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suspiciouslybluemilktea · 3 years

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The Passed Out Princess Chapters 1-2

Pairing: My CMC (Uyu, Dan Byeol) x Suit Saeran

Description: On days 7-9 of Ray’s route, the player is denied food as “Saeran” makes his presence first known. But, what if MC fell very ill under this method of torture due to a medical condition? Sadly, my custom MC, Uyu (full name Dan Byeol), would deal with exactly this dilemma.

Content warning: Descriptions of throwing up, passing out, and meal skipping. Every food related issue mentioned is strictly medical, and based on my own condition.

This was written under the assumption that you have played Ray’s route in full, so route spoilers ahead! This takes place during the very beginning of day 8, and according to the timings and contents of the chat rooms, it would take place before Saeran cuts contact with the RFA and before he installs a camera to monitor MC in her room. It is timed to match closely around to when I’d get sick myself.

My CMC’s condition deals chronic with low blood sugar, meaning she has to eat to keep it up or suffer the consequences as seen here. It is not diabetes related, it is something she is born with as am I and is linked to more complicated matters I left out to keep it simple. Some symptoms include: growing light headed, severe dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and passing out. See all chapters

I wrote this with flexibility for whichever HC for Saeran you follow (DID or BPD), because whether or not he has one of the following, Rika has drilled it in his head that Ray and Saeran are separate entities, and Saeran views it this way. Consider it written the way Cheritz writes him, with nothing exactly too set.

To make things easier for myself, I’m uploading multiple chapters on each post, chapters only separated by lines. Here is 1 and 2

Ping!

The sound of Dan’s phone alerted her to rise and greet the day with a new chat room open.

As the morning sun took its place in the clear blue sky, the little woman sat up in her big bed, bangs sticking out in all directions as her head thumped with a dull pain. Hunger induced pain, she noted, as her stomach felt empty.

Despite the beauty of this early morning, the light pouring through the windows creating a rosy glow which engulfed the princess room; there was no beautiful light shining on the brunette’s new situation, seeming so dreary and dim.

Uyu still found herself wrapped up in this place, whisked away to a castle tucked deep within mountains known as Magenta. Every corner of the building was constructed brick by brick with a beautifully ornate architectural design, but the bright exterior was only a façade. If she was left caged like this for long, what would become of her? Driven to insanity, perhaps she’d attack and claw at the walls which confined her, unable to turn her anger to Saeran, the real victim in all this. The “savior” made it clear she was the true ruling figure who lurked about as the moon rose, the mastermind behind this place’s pain and suffering.

The night before, after being so kindly introduced to “Saeran”, this golden-haired angel confirmed herself to be quite the wicked witch of the west indeed, and it took everything out of Uyu to not call her harsher names to her face.

Mint Eye was hell redecorated to wear the guise of heaven, but pretty gardens and saccharine words could not fool her. Because Dan wore no wool over her eyes, the savior had no intention of allowing her to live long enough to become the new narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”; and she had no shoes to click together at the heel to wish her way home with who she came here for originally.

Just as Ray’s suit did, he changed, flipping like a light switch.

Saeran, the name V previously called him by, did succeed in giving her a good fright, his attitude being the least thing she expected to see after Ray’s earlier sobs over the phone.

Uyu was mainly focused on one solid question after their encounter, though. Just what did that “cleansing” entail in full detail? What did this place do to him, to make him weep and beg for a warm hand to hold one minute, only to push back and try to scare her the next?

It was as if he was caught, dragged by the feet somewhere inescapable, a pit damp and dark down under; rising from a shivering grave cold to the touch.

If it weren’t for her position, she wouldn’t have allowed it.

Now more than ever, this room built on the foundation of fantasy and delight felt like a birdcage which barely allowed her to wiggle an arm through its bars. She relied on her song, her sweet words which Ray claimed to tickle at his heart and hold a power over him like no other before. Her goal, of course, was to use this for good, influencing him to learn to appreciate and care for himself like he should. But now, she felt unable to do even that much, not that she’d give up trying.

Saeran wished to dismiss her and her actions entirely, evident from his need to spew the fact that he bestowed upon her the label of being less than a person, his toy. His play thing.

That sick twisting she felt pooling in her gut upon first hearing the term “cleansing” seemed all too in place.

Ray, as sweet as her prince charming was, had a knack for leaving out important details about this museum of wonder. To her best guess, it was done to avoid panic as none of what went on here could be viewed as normal, or ok. He only briefly mentioned things like the “elixir”, such as on the night V arrived to spiral this place’s plans into chaos.

That was the night she could officially mark a great importance in staying, despite the vast network of lies.

Uyu wasn’t entirely stupid, she had an idea of what the elixir might be a while back, but it was still hard to process regardless.

Saeran threatened to give her one of these cleansing ceremonies...and said he could “draw out the maximum pain in the process”, telling her whatever happened to him hurt. A “no duh” moment indeed, but it was confirmation.

Ray suffered, for no reason other than he was too enwrapped in his blooming feelings for her, something that shouldn’t be taken as a negative but was. It displeased the savior that his chains which bound him by the ankles began to jingle with his new yearning to take flight.

She couldn’t allow herself to lie down and give the savior the satisfaction of breaking her, not when she still had so much to do, and not when Saeran and the RFA were at risk.

As the cool night-time air blew around them, feeling its whisper through her long locks of hair, Ray opened up about Mint Eye’s beliefs as a sanctuary for the “weak”, who had no choice but to lock themselves away to avoid further hurt.

He clearly viewed himself as someone in this category. Weak. But Saeran? Saeran shoved and shouted, which felt like a complete opposite to Ray’s whimpers and pleading. He even went as far as to accuse her of manipulation, of treating Ray like a puppet as she watched him dance to the harp she plucked.

Looking past his outburst and itch to watch her squirm, there stood a man seething with hate sparked entirely by twisted lies and his own fears. He gave himself away rather quickly as he attempted to say she messed with “hisna vefeelings” for some “big plan”.

She had to trust that there were boundaries he wouldn’t cross, being so close to her and forceful...and that was where her panic truly lied. But for now, she’d bank on the idea that he just wanted to scare her, staying alert in case he went too far. There were vases around from Ray’s various gifts that could be used as a weapon during the extreme. Unlike her, Saeran had no fighting skills either, but currently she was a bit too ill for those measures.

For once, a room so pink made her feel neither cozy nor at home.

Uyu’s fuzzy morning vision was then attracted to a black blob hanging on the doorknob. With a little eye rub, she made it out to be a dress, and a rather pretty one at that. In the way it was cut, it would expose much of her shoulders and upper back, the top front of it connected to a bow tied around the back of a neck piece with strings of fabric; like an attached choker. She could only assume it was a “gracious gift” bestowed upon her from the man she saw take Ray’s place. Apparently, he has a thing for black.

Her little device chimed again, and then once more, third time giving her the last push of annoyance she needed to reach over and respond to the opened chatroom.

She sighed with relief seeing Seven was the person active online, as she could now pester him with questions about what he was seeing on his end of the fight. They typed away, Uyu expressing concern for both of the hackers as they discussed Ra-Saeran’s new careless and aggressive tactics to snag him a victory.

As time passed, Jumin joined to ask questions as well, mainly circling around the governmental commendation from the Prime Minister to recognize the RFA for their charity work. Uyu stuck to her gut and pushed against the idea of it being a complete positive.

While both V and Seven acted oddly around the idea of the commendation, the RFA was also just a small organization which had only held two parties previous to Rika’s “passing”. The award was too fishy to trust in her judgment, especially now that she understood things going on around here weren’t at all what they had seemed to be.

Mint Eye wasn’t the only organization she was caught in that held its secrets.

After a bit of talking, Jumin agreed that the prime minister’s reasoning had to be figured out before any final decisions could be made. Everyone logged off, Seven returning to the battlefield and Jumin to stitching in his car.

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The need for food grew worse.

Uyu showered and changed into the outfit provided…not having much of a choice to do otherwise unless she wanted to rewear old clothing. She felt down and sluggish as she dressed the way her toy maker willed, the dark frills of her attire tickling against her thighs as her step dragged. She was still ok enough to make herself look presentable, even if done at such a pace.

Her hair changed to a solid dark brown color as it took in the shower water, the gold ombré reaching her tips returning upon giving it a blow dry, making sure Saeran would have less to scoff next he saw her. She wasn’t aiming to avoid his crude comments, but instead trying to make herself feel good. Call her smelly all he wants, she knows she isn’t.

Saeran was aiming to play into her insecurities, maybe full well knowing she had so very many of them as he tried to wind her up. The least she could do was confirm his lies to be lies in the ways she knew how, if not for him then for her. She couldn’t allow him to figure out what made her gears stop, whether his words were true or not. This was no game of knife throwing, and she was no target.

11:00 AM crept up on her as she moped around quietly in her dollhouse, waiting for Saeran to come and try to take a good yanking on her marionette strings.

Dan sat upon the bed as the empty-headed feeling and banging in her temple raged, shifting to lay down fully and make herself more comfortable. If she stood for too long, she’d sway and wobble as her vision turned to black, purple and green swirls, momentarily clouding both her sight and mind.

Despite her numerous texts and occasional calls, she still heard nothing from Saeran. Not a peep.

She was growing restless as well as worried for him, and what would become of her as she continued to go unfed.

Her phone buzzed, shifting her attention over to it groggily, eyes half lidded as she wanted to sleep off this sinking feeling. Soon, she’d start to go down like the Titanic as lunch time acted as her iceberg.

Uyu hoped it was her self-proclaimed master, only to let out a grumble seeing that it wasn’t. Instead, it was Zen who had logged on.

She chatted with him, trying her best not to voice her ever-growing discomfort from skipping last night’s dinner as well as that morning’s breakfast, lunch time now creeping just around the corner.

After a quick talk, she’d call Saeran again...as uncomfortable as that conversation would be, it was her only viable option to kill the onslaught of nausea.

As they talked for a while, Yoosung joined the conversation as well….with talk of food; stew he was in the middle of making to be precise. She felt her stomach churn and rumble as the need for rest fell over her like a weighted blanket, being the only escape from the inevitable vomit now building up inside.

She logged off within another couple of seconds as the hot sweat began.

Dan swallowed thickly as her stomach went haywire, guts twisting, coaxing her to run to the toilet and empty out the water she could at least keep herself going on from the bathroom tap.

Leaving her phone on the bed, she rose to her feet best she could, stumbling till she reached the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. There, she fell to her knees, pulling her long hair back and away from her damp face, lifting up the toilet seat before her.

Within a mere moment, she felt the contents claw at the inside of her throat with a burning sensation, attempting to break free. She shuddered as her body suddenly fell in temperature, before allowing whatever her tummy could offer up to slip past her lips, color in her face all too faded away, displaying her illness. Gagging and choking noises echoed throughout the small room as the rather clearish liquid flowed from her mouth, tears from the discomfort blurring her vision as she blinked them away.

She stayed like that by the toilet for a while, throwing up a couple more times before making certain that event was over for the time being. Uyu considered herself extremely lucky that none was able to touch her or end up in her hair, but not nice to say vomiting wasn’t new to her. She knew the tricks.

Oddly, when something like this would happen, it gave her a tiny amount of strength back. It was strangely relieving, although emptying her stomach further. Her tummy was able to untense a tad.

She blew her nose and wiped her eyes before giving it all a flush down.

A fast teeth brush followed before she stumbled over to bed where she had left her phone. She fiddled with the RFA app until she could reach Saeran’s contact profile. Trying not to let the dread of being ignored again wash over her, she dialed up his number, both nervous and praying this time for a response.

After that last fit was over, her condition would move her into another stage, passing out being the only thing to come next without the blood sugar spike she needed.

The ringing went on for what felt like an eternity as she groaned and pressed her face into the pillow.

“Pick up...pick up damn it please pick up…”.

Uyu wished that she had made a bigger fuss over this earlier rather than attempting to swallow it and wait it out. Being distracted by “the savior” and Saeran’s screaming was something she shouldn’t have allowed herself to do in the midst of endangering her own health. What was she thinking? She knew it would reach this point, it always does if left unchecked. She internally cursed herself for not speaking up more assertively.

After another moment, his angry voice finally came through the speaker and she sighed softly with relief. The last she had heard from him was at four in the morning.

“Feeling this lonely and desperate already, hmm? Tch...what makes you think you have the right to contact me over and over again when I’m doing important work unlike you?”

She huffed on the other end, which he paid no mind.

“All you do is fiddle around like a good for nothing. You didn’t seem so happy to chat with me last time we spoke, but now you’re all eager and ready? You’re just itching for another visit aren’t you? Impatient little princess~.”

He let out an airy chuckle, finding her repeated acts of calling him rather amusing.

“Don’t worry. I have play time all planned out for you soon, you pest. I’ll bother you ten times more than you ever bothered me-”

She cut off his angry rambling, mumbling quietly as she spoke.

“Saeran...can you please come here? I’m not well right now and I don’t know how much longer I can keep myself functioning...I already threw up-”

“Speak up, you complainer! Seriously? You want to see me so badly that you’d put on an elaborate show? Princess...you can’t win any sort of sympathy from me by acting like a brat. Ugg, I’m going to hang up now. I’ll be imagining the million ways I can punish you for this later, stupid toy. I’m busy! Too busy for a bug like you to understand! You waste my time-”

“Wait please...please come here...it’s harder for me to explain over the phone. I...mentioned this problem earlier..please…”

And she had, briefly attempting to bring it up as he invaded a chat room between her and Jaehee.

“Begging now?”

He took on a sad tone of childish mockery as he continued.

“Please please please...please come see me... AHAHA! You airhead. I know what your medical records look like, and therefore I know you’re spinning a lie. You’re not to be trusted just as my savior says. There’s nothing there pertaining to some sort of eating issue other than the fact that your weak little body can’t handle milk…‘Uyu’~.”

He teased at her chosen nickname, and while the irony was why it was picked, this was less than fun.

“Now quit whining over an empty stomach when it hasn’t even been a full day! It’s no fun to see you give up so fast!”

Dan tried her best not to slur her speech, the task assigned to speak up being too hard of one to follow.

“Fine...fine don’t believe me. But…..it doesn’t hurt to come anyways. Since you want to see me suffer….or whatever….”

“Or whatever??? Toy, if I come see you right now...you won’t like what you’re going to get. I haven’t an ounce of pity in me to give you if that’s what you’re searching for. I'm not the type to let you rest in my lap as I stroke your hair and tell you it will be alright, and I won’t give in and feed you. Instead, I’ll make sure you never wish to call me again.”

“...ok…”

“Ok? Ok?? Haha! ...ok then. Let’s see how pathetic you’ve become as you beg and plead to me in person, little actor. Playtime is happening earlier today than I had planned. Congratulations! I’m extra pissed.”

Call ended.

She let out a puff of air, dropping her phone down next to her before closing her eyes, not bothering to stand in preparation for his arrival.

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#suit saeran #ray mystic messenger #saeran x mc #Uyu #Dan Byeol #mystic messenger cmc

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down-thedrain · 2 years

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"this is the only way I can write lore" god yeah me too. anywayz

6, 8, 11, 17, 18, 30, 34, 35, 39, 40

THE STRUGGLE IS SO REAL YOU GET IT

6. are there any other preexisting characters that inspired an OC?

does real life dr**m count as a character. i mean ig since he wants his fanbase to ship himself w ppl so badly

to actually answer the question. i'm sure all of them have super subtle inspirations that i sort've subconsciously added on without really knowing it but specifically:

- the main 4 used to all be undertale ocs before i rebooted them and they still have very vague references to the aus i created them for. i don't really wanna mention which cuz just thinking about it makes me lowkey nauseous but it's definitely there

- similarly c4's based on grillby from undertale and c4 and java's dynamic is based on grillby's and sans's

- given how much avatar the last airbender inspires the pacing and writing style i wouldn't be suprised if requiem isn't at least partially inspired by the idea of the avatar (particularly with the idea of being a bridge between the spirit world [gods' and good/evil spirits' plane of existence] and the physical world [earth])

- like i said there's probably a lot of subtle references that even i don't know about djfkdhdk those are the ones i can think of off the top of my head

8. is there a certain song or playlist of songs you have that make you think of an OC/your story for them?

- here comes a thought from steven universe reminds me a lot of ruby/java

- regular lake and reviator lake make me think of swift and python respectively. these two songs make me very mentally ill

- fun fact! vysel was the result of me listening to lifetime achievement award by lemon demon on loop a trillion times and thinking "hey. what if that was an oc". but also kicks by barns courtney fits him so so so so so very well it makes me go stupid

- i just did a bad thing by bill wurtz also reminds me python which is funny cuz it sounds so Not like python but it just. works (particularly with the line "i just did a bad thing, i've ruined everything, and i've let the things i've ruined ruin me")

- dasher by gerard way also reminds me of java unfortunately. i think java would like gerard way nd probably mcr in general too lmao

- i could also sit here and talk about jack stauber all day but no one wants to hear that so let's move on lol

11. which character has been through the most design changes?

swift. easily. she used to took so different (and so worse tbh) it's crazy

ok remember earlier how i mentioned that the main 4 used to be undertale ocs. swift used to be from a completely different au. and her role/personality was completely different too. again i don't wanna go into details cuz i don't wanna remember my ut phase Ever but like. she used to have gray as a main color n shit and god her old design looked so ugly lmao

the main 4 all used to look so so different tbh. all of them has different clothes and stuff cuz i made their designs in motherfucking g*cha l*fe cuz i couldn't draw yet. (they all used to be part cat part demon btw. did i mention that i made these guys when i was 10.) but swift was the only one who went through a complete design overhaul cuz their design was That dogshit

(python does get an honorable mention in this regard because it used to be a girl but then i changed it cuz i had too many girl ocs. he transitioned in universe AND irl go figure)

17. who is your favorite OC?

ruby lol. i think it helps that she's the first ever oc i made period but also she just,,, ouhdjdhdjdh i really really like her design even though it's not the most interesting but she's so so so so friend shaped i wanna give her a hug irl. i project onto her the hardest so i feel very personally close to her too, she's the person i wanna be when i grow up. she's very easy to draw too, i don't have to force myself to draw her like i do my other ocs (not that i don't like drawing my other ocs but ruby is the one i go to the most when i have art block). and she's just a lil silly and she laughs and i don't make her wallow in her own sad backstory so when she really gets sad it feels so real and just thinking about her gives me the warm fuzzies :) i like her so much

18. who is your least favorite OC?

vysel. holy fucking shit. out of every oc i've ever made (for this universe of otherwise) i think he's the only one where i've actively given him next to no redeeming qualities cuz he doesn't deserve any. i don't wanna make him symathetic i want him to fucking die. his entire meta purpose is for me to vent how much i fucking hate e-celebs and how much i wanna see them fail. that's why he dies twice in the story he's just that fucking terrible

i do think he's fun to draw and write and i really like his contrast with python character-wise and how much influence he has over basically half the world and i REALLY like how java has a "don't meet your heros" moment with him but like. personality-wise i think i made him a little too hateable for my own good but. wtv it's ok

30. which OC has been the hardest to develop/design so far?

i remember vysel and especially swift were hard to design but i'd have to go with requiem. they're design is nooot veryy interestingg atm and while i have a good idea of how they fit into the story n such i just. i don't know how to write them. at all. and i never feel like focusing on them either so i'm stuck in perpetual hell lol

i think writing specific scenes with them in it would probably help but then that means getting into "season 2" of the story and s2 is a lawless land LMFAO

34. what scene that you've written/imagined is your favorite?

(okay here's the part where i go too way to hard in on responding lol)

python/vysel confrontation scene my heart goes out to you

it's set in the middle of the story and it sets the tone for both vysel's character and is basically the launch point for python's arc and like. it's the point where the story goes "oh shit we're getting serious now" and it sets the tone for the back half of season 1 and. please whoever's up there give me the strength to write this i'll go absolutely batshit

without fully spoiling everything building up to that moment, i do wanna say that python isn't a bad guy. not at all. but...

y'know. when you leave your life of endless work and ridicule from almost everyone around you, only to be forced to marry someone you don't even know at 14 (when it was born the world didn't see a problem with doing that). so you leave in hopes to find somewhere you can truly you call home, scamming and bartering for everything you have along the way.

and the you finally find that place, and you think that you'll actually be happy for once. and then some guy who doesn't know a thing about what you've been through makes you the laughingstock of the city. and you're fucking done being pushed around and forced to leave cuz everyone thinks you're a freak who doesn't deserve happiness.

so you stop the problem at its source.

and the audience and the rest of the characters don't know ANY of that shit. all they know is this: up until that point you see basically no genuine emotion from python, he just jokes and insults everyone around it and hopes that they hate him enough to never ask any personal questions. and everyone is used to that by that point. but then you see the anger, the heartbrokeness, the hell on its face when he sees the flyer and the characters don't understand why or what vysel even did but when python looks at them and says that this fucker has to die they know better than to try and stop him. and. and fuckenkasbwkdhwkevwkdhekev i go absolutely bonkers

i wanna save what's actually in the scene for another time though. i think it's better if the characters tell you what happened, not me.

if i ever do write it i'm posting it instantly this is the one aspect of the story i can confidently say i'm proud of

35. which OC would beat you up if they met you IRL?

vysel. i don't care that he's a whole foot taller than me i'm kicking his ass i'm grinding him into sawdust

39. what's your favorite part to draw on a certain character?

i love drawing ruby's lil dangling star earrings. i used to not draw her earrings but now that i have i'm not going back jfkdfhfkfh they're just so fun and they're so her yk

40. what's your least favorite part to draw on a certain character?

idrk? i designed all my ocs with the intention of being fun to draw

i have been wanting to do a map of python's body markings and that hasn't been very fun. i feel like i'm very very close to making them look like how i imagined them to look but it's been slow going unfortunately so there's that

and that's it WOO

#posts in a drainage system #oc tag #ua ocs :]#maybe i should fuck around and make a sideblog for these guys #strawb's tag

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londonspirit · 3 years

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Occasionally, Dan Levy will pick up his phone and send a text: “Can you believe it?” These messages are sent to Annie Murphy or Noah Reid or Emily Hampshire or Karen Robinson, former inhabitants of Schitt’s Creek, titular town of the series Levy co-created with his identically-browed father, Eugene. What Levy can’t quite believe is that a CBC and Pop network show that aired in the U.S. after reruns of The Young and the Restless became a no-shit international phenomenon and won every major 2020 comedy Emmy from Outstanding Series to Outstanding Contemporary Costumes, plus awards for the show’s four main cast members: Levy, Levy the elder, Murphy, and Catherine O’Hara.

Not that Levy has any qualms about the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Or, more accurately, the best thing he’s ever made happen: In addition to creating, writing, and starring as skeptical scion David Rose on Schitt's Creek, Levy occasionally directed episodes and sourced many of the award-winning costumes. But the endless wretchedness of 2020 is perhaps an inopportune time to publicly garner good fortune.

“What this year has done has opened so many people's eyes to so much of the social unrest that is happening in America and really forced people to learn more,” Levy says, sitting in the bland Toronto apartment the 37-year-old is temporarily renting until he can head back to LA. “Read more. Educate themselves more. Check their privilege more. And yet…” Levy’s magnificent eyebrows unfold from a furrow of probity to an arch of delight, and his mouth into a crooked tilde of a smile. “There are moments when I think it is important for your sense of self to also be OK to say, ‘Something good happened to me this year, and I worked really hard for it.’ And so did a group of really talented people that I love. You're kind of caught in this place where only you can talk about it amongst yourselves.” Levy’s conversations with his co-stars are couched in language familiar to anyone who doesn’t want to give off the vibe of an Instagram caption on a pandemic birthday trip to a private island: "Well, obviously, you know, this is not of much significance" compared to everything else that’s going on. Still, Levy has to acknowledge that, yes, a good thing did happen; after all, he says, “You're talking about breaking records at the Emmys!”

Since he began social distancing, Levy has engaged in something like a fame-offset program, matching his good fortune by taking, publicizing, and raising money for University of Alberta’s online Indigenous Canada course. Levy’s queasiness about his success happening with a 2020 backdrop seems to stem from goodness so pervasive he’s caught himself thinking, Am I going to seem too, like, sincere? (When I ask if he believes he’s a good person, Levy frets, “Is being a good person something you can proclaim? Or is being a good person something that someone has to observe about you?”)

And Schitt’s Creek itself is an oasis of kindness — it doesn’t seem coincidental that after a slow five-season ascent, the show’s viewership exploded in its final year as we quarantined with our own bad thoughts. Levy has said that the arc of the Rose family — a “Balenciaga” to “consignment Balenciaga” to “back to current season Balenciaga” story — is based on the question, “Would the Kardashians still be the Kardashians without their money?” To Levy, the answer is obvious: Yes, and they would be better for it because, he says, “There is a love to that family.” So of course when the Roses lose the fortune amassed from a video rental empire and are forced to move to a Canadian town purchased as a novelty gift, they learn what truly matters.

Levy’s father and collaborator, Eugene, who co-wrote Christopher Guest films Best In Show and A Mighty Wind, says, “There are people who work in the world of comedy where they like to push envelopes in terms of what they can get away with, but that may come at the expense of other people. If it's at all important to you to avoid then you, you know, avoid it.” With the notable exception of programs like The Great British Bake Off — Levy, naturally, used to host the Canadian iteration — it is quite a bit more difficult to be entertaining and kind than entertaining and cruel. But Dan Levy attributes some of Schitt’s Creek’s success to what he calls “a purity to the storytelling and the show that caught people off guard because it was so unexpectedly sincere.” “There was something badass about the fact that it didn't have the kind of edge that people had often equated with cable comedies,” he says.

Making Schitt’s Creek a source of goodness and light was an unrelenting crush for Levy. “How much anger and rage do I have to repress in order to get the light out?” he says, laughing and stroking his elderly dog, Redmond, so vigorously I worry about ginger fur getting on Levy’s David Rose-appropriate black and white JW Anderson T-shirt. “Um, at times a lot.”

When Levy was working on Schitt’s Creek, he was picked up every morning at 5 a.m. and driven to set, where he would rehearse and rewrite scenes. Next was making decisions about sets and wardrobe fittings for cast members like O’Hara. Moira Rose, the actor mother of Levy’s character with a grandeur as flamboyant as her choice of syllable emphasis, might have to go to meet someone who makes her feel exposed. Levy would supervise an outfit selection that functioned as a billboard for her emotional state. “How do you express vulnerability?” Levy asks. “Well, you put more clothes on, and more aggressive clothes on, so as to armor yourself.” Levy needed to approve budgets, which didn’t increase even as the show gained more attention. He would act and sometimes direct, and then be back in wardrobe picking out the right statement necklaces for O’Hara to wear to buy a used car.

After filming ended, Levy went to the writers’ room to work for a couple more hours. He’d get home at 8 p.m., quickly eat dinner, and write until 2 a.m. on some nights. Then he’d sleep for two hours and get in the car to go back to work at 5 a.m. When shooting wrapped for the year, Levy went into post-production, spending months in windowless rooms. Once a season was finally completed, preparation would begin for the next one. Levy charged himself with making sure every detail connected to each other and tracked with the personal histories he and Eugene had written for each character before the series began. Eugene can remember only one deviation from those bios during the entire run of the show. Originally, the father of motel employee Stevie had been a roadie for Fleetwood Mac before receiving a restraining order from the band; the detail was later transferred to the father of diner waitress Twyla, who was played by Levy’s sister, Sarah. Several times during the run of the series, Levy developed anxiety so literally paralyzing that his neck would seize up, forcing him to wear a brace and receive chiropractic treatments between scenes.

“Through every phase of Schitt's Creek,” Eugene says, “Dan had a very strong sense as to what it was he wanted the show to look like and what he wanted it to sound like and what the tone of the show was going to be and what the message of the show would be. He certainly makes himself responsible to make these things happen. He doesn't go with the flow at all.”

Total control let Levy create a perfectly realized world, from the menu size in the Café Tropical to the caws in Moira’s comeback film The Crows Have Eyes III: The Crowening. But it’s perhaps not the healthiest arrangement when the confines of quarantine feel normal to you. “Over the past six years,” Levy says, “I really haven't been outside that much.”

When he was a boy, Levy became so anxious that he did not want to attend birthday parties. He did not want to go to summer camp. He did not, in fact, want to engage in any social situations. Levy’s anxiety physically manifested as iritis, an inflammation of the eye which doctors feared would eventually take his vision. It was as if the anxiety that drove Levy indoors had then decided to draw all the curtains.

“I think that came from a deep-rooted fear of knowing that I was gay and not being able to be free,” Levy says now. “By the time I got to high school, when your brain is starting to catch up to your physical impulses, it led to a very confusing time. Because on the one hand, you are now being introduced to things like self-awareness and anxiety. At the same time, you’re becoming more and more savvy when it comes to hiding it.”

The escape was theater. Levy began writing, directing, and performing in school plays, including a student-run stage adaptation of Clue produced during a teacher’s strike. “I was starting to develop a sense of confidence by way of being able to entertain people,” Levy says. “It was like a decoy version of myself that I was putting out there to not have to live with the reality that when the bullying was happening — if someone was calling me a f----t or whatever it was — they were speaking the truth.” What a cursed blessing to discover you have a gift but to understand it as a distraction from who you really are and not as a true part of yourself. No wonder that Levy says of creating a persona — naturally, in the self-distancing second person — “Your sense of self gets chipped away. You lose sight of your own value.”

Levy had a ticker of fears scrolling through his mind broadcasting what might happen if people knew who he really was: “Fear of being ridiculed. Fear of being othered. Fear of exposing something that I think a lot of high school students at the time didn't have the tools to process properly, to make it comfortable for me.”

Then, when he was 18, Levy came out. Actually, his mother, Deborah Divine, invited Levy to come out, over lunch. Levy accepted, and was accepted in return. It was one version of an inflection point that Levy has explored in some of his most impactful work. In Happiest Season, Hulu’s lesbian Christmas rom-com, Levy delivers the film’s high point in a monologue; filmmaker Clea DuVall tells me, “I cried during every take.”

“Everybody’s story is different,” Levy’s John says to Kristen Stewart’s Abby, who is planning to propose to a woman whose family doesn’t know she’s queer. “But the one thing that all of those stories have in common is that moment right before you say those words, when your heart is racing and you don’t know what’s coming next,” John goes on. “That moment’s really terrifying. And then once you say those words, you can’t unsay them. A chapter has ended and a new one’s begun, and you have to be ready for that.”

On the Schitt’s Creek episode “Meet the Parents,” David’s future in-laws discover their son Patrick is gay before he can come out to them. “Did we do something wrong, David?” Patrick’s father asks, inadvertently head-faking homophobia before saying, “The thought that Patrick was feeling like he couldn't come and talk to us about this…”

Obviously not everyone who comes out gets the response they’re hoping for. But like Patrick, Levy had a happy ending sitting in front of him: accepting and caring parents wondering when their son was going to tell them he was gay and trying to respect his timeline for doing so. When I ask Eugene if it’s painful knowing that he could have potentially alleviated the anxiety Levy was feeling by approaching him sooner, he concurs. “I would have done things so much differently, you know?” Eugene says slowly. “I would have gotten more involved in talking about what was going on.” But he doesn’t know that it would have changed anything — after all, the flow goes with Levy. “Not necessarily that we would have gotten any direct answers,” Eugene says. “You can only get back what you get back.” (Levy confirms he was not ready to discuss his sexuality before he was; despite his parents’ openness and love, he had created Schrödinger’s Eugene and Deb in his head, simultaneously welcoming him and rejecting him at the news.)

Newly out, Levy went to college and began dating. However, he says, “I was not in any place to be of great value in a relationship.” Like David Rose, Levy’s pitch tends to ascend on the back half of sentences, making him sound like he’s interrogating his own thought process. “You then get into these habits where you're dating people who are totally wrong for you because they're seeking out people who are a bit damaged,” Levy says, “and you're seeking out people who have one foot out the door so that you don't actually give yourself over in any kind of way.” (After I mention that while watching Happiest Season, I wanted Stewart’s character to dump her semi-emotionally damaging girlfriend and leave with Levy, he says, “In this conversation, I'm brought back to many a relationship [where] ‘RUN’ was just, like, the subtitle flashing for about a year and a half of my life.”)

Dating, then, became another way to keep people out. “I really got to a point where I felt like if I didn't make an active choice to pull myself out of this shell that was becoming such a comfort,” Levy says, “I would not be the adult that I want to be.” He spent a summer in England, answering phones at the ICM talent agency as exposure therapy for speaking, unscripted, to strangers. A month and a half later, he auditioned to be a host on MTV Canada. Levy says it was “the ultimate exercise in pushing myself and getting myself out there. If I could get a job on television asking other people questions — which had previously been on the top five things that I would never want to do — this could be the final kind of exercise in changing myself for the better.”

Like Levy’s high school theater work, his success as a host was a gnarled little monkey’s paw of unfortunate wish fulfillment. He was charismatic on screen and became famous enough to travel to New York on the weekends and get into the clubs he wanted to get into. Levy also pioneered the now-prevalent televised after-show with his The Hills discussion series, which exists in the same tonal universe as Schitt’s Creek: sharp enough to make you feel smart for laughing at it, but warm enough that Lauren Conrad herself was a guest.

But much of the work felt limiting. The questions he had to ask celebrities were pre-negotiated with publicists and written by producers — as Levy notes, “No one wants to sit down with someone from MTV Canada and have a revelatory chat about life.” One of his last appearances before quitting was the MTV Movie Awards red carpet. “You could see a kind of judgment in the people you're interviewing,” he says. “They're not rolling their eyes, but you can feel them thinking about rolling their eyes. And I know that a lot of the times they were questions I didn't necessarily want to be asked if I were in that situation.” Pretending to be the version of himself he thought people would accept, Levy says, “kind of just didn't feel worth it anymore.”

You know the next part. Levy realized he could keep the traits people had responded to when he performed — his charisma, his humor — add sincerity, and still be compelling. He spent half a decade grinding out something that was truly of himself. And through Schitt’s Creek Levy became, his father points out, “one of the top showrunners in the entertainment business right now.” Eugene says, “After the [Emmys] broadcast I think there were probably some executives who — if they even remember us going in to pitch the show — are probably kicking themselves.”

Based on what he does next, Levy is now in the unique position of being able to calibrate how famous he becomes. It’s evening in Toronto, and Levy mulls the question over what simply cannot be good wine; when I ask what kind it is, he says, “Red?” Levy knows he could choose to stay behind the scenes and work on the ABC Studios projects he has in development. But Levy is also in the early stages of a romantic comedy he would star in. He worries that he wouldn’t be able to handle uber-fame with the aplomb his co-star Kristen Stewart does. When they went out to a dive bar while filming in Pittsburgh, he says, “I was just so kind of in awe of her confidence and comfort in herself. She's so at ease — [I say that] as someone who I think will always be on their journey to have that for myself.”

“Dan’s assessment is actually incorrect,” Stewart says later. “But what I have done is try to keep that experience [of fame] fairly insular, not make other people I’m with take on the weight of my own self-consciousness — or, God forbid, have someone think I’m up my own ass and loving the attention. It’s easier for me to pretend [people noticing me] is not happening, even though on the inside I still feel like the world is a big school yard of giggling onlookers. Are they laughing at me? Yes, no… Who cares.”

If Levy ever does find himself in the position of being Stewart-famous, she thinks he’ll be fine. “What I did notice was how absolutely wonderful Dan is with everyone,” she says. “He is so loving and gracious towards people that recognize him. The positive force he puts out into the world is clearly reflected in how people come back at him.”

What Levy is putting out into the world next: “I would like to date more,” he says, shoulders bashfully rising ceilingward. “Circumstance plays such a huge part in what we accept for ourselves. When you're doing something that you love it’s like, ‘I have a full plate.’ Even though [Schitt’s Creek was] super intense and even though at times I need a neck brace, it was never not inspiring, and it was never not thrilling and exciting and totally satisfying. So to [want to] make space for someone else…in a way, it is the ultimate filter. You’re basically saying, do I want to carve out the space in an already full and fulfilled life for this person? And a lot of the time, the answer is no. But it only makes it that much better when the right person comes along.”

For now, Levy’s plate is full of his multiple simultaneous projects. (He says there are more than three but few enough that you could count them on both hands, though he doesn’t want to talk about them in detail until there’s actually something to talk about — if Levy follows the Schitt’s Creek model, he jokes, he’ll “get five seasons on television before anybody sees them.”) Before he begins writing, Levy must make sure his entire house is immaculate. Even today, months after the series finale of Schitt’s Creek aired, Levy is negotiating the length of the “fuck”-blocking bleeps of syndication. But as we have all learned this year, not everything is under our control, even if we are Dan Levy. Stewart remembers him panicking as he tried to decorate a new home and realized none of the furniture he bought made any sense together. “The idea of him left and right showrunning and developing and acting and writing — and then his sweater closet confounding him — was very cute,” she says.

A certain amount of acceptance will be useful as Levy figures out how to follow up a beloved hit show. “The goal was to make sure that the first season was exactly what we wanted it to be,” Levy says of his Schitt’s Creek thought process. “To use the resources that we have as best as we can to get that season out there, so that we can go to sleep at night knowing that if people don't respond to it and it gets pulled off the air, there was nothing more we could have done.” Levy leans forward with a sincerity he’d surely second-guess if he were writing this scene and explains the daunting task of living up to yourself. “That’s the goal of anything I'm gonna do from here on out. It's just, try and do the best job you can. Try to make sure that you're loving it.”

#dan levy #daniel levy #bustle interview #such a beautiful interview #thoughtful and passionate and lovely #and just another of the many many reasons why I've fallen REALLY REALLY hard for this man #not only fucking gorgous #but also kind and GOOD and smart #long post #as in #really long post #SOWWY #but I wanted the whole thing on here #tw: anxiety #just in case

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wwounu · 5 years

Photo

Mingyu walks out with fresh clothes, sort of exposing his skin with his tank top and loose sweatpants, and when you analyse Wonwoo’s face you could tell he was trying to hide in something.

The male walks to the kitchen, side-eyeing you as he walks behind Wonwoo. You try and release the tension in the air, greeting, “Good afternoon.”

“Uh, good afternoon,” Mingyu awkwardly repeats back, nodding while trying to smile. Wonwoo groans at this.

“Just introduce yourself Mingyu.”

“So now you want me introduce myself — I thought you didn’t want me here in the first place-“ Wonwoo hisses and nudges him in the stomach harshly, “You bitch—“ He mumbles before speaking up and holding out a hand to you. “I’m Mingyu, Wonwoo’s roommate. Sorry about earlier, I was just riled up thanks to a friend…”

“That’s okay, people can get on our nerves sometimes-“

“Some more than others,” Wonwoo scoffs and Mingyu knees him on his back, and you can see Wonwoo’s teeth clench.

You, again, ignore their fight as you continue, “But I’m sure you’re really nice. Just, please don’t swear in front of a child next time… Anyway! I’m Y/N, Wonwoo’s co-worker.”

“Co-worker?” Wonwoo and Mingyu tilt their head in unison.

“Is… There something wrong?”

The duo look at each other in panic before waving their hands in front of your face, shaking their heads. “No!” Mingyu says.

Wonwoo continues, “I didn’t think I was just a co-worker to you, I’m hurt Y/N.” Wonwoo pouts and you pinch his cheek.

“Shut up. You’re my friend too.”

Amused, Mingyu watches the scene and butts in. “Yeah, I heard lots about you-“

The male kicks Mingyu under the table and Mingyu jumps back, unable to finish his sentence before walking to the fridge. Wonwoo mouths another ‘Sorry’ at you.

You quickly do a check on Minguk, who was watching Pororo DVDs (which Wonwoo told you that Goblin — Yes, you call her that too now — and her boyfriend gave to Wonwoo to help distract Minguk) and was very concentrated with drawing.

“He isn’t being a bore right?” Mingyu asks, shutting the fridge door and staring at the can of soda before prying it open. You shake your head and Mingyu nods, reaching for an orange this time, “Good, he can ramble on and on sometimes which is annoying.”

“At least I don’t talk about myself all the time, self-centred ass.” Wonwoo snaps back and you smack the male on the hand, shifting your eyes to Minguk before piercing your eyes back at him.

“It’s fine Mingyu, thank you.”

“Also, he rarely gets drunk but when he is, his mouth doesn’t stop.” Mingyu shrugs. “Take that how you want to.” And your mouth hangs open a little.

“Okay you’ve had your time can you just leave?” Wonwoo spits, swatting his hand at the younger and attempting to push him away.

“I’ll be in the living room with ‘Guk, nice meeting you Y/N, later!” Mingyu finally says as he walks and jumps on the couch, striking a conversation with Minguk before handing over an orange slice to the smaller (the cutest detail was when you heard Minguk call him Minggu).

In contrast, Wonwoo curls his fingers and exhales deeply, saying, “I wonder how his girlfriend deals with him…”

“Well, you live with him.”

“… Touché.”

You peep to see the pair in the living room again, and this time Mingyu had joined in colouring with the younger. “I wouldn’t think they were close.”

“Who, Mingyu and ‘Guk? Minguk comes here all the time when my cousin’s shift chanhges, so he’s used to Mingyu now.”

“He likes me more than you!” Mingyu calls out from the living room.

“Yeah right-“ Wonwoo mocks.

“‘Guk, who do you like more? Uncle Woo or Uncle Gu?” You giggle at Mingyu’s shortened nickname, wanting to hear the answer.

“Y/N!” Minguk answers, pleased with himself.

The other two boys’ jaw drops, and Wonwoo jokingly points at the door. “Get out.”

“Rude!” Laughing, you hit him on the head and sigh. “But I guess that settles it, I’m more popular than you two.”

“I’m his uncle!”

“I’m his teacher!”

“I’m his Minggu!”

All of you laugh and joke with Minguk too, which leads to playing games with the smaller, like hide and seek, duck duck goose and simon says in a compact place since three-fourths of you weren’t small like Minguk.

Amongst the playing, Wonwoo’s phone goes off from the kitchen. He excuses himself and jogs to his device, picking it up. You instantly note the freaked-out expression on his face and exits back into the living room without the phone.

“Who’s that?” Mingyu asks.

“Nothing-“ The phone goes off again, and Wonwoo instructs, “Just ignore it.”

“You sure? Is there something wrong?” Now concerned, you ask out of worry.

“Yeah ‘Woo, it sounds like you’ve been hiding some dirty business from us — Are you going to tell us you’re from the mafia now?”

“What in… Where’d you get that idea from Mingyu?”

“My girlfriend and I watched one yesterday and the best friend turned against them since he was working for the other mafia group.”

“… Oh.” Again, the phone blares out a vibration and Wonwoo sighs, ignoring the annoying noise.

“Yo ‘Woo,” Mingyu says, staring at his phone while letting his other hand be played by Minguk.

“Yeah?”

“Goblin is blowing up my phone for you to answer her.” So that’s what Wonwoo has been avoiding. “Shi- Crap, she’s calling me now.”

“Ugh, just give me the phone, I’ll talk to her.” Groaning, Mingyu tosses his phone to the older and Wonwoo steps away from the three of you, now sat by the window. He takes a deep breath in, and accepts the video call.

“ANSWER ME YOU FOOL.” Goblins face doesn’t look pleased at Wonwoo, especially with the items she’s throwing to the screen (even though it can’t hit Wonwoo).

“How’d you know that I’d pick up?”

“I just had a hunch. Plus Mingyu would tell you anyway so…”

“What do you want?” Wonwoo looks at his best friend, frowning.

“Can’t I talk to my best friend? What, are you too good for me? Is that how it is Wonwoo?”

“We’re not in a drama-“

“Or what, are you on some date with Y/N right now?” She jokes, and you hear, feeling embarrassed. It was more lucky that you couldn’t see Wonwoo’s appalled face, frozen and widen-eyed. “… OH.”

The man rubs a hand over his face, sighing. Gosh that’s awkward. “Date?” Wonwoo says, confused, “You’re too obsessed with my love life. She’s just a friend, nothing more.”

You don’t see, but he mouths, ‘She’s in this room right now, idiot’ and she mouths back ‘Well I didn’t know!’ ‘I hate you’ ‘You’re going to regret your words Jeon’.

“So can I talk to her? I’ve heard stories about her and I wanna meet this ‘just a friend’ of yours.” Goblin smiles through the phone and Wonwoo’s lip curls, tutting.

“… Sure.” Wonwoo sarcastically agrees, walking to you, Mingyu (who’s having a great time watching what’s happening) and Minguk. “Y/N, is it fine for my friend to talk to you? Sorry, she’s really annoying.”

“It’s okay!” You reassure, taking the phone from his hands and Wonwoo sits behind you on the couch, keeping a close eye on his best friend.

“HELLO YOU’RE SO PRETTY,” The girl squeals, unable to control her smile.

“Me? Oh gosh, thanks… You are too!”

“I can’t believe I finally get to talk to you! Call me Goblin, everyone calls me it anyway, no idea why.”

“Because you’re obsessed with Gongyoo?” Mingyu questions.

“Because Jeonghan calls you it?” Says Wonwoo.

“Goblin!” Minguk chirps.

“Ugh, whatever.” Goblin pouts. “I have so much respect for you dealing with those two, they’re a mess.”

“Trust me, I know.” You both laugh, ignoring the offended looks from around the room. “I’m Y/N.”

“Oh no need to introduce yourself, I already know about you.” Winking, Goblin giggles, which Wonwoo bites on his tongue before he could start yelling at the obvious girl. “You were the one to help Wonwoo be less scary!”

“Ah, I think Wonwoo needs to take the credit, not me. Same with Minguk, he was why the class like him so much now.” You smile. “Wonwoo talks about you a lot too. Especially your stories during high school.”

“We’re like siblings. We’re sisters!”

“We’re brothers,” Wonwoo corrects, adding himself into the picture.

“You’re too pretty to be a brother.”

“You’re no way pretty to be a sister.” Wonwoo sticks his tongue out, watching the hurt face grow on Goblin’s face.

“… We’re sisters. He even acted like one just now!” Goblin points, waving her finger around, which Wonwoo scowls as you giggle at their bickering.

Wonwoo stares at the screen for a bit, thinking to himself before commenting, “I think this is the first time you’ve been comfortable with a person so quickly.”

Goblin realises this too, her eyes perking up. “Crap you’re right. You’re the first person I’ve liked really quickly Y/N-“

“Besides Gongyoo.” Wonwoo and Goblin say together.

“I can hear that!” Another voice joins from Goblin’s side, questioning who it is.

“Jeonghan, Wonwoo and his friend is on, do you wanna say hi?”

“That’s her boyfriend.” Wonwoo explains in your ear, which makes a lot of sense.

“Hi Wonwoo!” A head from the back pops up, waving an arm as Goblin leans to the side, “Hello Oreo!”

“Oreo?” You ask.”

“He’s saying hi to you,” Wonwoo whispers, “I dunno, he gives strangers nicknames a lot. He’s weird.”

And of course Wonwoo is lying, but it would’ve been more award just to say ‘It’s my codename for you and now everyone uses it and if I told you that you’d begin to think that I’m talking about you with others and get the idea I have a crush on you which I do but I’m not ready for that rejection’.

“Hi Goblin!” Mingyu’s voice surprises the life out of the two of you, suddenly teleporting behind the couch with Minguk in his arms. You tilt the phone up to show them on screen. “I need to have my spotlight too,” He reasons to the two of you.

Goblin instantly waves and squeals once more, mushing her cheeks and nearing herself to the screen. “MINGUK AUNTIE GOBLIN HAS MISSED YOU!”

Mingyu pulls a face at the diss and pouts in a very childish manner. “Fine I’ll go then!”

“No don’t Mingyu, hello Mingyu!”

“Too late, I’m leaving-“

“Minggu don’t go!” Minguk’s bottom lip trembles, holding Mingyu’s cheeks with his chubby hands.

Out of nowhere, he pecks his lips on his nose with watery eyes and Mingyu — even Wonwoo — are surprised by the action. “Where did that kid learn that…” Wonwoo says under his breath, smiling in amusement.

It certainly worked on Mingyu. “Okay, Uncle Gu will stay.”

And from the phone there was more cooing and squealing babbles from the girl, almost looking like she’s going to faint from the cute situation.

You honestly had no idea what chaos was going on, but you wouldn’t mind living with it everyday.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT PART FOURTEEN — Intimidating!Wonwoo x Easy-Going!Reader

i really enjoyed writing this, uncle woo and uncle gu uwuwuwu [CHECK OUT SEOKMINS AU HERE!]

one • two • three • four • five • six • seven • eight • eight ½ • nine • nine ½ • ten • eleven • eleven ½ • twelve • thirteen • fourteen • fifteen

masterlist

#wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #wonwoo au #wonwoo texts #wonwoo imagines #seventeen #seventeen texts #seventeen imagines #seventeen wonwoo #seventeen opposites attract au #kpop #kpop texts #kpop imagines #intimidating!wonwoo

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dreamsofpilots · 6 years

Text

The Lodger Pt. 3

Tyler Joseph x Reader

Additional characters: Brendon Urie, Dallon Weekes, Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Andy Hurley, Joe Trohman, Gerard Way, Josh Dun, Frank Iero

Things are heating up at The Gerard Way Boarding Home for Lost Musicians.

Warnings: Cursing, nudity, drinking. Y’know. The usual.

AN: Hahaha my hand slipped and now this...good luck. I even surprised myself, like, I didn’t plan on this happening you guys. I swear. This chapter is very long so only read it when you have time. I know some of you are still going through finals, so please don’t let this distract you.

Brendon drifted in the pool, his bum firmly planted inside of a ring floatie as his arms and legs spread through the water, paddling gently. His hair flowed out behind him when he tilted his head back to let his crown feel the coolness of the water on this hot summer day. His large black sunglasses hid his expression, and a beer drifted aimlessly beside him incased in it’s own floatie shaped like a pink flamingo.

I sat at the edge of the pool, letting my feet dangle in the water. I found myself lost in thought as I watched how the sun caught on the waves, casting ripples against the skin of my toes.

“Hey Brendon?” I asked.

“Hmm?” he hummed, reaching for his beer without looking.

I bit my lip anxiously before continuing, “What do you think of Tyler?”

Brendon shrugged, causing his floatie to squeak against his skin. “He’s alright,” he answered. “Why?”

I didn’t reply for a moment, and the silence seemed to speak louder than words because Brendon lifted his sunglasses away from his eyes, squinting at me. “Why?” he asked again, this time drawing it out.

I shrugged. “Just wondering.”

I didn’t look up, but I could hear the squeaking of the wet plastic and the splashing as Brendon slipped out of his pool donut and swam towards me. Soon, the man was drifting under the water, his hair flowing like some sort of male siren before he emerged out of the water in front of me, wearing his signature smirk.

“Does someone have a crush?” he cooed, placing his sunglasses on the concrete next to me.

My face immediately heated, and I struggled to speak. “What?! No!”

Brendon lifted himself out of the pool slightly, maneuvering in between my legs, hands on the outside of either of my thighs. Water rolled down his chest and shoulders, dripping from his hair into his eyes. I leaned back slightly from how close he suddenly was. I could even see his long eyelashes clumping with water.

“Tell the truth,” his voice dropped. I felt myself shiver, not unpleasantly.

Brendon and I had been pretty close with each other since we moved into Gerard’s. We somehow just clicked. Him, with his outrageous but kind hearted personality, and me with my more reserved self, but hiding an adventurous spirit inside. We cuddled often, and I’ve slept in his bed more than a few times when the nightmares would get bad. He wouldn't even question it, and just lift his covers, allowing me to cower against him. So having Brendon be this close wasn’t that unusual.

“I- I-” I gulped, unsure of how I felt or what to do.

Brendon tilted his head, staring at me with his large emotive eyes, a glimmer of mischief within them. “Don’t tell me I have something to me jealous about...”

He slowly inched his face closer to mine, a smirk still playing on his lips. I knew he was just teasing me, but there was something about his tone that made me unsure. His breath wisped against my lips, and I felt my own hitch in my throat.

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke both of our attention. We turned our heads to see Tyler standing there, looking extremely uncomfortable as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Um, I, just wanted to let you guys know that I’m heading out for a bit. I’ll be back later.” he said, unable to maintain eye contact with either of us for very long.

Brendon sunk back into the water, “Sure man. Have fun. Be safe.” His grin was almost too cheeky. I narrowed my eyes at him, but if he noticed, he didn’t act like it.

“Right,” Tyler locked eyes with me, then quickly looked away. “Um, bye.” He gave an awkward wave and then scurried out the back gate.

Brendon laughed as the gate clicked securely behind Tyler. He swam back to his floatie, diving under before popping back up in the center of it, reaching for his beer that was still floating by.

“What was that about?” I asked, unable to hide my flustered and slightly annoyed tone. The man shrugged again and I gave up with a groan. Lifting my feet from the water, I stood, brushing off my shorts as I did so. I collected my towel and turned towards the house, noticing Andy and Pete coming out. They were both carrying towels of their own and clad in their swim trunks.

“Hey,” Andy acknowledged softly.

I smiled at the both of them as I walked past, eager to be back inside. Joe and Dallon were jamming together in the living room when I walked past. “Where’s Patrick?” I asked.

“Taking a nap,” Joe answered, not dropping his riff for even a moment.

I nodded and headed up to my room, making sure to take quiet steps as I went past Patrick’s room. Sure, there was always music playing in this house, but that was something we all took comfort in, so I didn't want my footfall to be the thing that woke him up.

Tyler’s side of the bedroom looked so tidy compared to mine. His bed was made, and his keyboard was tucked away neatly into the corner. My side however, had clothes and pages filled with tabs strewn all over the place. I sighed, Tyler probably hated sharing rooms.

Deciding to do something about this, I began to clean my room. I thought about vacuuming but remembered Patrick and promised myself that I would do it later. About halfway through cleaning, my phone started buzzing in my back pocket. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw who it was.

“Hey Gee,” I answered.

“Hey! How are you?” he asked, his voice held a pleasant smoothness.

I debated how much I wanted to tell him, because technically things were fine, but there was still some awkwardness between me and Tyler, and then Brendon suddenly acting strange this afternoon.

“Things are...fine..”

Gerard laughed, “Why does your tone say otherwise?”

I shrugged before remembering that he couldn’t see me. “I don’t know man, it’s just getting used to having another addition I guess.”

“Tyler’s not giving you any trouble is he?” The man slipped into his overprotective voice.

“No, no,” I assured him, “Nothing like that. It’s just, an adjustment is all.”

“I see. As long as you’re okay.”

“Yes Gee, I’m fine.” It was always nice how much Gerard cared about all of us. Made me feel like there was actually a person who loved me in this world.

After making sure that I was, in fact, alright, Gerard asked how all the others were doing, and I let him know the gist of how they were. Then, after a while of catching up with him, he got to his reason for calling. “So I actually have another motive for calling you,” he began.

“Should I be worried?” I asked jokingly.

“Nah, not at all. I was just wondering if you could do me a small favor?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“In my bedroom, there’s a black notebook in the nightstand. I was wondering if you could take it to my buddy’s club for me?”

I told him I could, and after working out a few more details, we ended our call. My phone buzzed again as I made my way downstairs, but it was only a text from Gerard with the address of the club.

It felt strange entering Gerard’s room. It was like a forbidden space and I felt as if I was sneaking around. The room itself was simple, but reflected his love of comic books as well as his other interests. It still held a bit of his scent, which I found strangely comforting. It was Gerard that had rescued me from my old way of life though, so I suppose it made sense.

“What are you doing?” I heard Brendon ask from behind me as I reached into Gerard’s nightstand drawer.

I turned to look at him, seeing him lean against the doorway, rubbing a towel over his head. He gave me a seductive look, though I’m not sure if he was conscious of it, and I felt my cheeks color.

“Gerard asked me to run an errand for him.” I said, squeezing by the tall man. He followed me down the hallway to the living room.

It was just Dallon in the living room now, watching tv, and Patrick was awake and rummaging around in the kitchen as I headed to the door to put my shoes on.

“I was thinking of throwing a little party, the other guys are in, but I wanted to make sure you were cool with it too?” Brendon gave me his award winning smile.

I shrugged, “It’s fine by me as long as it’s not too big and crazy.”

Brendon smirked and I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn’t waver though so I sighed, giving up.

“Just don’t break anything!” I pleaded as I headed out the door.

“No promises!”

Maps said that the club wasn’t too far away, and the weather was nice so I decided to hoof it, popping my headphones in to have something to jam to as I walked.

When I finally reached the address, I scoffed a little bit at the name written in red neon letters against a black painted building. ‘The Scorpion Room.’ It was a bit cheesy, if I was honest, but if this person was a friend of Gerard’s, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I expected to see a bar as well as a stage when I opened the door. What I wasn’t expecting was to run headlong into Tyler as he tried to make his way out of the venue.

“Oh gosh,” he said, gently gripping my arms to prevent me from toppling over, “Are you okay?”

I was a bit stunned to see him there, and felt something flutter for a very brief moment in my stomach before deciding to shake it off. I gave him a reassuring smile, “Yeah, I’m fine. Wasn’t expecting to see you here though.”

Tyler released his hold on me, shoving his hands deep into his jeans pockets. “They’re having an event here in a few weeks where local bands can play a few songs. I signed my band up. I figured it would give me and my friend something to work for and also give us time to prepare.” He hunched his shoulders a bit, as if he were uncomfortable with this decision.

I tapped his shoulder briefly, almost instantly regretting it, feeling like I had broken some unspoken barrier between us. “I’m sure you guys are going to be great. I always love hearing you play since you’ve been around. I can’t imagine what the whole shebang would look like.”

Tyler’s eyes widened for a moment as he held my gaze in his. Then he ducked his head, bringing a hand up to twirl a lock of dark hair. “We’ll see,” he mumbled.

“I’m here on an errand for Gerard, are you heading back home?” When he nodded I continued, “Would you mind hanging around for a bit? We can go back together.”

Tyler shrugged, “Sure. I’ll just wait outside.”

When he stepped out the door, I took in my surroundings. The club reminded me of a speakeasy, but with a stage on one side, and a bar on the other. The two sides were separated by a copper colored metal rail, still leaving plenty of standing room in front of the stage.

There were red couches in the far back, which I assumed was some kind of VIP section, and the ceiling had mirrored tiles that reflected the lights from the bar and the stage, helping to illuminate the dark space more. Overall, it looked like a cool place.

No one was around, so I wandered over to the stage. There was a drum kit and some amps, as well as other equipment on it. Though, they were kind of scattered about, not quite set up for use. I noticed a white paper posted on the wall next to it, and when I investigated it further, it looked like a sign-up sheet for the event that Tyler had mentioned.

I scanned through the names, recognizing a couple from the local scene. Then, I looked at the most recent name at the bottom. ‘Twenty One Pilots,’ was scrawled somewhat sloppily in red ink. I smiled to myself, this must be the name of Tyler’s band.

“Can I help you?” a gruff voiced asked from behind me.

I spun around in surprise. A man stood behind me with short cropped black hair, and tattoos that crawled up his arms and neck. I could make out what looked to be a scorpion on his neck, but something about it seemed a little off. I could now guess how this place got it’s name though.

“I-I’m looking for Frank? Gerard sent me...” I stuttered. Though this man wasn’t very tall, he was quite intimidating.

The man nodded, smiling. It brightened up his features instantly. “Ah, Y/N? Gerard told me you would be bringing his notebook.”

I nodded, handing it to him. He took it and flipped through the pages, smiling to himself.

“Thanks for this,” he said when he finally looked up. “I would have come to get it myself, but Gee said that you guys at the house can be overwhelming sometimes.”

I chuckled, “Some of us are a handful.” I couldn’t help but think of Brendon and Pete, the worst offenders out of all of us.

Frank nodded in understanding as we fell silent. After a few moments where I wasn’t sure what to say, Frank saved me by holding up the notebook in a wave. “Well, thanks kid.” He said, turning away.

I watched as he walked through a door next to the bar to a backroom. Once he was gone, I turned back to the sign-up sheet. Should I sign up too? After deliberating with myself for a while, I decided against it. Busking on a street was one thing, but playing in a cool venue with talented local bands on the roster? There was no way I was ready for something like that.

When I went back outside, Tyler was sitting on one of the concrete parking bumpers, staring at the sky as it began to color for the sunset.

“Ready to go?” I asked, causing the boy to jump at the sudden break in silence. He nodded, rising to his feet and dusting off his pants, and we both started walking in the direction of home.

For a while, we were silent as we walked, nothing but the sound of our shoes scuffing against the sidewalk between us. I stared down at our feet, feeling myself zone out as I looked at Tyler’s gray beat-up Vans. They suited him somehow, a shoe that was normally worn by creative types and the rebellious. Yet, his were simple and worn out, well loved shoes. They reminded me of himself, or at least what I had come to know of him so far, which wasn’t much. Tyler seemed like a simple guy, one that you wouldn't pick out of a crowd usually. But from what I had heard of his music, he was incredibly deep and creative, and there was something so beautiful under that simple exterior. Those beat up Vans somehow represented to me how damaged he was, but that he kept trying to be himself.

Or maybe they were just shoes.

“Are you nervous about doing the show at The Scorpion Room?” I asked him, after drawing myself out of my spiral of thoughts.

He looked at me as if he was surprised that I chose to speak with him. His eyebrows were raised, and his mouth pressed into a tight thin line before he looked straight ahead somewhat thoughtful. “Hmm, I suppose so.”

I waited for him to elaborate, and after a few more moments, he seemed to catch on that I wanted to hear more.

“It’s always scary revealing yourself to a room of strangers. Music is so personal, and these people could take these songs that I’ve written and completely eat them up. Or, they could turn around and tear me down and take this part of me that I’ve decided to share with them and completely destroy it.” His brows furrowed and he fell quiet. He looked as if he was fighting with himself over divulging so much to me.

I hummed thoughtfully, drawing his eyes to me. They were reserved but also held a light within them. “I think you’re incredibly brave,” I said. He tilted his head in question. I met his eyes, “I had the chance to sign up too, but I didn't. I don’t even play in front of the boys back home that often. It’s hard for me to reveal that side of me, because as you said, music is so personal. It’s my essence handed to you on a plate, and it’s all that I have, but you might not even like the flavor.”

Tyler nodded, looking at me with an expression that I couldn’t read, his cheeks dimpling with his small smile. “Yeah, that’s exactly the feeling.”

“But you’re great.” I continued, and he shook his head. “No, you are! I love listening to you play your ukulele. I haven't heard you sing much, but what I've heard is unlike anything else out there right now. And it’s so real, and relevant and-” I realized I was rambling, “anyway.”

Tyler shrugged but smiled again, replying with a soft voice, “Thank you.”

We fell quiet, but our eyes met, and I felt something connect between us, like we had come to some sort of understanding. I felt myself get slightly lost in his warm brown eyes as I had earlier in my own thoughts.

“Would you want to come see us play?” he asked, tugging at his hair nervously.

“Of course!”

He smiled at me, and I was sure I was beaming at him. I finally felt as if we were becoming somewhat friends. Though, there was a tiny voice dancing in the back of my skull screaming that that wasn't enough. Being friends wasn’t enough.

I stumbled slightly, tripping over an invisible rock. I ended up bumping my shoulder with Tyler’s, apologizing profusely. He just chuckled, nudging my shoulder back. Warmth pooled in my tummy before I became distracted by the rhythmic thumping that resounded though the air.

Our heads snapped up, seeing that we had made it home, and before us was complete and utter chaos.

Music blared from the open windows and doors of the house, the lawn was littered with toilet paper, cups and other random things. Bodies flowed in between the house and the front yard as they danced, and drank, and rioted around. It looked like some sort of frat party. Yeah, there were some girls around, but it was mostly dudes bro-ing out.

Tyler and I ducked as someone used a slingshot to fling a water-balloon across the yard at some unsuspecting group of people. Shouts rose up from them, and laughter from others. I heard something crash inside the house and cringed.

Fucking Brendon.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Brendon exited the house, holding what looked like tall shot glasses of milkshakes, probably spiked. As I was about to yell my displeasure at this “little party,” I was distracted by hearing an uproar of laughter that sounded oh-so familiar. I turned to see Pete and Joe gearing up with the slingshot.

They let loose a balloon and it soared through the air, Tyler and I turning to watch it’s trajectory, before it landed square in the chest of none other than Brendon Urie. His tray of shots fell to the ground and he squealed in displeasure. “My milkshakes!” he shouted, holding his hands to his chest.

Pete laughs, “We don’t need any more boys in this fucking yard!”

Brendon flicks him off before his eyes land on me. His face lights up in a smile, “Oh hey Y/N!” I began stomping towards him and his face immediately fell noticing the anger roll off of me in waves. He held his hands up in defense when I made it in front of him. “Before you say anything, look how much fun Patrick is having!”

He pointed inside the house, where I saw Patrick with a cup in his hand, dancing and laughing and enjoying himself. I growled, Brendon knew my weak spot. I turned and glared at him. “Fine,” I snapped, shoving my finger into his chest, “but you’re cleaning all this up tomorrow. By. Your. Self.” I broke up my words and poked him each time for emphasis.

He nodded and smiled, taking me into the house and handing me a drink. Patrick saw me and whooped in excitement, drawing me in to kiss my cheek and hug me. “Dance with me!” he yelled in my ear over the thumping bass pounding from our very large speakers. I allowed myself to get lost in the moment with him and my friends, only realizing much later, and when I was a lot more inebriated, that I had lost track of Tyler at some point.

It wasn’t long until my vision was blurred, and I giggled at literally everything. I spent most of my time with my friends besides Tyler. He must have run off somewhere.

As the party progressed, I found myself drawing closer, and closer to Brendon. He was my best friend in this house so it wasn't really a surprise, but grinding against each other as we danced was pushing the friendship boundaries a little. I was long gone with all the alcohol in my system, but the way Brendon looked at me, the way his warmth felt against my body, and the way his breath against my cheek as he drew me so close to him made me feel, it was just what my poor drunk mind wanted.

The flashing lights bounced off his cheekbones and his eyes were darkened with drunkenness or lust or something, but I didn’t care. I wanted him. As Brendon’s fingers splayed across my hips, and his pelvis pressed tightly against mine, he ducked his head slightly as if in question. Our eyes were locked, my inhibitions were gone, so I reached up and cupped my hand on the back of his neck, drawing him down into a bruising kiss.

Fireworks erupted behind my closed eyelids, and the taste of liquor on Brendon’s tongue was so tantalizing and delicious. More. More, I wanted more. Cheers erupted around us and Brendon smiled against my lips before pulling away. He downed the rest of his drink, and I followed suit before going to get us refills.

My head pounded in a very uncomfortable rhythm. I groaned, shoving my face against a pillow as I tried to recall what had happened last night. I remembered walking home with Tyler, and that something that we had shared. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew I liked it. Ever since Tyler had moved in, I felt myself drawn to him, and I was so curious to see why that was. Whether it was a crush or simple admiration for his music.

Then I remembered the party, my friends enjoying themselves. The music was good, the alcohol was better. Then there was Brendon-

I gasped and sat up in bed, only to see that I wasn't in my bed. There was also the disturbing fact that the blanket had fallen off of myself to reveal my very nude chest. I gasped again, wrapping my arms around myself in some semblance of coverage. A headache rioted against my skull and I groaned, feeling a body shift next to me. I didn’t want to look. I didn’t want to know. But I did, I glanced over, warring within myself as I did. My eyes fell on a familiar fluff of brown hair, with a very familiar tattooed arm draped over his head.

Oh no. No no no no no. No. I could not have landed in Brendon’s bed naked. To make sure, I lifted the rest of the blanket off my body to look underneath. Yep. There were no pants or underwear on those legs. I then shyly glanced at Brendon’s legs. At least he had underwear on.

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. I can’t believe I slept with Brendon of all people, my best friend. I didn't even remember any of it! Guess this meant my crush on Tyler had to go out the window. What will I do when Brendon wakes up? Will we pretend nothing happened? Will he expect more?

A sound drew my eyes to the open bedroom door. Tyler was in the hallway, cringing after having stepped on a red solo cup, his hand gripping the banister. Our eyes locked, my breasts still exposed. I watched as his cheeks colored, before he glanced at the man who shifted in the bed next to me again. Tyler’s eyes didn’t return to mine, but his brows furrowed and a muscle worked in his jaw.

I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until Tyler scurried away, not making a sound, and not looking at me or asking any questions. He had come to some conclusion and fled the scene, taking whatever chance I might have had at being something more to him along with him.

I sighed, letting my hands plop onto the comforter and looked again at the peacefully sleeping Brendon.

Shit.

Pt. 4

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mariacampesi · 3 years

Text

Mini Research Paper

Maria Campesi

📷

Nicholas Nixon

Nicholas Nixon was both on October 27th, 1947 in Detroit Michigan (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021). He is best known for his black and white images of portraits and documentary type photos in which he utilized an 8x10 inch camera lens which were no longer used when he started photography (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021). It was said that Nixon liked to use these prints because they were made right from the large format negatives, which allowed the photo to keep its clarity and integrity (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021). Nicholas Nixon said “When photography went to the small camera and quick takes, it showed thinner and thinner slices of time, [unlike] early photography where time seemed non-changing. I like greater chunks, myself. Between 30 seconds and a thousand of a second the difference is very large” (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021).

Nicholas Nixon had started doing his own independent photography in 1974, he also taught photography at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston (National Gallery of Art, n.d). He has received many awards for his work such as the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and his art has been displayed in many museums around the world (National Gallery of Art, n.d). In the 1970’s Nicholas Nixon started his journey with portrait photography and social photography and then focused on the photo’s humanity and emotion within it (National Gallery of Art, n.d). Nixon had also published many books that involved his work and involvement in photography. In March of 2018, Nicholas Nixon was key suspect in an investigation where he was accused of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment, it is said that he would ask his students to pose naked and made very inappropriate comments during his class sessions (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021). In April of that same year his work was pulled

from an exhibition in Boston due to these allegations (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021). This left Nicholas Nixon’s name as a bad taste in one’s mouth.

Nicholas Nixon worked on his piece, New Topographics, from 1974 to 1975. These photos were shot with a gelatin-silver contact print 8 x 10-inch camera in different parts of Boston. All of these photos were in black and white. Nixon focused on the landscapes and city views from above as if he were in a helicopter. Each photo in this body of work is harsher than the other. By saying this, I mean in regard to the different shades of black and white.

In the first image I chose from this piece, View of Mother Church and Christian Science Center, Boston, 1975, it is as clear as it can be. It was also taken with a gelatin-silver contact print 8 x 10-inch camera. The city seems to be almost dead in this photo, there is not a person around and it almost allows the beauty of this church to be even more captivating. The church is in the center as if it is to be the center of attention and its bright white and sort of dark background really brings it forward. In the second image I chose from this piece, View of North End and Wharf Area, Boston, 1975, taken with a gelatin-silver contact print 8 x 10-inch camera, it seems as if there is a haze over the city which makes the photo feel so gloomy and cold. The contrast of the photo makes the white stand out the most especially in some parts of the photo in the corner there seems to sometimes be no color or clear view of that part at all. Although these photos are from the same body of work, it gives off a different feel and setting. Many of the other photos in this body of work show many similarities and differences. It makes me wonder what these photos looked like If they were taken in color. There is also not one car on the road with makes me wonder what happen at that point in time for this to happen and what time of the day was it?

Nicolas Nixon worked on his piece, People, from 1978 to 1982. These photos were also shot with an 8 x 10-inch camera in the South with a gelatin-silver contrast print. Nixon focused on groups of people for this piece, all shot in black and white. it seemed that there was always at least one person who had looked directly into the camera in this body of work. You can tell the time period and locations just by the textures of the buildings and the clothing. The first image I chose from this piece, Yazoo City, Mississippi, 1979, was taken with a gelatin-silver contact print 8 x 10-inch camera this seems like it would be a brother sister type of photo. Neither of the subjects seems to be happy that they are taking a photo together. The black and white of this photo allows you to see the details in the texture of the stone that are resting their arms on.

The second image I chose from this piece is Ashland, Kentucky, 1982, displays many children most of which are looking in the camera. This photo gives off an angrier presence to it, not one person is smiling. The children all seem to have dirt or some kind of substance on them. Being that there is one adult, maybe they were all reprimanded for something they did together, and they were not happy about it. Again, the contrast in this photo like most of Nicholas Nixon’s photos really make the bright parts of the photos pop.

It is captivating to see that all the images that were shot even in black and white were have so much expression behind them. I chose these two bodies of work because they are very different from each other. although they have many of the same qualities within all of the photos in each piece. the photo settings and emotions behind them are different in a way that captures the viewer in a different way than a colorful photo would. The eyes of the subjects almost draw you into looking at the photos much like color would do.

Bibliography

National Gallery of Art. Artist Info. (n.d.). https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist

info.24699.html#:~:text=Compiling%20search%20return,Biography,University%20of%20New%20Mexico%2C%20Albuquerque.&text=He%20currently%20is%20a%20professor,College%20of%20Art%20in%20Boston.

New Topographics. Fraenkel Gallery. (2020, November 19).

https://fraenkelgallery.com/portfolios/new-topographics.

People. Fraenkel Gallery. (2020, November 13). https://fraenkelgallery.com/portfolios/people.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, January 4). Nicholas Nixon. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Nixon.

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whyamilikethjs · 7 years

Text

Champion - Brett Talbot x Reader

Pairing: Brett Talbot x Reader

Warnings: Hot tub smut and good shit (unprotected sex (wrap it up before you tap it up))

Requests: @captainpinkkissesceblr-blog

A/N: I’m working on finishing as many requests as I can and I’m starting a schedule of posting so if you have something you want written message me a request and I’d be happy to write it:)

I sat on the cold metal bleachers while the cool breeze bit at my nose, signaling for me to wrap my coat tighter around my body. The bright lights lit up the lacrosse field and I watched as the opposing teams go head to head. It was one of the few times that Devenford Prep and Beacon Hills Highschool versed each other and it was also one of the only times I was able to see Brett.

Brett and I have been dating for almost 8 months now. Although, there was a little problem… no one knew. Brett and I had multiple reasons to keep our relationship a secret; it started with us meeting through Liam and we instantly hit it off, I decided it was best if we didn’t tell anyone since Liam was one of my closest friends. Then adding on the factors of going to different schools, the whole werewolf dilemma, and everyone believing Brett was a giant douche, we finally agreed to wait to tell everyone.

I sat between Mason and Malia as I watch Devenford Prep crush our school. Brett took on almost everyone he came across and was scoring with ease. I watched as Brett’s muscles flexed under his uniform as he ran. I studied the details of how his jersey hung off of him and how beautiful his facial structure was even under his helmet. I melted into this trance until I felt someone to my right grab onto my arm. I whipped my head around and came eye to eye with Malia who was looking at me confused.

“Are you good?” She asked with furrowed brows.

“Yeah, just getting into the game that’s all,” I said, keeping calm. For the past few months, I’ve grown better at lying so nobody could pick up a change in heartbeat so Maila simply nodded before turning back to the game.

It wasn’t long before the game came to an end with Devenford taking a large victory over Beacon Hills. I sat in place on the bleachers, giving Mason and Malia a stupid excuse of why they should go see the pack and I stay back. I rummaged through my phone until the crowd gradually dismissed and I swayed down the stairs of the bleachers, walking towards a very cocky Brett.

“How’re you feeling? You sure played hard.” I complimented.

“I feel great, so great in fact that I think you should come back to my place to celebrate my victory.” Brett offered with his award winning smirk written across his face.

“Oh really? Well, Liam invited me to Scott’s party after the game and I think you’re going to need to persuade me on why I should hang out with you instead.” I teased as I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

Brett leaned down and I felt his hot breath next to my ear, sending a shock wave of goosebumps over my body. “I have a hot tub.” Brett simply said. I grinned at his offer and at that point, he knew he had won me over.

The car ride back to Brett’s house was quick thanks to his habit of speeding. Brett led me through his house and out to his backyard where laid his hot tub. As we reached the warm water I came to a halt.

“What’s wrong?” Brett asked cautiously seeing my confused look.

“I don’t have a swimsuit.” I simply stated which made Brett laugh.

“Baby, we don’t need clothes.” He said seductively as he began to strip off his uniform until he was completely naked. I watched as he emerged himself into the water and leaned back, resting his arms on the edge of the tub.

“Waters great,” Brett added as he tilted his head back, enjoying the feeling of the warm water. I slowly began to strip down, immediately regretting the decision when the cold night air hit my back.

“It’s cold,” I complained.

“It’s only cold when you’re standing out there, the longer it takes you the colder you’ll get,” Brett replied not bothering to look up at me. I finished discarding my clothing and finally stepping into the water, my skin tingling at the change in temperature. Brett finally looked up when he felt the water move and he looked me up and down as if he was drawing a picture in his mind.

“Now doesn’t that feel better?” Brett asked rhetorically.

“I’m still cold,” I complained once again, knowing very well that I was being a pain in the ass. Brett stood up and moved so he was standing in front of me, his hips were still in the water while his entire torso was exposed.

“I think I can help fix that.” He growled before crouching down to press his lips to mine slowly but still filled with passion. I straightened my back so he didn’t have to lean that far down but it quickly resulted with him sitting down and me climbing on top of his lap. Our lips moved in sync, filled with more fire and I slowly pulled away to catch my breath. I looked down to see his normally bright, green eyes, now darker and filled with lust. He leaned in once again to kiss me, biting down on my bottom lip and allowing his tongue to explore my mouth. I moaned in his mouth as a gripped onto his hair. I felt Brett’s member rub against my thigh and I slowly began to grind down on him causing him to groan. He gripped my hips, his fingers digging into my sides as he moved me against his crotch. Brett rested his forehead in the crook of my neck, starting by peppering kisses down my neck, then proceeding to bite down on the flesh of my neck, sucking on my sweet spot making me moan loudly. He nibbled at my ear as he sped up his movements. The feeling of the warm water and the heat of Brett pressing against me gave me bliss but I still desired more.

“Brett…” I moaned out.

“What do you want?” He asked grabbing my face so I was looking in his eyes. His pupils were blown and I could see traces of sweat in his hairline.

“I want you inside me,” I said in almost a pleading tone. Brett grabbed my hips and picked me up, enough to lower myself down onto him. We both moaned at the feeling of pleasure. I began rocking my hips against him and Brett continued to guide me. I looked down at Brett who’s eyes were squeezed shut and I could see fangs beginning to sprout of his gums. I placed my hands on his shoulders for more leverage and slammed my lips to his. Brett moved his arms to wrap around my body tightly and he pulled from my lips and lightly pressed his forehead to mine. Brett picked up his pace of thrusting up into me and I picked up my movements as well, slowly growing uneven and sloppy but filling with pleasure nevertheless. The knot in my stomach was wound tighter and tighter with each powerful thrust. The jets from the hot tub rubbing against my back, applying, even more, pressure making me closer to the edge.

“Brett, I’m close,” I whispered in his ear causing him to growl. He immediately began sucking on my neck again which was the right amount of pleasure to make me unravel. I arched my back, my chest pressing up to Brett’s as we both came and rode out our highs. My body shook as I came down from the violent wave that came crashing down. Brett took a deep breath before pulling out and placing a kiss to my lips.

“Are you still cold?” Brett asked, raising an eyebrow making me chuckle.

“Actually, I’m very hot now.” I corrected him.

“Yes you are, but I think it’s time we got out.” Brett offered and I nodded. We both jumped out and Brett tossed me his jersey to tell me to put it on as he put on his shorts. I threw his jersey on and it came to my upper thighs but enough to cover.

“Damn, you look really good.” Brett complimenting me and I could feel my cheeks redden. He moved over to me and pulled me closer to him by my waist as he flashed a smile down at me.

“(Y/N)?” I heard a voice call and Brett and I both looked over to see Scott, Stiles, and Liam looking at us with wide eyes.

“Uh, what are you doing here?” I asked worriedly.

“Well, you didn’t come to my party and you said would, and Stiles said he saw you talking to Brett so we decided to see if you were here,” Liam answered. Each of the boys stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

“Well, you found her. Need anything else?” Brett asked.

“So uh- you guys like a… I don’t know, a thing?” Stiles stuttered as he fidgeted.

“Yes, we’ve been together for a while,” I said quietly. Liam marched up to Brett angrily and I took a step back from the two.

“You… just treat her well.” Liam fizzled out from anger to an overwhelmed look on his face. He softly spoke his words and Brett stood there with crossed arms.

“I promise,” Brett said seriously but with sincerity in his voice. Liam nodded before gesturing for Stiles and Scott to leave.

“They really care for you,” Brett stated and I nodded, watching as the three walked off.

“I know, although I like to use the word overprotective,” I smirked earning a laugh from Brett.

“So what about round two for your winner?” Brett asked and I grinned.

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” I winked as I walked back to his house. Brett followed me and opened the door, letting me in and laying a hard smack to my ass and I turned to look at him playfully, he had his signature grin plastered on his face.

“This outta be fun.” I purred to him.

#brett talbot imagine #brett talbot one shot #brett teen wolf #brett talbot smut #brett talbot #teen wolf smut #teenwolfsmut #teenwolf #teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf one shot #cody saintgnue #cody saintgnue smut #cody saintgnue one shot #cody saintgnue imagine

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rebeccaueditor · 4 years

Photo

Flanelle Magazine - Unity Issue #22 Interview: Rebecca U Photos: Eva Al Desnudo Eva Losada a.k.a. @Eva.Al.Desnudo, Highsnobiety and SHOWstudio contributor, the British Fashion Awards’, ‘New Wave: creatives’ nominee, and global fashion week voyager, who has worked with Loewe, Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas Y-3, discusses quitting your day job, and the creativity displayed in backstage coverage. Before Eva Al Desnudo, your professional work history started with another profession, poles apart from what you do today. Detail the transition from working as a food safety auditor up until this point. I have always loved fashion and photography, I used to draw up designs when I was a teen and have always been taking photos for fun, but during that time in Spain, it was difficult to make a living with my interests, so I decided to study ‘Food Science and Technology’ and ‘Engineering’. The stories of my aunty living in London in the 80’s inspired me to move here. In London, I took up some courses in styling and started to go to London’s Fashion Weeks’ to feel the atmosphere. I brought my camera along to take some photos for fun, I was super shy in the beginning. Soon after starting, a magazine from London contacted me through Instagram, asking if they could publish my images. I was surprised, this was when I realised I wanted to do this more, as many people were telling me my photos were good. The season after, I was covering London Fashion Week street style for Bullett magazine (NYC) and L’Officiel Manila. Using the holidays from my day job, I decided to go to Paris Fashion Week. Quite soon after that, a season later, I found myself working for Highsnobiety magazine, who I am still a regular contributor to. They believed in me since the very beginning, I will always be thankful for their support. It was becoming more challenging to use my holidays from my day job as a food auditor to travel to NYC, London and Paris. Quite soon into my career, I was confirmed to work with Highsnobiety on a regular basis to cover all the fashion weeks for them, this opportunity did not make me think twice about quitting my day job. How do you define backstage photography?

Backstage, you are shooting models, the incredible styling and makeup is already there for you to capture, sometimes, especially smaller brands, photographers can have more freedom to move around and you can create amazing editorial like images. I love to play with the resources available, be the most creative as possible and challenge myself. I usually shoot backstage without a flash as I like to play with shadows and the existing light on location, which sometimes can be a bit difficult, but always fun. Backstage, many people are working at the same time, with just a few minutes to have everything perfect, makeup, hair, styling, photographers, all this is happening, usually in a tiny space, which can also be challenging. When I’m selecting a photographer for backstage, I consider their skill, style and demeanour. How much importance is placed on these points of consideration?

I think it is very important, if you compare the same backstage coverage from various photographers, you can see the difference. In a small environment, with the same models, you cannot imagine the numerous styles of backstage coverage which could result from the shared situation, this is also the beautiful part of it. Some people shoot with flash, others use natural light, I like to shoot moody images, with strong shadows. Some photographers request the models to act natural, others want them to pose in a more traditional way, some others may ask them to smile, to be serious or moody. I love seeing the different perspectives and styles from photographers who are shooting the same subject and environment.

What personal rules do you follow when you're shooting in an environment where a million-and-one things are going on behind-the-scenes?

I do not follow rules; I just follow my eye, as you said, a million things are happening so you need to be ‘awake’ to capture the right moment, you have to be fast and alert. I love to shoot the models getting their last details done in the line-up, as this is more natural, I also play around with the varied backgrounds available to capture different angles and scenes, on the other hand, it’s great when the brands set up an area for first looks with a clear background and good lighting, the result looks like an editorial shot in a studio. You travel six months a year to shoot globally, besides London and Spain, where else in the world would you call home?

Definitely Tokyo, I can say this is the only city I feel very sad when leaving. I love the city, the best part is the people there, I am lucky to have a group of friends who take me out every day to the most amazing performances, parties and dinners, so the city definitely feels like home. I think the meaning of friendship is very similar to the Mediterranean one, so many times I feel more at home in Japan than in London. NYC is a bit the same, people are very friendly and they are open to meeting new people.

The experiences of shooting an editorial in Tokyo must be quite different to shooting in the United Kingdom or Europe. How does production and team coordination differ between countries or continents?

It is different, although recently with the spike in globalisation, access to social media and people often moving from place to place, the teams are made up of people from all over the world. I love shooting editorials in Tokyo, especially on location, Tokyo has so much to offer. I think production and coordination is similar to other countries due to the reason I stated before, the differences you can find are in the things which are external, for example, requesting permission to shoot, dealing with model agencies, lighting and rental places. The first barrier is the language, it is always helpful to work with a local to set up the shoot, also, the process in Tokyo can take a bit longer compared to London or NYC. What is the future of Fashion Week? Do you foresee any changes in the way it runs?

This is a very common conversation nowadays, everybody, brands, press, buyers are talking about it, trying new ways of showing collections, some doing ‘co-ed’ shows, as nowadays, it does not make much sense to do separate shows, also, some people are using technology to show their collections. Every season, more and more brands are moving to Paris, it feels condensed in the city. I still think the shows are the most beautiful experiences, the music, the lights, to view the clothes in full motion, digital does not feel the same to me, plus, we have to admit, we all love going to fashion week, the travel, dinners, and parties, are things which are hard not to love. If we think about the impact of fashion week, which occurs four times a year, in many cities, questions about whether it is sustainable do arise. I personally think this ultra fast fashion we have nowadays is going to have to slow down, we are constantly overexposed to new content every day. We are not able to fully appreciate it. There are some designers who have six collections a year, the question is, do we really need that many? The last few years you see people in the industry working towards sustainable production, the topic of ‘upcycling’ has become a common subject during fashion week.

The reality of a photographer trying to make their bread and butter from this kind of work, any insight you would like to share?

The last few years have seen a huge rise in people taking up photography, it has gotten to a point where people are working for free or for very little money, the pay doesn't even cover travel expenses, the acceptance of this is causing the business to go down. Season after season, I always have a bunch of publications asking me to ‘work’ for them, they want you to shoot five to six shows a day, by the end of our conversation, I discover there is no budget or they offer something so little which does not allow you to earn any money after expenses. The problem is that there are so many people out there available to shoot for free who are just looking for an Instagram tag from a big publication, hoping this would eventually make a living for them sometime in the future, usually, this is not the case, if you do not give yourself value, nobody else will. A couple of years ago, we created the “No Free Photos” movement, to try to fight this situation, if people continue to accept work free of charge or for a low rate, it is going to be impossible to better the situation for photographers.

Street style is no longer your focus, what encouraged the transition? Street style has changed a lot, before we used to have the ‘unwritten rules for street style’, we used to respect each other by allowing space for others to shoot, not jumping on somebody else’s photo. Respect is now lost, the number of photographers outside the shows had increased by 80%, it was becoming too difficult to capture clean and candid images. In the past, everything was more natural, with the rise of influencers, this natural element has been lost, the people who are paid to dress head to toe in one brand lowered my interest in street style. I also started gaining more jobs in editorial, campaign and backstage shoots, which is what I am currently focused on.

My first exposure to street style snaps was through The Face, i-D's 1980's 'Straight Up' and FRUiTS magazine. Who are your favourite photographers and/or coverage?

I think street style coverage like FRUiTS is very interesting, street style in Japan is still one of my favourites as people really dress like this on a day-to-day basis, they are very creative, they use a lot of vintage garments, transform them, customise them to create very individual, unique looks. It is probably one of the very few places that do not follow the masses in regards to fashion. I admire Nick Knight, Araki, Irving Penn, Diane Arbush and Tim Walker, they are all very different, these artists are a continuous source of inspiration for me, as well as movies.

Who is Eva.Al.Desnudo today? What are you focused on in the year 2020 and onwards?

I am now a more mature me at work, I know what I want, and what I do not want, I am working hard to achieve the direction I am currently aiming for, I plan for big changes this year. I am very focused on editorial and campaign work with brands and magazines, as well as workshops, like the one I had recently done for Apple, I will also continue doing backstage during all the global Fashion Weeks I attend.

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westphotolukedas · 4 years

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Nadav Kander - The Meeting

210220

Nadav Kander (Born 1961) is the first photographer that I cite in conversation about which practitioner has influenced me the most. He was born in Tel Aviv and based in London, although he does not regard himself to be British. His photographs are a part of the collections at the National Portrait Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum.

Kander began taking pictures at 13 years old with a Pentax camera. In the South African Air Force, he processed film and printed aerial photographs. In 1986, he moved to London where he currently resides with his wife and three children. Portraiture and landscape photography are the main genres that he is best known. I have an appreciation for the consistency in his career, which has traversed 30 years across fine art and commercial platforms. He has photographed celebrities, models and a multitude of other sitters. In 2009, his 52 portraits published in The New York Times Magazine portrayed President Barack Obama and his closest associates. It is the largest portfolio of work that the publication has ever showcased. Later that year, Kander was awarded the prestigious Prix Pictet Earth for Yangtze - The Long River (2008). The shortlist of nominees included Ed Kashi, Andreas Gursky and Naoya Hatakeyama. The list of his other awards is extensive and includes a World Press Photo Award 2013 and 2014, Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society 2015 and Outstanding Contribution to Photography from Sony World Photography 2019. (Lens Culture, 2020)

During the World Press Photo Exhibition 2014 at the Southbank Centre, London, I was particularly taken by Kander’s 3rd Prize entry of actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. The photograph first appeared in New York Magazine as a staged portrait to commemorate the British actor. Ejiofor, played a black man kidnapped in 19th Century America and sold into the slave trade in the film 12 Years a Slave (2013). He received an Oscar nomination for the role and won Best Actor at the BAFTA awards. Actors have a trained ability to respond to a camera. He appears poised yet relaxed. Kander’s characteristic turquoise key light is apparent with a red back light to highlight the outline of the sitter. The lack of a fill light leaves a proportionate amount of this face in an enigmatic shadow. This low-key lighting design gives the photograph a sombre tone. Emphasis is placed upon Ejiofor’s eyes, which reveals the complexity of his role in the film. As a viewer of the work in person, I felt a closer affinity to the subject when it was close to life sized. Its considered forms had a significant presence akin to a drawing, painting or sculpture. (World Press Photo, 2020)

The Meeting (2019) is a book that acts as a homage to Kander’s career, with photography from his early foray into the genre to illustrious works recognised within the fine art and academic communities. The annotations add insightful anecdotes about each piece and the man himself. The opening, entitled ‘The Triangle’ outlines a relationship of personal interest to me between sitter, photographer and viewer.

‘I don’t photograph to tell stories. I photograph to make stories. The viewer, if they hold their gaze long enough, becomes the author of the work’s meaning.

Consider there’s a metaphorical suitcase packed with white, grey and darker clothing that we carry around with us wherever we go. When we meet someone, we choose what items to show; maybe only clean white shirts, perhaps darker one. This unpacking is symbolic of a meeting. Much like when I work with a sitter. Our stories collide and change depending on the day, the weather, our emotional states.

If I manage to make a portrait that stirs a viewer then they complete what I call ‘The Triangle’ by bringing their own story or state of mind to the picture. This is fundamental to me, but often missed or misunderstood, because photography is still considered by many to be a record of an event. It is that; but it is not only that. How can it be?

Perhaps if we replace the word ‘photographer’ with ‘poet’ the point becomes clear. It is accepted wisdom when it comes to poetry that every individual reader finds his or her own meaning in the poem and this perspective is unique - no more less valid that yours or mine. The same, in my view, is true of photography.’

In email correspondence between 4th and 28th April 2019 with David Campany, Kander describes his photographic process. These extracts resonated with me as a practitioner of portraiture and landscape photography.

NK - I’ve walked down one road since I started photographing when I was 13. I feel I haven’t deviated at all. I still need my work to strike the same chords in me that I’ve always longed and striven for. My photographs (however varied a viewer might find them) come from the same inner place. I seem to revisit a slowed-down reality, which is very beautiful and important to me. Slow, quiet and slightly uneasy, alluding to more going on beneath what you first see. The subconscious need to express what feels meaningful and profound never goes away. I just try many ways to revisit it, to come at it from different directions.

DC - The portraits you’ve made seem to have quite a special place in your work. As if a face, or a person, is a way to get to the tension between surface and depth. I feel the human face is somehow already an image before it’s photographed. It’s already a kind of presentation, or representation of the self, although a very fragile and elusive one.

NK - That is beautifully put! Yes, my photographs of people are an essential part of my practice.

They follow on from my photographing landscape. When first dealing with landscape I realised it wasn’t the natural environment I was after, but the man-altered landscape. I focused on a darker nature, our destructive ambivalence to our surroundings, but I shrouded these scenes in beauty using compositions that, purely from their form, colour and weight, would have an effect on me apart from the information shown.

DC - Portraiture is often thought of as a two-way exchange, between photographer and sitter, but you’ve talked often of the viewer being crucial to meaning. That said, there’s a real intimacy to your portraits, as if these people have been given the freedom to forget their audience momentarily. We viewers can look, without feeling we’re being performed to. Is this how it is?

NK - I’ve had to think a long time about your question. Much of what I do is intuitive so finding the words is difficult. When I’m in front of a person (or a landscape for that matter), there’s nothing in my head that matters. I’m just looking with so much concentration that sometimes it feels as if I might explode. I do not want to be stirred so badly! All I want is for something to show itself, something that if I release the shutter will become an image that will stir me and unsettle me. To get close to this I must direct people very softly, subtly, and create the appropriate light so that they experience something of themselves. Any frivolous act for the viewer will never work; it would appear transparent. It has to be just for them and me. Only once this is successful does the viewer enter and make up the triangle. Artist, subject and viewer - each one a part of the whole.

From beneath the surface beauty, comes an existential call that touches on questions of destiny and the unknown. The works of Hans Bellmer, Man Ray, Raoul Hausmann, Dalí and Hans (Jean) Arp have also had a big influence on me. Although my work is not surreal, the feeling I get from the work of these artists is something I always search for. For example Jean Arp’s sculptures were very informative when I began photographing the nudes that became the series ‘Bodies - 6 Women, 1 Man’.

DC - It’s interesting that you put it that way. Very often I find myself wondering what landscapes your sitters were in just before they came to you, what it was - out there in the world - that is on their mind as you make the photograph.

NK - A portrait is one way of looking at some facets of our condition. There’s a precious and beautiful flicker of understanding, or the opposite, that shows itself for short periods and disappears. These periods, which I must see and try to photograph, are often responses to the light or the atmosphere that the light imbues. I must try to recognise them as an image that has what I love; depth of feeling, vulnerability and poise, pride and soul, a recognition of something more than just this moment now. Little of this clear to me, but this is the best I can do to explain it. (Kander, 2020)

Summary

It is an inevitability that a photographer emulates their heroes. Whenever I read that someone like Kander also had starting points for their practice, I am encouraged. I have covered in detail the practitioners that have inspired me for this project - Smith, Andrew, Refn, Sigel and Norwood. There are blog posts committed to each of them. However, I felt that Kander required more substantial meditation. There are parallels between his voice and my own - low key lighting and moody colour saturation delivered with a quiet temperament. He reveals that these attributes are the reflection of triangles that he forms between himself, his sitter and viewer. A sitter may choose to present themselves in any number of ways to his lens then this narrative is open for further interpretation by anyone that encounters his imagery. During his interview with Campany, he explains that he implements soft direction, free of frivolity to search for each photograph. He also explains a slow and quietened reality that he occupies beneath the surface appearance of what he sees.

The Ejiofor portrait inspired me during a formative stage of my photography. There is overlap with the other photographers and cinematographers that I have mentioned. Low key lighting is a continuous theme; however, Kander’s renderings have more depth. He is reluctant for media attention and I found The Meeting (2019) to be highly enlightening. His is the work of a ‘poet’ acting as a ‘photographer’, to use his own metaphor. As an analytical student, I have attempted to dissect what makes Kander, Kander. An awareness of his process is just the beginning. My lighting will resemble his, in addition my direction style is already collaborative instead of dictatorial. Any additional intricacies are unique to his voice. As I develop as a photographer myself, I am hopeful to have as reputable career and recognition. There are plenty more triangles that I am eager to construct.

Bibliography

Kander, N. (2019). The Meeting. London: Steidl

Lens Culture (2020). Biography. Lens Culture. Available from

www.lensculture.com/nadav-kander

[Accessed 10/04/2020]

World Press Photo (2020). 2014 Photo Contest. World Press Photo. Available from

www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2014/29789/1/2014-Nadav-Kander-PS3

[Accessed 10/04/2020]

Nadav Kander, Chiwetel Ejiofor, 2014

#theconstructedphotograph #westphoto #nadavkander

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dirtycoolcatconfessions · 7 years

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COOL CAT DVD PACKAGE FULL ANALYSIS

As some of you may know, as a birthday present I have finally received the Cool Cat movie from a friend of mine. Seeing as I am the self-proclaimed front-runner of the ironic Cool Cat fandom, I feel it is my duty to provide you all with my full analysis of all that comes with this monstrosity, so strap in fellas, this is gonna be a long one.

Here's an image of the full package:

Alright, let's start off with the "Thank you for your purchase" type paper.

Right off the bat, let me say that every paper (bar the "poster", though that one is still preeeetty bad, though I'll analyze that when we get to it) is literally just standard-fare 8.5x11 printer paper. Now, let's start from the top. It says "Cool Cat Productions" as opposed to Derek Savage Productions, what he listed in the movie from what I can remember, so that's pretty strange. To the sides you can see two horrendous pictures of the cartoon form of Cool Cat, which both look like they were drawn in different art styles, with the one on the right for some reason reminding me of some kind of old 2D Chuck E. Cheese drawing, and the other on the right appears to be crying out in pain with weirdly-detailed clothes, a curly pig-like tail, and looking like a failed attempt at perspective. After that it lists the website, (nothing new here) and the email, which uses Yahoo, which I find fairly unsurprising.

Another thing I love which shows just how much love and care (sorry, "love" and "care") Derek puts into his products is the fact that it doesn't even specify what you ordered, (in addition, the fact that it lists "bookS", since Derek doesn't even have the Cool Cat books for sale, and the Cool Cat Stops Bullying book comes with every purchase of the DVD, and soundtrack, of which they don't sell at all, though I believe Derek stated something about wanting to sell it in the future) which really lets you know that Cool Cat Loves You in particular and cares who You are as a person. (The capitalization is really weird throughout the paper, especially when listing the various products you could have bought, really lending to the "Copy-paste" feel of the whole thing, and the Cool Cat Loves You part somehow evokes a ™ without one even being there.) Further down it asks you to print out free "Cool Cat Loves You" posters (instead of just saying Cool Cat posters, for whatever reason) which is strange for a vast number of reasons. First of all, the poster section of the website is NO LONGER ON THE WEBSITE, and second of all, using the Wayback Machine to go back to an instance when there was shows that the 11x17 "poster" is identical to the poster received in the movie package, which makes you wonder why you would want a second one.

(One fun thing to note about this image is the fact that promises that Cool Cat greeting and birthday cards are "Coming Soon!" which I feel really shows you just how much commitment Derek has towards his projects.)

Back to the original paper, we reach the bottom third of the page, we have Derek begging you to tell everyone you know about Cool Cat so that they know it's time to cut off all ties with you, followed by a call to follow the official twitter @CoolCatLovesYou, officially confirming that that twitter is indeed the real one, fucking weird and not-so as it may seem. Then there are a number of images of potential merchandise you can buy, mainly consisting of the horrendously drawn books that Derek isn't even selling because he's "still looking for a publisher." (Yeah, he couldn't get anyone to publish his books, what a fucking surprise, right? In addition, upon incredibly close inspection of these low-res images, I found that they don't even list the "Illustrated by" that's shown on the Cool Cat Stops Bullying book that came with the movie, since Derek wasn't actually the one who drew this shit. And it's not because it was only on the Cool Cat Stops Bullying book, since among the books on here IS that exact book, sans the "Illustrated by" like all others on the page. I just found that interesting.) Finally, reaching the very bottom of the FIRST ARTICLE OF LIKE 6 (told you it was gonna be a long one) we have a reminder to visit Cool Cat online for Game"s" (There's only one game on the Cool Cat page, "Cool Cat's Fun MatchGame") "Cartoons" (Neither of the two cartoons are accessible from the current page anymore) and More! (Which if by more you mean continuous self-advertising, shitty web design, and child-unfriendly content that can be easily clicked to from the page.)

Alright so, the next article, well, honestly I'm not sure what to call this one. It's got two sides, so let's start with the side I'll probably spend less time on.

Alright, so I guess this side is some kind of info paper? Still not sure what to refer to it as. If you notice at the top it lists the quote that's on the cover, "Cool Cat is Cooler than Barney the Dinosaur!" and I would like to bring to attention the fact that the quote is attributed to Ben Daka, the producer of Cool Cat Loves You, which helps in making the quote seem as incredibly unbiased as possible. (Also yeah, the fact that someone actually produced this steaming pile of dogshit surprises me likely just as much as it might you.) It proceeds to list the summary of the movie, saying what kinds of movies it is, etc. etc. etc. It also lists that it "Includes FOUR Original Cool Cat Songs" however as someone who has watched the movie before online when it was on Youtube for a brief day or two before getting taken down, I can say that there are only two that actually play in the movie proper, "Cool Cat Boogie" and "Cool Cat Loves To Rock", while one is only in the movie as an instrumental while the actual lyrics are only in the DVD menu from what I can remember ("Cool Cat is My Best Friend") and the other only plays during the credits, and is just the song from the now-defunct Cool Cat "cartoon" ("Cool Cat is Cool") however the one in the credits does have an instrumental track behind it, but I'm too lazy to find somewhere you can find that version at the moment.

Moving on, we have the "STARRING" portion of the page, in which it lists Vivica A. Fox and Erik Estrada despite their 2-3 minute appearances. In addition, if read from right to left, then it technically lists Vivica first, and even if you do read it from center outwards, the way it was likely intended, it still has Derek listed where you would most likely begin reading instead of Cool Cat, which I feel really shows off his vanity.

After that, we have the imperative ">Get Your COOL CAT Today<" which makes it sound like some kind of cat adoption poster or something. After that there's the blatant lie of "We Appreciate Your Business" followed by a statement saying that discounts for schools, libraries, and stores are available, which honestly makes me wonder if there are any places that even carry the movie that aren't online. Also it's kinda weird that they'd have that on one of the papers that comes with the movie. Does Derek expect people to be so blown away by their movie that they just have to bring this flyer to stores and shit so that others can feel the joy of the movie? I don't fucking know this entire analysis is just me talking to myself and probably pointing out shit you could have noticed yourself, but hey if that's not what the blog itself is I don't know what is. Anywho, another fun thing to note is the fact that according to the flyer, the runtime of the movie is 75 minutes, which actually makes it debatable as to whether or not it could actually be considered a film. Final thing to note of this side is that I was indeed correct in my previous assumption that the movie was supposedly made by "a Derek Savage Productions" as opposed to the "Cool Cat Productions" stated on the earlier paper, which is weird.

Anywho, next side of the paper, let's go.

Now this side, this side infuriates me to no end. It's pretty much one glorified advertisement for the movie you already purchased. To save on time, I think I'll probably speed through this one tbh since the last time I wrote this thing it took me like 4 hours and it mainly consisted of pointing out every little thing on the page, so I'll just give the main things. First of all, why the fuck would you advertise your own movie in the flyer that comes with the fucking movie??? In addition, why does it advertise the books? As I previously established, the books aren't for sale, since Derek's still looking for a publisher. After that, it states that there are Cool Cat eBooks, which I'm pretty sure there aren't any, and they wouldn't even need a publisher I don't think. Also, just to point out, Derek actually managed to misspell merchandise as "MERCHINDISE" at the very top.

The movie also claims to be a "DOVE AWARD" winner. After some research (I.E. one single google search) I found that the "Dove Award" is actually an award given to exceptional Christian music, so unless the soulful ballad of "COOL CAT IS COOOOOOL" won one of those, I find it highly doubtful that its correct. Next to it, you can see a logo with the words "FAMILY APPROVED" and "ALL AGES". This is the "award" Derek was actually talking about, which is really just an organization that makes sure that movies are family friendly, which sure is a real fucking accomplishment. Below that the flyer claims that it's **STARRING** Vivica A. Fox & Erik Estrada, who really nailed their 2 minute "starring" roles. After that there's some quotes, including one by the late Adam West, may he rest in peace, saying "Cool Cat is Cool!" despite the fact that on the Cool Cat site the quote from West actually says "Cool Cat is Fun!" which shows just how trustworthy this quote was, plus the fact that Derek most likely got the majority of celebrity quotes by walking up to them and asking them to say it. After that there's a quote of "I Love Cool Cat!" from Bo Derek, an actress starring in such great films as Tarzan the Ape Man, Bolero, and my personal favorite, Ghosts Can't Do It. (All of those films had incredibly negative reception btw, apparently all three of which won her three seperate Golden Raspberry Awards). Finally, below the advertisement for some hideous hats and shirts, there's the godawful pun of "Get Your Cool Cat Purr-chindise" which manages to misspell the latter half of merchandise again, though on the current website, it says "Purr-chandise" so Derek had to have fixed it sometime, but seeing as this flyer is advertising the hats which only just came out a month or two ago, this flyer was made recently, so I don't fucking know.

Moving on, we've got the Cool Cat Loves You Poster.

The first thing to note is that the poster feels like it was made on 11x17 printer paper, and all-in-all feels really low quality. In addition, it's fairly creased and banged up since Derek apparently doesn't know that you're supposed to roll up posters when shipping them. The main thing I want to note that stands out to me is the fucking background. When I first got it, I thought Derek, like, spilled coffee on it or something, but when I went to look at those posters online using the Wayback Machine, I found that it was completely intentional. I have no worldly idea why anyone would think that this would make a good background, since it gives off either an accidental coffee spill vibe or a 1984-esque dilapidated post-apocalyptic "Big Brother is Watching" sign from it.

That's about all I have to say for the poster, so let's move on to the keychain.

First of all, I'm debating whether or not to put this keychain anywhere since I would probably run a high risk of getting the shit kicked out of me. Anywho, there's not much to say here, it feels like a generic truck stop souvenir keychain, except the fact that Cool Cat is weirdly not centered is bothering me.

Here's the back side to the keychain.

Again, not much to say, other than the fact that I never want to see the question "Got Cool Cat?" ever again.

Now we have the book that came with the movie, Cool Cat Stops Bullying. Here's the front cover:

As you can see the art is fucking hilarious and it looks like Cool Cat is being held at gunpoint. And again, I'd like to point out that it wasn't even Derek who drew this, it was some guy named Robert Rainbow. Imagine paying someone to draw your book and getting this in return. Also, fun thing to note, Daddy Derek is actually a cat in this one (Yes, that is actually supposed to be Derek, since Cool Cat refers to him as Daddy Derek in the book) which poses the question of why the ever-loving FUCK isn't Derek a cat in the movie? (I'll tell you why, it's because Derek still thinks he's hot and wants to show off his "body" in the movie, plus the fact that he was likely way too cheap to have more than one costume made, though it could have easily been avoided by not having the parents, namely Derek, show up often, or in such complex scenes, etc etc. You get the drift, it's just lazy and self-aggrandizing).

Following that, there's the back of the cover.

Again, not much to analyze in detail, except for the fact that Derek would apparently charge $3.49 for this shitty thing, despite the fact that you can read it in around 2 minutes or under.

After that there's the side of the cover, which actually has some sad little tidbits of its own.

If you look closely enough, you can see that the book is fucking stapled together, which I find hilariously depressing. In addition, the publisher is sourced as "Blue Thunder Books" which from my extensive google searching towards the topic, doesn't seem to be a real publisher.

I would love to post every page of the book itself, but I feel like that might be grounds for some kind of copyright takedown from Derek, though I'll continue looking for some legal way for you guys to see each page, since each one has an illustration, and they're fucking hysterical. Here's a single image for you guys as a little teaser:

Anywho, onto what you all have been waiting for, the main attraction, the only thing that was purchased and all this other junk just came with for free: The movie. You all have probably seen the box a hundred times, so there's not much for me to analyze there, but here's the front:

One thing I'd like to point out that I haven't seen anyone else discuss is the fact that Derek and Maria, though most notably Maria, are incredibly low quality and poorly cropped in, to the point where you can't really even make out Maria's face since it's so blurry.

Here's the back:

And here's the side:

What's interesting to note here is the fact that on the top of the side there's two little icon image things, one of Cool Cat, and one of Vivica Fox, both of which are pretty low quality.

Anywho, enough stalling. Time to open this motherfucker up.

I'll be honest, when I first opened this thing up, the first thing I noticed was the smell, oddly enough. It's really hard for me to describe, though I will say it's a weirdly bitter, sour smell, maybe something like glue mixed with something else. I have no idea. Anywho, as it was previously pointed out by YMS, the image on the disc is literally a fucking sticker. Unlike YMS's, however, is the fact that it doesn't come off just by breathing on it, so I'm guessing it was just glued to the disc. In all honesty, I haven't even put the disc in my computer to play it yet, since I'm afraid I'll either somehow get a virus from it or that it'll melt inside my computer. I'll just put it in.

Okay, so after putting the disc in the DVD the Disc Drive I got this.

Alright, so there are two folders, the audio one is empty. Great. Then there's the video one.

No idea what this means. Guess I'll have to play it on a DVD player for now.

Anywho, I guess that there wraps up my analysis! It was mainly me just blabbing on and on about things you probably don’t care about, and doesn't really have a conclusive "end'' or anything, but hey if anything else pops up I'll be sure to notify you guys. Thanks for reading this far if you did, and hopefully Tumblr won't crash before I can post it this time.

#mod cool cat #cool cat #cool cat saves the kids #cool cat loves you #this took forever #I put too much time and effort into things #dirty cool cat confessions #i wonder if derek would appreciate my review of his shipment ;)

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akemilena · 7 years

Text

SolidS Vol. 4 track 1

ドラマ「ロミオとジュリエット」

Drama “Romeo and Juliet”

Translation index || Track 2

Interviewer: Well then, let’s begin the interview. SolidS members, pleased to work with you.

All: Pleased to work with you!

Interviewer: Let’s get straight to the point. You were elected to provide the theme song for the movie Romeo and Juliet –Follow your heart– even though you’re a new unit who just debuted, so first of all, congratulations!

Shiki: Thank you very much.

Tsubasa & Rikka & Dai: Thank you very much.

Interviewer: After reading the proposal and listening to your sound, I got the feeling the movie’s concept about “re-interpreting a classic work” and SolidS’ freshness match really well. Do you think that was also what motivated your selection?

Shiki: I hope that is the case. As you say, this movie’s production team, the director and the staff, are an assortment of veterans who have created many works and won very famous awards. If we, SolidS, can add some freshness to that, it would be interesting as a dual concept.

Interviewer: How did you feel when it was decided?

Shiki: When I first heard it I was incredibly surprised, but I didn’t have a single doubt. Since we got the chance, we should do our best.

Interviewer: How about the rest of you?

Tsubasa: Eh, I… Ah, can I go next?

Rikka: Of course!

Dai: Go ahead.

Tsubasa: Well then, again. *clears throat* I was super excited when I knew it was the theme song for a movie that’s getting a lot of attention! How are we going to convey Romeo and Juliet in our own way, I’m already thrilled!

Interviewer: You’re very motivated! Ah, now that you mention it, it was written in the proposal too… In the album’s limited edition there will be included a PV with a story…?

Tsubasa: That’s right! Not related to the movie’s plot, it’s a PV about expressing SolidS’ individual Romeo and Juliet! The contents… Ah, can I say this?

Shiki: It’s being revealed in this interview. The day of the announcement is written in the proposal too. Haven’t you read it?

Tsubasa: Ah, was it??

Shiki: Good grief. Now that I think about it, did you already read the Romeo and Juliet book I gave you the other day?

Tsubasa: Ah, um… I read until they confess their love in a balcony at night, more or less…

Shiki: I’ll ask just in case, but you know what’s Romeo and Juliet about, right?

Tsubasa: Roughly… it’s about two people who love each other but were born in families that are mutual enemies, and in the end both die!

Dai: Roughly indeed, but it’s not wrong.

Interviewer: *laughs*

Shiki: *sigh*

Rikka: Certainly, there are a lot of people who know about that much of the story. Even though I’m saying it myself, it was because of this project that I read the book for the first time and knew the whole story.

Tsubasa: Right!! I know right!! See, Shiki, even our conscience, Rikka, is saying that!

Shiki: Now you’re suddenly confident about it.

Interviewer: *laughs* I see, so Rikka-san is SolidS’ conscience.

Rikka: You don’t need to write that.

Tsubasa: Since we got the job, I really do want to read it, I just haven’t read it until the end yet! Because you know, that book is translated to Japanese, but isn’t it super difficult?? Like, the wording is sluggish, like it’s hard to read on purpose!

Rikka: Shakespeare is one special kind of classical literature. If the translation is very literal, the expressions become difficult to understand.

Tsubasa: Yes, yes!! It’s full of words you’d never use in your everyday life!

Dai: Well, the book Shiki gave us is pretty faithful to the original text… If you read it thinking it’s a novel, it might be hard.

Interviewer: From the way you’re saying that, it means you’re well-informed about it, Dai-san?

Dai: Eh, well… I’ve read about Shakespeare in general. I liked classical music from the start, and it uses it as a theme, so because of that.

Rikka: Getting into it because of music and reading the books that are used as a theme, that’s very like you. You’re the type who investigates thoroughly anything you’re interested in.

Dai: I don’t think it’s that great though…

Interviewer: I see… that’s an unexpected… maybe it’s rude if I say that? But a very nice episode about Dai-san.

Dai: You don’t need to write about that either.

Rikka: *laughs*

Dai: By the way, Tsubasa, if the words are so difficult to read, why don’t you start with a movie or something? I think that’ll be easier for you.

Tsubasa: Aaah, there’s that way too!! I’ll watch it!!

Rikka: Oh! I want to watch it too.

Shiki: Yeah, yeah, we get it. While we’re at it, why don’t we all do a viewing party?

Dai: That’d be nice. Then I’ll choose one and rent it. I think I owned one too, though…

Tsubasa: Eh, are there that many??

Dai: Yeah. Movies too, but if you add stage plays and all, there really are a lot. Also, depending on the work, the interpretations are different. This movie, too, based on the synopsis, it’s considerably altered.

Interviewer: Well, they’re even selling it as a “new interpretation”. Judging from the era setting, it’s around modern times or near future.

Dai: Capulet and Montague’s confrontational structure, the character’s positions and such are written very faithful to the original story, though.

Interviewer: That’s true. Each character’s personalities and actions are noticeably different.

Tsubasa: Oooh!!! Dai-chan is talking a lot!!

Dai: Shut up. I said I liked it.

Rikka: There are a lot of derivative works, too.

Dai: Yep. West Side for example, the music is very cool.

Shiki: Leonard Bernstein, huh?

Tsubasa: Eh, no way… suddenly everyone knows a lot about it!!

Dai: I think you have probably heard that song once too.

Tsubasa: Is it that famous?

Dai: Super famous.

Tsubasa: Shiki, this is bad… the feeling that I’m the only one being left behind is terrible!!

Shiki: This is why I told you to read the documents. Based on a difficult original work like this, the theme is searching for a new Romeo and Juliet to hook the new generation. Even if reluctantly, it seems it was a good match.

Tsubasa: Well, excuse me!! But if we’re positive, since I, as a representative of that new generation, am in SolidS and we’re doing the song, along with the movie, it’d be really nice if it made people become familiar with classic literature!!

Interviewer: That’s really nice! I also feel this is one of the reasons you were chosen, too. After the viewing party of related works, you might as well hold an “emergency SolidS discussion”!

Tsubasa: Ah, that would be great!

Rikka: “I like the production here”, or things like this, it would be fun.

Shiki: Dear readers, please send requests to the editorial department.

Dai: As expected, he’s doing business without losing even a second.

Tsubasa: And we could also add a column where Dai-chan tells us about his vast knowledge!

Dai: Don’t decide that by yourself.

Rikka: *laughs* I’d love to read that!

Interviewer: On the occasion the project gets decided, please do! Well then, let’s move onto the next topic. Rikka-san?

Rikka: Ah, yes?

Interviewer: We talked a little about it earlier, but could you give us more details about the PV?

Rikka: Eh? Is it okay if I do that?

Dai: You are the one who’s more suitable. Things related to the video’s contents are moving around you.

Shiki: Definitely.

Tsubasa: Yep, yep!

Interviewer: Yes, that’s what I’ve heard. Specifically, what kind of things?

Rikka: Um… In the PV’s production, costumes and so on. In decorative and visual matters, I’m giving a hand behind the scenes so I can draw out everyone’s individuality.

Interviewer: Rikka-san is doing the styling!! “Model Rikka”’s fans will really need to check this!

Rikka: I never thought I’d be involved in something other than singing, so I’m surprised. It’s a big responsibility, but I’ll make use of all my experience until now. I’m very happy.

Shiki: Maybe it’s also because we’re always together, but Rikka looks at each one of us very closely, so it seems he’s giving a very precise advice. The production is going smoothly.

Rikka: Trial and error is also fun, and it’s worth doing. The staff people are very kind too, so I think the final product will be something really nice. Also, besides the appearance, there’s also the content… it’s difficult…

Interviewer: Which means…?

Shiki: This PV is about “if you were Romeo, how would you confess?” It’ll show each one’s love confession scene… The lines and production are also discussed individually with the staff.

Interviewer: That will be irresistible for the fans!!

Tsubasa: I know right!! I’m of course very excited for the songs, but I want to be particular about the PV too!

Rikka: He’s so lively. This is your specialty, right, Tsubasa? You might as well have produced everything, the content too.

Dai: I get it.

Tsubasa: That’s nice!! I’d have loved to try it~

Shiki: You two there. Don’t say something so careless. If you made Tsubasa do it, who knows what kind of things he would make us say. In any case, it would be “demand it more intensely”.

Rikka: Ahh, that’s true… No matter how many lines he prepares for us, if I can’t say them properly it’s no good…

Tsubasa: There you go saying that again! Even though you become a different person once you stand in front of a camera!

Interviewer: Become a different person… Like an on/off switch?

Dai: Something like that.

Rikka: Hmm… I don’t really understand it myself, but since long ago, when I’m in front of a camera I go blank.

Dai: In short, that’s your element.

Rikka: What should I say… being a model means you’re transmitting a fashion image, the protagonists are the clothes, so I should rather be a blank canvas.

Shiki: The polar opposite from idols, who are demanded to be self-expressive.

Rikka: Exactly. That’s why my mind is going blank in another sense, lately. I don’t really know what I should do…

Tsubasa: Which means, that’s your individuality after all, right?

Interviewer: Then, we’ll be able to see that Rikka-san who looks to be so precisely calculated, but is actually incredibly natural, in the PV?

Rikka: Thank you for summarizing it so nicely. Although I also feel it got more difficult…

Tsubasa: Actually, hey, Dai.

Dai: What?

Tsubasa: What are you going to do in the PV?

Dai: Don’t throw the ball at me.

Tsubasa: It’s because since we started this topic, you got so blatantly silent! Mr. Shy!

Dai: Shut up!

Rikka: *laughs* I understand how you feel, Dai.

Shiki: Well, since we’re here… Dai, say something too.

Interviewer: And that’s what the producer commands. Dai-san, how about it?

Dai: About the PV, I really haven’t put my thoughts together at all. But they said it would be the same director as the movie, and that made me really happy. I like how his works match with the music, so I wonder how it will go.

Tsubasa: Oh, really?!

Dai: I own most of the soundtracks.

Interviewer: Same with Shakespeare, you have very strong preferences.

Dai: Ah no, it’s by chance…

Shiki: Dai’s hobbies are, in a good sense, not those of young people.

Dai: But you own the soundtracks too!

Shiki: In my case it’s also for research purposes.

Rikka: Dai, you’re also participating in the song’s arrange, was it?

Dai: It’s not that much, but they’re showing me a few things.

Shiki: He has a promising future, so I’m trying to train him little by little, and I’m bringing him around here and there.

Dai: Yep.

Interviewer: I see. Originally, I got the impression SolidS was an idol group that made very different individualities match really well. Moreover, this time you’re also participating as creators in the production itself, like with the songs and PV, to set forth those characteristics.

Shiki: If we can contribute to the work, we’ll challenge anything. That’s how I approached the director. I’m very grateful he accepted it favourably.

Interviewer: This work could become like a climax, or rather, a turning point to SolidS.

Rikka: I get the feeling the concept of “idol” it’s changing little by little inside me.

Tsubasa: The fact we’re making it from scratch with the staff is really fun!

Dai: The other party are professionals in this field, so I sometimes think if it’s okay for us to speak out, too.

Rikka: Ah, I get that. But of course, it’s not like all of our ideas are accepted.

Dai: Yeah. I know they will stop us if it’s not good, so that makes it easier to say it.

Tsubasa: Yep, yep! The staffs are all very competent!

Shiki: They made it so it’s easier for us to enter.

Interviewer: We can see the good atmosphere of the work scene. I get the feeling that the fact you are also friends outside work is becoming a plus too.

Tsubasa: *laughs* Friends, huh~

Shiki: Don’t look at me.

Tsubasa: Well! We fight too, but we properly make up later.

Interviewer: I see! Shiki-san and Tsubasa-san get along well enough to fight.

Shiki: Fight, or rather, differences in opinion… Mainly it’s just that a certain person goes on a rampage, and flares u- teases me.

Tsubasa: Don’t blame others!

Shiki: I haven’t said any name.

Tsubasa: This is what I mean.

Shiki: This is it.

Dai: Yep, this is it.

Interviewer: *laughs* I get it.

Rikka: We, SolidS started from the moment when we casually met each other. It started from scratch. That’s why, we were fumbling in a lot of ways, but we’re really balanced lately.

Dai: He summed it up.

Tsubasa: Wonderful! *claps* Didn’t expect any less.

Interviewer: Well then! To finish, can we get a message for the fans, from each one of you?

Shiki: We, SolidS, are challenging this united and with the intention to give it our all. As well as for the movie, Romeo and Juliet –Follow your heart–, and SolidS, we greatly appreciate your support.

Tsubasa: Oh, it suddenly ended.

Rikka: It did end…

Dai: Shiki should’ve been the last…

Shiki: Next.

Tsubasa: And we’re continuing anyway?! Er… This time, of course we’ll do our best to liven up the movie, but if you could get to know our charms even better, I’d be really happy! Thank you for your support~

Rikka: I hope I can support the work with my utmost expression. Please look forward to it!

Dai: Um… Everyone else already said all the good things so… Like that, I’ll do my best too. Thanks for your support.

Tsubasa: Too short!!

Dai: There’s nothing I can do.

Shiki: So, is this good enough?

Interviewer: Yes! Thank you very much!

Shiki: I’m sorry we were so restless.

Interviewer: Ah no, it was fun!! I’m glad it was something the fans will be happy with.

Shiki: Likewise, we’re grateful you got a page for us. Ah, when is it coming back to us?

Interviewer: I’ll give it back around next week.

Shiki: Then, please address it to our manager.

Interviewer: Understood. Well then, thank you very much for today!

All: Good work!

Translation index || Track 2

TL notes:

Hello everyone I’m back!!! Finally the last volume of season one!!!

This track was very long and difficult because it’s slightly more formal than usual and some phrases were pretty complex... but hope it makes sense! Thanks to my proofreader for helping as always ;_;

For those interested, the interviewer is voiced by Nakajima Yoshiki!!

Thanks for reading!

#solids #tsukino production #tsukipro #solids translations

27 notes · View notes

lawlight-week · 7 years

Text

Lawlight Week Exchange

Title: A Proper Presentation Name of creator: @minisuccessor Created for: @mgcmind Prompt: Light proposes to L. Characters: Light Yagami/L Lawliet Rated PG/No warnings

Word count: 2186

Light Yagami was a conceited man by default. From a young age, he had a certain eye for how he wanted to present himself to the world. On the first day of grade 3, his mother set out his uniform like she always did. It was pristine of course, but Light demanded she iron it twice before he found it wearable. For the festival held in his tenth year, the Criminology Club hosted a themed host club. Light had more of say in the costuming than those assigned to it, just so that his own would meet his specifications. For his University graduation, the tire he wore alone cost a normal worker’s two-week salary, and he bought it without a second hesitation. Every formal event came and Light would rise to the occasion, but this was never an end to his meticulous taste. On any average day, Light wouldn’t go into public without every hair in place, and not a single expensive thread out of line. Some could find his high attention to his appearance strange, too self-focused, but he was unabashed. It only made sense to him this way. Looking one’s best meant opportunities, and opportunities meant one could get everything they desired. Light would always swear his outfit on one particular day lead him to a promotion to superintendent of the Japanese police. Something about a properly dressed man called for attention and respect in almost every aspect of their culture, and Light was more than happy to partake. It was a sign of weakness in humanity to be so dependent on looks, and Light knew that, but he had no issue taking advantage of any gift he acquired. He didn’t have to rely on his looks to get him by, like some unfortunate soles. Natural-born intelligence paved the way to many of his highest honors, but Light couldn’t say that his charm and standard good-looks didn’t give him an extra push in the right direction. Though, it was never completely about the advantages for him. As much as he liked to keep society in his favor, it was just as much for his own pleasure as anything else. It gave him a personal feeling of pride to make himself look so put together everyday. It gave him strength and reassurance on par from what his mental ability gave, only making him invincible to the average day. But with all that in mind, with all of that invincibility and strength, tonight had been the first night that clothing had been his enemy. Inside of a luxury bedroom, shirts, pants, socks, and ties were piled in mountains on the bed. It began almost as soon as Light came home from room, and steadily grew to the monster it was after hours of indeciveness. In his defense, the night wasn’t unlike his usual. He had something planned this evening, something substantial. Everything needed to be perfect, and that also meant him, but things weren’t going as planned. Light paced in front of a mirror, two shirts in very similar shades of eggshell in each hand. He stopped dead center in front of it suddenly, half-haphazardly putting them both against his bare chest with an unimpressed scowl. It took not even ten seconds before they were both discarded, leaving Light to hastily walk back to his thinning closet, reluctant but prepared to try yet again. Normally this would be so easy; he would wake up in the morning with an instant idea to what the day required. It always came together like he wanted, but no matter what he tried it all felt wrong. Comprehending the situation was out of bounds at this point. Through even the most important nights of his life when tension ran high, Light kept his emotions in check and everything would fall into place. Tonight, though, was different. He wasn’t receiving an award, or being the face of the Japanese Police on a major TV Network. Both were normal occurrences and both were very important, but nothing could compare to this night. Emerging from the closet with yet another set of shirts, Light walked his way to mirror with grim thoughts of his success. His footsteps were heavier, causing the loose items on his dresser to rattle. A picture frame in particular was not pleased by the intrusion, its leg caving in and the frame now laying flat to the ceiling. Light paused, looking back at the photo with some interest. Momentarily, he forgot about the clothing causing him so much distress, the articles setting idle in his hands as he moved closer to put it back in its rightful position. Inside the glass was a standard photo. Light himself was in it, but to his side was another man. He was tall and slender, with a long, blank face and an unruly head of pitch black hair. His name was L. He didn’t look pleased to be in the photo, but one could tell it was an honor he stood still enough for it to be taken. Light couldn’t help but smile. Even from inside the glass, they looked like opposites who didn’t belong close enough to be in a picture. When he first met him, Light felt the same way. They originally worked together out of a forced assignment. Someone who cared so much about their presentation couldn’t bare to see such a disorganized mess. L would come into work wearing the same pair of ratty blue jeans with a white shirt like nothing was wrong. He was excellent at his job, admirable and smarter than anyone Light had ever met, but he was everything Light rejected. Because of this, things did not begin well in the slightest, but fate had a way of making things turn on their heads. Quite some time went by before it happened, but despite their differences they grew found of each other. Before they could understand a relationship sprouted unlike anything that Light expected. Years went by, and thing only grew stronger between them. They became something more established, even so far as moving L to Light’s apartment, and things were comfortable. It became so natural, so wanted and pleasant. Never in a million years did Light think L would be the one who had his thoughts on the way home from work, but he always was. He couldn’t go back from L, he did want to, so Light knew it was time. He had the night planned to every specific detail. L worked predominately from their home in his study, and Light was ready to take advantage of this. He was going to prepare a home-cooked meal to draw him out, and recall their time together as fluidly as possible. Then after a presumably long conversation, Light would take L’s hand and propose they make their union official. It was not extravagant by any means, but it fit perfect with his lover, which meant it was enough for him. But now things were thrown off, and Light had no idea how to handle it. He needed to be what L deserved to see more than ever, but nothing was worth it. Light glanced down at the clothes in his hand, suddenly feeling an onslaught of anxiety creep up on him. “Dammit!” He mumbled, tossing it carelessly on the bed. He sat on the edge of it, hands curled in his hair as his elbows perched against his knees in a slump. “Dammit..“ “Why are you sitting on a pile of clothes?” Light’s head snapped up, pupils shrinking as he glanced directly toward a slouching male in the doorframe. He felt his stomach suddenly drop onto his feet. “L..” Tired black eyes looked around with extreme interest as L stalked his way into the bedroom, but he inevitably landed on Light. “And more importantly, why are you half naked?” L came closer as Light examined himself only wearing trousers, a corner of his lip curving upward. "Is something wrong with your clothes suddenly? Or have you snapped under some pressure.” Sighing out, Light felt defeated. Not only had this entire afternoon went wrong, L decided to emerge far too early than anticipated. He couldn’t save this, this couldn’t be the first impression that he makes before asking L to be together for the rest of their lives. “I haven’t snapped. Don’t worry about me and go back to work.” He simply responded, his attitude suddenly taking a more somber note. He stood up, starting to quickly fold whatever he could grab to begin the process of repairing the room. He would try again on another day, one where he actually had a chance. Light was determined to act as if nothing was wrong, just to save some of his dignity, but the other had different plans. While in mid-fold, L caught his shoulder, taking his attention from any fabric. “I came out because I’ve constantly heard groans since you returned from work. The last set was enough to merit a break.” Light internally perished; he thought he was quiet enough with his complaints, but clearly not. L wasn’t letting him or the conversation go, despite how his lax stature suggested. “Tell me— Why did I find you in here like this? It isn’t like you at all.” They stared at each other for a moment, trying to test to see which would eventually cave from the intensity. Eventually it would be Light who turned his head away. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t lie to L. He knew him better than to fall for something his frazzled mind could cook up. Carefully pulling away from his hold, Light stood back, shame riddling his expression. “I had plans for you and I. They were important, something- very pertinent to our current relationship.” Light spoke as vague as he could, but somehow he still saw the gear of L’s brain working towards the correct answer, his face growing softer. He felt worse, but even at his lowest Light appreciated the beautiful mind L had to his very core. His fingers were itching to distract themselves, but Light stayed strong, taking in a deep breath. “— I couldn’t do it. I have spent all afternoon trying to make myself prepared, but nothing will do.” His voice wavered just slightly, “Nothing I do can measure to what I want from this if I can’t first.” Suddenly furious with himself, Light hit his hand into a stack, a few pieces tumbling to the floor as he walked away, not able to face L directly. L was stunned; seeing Light this caught up was practically unheard of. Normally he was so confident in everything he did, to see him suddenly in shambles was an eye opener. Just the aspect of what he was planning had the male nearly lost for words, but it still didn’t surprise him that Light’s clothing of all things would be the thing to deceive him. He knew how important it was to be perfect to Light, and it was touching to see just how important this was to him. “Light— ” “—

I know

what I wear means nothing to you,” Light interrupted, back still turned. “but that doesn’t mean you don’t warrant the best. If I can’t give that then what’s the point?” “Light.” L tried again once Light’s voice grew more animated. It was enough to get his head to turn, eyes filled with trouble meeting reluctantly with his own. He brought up his arm, calling attention to the mess around them. “This is what I deserve.” The statement took him aback, so much that Light turned to meet him head on. “..What?” L met him in the middle, words ready at the instant. “Appearances have never meant anything to me, it is true. But what you’ve done, the clear compassion you have to have the desire to be perfect for me, that is all the difference in the world.” His hand came up, gently touching against his chest to have some sort of connection, for him to know his words were sincere. “Don’t be so foolish to think you aren’t what I deserve in any form.” Slowly taking in his words, Light wasn’t sure what to make of himself. The cloud seemed to dissipate from his eyes, and he saw how ridiculous of a situation he had made, all for the sake of an outfit L would barely bat an eyelash to. He would forget how unlike the world he was, and suddenly be reminded in the best of ways. He relaxed, giving him a simple nod in understanding. Around them was a mess of proportions Light would normally feel nauseous from, but it didn’t matter; none of what he planned did. All that he cared about was looking only to him, and that’s all he needed. “But if you’re going to do this now, you may want to at least be fully clothed."

#lawlightweek2k17 #exchange #minisuccessor #mgcmind #fanfic #death note #lawlight #submission

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togetherinspirit7 · 7 years

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[TRANS] The Star November 2016 - INFINITE Interview

SUNG_KYU

Please give a simple introduction to INFINITE’s 6th mini album <INFINITE ONLY>. The title song from this album, which we’re presenting to everyone after such a long time, is ‘Typhoon’. We named it <INFINITE ONLY> because it’s an album that only INFINITE can come out with. INFINITE, 7th year idols, you’re not very young(?) anymore, it seems like you have a huge responsibility as an idol. It’s not really a responsibility, but I think we’ve started to work harder than before. We also have a bigger desire to improve and show an even cooler appearance on stage. With the musical <All Shook Up>, that’s already four musicals that you’ve starred in. What would you say the biggest charm about a musical is? I’m also curious about what you think your strength is as a musical actor. I think the musical genre is quite charming. I like being able to sing while bringing life to a different character on stage. If I had a strong point, it would be my effort in including my own charms into whichever character I’m playing. You’ve had a lot of individual promotions this year compared to the other members. Are you going to continue your individual promotions after this album as well? I would like to… If something is asked of me, I’ll try my best to do it. As the leader, what do you dream of for INFINITE 10 years later? I would like to be on stage and giving awesome performances even 10 years from now. That’s INFINITE, the team I dream of.

DONG_WOO

You’ve made a comeback with the mini album <INFINITE ONLY> after 1 year and 2 months. This break was longer than other ones, fans must be the happiest of all. Yes. I’m also really happy to be able to see fans after such a long time. Luckily, all of the fans give us so much love and support, so we’re promoting very happily. You must have had a hard time right before this album came out, I’m relieved to see you so cheerful. What gave you the most strength? First of all, it was my family’s unity. After that, it was seeing the INFINITE members working hard to fill my empty spot. The company staff looking out for me, encouragements from people around me. And last of all, it was all thanks to Inspirit’s love and support. Hip hop is really trending lately. When will we be able to see INFINITE H promote again? Even now, we have songs that we’re working on. In the future, if we are able to collaborate with a variety of artists, wouldn’t we be able to show you all? Lately, the webtoons that Dongwoo reads are a hot topic amongst fans. You must enjoy reading webtoons normally then. Yes. The message that each webtoon gives me is different. Some bring up my memories from school, and there are times where my rap lyrics are influenced as well. Many are quite four dimensional, while containing funny content. That’s why I think I read a variety of webtoons. Webtoon artists, fighting!

SUNG_YEOL

You’re already a 7 year idol group. There are many ‘7 year jinx idols’ but INFINITE alone has continued to promote without any big incidents. What’s your secret? We dormed together, starting from when we were trainees until quite recently. We used to argue with each other a lot in the past, but now we’ve really become a family. We’re so close that we can understand each other just by looking at each other’s eyes. Now that I think about it, INFINITE is on its 7th year, there are 7 members, and Sungyeol’s alcohol limit is 7 bottles of soju. What does 7 mean to you (laughter)? I like the number 7. It’s the number that brings luck and I think it’s a number that has a very positive power! You guys had such a long absence, it’s a shame that we didn’t see Sungyeol during that time. How did you personally spend your time? I spent my time doing hobbies that I can’t do when I’m busy. I hurt my back a while ago, so I’ve been diligently exercising and doing rehab. I was preparing a lot in order to show an even better side for this comeback. What is the future you dream of while promoting in the entertainment industry? For example, what is your ultimate goal? I’ve also thought a lot about this…(laughter). I would like to try being a trot singer in my 50s. I’d like to steadily promote as an actor. A goal for the near future would be for INFINITE to become a long-lasting idol group and it would be nice to continue seeing fans.

SUNG_JONG

It seems like Sungjong-ssi has a lot of interest in fashion. I’m curious about your participation in the album concept or in any visual aspect. For our title song stage, all of the jewelry I wore, I bought myself. I also expressed my opinion for the hairstyle concept as well. What kind of influence does fashion have on music and artist promotions? In whatever case, when you wear cool clothes, you gain confidence. Stage costumes are an important part. It’s a hot topic that you lost 10 kg especially for this comeback. What exactly is your secret method? You’re really like a ‘fairy’. Yes. I’m like a fairy, right (laughter)? Lately, fans have been calling me ‘Fairy Sungjong’ and ‘MimiJjong’. It was hard dieting. I’d want to eat, but because I wanted to show a good appearance for the fans, I withheld. What are your hobbies lately? Lately, I collect rings, earrings, necklaces, and other accessories. I look for and buy unique items. Most of the accessories that I wear onstage are those accessories. INFINITE’s music is of a refined retro style that doesn’t follow the trend. Is this a strength that only INFINITE has? Of course. We don’t use a lot of electronic sounds in our music. And we also continue to improve. What was a typhoon in your life? This moment. I’ll leave it up to everyone’s imagination (laughter). What is ‘INFINITE’ to you? A treasure. A beautifully shining treasure. If there was no INFINITE, there would be no me.

It seems like you’ve been swamped with group promotions and individual promotions as well. My INFINITE and acting activities are overlapping so I’m a bit tired, but I enjoy every day because I’m able to show many different sides of myself. Among this album’s songs, which is your favorite? There’s a song called <Thank You>, which is a love song for Inspirit. You guys held your summer concert, <That Summer>, this year right? It was a great time being able to see everyone at a small theater concert after such a long time. We’ll have many concerts going forward, so please show lots of interest then as well. We can’t leave out talk about your appearance on MBC’s <King of Masked Singer> this year. It must have been gratifying to quiet the people who only thought of you as INFINITE’s visual. Thank you. It feels like I’ve gotten one step closer to the ideal world that I want. It was a great experience and it incited thoughts in me of wanting to work harder in the future. Please look forward to seeing various sides of me. Your acting career is fully blooming. We hear you got cast for KBS’s one-act drama <The Day After We Broke Up>, what kind of drama is it? It’s a fantasy romance drama. It’s a time warp drama where the main character, Yoo Tan, lives his life in repeat while recovering the forgotten, important things [in life] that he was unaware of. If you were to name a role model? Leonardo DiCaprio and Ed Sheeran!

WOO_HYUN

Because of your solo album, we met for the June edition of <The Star>, it’s great seeing you so soon. Yes. I’m also glad we’re meeting again so soon! You wrapped up your solo album <Write> successfully. Was it an album that fulfilled everything you wanted it to (The editor liked ‘Scent’)? I’m glad because it was an album that proved my abilities as a solo artist. I’m also looking forward to the next album (laughter). At our last interview, I felt you matured a lot internally and emotionally. What factors influence Woohyun internally? I think that I’m maturing little by little as I get older and it’s also because there are more things to feel as well (laughter). As a part of INFINITE, what is another adjective you’d like to use to describe yourselves? As a part of INFINITE, I hope we could become ‘Long-lasting-dols’.

HOYA

1st place yesterday, 1st place today. Your parade of 1st place wins keep on going. Congratulations! Thank you. Because Inspirit worked so hard, we’re very thankful but also sorry. I would like to relay my thanks once again to Inspirit. It feels like the choreography for the title song ‘Typhoon’ is a little less knife-like than before. Is this a small change that INFINITE is pursuing? To be honest, from the beginning, we never thought ‘We have to have knife-like choreography’. But when we debuted, a lot of people said that about us. Now, we try to include our own individual flavor. Going forward, is there a concept that you would like to try through INFINITE? Even when I think about it, it seems like we only stick to breakup songs and obsession concepts (laughter). I think it would be good to try something different now. You were on Mnet’s <Hit the Stage>. What do you pay attention to most while blocking the stage? Did you learn anything? I didn’t plan too much and purely did what I wanted to do. More than learning something, I realized something once again. I’m definitely much better when I do the things that I like rather than doing something I’m told to do. I don’t think doing what others command, like a puppet, suits me. This year, the film <Hiya> was shown. You were even given the Rookie Actor award at the Golden Film Awards, congratulations. Do you have any acting plans? Thank you! I have a lot of plans personally but I can’t just do whatever I want. Since I’m still in the position of doing as I’m told, drawing up plans is quite vague. I’m not sure when, but I’ll continue to appear as an actor. You look serious and reserved but you’re very talented. Is there something else that you would like to challenge? Yes. I’m preparing to take on a new challenge with my friends. If it’s quick, maybe by next year? I can’t tell you anything in detail but please look forward to it!

Translated by: togetherinspirit7

#infinite #인피니트 #typhoon #the eye #sunggyu #dongwoo #woohyun #hoya #sungyeol #myungsoo #l #sungjong #the star #interview #translation

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cassie1604 · 4 years

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Dreena Collins

For the first Author Interview of 2020, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to one of my fellow Jersey Writers Social Group members. Her writing a CV is an impressive one, and since 2016, her name has appeared on Long and Shortlists for an eye-watering list of competitions. Flash 500, Reflex, Retreat West, Eyelands, Fish Publications, Wells Festival of Literature, Mslexia Annual Short Story Competition and The Bridport Prize. The creme de la creme of writing competitions, who have recognised the writing talent of Dreena Collins.

Dreena Collins captivating her audience at the 2019 Jersey Festival of Words with her engaging wit and passion for creative writing.

In September last year, Dreena entertained a packed Maria Richie Room at the Jersey Arts Centre, during the 2019 Jersey Festival of Words captivating us all with her engaging wit, and her passion for creative writing.

During 2019, Dreena self-published three volumes of her excellent short stories and flash fiction, The Blue Hour, The Day I Nearly Drowned and, most recently Bird Wing. The Amazon reviews alone are glowing.

Tessa: I can imagine you being an avid reader as a child. What children’s books hooked you in and have stuck in your mind over the years?

Dreena: From quite a young age, I was captivated by novels. I remember reading Ballet Shoes (Noel Streatfeild), and marvelling at how hefty the book was, thinking I couldn’t possibly ever finish it! Within a few years, I had also read and fallen in love with The Secret Garden and The Hobbit. There was a lot of escapism in my reading, and I romanticised the locations, picturing myself in archaic or fantastical clothing, in unusual settings.

In secondary school, I moved on to Steinbeck (via Judy Blume, naturally!) and eventually in my later teenage years, I loved the classics, especially Jane Austen. So, all in all, quite a diverse mix, really!

I work in education, and at heart, I’m an English teacher. I firmly believe in the power of reading to change people’s lives and provide them with opportunities. Being able to read gives you access to learning, but also to a whole world of pleasure and imagination, so I am a great advocate for adults reading to children and for encouraging people to find something that appeals to them. I’m sure there’s a book out there for everyone.

Tessa: My first literary success was winning a Blue Peter Badge for writing poetry, aged seven, but my passion for writing took a serious hold when I was about eleven. At what age did you decide you wanted to write?

Dreena: I’ve always loved writing. At the age of five, I wrote a short rhyme for the school’s Harvest Festival (which I could still recite, but I’m too embarrassed to share here!).

At primary school, I also wrote some tediously long ‘short’ stories. At that time, it was most definitely quantity over quality. That urge to write stayed with me during secondary school, and for GCSE English, we were given coursework options that were often either empathetic writing or analysis. I chose empathetic every time, writing from a character’s point of view, and in the end, I had to produce an additional piece as I wasn’t allowed to submit anything but creative work.

I also studied creative writing as an optional module at University, taught by Patricia Duncker, who went on, herself to win McKitterick Prize and the Dillions First Fiction Award for her novels. I admit my writing was patchy and sporadic in the period between University and 2018. It’s only in the last two years that I have settled into it in a structured and disciplined way.

Tessa: I am someone who finds writing a flash fiction a challenge. I believe you have mastered the art; as your self-published collections of short stories are a testament to. I believe that having the ability to write flash fiction helps a writer get to the heart of what they want to say. What first drew you into writing flash fiction?

Dreena: It actually started when I realised that my stories were often on the long side. I produced several stories and started looking to enter them in competitions or as submissions, and often they were over the specified word count. This gave me pause to reflect on whether my stories could be ‘tighter’, and I started to deliberately challenge myself to edit ruthlessly, and to be as concise as possible. Now I enjoy the challenge and have found that it makes me not only more precise in my writing, but actually more experimental.

Flash Fiction lends itself to breaking the rules, playing with form, tone and structure as its akin to poetry in some ways. Plus, you can’t be too formal or stick to the rules when you are slashing words here and there.

Tessa: Many of the stories that appear in your books have been both short and long-listed in competitions. How long did it take you to compile each collection of short stories?

Dreena: I don’t write every single day, though most days I do, and either way I do something towards my writing on a daily basis – planning, sorting out my files, editing, or social media updates. I do often write though, several times a week, and I can produce a short story every week to ten days, or one, two or even three flash fictions in a week. Not every piece is usable, of course.

For my first collection, The Blue Hour, it took me around eight months to have enough usable work, but by the time it was launched, I already had several stories for book two, as I had carried on writing during the whole (mind-boggling!) publication process. I was ready for book two after around four months but decided to wait. I have published around six months apart in each case.

Tessa: I am thinking about self-publishing my first novel, and was wondering what, as a self-published author, you believe is the best way to market your books?

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Dreena: I am an absolute convert for social media. Before my writing journey, I had a Facebook profile that I used to keep in touch with friends and a defunct Twitter account I had never used. Now I am active on Twitter, have a Facebook Author Page and an Instagram account. I have found enormous support in the writing communities on Instagram and Twitter, and have had fabulous feedback and encouragement from many other ‘indie’ writers around the world that I have never met. Something I would have been cynical and suspicious of in the past, and you do have to be careful, but these days I try to share the support, and encourage others, too. Conversely, face to face is impactful as well: I’ve had a book launch event, a book signing and given a talk and these have all led to contacts and sales.

I have also found that, in the main, people are inordinately supportive and helpful. I have reached out to people I have only interacted with online, or to long-lost friends, and they have all said yes when I have asked them to help as beta readers, or to write reviews, etc. I would say, use any contacts you have – however tenuous and don’t be too shy. Most people are nice and will help.

Tessa: I understand you are currently writing your first novel. As your writing has been described by an Amazon reviewer as ‘all human behaviour is here‘, I cannot wait to get to know your characters. Can you give us a flavour of what your book will be about?

Dreena: My novel is a mystery, bordering on a psychological thriller, from the point of view of a middle-aged woman, trying to unpick the circumstances of her grown daughter’s death, abroad. I feel there’s a lack of literature with female protagonists in their late forties, fifties, early sixties. We have seen lots of stories from the point of view of young women, and more recently, several elderly protagonists. It seems bizarre not to have more in between, given women of this age are often avid readers. I’m also planning to build on my experience of writing flash by incorporating a series of short flashbacks, dotted throughout the book, from the point of view of the daughter, giving the reader glimpses of what (may have) happened.

Tessa: As we all appreciate, fitting in your writing around work and family is not always easy. How many writing hours do you manage to squeeze into your week?

Dreena: It varies greatly depending on my schedule. On average, across the week, I probably write for about ten hours in total, but that excludes all the things I do outside of the formal process of writing up. It’s surprising how much admin there is to do and how much prep for social media. Social media, making images/ quotes using apps, posters, emailing people, researching competitions etc. is all very time consuming but, bizarrely, I enjoy all of that, too.

I plan a lot in my head before I put pen to paper – I plot ideas in the shower or the car, while making dinner etc. – and I will have a list of words or phrases on my phone that I can draw on once I start, as I am constantly noting down things I hear, or think of. I am not a detailed plotter in the strictest sense, as I don’t produce lots of mind maps and character sketches, but I generally know what I am going to say before I begin writing. That means I can get a piece done in a few hours, without much need for revision afterwards. I am unusual in that I edit as I go, and only really need one quick revision for line edits and typos the next day.

Sometimes I have those rare, precious moments were a flash fiction comes to me almost whole, and I will write it up on my phone in bed or during a break, and it will pour out of me and need very little editing. I am completely immersed then, and can’t type fast enough. Those moments are truly magical.

Keep up to date with Dreena’s writing via her Social Media platforms

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Dreena Collins – Stories for the Modern World For the first Author Interview of 2020, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to one of my fellow Jersey Writers Social Group members.

#Author Interview #Bird Wing #creative writing #Deena Collins #Flash Fiction #Jersey Writers Social Group #Self-publishing #Short Story Writing #Social Media Marketing #The Blue Hour #The Day I Nearly Drowned

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jerome-blog1 · 4 years

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Formal Fashion in SL: my interview with Mami Jewel creator of Azul

In the far distances of my SL memory, I remember looking for a formal gown and complaining to anyone who would listen that I did not want to look like a shuttlecock blown across the dance floor. A friend, who is sadly since long gone, told me “I know just the place” and took me to (perhaps the very first) Azul store. I doubt there are any of you who would argue with the fact that Azul defines formal in SL. And, it comes as no surprise to you that many of MVW candidates have dresses and outfits designed by the one and only Mami Jewell.

Mami has an elegantly beautiful avatar, as you would expect from her designs. She showed up to our appointment in a beautiful gown that she had made for BOSL Fashion Week. Mami is not one of those SL successes who simply expect you to see them as great. She is frank and real in her approach and unbelievably sweet. If I had to pick the top two reasons I like an Azul gown, one would be the beautiful lines of her designs. I wanted to know if design had been an RL passion as well, because it seems to be such an organic part of her creation.

Leda Carter: Have you always been interested in designing? Mami Jewell: First of all, thank you so much for giving me a chance to tell you about AZUL and about myself. I graduated from the Art University, majoring in Graphic. But, after graduation, I went to work as an architectural designer and never did fashion. For some time, I designed apartments, houses, and resort hotels. However, in Japan, I cannot legally be an architectural designer if I didn’t graduate from architect school. I had a number of good designs, and even won competitions, but my boss was always the one who was awarded because I didn’t have the right licence.

Finally, I gave up being an architect. I, then, started to study English by myself in order to be able to work with English-speaking clients. I worked for a trading company for almost 10 years. It was fun because I got the opportunity to go to many places for a few weeks here and there. But, when the company asked me to work in the US, I had to quit after I had been in Miami for a while. I have only my mother in my family, and I did not want to leave her alone. Currently, I am focusing on my SL business.

Leda: Maybe you could tell us a little something about Mami Jewell besides her educational background. Who is Mami? Mami: I am a pessimist, but also an optimist, difficult yet simple. I can think que cera cera, and think seriously & worry & worry. I guess I have both positive and negative thinking. I have two sides to think through things, and the two sides are always far each other. I feel I have extremes in my character. But, basically, I am a serious person, a hard worker, and a person who is easy to talk to.

I live in Tokyo since I was born, and don’t have a driver’s license *laughs*. My favorite artists to listen to, when I use photoshop, are Radioheads, Calm, Natural calamity, Chouchou, and so on. I love to keep my place clean, maybe too much! What I do after waking up everyday is to clean my place. Oh, and I drink 2 litres of coffee everyday.

Leda: Is that how you found your way to SL, in the midst of cleaning and coffee-drinking? Mami: I heard about SL from my friend in Brazil, in the early 2007. It sounded very interesting that I could create something in a virtual world. At the beginning, it was quite hard to understand what SL is, how to play it, or what I can do because, at that time, I couldn’t find the right answers on the Internet in Japanese. I tried to find the answers one by one, with frequent tries. But, I never thought to stop because SL was so FUN!

Leda: It sounds like you learned the technical aspects of the job on your own. Was that challenging? Mami: Skills of drawing texture in photoshop, I have been learning by myself since I came to SL. The only way for me to run this business is to ‘think’ it and then just ‘do it’. To be a designer is not challenging for me, yet every new creation is new challenge. The best thing in SL is to be able to create something new. My main challenges have been using English and getting used to new viewers when SL makes that change.

Leda Carter: You were a fast learner. You came to SL in 2007, and opened Azul the same year? Mami: I started by creating something simple for myself, and occasionally for friends to as a gift. I came to SL in March of 2007. I came to SL for the purpose of creation, but I didn’t want to spend RL money because I was not expecting this to be my RL job. So, I started by getting some money by camping in order to be able to upload textures. My avatar was the default for the first few months – you can imagine what the ‘default’ avatar looked like in 2007! lol

I was looking at my old blog yesterday, and see that SL was soooo simple at that time. Anyhow, I needed to learn how to better use photoshop. I spent some time learning how to do things. After a while, I made a skin for myself. Frankly, it was horrible but the experience helped me a lot towards creating outfits now.

I opened very first Azul shop in November 2007. For a while I was a designer in Styles of edo, and closed Azul from summer to November of 2008, and re-opened in December 2008. When I reopened the new AZUL, I was very busy handling the whole business by myself. One part of the difficulty was to find someone who could speak Japanese and English both, plus someone whom I could trust. Finally, I hired Poohta Bailey to be my manager. I have known her from when I was new to SL, and she is not only helping me a lot with the business, but she is very sweet and reliable.

Leda: Does this success motivate you to start designing in RL? Mami: Not really. We know SL has limitations for creation, but RL has it too. I have never made any clothes in RL, and don’t know the rules or details about fashion in RL. However, I know what i want to make, what i want to wear, and I can make them in SL. I don’t own the type of clothes I make in SL. In other words, I don’t have the elegant fashionable gowns, but, as a woman, I have the desire to wear them. I can buy and wear casual clothes in RL, so I do the elegant formal line in SL.

Leda: Does this mean that your designs reflect your personal taste more than customer demand? Mami: What I make in SL is what I _want_ to wear. I guess many designers are the same, I can not design without the influence of my own taste. I still add my flavor when I make gowns for special orders, otherwise it will be painful for me to create.

Leda: Do you try to keep SL and RL separate anymore? Mami: To be a designer and running my SL business has become my RL job now. my SL = RL 🙂 I do love the creation in SL, to see people enjoy my creation.

Leda: Have you considered having a more casual Azul line? Mami: I had ‘ Azul basic ‘ line 2 years ago, but I started to focus on formal because one of my targets was for people to understand that ‘formal is AZUL’ (i.e., not ‘AZUL is formal’).

Leda: And you have achieved that it seems. I think you do set a standard in formal design. Mami: Oh, I dont know *smiles*. That’s something for people to judge. There are so many great designers.

Leda: There are, i agree. and it is great to have new blood coming in. keeps everyone on their toes and keeps their designs fresh. but, I think you have created a design house that has an impact. Mami: Ahh, thank you so much! Now, I feel like I want to make more casual lines, simple, easy cocktail lines. Like I said, I’m not designer in RL, but I love to draw, to design, and to create since I was a kid. Everything I see and hear inspire me in some ways. I always have full images in my head, but I can not create them _all_, with my current skill and time.

Leda: We will be looking forward to see the images in your head actualized. It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Mami-san. Mami: Same here, Leda-san.

Posted by Leda Carter on 2015-07-24 22:09:50

Tagged: , Azul , light-play

The post Formal Fashion in SL: my interview with Mami Jewel creator of Azul appeared first on Good Info.

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