#Ask | Incoming Text

[compelledcurator]

Tag Drop for Hellaverse - Please pay no mind - Hazbin Hotel and Hellova Boss

[hyydraworks]

I just received my little cow and I love him! Will leave a formal review. I wanted to ask out of professional/amateur curiosity, how do you price your works? If you’ve already answered this or if you’re not comfortable, no worries. I’m just curious since I know a lot goes into it.

Ah, so glad you enjoy your cow!

Okay so this is such an excellent question, really got me to thinking, and I hope this little pie chart helps in giving an answer.

These values might differ a little (electricity and photos are almost certainly less than 10% combined), but I think for me it's pretty close to these. Basically I give myself a theoretical hourly pay for making and glazing my guys, but then buffer that with cost of firing kilns, the time it takes to document my pieces for sale, and the materials that I need.

In addition one other factor in pricing that is sort of an invisible slice of this chart is making sure that when I am selling my pieces on consignment that I am still happy with the amount I am getting at a lower price break. If I'm only getting 55-60% of the profit from an item is that still meeting this pie charts requirements? A similar aspect is true to make sure I'm at least slightly factoring in Etsy fees.

A lot of this is learning, doing comparisons with other people's similar work, and rough estimates. I am not precisely timing myself with every creature, or constantly checking my electricity bill to calculate what 4 firings cost me, but I do know a large cow takes me about an hour to make while an itty bitty cow is 15-20 minutes.

And finally, I'm certainly not an expert! While I'm fortunate that selling ceramics has become the majority of my income, I'm still not quite full time at it and am learning erry day. So hope this makes sense, answers your question, and thank you again!

[i-h8-m4king-users]

*watches new drdt episode* omg this is my new favourite episode *1 week later - watches new drdt episode* omg this is my new favourite episode *1 week later - watches new drdt episode* omg this is my n

[taffywabbit]

my short-term goal as a creative for a few years now has basically been to try and increase my income (or just speed up how quickly I earn the same amount, which is kinda the same thing I guess) so i can reach a point where i make enough that i don't have to constantly be pushing my time and energy to the absolute limit to pay my bills, and can start making time to start larger long-form projects and explore creative areas besides drawing. unfortunately things keep costing more money than they did the last time I looked so it feels like I am not really making much progress towards that goal. I am like a little fish trying to swim upstream and it always feels like there should probably be a smarter, less exhausting way to get where I'm going but I'm just not aware of it

[wasyago]

okay um

riptide spoilers for the recent episodes!!!

I dont usually write theories and stuff but i haven't really seen anyone talk about it (maybe i just missed it), and i need to get these thoughts written down because my mind is going a million miles per hour and its driving me crazy.

(Also i guess, disclaimer, im not a patron so the last ep i saw was 108, and i don't know any of the information shared in rolled.)

So. This team of strong pirates, Captain Widow, they're turning the Dread Queen into a lich, right? Like, that's the only logical solution i can think of. They're talking about the Dread Queen obtaining power over life and death, which is like the main lich thing - immortality and the ability to be both dead and alive at the same time. They're performing a long complicated ritual, which is also necessary to become a lich, and that ritual requires a lot of sacrifices and feeding energy and nutrients to the Dread Queen. (And, i apologize, all my knowledge about liches comes from Pointy Hat's videos, but i think they're pretty good to base a theory on).

From what i can recall and what i relistened to: no one knows anything about the Dread Queen, Shadowbeard has never talked about her, in the newspaper about the Lords she was just a silhouette, in the memory Jay got from the Black Sea all they said is that they needed to find her corpse in order to make someone a pirate lord (which clarifies nothing), Drey thought she and all the rest of the Pirate Lords were dead. From what we know about the Lords, Rose dissappeared in the hole in the sea accident. According to Lizzie's words, a couple years ago two more of the Pirate Lords went missing, which are the Dread Queen and our boy Hendrix (which we know is hiding in his pocket dimension). And then Shadowbeard was murdered by Ava in the Shadow Scull Masacre.

As we know from Zamia, the Dread Queen's crew didn't disappear but instead came to the black sea and took over an island. And because there's no contact with the outside world from the black sea, and because Navy freely allows pirates passage there, its fair that the world thought the Dread Queen was dead. And this lack of contact and no Navy activity is probably why the Dread Queen chose the Black Sea as a place for her lich ritual. No one will know about it and no one will interfere, no one will stop them from taking over an entire island and killing it's emperor and doing whatever dark magics they want.

Im not sure why they picked this island specifically. Whether its because of the Great Tree (tm) that is "the way of life and connects every corner of the island and gives it life" and probably has a lot of nutrients for the ritual in it. Or for any other reason, maybe it was just the first island they saw, maybe they just wanted a cool castle, maybe because it's the capital, i don't know but I'm sure there's a smart reason.

Gardeck The Scull Crusher aka the minotaur guy did say that their captain is blessed, and its the reason why death is temporary to them, which is one of the details that confuses me. Because first, who is he referring to, the Dread Queen or Captain Widow, both are technically captains. And second, if he is talking about Widow, then uhhh, how? If he's talking about the Dread Queen and if she is undergoing a lich ritual, (and becoming a lich would grant her the power to freely revive people), then how is she able to cast spells while in a cocoon and probably unconscious and probably not yet a lich?

Uhhh don't know how to end these things but that's all i got for now. Also HUGE respect to Grizzly for coming up with all this and connecting so many things and parallels. Because some of the information comes from as far back as episode 32, and its still relevant and accurate and comes up in the plot now, and oh my god.

[eat-the-lemons]

What kind of plants would be your favorite characters?

Okay hot takes coming (also these aren't all of my favourite characters because there are so many of them, so to keep it short it's basically just the main characters of some more popular media I like)

Crowley would be some kind of potted houseplant for obvious reasons

Aziraphale would be an olive tree. I can't really tell you why but yes

Hannibal and Will would be two trees with their brances twisted together. The kind of tree is irrelevant

Abigail Hobbs would be wormwood

Sherlock and John would both be cacti

Edwin Payne is literally a barley field and Charles Rowland is a willow tree. And Monty is mint

Seymour Glass would be some kind of wildflower patch

Klaus Hargreeves would be a tiger lily & Viktor Hargreeves would be lily of the valley

Lila Pitts would be a venus flytrap

Morpheus would be a magnolia tree

Jack Twist would be currants and Ennis Del Mar would be raspberries

Todd Anderson would be some kind of pine and Neil Perry would be oak

Loth Beck would be lavender

Boka János would be a hyacinth and Nemecsek Ernő would be a daffodil

Nighty would be a copper beech tree and Sparker would be a sunflower

[goldenpinof]

.

[ask-elliotgang]

[imperatorrrrr]

You get the ability to make the team of your choice win a cup, but you have to sacrifice one player you love from that team. Would you do it? And if so, who would you sacrifice? ❤

this feels like a trap. or a monkeys paw situation.

I would do it for sure because that’s how hockey works right. You gotta build a team to win the Cup and that team always changes and it never stays the same.

I don’t want to say who because I don’t want to put it into the ether…

Alls I’ll say is there’s a player that has been rumored/speculated about who may be reaching the end of his time with the Devils. Kind of a writing on the wall situation.

I don’t think said player is gone for yet. But he was on the block for potential trades during the season and I think the consensus is if he doesn’t have a major bounce back year this season those conversations are gonna get way louder.

But I have faith. That he will stay because he can’t leave because they can’t do this. He will bounce back. Last season was a curse for everyone.

So it would be him in so far as he’s already being murmured about.

There is also another option that I would be okay with losing completely different player but again don’t want to put any bad anything out into the universe.

TLDR: yes, I would sacrifice a beloved player to do this.

I just ain’t saying names ‘cause this team is surrounded by so much evil eye.

[top-wing]

Could you ramble to us about topwing?

Actually, me in 2021-2022 maybe would've done a better job at this 😔👍 But I'll gladly do so anyway!

I haven't actually watched a full episode for a while now, so I probably have forgotten a lot. I'm not sure what to talk first, the characters? the plot? the concepts that make no sense if you think about too deeply, but otherwise compels me? Idk where to start !!

Characters. What really brought me into the show was how fun the characters interacted. The cadets all just have a really fun dynamic among each other, and I liked how the instructors acted mature enough as adults while still having that 'downplayed to focus on the kid characters' thing going on. For characters in a 'mid' average preschooler show, I think their characters are pretty fleshed out in their own right. Their personalities just bounce off each other well. I wrote something about the cadets' friendships some time ago on Wattpad, tho maybe I should try moving some those contents on this blog as well.

Lore (?). For the show's plot or I guess lore (?), there's a lot that could be fixed and changed (which some people in the Top Wing community agree and have taken matters into their own hands hehe), tho the show presents you with just enough interesting things, while keeping a lot of things unanswered and vague, so that it can keep being expanded on and explored. And I think that mostly what got me to stay interested in Top Wing even after years of ending abruptly with only 2 seasons. I'm slowly trying to get back to doing stuff based on canon, however I'm really just having fun creating something within the Top WIng universe as well lol.

Expanding the story and possibilities. And even if you don't add new things, there is actually a lot to work with the canon if you're eager to explore possibilities and willing to dig deeper into the shallow water that is the show lol. You've got the academy itself, which presents more interesting background to it in season 2. There's other academies, other cadets, Speedy and Bea's history of being cadets themselves, Inspector Eagle Eye and the whole concept of inspectors, Swift's grandpa who used to be an instructor & famous pilot in Big Swirl, etc. The antagonists characters and their whole deal, whom are quite full of their own charm but never really used to their full potential. Then there's Big Swirl Island, filled with mysteries of its own lore, mainly got to do with pirates and probably dodos. Example: the pirate ship wrecks, lost treasures, the whole thing about Kersplash Canyon and Dodos (tho honestly, this one is kinda "ehh" to me. if to complain about how this show handles some things, we'll be here all day), and the rest of the parts of Big Swirl Island that were not shown on-screen. There's so many headcanons and theories or AUs to play around with.

Well, that's all I have in my brain for now. There are more stuff I've written on Wattpad if you want to check them out, though it's understandable if you don't want to go there just for that LMAO. Most times I assume people here are also on Wattpad and have seen my stuff, but if there's enough interest to move content from there, I might consider it in the future!

Anyway, thanks for sending this in, anon!!!! Had fun writing this :] There's a lot of stuff going on for me to do more organized stuff with Top Wing, but I hope to continue just having fun with the series and the community for years to come 🩷❤️🧡💚

[pokemonranch]

Hi Clay! I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice?

So I’m currently a Pokémon trainer, but I would like to settle down somewhere. I’m very used to having my Pokémon outside of their poke balls and wandering around with me (I’m one of those trainers that camps in the woods like a ‘hermit’) but if I want to settle down, some of my Pokémon wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. I can’t have a full grown aggron and farigiraf just free roaming a house. So I was thinking about starting a ranch somewhere. At least then my Pokémon have a lot of area to roam and I can be out there doing things with them. I absolutely adore Pokémon and I would like to think I’ve gotten pretty experienced with handling them. I just don’t know how to go about owning a ranch? Do I need to have a license or proper qualifications? I don’t want to have to keep my Pokémon in their poke balls for most of the day, and I think owning a ranch would be a good way to stay active + interact with pokemon without the constant travelling that comes with doing the gym challenges.

Many thanks for your time!

And if you’re interested I have Almond (Aggron), Pip (Farigiraf), Kyra (Zoroark), Raia (Mismagius), Creampuff (Dragapult) and Cheerio (Weavile)

I'm gonna break this down in what you need legally and what you need personally

First, let's get the "boring" part out of the way. You need to have a permit before starting an official ranch, AKA: You need to be a licensed Rancher before being able to start your own farm! If you are a Trainer, the process shouldn't be an issue for you: Mostly consists of ensuring that you are able to take proper care of different kinds of 'mon long-term (Including working and fully evolved ones!); and then an internship of 3 to 6 months on an already established ranch so you can get the gist of it.

Depending on what you want, you can register your ranch as a Shelter (That means, people and other organizations can send you foster 'mons) or Private-Owned (You take care of your own business and choose which 'mons you want to host, and they have your Trainer ID). Whatever the case, you'll need to talk to your local Rangers and Pokemon Center beforehand, so they know you're in the area and can be in contact if needed!

In my opinion, it's a hard job, but one that's really worth it. You seem to take great care of your team, and choosing what's best for them is what makes a good Rancher! I'm sure you'll do great if you decide to go for it, and your 'mons will help you all the way!

[autobots-in-training]

First aid are you ok? You seem very on the hedge and prone to anger lately. Has something specific happened?

First Aid- Everyone is stupid!! I hate them all!! Springer is the only one that doesn't make me angry! Arcee sometimes does, but she and Springer are my best friends so its fine!

Sideswipe- Seems like little Aid is angy again.

First Aid- Shut up!! I hate you and your stupid twin!!

Sunstreaker- Woah, Aid, we messed up, we know that-

First Aid- You aren't allowed to call me that!! Either of you!

Sunstreaker- Kid, seriously, you've been so angry!

Sideswipe- Yeah, its getting kinda concerning.

First Aid- It's none of your business!

Sideswipe- Is it something to do with your creators?

First Aid- ...

Sunstreaker- It does.

Sideswipe- Come on, tell us.

First Aid- I... not on camera. Please, just turn it off.

Sideswipe- Alright.

*end transmission*

[auspicious-poppy]

still thinking about that one tumblr post that went something like "I didn't know why people fought wars over the bible until I discovered fandoms"

[speedofsoundsketches]

Quick! What is better: an entity that produces great content but treats its fans like crap or an entity that produces sometimes-good-but-sometimes-bad content yet appreciates its own fans?

All I want out of any game company is for them to just maintain the structural integrity of their series and principles it was built on while taking care to make innovative entries without compromising on quality.

Because THAT to me is indication of a company caring for its fans. They make a good product that's worth the money I'll pay to own it.

You're probably referring to Nintendo with this but at the end of the day dude, they actually make consistently quality entries that people are willing to shell out money to get. And they treat their Mascot series far better in that regard.

Business is business after all.

[fromthecageof-broker]

Huh?! What happened? Why are you smol?

Um, how long would this last??

-a concerned(?) Valk.

I have no idea how I'm this small friend.

-B

[doodlemunster]

You can't just leave me hanging with "great stories"! Would you kindly share your some stories from your Escape Room days that were the:

1. Craziest

2. Silliest

3. Wtf-iest (moment that made you go wtf/question humanity)

LMAO oh I am more than happy to tell them!! Strap in, cuz I def have a few!

Some of these stories kind of fall into all three categories and mixtures of both, but I'm gonna do my best!

Craziest

would have to be a story that I tell almost every time someone asks me about my time as a game guide cuz it THREW me for a loop.

Okay so, my workplace would offer group deals for companies looking to do 'team building exercises'. We have four themed rooms, so all four would be blocked off for their entire company to split up into. This was absolute chaos cuz our place was s m a l l and every time these events happened, it was damn near elbow to elbow.

Anyways, we had an insurance company come in to do the rooms and I was tasked with guiding them through our basketball themed room. This room had two hidden rooms separated by doors you had to solve and unlock. Each one even had its own TV too.

My team comprised of all women and they were pretty quiet, so I had to give them some extra nudges, but otherwise they did well and at the end, really got into the spirit of things! Sadly tho, they didn't break out so I went in to show them how and boy howdy, this is when things get interesting.

One puzzle you have to complete is this brochure with a cross word puzzle. Many people think you have to use this brochure for the entire game, but that's not true. It's a one and done thing. However, these ladies were CONVINCED it was crucial. Anyways, they handed it off to me and this piece of paper is SOAKED. Like, real soggy and its ripping apart. I'm confused because this is the worst state I've ever seen one of our brochures in. Didn't question it, continued to show them everything and ask if they had a good time.

As I'm ushering them up to the front, one lady approaches me and tells me that she panicked in one of the rooms. See, this room is about the 'rules of basketball' and that someone is running in to steal it and you have to find them before this mysterious thief gets it, so the TVs will periodically do emergency broadcasting beeps and have a panicked basketball player telling you you are their only hope. It DOES indeed get people panicked and makes kids cry at times.

So, she continues to tell me she believed the brochure was the actual Rules of Basketball and needed to hide it where no one could find it. At first, the way she worded it, I didn't quite get it till the whole group was done and gone. MY DUDES, SHE STUFFED THE BROCHURE IN HER PANTS.

She was sweating and this brochure had been stuffed next to her cheeks. As with all rooms, we game guides sit in the back watching and hearing the group to give them clues. I watched these people like a hawk, but she sneaked that brochure down her pants with EASE. So, in conclusion, I had a sweaty ripped brochure covered in booty sweat.

Silliest

I got two stories for this category as they are simply silly and light hearted.

The first one is a big family that also did the basketball room. One of these family members is this little girl, who couldn't be much older then like, 5. The adults were in a tizzy trying to figure out the answer to this puzzle, which was a number combo. It's loud and a lot of members are talking over each other, until I hear this little girl just spit out the answer but NO ONE heard her.

In these rooms, there is a small TV up above where I send clues and when I send one, it'll be beep. So I immediately sent them a message 'the little girl just said it! she said the answer!'. The family reads the clue and immediately, ALL the attention is on this little girl. All the adults are like 'What is it? What did you say??' and the girl is NOT prepared for this attention. She's giggling, smiling shyly and saying 'I don't know! I can't remember!' and the adults are scrambling to figure it out.

So, because the whole family was already SO close to breaking out and technically a member of their party DID say the right answer, I repeated what the little girl said to the group and they got the puzzle. It was really funny and a great time.

What running these rooms have taught me is that kids are VERY good at these escape rooms. They can by pass the bullshit and get to the actual puzzles/answers. They just need an adult to keep them focused, that's their only downside. I had SO many kids blurt out what they think the puzzle is and have adults straight up ignore them. So, I'd take the extra step and tell the adults to listen to their kids.

The second silly story is about a group of four who came to do our Y2K inspired room. This room theme was about how you are stuck at a New Years Eve party and its just about to be the year 2000, but its up to YOU to stop the computers from crashing and the world ending. I liked this one cuz you could listen to early 2000's music while the room ran. I always knew I had 3 minutes remaining in the room once Mambo Number 5 played.

Long story short, this group was struggling with a puzzle and one of them suggested to google the answer. Not sure how they would do that, but regardless, I was about to send them a message to NOT do that.

My worry was totally unwarranted, as another from their team blurted out 'You can't do that!! It's the year 2000, phones don't EXIST YET'. Which had both me and the rest of the group cracking up.

WTF Moments

as much as I loved being a game guide, I did experience a lot of fuckery in the rooms.

There is a reason most of the stuff in escape rooms are bolted down. People WILL try to destroy the room. Usually not intentionally, but some shit heads will try to on purpose, even AFTER you tell them to stop. So, sadly I do have quite a few stories.

I had a group of women come in to do our Civil War themed escape room. This room was all dark except for the lanterns you would use to pick them up and see around the room.

I had one lady yank on the portraits on the walls which I told her they do NOT come off. I told her once, she ignored it and continued. I had told her a second time and she STILL didn't heed it and RIPPED the fucker off the wall. This thing was ANCHORED INTO CONCRETE. I don't know how she did it.

Our cameras weren't the best so through the dark, the talking and everything else, I don't think I knew she did this till I came into the room to find the picture on the ground.

In the hidden room there was a pipe that is attached to the wall but is pretty fragile. This same lady kept grabbing it and pulling it at it, in which I had to tell her multiple times to STOP. She finally did after goading from both me and her team mates (her team mates especially because they were catching on that I was only sending them messages about her messing up the room). I was about to kick them out, but thank god she finally stopped.

Another group, two women, got mad at me for penalizing them for being super tardy (this isn't some unspoken rule, its a common rule at most escape rooms and is both posted on our website AND in the lobby). So, they picked every lock open in the Y2K room, messed up the flow of the puzzles, and in turn, didn't break out (womp womp).

Another group of two, a wife and a husband, did our Y2K room as an anniversary activity. The wife was nothing but smiles and was super excited to play. Her demeanor and attitude did a total 180 once the room started.

The husband got to looking at the walls, the decor, the drawers, etc. and was speaking out loud "hey, i think this might be a clue" "hey, I think this might be a puzzle", so on and so forth. She never really replied to these questions, instead ignored him and looked elsewhere. He then began solving these puzzles on his own and opening things up, which sent her into a TIZZY.

All of a sudden, she is getting pissed. "You've done this before haven't you?" "well how did you get that so fast? you done this before!" just over and over. He continued to deny it and would calmly say 'no, I haven't. I just found this and figured it was a puzzle'.

He gets to the secret room all on his own and now she is SUPER mad. Convinced he did this on his own, she sits herself down on a chair and exclaims 'Well, since you've clearly done this room before, I'll just sit here till your done' and crosses her arms.

Well, this is real fuckin awkward and I have....no idea what to say. I had tried to send freebies, but it didn't seem to help ease the tension nor make her any less pissed.

Toward the end, she did sort of try to help, but it was more like angrily stomping from place to place. At one point, she retorts 'I didn't think you would get it. You usually aren't this smart'.

which gob smacked the hell out of me. Holy jesus. This woman was terrible. I was reeeaaally not looking forward to coming into that room to ask them how things went, but ya know, its part of the job.

That's when her demeanor changed AGAIN. I opened up the door and said 'Oooh I'm sorry you guys didn't make it! Did you have fun tho?' and this woman turned to me, beaming and cheerfully saying 'omg yes it was so much fun! Were we close?' and while I was thankful it wasn't horribly awkward, it had me so incredibly confused. The poor guy was quiet but still very kind with me, but I just felt awful for him. If she was like this in an escape room, how was she like behind closed doors at home??

We also had some racist asshats come into our rooms and we had to kick them out and ban them from ever playing again. I wasn't there when this happened, so I don't have the full deets, but like damn dude.

Honorable Mentions and Other Tidbits

I had a group from Australia come in and give me a little nudge nudge, wink wink to tell me their 'coffee' was definitely not coffee. They were awesome.

I had a group forget my name, so they just called me God to ask for clues

On one of my first couple days of work, I looked away from my group for only a few minutes before discovering they had unscrewed and taken the vent cover off in my room. I never typed so fast in my life to tell them THERE ARE NO CLUES THERE OMG PLEASE DON'T STICK YOUR HAND IN THERE

I wasn't there for this, but my co-worker told me a story of a couple who played the basketball room, only for them to break up half way in. They sat on opposite ends of a bench in silence till time ran out

I had several instances of people getting VERY mad at me for giving them freebies.

A lot of people weirdly just...straight refused to pay attention to the TV where I gave clues. This was a bigger problem then I thought it would be for some reason.

If I had to give any tips on going to an escape room, It'd be this:

Be nice to your game guide. This should be a given, but you'd be surprised the amount of times people would forget I can see and hear them and say nasty things about me. If you are kind, you can get yourself some freebies in crucial moments or, in some super rare cases, even get some time added to your room. They WANT you to break out and are just as excited as you when you make it!

When a game guide asks if you have questions, def ask some! There is NO such thing as a dumb question. Escape rooms in of themselves are weird and not many people even know what they really /are/ or what the goal is. I know I was more than happy to answer them if asked. You'll feel better and do better if you ask.

Definitely get there at least 10-15 minutes early. Most escape rooms require you to sign a waiver and the guide has to go over all the rules before it starts, so it just makes it easier on them to keep their rooms on time. Like I said, most places have time penalties if you are late and that's simply to make sure the schedule doesn't get messed up. If you are lucky and the escape room place is small, like ours, you could get away with it, but there were times where even /we/ had to put our foot down and enact the policy.

Thank you so much for asking Mysc!! ^o^ So so sorry its a HUGE WALL of text lmaooo I tell stories in text just like I do irl -- long winded and too much context. But I freaking LOVE telling my stories from my game guide days. It was such a hoot.