#also i know how inactive i’ve been recently especially with posting but promise promise i’m working on things!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

quarantingz · 4 years

Text

inner rebirth

4 june, thursday

9.21am

This is not what I intended to post after my long blog hiatus...

But I read a Yes Theory email post today and this is what Matt wrote…

“Change, in ourselves and in our world, requires tearing down old thoughts, beliefs, systems.

It requires a re-birth.

And that is inherently uncomfortable.”

Something shifted. It was not the first time I had heard something like this.

2020 has been a crazy year so far (major understatement), it’s only the start of June and so many things have happened on a global level and even in my personal journey. And currently, specifically the Black Lives Matter Movement that has blown up in the media, I’ve been refraining from posting anything on social media and “saying” something via my public platform. For me, it’s simply not enough nor something I feel inclined to do because everyone is doing it. The more I think about it and then overthink about (haha of course), for me, it would be an act of simply trying to appear like I’m part of the movement - but deep down I know it’s just a superficial act that doesn’t change how I act and do life. But as usual the media has blown everything up and I feel like society and EVERYONE has to have a perspective and be inclined to share. I have no issue with anyone who does share and speak up, in fact, that’s awesome and I love reading and seeing that!

But for me, it’s becoming clearer to me that if I say or post anything, I want it to not only reflect myself and my opinions, but to also translate through my actions in everyday life. I want what I say to be what I do.

I’ve been challenged this year to bring my words to life and to actually be intentional and active in the things that I promise, aspire or say. I don’t want to post because everyone is doing it. I want to act in real life. A lot of what I’ve been reading is truth and it’s beautiful to see so many people around the world “coming together” as a community and sharing the unheard voices of Blacks.

But the quote above was something a little different for me. I immediately got the message and sense of inner-change. It’s the act of “re-birth” that is so profound and has been circling my mind recently (and in bible study and Expressions). I’m going through the transition and phase of re-learning what I know about Christ and the Bible. I was reminded of the simple truth to be Jesus on Earth - to love like He did and to be a walking expression of our Father. It made me think about all the love that I’ve seen saturating social media these days and the juxtaposition between the fluffy posts and what I’ve heard and seen on the news. For example, to touch on it lightly, the violence of some protesters and aggression towards innocent bystanders and police. Also the looting and destruction of public property and rules. With what I’ve been learning about sin and the act of separation between ourselves and God when we sin, made me think about this in our current global situation (contemporary context YES!)...seeing people less than what they are (which is equal in God’s eyes) and treating people like shit IS NOT OKAY. We’re not only separating ourselves from God because we’re not loving as He wants us to, but we’re essentially separating ourselves from each other. I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s soooo much easier to be kind to people, to act with love rather than violence and abuse (physical, verbal, intentional or unintentional etc). ARGH, we can’t keep going in loops again and again as history keeps repeating and reminding us (look at all the wars in the past and now!)

Anyway, a quick thought as well on the act of posting, especially the black square on Blackout Tuesday, which for me is turning into a desperate “front” and “presentation”, not an actual action, to appear not racist and for the movement. To me this is merely acknowledgement, which is great, it’s a start...and I’m not saying I’m perfect and doing all the right things during this period of history, but I just think acknowledgement is not enough - it’s a start, but it’s not enough sorry.

Of course I was initially very disturbed by what took place in America with the death of George Floyd, but also thought about all I’ve learned in high school history and how entrenched racism is in America…STILL. But also how common it is in the WHOLE WORLD, even. Sadly, it didn’t change what I knew, in fact, it supported this feeling of hopelessness I’ve always had towards issues like racism and sexism. I’ve seen this stuff before, not even to just Blacks, but minorities all the time! Not to be dramatic, but until now, I’ve always been cynical and I thought racism, sexism, what have you, will be around till the day I die. And this tolerance and submission (and inactivity) that I have towards what our society is currently, is disgusting. I know.

Which brings me back to the quote that I read and how true it is…in a weird coincidence (although it is never a coincidence aye!), what I’ve been learning through Expressions and what Matt wrote, I realise the importance of the NOW. The increasing relevance in shifting our minds, paradigms, what we’ve learned, in order to soften our hearts to change ourselves from the inside out. We cannot afford to sit back and be a spectator anymore. But there needs to be more than just a post, a nod in agreement, a passive discussion, to do something and change ourselves.

I’m not too sure what I will do right now or what the future holds, but I guess I’m talking about myself right now, and my epiphany to act. But it’s going to take a transfiguration and transformation of my soul, mind and heart to change.

As Matt said and even in the Bible, rebirth is necessary. Renewing our mind - learning, re-learning and dismantling society’s system - being a kind (not just decent) human being and actually LISTENING, is what we can strive to do on a daily basis and in REAL LIFE.

Rebirth is hard and it will take time.

It’s going to require effort.

It’s going to be uncomfortable.

It’s an inner fight from within. Within our community. Within our society. Within our culture. Within the system. Within our minds and our hearts.

Acknowledgement is important...but true, deep change to ourselves and the world, occurs when we change what’s inside...

- a (just ONE voice in the sea of human voices)

p.s. there is a lot I want to talk about “rebirth”, but maybe next time :)

1 note · View note

yeonchi · 5 years

Text

Thinking about the future of EDGN

I’ve never asked a lot out of my fans over the years, but to some of my close fans (you know who you are), I’d really appreciate some helpful advice because this is an important decision I’m making that will affect both you, the fans, and myself.

To cut a long story short for a tl;dr, I no longer enjoy posting about the voice languages in localised Japanese games because of some recent events and realisations and I want to retire from the English Dubbed Game News page altogether.

It’s been about five years since I started all this with the Koei Warriors Rant Series and since then, everything I’ve done that’s related to English dub has brought me nothing but hate. I know it’s a bit of an exaggeration and some of my close fans may have something to say to the contrary, but I’ve been feeling quite negative lately and because of that, I think it’s a brutally honest summary.

After ending the Dub Logistics series, I thought the one thing I could do to repay my fans for their support over the years was to continue posting on EDGN. Personally, I think I’ve done enough already and also, as I said in a post back in August, I’ve been having doubts about the future of the page and what I want to do with it given my current interests. There are several factors that led to me having these doubts, which I’ll be outlining after the break. (I can’t even put horizontal lines in my posts with the rich text editor now, thanks Tumblr)

1. I was never interested in any game outside of the Koei Warriors series or any game I played in the past (eg. Dissidia Final Fantasy).

This really shouldn’t be a surprise to my fans because in the past, I’ve rarely posted anything outside of the series I was interested in, including the aforementioned series. If I came across something by chance and liked it, then I would do some investigation into it, but these days, the spark just doesn’t want to light up anymore.

I’ve never really taken the chance to buy new games because my family doesn’t believe in buying things that aren’t important and as such, I took that mantra to heart. While I never brought a PS3, I did get a Nintendo Wii, but I traded it in later for a Wii U and not a PS4, which I still regret to this day. I pirated my PSP, DS and PC games (let’s face it, who doesn’t) and played with emulators on my computer. I only got a Steam account to play Team Fortress 2 (laggy though it was on my shitty computer) and I never brought anything from it, which made it difficult for me to add friends on there (not that they really cared in the end).

By extension, this applies to anime as well, which is the reason why I never post anything outside of the same few animes on the Waifu Network or on my Facebook pages. My belief on sexism in anime has also contributed to this disinterest; the only reason why I’m still posting the same few animes is because I’m still somewhat interested in them and I’m grateful for how they inspired some personal projects of mine.

2. Various factors have led me to lose interest in video games, including the Koei Warriors Series.

The reason why I started my dub crusade in the first place was because of Warriors Orochi 3 (Ultimate) and Samurai Warriors 4 not being dubbed. The reason why I decided to jump ship was because of Dynasty Warriors 9 being dubbed, just not with the same cast I had grown to love. I know that there were extenuating circumstances for the latter, but given everything that happened between that time, my hope that the old English voice cast (since Dynasty Warriors 4-6/Warriors Orochi 1-2) would return to voice that game (and other future games) was gone.

In addition to the previous factor, I started to find myself with more commitments than I had in past years, along with some different interests that I picked up along the way. At first, I didn’t feel like playing games because of my commitments, but eventually, it got to the point where I didn’t want to play most video games again because of the disappointment I’ve experienced from Koei Tecmo. Learning about all the things that AAA gaming companies do to reduce expenditure and increase revenue turned me off from video games as well. In my opinion, it wasn’t so much a boycott (per se) than it was a loss of interest.

3. The original group of people who inspired me to start writing these rants are now gone.

I know I’ve had other fans since the start of all this, but the original group had a special place in all this because of it. There were four people in the original group, who I met on Koei’s original Facebook page, and they were as follows:

The first one did comment on my older stuff, but he left quite early, possibly since DW8E’s release. I saw that he deactivated his account some time in 2017.

The second one had a YouTube channel and he was an admin on one of my Facebook pages for some time, but then he left after a period of inactivity without any explanation.

The third one was the more prominent because of his LGBT status and mental health issues. In the middle of 2015, he announced to everyone that he was deactivating his Facebook account because it was a burden on his mental health. He reactivated his account some time later, but he deactivated it again in September 2017 and hasn’t come back since. During that time, I saw a post from him stating that he was going to take a lot of pills and commit suicide. I reported it to Facebook in the hope that it might encourage him to find some help, even though I remember him stating that nothing works for him anymore. When I noticed that he hadn’t come back to Facebook months after he deactivated his account the second time, I assumed the worst.

The fourth one, also known as the family man or “the last one standing”, deactivated his account in June this year. We never really talked much, but as I said in this post, I’m still grateful to him for helping me find the new weapon and Musou information in DW8E when the Koei Wiki didn’t have it yet (because the game was just released at the time).

4. The impact of the feud’s aftermath still haunts me to this day.

When I agreed to end the feud on a mutual understanding a couple of years back, I promised myself that I would quickly move on from the troll behind it and not keep reminding myself of everything that happened. However, I’m a person that’s prone to anxiety when I think of worst-case-scenarios and at times, I found myself thinking about what would have happened had my Facebook account been deleted just because a troll couldn’t take the L when he got owned by someone half his age (compare that to Leafy who made terrible criticisms of people who are older than him, then claimed that he can hide behind the fact that he is younger than them). Him coming back out of nowhere earlier this year didn’t do any favours for anyone either. Regardless of that, I’ve got my bottom ground and I’ll continue to live on it regardless of what anyone else thinks of me.

I’d like to take a moment to digress and talk about cancel culture and political censorship. Because both parties in the feud weren’t exactly that popular (we had our own little fanbases, but that’s it), me and the other party “cancelling” each other (admittedly) didn’t seem to have as much an effect as we had hoped. Other factors that contributed to this could be that cancel culture (an extension to call-out culture) wasn’t that much of a thing two years ago and when the other party tried to cancel me, he made no attempt to spread the word to his fans. It was likely that he was trying to show mercy, but that doesn’t explain why he kept reporting my posts relating to him and current events in Hong Kong, knowing that I would eventually get banned if I didn’t call him out on it. I was as much a victim than I admittedly was an offender of cancel culture.

Following the feud, I’ve become wary of social media censorship because I experienced what it was like for someone to get petty and get people deplatformed by mass reporting them. Other pages like meme pages have suffered the same fate in the past (mostly because people take certain jokes too seriously), but despite my hopes, it didn’t seem like Facebook was going to do anything about the petty mass-reporting of those pages. Recently, however, I’ve been seeing news on tech companies being grilled over the censorship of conservatives and President Trump criticising them for the same thing. I’m not saying that I’m supporting Trump backing the pages that are being censored (conservative, far-right, alt-right, you name it), but I hope that this can hopefully extend to random meme pages being reported for petty reasons.

5. Ever since I decided to stop being toxic, I found myself conflicted when confronted with more toxic comments to the point that I’ve started to become paranoid over negative criticism.

When I decided to change the #NoDubNoBuy page to EDGN, I hoped that the hate towards my page would be reduced somewhat, but I never expected that it would be gone entirely. Since then, three people have made negative comments on the page; one was a girl who saw one of my posts being shared on a private group, misunderstood the (new) purpose of the page and despite her attitude, was still somewhat respectful, one was a Europoor dub hater from Spain (from what I’ve seen and learnt, Europeans tend to be sub fans and/or dub haters because of their English comprehension and ability to read subtitles) and one was an Americuck soyboy dub hater who pointed out about “crybaby fans” (”fans” as in the gatekeeping term “fake fans”, never mind my theory that people, especially men, who call other people, especially other men, “crybabies” are actually spreading toxic masculinity) who liked stuff to be Americanised but didn’t acknowledge the Japanese origins.

I’m gonna go off on a tangent and do a bit of an ad-homimem here (but it’s alright because I’m going to rebut his point next) and point out that I called the Americuck a soyboy because he had quite a long beard, but to be honest, if I called everyone who had beards “soyboys”, that would make people like Count Dankula and Sargon of Akkad “soyboys” as well, so it’d be a pretty slippery slope if I didn’t clarify who I was talking about.

Now, I’m going to move back on another tangent and rebut the soyboy’s point, because I think this is a pretty important point to address. No one is saying outright that they want Japanese games to be Americanised in terms of cultural references (if 4Kids has taught us anything). Saying that Americanisation is responsible for bad dubbing is a bit like blaming video games for causing violence. If someone says that they would like a game to be dubbed into English in localisation, then it is presumed that they want the dialogue to be dubbed in addition to the text being translated (or “dublated”). Any cultural changes made to the game or the dialogue are entirely the responsibility of those who made those changes, like the gaming companies who censor stuff for Western audiences, so if you’re complaining about a Japanese game being too “Americanised”, don’t take it out on dub fans because chances are that they didn’t want the dub to be too “Americanised” either.

Completing the square and going back to the original tangent, I didn’t post any of their comments to the dub hater comments album because I had deleted it after the feud in the hope that I wouldn’t be as toxic as I had been before. You can probably already see how toxic I would probably be if the above responses were posted on the page and directed back at them, which would mean that I’m not upholding myself to the standards I wanted to follow.

6. I’m becoming more and more concerned about current events to worry about things like English dubbing in video games.

If you’re someone who has unironically thought that I was making a big deal over something you thought was minor, then this is going to sound very ironic for you. From all these years of learning and research, I’ve attained an expansive world view and while I have made jokes about current events in the past to lighten the mood or express my anger, deep down I’m actually concerned about these things, particularly in regards to Hong Kong during this politically sensitive time.

For some reason, my desire to make posts has decreased because in addition to the above factors, I’ve been getting more and more worried about current affairs. Granted, the point of things like anime and video games and the Internet is to provide an escape from reality, but in the end, I guess that you have to face it whether you like it or not.

Making the decision to stop posting on EDGN hasn’t been an easy one, but all the factors I described above have gradually made it easier. Like the Undub page did, I had considered changing the focus of my page to merely report on the voice languages of games without saying whether we approve or reject it because it isn’t dubbed in English/Japanese; that is, we report on them with an unbiased viewpoint. Not adding excessively biased pro-dub comments on our posts has made it more neutral, but in the end, it didn’t stop the dub hater cucks. I should point out that one of the reasons why I wanted to change the #NoDubNoBuy page to EDGN was so that we could reduce the amount of hate we were getting.

What was the original goal of me starting this dub crusade? If you have read my rants in the past, then you will have picked up my hopes that Japanese games would be localised to the West with full Japanese and English dubbing and that if game companies couldn’t achieve that, then they should apologise and explain why. Would I say that I achieved or failed to achieve this goal? Not really, because over the years, I learnt a lot about the video game and voiceover industries and gradually realised that it’s not as straightforward as I had initially hoped. To be honest, it was kind of stupid of me to hope that gaming companies would say anything straightforward about this, but on the other hand, I learnt that gaming companies are like politicians as well; they say the things they want to say and not the things people want to hear.

To my fans, particularly my close fans, feel free to send me your opinions about my decision, however if you’re trying to change my mind, then I’m not sure if it can be changed so easily. If you think that I haven’t lived up to what you expect from me, then I’m sorry, but in the end, I have to think of myself as well.

If I could say one thing to the dub fanbase, I want to ask why no one else has ever tried to do something like EDGN. You have your groups and pages on social media and yet, it had to take two people pissed off with the dubbing direction of gaming companies to do it. Granted, that was how the Undub page started, with the lack of Japanese voices in localised games, and yet they didn’t get as much hate as my page did.

If there is anyone out there who wants to follow in my footsteps and make a page like EDGN, let me be the first to give you my blessing because I’m not going to be like the Undub page when they discovered us and point fingers for copying their posts when in the end, games are the same to everyone. While transparency regarding voice languages has increased over the years, there was never a place where dub fans could know about what games were dubbed in English. You don’t have to be like me and make a series of rants about why some games aren’t dubbed, because I’ve already done it, but instead, I suggest going the unbiased route as I stated earlier. Of course, you don’t have to follow my advice - it’s your page, after all.

My plan is to retire from EDGN at the end of the year. I have 12 more games in the backlog, all with English voices, and I’m hoping to post them all on the page before then. I probably won’t remove myself as an admin (because I think there’ll be some petty, obsessed cuck who’ll dig out my posts and make a rant series on me or something), but I’ll probably have it so that I can forget about the page as time goes on.

With this, my dub crusade has come to an end. Once again, to the fans, I’m sorry and I thank you for your support. As always, it is your choice as to whether you wish to continue following me, whether on Facebook or Tumblr, after my retirement.

#english dub #video games #japanese games #japanese voices

1 note · View note

revivedandabandonedkids · 6 years

Text

Writing Tag Game

I was tagged by @vraberika literally just now holy cheese and puddings I am somewhat remembered and wow I was pleasantly surprised.

Seriously thank you so much/// You’re? The actual sweetest?

What is your total word count on AO3?

113153

Since? October of 2015 wow I write slowww

But to be fair I have tons of abandoned wips haha.

Pretty sure a huge chunk of it was from the DEH series I completed a while ago.

How often do you write?

When I get the time to do it. Between school and the translations I do on another site, there isn’t nearly enough spare time for writing than I’d like. Then there’s the writers’ blocks and those are always fun amiright

I really really wish I can write more though... at least finish up my previous wips hnggggg I’m very very sorry I’ve been so inactive but I just don’t have the time and effort to manage everything.

Do you have a routine for writing?

Not really? I just go with the flow mostly. Idk what you mean by “rountine”... I’m pretty...un-routinely.

What are your favorite kinks/tropes/pairing?

Enemies to friends/lovers probably. I don’t know why it’s always intrigued me!! I also love fantasy AUs <3

As for pairings... I have a bunch? But for the Ina fandom it’s afufubu (no surprise there)

Do you have a favorite fic of yours?

I automatically hate every fic I write because I’m never really “satisfied” with them. I mean yeah they probably took days, weeks, even months of planning and rewriting, but there’s always room for improvement, because I’m obviously not the best writer. I always get this feeling aw darn I ruined that idea. I bet [insert random fanfic writer] could do amazing things with this idea but I had to sabotage it.

As you can see I don’t have the highest self-esteem.

But if we’re really talking here.....

Probably either Freshly Drugged and Ready to be Slaughtered, which I wrote for the Haikyuu fandom, because I got to explore my version of the characters when put under the harsh environments that is the Hunger Games (and also I love writing angst AHAHA)

Or Tips to Teen Angst, Friendship Maintenance, and the Art of Matchmaking, which I wrote for the Dear Evan Hansen fandom. I got to write a bunch of fun texty dialogue. (I made them swear a lot whoops) I don’t know I really enjoyed the pacing of this one.

If we’re talking about the Ina fandom though- I’ve actually written a bunch of fics I never posted online. My favorite has got to be the one titled 吹雪（敦也）on my blog, which literally just means Fubuki (Atsuya). I like to sound sophisticated. Fight me.

I really love writing that one because I got the explore the dynamic between Aphrodi and Atsuya, who have never actually interacted onscreen!! It’s just so interesting!!! (Hi I’m a professional rarepair shipper. Romantic/platonic/rivalry we have it all!)

Your fic with the most kudos?

I don’t know what to say here because I’ve literally never put any of my Ina Eleven fics on AO3........ pysch!

How Do Friendships Work Again (Dear Evan Hansen), with 166 kudos. Which is strange. Because yes, I spent a lot of time and thought on that fic, it’s really not one I struggled with. It was not one of those ideas that I carry with me everywhere, it was not one of those stories that I spend forever revising and replanning. It was quick, it was written on a whim. I still cherish it very very much, but it just comes to show how the popularity of certain fandoms affect the stories’ feedback. I could spend grand lengths of time and devotion to this one, well thought-out fanfic I wrote of a rarepair, and get completely dismissed. I could spend a few hours to write this short, sweet fluff piece that doesn’t really hold much lore or depth, and get a bunch of attention just because people like that particular pairing.

Anything you don’t like about your writing?

Everything lol.

I have so much to work on.... The flow, the pacing, the vocabulary, the list goes on and on and on.

The only thing I can write is dialogue, and it’s not like I can make my characters talk forever.

Or maybe I could.

I should experiment it sometime.

Now something you do like about your writing?

Oops already answered that one above.

The dialogue, because I am a certified Trash-TalkerTM So I’m constantly applying that skill onto the sassier characters.

I mean people have told me that I write really fun dialogue and honestly I trust their tastes over mine.

Imma tag @ozrockbitway I guess? If you’d like? *hides behind a pillow*

I’m a huge.... outsider......... actually............because I’m always...........disappearing randomly....................and I apologize for that..............................I’malsoreallybadatmakingfriendssotheresthathaha

I’ll... try to be more active in the fandom but honestly? No promises. I love Ina Eleven because it made up a huge part of my early cringe teen years, and I always will love Ina Eleven, but I have school, I have other fandoms, I have other projects I’m working on and I don’t know how to divide my time fairly anymore. Especially recently I’ve been pushing myself to update things that I’m not really feeling, but because my followers are really looking forward to them, I update anyway. Not the healthiest, I know. I have no idea what I’m doing with my life anymore.

I honestly have a lot I’d like to say about the new Ina Eleven series, but I haven’t found the time to put them into words yet. I’d say keep a lookout if you’re interested in my piece of mind.

Thank you all so much for the support you’ve shown me in the past. You are all amazing, no matter what you might think or what others might say, every single one of you!! I hope you all have a wonderful day!!! And oh boy how in the world did this turn into a self-reflection post I thought this was a light and happy tag game.

#tag game #thank you guys so very very much when the hell am i coming out of hiatus tho #on a seperate note #broadway musicals are amazing people!! seriously you will not be disappointed

2 notes · View notes

fredheads · 7 years

Text

meditations on fred andrews, radical softness, trauma victimhood, turning the other cheek, and old folk/country tunes

I’ve been frustrated for the last week with Fred’s devil-may-care attitude toward his situation, and I’ve definitely sensed we all are – WHY ARE YOU SO CHILL ABOUT BEING SHOT, FRED?? I saw a post recently questioning why Fred doesn’t have Archie’s storyline – paranoia, revenge, reconciliation of trauma - and I wholeheartedly agreed! But then this episode happened and - holy smokes, it’s all connecting. So here’s why Fred’s characterization has me absolutely GAGGED this episode, and where it might be headed.

I’m getting revved up because I think I have a guess (or maybe a hope!) at where we’re going with Fred this season. Buckle up.

Let’s start here: Fred is a study in radical softness and non-toxic masculinities, and I’ll fight to the death about it. @village-skeptic has pointed out that I work with this a lot in my fanfic, but my stuff is absolutely just springboarding off what we are canonically given in the show.

FRED IS SOFT: A THESIS. We’ve seen Fred cry multiple times by now. We’ve just seen him admit he’s afraid and talk openly to Archie about fear. Fred is allowed to interact with this emotionality that isn’t typical of his gender, and definitely isn’t typical of all the male characters on the show. Especially when we stand Fred up against other father figures: tough guy FP and his gang activities (fp cries a lot too but that’s another post), Cliff and his patriarchal maple syrup empire, Hal watching sports on TV during the abortion fight - the way Fred specifically is allowed to be soft is pretty glaring when we put him in a room alongside any of the other dads. (and yet he’s soft in conjunction with typical masculine signifiers, but I get into that later. Hal isn’t not soft just because he’s watching sports, it’s a lot of other stuff.)

I have a .mov file labelled freddale on my laptop that’s all of the fred scenes spliced together without any other noise, so trust me when I say I see it everywhere. Arguably our favourite Fred/parenting scene is him validating Archie’s need to cry after the Grundy confrontation. His bisexuality is still fandom conjecture but there’s unmistakeably at least a little bit of gender trouble here: Fred’s main qualities are without a doubt nurturing and paternal. In Mary’s absence we see him interact equally with maternity and maternal roles as he does with typically “masculine” signifiers: beer, construction, ect. (tangibly related: Hermione got the job at Andrews Construction because one of Fred’s guys was gone on paternity leave. He’s at the very least a guy who gives his crew paternity leave.)

We know Riverdale is at least willing to spend some time meditating on different conceptions of masculinity because FP tells us Jughead isn’t interested in sports, he takes after his mom, and FP means that as a compliment. I think the fact that the overwhelming fandom perception of Fred has included the word soft speaks volumes. I’ll bend to the knowledge of someone more versed in astrology than I, but Fred the way I conceptualize him is definitely a cancer: sensitive, sentimental, emotional, family-oriented. (again, moon signs & the moon itself are associated with femininity, motherhood, etc but this is more conjecture so I won’t get too into it. But when we find out fred was born july 10th you heard it here first.)

Fred is a lover, not a fighter. You cannot argue with me that this is untrue. You cannot. Fred is a lover before a fighter, always. We rarely see him get aggressive (and even when we do it’s not that aggressive), never see him get violent. All his plots, (minus uhh whatever’s going on with that construction site thing) are about his feelings (his crush on Hermione, his divorce, his fear for Archie ect). That revenge hasn’t even occurred to him after the shooting is surprising to us, but pretty characteristic if we’re charting his behaviour throughout the series. His #1 most important thing is family. “THAT’S WHY I CAME BACK.” He came back from the other side for Archie. We absolutely feel frustrated at Fred’s inactivity at times, but what he’s doing even when he’s inactive in other ways (LITERALLY, when he’s in a coma, but throughout the whole events of the series as well) is always holding Archie close to his chest and silently, constantly, eternally looking out for him, warning him, helping him. He sometimes makes decisions (like letting Grundy go) that will spare Archie’s feelings in the moment without any foresight as to future repercussions. It’s all about protecting Archie’s feelings. Loyalty is a main cancer quality too, and loyalty to Archie is Fred’s #1 constant concern.

Fred’s also a silent, tactile lover: his signature comforting-archie move is the hand on the back of the neck (just off the top of my head you can see it during jughead and fp’s blowup, when mary leaves in s1, but there’s a ton more sprinkled throughout. I think he does it during the grundy confrontation??). He hugs a lot. Before he makes out with Hermione in the trailer she presses her hand to his chest and he takes it and holds it there. We get that in place of any excessive dialogue – we’ve seen Fred so far to be very economical with his words. He chooses when he talks and then he talks carefully. But touch is 100% the way he expresses himself. If you’re into love languages as I am, I trust you to agree with me that Fred is a physical touch person. It ties into his physicality in other aspects of his life – building, construction, but it’s also consistently how we’ve seen him express and give affection (Hermione, Archie) and that ties further into his position as possessor of soft, non-intellectual, non-aggressive loving. Non-aggressive, tender physical expressions of affection is something that a lot of men avoid for the specific fear of being unmanned by it, it’s something specifically coded feminine, so that’s further at work along those lines.

Ok let’s say you believe me that Fred is a vessel for emotional honesty and the eradication of toxic masculinity. What’s the point of this post, and what does it have to do with Fred’s potential character arc?

Well, Alice and Fred were having it out during the town hall, and Alice spilled the tea of the year:

“FRED ANDREWS, TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK, LIKE ALWAYS.”

No, no one vocally agreed with her, but no one was really startled by the accusation either. Because, yeah, she’s right: Fred up until now has been glaringly non-confrontational. I think it’s really safe to assume it’s part of his character. I know there’s been tons of scenes for me where something has been happening and I wanted Fred to step in, but he just kind of hovered in the background, occasionally touching Archie’s neck and looking sorrowful. (again, see the Grundy confrontation and Jughead and FP’s argument outside the school, but there are many more!! I think we get it when Keller and Kevin are facing off against Fred and Archie after Moose’s attack too). Fred never does anything wrong himself, but he lets things happen. Fred always takes the path of least resistance; he stagnates instead of being spurred into action. He’s planted firmly in the middle of fight-and-flight: instead of fighting or running I’d say he just stands still until it passes.

Think of our biggest collective grievances, all tied to non-confrontation and a failure to react: He let Jughead sleep in the garage!! Jughead ran away from the dance and no one – not even Fred, Parent of The Year – followed him!! HE. LET. GRUNDY. LEAVE. TOWN. WITHOUT. REPERCUSSION! He never hurt anyone directly, he just didn’t step in.

As much as I acknowledge that these inactions are due in part to, well, Luke not being written into every scene, they have always felt like character lapses to me. But if Riverdale is aware of it, as we can assume from Alice’s comment, could there be a longer game at play for this particular pitfall of Fred’s character?

He clearly always looks out for the best in people too: he’s defending the Southside at the town hall, we’ve heard him say “we don’t know that for sure” a lot when Archie’s making assumptions. Fred is slow to act, and another reason for it is his innocent-until-proven-guilty attitude about a lot of events and people. He turns the other cheek until he absolutely can’t ignore it anymore.

Enter Coward of the County, a 1979 country/folk ballad (or, rather, the Adam Harvey and Troy Cassar Daley cover, because that’s my preferred version, but bump whatever you can find). Here’s the lyrics.

TL;DR: The song tells the story of Tommy, a young man known as the coward of his town because of his tendency to step down from violence and avoid confrontation. Tommy’s father, who died in prison when Tommy was ten, told him before his death that Tommy should always walk away from trouble and not try to prove his manhood with violence, which is why Tommy reacts ( or doesn’t react ) the way he does. His father asked him:

Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done

Walk away from trouble if you can

It won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek

I hope you're old enough to understand

Son, you don't have to fight to be a man

Tommy has been devoted to his father’s words all his life. Three of Tommy’s tormentors are a group of brothers known as the Gattlin boys. One day they attack and rape Tommy’s girlfriend Becky, and when Tommy finds out he apologizes to his father’s memory, locks the door of the bar, and beats the everloving beejeebus out of the three of them, no longer heeding his father’s advice, but not letting them get away with it either. Here’s that confrontation, and the end of the song:

Twenty years of crawling was bottled up inside him He wasn't holding nothin' back, he let 'em have it all When Tommy left the barroom, not a Gatlin boy was standing He said, "this one's for Becky”, as he watched the last one fall (and I heard him say)

"I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you've done I walk away from trouble when I can Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek And papa, I sure hope you understand Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man"

It’s a meditation on manhood in a way, but to me that’s always been secondary to the main message of picking your battles, about being gentle and unaggressive while not allowing injustice to happen when you can do something about it. And it’s always spoken Fred to me, even though I wasn’t fully able to to reconcile why until this episode rolled around.

At first glance it reads more like an FP/Jughead story, and fairly so – “please don’t go down my path and end up in the slammer and lose the things that make you soft and unique in pursuit of a designated masculinity” is more or less exactly what we’ve heard from FP to Jughead. But the voice remains Fred’s to me – I think in a small way because he addresses Archie as “son” so often, but also because the repeated warnings Tommy’s dad gives him – ( “promise me you won’t do this” “walk away if you can” “it doesn’t mean you’re weak if you don’t fight” “you don’t have to fight”) are so emphatically close to the actual dialogue that we get from Fred to Archie in the show. How many promises has Archie made Fred? (and broken?) A huge percentage of Fred’s screentime is delivering this kind of advice to his son in these types of snippets. (In fact, the first thing we really significantly ever hear him say to Archie is the parental wisdom that if you’re confident enough in yourself, you don’t have to tell lies.) The delivery of parental wisdom – especially that tells us how to be a man softly and that manhood isn’t and shouldn’t be intrinsically linked to violence – is very much Fred’s realm.

I think the song caught my attention because of that message: that Tommy’s daddy was big enough and bad enough and man enough to go to prison and there realized that violence shouldn’t be what masculinity is all about is a pretty compelling argument for the toxicity of the maleness = aggression equation. Yet, the song also tries to navigate the question of how one can fight and defend oneself in a healthy way, and how one can identify with masculinity in a healthy way. There’s a lot of grey area where you try to draw that line through any of those points, and it seems almost right to see Fred try to navigate this as a trauma survivor.

I’ll return to Fred as a survivor of trauma in a sec, but let me finish drawing song parallels. Alice very clearly calls Fred out on his method of non-confrontation in a way that calls him a coward. His turn-the-other cheek mentality, now that’s spoken by Alice, is now an acknowledged character flaw with a past, and we can be confident that this is something Alice has seen again and again from Fred. Fred doesn’t step up. Fred doesn’t act. Fred lets things go. Fred is barely doing anything about the killer on the loose, for god’s sake, even though he was shot. Alice’s perception of Fred as cowardly ties into our own frustrations at Fred for being so silent and taking the path of least resistance all the time, even when his life is in the balance.

Tommy begins where Fred is – very hands-off, very uninterested in defending himself, seemingly unaffected by his trauma or by the opinions people hold of him. Fred’s manhood has no stake in aggression or violence, and his response is fear and disavowal rather than Archie’s out-and-out rage and desire for revenge. He’s not fussed about Alice’s – or what’s implied to be the whole town’s – perception of him. He’s willing to sit back and believe the cops will take care of the situation.

Tommy gets to the point, though, where he can’t be apathetic without becoming a bystander. His attack on the Gattlin boys for what they’ve done to Becky is a moment of catharsis, and a reconciliation of the inaction he’s performed all his life – “twenty years of crawling was bottled up inside him”.

Fred, in his turn, has a lot to be angry about, and a lot that he hasn’t acted on. Not just because he’s been shot, but because of everything Archie’s been through as a result of neglectful or harmful adults in his life, because of what’s happening with his business, because of all the ways his family has been failed or manipulated by the town. And we’ve barely seen any of the anger from him yet, not even in the face of his shooting, which is probably the greatest trauma he’s faced. So where is the subplot where Fred finally gets mad enough to seek out revenge? When is going to lock the barroom door and slam some heads?

I just called him a stander instead of a fighter or a flee-er, but let’s talk about the one time he does drop everything and fly into motion. We don’t know for sure exactly what happened in that diner, but I’m pretty sure we’re meant to assume he got his body in the way of Archie and took the bullet for him (an action he mirrors in his dream-realm, regardless, so we know he’s prepared to do it.) Fred does pick his battles, and whatever his commitment to non-violence, we know that he’d drop everything and do anything for Archie’s sake. I don’t think I’m reaching to say that Archie’s the person who would tip that scale: we’ve already seen it happen in small ways. Fred has the full capability of choosing when to act out in violence.

On trauma, though: The intersection of catharsis, healing, and revenge is another complicated element when we’re asking about Fred seeking or not seeking revenge on his shooter. Fred is a trauma victim who is momentarily disinterested in fighting back against the person who attacked him. Do we want to encourage him to fight back for the kind of catharsis that Tommy gets? Would fighting back be a source of healing for him? Would attacking the black hood be a release of his personal twenty years of crawling, or would it undo the work he’s done for himself in reconciling his softness and his masculinity? How do you reconcile trauma and still show mercy? When is it necessary to fight? Can radical softness still be radical if it lapses? Is that lapse itself radical? How do we even begin to answer these questions (especially on a cw show)?

I think this is where I start getting hopeful that all this is headed in the same direction. Here’s what I think: Fred is disinterested in revenge because he’s currently teaching us all a lesson in picking our battles. He’s keeping Archie close and embodying his greatest character flaw – inaction – in a way that’s connected to his greatest strength as a character – his non-toxic approach to masculinity and his soft, compassionate side. We know that Fred’s capable of choosing when to act, but that he typically chooses to turn the other cheek. He’s doing so now, and it’s frustrating, and thus is possibly being set up as a character flaw to overcome. And overcoming it demands action against the black hood specifically.

All this to say: I’m getting hopeful that we’re gearing up for a character arc where Fred overcomes his tendency to turn the other cheek and gets to pick his battle and then absolutely obliterates the black hood. For Archie’s sake, or his own healing. Fred’s a lover, not a fighter, but he’s getting to a place where to be one necessitates that he has to be the other: he has to protect the things he loves, and he has to pick when to be soft and when to be hard. Sometimes even the softest guys have to fight, and I for one won’t be mad if Fred comes out swinging. Give him Archie’s baseball bat and let him have at it.

#riverdale meta #riverdale #fred andrews #the town that dreaded sundown #the black hood #rape mention #archie andrews #coward of the county #masculinity #alice cooper #i just wrote 3000 words #does this even make sense? i was so hype and then i lost my train of thought #god i feel bad for ppl who are searching for the town that dreaded sundown movie content today

48 notes · View notes

abe-woodhull · 7 years

Text

Abraham Woodhull + Reimbursement

After the finale, I’ve seen a lot of talk about Abe’s continuous attempts to receive payment for all the money he’d lost while aiding the cause. I thought it’d be cool to share a little bit of historical context behind that!

I’m actually not completely unhappy about how this issue was portrayed in Turn like I am with a lot of the history the show takes licenses on. Was it historically accurate? Not especially. But that actually worked out better in some places and I enjoyed it.

So just . . . check it out if you have the time! It’s under the cut.

The History

Firstly, I’ll point out that in Alexander Rose’s book, mentions of payments is actually the second longest subject in Abe’s portion of the index. As I’m sure you’ll already know, payment was an extremely large issue in the army and spies and those who were a part of what we’d consider a secret service were no different.

I’ll try to quickly paint a picture for you of how spies were seen at this time. To be frank, it wasn’t pretty. They were seen as double-crossers and not just by the side they were double-crossing. Any book you read on the matter will tell you the unbelievably low opinion the public had on them, no matter if they were aiding one side or another. There was also the stigma that they worked for coin and bribes rather than a cause.

The Culpers were vexed with this societal assumption of what spies were. While one would think they’d not refer to themselves as spies, even in secret documents, for security reasons, they also did this for personal ones. They were “ashamed” of being spies, referring to the act as “this business” rather than its name.

More specifically, they refused to accept any payment for that exact reason, Woodhull being in this group. However, there was an agreement that all of his expenses from trips to gather intelligence and similar things would be reimbursed.

It is important to point out at this time that Abe wasn’t at a very profitable point. He had aging parents and an older sister to care for as well as the land he’d recently had to take over after both of his older brothers’ deaths a few years previously. Not on that, but things such as traveling to the city consistently was not only suspicious but expensive. Woodhull spent his own money and was promised reimbursement.

Washington frequently fell behind in payments to the Culpers. While it’s irresponsible to ignore that practically everyone was not receiving the payment they were owed, it’s also important to look at Washington’s reactions to his agents’ plights.

You would often find him in a very sour mood whenever Woodhull would try to ease the topic of reimbursement and funds into his letters. When Abe would receive word of this reaction, you’d find him thoroughly apologizing for affronting the general in some fashion.

There was once an instance where Washington responded to one of Abe’s inquiries and reminders about the debt owed to him saying that Woodhull, at that time, was of little service and was losing motivation. Abe, who greatly admired Washington, more than once disclosing his self-consciousness towards writing to “one of the worthiest men on earth,” was horrified to find that Washington thought this of him. Here is what he wrote back:

“Sorry we have been at so much cost and trouble for little or no purpose. He also mentions of my backwardness to serve. He certainly hath been misinformed. You are sensible I have been indefatigable, and have done it from a principle of duty rather than from any mercenary end.”

A reminder that at this time, Abe was owed a lot of money. He was an everyday person that needed to pay for everyday things and had quite the responsibility on his back. This seems to be a very mild response to such a thing in that situation. These sorts of interactions continued: Abe asking for money in a gentle manner, Washington seeming to get peeved over the issue, a circle of debt goes round.

The alternative response seems to be from Townsend. He was more displeased by not receiving what he was owed. At one point, even “going on strike” for a time until the debt owed to him was paid.

In the end, Woodhull did send a complete account of the debt owed to him, which was £125.6.4. In this communication, Abe asked Ben to make it clear to Washington that they have tried to be as frugal as possible. Washington’s response stated that he thought Abe was an “honest man” and he deserved payment. However, he also included:

“the services which were rendered by him (however well mean) was by no means adequate to these expenditures . . . I should have discontinued the services of S.C. long before a cessation of hostilities took place, because his communications were never frequent, and always tedious in getting to hand.”

Washington’s remarks, while a little angering, especially because of the great personal risk the ring took in service, were referring to a time when the ring was mostly inactive and somewhat unimportant. I will also note that Tallmadge decided not to pass on that remark to Woodhull.

Overall, Woodhull, while direct in issues at points, made it clear that he was trying to be as respectful and cautious as possible as to not upset the general. This was very true, especially when it came to the issue of money and reimbursement. Even when in trying times, he seemed to make it clear that he did not want to seem as if he were in this for the monetary gain. In times of danger, he’d often write that if he were to be in a situation of near discovery, he’d go to Connecticut and enlist.

From what I’ve read and tried to present, Abraham Woodhull’s intentions were pure when attempting to earn back what he’d lost. Then again, it’s all up to interpretation!

Turn’s Interpretation and How I Felt About It

I’m honestly glad that Washington was more considerate in Turn. They introduced the issue in the last episode (with some mention of it in the first season from Scott) and if Washington had reacted negatively, I doubt they would have had time to sufficiently address the issue. I must say, I was vocal about my worry when watching the finale whenever the issue was brought up, saying things like “Washington’s going to be SO MAD, Abe’s not going to get his money, it’s going to be a disaster.”

I’m thankful my worry was for nothing and I genuinely enjoyed the dinner scene, finding myself tearing up as Abe got the approval of Washington (who, by the way, is described as his hero a lot in the book) and the money to support his family.

What I took a little issue with though, was the fandom’s reaction to this. I often find myself in respectful disagreement with the fandom, especially where Abe is concerned. I mostly understand why many dislike him and God knows they have right to with some of the things he’s done. However, when this came along, I found people annoyed with him needing the funds to support his family after he’d risked his life for this cause?

I’m not entirely sure about you, but if I saw all of my successful, obviously well off friends come back into town while I was in such a situation, just trying to get by, I may not have waited so long. From what I know about Abe historically and fictionally speaking is that he wasn’t in this to be honored. I think in Turn, he knows he’s not a very honorable man, at least in 18th-century terms. He was in it to serve and he was put at a disadvantage because of it. I honestly don’t think his “interruption of dinner” was entirely inappropriate considering his situation and especially because the thing was meant to honor him in the first place when all he needed was money to get by.

I should honestly make a whole post about my opinion on that and the fandom’s reaction. So if you’re interested in that, let me know!

And if you’re interested in talking a bit more about the history surrounding the Culper Ring or Turn or anything, shoot me a message!

I promise I tried to shorten it where I could and make it more accessible. Hope you enjoyed!

#abraham woodhull #turn amc #amc turn #turn washington's spies #robert townsend #george washington #benjamin tallmage #mary woodhull #american revolution

44 notes · View notes

rhainontheshelves · 7 years

Text

Musical Theatre!Rocky

A/N: Please forgive me please!! You have a long-ass bullet scenario ahead of you if you choose to proceed because yo girl doesn't know how to condense rip This is dedicated to an awesome friend, @sanhatation! The feelings might be long past but I promised to write this for you. A short part 2 will be coming to describe the life under the stage lights. Happy Reading! - Rhin

Rocky originally wanted to go to school for dance

Why wouldn't he? He knows he's stellar

But, he also wanted to sing

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be possible for him to get a minor in vocal

Dance takes a lot of effort and practice hours

So he worried and thought about it a lot over his senior year of high school

One day, Sanha approached him with a poster

It was advertising auditions for the school spring play

Immediately, Rocky was interested; acting had always piqued his curiosity but he had never gotten a chance to try it

He accepted the offer

Cue many practice meets with Sanha (who was auditioning as well) to memorize the monologue required

He memorized it quickly, just like any step or note

Pretty soon he made it his own, reciting with sincerity and little hand motions

At one point Sanha wondered if it was even worth it to audition anymore because Rocky was killing it

Come audition day

The director and the people helping him judge were very impressed with this young man they only saw passing the theater to go to the practice rooms

By the end Rocky was virtually guaranteed a spot in the production

He walked out of there the proudest boy alive but also as the most internally dying and relieved it was over with

Because he will never admit it but the audition really stressed him out and he worried over miniscule details

About three days later the director approached Rocky

He wanted to talk about the role he was thinking of assigning to the boy

It was an important part, however it wasn't the lead

"It's your first time." Was the director's reason

This disappointed Rocky a bit but the director had come with a plan in mind

Rocky would also be assigned as the understudy for the lead

The director had some suspicions about the boy casted as the lead's loyalty to the show, so if he did leave Rocky would get the role he really deserved

This pleased both parties and the next day the cast list was posted

A month later, practices were in full swing after school

Rocky was well on his way to getting his part down word-perfect and memorizing the lead's lines

He liked the cast and had made some new friends

The vibe in this group was carefree and fun while still hard-working

That's Rocky in a nutshell so he fit in quite nicely

The only thing that he didn't like was the inactivity

There were plenty of stage directions, sure

places he needed to be and actions that needed to be carried out

but where was the variety?

he thought back to when he was a tot and his grandparents took him to a show

There was dancing and excitement and singing and emotion throughout the whole thing

he wondered what had changed since then

turns out nothing had

he was just in the wrong year

"We switch between musicals and plays every other year," giggled Doyeon, the girl who was casted as the female lead

"You just came a year too late. I'm sure you'll have a chance to do one sometime in the future."

Rocky sure hoped so

First show night couldn't have come fast enough

There were still parts that needed more work, which is normal in any production

But the director felt that this was the most prepared that any of his recent shows had been

certainly not because of how hard some had wanted work to catch up and surpass Rocky

The show went amazingly well but there are always the oopses

aka a couple of props falling apart in the user's hands

Improvisation is a wonderful thing

It seemed like bows came too soon

Rocky stood up at the front of the stage with the rest of the cast, smiling and waving a bit after their final bow

His heart was soaring

The only thing that compared was when he finished performing one of his own choreographed dances and he got a standing ovation

That's when he realized that this was what he wanted to with his life

Fast forward to the last part of 2nd quarter, freshman year of college

He had just finished his homework for a history class and headed down to the theater department to grab audition material for the spring musical

Gotta start early

He gets outside the professor's office and sees someone else is in there

So he hangs around and waits, because he can be patient

He ends up dancing for like ten minutes, waiting, because this meeting is taking a really long time??

The door finally opens and a really happy girl exits

Rocky swears that the hallway gets a bit brighter

She turns around to thank the professor one last time but sees Rocky and almost has a heart attack

She totally didn't notice him there

Now flustered, she rushes away without giving Rocky a chance to see if she was okay

Slightly confused, Rocky just watches her go

The professor is in the exact same boat Rocky is

So they let it go and have a small talk about what the auditions require

For the rest of the quarter Rocky sees the girl in a lot of his classes and comes to the conclusion that she has the same major he does

However, before he gets the chance to approach her Christmas Break rolls around and he's off on the road back home

3 weeks, one memorized song and dance routine later, 2nd semester starts

Musical auditions are at the end of the first week back

and that first week couldn't have seemed slower

Lectures stretched on forever and homework seemed to take twice as long as it usually did

Finally, the last class on Friday was dismissed and Rocky was out of there like lightning

his class ended about halfway through the audition hours r.i.p

He ran as fast as his dancer legs would carry him over to the auditorium

Luckily the line is semi-long so he has time to catch his breath

The line shortens to about half the length it was when another person sprints in

The thudding of tennis shoes makes Rocky look up from the sample script

lo and behold the girl that ran away that one day is bent over a couple of feet away from him

"Are auditions over?" she asks fearfully

"No, I'm the end of the line" he replies

"Okay, good" she comes over to stand next to him in line

Rocky wonders if she recognizes him

she barely got five seconds in before she dashed away so he figures probably not

silence settles

until she curses

"I forgot my music in my room" she hisses to herself, smacking her head

Rocky's mouth runs before she can

"You can borrow mine, I have it memorized anyway"

she stares at him in surprise

"Really?"

"Yeah, here"

"Thank you so much!" Her gloomy mood brightens and Rocky's world does too

"No problem"

By this time the next person is called, and Rocky is torn away from a perfect opportunity to talk to her.... again

The audition goes by fast as always

Rocky stays for the girl's audition

Now or never am i right

She does a great job

Dancing needs a bit of work but that comes with practice

He's still standing in the doorway when she comes up the aisle

she gives him a "why are you still here" look but quickly replaces it with a smile

"You did awesome!" she compliments

"Same to you," Rocky nods

"Nah, I was just average... Thanks again for letting me use your music, uh... what's your name?"

"Minhyuk, but you can call me Rocky if you want to."

Cue the Zelda "object acquired" music because a new friend has just been made: (Y/N)

Rocky walked (Y/N) back to her dorm and got to know her a bit

She indeed has the same major as him

Her dream was to be on Broadway someday

but she's going through a slump rn so things aren't going so hot

Rocky understands; that happened with him and dancing around 7th grade

He promises himself that he'll check up on her and make sure everything's going okay

so he acquires her number before she takes the stairs up to her floor

and proceeds to do just that over the rest of the semester

checking up becomes full-blown conversations complete with memes

and they became best friends

they both got into the production that year

which made them even closer ofc

Summer Break rolls around and (Y/N) and Rocky swear to not let distance separate them

it doesn't

and this friendship continues until Junior year....

when (Y/N) drops out

her parents can't continue to support her financially and she doesn't have enough to support herself

Rocky, of course, is devastated

Where will (Y/N) go? Will she be safe? What about her dream??

He dies inside while helping her move her stuff out of the dorms and into her car

He goes back to cry in his room when her car is finally out of sight

The rest of the day is spent reflecting on every single memory

especially the one where she finally remembered that he scared her that one day Freshman year

"That was yOU??????"

and Rocky realizes that his world is no longer as bright

they continue to message each other

but it teeters out after a few months bc (Y/N)'s working two jobs to pay off her debt

soon Rocky has lost all contact with his former best friend, although he never forgets her

Fast forward a few more years

Now Rocky's graduated with a Bachelors' in the Performing Arts

He just auditioned for a role in Newsies

It fits his skill set perfectly

Acrobatics?? Yas

He's feeling pretty confident until he steps out of the building and someone runs smack-dab into him

He's dazed for a bit but when he asks the person if they're okay, his brain goes on over drive

(Y/N)'s there staring back at him in shock, an audition packet in hand

Rocky grins and immediately encases (Y/N) in a hug, questions falling out of his mouth at a million miles an hour

All (Y/N) does is hug him back at first, but Rocky notices her hesitation so he lets go

"I'm so sorry, it's just been a long time and I've been worried? How are you?"

(Y/N) finally smiles and replies, "I'm just fine now."

the two catch up while (Y/N) waits in line for the female auditions

(Y/N) was on vacation and she overheard someone mention auditions

she had never forgotten her dream

and a small little voice told her that something good would happen there

now she knew what the good thing was

*nervous and awkward blushing from both parties*

(Y/N) was called in before she could say anything else, so Rocky waited for her outside

fifteen minutes later she comes out smiling

She has a really good feeling about it

About three hours later

(Y/ N) has to go back to her hotel so she can pack and catch her flight

Rocky is determined to never lose (Y/ N) again

Bc he realized over lunch with her that his world was bright again and he never wants that to end

So he walks her to the airport, insisting that he see her off

(Y/ N) pretends to mind, but she really doesn't

She really missed Rocky the second she got into her car Junior year

The exchange of cell phone numbers happens once again at the terminal

It takes Rocky a couple of minutes more to enter his new number into (Y/N)'s phone

When (Y/N) looks at his contact, she blushes

it reads: Minhyukkie 😘

it doesn't seem special, but it is bc Rocky was insistent that only his girlfriend could call him that

(Y/N) makes a mental note to ask him about it the next time she sees him

fast forward one last time to the phone call

(Y/N) and Rocky were both super excited when Rocky picked up his phone

They had just gotten phone calls saying that they had been accepted into the production

Their first reaction was to call each other

In fact Rocky was just about to hit the call button when (Y/ N)'s contact popped up

The first five minutes was just screaming tbh

Eventually proper congratulations were exchanged

But it got lost in all the excitement

They would see each other for the rest of their Newsies career

And that was possibly the best thing ever

#unfortunately this isn't very accurate to real life #I was already too far in when the info was released #Any way I hope you had fun at camp Riley!#remember the anon with a lot of questions?#yeah that was me #Bullet scenario #Rocky scenario #Astro Scenario #almost my brainchild #Rewrite (para)

47 notes · View notes

dreamcatcherthinks · 7 years

Text

Hey guys!

So..I’m starting college tomorrow and college means going to hostel. And I have absolutely no idea how strong the Wi-Fi connection is going to be. I don’t know how busy I’m going to be either.

And so I don’t know how active I can be on Tumblr. I want to apologize for that, especially to the ones who have just begun to follow me. Stick around a while okay? I’ll promise I’ll do my best to keep this blog alive. I love it too much to let it go! But of course, if you don’t want to stay, that’s fine too :) I understand.

Oh and I can only open Tumblr on my phone. I won’t have my laptop with me, a least for a few more weeks. So excuse any posts in that annoying HTML format alright?

I would also like to say sorry for how inactive I’ve been the past few weeks....it’s just been a tough time juggling around college applications with all the travelling I’ve been doing recently. (None of it was ‘fun’ travelling either -_-)

Please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes I’ve made in this post. I had to type this really quickly and my brain is all over the place right now :D

Well I say all this...but maybe I’m going to become too active on Tumblr, because I’ll be that one weird loner with zero friends, skulking around in the corner of the room. Hey, at least I’ll have good ol’ Tumblr for company!

#i'm really sorry guys #i'll try my best okay?#dreamcatchertalks #rambles

5 notes · View notes

nightscaped-archive · 6 years

Text

i know i already made a similar post before but i HATE how inactive i’ve been here lately (compared to what i’d like to consider my norm) and i’m going to focus on fixing that! apologies to everybody who’s been waiting for a reply from me, especially in the case of those who have written me starters. i DO plan on replying very soon, i promise i’m not ignoring anybody! i had a few other obligations that slowed me down and, besides that, i just haven’t been great at focusing recently --- the motivation and inspiration ARE there and i really, really want to write but i’ve been very easily distracted?

in any case, i’ve decided that i’m going to focus on getting stuff done here (and my other blogs, although they’re lower priority) over the weekend as a goal. whether or not i’ll succeed is kind of up in the air as my sister’s visiting right now and i THINK another sibling is coming home this evening but i WANT to write so i’ll try to focus! again, sorry to anybody who’s waiting for me! i want to get more active and, to be honest, i want to feel excited about writing kael; i've been feeling pretty decent about kael and the blog lately so i want to keep that mindset! c:<

but please don’t read this as me forcing myself to be here or me feeling as though rp is some kind of obligation! i’m saying this because i want to write and i want to relax & have fun writing! i don’t like being inactive because i feel like it’s a waste but also because it makes me miss kael (to some extent, i like writing scenarios in my head when i don’t get a chance to write asdfgfds)!

#✯┊ ❝ ˢᵗᵒᵖ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵃᶰᵈ ᶫᵒᵒᵏ ᵃᵗ ᵐᵉ ❞ (out.)#LETS GET PRODUCTIVE LETS GET PRODUCTIVE LETS GET PRODUCTIVE LETS GET PRODUCTIVE #I FEEL VERY INSPIRED BUT NOT VERY FOCUS it's.......................a useless mix #i also had a bunch of commission stuff to work through at the start of the month #some stuff i'm STILL working on & i feel bad that it's taken a little longer just bc i had to do a lot at once but... br eathe s

0 notes

zaffrefennec · 8 years

Text

Rant #3: Guaranteeing Life

I’ve been thinking recently, and none of its especially mollifying considering the current political climate. I’ll also make it no secret that I’m a card-carrying communist; maybe not the least controversial position to hold, but one I hold confidence in. Assurance of basic rights and liberties, promoting equality among all peoples, declaring that those who perform the actual labor of work should be the primary beneficiaries of such work’s profit, all good stuff. But lately I can’t help but look over my shoulder and see the sticks rather than the carrots when it comes to the application of communism and socialism, and looking around I don’t feel this has been adequately acknowledged. So let’s begin. Fundamentally, what drives me towards the rallying cry of the communists isn’t so much all the benefits promised, but rather knowing what it means to be in a system that does NOT value such principles. This blatant blind eye to the basest of reasons why communism is needed, whether intentionally obscured by capitalism or just an unforeseen byproduct of the industrial revolution leading up to late capitalist society, leaves everyone vulnerable. And it’s not hard to rationalize how this has been forgotten when modern lifestyle of even the moderately affluent affords a substantial protection from confronting this notion; middle class apathetics and bootstrappers, this post is squarely targeted at you. Putting it bluntly, the notion that should be at the core of any discussion of economic systems is this: humans are organisms in a much, MUCH greater ecosystem than themselves, and fundamentally can’t escape all of the consequences that entails.

Let’s take it back, way back, to when we barely even knew what fire was. At best we’d live to a ripe old age of 30, more often than not riddled with diseases and malnourished. We were naked apes carving out a niche in whatever location’s biosphere we came across, subject to the same laws of nature as every other living thing coexisting with us. If you couldn’t find and secure a water source, you died. If you couldn’t find or hunt enough food, you died. If you couldn’t find sufficient shelter to protect you from the elements and nearby carnivores, you died. The only saving grace humanity had wasn’t so much our intelligence, pivotal as it was, but our cooperation, our willingness to look after one another’s young and take care of the ill and share the spoils of the hunt. We survived by collectivizing.

Ultimately, what’s changed? Sure, we don’t have to worry about tigers snatching us away much anymore, but humans still can and do die from dehydration, starvation, exposure, disease. The universe hates our guts for existing in the cold, calculating, mechanical indifference of forces of nature and physics moving like the omnipresent clockwork that it is. That hasn’t changed, and if we’re honest with ourselves, neither have we. Knowing what’s truly at stake, what each individual is truly up against, does it not become absurd, grossly and vindictively so, that institutions sit on their hands in the face of their inaction resulting in real, tangible, accountable deaths because those in need aren’t valued, in the monetary sense, enough to live? Why are basic human rights not guaranteed in a concrete, evident, and consistent way?

Conversely, you can get a person to do damn near anything if they know their life is under threat, and don’t think for a second that corporations don’t know that and exploit it at every opportunity. There are videos out there that show deplorable conditions for both workers and livestock in the meat industry (oh how history repeats itself) and I guarantee that the vast majority of those laborers there would object to such cruelty IF they knew they’d be secure in their basic needs. But they’re not. The second they speak up their ass is out the door, along with their source of income and thusly food, water, shelter, medicine, and stability. It’s the perfect con, and one that communists have recognized for what it is for just about as long as communism has existed as a concept.

In the end, this isn’t a damnation of entrepreneurship, or saying that capitalism is completely at fault for every ill society faces, or even that capitalism hasn’t produced anything of value. What it is, is a sober reflection that humans are small, and fragile, and vulnerable, and as much as it looks like we’re flourishing, the baseline of the human condition still falls inhumanely short, with poverty rampant in the face of obscene hordes of wealth. The means of production must first and foremost be guaranteed to human life and the sustenance thereof within our finite pool of resources. The callous distancing of this responsibility to humanity by capitalism’s consumption can only serve itself, never us.

#communism #capitalism #government #bootstrap #politics

7 notes · View notes

echo-bleu · 3 years

Text

Tagged by @eveningspirit thank you love! I’m doing it right now so I don’t forget as I usually do.

1. Why did you choose your url?

I chose the name Echo for myself when I wanted to have something more gender-neutral (or possibly it chose me, cause it was instant love). The other bit is kinda random, but in French.

2. Any side blogs?

No. I have my old url as a side blog for redirecting purposes (easier than going through 3 years of fics on AO3 to change the urls).

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

Around the time I started posting fics again after a long hiatus, so 2018-ish? I came for the Gifted fandom (what little there was) and made an amazing friend, so I never looked back.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

No. I’ll queue posts if I’m reblogging a lot at the same time and sometimes schedule self-reblogs, but that’s it. If you see something from me, I’m probably here.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Because I was hyperfixating on a show and not getting enough content. Tumblr seemed to be where the cool fandom kids were.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Drew it. Liked it. It fits my aesthetic. (aka, I don’t have an aesthetic, but I like cute dragons and my url says blue)

7. Why did you choose your header?

I changed it a few days ago to a more recent drawing, so it’s currently Pride Malec. I just use it to showcase one of my pieces usually.

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

Probably one of those accursed Alex Manes + disability gifsets I made. They still get notes occasionally and I’m mad about that because I’m so mad at the show.

Oh, I stand corrected. For some reason it’s one of the worst quickest drawings I’ve posted. Pretty sure that’s just because the Leverage fandom is the largest fandom I’m (marginally) in, and waking up beautifully with the sequel.

The accursed gifset is second.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

Uh 90 apparently? I don’t know why some of you are still following me but thank you all

10. How many followers do you have?

608. Wow.

11. How many people do you follow?

320, but probably half are inactive.

12. Have you ever made a shit post?

Nah

13. How often do you use tumblr a day?

Too much

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

I hate conflict and I’m not into discourse. I try to avoid it actively, actually.

15. How do you feel about the ‘you need to reblog’ posts?

My brain goes nope, whatever the subject.

16. Do you like tag games?

I love being tagged! I’ll probably forget to do it but it will definitely make me smile. And occasionally I actually remember.

17. Do you like ask games?

Same, I love asks! At certain points I did too many of those and struggled to answer, and I definitely did too many of those “send me an ask with a prompt” especially as one of those prompts is now a 60k fic that won’t end. So I promised myself not to do it again. (spoiler: I will do it again.)

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

@ao3commentoftheday follows me, I’m not sure why but I definitely appreciate it!

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Ah. Crushes don’t seem to be something I experience. I have very good friends on here, and @eveningspirit is definitely one of those, and I have a few people I would really like to know better/really become friends with but am too self-conscious to reach out to. Which is also why I won’t name them.

20. Tags!

@moonlight-breeze-44 @arialerendeair @cuubism @faejilly @lire-casander @villiageidiot

#tag game #echo's rambling

11 notes · View notes

clickwish2-blog · 6 years

Text

Tips for Stress-Free Weeknight Cooking

This post was sponsored by California prunes, through Kitchen PLAY.

I used to be really good about sitting down every Sunday morning and planning out my meals for the week, but lately, life has gotten in the way and that’s fallen to the wayside. My weekends are just too busy, especially in the summer. Since I’m not good at winging it, no planning usually means I come home, stare blankly at the fridge for a few minutes, and order delivery. It’s not good for my diet or my bank account.

Thankfully, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve that help ease the pain and take some of the stress out of weeknight cooking.

1. Meal Kit Services

It might sound funny coming from a food blogger, but meal kits are my personal secret weapon for weeknight cooking. Not having to come up with ideas of what to make takes away a ton of stress, and it’s amazing how much time you save when you don’t have to measure and prep your ingredients. I’ve tried a few different services and all of them have been great for various reasons. A few weeks ago, California prunes sent me a box from Chef’d which is a new to me service that delivers easy to make, pre-portioned and ready-to-cook meals.

Chef’d and California prunes recently partnered to launch three kits with recipes developed by The Nutrition Twins®, nationally recognized registered dietitian nutritionists Tammy Lakatos Shames and Lyssie Lakatos. I was really excited to try the Moroccan Spiced Shrimp Skewers with Toasted Chickpeas, and California Prunes & Quinoa Salad (pictured above). As promised, the recipe was easy to make and delicious. They sent everything I needed, right down to the wooden skewers, and pre-measured quinoa and shredded carrots meant I didn’t need to spend much time on prep at all. Plus, check out the size of those shrimp! My kit also made enough that I had leftovers for the next day – score!

This meal did take some time to prepare, but that was mostly because it takes a half hour to boil quinoa. Take care of that ahead of time on the weekend, and you’d be well on your way to a lightning fast weeknight dinner. Chef’d also sent a few single serving packets of prunes for snacking. These are great to keep in my purse for an on-the-go snack – a single serving has 100 calories and 3 grams of fiber and it prevents me from getting too hangry before I get home.

2. Grocery Delivery

Grocery delivery is the next best thing to meal kits when it comes to taking some of the stress out of weeknight cooking. You still have to decide what you want to make and do the prep work yourself, but not having to actually go to the store saves a lot of time. I can look through my favorite healthy cookbooks and blogs for recipe ideas and order the ingredients right from my couch. I also tend to save money since I’m less likely to make impulse purchases. Less cookies in my cart means more money in my pocket, which is always a good thing.

3. Sheet Pan Meals

I’m a huge fan of making healthy sheet pan dinners. All you have to do is combine a protein, a starch, and vegetables on a sheet pan and let the oven do the work for you. These do take a little time to cook, but it’s inactive time so you can put your feet up, pour a glass of wine, or change into your comfy clothes while dinner is getting ready. Once your food is cooked, finish it off with a flavorful sauce to add some interest. My favorites are pesto, chimichurri, and peanut sauce. With a little experimenting, you can turn just about anything into a sheet pan meal – from General Tso’s Chicken to sausage and gnocchi.

4. Slow Cookers/Pressure Cookers

I have a slow cooker and an electric pressure cooker, and I use both depending on my mood and when I feel like doing prep. Both are great for saucy foods like pulled pork or stews, that use a lot of cooking liquid. When I know I’m going to have a late night the next day, I’ll prep ingredients before bed and keep them in the fridge overnight, then throw them into the slow cooker in the morning. It only takes a few minutes and dinner, like this honey bourbon pulled chicken, is ready and waiting for me when I get home.

When I have more time after work, I usually turn to my pressure cooker. These are better suited for recipes like Instant Pot Chicken Curry that are a little more complicated and require you to sear meat or sauté vegetables. They do take some time to heat up, but are often quicker and easier than cooking on the stovetop. I think of pressure cooker meals as an alternative to sheet pan meals. They’re also great for meal prep – I can easily make a big batch of boiled eggs to last me through the week.

5. Quick Cooking Proteins

Save the chops and roasts for the weekend. Quick cooking proteins like shrimp, salmon, beans, and tofu are my weeknight staples. Shrimp and salmon take less than 5 minutes on the grill or under the broiler (check out this Two-Minute Salmon Teryaki) and beans just need to be heated or strewn on top of a salad.

This time of year, I also always have a pack of organic beef burgers in my freezer for easy grilling. You can cook them right from frozen and they come out great. I skip the bun and wrap them in lettuce to save calories – plus they taste meatier that way! You could also use premade meatballs to majorly cut down on prep time for my North African Meatballs with California Prunes and Pine Nuts.

Mix and match these tips to create a weeknight meal plan that works for you and your lifestyle. Depending on the week, I’ll usually buy 2 or 3 nights of dinners from a meal kit service and then order groceries to make a sheet pan meal, a slow cooker or pressure cooker meal, and a quick protein to use on its own or for topping a salad. Pulling an idea or two from each category makes coming up with ideas easier and keeps things interesting so I don’t feel like we’re eating the same thing every night. And going into the week with a plan means I’m more likely to actually cook and eat a healthy dinner!

Source: https://www.healthy-delicious.com/tips-for-stress-free-weeknight-cooking/

0 notes

musicalevangeline-blog · 6 years

Text

Blog Post #8

29My responses to the appendix interview and my mom’s answers

• If you think of a few recent purchases what were the main factors that influenced your purchase? Usually my purchases are out of necessity or spontaneity. It’s either something I need, or something I want in the spur of the moment. Usually price.

• What was your last music-related purchase? I bought a concert ticket to see one of my favorite singers with my best friend. I bought a Pink Floyd T-shirt that I found in the boys section at JCPenney’s and it was five dollars

• What were the main reasons/motivations behind the purchase? It’s a person I really love and admire and I haven’t been to an actual concert in years, so like why not? It was five dollars and it had Pink Floyd on it

• What kind of music do you like? I like a lot of music, I can even stand country music sometimes. Mostly, I like slow sad sounding music, or music that makes me feel something. Music I like.... I like pretty much everything except hard core rap and country music. Specifically I like rock n roll and hip hop dance music

• How do you consume music—i.e., how do you buy it/ when do you watch/listen to it/where do you watch/ listen to it? I usually listen to spotify whenever i’m using my laptop, or if im listening on my phone I listen to the music ive purchased through google play. In the car I listen to CDs or the radio. I mostly listen to it on the radio at home in the car or on my iPhone via Pandora or iTunes

• What are your opinions on the current music industry as a whole? I feel like there are a lot of people who don’t get the recognition they deserve, and some people who get recognition they don’t deserve. This can really be said for just about any industry though. What does that mean? (evie gives brief explaination) Well, I don’t know any of them personally...

• How much of an influence would your favorite musicians have on you as a person? I think a lot of my favorite artists have shaped who I am, and I draw a lot from the music I listen to in terms of i dont know, personality and the way I deal with things. None. Although when Chester benigton killed himself that really pissed me off because his music had a lot of influence on overcoming obstacles and then he offs himself. That was lame. But really they can take a stand for whatever and unless they are complete bigot assholes I’ll still listen to their music.

• How about on your purchases? I want to support these people, so yeah I’m going to buy their stuff if I can afford it, especially up and coming artists that I really want to see succeed. Also, maybe they influence my purchases on things like clothes and stuff. No.

• Do you consider social responsibility and/or ethical considerations when making purchases of products/ services in the area of music? There are some artists that while I enjoy their music, I don’t agree with actions they take or how they feel about certain topics. I’m less likely to purchase anything related to an artist who’s actions I don’t agree with, and here I think I’m mostly talking about people like Chris Brown who literally is an abuser and takes what he wants whenever he wants it and is literally just an awful person. No.

• Can you think of ways that musicians/bands currently engage in socially responsible behavior? There’s a lot going on in the world, and a lot of issues that need representation and awareness in order to get anything done, and music and artists are a great way to send these messages. Even just being openly supportive of a cause, or donating money to a cause can really bring awareness. When they preach about politics during their concerts instead of singing or when they bring kids up on stage that really enjoy their music during concerts and cater to their fans that’s a good one.

• Do any recent examples of socially responsible behavior within the music industry come to mind? Taylor Swift and her suing the guy who sexually assaulted her for a dollar, not to get any money but to call to action this kind of thing that happens all the time and shouldn’t be normalized. She also donated a large sum to sexual assault survivors and historically has donated a lot to disaster relief funds and fans who need help financially. In 2015 she donated $50,000 to a fan who was diagnosed with Leukemia. It’s because of Swift that GoFundMe had to raise the amount a person is allowed to donate at a time. Hearing about some musicians donating lots of money to a specific causes. My favorite is Jon Bon Jovi and how he has a restaurant that caters to the hungry and the homeless.

• Have you considered aspects of socially responsible behavior when you have attended live music events? Historically, not really. However the only concert i’ve been to in the last five years was to see the Wallflowers. In the past I’ve seen some bands live that now I don’t think I’d really want to see again. Not always, but at least sometimes you can tell a lot about an artist or band by their fans, and some of the music I used to listen to in lets say middle school, definitely have views a lot different from what I know now. No.

• Have you engaged in socially responsible behavior at live music events? No. Yes. (evie: care to elaborate?) Sitting down so people can see behind me saying please when walking through the crowd. Saying excuse me.

• How would you define a socially responsible musician? I think I remember reading an article about an artist who stopped a show after seeing a fan in the audience having a panic attack, and made sure to get this fan help before continuing (after some research, this artist was Harry Styles) and there have been other instances like this (Drake stops concert to call out groping, Linkin Park also stops show to help a fan, etc.). I think this is what it means to be socially responsible. There’s a lot that’s going on in a crowd at a show, and for an artist to call out a bad situation really shows that. A musician that shows social responsibility to me it is defined as a musician that preaches love and community and is involved and good fundraising for programs that help society, like Bon Jovi. I think he is a prime example of what a musician that shows social responsibility.

• Do you think it is important for them to act in a socially responsible way? Yes. It shows that a person cares about their fans, and not just the money they make off of them, and in this age if you’re neutral in situations of injustice, you’re on the side of the oppressor. Yes.

• Would you be more likely to buy an album/attend a concert of an artist that you perceive to be engaged in socially responsible behavior? Yes. Yes.

• Have you attended a live event due to the socially responsible aspect of the event? No. Yes but only because I was working (she’s a stage-hand).

• How would you compare the role that social responsibility plays in everyday consumption decisions to music consumption decisions? People look for brands that are socially responsible in a lot of their purchases. Whether a brand tests on animals, or companies that are tied to a charity. I know I tend to shop at target, one because I love target, and two because I know they have a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Hospital and having that knowledge makes me feel even better when shopping there. There are also stores and other places I refuse to shop at, such as Goodwill because of their inaction to help people, despite their claims otherwise. (Goodwill had a thing going where when purchasing goods you could round up to the nearest dollar, and the extra few cents would be donated to veterans. No money was ever donated and goodwill managers are frequently seen refusing to provide clothing to homeless people (including veterans) despite claiming they would clothe any homless person who came to the store.) For younger people I say that is a big factor but for my age not so much. (evie: I told her what I put for my answer) Yes, those are good examples. I definitely agree with that.

2.) Anyone can say anything to get attention, but it’s action and reaction that determine real intentions. Like I said earlier in my interview answers, Goodwill for example claims to be a place of donation, yet the Goodwill CEO makes $729,000 annually and their employees don’t make a living wage. An they aren’t the only company that makes promises like this and don’t follow through. I think it’s important for artists, while preaching a certain message, uphold the ideals that they are setting. And there are a lot of artists that do a lot of good. Thom Yorke for example, and Bon Jovi like my mom mentioned. Thom Yorke engages in eco-friendly events and lives eco-friendly so you know he’s not just doing these things for publicity. Unlike Thom Yorke and many others, there are many people who will preach the importance of donating to charity but run these multi-million dollar empires without contributing a dime to anything worthwhile that has the potential to change the world. This doesn’t just apply to musicians either, there are a lot of rich people in the spot light that don’t do anything or don’t do enough. The article states: “Music is a powerful vehicle through which tastes and values are understood, and social groups and subcultures are formed.” While I completely agree with. A lot of the music I listen to reflects what I believe and who I am, and where my values align. I find that people who share my same music interests tend to have a lot of the same views as I do, not always but a significant amount of time. A lot of music I listened to when I was younger, I didn’t really understand, and I see that some of the people that listen to that kind of music now are people I tend to not want to associate with, as I don’t want to associate with that music anymore either.

I think the video by Lin Manuel Miranda where he wrote a song and had a bunch of other Latin American artists come together to raise money was a great example of an artist being authentic in promoting something. This project was close to him, as someone who’s parents immigrated from Puerto Rico, and this wasn’t the only action he took in support of the relief fund for Puerto Rico. He promoted this charity on talk shows, visited Puerto Rico, brought Hamilton to Puerto Rico and provided a way to allow impoverished people to see his show, and has donated around 2.5 million towards this cause and other causes through his words and his work. Not only this, but he continues to raise money for other causes, such as March for our Lives (Starting with his collaborative song with Ben Platt). Since LMM’s rise to fame, he has never stopped giving back to the community and working for equality across every issue.

I currently don’t have an example of the opposite, where an artist doesn’t meet up to their claims, but will try to think of one before class.

0 notes

kinfolk-pick-me-up · 7 years

Note

Are you guys okay?

Hello Anon :). Thank you for your concern. I have often apologized for the inactivity on the blog and unsurprisingly I will be repeating that. Personally (I’m Mod Johnny) I’ve been pretty sick mentally this entire year. I’ll actually be taking another full semester of college since I’ve been unable to work and generally do the things expected of me in order to graduate. A lot of bad things happened this year, and the bad things reminded me of other bad things. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a weekly therapist either and until very recently my mental health made it extremely hard for me to actually take initiative in healing.Additionally as a senior I’m expected to complete a rather large project, both as a way of showing everything I learnt at Hampshire and a way of expressing my passions as a student. It’s a lot of work.This blog is one of those things where if I work on it, I want to work on it at my BEST. Or at least when I’m finally in a decent head space. I want to be able to put thought, time, effort and (most importantly) passion into my responses. Especially since a lot of people like getting motivational self-care I know that if I try responding to requests when I can barely function they’re going to be unhelpful and may even sound uncaring and dismissive. Which would be harmful of course and I would hate to do that to anybody.So I promise it’s not because I’ve stopped caring about people or that I don’t think it’s worth my time to try and help. In my particular situation, I just don’t have the energy for the work I WANT to do and I’m far too anxious about accidentally doing harm to try giving advice when I’m in this kind of place.The good news is that it seems recently the little things are finally coming together. I’m hoping that over the summer, depending on what kind of job I get and how my senior project is going, I will finally be able to return to this blog and resume this work.As for the others, I know one mod has also been struggling with intense mental health problems and schoolwork. Another mod is in a very tough living/financial situation and also has been having to deal with mental health problems. I did add back another old mod but I can imagine this can feel overwhelming to come to and discouraging that nobody else would be active. So I have absolutely no judgement about inactivity on that end.Ultimately when the time comes I’ll have to also address what happens to the extremely outdated requests in our inbox. At this point, I’m inclined to say that the vast majority of requests may be cleared out since they’re most likely all irrelevant. I admit I feel guilty, people came to me for help in a time when it was needed and I failed them. Which is why I always apologize, even if I have understandable reasons I still need to own the responsibility I have over the blog, especially as the founder.So I guess the TL;DR version is: I, mod Johnny, am not doing okay. But I think, genuinely think, that in the nearer future I’ll finally be getting better. The other mods are all in tough situations as well and the new-old mod I haven’t heard from but I feel is completely justified in being inactive since it is my responsibility, not his, to take initiative and take care of the blog.Thanks again for the concern Anon, I appreciate it. When I post this response I’ll give the link to the other mods if they would like to elaborate on their situations. I didn’t want to specify who is going through for privacy sake, since it’s not really my place to share details about peoples lives, which is also why I was a bit vague.

#mod Johnny #mod response #Anonymous

0 notes