personally i’m still not over “i don’t know what’s right, i just want to talk to my sister.” and honestly i’m not sure i will be for a long while !

NARUMITSU <ATTEMPTING TO READ THE SUBTEXT PLATONICALLY>

*Wrote all this some time last month so I might be off- really really off- also full disclosure I too am a Narumitsu shipper- this is just me giving myself a bad time doing the impossible and having fun XD

-I am going to fail sooner or later. Looking at you, Bridge to the Turnabout.

FIRST GAME >Turnabout Samurai -Yep. We're jumping right in with 'unnecessary feelings'. I'm going to be put on a stake for this. -This is going to become the main argument with any and all homoerotic subtext present in the first game- that it was unintentional. They didn't actively start making it gay until the second game, and even before then the producer for the games had to warn the development team not to try and insert these themes for fear of getting it wrong and lose the fanbase they'd accidentally caught the eye of. I can still create arguments for why this specific, hilariously meme-able line could be read romantically of course- but as far as the game development team at the time was concerned this interaction was never meant to be read as romantic. -Unease and uncertainty are... very valid feelings for Edgeworth to feel at this very moment and as much as I'd like to joke that he was feeling uncertain about his sexuality after seeing his childhood friend as an adult, this line was really just likely meant to lead up to the conclusion of Turnabout Goodbyes and Edgeworth's character arc for this game. His perfect win streak had just been shattered in a case prior. In this case, he was meant to persecute the lead actor of his favorite show- and in some ways his helping the defense can be taken as his biases getting the better of him. His sense of justice and his entire worldview is about to be overhauled, and I can see how he would regard this budding doubt in himself as an unnecessary (heh) distraction from what he believes is his true purpose in life.

>Turnabout Goodbyes -Edgeworth wanting to keep him away from DL-6 has its own section mostly because of how stubborn he becomes when it comes to Phoenix's insistence in particular. It's clear that this stubbornness is a front, I will concede with that- but there are merits to his initial reluctance in accepting Phoenix's defense. It's evident that Phoenix himself has grown over the course of the game so far, but in both of the times that he faced off against Edgeworth in court, his victories were... a tad bit contrived. For instance in Turnabout Sisters, Phoenix really only wins because Mia was being channeled and blackmailed White as he was about to leave the stand. Turnabout Samurai is a little better- but had him rely on quite a lot of coincidences (proven later to be substantiated) that surfaced during the trial. This is nothing to say of the deeper reason Edgeworth has over dissuading Phoenix from taking his case ("You in particular I cannot ask to do this.")- where I can make an argument for his pride and/or concern over Phoenix's career as an attorney. The stakes are relatively high here as well- if Phoenix fails, Edgeworth is incarcerated, Manfred von Karma goes free, DL-6 goes cold once again with no hope of getting re-opened, and everything that Phoenix has been working towards as an attorney would have been in vain. DL-6 is a case that has ruined many lives- it'd make sense if Edgeworth himself felt as though it would be a waste of time and effort to take this case because of how convinced he was of murdering his own father prior to Gourd Lake. He'd grown up for the past 15 years with a nightmare and a death sentence over his head- I wouldn't be surprised if he simply gave up and accepted that he was going to die at the hands of his prosecuting mentor. Even if he were acquitted for the murder of Robert Hammond, his perceived involvement in DL-6 would have thrown a wrench in his freedom- any lesser attorney would have given up on that. And this is unloaded BEFORE Phoenix tells him about the true reason as to why he became an attorney. -Phoenix's insistence to defend Edgeworth in this case can easily just be read as platonic- his complete, unfettered faith in Edgeworth's innocence is heavily influenced by that class trial, for better or for worse. While I'm perfectly happy to imagine that Phoenix's attachment to his idealized version of Edgeworth grew into something deeper sometime in the fifteen years that he hasn't seen him, I do believe that Phoenix in particular really is just that much of a sentimental person. This is to say nothing of his nature as a defense attorney- and what little time he's managed to spend with Mia has taught him that unbridled trust in his client is what gets him through the day, and he's putting it to practice here. Edgeworth was what he has been working towards the moment he decided he would practice law- as Phoenix at this point in time still believes that he could do no wrong despite seeing what Edgeworth is truly like in court. -Cutting into the meat of Phoenix and Edgeworth's shared past, I made a point earlier to say that Phoenix's perception of Edgeworth as a person is idealized. Every memory that Phoenix has had of Edgeworth prior to the events of the first game were from their childhood- and they had 4-8 months (plus one year if we're generous with the retconning some of the official art gave us) MAX to develop a friendship so strong that Phoenix makes major life decisions just to meet with this man. The fact that this time spent together was ENOUGH for Phoenix in the first place is... really hard to skirt around. To quote Dan from GameGrumps "this is something that you would only do for someone you're trying to marry" and if one of them was a woman I guarantee this ship would be canon already. But then again- since this is Phoenix Wright in particular somehow I can believe that he really is just that sentimental- and that isn't always a bad thing. He'd managed to save Edgeworth twice with this conviction after all. When Phoenix sees Edgeworth, he doesn't see a demon prosecutor, he sees his childhood friend who aimed to become a shining example of justice following in his father's footsteps. They address how shaky his foundations for becoming an attorney were in the Phoenix Wright Files once actually- going through a mini-existential crisis because he'd become an attorney with the main goal of saving Edgeworth from what he'd become, and now that he's accomplished that he's just kind of... lost. Edgeworth himself manages to pull him out of this, though. -man that hurts my case a lot actually but to be fair I was banking on failing -I just didn't expect it to happen so early even with the first game -in fact ESPECIALLY with the first game -though I cannot for the life of me wonder how I can come up with a heterosexual explanation for why the buildup towards Edgeworth telling Phoenix and Maya about his nightmares reads so much like a stunted love confession. I'm serious- just read any high school shojo manga ever. You'll find that it hits a lot of the same beats.

>Rise From The Ashes -It's in this case that we observe some of the consequences that the intial upheaval of Edgeworth's worldview in Turnabout Goodbyes causes him; distrust in the enforcement of the law. Not exactly the time for him to be dabbling in another, meme-able brand of unnecessary feelings. Several things like the Prosecutor's Office's relationship with the Police Department starts to waver with the murder of Bruce Goodman, and this becomes the final nail in the coffin for Edgeworth's worldviews and values as a prosecutor. His and Phoenix's teamwork in this trial becomes prevalent- the story behind the King of Prosecutors award represents this best despite it's currently incomplete state. The backstory behind this award paints an ideal of justice in the courtroom wherein the truth comes out as a result of the efforts of contradictory forces. A broken halberd that can cut through any shield (the prosecution) and a broken, unbreakable shield (the defense). Read as representation the text becomes something of a metaphor for the ideal justice that manifests itself in the best parts of Edgeworth and Phoenix respectively- the duality of their opposing professions rather than something that is limited to their relationship. -The same argument that I've used for Phoenix's unwavering belief in Edgeworth's innocence in Turnabout Goodbyes can be used for this case as well. -Though Edgeworth still goes M.I.A for a year after this case, it does grant his disappearance a bit more context as to why exactly it is that he left- and I'll be taking a tiny liberty with this and apply the interpretation that the Miles Edgeworth Files grants us, and that he left in order to better himself and grow as a person, a prosecutor, and as a friend to Phoenix Wright. It's... difficult for me to want to read this as anything but romantically-charged because the narrative beats are NOT lost on me (the dialogue makes this especially hard. send help.)- there's a possibility that Edgeworth at this point in time realizes the value in having a better, more functional dynamic with the one defense attorney who he considers a true equal in court. This dynamic will allow for less chances to encounter missteps and errors in any verdicts handed down in court, and if Edgeworth is to pursue his ideal of justice- Phoenix Wright is undoubtedly essential to this endeavor. The aftermath of Rise From The Ashes is indicative of this newfound goal of his- the symbolism behind the old King of Prosecutors award and the two halves of the evidence list certainly helps this case. -<"It seems all you do is worry about me." -Miles Edgeworth, Rise From The Ashes> For good fucking reason Edgeworth. You were accused of murder and have implicated yourself on the stand for DL-6 just a few months ago- and if the Investigations games are anything to go by, you're more of a danger magnet than PHOENIX is. I had to say it. The first Investigations game takes place over the course of 2-3 days and the sheer amount of shit that Edgeworth had to deal with in between that interval truly makes me wonder how Phoenix Wright ended up with the title of danger magnet. And THIS time- Edgeworth's car becomes a crime scene because his corrupt superiors needed a convenient way of transporting a corpse. There's VERY good reasons to worry about the livelihood of Miles Edgeworth. -Okay I... can't believe I forgot about the chessboard. Here's the kicker- the one we see from his office isn't even the only one he owns. I... legitimately cannot give you ANY purely heterosexual, platonic explanation for why Miles Edgeworth has THREE (THREE. I CANNOT OVERSTATE THIS. HE HAS T H R E E OF THESE FUCKING THINGS. GOOD GOD. HE CAN'T BE ANY MORE EXTRA.)(there exists a similar, portable set in the Investigations games- and he has a new set by the time of Dual Destinies) sets of custom-made chessboards with personalized, highly-specific red and blue designs made purely to depict his rivalry with Phoenix Wright. I fold. I give up. I forgot about the chessboards I wAS NOT EXPECTING TO FAIL THIS E A R LY- -You know what the real kicker is with Rise From the Ashes? The main argument that I have introduced back in Turnabout Samurai does not apply here. Rise From the Ashes was made as a DS-exclusive case and did not exist in the original GameBoy version of the Trilogy. Which means if there is homoerotic tension written in for this case (and there happens to be a lot. the chessboard is proof enough.), then we can safely assume that the writers at this point were well-aware. So yeah- maybe don't feel TOO bad about the unnecessary feelings line- because ever since then the writers have been playing off of that and it SHOWS. -Is there really a point to this I'm just- everything is stacked against me tryna interpret this platonically -Like I know I make a point to say that a romantic relationship isn't the end-all of all relationships because this franchise LOVES pushing the Found Family dynamic and I'm an absolute sucker for that -good god by the time Dual Destinies rolls around I'll probably just give up and happily say they're happily married -that's literally what they act like don't even pretend

How did you come up w/ the worldbuilding of By Lost Ways? Cause going by chapter 1 and your posts on the deck, it's fascinating and super well thought out!

LOL thanks! And yes I will be getting back to that now that I can like....actually enjoy feedback/comments from stuff I post instead of just posting and two seconds later be in crisis mode and completely forgetting I even just did that lol.

But in answer to your question, you know how there are novels like Fifty Shades of Grey and City of Bones that are basically fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, as some people call that? This is basically just the exact opposite. It was an original novel that was part of a bigger shared fantasy universe of mine called the Citadel, that I ended up not doing anything with because it had too many (superficial) similarities to another novel of mine, even though the latter was a sci-fi project. They actually werent that similar, just used a lot of the same aesthetics and tropes, like both had airships, etc, it was one of those things where they just FELT too similar when writing them, and that was causing complications in doing anything further with them so I decided to just let one go, and it happened to be the fantasy one, since I had a bunch of other projects in that same universe that I could shepherd various characters and elements over into.

But one thing I couldn’t ever really relocate was the idea of the Regents’ Deck, which was always a fave concept of mine, and then awhile back it occurred to me that the Batfam was actually really really easy to structure into the already existing framework of the Regents’ Deck and the overall world I’d built around it, and so I was like hey, Im not doing anything else with it, why not just make it a Batfam fanfic. So the story that resulted was a new thing, its not like I just swapped the names around, the plot of Hypotheticals of Being just didn’t work for a Batfam fic, at least not in any way that really engaged me, but it kinda just.....it was almost more like writing a crossover fusion of two fandoms, just one of them happened to be wholly of my own making, lolol. But basically like, the actual fanfic was just sorta like me writing another story in this same setting/lore that I’d already written one novel in, just with the Batfam characters instead.

As for the worldbuilding itself, in the initial form, like, worldbuilding is literally my favorite thing in the world lol, and also I happen to view as probably my biggest strength as a writer, so if there’s interest, I’d be down to do a post walking through kinda my whole ‘process’ there or whatever. Since I do have a certain approach I apply to pretty much everything I write, from fanfic to original projects, its just so ingrained its hard to kinda break it down into clear steps. But give me three things to use as a start point, and I’d be happy to kinda like, do a post ‘showing my work’ as I worldbuild around them.

The three things thing is kinda key for me, as I dont know entirely where it comes from or why I started doing it, I just noticed somewhere along the line that every fully formed project or world I create that I’m actually happy with, like....can always be traced back to three initial ideas I threw together. I’m not exactly sure why three is the magic number for me, it just kinda is.

For example, the world and initial story for this one grew out of these three seeds: Mother Sky, a Tarot Deck, and airships. Those were the three elements that popped into my head as wanting to do something with, and that I combined to come up with this world. (Mother Sky being like.....so I was thinking about all the various takes we have on Mother Earth, and I was wondering what would a world look like that viewed the Sky in the same way, like potentially if it was a fantasy sky-set civilization instead of land-bound).

So the basics of the world all grew out of just those three ideas, and then it was easy enough to flesh out by leaning on a lot of already existing worldbuilding for my broader Citadel mythology, to create the exact specifics of the plot/conflict. Not really relevant to the fanfic version now, as the focus on that stuff is most of what was cut when adapting it to Batfam, since I still have lots of Citadel stuff not related to this one particular project.

Like the basic idea behind the Citadel is that in this fantasy universe, the universe itself has a kind of rudimentary sentience, that constantly seeks out a kind of partner or symbiosis with sentient beings to kinda...drive its power. Like, its aware enough to know that it wants to grow and change and evolve, but relies on the imagination and creativity of sentient beings to do that. So it centralizes its powers of creation in a form that appears to most sentient beings as a kind of fortress or citadel, a seat of power, and anyone who enters it and assumes control over it, in effect becomes god. Able to reshape the universe and create anew according to their whims. And sometimes there’s just one person who stumbles across the Citadel, sometimes a pair or a trio, sometimes a full pantheon, with various individuals assuming sovereignty over set Rooms within the Citadel, and the forces those Rooms command (like gaining the Armory makes one a god of war, the Library a god of knowledge, etc, etc). 

But for all their power, the various residents of the Citadel rarely ever glean on to the fact that the Citadel is kinda ‘alive’ in and of itself, and the true power behind all the power they wield. And the one thing the Citadel detests is stagnancy. So whenever a god or gods or pantheon becomes complacent, stops USING the power of the Citadel as a force for change, stop driving the engines of creation to beget something new and instead just become content to kinda enjoy what they’ve made or reshaped things INTO.....that’s when the Citadel basically takes back its power and reappears as a temptation on the horizon for new seekers to find and ascend to godhood.

Anyway, the point being there’s been an endless cycle of the Citadel changing hands and everything that comes with it, up until what’s basically the beginning of this broader universe.....the ‘last’ residents of the Citadel are a full-fledged pantheon who were so destructive in their attempts to seize more and more control of the Citadel for just themselves or their allies, that they were basically destroying their entire world without any single one of them having control of enough of the Citadel that they could prevent this. Until one of them, Seshan, finally gained control of the Throne Room, the heart of creation, and using its power she basically locked all the other gods in their respective Rooms and broke the entire Citadel into pieces, flinging the others away into the void of uncreation. So for the thousands upon thousands of years since then, the various other gods have been able to create using just the power of their own Rooms, and move between each others’ various worlds, but are denied access to the Throne Room or the world it rests on, the world of their own creation.....and without it, none of them can put the Citadel back together and assume full control of it.

Or, y’know, restart the cycle of creation and destruction. Something the Citadel itself, unbeknowst to any of them, is really not happy about.

So you’ve got some gods who are content with things the way they are and happy being the only god in town in their respective worlds, you have others who are trying to use their worlds to one by one conquer the others’ and thus gain control of their Rooms, trying to gather enough power to kinda just force their way back through the locked doors to the Throne Room, and then you’ve got others who basically have been using eternity to settle old scores and grudges.

The latter happened to be the backstory for the setting for what became By Lost Ways - hence why it wasn’t too hard to pull these particular elements out and shift them to other settings. The original Mother Sky, the creator of this world, is in the Citadel-verse named Eriu, and she’s the supreme nature goddess of earth, sea and sky, being one of the most powerful of the deities with control of three separate Rooms. She used the Aviary to make this particular world, hence its magic being connected to and stemming from feathers, etc. The Dark One, the original Joker of the Regents’ Deck, is Dian, who controls the Pit and the Locked Room, and as such is the God of Temptation and Emptiness, Hunger and Corruption.

(Dian’s machinations back during the Holy Wars basically shattered the mind of Eriu’s lover, Indech, as Dian tried to manipulate him into gaining control of one of the most dangerous Rooms in the Citadel and use him as a proxy without risking himself. It half worked, as Indech gained control of the Room that made him the new God of Chaos, but in the process turned from the somewhat naive, gullible scholar Dian had been counting on him being, to someone just completely detached from anything other than his own interests - which were now fueled by the primal powers of chaos and his new worldview/conviction that nothing he did mattered and thus he could do anything free of consequence. Indech’s as distant and unreachable to Eriu as anyone else, and she’s had a vendetta against Dian ever since....which often takes the form of a merciless nature goddess rampaging through the worlds of Dian’s creation, heedless of the damage she leaves in her wake, as the more millennia pass, the more disassociated the gods become from their own origins. Some have even bought into their own hype and forgotten that they aren’t the only gods out there or even the first).

But anyway, that’s the story of how the worldbuilding for By Lost Ways came to be, lol, though for specifics on like, the actual process as opposed to the big picture stuff, just send me three things and I’ll walk through things from the start to whatever results.

For the record, I want to make clear I’ve been writing stuff in my Citadel ‘verse since I was fifteen, so any similarities to Brandon Sanderson’s shared universe are not incidental, but they’re also not me ripping him off - rather, I’m fairly certain we were both influenced in our worldbuilding/big picture stuff by the same novels when we were growing up. Like, its not that I’m above ripping other people off, its just that I want credit to go where its due. I ripped off Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and a little Michael Moorcock and some Zelazny. LOLOL.

Already pandemic memorial tattoos are on the rise: sound waves from the last voicemail before undergoing COVID-19 complications; a masked nurse like a god; “I survived a global pandemic and I just got this stupid tattoo.” But the coronavirus also changed how we’re getting tattooed in less obvious ways. A year of trauma has imprinted on us thoughts of solidarity and empathy, and shops and studios flooding in as customers – artists across America with doubling of inquiries and bookings compared to the summer of 2019 – have been a trauma-informed one. The approach is taking hold.

The country’s 20,000 tattoo shops close their doors for months, some all year. With the reopening, they are making up for lost income and postponed appointments. Clinical counselor and trauma therapist Jordan Pickel wasn’t surprised to hear that the Instagram bios of many tattoo artists read “Books Closed” for another reason. Not only did we experience a pandemic, but the global death toll continues to rise. Survivors’ guilt and surrounding anxiety are feelings that settle in the body and stay there, even if we don’t notice them. Covering the body with symbols to see is a form of resistance and an act of recovery after a crisis.

“When something traumatic happens, it can shatter a person’s sense of security or stability, the idea that the world is a just place. Tattoos communicate ‘I have changed’ or ‘my worldview has changed,'” ‘” says Jordan. “Healing from trauma is multi-layered and self-determined, which means you get to decide what your healing process looks like. Getting a tattoo can totally play a role in emotional transformation.”

Photo courtesy of Alicia Chung

“I protect myself by decorating myself. It’s armor,” says Alicia Chung, a 24-year-old art student and accountability facilitator in Vancouver, Canada. Since restrictions were eased last fall, he’s been getting new inks almost every week, often occupied by his growing network of friends in private tattoo studios who run a rotary machine. A lot of his pieces make no sense, and he thinks he might as well be stupid — a spider on his elbow, a mud gun with a halo, a sexy peanut, “fast and furious” above the crotch — but the point is Alicia Chosen them. “It’s my weird, twisted way of gaining autonomy.”

The sudden and complete absence of autonomy is the hallmark of the pandemic era. This is at the root of complaints from anti-mascars and anti-vaxxers. This seemed to be the central conflict – even more powerful than the disease – of the quarantine essays written from vacation homes. Our newfound autonomy in a now-reopened society is stressing us out, creating FOMO in some and a fear of being left out in others. Emphasis on self-determination has always been a reason for getting tattoos, but in the post-pandemic scenario it has taken on new meaning.

“When my studio reopened in August, I was worried that people wouldn’t come,” says Ocean Sing, an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. “But more people wanted tattoos than before the pandemic. I think there was a zest for practicing agency, and I ended up getting tattooed on a lot of designs that people said they wanted for years. “

Psychologically, periods of separation and pause can act as a value reset. “Many of us had never faced the reality of ‘life is short,’ which leads to ‘why not’ decisions,” Jordan explains. For those who had money left over from government stimulus checks after paying rent and debt, getting a tattoo was something exciting.

Part of why Alicia has been under the needle so often is that the restaurant they work at has temporarily closed, the school has gone virtual and parties have been cancelled. They had too much time and too little socialization. “That’s when I can take a little rest or allow myself to rest,” he says. “It got to a point where I didn’t mind spending the money to get them all” [tattoos] Because I’m paying for those four hours to be on the table and get professional service. We become intimate and vulnerable but it maintains this customer relationship because I am paying for their trust and interaction. And the isolated pain of a billion vibrations.”

As social beings, we have suffered the loss of non-pod contact. Ocean could still sketch in lockdown if he had the energy, but couldn’t tell Miyazaki to chat with a stranger about movies while by the bathroom. spirited Away on their back. (“I prefer customs these days because they’re so cooperative,” he explains.) We remembered our third-tier friends, the people we laid eyes on the subway from and the professionals we called expertise. was paid instead.

Photo courtesy of Ocean Sing

“Tattoos are an experience you’ll never forget,” says Detroit artist and shop owner Chrissy the Butcher, who’s engaged anytime in her 13-year career. “You’re nervous, the adrenaline rushing. People want that feeling again. i have designed [my shop] So that it’s so quiet, people can bring their friends… there’s a vibe to it.”

According to Jordan, physical intimacy is an important part of restoration even after trauma. “Being around other people is a way that we co-regulate, which means our bodies go back into a sense of groundedness and security. It’s not something we really do on our own. ” For artists who see themselves as healers, this understanding comes first.

Jude Le Tronick specializes in flora and fauna – as nature was “a major healer” in his life – and does freehand blackwork exclusively from private studios established in Seattle. “Freehanding is for me and for the client. I think it’s a respectful process to be fully present.” Judd, which provides free scar cover-up tattoo services to survivors of domestic or sexual violence, believes that tattooists are not therapists, but still have stories of inner pain emanating from their clients. There should be room for

In Tamara Santibanez’s phenomenal manifesto/guidebook/love letter Could this be magic? tattooing as emancipation, published in March and developed from discussion groups conducted during the pandemic, they claim that a tattoo shop has the potential to be a significant site of community building and change. Historically, that ability has been undermined by a masculine culture lacking tenderness. There’s a dispute between street shops and DIY private studios, between artists asking you for consent to shave and between artists who photograph your lower back while you’re oblivious. Lily, 20, knew that for a memorial tattoo of her cousin who died by suicide during the quarantine, she wanted to patronize a queer-led shop and get a tattoo done by a non-male artist. “When I was doing this I didn’t have to worry about anyone maybe attacking me,” she says.

We are in a unique moment of systemic change and the impact of the pandemic on the future of tattoo spaces is beginning to show. For many, this is taking a trauma-informed direction; For others, a selfish fight-or-flight. Pat Fish has been tattooing for 37 years, and she estimates that the dozen tattoo studios around the Santa Barbara Valley have shrunk to six since Covid hit. “I think everyone else is advertising on Craigslist that they’ll be visiting a house, a completely unwell condition. The major effect of the pandemic is that people realized ‘I’m going to have to inspect me once a year. Why should I pay $380 to the health department?’ They are not taking their responsibility as an agent of change seriously.”

“The old thing was you were grassroots because you want someone randomly walking to hear the sound, buzzzz, and to intrigue in the door,” Pat continues. “Now I think, ‘I don’t want you to move, who are you?’ If I’m going to have face-to-face contact with people, let it be that.

A safe space requires acknowledging the dynamic force between the tattooer and the client. When Ocean holds a stencil, for example, they tell the client it’s not a big deal to move or replace, they won’t go crazy. “When I was getting my first tattoo, I was afraid to ask for what I wanted. Even if you’re not traumatized, it’s a scary thing to be in a situation where a stranger might notice your presence. Changes forever.”

Getting a tattoo has always been scary for some people. Jade Bell is a Los Angeles tattoo artist and illustrator who grew up seeing her mother being deprived of shops for being a black woman. When they found an aspiring artist, they weren’t necessarily trained appropriately. “I literally saw a girl give my mom a keloid scar because she didn’t know how to work with darker skin tones,” Jade says.

America’s “plague years” included one of the largest protest movements in the country’s history, making it impossible to close the ongoing racial count. This resonated throughout the tattoo community, as Instagram infographics circulated resources for inking various skin pigments and white artists were singled out for a culturally appropriation flash.

Photo courtesy of Chrissy the Butcher

“People started to realize they had no black art [tattoo] collection,” says Jade. “I asked my partner, ‘Hey, can you name five Blacks’ [tattoo] artist’s?’ we could not. ‘What about five famous tattoo models who are black?’ We couldn’t think of anyone at all.”

Luckily Jade is a Virgo, so she was fearless at the idea of ​​changing the culture herself. “I like to represent myself in the things I love. I had never seen black women drawn in the portrayal style that I see other women drawn all the time. I’m four-eyed black girls.” I am developing my universe.”

Chrissy the Butcher lives and works in Detroit, America’s largest black-majority city. Over the past year, she has seen ideas about race and society make their way onto the body. “Tattoos help people heal from generational trauma. It causes you to research the imagery presented by our ancestors. I see people getting African symbols with the turn of 2021, and I’m getting that tattoo. I’m building what I love and know, anything that relates to the black female form.”

A common counterargument is ‘Why remind yourself of your hardship on your body?’ “I’m thinking about it anyway,” says Kansas City physician Jesse Lee. “My trauma defines a lot of who I am and I was offended by it. Now I’m really happy [for it] Because I love who I am now.”

In February, Jesse got a bicep tattoo of a plant blooming from a can of tomatoes. For years, she pointed to her “nonsense childhood” without actually addressing it. When someone described her trauma to her as a jar of rotten tomatoes that gained more and more pressure over time, until the lid burst and the juices spilled everywhere, Jesse summed it up in a poem. Changed. After a one-year hiatus, in which she finally stuck with therapy and did things she wouldn’t allow herself to do as a fat woman – like roller skating, wearing crop tops, and considering her body a canvas – She was ready to make it a permanent reminder.

“People have experienced more trauma in the last five or so years than I think we have ever experienced collectively. Just by going to the Internet we are constantly digesting other people’s traumas,” Jesse says. A tattoo becomes a positive part of your story.”

It is beautiful to see collective grief metamorphose when we heal individually. “So much healing from trauma involves humor, at least for me,” Alicia says. “People ask me what I’ll think of my sexy Peanuts tattoo in 30 years. Maybe I look back and say to myself, ‘You could probably love yourself a little more, apparently it’s yours’ There was a way to compete. I think it’s nice to have a mark of remembrance for being a wrinkled old woman with a portrait made during a crazy time in the world.”

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The post The tattoo artists healing our collective trauma post-pandemic appeared first on Spicy Celebrity News.

Ok so got a few questions about Aita cause i really, realllllly wanna fucking nail his characterization down. Also what i was thinking of just doing as a single one shot has morphed into something that has enough meat for like????? Several chapters i think???? So i mc-have to know some shit about this good good boy: 1)what is his biggest fear? 2) whats something thats made him laugh? 3) now that he has the opportunity to like LIVE and figure out who he is as a person, what is a hobby PT 1

PT 2 that you could see him picking up/what interests might he find himself having? 4) fucking how legit would it be for him to low/high key crush on the lonk man?

1. the joke answer would be HORSES but his real greatest fear (after he leaves the yiga clan) is being found by them and having to pay for what he’s done. of course link is always target #1, but since he betrayed them to help their greatest enemy, he knows he’s target #2. the yiga clan instilled a lot of fear in him about what happens to traitors

2. i dont think very much would make him laugh, he’s still got a very serious personality after all. but old habits die hard and he probably has a mean sense of humor, laughing at other’s misfortune and pain, as long as its not serious. that probably comes from the yiga clan over emphasizing strength and ability, and those who make mistakes and get hurt are subject to ridicule, just an overall lack of compassion. but maybe one time link has done something and gotten hurt kinda bad and aita’s first response was to laugh at him but link was like “thats really mean :(” and aita stopped laughing and felt like a jerk. a learning moment

3. hes really curious about cooking, i think the reason the yiga clan loves bananas so much is because its the only sweet thing they really have access to in the gerudo highlands. not that bananas grow up there but they’re probably easiest to steal. aita is kind of a picky eater at the start but he starts learning to enjoy trying new things. even if its the most common thing like a baked apple or stew, the yiga clan didn’t have it. he also still enjoys fighting, i think he was probably a pretty talented foot soldier as a yiga, everyone was sure he’d grow to become a blademaster one day. he’s got a wide variety of weapon training like link does, enough that he can pick up p much any weapon and use it effectively. but obviously he’s just not as skilled as link

4. real legit. links pretty much the first person to ever show him kindness and compassion and basically shatter his bleak worldview. his whole life the yiga clan told him that ganon was the way towards freedom and happiness, and the royal family and the hero wanted to destroy that so they could keep a hold on hyrule. he was told that if he was weak the hero would kill him in an instant, that he was cruel and unmerciful. but then when he faced the hero and lost, link brought his unconscious body to safety and made him a meal. the more times he encountered link to try to kill him and link continuously showed him mercy and compassion, he started to realize that it was the yiga clan that was cruel and unmerciful, that they would kill him if he was weak, not link. anyway im rambling, aita isn’t good at expressing his feelings but he definitely feels something towards link. he probably just thinks its respect for link’s strength, or gratitude for showing him a way out, but it goes deeper than that and the boys just too emotionally blind to realize it

Homicide: The Movie

I keep thinking about tim bayliss out by the water telling frank about how he was abused by his uncle, about bayliss talking about how he hadn't been happy in a long time and now he was going to have dinner with chris rawls and be happy. bayliss on that rooftop scruffy and dead-eyed and tortured by what he's done, grabbing frank by the coat and pleading for him to be the one that takes him in. what kind of message to send, to take the most idealistic character and make them a lesson about what happens when you don't deal with your demons? or simply what happens because life is convoluted and imperfect?  bayliss has two choices. he can ask frank to forgive him, and this will be enough. it’s frank or the justice system, and frank can’t do it. though bayliss was sure he could. and so bayliss is left with nothing. if frank can’t forgive him, then that’s it, he can’t live with what he’s done. frank begging bayliss to go home, to never mention it to anybody, would rather save bayliss than their friendship. bayliss saying he's been thinking about killing himself, he'll do it if frank doesn't bring him in...and so frank gives in. he grants bayliss this one final wish. he clears the ryland case. bayliss goes to prison, bayliss kills himself anyway. how could he live with a justice system that jails a good man and lets an evil one go free? it's a fitting way to end the show. the show was never about happy endings, it was about moving on. death goes on and on, because life goes on and on. but bayliss doesn't get to move on. everything he ever did will be lost. everything about his old life will become obsolete. bayliss, who so deserves it, not getting a happy ending...almost had an epiphany, but not quite. was almost out of the woods, but instead took a wrong step and fell into a deep abyss. there was no one else so idealistic or as good-hearted as bayliss. “just because perversion exists doesn’t mean I have to accept that.” good ol tim bayliss, the zen detective. a cop who dabbles in bisexuality and buddhism (two things which he eventually has to give up). an emotional man, a misguided man, but a good man, who deserved to live on, to learn, to move on from his mistakes. he wanted to have a family one day, but he won’t have that. he won't get to see pembleton's kids grow up. he gets nothing for his trouble. maybe he was doomed from the beginning. he came into the homicide unit as damaged goods and was hit with the adena watson case. a little angel-faced girl lying in the rain. rookie detective faced with his demons, and given no outlet to deal with them.  he should’ve taken off after that sixth year. should’ve gone to see somebody. instead he came back bereft of frank, spouting bullshit philosophies and pretending he was healed. he ended up where he did, his life thrown away over some convicted murderer who got off on a technicality. killing a man to ensure he wouldn't kill again. a man who didn’t deserve to live, but whose death was somehow a usurpation of the justice system because the power of life and death cannot be put into the hands of another man. the various shades of gray that are borne out of deciding who gets to live and who gets to die. that’s how it is: a good man committing a sinful act is punished, but an evil man committing sinful acts goes free... all those years of bayliss trying to get close to frank, and frank continually warding off his friendship. unrequited love, almost. except that frank did love bayliss in his own way. just in a way that bayliss had no use for. and this final moment on the rooftop, frank gradually realizing that this is the result of his untimely departure...he left bayliss in his darkest hour. now all those years of fending bayliss off, being so guarded, and this is the last time they’ll get to be together, the way things used to be. cursing bayliss for putting this on him, for challenging his virtues. it was he who said virtue is not true virtue unless it slams up against vice...and this is it for frank, the ultimate test. bayliss confesses to a murder, and he can’t go back from that. tim bayliss is no longer just tim bayliss, he’s a killer. “you can’t be a killer.”  a good man and a killer can’t be the same. this is the one variable must remain constant, in frank’s eyes, or else his entire worldview would shatter. how can you love a man who’s killed somebody? something that you’ve stressed for so long as irrefutably evil? even if bayliss went home that night, even if neither of them told a soul, nothing would be the same. bayliss is a cop. the sanctity of law and order has been hammered into him from the get-go, so even if he knows in his heart he did the right thing, his mind will always contest it. frank wouldn’t be able to forgive bayliss. he wouldn’t be able to see him as a good man. he would struggle with it for the rest of his days: the idea that there is no solid line between good and evil, and what that could possibly mean about all the people he’s put away. about himself. about humanity. something like this had to happen eventually. frank couldn’t live the rest of his life sorting everything into categories of good and bad, black and white. bayliss with his ideals, his belief in the reign of all things right and just, all while being exposed to the darkest, ugliest and most perverse parts of the world. bayliss the good guy, the bright-eyed rookie, who had to earn everybody's respect and was miserable every minute of it. just trying to do good the only way he knew how. trying to make things right. tried to do right by adena watson, for all the abused and battered children. those he saw himself in.  poor, poor bayliss...he never got to be happy. maybe for a few fleeting moments it was in his reach, but he always just missed it. he couldn’t make peace with the terrible things he saw. he couldn’t abide injustice. couldn’t abide that he could look very much like the terrible things and people he loathed. homicide got to him. he let it get to him and he didn’t deal with it. from the very beginning he was a ticking time bomb. it didn’t start with adena watson, though that’s what it always comes back to. it started when he was five years old.  jesus. what a hopeless and terrible way to end. 

Podcast Episode #25 – Community Trumps Marketing: How Luka Hocevar built a multimillion-dollar gym

This interview with Luka Hocevar was absolutely epic.

Luka owns Vigor Ground fitness, a 12,000 square foot facility just outside of Seattle in a town called Renton. It’s the best gym I have ever walked into, so I invited Luka on to talk about his journey to opening that, from being a regular LA Fitness trainer.

The interview ended up being SO much more than that, we discuss building a fitness business yourself and how Luka has run charity boot camps for the last 10 years every Saturday, which is not only something he loves doing but has helped him seal a solid reputation in the community and earned him heaps of clients along the way.

We dig into how you can leverage ideas such as this to build trust, empower people to make a change, and build a business out of something you love doing.

Here’s Luka Hocevar….

  Subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher. (Here’s the direct RSS feed URL for other players.)

Listen on Soundcloud

Show notes

Andy was impressed with Luka’s gym. Space is an open concept at Vigor Ground Fitness. Luka mentions it was years of planning and following his vision. “Tomorrowland” whiteboard was a place where Luka visualized his gym of the future about six years ago. The staircase became a feature to the gym with art from local artists. “That’s so you,” is a compliment to your business because it is authentic to you. Luka really wanted his gym to be the third home for his clients. Luka mentions that the virtues of the business owner need to be there before anything else can happen. [5:00]

How much money did Luka spend inside the Vigor Ground Fitness? About one million between cash on hand and loans. [11:00]

Why did Luka spend so much? The final figure was about $400,000 – $500,000 more than the original number. Luka mentions the importance of understanding numbers with a business understanding because being a dreamer is not enough. Luka also doesn’t think going “all in” is the best way to start a business; he thinks putting in the hours on the side is a better method. Luka wanted people to walk into Vigor Ground Fitness and feel something because people are a product of their environment. “An environment triggers behavior” are one the phrases that Luka lives by. Luka sees coaching and business as art, which sometimes comes at the cost of profit. However, people see these sacrifices in the community over the long-term. [12:00]

Luka speaks to his drive and goals. Instead of being so focused on the increases in profit, Luka finds himself motivated by getting new and exciting projects off the ground. Luka has lost the anxiety of the race and has become more focused on the continued journey. [19:00]

Luka speaks to being a service business. A huge amount of what you do in the service business is people. Communication and dream achievement never goes out of business. Businesses can shift to a “one-click buy” mentality, but Luka feels like the focus should be on the results for people. Luka thinks people should build an environment they themselves would want to be in. [21:00]

Luka describes Vigour Ground Fitness. The building has a 40-foot domed roof, which stands out in Renton, WA. It has an all-glass storefront and glass garage doors. Everything is custom made in the space. The Fit Bar is a full-blown cafe, not just a smoothie bar. The gym is fully-equipped and even includes a black-turfed area. Luka is building a symbiotic space with doctors, recovery rooms and training space. Instead of trying to be the best at everything, Luka prefers to work with like-minded businesses that focus on areas that help people. For example, Luka works with Fit Bar instead of trying to open his own cafe. Ego should not get in the way of serving clients at the highest level. [24:00]

Luka’s story of coming to the USA. At 18 years old, Luka came on a scholarship to play basketball. He then went back overseas to play pro. Luka came back for a marriage (now divorced) and has been in Seattle for over 10 years. Although his first gym was started 12 years ago, he started fresh in the USA. Luka turned down an interview for a lucrative position at Boeing when he was barely getting by working a personal training job at L.A. Fitness. [35:00]

How Vigor Ground Fitness started. The first start of Vigor Ground Fitness was during the recent recession. It was in a moldy 1,000 square-foot garage/car shop with no windows. [39:00]

The transition from a garage to the new facility. The foundation of your business is the competence, experience, and community, even without an understanding marketing and sales. Luka believes you need to take care of the foundation of your business. The transition of the gym was based on a solid foundation Luka’s competence and experience. [42:00]

The polarizing factor. People either loved the art on the walls or they hated it. Andy agrees that you can’t be everything to everyone. Luka mentions there is a difference between being a mean person and sticking to your values when it comes to polar extremes. [46:00]

Your training is marketing. When you put on a show, they can’t not talk about. Luka opened up with a live DJ and created an experience with boot camp. Luka would treat group training sessions as if they were one-on-one sessions. [48:00]

Video content of boot camp. Luka is going to put something together of the boot camp footage. Luka wants everyone to steal his ideas. [52:00]

Charity boot camps. Luka runs charity boot camps with a minimum $10 donations on Saturdays for the last decade. Luka feels like the charity events give you more than what you give. [53:00]

Camps for inner-city kids. Luka has started a strength and conditioning program to help kids. [57:00]

The value of money. Luka asks if you can make more of a difference making a million dollars a year or a thousand dollars a week? The smart rich realize that getting another car will not add value to their life, but helping others does add value. Luka wants to leave a legacy of human capital. [59:00]

Andy proposes an idea to get off the hamster wheel. Instead of exchanging coaching services at a piecemeal of gyms, Andy suggests using something like a charity boot camp to build leads for online coaching. Luka talks about how his charity events builds and convert leads. [1:02:00]

Luka on HIIT, Dieting, and Obesity. Today’s trends are obviously not working, according to Luka, because obesity continues to be a prevalent issue. More people are dieting and training than ever before, but it doesn’t seem to be fixing the societal problems. [1:05:00]

Honest sales. Andy talks about having good intentions for people makes sales, not a sleazy thing. Luka agrees and thinks sales is your duty and you must get great at it. Selling is persuasion and influence. [1:07:00]

“People need to go deeper instead of wider.” Luka means that people need to stop going wider with online programs like Beachbody which may lead to multiple failures. Instead, going deeper on a personal level with a person and really selling them on something that will work for them. Luke feels that if you want to become great at something, you need to actively read and learn about that thing. [1:10:00]

The non-salesy approach. Andy points out taking a straightforward approach of providing information of what you do to potential clients in a positive environment would help lead to business growth. Luka talks about relational equity – getting something from someone for nothing helps to build trust. [1:14:00]

Building confidence in clients. While trust is important, Luka talks about how getting clients to trust themselves is half the battle. When people get results from something that was provided for free, it builds relationship equity but, just as important, it builds confidence in themselves. [1:18:00]

Strategic Deduction. Luka talks about changing people’s worldview. It’s possible to shatter someone’s worldview or you can slowly nibble away at the worldview. [1:23:00]

The power of story. Andy mentions how people read his content because of the connection to a story they can identify with. Luka speaks to using a framework of storytelling. Luka mentions is that information is less valuable because it is freely available. However, implementation and integration add value. [1:27:00]

Luka’s passion about helping youth. Luka is trying to change worldviews of inner-city youth. He shows them how a phone is a gateway to unlimited free learning and opportunities. He talks to them about the advantage of building grit and courage. People are drowning in information but are seeking transformation. [1:32:00]

Show Links

Vigor Ground Fitness | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter – Luka’s gym [website under construction but still available]

Vigor Life Podcast – Luka’s podcast

Contact Luka Hocevar – Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

Thank you for listening! – Andy 

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