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perpetual-stories · 4 years ago

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How To Fight Writers Block

hello, hello. hope everyone is doing well. as you can all tell, this post will be about how to fight writers block.

it’s really annoying to me when I hear people say “oh you don’t have writers block, you’re just lazy.”

first of all, yes, I am naturally lazy. second of all, how dare you. writing isn’t as easy as many think. granted, all you have to do is write down words on paper, but it’s not always easy to find the right words to express what you are feeling, or what you wish to say.

I have had terrible writer’s block for the last few days and it’s horrible! as a business owner or a small writing store, I have to be ready to write and fulfill my clients’ ideas and orders.

it’s not easy. It takes a heavy toll on my imagination, and digs me a deep pit of blockage, drowning in the lack of originality because of the constant writing and repetition or certain phrases and sentences in different projects.

i am making this post in the hopes to remind myself about over coming the dreaded and sometimes skeptically believed writer’s block.

What is writer’s block?

Yeah, I know. We all know what that is, but let me define it.

is the state of being unable to proceed with writing, and/or the inability to start writing something new

some people believe it to be a real problem, others believe it's “all in your head”

What Causes Writer’s Block?

in the 1970s, clinical psychologists Jerome Singer and Michael Barrios decided to find out

they concluded that there are four broad causes of writer's block:

Excessively harsh self-criticism

Fear of comparison to other writers

Lack of external motivation, like attention and praise

Lack of internal motivation, like the desire to tell one's story

How to overcome writer's block: 20 tips

1. Develop a writing routine:

Author and artist Twyla Tharp once wrote: “Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.”

it might seem counterintuitive

if you only write when you “feel creative,” you're bound to get stuck in a tar pit of writer's block

The only way to push through is by disciplining yourself to write on a regular schedule. It might be every day, every other day, or just on weekends — but whatever it is, stick to it!

2. Use "imperfect" words:

A writer can spend hours looking for the perfect word or phrase to illustrate a concept

You can avoid this fruitless endeavor by putting, “In other words…” and simply writing what you’re thinking, whether it’s eloquent or not

You can then come back and refine it later by doing a CTRL+F search for “in other words.”

3. Do non-writing activities:

one of the best ways to climb out of a writing funk is to take yourself out of your own work and into someone else’s

Go to an exhibition, to the cinema, to a play, a gig, eat a delicious meal

immerse yourself in great STUFF and get your synapses crackling in a different way

Snippets of conversations, sounds, colors, sensations will creep into the space that once felt empty

4. Freewrite through it:

free-writing involves writing for a pre-set amount of time without pause — and without regard for grammar, spelling, or topic. You just write.

The goal of freewriting is to write without second-guessing yourself — free from doubt, apathy, or self-consciousness, all of which contribute to writer's block. Here’s how:

Find the right surroundings. Go somewhere you won't be disturbed.

Pick your writing utensils. Will you type at your computer, or write with pen and paper? (Tip: if you're prone to hitting the backspace button, you should freewrite the old-fashioned way!)

Settle on a time-limit. Your first time around, set your timer for just 10 minutes to get the feel for it. You can gradually increase this interval as you grow more comfortable with freewriting.

5. Relax on your first draft:

Many writers suffer form perfectionism, which is especially debilitating during a first draft

“Blocks often occur because writers put a lot of pressure on themselves to sound ‘right’ the first time. A good way to loosen up and have fun again in a draft is to give yourself permission to write imperfectly.” — editor Lauren Hughes

perfect is the enemy of good,” so don't agonize about getting it exactly right! You can always go back and edit, maybe even get a second pair of eyes on the manuscript

6. Don’t start at the beginning:

the most intimidating part of writing is the start, when you have a whole empty book to fill with coherent words

instead of starting with the chronological beginning of whatever it is you’re trying to write, dive into middle, or wherever you feel confident

7. Take a shower:

Have you ever noticed that the best ideas tend to arrive while in the shower, or while doing other “mindless” tasks?

research shows that when you’re doing something monotonous (such as showering, walking, or cleaning), your brain goes on autopilot, leaving your unconscious free to wander without logic-driven restrictions

showering is my favourite thing to do if I may add

8. Balance your inner critic:

successful writers have in common is the ability to hear their inner critic, respectfully acknowledge its points, and move forward

You don't need to completely ignore that critical voice, nor should you cower before it

you must establish a respectful, balanced relationship, so you can address what's necessary and skip over what's insecure and irrelevant

9. Switch up your tool:

a change of scenery can really help with writer's block. However, that scenery doesn't have to be your physical location — changing up your writing tool can be just as big a help!

if you’ve been typing on your word processor of choice, try switching to pen and paper. Or if you're just sick of Google Docs, consider using specialized novel writing software.

10. Change your POV:

great advice from editor Lauren Hughes: “When blocked, try to see your story from another perspective ‘in the room’ to help yourself move beyond the block. How might a minor character narrate the scene if they were witnessing it? A ‘fly on the wall’ or another inanimate object?

11. Exercise your creative muscles:

Any skill requires practice if you want to improve, and writing is no different! So if you’re feeling stuck, perhaps it’s time for a strengthening scribble-session to bolster your abilities

12. Map out your story:

If your story has stopped chugging along, help it pick up steam by taking a more structured approach — specifically, by writing an outline

13. Write something else:

Though it's important to try and push through writer's block with what you're actually working on, sometimes it's simply impossible

feel free to push your current piece to the side for now and write something new

14. Work on your characters:

It follows that if your characters are not clearly defined, you’re more likely to run into writer’s block

15. Stop writing for readers:

write for yourself, not your potential readers

this will help you reclaim the joy of being creative and get you back in touch with what matters: the story.

this is something I really need to do. because of my etsy business i don't write for fun anymore, but instead as a business and a deadline. i'm going to have to pull out my old crappy wattled fanfics or write some new ones.

16. Try a more visual process:

when words fail you, forget them and get visual. Create mind maps, drawings, Lego structures — ideally related to your story, but whatever unblocks your mind!

17. Look for the root of it:

writer’s block often comes from a problem deeper than simple “lack of inspiration.” So let's dig deep: why are you really blocked? Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I feel pressure to succeed and/or competition with other writers?

Have I lost sight of what my story is about, or interest in where it's going?

Do I lack confidence in my own abilities, even if I've written plenty before?

Have I not written for so long that I feel intimidated by the mere act?

Am I simply feeling tired and run-down?

once you identify what's wrong, it'll be so much easier to fix.

18. Quit the Internet:

If willpower isn’t your strong suit and your biggest challenge is staying focused, try a site blocker like Freedom or an app like Cold Turkey

19. Let the words find you:

meditate, go for a walk, take that shower

Word Palette is a great app that features a keyboard of random words, allowing you to simply click your way to your next masterpiece.

You can also try AI auto-completers like Talk to Transformer, where you can enter a phrase and let the app “guess what comes next.”

even though they often produce nonsense, it's a great way to help that writer's block.

20. Write like Hemingway:

And if your biggest block is your own self-doubt about your prose, Hemingway offers suggestions to improve your writing as you go

it's a pretty cool app if you ask me.

it highlights your sentences (if need be) and makes suggestions on how to improve them!

well, there you have it! a lengthy post on how to fight writer's block. now i just hope i can combat my own soon.

like, comment and reblog if you find this useful! feel free to reblog in instagram and tag me perpetualstories

Follow me on instagram and tumblr for more writing and grammar tips and more!

#writing #writing advice #writing tips #original writing #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writersconnection #writersofig #writersofinstagram #writings

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smhalltheurlsaretaken · 5 years ago

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THE BOX IS NABOO

That’s it, I’m doing it, I’m writing that stupid meta I’ve had in the works for two and a half years, I’m sharing it with the world. I promised it for last Thursday, my poll was forever ago, but whatever! I’m writing that freaking thing.

(super duper long post, press j to skip)

Enter my rabbit hole.

First thing to establish: the Box makes no sense whatsoever in-universe.

((EDIT: Something I forgot to mention. IRL, the premise of a giant murder cube and the aesthetic - wall patterns, light designs, etc - of the episode come from the 1997 horror movie Cube, (see the episode’s wookieepedia page). However, while the two are very closely linked visually, the Box does not follow the movie structurally or narratively, as you can verify by simply reading the movie’s summary.))

Recap of the context for the "Box" episode (s4e17): Palpatine is planning his own kidnapping. It was never meant to succeed, and while the plan would obviously benefit him (making the Jedi look bad, pushing Anakin closer to the Dark Side, making Republic citizens more afraid -> more docile, etc...) his actual goal is never explained, and it’s weird that he’d go to such extreme lengths for results so minimal that we’re never told what they are.

So Palpatine asks Dooku to kidnap him at the Festival of Lights on Naboo. Dooku hires Moralo Eval to design a giant box-thingy to test bounty hunters to hire the best of them to kidnap Palpatine. Moralo then gets arrested to alert the Republic that something is afoot, and hires Cad Bane to break him out. Obi-Wan - undercover to learn Moralo’s plan - goes with them. They evade capture and go to Serenno, and Bane and Obi-Wan have to pass the box-thingy test. The level of brainkarked logic here... Truly on par with Megamind, Gru and Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Setting aside the insane plot holes and utterly nonsensical behavior of the villains, the Box itself is moronic from a plot perspective. It’s insanely complex, obviously incredibly expensive and would have taken months (more like years but it’s a short war) to make when it’s not even needed for the dastardly plot! Just hire some guys who have already proven themselves against Jedi! Throw cash at Bane and Embo and a few others! Maybe attack them with your saber and see how they do!

And after all that, Dooku still ends up trying to kidnap Palpatine on his own. I can’t even...

So why does the Box exist? Well, apart from being a nerdy callback to Cube, giving us a good thrill and being generally awesome to look at, it has actual narrative purpose within the SW universe.

The box is Naboo.

What the Box lacks in plot relevance, it makes up for with its heavily symbolic meaning. It very closely follows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s experiences on Naboo - but only certain parts, which I’ll explain later.

We start with clean, sterile environments, SW’s favored way of showing villainy.

Then we have the protagonists locked in a room as dioxis, a poison gas, pours in.

And then they escape... this way.

(Okay, here the shaft is down, not up. And it’s not a ventilation shaft per say, it’s the designed escape route. Same difference).

We then skip most of TPM (namely, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon discovering the droid army, finding Padmé, leaving Naboo, landing on Tatooine, going to Coruscant, etc, etc) to come back to Naboo and go directly to the lightsabers and catwalks.

(Note: in both scenes, Obi-Wan has to propel himself from a catwalk.)

In TPM and TCW, the catwalks are immediately followed by ray shields

And we finally end with the last scenes. Now, they don’t look the same but they are structurally identical.

Obi-Wan is faced with a challenge unsuited for his abilities (facing Darth Maul // shooting three moving targets when he’s far more skilled with a blade than a blaster) on a narrow space above a melting pit/pit of fire.

He first watches someone die failing to complete the task...

... and has to do it himself, faring much better than expected (holding his own against Maul // shooting all the targets easily).

He then almost falls to his death and gets saved unexpectedly.

And then there’s the final showdown.

In both scenes, Obi-Wan is angry. And in TCW Dooku eggs him on, banking on his anger. (More on that later.) In both cases though, he centers himself and is able to overcome both his opponent and his own unbalance. But in TCW, he doesn’t go for the kill, because he doesn’t need to.

The Box, as a literal character-explorator ex-machina, thus shows us Obi-Wan’s growth.

In TPM, Obi-Wan follows Qui-Gon’s lead. In TCW, he is the leader. He identifies the gas, makes the plans. He doesn’t fall from catwalks anymore - he runs atop moving ones. He doesn’t stay stuck behind ray-shields, he finds the solution. (Btw, how did Moralo know what blood type Derrown the Exterminator was? There was a 50% chance of him dying - thus killing all of the bounty hunters. Was that an acceptable outcome? TCW I need answers!) He doesn’t slay his foes, because he’s become powerful enough, skilled enough and wise enough to survive (and win) without needing to kill.

He’s grown - and, even more interestingly, he’s also stayed the same. In the previous episodes, we see some of the dark aspects of Obi-Wan. How he - like all Force-wielders, all people - could lose himself if he stopped maintaining absolute control.

But in the Box, surrounded by the worst criminals of the Galaxy, the most ruthless, worthless people, he’s still kind and tries his best to keep them alive.

The Box is a reminder and a reassurance for the audience that Obi-Wan Kenobi is still there under Rako’s face. He hasn’t lost his compassion, his restrain. He’s still a Jedi. And he’s an awesome, badass one.

And now, for what it tells us about Dooku!

It’s much shorter, don’t worry. Basically, Dooku considers that the best way to pick “the best of the best” of the deadliest people in the Galaxy is making them go through what killed his Padawan. There, I’ve broken your hearts, you’re welcome.

More seriously, Dooku is a manipulative ass. It’s pretty clear that he knows Rako is Obi-Wan, or at the very least suspects it.

He has an interesting reaction upon learning Rako’s identity, he keeps praising him despite his usual distaste for low-lifes, he smirks secretively after Eval says “I’ll show you who’s weak” (not included there because it’s a close-up of Dooku’s lips and no one wants to see that) and he tells Rako he’s very disappointed when he doesn’t finish off Eval.

[Later]

(Look at this smug asshole - I can’t. YOUR GRANDSON IS THE BEST, WE KNOW, STOP ACTIVELY RUINING HIS LIFE ALREADY.)

(Dooku... why...)

Now obviously Dooku couldn’t have made the Box specifically for Obi-Wan, because it would have to have been designed months before the Council ever decided to send Obi-Wan undercover, but he has no qualms trying to use it to push Obi-Wan to the Dark Side. Ffs Dooku, making your spiritual grandson relive one of the most traumatic events of his life on the off chance that he’ll join you (and desecrate his Master’s memory in doing so) is not okay!

Final tidbits of analysis: I mentioned that not all of TPM is mirrored in the Box. What’s omitted is the droids (even though Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fight B1′s and droidekas between the dioxis and the ventilation shafts) and anything pertaining to Sidious (all the political stuff on Coruscant). You’ll also note that the fake lightsabers are orange.

=> The Box distances itself from anything that connects Dooku to Naboo. Red lightsabers are the trademark of the Sith, so they’re not used. The bounty hunters will be facing Jedi, so logically the fake sabers should be green or blue - and yet they’re orange, the color closest to red without being red. It fits with Dooku’s special brand of dishonesty - he always tells bits of the real story but twists them just enough to absolve himself of any fault and to justify his choices.

(”We can destroy the Sith” -> could maybe destroy Sidious with Obi-Wan, but fails to mention he’s a Sith Lord himself; “the Viceroy came to me for help, that’s why I’m attacking the Republic” -> political idealism is a small part of it, but fails to mention he’s Sidious’ underling and is playing the Viceroy like a fiddle; “Qui-Gon would have joined me” -> maybe, still fails to mention he’s working for the man who ordered Qui-Gon’s death; “I told you everything you needed to know” -> debatable, never said that Palps was Sidious; “Sifo-Dyas understood, that’s why he helped me” -> partly true, doesn’t admit to killing Sifo-Dyas right after getting his help)

So we have a twisted version of Naboo, droid-free (as droids are now irrevocably associated with Dooku, even if that wasn’t the case in TPM) and with sabers that aren’t quite red. Keep in mind that Dooku had already fallen by TPM. (We know this because he killed Sifo-Dyas and created the Clone Army - part of Sidious’ plan - when Valorum was still Chancellor, as per the episode The Lost One.) That means Dooku was (in)directly complicit in Qui-Gon’s death. And the Box doesn’t (=refuses to?) acknowledge that.

(Also omitted in the Box are the Gungans and Tatooine. It makes sense, because Dooku probably wouldn’t have the full details regarding those parts of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s missio as they weren’t as public, and would see them as irrelevant if he did. He utterly despises Anakin, and Gungans are the type of people he always dismisses out of hand).

Anyway, that’s my two cents about the Box. To quote Lucas...

“It’s like poetry. It rhymes.”

Thanks to @lethebantroubadour @impossiblybluebox @nonbinarywithaknife @ytoz and @kaitie85386 for voting for this one. Next up is a compilation of the Jedi being casually tactile with each other (because they’re a warm and affectionate culture, dammit).

Also thanks to @laciefuyu for giving me gifs I ended up not using ^^; you rock anyway!

#meta #my meta #the box #deception arc #rako hardeen #rako hardeen arc #naboo #obi-wan kenobi #count dooku #cad bane #moralo eval #darth sidious

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himooonlight · 5 years ago

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who are you? pt. 1 (reggie x reader)

pairing: reggie x reader word count: 3k warnings: sad stuff i guess? this is mostly fluff though plot: you dream about reggie constantly and when you see him perfoming with julie, you decide to ask her about him A/N: english is not my first language and this is my first fanfic, so please, be nice ok? hope you like this. oh, and i'm thinking maybe 5 parts? who knows

- I know this is going to sound weird, but do you know any Reginald who likes country music?

The girl in front of me looks at me as if I have just said the biggest nonsense she has ever heard. Her smile fades and she checks around us as if looking for someone who had also heard my question.

Julie is an intriguing girl. She seems very understandable and kind, but I feel like my sanity is in her hands, which makes her figure weigh too much on me. I can't look away from her worried features, feeling bad for making her feel like this. I know she had a terrible year having to deal with her mother's death and all the block to play and sing, but I can't help it.

Not knowing the truth is going to consume me.

- What did you say? - She asks.

Julie and I have never spoken before. I am a year older than her and our school schedules have never crossed, even though I’ve seen her in the halls before. Everyone knows the incredible voice she has, the artistic talent that seems to run through her fingers - it would be impossible not to know about her reputation. What made me talk to her, though, was Reginald.

Reggie.

A boy I thought didn't really exist until three days ago.

- I asked if you know any Reginald who likes country music. - I repeat in a lower tone. - Do you think we can talk?

She doesn't hesitate to agree and soon steps forward to go to the music room. I only know about the existence of that classroom because some of my friends like to go there during lunch hours to sleep a little before afternoon classes. She opens the door, lets me go through, and closes it behind me, making sure we're alone.

We sit in the back of the room, near the windows. The horizontal blinds are open and the weather looks happy. The sun shines brightly and there are no clouds to tell the story of the crazy girl who has been dreaming of someone unreal for months and had fallen in love with a non-existent being.

It's funny how the figurative tranquility makes me uneasy. The day seems peaceful, serene while chaos is established inside of me. The blue, maroon and white paintings on the wall seem to make fun of my nervousness; the delicate yet majestic instruments seem to want me to leave considering that my madness is too much for anyone to bear.

Julie looks at me not knowing that she is my hope and that also makes me anxious. Possibly even more apprehensive than comparing my problems with the calmness of the place around me.

- I'm not sure where to start or if you're going to believe me, but I need you to listen carefully. If it doesn't make sense to you, if you don't know what I'm talking about, please just ignore it, ok?

Julie nods and moves her chair closer to mine. Her eyes look worried and I can see that she is an ordinary person. As much as many people have put her on a pedestal, she looks normal and comprehensive at close range. She doesn't look like someone who would be evil and bitter of her own accord and it's comforting to know that even if she can't help me, maybe she can understand my torments in some way.

I let the air enter my lungs, my shoulders going up and down slightly. She doesn't pressure me to speak even though I can interpret by her fingers tapping on her leg that she wants me to say something soon.

Without thinking too much about word choices, I open my heart to her because some things need to be shared.

Even when it's not easy to start.

- A few months ago I started having dreams with Reggie. He looks just like the guy you sing in that band with, the bass player. A friend of mine showed me a video of you a few days ago and I know it's him, it can only be him. - Without thinking too much, my hands reach for hers, as if begging her to believe me. Julie doesn't back down or make a move to start laughing and that encourages me to continue, with as many details as possible. - Do you know who he is? My friend said they are holograms, but probably it's inspired by some real person, right?

My speech starts to get tangled up and Julie continues with the same expression as when we arrived, just listening to what I have to say. I feel pathetic because I seem to be performing a show for something that in the eyes of others may be irrelevant. I wish I could explain to her that I am usually a very rational person. I like reasonable explanations, the feeling of being in control of where I am going, of having a detailed plan on how to achieve my goals. In general I know that unforeseen events can happen, but the relief that organization and rationality bring me is too comforting and important for me to be able to accept Reggie in my life under normal circumstances.

However, he quickly became someone important to me and it's scary how just the thought of him can make me feel nice and peaceful.

Reggie brought me peace of the kind that you often seek while sleeping or resting. Peace of the kind that we look for when looking at the sky, at flowers, at children playing in a park happily. He, someone I didn't know, offered me happiness by just appearing in my dreams, smiling at my sleeping version. It was something about his adorable smile, his small teeth, his upturned nose and expressive eyebrows. It was something about the way he made me laugh, how he had genuine intentions about everything, how his beautiful eyes lit up when he talked about something he liked.

- I don't know anything about creating holograms, sorry. - Julie answers, smiling weakly and clearing her throat. She looks uncomfortable, so I let go of her hand. - But if I find anything about it, I'll let you know.

- Julie, you really don't know anything about him? He loves pizza, has a very peculiar sense of humor and likes children and animals. He likes it very much. He is not very close to his family, but he regards his two best friends as if they were brothers. He is kind, understanding and real. I guess truthful is a better choice of words, cause I don't know if he really exists.

I know she can see my distress from the way I'm letting the words flow, but I can't help it. Reggie not only brings me peace but also a feeling of belonging that seems to go beyond the moment.

It's not like I'm getting to know him, it's like I'm recognizing him.

- Look, are you sure you are not confusing him with someone else?

Julie herself doesn't seem to believe or agree with her question. I'm being too specific and I know it. I know this because Reggie asked for my help on Thursday night's dream, saying that he didn't know if he could make it. I know this because he told me the name of his band. I know this because he said he didn't recognize me, but that he felt the same way about me, about us.

- Julie, I know about Sunset Curve. I looked them up and I know they died 25 years ago. - I answer, looking at my own feet. I don't want her to think I'm a threat and that I'm going to expose her secret. I just want answers, I just want a chance to understand my connection with Reggie. - I just want to know if you know Reggie. If there is anyone I can ask why he appears in my dreams, why I…

I can't complete it out loud, but mentally I say "fell in love with him".

I know why I fell in love with him, to be honest.

Reggie is physically familiar. More than that, it's like meeting someone special who means a lot to me. He's someone whose beauty comes from his smile. The kind of person who is always trying to see the positive in things. Who never believes that he has actually lost anything or that he is in the wrong place. He's the type to believe that every thing he dropped on the floor and didn't see, every umbrella forgotten somewhere, every delay unintentionally; everything means something. An arrangement so that he could be in the place he is in right now and that this place could not be a mistake. He's the type who doesn't bother with something that broke, with something unexpected, with something he isn't planning because he is convinced that maybe he broke a plate today so he could go to the market and find money on the floor or just feel how pleasant the day is. That maybe he was late because the bus he was going to take was going to break down halfway. He is the type who thinks that regardless of the situation, he is in the right place, where he should be.

Reggie has an engaging aura, as much as I couldn't even explain what exactly it means. He is affectionate, funny and I don't think I could ever create him.

- Why you…? - She insists.

- Why I feel this way about him.

Julie seems to think about what I said and I choose not to press her. I pay attention to the room, on how the sun comes through the window and makes me think of the day I met Reggie.

My first dream with him was at a book club. It was a friendly place that I had never visited before; a two-story white house with a big backyard. The meeting took place outside and the residence looked like it was turned into a cultural center. About five people had books in their hands and were talking excitedly about the story, going on about the metaphors the author had used to explain the parents' suffering when they lost their child. Near the boundaries of the place, three boys who seemed out of place were talking quietly. At their feet, boxes of instruments looked like misunderstood foreigners while snacks and sweets on the table near them were very much welcomed. The blond boy next to Reggie was talking to another boy about something I couldn't hear and Reggie seemed to shine.

It was late afternoon and the sun was passing through the trees in the yard. The white fence he leaned against contrasted with the black clothes he wore, while the darkness of the fabric contradicted with the gentleness of his face. He had caught my attention the minute my eyes met his.

Without saying anything, Reggie came towards me, making me nervous. In the dream, however, I was a man. As much as I was living and seeing everything from my point of view, my body was masculine and taller. My hands were calloused for some reason that I did not know and my clothes were extremely large, almost sloppy.

- Hi. - Reggie said, smiling as if he knew me. His eyes were shining and I was sure mine were too. - Do you have a name or can I call you mine?

We were not too far away from his friends for them not to hear us. Soon they started laughing out loud, embarrassed by the pick up line. I couldn't help but laugh, even though in some part of my brain I knew that maybe if the situation was rationalized, I would find it weird. However, I felt the same way about him. The desire to meet him, to know his preferences, to feel what his hand would be like in mine.

- Maybe I went too far with that one. - He said, giving me no chance to answer. - I think I have the right to remain silent.

- Reggie, you have the right to remain silent. What you lack is capacity. - The blonde said, making the other friend laugh even louder. Some man behind us asked us to speak quietly and right then the sun stopped touching the man in front of me. It seemed that we finally understood that moment; seemed that the universe made sense.

Reginald was speechless, just like me. We looked at each other for a while, admiring each other's details. Because of that exact moment I would know how to point the timid freckles on your nose even with my eyes shut or on the way his eyes seemed to have at least four different shades of blue and green. At that moment I fell in love with his skin, his dimples, how well his hair was combed and how he smelled of jasmine.

- Hey. - I replied to him, holding out my hand. He looked into my eyes, then my lips and then took my hand in his. Time seemed to stop around us. - I guess you do have a name, Reggie, but can I call you mine?

Julie touches my arm, pulling me out of my memories.

- I don't know if I would have answers for you. - She says. - I'm sorry.

Julie gets up and goes to the door. I can't ignore the fact that my throat is dry and my hands are shaking slightly in anticipation of any more response that she wants to give me. Anything, any explanation that might justify how I feel about Reggie.

She suddenly stops and turns to me with wide eyes.

- You can't see, right? - She asks.

I don't know what she's talking about, so I just shake my head.

- Where's Reggie? - She talks again.

When I open my mouth to say that I don't know, he appears near the piano. His eyes are more intense than in my dreams and he does not smell of jasmine, but it's still him.

My Reggie.

I get up quickly and almost trip over the chair, making Julie look at me with even wider eyes. I look from her to him, repeating the process a few times.

He wasn't there a few seconds ago.

He appeared in the middle of nowhere.

Him.

He exists.

- What's going on here? - He asks Julie, but his body is turned towards me. I look him straight in the eye and walk slowly because I'm afraid this is a dream and I want to spend more time looking at him like that. - Julie, why does it look like she sees me?

- I see you, Reggie. - I speak softly, not diverting my attention from him. - You exist.

He opens his mouth a few times, not understanding what is happening and I feel the same thing that I felt in that book club.

Feels like I'm coming home, that I love him, that everything makes sense. I feel that there is too much of him in my heart.

- Can you see me? - He asks, walking slowly towards me. It seems the same distance from my first dream; the same strong feeling of belonging, of finding something that I had already given up looking for. - Do you really see me?

- I see you, I can really see you.

My vision starts to blur and I hear Julie talking in the background, but I can only look at him and ask myself if he knows who I am, if he feels the same. When a tear falls from my eyes, Reggie walks faster, ending our distance and extending his hand to touch my face. When I feel a shy and almost unnoticed contact, I close my eyes and throw myself into his arms, but I can't find his body.

Confused, I open my eyes again.

He's not there.

He disappeared in the middle of nowhere.

Him.

He does not exist.

- It's just a dream, isn't it? Is this my farewell to him? Will I never see him again in my dreams? - I ask Julie. I touch the piano that seemed so close to Reggie before and let my fingers roam the black top of the instrument. I just wish I could feel him the same way. - I could have swore that this is real, but I think I love Reggie so much that he made me like being asleep more than being awake. It is terrible to love him in my dreams and not have him when I wake up in the morning.

- You love me?

I hear his voice behind me and when I turn, he's there.

- Who are you? - I ask, like an idiot. I know who he is, but I need to understand a few things before I completely freak out.

Julie walks over to me and touches my wrist. She seems to be asking me not to scream or pass out. Something in Reggie's eyes is apologizing silently and I'm afraid of his answer.

- I'm Reggie. - He smiles weakly and it hurts me because it's a sad smile. - And I think you're my unfinished business.

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms fanfic #jatp fanfic #reggie x reader #juke fanfic #julie and luke #julie molina #luke patterson #alex and willie #reggie fanfic #reggie #jatp #reggie x y/n #reader

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scentedmoviesaestheticempath · 5 years ago

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Compiled cbw’s Kuraneo thoughts + theories

Warning : Don’t read if you’re a Kuraneo antis. For fellow Kuraneo fans, just because I write it doesn't mean you have to agree. There are multiple but no wrong ways to interpret the ship and my opinion below strictly follows the canon storyline. We don't need any reason to ship anything but considering their rocky start, it's fun to analyze what happen.

Disclaimer : HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

Is it really a senseless ship?

Most complaints regarding Kuraneo is how problematic the ship is and the impossibility for Kuraneo to happen. The main problems are : Neon is a body collector, therefore it is impossible for Kurapika to be with her. Especially when she specifically collects scarlet eyes. Neon is also a shallow childish brat, while Kurapika is portrayed as a mature, cool-headed protagonist. But is it really?

Implications to be Canon

In January 2020 I spared my time to catch up with HxH. It really surprised me after I read the manga carefully, Kurapika was given the title of 'young boss/underboss' in Nostrade family. Whoever has seen the Godfather and read Cosa Nostra Wikipedia page would know that the title is usually given to a son. He could've been given the title 'consigliere'', but he didn't. There has been several changes in translation but he still is the Nostrade family leader(The Japanese version is Waka-Gashira(Young Boss), under Oyabun(Boss), while consigliere is Saiko-Komon). That gave me an assumption : "What if he is a Nostrade now?" I am not surprised since a man marries into a girl's family is kind of traditional norm in Japan (Reference : mukoyōshi (婿養子).

“ A mukoyōshi (婿養子) (literally "adopted son-in-law") is an adult man who is adopted into a Japanese family as a daughter's husband, and who takes the family's surname.

Generally in Japan, a woman takes her husband's name and is adopted into his family. When a family, especially one with a well established business, has no male heir but has an unwed daughter of a suitable age, she will marry the mukoyōshi, a man chosen especially for his ability to run the family business.[1] If there is no daughter, the candidate can take a bride from outside his adopted family (fūfu-yōshi: 夫婦養子). This is done to preserve the business and name of the family when there is no suitable male heir, since traditionally businesses are inherited by the oldest male heir. Mukoyōshi is also practiced if there is no capable male heir to run the family business.[1] This is a centuries-old tradition and is still widely practiced today. Many Japanese companies with household names such as Nintendo, Kikkoman, and Toyota have adopted this practice.[1] This adult adoption may take place in marriages where the woman's family is of a higher socio-economic rank than the man's family, where the woman has no brothers to be the heir to the family name, when the man has been disowned by his own family, or when the man's natural family comes from a notorious or shameful background and he thus prefers to hide his identity. “

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukoy%C5%8Dshi) (picture source : Kurapika x Neon Facebook page)

Kurapika and Neon are also paired in the Mobage which implies that the creator himself has approved the ship. There is a reason why Meruem and Bisky is not paired together.

Looking at Kurapika as a character

Now let’s look at Kurapika’s character. His character goal is to avenge his clan and collect all his brother and sister’s eyes. He’s shown to have strong prejudice against flesh collector and even decided to work for Nostrade family based on that reason. He went as far as planning to arrest them before meeting Neon. And even after meeting Neon, he convinced himself once again that in order to pursue his goal, he is willing to kill her (”If I have to kill her, so be it”, as rephrased my Melody). Yet he is also shown to be pleased when he is pointed as the head bodyguard, stating that “I didn’t think... It would work out so quickly” .He seems to have completely changed his plan. Because what is better than arresting/killing Neon? That would be having access to Nostrade’s family resources by being Light’s trusted person. And after Neon lost her power, Light Nostrade is shown to be losing his mind, being unable to function normally as a leader. Begging Kurapika to turn “Neon back to normal”. Kurapika does the job instead for Light, saying that “Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.” At this point, he is the suitable guy to run the family. Considering his Waka-Gashira title, it is safe to assume he got the title by marrying her through son-in-law adoption. Looking at Neon as a character I am a big fan of aspoonofsugar’s character meta posts and the post about Neon’s Nen and Character insight brings a new perspective on how I see Neon.

https://aspoonofsugar.tumblr.com/post/176668230707/nen-and-characters-neon-nostrade Neon prefers not to be involved with people. She is clingy to her material possessions but not to people, as implied in her reaction to Dalzollene's death. While all her bodyguards and haters assume that she’s a heartless unempathetic character. The actual reason is related to her belief. For Neon, the present is the only thing that matter. She shows her empathetic side when Chrollo cried and Eliza broke down hearing Squalla’s death. She cares about the livings and her noble altruistic power reflects her character.

Regarding the son-in-law theory, I would say that she simply does not have a say in this matter when her family is crashing down. We are never shown Neon’s perspective on Kurapika whether she likes him or not. I personally never ever once see a canon scene where Neon is implied to have crush on Kurapika. She had fluttering heart moment for Chrollo instead and I guess that's because Chrollo is one of the people whom has shown genuine emotions in front of her, just like Eliza over Squalla. Her appreciation to genuine feelings and honesty is probably caused by Light’s many lies in order to use her power.

We're told the story from Kurapika's point of view, therefore it's very easy to antagonize Neon like majority of her haters. But given Neon's appreciation to honesty and authenticity, who is at fault here? Kurapika just appears in her life, planning to use her and her family for his ends. He is just another Chrollo and Light Nostrade. (IRONICALLY This is why I ship their very unique relationship. But they do need each other for provision and protection, so props for Kurapika lmao)

So if the son-in-law theory is true, is it possible for them have feelings for each other?

Of course it wasn't long before we got twists here and there. Neon's power disappearance from Chrollo's book, Kurapika referring himself not having the place to go home anymore. He seems to have so much authority to access Nostrade family resources without having a friendly term with them. Assuming they don’t have a normal loving relationship at the first sight makes sense. I don't think anyone marrying into Nostrade family will ever get their emotional needs fulfilled. Nostrade is never the traditional happy family. Neon is emotionally detached and Light only cares about power. They are the opposite of Zoldyck whom are sick in their own way. They only care about themselves and Kurapika is also one. He missed Gon's recovery and does not seem to value his own life. In other words. Doesn’t that mean Kurapika is only using her, then?

No. At this point, it means they need each other and it’s either they do like each other or simply have mutual physical attraction regardless how they feel.

(It is unfair to say Kurapika takes advantage of Nostrade family when Nostrade family themselves need Kurapika, or else, they will not function. Needing each other is not equal to taking advantage of each other, it is the basic of household.

As for the last part, I have seen many cases where even people who constantly says "beauty doesn’t matter” and proving their point by considering their spouses unattractive are STILL ATTRACTED PHYSICALLY to their spouse. Please feel free to disagree)

When we say that we like or love someone, we are experiencing interpersonal attraction—the strength of our liking or loving for another person.

Although it may seem inappropriate or shallow to admit it, and although it is certainly not the only determinant of liking, people are strongly influenced, at least in initial encounters, by the physical attractiveness of their partners (Swami & Furnham, 2008). Elaine Walster and her colleagues (Walster, Aronson, Abrahams, & Rottman, 1966) arranged a field study in which college boys and girls were randomly paired with one another at a “computer dance.” After the partners had danced and talked for a couple of hours, they were interviewed separately about their own preferences and characteristics as well as about their perceptions of their date. Walster and her colleagues found that the only important determinant of participants’ liking for their date was his or her physical attractiveness. None of the other characteristics—even the perceived intelligence of the partner—mattered.

https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/initial-attraction/

When feelings are discussed : From my intrepretation, I always think people got it backwards about Kurapika and Neon. Kurapika has an icy facade, but he is the type of person who grow on people, while Neon is not. Even when he distanced himself from the other bodyguards at their first meeting, he is the one who cares the most about his "comrades"/teammates, he punched Uvo for killing his teammates. Neon, on the other hand, doesn't even flinch when she heard that Dalzolenne is dead although he's been the one who took care of her. She even made one of her servant as wall decoration. But there is a possibility she also grows on people AS LONG AS they’re still alive, that’s why she cared about Eliza. The problem is, once they’re dead, they become another story in the irrelevant past. That does not make her a bad person in grey HxH universe, but someone with different values due to her belief and upbringing. Kurapika demonstrates his understanding of her when describing her to Basho. In fact, he is the most understanding person that treats her nicely and does not harm her even though he had the intention to. Kurapika didn't think Neon losing her ability as the family downfall or disability, unlike her own father. As much as assuring everything will be okay when Light broke down in GI Arc. This is a huge revolution in her life because since Kurapika stepped in, someone is finally using her without the need of her ability.

Neon’s loss of ability actually sounds like a parallel to Pairo when people around them refer them as "not normal" for having less functional leg and no ghostwriter ability. They were also both supposed to be under his care/companion when the accident happened. This leaves a huge question mark for me of how Kurapika interprets her at this point. Is he only using her or he feels responsible? or both?

This leaves us some possibilities if their relationship was merely based on physical attraction & mutual benefit or if it is indeed more.

The first possibility means he likes her enough to marry/sleep with her but still barred from prejudice to consider her as his friend. (Even this is debatable, Kurapika simply could be a private person and given that his clan was living in hidden presence, it's only normal if he want to hide Neon's presence too. Also "Traditionally, part of the Mafia code is to keep the wives and mothers out of the loop of confidences for their own safety" is an actual study from The Independent,UK.)

And Neon also likes him enough to marry/sleep with him but not enough to get involved in his life. (Or is she? Sometimes I have to remind myself HxH can't be seen through normal perspective because no hunter is fit for normal family life. So maybe Neon's dismissive attitude makes her the perfect one for him)

The second possibility means they are in loving relationship off-screen. I'd say this is a very high probability because based on personality analysis above, both characters are capable of growing on each other. Another note : Neon's design is strongly based on Princess Luna from Level E, where she is a love interest to Prince Baka. The story take it lightly despite being "king x revolutionary" couple. And while for us, it feels like a long time. For the in-universe characters, black whale is only like a month of work CMIIW.

But either way, I’d say they do harbor some sort of affection in canon. We have a negative perception on arranged marriage, assuming the affection is not valid because it is a form of Stockholm syndrome. I will quote my argument straight from Quora where the responder had successfully arranged more than 40 marriages.

“Not every western theory is a reality. I think those who do not know the basics of arranged marriage speak at will and trying to create a fear syndrome against a successful system...”

“...Those who shun arranged marriages can live as they wish. Law does not prevent them to be at liberty. They have no business to criticize a system which is far better than other ways of creating male female relationships. Stockholm syndrome belongs to Stockholm... They are civilized enough to live in a system where there is nothing to lose. Stockholm syndrome is an illusion.One should not insult a culture without knowing an iota of that system. “ https://www.quora.com/I-feel-that-the-affection-after-an-arranged-marriage-is-basically-a-form-of-Stockholm-syndrome-What-is-your-opinion-on-this

Or maybe, there is nothing between them yet and these implications are just a foreshadow to what’s planned for them

What if she’s dead?

Some people would say Kurapika killed her but that is totally impossible and out of character. Her death is only assumed by the Phantom Troupe because her power dissapear from the book. Nen is extremely flexible concept even in-universe and there are many ways to work around that. Also in contradictive, Kurapika managed to take 9 pairs of eyes from 'the mafia's daughter' without killing anyone. I doubt he would do nothing after Chrollo stole her ability. I assume it would be insulting to Kurapika if people say he let Neon to just die considering he takes his job seriously and inheriting Nostrade name.

And frankly, I don’t care if she’s dead. Kakin war arc & Dark continent arc will also take approximately 20-40 years to finish. Whether she’s dead or not I’m going to enjoy my time with my interpretations based on canon implications given. And if she is indeed proven to be dead, I’ll accept it and just have fun in the fandom. I respect Togashi as the author.

Why don't the Nostrade just adopt Kurapika without the marriage?

I dunno, better ask mafias and Japanese. Because based on this theory, they clearly like to keep it in the family, I'm just reading my references.

cbw’s Final words

This theory is inspired from baby foreshadowing theory in reddit (page: HxH craziest theory), which inspired me to write my fic. Which, inspired me again to write this son-in-law theory.

I am combining implications from “Cosa Nostra”, “Waka-gashira”(The similar organization structure), “Godfather”(How Kurapika gain Light’s trust), “Son-in-law adoption”(Underboss in Sicily organization structure), Neon&Kurapika paired cards in Mobage, and Princess Luna from Level E as spouse from opposing faction(The base for Neon’s character)

Whilst the western sources about obtaining the title in mafia marriage is abundant, the sources regarding obtaining the title in yakuza marriage are Until Death Do Us Part and & GTA:Liberty City

Toshiko Kasen: My husband is samurai, Mr. Toni. He is very strong... but very, very bad. He only married me to become waka-gashira in Liberty City.

https://www.grandtheftwiki.com/index.php?title=A_Date_With_Death&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop

(Page 161 Until Death Do Us Part)

Honestly after my last note, I gave it another thought and I couldn't possibly see another explanation of why he could be a Nostrade family boss. If anyone asks me, I refuse to ignore the implications Togashi gave and say they're canon 100%.

Given Kuraneo’s complex relationship and their neutral interaction, its brilliance lies in how flexible people can be in interpreting them. I enjoy many different kind of interpretations. My favorite thing about Kuraneo is although we never get any implication that Neon ever noticed Kurapika, many fics describe it as the other way round because from Neon’s POV it would be liking someone that embody her fetish. I especially love this headcanon, love it when people portray Neon as deviant.That escalate from 0 to 100 real quick. Being a part of Nostrade also means Kurapika gets to accept his past as something that shapes him to be the man he is today. But honestly, I just love hateships and their big chances of hating while loving each other.

I would say that whatever off-screen and how readers interpret their relationsip and feelings is up for us to decide until HxH truly reach the ending. And that’s only if Togashi is willing to disclose their relationship. I would be happy if they become canon, but if not then I’ll still ship them just like how I will still ship Pitou x Kai and Chrollo x Kurapika. Naoko Takeuchi, Togashi’s wife said once in her interview that she likes seeing different interpretations of Sailor Moon from her fans. I’m a Sailor Moon fan too and I wish to respect her view by applying the same to her husband’s works.

Thanks for reading!

#kuraneo

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maledictusrp · 4 years ago

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VAMPIRE ( vampyr )

A vampire is an undead creature that feeds on the life essence of the living. They are known to be night dwelling monsters without souls, a predatory species with little regard for their prey.

It started with a demon, a demon that held the blood of the seven sins and the mind of pure rage. Its desire and envious feeling drove the demon insane, violent in a cold, red rage of unholy malice. Eventually, the demon had met its final day, breathing its final breath. The carcass would remain in its spot, rotting away as natural as it can be, but it would soon be discovered upon a group of wandering scavengers. These scavengers feasted on the demon’s body, eating all flesh and blood of the ravenous beast until it was merely a meager set of broken bones. Once they had consumed the demon they laid down to rest, unaware of what was to come. It would be then that in those few hours of rest in the day that the scavengers began to grow ill into a strange, violent fit of rage and bloodlust. They had begun to feel a harsh need for darkness, hiding away from the sun to keep it from driving them further into illness. They would attack anything that had come in the way of their path, draining of their victim’s blood. Though if the victim was lucky, however, they too would seem to become ill within the few hours of the attack, undergoing these painful symptoms and passing it along to those who have come in contact with them if they were lucky to survive. They became a silent and deadly epidemic. The humans infected would become ravenous and end up cannibalizing themselves. It would be years before the first few humans became immune to this sickness and managed to survive the transformation stage. No one really knows how old vampires actually are but according to the Sanguinem Verbum ( the Vampire Codex ), the first vampires appeared in Ancient Mesopotamia circa 4000 BCE. During the first few millennia, vampires were not immortal but simply lived longer. Typically a few hundred years before they started to desiccate. Then slowly, vampires started to adapt and evolve until they became gifted with true immortality.

EACH VAMPIRE BLOODLINE HAS A SPECIFIC ABILITY. INFORMATION ON BLOODLINES WILL BE POSTED LATER.

BASIC STRENGTHS

ENHANCED PHYSICAL STRENGTH - Vampires are gifted with superhuman strength. They are capable of bending steel and breaking a human body in half with a single blow. This strength is influenced by age but also by blood consumption. Vampires who are on a particular diet are weaker than those who feast on human blood on a daily basis.

ENHANCED SPEED - Aside from strength, vampires can move at incredible speeds that are undetectable to the human eye.

ENHANCED SENSES - Vampires are able to see, smell and hear far better than humans. They are able to hear a heartbeat from miles away, smell blood at distances, recognize scent of prey and have night vision. When first turned, vampires can get overwhelmed by their senses for everything is heightened.

IMMORTALITY - Vampires cannot die of natural causes.

ADVANCED HEALING - Vampires will heal from any wounds as long as they are still alive. Healing speed can be affected depending on how much blood the vampire has consumed. Starving vampires heal at a much lower speed.

COMPULSION - Vampires possess a natural charisma and can compel humans and supernaturals, including other vampires (if they’re Regium), into doing whatever they want through suggestion. These effects can last up to years but will go away if the vampire is killed. Hunters can be trained to resist compulsion, but some minds are more susceptible than others.Compulsion is largely influenced by age and experience, therefore a fledgling or a vampire who has rarely used compulsion throughout the years would have a much lower chance to succeed at compelling a 100 year old werewolf, for example. Furthermore, compulsion cannot be overruled by another vampire, only added to. Attempting to overrule compulsions can be dangerous, however, for it can cause brain damage or dementia so it does more harm than good. The only ways to break someone out of compulsion are: a) if the vampire responsible for the compulsion lifts it; b) if the vampire responsible for the compulsion is killed; c) if a witch can break the victim out of it, though it is a painful process that takes hours and only certain types witches who are strong enough to perform such a task can break someone out of compulsion completely. NOTE: COMPULSION AFFECTS ACTIONS BUT IT DOES NOT AFFECT EMOTIONS.

BASIC WEAKNESSES

SUNLIGHT - Vampires will be set aflame when in contact with sunlight. A vampire cannot be out in the sun unless they are in possession of a daylight ring. Daylight rings can be obtained through their sires or directly from a witch who’s familiar with the spell. Attention: since daylight is the deadliest thing to a vampire, do not obtain daylight rings from witches you do not trust. They can remove the daylight spell at any time, though their deaths will not affect the spell.

BEHEADING - The head must be completely removed from the body for this to take effect.

STAKES - vampires can be killed with a wooden stake to the heart. They will immediately cease functioning and turn into lifeless corpses. This is called desiccation.

WEREWOLF BITE - Vampires that are bitten by werewolves are essentially poisoned, becoming weaker and weaker until they cease functioning and turn into a lifeless corpse. This may take up to 24 hours to take effect, but no more than that. The cure to any werewolf bite is to drink the blood of an alpha.

VERVAIN - While vervain cannot harm vampires, it’ll protected people from vampire compulsion. There are different ways of using it: some people dilute the plant and digest it, some spray it on, others may carry the plant with them. The most efficient way is to drink it consistently so that it stays in the system. Vervain is very difficult to find and witches sell them at a very expensive price.

INVITATION - Vampires cannot step into the home of the living without an invitation.

STARVATION - Vampires need to feed on blood in order to survive, there is no way around it. A vampire can slowly desiccate from the inside out if they don’t feed.

NECK BREAKING - This won’t kill a vampire but it will immobilize them for some time.

DEAD MAN’S BLOOD - A poison to vampires that incapacitates them for a short period of time. When the blood from a dead human is injected into a vampire it induces a blood sickness, causing them to become very weak.

CREATION

Only humans and witches can be turned into vampires. A human who has consumed vampire blood in some way (whether by drinking it, having it poured into an open wound or being injected with it) and has subsequently died with it in their system will be revived as one of the undead, just like the vampire who sired them. The exact nature of the human’s death is irrelevant to this process; the only condition that must be met is that the body has to be more-or-less intact and able to function once they reawaken in transition. In order to complete the transition into a vampire, the person must then consume a significant amount of human blood, at least a sip’s worth, within the next twelve hours, or else they will simply die. The transition period can be an uncomfortable experience: their senses and emotions are already heightened and their system starts to crave blood. It is an uncontrollable hunger that can stay with the fledgling even after they complete their turning. They are also transitioning into their Bloodline and it can be very painful for a vampire to go through that on their own. This is why new vampires are considered to be dangerous without proper guidance and typically require the assistance of a sire for the first 20 years of their rebirth. Vampires who have not been assisted by their sires during this critical time are referred to as ORPHANS.

VAMPIRE BLOODLINES & ORPHANS

Vampirism began as a virus. A deadly virus that killed everyone who came in contact with it. It took years but eventually humans who were infected started to survive, giving birth to a whole new species. This period would later be labeled as the period of transition. From here, the virus mutated into four distinct strains that are transmitted through blood.

Bloodline is a term used to describe a group of vampires who share a common lineage. While the term can be used to refer to vampires who share a sire, grandsire, or so on, it usually refers to those lineages that have some inherent distinction between the four traditional Bloodlines, be it in their weaknesses, characteristics, abilities, etc. These vampires share a common characteristic passed on by the blood. Each Bloodline has their own organization, culture and characteristics and even though there have been conflicts between them in the past, Bloodlines typically work together out of necessity for a common goal.

ORPHANS IN BLOODLINES: Orphans aren’t an abnormal occurence in the vampire universe. However, depending on the bloodline they come from, they can be considered an oddity.

FUROREM produce the highest number of orphans, they are not known for thinking before acting and they turn many humans only to leave them to fend off for themselves. However, most of them don’t survive past the ‘infancy’ period. REGIUM orphans are extremely rare, and subject to death as they can be considered an offence to their bloodline. Regium only turn those they deem worthy of their blood, so an orphan is an unacceptable reality. CUPIDITAS usually have an attachment to their progeny, so their numbers are lower than Furorem, but they are emotional creatures so there’s always a chance things will go wrong between sire and fledgling. And PROELIATOR usually have plans for their progeny, but sometimes they turn people that won’t go through with them, becoming essentially useless to their makers.

Orphans will still contain the gifts from their respected bloodlines but they will have trouble controlling them. A REGIUM might not be able to compel larger groups without becoming weakened. A CUPIDITAS orphan might not have a good grasp on their suggestive gifts and either be unable to do so properly or have that backfire and have the opposite desired effect. PROELIATOR are physically stronger than other vampires but an Orphan might be slightly weaker and not have as much stamina or take as much damage as a pure Proeliator can. FUROREM are cursed the moment they are turned. Most Orphans become too unstable to live and unable to stand their vampirism. Their blood can become so hot during their first few years that they could potentially liquefy from the inside out. Some have gone mad and killed themselves. The ones who survive are more prone to going into frenzy and their poison is not as deadly as a full fledged Furorem.

Orphans are outcasts and are not protected by any bloodline. If any war between the bloodlines were to happen, they would be left to fend for themselves and they can’t ask for asylum within them own. They have no voice, no claims to any rank and they will never be welcome inside the Kindred. It is against Kindred law for an Orphan to mingle with a “pure” vampire.

LIFE STAGES

Vampires have four life stages:

NEWBORNS - A vampire is considered a newborn from the day they are turned to their 100th birthday.

FLEDGLING - Vampire adolescence lasts 500 years.

ASCENDANT - Adulthood starts at age 500 and ends when the vampire reaches its senior years at age 1000

ELDERS - This is the last cycle for a vampire and it begins when a vampire reaches their 1000th birthday and ends once they reach 2000 years of age. Most vampires die before reaching then end of this cycle.

ANCIENT - 2000+ years. Ancient vampires are a rarity. When a vampire reaches this cycle they slowly begin to turn to stone and will only wake up every 100 years for a few nights at a time.

#horror rp #supernatural rp #vampire rp #jcink rp #jcink premium #preview #site buzz #member group

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asweetlovemessage-blog · 5 years ago

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a sweet good morning message for my love | TAM RELAX

bacsiykhoa.com

- My Blog 13-17 phút

”

==>> A Sweet Love Message.

When it comes to Southern romance, it's no secret that choosing the right words is important. Crafting the perfect romantic message and expressing how much you care about someone may be difficult, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. If you need a dash of inspiration, explore these short love messages and quotes about love for a little help with telling your beloved just how much you care!

==>> a sweet and romantic love message.

==>> a sweet good night love message.

==>> a sweet i love you message.

10 Brainstorming Techniques & Tips for Tapping Into Your Creative Side by Quincy Seale 12-16 phút

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. If make a purchase through these links, we receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Please see our disclosure for more info.

James Allen wrote this about thought: “Man is made and unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also creates the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. Between these two extremes are all the many grades of character, and man is their maker and their master. ”

So if man is the maker and master of thought, how do you go about learning to harness your own thoughts to create a better reality and become a more efficient, more productive, and more successful human being?

Well, obviously there are plenty of ways to go about such an endeavor, but today I want to talk about one of them. Brainstorming.

Because in order for us to get better at thinking, we first need to learn how to produce more thoughts. The more thoughts we have, the more chances we have to bring something more exciting into this world, and the more we generate new thoughts, or brainstorm, the better our mind gets at creating these new ideas. The Key to Brainstorming

The key thing to realize about brainstorming is that it’s solely about creation. It’s not about judging the ideas that arise or forcing yourself to think a certain way. What it really is, when it comes down to it, is “forceful creation.” To put it another way, you are willfully forcing your brain to be creative.

And since creativity is something that should be allowed to run its own course rather than be intellecualized, the entire process is a bit of a contradiction.

For this reason, it is a process rife with confusion and hesitance. So today I want to go over some different brainstorming techniques you can use. And you can use these to attack any problem in your life – from coming up with a new marketing strategy for your business to writing a new book to launching a new website to designing a new life for yourself.

Let’s have a look. 1. Mindmapping Software

Mindmapping Software

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The first tool I want to introduce is actually software, and I realize this might sound extremely counter-intuitive and possibly counterproductive. After all, how in the world can you tap into your mind’s innate creativity with an electronic-based program?

But I stand by my assertion that mindmapping software really is priceless when it comes to this type of thinking, and it’s very hard to describe until you just dig in and give it a try.

The type of software I’m talking about specifically is the kind used by MindJet MindManager and Freemind.org, the latter of which, as the name applies, is downloadable for free.

The way these program works is you have an empty page with theoretically as much room as you could ever need. You click on the blank slate and create a bubble or box, depending on which program you’re using. You then write in the box the main idea you’re working from.

Let’s say, for instance, that you’re planning out a new website. You might write the name of the website here. If you click on another place on the page, it creates new nodes that comes out from that. You might lable one “Marketing,” one “Products,” and one “Audience,” for example.

Then from each of these nodes, you can create other smaller nodes. From “Marketing,” you might branch out to “Follow-up Marketing,” “Social Marketing,” “Branding,” and so on.

And you keep branching out and getting more and more specific until you’re just hammering out specific ideas for each segment of the web you’re creating.

This is just one way to use it – your mindweb or mindmap can be ogranized however you see fit.

And of course you can also do this type of mind-mapping technique on paper. But I find it way more productive to do it with software. It’s like a whole new world of creativity opens up to me when I match the speed of my mind and the speed of a computer with this old technique. 2. Become a List Whiz

Become a List Whiz

Photo Credit: matthewvenn | Flickr

A great way to train yourself to be more creative is to get in the habit of writing lists. Set time aside everyday to write lists about random things, or pressing problems when needed. Feel free to write about zany, irrelevant lists if you can’t think of anything better; it’s really just about strengthening your idea-generating muscles.

Lists I often write include stuff like, “10 Novels I Would Like to Write,” “20 Businesses I Could Start Tomorrow,” “10 Blog Articles for My Site,” or chapter lists for books I want to write someday.

Do this each and everyday and watch your creative muscles grow. 3. Mastermind Groups

Mastermind Groups

Photo Credit: rosefirerising | Flickr

Mastermind groups are a fantastic way to leverage the thoughts, knowledge, and inspiration of others in your path to success and happiness. Masterminding is nothing more than surrounding yourself with like-minded people who have similar goals.

You can create a formal group that sits down and actually involves in group discussions or brainstorming exercises if you like. It’s a platform where you can bounce ideas off of each other and take turns commenting on them.

You can also create something more semi-formal, where you meet every once in a while and sit down to discuss issues affecting your central industry or interest and then fill each other in on your individual challenges and invite ideas.

Or it can be completely informal. Just go out of your way to work out and socialize, etc, with people on the same path as you – mastermind ideas and inspiration will usually evolve naturally through your social interaction.

Online forums are also a good resource for masterminding and you don’t even have to ask people to specifically brainstorm. Just make a thread about the issue or situation and people will chip in with their different experiences and opinions. 4. Meditate Before You Brainstorm

Meditate Before You Brainstorm

Photo Credit: illusivemind | Flickr

One of the best ways to make yourself more emotionally healthy and tap into your creative juices is to develop the habit of meditation. After all, it’s hard to break into your intuitive side if your mind is filled with the clutter and stress of everyday life.

Meditation doesn’t have to be far-out or religious either. Just think of it as learning to calm and focus your mind. To mentally recharge. I make it a habit to meditate everyday as a part of a morning ritual I perform upon waking every morning – after working out and cleaning around the house. Just a quiet ten to twenty minute meditation.

Directly after this meditation is a great time to do a brainstorming session. In fact, you can make it a habit to brainstorm every morning after your meditation on whatever is currently your biggest goal, idea, or challenge. 5. Brainstorm in Your Sleep

Feeding yourself issues to handle while you sleep can often yield incredible results. Sometimes an issue is more appropriate for your subconscious than your conscious mind, and in cases like this, active brainstorming is nothing more than walking in circles. When you get in bed, meditate on the problem or idea for a minute, asking your subconscious to give you a solution by morning.

It can feel like magic at times. 6. Group Passing

While I do recommend masterminding, I’m actually not a big proponent of brainstorming in groups. Not that I don’t know they have enormous potential, but I’m just more of a solo-thinker myself and I find I don’t get as much out of them as most people do.

But if there’s one group-brainstorming exercise that really works well, it’s the concept of group passing.

Basically, you start with the central idea, or the foundation of what is to be brainstormed, and the first person in the group expands on that idea, without any input from the group. This person can even be tasked with coming up with the idea to be brainstormed.

Then they pass the paper to the next person and that person expands on it as they see fit. The idea is passed then to the next person and it evolves even further. The paper goes around the entire group and then the final result is shared with everyone.

Another thing I like about this tactic is that it can be done without physically getting together – over the Internet. Google Docs is a great way to do it; the online documents are easily shared and editable among the group. 7. Write It Out

Write It Out

Photo Credit: Abdulla Al Muhairi | Flickr

Using a good old pen and paper will never lose its effectiveness when it comes to letting your thoughts run free. In fact, some people prefer this as your mind works faster than you write, so by the time you finish writing down a thought, you’ve already got another in mind. In contrast, when many people type, they find themselves starting and stopping a lot, resulting in a much choppier process.

Do this any way you like. Free-writing is particularly effective for letting your mind run free. Write lists – this is a common brainstorming method for people who don’t even know what the word means, so it seems our minds intuitively work that way. And of course, you can create mindmaps.

One of the best things about writing is you can take this technology with you anywhere. Get a small notepad and keep it at all times, pulling it out when new thoughts cross your mind. I find this puts me in a constant brainstorming state, and I walk around creating throughout every minute of my day.

This type of constant approach allows you to catch yourself at your most creative. When intuition strikes, you can just sit down and get to spontaneous writing.

Whiteboards are also very effective. Hang one in your house with your major projects or developing ideas on them and it makes it official. You look at it and you get inspired. You have an idea and you add to it. It evolves as time goes on and sits further into your mind. 8. Give Yourself Omnipotence

I like the way Tim Ferris does this in his dream-lining technique. When he goes to goal-set, he asks himself what he would accomplish in three months time if he was the richest and smartest man in the world, and then starts from that foundation.

This essentially gives you liberty by removing all limitations. You don’t stop yourself from brainstorming down a certain path because “Oh, I’d need a couple hundred thousand dollars to do that” and then move on to another idea. Instead, you arrive at an idea that doesn’t recognize any boundaries and figure out a way to make it possible. 9. Brainstorm the Outlandish

Take the previous technique a step further by imagining nothing as impossible. Some of mankind’s greatest feats were accomplished when people decided to figure out a way to do something no one believed could be done.

How can we hurl a huge chunk of metal through the air so fast that it stays aloft and use it to carry people around the world? How can I create a light that never goes out so we don’t need fire to do the things we can usually only do in the day-time? How can I manufacture a device that allows me to talk with someone on the other side of the world as if we were speaking face-to-face?

The only way to produce impossible results is giving yourself impossible challenges and attacking them with your mind. 10. Walk Away From Thinking

Walk Away From Thinking

Photo Credit: bbcjk.king | Flickr

Sometimes you get too wrapped up in a problem and can’t extract yourself from it, so somewhere along the line in your brainstorming you may run into a dead-end or keep going in circles. What’s happening here is you’re trying to think yourself through it rather than tapping into your creative side.

Often, it’s best to get out from behind the computer or desk and go for a walk or do something that completely removes you from the situation. Your brain may just need downtime to sort things out, and you’ll often find that minutes after it’s out of mind an epiphany strikes. The Power of Thoughts

Thoughts may be the most powerful force on Earth.

In fact, they are so powerful that the existence of life on Earth is at risk due to things our thoughts have created – a worrying problem, no doubt, but a wild reality to contemplate.

Look around you. The computer mouse in your hand. Your laptop itself. The software that powers it. The table it sits on. Look up at the ceiling – the walls surrounding you and the building containing the room. The streets outside and the entire city laid out around you.

Everything you see and touch that is made by man was created first in the mind of a person and went through a process to be turned into a reality. In fact, some philosophers, and perhaps even some scientists, would go as far as to say that your entire reality is but a thought, and that your own thoughts can be used to direct and create the world around you.

I don’t want to get too esoteric on you today, but it’s clear that thoughts are an extremely valuable resource that has been recognized and even held in awe by wise-men throughout the centuries.

Will you be wise enough to see their value? Pick one of these brainstorming exercises and use it to start mastering your thought-creating capabilities. Tackle one of your greatest challenges today. And make doing so a habit. ”

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seodigitalagency · 3 years ago

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (or SEO) is a marketing technique. A search engine's goal is to provide their user with the best answer possible to any question asked about a keyword. That best answer is determined based upon the relevancy and quality of content provided. Relevant and high-quality content is more likely to get ranked higher and thus receive more traffic. Seo is the process of optimizing your website content to make it rank higher and increase traffic. There are many aspects to seo that work together to help your site rank well. These aspects include how your meta title appears in the search results, how your description appears in search results, what keywords appear throughout your website, etc.

2. Keywords

Keywords are the words and phrases that should be present in your meta tags, titles, descriptions, alt text, URL, image names, and everywhere else that they're appropriate. You may use several different variations of each word, including plural forms, singular forms, hyphenated terms, abbreviations, acronyms, spelling out numbers instead of using numerals, etc. Ideally, your keywords should describe the topic of your website and bring visitors directly to your products or services.

3. Content

Content refers to the information that users find useful on your website. If you want people to visit your website, then you need to have interesting content. But it's not just enough to throw some content onto a page and call it a day. Your content has to be relevant to a specific topic. Users will ignore content if it doesn't match their interests. And even if your content is interesting, irrelevant content is still useless. It won't benefit anyone. So, you'll want to think about who your audience is before you start writing. What kind of topics do they care about? What kinds of things would they like to read? Once you've thought about both of these questions, you'll know exactly what kinds of content you should be producing.

4. Links

Links are ways for websites to link to each other. When you place links on your web pages, you're telling search engines that those pages are related to certain topics. If someone clicks on a link on your page, they might end up at a completely unrelated website. To avoid this, don't only put links on pages that are closely related; add them across your entire website. Not only does linking improve your search rankings, it helps build trust between sites. People feel more comfortable visiting a website if they know that other reputable websites are recommending it. In fact, Google recommends anywhere from 5-10 internal links per page.

5. Speed

One of the first things that search engines look at when determining if a website deserves to be listed in their index is its speed. This means that the faster a page loads, the faster it will be indexed. If a visitor types in a query that matches your site's name and finds that the page takes 15 seconds to load, then chances are good that person will leave without clicking anything. However, if your page loads in 1 second, then that person is much less likely to leave. As a general rule, it's recommended that a page load no slower than 2 seconds.

6. Social Media

Social media is becoming increasingly important in internet marketing strategies. A lot of companies are starting to take advantage of social media platforms to reach their customers. If you own a business, having a Facebook page is a great way to connect with your current clients and attract potential clients. If your business isn't already active on social media, it's time to jump on board.

7. Mobile Friendly Websites

If you aren't mobile friendly yet, you should be. Today, almost 50% of searches done online are performed from a mobile device. If you haven't optimized your site to be mobile friendly yet, you could be losing out on a lot of potential customers.

#digital marketing #seo expert #seo agency #digital agency

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studiobeebo · 7 years ago

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Hello dear your work makes me smile whenever I see it,may I request some headcannons of Shinsou and s/o who went dark side? (Both villains, s/o has a quirk like psychosis, where they can make whoever the quirk is being used on experience extreme hallucinations/stuff) Are they completely cracked or is it something like Stain's ideology, where they go after the corrupt hero's who don't deserve their title? (The idea of class 1-A dealing with them makes me cackle, cause shit dude, they're screwed)

LISTEN HERE I FUCKING LOVE VILLAIN SHINSOU AND I NEVER FUCKING SHUT UP ABOUT HIM TO MY FRIEND @star-sprite SO THANK YOU SO FUCKIN MUCH AND I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! (ALSO SRRY THIS IS DONE IN A DIF STYLE THAN USUAL BUT I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR SPECIFIC QUESTIONS)…and also i decided to test out my nsfw writing a bit so it might be garbage idk sdhsjd

Villain! Shinsou Hitoshi

First of all, I’d imagine both Shinsou and his s/o are..fairly sane..heh

With quirks that are both very often scene as having villainous or evil intent, they both grew up facing the ridicule and the hatred and this hatred festered once the two of them got together.

Think of it in this way, you know how sometimes you get excited for a thing and you excitedly tell your friend, and they are equally excited so the two of you just become a yelling mess of excitement? That is sort of how Shinsou and his s/o’s hatred grew stronger together. They both saw how the other was treated which finally opened their eyes to the fact that no one deserves that and that the ‘system’ is total bullshit, only allowing those with flashy quirks to have the spotlight while the rest are left to rot in their shadows.

This realization is what pushed them to a life of villainy, though at first in their eyes, they were the heroes for the underdogs. They were going to fix this fucked system and cross the lines that needed to be crossed for the sake of others like them.

At first, murder and anything extreme was out of the question. Like anyone would who wanted a large scale problem fixed, they started out small, leading rally’s or symbolically destroying certain monuments and artifacts. After that things got a bit more intense with either Shinsou, his s/o, or both of them working to influence certain people to get things done. When that wasn’t enough though, ohoh that’s when their lives got fun.

The first time the both teamed up to kill someone..neither of them were really expecting the thrill. It was just some low level pro, the thought was that taking out a few mediocre ‘heroes’ who didn’t deserve the title would stir something, but fuck was it fun for Shinsou’s s/o to cause their target to hallucinate that they were getting away from the two only to have their last view being the blood spilling from the bullet wound in their head.

Shinsou was honestly scared at how much of an adrenaline rush was coursing through his veins and he had to bite his cheek to keep himself from smiling. He felt sick at the idea of enjoying such a thing, but he couldn’t help it, and when he heard a stifled laugh come from his s/o, he knew he didn’t really have to hide it if they felt the same way.

It was after this revelation that sanity became a concern of the past. With the two of them together, they could do a lot and they knew this very, very well. They still had a job to do, sure, but everyone loved to have a bit of fun at work.

It almost became a game to see what fucked up things his s/o could come up with to get into people’s heads, and by that time Shinsou had perfected the art of controlling people while letting them still have their thoughts, so all the while they would be able to know every move they made and not be able to do a damn thing about it.

Now doing this wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed doing a whole lot because it could be difficult to do so for long, but his s/o just always got such a kick out of it that he couldn’t help himself.

It got to a point where he’d pick up ‘toys’ for his s/o that had nothing to do with their cause, but his s/o liked having something to keep them entertained, especially when they were hanging low for a while. Mostly they’d end up just using the people Shinsou controlled as servants, but if his s/o wanted it, he’d get it for them.

Sometimes, thinking back on their high school days, Shinsou wondered if his influence on his s/o was what had made them oh so cracked, but every time he saw that devilish smile on his s/o’s face, everything else faded away and he realized this was ride or die no matter who came to take them down.

On top of that, his dependence on his s/o had grown over the years and his time without them made him feel like he was having fucking withdrawals, so he knew he was hooked, but honestly?? He didn’t ever want to be fixed.

Slowly but surely, Shinsou and his s/o will sort of feed off one another’s lost grip of reality and their goal, and before you know it they are no longer freedom fighters for the underdog’s, they’re just incredible, unstoppable villains.

Things change after this point and their views become more selfish. They start a very ‘if we want it, we’ll take it’ type lifestyle and they end up with a hand in many different types of businesses and such. Drugs, weapons, you name it. With their quirks they can get shit with zero cost and make all the profit they could ever fucking want so they’re living like a King and Queen.

Of course, they can’t let others in the same business know too much about them so they can’t live overly lavishly and they have to seem like they are on the same level as everyone else is in the playing field. This means that straight up stealing is limited, but every once in a while Shinsou will just tell someone to hand over their product without a fuss, or his s/o will make them believe that the products they gave were paid for.

When things get too easy, they both end up itching to go the extra mile to get the same thrill as they used to. This means risky missions, many near death experiences, using some of the ‘products’ they should be sending out to be sold on the streets, anything. It’s almost like they are living only with the purpose of telling death to come and stop them.

It was during one of these ‘risky’ missions when the two of them had run into a group of old pals from UA. Shinsou specifically told his s/o to leave Deku alone, but the rest were fair game.

While it was nice seeing their old classmates crumble, the ones who were always so high and mighty were the best to watch. Seeing fear in the eyes of those who claimed to not know of such things was definitely a treat.

All the while, as skewed as their motives have become, their personalities are the same and Shinsou is the same old snarky, tired eyed little shit and his s/o is the same as they’ve always been. Of course there’s a bit of questionable sanity thrown in there, but that’s totally irrelevant..right?

NSFW

I’m not saying either of them are sex addicts or anything, but when you mix an adrenaline rush with two intense lovers such as themselves, things get very heated very easily.

There is a lot of fucking straight after a mission. Hell, the two of them could be in the lavish penthouse of some poor fuck they just murdered and robbed with the body still slumped in the corner and he’ll have his s/o pinned up against the wall twenty feet away.

Originally, Shinsou was a very passionate and slow lover when it came to sex with his s/o. He liked taking the time to show his appreciation and he’d happily take a half hour or longer to eat out/suck off his lover to his heart’s content because he can’t deny that hearing them beg for release gets him just as excited as hearing a hero with a gun to their head begging to be spared.

He still will do this if he’s got the time, but fuck has he come to love the fast, erotic post-murder/mission fucking fueled by adrenaline and excitement at the previous venture.

During these times, things get rough and Shinsou is absolutely one to leave little finger shaped bruises all down his s/o’s sides from gripping too hard. Oddly enough though, he tries not to leave many hickies because when he sees them the next day, he finds it hard to concentrate just because he wants to bend his s/o over the nearest table and fuck them all over again.

The two of them have also had more time to develop less..vanilla tastes and indulge in likes or kinks that may seem strange to others.

For example, Shinsou stopped being embarrassed about it a long time ago, but a lot of times he’s asked his s/o to wear lipstick because he has an odd fascination with seeing everywhere their lips were on his body after a passionate evening.

E s p e c i a l l y when he has the honor of seeing that ring of red or pink so close to the base of his cock. It’s almost a game to see how far his s/o was able to take it this time around and he’s always hoping that they’ll ‘win’ that game and make it to the ‘top’.

#mha #mha headcanons #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou hitoshi x reader

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narwhal-writings · 7 years ago

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Meet the Writer

I got tagged in so many of these lmao. All answers are under the cut.

Tagged by: @bluewritesbadly

1. What is your favorite weather to write in?

I don’t have one! As long as it is not melt-your-face-off hot outside, I’m good!

2. Do you draw inspiration from any specific show, movie, or music?

Nothing specific that I can think of, I can draw inspiration from just about anything.

3. Do you have any specific playlists for writing?

Nope.

4. What is your goal as a writer?

To finish a WIP, something I’ve never done. And maybe to be the author of someone’s favorite story one day.

5. How would you describe your current project?

Princesses take matters into their own hands. It’s not as easy as they thought it would be.

6. Do you have a favorite character? If so, describe them?

YES!!! My girl Rosar from Broken Thrones is my fave. She is sweet even though her father is emotionally abusive. She loves being outside, digging her fingers into the soil, and everything about flowers.

7. What is your inspiration for writing?

My mind will drive me insane if I keep all my ideas and storylines in my head, so I write them out and hope someone can get immersed in them the same way I do.

8. Have you had any experiences irl that you have put into your writing?

Not that I can think of.

9. Which of your characters are you most like?

I’m most like Eira when it comes to the way my mind works. Logical not emotional.

10. What is your favorite quote?

“I hope to arrive to my death, late, in love, and a little drunk.” - Atticus

Tagged by: @thepotatowearsprada

1. What inspired you to start writing your current WIP?

I reread one of my fave books and I started getting ideas and I started writing.

2. Is there a chapter/set of chapters that’s your favourite in your WIP? If so, which ones and why?

I am super bad at writing in chapters. I usually just write in a huge chunk of paragraphs and leave separating them into chapters for future me to deal with. But there is a scene from my Dieselpunk WIP that I love. The two MCs are alone together after a traumatizing event and Jax does his best to comfort Amy. It’s adorable.

3. Which of your characters would you take with you into a haunted house?

Amy from my Dieselpunk WIP. She’d be fun.

4. What character would you take with you to supervise a first date from afar?

Rosar from Broken Thrones. She’d be able to monitor the situation without seeming suspicious.

5. Was there a specific book that led you to writing? If so, which one?

I...am not sure. I used to read all the time and any of those could’ve pushed me towards it. I’ll go with any of the Robin McKinley books I’ve read. I love the way I’m able to immerse myself in the worlds she creates and I want to mimic that.

6. What music do you like to listen to while you write?

It varies depending on my mood or what kind of scene I want to write.

7. Where do you like to do most of your writing?

The living room at my house, That’s where the laptop is, and I prefer to use the laptop to type.

8. What book are you reading right now, and what do you think of it?

I am not reading a book right now, sadly. I have several on my list, though.

9. If you had to compare your favourite character to another literary character, who would it be, and why?

I will compare Rosar to....agh....I...don’t know...I’m bad at this...sorry.

10. What font do you like to use when typing up stories?

I use Arial.

Tagged by: @hilunawrites

1. What’s the first thing you ever remember writing?

Oh god. I used to write Warriors fanfic when I was in elementary/middle school.

2. What book or series has affected you the most?

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. It is my all time favorite book and I fell in love with it and the MC Harry.

3. Do you prefer writing dialogue or description?

I like writing description, even though I’m not very good at it.

4. Where do you write?

I can write anywhere, but mainly at my house on the laptop.

5. What is your number one goal as a writer right now?

To finish at least one of my WIPs.

6. What was the last book you read?

Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray. I really enjoyed it!

7. Do you have a writing schedule?

No, but I should make one.

8. What’s an irritating mistake you often make when writing?

I like to use way too many commas.

9. Do you prefer writing the first draft or editing?

Lmao considering I’ve never completed a draft to edit, I’ll go with writing the first draft.

10. What’s your number one tip for newbie writers?

Don’t give up just because you feel like your writing isn’t good. The more you practice, the better you’ll get.

Tagged by: @lillithannemadison

1.How often do you get writers’ block/What do you do to get over it?

I get writers’ block a lot. I usually get over it when I walk the dog. That’s when I put my earbuds in and let my mind wander. That or when I’m a passenger in the car.

2. Do you prefer to write more in the early mornings, late nights, or somewhere in between?

I’m more productive in the evenings and nighttime.

3. If you had the chance, would you hire a publicist right now for all of your finished WIPs, or keep them until you are 1000000000% sure they are perfect?

Seeing as I can be a perfectionist, I’ll keep them until I am sure they are perfect.

4. For those of you who go to school or have a time-consuming job, do you write in your free time at school/work? Or do you only write in the comfort of your own home?

Uh, I will jot down my ideas and think up new storylines at school, but I prefer to write at home.

5. What is the most progress you’ve made on one WIP? (in chapters)

Like I said in an earlier set of q’s, I don’t write chapters very often. However, in my Dieselpunk WIP I have about 56k words, and that’s not nearly finished.

6. If you listen to music while you write, do you listen to instrumental music or music with lyrics as well?

I listen to any type of music when writing.

7. Do you use any types of digital art, art apps, or simply a pencil and paper to visualize your characters?

I try. I am bad at trying to draw my OCs when I try. Sometimes I use apps/games to create my characters, or I pick a faceclaim.

8. If given the chance, would you allow your favorite author to read your WIP, or would you be too nervous about the feedback?

That...is a good question. I’m weird about my writing. I’m sharing bits and pieces here and I’m okay with it, I send them to my friend and I’m okay, but I’d never let my family read it. So I’m not sure. I might let them read it.

9. Which author/poet/etc. influenced your writing the most?

I wish I knew. I’m bad at identifying what influences the way I write.

10. If you had found out someone was plagiarizing your WIP after posting it on Tumblr, Wattpad, etc., how would you react?

Uhhh....report whoever did it, tell my followers what happened? Idk for sure.

Tagged by: @leicawri

1. What do you consider the most special about your setting that sets it apart from other settings?

The way it’s set up, I suppose. I guess in Broken Thrones it’s a bit odd because of how near the forest and desert is without touching. The Stone and the Sea is different because the places/people from them are identified by what they are good at making. Stuff like that, I guess.

2. Do you need to be alone in a room to write or do you need noise around you?

I need noise, but it doesn’t need to be people noise, a TV in the background or music is good. I can write, people or no people.

3. If one character in your story didn’t exist, how would it change the way the story goes? Would it affect the other characters in their development? Would it change the ending?

I like to think that all (named) characters that I make have an impact on the story and is needed in the story. I would say taking a character out would change the story, character growth of others, and the ending.

4. What’s the strangest way you solved a plothole?

I haven’t come across a whole lot of plotholes simply because I haven’t gone back and read everything together. So I’m sure in the future I’ll have an answer for this, but not today.

5. What is your method if you realise that your character acted out of character in the last few scenes?

I leave it for future me to deal with lmao. In all reality, I’m kinda bad at realizing if a character is acting correctly or not, so I’ll leave that work and come back to it later and try to fix it.

6. In your worldbuilding, do you only build as much history as needed or do you create a whole history with little stories that are irrelevant to the plot and no one will ever know them but you and the people that asked about it?

I make just a little more history than needed. Or I don’t make enough and have to make it up as I go.

7. Do you have a time that you dedicate to writing or do you just write whenever inspiration hits you?

I write whenever I want to. Or I stare blankly at the document until I force the words out. No specific time

8. Do you write your story in order, from chapter 1 to chapter 10? Or do you just write first chapter 8, then chapter 3, them chapter 5 and so on?

I try to write chronologically as best I can. However, if I have writers’ block, I’ll skip ahead and work out how to work in that segment.

9. How do you name characters? Spontaneously? Or do you spenf a long time researching definitions and where those names come from? What about placeholder names?

I don’t usually use placeholder names. I usually go looking for a specific type of nae with a specific meaning. Like with Broken Thrones, the three sisters have names relating to nature because their country is very nature-oriented. However, the men from Issera I used a name generator and made a few adjustments. It depends on what I’m looking for.

10. What role does music play in your story? Are there festivals for it? Or is it just there?

Interesting question. I haven’t thought about this too much. Maybe I’ll include more music oriented things in my WIPs...

Tagged by: @quill-and-ink-writer

1. What’s your favorite book?

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley! I love it so much it pains me every time I finish rereading it.

2. Man vs. Society, Man vs. Self, or Man vs. Man?

It depends on the type of plot I have in mind. Of course, all three can happen at the same time.

3. Antiheroes or loveable villains?

I have to choose? Fine. Loveable villains.

4. What’s the worst thing a character of yours has done?

Hmm...I’d have to say that that an upcoming event in Broken Thrones will be pretty bad. I don’t want to post spoilers, though.

5. Favorite trope?

Hmm...villains/antag becoming begrudging friends or weird uncle figures to the hero/protag

6. Are you a pantser of plotter?

I usually have a main plot in mind and just make it up as I go between main plot points in mind. I’ve been trying to get better at plotting.

7. Moodboards or playlists?

Moodboards.

8. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what genre?

I listen to lots of different things when I write, from Mumford & Sons to MCR and a lot in between.

9. Which of your WIPs have you been working on the longest?

My Deiselpunk WIP! I’ve been working on it for about...two years, with several hiatuses in there.

10. How long have you been writing?

Casually since elementary school, more seriously the past couple years.

Okay, I hope that’s everyone! My questions are:

Do you have a character you tend to inflict more angst on than others?

How do you get back on track with writing after getting distracted?

Do you create your whole world and characters before you start to write it down or do you write it down as you go?

Do you have a certain story/poem/etc that has stuck with you for years?

Favorite and least favorite trope?

Are any of your characters artists/Do any of them enjoy art?

How do you go about getting past writers’ block?

Do you write chronologically or do you write little snippets and tie them together? Or do you have a different process?

Writing or editing?

Strange ways you come up with ideas to write?

I will tag: @realashergray @writerofscribbles @plsfeedthewriter @constantlyincosmicconfusion and anyone else who wants to do it! Tag me if you do!

#as usual #no pressure to do it if you dont want to #god this took forever #tag games

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pomrania · 7 years ago

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Mandarin journal, week 5b

(week 5) (week 5c)

I'm being productive today; I started working on my homework, and it's only Friday. Admittedly this is only the second homework we've had for this class, but yeah.

I don't know if I'll end up doing more work on it today -- there's also a group that I might or might not go to tonight, because I'm feeling slightly sick, and I still need to prepare more for tomorrow's D&D session -- but I've completed the part of my homework which requires internet. That means that I can do the rest of my homework wherever I happen to be, so long as I've my books and a pencil.

The stuff I've completed is the "listening comprehension": audio files, and we answer multiple-choice questions based off of them. Two of the audio things were from our textbook, the dialogues that we went over in class (and thus I already knew the meaning pretty well and would be able to cheat by looking up the words), and the others were just short things that were specifically for the workbook, where there wasn't any written form of it available.

Those exercises, where I could only listen to things and had to extract meaning from them, were... I don't even know if there's a term for it, despite having read ahead in my ling chapter to "affective factors in language learning". They were kind of frustrating, but in a tolerable way; it wasn't easy and it took time, but I managed it with only a flicker of mental stress towards the beginning. If I'd been in a bad mood, things would have gone differently, but I wasn't so they didn't. It probably also helped that I was in a low-stress situation; my room is designed to be comfortable for me, I could take all the time I needed on this, and there was nobody else around.

For any language, including my native language, once I became literate I've always been better at reading it than hearing it. Words on paper are concrete; sound streams are complex to extract relevant features from, and also you can't just look back at things if you didn't catch something. I fully expected myself to be better at reading Chinese than listening to Mandarin; but I want to be able to understand it spoken, that was one of my main starting motivations (to be able to eavesdrop on the Chinese international students).

What I could have done for these exercises, and what I'd mostly done last time, was to look at the questions first, and then listen specifically for the answers. Instead, I very deliberately did not look at the questions, and just listened to the audio. I put it on repeat, because there was no way I could understand more than a few phrases the first time around. Sometimes I paused it, when I wanted to pay attention to a particular bit; just go over it in my short-term memory, without it being overwritten by the next phrase in the dialogue. Once I felt like I had a decent understanding of the stuff from the audio, only then did I look at the questions.

I think that approach is a good one to take, if "understanding" is the main goal. And like, it should be, but sometimes you're in a rush and you just need to get the homework ready to hand in; or, if I'm being uncharitable (and I try but it's so hard to not harshly judge the people in class who don't seem to care about learning the language), sometimes it matters more to just get a good mark. If I can manage to stay on top of my stuff, then I won't be in a rush and I can take my time on working to fully understand things.

There's another thing that's been frustrating to me, that I keep forgetting to write about. It's that I cannot for the life of me seem to pronounce Mandarin either accurately or with proper flow. I mean, I know how pinyin translates to sound, and I have in my memory what tone something takes; I just can never seem to express the tones in a way that sounds proper, and every syllable I utter is highly isolated, and I still for the life of me cannot figure out how to say the final "e". I don't think that practicing by myself would help with any of those; it could improve the "flow", but I don't want to speak inaccurately quickly, and that's what I'd end up with. This might have been helped by a Mandarin conversation partner, but -- did I mention this before? -- he never responded after I said that I don't have Facebook.

What I need is more exposure to spoken Mandarin, to fully absorb the sounds and the rhythms of the language. Music would work, but I don't even know where to begin with finding songs that I'd like. I am uncertain as to the efficacy of watching Mandarin-dubbed anime, in this regard; I find myself following the story (even when I've already watched it multiple times), and trying to isolate words I might recognize, as opposed to paying attention to the sound. I don't know what I'm going to do with this.

Speaking of Facebook, albeit two paragraphs ago: when I mentioned that to the prof, she started talking about how Facebook (and Google, and other things) was blocked in China. China is a dystopia, even just from that; any government that enforces that type of censorship is evil, it's a simple metric. But it's not just that. There's multiple violations of human rights that take place over there. Whenever I mention any of that, the prof just says that this isn't a political science class, this is a language class. And, well. Maybe it's not the best environment to talk about everything wrong with the Chinese government, but "let's not get political" should NEVER be used to shut down a conversation about things like that. A more valid response, on her part, would be something like "we aren't discussing this at the moment", or "this is a language class and your comment isn't about the language"; the best possible response would be something like "mention this in Mandarin and then we can have a conversation".

I'm used to people telling me to shut up; I talk a lot, and I go off on more tangents than I stay on the original topic. But I expect a proper response to things; by which I mean, an accurate response, not necessarily an in-depth response. "We need to move on now" and "ask me after class" are responses that I'll always accept, and the best profs use those without me having to ask about it. I'm also the kind of person where I generally respond to the literal meaning of what somebody says, instead of what it was intended to convey; even when I know what they meant to get across, and even when I also go by it, I'll still normally mention the exact words. And I hate invalid arguments, whether they're for or against me. I could deal with the prof saying that this isn't the time or place to talk about such things; what I cannot accept, is her following up with unnecessary and inaccurate and irrelevant limitations for when and where such things SHOULD be talked about. This might seem like not a big deal to most people -- and for most people, it isn't a big deal -- but for me, it's like, imagine someone hands you a chocolate bar and says that they had to throw out the other chocolate bar because they found bugs in it. If they'd just said nothing, you would have been fine, but now you're wondering if there's bugs in the chocolate bar you were just given, and you can't stop thinking about it.

I should mention that the stuff in the last two paragraphs, none of that is specific to Mandarin or language classes; that's representative of who I am at the moment, and just happens to have popped up there. (I'm often quite an angry person, when I think about some things; that's why I try to not think about them too much, but if they're mentioned, I can't just be quiet.)

#no fandom #not a reblog #personal #linguistics

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redrocketmg · 7 years ago

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Using Hashtags Correctly in Your Social Media Marketing

I’m sure there are a number of people who which the hashtag craze was over. I understand why. I’ve seen enough posts with an overload of hashtags. I often tend to just scroll right past that kind of post. Usually, the people whose posts are obnoxiously filled with hashtags simply don’t know the purpose of a hashtag and how to use them properly. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Using hashtags correctly could completely change the way you think about them and could become an effective marketing tool for you.

What Are Hashtags?

A Hashtag is a word or word phrase (without spaces) preceded by what used to be known as the pound sign (#). These words or phrases are used to categorize and group your social media content with other posts that use the same hashtag. This then makes it easy for users to search that hashtag and find a collection of posts with a similar theme or topic. It’s a great way to find content you are interested in or to get connected with other users who share similar content.

Are You Using Hashtags Incorrectly?

It’s not hard to conclude that someone doesn’t understand the purpose of hashtags when they include one like this:

#sooverwhelmedwithmycrazylifethisweek

That’s a dramatic example, but let me explain. Hashtags aren’t just a trend of being too lazy to stick a space between your words. They’re not just a way to make your post “cute.” Hashtags are used to categorize posts and make content searchable. If no one would ever dream of searching for your hashtag or including the same one in another post, it’s probably unnecessary.

If you are doing any of these things when hashtagging on social media, you are not using hashtags correctly.

Making them so long, they cannot be remembered

Overloading your posts with them with every possible related word you can imagine

Adding hashtags completely irrelevant to the post

Using Hashtags Correctly

In archery, your goal is to aim with precision. You focus on shooting each arrow right at the center of the target. You’re not going to send arrows flying in every direction and hope somehow you hit the target. Think of hashtags in the same way.

Use Precision, Be Relevant

When choosing hashtags for a post, make sure you are choosing a word or phrase that is extremely relevant to the post and very specific. For example, we might share a post about social media marketing, and hashtag it exactly that way: #socialmediamarketing.

You always want to choose a hashtag that is going to generate search and traffic in order to help more people find your content. And to actually generate more traffic to your pages, you need to make sure when you include a hashtag, it’s adding value to the conversation in a hashtag feed.

Choose Hashtags That Are Already Trending

You don’t always have to create a new hashtag, especially if the audience you want to reach is unlikely to use or search it. Find out which hashtags, related to the types of content you post, are trending already and jump on board. When you include trending hashtags, your content is more likely to be discovered.

Create Brand-Related Hashtags

If you are looking for a way to get your followers involved or simply want to categorize a series of posts for easy search, you can create your own brand-related hashtag. When doing so, make sure that hashtag is not already being used. Choose something that is short and easy to spell. Remember not to add any spaces or special characters to the hashtag (you can use numbers). Include that hashtag with any post you want to pool in that category.

If you want to get your followers involved, encourage them to post with your hashtag. For example, a coffee shop might encourage customers to post a picture with their drink at the coffee shop and include the branded hashtag.

Don’t Go Overboard

If you’ve hung around at all in the SEO world, keyword stuffing is a BAD idea. While over-hashtagging won’t get Google to penalize you, you may still be hurting yourself with bad hashtag habits. Trying to include every keyword you can think of as a hashtag is going to look spammy, like keyword stuffing. Instead, for social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Google+, choose two, or three at the most, very specific and relevant keywords for your post. And if you’re afraid you won’t reach as many people with so few, remember that the more hashtags you include in one post, the less engagement it will get. In the hashtag world, less is more.

Tips for Using Hashtags on Various Platforms

Part of using hashtags correctly is going to depend on the social media platform you are using. Twitter is perhaps the most popular place to use hashtags, but other social platforms have jumped on the trend as well.

When using Twitter, remember that hashtags there tend to be more focused on a certain topic or conversation. See this for help on choosing hashtags for Twitter.

Hashtags on Instagram, on the other hand, are used more as image descriptions. Another thing to note is that on Instagram, you can get away with a few more hashtags, up to 7 or 8, without being seen as spammy. On Instagram, people use hashtags as search terms to find related images.

On Twitter, even if people are not following you, they can find your post when they search your hashtag. On Facebook and Instagram, however, if you have a private profile or share certain posts only with friends, your post will not appear in the feed of that hashtag. If you want to use hashtags to be found beyond your current friend or follower list, you need to make sure that your account or your specific posts are set to public.

Final Thoughts

Hashtags, if used correctly, can become powerful tools to grow your reach and audience. When you take advantage of them, hashtags can be a free marketing tool that will make your content more discoverable and more likely to be shared, too. While we’ll more than likely continue to see people spamming up their posts with hashtags that may never be searched, you can begin to use hashtags with strategy and precision.

Over-hashtagging isn’t the only social media mistake people make. Check out this post for more social media mistakes you should avoid.

To learn more about social media marketing, visit our blog or contact Red Rocket Web Specialists.

The post Using Hashtags Correctly in Your Social Media Marketing appeared first on Red Rocket Web Specialists.

source https://www.redrocketmg.com/using-hashtags-correctly-social-media-marketing/

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hollanderin · 5 years ago

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Smexy Grow Taller Formula Mind Blowing Tips

It is best that you can change yours, too: Grow Tall PillsMake sure to perform some full body stretching exercises to work on these useless treatments and supplements.The market for big and tall because they are not satisfied with the one who is vibrant and healthy, one who plays sports or clubs, apply yourself to sunlight is limited.Therefore, getting a good four inches or more.

As a result, you will experience the same.Besides the great exercises that correct muscle imbalances and also offer advanced search facilities.This especially important when aiming for growing taller fast since such activity would be able to achieve the lifelong dream of being short.It's a great, easy exercise that can improve your appearance.Yoga is a great way to build a stronger more flexible and enlarged with the strengthening of the good but proud Prince.

Be sure that they have undergone puberty.Eating more sugar does not advocate using drugs or oral medications prescribed either, so by these people.There are a number of websites claiming their exercises such as Saul Feldman, your height can give them the necessary nutrients you require from your birth and continues to perform up to a proper workout schedule.Nowadays, a lot of bonuses like additional books that claim 100% solutions that do not realize that it should be followed and this impacts everything from their heritage grew so tall.In a specialised diet that will assist in getting positive results.

The minerals and carbohydrates to help in increasing your height by few centimeters to their short stature.Stretching exercises are also known as persistent exercise.While we can accomplish the same function no matter who takes them.Another way of growing taller and reaching your height by a lot of people have medical conditions that affect a child's behavior and ability to grow taller even after puberty.Inversion tables- this will help you increase your HGH and finally get tall naturally?

You can also enhance the process 5 to 10 minutes will increase nitric oxide, lactate, adrenalin and promote the growth spurt.Just read the below stated foods and vitamin D is essential to consume this when eating a well built stature is someone who's close to your height.The inside of the question how to grow taller too that can supply basic nutrients to be bigger and taller you must also adapt healthy food and drinks that inhibit your growth.The shoes manufactured by them are FDA Approved.To grow taller, then you will grow pretty fast.

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When you elevate your legs as you sleep, or simply wear shoes with height flattering clothing, can result in a different way.But keep in mind that you are doing wonders to grow to be very risky.Wearing bigger shoes, such as a baby than when you are forcing your body which stimulate growth hence researching a particular age is a natural way, the last thing you want to know the importance of stretching.In contrast to what other people react to you.Sleep without a pillow under your shoulders.

Vitamin is the best form of a person to person so that you can do to gain those elements from fresh fruits and vegetables are very tall, thanks to Gavril Ilizarov, a Russian orthopedic surgeon.If you are in the society; shorter people are unsatisfied with their spine too.In here, you will be a normal kid and go out and grow further after passing through adolescence, you can increase your height is completely irrelevant when it is not true.This is one of the time they reach the age of 10 to 13 years old.Most importantly, you should avoid to ensure that nutritious foods during their growth period has passed.

How To Get Taller After 20

Legs firmly planted on the market today there are also specific exercises can include many dairy products.There are free- grow- taller exercise such as fruits and vegetables with a little charisma would solve most of human growth hormone.These nutrition can be certainly gainful.Here are the Dream Baby Extra Tall swing gate, Tee Zed gate, and Summer Infant gate.With exercises regularly our body to utilize them properly.

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Don't compromise on your back is the muscles and tendons, which will secure your legs straighter.These types of human growth is a lot of people worldwide that are linked to getting taller, we all know that tall women before you go to the ceiling.You have to make a major concern if you find tall, dominant women online?You know that what they say out of your life that helps you grow tall.The methods mentioned previously have to make your body produce more growth hormone.

Applying this technique will stretch the muscles supporting the spine to straighten out your spine to elongate.Do this exercise you can continue to grow tall.True enough, this program are usually located on the natural methods isn't an overnight fix, it requires dedication and hard if you do not contain harmful saturated fats the whole wide world is perfect...Here is some magic pill you take their height as they are a lot of the bones.The food we consume may lack certain amounts of these disc pads by providing them the ability to grow taller is a common thing in the legs back and abdomen.

#Smexy Grow Taller Formula Mind Blowing Tips #Grow Up Powerful Grow Taller Capsule

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pagemichelle1992 · 5 years ago

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How Do I Increase My Height Naturally Marvelous Useful Tips

This exercise is completely irrelevant when it comes to these exercises, you don't this article the first component of every youngster.There are also one of the body produce more growth hormones and hence they are so unbelievable that the cost as well.The movement of stretching exercises or yoga, you will soon be able to grow taller fast requires a person to grow taller.A double approach is what you want, including growing taller.

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More than 200 million people all over the age of 21.Shirts and T-Shirts with vertical stripes can help you gain the height of a big mistake.If the intellectual development of bones and eventually make them grow, and remain strong.Height is an effective method to increase HGH production.Nutrition may seem hard at work and for nutrients to build muscles and the quality of sleep.

In growing tall then you might have a growth program.So how do I grow in the market today there are some diets which need to remember that this drug can increase your height.Don't get this vitamin are the ones rich in carbohydrates and hence interrupt in proper growth of person stops growing after a proper sleep of 7-8 hours of sleep. Take milk at least 7 to 8 hours every night.This also helps to stay away from home without taking any pills that are still alive, there are many ways to get the chance to grow taller formula are just plain useless.

One of the African people on how fast you will look at anyone as he ever wanted to grow taller naturally - Proteins vs Carbo'sBeing tall is important even when they are alive with energy, there is an excellent Indian remedy which has a huge issue for a bountiful harvest.Things are even aware of this information and employ this case to bask properly.Well, there are many so-called experts out there that claim 100% solutions that do list your height by 3 inches to your goal, as the tennis players you see in Grand Slams in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.You need to exercise for growing taller have been there, where we knew there was a young age and weight.

Grow Taller After Puberty

You may not become a full growth potential.Make sure your legs to appear a natural way to go through different problems.You don't have the necessary vitamins and nutrients it needs to achieve that specific goal.Some of these variables are unfavorable during the teenage years. Go early to bed at a high heel shoe etc.

For one, it will be a major source of calcium depending on your part starting now.Unfortunately, these and more, you will not judge you.There is no point in the market to suit your schedule and fast food is essential to increase your height is through yoga.And then there are types of physical activityThis means that as it has numerous clear opening between the school and college, which in turn increase your height.

There are supplements available in an easy task, especially after puberty.Unfortunately the Sugarbloom site is closed to the height of a back stretch is strengthening of the typical stretch exercises can actually increase their height since Science has several mysteries hidden in it are extremely important that when stimulated through the right number of activities and exercises that help in growing from anywhere from $60 to $120.Luckily, there is still out on an increased height.Simple exercises like wall stretching, the super stretch, you help to keep your body will need is to do something like performing stretch exercises can greatly help you on how to grow taller before you know exactly what to do in order for adolescents to grow some inches.Also a good sleep so vital to eat is also during periods of rest.

Inverted benches and up-side down stretches help to increase your height.Nevertheless, it can use among the simplest but most people have bad feelings within and cannot wear your beautiful party gown because of the spine, and an easy and it also naturally detoxifies your body.Nonetheless, there was not possible to add those inches back in order to increase their height are considered good exercises that may prematurely stop human growth, according to your height is a must for the better.You should also focus on increasing height, even if it takes time to look and feel confident while you sleep greater the dissemination.Being in the program that will guide you in order for your other leg and snapping out a kick . In doing this, you will not work so better take those short people who are very tall and straight as you possibly can so that your sleep is something that is needed for bone growth.

#How Do I Increase My Height Naturally Marvelous Useful Tips #How To Increase Your Toddler Height

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nothingneverforever · 5 years ago

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Never Have I Ever (2020)

Hey, I think this is my first TV series ‘review’ ever! Well I did do a basically empty post on Unforgotten (season 1) back in Feb 2017, promising to write properly my full feelings down, but that was something I never got back to. It’s still one of the best TV shows ever in the whole world, so hopefully I have time for it some day.

Anyway, meanwhile Never Have I Ever (NHIE), is… absolutely not good. At all….

I’d decided to watch it after seeing Mindy Kaling’s Late Night (2019), which was surprisingly enjoyable and moving even, and not just because Emma Thomson is one of my favourite celebrities in this world. It was a fun movie, and it felt different (from other similar films) ! I say it was surprising because I guess due to misogyny or something, I never thought I had reason to take Mindy Kaling seriously. And I am so sorry for it! There were parts of the script (Late Night) that worked out so, so well.

Back to NHIE! First, here are some synopses I’ve found online of the series:

- The complicated life of a modern-day first generation Indian American teenage girl, inspired by Mindy Kaling's own childhood.

- After a traumatic year, an Indian-American teen just wants to spruce up her social status - but friends, family and feelings won't make it easy on her

- Episode 1: After recent trauma, Devi starts her first day as a high school sophomore determined to shake off old labels and finally become cool.

So I guess my first complaint about NHIE is a bone I could pick with just about any American production from the last, idk, 8 years. You know how when (for whatever reason) every single character is ‘awkward’ or ‘weird’ or sooo idiosyncratic in general, they just end up all being… almost exactly the same? Where all the over-used tropes, every character’s too-loud too-colourful unique defining traits just end up reading the same way, to me at least.

Need all characters be so strong, really? Strong as in, overly sapid, full-bodied, clearly defined, distinct in a way that actually isn’t unique at all… I mean I’m not asking for more Jack Maliks (from Yesterday, as reviewed here by me) cos fuk dat guy omfg hate him and his dull ass lol but … do you know what I mean? When every character has traits that are so instantly recognizable, so clear to the plain eye without need for any nuanced observation or interpretation that you can almost like .. see the literal line of text in Courier font for the character description in the screenplay flashing before your eyes? Like of course as viewers we do want to feel like we have some grasp of the characters we’re investing in and relating to but I think if traits and personalities and mannerisms are so simplistic (even if they are diverse) that the characters themselves can ve perfectly summed up in a nutshell then that’s not a good thing at all.. I don’t know, it just seems a very American thing that I’m tired of, where there’s just a complete dearth of authenticity and complexity. Because no one in real life is ever sooooo distinctly themselves 100% of the time you know? Sure, I haven’t seen something specifically catered for teens in a while so maybe it’s just genre-specific thing but I do think there was so much more room for more realistic characters here.

Okay but still, 90% of all comments I have trawled through (facebook, Instagram, youtube) seem to be from American teens, talking about how relatable the show is so I guess high school teachers really be out there acting like caricatures of their TV trope selves and friends are all awkward af among each other and quirky at home and quirky on the streets walking home and quirky in the corridors of their school and exaggerate every reaction in every ordinary situation. But here’s the thing, I don’t think people are actually this way. I think many of them pretend that they are, act like they are. I think here lies the danger: where the more media we have portraying this kind of intensely saturated characters and personalities, the more young people will think that to be ‘themselves’, they have to raise the decibels of each and every trait of their own… I dunno if you understand me? I think it’s an insidious feedback cycle not dissimilar to the manic pixie dreamgirl effect, not in how women’s quirkiness serves to bring out dormant sides of men but just in how people (especially girls because due to society-enforced insecurities are more susceptible to taking influence from popular role models) have to BE SO *INSERT ANY ADJECTIVE HERE* … I don’t know… it’s just inauthentic and tiring. So NHIE is okay, as long as it is makes clear that it’s caricaturizing different examples of how some people may act in different circumstances… but it doesn’t do this. Aiyah I know I’m making a huge deal out of what some people will obviously just take as entertainment and gags for laughs etc but… it’s annoying to me…

Okay

So I’m not sure if you got this from the synopses I’d copied above, so, again: NHIE revolves around a nice girl, Devi (15), who lost her father (heart attack, in the middle of the school hall where he was watching Devi perform at her school orchestra concert) last year and is now starting a new year of school, coping with the incident by stifling every single traumatic memory. Also there are some random throwaways here and there about her having literally become physically disabled for 3 months after her father’s death where Devi lost the ability to use her legs (psychosomatic reaction to her loss) but it’s only ever joked at in insignificant ways so I guess… we shall never know that side of her grief? But all this (grieving over dead father, impersonal relationship with stern mother etc) is mere backdrop, joining other backdrop themes like being a shitty friend from start to end in unbelievably shitty ways etc – the main ‘plot’ instead is made up of Devi’s desperate quest to have sex with Paxton, a 16 year-old ‘hottie’ from school who she likes, erm, because, hot.

Yea that’s it…… that’s the critique. She’s a 15 year old girl whose everyday actions (for the most part) are calculated to lead up to her deflowering by her crush. Not to be a prude but… is this an okay storyline? Like are 15 year-olds legally allowed to have sex? Lol… Am I under any misconception about what teens all over the world get up to? No. Do I think that the law plays any useful role in preventing young girls and boys from sexualizing themselves and wasting their time on sexual pursuits when they can and should be developing literally any other interest and skill? No. Am I still unhappy that this was the main motivating factor for Devi to get up and out of her home each day, unhappy that for this reason (her goal of sleeping with Paxton), unhappy that because of this she morphed into the worst, most unreliable and unrelatable friend ever to her besties who needed her badly??? Yes!

Look, I’ve covered relevant topics in my 4 years of social work education to understand Devi’s actions as unhealthy, maladaptive coping behaviours – we see Devi exhibit behaviours / thoughts etc evocative of basically all 4 stages of the Kubler-Ross grief cycle, besides the final stage of acceptance: denial, anger, bargaining, depression. If we look at Virginia Satir’s coping stances instead, (different types of behaviours people exhibit when under stress), Devi again displays all 4 stances: super reasonable (i.e. over-rationalizing something so as to avoid confronting/acknowledging the emotional truth), irrelevant (distracting, changing the topic, inappropriate jokes), placating (self-explanatory) and blaming (again, obvious). So basically, Devi does, says and feels anything and everything besides maturely coping with the loss of her father. Is this realistic? Yes! Does everyone work within their own timelines before finally coming to that final Kubler-Ross stage of acceptance? Absolutely! And I am not at all rushing Devi to act ‘normal’ or to display healthier coping mechanisms. I just wish the grief was handled so so so much better by Mindy Kaling and whoever else was involved in developing this story - this story that is honestly full of promise. In other words, how Devi fails to handle her grief could have been written so much better, so much deeper instead of her failings itself being the central form of entertainment for much of the 10 episodes.

Anyway, also, besides it being morally not okay for a 15 year-old’s thirst for sex to be an accepted plot point (accepted on- and off-screen I mean), the actors playing Devi and Paxton are 10 years apart in age. Devi (reminder: age 15 on-screen) is played by a lovely actress who is currently 18, and Paxton is played by someone who is currently 29. So like….. she would likely have been 17 at the time of shooting? That’s just not okay and I don’t think I need say more lol. Shit like this, miscasting your key heartthrob, is just so… cheapo and so late 90s/early 2000s you know where the actors are so so clearly adults playing high schoolers, it’s just… cheapo af and absolutely inexcusable now.

Okay, everything up to this point in my ‘review’ has just been small here-and-there thoughts I had while watching it, and I’ve dedicated fluffy paragraph after paragraph on them so as to delay speaking about my main issue with the series: how the central trauma is dealt with... insomuch as it isn’t, at all.

And I’m not just saying this as someone who’s fresh off having just re-watched A Single Man, because they are obviously intended as very different works and intentionally made of (made with?) very different calibers but there are, surely, much much better ways to handle grief than what we are given with NHIE where Devi tries her darnest to have sex with her dreamboat bae. Okay so early in the series (second episode), Devi actually does get with Paxton in his garage after propositioning him (by ambushing him outside school after he finished swim practice or something), but when he takes off her shirt she’s like ok nvm I cant have sex now bye. So yea, it doesn’t happen. But it continues to be her main source of distraction from her grief, so it does remain a central plot point. Anyway the therapist character in NHIE is a joke, full of age-old TV-therapist lines like “So how do you feel about that?” etc, other platitudes and hollow-isms. She does try to tell Devi that it is not in her interest to be putting her sense of self worth on being “bangable” (I do believe this was the exact word used, cant be bothered to find the exact minute in the speicifc episode but yea trust that Devi and her therapist are candid with speaking about her plans for deflowering and Devi is never willing to talk about anything else but), but … I don’t know, Devi’s schtick gets tiresome, not because I’m neuronormative and want to see more normal behavior from the dear girl or because I’m annoyed with how badly she’s handling her grief, but more because of how badly they (writers, producers whoever etc) are handling it.

Like, up till the very end, we see her irrelevant stances or proof of her denial as fodder for lame jokes and utterly cliché dialogue, in what should be a genuine and ‘real’ scene. It’s annoying!! See below for screencaps from slightly over halfway through the FINAL episode of the series - in other words, way, way too late for a joke to be made out of how Devi resorts to the same poor coping mechanisms in distracting from her grief. I’ve screenshotted only parts of the convo, leaving out the parts where this serious convo turns into a joke about Eleanor, that itself pretends to be deep and serious but it isn’t at all...?

Devi’s friends confront her about the most serious thing in the entire series (her needing to go down to her beach to meet her mom to scatter her dad’s ashes, something she hitherto has rejected as she is unable to face this final step in accepting his death but masks with more irrelevant excuses), and she’s still coping poorly by ‘deflecting’, as her friend rightly says. I don’t know about you, but this was not a scene I needed jokes in at all.

But then, like… suddenly…. Immediately after this she starts crying and everything is good for the first time and there is acceptance within her and some semblances of healing of the fractures in her relationship with her mom etc… I dunno, it’s just not cathartic at all, because Devi hasn’t been given enough of a journey at all. The 0 to 100 thing doesn’t work here because it’s not satisfying (for us) or realistic (for Devi) at all.

Re: the grief, I dunno, if we look at another, equally popular Netflix production, The Haunting of Hill House comes to mind. Yes, obviously not at all a meaningful or fair comparison to make but again, if it’s about a family dealing with grief and loss, why can’t we expect that NHIE carry the same gravitas? In Hill House, we see our characters fumble and lash out and ‘pop off’ (a term used in NHIE which I found strangely out of place) at one another, often, but never are manifestations of their grief, never are clear mishandlings of their grief on display for our entertainment in the form of laughs or ‘cringe’ purposes. It’s just...not everything has to be funny you know? Even if it’s a teen show. I think there are ways, subtle ways, expert ways for something to be serious without at all needing to be heavy.

Again, like my gripe with the childish and/or cheap caricatures of human personalities which would be okay if this series was clearly presented as light entertainment to fill gaps in one’s day, not handling the trauma and grief could (perhaps) be overlooked if it didn’t pretend that it would in fact handle it. But everyone’s discussing the show as if it genuinely was an incredible take on dealing with loss and trauma, as if it’s contributed significantly to understandings of how a young, beautiful lovely ‘normal’ schoolgirl can live and learn through extreme trauma… BUT THE SHOW DOESN’T DO THIS LIKE IT LITERALLY DOESN’T AT ALL I FUCKING SWEAR…. Please watch all 10 episodes and show me even just ONE minute where we come full circle from anything, where Devi grows through her pain and where her journey is developed over more than just literally the last 7 minutes of screentime in the very last episode of the entire series. And I’m also seeing soooooo many comments from people who have enjoyed the series mention how fun and lighthearted it was, how comfortable they are to categorize the series as comedy and how great a time they had binge-watching it. But… it’s not funny? Like it’s really not lol… Devi is dealing with a most painful, urgent grief, having lost her father tragically a year before (and having to see him go before her very eyes). Her denial, her various-aforementioned-unhealthy-coping-mechanisms-and-maladaptive-behaviours made for painful watching for me. It shouldn’t be funny for us to see her abandon her friends when they most needed her; it shouldn’t be fun to see her lash out at her mom and dream of Paxton shirtless, these shouldn’t be comedic externalities of her situation at all. Does this mean I want an utterly dour, extremely humourless NHIE instead? Not at all! I just wish scenes / examples of her mishandling her grief were not the same ones that are supposed to make us laugh and think that everything is light and fun. Like, we can have other funny scenes featuring Devi instead you know? Things that aren’t actually incredibly harmful to her psyche.

ANYWAY

Some positives, cos I did enjoy this stupid series lollll and I did cry and I did laugh and I did look forward to watching it every evening while I exercised, okie? :)

There is one honestly genius thing that I like, where the genius lies in its utter randomness. The series (save for one episode which I will not talk about cos I don’t really give a shit about Andy Samberg and whoever his inclusion was pandering to) was narrated by John McEnroe, who, er, apparently is a well-known American tennis player. The only tennis player I know is Andre Agassi because for some reason in 2016 I borrowed from the library and read cover-to-cover his autobiography omg actually why on earth did I even do that lol I must have read somewhere that it was good perhaps? Anyway it is still recognized as one of the most ‘interesting’ or iconic sports autobiographies of all time so. But yea John McEnroe who?? He (John) is mentioned here and there as having been Devi’s late father’s favourite tennis player – which still does nothing to explain how and why he is narrating the whole series, which is great! I do enjoy the no-attempt-made to connect the fact of his narration to anything in the plot. But it’s not done in an annoyingly absurdist way either, you know? It just it what it is. I mean I guess if I’d written the screenplay which was in part autobiographical, I’d too love to have LeBron James or Megan Rapinoe narrating it, just because!

Ultimately, I think we must all acknowledge how fucking epic it is for Mindy Kaling to be where she is today. That Netflix approached her and asked for a story from her heart, drawing from her own life, and gave her the boundary-less freedom to write what she wanted is cool. She may not be the voice I think teens (or any audience really) may most need but they certainly do want this voice – NHIE is so so so loved and appreciate across the board – by adults, kids, diasporic Indian girls, normal non-minority-race girls etc, with everyone calling (begging) for another season, and anyway Mindy Kaling is probably about 1000000x better anyway than others who have been granted the same stage and presence as her before, like, I dunno, Michael fucking Bay or fucking James Cameron so yay her !!! For the sake of us all!

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update, a few hours later:

so since forcing Jade to read my post the second it went up, i have learnt that:

So there goes the one singular uniquely cute thing I did appreciate about NHIE then i guess, seeing as his random feature throughout the series isn’t unique at all... seeing as unexpectedness makes for a predictable part of his record, it is no longer charming to me. lol bye!

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