#and a list so i can properly introduce myself into the community

[princessacanthaster]

As I start to jot down my "platonic" f/os im kinda realizing i dont...actually feel anything towards them. and its not a fictional thing i feel it 4 people too

i experienced platonic attraction before but now for several months i just dont really feel it anymore

Ermm....aplatonic self shipper nation rise (specifically caedplatonic ...? maybe)

[rqbossman]

Hello Mr Bossman! (and possibly anyone else who reads this)

Its an honour to be here, I have a few questions. First i appologise for the long paragraph, you may dismiss it for the questions at the bottom. For context, i am here after finishing TMA and being up to date with TMAP, i then went over and listened to RQG, and have just finished listening to Epilogue 3 and might i just say, good sir I am grateful for your podcasts. I am currently just a few months away from my final exams of High School, and as someone who even just 1 year ago was very lost, struggling with school and being just overwhelmed. TMA isnt exactly comforting, but the characters and plot managed to serve as a good form of escapism while sorting myself out. I found my self engaging more in creative things that i had originally put aside in favour of maths and science (which i hated but thought i needed to do). I started drawing again, even if just fanart. and i found things going well. By finding podcasts, story telling and these communities have helped me in my own understanding of what i want in life. I got an ADHD diagnosis earlier this year, and almost directly after started RQG and as my first hyperfixation (that i was aware of as an hyperfixation) gosh dang it hit hard. (in a good way). Ive been able to do so much more creative writing and drawings, and got re-involved with a small dnd group with some friends who i played one game with almost 4 years ago now. So overall, inspirational sounds cringe, but it was. Im doing my best with the upcoming exams, but trying to get in to Medicine is not my only prority, and the fact ive been re-introduced to my first love (Literature and story telling), im planning to go do an Arts degree and i know i wouldnt have been able to confidently make this decision, or even have survived this long in the school system without the work you and your coworkers do. Now the sap is out of the way, Question time! (if you could answer even just one of these questions it would be so cool)(they go in order of RQ relevant to random stuff)(dont feel pressured to answer all/any. i know i wrote alot): 1. what would you say is the best way to draft out a long-form story. (with "Erasing the Line" as an example) Did you start at the end, with the links to the overarching plot.

2. When working with the players (in a form of TTRPG), what did you do to make sure you didnt miss relevant timing of plot points/ avoid creating spoilers while still giving enough detail?

3. What are good places to start with making a job out of storytelling/voice acting/audio etc. In the case of RQ, how is this a job and where do i sign up please! /j (what i mean is, how is best way/how did you find all the people involved and was there a common path that you were all on before getting to where you are now?) 4. Do you have recommendations for Terry Pratchett Books, i may be an literary-leaning student, but it seems i have never actually properly read any of his books. so where is best place to start?/What did you read first?

5. Similar authors or similar inspirations? Did you have a favourite podcast you listen to in your free time that you havnt had a hand in producing/directing/working on. 6. Favourite song/album/artist. And more specifically, what you like listening to in background when doing either writing or (for ttrpg) character research/game planing. 7. Since the olympics are on at the moment, what has been your favourite sport to watch, if you have been watching at all. Thank you for your time :)

Thankyou for all the kind words. Knowing our work is helping people really keeps our engines fired up. Let's see if I can't answer your questions: 1. I "sandbox" which is where I just shove everything I can think of into an unorganised bullet point list. Characters, setting, plot, all of it in one big mess. Then I decide what type of story you want to tell, copy and paste to a new document and then start to organise the thoughts (with the sandbox on standby if new stuff comes in I don't know what to do with). I think of it like scultping, you cut away bits and reshape until something comes out the other end that is story shaped. Only then do I attempt to build the sandcastle and put something coherant together like a synopsis or scratch draft etc.

2. Very tricky. I did a complete review and update of all notes after each recording session and don't forget the audio eas edited. I made lots of gaffs that you never heard as audience.

3. I contacted anyone I could convince to take part and just proved I was serious by overworking. I don't reccomend that route. Unfortunately it really is "who" you know. That doesn't mean chase established professionals as much as it means you need to get out there and associate with other up-and-comers who match your vibe. For me the route was long and windy and not a particularly good example. 4. I normally recommend people do not read his books in publication order. Don't get me wrong, its wonderful watching his craft grow from one title to the next but I would recommend new readers tip their toe into his later works to see if they like where he ended up before committing the time. I often recommend 'Monstrous Regiment' as people's first one. My favourite though is 'Thief of Time.'

5. I don't get much time to listen to podcasts in the last couple of years. I used to listen to a lot of non fiction. 'Stuff you Should Know' and that ilk. I also read a fair amount of classic YA fiction to unwind (Windinsger trilogy, Bartimeous, stuff like that.) 6. Paul Simon's Graceland but when working I assemble a playlist for each seperate project that is tonally appropriate. If I really need to focus I listen to Classical Minimalism. Or the Old School Runescape soundtrack. I'm allowed to be ecclectic. 7. I am actually in an incredibly busy work crunch at the moment so haven't seen any of it!

[ant111fragile]

Hiiiiiiiiiiiii. Ok let me introduce myself. my name is seri. I’m a master shifter and my main destinations are different points in history. I have no idea why history isn’t more popular in the shifting community. Like the things I’ve experienced first hand are amazing. Like I’ve seen things with my own eyes that we learn about in history textbooks. It’s the most amazing experience. I’ve been to alot of drs too like hogwarts, mcu, fame, love dr, avatar and so many more but nothing compares to seeing our worlds history for myself.

Some of my fave times I’ve been too: ( I changed my gender to a boy for most of these drs because I wouldn’t be able to experience it properly as a woman because of the time periods and I didn’t want to change history )

The making of the pyramids

Cleopatras ruling

King Tutankhamen

The making of the Great Wall of China

The first man to land on the moon ( I scripted I was a part of crew for the mission )

Queen Elizabeth the firsts ruling

The independence of America

The battle of Hastings

Ancient Greek

Ancient Rome

Seeing the Mona Lisa being made

Meeting Vincent Van Gogh

The Black Death ( I didn’t go to see people die I lived as a part of the government cause I always wanted to know how they tried to deal with it. There was so much panic )

Seeing Martin Luther kind jr give his “ I have a dream” speech in person

The crowning of queen elizabeth the seconds coronation

Meeting William Shakespeare

The Christmas truce

Pompeii before it way destroyed ( it was beautiful )

Seeing the 7 wonders of the ancient world

Hanging garden of babylon

Seeing ancient structures when they were actually In use ( the colosseum, temple of Hera, so many more I can’t even list )

Getting the great honour to learn kalaripayattu in ancient India

And genuinely just getting to live life seeing these people go about their own lives. Beautiful

I’m not going to list anymore cause there so many but I have experienced the beginning of the first humans millions of years ago to the making of the I phone. I am so honoured I get to experience these events and meet the people in the stories we learn. It’s crazy because to us it’s this amazing history we can only imagine but to them it’s just life. They no nothing else. They don’t know how truely incredible they are in our history. I can’t wait to experience more. Maybe one day I’ll even go into the future. Who knows.

Also something else I did was meet Van Gogh and take him to the dr future to the Van Gogh museum so he can see he wasn’t a failure. So he could see he made it. I took this idea after watching doctor who and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I still get chills. To see this man who died thinking he was nothing getting to see a the future where he is known as one of the greatest artists of all time. My favorite shifting experience ever

Woooaaahhhh!! That's like suppoerr cooll!! I'm so happy for you and that is such a cool idea ajajajsk😭❣️

[genericpuff]

Lore Olympus Art Analysis - Getting to the Bottom of It

For ages now it's been a common point of discussion - what's the process involved in Rachel's creation of Lore Olympus?

As a community, we've all discussed and speculated Rachel's process among herself and her assistants and how it seems to result in cheaper art each week. Same face syndrome, the overuse of the multiply tool, the dull backgrounds that often enter nightmare fuel territory, the lack of color vibrancy compared to Season 1, the repetitive poses and shots, the theories that different assistants are handling different aspects of individual panels, the clear lack of buffer, the list goes on and on.

But I think we've finally gotten to the bottom of what's going on. Or at least, deeper than we've gotten before and it feels like now we're closer to fully understanding Rachel's process than ever before.

Normally, I wouldn't care this much about dissecting the steps of creating a comic. Everyone's process is different, and when you're working with a team, that can introduce a whole new layer of understanding. I've worked with my own assistants in the past, trained to work in the animation industry which relies on coordination between people, and fully understand what's required to go into making a finalized piece of work put together by multiple people. All that's to say, having assistants doesn't necessarily mean you do less work.

When it comes to LO, though, I do feel this compulsion to tear into it more because Rachel seems to completely lack this understanding, and it shows in her work.

Before I continue, I want to throw in a quick disclaimer - when we criticize Rachel's art, it's not to throw any of her assistants under the bus. All of her assistants are incredibly skilled in their own right. When I criticize Rachel's art as a whole - regardless of who helped shape it into its final form - I'm criticizing not just the art itself, but her direction. Rachel is, essentially, a director of a team, and how she manages that team reflects how her work looks in the end after it's all been put together. I will be showing pieces of art from her assistants in this essay, none of this is to promote any shame or hate towards these people. This is purely an essay speculating on Rachel's directing capability and how she manages her team and is not meant to be taken as objective fact beyond what I am capable of proving as an outsider looking in. I consider her assistants people who are just being hired to do a job, I do not condone holding them responsible for the nosedive Lore Olympus has taken in quality over the past few years. These are simply points and speculations that myself and the ULO community came to after discussing it at length.

Alright, so, where to begin?

This essay started with me having a simple conversation with @loreolympusminoredits over on Instagram. They had pointed out a couple panels from a recent free episode where you could see the texturing wasn't being applied properly. You have to look really closely, but once you spot it, you can clearly see the outline of a square where the texturing block wasn't repeated.

It's VERY obvious in this last panel of Hades, look along the back of his shirt, you can clearly see the color warping from the texture block overlaid on top of him.

Now, I have a few theories for this on its own, it really depends on what drawing program these assistants are using. Some of them use Clip Studio. Others use Procreate. There is no consistent requirement in workstations or software among the team, which is Rachel's first mistake. There's a reason why the animation and film industry requires everyone to be using Adobe products whether they like it or not - because it keeps things consistent across the board. It doesn't matter how good you are at Clip Studio or how much you like Procreate, you need to be on the same software and hardware as everyone else to ensure that you can access the same tools, brushes, and workflow as the rest of the team. No one wants to have someone working primarily in Clip Studio who can't access the same brushes or files as the people working in Adobe. As much as I personally hate working in Photoshop, if I were to get an industry job, I would be expected to work in Photoshop, no questions asked. It's part of the job.

Moving on from that, this led me to wonder which assistant was doing these panels, because it's clear that this texturing problem is mostly at the end of Episode 242 during the Persephone / Hades conversation. There's also one stand-out feature that tells us it's the same person making these panels - the bobblehead necks.

Bobblehead necks have been a very noticeable feature in the comic's art decline over the past while. They typically happen when a character - especially a female one - is being drawn from the front. They're usually also defined with noticeable jugular and collarbone lines.

So, which assistant is it drawing the bobblehead necks?

Rachel's art team switches up a lot. Sometimes she has 3, sometimes she has as many as 8. Some assistants tag in, others are consistent.

So far the most noticeably consistent assistants in terms of participation since S2.2 (i.e. post-time skip S2) are Dnaeri, HardHeadedWoman, AmyKing89, and HeyItsJaki (as credited on their episodes). They're the usual team credited at the end of episodes, with the exception of maybe one artist not being present or an extra artist tagging in.

Upon checking their Instagrams, I am becoming way more certain of who does what and how Rachel does her process.

Let's start with HeyItsJaki:

Very thick lineart, distinguished collarbones, defined fingernails/fingers. Thick shading underneath the neck. Sometimes pouty lips if the expression calls for it.

Now let's look at HardHeadedWoman:

Very Disney/Warner Bros reminiscent art, with most notably, thick necks and distinguished jawline features on guys and hourglass figures/thin wrists/thin fingers on women.

And then we have Dnaeri:

It's harder to pin down her style because she seems to just draw whatever she's feeling like, but most notably are how she draws hands and collarbones, very similarly to Jaki, but with one noticeable difference - softer and rounder lines and shapes.

The irony is that Dnaeri and HeyItsJaki both have the same name - Jaki - so them having similar tells in their styles is just something I wanted to point out. Just a funny thought.

That said, Dnaeri DID post a drawing of Persephone once in her own style/interpretation, and there are definitely things to note here.

The collarbone distinction. The anatomy of the fingers and toes. The lighter lineart. The little 'dip' along the edge of the smile.

Moving on. Let's talk about the last assistant who I feel deserves a specific mention - AmyKim89.

You see, Amy is what I'm going to call the smoking gun. All thanks to this post:

Recognize that panel? That's the flat of Dream Persephone from Episode 204.

And this is what the final panel looked like.

Now, Webtoons cropping aside (don't mind the seam running through Persephone's chest) this confirms multiple things for us.

1. AmyKim89 was not the one to shade this panel.

2. The assistants are working purely off Rachel's sketches.

3. The assistants can be in charge of their own lining, which would explain the inconsistent lineart throughout each episode.

4. There are no backgrounds present meaning someone else is in charge of the backgrounds.

5. Flats can be changed and added to after the assistant has already done their job.

To talk about #5 first, notice the pantyhose that were added that make her legs disappear into her cloak. The baby's face changing. The added flower and necklace. Her eyes changing direction.

Regarding #1, look at how the shading makes the art so much more dull. The previous version of this panel with just the flats genuinely looks so much better than the finished piece.

This was, as I'm sure you can imagine, a pretty big find. While I'm sure Amy would probably not be happy to see me using her innocent post as proof for my hyperfocused ramblings tearing apart Rachel's process, I'm glad she posted it nonetheless because it finally shows us a smidge of what the process might be like during production.

Going back to the shading really quick - Amy was not the one who shaded that panel. But I did notice that out of every little inconsistent thing in LO, the shading is some of the most consistent, and it's consistently awful. Dull muddy tones, lack of consideration of space or lighting, clearly the multiply tool being used even when it really shouldn't be, placement of shading primarily under the eyes even when it makes the face look too dim to look good.

It's always being done with the same watercolor-like brush, with the same multiplied tones, and the same 'edges' along where the shading hits the light.

We also know that Rachel eyedrops her colors.

I don't think it's farfetched to believe that her assistants likely do too to a degree. Or they're working off color palettes from previous episodes they've done before which is resulting in this color dissonance where characters change colors, sometimes in between panels.

Considering the constant muddy shading, and the fact that the assistants may not be doing it, I believe it's Rachel doing the shading in the post-production. If you need more proof, here's a reel of her shading in Hades with the exact same techniques seen in finalized panels.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachel Smythe (@usedbandaid)

Otherwise, if it's not Rachel doing the shading, it could very likely be Dnaeri, as they're one of the longest-running assistants on the team (they came on during S1).

Moving on from that, let's circle back to AmyKim89's drawing of Persephone. She specifies she did the flats and lines for that panel, working off Rachel's sketches. But one noticeable thing is that there's no background.

This lead a bunch of us in ULO to speculate that Rachel is also the one throwing in the background and throwing PNG's of the characters on top.

Proof? How about the fact that there are panels out there with crunchy characters and pristine backgrounds?

I already suspected that the character was zoomed in and the background wasn't, but Amy's post confirms more than that - that the assistants are essentially drawing PNG's which don't get backgrounds until Rachel - or another one of her assistants - adds them.

Here's another panel that I strongly suspect was done by Amy judging by the colors (but the lineart feels like it could be Jaki):

Look at how she's floating in empty space. This wasn't drawn background first and Hestia second, this was drawn with Hestia first and they slapped a background behind her.

It would also explain why we get panels of characters missing their bottom halves or their limbs - because the backgrounds ended up being larger than they were anticipating in the final shot.

There are a whole bunch of things we can speculate on here knowing what we know from past essays and what I've laid out here.

Rachel may only be involved in the beginning and end of these episodes. She does the roughs, hands the sketches out to her assistants, which they flat and line, and she puts in the shading, dialogue/speech bubbles, texturing, and last details after they're all handed in. This would also explain why there are so many typos - lack of time to edit/proofread - and why sometimes there will be characters speaking but their mouths won't be open.

Rachel hands out the sketches to her assistants individually who flat and line it and hand them back. Sometimes they're handed individual panels, other times they're handed entire pages with a few panels on them. This would explain why we can go an entire scene with a character looking one way and then looking completely different by the next.

Think back to all those previous essays. Everything we've learned so far - that Rachel's buffer is miniscule, that she's shading with the multiply tool, that she's clearly only contributing the roughs and few panels that she makes from random drawings she did on a whim and waits until she can find a chance to shoehorn it into the comic.

Rachel started off drawing this comic just on her own. When she took on assistants, there were only two - AmbitiousIcarus and Madd_Joey.

But eventually, she took on more and more. Two became three, three became five, and nowadays, she maintains a consistent art team of 4-6 people per episode, not including herself or the rotating artists who come and go every now and then.

This has been happening steadily since the Episode 50's range of S1.

The summer when Lore Olympus' licensing rights for animation were sold to the Jim Henson Company.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that the assistants were the downfall of LO. I think they're all amazing artists, each in their own right - but their art is clearly failing to shine through in the wake of Rachel's poor management and organization. Rather than delegating single people to single roles - lines, flats, shading, texturing, etc. - she's handing things out panel by panel as she sketches them out... and considering how poor her time management is as we've all seen, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that these assistants are all being put in positions where they have to rush out lower quality work. Rachel is haphazardly dividing up the work between more people all the while contributing less and less on her own end in pre-production, post-production, and quality checking as time goes on. The final episodes weren't immediately noticeably bad as soon as she started taking on more assistants, but it's clear Rachel's involvement in the comic and its quality control has been declining rapidly since the Jim Henson purchase.

Again, this isn't to point fingers or assume the worst of anyone, but it really is food for thought. I hope that this was, at the very least, informative for those of us who've wondered over the years what Rachel's process is like. It definitely seems messy from what we can tell on the surface and frankly, if I could be in the same room as Rachel, I'd be using all this as an example of why she needs to manage her team and her time better. But that's not my place to do so. All I can do is speculate on it and spend way too much time writing an essay about it LMAO None of what I've written here is 'proof' of anything, as I'm not in the position to be able to do such a thing - that's reserved solely for Rachel and her assistants - but it's becoming plainly obvious what the workflow looks like and why the comic looks shittier and shittier every week.

All that said, I don't feel like her assistants get nearly enough credit for the work they do for Rachel. She can't even be bothered to remember the name of the guy who edited the books for her (it's Edwin, by the way) and you never see her bring up her assistants when she talks on interviews about how hard she works or how difficult it is to make a webcomic. At this point, Rachel may as well be the Queen of England - all the pomp and reward and credit, with nothing to show for leadership or actual work ethic.

It's not your work we're seeing each week - it's the work of people who are rushing to meet your deadlines, win your awards, and do your homework.

You are the sum of the parts you utilize in your workflow. You are not here purely of your own efforts. It can barely be called 'your work' at this point. Lore Olympus has become the Ship of Theseus - barely recognizable for what it once was after being haphazardly pieced together by the efforts of others.

And that's all I'm gonna say on that.

[adhd-fanficwriter]

ANOTHER CHANCE - Chapter 2

ꕤ PAIRING ꕤ Daryl Dixon x Fem Reader

ꕤ RATING ꕤ Typical TWD stuff, so always 16+ I will let you know when it’s 18+

ꕤ DISCLAIMER ꕤ I do not own any of the TWD characters. This story takes place in the TWD universe. I use the character and I might not follow the tv series. We’ve all seen the serie, you know the gore that it brings, the kills, the walkers. This al will be coming back in this series. So be warned.

ꕤ A/N ꕤ Please let me know what you think of the series! Tell me what you liked most of this chapter. ALSO if you’d like to know what Bailey and Lizy look like, let me know. I’ll post some pictures.

ꕤ Song Used ꕤ Where’d All The Time Go - Dr. Dog

< Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 > Chapter 2 ‘’Lily, go ask if you can play with them.’’ I smiled down at her, softly nudging her towards the kids playing outside. ‘’Can I?’’ She asked, her eyes wide. I nodded and she ran off. I chuckled, loving her already, even though she isn’t my own. My gaze followed her, her curls bouncing as she ran towards the kids, they all smiled at her and took her right in. ‘’Bailey?’’ An elder lady asked. Her blonde hair, now starting to slowly get more gray, stood in front of me, blocking my view of Lily. I furrow my eyebrows, ‘’Yes?’’. She smiled at me, ‘’I’m Deanna, I’m the leader of this community. I’d like to have a little word with you, it’s part of the process of living here.’’ I nodded slowly, ‘’Is it okay for Lily to keep on playing, or does she need to come with us?’’ I looked behind her, nodding at Lily. ‘’She can keep playing, I'm sure you know enough about her to answer my questions.’’ I kept silent as Deanna started walking away, wanting me to follow her. ‘’First we’ll make a stop at the supplies. We don’t want people having their weapons in these walls.’’ My eyebrow shot up, ‘’What if the walkers get in?’’ ‘’They won’t’’ she assured me. I was hesitant, but unsheathed my dagger, giving it to her. ‘’Any more weapons? Guns?’’ I shook my  head, ‘’That’s all’’ I said as another woman stepped out of the supplies storage. ‘’This is Olivia, she monitors the supplies and weapons.’’ Deanne introduced us. ‘’I keep a list, don’t worry.’’ She smiled. I nodded, still unsure about the place. So far it looks okay. Lily looks happy. I sighed and followed Deanna. 

‘’Please, sit.’’ I sat down on the couch. The room looked like an office, not the modern offices you knew, but older ones. A wooden table and cabinets filled with books, a rug on the floor, it almost looked.. cozy? ‘’So, I want to introduce myself properly. I am Deanna Monroe, I am the leader, and I live here together with my family. Reg, my husband, is an architect. He built these walls to keep us safe. My oldest son Aiden, is the head of the scavenging group and my youngest son Spencer, patrolls the walls from the church tower. Together with other survivors, we built this place. I mean the walls, the houses were here already. We managed to maintain electricity and water. Together we keep it a clean and safe place to stay.’’ She smiled at me, obviously proud of what they managed to do. ‘’I document our conversation, as part of the transparency of this community. I hope you don’t mind?’’ I noticed the little camera pointed at me. ‘’No, I guess not?’’ I said, still looking around the room. She even had pictures of ,I suppose, her family on the table. ‘’Great, let’s start. How long have you been out there?’’ She began. ‘’Long, I suppose when it all happened, I believe nine months ago?’’ Was I really going to be honest with her? She nodded, ‘’How do you know the little girl?’’ Why does that matter? ‘’We ehm, just met at a little town outside the walls.’’ Stop telling her everything. ‘’What was your previous job?’’ ‘’I’m sorry but why does that matter?’’ I asked, being curious. ‘’It matters a lot, we have jobs here, so I might be able to give you one.’’ ‘’Jobs? Walkers are running around and you’re out here doing ‘jobs’?’’ What is this place? ‘’Do you want the little girl to have a safe space with other children to play?’’ She smiled. I clenched my teeth. Of course I do. ‘’I took care of animals.’’  ‘’What is the little one to you? Little sister? Cousin?’’ ‘’I found her on the street, like I said, in a small town just outside these walls. She was with her mom. The woman was turning and I saved her, or she’d be bitten too.’’ I said sternly. ‘’We’re not family, but I treat her as such.’’ I eyed Deanna. She just smiled, ‘’That sounds very lovely, I’m glad you found her. Can I ask about your family?’’ Is she serious? ‘’Dead.’’ Was all I said. I didn’t want to talk about it.  ‘’I know enough.’’ She said, standing up and turning off the camera. ‘’Come with me.’’

We walked around the neighborhood. It was sunny outside and people were enjoying that. Children were playing, elderly people sat together on the porch and families talked outside in the sun. Like nothing happened. Like the world didn’t have a deadly virus that turned you into a brainless monster. ‘’We made a sustainable community. There is a big shopping mall nearby, we get our supplies from there. When we first started, we were with three family’s. Now we have eight. And we’re still growing.’’ She smiled at the people when we walked by. ‘’Our recruiters, Aaron and Eric, drive around searching for people in need. I guess you were one of them.’’ She looked at me. ‘’Aaron saved us. The small town was overrun, we barely escaped.’’ I looked down at the floor. ‘’Good, we need more people.’’ She smiled and placed a hand on my back. ‘’We have a safe environment for family’s. As you see, we have walls, warm water, and electricity. What more do you need?’’ She asked me, smiling. ‘’A good defense team? As you said, the walkers won’t come in. But what if it happens? Do you have good enough people that know how to deal with them?’’ My curiosity grew bigger. It all seems too good to be true. ‘’We have a scavenger team that goes out every other day. They’ll know what to do.’’ She kept walking. -------------------------------------------------------------- ‘’This will be your house.’’ Aaron and I stood in front of a normal family sized house. He handed me the keys, ‘’Go on in, I’ll be right behind you. I need to do one more check before I leave you to rest.’’ He smiled and we both walked in. It was a big house. Even before the apocalypse we didn’t own a house this big. When we still lived together, we had a small flat. My parents weren’t rich and when my dad left my mom, we had to move out to an even smaller flat. Mom would’ve loved this. ‘’Are you okay?’’ Aaron snapped me out of my thoughts. I nodded, ‘’Mom and I were on our way here, because I wanted a safe place for us, but mainly for her. She didn’t make it.’’ ‘’I’m sorry.’’ I shook my head, stopping the tears from falling. ‘’I promised her that I would reach this place, and I did. Along the way I found Lizy, she also lost her mom and I saved her from being bitten. I guess my mom sent me a message to go on and to never give up. And now I will do my best to be the best for Lizy, I want her to grow old and strong.’’ Aaron nodded, ‘’You’ve been doing well and holding up. Not many people are able to do so after losing an important family member.’’ I weakly smiled, ‘’Thank you.’’ Aaron showed me the first floor, there were three bedrooms and a big bathroom. The electricity worked and so did the boiler for the hot water. I can’t wait to step in the shower later. Downstairs we have a big living room with a kitchen. Even the fridge was half stocked with supplies. ‘’You guys really have it good here.’’ I chuckled when I opened a bottle of juice. Aaron laughed, ‘’We do our best to make the most of it. Keeping our heads high and always being a step ahead usually works.’’ I held my bottle up in the air, ‘’Cheers to that.’’ Aaron smiled, ‘’I believe everything works. If you ever need anything, or you have any questions, come find me. Me and Eric live four houses down the right.’’ ‘’Thanks, again. I’ll go find Lizy, she needs to see this.’’ I chuckled and we both stepped out of the house, closing the door behind me. ‘’I’ll see you later, I think?’’ I asked, to which Aaron smiled and nodded.

I walked around the neighborhood on my own. The grass was green and well kept, the pond in the middle was clear, trees were growing well. The animals were well fed and kept clean. It was as if I’m dreaming. This can’t be true, right? How, in an apocalypse, is it possible to have warm water, electricity, well kept people and houses, and even well kept animals. I smiled to myself, letting it sink in. As I walked further into the little town they had, laughter and high shrieks filled my ears. I turned the corner, seeing a set of two swings and a slide. I saw Lizy on one of the swings being pushed by a little blonde boy with a bowl haircut. ‘’Having fun Lizy?’’ I smiled and she nodded eagerly. ‘’Sam is pushing me!’’ She laughed and shrieked when she went higher. I chuckled to myself. She gets to be a child again here. I sat down on a bench near the play park. A blonde woman sat down next to me. ‘’Hi, you must be new here?’’ She smiled warmly, ‘’I’m Jessie.’’ She held out her hand. ‘’Bailey.’’ I smiled. We looked at the kids playing. ‘’Is she yours?’’ She nodded towards Lizy. ‘’Kind of.’’ I smiled, ‘’She lost her mom, got bitten, I was there when her mother turned so I grabbed her before she could get bit too. So yes, I guess you could say she’s under my care now, but I’m not her real mother.’’ ‘’I’m glad you found them before anything bad happened. The boy is mine, Sam.’’ She smiled. ‘’My other son, Ron, is somewhere hanging with his friends.’’ I nodded. ‘’You know, I used to be a hairdresser. I could give you both a haircut if you want?’’ She smiled. ‘’Maybe later today, if that’s possible. She needs to have shorter hair. I don’t want those curls between the hands of a walker.’’ I shook my head at the thought of her getting grabbed by her hair. ‘’But we’ll take a shower first.’’ I laughed. Jessie nodded, understanding where we came from, needing a shower to wash off all the dirt and sweat.

‘’Lizy, can you come here for a second?’’ I called her. She nodded and ran to me, holding out her hands. I did the same and she ran into my arms. ‘’Hey you.’’ I smiled, hugging her as she fell into my arms. ‘’Having fun?’’ ‘’Yes! Sam pushed me so hard!’’ she chuckled. I’m glad that she found someone around her age. ‘’I want to show you something.’’ I smiled. ‘’But I’m not done playing!’’ her little shoulders hang low. ‘’Sam is going home with me too.’’ Jessie smiled at Lizy. ‘’Home?’’ Lizy asked. I nodded, ‘’That’s what I wanted to show you. We have a big home!’’ My eyes grew big and I tickled her. She shrieked again and nodded, ‘’Bye Sam!’’ she waved and grabbed my hand. ‘’Show me, show me, show me!’’ She was tugging me off the bench. I laughed, ‘’Guess I’ll see you later?’’ I asked Jessie, and she nodded. ‘’Three houses down the left.’’ I smiled and walked towards our house. Lizy was very hyper at this point, jumping up and down, running back and forth. ‘’Do we have a bed? And a TV? What about a couch?’’ I laughed, grabbing her arms. ‘’Come here.’’ I said. I kneeled down and she stood behind me. ‘’Jump.’’ and she did. I held her up by her legs and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I started running and that earned some giggles. Eventually she let go and spread her arms wide. Feeling the breeze I made as I ran. Her blonde curls flying behind her in the wind, her blue eyes shining with joy. ‘’Wheeeee!’’ She yelled and I laughed, we earned some laughs as we ran by some porches where older people sat outside.

‘’We’re here.’’ I sat Lizy down and gave her the key. ‘’Try opening the door.’’ She ran towards the door and tried to put the key in the hole. ‘’Can you help me Bailey, I can’t open it!’’ She sounded frustrated. I stepped closer, ‘’Is it in the correct way?’’. She nodded, showing me how she put in the key. ‘’Okay, try turning to the right.’’ She turned to the left, ‘’The other right.’’ I giggled, grabbing her small hand and turning the key to the right. She opened the door and her face lit up. ‘’This is huge!’’ Her mouth hung open as she looked around. ‘’A tv!’’ She pointed her finger, ‘’And a Couch!’’ She jumped on it. ‘’Hey hey, shoes off.’’ She had just been running in the mud and grass. She nodded and kicked her shoes off and continued jumping. ‘’Let’s go upstairs.’’ I held out my hand and she took it. She followed me upstairs, revealing the 3 bedrooms we had. ‘’Bailey!’’ She shrieked as she saw 3 big beds. ‘’Can I choose?’’ I nodded, ‘’Go ahead sweetheart.’’ I smirked. Her happiness is something I will cherish forever. We’ve only been together for two days now but she’s really growing on me. I’ve always wanted kids, but never found the right guy. I guess now that I have Lizy, I don’t need a guy to have a lovely child with. She’s just amazing, a bundle of joy in this dark rotting world.

‘’This one!’’ she yelled, jumping on the big bed. Her windows were directed to the playground we just had been. ‘’Now I can see if Sam or other children will be there!’’ She giggled. ‘’Someone likes Sam a lot!’’ I chuckled and tickled her. “Do not!’’ she blushed. I narrowed my eyes, ‘’I don’t believe you.’’ ‘’No mom!’’ she yelled back and went silent. She looked down in her lap and whispered ‘’sorry’’. I sat down next to her on the bed and hugged her. ‘’It’s okay. You can call me whatever you want. I miss my mom too.’’ I said, soothing her. ‘’Is.. Mommy Bailey okay?’’ I nodded, ‘’Perfect.’’ Looking out the window, the sun shone on our faces. My eyes started to tear up but I quickly blinked them away. ‘’I have one more surprise.’’ Her eyes lit up, ‘’Follow me.’’ I stood up and walked to the bathroom. We had a shower and a bathtub. ‘’I want to go in the bathtub!’’ She yelled running towards it. I nodded and turned on the hot water, running my hands under the stream. ‘’It’s warm too.’’ I winked at her. ‘’Just wait a little bit, so it fills up enough.’’ She nodded, already taking off her socks. ‘’I’m going to take a shower too, is that okay? We can still see each other.’’ I said, turning on the shower head. ‘’Okay!’’ I underdressed and stepped in the shower. ‘’Omg!’’ I almost jumped up from joy. I watched Lily wait for the water to fill the tub. ‘’You can join me for a bit, I’ll watch the water in the tub.’’ She nodded eagerly, pulling her shirt over her head and pulling her pants off. Once she was done with everything she stepped in the shower with me. I grabbed a cloth and cleaned her face. A beautiful pale-ish pink came from underneath, she was so greased up that I didn't notice it before. ‘’Look at you! You are so beautiful.’’ I poked her cheeks. I quickly washed her hair and conditioned her curls, so it would be easier to brush through it later on. ‘’Hey..’’ Lizy looked up at me, ‘’the tub is ready.’’ She quickly opened the shower door and stepped in the tub. ‘’Turn the tab off, love.’’ I giggled, I didn’t want to clean up the overflowing water. ‘’Okay!’’ she giggled and made bubbles with the soap she poured in. I felt the excitement fill my body as I saw how much dirt pooled around my feet.’’Warm water!’’ I yelled, throwing up my hands towards the shower head. ‘’Warm wateeeeer!’’ Lizy threw her hands in the air.

After our bathroom session we put on some fresh clothes and walked down towards Jessie’s house. I rang the bell and an older boy opened the door. ‘’Is Jessie home?’’ I asked, the boy looked us up and down and nodded. ‘’Mom!’’ he yelled towards the living room, ‘’Coming!’’ Jessie was now at the door, letting us in. ‘’That was Ron.’’ she smiled, ‘’you both look so clean!’’ she twirled a curl of Lizy’s hair around her fingers. ‘’I went in the bathtub!’’ she exclaimed. I kneeled down in front of her, ‘’Listen, I love your hair, and I’m sure you do too. But it’s a little too long. I don’t want those monsters grabbing your hair.’’ She nodded, ‘’I like it better out of my face.’’ I smiled, knowing that she understood. Jessie trimmed my hair, so I could still wear a ponytail, and cut off some length of Lizy’s hair where she’s still able to make a bun on top of her haid, so it’s still out of her face.

‘’Can we stay here?’’ Lilzy asked as she came running to me. She was looking at the butterflies that were above the flowers. ‘’Do you want to stay here?’’ I ask, looking down at her. She grabbed my hand, ‘’Please, please, please!’’. ‘’Alright then. Only if you behave.’’ I tickled her sides and she ran away. The sun was setting and the cool breeze was hitting my face. The first day in our new community. At first I was careful, not knowing what this all was. But after the shower, the haircut, I feel as new.

A new start. < Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 >

[666writingcafe]

Diavolo is a Cunning Bastard

"I'd like to introduce our other guest of honor tonight," Diavolo announces. What the hell is he going on about? It's his birthday party.

"Come here, MC," he continues. I feel a bunch of eyes zero in on me, and if I didn't know better, I would say that this was Diavolo's way of punishing me. I hate being the center of attention.

"It's not my birthday," I tell the crowd. "I don't know what's going on."

"Then, I take it that Lucifer and his brothers must have wanted this to be a surprise for you."

More like you wanted to embarrass me in front of everyone, I think to myself.

"You see, MC, tonight's party is being thrown for you as well."

"Why?" I hear a few snickers.

"It seems that Lucifer and the others would all like to express their appreciation. Honestly, did you really think that they bought all of those presents for me alone?"

"I'm sorry, but there was literally no indication that they weren't all for you. You're the Demon Prince; I expect someone in your position to be showered in gifts."

"Well, if you don't believe me, then I will allow the brothers to explain themselves." First up: Mammon.

"I want you to know that the Mammon actually worked part time at Hell's Kitchen to save up the money to buy ya this present," he states as he hands me a long, thin, white box. "I didn't borrow money from any witches to pay for it. I didn't steal or pawn stuff, either. Everything was done on the up and up, okay?"

"Got it," I tell him. "If that's the case, then your efforts are the only gift I need from you."

"Well, I got you the number-one item on Akuzon," Levi brags. "It's always at the top of the list. Though--"

"Thank you, Levi," I interrupt, not wanting to hear him put himself down.

"I got you one of my favorite books," Satan says. "I believe books enrich one's life, and I hope that this particular one makes your life a little bit richer." Before I can thank Satan, Asmo chimes in with,

"In addition to that outfit I picked out for you, I also got you some new, limited edition cosmetics! I threw in some of the same cologne I wear in there as well, and if you wear it, it'll feel like I'm holding you in my arms every minute of the day!"

"Great," I muttered. "It's cursed." Beel silently hands me a ticket for one year's worth of free meals at Hell's Kitchen. Lucifer clears his throat.

"My gift is a brooch. Embedded within is a midnight stone. Even here in the Devildom, it's considered a rare jewel. I believe it caught your eye as we passed the display window at Hocus Pocus. I want you to have it as a memento of your time here in the Devildom." He pauses. "I wanted you to understand how much I appreciate you, as did each of my brothers, but without an opportunity like this, we wouldn't have been able to properly communicate that."

"I haven't done anything special," I tell the brothers. "I do appreciate the gifts, but this is meant to be a celebration of Lord Diavolo, not me, and I feel like my presence has interrupted things for long enough. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm heading outside so that this party can resume without me."

[egle0702]

[TRANS] Wooyoung’s Records Talk 『Off the record』 FULL (5 parts)

WOOYOUNG'S RECORDS TALK #1

Hello, everyone. It’s been a while. This is 2PM’s Wooyoung.

I’ve been waiting for this moment.

I’ve really missed you.

Q. How do you feel about releasing an album after 5 years and a half?

A. I’m nervous. I’m very happy that I got to release an album and go on a concert tour. I’ve made that album and concert with you all constantly on my mind. Please take your time to enjoy it all.

01.  From Here

Q. Please introduce the song.

A. In this album, From Here is a song with the biggest amount of Hip Hop elements. Also, at some point, both in Korea and Japan, I wanted to write song lyrics that would reflect my own stories and my own values that influence the way I look at the world. So, this personal ambition to add at least one such song in every release grew. And in this album, From Here will be that song that contains my personal confession like my own individual diary.

Q. Why did you choose it as the first track in the album?

A. Just like the song’s title says, it sort of means that From Here something begins again. And in the chorus, you can hear the lines “From here, from me” repeated many times. That also means that from this point in time, 2023 June 7th, I begin anew again. Meaning that my own personal music story, activities start from here, from me.

Q. Any behind the scenes of this song’s production process?

A. I got to work on From Here’s track with a composer called RAUDI. It was our first time working together. I was the one to contact them first, asking whether they could send me a beat that would suit me. And it was one of the tracks they sent me, and I somehow wanted to listen to it again and again. I also got to think that I would have a lot of stories to tell to that kind of music. And seeing how I kept on listening to it every day, I thought that for this album, I definitely have to work towards adding a song that would contain my own story.

It was to the point that there was no need to fix anything much. In order to save that basic calm hip hop feeling from the track’s beat, so that the fans would feel it the way I felt it, we kept it intact the way it was, and I just added my own melody and lyrics on top of it.

Q. Any episodes during the recording?

A. I invested a lot of time in working on the title track, so there wasn’t enough time to work properly on any of the B-sides. So… I don’t think I’ve ever done that before… I ended up recording in the studio all by myself. Usually, the composer you work with stays with you in the studio for recording, but I recorded this song all by myself. I only had simple consultation with the Japanese lyricist to help me with my pronunciation. So, this song was produced very fast in a rather minimalist way.

Q. Any episodes while preparing for the tour?

A. At first, I wanted to start my concert with this song. In my own opinion… It has my own personal story, and it could also be the most important story for me, so I thought it should be the first song I introduce to the fans, too. However, as I got more ideas and thoughts about the concert composition, I thought of where else I could find an important starting point. And when I realized that I could start the encore with it, I switched the concert track list.

Q. How do you want everyone to feel when they listen to this song?

A. Rather than carrying some profound message, I wrote this song thinking that perhaps the fans might feel the same. No matter how much I communicate with my fans through my albums or SNS, they can’t really see my actual diary. So, as long as I don’t open my own diary and read it out loud, the only way to convey something I have as a person, or my thoughts when I look back on the days past, is through music. So, I decided to put it into a song, and this song is the result of it. So rather than accepting it with heavy hearts, I hope the fans would comfortably take it as listening to my own little trivial story, thinking like “Ah, this is what Jang Wooyoung’s been thinking over the years,” “This is what he wants to do in the future.”

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

WOOYOUNG'S RECORDS TALK #2

02.  Off the Record

Q. Please introduce the song.

A. First of all, the base of Off the Record is the new jack swing genre. When I think about new jack swing, it’s a genre with a very distinct dance and image, a distinct colour, so even though I like the music itself, I didn’t want to make into a purely new jack sing song. So, I wondered how I could add a little bit of hip hop into it, how I could add a little bit of dance into it. What I should do to give some retro feel… Therefore, when I fused those three together, I wondered whether I could alter it into something classic. And this is how this title track was made.

Q. Tell us the reason Off the Record, the song released for the first time in 5 years and a half, became the album’s theme.

A. Whenever I’m writing a song, I worry about the same things. For instance, what will feel fresh, what will feel new? But no matter how much I worry, how much I think, now matter how many sleepless nights I spend, at the end of the day, while most of the things I work on are more or less similar, I think the difference lies in my own thoughts and my own colour each song reflects.

So, how can I be the closest to my fans right now? This sincerity that comes straight from my heart, what would be the best way to show it? I focused on this. And the answer was going closer. I thought about things we could talk about when I got closer to them. Our own story. I thought about how I could express this mutual time that belonged to us. So, I reached the keyword of a secret story, and after thinking about it, I didn’t want to do anything too serious. I wanted to use something light, a daily language, and that’s how the phrase “off the record” came to me. And that’s how the keyword “This off the record” came to be. I started from there.

Q. Any behind the scenes of this song’s production process?

A. I ate and slept in the studio for 3 weeks, and went home just to wash up. Like, when I had work in between, I would go home to take a shower and then leave. It really was like that. For about 3 weeks. I don’t think I’ve ever spent that much time at the studio before. Although I like staying at the studio, as time went by, I realized it’s suddenly been 3 weeks.

To be honest, when you’re writing a song, it might take a year or two, but with this pressure and desire to do well… The point is that I didn’t want to compromise, I didn’t want to take the easy way… so the process ended up being like this.

Q. Any episodes during the recording?

A. As far as this song is concerned, there weren’t that many issues. It’s just that the process took over 3 weeks, it took me quite a long time to record the guide for the song. Since it didn’t come out the way I wanted, I kept on recording the song while practicing at the same time. So, the actual recording went smoothly. Since the equipment in the recording studio is way better than in my own studio, it’s clear that I would’ve used the version recorded in the recording studio, but I sometimes use the guide version as well. Because there are times when you can’t emulate the feeling that is recorded in the guide version.

But right before the chorus, there’s this phrase in the song that goes “What do you think?” And I couldn’t get this good feeling for “What do you think?” after the 2nd verse. So that one part in the final song, the “What do you think?” question after the 2nd verse is from my own guide version. Such instances are quite common when you work on music.

Q. How did you try to express this song in dance?

A. I worried a lot, to be honest. Since it’s been such a long while, I felt a bit awkward, too. Wondering, how I should approach this… But it assembled quite well like a puzzle, picking the parts that I liked from various choreography videos. It felt like connecting things, like in Tetris, and we were able to come up with a really decent choreography.

Q. About the Music Video.

A. As far as the music video is concerned, I wanted it to have as little explanations as possible. I wanted to just display me as a person through simple visuals that would make me look good and nice. Just as with the Off the Record’s production process, visually, I just wanted to focus on harmonious stance in the centre of things. Taking this mood as the base, I also wanted it to have me moving a lot, be it the choreography, freestyling, or lip syncing. I just wanted it to be a music video that puts emphasis on the basic things. That’s how we worked on it.

Q. Any episodes while preparing for the tour?

A. As far as this song is concerned, I wasn’t too worried about its performance on stage. The thing is that starting with the jacket photo shoot to the music video, all visual things related to it like the background, outfits, hair and make-up; everything that I could show visually, I was really satisfied with every single element. So, when it came to thinking about how I should present myself visually for Off the Record in a concert, that was really my last concern.

Therefore, with the stylist team we thought about what I should wear on the stage. Because when it comes to a concert, it’s not just about Off the Record, so the question was, how do I show Off the Record without disrupting the flow of the other song, how do I fit them all together. Thus, looking from the concert’s perspective, it was the first time I brought a song with such mood, so I paid a lot attention to it, and it was the hardest part, I think.

Q. How do you want everyone to feel when they listen to this song?

A. I hope that for the fans it will be the kind of music they can listen when they’re on their way to work, when they’re in the middle of working, or when they rest on a weekend and they go somewhere for a walk, go for a drive; basically, when they spend some personal time – I wish they could listen to it comfortably while feeling the rhythm, feeling the summer breeze on their faces, enjoying their free time. I hope it’s the kind of song that allows the fans to find that little bit of freedom in their everyday lives because that’s the kind of groove and bounce I had in mind while making it. I hope the song takes on such a role.

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

WOOYOUNG'S RECORDS TALK #3

03.  Season 2

Q. Please introduce the song.

A. Season 2 comes with a basic reggae beat, but since the rhythm was used in a very easy and simple way, there’s nothing complicated as far as the genre is concerned. We tried to avoid provoking any like-dislike dispute that would’ve arisen if the genre elements had gotten too heavy. So, to avoid that from happening, I focused on this summer feeling, so the listener would be able to feel more the lyrics and the melody. Like a seaside on a summer night. The breeze you feel in front of the sea. I worked for that kind of feeling.

Q. Any behind the scenes of this song’s production process?

A. One day I was at my studio, and composer Super Changddai’s studio is right next to mine. His door was open and I could hear a certain beat. I really, really liked it and I asked him to send it for me, even if it were just a tiny bit of the beat. Or give me the entire piece. Either way, I pestered him about it.

So, I was listening to it for a few days, and I think it was around 2 weeks in that the song was complete. Whenever I listened to the track, I got to think about this happy significant other, about this loving relationship where both people are on great terms with each other. Like, even if the time goes by, we still like each other, you still make my heart flutter – I was wondering how I could express that kind of feeling. And you know how these days TV series and movies tend to have seasons, right? Hence the word “season” came to me quite naturally, too. Like, season 1 was successful, and now we’re at season 2. You know, you usually get to season 2 only if season 1 goes well, right? And if season 2 is successful, you’ll get to season 3. I thought of this kind of positive effect.

Ah, so let’s say we have this special someone you met last summer, and that summer was season 1. And now that you’ve reached this summer, a year later, you’ve spent all this time really well, and I got the idea that continuously, this summer can be like season 2. I thought that Season 2 was a good keyword and from there, and the song was complete within 1 or 2 hours like vroom.

Q. Any episodes during the recording?

A. I was really ambitious about this song. Compared to my Korean guide version, I actually wasn’t as satisfied with the final recorded version. But when that happens, there’s someone more professional than me nearby, and in this case, there were staff members whose opinion I just had to take into consideration. Back then, Super Changddai said that if I didn’t like it, of course, we could record it again, but first, let’s try and do something about it from the technical perspective. And as we did some tuning and mixing, the final result got better and better. Of course, if the original source is good, the song comes out well. And since I really wanted to show the fans that original feeling I felt while listening to the track, I think the production process was slightly silly. But, well, since the final result still came out the way I wanted… It’s a song that I became comfortable with in the middle of working on it.

Q. Any episodes while preparing for the tour?

A. When you look at the overall stage set for this concert, I think this song is probably the track that influenced the stage setting the most. When I was thinking about its performance, I imagined inviting the fans to my own seaside. I included by favourite colour blue on stage, without it becoming overbearing. I wanted it to resemble the sky that gets reflected on a river or a sea. I aimed for something refreshing, this refreshing summer feeling. So, the image that I had in my mind while making Season 2 was really strong, and the song helped me a lot when I had to come up with the stage image.

Q. How do you want everyone to feel when they listen to this song?

A. I hope that this song feels like a refreshing cold drink or ice-cream on a hot and humid summer day.

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

WOOYOUNG'S RECORDS TALK #4

04.  Just Be You

Q. Please introduce the song.

A. When it comes to Just Be You, when I was thinking about the fans, I wondered how I could convey the most positive message to them. How I could give them strength. From this, I ended up writing Just Be You. Also, it’s something that the fans often tell me. Either through the SNS or through letters, they often tell me, “Wooyoung, I like you just the way you are.” I think this is exactly what inspired me.

Q. Any behind the scenes of this song’s production process?

A. I wrote this song before enlisting in the military service. I wrote it thinking it’d be nice to include it in an album in the future, to tell such story to my fans. So, it’s a very old song. Hence, in order to not sound old or corny, there were some things that required editing and tweaking. For that, my best friend composer Super Changddai worked a lot on it to make it sound new and fresh.

Q. Any episodes during the recording?

A. Since this is a song for the fans, there is this part in the final verse, where I’m having a give and take with the fans. I say “Are you okay?” and the Hottest go “Yes, I’m OK.” This kind of exchange. Rather than using some other female backing vocalist, I was wondering whether I could find some other interesting element for it. Some kind of element that, later on, we could make into an unforgettable memory. So, I asked RIMA from NiziU for a favour. I know that she’s really good at rapping. That she has a rather unique voice with a certain character. And since there was no way to record Hottest’s voices at the time, I wanted her to stand in for the Hottest role and have this small exchange with me. That was my difficult request.

It must’ve been a hard mission for RIMA, too. Although it was a very small part, she practiced a lot for it. To be honest, it was a bit embarrassing to ask for such a favour when the part was just that. I said “RIMA, your voice is going to substitute for our fans, Hottest. It’s a very important part.”

RIMA worked really hard on it, and musically the song was complete well. And… Then our recording studio engineers, JYP JAPAN and Sony Music staff… All of their voices are in this song. There’s a thing called “chants” or “sing along.” I needed a sing along, so I asked everyone who was there at the time for a favour. Like, “Would you mind doing it together?” They all entered the recording studio, and 7 or 8 people recorded it while constantly changing their positions. I think they must’ve been really flustered, but they gladly agreed to do it.

So, the production process itself was really fun, I received a lot of help from the nice members of staff around me.

Q. Any episodes while preparing for the tour?

A. I made the song while thinking about the fans, but musically, the fans were supposed to hear it for the first time. So, since the fans would be hearing the song for the first time, they would’ve been flustered if I suddenly asked them to jump along. Hence, I decided to make it into a stage where I show what the song is like, by working the most on the choreography as the base of the song’s performance.

Q. What kind of thoughts does this fan-song carry?

A. This song’s lyrics carry the image of someone extremely lovely, who is watching someone they love and find them just as lovely, very cute and pretty. And because their feelings get reflected, it makes one’s heart flutter even more, and both sides give each other strength. So, when the fans feel tired or worn out, frustrated or when they find themselves in a difficult situation, I hope this song gives them at least a little bit of comfort. I hope the song’s message, “you all are enough just the way you are” reaches them.

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

WOOYOUNG'S RECORDS TALK #5

5. Kimi no betsu no namae (Your other name)

Q. Please introduce the song.

A. From the musical element’s perspective, I don’t think this song matches the current generation well. However, it is definitely a dance song with a retro feel. Ever since I started working on it, I think I just wanted to make a dance song with this kind of retro vibe. Not a refined composition appropriate for nowadays, but a song that brings back the past vibe. You know, like generational musical. Something that would make you think about generational music with strong retro vibes. I wanted to make that kind of a dance song. So, in a sense, it might not feel fresh, and some might say that it’s not sophisticated, but it’s a song I stubbornly wanted to make.

Q. This song comes with a Japanese title. What kind of thoughts did you want to include there?

A. For someone who dances, after Off the Record, this is like a 2nd title song for me. I always… well, this will apply to many other singers, whenever you release an album after an album, the hardest thing is to come up with what you want to show next by keeping in mind what you’ve already shown. Before you think of what kind of music you want to make, you have to come up with the image you want to show. And when you worry about things like that, especially from a dancer’s perspective, it’s really hard to come up with the kind of dance you want to show, the kind of dance music you want to create. So, from the point of these musical concerns, it’s a song that I rather egoistically pushed forward. There was no way it could’ve become a title track *chuckles* but it felt like it might get some limelight one day; it carries my own K-pop feel. My own ambition.

Q. Any episodes during the recording?

A. I thought I’d be done with the song really easily. I was recording every day, and while working on other songs, I couldn’t schedule recording for this one. So, I ended up working overtime for the editing and tweaking, working overtime with the engineers. I recorded it in between other things. After recording it once, I wasn’t satisfied with the final result, so I re-recorded it. So, this song took some effort to complete.

Q. How did you try to express the song in the choreography?

A. I told my performance directing team, it would be great if it gave off the old-days’ vibe, although I didn’t know exactly which old-days I was talking about… But I just wanted it to have this dance song, this dance idol feel. I put a lot of pressure on them saying it should have this feeling with no compromises or excuses. So, the choreography in the chorus was built in order for it to resemble something from the old days.

Q. How do you want people to feel when they listen to this song?

A. This song might feel a little bit serious, but it’s a song that reminds you of a confession to the person you love. So, just imagine me dance for the first time in a long while, and I hope you receive strength from this song when you need some energy, hope you feel excited and energized.

 Message to Hottest

This is a special album, Off the Record, that came out for the first time in a long while. If the songs from this album give you strength in your everyday life, I will be satisfied. In order for you to feel my intentions I will work hard on my activities until the end. I will also try to make the concerts an enjoyable experience for you all. I am always working hard for you all. These sentiments are also present in this album. Enjoy listening to the album*. Bye bye~ Annyeong~

 *T/N.: Here he said “work hard,” and the Japanese subs had additional explanatory parentheses: “(Everyone, work hard on listening to the album too).”

Kor-Eng: Egle0702 (+ a tiny bit of Japanese)

[genderisareligion]

Hello! Same anon here.

“It’s hard when everywhere I look in the media rich and famous (out of touch) black women are encouraging younger women without their privileges and advantages to rely on external validation (often from men) which can be extremely dangerous given our rates of victimization.”

EXACTLY! Talking about myself, I used to be very engaged in femininity rituals when I was young but due to my allergies, I couldn't keep using makeup so I just gave up. Thinking about it nowadays I am kinda grateful for that because I think if I had to give up on makeup later on, it would be very difficult for me, since I had race disphoria and I suffered my whole life with misogynoir. However, the fact that I am not engaged with femininity is often viewed by my family as a signal of me not taking care about myself properly. And it has even more weight for black women, since our skins are already seen negatively, so it is expected to us to compensate this “flaw” in other ways.

Another thing that doesn't receive much focus is how high the black female beauty standards are. And isn't it sad how when afro hair started to be more acceptable, it created a new competition around which black women have the most beautiful hair? Which black women are the hottest? The most beautiful? It makes me think about most black women not being able to keep this cruel standard(after all, femininity has a big cost and black women is payed even less than both black men and white women). The conversation around black female beauty standards often exclude fat and butch black women because as you highlighted rightfully, it's all about to serve black men.

Taking all of this into consideration, it angers me the way so many self-proclaimed black feminists are so liberal towards sex. These women point out how race deepening our oppression but instead of connecting the dots, they make it seems like the beauty industry has nothing to do with us, at all.

Have you read “Beauty and Misogyny” from Sheila Jeffreys? This book is amazing and show how much powerful beauty is as a tool to subjugate women. I wish we could see a black radical feminist analysis of beauty industry focused on black women...

"The fact that I am not engaged with femininity is often viewed by my family as a signal of me not taking care about myself properly" Feel this so fucking hard lol I know my bougie femininity loving relatives have seen me as raggedy ever since I stopped putting heat in my hair and wearing women's fashion and makeup like them. I don't care anymore but their judgment (and the greater judgement of the larger black community that it reflected) got to me for a long time.

"These women point out how race deepening our oppression but instead of connecting the dots, they make it seems like the beauty industry has nothing to do with us, at all." In my opinion this denial is just a coping mechanism. When you realize how insidious it is that we're both the unacknowledged inspiration of the industry (nonblack women stealing our trends/hairstyles/facial features without credit) as well as the so called "ugliest part of it" that has to be improved on with purchased products, yeah the easier thing to do is to just try to find a semi comfortable place of acceptance in the system rather than recognize it for how evil and pointless it is and feel that exclusion fully.

I have read "Beauty and Misogyny" but not in a few years. It's definitely solid and on my soon to re read list. One of my sorority sisters did her thesis on it and that's how I got introduced to it as a baby radfem in 2013. It's so important to see other women demystifying and taking down beauty institutions. They're really doing so much damage to our solidarity

[alokkashyap123]

Alok Kashyap - Scrum Master based in the USA

Hi! Let me self introduce myself, I am Alok Kashyap a tech professional with a vivid career as a program manager in The United States. Previously I was a Scrum Master. You might have come across my introduction somewhere and have seen Scrum Master quite many times.

Do you know what a Scrum Master is what he does?

Let me tell you this today.

Basically, an Agile development team is facilitated by a Scrum master. They are in charge of overseeing the team members' information sharing. According to Agile principles, Scrum is a project management framework that facilitates team communication and self-organization so that changes may be made fast.

Scrum Master Responsibilities

The scrum guide outlines the various functions that scrum masters can fulfill within the scrum team, although it does not include a comprehensive list of all possible duties. Scrum masters frequently carry out a number of the following tasks. For example:

Standups: As needed, lead the daily scrum or standups.

Meetings for sprint/iteration planning: Guard against scope creep and overcommitment on the part of the team. support the establishment of subtasks and estimation.

Sprint reviews: Attend the meeting and record the comments.

Retrospectives: Make a list of things to work on and things to improve for upcoming sprints.

Board administration: Take up the role of the scrum board administrator. Make that the scrum tools, such as Jira, are functioning properly and that the cards are current.

1:1s: As needed, hold one-on-one meetings with stakeholders and team members. Solve team disputes on workflow and methods of operation. A lot of scrum practitioners are against one-on-one meetings because they think these discussions belong in standups. On the other hand, new teams frequently favor these frequent in-person meetings with particular team members. The scrum master may determine that these one-on-one encounters are essential to the growth of the team and to get to know one another.

Internal Consulting: Before deciding how to best collaborate with the scrum team, scrum masters should speak with team members and internal stakeholders.

Reporting: To determine what is built and at what cadence, regular monitoring of burndown charts and other tools for portfolio planning is necessary.

Obstacles: By removing external obstacles and overseeing internal barriers, the scrum master helps the team.

These were some of the responsibilities and well they align with the workflow when working on a daily basis.

Skills of Scrum

For scrum masters to perform the job well, we need a certain set of soft skills. Over time I have realised these traits would help in the long run:

Leadership: Scrum masters need to demonstrate their leadership abilities without coming across as bossy. Serving the group and encouraging self-organization are two ways they lead.

Effective communication: It's essential to communicate in an open and clear manner. Scrum masters ensure that all team members and interested parties are aware of the objectives, challenges, and state of the project.

Empathy: It's critical to comprehend and feel the team's difficulties. Scrum masters must encourage and assist their teams when things get tough.

Problem-solving: Scrum masters frequently resolve disputes and obstacles. To keep the team on course, they need to be skilled at addressing problems and coming up with solutions. 

Adaptability: Scrum masters ought to be flexible and receptive to new ideas. They must adapt to the project's and the team's changing needs.

Time management: In order to keep the team on track and achieve sprint goals, scrum masters need to be skilled time managers.

Having someone in the role who has experience with scrum before can be quite beneficial when implementing scrum. Scrum masters are therefore frequently employed as consultants or part-timers rather than as full-time employees. Every scrum team is unique, though.

A lot of seasoned teams take delight in delegating management tasks to one another and work together to accomplish the tasks mentioned above. The team may elect to cycle the scrum master position, with various team members leading standups and retrospectives in turn.

Product owners can focus on strategy, developers can write amazing code, and members of the team can achieve more success. This is the foundation of an efficient scrum.

[medianotfound]

[04] Manifesto

Creating a manifesto would be recognising and committing to the values you give yourself. As a designer, having a manifesto is very important. Remembering your values and always staying true to your words not for anyone else, only yourself.

Time Management. For me, this is the most important therefore it wuld be at the top of my list. It’s extremely important for me because I usually juggle school assignments and freelancing as a designer at the same time, among other things like having a social life and time for myself. I still have yet to master this but I try to. Having time management would mean that I do not get too overwhelmed with everything and organising my thoughts and priorities. 

F*CK IT! Whenever I’m designing for myself, I don’t really like to think. I’ve not really had the opportunity to create for myself and I want to be able to do that more often. Having the time to create for no one else but myself produces a sense of originality and not just referencing others or what my clients want.

Mistakes Are Okay! As a young designer, I’m still growing. I’ve made many mistakes as a designer whether it’s accidentally putting in wrong information or designs not being communicated well enough. I always have to remind myself that everything is going to be just fine. I’m always hard on myself when it comes to these things, expecting myself to be perfect but I’m not, no one is and that is okay.

Authenticity. This relates to my previous point, in creating for myself I want to build authenticity within my own creative grounds. To find my own style and purpose. Although, being original when many different styles already exist, I have to resort to a more organic source of inspiration, perhaps a creative epiphany, to be authentic. My design, my decisions. 

Work Ethic. Having a good work ethnic is important because when I started working I realise there’s so many incompetent people and that massively annoyed me. It affect us all, to be honest. If I can do my part and do my work properly and according to standards, I feel like I have achieved a good work ethic. 

Maximilist. When it comes to design, I always like breaking the rules and boundaries. Some would call it anti-design. My old supervisor introduced it to me when I first started working as a designer and I never looked back. The beauty of not caring while also having the intent to get the message across. 

Design by J. Hunor Vári

I like this style of design. Some wouldn’t but I love how this breaks the boundaries of having a grid system or readability. It’s sort of like a bang of imagery and overwhelming creativeness. The colors and layering the text to the visuals is beautiful.

In conclusion, this module has helped me to create for myself and learn more about myself. My endgame is to be more free as a creative and to incorporate the things I love and express them creatively.

[506 words]

[itsrottenwork]

Hi mj!! Secret Santa here!! Happy Friday!! May your weekend be a long and restful one, at that!!✨

Oooooo politics and communication!! Sending you all the luck for the rest of your college years!! Just based on that alone, I totally understand the hardships of it all!! Being in college is hard enough, but when it’s a major with a lot of complexities and nuance that can be brought to the table, I can only imagine lol!! What made you want to go into politics and communications, if you don’t mind me asking?

Awe, I’d love to see a picture of your succulents!! I bet they look great!! I’d send a picture of my cacti, but I can’t while on anon!! After we properly introduce ourselves, I can!! If you were able to, where would you like to travel next, given the opportunity? When I was in Italy, my friends and I were supposed to travel to the UK for spring break, but because of COVID spreading as fast as it did, our abroad program pulled us out, so we never got to go!! I’d love to go back to Europe and explore the places I never got to see!! I’d probably also go down to South America!!

The jingling reindeer ears? That’s so cute!! 🥺 I feel you about the whole crowded spaces at concerts!! Ever since the pandemic hit, it’s never really gotten back to normal in terms of the concert space!! Since the start of this year, I’ve been to so many concerts, yet, I’ve always tried to do my part in being as careful as I can when in those spaces!! Hopefully someone you enjoy tours in your city so you can attend!!

Love that!! I’ve been so behind on YouTube content!! Sometimes, I just have to be in the mood to watch them so I tend to fall behind when it comes to certain uploads rather quickly!! Ooooo cinnamon!! Anything apple cinnamon is so comforting, especially as a candle scent anytime of the year!!

More speed round questions!! What are three things you know you can’t live without?! Do you have a collection of any kind? Any cool knickknacks lol? If you can meet anyone in the world (dead or alive), who would it be and what would you ask them?🎄✨

this is my last year actually!! I'm in a one-year master's program, so it's only this year, but this is my last year of any sort of schooling, after this I'll be done done. I've always been interested in politics, bit of an idealist I am, and I also enjoy the more creative side, the writing and branding and whatnot, so yeah comms is the route that I see myself best able to contribute :)

here they are!! and also the little cat rock I painted a year or two ago. there's also some really little ones underneath the big one in the back but I couldn't get everyone in the one photo hehe

I always like to have travel plans set, even if they're way in the future, so I do have a few things planned already. my family is going to austria during winter break, and for spring break my friends and I are looking at doing a road trip around a whole bunch of different cities, but we're still working out the details. I'd love to travel somewhere outside of europe, but as I am currently in europe it's easiest to travel close by

what concerts have you seen this year? or if you've seen too many to list, what ones were your favorites? I don't think I've been to a concert since 2019 tbh, it's fun and I kinda miss the vibe but it's not something I ever really did a lot, so I don't mind not going too

speed round answers!! although I feel like I'm not very speedy when I answer them lol

three things: probably really basic answers but phone (for obvious reasons), water bottle (hydrate or die-drate baby), and keys (I really like having a physical totem of This Is Where I Live, one of the best gifts I ever got was when my friend gave me a key to her apartment when I moved in with her)

collections: I don't really collect anything I think? I take a lot of photos though, so I've got those hanging on my wall, and every year my friends from high school all get together in the exact same way and we take the same polaroid every summer, so I guess I have a collection of those haha

cool knickknacks: coolest knickknack on my shelf at the minute is the boomerang I painted when I was in australia, though my shelves here at uni are a bit sparse

meet anyone: I wish I could talk to my great grandfather, I never met him but the way my mom and grandparents talk about him, I'd want to be able to sit down with him and hear like, his whole life story basically

[writing-in-april]

My Knight in Shiny Armor

Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral Reader (Spencer POV)

Summary: Reader is a fantasy novelist and writes Spencer into their story.

A/N: Heyy heyyy- this is my entry for the SFW fic swap that @imagining-in-the-margins organized! (Can y’all tell how much I love fic swaps I might have to organize one myself one day) This is a super fluffy little fic for @thekatherinewinchester! Hope y’all enjoy and my entry for the NSFW fic swap will be coming soon! If you have any requests they are open and I’m looking for requests for my next event- 30 fics in 30 days for April 2021 (I’ll make up a better title soon I promise) thanks for reading!

Warnings: this is so fluffy there’s no warnings 🥰- unless you don’t like the secret relationship trope

Main Masterlist Word Count: 1.2k

Garcia came up to me with a giddy look on her face as I was pouring sugar into my next cup of coffee. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that she was holding a book that looked similar to a novel that I was extremely familiar with. A blush on my face immediately formed and I forgot that I was still pouring sugar into my cup, though I’m sure that I’d still like the excessive amount of sugar I put into my coffee. As Garcia had said before, it was my ‘brand’, whatever that means.

I cleared my throat in preparation for the interrogation I was about to face, “What’s up Garcia?”

Instead of point blank telling me what she was all giddy about she opened the hard covered novel in her hands with green binding that I had seen numerous copies of.

“The mysterious man was taller than the rest of us by far, with fluffy brown hair that his helmet tried in vain to hide. It wasn’t just his handsome looks that drew me to him, it was also his intellectual abilities. He was far superior in intellect to any other man I had met in the world. The rousing conversations I had with him also made me feel respected by him which was much more than I could say compared to the other men I had met. The name of the mysterious knight in the shiny armor that had invaded all my thoughts as of late was named, Spencer.”

Once she finished the excerpt of the book she shut it dramatically then raising her eyebrows, I knew exactly what she was asking with her nonverbal cues, “I’m friends with the author…”

The look on her face after I trailed off told me that she wasn’t buying my lie. I was about to say something more convincing, but Garcia was not impressed with my attempts to get out of this ‘interrogation’.

“Oh- no no no, you aren’t getting away with it that easy, boy wonder. The blush on your face isn’t fooling me.” Her calling out my blush only served to make my face an even deeper shade of red, I could tell just from how hot the room suddenly felt. She continued on despite my deepening cheek color, “I want to know how you got your New York Times Best Seller partner, tell me everything.”

I figured there was no way to deny it now, the way I fidgeted and the blush on my cheeks gave it away easily. Even though Garcia wasn’t trained to study human behavior she wasn’t stupid and I wasn’t a good liar. So, I proceeded to tell her the story of how we met.

Of course as soon as I finished the story of how we met at a coffee shop Garcia bombarded me with more questions and brought the rest of the team to ask. She even got Morgan to say he’d read the book because he wanted to know “what does pretty boy look like in shining armor?” Which Garcia of course had to correct, as she had read the rest of the book.

As I was riding the metro after work my mind decided to wander about what had happened today. At first I was excited to share with Y/N about what happened today, but then I started to worry. What if they didn’t want to tell anyone?

We hadn’t really discussed telling everyone about our relationship besides passing comments in conversation. I worried that maybe they wouldn’t want to tell everyone because maybe they’d be embarrassed to be seen with me. Maybe that’s why they hadn’t brought up me telling the team much.

Once I had gotten back to my apartment I opened the door and was immediately greeted with the smell of Y/N’s cooking. Normally, I’d be super excited that they decided to pop in my apartment, but my anxiety about what had happened today was taking over my mind. I was rooted to the floor in front of my door, not wanting to have to admit to them that I had told everyone.

“How’s my favorite genius?” Their melodic voice called out from the kitchen. There was no way I could avoid it now, they’d probably be able to immediately tell that I was anxious. They were good at being able to tell exactly what I was thinking, and it wasn’t even their job. I often joked with them that their ability to read my behavior was as good as mine.

I decided I better get this over with.

As I walked over to my small apartment kitchen I prepared my explanation in my head. When they spotted me they opened their mouth to speak and I just started to rant, “I may have told the team about you. I got cornered by Garcia in the break room and she happened to have your book and read the parts where you wrote a character based on me- and”

“Slow down, baby.” They cut my ranting off once they had gotten her bearings. Normally being cut off makes me annoyed, but in this case I could tell I was in a swirling anxious mind set that I wouldn’t break out of unless an outside force helped me stop. I took a deep breath, which did help slow down my racing thoughts. Once I had slightly refocused my thoughts I noticed that they were looking over at me from where they were standing over the pot of pasta at the stove with a look of concern, which surprised me.

“You’re not mad?”

They turned the oven off as the pasta was definitely done now, making their way over to the other side of the kitchen where I stood. Bringing their warm hands up they cupped my cheeks and then asked with sweetness, “Why would I be mad.”

I couldn’t help but start to spill my thoughts into another rant to try and explain my reasoning, “Well- I didn’t really talk about telling them with you and I know that communication is important in a relationship from what I’ve read. And it felt like I made a mistake because I wasn’t communicating properly and I’m an idiot, I’m sorry you have to date someone who doesn’t know anything about relationships.”

“Spencer, it’s ok I promise. I was going to ask if maybe you wanted to introduce me to them soon anyway and- you aren’t stupid I promise, baby. You’re a genius, remember?

After we ate the dinner they had cooked they brought out their book to read to me, specifically the part in reference where my fictional counterpart came to save the day.

“You’re my knight in shiny armor.” They said with fondness, this was my favorite line in the book.

“Shiny armor? Why not shining armor?” I had asked this question numerous times since I had seen the same line in their book. I knew the conversation in the novel like the back of my hand and every time we read the book together we enacted the conversation. They acted out the protagonist’s lines perfectly, which was not surprising since the protagonist was partially based on them from their own admission.

“I don’t know, I just think it sounds cuter,” Their words were as sweet as honey, making me want to lean in to kiss them, but they needed to finish the line, “and in my book, you’re cuter than all other knights in shining armor.”

—-

Tag list (message me if you want to be added):

All works:

@shotarosleftpinky @oreogutz @90spumkin @kyra-morningstar

Spencer Reid/CM:

@calm-and-doctor @destiny-tsukino @safertokiss @slutforthegubes

[x0401x]

Kagerou Poject Reboot: RealSound Interview

Jin x Shirakami Mashirou x Yuumao

Their takes on the changes that each of them has witnessed in the past ten years and the things they have been seeing in the whirlpool that is the VOCALOID scene.

Translation commissioned by the amazing @sodasexual​!

Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Kagerou Project, the Re:boot project has commenced. An interview has been carried out to ask about its background and prospects.

The ones we have interviewed are a trio consisting of the author of Kagerou Project and multi-creator Jin, as well as Shirakami Mashirou (bass) and Yuumao (drums/Hitorie), who are also production members of the original music piece and were listed as the performance team of “Children Record (Re:boot)”, which was released the other day as the first part of the Re:boot project.

We had them talk about the true intentions behind “Re:boot”, which means “to restart”, about the recordings where they created the concept of “overcoming the original composition” and about the near future, including the new song, along with the steps they have taken in the past ten years.

The “pain” that comes with creating something unprecedented.

——How did Kagerou Project’s Re:boot project begin?

Jin: Kagerou Project was set into motion back in 2011, so this year is the turning point of ten years since then. In that meantime, there were lots of things I fretted over, but as I discussed with the people around me about whether there was anything I could do, we came up with the idea of “remaking the old compositions”. I thought if that’s what we were going to do, then I wanted to try doing it with the original members of Children Record, so I contacted the two.

——How did each of you feel when Shirakami Mashirou-san and Yuumao-san received the proposal of a remake?

Jin: Regarding Mashirou-san, I was contacting him for the first in a long time. “Let’s go out for a drive,” I told him.

Shirakami: Right, right. We went on a car drive together. Just us seeing each other already felt nostalgic in itself, so we talked like normal about lots of things and were like, “Yeah, it was fun back then”. I felt that “Aah, I’m looking forward to this”.

Jin: While talking to the staff, I honestly felt uneasy about creating something new, even though it was a remake. If I had to use a word to represent these ten years in which I’ve been writing novels and making music for Kagerou Project, it was extremely “painful” to me. So I wanted to talk to Mashirou-san first-thing. On a different occasion, when a staff member asked me, “Have you been keeping in contact with Mashirou-san lately?”, I suggested, “If it’s okay, can I contact him myself?”, and then invited him for the drive. Rather than the request for the remake, I firstly wanted to discuss with him, “I’m planning on doing this thing; what do you think?”

Shirakami: There was one more person taking part in that drive, right?

Jin: That’s right. Since the coronavirus was going on, we went driving in three separate cars, and the third person was INPNE-kun, who made the video of Children Record Re:boot. That was INPINE-kun and Mashirou-san’s first meeting. At that time, INPNE-kun hadn’t started working on the video yet, but thinking back on it now, I’m glad the two of them were introduced to each other that way. It feels like our hearts bound the music and the video together.

——Yuumao-san, what about you?

Yuumao: Jin-kun and I were seeing each other constantly. I had received a request to tackle the recordings of the songs he had been making until now. Amidst that, there was a day when I received a request, amongst other matters, and was scheduled to “record Children Record”. Up to around three days before the recording, I spent my time wondering, “What’s this supposed to be?” (laughs).

——Jin-san, what did you think when choosing Shirakami-san and Yuumao-san, the original duo?

Jin: I only felt that I wanted to do it with these two. I didn’t have any other choice in the first place. I’m awfully fond of the contents that they performed in the original song, and I had no complaints other than towards my own abilities for making musical arrangements.

——You said earlier that “the past ten years were extremely painful”, but what kind of feeling was it?

Jin: The year when I began these activities, 2011, was the time when I was attending a vocational school; the band I was playing with back then disbanded midway, but by sheer coincidence, the older brother of a friend of mine was using VOCALOIDs and he taught me about them, so I really started doing it without any backing. Having played in a band until then, there was a lot of passion and many messages that I wanted to convey inside me, so this project was about me taking them and beginning to paddle off, and one of the aspects of it was that VOCALOID made the things I wanted to do into a reality. But that was a period where it felt like the VOCALOID culture wasn’t yet acknowledged. On top of that, other than the music, Kagerou Project had novels, and a lot of it had no precedents, so I believe there were parts of it that were difficult to understand for people who weren’t already into it. I didn’t know if the path I was going through was right or wrong. But the people around me kept telling me “not to take my foot off the accelerator”. In that sense, I definitely have negative memories of it. I also had the feeling that I was estranged from the music scene.

——Indeed, the music of Kagerou Project is unmistakably rock, and I believe it was something that pierced through Japan’s rock culture, but I think you might have felt that you were not understood by the rock bands of back then.

Jin: That’s right. Surprisingly, the people around me, including creators and those who were in bands, gave off an air of ridicule with a “he’s a faker” kind of nuance to it. I understood the awesomeness of rock bands, so of course, there were times when I’d wonder, “What is it that I’m doing?”. During these ten years, there was a moment halfway when I almost broke down. Due to many primary factors, I might’ve been unable to go on – like, there was a time when I found myself thinking that it was weird to keep it up while I was so at loss. There was also a period where I was unable to create anything for Kagerou Project.

——When did that happen, exactly?

Jin: Rather than breaking down all of a sudden, it’s more like I slowly became unable to create any more. Although I was being criticized on one side, I was also being demanded on another, so I was at a level where I was obligated to write. However, while all sorts of emotions were whirling up, I suddenly thought of something. There was a time when I got closure from that feeling of “not being acknowledged” that I mentioned earlier.

——When was that?

Jin: Around the time when I was making the previous album (“Mekakucity Reload”, which was released in November 2018). I was called “inexperienced” and “unskilled” not only in the rock scene but also in the light novel scene, so I made effort to sweep it all away. It felt like I was being treated like a tumor in everything I did. But then I suddenly thought, “Yeah, that’s fine”. There was a moment one day when the mists actually cleared, like, “What was I so at loss about?” It’s not like I’ve been going at it just so that someone would praise me. If anything, I lived my life constantly being made fun of. I’m no good at sports, I’m not smart, and I by no means did I ever excel at communicating with people at all. By the moment that I thought, if this is my character, then maybe being praised isn’t the only right answer, I was suddenly alleviated. If I’m being called a “child deceiver”, then I’m going to do that with all my might and apply myself to it, is what I thought. I refused to go to school for a while when I was in middle school, yet I had the feeling that I wanted to face this part of me, not in a fashionable or trendy way but in a miserable state, and fight him head-on. I guess that’s what suited me best. To me, Shirakami-san and Yuumao-san are people with a “chosen vision”. They have the sense to perceive beauty. I think I don’t have that in me. Which is why I was in pain. I was in a dilemma where I couldn’t grasp music as an art. However, it’s not like I’m making fun of hamburgers, but I started to think that I wanted to compete using something punk, something hamburger-like. It took me a while to get there.

——How do you feel after listening to what Jin-san just said, Yuumao-san and Shirakami-san?

Yuumao: Jin-kun said just now that he was “fretting” and “stuck”, but I knew about his circumstances to a certain extent, so I imagined that he was unable to move on. But while talking about all sorts of things with Jin-kun, when producing stuff in the last three to four years, we had the feeling that it basically boils down to “if we don’t provide this and that, it won’t be interesting”. This isn’t limited to KagePro – I just personally felt that the productions of his works were shifting towards not “making something good”, but rather making something that could be properly verbalized. For me, as someone on the performing side, I was also in a situation where, rather than just providing good content one way or another, I became increasingly able to explain it. In the end, we change just like that, is what I felt. And you base yourself on this to make new songs, right?

Jin: That’s right.

Yuumao: Thought so. That’s why I feel like the stuff that will come from you in the future will have stronger colors.

——Shirakami-san, what about you? How did the scenario change in the past decade and how do you think that you have been progressing as a musician?

Shirakami: The biggest change that I felt the most on my skin is that the huge Vocaloid movement itself has completely gained familiarity with the public in the last ten years. About a while after I had started associating with Mafumafu-kun, amongst the musicians that I’ve met, the number of people who came up to tell me, “I’ve been listening to Vocaloid” has increased. It’s been one round ever since we began doing this stuff, and the people who were the consumers back then became producers, is what I mean. That’s not us, the first generation – it’s a kind of follower generation, and we’ve completely permeated them. The context of what was born not only from VOCALOID but also the so-called internet culture has blended with the category named “ordinary rock bands”. That’s what I’ve been feeling for three or four years now. Therefore, the “feeling of being a knock-off” that Jin-kun innitially talked about has disappeared with the change of times, so to speak. I feel this keenly even in regards to myself and I think it’s an objective truth. However, from a personal point of view, even though changes are happening in many places, what is fundamentally required of us hasn’t changed much. For example, I believe that VTubers are also getting public familiarity now, but I think the reason why VTubers are trendy is that there are human beings underneath. For VOCALOID, too, the composers, so-called Vocalo-P’s, are the ones who get popularity, and one way or another, there’s also a phenomenom where the songs sung by popular Utaite become widespread. In the end, I think what matters is the fact that there are people behind it. I personally think we have to create stuff that we can be proud of while paying close attention to these things. In short, just because all internet content is intangible isn’t enough; we, the creators, have to carry the literacy of how society is going to approve of us.

Jin: That’s right. I think that VOCALOID music up to this point, Kagerou Project included, will have to be supplemented. Since we have words that are so easy to understand, such as “rock band”, “singer” and “songwriter”, for example, people go, “What the heck is a Vocalo-P, then?” At first, there was this impression that we were being given a weird alias by strangers, and I also felt like the adults, the people who are in control of the media, made us into something easy to digest. In regards to “deceiving children”, in order to earn money the fastest with it and make it spread the widest, the most effective method was probably to make it marketable, simple to understand and easy for adults to put labels on.

Therefore, I think that things such as “What is it that I can’t give up on?” and “What did I even want to do to begin with?” are the true identity of the realization that I mentioned earlier. It’s like wondering whether or not you can say aloud in the middle of a classroom that you “enjoy anime” or “really like cute characters”. Back in those days, I couldn’t to it at all. The class had castes. But I want to say this in a loud voice. Rather than trendy and fashionable overseas music, I much sooner believe in Summon Night EX-THESE’s theme song (“Byakuya” by Matsumoto Eiko) and other such music that I’ve always liked. Therefore, I want to start off from the fact that people think, “Aah, this guy has no sense”. It’s like I’m saying sorry to my middle school second-year self for almost forgetting the feelings I had back then. I seriously don’t care about winning. Being number one or being famous doesn’t matter at all to me. Only, I just don’t want people to act on their own accord like I’m a loser. I think that means I want to do something to fix this.

Earning recognition for creating KagePro content is still a few ways ahead.

——Back in 2013, we had a conversation between Jin-san and Suganami Eijun-san from THE BACK HORN, and back then, Jin-san said, “I’m handing bombs over to my grade school and middle school selves”. And that live concerts were the detonators.

Jin: That’s right.

——Regarding KagePro, I feel that this thing about “handing bombs over” is very prominent. Just as Shirakami-san said, VOCALOID “earned its own rights”, but in KagePro’s case, when I see the responses to the reboot, each and every one of the comments is very passionate.

Yuumao: Lately, be it with KagePro or Hitorie, the number of people who say either that they’re listening or had been listening to VOCALOID in the past year and a half has truly increased a lot. I kind of feel on my skin that many people are getting rooted in it.

——Jin-san, do you feel this too?

Jin: No, I don’t. This is a twisted way of putting it, but I think it’s a few ways ahead for us to receive that evaluation. I feel like it’s not over yet. When I started off by myself and decided to move on from my child self to the future, I wasn’t acknowledged by my elders and seniors. I feel inside me that this still isn’t over. I intend to be in a whirlpool. It hasn’t been proven yet whether I’m a knock-off or not. It makes me really happy that there are people who were influenced by us, but that opinion doesn’t make me change my mind.

——Jin-san, how do you think of KagePro in the near future?

Jin: When I look toward the future, I simply want to finish it. I will be taking my time to create content, but first things first, I want to devote myself to the completion of this project. I definitely won’t abandon it midway. I have this firmly in mind now. As for its contents, it’s mainly two things. For now, firstly, we have started the reboot from Children Record, but of course, there’s also a reboot for the project’s story. Moreover, there will be new developments coming next. There are also new songs and new stuff story-wise. And I want to do them with these two members, for as much as they allow. There’s the possibility that I’ll be making the drums play at 200 BPM when we’re in our 50’s. I think the announcements will be slow, but I’m very positive about this, so I myself am looking forward to it too. And, on the other hand, I also would like to ask these two for their ideas in regards to making music for this project and their opinions, like what they want to work hard on.

——What do you mean?

Jin: I honestly think that Children Record was extremely well-done. When it comes to creating something new, I want to destroy the approach that I’ve been using until now. How about it?

Shirakami: If we’re talking about approach, I believe we’ve been witnessing all sorts of possibilities. We went to studios together the past ten years for that, but we can also do it online like we did this time. Ah, we haven’t gone on a training camp yet.

Jin: I want to go on one.

Yuumao: For sure.

Shirakami: That might be interesting too. Now, if we’re talking just about the bass, it seems this production will turn out as one where I’ll get to confirm once again up to what point I can go – that’s what I thought when listening to you talk. I think the stance of trying to challenge yourself no matter how much you age is, of course, the way that musicians should be and I believe that challenging myself is the path I’m going to take, but there are genres, ideologies and aestheticss when it comes to music makers and performers. Personally, amongst the things that I’ve been producing together with Jin-kun until now, whenever we had a subject in front of us, we would only think about how to do our utmost to give a displayable form to it, but be it with the phrasing, nuance or melody, I feel like we have options for all of them. In a sense, there’s a side of Yuumao and I that has been branded as performers as we worked on productions with Jin-kun. So the extension of the straight line that we have been charting until now is, of course, still there. Now that ten years have passed, if I can make new songs with you from now on, I seriously think it might be okay to reflect once again on how my style is being processed. It’s as if it has matured. I have chosen this job out of free will, so one way or another, I’m aware that it’ll be important to keep polishing it from now onwards.

Jin: Thank you very much. That’s literally it. Even in the current Children Record, I think there’s some aspect of it that was made up from the minds of you two, the rhythm section members. Both Mashirou-san and Yuumao-san make new proposals every time. You never try to trace the past at all. The way you think about sound is insanely serious.

Yuumao: I’m planning to do my best to create sounds in a more loose manner from now on. As for what I mean by “loose”, to put it simply, I think it’s quite important to be inspired by present-time musical instruments, and that we get influence from that, when we’re making the sound details. I think it’s bad if we don’t accept and face these things. In particular, I believe that the bass and drums are the parts that change the most. KagePro won’t change yet it has changed, and I think we should keep bringing out that aspect of it.

――Indeed, as a concept, this reboot is not something made to arrange things in a completely different direction from before. Be it a ballad or programmed music, for instance, there would be nothing of that in it. It’s a remake, a rebuild – at any rate, it felt like you are building it up.

Jin: Thank you very much. In the end, we also shouldn’t think that we just perfomed it over again. So it felt like a rematch. We were all at home, but we did that recording ready to beat our selves from about eight years ago. What should I do to make the original members say that this one “was cooler” than the precious song called Children Record? I think I was able to find an answer to that one.

Shirakami: In a way, using VOCALOID might have been its forte. For example, whenever a band remade a song from ten years ago, I usually felt that “the vocals have none of the freshness that they had back then” or “the reckless feel from that time was better”. But because it’s VOCALOID, that part doesn’t change. It might be that we managed to grant positive changes only to the good points.

Jin: I see. I think that’s possible. My mindset this time was to play the guitar so much that my fingers would bleed. I want to take on more challenges from now onward too.

[mystic-realm-of-magic]

https://www.patreon.com/crybabysccsims4

To properly introduce myself ,my name in the Sims 4 community is Sammoyke Murasaki, but please call me Sam if you wish. I have played the Sims franchise for almost 20 years. In those years I have grown attached to custom content being involved in my gameplay but only in Sims 4 was I truly able to consider making my own content. A few things to know about my Patreon, why I decided to make it, and what I desire out of it. 1. Easy Access to My Content After a lot of different methods of attempting to share my CC, I kept finding myself losing motivation to update and manage my content. Since I am a devoted CC shopper myself, I paid close attention to what I found were the easiest methods to use, as someone downloading. Patreon simply always seemed to be not only the easiest to download but also the fastest. After some consideration, I decided that I would give this method a try. 

2. Free Content is Free I have an aversion to sites that use shady and annoying adware links and ads, and I am particularly disgusted by paywall creators. So, one of the things that are really important to me is that I provide my CC for FREE with NO guilty strings attached. 3. Sharing is Caring What I hope to get out of sharing my sims 4 CC here is simple enough, I want to give back to the very community I have benefited from for all these years. Thousands of cc items have been downloaded by yours truly, just for the Sims 4 game alone, so naturally, it feels only right and fair to try and offer something back. That said, I don't claim to create groundbreaking custom content, but I do hope that the things I create are enjoyed by some simmers and add to your gameplay experience the way other creators' creations have added to mine for almost two decades. 4. The Plan I will be adding previously made custom content from the past three years over the next couple of days. I will then aspire to create something for the community on a weekly basis. Though I might not always be able to make "bundles" or "packs" every week, I will do my best to make visiting my Patreon often worth your time. 5. Maxis Match "Guarantee" Because I am not a mesh creator and specialize more in textures and recolors I can safely promise that nearly all my CC will be Maxis Match in that nearly everything will be a Maxis Match item. I do try to change things significantly with the item to make it worth adding it to your collection and that does sometimes include small mesh edits. I do tend to use higher resolutions for my textures, though I would not consider them HD. I simply feel that as much as I love this game, the quality of some in-game items is less than it could be, I aim to provide clear, good-quality retextures/recolors. If you see problems with any of the items I offer, don't hesitate to let me know, I can miss things! Please make sure to read any descriptions for the item you're downloading in case certain issues have been addressed in the download. 6. Simmer Opinions I want to know what you would like to see! I will hold polls when I am wrestling with ideas or stuck on what concept to tackle. Polls will be public. ༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　༻✦༺ ༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　༻✦༺ ༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　 "Shop smart, shop "S-Mart" ლ(ᗒ◡ꗞ )⊃━♡ I want to provide content that adds an interesting aesthetic to the game but also brings back a little bit of fun to the cc “shopping” experience. I have come up with themed concepts for my custom content. I will add to this list as I continue to brainstorm new ideas and receive suggestions. I have made this guide, so you know what to look forward to. Packs Themes with 30 or more package files will be considered a pack. 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Bundles Themes with less than 30 package files will be considered a bundle. 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Thrift-Store Treasures I grew up visiting thrift stores every Saturday with my mom. With just a few bucks in my pocket, I could go home with irreplaceable treasures. Thrift-Store Treasures will have the same energy. 1-5 items with no connecting themes but all equally treasurable. They could be CAS items, deco chachkies or a nice trash to treasure table, but whatever it is, you can bet it will be worth way more than what you pay for it..which is nothing! We love that here. 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Project: Content Collections Maybe it is the section of my brain that is part ferret, but I love collecting things. This is true for me in life but obsessively true for me in the Sims game. Project: Content Collections will be ongoing collections that are added to as I make more over time. This project is unique since along with my own ideas I will not only take requests for the collections, but your requests will also help decide how big these collections get! All requests are public, like all my cc. ❤⁀➷Project: Oil paint Novelty Pet Shirts ❤⁀➷Project: Snowglobes ❤⁀➷Project: Kindness Stones ❤⁀➷Project: Reading Rainbow ❤⁀➷Project: Art Deco Plate ❤⁀➷Project: Post Card 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Quality of Life Replacements I tend to find the textures in the game often lackluster with some of the debug items. For my own sanity, I fix those textures and sometimes completely overhaul the items' appearance. Since most of these items are overrides, please make sure you want to replace your in-game textures with my versions before you decide to download them. 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Fandom Cache Since one of my favorite ways to play sims is to recreate worlds from the numerous fandoms it's not uncommon for me to wind up with large collections of cc for those same fandoms. Current Fandoms ❤⁀➷Naruto Cache ❤⁀➷Cyberpunk Cache ❤⁀➷Fallout Cache ❤⁀➷World of Warcraft Cache ❤⁀➷Dead by Daylight Cache 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Brand Bunch Though I am not overly into "brands" in RL, there are a few exceptions to the rule and in-game, certain sims may be VERY into certain brands. Brand Bunches will be small sets dedicated to various brands and products. ❤⁀➷Monster Java Coffee Bunch 『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』 Character/Story PSDs A lot of us simmers don't just play the game, we also have in-depth characters with detailed storylines and legacies. Over the years one of my favorite things to make for my sims is bio cards with various information about the character. I will offer downloads of some of the PSD files of my character creation storyboard files. Some of the storyboards might be maxis themed others might be fandom inspired. ◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:* This overview might change in small ways, but this is the basic plan I have to start with. I hope that I can really bring some amusing content to your game and show that even simple recolors/retextures can really give the game new life. Thanks for reading and happy CC shopping. (◡‿◡✿)*:༅｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿ Sammoyke Murasaki ✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡༅:*♡*

https://www.patreon.com/crybabysccsims4

[quixotic-writer]

Hello darlings! Let me properly introduce myself:

✨I’m Suki | they/them are the pronouns I use | 21 years of age✨

I wanted to make this pinned post so you could get to know me a bit and the space I have created on this blog!

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To start:

This is a place NOT open to those who are homo/transphobic, MAPs, racist, alt-right, anti-feminist, and so on. You will be blocked.

If you come here to start discourse, harass others, or send mean/hateful comments/asks/messages, you also will be blocked.

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I want this to be a safe space for myself and EVERYONE. So long as you treat me and other community members with the utmost respect, you will be treated with the same respect that you deserve.

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Q x Reader Master-list

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While my blog is mostly IJ, I do have other interests including and aren’t limited to: five nights at Freddy's game series, animal crossing, music and bands galore, and many other things! I’m not super strict on keeping a theme and will occasionally reblog things that I want on my blog such as some positive reminders, music, or funny text posts. This is my blog and I like to post whatever makes me happy whether it’d be a gif set of the guys, some music I'd like to share, or just random thoughts I have to keep things interesting.

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As far as writing goes: I do write both sfw and nsfw but I do tag everything properly and put warnings on my fics as well. You can send in a request whenever you like but that doesn’t mean it’s something that I will get to right away due to school scheduling, personal things, and I do find myself in the occasional slump where I just can’t write. I am willing to write almost anything HOWEVER, I can turn down a request if I don’t feel comfortable writing it. Things I will NEVER write include and aren’t limited to: incest, pedophilia, non-consensual related themes, and again, anything I don’t personally feel comfortable writing.

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I love getting asks, don’t be shy at all! You can ask just about anything (within reason of course) or send in some ask prompts that you’ll see me occasionally reblog and I will answer to the best of my ability. I’m a fairly open book!

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I love making new friends and talking to others, but honestly i’m super shy and anxious and will probably never initiate a conversation. I DON'T HATE YOU! I just have a hard time talking to new people and starting convos because I feel like I'm bothering people. I also sometimes might not respond super fast because I might not have the energy to hold a convo or I might be busy. AGAIN, NOTHING PERSONAL! Just a wee bit messy, y’know? Also I have a tendency to say “dude,” “bro,” “babe,” “darling,” “sweetheart,” and “lovely” a LOT. If I call you any of these and it bothers you please tell me!!

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With that:

Welcome to my blog!

hope you stay a while and have a good time!

[nordleuchten]

Hello! Do you know about the relationship between Lafayette and general bernadotte? it seems like they both disliked Napoleon to some degrees. and when Lafayette was injured in the leg, it was mentioned that bernadotte visited him a lot? Were they friends?

Hello Anon,

thank you for your question. It was a bit difficult at first to assess the true extent of the relationship between La Fayette and General Jean Baptiste Bernadotte because there are not too many written accounts. Bernadotte is mentioned neither in La Fayette’s memoirs, nor in Virginie’s and Adrienne’s memoirs, nor in Cloquet’s memoirs. It also appears that no modern scholar has ever really analysed their relationship. I have quite a number of books on La Fayette but Bernadotte is mentioned in none of them.

That being said, I had a deep dive into some letters and now I feel comfortable in giving you an answer. Yes, La Fayette and Bernadotte were friends!

After having served as American ambassador to France towards the end of the French Revolution, James Monroe returned to France in 1803 to work out the details of the Louisiana Purchase with Napoléon’s government. He wrote a letter to James Madison on April 15, 1803:

I heard on my arrival that General Bernadotte who had been appointed some time before Minister to the United States, had been ordered on the 10th A to sit out immediately on his Mission. As my arrival at Havre was known him on the 9th, it might be inferred that this order was given in consequence of it. In this I was informed by General La Fayette who informed me that he had apprised Genl Bernadotte of my arrival at Havre—that I was expected here on that day; and that he had intreated him to wait untill I came.

Beside this letter, we have an entry from Monroe’s Autobiography as well. In it, we can read that:

In this interview General Lafayette communicated to Mr. Monroe an incident which excited his surprise. He informed him that General Bernadotte, who had been appointed some short time before Minister to the United States, had left town for Rochfort, the port from which he expected to sail, on the 10th in obedience to the order of his government. General Lafayette and General Bernadotte had served together in the commencement of the Revolution and were intimately acquainted with each other.

Monroe’s account attest to a friendly and respectful relationship between the two Generals but his perspective is that of an outsider looking in. Their friendship is more readily expressed in La Fayette’s own words. He wrote in a letter to James Madison on March 31, 1803:

My dear Madisson,

General Bernadotte is so gloriously introduced by his own reputation, and Character, that I shall only present him to you as my personal friend. He is of all men the one I would better like to see going to America as an ambassador, was he not also the man, whom all true and steady patriots cannot but heartily wish to keep nearer to his own country, where none surpass, and but few can equal the sincerity and steadiness of his republican civism. Madame Bernadotte accompanies him on this embassy, I hope this most amiable consort of the General, will meet from our american Ladies, the reception to which she is so well entitled. She particularly wishes to obtain the friendship of Mrs. Madisson, and I have no doubt from the Knowledge of your mutual sentiments, that the intimacy will be soon established between the two families.

La Fayette wrote the same day to Alexander Hamilton:

My dear hamilton

I would like by this opportunity to write to you a long letter, but having been Laying on my back for two months past, and being for three weeks to come, doomed to the same situation, I must confine myself to a few lines written near my bed. The particulars of the accident and his cure will be given to you by General Bernadotte, whom I must particularly introduce and his lady to Mrs. Hamilton and to you. Politics I will not dwell upon. My sentiments are so well Known to you that it were superfluous to say what I think of senatus-consulta at home, and settling colonies in North America. Yet I hope this late affair may still be arranged to mutual satisfaction, and I am sure nobody could have better personal disposition than my friend General Bernadotte, who to those high and brilliant abilities which have so much contributed to ⟨the⟩ triumph of the french arms, joins one of the most civic, generous, ⟨and⟩ candid hearts, it is possible to meet with. I Know he sets a great value by the approbation of the citizens of America, and is particularly desirous of your acquaintance, and properly sensible of its advantages.

Both of these letters are quite short and really serve no other purpose than introducing Bernadotte to various influential Americans. It should also be remembered, that La Fayette had just broken his femur, was not able to write himself and probably was half of the time in an agonising amount of pain - yet he made sure these letters were written. It is also true that Bernadotte visited La Fayette often and long while he was recuperating from the accident that lead to his broken femur. I think there were two reasons to these sick-calls. First of all, they were friends and friends visit each other when one of them is sick. La Fayette was probably bored out of his mind and thankful for every visitor and every distraction. (Visiting La Fayette also had become somewhat of a political statement). Secondly, Bernadotte was about to be send as ambassador to America and there was not better source of knowledge about America than La Fayette. Bernadotte in all likelihood learned something useful and La Fayette had something to distract himself with. A win-win situation.

On August 20, 1810 Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden and this change in rank and his presumed distancing from republican values did not really lessen their relationship. La Fayette wrote to Thomas Jefferson on September 20, 1810:

(…) The Execution of the Nonintercourse Engagement provided for this Case is Here much depended upon—I Hope it will prove Encouraging— in the mean while we Have Endeavour’d to Avail ourselves of the Election of Bernadotte to the throne of Sweden—You Remember that in my letter of introduction to You, when He was Going to America, I did justice to His Services in and Remaining Sentiments for the Republican Cause— He Has Ever Since professed to me the Same Respect and Attachement for the United States, and when I found Him Called to be a northern king I did, with the Advice of Gal Armstrong, Claim the Exertion of those Sentiments—His Good will is Secured—How far it may Be Efficacious in Conversations Here, and through His power there, much depends on the delicacy of His Situation With the Omnipotent Ally—But when the American Government insists On the freedom of Neutral trade in the North, in their Communications At paris, it is Good to think the personal dispositions of the Boreal throne are favorable—His nomination Has Been free and Honorable to Him.

I think the fact that Bernadotte did not made it in any of the memoirs that I listed above signals that he and La Fayette were close but did not had the chance to spend a lot of time together or to experience many things together. However, when they were able to spend time together, they appear to have an immediate connection and enjoyed each other’s company quite a lot.

I hope that answered your query and I hope that you have/had a lovely day!