#feel free to add discussions/examples of what different groups share in their experiences

[rouge-the-bat]

some people are so weird about talking about opression as if its just a very cut-and-dry idea that ONLY EVER affects These people and never anyone else. when thats. really just not how anything works.

and then people act like saying this is trying to silence people and not let them have a word to define their oppression or something and its like ??? thats not what is being said ??? have words for certain types of oppression absolutely! its good to be able to have a term to use to spread more knowledge about what certain groups tend to go through!

but oppression for different groups overlap. to claim that x thing only ever happens to y people is just fucked up, because then YOURE the one trying to silence other peoples experiences.

and of course, just having a word to define what oppression a certain group goes through isnt inherently saying no one else experiences it, but some of yall certainly act like thats what it means and that perception is only going to divide you from other people and what things they also go through that are the same or similar to yours.

and it can easily influence the idea in ones mind that x people is The Most Oppressed and everyone else is The Oppressor (when oppression is an action, not an inherent quality of any individual of a non-ideological group), even when theres so many people that are hurting right alongside you and yall can be supporting one another and FIGHTING FOR EACH OTHER instead of with each other. remember, people that are actively trying to oppress others will ALWAYS benefit from people being divided and infighting.

[brentnhunter]

Principle: Listen to Others Description: Listening to others is a fundamental aspect of effective communication. Often, when we engage in conversations, our minds are preoccupied with formulating responses rather than truly hearing what the other person is saying. Active listening requires effort and focus, but the rewards are invaluable. By genuinely listening, we not only show respect to the speaker but also gain deeper insights and understanding. Ken Fracaro aptly notes, "If we are speaking, we are not listening or learning anything to add to our sum of knowledge. This is why the first step to effective listening is to stop talking." Ralph Nichols emphasizes, "The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." Common Ground: The principle of listening to others transcends boundaries of culture, language, age, and background. It is a universal truth that all individuals, regardless of their differences, desire to be heard and understood. By practicing active listening, we create a common ground of empathy and connection among all people. Importance: Listening to others is crucial for building harmonious relationships and fostering genuine connections. When we make an effort to truly listen, we convey respect and care for the speaker. This act of listening not only enriches our own understanding but also creates a sense of validation and appreciation for the person sharing their thoughts and feelings. Examples: In our personal lives, practicing active listening can enhance our relationships with family members, friends, and colleagues. By giving our full attention to others, we demonstrate compassion and empathy, strengthening the bond of trust and understanding. In collective settings, such as group discussions or meetings, listening to diverse perspectives with an open mind can lead to collaborative problem-solving and innovative solutions. By valuing each voice and actively engaging in listening, we can create inclusive environments where every individual feels respected and valued. Thoughts to Ponder: How often do I consciously practice active listening in my interactions with others? What benefits have I experienced when I truly listened to someone without judgment or interruption? Can I challenge myself to improve my listening skills and create deeper connections with those around me? Please share your reflections and insights below! To learn more about universal principles, check out The Rainbow Bridge (https://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Bridge-Inner-Peace-World/dp/099120641X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=AUTHOR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M5q6j50C2_D-OLp6jbA_4-r8UWBrQJOhBkV8i9kDdRLA_oXo08HXy2tjXzCBU4GZBp1SlMMvqGATjSjBGpi4s3NG4VKAE2L3EaExvre-PpE.xF97v7eYOXkqs-4vKA7r7yr_lJ-o3riEj-Nld4LhZIc&sr=). Want to start your day with high energy, positivity, and enthusiasm? To receive an extra special dose of positive and uplifting energy in the mornings and throughout the day, feel free to check out http://TheDailyEnergizer.com Please share your insights and experiences on the power of listening to others in the comments below!

[findroleplay]

Rules: do’s & don’ts

There is almost no rule for what is or isn't allowed on this blog, we are accepting of basically all and any content. When something is not allowed there is a good reason for it, so please try not to break the rules.

What you can not post

Anything too explicit. Detailed NSFW starters, graphic GIFs or pictures used as decoration and the like. If you really want to share a detailed vision of the scene that will be acted out in the roleplay, send a link to google docs, carrd, another post, etc that people can check out. This is primarily about smut but it applies to gore as well. To be super clear, smut and gore are not banned from the blog, you can request any kink/situation you like, but you will need to discuss the details with your partners. For example, asking for a BDSM roleplay is fine, writing out details of the smut scene in your request is not. This is to avoid possible reports based on the NSFW ban.

Wait 24 hours before submitting again from the moment the ask is posted. You can post ads requesting different RPs, just not the same ask. This is to avoid cluttering.

It goes without saying, this is RP only. You can't send requests for dating or similar.

You can only send ads through asks or submissions. If you need help with those I'll be happy to lend a hand, but don't send your requests via DMs. If the inbox is closed it means it's full/I'm not active, please be patient and, again, don't try to get your ad in through DMs. I won't be able to post your ad from DMs.

That's it, pretty easy, right?

What you can post

Generally, anything not mentioned above is allowed. However, since some things get asked often, I will make a general list of things that are allowed for your convenience.

RPF is allowed. 

Discord servers and other groups are allowed. 

Things related to RPing, even if not strictly roleplay-seeking, are allowed. Other roleplay finders, RP resources, and even questions about roleplaying are all allowed. 

Minors are allowed. 

Dead dove content is allowed.

What you should/shouldn't do

Your ask will be published even if you don't abide by these rules. However, keeping this in mind will make for a better experience for everyone involved.

Be as clear as possible about the fandom and other relevant information. I can't tag it if you don't tell me where these blorbos come from. If the fandom has alternate names/acronyms include everything!

If you're going to include more than 20 fandoms in your search, split the post into two separate requests. There's a maximum of 30 tags allowed on a post, out of which only the first 20 will show up in searches. If you include more, the rest will go untagged/will not show up in searches.

Don't censor triggers. It just interferes with people that have these words blocked. Don't write inc*st, write incest.

Miscellaneous other stuff

I am not the police, your parents, or HR. If you have a disagreement with your RP buddy I can't intervene to solve it for you, nor can I put them in time out. Unpleasant things happen online, learn to block and move on. Please don't message me - or worse, send anon asks - with callouts for certain users and ask them to block/warn others.

If you feel stuck and the blank page is daunting, you can use this form as a base. Feel free to fill out everything, just some of it, add items I didn't include, or just send your own personal ad.

Literacy:

Fandom:

Pair: (fxf, mxf, mxm, ccxcc, ocxoc)

Character(s):

Ship(s):

Triggers:

Genres:

Plot ideas:

Where: (discord, Tumblr, reblogs..)

Other:

[dropofgoldensun]

omg hiiiii i am here from cat (@luvdsc) wondering if you could offer any advice about college apps 🙏 especially about the uc piqs? thank you so much i hope ur doing well!!!!!!!!

yes yes hello friend !! 💝 miss cat directed you to me because i did my college apps last year !!! (yikes one year passed already?? why does that feel ages ago 🤧)

first of all, congratulations on making the decision to apply to college !! i know it’s been hard for a lot of people our age to figure out the college situation recently, so i’m proud of you for choosing to take the extra step this summer to buckle up and write those essays 💞

i’ve compiled a few tips on answering the PIQs (i was actually in the middle of typing this up when i received your ask haha), but some of them can be applied to other essays, as well !! they’re all under the cut (because, unfortunately, being brief is not my forte) 😊

(and for reference, the prompts i chose were #2 (creativity), #6 (subject), #7 (community), and #8 (anything) !!)

tip #1: understand the prompt.

before you even begin writing, it’s important to understand what the question is really asking. for the UC PIQs, this will look different depending on which four prompts you decide to do.

in question one, for example, they want to know about your skills in leading others, but notice that they’re also curious about your resolution abilities and teamwork experience. or in question two, they don’t want to know that you paint and that you love painting—they could be asking how resourceful you are, how you think outside the box when you have an idea.

once you know the question you’re going to be answering, you can move on to brainstorming!

tip #2: write down three (3) key takeaways.

these are like the most basic, not-even-a-sentence answers you would give to each question. so for me, in response to question eight (“what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for the UCs?”), my answers were perseverance, courage, and character. i had a story about that, so i wrote about my experience with martial arts.

i recommend you do something similar. decide on three things that you want to communicate to your audience, and write them in the footnote of your document. your goal is to cover all three points so that, if anyone were to read your essay, they would walk away understanding those three things about you.

i found this strategy really helpful for keeping my essay streamlined while writing—if a sentence didn’t relate to any of those main points, i would cut it since those words would take up valuable space in the word count. stay focused on what needs to be in this essay, and if you have extra words left in the word count later, you can add those details back in.

and once you’re done with your essay, make sure to refer back to your takeaways and check that you covered all of them sufficiently!

tip #3: highlight your stories.

i sent cat an ask a couple days ago with a few pictures of my response to an end-of-year college counseling survey that referenced this tip (you can find it here). basically i said that, when choosing what topics to write about, pick things that interest you! if you get excited talking about it, your audience should get excited about reading it, because they’ll pick up on the passions you have and then everyone’s excited !!! :D

i’ll tell you a secret: everyone you meet, everyone you see, has countless unique experiences that few others may have. me? i spend hours making mashups out of kpop songs. i earned my black belt years after a traumatizing experience during training. i get russian harry potter and spanish dr. seuss books from the library. and i created a collaborative online google photos album for my classmates that now has thousands of entries. although these aren’t necessarily unique to only me, they’re still special enough to the point where, when you put them all together, you get a better image of the person i am, and what i value.

so find a story, a habit, a hobby that makes you different, because i believe that everyone has them. give them some food for thought, or that one-liner that sticks in their brain and won’t go away. and remember: these stories don’t all have to be extraordinary—they should be about people or moments of special value to you, because that’s what matters.

personal tip: when i was brainstorming ideas, i decided that the best way to get ideas out there was to go on a rant (because sometimes it helps to just have a conversation with yourself !!) and i recorded myself, so i could replay what i said !! this was so so crucial to me finding my own voice for writing essays. notice the way you word things when you talk—a good line or two may make it into the final draft :)

i found it helpful to read sample essays as well! they give a lot of great ideas on the kinds of topics people write about. (also, it’s kind of fun, because who doesn’t love a good story?)

but the people reading your essay won’t be there to just enjoy your story; what they really want you to do is to tell them what you learned from your experience. they want to know whether you’re teachable and willing to grow both as a student and as a young adult. so make sure to take note of the life lessons you learned, experience you gained, character you built, etc.

minor tip on ending your essay: if you’re telling a story that happened in the past, then close with what you learned and how you can apply that to your life moving forward. if you’re telling a story that has no definite end yet (like a passion or dream you have), you probably don’t have everything figured out (and you can say that in your essay!), so it might be better to close with your hopes for the future.

tip #4: ask your family for help.

peer-editing is one of the most effective ways to detect errors and inconsistencies in your writing, because, after staring at your essay for so long, you might gloss over glaring contradictions. for all of my essays, i printed them out and asked my parents to help me revise them. we’d meet every other night (or every night, depending on how much time was left) to review and discuss improvements.

i actually kept some of those printed drafts (only the first and the final ones for comparison), and let me tell you from experience—you’re probably going to have a lot of drafts (i think the most i did was seven? but you don’t need to go that far!). this part of the process does take some time, so remember to be patient and kind to yourself :) these essays won’t happen overnight!

enlisting the help of others also helps keep you accountable. one of the struggles many seniors face while writing essays is just... setting aside time to do them. and even though the constant reminders from your parents will definitely get repetitive and a bit stress-inducing, i can tell you from personal experience that i’m so glad they did; otherwise, i don’t think i’d have my essays done in time :’)

while writing college essays is challenging, your family will be there supporting you each step of the way. chances are that they’ll have their own pointers to pass on to you, since they probably remember doing this process themselves! and, out of everyone in your life, they probably remember the most about you (because you probably don’t remember much when you were four or five), so they might have a couple starter ideas for topics when brainstorming. you can rely on them for their advice and their experience.

tip #5: self-editing.

here’s the part that takes the longest time.

use action words. this is probably something you’ve heard all throughout elementary school where they didn’t like you to say “said” because it was “boring”… but honestly, the difference between “doing my own version” and “infusing it with my personality” could go a long way. also, use words that you would actually use in an essay—then it’ll have your own special flair, and not sound like it’s taken from some stuffy 80s textbook!

here are some of the words i used (once again, you shouldn’t use these words if they don’t sound like something you’d write/say): potential, overlay, wrestle, launch, analogous, weave, infuse, experiment, outlet, revel, fascinate, satisfaction, pursue, expand, distinction, capture, range, archive, engage, beyond, build, adversity, cultivate, preserve, commit, explore, convey, naturally

also, be on the lookout for repeated words. i once wrote an essay without noticing that i used “hope” three times in the same paragraph. don’t do that! use synonyms :) personally, i tended to run short on synonyms, so i always kept a tab or two open on my computer reserved for searching up new words.

side note: unfortunately, during my search for synonyms, i discovered that thesaurus.com just didn’t give me what i was looking for. i highly recommend using wordhippo instead; it has so many more options and they’re grouped by the different definitions of your word! i found the synonyms i needed really quickly and it was very satisfying!

avoid the passive voice! my teacher gave me this tip for theses or any other college-level writing. here’s an example of the passive voice: “there was a large part of me that wanted to turn back.” that’s twelve words taking up precious space in your word count! instead, say something like, “i considered turning back.” you’ve just freed up eight words :)

tip #6: final revisions.

this is the step where you fine-tune your essays. meet that word count.

read your writing out loud. does it sound like you? it should. every writer has a different voice, and you need to ensure that yours is pervasive throughout your essay. feel free to use contractions—not only do they reduce your word count (this was a good thing for me, since i had a problem with getting under 350 words), but they also give a more casual tone to your essay, as if you’re telling a story to someone in the room.

next, pretend to be an admissions officer and have someone else read your essay to you. do you get excited hearing about this student who shares your name? if you do, there’s a good chance the real admissions officers will love your essays, too. this also gives you a chance to review to your essay as a whole. pay attention to the overall flow. is there a clear beginning and end? do you resolve the issues and overcome the trials you brought up? listen to it as if it’s a story, and take this time to enjoy what you’ve written. you worked hard!

final thoughts / encouragements.

oh my goodness, did we make it to the end? honestly if you did, thank you so much 🥺

okay but despite my relatively optimistic tone throughout this post, i’m still going to be honest with you—the college essay writing process is difficult. it requires you to look inside yourself and analyze the “why” behind some of the things that you love, and that isn’t easy to do at all. it’s intellectually and emotionally challenging, because not only do you need to use so much energy writing, but you also have to dig deeper to understand yourself, and that’s not easy, either.

but i wanted to encourage you, too. no matter what you may think of yourself at 12am, 2am, 4am writing these essays, believe you have a personality that others love and will love when they meet you. you are an interesting person with unique experiences who deserves to share your thoughts with others. you have so many people behind you, supporting you during these next few months. and when you find that you can’t write any more, remember to take time to care for yourself. have a warm shower. go to bed early. i could go on and on about why sleep is good for your brain but i’ll spare you the details in this post 😉

one last thing: keep the bigger picture in focus. remember, by december or january, you will be finished with most of the application process. that’s no small accomplishment. you can do it. 💝

i really hope you found tips that you were looking for, and that they’re applicable to your own PIQs and other essays !! if you have any other questions, feel free to send in another ask (i promise my response won’t be this lengthy LOL) 💘💓

oh, and if you feel comfortable enough reaching out about anything in particular, i’m only a DM away 💕 i wish you the best of luck on writing your essays and i hope you enjoy your final year of high school !! 💗🌸💟💖

[mthought-s]

The Truth Behind Unpopular K-pop Opinions (video essay transcript)

[Voices voicing unpopular K-pop opinions]

[Unpopular k-pop opinions in robot voices] x3

An unpopular K-pop opinion is made up of three things:

An opinion

K-pop

And asking: Is it unpopular?

If a statement checks these three boxes, congratulations you have an unpopular K-pop opinion.

They started off being posted on anonymous confession blogs and forums. Some of the oldest Tumblr blogs and posts for these opinions are from 2011 to 2012, documenting over a decade of K-pop opinions. Unpopular opinions and confession blogs aren’t anything new. It's been a practice in online spaces for a long time for people to anonymously share opinions that could potentially be problematic or offensive towards others. Sometimes the opinions are completely neutral. Websites like Tumblr even have these anonymous options built into their websites with anon asks. It’s an opinion with no consequences, a statement for people to debate and discuss.

Today, they have spread to Twitter threads and YouTube videos. And they’re super popular. Actually, popular isn’t the right word. They’re super controversial. They’re provoking—not necessarily thought provoking—just provoking. They garner hundreds of thousands of views, if not millions, on YouTube. Then for Twitter threads, these opinions are capable of starting fanwars and conversation with possibly thousands of quote retweets.

Many fan accounts use them to stir up views and engagement, having thumbnails and threads that feature controversial topics. At times, these unpopular opinions aren’t actually unpopular. Unpopular becomes synonymous with negative where these pieces of fan content and engagement contain negative opinions to discuss, not necessarily ones that are unpopular and go against the majority opinion. For these opinions, it is also difficult to actually determine if an opinion is unpopular because K-pop fandoms are so large and diverse. In a way, these opinions are incorrectly labeled as unpopular. Instead, they are controversial. These are controversial K-pop opinions. For the sake of simplicity though, I will continue to refer to them as unpopular for the remainder of this video. Unpopular K-pop opinions are our gateway into conversation in K-pop spaces.

There’s many pros to these opinions.

They provide a place for people to express an opinion opposing the majority opinion. The majority opinion is very powerful because it leads to agreement and consensus. Unpopular opinions shake things up. They go against the majority. They cause people to question their biases and further research for reasons to defend their own personal opinion. That opposition against the majority can create conversation, leading to fleshing out people’s thoughts on their stances and deepening the understanding behind the topic that those opinions are based on.

Unpopular opinions can also bring light to issues. It provides a platform to be honest. At times, people don’t want to challenge the majority opinion in fear of being witch hunted and dogpiled on for pointing out an issue. For example, people in the fandom space might be using a potentially offensive term. The anonymity of unpopular opinions can provide a spark to a conversation where alternatives to a term can be found and the community can educate themselves further.

One more reason is that unpopular opinion Twitter threads, YouTube videos, blogs, and forums all provide avenues for people with similar opinions to find each other. People can build relationships with each other and create long, lasting friendships. It enhances the community experience of a fandom, providing a sense of commaderite between fans.

There’s also many cons to these opinions and platforms though.

These opinions are essentially gossip. Gossip has a thrill to it. It feels good, but it can be harmful to others. At times, unpopular opinions can begin to cross personal boundaries where they discuss the mental health, sexuality, political opinions, and other invasive topics of K-pop idols and the K-pop industry. Many people in K-pop communities find unpopular opinions invasive of the privacy of idols and disrespectful of their personal lives. Unpopular opinion accounts and blogs encourage people to speculate and possibly spread mis- or dis-information around the online space. This can harm the perception of a celebrity, causing discourse within the fandom.

Unpopular K-pop opinions can make people feel like they’re right for having the opinion they have too. These opinions are no longer viewed as opinions, but as facts for many people. They confirm biases and can create echo chambers where people say the same thing again and again. There’s no deeper thinking, only confirmation bias and ostracization of people who disagree.

While these anonymous platforms can be used to shed light on issues, they can also be abused to say things that are genuinely problematic and offensive without consequences. In some instances, unpopular opinion blogs have been automated where opinions are not reviewed by an actual person or a moderator before being posted. This can lead to opinions being posted that have slurs in them and viewpoints promoting harm to others.

Unpopular K-pop opinions exist in a limbo where there is both good and bad to them. They will always exist for a hot take rant or a structured essay. Although, there’s something shifting and changing in fandom spaces that has changed the view on them in recent years. There’s a new truth to what these opinions represent and why there’s so much push back against them now in particular. Let’s break down the truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions.

The current state of fandom is not ideal for these opinions to exist in. In the past, fandoms have been largely disconnected from each other. Instead of a fandom being one, cohesive group of people that coexists in one space, fandoms look more like this:

Online fandoms are separated by websites. There is overlap of users, but fans are usually mostly active on one website or platform for fannish activities. This would be called their main platform. Then, fans are further divided on websites by their interests. For instance, if someone is a fanartist, they’re usually around other fanartists because it’s the same interest. Overlap is more common with interests where someone can be a fanartist, but also a fanfic author. Someone can be into critical analysis of a TV show, but also be a merch collector. No one is ever in fandom for only one thing.

This is how fandom is usually organized. It differs from fandom to fandom, but this is the bare system of organization. Now, take this organization we’ve discussed already and increase its scale and intensity significantly. That’s what fandoms look like now. Instead of a disconnect between groups though, everything melts together. Cross-platform discourse, especially between Tumblr and Twitter, has become increasingly more common along with cross-interest discourse. Many spaces such as fanart spaces that would have their own discourse and are disconnected from the main fandom space, now meld into the main fandom space anyway. Discourse and discussion is not divided depending on what your interests are anymore, everyone is partaking in it whether they actually care about the interest or not.

In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in people joining online fandom spaces. Many old, already established fandoms and franchises such as Harry Potter and Star Wars had reboots. This allowed a wave of new fandoms to learn from them then build themselves. Add on an increase in internet usage over the years with the appearance of new media to support these fandoms and you have a much larger fandom subculture. Where a majority of fandoms used to be smaller, more tight knit, fandoms are increasingly becoming humongous, interconnected online communities.

And these communities don’t only exist online. In real life, we can see this fandom growth with the expansion of fan events. We see fandoms represented in concerts, passionately singing along to their favorite artist’s song. We see them in conventions, cosplaying and going from panel to panel to meet other fans. We see them in meet and greets, competitions, tours, and so much more. Fandom is bigger than ever, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to millions of people having more free time and spending that time getting into fandom and learning fan culture.

More people means more problems though. Fandoms have never had a good track record of trusting each other in the first place, but more people leads to more mistrust. Stances and opinions in fandoms become more complex. There’s a necessity to clarify and thoroughly explain oneself in order to not get “cancelled” for failing to acknowledge something. You can’t just say anything because people that don’t know you will assume you said something else from what you did say.

In online fandom spaces, people assume intent and decipher posts in order to ensure the original poster’s morals are aligned with their own. Many look to not take the post at face value and look further to ensure the post they’re sharing has an author they agree with. This desire to know the original poster or op’s original intentions pushes people to fill in the blanks with assumptions.

Fandoms begin to generalize and hard-line opinions to compensate because taking the time to learn hundreds of thousands of people’s full, thorough opinions on increasingly complex and multifaceted topics has become more difficult. It’s easier and takes less mental strain and energy to assume intention than actually learn it.

This trend of an increasing interest and population in fandom culture has also led to other trends and changes in how fandoms protect themselves as opposition and complexity in opinion grows.

The fandom police or fanpol are a group of people within a fandom who engage in policing. Policing is to regulate, control, or keep people in order. In fandom history’s past, fanpol have existed with smaller groups trying to bring their version of order to a fandom. Usually these fanpol groups censor other people in the fandom by dogpiling, using disinformation in expose threads, and mass reporting. They’re not favorable groups of people, being unpleasant and downright vile in some cases where they dox and cyber stalk people who disagree with them. Fanpol has become synonymous with fandom bullies.

In today’s current fandom era, these smaller fanpol groups have expanded to where they’re not small, specialized groups anymore. These censoring and policing ideologies have become ingrained in the majority of a fandom or large, overwhelming groups of the fandom. It’s no longer just policing, it’s an entire change in how fans interact with each other. It’s an ideological change. Fandoms essentially police themselves now, no small group of people needed.

The truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions is that they are subject to a changing fandom environment.

Opposition is seen as hatred with hidden agendas to defame and slander. Fandoms want to protect themselves. They’ve begun to police each other on a large scale to do so instead of community building and actually knowing each other. Fandoms have become hypersensitive to opposition because more often than not, that opposition turns into hatred, harassment, and eventually a person who has awful, malicious intentions gains a platform and can’t be taken down. That hostility is a safety measure, a precaution that compensates for a fandom’s failure to bond with each other. It’s not necessarily their fault that they have failed though.

Unpopular opinions have always existed, but even though they’re unpopular they’ve become popular to do. In the face of growing hostility to opposition, the anonymous platform of unpopular K-pop opinions allows for expression. It allows for opposition to exist that isn’t malicious. Sometimes people just don’t like things that are popular or want to criticize something properly without fear of being sent death threats or being constantly harassed for that criticism. Mild unpopular opinions and criticism cannot exist in this current environment.

We are in a state of fandom where mild disagreement is treated the same as downright hatred. It’s faced with hostility and aggression for the reasons I specified earlier. Eventually, we’ll reach a state where mild agreement is treated the same as downright hatred. Where anything that isn’t enthusiastic, gleamingly positive support and showers of love are seen as malicious and attacks against a celebrity or interest.

And it’s so complicated. On one hand, we want to let these milder opinions exist and allow people to express how they truly feel. However, there’s more often than not, hidden agendas behind these milder opinions. There’s agendas to hurt and harm fans and idols.

The truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions is that they exist and have become increasingly more common to express because of this conflict. Fandoms do not know each other anymore and aren’t focused on community building, leading to a spike in hostility to opposition to protect themselves. K-pop fandoms don’t actually care about K-pop anymore in the way they’re supposed to care about it. They should care about their groups and want to build a fandom that loves that group. They’re not doing that though, so when they’re faced with harm from outsiders they don’t know how to combat it as a fandom. K-pop fandoms don’t care about each other. They care about clout. Unpopular K-pop opinions are used to gain their clout through rage clicks and clickbait. That’s why unpopular K-pop opinions have become popular. That’s the truth.

I was originally going to end this video right here. However, I don’t think I can end on such a depressing and hopeless note. If you look at my channel, I haven’t uploaded anything for weeks (months) because I’ve been consumed trying to figure out how to end this without sounding defeatist. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.

So, here goes:

K-pop fandoms can break away from this fandom state where truth seems almost impossible to obtain and clout is seen as king by just choosing to be true to themselves. Be true to their goal as K-pop fans. Their goal is to love their idols, love the thing that brought them into the fandom in the first place. That’s the goal of every fandom. You’re in a fandom because you want to talk about things and enjoy something with other people.

It’s about appreciating the music, content, and interaction groups give fans. That’s why streaming and voting is so amplified to K-pop stans. They stream and vote to show love to their groups because their individual words and actions might never reach them. It’s how the fandom is capable of expressing themselves en masse to their favorite group so that way their favorite group can feel the love they feel for them.

And you can express that love in different ways too. You don’t need to vote and stream, that’s just one of the unique and direct options K-pop stans have. Fanartists express their love by creating art. Fanfiction writers write fanfiction. Editors make edits. If you’re not a creative, simply listening to the music, reading the lyrics, and engaging with others about the music and content is a way to express your love.

The truth behind unpopular K-pop opinions doesn’t need to be the truth anymore. We can change the fandom state by choosing to be ourselves. We can build a community and bond. We can protect our fandom spaces from malicious people and trust each other. You and I are K-pop stans, fans, whatever you want to call it, because we love our groups.

And if you’re just a random person watching this video, you can be in on this too. I hope you’re feeling what I’m feeling right now. I hope you’re feeling it, okay? We love them for who they are, okay? That is our truth and we should live it.

[Social Media]

Twitter

Medium

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Thanks for bringing the racebending to my attention. I never considered that it was harmful towards the origin culture. I considered that it was kind of strong to claim that sort of race thing in a way, but maybe that comes from the more.. christianity? view of where there isnt a direct way that God looks, except any way the person perceives. That's probably what I thought, too, until just now reading your answer to someone else. So.. it's not okay? 1/?

I honestly want to understand as my perspective on this now changes. It makes total sense why it would be entitled of someone to do such a thing, and how it's inconsiderate of the actual origin culture that the deities come from now that I'm thinking about it in this way. So again thank you for bringing this up and answering that other anon. I have some things to revise in my head on this, as I honor Apollo and Hermes, I want to make sure that I get accurate and do my research.

I really enjoy being able to read your experiences and I think it's important as, someone outside the culture, gets to experience and understand more to be as accurate and non... whats the word... inappropriate with representing such a thing, I guess I can say. If that makes sense.__________________________________________________________

Thank you for sending a message and for listening to the opinion of Greek people. (I am not the only one with that opinion, many of my 500 followers also share the same ideas.) Anyways prepare yourself for a looooooong analysis! So, get under comfy blankets and take your tea/coffee next to you!

To begin with, there are Greeks that don’t mind but those are usually Greeks who have close contact with the American way of thinking through social media. Or some that don’t care because the approach our mythology in a kinda superficial way? I am not saying this to offend any Greeks who don’t mind the racebending. Every Greek has the right to have a relationship with their culture according to their own standards. Those people who think racebending is ok are usually no less patriots than the ones who do. However, those who don’t mind the race bending are extremely rare to find. 

If I go to my 50 y/o aunt and announce to her that foreigners depict Demeter as Black she is gonna lose her mind. I have also asked the opinion of Greeks who are not into social media or groups where Greek mythology is discussed by foreigners. When they were informed of the racebending the first thing they said was “but... why??” and they couldn’t fathom how this could help anyone. The second thing they say is “But the Gods are white!” explaining that our ancestor have depicted them as Caucasian for centuries and we, as Greeks, know no other depiction of them.

I assure you, it has nothing to do with white superiority - which is a myth anyways. Greeks can be perfectly racist to people who are pastry white :P If you racebended the gods into any other race, we would still have a problem. It’s all a matter of respecting iconography and tradition. It would be ignorant of even us Greeks to change the depiction of the gods when our ancestors were very clear in their art about their race. It was also clear in antiquity that the gods had bodies. I am in another computer and I cannot access my files, but I had a file for a philosopher who tried to argue against the public opinion that the gods didn’t have bodies. But the majority of ancient Greeks believed that the gods had a physical presence.

Also, race matters for Greeks as it does for most of other cultures. You expect Nigerian deities to look like the average Nigerian, yes? Because they were created by a homogenous Black population. You think the same for Indian and Chinese deities, yes? It makes sense for deities and public figures from a certain culture to look like the people of that culture. I think it’s common sense. Turning an old Nigerian deity into a Chinese, would’t represent the Nigerian people any more. For similar reasons, we don’t want our important heritage figures changed. (In case a warrior was described as Black African in our ancient texts, then of course we wouldn’t have a problem with keeping that figure Black).

You are correct when saying that the race bending comes from a Christian point of view. I think many hellenic polytheists/pagans/wiccans haven't managed to escape the Christian logic. In Christianity we have accepted for many centuries that saints and important figures would be viewed with different races, so people can come closer to them. For example, there is a Chinese, Native American, Mexican (different tribes), Black Jesus etc. Most of the times they are also dressed in the traditional regalia of the respective culture. It's a thing for the last 200 years at least. 

Even Greeks depicted Jesus kinda white (he has an olive skin complexionand brown hair, which is closer to the Greek standards). And this happened since the Byzantine Empire. We even call the Virgin Mary "Mother of all Greeks" (apparently Mary has a particular interest in our nation xD) We have made her into a Greek mum. But we kinda have the freedom to do this because Christianity is an international religion which is alive for the last 2.000 years, so these changes come organically.

On the contrary, almost nobody has worshipped the Greek gods since 500 AC. The religion was been dead for almost 2.000 years, until Western classicists made it a popular. Now people who have no actual contact with the Greek culture start worshiping those gods. Don’t get me wrong, I believe any foreigner can worship the Greek gods! The thing is that most of the foreign worshippers don’t see the Greek gods as part of the culture that created them, because of the Americanization of the gods in the media and the complete stripping of the Greek elements from them.

But gods are still part of the Greeks’ heritage. Many ancient traditions and myths have kept from the ancient years, we have the names of gods and the gods are still used as symbols here. Our culture hasn’t died, as many westerners (perhaps subconciously) believe. It is alive and evolving, despite foreigners usually ignoring us. So, the ideas about our ancient religion have been involving with us, becoming part of our national identity in a unique way. 

After 2.000 years of the religion’s “death”, foreigners become enamored with Greece again. But not our Greece. They become enamored with a part of our culture that hasn’t existed in millenia. They study the culture only till the Roman years and then they skip 2.000 years of evolving cultural identity and go straight to the 21st century western (west Europe/America) ideals and societies.

You can only imagine how it seems to us Greeks, when foreigners suddenly remember us again and, on top of that, they don’t become part of our culture but they insist that a part of our culture (in its ancient form) becomes tailored to their own standards. And now foreigners ingore our own point of view, because, as they have done the last 2.000 years, they keep on ignoring us :P (I mean they as a people, greatly generalizing here). Please see that post for how disconnected a Greek feels about the modern Greek religion, and the analysis that comes with it. (Link)

Similarly, imagine if suddenly the Nigerian culture became a trend in Greece and now some Greeks become interesting in the old (almost dead to Nigeria) worship of Orishas. And now they want to depict the Orishas as White, because they, themselves are white and maybe white deities reflect better the racial situation in Greece. Wouldn’t that be disrespectful, though? Not only because the Black becomes White, but because we would take an inactive worship from the Nigerians and add our own politics to it.

Our situation is also kind of special because for the last centuries every country that has become interested in our culture has abused it. They have stolen antiquities from us and northwestern Europe but also in the US have no problem having those stolen artifacts and displaying them. There is a tradition of foreigners claiming to “love” Greece but they are really in love with our ancient aesthetic and they don’t give a shit about the Greeks who preserve the culture and even die to protect their antiquities. 

So we are used to this kind of treatment and it hurts extra when it’s happening again. But we are also desensitized. For some reason a person can be dressed as a Greek deity for Halloween and we won’t bat an eye. At the same time, I see people from other cultures defending the importance of their figures, when foreigners dress up as them for fun. 

I don’t understand how we consider this disrespectful for any other culture but if it’s the Greek we don’t care. Why could this be? Perhaps because many Greeks have come to see their own culture as public property. Perhaps because it is what the prominent international media tells us and maybe because we are used to selling our culture for profit (we are a tourist country) and we only see it as merchandise. 

Let me add I am not only fascinated by my own cultures but also cultures around the world. It makes no sense to me that people want Gods of color and their only solution is to make the Greek gods Black. Have we forgotten the numerous rich cultures of Asia and Africa?? There are a ton of deities there who, if you want to draw Afrocentric art for example, will be great inspiration! It reminds me of a publishing house which put POC in the covers of western classic books (thus kinda turning the white main characters into POC only in the cover) while not promoting books from POC or books featuring POC. I think it’s counterproductive.

I think that’s all I have to say for now! Feel free to ask more questions if I haven’t covered you! And if you have more thoughts you can drop them in my ask box.

Also, one question for you before you leave. You mentioned “I considered that it was kind of strong to claim that sort of race thing in a way”. Can you explain to me why? I would like to understand better people who think this way. Then maybe I could explain more effectively to them that their race bending practice isn’t as helpful as they think it is.

P.S. Even saying “races” of people exist is considered deeply racist in Greece (and Europe). I mention that as potential food of thought. For us there are only hues of skin colors, not races, so our social politics are different. 

[onf-headcanons]

ONF in Demon AU

A/N : Is clearing idea dumps from drafts, this would be the second version of modern AU 

Hi, does anyone remember the idea of illegitimate child of Satan from here and a random Lucifer!Hyojin moodboard here?

ALSO YOU TOTALLY CAN IMAGINE THIS IN A REVERSE WAY, ANGEL AU (where reader is a reincarnation version fragment of Archangel but this one idea dump/establishment will be done for another day)

ALSO you can totally imagine it as deity AU, example that you are Zeus reincarnation but you awaken late and you need to stop Kronos for his rampage. Or even you are Odin and you need to stop Modern version Ragnarok this time. And ONF members could be tie with other Greek/Roman gods. This one will be fun should OH MY GIRL and B1A4 are tied in too. Its just idea I am not sure if I will expand this. But discussions are welcome

(There is no harm to think it as late Victorian or any other era you like, it is just I felt it is better to write in a familiar timeline as I dont want to do something wrong)

So below are just a few establishment for the AU, I am not gonna divide this into 2 scenarios so warning this is going to be long post.

Ok even though I did mentioned illegitimate or forgotten child. This is plausible for your family comes from bloodline that related to demonXhuman ancestors.

Also it truly depends on you. Making into a throne inheritance war or

Reader come of age and their soul are reincarnated royal demon (not neccesary Satan) so there are some demons/demoness guarding you from you are still a child (kinda like those 2 characters from Good omens or Maleficent)

for the above idea, readers magical heritage only awaken once they pass a certain birthday 16, 18 or 20 or 21, up to you. So you suddenly can see mythical creatures.

It could be your bloodline awakened but you are not that qualified to ascend throne or because of your human blood you cannot hide yourself from angel/demon hunter so you have your own demon guardians

Lets say you are imagining on something big world building, again derived from the establishment for familiar au, it is definitely plausible for you to have other "candidates" and they have their demonic godparents/guardians as well

Example, should you go for inheritance war type, maybe you have a distant related sibling(s). It will be fun if you, have ONF members as your guardians while your sibling(s) have other kpop groups. Presumably to name, Dreamcatcher, ONEUS, ATEEZ, PENTAGON or ASTRO... in short its totally flexible.

To add, (and this is an idea i use to draft for fake pilot episode for a homework I worked), you could tally idols and number of idols you wanna integrate into the story to "Lesser Ley of Solomon", linking your bloodline towith King Solomon (*disclaimer, loosely based mythically). 72 demons, how many demons for 1 person is totally depend on you. Whether number of demons/demoness one have on their side equals to their power/ability (or even how many support they obtain) is up to you.

(and disclaimer I am not Christian this is just an idea dump so dont start cultural bashing. again this ia just an idea dump and I am not planning to touch sensitive issues yet.)

Ok enough world building, lets move to story wise.

You could be growing in orphanage it adds more mystery of your bloodline/heritage or similar to the familiar au, living with your family but your family later died on accident. Your parents bloodline combine making you are the perfect vessel for the reincarnation or maybe its a tradition like every 100 hundred years you will reincarnate or something. Again its flexible.

The moment you realize you are seeing things was you noticed similar aura of each person appeared on similar day. You might not get to see who is watching before you actually confronted to the air that you will contact the police

You might really go file a report but after several times the police be like dear there is no a single soul stalking you tho

then out of depressed, you accidentally get yourself into accident and your demon guardian shows up.

Or, because you started to able to see mythical creatures. Mythical creatures starts to notice your existence as well. And that somewhat gives off your location to other candidates through gossiping (should this is inheritance war type of story). Then your guardian show up to protect you when you are attacked by rival sibling’s demons.

Could be you visited some witch to get your ability to see mythical creatures covered up? Recommended by a friendly non related sibling or a friend you made/could be angel?

You thought you only got one but it surprised  you that you actually got 7 (later 6)

As this was different from summoning because they are guardians either assigned or volunteered. There is no need for you to provide them anything. And different from familiar au, there is no need to leave them in your home. To ensure your safety they must follow you 247

For now I would be thinking our boys actually guards you in a daily shift. Example, Hyojin on Monday, Changyoon on Tuesday, Seungjun on Wednesday, Jaeyoung on Thursday, Minkyun on Friday, Yuto on Saturday, Minseok on Sunday. (after Minseok departs, the other members rotate themselves to do the Sunday shift)

Since their shift are like that, you sometimes take chance to hangout with them. Eating out with Hyojin, Arcades with Yuto. mostly happens Sunday.

I am thinking it might be fun which your predecessors of the throne are very eager to get the throne, you are just trying to keep out of trouble. So in another way, demon ONFs get to experience the modern human world in a more chill way, it was not just guarding you, but also trying to experience human world. You could like summon them?/keep them by your side just like a normal sibling (Especially if you are the type that grow up alone without any siblings)'

Cues in ONF members actually understand your preference and remembers them very well. So you could not help relying on them as days pass by.

You are defo gonna get an ultimate rival and a friend that shares the same circumstances as you. Maybe the first rival sibling ends up being your friend after they know you are not intending to compete. But there are some rivals are more aggressive out there.

Could be you knew a few demon hunters but they know you meant no harm and then they just let you go

It will be more fun if existences of your kind triggers inner civil war between demon hunters/angels. Because there is also some distant “siblings” of yours wish to live their live quietly but some parties does not agree of letting your kind roaming free and feeling the bloodline must end.

Should you are the type to compete for your birthright (because you are too irritated of people keep coming to kill you non stop). They are happy to serve you till the end as you embracing your darker side. (Well I am not sure to give ONF members and reader loveline here so I will not talk about it for now)For this version, to explain Minseok’s departure , I would prefer that Minseok is back at hell to be your team’s spy, monitoring all political moves and changes.There are still bottom line morality, you are not really slaughtering your way through. But you do make sure the other party wont come to look for trouble anymore.They are going to train you to make sure you are ready. Fighting in physical and magic.That friendly sibling joins on training you too. 

You are definitely getting strict critiques from Hyojin and Seungjun during the beginning of your training.

My preferences, you get a friendly sibling(s) where their demon guardians end up being BFF with yours. (RTK and MIXNINE side effect, sorry)

Characterization should be the same as those I have established from the familiar au. Just the world building and some settings that are slightly different.

Hyojin is to keep the trait of his preference on human food

Changyoon is to keep his nagging trait 

Seungjun might help you with studies (not solidify him as a nerd but there is tendency that he will)

Jaeyoung is more to the body guard type

Minkyun defo gonna make friends with stray animals (either you house ends up becoming pet shelter, you becoming a foster mom for animals or you cannot keep any because you are allergic but mental supporting Minkyun is up to you)

Yuto definitely is the quiet but alert type same goes with Minseok

My preference stereotype for them would be the cinnamon rolls that would kill

Sometimes they might go.. “ I am a known demon back in hell but why I am doing this babysitting shit?” 

But then ends up enjoying stuffs human does lol

Changyoon enjoying TikTok lol, they got famous because of their contents. 

Defo gonna have movie night.

It will be funny if ONFs as demons themselves, got scared at the monsters/ghosts seen in horror movies. Bonus if you actually not scared of horror movies. And they are gonna question you out of disbelief like why the hell are you not scared? How can you not even flinch a single bit?

Reason : monsters and ghosts imagined by human beings do not look the same based on their knowledge.

They sometimes show themselves to other humans but rarely. Mostly just being the unseen follower behind you.

Cues in sometimes they forgot they are invisible, and picks up something from the mart and it gave people a fright. Example, Changyoon or Minkyun passes through a nice outfit and just took the hanged outfit out to place in front of himself, only to realise what he did after looking into a mirror nearby

Hmm my thoughts, Jaeyoung and Minseok would be the ones who would always their visiblity when you are out with them.

Hyojin and Changyoon would be the ones who prefer to keep their invisibility

Copying from familiar au, should you attend college or university, people might thought some members of demon!ONF are your boyfriend.

At first when they changed pattern starts to live close to you, they could  not get the concepts of moral of human being well. You will be guiding them. 

Could happen that you are so pissed off by someone at work and you could not help but ranting when you are at home. 

(Of course the demon!ONF on that day saw what happened but you did insist on them to not do anything)

They might go like : “ Should I kill them for you?”

You : “What?”

Random ONF member : “I can do it to make look like an accident you know.”

You : “OMG NO”

You : “You know maybe you can try to mend things when they are trying to frame me on purpose.”

Random ONF member : “Gotcha”

For the you are not competing scenario, they would be always keeping you safe from harm until you died. Should you get married, you let them participated as relatives/friends. Cues in they even help you take care of your child later on. It could be even fun if you child does not inherit bloodline but they can see ONF members

I will stop here will write another post should i have more ideas to add.

Welp of course for a third option scenario, would be you being a supporter the friendly sibling of yours. You just wanna stay safe so you acted like an advisor role for that candidate, helping them to gain power but not participating directly. Like I said its flexible

For this one I would like to write it as you are just trying to chill with your quiet life but demon hunter, angels and aggressive candidates keeping coming at you.

Also for this one I would link to the point of unfavorable and forgotten child part.

Less favourable child gets assigned with less powerful or less aggressive demons

So for this story ONF aren't high class fighter demons at all. But they do excel in magics.

In opposite, you could the one who knows how to fight maybe because you are quite rebellious in personality.

The moment you found out there 3 parties wanna kill you and innocent less aggressive candidates, you snapped.

Maybe some candidates heard of your friendly sibling name and they rushed over to seek help. End up bump into you instead.

You : what kind of dad is *your biological demon dad name*?"

Cues in Demon ONF keep calming you down because they are afraid that rumours of you belittling your demon father might make their king angry

But you have your attitude and no shit is given. Because you understand that your life your destiny is in your own hands.

You : I wanted a peaceful life alone but now I have to deal with Angels, hunters and a bunch of siblings that I never met , never knew about each other, who all wants me dead.

You : its not fair.

To end it once and for all, you suggested to the friendly sibling to find other candidates that do not have any intentions to compete for throne. Form allies with them so that later own they could get votes for the throne and the rest of the gang could get a decorative chill title while living a peaceful life

Also suggested to the sibling of yours make use of the allies to protect less aggressive candidates

It worked politically. As most of the candidates work on slaughtering others to cut secure birthright, your ideal and policy of strengthen inner then tackle threat gain more favour. Finally your sibling gets the throne.

And you and your other members of allies might get duke duchess or something

This version of story would have and need slot of mind games. Political games as well. (Will be interesting to write but there will waaaaaay too much characters to take note.)

[diverse-writing]

Pt. 1-Hi! I'm a Black woman writing a Fanfiction for an anime series called Food Wars and I'm creating a sister and brother who are half-Lakota (Itazipcola Band) and half-Black American. They're going to a Japanese Culinary High School, the same school their great-uncle (Kiowa) went to when America was in Japan, post-WWII for a few years as his father was in the army. It's a very competitive school with diverse characters and cooking styles/types. They both want to travel and see a new country.

(continued) They live in Sioux Falls, SD after moving from the Cheyenne River Rez years ago. The family owns a Catering company with Native, African, and American Southern food (Mom is from VA) that does Showcasings, Chef Demos, and feeding the people within both communities while mentoring the youth. Annie (Older sis) wants to be a Pastry Chef as Andrew (little bro) does mostly savory, especially BBQ. Annie was on a kid's baking show as Andrew won kid's BBQ competitions. Both siblings want to help their communities by spreading awareness about poverty, suicide, and other stuff. They are active in their Native heritage. I did research in Natives in Japan, and I found that it's a bit mixed. Some people don't know about Natives, or that they do but only through the news and old western films. There's this one guy who went to a tribe to learn about the culture and he went back to Japan to teach his students about how the Natives truly lived. There's a Native jewelry store in Tokyo So some Japanese do know about Natives, I want to write a few small scenes where the Japanese students ask questions that are stereotypical about Natives and Black people, but they learn from the siblings. Annie begins to have a crush on a boy who is mixed indigenous (Ainu/Saami), but isn't connected to those cultures, because of his Ainu dad dying and Saami mom leaving him. He was adopted by a rich Japanese/Danish family. I want him to learn more about his heritage after falling for Annie and begins to heal from his past through learning about the Saami. Before he didn't want to do anything with them due to his mom. Andrew falls for a Japanese girl who does Medicine Cuisine. He's a expert in Nutrition and tries to help his people's health issues. They have a cute relationship. I thought of these characters just like any other person. I'm Black and I don't like seeing stereotypes. Annie and Andrew love music due to their dad formerly being in a band with only one album. They're both crafty with the Arts due to their grandparents on both sides teaching them. Annie is more outgoing, goofy, and blunt than Andrew but she enjoys the simple stuff in life and loves fashion (Vintage 60s/70s and Punk) Andrew is more quiet and shy, but not antisocial. He just likes doing his own thing while teasing his sis on her shortness and crush. He likes comfy, Punk clothing. I was just wondering what is offensive and not. I want to show their food and aspects of culture, like Powwows (I've been watching videos on Lakota Powwows) and I've been wondering if there's a coming of age ceremony. I don't want to show it just mention it. Is this where people get their Lakota name? I don't want to do religious ceremonies since that's sacred and also I'm not really religious, but what if I want to allude about it? Sorry that this was way too long!

Okay, this is a huge question but I’ll do my best to answer it with the GIANT caveat that I’m not indigenous and am only answering to the best of my knowledge. If any indigenous followers--particularly those with experience in Japan/with Japanese culture, though of course all are welcome--have thoughts or feelings, as always feel free to add more information and/or correct me!

A few observations that jump out, based on your description of your narrative framework:

Their food. Okay, while I know absolutely nothing about the food cultures you describe, I’m a huge fan of connecting with your culture through your food (and your stomach!) so I love this framing. That being said, to my knowledge African American food is fairly distinct from African food, with the former more likely to be in their cultural background given your description (obviously, in this situation you’re the expert on Black culture so feel free to totally ignore me here). 

Andrew’s food interests. Related to the previous bullet point, based on my understanding Medicine Cuisine and Nutrition would be super interesting focuses for him given his cultural background. It’d be super cool to seem him integrate his various cooking specialties and heritages into nourishing food to support his people. 

Knowledge about Native Americans in Japan. I do think it’s likely accurate that unless someone in Japan has personally done research, the average Japanese citizen probably knows very little about indigenous Native Americans in the same way the average American knows very little about Japanese indigenous ethnic groups. 

Relatedly, I think it makes sense for their Japanese classmates to ask stereotypical questions, but you should steer clear of just plain offensive questions. As you likely know, answering stereotypical questions about your identity and heritage is exhausting and should be treated as such within the narrative. Your characters are in school to educate themselves, not to educate their classmates, so while the latter may occur sometimes I don’t think it should be their focus. So while the intent of the questioning scene may partially be to help answer readers’ questions about Annie and Andrew’s heritage (and Black and Lakota culture to an extent), remember that the ultimate goal of representation is not to educate others but to help people within those demographics see themselves on the page. And more likely than not, Black and Lakota readers won’t want to see characters representing themselves having to answer the same repetitive questions they face down all the time.

I know you only mentioned him in passing, but I have a lot more thoughts specifically about Annie’s mixed Ainu/Saami crush. I don’t want to tell you *not* to write him but I do think there are several pitfalls you need to carefully avoid moving forward.

His Saami mother. There’s a big stereotype around POC abandoning their children, being absent or flighty parents, or otherwise just failing to properly nuture their children. While I’m unaware of any specific stereotype regarding indigenous  parents, I would tentatively say that doesn’t mean those stereotypes don’t exist, so tread carefully. That being said, I do know there’s a stereotype about indigenous people being alcoholics, so you should absolutely avoid characterizing his mother as such because as an outsider, you don’t have the power to subvert that stereotype. 

His relationship with his heritage. I would also be very cautious while writing his arc of reconnecting to his heritage. While reconnecting is unfortunately a very real (and very under represented) process for indigenous people, it’s an extremely difficult and personal process that I don’t think outsiders are qualified to write in-depth about. Though I don’t think you should necessarily gloss over his reconnecting process, I do think it should perhaps be a side character arc, rather than his defining character arc. For example, he might mention to Annie that her passion for her heritage has inspired him to research his own family, or else maybe he’s pictured buying a book on the Saami language. (The current discussion around Rick Riordan’s portrayal of Piper’s imperfect reconnection to her Cherokee heritage makes some really good points, so I’d check that out if you’re familiar with his books. I’d be happy to link you if you’re curious.)

His adopted family. I have to admit--as the daughter of a transracial adoptee in a family full of transracial adoptees, this framing makes me very wary. While I know transracial adoption parents likely have only the best intentions, the adopted child themselves often end up hugely disconnected from their birth cultures. It’s often an extremely stressful and traumatic event, especially in cases where the adopted parents don’t learn about their child’s birth culture themselves and/or only teach the child their own cultures (in this case, Japanese and Dutch). Honestly, with all due respect, I have yet to see any fictional narratives that properly address the trauma of transracial adoptions and given everything else going on in your writing, I’m not sure how well you would be able to write about it. More in the next bullet point.

His extremely mixed heritage. While I don’t want to come across as rude, I do have to ask: what’s your intention behind making a single side character with four different cultural backgrounds, especially backgrounds that you the author don’t share? The reality is that, no matter how much research you may do, these four cultures--Ainu, Saami, Japanese, and Dutch--are very rarely found in combination, and I think you’d be hard pressed to find any #ownvoices accounts from similar scenarios that you could hypothetically draw on to write more accurately. As a result, you’d know very little about how these different cultures meld together, and you’d have almost nothing to go on to write about his mixed multicultural background and the tensions that come with it. While I understand you may be attached to his parental setup and his backstory, I would highly advise simplification to avoid straying into territory you neither understand or are qualified to write about. Given your focus on his reconnecting, I would probably recommend keeping his Ainu father alive and cutting his adopted family. That way, you cut the number of unknown cultures in half and you can truly dedicate yourself to writing his Ainu heritage and his reconnecting process well.

With regards to your actual question about Lakota religious ceremonies, as a non-indigenous person I’m definitely not qualified to answer specifics about Lakota coming of age and naming ceremonies. That being said, I know this: Native American ceremonies, rituals, traditions, and lore are often closely guarded and not shared with outsiders. And I don’t just mean outsiders don’t share in the ceremonies themselves--outsiders often can’t even learn about the ceremonies because the knowledge itself is guarded. (This information is secondhand from my Blackfoot professor last year. If I’m wrong or if any indigenous followers have more accurate information, as always I’m open to critiques and suggestions!) As you continue researching this, I’d definitely be mindful of the source; if it comes from an official Lakota or indigenous source, it’s likely okay to share or discuss, but if all you can find about Lakota religious ceremonies is from, like, someone’s blog or Facebook post or something, then that information likely wasn’t approved to share and you shouldn’t write it into your story. Given that this seems to only be a character detail mentioned briefly, you may be able to simply mention the characters’ Lakota names in passing without referencing the ceremony itself.

Sorry for the long response, and I hope at least some of this information helps!

(Also, if you read this post, this is a good example of a really well researched and thought out ISO Sensitivity Reader question. Obviously, I’ve provided what information I can and this individual seems to have done lots of research, but the execution comes down to... well, the actual execution.)

[princessbubblegumandjustice]

What Can We Do to Fight Police Brutality and Protect Our Rights?

I see a lot of emotion and turmoil right now, and it’s understandable. Fear, anger, hostility, pain, sadness..

People are throwing around ideas and talking about what we need to be doing and how we need to feel, but all of it is a little abstract and some of it is counterproductive. 

What steps can we take to defend our rights that are concrete and could address the corrupt government and law enforcement system in a way that prevails?

Note: this is merely a starting point for discussion, feel free to add your own thoughts and resources

Here are some steps I think we should consider, support, and spread:

1. Eliminate Qualified Immunity

Qualified immunity protects officers from being sued for violating your rights. Originally meant to protect officers acting in “good faith,” this defense has morphed over time to make it exceedingly difficult to prove your rights have been violated by creating an almost impossible criteria: you need to identify a judicial decision that happened to involve the same context and conduct. Without that, the officer is shielded from liability and the case is dismissed, reinforcing the cycle and never establishing a precedent. 

U.S. Representative Justin Amash, a conservative independent from Michigan, is scheduled to introduce a new bill, the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, on Thursday (06/04/2020). Once it is officially introduced I will include a link, and we can all examine the bill and begin taking steps to support it (assuming the bill doesn’t have any riders).

Read: Qualified Immunity Explained Read: U.S. Lawmaker Prepares Bill Aiming to End Court Protection for Police Read: Justin Amash’s tweet on his Bill

2. Implement Police Liability Insurance

When settlements are paid out for injuries caused by officers, its rarely paid by the officer in question. We, the taxpayer, pay for it. We’re footing the bill for the officers violating our rights and the rights of others.

Mandatory police liability insurance has the goal of punishing cops that police badly: the worse their policing, the higher their premium. Eventually, those with very poor track records would either no longer be eligible for police liability insurance (and therefore be unemployable) or be priced out. It would be similar to nurses and doctors’ professional liability insurance, which pays to defend them against malpractice claims and protects them financially by paying out damages.

One major critique is that this method is simplistic and may cause police officers to be overly cautious (i.e. avoiding conflict since they’re afraid of their rate going up).

Read: Make Cops Carry Liability Insurance: The Private Sector Knows How to Spread Risks, and Costs

3. Demand Data & Transparency

Improved data collection and reporting is necessary to identify law enforcement trends. It should be mandatory for police departments to keep track of a list of policing metrics such as number of people killed, use of force and to what degree, and stop-and-frisks, and have the list of metrics standardized to enable direct comparisons between departments and ensure quality policing. This data should be collected and released publically every year. As of right now there is no federal or comprehensive database, but there is one created by the Center for Policing Equity.

Data like this can then be used to create tailored training programs for departments, whether that’s on de-escalation or implicit bias.

See: National Justice Database

4. Take a Stand Against Quota Policing

Quota policing, whether formal or informal, impacts how our actions are viewed by law enforcement and in turn how we view police officers. 

Quota policing is when officers are expected to or awarded if they meet certain quotas regarding arrests, stops, or tickets. Quota policing infringes on our rights as citizens as it can force police to manufacture illegality and dissuade them from using discretion, leading to more unnecessary stops and opportunities for brutality. 

Quota policing can be formal or informal. Event though some states, like New York, outlaw policing quotas they persist nonetheless. One example is in a recent lawsuit against NYPD, in which Officer Adhyl Polanco has accused the NYPD over alleged quotas, stating:

”’The culture is, you're not working unless you are writing summonses or arresting people,’ says Polanco.” ...

“Polanco says he encountered an unwritten rule that officers are expected to bring in ‘20 and one.’ That's 20 tickets and one arrest per month. But it was tough to get anyone outside the department to believe him, because NYPD officials would always deny there were any quotas. They still do.”

5. Fight Private Prisons

Police brutality is one aspect of the corrupt justice system. Private prisons play a role in how we are all treated and how we view and interact with the entire justice system. 

Private prisons are prisons that are privately owned and operated, or leased by private corporations that have total operational control. Private prisons have a financial incentive to incarcerate more while releasing and rehabilitating less. Inmates are not a commodity and never should have became one. 

With contracts that guarantee 65% - 90% occupancy in prisons it is evident that our system is broken. Leaders are pressures to act against their communities’ best interests and keep prisons filled to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted. How might this be done? Finding more people to incarcerate (more stops, which create more opportunities for brutality) and longer sentences. 

See: Abolish Private Prisons

6. Demand Change in Blue Blood Culture

Police officers have a tough job and face struggles non-officers don’t, and their shared experiences mold a culture unique to them. This, by itself, is not an issue. This is completely natural and part of the human experience.

The problem is that police officers play a vital role in society and hold a lot of power over the public. When an insular culture develops, it becomes very easy to pressure officers into complicity. The nail that sticks out gets hammered in. No one wants to be othered, seen as a snitch, or hated by all their peers. Officers want to be a part of the in-group, but that involves conforming and being trusted.

This means looking the other way when a fellow cop plants drugs, when they beat on people, when they commit fraud, when they break protocol, when they don’t even attempt to investigate, when they take or give a bribe, the list is endless—it’s the blue wall of silence.

Without accountability and transparency, cultures like this are allowed to proliferate. Culture is self-sustaining in the fact that it only continues to exist as those within it continue to perpetuate its existence. Previously listed measures are a necessary step before department cultures like this can be expected to change. Without accountability and transparency, we rely on the good of one’s heart alone. It’s been demonstrated that just isn’t enough. This is the only non-concrete step, but it is dependant on practical changes for it to be successful.

Please also check out: Campaign Zero, which outlines even more solutions than what I have here, researches policing practices, tracks legislation in different states, and enables you to reach out to your representatives.

[lanxelot]

LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION TO ICT

ICT– Information and Communication-

It deals with the use of different communication technologies such as mobile phones, telephone, Internet to locate, save, send and edit information

Is a study of computers as data processing tools. It introduces students to the fundamental of using computer systems in an internet environment.

ICT in the Philippines

          Philippines is dub as the ‘’ICT Hub of Asia” because of huge growth of ICT-related jobs, one of which is BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, or call centers.

        ICT Department in the Philippines is responsible for the planning, development and promotion of the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) agenda in support of national development.

Computer– an electronic device for storing and processing data, typically in binary form, according to instructions given to it in a variable program. Internet– is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the internet protocol  suite (TCIP/IP) to link billions of devices worldwide.

        Means of connecting a computer to any other computer anywhere in the world via dedicated routers and servers.

    Sometimes called simply ‘’the Net’’, is a worldwide system of computer networks- a network of networks in which the users at any   one computer can get information from any other computer.

World Wide Web

        An information system on the internet that allows documents to be connected to other documents by hypertext links, enabling the user to search for information by moving from one document to another.

        Is an information space where documents and other web resources are identified by URLs, interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the Internet.

        Invented by Tim-Berners Lee

Web Pages

Web page is a hypertext document connected to the World Wide Web.   It is a document that is   suitable for the World Wide Web.

The different online platforms of World Wide Web:

Web 1.0 – refers to the first stage in the World Wide Web, which was entirely made up of the Web pages connected by hyperlinks.

Web 2.0 – is the evolution of Web 1.0 by adding dynamic pages. The user is able to see a website differently than others.

 – Allows users to interact with the page; instead of just reading the page, the user may be able to comment or create user account.

Web 3.0 –  this platform is all about semantic web.

  –  Aims to have machines (or servers) understand the user’s preferences to be able        to deliver web content.

Static Web Page- is known as a flat page or stationary age in the sense that the page is ‘’as is’’ and cannot be manipulated by the user. The content is also the same for all users that is referred to as Web 1.0

Dynamic Web Pages– web 2.0 is the evolution of web 1.0 by adding dynamic web pages. The user is able to see website differently than others e.g. social networking sites, wikis, video sharing sites.

FEATURES OF WEB 2.0

Folksonomy- allows user to categorize and classify information using freely chosen keywords e.g. tagging by FB, Twitter, use tags that start with the sign #, referred to as hashtag.

Rich User Experience – content is dynamic and is responsive to user’s input

User Participation- The owner of the website is not the only one who is able to put content. Others are able to place a content of their own by means of comments, reviews and evaluation e.g. Lazada, Amazon.

Long Tail– services that are offered on demand rather than on a one-time purchase. This is synonymous to subscribing to a data plan that charges you for the amount of time you spent in the internet.

Software as a services- users will be subscribe to a software only when needed rather than purchasing them e.g. Google docs used to create and edit word processing and spread sheet.

Mass Participation– diverse information sharing through universal web access. Web 2.0’s content is based on people from various cultures.

TRENDS IN ICT

Convergence– is the synergy of technological advancements to work on a similar goal or task. For example, besides using your personal computer to create word documents, you can now use your smartphone. 2. Social Media– is a website, application, or online channel that enables web users web users to create , co-create, discuss modify, and exchange user generated content.

Six types of Social Media:

a)Social Networks – These are sites that allows you to connect with other people with the same interests or background. Once the user creates his/her account, he/she can set up a profile, add people, share content, etc

Example: Facebook and Google+

b)Bookmarking Sites – Sites that allow you to store and manage links to various website and resources. Most of the sites allow you to create a tag to others.

Stumble Upon, Pinterest

c)       Social News – Sites that allow users to post their own news items or links to other news sources. The users can also comment on the post and comments may also be rank.

Ex. Reddit and Digg

d)      Media Sharing – sites that allow you to upload and share media content like images, music and  video.

Ex. Flickr, YouTube and Instagram e) Microblogging – focus on short updates from the user. Those that subscribed to the user will be able to receive these updates. Ex. Twitter and Plurk

f) Blogs and Forums – allow user to post their content. Other               users are able to comment on the said topic. Ex. Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr

                         Mobile Technologies– The popularity of smartphones and tablets has taken a major rise over the years. This is largely because of the devices capability to do the tasks that were originally found in PCs. Several of these devices are capable of using a high-speed internet. Today the latest model devices use 4G Networking (LTE), which is currently the fastest.

MOBILE OS

iOS – use in apple devices such as iPhone and iPad

Android – an open source OS developed by Google. Being open source means mobile phone companies use this OS for free.

Blackberry OS – use in blackberry devices

Windows phone OS – A closed source and proprietary operating system developed by Microsoft.

Symbian – the original smartphone OS. Used by Nokia devices

WebOS- originally used in smartphone; now in smart TVs.

Windows Mobile – developed by Microsoft for smartphones and pocket PCs

Assistive Media–   is a non- profit service designed to help people who have visual and reading impairments. A database of audio recordings is used to read to the user.

e.g. Yahoo!, Gmail, HotmailCloud computing-distributed computing on internet or delivery of computing service over the internet.

 -Instead of running an e-mail program on your computer, you log in to a Web

e-mail account remotely. The software and storage for your account doesn’t exist

on your computer – it’s on the service’s computer cloud.

It has three components

Client computers   –   clients are the device that the end user interact with cloud.

Distributed Servers – Often servers are in geographically different places, but server acts as if they are working next to each other.

Datacenters – It is collection of servers where application is placed and is accessed via Internet.

TYPES OF CLOUDS

PUBLIC CLOUD allows systems and services to be easily accessible to the general public. Public cloud may be less secured because of its openness, e.g. e-mail

PRIVATE CLOUD allows systems and services to be accessible within an organization. It offers increased security because of its private nature.

COMMUNITY CLOUD allows systems and services to be accessible by group of organizations.

HYBRID CLOUD is a mixture of public and private cloud. However, the critical activities are performed using private cloud while the non-critical activities are performed using public cloud.

LESSON 2: ONLINE SAFETY, SECURITY AND RULES OF NETIQUETTE

INTERNET SAFETY- it refers to the online security or safety of people and their information when using internet. NETIQUETTE- is network etiquette, the do’s and don’ts of online communication.

TEN RULES OF NETIQUETTE

Rule No. 1: Remember the human

        You need to remember that you are talking to a real person when you are online.

        The internet brings people together who would otherwise never meet.

        Remember this saying when sending an email: Would I say this to the person’s face.

Rule No. 2: Adhere to the same standards online that you follow in real life.

     You need to behave the same way online that you do in real life.

     You need to remember that you can get caught doing things you should not be doing       online just like you can in real life.

       You are still talking to a real person with feelings even though you can’t see them.

Rule no. 3: Know where you are in cyberspace.

        Always take a look around when you enter a new domain when surfing the web.

        Get a sense of what the discussion group is about before you join it.

Rule no. 4: Respect other people’s time and bandwidth.

        Remember people have other things to do besides read your email. You are not the center of their world.

        Keep your post and emails to minimum by saying what you want to say.

        Remember everyone won’t answer your questions.

Rule no. 5: Make yourself look good online.

        Be polite and pleasant to everyone.

        Always check your spelling and grammar before posting.

·        Know what you are talking about and make sense saying it.

Rule no. 6: Share expert knowledge

       Ask questions online

       Share what you know online.

       Post the answers to your questions online because someone may have the same question         you do.

Rule no. 7: Help keep flame wars under control

       Netiquette does not forgive flaming.

       Netiquette does however forbid people who are flaming to hurt discussion groups by putting the group down.

Rule no. 8: Respect other people’s privacy.

        Do not read other people’s mail without their permission.

        Going through other people’s things could cost you, your job or you could even go to jail.

        Not respecting other people’s privacy is a bad netiquette.

Rule no. 9: Don’t abuse your power.

        Do not take advantage of other people just because you have more knowledge or power than them.

        Treat others as you would want them to treat you if the roles were reversed.

Rule no. 10: Be forgiving of other people’s mistake.

        Do not point out mistakes to people online.

        Remember that you were once the new kid on the block.

        You still need to have a good manners even though you are online and cannot see the          person face to face.

 Internet security

 Security Requirement Triad                  

ConfidentIality                                  Data confidentiality Privacy

              Integrity         Data integerity                                                        System integrity

              Availability

Threat ConsequenceThreat Action ( Attack)

Unauthorized Disclosure

A circumstance or event whereby an entity gains access to data for which the entity is not authorized.

Exposure: Sensitive data are directly released to an unauthorized entity.

Interception: An unauthorized entity directly accesses sensitive data traveling between authorized sources and destinations.

Inference: A threat action whereby an unauthorized entity indirectly accesses sensitive data by reasoning from characteristics or byproducts of communications.

Intrusion: an unauthorized entity gains access to sensitive data by circumventing a system’s security protections.

Disruption

A circumstances or even that interrupts or prevents the correct operation of system services and functions.

Deception

A circumstance or event that may result in an authorized entity receiving false data and believing it to be true.

Incapacitation: prevents or interrupts system operation by disabling a system component.

Corruption: Undesirably alters system operation by adversely modifying system functions or data.

Obstruction: A threat action that interrupts delivery of system services by hindering system operation.

Masquerade: An unauthorized entity gains access to a system or performs a malicious act by posing as an authorized entity.

Falsification: False data deceive an authorized entity.

Repudiation: An entity deceives another by falsely denying responsibility for an act.

Usurpation

A circumstances or event that results in control of system services or functions by an unauthorized entity.

Misappropriation: An entity assumes

unauthorized logical or physical control of a

system resource.

Misuse: Causes a system component to perform a function or service that is detrimental to system security.

Types of System Intruders

        Masquerader

        Hackers

        Clandestine user

Parts of Virus

Infection mechanism

Trigger

 PayloaD

Virus stages

  Dormant phase                                                                                                                                   Virus is idle.

     Propagation  phase                                                                                                                           Virus places an identical copy of itself into other programs or into certain system areas on t        the disk.

  Triggering phase                                                                                                                                 Virus is activated to perform the function for which it was intended.                                             Caused by a variety of system events

      Execution phase                                                                                                                                 Function is performed

Key Terms

Cyber crime- a crime committed or assisted through the use of the Internet.

Privacy Policy/Terms of Services (ToS) – tells the user how the website will handle its data.

Malware- stands for malicious software.

Virus- a malicious program designed to transfer from one computer to another in any means possible.

Worms– a malicious program designed to replicate itself and transfer from one file folder to another and also transfer to other computers.

Trojan-a malicious program designed that is disguised as a useful program but once downloaded or installed, leaves your PC unprotected and allows hacker to get your information.

Spyware– a program that runs in the background without you knowing it. It has the ability to monitor what you are currently doing and typing through key logging.

Adware- a program designed to send you advertisement, mostly pop-ups.

Spam– unwanted email mostly from bots or advertisers.

Phishing- acquires sensitive personal information like passwords and credits card details.

Pharming- a more complicated way of phishing where it exploits the DNS system.

Copyright- a part of law, wherein you have the rights to work, anyone who uses it w/o your consent is punishable by law.

Fair Use- means that an intellectual property may be used w/o consent as long as it is used in commentaries, criticism, parodies, research and etc.

Keyloggers- used to record the keystrokes done by user. This is done to steal passwords or any other sensitive information.

Rogue security softwares– is a form of malicious software and internet fraud that misleads users into believing there is a virus on their computer, and manipulates them into paying money for a fake malware removal tool.

Four search strategies

   Keyword searching

Enter terms to search

Use quotation marks to search as a phrase and keep the words linked together

Common words are ignored (That, to, which, a, the …)

+ and – can be used to include or exclude a word

   Boolean

AND – enter words connect with AND- it will include sites where both words and found

  Uses: joining different topics (i.e. global warming AND California)

OR   –  requires at least one of the terms is found.

  Uses: join similar or synonymous topics (i.e. global warming OR greenhouse effect)

NOT – searches for the first term and excludes sites that have the second term.

(i.e. Washington NOT school)

Question                                                                                                                                  

a question may be entered in the search field of search engine    

       Advanced                                                                                                                         Features are offered on many engines by going to an “Advanced search” page and  making selections. Effective in narrowing search returns to a specific topic or phrase.

LESSON 3: Advanced Word Processing Skills

Lesson Discussion

In the professional world, sending out information to convey important information is vital. Because of ICT, things are now sent much faster than the traditional newsletters or postal mail. You can now send much faster than the traditional newsletters or postal mail. You can now use the Internet to send out information you need to share. What if we could still do things much faster – an automated way of creating and sending uniform letters with different recipients? Would that not be more convenient?

I. Mail Merge and Label Generation

A. Mail Merge

         One of the important reasons in using computers per se is its ability to do recurring tasks automatically. But this ability has to be honed by learning the characteristics and features of the software you use with your computer. After all, no matter how good or advance your computer and software may be, it can only be as good as the person using it.

         In this particular part of our lesson, we will learn one of the most powerful and commonly used features of Microsoft Word called Mail Merge. As the name suggests, this feature allows you to create documents and combine or merge them with another document or data file. It is commonly used when sending out advertising materials to various recipients.

          The simplest solution for the scenario above is to create a document and just copy and paste it several times then just replace the details depending on whom you send it to. But what if you have hundreds or thousands of recipients? Would not that take too many hours? What if you have a small database of information where you can automatically generate those letters?

Two Components of Mail Merge

1. Form Document

         The first component of our mail merged document is the form document. It is generally the document that contains the main body of the message we want to convey or send. The main body of the message is the part of the form document that remains the same no matter whom you send it to from among your list.

          Also included in the form document is what we call place holders, also referred to as data fields or merge fields. This marks the position on your form document where individual data or information will be inserted. From our sample document, the place holders are denoted or marked by the text with double-headed arrows (<< >>) on each side and with a gray background. On a printed standard form, this will be the underlined spaces that you will see and use as a guide to where you need to write the information that you need to fill out. In its simplest form, a form document is literally a “form” that you fill out with individual information. A common example of a form document is your regular tax form or application form.

2. List or Data File

          The second component of our mail merged document is the list or data file. This is where the individual information or data that needs to be plugged in (merged) to the form document is placed and maintained. One of the best things about the mail merge feature is that it allows data file to be created fro within the Microsoft Word application itself, or it gets data from a file created in Microsoft Excel or other data formats. In this way, fields that needed to be filled up on the form document can easily be maintained without accidentally altering the form or main document. You can also easily add, remove, modify, or extract your data more efficiently by using other data management applications like Excel or Access and import them in Word during the mail merge process.

B. Label Generation

           Included in the mail merge feature on Microsoft Word is the Label Generator. It just makes sense that after you print out your form letters, you will need to send it to individual recipients in an envelope with the matching address printed directly on the envelope or on a mailing label to stick on. By using virtually the same process as a standard mail merge, Microsoft Word will print individual addresses to a standard form that it has already pre-formatted. Simply put, it creates a blank form document that simulates either a blank label or envelope of pre-defined size and will use the data file that you selected to print the information, typically individual addresses. So even in generating labels, the two essential components of creating a merged document are present: the form document and the data file. Only in this case, you did not have to type or create the form document yourself because it was already created and pre-formatted in Microsoft Word. All you need to do is select the correct or appropriate size for the label or envelope and select the data file that contains the addresses (data) to be printed. You can also preview your merged labels before printing if you want to.

II.  Integrating Images and External Materials

          Integrating or inserting pictures in your document is fun and it improves the impression of your document. A common use of inserting a picture on a document is when you are creating your resume. Though seemingly simple to do, your knowledge on the different kinds of materials that you can insert or integrate in a Word document and its characteristics can help you create a more efficient, richer document not only in content but also in physical form. A better understanding of the physical form of your document as well as the different materials you would integrate in it would allow you to be more efficient and versatile in using Microsoft Word.

A. Kinds of Materials

          There are various kinds of materials Microsoft Word is capable of integrating to make the documents richer, more impressive, and more informative.

1. Pictures

         Generally, these are electronic or digital pictures or photographs you have saved in any local storage device. There are three commonly used types of picture files. You can identify them by the extension on their file names.

a. .JPG/JPEG

         This is pronounced as “jay-peg“ and is the short form of .jpeg or Joint Photographic Experts Group. Like all the rest of the image file extensions, it identifies the kind of data compression process that it uses to make it more compatible and portable through the Internet. This type of image file can support 16.7 million colors that is why it is suitable for use when working with full color photographic images. Unfortunately, it does not support transparency and therefore, images of this file type can be difficult to integrate in terms of blending with other materials or elements in your document. But if you are looking for the best quality image to integrate with your document then this is the image file type for you. .JPG does not work well on lettering, line drawings, or simple graphics. .JPG images are relatively small in file size.

b. .GIF

         This stands for Graphics Interchange Format. This type of image file is capable of displaying transparencies. Therefore, it is good for blending with other materials or elements in your document. It is also capable of displaying simple animation. Apparently, this may not be too useful on a printed document but if you are sending documents electronically or through email, or even post documents into a website, then this could be quite impressive. The downside is that it can only support up to 256 colors so it is good mostly on logos and art decors with very limited, and generally solid colors. .GIF is much better for logos, drawings, small text, black and white images, or low-resolution files.

Example of a .gif format picture.

c. .PNG

          This is pronounced as “ping“. It stands for Portable Network Graphics. It was built around the capabilities of .GIF. Its development was basically for the purpose of transporting images on the Internet at faster rates. It is also good with transparencies but unlike .GIFs, it does not support animation but it can display up to 16 million colors, so image quality for this image file type is also remarkably improved. .PNG allows the control of the transparency level or opacity of images.

Example of .png format picture.

2.  Clip Art

         This is generally a .GIF type; line art drawings or images used as generic representation for ideas and objects that you might want to integrate in your document. Microsoft Word has a library of clip arts that is built in or can be downloaded and used freely. There are still other clip arts that you can either purchase or freely download and use that come from third-party providers.

Clip Art Icon in Microsoft Office 2010.

3.  Shapes

         These are printable objects or materials that you can integrate in your document to enhance its appearance or allow you to have some tools to use for composing and representing ideas or messages. If you are designing the layout for a poster or other graphic material for advertising, you might find this useful.

Shapes Icon under the Insert ribbon tab.

4. Smart Art

         Generally, these are predefined sets of different shapes grouped together to form ideas that are organizational or structural in nature. If you want to graphically represent an organization, process, relationships, or flow for infographic documents, then you will find this easy and handy to use.

Smart Art

5.  Chart

Another type of material that you can integrate in your Word document that allows you to represent data characteristics and trends. This is quite useful when you are preparing reports that correlate and present data in a graphical manner. You can create charts that can be integrate in your document either directly in Microsoft Word or imported from external files like Microsoft Excel.

Chart – Used to illustrate and compare data.

6. Screenshot

Sometimes, creating reports or manuals for training or procedures will require the integration of a more realistic image of what you are discussing on your report or manual. Nothing can get you a more realistic image than a screenshot. Microsoft Word even provides a snipping tool for your screen shots so you can select and display only the part that you exactly like to capture on your screen.

III. Image Placement

Layout of  text wrapping options.

A. In Line with Text

This is the default setting for images that are inserted or integrated in your document. It treats your image like a text font with the bottom side totally aligned with the text line. This setting is usually used when you need to place your image at the beginning of a paragraph. When placed between texts in a paragraph or a sentence, it distorts the overall appearance and arrangement of the texts in the paragraph because it will take up the space it needs vertically, pushing whole lines of texts upward.

B. Square

This setting allows the image you inserted to be placed anywhere with the paragraph with the text going around the image in a square pattern like frame.

C. Tight

This is almost the same as the Square setting, but here the text “hug” or conforms to the general shape of the image. This allows you to get a more creative effect on your document. This setting can mostly be achieved if you are using an image that supports transparency like a .GIF or .PNG file.

D. Through

This setting allows the text on your document to flow even tighter taking the contours and shape of the image. Again, this can be best used with .GIF or .PNG type of image.

E. Top and Bottom

This setting pushes the texts away vertically to the top and/or the bottom of the image so that the image occupies a whole text line on its own.

F. Behind Text

This allows your image to be dragged and placed anywhere on your document but with all the texts floating in front of it. It effectively makes your image look like a background.

G. In Front of Text

As it suggests, this setting allows your image to be placed right on top of the text as if your image was dropped right on it. That means whatever part of the text you placed the image on, it will be covered by the image.

IV. Key Terms

Mail Merge – a feature that allows you to create documents and combine or merge them with another document or data file.

Form Document – the document that contains the main body of the message we want to convey or send.

Data File – includes the individual information or data or the recipient’s information.

Merge Field/Place Holder – marks the position on your form document where individual data or information will be inserted.

.JPG – file extension for the Joint Photographic Experts Group picture file.

.PNG – file extension for Portable Network Graphics image file.

.GIF – file extension for the Graphics Interchange Format image file.

Clipart – line art drawings or images used as a generic representation for ideas and objects.

Smart Art – predefined sets of different shapes grouped together to form ideas that are organizational or structural in nature.

Text Wrap – adjusts how the image behaves around other objects or text.

LESSON 4: Advanced Spreadsheet Skills

What is a Spreadsheet Software? • allows users to organize data in rows an columns and perform calculations on the data • These rows and columns collectively are called worksheet.

3. Examples of Spreadsheet Software: • LibreOffice Calc • OpenOffice.org Calc • Google Sheets • Apple iWork Numbers • Kingsoft Office Spreadsheets • StarOffice Calc • Microsoft Excel

4. MICROSOFT EXCEL

5. To open Microsoft Excel, Press “Windows Logo” + R then type “excel” then enter.

6. Key Terms in MS Excel: • Row – horizontal line of entries in a table • Column – vertical line of entries in a table • Cell – the place where info. is held in a spreadsheet

7. Key Terms in MS Excel: • Active Cell – the selected cell • Column Heading – the box at the top of each column containing a letter • Row Heading – the row number

8. Key Terms in MS Excel: • Cell Reference – the cell address of the cell usually combine letter and number (ex. A1, B4, C2) • Merge – combining or joining two or more cells • Formula – is an expression which calculates the value of a cell.

9. Key Terms in MS Excel: • Functions – are predefined formulas and are already available in Excel • Formula Bar – the bar that displays the contents of a cell

10. FUNCTIONS

11. BASIC MATH OPERATIONS: • =SUM(x,y) or =SUM(range) – returns the sum of x and y or (all the numbers within the range) • =PRODUCT(x,y) – returns the product of x and y • =QUOTIENT(x,y) – returns the quotient of x divided by y • =x-y – returns the difference of x subtracted by y

12. BASIC MATH OPERATIONS: • =x+y – returns the sum of x and y • =x*y – returns the product of x and y • =x/y – returns the quotient of x divided by y • =x-y – returns the difference of x subtracted by y

13. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =ABS(x) – returns the absolute value of x • =AVERAGE(x,y) – returns the average of x and y • =CONCATENATE(x,y) – joins x and y

14. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =IF(Condition, x, y) – returns x if the condition is true, else it returns y • =ISEVEN(x) – returns true if x is an even number • =ISODD(x) – returns true if x is an odd number

15. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =COUNT(range) – counts the number of cell containing a number within a range • =COUNTIF(range, criteria) – count the number of cell that fits with the criteria within the range

16. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =ISNUMBER(x) – returns true if x is a number • =ISTEXT(x) – returns true if x is a text • =LEN(x) – returns the length of characters in x • =PROPER(x) – returns the proper casing of x

17. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =LEFT(x,y) – returns the characters of x specified by y (from the left) • =RIGHT(x,y) – returns the characters of x specified by y (from the right) • =PI() – returns the value of pi

18. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =MIN(x,y) – returns the smallest number between x and y • =MAX(x,y) – returns the largest number between x and y • =MIN(range) – returns the smallest number within the range • =MAX(range) – returns the largest number within the range

19. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =POWER(x,y) – returns the value of x raised to the power of y • =ROUND(x,y) – rounds x to a specified number of digits (y) =COLUMN(x) – returns the column number of x • =ROW(x) – returns the row number of x

20. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =SQRT(x) – returns the square root of x • =TRIM(x) – removes extra spaces in x • =UPPER(x) – returns x in all capital form • =LOWER(x) – returns x in non- capital form

21. OTHER FUNCTIONS: • =TODAY() – returns the current date • =NOW() – returns the current date and time

22. EXERCISES

23. Consider this data: NAME MATH GRADE SCIENCE GRADE FILIPINO GRADE ENGLISH GRADE A.P GRADE MARK 75 70 78 81 78 PETE 84 87 86 88 85 ANA 91 92 95 90 90 REA 73 75 74 75 70

24. Give the formulas to get : • Mark’s , Pete’s, Ana’s and Rea’s averages • The highest grade that Ana got • The lowest grade that Mark got? • Sum of all Math Grade? Science? A.P.? • Sum of all Rea’s Grades • The Lowest Number among all grades • The remarks (Passed or Failed)

25. Now, consider this data: FIRST NAME MIDDLE NAME LAST NAME MARK CURTIS WILLIAMS PETE MCCLOEY HARRISON ANA MONROE FRITZ REA TAN COLLINS

26. Give the formulas to get : • Mark’s Full Name • Ana’s Full Name in Proper Case • Count the number of letters that Pete’s Last Name has • “COLL” from Rea’s Last Name • “LOEY” from Pete’s Middle Name • Combining “WILL” and “LINS” from Mark and Rea’s Last Names respectively

LESSON 5: Advanced Presentation Skills

Powerpoint is a highly innovative and versatile program that can ensure a successful communication whether you’re presenting in front of potential investors, a lecture theatre or simply in front of your colleagues. The following are the five features you should be using-if youy aren’t already. Learn everything about these tips: they will improve your presentation skills and allow you to communicate your message successfully. The five features of powerpoint was

1)adding smart art

2)Inserting Shapes

3)Inserting and Image

4)Slide Transitions

5)Adding Animations

Creating an Effective Presentation

1.

Minimize

: Keep slides counts to a minimum to maintain a clear message and to keep the audience attentive. Remember that the presentation is just a visual aid. Most information should still come from the reporter.2.

Clarity

: Avoid being to fancy by using font style that is easy to read. Make sure that it is also big enough to be read by the audience. Once you start making your presentation, consider how big the screen is during your report.3.

Simplicity

: Use bullets or short sentences. Summarize the information on the screen to have your audience focus on what the speaker is saying than on reading the slide. Limit the content to six lines and seven words per line. This is known as the 6 x 7 rule.4.

Visual

: Use graphics to help in your presentation but not too many to distract the audience. In addition, instead of using table of data, use charts and graphs.5.

Consistency

: Make your design uniform. Avoid having different font styles and backgrounds.6.

Contrast

: Use a light font on dark background or vice versa. This is done so that it is easier to read. In most instances, it is easier to read on screen if the background is dark. This is due to the brightness of the screen. LESSON 6: Imaging and Design for Online Environment

PHOTO EDITING

Photo editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as an airbrush to modify photographs, or editing illustrations with any traditional art medium.

Graphic software programs

Which can be broadly grouped into vector graphics editors, raster graphics editors, and 3D modelers are the primary tools with which a user may manipulate, enhance, and transform images. Many image editing programs are also used to render or create computer art from scratch.

BASIC OF IMAGE EDITING

RASTER IMAGESare stored in a computer in the form of a grid of picture elements or pixels.

VECTOR IMAGESsuch as Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape and etc. are used to create and modify vector images, which are stored as descriptions of lines, Bezier curves and text instead of pixels.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RASTER AND VECTOR IMAGES

RASTER IMAGESuse many colored pixels or individual building blocks to form a complete image JPEGs, GIFs and PNGs are common raster image types. Almost all of the photos found on the web and in print catalogs are raster images.

VECTOR IMAGES alternatively, allow for more flexibility. Constructed using mathematical formulas rather than individual colored blocks, vector file types such as EPS, AI and PDF are excellent for creating graphics that frequently require resizing. 3. 3D MODELING (OR MODELLING) is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three dimensional surface of an object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model. It can be displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in a computer simulation or physical phenomena. The model can also be physically created using 3D printing devices.

IMAGE FORMATS

Ø  JPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by a digital photography.

Ø  PNG (PORTABLE NETWORK GRAPHICS) is a raster graphics file format that supports lossless data compression.

Ø  GIF a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images.

Ø  BMP is a raster graphics image used to store bitmap digital images

Ø  EPS used in vector-based images in Adobe Illustrator.

Ø  SVG is an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics w/ support for interactivity and animation

Ø  .3ds is one of the file formats used by the Autodesk 3Ds Max 3D Modelling, animation and rendering software.

Ø  .fbx is an exchange format, in particular for interoperability between Autodesk products and other digital content creation software

FEATURES OF IMAGE EDITORS

SELECTION One of the prerequisites for many of the app mentioned below is a method of selecting part(s) of an image, thus applying a change selectively without affecting the entire picture

Ø  MARQUEE TOOL for selecting rectangular or other regular polygon-shaped regions

Ø  LASSO TOOL for freehand selection of a region

Ø  MAGIC WAND TOOL selects objects or regions in the image defined by proximity of color or luminance

LAYERS which are analogous to sheets of transparent acetate, stacked on top of each other, each capable of being individually positioned, altered and blended with the layers below, w/o affecting any of the elements on the other layers. IMAGE SIZE resize images in a process often called image scaling, making them larger, or smaller. High image resolution cameras can produce large images which are often reduced in size for Internet use.

CROPPING creates a new image by selecting a desired rectangular portion from the image being cropped. The unwanted part of the image is discarded. Image cropping does not reduce the resolution of the area cropped.

CLONING uses the current brush to copy from an image or pattern. It has many uses: one of the most important is to repair problem areas in digital photos.

IMAGE ORIENTATION – Image editors are capable of altering an image to be rotated in any direction and to any degree. Mirror images can be created and images can be horizontally flipped or vertically flopped. Rotated image usually require cropping afterwards, in order to remove the resulting gaps at the image edges.

PERSPECTIVE – is the art of drawing solid objects on a two- dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point.

SHARPENING AND SOFTENING– Sharpening makes images clearer. Too much sharpening causes grains on the surface of the image. Softening makes images softer that removes some of the highly visible flaws. Too much causes the image to blur.

SATURATION- is an expression for the relative bandwidth of the visible output from a light source. As saturation increase, colors appear more “pure.’’ As saturation decreases, colors appear more ‘’ washed-out.’’

CONTRAST AND BRIGHTENING

Contrast of images and brighten or darken the image. Underexposed images can be often be improved by using this feature.

Brightening lightens the image so the photo brightens up. Brightness is a relative expression of the intensity of the energy output of a visible light source.

Adjusting contrast means adjusting brightness because they work together to make a better image.

PHOTO MANIPULATION

Photo manipulation involves transforming or altering a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Some photo manipulations are considered skillful artwork while others are frowned upon as unethical practices, especially when used to deceive the public, such as hat used for political propaganda , or to make a product or person look better.

 DIFFERENCES PHOTO EDITING – signifies the regular process used to enhance photos and to create them ‘’Actual editing simple process’’. Also includes some of the regular programs used for editing and expose how to use them. PHOTO MANIPULATION – includes all simple editing techniques and have some manipulation techniques like erasing, adding objects , adding some graphical effects, background correction, creating incredible effect, change elements in an image,  adding styles , eliminating blemishes from a  person’s face and changing the features of a person’s body.

b.) Infographics

also known as data visualization, information design, and communication design

It is any graphic that display and explains information, whether that be data or words. When we use the term ‘’infographics’’, we’re using it as a general term used to describe data presented in a visual way.

Infographics are important because they change the way people find and experience stories. Infographics are being used to augment editorial content on the web, it create a new way of seeing the world of data, and they help communicate complex ideas in a clear and beautiful way.

TYPES OF INFOGRAPHICS

Statistical

Process Flow

Geographic

PROCESS OF MAKING INFOGRAPHICS

Research

a)Know what is needed

b)Take a reference

c)Know the audience

d)Decide the type of infographics

Brainstorm

a)Gather ideas

b)Build thought process

Design

a)    Choose your tool and start designing

Review

a)     Cross check the data to deliver flawless output

Launch

a)    Make it viral

b)    Share on social network

BEST PRACTICES WHEN CREATING INFOGRAPHICS

a)Maintain a structure

b)Don’t use more than 3 color palletes

c)Typography matters a lot

d)Include source and references

LESSON 7: Online Platforms for ICT Content Development

1.Facebook

Posted on

February 13, 2017

Marketplace – allows members to post, read and respond to classified ads.

Groups – allows members who have common interests to find each other and interact.

Events  – allows members to publicize an event, invite guests and track who plans to attend.

Pages – allows members to create and promote a public page built around a specific topic.

Presence technology – allows members to see which contacts are online and chat.

Within each member’s personal profile, there are several key networking components. The most popular is arguably the Wall, which is essentially a virtual bulletin board. Messages left on a member’s Wall can be text, video or photos. Another popular component is the virtual Photo Album. Photos can be uploaded from the desktop or directly from a smartphone camera. There is no limitation on quantity, but Facebook staff will remove inappropriate or copyrighted images.  An interactive album feature allows the member’s contacts (who are called generically called “friends”) to comment on each other’s photos and identify (tag) people in the photos. Another popular profile component is status updates, a microbloggingfeature that allows members to broadcast short Twitter-like announcements to their friends. All interactions are published in a news feed, which is distributed in real-time to the member’s friends.

Facebook offers a range of privacy options to its members.  A member can make all his communications visible to everyone, he can block specific connections or he can keep all his communications private. Members can choose whether or not to be searchable, decide which parts of their profile are public, decide what not to put in their news feed and determine exactly who can see their posts. For those members who wish to use Facebook to communicate privately, there is a message feature, which closely resembles email.

2. Instagram

Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing site that allows its users to share pictures and videos either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr. Originally, a distinctive feature was that it confined photos to a square shape, similar to Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid SX-70 images, in contrast to the 4:3 aspect ratio typically used by mobile device cameras. In August 2015, version 7.5 was released, allowing users to upload media captured in any aspect ratio. Users can also apply digital filters to their images. Videos on Instagram debuted in June 2013, allowing prerecorded square standard definition resolution clips of up to 15 seconds to be shared; later improvements added support for widescreenresolutions of up to 1080p and longer recording times for either prerecorded (up to one minute) or disappearing live (up to one hour) videos.

Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 as a free mobile app. The service rapidly gained popularity, with over 100 million active users as of April 2012[10][11] and over 300 million as of December 2014.[12] Instagram is distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play.[13]Support for the app is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Windows 10 devices and Android handsets, while third-party Instagram apps are available for BlackBerry 10 and Nokia-Symbian Devices.

3. Twitter

Twitter  is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages, “tweets,” restricted to 140 characters. Registered users can post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them. Users access Twitter through its website interface, SMS or a mobile device app.[10] Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, California, United States, and has more than 25 offices around the world.

Twitter is about learning and adding value

It is also about adding value to others by giving or sharing something valuable to them so that they are able to learn something. That is why I usually tweet about stuff that I read, learned or have good value. I have learned so much from the others that is why I love twitter. It is also about helping others, I disagree with many‘experts’ that say you should only follow ‘influential’ users because I don’t judge someone that way, and because I believe the people at Twitter don’t believe in them either. I also disagree that you should only share your own stuff otherwise you will dilute your brand. Sure it makes sense but 24/7 sharing your own blog post and following influential people?

BLOGGING SITES

Weebly

Weebly is one of the easiest website builders in the market.  They allow you to drag and drop content into a website, so it’s very intuitive to use (click here to see our opinion on Weebly).

By using Weebly’s website building elements, you can literally drag them into your website and have a website built relatively quickly, and painlessly.  The beauty of this system is that you can pretty much drag the elements to wherever you want – so it’s not very restrictive on where and how you place your website content.

Weebly’s elements include pictures, paragraphs, videos, buttons, maps, contact forms – basically all the basics for website building.

2. Tumblr

Tumblr is a popular microblogging platform designed for creative self-expression. It is considered a mindful alternative to Facebook and other social media websites where users blog on a myriad of topics.

You can link your Tumblr account to other social networks you use and you can feed your traditional blog or other RSS feed to your Tumblelog. You can also create static pages such as your own Questions page that people are automatically taken to when they ask you a question. If you want to make your Tumblelog look more lie a traditional website, you can do it by adding pages. You can make your Tumblelog private or just make specific posts private as needed, and you can schedule posts to publish in the future.

Tumblr is perfect for people who don’t need a full blog to publish lengthy posts. It’s also great for people who prefer to publish quick multimedia posts, particularly from their mobile devices. Tumblr is also a great choice for people who want to join a larger community. If a blog is too much or too big for you, but Twitter is too small or too little for you and Instagram isn’t versatile enough for you, then Tumblr might be just right for you.

It’s also easy to invite other people to contribute to your Tumblelog.

If you want to track your stats, you can add any analytics tracking code to your Tumblelog. Some users will even burn a feed with Feedburner, create custom themes, and use their own domain names

3. Pinterest

Pinterest is a free website that requires registration to use.Users can upload, save, sort, and manage images—known as pins—and other media content (e.g., videos) through collections known as pinboards. Pinterest acts as a personalized media platform. Users can browse the content of others in their feed. Users can then save individual pins to one of their own boards using the “Pin It” button, with pinboards typically organized by a central topic or theme. Users can personalize their experience by pinning items, creating boards, and interacting with other members. The end result is that the “pin feed” of each user displays unique, personalized results.

Content can also be found outside of Pinterest and similarly uploaded to a board via the “Pin It” button, which can be downloaded to the bookmark bar on a web browser, or be implemented by a webmaster directly on the website. They also have the option of sending a pin to other Pinterest users and email accounts through the “Send” button. Some websites include red and white “pin it” buttons on items, which allow Pinterest users to pin them directly.

Initially, there were several ways to register a new Pinterest account. Potential users could either receive an invitation from an already registered friend, or they could request an invitation directly from the Pinterest website that could take some time to receive. An account can also be created and accessed by linking Pinterest to a Facebook or Twitter profile. When a user re-posts or re-pins an image to their own board, they have the option of notifying their Facebook and Twitter followers. This feature can be managed on the settings page.

On the main Pinterest page, a “pin feed” appears, displaying the chronological activity from the Pinterest boards that a user follows.

A “board” is where the user’s pins are located. Users can have several boards for various items such as quotes, travel or, most popularly, weddings. A “pin” is an image that has either been uploaded or linked from a website. Once users create boards and add pins, other users can now repin, meaning they can pin one user’s image to their board as well. Once the user has set up their account and boards, they can browse, comment, and like other pins. Users might be discouraged by repeated images and difficult-to-follow direct linking features. Pinterest has also added the option of making boards “secret” so that the user can pin to and view boards that only the user can see when logged into their own account.

Pinterest does not generate its own content; rather, it draws from many resources around the web and compiles them in one convenient location for users.

[couplesinstitutecounseling]

Holidays are always a hot topic in couples therapy, whether it’s whose family couples will be visiting, how much time to spend there, what activities will be included or avoided, how to enjoy the day when there is relational tension… the list goes on and on.

Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner.  For many, this is a time to reunite with loved ones, play games, cheer on a favorite football team, and gobble down all the delicious food.  Yet just like so many other special events, this Thanksgiving Day is one more causality of the pandemic.  In this article we will explore a few issues facing many couples during this holiday and go over some ways to navigate them.

Issues

Expectations:

One key issue to tackle before any holiday is expectations.  These little troublemakers can create all kinds of struggles to get through, especially when couples don’t slow down and talk about them.  Often people believe their partner will have the same expectations or at least they will agree with them.  Imagine if both partners are thinking that, but neither one communicates  it.  Now imagine how it will go if both partners have vastly different expectations about how, where, and with whom they will spend their holiday.  How do you think Thanksgiving will play out for this couple?  Do you think they will be feeling very thankful?  Or do you think the turkey will feel lucky to be dinner instead of having to deal with the emotional fallout from this couple feeling disappointed, resentful, and angry?

This is an issue that regularly comes up with couples, but it’s intensified this year because many couples have an even greater divide in their expectations this year.  Some people may expect to keep traditions and spend time with family or friends, while the other partner believes that staying home and social distancing is best.

Tolerance Differences:

Whether it’s the introvert and extrovert, large family or small family, zoning in front of the TV or playing games in a group, staying home or traveling, the list of differences could continue until Thanksgiving 2021.  This goes beyond how we enjoy spending our time; these differences can look like social anxiety, overstimulation, and exhaustion.  One definition of tolerance is the capacity to endure pain or hardship.  It can be hard to understand that something we enjoy and find energizing can be something that requires our partner to endure.  It can be such a difficult concept to understand that often people will believe that their partner is simply withholding or dismissing their needs.  Oftentimes we expect (yup, there is that word again) our partner to be interested in the same things we are.  I have seen this play out in many couples, as well as in my own family.  Here are a few examples and some respectful ways of coping when these differences arise:

My mom loves playing games at family gatherings, but my stepdad does not.  What I love about them is that they give each other space to enjoy the time the way they each want to- without expectation or judgement.

For me, my husband’s family loves to talk politics.  His family is made up of all kinds of beliefs.  Political debates are something I really don’t enjoy, so when this starts, I go and hang out with the kids or use that time to call and talk to my family.

I have had clients who want to spend every second with their family, talking and playing games, but the other partner is easily overstimulated or exhausted by that amount of interaction.  After understanding that this was not an excuse for the partner to hide away, each couple was able to come up with signals or code words that would let their partner know why they might disappear for a bit.  Then when the more introverted partner felt refreshed, they would go back and re-engage in the group.

The real issue with tolerating differences is not so much the difference, but the way partners handle those differences.  If the couple makes it unsafe for one or both partners to have different tolerance levels, then they are creating an environment for resentment, anger, and pain.  This doesn’t make a fun holiday or a fulfilling relationship.

Lockdown Grief:

This issue of lockdown grief is one that is solely related to the pandemic. Thanksgiving 2020 is not going to look like the ones before it and it is OKAY to be sad, mad, disappointed, and overwhelmed by this.  Many people look forward to having large family/friend gatherings and if there was a year people needed to be able to connect and hug loved ones- it would be 2020.  But what do we do when we are being asked not to gather and not hug? Often, we think of grief solely related to death, but grief is a reaction to loss, and I would be surprised to find anyone who hasn’t been shaken by loss in 2020.  Each time we miss an opportunity to gather, celebrate, or travel…the losses add up.  In addition to this, thousands of families are grieving the death of someone COVID robbed them of.   Others are recovering from the illness and endless communities are facing economic hardship like never before.  People are grieving the loss of their life’s work through being forced to close their business or being laid off from a job that they loved and that supported their family.  There is a lot of loss in 2020, too much.  It is important for couples to remember that people experience and express grief differently and some will feel this more than others.  When couples are facing difficult times and they respond differently, and if they have not spent the time to understand and work with their differences then there is the potential to create more pain and distance in a time when they need each other the most.

As an example, an introverted partner may be excited to stay home and have an intimate holiday, but if their partner is extroverted or only sees family on certain holidays, then they may be struggling.  This creates a vastly different emotional experience.  Yet just like with the expectations and tolerance differences, the real hurdle is not that there is a difference but how the couple navigates that difference.

You may now be asking, “Well then how do we navigate the differences?”  Here are some first steps to begin to build that skill.

Beginning steps to navigate differences.

Define expectations.  This starts with each partner individually getting clear on what their vision is for the holiday (or anything really).  This often looks like answering the how, who, when, what, and where.  It can often be powerful to also be able to share the why.  Such as, why this vision means something to you. The why can often help our partner feel more connected to part of a vision that they might experience a different way.  For example, if someone enjoys interaction they might not understand that their partner feels connected and close to a family member by just sitting and watching a football game.

Take turns sharing your expectations.  Check out steps here to keep this conversation from becoming toxic.

Openly acknowledge tolerance differences with curiosity and/or acceptance. If you think you identify something your partner may tolerate differently, tell them your thoughts, and ask them if it feels true for them.  This gives your partner an opportunity to self-reflect and self-define.  Ask each other what the tolerance differences feel like for them.

Come up with some creative experiments.  Experiments are an extremely important tool; you don’t want to think of your ideas as solutions.  Solutions have a feeling of finality, because if you solve a problem then the problem is no more.  When couples take this mindset in conversation about an issue it can be the set up to the next big fight.

Here is why, if a couple sees X as a problem, they discuss it and decide the solution will be Y.  Then the next time X happens, and Y doesn’t work the way they thought it would then it feels like they failed, or the relationship is doomed.  Yet if we think of these things as experiments, then the conversations because the next time X happens lets try Y and then lets give Y a try 2 times, after the second try we will reevaluate how Y helps and how Y doesn’t work.  The experiment gives couples a way to keep working together towards something vs trying one thing and allowing that one thing to determine if they are a good team or not.

So when looking at tolerance differences come up with experiments to try and then do a check in after you try them, look at what worked, what didn’t and make adjustments to the experiment for the next time.

When it comes to discussing tolerance difference around the pandemic, check out this article for help.

Acknowledge your emotions and/or grief around the lockdown.  How do you feel affected? How is it affecting your holiday experience?  If you and your partner have different experiences, that’s OKAY. But remember, this is a time to listen, show empathy and give comfort.  Brene Brown has a great video on empathy, you can check it out here.

Now for the hard truth: Navigating difference is challenging, and requires a strong internal muscle that most of us don’t have naturally.  Yet, the fact that you are reading this article is a great first step to building up your muscle.  If you follow the steps above, that is even more impressive, because it can feel a bit scary to step out of our world to understand someone else’s.  Pushing yourself to do something in the face of discomfort or fear, is brave and shows strength.  So, I hope you give yourself and your partner extra points for trying, because you both deserve them.

If you find you are struggling during this holiday season and you need support or you want help building up your “difference” muscle, reach out to the therapists here for a free 20 minute consultation.  We can help!

Also here are 15 ways to celebrate Thanksgiving together!

Go for a drive through nature.  Take in the view, look for changing foliage, pack or pick up your favorite fall treat and stop someplace to enjoy the crisp autumn air. Describe what you are seeing and feeling to each other and what you enjoy about it.

Have a private Thanksgiving Dinner.  If it is just the 2 of you, make it romantic.  If you have kids, get them in on the planning and cooking.  Dress up for dinner…fancy or silly.  Be creative.

Start a “Giving” tradition together. Start a seasonal tradition of picking at least one charitable act to do together as a couple/family.  Take canned foods to a place of worship or a local food bank. Take some yummy treats to Fire Stations or Law Enforcement Offices to thank them for being away from their families and serving the community.  Think about helping to distribute hot meals on Thanksgiving Day.

Get crafty.  Remember those turkey hands you used to cut out and paste together as a little kid? Well, who says you can’t still have fun with crafts as a grownup? Get yourselves in the spirit of the holiday with festive garlands, painted gourds and of course, delectable Thanksgiving-themed goodies!

Show your thanks for each other! Yes, it’s simple. Maybe it feels silly. But part of the holiday is simply showing gratitude for the small, every day blessings in your life … and that includes your partner, kids and family!

Have a “Thankful scavenger hunt” get post-its or plain paper and write things you are thankful for, happy memories and/or jokes.  You hand each other the first one, then hide the others around your home. Each one will have a clue to where to find the next one.  Include a simple little treat with the last note.

Thankful-bomb each other.  Throughout the day post or hand thank you notes to each other.  They can be simple but try to surprise each other on where you put them or when you hand them out.

Play board games, card games, or do a puzzle together instead of watching T.V.  Try an escape room in a box or you can look for games that you work together to beat vs games that you play against one another.

Get physical together. Take a walk, go for a jog or hike, have a Turkey Dance party, and if you can have alone time enjoy exchanging sexy massages.

Make sure you have some quiet time during the day: take a nap, read a book, or mediate.

Watch a favorite holiday movie together.

If hosting a small gathering. Decide together in advance on who will do what when it comes to straightening the house, planning, preparation, cooking, and clean up responsibilities. Don’t strive for perfection instead strive for connection.

Look up different historical Thanksgiving traditions or food and try to recreate them.

If you can’t be with family in person get creative with video chats, online group games, or start a “I’m THANKFUL” text thread and spend the day messaging each other things you are thankful for, fond memories or silly jokes and memes.  You can smile together even if you can’t physically be together and it is utterly amazing how joy, laughter, and smiles can connect us over even the furthest distance.

Look for ways to relax and enjoy the difference. As amazing as it is to be with a lot of family and friends, this holiday can be a good change of pace.  You can stay in comfy clothes all day, be on your own schedule and not worry about challenging family interactions.

Remember, whether you find new traditions that you continue or enjoy returning to previous traditions next year, this is a good time to experiment and create meaningful and memorable experiences.  

If you have any questions or want to learn more, please contact us.

[theanimeview]

The Summer of Online Anime Cons - Review!

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @peggyseditorial​

OKAY. This review has been way overdue, but in my defense, I wanted to wait until Summer was officially over, and for me, that meant the Crunchyroll Expo needed to happen before making this post. So let's get into it:

This summer, in addition to the Big Three Anime Weekend (where people could attend Anime Expo Lite, Funimation Con 2020, and Aniplex Online Fest all at once), we also had Comic-Con, the Virtual Crunchyroll Expo, and several other small conferences happening online like the Toonami special. 

The events I "attended" happened to all be free (woohoo!), and to be perfectly honest: I LOVED it. I hope that they have more virtual conventions like these in the future.  It's not because I don't love in-person and live conventions. I mean, anyone that knows me personally knows that I love conventions, traveling, dressing up, and more. I am a massive nerd for literary/professional/writing conferences and actively seek them out to attend throughout the year (if not present at them). I love anime conventions just as much and see them as a way to geek out with people from all over the world who share the same interests I do (and often know the niche anime/manga/webcomic/etc. that so few of my regular friends know about or have any interest in seeing!). 

However, I think that Anime Expo has seriously fallen apart in recent years. It's something I've been more than vocal about in the past, like last year. Last year, as much as I did have fun, the convention space was overly crowded. AX is one of the largest anime conventions in the US, and overcrowding isn't unexpected given the size of it; however, since 2017, the convention has gone from simply full/crowded to claustrophobia-inducing. Enough so that someone like me, who had never felt claustrophobia before in their life, became overwhelmed and physically ill due to the number of people touching me on all sides as we attempted to shimmy down packed hallways. As a reference, I usually love enclosed and or crowded spaces--like, my mom and I frequented packed swap-meets as a child that I loved navigating. I also grew up with six older siblings, in a home next to Disneyland... so, like, crowds are not an issue for me, which is why I never expected to feel the level of anxiety I did in that horrible 2017 crowd, which repeated in AX 2019.

Add on to that panel experience: whereas before people could and would regularly slip in and out of panels with lines sometimes being outside the door for smaller rooms with more popular content, now the lines for most programs are often placed outside, in the heat, with attendees asked to line up sometimes hours in advance to have even a chance of attending. To my knowledge, Sakura-Con and several other conventions I've gone to in the last few years don't have that problem, and it's a fair guess as to why but let's leave that topic for another day.

By comparison, the virtual convention was a breeze! Yes, sometimes I had to sacrifice going to one panel over another, but who hasn't had to do that at conventions before? Ultimately, I could enjoy the panels from the comfort of my own home in PJs. I didn't need to worry about food, overheating in the sun, or finding the bathroom while at my house. I didn't get to meet new people (😥), but I did get to "attend" with friends of mine that can't go to conventions regularly for health reasons.

My major criticism of the virtual conventions can be summed up pretty easily. One issue I found was that the scheduling of three digital-conventions in one weekend was far too tight, but that was quickly mediated by the Funimation and Aniplex groups banding-together and merging the events so that Day 2 of FC2020 was a split with AOF2020. Another criticism I had is the lack of shopping--but I'm sure my wallet and bank account were relieved to find that I was much too entranced in panels to care about putting my cards through a ringer. I thought I would be upset by panel cancellations, but since virtual conventions are new and since panel cancellations happen at live conventions too, I can't say I'm all that upset by them. Not to mention how easy it was to handle such cancellations online when you have many more panels to attend freely.

What was probably most upsetting was, at times, the layout. Of all the conventions, I think AX and Comic-Con did the best job with panel layout. AX used Twitch live streams, YouTube, and a handful of unique call-in panels that were easy to navigate. More frustrating was the ever-changing schedule times at AX, but that happens (mainly when you are one of the first conferences navigating the online-field and thereby making all the first mistakes). Ultimately, it was EASY to get to the right "room" for the right panel. It helped too that their schedule was frequently updated, so it was rarely a question of "which room?" and "when does this thing start?" Comic-Con, which featured all their panels on pre-scheduled youtube posts, was similarly easy to navigate and enjoy. Frankly, I preferred the use of YouTube as Comic Con's primary platform for distribution more, but that's just because I enjoy being able to go back and rewatch things later.

Funimation and Aniplex suffered a bit by not updating their schedules consistently. For example, Funimation kept listing panels for Day 2 in the room merged with the Aniplex Online Fest live-stream, leaving me (and I'm sure a few others) to wonder what in the world happened to all those disappearing panels. Though, I'm sad to say that Crunchyroll Expo had it way worse. Their different "rooms" attempted to allow for many panels and multiple languages, and it suffered due to the way they handled this, among other complications. The way things were labeled for different languages meant you either had to search through the individual tabs to make sure you wouldn't miss anything, or sift through all of it at once. There was no in-between. You also wouldn't know which panel was whereafter it aired, meaning things got lost easily. Sometimes I wouldn't even know what panel was canceled, rescheduled, or entirely overlooked by me! This issue is difficult for me to find acceptable, as the Crunchyroll Expo happened months after other conventions and had arguably more time to review platform options and layouts for their digital conference. It almost felt like they were aiming for a "different just to be different" feel ultimately at the cost of user experience, which is crazy since Crunchyroll is one of the largest online anime streaming platforms in the US abroad. It would have been better for them to publish their pre-recorded panels similar to episodes of a show that people could scroll through than the disorganized mess that their expo "stages" tried to do.

With that said, let’s focus on content. 

Panels were the main focus of these conventions (obviously), and content-wise, they did NOT disappoint. AX hit HUGE on the industry panels from major licensing and publishing companies in the US and Japan. They also had the most in terms of interesting focuses. There was a healthy mix of fan panels, culture panels, industry panels, and such, meaning someone could find something of interest in nearly every hour. In fact, at the time, Casea (@madamekrow) and I were in a real panic about how to watch everything we wanted to watch. You could tell that a lot of thought had gone into making this thing work given how quickly they had to switch from live to digital, and I appreciate that. FC2020 and AOF2020, by comparison, were not as reliable in terms of those profession-based and fan-based panels, and given that they are mainly licensers of anime rather than convention planners, it makes sense. They were also up against a convention with a long history (BTW, AX celebrates 30 years in 2021). That's not to say they didn't come to the table without the cards. 

FC2020 brought it home with premiere screenings of animes to come. My favorite of their premiere list is By The Grace of The gods, set to come out in October of 2020. Meanwhile, AOF2020 lacked premieres, professional and fan-based panels but made up for it with entertainment of a different kind. They hosted all-night marathons of popular works they license, held a digital concert, and unintentionally perhaps, generally gave a place to "chill" between the stressful jumping from panel to panel. In conclusion of the Big Three Weekend, they gave the summer a phenomenal start!

Next up is Comic-Con. In my opinion, their panels were heavily movie-based as opposed to print-media comics, manga, or anime. Yes, of course, there were plenty of comic panels too, but they weren't the same as what we saw during AX, FC2020, or AOF2020. The feel was different--maybe because of content. Regardless, it was interesting. I enjoyed much of the industry-related panels, like "Manga Publishing Industry Roundtable" and "How to Thrive as an Indie Comics Creator Now!" (I mentioned before I'm a publishing nerd, right?) Perhaps most preferable to me is that the Comic-Con panels are still available on their YouTube channel, which means that unlike many other conventions, I can share the panels with friends interested in a particular series, subject, or person. I LOVE that. Share-ability is huge, and I think Comic-Con was smart to make their content available moving forward. It has certainly been great for my film-loving friends and our team members here at The Anime View (like Jenna @jkmorgan-media​).  

Lastly, Crunchyroll Expo. What can I say about this one? The panels were huge variables. I know that everyone on our team found them to be a mixed bag, myself included, as Crunchyroll opened up to fans hosting panels. This was great, in my opinion, but with that comes a bit of criticism. Some fan panels were polished, exciting, and engaging. I loved many of the mecha panels. I also loved some that were engaging discussions of a topic between people that were close friends. HOWEVER, with that came just as many who were new to public speaking, hadn't prepared much of anything and just recorded an awkward Zoom call, or worse (it's hard to describe how).

As for the smaller conferences like the mini-Toonami Con during Adult Swim’s digital conference, I don’t really have anythings specific to say so I’ll be leaving them out of this review. 

I don't want to shoot down any of the fans that hosted panels despite this negative review. It's HARD to present at conferences, and for some, it's even harder when they know they are being recorded. I remember my first conference where I stared at my paper the whole time and had to be asked to raise my voice twice for people to hear, while my friend aimed my phone at me to record the mortifying presentation for my mother. I don't blame the people that had a hard time doing this, and I fully support Crunchyroll for giving fans, particularly young ones, the platform and experience to do this. Some of those panels were very interesting, despite the presenter's awkwardness. Controversially, the handful that made no effort (and you could tell which), I don't extend that empathy.

For me, panels quality has nothing to do with camera work, lighting, or even sound in some cases (for the most part, as long as you can hear the words--awesome). I didn't need to see spot-on PowerPoint slides, anime clips to fit the conversation or hyperactivity. To me, it was all about what was being said or not said. One panel that comes to mind that I aimed to attend was about picking the right anime for you or a friend. I ended up ditching half-way through. It was, sorry to say, terrible. The hosts definitely had the energy and passion to discuss anime and interesting subjects beyond their approach to the idea of recommendations. 

For example, they spent a reasonable amount of time comparing how they grew up experiencing anime to how many people now entering the fandom have come to know it. They started by describing how they watching anime on a handful of VHS rentals from BlockBusters, while many people in my (Peggy's) "anime generation" grew up in the age of fansubs and illegal uploads; meanwhile, my (Peggy's again) niece grew up experiencing all of her anime through legal online licensing services like Netflix, Funimation, Crunchyroll, etc. After discussing that difference, they mentioned briefly (as in one time in a single sentence) that the popularity of a particular genre in anime when you entered may affect what you find most interesting before completely undercutting themselves to say that you can't recommend anything to anyone because people always think about what they like first. (I hate to break it to them, but I find it pretty easy to recommend things based on my friends' stated interests in past series. Maybe that's because I watch almost everything of every genre in anime, but also--it's not rocket science. If your friend likes thrilling action movies, you can probably name a few thrilling action animes to satisfy their interest.) It felt as though the panel's title was misleading when the answer to recommending anime is "you can't." (when, in fact, you can with little to no complications!)

Overall, for me, AX takes the crown in terms of content. They had a fantastic mix of everything you hope to see at a comic convention in addition to making it fun. Comic-Con takes the crown for best platform use and layout (AX takes a close second and Aniplex/Funimation sharing third)... Crunchyroll doesn't rank in this category. Aniplex/Funimation shares the title of Best Entertainment. Crunchyroll takes the crown for fan inclusion into the presentation spotlight. They're all winners, but if I really had to rank them, it'd be this:

Anime Expo - Title: Content is King  👑

Comic-Con - Best Platform/Layout

Aniplex/Funimation (Sharing is caring) - Best Entertainment

Crunchyroll - Best Fan Inclusion

With that, I conclude my long drafted review. Thank you for your patience, and I'll see you all next week in another post!

[sheonvinyl]

the snl standby line ~experience~

um. wow.....

so i’m making this post mostly for myself and to have a documentation of these memories while its all still pretty fresh in my brain, but i figured i would share it on here too just in case anyone wanted to read it or chat about it all w me. (side note: if u were in the line too PLS hit me up we MUST discuss)

basically, long story short is my friend and i slept on the streets of nyc for three nights in below freezing degree weather, got standby tickets for the live show and were able to get in......like i was THERE. for the snl LIVE taping. 

feel free to keep reading below the break if you want an extremely detailed description of the whole ordeal and my personal experience that no one asked for dsjkhfksdjh

to be frank our journey did not start out as we had originally planned lmao. when harry announced that he was doing double duty my friend and i immediately were like. let’s start planning bc we’re 100% going. that resulted in a lot of amazon prime orders and reading up on blogs about tips and tricks in order to plan. we were trying to gauge how far in advance we were going to have to get in line in order to have a good chance. we got a lot of our info from a twitter account/blog run by these three women who have been to every show this season and been in the standby line every week so we trusted their advice. they have been so many times that they apparently have a relationship with the security ppl and are in contact with them. and obviously since it was harry this week, there was a lot more buzz about it and higher stakes of actually getting a ticket. people had been tweeting about lining up on MONDAY in order to be in the front of the line. this account reached out to people and nbc and said that security didn’t want anyone lining up before thursday and if people did, they would be asked to leave and not allowed to get back in line again. finding this out made us panic a bit bc we didn’t want to get thrown out for breaking the rules or anything like that. we originally decided to finish up our days at our internships on wednesday, head back to our apartment, gather up all our supplies and head to 30 roc around 10 so that we could be ready to get in line at midnight aka when it would officially be thursday. 

however, when i woke up wedensday morning amidst all the news about harry’s tour dates etc. there was an update that there were ~20ish people in line already. and that set us into a panic. we were confused if they were going to be thrown out or not bc they lined up before thursday, but periodically as we checked throughout the day security didn’t seem to be doing anything about it. so we made the decision to get to the line as quickly as possible after work. not sure i’ve ever moved faster in my life than i did when i got home and immediately threw anything i thought would be remotely useful into my duffle bag. the state of my room right now? despicable.

we make it to the line a little bit after 8 pm and after an initial assessment, we were around #70-80 in line. and based on that, we decided to stay and set up camp bc we thought our chances were pretty good. (for reference: when the standby tickets were handed out on saturday morning, we were 86th and 87th in line so the number definitely fluctuated based on when people counted us and people maybe being in the bathroom during the count etc.)

everyone around us in line was super super super nice and the ppl we met thru it will def be homies for life. we went through too much together not to be bonded for life ksjdhfksdh. shout out to aisha @teafull​ specifically !!!! we really did that luv......miss u and kristina already babes xoxoxox

wednesday night was definitely the worst sleeping-wise. our set up originally was a waterproof tarp on the ground and then a yoga mat that my friend used as a bed and then our two camping chairs next to the yoga mat. for the first night, i slept in the camping chairs using one to sit in and having my legs propped up on the other one. we each had two blankets and were wearing more layers than i could ever count. we bought a shitton of feet warmers, toe warmers and hand warmers in preparation, but we didn’t really get the hang of using them until the second and third night lol. i woke up probably every hour and a half on wednesday night bc i was either uncomfortable or just so unbearably cold. every time i woke up i made sure to move my toes around bc i was so paranoid i was going to get frostbite lmao. 

thursday was better. we actually got the hang of the hand and feet warmers!! we figured out that if we were wearing shoes they didn’t really work because they were being suffocated and they needed to be in open air to work properly. they worked exponentially better if we didn't wear shoes bc they were exposed to the cold air and heated up really well so that’s a useful piece of information out of this i guess?? sdjhkds. at this point i think there were about 150 people in line. the line wrapped from the back of the nbc building on 6th ave/avenue of the americas around to w 48th street as far as the nintendo store which ends right at the today show plaza (and it got even longer over the next two days). 

one of the worst things about the whole experience would probably have to be the incessant comments from passerbys on the street. they would look at us and speak about us as if we weren’t there. they would also film or take photos of us in the LEAST discreet ways possible which was very irritating. and made me feel like a literal zoo animal on display. i heard comments like “they know the show is on SATURDAY right?”, “they’re doing all of this for that one guy from one direction?”, “do your parents know you’re doing this?”, “you’ve got to be kidding me”, “they’re going to freeze to death for not even a guaranteed ticket to see this guy” and by far the absolute worst one and most offensive thing i heard, “they’re like the modern day homeless”. i could go on a whole separate tangent about this because it makes me so FUCKING angry, but i was very close to confronting some people because of the impeccably inconsiderate, insensitive and blatantly classist comments people were making straight to our faces. additionally some people in line were being harassed by people from radio stations (or people posing as employees of radio stations) that clearly had the agenda of making it seem like fans of harry are dumb and unaware of world issues etc. you can read a more well-written and detailed account about it all on aj’s blog here. but i’ll reiterate that they definitely chose the wrong group to mess with!! the issue was dealt with in record time and i’m proud of and thankful for all the people who stood up to that asshole and put him in his place. he deserved it.

i slept the best on thursday night into friday. probably because i finally had the common sense to buy GLOVES (someone lmk why i thought it was okay to come without them ??? ) as well as buy an extra blanket at a barnes and noble nearby. one of my roommates was also kind enough to bring me her yoga mat and two extra pairs of pants to add to my layers. those two extra layers 100% made a difference. not much happened in the line on friday besides a little bit of drama between a couple of girls at the front of the line who apparently left for 10+ hours that day and (to my knowledge) weren’t kicked out of the line. i don’t want to speak too much on it because i wasn’t directly involved in any of it and only heard it by word of mouth. however, i will say i think there was definitely some suspicious activity from some people that were in line who were for example, using lawn chairs (which are specifically prohibited on the snl webpage) and abusing their break times. 

at 7 pm on friday, the line was shifted so that the beginning of it started at the doors to the nbc studio. i think they do this mainly so that the pages who hand out the standby tickets have easier access to the line? but i’m not positive. our new area was now on 6th ave, smack dab in front of the rear end of 30 roc, basically where the line had originally started. with the amount of people in line (probably around 200 or so at this point on friday) it STILL wrapped around to west 48th even after the shift. and then not even 20 minutes after they moved us was when snl interns came down with CARTS of slices of WATERMELON and CHERRIES !!!!!!! when i tell you i lost it.....

i didn’t get a good picture of the cherries but you get the idea. one of the interns giving us info about what was going on said that harry “was very specific about giving you guys cherries and watermelon” sjkdfhksdjh. and because of his previous behavior w the kiwis i was like....well he’s not playing watermelon sugar then we’re just going to have to prepare for something else. and let me tell you, i have never been more happy to be wrong in my entire LIFE. 

additionally, a couple of men, who i believe worked for snl or nbc, came around with carts of soup for all of us. they didn't confirm or deny that harry sent them (which makes me think he probably didn’t), but the two options were either chicken and sausage or split pea. yes, that’s correct. SPLIT. PEA. when they told me that, i shrieked in their faces, “YOU’VE GOT TO BE JOKING” and they just looked at me so weirdly and go, “......no? like which one do you want......” skdjhfkjsdh. they definitely thought i was absolutely off my rocker (which i certainly was, but that’s besides the point). i’m pescatarian so i chose split pea, and if there’s one thing to know about me it’s that i absolutely ABHOR peas, but i ate it anyway. i had to use all of the oyster crackers as well as some pretzel crisps that i brought with me as a snack in order to make it bearable LMAO. however, regardless of if harry sent it himself, it was a really nice gesture and i’m thankful that they were kind enough to provide us with some food. the snl staff also sent down hot chocolate and coffee and pizza over the course of the three days which was very much appreciated as well!

we were a lot less separated in our new spot on 6th ave so everyone in line was able to hang out with each other a lot more which as really fun!! a girl near us had brought cards against humanity and a group of 7 of us played for what felt like over an hour or so which was really good time. aisha won and no, i am not salty about it at all !!!!!1!1!11!11!!!! 

it was really difficult to sleep that night as well because we were on a much busier road with a lot more lights. it also felt colder and windier despite windscreens that staff put up around our barricades (see the poor quality pic of my friend and i with one of them below LOL). i think everyone was really on edge for the next morning so i’m sure that didn’t help with sleeping either. we settled down to go to bed a little past midnight and i woke up at least three times throughout the night to readjust my blankets and sleeping position or check the time.

finally saturday morning came. my friend had to shake me awake at 6:30 am bc i was finally able to doze off again, but the panic in me immediately activated and i was UP and ready to go. we still hadn't come to a full decision on if we were going to choose dress rehearsal or live yet so we were definitely on edge. we basically wanted to wait until the pages came to us and ask them how many people chose live vs. dress so that we could choose the show we were more likely to get into. however, deep inside i know that we both desperately wanted tickets to the live show. we had been keeping track of other people who were farther up in the line via their socials and seeing what they were choosing too. surprisingly (at least to me), a lot of people ahead of us decided to choose dress rehearsal rather than live. in theory, it makes sense because you’d hopefully get to see more sketches that might get cut for time as well as “spend more time” w harry. my friend and i (who is probably the biggest snl fan on the planet, no lie) would’ve been happy with either, but we both definitely wanted to witness the show that everyone else was going to watch on tv. 

when the pages got to us we found out that it was basically split 50/50. an equal amount of people decided to do live vs. dress. for either show we chose, we would’ve been in the 40s for our standby ticket number. and because of that, we decided to SEND IT and sign up for tickets for the live show (and partly because all our friends in line were also sending it w the live show too!!!). we were tickets #41 and #42 and we honestly felt really really good about it, but we didn’t want to discuss it too much or get our hopes up in the event that it didn’t end up working out. 

after that, the actual standby line experience was basically over. we IMMEDIATELY grabbed all our stuff and ubered back to our apartment. our roommates were already up and they greeted us with lights up blasting through our alexa akjhfkdfh. saturday was also conveniently my university’s homecoming weekend, and as seniors in college, my friend and i felt that it was important for us to go. i won’t go into too much detail about it bc that’s not really the point of this whole post, but my friend and i REALLY had ourselves a DAY on saturday. i actually don’t know how we pulled this off. we ended up showering for probably 40 minutes each to scrub the grime off our body and then day drank from 11:30 to maybe 5 pm........like??? whomst???? luckily, i was able to squeeze in a nap before we had to start getting ready for check in at 10 pm back at 30 roc, but i was 110% hungover when i woke up. 

we got to 30 roc at around 9:30 and were told to go to the nbc store to check in. from there they cross-checked the name on your ID and name on your ticket and then lined you up in order based on your ticket number. i don’t think i realized how many people actually ended up lining up for the standby line until we were there....people had ticket numbers all the way up #267 or something. that’s CRAZY!! after a bit of waiting (maybe half an hour?) a security guy came out and told us that they were going to starting bringing the group up into the corridor and get the process moving. he made it clear that this wasn’t a guarantee to get in. the first 40 were taken and then after about 5 minutes they sent probably the next 40 or so (including us in the front of that second group). from there, we did a security check and waited in the hallway outside the peacock lounge (anyone who’s been to a taping of snl, jimmy fallon or seth meyers might know what i’m talking about). while waiting there we saw a few people trickle in and go through a security check as well. those people included zoey deutch (!!!!!!) - who was rocking this INSANE red plaid suit combo as well as the cutest bob i’ve ever seen - as well as GLENNE aka jeff’s wife who was also serving looks™️ with her outfit. 

security then moved us farther down the hallway closer to the elevators and this is where we all started getting really nervous. i had no concept of time bc my phone was running out of battery and i turned it off bc i was paranoid if they saw it they would ask me to leave skdjhfs. it was only a matter of minutes before we knew if we were going to make it in or not. the staff had us line up two by two and kept counting and recounting us. then one of them grabbed a stack of wristbands and counted us one last time before he stopped at ticket #30 and said “congratulations all of you have a seat in the show”. the energy in the room was SO CHARGED. he was handing out their tickets and was urging them to put them on as quickly as possible and then they were ushered into the elevators. side note: there’s rumors that lorne michaels (creator and head of snl) reserves 30 seats specifically for the standby line. so that might be why he originally stopped at ticket #30.

my friend and i were holding each others hands as if our lives depended on it bc it was really make it or break it at this point. a couple minutes later he goes down the line again while counting us and stops after maybe 15-20 people behind us and again goes “congratulations, you have a seat in the show”. my legs literally almost gave out. my friend couldn’t speak to me bc she was trying so hard to hold in her sobs. i had to put on her wristband for her bc her hands were shaking so much LMAO. they quickly usher us into the elevator and as soon as the doors close all of us in the elevator start screaming and cheering bc WE MADE IT!!! but we quickly quiet down because we had been told beforehand that if we were excessively screaming during the show that we would be removed. i’m pretty sure that during dress rehearsal the staff said someone was shouting distracting comments at harry during the pauses and they were kicked out. someone else was also kicked out for drinking which......blows my mind. but anyway.

when they elevator doors open we are ushered SO FAST into the studio and into seats. i almost got split up from my friend bc the page tried to sit me in a single seat and i was like “no no no, i’m with her”. luckily they were able to sit us together on the back wall of the section that was facing front. they weren’t actual seats, but rather a large cushioned bench. most of our standby line peeps were sat in the right-most section of the studio which was sad that we couldn’t sit next to everyone, but also glad that my friend and i were sat together. 

the taping started no more than 10 minutes after we got there. it all happened so quick and i don’t think i’ve really fully processed everything that happened. i won’t talk too much about the sketches because you can all just watch them yourself but i’ll talk a little bit about some of the behind the scenes things that we witnessed. 

1. the way in which harry RAN between scenes and sketches was INSANE sdkfjhsdkjfh. right after the monologue he basically LUNGED off stage. a staff member (i think its a woman who does wigs for the snl cast) was moving so fast past the main stage after the cameras cut that from what i saw, the way harry had moved so quickly made her TRIP and harry IMMEDIATELY scooped her up basically DRAGGED her backstage skjdfhksjdhfdjkshk. it all happened so fast i still can’t tell if i imagined it happening or not but it was crazy. either way, harry was on the MOVE. 

2. one of my fav sketches by far was the lamaze class one. harry did SUCH A GOOD JOB SFKHSKJDHFSD especially w the accent????? (he actually did so many accents throughout the show i’m so proud of him). he broke a little bit during the lamaze one but as far as i remember that’s the only time he broke?? which??? that’s honestly impressive, especially for the sketches/jokes they were doing (don’t even get me started on the Sara Lee sketch....). also i wasn’t openly jealous of heidi gardiner because of how harry was holding her and caressing her but i was jealous. i will not speak more on this topic.

3. the slow/ballad version of lights up.............BREATHTAKING. there was not a sound in that studio literally everyone was so mesmerized by it. it was honestly gorgeously performed and the back up vocalists did SUCH and amazing job!! the music stage wasn’t really near us but we still had a good view of harry himself and THAT OUTFIT. it was......chefs kiss.

4. when the ballerina photos came up on the screen there was an audible GASP that ran through the audience. i shrieked. i almost grabbed the woman’s hand whom was sitting next to me and i did not know. that is all. 

5. WATERMELON SUGAR !!!!!!?!?!?!??!?!!!!!!!! y’all. have i got a story for you. when the drums hit right before the first “high” my friend and i went FERAL. we were on the edges of our seat the WHOLE song. i had such the urge to stand up and dance but we couldn’t out of fear of getting kicked out ksjhdfkjhs. the entire song we had our hands in the air grooving to it, i was flailing my limbs as MUCH AS I POSSIBLY COULD to jam out to it. additionally, if you watch the performance back you can actually see that harry’s hands are shaking and he’s fiddling with his soundbox on his back during the beginning of the song. we’re pretty sure that his earpiece wasn’t working so he was freaking out a bit. he started to dance a little, but you can kind of tell that he was a bit stiff, maybe because of nerves. then at one point, he looks to someone off stage to his right and he smiles at them and laughs a bit to himself. after that, he starts looking around at the audience up above and there are times that harry looks over to his left EXACTLY in the direction of where my friend and i were sitting/dancing. my friend who has literally ANALYZED this performance from watching it so many times claims that 2:15 is the exact moment that he looks over sees us flailing our entire bodies. and right after he looks over is when he really starts moving and grooving himself and appearing to look a bit more comfortable. while we don’t know FOR SURE if he really did see us or started dancing bc he saw us jamming out, i do want to mention that we were literally the ONLY people in the studio moving like that. we were in the back corner by the sound guy and one of the exits and sitting next to a middle aged married couple who were looking at us like we were certifiably crazy. we had a view of almost everyone in the audience because we were in the last row and as far as we could tell, we were the only ones that were jamming out as hard as we were. so take with that what you will. but from this time forward, i will go on with my life believing that my uncontrollable bodily reactions to hearing watermelon sugar LIVE perhaps made dear harold feel a little less nervous and more comfortable to do his thang :-)))))

i don’t think i’ve clapped harder for anything in my life than i did when he finished performing watermelon sugar and when he signed off the show. i teared up watching him go around to his band and all the cast members giving them the BIGGEST hugs. you can clearly tell that every single person on that cast had the best time with him this week. heidi and cecily both mentioned in their instagram posts about how agreeable he was to everything and how he has to come back to host again. it was clear that he had SUCH a fun experience and he did SO WELL!!!!! i have no doubt in my mind that he is going to host (or do double duty) again at some point in the future. so to those who were in the standby line and didn’t make it in to the taping for live or dress, don’t lose faith. there will for SURE be another opportunity to do this whole thing again. i am so so proud of everyone who was brave enough to face the elements for even a chance to get a standby ticket over these past couple days. you’re all so strong and such warriors. this is certainly not the last time he’ll be doing this. 

as grueling and testing as the whole camping out on the streets and standby ticket experience was, i would do it all over again in a heartbeat. i’m a senior in college and was privileged enough to be able to skip some classes and call out of work in order to do this. i figured that this time in my life is probably one of the only chances where i’ll be able to actually drop everything and sleep on the streets for three days to see one of my favorite people in the world. and in the end, it was all worth it. i couldn’t be prouder of harry and what an amazing job he did last night. this journey is something that i will cherish forever (and will definitely be telling my kids about in the future).

feel free to message me or drop in my inbox if you have questions or want to come chat about it all ! thanks to anyone who actually had the patience to read this whole thing. i’m so sorry for how unbearably long this was dkjfhsdkjhsdk. much love to you all. treat people with kindness :-)

[fmdjoohwanarchive]

30 days of character development: the idol edition

note: yes, also copying demi and having them all posted at once.

Introduce your muse. Are they solo or in a group? What is their position in the group? Consider this day the day for writing the basics

Nam Joohwan, 24 years old, lead vocalist & lead dancer of boy group Origin.

Talk about your muse’s childhood. Where did they grow up? Did they have any dream jobs besides being an idol? When did they realize they wanted to be an idol?

Joohwan was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but he moved to Seoul age 7 after his parents passed away. He was raised by his maternal grandparents and being an idol was never something he wanted to do up until he was approached by a scout, when he was 16.

Take us back to when your muse was either recruited or auditioned to become an idol. How did that go? How did they feel getting up on stage for recruiters? If your muse could give their younger selves advice before the audition, what would they say?

Hwan was approached by a scout after a dance competition which he had won so he went into the audition feeling pretty confident about himself. He knew he had enough skills as a dancer to succeed so he didn’t expect not to get in, for even a second. If he could give his younger self advice he’d have told himself not to audition as an idol and instead focus on becoming a choreographer instead.

Remember the trainee days? What are some of your muse’s memories of being a trainee? How long were they a trainee? Were they worried about potentially not making a debut? Talk about any challenges they might have encountered.

Joohwan wasn’t a trainee for long – after six months in the company he was put into the competition show that lead him into joining Origin so he didn’t go through a lot of experiences as a trainee. He isolated himself on purpose, not wanting to interact much with the other trainees. Hwan thought he was going to debut as a solo artist so when he was told he was joining a group he was really mad. His biggest challenge was the vocal lessons – he knew he had to get better but the company simply wasn’t offering him enough to do that.

Recall your muse’s debut. What was the song they debuted with? How did it feel performing for the first time on stage as an idol? Feel free to bring up their thoughts about the concept, choreography, lyrics, music video, or other components.

Hwan debuted with No More Dream, on June 13, 2013. He was very anxious going on stage because as much as he didn’t like being on a group, Hwan hated the possibility of failure. He wanted to be the best he could possibly be, even if he also hated the concept and the outfits. Origin’s debut in particular is something he still cringes at, not understanding how the company could possibly think that was a good concept.

What concept does your muse think they can pull off best? Cutesy? Manly? Sexy? What concept do they have a hard time pulling off? What kind of concept would they want to do at some point?

Hwan knows he could pull off anything if he tried hard but he prefers doing the sexy concept. Not that he was given a lot of chances to do so but he thinks he’s managed to become a good enough dancer to compensate for being so short. They had a hard time pulling off Origin’s original concept because he was too cutesy and tiny for it to come across as anything but embarrassing. Hwan definitely wants to try doing some sexy things next.

Which era is your muse’s favorite in their career? Why is it their favorite (think concept, promotions, choreography, etc.)? If your muse has recently debuted, talk about what they would want to do for their next comeback.

Probably the combo of I Need U &‌‌‌ Run. Not only their first win came from that it was also the music Hwan enjoyed the most. The styling was good, the concept wasn’t cringy and it was different from what people were putting out at the time. Not to mention it was before Origin exploded and life was easier then.

Talk about your muse’s strengths and weaknesses as an idol. Feel free to discuss their own personal thoughts regarding these components. Think of qualities such as vocals, dancing, visuals, acting skills, and variety show skills, for example.

His biggest strength by far is his dancing. Hwan is known for it and he works really hard to make sure he’s as good as he can be. He thinks his vocals are not on par for what is expected of him, which is why this year he started taking private lessons away from the company because he knows they weren’t doing much for him, so he’s improving on that. Hwan is aware he’s far from being a visual, especially in a group with so many good looking guys but he doesn’t care about it. He’d definitely want an opportunity to showcase his acting skills at one point and he’s been falling short on variety since he stopped caring about maintaining a certain image.

What is your muse’s fashion style? Talk about what kind of clothes they love to wear. To them, what is the essential thing to have in their closet? What is their favorite outfit?

Joohwan is minimalistic on everything except for his clothes. Most of what he owns was either gifted or thrifted because he refuses to buy clothes from stores – ironic for someone who has a fashion line – but he likes playing with colors and with silhouettes. He doesn’t see a point in being that type of person who wears a white t-shirt and jeans and call it a day. Even with the most simple of clothes he tries to add a nice detail like a collar or jewelry. The most essential piece for him is a good pair of boots. His favorite outfit is this one https://66.media.tumblr.com/221127c99a0b23f7210baf3530308760/tumblr_pp3z8wzQOy1xrwkx4o5_250.png.

Talk about your muse’s three closest friends. How did they meet? How long have they known each other? What do they love most about their friends?

Joohwan’s three closest friends are Andy, Seyeon and Joosung. Joohwan is definitely not one to have a lot of friends, not outside of his group anyway so it’s no surprise one of them is a member of Origin. Andy he met at backstage at a music show when Andy gave him a sandwich with his number on it, back in August 2018, and now they are in a relationship. Seyeon he met a year or so before Origin debuted, which was around the same time he met Joosung. The thing he loves the most about Andy is his resilience, about Seyeon is how caring he is and Joosung is his innocence – which is also something he hates about Sung.

Has your muse had any scandals? How have these scandals affected your muse as an idol or as a person? If your muse has not had any scandals, talk about their views on scandals. Is all publicity good publicity?

Hwan hasn’t had any major scandals besides a picture where he was seen smoking. It didn’t affect him a lot especially because most people expected him to be a smoker anyway. He thinks scandals are inevitable because of the image they force onto idols. He doesn’t think it lower anyone to have a scandal but he also gets mad at how people react to scandals by throwing so much hate on celebrities. All publicity is some type of publicity and ultimately it can make or break you.

If your muse is in a group, what are the fun things about promoting with other members? What do they love about being in a group? What do they love about their members? If your muse is a solo artist, what are their thoughts on promoting alone? What do they love about being solo?

Joohwan wasn’t too excited about being in a group at first but now he loves when he promotes with Origin. Even if they don’t do the usual idol promotion rounds, the boys make dealing with the being worldwide famous thing slightly more bearable. Lately they’ve been the only people who manage to get a smile out of him. Hwan used to hate how childish his members can be but now it’s something he treasures a lot.

For the muses in a group, what are the challenges of being one of several people in a group? Have there been any troubles that have come along with being in a group environment and times they wish they were alone? For the solo artist muses, have you ever felt lonely promoting alone? Do you ever wish that you were in a group instead?

Hwan originally wanted all the attention for himself. He didn’t like the idea of having to share a stage with six other boys who he knew would end up stealing his spotlight and because of that he was… difficult, to say the least. Picking stupid fights, not wanting to accept certain decisions, most definitely making their leader’s, Junsu, life a nightmare. By now, he’s grown out of it and he also knows how it feels like to promote by himself. When he was promoting his solo album, he inevitably called and texted all his members to seek their reassurance and support.

If your muse is in a group, how do you think they would have fared had they had a solo career instead? What kind of concept would they have? If your muse is a solo artist, how do you think they would have fared if they were in an idol group? What position of the group do you think they would have?

Joohwan would’ve probably done okay with a solo career, maybe. He can play the game and he knows how to adapt but I doubt he’d have been allowed to release the type of music he can release as a soloist now with the group to back him because he’d be pushed to be a ballad singer for the success, for sure. Since he was still a teenager, he’d have given some sort of cutesy, sweet concept at first and then maybe would’ve been allowed to do slightly more mature things with time, but only maybe and if he didn’t end up losing his contract because he wasn’t famous enough.

Who does your muse look up to in the industry? Why do they look up to this person?

Honestly, no one. If there was one thing being a religious person taught him was to not have idols and to not put people on a pedestal. He’d prefer to look up to himself, to picture where he can be in ten years if he works hard and focus on getting to that point.

If your muse could do a special stage with another artist or idol group, who would it be and why? What song would they perform?

Joohwan would love to do a Troublemaker stage with Risol because she’s gorgeous and he’s a weak bisexual.

How would your muse fare in a variety show? If your muse could appear on any variety show, which variety would it be and why? If you don’t have a lot of knowledge of variety shows, talk about what kind of variety show they would go on.

It’d depend a lot on whether he cares about it or not. He did participate on Hit the Stage and did well because it was a show about doing what he likes but a variety show…‌ It’d probably have to be something like Running Man, so his competitive side can come out and he can be super entertaining without having to try hard. These days Hwan tends to stick to the sidelines during variety shows, especially because his members are loud enough on their own without needing his input.

What entertainment agency is your muse a part of? What do they think of other groups and artists that are in the same agency as them? Which labelmates do they get along with the most, excluding group members?

Gold Star Nation. Hwan likes the groups and artists, he thinks they are fairly diverse and he actually tries to follow the things they put out. Outside of his group he’s probably closest to Joosung from‌‌‌ Element and Deity from‌ Femme Fatale, since they promoted Retro Future together. He respects his sunbaes and he sees the younger labelmates, especially the Femme Fatale girls and Fuse’s Alice, as his younger sisters and he’s inevitably super protective of them.

Is there anything besides idol activities that your muse would want to do? Would they want to take their hand at hosting a variety show or act in a television show or drama? Would they want to try out modeling or a musical? If they have done things such as these, talk about their thoughts toward these things.

Joohwan has been venturing on fashion for a while now and since he got to release his line he wants to work more and more in that industry. It’s a shitty one, just as much as the idol industry but it’s a creative thing that Hwan really enjoys. He gets to do something that matches his tastes and interests. He’d like to participate in a fashion variety show maybe, one day.

If your muse was able to be a part of a supergroup that comprised of current idols, who would they want to be in the same group and why? What kind of concept would this group have? How do you think the group would do in terms of popularity?

Guanyu, Yul, Taehyun and Joosung would be in the group because Hwan would want to have a group with only people who can really dance and put on a performance. Anything a member of Knight and a member of Origin touch would end up being successful but he doubts it’d be something that would touch the general public because it would be very niche.

How does your muse feel about their fans? How do they feel about sasaeng fans? How would they handle a situation in which they were faced with obsessive fans that followed them or invaded their privacy? If they’ve had problems with sasaeng fans before, how did they feel about it?

Joohwan definitely doesn’t like his fans. He knows there are good ones, that respect their limits and don’t try to make his life a living hell but they are completely taken over by all the ones who have no respect for him as a human being who exists outside of the idol realm. He has dealt with sasaeng fans before, mostly with them calling his number all of the time, which is why he ends up keeping more than one phone at a time. There was one who followed him around for a day and Hwan didn’t hesitate to call the police, he’d definitely do it again. He feels it’s disrespectful and that it crosses too many lines.

Talk about your muse’s goals that they have for their group or themselves if they are a solo artist. Where would they want to promote if given the chance? Do they want to do a solo album at one point? This can be any sort of professional goal.

If you ask Hwan on a good day, he’s going to say what he wants the most for Origin is a break. They are overworked and stressed, especially with having to promote worldwide and Hwan thinks they deserve to have some time off. If anything the only thing Hwan wants for Origin that they still don’t have is a Grammy. He’s already released a solo album and he’d very much like an opportunity to release another.

What is your muse’s thoughts on being an idol and dating? Are they against dating? Have they ever been in a relationship after debuting? If so, talk about the challenges that have come along with dating. If they aren’t dating, would they want to date?

Dating is inevitable because idols are human beings, basically. Hwan has been in two relationships after debuting and he’s currently in one, that has a double challenge of it being with a man and thus an even bigger potential scandal. He thinks he should be allowed to have a personal life and that it’s ridiculous how often people want to stop idols from having relationships. Still, currently the distance is a bigger issue than people being nosy.

Who is your muse’s ideal type? Why is this person their ideal type?

As lame as it may sound, his boyfriend is his ideal type. He has the looks of a twink but he’s anything but and he gives Hwan and his smart mouth a run for his money. He likes that Andy keeps him on his toes, he wouldn’t want a relationship with someone who’s passive towards him.

What does your muse want to be remembered for in the idol world? Do they want to be remembered for their vocal prowess? Their image? Their dancing skills? Their scandals?

Hwan definitely wants to be remembered for his dancing skills.‌ He doesn’t care as much about anything else.

Does your muse ever regret becoming an idol? Do they ever think about what they would be doing instead if they lived a normal life? If they could go back in time, would they do everything all over again? Or would they end up doing something else?

Every single day but not because of the work part and more because of how people deal with him. He doesn’t accept the lack of privacy and the way people feel entitled to his life the way they do so if he could be an idol without that Hwan would willingly do it. If he could go back in time, he’d prefer going on a different artistic route, either working as a choreographer or a dance teacher. He’d have been happy and probably struggle less then.

After working hard on promotions, your muse is given the chance to take a two week vacation anywhere in the world at any time they want, with nobody bothering them. Where would they go and when? Why would they want to take their vacation there? If they had the opportunity to bring three other people, who would they bring?

Thailand, probably. Or Indonesia.‌‌ Somewhere with gorgeous beaches and good food, where he could disappear for a bit and not be as bothered. Hwan travels around a lot but he doesn’t get to know those places as much as he wanted to, so he’d like to go to somewhere close but removed enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about people ruining it. He’d truly only really wanna take Andy, especially because the other two people he’d take – Seyeon and Sung – don’t like Andy anyway.

Talk about your muse’s low point in life. Why was this a low point in their life? What kind of challenges did they face and how did they feel about this? Were they able to overcome it? If it is still ongoing, are they working on overcoming these challenges?

The lowest point in Hwan’s life was his parents’ murder, for sure. It’s something that has repercussions to this day mostly due to how much he repressed the memories and refused to face what happened and try to move on. Hwan pretends he has moved on but really he hasn’t – he just buried shit inside and is waiting for the day it’s going to burst. Not even his therapist of years can get a lot of words out of him about it.

Talk about your muse’s most meaningful moment as an idol. This is what they feel so far is the highest point in their life and where they’ve never been happier. Recall the memory and describe it; what happened and how did they feel?

Origin’s first daesang. Even though he wasn’t all that happy about being in the group at first, he grew into it and he knows only six other people in the world know how much they worked to get to the point where they have. Hearing their names being called, receiving that daesang, felt very much like a recognition for their hardwork, felt like something they deserved and worked for. Hwan cried that day, in front of cameras and everything, because he was both overjoyed as well as relieved that Origin had finally made it.

Think about your muse’s life down the road. Where would they be and what would they be doing? Would they still be in the entertainment industry? Would they settle down and have a family?

Things are already pretty much settled. For the next few years he has Origin and his solo career to focus on but as soon as both him and Andy can, they are leaving the country and moving to New Zealand so they can have their farm, with all the animals they like and also so they can get married and adopt a couple of kids. It’d be an official goodbye to the entertainment industry.

[qonqr]

When a Game becomes Family

Today, like any normal day, I sit alone in my home office. Being a solo indie game developer means that my colleagues are my players. They are the people I work with, the people in my brainstorm circle, those with whom I share successes, and the audience of my rants about the daily frustrations of building software.

Today I am feeling the emptiness of one less person in my virtual office.  Over the weekend, we lost TXMotley to the injuries he suffered in a motorcycle accident last week. 

This isn’t the first time we have lost a well-known QONQR player. Our little community has suffered the loss of others over the years. Through those times we grieved together and supported each other in various ways.  However, this was the first time the loss has touched me so closely.  For the past two years, I chatted with TXMotley nearly every day.  When I shared that I had gotten a task complete, he was often the first to like my post.   He was eager to test beta builds.  He gave direct and often brutal feedback on aspects of the game and new features. His input was passionate, and it was obvious how much he loved QONQR and the people who played it.  His willingness to invest his time and money in QONQR was as much about supporting something he enjoyed, as it was about investing in me, and my dream to build a business. TXMotley was interested in me as a person, how things were going and how I was doing.  He made a difference in my life.

I never met TXMotley.  If I had passed him on the street, I would have never known. However, it is obvious to me, that doesn’t matter in a community such as QONQR.  TXMotley was my friend. We talked about being self-employed, farming, football, construction, and our passion for power tools. How can you know so much about someone you have never met?

But… that is what QONQR is for many of us.  QONQR is our “other family.”  We share our struggles and triumphs with the people we have grown to know over the years. People whose reputation of us is based on what we’ve said and shared in the chats, and nothing more. QONQR is often a safe place for people to share their worries to a pseudo-anonymous group of friends. I’ve often been told, QONQR is the place some people can discuss things they can’t share with friends and family. Sometimes it’s the silly things only QONQR people “get”. Other times, the topic is more serious, and we need advice before sharing with our friends and family face to face.

There are so many things I feel are insufficient with QONQR. The list of game features I want to change or add is a mile long. To me, despite all the complexity, the game often feels incomplete and light. There is always so much more I want to do. I suppose that isn’t uncommon. We are all our own worst critics. We always want the stuff we do to be better.  I often look at the things in QONQR that frustrate both you and me, and think I should change the description in the App Store to, “You won’t like this game. We know it could be better.”

For you, the people reading this blog, you probably don’t like QONQR, you love it.  Very few people are in the middle ground.  However, the reason you love it is probably not just the game itself, but more about the people who play it.

It is an interesting phenomenon that communities gather around ideas or experiences, and while the idea or experience can be important, it is the personal relationships that become the most valuable part of being a member.  The community is the glue. The community keeps us coming back, holds us up, and keeps us going.

In my last blog post I talked about my desire to spend more time on our community. I struggle weekly with the knowledge that there are so many things I’d like to do with the game mechanics, while understanding it is the connection between our players that provides the most value in the experience. Most of the new players who quit QONQR, never made a connection to the community. We need to change that.  It is on the very long list of things to make QONQR better. Hopefully someday, we’ll be able to expose the real value of QONQR to new players sooner.

Years ago, after the loss of another well known player, we designed an in-game memorial.  We put in the time and effort to define what it would mean to create a memorial. How to create something meaningful, but not disruptive or confusing to people who never met the deceased, or had joined the game long after their death. It was a topic of discussion for weeks among my staff. 

Last weekend, going through the old forums, I found that one of our most active threads in the forums was one where people were passing on their condolences and sharing stories for MrBizzy, the first high profile QONQR player who unexpectedly passed away many years ago. It reminded me that we had created memorial plans. I decided this might be a smallish project I could take on while wrapping up the “idle time” during our server migration. Two days later, I heard about TXMotley’s accident. There was little doubt this was what I should be working on.  It may be the first time I worked so hard on a feature I hoped I wouldn’t need.

In the next app update (v3.2), you will be able to launch a salute as a tribute under the profile of deceased players. Your bots will not enter a zone, but will be memorialized on a special page for that player, on the web portal.  In the past, players have asked for a memorial zone, or a forced ceasefire. I think this feature is a good compromise. It is not a zone, and won’t confuse new players with an unusual zone that need explanation in the game. It gives players an outlet to launch their scope, in a meaningful way. In effect, the “lost launches” create a ceasefire for those that expend their bots in the memorial, rather than attacking on the map.

Memorials for players we have already lost or may lose in the future will be created by me, manually.  It is sad to think about it, but to reduce the risk of abuse, the management of memorials will be tight. Unfortunately, we had an incident in the past where a player faked their death in the game for monetary gain. It is frustrating that we must watch for such behavior, but we will. Email support if you have more questions.

TXMotley was a registered organ donor. His death will be a lifesaving gift for several people. Please consider being an organ donor.  Please donate blood. Signup to be a bone marrow donor at BeTheMatch.com. My marrow donation was easy and pain-free.  Let TXMotley set the example of how we can save the life of another. Register, volunteer, and donate today.

I wish comfort and peace for the friends and family that TXMotley left behind. Through teary eyes I smile to think that he is looking down on me right now with a smirk saying, “I finally got Silver to build a new feature.”

-Scott (aka Silver)

[madd-information]

Aren't all of the people saying that they love their daydreams and there's nothing bad about them just immersive daydreamers?

Some of them may be.  But before I answer; HERE is the MD diagnostic criteria. Just so we’re all on the same page. I also want to note the following is my personal opinions.  Please feel free to add your own in the comments or reblogs. 

Maladaptive daydreamers ARE Immersive daydreamers, it’s a trait we tend to be born with and for some of us it ends up becoming maladaptive. People are going to fall all along that continuum. But for the sake of making this post more simple I’m going to talk about them like they are different groups.

Immersive daydreamers share many of the same life experiences with MDers. MDers love their daydreams just as much as IDers do, MDers have the ‘mal’, not the fantasy.  IDers also know that they have done this weird thing for a long time and that they might not be like other people. Finding a community that they have so much is common with is just as poignant a moment for them as it is for us.  

When first discovering MD it can be easy to think that it’s about the daydreaming when what really defines it is the associated stress. If they are “just” immersive daydreamers they may simply have not discovered this yet.  Even if they have it’s a confusing time that forces them reevaluate their behavior, well, I do get distracted in school sometimes so maybe it IS MD?  To be suddenly told “no, you’re not one of us” is traumatic and they might tend to avoid facing that. 

MD can also manifest in many different ways, and for many different reasons. Some of these people may be straight up MDers but have bigger problems.  If your daydreaming, no matter how destructive, is the only thing keeping you alive you might choose to engage with it and talk about it as a much more positive influence until such a time as you have addressed the more serious issues.

There is also a matter of outlook; for example there may be no denying that persons Xxxx and Yyy have ASD, but person Xxxx doesn’t view themselves as disorders like person Yyy might, though they can both agree on what ASD is and how it impacts how they live in the world. 

In the same vein treating MD is also very varied, and since there is no official treatment protocol for MD it often falls on the individual to figure out what works for them. Many may feel that openly discussing their plots and characters or channeling their daydreams into creative endeavors is a solid way forward; though this may give the impression that they are not distressed by their daydreaming behavior. 

Some of them may actually be neither.  Rich fantasy is a symptom of several disorders.  So it comes as no surprise they might be sharing different experiences here, thinking that they are MDers, when in fact they have not yet discovered their condition. I want to encourage everyone, at some point, to at least consider speaking with some kind of therapist or mental health professional.  If you let your journey end here you may be in danger of overlooking other causes and missing out on effective treatment.

MD is new, and there are many gaps in what we know about it.  The communities right now are a bit of a jumble of people trying to figure themselves out.  I’ve no doubt that not all of them are MDers, but who is the one treating themselves with creativity and who is the suicidal one, and who has a different disorder that mimics MD, who’s in denial and who is the IDer that just hasn’t figured out the difference yet?  I don’t know. They probably don’t even know themselves.

I think all we can do is educate people when we see questions, do our best to combat misinformation, spread awareness and resources and, maybe most importantly, support one another as we figure out what Hell is going on, even if it turns out that person was in the “wrong” community for a little while.