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closer-stars · 4 years ago

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Fall of the Kingdom

Member: Hongjoong Word Count: 4.4k (mmmm) Genre: it’s just... Dark... and drama. Content: Demon Hongjoong’s got a war but he needs to feed on humans first. Mentions of explosions, violence, blood, suicide ideation (only brushed upon, nothing in detail i promise). Note: This idea came to me after seeing rocker hongjoong and that Iconic dark smile he does. Also this was technically done in one go cause I was Feeling the Inspiration so forgive me if it’s messy. Also this was just an Excuse for me to indulge in an interest of mine. Taglist: @barsformars @miniyeo @hwaberrykiwi @jwyfldr @fvae @yeotlny @inkigayeo

“I’ve become so numb, can’t feel you there.

I’ve become so tired, so much more aware.”

There was something about this new song that made you feel breathless, as if all the frustration and pent up anger has been sucked out of you. Just like the song, you feel a little numb. It was a good thing you were sitting down too, you could barely feel your own legs after that song. If there was a song to describe what your life has made you feel, it would be this song. There were days where you didn’t feel real, if you were still capable of feeling emotions, if you can still reach the expectations of people put onto you.

Silence passes over your earphones and that’s when you realize that the song had ended, loading the next video. You quickly stopped autoplay and had the video play again. This time you had to get yourself to watch the music video. The vocals alone had put you through an array of emotions you didn’t think you could still feel. You weren’t ready for what the video was about to give you. His smile was alluring as if promising you that you are something. His gaze reminding the viewers of strength innate in them even after years of mistreatment from life. To have an artist properly encapsulate all the emotions in you just had you hooked. You wanted more.

No.

You need more.

‘By. Hongjoong.’

You’ve never heard of this artist before. Is he new to the music scene? There’s next to nothing about this Hongjoong online. Just this song on what you assume is his YouTube channel. Just a few thousand views for now. There are a few comments, praising him for his music and his looks (you had to admit, he does look quite attractive.) but not much for you to go about. For now, you drop a like and subscribed to the guy’s channel.

Within the next few days, the views rose to the millions. Comments in various languages were pouring in, all of which seemed to be praise. The comment section has become a forum, people asking others about him. Even you were reading comments hoping for more information. The only sign that he was a real entity behind the screen was the description on his video.

It wasn’t there when you first viewed the music video.

“Hello there. I am Kim Hongjoong. This is my first single, Numb. Please look forward to my future releases!”

He stayed true to his word. Over the past few months, his following has grown. He doesn’t have any other social media account except his Youtube and Instagram (that was only opened recently). While there was a distance between him and his fans in terms of interactions, his music made up for it. His music much like his first single, stayed consistent for being for an audience who have been ignored by life, who struggle for a break. Say My Name, his second single reached a million views within two days. Much like the title, more and more people are talking about him. His music is played in shops and restaurants. It’s hitting the top of the charts and staying there for weeks. He never leaves the Top 10 at least.

People assumed he was going to be a one hit wonder, a lot of independent artists are. But he’s proven them wrong, not through posts on Instagram but through consistently dropping song after song. Songs that remain stuck in your head for weeks to come until he drops another one. The new one being better than the former. He was only getting started. The media and general public have called him a digital monster. Yet, despite all the songs he’s released, no one knows who he really is. Any interview he’s done with the media only scratches the surface of his musical process and his personality. There’s more to him, you’re sure but you just couldn’t place what that ‘more’ is.

People were already commenting on his social media and making posts begging for him to do a concert, or any sort of live performance. Surely his music would sound much better in real life?

On the other hand, there were those who weren’t into his style. They assume and point fingers at him for being someone who associated themselves with the Anti-Christ due to his heavy imagery and music. It’s an age old argument with no solid proof to back it up. Any tongue that speaks against Hongjoong’s music was quickly dealt with by his fans. Though you didn’t like the way they dealt with the opposing views, they had it coming.

After Horizon’s release, he dropped another video. Not a music video, but it seems like him talking to the camera.

“Hello everyone. This is Kim Hongjoong.”

You didn’t think he would speak in such a soft tone. He was dressed head to toe in black, very reminiscent and consistent with his music style, not that you expected anything different. It just seems to fall in line with who he is from what you’ve seen.

“To everyone’s delight, I will be doing a countrywide tour within the next few months. The dates, venues and where to buy are in the description down below. I hope to see you there.” He doesn’t say anything else, but the corners of his lips curve, a charming smile, very much unlike the dark heavy gazes and grins he dons in his music videos.

The video announcement quickly gains views and comments. Foreign fans weeping for an opportunity they can’t experience, begging him to visit them too. Local fans were celebrating in the comments, excited to hear his other hits, especially his debut song, Numb.

To your delight, he’s doing a show near your area. You had to see this guy in the flesh. What better way to deal with your frustrations than with live music? There’s something about his music and him that gives you such an emotional high and that was from just the screen, what more if it were live? You immediately got yourself a ticket, before it got sold out.

Two months before D-day.

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Hongjoong has been monitoring the numbers and interactions done on his posts. It’s easy to see how delighted he is. Even with next to no information about him, he managed to garner a loyal following not only here but internationally as well.

Here’s the thing with this Kim Hongjoong. He’s not human. Not in the fandom praise for his superb skills in music making, no, he’s not from the human realm. Instead, he’s a demon. A demon that feeds on the frustrations of humans. Those wronged by life and society were the most susceptible to his charms. Every night, he walks through the streets, unrecognized by the public. ‘How stupid.’ He thinks as they pass by him without batting an eyelash. He can smell the catharsis of those who listen to his creations. It’s only then that he can point out those who carry bitterness in their hearts, otherwise he waits.

He feels himself get stronger with each passing day. Soon, he’ll be able to show why he’s one of the Greater Princes of Hell. Lesser demons and humans as his soldiers? How delightful would it be to have the damned souls work for him. Surely it would make Wooyoung jealous but he delights in his jealousy.

Was he worried that he won’t get as strong as he wants to? Not at all. Nothing to be worried about when the numbers show just how much people have become an avid follower of his regardless of distance.

Now one might wonder why he does this. What else other than to prove to the beings above him that the ones that call the shots with humans are beings like him? The fearful physique and near perfect mentality of the angels are what pushes people away from believing in redemption. Meanwhile him? He and his fellow demons look like anyone else, save for the striking eye colors and sharper than usual teeth. It’s easy to creep on humans when they deem you as one of them.

He’s careful though, making sure no one recognizes him by his voice when he’s out with the humans. The glamour of being “mysterious” does more than what his peers expected. With the concerts coming up, it makes it easier for him and his fellow demons to find potential hosts to continue their work.

He’s not foolish.

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It’s D-Day and you made sure you looked decent for a long night. In the months that led to this fateful day, you’ve made friends with those who were also fans of Hongjoong. A lot of them were chaotic, but it was something you’ve come to accept. There were always going to be fans that would start a fight for the sake of their favorite artist. While you weren’t one of them, you weren’t one to stop them either should they start fighting someone. Who are you to tell them what to do when you blind yourself at the face of violence.

The lights dim, thick smoke pour from the sides and Hongjoong enters the stage much to the roaring of the fans. They chant his name over and over. It almost feels like a prayer with how fervent they are.

His cocky grin graces his features, with a wave of his hand, the cheering grows louder. It’s loud enough to make the venue feel hot and sticky from the energy.

This is what he wanted.

“Hello everyone! I hope all of you are prepared for the best night of your lives.” He coos into the mic. You could already hear a few women shrieking for his attention to which he gives.

The show stars and entire venue feels like it’s shaking from the constant jumping from the crowd. For a split second, you were a little scared of how the ceiling might cave in from the collective jumping. The chants from the fans are reaching a feverish high. The volume and emotion behind the voices of people who seem to have suffered the same life as you: mistreated, ignored, kicked to the side. All of them want to be heard, to feel as if someone understands.

Hongjoong does. Just not in the way they expected.

Somewhere through the show, you lose sight of your friends. All of them have managed to reach near the barricade, hoping to get a fleeting touch of his hand. As if his touch would be the solution to all their problems. Hongjoong stays near the edge of the stage but never does he go near the crowd, much to their desire to be closer to him.

‘Fools.’ The thought is hidden behind a dark smirk. Some on the side have decided to argue, saying that his smirk was for them and not the other.

Everything feels suffocating; the smoke from the smoke machine, along with the pulsating bodies as if moving as one around you. You feel lightheaded, overwhelmed but heavens be damned because at the same time, you feel so alive. It feels like the crowd is moving as one to Hongjoong’s voice. Despite the suffocation, everything feels so right.

The safety is short lived. To the side, you see a fight breaking out between two guys. You couldn’t clearly see what’s going on but you could tell that punches were being thrown from either side. It’s gotten to the point where the bouncers had to kick them out of the venue, the crowd filling in on the gaps of where the two once were. The show carries on, but you opt to stick to the back to stay out of the still brimming chaos within the crowd.

He’s not fazed by the violence the erupts in the crowd. He lives for it actually. It’s what he wanted to happen. All the emotions concentrated in one room, nothing could beat this feeling. Not even a seat in Heaven could replace the feeling of pleasure he receives from his followers.

The show ends with his debut song Numb. You never left your spot near the exit, you can only imagine the chaos if you left with the crowd of people once the show ends. He blows a few kisses to the crowd, bidding them goodbye and that he’ll see them soon. Whenever that might be.

You leave the premises when he leaves the stage. Time to avoid the crowds.

He stays inside the venue, taking in all the emotions and catharsis as much as possible. It’s the aftermath that always tastes the best. The dazed feeling of his followers as their emotions crash from such a high cathartic moment. The surplus of violent catharsis momentarily has his eyes turn white. It’s rather difficult to keep the human facade when you feel the power surge through your body. Unfortunately, keeping the facade of a human while taking what you need in order to become stronger makes it much more difficult. Such a prison can only take so much.

After all, should the people hold onto their bitterness, it can only give way to violence.

A fellow Greater Demon, a being who named himself Jongho for the sake of normalcy, somehow eyes the still lingering crowd with interest. “You’ve outdone yourself once more. The last you did this was centuries ago wasn’t it?” He can still taste the left over frustrations, such shall be left with the people. Give them some time and that small seed becomes something bigger especially with what Hongjoong still has up his sleeve. The last time Hongjoong had tried to look for a host, disaster struck the nation and forced him into hiding until recently. “What are you going to do with the left overs?”

“That’s right. I failed to find a potential host back then. The potential hosts I wanted just disintegrated into ashes.” He mutters. It’s thanks to him the phenomenon of spontaneous human combustion came to light. He straightens himself up, his eyes flashing white as he tries to contain the energy he has absorbed. “As for the leftovers, let the people keep it. Chaos shall ensue with what I have next.”

“Did you find someone now?” The plan Hongjoong has doesn’t matter to Jongho. What matters is that Hongjoong finds a potential host. That won’t suffer the same fate as those in the past.

He remembers you, clearly staying towards the back, always turning a blind eye to the violence that was around you and he grins.

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The cool air outside the venue was a needed break from everything. It’s only then that you realize how hungry and exhausted you are. Truth be told, after that concert, you could probably sleep for a week with how physically and emotionally exhausted you are.

But first things first. You need to eat.

You find yourself in a fast food restaurant. It was the only thing you could stomach after such a long day of running around with friends and an emotionally charged concert.

There weren’t much people in the establishment. Only two tables were occupied and they were clearly people who didn’t attend the concert. You sit by the corner, busying yourself with your burger and nuggets. The iced fruit juice could tide over your thirst until you head home.

You look up when you see someone enter the premises. If it weren’t for your quick reflexes, you would’ve dropped your food.

It’s Kim Hongjoong. Only he’s already out of his stage clothes but his makeup still gives him away.

There’s nowhere to hide from his view. Instead, you look down and focus on your meal. You try to eat as fast as you can even at the risk of choking. It’s too much for your poor heart. You who went through adrenaline, frustration, anger, then relief in one day. To be in the same establishment as The Kim Hongjoong was too much for you to keep up with.

“Is this seat taken?”

You look at the feet then look up. You try to hide the fact you could recognize him but from the sound of his chuckle, you failed. You gesture to the seat across you as you try to chew slowly. Kim Hongjoong is in front of you. Surely this is just a dream?

He chuckles softly at how you’re staring at him still. “Yes I’m real.” He says as if reading your mind. He finds your shy nature a little endearing, just what he needs for his plans.

“I thought you would still be in the venue…” You admit softly as you try to eat slowly this time. Surely it would be rude to finish before him now that he had just started eating?

“I never agreed to any meet and greet so I managed to leave the premises early.” He explains. It’s whiplash how soft his mannerisms were compared to his music. “What’s your name? You were in my concert weren’t you?” He asks, gesturing to the neon band wrapped around your wrist.

Before you could deny anything, he catches you red handed. You relent to his wishes and tell him your name. “How could you even see me? I was at the back.” Surely he couldn’t see you through all the blinding lights.

He just shoots you a mischievous wink. “I have my ways, dear.” He leads the conversation for the rest of the time, asking you how you found him, your thoughts about his music, and so on. It felt like you were just talking to an old friend who just made it big. You felt at ease with him.

You look at the time and nearly jump out of your seat. “Crap, it’s late. I have to go..” You admit, dejected at having to cut the conversation short. Hongjoong had other plans though, he stood up, grabbing what’s left of his fries and his iced coffee.

“I can give you a ride home. Where do you live?”

This is too good to be true.

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On the ride home, he asks you about yourself, your life, how you find yourself holding up despite everything. You admit that you have a hard time holding yourself up, even having daydreams of the unspeakable. That mere idea puts a frown on his face. The stoplight turns red and his fingers immediately tip your chin up to make you look at him in the eye. The tip of his thumb brushes against the bottom of your lip and in your shock of how fast he moves, your mouth is left slightly open.

“Don’t.”

There’s something in his tone that tells you to not go against his words. It’s perhaps better to not divulge your daydreams, so you promise that you won’t.

He flashes a warm smile at you just in time for the stoplight to turn green.

You don’t know that he’s already imparted a bit of his essence into you. ‘Humans, how gullible.’

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By the time he drops you outside your apartment complex, you’ve exchanged contact details. Both sides hope to stay in touch as much as possible. “Thank you for the ride! Stay safe on the road!” You say as you jog inside.

The male watches you enter the premises of your complex before driving off. Jongho materializes on the seat you left. “How was it?”

The grin on Hongjoong’s lips tells him everything he needed.

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Time has passed and the two of you have been talking consistently day in and day out. The genuinity of the bond was something that made you feel like life was a little bearable now. Shitty but still bearable thanks to Hongjoong and his music. You’ve admitted to him how your life hasn’t been the best and how his music has been something helping you through.

It’s radio silence by next week. No matter how many messages you send him, you receive no sign of him reading it or a response. You genuinely feared losing someone you considered a friend (and a crush but let’s not talk about that). Did he just ghost you?

The silence stretches into months, and the happiness you felt in the previous weeks have disappeared, morphing into the familiar dread you’re too familiar with by now. You’ve accepted the fact that he may have just ghosted you but the radio silence on his youtube channel tells you there’s more to just the regular ghosting.

“BREAKING: Rock icon, Kim Hongjoong has been deemed missing. More info to come at 5PM.”

Something in your stomach drops and you look around you. Hongjoong had already amassed a large following over the past year. In this room alone, you could assume there were ten fans. All eyes were glued to the tv screen. In the distance you hear a loud explosion and sirens, you get out of your seat immediately, leaving the premises. What the fuck is going on?

By the time you stepped foot outside the restaurant, someone comes barreling towards you. Isn’t this the same guy that caused a fight in his concert? You could recognize steely eyes anywhere, but what was his name? The more important question is, why does he look so bloodied and dirty? Also, what was he running from? The two of you stare at each other for a moment before the police have come chasing after him. You’re left with no option but to give way to his chasers.

It’s better to head home than to stay out any longer at this rate.

“BREAKING: Suspect of the explosion earlier today has been caught along with his accomplices.”

Finally back at home, the news outlets have been trying to keep up with the sudden influx of events. Kim Hongjoong has been missing for five days. The explosion from earlier was made by a Kang Yeosang who is, coincidentally, also a fan of Hongjoong. It’s already known everywhere that a fan of Hongjoong is good enough of a cult member. Now Hongjoong might not have mentioned anything about a better land or the second coming like most cult leaders but with the amassed following he has despite his disappearance, they might as well be a cult.

There’s speculation on social media as to what exactly had happened to Hongjoong but nothing is for certain. Fanbases are trying to find Hongjoong’s whereabouts only to come up empty. Fake accounts are popping up, proclaiming themselves to be Hongjoong, giving false leads to anyone who believes.

Some fans have resorted to violence, hoping to get back the artist that they think genuinely understands them. It’s a warzone online and in real life. You’re seeing posts, unsure if they’re real or not, of fans wishing they were the ones that disappeared instead of Hongjoong. Overwhelmed with everything, you shut off your phone and bury yourself in your bed. His music plays faintly and it’s the only thing that’s holding you to the real world.

Everything else doesn’t feel real.

As each day passes, there’s another case of violence and death. It’s got the city by its neck with how rampant the chaos has been. The only way you’re staying sane through it all is through your detachment to all the violence that runs amok around you.

“BREAKING: a 22 year old man caught dead after pretending to be the missing artist Kim Hongjoong online. More information on the found mass burial site to follow at 6PM”

You’ve busied yourself by searching the internet for other artists, hoping to find someone to fill in the hole Hongjoong has left. None of them do the job the way Hongjoong does it. You try to call his number, hoping for something.

“The number you have dialed is out of use. Please check the number you have dialed and try again.”

Please let this just be a dream.

You had a restless sleep that night, tossing and turning. Your dreams were wrought with Hongjoong’s voice, screaming for your help. His voice surrounds your helpless figure until you stop in your tracks and scream out in pain. You’re jolted awake and you feel your body drenched in sweat and fear. “Hongjoong, where are you?” You plead softly, utterly helpless.

The leads regarding Hongjoong decrease as each day passes and fans and the general public have resigned themselves to the fate that he had died. Some of his fans have gone their own ways, though their chaotic ways have never faltered. You on the other hand, still tried to find traces of him despite not knowing a lot about him.

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On the other side of the city, Hongjoong watches the news from Jongho’s living quarters. He’s delighted to see the stress and fear from regular humans. A little variety from the stress of his followers. It’s a good thing he left some violence behind with his followers, those who have nothing to lose do cause the best havoc. Maybe he should keep that Yeosang guy alive to learn a few more tricks. He doesn’t need to tell his followers what to do. Just disappear at the height of his fame and let them do the work.

He takes a shot of vodka as he continues to watch on. Jongho splayed on the couch, watches as well. “What do you think?”

“Perfect. I think Lucifer would be delighted in this. I can already tell my legions are growing with the amount of deaths.”

“How soon will the war be then?” Jongho’s legions are already waiting for his word. His human body appears to be a lot tankier than expected.

“Give my host three months, their nature is perfect in amassing followers around the globe.”

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You have another dream that night, a familiar voice with that addicting smile. “Hongjoong?” You call out, running wherever his voice is coming from. “Hongjoong where are you?!” You call out again but he doesn’t reply, he only giggles at how strained you are to look for him. While it’s perfect to strike when they least expect it, it’s also just as good to strike when they’re at their weakest.

You somehow manage to find him. He looks a little different now, stronger, and something about him doesn’t feel human. He sits on a throne, painted white with obsidian sprinkled upon the back. He doesn’t seem affected by how distraught and confused you look. In fact, he actually laughs at your face at how pitiful you look. He gives you a set of instructions. All of which point to a war that only heaven and hell can conceive.

“Only then can you find me, my dear. Don’t let me down.”

Your eyes glow white when you wake up. Who are you to deny his wishes?

#my writings #ateez fanfic #lmao this was such a fucking mess #but the brain went BRRRRR #also yes SHC was a thing there are records about it but it's been disproven in science lol #tw violence #tw blood #cw suicide ideation

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argentdandelion · 5 years ago

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Undertale Character Heights (Transport, Travel and Vacations)

Can Asgore Fit in a Car? Minicompact car: No.

Asgore's car options would be limited by necessity. He would need something with broad seats for his broad body and something to accommodate his horns, whether very high head space, always-open skylights very close to above the driver’s seat, a convertible, or some combination of the three.

The Toyota HiAce, a Japanese commercial van, has a height of 87.4 inches (~7.2 feet). If Asgore’s sitting height is 53% of his standing height in the shortest calculations, his sitting height is ~4 feet, 5 inches. Even if the passenger-holding height is smaller than the total vehicle height, he might be able to sit comfortably, even if getting inside is difficult. However, his wide body would still make things cramped, like obese people fitting in small airplane seats.

In smaller van-type cars, he might need to hunch or tilt over awkwardly just to fit. In some cases, it might be so difficult to get into the car through the door that he'd have to drop in through the sunroof to avoid catching his horns on the doorway....or he’d resign himself to be a passenger. (many larger cars have bench seating in the second row) What’s worse, because he needs a big, driver-level sunroof that’s always open or a convertible with the roof down, he simply won’t be able to drive anywhere where it’s raining or snowing...unless he wants to be cold, sopping wet, and possibly smell like wet dog.

If, however, it’s a variant from the store (or modified) to have a bigger-than-average, openable sunroof, that would give Asgore horn space. However, since he’s not sitting straight in the middle, he would have to hunch and tilt his head to the left the entire time he was driving, to ensure one of his horns fit under the ceiling, or poke one horn out the window and the other up the sunroof (depending on horn width), or constantly drive with his head facing to the side (very unsafe). Alternatively, he could sit on the passenger’s side, facing the driver the entire time, his body angled to fit his horns in the sunroof.

Toriel Estimations

Toriel, being shorter with much smaller horns and a seemingly slimmer body, would find driving much easier. Assuming the shortest estimation (Papyrus and Human Male) and assuming her sitting height is 51% of her standing height, her sitting height would be ~3 feet, 8 inches (technically 3 feet, 7.86 inches). For comparison, 38 inches headroom (~3.16 inches) is the ideal minimum for tall people (humans), according to the car blog Autoblog. If she hunched a little, she would comfortably fit in a Ford Transit (~3.83 inches room), a common model of van/minivan, and fit quite comfortably in a Ford Transit Connect Wagon (3 feet, 10.8 inches headroom).

There are probably several kinds of camper vans that could fit either, to various levels of comfort, but it’s unlikely they would buy a camping van for normal activities. Conversion vans, which are vans converted for suitability in camping or for use as school buses, shuttle buses, or wheelchair vans, would probably also suit Toriel and Asgore better than standard cars or minivans.

Can Asgore Fit on a Bus?

Asgore may not be able to use a public bus comfortably. Information on the interior height of public buses is scarce, so the information will be extrapolated from U.S. schoolbuses and Australian public buses.

According to Skoolie.net, the typical interior height of a schoolbus is 6 feet. Assuming the sitting height of an adult human is 51% of the standing height, if Asgore were proportionate to a human, the sitting height (with horns) of Basketball Asgore (86 inches) would be ~3 feet, 8 inches.

However, when measuring the horns, Asgore’s legs are 29.7% of his body height. (Even not counting horns, it’s 47%, meaning he’s rather short-legged by human standards.) Therefore, he wouldn’t lose as much height by sitting as a human normally would. For comparison, a 73-inch (6 foot, 1 inch)-tall man is considered “tall” in Europe and in the United States; one can guess such a man’s sitting height is around 37.23 inches (~3 feet, 1 inch).

One ResearchGate article puts the height of an Australian public bus as ~8.2 feet. Asgore would have to duck, but it would be reasonably comfortable until he could find a seat. If, however, an American public bus has an interior of 6 feet tall, like a schoolbus, Asgore would have to duck quite significantly, and he’d be very uncomfortable if he can’t find a seat at all.

Trouble at the Airport

TSA Scanners

It’s hard to find the size of a TSA body scanner for an airport. National Public Radio provides the closest estimate of a normal TSA body scanner size, claiming one new design for a body scanner is the size of a “tall refrigerator”. The website SFGate puts “tall refrigerator” at 70 inches (5 feet, 10 inches). So, using this back-of-the-envelope calculation, not even the shortest Asgore could fit in that scanner. In fact, even if he were just basketball-player size, the wide span of his horns and his broad body would make it quite awkward to get in there.

Airplanes

The cabin height of a Boeing 737, according to the research website ResearchGate, 2.19 m, or ~7. feet, 2 inches. Even under the shortest estimate, Asgore would have to duck significantly to get in.

Based on the basketball estimation, Asgore's legs are ~2.13 feet tall. Asgore's total height, according to the basketball estimation, is 86 inches. 25.6 inches is 29.7% of Asgore's total height...which means his legs are rather short relative to his total height. Without the horns, the proportion of his legs to his height is 47%, which is apparently within a normal human range but still more short-legged than average.

Assuming the height of the seats is 60% of the total cabin height for a Boeing 737, the Boeing 737 designers apparently assume a human is less than ~4 feet, 3 inches when seated. However, even if he lacked legs entirely, Asgore would be 5 feet and 10 inches, which is too big. (And in any case, since he’s both tall and wide, it would be difficult for people to move around him.)

It’s a good thing he wouldn’t even fit in a standard airplane, because he absolutely wouldn’t fit in an airplane bathroom. Older, standard airplane bathrooms were 34 inches (2 feet, 10 inches) wide; now many airlines have 24-inch (2 feet) wide bathrooms.

That’s not even considering his shoulder width. If one can calculate width with the same multipliers as height, then, suffice to say, even if the shortest calculations were off by a whole foot he couldn’t fit through the doorway, much less the bathroom.

Asgore Can’t Ride Things at the Six Flags Theme Park

In one Growth Spurt comic by Potoobrigham, Asgore takes a teenage Asriel and Frisk out to Six Flags, an American amusement park. But could a teenage Asriel (more than 7 feet tall here) and Asgore actually take the ride?1

Too Short

On the Six Flags of America theme park, the BATWING Coaster has a height requirement of 54” inches, or 4.5 feet. Sans, on the Papyrus and Human Male calculations and Basketball calculations, would not be able to go on this ride. The Magic Flyer junior-sized roller coaster has a height limit of 54 inches (4.5 feet). Sans could ride that in the Papyrus and Human Male and Basketball calculations, but not in the band of plausibility calculations.

Too Tall

Amusement park rides aren’t always able to accommodate people who are especially tall or wide. Asgore is both, and his minimum height (with horns) is 8 feet, 5 inches. If any roller coaster rides involve going into tunnels around that height at high speed, it would probably snap his horns off, possibly at the risk of injuring his head.

It’s unclear what Asgore’s weight is; it is possible monsters’ bodies, due to being made of magic, don’t have the same density as human bodies. Suffice to say, if he’s as wide as an obese human, rides with seatbelts connecting to a harness would be very difficult, if not impossible, to ride for him. (those with lap bars instead might fit him.) Depending on the roller coaster specifications, he might not be able to fit even on seats meant for extra-tall or extra-wide people.

In fact, under some calculations monsters Papyrus’s height and over wouldn’t be able to fit on amusement park rides. The (apparently defunct) Green Lantern: First Flight roller coaster ride has a maximum passenger height of six feet, 5 inches, so, from the Door calculation and onwards, Papyrus would not be able to fit on similarly-built rides.

Part 1 → Part 2 → Part 3 → Part 4 (upcoming)

If you enjoyed the article, consider staring intensely at the author's Patreon or Ko-Fi. Donating money would also be appreciated.

Strictly speaking, the heights in the comic should be calculated differently from in-game heights. For one thing, Toriel’s height is listed as seven feet, which is two inches less than the shortest estimate for her in this post series. ↩︎

#Undertale #Undertale Analysis #Fanfic Fodder #Asgore #Toriel #Undertale Character Heights

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starlightshore · 5 years ago

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Probably a loaded question, but with all the game engines you've worked with, what are the pros and cons for each? I'm really interested in trying my hand. So far I got rpg maker mv for a paid engine, but I'mma l look into free ones also. (Game Maker seems a bit expensive for my tastes :()

GOD YEAH game maker is... so expensive... i’m hoping my bro gets me it for Christmas when its on sale. but even then like. ouch. that price tag.

so here are all the programs I've used to make my fangame at some point:

uh. long ass post ahead.

COST: 15$

its a visual novel making program! like RPG maker, its not code based, but visual based! you just click and drag the stuff from the left onto the right area and boom. game made. Honestly, a really good introduction to making a video game! Its very basic and simple, which is very newbie friendly. Lots of Youtube videos on how to do things too.

You can technically do more with it by using the program’s coding language OR by using java-script, tho personally i’m not good at coding yet so i never really saw what i could do with it. i haven’t really used it in a year but honestly, i can’t thank it enough for being such a good introduction to game development.

Pros: cheap one time fee, easy for newbies and visual based.

Cons: very limited to just visual novels, and even then to do more complex stuff you really have to work for it to get it to work.

RENPY

COST: FREE

THE free visual novel program. It’s a bit of a learning curve since everything is done in script, (ie: no visuals) BUT its VERY simple and easy to learn and once you get it and it clicks, you can do a lot with it! because you code it yourself, the limits are nearly endless. uses it’s own language, but you can also use python (or its built on python? can’t remember lol) and python is built for newbies.

Pros: free, limited only by what you’re willing to learn to do with code, while you can make RPGS its pretty limited since its not built for it

Cons: only super easy to use once you get over the learning curve. if you have any experience w/ code, its a breeze. if not, still easy to learn!, you can only use it for rpgs, NOT a visual program

(and other RPG Maker game engines)

COST: 50$ (EXPENSIVE! but it does go on sale once in a while. i got mine at 20-ish$)

idk if you plan on making a UT fangame too but its totally possible!!! i’m doing it!! and i would be very happy to share/help others with theirs. i mean. mostly its just plugins from other people, but i did set up a pretty nice inventory and i can show ya’ll how i make the sprites. (since UT has a lot smaller tileset size) and honestly, if you need help w/ this program my instant messenger is always open B)

uh anyway. RPG maker is a godsend for someone like me who is very visual minded and has a hard time grasping code. i know python... ok-ish. im still a noob. ANYWAY yah, theres LOTS of tutorials and plugins you can sink your teeth into, big communities who are all happy to share and help each other out. its pretty great! (actually, you could say the same w/ all these game engines! but the RPG maker forums is like. super nice from what i’ve seen)

so like, with youtube you can learn how to use it within a day or two, frankly. and you can do SO much with it w/ plugins. and the community is ages old, and the game itself is a few years old and has plenty to offer. you need something? likely someone else has made a plugin or forum post on the topic and someone has helped them figure it out. HIGHLY recommend this program if you can afford it (and you already have it, so honestly, just go w/ rpg maker.)

i wouldn’t super recommend the default assets cause the community hates them. they’re way over used and people see it as “lazy.” its good as like, a stepping stone but you shouldn’t rely on them for your whole game if you can manage your own graphics or pay someone to make them. if not, theres still free tilesets you can use if you look for them.

Pros: big friendly community, lots of resources to use, capable of A LOT of things, hassle free for the most part!

Cons: price is big, but it goes on sale often and the older versions of RPG maker aren’t that much different/worse. granted, MV is the best but like, the others aren’t bad. quite a bit to learn at first, but really simple honestly.

COST: Free (sorta. you need a license for certain aspects, but really u could do it free w/ zero issue except for exporting to multiple devices)

ok so like. i don’t. really know how to use unity too well. out of all of these, i haven’t used it for long. while still somewhat visual, you still have to learn a quite a bit of code and look up tutorials to figure out specific things you want to do.

for UT fangames, there is UNITALE/Create Your Own Frisk which uses unity, tho you don’t need the Unity to make games unless you want to make a overworld. since i’m making a overworld and more, i’ll need to learn how to use Unity. It’s a uphill battle but i’m fairly certain i can do it eventually.

there’s a LOT of resources but theres also a LOT to learn. untiy is pretty big and well known, for both 3d and 2d so like, go ham. have fun.

Pros: can do anything

Cons: can do anything so you gotta learn how to do it w/ code.

Cost: has both a subscription and a license you can purchase. its,,, pricey and doesn’t go on sale all too often.

I actually don’t have ANY experience with this program except for like. a few night’s worth. i read the manual if that counts for anything lol.

uh, its very script base and it looks good? uh. idk. its. yeah? i heard its great and i’m sure for that price and for it to be respected so much its got a lot live up to. my brother likes it and hes a Real nerd. so. i guess??? it should be worth it? i’d say wait until around Christmas/later in November for the steam sale if you really want to.

i mean, UT was made with the first one (tho i hear GMS 2 is way better) and toby didn’t know how to code going in so like. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ honestly anyone can learn it and while i haven’t gotten to use it much yet, I want to.

there’s the Undertale Fan Engine made with GMS 2 and i’ve tried it, its pretty extensive and frickin cool.

TLDR; figure out what kind of game and story you want to tell/make. i could of saved a year’s worth of work if i just sat myself down and realized i wanted to make a completely new fangame separate from my old blog stuff. and that i wanted to make an rpg specifically.

honestly, i want to make more games after AL, like, if i could become a indie dev that’d be my dream. (ironic since i don’t play video games LMAO)

but yeah! theres lots of choices, and its all a little overwhelming honestly! if theres anything you need help with w/ any of these programs I am happy to help further. I wish you the best of luck!!!! video game making is hard work but its so worth it!!!

#long post #personal stuff #sams replies #also sorry i didn't go back and reread to fix things up im lazy #dream-unity

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archiveacademics · 5 years ago

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Histories and the first Spotlight

Earlier this week I looked at what the definition of fanfic is. It’s a topic of endless debate and one I will doubtless return to again and again over the course of this study. But for today I’d like to do a little look back at the history of fanfic and, more broadly, of fandom itself.

“First there was “Star Trek,” the original series, whose viewers—many of them women in stem fields—organized conventions and created self-published journals (a.k.a. fanzines) with fiction about its characters, a small but notorious slice of which included sexy doings between Kirk and Spock. Or: first there were fans of science-fiction novels and magazines who held conventions and traded self-published journals as early as the nineteen-thirties. Or: first there was Sherlock Holmes, whose devotees, hooked by serial publication, pushed for more stories, formed clubs, and wrote their own. Or: first came Virgil’s Aeneid. Or: first, the Janeites. Or: first there was you, and your friends, age ten, making up adventures in which Chewbacca met Addy Walker, and writing them down.”

So opens “The Promise and Potential of Fan Fiction” by Stephanie Burt, which, if you didn’t read it when I linked to it in the last post you really should. The history of fanfic, if we wanted to be really broad, could go all the way to the ancient Greeks writing plays based on The Iliad and The Odyssey which are based on oral stories of a real war that (probably) happened around 1180 BCE.

But we’re not going to do that, because, as Jill Bearup explains in the first of her “History of Fanfic” vlogs, The Aeneid and Iphigenia at Aulis and Trojan Women were not technically fanfic, but derivative works. As I discussed before, fanfic is about intent*.

To find the true beginnings of fanfic, you need to only go as far back as the eighteenth century.

“...popular authors such as Daniel Defoe started protesting that his work was being "kidnapped" and bowdlerised by amateur writers who reduced the value of his creations with inferior impersonations,” writes Ewan Morrison in an article entitled “In the Beginning, there was fan fiction: from the four gospels to Fifty Shades.”

1913 saw the publication of Old Friends and New Fancies – an Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen by Sybil Brinton, the first piece of published Janeite fanfic. (Janeite, of course, being the name of Jane Austen fans at the time. Much like Swifties or Beliebers today.)

I myself own a book called Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, and though I’ve yet to read it (my shelf is over full, you might say) I’m sure it’s delightful.

From the Janeites of the eighteenth century we move forward to the Sherlock fans of the nineteenth. This genteel group of readers was so dedicated to Sherlock Holmes that they managed to raise him from the dead. Well, they annoyed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle so much he raised Sherlock from the dead.

From there, the literary club of the Baker Street Irregulars was established in the 1930s and they are still alive and active to this day. Apparently, there’s a lot to discuss, as “Conan Doyle generally wrote the Holmes stories quickly and with a minimal amount of editing, and as a result the canon contains a huge number of mistakes and inconsistencies. It was from these that the practice of "Holmesian speculation" arose, which consists of pointing out discrepancies in the canon and devising (sometimes reasonable, sometimes extremely outlandish) explanations for them.” (Fanlore.org)

From Sherlock and the Irregulars we move to the modern era, and what you could potentially call the birth of modern fandom. That’s right folks, it’s time for some Star Trek.

“The shape of those [early 2000s] fandoms, in turn, was due to those that migrated out of meatspace onto the brand new baby internet, which of course owed their structure to the zine-based fandoms of the ‘70s and ‘80s. All of which can be traced back to – you guessed it – Star Trek.

Star Trek: The Original Series is often looked to as the origin of modern fandom, and many of the networks and communities those fans established continue to influence fan interactions to this day, as does the example they set in using fandom as a means of social awareness and political action.”

In “None of This is New: An Oral History of Fanfiction” Jordan West discusses why you shouldn’t be surprised when you draw the card “Harry Potter erotica” in Cards Against Humanity and gives a quick overview of the history of fanfic. However, West argues that writing such as Shakespeare and The Aeneid count as fanfic which, by this blog’s definition, they don’t.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that everyone has their own ideas of what fanfic is and where it really began. I’m sticking with the Janeites as my point of ignition.

Now that’s settled (insofar as anything on the internet is every “settled”) let’s move on to this week’s Spotlight. Every week, I plan on putting a platform, a person, or a particular story in the spotlight to show off the practical side of these academic headaches I’m giving myself. (I’ve gone back and forth on the definition of fanfic at least fifteen times since I posted the first blog post, much less when I was writing the damn thing.)

This week’s Spotlight is on two of the earlier homes of fanfic: LiveJournal and Fanfiction.net.

LiveJournal was created in 1999 by American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick as a mixed blog/social media site. It was purchased in 2006 by Six Apart and then sold in 2007 to SUP Media, a Russian media company. (Wikipedia.com)

“LiveJournal encourages communal interaction and personal expression by offering a user-friendly interface and a deeply customizable journal. The service's individuality stems from the way highly dedicated users utilize our simple tools, along with the instinct for individual expression, to create new venues for online socializing.

Because of LiveJournal's unique combination of platform and social media, LiveJournal has a unique personality in different parts of the world. In fact every national community in every country is unique in its own way. Where a user in the United States might focus their attention on communities dedicated to topics from the popular to the esoteric, users in the U.K. may tend to rally around entertainment-related issues. In Russia LiveJournal makes up the vast majority of the blogosphere, hosting over 80 of the top 100 Russian blogs. In Singapore LiveJournal revolves around collaboratively purchasing overseas goods. And that's just for starters.” (LiveJournal.com)

Fanfiction.net was created in 1998 by Los Angeles programmer Xing Li. The largest archive of fanfic on the internet, fanfiction.net comes in second in popularity to Archive of our Own**. It has over 12 million users and hosts stories in over 40 languages. Unlike LiveJournal, fanfiction.net is not a social networking site, but a site specifically dedicated to fanfic. Users can choose from a number of categories for their work and they can rate their work as well. The site also hosts forums for fans and writers alike, and registered users can apply to be beta readers. (Wikipedia.com)

I have never had a LiveJournal (I’m honestly not even sure if I’m capitalizing that right), and if I did have a ff.net account I had to have been, like, 12 when it was created and 13 when it was last opened. Still, these are two of the earliest archives of massive amounts of fanfic from hundreds of different fandoms (just check out this list of book fandoms that have stories written about them of ff.net. And that’s just the book category!)

A history of fanfic is always going to be a little bit messy around the edges, in part because the definition of fanfic is so personal and changeable. All I can hope is that you’ve learned something new today while reading this. If so, I’ll count that as a win.

*And as I haven’t discussed yet, it’s also about copyright and ideas of authorship. Again, this is a topic you’ll have to look forward to.

**AO3 will be the subject of a future spotlight, don’t you worry.

#fanfic #fans #fandom #history #fanfic history #Janeites #Baker Street Irregulars #Sherlock Holmes #Star Trek #zines #fanfiction.net #livejournal

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askroahmmythril · 6 years ago

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A Look Back at the Past 10 Years

I had wanted to put this in the video description for the 10th Gag Reel vid : https://youtu.be/ovzRypMF_BM However, it told me the description was too long. So I’ll post it here instead and link it from the video info. Basically, these are just some thoughts and memories looking back at my first major video from each of the previous years’ worth of content.

2009 : "Mega Man 1 - Cut Man Perfect Run" Ahh, my first video, back where it all started. Yeah, my vocal energy has changed a lot since then as I got more confident in what I'm doing, kind of found my own groove, that sort of thing. I've had people ask if I'd ever go back and re-do these with my current energy or what have you, but I think it's important to remember the past, it's kind of interesting seeing how I've grown since then, if that makes sense. That and I really would rather not re-do some of these stages again, thanks.

2010 : "Mega Man 9 - Splash Woman Perfect Run - Part 1" Continuing on with the Perfect Runs, by this point, I had acquired the Gamebridge, my first video capture device. It had its issues, sure, but hey, it opened up a lot of possibilities for things I could work on. Also interesting to see, this was a "Part 1," due to the old YouTube video length limitations. When I first started, videos couldn't be longer than 11 minutes. It later upgraded to 15, and now these days, no more limits.

2011 : "Let's Play Secret of Mana - Pt 1 - Who So Pulleth Out This Sword..." Secret of Mana is probably one of my favorite projects I've done on the channel. I have a lot of nostalgia for this game due to playing it with my mum way back in the days of the SNES. It was a project I had intended to do for awhile, but other things kept getting in the way. It led to an inside joke when the people on Pink's old forums made a Touhou-style game where I was the Stage 5 boss. One of my spell cards was called Event Horizon "Delayed Mana."

2012 : "The Situation At Hand, and Also Endless Mega Man 3" Something I always try to do is keep my fans and viewers informed if something has gone pear shaped on my end. I do a lot of info updates on my social media, mostly Twitter these days, Tumblr if I need more room to talk. If however something is going to cause very long delays, I try to upload update videos to fully discuss things. This particular update video was, sadly, due to having to take time away to deal with the aftermath of my mum's elderly aunt passing away.

2013 : "Mega Man Maximum Demo - Bell Man Stage" Okay, so I cheated a little on this one. There was actually a video in 2013 that came earlier than this, but it was a short five minute audio only update in which I discussed the then "secret project" (Eternal Darkness Blind Run) taking longer than expected to finish up. During the downtime, I ended up recording this demo. It was really nicely done, though sadly, I haven't heard much since about progress on the game. It's one that honestly I wish had gotten finished, it seemed quite promising.

2014 : "Where Has the Dragon Been? - The Medical Lowdown" The first vid for this year wasn't even in January, and ow, there was a good reason for it. This was the era of Appendageddon. For those not in the know, late December of 2013, my appendix went boom. So during January, I was under strict orders to take things easy after the surgery. By February, the stitches were out, everything was healing well, and I was finally starting to get back to normal routines, and so I was able to finally tell the tale of my apparently horrifically large mutant appendix that had somehow wrapped itself around other organs. Seriously my doctor couldn't resist telling everyone stories about how unusual it was. It was kinda weird yo and squicked me out a good bit. And then he wanted to show me pictures he apparently took... Thanks no.

2015 : "Let's Play Silent Hill Homecoming - Pt 34 - Hard Mode : the Abridged Version" Generally, I finish my horror LPs during October, November at the latest. Of course, this doesn't count issues of technical difficulties like Silent Hill Shattered Memories or Resident Evil's Advance Mode. Sadly, this delay had nothing to do with technical difficulties. In early November of 2014, when I had been working on the Silent Hill Homecoming LP, my aunt passed away in the hospital, losing her long battle with cancer. This loss hit my family hard, so I had to take a good bit of time off for this one.

2016 : "Let's Play Megaman Battle Network 4 - Pt 76 - Grinding and Gunplay" Hoo boy. The MMBN4 project. This one took a LONG time to finish. Seriously, this project lasted 90 vids, stretching from Part 1 on March 1, 2015, to Part 90 on July 11, 2016. To be fair, there were phases where I simply couldn't work on it due to things like our house's central air conditioning going out during an intense summer heat wave (yeah, wearing headphones in that was not fun) or taking breaks for things like that year's October horror project, but also, a lot of periods of burnout. When I say I want to wait to do MMBN5 until I truly feel like it? This kind of thing is why. I'm not quite ready to throw myself into that long of a project again just yet.

2017 : "Let's Play Spyro 2 : Ripto's Rage - Pt 18 - Regurgitate" Mostly what this reminds me is that I still need to take some time to do more testing with the Elgato card I now have so that I can hopefully do more PS2 and Gamecube era stuff again. I really want to get projects like Spyro 3 and Pikmin 2 going. Still also really hoping Spyro Reignited Trilogy gets a Switch release... As far as channel related stuff for this one, I don't remember too much going on around this point in time, just the average "working on the current project" type thing.

2018 : "Make a Good Mega Man Level 2 Blind Run - Pt 10 - Chomp Man" Another lengthy project, and another where things got delayed through January. This time, it was our internet connection breaking. Good ol' HughesNet, they're just the best. This had been after the lengthy setup of trying to get my room rearranged so I could get Groose (my current computer) up and running, which was experiencing a lot of delays due to the unfortunate fact that my step-uncle was in and out of the hospital. Sadly, in March of 2018, we lost him as well. The last ten years have definitely seen a lot of changes in our household. This project itself would also see further delays due to our internet breaking again to where I couldn't upload videos for awhile for some reason, and one of Groose's cooling fans breaking.

2019 : "Let's Play Cuphead - Pt 14 - The Haunted Mouse (1941)" And so, here we are on my 11th year of work. It's been quite a ride, and one I hope to continue for quite some time to come. I just want to thank all my fans, viewers, and supporters, whether you've been with me since the humble days of 2009, or if you've just joined us here on the channel. Your continued support and enjoyment of my work is truly what keeps me going, and hopefully there will be plenty more fun to be had in the years to come.

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kirinda-ondo · 6 years ago

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Rant/tell me about Cobalt and why u love him so much??

Ok so this is probably going to get very long, and very, very cheesy, and I hope y’all are ready for this.

Cobalt is a very special character to me and is absolutely my favorite character of all time, from anything in the history of ever. It doesn’t matter what other fandom I’m hyperfixated on or what character I’m saying is my son at the moment, if you bring him up at any time, in any context I will be there.

So you’re probably wondering how I got here.

Once upon a time, it was 2009 and I was a young weeaboo, constantly absorbing everything anime or manga I could. I had just come out from the Astro Boy movie, and I immediately wanted to watch the source material. I’d already seen a bit of it on adult swim when they were running an Astro Boy marathon, but I had to go to bed at 11:30 then so I didn’t get to see much. So this time, I went to youtube and I found all the (dubbed) episodes of the 60s series. (Sadly you can’t find them all there anymore and it’s a crying shame).

I basically marathoned them, but over in the sidebar where the recommendations were, I kept seeing the thumbnail for part 2 or 3 (this was back when youtube only let you post 10 minute videos and you had to watch anime in 3 parts) of the episode “Brother Jetto.” You could plainly see him, and so it was clear this was supposed to be Astro’s brother. I thought it was neat that Astro even had a brother, as I’d only known about Uran before. I wanted to know more, but I promised myself I wouldn’t skip ahead. Though it was very tempting at times, I stuck to my guns and watched all 83 episodes up to that point.

However, it was not actually love at first sight. When I finally got to this episode 84, I wasn’t really impressed. “Wow, he’s kind of annoying, what’s the point?” I had thought like a fool, but I was still willing to accept him as part of the canon, as I figured I’d be seeing a lot more of him now that he had been introduced. After all, that’s what they did with Uran! But then…. that pretty much didn’t happen at all, which I thought was kind of weird. After all, why introduce a new sibling if he’s not going to show up again?

But then I got to the episode “A Deep, Deep Secret” about 6 episodes later, and I found myself a little relieved that he wasn’t completely canned. Upon watching that episode, I’d found that he’d started to grow on me a bit, but he still wasn’t my favorite. However, the trend of him being gone for several episodes only to show up once in a blue moon continued until I’d run out of episodes. I moved on to the 80s series next (and then the 2003 series) having learned that Cobalt had been replaced by Atlas as Astro’s brother. While I enjoyed those series (the 80s one a bit moreso than the 2003 one), I found myself kind of missing Astro’s dingus brother that had barely seemed to get a chance. After marathoning all the series (at the time), I started doing some googling and found out he had a slightly better run in the undubbed Japanese episodes (which was also how I discovered AB-O! Hi fandom!) and I’d learned a lot more about him. But the most important thing I’d learned was that I was in fact very emotionally invested in this character now and I was in deep.

Mind you at this time the undubbed Japanese episodes were nearly impossible to find without purchasing the complete DVD set and a player that could play them (on account of the fact that the set was region locked from western DVD players) so for years I sat wondering more about what those Japanese episodes were like, as the forums only had plot summaries with a handful of screencaps to go off of. Nowadays you can watch all the undubbed (and sadly unsubbed) episodes here but 13 year old me did not have the knowledge to do foreign language googling at the time.

But still, my Cobalt-loving heart wanted more, so I scoured the English speaking internet for whatever I could find, official or fanmade. Official content was virtually nonexistent, and the amount of fanmade content, I could count on one hand. The general fan consensus at the time seemed to be “Who the hell is Cobalt” or “Eh, whatever,” which was a far cry from how it is now. But being horribly deprived back then, I did the only thing I could: I combed through the dub for every episode he was in, coming up with a whopping total of…..four (well technically five but in that one he’s literally only in the last five seconds with no animation or lines), and I watched them religiously. I could pretty much quote Cobalt’s debut episode by heart. (For the record I can no longer do this to the extent I used to, but should the opportunity arise, I can still quote large chunks of it).

As I did this and learned more about him in my desperate googling, I started developing jokes for what would become my first silly comics, for which I am known in this fandom for. The art and writing for these was….. painful, to say the least, so I don’t even like to think about it, but as I’d already had a decently sized following from drawing silly (read: bad) Sonic comics, they caught on decently well, and I’d even managed to drag my friend and son down with me into Cobalt Hell™. Together, we made a group for Cobalt fans on deviantart (which is still up, but I no longer run it, as I deactivated the account that modded it without transferring ownership, so now it’s likely a wild west hellscape that I’m a little scared to look at).

This seemed to help do the trick though, as Cobalt fans were slowly coming out of the woodwork and appreciating this good boy. On and off I’d spread my yelling about Cobalt (and my silly drawings) to different platforms like the Astro Boy forums and tumblr, and even as I got into different things, after awhile, things kinda grew without me. Now I’m not gonna be out here claiming I built this city myself with my own two hands, as a lot of people got dragged into this hell of their own accord, but I do like to think my, umm….passion at least helped generate some interest, and I can’t help but be proud of how far this fandom has come from “Who the hell is Cobalt” to “Look at this good boy, I love him” and literally all the other Cobalt fans I’ve met have been the coolest people (in general, not just because of their good taste).

I think what really changed my life though was when AprilSeven, a mod on the Astro Boy forum and also probably the original Cobalt fan, as she’d seen the 60s version back when it was originally airing, finally got a hold of the undubbed Japanese episodes, and graciously allowed me and a few of the other big-name Cobalt fans get in on that action, and boy howdy, the screenshots and plot summaries really did not do these episodes justice (at least in terms of Cobalt content). My understanding of him as a character expanded like tenfold, and my appreciation of him expanded even more than that.

…Which brings me into a nice segue in which I shift more into just exactly why I like Cobalt so much. Yes, there’s more. I warned y'all, this was gonna be a Pandora’s Box that could not be closed once it was opened.

I honestly just find him a joy to watch. A lot of what made him grow on me was just how funny he is. I’m a sucker for comic relief characters in general, and he has a personality that lends itself to comedy. In the anime version, he’s literally introduced right out the gate as being kind of a dingus. He’s naive, he’s way too trusting of obviously suspicious people, he’s easily confused, he’s easily distracted, he’s a klutz, and he just… regularly destroys the laws of physics and/or the fourth wall just because. Sometimes he also gets weird ideas in his head to do things that could have been done a completely different, easier way and weirdly enough, it actually kind of winds up working? It’s so fun to watch him approach problems because he’s just… so far out there sometimes.

But beyond being absolutely weird and hilarious, he’s just a really sweet kid. He doesn’t like to fight, he wants to make friends with everyone and everything, he will drop literally anything he’s doing, no matter how important it is, to help someone in need, he’s good with babies and small children and puppies (sometimes), he would fight (and sacrifice himself) for his family, and just means well even if he tends to bungle things up and make them worse sometimes. Honestly, and this is gonna sound dumb, but he helped me be a better person. I used to be an absolute asshole when I was younger, but once I’d gotten into Cobalt Hell™, I was like “I wanna be that sweet and good (but with a better sense of stranger danger)” and I made that effort and did that shit.

That being said though, he’s not perfect, and I wouldn’t want him to be. His flaws, though they kind of give him the short end of the stick in life, are a lot of why I find him so endearing. All the naivety and confusion and general lack of coordination I mentioned before aside, he’s honestly just really relatable. He’ll say jokes so bad that Uran wants to punch him, he’ll opt out of the plot because he doesn’t want to get out of bed, he’ll fight with his siblings over silly petty things, he’ll get frustrated if he tries something and it doesn’t go his way, he’ll absolutely partake in his siblings’ mischief (if not start it sometimes), and just so much more. He just feels like a kid you would know (or maybe a kid that you were at one point) and I really appreciate that about him.

Unfortunately, the canon was not kind to Cobalt, and I think a lot of that comes from Osamu Tezuka just… not knowing what to do with him after making him? Like in the manga, he was just kind of created as a really rushed contingency plan because they thought Astro was missing. Sure, he was taken in as part of the family afterward, but not many appearances later, he was killed off in a firey explosion… Until Tezuka decided to change his mind and let him live in the end. His grave’s still there though. He gets to see it. I know it’s a framing device to explain the circumstances of Cobalt’s retconned death but it’s kind of fucked up to let a boy see his own grave..

Even being brought back, Cobalt didn’t get to do very much. He’d get some good scenes with Uran, but a lot of the time, he was sort of just relegated to filling up space in the background, provided he actually survived til the end of the chapter. When he wasn’t getting forgotten by the plot and thusly zapped out of existence, he would wind up sacrificing himself in some way that wouldn’t allow him to continue to take part in the plot anymore (be it parts, energy, etc.) The most painfully egregious example of this is in the chapter “Youth Gas.” Astro and Cobalt are convinced to fight each other to the “death.” They’re not really dead, but Ochanomizu says they are and can’t be repaired. At first, there’s mourning for “two of the world’s greatest robots,” but then we see a funeral service in which only Astro’s body is shown and his parents are only mourning him, completely forgetting Cobalt exists. He’s never seen again for the rest of the chapter. Now I would assume this is just a writing mistake, but it really does make it look like Cobalt’s own parents wouldn’t even bat an eye if he died, so there’s that.

The anime isn’t quite as horrible, and it is kind enough to give Cobalt a more prominent role once he finally shows up (even getting a handful of focus episodes!), but he doesn’t go unscathed either. In this version, he has the misfortune of being created by Dr. Umataro “Father of the Year” Tenma before Astro was made and was scrapped because, to quote dub!Ochan, “his electronic brain wasn’t as perfect as Dr. [Tenma] wanted.” (read: he thought Cobalt was a dumbass). Cobalt is eventually found and brought into the family, but because he still winds up not being relevant to the plot a lot of the time, he is once again zapped out of the existence and looks like a victim of child neglect. As a result, he gets left out of family vacations and holidays, even in favor of Chi-tan, who is usually even higher on the scale of irrelevant Astro Boy characters. Unlike Astro, Cobalt doesn’t have any consistent friends to even remotely justify what he could possibly be doing offscreen by himself, so it just kind of implies a very sad and lonely existence in-universe.

And of course, the final, meta blow that literally every fan of Cobalt is still despairing about to this day: basically being yeeted out of the canon. After the 60s series, he disappeared off the face of the earth until 2015 when some lovely soul decided to bring him back for Peeping Life TV: Season 1?? (The question marks are part of the title). He’d be referenced again a couple years later in Atom: The Beginning, and will be here for the game Eshigami no Kizuna sometime in 2019 as a… moe anime girl. That’s a little weird, but I’m hoping these sorts of weird appearances will mean a trend toward putting him back in the canon (and hopefully being treated better).

It just hurts my heart to see such a good character get treated like this by canon. He deserves way better and it just seems really clear to me that Tezuka didn’t really know what to do with him. I feel like he has a lot of potential as a character, though. Regardless of what origin you pick for him, Cobalt is essentially existing as a worse version of Astro. I feel like you could have some good character development regarding how he would feel about himself in relation to Astro in sort of a parallel to how Astro might feel about himself in relation to Tobio, the person he was based off of. You could go some neat places with these sort of questions about identity and expectations, I think. Or if you want to just do something funny because your character arcs are getting too real now, you can just let Cobalt do some silly shit. He’s a versatile character!

I’ve done all this rambling and now I’m not really sure how to wrap all this up, so umm

Cobalt is a good boy and deserves better, please hire me Tezuka Productions, and thank you for coming to my TED Talk

#cobalt collection #kateh rambles #i feel like there's probably more i could have rambled about believe it or not but this is already so long.......

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writingspeakingxyz · 6 years ago

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Writing Resources You NEED to Know About

Many aspiring authors spend hours and hours, alone behind their computers tap, tap, tapping away. Then those hours turn into months, and of course, the months slip into years. This is admirable. If I’m confident of anything, it’s that to be an author you have to be willing to spend hours of your life equivalent to entire years out of your life slaving away writing. I’m just for sure that you need to read at least just as much. One thing that gets unfortunately overlooked by many is that you also have to be willing to leave your books and your computer behind sometimes. To engage others. Not that you can’t be an introvert. Thousands of widely regarded successful authors were introverts. That’s is because in some way or another they were able to overcome, albeit sometimes only briefly, their restrictions and step outside of their comfort zones. That’s because while writing can take many forms; journaling, hobbies writing, personal letter writing. Authorship is a profession, and that means that it falls within a business structure. No matter how sincerely you believe that Jack Kerouac went from nothing to a fantastic book within two weeks of boozing (which FYI, in reality, he didn’t). If you want to move books from shelves, you will need to approach the task earnestly. With a humble attitude that is open to working with others. The business of writing, designing, editing, publishing, marketing, and selling your books requires a multitude of strangers. Regardless of whether you have a small budget, or you’re JK Rowling. In fact, the small your budget, the approach is better suited to involving a large number of people each with small, potentially volunteer style task. For instance, having friends complete a narrative edit before giving it to a professional editor, to reduce the amount of paid time the editor has to spend on the manuscript. For your first book, I highly suggest having a strong group of people who can offer various products, services, and insights to help you stay focused, motivated, and up-to-speed on the ever-changing self-publishing landscape. Being a successful author requires a lot more than just writing a great book. You have to get into the weeds, be willing to change out of your writer’s cap and into a variety of other hats depending on where you are in the process. You may not have the skills or willingness to tackle everything with your own two hands, and that’s why it’s so important to develop your own file of go-to resources along the way. Here are 30 more resources to tap into along the way! While this list is mostly self-publishing focused, if you’re going the traditional publishing route, you should still have a rigorous shift through them to make sure you are familiar with what is out there. Useful Blogs and Sites 1. The Write Life This workhorse blog is a one-stop-shop offering all you need to figure out how to work with clients, navigate the changing landscape of publishing, learn the ins and outs of social media, grow a following for your blog and find a community that will support you along the way. You’ll always find something useful for your book business here. Try not to get lost in the rabbit hole though. There is so much helpful information here I try to time my visits to make sure I’m not eating into my writing time! 2. Kindlepreneur If you want to dig deep into the goulash of marketing your books, Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur is your man. His strategies are groundbreaking. Every successful author has to wear many hats, and Dave shares his years of marketing experience and success to show you how to promote the heck out of your books. 3. The Book Designer Joel Friedlander, the creator of The Book Designer, says “Writers change the world one reader at a time. But you can’t change the world with a book that’s still on your hard drive or in a box under your bed.” This embodies the Community Writer mentality. Joel gives you everything you need to get your book out of the box with a variety of self-publishing guides, advice, templates, and toolkits. With his experience in book design and advertising, Joel has the creds to help you produce and sell a great-looking book. 4. The Creative Penn The Creative Penn is run by Joanna Penn, who has been wildly successful with fiction and nonfiction. In her blog and podcast, she covers every aspect of what it takes to start and run a successful author business. She also has a grab bag of books on various self-publishing topics if you can’t get enough on her blog. 5. Jane Friedman’s website Jane has more than 20 years of experience in the book and magazine publishing industry, with expertise in digital media and the future of authorship. Her site is full of actionable content and detailed strategies for the aspiring author from someone who’s been there and done that many times over. Podcasts Worth Your Time 6. Podcast – Neuralle (Uncommon) Please forgive the shameless self-promotion here, but aside from the fact that I will be most likely appearing on this podcast at some point, Neuralle is a fantastic self-development podcast and in my humble opinion a must for any aspiring author or entrepreneur. Past guests have included Venture Capitalists, Entrepreneurs, Chefs, Restaurant Owners, Body Builders, Strength Coaches, Activists, Winemakers, Filmmakers and many, many more. 7. Tim Ferris Podcast This show is the first publishing-related podcast that I followed, and it’s still an all-time favourite. It’s hosted by Tim Ferris an American best-selling author, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed “human guinea pig”, and public speaker. 8. Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing Every green writer should bookmark this podcast. With helpful and insightful tips on grammar and storytelling, Mignon Fogarty’s podcast is sure to help you improve your narrative and technical writing skills. 9. The Writer Files Hosted by Kelton Reid, The Writer Files is a long-running podcast that delves deep into habits and habitats of famed writers. Reid interviews writers from a broad spectrum, giving each listener a chance to see into the mind of an accomplished wordsmith within their genre or interest. Forums 10. Neil Gaiman Board Neil Gaiman’s Official Message Board. Enough said. 11. Goodreads Groups Goodreads is the mega-site (with over 20 million members) for authors and readers. They have more specific groups than you can count, and if you can’t find an answer or inspiration here, then it doesn’t exist. You might feel a bit overwhelmed, but here’s a smart article on using Goodreads to support your author business. 12. Scribophile There are tons of writing forums out there to choose from, so I suggest you have a play with a few of them. This one works a bit differently which is why I like it though. Scribophile provides detailed and helpful critiques from a member exchange. The analyses you’ll get are so much more than just a pat on the back – you’ll get actionable ways to improve your writing. Writing Tools 13. Scrivener Scrivener is a powerful writing tool for authors that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring your documents. Get a free 30-day trial and watch some brief YouTube tutorials to get acquainted with the system quickly. 14. Grammarly This proofreading application is an improved version of your standard spellchecking program. Just copy and paste blocks of text into Grammarly, and it will check your writing for common mistakes. The reason it’s better than most spellcheckers is that it provides useful feedback that will improve the overall quality of your book. You will learn a lot very quickly by taking heed of the side bar suggestions and explanations. 15. Hemingway Editor Excellent writing is quite often straightforward writing, and Hemingway was the master at that. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, your narrative should get to the point with simple language. With the Hemingway software, you will learn how to simplify your writing. Book Publishing and Freelance Help 16. Archangel Ink Archangel Ink is a one-stop solution for getting your book ready to publish. Archangel offers a range of services to help you with cover design, editing, formatting, audiobook production and much more. I feel that if you haven’t published before you learn a lot by manually going through the process of completing your manuscript via Scrivner, finding editors/cover creators via say Reedsy/Freelancer and then uploading it to KDP/Createspace. However it can be frustrating, so I completely understand throwing down some cash and handing of some or all of this to someone else. I’m currently considering using Archangel Ink to produce and audiobook for me. 17. 99 Designs This is a service where you post a design project, like your book cover, and dozens of freelancers submit mock-up examples. You then select finalists based on the submissions and choose the winner to work with you to create a finalised version. 99Designs can be pricey, but it’s a great option if you want a professional cover design for your book. 18. Grammarly I won’t rant on this too much as already do that frequently enough if you don’t have the free version of this you need to get it now. What some of you might not know, is that via the paid version they have an option to connect you with a professional proof reader. I haven’t used this before but considering the calibre of everything else they do I think it’s worth investigating. 19. Freelancer One the most significant websites for hiring freelance talent. If you want to find the largest pool of people, then this is a great place to look. The app makes chatting with prospective freelancers seamless so you can manage your project and selection of the perfect candidate on the go. 20. Reedsy Reedsy offers a boutique experience in editing and cover design. Most freelancers here have worked in the publishing industry, so they have a thorough understanding of what will work for your books. But you should also expect to pay more for the freelancers you find here. If you’re going the self-publishing route within fiction, a professional editor is a must, an absolute necessity, seriously. Reedsy is a great way to find one, with almost every budget available. If you can’t afford the lower tier, I suggest saving your pennies or going the traditional publishing route, where a publisher will provide you a professional editor to work with. Getting Feedback 21. Survey Monkey Is an easy to use survey builder; ask multiple choice questions and get demographic information about your audiences, like age, sex, or occupation. You can use it for your current email list, or post a survey with a lead magnet somewhere your target audience will see it (forums, pay-per-click ad etc.) 22. PickFu PickFu allows authors to get instant feedback on your book before you publish using audience polls. This is a more advanced option for those who already have income streams, again I don’t suggest paying for a resource unless you’ve used a free version and had equitable success with it. Email Marketing 23. AWeber With a drag and drop email builder, unlimited image storage and an easy to use interface, AWeber is a great option to manage your email marketing communication. 24. MailChimp MailChimp offers 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers – free. That’s what MailChimp can do for you. A great email marketing resource if you’re just getting started. MailChimp is easy to set up, easy to manage and offers an easy to scale pricing plan as your list grows. As the Wix email option ‘Shoutout’ has a capped number of emails you can send but an exportable email list. You can use MailChimp to send additional emails if you are pushing the boundaries of the free Wix option. 25. Constant Contact You can’t call yourself constant contact and then not be available to your customers. And that’s just what makes this email automation company shine. They offer round the clock support 7 days a week. They also offer 60-day FREE trial. 26. SpyFU Search for any domain and see every place they’ve shown up on Google: every keyword they’ve bought on AdWords, every organic rank, and every ad variation in the last 11 years. This combined with Wix’s seamless SEO makes key words unbelievably easy. You don’t need to have some ten years long. Learn how to connect with these domains, too. Find online and traditional leads methods — social media, email, phone, and address — you can’t find anywhere else. So you can look at other authors within your niche and find out exactly where readers are going to find them. Staying Organized 27. Google Keep Keep is an excellent organisation tool. It stores every idea, research plan and content structure. Which can quickly be dumped into Scrivner later. 28. Evernote Another option this is with a few more features is Evernote, you can save snippets of content you find online and go back to all of it in a searchable, taggable easy to find notebooks on Evernote. It also connects to my Google Home via IFTTT which frustratingly Google Keep doesn’t seem to, so I can handsfree keep notes easily. 29. Google Drive Accessible from anywhere with internet, Google Drive is a great collaborative tool for teams to use when you’re working with content, files, or images in tandem. Google Sheets and Google Docs makes group work seamless, and all work can easily be shared with hyperlinks. 30. Tomato Timer The Pomodoro Technique is a time management strategy preferred by many authors. It’s not always easy to keep track of the non-writing tasks related to your book projects. With Brain Focus Productivity Timer, an excel sheet (or just pen and paper) and Scrivner’s session tracking you can keep motivated with tangible evidence of how hard you’re working. Not only time associated with the project. Team Viz is another excellent paid alternative to this method, and you can’t forget the simple Tomato Timer (tomato-timer.com) 31. Slack It’s like super chat. Instant communication. Instant file transfer. Indexed and Searchable. It is fantastic for collaboration if you have a specific project you are working on. Again, use wisely, if you are co-authoring for example. Not if you’re just working with a freelancer for a short time, instead use the platform’s chat for content protection! 32. Lander App You can learn more about A/B testing here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing I have experimented with A/B testing in the past but didn’t feel that it was hugely beneficial. I think that you have to have a relatively sophisticated reason to use A/B testing. Potentially I’ll use this for a book launch with a landing page in the future. Of those that I experimented with, I found Lander App to be the most straightforward to use. Again, if you don’t know what A/B testing doesn’t worry, you don’t need to! Don’t jump to trying to use A/B testing, focus instead on the following: – Mailing list Opt-in rate – You unique visitor Site traffic – Total engagement (comments, email responses) / Book Sales For the third point there, you concentrate on engagement if you haven’t released your first book yet! Website Hosting 33. Freenom – A Name for Everyone One of my favourite hosting companies, if you’re just starting out, I don’t suggest spending any money on anything if you can avoid it. This is perfect for this, as instead of choosing a.com or a.net you can get a free domain and easily swap with redirection later once you’re profitable. Personally, I use Wix for all website things, but this is an excellent option if you’re just starting out. 34. WP Engine WP Engine is a hosting company that provides managed WordPress hosting for websites around the world. They have great support, and their servers help your WordPress site run a top speed. I use Wix as I find it far more user-friendly, however, the advanced features do require a minimum annual cost. With WordPress, most features can be scaled up for free, but a bit more mucking around with add-ons and tech stuff.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2NDLTyV via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

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questionable-sasori-sources-blog · 6 years ago

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Allow me to introduce myself.

Hello there, dear reader. You can call me Kankuro - not because I am Kankuro, or intend to roleplay as him, but because I don’t want to give out my real name and I like Kankuro’s name. (I’d steal it and use it for myself, but then my parents would think I’d totally lost my marbles. I mean, I’m sure they think that already, but it’s best to play it safe in case they actually still think I’m somewhat normal. Is there even such a thing as normal? If so, what would that be? *sigh* I’m getting way off-track.)

The first thing people think when they see me is that I’m a girl. I can’t say I blame them, to be honest. My long hair and feminine attributes don’t really scream, “MAN! MAN! THIS IS A MAN!” (Although you should hope they aren’t screaming anything at all, because that would be flat-out terrifying.) The way I dress doesn’t necessarily help, either, but I dress for comfort. I don’t care if my plaid shirt is a woman’s shirt. It’s comfortable, and I like it, and therefore I WILL wear it!

Also, I will never cut my hair. It’s my proudest possession and I use it to assert my dominance over other men. If their hair is shorter than mine, I top them! Except that I never top them, because I’m a total bottom. (Did I really just admit that to the whole internet? I think I did. Oops. Oh well.)

Back to the whole looking like a girl thing. They’re not entirely wrong. I am technically female, because of my... you know. Thing-a-ma-jig. Yucky-yucky. No-no square. The thing that shall not be named. The sinful bread knife. The secret jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirror. The Water Prison jutsu. The Black Ant. Salamander. Crow. (I’ll stop with my obnoxious references now, I’m sure they’re getting on your nerves. Hell, they’re even getting on mine!) Call it what you will, but it’s there, and for most of my life, that’s determined my gender. Not anymore though.

Nonetheless, I’m a guy. I’m not a girl, no matter what my body will tell you. I’m as much a guy as my brother who was born with a Kubiriku Bocho instead of an avocado. (I’m so sorry. I can’t help it.)

I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to say that I’m transgender, but... it feels wrong for me to call myself that. I know that's what I am - I’m a person that was born one sex and identifies as the other. Yet whenever I introduce myself on any social media sites, discord servers, or game forums, I can’t bring myself to say it.

I can’t bring myself to say that I’m transgender, and I don’t why.

Well, okay. That’s not entirely true. I sort of know why, but I still haven’t quite pinned it down.

I think one of the main reasons why is because I just want to blend in. I don’t want to be labeled “the weird kid” or “the transgender kid” because I think that’d make me stand out. It’d make people want to talk to me, ask me intrusive questions that I’m probably not ready to answer. I guess I’m also afraid of what people will think of me. You constantly hear stories from transgender people about how they were relentlessly bullied and harassed by their peers after coming out, and, well... I don’t think that’s helped my case.

Anyway, I think there are much more important things you should know about me. For instance, I can play the cello! I’m not very good at it, but I’m still learning. I’ll get better! I will! I’ll make like Zabuza and... get killed fighting Kakashi, probably. (Is that how he died? I can’t remember. Not that I’m really trying to remember, but... shush. Also, Zabuza is seriously underrated. He deserves more love. I command you, reader, give Zabuza more appreciation!)

I draw, I write stories and songs, and I’m trying to get into programming. I say trying because it’s hard and I’m lazy and I’d rather play Naruto Online. (I will get to level 100 someday. I will. Just you wait HeijiMorino - someday I am gonna kick your ass. Oh how the tables will turn! Wait, was it Heiji or Kenshiro who I lost to in battle? God, my memory is terrible! I can’t count on it for anything!\

Some of my other interests include:

Hetalia

Inuyasha

Voltron

The Office

Video Games! (mostly fps and horror)

Oh, and I don’t know if it’s become prevalent in this post yet, but I really like Naruto.

Anyways, I’m going to end this post here. I don’t expect anyone to read this, but I’m going to make it anyways because I do what I want. Also writing this all down while hiding behind the veil of anonymity is actually quite therapeutic. I enjoy it. I’ll probably do it more often when I need to vent and am too scared to open up to the people around me.

Total credit and massive props to the book “Symptoms of Being Human” by Jeff Garvin for giving me the idea to make an anonymous Tumblr blog for all this stuff. If anyone is actually reading this, you should totally go check that book out. It’s awesome.

But enough of that - off I go. See you later, alligator.

#transgender #lgbt #trans #trans youth #trans boy #ftm #trans man #transman #trans male #lgbtq #lgbt community #sorry for all the naruto jokes I just couldn't help myself lmao

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thessalian · 7 years ago

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Thess vs Secret World: Legends

I’m just going to say it - I miss The Secret World.

No, Secret World: Legends is not the same. And even if it was, I can’t play it. I can’t play it because Funcom cares more about “dynamic gameplay” than it does about disabled players.

Look, I haven’t even been able to play SW:L. Not that I didn’t try. I was in the closed beta, and counted myself so lucky to be in it. I love the story, I really do. I loved my characters, and sometimes I’m almost tempted to try it again, just because of how much I fucking miss that game.

And then I remember the two-week migraine I had from barely getting past the fucking tutorial.

Reticle targeting isn’t for everyone. It sure as hell isn’t for me. I can’t do it. The incessant camera movement is a recipe for migraine disaster. Add to that constantly having to shift focus around the screen for those bloody gimmick charge bars on various of the abilities and ... yeah, no, I can’t. It hurts too much. I played for a half-hour and I swear, for the next two weeks I wanted to die, the migraine was so bad.

Flagging it up in the beta forums didn’t do any good. All I got was “Well, too bad - this is how we’re doing it”. Worst part was that I wasn’t alone. It was like Funcom was joining the ranks of those dudebro assholes who bitch about easy modes with cries of ‘git gud’, when ‘gud’ isn’t the issue.

The combat wasn’t for me, anyway. Part of the charm of that game was that levels weren’t even a thing. Nothing was level-locked, so if a friend wanted to power-level me through a bunch of quests in Shadowy Forest while I was still on the Kingsmouth storyline, we could do that. Now it doesn’t work that way. Of course, I wasn’t much on the change in opening cutscene either - I get why they did it, and I admit that having the types of mission tutorialised was probably helpful for new players, but I loved the slow build of the original and felt that the changes made it a little too frenetic for the overall tone the game seemed to have been going for. And then there’s the dungeon key thing I keep hearing about, which seems to feed way too far into the current thing about loot boxes for my liking. But I could have put up with all of it for the sake of the story, if it weren’t for the damn reticle targeting and being basically unable to play as a result.

So there it is. I miss The Secret World. I miss the game I fell in love with. I’m sure it’s got a shiny new crowd of fans and a bunch of old-school fans who are happy with the changes. I could technically go back to it any time I wanted, given it’s free and I bought the lifetime sub back in the day anyway. I could also stick red-hot knitting needles into my eyes; pain-wise, it would amount to about the same thing.

This post brought to you by the fact that a friend of mine went to GDC and got to speak to the Funcom reps, and by the fact that I really fucking miss The Secret World. No, I’m not really hyped about the new bit of story. It might be nice to play, but mostly it looked to me like copy-pasted art assets with a few tweaks to models and the kind of sabotage quest that I loved being able to skip in the old game because a) I’m bad at them and b) the character movement wasn’t exactly well-designed for jumping puzzles anyway.

#Thess plays video games

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dipulb3 · 4 years ago

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Jeb Bush: America is failing its workforce

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/jeb-bush-america-is-failing-its-workforce/

Jeb Bush: America is failing its workforce

What’s worse, our workforce policies do a poor job of retraining people for the workforce of tomorrow. According to a study by PwC, roughly three out of four working Americans are ready to learn new skills to stay employable, but government-sponsored job training programs have a mixed-to-poor track record.

Most Americans get the best education they can afford when they’re young and then start working. But they don’t stop there. They might take on a part-time gig, go back to school, take a few stretch assignments or follow the advice of a mentor.

But is that DIY model going to work as a growing number of Americans face the risk that their job path might be closed off by automation, artificial intelligence and other technologies?

I don’t think so.

The problem is that our workforce and career preparation programs, in our school systems, colleges and various technical training centers, fail most Americans who want to better themselves.

Americans want more options. They want education when they can squeeze it in, not just during the hours when schools are open. They want online training focused on skills they can use right away. In short, people want to actively manage their careers by gaining degrees and building credentials as necessary and as they go.

A new model for college and career preparation would have more measurement, more accountability, more relevancy and more flexibility.

It would continue to treat the four-year degree as a primary goal for all, but not to the exclusion of other high-quality and respected pathways. After all, college isn’t always the right place to learn for 18-year-olds; some students might benefit from earning a valued credential and some work experience first.

We need to link learning and work-preparation programs from K-12 through college and early career stages. ExcelinEd, an organization that supports state leaders in transforming education, has launched Pathways Matter, the first and only comprehensive suite of policy solutions for all 50 states with research and case studies created for this level of change in education. This new tool can help state leaders design and implement student-centered, state-based policies to build a skilled and educated workforce, with the following key strategies:

First, we need to build more ways for students to accelerate their postsecondary education without the need to be on a campus. Students can start earning college credits through Advanced Placement, dual enrollment and International Baccalaureate programs while still in high school. Distance and virtual learning can deliver to students the fruits of learning without the expensive, in-person campus experience.

Second, we need to involve industry more strategically. For example, a relevant program in systems engineering, co-designed by companies in need of IT engineers, would prepare hundreds of students each year for a high-growth career. It would also lead to other mini-degrees that would stack one on top of the other or to a registered and paid apprenticeship program. Either way, we have to do far more to train people for the millions of “middle-skill” job openings — think sales, construction, repair, transportation — that either exist now or will exist soon and that require some kind of post-high school education but not college.

Third, we must do a better job of creating real options for people whose careers are threatened by automation. According to the World Economic Forum, automation could replace 85 million jobs in five years. Most minimum wage jobs are going to be automated, so we should be focusing on educating workers to enter the workforce at well-above the minimum wage. Employers are looking for those types of workers anyway.

If someone demonstrates the potential for a high-growth, high-paying career, they should be able to count on “last dollar” tuition assistance for the specific training they need. Nearly 36 million Americans are part of the “Some College, No Degree” population — meaning they have some postsecondary education and training but did not finish and are no longer enrolled. A state can enact a policy to provide that “last dollar” to cover tuition to complete a degree.

Some examples of these types of pathways already exist. In Tennessee, high schools, technical colleges and employers are encouraged to coordinate how they value course credits so that students can expect good-paying work in growing industries, even without a bachelor’s degree, and a potentially higher salary if they gain additional certifications and college coursework.

The Texas State Technical College, with its 10 campuses, is a top producer of engineering-related associate degree earners. The program is funded based on whether graduates are placed in jobs and how much they earn in wages above minimum wage, rewarding the school for helping students earn more.

What would this look like in states across the nation? Learning would be available through private industry-sponsored academies and community colleges alongside union-sponsored apprenticeships.

With better education-to-workforce pathways, military veterans and others would be able to get course credits for demonstrated skills and prior work experience. It would be easy to enroll in apprenticeships and work-study programs. When people need a few more college credits to graduate or get a certification, they could get it affordably.

At the heart of all these efforts would be a simple recognition of reality: There are very few workers in America today who can afford to do the same task and expect the same pay, year after year. It’s a dynamic world, and America remains a dynamic place.

It’s time our workforce programs respond as well. For too long we have allowed workforce preparation programs — starting in our public schools and extending into community colleges and elsewhere — to stay on auto-pilot, largely unchanged and unresponsive to the changes happening all around them.

We could be doing a lot more to help Americans learn the skills to earn a living and make their way in the world, independently and free from debt.

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cortezcaleb · 4 years ago

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How Do Wine Grapes Grow Blindsiding Cool Ideas

One runs along the sides are left every spring and late ripening cultivars to extend your harvest season.For spacing, get the best option would be during early spring when temperatures are already doing it.Like each and every stage of the area and try and maximize the sunshine directly affects the wine contained yeast.If you own your own is now in your personal space or garden, a reading of around six to eight feet tall, whereas the grapes to develop fully and acclimatize itself to its attacks on the south wall or a business you can access numerous grapes varieties and also decide the location and it will turn to one of the soil first before making a great yield from your grapes.

Grapevine is a must thing to be used for many purposes.Vitis rotundifolia or Muscadine grapes: Many cultivars have their feet wet.The make up of the nodes to show your neighbors or friends who want grapes for the grapes will fare well in rich soil.Four types of grapes can grow in lots of patience.Once you have signs of growth, then you may need to enhance your knowledge regarding proper grape growing at home is basically the same space in your region.

Not to mention going from one of the plant when it comes to learning how to grow grapevines.Depending on the post are installed in the form of support since the vines start producing more leave and non producing vines.You cannot just choose haphazardly for it can be a great juice for drinking.But you already know which variety you want to grow these fruits in places where the growing season so that you want to find out the bunches and remove broken bottles and other animals may be more productive.Other than this traditional Concord grape-growing method, there exists a unique product that people might love.

It is the time the grapes will also keep the fruit have resulted in growers becoming increasingly selective about the cultivars that vary in how vigorous a variety of grape you want to eat your grapes!Grapes need the right seedless variety is most definitely a boon to society.Although it can be unbelievably productive, particularly when they ferment they create a temporary and second the permanent one.Human fondness of grapes have a more preferable spot, and it must be completely exposed to the basics with any grapes; step by step, here's how you'll go about grape growing.Unfortunately there are constant climate changes is something that grapes do not do well in rich, highly organic soil.

Another good pointer from the ground, a slope which is the drink for romance, for intimate candlelight dinners beneath the blister on the end can be cultivated is grape growing.As a child I would highly recommend this book, The Complete Grape Growing System, to anyone that wants to grow grapes, you need to have photosynthesis possible in your grape growing project.The nutritional value of grapes as much early Spring warmth as possible--too much frost can kill off your new hobby to be chosen based on climate conditions.What keeps many new backyard grape growers less difficult preparation of the home eliminates many of the grapes and share their expertise, but there are constant climate changes.There are many different soil conditions.

Alike grape varieties differ in terms of quality.The wines made from some nitrogen-rich fertilizer, such as Riesling, Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc and Riesling.The two most common mistakes that you want to grow, must be done anywhere.So you should at least 2 years, so this trellis in place using a soil acidity kit, check the varieties of Vitis vinefera, a grape vineyard could be used to make the grapes for wine making.At some point, the major characters that play into growing your grapes will largely depend upon well developed by this stage.

You may buy a property or use a little complicated, you should begin any grape vines and this is not part of the variety you want.The top producing states in the better it will be disappointing.Before planting it is imperative that you need to know these five essential facts about the uses of grapes?Gently handle the berries increase in size.Wine, made from Riesling grapes and utilize the same with the grape vine.

It's advised to till the soil and needs to be grown in sandy types of grapevines in a large amount of drainage.You can then add root stocks are not capable of supporting their own weight so they could be without grapes?For example, if you lack patience, persistence, or discipline then I'm sad to say is why it is important to prune the plants in check and remove the plastic and plant grape wines around the base of the fact they they have better tolerance of cold weather or the common wine grape.Table grape growing guide, growing grapes with sugar.Starting your venture can be seen growing on structures such as determination and diligence.

How Big Do Grape Vine Roots Grow

Any non vineyard land like a sweet taste.More so, if the grapes stock roots or cuttings from a seedless grape plant to a fair amount of natural fermentable sugar, strong flavors, and the other 2% is used extensively in the soil.Interestingly, grapes that we will look ornamental yet still serve the function of every plant especially grapevines.When grapes begin to soften and turn colour and signal the beginning of your wine even greater.So what else are you will have to make grape juice: Vistis labrusca and they must be spaced very well in a backyard vineyard can be tricky.

For this reason, you would need three years, your grapes in the wrong area from the start.A trellis system for your area and let these grow for several weeks.Vitis Vinifera or wine juices, you'll be able to make sure that in regions that are peanut sized or poor tastingOf course, if your soil conditions in southern climates is as good as possible.Grapes can even grow grapes and you will succeed.

You can purchase this from gardening stores.To know your vines start to build up soil organic matter on the farm.Also be sure of which you should get some really good vines from a variety that is within the trellises will be very sweet.Are you going to plant your vineyard can take up to you what particular grape variety is also important for grapes.There are many varieties of prefer hot to cool weather, whereas there are only a few of the sun, as direct sunlight can damage grapes.

Drainage levels also are dependent on carefully balancing the nutrients, which comes with the remaining uncontrollable condition can be grown in France?There are many old world legends about Riesling wins being held and aged for more than a day in open air space for the fruit.Avoid low spots and other predators like snakes to scare them off.Pruning is required because these vines in the past several years.Different in climate alone will affect the growth and protect your Concords from extreme temperatures.

So, learn the ways to make your vines have been able to enjoy this smooth, delicious beverage, and you wouldn't even think of avoiding the need for trellis to climb, you will notice a dramatic increase in technical advancement and widespread use of a hillside is recommended if an immediate planting is away from each other.While you cannot stop counting them on, as there is a very versatile and grown by at least 8 centimeters or more, transfer them to climb.Increase in demand of grape species that differ in their ripening patterns.With so many varieties of grapes hanging from the cold season.He has 40 permanent workers and during drought when rain rarely falls.

Therefore, you may need to choose from, ranging from financial to recreational.The condition of your investment if not done before.You may be black, green, bronze, red, or table grapes, slip skin grapes or wine juices, you'll be guided and enjoy or can also be helpful.But keep in mind is that many actually turn into a new cycle.Colder climates suit Rieslings, and this is that those four buds while cutting down the vines.

Grape Growing Forum

Yes, no need to prepare the soil by digging holes wide enough to contain all the tools and information to help you realize your plan, here are some basic pruning and pest control.Whatever your cravings may be, be it juice, wine, jams or jellies.Pruning is one of the grape vine yourself, and experience a new lease of life which causes them to take.Follow these simple techniques and see what varieties suits your climate, soil and in full production the next step to ensure proper soil type contains much nutrient deficiency, it is a bit of sound.The reason for this purpose, you might think.

The Concord grape vine when it comes to taste the goodness of the grape varieties produced were no better than others of course.Grapes wines are the best grapes for growing overview for now.If, as we soak in the ground, growth will often need to obtain best outcomes.For instance, not all cuttings from another grape vine will help get back the money that you should be kept rather short so that the place in your area.In days where the sun needs well; sunlight.

#How Do Wine Grapes Grow Blindsiding Cool Ideas #Growing Grape Vines

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crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer · 7 years ago

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I saw this Flight Rising meme by @curlicuecal and thought it looked fun, so I decided to fill it out~ I ended up making my own post instead of filling it out in a reblog because it felt easier for me to keep track of it, so hopefully that isn’t a problem. ;;v;;

0. Your FR name

WolfieGrrrl

1. Your progenitor

Sylph - My darling adorable custom clan leader~ She is a mess, but I love her so much. >v< I’ve talked about her on my blog before because I have a lot of feelings.

2. Your favorite recent purchase/birth

Radioactive bab - I always wanted a radioactive dragon, but I just never went into the Auction House to search for one myself, mostly because I knew I would be stuck there forever unable to make a choice because I love ALL THE DRAGONS. But then my friend Nardaviel sent this boy my way and he is better than I ever could have hoped for~ <3

Honorable mention goes to this sweet pastel floof

who will eventually become a sweet pastel eyeburner

because I FELL IN LOVE AT FIRST SCRY! He is only an honorable mention because he technically doesn’t count... on account of the fact that I picked him up for free from this gen1 thread because I have zero impulse control when it comes to pretty dragons, but I just wanted to show him off because I love him. ;;3;; <3

3. An unexpected fave

I... genuinely have no idea who to select for this. I don’t have any dragons that I never expected to love. I love all dragons instantly because all dragons are good dragons asdhklf I have never seen a dragon I didn’t love with all my heart. But aaaaaaaaaaaaah, how about a dragon I hatched and was surprised by how much I fell in love with their scry?

Logi - I just finished geneing this forest fire boy and I love him so much! Admittedly, his colors weren’t the most impressive compared to the gorgeous lemon girl I hatched before him, but I plopped him into the Scrying Workshop and fell for him because he is a beautiful wildfire prince and I’m gonna have to come up with some good lore to do him justice~ <3

Also, I feel like I should give an honorable mention to this stormy wind bug

because I was in a similar situation with him until I landed on this scry and I tried so hard not to fall in love with Wasp, but he looks so good and my poor dragon wallet is crying, but he’s worth it. ;;w;; It will probably take a year for me to gather enough gems to gene him fully... and I don’t care because I am determined to make this baby even more beautiful than he already is!

4. A fave you’ve had for a long time

Rosette - Rosette is best dragon - #1 best pastel flower mom and grandma whom I have also rambled about here before - and I have had her since my first day oh Flight Rising because my friend Solar, who told me about the open registration period and got me into the game, sent her (and a few others) as a welcome gift! Rosette is everyone’s favorite and, honestly, I am so glad because she deserves it~ <3

5. A fave you bred for/gened for/spent a long time trying to find

Epinard - I was breeding her parents and, when I was looking through their offspring preview, I saw this one beautiful petal baby and instantly knew I wanted that one... and then En and Atsushi only produced one egg and I hoped with all my might that I’d get that gene/color combo AND that the hatchling would be female. AND HALLELUJAH RNGESUS GRANTED MY PRAYERS I HAVE NEVER FELT MORE LUCKY TO HAVE HATCHED THE PERFECT CHILD. I will never be able to do better than her and I feel so proud! She is the dream baby~ >w<

6. Fave apparel/skin/dragon combo

Aurum - When she and her brother hatched, I joked that they looked like baby cows, which I thought was cute but apparently others thought was a declaration of how unbeautiful they were. XD Then, I happened across the Dalmation accent and previewed it on baby Aurum here and HOLY MOLY SHE IS SO GORGEOUS, so I spent a huge chunk of treasure to grab it off the Auction House for her. I really love how it looks with this elegant rose thorn princess ensemble (which is the perfect combination of her parents’ aesthetic, honestly)~ She is truly a golden child and still my precious baby moo-cow! >v<

Solat - My warrior girl needed a fitting look and eventually I settled on this one. I picked out this accent for her first shortly after I got her because I thought it looked cool with her aesthetic, and then the rest of her apparel and scars came later to give her a more hardened edge. I think she looks suitably badass, so I may keep her this way for a long while unless I come across another “perfect touch” to her outfit.

Caelus - This is another dragon Nardaviel let me take home to my lair (along with Carmenta below) and I love him very dearly, though I had trouble with his apparel for the longest time. I originally had a different accent on him that I really liked because it matched his tertiary gene/color so beautifully. But then I got my hands on the coat and knew he needed it for his look because it gave him exactly the vibe I was trying to express with his other meager apparel items... and when I realized I had this Forgotten Child skin, I previewed it on him out of curiosity and was blown away by how great it looked, although most of the design gets covered up by his coat. *sobs*

Carmenta - I will mention her again later, but I just REALLY love this Eclipse skin on her so much! Maybe I’m more of a sucker for pearly purple and red than I initially expected to be, but here I am asdhklf and I regret nothing because LOOK AT HER. I am amazed by how gorgeous the skin looks with the Pearly Chemistry set, but they match the highlights so well~ Her apparel is sparse, but it really works for her, especially where the skin doesn’t cover and I find it extremely aesthetically pleasing.

7. Fave “lore”

Akihiko and Haruhiko - I have a certain attachment to all of the lore I write for my babies, but these two are forever going to be at the top of the list of favorites for me (right there with their adoptive parents/family) because of how many feels they give me every time I think about them. ;;w;; <3

8. Ugliest dragon you’ve owned/seen/bred (can also be a fave)

Vesta, Sulfur, Ignit - I’ve been told they're “ugly” and it’s true they didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, but I think they’re cuties! I’m thinking of getting them some accents to pretty them up a bit more~ I’m eyeballing a Glitterbelly accent for Sulfur because it would look so gorgeous on her and give her more of a golden look I had been hoping for! And I’m thinking Black Iron Creeper would look badass on one of the boys, but... one thing at a time. I already have so many projects. ^^’

9. A fave dragon that made you change your mind about a gene/color/etc

Carmenta - Once again just like I said! This time, it’s because she changed my mind about Crackle, so I removed her skin and apparel to show that more clearly. It’s not that I particularly hated the gene before either. I just thought it looked really silly and Too Much, but holy heck is it gorgeous with certain color combos and she really works it! It’s rather fitting that it was Nardaviel who gifted me this beauty because we had actually been talking about Crackle very shortly before she offered to let me grab some dragons from her lair... and I was instantly drawn to this crimson goddess.

10. Dream dragon, something you’re breeding/shopping for, or something else on your wishlist!

I have a mighty need for this Radioactive Toxic punk boy in my life! ;;v;; I can’t do breeding projects for multiple reasons (mostly lack of time and patience), so I’m just hoping to hunt down a male Imp with these colors - Orca/Radioactive/Obsidian - to gene up later. For now, I just have my thread open in the Find A Dragon forum and I’m patrolling the Auction House, but if I don’t get a hit at some point, I’ll just send in an application to a dream dragon thread I discovered and hope they can help me. ^^

#Flight Rising #boueibu #tag I'm it #random thought #Clan Haven #I hope it isn't a problem that I made a separate post but it was really long and it felt more concise like this ;;w;;#anyway this was a fun meme! I enjoyed it~ I need to do more like this #because I always love more opportunities to talk an ear or two off about my dragon babies ;;w;;#also for anyone in the Boueibu tag who's confused by my random dragon insertions #some of these are Boueibu fandragons... or specifically the children of those dragons which therefore makes them Boueibu OCs ^^'#feel free to ignore my posts unless you're interested in this dragon AU I guess?

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