#I think as long as it's got high marketability a publisher will take it even if it's not. y'know. good.
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I've been on the writer's tag again.
Listen guys.
Nobody owes your fanfic anything. I know that you want validation and adoration and those are both completely normal things to want. But this obsessive demand for comments over kudos and reblogs over likes is A Problem.
I won't bore you with tales of yore where we literally punted our fiction into the world with no idea of how it was being perceived by others because the only way to know if anyone even glanced at it was by the incredibly inaccurate page counter on our shitty geocities page.
(But that was a thing and it's semi-relevant to my point.)
A lot of you are growing up in a era of social media and viral marketing. You are babies of the influencer age, raised on the myth that if you can just get enough attention you'll get famous for something. I don't mean 10 million followers on insta famous but famous in your specific sphere.
That will not happen for you.
Not because people aren't reblogging your shit or writing out loving comments but because it's a myth. The idea that if you shame, beg and cajole enough people into interacting with your creation you'll access some serotonin high and ascend to a greater state of being is also a myth.
Here's the truth:
Most writers do not know how the majority of their audience feels about their fics. Those very few novels that you see on booktok, X (former twitter) or wherever else you get your writing news represent an infinitesimal portion of stories written and books published.
Most writers do have writing buddies or trusted members of an inner circle that they share their writing with.
For most fandoms, fanfics are so plentiful it's like going into a mall sized grocery store that sells only apples and then demanding the customer review every apple they touch.
For those few fanfics that you see that have an outrageous number of comments there are three possible explanations: 1. that person is what we used to call a "Big Name Ficcer" and they have amassed a following through consistent production of whatever that fandom is into, 2. that is a fic so long you have to sign a waiver to start reading it and despite the fact it was started seven years ago its still getting updated, or 3. that person is writing a viral fic in a fandom that is presently on fire.
Your self worth and self esteem cannot be tied to writing and posting fanfiction. It might be a fun outlet or you might be looking for your viral moment, but either way the moment you start weighing your worth as an author or creator based on what a bunch of strangers on the internet think of you is the moment you give up on yourself.
Social media has brainwashed you into thinking that you must be recognized and rewarded for the things that you put onto the internet. Or maybe it hasn't brainwashed you, maybe you just want to get a comment because you worked super hard on something and you feel like if you can't even get one decent response then its all been wasted. (I.e. you've been brainwashed into the feeling that you need the validation of strangers for happiness purposes.)
So what are you going to do about this?
Get off the internet. I don't mean permanently. I don't even mean literally. I mean take yourself out of the spaces that reinforce the idea that you need validation from strangers to be happy. Stop going on the social media sites for a few days (or a few weeks). If you've got a friend in fandom that you share fics, headcanons, ideas or anything with start chatting with them about something you want to write. Invest in them, in what they're doing and their opinions and how they react to your creations.
Put your shit on the internet like you literally don't give a fuck about anyone's opinion. Explain nothing about your writing choices. Put warnings, no more than 5 tags and drop that shit into the world like a newborn giraffe. Then ignore it.
Teach yourself to seek validation from your accomplishments: write a slightly longer fic, write a fic in a different genre, write a fic in a different rating, write a fic in a different fandom.
Find an actual friend that you actually interact with whose opinion you know matters because you agree on the important stuff.
Stop begging strangers for compliments like a cartoon hobo shaking a cup for coins. You're better than that.
#writing is hard#fanfiction#on writing#i would love a rebuttal#but nobody fights me#i understand#i'm too scary
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Endlessly
A short one shot from my blurb bucket list.
Tears dripped down my face in torrents as I realized what I had to do. I had to leave this man. He didn't love or respect me. He never even wanted to be a friend. This marriage had shown me how much more I didn't belong in his life. I know he thought he was above me. I could tell by how he treated me throughout the entire duration of our sad little marriage.
Our parents were family friends. His parents were business tycoons who wanted to marry their son Park Jimin off to me, a hopeless nobody according to Jimin’s assessment of me throughout our schooling years. He had treated me like dust beneath his shoe when we were both in the same middle school and high school. We ran in the same circles as my parents owned a fancy bakery in the nice part of town. My parents had grown up with his parents and though we were never anywhere as rich as them, my parents provided me a comfortable upbringing. Jimin’s parents were extremely kind people who never acted arrogant, even though they owned a chain of extremely lucrative hotels.
At the age of 16 Jimin had a Mercedes Benz, Rolex watch, a separate outhouse next to his parent’s estate, and the attention of any girl he wanted.
At the same age, I had my cat, Sugarplum, my teddy bear, Roosevelt, my parents and our bakery. That was enough to tell you how different we were from one another. For some ridiculous reason, his parents thought that I would be the best girl to marry him to. I remember that day when I was paralyzed by shock when I came back from school one day to find them all in my living room. His mother, Mrs. Park had cracked open a warm smile as she saw me standing in from of the door as I awkwardly greeted them.
My mom came from the kitchen exclaiming in a voice filled with hidden glee, “ Oh, Y/N. Baby, you are back from school. How was your day? Got any articles published for the school newspaper?” I quietly responded, “Yeah mom, getting ready to finalize some edits.” As I walked into the living room gingerly, thinking it was only Ms. Park and my mom, Jimin came in with my dad and his dad from our back yard. Mr. Park chimed in joyously, “ Y/n , You have grown so much. What a beautiful girl you have become.” Jimin coughed silently, laughing under his breath as I grimly realized that he didn’t share the same sentiment as his dad.
I couldn’t see what Mr. Park meant either since I had just worn jeans and a long sleeve top to school. But I had not been brought up lacking manners, so I replied, “Thank you Mr. Park. Very kind of you to say so. How have you been doing? Would you like me to get you and Ms. Park some tea and cake?” The brightly smiling older man chuckled in a pleased fashion, “Why don’t you do that sweetheart. We have some good news for you when you come back.”
I walked into the kitchen puzzled at what he was referring to. I came back with the refreshments and set then down on the table as my mom said, “Why don’t we let Y/N first finish college and then we can plan the wedding?” I almost fell off the couch. I felt like I had been slapped by a fish. What the freaking hell did she mean marriage!?? Were they trying to sell me off like a week old salmon in a fish market? And to who?
I exclaimed in a rather nervous tone, “Mother, what are you talking about? What is going on here?” Mrs. Park started in a placating tone, “Sweet heart we were just talking about when Jimin and you would be married.” I almost choked as I screamed in terror, “EXCUSE ME?!” Mr. Park smiled as he continued, “Darling don’t frighten Y/N. Sweetheart don’t worry. We will wait till you and Jimin finish your under grad degrees and then we will plan the engagement and get you two hitched. It won’t be immediate. You will have time to get to know him.” Jimin sat there in silence with a neutral mask on his face as my face contorted in terror, making me retreat upstairs in utter shock.
I could hear my dad say, “What do you say Jimin? Ready to take on your dad’s company?” I could hear as Jimin replied in a resolute manner , “Of course uncle. Once I get my business degree and finish my MBA, I will be able to take care of Y/N properly.”
Contrary to what everyone thought, Jimin proceeded to treat me like an invisible being throughout the duration of our college years as well. We had ended up at our hometown college which happened to rank pretty highly across the country. Though I didn’t agree with this supposed marriage which both our parents had come up with, I thought we would at least get to know each other as friends. And then maybe eventually as a couple if we suited each other.
Jimin and I had run in different circles all throughout high school and middle school. The same trend continued in college. He hung out with other extremely handsome and privileged guys who would also eventually take over their family businesses as heirs. Just as he did in high School, he had a loyal fan following of beautiful well bred girls whose sole existence in college was to trap rich man in marriage. Anytime I would come across him, I would greet him.
He would walk past me as though he never heard me. The girls he would hang with would always be teeming around him in a protective pentagon. He sure was satanic. His behavior and the way he acted above all others in school had not changed. To top all this behavior all off with a cherry, he was known around campus for having a new girl every month. His dipshit friend Jungkook, had coined the term, “new flavor of the month”, to describe his excessively promiscuous and nonchalant behavior.
To my utter dismay, this man who I had known to never be husband material, continued to exemplify that he was the farthest thing from husband material the world had ever seen. He was as similar to husband material, as polyester was to silk. I had had some faith in the fact that he may change his behavior initially. As we almost ended our college years, I could tell that he wouldn’t change and he would carry this dismal behavior into a marriage that I never even wanted.
I told my mother numerous times as college ended, “ Please mom. Why do I have to marry him? He has the pick of the lot, so many attractive rich girls. Why me? Can’t he just marry one of those.” I started sobbing in frustration as I bit out in desperation , “He doesn't even greet me mom. He doesn't acknowledge my existence. He hates me. I don’t want to marry someone who hates me. You know me mom. I can’t survive with someone who hates my guts, someone who disrespects me. I am the closest thing to a fiancé he has and he doesn't even want to be friends. Why do you and father insist on ruining my life this way?”
To my shock my mother started crying as well as she morosely said, “ I am so sorry my baby. I didn't know that he was treating you this way. His parents and I always thought he was a well mannered child so we had betrothed you to him when you were barely 10. His dad has a really bad heart condition. And since his dad and mom were your godparents, they wanted you to marry him because you are such a good girl. His father may pass soon, and he wanted see his son wedded to you before he passed.”
“His parents really think you are the best person for Jimin. You are solid, trustworthy, loyal, beautiful, loving and a hard worker. Nobody in their circles, no matter how rich or vain they may be, amount to you in worth.” Your mother continued in a serious tone, “But sweetheart, if he is treating you like trash, I will tell his parents that this won’t work. They can find someone else for his ungrateful ass.”
You laughed for the first time in a long time as your mother started cussing out Jimin for being a turd. But knowing yourself you knew what decision you would take. Your godparents had been there for you since you were born. They had taken care of you and your parents when your parents were initially setting up the bakery.
You decided it then and there. You would marry Jimin and be with him for a few years. When it would get unbearably hard, when you would feel like dying, you would leave him. Inevitably the marriage would die, it was just a matter of time. And, you would be giving your godfather the gift of a wedding for his son.
I laughed bitterly as my sob fest ceased. It had been 5 long years since your marriage to Jimin at the age of 21. His father had been elated to see him married off to you. They treated me better than their own daughter this entire time. It almost made up for how badly Jimin had treated me. But that's the thing, almost was never enough. Every person had their limits. And I had hit mine.
I started packing away whatever clothes you could fit into the suitcases. It had been enough. His cold behavior towards me, the disrespect of having random women over at the house, the disregard towards me as a partner. The tipping point had been when I was about to visit him at his office and heard moaning coming from inside the room.
In these five years of being married to him I had developed a prowess as a writer and published so many books that had became a best seller. Under your clandestine alias, Strawberry, I had now accumulated a personal net worth of 50 million dollars USD. This progress had deemed me financially independent. I had never touched Jimin’s money since the beginning of the relationship. Whenever we went to galas with him for the purpose of PR for his company, he had provided me money to buy clothes and accessories.
I had always been a chubby girl who wore glasses and nondescript clothing. But Jimin and most of the world didn't know that I had a personal sense of fashion and beauty sequestered in my closet ready to unleash to the world once I divorced this ungrateful shit. The plan to leave had been in the works since the day of the wedding. Five years of building, brooding, working hard, and patience had earned me the right to a divorce. Even when I married him, he never tried to get to know me.
I had tried to be his friend, taking care of him when his dad was sick in the hospital on multiple occasions. There were days Jimin didn't even get out of bed because of the sheer misery of his father’s condition. I had supported him that time, sleeping with him when he was lonely and crying in bed in the middle of the night. We had separate bedrooms, but he had come crying to my bed at midnight one night , sobbing profusely as he crumbled into my arms. “I--I-I can’t do this y/N, I can’t see him die with my own eyes. I love my dad, I can’t imagine life without him.”
He wretched and sobbed for what seemed like eternity as he lay in my bed, snuggled in my arms as he tried catching his breath. I had stroked him on the head, patting him on his back, rocking him to bed as though he were a baby. At the time he had settled against me exhausted with his arms encompassing my waist. His face had burrowed into my chest as he fell asleep, tired from his crying fit. This incident had repeated itself so many times during the course of our marriage. The worst part was when he would act like a completely different person every morning after his crying tirades. He would seek solace in my arms in the nights and become like a cold, impenetrable version of himself the very next day. I was his emotional support animal, and he was the man I could never call my own.
Reminiscing all those times made silent tears trail down my face as I faced the whiplash of memories. I had tried making him breakfast, packing his lunches, and had tried my hardest to at least be his friend if I could not be his partner. He would let me do all this for him, without appreciation or gratitude. He would eat my food and treat me like a stranger. Treat me like I had never existed. He never remembered my birthday, never concerned himself with my needs.
When I had tried to kiss him on his lips, trying to making the first move one time, he had spelled out in no uncertain terms, “ You are only my wife in name. Don’t try to make this relationship anything else than what it should be, a PR relationship. And how could you think I would ever be attracted to you? Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror? Learn to take care of yourself. How could you continue to look like a slob your whole life? You’ve seen who I dated in school since we were kids. Did any of them ever look like you?”
He walked away like nothing had happened, as I crumbled to the ground crying, injured by the one person I had tried so hard to get close to. That night had led me to understand that he was way above my league, at least according to his standards. If this was a PR relationship, then why did he cry to me at night? Why did he come to me wounded, expecting me to complete him and in the same breath stab me in the heart for caring?
I had to leave. I had to leave. I had to.
JIMIN’S POV
As most marriages go, they are usually banal affairs. Unexciting and monotonous. Duties and responsibilities littered my brain as I came home early. As I looked for the wife I would never in a million years have thought would be mine, I stumbled upon some photos in her room. Nudes of a full figured girl dominated the frame of the polaroid photos scattered around the floor. I choked in utter shock at the slip of a stocking and a flash of her bosom.
I picked up the photos, shocked at how beautiful they looked. This was my wife? The quiet girl who even in our school days simply seemed like the kind girl next door? She wore these stockings underneath her everyday clothes? My pants felt uncomfortably tight as I ventured further into her room.
Why were clothes littered all over her room? She was usually extremely organized. She ran our house as tight as a captain would run their ship. Everything was always cleaned and in its place. As I ventured further into her room, I saw piles of lingerie of shapes and sizes I never imagined on her bed. Where was she ? And what was she doing with all these clothes? If it wasn't for me, then who was she entertaining? Rage filled my gut as I couldn't imagine her betraying me with another man.
On the bed, I saw official documents. One word caught my eye, filling me with dread, my panic continued to rise as a I clutched papers to my face with latent fury. It read, “DIVORCE SETTLEMENT DOCUMENTS”. I yelled in a full blown nervousness, “ Y/N where are you? What are you doing? What are these papers?!? Y/N?!”
In the utter chaos wreaking havoc upon my mind, I opened the door to her bathroom, and I almost fainted. Y/N was decorated in a red lace thong with a blood red bra and stockings to match. Her voluptuous stomach gripped the strings of the thong as her thick ass swallowed up the thong string. Stretch marks climbed in spirals along her hips as her bra struggled to house her breasts. Her thick thighs were encased in transparent red thigh high stockings.
I couldn’t even hear her screaming as I continued to stare at her body in undisguised, mind numbing lust and adoration. I had never seen my wife naked. I had never even touched her or any other woman for the entire duration of our marriage. I may be a bastard, but I was loyal to my wife. And my dick that had been dead from the antidepressants and grief at my father’s condition, came to life.
Y/N yelled in frustration, waving her hands in front of me to get out of the room. I marched up to her as the cloud of lust magnified within me. She cowered away from me, placing hands to cover her breasts and pussy. I took hold of her arms easily, wrenching them to the side as I studied her beautiful body up close. If I had known this was how my wife looked like, I would have never made it to work on time every morning.
What startled me was the sniffling though. I panicked as I looked up to see her crying profusely with the most abject grief in her eyes. I had hurt her somehow. She was usually the most neutral, cold faced girl I had ever come across in my life. Her facial expressions never showed emotion except for the times when I would hurt her, when I was so weighed down by the grief of my father that I would lash out at her. Little did she know how elated I was to marry her the day of our wedding.
Growing up an only child without many real friends made me a very unexpressive person, but when I loved someone, I loved them deeply. And my wife was clearly hurt so badly. I had hurt her so badly, that she was considering divorce. As it all clicked into place, I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her in my arms, soothing her, “Tell me what is going on baby? What is happening? What did I do to hurt you? Why are you trying to leave me?”
She tried batting away my arms that settled around her hips and backside. But I wouldn’t let her go. I had messed up so badly and once I saw those papers, my mind whirled with terror. I couldn’t survive without this woman. She was my life source, my rock, and she couldn’t leave me. She shouted out in a cracked voice, “ You don’t love me! YOU DON’T CARE FOR ME. GET AWAY FROM ME!! YOU CAN GO MARRY SOME SKINNY CHIC WHO YOU HAVE BEEN FUCKING IN THE OFFICE DAY AND NIGHT! NOW LET ME GO, YOU TURD!!
I grabbed on to her tighter, confused at her accusations, “Baby what are you talking about? I haven't touched any girl in the five years we have been married.”
She wheezed in disbelief, “Liar, why are you always doing this to me? You are as cold as a stone, you freeze me out when you feel like it. And I heard the moaning coming from your office, and all the women you have been parading around my house, cheating on me with. Well I am done, I have been done for a long time. I am clearly unattractive and ugly and not in shape. I want to leave, I want a divorce. I do not want even a penny from you, but I have to leave. You are not healthy for me. This is not a healthy marriage.”
All of her words hit my like trucks as I begged with her, “Sweetheart, I never meant to make you believe that I have been disloyal. All those women at our house were my business partner’s sisters and family. That’s why they would greet you when they came in to the house. They run a family led corporation , and all of them had come here for business meetings.” As she became quiet, I continued, “ The day you came to see me at the office must have been when my PA twisted her ankle. The physical therapist and I were both in the room with her. She was moaning in pain because it was a completely avulsed tendon. I am so sorry I made you believe otherwise, that you are not the only woman in my life.”
“I know how horribly I conducted my self in school . You always saw me around girls and so you thought that behavior of sleeping around would continue into our marriage. I would never do that to you. You are the only one who truly cares about me. And I was a shallow piece of shit for making you fell unattractive. The day I put you down for your appearance, was the worst day of my life. Dad was getting his prosthetic heart valve replacement surgery and I was so stressed. Mom was crying and I didn’t know what to do, that I lashed out at you when you had nothing to do with it.”
As her crying ceased, she tried to get out of my embrace, but I wouldn’t let her. “Baby, please give me a chance to make it right. I know I have treated you dismally, less than human. But I love you, I have loved you since the day we got married. I just never knew how to show it to you. You have always been so independent, self sufficient, never relying on me for anything. I almost thought you never needed me. And the grief made me an even worse person than I thought I was capable of being.”
Y/N took a huge gulp of air as she exclaimed, “I don’t believe that you are attracted to me or that you love me. You have treated me horribly for years, and I never even felt like we were married. I felt like a roommate who you just used for emotional support. Then you would freeze me out and insult me when I tried to help you. Anyways, you like skinny girls who don’ t look like me, why don’t you just go and find one. I will divorce you and you will never hear from me again. And I will find someone who loves me, who thinks that kissing me and showing affection to me is not a chore.”
I started panicking. I was ridiculously attracted to her from the beginning, but the depression medication had literally made me a sexless creature for the past five years. But now she thought that I was not attracted to her, when in fact it was the medication which I had recently been tapered off of by my doctor. What if I couldn't convince her that it was all the medication? She would leave me, and I would crumble into tiny pieces, because I couldn't live without her.
I explained in a frantic voice, “Baby, it was the medication. I was on antidepressant medication for so long and it killed my sex drive so badly. I couldn’t even have sex if I wanted to, it killed my erection. How can I show you that you are a goddess to me? I don’t even deserve to be next to you. I loved you since we were in 7th grade. But I got so nervous around you that I couldn't even speak when you greeted me. Whenever you would talk to me, I literally felt like dying of nerves. I wanted to talk to you so much when we were going through school, but my anxiety crippled me. I never wanted to make you feel undesirable.”
As she looked at me in indecision, I swooped down to kiss her passionately against her lips, opening up her mouth to receive my tongue. I gripped her exposed butt and squeezed, “Please let me prove to you that you are all I will ever need.” I nuzzled my face against her neck, biting and pecking against it as my hands massaged up her hips, trying to find the string to her thong that I could unravel. Her eyes twinkled with what looked like hope as she whispered, “You can try.”
------Please let me know if I should release the rest of the smut for this one shot.
#jimin x reader#chubby reader x bts#bodyshaming#bodyworship#bts x reader#bts fanfic#bts fanfic#angst#troubed marriage#arranged marriage#jimin x chubby reader#smut
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W.I.T.C.H., interview with the creators
Some time ago, I made a post about "the original Elyon being a guardian," and since everyone was confused, I thought I'd translate the interview from which I read this information.
I don't know if someone else has already done it, but since I didn't find anything online, I decided to do it myself.
I will translate the entire interview with the help of an online translator and a friend of mine.
Just remember that this interview was published in April 2021, marking 20 years since the release of the first volume.
Enjoy!
Here the original link in italian: https://heroica.it/w-i-t-c-h-20-anni-barbucci-canepa-intervista/
It is April 3, 2001 when Italian newsstands are hit by a small earthquake, which will soon transform into a hurricane...
The first issue of W.I.T.C.H. is released, a comic magazine that will shatter every sales record in a matter of months, embarking on a quest to conquer the world.
It all begins in Milan, at the headquarters of Walt Disney Company Italy, with an intuition of the then-director of the company's women's periodicals, Elisabetta Gnone, and the talent of two young artists, Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa, whom I have interviewed for you.
Interview with Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa
Let's start from the origins: How was W.I.T.C.H. born?
Alessandro Barbucci: It was 1997, Sailor Moon was still fresh in everyone's memory [the last series had been broadcast in Italy between March and May of that year, editor's note].
And then there were the Spice Girls...
"Sailor Moon was ironic, arrived at the right moment; the Spice Girls were five purely pop characters, worthy of a cartoon - during that period, we were big fans, we even went to see the movie in the cinema!" Alessandro revealed to me.
Elisabetta Gnone, who was then in charge of the women's periodicals at Walt Disney Company Italy, had a great intuition: she realized that there was a missing product for teenage girls, an audience segment that had never been considered by the major company before.
When thinking about teenagers, one couldn't ignore what was happening in pop culture at that moment...
Barbara Canepa: During that period, a passionate fanbase for manga was beginning to take shape. it was clear how this new language was able to respond to the tastes and needs of teenagers - not just boys, but girls as well!
In fact, up until that moment, it was believed that girls didn't read comics. It was precisely with shoujo manga (like Sailor Moon, but not only) that this belief began to falter.
Canepa: Exactly. I had already been an avid manga reader since the days of Candy Candy: we're talking about 1986 when Mondadori released the first monthly editions at newsstands. I started reading my first manga at the age of 12, and at 16, I saw Akira (1988) for the first time in theaters.
In fact, I was the one who got Alessandro passionate about this style, even though he already had some knowledge of it. We felt that the language of manga was the best way to visually "tell" this story.
Barbucci: Initially, I proposed girls in a steampunk, military style. I was a big fan of Tank Girl by Hewlett and Martin.
In my mind, Hay Lin had already existed for a long time: I had been drawing her since high school, but she was a punk with military boots," Alessandro revealed to me.
Elisabetta Gnone told me that the concept was considered too "masculine," so she proposed the idea of the five witches, which directly connected us to manga.
Some people at Disney Italy were afraid that, given the theme, it would veer into Satanism, but their greatest fear was the manga-style big eyes!
Canepa: For them, it was inconceivable to publish a comic even vaguely inspired by manga, which at that time were their direct competitors in the market.
Barbucci: At one point, they considered investing in the relaunch of Daisy Duck by introducing our five characters as anthropomorphic animals. It was an attempt to somehow connect with the Disney universe.
Canepa: Yes, exactly. The project was called Daisy D. and it was intended for the monthly magazine Minnie Mag. The story featured Daisy Duck as a private investigator, accompanied by our W.I.T.C.H. characters, who in this version would have had snouts and gloves, just like Minnie and Mickey!
I still have the first page done in watercolors, as we wanted to make it like the pages of Paperinik's Trip...
The scriptwriter, Ilaria Isaia, revealed to me that the inspiration for Daisy D. came from the success of "Minnie and the Magnificent Five," a story published in Minnie & Company in 1993. It featured Minnie in the role of an investigator, solving a mystery connected to five girls. Daisy D. wouldn't have been very different: "It revolved around Daisy Duck as an investigator, called by her friend to investigate mysterious events happening in a college attended by five students with magical powers," explains Ilaria.
Barbucci: Fortunately, nothing came of it.
Canepa: We were well aware that a story starring Daisy Duck wouldn't resonate with teenagers. We needed five normal girls that the readers could identify with...
Barbucci: So, the W.I.T.C.H. characters returned to being human.
For Will's design, Alessandro Barbucci Alessandro Barbucci was also inspired by "Alita" (1990) by Yukito Kishiro.
The graphic style of W.I.T.C.H., while drawing inspiration from manga, remains a hybrid of the West and the East. It doesn't stray too far from certain Disney characters, starting with Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" (1989).
Barbucci: I can tell a funny anecdote about this!
As we mentioned, Disney Italy opposed W.I.T.C.H. in every way possible: they particularly disliked those manga-style big eyes.
Together with Elisabetta Gnone, we came up with a game, a kind of bet with the top executives of Disney Italy. I drew a series of eyes, including manga characters, Disney characters, and our W.I.T.C.H. characters. Only the eyes were visible, nothing else.
"Since you have so much to say about these manga eyes, guess which ones belong to the W.I.T.C.H. characters!" That was the bet: they could no longer complain.
Well, they were wrong: they chose the eyes of Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" (1989), the protagonist of the Italian magazine of the same name, directed by Elisabetta herself, and successfully published by them for years.
They didn't take it well...
Indeed, Ariel broke the Disney graphic conventions with the proportions of her face.
Barbucci: It was a "graphic shock," something that had never been seen in Disney until that moment. It was certainly a step towards manga aesthetics, with these very large eyes that we later found in the design of many subsequent characters, from Belle and Jasmine to Anna and Elsa.
We remember that you and Barbara worked on the magazine "The Little Mermaid" in the 1990s, just before W.I.T.C.H. started.
In the covers drawn and colored by Barbara, I can already perceive some hints of manga style. Was it intentional?
Canepa: Absolutely yes!
At that time, I bought Japanese magazines like Newtype and Animage to get inspiration. In one of the illustrations I made, there's Ariel with a straw hat: I think I took inspiration from an image of Nadia from "The Secret of Blue Water" (1990-91), or maybe from some other cover.
The close-up of the face, as well as the fluttering leaves [like flowers in shoujo manga, editor's note], the pose of a model on the cover of a fashion magazine... it was all too innovative and "manga" for Disney Italy at that time, which often had something to say about my work! Even before W.I.T.C.H...
The scan on the left is taken from the website www.onlyshojo.com.
Walt Disney Company Italy didn't want anything to do with W.I.T.C.H., as we mentioned. What made them change their minds?
Barbucci: We worked on it secretly for at least a year, even at night.
Then, finally, a ray of light...
At the time, the main headquarters of Disney would send representatives around to other offices to find out what was being done in the rest of the world. Elisabetta was lucky to come across an American manager who was a big fan of Wicca. [Secretly from the top management, editor's note], she presented W.I.T.C.H. to him: he fell in love with it and financed the project, ordering Walt Disney Company Italy to proceed with its production.
Concept art created by Barbucci and Canepa between 1998 and 1999. Notice the homage to Minnie in the first illustration!
Images provided by W.I.T.C.H. Italia.
The project then gets underway. How did you divide the work?
Canepa: It's hard to say. Officially, Elisabetta wrote the plot, Alessandro created the character design, and I took care of the color and atmosphere. In reality, the three of us worked together on the concept, characters, and the world they would inhabit. We drew inspiration from our personal lives when creating these five girls.
The city of the W.I.T.C.H., Heatherfield, is a mix between our hometown of Genoa and San Francisco, which we had visited together. Will shares my birthdate, while Elyon shares Alessandro's. At the time, I was a big fan of frogs, just like Will!
Cornelia's cat is named Napoleon, just like mine - I also gave the same name to Elisabeth's cat, the protagonist of the first volume of END, the comic I created with Anna Merli. For Hay Lin's restaurant, we were inspired by a small Chinese "hole in the wall" where we often ate near our apartment in Milan...
In short, W.I.T.C.H. was built and conceived based on our personal experiences: friends, memories from adolescence, and more.
Based on these characterizations, I created the character profiles that you can find in the first five issues of the magazine, as well as some internal editorials.
The character of Irma is inspired by Barbara Canepa in terms of design and personality, while Will is inspired by Elisabetta Gnone: with her, she shares an introverted personality and the detail of touching his hair when she is embarrassed.
Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it
Elisabetta chose the ethnicities and names of the girls, coming up with the acronym W.I.T.C.H., while Alessandro created the symbols of the Guardians.
To draw the Heart of Kandrakar, Alessandro was inspired by a pendant, a unique piece that I was very attached to and still possess to this day!
Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it
Lastly, I'll reveal something you may not know: I was the one who designed the Witch's transformed costumes!
I remember when Elisabetta jokingly scolded Alessandro, telling him to draw them less provocatively... (laughs).
As for their everyday costumes, Alessandro created them, often drawing inspiration from his and our friends.
Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it
Another significant responsibility of ours was to form a team of artists who would work on W.I.T.C.H. alongside us.
In fact, Alessandro and I couldn't have done it all by ourselves: W.I.T.C.H. was becoming a massive and important project, especially since it would be released on a monthly basis!
Therefore, we conducted courses at the Disney Academy: Alessandro taught how to draw the Witch, while I taught manga techniques, coloring, and graphic design.
Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it
Did you encounter any other issues with Disney Italy during the production?
Canepa: There were some controversies, but at that point, the project was already underway.
There were several delays, actually: the first issue was supposed to be released on Halloween in 2000.
I remember that they criticized the covers: they didn't like the white background, and in the first cover, they didn't like the difference in proportions between Will and the others, which is another typical graphic characteristic of manga.
Barbucci and Canepa created the first five covers of W.I.T.C.H. and the corresponding chapter opening pin-ups.
You create the comic of the first issue: On the third page, there's a very intense panel with Will partially nude (without nipples); she appears like that later during the Sailor Moon-style transformation as well.
These are not erotic images, but they certainly deviate from the Disney style.
Did you face any issues regarding this?
Barbucci: Strangely, no. Maybe they had already given up at that point...
Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it
You left the project after the sixth issue. What happened?
Barbucci: The back and forth with Disney to bring W.I.T.C.H. to newsstands was incredibly exhausting. By the year 2000, we were drained from the continuous meetings, discussions, and delays...
Moreover, both Elisabetta and we had realized our potential as authors. She was the first to leave: she left the world of magazines to fulfill her dream of becoming a novelist. And she succeeded greatly, as a few years later, she created the Fairy Oak series of novels, which sold millions of copies worldwide!
Barbara and I were already in contact with various French and American publishers.
In France, they allowed us to express ourselves artistically in a completely free way.
It felt like a dream! There were so many things we wanted to talk about, things that weren't even proposable in Disney: sex, religion, politics... Sky Doll was born during this period.
Furthermore, there were legal disagreements with Disney regarding the moral rights of the Witch characters. In short, after a few years with the multinational company, it was time for us to move on to other things.
We needed a change of scenery!
The story you had in mind for W.I.T.C.H. was different from what we later read in the issues after your departure?
Canepa: Yes, it was darker, introspective, and more complex. It was a glimpse into teenage life presented through five very different girls.
The plot had different layers of interpretation, including ecological aspects.
It was certainly closer to manga in terms of themes: there was more focus on the girls' personal lives, their adolescent struggles. There wasn't a clear division between good and evil: the girls would be drawn to the Metaworld and tempted to join, crossing over to the other side of the barricade. Elyon would be the first to succumb, but they would all do so to some extent, even fighting against themselves.
Moreover, the Metaworld was a fascinating place, a natural paradise that was quite different from the medieval setting that Disney eventually created. At the heart of it all was the concept of growth and transformation, which is so dear to adolescence: the girls would have had the ability to transform into fantastic animals!
Like teenagers who find themselves caught between childhood and adulthood, the W.i.t.c.h. would have been caught between two worlds, remaining trapped in one or the other, by choice or against their will. It wasn't always clear...
The W.I.T.C.H. transform into adult versions of themselves, adhering to the main theme of many majokko ("magical girl") anime.
Even Elyon, who in the version you have read is the princess of Meridian, was a very different character in our story. She was the Guardian of the Metaworld and had powers related to time, wild nature, and death.
She would have tried to bring the other girls to the dark side and then redeem herself: in the last issue, she would have sacrificed herself to save the lives of her friends.
In W.I.T.C.H. #2, you can perceive some traces of the original Elyon, who at a certain point addresses the girls repeating, "Come to me, come to me..." as if trying to lead them to the dark side.
I transferred her main power, the ability to "bestow" death, to the protagonist of END, Elizabeth: with this character, I have done and will do everything that I couldn't do with Elyon, who was initially supposed to have white hair like her.
Barbucci: What was actually realized was a harmless mythology, closer to fairy tales and therefore to the Disney style. There is no mention of witches anymore...
We would have focused on a more New Age aesthetic, with references to Wicca, which was very popular in those years.
After leaving W.I.T.C.H., you left Italy for France, from where you embarked on various successful projects, with Sky Doll first.
It can be said that you found your dimension and creative freedom.
Now that 20 years have passed, what is your relationship with W.I.T.C.H.?
Canepa: It's needless to say that the bond has always been very strong and still is today. It was our own creation for a long time: seeing it succeed worldwide brought joy, but also suffering because we felt disconnected from it.
Barbucci: It was a love-hate relationship, but I must say that it gave me the greatest satisfaction of my life: seeing dolls of the characters I drew being sold in supermarkets!
Some sketches made by Alessandro Barbucci at the beginning of 2021, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of W.I.T.C.H.
Canepa: After twenty years, perhaps it can be said that we have made "peace" with what happened. The hardships we endured have now drifted away with the wind, and that's how it should be.
Today, I can talk about W.I.T.C.H. with more tranquility, almost with tenderness. For many years, I didn't even want to face it. Initially, leaving Italy helped, but then W.I.T.C.H. reached France and the rest of the world. Over time, this forced me to look at it with more "serene" eyes, so to speak. If I hadn't left W.I.T.C.H., I would never have created Sky Doll and END, and perhaps I would have never become the director of a French series that, today, celebrates nearly 100 books 12 years after its creation.
Destiny, then? I believe so. Fate wanted to take something away from me to give me something else. In hindsight, I truly believe there was a magical thread in all of this... or rather, a true witch's touch!
There is a happy ending to it all: today, history reminds us that we are the true creators of W.I.T.C.H.
The readers know it, and so do industry professionals. Even Disney, in the end, acknowledged us.
Every now and then, Elisabetta, Alessandro, and I talk and, laughing, we say, "What if we got back together and remade W.I.T.C.H. in our own way?"
In any case, this remains and will always be the most important project of my life.
And to have touched so many hearts around the world... well, there's nothing more beautiful and satisfying.
So, thank you all.
I was happy to give you these five girls.
For Women's Day 2021, Barbucci drew again the famous pinup from the first issue, Halloween.
Current and Future Projects
Alessandro Barbucci
His most recent work is "Le Sorelle Grémillet" where he returns to portraying teenage girls ("it's a bit like how I would have liked to create W.I.T.C.H. back then, but it wasn't possible").
Additionally, Alessandro continues to work on "EKHÖ" and other projects.
Follow his Instagram and Facebook to stay updated!
Barbara Canepa
For over 12 years, Barbara Canepa has been the editorial director of the Metamorphose series for the French publisher Group Delcourt, with over 100 published books.
She has several projects in the works, including "MINA's Diary," where she will serve as the writer, while Isabella Mazzanti will handle the artwork and coloring. The work is a free interpretation of Stoker's Dracula, introducing a new way of conceiving vampires.
For the past two years, she has been finishing the writing of 12 volumes of a new jeunesse series, "GREENWOOD," aimed at rediscovering and respecting nature to the fullest.
Stay updated on her activities by following her on Instagram and Facebook!
#w.i.t.c.h.#interview#alessandro barbucci#barbara canepa#disney#witch#elyon escanor#will vandom#irma lair#taranee cook#cornelia hale#hay lin#end
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As someone who has recently sold her first book with 0 advance (extremely common around here and my publisher is a small indie one) reading your post about the Cait Corrain situation and having to imagine someone getting a 75k advance (!!!!!!!! I don’t even make that per year at my full time job!!!!!) for a first novel and not thinking they have hit the author jackpot is astounding to me. How is that kind of money not reassuring (apparently the usual advance for first novel with the biggest publisher around here is 1000€!)? Is the author supposed to reimburse the advance if the sales don’t match it in the USA? I know everything is bigger in the States but damn, we really live in different worlds.
Hi! Congrats on your upcoming release!
Just to clarify, indie publishers without advances do exist in the USA, as does, of course, total self-publishing, where the author puts in all the cost and earns all the money. Part of why Cait got a $75K advance is because she was published through, I believe, Del Rey, which is under Penguin Random House, a "Big 5" publisher. The Big 5 dominate the trad industry. I've seen some pretty solid authors published under Del Rey. I think screenshots indicated that she was comparing her advance to that of Danielle Jensen and Molly Chang. I'm not super familiar with Molly Chang, but Danielle is a fairly established fantasy author...? Who's presumably done well; otherwise, she wouldn't keep getting book deals.
But yeah, Cait's advance is pretty solid by USA numbers (if not pretty high). I think some numbers I read years ago indicates that the typical debut romance author may be lucky if their advance is around $5K-$10K. Cait's book was being packaged to be a more noteworthy debut. I personally think that a lot of authors have outdated or optimistic ideas about advances. Like, back in the day Stephenie Meyer got $750K for her debut. Advances used to be MUCH bigger. But a lot has changed since then. Publishers overpaid back in the day, and now they're arguably underpaying while also putting very, very little into marketing budgets.
So... what if she hadn't earned out her advance? A lot of the info I've found about this over the years is kind of older, but general wisdom is that, unless she's got some reeeeeally shady deal with a reeeeeallly shady publisher going on, she's not paying back the advance. It's basically an investment and a bet on the book. Lots of investors lose money on the businesses they invest in; but unless something is a loan, you're not paying them back. It's a loss. And it is hard for a book to earn out its advance; some numbers citing for authors that earn out are around 25%-30%. There is the cost that goes into making the book, the discount the booksellers get, etc. The sticker price on a physical book is way higher than the "take home pay". Furthermore, depending on the book, the publisher may have different expectations for how long it will take authors to earn out. AND publishers can potentially write at least some of that loss off on their taxes.
You're not expected to pay the advance back; if but if you don't earn out, it's very possible (likely in some cases, depending on your genre and publisher expectations) that a debut will be dropped by their publisher, series orders are cancelled, etc.
Plus... worth noting that advances are usually paid out in installments. Dirty little secret, there. Additionally, authors are essentially working similarly to freelancers, and are taxed in the same sense. I can attest, as a former freelancer lol... Those taxes hit HARD. So how much is the author actually getting paid, especially when you factor in cost of living, the fact that the author usually isn't actually able to devote their full time to writing, etc? Meh. But of course, a $75K advance is more than a lot of authors are getting.
And then you bring in the celebrity memoir, which, if it's for like... the BIG stars... I think Prince Harry had a $1 million advance, lol. Publishers bet big in very rare, usually celeb-based situations.
But yeah, a lot of authors don't really know this part of the game, it's super murky, not all agents are good at their jobs, etc. Plus, through semi-complicated math that I don’t fully understand, books are (allegedly) profitable for the publisher before the advance earns out. The writer just doesn’t necessarily benefit much from that.
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From Zero to Hero: Building Your First Affiliate Blog from Scratch
Alright, fellas, strap in because today we're diving deep into the world of affiliate blogging. We're talking about going from absolutely nothing to being the hero of your own online success story. It's time to build your first affiliate blog from scratch and carve out your slice of the digital pie.
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Now, onto the fun part: content creation. This is where you really get to flex your creative muscles and showcase your expertise in your chosen niche. Whether you're into fitness, finance, or fashion, there's an audience out there hungry for your knowledge. Start brainstorming topics that will resonate with your target audience and get to writing.
But hold up, bro, before you hit publish on that first blog post, there's one crucial step you can't skip: keyword research. This is how you'll ensure your content gets seen by the right people. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to identify high-volume, low-competition keywords related to your niche. Sprinkle these keywords strategically throughout your content to boost your blog's visibility in search engine results.
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Speaking of affiliate commissions, let's talk monetization. This is where the magic happens, my friends. Sign up for affiliate programs relevant to your niche and start embedding those affiliate links into your blog posts. But here's the golden rule: only promote products or services you genuinely believe in. Your audience can smell a sellout from a mile away, so stay authentic and only endorse stuff you'd actually use yourself.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "But bro, how long until I start seeing some serious cash flow?" Here's the truth, my friend: Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a successful affiliate blog. It takes time, dedication, and a whole lot of hustle to make it in this game. But if you stay consistent, keep learning, and never lose sight of your goals, you'll be well on your way to affiliate marketing glory.
So there you have it, guys. Building your first affiliate blog from scratch might seem daunting at first, but trust me when I say it's worth the grind. Follow these steps, stay true to yourself, and before you know it, you'll be the hero of your own online success story. Now get out there and start hustling!
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Gruber talks with some students for MLive! (X) Published Nov. 25, 2011
"Michael Gruber, star of Western Michigan University's 'Late Night Broadway,' shares talents and tips with students"
Article below the cut:
In a cabaret setting at the Williams Theatre, graduating seniors in the WMU theater program will present the routines they hope will get them gigs at future auditions. Then, Gruber will do a set of standards and lesser-known songs — a few touching ballads, but most of them humorous — about love: “Falling out of love, falling into love, how love confuses us, tortures us; it’s contagious, it’s something that human beings seek out.”
One can almost replace “love” in that sentence with “a job,” except jobs aren’t very contagious these days. Gruber will teach a bit about falling into a job when he coaches the seniors the week before the show.
“I’ll impart what I’ve learned over the 23 years of my career, give back something that great directors and teachers have taught me,” he said from his home in Minneapolis, Minn.
To Broadway and back
Gruber was on Broadway in the original company of “Miss Saigon,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Cats” and “A Chorus Line,” and has done regional theater around the country. He moved from New York to the Midwest and changed his career course to do more writing, teaching and smaller theater work that he finds rewarding.
“There are so many paths” to a career in performing arts, he said. “There really is no formula. A lot of it is luck, a lot of it is timing, a lot of it is your contacts. If the door is closed in one area, figure out how to be crea-tive in getting around it or finding a new way in.”
Theater has been struggling in the recession, he said. The movie industry stays strong, with its wider audience base, he said, “but I think theater, because it’s more expensive. ... We’re the first ones to get hit when the economy is bad,” he said.
“Live theater is expensive. It’s expensive to produce; ticket prices are high. On the other hand, people love to be entertained when there’s a crisis, to escape.”
His advice to graduates: “Be creative.”
While performance students spend years working on their craft, that isn’t all it takes to succeed, Gruber said.
“I think what young performers miss coming out of school is that you also have to be creative about how to market yourself, how to make contacts, how to present yourself ... all that stuff.”
Gruber believes there’s also too much focus on Broadway as the destination for stage performers.
“Life experience is what we’re looking for, because we’re looking for a long career in the art. New York is only one-half of 1 percent of the amount of work available in this country,” he said. “And it’s not always the best and most satisfying work there, either.”
Traveling for the work
Gruber has learned to occasionally reinvent himself.
“I’ve done 10 shows in New York,” he said, “but I’ve also done a lot of small theater all across the country. I just work because I love to work, so I go wherever the work is offered.”
He remembered a rewarding time at Saugatuck’s Mason Street Warehouse in the cast of “What A Glorious Feeling” in 2005. It was the debut of a new musical, and he got to discover the beauty of Lake Michigan in the summer.
“It was like a summer vacation,” he said. “We didn’t get paid very much, but the experience was so rich and fun. It pays off.”
Connections lead to more work. At Mason Street, he met the writer of the show’s book, Jay Berkow. On the faculty of WMU’s theater department, Berkow is directing “Late Night Broadway.”
Gruber is looking forward to working with WMU students.
“Their passion (rubs) off on me and give me a kick of adrenalin,” he said. “I’m excited to see what they do.”
He kept catching himself calling the students “kids,” and apologized, adding that he just turned 47.
“They’re young adults,” he corrected himself, noting they are eager to make the step from school to stage. That eagerness will make for a great evening, Gruber hopes.
“You get some young, fresh energy, and then you get an old fart,” he said, laughing.
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hey there! i dont know if you already explain it or not, but can i know the bridgerton profession/what they currently do in your bridgerton text au? maybe even for upcoming character👀? thank you for answering and i hope you have a splendid day!!!
yes of course! and i truly apologize for taking ages to answer this –
simon was a midfielder for arsenal, and a little while after he retires from the team, he goes on to coach ⚽️
daphne is a school social worker (violet is the head of a huge uk educational non-profit, and daphne initially thought she wanted to follow in those footsteps, but then realized she wanted to work in schools and be more directly involved with helping students who needed support)
kate is a florist! she owns a cozy shop along cobb street called "once and floral" and brings newton into work every day 🥰
anthony is a barrister, specializing in civil liberties & human rights cases (which is exactly what edmund did – he was a guiding force for anthony, who was in his second year of university when edmund passed. edmund was also a relatively high-profile barrister, whose work was often covered in the news, which is part of why the bridgertons are prominent enough as a family to earn mentions in whistledown)
sophie – before she met benedict again, she was waitressing and trying to save enough to go back to school. she eventually attends veterinary school, as she really loves working with animals 🐈
benedict was aimlessly working as a paralegal for several years (while quietly working on his art on the side, though without the intention of showing it to anyone else). inspired by sophie, he also eventually goes back to school so he can focus on his passion 🎨
colin worked with nat geo for a long time, starting out as a freelancer and eventually becoming a full-time photo editor for them. it often kept him out of london for most of the year, but by the time he hits 33, he's gotten bored with what he's doing, and decides he'll find something else so he can come back home
penelope is a junior copy editor at danbury publishing house! though sometimes, if you see her typing at her computer, she's not necessarily working on proofreading manuscripts 🤔
eloise is a software engineer! sometimes, though, when she's writing emails, people think she's just on github 👩💻
pippa crane is a professor of ecology and environmental science at the university of gloucestershire (she's also recently divorced from eloise's cousin, marina, with whom she shares two kids)
francesca is a music supervisor for film! (she started out relatively young, but she got a leg up because her aunt billie is also in the film industry)
michael is an actor! at the time of francesca's wedding to john, he's mostly doing theater, but his agent soon convinces him to start going out for film/tv. he does pretty well for himself, and a little after john dies from a aneurysm, he decides he's going to up and move to los angeles because it'd be better for his career (or so he says that's the reason for the move)
(john, who was very into numbers, was an accountant. he knew he could do that anywhere, and told francesca he’d go wherever she wanted to go).
hyacinth works at danbury publishing house as well, on the marketing side of things! (she's very stumped when it comes time to market a book called miss butterworth and the mad baron). she starts out working there mostly because felicity took an internship at the publishing house while they were in university together, and it was kind of an excuse for them to goof off together a few hours a week
gareth, at the time we meet him, is doing his postgraduate studies at UCL in civil engineering; he comes into danbury publishing offices every once in a while to see his grandmother (which is how he often winds up running into hyacinth)
gregory... doesn't know what he wants to do, but he works as a substitute teacher for secondary school. on the side, he also coaches miles' football team (their team name is the thunderbolts – name pitched by miles ⚡)
lucy happens to work with mary sharma (as does lucy's colleague and best friend hermione). both lucy and hermione are primary school teachers 🍎
that's it for all the main characters! in terms of side characters ~
alice and will were simon's publicist and trainer, respectively. after simon retires, will decides to move on from athletics and opens up his own bar 😎
mary is a primary school headmistress. edwina is shooting for a post doc in philosophy, and a little while after kate and anthony get married, she meets a nice girl named jyoti, who kate and mary both adore.
posy, after reconnecting with sophie, gets inspired by her stepsister and goes on to become a nurse. benedict's friend group is a bunch of people he went to uni with – henry and lucy granville have the same last name because they're adopted siblings. henry manages an art gallery, and lucy is a pottery instructor. genevieve delacroix owns a bridal store, and wetherby is a medical sales rep (which is why he's the only friend benedict couldn't necessarily go to to ask for help for sophie)
philipa, same as daphne, gets married relatively young, and is a stay-at-home mother. prudence works at a jeweler’s, felicity is into graphic design, and portia is a big name in commercial real estate!
thank you for asking, because i have this in my head but not all the details make themselves known via text message exchanges 😆 so this was nice to write out! (to the person who sent this, i'm so sorry it took me so long to sit down and do this, but if you're reading, i hope you have a splendid day as well 💖)
#bridgerton fic#ask#daphne bridgerton#simon basset#kate sharma#anthony bridgerton#sophie beckett#benedict bridgerton#penelope featherington#colin bridgerton#eloise bridgerton#francesca bridgerton#michael stirling#hyacinth bridgerton#gareth st. clair#gregory bridgerton#lucy abernathy#bridgerton family group chats
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By: John McWhorter
Published: July 4, 2023
The Supreme Court last week outlawed the use of race-based affirmative action in college admissions. That practice was understandable and even necessary 60 years ago. The question I have asked for some time was precisely how long it would be required to continue. I’d personally come to believe that preferences focused on socioeconomic factors — wealth, income, even neighborhood — would accomplish more good while requiring less straightforward unfairness.
But many good-faith people believed, and continue to believe, that it is a clear boon to society for universities to explicitly take race into account. The arguments for and against have been made often, sometimes by me, so here I’d like to do something a little bit different. As an academic who is also Black, I have seen up close, over decades, what it means to take race into account. I talked about some of these experiences in interviews and in a book I wrote in 2000, but I’ve never shared them in an article like this one. The responses I’ve seen to the Supreme Court’s decision move me to venture it.
The culture that a policy helps put into place can be as important as the policy itself. And in my lifetime, racial preferences in academia — not merely when it comes to undergraduate admissions but also moving on to grad school and job applications and teaching careers — have been not only a set of formal and informal policies but also the grounds for a culture of perceptions and assumptions.
I grew up upper-middle-class in Philadelphia in the 1980s. As early as high school, I picked up — from remarks of my mother’s, who taught at a university, as well as comments in the air at my school — that Black kids didn’t have to achieve perfect grades and test scores in order to be accepted at top colleges. As a direct result, I satisfied myself with being an A- or B+ student, pursuing my nerdy hobbies instead of seeking the academic mountaintop. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t affect my future in the way that it might for my white peers.
I have no reason to think affirmative action played much of a role in the colleges I went to, as neither was extremely selective at the time. In grad school, I was told by a mentor, a Black man, that race had been the reason I wound up in the top-20 pile of applicants in linguistics in the department where I got my Ph.D. I had minimal experience with linguistics proper, and my G.P.A. was very good but nowhere near perfect. (Those hobbies!) But I have always thought of that as racial preferences the way they should have been, merely additive around the margins. I’d done well on tests like the G.R.E., my grades in language courses were top level, and I had written a senior thesis that made it clear I had a linguistics frame of mind.
But things got different later. When I was a grad student in linguistics going on the market for jobs, I was told that I needn’t worry whether I would get bids for tenure track positions because I was Black and would therefore be in great demand. Deep down, to me, it felt I was on my way to being tokenized, which I was, especially given that my academic chops at the time did not justify my being hired for a top job at all.
I was hired straight out of my doctoral program for a tenure-track job at an Ivy League university in its august linguistics department. It became increasingly clear to me that my skin color was not just one more thing taken into account but the main reason for my hire. It surely didn’t hurt that, owing to the color of my skin, I could apparently be paid with special funds I was told the university had set aside for minority hires. But more to the point, I was vastly less qualified by any standard than the other three people who made it onto the list of finalists. Plus, I was brought on to represent a subfield within linguistics — sociolinguistics — that has never been my actual specialty. My interest then, as now, was in how languages change over time and what happens when they come together. My dissertation had made this quite clear.
At the time I was not very politicized, and I assumed that my race had merely been a background bonus to help me get hired. Only later did the reality become more apparent, when I learned just who else had been on that shortlist. (I will never forget how awkward it was when I met one of them — older than me, with more gravitas in the field — some years later. I sensed that we both knew what had happened and why.) I had been hired by white people who, quite innocently, thought they were doing the right thing by bringing a Black person onto the faculty. I bear them no malice; under the culture we were all living in, I would have done the same thing.
Around this time I gave some really good talks and some just OK ones; I always knew the difference. But I couldn’t help noticing that I would get high praise even for the mediocre ones, by white people who were clearly gratified to acknowledge a Black academic. And in the meantime, I was hopelessly undercooked for the position I had been hired for. I was not utterly clueless, but I simply didn’t know enough yet — and especially not enough to be in a position to counsel graduate students.
I needed some years of postdoctoral study. They say you don’t really know it till you teach it, and that’s largely true: Having never actually taught a class, I needed to teach some. I needed to hang around linguistics for a longer time in general. There are formative experiences key to being a real linguist that I had not yet had, such as long-term work with speakers of my language of focus, Saramaccan.
The doctoral program I had been in had gone through a phase of allowing students perhaps too much leeway in deciding which courses to take. Many students took this as an occasion to sit at the feet of their mentors and drink in what they knew. But my natural orientation has always been autodidactic, and so I basically went off into a corner and focused like a laser on one issue that particularly interested me — how creole languages form — while developing only a passing acquaintance with linguistics beyond it. With undergrads, I could coast on stage presence, but grad students know the real thing when they see it and when they don’t. I looked like a fool.
I didn’t like it. But because I am obsessive, I ultimately dedicated myself to boning up and then some. I read and read and read. I spoke closely with as many linguists as I could. I took up new interests within the field. I did intense study of my language of focus. I taught classes outside my comfort zone. That is, I became a normal academic.
But it all felt like a self-rescue operation, an effort to turn myself into a good hire after the fact. That backfilling of needed skills is a lot to ask of someone who also needs to do the forward-looking research necessary to get tenure.
Of course, not everyone endeavors this Sisyphean task, and the culture I refer to has a way of ensuring others don’t have to. There is a widespread cultural assumption in academia that Black people are valuable as much, if not more, for our sheer presence as for the rigor of what we actually do. Thus, it is unnecessary to subject us to top-level standards. This leads to things happening too often that are never written as explicit directives but are consonant with the general cultural agenda: people granted tenure with nothing approaching the publishing records of other candidates, or celebrated more for their sociopolitical orientations than for their research.
I had uncomfortable experiences on the other side of the process as well. In the 1990s, I was on some graduate admissions committees at the university where I then taught. It was apparent to me that, under the existing cultural directive to, as we have discussed, take race into account, Black and Latino applicants were expected to be much more readily accepted than others.
I recall two Black applicants we admitted who, in retrospect, puzzle me a bit. One had, like me, grown up middle-class rather than disadvantaged in any salient way. The other, also relatively well-off, had grown up in a different country, entirely separate from the Black American experience. Neither of them expressed interest in studying a race-related subject, and neither went on to do so. I had a hard time detecting how either of them would teach a meaningful lesson in diversity to their peers in the graduate program.
Perhaps all of this can be seen as collateral damage in view of a larger goal of Black people being included, acknowledged, given a chance — in academia and elsewhere. In the grand scheme of things, my feeling uncomfortable on a graduate admissions committee for a few years during the Clinton administration hardly qualifies as a national tragedy. But I will never shake the sentiment I felt on those committees, an unintended byproduct of what we could call academia’s racial preference culture: that it is somehow ungracious to expect as much of Black students — and future teachers — as we do of others.
That kind of assumption has been institutionalized within academic culture for a long time. It is, in my view, improper. It may have been a necessary compromise for a time, but it was never truly proper in terms of justice, stability or general social acceptance. Whatever impact the Supreme Court’s ruling has on college admissions, its effects on the academic culture of racial preference — which by its nature often depends less on formulas involving thousands of applicants than on individual decisions involving dozens — will take place far more slowly.
But the decision to stop taking race into account in admissions, assuming it is accompanied by other efforts to assist the truly disadvantaged, is, I believe, the right one to make.
==
The Left's bread and butter used to be the working class and poor, and advocating for greater socioeconomic equality, coupled with suspicion of big business. Now the loud, active part is being driven by upper-middle class postmodern elites who are completely disconnected from, or even arrogantly scornful of, the working class, and using stupid, pretentious language to make faith-based, evidence-free proclamations about how society functions, without any actual experience in the world.
Suggest, for example, that socioeconomic class is a much greater determining factor to upward mobility and you'll be dismissed as an "alt-right" bigot denying "systemic racism."
I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you want to help underprivileged blacks, help the underprivileged. Improve schools, teach reading the correct way, and stop telling them that they won't succeed unless they go to some high-priced, elite, snobby college, when they can do well at a local college or trade school. The middle and upper classes often succeed in school despite the education system, not because of it, and their success is frequently due to the luxury of time and resources (books, stable, dual-parent home situation) that compensates for the inadequate school system. Close that gap with the working and poor - community-based after school tutoring, reading, libraries, etc.
If your problem with this is that poor white people will benefit, then this isn't really about helping and uplifting black folk, is it?
#John McWhorter#affirmative action#racial discrimination#college admissions#university admissions#bigotry of low expectations#racial preferencing#academic corruption#corruption of education#higher education#religion is a mental illness
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I got to read La Signorina Nessuno by Giorgia Soleri and I want to share my opinion.
Three premises:
1) I really appreciate Giorgia for her activism and respect her as a person, but I honestly did not like the book so this won't be nice. I’ll put everything under the cut because I understand that someone may want to stay away from negativity.
2) As above. I appreciate and respect Giorgia as a person, don’t be a jerk and try to use this post to hate on her.
3) So why am I writing all this? First, because I didn't start this blog to censor myself. Second, because I'm honestly tired of seeing the number of followers mistaken for quality. There are so many things an influencer can do, and do well. This doesn’t mean that just because they are famous they have to do everything.
OK let's go.
From what I had the opportunity to read through Giorgia's stories I already noticed the level of her poetry was not very high, yet I still was disappointed. This book is not poetry, I’m sorry but it is cringe from start to finish, with moments that trigger an involuntary hilarity.
-Let's start from the basics, the lexicon. To say it’s elementary is to be generous. An extremely basic and repetitive language makes me think that the author simply does not read, which is a serious problem for those who want to write.
- The infamous enjeambment. Reading other people’s reviews I saw that we all noticed the same problem. Writing poetry doesn’t mean breaking the verse at random and btw it doesn’t mean use punctuation just as casually as well.
-Metaphors and mythology. Giorgia said she is ashamed of having left school and I very much respect her feelings and the courage she has to admit it, however, perhaps she would do better to leave the mythology alone since she clearly knows it on a very shallow level. Using it badly does not raise the level of her writing, it dulls it even more.
-The erotic part. It’s involuntary funny as much as it’s worrying. Why? Because it looks like she depends on Damiano in a way thad doesn't seem very healthy. Once again the metaphors are, well, not the best. There’s something about a "drill" that will stay with me for a long time ^^’ Just as, and I quote, the mucous membranes thick as Christ’s tears. I mean...
-The themes are supposed to be deep but what comes out of this book is a series of aphorisms drawn from a teenager's diary. Or from Tumblr. Some are also good as captions for overdramatic photoshopped landscapes to post on Instagram.
-Finally, here is what’s the main problem in my opinion. Publishing house and marketing. A self respecting publishing house a) would’ve given the book a very good editing and b) wouldn’t have advertised this book as it did, passing it off as the new literary miracle of the year. Really, it has created immense expectations for a product that, I’m sorry, is of very low quality.
Obviously they wanted to take advantage of Giorgia's fame, who, in turn, seems happy to ignore all the negative reviews the book is getting, keeping on sharing the positive ones. I would probably do the same, however once again this creates expectations in the audience, which multiplies the disappointment by 100.
If this book had been advertised as a product for teens, the reviews would have been far more lenient. But no, they even had to brign up Alda Merini of all people! Well, maybe I wrote all this exactly because this comparison made me lose my temper.
For those who don’t know, Alda Merini is the greatest Italian poet of the 20th century. Some time ago Giorgia herself said that somebody told her she is the new Alda Merini. Now... If this isn’t the hugest facepalm moment ever. Honestly, I’d have kept this for myself. It tastes of arrogance, but also of total lack of knowledge of Merini's work.
It’s really a comparison that humiliates the intelligence of the readers. In this, I must say, Giorgia (not her book) disappointed me. However I believe that although poetry is clearly not for her, with prose (and a real editor) she could get much better results.
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2022. My middle kid moved out on their own, sooner than I think I was ready for. My youngest kid hit the age where everything mom & dad do to try to help them only makes things worse. A lost friend went through hell in an abusive relationship, and I could only watch and help from afar (for reasons we both know are best). I got diagnosed with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. I nearly died from a constricted hernia and needed emergency surgery (again). My company of 10 years is failing, and has maybe 2-3 years left (if I'm lucky).
And yet I consider myself blessed and lucky. I managed to publish my 3rd large kickstarter gaming project. We managed to help my middle kid find affordable housing in the insane market of the Seattle area. My youngest kid, while fighting their brain's chemistry and puberty, is a good good person at heart. My lost friend has freed themselves, at great cost but they fucking did it, the baddass. My job, while it lasts, is fairly good and takes great care of me, even if the project we're making is all but dead. I have been warm and well fed, and not in a war zone all year long. And fools and villains like Musk, Trump, etc. are all seeing their chickens come home to roost.
2023, we know you'll be rough, but we can be rougher. We are born beasts of the wild, and remember the feeling of the spinning earth under our claws and the taste of time's blood in our teeth. Here we come.
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Review of Scott P. Scheper's "Antinet Zettelkasten" book
With regards to recent events surrounding Scott P. Scheper's controversial handling of the mistake in his print book and his excited emails, I thought now would be the time to publish my review of said book.
For context, I purchased the book and the four bonus products in about November 2022 and got the book myself in December 2022. I thought they were alright; spending the extra premium is an investment in my own attention, too. After reading the book and aligning it with my own principles surrounding the Zettelkasten method, I began work on my hybrid (paper and computer) slipbox, Hemera. This slipbox is particularly significant because it is focused on my education major: cognitive science.
Unfortunately, in February 2023 this year...
Apparently, Scheper, rather than simply sending a note to those who purchased his book, and clarifying the error, has decided to use the opportunity to promote not only a second edition of his book, but also a tangentially-related $40/mo. marketing newsletter. // Actual Email 59 here: https://scottscheper.com/letter/59/
...and the subsequent "apology" in Email 60...
...and the final Email 61 finally clearing up the deal with the erratum.
Ay yai yai. What a whirlwind! It was too much -- and I had thought Scott was becoming more reasonable up to and after his interviews with Nick Milo @ Linking Your Thinking and Bob Doto @ The High Pony. So I've decided to pull away from the community. I suppose my final contribution to the Antinet community rests under the next line; but for this year, I am done.
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Begin review. Four stars out of five.
My one tip: Treat it like a textbook!
Drawing from experience in marketing, copywriting, and managing a cryptocurrency business, Scott P. Scheper's first book makes a splash onto the niche Zettelkasten scene -- and himself.
This book is something of an inverse to Sonke Ahrens' "How to Take Smart Notes", which has been the unofficial canon text of digital Zettelkasten since it's English translation in 2017. That book is concise, specific, and spirals inward to the impersonal problem of taking better notes.
Meanwhile, late 2022's "Antinet Zettelkasten" is long, tangential, and spirals outward from the method to also reveal Scheper's deeper thoughts, judgements, and experiences. Even the first few introductory chapters are about him and his journey across personal knowledge management scene. It becomes clear early on, and through his tapestry of meandering trails of thought, that Scheper is trying to find his voice. And it's not just a game anymore. His audience now are people who may have not fallen to PKM's wayside, watched his videos, or read a single newsletter; and stretches across a timespan of a fringe note-taking culture (Zettelkastens in general) that could pop at any time.
So I'm not being cheeky when I say to treat it like a reference textbook. If you're after the impersonal task of developing knowledge and pumping out publications, by all means, eat this book through and throw the bones over! Each section is somewhat self-contained and you can skip sections or jump back and forth between them. Your only barrier might be the lack of an index, which I think is a hilariously ironic for a book whose method involve -- and validates -- indexing by hand. Whether this was an actual choice or an accident to be remedied in the 2nd edition, I don't know. Still: hilarious and frustrating.
But if you have the time and the care to connect with another person developing their mind, read the book all the way through. The book is it's own work of art. Is it any surprise that personal nonfiction, the nonfiction that plays with narratives and experience, resonates with us more than non-narrative nonfiction? Probably not.
End review.
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If you would like a copy of the e-book, please DM me and I will send you a link.
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Any random hot takes on EA and her musical? Literally anything you got about any aspect. I’ve become fascinated by the ins, outs and history of the industry thanks to YouTube and even though the Asylum story does nothing for me I’ve found the weird journey she’s taken to getting it made interesting to watch.
Oh I have all the hot takes on EA's musical. I've been a casual fan of EA since she played in Courtney Love's solo band and became a hard core fan right when Opheliac was re-released (2009). I mention that just so you know I know all the history when it comes to the Asylum and the musical.
I got into theatre my freshman year of high school. I started doing community theatre my junior year of high school. After I graduated from high school I kind of stopped but my sister got real into theatre and spent well over a decade as a professional actress. Like she still has her equity card. Covid was what brought things to a stop for her. I mention this because while she was never on Broadway, I know the industry. She did regional threatre, she worked on a cruise ship in Europe for two years. She has friends who are on Broadway and who have done national tours. She was in the pre-broadway engagements of "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Bonnie & Clyde."
My honest opinion, Emilie's musical will never be on Broadway or off Broadway. It's not the kind of story people come to see, the music is of a style of the Broadway of yesterday and it's a niche market. As far as I've seen she doesn't have it finished or keep making changes after changes. You need a majorly finished project to pitch to producers. She's not Andrew Lloyd Webber. Only he's special enough to earn the right to shut down his own show after lack luster reviews to make major revisions.
Emilie is also too big of a control freak for anything to happen. Some of her best work is when she has additional producers or a manager or somebody to watch her and keep her on track and hold her responsible. I remember when there was talk of the Aslym was going to be a movie musical done by the guys who did "Devil's Carnival." I had real faith in that. They also did "Repo!" and it was a huge cult hit (with Andrew Lloyd Webber's ex wife Sarah Brightman in it!). I don't know how Emilie burned her bridge with them but all of sudden she went from talking about the Asylum movie musical to no it must be on Broadway.
I remember reading that and laughing. She has like zero connections to Broadway or the musical theatre industry. She's been in NYC like 5 years now and the closest thing I saw to her make a connection was when she had a friend who was a dresser at "The Phantom of the Opera." And that wasn't even the right connection for her. She's writing a musical, she needs to connect with other writers, directors, theatre managers, you know people who can connect you to people who might be interested in putting on your work. A dresser is a good connection if you're into costumes.
Emilie doesn't have the slightest clue about how the musical theatre industry works. She just thought she could come in and tell everybody she's amazing and they'd believe her hype. She was supposed to do that workshop with IAMT and for a hot minute I thought something might happen. Then it didn't and they even removed the post from their instagram. Like IAMT is a pay to play training academy and she burned her bridge with them?!?! Or so I'm assuming. Again I think it's a control thing. Like it has to be completely her way or nothing. Which is why I believe the musical will never happen.
I don't have the link for it anymore but I remember when she announced the Asylum book was going to be be legit published. For a few days she had a link on a post to a literary agent. As a writer myself, with a 60% edited finished novel, I'm always curious about agents. So I looked up that agent. She specialized in fantasy and sci fi and historical YA. Not too long after that Emilie announced decided she was bringing the Asylum to everyone through self publishing on Amazon. I couldn't help but laugh. I was like I bet that agent and an editor wanted changes made.
I feel a bit bad for Emilie right now I must admit. I too am bipolar and I know some of her issues still stem from that. She had this great passion and idea and put all her eggs in one basket and they aren't hatching. She either can't let go because she has nothing else or she doesn't want to let go because she's afraid this is who she's been for a decade now. She doesn't seem exactly happy, she seems almost desperate. She's a talented musician and puts on an amazing live show and her book would have been great with an editor (I have the 1st edition hard cover). Whatever she's doing now is not her forte.
I know that was A LOT and had some tangents. I'll end with some photos. Me at VIP with Emilie 2009 St. Pete, VIP 2013 Orlando, VIP 2013 St. Pete
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I was wondering when you will release more of your books on Audible? I think the Son's of Destiny with many people doing the voices ( and sound affects (like M.K. Eidem' s books)) would be so great !!
That would be up to my publisher. I have zero control over that, sorry.
Voice acting work is very expensive, for many good reasons. It takes a LOT longer to read a book aloud than it does to simply read it silently with the eyes. What can take some people only a handful of hours to do with their eyes can take dozens of hours aloud.
Additionally, voice actors cannot work for hours and hours all day long, for risk of thrashing their vocal chords, ruining their livelihood. Thus while they may only work 2-4 hours in a day, they have to recompense the "lost time" by pricing that hourly wage to make up for the hours not spent acting. Plus they need to include a cushion to tide them over for the weeks it may take to recover from the devastation wrought by a sinus, throat, or chest cold, all of which affect one's vocal chords.
This is why starting prices per hour for voice actors tend to range $200+ an hour, and that's for the ones who just got finished with their training. Top quality voice actors can charge several hundred to a thousand bucks or more, especially if they "do the voices" for the various characters. (This is for audio-books. A 15 second voiceover spot for a radio ad may net only $35-ish, but they'll have spent a good 20-30 minutes in a recording studio trying to get it just right for the ad director, etc.)
On top of the voice acting, there are also the costs on the other side of the sound booth, all the editing and mixing, and then the actual production of the audiobooks including CDs (yes people still want those!) and more. Professionally made audiobooks cost a lot...and a book series has to be really popular before a publishing house will spend that much money on making audio versions, because they have to price the audiobook close to what the text book is, or people will not want to buy it. That cuts way back on just how much profit can be made, and that in turn dictates very strongly who will or won't get any created.
Even if I did all the voice acting myself (and I'm not bad at it, just not pro level), I don't have a recording space that I could use, I cannot create one in the place where I'm currently living...and I'm still not sure I could convince my publisher to go for it. Because they'd still have to cover all the expenses of turning any such recordings into a publishable production, assuming I could even produce something of that high enough quality.
TL;DR version: ...I don't think my books are anywhere near popular enough for the market to bear it, alas.
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"You know, for someone who just woke up from a 200-year nap, you're pretty easy on the eyes." - Sizzel, on the topic of... Sizzel
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Taking another off day, since I'm busy as hell, so here's some additional shots from my bunny shoot.
My attempt to steal power from the Mayor of Diamond City isn't going well. No one responded to my attempts to generate an impromptu emergency election that would allow me to oust the mayor through semi-legitimate means, so I followed up with an op-ed calling gently for rebellion. I published both of these things in the paper, and came to an awful realization.
Mayor McDonough is the only one who reads Piper's paper.
I walked around and the only article anyone talks about is the one the Mayor got up on stage and explained. I don't even think anyone read it, I think they just know what it's about from hearsay. Can they read? I mean funk, seriously no one gives a damn that I'm calling for insurrection against Diamond City authority?! I'm pretty open about how they'd be getting on the ground floor of an incredible business opportunity! No wonder everyone ignores Piper, all she talks about is reading and writing to a community of... of... what... what do any of these citizens do? Anyone but the merchants got a hobby?
New theory: literally everyone in Diamond City is a synth.
(Thoughts on the new Fallout show below the cut. I haven't seen it and also hate the plot of modern Fallouts so, uh... let's just call it high in sodium, you get me?)
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youtube
Hello! I am actually very busy.
Happy show day. I guess they moved it from a day early to two days early? I thought it was coming out in December?
I'm... trying to get excited about the show. I want to be excited about the show.
I'm...
I'm not excited about the show.
I want to care... the show is going to be well made. Amazon money? Westworld guy? Sure. Whatever. I can picture it. Great lighting. The post-processing, well blended. Sound will do that thing where it gets loud and then suddenly cuts off. Dramatic. Vault-Tec. Ghouls. Vertibirds. Power armor. Hair. Make up. Last looks. Camera. Rolling. Action. Cut.
My favorite part of what Fallout used to be was that it was a strange blend of isometric RPG with the Star-Trek approach to episodic speculative fiction, approaching real world problems through the lens of a very non-real world, and trying out approaches to complex issues of governance through that frame in a collaborative form of fiction where your actions defined your character and the world around them.
It was not to see a beautiful actor in heavy make-up with perfect hair pretend to be in a gun fight. If I wanted to see a beautiful actor in heavy make-up with perfect hair pretend to be in a gun fight, I'd just watch John Wick. Or a Star War. Or a Marvel.
I hate marketability. I hate the way in which everything has to appeal to a consumer base that has had their options for entertainment sliced away until only the Disney remains. Amazon is just nerd Disney, these days, too. I hate money. Can't wait to see Fallout cross-promoted Capital One Credit Card commercials.
But more than anything else... the writing in Fallout 4 was so bad, so without understanding of using dialogue to represent character to facilitate plot, that the entire world lost a layer of joy. We're never going to have an intelligent Deathclaw ever again: I believe, based on the general writing quality that was permitted in Fallout 4, that if they made a sentient Deathclaw it would be some big twist that it's leading a raider gang, being answered to by between one and five henchmen. Never will we have communities that look like raiders but are actually engaging with the world around them with long term objectives and goals - the way the word "raider" is used is fucked, it applies a moral justification to seeing someone and blamoing them because they had the wrong name tag on. If you met some people that you had a moral justification to un-do, it was because they began a fight with you. Misdoings were just as dire, and writing hinted at additional atrocities than we saw in the explorable maps, but you discover these things by interacting with the sprites, both in a conversation mini-game and in the primary simulational RPG layer. Sorry, but hey, get a cool raider-y FO76 skin, it's only $15. A part of me doesn't wanna see a show celebrating that.
On the other hand... it's gonna be Amazon money well constructed, and, what else am I doing with my time, I guess?
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#fallout#fallout 4#fallout mods#fallout original character#fo4#reshade#screen archery#bunny#bunny ears#youtube#virtual photography#virtual photoshoot#Youtube#fallout show#fallout tv series
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Increase Your Opportunities In Today’s Job Market By Completing a FREE Google Certification
I researched six free Google certifications that lead to an insanely high-paying job that you can take right now! Yes, that’s right! Google, one of the most powerful companies in the world, made these certifications available for anybody to be able to take them and the reason for that is these certifications cover skills and jobs that Google and other big tech companies have a ton of trouble filling.
I’m going to be going over the best ones in this post and I’m going to be talking about really important things that you need to know about each one of them. If you appreciate me doing these types of articles let me know by signing up here to catch every story when I publish.
Google Cyber Security Professional Certificate
Cyber security is one of those jobs where there is a massive amount of demand. I mean think about it. How many times have you heard about companies that got hacked? Sometimes their money is stolen, or even worse, their data gets stolen. Data is more valuable than oil or gold, and that’s why hackers try to get at it.
So there’s a massive amount of demand for this skill set. There’s not enough people who actually have the skills and that’s where this certificate comes in. It says that it’ll take about 6 months to finish it at 7 hours a week of work; however, almost all of the reports online show that it’s much quicker than this. Even if you’re just doing it part-time you can finish it in about one to 3 months.
They basically take you through a process and you go through different modules where you learn about the important aspects of cyber security and then you’re going to go ahead and build a portfolio using the modules. This portfolio is key in the technology industry, because a lot of jobs in tech, you don’t need a college degree, you don’t need previous experience, but you do have to have the skills, and the only way to prove you have the skills if you don’t have a college degree or previous experience, is to build a portfolio.
Just to name a few jobs that you might go into after you take this certificate is Junior Security Analysts that make $51,000 to $81,000 a year and Security Operations Center Operators that make $45,000 to $72,000 a year.
Some mid-level roles you might go into would be a Cyber Security Analyst that makes about $84,000 to $132,000 a year or a Cyber Security Incident Responder which makes around $67,000 to $117,000 a year.
Then in a senior level role you might make your way down the line, would be a Director of Cyber Security, making $217 to $369,000 a year. So these are some insanely high paying jobs, even at the entry level it’s still really good and there’s lots of room for growth once you get some experience and build your skill set, There’s lots of different companies that hire for these types of roles:
Attentive.com
Seamless.AI
TuCows.com
Google UX Design Professional Certificate
UX stands for user experience and this is where you would essentially design the interface that someone would see if they use a website or a software. This can actually make a massive difference in the success of a product. I mean think about it like this– have you ever used a piece of software where it was just incredibly difficult to use, you couldn’t find anything, you always had to call tech support, and it was just a huge pain.
You probably didn’t use that product for long; then on the other hand, there’s products out there that just seem so intuitive and they’re just so easy to use and you almost never have to call tech support– those are the types of products that people stick to and they continue using for years. Same thing with websites. If you’re trying to get somebody to buy a product some websites are just really nice to look at.
Don’t Waste Money on College. Do This Instead.
Colleges don’t keep up with the times. Try these Google Certificates instead.
medium.com
It’s also easy to find everything, and when you’re on the website you just feel like you’re having a good experience. Chances are with those good products and good websites they hired some really good UX Designers and that’s what you can learn how to do with this certificate. This one says it takes about 6 months to finish with about 10 hours of work per week… again. almost all of the reviews and self-reported data shows that it’s much quicker than that.
Probably something more like 1 to 3 months. Some of the career paths you might go into are going to be UX Design Intern and they make about $55 to $93,000 a year, and Digital Design Interns make about $46 to $78,000 a year. Some mid-level roles would be UI/UX Designers that make about $70 to $120,000 a year.
Then a senior level role would be a Lead UX Designer and they make about $70 to $175,000 a year. These are extremely high-paying jobs, especially considering that UX Design is actually just being an artist, right? There’s not that many high-paying artist-related jobs out there, so there’s lots of people that have had success with this certificate.
There��s many people who have left reviews and testimonials online, you can check Reddit or the YouTube comment sections of videos about these things, just to see comment after comment of people who have been able to get a job or have just had a good experience taking them,
Google Digital Marketing and e-Commerce Professional Certificate
This is another one that you can actually take for free. This one takes about 6 months with 10 hours a week of work, but again, self-reported data shows it’s much quicker than that, between 1 to 3 months. I think everybody knows what digital marketing is… basically, it’s marketing that happens online.
An example of digital marketing would be the ads that pop up in YouTube videos, another example would be the ads that pop up on Google. Yet another example would be websites and creating SEO optimized content. Another example would be creating content online. It’s called content marketing.
Some roles that you could go into would be a Social Media Coordinator that makes about $40 to $58,000 a year. Another one would be an e-Commerce Customer Service Representative that makes about $35 to $50,000 a year. Some mid-level roles would be a Digital Marketing Specialist that makes about $51 to $79,000 a year and an e-Commerce Marketing Manager that makes about $77 to $118,000 a year or an SEO Analyst that makes about $57 to $97,000 a year.
Then a senior level role would be a Director of e-Commerce, and they make about $137 to $246,000 a year. Here are some opportunities for jobs like this:
Aquent
Remote.com
Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate
This is actually one of my three favorite Google certificates and I actually saved the best three for last because I’m going to talk about my three favorites, but the first one is going to be Data Analytics. So this one again says it takes about 6 months at 10 hours a week, but self-reported data shows 1 to 3 months.
Sometimes people are even able to finish it faster than that. Data in general is just super valuable, anything that involves data, there’s lots of jobs out there for it. But you do have to have the skills, right? You’re not just going to get a job walking off the street, you have to have the skills and prove that you have the skills and the way to do that is to study online and then create a portfolio.
That’s exactly what this certificate training does for you. Some of the entry-level jobs you can get into are going to be Data Entry Analysts that make about $36 to $52,000 a year. Another one is a Data Support Analyst that makes about $35 to $53,000 a year. Some of the mid-level jobs are Data Analyst that make $66 to $103,000 a year.
Then there’s Business Intelligence Analysts that make about $80 to $115,000 a year. A more senior level role would be a Lead Data Analyst that makes up to $170,000 a year. Here are some companies that often hire for data-related roles:
Trip Advisor
Walmart
Google IT Support Professional Certificate
This was actually the one that started it all; this is the first one that came out when Google sort of partnered with Coursera and it was massively popular. Millions and millions of people have taken it and it has some amazing reviews. This is another one that says 6 months at 10 hours a week.
This one I’ve heard people getting it done in like 7 to 10 days. Some of the entry-level roles you can get into would be Help Desk Technician that makes up to $57,000 a year and Desktop Support Reps that make about $47 to $68,000 a year. Some mid-level positions would be IT Support Analysts that make about $53 to $82,000 a year and Systems Administrators that make about $80 to $120,000 a year. A senior level position would be the IT Director of Operations that makes about $175 to $278,000 a year. Here are some companies that often hire for these types of positions:
10UP
Runway
Google Project Management Professional Certificate
Again, this is one of my top three favorites. Project management is all about the planning, execution, and risk management of a project. This is where a company has some kind of new initiative, maybe a new project, or new product that they’re launching and they will put you in charge of that project.
It’s kind of like being a mini entrepreneur with training wheels because you’re going to need to know a little bit about marketing and sales and the product itself. You’re also going to need to be pretty good at leadership. You’re wearing a lot of different hats here, and depending on your personality, that might be a good thing, because you like a challenge, or it might be a bad thing because you don’t want to get stressed out.
But if it’s a good thing, this is an amazing certificate training program to take! They say it takes 6 months at 10 hours a week, but realistically, most people can get this done in 1 to 3 months. I will say with this one I am a big fan of it. Some entry level jobs you might be able to land would be Project Coordinator that make $44 to $62,000 a year and Project Manager Trainee that makes $53 to $84,000 a year.
Some mid-level positions would be Project Manager that makes $77 to $129,000 a year, Program Managers that make $83 to $140,000 a year, and Project Management Consultants that make up to $164,000 a year. A senior level role would be Head of PMO that makes about $161 to $248,000 a year.
In addition to these wonderful opportunities with Google Certifications, you can also try this really cool website called Coursera. According to their site, whether you want to start a brand-new career or advance in your existing field, Coursera Plus provides a broad array of programs in high-growth industries like data analytics, cybersecurity, and many more. So, try one of these certificates out today, and advance your career!
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Originally posted on Medium
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Hi Ange! Okay this is going to be quite long so please bear with me. This was worth the wait and right off the bat, I am smiling to myself because I immediately thought of Inventing Anna and how OC mirrors Vivian’s career - Scriberia and The Wall and the fall from grace. I also love the anticipation from when Aemond was first mentioned up to the moment she finally meets him. And forgive me for saying this but she seemed a bit caught unawares as I suppose one does when you didn’t think you’d finally get there.
Now, stepping out of the fic for a bit, words can’t capture how much I appreciate you for putting this out. This story hit close to home because I too wanted to study journalism but opted for a more practical international relations degree, which looking back, I didn’t even like. So I ended up applying for writing jobs but my lack of experience/portfolio meant no “traditional”magazine or gazette would take me on and I could only write content for a digital marketing agency.
However writing content is much different than I imagined because writing with the goal of aiming for clicks or engagement can sometimes suck the soul out of you (though, funnily enough I learned more about writing) and I wanted that journalist/writer life where I got to interview key people or go to events but mine lies in food like trying out that new fine dining restaurant with a chef imported from the US or France or going to some place to feature a fading tradition. And I almost did have an opportunity like OC to write for the big leagues; mine involved feature writing for a high society magazine but I fudged it and didn’t get the job. Still, I love writing and I’m at this point where it is a calling for me. But truthfully, I don’t know if I can call myself a writer, yet.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this story somewhat gives me a chance to live out that writer fantasy of mine. And in my head, if I get tangled in a murder mystery then I must be living the dream. So, really, you made a little girl’s dream come true and I’m excited to read how it will all unfold.
Thank for your thoughtful feedback, it's really sweet!
I can definitely see the likeness to Inventing Anna now that you point it out - Aemond will be the polar opposite of Anna (though he'd absolutely pull off the "what are you wearing? you look poor" line, hahaha)
Journalism has jaded me a little bit. I enjoy the writing element, and I enjoy chatting to musicians I admire (I am a freelance music journalist) but being told "you need to give this album a positive review, because the record label has bought x amount of advertising in this month's issue" when the album itself is total crap is really disheartening, and that's before we get into working beneath editors who clearly hate women, etc.
I've definitely found my passion with creative writing, and I hope to do it full time one day (it was my initial dream when I was younger, but I was steered towards journalism by my English teacher, as she said it was a more stable career choice).
I wish you luck in your writing career, and I look forward to reading your pieces, if ever you decide to publish them here! I'm happy to know that this story is a means for you to live vicariously.
Hope you're having a good day, and thank you for the kind message xoxo
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