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a-crimson-lion · 4 years

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“It Makes Me Wanna Keep Him At Arm’s Length” An Overview On Katsuki Bakugo’s Development

[I should by no means be the one writing this analysis, but here we are. Obviously it’s an overview on Katsuki’s character development, but there’s a bit more to it than that. Keep reading if you want the details.]

Table of Contents

i) Prologue

I) A Brief Explanation

II) The “What The F*** Is Your Existence” Phase

II.A) Breaking The Barriers

III) The “I Can’t Let You Get Ahead Of Me” Phase

IV) The “Why Don’t You Care About Yourself” Phase

V) Final Address+Conclusion

Word Count: 4415

[Warning: Contains manga spoilers up to Ch. 284. Will also include spoilers for the movies and OVAs, as well as the special Deku & Bakugo: Rising two-shot manga. Reader’s discretion is advised. Not scared off yet? Good. Let’s do this.]

i) Prologue

Alright, no beating around the bush, I guess.

We all know this has to deal with Ch. 284, and the milestone that came with it. We got a rare look inside Katsuki’s perspective, and we saw firsthand how much his perspective has changed from the start of the story. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten such an in-depth look into Katsuki’s psyche since Deku vs Kacchan 2. It’s honestly impressive.

...which is why I’m so confused by a certain kind of response to it.

When you look past the swarms of tumblr posts absolutely losing their s*** over Katsuki getting further character development, you come across an… admittedly troubling response. The idea that “Katsuki always cared.” The idea that as early as the Battle Trial, if not middle school, Katsuki was secretly keeping an eye out for Izuku in their tumultuous relationship.

...no. Just-. No, what the-

I’ll get to why this particular response pisses me off in a bit, but before that, I wanna give a run down of Katsuki’s development, according to the narrative. Anyone who’s been around my blog long enough knows that I don’t exactly hold Katsuki in good graces. (Pretty much the opposite, actually.) However, in light of recent developments, that’s not what this post is gonna be focusing on. And as such, I’ll keep the snark and branch conversations to a minimum… to the best of my abilities.

So… how are we gonna do this?

I) A Brief Explanation

After we finish this brief “tutorial” section, the next three segments of the post will cover the various time frames of Katsuki’s development. I’ll be going through a general rundown of Katsuki’s perspective and the various evidence points that lead me to my conclusions. It’s essentially a glorified retelling. Sound good? Alrighty then!

II) The “What The F*** Is Your Existence” Phase

Time Frame: Ch. 1-Ch. 116 [Sludge Villain Arc-Late Provisional Hero License Exam Arc]

In case the Prologue didn’t make things clear, let me spell it out: Katsuki didn’t always care.

At least, he didn’t “always care” in the positive sense.

To clarify, this isn’t just 3rd Year Middle School Katsuki to UA Katsuki. This is all the way back to the River Incident. Katsuki has had this mentality for that long and then some when you shift out of backstory territory. We’re talking about the same kid who nearly murdered Izuku in the Battle Trial, blasted Izuku to kingdom come in the Training of the Dead OVA, and decked Izuku during the Final Exams. So…

The following hinges majorly on the line Katsuki stated in Chapter 284, and the title of this analysis: “It makes me wanna keep him at arm’s length.” Contrary to popular belief, this does not just apply to the idea that Katsuki wants to stick around Izuku to keep him from destroying himself.

...it’s also a major contributor to the reason Katsuki bullied Izuku in the past.

So let’s backtrack to the River incident. Katsuki takes one wrong step on a log, slips, and falls down into the river below. Izuku is the only one that goes down to help him. This infuriates Katsuki because he was fine, as was said by him and everyone but Izuku that was present that day. This is also the first time Katsuki becomes aware of something he echoes in the Ch. 284 flashback:

“He just… Deep down, he doesn’t take himself into account, y’know?”

This is Katsuki’s first run in with Izuku’s inherent selflessness. Initially, he takes it as pity; in his words, Izuku is “looking down on him.” And this bothers him a great deal. Then when it comes to Quirks, Katsuki gets one and Izuku doesn’t. This assures Katsuki of something he shortly discovered previously: Izuku isn’t all that special.

It’s a brief comfort. Because Izuku hasn’t taken the damn hint and stopped hanging out with him and his friends. The Quirked kids. The normal kids.

And worst still, he’s willing to get in Katsuki’s way just because someone else is in his line of fire. In the back of his mind, it’s the River Incident all over again, though he’s not being feared for; he’s being feared of. It’s all wrong. Deku isn’t strong like the rest of them. Deku can’t be a hero. Deku knows that.

...he knows that he doesn’t stand a chance, right? He knows how the world really works. Is he… is he putting on an act?

One of the few remarkable traits Katsuki has right from the get-go is his disdain against dishonesty. So, when he sees Izuku putting on a brave face and acting like a hero, and Katsuki decides that Izuku’s just “pretending,” Katsuki takes the matter into his own hands. He’ll get Izuku to show his true colors in due time. That’s what heroes do, right? Take down the bad guys? And Izuku faking about caring for others when everyone else clearly puts themselves first and foremost sounds pretty bad guy-like, at least at the time.

So, Izuku keeps on trucking, occasionally trying to join back up with Katsuki’s group on a near frequent basis. Even when that fails, he tries his damnedest to catch up.

But what many people forget is that at some point, Izuku stopped following, at least actively.

By Chapter 1, he’s making sure to keep from drawing attention to himself. He’s not as enthusiastic as everyone else in the class, he tries backing away from Katsuki and shrinking down on himself, tries defusing the situation. That doesn’t sound like Izuku’s still trying to keep up. Even in the special two-shot manga dedicated to Heroes: Rising, Izuku isn’t the one to draw attention to Katsuki’s presence. And even when he does go after Katsuki and the villain, his attention is more so focused on the villain, thoughts of staying out of Katsuki’s way to not offend him likely somewhere in his mind.

So then why does Katsuki keep antagonizing him in the first chapter of canon proper? And even before that, most likely?

“It makes me wanna keep him at arm’s length.”

...Izuku didn’t stop being Izuku. Izuku didn’t stop being selfless.

And his selflessness is what pisses Katsuki off to no end. So, he keeps pursuing Izuku, keeps trying to get him to “drop the act.” Makes him a “punching bag,” as Izuku states in Chapter 8. Because the way things work, Izuku should not be trying to be a hero. He should not be trying to put on a brave face when he’s scared s***less. He should not be sticking his neck out for others when he doesn’t (or rather, didn’t) have anything to stick up for himself.

Katsuki was born with something that made everyone consider him prime hero material. Izuku was born without that, and was considered the opposite… and yet, he still tries.

And this character trait, this selflessness, it drives Katsuki insane. And it continues to do so well beyond the Battle Trial Arc. Even when Katsuki is able to begrudgingly accept that Quirkless Deku has a Quirk now, somehow, his selflessness continues to bring Katsuki grief. While it’s never inherently brought up, this is the dividing factor between Izuku’s fight against Shoto in the Sport’s Festival and Katsuki’s fight with Shoto in the Sport’s Festival.

Izuku was willing to go all out at the cost of himself just so Shoto could accept what was his. Katsuki just wanted a good brawl, to be the undisputed first place.

This even continues well into the Final Exams, though the fact that Katsuki is running high on arrogance and anger does nothing to soothe matters. It takes a deck to face and later an explosive kabedon wall smash to get Izuku and Katsuki working together, and let’s not forget that when Izuku was trying to get Katsuki to realize they were still fighting All Might, regardless of whatever handicaps he may or may not have, he gets decked in the nose for his efforts. While it’s technically a subtler play on Izuku’s selflessness and concern for others, Katsuki likely took it as further mockery, another attempt for Deku to try and get under his skin and throw him off.

In any case, throughout this time period, Katsuki cares f*** all for Izuku or his philosophy, opting to brute force things up until the very end of the time frame. But what causes the eventual shift?

II.A) Breaking The Barriers

A number of things, actually.

None of the proceeding events ever do a clean cut on Katsuki’s worldview. It’s more like chiseling through a wall than breaking it down with a hammer.

The Sludge Villain is the first hint that Izuku might not be faking and Katsuki might not be at the top. While many claim that Katsuki leaves Izuku alone because he feels indebted to him but doesn’t want to admit it, it’s more than likely that he’s more focused on his own self-loathing. This incident is what defines him for a good chunk of the series, to his chagrin.

The Battle Trial is just another nail in the eventual coffin. Katsuki thinks he’s finally got Izuku right where he wants him, only for Izuku to pull a 500 IQ play and prioritize the exercise over his and Katsuki’s squabbles, taking the brunt of Katsuki’s attack and attention while giving Ochako the opportunity to capture the bomb. That look of frustration is Katsuki realizing that not only did Izuku get ahead, he got ahead with the very thing Katsuki despises. Needless to say, it f***s with him well until the aftermath outside of UA’s gate.

Shoto refusing to use his flames is another chip off the marble that is Katsuki’s pride. It reinforces the idea that Izuku is doing something that Katsuki isn’t, something that Izuku shouldn’t have in the first place, beyond a Quirk at least. So, Katsuki rages, because he can’t understand why it’s such a big deal, in both Izuku’s and Shoto’s cases.

The Final Exams just hammer the point home further. Katsuki’s one-track minded attempts to bring down All Might are met with no results. He would have failed that exam if it wasn’t for Izuku’s selflessness or Katsuki “lowering himself” to cooperate with him. Had Katsuki not gotten decked in the face and dragged off or got saved at the last minute while he was knocked out, he definitely would have failed on account of becoming a liability.

The Training Camp attack is an odd mix of Katsuki’s current philosophy and the next stage in it. He knows Izuku’s gonna go and save his ass, and he wants no part of that because hasn’t he made him suffer enough already? Hasn’t he already proved time and time again that he’s getting better, despite the fact that Katsuki doesn’t want or believe it? Despite the fact that it shouldn’t even be happening if things were right in the world? Izuku does recognize Katsuki’s wounded pride, however, which is instrumental in getting him out of All For One’s clutches during Kamino.

If we briefly direct our attention to the Make It! Do-Or-Die Survival Training! OVA, Katsuki is pretty adamant on claiming he only got the power back on in the underground mall to complete the exercise. And I don’t think that’s Katsuki’s “tsundere” talking, either: I genuinely believe that Katsuki’s only thoughts at the moment was getting the exercise done. Everyone else was just secondary. And remember, Katsuki hates dishonesty, which is probably why he doesn’t take credit for “saving” Izuku and Shoto. While his actions did save the two of them and everyone else in the mall, that wasn’t his intention, which is an interesting flip on Izuku’s performance back in the Battle Trial. Couple that with the fact that Katsuki is injured (and therefore weak, and in need of help), and it’s no wonder he’s in a sour mood towards the end of it all.

And this sour mood carries over to the final nail in his coffin: the Provisional License Exam. He only gets by the first half because other people had the sense to tag along, but the second half regards his undoing because he still doesn’t get the whole selfless aspect of saving people in the second half of the exam. This was also foreshadowed back in the aforementioned OVA with Katsuki’s excessive animosity towards the victim dummy. Whether they be real or fake, Katsuki’s disregard of either victim doesn’t grant him his hero license.

This is the straw that breaks the camel's back for Katsuki. And ultimately, this sparks the start in his shift to the second phase of his development.

III) The “I Can’t Let You Get Ahead Of Me” Phase

Time Frame: Ch. 117-~Ch. 257 [Late Provisional Hero License Exam Arc-Early Paranormal Liberation War Arc]

Since this is only the second phase of Katsuki’s development (and given that this is Katsuki we’re talking about), don’t expect to get much of an upgrade with this shift.

Essentially, it boils down to two things: Katsuki stops viewing Izuku as an annoyance, and starts viewing him as an obstacle. Simultaneously, he starts seeing the viability of saving, at least as a tool in a hero’s kit.

Let me explain.

While Deku vs Kacchan 2 is the first time Izuku and Katsuki have attempted to talk out their issues… not much gets addressed. Sure, Katsuki becomes aware of Izuku not looking down on him, but Izuku is never made aware of the deeper issues regarding Katsuki’s loathing beyond that. It primarily serves as a half-barebones narrative checkpoint, a segway for Katsuki to get in on the secret of One For All.

...let’s also talk about that, shall we?

So Izuku’s been getting better as a hero and with his Quirk. Then Katsuki finds out after he gets kidnapped and rescued that Izuku is the successor to their mutual idol. And that’s after essentially being told he can’t be a hero in his current state due to the PLE. And what is his usual response to adversity? He decides to get ahead of it.

He’ll surpass Class 1-A so there won’t be another Battle Trial. He’ll surpass Izuku and One For All so he can truly claim that he’s the best of the best.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to see more of this development until the Joint Training Arc. However, keep in mind that this is only the second stage. Katsuki wants to prove that he’s the best, so of course he’s gonna step up his game. That means taking advice from the LITERAL (former) #1 HERO, and making the victory as flawless as possible. After all, Katsuki himself said in Chapter 208:

“I’ve decided! We’re gonna win this match with a perfect victory! 4-0, with everyone unscathed! That’s the kind of victory there is for the strongest guys out there!”

...it might be a slight exaggeration when he says he’s hardly changed at the end of that chapter, but then again it is a stretch to even call it an exaggeration.

That aside, Katsuki also makes it part of his agenda to keep tabs on OFA. This would fit into the “Katsuki secretly cares” agenda, but we haven’t reached that point. Right now, in these moments, Katsuki figures that if One For All starts getting freaky, he wants to know about it so he can get a leg up. And maybe part of him still wants to call Izuku out.

He was minorly ticked when Izuku allowed himself to make a mistake during their unauthorized fight. And he constantly reminds Izuku to not forget that he’s supposed to surpass him (or the other way around).

Taking off the rose-colored glasses for a moment, it does make sense for Katsuki to say this beyond the context of positive motivation. We are talking about the same Katsuki who lashed out at Shoto for holding back. It’s reasonable to assume that he doesn’t want Izuku to do the same, and lagging behind more or less equates to holding back.

And Katsuki still isn’t completely invested in Izuku’s training for Izuku’s sake. After the Joint Training, Katsuki tries getting Izuku to manifest Black Whip again, and nopes out shortly afterwards when nothing comes of their sparring sessions in Chapter 217. This still isn’t the Katsuki we see in the 284 flashback. He’s still got a ways to go.

Yes, this even rings true for Katsuki during Heroes: Rising. While the film might be the ultimate Bakudeku dream come true, there really isn’t… much depth in regards to Izuku and Katsuki’s past. Y’know, the thing that most people are hoping gets resolved? It only gets referenced a few times in the film, but doesn’t overall factor into anything meaningful. Most of the time when Izuku and Katsuki team up, Katsuki only gets to the fight because he wants to throw hands with villains on an island where (if the status quo had remained unchanged) was likely selected because it had little to no serious villain activity. It just so happens that protecting and working with Izuku is an unintended byproduct of these fights. Katsuki even drops the infamous “lowering myself to work with Deku” line just before the big climax. And even with the transfer of OFA to Katsuki, it strikes less as overcoming a longstanding obstacle and more as plot convenience, especially since by the end of the fight OFA nopes back into Izuku so hard that Katsuki gets mind wiped about the whole thing.

Even during the Endeavor Arc, we don’t see much growth beyond the Ending fight, where Katsuki prioritizes saving Natsuo over throwing hands like he usually would, learning to take saving as more than a tool. This is significant considering it’s Katsuki, but unfortunately, there’s not much else thereafter. The entire arc won’t get referenced as an overall stepping stone until Ch. 284.

And thus, we head to the final phase.

IV) The “Why Don’t You Care About Yourself” Phase

Time Frame: ~Ch. 257-Ch. 284 [Early Paranormal Liberation War Arc-Paranormal Liberation War Arc (Present)]

So here’s an interesting tidbit: Katsuki can’t handle nonphysical confrontation.

Leave him with the fact that his kidnapping could have gotten most of the class expelled because they decided to go rescue him or avoided such while knowing of the operation? He’ll pay back Eijiro for the expensive night vision goggles and make Denki suffer Quirk overuse so he doesn’t need to be reminded.

Get stuck in the middle of a Todoroki Family Drama scene? He’ll try bragging about how he did better than the current #1 Hero to attempt curbing off the situation.

Put him in a discussion with Izuku where they address his additional Quirk manifestations and the full weight of his potential/legacy? Katsuki will brag about having a skill already in his toolkit to ignore the fact that he has the potential to fall behind.

This defines the earlier days of this phase. We don’t see what happens in the timeframe between that and the start of the War Arc until the Chapter 284 flashback. I believe that during the gap between 257 and this flashback, Katsuki allowed himself to process the full weight of what he and Izuku were told during that meeting.

And this marks one of his biggest revelations to date.

Izuku’s selflessness is no longer something annoying. It’s a potential fatal flaw.

For the first time, it’s hitting Katsuki that Izuku is no longer an obstacle, or just an obstacle. Izuku is a person who is working himself to the bone and past that, who would die at the drop of the hat if he thought the payoff was well worth it. He’s finally starting to see that what Izuku is doing to himself is dangerous, and he wants to know what he can do to prevent the serious ramifications.

This is a big phase in his development, no doubt, but um… it’s not the last phase.

If I’m being honest, we’re nowhere close. Why? Well, two reasons:

A) Katsuki still has yet to properly take a loss.

Any and all of Katsuki’s losses are either in his head or narratively negated. And his disproportionate win/loss ratio doesn’t do him any favors either. He’s culminated a philosophy that he can’t and shouldn’t lose, but losing is a crucial aspect of improvement and being human in general. In the case of the story, Chapter 275 suggests that Katsuki wants to face off against Tomura as payback for Kamino. He essentially wants to extend the narrative and treat that loss like a delayed win, as if the loss hadn’t happened yet. Many people claim that this is a bluff he used to cover his true intentions of keeping an eye on Izuku, but I don’t think that’s the case. While sticking by Izuku is a contributing factor, getting a win is equally so, because Katsuki hasn’t properly adjusted to a loss. His strategy for dealing with any kind of loss is just to bulldoze through it like nothing happened, instead of taking the time to understand why he lost and to apply that knowledge for future encounters.

Be aware of your surroundings during the Sludge Villain.

Focus on your priorities and communicate with others during the Battle Trial.

Don’t ignore the situation just to focus on your own intentions during the Training Camp attack.

HELP PEOPLE during the Provisional License Exam.

There are so many lessons Katsuki could have learned sooner if he had taken the time to properly digest his losses. But he didn’t. He still doesn’t. He might have learned some of them eventually, but the fact remains that he nearly ran head first into a suicide mission just because he couldn’t take the loss and was dead set on getting even.

And keep in mind, Katsuki was lamenting on struggling to keep up with Izuku earlier before their encounter with Tomura, and how he couldn’t afford to stay a loser, so this is likely less far-fetched than you think.

Okay, so then what’s the second reason Katsuki’s development is far from over?

B) He hasn’t fully connected the dots on what he did to Izuku.

So far, Katsuki has recognized that he was off-put by Izuku’s selflessness, and that he bullied him over that.

What he hasn’t recognized is how much of a role he played personally in that part of Izuku’s personality, or at least it’s present day incarnation.

Let me clarify a bit. Katsuki is aware that he was distrubed by Izuku’s selflessness. He is aware that bullied him and that, at some degree, was wrong. But I don’t think he’s quite connected the dots on how his intervention has led to Izuku’s current brand of martyrdom.

At the start of the series, Izuku just cares about others. After making sure he gets down to the river safely, he’s willing to lend a hand to Katsuki, who fell from a pretty concerning height ig we’re being honest.

But this unnerves Katsuki. And it leads to his physical altercations with Izuku from time to time.

Remember, Izuku followed Katsuki at the time, but somewhere down the line he stopped. But he never stopped being Izuku, so Katsuki continued to pursue him. Izuku had already been willing to give up in some degree on ever keeping up with Katsuki the way he used to. He knew, at some level, that he wasn’t accepted.

That he wasn’t worth as much as everyone else.

Katsuki bullied Izuku because he was selfless. But Katsuki’s bullying, coupled with the rest of society’s ostracization, twisted and warped that selflessness with low self-esteem, low self-worth, and self-destructive tendencies. Katsuki wasn’t the sole bully of Izuku, but he was a primary perpetrator. And his actions only made the very thing he despised so, so much worse.

...and until he can recognize THAT aspect of his relationship with Izuku, his journey is far from over.

So yeah, Katsuki’s making progress, but we’re still not out of the woods yet.

V) Final Address+Conclusion

So now for the obvious question: why did I write all of this?

I said it at the beginning, about how some people claimed that Katsuki cared all along. I brought up a bit about how it pissed me off. Why, exactly?

Because when people insist that Katsuki threatening Izuku to not go to UA comes from a place of concern, they disregard Chapter 1 Katsuki’s gigantic ego and utter disregard for others, much less so for Izuku.

Because when people insist that Katsuki’s shocked face at the end of the Battle Trial was because he was upset with how he hurt Izuku, they disregard the fact that Katsuki was willing to almost murder Izuku, and if not that then brutalize him, and that at this point Katsuki absolutely loathes getting shown up, which is what Izuku inadvertently did.

Because when people insist that Katsuki always cared from the very beginning, they (un)intentionally undermine one of the few things that draw people to Katsuki’s character: his character development.

On his own, Katsuki is an prodigious, antisocial and angry teen looking for fame and fortune in the industry who grows into a dedicated source of confidence and understanding as he finally allows himself to branch beyond his initial handicaps. If you insist that Katsuki always had the awareness and concern he displayed in 284’s flashback, what do you get instead?

A selfish, self-centered, fickle, emotionally-constipated asshole whose growth is more comparable to a ramp instead of a mountain.

...not as impressive, is it?

While I’m pretty sure this is just a minor trend, that doesn’t excuse the lack of care it demonstrates. If you aren’t willing to admit and live with the fact that Day 1 Katsuki is the worst of the worst and that he did progressively get better through trials and tribulation, why bother? When you insist a character like Katsuki was fine from the start, you take away part of what makes that character so endearing. If they were never an ass to begin with, then what the hell was their problem at the start, or even now? Why the hell would we condone that? It’s important to recognize character flaws and to give them their due, because seeing a character grown out of them is far more self-fulfilling and relatable than insisting that they were always in the right place from the start.

...but then again, that’s just me. Thanks for reading.

-Crimson Lion (20 September 2020)

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crowshallow · 3 years

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Fruits of Your Craft Day 15

What has been your experience with the magical community thus far? What was good about it, and what was bad?

As stated previously I used to go on forums back before social media was ever a thing and it had been fascinating to see the different topic threads and discussions. There wasn't this constant looking for information when it was just right there and you could go into the archives. Not only that, but because the forums weren't an instant thing, it was easier to think about what the topic was and allow yourself time to think. It was also a lot easier to store information so one wasn't constantly making new threads about it too.

The issue is, is that when social media became instant, it's like every single thread is happening every single time. Want to know how to build a circle? There's fifteen people that made that thread. Want to know color correspondences? More people than you can count have made that thread. It's an abundance of the same information over and over again.

Because of the constant same information, the lacking is in the new spells that can be shared and the community's opinions on certain topics. I have mentioned before that the Christan vs. Witchcraft conversation that this media platform likes to devel is the very same conversation we of the old have had plenty of times. It's the same conversation and sadly it's only coming about with the same result which means that the cycle of the conversation will continue.

That doesn't mean that these conversations aren't supposed to happen. It just means that we have to go about it from a different angle. The issue is that no one knows how to go about doing this angle because they're afraid of offending others. Conversations aren't soft touches. Sometimes in order to get to the depth of a problem, you have to tear at some wounds and bleed. Only when we see where the problem is, then we can stitch and heal. Otherwise, the wound just scabs over, and we pretend not to see it fester with infection.

The other issue that I see in this community is that this lack of conversation and the need to divide the community so that it's "safe", makes it easier for those who have bad intentions to come in and do something to this community. Making cults for example. There is a reason a lot of us say to be careful about picking teachers. In fact, some of us even say not to find one because if they're teaching then they may be in a cult or trying to get you to be part of a cult. My advice is that a teacher comes exactly as a teacher will, and leaves when a teacher's duty is done. It's your choice whether you want a teacher.

We need to be more open with the harder conversations. I also think that we also need to start being aware that not everyone who is on this platform is aware of the next big drama or the next worse thing or whatever because of how the threads circulate on Tumblr. Just because one reblogs doesn't mean it winds up on every pagan's dash. Just because this is "something big we all must talk about" doesn't mean that everyone goes searching for that information, nor does it always fall into our lap.

We can't find this information if we don't know what we're looking for, and yet we're treated as though we're deliberately not looking for it. We have to be mindful that again Tumblr is not a forum, and looking through everyone's archives and posts is just not a productive way of trying to find information. Also if one "popular" thread is reblogged about, many different sides of the story are also lost because chances are that "popular thread" doesn't have all the reblogs and comments that are circulating on it.

We must be eager to look at every single angle. Otherwise, we do nothing more than become an echo chamber and ignore the other side who may have valid points as well. Compromise isn't about catering to one side, and justice never just listens to one side of the story. Everyone must tell it in order for a verdict to be reached.

#fruitsofcraft #day 15 #pagan #witchcraft #book of mirrors

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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Anon who sent that ask about someone else - it might take me awhile to respond because there’s kinda an indepth answer to that.....like its not a long convoluted thing, honestly, its just something that’s a matter of saying it right so it comes out the way I mean it, y’know? But for the record, not everyone I reblog from is a mutual, sometimes I’m just seeing what other people are posting, and there’s a difference between people I interact with and people I let myself get close to. I’m kinda a stubborn fuck, lol, which means after a literal lifetime of isolating myself and making sure me and ‘my issues’ were only taking up as much space as others were willing to allot me, like, I just fucking got exhausted by that and decided awhile back that no. Fuck no, I’m not doing that anymore, because I shouldn’t HAVE to. I put a lot of effort into making sure I make room for problems people speak up about that I previously didn’t notice or wasn’t aware of, and so I think its only fair that people do the same in return for me when and where it becomes an issue. That’s how society is SUPPOSED to work, I believe. No, everybody doesn’t have to agree on everything, but when its a matter of just CARING how things we prioritize and make room for affect others around us and squeeze them into smaller and smaller spaces......eventually, it comes down to being either put up or shut up time.

And I know where I stand on those things, and since I’m also a big believer in personal accountability, like.....I’m just not someone who’s willing to make it easier for others to determine the same, like, at my expense. Not anymore. So....bottom line is, I don’t limit my interactions with others based on figuring out where they stand on stuff and building myself a fortress that boxes them out and has a sign out that says keep out if you don’t like xyz.

Instead, I do exactly what proponents of “Don’t like, don’t read” CLAIM they do.

I set out my blanket on this big fucking giant lawn that’s all tumblr really is, a communal space where anyone can set up shop and anyone can see what anyone else is doing over in their space and there really AREN’T ‘walls’ no matter how much we pretend there are.....and since there’s not really a finite amount of space, I take up as much space as I need to, over here in my personal bit of it, and I use it however the fuck I please. Just like everyone else.

And then I leave it up to other people to figure out for themselves how much they want to come into my space, or near my space, or how much distance they want to put between themselves and my space.....but I make damn clear that everyone knows: this is MY space, this is what *I* believe in and stand for and I will talk about whatever the hell I want to talk about, WHEN I want to talk about it, at the volume I want to talk about it. And anyone that doesn’t work for has pleeeeeeeenty of other space they can put between themselves and me so they 100% do not have to hear anything I’m saying, let alone interact with it.

And thing is....they absolutely can do whatever they want in their spaces too. They can talk about ME if they want to, and whatever it is that I’m saying - that’s their right! And if I see them or hear them talking about me I can share what I think about THAT, in a totally counter-productive never-ending spiral that yeah, we sometimes get sucked into.

Just like.....I accept that people CAN ship what they want to ship and write what they want to write and do all of that in their various spaces.....but when those spaces butt up next to mine or when they share space with somewhere that’s supposedly a communal space that all like-minded fans are welcome in....yup, I CAN say what I feel and think about those even just EXISTING. And then they can say and feel whatever they want about THAT and down the line it goes, lol.

(Its kinda hilarious to me how sometimes my little rants about fic result in people spitefully posting stuff that’s exactly what I was talking about and making sure to let me know if its in reaction to me being so damn annoying and loud. Its like....lol, adorable how you just flat out refuse to get that I’m only REACTING to what you put out there in the first place, so putting out MORE of the same to ‘spite’ me is never going to make me talk about it LESS. You fucking dumbasses.)

But you see what I’m saying right? Like.....it just doesn’t work for me anymore, to do what I did pretty much since I was ten years old, and continually retreat AWAY from the spaces taken up by EVERYONE else who refused to consider my needs or comfort or what I was asking in order to just....exist alongside them.

And that’s all ANYONE who says similar stuff to me in regards to ANY content is really saying, at the end of the day:

We all have as much right to exist in these allegedly COMMUNAL spaces as anyone else, and its fucked up that so many people think it should always be on us and only us to back away and tuck ourselves into little corners that don’t intrude on anyone else, when nobody else is remotely considerate of doing the same for us.

Especially not when the only REAL basis for people insisting that there’s nothing wrong with anything they do or say is because there’s MORE of them doing it and saying it than there are people protesting. Its like, lololol does the term tyranny of the majority not mean anything to anyone? Whether or not there’s MORE people doing something than saying hey could you not, has fuck all to do with whether or not people have a right or case for saying....hey could you not.

So....bottom line is, I just don’t fucking do it anymore. Not when I’ve done it most of my life and at the end of the day, the truth is I shouldn’t HAVE to, and should NEVER have had to....because I have as much right to be here as anyone.

So the way I go about it is, I just....set up shop in my little corner of the internet, and I mostly stay here and just say what I want to say and do what I want to do loudly and clearly, so there’s really no fucking confusion about what it is I’m saying or doing and its on everyone else who comes close to determine whether or not they WANT to be here or not. And if they do? If they’re interested in what I have to say about one subject? Then they can damn well listen through what I have to say on another subject, or they can leave and come back later to see if I’ve changed the channel since then. But they don’t get to insist on what programming I put out there, and fuck them for trying to influence that if they do.

And so when it comes to other fans in this fandom....I mostly let them come to me, y’know? I don’t really....go out there seeking out other fans to interact with, I’m just kinda....here, and if what I’m saying is of interest and we end up interacting, that’s cool. And I don’t really mind too much if they’re doing something entirely different elsewhere, cuz this is the part where I’m a petty, stubborn fuck comes into play, lol.....cuz if they want to interact with me regularly, well, whenever these subjects come up, they’re gonna hear what I have to say, and that’s on them and their own damn feelings to sort out. And if it makes them feel guilty or self-conscious, that’s that personal accountability thing - figure out for their own damn selves how to reconcile those things. I’ll still be here when they’re done.

But like I said at the top, that doesn’t mean like.....there’s a difference between interacting and getting close to, and trust me, I do get far more selective about the latter, just because....anyone I’m close to? I care about their comfort and peace of mind just as much as I expect them to prioritize mine. And so I’m damn selective about making sure I even CAN honestly commit to prioritizing the stuff they put out there as being most important to them, every bit as much as whether or not they might do the same for me.....and so y’know, it all kinda sorts itself out on its own, y’know? I’m not in a rush there, and so stuff like we’re talking about doesn’t really tend to fall through the cracks by that point, if that makes sense.

And sometimes the stuff we prioritize and care most about changes, and that changes how much even good friends occupy each other’s spaces and interact, and what I’m saying is....its a process, and not a short one or one that can be sorted out with minimal thought, and the people who think its easy to straddle certain lines or have their cake and eat it too or just never prioritize someone else’s fun over their own, like....they tend to figure out in the long run that this very rarely ever results in anything more than a surface level commitment to THEM anymore than it results in a commitment of any real depth FROM them.

Idk, did all that make sense? I’m not on my meds right now so kinda why I wasn’t intending to respond to this in full right now except oh look at that, I ended up anyway, WHEN WILL I STOP THIS, lmfao.

Anyway. So yeah. That. Hope that answered your question, anon? And sorry if it doesn’t work for you or is disappointing for you or feels like a cop-out. Its just....honestly what I’ve figured out works best for me in the long run, and we all ultimately have to figure out for ourselves what that is for each of us as individuals.....and sometimes that’s just not compatible, and that’s....kinda okay too.

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always-la-belle-epoque · 5 years

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hi what is mash and why do you love it so much because i need to know if i need to love it too thanks

Hello, anon! It took a bit because I wanted to put time into my answers, so here you are!

What Is M*A*S*H:

M*A*S*H is a tv show about doctors/nurses stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H) unit on the frontlines of the Korean War. The show focuses on the medical staff as they desperately try to save the lives of young soldiers. Many of the doctors are draftees and they are faced with trying to cope with the horror of a war they want no part of and that is the absolute antithesis to their professional calling. They fight against death every day, struggle against military bureaucracy, and try to keep their sanity. Often that deep stress is released in humor, practical jokes, and wildly unmilitary antics, but the true costs and realities of war are never treated lightly. I’ve never seen another show that can make me laugh so hard and then turn on a dime to make me cry just as deeply a second later. The show is a beautiful examination of human nature, heart, found family, loss, helplessness, despair, exhaustion, humanity, and hope,.

M*A*S*H ran for 11 years, from 1972-1983 and the finale, Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, is still the most-watched television broadcast in history (the NYC sewer nearly faced collapse because people would all flush the toilet at the same time during commercials, and the streets were totally empty of cars as over half the country, 150+ mil people, watched the finale live together all at the same time. Can you imagine?!). Plus, it’s been in continuous syndication for 45 years which is impressive. M*A*S*H is for all generations, it resonates far beyond the era in which it was made, or which it was made about.

Why Do I Love M*A*S*H So Much (in general):

I don’t think there is another show out there in the history of the world that has written such narratively wonderful, deeply moving character arcs. I don’t know if there’s another show out there where the characters grow so much from their relationships with one another. Or a show that depicts masculinity in such a healthy, tender way. It is normal on M*A*S*H for male characters to: Cry. Hug. Tuck each other in. Hold hands. Perform emotional labor. Actively listen. Dance together. Sleep with teddy bears (and not have it be a joke). Admit they were wrong. Change and grow from being wrong. Etc, etc.

And while Major Margaret Houlihan is the only female lead, her character arc is the most beautiful of any character I have ever watched or read. The show doesn’t start out particularly feminist, but it definitely ends that way (both male and female characters evolve here and it’s wonderful). And if more tv shows had characters half as complex as Margaret Houlihan, tv would be a whole lot more interesting, and women would be a whole lot farther along toward equality, imo.

Why Do I Love M*A*S*H So Much (the personal):

I was 15 or 16 when I started watching M*A*S*H. I was going through a very dark time in my home life. But my Mom would usually have M*A*S*H on while making dinner or just after. It was their weird time of day where it seemed like a truce between us. Sometimes I’d even sit all 5’8 of my gangly teenage body on her lap and we’d just watch like that with her arms around me (which given that things were darkly terrible the rest of the time it was like being a small kid again in a way I really needed). We’d talk about the characters. We’d talk about the stories. We both loved Margaret Houlihan (it’s interesting that Margaret has the most valuable traits I learned from my Mom - things I like most about her and am grateful she taught me despite all the bad stuff).

Soon I was racing home after school and jamming in a blank VHS so that I could record each ep. I’d cross reference between tv guide and IMDB to try to see if any eps that I hadn’t seen yet would be on so I could record them for my collection. I made an elaborate cataloging system because they weren’t shown in order! And some eps were shown only rarely!! (I’m only 28, it amazes me that this was how things were not that long ago lol).

Anyway, the DVD box set came out and I saved up alllllll my $ for it. Thank goodness, because then I got sick and for a few years the M*A*S*H characters were the most consistent and truest friends I had. The show is deeply personal for me. I can watch it over, and over, and over. It makes me laugh, and weep, and cheer. It’s like having friends. Like having family.

Should You Love M*A*S*H too?

I want you to love M*A*S*H. I want everyone to love M*A*S*H! And M*A*S*H holds up. It’s still radically progressive. It’s still - in this time where North Korea is a frequent headline, where we have a government we do not trust, in a world where we have been at war since 2001 - deeply relevant.

Here’s the thing though: it was made in the 70s, about events in the 1950s, and this is 2019 tumblr-land. You’ve all read the roasts about lack of critical thinking skills on this website and ability to contextualize, and those posts are unfortunately not wrong. And the world has changed - and changed for even better than what was, at the time, truly radical! Even terms that were the liberal, pc term in the 70s have changed now and are not liberal or pc anymore which for the 2019 watcher might raise eyebrows. But the show is extremely pointed about calling out racism, homophobia, sexism, military fetishism, colonization, etc. I think maybe the only other show I can think of that goes so hard at dogged and relentless political call outs would be One Day at a Time. So I feel protective of M*A*S*H because in 50 years maybe we will look back at ODaaT and say yikes about certain things, though that feels crazy to say now.

If you do want to watch, here’s my advice (pull down your pants and slide on the ice (sorry, omg M*A*S*H jokeee)):

Do not start with S1. Start with S4, or S5 even. For one thing, there are some cast changes at the start of S4 so you get intro-ed to everyone again in “Welcome to Korea pt 1 & 2” and “Change of Command.” It’s a really good starting point to see a lot of characters on the brink of change. Don’t get me wrong, I still really love S1-3 but the characters haven’t grown yet. I love going back because I know them so well, but if you’re just meeting them, I recommend getting to know them in the middle of their journey, watch them evolve, and then go back and see where they started. And I think Col. Potter/BJ really elevated the tone of the show.

Because M*A*S*H is an older tv show, most people who love M*A*S*H never watched the show in order because we could only watched it in syndication! And you don’t really need to watch in order! In fact, CBS had the final call for episode order so sometimes even the air order is different than the writing, filming, intended order. Also, because they had 11 years of content over a 3 years of war, the show itself isn’t chronological. Due to probability (there are just more Potter/BJ eps) I saw more S4+ eps when I was first watching the show so again that’s my newbie preference. Now that it’s on Hulu (and remastered OMG) it might be tempting to watch in order, but really do recommend skipping around or at least starting later in for sure. You’ll learn context as you go (recs below). Then once you get the characters and their arcs it’s suuuuper fascinating to watch in order.

Fight me: Is everyone bisexual on this show??! Yes, yes they are. This is where I go full 2019 tumblr-brain, lol, but looking back I think it’s one of the reasons I loved it before I understood myself. It’s gentle, tender, pretty wavy. Alan Alda’s Hawkeye Pierce is, like, arguably canonically bi, like I even wonder if he was intentionally written/played that way on the dl. It’s pretty blatant?? And don’t even get me started on Margaret Houlihan. Godddddddd.

On that note, and maybe you will fall over, but Margaret and Hawkeye are my actual, #1, forever OTP. Which is weird for you, dear readers, I’m sure, as I run a v strict wlw blog and I’m very proud about that. But broken people who heal and change and grow because of the other is my tea, jam, and bread (”crackers and jam! too bad!” ;) ), and so far the writing of other characters and relationships hasn’t a hope of even coming into the range of depth these characters have (obvs not just wlw ships, all other mlw ships are The Worst as well, we’re all doomed, why does tv suck). But anyway, I would take them over any ship any day of the week goombye (but also….shipping Margaret is kinda like….not the point of Margaret Houlihan).

It’s worth noting that M*A*S*H has a character named Maxwell Klinger who wears a dress to try to get out of the army via a Section 8 (previously known as a “psycho”) discharge (remember lgbtq was still classified as a mental illness, smh). Obviously, this is potentially triggering. And, obviously, not okay in today’s world. To me the show does call out that it is the policies/laws/politics that are crazy, not Klinger. I think there are still some fairly modern ideas in his portrayal in that anyone who treats him like he is crazy, or is disrespectful, is very pointedly shown to be bigoted/an antagonist. Klinger is excellent at his job, brave, loyal, true, and that’s all anyone who is a protagonist cares about (and I do think they try to show to the extend they could during the time it aired that even if Klinger were not doing it for a discharge, they would respond the same way). Fwif, imo, Klinger isn’t played as a one note joke for wearing dresses, in fact, to an extent, he does wear them utterly sincerely. He loves, deeply loves, clothes and fashion because loving something gives him something to live for. It becomes his passion, not a gag. The gag is that Klinger will do anything to get out of the war through any available loophole he hears about (having an imaginary pet camel, eating 10 sausages in a single day, eating a jeep, trying to get into West Point aka join the military to get out of the military), etc. His comrades in arms treat him very sincerely and are very protective. Early on, a jeep comes in with wounded and Radar pulls Klinger away from the blood, “careful, you’ll get your dress dirty” in the most serious, sweet way. Col Potter is always very serious and sincere about telling Klinger when one of his dresses is a fav, and Klinger positively glows. When Klinger has to trade his dress collection to local women in exchange for shelter for the wounded during a bug out, Col. Potter, regular army in his 3rd war, tells Klinger (who is in tears) that it’s the finest act of bravery he has ever seen (and he means it). When Margaret desperately wants to look pretty and Klinger pulls out one of his best frocks and helps her dress in it - Margaret who grew up in combat boots wanting a crew cut - it’s pretty emotional (and I bawl when he gives her the wedding dress, goddd). As for Klinger himself, he’s one of my favorite characters. He has the biggest heart and I love him (and yes, I might feel differently if I had a different life experience than I do - that is why I’m flagging this as something that might not be for everyone, or might be trigger - because history already is triggering, and not everyone might be as moved by him as I am).

If you’re a 30 Rock fan you will know the star Alan Alda as Milton Greeen, Jack Donaghy’s father, and if you love Beauty and the Beast you will know that the actor who voiced Cogsworth is a major (lol pun) character in S6-11! But that’s all crazy to me because they are always M*A*S*H, first and forever, and always in my mind! I can’t believe they’re all in their 80s now, or that so many of them have passed. :( They are truly my whole heart, my family, my home.

If you do want to watch, recommend you start with the following eps (omg this list is long but it feels so short):

Welcome to Korea pt 1 + 2 (s4)

Change of Command (s4)

Aid Station (s3)

Death Takes a Holiday (s9)

Carry on, Hawkeye (s2)

Bug Out pt 1 + 2 (s5)

Dear Sigmund (s5)

Period of Adjustment (s8) *my first ep ever :,)

The Bus (s4)

Sometimes You Hear the Bullet (s1)

Tuttle (s1)

Crisis (s2)

O.R. (s3)

5 O'Clock Charlie (s2)

The Nurses (s5)

The Interview (s4)

Movie Tonight (s5)

Abyssinia, Henry (s3)

Hepatitis (s5)

Your Hit Parade (s6)

Peace on Us (s7)

Eye for a Tooth (s7)

Old Soldiers (s8)

Life Time (s8)

Stars and Stripes (s8)

Hey, Look Me Over (s11)

There’s a million more things I could say about the show. I feel like I haven’t summarized it justly. If anyone wants to chime in with why they love M*A*S*H, what your fav ep is, etc, please do :)

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tinyrosemarysparrows · 5 years

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It’s no secret that this used to be an occult and pagan blog, made for the purpose of both documenting my journey into these two ambiguous topics and for cultivating discussion to share and receive information from different perspectives. Which, to be honest, it achieved very early on. I credit those discussions to my growth as a practitioner in my craft and my religion. I had the opportunity to talk with people from a variety of backgrounds with minimal “I think this way and if you think any differently then you are doing it wrong and also you are a terrible person.”

It’s no secret to anyone that the occult and pagan communities on here, if we can even call them that anymore, have changed drastically through the years. The circles that I run/ran in have all but dried up. A lot of big blogs were driven away or slowly died off. What seemed like close-knit communities fell apart because there simply wasn’t enough interaction to keep them going. I wouldn’t say that this is a condemnation of what currently exists because I don’t think that this is a bad thing. A few years back, even I posted that I didn’t have much more to share in terms of rituals or spells or chants because, at a point, there stops being content that you are comfortable sharing publicly. I look back at some of my old stuff and I go, “Oh, geez, I really put it all out there, huh?” Even my current (and, to be quite honest, rare) religious or occult posts always end up being heavily censored. When it comes to the mysteries of the occult, there will always be a point where you have to stop sharing.

I think that, in addition to the climate of the communities on here in recent years, the absolute backlash one receives from sharing viewpoints from their practice or people scrambling to go “well, actually” contributed to the slow death of serious discussion. The purpose of this isn’t to condemn the current state, as I have previously stated, but to put private conversations about this into one post for consideration. While part of me misses what used to be, I have no interest in trying to revive it. To be honest, I took what I needed and I was lucky to have begun in a time when sharing and discussion were at an all-time high on here. The sheer amount of serious content that is no longer available to new practitioners is incredible. People that I looked up to with high regard are gone now. I’ve considered following them and, in some way, I think that I have.

While the original content of this blog might still shine through at times, there is no denying that it’s largely a place for me to relax and say whatever comes to mind. It’s full of jokes and, while I don’t interact with people nearly as much as I used to, I’m relatively happy with how it has evolved. I’ve kept some very good friends through the years who I hope to keep for many more. I suppose I could say that, “I learned what I needed to and shared what I could.” And one of those lessons was that you can only get so far from an anonymous blogging site when it comes to serious topics. Despite the degradation of the communities, I don’t think that anyone expected this to last or expressed surprise at what it has become. I feel that because this is an anonymous blogging site that the platform itself has both encouraged and discouraged sharing in any depth. In some way, when handling the occult or religion, the internet communities stop being so beneficial and become hindering. Most people don’t like acknowledging that with these things there is rarely a “wrong way” and so often there are many “right ways.” If there are many ways to be right, then it becomes difficult to prove someone else wrong, which I have seen a lot of. Someone always wants to come away on top and that simply is not possible on something like tumblr. I would argue that respect is something that can never be fully gained from behind a screen, but that’s another topic for another day.

I don’t consider this blog to no longer be occult or religious, since both of those things are integral to who I am and my own identity. They shape the way that I view the world and interact with it. Everything that I do is within those contexts because it goes beyond a lifestyle. This also somewhat reads like a “goodbye” post, I’m realizing and that is the farthest thing from the truth. I’ll still be here posting about whatever I feel like until this site dies. I’ve been very frank about that, haha. More so, I just wanted to finally say what I’ve been thinking and talking about privately for some time now. My popularity on here is due to the beginning years of this blog and I think that enough time has passed to say that I’ve grown exponentially. I think that I was 17 when I made this? That’s a few days shy of six years. A lot has happened in that time in every aspect of my life. I think that, maybe, that it’s that way for a lot of people. If I hadn’t shifted over to just having fun here, then I also would have deleted this blog or made it private.

Things change. Communities crumble and new people move into them. Old knowledge gets lost and new knowledge comes about from that lacking. Maybe something good might eventually come from this shift and we might still see some kind of revival before this blue garbage fire properly dies. Maybe I’ll have a change of heart and start putting a lot of new content out there one day. Nothing is ever certain and nothing ever seems to stay dead long anymore. Life is all about cycles, after all. I’ll always have a morbid curiosity about where things will go here. But, for now, I’m happy in the little niche I carved out for myself.

#personal junk #this doesnt go in my main tags because i dont think that it fits all that well

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violetosprey · 6 years

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BTD2 My thoughts on Lawrence

I covered my thoughts long ago on all of the “Till Death Do Us Part” game characters, but I never really took the time to talk about my thoughts about the main series “Boyfriend to Death” characters. I have actually talked about many of these characters through various different posts. But otherwise, there haven’t been that many posts dedicated specifically to certain BTD characters.

These posts will mostly be about my own opinions and views (a rough analysis more than anything). I may end up focusing on multiple aspects of the character, or just one particular one if I think it defines them best (we’ll see). For those that have read some of my other posts, there likely WILL be some thoughts I’ve stated before that I’ll simply be re-iterating here. But there may also be some new stuff in here if it happens to come to mind, or because I’ve simply not had the time before to go over such a topic.

It will take a while to get through all 8, so please have some patience and just check back later if it looks like I don’t have a post up yet for a character you’re really interested in. I will also be talking through these under the assumption that you’ve played/read all the routes (so I might mention but not go into explicit detail on a scene).

*major spoilers below *

Fun Fact: When BTD2 was announced, the character who’s route that I was MOST interested in playing was Lawrence. He was completely different from what I was expecting to see as a character from these games. I’m not quite sure what it was about him. Even with his physical appearance, I could state his traits out loud and it wouldn’t sound like he’d be the kind of guy I’d be into. But it just seems to work here. Also, I had this goal when I started the games that I was going to try REALLY hard to survive on my first attempt for at least 1 out of the 4 guys. Needless to say, I failed spectacularly on my first attempt.

I’ll be completely honest here. I’ve wanted to write about Lawrence for a while now because he’s one of the characters I got REALLY into. He’s the only one in the BTD series (excluding TDDUP) that I almost was able to get all the endings on my own. I had two left before I broke down and looked up a guide. If I had tried a little harder, I probably could have figured out how to get his best survival ending in the bathroom (I had the scenario set up for it), but I couldn’t have figured out the “name” thing on my own (which was the ending I was really looking for).

The problem is I wasn’t quite sure HOW to talk about Lawrence. I’ve said this before, but as opposed to BTD, BTD2 gave the characters a lot more depth this time around. Among them, Lawrence is the hardest to figure out and comprehend. Hell, Gato’s even explained through asks from time to time about Lawrence’s history with finding the river after a drowning incident I believe, how leaving it (or was it constantly returning?) is slowly rotting him, and how he keeps wanting to go back. We have been given information, but I often have a difficult time either remembering the details, or putting together the pieces. So other than acknowledging that Lawrence was born human but has become something supernatural overtime…not much more I can expand on here at the moment.

One thing the creator has said about Lawrence is that he’s “not good with people.” I couldn’t agree more! Lawrence has this conflicting nature where he simultaneously wants someone to bond with, but doesn’t know how. At the very beginning of the game, he’s meeting up with Ren, whom he’d been chatting with online previously (presumably more than once). When things get awkward and Ren leaves early, Lawrence becomes SO distraught that he puts the blame on the MC and attacks them. Then later when the MC is held captive by Lawrence, he may start to like you but…well…remember the whole “spine” bit? Yeah he’s probably not fully aware that some of the ways he interacts with others could be off-putting to say the least. He’s also very apprehensive about what the MC says or does at times (ex. MC screaming or taking too long in the bathroom). When he feels he’s starting to lose control, he’s quick to restrict and gag the MC. And if you push him to complete insanity, he reveals that under that nervous exterior he does indeed have a slight hint of sadism.

Right before I started this post though, I thought of something that I don’t think I’d taken the opportunity to do on my tumblr before: Compare Strade and Lawrence. I mean JUST the two together (not compared with all the other characters at once). They’re both characters owned by Gato that operate in COMPLETELY different ways. Strade was such a hit (possibly the most popular in the first game), that’s it’s almost like “How do you top that?” or “How do you avoid recycling older material that you know worked the first time?” Strade is just a pure sadistic monster with no supernatural qualities to him (with the exception of a fox boy in his house). He has no real motivation for being evil other than he enjoys it. Lawrence on the other hand, is a human whose mind has been gripped by supernatural events, causing him to become mentally unstable. He’s detached from reality and constantly on edge, but still has at least a small desire to connect with other people (that he’s often unable to).

I forget who the heck made the post, but someone made a comment about how after having to deal with Strade’s “unbroken stare” in BTD, it was quite a shift to face Lawrence who is often looking away from you. This is both hilarious and true. Strade carries himself with a lot more confidence in a jovial manner. Lawrence, even when he has you tied up, is nervous and not sure how to deal with the situation at hand. Strade knows he’s in charge while it feels like Lawrence has to remind himself that he’s in control of the situation. For example, Lawrence says “he can do whatever he wants to you,” but if you start kicking up a fuss he’ll freak out. He has the strength to keep you down, but he appears to lack…authority? Really, the times he seems the most composed ironically are when he becomes COMPLETELY unstable and goes to cut you up. That’s pretty terrifying.

Strade also loves to hear his victim’s screams, while Lawrence can gag you frequently in his route. Yes, you could say it’s because Strade has you locked up in his own house where people can’t hear you while Lawrence is in a shared apartment building (one time one of the tenants even hears the noise). But I think even if Lawrence were alone, I feel like he just doesn’t like loud noises or resistance in general. He’s implied to have gotten a little “dirty” with corpses after all…and a corpse won’t fight back or say a word. I personally perceive Lawrence as something like a frightened dog. The dog wants some attention and compassion, but if you’re not careful, you could corner and frighten him to the point where he bites you.

The weirdest thing I probably have to say is that…both Strade and Lawrence like people in different ways. Strade I get this feeling that he genuinely enjoys conversation and interacting with others. That’s why he appears so friendly. But then he gets his kicks out of torturing people, so how much he can ACTUALLY care about another human being is debatable. Lawrence (I’m running into speculation territory here) I don’t think necessarily hates or dislikes people, but they do make him nervous. Still, he wants some kind of companionship (first with Ren, then with the MC if you get him to really like you). In a strange way, Lawrence comes off as liking you more “genuinely” than Strade ever could. I don’t really know how to explain it. But the problem with Lawrence is that when he does decide he likes you and wants to keep you…he clearly doesn’t know how to have a proper relationship (*coughs* cuts your limbs off so you can’t get away *coughs*).

The best ending for Lawrence (as in HIS best ending at least- not talking favorite endings) is where you two connect when you mention the river. It’s definitely a rather sweet ending. I think what this may also imply, when comparing this ending to the one where he amputates you, is that Lawrence can never really have a “normal human relationship.” His mind is has been warped too much by the river and he can never view or interact with the world in a normal manner again. You have to be on the same level as Lawrence in order to truly bond with him. Kind of interesting.

So what did I think about Lawrence? I loved him! Definitely don’t regret spending as much time (the most time even) on his character as I did. Even if it meant just getting killed over and over…and over…and over again for several hours (let’s just say that maybe by the time I got to Ren’s route I wasn’t COMPLETELY upset that I had to kill the guy). Regardless, Lawrence also gets the award from me for being the HARDEST character to figure out in the main BTD games. This post was fun to write, but it was just challenging to try to come up with some solid viewpoints.

P.S. In the event someone reading this is aware that my blog is half BTD/TDDUP and half yanderes goes “Are you seriously not going to talk ONCE about Lawrence as a yandere character?” Well here’s a short answer for you: I could see why someone might (and you are more than free to) label Lawrence as a yandere, but I personally do not. The reason is…Lawrence is weird? Sorry if that’s an unsatisfying answer, but if I really wanted to get into my reasons why here then this post would be way too long :P

#btd2 #lawrence oleander #gatobob #horror game #3 thought posts left #going at the pace of a speeding snail #own post

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themonsterblogofmonsters · 5 years

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Monsterblog Guide: Fandom History & BNFs

Previously - Monsterblog Guide: Plotting & Plot Holes

This is, arguably, almost a primer to the post I have planned next week. Understanding the history of fandom will help you prepare for the future of fandom - including, perhaps, an eventual migration from this blue hellsite.

It will also help you understand the culture of Big Name Fans, the problems they can cause and that can flock around them, and why its important to stay away from cults of personality and fandom bandwagons.

Lets go.

1. What the hell are you talking about Monstermod?

Fandom history is - as with all history - an ongoing thing. The history I’m specifically talking about is the history of early fandom and the general culture that sprung up at the time. I’m not going to go into huge depth for it because I only even started knowing about fandom towards the tail end of this period, but the fandomwank pages on the livejournal days, on Strikethrough, Boldthrough and the ff.net purges are good starting points.

To offer the most basic of summaries: in this time, a number of specific fans became especially well known. These were BNFs - or “Big Name Fans”. Some of these you may even still recognise - Aja Romano, for example, went from big in fanfic to writing things about fandom, including a terrible recent article about “Hopepunk” (which is probably the farthest you could get from actually being punk), and Cassandra Claire/Clare went from writing Harmony fic with a dose of Drarry-teasing to having a book series, and a film and tv series based on them.

A BNF was several things. They were popular, they were well known, and they were often influential. Any drama they got into rapidly spread. Consider them, in many ways, fandom celebrities.

2. Monstermod, why is this relevant?

“Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Honestly, right now fandom is really going this way. On tumblr you can’t friendslock a post the way you could on livejournal, but you don’t need to, do you? You just make a fake callout until the person or people you don’t want reading your stuff goes away. You block people one by one.

We’re already creating ingroups and outgroups. Certain users are always going to become more popular on any given platform, and with that popularity comes power.

Drama spread by one popular blogger can and has started off waves of headcanons and arguing. The idea we all have to be perfect, can make no mistakes and if you do make a mistake you’re forever tainted by it(which, as I’ve said before on this blog, is a load of bullshit) - the whole of current purity culture - is something that is being increasingly done by fans in order to put down those they don’t like and try to increase their own social standing by appearing to be morally pure and therefore ideal, unassailable, and a producer of ideal fanmedia.

3. Get to the damn point.

Fandom is a shithole. I love fandom. I love what fandom creates. I love sharing my interests with those who share those interests. I love the discussions we can have.

But, darlings, fandom isn’t all happiness and sunshine. There’s a few things I’ve mentioned here that some of you are going to want to look into independently. That’s fine. I’d suggest and advise it, to be honest.

And next week, I’ll be showing you records of fandoms past, and the ways even the best of things can turn to shit.

Take care out there loves.

#Monsterblog Guide #Fandom history #bnfs

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daisy-oreilly-fti · 6 years

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An In Depth Analysis on Articles 13 and 11 - Part 1

This is going to be the first in a series of posts attempting to shed some light on the potentially disastrous implications of the new EU Copyright Directive articles 11 and 13.

Unfortunately, these laws have so many implications that I can’t actually put everything into a single post and still keep it somewhat structured, so I’m going to break it up.

The biggest problem with article 13, you see, is how incredibly vague it is. There are things we know for certain it will do, and things which it might or might not do. Article 11 suffers from the same problem, to a lesser extent, but I’ll go into specifics separately.

I’ll deal with article 13 for now, as that one holds a host of problems.

The immediate and clear effects it will have on hos the internet works as of now.

Ways it can and will clash with previously established freedoms and render them null.

Repercussions of painfully vague wording and things it might or might not affect.

As people have been saying up and down, the point to this article is to basically force every website that ‘allows users to post text, sounds, code, still or moving images, or other copyrighted works for public consumption’ to implement filters to automatically veto any and all content that users try to post for copyrighted material.

The definition of copyrighted material in this situation is a problem in and of itself, but I’ll delve deeper into that in the next post of this series. For now, I’ll deal with the internet as a whole.

You see, what the article is trying to force is the biggest threat to the internet as we know it.

“Information society service providers that store and provide to the public access to large amounts of works or other subject-matter uploaded by their users”

This is the wording the article uses. Basically, any website that admits user-generated content becomes responsible as the provider of said content. Forcing every website in existence to become responsible for the content that users upload, instead of the other way around, will force the entire business model that these sites have adopted for years now to completely turn on its head. That combined with the investments needed to put in place filtering systems that will be able to sort through not only video and audio, but any photographs, text, and any type of possible content, means that many smaller platforms might simply not be able to hold up financially and have to shut down.

Creating new platforms will also become an option which just won’t be viable for many, for the investments that would be needed. Already, this is a threat to the internet as we know it, making it harder for spaces where people can share content and information to exist.

Beyond that, there’s an issue that needs to be faced. If websites will be held directly responsible and punishable by law for the content that users upload, they’d be hard pressed to stay on the side of caution. If there’s even the slightest ambiguity about whether or not something is an infringement, websites will have to err on the side of caution and get rid of the content. This might sound harsh, but it’s a hard truth. Works which should not be deleted, will be deleted, in an effort to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.

Taking this a step further, the word ‘hosting’ could be taken to mean that this is applicable to not only platforms like Google, Facebook, ao3, tumblr, Deviantart and others, but even storage servers like cloud and google drive could fall under this blanket term.

TL;DR: Fewer websites allowing less content means a huge decrease in possibilities for user-generated content, of any type.

Do you want to know the worst part, though? The grossest repercussion of this article they’re trying to pass?

This means a continent-wide surveillance system that governments and huge corporations can use to monitor and control any and all online activity of the citizens.

These filters need to be in use by any and all websites, and their job is ultimately to read through every bit of content that goes through a platform. There is nothing that will be left untouched.

And this comes on the tail of the GDPR legislation (privacy laws) which is supposed to protect the personal information of citizens from being used by any company or corporation - personal information which includes names, ID information, phone numbers, where you live, email address, etc.

But not online activity.

So, yeah. This law is gross and horrible, but I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

I’m going to let y’all chew on this for a bit. I’ll have two more individual posts at least:

- on how the ambiguity of the wording will cause it to affect works it should not and infringe on previous Fair Use laws (how exactly it might or might not affect fan content like fanfiction and fanart)

- as well as how automatic filtering machines are shit and will cause a huge loss of content for the internet (and how that in turn might affect fandom culture)

As well as a separate one on article 11 which is another dumpsterfire entirely, which is aimed to control the type of information we have access to until they’re able to control what the public believes by controlling what we get to see online.

These next posts will more clearly accentuate the reason why I’m trying to push for a preventive movement in creating mailing lists in order to share content and information more freely in the eventuality that these laws pass.

Resources:

The body of the law (scroll down to chapter 2, article 13):

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593&from=EN

Websites will become legally responsible for the content we upload:

https://gizmodo.com/the-end-of-all-thats-good-and-pure-about-the-internet-1826963763

https://gizmodo.com/the-founding-fathers-of-the-internet-plead-with-eu-to-s-1826792360

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/06/eus-copyright-proposal-extremely-bad-news-everyone-even-especially-wikipedia

(this one in particular will be more relevant in one of the next posts, but I’m not going to stop you from reading ahead)

Effects of ambiguity, surveillance, and the loss of legal content for the safety of responsible websites:

http://copyright4creativity.eu/c4cs-fact-sheets-on-the-eu-copyright-reform/

(Their entire spreadsheet on article 13 is very thorough and tries to explain every possible repercussion while quoting the proper text of the law (which I’ve linked above) so feel free to study this in depth explanation and run it by the text of the law. Have fun!)

#article 13 #european politics #eu laws #eu politics #legislation

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bluraydisco · 5 years

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Life On Mars In Boston: Adjust Time On Hour

Possible Time/Space traveler (or perhaps just a schizophrenic homeless man) leaving cryptic messages and glyphs in the area of Allston, MA (from late Summer to Early Fall 2018).

These images are the main reason I had created both a Redit and a Tumblr, so that I could get answers to the meanings behind it all. If this subject matter piques any readers attention and if anyone can decipher the meaning behind any of it (if there is any at all) feel free to comment with suggestions of what they could mean!

After much research, I know SOME of these are indeed simple hobo symbology (ie: the feathered arrows featured below). However, there is some unknown imagery such as crosses/unfinished clocks, a circle with a "teardrop" left blank on the inside or including either an A, B, a DC or even a question mark! (+/-). This individual also has written messages to a "Lauren" (one legible the other not so much) and has an obsession with the U.S.A., Time and Mars. As a matter of fact that planet was visible to the naked eye during the first of happenings

A little backstory:

I first noticed him in late August/early September while I was on my way to work, waiting to cross the street. He is a short, thin straggly looking man with thick stubble, a gray mullet, wearing a red hat, wire rim glasses (80s style) and a brown blazer. He was sitting at the bus stop. Then, in a flash, I saw him manically get up and he started writing on an advert for a local gym that was on a city recycling/rubbish bin with a sharpie. After work I took a snap of it. It was the first of many *unfinished clocks.

***NOTE: A Reditor with the handle "Qualiawiddershins" concluded on the "Fringe Science" forum that these are known in psychological circles as "clock tests". In which delusional patients are instructed to draw a clock (from memory) by their Doctor in order to come back to reality and to come down from their mania. What intrigued this commenter was the fact that the subject was using this specific method for his own advantage in order to further justify his obsessions/fantasy world. END NOTE***

The next day revealed a rather large diagram at the very same bus stop where ad space is supposed to go. It contained plenty of A's, B's, what I call "teardrops" connected with the word "America" intersected with arrows and, of course Mars, up top and circled. I thought it was scientific, so a close friend (who has a legit background) theorized the following:

"I think he was a physical chemist. Electron cloud diagrams, charges, anion and cation exchange...Or maybe I've been staring at it for too long".

***NOTE 2: I uploaded the pictures on the Science thread. As it turns out, she was indeed looking at it too long. No science to it. Just incoherent ramblings and (as stated at the start of the post) some "Hobo symbology". END NOTE 2***

The blank area behind the route map of the same bus stop was also adorned with a compact oval version. Mars written in the middle curving arrows surrounding it, with A's and B's on each corner of the square surface!

That Saturday, I went clubbing. I passed a Bank of America ATM kiosk in which I had discovered his "Magnum Opus"! There were more mentions of Mars and more lettered circles with tear drops and clock tests! That's when I became tantilized and had decided to follow and record his work. Simply because of the strange, almost "Toynbee Tiles" aspect to it all.

The next few months I had decided to do some field investigations on my days off from work. That's when I realized there were markings in specific areas. Mostly where that certain bus route is!

He had labeled apartment buildings, restaurants, convenience stores. Mainly near doors, entance ways, and in the front, sides and in the rear of these businesses and residences. Hell, he even tagged an old fire call box, a window and a fire hydrant!!!

The message to the aforementioned woman read "Lauren, if you care PROVE IT". As I stated previously, this was in two spots, one readable the other...chicken scratch. They were both written on City Utility boxes. If it is the same person (and there are more teardrops and crosses/clocks on these, plus the handwriting is too similar for it not to be, in my humble opinion) this changes the ENTIRE narrative and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

I eventually returned and did a walk through video of the ATM Kiosk. There I found a body of water with numbered bouys where there appears to be a countdown. It's only after someone mentioned it I had realized that 9 repeats. More mentions of Mars. More circles w/ teardrops, crosses and clocks.

Then, there was a crude map of the United States listing (what I assume are) possible places where he has lived or visited and locations such as Cape Canaveral, NASA and Houston, Texas. Some of these locales have question marks over them (Like Kansas). There are even some local-ish areas he had jotted down (Sandwich and Falmouth).

There are also unintentionally humorous misspellings ("Welleft" = Welfleet Beach and "MinneSODA") and oddities such as a mention of Georgia Peaches and Manhattan being placed on the West coast. (Possibly in reference to the "Manhattan Project")?

Eventually they painted over his "Sistine Chapel". Only for a smaller version to appear on a new bus stop marker down the street with the message that read "Adjust time on the hour" and another map of the Good ole US of A, with Houston, TX and with Kansas bold, prominent and inside of a rectangle. (No question mark this time).

The last thing he had done is return to the freshly repainted ATM kiosk!!! There he started a bigger map ( of which remains an unfinished outline) and had drawn a message that read "Navigate" in a circle w/ teardrop with arrows pointing outward. Sadly, he had run out of black marker and used a barely noticeable red pen to finish a smaller scale US Map, with no mentions of other areas but Kansas front and center (and yes, enclosed in another rectangle)!

*** NOTE 3: Thinking it would be right up his alley, I have been sharing my findings with host of You Tube's " Down The Rabbit Hole" Fredrik Knudsen on Twitter and boy was I correct. It resulted in retweets and threads from him and a few of his followers. I often keep him/them up to date on anything recent. (ie: My recent realization that SOME of these markings are mere Hobo symbology or variations that there of) END NOTE 3***

Through the months of late August into early October he has been active. Since then, he has been quiet. The city had cleaned up or covered most of what he has done. I walked down the street to see if he had resurfaced after November Fourth because of his "Adjust Time on hour" message. Unfortunately, I had found nothing new at the moment of this writing but will continue to look.

Perhaps he had simply descended into the ether of his madness or he had truly ascended up into the Red Planet on the day Daylight Savings Time ended? For now he has vanished without a trace. Leaving no more markings. Will he reemerge? Who knows? (Ironically) Time will tell.

***NOTE 4: I have various photos and (full) videos here. Linked is my You Tube channel, which goes more in depth visually about what is contained in this blog. Enjoy!!! END NOTE 4***

Thanks so much for reading.

#LifeOnMarsInBoston.

-DGD

#lifeonmarsinboston #66busdimensionhopper #allstonbrightonbrookline #ToynbeeTiles-esque #AllstonSpace-TimeTraveler #StrangeMarkings

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pepplemint · 7 years

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Thank you so much! I tried to make something of a list, I assumed you meant Voltron but you didn’t specify more, so, here are a couple. I only put down finished works but granted there is wonderful fics in work right now too!

KLANCE

A Fish And A Bird by Methoxyethane : Lance has a boyfriend. Lance does not realize he has a boyfriend. Keith, understandably, does not react well. ---------- I think most people even slightly interested in Klance have read this already, but it was the first voltron fanfic I read and it is absolutely wonderful and it deserves to be read again. ------------------------------------------------- Faking Flight by prettyshiroic: He feels the growl of his own lion bursting from his chest, the claws protruding from his fingers. Keith finally lets his fist go, and out it all pours.“I know!” He roars. Sharp defence, cutting through clean like his bayard. Despite not being on the receiving end of the words, Hunk is the one that flinches.“Keith.” Shiro’s voice is low and serious, momentarily quelling the rage in Keith’s veins. Oh shoot. Stepping back, the green paladin hums. She seems relatively unfazed, as if expecting that kind of reaction. Keith realises then, that was a test. Damn.“Everyone here cares about Lance.” she says carefully, clearly cataloguing newfound information. Keith quickly scrambles for words only nothing comes out because no. He understands perfectly what she’s reading between these lines and Pidge has it wrong she must have it wrong. Keith cares; he does. He cares about Voltron. And by extension, he cares for his team. It's as simple as that. Or so he tells himself.“He shouldn’t have left-” abort abort that’s too open-ended. “-I mean. We can’t form Voltron without Lance.” ---------- Keith reacts to Lance taking of with Nyma; the scenes we didn’t get to see. Aka Keith doesn’t know how to deal with feelings. ------------------------------------------------- in stasis by ilgaksu : The story starts like this: with a story where you think you know the end, until it turns out you don’t, until it turns out you didn’t have a clue. - In which for three months of Lance McClain's life, he lives as an AI, waiting for his prosthetics to come online. It goes about as well as expected. ---------- I’m normally not very emotional but damn. Lance’s wish of being uploaded into a giant space ship when he goes is granted when no one knows if he will survive, his body being stuck on life support. ------------------------------------------------- It's Mutual (Follow Back Already) by JessicaMDawn : At twenty-four, Keith decides to figure out what this 'tumblr' thing is. It's confusing at first, but Keith learns to have fun with it with help from a few new friends. AKA Keith's adventures on tumblr. ---------- This fic was funny and sweet and is partly told through “tumblr-posts”. I was always so happy when it updated because it brightens your day, a little bit.

------------------------------------------------- Infection by 5557 : While exploring an alien planet, Lance is nearly killed by a mysterious monster. Now he's convinced that he is infected with an alien sickness. Why doesn't anyone believe him? It must be Keith's fault. ---------- The Lance-voice in this fic is SO GOOD and it’s a perfect blend of terrifyingly sad and ridiculously funny. The scenes are very vivid and I got super into it, making it one of my absolute favourites. Warning: Body Horror and Sickness ------------------------------------------------- For the Soul by kali_asleep : Her eyes are glued to the glowing screen in front of her as she, with surgical precision, cuts straight to the muscle of the matter: “I'm a scientist, not a love life counselor. Tell Lance to quit being a baby and drag his congested ass to a healing pod.” Lance is sick. Keith isn't sure how to help. ---------- I don’t usually go for sickfics but what I love is something being completely different than what I expected. This story is mostly about Keith and his relationship with all the paladins minus shiro as he tries to figure out how to care for a sick person with no first person experience ------------------------------------------------- Pluto by bluepaladiiin : The first time Keith sees Lance as an actual good human being, and not just an annoying voice constantly echoing in his head, is surprisingly not when he saves Coran from the explosion on the castle. No matter how heroic and big that one moment was, it wasn’t the first thing that alerted Keith’s heart that it may be in more trouble than it had previously calculated. Or, Keith is realising that Lance is not just jokes on the inside. Everyone has hidden depths, even the most shallow of people. ---------- This entire series are great, but I love this fic especially. The writing is so beautiful. ------------------------------------------------- house on fire by ilgaksu : When Lance McClain is eighteen, he qualifies for the Olympics. When he's nineteen, he meets Keith. Correlation does not mean cause, until it totally does. ---------- This fic is told a lot through social media posts and newspapers, which is such a cool original way of writing! It also has everyone as olympic athletes in different sports and talks a bit about being an LGBT-person in the publics eye. ------------------------------------------------- Garden of Beginnings by needchocolatenow : Hunk gets a criminal record, Pidge might have blackmail on Keith, and Shiro's wondering what happened to his shirt. Keith and Lance fall into each other's orbits and keep falling. ---------- They do laundry, develop feelings, and get space-chickens. Not necessarily in that order. This is the slice-of-life fic from the castle we all deserve. ------------------------------------------------- Smile For The Stars by maIikcutie : Though he's been dealt many bad cards, Lance isn't sure he can handle this one: winding up stranded, a million lightyears away from home, with only Keith to keep him company. The universe is cruel. ---------- This fic is incredibly well written and there is so many feelings going on that is never outright mentioned but just masterfully described until you feel it with them. Also the realness of the horrifying situation they are in, I almost read this entire fic in one sitting. I’m not usually a crier but this story had me BAWLING in a way I’ve rarely if ever done before. Warning: Major character death ------------------------------------------------- your favorite ghosts and planets by xShieru : In hindsight, an asthma attack in the middle of the day wasn’t such a terrible way to give up the ghost. Except this isn't how he imagined afterlife. An AU about being dead. ---------- Usually I stay away from ghost fics because it’s just too darn sad, somewhere, but this one got a twist. It’s funny, sweet, only the right amount of sad and everything you’d wish for. ------------------------------------------------- he ain't heavy, he's your brother (okay, maybe he's a little heavy) by JadenGrace1 : Keith goes to Shiro for advice on how to ask Lance out to the Winter Formal and brotherly stuff happens. ---------- In the end this is the type of story I love the most; they are family and they love each other wholeheartedly. Also they are absolutely ridiculous. (There’s Shallura too but both of them are only mentioned, focus on Shiro & Keith as brothers)

KEITH/HUNK/LANCE

There's a love I've been keeping inside; by kirargent : Keith thinks, utterly certain of himself: Lance likes him, too. Lance likes Hunk, too. And that’s just fucking annoying. Leave it to Lance to make Keith’s life even more complicated. ---------- This story is wonderful. Lance’s self confidence issues stab you right in the heart. Lots and lots of pining from all directions.

SHALLURA

feel a little rush by safra : “Wonderful,” Allura claps her hands together. “It’s so nice seeing a father get involved in his son's hobbies.” Shiro nods, momentarily blinded by her smile. “Yeah, really—” He pauses, mind replaying what she’d just said. “What was that?” where allura is a football coach, misunderstandings are had, and shiro is maybe, a teensy tiny bit, in love ---------- So who loves misunderstandings as a plotpoint, bahahaha. (Me. Me, I do.)

------------------------------------------------- shiro plays beer pong and falls out a window by LugianBeforeSwine : Sometimes when you fall out a window at a house party, the angel of beer pong arrives to rescue you. ---------- this is short but funny. I guess i just really like silly prompts like this haha

------------------------------------------------- accustomed by thir13enth : She never knows what to do with her hands. ----------

This fic is really beautifully told. About how Allura learns about earth customs, and how they differ from Altean. I like how it point focus on the fact that she is not human.

------------------------------------------------- Androcles by Braincoins : If Shiro’s not going to confess his feelings to Allura, then Black will take matters into her own paws. ---------- This fic is told entirely from the perspective of the black lion and if a giant mechanical lion using their point of view of how to get close to someone by making their paladin all sweaty so their chosen one will have to wash them doesn’t make you smile, you don’t understand the beauty that is this fic

------------------------------------------------- Paint by Linae_Liminae : In which cultural differences change the meaning to simple things... like paint. ---------- I’m not even sure how to explain it but this fic is hot hot like a tatertot

------------------------------------------------- Two-Edged Instrument by pixie_rings : Shiro just wants to know what she keeps calling him. ----------

This is just super sweet, as Shiro tries to figure out what an altean word Allura keeps calling him means but it can’t be easily translated

------------------------------------------------- Dating By The Rules by kekecocoa : 'McClain Family Dating RulebookTop Ten Dating Rules - Rule 1: Be kind of a jerk. It makes you look confident and like you don’t care. But then be nice later so they know you’re actually sweet and that you care about them.' "What the fuck, Lance? That doesn't even make sense." --- basically, shiro is helplessly in love with the hot girl in his class and lance and keith give him conflicting and terrible dating advice. it goes about as well as can be expected. ---------- This is the one fic on this list that isn’t finished because I couldn’t leave it out. It’s brilliant and you should all read it. (There’s Klance too)

-------------------------------------------------

Bite of my Heart by Bosstoaster Smut : Allura is acting a little strange. Shiro is asked to help, and he accepts enthusiastically. ---------- welp, there we go. Allura is in heat and they do the do. Sub!Shiro Warning for xeno-biology and sexual content obviously but otherwise pretty soft and sweet

#voltron fanfic recs #fruktstund #fanfic recs #fanfic #fanfiction #i need many tags so i can find shit again

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darkcrusadecoffee-blog · 6 years

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WebMeUp Backlink Tool.

N a publisher's previously published books that are still available. If a site will connect to a rival, it will probably connect to you, too. Whist there is no real clear cut method to build a website that will get guaranteed high rankings and there is no A-Z guide for top rankings on Google, that belongs to what Google is searching for. Fantastic provider - excellent communication - provided as guaranteed and even much better! While getting a backlink from this type of sites is challenging, it will add excellent worth to your ranking and traffic information. If a site is a good resource for you that might potentially send you recommendation traffic, however the DA/PA isn't really where you want it to be, go for it anyway. Open Website Explorer - utilize this tool from Moz to identify the number of backlinks and the domain authority of referring domain. Either way, thanks for the shout out and maintain the terrific work! Now we will need to get the contact information to connect to those sites about getting a link for our site. On banner ads to get traffic from great sites that cover your niche. Get an in-depth backlink analysis report with Serpstat. Online forum remarks with optimized links in the post or signature. You must also make certain you submit your articles to credible and quality article directory sites that are well developed and have authority in search engines. One more useful post for me ramsay ... i was missing out on to link my post to other sites for worry of losing my blog ranking and traffic ... the more I read your short articles the more I fall in love with your blog site ... thanks for sharing all these fantastic information ...!! Preferably, you want the sources for your backlinks to be as relevant to your own site's topic as is possible. For the most part, I 'd rather have the link than risk them pulling the image due to the fact that they don't wish to post who created it, however it goes on a case by case basis. Everyone discovers themselves relying on the blogs they follow for info, however in some cases readers require or want something more than what the post needs to offer. Numerous pages concerned with search engine optimization have mechanisms to find how many backlinks the websites or site has, so that specific business can not just understand the precise variety of times that it has been backlinked, but where these backlinks are coming from, and if they are from related sources or not. Public networks are running for revenue, and this implies that they're frequently publishing very brief posts, maybe only 250-words, these thin content sites are punished by Panda. There are lots of aspects of backlinks and link structure in general. If, for example, you see an unnatural spike in your referral traffic in your Analytics, that usually means that you have an issue. You can copy and paste all of that data to a spreadsheet to have the entire list of sites you would like to contact once you have chosen the desired domains. This is probably because the majority of people believe it's going to be pricey to make one, but it does not have to be. By utilizing websites like UpWork (previously Elance-oDesk), you can easily discover a graphic designer with infographics experience for seriously economical rates.

Bio links in visitor posts or editorial submissions are rel= nofollow" links similar to any other link. Backlinks will helps your site to rank on online search engine to get ton of organic traffic from Google, Yahoo and Bing, it will also helps you to construct trust of your site if you get backlinks from some authority domains like EDU and GOV, it will increase your site trust and authority too. The material on their pages is likewise quite average. This will then develop a backlink from the voucher itself to your site. moz backlinks But - a great deal of people still struggle with producing check outs to their site. In regards to the specific elements, I was searching for some ideas on white hat techniques for constructing backlinks. Whatever your experience level, our link building service can also assist establish your general SEO strategy.

And simply in case they do not, you can always offer them a free visitor post detailing how their technique assisted you. Testimonials on other websites are an outstanding method to generate backlinks, however there's likewise a similarly excellent choice that enables reviews on your product or service to be a backlink source to your site. So, while organic search rankings will stay the top concern, remember to take these other 5 advantages into consideration when examining your link building efforts. No, I didn't purchase them; I simply published a lot of excellent images which link back to my short articles and they got shared like crazy on these 2 networks. Here are a couple of additional resources you can use to find out a lot more about backlinks. Never ever purchase from a business offering hundreds or countless backlinks. It does marvels for your online presence and credibility. Online search engine consider the total significance of the linking site, the importance of the specific page with the link on it, and the importance of the material directly surrounding the link. Include patience and time, and these strategies will help develop your brand name and your community. Opening your very own Google+ neighborhood is also another approach I have actually attempted which works rather well bring in visitors. This makes SEO ultra-valuable for ecommerce merchants in a world where paid ads keep getting more costly. We inspect daily for brand-new links pointing to your site and let you called quickly as we find them. The brand-new page or site that you produce on platforms like Tumblr need to be helpful and valuable to users. Media collaborations are a fantastic way to syndicate or offer content to other websites without going through the entire procedure of pitching material. Even if a site has actually linked to your website 10 times, it will just be thought about as one linked root domain. If your organisation's website is under-performing, and you need an SEO service to help you reach its complete potential, then call me. Bad links come from low-grade sites and/or irrelevant directories. Week 7 is devoted to backlinks, you will find out more about quality, methods to get them and ways to anchor keywords. Obtaining excellent quality backlinks ends up being a lot easier if the material on your site deserves being connected to. You'll struggle to persuade others to connect to it if your website is basically simply a collection of sales pages.

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scrumptiouslycoldfun-blog · 6 years

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Social Media Advertising Manual for Newcomers

Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing is the procedure of gaining interest and internet site visitors by way of the social media sites. During this approach, normally innovative material to get to the masses via publicity coming from a third-party trustworthy source wants to be developed in get for folks to share the content material of their fascination with other individuals and generate a vicious chain that would make organization cover and go beyond the market place audience intended. Each and every online marketer requirements to have a objective, a solution, a service and a result in to advertise through the vast and overpowering Planet Vast Web. If you previously have those items described in your mind, then congratulations! That could be most likely the most difficult part of getting into into the social media problem, and from now on, every single work will lead to get to these objectives efficiently and flawlessly until you place your ft on the Social Media Guru position. The Social Media entire world is broad and far more extensive than at any time. It is a really strategic advertising and marketing system that reaches various cultures, ages, faith, sexes, locations, interests and this sort of, consequently it tends to make it the excellent car to get to and target the right viewers and obtain overall success. The whole entire world is not going to care about video clip video games, for case in point, but only the individuals that video game titles is portion of their interests. If you goal male viewers with advertisements of substantial heels on sale, maybe some of them would go and acquire a pair or 2 for their wives, but a pair or two is not precisely the kind of effect you want to have. For that reason, you concentrate on specified group ages and specific other aspects that result in some companies and merchandise, movies and news to go "viral" 1st, we need to have to know the fundamental social media websites Facebook Holding a lot more than 900 million consumers, if you happen to be presently a Fb user this might not be truly new to you, but there are plenty of functions well worth mentioning. You can create a committed enterprise web page and interact straight, and cost-free, with your buyers uploading totally free pictures, goods and videos of the services you intend to give or the product you are attempting to market. That way, you can create a knowledge foundation of individuals that will share your posts to their buddies and as a result create the never ever ending chain. Most of these social media web sites have seamlessly mobile integration so men and women no matter whether it is a transportable Laptop, a desktop, pill or cell mobile phone get constantly connected with media in a way that you must just take advantage of. Men and women log in to Facebook, in any situation, although commuting, in the park, at residence, at college, at function. Then you're there, advertising your enterprise for it to be shown in the information feeds, and you would be there, continually undertaking the brain trick sport to the stage that people will locate something appealing and really worth examining in accordance to their passions. Many large companies like Starbucks, Microsoft, Apple, Rockstar, Pepsi etc. are doing the exact same, and it functions properly! Blogs Weblogs are an simple way for folks to converse in a semi-specialist way when it arrives to quality of material. Good quality articles is often the key to a good writing and as a result, a good running a blog. There are many blogger CMS (content material management provider) in which you can get yours up and running for cost-free in significantly less than five minutes, some of these are Blogger, WordPress and probably the most user pleasant a single, Tumblr. One of the tips right here is understanding your viewers, your marketplace, who you are concentrating on and what you want to achieve with that. Now this has to do with some Seo or Lookup Engine Optimization information, which is in other words and phrases, employing the appropriate keywords to rank as higher as possible in a look for engine i.e. Google, Bing. It has to be related to your posts and at the exact same time, you have to make confident you use a key word lookup instrument to examine the competitiveness and number of search this offered key phrase has. The cheapest the opposition and greatest number of queries it will get in a month, the more convenient for you. If you were to advertise your internet site holding a services of complex support chat, you would have to make the key phrases quite particular so people that are looking for your provider would find you initial. It is, for illustration technical help for Windows, then you will have to contain certain words and phrases, as going a little much more straight to the point. Given that the competition would be genuinely substantial and Home windows technical help is a wide content, you would emphasis and go further the certain solutions your product provides, therefore, including further keywords to go straight to the position would be the most productive way to do it and you would rank higher in a look for motor and individuals would uncover your product very easily. From "Technological Assistance Chat" to "Technological Assist Chat for Windows 7 and XP" you can see how we are narrowing the principle of the service you supply making it much more particular, in depth and then competitiveness of support for mobile running programs, cellphones, Mac, Apple iphone, Windows Vista, Windows eight and this sort of, are remaining behind and these web sites offering the solutions you happen to be not relevant to won't steal your possibilities to be found for men and women that are basically looking for chat support for Home windows seven and XP. Once comprehended the search term principle you can continue and develop content on a weblog that would be effortless to find on a lookup motor by like the right tags. Then we have the Social Media integration once more in the website place. There are a lot of options to share the articles of your blog. Numerous Content Supervisor Services like Tumblr have the social media buttons to share and like or dislike. You need to have to appear for the choices to enable them (in the rare case they are not enabled by default) so each and every submit of yours would have the buttons for share on Tweeter, Google+, Facebook and so on. and Reblog inside of the blogging network you are affiliated to. With great high quality and eye catching content you are encouraging men and women to share your tales on other media internet sites like the kinds described previously mentioned additionally you sharing them and there you have excellent odds to reach a broader viewers. Twitter A fast expanding, really well-known social media site. With more than 340,000,000 tweets a day and close to one hundred forty,00,000 end users globally, this platform is fairly desirable to company and businesses as nicely as for superstars, musicians, actors, everyone! A tweet is a concept of one hundred forty people greatest that one can create and submit and followers can go through and see any time in their news feeds. Chat about it, interact directly and start new discussions is a single of the items that make this system really productive. The way they adhere to Kim Kardashian and read through and talk about every little thing she tweets in a day, the identical way they can do with advertising and marketing and marketing strategies about manufacturers and products of their desire. a hundred and forty,000,000 users to goal the right audience may possibly sound like a tough process, but witnessed it from the other facet of the coin, that indicates much more potential buyers for a organization. Once you get into the previously talked about vicious chain of any social media web site, things just hold coming along by by themselves and initial point you are going to observe is hundreds of hundreds of folks engaged in your model, speaking about it, examining it and telling other individuals about functions, broadcast and this sort of. Linkedin Potentially a not so common system making it boring for some individuals, but a extremely specialist and strategic one for the relaxation. Some men and women will not likely devote long hrs chatting or speaking to other about foolish, trivial things, alternatively, this social community goes straight to the point. Folks on Fb and Twitter for example, comply with any individual of their desire for the sake of merely socialize as properly as firms and businesses, but Linkedin is supposed to filter and go away the fun powering to emphasis deeper in professionalism in social media. In Linkedin, you can be portion of the individuals seeking for a job/ provider, or part of a business providing a work/ support. You can produce both a private profile with your skilled information about oneself, research, contact information, interests, certifications, identifications etc. or, create a business or firm webpage, same way as you do it on Fb or Twitter sufficing the very same objective: share info about your brand name, provider, solution and keep your audience and followers up to date with the most recent information about your business. YouTube YouTube is a very exciting system. Men and women go view video clips of any variety or receives redirected by any site that has a backlink to it or search engines. When individuals is there on a presented there you have some more "Relevant Films" on a column on the correct aspect of the screen. Clicking from video to online video helps make you locate factors you by no means considered you would locate, fascinating subjects, funny video clips, how-to variety of videos, publicity and so forth. Your probabilities to be noticed are overwhelming and you can also get folks subscribe to your Channel, which is in other conditions, your possess YouTube space where you add your movies. Some folks uncover it way a lot more interesting and simpler to just watch a video instead than studying a entire article. You have the useful resource of visuals. If you were to advertise vogue clothing and that is the goal of your total social media advertising and marketing, you can, along with other alternatives, add a online video with folks modeling your outfits, redirect individuals to your main enterprise website, advise men and women to share your online video, to subscribe for potential video clip updates, to visit your "fashion weblog", like your page on Fb, adhere to you on Tweeter, Google+, Linkedin, etc. Shut your eyes and consider to visualize the Tree Diagram of the complete Social Media marketing and advertising approach and how it gets to perhaps achieve each and every one corner of the World Broad Web. Ambitious, just isn't it? Google+ A relatively new comer on the social media web site battle, Google+ delivers integration of a assortment of solutions including Gmail, Google+ Basics, Google+ Circles that permit you share information or "statuses" in a way Facebook does, but has less acceptance so considerably. You have the "Stream" characteristic related to Facebook's News Feed that would enable you see what other people are up to, an choice for following quite comparable as effectively to Tweeter. The support is quite desirable to professionals and organization networks simply because of the exclusivity and integration of companies. You create a Gmail account for case in point, and unless you disable it, by default you have accessibility to all these provider and a profile prepared to be edited with a image, get in touch with info, and so forth. You have entry to the total Google+ network which includes currently point out Gmail, YouTube, You+, Circles, Basics and even the well-identified research motor conserving and displaying final results to the most related items to you. It is hassle-free to have a spare Google+ account for any Social Media Marketer since it really is likely functionality and since no source is as well little or way too considerably in marketing and advertising. May possibly not have the identical influence, a thirty seconds advert on Tv set than a little billboard on a bus, but the far more you get the concept despatched the far better final results you will complete. Social Media Stats In accordance the new 87 research execute on social media advertising up to 2012, this technique from businesses to clients called B2C or Company to Neighborhood has developed and attained sixteen% of buyer engagement but has potential to grow to fifty seven% in the subsequent 5 years. A lot more than thirty% of the globally population is now on the internet forever or have some form of eventual access to the net. Far more than 1/5 of consumer's free time is currently being spent on the social media websites, reaching an approximate of 250 million tweets and 800 million Facebook statuses updated every single solitary working day. Only in the United States, much more than eighty% of on the internet active users spend their on social media sites or weblogs. 60% of men and women utilizes three or far more electronic forms of research product comparison, costs and details about intended purchases, becoming 40% of people done through social media internet sites like Facebook or just redirected from 1 of these internet sites foremost to even direct interactions with stores about gives posted. All around fifty six% Individuals have 1 to a few profiles in a social media internet site becoming 55% of them aged among 45-55 and obtaining at minimum one particular profile Research Motor Optimization (Search engine optimisation) facts 70% of the backlinks search end users click on are natural. 46% of all queries are for info about items or solutions. Half of all local lookups are executed on mobile units. sixty six% of new clients use lookup and on the web analysis to uncover regional firms. There are 863 million sites globally that point out "Search engine marketing." There are nine.1 million searchs executed including the acronym every month, with the leading two phrases being "Search engine optimization services" and "Search engine optimization firm." Far more than sixty,000 Twitter users include "Search engine marketing" in their bios, there have been 13 million blog posts revealed that consist of "Search engine optimization" in the title, and Amazon.com carries almost 2,700 diverse books about Search engine optimization seventy five% of searchers never scroll past the 1st web page of outcomes. ninety three% of online ordeals start with a research engine. B2B firms that keep lively content like blogging and Seo packages increased their complete website visitors, on regular, by 25% in the previous year, whilst these who neglected Search engine optimization skilled an typical 15% drop in all round visits. 21% of all time put in online is invested on internet searches. The huge a few search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo! are among the 5 most-visited sites on the Web. Contemplating that AOL is #7 and Request is #10 5 of the prime 10 most-frequented websites on the net are search engines. In summary, Social Media Marketing is a field in which pros and amateurs in marketing can arrive throughout and place their very own concepts and programs employing their personal strategies. There is no Social Media Marketer college or school degree, this information that need to be obtained by comprehensive investigation, it demands to be continuously utilized and tested in the wanted area. It is a revolutionary strategy that has taken down the old Tv set marketing methods shifting it to the online marketplace. The share of men and women that favor to go on-line on a computer or able system versus people that watches Tv grows steadily each and every solitary working day. Stats display Social Media Marketing in a decrease affect share when compared to the legacy methods for promoting, but the likely it has and space for growth is in no doubt mind-boggling and could be much much more improved and interactive than Tv has been for the past many years.

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ijange · 7 years

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What’s Important

If you were to scroll through my past posts, you would see I very rarely blog on tumblr. I have used it only a few times to release my thoughts and also for my career path....The reason my lack of tumblr use is mentionable is because it shows just how important what I am about to discuss is. There is a very serious reason why I turned to my blog at this moment in time. The main reason is because I feel very strongly about a certain situation and needed somewhere to vent. However, I came here, instead of the more traditionally and commonly used Facebook for two reasons. For one, there is only a certain number of characters permitted which I knew I would quickly surpass. Secondly, it is because I am not writing for comments or opinions or arguments, which so commonly occur on Facebook.

What is the topic that has brought me to this point? Racism. Human beings in which have been depicted one thing or another since the beginning of time, and answering questions such as why, how long will it last, what does it all mean, who created it, and when/where did it start?

To start, I will say that although I have engaged in plenty of research, this is more of a free writing than factual, so I will not list multiple facts. I will simply stick to the basics. Clearly, (the majority of) racism began with slavery. Sure there are several ideas and beliefs as to how and why slavery began, but the bottom line is black ‘versus’ white still exists today mainly because of slavery. How did slavery begin and deem African Americans as slaves? Simply put, “ the only justification by which humanity could face it was to divide people into races and decide that the Africans were an inferior race."

So without getting too in-depth, let’s think about the basics for a minute. Africans were, no denying it, a part of slavery. IMO, this is a huge factor in where racism stems from. This is why so many Africans are against anyone who isn’t African. This is why African's are bothered by their own race engaging in friendships and relationships with those that are not African.

Oh, but wait....It really isn’t as previously mentioned, is it? Is it not crazy to anyone else that the non Africans are the ones that have the biggest issue with their race and culture engaging in relationships with those that are Africans? Because to me it is. Yes there are plenty of ‘blacks’ that are homeless, unemployed, living off welfare, in jail, absent from their children’s lives, thieves, murderers, etc., etc., etc. But are there not people of every other race that all are/do the same???? Why is it that they are the ones constantly and continuously judged for honestly nothing more than their skin color??

Again, this is a personal writing so I want to get back to my own feelings and thoughts without anymore history of the subject. Flat out, I am a Caucasian with many African friends. I am the person who goes out for smoke breaks at work, out to dinner, out for drinks, and now currently lives with, an African-American. I am the person so many people have an issue with, all the while, they don’t realize the bigger issue is the one I have with them, for even having an issue with me.

I come from an Italian family that ‘taught’ me I was never to date a man outside of my race. (Particularly a ‘black man’). On the same note however, my non-Italian mother always told me to never date an Italian, I guess because she did and was so dissatisfied with her decision (based off of my experiences and outlook on their dysfunctional marriage).

Luckily enough for me, I never really listened or paid any attention to either of their idiotic ideas about who I should or should not date or befriend. I dated an Italian at the age of thirteen, who was also my first kiss. Was my mom thrilled? No. I had a best friend who had an African friend, also at the age of thirteen. The first time we all went to my house to go swimming I recall it being an issue. Almost twenty years ago, it is a day that still sticks out to me because of how it made me feel. I did not understand why it felt ‘not okay’ for a person of another color to come swimming with us.

Somehow, even at that age, I was still innocent and ignorant to the awful truth. Even thought I knew my friends’ friend was not allowed over because of her skin color, I had no idea the depth of it nor how serious it would become later in life.

I didn’t have many friends of another race for many years after this, simply due to environmental surroundings. At a later age, in my mid-twenties, I become super close with a co-worker. Several years later, he is still one of the few people I can always count on. He was the first person to begin my birthday celebrations with me this year. He found my brand new sweatshirt at a bar the first time we hung out outside of work and made sure I didn’t drive home alone from Downtown Cleveland. He is African-American. Does it bother me? Not at all. Would not even mention it if it were not the point of this blog. Love you day1.

Last year on my 30th birthday, I went to Put-in-Bay. Something I really, really wanted to do. It took forever to plan and I had a very hard time trying to put a group of people together for it, mostly due to their schedules (work, kids, family, etc.). Like i said tho, I did go. With one person. Someone who also began as a coworker but became one of my very best friends. Someone who also is of African descent. Does this bother me? Not in the least. My wife means the world to me :)

And last but not least, my best friend, boyfriend, partner, love of my life, and so much more, is also a different color than me. And my favorite part is the fact that my daughter, only after having been exposed to the idea of racism, still only referred to him as “he’s just a different color, I don’t understand what the big deal is”. People, especially children, are so very innocent and unaware of the idea of racism. It is NOT something people are born with, it is taught. Although I was raised to turn away, I rose above the idiocracy of the idea and became a much better person because of it. I would never change who I am who what I think or how I feel. And I can only pray my daughter will continue to feel the way she does now and not be so unfortunately tainted with the horrible illusions that remain.

Do I think black is all right and that none of them hate white people? Absolutely not. Do I think it’s possible for it all to just disappear overnight? Not at all. (I could only wish). Am I ignorant to the fact that there are plenty of ‘blacks’ out there that are racist too? Nope. There are. I totally get it. Are there several that fit the ‘stereotype’? Of course. But don’t plenty of other races fit their stereotype too, and yet we give certain ones a chance because they are different or mean something to us or impact our life in an unforgettable way??? Or because their race isn’t so noticeably different immediately, on the outside? I have fallen in love with a person whom has a different skin tone than myself and it has caused several complications so early on and we both are aware that it will only continue to happen and although we are both more than willing to face any and all issues together, I cannot help but question WHY at the end of the day...Why must it continue to go on like this, to this extreme???

#racismsucks whatsimportant followyourheart youcanthelpwhoyoulove blackandwhiteareonlycolors

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maczazind · 7 years

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Film Diary 2017: 'Blair Witch' Extended Thoughts

The following is an extended take on my feelings of Blair Witch (2016). It is an expansion of my monthly film journal for January 2017, the full post of which you can see here. This is simply my opinion and trying to have fun discussing entertainment on Tumblr. Feel free to agree or disagree; I welcome all takes and perspectives with an open mind.

Spoilers follow for 1999’s The Blair Witch Project and 2016’s Blair Witch. What follows is also strictly MY OWN OPINION.

As a child of the 90s, I very much recall the hype of The Blair Witch Project from the perspective of a youngling. While I didn’t necessarily realize the internet tie-in standpoint of the film itself nor how nearly unprecedented the found footage aspect was, I definitely remember how massive of a phenomenon it was. People discussing it, video store conversations by adults at the checkout counter debating the ending. And even seeing it myself…to an extent; it was the movie of choice at a sleepover at the time but I fell asleep out of a mix of boredom and fear after the creepy tone that was set by friends. Since the release, I’ve revisited it removed from the bubble that was the late 90s and admittedly The Blair Witch Project is far from my favorite horror film. My first time rewatching left me feeling jaded and disgusted at what people considered a classic, but multiple times since I’ve come to respect the simplicity, character focus, the mythology slowly expanding through dialogue and the ambiguous moments that fueled the aforementioned conversations all these years later.

While Book of Shadows is a mindfuck in quite a bad way, the Blair Witch hysteria died out never to capitalize on its fame again as the world moved on. For years, rumors popped up in the depths of the internet that maybe Blair Witch could come back in some form and those ideas seemed to be just that: ideas. That is, until Comic Con 2016. In one swift surprise, what was a horror feature previously teased & titled The Woods was revealed to be a continuation of the franchise all these years later simply titled Blair Witch. But while there was a solid reception out of the con, I was disheartened to see not only a negative reception from critics just two months later upon release but a soft opening weekend box office as well, despite a reportedly small production budget as well. At the time of writing this, Blair Witch has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 36%, an audience score of 31%, an IMDB average score of 5.1, a MetaCritic critics score of 47 and an audience score of 4.8. So…what the hell happened?!

Missing it the first time around, Blair Witch has hit Blu-Ray & DVD and I finally picked it up to check it out for myself to see exactly what I would think.

Let me start first by prefacing that in the last decade, I was unabashedly a fan of the Paranormal Activity franchise. Even through the upsettingly bad installments (*waves to PA4 and The Ghost Dimension*), I was enthralled by the mythology growing with every movie to a presumed climax that frustratingly never came (I have an idea on how it should end, but that’s a whole other topic for another day). But much like the “torture porn” fad of horror that came as a result of the success of the Saw franchise, the “found footage” aspect that was popularized again with the emergence of PA has clearly worn people out. While there were some very notable films to have utilized that method, there were PLENTY of bad ones that were shot in the style, made on a very low budget, made its money back but at the same time kind of burned audiences (*waves again to the URL ending of The Devil Inside). And to a certain degree I think Blair Witch may have been the very last straw for many in that respect.

Another footnote to consider in this entire ordeal is that Blair Witch had only TWO MONTHS from title reveal to theatrical premiere. That, in my own opinion, did not allow it to build up the positive hype it needed to stay afloat. I saw many tweets online and even knew a few friends who because of the naming and unfamiliarity thought the film was simply a cheap remake and not a continuation. If the film had a bit longer to establish itself in the casual public eye, I think there wouldn’t necessarily have been as big of a blowback as there was. Then again, that’s more than likely just the optimist in me.

But what did I think of the film itself? I walked away liking it…with some reservations.

Some of the initial complaints I’ve seen since the release are that Blair Witch is more remake than it is sequel and I can’t argue with the certain point of view of that. Yes, the path we find our characters on is incredibly similar. The source of found footage serves a greater purpose, they venture into the woods, get lost, start fighting a bit and it all ends at the infamous house. But at the same time I found it to be an expansion with different motivations that served intriguing. The adventure of the first isn’t eclipsed nor forgotten but the additional material thrown into the mix here helps expand the concept for some of the vague moments in the original. In addition, when you believe a scene starts to feel a bit familiar I thought that there was always something fresh to take away to subvert your expectations. The campsite, the tents, the house, the popular symbol of the witch; they all have something presented that at least adds something.

Taking a step back from that, though, the characters prove to be a mixed bag. It doesn’t help that as the plot goes along it burns the bridges of at least two members of the group. There are small details you can grasp onto for each character to flesh them out a bit but not really enough for their personalities to overly shine as the intense circumstances grow and take center stage. A blooming relationship pops up in spots between who you would consider the two leads of the group and it helps to care about that development as we lead into the finale. But with the threat of an unseen supernatural force lurking around, it’s also hard not to try and distance yourselves from these characters in order to prepare for what may be the inevitable.

Similarly the beginning approach feels a bit different with our resident film student Lisa actually going all out to prepare in very reasonable conditions. The arsenal of technology this time includes earpiece cameras and a drone that upon presentation interested me in how exactly they would be used. Likewise to the same problem with the characters however, there was always this feeling in the back of my head that any of this tech can simply malfunction and prove ultimately useless. Some of that does happen but at the same time it kind of feels like a lifeline for the characters being cut off to give it impact to the events unfolding.

With a sequel of this magnitude, it’s hard not to think that somewhere along the way questions from the first film be addressed. Namely the biggest one people have is exactly what happened to Heather in the closing moments. Here the answer is never quite given but can be assumed as much given how our new cast of characters close out their journey. And it’s just the first in a handful of additional material supplied. Before this, through dialogue we learn more about the legend of Elly Kedward - a piece of the mythology presented in tie-ins after the original - that leads to a eureka moment in the climax finale, as does an even more supernatural solution as to how Heather and company exactly got lost in the woods as well as the footage that serves as the catalyst for the entire film.

I do have to commend director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett. To resurrect a franchise so embedded in a certain era of pop culture is no easy feat but I feel they provided what could have been a solid landing pad to have expand upon even more had the film been a bigger hit. Wingard presents plenty of memorable imagery that I can still call back to with such clarity as it took a dormant world and added some fresh air into it. Barrett as well took what we knew about the mythos so far and pushed it even further to get me thinking without ever quite rocking the boat of the entire established story as some horror sequels can unfortunately achieve.

Blair Witch is carried out with such respect and love for what came before it, but audiences and critics simply didn’t bite. Perhaps it was the similarities and the shortcomings along with the lack of an open mind that caused the backlash. Or maybe I’m just glancing at this as more supplementary rather than the intense elevation that others truly wanted. It never tops my list of favorite horror movies nor is it my favorite Wingard/Barrett film (that would be The Guest) but it’s far from a number of frustrating features the genre has pumped out in the past.

#film diary 2017 #blair witch #movies #opinion

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scrumptiouslycoldfun-blog · 6 years

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Social Media Advertising Information for Beginners

Social Media Groups Social Media Marketing and advertising is the procedure of gaining consideration and internet traffic by way of the social media sites. For the duration of this method, generally inventive articles to get to the masses via publicity coming from a 3rd-party reliable source needs to be developed in buy for individuals to share the articles of their interest with other folks and develop a vicious chain that would make enterprise go over and go outside of the market place viewers meant. Every single on the internet marketer demands to have a goal, a product, a support and a result in to market through the huge and frustrating Planet Broad World wide web. If you currently have individuals items outlined in your brain, then congratulations! That could be probably the toughest portion of entering into the social media problem, and from now on, each single effort will add to reach individuals ambitions effectively and flawlessly right up until you place your ft on the Social Media Guru position. The Social Media globe is vast and a lot more in depth than ever. It is a very strategic advertising and marketing system that reaches different cultures, ages, religion, sexes, areas, interests and such, as a result it tends to make it the perfect motor vehicle to attain and target the proper viewers and accomplish overall achievement. The complete entire world will not treatment about online video video games, for example, but only the folks that movie video games is component of their pursuits. If you target male audience with ads of large heels on sale, maybe some of them would go and get a pair or two for their wives, but a pair or 2 is not exactly the variety of impact you want to have. Consequently, you focus on certain team ages and specific other aspects that trigger some companies and merchandise, video clips and information to go "viral" 1st, we need to have to know the standard social media websites Facebook Holding much more than 900 million customers, if you're currently a Fb user this might not be genuinely new to you, but there are tons of functions worth mentioning. You can develop a committed company web page and interact right, and cost-free, with your consumers uploading cost-free photos, goods and movies of the service you intend to give or the merchandise you are attempting to market. That way, you can construct a info foundation of folks that will share your posts to their buddies and as a result produce the by no means ending chain. Most of these social media internet sites have seamlessly cellular integration so folks no matter whether it is a moveable Laptop, a desktop, pill or cell cellphone get constantly linked with media in a way that you must just take gain of. Individuals log in to Fb, in any predicament, even though commuting, in the park, at residence, at university, at work. Then you happen to be there, promoting your enterprise for it to be displayed in the news feeds, and you would be there, continuously doing the head trick sport to the point that individuals will find some thing attractive and really worth examining according to their interests. A lot of massive corporations like Starbucks, Microsoft, Apple, Rockstar, Pepsi and many others. are carrying out the same, and it works perfectly! Blogs Blogs are an effortless way for men and women to converse in a semi-expert way when it will come to top quality of content material. Top quality content material is often the essential to a very good composing and therefore, a good blogging. There are many blogger CMS (content administration provider) exactly where you can get yours up and operating for cost-free in less than five minutes, some of these are Blogger, WordPress and possibly the most user pleasant 1, Tumblr. A single of the tricks here is knowing your viewers, your industry, who you are focusing on and what you want to achieve with that. Now this has to do with some Search engine marketing or Research Motor Optimization understanding, which is in other terms, making use of the correct keywords and phrases to rank as large as possible in a search motor i.e. Google, Bing. It has to be relevant to your posts and at the identical time, you have to make positive you use a key phrase search device to examine the competitiveness and quantity of research this offered keyword has. The cheapest the opposition and greatest variety of lookups it receives in a thirty day period, the more practical for you. If you ended up to promote your internet site holding a provider of technical support chat, you would have to make the keywords very specific so men and women that are seeking for your provider would discover you very first. It is, for case in point technical help for Windows, then you'll have to incorporate particular phrases, as heading a little more straight to the position. Given that the competitors would be really high and Windows technical support is a broad articles, you would focus and go even more the specific companies your item delivers, for that reason, adding further key phrases to go straight to the position would be the most profitable way to do it and you would rank larger in a lookup motor and people would uncover your merchandise easily. From "Specialized Support Chat" to "Specialized Assist Chat for Home windows seven and XP" you can see how we are narrowing the concept of the support you provide generating it a lot more particular, in depth and then opposition of assistance for cellular operating techniques, cellphones, Mac, Apple iphone, Home windows Vista, Home windows eight and this sort of, are left guiding and individuals web sites supplying the services you're not associated to won't steal your possibilities to be discovered for individuals that are basically hunting for chat assist for Home windows seven and XP. After comprehended the key phrase concept you can continue and produce articles on a website that would be effortless to locate on a research motor by including the appropriate tags. Then we have the Social Media integration again in the blog space. There are several options to share the content material of your website. A lot of Articles Supervisor Providers like Tumblr have the social media buttons to share and like or dislike. You need to have to search for the choices to permit them (in the exceptional case they are not enabled by default) so every publish of yours would have the buttons for share on Tweeter, Google+, Fb etc. and Reblog in the blogging network you are affiliated to. With fantastic quality and eye catching content material you are encouraging men and women to share your tales on other media sites like the kinds described previously mentioned additionally you sharing them and there you have excellent chances to get to a broader audience. Twitter A quick increasing, quite well-liked social media site. With above 340,000,000 tweets a day and close to a hundred and forty,00,000 consumers worldwide, this system is quite attractive to company and companies as effectively as for celebrities, musicians, actors, every person! A tweet is a information of one hundred forty figures highest that one can publish and post and followers can go through and see any time in their information feeds. Discuss about it, interact directly and start new conversations is a single of the things that make this platform extremely effective. The way they stick to Kim Kardashian and go through and chat about almost everything she tweets in a working day, the very same way they can do with advertising and marketing and marketing and advertising campaigns about brands and items of their fascination. a hundred and forty,000,000 customers to goal the correct audience might seem like a difficult job, but observed it from the other facet of the coin, that means much more possible buyers for a company. Once you get into the already pointed out vicious chain of any social media internet site, things just preserve coming alongside by them selves and first point you'll observe is hundreds of hundreds of people engaged in your manufacturer, speaking about it, reviewing it and telling other individuals about activities, broadcast and this kind of. Linkedin Probably a not so well-known system producing it unexciting for some folks, but a quite expert and strategic a single for the rest. Some people will not likely devote extended several hours chatting or talking to other about silly, trivial things, alternatively, this social community goes straight to the level. Men and women on Fb and Twitter for instance, follow any individual of their curiosity for the sake of just socialize as properly as businesses and companies, but Linkedin is meant to filter and depart the entertaining powering to target deeper in professionalism in social media. In Linkedin, you can be part of the men and women seeking for a task/ support, or component of a organization supplying a work/ services. You can develop possibly a personal profile with your skilled info about oneself, reports, contact information, pursuits, certifications, identifications and so on. or, create a business or company website page, very same way as you do it on Fb or Twitter sufficing the identical function: share info about your brand name, provider, item and hold your audience and followers up to day with the most current details about your organization. YouTube YouTube is a quite interesting system. Folks go observe movies of any variety or receives redirected by any site that has a backlink to it or search engines. Once individuals is there on a provided there you have some more "Connected Videos" on a column on the correct facet of the display screen. Clicking from movie to online video makes you discover items you never considered you would uncover, fascinating matters, humorous films, how-to kind of movies, publicity and so on. Your odds to be witnessed are overpowering and you can also get people subscribe to your Channel, which is in other terms, your very own YouTube room where you add your films. Some people locate it way a lot more exciting and simpler to just view a video instead than studying a complete post. You have the useful resource of visuals. If you have been to encourage vogue clothes and that is the objective of your entire social media advertising and marketing, you can, together with other possibilities, add a movie with people modeling your garments, redirect folks to your major business web site, suggest people to share your video, to subscribe for foreseeable future video clip updates, to check out your "trend site", like your web page on Facebook, comply with you on Tweeter, Google+, Linkedin, and so forth. Shut your eyes and consider to visualize the Tree Diagram of the entire Social Media marketing and advertising strategy and how it gets to possibly get to each solitary corner of the Globe Broad Internet. Formidable, isn't it? Google+ A pretty new comer on the social media website battle, Google+ offers integration of a variety of providers including Gmail, Google+ Principles, Google+ Circles that allow you share details or "statuses" in a way Facebook does, but has significantly less reputation so much. You have the "Stream" attribute similar to Facebook's Information Feed that would permit you see what others are up to, an choice for adhering to quite equivalent as effectively to Tweeter. The provider is very desirable to professionals and enterprise networks since of the exclusivity and integration of solutions. You generate a Gmail account for case in point, and unless you disable it, by default you have entry to all these provider and a profile ready to be edited with a photo, speak to info, and so forth. You have accessibility to the total Google+ community like previously point out Gmail, YouTube, You+, Circles, Basics and even the properly-identified lookup motor conserving and exhibiting final results to the most related items to you. It is handy to have a spare Google+ account for any Social Media Marketer due to the fact it really is prospective operation and due to the fact no supply is also little or way too considerably in marketing. Might not have the very same effect, a thirty seconds advertisement on Tv set than a tiny billboard on a bus, but the a lot more you get the information despatched the better benefits you will achieve. Social Media Stats According the new 87 research complete on social media advertising and marketing up to 2012, this strategy from organizations to clients known as B2C or Organization to Group has developed and attained sixteen% of client engagement but has prospective to develop to fifty seven% in the up coming five many years. More than thirty% of the throughout the world inhabitants is now on the internet completely or have some type of eventual accessibility to the internet. Far more than one/five of consumer's free of charge time is becoming expended on the social media web sites, achieving an approximate of 250 million tweets and 800 million Fb statuses up to date every single solitary working day. Only in the United States, far more than eighty% of on the web active end users invest their on social media internet sites or weblogs. sixty% of individuals makes use of 3 or far more electronic varieties of study solution comparison, charges and details about supposed buys, getting forty% of those completed by way of social media web sites like Fb or simply redirected from one particular of these internet sites foremost to even direct interactions with stores about gives posted. About 56% Americans have 1 to three profiles in a social media internet site becoming fifty five% of them aged in between 45-fifty five and obtaining at minimum a single profile Research Engine Optimization (Seo) details 70% of the back links look for customers click on on are organic and natural. 46% of all searches are for information about items or providers. Half of all nearby queries are executed on cell devices. 66% of new buyers use search and on-line research to locate neighborhood organizations. There are 863 million websites globally that point out "Search engine marketing." There are nine.one million searchs conducted like the acronym each and every month, with the best two phrases currently being "Search engine marketing companies" and "Search engine marketing firm." Far more than 60,000 Twitter customers incorporate "Search engine marketing" in their bios, there have been thirteen million weblog posts revealed that incorporate "Search engine optimization" in the title, and Amazon.com carries virtually two,seven-hundred distinct textbooks about Search engine marketing 75% of searchers never ever scroll past the very first webpage of benefits. 93% of on the web experiences begin with a lookup engine. B2B firms that maintain lively material like running a blog and Search engine optimization plans improved their overall web site traffic, on common, by twenty five% in the past 12 months, even though people who neglected Seo seasoned an typical fifteen% decline in all round visits. 21% of all time expended on the web is expended on world wide web queries. The massive three lookup engines Google, Bing and Yahoo! are between the 5 most-visited web sites on the Web. Thinking about that AOL is #seven and Inquire is #10 five of the leading ten most-frequented websites on the net are look for engines. In summary, Social Media Marketing is a discipline exactly where professionals and amateurs in marketing can occur throughout and set their personal concepts and programs utilizing their very own strategies. There is no Social Media Marketer college or university diploma, this understanding that need to be obtained by extensive research, it demands to be consistently used and analyzed in the desired area. It is a groundbreaking method that has taken down the old Tv set advertising and marketing techniques shifting it to the online market. The share of men and women that favor to go on the internet on a personal computer or able gadget as opposed to men and women that watches Television set grows steadily every single one day. Stats present Social Media Advertising in a reduce effect percentage compared to the legacy ways for advertising, but the possible it has and area for expansion is in no question mind-boggling and could be considerably much more improved and interactive than Tv set has been for the past decades.

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