#Also the number of people on this poll saying that they LIKE when artists do it

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Cyd Charisse (The Bandwagon, Brigadoon, Singin’ in the Rain)—LEGS LEGS LEGS I would sell my soul for the legs of Cyd Charisse - she oozed style and glamour and sex appeal!! And she could DANCE! She was dancing next to the greats - Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire but they are never who you're looking at because why would you when you can look at her. I will only sit through too long ballet breaks for her. If there was any woman who you could call sex on legs it was her. These dances are everything to meeee (she comes in at the minute mark) and this dance too of course is iconic. In the words of Fred Astaire 'When you've danced with Cyd Charisse you stay danced with'

Rosaura Revueltas (Salt of the Earth)—She was a Mexican actress who is best known for starring in salt of the earth, an amazing pro-labor movie made by blacklisted filmmakers. She also starred in the Mexican remake of madchen in uniform, one of the first representations of lesbian romance onscreen. She was really dedicated to making progressive films and was also such an incredible actress and artist I truly believe more people should know about her and her work.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Cyd Charisse:

Arguably the Best female dancer of her time, she supposedly insured her legs for $5 million dollars. Stole the show whenever she had a dance number, even if she went uncredited. Musicals started to go out of fashion so unfortunately she didn't have as many big roles as she should have, but those she did are unforgettable. The Broadway Melody number in Singin' in the Rain - the green dress!

Incredibly, Cyd Charisse only started learning to dance as a rehab exercise to strengthen her body after a childhood bout of polio. She was in high demand as a dance partner, Fred Astaire called her beautiful dynamite and said "When you've danced with her, you stayed danced with". She was one of a few leading ladies to dance with both Astaire and Kelly, declaring them both delicious. Kelly apparently was stronger, while Astaire was more coordinated. She also said her husband would always know who she had been dancing with because Kelly left her bruised, while Astaire didn't leave a mark. She's better known for her dance numbers today, but she was a leading lady in her time! Her Scottish accent in Brigadoon leaves a lot to be desired, but compared to the other actors in the movie, it's almost good. She appeared in The Harvey Girls alongside Judy Garland and Angela Lansbury in her first speaking role, but she really burst onto the scene with Singin' in the Rain and her infamous Broadway Melody Ballet number with Gene Kelly (no one could handle a length of fabric like Cyd Charisse). She was brought in because Debbie Reynolds wasn't really a dancer and Kelly was notoriously a stickler about his Vision. After that she starred opposite Astaire in The Band Wagon, which was a bit of a flop but created some enduringly incredible dance numbers. She went on to star in a number of MGM movies, and was one of the last of the Studio era stars to remain on contract. Since we've got up to 1970, I'm including her opening routine in The Silencers (1966) to show just how long she was making a splash - she's into her 40s here and still a siren:

and of course, the iconic Broadway Melody Ballet -

Photos do not do Cyd Charisse justice, unfortunately, because she is at her hottest while dancing, which she was exquisitely good at. Just go watch her first number in Singin' in the Rain, in that green dress; nothing I could say here will be more convincing that that.

She had amazing legs, and she knew how to use them! You probably know her best from the dream sequence in Singin' In The Rain. She was such a stunning dancer, and all her dance scenes are hard to look away from.

Dancing in the Dark clip:

She's an amazing dancer and my favorite from the period. Here's her and Fred Astaire in the Band Wagon:

I just like a woman who's there to be really incredibly good at dancing.

One of the most talented female dancers in Hollywood history, but what sets her apart from other competitors for that title is that she...umm...well let's be blunt, she was the dancer who put sex into it. The one who said "Hey, you know that A+ leg tone that naturally develops from doing this for a living? Why don't I let people see that? Like at every opportunity?" She reportedly insured her legs for five million dollars after hitting it big, which just goes to show that fame makes you crazy. It should have been ten million.

She could pirouette in pointes or tear it up in taps. Fred Astaire called her "beautiful dynamite" and wrote, "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with." Gene Kelly partnered with her three times. Her legs were (reportedly) insured for $5 million in 1952 ($57.8 million in 2024 dollars)! Everyone in this poll will be iconic, but for raw physical grace, Cyd is up there with the best.

Legs for days, beautiful dancer in the most iconic scenes of Singin in the Rain. She's glorious. As some guys sung to her in It's Always fair weather, 'baby you knock me out!'

No additional propaganda was submitted for Rosaura Revueltas. Please send me some.

[ivysangel]

I am dead serious when I say that you guys need to start giving writers feedback more often. I have a fic here that has a total of 4015 notes and only 218 aren't likes. So, let me break this down for you a bit.

Of 4015 notes, 186 are reblogs and 32 are comments. Two reblogs, as well as comments, are mine so I'll subtract them from the equation making the total number of notes 4011 (184 rbs, 30 comments, 3,797 likes).

Of the 184 reblogs, 16 are private, meaning they're absolutely useless in spreading and sharing the piece. The remaining 168 consists of 136 reblogs falling under "other reblogs" while only 32 fall under "comments and tags." And of the 32 under "comments and tags," only 9 have something besides a copy of the tags that I included in my initial post.

The 184 reblogs make up 4.6% of the total notes, the reblogs under "comments and tags" make up 0.8% of the total notes, and the reblogs under "comments and tags" with anything besides tags copied from the initial post make up 0.2% of the total notes.

At one point, I reblogged the post, asking if anyone wanted a part two. That's when I got my first comments. The first 6 comments were in response to that, and of the 30 total comments (excluding my own), only two were unrelated to a part two. Which means I can guarantee that I wouldn't have had that many comments had I not posed the question of a sequel fic.

And if I add those 2 comments to the 9 reblogs, I get 0.3% of the total notes on my post that make up the portion of notes that aren't likes, empty reblogs, or comments about a part two. And that's me being generous because two of the reblogs actually do mention a part two.

I also posted a poll asking what people wanted in part two, and that poll got 238 votes. That is 54 people more who voted for what they wanted in a part two that didn't reblog or help push part one.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing people in my notifs liking my posts, but sometimes it's just not enough. It is utterly exhausting waking up to multiple hundreds of notifications and not seeing a single person compliment your work. You guys will like stuff, follow, and then head straight to the inbox asking for more. I know it's been said a hundred times before, but we are not machines; we do this for free in our spare time.

The post in question was written when I was tired out of my mind, and I ended up not liking it, so I let it sit in my drafts. I briefly mentioned it on my blog and was met with one of my followers showing interest in the idea, which prompted me to revise, edit, and post it. It was a gift, as are all fics and pieces of art by writers and artists on this site, and yet it was treated like a commodity.

When people say it's unmotivating they're not kidding. When I had 100+ asks in my inbox, all of them being requests, I felt like I had the worst case of writers block known to man. I would open my inbox and immediately close it because the idea of posting anything knowing the only response would be more requests, was awful.

When people leave little messages in the tags, full-blown commentary, or kind messages in my inbox referencing posts, I feel more motivated than ever. Those responses are what drives me to write more. But when I, and other writers, are being treated like we're here to cook up whatever fantasisies you have in mind, I can't help but side-eye a little.

We wouldn't write if we didn't enjoy it, but the moment it feels like a job, it becomes that much less enjoyable, and then everybody loses. Just send a kind message to your favorite writers every once in a while. I promise it'll make their day.

I would also like to say that as I've written this, I've seen more people like that post. So, there's that.

[beardedmrbean]

After a report implied many voters of color in swing states are souring on President Biden, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, sparked outrage for implying they are only doing so because they are uninformed and blinded by their feelings.

CNN's "State of the Union" host Dana Bash spoke to a panel on her show about a recent report from The New York Times, "Trump Leads in 5 Critical States as Voters Blast Biden, Times/Siena Poll Finds." The report included polling that claimed, "Black voters — long a bulwark for Democrats and for Mr. Biden — are now registering 22 percent support in these states for Mr. Trump, a level unseen in presidential politics for a Republican in modern times."

Bash addressed Crockett and read an excerpt from the report, "In a remarkable sign of a gradual racial realignment between the two parties, the more diverse the swing state, the farther Mr. Biden was behind, and he led only in the Whitest of the six."

"It’s really scary for me," Crockett replied, before going on to explain why she thinks this shift appears to be happening.

"Here’s the deal, perception is reality, and so when you look at the data that was provided in this poll, it talks about how people feel… it is all about how you feel in that moment," she said. "While the facts may not align with their feelings, their feelings are dictating their reality and their reality is that they feel better or they felt better when Trump was in office."

Crockett added that Democrats have been "trying to push back" against this, even as "some very popular African American artists out here saying things like ‘Oh I got checks when Trump was in office. I want those checks again,’ not understanding that really came from Congress."

"So we have got a couple of things, the perception issue and then we also have an issue as it relates to civics in this country and people not understanding exactly how any of this works," she concluded.

As footage of Crockett’s statement shot across the internet, commentators condemned her rhetoric on social media.

"’Voters are too stupid and they don't understand their betters’ is probably not a great campaign message for Democrats," The Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway wrote.

"The utter disdain these elitist lawmakers have for their own constituents is really mind-blowing," commentator Joe Concha wrote.

"Where did she get such a sense of superiority?" journalist Miranda Devine wrote.

"Pre Obama the Democrat’s stock response to dropping numbers in a demographic was, ‘we’ll go and listen, and try hard to earn that support,’" columnist David Marcus wrote. "Today it is, ‘they are wrong, and somewhat ignorant, we’ll show them why we are smart and right.’"

"Imagine being this dismissive of your voters? Democrats seem to think the people who they need to elect them are all stupid and incapable of understanding what’s actually happening," radio personality Mike Opelka wrote.

"Oh really," Fox News host Lawrence Jones III wrote.

Many commentators, especially Black conservatives, scorched Crockett for appearing to underestimate Black voters' ability to grasp politics.

"In other words, according to Democrat @RepJasmine Crockett, Blacks are too stupid to understand how much better they are under Biden," conservative commentator and former 2024 presidential hopeful Larry Elder wrote. "Not too bigoted! If Trump said this, Democrats would be drawing up another article of impeachment."

"Once again telling the Black community that we are not intelligent enough to see what’s going on and understand it," former Republican congressional nominee Jeffrey A. Dove wrote. 

"Democrats: Blacks are too emotional to think clearly. Smart pitch," HotAir associate editor David Strom wrote sarcastically.

[joyswonderland1108]

This is for so-called OT7 Army

A gentle reminder that if you preach about being OT7 but refuse to vote for or support a member simply because of their solos, then kindly remove that lil 7 you dickhead.

Your hatred to solos should not be the decision maker for you because at the end of the day it is hurting the artist that you apparently love too.

You are free to root for whoever you want simply because they are your bias, you prefer them, you love them more, but using a lame ass excuse such as "I can't give akgaes the satisfaction of their fav reaching the top so i'll stay stubborn and support my fav or anyone that isn't their fav really"

Now please tell me how are those cunts who think like this even considered OT7?

Did i know beforehand that the same energy won't be returned if Jimin was to move to second place? YES VERY. I did mention it in a comment that if Jimin was to ever be in second place they would say "A lot of people didn't like the previous decision therefore vote for whoever you want". Also, If Jimin or JK were already in second place to begin with, tweets asking to focus on either one of them from supposed OT7 accounts wouldn't even exist.

When i tell you that my boys only have their solos and their OT7 stans to back them up and stand up for them, i'm not even joking.

I did see some other members stans who spoke up about this whole bullshit too so i would really like to thank them for reasoning with logic.

Some people wanted to get smart and qt or comment with SS from polls where "Army" voted the most for the option where they should just vote for the member who is leading in a category, but let me tell you why this is stupid.

First of all, you are dealing with a toxic ass fandom this should've already been the first red flag.

Second of all, this is just Twitter we are talking about, just a stan account(s), not some official page, not some official announcement that made it to the news. Many people don't follow everyone, many people are not as active on Twitter as other people, many people were just not on Twitter for some days, many people aren't even on Twitter, many people simply didn't vote.

Third of all, how do you even know if the votes are legit or not? Just because you seem like a nice person online how would i know if you didn't encourage your friends to vote for a certain category? How do i know if some people don't have 10 Twitter accounts they vote from for the same category.

Which leads me to the conclusion that making a decision based off of a fuckass poll in a social media platform is the most unreliable, most drama started shit ever. This is a HUGE fandom, but i'll take the numbers i used as an example with my friends: Let's take a group of 100 000 people, you made a poll for them, only 1000 of them got to vote on that poll before the timer comes to an end and the result of that poll is out. Tell me how on earth is 1000 people voting a reliable way to make a decision for the other 99 000 people?

Seriously, i hate how after all that these accounts start a victim fest the whole "I'm trying my best" and all the cries. Trying your best and avoiding tricky situations are two different things. Starting something knowing damn well whatever the result of it is will create drama later is absolutely unwise, don't just dive into doing something that you can't manage, if you can't manage a fandom with millions of people in it then please stop jumping on shit thinking you're doing a favor for everyone, you're just creating even more division and getting members even more hate.

For fuck's sake is it that hard for people to sit down and think carefully about shit before starting fires? Literally a whole useless ass drama when they could've just shut the fuck up.

Don't even tell me to vote for Jimin or for JK if they were the ones leading if you are NOT a Jimin or JK focused account because then even if one or the other is leading, saying it like that is still unfair to other members, unfair to other member's stans, unfair to people who never even agreed to a stupid poll or those who never even knew it existed.

Again. we are not blind, we see how shit unfolds and we (when i see we i don't mean solos) adapt to the situation, you don't need to fucking mention it, just stop creating chaos, stop creating division. We need a fandom cleanse, not more drama and more wars ffs.

Salutation.

[monstroso]

literally what makes the aristocats bad. its got nice songs. it has silly characters. it’s got really pretty backgrounds and the old hand-drawn disney animation. it’s inspired by a true story. what’s there to dislike.

(*cough* aside from the racism that permeates most if not all of the old Disney movies but since that’s present in so many of them no special case should to be made against the aristocats for it to be a worse movie because of that shared trait *cough*)

also I hope this didn’t come across as like. confrontational or anything bc it’s not supposed to be. legitimately want to hear your thoughts 👍

No, I love this! I appreciate being asked my thoughts, especially since the good people in the tags have told me loud and clear that I am in the minority on this one.

I will say, I did not expect the poll to have quite the legs it's got on it now. My polls usually only get about 60 votes. If I'd known 4,700 strangers and counting would have an opinion on this, I might have worded it differently. The real reason I didn't include The Aristocats is because I knew it would run away with the thing. Most people consider it a classic, regardless of what my opinions on it actually are. I thought throwing in a cheeky little line about it would be a fun gag for my followers who know I'm a true hater at heart.

Before I even got this ask - and because the overwhelming majority of the tags on the poll are telling me I have no taste - I actually did start rewatching it! Hundreds of strangers on the internet have never been wrong before, right? Part of the problem is I have next to no nostalgia for it. We didn't own the VHS when I was a child, so the only times I ever saw it were when I'd go to a friend's house or borrow it from the library. Maybe my judgement was clouded by not having seen it in a very long time.

First things first: The good stuff. There are parts of this film that rank alongside the best of the Disney classics, and I would be remiss in not mentioning them.

The music, for one, is pretty good. You'd have to be some kind of real Scrooge not to enjoy "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat" of course, but on a rewatch I did find myself grinning through "Thomas O'Malley Cat" as well. This is an easy point in the film's favor though, as I'm an absolute sucker for both big band and jazz. This is great use of your Scatman Crothers and Phil Harris, top points awarded for these two numbers in particular.

The animation is also pretty good. Especially on Edgar and Thomas O'Malley. Your mileage may vary on the Xerox style, but the animation itself is relatively unimpeachable. This was still during the era of the Nine Old Men, so there's all kind of impressive work being done with the big sweeping things like character movement and expression as well as in the more subtle animations like expressions and mouth movement.

The cats are doing all the cat stuff you'd expect like licking their paws and poof'ing their tails, but there's less expected movements here too, like arching their backs when walking alongside things or rolling in the dirt to dry off from the river. This is good character work, but it's also pretty standard for guys like Milt Kahl and Eric Larson. If you're at all interested in animation, I highly encourage you to read more about the Nine Old Men and their history with the studio.

(A big thanks to the tumblr gif artists for gif'ing the parts of this movie that look good so I can spice this post up with some relevant visuals!)

Now, the bad. Like many movies from this era, The Aristocats has something of a pacing problem. While it is necessary to do the work of setting up the conflict in the beginning, you might be surprised to learn that it takes 25 minutes for Thomas O'Malley to show up, which is when the story actually starts.

A huge part of the problem is that this movie suffers from a sort of directionless vignetticism that seems to have been driven only by the idea that it would be cute to see the animals do X, Y, and Z. "Oh wouldn't it be sweet to see the kitten paint?" "Wouldn't it be so adorable if the cat played the piano?" "Ohh, what if the mouse ate a cracker dipped in milk, wouldn't that be darling?" I have a very high tolerance for schmaltz, but The Aristocats is where even I must draw the line.

When the movie isn't being tooth-rottingly sweet, it's frequently boring, and when it's not being either of those things it's showing you another chase scene with the dogs and the butler. It's erratic, tiring, and strains the limits of the modern attention span even at the movie's incredibly sparse runtime. It's a 79 minute film and you feel all 79 of those minutes.

Tonally, much of the movie smacks of the kind of rose-tinted sentimentalism Disney was known (and even criticized at the time) for, but without the guiding hand of the man himself, nearly 5 years gone by this point. The studio was floundering in the wake of Walt's death, and The Aristocats is quite close to the nadir of this particular creative valley - though the distinction arguably goes to Robin Hood, I'm much softer on that film for a number of reasons.

The Aristocats reminds me a lot of Lady & the Tramp, in that it's the same story (down to the aforementioned racist caricatures of Siamese cats), but with cats instead of dogs and with a much less focused sense of purpose, tone, and creative direction. If you like The Aristocats for the music and the beautiful scenery, but you haven't seen Lady & the Tramp, give that one a try instead. The animation is better, the music is about on-par, and it doesn't have as many stupid chase scenes. Or just watch 101 Dalmatians, which outstrips both films on sheer charm alone.

I think I had more I wanted to say, but it was mostly rambling that got away from the point. On rewatch, I don't think this movie is as bad as I remember it being, but I stand by my decision not to include it in the poll.

tl;dr - The Aristocats isn't the worst. If you grew up watching it I totally understand having a soft spot for the music and the atmosphere. In a vacuum, I can't say I think it holds up but ultimately I'm not going to judge anyone for enjoying it. Thanks for the ask!

[tmnt-tear-polls]

who are you placing your bets on?

And which do you think are the most interesting?

Oh that's a tough question

I don't have any bets. I haven't actually read everything and besides we don't know which stories are gonna be in the competition (stuff submitted by other people)

Cass apocalypse series by @somerandomdudelmao has been submitted by other people (not the creator themself) so like if they do want to participate that's a BIG candidate

Ghost in ronin's DMs and basically the whole ghost on the server au (home,ghost on the server, DMs, how to save a ghost) by @amevello-blue , @melonpalooza and then @just-a-lil-turtle-with-knives for the final has also been submitted and GOSH THAT HURTS MY SOUL

and there are SO MANY STUFF THAT I HAVEN'T READ YET

I'm currently reading post hoc by @posthocpaganda and it's hurting my soul /pos

But get emotional with everything. Just give me pure happy fluff and I'll find something to get emotional about.

But I'm not saying other stuff don't have a chance to win. If i learned ONE thing with the crossover polls was that there are sooooo many factors in who goes to the next round.

And i know the authors of some of the stuff and they hurt my soul (/pos) enough to get the winning prize

So I honestly don't have a bet

I will use this moment to tell you to definitely go read post hoc if you've watched house MD. I'm only on season one but that's enough. This is hurting my soul so much

A reminder that as the poll master I'd treat every competitor equally and that is very obvious.

Just like with the crossover polls i obviously have some favorites (wedding bells my beloved) that I would've personally made propaganda for if i wasn't the poll master.

I care about keeping things fair and equal and never want anyone to feel like i show any favoritism. Ever

These AUs i picked were only because the names caught my attention because i already know/cry over the AUs. They don't mean I'd show any favoritism and you can bet on that.

Besides the submissions are still open so yayyyy so many more AUs to cry over. And who knows maybe the winner isn't even submitted yet.

The point of this competition isn't that which story is the best or saddest. Treat is an archive with a list of AUs with loads of propaganda and excitement. The results of polls will NOT determine your story's worth. There are so many factors like popularity and community and the number of friends you've made in the fandom, if you want to go for a tie or not. And many other things. And having or not having those things are NOT a criteria of how good your work actually is.

(Def coming from someone who has an au lost on the first round of the @turtle-tot-tournament so i have the first hand experience of feeling like my au sucks because it lost even tho that's obviously not the case)

On another note. The submissions aren't that many yet (rip) and i know that's mostly on me not actually making a lot of posts about this and making sure authors/artists see it (sorry about that) but it'd be super appreciated if you submit your stuff/stuff you like or send these to people who'd be interested in it.

I know I haven't given a date for when the submissions are gonna be closed. Mostly because my life is pretty hectic at this moment and I'd like to start the competition after it's over (probably in a week or two I'll know if i got accepted to uni or not and that will determine my next 4-5 years so...)

But if you'd like to know more about the polls and talk to me directly

We have a discord server you can join

It's already an active server with the crossover polls fam. Welcoming both competitors and anyone else who just wants to vibe with us. We got movie nights and games and silly funny qotd

Annnnnd i got super off topic didn't i

Wellp i think i answered the ask a long time ago... So yeah have fun submitting

[houseofhurricane]

I have to say that I fundamentally do not understand the approach to shipping that says, “my ship has to win,” where winning is becoming canon.

This might be because I write fanfiction and commission artists, and at the end of the day, if the ships I love don’t wind up on the official page, I got to enjoy the experience for myself with a lot of talented and lovely people. And if I don’t like what happens in canon... I can always write more fanfic.

I also end up shipping contradictory ships (like Gwynriel and Azris) because why not? Especially when Gwynriel serves such perfect friends-to-lovers vibes and Azris gives us the best enemies-to-lovers arc in Prythian history. I love writing a variety of ships because I get to explore these different character and relationship dynamics in a way that’s impossible with original fiction. Lucien can’t have exclusive relationships with both Elain and Vassa in canon, for example, but I can write fics for both ships that make me (and hopefully readers!) fall in love with each ship. I love that experience, and I love that freedom and challenge as a writer. 

I also sometimes just run out of ideas for a ship, or just have one idea about a particular ship that I’d like to explore. Once I write that fic, I’m tapped out. I’ve occasionally gotten feedback about “abandoning” a ship, but it’s truly not like that for me—I just don’t know what else to write about them!

Admittedly, and this is not a surprise to anyone who follows me, I do like to analyze why I think certain ships (like Gwynriel or Elucien) are likelier to happen than other ships. This isn’t because I want to dunk on people or because their ships are bad. I love a lot of ships, in ACOTAR and in other fandoms, that I know with 100% certainty will not happen. Ultimately—and I know this is very nerdy—this is an exercise in studying craft. I want to see how relationships are teased out and built up. How chemistry is established. How romantic foreshadowing works. But if I’m wrong, I’m going to go back to the text and see what I missed, because there’s always more to learn. But I love figuring out why these texts set us up to feel a certain way about a ship.

One common thread? None of this requires me to be a jerk to people who don’t share my opinions. Though thankfully they are few in number, some of the messages I’ve gotten when I make ship posts have been quite hurtful and bewildering, especially when they come from people who don’t follow me. Why seek me out?

Because I’m just a fan like everyone else. I don’t have special hotline to SJM, and anyway I’m very certain that she’s not running online opinion polls to determine which ships she’ll feature in her next book.

Instead, I think that an online fan community, of shippers or otherwise, should be a place where people come together to celebrate their favorite books and their favorite ships. We can think differently, but this isn’t a competition. If anyone wins, it should be all of us, for having the good taste that brings us together.

[mindastardust]

My thoughts regarding the esc 2023 final/results

Okay, I’ve had some time to think about this (and actually sleep a bit) and this is my (probably a bit disorganized) thoughts on the situation. (I’m from Sweden, so I’m a bit biased, but I’ve done my best to give a fair answer/judgment to everything that I’ve seen)

1. The blatant misogyny and racism

The amount of misogyny and racism directed toward Loreen that I’ve seen is truly disgusting. I’ve read things that seemed like direct quotes from the Swedish democratic party (aka the racist party) and that’s never, ever okay. It’s completely fine to dislike the song/the number/the singer we still need to treat them with the bare minimum of respect.

2. This is not the first time (and probably not the last)

This is not the first time a former winner is back. A recent example (that I also have seen other people talk about here) is Alexander Rybak who returned in 2018. I’m well aware that he didn’t win but he did win his semi-final and was, for a while, one of the favorites that year. And I don’t remember people campaigning against him for a whole week for that? I have seen some people talk about how his entry was fine since it was clear that he “didn’t even try to win and was just having fun”. I can’t find any source confirming this but I can find one interviewwith Loreen where she says that winning again wasn’t her main motivation for returning. And still, I see Loreen being accused of only caring about winning and being annoyingly “fake humble” (again, see 1).

Also, quite a few times in the past ten years, the televoting winner and the overall winner have not been the same. For example, the last time Sweden won, Måns only came third in the televoting category and this hate storm was mysteriously silent. Same thing 2016 and 2019, when Jamala/Duncan won in neither the televoting nor the jury votes but still won overall.

3. What is Eurovision about and who is it for?

Finland’s entry this year (and most years to be fair) is funnier than Sweden’s. Tattoo is not meant to be a funny song and Sweden generally sends more “normal” (or boring, if you prefer that word) pop songs rather than the more colorful, camp songs that most of us fans have come to associate with Eurovision. Do I think Esc would be more fun if we actually tried to send songs like that? Yeah, I do. I’d love for that to be a thing. Unfortunately, as esc works right now, it’s not the most “effective” thing to do if you want to win. As boring as it is, the more “normal” pop songs generally perform better than the more camp/crazy/creative ones.

We also need to remember that most of the 200 million viewers aren’t us. They are not live-blogging the whole show on Tumblr. They causally follow the show, most of them probably watching only the final. To call Tattoo “jury bait” is fine, cause it’s 100% true. To call it “normie bait” is less so. It implies that those more casual viewers (who might prefer music similar to “normal” pop rather than “classic esc camp”) don’t have the same right to an opinion as the “true esc fan” (whoever that might be). It also brings us to the question of how to identify that true fan. OGAE (the network of esc fan clubs) perhaps, who organizes the OGAE fan poll each year? But since Loreen won that one this year, I’m guessing that’s not a solution that’s good either.

Yes, Käärijä won the public vote (with quite a big margin) but Loreen came in second place and to act like everyone who voted for her doesn’t deserve to have an opinion is trying to silence quite a lot of people.

4. Was Eurovision rigged?

You all do realize that some of you sound a bit crazy, right? We clearly did not bribe the jury nor (do I believe at least) was this whole thing planned before the competition began. At best (if you want a conspiracy), Melfest (Sweden’s national competition) was rigged so that a “good artist” (in this case Loreen) would win with a very ESC-friendly song so that Sweden could have the highest chance possible of winning. Do I think this was the case? No. I don’t have any proof that our television network didn’t plan this. At the same time, no one else has any proof that they did.

5. So what now?

Loreen played by the rules and won. You are allowed to think the rules (the jury) suck (I can assure you that several Swedes hate the international jury we have at our Melfest each year). Should the rules change? I’m open to that. The rules have changed many times before and it might be high time for another change. There’s certainly much to gain in terms of goodwill by removing the jury right now. Also, kick out Israel while you’re at it. The fact that they’re still allowed to compete is disgusting.

TLDR; If you want to criticize Loreen (or anyone else), do it without being racist or misogynistic. Remember that former winners have been back before and that other entries than the televoting winner have won before. Realize that we Tumblre fans might not be the typical esc viewer. I personally don’t see how esc could have been rigged for Sweden to win and I do believe Loreen (and Sweden) played 100% by the rules, but I can agree that if those rules cause this much outrage, they might be due for a change.

[daronmalakianofficial]

Since EDM won the "least favourite genre of music" poll let me say some things about it

EDM is an umbrella term for an incredibly vast number of different genres, and lumping them altogether does it a disservice. I get that when people think of EDM, they typically think of artists like Skrillex, Marshmello and The Chainsmokers, and people are free to dislike the kind of music they make (I do too lol,) but I think it's important to realise that there are countless different subgenres that base themselves off of all different kinds of cultures.

Speaking of culture, EDM has been pioneered by black people since it's inception, and it's worth looking into the possible antiblack biases you may hold when you say that you don't like EDM as a whole. Ask yourself, are you discrediting black culture and artistry, or is it really based on personal preference? And really put in the effort to look into where your ideas of EDM stem from, even when it's uncomfortable.

I will laugh at you if you think that live EDM sets/DJing in general is "just someone pressing buttons/playing music on their computer." If DJing really is that easy then why don't YOU do it for me? Maybe I'll reconsider if you show me how easy you think this skill is.

It's good to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while, and if it turns out that EDM just isn't for you, then you'll at least have some legitimate reasons as to why you think that way instead of resorting to cop-out answers. I've had to learn this the hard way myself, but what's come out of it is me realizing that I actually liked a lot of the music I heard from genres that I thought I'd never like. You're free to dislike whatever subgenres that aren't for you, but if you dislike them for the mere fact that you're just ignorant about it and haven't actually sat down and listened to a good record from a specific genre then your argument is invalid and you're also missing out on some good music. Love and light

[rosenecklaces]

And then they, together with some of their artists, always love to stir dramas and cry as the victims in this fandom. The artists discord are full of gw*nriels mocking elriels. Artists stopped accepting commission from Elriels. Artists made polls and when Elriel won, decided to not continue bcs of this silly shipwar. Gw*nriels bullied so many Elriel artists but we remained silent and rant abt it on our own safe space, while Gwnriels finds every little thing an opportunity to spread lies and say they are being bullied when its been the other way around. Jess was bullied/harassed before. Most elriels are forced to step back and leave the fandom bcs of the gw*nriel's shitty behavior.

Exactly, all this has been happening for almost 3 YEARS now if i remember well, since that crackship was created, the acotar fandom has gone worse and the way anyone who properly loves elain or, god forbid, wants her with a man SHE wants, is public enemy number one and somehow the problematic ones in any situation. Even when artist like virtual bunny, who LITERALLY also draw their ship, gets interested in giving something to elriels, they lose their shit. I still remember how they called her a traitor and they got into her dms like crazy just because one fanart.

I'm not gonna say Acotar fanbase has never been problematic, im fairly new to the series but i know tamlin stans has existed for years now, there's people who always had pitting the women (the sisters mostly) against eachother, there has been haters of feyre nesta or elain maybe since book one, azriel feelings and personality has been transformed irrevocably since his appareance, etc. All that has happened yes, but not to the extent that is now, and that's because the fandom had let gwynriels get inside acotar spaces as if they own the place and their ship is not stupid and nonsensical as hell.

I don't know if some people trashed elriel in the artists discord or reddit and who knows more because i don't have neither, but I also couldn't pass it as a lie since i have seen artist ( and even "neutral " ones ) starting shit and spreading the victim blaming on the ship war that, surprise surprise! Is elriels always the ones to lose or seem as the villains for them 💀 I do remember someone sending me SC of acotar reddit where they act as if elriel doesn't exist yet gwynriel is fairly treated and even let them stole shit from elriels/elriel canon scenes but well is obvious most of them never liked elain so isn't surprising they let the unimportant ginger be praised when elain is a fucking ARCHERON and next in line

As i said before, i don't blame acotar fans and especially elriels for wanting to keep peace and not wanting to trigger gwynriels reactions but, i will say that as far as I'm concerned, that type of deranged fans aren't people for me, so i don't feel i own them respect at all. They aren't even a case like elulus because at least they have a little ground to stand on with their ship (just a mating bond but well. they can hold on to that until elain's book comes) while gwynriel is pure and clear misogyny against elain, big doses of self insert and let's not get started on the romantizacion of SA victims...

At the moment I really hope Jess keeps doing what she obviously likes and enjoys working on, but considering what she has been trought alongside others elain/elriel artists since the demonic crackship started, I wouldn't blame her for leaving.

[harrison-abbott]

Cristiano & Lionel

I wanted to write a lil thing about a ‘debate’ which I’ve always found bizarre:

Who is better: Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?

This discussion has baffled me for fifteen years or so, and I find it odd to understand why so many people compare these two soccer athletes. So I thought I’d offer my opinion on it.

Who is the most attractive supermodel on the planet? Bianca Balti or Kate Bock … Hmm. How would you rate something like physical attractiveness? Is this possible? Because isn’t such a thing [finding a person physically pretty] based on subjective interest? You could compare Balti and Bock with, perhaps, the amount of money they earn and the amount of fashion shows they’ve achieved, or similar things. But why would that even matter?

People endlessly compare Cristiano and Lionel objectively. As to how many goals they have, and trophies won. Football icons are powerful people. Because soccer as a sport is the most popular on the planet; because they are famous, wealthy and successful: and lots of the eight billion folks on the globe covet such attributes.

At the same time: many people have zilch interest in soccer. Doesn’t intrigue them; they couldn’t care less. Instead they’re interested in pop stars or movie actors.

So which actor is the ‘best’? Or who is the greatest band in pop history?

Well – if you were to look at the music example objectively, it’d hands-down be The Beatles. But many, many folks say they despise the Beatles: can’t stand them. If you were to judge who is the finest writer it’d be William Shakespeare.

To know Bill Shakespeare personally, you would have to invent a time machine and travel back 400 years and go speak to him in a grimy part of London, where the entire population of the city drank from the same river that they used to dump their sewage in. Bill would not be able to understand what you were saying. Because Old English had a totally different accent to how English is verbally used today. This man would also be about five foot tall.

Furthermore, Shakespeare was deeply unhappy, and you can see this in his sonnets; which is the only autobiographical information we have of him. He was just as vulnerable as any of us are, and had a personal life in tatters. But in the modern age we know almost nothing about a man who changed the English language, and whose quotes and quips we still use in everyday talk, perhaps without realising it. [Football pundits love to use the phrase ‘comedy of errors’ when the defenders get all clumsy in the lead-up to conceding a goal.]

Cristiano Ronaldo was a man who built, paid for and directed a museum for himself. I.e., he made a building/museum and funded it personally, to prove how great he is. Does this sound like a man who feels secure with his own ego? 

If you were to go back to the history of the Premier League, and ask fellow footballers/managers who they thought was the best player. Paul Scholes was regularly the number one. Thierry Henry, Zidane and Vieira all said that he was the top player. And they were part of that French clique which won the World Cup, Euros – alongside the famous Arsenal side that were victors in all kinds of ways too.

Paul Scholes wasn’t a star in the glitzy sense of the word. Not goodlooking like David Beckham was; hated that sense of celebrity. But Ferguson [the most successful football manager ever] said he was the best midfielder of his tenure.

My whole point is that there are many contradictions and ironies within fields like sport or artistic achievement, and many clashing opinions which don’t seem to make sense if you look at them in an alternative way.

Do you know the Andrei Tarkovsky films? I looked at a list of fan-voted TOP 100 movies ever, from magazines like Empire and Total Film, and the internet movie site IMDb. Not a single Tarkovsky movie features in any of these lists. Thus we can assume that they are not popular in a mass sense?

There was another poll conducted by the BFI whereby they asked 400 of the top directors internationally what their favourite films were. Two of Tarkovsky’s movies made their top 10. Indicating that Tarkovsky is perhaps a ‘filmmakers’ filmmaker’: in much of the same way that Scholes was a footballers’ footballer.

When people say things like ‘Ronaldo is better than Messi’, is it not the individual who is making a fallacy? By saying person X is superior to person Y, this is essentially negative and minimalistic. The comment is supposed to be provocative and offensive, in order to undermine the abilities of an athlete which the commentator does not have. And most of it is subconscious.

There is no ‘best’ sports athlete. Even if you analyse it objectively, it’s not quite possible to label one man or woman who is the greatest ever. It’s just that people like that idea – of being the most superb, the ultimate gladiator, whatever you wish to call it.

Those who have a larger sense of knowledge in a particular field tend to answer differently to people who have a smaller knack of information. And knowledge is the key to harnessing a threatened ego. They will be less fearful of famous people because they are wiser, and such comparisons between figures are made trivial. In short: they won’t be as judgemental.

When a mind has a spanning resource of information it tends to not think between subjectivity and objectivity as black & white slates; rather looks beyond both of them and focuses on further intellect, because that is boundless and unlimited.

Please can we stop comparing Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi? It’s so tiring, and people have missed the point for such a long time.

Fallacies like status get lost in history and individuals with ‘greatness’ are only as scared as the rest of us. Of course it’s hard to be less afraid of other people. But with learning we can grow a bit, expand, and keep on being informed, rather than judging others.

[fernfernicus]

for the ask game...

4

8

13

idk why the numbers are big but its funny so im keeping it that way

AHHHH THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I LOVE ASKS!!!!!

4) red: it reminds me of an uncontrollable lust for rage and to be set free from the binds of all hostpitality and manner. its freeing and its vibrance draws me in. its very powerful to me, especially as the color of blood. (also i think i can see this color the best) also green bcuz its my faaavvvvvv color =o)

8) AUGH YES!!!@ all of my friends really inspire me to continue making art but some earlier inspirations were:

Emala Bliss or whatever their name is now, Vivziepop(unfortunately), also Tony Crynight in his earlier works, Pastel Peryton, jaidyn animations, triple-A watermelon (made undertake animations/art), ABC draws/animates, kiwi bird

Nowadays, my inspiration comes from so many people, its a little hard to pinpoint... @/snippit-crickit majorly inspires me with their amazing art. they also have huge range and are so genuinely goofy and funny. i need to study their stuff, really. I particularly enjoy their style when it comes to coloring/shading/adding texture. so. rendering, rlly.

theres also an artist i sadly havent been able to find much art from, but on YouTube they go by mild sandpaper.

Theres also @/lewvvk ! their animations are really beautiful and i love how they interpret things through their art. the stylistic expression is beautiful and and i love the colors they use!

@/sakrafka also majorly inspires me!

honestly. tbh. anyone willing to or actively draws characters with their tits out in nonsexual and very transgender ways earns my respect.

another obvious inspiration is across the spiderverse.........i dont even have anything to say. i mean. i do. i have a lot to say. but uts too much.

also some artists i shant say for the simple fact that they draw Beasts and Demons (literally but also i mean that they drawl sex) but their anatomy is just amazing and im so jealous of their style and try to study it!

honestly...so many artists. too many to name! i need to do a lot of stylistic studies but i can never manage to make myself do it....even tho i rlly want and need to. grah! upsetting! just know theres honestly so many artists....

13) TEXTURE. I HAVE BEEN .EANING TO TRY NEW STYLES OF COLORING SO I CAN SHADE AND TEXTURE MY PIECES DIFFEREMT BUT I END UO TSKING WAY TOO MUCH TIME WITH LINEART AND EVRRYTHING CAN I CANT MAKE ROOM FOR COLORING GRAAAAHHHH CRYS. i really want to study styles like mild sandpaper and snippit-cricket and learn how to paint so. its all i want. i want to so badly. but i just NEVER HAVE TIME...

[kimseokjin2024]

A legendary Japanese music producer Saito Eisuke says that rookie Jin was one of the reasons why he decided to give BTS a chance

Saito Eisuke is a legendary Japanese producer who was the director of a huge music company, Amuse.

Among the Japanese artists, he was closely working with such stars as Southern All Stars, Mari Hamada, Mariko Takahashi, Yasuko Agawaand, etc. He was also heavily involved in the expansion of Korean music in Japan. After working in several large music companies, producing for an impressive number of artists, Saito Eisuke became the Deputy General Manager of Fu Shide Investment Co., Ltd. in 2020.

Back in 2014, Saito Eisuke was the person who agreed to help BTS with their expansion in Japan. In the credits to BTS's first Japanese album, 'Wake Up,' Saito Eisuke is designated as the General Producer. The interviewers can't help but keep asking the legendary producer, who played a significant role in the expansion of K-pop in Japan, about his experience of working with BTS. Besides that, his opinion on the success of spreading the Hallyu wave.

Recently, an interview about his experience working with BTS was published in the Japanese best-selling book 'Legendary Producers Leading the World". In the interview, he talked about the story of meeting BTS for the first time. One day in 2014, Bang Si-hyuk reached out to him and asked to see BTS when Saito Eisuke happened to be in Seoul. They performed a couple of songs in front of him too. The producer decided to give them a chance in Japan and signed a contract with BigHit. He also shared a story of about 10 different companies turning BTS down because of them not being a group from the Big3 and due to not liking their name, 'Bulletproof Boys.' But in the end, BTS had their first concert in Japan, and it was more successful than they expected it to be! As we know now, they've become the most successful K-pop group in the Japanese market.

Saito Eisuke mentioned Jin when talking about his first impression of BTS. It got lots of attention on social media, with many people liking and retweeting his words about rookie Jin.

'Bang PD asked me to come see BTS. There were exactly 7 people. What was my first impression? I saw Jin and thought he had a popular face suitable for dramas, we call it 'an effective visual.' If you have that in your group, you can 'sell' it to Japan and it turned out to be true.'

Jin was indeed the center of attention ever since BTS debuted. He had lots of fansites at the very first BTS performance and received lots of compliments from the general public. Even back in 2014, the users on Korean forums were discussing the 'new most handsome face.' The same year as BTS made their Japanese debut, Jin went viral in Korea as the 'Car Door Guy.' Since then, Jin has constantly been going viral in multiple countries, including the USA, which helped him build the brand of 'Worldwide Handsome.'

In Japan, Jin is one of the most popular idols. Many people have heard a popular nickname of Jin, 'King of Japanese songs.' His live vocals always receive a major positive reaction in Japan, and locals even named him the 'King of Live Vocals' back in 2021.

https://twitter.com/onlyforseokjini/status/1634546992935256067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1634546992935256067%7Ctwgr%5E5d6d1b3635d195de79a551cfbd89d37a6f9071d3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.allkpop.com%2Farticle%2F2023%2F03%2Fa-legendary-japanese-music-producer-saito-eisuke-says-that-rookie-jin-was-one-of-the-reasons-why-he-decided-to-give-bts-a-chance

Besides being widely known for his outstanding visuals and constantly winning the 'Who do you think is the Most Handsome K-pop?' polls on Korean forums and social survey platforms, Jin is successful in there as a musician. The music Jin releases usually charts in the Top 10 of the biggest streaming platforms in Japan. And he happened to be the only Korean soloist to get #1 on Japanese iTunes in under 2 hours. Jin has a few entries in the Billboard Hot 100 Japan as well. His latest solo single, 'The Astronaut,' sold over 104k copies in Japan in a single day. Jin topped the Oricon sales chart and was the first foreign artist in the past 11 years to manage to do that. He also received an RIA Japan certification and became the highest-peaking K-pop soloist on the Billboard Hot 100 Japan (#4). Jin became the highest-charting K-pop soloist on the Japan Oricon Single Sales year-end chart in 2022!

Saito Eisuke concluded that his first thoughts when meeting Jin and BTS happened to be prophetic! He gave BTS a chance also because of seeing great ambitions and talent in them.

Source: Allkpop

[theliterateape]

Is Hashtag Activism a Failure?

by Don Hall

I gave up on the Oscars years ago but, and perhaps it is the removal of a highly cynical spouse that predicates it, I'm gaining interest again. It might be the absolute wealth of really good film being thrown at screens large and small at a torrential rate or just an increased love for film because we were locked out of theaters for a while. Whatever the cause, the result is that for the first time in probably a decade, I'm interested again.

Of course, once the nominees were announced, the grousing began. No women directors were nominated. No black actors in the Best Actor category. No black actors in the Best Actress category. There are just two African Americans among the acting nominees: Angela Bassett in supporting actress for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Bryan Tyree Henry in supporting actor for Causeway. On the other hand, it was a banner year for Asian artists across the board.

What to make of it?

The Oscars are a popularity contest. It is a subjective vote on a subjective matter: film. Was She Said a better movie than Avatar: The Way of Water? Depends on who you ask and what their tastes are but to say that one film deserves the nod because it was a feminist film regardless of taste is silly. Is it weird that Sarah Polley's Women Talking was nominated for Best Picture but she was left out of the Director noms? Maybe except that the entire membership votes on Best Picture but only the director members vote on the other and who are we to dictate what they saw and reacted to? While many found Till to be a moving and remarkable film there were more that found it tedious and underdeveloped. Whaddya gonna do? Subjectivity is a bitch.

A USC Annenberg report found that of the 111 directors hired to make the 100 top-grossing movies last year, just 9% were women. That was down from 12.7% in 2021. At the same time, the number of Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latino and multi-racial and multi-ethnic moviemakers also fell from 27.3% in 2021 to 20.7% in 2022. Women of color accounted for a mere 2.7% of directors of the top 100 movies last year. The declines come as the movie business, and particularly the major studios that call the shots, have been under pressure to provide more opportunities to female artists and people of color in the wake of social justice and advocacy movements such as #MeToo and #OscarsSoWhite.

These hashtag campaigns have absolutely created international awareness of the issues at hand but seem to have backfired in the implementation of change.

Right now, women make up roughly half the workforce (and more than half of the college-educated workforce) but only a fraction of executive teams. For example, in the financial services industry, they constituted 61% of accountants and auditors, 53% of financial managers, and 37% of financial analysts in 2018 but only 12.5% of chief financial officers in Fortune 500 companies.

A Morning Consult poll found that even when respondents expressed support for more women leaders and gender pay equity, they were less likely to support the changes within their own companies. And when asked about hiring more women in leadership roles, 73% of respondents advocated for it in other companies; only 44% said that this was something their own company should do.

It is also clear that the #BlackLivesMatter movement, sparked in 2014 and supercharged in 2020 has largely failed, as well.

Despite an awareness-raising campaign as successful as any in my lifetime, untold millions of dollars in donations, and a position of influence within the progressive criminal-justice-reform coalition, there are just as many police killings as before Black Lives Matter began. Politically, a powerful faction inside the movement sought to elect more radical progressives; Donald Trump and Joe Biden won the next presidential elections. That same faction sought to “defund the police”; police budgets are now rising, and “defund” is unpopular with majorities of every racial group.

Whether or not you think those reforms should have prevailed, they did not. If impact matters more than intent, the criminal-justice-reform movement needs an alternative to #BlackLivesMatter that has better prospects for actually improving real lives. Today, almost every American is aware of police killings as an issue. Awareness has been raised, and returns are diminished.

SOURCE

From the sheer amount of public awareness generated by both the #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo movements, one would think the needle would've moved in the direction of prescribed equity but the needles in both causes have moved in the other direction despite the best efforts of so many in so many different sectors of society. Is it just racism and sexism to blame or is there something more at play?

I think the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag is instructive in finding something more honest than the tried and true boogeymen of bigotry and misogyny. What happened?

First, even in Hollywood, the most left-leaning segment of society, the loudest voices were coming from the smallest cohort. Twitter activism just isn't comprised of a whole lot of people and Black Twitter is only a slice of that grouping. There was a lot of awareness coming from a tiny bunch of voices who thought they were impacting the larger picture. Turns out maybe they weren't.

Second, and I know how tired this sounds, but it was the tone. Condemnation. Shame. Barely contained rage. Strident. These attitudes were merited and necessary to get things started but there was rarely a gear shift to solutions as if by complaining about it loudly and persistently enough, the problems would solve themselves. Unfortunately, that's not how societal change works. That whole hearts and minds strategy pales in comparison to policies and funding.

Finally, once attention became the currency of society, self interest took over and dominated the cause. Viola Davis, in support of her brilliant performance in The Woman King made the claim that any audience member who declines to financially support and see the film in theaters is “supporting the narrative that Black women cannot lead the box office globally." Elizabeth Banks, referring to her remake of Charlie's Angels, stated “If this movie doesn’t make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don’t go see women do action movies.” The larger message was suddenly less Go make more diverse movies and more Go see MY movie or you're the problem.

There seems to be at the heart of the hashtag activism at play from #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo, and #TimesUp to #BlackLivesMatter the dictate of anti-racist proselytizer Ibram X. Kendi that past discrimination can only be met with present discrimination and that just isn't true nor a winning position.

I loved The Woman King but I went because I wanted to see the film not because of some guilt about supporting black women. If there was, in my opinion, a snub in these Oscar nominations it's the absence of Jordan Peele and NOPE but not because he's black or the movie featured black artists but because I freaking loved that film.

A friend believes that the fruit of the Twitter/TikTok campaign to reform Hollywood will ripen in about a decade as young filmmakers, increasingly diverse, grow into their craft. I hope so because more stories from all angles benefits us all. There is also the notion that, like the flower children of the sixties, they’ll all grow up and become venture capitalists.

There should be no question that the causes of police reform, decreased sexual harassment and assault, and increases in the diversity of voices financed in Hollywood are righteous and needed. What is also needed are approaches that affect real change rather than retweets.

[cilairesenvtuber]

Social media and Content Creation Improvement

Twitter

This could possibly age like spoiled milk just because Twitter is changing dramatically since Elon bought it.

What makes twitter special is that EVERYONE is on it, brands, celebrities, influencers, mutuals. This makes the app very saturated with content making it hard to grow unless you already have a following. So my best suggestion is to use it as a place of connection instead of growth.

Twitter profile

Have your profile be eye catching, add hashtags of what you are and your niche, credit any artists who created content for you, (vtuber models, personas, profile pictures, banner). Put a link to your website or link tree so people have easy access. Also if you can add your email so brands to hand easy access to you.

Having hashtags of what you are instead of just normal words can make it easier to find you in that niche when it comes to the algorithms.

Be careful with bots tho. Use twitter block party to help prevent bots and spammers.

Have your twitter handle be unique, easy to remember. Don’t add to many numbers and symbols because it will just make someone confused , frustrase and then just give up looking for you.

Always have something pinned to your twitter. It can be a twitter list you created, promotional for your content. A media kit, it can be anything.

You can swap the pins weekly to keep it fresh for visitors.

Your content

When it comes to your twitter content. You’re going to have to post Atleast 3 times a day. Use minimum hashtags, so 2-3 are best for your posts.

When creating threats make sure they are organized if it gets to long use the number system.

Part 1-2 part 1-3

When posting I suggest to separate te your points so it can be an easier read on the visitor, don’t add to much fluff because they could lose interest on the topic. Make sure your spelling and grammar is readable.

Ask questions often . You can always ask for advice from your community if needed. Set up polls often for content creation decisions. It’s good feedback

Use pictures and gifs often to catch the eye of the reader, people view gifs before text walls.

I highly suggest recycling tiktok and insta reels content because Twitter algorithm is pushing videos more. As you can see down below a video I made and how I can scroll through twitter as if I was on tiktok. Use that to your advantage because you could pop up in peoples scrolling sessions.

Reuse old posts. Bring back a tweet that went viral, quote retweet it. Posts wips of your projects, sneak peaks of your projects.

Check out what’s trending , the hashtags, see if some of them are about your niche, content creators you like, hot topics.

Community

Make sure you hit the star icon on the top right to most recent tweets so you can be one of the first to interact on peoples content.

You could also be the first when it comes to your mutuals needing feedback or doing giveaways to their community.

The reason I say twitter is used for communication more then growth is because you can have 1-1 connections with other content creators. You can add people you enjoy into lists, dm, group chats, quote retweets, and more.

It’s not hard to create a small cult following just by being genuine to the people around you.

Checking out people that follow you can be a nice way to gain friends. When ever I’m scrolling around my activity feed I look at others accounts that liked my posts. If they have a post I can relate to i comment, retweet and so on to show love.

If someone adds you to a list or a group chat check out the people in there to see if you can mesh well with them.

People get notified when you put them in a list so add mutuals you love along with other creators and see what happens.

The whole point of twitter is to interact and letting visitors have easy access with connecting with you.

Twitter circles just feels like a closer knit version of your following list. When ever I use it my mutuals are able to see my content more often so. Do as you will with that information.

When handling bigger creators

This goes for any social platform but I have been seeing this often with twitter.

Please respect bigger creators and if one follows you back treat them like you would your smaller comrades.

It is very disheartening to see someone take a picture of a famous person following them and be like “ oh my god !!! Hello are you lost?!” It makes the creator feel uncomfortable and it makes mutuals who have followed you for you feel like they aren’t good enough because they don’t have big numbers. A big creator followed you because they like your work so if you would like to be friends with them then be causal about it. At the end of the day we are all people and these numbers can go away at any time.

Put yourself into peoples shoes. You wouldn’t want someone to see you as numbers, bigger creators are always worried if the person is actually a friend or someone who wants to use them for their views and benefits. Don’t go into ANY friendship thinking “ how do I get this from this person”. You will end up just hurting yourself and others.

Twitter Spaces

Even if you’re not a talkative person I still suggest joining twitter spaces every once and a while. A lot of them will be funny banter between friends, advice on how to improve your content, random knowledge or soothing study sessions.

Twitter spaces are an underused tool. You are shown at the top of everyone’s screen, it’s just a small podcast that u can do every once a week. Talk to people let them cohost and talk to you, get to know your community. People will hop in and follow you because that got to hear your personality. Talk about your day, what your planning, your hobbies, what’s going on with the world right now, just anything that pops out your mind.

The spaces can be saved as a tweet so you can listen back to see what needs to be improved on, audio , content, or quality wise.

Twitter Bots

I wanted to talk about twitter bots because they’re easy to spot but for someone who’s new to Twitter they could trip up and end up with a few bots following them.

If you are someone who’s streams, edit videos, or create your own art. Simple words from your niche can trigger bots following you or commenting, hey my commisions are open. They can often dm you aswell.

Using twitter block party can help get rid of new accounts along with accounts with no profile pictures for free.

For more “advanced” accounts. Check their work, if the art style don’t match up block them, if they have to high of a number of followers but barely any interaction , it’s most likely fake. Same goes to not enough followers yet they have a bunch of likes but no comments.

You will often find people dming you with a lot of followers, profile set yet no content on their page, block them.

Using simple questions like

“I need an editor” “ I wish I had an (insert art here) can cause a boost of followers from bots, along with them commenting the same copy paste commission me message.

Block anyone who has GFX in their profile, no real graphic designer has that because the abbreviation is overturned by bots.

If you have any other tips on how to grow on twitter then comment down below and follow me on twitter link in bio.

[sexstories-101]

How to Blow Like a Professional

After writing Giving My First Blowjob with a big cock, I realized how frequently fellatio comes up in my life (which is SHOCKING considering how many times I've done it on camera). So I'm back to chat about BLOWEYS some more! I hate to brag, but I've never had a complaint and am confident in my D S'N abilities.

I was recently asked, "How do you do something wrong?" How can guys and girls offer BAD HEAD? What are they doing, reading too many awful COSMO tips?!" So I decided to poll a number of my male friends (straight, bi, homosexual, and a couple of porn performers) and ask them, "What are some of your least favorite things that girls/guys do when giving you a blow job?" "What are some of your favorite moves?"

My findings were intriguing but not particularly shocking. I keep in mind that not every woman will have the same style, and not every guy will have the same tastes. There's nothing wrong with that; each to their own! This list of the ten worst things you can do during a blow job is based on the most common comments from men, followed by my thoughts, personal experience, and general advice. I also ran it by Lexi Belle, who won Best Oral Sex Scene at the 2013 AVN Awards for her scene in Massive Facials 4. (Elegant Angel Productions). So there's that. This list has been approved by an award-winning fellatio artist.

NOT ENOUGH SPIT

Hello, ladies. Do you know how friction may be painful if you're not wet enough? The same can be said for a penis. I'm a huge spit fetish, so spit strings, repetitive spitting, and drool literally pouring down from my mouth down my tits to my pussy are some things I'm into, but some people think that's excessive and gross, but oh well, it's what I like.

Whatever you want to do, just make sure there's some oral lubrication going on. If you can deep swallow, try inhaling through your nose and swallowing repeatedly (like drinking a thick milkshake or whatever reminds you to swallow and open your throat - you're going for that GUH GUH GUH sound), and if you choke or gag on it a little, you should be able to get a LOT of spit going. Keeping hydrated and having water at the bedside is obviously important, but that should go without saying.

Side note: If you know you can't deep throat without gagging uncontrollably, and you've recently eaten or drunk beer or an energy drink, I wouldn't recommend choking on that penis unless you and your partner have a vomit fetish. I considered making "DO NOT VOMIT" its own point, but I think that's a given. That's not the end of the world if it happens, but it'll be embarrassing. Any guy should be flattered you puked from trying to fit in as much as possible. That is dedication. And, indeed, I have. Twice. It's not the most exciting, but you'll be OK.

Side note #2: Don't be concerned about the strange noises that kissing, gagging, and sucking creates. Those sounds just serve to stimulate the male's mental state and boner. Slurp all you want.

NO VISUAL CONTACT

During oral, the eyes are quite crucial. Smile confidently at them. I'm not suggesting you have to stare deep into his soul the entire time, but if you don't look up at him even once, he might believe you're embarrassed or bored. Allow the joy of servicing his magnificent tool to shine through your eyes! This leads me to my next point...

NO SENSE OF PLEASURE OR PRIDE

Now, come on. I know some of you aren't big fans of giving head (I don't understand your point of view, but I guess I can respect that everyone has different preferences), but at the absolute least try to appear to be having fun and not doing it out of necessity. I hope you're having fun because I'd hate to hear someone do something they don't want to do merely to impress a guy. In fact, never feel obligated to provide a blow job; if you don't want to and the guy complains, perhaps you shouldn't be blowing that whiney child in the first place.

It's not exactly a major turn-on to suck a dick when it's the last thing you want to do at the time. I get a lot of pleasure from pleasing my partner, therefore GIVING is almost as much joy for me as receiving! I enjoy doing everything in my power to ensure that he has a good time while I'm on my knees. I see myself telling that penis a very fucking wonderful secret. Try not to think about anything other than the cock in your mouth and how it makes you and your partner feel, what drives you on and enjoy being perverts together at that moment. Don't be scared to express your pleasure verbally, but your mouth should be more busy sucking than speaking!

 EXCESSIVE TEETH

I've seen males that don't mind and are even into Small teeth grazing on the shaft or even light bites on the balls... But, once again, THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Most guys I've talked to about this have reported a general aversion to tooth-to-dick contact. Open that jaw with caution! I believe this problem occurs most frequently when the giver is in a hurry or cannot find a decent rhythm. If necessary, take a little break, a breather, or a glass of water, but avoid treating the dick like a toothbrush. However, you can and should treat it like lipstick; sometimes it's pleasant to smear it all over the outside of your mouth before swallowing it like a creamsicle. I like to push it into the inside of my cheek (like putting your finger in your mouth sideways... not rocket science) and against the cheek wall (NOT BACK TEETH) before popping it out of my mouth before adding more spit, giving just enough time with my mouth off of the cock to add to the anticipation of its return.

INSUFFICIENT HANDS/IMPROPER HAND USE

I rarely deliver a handy that does not result in a blowie. I frequently combine hand job actions with mouth moves, using the hands as an extension of the mouth. Don't be scared to hold the base firmly and apply some pressure. Don't overlook the SPIT factor. Rotating the hand and varying the pressure, pace, and length of the stroke are also beneficial. Mix it up and see what happens! If you can wrap two hands around the penis and keep your mouth on the head, move up and down rhythmically while twisting the hands in opposing directions, clockwise and counterclockwise. Don't hold it as if you're terrified to touch it, and don't suck it as if your mouth is trying to escape. Maintain a firm grasp but don't rip it off, and spit whether your mouth is on the head or not! Check out Bonnie Rotten's smart ideas during her POV blow job in Facial Overload #3 for a good example of hand utilization and pretty much every subject discussed here (Evil Angel Productions). She definitely has good eye contact.

  If you are looking for motivation to enhance your sexual drive.

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