harry explained.

"Good luck." Liam said before he was hurrying out of his office.

"What is it that you want then?" Harry asked.

"I apologize I didn't realize my Networking Officer wasn't completely honest with me when she told me of the only email she had received which was yesterday morning."

"Thank you."

"So...we're good?"

"Yeah, we're fine."

"It doesn't feel like we're fine." Harry looked away from his screen towards Louis who admittedly not two hours ago he thought was extremely hot.

"I do not apologize for what I said however I do apologize for the way it came out. I should have spoken to you more calmly and more rationally. We're fine now I do have to finish this template before we all meet up together and discuss what's going to happen next. So, give me like...thirty minutes?"

"Thank you, but you didn't need to do that."

"I'm a grown mature man I know when I'm wrong- well in this case half wrong."

"We'll have a meeting in an hour." Harry nodded in acknowledgement then looked at him when he didn't leave right away.

"Yes?"

"Nothing just... Why haven't we met before?"

"Because I live in Manchester, and you live in London?"

"Yes, but I have visited this office quite a few times."

"I lock my office door or I'm busy on the phone. Besides during the annual gala, we all sort of stick to our own coworkers and don't mingle. I especially tend to stick with Liam and Niall who stick close to the back, so we're not spotted sneaking sips of a flask."

"Right. Well, it was nice to meet you, Harry." Louis said giving him an appreciative once over that, unfortunately, made heat rise in his cheeks as Harry focused on the screen upfront of him.

"Yeah...you too." Louis smiled at him before he turned and walked out of the office, Harry quickly stood up and locked his office door again shaking his head. Absolutely fucking not.

#ceo louis tomlinson #Larry Stylinson #larry shippers #larries #larry fanfiction #larry stylinson fanfiction #business owner louis tomlinson #chief officer harry styles #business larry fic

[izzymcfeegles]

Regarding Sebastian Stan:

There's a lot of vemon in his fanbase right now. People are angry, hurt, disappointed, and upset.

Overall, I wouldn't call myself a stan or a fangirl. I'm a fan of his work. As somebody who recently got back into the MCU fandom, his performances have always stood out and he just seems like an overall chill, dude. As somebody who lives in the NYC metropolitan area and commutes to Manhattan, I was really impressed with his initial response to the terrifying early days of COVID, using his elevated platform to promote safety. It was much appreciated, especially during a time when NYC was quickly becoming epicentre and cases were rampant. It made me see him as a normal dude, not an out-of-touch celebrity. It made me feel like he had our backs. Maybe the problem lies in my assumptions.

The thing is, despite what Twitter and Insta stans may believe, none of us know Sebastian Stan. Like every public figure, we only know Sebastian Stan's brand. How he (and his PR team) chooses present himself in public and on social media. That being said, the Ibiza trip felt entirely off-brand, given what a lot of fans are used to.

When my Insta feed starts flooding with pictures of Sebastian on a yacht laying the PDA on thick with this woman, not wearing a mask while the being waited on by masked employees, being seen in a club, it rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not someone who typically follows celebrity gossip and under normal circumstances, none of this would bother me. The dude is a grown man and what he does is his business. However, we're not living in normal times. Him traveling overseas during a pandemic made him look like an idiot and a hypocrite. Like all of the goodwill he had built up was for nothing. Some people argue that Ibiza was "safe" at the time. The reality is that while cases in NY and Ibiza have gone down, the virus never went away and international travel is still extremely risky, hence why the EU rightfully banned travel from the U.S. (which raises some questions as to how he got there. Some people theorize his Romanian passport, but im not sure how that would factor in given he's a NY resident).

We can't get into his head and understand the rationale behind the complete 180 in his behavior. Some folks are speculating that it may be a PR stunt, and while I try not to be that cynical, I wouldn't be surprised to find if that were the case, given the nature of the photos and how they contradict his previous posts. If it is, I'm not sure what his agency is trying to accomplish. There is nothing cool, sexy, or glamorous about going about partying in exclusive places and pretending that the pandemic doesn't exist while the majority of the world is suffering. It was tone-deaf and made him look like a tool. Bad optics.

The "geisha pics" from the supposed girlfriend (we really dont know the true nature of their relationship and may never) were the straw that broke the camel's back for a lot of people. I don't think it's fair to put blame on Sebastian - I don't expect the dude to thoroughly vet everyone he meets (leave that to his PR team...) and I do think that it was a bit invasive to dig up that kind of dirt on somebody's supposed so (once again, we still don't know). However, the pictures are now out in the open and yes, they're bad.

As I'm white person it's not my job to tell people what they should or shouldn't be offended by. I do know that as a white person, even in 2018, I would never even consider reducing another person's culture to a cheap party outfit. Its totally unacceptable. And I can see how fans were hurt by being blocked by him for calling her out on it.

That being said, I couldn't help but be taken aback by how zealous the Twitter stans were in dragging him. What I saw were some legitimate points, heartfealt concern, but also insults and threats to leak his personal information. And a lot of women tearing each other down. Even going after Paul Walter Houser for standing up for his friend, which in this case, I honestly couldn't blame the guy. One of my friends in the Cobra Kai fandom had him on his podcast and he seems like an overall solid dude so I think it's only fair to consider his position.

All in all, do I believe the Sebastian Stan is a garbage human who needs to be canceled? No. As mentioned earlier, while we may not know him, his image has been pretty consistent over the years. Most people who have encountered him, including cast and crew have said positive things about him. I'd like to believe he is decent guy who is just making some really bad career moves right now. People go through periods in their lives where they poor choices. If all of this is his doing, I hope he really takes some time to reflect on all this and learn from it and ask himself if this is the image he wants to present. If this is all his agency, I'm hoping they're seeing the negative press and taking notes. If not, I hope he can find a way to get the hell out of there. This is the same agency that supposedly covered for Harvey Weinstein so forcing their clients into doing sleazy PR stunts wouldn't suprise me. Either way, this whole thing has been a shitshow. The mob mentality of the Twitter stans and the threats and harassment need to stop, but it doesn't change the fact his actions hurt alot of people. I don't want him to be "over," I just want him to be better.

#sebastian stan #cancel culture #stan culture #i did not expect to write a dissertation on this #this stuff usually doesn't bother me wtf

[blackidyll]

.

mmm i’ve been kind of in a mental spiral lately (literally feels like i’m having an existential crisis 70% of the time). like you know, 2020 was super fucked up but as time went by we all kind of adjusted? and things are not fine but you can juggle all the balls just so and breathe a little, but a couple of weeks back something tipped the balance for me and it’s like mentally i’ve been thrown off the cliff 

i can pinpoint what threw me out of whack though -- at the end of feb we got the call to return to onsite for work (my country went back into lockdown in november... we’re technically still under lockdown but employers don’t give af anymore i guess). we’re supposed to be on team a/b (team a goes in/team b works from home one week, second week the teams alternate) but i was pulled into this project immediately upon my return to the office, and i went into the office every. single. work day. in march. and because this project was so damn urgent? i was working my weekends. i worked every single day for three weeks straight until i threw a (silent) fit the final weekend and refused to open my email, and even then one of the managers was calling me at 5:20 pm that Friday as i was about to shut down my laptop. 

“luckily” i am good friends with that manager - a colleague who got the promotion recently - so i literally scream-ranted at him 80% of the time and then kicked him off the phone at 5:45 because i was fucking going to my apartment that weekend and I REFUSE TO WORK ANYMORE IT IS OFF WORK HOURS.

anyway. i am kind of not doing great. work is a mess. in october last year i was approached by my manager’s manager for a job role that was 1) effective immediately but 2) “i can’t actually tell you any details about it because it involves P&C information 3) also you can’t tell anyone because re: P&C. 

i said yes, because it’s not like i could say no (like, it’s nice they phrased it as a question and all, but i’m pretty sure the underlying message was that this is a job transfer, not a new job role offer). 

so after i said yes to the new role, i got to learn what it involved! long story short, suddenly i wasn’t working for just a manager - my new boss is getting a major promotion so the stakes are a million times higher! also, my new role reflects that, i am not only supporting literally only the VPs and senior managers (instead of working with my fellow rank and file colleagues) now, but it also involves skillsets that i don’t actually fucking have (like tracking/reporting finances! i spent my first three weeks in the new job almost crying over numbers and spreadsheets. even now i get a bit panicky when someone throws me a curveball and i don’t know how to get the information i need. i am very lucky that the actual data and finance people have been very patient with my gaps).

and to top it off, i am still just a fucking employee, although my job scope and requirements are so much more now. every single person i work with is a manager or higher so of course with their cushy pay and privileges they take the odd/long hours, and since I have the work with them I end up having to do the same. but it’s not the same because i don’t get the same fucking compensation they do and i don’t have a team that works under me. I don’t actually want that. I want work-life balance and less fucking stress. if you ask me if i would have taken the job if i knew what it involved, the honest answer is that I would not. 

(but it’s not like I had a choice really, because literally the entire company - not just our division - went through a major reorganization, so if i didn’t have my current job i think i would have no job). 

and to be fair my boss is pretty decent as far bosses go. he subjects himself to the same crazy hours that we do. he doesn’t scream or yell (like some horror stories i’ve definitely heard of others in the org). he values my work, and makes sure to tell me so. i did get a pay raise. he mentioned trying to push through a promotion mid-year (let’s see if that pans out). he knows i was very much out of my depth and gave me a lot of leeway despite the mistakes i inevitably make, but on the other hand he also got me into this fucking situation so :<

anyway. i don’t know. i’ve been struggling a lot since last october. every month and quarter close is a financial reporting and review nightmare. having to deal with office politics is hell. i was not joking when i say that playing genshin was literally the only thing keeping me sane those early months, because gaming forces me to not think/panic over work because i have to concentrate on the battles. and this past few weeks i have been depressed enough that even gaming lost its spark for me. 

i haven’t been on tumblr much lately and probably will continue to be sporadically active in the future. when i was working from home i could log in during breaks and take a breather, but now that i’m back in the office i can’t even get on twitter on my phone (because engineering company, i can’t get a good data signal inside the office due to the shielding, and i am sure as hell not checking my social media using the work wifi). i don’t really have much energy after i get home from work. and when things are bad a lot of other things kind of pile up, like falling sick easier and interrupted sleep, and the it becomes this cycle of everything just dragging you down. today i worked from home but tomorrow i’m due back in the office. 

i’m sorry if you’ve messaged me and i haven’t responded. it’s been.. really difficult. i’m hanging in here. i just don’t know when i can find my balance again. 

on a bright side? i am really, really looking forward to building houses in genshin. the thought of it feels really calming. guess they knew what they were doing when they named it serenitea pot. 

#while tumblr is not eating posts just a quick update from me i guess #never mind that wasn't quick at all #*

[mayrinchen]

Lost Love | pjm fanfic pt1

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Genre: Angst, fluff

Wordcount: 2,3k

Warnings: indication of masturbation at the end

Summary:

Jimin and you were best friends when you were teenagers. He had to move across the world to pursue his dream career. He promised he'd never forget you and keep in contact, but when was that promise ever kept? 10 years later, after no contact at all, you meet again. But life continued during those 10 years and things changed. Did the ring on your finger destroy your chance of finding true love forever?

Stepping out of the plane was a nice feeling. The warm rays of sunshine were hitting Jimin’s skin and he could finally feel my legs again. After picking up his luggage, he made my way to the taxi and climbed into the backseat. As the driver navigated them to the hotel, he was going to stay at, his eyes roamed the small shops and tall office buildings he once was so familiar with flashing by. Now, 10 years later, they seemed the same but different. New York was the opposite of the small town he grew up in. He knew that New York was going to be louder, bigger and a lot more fast paced than the place he was leaving it for. But boy, did he underestimate it. The first few months felt like living hell, but he fought through it and the hard work didn’t disappoint. Jimin got promoted within 3 months of working at the marketing agency. But achieving success on one side had its sacrifice on the other side. His family and friends barely heard from him anymore. When he finally reached out to his parents again, he insisted on them coming to visit him. Not once did he visit them at home because he loved New York so much, he didn’t want to leave. Or at least that is what he told himself.

Jimin rested his head against the window and spotted a big, white apartment complex with flashy yellow window frames. His stomach dropped at the sight of it. And he immediately remembered the thing that made him hesitant about coming back. But maybe she was long gone - left this small town to start her own adventures somewhere else. But maybe she didn’t.

When they halted at a red light a few moments later, Jimin’s curiosity got the better of him and he turned around to look at the prominent building through the rear window. He wondered how it looked exactly the same as it did when he was a teenager, before it vanished behind the trail of cars behind them.

When they arrived at the hotel, the driver helped Jimin carry his luggage inside and for that he deserved a generous tip, Jimin thought. He still felt incredibly proud that he was wealthy enough to afford to tip people as much as he’s like to. And to afford a five-star hotel like this. The floor looked as if you could ice skate on it, that’s how shiny it was. After thanking the man and checking in he dropped down on the huge bed. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea considering how white the bed was and how sweaty and disgusting he felt after the 15-hour journey from his apartment in New York to here. But now all he needed was a coffee to get through the rest of the day. Even though he flew first class, he wasn’t able to sleep more than two hours on the plane. His body was way too fidgety and sweaty. Probably just the nervousness of seeing his family again after a long time.

After changing clothes and freshening up a bit, Jimin decided to walk a few blocks to a café he knew all too well. He sighed as he left the suite, the insides of his suitcases were scattered around the place but that was a problem for future Jimin.

As he walked down the street, the soft wind blew through his shirt, cooling his skin from the hot summer sun. Entering the café, the nostalgic sound of a bell rang through his ears and he couldn’t help but smile. It was quite crowded which was expected during lunch time. But Jimin’s internal clock was so off. In New York it would be around midnight. Just the fact that the sun was burning down at the moment made Jimin go crazy.

He stood at the end of the queue and waited for his turn to order. When the last person in front of him stepped out of the way, Jimin looked up from his phone. As he stared into those all too familiar green eyes, his mouth hung open and it took him some seconds to regain himself.

“Jimin?” the older woman behind the counter asked with a similarly shocked expression. He forgot this is where she worked.

“Hye-ja?” Jimin smiled, putting a hand on the counter. “Nice to see you again.”

“I can only give that back. Look at you! You’ve grown up to be a very handsome young man.”

“Thank you,” he said while scratching the back of his neck. A customer appeared next to him and asked if he could have extra sugar for his coffee. Hye-ja immediately handed him a pack and wished him a good day with a smile on her face. The guy returned the smile and made his way back to his seat.

“Still making costumers’ days better from behind the counter, huh?” Jimin smirked, an eyebrow raised.

“Of course! You know I love it,” she grinned while preparing three drinks at once.

“And you’re the best at it,” Jimin smiled back at her before looking around the café. He felt uncomfortable. Not because he hasn’t seen her in a long time but because he vanished without even saying goodbye. He knew she didn’t hate him because she was too nice for that. But at the least, she was disappointed. Because when he left, he hurt one person in particular.

“How is your daughter?” he mumbled hesitantly, avoiding eye-contact. The older woman sighed before stopping to dry the mugs and propped herself up on the counter. Her eyes darted to Jimin’s. The reflex to look away was fighting hard but Jimin forced himself to look back at her. He was not going to run away from his problems. Again.

“Jimin…” she started softly. “She doesn’t hate you. You hurt her and you know that. I don’t blame you but you could’ve at least called from time to time. She wasn’t the only one who missed you,” Hye-ja smiled at him but he didn’t miss the sadness hiding behind it. He sighed before opening his mouth again.

“Does she… does she know-“

“That you are back?” she raised an eyebrow at him and continued when she received a nod from the younger boy.

“Yes, she heard. I’m sure she’ll be happy if you talk to her,” she handed Jimin his café and he handed her the money. Jimin nodded at her, a forced smile on his face.

But before he could say goodbye and turn away, Hye-ja stopped him.

“But it has been 10 years, Jimin. And things changed. Remember that,” she said, a smile planted on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. What did she mean by that, Jimin thought. But before he could question it, the woman had already turned her attention back to her work, only mumbling a ‘Have a nice time’. Jimin thanked her and without another word, left the building.

----

As the thoughts in his head became too loud for Jimin to bear, he decided to take a nap. But he didn’t intend to wake up over 10 hours later. The sun had long vanished behind the horizon and his jeans were getting uncomfortable. After he had unpacked both of his suitcases, he changed into comfier clothes before sliding back into bed and turning on the TV. It must have been long past 2 am when Jimin remembered that he hadn’t told his parents yet that he had arrived safely. Grabbing his phone from the bed side table, he sent his mom a quick text, telling her that he was going to visit them later that day. He then opened Instagram, mindlessly scrolling through it. And before he could stop himself, curiosity got the better of him and he typed her name into the search bar. Still private.

But you changed your profile picture.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he decided that it was time to go back to sleep again. He was getting teary-eyed from the brightness of his phone and the TV.

----

Getting up the next morning at 6 am wasn’t easy but falling back asleep was impossible at this point. He was definitely feeling the jetlag and a headache creeping up behind his eyes. After an hour of scrolling through Instagram and Twitter, he ordered breakfast to his room, and ate it while switching through the program on the TV.

Jimin then decided that going for a run would be a great way to pass some time. On his run, he explored several small parks that were scattered around his area. A lot of which he knew but some he had never seen before. Tons of people were outside, enjoying the cosy weather. Not too hot, not too cold. Towards the end of the jog, Jimin realized that running with a full stomach was not one of his wisest decisions. Maybe a tea might help. Stopping in front of the same coffee shop, he visited yesterday, Jimin wondered if entering all sweaty and out of breath was such a good idea. But on the other side, he couldn’t care less. The only thing that made him hesitant was the back of someone’s head that looked oddly familiar. The female, he was inspecting from the outside, was talking to an employee. When she finally turned around, Jimin’s breath hitched in his throat. A person that passed him by, gave him a strange look, but Jimin ignored him. He would recognize that smile anywhere. A long time ago, he was the cause of that smile many times.

There you were. The reason why he was so hesitant to come back. You were chatting with your mom, a huge grin on your face. You haven’t changed a lot. You got prettier, more mature and you were still here. Thank god. Jimin stood there, frozen, just staring at you. He must have looked like a total creep. But when you turned to your right and waved at your mom, heading towards the exit – to Jimin, his heart started pounding in his chest. He quickly turned his back towards you and fished his phone out of his pocket, almost dropping it because of how shaky his hands were.

The ring of the bell and the clicking of heels on the pavement were letting him know that right now, you were standing next to him. He elevated his gaze from his phone and stopped at your side profile. You were staring down at your phone just like he was, furrowing your eyebrows. The difference was that you weren’t just pretending, trying to avoid your past.

And then your gaze shifted from your phone to your right and then to your left and from there, in the corner of your eye, you noticed him. Your eyes met his and they widened for a millisecond before your head snapped back forward. You were searching your surroundings for something.

“Y/N,” Jimin spoke, costing him all the courage he had. You closed your eyes for a second before turning on your heels and looking at him.

“Hi,” you said shortly. Jimin stared at you before his gaze flickered to the floor, then to the cars driving by, to everywhere but you. You on the other side stared him down. You felt anger, confusion, disappointment and so many more feelings when looking at him.

“I’m back,” he mumbled while scratching the back of his neck. Good. He feels awkward. He should.

“I can tell,” you stated. “Only took you 10 years.”

Jimin’s eyes met yours again. But when he noticed the ice stare you gave him, his head turned to the side, looking through the glass of the café. You followed his glance and noticed your mom looking back at you. Sighing, you turned back around and searched the street for your ride.

“Y/N, can we maybe meet up for a coffee and just… talk?”

“Talk?” you looked over your shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him. This time he held your stare and nodded. Another groan left your throat. Then the black car you were so desperately waiting for, finally showed up.

“We are invited to dinner at your parents’ house tonight. I’m pretty sure they don’t mind seeing you after all this time, anyways,” you told him before opening the car door and getting into the car. One more glance towards Jimin who was still inspecting you, before slamming the door shut and motioning for your driver to go.

Jimin watched the car drive off before slumping his shoulders and exhaling. He wasn’t aware of how tense his body had been while talking to you. As he looked back into the coffee shop, he noticed your mother still staring. When she noticed Jimin, she immediately went back to work. Dinner. Tonight. I wanted to visit my family today, anyways. Glad to know they are still close.

Jimin’s desire for a tea was now long gone and he decided to walk back to the hotel. He jumped into the shower as soon as he came back. The warm water was hitting his skin and helped him relax. Your face was still on his mind and he replayed your conversation over and over again. You were cold towards him and he couldn’t blame you. It was your right after everything he had done to you. You were still so fucking gorgeous. As Jimin closed his eyes, you were the only thing on his mind. Slowly a warm feeling spread through his lower body and he couldn’t help but slide his hands down his body. Soft whimpers left his mouth as he touched himself to the image of you. His mind and body screamed at him to stop. But he couldn’t. He was too weak. He hadn’t been touched in such a long time and seeing you today, looking so good it should be illegal, didn’t help. As a shudder took over his body, he slumped back against the shower wall. When he caught his breath again, he felt guilty. He didn’t deserve to feel this away about you. Not after leaving you to yourself for 10 years after he promised he’ll stay in contact.

#bts #jimin #park jimin #jimin x reader #bts x reader #jimin fluff #jimin angst #jimin fanfic #bts fanfic #jimin fanfiction #bts fanfiction #bts angst #bts fluff

[charmprince]

Same thoughts... Separation Anxiety. 😔🤗💞

"Ten years from now or even more, our couple well be just you and me. The Nuisance and the Handsome Prince." 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

#คั่นกูตอนจบ #2getherthesereis

This post not mine. But this is the exact thought that I have regarding the series. And I think we should be like this instead of spreading negativity about 2gether.

[2gether The Series Appreciation Post] by Zeric Paguinto

As an employee that's living kilometers away from my family, I always tend to look for something that could entertain me. 2016, I decided to watch a Thai series out of boredom (prior that, I've been watching Thai BL movies already. I was not into series back then as it requires longer time to finish such). That very series conquered my life and gave me so much inspiration (that's Love Sick) hence, I am still here watching more of the same until #2getherTheSeries came into my life. A series that I must say different from others. Anyways GMMTV never fails to give us a show which has a beautiful plot that could make our hearts shake, bend and even break.

Going back to 2gether, what are the elements that made it groundbreaking? (At least for me):

1. The STORY itself. I am a great fan of novels with back story that has big impact to future happenings. I love mysteries as well as revelations and 2gether has that! It's not a typical college/ high school love story that we know. Too good to be true like fantacy. Like a fairy tale that all of us are dreaming of since we're a little. Who would dare to ask a stranger to be his fake boyfriend - the fact that you're also a guy? The said plot is perfect for hopeless romantic person like me. This show promotes pure love over lust. Happy that they tried to break BL series stereotype. Even in ending no, passionate kiss delivered. I believe that every LGBTQ+ story is inspirational, unique and colorful. You can learn meaningful lessons from it. (Like Grey Rainbow, one of my favorites)

2. ACTORS & THEIR ACTING. Picking someone who's newbie and a veteran that never been into this genre was a risk. On the contrary they played the role effectively! What makes the people fall for Sarawat? His face definitely - it is very addictive! He seems mysterious on and off cam which made us curious about this person (what can he bring to the table?). And of course, being proficient in playing guitar and his singing ability! That's indeed admirable! If you're an avid fan of him, I bet you know what he had gone through before this. Such a responsible son! Bright is kind of reserved guy hence, he's perfect for the role like you would think that it was really designed for him! Tine or Win on the other hand is very refreshing to the eyes! Very oriental looking guy. Beginning wasn't easy for him though as he got bashed by many. Telling that they should've chosen better actor. Win had shut them up eventually through his excellent acting skill, bubbly/funny personality that makes him cute and adorable as hell. And the most important thing is for having a million dollar smile, which is actually a requirement of the character Tine. His acting is very natural, it seems that he has control button for his tears, that he could hit whenever the scene needs it - for a new comer, that's undoubtedly commendable! Amerasian guy & Strong Asian Look cutie tandem is not bad at all! It has worked well! Both characters are very masculine which (for my preference) is a plus factor. They are totally different from each other but as they say, negative attracts positive.

3. OFFICIAL SOUND TRACK. As Sarawat mentioned in episode 3. "You dont need to understand music, you just have to feel it". Through melody alone, I was able to relate on every scene. And the time I've learned the lyrics, I fell in love more with Scrubb band, and Bright too! Every word in these songs is heart-strucking and trully relatable. Like flashbacks are coming to my mind, or out of nowhere I would see myself in a music video. That's too dramatic, but sweet! Tine is correct, I get to be happier, feel better and in love more whenever I am listening to these songs, and for that, I would certainly love to hear these masterpieces all day! Kan Goo is Bright's debut song and I am proud of him because it's his dream to become a recording artist. It is now happening! As for Scrubb, they are existing since 2000, they should be thankful to the writer for including them in the picture. Instantly, they are now international artists - well deserved recognition because they are really talented.

4. COVID 19 - Some BL fans are arguing about the success of 2gether the series. Some says that if it isn't because of the pandemic, it won't be a trend at all, for it won't be able to reach larger community. I agree, but I took that fact positively. I know that it is God's timing - never early nor late, always perfect! The stars have aligned for the series to be on its current state. They are simply blessed!

Now that 2gether the series have come to an end, I would like to take this oppurtunity to thank all those individuals who made this show possible, you made my boring weeks and quarantine days meaningful ones.

GMMTV, thank you for producing another BL themed TV program. This kind of entertainment has been my comfort zone for years now. You are already part of me! Scrubb, for sharing your good music to everyone, I hope I could watch one of your concerts in the future. P'Jitti, the writer, we owe you one! We can't thank you enough for bringing Sarawat and Tine's epic love story into my life. Please continue making a worth sharing work of art! You're a genius! To the cast and crews, your hardwork has been paid off! Kudos for a job well done!

One lesson I have learned from the series is that, we should always pursue our love whatever the result may be. Take a chance or lose it!

To all the BL fans out there! We should always encourage each other. This kind of series aims to make us united and not to generate wars. Always show respect on individual's preferences. We are family and so there shouldn't be any competetion. It has been a fruitful 3 months with you guys! Let's all hit CTRL+S so we won't forget all the good memories happened in regards to 2getherTheSeries.

Many of you would say, "dont be sad, you may always check Bright and Win through social media". I know that! But #SarawaTine is different from #BrightWin and so I will never be satisfied looking at their IG stories or twitter updates. And we all know that it's impossible for them to be in a relationship in real life. That doesn't mean that I will not support them moving forward. It is just that I am deeply saddened to realize that starting today, I don't have a special something to look forward to every Friday. I was living for 2gether The Series! I am probably exaggerating but seperation anxiety is hitting me now so please bare with my emotions. I hope I could get to see you soon Bright and Win! From the bottom of my heart, Khon Khun Kap! I wish you both good luck! See you on Season 2 Our Nuisance and Handsome Prince!

[sm-entertain-me]

Technically Off Limits (E)

Requested by @sarangtae-vante:  Hey love, can have an imagine where you've been fan of bts for a long time but then you actually get recruited in their tech team and it was really hard not to fan girl around them but they made you fell really comfortable. And then any of the member (jin or jk or jimin or all) finds that you have a crush on taehyung and you can take from here.i don't mind if it's a fluff or mature. (I decided fluff, btw)

Contains: Kim Taehyung x (f) reader, adult language, FLUFF, tech team!reader, Bighit employee!au

Synopsis: Congratulations on you getting hired on Big Hit Entertainment's tech team! It makes all those computer science classes worth it to be able to work for your favorite company. However, it’s made very clear that you are not to be romantically involved with any of the talent... 

The day you got the email to join Bighit's tech teams was not one you would easily forget. Although the events leading up to it were something to be desired since you had gotten yelled at by your boss, well, ex boss. It was a cold, rainy day and you had gotten home around 9 o'clock ish because of the intense hours your employer chose to put onto you, serving as a "warning" to not be late again. Everything seemed to be going wrong until you opened your email to find a special piece of mail sitting at the top of your inbox, shining with bold letters. You had a good feeling what the email contained, but you weren’t sure that it was an opportunity to change your life forever.

Ever since then, you’ve been whisked away to Seoul to help out with minor technical issues with Bighit’s offices and stuff like that. Most of the employees didn’t really speak English that well so they often sent one of the trainees or other rookies that had recruited from English speaking countries to give you orders. Honestly, even though you were living your dream, it was a little bit boring to you. You were under the impression you would be working closely with the artists that have been produced from this company, not fixing minuscule viruses that would pop up occasionally because of the trainee artists clicking on emails that they really shouldn’t be. You weren’t going to name names of course because that would be embarrassing for them as well as you, since you knew what kind of emails were causing the viruses. Still, a job’s a job.

It was a little later than when you were supposed to get out, getting sucked into helping with PD-nim’s technical issues with his sound system in the office. You didn’t complain because he was a very nice man, and he was easily the most powerful person in this whole facility and could ship you right back into the shithole of a life you had prior to this. “Need help with that?” A familiar voice called out from behind you, causing you to jump where you stood and dropping some of your tools on the ground. You held your hand over your heart as you inhaled sharply, turning on your heels to find Jungkook standing there with his goofy smile after he realized he scared you pretty badly. “Jesus Christ, Kook,” You groaned as you doubled over and held onto the caps of your knees, still trying to get your breathing down to a semi normal rate.

“What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you have gone home like, half an hour ago?” Jungkook questioned as he slipped through the opened doorway and stood next to you, sitting down in PD-nim’s swivel chair to tend to the need of Twitter for another selca. Rolling your eyes lightly, you nodded at him as you grabbed the tiny screwdriver that lay on the ground, “Yeah, but I have to get this done. I’m so close to being promoted to your guys’ technical manager.” It was true. You were very close to being promoted to being one of the on hand tech managers whenever the guys went on tour. Although you only really gotten close with Jungkook and Jimin, you were more than happy to get to know the rest of them. Especially Taehyung.

Ah yes, Kim Taehyung. He was easily the most beautiful person you had ever laid eyes on. He had a smile that could melt you into a puddle, eyes that were the softest shade of brown and could carry the whole light of the world in them, and a laugh that always made you smile. However, you never really got to know him because you were super shy and didn’t want to ruin any part of the nonexistent relationship you had, he was talent and you were instructed to never get involved with any of the talent as your job was just to make sure everything was running smoothly in the tech department, and you rarely got to see him outside of practice. It was a shame really because you felt like you and Taehyung would really hit it off. You did, however, come really close to asking Jungkook to be your wingman, but you knew that if he found out your true feelings about his bandmate that he would surely make your life a living hell with the constant teasing and pestering. 

“Hey! Y/N! Did you even hear me?” Jungkook’s voice rang out to you from his position behind you, yanking you back into reality. You turned to face him with a look of confusion, still gripping the screwdriver in your hand that had yet to move from your thinking about Taehyung. That earned an eye roll from Jungkook as he stood up and came towards you, waving his hand in front of your face to bring you completely back from the vice grip your thoughts had on you, “Geez you checked out for a good minute there. What were you thinking about?” “No one,” You responded simply, turning your back to him to continue your work. That was, until Jungkook reached out to grab your shoulders and turn you completely around, “Y/N, I said what were you thinking about, not who. But now you’re going to tell me who or I’ll break PD-nim’s sound system even more than it is now.” “You wouldn’t,” You seethed, narrowing your eyes at the young man in front of him who wore a smirk like it was a permanent part of his body. “Try me.”

Jungkook was a persistent one, you’ll give him that. He wouldn’t let you leave the room, wouldn’t let you pick up the screwdriver to continue your work, and surely wouldn’t let you change the subject. He even resulted to yanking the screwdriver away from you until you at least gave him a hint on who had taken your full attention. “Is he older than me?” Jungkook questioned as he fiddled with the tool needed to finish the job, knowing it was annoying you. “Yes,” You grumbled as you walked over to the desk, sitting on it casually. Jungkook’s lips formed a smile as he looked up at you to continue his questioning, “Is he in BTS?” “Kook, seriously,” You groaned as you tried to grab the screwdriver that was dangerously close to your hand but he was way too quick, looking at you until you answered him. With a huff and a sigh, you answered, “Yes.” Jungkook chuckled, “Of course he is. That’s why you want to be on the tech team, you like someone in the band. Is it Tae Tae?” 

The sudden silence that filled the room was more than enough to answer Jungkook’s question as you looked down at your hands, twiddling your thumbs as if you were ashamed to admit it. Jungkook saw the sudden drop of your face and quickly walked over to you, bending down to meet your eyes, “Hey. It’s okay. Taehyung is a really nice guy and I’m sure that I can get you two to go out or something.” “No,” You protested as you looked away to hide the redness that was spreading through your face due to embarrassment of this whole conversation. “I’m not allowed to. I’m here to work, not date. PD-nim made that very clear.” You watched as Jungkook rolled his eyes, grabbing your face to look at him, “Y/N, do you realize how many people here have had romantic trysts with the artists here? The answer is a lot. Now, I’m going to set you up with Taehyung and you’re going to enjoy yourself. Besides, maybe he likes you too.” “Who likes who?”

The voice that asked that question didn’t belong to you or Jungkook. You both turned to the source of the noise, coming face to face with the very person you were just talking about. “Taehyung,” You said with widened eyes, trying to hide your face that still had the prominent redness from Jungkook’s pestering. Jungkook stood up quickly and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Oh, nothing Tae.” Taehyung’s lips formed a pout as he entered the office, walking to stand right next to you and offering a smile at you before he spoke, “Come on Kook, I barely get to hear any drama anymore. I wanna know.” Jungkook looked down at you, silently asking you to handle the situation since it was really your feelings being discussed. Taehyung also looked down at you, waiting to see if you would tell him even though you knew it could ruin any chance of getting that promotion you desired. 

“I... I don’t really want to tell you,” You admitted, stammering almost every single word that poured out of you because of the nervousness that sat in your stomach from Taehyung being so close and having to admit your feelings to him. Taehyung sighed as he grabbed your hand in his, stroking the top of it with his thumb, “Y/N, you can trust me.” You were kind of shocked that he actually knew your name considering he’s really only said hello a few times to you when he passed through the hallways or the elevator to get to the practice rooms, but you weren’t complaining. Jungkook was standing opposite the two of you as he watched the way Tae was holding your hand, awkwardly shoving his hand into his pocket, “Oh um, by the way... I may or may not have already said something about you liking him.”

“You fucking what?” You yelled, snatching your hand out of Taehyung’s and rushing over to Jungkook to grab him by the collar, shaking him as hard as you could even though it barely made the bulky kid move. “You told him?!?” “To be fair, it was kind of obvious. Yoongi-hyung and I had a bet to see how long it would take for Tae to find out, so I told him so I could win the bet,” Jungkook admitted as he let you continue to shake him back and forth against the wall. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You trusted Jungkook. Actually, you hadn’t even told him that you had feelings for Taehyung, so you were more shocked at the fact that it was so obvious to everyone else besides you. You thought you were pretty good at hiding your emotions, but your actions prove otherwise. 

You finally calmed down at you let go of Jungkook’s collar, pushing the fabric out so you could smooth the wrinkles you caused. Sighing softly, you pressed your fingers to the bridge of your nose to control yourself, “Kookie, I’m sorry. I just, I really want this promotion and the whole reason I hadn’t said anything was so that PD-nim wouldn’t find out and threaten to terminate me... And now Taehyung knows, and so does Yoongi. God I’m screwed.” A soft hand found the base of your shoulder blade, rubbing it lightly as the person it belonged to spoke quietly, “No, no. You’re not screwed. PD-nim doesn’t have to know anything about it. Y/N, you’re a great tech expert. And if you hadn’t noticed, we kind of have a say in who’s in our tech group on the road. Both Kook and I can vouch for you. Hell, even Jimin can vouch for you.” 

You turned on your heels to look up at Taehyung with eyes that had a few tears being held back sicne you thought you would surely get fired, “You-You’d do that? For me?” Taehyung smiled softly at you, his eyes forming deep crescents as he looked at you, “Of course I would. You’re one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen, and you’re also the kindest person I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.” A smile found its way onto your face as you looked down to hide the small blush, afraid Taehyung would catch it.

 A hand gripped the bottom of your chin and pulled you to look up, your eyes meeting once again with Tae’s, “And about you liking me, let me ask you a question. Has it ever occurred to you that I always say hi to you in the elevator when the practice rooms are below the tech department? They’ve never been above.” It all made sense to you. Taehyug had no reason to be on the elevator with you for so long. The practice rooms are on the third floor and the tech department is on the fifth. He’d gone out of his way to stay on that elevator to say hi and strike up seemingly meaningless conversations with you. That was sure to get your heart racing.

“So are you going to ask her or what? I did my part,” Jungkook said impatiently, interrupting your conversation as he stood with his arms crossed. “She nearly ripped my shoulder out of place by shaking me so hard.” Taehyung rolled his eyes at Jungkook and motioned for him to leave, Jungkook giving at nod to the both of you to say his farewells. You tilted your head at Taehyung, wanting to know what he meant by “I did my part.” Taehyung smiled a nervous smile, gripping the back of his neck and giving a good scratch, “I may or may not have planned this out since Kook told me about you liking me a couple months ago. I didn’t know how to go about it since we barely talk, but I would love to get to know you, if that’s okay.” Taehyung saw your face contort to show your nervousness, still thinking about how you could lose your job over this. Until he used an argument you simply couldn’t resist, “It’s just one little date. What PD-nim doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” 

Little did you know that the one little date that Taehyung was talking about turned into another date, and another one, and him asking you to be his girlfriend after you got your promotion to the BTS technical manager. Once you were promoted, PD-nim really had no grounds to fire you since you and Tae were dating after you got your promotion... Or so he thought. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

#Kim Taehyung #Kim Taehyung fanfiction #Kim Taehyung fluff #V #V fanficiton #V fluff #Kpop #Kpop fanficiton #Kpop fluff #BTS #BTS fanfiction #BTS fluff #Bangtan Sonyeondan #Bangtan Boys #Bangtan fanfiction

[lethesomething]

Fyre Festival: telling stories with images

So I finally saw the Fyre Festival documentary on Netflix, and because I overanalyse everything, I'd like to talk about the way people in this hour-and-a-half long documentary are put into frame.

 First things first: this is a visually very appealing documentary, especially considering how seemingly simple the setup is. The docu is made up of two kinds of footage. One the one hand, there's 'found footage'. Most of this comes from marketing shoots made to promote the festival. There's also clips from I'm assuming Twitter or Instagram, video's that people made with their phones during the deeply unpleasant events at the actual festival site. Near the end there's also footage taken from another promo shoot, this time for the new ticketing scam McFarland was working on.

This is all action cam footage. It's people dancing, swimming, toasting. It's the team typing and working, coming up with plans and strategies. It's them 'hustling. The guest footage from the festival itself is at times reminiscent of a horror movie: shaky cam, bad lighting, people just in general shock. Rarely are people standing still in these images. There's a lot of energy here, be it positive or negative. The atmosphere you get from these images is the liveliness, the 'in the moment' feel.

Billy McFarland himself, one of the main antagonists in this documentary, the one behind it all, is all over this found footage. That makes sense because, again, he's one of the main players in the organisation. If these images are action cam, chaotic, energetic, it's because a lot of them have him as their main focus.

The first image we see of him from the aftermath is him walking through New York, on the phone, chased by journalists. It's good footage, because it not only puts him as the main 'prey' of this documentary, but because, judging by the witnesses, this man is a whirling dervish, a hurricane of energy and wire fraud.

Contrast that with Grant, another one of the organisers, who in what little footage we have of him, is sitting down, visibly stressed and freaking out. They're the general and the accountant, the one who pulls everyone along with inspiring speeches, and the one that has to make things happen. Ja Rule, finally, the third antagonist, is usually shown partying. He's not around in the later images, and seems to have missed any of the actual practical setup and eventual disaster. He's just there to promote, to have fun. 

Looked at like this they become almost simple characters. The numbers man, the hype man, and in the middle of it all: the firestorm.

 But what I found most interesting were the shoots the documentary takers filmed themselves. These are the interviews with several of the employees and witnesses after the fact. And what's striking is that these are all very similar in their framing. The interviewee is invariably sitting in the very middle of the frame, usually viewed from the waist or knees up, with close-ups for dramatic moments.

 This works to make a visual break between the events themselves, which are chaotic and full of action, and the commentary afterward, which looks almost academic. The participants are sitting down and reflecting, calmly, on what the hell just happened.

This framing also gives a certain personality to each of the witnesses, or at least seems to reflect them in some thematic way. I think the most visually striking one is Andy, the host, who sits in this very warm, seventies style den.

It makes sense for him. He's the experienced one, potentially the oldest of the interviewees. He mentions a few times that he's done this for thirty years. He's a great character, because he looks like a dad, but he's also the one with the blowjob story.

But this style of themed imagery is all over the interview footage. The creative director is almost perfectly colour coordinated with his background.

The asian lady that worked for the app sits in front of a beautiful book case, giving the impression that she's intelligent or at least highly trained, perhaps bookish. The worker from the island sits on a simple wooden chair in front of greenery and palm trees. He sits outdoors, in the environment that suits him as a builder, and he is by far the most relaxed of all the interviewees.

The cook, meanwhile, is filmed in front of her restaurant, on the Exuma beach, under a gorgeous sunny sky. This is the one actually sitting in this promised paradise, close to the festival site. She's also the only one that cries on camera.

 It's nice, because the visuals are pretty, but they also seem to write a small story of their own.

Seth, the guest that had his personal lawyer sue Fyre, sits in a kitchen that feels like a Hamptons home, a Pinterest style environment for rich people.

The stage guy is in one of the more bare environments, with less light, possibly some warehouse associated with storing this kind of equipment.

 These locations are, by the way, very clearly picked. The journalist sits in a messy office, but it's clear that it isn't hers. Journalists don't usually work in offices, they work in open plan newsrooms.  It's probably her chief editor's or a publisher's or something. A lot of them look like they were interviewed in some meeting room, after work.

The festival consultant sits behind a beautiful wooden table, in front of a glass wall that shows a big office.

The software engineer sits in a bright cubicle office environment.

 But that's the interesting thing about most of these: the location is usually decidedly hipster.

The marketing guy that filmed the promo is in this large hip office space with high industrial walls, as is the CEO for the media company. The creative director for the Fyre app is also pictured in a large, high ceilinged office building.

These visuals are not neutral. High ceilings, bare brick, tall cast iron industrial style windows, those are usually associated with a specific type of New York architecture. These are the environments frequented by the affluent, the hip and rich. In a way, it seems, these are still millennial elites, the very same people that McFarland, it is mentioned, was is so good at targeting. I suppose it's a comforting thought that these people do seem to have gotten back on their feet.

One of the main outliers (apart from the actual island employees) in this regard is the young man that worked for Fyre media. The one that had to book the artists. He is by far the youngest of them, and it looks like he's sitting in his parent's bedroom.

#lethey writes #visual analysis #or something #fyre festival #netflix #look i watched a thing and ranted about it #how long has that been?

[ads-is-shady-blog]

#5) [Otome Games/BTS] An Update on Aeon Dream Studios - hiatus, founder leaving, allegations of emotional abuse and non-payment by a former employee, + more

View the discussion on reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/amiuas/otome_gamesbts_an_update_on_aeon_dream_studios/

Post (words by original poster linked):

This is an update to my previous post here which has some background and a Tl;dr at the end for those who need it. It's time for an update as a lot has happened in the past month.

Before that, though, here's something I missed in my last post: a scandal in June 2018 where ADS tweeted on their official account to call out a fanfic author on Wattpad for copying ADS's work. The tweet included an image containing the author's username, leading the fifteen-year-old author to receive harassment from TTEOTS fans who had seen the tweet. Considering TTEOTS itself did not have legal permission to be using BTS's likenesses, the call out post seems rather hypocritical. There was also an exchange in the replies where the devs passive aggressively blamed a fan who asked for help due to the app being glitchy.

So, to recap where we left off:

The studio went silent for a couple of months at the end of 2018, letting a promised release date for TTEOTS pass without comment. In mid-December the CEO emerged to link her inability to work to a BTS member sustaining a minor injury, and then pushed back Echoes to 2019 (initially promised for March 2017), giving no date for further TTEOTS content.

January has brought renewed anger and attempts to raise awareness by ex-fans and customers who have been burned by the studio.

January 14th

In two tweets on her personal account, the CEO decried the capitalisation and dehumanisation of BTS through merchandise and idolatry and condemned fans for buying products that contributed to this. This was certainly an ironic tweet to make for someone who:

dehumanised BTS by turning them into characters for her game without their consent;

promoted the game using BTS's faces, name and existing fanbase, and strongly encouraged fans to pay for crowdfunding, TTEOTS merch and, later, the monetised Premium version;

enticed fans to buy Premium by promising Premium-exclusive content such as eventual romantic content with said characters, further dehumanising the members of BTS without their consent.

Several people responded pointing out the hypocrisy of making such tweets after capitalising on the faces of BTS, but the CEO did not respond; instead one fan chimed in to defend the studio.

January 18th

The CEO posted a new blog on ADS's official website announcing a hiatus for financial reasons. It is no longer accessible for reasons I'll explain, but there is a cached version viewable here. The hiatus will last until at least March and means writing and programming will continue but almost everything else is paused and their social media presence will be reduced. Elaborating, she explained that they had "been on hiatus in some ways since September [2018]", having slowed work due to budgetary constraints.

The post also included a vague paragraph about a personal financial settlement she was owed from a person referred to as "He-Shall-Not-Be-Named" which she had planned to invest into ADS, but allegedly he had dragged out the proceedings and this, combined with the "untimely" cease and desist from BigHit Entertainment and decreased sales, led to financial difficulties. During the hiatus, which will last until March or later, the CEO wrote that she would work on novels and commissions in order to help the company.

Ex-fans linked the hiatus post in the Steam forums and in a post on /r/otomegames. Criticism was directed at numerous parts of the statement, including:

"We promised you guys a lot of things, and we’re going to deliver, come hell or high water. It might not be in the time frame I had planned, but it will be done. I am definitely known as a person of my word." (emphasis added)

A claim critics would happily dispute, and:

"Anyway, as a result I decided the best thing for us was to be honest, now that I knew more, and let the fans know exactly what was happening as soon as possible and take an “official” hiatus." (emphasis added)

This latter statement attracted particular criticism considering the studio had already been winding down development activity since September but had failed to inform fans and eventually went radio silent for roughly 2 months, leaving TTEOTS fans confused and worried about the status of the game. Further, this hiatus post was not announced anywhere on ADS's social media, leaving those who had noticed it wondering exactly how this constituted keeping fans in the loop.

January 25th

On the 25th, the CEO made several tweets, one of which began with:

"Lately, relationships have ended in my life. I'm grateful for the lessons I learned. Courage, generosity, empathy, honesty, openness are all traits required for a healthy relationship."

Perhaps coincidentally, that same day the other remaining founding member of the studio announced her departure for mental health reasons. As she is no longer an employee I will not link directly out of respect but here is a screenshot of the main tweet. This left ADS with two remaining employees - the CEO (the only remaining founder) and a writer who had formally joined the studio in February 2018 and who is allegedly now living with the CEO. This departure means there are now four former employees listed on the official ADS website. The third founder was the longest serving former employee at 2 years.

Shortly afterwards, the official ADS Twitter tweeted out a new hiatus statement on their official website, the previous one having vanished. The new post was shorter than the first - down to 426 words from the original 1,089 - and now included the departure of their founding member as a reason for the hiatus.

The tweet attracted a mix of supportive and critical replies, with former fans and backers wading in to demand answers about the two versions of the hiatus post and to back up frustrated TTEOTS fans. Unusually, the CEO appeared in the replies to respond to some of these criticisms, tweeting that:

anything perceived to be "shady" by critics was merely due to their founding member struggling with her mental health behind the scenes;

the second hiatus blog was the "same exact blog" as the original except for the addition of the founding member leaving (in fact the original was twice as long);

the only reason they didn't share the original hiatus post on Twitter was because the member responsible for sharing it had quit.

January 27th

The CEO posted two blogs on the ADS website: a post detailing her plans for restructuring and fulfilling their obligations, including hiring more freelance staff after the hiatus, and another detailing the struggles of ADS from their founding, written in response to a critic who had apparently claimed not to believe in the recently departed founding member's mental health issues. (I am unsure what comment(s) the CEO was referring to specifically as the reference is vague.)

As you've probably guessed, ex-fans picked this latter post apart too.

"I haven’t seen all the bad things out there about us. I don’t read them, because I know that some of it is made up,and would only distract me from my job. I know the truth, and I have always been honest, even if there were things I couldn’t say. I have no motive to lie, and I know these people don’t know or understand me." (emphasis added)

Critics wondered how the CEO could know if criticisms are made up if she doesn't read them.

"I thought of the possibility of course, of hanging it up, working on providing refunds to people (what, you REALLY thought we were so dishonorable as not to do that?)..." (emphasis added)

Of course, as mentioned in my last post, numerous customers had reported difficulty obtaining refunds (despite a threat from the devs that backers who were toxic would be forcibly refunded).

On their official Twitter account, they also announced plans to move away from social media and focus on communicating through the "healthy space" of their Discord channels. Ex-fans speculated this was a way to more tightly moderate speech and shut out critics. One began lurking in the official Discords, reporting on what the studio's remaining employees were saying and alleging that critics' arguments were being misrepresented by ADS devs to their fans in the Discord enquiring about the controversy.

This user also heavily hinted at having testimony from an inside source that supposedly included emotional abuse allegations against the CEO, but was holding off on saying anything due to concerns about preserving the source's anonymity.

28th January

Despite failing to give a release date elsewhere, the developers posted a backer-exclusive Kickstarter update which as a non-backer I cannot read, but according to a poster in the Steam forum it gives the release date for Echoes as March 2019, despite the hiatus.

The CEO also tweeted refuting past criticism that she was throwing employees under the bus in her updates, and closed by stating she would not be tweeting about negativity or rumours anymore.

29th January

A Twitter user who is the MDSOA Deluxe Edition Kickstarter's highest backer (to the tune of $2000+ USD, proof posted on their Twitter account) posted a series of tweets strongly condemning the studio. She claimed one employee from the studio had blocked her (something at least one other backer has also reported) and that she had been refused a refund.

In fact, when she had emailed the studio in November 2018 asking for refunds for physical Kickstarter rewards which did not yet exist almost 2 years after the Kickstarter in question - and indeed still do not exist - ADS responded that crowdfunded pledges are "donations" and "ordinarily considered non-refundable", with the promised rewards being "just a perk". (This screenshot of the reply is embedded in one of the tweets.) However, they generously stated they would "consider it" when they start sending out merchandise.

In fact, according to Section 4 of Kickstarter's Terms of Use, this is very much not true: "project creators must complete the project and fulfil each reward." Backers are owed regular updates, and if the project fails, creators must go to lengths to show why they failed, prove they used funds appropriately, and either refund backers with any remaining funds or use this money to complete the promised project in another form. The only way to terminate these obligations to a backer is to issue a refund, ending the contract between them.

And, in any case, the developers had promised refunds in December 2017 for those who wanted them and had set up a page for refund sign-ups which they posted about in January. As such, it's clear their email response was not consistent with their past statements, especially as some people were previously able to get refunds. What changed?

Again:

"I thought of the possibility of course, of hanging it up, working on providing refunds to people (what, you REALLY thought we were so dishonorable as not to do that?)..."

31st January

Meanwhile, ADS were posting teasers of new character designs for TTEOTS, including one of the redesigns that had been made necessary by the cease and desist in August 2018. As the main male characters had originally been based on BTS they had all appeared Korean, but the redesigns had changed the races of some characters to reflect a more racially diverse future.

On the 31st they posted a passive aggressive tweet with a meme gif alluding to comments they had apparently received in the past, encouraging people to unfollow if they were likely to be upset by future character designs, all of which are "various shades of brown", with one also being agender. Again a mix of supportive and critical replies followed; even some of the studio's supporters criticised the tone as condescending and unprofessional. Several responders appeared wary of being branded as racist for criticising Five's redesign for not fitting his established character. One or two even expressed views that the devs were intentionally avoiding adding white characters out of spite or pettiness. Matters were not helped by ADS making a couple of replies of a similar hostile tone.

1st February

At last, the "inside source" that had been hinted at came forward: the former Lead Artist and Art Director at ADS, Monzana21.

Monz alleged in a Twitter statement that she had been a victim of emotional abuse at the hands of ADS's current management, ended up in the hospital with extreme exhaustion, and when she left the company received only one and a half months' payment for 7 months of work. She appealed to people to question what is happening at ADS and why they have lost so many employees, but declined to give further information publicly in order to protect herself and her friends and coworkers. In other more recent tweets she added that people in the art community are also aware of abuse and mistreatment within ADS and the scamming of fans.

Replies were overwhelmingly supportive, with a couple of other Twitter users who had interacted with ADS chiming in to say that their experiences with ADS were also negative and they did not doubt the veracity of the allegations.

Since then, any tweets on the ADS Twitter have numerous responses asking about the abuse allegations and trying to spread awareness, but the studio still has plenty of eager responses from fans as well.

On her personal account, the CEO tweeted to thank those who believe in her for their supportive messages and retweeted this on the ADS Twitter, but there has otherwise been no official statement on the matter outside of Discord. There, the CEO has outright disputed the allegations (compilation), as has ADS's other writer (compilation), and members of the Discord (some of whom address the CEO as "mom") have mostly taken them at their word, while people who were already critical or doubtful of the studio appear more inclined to believe the former Lead Artist.

The #TTEOTS, #MDSOA and #MDE Twitter tags are awash with criticism towards the studio from numerous different users, and new tweets from the CEO and the official ADS Twitter are quickly met by former fans and backers banging war drums. The fallout from the abuse allegations has yet to settle and presumably more drama is to come.

Tl;dr

Throughout January, angry ex-fans have increased efforts to raise awareness and turned ADS-related accounts and tags into a battleground on Twitter

Conspiracy theories abounded as a post about a hiatus for financial reasons was never shared, then vanished and reappeared significantly edited down a week later

A founding member of the company departed for mental health reasons

A $2k+ backer alleges she was refused a refund for items she had not received and was informed her Kickstarter pledge was a "donation" and "ordinarily non-refundable"

ADS stirred up further controversy with more passive aggressive tweets

A former employee came forward with allegations of emotional abuse and being underpaid for 7 months of work, which the remaining ADS members have refuted

#aeon dream studios #ads is shady #adsisshady #mystic destinies #tteots

[teamwindsorroyals]

I am personally annoyed as hell with the people saying shes faking the pregnancy. I don’t care for Markle but she is pregnant no doubt. I do think she was padding early on though.

Another note, I don’t like some of the articles that have been put out against her as some have had racial undertones but others have been legit criticisms that Kate has also gotten and people still label that as racist which it isn’t. I even had one person accuse me of jealousy and racism when I said that Meghans spending was bad optics. Apparently saying something is “bad optics” means your jealous and racist. I understand royals want to look like “royalty” but there’s simply no reason to spend 500k on clothes in less than a year on clothes.

I think it’s sad to see her fans have this misconception about royalty and think royals have to spend thousands on top designer brands just to look ‘royal’ when that’s simply not the case. It’s like they think the royal family is the live version of all the disney films where they need to be in jewels all the time or something. It’s like they don’t realize that’s there’s good brands, good quality clothes that don’t cost thousands and you can still look like a royal. It’s not just the clothes, it’s also the way the royal carries themselves and takes care of themselves. Showing up to an engagement with a messy bun and ill-fitted clothes isn’t a good look. People think it’s “chic” but this is royalty not hollywood or high school. They also say that her spending is justified with the amount of engagements shes doing but that is also NOT justified. This is where Meghan needs to take a page out of Kate’s book and realize that there are certain events that do not require a 5k outfit. The other excuse is “building royal wardrobe” like really? No other royal has had the need to spend 500k in one year on clothes & they do more engagements than she does. 

My other note, I don’t think the marriage will last. I never thought it would last since the statement was put out. Harry always seemed like the type who would be the one to divorce atleast twice. Hes not stable like his brother & unfortunately never has been. I definitely see divorce rumors by next year. 

I don’t consider myself one of those crazy tinhatters but I didn’t need anyone to tell me this marriage was doomed from the beginning. They both rushed into things and had too many misconceptions about married life. There’s too many other red flags as well. It’s a shame. 

I’ve stood up for Meghan regarding some of the racial undertoned articles but in regards to the sexist & classist articles, her fans should be looking in the mirror with how they treat Kate & the Middletons before bitching about the “sexist & classist” articles against Meghan. The shit they’ve called Kate & the Middletons is disgusting especially when they turn around and bitch about a “sexist” article against Markle, like really? Kate has been bashed for over a decade, so Meghan fans need to grow the fuck up and realize that all royal wives get hammered by the press. 

Cont.

I’m not saying all crap articles against Meghan are warranted but her fans are absolutely atrocious. 

They’ve called Kate & Carole sluts, hags, crinkly bitches etc all over twitter and then five minutes later will tweet an article thats “sexist” against Meghan and will go into pure rage. Clearly these fans haven’t seen the crap Kate has been put through and those who say that they have, yet still complain on articles about Meghan, are the biggest liars. 

Her fans refuse to accept any ounce of negativity towards Meghan and that right there is toxic and the definition of a cult! It’s unhealthy.

Her fans think she’s been treated unfairly yet she got an engagement with the Queen right off the bat, a more expensive wedding than the future King/Queen that the RF paid for no less, christmas with the RF as a fiance as well as other engagements as a fiance that nobody else got, she got quite a few patronages from the Queen within 6 months of marrying. Shes gotten so much that others haven’t, her fans have no room to complain. She’s spending more than any other royal and her fans say shes being treated unfairly? PU-LEASE!!

ok I’ve done my rant for the day.

************

Hi, Anon, Thanks for your submission 😊 I’m just going to edit in my reply.

*********

OK, I resorted to going on my desktop as my phone was driving me crazy.  Probably better as I’m a fast typist.

I started my Tumblr five years ago. When Cressida and Prince Harry broke up, I chose to not rebrand my Tumblr.  I’m happy with the various themes I tend to share.  Of course if there is anything about Cressida that I want to share, I do.  I thought she was (and she is) a class act and her family are fascinating. They’re this fascinating, blended (as in half siblings) family who are related by marriage to the equally fascinating Bransons.

So five years ago and later, I did check Twitter more.  But TBH I prefer Tumblr as people curate interesting content here.  Some of it is recent and some of it is historical. And some of the Tumblr users in the Royal Fandom are extremely knowledgeable.  I’ve learnt a lot!  I also prefer the more visual format.

I do use Twitter just a touch and recently I had someone send a tweet my way with vitriol about CB?  Why? What is CB to this person?  I checked that person’s Twitter feed and it was a whole bunch of obsessive nonsense in support of one Royal and against everyone else. I think if you’re thinking about a celebrity or royal that much, you simply have too much time on your hands and you need a hobby.  I don’t even bother engaging with such people.  It’s an immediate call for blocking.

I was surprised the other day to read someone’s comment that they were too young to remember PW and the DofC’s wedding.  Wow!  That set me back a bit.  Lately, people have been sharing videos showing what the DofC went through with the hoardes of paparazzi while she was dating for the better part of a decade.  I think it’s important to know that about her. Chelsy also had these issues.  And for two years Cressida had to struggle with it as well and still experiences the after effects of her dating PH years.

I think that you can compare the Middletons and MM. Both sides are self made in their own way.  The Middletons are the British version of living the American Dream. MM made a meteoric leap from being a suitcase woman in a slinky dress to a supporting actress and aspirational lifestyle blogger/Instagrammer.  From there she parlayed her way into circles in little ol Toronto that included every person in town who knows PH.  Plus she was chummy with JT (Justin Trudeau).  She certainly knows how to work her social connections.  So if you don’t like the Middletons for their “rise” in society, then you can’t like MM, and vice versa.

I’m not sure why people choose to hurl such vitriol at the Middletons. And with such language.  And I’ve seen the B word put under MM’s photo too along with a lot of critique about her looks.  I always cringe when I hear the age 40 hurled at her as if it’s an insult. If these people are not someone’s cup of tea, fine.  Then focus on something else.

As for MM, it was PH’s choice to want to get married after a relatively short courting period that was mostly done at a distance.  I think that they should have waited longer. But they made the decision and now they need to make it work as they continue to get to know each other.

My rule of thumb is to never write anything about anyone  - including Royals - that you wouldn’t say to their face.

Also, I think if you are fan and you want your favourite Royal to survive in the BRF over the long run, you should encourage harmony and getting along.  On the side of the fandom and hopefully wishing for the same within the BRF.  You should celebrate the positive and not encourage division.

Of course there is room for constructive critique.  MM said she wasn’t really aware of the BRF before she got married. (TBH I don’t believe that.)  But many fans have been following the BRF for years and even decades.  Of course that is looking in from the outside.  But they’ve seen all the drama unfold and know that while it’s not easy to marry into a large and affluent family, it’s even harder to marry into something like the BRF.  As is the case with most large and wealthy families, individuals are in their own silos looking after their own concerns and interests.  You have to tread carefully so as not to threaten anybody or step on their toes. So if MM is making repeated missteps and outsiders can see them, it’s fair to call out the problems.

Leaking to the press?  Not a good idea.  Being seen to be more demanding of staff members or spending more money than others?  Also not a good idea. Of course these just might be spin jobs from other camps but we know how perception is 9/10s of reality as far as onlookers are concerned.  I think it’s better to put your head low and keep a simple profile.  They say a good leader will join a company and will spend six months walking the halls and getting to know the employees before making any major changes.

It’s also been my observation that whether you’re Prince Philip, Princess Diana, the Duchess of Cornwall or the Duchess of Cambridge, if you’ve married into the BRF you can’t take the spotlight away from your spouse.  That’s just how it works. If you choose to not heed this advice, you will encounter push back.

The fashion part is an interesting one. I don’t like this notion of “oh there’s an event tomorrow.  Let’s see what the young and senior female royal is wearing”. They aren’t clothes hangers.  Their first priority is to visit a charity or represent a charity.  Promoting a fashion brand (hopefully from the Commonwealth) is an extra perk.  Many of the senior BRF wear expensive clothes - both casual and fancy. The Duchess of Cornwall is very well dressed and is a leading example of looking fabulous in her 70s. Even the casual clothes they wear can be expensive. EG boy are the Le Chameau rainboots that the DofC wears expensive.  But then for the average person, most of those clothes are expensive.  Even a L350 dress would seem too much. And if the Royals had to wear dresses under L100 for example, like most of us do, they would have to choose from over priced and poorly constructed dresses made out of thin fabric. (Such is the reality of fast fashion these days.  The struggle is real when we hit the shops.  I prefer thrift stores, as a result.)

I don’t think they have to wear clothes from Britain and the Commonwealth all the time but, if you think about it, there’s a vast array of options from Britain and the Commonwealth.  There are some gorgeous clothes out there that could inject interest into Brand Britain and also designers from other countries.  MM has worn some Canadian brands and that’s great.  But it’s a good idea to switch it up and not look like she might be connected to Jessica Mulroney’s business interests.  That perception is out there strongly and that needs to be axed.  If JM is offering styling advice for free, you have to ask - what is the benefit for JM financially?

I’m a bit surprised by the amount of negative press circulating right now. Maybe that’s the reality of having so many more fast moving and soft news outlets like social media. I hope that it will get better after the Sussex baby is born.  Maybe having the Sussexes move off into a little cottage in the woods of Windsor is a good idea after all.

Thanks for your submission. I hope I expanded on the main topics you raised.

#brf #prince phillip #princess margaret #duchess of sussex #duchess of cambridge #duke of cambridge #duchess of cornwall #british royal family #kate middleton #meghan markle #british fashion #prince harry #submission

[chaosd1]

You know, when I reblogged that, it was mostly to showcase an issue that’s been present for YEARS, but keeps cropping up every now and then because most of Channel Awesome’s fans still think it’s 2010. If I had a Patreon dollar for every person who asked me something about “____ DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY!” despite that not being a thing I’ve done for over half a decade, I would probably not have to worry about paying off that damaged tire, or any future repairs to my car and/or PC. Long story short, they aren’t very good at letting things go.

I know people who want me to share my story are hoping for the same level of juicy gossip or levels of hypocrisy or betrayal that have accompanied so many of these other stories but I’m sorry to say it’s not quite that interesting, or even remotely “gotcha” in any sense of the word. If anything it’s more a reveal of how the company feels about its low-tier producers, and symptomatic of the larger issue that they clearly DON’T want anyone but the Chicago crew, or anyone that’s possibly bringing in their own audience. Remember when JonTron and PBG posted on Blistered Thumbs? I’m pretty sure they’re still kicking themselves over that one. As a bit of background, I always wanted to be on the CA site in some form, and by the time I had a show to offer up, I was already pretty close friends with a lot of the producers. In fact, it was Julien (Sad Panda) who decided to post up one of my videos in his schedule slot as a way to offer me a test spot. It was well recieved enough, but video games were almost always relegated to BT at the point, so off I went.

Despite being the more “respected” site by some audiences, all snafu’s aside, I felt that Channel Awesome treated Blistered Thumbs producers as second class citizens. Posting on there was like the Wild West. You put up whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted, and as often as you wanted, and hoped someone with a show that consisted of a three-hour long livestream split up into 15 minute increments wouldn’t end up pushing your video off the main page slider within the next few hours. It was very much for that reason I pursued some means to get myself listed on the main site by cleaning up the YEARS worth of spam and reported comments. After bringing it to the right people, I was permitted to post videos on the main site as well. It went well enough... for a while.

Once BT was shut down, a few of my friends (specifically MegaGWolf) were unceremoniously let go without an ounce of communication. (Most everyone on BT who wasn’t brought on to the CA “merger” had to find out via friends, as Michaud didn’t directly inform them.) Despite the promise of rebranding and stronger promotion, the BT audience didn’t really follow over to CA as the site didn’t really fit their desires, and the core CA audience was basically “NC, Linkara,and that’s it.” Views tanked and it was around the time I decided to move over to Youtube as the Blip waters were already pretty troubled.

At some point I started doing relatively well on Youtube, to the point CA felt like an annoying afterthought. I had to make special titlecards for CA as they had a ridiculous format I’d purposefully ignore later on just to see if they were paying attention. For example, the images were all supposed to be JPGS, though I always made them PNG, and since they were hotlinking them from my site anyway, WHY DID IT FUCKING MATTER?! It most felt like this ridiculous push for control and a power play that no one bothered to enforce anyway. Each time we scheduled we had to provide a link, a title, and a link to a special made titlecard. Did you have a special instruction or link you wanted to include when posting on CA? Good fucking luck they would ever include it, or spell half that shit correctly. Hell after a while, I figured it was pretty non-coincidental that after changing the title format from “MMO Grinder: Name of Game” to “Name of Game - ChaosD1,” views coming from CA were barely a percentile of the overall views I’d get from every other source. It wasn’t worth making them a stupid special title card and hopping onto a painfully broken scheduling site (a site that, by the way was designed for Sporting Events, and was so filled with non-updated dead links I occasionally would troll them by posting my category as “Blistered Thumbs” and “The Inebriati” both still available in the category dropdown menu. I’ll bet you they are still there to this day.

My issue didn’t come about until a sudden rule change. A rule I didn’t really have an issue with until the market started dying down, and my constant crushing depression over winter and my wife’s illness kicked in. Basically, “Post one video a month, or you’re stricken from the site.” later on that was changed to TWO videos per month and my show was almost always a ONCE per month deal. Seemed a bit suspect and draconian. There were people who didn’t post videos for several MONTHS that were still listed on the site, but they suspiciously had pretty strong followings elsewhere. Still I figured some form of warning or amnesty would take place to some extent. So in April of 2017 it was a pretty shitty month. Most of it was spent working on Eternal Crusade which was such a miserable slog none of us felt like doing much of anything else, there were no games to Sidequest for the suddenly required 2nd video per month, and I was pretty sure I was going to get some flak for it.Keep this in mind, I was WELL AWARE of the risk I was taking by not posting a second video, despite me rather often saying my show was monthly at the most. I figured they might know this, I’d get a warning, and that’d be the end of it. However, I was able to get out Eternal Crusade at the very end of April, but didn’t get around to posting it on the schedule until May 1st. May 1st rolls around, I check the site for any feedback and comments, and notice the video isn’t posted at all.... and I can’t access the scheduler anymore. One day late of posting consistently for 5 fucking years, and I’m locked out of the site like I stole a laptop from the studio. So I hopped on Twitter. Partially to express dismay, and partially because... I noticed I didn’t really have an audience on Channel Awesome anymore. I asked this very specific question and joked with some of the replies, most of whom confirmed my suspicion. They really only watched me on my site or my YT channel.

Still in talking with the CA chat in Skype, (I’d be on that Producer’s chat more often if I didn’t basically swear off Skype after Discord included screenshare. The producers and former producers really should make a Discord channel already.) they informed me that they’d probably reverse their decision if I just contacted Greg. While I didn’t think it was likely worth the effort, I figured I would anyway. Maybe pipe dreams of being included in an anniversary special some day. I just couldn’t wait to be the guy sitting slightly out of camera range in every shot with the one exception of getting to say “What should we do now, Critic?” for my first and only line in the movie. So I contacted Greg. It went a little something like this (for the Skype uninitiated, my words in Blue, Greg’s in grey):

So yeah, always fun to have to wait several days for a sentencing to the crime of being a day late on a post.

Of course, I cropped out the rest of the image, because the response without any contact in-between immediately afterward was this:

Yes I was being a sarcast there. I’m a sarcast... but when I’m last told “we’ll go through everything” and that is immediately followed up by “Sorry I took so long to get back, but... get lost scrub” I’m probably going to be a bit miffed about it. Of course this is CA and you can’t talk bad about them... or post something on Twitter they presume is talking bad about them, as this was the response to my sarcastic reply:

So yeah, Greg not quite understanding the concept of linear time (again I posted the tweet BEFORE I sent him the Skype message, not after) apparently you can’t even ask your audience where they still watch your videos most. They take it as a personal insult, like I didn’t enough appreciate those generous table scraps us low-tier producers had to fight over.

All things considered though, I knew the risk of not posting a second video in that month, and I valued my sanity over tossing out content for the sake of a suddenly imposed deadline. Could I have contacted Greg? Yeah, I suppose so, but why should I even have to? To be only a day late and have everything stricken without warning, like a robot looked over the feed and said “Well a month has passed, and there was only one so fired lel” without considering why, or even checking in on the employee in question, is the kind of corporate "numbers-only” bullshit that I swore off retail for. It’s fitting so many people in charge of Channel Awesome used to work at Circuit City is all I’m saying.

So that’s it. Nothing major, something I basically brought on myself, but still a fairly telling story of how you’d be treated as a content producer on that site.

And to all the current and remaining producers that aren’t showing up to the studio every day, or have a sizable enough audience to make a dent if you were to leave... they don’t WANT you there. They do not care about you. You are a liability. The very second they have a logical-to-them reason to cut your ass from the site, they will. Why put yourself through all that stress for a job that makes demands of you, without even paying you, promoting you, or benefiting you in any way? You know they don’t care about that site now that they are where they are with their YouTube channel. (Currently there are two producers that haven’t posted since December, that are still listed on the site. I must have been a special exception, or maybe it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a video as long as you keep telling them you don’t.) You’re white noise to them. Stay or go. As much as you think it might, it probably won’t make a difference to you... 

...but it definitely won’t make a difference to them.

#channelawesome

[jeanjauthor]

Gonna post the pics here and explain which ones I’d knock outta the running.  My reasons are ONLY my own opinion, and I admit in advance that others have their right to their own opinions as well, and that whatever I say about what I like & dislike, all of these categories are still valid for those who actually do like them...even if some of them I am just utterly sick of by now, or have what I think are genuine reasons to want those categories gone.

Anyway, caveats over, on with the fun...which I will put behind a cut to save everyone’s dashboards!

Trapped Together. Only One Bed. Marriage Of Convenience. Fake Relationship.

...Of course they start this off with the hardest one to choose to get rid of, because I love all of these.  I think, however...that “Only One Bed” and “Trapped Together” are pretty darn close.  Marriage of Convenience is not the same thing as Fake Relationship--it’s an actual relationship with an actual committment at some level on both sides--so those both have to stay.

Only One Bed, that one presumes they actually like each other at least enough to travel together, so that’s a bonus, but Trapped Together doesn’t guarantee even a smidge of that; they’re forced together...

Damn this is hard.  I really like the “oh no, only one bed, and we’ll have to share it!” trope...but Trapped Together could include that...plus it has more plot possibilities.

So I’m going to vote out Only One Bed, even though it goes against my plotline principles normally.

The next one is this:

Tortured/Scarred.  Cinnamon Roll. Alpha.  Playboy/Rake.

Tortured/Scarred needs more love, because there are a lot of people in the world who are indeed tormented & injured / unlovely / disabled.  I do wish the disability aspect would stop being used as inspiration pr0n but people are getting better about that, at least.

Cinnamon Roll is a keeper, too.  Truly good, or rather, Good™, characters need to be celebrated, protected, and promoted as an ideal role model...provided there’s someone in their lie who can and does keep an eye out (cynical eye) for Bad Things And Bad People™, because perpetual innocence is ridiculously unreal...but it’s 100% valid to have a hopeful heart and a kind nature.

As for Alpha and Playboy/Rake...I’m sick of both.  And it’s difficult as to which one to toss out, because they both have their downsides.  “Alpha Males” tend to be bullies and abusers and manipulative self-centered assholes. I’ve read far too many of those stories where they literally kidnap women and refuse to return them to their homes / families / homeworlds (scifi or fantasy), etc.  But on the other hand, Playboys & Rakes perpetuate the “rich = right” and “money means you can grab them by the p***y, they just let you do it” mentality.

Right now, I am far too angry at T & Co, and the oligarchs keeping them in power.  And I am also reminded that Nalini Singh (we have the same editor, squee!) has a FANTASTIC universe, the psy-changeling universe, where Alphas are actually kind, caring, loving, protective, and NOT bullies toward their own people, including their own mates.  (Usually, but the few that were a bit bullying learned better!)

So I’m going to ditch the Playboy/Rake mindset, because we need to stop thinking the rich can get away with anything.  I mean, have you SEEN 2020??

*ahem*  Next...

Turgid. Moist. Thrust. Plunge.

Part of me really dislikes moist (though not Moist, the character from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) as a word...but on the other hand, lubrication is always a good thing to have.  Turgid is a bit old-fashioned, but at the same time it is an accurate word.  Thrust is a bit, well, stabby.  Plunge makes me think of swimming pools, not lovemaking.  (Or possibly stopped up toilets, ugh.)

Mkay, this is another difficult one, but...I think...rrrgh, had to change my mind. I think I’ll do away with moist, so long as “lubrication = a very good thing” is still implied somewhere in the descriptions for lovemaking.

Next!

Instalove.  Roommates. Friends With Benefits. Just A Fling.

I’m not fond of Just A Fling, since it implies a lack of emotional & at least some mental intimacy.  But Instalove also does the same, and it’s trying to tell readers that infatuation = abiding love...when that often isn’t the case.

I’ve lived long enough to learn that infatuation is great, but rarely turns into an abiding love, because we rarely teach how to turn infatuation into an abiding, long-lasting love.

For these reasons, I love Roommates and Friends With Benefits, because you already know (or are getting to know) each other’s bad habits and other potentially annoying quirks...and yet you fall in love anyway, while knowing those things.  That sort of journey has a lot more of the patience, understanding, and willingness to compromise on all sides that makes long-term love a genuine thing.

Just A Fling implies they know each other a bit more, or can get to know each other a bit more as they fall for each other.  And yes, Instalove IS a thing, I’m not deying that...but you have to make the follow-up efforts to turn it into lasting love.  I think it has more of an incentive to make those efforts than Just A Fling does...and it’s possible for Just A Fling to fit under Instalove (though it’ll be a bit of a squeeze) so I’m ditching Just A Fling.

On to the next quartet:

Enemies To Lovers. Forbidden Love. Unrequited Love. Second Chance.

A couple toughies in this one.  Forbidden love...we still don’t have marriage & relationship equality, so that one’s staying right where it is, as it’s an analogy of how love should triumph over bigotry.

I’m more torn on the other three.  Second Chance...sometimes there are good reasons to not give someone a second chance.  Abusers can be very charming, and make all sorts of sweet-talking promises.  Sometimes, however, two people are just in the wrong stage of life to make a go of it.

Unrequited Love runs the risk of crossing over into the ‘tragically friendzoned’ bullshit which is only viewing the narrative from that one person’s perspective.  This is not to say that unrequited love is only ‘friendzoned through rose-colored glasses’, which it isn’t, but it is potentially problematic, unless it’s just another take on Friends To Lovers.

Enemies To Lovers has a lot of potential, but it needs to be realistic potential.  Not just a “Hey, let’s pit the Hulk versus Thor, get ‘em mad at each other for no other reason than action sequences & giggles!” sort of plotless nonsense, but a genuine “these two have more in common than they ever realized, AND their antipathy hasn’t crossed into unforgivable awfulness toward each other territory.”

I think that Second Chance is going to have to be set aside.  It was either that or Unrequited Love, but while Friends To Lovers can cover Unrequited Love...I really, reallydon’t want to send the message that “it’s okay to reunite with your abusive ex.”  ...See?  I can’t even write it without striking that “okay” out.  It’s NOT okay.  It never will be.

Secret Relationship. Secret Billionaire. Secret Baby. Secret Royal.

I’m fine with Secret Relationships...unless it’s cheating/adultery, in which case oh hell no. (Remember, I am polyamory-friendly, but polyamory ≠ cheating!!)  But otherwise it’s fine.

Secret Baby sets my teeth on edge a little, because one should know about babies. The body bearing it has the right to choose to continue bearing it or withdraw consent, because we SHOULD have more rights to bodily autonomy than goddamn corpses, but mostly it’s a case of there’d better be A Damn GOOD Reason™ for hiding this child, robbing them of a presumably loving parent’s love for X period of time.

I’m very much anti-oligarchy, but to be honest, I’m much more inclined to believe a secret billionaire has run away to live a normal life (such as the child of a manipulative asshole running away from association with all that) than I am to believe in Secret Royalty anymore.  It’s just...it’s overdone.  it’s like HOW MANY DUKES EXISTED in the Regency era??  It’s lost its believability potential that’s all.  So out with the Secret Royal (for now)!

Mistaken Identity. Amnesia. In Disguise. In Peril.

Amnesia. Kicking that one out the door right away.  It’s overdone, it doesn’t work the way it’s most often displayed, and I just know too much about the actual medical condition to enjoy it.

Mind you, pretending to have Amnesia is fine! That’s “In Disguise” right then & there, lol...but no, the other three tropes are far better than that old rag.  *tosses it away!*

Duke. Cowboy. Tycoon. Athlete.

...You’d think that from my rant above regarding Secret Royals, I’d kick out Duke as a category. I won’t.  I just want to see Dukes (and other nobility titles) in other eras than just Regency and/or modern.  So overdone in those eras, but not in others.

Athletes...I’m not into sports.  I’m not a sporty-sport type.  I don’t read those books so I don’t know how overdone the tropes are, though I’ve only noticed them coming into prominence in fanficdom in the last ten to fifteen years, with the HP fandom being big on quidditch-based fanfic stories.

Now, Cowboys are a bit overglamorized, but...they’re working class types, and if you get some actual honest work-on-the-farm or work-on-the-ranch scenes in there, and it’s believable? That’s still okay.

Tycoons are overused, too...but unlike Billionaires, you can be a Tycoon in a lot of different ways.  Sometimes via money, sometimes via some sort of monopoly--like the company that owns the company store, town, people, etc.  Still...being a tycoon means you (or your family) has done something to monopolize money, business, property, etc...and I despise the oligarchy.  So since most tycoon stories don’t talk about paying employees above a livable wage, or constantly improving the living conditions in the company-owned town, etc...fuq ‘em.  *punts them outta town, covered in tar & feathers*

(I never said I’d be consistent, just that these are my opinions per category group.  I’m evaluating every quartet solely against its fellow members, even if I reference other groups or categories.)

Flick. Pierce. Spear. Breach.

...Unless these are in reference to combat, only Flick should remain, because the others all make me think of combat more than lovemaking.  However...that being said, we’re only supposed to discard just the one, so I think I’ll get rid of Breach.

Why Breach?  The bullshit misogyny of virginity culture, and the absolute anatomical awfulness of writers who don’t know where the goddamn hymen is.

...i could go into a very long rant about where the hymen is, what it’s shaped like, why it doesn’t have to be torn and spurt oodles of visible blood when you’re making love for the first time, blah blah blah--and why if you do get that happening, you 1. haven’t taken care of your partner’s needs AT ALL, and 2. clearly have never heard of lubrication, and 3. ARE SEVERELY INJURING YOUR PARTNER, wtf is sexy about THAT??--but I’ll digress and simply say that virginity is utter bullshit, patriarchal and misogynistic BULLSHIT, and it needs to go away!

Kthxbai!

Blackmail. Revenge. Bully. Kidnapped.

...Can we do away with all of these?

...No?

...Just get rid of one only?

...Dammit.

Ummm...if these are -between- the love interests, blackmail has to have a really good plot reason behind it, but there are a few conceivable ones.  Revenge, too.  Gotta have a good reason behind it.

Bullying is not something I care for at all, got that too much as a kid, and that shit HURTS.  It takes a lot to forgive a bully all the horrible things they did, and if it’s a case of “they’re only bullying you because they love you and this is how they show it” that shit is NASTIER, because it’s the “you should put up with being abused because it’s how he shows he loves you.”  OH HELL NO.

Kidnapped...nope.  That’s the Bad version of Alpha bullshit I don’t like either.  Though as with Blackmail, there has to be a solid reason AND there has to be some atonement for the kidnapping, PLUS TIME AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, and time spent getting to know each other in a non-Stockholm Syndrome non-Lima Syndrome sort of way...

I think we’ll get rid of Bullying, even though part of me really wants to ditch Kidnapping...if only because of the message listed above is NOT the message that should be absorbed by anyone.

Pirates. Medieval. Highlander. Regency.

Medieval and Highlander both still have a BROAD range of eras they can choose from, literal hundreds of centuries, plus Medieval can mean much more than just the British Isles for its setting...and you could have a Highlander traveling to Hungary or Italy or wherever.

Regency on the one hand is overdone and has been overdone quite a lot.  I’d love to see something else, BUT at the same time I acknowledge it’s a much-beloved juggernaut.  Just...tone down the numbers of Dukes and Earls for the love of population distribution statistics, and I’ll be much happier!

Pirates...are kinda fun on the one hand...but also an over-glamorization of horrible people doing horrible things for a living, on the other.  I’d only keep Pirates as a category if you PROMISED to do some non-European pirates...and since that’s not likely to happen... *flicks the Pirates off their own plank*

(I hate having to do that as I’m a proud Birate, but it’s not quite the same thing, so...oh well!)

Dragons. Wolves. Vampires. Bears.

*kicks Vampires off the plank as well*

Wolves are almost overdone as a trope, but vampires jumped the shark tank long ago, so I’m sure they’ll be fine after walking the plank, right?

There still aren’t enough Dragon stories, Wolves may be a little overdone with the ABO stuff, but there are so many other possibilities that could be explored, and Bears are an excellent example of exploring other shapeshifter types.  (No Dragons in Nalini Singh’s psy-changeling books, but there ARE changeling wolves and changeling bears, and remember, they have awesome Alphas who are actually NOT douchebags!)

Needs more Changecats or Werecats or whatever, but that’s just me.

Sexy Space. Sexy Time Travel. Sexy Apocalypse. Sexy Fantasy.

Ditch the Sexy Apocalypse.  There’s no such thing.  It’s an oxymoron.  An apocalypse is the opposite of sexy, because everything is being destroyed.

There’s plenty of Sexy Fantasy, but there’s always room for more.  There’s almost as much Sexy Time Travel, and plenty of eras & places left to be explored. And there is not enough Sexy Space stories. (Tho’ I’m working on that!)

But ditch the Apocalypse stuff. It’s just not sexy at all.

Royal & Lionheart. Beauty & Beast. Celebrity & Bodyguard. Warrior & Bard.

Not enough Warrior & Bard stories, definitely keeping that one!

Beauty & Beast is a bit overdone, but it sends a good message about how external beauty standards and external beauty tropes are overrated.

However...I’ll confess I’m not familar with Royal & Lionheart.  If it means royalty and the strong right arm that defends them, the head of the armies falling in love with the head of state...then I’m fine with that, not enough of that. (Seriously, this is the first time I’ve heard of this one.)

So I guess we’ll ditch Celebrity & Bodyguard...because that’s 1. an unequal balance of power between employer and employee, and 2. falling for the person you’re trying to protect means your thoughts are not going to stay on the job nearly enough of the time.  That could put your client in serious danger...and that’s a trope I don’t want to encourage as “emulation-worthy.”

Slow Burn. Angst. Fluff. Mutual Pining.

Slow Burn can be frustrating if not done right...but I love Fluff, and Mutual Pining has some serious Comedy of Errors potential.  Seriously, who doesn’t love a good comedy? (So long as there’s a good resolution, of course.)

I’ve had too rough a year, however, to want Angst around right now.  It can come back later, but...sorry, Angst, there’s the door.  *gently shows Angst to the door*  Come back in half a year, mkay?

...

That’s the last of the trope groupings!  Feel free to play with this one yourselves.

#tw #brief mention of abusive ex tropes #mention of abuse #mostly it's just discussing why I dislike a certain trope for Reasons™