#But there is a big gap in context to fill in to complete the idea from the first half–that is if they are meant to be a pair like that

[sweetlotusprince]

【哪吒之魔童闹海】破亿海报英译：16亿

【Nezha 2】 Box Office Milestone Poster Translation: 1.6 Billion

From top to bottom:

內地影史動画片票房單日冠军 -> Animated Feature Champion Makes History in the Domestic Box Office Within a Single Day

16亿 -> 1.6 Billion

申小豹：都给哥哥留着 / 将来肯定用的上！ -> Shen Xiaobao：I'll save these for big brother / they will definitely come in handy some day!

Basket：给哥哥 -> For big brother

Round case/box：仙丹 -> Immortality pills

Jar：护发(素/乳)：Hair conditioner

Envelope：红包 -> Red envelope

谢谢记得 一直在路上 -> Thank you for remembering, as you continue on your path

Suggestions on the translations would be appreciated as I work to improve my Chinese. I would also love to read/discuss other interpretations ☺️

Project Overview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

[ringleaderising]

PIGLET APPLICATION #03 RIOT THE RUSTWORN ZEALOT.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:

These Piglets are for lore clans with a tumblr presence (sideblog, FR posting on mainblogs, etc you simply have to be a lore clan who engages with the community here on tumblr.)

Other players with their siblings (and myself with their parents) will be not only welcome to but encouraged to write interclan letters/in character messages to their siblings, and you'll have to be okay with everything that comes with that (On-Site DMs, the potential of a message going unanswered/etc) I would also appreciate if you ping me for the stuff you do with them because I want to see what they get up to <3

If you win one of the siblings, please refrain from applying for another, this is so everyone interested gets an opportunity and a fair shake at taking one of the girls home!

If you're the selected winner, the dragon is yours to do what you please with! (Regene, change species, rename, change gender identities/pronoun preferences, etc) I ask only that you have a lore/character reason for breed or name changes, as they'll be connected to a wider group of dragons that would need to know these things (What kind of dragon their sibling has become, What to call them in letters, etc) and if you can keep them a modern breed so they can keep their cleavers, well that'd just be nice for their old man Pig.

Please honor the basic lore of the dragon you win, you're welcome to rewrite/reinterpret the lore they arrive with, but please don't eliminate that history entirely, since they'll be interwoven with other clans/players!

[and a big thank you to Khadjin for reminding me I never mentioned this yet!] my lore deviates pretty substantially from site lore. however every aspect can be explained within the context of the site, please don't feel like you have to adopt my headcanons to participate in these!- my "Lesser Gods" are nothing more than magically afflicted/overcharged spirits or magically mutated dragons created in a reactor explosion somewhere in Lightning and some timeloop silliness, and the 'Gaps' are highly concentrated leylines caused by this incident. the eleven gods of sornieth remain the only true gods in my lore much like the site on the whole!- the Piglets and their parents simply lived under the affliction of spirits, cults, and mutated dragons and contextualized them as "Gods" the very same way we create urban myth/legends. While they would know of The Host and the Gaps because of the direct effect both have had on their parents, they are not required to have continued to believe in them as "Higher beings" and can have learned in their time away from their family that these things are likely, little more than the arcane gone haywire.

BLANK APPLICATION

Please copy/paste and fill this out in a Reblog here on tumblr or send it to me through my submit box here so I can keep track of things on a per-dragon basis for the course of the 48-hours each application will be active!

FR Username/Numbers: Basic Clan Lore: (just a general description of the lore/area of your clan you intend to place this hatchling in!) Plans For Dragon: (A little description of any of your ideas, headcanons, story beats, etc you're thinking of for the dragon you're applying for! This can be anything you've got in mind, scries, outfits, etc, feel free to go as big or as little as you want, I wanna see what's going on in your head!) Intended Payment: (These dragons will be PWYW, but I need everyone to acknowledge they're not free, so whatever you're planning on paying/trading for them, even if you change your mind when the time comes, stick something here.)

RINGLEADER'S HEADCANONS

These are just some smaller lore bits and pieces you're welcome to use or disregard for each child, things that I couldn't fit into the bios in a way that made sense. much like the example outfit photo up-top, this is for fun or stuff to help get ideas flowing, if you're stuck!

Riot is almost completely magically null, and her prosthetics run on the magic she harvests from her prey, or from the larger pockets of it around Sornieth. When she left home, Pig and Sow ensured she had enough filled cores to keep her leg and tail functioning for a few months, as they are both well aware she was already not exactly the most capable combatant.

While her relationship with her sisters is somewhat strained after an early life being spent teased for being "unlucky" they've all grown beyond this, and Riot doesn't hold it against them- she's the only one to lose something important in their Godfall, after all.

A scholar at her core, Riot is a seeker of intelligence as much as she is of her charge, flourishing in the pursuit of knowledge of all forms, she has a functional awareness of most everything, from invention to incantation, and is always seeking more alongside the "God" her charge calls her to.

While some of her siblings have chosen to paint their faces in honor of their parents, Riot instead wears her family loyalty through tattoos imbued with magic- the blood constantly staining her parents' claws and tail marked into scales as a glowing grasp on her three remaining feet.

THIS APPLICATION IS OPEN FROM 3:30 PM DECEMBER 6TH, 2024, TO 3:30 PM DECEMBER 8TH, 2024. REBLOGS AFTER THIS TIME WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM THE RUNNING.

And here's the pinglist! (Starting to think maybe you can only ping so many people at once?)

@hor-wod-flir @harpyartisan @fuiran @terra-tortoise @bawkrya @pocketmouse-fr @spongyspingy-rising @avalonianrising @clansunsharp @khadjin-fr

[tubbytarchia]

Apparently despite the length I somehow did not make my point clear. Nor was it "hatemail" as that other person stated, but I already predicted that given given the double standards of tone interpretation I see here. This is unrelated, but sometimes seeing how you but especially your followers talk about things I disagree with makes me completely reexamine the things I do agree with, and if theyre equally as unflattering an interpretation of other people's opinions and words. If I've also ever used "can't someone have an opinion" as a way to dismiss other opinions.

I wasn't criticizing you for having criticism, or telling you not to analyze things deeper. Nor did I say anything about whether you maintag or not? I follow you for other things I'm not a Lizzie stan who dug too deep and hate you for having your own opinions. I did acknowledge that there are and always will be people who examine things much more shallowly than you or I and so there will always be some work out there that your critique applies to wholeheartedly, because it would be disingenuous not to. There's always going to be people who don't examine the ideas they like too closely. Usually, personally, I find those are people who also heavily project onto the characters so I find myself not nearly as comfortable casually lumping the misogyny card onto them with mcyt, because its their personal passions and experiences projected onto a character that is already much more closely tied to a cc's personal experiences and choices, and for me it falls into a similar vein as how you can't say a real person living their real life is queerbaiting. There's a level of personability and depth, due to, ultimately, being the persona of a real person, to these characters that your critique often ignores where you treat things like theyre a problem of their writing rather than a feature of their character, and the fanworks that incorperate those things.

I was saying that Lizzie does not get boiled down to one note as often as you portray, to where it deserves to be the only thing about her talked about rather than actually talking about her. and that her relationship with Jimmy is not based in misogyny or flattening of her character into "big sister", as their relationship gets boiled down to within these critiques. That the people who complain about such fail to go on to create anything to fill the gaps they supposedly see from their once yearly skim in her tags after a big event that involved not just her, to instead simply complain about thoughts and works that exist not existing. And the way you talk about it feeling dismissive of all of the care and thoughtfulness and fanworks that are more numerous than you portray as existing when talking about her. Your critique feels shallow, is what I mean, viewing things in isolation with no context and premade assumptions about others thoughts and feelings.

I also am not particularly happy with how you talk about the subject of seablings being an empires 1 topic, either, mainly because you talk about it in the exact way that is what I am talking about as hypocritical. Many things are elaborations based on events of previous series incorperated into a larger narrative and dismissal of the way their narratives are connected in secret life as misogyny and a detriment to their characters is picking and choosing that this specific history between these two characters is outdated and not as relevant even while utilizing events and dynamics that happened in tandem without question.

You can have your opinions and critiques, I'm not trying to take that away from you and I know it won't change your mind so I'm not trying to I guess. Especially not while surrounded by people who dismiss other opinions and critiques as hatemail and not as smart and feeding into the idea that someone who disagrees just hates critique in their happy fandom space. I just want to talk aboit my own opinions and how your critique makes me feel, which is that you don't really talk about Lizzie at all except to complain that other people who feel passionately enough about her to create and think about her character don't do so in the way you like. Which I suppose is entirely within your right to do, but you do it so dismissively of any other takes with an entourage of anons declaring your opinion correct and laughing at any other opinion, it's downright frustrating.

I guess this is probably getting too long to be coherent again...

I don't condone what that anon said as although they were undoubtedly referring to you, whose input I don't regard as hatemail, I have tended to receive blatant hate of no substance and didn't think anything of it when replying to it in a casual manner. I would appreciate if there weren't in-fighting between anons for lack of a better word and maybe I should have left that ask unanswered

For that much I'm sorry as I feel like your response has been fuelled by it and you're being very defensive and dismissive. You continue to both make assumptions about me and accuse me, just as you accused me of policing people, which is the only reason I brought up maintagging and reasoned with you why that's not the case. My opinions on my blog are very clearly stated to be just that, and filterable. I can understand that you are genuinely frustrated, which is why I want to give you the time of day and respond to you honestly, as this is the type of engagement I encourage. But if it is genuine criticism or discussion you wish to have, then frankly speaking, you accusing me of being a fake fan because of how you assume I absorb, interpret and create for media, in a way that goes against your belief of doing so correctly (in order to be able to call oneself a fan), which is incredibly subjective, has no place in this conversation and I would hope you have it in you to agree

Additionally, you fault me for levying criticism on the fandom for how they treat a character, because those same fandom goers imprint on those characters. And you don't draw total distinction between character and creator, but I do. I understand people do imprint on characters and especially creators, but please understand that that is not my problem. I think it's absurd to alleviate something of criticism just because of its nature or because of what it means to someone, if that were the case, we should be letting people get away with just about anything including genuinely harmful beliefs and practises, and I don't see why you or anyone else should be able to draw a line in the sand as to what can be criticized and what cannot. Even so, I have done nothing to go out of my way to police these people. If they see and are hurt by the way I speak, as are you, you have all the tools at hand to filter and block me. The same way you might be frustrated by the fact that I do not draw connections between characters and creators - we are inherently different in our interpretation in that, so please just block me if you don't like it instead of trying to explain to me how I'm doing it wrong as opposed to you. The same way you are frustrated that I, as many others in the fandom, don't view Seablings as having relevance outside of ESMP1. It is incredibly invalidating of you to call that train of thought shallow and prop up your own as somehow righteous

I've remained clear about my stances whilst also remaining respectful and as in depth as I think the subject matter warrants. I'm not going to continue to reason with you as to why I think one or the other because I know that you will continue to disagree, and my opinion will remain unchanged. I understand your frustration and I wanted to try and cap this off politely. If you read this as being dismissive or bullying, then I don't know what you expect of me. To reiterate: we are going to have to disagree, and I'm not going to hear you out any longer

[cyberbaptism]

You see i agree with this but the wording of it comes off as very chiding and shame inducing and overall negative and it makes people double down. The word "fetishization" is sooo charged with negative connotations that it obscures the fact that fetish is not really a good or bad thing, it just is. What makes it good or bad is everything else surrounding it, which is what what this person is actually getting at I believe. Whenever I see posts like this my first instinct is to feel ashamed of myself, because, big surprise, a lot of things that get me off are in some way shape or form rooted in dichotomous power dynamics which are themselves rooted in some form of patriarchy. It always comes down to The Powerful and The Powerless. Sometimes they switch roles which is erotic in and of itself or, when I'm in a particular mood that I can only describe as "romantic", the gap closes almost completely. Almost. I still need Two Opposing Things Coming Together narrative to arouse me. It is HOW they come together—is it coerced? Unexamined? Are all parties involved aware that these dynamics should not be practiced in the real world even though the inspiration for them comes from real life circumstances?—that people take issue with which is a completely valid critique.

Still, I feel a lot of shame. I suppose this is the age story of a feminist panicking because her kinks are misogynistic in some way. I don't know what to do with these feelings, both the shame and the attraction to things that I ideologically do not agree with. It's even harder navigating this in real life contexts because finding a man who will not jump at the opportunity to act like a piece of shit in bed just because i expressed a need that could be classified as me wanting to be "submissive" is almost impossible. Unless he loves me, of course, but honestly I find it hard to imagine that a straight man could ever possibly grasp the complexity of what I'm talking about. Even if he does love me, the mere thought of him finding the idea that I might be a "strong independent woman in the streets that only submits to him in bed" attractive fills me with unimaginable disappointment. Because that's just so typical, isn't it? Of course you'd get off on power, of course, that's all you've ever known really. Power is good, having it feels amazing, and I'm the freaky one for asking you to use it, because there's something wrong with me for wanting to feel powerless. You don't question it because you assume that's the natural order of things, that I've always been less than you in every aspect and my sexual desires are just a reflection of that. You get off on it because you think what makes it hot is the exaggeration of the natural, but I find it hot for a lot more complex reasons, namely, the ability to completely and utterly shed myself of my own power (which I do in fact have) and trust you not to do anything to me that I didn't explicitly ask you to do and then, when it's over, trust that you'll go back to earnestly and honestly seeing me as the equal that i am. It's about trust and love for me.

I used to try and convince myself that I am a full dom, some dominatrix type shit, in order to circumvent this shame i feel. And while I do find it hot (see the role reversal point above) i don't find it hot all of the time and not nearly as much as the same old dynamics that were imposed onto me. A very critical person might try and suggest that even this is wrong, that I should fight the imposition as much as I can and "fake it til you make it" my way out of simply enjoying all manner of power play. True, I'm partial to one particular kind that just so happens to mirror real world social dynamics, but can you really fault me for that? I can't change it. I really cannot.

(as I type this i kinda see something someone might point out as a double standard: that I ask for people not to fault me for defaulting to the imposition even though I was shaming men defaulting to their own imposition in the paragraph above. But I don't think it really is a double standard.)

What really bums me out is the fact that I might never find a man who's self aware enough, emotionally intelligent enough and in love with me enough to actually consider everything I'm talking about. Ultimately, trusting a man that much is pure fantasy to me, which is why I'll always be attracted to fictional ones more than the real ones. I just can't trust them.

[citynewsglobe]

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[goopgirlie813]

It is also very clear that none of these people have meaningfully changed their opinions on a topic after being wrong.

I've had that moment of "oh shit, the thing I've been arguing for constantly and insulting people over is wrong. Wtf am I doing?" And it completely shifted my view of other people in a way that these folks have clearly never experienced.

Like hey, do you know what cognitive dissonance feels like? I do, now. It feels like getting angry, defensive, or otherwise resistant to engaging with material that has the potential to contradict your worldview. Because someone somewhere has made a good point but you're emotionally attatched to your opinion so instead of conceding that there may be something to it your mind treats the idea like a threat and has a fight or flight type reaction to information you disagree with. It feels like being emotionally invested in your opinions. It feels like having strong gut reactions to things associated with alternative opinions. It sounds like, "I don't need to read it, I already know what its gonna say." It looks like digging into and picking apart opposing evidence in search of something that will spin it your way or allow it to be dismissed.

And for the most part, you don't even know its happening. Like, yeah you have resistance to meaningfully engaging with other opinions and you're constantly spinning up hypotheticals to fill in the gaps and stretching the meanings of words to make things kinder to your position. You would think that would be obvious. But unfortunately its not. The brain obscures your own bias from you by explaining it away.

And this is the case for other people as well. Often when you see behavior that makes you think "they secretly know im right but dont wanna admit it," you're describing cognitive dissonance. As in, someone with your opinion made a good point but they had a defensive reaction that obscured their faulty reasoning in order to protect their ego. Or something of the sort. But they arent as actively aware as that phrasing implies.

Now I don't have the authority to say 100%, but I am fairly confident that the reason there is so much hate and anger toward other opinions is rooted in the fact that opinions are tied to identity. Its not just "I think abortion should be accessible," its "I am pro-choice." Its not just "I think the patriarchy should be dismantled," its "I am a feminist." Its not just "I think racism should be actively opposed," its "I am antiracist."

We turn every opinion into an identity with a community of people reinforcing that "this is the correct opinion." And the result is that people's identities get tied up in their opinion affiliation and having their opinion challenged turns into an attack on their identity. This puts disagreements on the level of a self defense situation and people lash out.

People going into comments or askboxes and sending hate and insults? Very possibly a fight response.

People vanishing and refusing to engage with a conversation after a point has been laid out? Very possibly a flight response.

Thats not always whats behind the behavior, but sometimes it definitely is whats happening. It think that fight or flight response to cognitive dissonance framework can explain a lot of unsavory behavior on social media.

Tl;DR people are not evil human brains are just super prone to bias and our current social context just amplifies that big time

"Those people believe x. We know they're wrong because y, but here's how they got to this point."

"So you think x!"

"No, I'm explaining what they think."

"You're making excuses for it and arguments that support it!"

"I'm laying out the arguments they give. I'm not making them, I'm showing them. I broke down why it's wrong and how it became a prevalent view."

"You're an x-apologist!"

Right, sorry, my mistake. Those people don't have a distorted worldview that leads them to cruelty, they're just evil by nature, their essence is darkness and violence, there's no humanity in them, go ahead and fantasize about wiping out whatever population you marked as bad. Didn't mean to interrupt your fantasy. I can see you're quite attached to it. Go on, advocate for whatever useless violence you think should happen in retaliation. I thought violence should be a horrible but sometimes-necessary tool, but it can be a goal, that's fine too. Everyone needs a dream I guess.

[atliqtechnologies]

Building a Scalable Startup – Top 5 Essential Steps for 2024

Picture this: You’re standing at the base of Mount Everest, staring up at its towering peak. Your dream? To not just climb it, but to build an entire city on its summit. Sounds impossible, right? Well, welcome to the world of scalable startups in 2024. Building a scalable startup isn’t just about reaching the top – it’s about constructing an empire that can withstand the thin air, unpredictable weather, and treacherous terrain of the business world. It’s about creating a venture that doesn’t just survive the climb but thrives at altitudes where others falter.

In this guide, we’re not just handing you a map and a compass. We’re equipping you with a state-of-the-art, AI-powered jet pack, complete with a built-in oxygen supply and a Swiss Army knife of business tools. Whether you’re a first-time founder or a serial entrepreneur, this step-by-step guide for 2024 will help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of startups. So, strap in and hold tight. We’re about to embark on a journey that will take your idea from sea level to stratosphere. Are you ready to build a startup that doesn’t just scale mountains, but moves them? Let’s begin our ascent to startup success!

What exactly is a scalable startup? It’s not just another buzzword in the entrepreneurial lexicon. At its core, a scalable startup is a business designed to grow exponentially without being hampered by its structure or available resources. A traditional business model stretches until it snaps under pressure. A scalable startup, however, is like a rubber band that magically produces more material as you pull it, growing stronger and larger without breaking.

Key characteristics of a scalable startup include:

Replicable business model: The core offering can be reproduced and distributed widely without a proportional cost increase.

Technology-driven: Often leverages cutting-edge tech to automate processes and reach a global audience.

High growth potential: Capable of capturing a large market share rapidly.

Efficient use of resources: Can increase revenue significantly without a corresponding rise in operational costs.

Adaptability: Flexible enough to pivot and evolve with market demands.

In 2024, scalability isn’t just about handling increased workload—it’s about thriving under it. It’s the difference between a local food truck and a franchise-ready restaurant chain, or between a freelance coder and the next big SaaS company. Remember, not every successful business needs to be scalable, but every scalable business has the potential to disrupt industries and create massive value.

Market Research and Validation

Effective market research and validation are crucial for building a scalable startup. Here’s a streamlined approach:

Identifying a Scalable Market

Industry Analysis: Examine industry reports and market trends to find sectors with significant demand and growth potential.

Competitor Analysis: Analyze existing players to identify market gaps your startup can fill.

Customer Segmentation: Break down the market into segments based on demographics and behavior to find underserved areas.

Trend Spotting: Stay updated on emerging trends and technologies for a competitive edge.

Conducting Thorough Market Research

Surveys & Questionnaires: Gather quantitative data on customer preferences and pain points.

Interviews: Conduct in-depth interviews to gain qualitative insights into customer needs.

Focus Groups: Use small groups to discuss perceptions and gather feedback.

Secondary Research: Utilize existing research reports and market studies for additional context.

Validating Your Idea with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Identify Core Features: Focus on the most critical features that address your market’s primary needs.

Develop the MVP: Build a functional MVP quickly and cost-effectively.

Launch & Test: Release the MVP to a small target segment and monitor its performance.

Gathering and Analyzing Feedback

User Feedback: Collect feedback through surveys, interviews, and analytics.

Data Analysis: Analyze usage data to identify patterns and trends.

Iterate & Improve: Use feedback to refine your product, making necessary adjustments.

Continuous Feedback Loop: Regularly collect and analyze feedback to ensure your product evolves with market demands.

By thoroughly researching your market and validating your idea with an MVP, you establish a strong foundation for a scalable startup, minimizing risks and ensuring a better product-market fit.

Building a Strong Foundation and Team

Creating a solid foundation and assembling the right team is crucial for scaling your startup. Here’s how to get started:

Creating a Solid Business Plan

Executive Summary: Brief overview of your mission and goals.

Market Analysis: Research your industry, target market, and competitors.

Business Model: Describe your products/services and revenue streams.

Marketing and Sales Strategy: Outline customer acquisition and retention plans.

Operational Plan: Detail daily operations, logistics, and resources.

Financial Plan: Provide revenue projections, expenses, and funding needs.

Setting Clear, Achievable Goals and Milestones

Setting well-defined goals and milestones is crucial for tracking your progress and keeping your team focused. 

SMART Goals: Ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Short-term and Long-term: Balance immediate objectives with long-term vision to maintain momentum and strategic direction.

Milestones: Break down larger goals into smaller, manageable milestones to monitor progress and celebrate achievements.

Establishing a Strong Company Culture

Core Values: Define and promote your company’s core values.

Leadership: Lead by example to inspire your team.

Communication: Foster transparency and open dialogue.

Employee Engagement: Involve employees in decision-making and recognize contributions.

Continuous Learning: Encourage professional development and continuous improvement.

Identifying Key Roles and Hiring the Right Talent

Key Roles: Identify essential positions for growth (e.g., CTO, CMO, CFO).

Skills and Fit: Seek candidates with the right skills and cultural alignment.

Recruitment Strategy: Use job boards, social media, networking, and referrals.

Interview Process: Assess technical skills, cultural fit, and growth potential.

Onboarding: Implement a thorough onboarding program to integrate new hires.

By focusing on these key areas, your startup will be well-positioned to scale successfully and manage growth effectively.

Developing Scalable Technology

Developing scalable technology is essential for your startup’s growth. Here’s a concise guide on choosing the right technology stack, building robust infrastructure, following software development best practices, and leveraging cloud services and automation tools.

Choosing the Right Technology Stack

Fit for Purpose: Align technologies with business needs.

Scalability: Choose scalable languages and frameworks (e.g., Python, React).

Community Support: Favor well-supported technologies.

Flexibility: Ensure easy integration and future upgrades.

Ensuring Your Infrastructure Can Handle Growth

Scalable Architecture: Use microservices or serverless architectures.

Load Balancing: Distribute traffic evenly across servers.

Monitoring and Alerts: Track performance and set up alerts.

Redundancy and Failover: Ensure high availability with redundancy mechanisms.

Best Practices for Software Development and Maintenance

Agile Methodologies: Implement Scrum or Kanban.

Version Control: Use systems like Git.

Code Reviews: Conduct regular reviews for quality.

Testing: Implement automated unit and integration tests.

CI/CD: Set up pipelines for continuous integration and deployment.

Securing Funding and Financial Management

Securing funding and managing finances are critical steps for scaling your startup. Here’s an overview of the various funding options, how to prepare a compelling pitch deck and best practices for financial planning and cash flow management.

Overview of Funding Options

Venture Capital (VC): Provides significant capital in exchange for equity. Ideal for startups with high growth potential.

Angel Investors: Wealthy individuals who invest their own money in early-stage startups, often in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.

Crowdfunding: Raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via online platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

Government Grants and Loans: Non-dilutive funding options provided by government programs to support startups and small businesses.

Bootstrapping: Using personal savings or revenue from the business to fund growth, avoiding external funding sources.

Preparing a Compelling Pitch Deck

Introduction: Briefly introduce your startup and its mission.

Problem: Clearly define the problem your startup solves.

Solution: Explain your product or service and how it addresses the problem.

Market Opportunity: Showcase the market size and potential for growth.

Business Model: Detail how your startup will make money.

Traction: Highlight key metrics, milestones, and achievements.

Team: Introduce your team and their relevant experience.

Financials: Provide an overview of your financial projections.

Funding Ask: Clearly state how much funding you are seeking and what it will be used for.

Financial Planning and Management for Scalability

Budgeting: Create detailed budgets that align with your growth strategy.

Forecasting: Regularly update financial forecasts to reflect changing conditions and new information.

Expense Management: Track and manage expenses to avoid overspending and ensure efficient use of resources.

Revenue Streams: Diversify revenue streams to reduce dependency on a single source and increase financial stability.

Importance of Cash Flow Management

Cash Flow Projections: Create projections to anticipate cash needs and avoid shortfalls.

Invoice Management: Implement efficient invoicing practices to ensure timely payments from clients.

Cost Control: Monitor and control costs to maintain a positive cash flow.

Reserves: Maintain a cash reserve to manage unexpected expenses and emergencies.

By focusing on securing funding and effectively managing finances, your startup will be well-positioned to scale and sustain growth. Proper financial management ensures that you have the resources to seize opportunities and navigate challenges as they arise.

Scaling Marketing and Sales

Scaling your marketing and sales efforts is essential for accelerating growth and expanding your customer base. Here’s a streamlined guide on developing a scalable marketing strategy, leveraging digital channels, building a robust sales pipeline, and using analytics and KPIs effectively.

Developing a Scalable Marketing Strategy

Define Audience: Identify and segment your target market personas.

Value Proposition: Clearly communicate what makes your offering unique.

Channels: Select effective channels like social media, content marketing, and email.

Automation: Use marketing automation tools for efficiency and scalability.

Campaigns: Create adaptable campaigns that can be replicated and adjusted easily.

Leveraging Digital Marketing Channels

SEO and Paid Advertising: Optimize for search engines and use paid ads for targeted reach.

Content Marketing: Produce valuable content to engage and educate your audience.

Social Media: Utilize platforms to connect, share content, and promote your brand.

Email Campaigns: Nurture leads and retain customers through personalized communication.

Building a Robust Sales Pipeline

Lead Generation: Implement strategies to attract and capture leads effectively.

Lead Qualification: Establish criteria to prioritize and focus efforts on high-potential leads.

CRM System: Utilize a CRM to manage relationships and track interactions.

Sales Process: Continuously optimize to shorten cycles and improve conversions.

Sales Enablement: Equip your team with tools and training to enhance performance.

Importance of Analytics and KPIs

Data-Driven Insights: Use analytics to understand performance and customer behavior.

Key Metrics: Track KPIs such as conversion rates, CAC, CLTV, and sales velocity.

ROI Analysis: Evaluate campaign effectiveness and allocate resources efficiently.

Continuous Improvement: Learn from data to refine strategies and achieve better results.

Building a scalable startup in 2024 demands strategic foresight and deliberate execution. The essential steps outlined here — market research and validation, establishing a strong foundation and team, developing scalable technology, securing funding and managing finances wisely, and scaling marketing and sales efforts — form the core pillars of success. Embracing these steps as a continuous process of learning and adaptation equips startups to thrive amidst dynamic market conditions, positioning them for growth and longevity in the competitive landscape of 2024 and beyond.

Start Scaling Today!

Check out the Original Article

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, so here we go.

As per usual, this also means an open question night--my askbox is always open, but I'll be actively keeping an eye on it tonight. I do take prompts, but am not necessarily fast in filling them. Any fandom I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game, as is any of my original stuff.

Short one this month, because I didn't get much done last month, whoops...a big work project took up more brainmeats than I expected it would, ah well.

Mostly moved, mostly everything is sorted; a few things I still need to finish organizing/putting away/etc. But that should also free up some brainspace hopefully!

Anyway. Actual updates.

Star Wars:

Pretty much the same as last week--need to catch up on OTP meme fills; poking back at my original plan for last year's SWBB so I can use it for this year. Not a lot of progress, but hopefully this month will be better!

BSG:

Big Bang matches have gone out! I'm excited to see how everything turns out. And hopefully get actually back into writing the many plotlines that are floating around in my head, lol...particularly The Other Battlestar which still needs an Official title and has been waiting to come out of my head and get Shared for like. over a year. even discounting the like 8-10 year gap when I wandered away from the fandom...

I should be picking up my rewatch soon, too! I have the back half of season 3, plus season 4, and maybe the webisodes (I have access to Face of the Enemy but not Resistance, so we'll see if I actually watch those). Which does mean we're coming up on my absolute least favorite episode in the entire series, haha. I haven't even gotten to it yet and I'm already mad about it (and have found an Additional Reason to be mad about it that I hadn't had before! Yay!) But also after that I get Lampkin, who I love, and while season 4 is a mess in terms of cohesion/continuity it has some of my very favorite episodes in the entire series, So.

Castlevania:

I haven't actually sat down and watched Nocturne yet (mostly because of the aforementioned work stuff), so I haven't quite fallen back into this fandom yet. I do want to get back to Incinctus, and I had one other plot thread idea for another fic based on the first series (essentially, shifting Alucard's S3 timeline by six weeks so the night Sumi and Taka plan to attack him is the same night Greta's messenger gets there, and then see where things go from there).

It's kind of interesting--I have approximately zero knowledge of the games, apart from a few bits and pieces I've picked up from reading fics and/or hanging out on a discord server. Which, of course, has been talking a lot about Nocturne...but almost entirely in the context of how it relates to the game characters/plotlines it's drawing from. Which means I'm both...more and less hyped for it? I don't know, I'm not sure how to word how it's impacted my interest/excitement/etc. for the followup series, because a lot of the comments about certain characters/choices completely fly over my head but they Dominate the server and I'm like "...okay?"

Anyway, we'll see how I feel about it when I watch the series. And if I do end up building a VC crossover in my head (because like. armand and the theatre are right there and while I was able to confine myself to a quick Easter Egg reference in Incinctus...lol.)

Les Mis:

The next chapter of P&J is coming, I swear. Also planning to debut Acheron this month because...I mean I know it's technically a Groundhog Day AU set in June, but it feels appropriate to start posting it around Halloween? IDK XD

Original Fic:

Again I do need to catch up on OTP memes. I do like the one piece I put out this month, which was about the Horsemen in Lux. They're a Delight and I love them.

...yeah, that's about it. Like I said, short post this month because I didn't get much actual writing done last month. Hopefully October will be better for me (if nothing else, hopefully I actually will catch up on all the backlogged OTP Meme fills, lol...)

[creature-wizard]

The thing about "conviction in one's own understanding" is that it's all around horrible for helping you obtain and hold a reasonable grip on reality. It's extremely ineffective at stopping people from internalizing bad info, and it also prevents them from absorbing good info. So here's the deal: conviction is a feeling. It makes you perceive yourself as right and just, regardless of whether you actually are. Now the thing is, it's impossible to know just how much we don't know, and people who feel like they know more are usually the ones who know very little. This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Everyone has gaps in their knowledge that they aren't aware of, and the thing about a lot of wrong info is that it aims to fill a gap you don't even know you have. Let's use flat earth, for example. To the average person, the whole idea feels really ridiculous - key word, feels. This isn't because they have a solid grasp on how the evidence points to a round Earth, or because they fully understand how we obtained that evidence. They just know it's round because it's what they were told, and it's what everyone else believes. This means that a flat earth believer can come in and ask, "yeah, but how do you know? I mean, you know what you've been told and you know what everyone else believes, but how do you know?" And then they stop and think about it, and they realize... actually, they really don't know. They begin to realize that they have massive gaps in their knowledge. Their conviction, which up to this point felt unassailable, is now critically shaken, and the conspiracy theorist can move in and fill these gaps with a lot of incredibly wrong information that this person has no way to evaluate right now. And you might think, "well, they can just evaluate it later-" but no, that probably won't happen, and here's why. So our average person here - we're going to call them Jamie - feels like their mind is being expanded. This information is completely novel, and it's huge. Jamie gets a big dopamine rush, which makes everything they're hearing feel super deep and profound. The whole time, the conspiracy theorist is explaining how they don't want people like Jamie to know the truth, and that all of the history books, science books, etc. have been written or edited by in on the conspiracy, or at least brainwashed by it. With these seeds of mistrust planted, Jamie is very unlikely to try and debunk the flat earther's claims. Now Jamie has a new conviction - that the world is flat and there's a massive conspiracy dedicated to covering it up. And this time, Jamie's conviction is backed up by massive amounts of information that appear to provide lots and lots historical context. The more Jamie internalizes the worldview of a conspiracy theorist, the more Jamie sees evidence of the conspiracy everywhere, and the more Jamie's conviction grows. Conspiracy theorists have conviction up the wazoo. What's far more important than having conviction is being willing to recognize and acknowledge when the evidence doesn't actually stack in favor of your belief. This is what the vast majority of conspiracy theorists lack, and is the main reason they remain conspiracy theorists. Instead of learning actual critical thinking skills, they simply get better at rationalizing things away. Another thing you need? The Five Ws - Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Find out who started claiming shit and find out exactly what they said. Examine the politics and prejudices common in the place and time they lived, and observe where their claims align with those. Find out why they were so invested in putting this stuff out there - what did they stand to gain from it? (There's always something to gain, even when it seems like there's nothing to gain.)

[tafaha-means-apple]

Drawing any kind of serious connection between Piltover vs Zaun and a certain other conflict is silly and filled with recency bias for so many reasons main two being that S1 was written between 2016-2020, and that there is no physical way to change the plot that much of a completely animated S2 of a TV show with less than 1 year of heads up. This doesn't even get into any of the other multitude of differences between PNZ and that certain other conflict that would take a completely separate post to describe just how little in common there is other than the barest fact that anti-riot tactics are extremely homogenized in the 21st century across most contexts.

On the specifics of the Piltover and Zaun narrative, some people have, quite frankly, projected their own ideas on it not supported by much in the narrative. The theme of PNZ from the beginning was never about "independence" as much as many people gaslit themselves into believing. It was civil strife with classism elements and themes around synthesis and equity (this is even supported by an AU moment we get to see in S2), not some interstate independence story of two peoples who have no history as one people. Some of this is external lore content but Piltover and Zaun used to be one city until a man-made disaster occurred, destroying the old city of Va-Zaun and sending most of it underground. Later the poorest of the old city became the new wealthy of Piltover in the wake of the disaster (because they were ones farthest from the prosperous city center that got destroyed...)

Some people are reacting to the ending of the show (which was rushed which is really bad) and making really baseless assumptions that can be best described as people filling in the gaps of omitted specifics with the most bad-faith interpretations of events. Interpretations of events that go completely against the themes of the show. The show is not that nihilistic even if it is realistic, but people are impressing upon it a bunch of nihilism that just isn't there. Big themes of the show is the power of connection and giving people chances even if people might think they don't deserve it, but people are ignoring these longstanding themes and just getting lost in their own sauce due to some rushed pacing in the final episode, quite frankly.

I’m not really into arcane like that but I’ve watched s1 with my friend, who has been reporting to me the really abrupt tonal changes in the show and the many contradictory directions to the first season that the political scene in the show has taken.

I really can’t help but notice that those certain tonal changes seem to be very conveniently aligned with the values that a certain state has been trying to push in western media since October last year…. It honestly really sounds like the original season 2 plot was scrapped in favour of turning it into bland propaganda as a way to desensitise people to what’s actually happening in the world (through “humanising” the real life perpetrators’ actions by cloaking them in the skins of established beloved characters (AND ITS WORKING!! YALL ARE FALLING FOR IT!!! WHAT THE FUCK?) because the talking points both in the show and the fandom ESPECIALLY are really starting to sound familiar and it’s actually maybe kinda terrifying.

I’m very open for CIVIL discussion on this, I’m just giving my opinion as a third, comparatively unbiased party because I’m not emotionally attached to the show. I’m not outright saying s2 is outright propaganda for that state. What I AM saying is that you should not trust any creators who claim their work isn’t political because ALL ART IS POLITICAL (that statement in itself is political) and the way you interact with it is too, by association. Consume media with a critical lens please I’m begging.

[blue-cat-shitposts]

Fun ways to write bilingual/multilingual characters if you don't know the languages your character is speaking

This is more of a loose collection of ideas, but I wanted to give some tips on things that multi/bilingual people generally do regardless of the languages they speak, and which you can incorporate into your story more easily without needing to take a two-years-long language course:

Idioms. People who speak multiple languages will sometimes mess up which idiom/phrase exists in which language, and will try to recreate the idioms or sayings thet know from one language into another, to the bewilderment of non-bilinguals. So google some fun idioms in the languages your character speaks, and have fun with applying them to the character's dialogue

Additionally, the above often occurs because some languages have words or phrases that are untranslatable to other languages, because the specific feelings or situations were just never conveniently named in those! There are words that simply Don't Exist in the language your character is trying to speak at the moment, but would be just perfect for this situation. In that case, there are multiple behaviors that a confused multilingual may exhibit: either they bluescreen trying to search for the right word in the target language (often accompanied by snapping fingers or "dammit how do i say it in English"/"dammit there's no word for it in English"), or would say the word/phrase anyways in its original language, or in some cases would even try to explain the phrase they're looking for. To achieve it, again, try googling some untranslateable words/phrases from the languages your character knows. There's heaps of fun-fact spewing sites that will satisfy your curiosity in this area.

Another thing some bilinguals whose native language isn't the one they're trying to speak at the moment may struggle with is the especially complicated or "fancy" vocabulary. Keyword being "may". It all depends on where and how your bilingual character learned the language. Fluent bilinguals will most often have a very big vocabulary, but unfamiliar "advanced" words might still baffle them upon first contact. However, the way humans acquire language naturally is through observing and mimicking others – which is to say, the bilingual will still attempt to understand the unfamiliar word through context, and can attempt to use that word themselves again based on their understanding of its meaning. Here's the fun catch, though – they can absolutely be wrong. This might lead to "fun" situations where they use words like "acquaintance", "radiant", "interloper", "transcendence" in the wrong situation, or completely misunderstanding their intended tone, or going a bit to the left with what they think the word means and what exactly it describes. That situation might be a bit challenging to write, but I'm sure you can do it by digging into some definitions of the words, creating some sentences, and thinking how someone going off of purely context clues might misunderstand a given word. The alternative, which also happens very frequently, is that some bilinguals will just Refuse To Use the unfamiliar word until they've checked the exact definition at least three times (I tend to fall into that category quite often nowadays, because the first situation can be incredibly awkward if not embarassing at times).

Same goes for slang terms!!! Especially if your multilingual has learned a language "by the book", they will be unfamiliar with slang terms and can be confused by them. Which means the two situations above will likely occur.

That is to say, your multilingual character will to some degree still understand what the other person is saying, even if they use difficult or unfamiliar vocabulary sometimes. Because again, context is incredible at filling the gaps, and sometimes you can guess what a word means by comparing it to a similar word that your character knows the meaning of (eg. If your character doesn't know the word "toothbrush", then they'll still understand what it means if someone's pointing or holding a toothbrush, or will put the two and two together by knowing the words "tooth" and "brush" separately).

A really funny thing that happens to multilinguals who speak their non-native languages very often is that they'll eventually start to forget words in their own native language. This is not a joke or a silly trope, this is an Actual Thing That Happens. In that situation, a bilingual trying to say/react to something in their native language will find themselves thinking of a response, but in the foreign language. This is because for some reason, at a certain level of knowing a foreign language, the brain treats the words of one language as synonyms to the words describing the same things in another language. This results in the bilingual sometimes bluescreening in search for the correct word in the correct language. It might take them a hot couple of seconds, accompanied by frustrated mumbling, saying the word in the wrong language out loud, murmuring "how do you say it in [native language]?..." etc. If the mental search was successful, they will exclaim the word triumpanthly and move on with the conversation. If it takes them longer than they expected, they might give up, or bluescreen even longer.

A thing to remember if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have more than one multilingual character is that they will try their damnest to speak properly and fluently in one language of the conversation... as long as the non-multilinguals are present. As soon as non-multilinguals leave the conversation, the dialogue will devolve into a chaotic mess of all languages that the two (or more) multilinguals share. Everything you've read above here? It is all acknowledged and they don't mask it anymore. They use the wrong idioms and words. They don't care. They go fluently from one language to another mid-sentence. Then they go back. They say out loud when they can't find a word or meme about the fact that their first thought was in the wrong language. I have no clue if you can emulate it organically in writing, but I think a good rule of thumb here is that in these types of conversations, the "priority" is taken by the language the multilinguals speak most often. The "switches" to another language most often occur by the rule of convenience – if a language has a desired idiom or phrase a character wants to use, then they'll start speaking in that language. The other character, however, can respond in any language they want, they don't have to stick to another character's "switch". Also, if they're talking about a piece of information or an interest that they acquired in one language, they will speak about it in that language, because there is no point in bothering to translate if the other person also knows that language.

But, of course, if non-multilinguals enter a conversation, then the multilinguals will generally start speaking that person's language out of politeness, so as not to exclude them from conversation. It's very rare (at least in my experience) to purposefully talk smack about someone in the language they don't know. Mostly because, again, a conversation between two mutilinguals who believe they're alone is an unholy mess of everything, so they are more likely to end up gossiping about someone in that person's language, actually.

All of this, obviously, mostly applies to multilinguals/bilinguals who are fluent in all foreign languages that they know. Or at least proficient enough to be able to effortlessly express what they want in the situations they're most likely to be in. But it's important to remember that everyone has a different level of fluency in a language, and at a point, vocabulary acqusition becomes random or more focused on the enviroment the bilingual person is most often in (for example, a gamer will acquire more gaming-related vocabulary while knowing next to nothing about nautical terminology; someone interested in flowers will know the names of many flowers in both languages, but be baffled by even elementary words in architecture etc).

Fun fact! "Beginner" bilinguals will actually be VASTLY more comfortable in their native language, but eventually if they spend a long enough time speaking the foreign language they're learning, eventually it'll "click" for them – a "click" moment occurs when they've acquired enough vocabulary and understand grammar well enough to express themselves in the foreign language with relative confidence in their correctness. After this, all the fun things described in previous points will slowly start happening to them.

Connected to that – before the "click" moment, some braver beginner-to-moderate bilinguals will attempt communicating in the language they're learning even if they aren't very good at it yet. Especially children, but not only, will often be eager to "show off" their ability to communicate in a new way and will seek out opportunities to speak in the foreign language. More experienced people will also do that if they know what's good for them, because forcing yourself into situations where you have to actually communicate using the language you're trying to learn greatly accelerates your skill in that language. Though most people who learn "from the book" will be more comfortable making these first attempts by writing rather than speaking.

Another thing that's worth mentioning – language skills don't last forever! If you don't speak a language in a long time, you *will* forget it, even if you were once fluent in it. Language skills need to be used frequently in order to stay in your brain as relevant knowledge, and the longer time goes by without using a language, the more you forget from it. The knowledge obviously doesn't disappear completely – it will be way quicker to re-familiarize yourself with a language you once acquired than trying to learn it from scratch. But just remember, realistically, your hyperintelligent-brains-of-the-group multilingual who speaks 50 languages is very likely to quickly forget the ones they're not using frequently, not to mention all those 50 languages will most likely have different levels of fluency, and all sorts of mixups described previously will occur. (fun situation that can arise from knowing so many languages that you forget some of them – words from those languages can resurface at random too! Sometimes without the character even noticing that they slipped a word in a wrong language that they haven't used in years.)

And oh, the accents! The delightful accents! Keep in mind, your bilingual character speaking in foreign language might have a case of accenting the words accordingly with their native language, BUT they will also incorporate the accent of whoever they learned the foreign language from. For example, most kids in European schools are taught British English, and they might write and speak in a more British way. BUT, if those same kids happen to like watching a lot of YouTube in English with an excuse that they're "practicing the language", they will eventually be way more familiar with American English, as it's way more widespread on the internet and eventually they'll be spending more hours watching Markiplier than doing their English homework. Sometimes, it's both at once, where the bilingual person is has so many sources they acquire the language from, that they no longer can keep track of which rules and accents belong to which variant of the language. This results in a delightful mess of an accent that is hard to hide unless the person works really hard on it. They are also less likely to recognize what accents someone's speaking in, as they don't always know its name. They can recognize it's different, but they won't pay much attention to it and most likely won't be able to name it if they don't specifically know it (again, there are exceptions).

Oh and by the by, you won't really actually recognize a fluent bilingual on the internet unless they decide to announce that English is not their native language. If someone's really fluent in a language and needs to communicate with it, they will actively mask all the "slip-ups" and everything described previously, and generally any mistakes are rare and a result of human error rather than any problems with the language. The less confident bilinguals will usually include messages like "sorry for bad English" or "sorry if I make mistakes, it's not my native language". This, however, is not as much indicative of their fluency level, as it is indicative of their self-confidence. There are bilinguals who you wouldn't guess weren't native speakers by their writing, but will still apologize just in case. Mostly because the education system teaches them that their mistakes are more important than the effectiveness of their communication. Then there are also obviously people who will be confidently bad at the foreign language.

If it's important, then sometimes writing sth in a foreign language might take. A while. And a couple rewrites. And a while making sure that you got the point across in the exact way you wanted. Then you realize it Sounds Wrong. So you go back and fix it.

[blockgamepirate]

(im sorry for sending an ask about this, i just personally didn't want to rb dsmp lore discussion on my blog but i had some thoughts on the techno post you made? feel free to ignore this completely)

I guess.. part of my (personal) reservation with the idea that ctechno had no idea of pogtopia's goals is that the majority of people aren't agreeing with him and wilbur.

frankly, wilbur's the only other person (to my memory) who brings up destroying the gov instead of just taking it over, while in the clips you showed tommy, tubbo, and quack all show that they DONT want that. why is he believing wilburs word on pogtopia's goals over anyone elses? ESPECIALLY as an anarchist, this should be a communal decision and not one made by the "leader" aka wilbur. and majority says no. at the very least, the lack of unity in making a decision (especially such a big one) should make him less sure about the shared end goal.

that, combined with the fact that he immediately put aside the opportunity to learn more about pogtopia's goals ("we'll burn that bridge when we come to it") puts a sour taste in my mouth because it instead feels to me like he instead didn't bother to try and communicate to make sure they had the same goals.

while i completely get the point you made abt wanting to avoid infighting (before a major battle especially), when multiple different people suddenly seemingly have a different goal than you, its something you should want to clear up to make sure no misunderstandings happen-- bc thats exactly how both sides end up "betraying" one another when in reality they were never on the same side to begin with. its not something that SHOULD be left to deal with later, so him pushing for that makes it feel to me instead that he just doesnt.... want to deal with it.

in short, i feel like despite what you said there was still reasonable doubt in the goals of pogtopia (via a lack of unity in the goal at hand) that techno just... didn't bother to look into or check beyond his intial thoughts. even with the rumors of a traitor, a majority of (or at least multiple) members disagreeing on such a fundemental point don't (to me) get rid of that existing doubt.

I understand your point is that he was out of the loop and thus came to his own conclusions on pogtopia's purpose, and i agree! i think instead the issues people have w techno and pogtopia is techno's not attempting to get into the loop, which is a pattern that continues into later arcs-- he jumps into things without full information on the situation or context, but assured that he's right regardless of how little he actually knows (eggpire, dream in prison, etc)

again-- i realize we have benefit of the omniscient viewer so signs become much more obvious to us, and even then characters are allowed (and encouraged!) to have fatal flaws like techno (often, imo) working off of incomplete information and not trying actively to fill in those gaps! but... idk, it still a point i also get feeling very irritated by (again, esp from our POV), bc he's so sure he's right when he's often clueless and it can be frustrating and unsatisfying to watch.

idk if this had a point tbh. i just wanted to talk abt your post i guess. thank you for reading if you got this far, i just needed a place to ramble to someone here but i didn't wanna linger on it i guess. i hope you have a great day/night ✌️

--enderspawn

I mean the thing is that the original members of Pogtopia were Wilbur, Tommy and Techno, right? With Tubbo joining right after.

And as far as I can tell, Tommy never said anything about wanting to reinstall a government, at least not when Techno was there to hear it, he was actually the one who on day one was talking about how they no longer had their titles and would be equal from now on while Wilbur was still clinging to the idea of being the president. Tommy was very insistent on "taking back" L'Manburg and on not blowing it up, but again: nothing about a government. (And as we found out later, Tommy didn't even want to be a president in the end. He wasn't actually motivated by political power, and honestly I think a lot of the time he was kinda just going along with it because he felt like that was what he was supposed to strive for.)

Tommy seemed to be satisfied with the plan to only blow Manburg up IF nothing else works, right? But there was never any talk about objecting to the anarchism afterwards.

On top of that, Pogtopia was effectively an anarchist commune, or close enough, despite Wilbur kind of taking a leadership role in an informal way, so it makes sense to assume that the people who made it and the people who joined it would approve of that kind of social system, right?

I mean is it a bit naive of him? Yes, definitely, but I really don't think it's unreasonable. If people are joining your anarchist commune and your vocally anarchist cause (as of after the Red Festival at least, when Wilbur gets on fully board the anarchy train), you'd think they would be fine with that. You'd think that if they weren't fine with it they'd start their own separate movement, or something.

(This is actually what I thought would happen at the time! I thought Wilbur, Techno and Dream would team up and Tommy, Tubbo and Niki would form their own group and then recruit others. But it didn't end up happening, probably because Tommy is too loyal to Wilbur to let him go, and Niki probably cared about Wilbur too much too. Idk.)

Or if not, then you'd think they would protest the anarchism a bit louder and even if Techno himself missed this, it wouldn't be weird of him to assume that Wilbur would tell him if there was so much ideological conflict going on. (And as we found out yesterday, Wilbur was well aware and kept Techno in the dark intentionally.) Techno trusted Wilbur to do the talking to the others, he even said as much in the stream after the Red Festival. Techno is obviously not very good at the whole socialising thing himself and he knows it.

But all Techno heard about was the whole "to bomb or not to bomb" question, and this has nothing to do with what you do afterwards. You don't have to bomb the country to make it anarchist after all.

Another factor here, which is another example of Techno being kind of naive, is that as he says in the narration of his video, he thought that the people who had been victimised by the government would understand better than anyone that such a system could not be allowed to stand. (He made this mistake AGAIN with Tommy after exile, thinking that surely this time Tommy would come to agree with him.)

So idk if this answer satisfies you at all, but I don't really have time to work in this any more than this, I've already spent way too much time on Tumblr today :| (this is also why I don't have the time to condense this down to a reasonable length either)

I guess what I'd say is that Techno was definitely naive and affected by confirmation bias and kind of a recluse and a bit of an edgelord individualist at least early on, which are genuine flaws of his, but I think his conclusions are fairly reasonable anyway. And he was being intentionally misled by Wilbur. Also he was very vocal about his own ideology and goals while the other Pogtopians never said anything to him about disagreeing with those goals, up until Quackity and Tubbo right before battle. "Taking back L'Manburg" just isn't specific enough here, Techno never had anything against reclaiming the country from Schlatt, obviously, he even made his fireworks in L'Manburg colours in support of the cause.

And I do think that there is more fault on the side of the other Pogtopians for leading him on, even if they did it unintentionally and just weren't considering his opinions. Which is what seems to have happened, they knew he was an anarchist but they just sort of dismissed the significance of this. Quackity is the first one to actually bring this up as a potential problem and he does it by accusing Techno of potentially becoming a traitor, not by trying to negotiate with him or hear him out. And Tommy just told Techno to shut up while they were talking about who the next president should be.

They all knew that he was an anarchist, they just didn't think it was important. I mean I think they just kinda assumed that he knew the plan, to be fair, after all Wilbur obviously knew it too, but it's still kinda dismissive lbr.

And to be honest this is something that happens in real life a lot too, to anarchists who try to work with non-anarchist groups for a common goal. Our concerns tend to be dismissed and it's kinda just assumed that we'll just go along with it anyway because we're usually the minority. And we tend to be the first ones to get kicked out when we're no longer convenient. That's my experience anyway. And yes, it does feel like we're being used when that happens. The difference is, I guess, that we usually see it coming because we've learned from history and past experiences. Techno apparently hasn't.

[buckyownsmylife]

Them - Chris Evans Smut

The one where Chris is your professor.

Warnings: smut, professor au, reader is a postgrad student, so no underage business, but definitely some age gap, reader is very clear about what she wants here, lots of dirty talk

Chris’ P.O.V.

Looking out of the window of the fancy bistro I had been waiting on, I just couldn’t believe my luck. Y/N, the woman I had been thinking about for the last three months, that one that had made me accept this stupid idea of a blind date to try to get over her, was standing just outside the restaurant, looking from side to side, clearly waiting for someone that was nowhere around. 

I pondered over what to do, weighing the consequences of what I truly wanted, but in the end, I said, “Fuck it,” and jumped out of my chair, explaining to the host that I only needed a minute.

“Fancy seeing you here.” I knew I was grinning from ear to ear, but that was just the effect she had on me. When her eyes widened as she took in who was talking to her, I had to laugh. “What? Not used to seeing me in more casual clothes?” I was convinced her chuckle was enough to end wars. 

“I don’t think that can be considered casual, Professor Evans,” she said, but with the cutest teasing smirk on her face. Right. There was a reason why coming out here to talk to her could possibly bring severe consequences to my life. She was my student, after all, and even though she was pursuing her PhD and we weren’t currently in an academic setting, her politeness served to remind me of the distance that remained between us.

“Well, I’m not sure I could consider what you’re wearing casual either, but I must say, sweetheart… You look beautiful.” I took pride in the blush that spread through her cheeks, making her almost as red as the dress she was currently wearing. Fuck if I didn’t want her desperately.

“Thank you, sir.” I was convinced she knew about the effect those words had in me, but then again, it wasn’t like I could call her out on it. Clearing my throat, I decided to change the subject before I brought more difficulty for my own situation.

“So, what brings you here on this delightful friday evening?” I forced myself to look away from her as I spoke, mostly because I felt like I’d been staring for too long. But I’d happily look at her for as long as possible, if I didn’t fear for what she’d think of me.

“I’m guessing the same thing that brought you here, Mr. Evans.” To my raised eyebrow, she simply responded with a shake of her head, her delightful giggle going straight to my pants. “C’mon, you’re dressed like this, on a friday night, and waiting for someone in a bistro? You’re obviously on a date!”

Well, I was most definitely impressed, but that didn’t serve to distract myself from the disappointment that pierced through me at the realization that she had dressed up so pretty to go out on a date with someone other than me.

“If that’s the case, then where is the lucky gentleman?” That seemed to be the wrong thing to ask, by the way her beautiful face fell.  Immediately, I felt terrible for being responsible for sucking the light out of this woman.

“Oh… I guess he’s not coming. I’ve been waiting for him for at least an hour, it was supposed to be a blind date. My friend thought he’d be perfect for me or something. Guess he didn’t agree, huh?” She tried to chuckle, but the fact that she couldn’t meet my eyes was enough to demonstrate how embarrassed she was by the whole ordeal.

“Sweetheart…” I itched to touch her, to pull her body to mine and comfort her anyway I could, but she continued to avoid my eyes, keeping up with her own monologue almost like she couldn’t physically stop.

“And the worst part is that I can’t stop thinking about how he probably walked in, saw me and decided to go home. God, this is mortifying. Why am I even telling you this?” At that, she finally looked up to find me looking back at her, and whatever it was she identified in my gaze at last made her stop.

“Come eat with me,” I offered, not even thinking about what I was saying, although capable of admitting that it was all I truly wanted. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she wasn’t able to structure a proper sentence, looking up at me with those big bright eyes.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

I didn’t know what to say. I was completely taken by surprise by his invitation, but I couldn’t really say it made me uncomfortable. I wanted nothing more than the chance to spend some time with him, away from the university environment.

It was no secret that he was attractive, of course. I knew that, but it wasn’t because of it that I wanted the chance to share a meal with him. It was for all of the little things I’d managed to learn over the course of our meetings, the bar trivia he liked to share randomly over cups of coffee when it would make more sense if we were sharing a beer. It was the fact that his mind fascinated me, and I’d never met anyone who had captivated me so much, so easily, in such little time.

Even with so little to go off on, he occupied my mind. And perhaps half of the attraction came from the taboo of it all, but I couldn’t deny that it was there. I wanted to get to know him better. I wanted to say yes. Didn’t I deserve it, after such a lousy night?

“We shouldn’t,” I decided to remind us both, but he only smiled, reaching out for my hand. The touch surprised me even more, but I found myself accepting it easily, even smiling as I looked up at him from underneath my eyelashes to see an answering grin in his handsome face.

“No one has to know. Come on.” He tugged me in the direction of the restaurant he was in, apparently, some place definitely fancier than where my date was supposed to happen, and with a curt nod towards the greeter, he quickly took me to the table he’d been occupying before pulling the chair for me.

Such a simple gesture, not at all romantic, really, but it sent butterflies all over my stomach, and I bit my lip to stop the giddy giggle that wanted to break free. “Thank you,” I recognized, and he only flashed me another perfect smile in return.

“It’s my pleasure. Would you like some wine?” He gestured for the waiter, his eyes barely leaving mine before returning to me again. “It’s okay if you don’t. Choose whatever you want, I’m usually more of a beer guy myself, but with this being an italian restaurant and all…”

I waved his fears away, rejecting the menu the waiter was offering and pointing to the glass of wine that was sitting in front of Chris. “I’ll just have the same, please.” The waiter nodded, already turning to grab me a glass when my professor called him over again.

“Wait! Just bring us the bottle, would you?” I raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk making its way into my face. If there was one thing I had already learned about the man I was about to have dinner with, was that he loved to be teased.

“Planning on getting me drunk, professor? That’s not the right way to keep me quiet.” His eyes grew big at first, before he caught on to the teasing nature of my comments, and then he laughed, a hand going over his chest as he threw his head back and closed his eyes, fully in the moment.

Chris’ P.O.V.

Fuck, this was exactly what I’d hoped for when I took the chance and invited her over here. She was just so damn *funny. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to spend some quality time with her.

“Oh, believe me, sweetheart. I really don’t want to keep you quiet.” Shit. It was only after it was out in the open, and her eyebrows were raised high, that I realized just how weird that sounded, given the context. “I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was, I really want to hear you.”

By now, she was pressing her lips tightly, clearly trying not to laugh about my awkwardness, so I saved her the trouble by breaking into a fit of laughter myself. “That’s okay, Professor Evans. If it makes you feel any better, I really want to hear you too.”

… Was she flirting with me? The idea caught me by surprise and sent a jolt of thrill up my body, making me sit up straighter in the restaurant’s chair. I pressed my lips tightly together in an effort to suppress my laugh, and looked up at her from under my eyelashes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she teased, and it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

“Why not?”

“It makes me nervous.” The answer surprised me. I never considered that I could affect her in any way, much less that one, and so I found myself leaning in her direction, my elbows on the table so I could talk more quietly and she could still hear me.

“Why are you nervous? It’s just me. We’ve been alone in smaller environments than this one,” I reminded her, watching with delight as she giggled but avoided my eyes, opting instead to play with the glass of wine that had by now been delivered to us. I knew she was thinking about the tiny office we shared and all the times we had to ignore this sexual tension as it filled the air between us. When her eyes met mine, the mischievous glint in them was unmissable, and so I braced myself for her answer, knowing it would definitely be something as out of the ordinary as herself.

“Yes…” She started, leaning closer to me and lowering her voice, and while I was sure I didn’t want to miss one single word of what she was saying, it was impossible not to look down at how her breasts threatened to spill from her dress. “But this time it’s harder to ignore just how much I want your cock down my throat.”

I was stunned to silence for a minute, staring back at her with my mouth opened as I felt my cock unmistakably harden at her directness. This was so different from the reserved and polite woman I had to work with at the university, and if that one was already enticing, I had no words to describe the minx that stared back at me with deviousness in her eyes.

“Well, now I feel bad,” I settled on saying, eyes dropping to her cleavage before meeting hers again, making sure she saw just how hypnotized by her body I was. “And here I’ve been, picturing you on your knees all this time.”

I *knew she was hot and bothered by my comment, it was pretty obvious by the way she fidgeted in her seat, squeezing her thighs together, I was certain. There was nothing I wanted more than taking her away from here, and just… well… *take her. Preferably more than once, but it didn’t even have to be on a bed. I wasn’t sure I’d hold back enough to get her close to one, even. Especially when she stepped it up a notch, her heeled foot caressing my leg under the table as she whispered, “I think I made a smart choice when I decided to wear this dress tonight.”

Inevitably, my eyes fell to her breasts once more. It was obvious that I agreed, but still, I licked my lips to be able to agree, “Yes, I’m very fond of it as well.” The corners of her lips twisted up, a clear indication that I’d fallen right onto her trap.

“I’m glad you liked the choice. Wanna know why I’m happy I ran into you while wearing it?” I just nodded, dry swallowing at the thought of what she was about to say. “Because I can’t wear anything underneath it.”

My knuckles turned white as I held onto the edge of the table, practically urging myself not to leap out of my seat. “Careful, sweetheart…” I tried to warn, the months of restraint and tension taking a toll out of my patience and control. “You should think about what you’re saying. *Pay attention to what you’re asking of me. I’m not exactly great at resisting something that I want. You have to be sure,” I murmured, eyes never leaving hers as I watched her breathing grow more laboured.

She let the silence simmer the anticipation between us, until I felt like *I was about to collapse.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

“I think I’ve made my desires clear.”

That was all it took for him to dart out of the chair, fishing out his wallet and throwing some bills on top of the table before reaching for my hand. “Come.”

I followed easily, body buzzing with excitement as I accepted this first touch from a man I believed to be unreachable only a few hours before.

Nothing was said as he directed me towards his car. Once inside, I took advantage of the few seconds it took for him to reach his own door and took a deep breath, both to calm my nerves and take in the delicious scent of the familiar cologne that seemed to be ingrained in the vehicle. How many days had I spent clenching my thighs as I tried to focus on my research because his scent took over our tiny office? Too many to count. But now he was right here, ready and willing to take care of the mess he made of me.

A shiver went through my body when he finally made his way inside the car, and instead of turning on the engine, fixated his gaze on me. It was heavy with lust and primal need, that much I could recognize - mostly because I knew those two feelings all too well when it came to him.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” It wasn’t a question, and immediately after he was done speaking I was already leaning over to meet him halfway. 

Chris’ kiss was nothing like I expected it to be. While I imagined a gentle lover, he was more on the eager, almost desperate side. I was surprised how much I liked it that way. He took control of our kiss so easily, it made me feel small and under his spell. Like I’d do anything he wanted me to, just as long as he kept devouring me like this.

I lost myself to the kiss, to *him, to the taste of wine and something that was undeniably just him, but then a hand fell on my lap and I gasped, instinctively opening my legs to feel more of his touch. It made him grin, but he didn’t stop kissing me, instead cradling my face between his hands before returning one of them to the spot that was throbbing for him.

“I just really need to feel you, only for a second,” he whispered against my lips, and I could only nod, too lost in his eyes to care about the implications of his words. “Maybe if I have your taste on my lips I’ll feel motivated enough to drive all the way home, instead of just taking you right here.”

Needless to say, paired with two of his fingers curling inside of me before they were gone and wrapped by his lips, the fires of desire had grown to such heights I could no longer control them. “Hmm… Delicious,” he hummed, dark eyes opening to meet mine only for a second before he was turning the engine on. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Chris’ P.O.V.

The second we were inside my apartment, I had to unbuckle my belt and curl my fist around my member - that’s how badly it hurt from the lack of attention. At least I wasn’t the only one desperate to get things going, her dress was on the floor just as I sat back on the couch, moaning both at the feeling of my jerking motions and the sight of her naked body.

“Come here, Miss. Y/L/N,” I instructed, beckoning her over while keeping my other hand occupied with my cock. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Join me.” She didn’t seem to need any further invitation, small frame quickly making her way over to where I was sitting before she dropped to her knees in front of me, right between my thighs that she held to support herself.

“God, you’re sexy.” She smiled up at me from underneath her eyelashes, hands reaching out to take my member from me before she began to lick at my already weeping head, and I had to take a deep breath in order to control myself. “Fuck.”

She was a tease, alright - but that much I knew, already. Instead of immediately starting to suck me off, she opted to get acquainted with the taste of my cock by licking it like a damn ice cream cone, until every inch of it was wrapped in a coat of her saliva and I was trembling underneath her attentions, hands curled into fists in an effort to let her keep her own pace but desperately wanting to gag her on me.

“You taste so good,” she teased, but it did sound more like an absentminded comment. It was just my need that made me believe she was doing it on purpose, trying to get me to break, but I wouldn’t let her win.

“Put it in your mouth, then. I promise I’ll give you more to taste.” If I had been worried I’d scare her away with how open I was about what I wanted, the smirk she gave me assured me it was well received, just as the way she finally wrapped her perfect lips around the head of my cock, tongue swirling over it briefly before starting to slowly suck more of it.

“Shit, yeah. Just like that. Swallow that cock, darling.” She did just so, all the while making sure to keep eye contact with me, which only added fuel to the desire I felt for her. I knew I couldn’t resist for too long, so I reveled in the feeling of her warm mouth, the sloppy blowjob easily the best I’d ever had, before I pulled her to me, making her climb my lap so I could fill my hands with her fantastic ass.

“God, I’ve dreamt about this ass,” I groaned, palming it and using it to rub her pussy over my member, that twitched at the slight contact, making us both gasp. “And this pussy…” the connection was obvious. Of course I’d imagined it too, but the little mynx wanted to hear it for herself.

“Did you think about it at night?” She asked, taking control of the motions I could no longer direct as she rubbed her wet cunt over my member, making me growl on her ear.

“At night, in class…” Maybe I should have felt embarrassed to admit it, but as it were, I didn’t. I couldn’t, not when it was the truth, and not when she was right here, ready to sink down on my cock, looking at me with those sinful eyes. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

She bit down on her lower lip to stop the grin from taking over her face, I could see that, but it didn’t stop mine as I watched her rub the head of my member between her lips before finally starting to sink down on it.

“Fuck!” My head fell back on the couch, and I had to hold on her hips to keep control of myself, but still, she was being too slow. Opening my eyes, I saw by the smirk on her lips it was purely to tease me, but two could play at this game. 

“Keep going,” I ordered, slapping her ass before sinking my fingers on it again, for good measure. She gasped, momentarily losing control and falling further down, which was really all I needed to fuck up into her until I bottomed out.

“God, you’re so big!” She really did know how to get a man going.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

Once I relinquished the control to him, there was really nothing else I could do but to hold on tight and enjoy the ride. He fucked me like he was trying to cherish every single second of this act we were sharing, probably conscious that we’d never be able to do this again.

“Such a fucking great pussy,” he groaned, fingers now probably bruising my skin as he used his grip on my hips to force my movements to match his. “I bet I can make you even louder.”

I hadn’t even realized I was screaming until he said that, feet raising to the sofa so he could find even more grip to fuck me silly. “Hold tight, sweetheart.” My hands slipped from his shoulders to the back of his neck, as I tried to keep my chest glued to his despite the brutality of his movements.

It didn’t take long for his thrusts to lose their rhythm, and I was dancing on the edge of my own orgasm too, watching a single drop of sweat make its way from his hairline until his jaw, where I leaned down to collect it with my tongue.

“Fuck.” His eyes met mine, holding my gaze hostage as the next words that fell from his lips brought me to my release. “Oh God, please tell me you’ll be mine. I need to know I’ll be able to have you like this whenever I want. Please.”

The aftershocks of my orgasm, paired with the way my pussy clenched around his member, milking his own release, had him cumming as hard as I had, eyes closed tightly and beautiful mouth hanging open as I tried to catch my breath and not lose the show at the same time.

“Do you mean it?” I had to ask, once both of us were able to speak again, still tightly embraced and deeply connected. I could feel his cum slowly seeping out of me and into his own lap.

“Of course.” His eyes searched mine for any inkling of my own feelings in regards to the revelation of his. “You’re worth the trouble it’ll be trying to keep this under wraps. Besides, Professor Stan had mentioned he’d like to seduce you, and I can’t imagine having to watch you be with another man.”

A giggle and a kiss sealed the deal, but we renegotiated the terms of our agreement a dozen of times before finally falling asleep wrapped in each other’s embrace. Thank God I was stood up today.

[tvckerwash]

shdhjsjsjhdj ty!! I love talking with people and reading about their headcanons, especially when it comes to RvB’s lore since there are so many ways to interpret it.

My interpretation of Project Freelancer and Charon Industries as organizations, and RvB's lore in general relies pretty heavily on using Halo Canon as a base, as well as using it to fill in gaps or add context. It's not necessary to do so, but imo it clears up a lot of the more vague or under explored aspects of the series since RvB does take place in the Halo universe, albeit its own weird little corner. Using Halo as a base admittedly does cause some issues because of RvBs already fucked up continuity within itself, and certain aspects had to be changed from Halo canon for plot convenience.

A good example of that in action would be the origins of the Sarcophagus, aka the Huragok. In RvB the Huragok was created by Charon and the Director had it in his possession in 2547-2548 (I can't remember what year it is in the timeline from the fanguide atm, but it's 2547 in the timeline I've made/am making to better accommodate Halo canon), but in Halo canon it was one of the alien species apart of the Covenant, and it was first seen by humanity in 2552 (the same year the war ended).

RE: Why Freelancer was created, we learn in s6 that its original goal was to find a way to help turn the tide of the Human-Covenant War in humanity’s favor by equipping soldiers with advanced technology, and they were specifically experimenting with the effectiveness of smart AI in combat.

The Director wanted more than one smart AI for the project, but the UNSC refused to give him another one due to the risk that smart AI’s posed to humanity if the Covenant ever managed to get their hands on them. So when his request was denied he was probably Big Mad over the UNSC not catering to his wants, but surprise surprise, Alpha spontaneously created Beta (Tex), who was a fully functional AI, and that’s where he got the idea of fragmenting Alpha from.

What types of missions the Freelancers undertook outside of the ones we see is unknown, though I believe every mission undertaken against Charon’s forces weren’t official missions cleared by the UNSC or ONI or whatever body Freelancer was overseen by (probably ONI Section Three, since pfl is essentially RvB’s version of the SPARTAN Program). Due to the project’s nature they would’ve presumably been sent on lower profile missions that kept them away from public eye, much like the missions undertaken by the SPARTANS before ONI declassified their existence for morale. This most likely did include strikes against real insurrectionists, and probably the Covenant too.

Anyway, all of the missions against Charon see in the flashbacks were essentially the Director going “Fuck the UNSC, they’re a bunch of idiots, and I’m going to complete my experiments even if that means I need to steal from my allies, commit acts of terrorism, and psychologically torture an AI all while lying to my own operatives."

Though the missions in s10 are more to finish up C.T’s arc, and consequently explain what the hell was going on in the desert during Recollection by answering the questions that had been left unanswered, such as:

Why did the Director want the artifact hidden in the temple? Because it was a Forerunner AI that was capable of functioning for billions of years, and since smart AI have an average lifespan of seven years, he probably wanted to use it so that Tex could live forever or something along those lines.

Who was Tucker fighting against in the desert, and why were all of pfl’s forces who had been with him (sans Donut) slaughtered by “C.T”? He was fighting against Charon Industries, and they were killed because Project Freelancer was a terrorist cell as mentioned. 

Why was Wash shocked to see C.T and her armor in the desert? Because the real C.T was dead and they had failed to recover her armor from Charon’s forces (and yes I’m ignoring the fact that Wash canonically didn’t learn the truth until s10 because I think that’s dumb). 

On to the next point, despite no longer working for pfl Tex and Wyoming still wanted to win the ‘Great War” (which is what RvB calls the Human-Covenant War) for the same reason as the rest of humanity: Losing meant extinction, and in the words of the Director “When faced with extinction…Every alternative is preferable.” 

RE: Proto Recovery, I agree that there were recovery efforts prior to THE Recovery Force, though it was probably just recovery missions conducted by the Freelancers like we see with the attempt to recover C.T and her armor in s10.

I actually like to think that when the Director wasn’t being a moron and purposefully sending the wrong people on the wrong job (like the twins at the start of s9), Wash and C.T would typically be sent on the quieter recovery missions involving any and all digital data, whether that be collecting it, or wiping/destroying the information and the systems it would’ve been on via The Cole Protocol so that it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands.

After all, C.T is HackerwomanTM, and while we don’t see it past s6 I headcanon that Wash is a secret not so secret enjoyer of explosives who is very good at breaking things in a fiery manner (tbh this is mostly because I think it’d be really funny if the reason C.T wears armor designed to protect the wearer from explosives is because she’s often paired with the guy who will blow things up if it is acceptable to do so. Coincidentally it’s also a fantastic allegory (analogy? metaphor? idk my vocabulary is failing me rn but you know what I mean lmao) to Wash’s history of sudden, violent outbursts fueled by rage).

On the flip side North and South would typically be sent on the smash and grab recovery missions where stealth is optional, not mandatory, hence the Counselor being like “Yo this is not the right team for this mission Director.” at the start of s9 as mentioned. 

The rvb fandom ignoring the fact that there's the implied existence of at least 7 other recovery agents we know nothing about is wild to me.

[astra-novar]

Foundational Writing

I'm only a fanfic writer but I just wanted to point out some of the errors I've noticed. I used to get asked a few times to check over or make corrections to other people's fanfics so I finally decided to make this little reference here. It may seem like a really tedious or miniscule task but they're the foundations to writing. Making sure that what you're trying to say comes off as it should can be messed up by small but important mistakes. Which is why revisions are really important. If you can have someone else read over your work then I highly recommend it for a difference of perspective.

This post isn't to offend or question anyone's writing capabilities, but to provide guidance and assistance to new writers. Fanfics are a safe spot for me to write on to see how people genuinely react to my writing style. If you're trying to write a published book, with little or no idea/experience, this is for you too.

Here are some notes to help:

1. SPELLING

As easy as it may seem, and possibly offensive that it needs to be addressed, spelling can get pretty confusing. Especially when you have words that sound the same but have different meanings. However using the wrong spelling for a word, depending on where in the story it occurs, can change how your readers understand what's being said.

For example, bare vs. bear.

Bare: generally used to describe something that's exposed, naked

Bear: describes carrying a weight of some kind

"I can't bear to see this." I can't handle what's happening "I don't want to bare myself before you." I don't want to appear vulnerable.

Both of them sound the same but are spelled different and can have a different context in a sentence. Same thing for your vs you're and its vs it's. There's no shame in looking up the meaning/spelling of a word. And just for spelling in general, make sure you check over your drafts once you've completely finished writing. You can have a good plot idea but if the reader has to fill in the gaps from the spelling errors made it'll only make it more troublesome for them to enjoy the story and they'll eventually get bored of it.

2. PUNCTUATION MARKS

Commas (,)

Periods (.)

Question marks (?)

Exclamation marks (!)

Colons(:)

Semicolons (;)

Dashes or Hyphens (-)

Quotation marks (")

Apostrophe (')

These are some examples of punctuation. There are more to be found in this link. You can take a look at that for what each mark represents.

The most common thing I've noticed with punctuation marks in fanfics is that commas are often not used correctly. Some people may put too much or none at all.

As stated in the link, one of the purposes of a comma is to separate ideas in a sentence.

For example: "All of a sudden, a woman sprang up from beneath her husband's sheets." Separates the suddenness of what occurred from what actually occurred. -Also note the use of apostrophe in husband. It states husband's to show who's sheets they are. A mark of possession.

What I've noticed is that some fanfics would have either written it as this:

"All of a sudden a woman sprang up from beneath her husband's sheets." No commas.

OR

"All of a sudden, a woman, sprang up, from beneath her husband's sheets." Commas being used incorrectly.

To some it may not be a big issue but punctuation marks can actually add drama to your story. The comma between "All of a sudden" and "a woman sprang up from beneath her husband's sheets" creates a pause for the reader. A tiny bit of suspense before they continue reading. -Note the use of quotation marks. They're used to reference a sentence or a part of another sentence into a different sentence.

Commas can also be used to separate items on a list.

For example: "I need eggs, milk, and juice from the store."

Sometimes there's confusion on whether to put a comma on the last item but you should.

Commas have various other uses like to set off quoted words in dialogue but that's a completely different discussion.

Keep in mind, all of this is only a small percentage of things to note as you're writing. There are various other things to note about punctuation marks but I decided to address the most common thing I've personally noticed. Not to say there aren't other things to be corrected.

Hope this helps! Let me know if there's anything else you think needs to be addressed.

[furubatsu]

Like, Wyll's story is a mess.

It's clear that due to time constraints that there was some stuff leftover from Early Access that is now counterproductive to the character they have created (for example, sparing Sazza in the Druid's Grove earning you disapproval with him makes sense in EA when he has genuine beef and anger towards Goblins, but otherwise killing an unarmed prisoner--goblin or not--feels like a huge disconnect from the man we're given in the main game release), and that's just off the top of my head! There are other moments that feel like they belong to a different character because, technically speaking, they do.

EA Wyll is a different person completely from the Blade of Frontiers we get. Both are great characters, in my opinion. I liked how EAWyll seemed almost fake in his charisma, that this was all an act for him, he's used to playing the cocky confident hero that he doesn't know who he is under the mask and can even be a little agressive with Tav was a great and interesting take on a Folk Hero.

Actual Game Wyll is also good, in a group of fucked up little weirdo's he comes accross as the moral compass, a genuine heroic man who wants to do good, but is also just enough of a fucked up little weirdo himself that he also fits in nicely with the group. I wish he got more dialogue with Karlach, considering that they changed his recruitment Quest from "Interrogate the Goblins" to "Murk Karlach" only for him to take a big risk in sparing her (he had no way of knowing what Mizora would to do punish him for backing out of this mission, after all) and honestly I feel like we were robbed of his body issues/trauma over what Mizora did to him. You get like...one scene that's easy to miss with Zevlor after he's turned that illustrates that the Tiefling refugees are uncomfortable with him/that there IS a difference between a Tiefling and a Devil, but that's about it and I admit even I thoguht he was being a little dramatic at the party when he said he didn't think he'd be welcome because I missed that encounter in my first playthrough. It's a shame that playing a Tiefling yourself doesn't give you any Bonus Dialogue with him over it (or even playing a Sorcerer, considering that they too, would know what it's like to have your body magically changed against your will) while Astarion will get Tiefling specific dialogue and Gale will get Spellcaster specific dialogue and Shadowheart will get Cleric specific dialogue etc etc

it just goes to further illustrate that a lot of stuff got cut for Wyll and not a lot was made or used to fill those gaps. I admit, I haven't played his romance yet, I haven't heard good things and from what I've seen, the struggle is real. I like the idea of a romance not being initiated until long after the other party members can begin theirs, he'll admit himself in a dialogue that a lot of his body has changed, including his genitals, and even I wouldn't want to rush into bed with someone when I don't even recognize my own body in a mirror anymore. What Mizora did to Wyll is not only traumatizing but humiliating as well, changing even a facet like that is meant to be a blow to his self identity. I personally think, after you get the sweet dance scene with Wyll, that it should later trigger what was the Early Access Romance Scene.

For those who didn't see/play it, the scene basically goes that Tav and Wyll find a spot to spend some alone time, and it's clear Wyll is distracted. The sending stone (Wyll's fake/stone eye) is something Mizora uses to spy on and communicate with Wyll, she's there, in his head, ruining this intimate moment for him. Tav can either have such good sex with Wyll that he forgets about Mizora or they can just...cuddle, and share an intimate moment without the sex.

I. Love. That. I wish they kept that in. I don't know why they havent. Of course, some of the context of the scene has changed, in EA it's implied, if not outright stated that Wyll and Mizora were also lovers, though EAWyll tells you part of the reason he wants to rescue Mizora is so he can use it as leverage to get out of his contract with her, the scene plays it vague as to whether or not his hesitation is because Mizora is making it hard for him to be present with Tav in that moment, or because he feels guilty for effectively "cheating" on Mizora. Though it's a simple case of getting rid of that bit and just leaning into how this is just another abuse tactic of Mizora's, from his father and his city when he was a teenager to this moment with Tav right now, Mizora always seems to find the right time to swoop in and isolate Wyll and keep him that way, but this is also a moment for Tav to let Wyll know that they don't mind the baggage, that Mizora isn't going to scare them off. The fact that this is a romance you can pursue without initiating a sex scene feels like a cherry on top for players who are put off by the sex. Then we can move on and have speak to you warmly, and get the proposal scene with the REALLY awkward sex scene that's kinda cringe. Because you already established to Wyll that you're in it for the long haul.

Speaking of being there for Wyll, I admit, I'm not upset that he's the one companion who doesn't have agency in freeing himself from his shitty situation actually, I'm just upset how it was handled. In the above mentioned EA Romance scene, you can get a line where he admits that he's been the hero for so long, he doesn't know how to be taken care of, and I think that would've been a very interesting dynamic to be allowed to build with him--romantic or platonic--in being the first person in years he can actually lean on and go to for help. He's a Cinderella story in that his Empowerment/Escape from Abuse Fantasy isn't the catharsis of killing your abuser or dramatically cutting ties with them to ride off into a new life, its the Fantasy of someone seeing what you're going through, saying "That's not right", and saving you. If they just fucking committed to that as part of his character then the part where getting him away from Mizora resting on your shoulders would be so, so good. It would be seeing someone whose otherwise been a demons personal punching bag since before he finished puberty, who refuses to give her the satisfaction of breaking him, finally having someone else come along and take the weight of off his shoulders.

There's probably more to add to this but I lied earlier about writing this later, it's now 1am. I should really sleep.

As some of you may have seen with my timeline, I've been getting a little frustrated with both the fandom and Larian's treatment of Wyll Ravengard.

So I ended up posting a feedback form to them and I guess I wanted to share it here too because I was stewing on getting some of my thoughts and feelings out about Wyll for a little bit now and the XBOX animation kinda gave me the kick up the arse to do it. Might elaborate further when it's not Half-Past Midnight and I got up at 6am.

Wyll Ravengard's character suffers from being rewritten so late into production and it sadly shows with him, from his romance route being notably lacking in both significant moments that other routes get, to simple dialogue options or changes all the way to his own personal quest that has much less significance or presence in the main story than Lae'zel, Shadowheart or Astarion. The last minute rewrite also makes some moments with him feel disjointed, such as the treatment of his relationship with Mizora, in Early Access it was implied, if not outright stated that he was in a relationship with her while in the released game he clearly despises her for the abuse she's given him over the years, yet the narrative treats it like it's not a big deal, even allowing the player to sleep with her (I'm not suggesting you remove that option, after all, it's up to the player's choice) but the inability to remove her from the camp leaves an odd and uncomfortable feeling for a lot of female players (if for example, Wyll and Mizora's genders were swapped and it was a male abuser just hanging around his female victim and trying to seduce her lover/friend, it would be a very different vibe), even the XBOX announcement animation, protrays Wyll as being into Mizora. Best I can suggest is, either decide just what Wyll's conflict with Mizora is, whether he accepts that the power she gave him has made him the man he is today, for better or worse, or an abuser he needs to be rescued from. Heck, you could even recycle his romance scene from Early Access where she gets in the way of an intimate scene because of his scrying eye to show how she isolates him! Wyll isn't the only one who suffers from this, it's clear that Halsin hasn't got much to do after the Shadowfell/Moonrise Tower Questline, not even a conversation with the Refugees or that one Druid in the city trying to revive a tree, but it stands out the most with Wyll and it's such a shame that a character that had so much promise has been handicapped by time constraints. Hopinng this leads to at least something, and thanks for this game.

Edit 1: Where you can leave feedback if you wanna say something too