#I'm just doing the audition because its a requirement
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Ooohhh no I am way too anxious for my audition tomorrow.
#Listen I know this is a very normal feeling to have#and at the end of the day it doesnt even matter because Im not pursuing singing#I'm just doing the audition because its a requirement#but god I almost wish I had gone with piano instead haha#at least thats an easier instrument to control imo#but idk I've always been told I have a great voice#I'm still super nervous#I've done stuff like this before too its just been a long time#ahhhh wish me luck#or at least wish me not breaking down or completely freaking out vibes
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I saw your tags, you have challenged me!
Scary Show AU (cw for cannibalism and murder)
Ghost is a very well-known yet still semi-anonymous Voice Actor for spooky shit. There's a huge following for him because, regardless of what role he's playing, he does a phenomenal job. He's only listed in the cast list as "S.R.Ghost"
Typically he plays the role of the creatures in this super popular show called "Cryptid Season" which follows a gang of college kids desperate for extra credit in their Biology class so they hunt cryptids as evidence/to study for their papers. He does the voice over and some of the motion capture (he's a big dude) for the monsters and such, his most famous one being "Goatman" (from the demonic Goatman's bridge in I think Texas?)
Meanwhile Soap is this animator who's starting to become really popular, and he announces a new show in the work: "Consume", where he voices one of the two lead roles. It's presented as a show about a normal, if not very lonely man, being tormented by a demonic presence in his home.
Plot twist: dude's actually a cannibalistic serial killer and ends up quickly befriending the demon. The demon helps make the man harder to track by police forces in exchange for the bones and souls of his victims.
Cast:
Soap as the killer
Ghost as the demonic entity
Gaz as a detective who's new to the case but also best friends with Soap's character
Price voices the seasoned detective who's been working this case "too damn long"
Ghost and Soap ABSOLUTELY fall in love while recording scenes together. The banter, the flirting, the sexy scenario of cutting up a corpse together; it's too much not to fall in love irl
(actually such a big brain idea but I don't know how you'd write it tbh lmao. Maybe the show itself, where the boys keep their names? Idk the original idea turned into something much greater)
took a minute to figure something out i'm ngl but i did. something
(in any case i would love to see your proper takes(s) if you'd be up to it, seeing as it's your idea!! i feel like i couldn’t do it justice)
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Just like any other actor, Ghost had to audition for the role.
His agent books it for him without consultation, knowing the project would be right up his alley—horror, monsters, no face required—and Ghost makes no argument in sending in his tape. He recognizes this process and takes no issue with it, and once out of his hands, he waits patiently for a congratulatory offer or a gentle rejection.
Just like any other movie, or show, or what have you. Consume is no different.
Supposedly. At first.
John "Soap" MacTavish is... many things. He's charming, according to most. Talented. A joy to be around. A man who wears more than several hats of a project, which certainly tells of someone trying to worm their way into the commercial industry.
He has the spirit and creativity, Ghost will allow him that. But he also doesn't know when to stop talking as soon as the important work is done.
Is Soap professional? Sure. Does Soap make sure all jobs are done with efficiency and done well? Yes, he does. Does it make him any less of a nuisance to Ghost? Absolutely not.
But Ghost would be damned if the project doesn’t find its way into his soft spots, despite its nature. He’d be damned if he doesn’t fall in love with Soap’s animations and the hard work and craft he puts into them.
Then he blinks, and the pilot is premiering. It does well (again, considering its content), and Consume is properly green-lit.
Which is when Soap proposes the idea of recording their lines in the same room. Together. Facing one another. Because banter, and chemistry, and whatever other reasons he insists upon.
Personally, Ghost wants to decline. He’s always felt somewhat awkward when recording as such with anyone, but professionally? He couldn’t really say no, could he?
And it is awkward, at first. There’s more takes than usual, and Ghost can sense Soap’s frustration, though the man never expresses it. He just plasters on a tight smile, calls for a break, and pulls Ghost aside.
Surely, surely this is where Ghost gets fired. This is where Ghost is told he’s going to be replaced, where he’s told to say goodbye to Gaz and Price and wish them luck, and move onto his next gig. This is where—
“Have I done something wrong?”
Soap’s face is so earnest. So painfully sincere.
Ghost clenches his jaw. Shakes his head.
“No, I—“ He sighs. “Just have to get used to the… face-to-face. Let’s—I’ll try again.”
Soap smiles wider, now, as he nods, something kind and warm and brilliant.
The second try goes much smoother. Ghost takes a deep breath and eases himself into scripted dialogue, into witty banter and subtle flirts like it’s any other project.
They continue to record lines as such, just the two of them, each episode at a time. At some point, Ghost worries, the line between script and show and reality gets blurred. At some point, he fears, that flirting becomes genuine.
And what would he know—the reviews only get better as that line becomes less and less clear. Natural, real-feeling dialogue, critics say. The relationship is authentic, claim viewers.
The love is actually heartfelt.
And fuck, if that doesn’t make Ghost realize a few things about himself.
About Soap.
Consume is no different, his ass. He might have to have a stern talk with his agent in the near future.
(Or not.)
#ask#john soap mactavish#simon ghost riley#ghost mw2#soap mw2#ghost x soap#ghoap#soapghost#ghostsoap#writing#alternate universe
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Unpopular Opinion:
Shango's Thoughts:
We Gotta Do Better At Getting Our Act Together
Yesterday we held a job fair at my company, where we held open interviews to walk-in candidates.
The only requirements were:
Register an account online at our website
Apply for at least one job on the site
RSVP to the invite with your contact info
Come to the event with your resume & dressed for interviews.
I was one of the hiring managers (& one of the FEW Black ones), who was conducting interviews.
The girl in the pic (that I took) with her back to the door, wearing Chewbacca the Wookie boots was upset because she wasn't getting interviews.
None of the managers (myself included) refused to interview her.
One of the HR reps tried to explain to her, that she wasn't appropriately dressed for the event.
She had the nerve to ask what was wrong with the way she was dressed, & the HR rep pointed to her shoes.
She said "my shoes look damn good"....
The rep said "I'm sure they do (🙄, that shit looked goofy as fuck), but they are not appropriate attire for this hiring event".
She got mad, talking about some "we're discriminating against her" (which wasn't true; the lady across from her was appropriately dressed, & she got 2 interviews--one from me, & one from another manager).
We finally had to ask her to leave the building. Granted, she wasn't the only one there that was no appropriately dressed, but she was the most disrespectful one.
This stuff happens all the time. If you can't follow basic instructions (especially in my prifession), then you will not get past the first steps.
Most of this comes from Negropeans that come dressed like they just rolled out of bed (alot of the other races don't do this) but most of those are younger people.
And it's not just women, it's the guys too. Wearing bright red Jordan's to an interview. These folks spend meticulous time trying to look like Ronald McDonald, & then wonder why that's the only place that will hire them.
If you can spend whatever amount of money to buy shoes that look like you are auditioning for a Rap video, then you can spend a fraction of that amount & go to TJ Maxx & buy a decent pair of interview shoes 👞 to be prepared to enter various venues & be successful in them.
It's not even rocket science. Putting together a basic wardrobe should not be difficult.
But folks have let ✌🏿urban culture✌🏿 dictate their entire existence, so they don't know how to function in other venues. They come in wearing gold teeth, bright colors, tats on their face, & shirts with obnoxious messages on them.
And its not just the aesthetics; their demeanor is terrible. The language they use, zero mannerisms, etc.
What needs to be learned, is nobody is going to accept you, because theres no rule that says nobody has to.
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on the absurdity of grief: when these objectively benign or positive things make you intensely sad
-Being enthusiastically recognized at the Drama Book Shop and asked for an autograph/selfie. She was VERY sweet and we had a lovely chat. The sadness had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with me remembering how I frequented the 40th St. location as a tiny baby actressling, poring over all the acting/auditioning books I could find, plagued by a persistent feeling of needing to "catch up." And the saddest part is knowing that even if I could have seen the future back then, I would've been like "but why did it take so long?"
-The folks at my physical therapy clinic telling me "it's rare to see a patient who's as motivated and consistent as you are, even if they have the time and the resources." Why wouldn't I be? I've spent my whole adult life remaining motivated and consistent about pursuing a career that is renowned for the rarity of its success. Of course I'm gonna be motivated and consistent about following a program that has been steadily improving my quality of life within a matter of weeks, AND which my insurance covers in full. It's extremely easy to be motivated to do things that get you immediate, progressive positive results and require no sacrifice. The sadness is because I wish I could get HALF these results from everything else I was motivated and consistent about. And I wish other people could too.
-Going into the cafe I used to take my friends to when they came to HTDIO and seeing the same lovely woman behind the counter who always gave me a discount because of how much business I brought them, and seeing her still give me the discount every time even though I'm not bringing the business.
-Looking at clothes of mine that I specifically remember wearing for certain moments in HTDIO rehearsal, even if I've also worn them ten thousand other places.
-The fact that I'm still using the same cream blush stick that Sarafina (costume designer) gave me for the Syracuse run. Makeup I had in Syracuse should not have outlasted the Broadway run. Makeup I had on Broadway should not have outlasted the Broadway run.
-The intrusive thoughts that come with seeing something in the media about some major Broadway person and then remembering that that Broadway person knows who I am. And the craziest part is, the reason they know who I am is because I am also a Broadway person. Like, I'll be minding my own business, doing the dishes or whatever, and then maybe I'll discover that the milk in my fridge spoiled because I only ever use it for baking and I haven't baked in a while, and then my theatre kid brain will be like, "The milk has gone bad, hold up just a second, why is everything in this fridge warm and tepid?" and the impulse will be to continue the lyrics, but then I remember LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA FOLLOWS ME ON INSTAGRAM NOW and the next thing I know I'm standing catatonically over my sink with the carton of spoiled milk in my hand, my executive functioning having short-circuited so intensely that I forgot that I'm supposed to pour the milk down the drain and not just stare at the open spout on the upright carton hoping the smell dissipates, and then eventually I snap out of it and get rid of the milk and the carton, but then I need to lie down, and then I feel like I have to apologize to Lin-Manuel Miranda because even though he's not physically present, and we haven't directly interacted since he came to the show, and he probably devotes maybe 0.01% of his time to thinking about what that one chick from the autism musical who showed him that Strong Bad gif might be up to right now, I just know he felt that somehow and he does not deserve to be telepathically assaulted by my weirdness like that, and the worst part is that I'm sure the embarrassment I made myself feel as a result of this made-up situation that I made up wouldn't feel nearly as pathetic if the show was still running.
Grief is weird.
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OUR SKYY 2 x BAD BUDDY x A TALE OF THOUSAND STARS – PA AMONG THE CALLBACKS
So how's everyone doing now that two of the four OS2 x BBS x ATOTS episodes have aired? 🥰 I'm treating this as a four-part miniseries because it's just easier for reference, although the fourth episode may possibly be solely an EarthMix vehicle (but I'm hoping it'll be crossover BBS x ATOTS all the way to the end 😍).
Ep.1 and much of Ep.2 were a really fun romp while Director Aof and his writers laid the groundwork for developments to come, and part of that fun was all the callbacks to the original series, lighting up the screen every time they made reference to scenes, plot points, themes and ideas in BBS and ATOTS.
These were loving gifts to loving fans, recreating some of the beloved originals' magic, while also distracting from the story-seeding going on. Some were visual callbacks, using similar onscreen vocabulary to recreate almost verbatim beloved tableaux from the original series, while others were more abstract, requiring you to think about the reference.
There are far too many to list in entirety (including some up at Pha Pun Dao after the crossover got fully going), but here's a sampling of callbacks to BBS from only OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1, that came in thick and fast one after another:
Kicking off the series with Wai, panning upwards from his shoes to his face – the same in both BBS and OS2xBBSxATOTS;
The Archi-Engine face-off at OS2xBBSxATOTS (that isn't quite what it seems) references a similar face-off at BBS Ep.1 [3I4] 7.38;
Louis crashing into Wai with news of Pran's (purported) fight with Pat (OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 3.51) is an inverted replay of Safe crashing into Pran with news of Wai in a fight, that Pran at first thinks is Louis getting into trouble (BBS Ep.1 [1I4] 2.22);
PatPran's discussion behind the red backdrop at OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 5.32 is of course a callback to their reconciliation backstage at the end of BBS Ep.8 (complete with red curtain drop);
Pat going "I signaled you to punch on the left, but you punched on the right" (OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 8.46) of course echoes his "I offered you this cheek, but you punched me on this cheek" (BBS Ep.1 [4/4] 5.14);
Pa interrupting PatPran's kiss (OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 9.45) calls out to BBS Ep.7 [2/4] 10.76 and Ep.7 [4/4] 7.50, and in turn gets called out and captioned by Pran at OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 9.51; 😂
Pat, Pran, Ink and Pa's in-room sukiyaki (OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 10.25) is callback to their hotpot in Tinidee (BBS Ep.9 [2/4] 0.17);
Ink peeling and feeding shrimp to Pa (OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 10.28) is not only a Thai BL trope semi-subverted in its appropriation for GL 🥰, but is also a callback to their hotpot semi-date at BBS Ep.8 [2/4] 0.59.
But really Ink and Pa (especially Pa) turning up with the sukiyaki at OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 9.47 was also a callout to Pa's own treatment as a character in Bad Buddy.
(above) Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars Ep.1 [1I4] 10.04
It bears repeating that Ink as a character in BBS subverted the evil ex-girlfriend trope, turning out to be a supportive bestie instead of vengeance-bent villain. Pa's character also subverted another stereotype, but a lot more subtly.
Pa's line at OS2xBBSxATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 9.47 especially ("Sukiyaki delivery!") brings us back to all the times she turned up to help her brother and the storyline along in Bad Buddy, usually by providing some help and/or delivering something. A list of examples:
Doing chores for Pat (highlighting his princeling status in the family), including delivering his laundry (Ep.1 [3I4] 2.40);
Driving Pat around in the earlier episodes (more spotlight on Princeling Pat), which then turned into a rescuer role when she and Pat saved Pran from Korn, Mo and Chang (Ep.1 [3I4] 1.49);
Delivering contact lenses (and the gift of clear vision) to Pat at Ink's photoshoot (Ep.4 [2/4] 4.02);
Delivering Pat's ranat ek mallets to him just in time for his audition as Riam (helping to clear the way on the road to PatPran's couplehood, Ep.7 [3I4] 1.38).
The extraneous character, who exists only for exposition and in service of the main couple's storyline, plagues many a BL drama (and this is a fate that falls particularly to any female supporting characters in the cast list, since they're mostly unnecessary to the romantic narrative of a BL, which is romance-driven). Director Aof certainly started off Pa's portrayal looking like she would be destined for a very similar trajectory. But as BBS unfolded, this set-up (like so many others) got rapidly turned on its head, and Pa, just like Ink, got to tell her own story too.
There's more in there than they had time to recount (e.g., Pa's refusal to help Ming in the family business, despite his recognition of her talent there) but most importantly Pa got to play Ink's love interest, iconoclastically breaking so much new ground. In 2023 GL drama is now a thing, and we have InkPa (and Director Aof) to thank for a lot of this.
Ink and Pa also saved Bad Buddy from failing the Bechdel Test, which (it must be said) isn't the best measure for how successful a show is at representing women – it's a rather low bar for that, but shamefully so many shows (especially BL ones) fail it regardless (KinnPorsche comes to mind). But I think BBS passes with flying colors, not least because Ink and Pa's characters were treated with such respect when they could so easily – especially Pa's character – have been given perfunctory template treatment, and turned into cardboard dispensables instead of the believably-rounded characters we got in the final product.
BBS draws a line under this within itself at Ep.5 [2/4] 4.42 when Pa cheekily says "Use a delivery service" with reference to Pat's new drumsticks, because she was not much more than a delivery service herself in the first five episodes, supplying information to aid the unfolding story of PatPran's relationship.
Thus, Pa calling out "Sukiyaki delivery!" in OS2xBBSxATOTS is a reminder of how she was lifted from the usual purgatory of flatly-rendered supporting characters, and given a story arc of her own. Symbolized by her glow-up at the start of BBS Ep.7, Pa was eventually unveiled to us as more than just a colorless wheel in the works, and given her own bit of spotlight as a character worthy of attention in her own right.
Just another example of Director Aof doing something quietly revolutionary within the 12 episodes of BBS! 😍
#bad buddy pa#pa jindapat#wish we knew her full name though#bad buddy#our skyy 2#our skyy 2 x bad buddy#patpran#our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars#os2 x bbs x atots
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So I've read a lot of your posts and replies about torture apologia and I wanted to ask you what you think the best way to educate people is without throwing books at their faces and how best to signal to readers that you're writing unrealistic torture.
I'm asking this as someone who is moderately educated on torture and its effects. But I do enjoy reading and writing some of the more outlandish tropes like brainwashing in over-the-top settings for a variety of reasons I'm not going to mention here because explaining that would take ages and risk my anonymity.
Because there is a way to tell people that you're writing erotica that shouldn't be used as educational material for safe sex or bdsm etiquette (because its purpose is to be fantastical and unrealistic) and while it's going to be way harder with torture since people are less educated on it, there should be a way to go about it, right?
for the record i'd prefer the torture discussion sorts of questions to go over to @dark-audit, but im too tired to copy this over rn lol
i'll say this: if you're going to knowingly perpetuate myths and/or make themes that inadvertantly justify the use of torture, a good handful of which are so accepted in public discourse and fiction, a good portion of your audience believes they're factual long before they read a single thing you've written - you better make sure you signal that that's exactly what you're doing, and systematically shut down any suggestion that treats your depiction of torture as realistic, or, yknow, thematically moral in the context of real world politics. one thing is disclaimers, another is having regular conversations with your readers about how torture actually functions, which means you're gonna have to dip your toes into reading up on the topic. this is the bare minimum for handling this sort of thing responsibly imo. the current conventions for depictions of torture are misinformation and justifications. if you want to change that status quo while sticking to harmful narratives "for a variety of reasons I'm not going to mention", you're gonna have to put some serious effort in out-of-text. apologies but you dont get the good boy points for free lol
the better option would be to maybe perhaps not indulge the myths, no matter how compelling they are to you? it requires a bit of effort but if the alternative is turning a blind eye to apologia, maybe it's worth that effort. imo torture is an interesting and cathartic thing to write about even if you stick to depictions that are in line with reality. there are so many facets to it you could dive into, i don't really see the point in engaging with war on terror/reeducation rhetoric. but maybe thats just me
#asks#torture discussions#ppl are so desperate to cling to the brainwashing. why. ask yourself why please#full disclosure i read the “reasons im not going to mention” as#“im unwilling to engage with the question of why i like this bc it makes me uncomfortable. so im going to pretend i have legit reasons”#which is uncharitable sure but yknow. id love to know your reasons then#shoot me a dm if you want. ill keep your anonymity. we can talk about it#maybe youll change my mind on how charitable i should be in convos like this. i sincerely doubt it but who knows#dms are closed rn so if you want to dm send an ask abt it and ill open nw
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About your post on what cards to get, dia, tickets etc.:
Keep playing. And don't worry if you can't max all the cards you want to immediately, the items and tickets tend to accumulate when you're not looking. :D And use your audition scout tickets for more exp tickets. And you in a Society in-game? The society shop has 10 gold exp tickets weekly (but prioritize unlocking score boosts).
I know it's difficult to skip cards you'd like to have but try to think of the ones you *really* want. At least I like just looking at the event/card timeline and planning and daydreaming, hehe. Collecting Memorial Coins is slooow but it feels so good when you're finally able to get the card you wanted. Getting event cards and skipping gacha is more cost-effective, not only because gacha is luck, but event cards take a year to arrive to Memorial Shop and gacha cards only three months until they are in general pool. That doesn't guarantee anything of course but there's a chance every time you pull at least.
I'd imagine we'd get 100 whistles for SS Finals. And having event songs boosts the points (but 5* cards start from 3.5 mil unlike regular tours). But the event requires time. Do you know its structure? It has two tour maps (21 days) which means two bonus 5*s (one for fine, one for Eden). If you pick Tori and Hiyori as bonuses, you have to grind 4.2 mil points (Eichi is at 3.5 mil and Nagisa at 4.2 mil). There is a dia calculator (it's for JP, so result dia needs to be multiplied with 10): https://s-asakoto.github.io/es-calc/music.html?lang=en
Unfortunately there's no get rich quick scheme but besides dailies, be sure to play every song on every difficulty (if you're not good on higher difficulties, you can still get something), check the song missions in Main Story (you can chip them away little by little if you don't have strong enough original teams for later ones), be sure to always at least unlock the stories when they are open to read to get the dia... and don't miss logging in on character birthdays. And there are Christmas and New Year campaigns soon which means stuff. \^o^/
If you are ever able to use little money, use it for the VIP I (5$ monthly pass) that's most worth your money and has the godly 30 max BP.
Try to stay strong for the cards you really want. Ahaha, I'm very hypocritical for saying this at this point because I like too many characters and am a collector but I'm rooting for you! HappyEle is very mean for putting fine and Eden back to back, it was the same with Tempest and Conquest! D: That's why I didn't get Conquest Hiyori but I'm only two Memorial Coins short now. (Later I've surrendered my bank account to HappyEle...)
Don't worry, it's ok to feel fomo/sad not getting your fave pngs but hey, at least there are goals to work towards.
Ahhh thank you so much for putting the effort to tell me all this. I really appreciate it!
Sometimes it's a bit frustrating when I can max all the cards I want, but I will keep playing to get more tickets. Also, I'll try to check out the society shop. It's really helpful. Thank you!
This part was a bit confusing and I'm glad you explained that to me. I'm talking about the gacha cards and all. I looked everywhere for some tips and all, but mostly people were saying I must pull for the bonus cards to be able to get 3 500 000pt. So even without pulling for the bonus cards I can still get the 5* cards, I see... I didn't know that haha.
I think yeah... HappyEle is really mean when putting fine and Eden back to back. I still don't have Tempest Wataru and Conquest Hiyori because I didn't play the game back then, the same goes for fist of Idol: Togenkyo Yuzuru and Tori... sigh... But... my goal for now is to get Bogie Time Ibara haha... I hate that I didn't play any of these events... Wish I found out about Enstars earlier... I know how it feels to get any card after saving the memorial coins, I couldn't even explain how happy I was when I got my Tempest Eichi! :D
But this time I think HappyEle went crazy... I'm talking about Getto Spectacle 5* Hiyori [I don't have him...], Sanctuary fine/5* Wataru, and now Solid Eden/5* Jun...
I always a little envied people who were able to only choose one unit or character... I love them all so much...
I don't really talk about my beloved Akatsuki or Undead coming after Eden event... I'm glad that there are no Valkyrie or Alkaloid events in the near future...
When I first heard about SS finals and that there would be four 5* cards I got scared... Also thank you for telling me the structure I didn't know much about it. Ah... 4.2 million pt is too much, but I already know I have to work hard until it will happen and save as many dias as possible for this because I'm sure it's worth it. Also, I love these cards so much and both songs are literally everything to me.
When it comes to playing the songs on each difficulty I might be only able to play the hard mode and not always... I can't play the expert mode... sigh I at least will keep playing on normal mode and hard mode. Yeah, I still have to read SS stories as I only read Secret Service and Sanctuary before, and need to reread them on Enstars. I already read Sattelite and got some dias. Thanks to those stories being longer than the other ones I can get much more dias. Ah, it also reminds me that Ibara's birthday event is coming so it means dias haha XD. I wanted to try to pull for his FS1 card, but I should ignore it and just keep saving dias. Sometimes it's really tempting not to pull on their birthdays, I also had a hard time with Shu and Kaoru not pulling for them...
Hahaha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes too many characters. Thank you for all this, it helped me a lot and I will be also rooting for you! Hope you'll also be able to get all the cards you want in the future!
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saw a post from teaboot on shoplifting and it reminded me I've kept forgetting but I've wanted to make A Statement abt that for a while;
okay look I don't care if people steal things from big retail chains, like they are using it as an excuse to raise prices but they're gonna do that anyway, and ~somehow~ they're still pulling in Record Profits, BUT.
please, when you're stealing something, please do not leave the packaging with us. don't hide it behind things on other shelves or kick it under floorstands or any of that nonsense. we (in Canada at least) are prohibited from confronting or pursuing potential shoplifters, even when we make eye contact and blatantly watch you do it! so there's no reason to leave boxes behind, even if they have security tags on them that will set the door alarm off.
however, when any employees encounter Suspected Theft we are required to report it. if I make eye contact with you while you're putting a box of granola bars in your sweater pouch, there's no proof if I turn the other way. at least not until we Take Inventory of the store, which is done only once every 6 months so by then it's not possible to track list items. if you LEAVE AN EMPTY BOX OR PACKAGING ON THE SHELF YOU ARE LEAVING EVIDENCE. I'm not able to not report physical evidence, because if I throw it in the trash my store's owner will see that and will terminate my employment.
when that physical evidence does get reported, my store's owner sits herself down in her office hours and scrubs through the security footage to find who put that there, and keeps a log of faces and names with an itemized list of the products they've stolen + their values. That list is shared between all stores from the chain in the district, and "high-value shoplifters" who take a lot in one hit (usually fragrances) have their faces, names, and addresses posted in employee lounges, which employees are required to sign off on to signify that they've read them. (this is audited. there are Consequences for failing to sign off on them)
when someone's record reaches a high enough value that its no longer Petty Theft, they send it with footage to the RCMP, who I'm assuming do something along the lines of putting out an arrest warrant
so. uh. I don't care what you do, your business is your own and those granola bars are extremely overpriced. just please don't leave packaging behind. I can't help you if you do, and a criminal record will ruin your life by things like preventing you (or at least making it extremely difficult) from ever getting a job or leaving the country.
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Hello! I think I remember that you guys do voice acting. I was wondering if you have any tips for getting into voice acting, or any tips for someone who's POC specifically who wants to go that route? My friend has been thinking about doing so, and I've been trying to help her out with it so I thought to ask
Huh, ok, so I guess for context, we do this as a hobby! We really could have turned this into paid work (not by joining the big industy, but by charging for lines in general), but figuring out prices has been very weird for us- it's different from charging for art!
I'm going to talk about voice acting at home, not on set/at a studio. We're also more of a character voice actor, s if your friend is looking to go into advertising, narration, etc, our knowledge will be limited on that! But the general idea should be very similar if not the same for some things. (Some companies and businesses or paid work in general will let your record at home, etc.)
We're going to ramble, so I'll put this under a read-more
(Also, a lot of us actually contributed to this post over the last few days, so it’s possible we repeat a few things, or our first-pronouns keep changing. Hope it still makes sense!)
Under the read-more, we’ll talk Equipment, Getting started (Auditions), and Other random advice we threw in.
Equipment
Anyway, you first want to start with your equipment. In our opinion, what matters isn't the name of what you have- but the quality of your end product. If you're recording with an iPhone for example (which is said to have one of the clearest microphones for a phone), that's fine! We knew someone who recorded his lines using his headset microphone. There's this knowledge that headset microphones have really bad quality, and the brand he has is known for being very bad in our country: CDR King, but it was VERY VERY CLEAR.. I remember in voice calls, we'd be at awe with how crisp his voice was! If you're using what you have, just make sure you take care of your equipment- what matters is how it sounds in the end. I will say though, that what's more required of you should be good headphones or earphones, so you can hear what you sound like, you should be able to pick up any mistakes or your background noise (i applicable), the fuzz, etc..
We use Garageband, since it came free with our macbook. I’ve seen a lot of professionals use Adobe Audition. These are not requirements:
Get Audacity. As a voice actor, your job isn't to clean up your lines, but if you're working without professional equipment (AND even if you DO have professional equipment, get Audacity), this really helps with Noise Removal! It's free! You can look up "how to do noise removal in audacity" and there is a lot of information on how to use this thing. For every recording, we put it through Noise Removal in audacity, unless our director specifically tells us not to (we usually ask every director when we meet a new one).
Additionally, you can record in audacity, which is once again free! It makes voice acting so much more accessible to those that can only use what they have
But if you're here to look for microphone and equipment recommendations:
We haven't tried that many Microphones; we've only been voice acting since 2014, and have only had literally 2 microphones over the 8 years! We got our first microphone in maybe 2016, though? When we started taking things seriously, and got a replacement microphone in maybe 2019, which has been our current microphone ever since. I say this, because we might not be the best perspective to suggest microphones from! Stuff's expensive, haha.
Our first microphone was an AT2020 USB by Audio Technica.
In our opinion, it's a good starter microphone. It does it's job, but it's most for talking in our opinion. If you need to sing or scream, it might not be the best, but it did serve us alright. It was a USB microphone, which will not be as good as an XLR. We replaced it because its quality started to degrade (it couldn't handle us screaming). But, Like I said, if you take care of your equipment, everything can last you a long time. We know a fellow voice actor who owns an AT2020 USB right now, and his audio is crisp :-)
Our second microphone, our current one, is a B-2 Pro by Behringer!
We finally got a mic stand so if we start slapping our desk, it doesn't absorb our shock hahaha. The quality is much better, and it can handle us screaming and shouting without the audio clipping. It came with a pop filter that hugged the microphone, and we could switch between different microphone modes! For solo voice acting, you just need it set to taking in audio only from the front side.
Also, when looking for your microphone, I highly suggest doing some personal researches on what ranges microphones can pick up. Some microphones can not handle screaming, while others can. Some microphones are only for talking, some can include singing, some will better pick up lower registers, some can pick up higher voice betters, etc. It’s complicated, but it’s something we looked up because microphones are expensive. And we wanted to make it worth it!
The best microphones will always be XLR's, which means you'll need an audio mixer so you can actually plug it into your computer!
I have nothing to add here, finding the right audio mixer for you depends on your preferences: Do you want every dial possible, so you can adjust the different frequencies in real life and in real time, or are you alright with handling all that in post production (Audacity, garageband, etc.)? With that in mind, do you want a small mixer instead? That will take up less space, and is portable. The only thing you need to worry about is making sure it has a USB output so you can actually plug it into your computer.
The first and only mixer we've ever owned is currently a XENYX Q802 USB. It has a bunch of dials and allows us for more than one XLR plugged in- which we don't need hahaha. It does its job! We just have to replace our microphone wire because you can hear its age now.
Before the pandemic, we were able to try a friend's audio mixer, because we recorded singing for him, and his audio mixer made our recordings so CLEAR without noise removal, but we were using the same microphone. IT WAS CRAZY. It was a Focusrite Scarlet (If you forget the name, searching "scarlet audio mixer" helps. It's a very small thing, and we know two people who own it! Very worth it.
Stepping In To Voice Acting (Auditions)
Like with any acting gig- go to auditions! This may be physical, or online. On Youtube, Twitter, and Tumblr, searching "casting call" and "auditions", then filtering by most recent, should help you! If you like certain medias, you can also type in the name in the search bar. For a huge majority of our voice acting ‘career’. We found casting calls via Youtube.
Otherwise, I highly recommend Casting Call Club, and joining discord servers surrounding casting calls and voice acting :-) For a long time now, we’ve been using CCC and Youtube to look for casting calls, but with Discord now existing, there’s plenty of servers out there. And just the other day, we found a casting call on tumblr!
Other Stuff (We throw random advice)
After that, the rest is just taking care of your responsibilities as a voice actor. Be on time, and respond to messages!
Unfortunately, we can’t give advice on how to price your work, we don’t have enough experience on that. but as usual, don’t go below minimum wage unless you’re totally fine with that. This is a service work, so just like how physical actors will have varied prices, it depends on your reputation and experience.
Editing your audio is literally not supposed to be your priority, unless you want to do that and it’s something you’d prefer than have someone else edit. If anything, the most I would suggest any voice actor do, is noise removal; But you shouldn’t be adding your own reverbs and echo’s unless, once again, you’re alright with that. I say this, because a voice actor’s job is to come in with your lines, give good takes, and leave. Just because you’re able to record at home, doesn’t mean you should be doing literally all the other work for every single project. That’s your director’s problem, unless you offer it
Don’t record more than 3-5 takes per line or paragraph. It will give the editor a headache, and it’s useless if all 5 takes will sound the same, anyway. What we do, is that after we finish recording a whole session, we go to audacity for noise removal. While we do that, we also listen through the whole recording to remove any useless takes to keep things quick and precise. this is Extra work, but a personal choice so we can look more professional and to-the-point.
If you need to scream for the line, then scream! Whisper screaming does nothing. Voice acting is not just saying the lines just because; you still have to be in character.
It’s ok if you’re not friends with the director or other cast members. It’s never an obligation for you to hang out in the cast servers. if you feel like you’re being forced to participate in a project server, that’s personally a red flag. You are allowed to say no to roles or events, this is especially if you are doing this as a hobby, or for free.
Voice acting needs you to be unafraid to be silly and goofy. Even if you’re introverted outside of the booth, you need to be able to show as much emotion with your voice when called for it! Allowing yourself to let loose means you can act for almost any role.
Speaking of the above, find out what you can do, and run with it. While we do original voices for characters of original works or creations, we actually started out with doing impressions of MLP Characters. To shorten the story, we’ve always wanted to play Fluttershy roles growing up, but the Fluttershy role is honestly oversaturated with voice actors who aren’t always the most accurate. Turns out, we’re extremely good at Twilight Sparkle, but originally never wanted to voice her. Thing is, No one ever voices Twilight Sparkle, it’s surprisingly in-demand since no one can do her much. Obabscribbler described us recently as one of the best Twilights out there. Even right up there with IMShadow :-). If you find your niche, it’s ok to run with it, even if you never originally planned to do that. Maybe something you never liked originally doing, was something plenty of other people of needed.
But if you feel stuck, practicing outside of your comfort zone will always be the best recommendation.
Lastly, take care of your voice! If you feel a sore throat coming on or a cold, immediately get as much rest. Your voice box is your tool, and you will be out of commission literally until you fully recover.
Also, I just realized that we didn’t include any advice for POC.. We’re Asian (Filipino), and I unfortunately don’t have a lot to add. I suppose this is because as a voice actor, you’re behind a curtain so no one will see you or your skin and features. I will say though- you can make it as a voice actor no matter who you are or what you look. As long as you’re a decent person, you can go anywhere and do anything. What matters, as a voice actor, is your skill. I say this as someone who voice acts at home, and does not go to physical auditions where people can see my face.
Your luck may especially come from those who are specifically looking for voice actors of color. If you want, looking for characters that have your ethnicity or accent might be something you’d be interested in! We personally just go after characters we want to voice, and it’s just a bonus if our ethnicity and background might match the character :-) (See: we voice a lot of non-humans haha). After all, you are supposed to be the character, unless the character was specifically molded after you. The different voice acting communities we’ve been in have been extremely diverse! The world is truly your oyster
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Saturday 23 November 2013
interview: Anthony Head
Okay, Buffy fans - how many of you can name the American telefantasy series that Anthony Head starred in before he was Giles? It was a short-lived thing called VR.5, starring Lori Singer, and it was the subject of this phone interview on 4th October 1995 (by which time it had already been cancelled). A short version of this ran in SFX but the full version has never been published. (NB. At this time Buffy the Vampire Slayer was just a 1992 movie starring Kristy Swanson so there’s no mention of it here. Sorry.)
Was it planned in advance that you would come in on episode four of VR.5, or was it something that was decided during production?
"No, I think it was basically that, after the pilot, they realised that the professor character was great up to a point. It helped establish (a) that she's vulnerable, (b) that what she's doing is very dangerous. But there was very little antagonism between them, and once they had established that they were both coming from the same place, there needed to be another character introduced who would stir things up a bit. It was planned after the pilot. The pilot set up these basic characters and from there on in, it transpired that you need to go somewhere else. For the theories to have a stronger line and for the committee to be more imposing.”
Did you have to audition for this?
“Oh yes."
What did they tell you about the role?
"Very little. There were keeping it extremely hush-hush. Then on my second reading - my first call-back - they started to explain roughly what it was about. The general description of the characters was that he is 'more Armani than Brooks Brothers' and he's a bit like a Svengali figure. You can't work out whether he's taking care of her or usurping her."
Have they told you stuff about the character that they haven't revealed to the audience?
"Oh, yes. Well, it gradually becomes revealed as the series progresses. You find out why he is such a strange, guarded chap and what dark secrets are locked in his past. They did say at the interview that initially he gives very little away, and it's exasperating because of that. Eventually you do start to discover that he does have dark secrets. We find out what makes him tick. It's a very interesting part. It's not your ordinary run-of-the-mill series, and it's not your ordinary run-of-the-mill part. In terms of American episodic TV it was very different from anything else I'd ever seen or been up for."
Was the series doing quite well when it was dropped?
"It was doing extremely well. It was very controversial, it was extremely well critically received. There are still discussions about its future - it's by no means dead - and in fact I'm going out there next week for negotiations. It's something that has developed an enormous cult audience. So much so that people have gone to Canada to get pirate copies of the shows that didn't get shown on Fox."
How many episodes did they make altogether?
"Altogether we made 13, which will all be shown on Sky, but they only showed ten on Fox because it was a mid-season replacement. We had extremely good viewing figures but they were up and down, they were all over the place. It wasn't obvious; one week we'd be up there, the next week we'd be down. So the overall viewing figures were not stunning, but the general response was brilliant. You had TV critics in the New York Times praising it hugely. It was all very good. But I wasn't expecting it to be received like any other American TV programme. It requires more work than they are normally used to. The audience has got to work quite hard to suss out who's doing what to whom."
Did you do any of the sequences in VR?
"Couple of times, yes."
Was that an unusual filming experience?
"Yes. One of the things they were very specific about was that they wanted to do most of the effects on camera, rather than relying on a lot of post-production. So for instance there's a court scene that we did that was shot in the hotel where Bobby Kennedy was shot. We did it in this enormous lounge, a bizarre courtroom setting. All the uprights supporting the balustrade were perspex pillars, so when you shine light through it, it's the most beautiful, extraordinary effect."
What's Lori Singer like to work with?
"She's very, very good indeed. The thing that I think she's exceptional at - and that I don't think your run-of-the-mill Hollywood actress would have been able to cope with - was the transition that she goes through from her 'normal life' persona, which is a bit geeky, very shy, very reticent, to this stunning charismatic beauty that she becomes in virtual reality. This is why she enjoys going into virtual reality, she can't keep away from it because she suddenly becomes incandescent. She's very good. It's nice to be able to talk through dialogue and work out things that aren't working and be able to bounce ideas around. She's very up there for ideas and things. It was very interesting, very good."
Whilst it's a very interesting show, the basic premise of VR.5 is complete hokum. What was the feeling towards the scientific aspects of the show on the production?
"Hokum inasmuch as you can't take someone into a virtual reality set-up on the telephone, you mean?"
Yes, that's this big leap of believability, that's not really what virtual reality is. It's a nice idea, but there's a lot of technobabble in the series.
"I think there were certain rules that they set up within the boundaries of what they'd elected to generate. There was always a key that she would touch to get out. The virtual reality set-up to which she would go would always be something set up by herself on the keyboard. it wasn't just something that she leapt into and out of like a time machine. At the same time, it's not that far removed from possibility. If you think what people would have thought about virtual reality ten years ago, in terms of commercial uses, and people are now using virtual reality to walk into buildings that are just on a piece of paper. So (a) I don't think it's going to be long before virtual reality using all five senses is attainable, but (b) I also don't think it's that far removed from the possibility that you will be able to access people's subconscious thoughts. It's all feasible, that's as far as it goes. No, it's not available in the shops, but it's not that far removed from possibility. It has to be an extrapolation, it has to be what happens next, because we've got this far and we all know about that. You can't really make TV programmes about that because we're already there. What we do want to make programmes about are the uses of VR and how it shapes our lives from the next generation on. I think in terms of those extrapolations, it's quite an interesting hypothesis."
Does it bother you that you are still 'Anthony Head, that bloke from the coffee ads'?
"No. Not remotely, it's been very good to me. Why should I deny it? I don't get people ribbing me and giving me a hard time about it. I get people smiling and saying hello. It was a good thing to have done. It had a good vibe about it, it was well shot, it was intelligently written, as much as you can in an advert. Humorous, witty, romantic, it was just like doing quite a good little mini-series every six months for forty seconds."
How many did you do?
"We did twelve here, and I think we're on number twelve there, and we've just shot two more."
So the American ones are shot separately?
"Oh yes. The story has gone on, and has changed. They've taken a different line. But whatever you do that achieves some sort of fame or notoriety, you are then going to be known for that. Trevor Eve - Sharon's husband - is still known for Shoestring, and he's done a lot of extremely interesting things since then. He will always be 'Oh yeah! Shoestring!' but that's not a big deal. The bottom line is that Gold Blend is something I'm proud of. It had an effect on doing TV and film here for a while, but then it opened up a market in America so I was able to go over there. It also made me box-office over here for theatre, so I was able to do lots of theatre that I might not otherwise have done. Life deals its cards, and it's the way you deal with them, or the way you learn from them, that makes it interesting or exceedingly boring."
You were Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. That's tremendous fun, isn't it?
"Wonderful, wonderful. I did it four or five years ago at the Piccadilly, and I had such a good time. They've asked me a few times if I'd do it again, but it always meant touring. This time they said, 'Do you want to do six weeks in the West End and I said, 'Yes!' Because he's wonderfully wicked and very dark, and a great little spirit to play. He's fab, just fab. Where else do you get that much vibe off the audience?"
Were you aware of the amount of audience participation?
"When I first did it? Well, they told me about it, but you're never quite prepared for it. The first Friday night that you do is like: 'Jesus!' But then when you get it right, you get incredible power off them. Not so much at the Duke of York, but at the Piccadilly, which is a fifteen hundred seater. To be able to stop somebody dead with just a look, because you couldn't always put them down verbally, otherwise the play would never get on. But you could just flash somebody a look in the back of the circle and they'd shut up. It was great. Great power. My own little virtual reality set-up."
Do you prefer doing stage work or TV work?
"It isn't a question of preferences. They're so different, and there are so many different excitements in both of them, that you can't compare. I've been very lucky to flip about between one and the other, and musicals as well. They're another thing again, not like doing a straight play. When I've wanted to sing somebody's said, 'Would you like to do Rocky Horror for six weeks?' It's like: 'Whoa! Yeah!' Then I think, 'I've done some theatre, I want to do a bit of film,' and suddenly something crops up. The more you put into life, the more you learn from life."
You were in an episode of Highlander: The Series. What did you play in that?
"I was about 38 or so at the time; I had to play it older than myself because I had a 24-year-old son in it. I played an American ambassador whose son has raped a local girl, whose father just happens to be an immortal. And so the guy lays siege to my chateau, and old Highlander turns up and helps me out. It was a good little episode, one of those at the end of the series when they have to stay in one set because of they've used their budget up. So you've got to have a reason to stay in one place, and so it happened to be a chateau surrounded by fog. It was a very good episode actually."
Did the guy kill you at the end?
"That was the only sad thing. I got shot with a semi-automatic weapon with bullet-holes across my chest. They cut to me croaking on the settee, and people saying 'We must get him to hospital...' In real life, you shoot someone with a semi-automatic weapon across the chest and they don't make it to the settee. Unfortunately this is what we teach our children happens. I don't know; I'm very confused about the argument about TV violence. I think it does have an effect on children. Depends how much you let them watch I guess."
What's this new thing you've made for the BBC, The Ghostbusters of East Finchley?
"It's a series starring Jan Francis, Bill Paterson, Ray Winstone, Joe Melia, it's got a whole list of people in it. It's written by Tony Grant, and it's about 'ghosts' who are people who don't really exist in order to avoid paying taxes. Bill Paterson plays a tax inspector. I'm part of the sub-plot. Ray Winstone has some odd deals going on the side, and I play this sort of East End wide-boy who sells cars to Ray Winstone in Spain. I come back to pick up some cars and waltz into their life. It's beautifully written, very funny.”
website: www.anthonyhead.org
interview originally posted 3rd December 2005
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I saw The Matrix for the first time today and holy FUCK i get it now.
Look, I knew the plot and all and I understood was the movie was about but I thought perhaps it would be overrated upon viewing like a lot of movies can be yknow. But I can 100% see why it made such a splash in the sci-fi world and its influence on future movies. The helicopter crash alone... I cried out, it's some of the coolest shit I've ever seen. I generally liked the entire helicopter sequence because the visual of the bullets hitting water in those clean rows and the water pouring from the windows was just so tasty.
(On a side note i read trivia and a lot of them were about who auditioned or were considered for different parts and normally I don't care about that but apparently the Wachowski's first choice for Neo was Brandon Lee and that... that hit, man. Keanu Reeves did really really amazing but Brandon Lee would've been so right for the part I can see it so clearly, not to mention he already had some martial arts training under his belt so not only would he have fit aesthetically but he had the skills to fit the role oh my god)
Anyway I think I'm gonna try reading the required reading for the cast and crew because the philosophy and such behind it all is really interesting to me. No offense to Neo and the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar but I think I would've taken to being the one with much more ease. Bullets in the matrix aren't real and that's all there is to it. If you can abstract enough to not have to obey gravity and physics I don't see why you can't just decide bullets aren't all they're cracked up to be either. On the other hand I do have some trouble coming to grips with the goal of freeing humanity into a world with no sunlight or infrastructure to support it any longer outside of what there is in Zion, and from what I gather Zion certainly can't support billions all at once- Not to mention in the long term and in regards to reversing the damage on the surface. I'll be watching the sequels of course but as it stands it's sort of a double edged sword to free people of the dreamland that uses them for power but is safe in that it keeps them assuredly alive and it's all they've ever known vs. removing them from that false life to a world that's completely inhospitable to them but offers a freedom they've never had the chance to know.
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Hi this is a long ass vent post about random bullshit. Dont have to read if ya dont wanna. Have a nice day <3
hi there is so much shit that I wanna do with my life but ADD/ADHD/whatever the fuck I have is fucking me over big time cuz even if I want to put in the work to learn something or make a big step towards a goal my brain just doesnt fucking let me
I wanna learn piano. I wanna learn guitar. I wanna learn to sing. I can't sit down and teach myself. I lose focus way too fuckin fast, and go off to do something else. Any time I get a decent practice routine going, it falls apart within a week or two at best. On top of that, I can't even sit down and find myself a private teacher, cuz every time I sit down and start searching for one, I get overwhelmed, and brain takes me elsewhere, and nothing ever happens.
I have a big audition tomorrow, supposedly, but Im thinking now that I might not be able to do it. Cuz
A: I'm not prepared. I need 1 contemporary monologue, 1 classical (Preferably shakespeare) monologue, and 16 bars from any broadway musical. I have the contemporary monologue, but I don't have a shakespeare monologue ready. On top of that, I think I might have a song, but its definitely not perfect due to my complete lack of training, and it's count structure is weird to the point that 16 bars sounds like a musical phrase, plus a tiny bit of the next. And its weirding me out, cuz I don't know if that would weird out the judges or whatever the fuck they're called.
B: They ask for some info on the paper. They want a summary of my previous theatrical experience (Which is a grand total of 0 for me) and three references who are familiar with my achievements. I don't want to put somebody's name down without acting first, I think that would be extremely disrespectful, and I don't want to leave a whole-ass section blank. Maybe things from high school that got cut off because of covid could count for the summary part, but I doubt it.
C: I haven't told my fucking parents that its tomorrow! and I don't know what to do about that! If I mention it now, they're gonna get on me for not being prepared! If I don't mention it now, they're gonna get on me for not being prepared! If I do either of these, and then don't go audition, they're gonna get on me for fucking up my college plan! which they're paying for! I'm a lucky enough motherfucker that they've had a decent enough income to be able to put away money each year to give me a college fund! I'm gonna graduate debt free, more than likely! I'm a lucky motherfucker and I'm throwin shit out the window! They're not exactly the type to get like. really pissed at me, they won't yell, but goddamn that conversation isnt going to be fun!!!!
D: MY OWN ANXIETIES ABOUT MY FUTURE! This SSA program is gonna fucking eat up time like nobody's fucking business. If I remember right, I'm required by the program to audition for every major production being put on at the college, and if I'm cast, I am required to take part (barring unfortunate circumstances.) I don't even really want to do stage acting that much! I wanna be a screen and voice actor! And even then, the industry sounds more and more like hell every fucking day! It sounds like a huge-ass time sink for an ultra competitive market. If I want to have a chance of making a living, let alone making it "big," I have to sacrifice my literal fucking everything; time, hobbies, friends, yadda fucking yadda. And that fucking terrifies me! And thats. That shit, I guess. Theres more underlying meaning that I don't know how to put into words, and I'm sure theres a ton of shit that I didn't properly express, but thats the main chunk of shit.
I want to audition for Hololive/Holostars EN. Weird pivot on this vent post, I know, but whatever. its on my mind. Mind you, I have absolutely 0 streaming experience and next to 0 content creation experience. My brain tells me that theres no way in hell that I'd even make it past the first round of auditions. I'm missing 80% of their "not required, but heavily encouraged :)" requirements. But god dammit something in my heart and something in my gut says that I have a chance. That I could pull it off. That I could do well. I have some decent improv chops. I've done roleplay in VrChat. I can play and maintain a character. God dammit, I was fucking PEPSIMAN in VrChat for over a year and a half, and I maintained a constant bit and personality that whole time, with evolving lore and some sense of coherency. And I was entertaining! I interacted with random strangers in The Great Pug and 7 times out of 10 they thought I was funny! Interesting! Whatever the fuck! Nowadays, I run around as a clown! I run around as Kefka! And people love me! They think I'm funny! I routinely make a fool out of myself in public! I goof around, tell jokes, dance on stage! I love being an entertainer! I made some of the best friends I've ever known because I was Pepsiman! and you know what! Those friends say that they think I could pull it off too! And I don't think they're just saying it to be supportive! And I'm sure you're thinking "Why dont you just stream independently?" I know my style. How I entertain. Im at my best when I'm bouncing off people. Spectators. Random motherfuckers in The Pug. I feel like my big "thing" streaming would more than likely be chat interaction. And you know what streamers never have at the start? An active chatroom. I can't bounce off a chat if they aint there. On top of that, streaming to like. 3 people tops, two of whom are probably just supportive friends, for months on end? I can't do it. That shit would kill me. Maybe its bad that I'm motivated by the numbers, but I know for a fact that doing it to NOBODY just wouldn't work with my brain. I'd end up quitting. Holostars would give me that push, throw me into the deep end, throw thousands of random people at me. I know its not a good thing, but I need that head start. Otherwise it just won't work. And then what if I do get in? I floated auditioning by my mother, and she seemed to think it was just something like a "side gig." Something to do on the side while I got a real job or some shit. As far as I can tell, being a holostar vtuber is a full time job. Shit aint just playin viddy games for a few hours a day, theres background shit ya gotta do. preparation. Many, if not all of the boys, do music too. They do whatever the fuck a "voice pack" is. If I were to make it, thats a huge-ass life change. That'd be my JOB. At that point, do I drop out of college to focus on it? Do I do both and risk burning myself out? On top of that, what if I do get into the SSA program, requiring me to audition and take part in productions? Then I'm ultra-fucked on time. It'd be a huge balancing act of scheduling and bullshit with no time to myself.
Hello. This was. long as fuck. And rambly. Basically just a dump of all my thoughts of my future right now. Dont know how to feel about that. If you read all this shit, thanks, I guess, ya didn't really have to do that. I'm kinda just throwing this out into the aether for no reason at this point. Whatever happens happens. Have a nice day
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Has this become my live journal? yep.
here's where id do a readmore if i wasnt on mobile
Tuesday I filed my wcb appeal, my caseworker based her decision on the job site analysis the company filed and said that based on that my tasks should not be repetitive enough to cause injury or stop me from working, my PT said that's insane and he's never heard of that bc even wcb knows they're inaccurate. i asked for a copy.
it says we rotate tasks *no I do the same two things sandwiches/catering or cutting cheese, both tasks are the same motion
never lift over 40lbs *a wheel of parm weights 70-110lbs, a box of chickens weighs 50lbs
rarely reach over our heads *the prepack meat i stock 2-3x a shift is stored on the top shelf, even with the step stool the lowest box is still at almost full arm extension
also that I am not 'bending over tables' *well I'm 5'3" and all my work spaces are waist height so???
like that's insane she straight up said I'm lying because some handbook from 20 years ago was like 'this is the ideal working condition' and bc in 3 years I hadn't gone to the doctor for right shoulder pain until the day I WENT TO THE ER??? retail is literally hell. Like I have arthritis in my hands and knees, this job destroyed one of my heels, I have TOS in my left shoulder, and [probably] endometriosis, my right shoulder aching from use was not a priority pain until it genuinely took me out and i still waited 3 fucking weeks. like they are withholding 3000$ bc I'm bad at going to the doctor in a province where there are actually no doctors? like i cannot even see my GP in person he's on leave and still has to take phobe appts bc no one can cover his patients but sure
the arts and crafts instructor job is moving forward slowly, I'll file my background check info tomorrow, they called my refrences friday, once my background check passes they'll set up first aid, I'm going to flesh out my lesson plan with middle schoolers in mind. And mention the possibility of running a weekly drop in crochet clinic.
Submitted my application for Music Arts friday, waiting for my highschool to get back to me about sending my transcript directly to NSCC so I dont have to figure out dropping them off in person, and I'm starting to try to figure out what instrument that I own to take lessons in bc independently taking instrument lessons is a requirement, really its piano or guitar.
guitar would be good bc there's only so much i can teach myself from scratch but I already have 6 years of piano that is muscle memory somewhere i yall know how i like being good at things
my audition prep for the application process is going well though, I just have to get that far and I'm a little confident I'll get through. Ive never felt as confident about a choice as this, I've only made it this far once before and that was writing in highschool when I applied to UMPI and even then that was a thing to do so I had a fallback for music.
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hi, i saw a post of yours that had some things about vpn and tor, and if it doesn't trouble you too much, i would like to ask which vpns are actually trustworthy? thank you!
In general it depends on what your "threat model" is, but I'm pretty fucking sure I know why that particular post went viral on June 24, 2022, and based on that I am going to make some educated guesses about what you want to be protected against when you use a VPN and say:
None of them.
Seriously, none of them.
No matter what the VPN operator claims on its website, no matter how trustworthy the organization that operates it is, and no matter how thoroughly audited it has been by trustworthy third parties, VPNs cannot be trusted.
Why?
A VPN operator always has the technical ability to spy on you in great detail. They know who you are and they can, if they choose to, observe every single network packet coming out of your computer. Because not everything gets encrypted even if you're communicating over an encrypted protocol (as discussed in the post you're referring to), this gives them more than enough information to tell if you are, hypothetically speaking, using the VPN to try to make plans in order to do something that is illegal where you live but legal just the other side of a nearby border.
They may say that they do not spy on you and they do not cooperate with law enforcement, but if law enforcement is determined enough, they're going to cooperate. If the corporation's options are "enable spy mode on our servers" or "the CEO goes to jail indefinitely for contempt of court", the spy mode is going to get turned on, and the website is going to continue to claim that it's off.
I've seen people get really, really mad about the part of ProtonVPN's terms of service where they say "we will cooperate with law enforcement as required by the laws of Switzerland" but that's actually them being more honest about this than most VPNs. Any corporation that claims they won't obey the laws of each sovereign state where they operate (to the precise extent that their lawyers inform them they must, and no further) is lying. And most sovereign states subscribe to treaties that require local law enforcement to execute search warrants issued by foreign law enforcement, so ... it doesn't actually matter that ProtonVPN is headquartered in Switzerland.
If you need protection against any organization that can put legal pressure on a VPN operator, VPNs will not give you that protection.
(Tor node operators don't have the technical ability to spy on you; Tor may be what you want, instead, particularly in combination with TAILS, but using Tor insufficiently cautiously can leave you worse off than if you hadn't used anything. In particular, unless you make a habit of using Tor every day at the same time, from the same network location, for a couple of hours, then the fact that you used Tor at all may be sufficient to get you in trouble.)
(My personal recommendation for emergency one-time searches for stuff that could get you in trouble is to use a shared computer at the local public library, because libraries have a privileged legal status: they can refuse to turn over computer activity logs to law enforcement. I hope that isn't the next thing the fash go after.)
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God there's so much to fucking unpack here and I don't mean Fonda's thumb or jensen's ass.
This covers a lot. From people forgetting this is The Boys and not Supernatural (whether complaining if his interviews mention Cas, or saying they basically just wish DEAN was this gay so this gay doesn't count cuz it's not Dean, because HOLY FUCK some of yall have lost the FUCKING plot.)
I feel like I should have to pay admission to watch the spectacle of mental gymnastics people who built the "phobic jensen didn't want destiel being sexy" narrative from their own headspace cartwheeling past him getting horny to play SB bc of a bi sex scene. Yall. Pls.
The overwhelming fucking cognitive dissonance I've seen in some long rants trying to superglue that perception of theirs back into almost holding up is wild. Why talk mostly about SB AND NOT CAS?? are YOU GUYS OK? ITS INTERVIEWS FOCUSED ON THE BOYS.
had to read, one tweet to the next, "I understand jensen is a professional that sticks to the script", you know, for his Boys character, for the Boys, with a few head nods to other topics. But then bitchmoan he doesn't spend time waxing deeply poetic about Cas. Fuckin. R U OK.
But that's just the Cas shit. It's the ones spraying homophobia, whether external or internal, at openly gay, outright visual content that is bound so tightly to the character's concept they made it the audition script.
This entire fucking conversation is whackadoo. This is goddamn television. I promise you, nobody is out here illustrating the experimental queer sexual journey of a likely one season character as a fucking SEXUAL EXPLORATION PLOT in a goddamn action scifi thriller genre about a MYTHOS BASED VILLAIN. Things are put there for a FUCKING REASON you homophobic numpties.
The cartwheels out here are gross. Yall saying shit about "group sex/experimenting doesn't make someone queer" no shit? But this isn't a person. This is a character, who has like, five episodes he's actually fucking in, you goddamn clods.
Genuinely questioning the motives and agendas of people trying to straight splain what would be queer sex on screen as some experiment that doesn't matter cuz hes not REALLY queer. People's homophobia wrapped in pretending to be allies, or maybe internalized is REALLY on display
like i'm curious. In SB's like, five eps in a large ensemble cast, how many anal penetrations between men meets these people's bar of Actually Gay Enough? Like do we need jensen anal sex every commercial bumper to hit quota? Is there a required ratio of M/M oral too? Or, considering how fucking disgusting you're being, is this a bunch of women that expect only "gold star" anal sex from M/M to count even though that pisses off a huge chunk of that demographic.
Though I gotta say, when I said yall would straightsplain XXX anal penetration somehow, I thought I was exaggerating. But no, here you are, straight splaining SB getting pegged by Fonda AND reassigning the gender of playboy jensen spoke bc, I guess you know his scene better?
So next time you let any of those blogs try to tell you that you shouldn't enjoy X volume of queer content, remember they've moved the goddamn goal post so far it's not even on planet earth anymore. It's somewhere on planet pornhub, past the "Men generally fucking each other" and probably in some bizarre cum or inflation fetishist wing at this point. That's not about representation, yall. You don't need to see repeated bouts of jizz running down Jensen Ackles' legs while he waves a pride flag and screams "I AM BISEXUAL" for a character to be fucking gay.
STOP ERASING US WITH MANIPULATIVE RHETORIC YOU KNOW BETTER THAN FOR ALL THE ABOVE REASONS.
Literally. Jensen ackles taking fingers or dicks on screen is, apparently, not gay enough for you.
But I'm sure the teen friendly network of the CW was DEFINITELY going to go harder than those expectations for you at some point, right? That's a totally sane and reasonable goal post... right?
I don't know WHAT bullshit issues these people/blogs have that they're acting like this, but seriously guys,
DEAL WITH YOUR BULLSHIT. THERE'S A LOT OF SHIT TO UNPACK AND ITS NOT JUST FONDA'S FINGER IN JENSEN'S ASS.
THAT'S YOUR SHIT COMING POURING OUT. NOT JENSEN'S.
Maybe you have internalized homophobia and this is making you face shit. Maybe, just maybe, some people were SO INVESTED in their homophobic jensen headcanon, they would rather display spontaneous negative IQ points than admit, yeah, sorry guys, apparently I had you attacking an ally with some shit I made up inside my own head.
Instead you keep supergluing this nonsense back together in some of the most blatant deletion I've ever seen. This is at least as bad as the Shameless incident of people trying to say Mickey wasn't really gay even after the gay sex and gay wedding and shit. Holy fuck. Stop. With "Allies" like you guys, who needs MAGA enemies? At least that shit was straight up homophobes, but this is supposed allies all lashing out because it's not a ship from AN ENTIRELY. DIFFERENT. FUCKING. TV SHOW.
AND I SHIP THAT SHIT TOO.
BUT HOLY SHIT.
THERE ARE OTHER THINGS IN LIFE THAN DESTIEL.
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☁︎ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ☁︎
Summary // Tali and Mark first meeting
Characters // Talia Flores + Mark Lee (ft. Ten, Haechan, Jaehyun. Mention: Johnny and Taeyong)
Era / Year // April 2014
Word Count //
Note // its been SOOO LONG OMG, but i have mark i will work on Taeyong and Jaemins but this was supposed to be for Marks birthday...dang, also the ask i got I HAVE IT DONT WORRY
Italics // English
Tali never really had a dream, she thought she wouldn't really be anywhere when she got older. She just rode the wave and saw how life would take her. She obviously thought more in the music industry traveling to all her dads business parties singing with her brother playing the piano as he himself didn't know what he wanted to be either.
Thats until she got casted to be a trainee, she did know about music industry as she saw many idols get popular like Girls Generation and Big Bang. She was hesitant, she didn't know what to do. Training as a kpop idol, didn't she have to keep an image? Looking back at what she did no one really recognized her when she was drinking as when people came she would put a mask.
She told Chan and Han about the offer she got and she wanted to see if she should take it. Chan was already a trainee and Han just started out. They both said she should atleast try it out. So she did, she never consulted her brother since they had a agrument when it came to when he decided to be a model. So she auditioned and sang a song, she passed. She got introduce to dancing, vocal training etc. She saw the pressure and she didn't mind it too much.
But she felt bad, yes she was getting good scores and everything. But it wasn't her dream, she was trying it out, and that made her feel guilty. She saw kids, teens, and adults try because its their dream but in the end leaving because they couldn't meet the requirements or it was too much. The first week Tali was really popular, she had a great voice and learn the dance moves pretty quickly. The fact she was pretty increased her popularity a lot.
She didn't know how she felt about it. She never really took anything seriously, she didn't make that obvious from the outside.
She didn't care if she made it, she didn't care if she was an idol at the end. She didn't know at all, she didn't know what she wanted to be, she was still just riding the wave. But after the 3th week she started realizing how good she can actually be. Then it hit her when she was called into a room.
"Are you Talia?"
"Uh yes, I'm Talia." She walked into a room with a boy sitting in. The man pointed at the chair next to the boy, indicating she can sit there.
"Yes, I called you two in here, wanting you two to work on evaluations with each other." Both their eyes went wide. Tali was confused, she has only been here for 6 weeks and they want her to do partnered evaluations already? The boy looked at her, scanning her she took noticed but he quickly looked away.
"So let me introduce you two to each other." Talia and the boy stood up facing each other, she felt like she recognized his face from somewhere but she doesnt know where.
"Talia this is Mark, Mark this is Talia. I want you two to work together and Mark show her the ropes on partnered evaluations, thanks." The man smiled then walked away.
"Ah hello." Tali bowed quick as Mark replied back shyly.
"Mark right?" "Uh yeah, Talia correct." "Uh yeah."
"Ive heard a lot about you." Mark said awkwardly.
"Ah really I hope good things." Tali smiled shyly. While Mark nodded slowly not really knowing what else to say.
"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, can you speak english?" Mark's eyes went wide for a second like a spring of hope.
"Yeah, can you?" He questioned hopefully, Tali nodded with a smile.
"Aw yes, this is gonna be a lot easier." He smiled feeling more at ease.
"I heard a lot about you." Tali smiled shyly.
"Oh really? From who?" He asked head towards the door she followed assuming he's heading towards the practice rooms.
"From Johnny and Taeyong."
"Ah so you've met them?" He turned back and she nodded in response.
"Yeah, they are really nice. I feel bad about Taeyong sometimes. Rumors go around that he's not that nice which I find a complete lie." Tali she shook her head slightly jogging to catch up to Mark. He smiled and nodded.
"I agree is really nice, I think its his gaze that makes him seem scary." Mark mentioned pointing at his eyes, like an example. Tali giggled and nodded.
"I agree. But he's nice thats what matters." She smiled. Mark nodded in agreement turned with her following in the practice room.
"So how do you do partnered evaluations?" She asked wandering a little to examine the area she would be working.
"We usually pick a song and make a choreo or get a choreo. But it looks like they want us to do that ourselves." Mark sighed sitting down grabbing his phone looking for a duet song or a song that can work for both of them. Tali saw and sat beside him looking over.
Mark wasn't gonna lie when he saw her come in the room he was nervous. He heard so much about her. For example her voice is really pretty, she has good stamina and most of all her visuals. Her visuals are really popular. Especially her eyes, he always hears someone saying her eyes are pretty. He honestly thought he was gonna be full of herself from all the complements. But the more he's having conversation, the more he thinks she's a sweet girl.
"Mark you rap right?" Tali looked up making eye contact.
"Uh, um yeah." He nodded taken back a bit he wasn't expecting the eye contact.
"So, for evaluations what do you want to focus on? I know people that do evaluations before like you want to improve on that and I don't want to get in the way of that so what score do you want to improve on?"
Mark was a little taken back. Most the time when he gets partnered with someone they usually take advantage that he's so young that he doesn't really get a say in this.
"Well... I dont know, like I wasn't really expecting this." Mark chuckled scratching the back of his neck.
"I think I need to improve in the dancing department." He thought outloud, Tali nodded.
"Okay we need to find a song that will fit more dancing category." Tali scrolled on his phone with her finger not really wanting to take his phone away from him. Mark smiled a little liking her already.
"How about....this one??"
He looked and saw one he wasn't expecting. Three DopeBoyz feat. Zion.T - Dynamic Duo. He raised his eyebrows at her.
"You think you can do that?" He questioned her, she gave him a cheeky smile.
"Come on Mark believe in me." She smiled nudging his shoulder. He smirked and shook his head.
"Okay, so we are gonna do one performance." He nodded she agreed with him.
"We have to make the choreography, and it sounds like a good beat." He said nodding. The stood up and started, at the start it was ruff but he was amazed at her quick learning. It took 3 hours for both of them to get a basic rhythm and moves. They sat down catching their breathes.
"You.....you are a fast learner." He huffed catching his breathe. She giggled.
"Thank you, you are not to shabby yourself." She smiled handing him a water bottle which a greatly accepted.
He was amazed by how much flow she had within the time she trained.
"Have you ever done professional dancing." Mark asked. Tali shook her head no.
"Im just pretty athletic I guess. But no I've never professionally danced." His mouth gaped and nodded impressed.
They talked for the rest of the hour learning about each other and slowly trying to make a schedule when each are available.
"Oh I heard you can sing really well." He randomly commented which caught Tali off guard as they were just talking about what time is better, I guess this is a little payback for randomly saying he was good at rapping.
"Oh uh yeah I can sing." She nodded shyly. He smiled at her, finding her sudden shyness a little adorable.
"Uh what song did you sing for auditions and and your first evaluation." He asked mostly to get a grasp of where she is.
"I...I sung 'All Of Me' by John Legend for my audition thing, well casted but ya know. Then, Marry You by Bruno Mars." Talia thought out loud. Mark nodded impressed.
"So you auditioned to be a vocal?" He asked looking forward towards the mirror.
"Yeah." She confirmed while laying down.
"So why do you wanna get evaluated on dance then?" He looked at her confused.
"Well one I haven't done dance yet for evaluations, two vocal range I already have my score for, I can shoot for higher but I wanna get to know my weaker points aswell." She explained looking at the ceiling. He hummed, he can tell she's pretty mature, she could be older than him but he likes where this relationship is going.
"Well, if you ever need my help I'm here." Mark smiled sheepishly. Talia smiled a nodded.
"Of course, same here, but I doubt you ever need my help." She looked away observing the area again. Mark frowned layed down next her and bumped her shoulder which she smiled at.
"Don't say that, there's probably many ways you can help me in the future. Just you wait." He reassured her. She nodded and looked at the ceiling.(Oh if he only knew)
"Let's go Mark its getting late and I need to do some chores early tomorrow." She nugged him, getting up first then giving him a hand.
"Uh yeah." He nodded and got up, they went their separate ways. The next day he couldn't help but tell some of friends about it.
***
"No seriously guys, she's super talented." Mark exclaimed, he was eating lunch with Ten, Haechan, and Jaehyun.
"Mark it sounds like you have a crush on her." Haechan snickered.
"I do not! Its just she super talented, she's been here what only a month?" He exclaimed. Ten shook his head in amusement.
"Mark she could've been part of a dance group." Ten suggested. Mark shook his head while the 2 we taken back while Jaehyun nodded his head in agreement as he already met Talia.
"She's wasn't?" Haechan asked kinda shocked.
"No, I asked her and she said no, she was just athletic or something. I could tell she wasn't sure herself." He shrugged.
"Maybe she's lying?" Haechan suggested, Mark gave him a dirty look.
"No, she's not the type of person." He shook his head in disagreement.
"How would you know, you just met her yesterday." Ten looked at him questionably.
"No, I agree with Mark, I've talked to her here and there and seen her talent she seems like a newbie." Jaehyun commented while drinking soda.
"Hm, fine okay, so she didn't go to dance classes." Haechan accepted finally.
"I heard she is a foreigner and that she's latina as well." Ten added eyeing the guys.
"Really?" Haechan said surprised not expecting her to be latina.
"Yeah well, physically you can see her tan skin and then her eyes." Jaehyun pointing out the characteristics.
"True her eyes I think are the most obvious thing." Mark agreed, he noticed right away her eyes we a greenish color, not something you would see in Korea well not naturally anyway.
"Yeah, I thought she would be full of herself with all the compliments but she's not, you guys should really meet her!" He exclaimed, he could sense she was a little alone and he wants to help.
Haechan eyed him up and down.
"You have a crush on her huh?"
"I DO NOT!"
#nct#nct 2020#nct additional member#nct dream#nct 127#nct u#nct au#nct dream 8th member#nct 24th member#nct female member#nct tali#blackpink talia#nct mark#superm mark#nct taeyong#nct ten#nct jaehyun#nct haechan#nct donghyuck#nct female oc#nct female addition#nct dream female addition#nct dream female member#nct drabbles#nct fanfic#kpop original character
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