#it's mango. it's obviously mango. vote for mango. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kyuala · 3 years

Text

treasure as cafe employees

heavily inspired by the cafe prince episodes from t-map!

hyunsuk

manager, obviously, even tho he himself doesn't know how he got this position

(it's bc he works hard and helps everybody else solve their problems)

not very good at making a lot of stuff (almost set their kitchen on fire once) so he sticks to supervising and helping however he can

jihoon

you'll catch him dead before you catch him actually working

pretends to suck at everything he does so hyunsuk doesnt make him do anything

2nd manager tho bc he likes bossing people around (and he's pretty good at it, too)

yoshi

good at literally every job in the cafe, but he volunteers for dish-washing duty bc nobody else wants to do it

also frequently goes around and asks customers if they're satisfied and if there's anything he could do for them

hyunsuk's right-hand man in solving problems around the cafe

junkyu

can't have him reading orders bc he usually gets nervous and tells jeongwoo "table 4 needs 347 mango smoothies"

so he's the one to take orders, and customers absolutely love him

regularly gets a side-eye from jihoon bc 3 new customers have arrived and he's still sitting at table 2, chatting with this old lady about her grandkids

mashiho

has experience in every area in the cafe, but his true calling is making desserts

likes talking to the regulars bc then he can make specially decorated desserts for them

his favorite is when little kids order though, he has an extensive collection of edible glitter and star-shaped cupcake toppers just for them

jaehyuk

the actual 2nd manager

knows how to do everything in the cafe and is responsible for training the new employees (jeongwoo has been his biggest challenge yet)

so friendly he regularly gets invited to customers' birthday parties, graduation ceremonies and even a wedding once

asahi

enjoys this cafe gig more than he thought he would, tbh

has a secret menu of really questionable recipes he came up with and hyunsuk doesn't know about

has an ongoing competition with mashi to see who can make the funniest-looking cupcake. they even have weekly matches where the others vote and everything

yedam

the cafe's live show musician! specializes in acoustic covers with his guitar and absolutely takes requests from the audience

he got this job as a favor from hyunsuk so he could put himself through music school, so he's terrified of screwing up (was the definition of "here to do my job and clock out" until he started making friends with the guys around the cafe and getting more comfortable)

has dabbled in other areas of the cafe when off-duty after getting some lessons (and pep talks) from jaehyuk so he might be getting a little bold

doyoung

well there goes doyoung, flirting with the customers again

jihoon put him on dish-washing duty but then he started flirting with their detergent delivery person too

back to waiting tables after he convinced hyunsuk his "charms" (read: flirting) could actually help them get more regular customers - and he was right.

haruto

actually decent at every job at the cafe, so hyunsuk lets him choose what he wants to do that day

keeps knocking stuff over and blaming jeongwoo

gets personally offended when customers don't flirt with him even tho he's like this 😐 the entire time

jeongwoo

found his calling in drink making, disaster child at everything else

king of duality: talks to customers in his sweet voice, turns around and curses at jaehyuk

keeps getting blamed for stuff that's knocked over and he swears he's gonna find the culprit

junghwan

this is his first job so they give him a free pass for mistakes

doesn't make a lot of them anyways, he's a prodigy

used to be shyer around customers but now he really looks forward to chit-chatting with the regulars everyday (and some of them even request junghwan as their waiter every time they come in!)

main masterlist | treasure masterlist

#treasure #treasure scenarios #treasure imagines #treasure headcanons #treasure reactions #treasure fluff #choi hyunsuk #park jihoon #yoshi #junkyu #mashiho #jaehyuk #asahi #yedam #kim doyoung #haruto #jeongwoo #junghwan #mari.doc

126 notes · View notes

babysizedfics · 3 years

Note

4!!!

-🍼

vee shows michael her pacis

vote from this concept voting post!

so its the first time michael has visited the house since vee told him about her regression. he was super supportive and understanding - honestly it made a lot of sense given what he had seen of her behaviour

and michael reassured her that he was okay with it all and that she can regress with him if she wants to. so before michael visits, vee purposefully doesnt hide any of the little items around her room as she had done every time he visited previously

and when michael comes in he sees the sanrio and winnie the pooh colouring books on her bed. he just smiles and asks if she was doing colouring before he got there

vee gets a bit shy because its so much more real to have him actually talk abt it openly, and she just shakes her head, blushes and starts to chew her nail

michael obviously notices her nervousness so he doesnt push anythinf and they just sit down on the bed to watch a cartoon - michael isnt into kids shows rlly but hes been watching steven universe with vee recently

and eventually vee notices michaels gaze has wandered during the show and hes looking at the bedside table - she looks and goes rlly red because she FORGOT that she left out a couple of pacis,

she looks up at michael kindve scared that hes gonna think its weird but he just gives her a soft little look and whispers "do you wanna show me them?"

vee squeaks and quickly hides her head behind his shoulder and he giggles "its okay we dont have to" and goes back to watching the screen

but vee is chewing her lip and fidgeting with michaels sleeve and then after some internal debate and a lot of nervousness she tugs his sleeve

so michael looks down at vee and she just,, points to the pacis silently

michael nods "yeah kitty, i saw the pacifiers. did you wanna show me them?"

and hes sounds kind, michael is always so kind, that she nods rly shy but clings to his arm tighter, not moving to pick the pacis up.

so michael reaches over and picks both of them up and puts them gently in her lap,

her fingers go to the lilac sparkly one instanty and turn it over in her hand and michael prompts "is that your favourite one? its definitely your favourite colour"

and vee just smiles and feels less shy and "um yea.. i think so.... but- but um i like all of them really..."

and she tells mimi abt all the different colours she has and how nice they feel in her mouth and she even mentions that she uses them when big sometimes for anxiety - she flips the dark blue one over to show him the clear teat and explains that one is better for chewing. thats why she has two next to her all the time so if shes little she goes for the softer cloudy teat and if shes big and anxious she uses the firmer clear one and it helps her breathe slowly

michael is actually super impressed and curious about that "oh! oh like oral stimming! like the chewy necklaces!" and vee smiles "yeah!"

then the convo abt the pacis goes quiet and vee is leaning against him and fiddling with the lilac paci in her lap, smiling softly down at it

then suddenly michael asks, sounding almost shy "kitty? can i maybe... ask you something?"

vee feels her heart stutter. she gets rlly nervos and her eyes tear up in a second because oh no hes uncomfortable he thinks its weird he's gonna ask me to never show him little stuff again oh no

she rlly quiet goes "mhm" and braces herself

then mimi asks rlly sweetly "can i maybe see you with it in? its okay if not i just kinda wanna see..."

vees cheeks quickly go hot and she pulls back a little to look up at him and check his facial expression

he's smiling a little shyly. "i promise its not because i wanna laugh or anything i just... i dunno i just wanna see, i think itll be cute" and hes a bit blushy

vee is completely thrown off by michael actually wanting to see her use her paci but,,, she hesitates then RLLY quickly puts the paci in her mouth and hurriedly covers her face with both hands

mimi giggles and says "aww vee, its ok! but i cant see you" and he rlly gently puts his hands on top of vees and she doesnt react badly so he pulls them away from her face and chuckles "hello kitty!"

at the nickname she slowly looks up at him and is sucking the paci noticeably now to help with the nerves. its bobbing in her mouth and shes blushing and her eyes are wide and michaels face instantly lights up and he coos "AWWW KITTY 💖" really gushing and adoring

vee breaks into a big big smile behind her paci and she squeaks and buries her head on michaels shoulder again as he tells her "vee oh my gosh, you look even cuter than I thought!"

"nooo mo mo" vee giggles embarrassed, itching to crawl into mimis lap but theyve never done that before so she just settles for wiggling her butt on the bed and pulling her skirt down to make sure mimi can't see her pullup

"yes yes! youre so pretty kitty~" michael says really baby talky and pokes her cheek softly (he knows she loves being called that) (she squeals a little)

michael doesnt draw too much attention to vee after that, after the little blushy giggle fit he asks her if she is regressed and she takes her paci out to say she isnt, if she was regressed she wouldnt be able to talk or really sit up on her own

so michael asks more about how she uses the pacis as a grownup for anxiety. and after talking about it they both simultaneously pause then go...

"do you think you might wanna try?"

"do you think it would make me calm?"

and then they both giggle and vee hands the dark blue paci to michael smiling rlly big and her chest is bubbly with excitement because mimi is making this feel so NORMAL and fun!

and thats why when patton walks into vee's room twenty minutes later with snacks and appl mango juice, he is greeted with the image of vee sucking her sparkly lilac paci and having fallen asleep on michaels shoulder, and michael just scrolling on his phone and spinning the blue paci in his mouth

patton actually immediately whisper apologizes, he thought that michael would be embarrassed and that it was meant to be a secret

but michael isnt embarrassed at all, he asks through the paci "oh hi pap! are bose cookiebs?"

pat nods and places the snacks on vee's desk then quietly asks if michael regresses too (he was totally ready to adopt btw lol)

but michael just laughs and takes the paci out and is like "nah i just wanted to see what it feels like but i dont think theyre for me. kitty sure looks cute with them though"

then he looks down and smiles at sleepy vee whos just blinking awake and she asks rlly quiet and high pitched "wh- mimi?" through her paci

michael giggles and looks rlly softly down at vee as he pokes her nose "im still here, kitty. you fell asleep"

and vee sighs and buries her face against his arm and suckles on her paci more

michael laughs and wiggles his arm to get her to stop faling asleep "vee no cmon your dad brought snacks! i wanna eat, get off"

and of course that makes vee cheeky and she wraps both arms tightly around mimis arm and closes her eyes as if she's asleep but shes smiling mischievously behind her paci

"nooo im hungry" "im theepy!" "no youre not sleepy you were already sleeping!" "till theepy" "youre not, youre hungry" "nop hungy" "YOU ARE im speaking it into existence your so hungry right now" "nooo thtop it!" "no i wont stop you are LITERALLY starving you want a cookie so so bad right now, you want a chewy sweet cookie and nice cold apple mango juice" .... "arrghhh now i wan cookieth and juith!" "hahahha"

and patton just watches on with the softest smile because hes so happy vee found such a wonderful supportive friend

#I LOVE MIXHAEL I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM #little/big michael #little/big concepts #little/big ocs #agere virgil #ts agere #cg patton #asks #🍼 anon

33 notes · View notes

tbr-agency · 3 years

Text

Got7′s fans summarize 7 moments that made them fall in love more with JYPE’s exclusive bodyguards.

In March of 2019, JYP Entertainment announced that they had teamed up with the law enforcement group which is now a well-known agency as MMG Agency.

At first, MMG Agency’s team was supposed to be guarding JYP Entertainment boy group, GOT7. But after a few months, JYP Entertainment had MMG Agency’s team working for JYPE artists, after seeing excellence services by the bodyguards.

Then in early 2020, JYP Entertainment had introduced MMG Agency’s team which now are called as MMG Units and the one that is working closely with JYPE artists are The Bloody Roses.

It gained massive attention from JYPE fans, especially Got7 fans.

Now these are the 7 moments of Got7′s bodyguard and Got7 themselves that got fans fangirling.

1. Got7′s Mark and his bodyguard,

We all know that Dispatch exposed Mark and his bodyguard in September of 2019. Though Got7′s Mark hasn’t written any letter to the fans nor JYP Entertainment confirming their relationship, Ahgases was sure that these two are a couple after seeing the times when they hang out together.

With the pictures that were exposed by Dispatch, we could tell that Mark really loves his bodyguard and seeing how happy he looks with her in the pictures, his bodyguard now called maybe-girlfriend since both the company and Mark hasn’t confirmed the relationship, she really makes him happy.

There were a few rare times that she would be in Mark’s instagram story and one memorable ones when they were out for lunch. The couple were dressed in casual and the caption was “Accompany her for lunch,” then zooming onto his order of food and her face.

Fans noticed that she was wearing a NIS jacket and fans found out that all Got7’s bodyguards were now working with NIS.

2. Got7′s JB’s bodyguard being shy and pouty with his bodyguard,

Fans were amazed on how Got7’s Jb looks whenever he is with his bodyguard. On stage and with his members, Jb sometimes had that serious leader moment but if he is with his bodyguard, it turns out that he is the opposite.

Jb would always seem to have that shy and pouty look whenever he is with his bodyguard. He would always stick by her side whenever they were in an airport. Fans have captured moments when Jb would hold onto her shoulders in a moment when fans were crowding them.

Fansites have also captured times when Jb would frown and pout towards his bodyguard when she was walking away from him. It was said from one of his fansites that he was begging his bodyguard to buy 3 bottles of strawberry milk but his bodyguard would jokingly ask him to buy by himself causing the leader to pout and frown.

Fans find this funny and cute since they get to see this side of Jb other than seeing his cute side when he is with his own members.

Ahgases knew that Jb really cared for his bodyguard when he posted an instagram story of her in her uniform. Fans figured out from his bodyguard’s agency website that his bodyguard graduated from CIA University.

3. Got7′s Jackson being clingy with his bodyguard,

Ahgases voted these two to have the cutest relationship between an idol and a bodyguard. We all know there were moments where Got7′s Jackson would spot to be clingy with his own members so it is no surprise when fans saw how clingy Jackson is with his own bodyguard.

Fansites would capture moments when Jackson was linking arms with his bodyguard with another member which is either Bambam or Yugyeom linking the other arm of Jackson’s bodyguard. Fans find it hilarious as the face shows how his bodyguard is feeling with just how the way she expressed herself.

Fansites captured the frown she had on her face as she looked at both members but as soon as Jackson looked at her, she would raise an eyebrow and Jackson would innocently look at her.

Another moment was when on the way to MusicBank, Jackson was spotted to meet with his bodyguard in the carpark area and it seems that his bodyguard was carrying a bag that had his belongings. Fans captured a moment when Jackson had a poker face as he was holding onto his bodyguard wrist, dragging her into the building while waving towards fansites with a thin-line smile.

4. Got7′s Jinyoung moments with his beautiful bodyguard,

Fans voted these two to be the most good looking idol-bodyguard. We all know how Got7′s Jinyoung looks like when he is serious, we have seen him conversing with the other members and in dramas - when he is being serious.

Fansites captured moments of Jinyoung and his bodyguard having a serious discussion right outside JYP Entertainment's new headquarters. Though fans were curious on what both of them were talking about, some fans were amazed on how beautiful Jinyoung’s bodyguard looked up-close in pictures.

Some fans were looking up-close on Jinyoung's look, leaning against the glass window of JYPE headquarters, frowning with folded arms while staring at his bodyguard who was explaining rather seriously.

Fansites also captured moments when his bodyguard was with Jinyoung on one fine morning. From the picture, it looks like Jinyoung was grabbing a cup of coffee with his bodyguard as they walk side-by-side - somehow not minding the cameras, instead Jinyoung waved towards the fan sites and told them to be careful.

What made fans adore his bodyguard is that for the first time, they were allowed to take pictures of Jinyoung - with the permission of Jinyoung himself looking casual as he was wearing a snapback and black shades.

5. Got7′s Youngjae’s bodyguard stops staff from being harsh towards fans during fan-signs

We all know that Got7′s Youngjae is an angel and a sunshine to his fans and it was no surprise that his bodyguard has the same traits as him. The difference is it seems that his bodyguard is more badass and more straight-forward when it comes to confronting people, not that Youngjae isn’t straight-forward - we have moments when Youngjae confronts sasaengs.

Youngjae’s bodyguard was seen to have an argument with the staff that in-charge of the fansign that day. To cut time, the staff forced fans to hurry interacting with the Got7 members. Got7 being angels ignored the staff and continued the fan-sign with their own pace but this made staff to be more harsh towards the fans.

The staff could have spoken in polite words but it seems he was being and fans could see some of the members frowning and turning towards the staff. This was when Youngjae’s bodyguard stepped in with her hands in her leather jacket - watching the scene then finally spoke her words.

“You know, since you are forcing them to hurry up and have 2 minutes talk with Got7, might as well turn this originally-to-be-fansign to be a high-touch right? You got to at least give the fans 5 minutes. That was too short. I counted it as 2 minutes for one fan, dude.”

The members were trying not to smile nor chuckle - hearing how straightforward Youngjae’s bodyguard is. Youngjae could only smile widely as he silently nodded towards his bodyguard.

All fans were thankful for Youngjae’s bodyguard that day.

6. Got7′s Bambam giving words of encouragement to his bodyguard and posting a picture of his bodyguard on twitter,

Fans admired these two as they were seen to have an idol-bodyguard relationship as best friends. We all know Got7′s Bambam has a group chat with the 97 liners and Bambam reveals that his childhood friend is BlackPink Lisa.

Fans were happy that he made friends with his own bodyguard and her team. Fans could tell they were close since Bambam posted a tweet and a picture of his bodyguard - not to mention that it was somehow an unglam picture of his bodyguard.

“Cheer up and be confident! Good luck on your final exam and come back to Korea asap! We can have some mango sticky rice and toast with the other hyungs as soon as you arrive here!”

It seems that he posted a picture of his bodyguard who looks like she isn’t aware that the picture was being taken.

Fans figured out that his bodyguards’ team were studying abroad since Bambam mentioned her to come back and fans found out that Bambam’s bodyguard and the rest of the member’s bodyguard were in Virginia, the state where they attended university.

7. Got7′s Yugyeom was seen with his bodyguard in public libraries looking pouty,

It was revealed by fans that he was having a private time since there was no manager with him, instead he was with his bodyguard. We all are not surprised that Got7′s Yugyeom reads since his own members have posted pictures of the maknae reading a book - with captions that were obviously teasing the tall maknae.

Fans captured pictures of Yugyeom walking behind his bodyguard while quietly whining and somehow wanting his bodyguard’s attention as she was looking at books. It seems that the tall maknae was being whiny and pouty that day.

Fans said that they could hear him saying “Can we just order it online?” “You read this kind of book? It looks scary!” “Oh! I didn’t know libraries have these kinds of books!”

Fans were shocked to see that Yugyeom’s bodyguard were into law and science since the books were obviously related to those subjects but they weren’t too surprised since Got7’s bodyguards were all working under the law enforcements.

Fans also stated that Yugyeom in the end was so engrossed with how his bodyguard explained to him with each book he picked up and asked her. Now we all get to know that Yugyeom’s bodyguard is a book-worm.

So Ahgases wasn't too surprised if all of them were considered as close friends since the bodyguards are all revealed to have different personalities.

Which idol-bodyguard do you think has the cutest friendship/relationship?

masterlist : Got7 Bodyguard Au

19 notes · View notes

sloanepearson · 4 years

Text

A more in depth look at Sloane Pearson

The Basics

Name? Sloane Pearson

Age? Twenty six

Approximate height? 5′2″, but usually in boots that make faer 5′6″

Hair colour? Brown

Eye colour? Dark Brown

Do they speak with an accent? There are hints of a Boston accent

Where are they from? downtown Boston, MA

Where are they now? Pelican Town

Backstory

Who are their parents? Patricia Kendrick & Anthony Pearson

What is their earliest memory? Faer earliest memory was the sight of faer mother running up to faer crying because fae had fallen off of the jungle gym and hit faer head. Fae was four at the time and had to get stitches.

What did they want to be when they grew up? Sloane loved the stars and wanted to be an astronaut.

What did/do their parents want them to be? Faer parents never pushed faer into one field, more so discouraged pursuing the arts/non-lucrative fields. They thought fae were good at math and did encourage more mathematical fields of study.

Do they have siblings? Older or younger? Brothers or sisters? Yes, fae has an older brother (Marcus) and a younger half-sister (Caroline)

Do they have or have they ever had children? How many? No children, not sure if fae wants them.

Do they or have ever had a significant other? Are they still with them? Why? Why not? Yes, fae has had a few partners. Most noteworthy was the man fae was dating shortly after dropping out of college and becoming homeless. It was a friends with benefits situation at first (largely the benefit of having a home), but the relationship turned sour due to how much Sloane relied on him and him exploiting that position.

Up until now, what’s the most noteworthy thing they’ve done? To them? To the people around them? Right now, fae thinks that being able to get faerself off the streets and make a business is the most noteworthy thing fae has done. Yet, Sloane has avoided telling family/people fae grew up with what fae has been up to for years. Fae is waiting until fae feel content with how the business is prospering.

Tastes

What’s your character’s favourite colour? Shades of purple, especially those leaning towards the pink spectrum, like mauve.

Do they/would they choose to wear a scent? What would it be? Yes, quite frequently. The scent changes, from lavender to cinnamon.

Do they care about what things look like? All things, or only some? Sloane does have a huge dedication to making things appear like a certain aesthetic. But only faer own possessions.

What’s their favourite ice cream flavour? Fae likes most sweets, but fae often goes for either mango/raspberry flavors or chocolate

Are they a tea, or coffee drinker? Or soft drinks, or do they drink a lot of alcohol? What kind? Tea and coffee. Tea more often than coffee, especially faer own blends, but fae won’t turn down coffee on mornings where tea won’t do it. No soft drinks. Alcohol is an infrequent thing these days. But fae will occasionally drink some red wine,

What kind of books do they read? What TV shows and movies do they watch? Fae reads a wide assortment of books in faer downtime and listens to different educational podcasts. A lot of poems, but several about spirituality or fantasy. Fae does not watch TV or movies on faer own, but will watch any with friends.

What kind of music do they like? Do they like music at all? Fae loves music that is very lowkey. Indie folk music is faer favorite.

If they were about to die, what would they have as their last meal? Ooof that’s a hard one. Fae would probably want a sample of all different foods, but fae does love different curries and tacos...and baked goods.

Are they hedonistic? In all cases? Or does practicality sometimes/always/often win out? Sloane used to be much more of a hedonist. Fae still does things that bring faer joy, but tries to be more practical about choices fae make.

Do they have any philias or phobias? No philias, perse, but fae does have a phobia of heights and clowns.

Morals, Beliefs, and Faith

Do they have an internal or an external moral code? Now as an ‘adult’, faer moral code is mostly internal, but it was shaped by an external moral code.

To what extent are their actions dictated by this code? Almost entirely. There have been circumstances in faer life where choices were made that fae knew were against faer own code.

Do they believe in a God or Gods/Goddesses/Higher being of some description? Yes, fae believes in Yoba and that there are spiritual forces guiding humanity

Are they superstitious? To an extent. Fae does believe in spirits and ghosts, but not in old wives tales...not most of them

Do they believe in an afterlife? If so, what’s it like? Yes, but fae are not sure what to believe it will be like. There are so many theories, that fae tries not to get ‘lost in the sauce’ and focus on the present.

Do they have any specific beliefs that manifest obviously? There are not religious principles that manifest obviously, but fae does wear religious symbols

Are the respectful of the beliefs of others? To what extent? Sloane keeps an open mind and respects others beliefs, until that belief leads to scapegoating others or disrespecting faer own.

Have they ever had to stand up to criticism for being religious? Or not being religious? Sloane has had people criticize faer beliefs and say faer involvement was only superficial or to ‘seem unique’.

Would they be more likely to act for the good of the one, or the good of the many? It would depend on the circumstance. If the one was someone fae knew and cared about, fae would likely act for the good of one. But under other circumstances, it would be for the good of many.

Relationships

Do they make friends easily? Yes, at least, fae thinks so

Do they have a best friend? Several close friends, but not a best friend. Fae has never liked the term ‘best’ friend because it infers a hierarchy

Can they get people to do what they want them to? If so, how? Sometimes. Fae is very good at compromising. And has pretty decent puppy dog eyes that some are weak to.

Do they have a lot of romantic relationships? Serious, or short term? Fae has had experience dating. Most short term with people of all genders, one long term.

Do they fall in and out of love easily? Fae falls in and out of lust easily. Love was quick the first time and has since been a drawn out process.

Do strangers and acquaintances actually like them when they meet? Sloane thinks so, fae has an alluring, mysterious vibe.

Do they have a network? Fae does - a network throughout the Ferngill Republic for selling and buying unique objects. But also in the valley, fae’ve grown close to Henry, Ben, Alex, Gabby, and Finley

What is their relationship like with their family? Strained. Largely due to faer own self-inflicted distance. Fae doesn’t want to disappoint them, so fae has not seen them since faer grandmother’s funeral and only gives vague updates. Fae is more open with faer siblings but hasn’t seen them in person in a few years either.

Are they still in touch with non-family people they were in touch with a year ago? Five years? Ten? More? A handful of people from faer days in college days, and faer days travelling a few years ago but none from Boston.

Do they like children? Do they want children of their own? Sloane enjoys children in small doses. They are so receptive to believing in magic which fae enjoy, but fae is unsure if fae wants one of faer own.

Physical Appearance

How does this character dress? How would they choose to dress, if all options were open to them? Vintage bo-ho style. Faer closet is full of cheap finds from thrift shops. Fae would get some clothes that were a bit nicer if fae had those options, but similar style.

Do they have any tattoos? What do they mean? Yes, fae has a rose tattooed on their left shoulder blade, but doesn’t talk about the meaning.

Do they have piercings? How many? Yes, both ears, faer right cartilage, and faer septum

Do they have scars? Where did they come from? Fae has a scar on faer ankle from falling out of a tree as a child.

Do they alter their appearance in some way on a regular basis? Not really

Is there something they’d choose to change about their appearance if they had the opportunity to? Not anymore, fae has grown content with faer appearance

Is there something about their appearance they’re particularly proud of/happy with? Sloane likes faer jawline

Objectively, are they physically attractive? Fairly plain? Unattractive? OP would say so, Sloane would probably give a shrug.

Do they have an accurate mental picture and opinion of their physical appearance? Yes

How much time do they spend thinking about their physical appearance? Less since moving into faer van, but still a little bit of time.

General Knowledge

Can they navigate their own local area without getting lost? To what degree? Yes, Sloane is pretty curious and loves to explore where fae lives. Could probably navigate the town with faer eyes closed.

Do they know who the top politician or monarch is where they live? What about elsewhere? Where fae live, definitely. Outside of the US? Just a handful.

Do they know if/where there are any major conflicts going on right now? Yes, fae keeps up to date on major news events, but does not keep tabs on every issue/bills, laws currently being voted on, unless they are something major.

Do they know the composition of water? Yes! Any chemistry beyond that, likely not.

Do they know how to eat a pomegranate? Yes, but questionable if fae are willing to undergo the effort. Fae loves pomegranate flavored things, however.

Are they good with the technology available to them? Average? Completely hopeless? Below average for faer age. Fae used to be fairly good at digital software, but the only technology fae owns is a smartphone (that is several generations old).

Could they paint a house? Without making a mess of it? Paint a house, for sure. Make a mess? Depends on if that is requested. Fae may make a mess out of spite, or to get a smile out of someone.

Could they bake a cake? Would you eat it if they did? Ish, fae can bake cookies and muffins, but faer cakes don’t turn out quite the texture of a cake. But they do taste good.

Do they know how to perform basic maintenance on the common mode of transportation? Fae knows how to change a tire, jump-start a car, change the oil, but that’s about it.

Do they know the price of a loaf of bread? All too well.

Specific Knowledge

Do they have a specific qualification in a narrow area? Sloane has good instincts for making faer way without many resources, and, as such, is skilled in bartering and haggling, as well as making cheap fixes. But faer other ‘skills’ are less practical.

Is there something they do or know exceptionally well that most other people don’t? Fae gives great advice on self care. Often is good at practicing what fae preach in that regard as well.

Do people often comment on a particular skill or area of knowledge to this character? Behind their back? People in town often recognize faer connection (realized or imagined, depending on who you ask) to faer spiritual side

Is there an area this character could be considered top of their field or a genius in? Not at all, but fae does have more knowledge on divination than anyone in the area

Have they deliberately sought to gain knowledge in a specific area? If so, why? Yes, fae frequently seek out knowledge about the spirits. Fae feels as though connecting to them will bring more peace to faer live and a sense of ease knowing what else is out there.

Do they speak more than one language? More than two? Why? Yes, Sloane speaks English and Spanish. A lot of faer friends spoke Spanish as their first language, so fae learned as a kid growing up. It would take a little re-immersion to pick it back up though.

Does their cultural background effect what they would be expected to know? Not really.

Have they ever been publicly acknowledged for being well-versed in something? Yes, fae was sent to the principal’s office for their knowledge of the ‘occult’

Have they ever been bullied for knowing a lot about something? Sloane has been picked on for faer strong faith and former beliefs in fairytales.

Do they actively seek new knowledge, or let it come to them naturally? Fae gets a lot of knowledge through faer travels, but fae does listen to podcasts and such to learn things fae may have missed out on in the past.

Miscellaneous

What did they have for breakfast this morning? Fae had some baked goods courtesy of Henry, and a cup of tea

What ridiculous belief/s did they have as a child? That fae could speak with the animals if fae imitated the noises they made and just inflected like a person would.

Do they like marshmallows? Only in s’mores or hot chocolate. On their own, they are bland.

Do they sleep on their side, front, or back? Fae is a side sleeper.

Do they work better with sound or silence? Sound. Lo-Fi hip hop is where it is at.

Do they have a strange obsession with something minor? Sloane spends hours obsessing with how the shop appears. Now, fae has it down to an art, but fae put a ridiculous effort into the aesthetics of it all.

Do they like art? Fae adore art and collect anything eye-catching. If fae could affored it, fae would own a gallery.

How fast can they run? A decent pace, but fae hate running. Yoga is preferred.

Do they prefer to sit on the floor or on a chair? Fae loves a comfortable armchair to drape faerself on but will otherwise sit on the floor because fae tends to fidget a lot.

What do they want, right now? Sloane desires financial stability of faer own means.

#( * about * )#( stealing from y'all cause i wanna develop sloane more )

3 notes · View notes

purplesurveys · 4 years

Text

676

Themed surveys are the shit y’all. There should definitely be more of these.

General

Where is your country? My country is in Asia – specifically in Southeast Asia, which I recently learned a lot of people outside Asia aren’t aware of. We’re situated just right below China and we neighbor Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia. How big is your country? It’s moderately large, but when you consider how many we are, we are an extremely small country. What is the population of your country? 109 million. I’m not sure if this is still updated, but we’re around the 12th most populated country in the world. Compare that with how we’re only the 77th in terms of size. How would you describe the landscape? We are an archipelago, which means our country is essentially a collection of thousands of little islands – 7,107 in total. Side note: this means it’s always been extremely hard to make an attempt to be ‘united’ as a nation, due to the fact that we are literally separated from one another. But besides that, yeah we’re made up of a lot of islands which means going from one province to another typically requires you to travel via plane, boat, or ferry. Aside from the tiny islands that we have, our country has three main islands, of which the small ones are a part of – Luzon (which is where Manila is and where I live), Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is also part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which means we have a number of active volcanoes and that we are prone to hurricanes – and we do get them, badly, every year. We also have a number of mountain ranges consisting mostly of tropical rainforests; these ranges, while beautiful, make traveling from province to province quite a challenge. Which part of your country do most people live in? Oh Manila, without a doubt. Most people, especially from the provinces, want to move to Manila because it’s the economic hub and everyone has an ideal image of it bearing opportunity for them. Unfortunately it is never what it seems and Manila is instead filled with the urban poor, some homeless and some living in shanties or illegal settlements. A lot also live in the cities surrounding Manila in a region we call Metro Manila (or, officially, the National Capital Region) to have closer access to Manila, and also because these cities have proven to give them a better life as well.

Tell me about the main industries there. The main economy is agriculture, but since then we’ve been making a shift to manufacturing and the service industries. While the shift looks good on paper, it has since meant that our farmers have been neglected and they remain extremely poor despite the effort they put into their work. Our biggest exports are sugar, coconuts, rice, bananas I think?, pineapples, and mangoes. Tourism is also an important industry and unfortunately we’ve been hit hard by the coronavirus. Nevertheless, significant tourist spots include Boracay, Puerto Galera, Palawan, Siargao, Baler, Vigan, La Union, and Baguio. Lastly – while it’s not an ‘industry’ per se, millions upon millions of Filipinos also try their luck abroad as OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) for better opportunity and higher pay. As a result, their remittances to the country is one of the biggest things that contribute to our economy every year, because these OFWs are usually the breadwinners and thus send money to their families, which obviously end up pouring into the national economy. What agricultural products are produced by your country? I’ve already mentioned them, but we’re essentially powerhouses in producing rice, sugar, coconuts, corn, rubber, several fruits such as pineapples and bananas, and a type of material called abaca.

Food and drink

What traditional dishes are served in your country? Which is your favorite? What’s the recipe? We have many, considering PH has a very rich native culture. A lot of our dishes have been inspired by Spanish and Chinese culture, such as lechon (whole roasted pig) and afritada (meat and veggies in tomato sauce) for Spanish cuisine; and siopao (a bread-like dumpling), siomai (our version of Chinese dumplings), and pancit (noodles) for Chinese cuisine. But besides those, we also have come up with our own such as dinuguan (pork blood stew), sisig (chopped pig’s cheek skin, ears, and liver), and sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth). My personal favorite is kare-kare , which is oxtail and vegetables in peanut sauce. I dunno how to cook it but both my grandmothers have the best recipes.

What drinks is your country famous for? We’re not particularly known for our drinks as much as for our food, but we do have sago’t gulaman and taho. Fruit shakes are also widely popular, and so is coconut juice. We also produce several variants of coffee, such as barako and arabica.

What alcoholic drinks are produced in your country?Again, not really internationally renowned for drinks but Filipinos LOVE their beer. Popular favorites include San Miguel Pale Pilsen, San Mig Light, and Red Horse. Tuba and lambanog are notable local alcoholic drinks but tbh they’re so native and mostly consumed in the province that as a city girl, I don’t even know what they’re made of, and I mostly read of them in books lmao.

Are there any stories behind traditional foods? Not really. But essentially, Filipinos have historically lived in the wild, with some provinces more remote than others; and a lot of people are generally poor. That means it’s in our blood to have to make do with what we have, which is why a lot of our dishes are composed of things that may be conceived as weird by others, such as duck embryo, chicken intestines, or pig’s cheeks. We’re not ‘uncultured’ or ‘disgusting,’ we’re only from a different culture with very different origins than that of the West.

Political

What is the political system in your country? I just know we live in a democracy, but the official system name for our government is apparently a unitary presidential constitutional republic; thanks, Wikipedia.

Who is in power at the moment? Unfortunately we currently have a garbage of a President, and an internationally notorious one at that – Rodrigo Duterte.

How is your country dealing with the current financial crisis? I honestly don’t know how to answer this. The Philippines has never been one of the top dogs when it comes to global economy, and as far as I know we’ve always played it safe when it comes to this, so we don’t really get seriously hit when financial crises happen.

What can you say about the leaders of your country? Miserable. Most of our senators did not deserve a seat, but there they are. As it stands, we have a TV host, a boxer (Manny Pacquiao, no less), a former police chief, and an actor in the Senate. A number of personalities in the entertainment industry have also found careers in politics. This means a lot of the things that are urgent and need lots of rational decision-making are always handled poorly and haphazardly. A lot of politicians are known to be corrupt, stealing millions of money and spending more than they earn – but they always get away with it, the ones who are supposed to be the watchdogs of corruption are also their allies. The genuinely good politicians are always overpowered, silenced, arrested, killed, ostracized – and lose elections.

The elections system is just as sad. Most, if not all, candidates, appeal to emotion and literally exploit the poor by using them as talent in their commercials to show the other poor people watching TV that they are on their side – and because the poor don’t have access to education and don’t know any better, they end up voting for them, even though these candidates don’t actually give a single fuck about the poor. Many spend hundreds upon millions for TV and radio ads for 30-second spots. Election violence, vote buying, and ghost voting are widespread.

Cities

How would you describe the capital city and any other main cities? Manila is a sad shell of what it used to be. Look up photos of Manila in the 50s and 60s, and you’d see it looks no different than the streets of Los Angeles or New York. Today it’s neglected, overpopulated, congested, and resided by people who were once filled with hopes and dreams about Manila. There’s a side of Manila that is beautiful and pretty wealthy – the part along Manila Bay – but this side is only riddled with Chinese businessmen, most of whom treat Filipinos like shit. Quezon City, Makati, and Ortigas are the economic and financial hubs surrounding Manila and for the most part these cities are known as the hip places and it’s where the youth and adults hang out. It’s where the malls, bars, restaurants are, and these cities are the ones shrouded in Western influence; but because people do flock to these places, the cost of living is extremely high from parking fees to condominiums. The major city in Visayas is Cebu and in Mindanao, Davao; but given that I’ve only been to Cebu once, and Davao never, I can’t say much about them. What special attractions can be found in each city? Manila has Rizal Park and tons of museums but the city itself isn’t a favorite among foreign tourists; these people usually go to our beaches like Boracay and Palawan, or the cities that offer a more local scenery, like Baler, Bohol, and Ilocos.

Sports and games

What is the most popular sport in your country? How do you play it? Basketball, FOR SURE. Every barangay or municipality has their own basketball court – literally. Filipinos are just basically obsessed with it whether it’s the NBA, the PBA, or basketball even at the collegiate level. Are there any sports or games unique to your country? Very few. We’ve mostly gotten eaten up by Western culture and patronize sports such as basketball, boxing, and volleyball. The only traditional sport I know of is arnis, which even I know very little about except for the fact that it’s a martial art that involves sticks. When is the best time to watch them? I’ve never watched a game of arnis. And I generally don’t watch sports, so I’m not the best person to answer this lmao. How well does your country do in international competitions? I don’t follow a lot but we’ve made our mark here and there. Obviously Manny Pacquiao is a boxing legend, but we also have Hidilyn Diaz for weightlifting, Efren Reyes for billiards, Paeng Nepomuceno for bowling, Carlos Yulo for gymnastics, and Lydia de Vega for track. Are there any sports that foreign visitors practice in your country? I don’t think so. Is football (soccer) popular in your country? If so, which are the best teams? Not really.

Weather

Is the weather very different in different parts of the country? No. It’s mainly tropical, with extremely humid summers and it’s moderately cold by the end of the year. Only cities with high elevation, like Baguio and Sagada, get EXTREMELY cold during the Ber months, which makes them popular vacation spots during Christmas haha. Sometimes the temperature will dip down to 10 or 9 degrees Celsius, which is a huge deal here.

Can you describe the seasons? We don’t have the conventional ‘seasons’ y’all have. We have two main ones – warm and wet. Wet is just the season with typhoons, warm is either summer, or a period with no typhoons. Pretty straightforward.

What is the best time to visit? It depends on where you’re going. Going to Baguio, for example, is the best during the colder months (October to December) to really maximize the colder weather. Going to the beaches is ideal in April to June.

Language

What languages are spoken in your country? Nearly 200, but official languages are Filipino and English. What language do you usually hear on the streets? Filipino. But it depends where I am, too. In wealthier cities, I’ll hear English more. How many people speak English in your country? A good number; I’d say 60-70% can understand or speak basic English. Those who can speak it conversationally comprise a smaller amount. Some still live in pretty remote areas and thus have no concept of English.

Customs

Is there a particular national costume? Can you describe it? Yeah, for the woman we have baro’t saya, and for the men we have the barong Tagalog. Just Google them lmao.

Are there any special local dances? What are they like? Several ones, like tinikling (a dance where you have your feet play with bamboo poles routinely beat together or tapped by two other people) and cariñosa, a romantic dance. But due to the Western influence here, people are more prone to get into hip-hop or contemporary dance more. Are the people generally friendly? Without a doubt, yes. Filipinos are extremely known for their hospitality. If a tourist were to knock on our door right now we would definitely let him in, make him dinner, and my mom would probably ask me to give my bedroom to him for the night. What are some special customs or traditions in your country?

We have the mano po, which is when younger individuals would greet their seniors/superiors by taking the older person’s right hand with their right hand, and placing the back of the older person’s right hand it onto their forehead. It’s a significant sign of respect and to avoid doing it is extremely impolite.

We also have the concept of community spirit, or bayanihan. Basically, if one is in need, everyone in the same community steps up and helps. The quinetessential example for this is when one has to move their hut to a new location (Filipinos before were nomadic), all the neighbors swoop in to help lift the hut and carry it all the way to the new place.

Courtship was an important step in traditional society, and the man would do a harana, or serenade the woman while playing the guitar, in front of her house while she looks out her window.

Noche Buena is the traditional midnight meal (kinda like our version of Thanksgiving) that we have by the end of Christmas Eve to usher in Christmas Day

Po and opo are filler words used to denote respect, and is always affixed to the end of sentences when speaking with elders. It’s not required, but of course you’ll look like a disrespectful asshole if you don’t use it with older people.

History

What can you tell me about the history of your country?

Pre-colonial Philippines was rich and vibrant, and one that would be considered pretty fucking progressive even today – transgender people were welcome, women were of a higher social status than men, among others.

This all changed when the Spaniards came and tl;dr ruined everything for us. They wiped out our folk religions, literature, songs, legends, epics, and everything good that we had going. Friars abused us physically, sexually, and economically; everyone was forced to convert to Catholicism; early newspapers were shut down; forced labor was imposed; anyone who disagreed with their rule was killed.

After 333 years we were sold to the US for $20 million. Americans gave us the modern education system, a modern government system, a richer literature, religious freedom, and of course, the English language. But they also brought us colonial mentality and materialism, which persists to this day. Americans were also racist towards us and the only reason we have international schools today is because these were actually started up by American soldiers so that their’ kids would have schools that didn’t have native Filipinos in them.

By WWII, Japan destroyed the Philippines, leaving us to start from scratch. They bombed Manila, raped our women and young girls and made them sex slaves, brutally murdered everybody else who weren’t women and young girls, stole everything from us, and established a puppet government in Manila to bully us further. The only reason they gave us independence was because US had dropped atomic bombs onto Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they had no choice but to surrender.

Three colonizers has left us pretty traumatized, something we’ve never truly recovered from to this day. Our political system is shaky, our sense of identity is lost, we’ve never been truly ‘united’ as a nation, and the Catholic penetration has made us a widely conservative, pro-life, anti-LGBT country.

Did your country gain independence from another country? If so, when and how did this happen? See above.

#survey #surveys #bruh i feel like i just wrote a research paper #I TOOK 3 HOURS ANSWERING THIS #but it was very fun

2 notes · View notes

charlottedabookworm · 6 years

Text

Ardynson AU: Tonberries

So this and my platonic NyxNoct thing got the most votes, so I’m posting this now and the other one in half-hour or so. Hope y’all like it, tell me what you think.

@distressedherbalist @hamelin-born @sparklecryptid

He closed his eyes, praying to Ramuh that he was hallucinating.

(One of these days, that trick would actually work – would have him untold chaos and headaches and irritation.

But not today)

“Ulric, what the actual fuck?!” The voice itself was only vaguely familiar – not one of the glaive, he knew them all by name, but of the Crownsguard who he had worked with before – but the tone was one that he’d heard dozens of times before.

“Are- are those Tonberries?” Another guard, younger this time – because even the baby glaives were at least somewhat adapted to Nyx’s shenanigans – prompted him to reopen his eyes.

Only to groan as he confirmed – once again – that he wasn’t seeing things.

Shit.

Before he could say anything, Nyx spoke up.

“Well, yeah. Obviously.” He rolled his eyes slightly, made less effective than normal by the way that his face was lit up with joy. “Aren’t they adorable?”

There was a beat of silence and some cut off laughter as everyone realised what he’d already known, Nyx was being completely serious.

He glanced around the room, ignoring Crowe – the brat – cackling in the background. (He was glad that one of them could find this hilarious). Most of the Crownsguard present looked both confused and completely freaked out by being in such close proximity to a pack of Tonberries – the wimps. (And damn it, he’d been spending too much time with Nyx. The other man was corrupting him). Which wasn’t exactly an easy state to drive the Crownsguard too, not unless you were Nyx. The rest of the non-Galahdians present looked like they felt about the same, though he was glad to note that all of the glaives present looked more irritated than scared.

Except for the Marshall, of course. He just looked like he was so done with his idiot friend and didn’t even know why this shit surprised him anymore, which was a look that Libertus was intimately familiar with. (He was wearing it at this very moment).

“Damn it, Nyx!” He had to fight the urge to facepalm. Or to slam his head into the nearest hard surface – it wouldn’t work, he knew that from experience.

Libertus honestly hadn’t thought that he’d have to deal with this in Insomnia of all places: any multitude of other things, up to and including murderous Astrals trying to kill his best friend, sure; this specific event while they were one a mission outside of the city, maybe, it wouldn’t surprise him.

But not this in the city – in the Citadel – itself.

Nyx – his idiot of a brother – just looked confused from where he sat on the floor, being dogpiled by many murderous midgets. “What?” He asked as he noticed the incredulous stares that he was getting from 90% of the people in the room – reaching up to pat Spot (who was clamped around Nyx’s thigh giggling eerily) on the head even as he smiled and thanked Mango as he offered him a piece of fruit speared on a knife, ignoring the way that Tree was perched on his head swinging his lantern around.

Hunter was sat between Nyx’s legs, intensely focused on stabbing as many leaves as he could and only looking up at Nyx every-so-often.

(Honestly, though, they were sort of adorab-)

(No.

No. He refused to go there. He would not be completely corrupted. The tiny murderous daemons were not adorable.

They weren’t)

(And, damn it. He knew their names. He recognised them by sight and could identify them all – despite them being basically identical.

When had this become his life?)

(When he and Nyx had taken one look at each other and promptly decided – at four years old – that they were brothers and nothing would separate them.

There were days when he started to regret the choices of his four-year-old self)

The scene was practically identical to the first time that he had seen it – not long after a five-year-old Nyx had adopted the entire pack and named them, all because Mango had given him a mango and Nyx had taken it as a sign of eternal friendship. The only one missing was Berry, who was the first that Nyx had named and the youngest of the pack.

(Look, they’d been 5 – alright?

The names had seemed like a good idea at the time)

Sonitus glanced over at him, questioning, and he sighed. “Yeah. He’s serious.”

Libertus totally identified with the ‘What the Fuck’ face that that got him.

In the next moment, the door opened – a young Guard walking in. The second that they saw the Tonberries, they panicked – drawing their gun and firing a shot.

And Nyx – Nyx snarled.

An inhuman growl rumbled in the back of his throat as he pushed the pack firmly behind him, teeth bared ferally and eyes glowing a rich alien gold.

Fuck.

Stepping forward, hoping to defuse the situation before Nyx did anything stupid, he opened his mouth, “Nyx-”

Lightning blinded them all.

Slamming down into the ground mere meters from the Guard who had fired the shot (and Lib was just glad that Nyx had remembered that most people couldn’t survive a lightning strike, even a little one) blackening stone and cracking the floor. The idiot who had fired stumbled backwards, falling to the floor when they tripped over the crack.

For fuck’s sake.

Taking another step closer to his idiot brother, Lib ignored the way that the man growled at him. “For Ramuh’s sake Nyx, calm the fuck down. Your eyes are glowing, you moron.” And with that he reached out and slapped him around the head – pretending not to notice the way that the pack bristled at him, Nyx had told them not to attack him years ago and they wouldn’t go against that unless he actually hurt Nyx – to wake him up.

As Nyx blinked rapidly and swore, eyes back to his normal blue-grey, he spun around towards the idiot still sprawled out on the floor.

“And you! What sort of idiot are you?! Everyone who survives to adulthood knows better than to attack a pack of Tonberries! Are you a complete fucking moron or just a suicidal idiot?”

The kid just stared at him. Once again, Libertus resisted the urge to slam his head into the wall.

Why was this his job?

#my fic #snippet #ardynson au #nyx is ardyn's son #ffxv #nyx ulric #libertus ostium #Tonberry Reveal AU #Lib is just so *done* with his idiot best friend and doesn’t even know why any of this surprises him anymore #he is also in complete denial that he wasn’t corrupted years ago – he was. He just doesn’t notice because next to Nyx he’s surprisingly sane #Nyx has always adopted things (like that coeurl pack or the behemoth pup or…)#but it’s gotten worse as he’s gotten older – and Lib would be angry about it but Nyx just doesn’t #*understand* that these things are actually dangerous – he just looks at them and sees adorable pets #and Lib knows that – knows that Nyx gets it from his dad – and tries not to hold it against him #and it’s maybe corrupted him a little – coeurls really aren’t *that* dangerous were they?#at least Nyx isn’t as bad as Ardyn – Lib really doesn’t think that he could deal with that #Also he totally sympathises with Cor and will totally start up a bitch and stitch with him (Nyx is just happy his friends are bonding)#Nyx is super overprotective of his friends human or not – mostly cause he lost the coeurl pack in the fall of Galahd #you signed up for this job Lib – you don’t get to complain about it #Everyone is wondering how they didn’t realise that Nyx was this crazy (imagine them finding out his dad was *worse*)

36 notes · View notes

master-sass-blast · 6 years

Text

Strong as Stone --Part Twenty-Eight

Well, hello there! Welcome to some good times!

Last time we got to see some snapshots of O’Chenga’s, M’Baku’s, Ayo’s, and Aneka’s lives. This time, we get to see kindergartners try to climb M’Baku like a tree!

That’s right, it’s the promised and long awaited fluff update! We’re back in America, but this time we’re just having a bunch of fun!

Rating: T for mild language.

Pairings: Okoye x M’Baku, T’Challa x Nakia, and Shuri x OC.

Many thanks to @ginghampearlsandsweettea to helping me come up with different things to do in this update (and future updates as well)!

@the-last-hair-bender, @skysynclair19

Loss of perspective is deadly. Perhaps not in the sense of literal death, but in the sense that you will lose yourself.

Don’t lose sight of the true purpose in what you do. Don’t confuse the challenges you face with the reason you started the journey in the first place.

Keep your eyes set on the right goals, my dears. It may end up saving you in the end.

“Sorry I’m late!” Nakia dashed into the dining room with a shocked, if pleased, expression on her face. “You’re not going to believe what I just found out about.”

Okoye raised an eyebrow. “I can only imagine.”

“The apocalypse happened and it was way more anti-climatic than any of us were expecting?” Dewani suggested as she tried --and failed--to sneak food off Shuri’s plate.

“It’s entirely possible.” Nakia held up a tablet which had an article from the Associated Press on the screen. “Trump’s been impeached.”

“About damn time,” M’Baku muttered as he took a long sip of wine.

“What happened?” Ramonda asked.

“According to an official report from Congress, his increasingly inflammatory behavior over the sexual assault lawsuit from Wakandan official, General Okoye, prompted an emergency session in the governing bodies of the nation, who voted that the President’s misconduct was sufficient grounds for impeachment. An overwhelming majority of the senators voted to convict, and the President was removed from office the following morning. Vice President Mike Pence stands to be inaugurated into the office of President, as follows the regular traditions and practices,” Nakia read off her tablet. She stopped and looked up, eyes wide. “It’s real. He was escorted from the White House this afternoon.”

Okoye realized that everyone was looking at her, and suddenly felt like she was a slide under a microscope. She picked up her glass of wine and stared down at the dark red liquid. Thank Bast, it’s done. Now, if everyone would just stop staring at me...

Honestly, what were they expecting? Tears? A victory dance? A rant?

Candidly, all of those would probably happen later, but in private, with only M’Baku or Ayo and Aneka to bear witness. It definitely, however, was not going to happen in front of the King, the Princess, and the Queen Mother.

I’d rather shove a fork in my eye.

“Anyway,” Dewani chirped as she quickly snatched a piece of mango off Shuri’s plate and tucked it in her cheek. “Glad that’s over. What’s next?”

Okoye a discreet ‘thank you’ at her, to which Dewani winked in return.

“Well--” Shuri eyed Dewani with mock annoyance “--I’m going on my United States college tour to give demonstrations of Wakandan scientific development.” She frowned when both T’Challa and Okoye grimaced. “What? Why do you two look like you just sucked on a lemon?”

“It’s just been... exhausting to deal with the American policy makers. I guess you could say we’re feeling a little...”

“Burnt out?” Okoye suggested grimly, quietly, when T’Challa trailed off.

“Well, no wonder. You’ve been focusing on the wrong things.”

The corner of T’Challa’s mouth lifted as he raised an eyebrow at his sister. “Have we?”

“Obviously. You’ve lost sight of why we’re doing the outreach program. It’s not for the policy makers. It’s for the communities we’re reaching out to. Duh.”

“Shuri,” Ramonda said as she expertly smothered a smile. “Be nice.”

“Sorry. Anyway, you ought to come with me! It’ll be good for you to connect to the communities a little. Give you an image of what you’re working for when you have to deal with the policy makers.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Nakia said. “It’d be good for all of us to see some positivity out of all of this so we don’t become too jaded.”

“Nakia--”

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun!”

M’Baku shrugs. “I was already going for part of the time to keep an eye on Dewani.”

“It’s like you don’t trust me,” Dewani fake complained as she slipped a bite of fried eggplant off M’Baku’s plate. “I honestly don’t get it.”

“Just my older brother instincts. Eat off your own plate please.”

Admittedly, Okoye didn’t seem too much appeal in going back to America. She’d had enough of the environment and the chaos for the time being. All she really wanted to do was hole up in her apartment for a few days and keep to her own schedule as she damn well pleased.

But Nakia was right. Finding positivity in a difficult situation was important. And if was possible --more than likely, even--that her and T’Challa’s burn out was coming from misplaced focus; if that was the case, then resetting that focus as soon as possible would be crucial to keep the burn out from setting in too deeply.

Plus, it would mean that she’d get to spend time with M’Baku...

Okoye shrugged. What the hell. “I’m in.”

“Okay, I’m fine with the dress, but why do I have to wear these?” Dewani held up a pair of pump heels like they were an about-to-explode bomb.

They were back in Washington D.C., starting Shuri’s college tour with her at Howard University.

“It’s a historically black college,” Shuri had explained on their flight to the United States. “It was established in 1867 to serve African American communities during apartheid and the segregation era. They’re ranked eighty-ninth in national universities, thirty-fourth in best undergraduate teaching, seventy-third in best value schools, have a sixty percent graduation rate, and it’s well known for its excellent science programs.”

“Well, that explains why you’re going,” T’Challa had said with a smile.

“Appearance and presentation is important at Howard University,” Shuri explained as she took the shoes out of Dewani’s hands. “We’re dressing with the crowd. But I think you’ll be happier with these.” She handed her girlfriend a pair of low heeled --but still stylish--ankle boots. “They’ll be more comfortable.”

“I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

Okoye smiled slightly as Dewani and Shuri chattered together --then smiled broader as M’Baku’s arms settled around her shoulders and leaned back against his solid chest. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” His lips pressed against her temple in a way that was chaste and sensual all at once. “You look a picture, ‘koye.”

“Thank you.” She turned, eyed the suit he wore and the elegant kente scarf draped across his chest, and eyed him a way that she knew hid absolutely none of the sudden hunger she feels for him --which, of course, was exactly what she was going for. “You look good, too.”

M’Baku raised an eyebrow and smirked down at her. “Do I now?”

“Of course.”

There was a knock at the door, and then it swung open to reveal a rather exasperated looking T’Challa. “Shuri. We need to leave now or we’re going to be late.”

“Yes, yes, hold on to your shorts! I’m just finishing up!”

“Shuri, I said leaving, not--”

Shuri tsked as she put on her plum colored overcoat and extended the handle on her rolling lab bag. “Relax, brother. Are you always so nervous?”

Okoye hid an amused smile into the back of her hand as T’Challa rolled his eyes while Shuri breezed past him with Dewani.

M’Baku nudged her shoulder, then held out his arm to her when she looked up. “Are you ready, my lady?”

Okoye grinned and looped her arm through his. “That I am.”

Okoye watched from the background as Shuri went through the paces of demonstrating the various capabilities of Wakandan technology. She didn’t pretend to understand all of it --she wasn’t incompetent, by any means, but she wasn’t on Shuri’s level either--but she could tell that the Princess was having quite the effect on the crowd.

The students were all in various states of awe, eyes wide and more mouths hanging open than not. Some were hastily taking notes while Shuri talked, while others were just sitting back and taking everything in.

Even though she’d grown up sheltered from the outside world, she still knew that things were undeniably stacked against the African diaspora. Slavery. Segregation. Apartheid. The Jim Crow era. Everything N’Jadaka had cited in his reasons for waging war on the outside world and more.

She was lucky, she realized. She’d grown up with countless role models and inspirations that looked like her, in a society where people like her were celebrated.

Tragic as it was, that wasn’t even close to a universally common experience.

But, as Okoye watched countless students of color watch Shuri with stars in their eyes, she realized it could be. That the outreach program could help make growing up admiring and aspiring to be like role models that looked like you a more common facet of life.

She smiled as she felt the burned out feeling that made her limbs weary fade, replaced by new energy and determination. This. This is what we’re here for.

They stayed for a while after the demonstration ended so that Shuri could meet and talk to the students. They clamored around her like excited children, asking her questions about Wakanda and her life there and different advancements in technology.

“Wakanda is amazing --though being the sister of a king isn’t as exciting as you might think,” she said with a cheeky wink in T’Challa’s direction.

“Very funny,” T’Challa replied, good natured, when everyone laughed.

“Is it true that the Wakandan Outreach Program is going to offer scholarship opportunities and financial aid for students?” another student asked.

“That is one of our goals, but coordinating with different colleges and universities is making things a little difficult,” Shuri said with a nod. “We are confident, though, that we’ll be able to start offering different options to members of the program by the end of next year.”

A rush of murmurs went through the students, various grumblings about loans and vows to get connected with the outreach program as soon as they could.

Okoye narrowed her eyes and leaned towards T’Challa. “How does Howard University rank as far as financial aid options and tuition costs?”

“Not bad, but the United States isn’t exactly known for its inexpensive education.”

Well, that was no small secret. Between the regular reports that Wakanda got on other nations’ financial status and Shuri’s seemingly omniscient connection to social media, Okoye knew all too well that too many students were shot in the foot with debt before they even graduated.

“I wish there was something we could do about that,” Nakia murmured as she watched Shuri and Dewani field questions from the students and take selfies with them.

Okoye didn’t miss the contemplative gleam in T’Challa’s eyes, and she carefully suppressed a smile. Bast, I know he’s planning something, and I know it’s going to be good.

“Okay, I’m back from the university. There’s no one to see any texts or overhear any phone calls. Now, will you please tell me why you made an impromptu trip to the university President’s office without telling me?”

Okoye smirked. Barely two seconds in the door and she’s already asking questions.

Some things about Shuri never changed, no matter how old she got or how much of the world she’d seen.

“If you really must know,” T’Challa said with an amused smile. “We were just settling the issue of who would be the commencement speaker for the upcoming Spring graduation.”

Shuri blinked, then grinned, wide and bright. “Really? You’re going to be the commencement speaker?”

“I think I know how to give a speech, Shuri.”

“Debatable.” She surged forward and wrapped her arms around her brother’s shoulders. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

Shuri shrugged, still smiling as she stepped back. “For not giving up.”

T’Challa smiled back. “So, I know we can’t accompany you to the lab observations for safety reasons. Do you have any recommendations for what we do while you’re busy?”

“Funny you should ask... I might’ve taken the liberty of booking a couple things for you.”

The corner of Okoye’s mouth turned up in a smile as T’Challa rolled his eyes. This ought to be good.

It was good. It was really good.

Shuri had arranged a series of ‘meet and greets’ at some local elementary, middle, and high schools for them over the next couple of days. Each time they walked into a gym or a crowded auditorium, they were greeted with excited chatter and cheers.

Today was no exception. They were surrounded by a group of excited kindergartners, answering questions about life in Wakanda and learning more about life in the United States. They were shocked to find out that Wakanda didn’t have things like Poptarts, Oreos, and other Western staples --and even more thrilled to learn about the Dora Milaje.

Everywhere she went, no matter what their background, young girls loved finding out that there was an entire group of soldiers comprised only of women. No matter how many successful missions she cleared or how many places she traveled to, seeing the look of excitement on young girls’ faces when they saw other women being powerful in their own right was always --would always be--Okoye’s favorite part of her job.

She --carefully--showed her spear to the class, explaining how it worked and --very carefully--demonstrated how she twirled it.

Perhaps the funniest moment of the day, though, was how well the students took to M’Baku. They bobbed around him, ridiculously tiny compared to his sheer size, asking him questions about the Jabari lands and the differences between the Jabari and the rest of Wakanda.

Then, one student tried to climb him like they would a tree, and it was all over from there.

M’Baku, to his credit, took everything in his usual relaxed stride. He patiently answered each question in turn and happily let the students clamber all over him until the teacher told them to settle back down.

Okoye couldn’t help but grin as he lifted two students, one gripping to each hand, as he would a pair of weights. She chuckled when he jibed at T’Challa about the might of the Jabari, but she was all too aware of the warmth settling in her lower abdomen. He looks good when he works with kids.

Not for the first time, she was grateful she had her own hotel room for this trip. It would make dealing with these... feelings much, much easier.

“Would you want to have a boy first, or a girl?”

They were back at the hotel, lying in the center of Okoye’s bed, propped up on pillows as they cuddled together and enjoyed some time alone together.

“I mean, obviously them being healthy and happy is the biggest priority, and I suppose the gender doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things,” Okoye said. “But I am genuinely curious.”

“I get what you’re saying,” M’Baku said as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. He kissed the top of her head. “It’s one of those things people ask. I wouldn’t be upset with either a son or a daughter, but... I kind of want a boy first.” He grinned. “I’ve already raised a girl, technically. I want to try my hand with a boy.”

“Makes sense. Would Dewani be their older sister, or their aunt?”

“Aunt. She and I already talked about it; that’s what she wants.”

Okoye raised an eyebrow at him. “The two of you have talked about us wanting kids?”

“Well, yes, but that’s not what I’m referring to. She’s always known that I’ll need to have biological children of my own some day. I check in with her about once a year or so, to see if her opinion’s changed, but she’s always wanted to be an aunt. For as much as I’ve done my best to raise her well, we’ve never quite fit into a ‘father-daughter’ dynamic.”

“You two do your own thing,” Okoye agreed.

M’Baku chuckled and pulled her in closer. “That we do.”

“Is it wrong if I say I’d rather be with the students than here?”

Okoye closed her hand over M’Baku’s and squeezed it reassuringly. “No. But this time will be better.”

They were sitting in front of the White House again. Her attorney had contacted her a few days ago, informing her that she could expect the settlement payment in approximately five days and that the newly minted President Pence would be holding a press conference to offer an official apology to her and anyone else harmed by the former President’s behavior.

If she was being honest, Okoye was just glad it was all over with.

She watched as President Pence walked up to a podium, expression stoic. She kept her expression neutral as his calm gaze flicked over to her and M’Baku, then to T’Challa and Nakia. Bast, can we please just get on with this?

Fortunately, it seemed that the Panther goddess was smiling down on her after all; at that moment, the new President cleared his throat and began his apology speech.

Okoye sat back and partially listened as he apologized to her, specifically, and to any other women that had been harmed by Trump’s behaviors and encouragement. Mostly, though, his words just seemed wash over her, flowing past her and dissipating somewhere behind her.

She appreciated the apology, really, but it was also really obvious that it was a politically correct formality. Here they were, in front of a group of reporters, hearing a televised speech that wasn’t even fully addressed to her and the frustration she’d had to endure for the past couple months.

Politically, she understood why they were doing things the way they were, but she wasn’t a political entity. She was a person. And, sometimes, she wanted to just be treated like a person, dammit.

Screw them, Okoye decided. She focused her thoughts on the high school students that had come dressed in Dora Milaje costumes, on the kindergartners that had gasped when she’d showed them the workings of her spear, and the college students that had been sitting in near dumbstruck awe as they watched Shuri demonstrate the capabilities of Wakandan technology. We’re not here for the politics, and we’re not here for the politicians; we’re here for the people.

That was the truth of it. The Outreach program had never been for politics, never been for looking good. It had been for people. For trying to rectify the damage they’d done in sitting in the shadows and doing nothing.

She let go of the nuances of what she found wrong with the apology and found peace in sitting back and focusing on the past few days. It’s an end to the madness, she told herself about the apology. Let it stay that way. They don’t deserve any more of your energy.

Breathe in, breathe out. Be like the stones in the river.

She breathed in.

She breathed out.

She was at peace.

#sass writes #black panther fanfiction #okoye x m'baku #t'challa x nakia #shuri x oc #fluff fluff fluff #just a bunch of good times #everyone's happy #and relaxed #it's just a good time #black panther imagine #wakanda forever

1 note · View note

lilchangbinnie · 7 years

Text

Fic Recs ❀

okay so, dis gonna be my faves I’ve read recently with a variation of series, oneshots, smuts, fluffs, etc… None are mine, the url of the author will be by the title of the writing. Also, I'm a multifandom hoe so, I’ll try to have a mix of my favorite groups in the list, but for now its mostly exo and bts. Enjoy ya nasties xoxo.

about a girl (8 part series) - @rudeboywonho

dad!namjoon, CEO!namjoon, reader becomes his daughter’s nanny, a little angsty but also fluffly so is worth a read and his daughter is such a gem

vibrations (M) - @seokvie

sub!jimin, ass play, vibrating butt plugs, hot as shit… I’m sweating

owned (12 part series) - @ibangtanthings

reader marries cold rich namjoon to save her family but in the time being, they both get to warm up to each other slowly, angsty at first but has a really heartwarming ending

zipper (M) - @jiminniemouse

bestfriend!jungkook, this boy convinces the reader to watch porn with him and you already know how this ended, obviously smut

buzz (3 part series) (M) - @floralseokjin

it all starts with yoongi bursting into the reader’s room when they were about to masturbate with their new vibrator, smutty as heck

aquiver (3/9 part series) (M) - @floralseokjin

after many attempts to orgasm by himself and failing, yoongi follows namjoon’s advice and goes to a sketchy place for his solution and there he finds the reader

spill the tea - @jae-bummer

reader talks about her feelings about jooheon to his members and he overhears the conversation, cute and funny, kinda short but it’s still one of my faves

where is my mind (M) - @tayegi

werewolf!hoseok, can’t handle himself when he sees you because of his heat but you don’t seem to mind, cute ending

for a good time, call: the horndog (M) - @tayegi

lengthy jimin smut, sex in the studio, hilarious ending

cabin (M) - @krismebaobei

you spend most time with jongin in your stay in the cabin with exo and this makes Chanyeol a bit jealous but when y’all get a moment alone, you let him know you are his, plus a funny ending

class president (M) - @btssmutgalore

“class president candidate jimin would do anything to get your vote” fuck.

captain (M) - @suho-mochi

footballplayer!suho, basically his team loses the game, he’s frustrated and fucks the reader against the lockers, hot shit

sin city (10/? part series) (M) - @btssmutgalore

reader applies and gets a job at sin city, her sweet and dangerous moves make the owner jimin break some of his own rules because of his attraction to her, 10/10 would recommend to anyone in the kpop fandom, favorite series ✩

pop up - @yeolology

teleportor!jongin, you have seen the same boy pop in and out of your life twice and you are devoted on finding him, and you do

watch me (M) - @taecup

jungkook x reader x taehyung, hot as shit, bitch I’m quaking

neither innocent nor guilty (M) - @won-heol

lawyer!wonho, infamous prosecuter Mr.Shin has his eye on the reader during court and he can’t wait to get his hands them even if he just lost the case to her, dAMn

castaway (M) - @kpopfanfictrash

airplane crash au, you’re stranded with Jongin after being the only survivors of the accident and learn how to live with eachother but feelings get caught up in the middle, smut torwards the end, amazing plot

a good day to save lives (4/? part series) - @mxn-yoongi

bts doctor au, nonsense but its pretty funny nonsense, reader is an intern along with jungkook and taehyung while the rest are mostly doctors in different areas

safeguard (3 part series) - @thesammtimes

plushie!jongin, very unique and cute plot, I dream of this happening to me

no strings (10 part series) - @kpopfanfictrash

fuck buddy jimin, from friends with benefits to lovers, fluff ending but has smut throughout the story obviously

nerves (M) - @tayegi

thanks to an experiment the reader’s nervous system is emerged with kim taehyung, weird ass plot but I think its cool, its funny too tbh

higher (9/? part series) - @3kpop2jagi1

really good story, it doesn’t help that i’m suho biased, yixing is my favorite character in the story and if you read it, you’ll know why

taken (11/? part series) - @kimjongdaely

i started reading and now I’m desperate to see how it continues, gangleader!suho, harsh themes & much angst, stockholm syndrome?

go with it (M) - @rapmonluv

sub!namjoon, he expected to have you in the palm of his hand but by the end of the night it turned to be the way around, i need a large holy water after this and you’ll do too

perverted bunny mask (13/? part series) - @btsinned

assassins au, harsh themes (murder, psychopathic tendencies, sexual harassment, etc…) very interesting tho i was waiting for that smut with jungkook

a cinderella story (1/? part series) - @1honeypot

fratboy!yoongi, while you struggle with your crush in real life, little did you know you were sexting him via adult chat

across the hall (3/? part series) - @the-porcelain-doll-xo

neighbour!chanyeol, reader gets tired of her sister pairing her with guys so she lies about having a bf and now is faking a relationship with her cute neighbour

meddling (M) - @ffsjjk

for once you are grateful for your best friend taehyung and his meddling because it brought you to this gentleman named park jimin

sexting (M) - @lilyjhs

sex over the phone, you had known jimin in real life as a fuckboy, n u t

who are you? - @8bityeol

reader becomes invested on the anonymous letters of a fan and wants to find him, “happy delight”, the reader is a thriller book writer, I want a mango slaw

rent-a-boyfriend - @jimlingss

your friend hoseok literally rents you a boyfriend for a month to change your dull mood but he isn’t even your type, very fluffly/creative plot

la douleur exquise (M?) - @cinnaminsvga

incubus!yoongi, you summon a demon just for funs and now he’s stuck in the ground half naked and he’s obligated to stay with you until he sexually satisfies you, read it even if you aren’t a yoongi stan, this had me laughing so hard

handmade gold - @btsxexoxtrash

soulmates!jongin, in a world full of people with their true love, you and your boyfriend go against the odds and continue dating and as he finds his soulmate, everything gets tougher but not all hope is lost, angsty fluff, its really good I promise

camera (M) - @exostace

the reader is a cam girl and her friend sehun wants to help her but when practicing what to do when the camera is on, things get hOT, I imagined this very vividly in my mind and I am fukked

temptation (M) - @exostace

fuckboy!chanyeol sends you a dick pic because he got hard thinking of the time you sucked his dick in Baekhyun’s room, n u t

new nEw NEW!

hey, neighbor - @whimsical-ness

neighbor!baekhyun, reader falls for him, it’s pretty cute

she’s testosterone (2 part series) - @jimlingss

yoonji/yoongi, crack fic, you’re bestfriends with yoonji but later you realise yoonji has a dick, slight smut sprinkled at the end

on the verge (M) - @xhixtape

yoongi suggests the idea of being submissive for once and you both play with the roles, h o t, straight up smut without plot

fantasy (M) - @xhixtape

optional male bias, reader plays with their bias, cockring and teasingggg

quivering, whimpering (M) - @xhixtape

bestfriend!jungkook, he convinces you to help him out since you like being dominate already, he’s willing to be a good boy for you

FIC RECS 2 (I made another list)

#fic recs #kpop fanfic #kpop fic recs #bts fanfic #bts smut #bts scenarios #bts fluff #exo smut #exo scenarios #exo fluff #exo series #bts series #monsta x fanfic #exo fanfiction

4K notes · View notes

lysical · 7 years

Note

In the Church of Mango will we wear armor based around mangoes or robes and are you like the hip modern arm dealer Brother Blood, the brat that called everyone mom and drank blood, or the original

The Church of Mango does not worship any mortal of non-mango substance.

The leader of the Church is a mango, obviously. Voted in by popular vote.

Taste testing is not allowed before voting only sight, touch and smell are allowed before voting.

#anon #asks

4 notes · View notes

sekerenews · 5 years

Text

Election Campaigns: How Can Smaller Parties Gain More Visibility?

Welcome to Sekere’s Podcast, On this episode, the Sekere Team and our guests will be sharing talking about how smaller parties can gain more visibility. https://soundcloud.com/user-243775710/election-campaigns-how-can-smaller-parties-gain-more-visibility Christiana: Welcome to Sekere News podcast... My name is Christiana and I'm from Sekere News, with me here today are my two guest hosts. Semira, she is a content developer for a communications firm. We have Emmanuel who is also a software engineer from a Communications firm. Christiana: Today on Sekere News, we are going to be talking about election campaigns. How can smaller parties gain more visibility? We will be hearing from our guests, their opinions, their advice, what they think these smaller parties can do to actually gain more visibility. Christiana: We're going to be using the Lagos governorship campaign for 2019 as a case study to talk about what these smaller parties can do. Christiana: Before I start I would like to talk about how we had 45 candidates running for the position of a governor in Lagos state and out of that 45. I'm sure people can only name two or three people who they actually knew… Christiana: From 3 different campaigns… We have Sanwo Olu, we have Jimi Agbaje, we have Pastor Adesanya, Christiana: So yeah, so I don't know if anybody knows any of that person who was running. Emmanuel: No, not really… I think those were the most prominent ones. The only ones we can actually talk about. Christiana: You see…And that’s like, just 1 out of 15… that’s the fraction which is very low. Christiana: We can’t name them talk less of how many votes they had. So what can these small parties do to actually gain some visibility, to have us talking about them? Even if they don't win for next year, to gain that kind of traction and popularity for next year. Christiana: So would like start us off Semira, Emmanuel… Alright Semira Semira: Thank you for having me on the show again. Semira: So I personally think people are just of the opinion that advertising is expensive, running a campaign is expensive and I feel like most of the contenders and most of the people that ran for elections in the last election… They didn’t want to spend as much money because they felt like what were their chances? Semira: But I think that misconception has to be clarified. Advertising is not as expensive as people think especially when you're using the right resources and the right tools. Semira: So the whole idea is if you use it as a platform that is measurable, it reaches the right target audience and it gives you value. Semira: So social media advertising… if you invest a fraction of what the other bigger parties were investing in…you will get the right visibility, especially if the messaging is great. Semira: And then also if you're doing an awareness campaigns, so you don't have to necessarily… All you have to do is contact certain groups and tell them you like to come and speak to them on not even your party per say but speak to them about issues that matter right and that way you are getting visibility because people are attending your events. Semira: They can also share that kind of content on their social media platform and that way you are also getting visibility for your campaign without spending as much money. Semira: So I feel like social media was…They could have done more with their social media campaigns and then also very cheap… very very direct campaigning…. SMS marketing. Semira: You need to invest in weekly marketing… You have a database of people in Lagos State for instance. What you should be doing is sending your weekly SMS to them talking about your agenda for the elections. Semira: And that way you are creating a kind of recall for your brand messaging, for your campaign message. Even if they are not voting you but they can actually see you and know that you are something. Then people know you are something they should be looking out for…so yeah… they should be looking out for so yeah, I feel the use of digital marketing can definitely help when you're trying to run a campaign on a little budget or smaller budgets. Christiana: Well, I noticed you know how people during the election people who say…Politics…You don’t play or you don’t do it on social media. It's more because how many people on social media are actually going to vote. Christiana: Most of the people who use social media in Nigeria are younger people like Twitter and Instagram. You have younger generation. I mean how many of these people would actually go out to vote. Semira: Interestingly…. I know I was following the elections especially for the presidential elections... Interestingly…A lot of people, you will say even the civilized people that you would not expect them to go out and queue and to vote. Semira: They were on the queues and they were there, especially in those upper scale sides, upper scale regions and they have the numbers there too…If you think about it. Semira: Theirs was obviously more organized and a little more conducive for them. They were able to sit through all the struggle but they were there and they were voting. Semira: You have Celebrities there too and they were voting and these days even your vulcanizer has his Instagram account and He is following people like celebrity influencers. Semira: So if a celebrity is retweeting something that you're posting out there. Your campaign is getting the visibility. Semira: Everybody's on social media right now. So you cannot even say you are not going to use social media… and SMS marketing everybody's getting a text message. Emmanuel: Yes that’s true. Semira: So yeah, I feel like you have to make use of that. Emmanuel: Yeah. So to add to what Semira has said concerning digital marketing. I believe strongly… Yes, they need to be that that's front. Emmanuel: But on the second thought…I am thinking… Do these smaller parties want to really be in the Limelight? That’s the question… do they really want to come out and be known or do they use this whole running for office as the means of getting their own funds or stuff like that. Emmanuel: Maybe they just want to be known by the top guys, the big guys Semira: Interesting Emmanuel: So sometimes I think they do want to be on the limelight. But if they really want to be in the limelight, there’s so much... many ways they can actually do that idea coupled with what Semira has said about utilizing digital marketing. Emmanuel: For example, let me give you a very quick example on how digital marketing really helped Donald Trump in his campaign. Emmanuel: There’s this guy called Brad Parscale that was like the director… the Chief Executive of Trump's campaign… Emmanuel: The entire digital team for Trump was like a hundred staff guys in San Antonio and what it he do? These guys stormed the market like… Emmanuel: In fact… In Parscale’s own he had never done a political campaign before but all he did was all the ideas he had from digital marketing and that was like… Emmanuel: It really helped them a lot. Emmanuel: Now…Back in Lagos we might not really have all these guys, you know like Christiana rightly outlined. Emmanuel: Some people might not be on social media, but what about alternative media advertising, you know, I was actually looking at the entire campaign for Lagos as a case study right now. Emmanuel: I noticed that everywhere you enter… you saw one way or the other Sanwo Olu pictures somehow… like everywhere you go… You see him. Semira: That’s true. Emmanuel: So I think they really I think these guys have the idea of because there’s this idea, this theory psychologically that something you see quite often you get to get acquainted to it. Semira: The recall Emmanuel: Yes the recall…so I get to the polling Booth and I see that guy's picture that I have been seeing all through my four five months before the election took place. Emmanuel: I won't vote for him? I'll see more as serious for the fact he came to my small village to put his picture there. That means he is serious. Emmanuel: But you just see only that guy's pictures and everything about posters and Banners and everything swallowing up the entire other guys. So where are they? So I think one thing is when they should learn to Target the Right audience and learn to use authentic media advertising in all of these. Emmanuel: Go to the marketplace put it on the cobs where they sell mangoes and stuff. Emmanuel: Put your sticker there, put your stick on the table of these Market women who sell biscuit and stuff like that. Promote it anywhere you can that you know these people will constantly see your ads and it becomes something they can really say that… I know of Jimi Abaje... I know of this guy… I know this guy…I know of that guy. Emmanuel: So the whole process of burying all these other political parties on the background would all be gone because they are making the effort to actually advertise the right way not just advertising something erratic. Christiana: Thank you. Christiana: How do you guys think PR plays a role, because one of the things that helped Sanwo Olu was constantly putting… like you said he was in our face, everywhere you are going and most of these smaller parties don't have the money to rent Billboards. They can’t do radio jingles and things like that. Christiana: And another thing he still did was to go to grass root…like all these smaller communities to talk to them… You see how he's doing somebody's hair and talking to them. I didn't see any of the smaller people do this… So how do you think PR can play a role? Semira: I think they were not doing the leg work. Christiana: Yeah. Semira: Because it's very easy for you to say you want to come to an organization and I want to talk to you. It's very easy because you say okay. I may a Gubernatorial aspirant. I want to talk to you about some certain issues that pertain to your community. Nobody's going to turn you back. Why? Semira: Because they feel like somebody might just carry our community story or one media partner can come on it. It might go on social media, you are giving our community exposure. You have nothing to lose but if the problem is that they were not doing the leg work as well. Semira: They were not spending the money on the big campaigns, they were not doing enough advertising and you are not doing the leg work as well. So you can’t really get the results that you'd expect like the Sanwo Olu like you explained. Semira: He was doing legwork, he was doing the money, the big campaigns and he was still doing the social media advertising. So yes, obviously people are going to want to associate with that kind of brand over the smaller ones. Christiana: So do you think the smaller parties should focus more on digital or mike the advertising or should they focus more on the PR… like their persona, their brand image Christiana: Like if you vote for let's say I was running, if you vote for Christiana, you will be getting someone who is very focused on education. Should they focus more on... for them to gain some visibility and even some sort of traction whatsoever, at least let us know their names. Christiana: Should they focus advertising like trying to use social media, SMS marketing even email marketing you can do. Because everybody has a email nowadays, you need it for bank and for things like that. Christiana: Or should they focus on their… just like this is what I am going to do, this is my agenda. Or should they more on their personalities when trying to sell themselves to the people. Christiana: Do you think they should focus more on… Because Sanwo Olu, I can’t say I know what he wants to do… I followed the who political campaign. But I can’t tell you… I think he focused more on advertising. Right? This is me, this is me, just see my face. I don’t know his brand image… Christiana: I don't know what okay…once Sanwo Olu comes I know the one thing he is going to do for Lagos is…. Probable he is going to clear the trucks off the road. I don’t know what he is going to do per say but I just know Sanwo Olu is coming and he really wants to be the Governor. Christiana: So what do you think they should focus on? Emmanuel: I think I think a lot of politicians are still tied down to the old. Status quo of campaign, you know where I tell you vote for me as your Governor. I'll make you rich overnight do this for me and do that for me. Emmanuel: That really doesn’t win elections these days, what really wins is the fact that marketing strategies are right? Okay, your campaign strategies are on the right spots in the right places. Emmanuel: Sanwo Olu always… back to the guy again. He always uses these major advertising agencies, media and what have you to do is campaigns. Emmanuel: Like I said, I really didn't hear him speak once about what he is going to do for Lagos. Right now he is the governor, no one knows what he is going to do for Lagos. But he's now the governor, so sometimes in as much as all of the plans for the people is important get to the roots get to know them get to put your pictures. Emmanuel: Where they will be seeing you all the time, you know, so when that happens, yeah, it becomes like a real competition. It becomes like a real competition between your party and this other party. Emmanuel: It is no longer going to be I just want to be in the background in case this guy’s wins. He puts me in his list of commissioners. It is going to be I really want to become president, I really want to become governor, and I really want to become a House of Representative. Emmanuel: You are direct about your plans not just trying to sit back. So I think yes, they should be more focused on Advertising. Emmanuel: Advertising is important... It’s key… If you focus… Emmanuel: People who buy cowbell is not because cowbell taste better than some other milk. It is because the right strategy of advertising is there. Emmanuel: A child tells you he wants to drink Cowbell not because the child was in the factory when they were producing cowbell but because the child saw adverts… Cowbell our milk. Emmanuel: She likes the song and wants her mom to buy her cowbell milk. Same strategies go for other campaigns and all that stuff. So what do you do in the product Market do the same and political campaign market. Emmanuel: And you will get better success on that? Semira: Okay. Yeah, I think so he has said it all. Basically get your messaging clear. Let people know what you are marketing about not just about the flashiness but let them get value from your campaign and I guess that’s everything in a wrap. Get value from your message Christiana: Okay, so if you want to summarize for the smaller parties to gain more visibility. They need focus more on marketing for example, SMS marketing, social media… can be a very good tool for them. And they should also go to the smaller Grassroots communities to try to put it in their faces. Christiana: Even if its stickers…put it everywhere…let them know. Take the time out to make themselves visible to the everyday market person, vulcanizer and things like that. Christiana: Alright, so thank you very much for coming here. Thank you for sharing your insights… Thank… Read the full article

#Advertisingtips #ElectionCampaigns #Howcansmallerpartiesgainmorevisibility #NigeriaDecides #NigerianElectionCampaign #SekereNewsPodcast #SekerePodcast

0 notes

joshhutchsource · 7 years

Text

Josh Hutcherson AMA Transcript

This is the transcript from Josh’s AMA on Reddit on February 16th, 2017. All spelling and grammar errors are as written by the original people This is very long, so the majority is under a read more.

Q: Do you miss working with the Hunger Games cast?

Josh: yes... they were the best! family forever. i miss them all dearly... however we still hang now and then and keep in touch.

Q: Hi! What's your favorite television show to watch?

Josh: the Bob Ross painting show... i can benge for hours

Q: Hey Mr. Hutcherson, is there any actor (that you have not yet worked with) that you wish to work with someday?

Josh: so many.... joaquin phoenix is up there for sure.

Q: Hi Josh, You got second class treatment from Rosemary Telesco and continued with Katniss Everdeen. Does it hurt your feelings?

Josh: hahaha.... life imitates art…

Q: What do you define as your first "big break" into acting and that business?

Josh: For me my first ever job was personally my big break.. I was 9 and I held a goat in the backgroud for a bible study video in ohio.... everyone starts somewhere…

Q: How do you go about choosing a script that you want to work on, both for this project and other professional work?

Josh: I want originality. Characters that are bold and have clear voices. i also want to push the boundaries of what reality is.

Q: Hey Josh! What is the craziest encounter you've had with a fan?

Josh: i had two girls and their mom show up at my door a few years ago during christmas with my family..... that was..... awkward. Im not answering the door next time. Haha

Q: do you think 2017 is going to be a good year?

Josh: hard to believe it can be... however I feel like so many people are getting involved that werent before... this is a moment when people feel energized.

Q: If you had not been an actor, what profession would you have done?

Josh: i like building stuff... and i like photography... maybe building stuff and taking pictures of it... if thats a job

Q: Because Im sure you get the same questions over and over - what's your favorite day of the week, and why?

Josh: Thursday... not becuase im here... but because i like how the word looks. and wednesday is finally over.

Q: JOSH is there anything you couldn't live without?

Josh: my freedom of speech and gluten

Q: your favorite song at this moment?

Josh: Lazarus by David Bowie

Q: Why were you such a little bitch in the hunger games ?

Josh: i prefer other words... however this little bitch survived. so... yeah.

Q: Which country do you think is the safest in a zombie apocalypse?

Josh: Iceland... no doubt. Zombies hate Byjork

Q: What's your idea of a successful person. What would make someone successful in your eyes?

Josh: A person who is comfortable in their skin... I'm defintely not. I have gotten better as time goes on but someone who is and who is genuine is successful for me.

Q: Do you have any advice for someone dealing with depression?

Josh: I'm not certified to answer this sort of thing. However I go back to perception. As well as really find what you care about and express it. film, music, walking... whatever it is that you can connect with is what i try to lose myself in.

Q: i feel like, in my mind, i always associate you with the jungle. Why is that?

Josh: that really makes me smile. I love the jungle and i feel a part of it often. thank you.

Q: hi josh, I'm not very good at english so I can't write a good question but do you like mango?

Josh: yes... im human. never trust someone who doesnt

Q: What do you think about Darren Aeronosfsky as a director?

Josh: I think hes great... requiem is on point!!

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Josh: here in this ama.

probably isolated somehwere thinking of ideas of things to make movies about. I dont know!!!! cant think that far ahead honestly.

Q: in ten words can you describe your experience directing "Ape"?

Josh: BEst experience of my life creatively hello cars cat apples

Q: What's your favorite food?

Josh: Skyline Chili... Only available in the greater Cincy area…

Q: You still here? And if so, what do you think of the Oscar contenders this year?

Josh: Moonlight!!! That movie was incredible. I also really loved LA LA Land. those two really stood out for me. so many great performances though. Denzel was on point!

Q: Donald Trump or President Snow ?

Josh: I mean... one in the same right?

Q: How are Driver and Manchi?

Josh: they are the loves of my life.... I worship them. I believe they are quite happy. they get plenty of love and attention!

Q: ‼️‼️‼️ BERNIE SANDERS !!!! ❗️❗️❗️❗️

now that i got your attention,

Do you watch TV SHOWS ? If yes which one

You are such an inspiration to me. After almost 10 years as a fan, im really proud of you and everything you've achieved! I cant wait to watch ALL your upcomings projects and you are such an AMAZING human being Joshua. Thank you for everything. Seeing you in Paris in 2015 was the best moment of my life, i hope i will see you again and talk with you. Please don't forget your fans, we love you so much. (We missed you so much) Will you ever come back in France? :)

Josh: THANK YOU!! that made my day=] I love france and would love to come back!

I do watch some tv... not so so much. I really love GIRLS. that show is so perfect in so many ways. Ive never seen a show that feels more flawed and honest like that one. Best characters ever.

Q: Really wanna know if you'll keep supporting Bernie although the election is over?

Josh: ABSOLUTELY. we must. things are crazy now but we need to vote in local elections and keep our voices loud. I miss the days when Bernie was a real option…

Q: Hey Josh! Congrats on your director debut of "Ape." Were there things you did differently as an actor because you were also the director? How did it change your perspective?

Josh: it was hard... I liked it a lot but it was tough because i couldnt watch the monitors obviously so i had to make notes in my mind while acting in the scene... i realy liked this experience though and i have somehow even more respect for directors than before.

Q: Do you believe in a real life happy ending? If yes, what would you tell someone who kind of lost hope?

Josh: I think a happy ending is possible. I really believe its all about perception. If you can learn to manage that then you can find ways to be happy all the time

Q: HEY JOSH! I'm so glad you have finally done an AMA!

What advice would you give you're teenage self when entering the theatre/acting community?

Josh: thick skin. actors are the most insecure and insane types of people... with that you need to have thick skin to deflect the dissapointment and let downs and judgements.

Q: Do you want to repeat the experience as a director??

Josh: No doubt. I loved it. its extremely addictive and Im feining fo some mo.

Q: Hi Josh ! How are you ? Will there be a French subtitled version for Ape ? I'm a French fan :) Thank you !

Josh: oui... i think.

Q: Yooo RV was a dumpster fire of a movie...that being said, how awesome was it to work with Robin Williams??

Josh: hahahahah! Robin is a saint... biggest heart in the world and never a dull moment. he was the best.

Q: What kind of movies would you like to direct in the future?

Josh: I like stuff that bends reality and questions the human condition... bending the rules. I love films like being john malkovich and eternal sunshine of a spotless mind

Q: Hey Josh! What's your all time favorite movie or a movie you think everyone needs to see?

Josh: Two for the Road. 60's film that was way ahead of its time and has inspried so many modern love stories. its great!

Q: Hello, Josh! As an aspiring filmmaker, I know how tedious making any sort of film can be. What gets you motivated to create? Also, what’s your favorite snack? Cause, duh, snacks are some of the best motivators.

Josh: Honestly I think i get inspired when i see a dope movie... like when i saw moonlight i just wanted to go out and create something personal and important.

Also sitting in a restaurant looking around and making up stories about the people...

Snack..... kale. Fuk off kale!! frosted flakes

Q: JOSH. Huge fan, you're awesome, yadda yadda ;)

You're such a strong ally to the LGBT community. How did you get involved with your organization, Straight But Not Narrow? What is your advice to the community in the wake of certain political events?

Josh: We started SBNN becuase it felt like there was a lack of outreach to bridge communities together... especially in schools where bullying is brutal. I think now more than ever showing your support to your neighbors is paramount in surviving whats going on.

We are all here and human

Q: What was it like working with Mark Ruffalo?

Josh: Hes the best guy in the world. I love that human!

Q: Josh! Favorite 80's movie?

Josh: Lost Boys

Q: Do you have any directorial advice?

Josh: prepare!! Its so important to know what you want to make so when youre there on set you have it all set up.

The script is the absolute base for everything. understad it inside and out.

Q: Hi Josh!

You and I went to the same school, and you even lived in the same neighborhood as some of my close friends. We’ve never met because you always looked like you wanted privacy and I wanted to respect that, plus I’m a shy person who wouldn’t have known what to say. I’ve always wondered if you felt like you sort of missed out on your high-school experience, and if that impacted you on a social and mental level.

I’m trying to pursue my dream of becoming a published author, but sometimes I just feel like it’s never going to happen and that I’ll never be successful in the only thing that I’m passionate about. What advice would you give to someone who’s been told over and over again to give up their dream and focus on a more practical plan for their life?

Thanks for doing this AMA! It’s really awesome seeing someone from Union doing what they love!

Josh: I think that going for something different in life is for sure the most important thing to do... FUCK THE HATERS!

Only you can stop yourself from going for it.

that should be on an inspirational cat poster...

Q: How would you beat up Donald trump?

Josh: With knowledge.... it seems to be his biggest weakness…

Q: Would you rather be attacked by 50 duck sized horses or 1 horse sized duck?

Josh: One horse sized duck.... no question... Ive seen some big ass ducks…

Q: What are the kind of things you learned while working your blockbuster role in "The Hunger Games Trilogy"?

Josh: TEAMWORK. we had massive crews and it is not possible without all that.

Q: Josh Do you have any Tips for a Happy life?

Josh: Inner happiness... you wont find it in anything else in the world. thats the only way to get by and be happy

Q: what is the number one thing on your bucket list?

Josh: go to patagonia…

Q: Was this role challenging for you to play and how do you think you did?

Josh: It definitely was challenging... its a deep and dark place to go to and I like tapping into that side of myself... I think I did alright... Im my hardest critic

Q: It's so easy to hack me because all of my passwords are your name, what do you think about that?

Josh: Its kinda dope,... maybe try changing it for a bit?

Q: What is your favorite horror movie?

Josh: I really like It Follows... and classics like the shining of course... some chronenburg stuff too... butchered that spelling

Q: Is it harder to be an actor or a director?

Have you thought about being in another large franchise such as the hunger games?

Josh: Hmmm. I would say that directing definitely requires a shit ton more focus and work!!! Id say thats more challenging for sure

Q: Are you looking forward to doing the full length APE?

Josh: YES!!! The plan is to fastrack this into production after the short comes out. the feature is even deeper and darker... gonna be weird…

Q: If Peeta tried to fight you, could real life you take him down?

Josh: fuck yeah!!! well... maybe not. I have a ferocious side that I can tap into.

Q: Hi Josh (my brothers name too) What is the most Hollywood thing you have done/seen so far?

Josh: dont ever come to hollywood for a vacation... its tacky and nothing like they make it seem. Hah.

Q: There's definitely a theme of dealing with mental health issues in your film. Is this something you've dealt with personally?

Josh: There have been moments where I've questioned my mental state... haven't gone too far down that road but I think it's beyond interesting to try to empathize and deal with people who are dealing with those.

Q: hey josh! the other night i was really high and felt like i was you. did you feel it too?

Josh: Wait... was that monday?? I felt something then…

Q: Hi,

What is your dream role, if you could have any in the world, and what is your dream directorial role (genre, plot, cast to direct)? If you had to pick one of these, dream role or dream directing opportunity, which would you prefer to do?

Now this is the obligatory thank-you part that I could not pass up the opportunity to post, considering how much your LGBT+ work has meant to me:

I figured this would be a good opportunity to send some well-deserved thanks your way and hope you see it…! This idea of wanting to thank you started in a letter I started writing a good few years ago now… which I still happen to have in my bedside table, because it never got sent. (I don’t think I ever figured out where to send fan-mail to you, which didn’t help my cause.)

I don’t remember, when I was younger, knowing of any out actors. I’m 20 now, but up until my mid-teens, there was a big blank space around the ideas of ‘LGBT+’ and ‘the world’ being connected for me. I’ve known I was gay since I was 11, but the experience was very isolating, not knowing any gay people in real life. I had no foundation to go on, no experience in this, and obviously felt as though I couldn’t talk with anyone about it, even though I remember very few support-type services.

I remember seeing you in Zathura (my Dad loves Jumanji, so it was bound to happen) and ever since then, I think I’ve just sort of stuck with you. I must have seen that movie when I was about 12/13, and I think that’s when I started to hear what it was you were saying, because I noticed it was relevant to me. I followed what you were saying, and as I got older and more aware of myself and the world, it really started to have an impact on me. I felt as though that was my connection, as though that was my way of learning partly about who I was.

Even though you weren’t gay, the fact that you were only a few years older than me and were into the things and the field I also enjoyed really helped me relate to you. Because I related to you and because you actually meant something to me, the message you seemed so passionate about really resonated with me and it gave me a sort of courage and hope I don’t think someone older (or just generally someone whom I didn’t look up to) would have been able to instil. For the first time, someone I liked and someone I respected was talking about this thing I wasn’t able to share with anyone else. And they were a proper force in the ‘wider world.’

I never really struggle with ‘being gay,’ but I struggled with what other people might have thought, and again your dialogue helped with that. It was just so amazing to see someone whom I respected acting in a way that showed me he would treat me and people like me just as he would any other person. Even though it wasn’t a two way conversation between us, I felt that because you were a person with such a big stature who was brave enough to say this in public, that surely you knew people like me were out there and you were at least partially talking to us.

In the big scheme of things, I didn’t have it as hard as some others do, and I never want to take that for granted. My parents are relatively liberal and Australia is an OK climate to LGBT+ in. But I still found that it was hard to relate who I was with something bigger, and it was scary thinking about whether I would have to start a journey of discovery (not just self-discovery, but a discovery of ‘everything LGBT+’ I suppose you could say) on my own. Simply said, you helped me bridge the gap that I think sometimes people forget exists, even for young LGBT+ people in “supportive” environments. Just because they’re supportive doesn’t mean they’re informative or comfortable.

Nowadays, I’m so happy when I see younger celebrities come out, because I know how much that visibility and that platform means to young LGBT+ kids who simply want to see someone like them on television or in the media. Ellen Page, Charlie Carver, Tom Daley, Troye Sivan, Gus Kenworthy, etc, are all fantastic people that I just know will help make all the difference in someone’s life, as you did in mine.

So, all in all, I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do for me and everyone else like me! I think it’s fair to say you’re not just an ally, but a friend too. I hope one day I get to shake your hand and thank you in-person for what you’ve done.

(...well this is the most personal thing I've ever written on this website.)

Josh: Of course! I think its beyond important to give people their voice and fair shot at what they want from life. GET OUT OF THE WAY HATERS!

Only light can drive out dark.

#Josh Hutcherson #interview #Reddit #Reddit AMA

147 notes · View notes

queenseats · 6 years

Photo

✅ Did you vote today? Yes, then, you deserve a cocktail. No, well you got just under an hour before polls close, then you, too, can have a cocktail 🍹 It helps that it’s also almost Friday and this cocktail was literally on fire, it really was on fire but obviously we didn’t get the camera out in time. Full disclosure: it was really cool. These are the Dead Man’s Tin, with rum, absinthe, and vanilla cinnamon syrup, and the beautiful Frida Mezkhalo, with mezcal, chartreuse, mango-agave syrup, aguafaba, blood orange juice lime, habanero bitters 🌶, and black lava salt from @thehighwaternyc in #astoria #queensny #nyc and real talk, I didn’t think #thehighwater was going to be my kind of place but honestly the drinks were amazing, staff was super nice, and I’m definitely going back. I’m just a sucker for a #tikidrink and kind folks! Happy primary day, you guys! #queenseats #queenseatsmust (at The Highwater) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnr57QVnkLx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xipsoahefmlj

#astoria #queensny #nyc #thehighwater #tikidrink #queenseats #queenseatsmust

0 notes

wayneooverton · 6 years

Text

My favorite travel shoe: the magic of merino Allbirds

This is probably the most obviously and in-your-face sponsored post I’ve ever written, and I am unapologetic. Read on, dear ones, read on.

So I received my first pair of Allbirds merino wool shoes a few months after watching them creep in and pop up on my newsfeed amongst friends and influencers this past year. These simple wool shoes caught my eye mostly because everyone who wore them raved about them.

Personal recommendations go a long way with me.

Wool runners in Kotare Mint

I don’t think I’ve ever written a product review before in eight years of running this blog, so do tell me if I’m doing this wrong. Considering I’m sitting at around 1500 words as I publish this, I imagine I am. Oh well.

Also, I didn’t intend to write it this way. I was going to do a very length narrative piece about me wearing these lovely merino sneakers on a merino farm in New Zealand. Inception.

But I realized I loved these so much, and I absolutely put them through their paces in New Zealand and in Switzerland, and decided on my own that they deserved more attention than that, so here we are. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that merino stations here in wintertime are covered in either snow or mud up to your knees, both of which are not ideal conditions for cute wooly sneakers.

Barring that, my conclusion is that Allbirds shoes are amazing, I’m obsessed and they are the best travel show. I dare you to read on, consume all my words, and not leave with the same conclusion.

The magical power of merino wool

It didn’t take long after moving to New Zealand to learn the magic of merino wool. After all, we are famous for our sheep here, with around 30 million wooly souls to only four million decidedly un-wooly humans, unless you’re in hipster Wellington where beards reign supreme.

Between spending a lot of time in the backcountry and on farms in often rather intense and unforgiving environments, you quickly learn the only true fabric to be worn on an adventure here is merino wool. Hands up if you are a fan.

But it ain’t cheap, and New Zealand wool is even pricier thanks to the strict rules here around the treatment of the merino sheep and thread quality of the wool that is used, which makes it some of the best in the world.

Why? Merinos are much tougher and hardier than you’re average fluffy white sheep, born and bred in the rugged high country of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, they live in super hot dry summers and freezing cold winters and their incredible fleece supports them in both climates.

Merino wool keeps you warm when it’s cold and keeps you cool when it’s hot, wicking away moisture and drying fast. Also, it doesn’t smell. I repeat, MERINO WOOL DOESN’T SMELL. In fact, I’ve even seen it advertised as 10 day underwear. NZ kills at marketing.

This also means you don’t have to wear socks with Allbirds shoes because they are, in fact, wool socks, and you can just chuck them in the washing machine if they get dirty. However, they aren’t really the best outdoor adventure shoe, not to replace running shoes or hiking shoes.

I wear them on my travels, in the city, and on mellow walks. I’ve found the bottom isn’t grippy enough for harder terrain and hikes.

Allbirds use only ZQ certified merino wool, that means the wool used in these sneakers come only from New Zealand farms that adhere to these exceptionally high standards for wool production and quality, and are committed to sustainability and ethical practice around the treatment of the sheep.

They’re like hugs for your feet

A friend of mine replied to one of my Instagram posts raving about Allbirds, describing them as hugs for your feet. And let me just say, a more accurate shoe description has never existed.

They are like walking on clouds. It’s like wearing slippers all the time. In fact, I’ve converted my grey loungers into slippers because that’s what they look like and they’re so damn comfortable.

And if you don’t believe me when I say they’re the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned, you can try them and if you don’t feel the same, you can return within 30 days. Boom.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate how FREAKING good my calves look here

Allbirds are a solidly decent company changing fashion

Last year I openly discussed my commitment to working on more sustainable travel and trying to work with brands that are deeply committed to sustainability too. Even just bringing it up in conversations and building momentum around the movement. And honestly, is there anything more wasteful than the fashion industry?

I won’t go into it here, but I am deeply disgusted by many Instagram “influencers” who never repeat an outfit and waste clothes like there’s no tomorrow. But I digress.

The point of my mini-rant is that at Allbirds shoes, they were constantly questioning whether there is a better way; there must be. But by looking at natural materials, like wool, and other things that exist right in front of us, instead of synthetics, they were able to build a successful business that is committed to using sustainably sourced, all natural materials.

Quick powerful facts:

Allbirds’ manufacturing process uses 60% less energy than materials used in typical synthetic shoes.

Each pair of shoelaces is made from one recycled plastic bottle

The packaging is made from 90% recycled cardboard

The shoebox uses 40% less materials than normal shoe packaging

They’re a certified B-Corp, meaning they meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency

World-famous in New Zealand

Ok, I get really excited when New Zealand has a major international success story.

After all we were the first country in the world to give women the right to vote, the first nation to put a man on Everest, and the first spot the split the atom. New Zealand is nothing if not kickass and innovative.

Should I even be surprised that Allbirds was started by a kiwi? Nope.

Ka pai, bro!

Simple and cute sneakers

As an American, I moved to Europe when I was 19. Wait, I have always been American, when I was 19 and now. You know what I mean. Why am I so confusing?

As an American in fashion forward Spain, where you do not leave the house without mascara EVER, I quickly learned that rule #1 was one does not wear sneakers in Europe. Like running sneakers. Trainers. Runners.

Those only belong inside the gym, not even to walk to the gym. Us Americans and our commitment to sporty footwear had no place in stylish Europe, and even now I can easily spot my brethren abroad when traveling solely by their soles.

I quickly accepted that I would have foot pain, and invested in all sorts of cute flats and wedges that would wear out after a few months of long commutes on cobblestones. When I lived in Córdoba for a year, I even developed a heel spur from my favorite beige Mango flats.

You’d think now that I am 30 and I travel for a living, and my long walks in Europe (and elsewhere) exploring require me to carry a heavy bag of camera equipment along with the 20 extra pounds I’ve gained since I was 19, I would begin to resign myself to wearing more comfortable shoes.

But guys! Allbirds has saved me! They are cute and comfortable. With their simple design and penchant for neutral colors (minus the bright Kea Red loungers I’ve been rocking) I can get away with wearing them while I work on my feet filming and not be crying on the inside in pain.

Natural, practical, simple. No flashy logos. No flair. Quality but unpretentious. I love it. it’s the Scandinavia of the shoe world.

Limited edition Kea Red wool loungers

Join the cult

Honestly, I haven’t met anyone who owns a pair of Allbirds and doesn’t rave about them. You’ll find yourself always discussing their attributes and forcing other people to buy a pair.

When I began wearing and talking about them online, literally every single message was positive and people constantly thanked me for pointing them out. They are gamechangers. I’m obsessed. Everyone’s obsessed.

Once you fall for Allbirds, you’ll start to notice when other people wear them, and if you’re like me, you make awkward eye contact and give a little chin nod, like yup, you get it too. While growingly popular, there are still many people hadn’t heard about them (yet) and you don’t see them all the time, lending them a lovely air of mystery.

It’s like you’re part of a secret club or something. Or cult. A sheep cult. Does it get any better than that?

Are you an Allbirds fan? Do you find yourself drawn to brands like theirs with a good story and care about sustainability in the things you buy? Have you discovered the wonderful magic of merino? Share!

Many thanks to Allbirds for all the shoes and love and turning me into a fanatic. Like always, I’m keeping it real. All opinions are my own, like you could expect less from me.

The post My favorite travel shoe: the magic of merino Allbirds appeared first on Young Adventuress.

from Young Adventuress https://ift.tt/2Ll0Isn

0 notes