#and that i might have no idea what happened in those 60 pages unless i read the english | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

arcadialedger · 3 years

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Please note that I am most likely leaving this platform. I am done being abused. But first? We need to have a discussion. A discussion about hate and bullying in fandom.

All online-- I encourage you to read my story below. Reblog and spread awareness. The Dragon Prince fandom especially -- I implore you read my words, every single one of them. The short of it is that I am done.

This all began with losing and being blocked by a friend because I shared something they disagreed with. I don’t care what you feel about my initial reaction to this (which I’ll explain below) -- I’ve apologized for not handling the situation correctly. But I will not be shamed for speaking my mind and standing up for myself.

Because no human being deserves to go through what I have endured since last summer.

Following the “callout” post made about me by one of, if not the largest blogs in this fandom, I received hundreds of threats, harassment messages, and death threats. Messages and posts telling me to kill myself were also prominent, on a multiple times a week basis for awhile.

Messages from people who were well aware I have struggled with being suicidal. Due to one of their favorite Dragon Prince blogs speaking out against me, they thought it was okay to suicide bait me.

And it worked. I already struggle with hating myself, am already insecure, and being flooded with these comments which, while I made mistakes, did nothing to deserve, drove me to try and take my own life after years of progress in my mental health.

Mind you, this is like a 200 follower to 4k follower power dynamic. Which yes, plays a role-- because when you have a large following and influence, you have power. Yet the person behind this had the gall to claim Tumblr clout isn’t real.

People blocking and condemning others instantly at your word? Is power. If people read your words and are influenced, or have their minds changed, or buy or don’t buy something, etc.-- you are an influencer. You have power. And when you’re one of the largest blogs in a fandom, you have a LOT of power.

So take responsibility.

I was hurt because I lost a friend who I had chatted with for months, did a podcast with, and was generally not only one of my favorite blogs but the center of my experience in the Dragon Prince. I may not have been perfect in my words, but when I was asked why I was quiet/ inactive, I explained how I was hurting, anonymously. I was understandably in pain and upset. I had been cut off for just having a different opinion on a matter, for thinking differently. Even though it was within their rights to block and do so, it felt wrong and it weighed on me.

Is that such a crime?

The callout post and previously described abuse followed, lasting for months until later in the year (this began in June, or around then). It also included screenshots of tweets, when this user does not have Tumblr, and they have stated to have screenshots stored up on their computer of my various posts and interactions. This is creepy behavior, and freaked me out. I felt like I was being stalked, “evidence” being filed away for the very purpose of being used against me.

I eventually talked things out with the blog per recommendation of my therapist, and thought all would be fine. For a little while, it was. I largely stayed off of Tumblr to heal. Once in awhile I would have a rough, tearful night because something reminded me of what I lost, but I would make it through. Overall, I was making progress.

Then? My Twitter got hacked by one of the people sending me hate. For what had turned out to be much. And after they tweeted some purposefully incriminating and bigoted things to make me look bad, I came home from a weekend in the mountains to a shitstorm.

Twitter has a love hate relationship for me and I barely opened the app unless actively chatting with a friend. So when I saw 700+ notifications, I was surprised. It had never happened before.

I began to scroll through, and when I saw what had happened, I ran to the bathroom and threw up.

I had lost over half of my followers and a solid 60% of previous Twitter mutuals had blocked me. But worst of all, I had hundreds of hate tweets directed at me replying to the hackers tweets. Messages had been sent in DMs and accounts blocked, followed, and unfollowed as well.

If you have never felt that loss of agency-- that sickening feeling of words you never said next to your profile-- be glad. Because it is traumatic. I value my words. I value what I have to say. And having that taken from me was worse than anything I had been through here on Tumblr, outside of the suicide baiting (the most direct attack to me and my emotions/ insecurities throughout this entire ordeal). Further, this hacker had clearly stalked my tweets based on some of their comments.

Hundreds of tweets bashing me, calling me aphobic slurs (knowing I am asexual mind you, as it was in my bio), making fun of my appearance and targeting all of the insecurities which lead to my first suicide attempt in high school, and taking/ editing images of my face and mocking them. This all culminated in a doxing threat-- a doxing threat which made me feel unsafe on a campus I had already been sexually assaulted on. I was once again, after starting the healing process, thrusted back into the darkest time of my life and spiraled into anxiety and depression. I cried a lot overwhelmed by it all, had difficulty sleeping, and felt sick. I started fall semester and couldn’t concentrate on school. I was a mess.

I had once again been condemned, this time for something I had no part in. I tried to example what happened but nobody listened. I had been hung without trial. People were understandably confused, and my entire reputation on the platform, and my page, became a mess of lies, misunderstandings, and more.

If you don’t know the feeling of already hating yourself and being insecure, and having these beliefs reinforced and spread by hundreds publicly across the internet? Of already feeling lonely and unwanted and having the one space you thought you had taken from you? Consider yourself lucky.

I had a lot of voice actors and creators following me-- accounts I interacted and greatly cherished my mutual with. A handful of them unfollowed, understandably. This online hate mob was sending messages to people demanding they unfollow me, including some of these creators. They had no idea what to make of this mess or what was real and true and just didn’t want to deal with it. Most of the others just stopped interacting with me. @aaronwaltke (tagging so those who don’t follow already click and do so, because he is absolutely fantastic-- he’s a writer for ToA) who had followed me on the platform, graciously wished me peace with the entire situation after I checked to make sure he had not been subjected to messages or hate, either from my hacker or other accounts. His was the greatest compassion I got on Twitter, before I ultimately ended up just having to delete.

I lost podcast deals because of this with Adrian Petriw, Aaron Ehasz, and Justin Richmond. I do not blame them one bit and would have done the same in the confusion not wanting to get dragged into anything.

Only to have one of the friends I lost who helped start this interview these very people on their own podcasts. A slap in the face. A zine I had bought to support them came to my door, with the front page proclaiming to “spread a narrative of love.”

I was never granted that chance. That compassion. I had the vultures sent after me with no mercy. And anyone who has been through online abuse and systemic harassment knows just how much it feels like they’re slowly but surely picking at your flesh ( a metaphor I used in one of my old, since deleted posts discussing the situation, and still find accurate), wearing you down until you have no strength left.

Make no mistake, my story is not a one off situation. Many share the same tale of abuse and being driven off of platforms that once gave them great joy. These attacks are coordinated, systemic, and common hobby for these people-- who largely claim to be loving and accepting of all. They are a cyberbullying phenomenon which has risen with the presence of fandom on the internet. And I want to make clear, with current discussions of “cancel culture”, I mean nothing political in that statement. Some might call my experience cancel culture, but I don’t.

It’s just bullying. It’s just hate. These people get off on ruining people’s lives.

And my life was greatly set back and ruined. I had a stain on my past in fandom I could never be rid of. I had to shut down my podcast, took time off of all social media, and most of what I had built, most of my growth, was taken from me while those who incited and/ or spread hate thrived and continued to grow and find success. That was the greatest sting of all.

I asked the one previous friend who hadn’t blocked me, but had just stopped interacting with me (which I understood and respected, and also greatly respected her perspective, help, and support though this situation in which she largely unfortunately ended up in the middle) for help after explaining everything, and got nothing. They didn’t seem to care, and just blocked me on all platforms. Once in awhile, I would find I was cut off from yet another old friend, or a blog that I had never interacted with before but clicked into, interested. It hurt being cut off, unable to fully interact with the fandom, but I could move on.

That pain would never go away, but I made clear I did not blame them for the actions of those who abused, harassed, and threatened me. I also made it clear they did not owe me anything, including unblocking.

I just wanted to move on peacefully, but those with the power to enable that did not wish to help. I slowly, when I felt ready, began to be more active on Tumblr again, and once again the hate started up.

Sometimes when I was hurting, I expressed my pain and loss to my followers just to reach out, because I was sad. I had no idea how to rebuild from all that had happened. This got me more hate an accusations of emotional manipulation and gaslighting. I had no idea what to do, and got trapped in a cycle of needing to talk about it, and getting hate and backlash, but not knowing where else I could turn.

My doxer came back into my asks, ultimately making me switch schools, and refueled the drama. Speaking up about this got me more backlash-- mostly accounts reblogging (one with tags saying “fuck you”, despite not knowing the full story, and commenting and then blocking me so I could do nothing to respond or get it off of my page. I deleted all posts of the matter, as requested by these people (who validly pointed out they were in the main fandom tags, which I hadn’t thought of and understood), and hoped to move on.

But it hasn’t stopped. I have been beaten down and emotionally bruised for months. I have had my life and safety threatened, my education and by extension life path altered, and lost work (podcast) opportunities due to this-- alongside the irreversible emotional damage from trauma and abuse. My mental health issues and insecurities-- which I have been very open about to destigmatize the subjects and encourage conversation-- were actively targeted to inflict the most pain possible.

And I can’t even talk about it, without enduring more hate and accusations of “playing the victim”.

Death threats, suicide baiting, doxing, months of bullying and harassment to the most vile degree, which a lot of these people don’t know about because they don’t even bother to read my words. Yet I’m playing the victim.

And the accusations of bigotry and being hateful hurt, because it couldn’t be further from what is in my heart. I believing in love and acceptance of all. I don’t know how many are religious here, but I found God after my first suicide attempt and that is what his word has taught me.

I’ve been through too much in life to tolerate this, for lack of a more eloquent term, bullshit. I know what abuse and victim blaming looks like when I see it. And in my 20 years of life, I have gone through too much: constant ridicule and bullying, suicide attempts, sexual assault, major spinal surgery, to just be stomped over and not stand up for my right to basis human decency.

I refuse to put up with this, so unless I get an apology and some semblance of justice for everything I have been through, I am leaving. I will not participate in a space run by hate and toxicity. I will never claim to be perfect, and I have apologized for my mistakes and wrongdoings. Now, hold those who did this accountable. If you’re reading this you know very well who it was, and I am not naming them for those who don’t. Because at the end of the day I still send nothing but love and wish no ill will towards them.

But I’ll be damned if I don’t expect accountability of one of the greatest influencers in the fandom for their complacency in abuse, threats, suicide baiting, and and absolute ruining of my life and online experience. They enabled this and were well aware they had the power to stop it-- to ask their followers to stop-- and did nothing. They didn’t care-- about a human’s life and well being.

@dragonprinceofficial, are you aware that this is what many of the fans of your show, which preaches love and an end to the cycle of vengeance, do to others? That this is happening in your space? If you stand at all by the values you preach, condemn it. @staffTumblr/ @supportTumblr-- shame on you for allowing this abuse to happen and ignoring my reports. Shame on you for permitting these people to operate in your platform and for being okay with hosting hate. People have been driven to suicide on your website-- I am one of the lucky ones.

If you care at all about humanity and stand against this behavior, reblog and spread awareness. Share my story so I may not happen to anyone else. Tag @dragonprinceofficial until they notice and speak out.

This is my story, and so many others. Make sure it doesn’t happen ever again. No human being deserves to be treated how I was. Everyone deserves compassion, decency, and respect. And everyone deserves a place in fandom. Do better. If you want to reach out to me DMs are open, as well as my email, which is attached to my account. Until this change happens and I am given the support/ help needed to safely function on this platform, this blog will not be active outside of that.

Thank you all of the many accounts who have supported me, and I am working on getting back to all who have reached out! Your love means the world. You know who you are, and I don’t want to tag in case people come after you for showing me kindness. I am sorry if this is goodbye, to all that have enjoyed my blog. I enjoyed it for a long time too. I loved sharing my passion for stories, culture, having a space where I could analyze and discuss my favorite things. I loved getting to share what I had to offer with the world, having fun and posting jokes with my unique sense of humor. I loved interacting with intelligent people/ fellow fans and discussing my favorite stories, offering each other new insights and growing together. I loved the many, many kind and wonderful people who reached out to me in a variety of ways and provided support and friendship.

In the end, it just isn’t worth all of this pain and trauma, and I know when to put my foot down. I don’t want pity, I don’t want apologizes, and I’m not a martyr. I just want my story to make a difference-- to spur positive change in fandom culture/ spaces. I will be tagging all fandoms in which I have seen this kind of abuse present as well, to reach as many as possible.

Be safe, and be kind.

- The Arcadia Ledger/ Ryn/ Katie, signing off.

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raysofcrosby · 4 years

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CHANCES – M. TKACHUK

requested: yes | no

warning(s): none that i can think of.

word count: 5,066

listened to: chances by the backstreet boys

inspiration: mixed luggage au [ i can’t find the og au-prompt masterlist, but if this is your au idea, lemme know and i’ll link you for credit (: ]

authors note: listen– i don’t know what it is, but i’ve literally been on a tkachuk thing lately. like, i used to despise this little curly-headed gremlin, but now??? it’s all hearteyes motherfucker. this is purely a writing to help me get back into the writing groove again after these last six months of nothing– so i might be a lil rusty. anyway, i hope you enjoy <3333

I’m sorry Y/N, but if you’re not here in the next 5 minutes I need to keep going.

That text haunted you– it was all you could think about the moment you got off of your flight. The uber your sister had ordered for you was close to canceling– all because there were too many planes taxiing on the airstrip and your stupid flight ended up circling in the air for thirty minutes. If this were any other airport, no doubt you’d be screwed. Luckily though, you knew good ole St. Louis Lambert International like the back of your hand. So getting from point A to point luggage claim would be no problem at all. The only delay would be the luggage getting put out onto the carousel.

Which of course, did prove to be the problem at hand.

You were the first one from your flight at the carousel and hoped to be gone before any disgruntled passengers you managed to bump into, could show up. Unfortunately for you, just as the bags were being loaded onto the carousel, your fellow passengers were arriving too– more than a few giving you a look that would normally result in you rolling your eyes in response. Yet, your focus wasn’t on them, it was glued to the small carousel door, keeping an eye out for your suitcase.

Teal bag with a grey handle. Teal bag with a grey handle. Teal bag with a grey handle. Teal bag with a grey hand–

“Ah-ha!” You smiled, catching eye of your suitcase and rushing to meet it instead of letting it eventually make its way to you. You grabbed the suitcase and extended the handle to drag it away, already walking towards the exit.

One minute.

You had one minute to catch your uber before they left you and you hoped and prayed that luck was on your side and the black Toyota Corolla just happened to be parked near the door you chose to exit from. The warm summer air of the Missouri summer weather practically smacked you in the face and it fit wasn’t for the awning covering the pick-up zone, you would have no doubt been blinded by the sun too.

“Oh, thank God,” you sighed, catching sight of a black Toyota Corolla that your sister said to find, parked just six cars down to your left. You sped walked to the uber, coming to a stop at the window and waving at the driver, catching her attention. “I’m so, so sorry I’m late.”

The woman, probably in her early 60’s gave you a friendly smile instead of the scowl you were expecting. “Are you Y/N?”

“Yes ma’am,” you replied, nodding.

“Go ahead and put your suitcase in the trunk, it’s opened for you.”

You walked to the trunk and lifted it open, placing your suitcase inside before closing it and walking to the back passenger door, getting into the backseat. “Again, I’m so sorry for making you wait. We had to circle in the air for 30 minutes because of the traffic on the airstrip and,” you exhaled, relaxing back into your seat. “I’m so sorry.”

She laughed, pulling away from the airport. “It’s no problem sweetheart. I saw your reply. I was going to give you a little extra time. I know how hectic airports could be. Especially this time of the year. Everyone’s traveling for vacation.”

“Yeah, I think I might have accidentally elbowed one too many people trying to get to luggage claim.”

“Are you visiting or coming home?”

“Coming home…kind of,” you laughed, staring out the window at your hometown. “I actually just graduated from college a few weeks ago, so my roommates and I rented a house on the Jersey Shore to celebrate. But, my sister is getting married tomorrow, so that’s why I’m back.” You looked back towards her, laughing softly to yourself. “But then come September, I’ll actually be moving to Calgary for a new job and to get my Masters.”

“So a lot of traveling, I see.”

You took a deep breath and sighed, nodding. “Yeah, but I’m glad to be able to spend all of this time with my friends and family before I start working. Especially since I’ll be moving so far away.”

“It sounds like a great time,” she smiled, looking at me through the rearview mirror. “I’m a sucker for weddings, why don’t you tell me about it?”

Normally, you weren’t one to talk a lot whenever you and your friends would take Ubers downtown on the weekends– but this driver was sweet and you found yourself talking nonstop as she drove you towards your final destination. After all, she didn’t abandon you at the airport like you thought she would.

The car ride to your parents' place went by a lot faster than you thought it would and it was all thanks to Mrs. Sheila, your lovely uber driver. Whom, you learned, started driving after she lost her husband late last year. Her kids lived out of state and once they went back home after those first few weeks, she wanted to find something to do to keep herself busy and get herself out of the house– so, she became an uber driver.

Walking into your parents' house, you were greeted with empty echos of your footsteps. Your parents were still at work and wouldn’t be home until just a little before the rehearsal dinner tonight. Your brother, well, as far as you knew, he had absolutely nothing going on, so you didn’t know why he wasn’t around. If anyone was guaranteed to be home, it was your sister. She was the one who ordered your uber and had them take you here, so she was more than well aware of what time you’d be arriving home.

“Hello?” You called out, leaving your suitcase by the door and making your way to the living room. “Char, are you here?”

“Is that my favorite sister?” You heard her voice call out from upstairs. Looking up, you could see her rounding the hallway corner, carrying a closed laundry basket full of, no doubt, stuff for tonight’s bridal party sleepover.

“I’m your only sister,” you laughed as she made her way down the staircase.

“Unless you count all of the times we got bored and turned Nick into Nikki,” she giggled, reaching the end of the staircase and putting the basket down before stepping forward and hugging you. “How was the flight?”

“It was great up until our 30 minutes of circling in the air,” you laughed, pulling away from the hug. “Where’s my dear brother?”

“Working out with some friends. We probably won’t see him until tonight.”

“Nothing says welcome home like being greeted to an empty house.”

“Excuse you, I was here to greet you.” She laughed, picking the basket back up. “But if you really want to be upset, you should see all of the packed boxes in your room.”

“I leave in three months! Why are they packing me up now?” You gasped, acting dramatically.

“Nick and dad are planning on transforming it into some kind of training room or something.”

“But they–“

“Already took over the garage? Yeah, I know and mom is pissed.”

You rolled your eyes, grabbing the handle of your suitcase again. “He literally told the Blues that he was going back to Michigan in the fall to try and win a championship. Why the hell are they even treating him like he’s already a hall of famer?”

“Perks of being the youngest, not to mention dad’s only son,” she laughed, looking at the door. “Ready to head to the Airbnb?”

“Can we get food first?” You asked, dragging your suitcase along. “I’m starving.”

She laughed as you held the door open for her. “Good, because we’re most definitely getting food before we go and take a nap.”

You laughed, walking out of the house with her and then closing and locking the door behind you. “I knew we were related.”

Lunch and a nap turned out to be exactly what you needed. The two of you had stopped at a subway to get some food before driving over to the Airbnb that you, your sister and the rest of the bridesmaids would be staying for the night.

It was a beautiful three-bedroom, modernized cottage that looked like it was stripped directly from the pages of a fairytale book. It was tucked away, just off to the side in the backyard of a beautiful colonial house, whose farm would tomorrow be transformed into a whimsical fairytale wedding location. The men would be getting ready in the house, while the women would be getting ready in the cute cottage. Sort of like a secret getaway paradise before the wedding.

When you got back with your food, your sister took you on a tour of the property while the wedding planners and staff were setting up all of the bigger decorations for tomorrow. You were off at school during the entire planning process, only ever seeing every one of her ideas in pictures. The only things you were able to take part in, were the dress shopping and her bachelorette party since they were both held at a time you were on a fall break from school. Besides being there for those two things, the only other thing you helped with– was the proposal.

Colton has been in your life for as long as you could remember. He and Charlotte have been best friends since Pre-K. It was the cliché friends to lovers kind of story that was told time after time– but in theirs, there were no other people in it. It was just them. There were no other boyfriends or girlfriends, no other crushes– from the very beginning, they were it for each other. They were each other's first everything– kiss, date, girlfriend/boyfriend, time– in their love story, they had found their one great love…all before they turned five.

Wherever Charlotte was, there was Colton– they were stuck like glue and your parents loved it. It was their friendship that brought both of your families together to the relationship that you all had now. Your families were best friends, all because of their relationship. You often took vacations together, spent holidays together, hell, you and Colton’s middle brother, Mason, even had joint birthday parties– as did your two younger siblings, Nick and Addie. Your families even try to go as far as to dropping hints that all three kids should date.

Colton and Charlotte. You and Mason. Nick and Addie– all the same age and practically family already.

It was perfect.

Until you and Mason tried to date in the tenth-grade and realized that kissing the person you’ve shared every birthday party with, used to take baths with and shared every key moment growing up– wasn’t all that great. In fact, it was weird. So the two of you remained as the almost black sheep of the families, especially since Nick and Addie were headed down the same path as Charlotte and Colton. They started dating in eighth-grade– like Colton and Charlotte– and have maintained a healthy and strong relationship to now, even long-distance, when they’ll both be sophomores in college in the fall, Addie at the University of Missouri and Nick playing hockey at the University of Michigan.

You and Mason were there, always making jokes about how it runs in the family but skipped a generation. Never letting your siblings live it down that the two of you will be the ones to break the cycle. Funny how you two were also the ones who played the biggest roles in Charlotte’s engagement.

Both of your dads are huge St. Louis Blues fans. So naturally, they tried to rub that off onto their children. And it worked, all except for you. You tolerated the blues, but never really adopted hockey as your favorite sport. You understood it, watched it whenever you never had a choice– but like your mom, you gravitated more towards football and adopted her hometown team as your own– the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Colton and Charlotte, however, were both diehard Blues fans from day one. There were even pictures to prove it. They even went to a game on both their first ‘supervised’ date and ‘unsupervised’ date. So, when the Blues were making a run for the Stanley Cup– it was imminent for your families to attend at least one game. You and Mason did everything in your power to get the Blues attention. You emailed anyone and everyone who worked in their front office, you spammed their social media accounts– anything and everything to get their attention so you could share their story and Colton’s plan.

And at game four it all came to life. Charlotte was ‘randomly’ selected to participate in an intermission event after the first period where she’d be blindfolded and needed to walk along the ice to find Louie after collecting ‘Blues momentos’ along the way. The Blues had played the short slideshow of Colton and Charlotte that you and Mason had sent them, as they introduced her to the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, both of our families were on the ice with her, standing behind her while she was blindfolded. You and the other three siblings were scattered in front of her, each holding a single rose.

The Blues staff member helped her walk along the ice and the moment that she took a flower from someone, they needed to go back to where she started, which was where Colton was standing with the ring in his pocket. The four of you each had a sign, that when held up together read ‘Will you marry me?’ Once Charlotte neared Louie, he cut the distance to just by center ice where all of you were waiting. And when she found Louie, the entire crowd had erupted into cheers as she took off her blindfold, all smiles until she turned around to see the signs and Colton on one knee.

She said yes. The Blues won. The proposal went viral and your families were given a box to game seven where the Blues won the Stanley Cup.

All in a day's work between the two middle siblings, and one that led you all to this moment– the wedding tomorrow. Where Colton, who was already like a big brother yo you, would officially, pretty much become your big brother.

“Y/N,” your sister said, shaking your arm. “Y/N, get up. We’ve got like 45 minutes to get ready for dinner before we have to leave and no offense, but you need to shower.”

“Your lucky that you’re getting married tomorrow or I’d kill you,” you mumbled into the pillow, taking a deep breath and exhaling before pushing yourself up. “Can you charge my phone for me? I won’t take too long, just need to rinse off and I’ll be back.”

“In your backpack?” She asked as you walked out of the room.

“Mhhm, small front pocket. The charger is with it.”

You walked out of the room and into the connected bathroom, closing the door behind you before walking towards the shower and turning on the water. Your nap was more than enough to help you make it through dinner. You hadn’t thought that you were even that tired, but the moment you laid down to relax after eating your sandwich– you were absolutely knocked out.

To be fair though, you had spent the last two weeks partying it up on the beach with your college roommates, trying to relive every moment from your last four years of partying, downing booze, and making out with any attractive guy who caught your eye. You know what they say, no rest for the wicked– and boy, oh boy, were the wicked actions of shotgunning beers with strangers in the hot summer jersey sun, coming back to haunt you.

At least you got one hell of a tan and more memories to last you a lifetime, out of it all.

You turned off the shower before you stepped out and wrapped a towel around your body, then wrapping your hair up in a second towel. You walked out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom, only to find it empty. "Hey, Char?"

"In the living room...er, kitchen, I guess!"

You walked out of the bedroom and into the living room to see Charlotte sitting at the kitchen counter, a make-up mirror propped up in front of her and hot curling iron in her hand. "Why are you doing your hair in the kitchen?"

"You were in the bathroom and the lighting is lacking in the bedroom." She let a curl, fall from the iron and turned to you. "What's up?"

"Well, for one, the bathroom is free," you laughed, looking around. "And two, I was wondering where you put my suitcase? It was in the room and now it's not."

"No," she dragged out her reply, focusing on wrapping another piece of hair around the iron before averting her eyes towards the door. "You left it by the front door. Never brought it in."

You turned towards the front door and sure enough, right there not even three feet away from the door...was your suitcase. "Awesome, thanks!" You said, walking over and tugging on the handle, extending it out before walking back to the room. "And my phone?"

"Charging in the kitchen. It was dead by the way."

"Great," you huffed, walking into the bedroom and over to the bed. You lifted up the suitcase, letting it plop down onto the bed and exhaled a deep breath. It was a lot heavier than you thought it was. But maybe your body was just tired from traveling and last night's final night out.

You caught a glimpse of the alarm clock that was set up on the bedside table and saw that your getting ready time was vastly starting to dwindle. So, not thinking anything more of the heavy suitcase, you unzipped the zipper and threw the cover back, ready to grab the romper you had placed directly on top, just so it wouldn't get wrinkled. You stared down at the contents of the suitcase, quickly grabbing the cover and shutting it again.

Okay, maybe you were imagining things.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling, and then opening your eyes and opening the suitcase again.

No, you definitely weren't imagining things.

The same spike ball netting was still staring you right in the face. Surrounding it, were three spike balls and a crumbled up bag that was supposed to house the set. Beneath it, a bunch of crumpled up clothes and other things.

"No," you shut the suitcase again, repeating the same steps: close your eyes, take a breath, hope you're dreaming, open your eyes and then the suitcase, only to be disappointed. "No, no– oh my God, this can't be happening. Charlotte!!"

You heard her footsteps echo off of the wooden floor as she made her way to the bedroom, half of her hair curled and set. "What?"

"This isn't my suitcase."

"Of course it is," she scoffed. "Colton and I got you that big traveling set for graduation, and that," she pointed at the suitcase, "is it."

"No, it's not," You opened the suitcase and reached in, grabbing the first thing you felt and holding it up to show her. "See? Not mine!"

"Y/N," her eyes widened before she started to laugh. "You might want to put those down."

"It's just the spike ball bag, it's not big–" you turned to see what you were holding and sure enough, it was not the spike ball bag you thought you had picked up. It was a pair of Ant-Man boxers, and it was unknown whether or not they were clean or not. "Ah, ew!" You tossed them back into the suitcase, wiping your hand on your towel. "Ew, ew, ew, I just touched a stranger's dirty underwear."

"You don't know if they were dirty."

"You don't know if they were clean!" You argued back, looking around the handle for an identification tag. "This definitely isn't mine. My travel tag isn't on the handle."

"Who uses a travel tag?" She laughed, shaking her head.

"Me," you turned towards the suitcase, slamming it shut and zipping it. "I use a travel tag, so if my luggage gets lost or switched, they can contact me. It's common travel knowledge."

She sighed, walking over towards the suitcase and unzipping the two pockets on top, looking in and shaking her head. "Nothing hidden in those pockets. Did you think to go through the rest of the suitcase? Maybe they have a tag in there."

"And risk touching another pair of possibly dirty boxers and God knows what else? No thanks," you zipped up the suitcase and picked it up, placing it back onto the ground. "I'm doomed. That suitcase had all of the clothes that I took to Jersey, in it. It had my outfit and makeup for tonight."

"I have something you can borrow," she walked over to the closet, opening it to reveal it was empty besides two dresses hanging up. "And I've got make-up and whatever your little heart desires for your hair."

"Your wedding present was in there too," you sighed, walking over to the closet. "Which one?"

"This." She held out the rose-colored dress, handing the hanger to you. "You can get away with no bra and I can give you a pair of underwear from the new pack I bought this morning–"

"Why would you buy new underwear?" You asked, taking the dress.

"In case of emergencies," she closed the closet and turned back to you, nodding. "Which, this is. Unopened pack in that laundry basket I was carrying, feel free to take a pair and keep them. As for shoes...you're kind of on your own on that one."

You sighed, defeated as she walked out of the bedroom, leaving you to get dressed. You unwrapped the towel around your hair, letting it drop onto the floor as the towel wrapped around your body went with it. You took the dress off of the hanger and untied the straps, lifting the dress over your head and tugging it down. Your mind was going over every detail of just how you picked up the wrong suitcase. Fair, it was a dead-ringer for the suitcase you took with you to Jersey, but even you should have known to realize that there was no bright red luggage tag hanging on the side handle. And it was all you could do but hope that whoever picked up your suitcase thinking it was theirs, would at least call or text.

"Oh shit," you said, holding onto the straps that hung down on the side, trying to tie them in the back. "Charlotte! My phone!"

You ran out into the living room to see her now finishing up her make-up at the counter, turning to you with wide eyes. "Okay one, sit down and let me brush your hair," she stood up and grabbed your wrist, bringing you over to counter and sitting you down. "And two, your phone is right there."

"If they figured out our luggage was switched, they'd call! My luggage tag!" You reached across the counter, grabbing your phone and turning it over to see that the screen was still black. "Oh come on, my phone wasn't that dead!"

Charlotte tugged you back and started to brush your hair, not bothering to go slow. "I plugged it in the moment you went to take a shower, just give it a few seconds."

If looks could kill, your phone would be nowhere ready to turn on. You were glaring at the screen as if pure intimidation would turn it on. This could go one of two ways:

1) This person left your suitcase in the dark abyss that is lost luggage at the airport.

2) Like you, they didn't realize that they had grabbed the wrong luggage until they went to open it and they'll find your luggage tag and call you.

"Ah!" You yelled, jumping out of the chair as your phone lit up. You leaned over the counter, your heart racing as Charlotte tried to keep brushing your hair. "Come on, come on, come on..."

"Right there," Charlotte said, pointing at your screen as a text message notification popped up on the screen from an unknown number. "That has to be them!"

"Oh thank God," you sighed, thumb ready to swipe the message open. "Oh...yikes."

"Uh," Charlotte laughed as the two of you continued to watch your messages pour in, at least 5 coming in from the unknown number, along with three phone calls. "Yikes indeed, I guess they're panicking just as much as you are."

You swiped on the notifications, unlocking your phone, and going to the message.

unknown: hi y/n i think you grabbed the wrong suitcase...

unknown: yeah, uh, you most definitely grabbed the wrong suitcase.

unknown: is there any way we can switch in the next 30 minutes before i reach my house?

unknown: ok, so i'm sorry for the spam texts and calls...but this is kind of urgent.

unknown: like life or death.

"Life or death?" Charlotte asked, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell was in that suitcase?"

"Spike ball and dirty clothes," you replied, shrugging. Your eyes went wide before you turned back to her. "What if they're a drug smuggler and there are drugs in there?"

She opened her mouth to speak before looking down at your phone, nodding. "Now's your chance to find out. Look who's calling."

You looked back down at your phone to see the unknown number flash on your screen. You looked back at her, shaking your head. "You answer it."

"Your luggage, you answer it," she laughed, pulling back segments of your hair to tie back. "But put it on speaker, I'm curious what the drug dealer sounds like."

You shoved your elbow back, avoiding her as you nervously slid your thumb across the screen, answering the call and pressing the speaker button. "Hello?"

"Oh thank God," the unknown called sighed, clearing his throat. "Sorry for the spam calls, I've just been panicking."

"Yeah, I’m sorry...my phone died," you replied, looking at Charlotte as your voice dwindled off.

"The suitcase," she mouthed, nodding her head back towards the room.

"Oh, the suitcase!" You said, almost a little too excited. You cleared your throat, calming yourself down. "I most definitely have your suitcase...maybe."

"Well I have yours," you could hear rustling in the background. "Y/N L/N, right?"

"Yep, that's me," you looked at Charlotte again, shaking your head. "Sorry to kind of do this...but how do I know I have your suitcase? I mean, what if I grabbed someone else's and you grabbed mine and there's three of us in this and–"

Charlotte smacked your back lightly with the back of the brushed, shaking her head as the voice on the other side of the phone laughed. "Um, shit," he coughed, smacking his lips. "Uh well, there should be a spike ball set in there. If not, then I left it at Johnny's. Otherwise, it's just clothes."

"Congratulations," you laughed, leaning back into the chair. "I've got your suitcase."

"Oh thank God, I was really worried there for a second," they replied. "Is there any chance we can exchange them soon?"

"Okay, so about that," you sighed, biting the inside of your cheek. "I kind of have a wedding rehearsal and dinner to go to in 20 minutes...and I don't think that will be over with till about...two hours from now. Is that okay?"

There was silence on the other side and you couldn't help but feel horrible at the fact that you were keeping this stranger away from his luggage and that he had to keep yours until then. "My family and I are going to dinner in two hours, reservation and all."

"Where at?" You spoke before your brain could even catch up with what your mouth was doing. "I'm sorry that was creepy."

He laughed and you felt a little flutter feeling in your stomach. "No, it's fine. I think we're going to Maggiano's in–"

"In the Westfield town center?" Your eyes widened as Charlotte placed the brush down on the counter behind you, looking at you with a smile. "We're going to Pieology in the Westfield town center!"

"Pieology for a wedding rehearsal dinner? Sounds like my kind of party," he laughed. "So, do you just want to exchange then? When I get there and you're leaving?"

"Sounds perfect!"

"Great! So I'll just, text you when I get there and I promise I won't forget the suitcase."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"All right, bye, Y/N!"

"Bye!" You hung up the call and Charlotte leaned against the counter a smile on her face. "What?"

"He sounded cute." She stuck placed the extra bobby pins she didn't need, onto the counter. "Maybe he can be your date for my wedding."

"Not this again," you groaned, getting out of the chair. "For the last time, I don't need a date. Besides, this guy is a total stranger– I don't even know his name!"

"You can learn it later," she laughed, wiggling her eyebrows. "Either way, do your makeup quickly because we need to leave in ten."

She walked off towards the bedroom the two of you had claimed and you sighed, sitting back down into your seat, grabbing her mascara, blush, and golden liquid shimmer eyeshadow. It was the best you could do for now, until you got all of your stuff back from this stranger. As you applied the eyeshadow, you couldn't get Charlotte's comment out of your head. She was right, he did sound cute. But who's to say that he's not a total creep? Or that he's even your age? He could be in his 40's or even barely cruising 18. And then stood the real issue, you didn't even know his name.

Your phone screen lit up once again and you looked away from the mirror, seeing that you had another text from the unknown number. You furrowed your eyebrows and unlocked your phone, opening his text.

unknown: my name is matt, by the way 😊

#matthew tkachuk #matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk oneshot #nhl imagine #nhl one shot #hockey imagine #hockey oneshot #hockey writing #nhl writing #calgary flames oneshot #calgary flames imagine #calgary flames writing #matthew tkachuk writing #calgary flames #my writing

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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

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Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 60 – Help out of Nowhere

“Sir Rael?!”

“What are you doing here?!”

Contrary to the daze in their huge eyes, Tao’s and M-21’s voices spoke of glee, although they were too occupied at the moment to show any welcoming gesture.

As much as Rael was braced for what he was beholding, things only took the worse turn throughout his race towards KSA, which is why the distortion in his face intensified as he neared his destination.

Now that he finally entered the heart of the calamity, he was appalled to find the perfect example of chaos.

There was cataclysm in every corner his eyes could meet; Tao, M-21, and Takio, now somewhat used to the discord, eyed what Rael was holding at either side of his arms, which made their eyes expand for the second time.

“M-mr. Jang?!”

“What happened? What’s with that look?”

“And who’s this...? His attire tells me he’s one of yours.”

“...Long story. Let’s save it for later. First of all, I need you to do something about this one. He’s burnt badly.”

Tao said no more, as he was already aware of how Yuhyung was grunting non-stop, and he swiftly led Rael to the KSA lab.

“I did what I can at the moment, but he’s gonna need full check-up and heavy treatment, since it’s obvious the fire that burned him is no ordinary sort. I’ve never seen such serious burn ever since my departure from the Union.”

Tao muttered, after cloaking Yuhyung from head to toes with a spray specially made for burns.

Just as he pointed out, Yuhyung, even though he was grunting less, still looked like he was in pain, enough to make the bystanders worry that he might kick the bucket as soon as they take their eyes off him.

Unfortunately, they were not given more time to care about the human.

“Krr...”

“Kraah!”

They have been binding the modified agents, employees, and civilians and holding them captives, using the lab as a temporary concentration camp.

However, they were beginning to wonder if the gas in the missile was embedded with zombie virus, for the modified humans did not cease to shove themselves into their eyes.

Shifting away from Rael (whose eyes for some reason were fixed on Yuhyung), Tao, Takio, and M-21 had to dedicate themselves in stopping the group of people that crawled their ways into the lab.

“By now these people would have spread throughout Seoul. I’m sure this isn’t the only place going through this catastrophe at the moment.”

“But we dare not leave this place. Which is nuts.”

“This will never end if we stick to this measure. We need a solution – a more fundamental solution.”

“Isn’t there any antidote for this phenomenon? If Union came up with a rapid body transformation, I’m sure they had devised something that undoes it at an accelerated rate.”

There’s no way Union would have completed a technology without any safety gear, objected M-21’s face.

Yet they knew that what M-21 was asking for was more than hope – it was a miracle that he was demanding.

“Even if there is such technology, it’d take time for us to apply it for actual use, at none other than a time like this!”

Tao flung himself towards the two of the captured humans, who were squirming away from their original spots.

M-21 did have a point, however – the founding cause of this disaster is the rapid body transformation that took over people.

The most effective solution, therefore, would be to counterwork their body modification.

And of course, they had no idea where and how to obtain the technology needed.

Nevertheless, there is a reason why hope is meant to shine at the darkest moment; a solution was given to them so very absurdly and suddenly.

“Tao! Take a look at this!”

The man’s head rotated right away; it was only on a rare occasion that Rael would address him with his name.

The noble who was away from the skirmish so far unbenched himself with something: a notebook in one hand and a palm-sized kit in the other.

“What’s this? Where did you...”

Perplexed, Tao directed his gaze towards where Rael just sprang from, and understanding smeared across his face.

He concentrated on the notebook, to soon enough lift his shuddering eyes from the papers.

Compared to his eyes that were ridiculously far from calm, his lips were curved in an unmistakable sign of hope.

“I-is this true?!”

“Beats me. But it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”

“What? Tao, what is it?”

Asked Takio, who was immersed in a battle with empty hands for once.

“Guys, I need you to buy me some time! Perhaps we’d be able to settle this once and for all, in one go!”

Immediately, the three pairs of eyes flashed from three gorgeous faces.

As Takio, Rael, and M-21 were chasing and arresting the modified humans, not at all dwindling in number and thus giving them impression that there was duplication instead of infection behind all this, Tao frantically whipped his way all over the lab for essential kits and parts.

He snatched away Yuhyung’s bag, luckily in one piece despite the fire, stationed right next to the table serving as Yuhyung’s bed, to go ahead and put his fingers to violent labor as he fidgeted with Yuhyung’s machine, with desperation that was by no means behind the one he harbored during Crombel’s nuclear missile incident.

After who-knows-how-long, Tao raised his voice to let his party know that he was ready.

“Get over here! We’ll need to brief this!”

All men practically threw themselves upon Tao within a second, and the latter wasted no time in explication.

“This is called a GC chip. Simply put, it’s a biochip meant to carry DNA information. And the weapon charged with this chip will target only the creature from which the DNA information was taken.”

“Is this part of Union’s scientific arts? Where did this come from out of blue?”

“We’ll talk about this later. Right now we have to use this thing and...”

Tao’s face abruptly stiffened, his hand thumbing over the last pages of the notebook.

The change was so brisk that Takio, M-21, and Rael could not help plunging their faces into the notebook.

“What? What’s the problem?”

“If this thing targets only the creatures that provided the DNA information, are you saying we must collect from every single victim their DNA information?!”

“...No. I already made adjustments regarding that part, so we only need single DNA that will function as the master key. When a human body goes through body modification, regardless of the intensity of the modification, it will inevitably go through genetic transfiguration, to beget artificial genetic factors. I can pinpoint and sample those common genetic factors that follow all types of body modification. But the thing is...”

Tao had to struggle to move his lips, as six pupils with varying contours and hues bored holes into him.

“We need high-class modified human’s DNA as a sample. Let me give you a rundown of the missile I’m about to launch with the GC chip injected: it will basically work as a neutralizer. I have turned the catalyzing components inside the gas to work exactly the other way, so this gas will neutralize, delete, and, most importantly, permanently exterminate the artificial gene factors in the victims. But human cells never stop diving for good unless their hosts are dead. So by now the victims’ bodies would be teeming with the gene factors from modification. In order to neutralize them all at once, I need DNA information so strong that it will not fail to cover every single gene factor.”

“Is it similar to how you need painkiller at least equal and hopefully stronger than the pain you seek to erase?”

“That’s close enough, M-21. Modified humans that have gone through elaborate modification would boast elaborate, supreme genetic information. So even with just a little bit of their DNA, I’d be able to wash off modification in the victims.”

“Well, then what are you waiting for?”

Takio rolled up his sleeve as he stepped up and offered himself, but Tao waved his head and grabbed his teammate’s arm.

“Takio, you and I received Dark Spear’s power from boss, remember? If the Dark Spear’s power is included in our DNA sample and end up passing onto the victims...”

“...What we’re sweating our behinds off for would be nothing but a child’s play.”

Takio shivered and stepped back, and M-21 was the one to take over the volunteering.

“Then what about me? My body is clean of Frankenstein’s power.”

“I’m afraid you’re not an option, either. As of now your physical makeup is close to that of a werewolf than that of a human. For this GC chip, we need genetic information of a modified human. There’s no guarantee that your genetic information would be compatible for the result we want.”

“...I guess it’s impossible for me to make myself available for the job, if it is a must that you base this missile on a modified human.”

Rael added, to which Tao nodded with despair.

Nobody denied that their standing was preposterously frustrating; they had the remedy right in their noses, but they could not bring themselves to use it.

Just when they were about to plummet into the despair of no exit or safety net, a call as light and bright as a ray of sun awakened them and brought them back to reality.

“Allow me.”

Yuigi clicked her way towards the four men, who flipped their eyes at her as if flipping a pancake.

“DNA from an ex-bodyguard of a Union elder would be more than enough to cure those people, right?”

Yuigi and Takio’s initial plan was to head to KSA together, but upon witnessing how every street and road, for pedestrians or not, were apparently plastered with modified humans, they decided to split up.

And Yuigi was supposed to mediate and control the modified people, so it was not surprising that Takio jumped out of his skin upon spotting her.

“Miss Raciela?! What are you doing here...?! Without you, the civilians...!”

“Don’t worry. You think I would have come without taking that into consideration?”

Yuigi nonchalantly shrugged and showed something in her hand.

It was a communicator, not much different in size from the ones used by the RK, but the founding three members of RK flinched upon recognizing the design.

It was a model adored by the Union.

Sure enough, the men opened their mouths wide when a voice resonated from the communicator.

<What’s your plan regarding these people?>

They were so very inclined to bark at him that he is surely thick-skinned, asking them what to do with the victims of rapid body modification.

Nonetheless, they put their rage aside for the moment, and they shared their plan with the GC chip with the 3rd Elder, to which he responded oh-so-casually.

All the listeners beamed except Tao, who hurriedly tossed a warning.

“Wait – once this gas is detonated, it will surely take effect on you, too. The degree of your genetic completion is superior to that of Miss Yuigi, so your power won’t be completely gone. But there’s a chance that you will never get to exercise powers like before.”

Only silence existed beyond the communicator and at the lab, where variously colored hairs were nestled together.

The RK’s mouths were instantly shut, for they did not expect the 3rd Elder to bring up Raizel in order to convince them to let him sacrifice himself.

Notwithstanding, both their silence and their conclusion were quickly met with an end.

“...Very well. Give us some time. We must collect as many victims as possible in a single location so that I can launch the missile only to that place.”

The audience exchanged flabbergasted looks, for there was no denying that the 3rd Elder was truly willing to help them, but they lost no more time in carrying the modified humans they were safekeeping at KSA.

“Krgh...”

“Krrr...”

At the largest crossroads stood the 3rd Elder, pressing down modified people with his power.

Thanks to the aid from the KSA agents summoned in the middle of a night, the area was set as off-limits, because of which the agents and the 3rd Elder were the only people at the site.

“Now hurry up and get out of here. I’ll hold them.”

RK’s and Yuigi, after relaying the KSA agents not too far from them the evacuation message, turned around to look at the 3rd Elder just as they were about to leave.

“I’m fine. Just go ahead and do it. Consider it my atonement for unleashing such tragedy. Of course, I know that I am still far, far away from paying off for all of my sins.”

Realizing how his face was marred with determination and disconnection from something they could not name, they finally turned away, to give a signal for Tao, who was waiting to launch the missile sampled with Yuigi’s blood, and run towards KSA as if their lives were on the line.

Listening to Tao’s countdown until the missile’s arrival through his communicator, 3rd Elder smiled a bitter smile – a smile suggesting guilt, wholeness, and mysterious relief.

At last the count was downed to zero, and thick pearl-shaded gas flourished from the missile that speared the ground the 3rd Elder was keeping.

(next chapter)

This is what I saved Yuigi & introduced the GC chip for. XD I already planned a scene in which Yuigi steps in and saves the day during the brainstorming of this fic, and at last I got to post it. :D When Yuigi was first introduced in the original webtoon, I was excited about this suggestion that there is and will be something concerning Yuigi and Takio (because it meant Takio will be given more scenes and opportunities; I was kind of disappointed how he was shoved away from the spotlight since the end of the 2nd season of Noblesse). But in the end there was nothing that met my expectations, so I decided to give her a chance in my own fic. And there is a reason why the 3rd Elder had a change of heart, which I’ll talk about in the following chapters. Now that the trouble at Seoul is over, all that is left is Lunark’s battle, as well as the ending chapters of this fic. I shall do my best until this fic meets a grand finale. Thank you so much for staying until me now, and I hope you’d check out the final chapter of this fic as well. :)

#korean webcomic #korean webtoon #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #lunarkxfrankenstein #wolfsbane #Mr.Wolf #AnAngelicDay

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cindylouwho-2 · 4 years

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, August 19, 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles, podcasts, videos and infographics I came across since the late July report, although some may be older than that.

Please note I am taking the next week off, starting tomorrow (Aug. 19), so I might be a little slow in replying to any comments.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

USPS has become the focus of investigations due to reported mail slowdowns. Some small businesses who rely on USPS to deliver are suffering. “The longer the policy has been in effect, the worse the backlog gets.” As of today (August 18), the postmaster says they will rollback the changes until after the election in November. This is a rapidly-moving story in part due to the push for voting by mail, and should concern anyone who ships to US customers using regular mail (as opposed to couriers). Meanwhile, they plan to temporarily raise commercial rates during the holiday shopping season, but retail rates will not change.

Ecommerce sales are still up year over year. "Before Covid-19 hit the US in March, e-commerce made up roughly 12% of retail sales in the country. That figure grew as states issued shelter-in-place orders that shut stores and kept shoppers at home, creating tailwinds for a company like Amazon. But even as states have begun to reopen, e-commerce has remained elevated, according to Bank of America data."..."The Economist used Google search traffic for hints of how lifestyles are changing and found users are still searching terms related to cooking, crafts, and exercise above pre-pandemic rates. There has been a noticeable spike in interest around such products as gardening supplies, baking flour, and Crocs." The UK is still seeing a good increase despite the ease in reduction in lockdown restrictions. The growth is slowing a bit in the US, though.

Half of US small businesses fail in the first year (and other stats on small business).

It’s been second quarter report season, covering company performance from April to June 2020. Here are results for major companies involved in ecommerce in some way (comparisons are year-over-year):

Amazon US: sales up 40%

eBay: sales up 26%

Etsy: sales up $146% [click the link to read my summary]

Facebook: revenue up 11%

Google: revenue down 2%

PayPal: revenue up 22%

Pinterest: revenue up 4%; active users up 39%

Shopify: revenue up 97%

Walmart [2nd quarter ran May to July]: ecommerce sales up 97%, same-store sales up 9.3%

ETSY NEWS

Admin are now posting a monthly update thread, in case you fear you have missed anything. This is how they chose to announce that non-seller accounts can no longer post in the forum. Since those account owners can still read the forum, that doesn’t mean you can call out your customers now.

Sadly, there wasn’t much media coverage of Etsy’s nearly-annual billing screw up, but this one did get some attention.

Etsy continues to get good media coverage for masks, including masks for your dolls. They also apparently got a decent slice of Google ranking for various pandemic-related searches in May [scroll down to the “Protection and Prevention” section].

However, Etsy is getting some bad press (along with Amazon), for allowing QAnon merchandise, because “the FBI has warned of the movement's potential to incite domestic terrorism.” Etsy replied to a request for comment saying that “that product listings associated with certain movements are allowed as long as they don't violate the company's seller or prohibited items policies, which ban items that promote hate or that could incite violence. The company said it is continually reviewing items on the site and could remove items in the future if they're found to violate Etsy's policies.”

More search trends on Etsy, this time kids’ items. I love how they think tie-dye was a ‘90s thing and not a ‘60-70s thing LOL. “a 318% increase in searches for kids tie-dye items...71% increase in searches for dinosaur wall art or decor*, and a 37% increase in searches for school of fish items….we’ve seen kid-friendly crafts spike in popularity, with searches for DIY kits for kids up 336%.”

Also, the holiday trends guide is out. “With the holidays approaching, and most shopping happening online, more shoppers will be looking for your help to make the season feel special.” The report is lengthy, covering Halloween to New Year’s, and most listing categories, while pointing out the possible pandemic changes to the usual trends. There is also an accompanying podcast with transcript.

Speaking of the holiday season, here are Etsy’s tips for shops. Note that it is a bit late, as businesses need to have their holiday items posted no later than July if they want to be eligible for most fall media coverage. Almost every point refers to an Etsy tool or feature, some of them costing you money, so use this as a very broad guideline & be careful to read between the lines.

They are still rolling out Etsy Payments to more countries: Morocco & Israel are the most recent. Note that Etsy Payments is not yet compulsory in these new countries.

Etsy Ads once again has graphs. Do you find them useful? (I haven’t run ads at all this year, so I can’t check.)

Sendle is the latest shipping company to have a label integration with Etsy shops.

Etsy asked US sellers to lobby their reps for more support for small business and other initiatives in the pandemic aid package.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google has stated that content on tabs is indexed and contributes to ranking as if it were on the page instead, but yet another test demonstrates that tabs may limit you.

Due to the pandemic, Google has delayed finalizing mobile-first indexing until March 2021. (They originally announced it would be finished this September.) That means you have more time to update your website’s mobile version, ideally with responsive design.

Site speed does matter to SEO, and Google is now asking some searchers how fast certain sites loaded for them.

User comments on your products, blog posts and website can help you improve your SEO. The article suggests ways of getting that feedback, and ways to use it. [I’ve even had buyers give me new keywords to describe my items, in their messages and reviews.]

Getting links back to your site is important to SEO, but don’t annoy people while doing it. [sort of humour & sort of a rant, but does give some useful background on why backlinks matter.] Internal links also matter.

There are some special tricks for food/recipe SEO, including structured data and even a WordPress plugin.

Another WordPress plugin: submit any new or updated pages to Bing to be automatically re/indexed.

Do your keyword research before setting up your website’s sections and sub-sections, as they should serve the buyer experience, not your perception of it. Same with choosing which pages link to each other.

SEOs are still trying to work out what happened with recent Google algorithm changes. Search Engine Journal claims that the May update was at least in part about demoting sites that had out-of-date or inaccurate information, so they suggest getting rid of the bad content on your site, or at least updating it. “Content pruning” has some advocates, but I wouldn’t worry about investing tons of time in this unless you have tons of time to spend. Just get rid of the blog posts that were wildly wrong, and the out-of-date filler. If you have a lot of sold out products, redirect those to relevant active pages.

Meanwhile, a “glitch” on August 10 led people to think there was a massive Google algorithm update happening, but it all got fixed in less than a day.

If you are behind on Google search news, here is a 7 minute video [with time stamped subtopics & resources links listed below], direct from Google.

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

It’s tough to get started in social media if you don’t know the terminology, so here’s a list of the basic definitions you can consult if you get lost when reading.

Don’t know how to blog? There are formulas you can use; here are eight options, nicely laid out, with downloadable templates. Don’t forget to figure out what your audience wants to read. And make sure you avoid these common blogging mistakes.

If you have an email list but do not know how to take advantage of all the bells & whistles the companies (MailChimp, Constant Contact etc.) offer you, here are 4 ways to segment your lists. You can then send different offers or newsletters to different segments.

You can optimize your social posts for people with visual impairments; excellent tips here.

By the time you read this, the TikTok mess will likely have changed again, but here is an article on Trump’s order to prohibit US companies from doing business with TikTok owner ByteDance if the platform is not sold by September 15.

Instagram has released its TikTok challenger, Reels, in more countries.

Instagram is now offering a fundraising option, although it is a slow launch with some beta testing in the US, UK & Ireland to start.

Here are step-by-step instructions on setting up your “Shop on Instagram.”

Pinterest says that searches around self-care & wellness have spiked during the pandemic lockdowns. “Pinterest has recently seen the highest searches ever around mental wellness ideas including meditation (+44%), gratitude (+60%) and positivity (+42%) that jumped from February to May….Pinterest says that searches for ‘starting a new business’ are up 35% on average, as are searches for ‘future life goals’ (2x), ‘life bucket list’ (+65%), ‘family goals future’ (+30%) and ‘future house goals’ (+78%).” There were also some searches clearly about spending more time at home: “Productive morning routine (up 6x), Exercise routine at home (up 12x), Self care night routine (up 7x)”

LinkedIn has a new algorithm; here’s how to make it work for you. [Many of these tips also apply to social media in general.]

Spotify is now doing “video podcasts”. Apparently a lot of their podcasters already did a video version of the Spotify podcasts, but had to publish it elsewhere up until now.

Twitter now admits it is considering offering subscriptions to shore up its revenue numbers. “Shares of Twitter rose 4% in early trading Thursday following the earnings results....Twitter's growth plans are under close scrutiny as many advertisers pull back due to the pandemic. On Thursday, Twitter reported second-quarter ad revenues of $562 million, a 23% decrease compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has also been hit by advertisers participating in an ad boycott of social media, linked to the nationwide racial justice protests.” Also, the recent hack is not helping them.

That said, it is still possible to market using Twitter, and here are some of the basics.

YouTube is no longer sending email updates when a channel you follow posts new content.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Ad spend has increased again as lockdowns end, in some cases beating last year by a decent margin.

The Buy on Google program is ending its commission fees. Participants will also be able to integrate their PayPal and/or Shopify payment options. As often is the case, they are starting with the US first, but plan on rolling it out to more countries in the future. There are more details here, and a review here (with some of the drawbacks).

Google Product Ads are now showing the item’s “material” on the listing card (before you click). If you are doing your own feed for your website, you may have the ability to add the attributes needed for the details to show up.

If you find Google Ads too expensive, consider buying search ads on Bing.

eBay is experimenting with showing ads mixed in with unpaid listings; placement would depend on the same algorithm.

Here’s a new guide to Facebook Ads [videos & text]

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Bing has launched a new version of Webmaster Tools.

There are ways to reduce the amount of traffic that Google Analytics designates as “direct traffic”; here are 15 of them.

Currently in closed beta testing, the Google Search Console now has an “Insights” function, just like Google Analytics. I’ve found the GA one useful for telling me things I don’t always look at, so crossing my fingers that they release this to everyone soon.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Shopify helped many businesses stay open during pandemic lockdowns, giving it the boost to start competing with the likes of Amazon in ecommerce. “Shopify merchants that had previously or entirely relied on brick-and-mortar sales would later report they were able revive nearly 95% of that revenue online.”

eBay started rolling out its Managed Payments system to more sellers worldwide on July 20th. Things seem to be going slowly, with some confusion.

But eBay is also having a 25th anniversary party for sellers on September 25th; don’t forget to register.

Walmart is still delaying its new subscription model to challenge Amazon Prime, Walmart+.

Amazon in the UK has launched a “Face mask store” part of the website. I haven’t seen this on other versions of Amazon. They’ve also increased some fees for some UK sellers, based on the new UK digital tax. And they are launching a site & presence in Sweden.

The Competition Bureau of Canada has launched an investigation of Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers. “The bureau is asking any person or business that has conducted sales via Amazon.ca to contact them if they have any insights into the issues it is investigating.“

Amazon Prime Day has been postponed to later dates this year, starting with India on August 6-7. The remaining countries will apparently be announced soon.

If you use WooCommerce, here are a bunch of free plugins, with brief descriptions.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Buyers do not all make purchase decisions the same way; Google uses its massive collection of data and some new studies to provide some examples. “Worldwide, search interest for “best” has far outpaced search interest for “cheap.”

It’s cheaper to keep repeat buyers than it is to find new ones; here are 16 ways to do that. One of my favourites is ““proactively providing information on how to avoid problems or get more out of your product” creates a 32% average lift to repurchase or recommend.”

It seems that researchers can never produce enough marketing guides on Gen Z and millennials.

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

I see a lot of new sellers, and some older sellers, confused about the idea of a business plan. HubSpot not only explains them, but also provides a downloadable template.

If you are thinking of changing careers, or just want to add skills to better run your current business, Google has many different courses, some of which they offer for free.

There are ways you can increase your productivity without (usually) working more hours. “A study published by John Pencavel of Standford University found that how much employees get done takes a sharp drop after 50 hours of work in a week, and even more drastically after 55 hours. The study found that employees working 70 hours per week actually produce nothing more in those extra 15 hours...taking a power nap in the middle of the day can help you process new information and even learn new skills.”

#SEO #seo tips #etsy #contentmarketing #ecommerce #smallbiz #ecommercetips #social media

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blaperile · 4 years

Text

Homestuck^2 - Reactions Chapter 2 “Clown Logistics” (Pages 57 - 95)

Time for the "Clown Logistics"!

...There's nothing I can think of but a hypothetical department within Jane's ship. So, a chapter from Jane's perspective is my only theory right now!

I mean, seeing as Gamzee’s (presumably) dead I assume this won’t be a direct focus on him.

If we do focus on Jane now, it's interesting how the B2 Kids are getting the majority of the focus so far in Homestuck^2.

And Roxy, who had, especially in the later parts of Homestuck, the majority of screentime has so far not appeared yet.

Very, very interesting indeed.

Anyway, let's read on.

Page 57:

NOPE, SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY. But still related to fucking Gamzee of course.

WE'VE GOT OFFICIAL ART FOR VRISKA MARYAM-LALONDE NOW :O

Oh man.

I'd been forming some mental images on what Vriska Maryam-Lalonde and Tavros Crocker would look like. But to be honest, my creativity wasn't that good so I'd been mostly imagining a near exact copy of Vriska, and a humanized version of Tavros. :P

Meanwhile, for Harry Anderson I'm imagining something like John/Jake with a hair style more like Roxy.

But no, just look at her!!!

She's like a gothic Vriska! Oh man, makes complete sense, considering how Rose and Kanaya like to dress themselves. I can't believe I hadn't thought of that actually.

And it's minutes in the past, which explains why she's not with Tavros currently.

Maybe that means we'll see him too in a little bit? :O

Anyway, Vriska Serket's looking surprisingly okay, considering how earlier she was seemingly bleeding to death, based on the narration. :P

Pffff, Vriska's being classic Vriska already. Stealing stuff and giving herself advantages at the cost of others.

Though to be honest, John's probably not missing that phone right now.

Page 58:

Yikes, yeah, Gamzee sure got a rough beating there.

I like that they decided to depict the scars from Nepeta's claws here!

Oh boy, does this mean Vriska Serket's going to stop being (Vriska)? Indication she's gonna become relevant again? :P

Then what is she going to call Vriska Maryam-Lalonde? Is this going to be based on a suggestion from the readers?

Is it going to be anything like her real name? Or is it going to be a different spider-related name?

...I'll laugh if she decides to name her Aranea. xD

Page 59:

Vrissy! :O

I like the sound of it! It sounds enough like Vriska, and is also 6 letters. And it rolls well enough of the tongue.

Anyway, oh god, Vrissy's gonna call upon Tavros Crocker isn't she? :/

To involve him in this criminal matter... yeah, sounds like something a kismesis might do. :P

I wonder if Tavros is gonna get a nickname. Perhaps not, seeing as there isn't a second Tavros around right now (unless Gcatavrosprite finally shows up again).

Also, since when does Vriska have an eyepatch? I mean, I knew Karkat has an eyepatch now, but I had no idea Vriska also had one.

I like how she drew an 8 on it to make it resemble an 8-ball though.

Page 60:

Ahahaha, Vrissy's immediately sold on the new nickname.

Is she gonna insist that everyone uses that name from now on? Including her parents?

I wonder what kind of car Tavros will be coming with. Will it look like Dad's car?

Oh boy, what is Vriska's reaction going to be to the existence of a Tavros here. xD

Let's hope she doesn't tear into Tavros like he's... ahum, Tavros.

Page 61:

Hehe, perfection! Slightly calmer than I'd have expected her to be, but still.

And uh, is Tavros really gonna get a kick out of this? I mean, he didn't like Gamzee very much of course, but I'd think he'd be a bit too much of a nice person to really uh, enjoy this?

God I'm so curious to see what he'll look like...

Page 62:

There he is already!

A hovercar! Can't say I was expecting that, hehe.

Page 63:

There he is!!!!! :D

Oh man, he looks like a perfect mix between Jane and Jake. Jane's glasses, Jake's hair and bowtie. And the buck teeth of course! :B

It's so cool to finally see what Vrissy and Tavros look like. After all this time that we only had dialog and no images, hehe.

Page 64:

Ahahahaha, mood whiplash! Yup, that's truly an Egbert/English/Nitram reborn. xD

That's exactly how I imagined him reacting to this.

Page 65:

Ha, alright. He really doesn't mind Gamzee's dead.

Page 66:

N'awww. It's pretty heartwarming that the badass Serkets allow Tavros to have this little emotional moment instead of ripping into him.

Page 69:

Hehe, return of the Scribble Mode-like art style!

Oh boy, Tavros is removing his sweater. I wonder what he looks like underneath that! Is there gonna be any symbol popping up here? :P

Page 70:

Ooooh, suspenders! Instantly makes me think of Caliborn and Doc Scratch... errr, not really the best people to be thinking of here I guess. xD

I wonder if this is truly the last we'll see of Gamzee.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's somehow only "almost" dead and will suddenly start honking again from within the trunk.

Page 71:

HOLY SHIT HARRY ANDERSON EGBERT OUT OF NOWHERE

Wow... man, for a second I didn't realize it was him! To be honest, I first thought it was a girl.

But then I noticed the hair style, the eyes... that's so Roxy-like. Combined with the buck teeth and the blue scarf, that sold it. Just like how Roxy likes to wear scarfs.

Oh man, I love the designs of these characters.

Page 72:

OH DEAR GOD, HE'S A TOTAL COOLKID.

OH MAN

He talks so much like Roxy, I love it.

Pfffahahaha, he doesn't believe a WORD Vrissy is saying. His face is going to be PRICELESS when he sees that she's telling the truth.

Page 75:

Ahahaha, yes, Harry Anderson doesn't believe it at all.

...So that's what Alternian schools were like then. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. xD

I'm starting to think that perhaps they're just gonna bring Gamzee's body to the rebel camp, and that this way the news somehow reaches Jane that Tavros is with the rebels. Just not in the way she's thinking. :P

Oh boy, I hope that if they do go there they meet Karkat and Meenah. I want to see Vriska's face when she meets this badass leader Karkat.

And god I'm dying to find out what he looks like now.

Page 76:

Hehehe, I didn't immediately notice the spades in Vrissy's eyes.

Also, that sounds totally like a Jakey thing to say: "Righto".

It IS starting to look like abundantChewtoys pointed out to me that their relationship is relatively calm, despite being kismesises. Maybe it's somewhat like between John and Terezi!

Page 79:

A honk? Tavros heard a honk?

Oh man... is it really gonna turn out there's still a little bit of life left in him?

But yeah... there's no way this is gonna end well. SOMEONE's going to spot them carrying a body, right?

On the other hand, Vriska's always got irons in the fire, maybe now she's gonna get a clown in the fire. :B

Page 80:

Ahahaha, that's gonna make some noise and draw attention, isn't it?

Page 81:

Pffff, these guys. I love this little group of dorks.

Page 83:

Oh god, they better watch out for that smoke detector or whatever it is, or that's gonna set off a REAL alarm now.

Pages 84 - 85:

YUP, called it that they were going to bump into that.

I didn't think it was a sprinkler though, but close enough. :P

So what are they going to do now? Drop the body and run for cover?

If people find Gamzee, that's definitely going to hit the headlines though.

Page 86:

Ahahahaha, return of the Bluh! God it's been so long.

Yeah... they're busted. What are they gonna do now? Are Vriska and Vrissy going to pretend that Tavros is their hostage or something?

...I just realized we're nearing page 88, hahahaha.

Oh man, I just love Vriska in this chapter. These are just so much more sillier events than we're normally used to seeing her in. xD

Page 87:

Oh man, I didn't think we'd see actual dialog for these people!

It's interesting how they all have FIVE letters in their name. Not 4 like the human kids, nor 6 like the Troll kids, but 5.

I love how they talk like teenagers on social media.

Page 89:

Oooooh, I like how their eyes light up in the dark!

Pfff, yup, Vriska's really enjoying herself out here. Looks like she won't mind THAT much that she can't go back to the action in the Furthest Ring. :P

Also, uh, I don't think they'll just be able to get away when school's out. I bet they're probably going to call the police or something?

Page 90:

Ahahaha, so THAT'S why Jane thought the rebels had captured Tavros. She just refuses to accept the alternative.

That's really just her problem. It's always been.

She can just be SO convinced that she's right about something, she just won't believe she's wrong. Until she sees it with her own eyes.

Maybe that's going to be the best solution to all these problems she has been causing? That all the negative things get SMACKED into her face so she finally realizes what she's been doing wrong?

Page 91:

HOLY SHIT. NOW THIS TRULY IS THE HOMESTUCK AGAIN OF ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.

Linking back to scenes/conversations that happened earlier, hahahaha!

Page 92:

Just look at this smooth bastard. xD

Looks like the face of someone who still believes he's being pranked. Does he think Vrissy set off the fire alarm on purpose, just to get him out of class?

Page 93:

Oh boy, he's looking at his phone. Is he gonna see the same image as Jane on social media now?

Pages 94 - 95:

PERFECTION. THAT FACE. I LOVE IT. THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO SAY ON THE MATTER. XD

His last face reminds me a bit of Pickle Inspector.

Perfect end to a hilarious chapter!

God I love Homestuck^2.

#Homestuck #Homestuck^2 #reaction #Vriska Serket #Vrissy Maryam-Lalonde #Tavros Crocker #Harry Anderson Egbert #Gamzee Makara

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fucknoirfolklor · 4 years

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So. As a newbie to kitaro who has only watched the 2018 anime so far and plans to watch Hakaba kitaro next, do you have some insight on how they compare to each other? I think I'd get whiplash otherwise djdjjdjdjdj they seem like very... different iterations. (Also the TV tropes page says "With how corrupt Kitaro gets and how tragic things become; this isn't the easiest story to get into, especially if you are more used to the more widely known version of Kitaro" so like. I'm scared dnfbxjb X'D)

Well, comparing Hakaba Kitaro to 2018/Sawashiro Kitaro is almost sad for me because…well, I like Sawashiro-Kitaro but I also find him to be the most boring iteration of the character yet. I have a love-hate relationship with the 2018 series and recently dropped it. I might pick it back up again later because it’s not like there’s many episodes left to run, but like many of my buddies I’ve burned out of this version. He can even go as far as being out of character for any Kitaro I know. I mean, what Kitaro doesn’t like sweets? Kitaro loves chocolate and would die for it, that’s my standard. A woman making him cookies would send him over the moon with happiness.

Since you want to ask about Hakaba though, I’ll give you a rundown on what makes him different, in fact I already started. I love Hakaba Kitaro with all my heart, so do note my biases. Hakaba Kitaro is a lot like his manga counterpart when it comes to food. He’s the happiest little toad whenever somebody gives him a meal and would die for them even if they’re a corrupt politician because he loves cake more than his own rights (or in the Hakaba anime, mashed potatoes and gravy). Also yes, he does make the same facial expression when eating every single time. He revels that much when he gets to eat food. His pigheadedness is often because he’s a hungry, growing boy.

GeGeGe no Kitaro (the manga) is a different beast from the anime iterations, at least when you talk about his attitude (which changes depending on what fits the the story). Kitaro’s Night Tales is another example that’s more like Shigeru Mizuki’s original Hakaba Kitaro with a change in art style. Hakaba Kitaro is only six years old at the start of his series, which is different from any iteration of GeGeGe no Kitaro. He has powers granted to him by his ancestors, but he’s truly a little child and can’t hold his own in a fight (unless you count Takeuichi Kanko’s Hakaba Kitaro, but he’s no longer Shigeru Mizuki’s Hakaba Kitaro). A lot of his power is incidental and he’s not a fighter in the slightest. Most of the time he’s too weak from hunger to even accomplish much.

Instead of Sawashiro-Kitaro’s mere cold fish expression, Hakaba Kitaro has that and an attempt at a duping smirk (I say attempt because he uses a lot of half truths rather than outright lies). He cackles often, both in mean spirited ways and out of habit, which can lead to some goofy moments. It’s a release for Hakaba to laugh, which is something that the franchise as a whole held onto for years. Sometimes the franchise is called “Cackling Kitaro” in English, for example. This is a staple for any Kitaro, really; he giggles sadistically and likes observing the peculiarities of the human ego (or the helplessness of any yokai he’s fighting if we’re talking about GeGeGe). Hakaba doesn’t understand all there is to the world and is at first too bitter to initiate, but becomes increasingly curious and lighthearted as he ages and mingles with humans (mostly from a scheming standpoint as he is often one to flex his own ego by competing with Nezumi-Otoko, who is a more scholarly type than depicted in 2018). The Hakaba Kitaro anime is not as graphic as some of the scenes in GeGeGe no Kitaro 2018, forfeiting blood and so on, but there is suicide imagery within. Maybe not as potent as scenes with Mana early on, but make sure you’re in a good place mentally when going in because Kitaro’s attitude can be jarring if you look at it from a psychological/moral perspective rather than a spiritual (rebirth) one. Other times his attitude is refreshing because instead of acting as if he knows everything a human is going to do and condemning them for it, he watches because he doesn’t know. He gets surprised often and that’s what inspires him to observe the way he does. He gives his “victims” a way out, a choice to make, and will let them go if they keep their promises to him.A lot of Hakaba Kitaro is spiritual/political social commentary designed from 60′s Japan, so it can be either a boring watch or a fascinating one if you happen to enjoy dissecting some Buddhist ideals as well as period-typical sociological struggles. In Hakaba’s case, twisted Buddhist ideals that he doesn’t necessarily live up to (I would argue that Neko more or less became the figure for those ideals, hence her tragedy). His slice of life is not happy and he acts out often, some of which the anime reframes to become more palatable to the audience.

I don’t find Hakaba Kitaro to be scary, despite his willingness to commit darker acts that don’t discriminate; human or yokai, it’s not a good idea to try and get in this kid’s way. Nonetheless, he’s not stupid but he’s not wise either. He’s always in over his head while stubbornly acting as if he’s some master manipulator (he’s not, he’s the most unskilled liar ever), but as Nezumi-Otoko and other yokai often say, “he’s a pushover.”As the show moves on, Kitaro has a fascination with girls and women that becomes quite uncomfortable to witness. He’s very much implied to be a creep, especially around Neko. At least after that arc, unlike Sawashiro-Kitaro, he didn’t just nod his head when some woman was in danger of being taken advantage of. Umibozu took Sekiyo and announced he would make her his pet and Sawashiro-Kitaro was totally okay with it simply because he found her troublesome, enabling Nezumi-Otoko and Umibozu. Hakaba Kitaro actually did something different for the sake of the woman of Nezumi-Otoko’s interests even though he owed a debt to him and another monster. Kitaro warned her of the dangerous men that were after her and being proud of himself for it, as if he was growing as a person. Only a little though. He still has some period-typical sexism internalized, likely from his role models (Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko).The tragedy of Hakaba Kitaro is that of his upbringing. The anime doesn’t show it off as brutally as the manga does, but Kitaro’s eye loss could be triggering to some. Also the way Medama-Oyaji herds his son by using a rope like a leash, how Kitaro licks Mizuki’s hand like an affectionate puppy despite what he did to him, etc. Kitaro is implied to have a kindhearted nature. All of this makes his corruption very hard to watch if you’re not in the mood or if you sympathize with him too much. However…I didn’t find it as hard as watching 2018 Kitaro get slapped by Neko for not trusting her enough (really cheapened his angst for me) or Neko being creepy instead with her weird crush and the double standard of how that’s played as attractive/tsundere. At least for the majority of the show’s run. I love Neko’s prowess but I don’t love when she’s watered down into a moody tsundere.Some describe Hakaba Kitaro as joyless, and they’re entitled to their opinions of course. It’s largely a thematic and prototypical work. However, I find a lot of joy in watching Kitaro do his best while also being a little shit at the same time. He’s a gremlin boy in every sense; cute, mischievous, and dangerous. He has a lot of character quirks that have been lost to time that I miss, and he’s sometimes regarded as “The Best” version of Kitaro by some of my friends (the other “best” version is 1996/Matsuoka-Kitaro). It’s my opinion that Hakaba Kitaro’s rep as difficult to get through isn’t because it is scary, it is because it’s a different genre. It’s a satirical slice of life tragic comedy with a folkloric horror aesthetic, not necessarily one that appeals to children too much. There are cultural as well as political boundaries there and little fan service to speak of. Kitaro isn’t heroic, can’t usually hold his own, and even gets whiny if he’s hit in the head a lot (he’s very ashamed and embarrassed of this).

A lot of other fans find him to be adorable (and pinchable), especially because of his buck teeth and whiny but ambitious attitude. Rather than compare him to a rat, I adore when people draw him with bunny eared hats. I’m guilty of calling him a little bastard a lot of the time but I do appreciate him as more than a trickster stereotype. He’s just as capable of being sweet and kind, because he’s superficially intelligent; but in actuality he’s more trusting and gullible than he appears.

#midnightstarhunter

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twiststreet · 5 years

Photo

I read the year’s big (biggest?) industrial-comics debut Undiscovered Country, which is the “hotly anticipated” team-up of Scott Snyder (who I’d only read maybe 3 or 4 comics from before since he writes for DC and I don’t read those) and my colleague in the law Charles Soule, Esq. (who I’ve never read before because his books sounded boring). They join a pretty A+ team on the visual side of Guiseppe Camuncoli (who I’ve really liked for years), Daniel Orlandini, Matt Wilson, and also letters from Crank! Crank! is on the team, guys! Jason Statham’s heart is going to explode unless he letters this TV pitch masquerading as a comic, and then has sex with the girl from Road Trip somewhere that’s demeaning to her...

Anyways, there’s a comic they could make here, but it’s a TV pitch instead. There’s a dozen indistinguishable people in this book, none of whom emerge successfully as characters. All of the pages look kinda like this image, of just people in a room talking to one another instead of... visual storytelling happening... in a comic book? And then a premise is presented, but the comic’s constantly time-hopping so it doesn’t really unfold in a way that for me felt dramatic or satisfying. And then it ends on a Brian Vaughan-style one-page splash of a character going “Huh? Huuuuuuuh?”

That said, there’s a comic here that could’ve been made with this idea, and if they made a TV show I’d watch it, if it was on Netflix, and it was a Korean soap opera called “A Doctor’s Love Song in the Rain.” It’s a good premise--it’s very much them doing a 60′s post-Trek sci-fi show except updated-- stuff like Lost in Space or Land of the Lost, but set in a post-apocalyptic America. I like the idea of a show like that-- I liked how big and broad those shows would get, Lost in Space especially. (I never saw the Time Tunnel). So, yeah, I guess the comic succeeds in its only noticeable goal-- I’d watch the TV show.

It’s the kind of the comic where the first page is just four panels slowly zooming in on a helicopter...? Check out another exciting image from these guys with an immense amount of visual storytelling experience:

Most of the comic is built out of double-page spreads, so if you’re a digital reader, you might want to actively avoid it. I’m more of a single-page guy, but they use the technique well, I suppose. Camuncoli’s pages are never confusing for me, though there’s a double-page splash of all the bad guys that I don’t think is successful because they insist on a wide view of things the way a TV camera would, rather than finding a point of view that’s actually dramatic and tells a story, the way a comic book would. And Wilson does this really gorgeous pink smoke in the book, with a texture on top of it-- I was into how he colored the smoke. And boy, Jason Statham sure had to put a lot of lettering onto those pages-- those guys sure didn’t team up with someone who’d edit them! So I mean, Jason Statham got the job done on the lettering-- but of course he did, Jason Statham “swallowed enough microchips and shit them back out again to make a computer.”

They put a McGuffin time-bomb under the premise, to keep the plot motivated, and they give at least one character a clear motivation relating to that time bomb. They give another character a relationship with her and create some fake-y “mystery” around that character to play out later. If you’re learning like Screenwriting 101, they’re doing Screenwriting 101 so you could probably find things to appreciate. You can read this comic alongside Save the Cat or whatever, and good luck with your career. It’s a commercial product and they’re hitting some kind of beat sheet successfully.

Or I can imagine this someday being a kind of fun Sunday afternoon comic to go through a few dozen of, mindlessly-- I suspect it’s pleasures will accrete slowly, but be at least somewhat there for that future Sunday reader, in a way that isn’t true for the first issue on its own, which offers no noticeable pleasure.

But: the most fascinating thing about this comic was the back matter though, a strange celebration of the military-industrial complex. This comic was apparently inspired by members of the CIA and DARPA...??

The military industrial complex obviously has had a long history of infiltrating and promoting themselves through other artforms (obviously video games; the creation of modern art; I love Michael Bay movies, and I know what I’ve watched, etc.). And they’ve obviously made overtures in recent years to comics-- Marvel and its relationship with Raytheon.

And I’m... I’m a little more ambivalent about the military and everything than some people online about all that because I’m not kneejerk anti-military, though I mean... the CIA’s a big ask, especially with the world events of this last week. I’ve had friends who aren’t alive though because they wanted to do something for their country (it’s more complicated than that, how they died but), so I have to always keep that in mind when I talk about that stuff, however much I’m not a huge fan of various foreign policies or stupid fucking wars or our robot death fleet or whatever. I’m also kinda into just some people getting blown up. I don’t subscribe to pacificism in all contexts, which is maybe not to my credit, especially given the history of my family and my people generally.

But it’s kind of wild to get a random comic and just see the fingerprints of that so clearly. Like, they couch it in “oh our wives are friends now” this is a family friend comic, and then immediately pivot to CIA agents and their “incredible acts of service... men and women whose names will forever remain unknown but whose sacrifices will never be forgotten.” ??? Referring to like, the guy who held the hose during the water-boarding? All the Latin American dictatorships we taught torture techniques to? Whatever the hell we did in Greece? (Wikipedia: “Phillips Talbot, the U.S. ambassador in Athens, disapproved of the coup, complaining that it represented "a rape of democracy", to which John M. Maury, the CIA station chief in Athens, answered, "How can you rape a whore?"”). Like, I’m not as anti-CIA as other people-- there’s bad actors in the world. But there’s tolerating with some shame a necessary evil, and then there’s doing full-throated advertisements for it in the back of your comics...?

But just setting that aside... comics had an era where it was disregarded and it attracted counterculture people and counterculture thinking. And that era ended and then we had screenwriters and careerists. And most of the time I’ve been writing has been during that time of change-- it took me a while to understand that the gears had changed. And now with all the movies and all the success, it’s like...

Cool Cool Cool Cool, the drones that swarm the enemy at Pakistani weddings. Here’s Wikipedia: “The New America Foundation estimates that for the period 2004-2011, the non-militant fatality rate [from drones] was approximately 20%.”

This is the big comic by the big stars, and I mean, that’s a wild paragraph. Are people talking about this??? I haven’t gone and looked-- anytime I go and look, I’m always just... I mean... ooof-- but within the context of comics history... Where is the counterculture in comics now?

I mean, at the same time, Frank Miller was pretty much always a fascist and I loved him as a kid. So maybe I’m overstating things or it’s not significant because I only grew up like 10-15% fascist (it jumps to 30% in certain neighborhoods *glares at La Brea and Melrose ... I hate you Pink’s...*). And not full-blown “I’m going to spend years making a Batman graphic novel, celebrating what a racist loon I am, and then blame it on alcohol” Frank Miller fascist, but...

I just thought that shit was wild as fuck, that’s all....

Hahahahahahaha....

Comic books.

#Worst Hobby or Worstest Hobby?

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daemon-knight · 4 years

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So I guess I’m going to be doing these Off the Cuff/State of the Community things yearly. For those new, apparently once the year starts to end I do a massive essay/opinion piece on the general state of things I see in my little corner of the RP community. I usually do this due to let out some of the built-up of emotions in me just dying to let out, and also to collect my thoughts in a more civil way than just spewing it out angrily in the middle of January after an impulsive mass-unfollowing spree. Also, if I’m going to have to deal with a bunch of anon hate, mass exodus-ing of my blog, and relentless vague-bloggings on the subjects I talk about for the rest of the week, it might as well be at the end of the year so I can start the coming new year fresh.

Ideally, I’ll end this one on a more positive note if I organize everything properly, but we’ll see.

And so, with that said...

Notes from Last Year

I might as well start by making some quick notes and comments from last year’s little blurb and talk about what’s changed and what’s remained the same in terms of my opinion and general disposition.

And honestly, little has really changed.

However, just so everyone knows my current opinion of things from last year...

People are still promoting half-finished blogs and it needs to stop. Gonna’ say it again, don’t give people who don’t put in enough effort to finish the damn thing attention. I’d rather not see half and quarter-efforts be rewarded, as cruel as that sounds.

Dash Commentary is still a thing and it... bugs me. It’s going to get its own segment after this, but just know I'm less than apathetic about it.

I still see RPing as more of a character building experience more than anything thing else. I’ll go into more detail later, but the short of it is that it requires work on your end just as much as your partner’s.

I still look at canon divergence with raised eyebrows, but I’m slowly softening my stance on them, if only due to the fact that Claudia is an OC and not affected by a canon character’s position in the grander scheme of things.

My opinions on shipping and multi-muse blogs haven’t changed much either... That’s all I have to say for now, read the original post for more details.

Okay, that’s everything of importance from last year, let’s talk about some new stuff. Starting with...

Dash Commentary

Might as well rip the bandage off and get to the hard-hitting topics first.

Alright, I’ve said this before to some extent, but I’ll say it with a little more clarity here: Dash commentary, by all technicality, is meta-gaming. It is your character commenting on situations and events they would not have experienced first-hand nor were a part of as if they did and they were. I tend to tolerate this because it’s usually done for comedy, and usually a form of crack RPing. However, I’ll also say that the act of someone else commenting on events they weren’t a part of for sake of giving their two cents is very rarely perceived comedic or funny. And if it isn’t funny, it just comes across as juvenile.

It feels like weak excuse to be a part of an RP thread without actually replying to it. That, to me, is cowardly and it does more to infuriate me than anything else. Maybe I’m just being an old man complaining about the new way people RP now, but it really doesn’t feel like people want to be involved in conflicts and struggles anymore. It feels stale to me. I see it as a bigger problem in the state of things, and... I don’t know, it might be a problem larger than the RP corner I’m in.

Okay, that was a lot more depressing than I expected, we’re moving on.

To something even rougher.

Profiles/Blogs

For the sake of brevity and keeping things somewhat in order I’ll try and keep this to bullet points to not go too off-topic. But in terms of profiles and blogs...

Actually finish the damn blog before promoting it. This was an issue last year, I’m still seeing it, and it’s still annoying. It’s actual flash over substance and as someone that’s been doing this for over ten years, it irritates me something fierce.

A bit of repeating advice, but try and keep the actual profile short. About two to three short paragraphs for the bio, and for the personality section either a short paragraph or a quick list of the top five or six aspects of your character will do. I’ll say it again, as of this post I’m actively following over 60 people, anything to make it easier to get through your profile and plot things helps.

One that note, a short rules page helps too. If you’re over the age of 20 and you’ve been RPing for over 5 years you already have a decent grasp on grammar and general RP etiquette as far as I’m concerned. The main thing I look for in rules pages nowadays are for passwords and triggers, as those are the most important things to me as your partner.

Thankfully, I think passwords have either been phased out, or I’ve just blocked enough blogs that have them to not see them anymore. Either way, I’d still advise against having them. They do nothing but tack on extra work for a partner that, frankly, might not even be around long enough to actively write with.

I’d recommend not making a sideblog for RPing unless it’s specifically for NSFW RPing. It makes things like starter calls, asks, and general data-keeping difficult for both yourself and others... mostly others.

I don’t know why dash-only blogs are becoming a thing, but unless someone can explain to me the actual advantages of having them aside from avoiding the actual work behind making a full blog I’m going to advise against it.

And that’s really it in terms of profiles/blog advice/opinions I have. Moving to something a little more... divisive.

Musings/Galleries

To me their are two types of musings. The actual definition where a character speaks, thinks, meditates, or discusses on a specific topic at length. Or the type where people reblog quotes and aesthetic posts revelant to their character. I’ve talked about this before, but to summarize I think the latter kinds of musings weakens you as a writer, as you depend on outside sources to explain your character instead of your actual writing. That’s the nicest I can put, but that link I gave definitely doesn’t. Same thing for reblogging fanart of your faceclaim. I’ll probably do a rambling on that topic in the future, but the short version is those picture just fill a queue and that's really it. This is moreso aimed at OC blogs than Canon ones, but... eh, I got similar feelings on it.

Okay, moving to some actual advice now.

Advice and Miscellaneous Opinions

I think I’ve shown enough teeth, so now I can talk about the fun stuff in a nicer tone and really relax you with some advice.

Okay, I’m lying, I’m still going to be a little mean about this.

Really, it’s your blog, write however and whatever you want. In terms of honest advice I have very little. It’s a lot easier to explain what not to do than what to do. That said...

Something I’ve said in the past, but keep world-building to a minimal on your blog, or at least to things that directly effect your character. This usually means their powers, magic, weapons/equipment, and what’s relevant to their immediate background. To use Claudia as an example, I have an idea of what the social and political landscape of Ivora lands are, their economy, their reputation, and general army/militia is like, but I’ll only go into depth about it if a character asks Claudia herself about it. It’s not an immediate relevant part of a tomboy lesbian knight that stabs and punches people for fun, it’s just background information to help ground the character when needed.

I’ve got a draft on writing fight scenes in my drafts that I’ll be posting at a later date, but I’ll give the short version of my advice here. In short, fight sequences should have a back-and-forth rhythm to it. In terms of RPing it’s a lot like a turn-based RPG, you do a move, then your partner. One action leads to another, and another, and another. Have you character do nor more than two consecutive actions per post, as any more than that tends to ruin the flow and forces/pressures your partner to taking unnecessary hits. Much like professonal wrestling the goal is to sell the fight. Again, things to discuss on a later date, but that’s the gist of it.

Use alternate universes with care. If you can slot the original verse into a world without changing too much of your character, do it. I think the only series/worlds that are popular and widely-used enough to maybe need a alternate universe of its own (as of this post) would be My Hero Academia and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Most other series/worlds already allow for some semblance of the supernatural and uncanny that can easily slot in a random element or two without breaking it, but My Hero Academia has a lot more grounded rules in place for how powers work as a whole and the laws (both physical and societal) work around them, so it’d be harder to logically stick random elements of someone else’s story in them without contemplation. JJBA has only two main ways to get superpowers as far as I’m aware, so trying to slot a random OC like Claudia in there would be difficult unless they followed the rules of the world. Most other series I thought of adding would allow for some amount of wiggle room for most characters. But just to be thorough...

As far as I’m aware Demon Slayer Yaiba is honestly just samurai killing demons with not-hamon, that’s not too hard slot in random characters that just happen to not be samurai/swordsmen so long as you mind the time period.

One Piece has a ridiculous among of wiggle room in terms of powers and abilities. Cursed Fruit is a thing, but I’ve heard there’s some leeway here and there.

The only real world-building done in any particular Fire Emblem is surrounding the immediate continent/country of that specific game, and they recognize that foreign nations are a thing, so not much work needs to be done there to slot some other medieval-based character in there.

I didn’t mention Fate/Stay Night, namely because I have mixed feelings about the series as a whole, some very conflicted opinions about Nasu’s writing style and themes, some pretty hot takes on F/GO as a concept, and a general revulsion towards gacha games... however, Fate/Stay Night is basically the modern world with magic and mages, which is pretty easy to slot in a character or two, Servants aside.

Also said this last year, but multi-muse, try and keep the number of muses in the single-digits, it’ll help you and your partners keep a little order in the long run.

Honestly? Queue/schedule your ask memes, it just looks nicer on everyone’s dash.

I was seeing people open themselves up for commissioning icons a few months back... I’m no lawyer, but I’d recommend commissioning icon psds frames instead. There’s a lot less worry of copyright shenanigans that way since most of those assets would be either your own making or through (ideally) sites and places that allow those assets free for commercial-use. Just saying.

Okay, I think that’s everything I wanted to get off my chest, at least everything I can think of at the moment. Let’s all do this again next year.

Or the next time Allen gets triggered by some fresh hell that taking over my corner of the RPC, whatever comes first.

#.rambling #.ooc

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earlgreytea68 · 5 years

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The Fall Out Boy Lawsuit

OKAY. I’m writing this up very slowly and painfully because I was really looking forward to writing this up SO I PERSIST DESPITE MY COMPUTER’S DEATH. I got so many followers after my Omegaverse lawsuit post and I was like, “Oh, no, they’re going to be very disappointed that this blog is just a bunch of pictures of Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump” and THEN FALL OUT BOY GOT SUED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND I WAS LIKE, “MY TIME HAS COME.”

In all seriousness, though, this is an incredibly interesting case, because here is what it boils down to:

I am pretty sure Fall Out Boy thought they commissioned a couple of costumes to do whatever they wanted with.

The creator of the puppets is alleging that Fall Out Boy actually licensed a copyrighted work for a very limited purpose.

Okay, so let’s dig into this.

Once upon a time, Fall Out Boy (probably Pete, let’s face it) was like, “Hey, you know what we need more of in our lives? HUGE LLAMA COSTUMES.” (actually the allegation is the puppet studio came up with the llama idea, but someone on the FOB side decided they needed to be used a lot, so.) Even though many other people might not have felt this gaping hole in their lives from lack of llamas, Fall Out Boy was here for us and gave us what we didn’t know we wanted: SO MANY LLAMAS. These llamas were ev. er. y. where. The complaint has pages and pages and pages dedicated to FOB’s use of these llamas in promoting Mania (I can’t keep up with whatever weird way they expect us to style the name of the album, sorry).

Okay, so we’ve got these costumes, and if you have been at all aware of Mania-era Fall Out Boy, you’ve seen these costumes. According to the complaint, Fall Out Boy commissioned these costumes. A production studio got in touch with Furry Puppet Studio to order “wearable puppets” for use in the “Young and Menace” music video. They provided Furry Puppet Studio with the music video’s storyboard and some references to give them an idea what they were looking for. Furry Puppet Studio alleges that they didn’t use any of these inspiration photos, and it’s true that the puppets look absolutely nothing like what the FOB team sent to them. Instead, Furry Puppet Studio decided to use a llama monster they’d already created, together with a matching new llama monster. They gave the costumes to FOB with an implied license, they allege, that they only be used in the “Young and Menace” music video.

Implied licenses happen, of course, but the fact that nothing about this transaction appears to be written down is why I can say that I’m not sure Fall Out Boy was viewing this as a copyright matter. You can have implied licenses regarding copyrighted works, but you want your copyright licensing to be in writing. That is much preferred; it obviously makes everything much clearer. When I first saw the news article about this case, I immediately wanted to see the written contract about the puppets, and come to find out: there is none. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a copyright matter, but it does say to me that I bet it wasn’t being treated as one by the Fall Out Boy side of things. (Or, Idk, maybe they totally knew this was a copyright issue, they just didn’t think to paper it. I can’t get a feel for how often and early lawyers were involved with the puppets.)

You might be wondering why we care about any of this. There is no dispute that Fall Out Boy bought and paid for the costumes. Why can’t they do anything they want after that? Because, if the puppets are copyrighted, when you buy a copyrighted work, that doesn’t give you carte blanche to do whatever you want with it. If you buy a book, you’re not allowed to copy it and hand it out at Target. If you buy a painting, you’re not allowed to feature it in a television show without permission. You’ve bought a physical copy, but the exclusive rights of copyright (like reproduction and public display) stay with the copyright holder, in this case Furry Puppet Studio, unless you have negotiated otherwise. Fall Out Boy did not negotiate otherwise (probably, I suspect, because no one raised the issue that the costumes might be copyrighted works, but again, Idk).

Fall Out Boy loves art. They’re on the record as sharing a love of art and collecting art. I bet they do indeed know what they get when they buy physical art. I just suspect that none of them stopped to think that the costumes might be art.

Crux of the case:

Therefore, the entire case hinges on (1) whether the costumes are copyrighted; and (2) whether the implied license granted to use these copyrighted works was limited to the “Young and Menace” video.

As to the first part, Furry Puppet has copyright registrations, although they’re dated October 2018, which I only mention because if everyone knew they were dealing with copyrighted works, it seems like they would have been registered pretty quickly, instead of over a year after they were created. Sometimes, though, it takes you a while to get around to registration. And while some cases have been dubious about the copyrightability of costumes, the trend has been toward allowing them to be copyrighted, especially after a recent Supreme Court case basically seemed to make most clothing design copyrightable (the cases holding costumes not to be copyrightable tended to find they were “useful articles,” a doctrine usually used to prevent the copyrighting of clothing design, but that doctrine is...a morass right now, to put it mildly).

As to the second part:

I bet it’s definitely true that Rubrik only mentioned the “Young and Menace” video when it commissioned the puppets. The argument is going to be whether that therefore implied that they could not use the puppets for anything else. Because the contract is all implied, the court is going to have to spend a lot of time interpreting the parties’ intentions in their agreement with each other regarding the costumes.

This part of the interaction is probably going to end up being important:

The “Young and Menace” video was done, as Furry Puppet Studio admits. It was posted on YouTube in April. Months later, copies of the costumes were requested by October 15, because of the Mania tour starting on that date. Furry Puppet Studio reacts to FOB’s team’s request as follows:

The FOB team contact replied:

And then everyone moved on.

So a lot of the case is probably going to revolve around what that interaction reveals about the scope of the implied license regarding the copyrighted costumes and what could be done with them.

As an aside to this central case, the complaint references this:

I was like, ...what are they referencing that Fall Out Boy has done this before? I really wanted to know! Especially because a few weeks ago I actually looked for Fall Out Boy lawsuits (THE THINGS LAWYERS DO FOR FUN) and couldn’t find any. So then we get to this:

I tried to look into this and there is not much out there, so let me know if you know more. The stuff I could find called it an “out-of-court settlement,” which I initially took to mean there was a case that settled and some of the sources explicitly reference a lawsuit, but I’m pretty sure there was never a case, I just can’t find any lawsuit being filed. I could only find interviews with Eisold discussing this, very briefly (none with FOB), and he’s basically like, “It wasn’t a big thing, it was blown out of proportion.” It sounds to me like he raised the issue and they gave him writing credit, quickly enough that no lawsuit ever happened.

(source: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/cold-caves-wesley-eisold-talks-dance-music-his-hardcore-past-and-that-fall-out-boy-lawsuit-6596823)

I tried to find what they were fighting over, i.e., what Pete copied, but it genuinely seems like they wrote the songs together, so it wasn’t something existing that Pete copied so much as lyrics Eisold actively provided to them for the song. This does seem like the co-writer credit being left off was an oversight, which maybe indicates that Fall Out Boy has a tendency toward “forgetting” proper copyright acknowledgment, although it only happening once a decade ago isn’t that much of a pattern.

What I really take away from the Eisold thing, though, is how easily and quickly it seems to have been handled. Eisold even says he’s still friendly with the band (that could obviously be a lie). But he had an issue, he or someone got in touch with the band, and a deal was worked out, quickly enough that no lawsuit was ever even filed. It makes me wonder what happened with this situation. There’s nothing in the complaint about Furry Puppet Studio contacting FOB to be like, “Hey, don’t use our puppets like this,” although that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And complaints don’t necessarily have to be filed right away. The Supreme Court, again, has recently found that you can wait until it’s worth your while to sue, so I guess that’s what the studio was doing. It’s just tragic to me because it seems like there were plenty of points where this confusion about the puppets and the copyrights and the license could have been brought up, and instead the Mania tour is over and the album’s promotion is mostly done and now this is happening, when the copyright harm that has happened is as bad as it could be.

Again, totally possible this was all raised months and months ago and couldn’t get resolved without a lawsuit. I have no idea.

Side note: the complaint doesn’t list the parties and jurisdiction/venue allegations until almost 60 pages in. I’ve seldom seen a complaint set up that way. Those allegations are usually right at the front. Anyone know if this is a new thing?

#fall out boy #bandom #law #long post

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alcalavicci · 4 years

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(Disclaimer: if you wrote this and don’t want it up, send me an ask and I’ll take it down)

Jill and Claire:

Jill: You mentioned that Dean directed a play called "Man With Bags" at the Pilot Theater in Hollywood in 1979. I find this information invaluable. I'm going to make sure it is in our Database here on the Sassies list. If you have any other info about obscure stuff Dean has worked on, please let me know. I mean it. I don't care if no one else is taking notes. I am.

Claire: I have the playbill from "Man With Bags." Russ Tamblyn starred, along with Sally Kirkland. I will photocopy for you. If you don't mind I'll have to send via regular mail, as my scanner doesn't work. I also have a playbill from a show he did in Albuquerque. This probably was early '70s sometime. I can't remember the name of it, but I wrote to the photographer at the theater and he sent me a bunch of photos and stuff. This stuff is packed away. I will look for it tomorrow when I get time. After I get it out, I can give you more information and you can tell me what you'd like to see.

Jill: Re: George Herms, you said "I knew he was a close friend of Dean's....." Yes, he was, but how did you know that? Dean wasn't exactly talked about much in the press between 1970 and 1979. Was he being discussed in Art magazines? And were you subscribing to these magazines? George Herms is the one who painted those symbols on Dean's torso for Dunwich Horror. But I bet you already knew that. Okay, I threw that out there for others who might not know.

Claire: Regarding Mr. Herms. Remember all those old movie magazines they used to have in the '60s and '70s. I believe one was called "Photoplay," and there were some others whose names I've forgotten. Well, they used to have pen pal pages in them. One time, they listed a girl who said she was the ultimate Dean fan. Her name was Geordie James. I wrote to her. She had already made contact with Dean, and believe it or not, he was working on his autobiography at that time. He sent it to her to see what she thought about it (I kid you not). She told me she was going to start a fan club for him and asked me if I wanted to be the secretary. I said, yes, and she promptly sent me the autobiography to type--for him!! It was in this biography that so much was mentioned. "Moonstone" is the film Dean directed with George Herms as his star. It's a film about George's art. And you got me, I didn't know George had painted those symbols on him in "Dunwich." Too cool. Back to the autobiography. I typed it up and was so excited. I sent it back to Geordie without making a copy. Something I came later to regret, of course, since he apparently didn't have it published, but I retained much of what was discussed in it in my head. That's how I already knew about George Herms. Geordie James later had a house fire (she lived in Utica, NY). After that, I never was able to get back into contact with her. I never told Dean I had typed his autobiography either. For some reason, I didn't want to come off (at that time) like Miss Ultimate Fan. It was a stupid "coolness" thing.

Jill: What is 'Moonstone?' Is it a short film? An art object? And why did Herms need Dean in order to show it?

Claire: As I said above, "Moonstone" was directed by Dean, starring George Herms. As I wasn't real artsy at the time when I saw it at George's retrospective, I don't remember a whole lot about it. I just remember it revolved around a gem called a moonstone. It was definitely a short film. Real art house stuff.

Jill: You mentioned that Dean walked in with Joy. I thought she didn't come to Hollywood to see him until 1981? You mentioned that he had just started dating her at the time (so this means he finally dumped Toni Basil by 1979?). And.................Big question here........how did you know it was Joy? Did he introduce you to her? I mean, how did you know At That Time that it was Joy Marchenko, and that they had just started dating? Or is this something other people told you later on?

Claire: Now you got me. I'm not really sure that it was Joy. Later when I saw Joy's picture (after they got married), I jumped to the conclusion that that was the girl he was with at the museum because she looked very much like her. But you're telling me the dates don't jibe, so I'm probably wrong.

Jill: Did you recognize Russ Tamblyn right off? Did you already know that Russ and Dean were friends? And how did you know that? Did you already know Russ' wife's name, or did you find that out later? Is this the wife Russ separated from, right about that same time, and then he and Dean became roommates? And where did that leave Joy? Come to think of it, are you positive that was Joy that Dean was with? And are you positive that was Elizabeth with Russ?

Claire: Right, I already knew he and Russ were friends. Russ also was the star of "Man With Bags," which I had just seen two weeks earlier. I knew Elizabeth's name from reading a "Photoplay" article about Russ. She also was at the play. They could have been separated for all I know, and he was just still taking her to things. I also saw Elizabeth around 1980 at Toni Basil's show at the Fox Venice. She was not with Russ at the time; she was with her mother. I know it was her mother because I was in the restroom at the same time they were and she called her mom or mum. I also did not see Dean at Toni's show.

Jill: Another good tidbit here....."about 5 years later, when he was appearing in a dinner theater production of "Relatively Speaking." Another item for my database. So you're thinking it was about 1984? When Dean was still living in Santa Fe? And where was this dinner theater production at? I'm thinking Los Angeles, since you were living in California. Unless this was one of those dinner theater appearances he did in Las Vegas?

Claire: The dinner theater production was in San Clemente, Calif. I have the autographed playbill. I will dig out tomorrow. It had to be before he moved to Santa Fe, so I'm wrong on dates. I can get more specific when I find the playbill. Sorry I was generalizing so much on dates. I know how important it is when you're trying to keep a database.

Jill: When you saw Dean at the restaurant.........how did you know he was with his manager? Did he introduce you? Or did you assume it? Or did you know his manager?

Claire: I assumed there, too. He seemed like a manager-type person. The person was very business-like. They appeared to be discussing business before I walked up to the table. It could have been the manager of the dinner theater.

Jill: How did you know Dennis Hopper had dubbed him "Rainbow Razorbrain?" Where did you read that? Or did someone tell you?

Claire: Can't remember where I read it, but I know it was an article I read in a movie magazine before I moved to Calif. I believe it was around the time Dennis' "The Last Movie" was released and there were some articles on them at this time. Later Dennis talks about Dean in Roddy McDowell's photo book (can't remember the title). I'm thinking he mentions calling Dean "Rainbow Razorbrain" in Roddy's book.

Claire: Okay, I've gotten the questions out of sequence, let's go back. Regarding "Man With Bags." I found all the other playbills, but this one. I will keep looking for it, because it's special since Dean directed it. Also, now that I think back, Sally Kirkland was the stage manager of the play. Russ was the only "star" I knew who was in it. There was another girl, I believe her name was Kristen Larkin, who played the lead. And Patty ?? (forgot her last name, but she was one of the sisters in "The Beguiled" with Clint Eastwood. Hope that helps until I locate the playbill. Regarding the Sally Kirkland story, I had only heard that she lost her balance during the earthquake scene and hurt her back as a result. The "Dennis stabbing her" scenario is just a little freaky, but what's new.

Jill: For some reason, I was being cross-referenced to the film "The Beguiled" just the other day, and I think it had something to do with Dean or a co-star of Dean's. Isn't that weird? I'll have to go over to IMdB.com and try and figure out what I was looking for.

Claire: I think that was awfully synchronistic you were cross-referenced to "The Beguiled," and then I mentioned it. Uh-oh, I think I hear the "Twilight Zone" theme.

Jill: The story of Sally Kirkland and her lawsuit is in the Archives, I'm sure, and I'll see if I can dig it up.

Claire: Thanks, that will be interesting to read.

Jill: I'm not sure where Joy Marchenko came from, but I know she was a ‘Textile Designer in Morocco.' I think that's from the People Magazine interview. And that's about that, unless you know anything else?

Claire: I don't really know anything about her either. I read somewhere that they had to move from Santa Fe because of her asthma. That's too bad, 'cause that's pretty country.

Jill: You mentioned that you didn't know Dean and Joy were divorced until 2000. Well, you're already ahead of most of Dean's fans. I didn't become a fan until late 2000, and by early 2001 I was on the Internet, asking 'Where's Dean's wife, anyway?' Nobody seemed to know that they were divorced at that time. A member here, also named Joy, met Dean in Reno in Nov. 2001, and he said to her "Oh, you had to pick my ex-wife's name!" So, that was our first 'official' confirmation. But, like with just about everything else related to Dean, it wasn't written in stone. But things began to emerge. First, a member joined from France who happened to have a magazine interview from 1996 where Dean talks about separating from his wife. And, there is a lady who published a biography of Dean this year (you can buy it over the Internet - but pretty much everything in it you can find in our magazine articles here on the Sassies list - and she completely glosses over anything 'beatnik' or 'hippie' about Dean - there will be absolutely no mention of Toni Basil or George Herms in her book). Anyway, this lady briefly joined the Sassies list, and she had no idea that Dean & Joy were divorced, and pretty much denied it, by saying "Why wasn't it in the papers?" And I replied, "Why didn't any of Dean's fans know that his mother died in 1993?" (Another fact she forgot to put in her book). And then she unsubscribed. And then another (former) member on the Sassies confronted me with the fact that I have no proof that Dean and Joy were ever divorced (which I don't), and insisted that they're probably still living together, or are just separated. I'm getting pretty used to people calling me on things, and just take the facts as they are presented to me, and do with them what I can. So far, my hunches about things have been more right than wrong.

Claire: I read a small piece on them being divorced somewhere around 2000. It shocked me pretty good. I can't imagine someone writing a bio on Dean and not mentioning the Beat/Hippie connection. This still is like the heartbeat of Dean (snap, snap).

Jill: You mentioned Toni Basil was backed by Devo in her show (and I would have loved to have seen this show! Sounds wild!). She was dating their bass player at the time. She was the one who gave Dean a tape of Devo to listen to, and then Dean gave it to Neil Young. Hmmmm............which came first.......Dean leaving Toni for Joy, or Toni leaving Dean for the bass player? LOL!

Claire: Or Toni leaving Dean because of her enormous crush on David Bowie. That would have driven me bonkers!

Jill: Oh, and I have no proof that Toni and Dean were ever married, other than those two mentions. What do you think? My first hunch is to say No - that people (such as the musician that was quoted on the Internet) simply assumed they were married. Sort of a 'common-law' marriage, if you will. It's yet another mystery of Dean.

Claire: I kinda think they weren't married. Toni always reminded me of, how do I put this, if Dean had been a woman, he would have been Toni and if Toni would have been a man, she would have been Dean. I think they were too similar for their own good.

Claire: Regarding Dean's mentioning George, Millie, Dennis, Wallace, etc. They were mentioned only in context [in his autobiography] with the chronology of his life. There were no asides, unfortunately. Dean was still Dean back then, very secretive and protective about personal events and people in his life. He mentioned that he had married Millie and divorced. I believe he mentioned "Breakaway" and his collaboration with Toni and Bruce, but only in that context. He detailed Wallace's influence on him, and talked about directing "Moonstone," which I now know he began filming in 1963 with George. I have George's chronology of events from the book "The Prometheus Archives--A Retrospective Exhibition of the Works of George Herms," which I purchased at the show. The dates on my copy say the exhibit showed from June 2-July 22, 1979 at the Newport Harbor Art Museum. I will send the chronology to you.

#stockwell sassies

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islahhofficial · 4 years

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Top 9 tips for Dhul Hijjah

Many people are eagerly awaiting the start of the 10 blessed days of Dhul-Hijjah. They’ve probably read a dozen articles on the virtues and blessings of those Days. But some still wonder: what exactly do I need to do to make the best of those days? If you’re not going to Hajj and you’re looking for a To-Do List or an Action Plan to make the best of those blessed days, then here are a few ideas: (Make sure you share the URL above with friends and family via email, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp so they can learn also)

1- Recheck the intention: We’re doing this out of Love!

Take a few moments and recheck your attention. Ask yourself “what exactly do I want to achieve, and why? First and foremost, we want to do the best in those days because Allah loves for us to be in the best condition in them. And what’s beloved to our Beloved should be beloved to us. Remember this hadith and note the word “beloved”… Ibn Abbas narrated that: The Messenger of Allah said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than those ten days.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah! Not even Jihad in Allah Cause?” The Messenger of Allah said: “Not even Jihad in Allah’s Cause, unless a man were to out with his self and his wealth and not return from that with anything.” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi]

So, Allah ‘loves’ good deeds during those days. Isn’t this an excellent opportunity to show the Owner of our souls, the Owner of Existence, The Owner of Jannah, The Most Merciful that we too love Him and love to be in a state that is beloved to Him?

Primarily, we’re doing this out of love to Allah (Glorified and Exalted), and we wish for Him to accept us and accept the little that we do that isn’t even worthy of the eternal rewards He has prepared for us… but we do what we do out of gratitude, sincerity and love to The One who deserves our ultimate love.

2- Desperately ask Allah for help with this

No success will happen without the Help of Allah. So, recite this dua after every prayer and throughout the day to ask Allah to aid you in doing the best and earning the best rewards these days: Mu’adh (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took hold of my hand and said, “O Mu’adh! By Allah I love you, so I advise you to never forget to recite after every prayer: “Allahumma a’inni ala dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ‘ibadatika (O Allah, help me remember You, to be grateful to You, and to worship You in an excellent manner).” [Abu Dawud].

So keep reciting this and especially when you feel weak or lazy: “O Allah, help me remember You, to be grateful to You, and to worship You in an excellent manner.”

3- Seize the generous reward of fasting the 9 days of Dhul- Hijjah

“’Allah, the mighty and sublime, said: Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting; it is for me and I shall reward for it.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i] The reward for fasting is too big in fact, that it is something that angels won’t be able to record, and instead they’ll refer it to Allah to set His generous reward for it! In addition to that, fasting grants you a guaranteed answered dua! It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There are three whose supplications are not turned back: A just ruler, and a fasting person until he breaks his fast. And, the supplication of one who has been wronged is raised by Allah up to the clouds on the Day of Resurrection, and the gates of heaven are opened for it, and Allah says, ‘By My Might I will help you (against the wrongdoer) even if it is after a while.’” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

So basically, by fasting, you’re getting unfathomable reward that you didn’t even think of PLUS you can ask for something that YOU want. Amazing Opportunity!

Definitely aim for fasting all 9 days, or as much as you can of them, or at the very least, the day of A’rafa. It was narrated from Abu Qatadah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah, I hope from Allah, expiates for the sins of the year before and the year after.” [Sunan Ibn Majah] Who doesn’t want that? It’s an opportunity not to be missed, insha’Allah.

4- Start building Your House in Jannah

Praying on time is among the most beloved acts to Allah. ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I asked the Prophet (ﷺ), “Which of the deeds is loved most by Allah?” Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Salat at its proper time.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Let’s think about it: when you call someone, you appreciate when they actually pick up the phone and answer you. Right? Imagine if they take 2-3-4 hours to get back to you… Not the best attitude, right? Might even reflect that you’re not really a priority to them. Now, to Allah belongs the Highest Attributes and Most Noble Mention, when the call for prayer is made and we delay answering… it isn’t exactly the best deed. So, these days, aim to make everything you can to pray on time. This if for the obligatory prayer. Now to start building your house in Jannah, follow this hadith:

The Prophet [saw] says: ‘Whoever persists in performing twelve Rak’ah from the Sunnah, a house will be built for him in Paradise: four before the Zuhr, two Rak’ah after Zuhr, two Rak’ah after Maghrib, two Rak’ah after the ‘Isha’ and two Rak’ah before Fajr.’” [Sunan Ibn Majah] These are voluntary prayers. These prayers complement the shortcomings in our main obligatory prayers. So, if you pray without enough concentration/khushoo’/if you’re not fulfilling the rights of prayers adequately, then the voluntary prayers complement the shortcomings in the obligatory prayers to help us earn better rewards and be in a better condition with regards to prayer—which is the first thing we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet (ﷺ):

“The first thing about which the people will be called to account out of their actions on the Day of Judgment is prayer. Our Lord, the Exalted, will say to the angels – though He knows better: Look into the prayer of My servant and see whether he has offered it perfectly or imperfectly. If it is perfect, that will be recorded perfect. If it is defective, He will say: See there are some optional prayers offered by My servant. If there are optional prayer to his credit, He will say: Compensate the obligatory prayer by the optional prayer for My servant. Then all the actions will be considered similarly.” [Sunan Abi Dawud]

5- Fulfil a primary rite of Dhul-Hijjah: Dhikr, remembrance, mentioning the name of Allah

Allah says in Surat Al Hajj: “And proclaim to the people the Hajj [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass – That they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of Allah on known days over what He has provided for them of [sacrificial] animals. So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor.” (Qur’an 22: 27-28)

And He says: “And for all religion We have appointed a rite [of sacrifice] that they may mention the name of Allah over what He has provided for them of [sacrificial] animals. For your god is one God, so to Him submit. And, [O Muhammad], give good tidings to the humble [before their Lord]” (Qur’an 22: 34)

Mentioning the name of Allah and remembering Him is a main- if not THE main- component of those blessed days. It is all essentially about truly remembering and acknowledging Allah and connecting with Him and supplicating to Him.

So increase dhikr throughout those blessed days. Dhikr doesn’t take any effort really, but its reward is immense.

Make sure to: 1- Daily recite Tahmid (AlhamduliAllah), Tasbeeh (Subhan Allah), Takbeer (Allahu Akbar), Tahleel (la illah illah Allah). And internalize their meanings: internalize that truly all praise is due to Allah for all His blessings, that Allah is Greater than anything and anyone, that there is no deity worthy of worship but Him, that He is High Above any imperfection attributed to Him… This is the essence of true faith and worship.

Remember that saying “La illaha ila Allah” is the best dhikr, so increase in reciting it. “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘The best of remembrance is La ilaha illallah (None has the right to be worshipped but Allah), and the best of supplication is Al-Hamdu Lillah (praise is to Allah).’” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

2- Start incorporating the adhkar of morning and evening in your daily routine if it isn’t a part of it already. The reward of dhikr is really immense, additionally, it protects you from a lot of harm you’re not even aware of and it keeps you in close connection with Allah Almighty.

6- Spare an hour a day for Qur’an recitation

Reciting the Qur’an, the verbatim Words of Allah and remembering Him through His own Words is among the greatest acts one could do. In normal days, reciting the Qur’an brings immense barakah and rewards. Each letter you recite is equal to at least 10 hasanaat and Allah gives more to whom He wills. Now, in these days when rewards are multiplied even more and it’s more encouraged to do what’s beloved to Allah, it’s essential to engage with the Qur’an further- we shall at least give it our best try to the best of our ability. If you managed to dedicate an hour to the Qur’an every day, you can actually do khatm (completing the recitation of the entire Qur’an) by the end of the 10th day of Dul-Hijja! We have 30 parts in the Qur’an. Each part is around 20 pages. If you have an hour, you can read 60 pages (3 parts a day) and finish the entire Qur’an in 10 days. We ALL have an hour or more to spare a day. But it’s a matter of time management and priorities. We do surf the Internet and our social media for hours—which are probably acts that won’t bring us much reward. So what really prevents us from dedicating an hour or 2 to complete reading the Qur’an during those days which will bring us immense rewards?

Allah says: “And indeed We have made the Qur’an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?” [Qur’an 54: 17] Let’s aim to be among those who remember…

7- Revive the night with the ultimate source of peace

One of the most praiseworthy acts to do also is to recite Qur’an during the night prayer. Allah says: “And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.” (Qur’an 17: 79)

If you can’t seem to find an hour to spare for reading the Qur’an during the day, then make it an hour of the night. Leave your bed for an hour, make wudu purifying yourself and your body, wear clean and beautiful clothes, get onto your prayer mat and start reciting the Qur’an… slowly, in humility and peace. You have no idea how this will bring immense peace, serenity and tranquility into your heart and mind, and how this will energize you and put a lot of barakah in your time. It is worth trying. Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘As: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “If anyone prays at night reciting regularly ten verses, he will not be recorded among the negligent; if anyone prays at night and recites a hundred verses, he will be recorded among those who are obedient to Allah; and if anyone prays at night reciting one thousand verses, he will be recorded among those who receive huge rewards.” [Sunan Abi Dawud]

Note: the highest reward mentioned at the end of the hadith for reciting a thousand verses can be easily accomplished by reciting the last 2 chapters of the Qur’an (Juz’ Tabarak 29 and Juz’ ‘Amma 30).

8- Dua, Dua, Dua

Throughout the 10 days and especially on the Day of ‘Arafa: MAKE DUA! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him), said: “The most excellent dua is the dua on the Day of Arafa, and the best of what I and the prophets before me have said, is ‘There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner.’” [Muwatta Malik]

9- Sacrifice with ihsan, feed the poor and bond with your family

Of course “audhiya” or “qurbani” is a main ritual that we follow. But it is important to do that with ihsan (excellence). On the authority of Abu Ya’la Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Verily Allah has prescribed ihsan (proficiency, perfection) in all things. If you slaughter, then slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.” [Muslim] Allah gave us blessings to benefit us and help us benefit others and bond with our families. So, let this be about the gratitude to Allah Almighty who provides for us from the heavens and the earth, and let this be with mercy and excellence befitting to His Mercy and Excellence.

Now, you might look at this list and feel overwhelmed. But remember a few things: We were created to worship Allah. These things are part of our purpose in life. We do not lose anything by doing them. These are acts we start here, they bring benefit, peace and barakah in our lives here, and then later they earn us eternal rewards, eternal peace, safety and nearness to The Creator. So, remember the intention; we do this with love and out of love to Allah. Also remember that if Allah wills, He can make anything possible, if He knows of your true desire and sincerity, He WILL enable you to do these acts and more, so easily in fact that you will not understand how you did it. Trust Allah! Now, BismAllah… enjoy the most blessed days of the year!

By Dina Mohamed Basiony

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#Islahh #islahh.com

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quitblow5-blog · 5 years

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‘For artists, work ethic and intelligence are just as important as talent.’

Scroll through the blue-ticked Instagram accounts of most major-league US music executives, and you’ll tend to find the same old schtick: images of their artists playing career-boosting stages; flattering snaps of their newly decked-out office; a smattering of vacation/weekend shots accidentally-on-purpose showcasing that sleek second home in the Hills.

Mike Caren’s Insta feed, however, offers a little something more – a little something indicative of the inquisitive mind of the man himself. A swift perusal of Caren’s page throws up graphs, charts and textual provocations covering themes like ‘10 trends that will reshape the music industry’, how fast TV watching is declining amongst Millennials, the average ages of social media use in 2019, and the ‘share of ear’ that radio claims amongst US consumers over 13.

This all fits because Caren, as well as being obsessive about the A&R process, is also obsessive about media trends, and how consumption of everything from HBO to Fortnite and Instagram are munching into the daily music habits of today’s teenagers.

Such compulsive attention to detail is serving Caren’s businesses well. The Beverly Hills-raised exec founded Artist Publishing Group back in 2006, followed by the launch of Artist Partner Group in 2013. Warner Music Group and Atlantic Records, with whom Caren has worked for more than 20 years, injected a multi- million dollar investment into APG three years ago.

Since then, APG, which now employs more than 40 staff, has developed and broken stars including Bazzi, Charlie Puth, Kehlani, Kevin Gates and NBA Youngboy, as well as an electric array of songwriters such as Hitmaka, Yung Berg, Amy Allen and Madison Love.

Most recently, Los Angeles-based APG unleashed Ava Max, who hit No.1 in many territories this year including the UK, Sweden, and Germany with international smash “Sweet But Psycho”.

Caren began his career aged 17 with Atlantic Records, and later served as Co-President – alongside John Janick – of the relaunched Elektra Records (Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Cee Lo Green) between 2009 and 2012.

MBUSA recently sat down with Caren within APG’s Fairfax studio complex to ask him all about his A&R philosophy, and where he sees the future of multimedia going in the next few years…

Tell us a truism about the music industry.

So much of what moves the needle in this business is just about listening – really listening. When a label or publishing exec has a 60 minute meeting with a producer or songwriter, once you’ve caught up with each other, you’re already 30 minutes into it, and only then do you start listening to music.

That leaves you 25 minutes to listen, and consider eight to 10 ideas. Then the meeting is over – and you haven’t even cracked the surface. If you’d allowed for 90 minutes of music, you would probably have found something really special.

So for that last 20 minutes, I might ask you to [hand over] everything you haven’t played me – whether you think I might or might not like it. Then I’m actually going to listen to it all and hear the stuff that other people don’t get to.

You employ more than 40 people at APG, and you’re expanding. Can you actively keep the roster here capped at certain size?

Yes. We started in the publishing world, where I felt that one A&R executive couldn’t really have a high impact on every one of their writers unless they were limited to approximately 10 writers.

I noticed that at most of the major publishing companies, when I talked to executives, their personal roster would be over 50 writers. I found it hard to believe that they would be able to deliver something significant for every writer with that roster size. Records is about a smaller amount of artists, but it’s also about building teams.

People with different perspectives, different skill sets all working together, learning from each other and bringing different things to the table. I work with people that have so much passion and intelligence and determination. This company is a sum of those parts. There’s 40 people here that have the impact of 150.

What would you say is the defining A&R philosophy of APG?

We believe that work ethic and intelligence are just as important as talent. A smart and hardworking creative will keep improving whereas someone without that work ethic or vision might creatively just tread water, or even decline in their quality.

“We work with [talent] for days, weeks or even months before we sign a deal.”

The biggest thing is getting to know writers and artists personally. We work with them for days, weeks or even months before we sign a deal. We will often lose a deal because somebody – after working with APG – is rushed elsewhere in the industry by a bidding war or whatever. And if that happens, it’s okay. It wasn’t meant to be.

Why is getting to know artists properly so important to you?

Ideally, you want to enter a relationship that’s a decade or decades- long. You can marry the first person you kiss, but I think it’s better to go on more dates and ask a lot of questions to see if your vision of the future is aligned. When you have tough conversations upfront, it leads to better conversations for years to come.

Give us an example of a tough conversation with an artist.

Those conversations revolve around expectations, timeline, patience, vision. I love artists that have huge goals and who know several moves they want to make to get there – who aren’t expecting to make it all in one single play. I love songwriters turning into artists too, because they’ve had this passenger seat in other artists’ careers to which they’ve contributed. The writer-turned-artist has seen other artists making tough decisions, and what the results were, which helps them avoid their own mistakes and pitfalls.

“If you just try to protect artists from making those mistakes, it doesn’t help, because when they become very successful, they will ultimately take all the big decisions; your job is to prepare them to make great ones.”

APG is the best at amplifying, investing in and turbo-charging artists who have a lot of ideas. And the best ideas always come from artists. It’s always better to let an artist make a mistake, because when a smart artist makes a mistake, they learn from it. If you just try to protect artists from making those mistakes, it doesn’t help, because when they become very successful, they will ultimately take all the big decisions; your job is to prepare them to make great ones. You can’t shelter talent early on, then expect people to act like an experienced artists when they’re successful.

How do you feel about the number of songwriters behind the majority of hits today?

The other day somebody sent me a video with Bob Marley, One Love and said, ‘What an incredible song and songwriter.’ I said, ‘Yeah, Curtis Mayfield was a fricking genius.’ They said, ‘Are you kidding? That song was written by Bob Marley!’ It’s a co-write. Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. And if Bob Marley can co-write, anyone can co-write.

One defining modern A&R trend is that of collaboration. Two people from largely different genres cross-pollinating fan bases. What do you make of that trend, and does it ever concern you?

I saw an exhibit of Picasso and Matisse years ago. They were friends and they did interpretive pieces of each other’s work. Their artistry was so clear when they did so. Anything that allows someone to demonstrate creativity and originality is an amazing vehicle – but the song [has to be] organic and creative.

Why did you started APG in the first place?

First, I had been working as an A&R person at Atlantic for 10 years. Having been in one company for so long, I wanted a different experience and I wanted an entrepreneurial experience.

I built a lot of trust at Atlantic, so they allowed me to create a partnership venture with them. But I operated it independently, and I love to experiment. Every session is an experiment; every marketing idea is an experiment; every day here is about experimentation.

“I had this philosophy, this is 15 years ago, that songwriters and producers are artists in their own right.”

And second, I had this philosophy, this is 15 years ago, that songwriters and producers are artists in their own right – and that a publisher could publish their songs and get them paid, but could also treat them as an artist and A&R them in that way, providing the introductions, the insights, and the resources that labels provide to artists.

It was a learning process because I didn’t know about publishing, and I didn’t have the budget to chase hits, so we had to be bold.

Why is so much A&R focused entirely on the new – the thrill of ‘breaking’ something?

Out of anything in this business, I get the most satisfaction from seeing other people with their first big successes: their first hit song; their first platinum record; their first sold out tour; their first song on the radio.

Every time a new artist, a new writer has an experience like that, it’s contagious. To me, that’s more powerful than congratulating someone on their fifth of sixth platinum album. It’s an honor to make music – it’s exciting and it’s an adventure.

I’m really proud of the artists and writers that have been successful, but I’m just as proud of the executives. That goes for the team here, but also people that have previously worked or interned here and moved on. I root for their success.

“Every time a new artist, a new writer has an experience like that, it’s contagious.”

Right now, I’m in awe of A&R moves from Miles Beard (pictured), Jeff Vaughn, Tizita Makuria, Eli Picarretta, Edgar Machuca, Matt MacFarlane, Lisa Mottahedeh, David Phung, and Dan Snyder, all of whom landed their first A&R roles here – several starting as interns or assistants – and all of whom have signed Gold or Platinum artists or writers, or had hits this year.

But I’m also thrilled to see fast career growth and broadening responsibility from vets that joined us such as Elyse Rogers, Angie Pagano, Mike Mathewson, Olly Sheppard, Jessica Kelm, and the list can go on. Fifteen years in, I look around and see our team members thriving, and people who’ve cut their teeth with us at pretty much every label, from A&R Executive to Chairman.

APG takes a white label approach with its artists – your brand is kept on the sidelines. Why?

We’re too broad to create a single, forward-facing brand. The great labels that I love had, and continue to have today, sonic consistency. They had a cultural voice and a specific niche, with a sound or a through line.

I lean in to creative people; we’re not going to not sign an artist just because they don’t fit in with other artists on our roster, or not work with an executive because they’re a certain type. There are no rules and no limitations to who APG works with. We just want to work with people for whom we can deliver more than anyone else out there.

Also, I love our entrepreneurial artists and I don’t want to take away from their opportunity to build their brand – both their artist brand and their company brand. I love it when an artist’s dreams include everything from festivals to clothing to charitable organizations. If I can help build an artist’s brand, it’s one more resource that we’re providing that I don’t think many others offer.

What makes a good artist manager?

One, they have to have enough experience to know that everything changes every year. Two, they have to listen to their artist but also speak the truth to them. And, of course, work ethic and intelligence are so important – especially the work ethic, because managers have to provide an example for their artist. Great managers are also great communicators; people who bring people together.

“there’s this ‘Napster Gap’, as I call it, 2002 to 2014, where only a few people invested into the business, and only a few people got hired – so there was not as much opportunity for mentorship for a lot of people versus what had come before.”

It’s a weird time for the music business because there’s so much opportunity now. But there’s also this ‘Napster Gap’, as I call it, 2002 to 2014, where only a few people invested into the business, and only a few people got hired – so there was not as much opportunity for mentorship for a lot of people versus what had come before. There are some incredible managers out there who are just so smart, and had to learn the game on their own.

The head of Netflix, Reed Hastings, said earlier this year that Fortnite was a bigger competitor to his company than traditional rivals like HBO. What do you make of the idea that other media is stealing attention from artists and music?

It’s something I think about a lot. I heard about something recently that said that Americans have over 11 hours a day of media consumption because of how much multitasking they do – like how they will play video games while listening to music. Their consumption is literally doubling.

I see incredible opportunity there, because if you work in the music business and you’ve never played Fortnite, you’re going to fall a few steps behind.

“If you work in the music business and you’ve never played Fortnite, you’re going to fall a few steps behind.”

How Fortnite makes its money is worth thinking about: the short windows of items being for sale; the opening for other platforms [as the game can be played across different devices]; the live events; how [Epic Games] updates and changes the game’s dynamic to keep things so exciting. There are so many amazing things to learn from it.

As far as competing in media, there’s going to be huge L.A. production competition. You have Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Hulu, Spotify and a bunch of other companies with endless amounts of money going to go into content production. It’s going to mean a whole new competition for creative talent, and it will be interesting. It could be incredible for talent – and it will definitely fortify L.A. as the creative capital of the world.

How do you counter that with the value of labels?

There’s no one-size-fits-all, right? Some people love business. Some people love managing people and administration. Some people love to be creative. Some people can do all of those things together. And there are some people who are just true artists who want to color outside the lines and break rules. They don’t want any of the administrative burden. They don’t want to reconcile tours, or deal with Social Security or 401ks, you know?

Some of that’s to do with different points in your life. You may be young; you may want to have fun and be creative and break the rules and not deal with turnover and all of these things. And later in your life, you may want to be more stationary and operate a company and a business. People just need to know what things entail.

“Staying independent is probably the right thing for a lot of artists and it’s probably the wrong thing for a lot of artists.”

There are an increasing number of artist managers who now say that running an independent operation for an artist isn’t ‘management’ – it’s a business partnership, so it shouldn’t be 15 or 20% commission, it should be 50% across everything, including touring. And that all depends on how much of an artist’s business is just music – whether they need a manager who’s just doing music, or managing several businesses.

Staying independent is probably the right thing for a lot of artists and it’s probably the wrong thing for a lot of artists. It all has to do with individual ambition, and how you actually want your 16 to 20 waking hours to be spent.

In an age awash with A&R data, how do you feel about the reduction in signings based purely on based on gut instinct?

I love data… partly because so much of the major label business is focused on it, which leaves all this open territory for us. But, also, I will say data can definitely show more than just momentum, it can reveal a pool of artists who didn’t wait for anyone to move their career forward, who got out of bed every day and worked hard to move the needle.

Somebody can tell me they’re going to work hard all day long, but an artist that had no resources that went out and built some fans? That’s someone you know wants it. I’ll never discount that, as work ethic is so essential.

Where do you get your work ethic from?

My mom’s creative. My dad’s organized. I love this job – this isn’t work, look how soft my hands are! The worst part of my job is sitting waiting for someone to show up who’s late. That’s it! And nowadays, I can always fill those hours by listening to music anyway.

I’m very sure you could have capably run an established major label group. Contemporaries like John Janick are doing it…

He’s awesome.

Why did you choose to build something from scratch, rather than run a big frontline label during this period of your career?

I don’t think anyone ever offered me a job that had the freedom that I now enjoy as an entrepreneur. As an industry, we need to empower people and trust them. There’s always a lot of oversight and structure in majors – and it’s probably needed. But now, we’re facing an ever-evolving future, we have to experiment and to do R&D.

“Change is inevitable. Change is good. But you have to try things in order to figure out what works with change.”

Change is inevitable. Change is good. But you have to try things in order to figure out what works with change. It’s inevitable that artists are going to change the way they make music and market music – and anyone who clings on to the past will get left behind. I love nostalgia like anyone else; we can still tell great stories of the good old days, but we have to be open to try new things all the time.

Let’s talk about the future, then. What are you excited about?

We are a very de-centralized company; I’m trying my absolute best to build the most entrepreneurial organization possible. I want everyone here to think like entrepreneurs, and to make decisions. I choose to run this company differently from, say, the way the legendary Clive Davis ran Arista. He’s incredible, but I hear he personally approved every piece of art and every mix.

Again, just like the artists here, everyone should be making decisions, seeing the results and learning from them. I want every executive I work with to feel that their career grew twice as fast in this organization than it did anywhere else.

What’s going to change at APG over the next five years?

We’re trying to reorganize the entire approach to being a global company. Many major labels don’t seem like singular global companies; they’re a bunch of companies, around the world, that license to each other. Spotify is a global company; they have editors in different offices, but they are a global company.

That’s something we’re a couple of steps ahead on and I don’t think it will take five years. I think it will happen way before then.

The above interview originally appeared in Music Business USA – MBW’s new annual magazine featuring some of the smartest people, with the best stories, in the Stateside music industry.

Subscribe to MBW’s premium bundle to ensure you never miss one our physical magazines in future. Click through here to find out how.Music Business Worldwide

Source: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/for-artists-work-ethic-and-intelligence-are-just-as-important-as-talent/

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