#okay but that tumblr pro video was actually kind of inspirational

[clumsyclifford]

bella I would love a directors cut on literally any of the rilex you’ve written, but specifically it’s always her, and you, and me, or for these days you’ve been stuck in my brain 💙

OHHHHHH those are some CHOICESSSSSS lucy. fuck yeah. let’s get into it. ill link them both here but we’ll take em one at a time

it’s always her, and me, you

these days you’ve been stuck in my brain

here’s a cut for convenience cos i KNOW i’m gonna go long here.

okay! let’s start with the rilisex fic.

it’s always her, and me, and you

so like it says in the ao3 notes, this fic came from realizing just how frequently rian and alex kiss each other like, all the time? just? casually? for funsies? this was another one of those situations like i mentioned where the hook aka first line (“Rian's no expert, but he doesn't think normal friends kiss this much.”) just appeared in my head and i was like heyyy that’s a GOOD first line. i have to build from that line. that’s the hook, that’s the summary, that’s the core. 

something i discovered upon searching through the editing history of the doc: i had originally sort of intended to go a direction with this where in some other circumstance, rian would see alex giving jack a super casual friendly kiss and he’d get all sad/jealous and be like sure why SHOULDNT alex kiss jack after all its just a thing he does with his FRIENDS. but the fic ended up going a different way and honestly? im glad. i like this way better.

the role of singin in the rain in this fic actually has a HILARIOUS backstory because the night i originally wrote that conversation in the tour bus kitchen, i went into the club and said the following

and then. the next day. rian streamed with ricky, and i asked if he’d ever seen singin in the rain, and he ANSWERED ME and said he hadn’t. so first of all i had already written the scene and i then had to rewrite it to make it so rian wouldn’t have seen it but also!!! i literally asked rian fucking dawson if he’d seen a movie for the sole reason of using that information for fanfiction!!!! and he provided me with the information i needed!!!! whole thing is just fucking hysterical to me. ANYWAY.

ANYWAY, the other reason why sitr has such a big role in the fic is because megs and i watched the movie together while i was in the middle of working on the fic, so it was extremely fresh in my mind. in fact i can probably show you this: i had this comment left for myself when i was kind of trying to figure out if i could make a real metaphor of sorts with the sitr ot3 and the Big Three of this fic. some of this ended up in rian’s wild musings in the hotel scene but i did conclude that it wouldn’t really have worked and that was definitely true but anyway. fuck it, director’s cut, here’s the kind of shit i leave for myself to refer to

so that’s part of the reason why it became such a puzzle piece of this fic, but real talk, it’s also just because i love singin in the rain it’s one of my favorite movies lmao

briefly gonna also touch on lisa and why she’s in this fic because i realize that rian/alex/lisa is an interesting approach to rilex! first of all, i love lisa. i love alex and lisa. and it occurred to me that there was really no reason to split lisex up just to make rilex happen. plus there’s this tweet that really just pushed me over the edge of being like yeah, rilisex is extremely plausible. so that’s that on that.

as for the scene in the hotel room while they’re watching sitr, there is a small piece of that scene - from when alex starts kissing rian’s shoulders etc to “it would defy the laws of nature not to” - that i actually wrote before anything else in that scene. that small piece got stretched out and edited quite a bit from how it started but it did function as a sort of foundation around which i built the rest of the scene, because that small section sort of ~came to me~ absolutely out of nowhere, and i really liked the Vibe it had and i wanted to include it. i THINK that was the only piece of this fic that i wrote Out Of Order - for the most part this was written chronologically.

ALSO!!! omg this is exciting, this fic actually has a deleted scene!!!!!! i hate cutting scenes but i also hate having scenes that are less than 1k and this one didn’t really contribute much to the fic. i can probably share it here right? sure why not ! hopefully you can read this. it originally took place after the scene where alex and rian call lisa for the first time. the question of “what gets left into interview videos and what gets cut” is also just interesting to me as a (fic) concept in general so...eyes emoji, but here’s my mini-exploration that i cut from the original fic. enjoy lol it’s silly <3

oh! also one more thing!! the very final scene was included for two reasons. the first reason being that when i write getting-together fics, i really prefer to add on a scene After they Get Together because i love to write domestic established relationship stuff and i think that’s a satisfying reward for a reader who’s just slogged through all the mutual pining and bullshit to get the characters together. but the OTHER reason is that i got an anon (here it is!) and i read that ask and was immediately like well shit. now i have to fucking include this. for the anon and for myself. so you can thank that anon for that last scene. (also i wanted to include merrikat especially since i had to cut their little moment in the interview scene above.)

so....................whew. i think i’ve bled that fic dry. holy shit that’s a lot of Stuff. OKAY! let’s move on.

~

these days you’ve been stuck in my brain

so!!! THIS fic was the breakthrough after (what felt like) a long bout of writer’s block. long for me was maybe two weeks, but i am the kind of person who is always writing, and two weeks was a long time to go with little to no inspiration/motivation to write anything. i had also been in a weird narrative headspace because i’d been binge-watching disney shows (jessie > austin and ally > girl meets world) and i don’t know how well i can explain this but the way those shows are written is a lot snappier and cares way less for realistic and consistent character development or plots or relationships, and so i was stuck between caring a lot about including those things in my fics but also being unable to conceptualize them in writing because my brain was in Disney Writing Mode. does that make sense? this is rhetorical so let’s go with yes. so anyway. i was in a slump

actually what i ended up doing was basically googling something like “au prompts tumblr” or something and just scrolling through posts. i saw something about soulmate telepathy and i actually tried to write something totally different before i wrote this one, but the first attempt was a different concept and then the direction i took it was like......it wasn’t quite right and i realized that i was kind of writing dark disney style? there is really no way for me to explain what i mean by that because it seems really obvious to me but that’s just because i’m inside my own head so just take my word. 

anyway. attempt #1 of soulmate telepathy rilex went poorly, and this fic was attempt #2. i kinda took the soulmate telepathy thing and changed it as i saw fit and i also went back to skim helen’s telepathy fic because obviously she’s the pro and then i tried not to steal her ideas. and as i was writing it i kinda realized i was doing the whole quirky funny best friend character with jack and also doing the whole “somehow this not-very-dramatic situation with teenagers is treated as The Most Dramatic Thing Ever and that’s totally normal and nobody finds it strange” disney trope with rian and alex being soulmates and i was like (deep sigh) i have to accept that no matter how much i try to fight this, this fic is going to be tainted with disney. and that’s life

on top of that i will add that the real-life rilex were extremely inspiring during the two-day period during which i wrote this fic, because that was when the once in a lifetime video came out and in the brief pre-video livestream rilex were Beyond Married and that definitely helped in the writing of fic rilex!

hmmmm what can i tell you about this fic itself.................honestly, i don’t think there’s much to tell! rian is a band kid because in real life rian was a band kid and he’s staff manager at rita’s just like he was in real life. there is truthfully not a lot to unpack here that i can think of!

oh here’s something i guess: rian and alex go on a date in this fic! that is because watching So Much Disney made me realize that i often forget the fact that people just. go on dates. sometimes. look i clearly do not have an active romantic life but i also really liked the idea of alex and rian going on a date despite not knowing if they’d be soulmates or not and liking each other organically just by getting to know each other, rather than being victim to the whole soulmate thing. like i wanted them to build a connection so that they would want to be soulmates. and then the audience would want that for them too. stakes!! very important.

i can tell you i had a mild crisis over the title of the fic because i am not a fan of the word brain and i didnt wanna use that sticky lyric for the title when it had a word i hated but it was objectively a much better title option than the other one i had, which was “sticky just like the song in my head” but i obviously decided on the former and it has not upset me nearly as much as i expected it to so that was the right decision imo

so! i think that’s all on that! sorry (?) that it got so long although then again i don’t know what’s to be expected in a director’s cut for two long fics but thank you for asking me about these, i love them both so very much rilex is so supremely underrated but so very important

[badgersighted]

PS5 Game Reveal Thoughts

Below the cut I’m gonna write a brief paragraph or sentence or whatever about each of the 25ish games that were revealed last night at the PS5 thing.

Don’t have much to say about this one; I never played GTAV, the series has never really been my thing, but I think it came out in 2013ish? I think the time has been and gone for re-releases and they should be working on the next game. Too much more and this’ll quickly become the new Skyrim/Todd Howard meme.

Okay so I never played Spiderman, but I did watch the cutscenes because I never thought I’d go out and buy it (before I later got it free with a ps4 pro). This is one of those games where, like, I’m not invested but I can both see the appeal and am happy for those who were waiting on it.

I think there’s diminishing returns on realistic racing games. Stuff was coming out on current gen that looked near enough realistic, so it gets excessively hard to tell the difference.

The first one that caught my eye. Despite the last entry being a bastardized, hollow remake that encapsulated everything the original stood against while missing two thirds of the content, R&C has a place in my heart and I hope they can actually get back to standard now they don’t have to work around a terrible movie.

My hot take here is that Ratchet has a wrench and his name is Ratchet. Girl Ratchet has a hammer, ergo her name is Chisel or something. I just wonder if this is a look at the future and Ratchet’s kid, or if it’s an alternate, gender-flipped dimension. In which case Clank would probably be the same because he’s a robot, but I fear for the possibility of Captain Qwark.

Legitimately can’t remember a gosh darned thing about this one. 

I feel like the trailer proved that Stray works better as a short film than a game, but I guess we never saw any gameplay to prove that assumption. I like the art direction and you get to be a little kitty cat.

Ellen Degeneres goes to space and the mind fucky wucky happens. I got some Prometheus vibes for this, but the only thing that really left a mark was the aforementioned Ellen jokes we were making on discord.

Fuckin love me some Littlebigplanet, so this was a welcome surprise. Odd to see that they’re not implementing a create mode (as far as we know) but I can see how impossible it is to both make a fully 3d create mode (see: LittleBigPlanetKarting) and also go up against Dreams which was made by Sackboy’s original home studio.

I have a soft spot for LittleBigPlanet’s story modes, though, especially the second game’s - so this will be a welcome addition for me. I just hope they reference the previous stories and don’t act like a plot is something new to the series.

This game feels born out of the hangover of games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, leaving it feeling at least one year outdated. But if it’s your sort of thing, more power to you.

So Kena was another of the more subdued, new IPs that I think a lot of people will have forgotten but I actually quite liked the look of it, or at least some aspects. I’ll always have a soft spot for ‘young girl with bow and arrow’ games but I also liked the art direction and the little puff ball fellas, as well as the bad guy seeming like a legitimate threat in a world that tricks you into thinking it’s all cute. The contrast serves the narrative in that regard.

So following a game I’m interested in is a game I could not be less interested in. Horrendous character design, pseudo-deep narrative that are a dime a dozen for indie tumblr bait visual novels. The logo and the fact they’re [barely recognisable as] dinosaurs presumably suggests this will end in a meteor destroying everything and, frankly, I have never rooted for an inanimate rock more in my life.

This 2d platformer took itself very seriously. I never understood Oddworld nor saw the appeal because its protagonist is very... not nice to look at. But more power to those who wanted a new Oddworld game.

I found this one kind of interesting, then the First Person gameplay kicked in and that very quickly faded. It’s a shame, really; the visuals were really good.

All I got from this is that it’s called Jeff, and it’s a low concept blend of the movie Gravity and Katamari. It’s one of those deep, arty games I’m just honestly too dumb to appreciate. Or maybe it’s false depth.

This is a weird one. I find it intriguing how a game can have so much going on on-screen, and yet none of it stand out. It really does feel like this game pulled inspiration from several places, but failed to embellish or add any value on top of it.

This is another one of those arty games I’m too thick to understand. I’d say it has slight hints of Journey in it, but I never played that so I can’t be certain.

Hitman reminds me of the Community Paul Rudd quote: “I see the appeal, and I wouldn’t take it away from anyone, but I’d also never stand in line for it.”

As much as a corporate Mario Odyssey knockoff as this game may seem, I’m honestly interested as I’m gagging for any Odyssey-adjacent content in my life. It looks like it could be mindless fun, at the very least.

Like JEFF and Solar Ash before it, I don’t know what this game is and I don’t think the trailer did enough to make me want to bother finding out. I liked the big cat dude, though.

Would the world suffer if it didn’t have the same set of games reskinned and rereleased each year, with a single number in the title changed? I never understood the appeal of sportsball games. Is it for the people too unhealthy or too lazy to actually play a sport? Why do they have to make one every year when there’s nothing new? It’s not like the sport has fundamentally changed in a year’s time.

So they had me in the first half expecting a Crash game reveal, I’ll be honest. 

But this is, oddly enough, the game I find most interesting of everything we saw here. I have no idea what the fuck it is, but I’m determined to believe there’s hidden meaning - that it’s a satire on Pokemon, that it’s a commentary on the phrase ‘you are what you eat’, that it’s a game that lulls you into a false sense of security and drops you in a horror game like Doki Doki Literature Club. Prove me right, Bugsnax.

I never played the original Demon’s Souls, so I can’t say much on the remake. I don’t even know if Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls are part of the same series.

Are we going to ignore that, fundamentally, this game’s unique selling point is that it has checkpoints?

Full transparency here, I had this game pegged as a Resident Evil game as soon as there was an old man in the trailer, and I’ve never played a Resident Evil game. I just associate old men in video games with horror, and Resident Evil is one of the first horror games that come to mind.

Looks like someone saw Death Stranding and thought “I can do that, too!” 

Yeah, well, you can’t.

Given the hype I saw surrounding this game, I feel like I should probably play the first one. I’m just concerned it might not be my sort of thing. It’s one of those things I want to like, but I’m not sure I want to put my money where my mouth is before being sure - so we’re stuck in stalemate. 

[dyingunknown-blog]

BEGINNINGS + GENDER

As said in the introduction: this is a selfish blog where I rant about myself and my feelings. Here goes my first ramble. Within this ramble contains bits of: gender, femininity,  sexuality and eating disorders. Y’know, the usual mix of edgy Tumblr content. I am posting this in celebration of Pride Month (!!! YAY!!! I HONESTLY LOVE PRIDE MONTH) but also because I’ve had this build up in my heart for too long. 

A NOTE BEFORE I BEGIN...

I know you (reader) cannot hear me doing this, so imagine me (author) taking a deep breath, filling my semi spacious lungs, and releasing all that pent up air with a heavy sigh. 

Here we fucking go. Here’s to tip of the iceberg, from 4 years of pent up gay shit to recent moments of gentle gender dysmorphia. Do not expect my writing to be fully coherent, nor written in the best grammar. I am writing for my own therapeutic needs, because I gotta get some of this energy released and I have nowhere else to dump this. This piece is a full on rant, as in I literally wrote this angrily tapping away at 2-4 am. However, I’d like to mention that I mean no offence to any parties, and simply want to vent out some of the deep thoughts I’ve been pacing around for the past few years. Feel free to send me a message regarding your personal feelings, or to just chat. I’m always here as a friend and listener <3 

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN...

I think I owe myself and you (reader) an explanation on where things began to really start. The main “spark” that got me going and prompted me to start this blog was when I found myself unable to stop playing songs by Dorian Electra. Actually-- to be honest-- it was the music videos that really got me going. The glorious explosion of just “QUEER” screaming and banging its head at my 13 inch Mac Book Pro got me extremely inspired to actually do something about the gross reactions of confusion that were occurring in my brain and body. As Dorian Electra put it, “You know I’m not straight, but I’m gonna give it straight to you.” So here’s my best shot at “giving it straight.” 

By the way... I’m from a fairly traditional family with high hopes for me, so the most freedom I can really grasp onto is starting an anonymous Tumblr blog at 2 am laying naked with just my underwear on. 

PERSONAL TOPIC 1: GENDER...

So here’s the thing, I stick to my biological birth gender like it’s my lifeline-- my comfort zone-- I guess, if anything. I personally feel like gender and sexuality have their own little symbiotic (or perhaps parasitic???) relationship, where one’s gender impacts their sexuality-- but I can also accept that my understanding is probably not politically correct. I can say, however, with a heavy heart: 

I am utterly fucked when I think about my gender and sexuality. 

I’ll take it easy first and rope down my feelings towards my gender and its definition. I jokingly scream in the halls that gender is a social construct, but let’s be honest-- is it not?  Other than our dongle-longs and hoochie-has, what makes a woman different from a man? I mean maybe it is just the sausage and the grapefruit, but I’d like to argue that... Just kidding, the more I think about it the more I fall into a rabbit hole where I can’t figure out what a male is and what a female is. I mean what are they? Is it based off of the definition I provide for myself, or what society conveniently slams into my face? Is the LGBTQ+ community the people who get to decide or is it the Westboro Baptist Church??? 

Note: these are not a rhetorical question, please answer this to your opinion because I’m in desperate need of some kind of direction beyond biology. I accept all ideologies and concepts. I’m just hella confused. 

Ehem.

Anyways, my own battle with gender goes beyond not knowing where the “line” is, or if it even exists (again, I’m still not sure if this is a personal question or something based on society...) It also goes into where I stand on this polarised scale. See-- I have a bean, a hole, and melons. Alas, in slightly more proper terms, I have a clitoris, vagina and breasts. So what does that mean for me? Am I automatically a woman? For the first 17 years of my life, I would respond to that question with a VERY confident nod. Pink was once my favourite colour, I like boys, dresses, cute animals and romcoms. My physical body only went to assure what I already knew. Now? I’m not so sure. As it is more acceptable nowadays to be “queer,” I’ve slid into the an identity crisis where I realise I’ve never revelled in the fact that I had tiddies, nor felt comfortable about having a coochie. I used to blame my confusion regarding my comfort in my biological gender on the growing queer influences in my life-- after all, everyone wants to be special and sometimes being apart of the LGBTQ+ community is the best way to stand out, especially when it’s being shoved in your face with media. Everyone who comes out of the closet is faced with incredible amounts of love and attention, and my younger self thought “maybe I should get on the boat” hence, labelling myself as bisexual for the longest time without truly feeling like I am (until in recent years.)  I blamed my confusion in identity and sexuality on the attention whore who lived inside of my heart. My feelings were only justified as true this year, when I found myself staring at myself in the mirror and couldn’t help but to feel unhappy with what I presented myself with. Undies clad with a slightly cropped black muscle tank, I could see the linings of a “V” line on my lower abdomen and felt kinda hot about it. I did the annoying fuckboy pose (you know, the one where the guy is biting his shirt to reveal his oh-so-humble six pack) and found it... kinda fun? I did have a 36D underboob flail around, but my focus was more on my bottom half, with my Victoria Secret blue lace underwear and masculine illusion.  It wasn’t like a grand glorious moment, nor was it like I was the tomboy of the house and everyone just “knew” and I only had to convince myself. Instead, it was an anti-climatic moment where I realised “fuck, I have another problem on my hands that I can’t ignore anymore.” 

I don’t know if I truly identify as female or male. Honestly, I don’t really think I need to identify myself, but that’s the 30% of my consciousness who is super queer, chill and cool. See, the other 70% of my mind is going in a frenzy screaming, because I just lost one of my key defining attributes. Think that episode of Spongebob, where Spongebob’s brain cells are screaming and throwing papers around the office setting of his brain.

Another question has also become increasingly relevant in my journey of finding my “true inner zen self.” 

Who am I choosing my gender for?

In 2018, and most of the years before, I adored being loved by boys and having guys waggle their dicks like dog tails for my tits and ass, but in 2019, I randomly figured out that I never liked my boobs for anything but that. I mean having an hourglass figure was always (and still is) a goal of mine, but I question for what reason. I’d like to say it’s for personal aesthetic appeal, but it wouldn’t be surprising to me if I just do it so people will like me more. In fact, I battled with bulimia for the very reason of: I don’t know what the fuck I want or like, but  the crowd likes “skinny thick” girls so lets do that by purging. Am I currently wearing a waist trainer and corset on top of each other because I like the outcome, or because the people around me like me more for it? I’m trying really hard not to segue into the alluring topic of toxic femininity, because I can rant for HOURS AND PAGES about that, so I’ll just say: I don’t know if I’m being a girl for myself or because I’ll be more liked for it. 

In all honesty, the truth regarding my gender became clearer the more I self conscious I became. In 2018, I fell into the trap of sending boys nudes (apologies for the TMI and sorry family if you somehow came across my blog and are currently reading this.)  I liked it for a millisecond. Why? Because it felt good to have someone desperate for me. That millisecond died off real fast. My own thoughts pooped my nude Alpha Female party with insecurity and fear of how my body compares to other girls my age. Three days after the first nude I sent I realised I hate my body. I felt empowered in the moment (honestly I do love the feeling of tease. I still do send ohohoho raunchy pics for the pure euphoria of just having someone crave me) but overall just left the experience with lingering guilt and self hatred. I wasn’t sure if I was doing this to please myself or others. I also abhor taking nudes, because I do not think I embody femininity and dislike my body for that very reason. Identifying as male makes me far more comfortable than as identifying as a female. I might have tits, I might have soft facial features, but I just don’t like how I mentally feel like I can’t compare to the unrealistic standard of femininity that women uphold. I spent my whole life trying to  tick the boxes under “female,” but always felt like I was just doing the bare minimum... Hence my past is full of desperation, the need to show skin for the sake of proving I’m “sexy” and being perfectly fine with getting mislabeled as a slut at school. Nowadays, I show skin because I’m comfortable and am learning to love my body. I am not okay with slut shaming in general, but I am most definitely not okay with being called a slut either because I’m still a fucking virgin. So hun, I really do wish I could call myself a slut and have that much game, but I’m very far from that.

Anyways, uh more on my gender crisis:  I’ve also always adored mens fashion and absolutely revel the aura of being the “alpha.” Ever since my middle school days, I’d secretly snoop around and envy the men’s section of Barney’s and Saks, because it just looks so damn cool. Excuse my lack of “high quality language,” I can hear my English teacher sighing about my lack of “professional” or “appropriate” language, but I really can’t express my feelings regarding mens fashion other than it’s fucking cool. I must say though, my style of clothing and expression of self doesn’t stop itself at mens fashion. In fact, I enjoy dressing to exhort a more dominant presence, whether it’s with a short denim skirt and tight crop top or a loose fitting silk blouse and skinny jeans with a belt. So I guess in a way, my fashion and what I feel comfortable in explains my gender for me. A little bit of both and a little bit of neither. Although the next step would definitely be playing around with my hair and piercing, but I think my traditional family would whoop my ass to the moon if I do it now, and I can’t say I’m not scared of regrets. I just want to discover myself a little more this year...

Regardless, I just wanna further clarify that I don’t feel comfortable being put as female, male or hell-- even androgynous.

And I gotta say, after holding this in and denying it for 4 years, it feels damn good to type it out and admit it.

 In deciding to be a “gender”, there are standards. Deciding to be anything comes with the price of standards. I just can’t personally handle not being able to fit into the standards there are for them... Especially now since people are so bothered on being politically correct, so if I’m “not being properly androgynous” or “not properly female,” I’ll get shit on, and if I’m not accepted by the mass majority, I’ll feel societal hate mixed with self hatred. 

I also want to say that sometimes I don’t feel like I have the right to be confused or declare a gender because I’ve been on the judgemental side before. 

In middle school one of my close friends moved away, and soon later began to label themselves as gender fluid. It was such a new concept that I initially thought that they were doing it as a publicity stunt, but slowly realised that it is indeed who they are. I wasn’t hateful, but I can’t say I’m innocent, even if it was when I was far younger and less understanding. I remember when they first started using their current pronouns, I was confused on how to utilise them and initially disregarded them. Today, I regret my ignorance. Misgendering can always be a mistake, but it can also be extremely spoiled, belittling and condescending. So even though I know someone that probably went through a similar journey as I am today, I feel guilty asking them about it because of the shit I gave them when I was 14.

 Additionally, I’m scared of being wrong about myself. I can’t describe it too well, but I’m just scared that I’ll slip up a wrong opinion and then be automatically thrown into the can of “special snowflake wannabe LGBTQ+” when in reality: I truly feel like I’m not of “cisgender” or anything normal. I don’t want to dip too deep into my history with crippling anxiety and experiences with depression, but I will say that I can’t help but to hate myself for being queer too.. Alas, I’ll have to learn how to get over that and continue loving myself, but what the hell am I going to do now? 2k words later and things aren’t exactly clearer, but I can (somewhat) confidently say that I know what I’ll do (for now.) 

As of today, June 17, 2019, I have decided to not give a fuck and to simply just identify with the LGBTQ+ community. I don’t feel comfortable identifying as male, female, neither, both, gender fluid, or anything else. I will simply put off gender and let people call me by whatever pronoun they want.

I just wanna be me. 

Until I find out something else, or become more comfortable with myself, or gather the confidence to “come out of the closet” and stop being so selfish and finally decide what the hell I am, it’ll probably just be like this for awhile.

And honestly? I think I’m okay with that.

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Happy 32nd Birthday Nobuhiko Okamoto!

Personal Note:

I’ve been preparing for a while because I wanted to make this with a lot more thought. Sorry for the length of this post. I spent quite a bit of time on it, but I didn’t realize it would get so long! He is one of my top favourite voice actors (both English and Japanese) ever. To me, he’s a relatable, awesome, and passionate inspiration. He puts his all into every role he does, and he never gives up no matter who tells him to. 

I could probably go on about how much I like many of the roles he’s done, but that would be a whole other essay in itself. I even considered watching Corpse Party (the scaredy cat I am) because I heard he was in it. Yeah, I’m one of those people who gets drawn to anime when I figure out certain studios and voice actors are attached to it. I have watched a few episodes of some really bad anime because I heard he was in it. No regrets! Okay, maybe I have a few... I still haven’t watched them all though! I plan on watching a ton more, and that includes a few bad apples here and there.

Despite all the hurdles and adversity he faces, he overcomes it! He has had so many amazing roles, he sings, he’s good at shogi, and he’s just a good person. I respect him a lot. Honestly, I can’t word stuff too well, but I sincerely hope he continues working, maybe gets married and has kids (since he said he wanted to), and experiences all the happiness he deserves.

Table of Contents:

Top Roles (+ clips)

Trailblazer arrangement

Facts + Q&As

Music Recommendations

Additional Sources + other cool posts

Top Roles:

I watched to include even the ones that I didn’t watch entirely, so I put together a whole list. It’s generally not too strict in order, but I went from his good to his best. If I wanted to put a few words, I just included them in square brackets. In those, there will also be recommended clips if I feel the need to add any in.

* = ones that I haven’t watched completely (or up to its current point)

Rui Tatsumi* - Starmyu

Ivan Karelin* - Tiger and Bunny

Shin-ah - Akatsuki no Yona

[This character didn’t talk much, so he actually got to play a MOB character as well. I found this character kind of charming though.]

Mitsuo - Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

[He’s the one who dropped the hot dog. Rest in Pieces. This anime made me laugh, and even though this character barely appeared, he made me laugh every time he did. Recommended clip: “Glasses”]

Gladion* - Pokemon Sun & Moon

[He’s actually the perfect choice to play this edgy boi.]

Yumeji Fujiwara* - Yumekui Merry

[RIP the can]

Makoto Kashino* - Yume-iro Pâtissière

[I just started this one]

Mizuki* - Kamisama Hajimemashite

[I watched six episodes of this one.]

Rei Ogami - Code:Breaker

[This wasn’t a very good anime, it’s a mediocre manga, but I still enjoyed it.]

Nikaidou Harunobu* - 3-Gatsu no Lion

[I watched around 6-8 episodes of this one. This character is a pure round boi, and I like the way Nobu portrayed this character. Recommended Clip.]

Io Otonashi* - Acchi Kocchi

[I watched around 5 episodes of this one. His bishounen game is very strong.]

Takeru Fujiwara* - Prince of Stride

[These anime characters run like how I run from my life responsibilities and problems. His bishounen game is also very strong. The strong and silent type is always popular. Sadly, I’m the quiet and extremely frail and weak type.]

Shouta Kisa* - Sekaiichi Hatsukoi

[According to Tumblr, he has never done an R-rated (18+) BLCD, but he has been in some shounen-ai anime.]

Issac Foster - Satsuriku no Tenshi

[My reaction to this anime. Don’t worry, I’m following this to the end.]

Ryousuke Kominato - Diamond no Ace

Ryou Kurokiba* - Shokugeki no Souma

Age - Sakasama no Patema

[Yeah, that’s his actual name. If you name your child something that stupid, I would personally like to have a word with you. This movie was really nice though.]

Accelerator* - Toaru Majutsu no Index

[I had to include his laugh to this]

Jurai Andou - Inobato (Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de)

[And jail is just a building you live in! I can’t remember the context of this line.]

Kiyoharu Hyoudou - Welcome to the Ballroom

Yoichi Saotome* - Owari no Seraph

Eiji Niizuma* - Bakuman

[Recommended Clip]

Obi - Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

[When he looks into the mirror and realizes he’s missing his eyebrows.]

Takumi Usui* - Kaichou wa Maid-sama

Yuu Nishinoya* - Haikyuu

[Recommended Clip: ROLLING THUNDER!]

Rin Okumura - Ao no Exorcist

[He’s such a likeable protagonist. Recommended clip: Rin x Shiemi because they’re adorable]

Mikoto Mikoshiba - Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

[This character made me laugh so much. He and Seo are my favourites. I haven’t seen another amazing anime with both Miyuki Sawashiro and Nobu. They’re my two favourites. I hope to see them acting together eventually (even if Mikorin and Seo never really communicated). Thanks to Nobu, we have a voice to this madly embarassed bishounen. Recommended Clips: Mikorin Clips, Mixer Clip]

Katsuki “Kacchan” Bakugou - Boku no Hero Academia

[Bakugou might not always be my cup of tea as a character, but his voice made me like him somewhat anyway whether he’s an asshole or not. There are a few scenes in season three that hit me with mad feels,, but even during season one and two, Nobu aced this role. This role is what shot him up to one of my favourite voice actors. Recommended Clips: Rage moments, Kacchan vs Deku audio segment (scroll down a little for this Tumblr post), Salty Bakugou S1]

Karma Akabane - Assassination Classroom

[While Bakugou is one type of crazy, Karma is another. Honestly, he’s such a sly, cunning, and mischievous character, but that’s what we all like about him, right?]

Trailblazer Arrangement:

This is my first time transcribing a song and arranging it! I improvised and made up some stuff (mostly guitar solos that just didn’t fit as well logically on piano). I usually don’t like (actually, I kinda hate) transcribing because it’s basically like trying to copy down a book that someone reads aloud (and you can’t look at the text). But it was worth doing this! He’s definitely not my favourite singer, but I’d still listen to him.

I didn't want to go with an original score for this one because I felt like I wanted to improve a lot more as a composer and artist (as if I'm qualified enough to be called those terms). When I make one for him, I want to go all out.

Facts:

I found some other interesting facts online. There are quite a few different sources. I’ll try to list them below all the facts (but I might link them to the actual facts as well. There are a lot, so there’s that.

All [Nat Notes] will be put between square brackets “[these]”.

These are all from THIS POST:

After graduating from secondary school, he entered some voice acting training courses associated with his agency (Pro-Fit) to pursue his dream as a seiyuu.

To be able to pay for his training, he worked at a 7-Eleven and a post office.

His family is very strict and conservative.

He was into video games when he was younger, but his parents were against letting him play video games and ended up limiting him to a one-hour per day time limit [THIS POOR BOI]

[Regarding his gaming] his parents told him, “If you want to play games, you can play shogi.” This ended up being the reason he started playing shogi.

He is a practicing Catholic [ironic since one of his most iconic roles is playing the son of Satan]

He’s a 3rd dan ranked shogi player, and he once aimed to be a professional shogi player.

He has a huge love for sweets. I follow his blog, and a lot of his posts involve sweets.

“His favourite [candy bar] would be Black Thunder chocolate bars (same as Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke), and at one point, he always ends up buying Black Thunder by the box, stocking up on it, and eating up to 10 bars in one day, that his agency decided to restrict him into eating just one bar a day.” [let the poor guy eat his chocolate]

He is easily bullied by other seiyuu [check out the original post which has gifs of his mishaps]

“[While recording] …he ran away from the mic, forgetting that he was wearing headphones connected to the mic and ended up messing up the recording room, and the staff had to rearrange everything.”

He’s a big fan of Pokemon [He now plays Gladion in Pokemon Sun & Moon]

These are from “More Nobu Facts”

“As a student, he used to fall asleep on the train and miss his destinations sometimes. He thinks that it’s really comfortable to take a nap there.” [Yeah, you say that until you somehow end up in the middle of nowhere and wonder where you are and why you even exist.]

“He suffers from hay fever in the spring. Said that the symptoms kill him.” [You and me both except mine are year-round and gradually getting worse.]

“He played with Lego bricks when he was a kid.” [If he’s the type of person who left out the bricks and made people experience pain because of it, I will personally leave Lego bricks outside his door. Those things hurt when they’re unexpected.]

“He loves the indoor life.” [don’t we all…]

“He read the Harry Potter series.” [I did too! Not that I remember any of it.]

“His cute, foreign Furby only speaks English. Noburin stated, “English is very hard.”” [HOW DO PEOPLE SLEEP KNOWING THEY OWN ONE OF THOSE? I WOULD BURN IT IF I GOT ONE.]

“In elementary school, the girl he liked gave him chocolate on Valentine’s Day. He said he felt like crying from the shock.” [I haven’t experienced that. Was he happy because it was that girl who gave him chocolate or because he got free chocolate?]

“He was hospitalized before when he was a child due to a bad cold (or maybe the flu).” [Well, that diet sure doesn’t help, and I doubt screaming all the time is good for you. Weirdly, I can’t say anything more than that because I do both too except I scream internally while he does it as his profession.]

He tends to get sick within the first two weeks of October, right before his birthday. [I wish you luck!]

He likes to watch lightning and thinks that it’s cool. [I’M SO SCARED OF THUNDER]

During the summer as a kid, he liked to catch cicadas and dragonflies, and play with water guns. [SAME DUDE]

He was in the badminton club during secondary school.

These are all from his Q&A! [Part 1], [Part 2], [Part 3], [Part 4]:

I’m not going to include quotation marks for this one for the most part. I changed some awkward phrasing. I left out some questions from the original posts as well. Check the sources out!

Nickname: Pikorin

Favourite animal: Dog [Same. I love my dog, Penny. She’s my little sister. I have no shame.]

What are you fond of?: Squirrels [why?]

Description of your personality: Moody [Same.]

Favourite Colour: Black

Health and Beauty Routine: I drink two cups of milk in the morning and do squats two times a day. 

First thing you do in the morning?: Rinse your mouth

First thing you wash in the bath: Face

Amount of sleep you get: 4 hours on the weekdays, 10 hours on the weekend  [I wouldn’t live with that kind of schedule.]

Rain or sunshine: Rain!

What did you play as a child?: I slid down the slide and got many scratches. [I ran up slides a lot in elementary school]

Something you’re proud of: “I have a shiny legendary Pokemon.” [I ALMOST NEVER GET SHINIES. LET ALONE LEGENDARY ONES. THAT’S AN ACCOMPLISHMENT RIGHT THERE. The chances of getting one kinda vary, but it’s less than 0.1% I think.]

Favourite school subject: Math [Can’t relate. I’m dumb.]

Least favourite school subject: Civics

Best school memory?: I won a badminton tournament. [Can’t relate. I’m a blob.]

Previous part-time jobs: [...]post office, fast food, convenience store and then accounting, I’ve done different jobs.

If you could be reborn, would you be a man or woman? A woman!

Who was your first love?: We were in elementary school, in the same class. [Related post]

Any gesture of women unnerving to you?: My heart skips a beat when ousted or “shooed” by hand.  [He gets shooed like a bug XD]

Where would you go for a date?: Tokyo Disney Sea.  [You know you’re at the height of luxury when you can afford to take someone there. I want someone to take me to Disneyland or Disney World, or a Disney Cruise.]

Morning person or night person?: Morning person.  [Can’t relate.]

If you could drive to any time period, what would it be?: Jurassic Period! [If it just so happens you do, *pats* it was nice knowing you (even though he doesn’t know me). He’ll get eaten by a dinosaur.]

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what would you want there with you?: My Nintendo DS or PSP.   [Good luck without a charger or electricity. What games would he bring though?]

Favourite music genre: Anime songs [Me too fam.]

Do you play any instruments? No, playing the F chord on the guitar is my limit. [I like playing and creating music. I’m just not any good at it. XD He should try learning though!]

Favourite sports: swimming and badminton [I’m not good at swimming. I’m not good at badminton. I’m not good at sports.]

Sweets you usually eat: Macarons and chocolate-related sweets [AYE, that’s pretty much my taste too, so we pretty much have similar taste.]

Something you’re self-conscious about: The thickness of my eyebrows. [If his eyebrows were ugly, I would’ve commented on that already. XD (I usually say something along the lines of, “Is that a caterpillar on your face? It’s so thick and bushy! It looks like you took hair from your head and put it on your eyebrow! Maybe you can’t grow facial hair because all of it goes to those eyebrows.”)]

What will you do when and if only you became an invisible man one day?: Secretly observe Sugita Tomokazu-san. [Well, alright then. Fangirls have some competition? More importantly, Nakamura has competition!]

What’s the scariest thing to you?: In a sense, the most intimidating people. [All people are intimidating for me O^O’]

What is the title of the first game you’ve ever played in your life?: “Super Mario World”. [For me, it was Pokemon Pearl]

What would you be if you went into the fantasy world?: A witch. [Nobu, defying gender barriers. He’ll be a fabulous witch. I would similarly want to be a mage.]

What if I want to use a weapon to fight monsters?: Bow, crossbow. [I would want to use magic or a sword!]

Favourite season?: Spring. [I like winter because plants are dead (I have extremely bad allergies), snow, Christmas, my birthday, and New Year’s!]

At what spot do you like to linger around?: Starbucks. [Again, the height of luxury is when you’re able to afford Starbucks regularly.]

How’s your tolerance to alcohol?: I can’t drink much. [I don’t drink]

What good books do you usually read?: Original works that are adapted into anime. [I don’t read a lot. I’m an illiterate fool.]

What do you buy at convenience stores?: Fresh premium caramel roll cake. [I wish they had those in Canada…]

Favourite place in the country?: Okinawa. [I gotta go there someday!]

What countries do you want to go abroad?: Italy. [He recently said he wants to go to Italy for gelato and to be honest, I relate. Europe has good chocolate and cheese from what I hear.]

What are the challenges to your trip destinations like?: Pickpockets like to snatch! [He better watch out for those vans that say “Free Candy!” They might be meant for kids, but he might just stumble in.]

Are you nervous in public?: Recently it’s been okay; still nervous during events. [I’m always nervous in public. I would like to attend an event by the end of my life though.]

What would you tell your past-self (10 years ago)?: “Don’t give up and eat your dinner properly!” [I tell that to myself now XD If I were to send a message to myself, it would be something along the lines of, “What you feel, what you think, and what you believe is important. Listen to yourself. At the end of the day, you will figure out what to do. Don’t be afraid of being alone, and don’t be afraid to wander. Loosen up.”]

What would you message to your future-self (10 years from now)?: “The you in his twenties is having lots of fun. Are you having fun?” [Message for me ten years from now: PLEASE TELL ME YOU AREN’T AS DEEP INTO VOICE ACTORS AND ANIMATION. I BEG YOU, GET A LIFE.]

If the world was going to perish in 24 hours, what would you do? Gather all my friends and family, and have a BBQ party. [I would just write something in case it resurfaces. I would want to write my thoughts, opinions, and experiences along with the people around me.]  

Where do you want to work?: A place where I could grow. [Same!]

What are your thoughts when you look back at 2010? I issued a sex appeal to play [Usui], and worked hard to reach the targets! [From the amount of screaming fangirls, I think you did just fine.]

What is your current aim?: To be more playful and get more out of acting.

Finally, a message to the world: I’ll work hard from now on to make a voice that everyone will not have a hard time to listen to. Thank you for your support! [Thank you Nobu! You inspire a lot of people (including me) everyday!]

Additional Facts! [SOURCES WILL BE LISTED BELOW!]

He likes watching horror movies (especially with his friends Ryouhei Kimura, Kouki Uchiyama, and Yoshimasa Hosoya. Kouki is a scaredy-cat.) When watching a horror movie, he experienced scary unknown noises and used salt to ward away ghosts.

His birthdate is October 24, 1986

He is 168cm tall

He is affiliated with the agency Pro-Fit

He won: - Best New Actor Award at the Third Seiyu Awards for his roles as  Shin Kanzato in Persona: Trinity Soul, Ryuji Kuhoin in Kurenai, and Accelerator in Toaru Majutsu no Index (along with Yuuki Kaji!) - Best Supporting Actor Award at the Fifth Seiyu Awards for his roles as  Takumi Usui in Kaichou wa Maid-Sama, Eiji Niizuma in Bakuman, and Accelerator in Toaru Majutsu no Index II

He loves sweets... a lot: - He’s a qualified patisserie - Where his love of sweets came from [I can also say that is a good portion of his blog]

He tried to be rebellious as a kid but got “clobbered” by his mom.

He would purposefully wear long-sleeves while in the hot recording room for “My Hero Academia” so that he would be agitated enough to play Kacchan!

He adds chocolate to his curry sometimes

He gave Ayane Sakura the nickname “Ayaneru”

He often celebrates fictional characters’ birthdays on his blog for series that he’s involved with!

He was once told to give up on being a voice actor!

Thank you for not giving up Nobu!

Music:

月刊少女野崎君-俺の手でSPARKING!! 御子柴實琴(CV:岡本信彦) - Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun: Mikorin Character Song

Kamisama Hajimemashita: Mizuki Character Song

Welcome to the Ballroom: Kiyoharu Hyoudou Character Song

『 サクラメント』By Okamoto Nobuhiko Ending for Vatican Miracle Examiner

Promise - Kaichou wa Maid-sama: Takumi Usui Character Song

Restoration to 0 - Code:Breaker: Rei Ogami Character Song

Tiger and Bunny: Character Song

スタミュ Starmyu S2 Shadow & Lights 「沈黙のディアローグ」Ver. Tatsumi Rui

Blue Flame - Prince of Stride: Takeru Fujiwara Character Song

99.9% Noisy - To Aru Majutsu no Index: Accelerator character song

Oikaze ni Tsugu - Diamond no Ace: Kominato Ryosuke

Trailblazer - Ao no Exorcist

Kimi wa Hitori Janai

List of Links (Sources and other cool stuff!):

Some of the links were included in the actual facts themselves! If a source and other stuff is missing, they’re included above!

Voice Compilations:

25 Anime Characters That Share The Same Voice Actor as Boku no Hero Academia's Bakugou Katsuki

Voice Compilation [ 1 ], [ 2 ] 

Wikipedia:

Nobuhiko Okamoto

3rd Seiyuu Awards

5th Seiyuu Awards

Haikyuu Stuff:

Haikyuu Awards Basically, they got the fans to nominate for awards like “Who’s the best dressed?” Then the cast got to comment (and maybe get praised by the two female cast members)

“Imagination Game” - Seiyuu Event Long story short: to win a pair of Karasuno boxers, the voice actors must answer all the same character when asked something like, “Out of the Karasuno team, who’s the most likely to [blank]”

Cast Pictures

Drama CD: Why Noya isn’t popular with women (This one is because I fricking relate because I’m too short for this tall world)

“Who’s Best Girl?” - Cast Comments + Nobuhiko’s comments [video with cc]

Nobuhiko Okamoto & Yuuki Kaji being bros [ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ], [That time they challenged a Guinness World record], [Nobuhiko’s message for Yuuki Kaji’s 30th birthday]

Nobuhiko’s athletic ability

Kouki Uchiyama, Daiki Yamashita, Nobuhiko Okamoto: [Comic] BNHA Cast Comments

Daiki lending Nobuhiko his jacket (this can potentially fuel Bakudeku fanfics. I can feel it.)

Nishinoya and Bakugou at Jump Festa

[valentinahart]

Old radio interview from August 26, 2011:

Steph: The guest I have calling in tonight is Mia Von Glitz

She will be calling in, in a few seconds. She is the bassist for the rock band Shoot the Freak, which is a Side B Radio staple.

Steph: Hello.

MVG: Hello Stephanie. What’s going on?

Steph: I’m just doing a radio show right now. What’s going on with you?

MVG: We’re on the radio? Holy shit. *laughs* Can I say that?

Steph: No. *chuckles*

MVG: Sorry!

Steph: It’s okay.

MVG: Okay, G-rated language is on right now.

Steph: Okay, yes. Let’s try that.

MVG: How’s it going? What song did you just play?

Steph: I just played two songs by Bush, back to back.

MVG: Rock and roll.

Steph: Yeah, you know how it goes. I’ve got to play some Bush every Friday. They’re required, so is Kid Henry and Shoot the Freak and Freelance Whales. They’re our staples on this show.

MVG: Awesome. I just saw a play!

Steph: What did you see?

MVG: My friend was in this play called “The Model” in St. Mark’s church. It was cool.

Steph: That’s interesting.

MVG: Yeah, it was abstract and weird and trippy.

Steph: Alright, that’s awesome. So I opened this up to the many Mia Von Glitz followers and I was overwhelmed with questions. Not only did my ask box on Tumblr get over 70 asks, each of those asks had like five questions. So a lot of them were more repetitive, and we won’t get to all of them but I am just going to start throwing them at you.

MVG: Okay, I probably only have like 20 minutes if that’s alright.

Steph:  Yeah, of course. I wasn’t expecting you to be on the phone with me for three hours *chuckles*

MVG: I have to prepare for the hurricane you know. *laughs*

Steph: Yes, I know. The whole town is shutting down and we’re all having an apocalypse tomorrow.

MVG: I know. I bought Wonder Bread so I’m all good.

Steph: *laughs* Okay, you should get some Spaghetti O’s.

MVG: You know I had thought about getting those. I had really wanted to get those but they didn’t have any.

Steph: Oh see, everyone is stocking up on Spaghetti O’s. You’re going to be screwed tomorrow.

MVG: You can eat them cold, that’s why.

Steph: Well I am from South Florida so I know the hurricane drill.

MVG: Yeah, I lived in Alabama for a little while and we had some tornadoes.

Steph: So you know how it is. Okay well, what brought you to New York?

MVG: College! I came to New York to go to NYU in ’04.

Steph: What was your major at NYU?

MVG: I majored in Television Production and Media Communications.

Steph: I know you are working at Showtime, can you tell us a little bit about your job at Showtime?

MVG: Yeah, I am an assistant producer at Showtime in the red group, which is the creative department. So basically I produce features that are behind the scenes for all our different series and theatricals. I do the promos for Californication, Dexter, Weeds, The Real L-Word and things like that. Anything you see on Showtime with an interview, that’s me *laughs*

Steph: That’s awesome. Is that what wanted?  Was that your goal for school or were you hoping for a news anchor position or?

MVG: Uhm, nope. Well I started out acting then I kind of switched out of theater quickly when I realized that I wanted to go behind the camera. And I worked in television for a few years on different daytime programming and I worked for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I worked for a production company called White Cherry Entertainment where we did a lot of live events like the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards, the NFL Kick-off, the Superbowl and things like that. Which was really fun but got a little tiring, so I went back to school for film and then I decided that I want to be a film maker. Then I have my band on the side. But then I ended up back to television! I mean, I love what I do. I get to make mini-films of my own. I’m involved in all the little aspects of the process, I write some pieces, I do the interviews, I do some shooting and I edit as well. So I kind of get to make my own three minute movies every day.

Steph: That is very very cool. Speaking of your little movies, I know that you did a little promo teaser for “Hell on Heels”, which is one of the band’s songs. A lot of people want to know if they are going to get a full video of that.

MVG: Oh yes, well to be quite honest we have a lot of footage that we shot that night. That was just kind of a fun night. We shot that all with iPhones; I don’t know if I told you that, we were just having fun one night and shooting some stuff and kind of put that together as a promo for one of our shows. I don’t know, we had a great response to it. So hopefully we will make it into a full length. We need a little more footage for that to happen but we also have newer songs coming out that we want to focus on real music videos for. So hopefully something with an actual director and a script, we have a lot of ideas.

Steph: That sounds very exciting!

MVG: We’re hoping that that’s going to be the main focus for the near future.

Steph: I saw that “Honcho” is the new single and you guys are going to premiere that on September 15th.

MVG: Yeah. Right smack dab in the middle of the month. We just got right out of the studio from recording that yesterday. So it’s going to be mixed and mastered and ready for everybody to listen to. I hope everyone enjoys it. It’s a really fun song.

Steph: Is that going to be on iTunes? That’s another question I got a lot of: When is Shoot the Freak getting on iTunes?

MVG: That’s a good question, I’m not so sure. We’re doing the bandcamp thing for now but we will definitely have iTunes in mind for the future.

Steph: All right so I have a lot of questions about your fashion and your makeup and your hair.

MVG: *laughs* I grow it myself.

Steph: *laughs* everyone wants to know what makeup you use, where you go shopping.

MVG: Most of the makeup I use is Almay because I’m allergic to everything else. But for stage makeup I use the brand called Illamasqua which is an English company. It is the England version of MAC but they sell it at Sephora so that’s where I get mine. I shop everywhere. I love this vintage store where I used to live called, Rags-A-Go-Go, that was my go-to for a while there. Got my favorite t-shirt of all time there. Beacons Closet out in Brooklyn, I really like L.F.  I like to make a lot of my own clothes, too. I just get stuff that looks like you should throw it in the trash and just make it even worse. Tear it into shreds. *laughs* Oh! Buffalo Exchange is good too. Very cheap. I’m all about the cheap these days *laughs* I have a mortgage now.

Steph: Are there people that inspire your fashion? Are there people you look up to?

MVG: Oh yeah. Ducky from Pretty in Pink but that might be too old of a reference *laughs*. I really dig Alison Mosshart’s style, Juliette Lewis a lot, it’s funny because the same people who influence my music taste are my fashion icons as well.

Steph:  All right so, a lot of people wanted to know the causes you are into. Someone said that you did an independent film about the LGBT community.

MVG: Yeah, I did a couple of those actually. In one year I made about eight films, and three of those were LGBT themed. It is definitely something that I am very passionate about. Growing up a lot of my parent’s friends were in the LGBT and I went to NYU and I was pretty immersed in it all through school. It was just something that I felt very strongly about. I went to pro-gay rallies and things like that a couple years ago. So it’s definitely one of my main causes.

Steph: Is there a way to see those LGBT films? Are they on YouTube or anything?

MVG: I do not. I used to but then I took them down not too long ago. But I do want to put them back up. It is kind of a time issue. I’m going to have to find some time where I can do that. I’m running around these days. But I think I will.. I will! I’ve just decided that I will!

Steph: People want to see them! Are there any other causes that you are passionate about?

MVG: Yes! There are a lot of causes that I am into. For sure.

Steph: I like this question. Someone asked what your favorite David Bowie period is.

MVG: Oooh. Good question! Can I just say Labyrinth?

Steph: Yes! This is why we get along I think!

MVG: You know, I love Ziggy Stardust, which is probably one of my go-to’s. “Life on Mars” is one of my ultimate anthems.

Steph: Labyrinth is my favorite movie ever so…

MVG: Yes. It’s a killer movie. Actually when I a kid I used to cry because my sister used to make me watch it all the time and I was scared of the goblins, then you just get into it.

Steph: Mia! You and I need to have an 80’s movie party

MVG: *laughs* that’s my era.

Steph: I hear you.  Did you ever play anything big in theater or did you just decide that wasn’t for you? There are some theater questions here too.

MVG:  Oh, I did a lot of theater. I did theater all throughout growing up. I set out to major in it  my freshman year of college and I went to Miami my freshman year, when I was in the theater program there. I did one year there and I kind of realized it wasn’t for me and got out of it. I did a lot of roles that people would know. My biggest one was probably Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, which was a fun one. I did Wendy in Peter Pan, with my best friend as Peter, which was a lot of fun. My favorite role was Brooke in Noises Off, I don’t know if you know but it is sort of a British farce.

Steph: I don’t know that but I am sure that someone does. There are a lot of people that are into theater that listen to my show.

MVG: Okay cool, so do they specific questions about that?

Steph: There were just wondering if you did a lot of theater. Someone else asked me about you going vegan or vegetarian. Because I remember you tweeting with Devon about that a while back. Are you still?

MVG: Well technically, I went pescatarian because I started eating fish. There is a whole story about that because I would never eat fish growing up because I am allergic to everything. I am allergic to everything with fur and feathers so I could never have a pet. So my parents bought me a fish, and when people are eating fish it always just broke my heart. Like would you eat your dog? No! *laughs* And the moral of that story is I started eating fish because I put on my big girl pants and decided that I need to eat fish because it is good for you. I just started liking it and I felt better eating that and kind of eliminating meat from my diet. So that’s where I am at these days. And plus, I am a huge vegetable girl.

Steph: That’s cool because some people are vegans and they were asking how you were doing and stuff.

MVG: I haven’t gone fully vegan yet. We’ll see, maybe one day. Got to take baby steps.

Steph: Do you have a preference between your day job and the band? Like would you rather be band full time?

MVG: That’s a good question. I love my job, a lot of people aren’t lucky enough to say that they do something that they love doing and I actually really enjoy it but I kind of went through a period where I realized that I was in the corporate creative and not so much in the creative anymore. That was about two years ago when I decided to put the band together so I didn’t really play an instrument. I dabbled in guitar for about ten years but I was never good enough at it to accomplish anything with. Alberto [Duhau]/Jaja our guitarist, who just left us and left me brokenhearted, he gave me a bass and said ‘play this and we’ll jam together.’ And that’s what we did, and that’s how we put the band together. It was great for me to have that creative outlet on the side. I’ve always kind of teetered on the line, back and forth between film and television and music as a career. My family is actually in the music industry in New York so I always knew that that was kind of an easy choice for a career option for me but I kind of realized that it was my relief. After a day of work I want to come home and I want to go see a show. I want that to be my happy place and not something that is stressing me out because it’s work.

Steph: Let’s talk about your tattoos! How many tattoos do you have?

MVG: Okay well, six. Six that I will talk about *laughs* No, just kidding I have six. I am getting another one, I was supposed to get another one tomorrow but there is a hurricane so I have to call and cancel that. I have six, they are mostly about music. *laughs* You would never have guessed.

Steph: Well other than the “Imagine” one.

MVG: Yes, that one is white ink that says “Imagine” on my wrist. It is the first one I ever got and it is for John Lennon, obviously. I got a “Free Bird” on my foot for my Lynyrd Skynyrd days back in Alabama. *laughs* These are just a road map of my life.  I have a dandelion on my rib cage and back that is for Bob Dylan. I have Florentine bracelet design in plum ink on my other wrist which is for Janice Joplin. She has the same one except for I made it plum and added some vines to it. On my bicep I have a butterfly skeleton which is just for The Dead Weather. Which if people don’t know Dead Weather, you should look them up immediately. It is a butterfly skeleton, not to be confused with a butterfly. Which doesn’t actually exist in nature, it was from their limited edition Halloween album cover. So that is where that came from because I just thought it was beautiful. My last one is for Shoot the Freak, which is an arrow with a heart instead of a head. Like me. *laughs*

Steph. Nice *laughs* So you said you played guitar and you play bass. Do you play any other instruments?

MVG: I don’t , no. I say that I am going to learn drums every day. I have a harmonica necklace that I pretend I can play but nope. Just bass, I don’t even really play guitar, just bass.

Steph: I have, uhmm, favorite Disney movie.

MVG: Oh..  It’s definitely a tie, between Little Mermaid and Aladdin. I don’t know. One of the two.

Steph: Nice. Are you a Harry Potter fan?

MVG: *laughs* Am I a Harry Potter fan? I can tell you everything about Harry Potter.

Steph: That doesn’t necessarily mean anything because I know a couple of people that can do that too.

MVG: Uhmm yes *laughs* That will be the end of that question.

Steph: They wanted to know if you associate with any particular house in Hogwarts.

MVG: I took a test once that said I was a Gryffindor. That’s good, right?

Steph: Awesome. Yes it is. That’s the correct answer actually *laughs* I’m just kidding, but Gryffindor is the house that Harry is in.

MVG: Okay cool. I know that!

Steph: What do you do when you are not in the band or at the television studio?

MVG: What do I do? I draw, I write. My friends in New York are all just little collections of music and we are all different genres. So when we get together we just kind of play together. I like to just sit back and watch rather than play because they are all extremely talented people. Much more talented than I could ever be.  Shopping, grocery shopping. That is fun.

Steph: I have a lot of these: What kind of advice would you give to people who want to work in TV?

MVG: I have a very specific piece of advice, but it will only work if you have chosen your path already, but here goes. If you are aspiring to go into media than the best thing you can do is go to a city school. I think I got a huge leg up all throughout school just by being in a city school because I had all these internships while I was still in school. So by the time I got out I had a pretty solid resume, which is how I got the little success that I have now. *laughs* But yeah, that is just my biggest thing. It’s all a personal thing, some people want to go to a campus school and get that campus life but I don’t feel like I missed out on anything by skipping that.

Steph: So you think you will stay in New York then?

MVG: Yeah. I mean I’m kind of a lifer, but who knows. Anything could happen.

Steph: Well I will let you go now so you have time to get ready for the storm.

MVG: Yes thank you!

Steph: So your show is on the 8th right?

MVG: Yes. On the 8th and the new single is out on the 15th.

Steph:  Okay, have a great night.

MVG: You too, thank you!

[rinplup]

Tagged by @tactician-sascha thank you <3 <3 <3

THE RULES 

- always post the rules - answer the questions given to you by the person who tagged you - write 11 questions of your own - tag 11 people

1. Favourite season(s)?

Summer! I’m a wimp when it comes to cooler temperatures. And it feels like there is a lot more to do.

2. What race do you pick the most in video games?

I don’t really play very many games that involve different races. I guess it would depend on what the game makes their pros and cons? If it could fly I’d pick it.

3. Following that, what class do you pick the most?

Things like mages or spellcrafters! Or whatever is aided by animal pals.

4. What is your ideal pet? 

ALL OF THEM. But seriously I just love animals. Cats require the least care out of all of them, so cats I guess. 

5. Who is/are your inspiration(s)?

Hmmmm, I don’t know! It sounds lazy but I just kind of do my own thing... my friends inspired me to cosplay if that counts. And there are several artist on twitter on tumblr that I’d like to be as half as good as one day.

6. Do you have a sport you wish you took up? 

Not one in particular but maybe I would’ve done some more in general. I really only did sports until I was 8 and then that was it. I did pick up horseback riding more when I was 14 but even then it wasn’t too often BECAUSE HORSES ARE EXPENSIVE. So maybe I wish I could have done that more.

7. What is your favourite food/drink from your favourite Holiday?

My favorite holiday is Christmas... does hot chocolate count? It’s not specific to Christmas but nothing beats hot chocolate on a gross cold windy day <3

8. Movie or book that you feel is underrated?

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist is the dumbest movie I’ve seen but goodness it still makes me laugh.

9. If you got into Harry Potter, what career would you want in the magic world?

I’m a terrible HP fan and I know next the nothing about it, whoops. uuuhhhhh, maybe running an apothecary? 

10. Your ideal home? (i.e. It could be a cozy apartment with a lot of plants.)

This is actually a lot harder than I thought!! At first I was like “BEACH HOUSE DUH” but then most beach towns I know of are dead during off-season and there isn’t anything to do... so location is unknown but it’d for sure have to be a single family home, I’ve had enough of townhouses lol. Enough room in the back yard for a pool and maybe a dog? OR A PIG. or a goat or a pony! really nice up to date kitchen please! and at least one a half bathrooms. Nothing worse than needing to go potty when someone is in the shower. And a drive way, I hate free for all parking.

11. How are you doing lately? I hope you are well, and that life is treating you well.

I’ve been okay, could be better, could be worse.

My Questions

1. If you could suddenly and dramatically improve one skill, what would it be? (Like, cooking or dancing as examples.)

2. What is one song that you never get tired of hearing?

3. Would you rather win $50,000 today or $1,000,000 in ten years? 

4. Have you made a friend on the internet and met them? (Or do you want to or plan to one day?)

5. What scents do you associate with each season? (Or holiday)

6. Is it a crime to listen to Christmas music in August?

7. What has been your favorite vacation?

8. What is something your younger self did that now makes you cringe?

9. If you could pick three fictional characters to be your best friend, who would they be?

10. If you could no longer listen to any music from one of the following decades, which would you pick and why? 60s/70s/80s/90s/00s/10s (This includes movie soundtracks and video games)

11. How would a perfect day go for you?

Tagging: @thelittlelovesong @kanachameleon @kenharel @sleeepyhollow @the-sylum-project @hinamaru @maggieg33k @steamgoat @parmfarm @prince-disgusting

As always don’t feel like you have to do it! If you do, have fun <3

[meketori]

Types Of People In A Fandom

I really don’t know why I did this. Just take it!

× × × × × × × ×

The J.K Rowling

• Writes 24/7 • Gets nervous when they see a comment • Has wonderful ideas and wonderful writing! • Has huge dreams • If they get writer’s block, they’re done • Inspired by a bunch of things! • Loves reading other writers’ stories • Also they make really good headcannons!

× × × × × × × ×

The Excited Shipping Bean

• Just mostly crazy about their ship • “UFHJBDYB DID YOU SEE LANCE AND KEITH HOLD HANDS?! OH MY GOSH! THEY ARE SO CANON!” • Sometimes gets a bit overboard • “Eating? Sleeping? I only know Jikook.” • They are actually really happy people • Makes shipping memes • Will fight you playfully if you disagree on their ship

× × × × × × × ×

The Film Theorists

• Stays awake 24/7 • “I NEED TO KNOW IF THACE COMES BACK!” • Probably is really tired • Takes things a bit too seriously • Facts are the answer! • Rewatches their show over and over • Will not stop till they get answers

× × × × × × × ×

The Chill One

• Doesn’t cause any drama • Watches everyone do their stuff • *sips lemonade while scrolling through tumblr* • Likes things • Really supportive • Isn’t a pain in the ass

× × × × × × × ×

The Multishipper

• Is like the excited shipping bean but acts like the chill one • They love their ships all the same • “Hey, if klance doesn’t become canon, that won’t bother me because maybe then sheith will be canon!” • Doesn’t cause drama • Loves all the fanfics and art • Probably makes memes

× × × × × × × ×

The Memester™

• Makes a bunch of memes • Has a really good sense of humor • Is literally dying on the inside • Has probably depression • Loves it when people start posting their memes • “She protec, she attac, but mostly she quiznac!” • Fun to hang out with

× × × × × × × ×

The Youtuber

• Makes video edits or things like that • Really creative • Gets really happy when the video has more than a thousand views • Uses mostly Sony Vegas Pro • They are just so great! Let us thank them! • Overachievers

× × × × × × × ×

The Photo Editor Of A Newspaper

• Just like the Youtuber but are rare to find • Makes really good edits that actually makes you believe that they are really real • Shy people • They are mostly rare because there isn’t really a lot of them • They also make icons, aesthetics, and more!

× × × × × × × ×

The News Reporter

• Reports news in a fandom 24/7 • Watches everyone • “Storytime! Lance & Shiro might be bisexual?” • Helps the Film Theorists • They are really talkative

× × × × × × × ×

Overboard Bro

• Takes things WAY too seriously • They are kind of an anti • Someone: Allura and Lance are a pretty good couple! Them: NO NO LANCE AND KEITH FOREVER AND ALLURA IS A LESBIAN GET THAT STRAIGHT BOO • They need some cheese itz and she-sus • Can possibly be a shipper?

× × × × × × × ×

The Guardian

• One who protects the fandom • They are literally God • They are sweet and wants to protect their fandom • Just…respect them okay? *grabs a tissue and wipes tear*

× × × × × × × ×

That One Piece Of Shit

• Anti • Starts shit up so bad • Never trust these people • They are really disrespectful and really mean • “FiCtIoN aFfEcTs ReAlItY” • Like no. Just no • Harasses people • They are literally just immature • They have a horrible life and just want to share it with everyone

× × × × × × × ×

I guess that’s it. If I’m missing any, you can say so! ^^ Tag yourself which one you are! I’m mostly the J.K Rowling and the Chill One. ;)

Also, I know I have forgotten the artists but apparently Tumblr is glitching for me so I'll have to update it later!

[clothestop]

Hi, I'm not sure if this will be weird to ask but i've read that you have a math degree and knows how to code so i hope you can give me some advice regarding my career choice. If that's okay. Tbh i'm still not sure if i should take up computer science or pure mathematics. Math is my favorite subject in school and the more i study college-level theoretical math, the more i realize that i would want to do this professionally.

But i also considered computer science because i’m weighing the employability of both majors and i know that i could get a more stable job with comp sci. I’m so confused i’m sorry if my ask doesn’t make much sense but i have so many questions. May i ask what age did you start coding? And like my dilemma, i’m wondering why you went with pure mathematics and didn’t take up computer science. What put you off? Also, how did you start coding/ what made you start learning how to code? Did you take up comp sci classes? I’m a 17 yr old girl heading to university next fall but i just started learning how to code last year so i feel a bit left out. I’m really enjoying it so far but thinking of a possible career with it, i’m also scared as a woc in that kind of field. This may sound silly but like what the tumblr saying goes: i don’t want to be a sell out while i work for something i love. Lastly, i know that even if i’m still a beginner and there are a lot more things that i could learn in university. But in the meantime to prepare for that, what advice can you give to someone like me who is a beginner (words of encouragement, pros and cons, skills to develop etc etc)? Btw i’ve read that you lived in Southeast asian countries and i’m from SE asia currently living in the US so i relate to what i’ve been reading in your blog. Thank you for reading and sorry for

Hello there! No worries, I didn’t think that your ask is weird. And ofc, I’m more than glad to give you my advice :)

Well, I started with basic coding at around 12 or 11, eventually studied it extensively and moved to more complicated programming languages when I was 15 or 16—but I was already in uni during that time (uhm, yes I was younger than most of my peers). I play games a lot, and when I was younger, I dreamt of developing my own video game or website. And as a kid, you wouldn’t be surprised that I even thought of using my knowledge of coding with making cool stuffs™ like robots haha. To be honest, I wasn’t “put off” of taking up Computer Science; it’s just that my head had always been gravitating towards Pure Mathematics ever since. However, I admit that I did fancy taking up that degree because I was opting for another major that would *complement* my Pure Mathematics track, since my mum initially wanted me to have a degree that is “lucrative” to her standards. Basically, even if I didn’t end up pursuing Computer Science, we met at a compromise with me double majoring in Pure Mathematics and an applied maths major which relies on heavy programming as well. Despite being good at maths in school, programming was unarguably one of the most difficult things that I’ve studied. Not to mention that at the beginning, I was self-taught. After uni, I became more serious with my self-study, and even took up few short courses in Computer Sciences just because I’m really interested with it. Never considered to pursue it professionally, though.

If you look at the macro statistics of how students perform in different subjects, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China (particularly Shanghai) has always ranked really high in maths and sciences. Yet, until recently, most of the technological breakthroughs are happening in the West.. Or perhaps, most technological advancements that happened in Asia (mind you, not only in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries) weren’t relatively discussed and/or recognized in a global scale during the past few years. Furthermore, living in Caucasian-dominated countries, I know that minorities would always have to go through the eye of a needle to have our voices heard and our efforts recognized and properly credited; otherwise the achievements we had produced would never see the light of day, or worse, People in the Position of Power™ would take credit for what we worked hard for. (Disclaimer: I don’t live in the US)

Additionally, two years ago, reports disclosed by large tech companies like Google and Facebook show that females make up less than 20% of technical employees. Unfortunately this figure drops to single digits for the larger tech community. But you shouldn’t be fazed with these facts. Yes, this is a sad reality but we can do something to change the system. At present, females working in most industries (not just in tech companies. Believe me *sighs*) should work twice as hard as a man to get to the same place, and it was made into a norm that we should just be prepared to do that. Thus, at least eventually in the tech sector, the more girls who learn how to code, the less unequal it would get. If you think about it, apps and websites like Instagram and Facebook (and uh well, Tumblr) have a wide female user base. And I truly believe that women need to be part of the voice in creating this technology to serve the users more effectively.

Yes I’m Southeast Asian as well currently living in a Caucasian-dominated country (again, not the US). But I lived in different Asian countries, so I also understand how tech startups in these regions lament the lack of local talent. Universities produce graduates who are well-versed in computer science, yet the latter go after paths that only require an understanding of programming languages suited for banking and finance. Conversely, startups use something much different and more modern—something that tech companies want to see more of. Moreover, a few years ago, tech giants like Microsoft, Facebook, and SAP appealed to the European Union education ministers to tackle skills gap in information and communications technology, saying that an estimated 900,000 jobs in Europe would be left unfilled by 2020 if not addressed. The UK has since implemented computing into the national curriculum. Again, Tumblr Politics™ could make an asinine analogy of this to Destroy Capitalism™, but the reality dictates that we need this to achieve growth in the foreseeable future. (Another disclaimer: I’m very much against classism and capitalism, but I can be level-headed as well to understand the global economic and political atmosphere that we live in. Less whining, more tangible actions to abolish these systems.)

Correct me if I’m wrong (this could easily be googled), but from what I’ve read, the average salary for a good fresh graduate programmer in the Silicon Valley is around 100,000 USD. So you can verify that this is indeed an in-demand job. But I definitely agree with your outlook as well. I quit my last job despite the high pay, advantageous position, connections and opportunities in the corporate ladder™ because I lost my passion and felt like I no longer learn something of value from it. I felt like I was just a small cog of a devious capitalistic machine, operating at an auto-pilot, and can never make an actual difference to society (contrary, I felt like I was actually working against it D:). BUT! Please. Please. Please. Never fully absorb everything you read in this hellsite as a clear reflection of how the world works. Always take everything you read with a grain of salt, because despite of the positive things we could see and the amazing people we could meet here, Tumblr is a very, very problematique™ place to take inspiration from. Of course I’m not generalizing, but sadly, some people here (despite their charisma and very persuasive convictions) proclaim revolutionary™ ideologies that only promote hateful agendas. Thus, even though I would always believe that money should never supersede passion, I also understand that the system is working against us and that it wouldn’t be as easy as we imagine it to be. So, I always seek to find balance in every decision that I make. It would also help to have a concrete plan of how you would like to see yourself in a few years (I know it sounds cliché, but I promise it’ll help), and to choose to work for a company that you know would create progressive measures to aid society as a whole, and would promote sustainable growth for the planet and the human race. Sorry if that sounds so cheesy and pretentious, but I mean it. I would like to think that that wouldn’t make us corporate sellouts™, rather, we are dreamers trying to survive and thrive in this very demanding society. [Hmm. To be honest I think corporate sellouts are the ones who exploit the society, and trample over others just to achieve their goals. Soulless creatures, I tellss ya. But yeah, maybe tumblr SJW vocabulary made another revolutionary™ breakthrough.]

That said, I know that you are already in the right track. And even though you seem to be in a dilemma, I could see that you’re geared towards computer science already :) Both maths and programming are your passions, and I’m glad that you discovered that at an early age. Don’t be afraid to take the leap. And if later on you realize that perhaps the degree you pursued wasn’t where your heart is, I can only assure you that you are not the first and last person who would feel this way—and that’s perfectly okay. Lots of people end up in jobs that are radically different from what they took up in uni, and they excel and feel really satisfied in those fields. And there are others who eventually go back to school to fulfill the academic approach that they had missed. Whatever happens, don’t be afraid to troubleshoot and start again. Don’t think that you had a late start on coding. I’m in my late 20s and I know that I still have a lot more to learn—not just with programming—and that really excites me. Remember, formal education isn’t the only place where we could learn and harness our skills. We’re so lucky to have lived in this digital age where everything could be presented to us with just a click or a tap of a button, so we should take advantage of that.

My last advice to you is to master BOTH the technical and creative skills needed in this science, both of which are essential to be a good programmer—bridging the technical side of coding with the creativity to solve problems. I know I still have a long way to go, but somehow, I think I could consider myself as someone who already has a good foundation and an in-depth knowledge of programming. This skill is something that does not only aid me in my career, but it also helps me with problem solving and thinking about issues structurally. With coding, I can solve problems and think of multiple solutions for the same problem, and can see the pros and cons for each solution. Further, I’m able to challenge my own assumptions in all of these solutions. However, like I’ve said, I don’t think that programming is something that I could do professionally. Despite excelling in the technical side of it, I believe that in this industry, the creative ability of a programmer is the one that is highly sought after. I totally concur that one should never underestimate how HARD programming is, and I guess that’s the beauty and challenge of this discipline. I know that I have the dedication and patience for this skill, but even if I master the complexities and technical skills needed in programming, admittedly, I still lack the creative elegance that I see in a professional programmer. But I hope that you could find the equilibrium in these factors and excel on them.

It will never be my intention to discourage you, on the contrary, I hope that with these information, you could objectively weigh the reality of the field that you would get yourself into. Which is why I’m glad that you did your research because it shows how serious and passionate you are to take time in educating yourself with these details. More importantly, I hope that you could talk to someone you look up to and trust in real life, because choosing a career is a serious life-changing decision. But feel free to DM me if you want to add or discuss something else :)

Thank you for your question, gotshineboc. I really hope that this could help you out. Very best of luck!

[mightbedamian]

#TMIishTuesday #53 - I Dyed My Hair!

Hey,It's finally happened! I've been telling you about dyeing my hair for AGES! And I finally did it!! It's not blue, like I first had in mind. But it looks AWESOME!Hey there mighty people of the internet!And welcome to issue #53 of #TMIishTuesday - my weekly Tumblr post about what goes through my weird mind and on what you guys want to know more about. It can be something very personal, it can be something political, it can be completely pointless - but in 99.9 % of the cases, it involves opinions. And mine as well. // Last week I ranted  about dubbing and the habit of the German speaking countries to voice-over virtually every international film. And I told you about my experiences in the Netherlands - where they simply subtitle films. Interested in the pros and cons of dubbing? Click the link above! // So I will divide this post in several parts: 1) Who inspired me to get my hair dyed, 2) What people told me beforehand when I told them I was planning to dye my hair blue, 3) What colour I went for, which part of my hair I dyed, and how people reacted to that. 1) The inspirations for the colourations Let's start with how I came up with the idea to dye my hair at all. I can't tell you exactly when it was, but I know for sure WHO was the first person that made me go: WOH, that dyed hair, tho! (Damian, just stop your poor attempts to rhyme all the time!) It was… the one, the only… Tyler Oakley. Self-entitled Queen, 100 % gay-looking (the stereotypes, I know, but come on! If not him, who else??) and trying which colour of the rainbow (how fitting!) looks best on him. When I subscribed to him in December 2013 (9 December, if you're interested - which I bet you aren't :D), he had dyed his hair rather blonde. However, soon after, he decided that was boring. So he explored a bit. From bright blonde, to the iconic purple - which, imho, is the best one he ever tried! -, to extremely bright purple, to green, to green-turquoise, to bright blue - another one of my favorite colours when his hair is concerned. And then he stopped it. At the beginning of 2015, he was back to blonde and in the meantime he has his natural colour again. That was the time that I discovered Dave Brown, known on YouTube as boyinaband - then for his music, now for his fascinating philosophical explorations into the world of society and technology. Very warmly recommending his latest videos on what artificial intelligence (aka. computers) is capable of - and what it might become capable of. Okay, enough promo. Why I talk about him in a hair-related post is - obviously - his hair. Until I discovered him, I thought that Tyler had crazy hair. Wait for Dave's hair! Long grown (in the meantime it has almost reached his waist :P). AND: One side dyed red! THE ENTIRE LENGTH of it! It looks incredible! Sometime later Fabian Grischkat, whose videos with his friends I've been following for two-and-a-half years now - sometime, Fabian dyed his hair blue. Completely. A rather light blue, pastel colour-ish. I've loved it from day one. And I should mention ChanUndSo, another YouTuber, who in fact was one of the first YouTubers I discovered. Chan has had his blonde streak ever since. And it looks great!

To conclude the inspirations chapter: Though it's not hair-related, I feel that Troye Sivan and Connor Franta also influenced my hair dyeing. In being proud of who they are. And doing "extravagant" things that the average male wouldn't do. Troye pierced his nose. Something I've seen very rarely on guys. And Connor painted his nails. On video. It's a rather rambly video, but still: He did it. Oh, and obviously Troye just SLAYED that black nail polish!! Like, it just looks SO good on him?! Both Troye and Connor just showed to me that being a little bit off the mainstream can look cool. And it’s totally acceptable. As you see, I've basically been playing around with the thought of dyeing my hair for about three years. And now I did it. 2) You sure ‘bout this? When asked about the reasons why I dyed my hair, I always have to swallow down a rude comment. Like, EVERYONE asks me: "But why have you done it?" - Do I need a reason to dye my hair? Why DON'T you dye yours? :D Like, I get that you don't see too many people with colourful hair. But especially the way I did it - one patch of turquoise on one side of the fringe (quite like Chan actually) - it's not that much of a deal?

Forgive my selfie skills. They’re non-existent.   I told my colleagues beforehand cause I wanted to ask my boss about it. I work for a government institution and people can be rather conservative there. Especially, if you are working with patients - which I do. Another thing: The clinic I work for is located in a rather rural area. Yes, it's "only" 30 minutes by car until you get to a city that has it all. But right there… like… There's not much? After all the place has only 7k inhabitants. That multiples the "that's weird!", "you shouldn't do that!" comments. As I told you briefly last week I talked to my boss  beforehand and he didn't really like the idea of me getting blue hair. In fact he told me he thinks that people, who dye their hair colourful, "are just begging for attention". Even though I told him it would only be one streak, he didn't like the plan. He did ask some other people (probably his bosses), though. And apparently they told him he couldn't forbid such a thing. All I know is that I got a text a day after when I was in school: "Dear Mr. X, I got your number from Ms. Y and wanted to write regarding your hair dyeing question. If you wish to bring about a change of appearance, you may do so. KR A. Z." Okay, three things about this: 1. I couldn't even make it sound as posh and formal as it is in German. It's just unreal! 2. I got the f*ing official GO by my boss! 3. Props to him for taking the effort! I asked him on Wednesday and was only going to return to work on Monday. He did that extra mile to ask a colleague for my number and then texted me. That's cool! Anyway, so my boss knew about my wish to dye my hair. And as you would expect in rural areas, word spread from there. :D When I returned to work on Monday, the entire department knew. And I was their gossip. For the entire three days that I was there this past week, they only knew one topic: Damian is going to dye his hair! And blue as well! "Are you sure you want to do that?", "But why blue? Can't you dye it a normal colour?", "How did you even come up with that idea?", "Be aware that that really sticks out. You will get the looks by lots of people then" And I was like: You know what? I'm still gonna do it! They didn't quite understand. And they didn't want to. But that's fine. I just did it anyway. After a failed attempt to bleach my hair, it worked the second time (with more bleach). Then it was time to choose the colour. And my hair dresser (who, btw, has dyed her entire hair a bright pink - and it looks f*ing great!) showed me one she had used before. On the paper on which she put it, it looked like a blue tone with a tiny note of green. It turned out to be a rather bright turquoise. But I loved it! And I still do. Three days in. 3) The after-English. Er... After-Math. The first one, who saw, was a good friend of mine. He said he didn't even realise at first sight. To be fair, he was facing the sun :D But he liked it. Never in a million years would do the same, but said it looked good. His mother passed as well. Was surprised. Not sure, if she liked it, but didn't back off in shock as well. :D Then it was time to show my parents. Apparently my dad had overheard part of my convo with the two others and was prepared. So was my mum who he had told. But they hadn't seen it. I had told them I was debating getting my hair dyed a year or two ago. Now it came as a surprise to them. They really liked the colour. Since I spent the weekend at my parents, I also saw friends of my parents and my aunt and uncle. The friends REALLY liked it. They were going crazy about it! Really cool as a start! My aunt and uncle, who are quite the conservative kind of people (AND live in a rural area), didn't make any comments about my hair. I'm surprised at that. Then came Monday. And work. I have to say I was a little bit unsure about it. Like, so many colleagues had told me they probably wouldn't like it. And none had been really excited about it. But: Things turned out really chill. Almost everyone was surprised I didn't dye ALL my hair. It's not like I had told each and everyone a dozen times before it would only be a small part, but hey! Who listens anyway? -.- Anyway, most people made remarks about it. Most positive, a few neutral, but none negative. I don't know what happens behind my back, but to be quite honest: I don't care! Let them have their gossip really! I dyed my hair - and I like it. I'm confident enough that I'd tell any haters off. And I think being that confident actually is part of the reason for the positive feedback. So what's the take-away from this? People are cool with it and it looks absolutely awesome! Oh, and it's sometimes scaring me when I face the mirror. But that'll ebb away eventually. :D Before I go let me know your thoughts on colourful hair. Would you ever dye yours? If so, which colour? Tell me, I wanna know! Place a comment, tweet me, dm me, or do anything else you can think of to get to me. This week's Queer Shoutout goes to freakodelic, a small YouTuber, 23 years old (if his bio is still up to date :D), who makes videos about his experiences being a trans man in Germany: The "typical" changes testosterone brings with it videos, but also on the whole bureaucratic hassles of getting your name and gender legally changed, and the like. He's the first German trans person I found on YouTube who talks about all this kind of stuff. Check him out, if you're interested. As always: Next #TMIishTuesday next Tuesday. If you have any questions in the meantime, just ask away. Whatever you’re curious about - I don’t bite. :) Until then: Stay mighty! Linkage: - Tyler Oakley: Kissing Straight Boys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcF0Qwozxmk - Tyler Oakley: Embarrassing University Stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCLf4UvGj_c - Tyler Oakley: Streaking With YouTubers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-xHazwYcw - Tyler Oakley: My Deadly Sour Cream Gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBOkSrQ-Fo4 - Tyler Oakley: 20 Emojis That Need To Exist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh8SzLOgCTE - Tyler Oakley: How I Met My Queen This Week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0LACGwbRuE - Tyler Oakley: Tyler Oakley Reacts to Teens React to Tyler Oakley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNS04P8djk4 - Dave Brown: These Google AI experiments are crazy! This is the future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4thhWiWnqI - Dave Brown: Why AI will probably kill us all.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPAmbUZ9UKk - Fabian Grischkat: http://instagram.com/fabiangrischkat - ChanUndSo: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChanUndSo - Troye Sivan: https://www.youtube.com/user/TroyeSivan18 - Connor Franta: https://www.youtube.com/user/ConnorFranta - Connor Franta: Painting My Nails & Other Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X2ZG_isjBI - Queer Shoutout: freakodelic: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBn_3X1D-R_lcsBe-tQUWtg Oh, and here’s some self-promo: - Last #TMIishTuesday: http://mightbedamian.tumblr.com/post/158117749249/tmiishtuesday-52-dubbing-sucks - All #TMIishTuesdays: mightbedamian.tumblr.com/tagged/tmi - More #TMIishTuesdays on personal topics: http://mightbedamian.tumblr.com/tagged/me - More very cool stuff: www.twitter.com/mightbedamian - Even more very cool stuff: mightbedamian.tumblr.com