#Only using meme and humor tags to gather everyone | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emotionalgirl101 · 5 years

Text

Question | Chapter 6

Words: 3,111

Genre: college au, angst, fluff

Pairing: SKZ x reader

Summary: Your best friend, Minho, had been refusing to introduce you to his other group of best friends for months now, with no explanation as to why. One night after getting drunk after work together, he gave in to your pleas. Oops.

Warning: Contains mature content (such as coarse language, violent themes, etc).

A/N: Sorry guys! I know it’s been so long, but since it’s uni break, I’m back for a while. I hope you like this chapter. I really like were the story is going and I hope you do, too! Also, shoutout to @omniligence for asking if I planned to continue writing. I honestly might have forgotten that I have the freedom to do it again. (longest chapter yet!)

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

Thursday rolled around, and you weren’t exactly sure why, but you were dreading it. After all the antics of the past week, you were finally seeing Minho. It was kind of surprising it took you two this long to hang out. The last time you saw him was the morning after the drinking night with his roommates. Maybe that’s part of the reason you felt uneasy?

You had slept in his jumper again that night, but somehow remembered to wash it between now and then. You left it folded on the coffee table so you wouldn’t forget to give it to him when you got back from lunch. It was quarter past twelve, meaning he was due any second. You guys usually planned timing quite loosely, knowing the other would text you when they were on their way, or if anything came up affecting your plans.

You took the opportunity to fill in the small amount of spare time you had to check your work schedule. You had previously arranged to switch shifts with one of the girls that was going to a wedding on Saturday, and forgot to get the day off. Thus, your assigned Sunday shift had moved to a Saturday again. Specifically the afternoon. You texted Eunwoo this new found information. The two of you had been trying to find time for a girls night, and with the lack of a shift on Sunday, Saturday night sounded perfect.

As the message went out, Minho came in. You had left the door unlocked, but even if you hadn’t, you’d trusted him with your spare key. You’ve needed to use it once or twice since you met. Isn’t it strange how you can be closer to the people you’ve known for the shortest amount of time than those you’ve known your whole life?

He wandered over and fell into the couch with a relative amount of grace, stared forward, then rolled his head towards you. He just looked, and you read his mind. Bringing your legs up onto the couch, you moved to face him. “What’s up, Lee?” Slipped effortless from your mouth as you rested your head in your hand, arm propped up on the back of the couch. You analysed him. You knew his mannerisms better than your own, and this was the ‘something’s bothering me’ expression. Yes, he looked like that most of the time, but the detail that defined the difference was the emotion held in his eyes.

“So, something happened the other day.” He knew better than to trying to avoid telling you what was on his mind, and it seemed in this case he wasn’t planning to, anyway. After seeing half his apartment occupants over the past few days, your mind went to the other 8 boys he had for company. Was it about the prank they played on Felix? Was it something to do with running into them so much recently? Did something happen at the house? You couldn’t help the flood of questions that began to swim around in your mind. This happened often. You liked to joke that overthinking is your ‘hobby’.

“At the bar.” He deadpanned. His eyes stared into thin air. Your curiosity peaked. He continued. “My manager is acting completely different. He’s forgetting his shifts, ignoring the casual roster and being an absolute dick over all.” He shifted again, eyes meeting yours. You expected them to be filled with annoyance at his boss’ antics, but they held none. Instead, they were overflowing with concern. The room felt tense. He meant it. Something was off. He drew a sharp breath, then relaxed. He continued.

“It’s just not like him, you know? At first I thought it might be some guys threatening the bar. There are the usual shady guys that come in occasionally, but none of them have been giving off a bad vibe, and I haven’t seen anyone dodgy coming around the place. I just can’t figure out what’s wrong. It’s so unlike him. Like, do I say something or…” he trailed off. He didn’t expect you to answer. He just wanted you to listen. He needed to get it off his chest. Neither of you said anything for a while. Until you broke the silence.

“On a lighter note, I’m starving. Please can we go get food?” You stood up and began to grab your things. With a humorous scoff, Minho nodded, rising from his seat and picking up his jumper that he had noticed you left on the coffee table. “Where are we going?” He looked to you for instruction as he opened the door. You walked through the frame and waited for him to pull the door shut. He checked that the door did, in fact, lock when he shut it behind him, then lead the way to the elevator. Once he had called for it, you looked at each other and, as if on cue, spoke in unison, “Hirai”.

Hirai was your go-to Japanese restaurant. It was reasonably priced, some level of authentic and the half way point between your apartment and the boys’ place. You had stumbled upon it when you first moved in.

Minho went to order for the both of you. It was normal for one of you to pay for lunch and the other to pay for whatever dessert, snack or drinks you ordered later in the day. You took the opportunity to flick through your notifications. There didn’t appear to be anything noteworthy, so you were about to lock your screen when Facebook alerted you to a post on your university’s page. You weren’t one to go on Facebook. It was more of a way to find out about promotions from food places and occasionally tag friends in memes. You clicked the notification, and your mouth dropped as Minho took his seat across the table.

“It’s happened. Again!” You seethed, turning the screen to let Minho scan over what you’d just read. “Are they serious? They’ve been saying they’d close the place for months and now their backing out? Don’t they know the reputation the frat has?” He was just as annoyed as you.

One of the few boarding houses your university had a bad reputation, with dozens upon dozens of scandals from academic violations to vile crimes. The student’s had dubbed it ‘the frat’ as it was the closest thing the university had to a frat house. You’d only ever gone to one party there, and what you encountered put you off for the rest of your uni career. It was supposed to be shut down at the beginning of last semester, but with the majority of the guys living in the frat being well-off, their parents probably gave the university a nice payout to keep it’s doors open. It disgusted both of you. “I wish I had that much money.” Minho appeared to have also been running the situation through his head. “I’d be free of uni debt and-”

“Become a crazy cat lady?” You giggled as he signed in annoyance, prodding his ramen with his chopsticks. “Shut up.” he mumbled under his breath, and you erupted into giggles again. He tried to stifle a laugh, but was cut off by a voice that was familiar to the both of you.

“Hyung? Noona?” You turn to be met with a beaming smile from Han Jisung, Changbin following closely behind him. You were pretty surprised, but it made sense to see the two boys there. It was close by and Minho probably would of told them about your little spot. It was just that you’d never seen them there before. The coincidence was uncanny. Your best friend’s roommates truely were everywhere lately.

You thought you heard an irritated sigh slip through your best friend’s lips, but convinced yourself you were hearing things. “Jisung, Changbin,” you smiled up at the boys, “What’re you doing here?” Minho said in unison with you, though his tone held a lot of annoyance in comparison. He mentioned on the walk that he had left to the boys having their own mukbang party, and that he wanted to spare you from Felix’s ASMR.

“The boys overcooked half the food, so we’re picking up Japanese instead.” Changbin replied, his voice relaxed and a small smile playing on his lips. Minho gave a small grunt, stuffing his face full of ramen to avoid the confused stare you sent his way. What’s up with him?

Before you could reply, Changbin spoke up again, “Will you be coming over again soon, Y/n-ah?”. You kinda just stared at Minho. He stared at his ramen. You rolled your eyes. “Hopefully! It was fun getting to know you guys. Plus, then I can be involved with the next prank on-”

“You know about that?!” Minho’s voice had raised considerably, earning a ton of strange looks from everyone around, including yourself and the the two boys standing beside you. He gathered his composure. “How?” He asked, feigning nonchalance.

“I was out with Eunwoo the other day. We found a cafe and it just happened to be the one Hyunjin and Jeongin work at.” The boy’s face was still plastered with shock and confusion, eyes big and round, looking at you. “Jeongin has a job?” He looked stunned that you knew something he didn’t. About his roommate no less.

There were eyerolls all ‘round. “You really don’t pay much attention do you, hyung?” Changbin smirked. You smiled at him, eyes briefly connecting with Jisung before looking back to Minho. He was beyond annoyed. “Can’t I just eat in peace?” He huffed, playing with his ramen.

“Yeah, that’s our cue to go. Hope to see you soon, though.” Jisung smiled and placed a warm hand on your shoulder, moving towards the restaurant counter. Changbin gave a nod, leaving you alone with Minho once again.

You just sat there for a second, staring at him. He looked up hesitantly after feeling your eyes boring into the top of his skull. “What?” He shoved more food in his mouth, opting to focus on the table rather than meet your eyes. You just shook your head, half smiling at the idiot sitting across from you. You brushed off his weird behaviour and went back to enjoying lunch with your best friend.

The both of you were walking around the neighbourhood aimlessly. Neither of you had anywhere to go after lunch, and it seems like Minho didn’t particularly fancy going home. Honestly, neither did you. So you did what you always did when you both felt like this. You wandered.

You’d made some great discoveries on trips like this, the little adventures you and Minho went on frequently after you met. That’s how you figured out he lived so close by. You were quite strategic when it came to moving into your first solo apartment. At least that’s what you’d like to think. Majority of it was dumb luck. You had moved into a relatively lively suburb. Busy enough to have some level of a community vibe, with restaurants and cafes and shops dotting every street. However, not so much that it was loud or filled with obnoxious people driving through or yelling at 2am on a Saturday night. You just happened to receive a job offer from one of those shops, and wandered past the bar a few blocks down one afternoon with Minho.

“I work there.” The boy lazily pointed. You nodded at first, not particularly interested in filling the void in the conversation. Then you realised just how close it was. “Wait. I live near here. My work place is a few blocks back, and I live that way.” You gestured in the general direction of where you vaguely thought the apartment building was. “Huh,” a smirk took place on his lips, “you’re only a few minutes away. My place is further up this way.” He nodded in the direction you were headed. That’s probably a contributing factor to how you guys grew to be so close. It was just easy.

“This is new.” Minho exclaimed, snapping you out of the memories you were reminiscing upon. Your head jerked to see what he was looking at. What was once an old antique shop that had been closed for months was now a bright, pastel-themed bubble tea shop. You exchanged a look, both shrugged and walked in, because why not? Minho grabbed a menu for you both to look through. The amount of flavours was overwhelming, but neatly categorised for your convenience. Something you were grateful for.

Minho decided quite quickly. He tapped your arm, gesturing for your card. You were so wrapped up in your own thoughts you forgot it was your shout. He took a step into line as you tried to figure out how all the toppings, ice and sugar levels worked at this place. You finally settled on a flavour you guessed you’d like and were willing to try. Minho had ordered. He handed over your card, giving you a sly smile as he spun around towards a seat in the waiting area. What is he on? You rolled your eyes, approaching the counter.

You had to stifle a blush. The guy standing opposite you was attractive, but he seemed unaware to it. His smile was almost blinding. It was hard to concentrate on anything else. Was this why Minho looked at you like that? Did he know you were gonna have a crisis because the guy behind the counter was inhumanely attractive? Your thoughts were cut short.

“Hi,” he beamed down at you, “what can I get you?” You smiled back, somehow feeling more at ease with his focus on you. You surprisingly managed to get through your order without making a total fool of yourself. He looked at you the whole time, listening intently and nodding every so often. Only after you’d finished did he start inputting your order. You stood patiently.

“You haven’t been here before have you?” He said with a knowing tone of voice. He looked up at you briefly, still filling in your order. You hadn’t expected him to start a conversation. “U-uh, no. My friend and I just found it while we were wandering around.” You were hoping you managed to smooth out your words enough for him to miss the tremor in your words. He looked up from the screen at you again, and the smile he gave seemed a little less pure. “Well, I’m glad you did.” He smirked slightly.

He told you the price, gesturing to the EFTPOS machine between you, asking your name as you tapped your card. “Y/n” you smiled back once you knew the transaction went through. The embarrassment of your card randomly declining was the last thing you needed. He just nodded to himself, taking note. He handed you the order number. “It shouldn’t be too long,” and just like that, he set to work on your order. Your head was spinning from how charming this guy was, but it wasn’t in a like ‘I’m a player’ type way, more of a ‘I’m just a genuinely friendly guy’ way. You shook the thought out of your head. No point to get your hopes up. You’d probably never see him again.

Minho was smirking at you. “Shut up!” You mumbled under your breath and hit his folded arms. You knew he was teasing you. It was probably obvious how flustered you were. To him at least. You were about to ask him why he gave you that look before, but were cut off by the same voice that served you moments ago.

“Number 2, number 3” His eyes met yours with a small smile. Minho stood up to get your orders, taking both numbers with him. You waited by the door, expecting Minho to be on your heels by then. You were taken aback when he was still at the counter. They’re talking? Since when was Minho so friendly with random people he just met? By this point, you were beyond confused.

“The hell is going on with you today?” You pushed once you were further down the block. Minho just sipped on his tea, feigning innocence, “What do you mean?” You gawked at him, channeling all your exasperation through your eyes. It was to no avail. He acted sheepish, ignoring you, eyes looking ahead. “Do you like it?” Referring to your drink.

You took a sip, nodding back at him. “It’s actually really good. Want to try?” You went to offer but he waved his hand. “I’m good. I like mine.” You shook your head, giggling at his antics.

“Can I try?” You went to grab the cup, but he manoeuvred it out of your reach. He was protecting it like it was his firs- born child. “No~,” he whined, “it’s mine~” Boy, was he melodramatic. After seeing you pout, he rolled his eyes and gave in. Handing it over, you took a sip. “That’s nice. I like mine better, though.” He laughed. “Of course you do. I’ll try it if we go back.” You nodded in agreement. He practically snatched the cup out of your hands. You could almost hear him saying ‘that’s enough!’ Inside his head. A giggle broke through your lips, rolling your eyes in sync.

He stopped walking, placing his tea on the window ledge of the building you were passing by. He had been holding the jumper this whole time. It surprised you that he managed this long without getting aggravated at the inconvenience. He tied it around his waist, stopped, then retied it so one sleeve came over his right shoulder, and the other one from underneath his left arm. He paused again, reevaluating the whole situation. You burst out laughing. “Shut up.” He whined, tying it around his waist again. “You should’ve left it.” A statement equivalent to ‘I told you so’. He began walking again, giving you a light shove as he spoke, “Just drink your tea.” You didn’t miss the knowing curve of his lips. You were satisfied with your victory.

With a meaningless sigh, you filled the small silence by examining your tea. Looking down at the label, you made a mental note for when you go there again to order the same thing. That’s when you noticed it, and a smile crept onto your face. There was something different on your label, scribbled in black ink.

The name ‘Jaemin’, followed by a 10 digit number.

“What are you smiling about?” Minho cocked an eyebrow your way.

“Nothing.” You sung, smiling down at the pavement as you made your way home.

——————————-

Side note: Teehee Dreamies are featuring in here too~

44 notes · View notes

deepflapranchdonkey-blog · 5 years

Text

Interpreting Media Messages S19072906

YouTube:

YouTubes appeal is freedom of speech, the global platform has utilised this growing phenomenon where everyone wants a say. There are many strong opinioned people in our society globally and YouTube relies on this. It also takes control of the media in a way where everyone has a say on certain global issues, such as, politics, immigration, veganism, feminism, refugees, racism. In my opinion, people are rarely single minded, unless of course the narcissists but they also dig from other opinions to form their own. We are conditioned to follow crowds, however there are a few people who think differently and have opposing opinions, these are the people that speak out and make positive changes to humanities current global and national issues.

Some issues in our society go unspoken of or still linger around but isn’t publicly discussed, this platform allows for people to raise opinions about topics that have been swept under the carpet, or they could be new dilemmas. YouTube in my opinion simply makes way for this. For example, YouTuber David So, has a comedy channel and comedically discuses and expresses his opinion on certain world issues, primarily racism, dating, cultural stigmas etc. It’s very insightful and makes you laugh. Never have I ever seen a TV show like it. This is where YouTube takes over, people from the public can also project there opinion. David So and many other YouTubers alike could be considered not news reporters or ‘experts’ but news commentators on their view of global matters.

Dan Price and author for MakeUsOf, mentions in his article, “It’s safe to assume that the majority of those 7 billion videos are not worth watching. And it turns out that we give short shrift to videos that don’t immediately grab our attention. More than 20 percent of videos are switched off within the first 10 seconds of playback”. This kind of content plus any content for the matter needs to be done in an entertaining manner. The most common form is quick and snappy editing. Preferably in the first 10 seconds.

References:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/21-amazingly-interesting-youtube-facts-2016/ Makeusof, Dan Price, October 8 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6svpuIFcas YouTube.com, DavidSo, Man Loses Limbs To Spider Bite!, uploaded Oct 2, 2019.

Vines

We’ve all been on the good old vine binge. Every 15 second or less video releasing dopamine into our brains, causing us to feel happy and laugh at the ridiculous videos of these millennial's doing dorky, weird and cringe worthy things. Very much like memes, vines are video versions of them. Its so addictive to sit there and watch a fifteen min long video of ‘THE 50 BEST VINES EVER!’ and many of the liking. As you do nothing while you sit and watch video after video that makes you laugh and entertains you right from the comfort of your bedroom, without having to lift a finger. Very much like Netflix which I will be touching on shortly releasing a dopamine into our brains AKA, the pleasure chemical over and over making it much too difficult to turn it off and go to sleep like you should be. Are around high school and university you hear the sayings go around from various vines that make us all laugh in remembrance of the videos. Sayings like;

“he needs some milk”

“an adult virgin!”.

But why are they funny? “The key to all good comedy is timing. Vine’s strict formal constraints inevitably mean that it must become the Viner’s first priority. As a result, the punches must come more quickly, the cadence of a joke more finely calculated, any surprises more deftly hidden”. (Anna Leszkiewcz, NewStatesMan, 28 Oct 2016) With vines we can all relate to the fact that when we start watching one we are usually wondering, “when is the funny plot twist”, or “when is the surprise”. Well that is the nature and psychology behind them. The mystery and then the odd, strange, awkward least expected point or outcome is revealed, leaving the audience shocked into laughing. Evoking emotion is a strong part of Vines, and people are addicted to feelings, and that is why they are heavily addictive, there are even videos of vine compilations called, “Vines that cured my depression”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ5uX_mYfKY

https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2016/10/why-are-vines-so-funny

Instagram:

A picture and video sharing platform, which can be for anything such as; photography, art, sports, cars, fashion, makeup, fitness and quotes. People tend to mainly follow what they are interested in so it shows up in their feed. Instagram works off your lazy attitude that scrolls and scrolls and looks at pictures that make you satisfied and either depressed. Instagram can be a good motivator for inspiration especially anything on there that focuses on skill or persistence to acquire a certain level, however it can be detrimental on the health side of things. We have been conditioned to look at Instagram like it’s another world, another place where everything is where we want it, how we want it. It’s a dream world, full of fake unrealistic expectations. Due to Photoshop and many various editing software like FaceTune, expectations are set extremely high especially in the world of body image and fitness. “Look at the media, and the same perfectly honed (and electronically retouched) body shapes appear, over and over again. Women are expected to defy logic by attaining the “curves in the right places and not much everywhere else look”. (Ricky Derisz, 1 OCT 2019, Mind That Ego)

On the other hand Instagram can be a motivator, in my opinion if the app is abused and used too frequently you will become depressed, however used in moderation you will find boosted motivation to achieve more. For example if your into going to the gym a lot, and you look at workout quotes and videos and pictures of other fitness freaks, you can feed off their motivation. The app is also useful to keep up with latest news with celebs, fashions, music, sports and your favourite influencers. Follow what you want and look at what you want, we never had that with television, we have a choice at what we want to look at, and that is the power of Instagram, and keep scrolling and there’s more, heck the app even recommends other things you might want to follow.

https://www.mindthatego.com/author/mindth11_wp/ Mind That Ego, 1 Oct 2019, Ricky Derisz

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3RKeHZB_WJ/

Twitter:

A platform that only shares text, well…… seems boring right? Actually no. Its caught onto millions of people interacting with each other with diverse discussions deriving from anything. Politicians including Donald Trump is famous for his activity on twitter. They use it to control votes and influence their society to stay in or get voted into parliament. Many times, over twitter you will see two famous people passive aggressively bantering on this platform and the news has even been sharing these conversations, as they are public.

Twitter is also used for comedic purposes, people tend to write humorous pieces of text on the platform and it gets shared by millions of people tagging their friends and saving it on there phone. Twitter is limited to 50 words which keeps it short and snappy. People have short attention spans and so the short snappy posts are most favoured my viewers. Scrollers can just scroll down and quickly get updates on the latest news and events as well as seeing who is saying what. The difference with twitter to Instagram is it’s about seeing who is saying who instead of who is doing what. My guess that people afraid of having FOMO will be most present on twitter as you can’t get FOMO from watching convos, but you can from watching people’s lives on Instagram. Pictures and video are also posted on there, but they don’t perform as well as the short pieces of text. People love to gossip, and twitter provides this service, in the most efficient way possible.

https://www.mindthatego.com/instagram-influence-body-image-part-1/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3RKeHZB_WJ/

Memes:

An often commentative humorous statement that is either very relatable or is the use of satire in the form of humor. Usually by the form of a picture with text top and bottom. They are always intended humorous however some leave people triggered. Which brings up online debates and discussions. Many memes have expected inside knowledge on the topic for eg. The meme bellow explains a notion that the Mazda Miata makes you believe that there is a parking spot since 1987, that is obvious, but for most people what’s not obvious is how does it? Well it’s a shorter car and Is very small, and among the car community this is a known dilemma.

There are other memes from TV shows or certain movies, where if you didn’t know the movie you wouldn’t understand the humor behind the meme. Memes have to be relatable otherwise they lose their effect on the viewer. Good memes that are relatable to many people go viral and gather millions of shares and views etc. Much like a vine it has a punch line, somewhat corny however it still hits you with humor when you just get the joke. “The German zoologist and evolutionary biologist Richard Wolfgang Semon, for one, wrote about mneme, from the muse of memory Greek goddess Mneme, in the early 1900’s. There’s an argument that memes evolve via natural selection, just as in biological evolution, with less successful memes dying out, or becoming extinct”. (Kevin Bennette, PH.D)The concept of a meme has been around a log time, the science behind natural selection with Darwinian philosophy. The memes as explained above that are not relatable dye out and eventually become extinct in the vast space of the internet and the successful ones that have a good punch line stick around and are shared and liked and saved by millions of people online, just because of one emotion, humor.

References

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/basics/memes Kevin Bennett, Ph.D,

1 note · View note

rhetoricalrogue · 6 years

Text

Writer Meme

I was tagged by @lechatrouge673, thank you!

I think everyone I usually tag things in have already been, but if anyone feels like answering, consider yourself tagged!

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Reading: all of the above. Writing: mostly short stories since I rarely have the patience to do a longer fic. Even my 50K+ word stories are essentially short stories that I’ve stitched together to make one big one.

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi. I’ll give anything a shot with the chance that I may find another favorite new genre.

What genre do you prefer writing?

Is slice of life a genre?

Are you a planner or a write-as-I-go kind of person?

Pantser all the way. I tried to be a planner and it didn’t work for me.

What music do you listen to while writing?

It varies, depending on the feel that I want for the story. If I’m focusing on a single character, I’ll listen to a bunch of stuff that reminds me of them, or if I’m having issues focusing, I’ll put on something like thunderstorms or cafe/restaurant noise on a loop for background noise.

Fave books/movies?

Books: Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie is a favorite that I will recommend to friends who may like a contemporary humor/romance/all around good book. The Hobbit is a favorite since I was a kid.

Movies: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is one of those comfort movies that I need to be in a mood for (and alone, since there’s at least two places that make me cry) but I adore the way that Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison’s characters play off the other. Their level of chemistry and banter are what I try to give my characters.

Any current WIPs?

Way too many to count. I have at least four prompts still in my inbox and I’m working on finishing up this 4-part story involving The Boy going through some emotional growth.

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

Dark green “Mordor Fun Run” t-shirt, dark grey or black workout pants, barefoot indoors and blue Chucks outdoors.

Create a character description for yourself:

“perpetually stressed out 30-something

with a million and one things on her to-do list. Likes tea, baking, and hanging out with online friends. Lives with a clingy cat who can go from Cute Ball of Fluff to Temper Tantrum Meltdown in two seconds.”

Do you like incorporating people you actually know into your writing?

Not really, but I will take little snippets of conversations or things I see and try to use those as inspiration instead of word for word.

Are you kill-happy with characters?

Nope. Even when I do kill someone off for story purposes, I feel awful about it and wind up bringing them back in an AU *eyes Bjorn* (I’m so sorry, man.)

Coffee or tea while writing?

Tea, or Dr. Pepper, but I’ve been mostly drinking water or sparkling water with those flavor drops in an attempt to cut my caffeine and sugar intake.

Slow or fast writer?

Slow. Let’s just say I’m still editing a story I wrote ten years ago.

Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

Random things that catch my attention: a song on the radio, a landscape, a snippet of conversation I overheard. Then there’s times when characters decide to pull the shower curtain back and go “Hey. Stop screaming, it’s just me, I’ve got a story idea you need to write now.” (Looking at you, Rolfe.)

If you were put into a fantasy world, what would you be?

Probably some kitchen witch with a little cottage by the sea.

Most fave book cliche? Least fave book cliche?

Favorite: I have SO MANY. Mutual pining, friends-to-lovers, bandaging up wounds, the “because I LOVE YOU” shouted confession they didn’t mean to say right then, THERE IS ONLY ONE BED

Least favorite: killing characters off for shock value, especially the Fridge the Girlfriend/Wife trope

Fave scenes to write?

Anything where two or more characters get to talk around food or gather in a kitchen.

Most productive time of day for writing?

Worknights: any time between 7pm and 11:30pm

Weekends: any time during the day or evening, or until I fall asleep. There’s really no set time on Saturdays or Sundays.

Reason for writing:

I love the characters that come around and I’ll often re-read my own writing simply because it makes me happy to think that yes, I wrote this. The fact that every so often someone comes by and lets me know that they like my stories as well is a huge bonus that makes my day.

#tagged meme

2 notes · View notes

haljathefangirlcat · 3 years

Text

still thinking about that “we Have To Talk about how quips are ruining fandom by destroying meta and turning all fic into shitposts” post @ms-demeanor wrote a great rebuttal to, and about the other posts she wrote about it and about the You’re Doing Fandom Wrong attitude in it, and about the notes on those posts. not gonna reblog or reply to any of those because my thoughts are admittedly kind of random and jumping from place to place and probably OT to the point of the discussion, but you know. still thinking.

so, uh. not trying to start wank or anything but enjoy the ranting that got way out of hand under the cut.

so, like... that one “we can’t just block everyone who quips and shitposts because some of these people also write actual meta but then they unfortunately go back to Not Engaging With Canon by writing quippy shitpost-y stuff” line, or however it was actually phrased? besides the blatant entitlement with the “you have to fandom ONLY in ways I like, I can’t just engage with the part of the content you create that I’m interested in and scroll past the rest” thing (which kinda reminds me of the whole “you can’t CNTW on some of your fics, I should be able to read ALL of your fics” thing, in a way) and the ”I refuse to curate my fandom experience and I’ll make it some stranger’s problem” thing (which... reminds me of a few other things, but tbf it has probably been around since the very first days of fandom), what if someone doesn’t even see meta and quips/shitposts as fundamentally different and mutually exclusive approaches to fandom? what if they see them as just two ways to be interested in a specific fandom and interact with it, and maybe even closely linked together, so going from one to another is actually very, very easy for them? hell, what if they (gasp!) even mix quips and meta together sometimes?

I have a few posts about what I think Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese might have been doing with mythological references and themes in Dark, and about what I got from the series finale. some are meme-like, phrased in a joking tone, probably even shitpost-y? another one is literally just a gifset plus me having intense Feels in the tags, and the last one is an edit of the kind I’ve seen people complain about as “those cringey unoriginal tumblr aesthetics that all look the same” in at least a couple of occasions. does that automatically mean I only wanted to “win” at fandom (with my hard-earned prize being... a handful of notes in a fandom that’s not even that big compared to others) and that I haven’t actually spent probably way too much time thinking about the significance of Martha’s Ariadne play as a commentary on character interactions/plot/narrative themes (and honestly still do from time to time), or that I don’t occasionally read the captions under other people’s gifsets and suddenly feel very much enlightened about why the Ariadne play mentions the myth of the Flood of all things? that I didn’t start reading posts and comments and reviews and theories about the series finale as soon as I finished watching it? that, just because I didn’t write 10K+ words of Perfectly Serious Seriousness about all that stuff, I simply refused to Engage With The Text?

... and if I said that I feel a little irrationally self-conscious at the idea of writing down all of my (often rambling, sometimes jumbled) thoughts about a series that to me actually does feel very deep and complex, so adding memes and humor to that or finding different means to put my ideas out there makes me feel more comfortable expressing myself while also taking off the (admittedly made-up) pressure of having to write a whole coherent essay where I have to find a clear and explicit way to explain where every single thought comes from and how it leads to the next like I’m gonna get graded on it? or that a lot of those thoughts stem from memories of spending five years of high school translating and analysing ancient Greek poetry and reading and watching and discussing every available interpretation and reinterpretation of it from Nietzsche to Vernant to Dürrenmatt to Christa Wolf to Pasolini to a lot of others and from certain things in Dark violently hurtling me back to those times without even asking for permission, so a part of my self-consciousness is actually “I probably don’t actually know/remember enough about this to base a whole in-depth analysis on it even though I do think there’s something there” and another part is “shit I’m too lazy to dig through all of my old textbooks and homework and additional readings to hunt for the thing I feel the desperate need to reference or figure out who might have said it, so no extended explanation here either”? I guess in the end it would all boil down to “there’s an amount of effort and physical and mental energy I’m willing to put into fandom but I also have limits to stop something that makes me feel happy from becoming a chore”, which. considering the whole “you have to put all your resources into constantly pouring out 100% serious meta and nothing else because that’s what I like, no deviations allowed” thing? yeah, I can see saying stuff like that would still make me a blight upon fandom. and/or Not Engaging.

which, I realize, it’s a thing I keep coming back to. but that’s because I really, really, really hate it? seriously, what even counts as Engaging With The Text correctly? not shitposts, and not quips either, apparently. Regardless of the fact that humor and crack have existed in fandom since forever and that it’s actually not uncommon AT ALL for them to be born out of looking at canon from different angles, pointing out whatever the fan in question finds surreal/strange/implausible/convoluted/awkward/just kinda funny about it.

also, not canon divergence/what if fics motivated not by a desire to “fix” something that made us feel bad when it happened in canon but by a desire to actually fix what we felt was objectively a poor writing choice from the author, because we shouldn’t Engage by analysing the text to criticize it or to think over how and why certain aspects of it don’t work for us or how we think the structure of the text itself could be modified or even improved, we should Engage by... writing meta and/or writing canon-compliant fics with perhaps a little allowance for slightly-to-the-left-of-canon-compliant missing moments fics, I guess?

from what I’ve gathered from reading other fandom discussion some time ago, AUs are also out, especially Modern/No Powers AUs, because those are always just an excuse to slap your fave’s name on your OC/disguise your original fiction as fanfic to get comments/ignore all that’s interesting about canon to write yet another dumb syrupy high school or coffee shop AU, even if I’m honestly not sure what kind of AUs people are even reading to never get to the “there’s no supernatural threat so let’s focus entirely on the fucked-up family dynamics and blatant mental issues in a world where you can’t just ignore them by marrying off your daughter or sending your son to be someone’s squire” AUs or the “this is pretty much what happens in canon but adding new dimensions and different outlooks on the themes by moving everything to a new context” AUs. seriously, I could rec you a pretty great “this guy would be a horrible father and treat his children horribly in any world, it’s not just the feudal society around him, it’s him as a person” AU and that’s literally just the first thing that came to my mind. but, hey, maybe Engaging is only engaging with the canon plot and setting and nothing else, what do I know.

... fuck, thinking about it, I’m not even sure if by “not shitpost and not quips” I should even mean humor/crack? because it’s not like the OP was clear about it in any way? maybe it’s just all that’s weird and tropey and not-canon-compliant? I can see the “everybody gathers in the main character’s stuff to smoke weed and weird shit happens” fic I got a chuckle out of some time ago being one of the dreaded tumblr-born shitpost fics that are supposedly ruining fandom by ensuring that fans stop thinking (?), but what about the “everything is the same but this one character is a catboy, not for any particular reason but just because” fic I’m currently following and loving? people have been joking and shitposting about catboys a lot on tumblr lately (I distinctly remember that the last catboy joke to pop up on my dash was the “I’m your catboy gf and I’m stuck in a wall” one...) and finding an always-a-catboy!AU initially got an amused smile out of me, so is the mere premise enough to make the fic just a joke/just taking a trope and running off with it/just part of a shallow trend? even when the author literally goes “oh shit just realized this is all a metaphor for neuodivergence and masking” in the story notes? unless writing a character who’s never explicitly stated to be neurodivergent in canon as a being literally or metaphorically neurodivergent in your fic is always shallow projecting or posturing issuefic... instead of, y’know, looking closely at the text and Engaging with it by interpreting it that way....

I feel all this ranting/venting might end up plunging into Why We Slash discussion territory now, so I better stop here.

anyway, in short, good to know I’ve been in fandom for years yet I’ve always been just a Fake Fan who Can’t Think and is constantly Doing It Wrong (by Not Being Transformative Enough, possibly). gonna do my best to stay exactly like that in the future <3

#... see THIS is why i don't write meta #fic is so much easier be it crack or not #ugh i feel i should probably delete this to avoid a giant headache but let's give it a try

0 notes

sutekiyomitsu · 7 years

Text

Sato Ryuji First Time in Taiwan: Gamebase Report

[TRANSLATION] 2.5D Actor Sato Ryuji’s First Overseas Meeting

Please do not repost any of my translations.

Having previously played Uchiha Sasuke in Live Spectacle Naruto, Zaizen Hikaru in Musical Prince of Tennis, and Kashuu Kiyomitsu in the musical adaptation of the popular webgame Touken Ranbu, the 22-year-old 2.5D stage actor Sato Ryuji chose to hold his first overseas fan meeting in Taiwan! The meeting happened on 3 September, Sunday, with both afternoon and evening sessions. There was no shortage of overseas fans from Japan and Hong Kong who attended the event. As the event started, Sato Ryuji jokingly greeted in English, “Ladies and gentlemen”, and the atmosphere was hyped up instantly.

The event venue

Fans lining up to enter the venue

For his first trip to Taiwan, the popular 2.5D musical actor Sato Ryuji was interviewed by the media beforehand, and when asked what his impression of Taiwan was, he answered, “I heard that Taiwanese girls are very pretty,” flattering many Taiwanese fans yet inadvertently giving them a sweet burden to carry. There were many attendees who were carrying itabags (T/N: Itabags, literally translated to “painful bags”, are bags that are covered in badges, keyrings, and other merchandise of one’s favourite character), especially for roles that Ryuji has previously played. When the host asked how he felt seeing all the fans gathered at the event in person, Sato Ryuji said that he was very touched that people dressed up to attend this event.

As this was his first overseas fan meeting, there was some concern if he was a little nervous about going on stage. But he confidently replied that, during the backstage broadcast a little earlier, the response was very enthusiastic, and in addition, Kuroba Mario, his good friend who has previously worked with him on musicals, had come to Taiwan twice to hold fan meetings, so he believes that he himself will not have any problems. However, during Kuroba Mario’s events, Sato Ryuji sent a video to greet the audience, but in Ryuji’s fan meeting, Mario didn’t send him a video. “There’s clearly such a huge screen here, why didn’t Mario send me a video?” He jokingly said that this made him feel a little unsettled.

After greeting the audience, the screening of the movie in which Sato Ryuji had his first movie role, “Please Please Please”, which depicts a young person who makes a living as a conman then followed. Being caught together in this “game” of deception, is there a way to welcome the future in this dark life? Not only did this Japanese movie deliver clean camera shots and impactful message, it also helped Sato Ryuji, who played Shinji who swindled people by making them fall in love with him, to develop new acting skills. The movie was screened in Japan at the start of this year.

After the quiet screening of the movie, Sato Ryuji immediately appeared on stage again, and sang the song that was in the movie “Please Please Please”, during which he forgot two lines, but this all made everyone smile.

Immediately after, he sang the ending song of the weekly drama “FIVE”, “Gakuen Tengoku”. Before he sang, Ryuji told the audience that for the next performance, he needed some participation from the audience, requesting that, “When I yell “Are you ready?”, could everyone respond by laughing?” On the first try, the fans yelled “Yeah!” but immediately Ryuji commented that they should have responded with “Oh!”, like a gorilla. After the performance, he humorously said, “Everyone can turn back to human now!” During the activities that followed, he would shout “Are you ready?” to fill up the free time, showing his boyish side.

The specially set aside “Photo Time”, which allowed fans to use their smartphones to take photos to commemorate the day.

After the singing segment, it was time for questions. The host said that at the beginning of the movie, there is a romantic scene where the male and female characters touch their foreheads together, with the waves crashing against the shore, and dream about the future together, which made them curious about whether Sato Ryuji is as romantic in real life as in the movie. Ryuji laughed and pointed out that even though the opening looks very romantic, [throughout the whole movie] he’s actually always using vulgar language, and the movie isn’t even the slightest bit romantic. Also, he himself is actually more of a rough kind of guy, and asked fans, “Do you guys prefer the romantic or realistic guys?” Fans responded that they prefer the romantic kind, to which the host jokingly pointed out that they were just changing their answer [because of Ryuji’s answer].

Sato Ryuji wearing a black blazer and trousers with a red T-shirt, sporting fluffy brown hair, appearing on stage.

Regarding the Kashuu Kiyomitsu Tanki Shutsujin that is coming up in October, because it is different from before when he was acting with other Touken Danshi, the host asked if he did anything to prepare for having to shoulder the whole performance by himself. Sato Ryuji shared that because they are playing swords, every sword has their own history and story, their own masters, hence he was wondering if there was a chance to protect the master by himself. He was very moved to finally get this chance at last, and this spectacle would be very different from the previous performances, but the actor who plays Iwatooshi, Saeki Daichi, assured him that in his past performances, he already had a stage presence that was equal to that of three people, so he would be fine. And if the audience’s reaction is a little cold, it must be all Saeki Daichi’s fault (this is an inside joke among the Touken Danshi actors.) [1] Besides that, when he saw the Kashuu Kiyomitsu Tanki Shutsujin main visual, he felt that it was very red!

Sato Ryuji shared that his favourite songs in Musical Touken Ranbu were “Tokenai Mahou” and “Show Me The World”.

Then it was time for a fan question and answer segment. Some of the fans were very concerned about how during the last performance for Live Spectacle Naruto, Sato Ryuji was cradling the side of his body, as if he was unwell, and wondered if he was feeling any better now. Sato Ryuji replied that at that time, he had spoken too fast, and because he squeezed out too many lines at once, he had not been breathing properly, so his side had been a little tight. At that time, he had felt a little uncomfortable, but he felt better now, and he wasn’t hurt.

There were also some fans who were concerned about how Punio was doing. Ryuji said that even though he really wanted to bring him overseas, long distance travelling would have given Punio a lot of stress, so Punio was left in a pet hotel instead. Lately, Punio has been lying on him like a big rock pressing down on his body, and also snuggling into his armpit and falling asleep, so he has been doing just fine.

2.5D stage actor Sato Ryuji’s first overseas fan meeting coming to a close

As the event came to a close, there were some small presents specially prepared for the attendees. Signed copies of “Gekkan Sato Ryuji” and Sato Ryuji’s personal photobook were given out. The fans were most excited about Ryuji’s specially prepared presents, which were different for the afternoon and night session. For the afternoon event, Sato Ryuji’s personal perfume was given out in a prize raffle, and those who won the perfume also had the opportunity to get Sato Ryuji to sign Kashuu Kiyomitsu Tanki Shutsujin flyers. Instead of perfume, for the night session, he gave away some of his worn clothes.

While waiting for the fans to collect their prizes, Sato Ryuji talked about how he had arrived in Taipei the day before and had eaten scrambled eggs with spring onion, and that he hoped that after the event he would be able to eat soup dumplings. He said that his favourite Taiwanese food is pineapple cake, and that he hopes to be able to visit Jiufen. At the end of the event, Sato Ryuji high-fived every fan to send them off.

Note:

[1] This inside joke started during the last 2.5D Cafe SHOWROOM with Kuroba Mario, Saeki Daichi, Oohira Shunya and Kitazono Ryo. Saeki Daichi told Kuroba Mario, the last Touken Danshi to sign on the cafe’s wall (Kitazono Ryo signed after him, but his signature was technically already on the wall), to use up all of the remaining space on the wall, which led to him signing a huge signature on the wall. Kuroba Mario then remarked, “It’s all Saeki Daichi’s fault”, which fans picked up and made into a meme. When the four of them tweeted after the end of the SHOWROOM, they all tagged their tweets: “It’s all Saeki Daichi’s fault”, and the hashtag trended on Twitter for a while.

More translations of articles about the event:

Dream ELZA

Translations of interviews by the Taiwanese media before the event:

HiNet Games Animen GNN News ETNews Taiwan Yahoo! News

This article was translated from Traditional Chinese. (Source: Gamebase)

#esther translates #sato ryuji first time in taiwan #sato ryuji #toumyu #please3 #musical touken ranbu #kashuu kiyomitsu tanki shutsujin 2017

34 notes · View notes