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felassan · 4 years ago

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Dragon Age development insights from David Gaider - PART 1

This information came from DG on a recent SummerfallStudios Twitch stream where he gave developer commentary while Liam Esler played DAO, specifically the mage Origin. I transcribed it in case there’s anyone who can’t watch the stream (for example due to connection/tech limitations, data, time constraints, or personal accessibility reasons). A lot of it is centered on DAO, but there’s also insights into DA2 and DAI. Some of it is info which is known having been out there already, some of it is new, and all of it imo was really interesting! It leaps from topic to topic as it’s a transcript of a conversational format. It’s under a cut due to length.

Note on how future streams in this series are going to work: The streams are going to be every Friday night. Most likely, every week, they’re going to play DAO. Every second week it will be Liam and DG and they’ll be doing more of this developer commentary style/way of doing things, talking about how the game was made as they play through, covering quirks and quibbles etc. Every other week, it will be Liam and a guest playing a different campaign in DAO, and Liam will be talking with them about how DA changed their lives or led them into game development, to get other peoples’ thoughts on the series (as it’s now been like 10 years). Some of these guests we may know, some we won’t. When other DA devs are brought on, it’ll be in the DG sessions. They hope to have PW and Karin Weekes on at some point. Sometime they hope to have an episode where they spend the whole time going through the lore.

(Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6)

[wording and opinions DG’s, occasionally LE’s; paraphrased]

DAO’s development actually finished up around April 2009. They then put it on ice for around six months before release. Human Noble is DG’s favorite Origin. It’s one of the ones he wrote. He also wrote the Dalish Origin as well (Tamlen is his doing ;__;). DAO’s temp name during development was Chronicles. DG has never played any of the DA games after they were released. He played them pre-release loads of times, when they were half-broken or incomplete etc. This stream is his first time seeing everything played after completion.

NWN: Hordes of the Underdark was the first game where DG was a/the lead writer, in charge of other writers, as opposed to a senior writer. It was pretty well-received. In the fall of 2003, BW were just finishing up HotU when James Ohlen came to DG to talk. BW had been having issues during the development of NWN with the IP holder for D&D Wizards of the Coast, so they were interested in starting their own IPs that they would have ownership over (and also for financial reasons). JO said to DG that one of these new IPs would be fantasy and one would be sci-fi. He knew that DG was more fantasy-oriented, and so asked DG if he wanted to take this on. DG was down, and the first thing to figure out was what that fantasy IP was going to be.

JO gave DG an atlas of European history, which he still has, and said that he wanted him to make a fantasy world that is reminiscent of medieval Europe and reminiscent of D&D - “make it like D&D but not, file off the serial numbers really well”. This worked for DG because he was pretty familiar with D&D and there were also lots of things that he didn’t like about it and wanted to change. So DG went off and for the next six months worked on creating a setting, beginning with documentation and the map. This was kinda strange because they had no idea at that time what their story would be. JO was very interested in having a “genetically evil” enemy in the setting (like an equivalent to orcs). DG wasn’t a big fan of this and his initial go at the setting omitted this (i.e. darkspawn were not a thing) and was a lot more realistic. JO insisted on adding them later on.

This period of development wasn’t actually a good process. There were other people who were working on the project who were designing the combat side. Looking back, DG feels that they should have put their heads together a lot sooner. The combat designers had various ideas for various prestige classes and subclasses, and DG would be like “these are nowhere in the setting [lore]”. He tried his best to add a few of them after the fact, which is why we see things like DA’s version of the bard archetype. The combat designers and artists originally had a vision in mind of a game that was much more along the lines of the type of fantasy you’d find in the Conan the Barbarian world - bare-chested barbarians, sorceresses that show a lot of skin, a grimdark world with barbarian hordes. They were just assuming that’s what it was going to be. At this point in time DG had never thought, “Oh, maybe I’m responsible for communicating my ideas to them” - he’d never done this role before and was just told to go create the world. He created world-building documentation and would send out emails saying “I’m making this documentation, please go ahead and take a look”, not learning until later on that nobody outside of the writing team really likes reading such documentation. He learned tricks later on like making the docs more accessible, less dense and wordy, and overall easier to peruse.

There was no real ‘vision holder’ for DA. Mass Effect did a much better job of that. Casey Hudson was the project director and the vision holder for ME, and he had the power to enforce a set vision of what was and was not ME. ME therefore ended up having a bit more of a coherent vision. DG was in essence the vision holder for DA, but he didn’t really have the authority to enforce it on the artists. The DA teams ended up spending a good 3.5 - 4 years of the ~6 years of DAO dev time going in circles, not exactly sure what they were going to make, the various people working on it having different ideas of what ‘kind’ of fantasy they were going to make. The writing team were leaning towards LoTR; the artists were leaning towards Conan; at one point one of the project directors was leaning towards a point-and-click Diablo-style action adventure; and nobody was overriding anybody else.

The fans who hang out on the forums and in similar places have a very different idea about what kind of game they like and want to play versus the telemetry BW get from the public in general. As an example, fans on the forums tend towards playing non-humans and feeling that playing as a human is boring. Forum-polls reflected that, but BW’s general public-telemetry shows that around 75-80% of the playerbase played a human in DAO. Elves were at 15% and dwarves 5%. In contrast, in the core/forum-based fanbase, the human figure dropped down to 30%.

DG originally wanted Zevran to be a gay romance (he has talked about this before). He asked JO if he could do that pretty early on, thinking of Jade Empire which had same-gender romance options which were really popular. BW were surprised about that, and DG had no idea that the JE team were going to do this. For DAO, he had an idea for an assassin character. He had been reading about how the CIA and KGB would often recruit gay men to be their assassins, as they didn’t tend to have family ties. DG thought this was really interesting. JO was cool with the idea on a conceptual level, but thought that the work that would end up going into it would be better served if those characters could be romanced by both male and female PCs. Zevran and Leliana weren’t intended to be bi, they were “bi out of convenience”, but at the time these sorts of things (representation and such) didn’t enter into the equation as much as it does today. DG wrote Zevran in his head as being romanceable by men.

DG would ask the hair artists, “Why all the mullets?”, because he never understood that, and he’d get “a sort of shrug response”, and an indication that “it’s easier to model, I guess?” Having hair which is loose, in the face, in locks, coming over the shoulders etc wasn’t really supported at this point by the tech or the engine. Hence, they ended up with like five different versions of mullets. On the subject of the engine, for the first half of development they were using an upgraded version of the Aurora engine from NWN, and it was not good. Several years in they decided to switch. Trent Oster was in charge at the time of making a new proprietary BW engine. At the time it wasn’t ready yet, but the DA team decided to grab it, use it and hammer it into the DA engine. That engine had “so many little weird quirks”, like lighting on skin not working properly and looking bad, and one of the issues was hair. It was supposed to be BW’s proprietary engine but it really wasn’t optimized for RPGs and didn’t include a dialogue system. They had to custom-build the conversation system. (At the time Trent didn’t think BW should be doing RPGs anymore, which is a whole other story of its own). DG recalls programmers complaining about things in the engine that weren’t ready for ‘prime-time’. Even compared to games released concurrently, DAO’s graphics were a bit dated.

For the worldbuilding, they had an internal wiki and they kept everything on there. They ended up with a lot of legacy documentation on there very quickly. Eventually they solved this by hiring an editor whose sole job it was to wrangle the documentation. DG started work on the setting in the same manner in which he’d embark on starting a homebrew - ‘so like, first, here’s a map, oh, I like this name, vague ideas, a paragraph on each major nation, a rough timeline of the history, expanding, and it just growing from there’. After about six months, they brought on other writers, and by then he had around 50 pages of documentation. This 50 pages was a minute amount compared to the amount they had generated at the time of release. Originally, they weren’t sure where in the world specifically the story would take place, so DG made sure to seed potential and brewing conflicts throughout Thedas. They settled quite quickly on the new Blight starting in Ferelden. Once they established that, the writers went to town on taking Ferelden specifically and blowing it up detail-wise. Jennifer Hepler was in charge of the dwarves and Orzammar. Mary Kirby was on Fereldan customs and traditions.

The first version of the setting was more grounded in realism, almost like a post-fantasy. The dragons and griffons were extinct and a lot of the things that were thought to be fantastical were thought to be over with. During development, they started clawing these things back. They brought back dragons because the game was named Dragon Age (lol). DG was approached like, “Hey, we named the game DA, can you bring back dragons and weave them into the story more powerfully?” Wynne’s writer Sheryl Chee had a bit of an obsession with griffons and was often like ‘omg, griffons :D’, and this is the origin of Wynne’s dialogue with the Warden about griffons.

KotOR was the first time BW had tried to do a game that was fully voiced-over. For KotOR, BW sent the work of casting, direction and so on down to another studio in California called Technicolor. BW had little say in the process then and when they got it back, “it was what it was”. By the time they got to DA and the first ME, BW had a good system down for recording and VO had become an important thing in games at the time. BW are really one of the premieres for this, a lot of actors really like acting on BW games as they get a lot of space to act where they wouldn’t normally be able to do so otherwise. DG has learned a lot from Caroline Livingstone on how to encourage the best performance out of an actor. For DAO, DG worked together with the various lead designers and Caroline to decide on the auditions, casting etc. This was one of DG’s favorite things to do.

Gideon Emery as Fenris, GDL as Solas and Eve Myles as Merrill were times where DG had written the character and then went to Caroline and said “I have an actor in mind for them, can you check it out?” These were specific times where he was able to secure the actor he wanted. This didn’t always work out, for example there are times when actors aren’t interested or have no time due to scheduling conflicts or were too expensive etc. Eve and GDL were DG’s roommate Cori’s idea. Cori was a big fan of Torchwood/the actors from Torchwood, and worked as an editor at BW for a long time. Gideon was DG’s idea after playing FF12. For DAO, DG didn’t have any specific ideas in terms of actors. Casting Morrigan was the longest, most drawn out process.

The Circle went through a whooole process during worldbuilding. Initially, mages in the game weren’t supposed to have any “fighting magic”. The restrictions were originally such that in the lore, they didn’t teach mages that. Mages weren’t taught any magic that could kill people, only ‘indirect’ forms of magic that could support others. However, [during what sounds like] playtesting it was asked “Why can’t I cast a fireball? I just want to cast a fireball”, so the writers had to go back and rework how magic in the lore worked completely.

Flemeth was originally going to be voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo, and she was totally on-board, but unfortunately because of DAO’s development delays, she was unable to attend the new recording time as she had a conflict in her schedule (she was filming House of Sand and Fog). Shoreh was quite disappointed about this and her family had been so excited that she was going to be in a video game. When the movie was finished, Shoreh came back to BW and let them know that she was still available, and this is how she ended up in ME2. For a while they were trying to find an actress with an accent that authentically mirrored Shoreh’s. Out of the blue around this time, Claudia Black’s agent sent BW an audition tape of her. At the time Claudia hadn’t done any games but wanted to get into it. The tape was of Claudia doing a beat poet rendition of Baby Got Back. DG still has this tape. DG was a big fan of Farscape and on listening to the tape, it clicked right away in his head that Claudia would be perfect for Morrigan.

The Fade ended up being a big irritation for the writers. They wanted the PC to be able to assume different forms and such while in there. A lot of this stuff proved too difficult for the combat designers to work out, and so it ended up getting changed a lot. They had a hard time coming up with gameplay that could work in the Fade. The mage Origin is DG’s least favorite of the Origin stories, as he’s really dubious about the Fade section in it. It didn’t work out like how they had pictured it in their heads. By the time they got to DAI, that’s when the Fade really looks like how the writers first described/envisioned it. By this point the artists were more keen to give it a more specific feel. DAO was made at a time when ‘brown is realistic’ was a prevailing thing in games dev.

The experience of a mage in the world isn’t represented or conveyed very well to the player when the player is a mage. The experience of the player when they’re playing a mage or have a mage in their party doesn’t really match up with how the world lore tells them how dangerous mages can be - for example, how they can lose control and so on, we never really have an example of a PC mage struggling with being taken over by a demon. This was originally supposed to be a subplot in DA2 for mage Hawkes, in one of the last cuts. In Act 2, mage Hawke was originally slowly being tricked by a demon in their head that they thought was real, only to realize at the last minute. Mouse the Pride demon in the mage Origin is the only time in the entire series that they really ever properly demonstrated how demons can fuck with [PC] mages. Also, PC templars were originally supposed to have a permanent lyrium addiction that they needed to ‘feed’, but this was scrapped as the system designers weren’t keen on it and felt that it was essentially handicapping the player.

Mages were originally also not supposed to be able to deal with pure lyrium (it would ‘overload’ them). There is a plot where mage PCs run around touching lyrium nodes to refill their mana bars. On this DG was like “Wtf is this?” The designers said that it works, and DG said “but it flies in the face of the lore”. This instance is an example of how the DA team was working where the various departments (writers, artists, designers etc) all had their own ideas about how the game and its world would work and never overrode each other (see above). DG feels that DAO is a little contradictory in that way. It’s only after the game came out that a lot of the people on the team really “bought into” what they’d put forward. This got easier as they went on, with people involved buying then into the things that make Dragon Age, Dragon Age. At one point, not everyone on the team was even aware of those things.

DG relates that originally, they would ask the artists, “Ok, can we get a village?” and said village once created would be quite generic and non-specific to DA. The writers would try to relate how things are in the DA world and list things that would be found in a village like this specific to the DA world, and the artists either didn’t read it or had their own ideas (DG isn’t sure which), and nobody was around to tell them not to do that and that they should do it differently. Everyone having their own ideas like this is why we ended up getting something that is this sort of “cobbled together half-Conan half-LotR mish-mash”, and after a while this sort of became DA’s “thing”.

Initially, BW had concepts drawn up for a lot more different creatures. After they went in circles for those years and consequently ran out of time to do all the models, they had to cut these concepts down more and more. Demons were among the ones that were the first to go (this is why we have situations like a bereskarn as the Sloth Demon in the mage Origin). The original concepts for things like spirits of Valor and Sloth demons were really good. Early on, JO made a list of D&D creatures that he liked. He picked the ones that they were thinking of doing, sent them to DG and said to make a “DA version of this”. For example, D&D succubi essentially became Desire Demons. Desire Demons were originally patterned off Sandman, neither male nor female yet really alluring, acting more like a genie and trying to ferret out mortals’ inner desires (which are not necessarily sexual in nature), without being overtly sexual. The artists’ version came back and that was basically the model seen in-game. The writers were like “What is this, this is nothing like the description?” and the artists responded that on the list from JO, it was included, in that you had to click on “succubus” to get to the Desire Demon description, so they had just read “succubus” and done their version of a succubus. The artists did loads of great work, but this was one of the instances were DG was like “???” By then, it was too late to change it. The writers were able to encourage them to make Desire Demons a little more fearsome, so that made it in at least.

The mage Origin was one of the more contentious Origin stories. It had like 4 different versions written of it over time. It was often the case that BW would hire someone, and writing an Origin story was their first test. Three different writers came in and wrote a version of the mage Origin and those versions just didn’t work. Finally they passed it to Sheryl Chee and she wrote it. The Origins were the parts of the game in general that were written/rewritten the most often. There were several others that got written that they discarded.

Duncan was slated for death from Day 1. When DG writes a story, the thing he does first is pick out the big emotional beats that he wants, such as deaths. He decides these ahead of time and the stuff in-between comes later and is more often changed. Oghren was also originally supposed to die, but this ended up getting cut. DG related a story of how Oghren came to be: At the time, there was a phase JO went through when he thought everything had a formula that it could be done by. One of these ‘creative forumulas’ was that all such IPs had a two-word name that they’re known by, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonlance (being Dragon-Lance). This is how ‘DA’ and ‘ME’ came to be. One of the formulas he wanted to implement was how to distill the ‘comedy character’, like Minsc or HK-47. These characters were very popular with the fans and JO was certain that there was a way to figure this out to create one for DA. At the time, DG argued with him a lot about this. JO insisted it could be done. DG was originally supposed to write this character but ended up not doing so. JO came up with a list of comedic archetypes and had DG write a blurb about what kind of character each could be. These were then sent out to the team who voted on which was their favorite. This process eventually resulted in an archetype basically called ‘The Buffoon’ (think Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin, the kind of guy people laugh at because he’s such an oaf).

At this point ‘The Buffoon’ wasn’t named or made a dwarf yet. JO came to DG to write him, but DG said there was a problem which is that he hates this archetype. Homer and Peter are characters that he despises. DG is a professional writer, but this was comedy (outside of his areas of strength), and he felt the best he would be able to do is write a character who makes fun of this archetype and lampshade that. Comedy is something that has to come from within the writer. Oghren was given to someone else, and he ended up getting rewritten again anyway. By the time they were working on Awakening, DAO had not yet come out, and the assumption prior to the game going out was that Oghren was still going to be the most popular character from among the followers. The comedic character that ended up being the most popular along these lines was Alistair, which was interesting as he wasn’t intended as a comedic character, “so shows what we know”. DG was dubious that Oghren was going to be popular, because “he was kind of pathetic, honestly”, but that was the thinking at the time. Thinking he would be well-loved is why he was in Awakening.

On Alistair, any character DG writes is going to be sarcastic. At the time DG had made it a sort of personal challenge to recreate Joss Whedon’s dialogue patterns in his characters. Alistair was a sort of mish-mash of Xander from Buffy and maybe Mal from Firefly. DG wanted to see if he could do it, so Alistair was kind of quippy and self-deprecating. DG never really considered this to be Alistair’s main personality feature, but when other writers wrote him, they often had him doing this, as they liked the trait so much, and so this is how Alistair ended up as he did.

On dwarves, the dwarves being cut off from the Fade is very much baked into who the dwarves are as a race. There’s a specific reason why. This has been hinted at so far and it’s likely to come up in the future. DG had various ideas for some things that he wanted to include with the races or the way the world works etc. Some of them ended up never happening or some are mentioned only as part of the lore (templar lyrium addiction never coming up in gameplay is an example of this). Dwarven history and the nature of the dwarves is one of the things that survived pretty well though. DG calls Jennifer Hepler “mistress of the dwarves” and says that she did a really detailed, amazing breakdown of their history. After Jennifer left it was Mary Kirby, and DG feels that they did a good job of maintaining how dwarves were, in terms of both how they’re often presented in fantasy and yet also quite different in DA. Orzammar is one of DG’s favorite plots all together. You can really tell that Jennifer Hepler really enjoyed the dwarves and brought a lot of love to that plot.

DG draws a distinction between DA fans and the unpleasant people who harassed Jennifer Hepler.

They managed to keep the Tranquil in. There was a while there where they were going to be cut. At the same time, DG regrets that they couldn’t solve the making of the player more aware of how mages are dangerous, thing. Players could make a cogent argument like “they’re not that dangerous, look at me [mage PC]” and the writers were like “well... yeah, that is fair”. It was a case of showing one thing and the player experience of it being another. DG feels that this made the templars come off worse than they are. DG feels that they are being massively unfair and too extreme in their approach to the problem, but the problem itself is a real thing. He feels that there’s some merit/truth in the argument that mages are oppressed, but he looks at it more like an issue like gun control rather than as treatment of oppressed people, saying that we don’t have an example in real life of oppressed people who can explode into demons and cast fireballs and so on.

There are some funny pronunciations that worked their way into DA, and the reason for a lot of them is as follows: the writers had to create a pronunciation guide for VO, because otherwise you end up with a lot of inconsistencies. (Some did still slip through). The guide was online, and if you clicked on a word, an audio file for it would play. Jennifer Hepler was in charge of this and did a great job, but has a really strong NY accent, and in some cases the ‘NY-ness’ of her pronunciation endearingly worked itself into things (the way Arlathan is sometimes said is an example of where this happened sometimes).

Sometimes the writers trying to communicate the “hotness” of a character to the artists didn’t go smoothly. The writers would sometimes say things like, ok, this character is a romance, they need to be hot, and the designs would come back looking “like Burt Reynolds”, and the writers would be like “???” And then a character that wasn’t particularly intended to be hot, as in that wasn’t mentioned at all in the descriptions of them, would come back “accidentally hot”, and the writers would be like “Why couldn’t you have done this when we were asking for a character that was meant to be hot”, and the artists would be like “What?? He’s not hot”. And this became a thing (lmao - this discussion was prompted by DG being asked “Was Duncan meant to be that hot?”, for context). Some of the artists were so paranoid about their [in]ability to judge actually-hot characters that when it was time to pick an appearance, like for Alistair, they gathered up all the women at BioWare, and DG (“resident gay”) into a room to show them an array of faces and bodies like “Is this hot? Is this hot?” DG and co would sit there like, “How can you not tell? Is this a straight man thing?!” Anyways, this is why oftentimes we ended up with characters who are accidentally hot.

Over time, the writers realized that the way they communicated to artists needed to be managed better. The words they would use would have different connotations to them the writers, than what they did to the artists. For example, for Anders’ design in DA2, he was supposed to be “a little haggard”. When DG thinks of haggard, he thinks ‘a little tired, mussed hair, looking like you’ve been through some shit’. But the artists based on that produced concepts with super sunken cheeks, looking like he’d been terribly starved. The writers needed to develop a specific vocabulary for communicating with the artists, as artists think in terms of how something looks, but writers are thinking in terms of what the character “is”. Anders’ description talked about his history a lot, and the one visual-type word that jumped out was “haggard” due to its visual connotations. “A lot it came down to the writers being up their/our own asses.”

When they got to DAI, they had figured out that the way to get best results on this front was /not/ to have the writer go off and develop a long description and pre-conceived notion of what the character looked like in their head. In such scenarios artists don’t feel that they have much to contribute to the process or an ability to put their own stamp on who this character is and make them interesting to them (the best, most interesting characters are when people at all stages of the pipeline properly get to feed into it). They learned that the better solution was to bring the artists in earlier, and to give them little blurbs, and not name the character but give them an ‘archetype’-sort of ‘name’. For example, Dorian was “the rockstar mage”, “cool”, “Freddie Mercury”. The writers wouldn’t be sure that a particular concept would ‘hit’, so at this stage they would offer an array of options and sit the artist down and walk them through the concepts. The artists would then provide a bunch of sketches and it would go back and forth, with both taking part in the character creation process together. For the first two games, the writers were “really hogging” this process to themselves. They got better at not doing this and better at communicating with the artists by DAI.

There were a lot of arguments about how mages in DAO had a lot of specific lore words like “Harrowing”, “phylactery”, “Rite of Tranquility” etc. There was concern that this would be too confusing for players to understand and that it was too complicated. DG says that thankfully he put his foot down and pushed for this stuff to be kept. A lot of fans assume that as lead writer DG had all this influence, way more influence than he could possibly exert on a team. He wasn’t even a lead, he was a sub-lead, under a lead designer. He only had so much say. If the lead designer or lead artist wanted to do something differently, often there was not much he could do. Hence he had to pick his battles carefully, choose the important ones to fight. The mage vocabulary thing was one of these.

Templar Greagoir’s name is pronounced “Gregor” and it comes from a place in Alberta near where DG lived.

Codex entries are usually one of the last things that get done in a project like this, and so all of that kind of textual lore comes in super late and is super punchy as by then the writers have written so much and are exhausted. They had to find a way to make this process cute or interesting or fun for themselves, which is why a lot of entries are quite fun to read. Sometimes a writer would make a joke for banter [irl], and it would end up making it into an entry.

Only Morrigan and Duncan got unique body models in DAO. The companions all have custom-morphed heads but not custom-morphed bodies (Morrigan not included here). This is why every model has a necklace or a collar right at the point where they had to be attached to be a body. These sometimes used assets that couldn’t be used by the PC but were not unique to that character. Duncan probably got a unique model because he was in a lot of marketing/promotional material. Qunari were originally conceived as having horns.

Most people didn’t even finish DAO once (public telemetry again here), only approximately 20-25% actually did. The devs try not to read too much into this kind of thing, but the telemetry does tell them where a lot of people stop playing the game permanently (they call these “drop-off points”). One of these points in DAO is the Fade during Broken Circle. Sometimes when people interpret this data they involve self-serving biases, but it was generally accepted that the Fade there was too long, too complex, not interesting enough, etc. [source]

[Part 2]

[Part 3]

[Part 4]

[Part 5]

[Part 6]

[‘Insights into DA dev from the Gamers For Groceries stream’ transcript]

#dragon age #bioware #morrigan #solas #video games #queen of my heart #mass effect #lgbtq #jade empire #fenris #the Fenaissance #alistair theirin #lul #fav warden

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feudalconnection · 4 years ago

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Get Ready...!!

It’s the start of the 1st Quarter 2021 Inuyasha Fandom Awards!!

We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season as we kick off the new year! A huge shout-out to everyone who participated last quarter and made it such a huge success! We look forward to all the amazing new fanfiction and fanart to be nominated and shared with this beautiful community!

Before we get started, there have been a few changes that have been made during our brief hiatus.

We want to give a shout-out to @britonell for always being so generous with her time and talent with creating award banners. (If you have not yet received your award banner for last quarter, please reach out to one of the mods asap!)

There are also some changes coming to the categories that may effect you as nominators:

Considering we now have a storyline in regards to Yashahime, we are now allowing works to be nominated into Fanfiction categories. However, because the storyline is not fleshed out enough and a lot of large parts are missing still, we will NOT accept any Yashahime works into the Best Canon Fanfiction category until more has been revealed. If there are any questions on this, please feel free to reach out to the mod-team.

Our Roulette category for fanfiction this quarter will be Best Canon Divergence Fanfiction. This is defined as: Anything that walks outside of Takahashi’s original vision, but includes some key defining moments from the original canon universe. Anything that starts in the World created by Takahashi and is taken to a different outcome. For this quarter, we are splitting the Best AU/AR category. The new definition for Best AU/AR Fanfiction this quarter is: Anything that walks outside of Takahashi's vision. Anything that moves the characters outside of Takahashi's setting of Feudal Era Japan or Modern day Japan is AU/AR. Anything that changes the main characters beyond the basic core attributes Takahashi granted them. Anything that includes a separate world and series of events. If there are any questions regarding this, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the mod-team.

As a reminder, any work of fiction may include OC’s, but it must reflect 80% of the storyline revolving around the Inuyasha characters.

One major change is that we are now going to evolve the Winners into First, Second, and Third place Awards. This has happened in past IY awards and some fans were hoping that we would be able to bring this back. However, this change is going to be based solely on the level of participation by you guys!

For any category to receive up to three nominations, a First Place banner will be awarded to the winner.

For any category to receive up to five nominations, First and Second Place banners will be awarded to the winners.

For any category to receive up to seven nominations, First, Second, and Third Place banners will be awarded to the winners.

Basically, the more nominations we receive, the more likely the chance for several people to receive banners! If you have any questions regarding this, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the mod-team.

If it was not mentioned above, chances are it hasn’t changed. Please be aware that the moderators always take suggestions regarding how the awards are run and category changes into consideration, and each quarter may bring about new changes. You can read up on the most recent FAQs, Rules of Eligibility, and Categories for more information (these links are only available on desktop)

Also for this quarter, check out @inuparentsday, taking place on January 16th!

As nominators, please make sure that each quarter you take a peek at our list of creators who can’t be nominated to make sure you are staying current with who is eligible to be nominated.

The 1st Quarter 2021 nomination period will being January 1st and go until the end of the day January 15th. Please send your nominations through the submit button! If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to send in an ask or reach out to one of the mods!

Mods: @sassybratt9791 @meggz0rz @umacaking @hinezumi @sssuperbartola @ruddcatha

Please reblog to spread the word of the start of the new quarter!

[Below the cut we’ve posted the mobile-friendly FAQs, Rules of Eligibility, and Categories]

FAQ’s

What is The Feudal Connection?

The Feudal Connection is a place where amazing fanart and fanfiction in the Inuyasha fandom is recognized, admired, and offered the chance to be nominated for an award! In addition, it also gives lesser known authors and artists an opportunity to have their work shared to a broader extent and receive the admiration and recognition they deserve!

How do I nominate?

You can send us a submission in one of our nomination formats. Your submission will not be posted and therefore remain anonymous, only to be seen by the moderators. You can send multiple nominations in one submission, as long as the nomination formats are used for each nomination. Please select your fiction nominations carefully; spelling and grammar are important parts of being an author. Anything deemed unacceptable by the moderator team will be disqualified. Once nominations are complete, we’ll post the list of accepted nominations so you can read and view them before voting.

Can I nominate my own art/fiction?

You cannot nominate yourself. Doing so will result in the nomination not being accepted and a warning from the award moderators.

How long do I have to nominate?

You will have 2 weeks from the start of the nominating quarter to send in nominations. These dates will be posted at the beginning of each quarter.

Can I nominate anonymously?

No. This is due to the fact that no one is allowed to nominate their own work. Also, if a nomination is disqualified, the moderators will be reaching out to the person who nominated to allow them another opportunity to nominate.

Can I promote my own works of fiction/art to be nominated for a quarter?

No. You are not allowed to self-promote your own work during the nomination. This includes not being allowed to request others to nominate your work in specific categories. However, you are allowed to promote the nomination period of the awards by stating something similar to “go nominate your favorites” or the like, as long as you don’t promote your own work to being nominated. Violation of this rule will result in a warning. If there is a second offense, your work will be banned from being nominated in any future quarters.

How many fanfics/fanarts can I nominate?

Only one fiction or artwork can be chosen for each category per person. Meaning, a story or artwork can only be nominated by one person per category. Therefore, any secondary nominations will be disregarded and the duplicate nominator will be allowed to submit another story or artwork in its place.

Is there a limit to how many works can be nominated per category?

Yes. Only 7 fictions or artworks can be nominated per category. Once that category has reached its nomination limit, no more nominations will be accepted into that category for the current quarter.

What fanfiction/fanart is eligible to be nominated?

Please see Rules of Eligibility.

What is the nominating format for fanfics? For fanart?

Nominating format for fanfiction:

Category: (List the name of the category you’ve chosen) Nominated by: (List YOUR screen name) Rating: (The fiction’s rating) Title: (Title of the fiction) Author: (List the name of the person who wrote the story) Website(s): (Add the link where the story can be seen)

(For Best “In-Character” list the character’s name): (For Best “Friendship” list the characters’ names):

Nominating format for fanart:

Category: (List the name of the category you’ve chosen) Nominated by: (List YOUR screen name) Title: (Title of the artwork) Artist: (List the name of the person that drew the piece) Website(s): (Add the link where the art can be seen)

Can I nominate a fanfic/fanart for more than one category?

Yes. The same story or artwork may be nominated by the same person in up to two different categories.

What are the categories?

The categories for both fanart and fanfiction can be found in the Categories link.

Can I nominate a fanart/fanfic that includes Original Characters or Crossover Characters?

Yes. For Fanfics, 80% of the story needs to be focused on Inuyasha characters and the development of the story. OC’s can be in a story, but the main focus needs to be on the Inuyasha characters. Artwork can contain Non-IY characters where specified, but NO art may contain only OC’s or Non-IY characters. (i.e. Artwork of Inuyasha and Kagome’s “OC children” are unacceptable without other genuine IY characters present in the piece)

I don’t want my fanart/fanfic nominated. Can I opt out? How?

Once a nomination has been approved by the moderators, the author/artist will be made aware of the nomination. Every author/artist retains the right to have their work be removed from the nomination list and can opt out of future nominations. Simply reach out to one of the moderators to let us know.

How many quarters are there?

There will be 4 quarters total per year. Each quarter will be broken down by dates prior to the quarter starting.

How long is each quarter?

Each quarter will be approximately 8 weeks.

How long is the voting period?

The voting period will last for 2 weeks.

How do I vote?

Once the voting period begins, the moderators will post a link to the voting form that will list all of the nominations and which categories they have been nominated for. You can click on the link to be taken to the voting poll, however, you must sign in as you will be allowed only one vote per category.

When are the winners announced?

At the end of each quarter.

What happens if my fanfic/fanart wins? Do I need to do anything?

You don’t need to do anything; you can kick back, relax, and enjoy the feeling of being recognized for your hard work! We will be contacting you in regards to your award within the next twenty-four hours.

I want to nominate an artist/author who has won in the past. Are they still eligible to be nominated?

There is a Winner Ban in place. Once any piece of artwork or fanfiction has won an award for a category, it automatically becomes ineligible and cannot be nominated again for that category. However, it can be nominated for other categories after three consecutive quarters have passed (ie: one year since that piece won) as long as it fits within that definition. We currently do not have a rule against nominating an author/artist back into the category they won for in the past, as long as it is a different piece of work that is being nominated.

I have a question that’s not listed.

Please feel free to send an ask or a direct message to one of our mods and we will get back to you as soon as possible! :)

Rules of Eligibility

Fiction and Fanart published on any public or free site can be submitted for an award provided they meet all of the requirement of the nominations. These sites include but are not limited to Tumblr, Fanfiction.net, AO3, Deviantart, ect. If the validity of a site is uncertain, reach out to a moderator.

Multi-chapter fics must have been updated within the past 3 years of the nomination quarter. Fanart must have been created within the past 3 years of the nomination quarter.

One-shots and drabbles must have been posted within the past 3 years of the nomination quarter.

If the work was posted onto several different locations, the earliest date and time stamp will be taken and checked against the quarter’s period of eligibility. Stamps posted within reviews can be used to date a work and/or its chapters. Also, authors and artists can be contacted to verify timeframes.

You cannot nominate yourself. Doing so will result in the nomination not being accepted and a warning from the award moderators.

You are only allowed to nominate one fic/fanart per category.

Each piece of Art or Fanfiction is allowed to be nominated into a maximum of two different categories per quarter. The nominations will be taken on a first come first serve basis, meaning that once a piece of Art or Fanfiction is nominated into two categories, it will not be allowed to be nominated into other categories, and each subsequent nomination will be rejected.

Each author/artist is allowed to be nominated twice per quarter. Meaning, an author/artist can only have a max of two of their creations be nominated per quarter. So be sure and pick your favorites carefully!

The work must be in compliance with the definition of the category into which it was nominated.

Both adult and non-adult artwork are acceptable for nominations.

Categories

*Please keep in mind that these are subject to change pending participation and suggestions.

There are 32 categories in all - 16 for Fanfiction and 16 for Fanart. Please adhere to each categories’ definition when nominating. If a nomination does not fit within the definition, it will be disqualified.

Fanfiction Categories

Best Action Fiction

Action: “actual engagement in fighting an enemy; military or naval combat” Adventure: “participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises.”

Does it make you sit on the edge of your seat? Do the characters battle adversity on a daily basis? Have the characters embarked on an epic quest?

Best Alternate Universe/Reality Fiction

Anything that walks outside of Takahashi's vision. Anything that moves the characters outside of Takahashi's setting of Feudal Era Japan or Modern day Japan is AU/AR. Anything that changes the main characters beyond the basic core attributes Takahashi granted them. Anything that includes a separate world and series of events.

Best Canon Fiction

“The works of an author that have been accepted as authentic.”

If the story is set in Takahashi’s universe (Modern Japan or Feudal Japan) and keeps the character origins, events, and motivations for character development that she created, then it is canon.

Best Angst Fiction

“Any situation or series of events having/giving a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish. An acute but nonspecific sense of anxiety or remorse.”

Stories that delve into the lives of the characters and pit them against odds that create angst.

Best Dark Fiction

Anything that brings the reader into a world of pain and suffering through abuse of the characters at the hands of the antagonist or internal strife. If it includes graphic rape, murder, abuse (mental or emotional), a character that is suicidal or possessed of depressing thoughts/outlook on life that colors the majority of the story in glum tones it can be considered a dark!fic. Can also be aimed to cause an overwhelming and painful feeling due to something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; fear. Aimed to frighten or ‘gross out’ the reader.

Best Drama Fiction

“Any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results.”

Stories that delve into the lives of the characters and take the readers with them on a journey through the gambit of emotive expression.

Best Humor/Parody Fiction

Did it make you laugh? Did it deliberately spoof the anime/manga?

Best NSFW Fiction

Sexual content/smut with plot. Both oneshots and specific chapters from multi-chapter fics are accepted in this category. If coming from a multi-chapter fic, a link for that specific chapter is required. Must include content depicting an act of the sexual nature; i.e,. sex, masturbation, heavy petting/touching, ect.

Best Oneshot Fiction

Any fiction that spans the length of one chapter. This can also be a fiction that contains more than one chapter provided that each one was posted at the same time and specifically deemed a “oneshot” by the author.

Best Character Portrayal

Did the author create an in-depth characterization that, while it may diverge from Takahashi’s vision for them, managed to attract the reader?

*Nomination must include the specific character*

Best Romance Fiction

“Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love”

Stories that have developed a believable romance between two characters. “Believable” is subjective, and it is up to those nominating/voting to draw their own line on that quantifier and vote their “Best.”

Best Non-Canon Pairing

A story including two or more characters in a romantic relationship with each other that were not canonically together in the manga or anime (such as InuKag, MirSan, KogAya, InuParents, etc)

Best Serial Fiction

A collection of drabbles or oneshots or a combination of both that makes up one larger story.

Best Ficlet

For drabbles and poetry - of any genre or pairing - consisting of 1,000 words or less.

Best Canon Divergence Fiction

Anything that walks outside of Takahashi’s original vision, but includes some key defining moments from the original canon universe. Anything that starts in the World created by Takahashi and is taken to a different outcome.

Best Completed Fiction

A story with multiple chapters that will no longer be updated and should be listed as ‘complete.’

Fanart Categories

Best Action Artwork

Any fanart depicting adventures, engagement in fighting an enemy, or battles.

Best AU/AR Artwork

Any fanart depicting the characters in an alternate reality or universe setting.

Best Canon Artwork

Any art featuring the characters in a canon setting.

Best Angst Artwork

Any art depicting a scene having/giving a feeling of dread, anxiety or anguish.

Best Dark Artwork

Any art that brings the reader into a world of pain and suffering through abuse of the characters at the hands of the antagonist or internal strife. If it includes graphic rape, murder, abuse (mental or emotional), a character that is suicidal or possessed of depressing thoughts/outlook on life that colors the piece in glum tones can be considered a dark artwork. Can also be aimed to cause an overwhelming and painful feeling due to something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; fear. Aimed to frighten or ‘gross out’ the reader.

Best Humor/Parody Artwork

Any artwork which evokes a feeling of amusement in the viewer.

Best Kiss Artwork

Fanart depiction of the a kiss between two romantic characters.

Best Character Artwork

Any artwork that is a ‘still life’ of one or two characters. It may be bust only, bust and torso, or full body. The portrait should seem more ‘professional’ than a snapshot in its form and presentation, and should successfully convey a sense of the character’s canon personality to the viewer. Portraits should all be canon, and not AU/AR.

Best Duo/Pairing Artwork

Any art that features two characters be it a comic, doujinshi, painting, drawing, sketch, etc. If other characters are included in the picture it is only allowed as a background. The focus MUST be on the pairing. The art can reflect either a platonic relationship or a romantic relationship between the two characters.

Best Doujinshi Artwork

Fanbased and fan made manga based on Inuyasha; art and story combined in manga form.

Best NSFW Artwork

Any artwork portraying the characters of Inuyasha engaged in a sex scene or a scene hinting at a sexual relationship. Can be one character, male/female, male/male, or female/female.

Best Romance Artwork

Any romantic depiction of two of the characters of Inuyasha (excluding male/male or female/female)).

Best Non-Canon Pairing Artwork

An artwork depicting two or more characters in a romantic light with each other that were not canonically together in the manga or anime (such as InuKag, MirSan, KogAya, etc)

Best M/M & F/F Artwork

Any romantic depiction of two of the characters of Inuyasha including male/male or female/female pairings.

Best Group Depiction Artwork

This artwork must feature 3 or more of the Inuyasha cast to be eligible.

Best Overall Artwork

The quality, time, thought, and emotion that went into this piece is what would make it worthy of this nomination. Please take note: The general idea is not the “best of what’s nominated” or “best of show.” It is a category created specifically for art appreciation. That means that even if the characters are OOC, AU, or not drawn in anime style, etc., the ART itself is worthy of praise.

#feudalconnection #fcq12021 #fc nominations #fc start #mod team

115 notes · View notes

dwellordream · 4 years ago

Note

This is kind of two unrelated questions but: if you're still doing the director's cuts, could you do chapter 3 of grass crown? (Or whichever chapter of whichever fic you want) and what your favorite fanfics are (regardless of fandom)?

I’ll rec some fics first because that’s going to be shorter than a director cut haha: in terms of what is currently updating that I’m following: An Unexpected Journey is a great The Mandalorian fic involving one of the most well-written and well-rounded, human OCs I have ever read in any fic, ever. His Highness Steven Universe is a very funny Steven Universe AU which does a great job of portraying fledgling teen romance as being so excruciating and mortifying yet giddily fun. Little Swan Lost is a very interesting modern Hobbit AU involving female Bilbo and an arranged marriage? sounds a little far-fetched but it’s both quite angsty and quite sweet. Our Blades Are Sharp is a great ASOIAF AU series revolving around a still-kicking Domeric Bolton and Sansa Stark; it offers a really interesting take on House Bolton. War in a time of “peace” is an awesome HP AU about a daughter of Sirius Black and a French Veela and her struggles through Hogwarts in Slytherin. Chapter 3 aka Lydia’s Dramatic Entrance aka “In the garden of Eden”: I actually had a great time writing this chapter and considered it a nice breath of fresh air into the fic in general (despite it literally being Chapter 3). Lydia was one of the first ‘wholly original characters’ I thought of when developing Grass Crown, and she sort of just sashayed onto the page with a martini in hand, dressed to the nines. We literally open with Lydia staring at her reflection- or trying to- much like the fish in the Rosiers’ gaudy ornamental tank, Lydia lives in a glass house and is always under inspection and observation. Then we pretty quickly break down the Rosier family tree- mother Cordelia, father Gilbert, big brother Lyle, and pregnant sister-in-law Cecily. Cecily’s pregnancy is a big deal for the Rosiers, and a point of pride- with pureblood birth rates dwindling, a viable pregnancy is truly seen as something to celebrate and brag about. This chapter goes into detail about Lydia’s observant nature right off the bat, as well as how perceptive she thinks she is, pretty much dissecting everyone with one look alone. Projection, much? The big ‘problem’ of the hour is, of course, the floral arrangements- this is the sort of stuff that makes up Lydia’s extremely constrained life. Floral arrangements and caterers and decorations- party planning and social hours and gossip and fashion is pretty much what she’s expected to limit herself to. While it’s not immediately clear if the Rosiers have actively dissuaded Lydia from having a career or not, it’s obvious that she’s not really encouraged to be interested in that sort of thing- she’s got a big future on the horizon, but that future is someone else’s, with her sort of tacked on as part of the decor. We also see that Lydia is far from hesitant or shy; she teases and jokes and rolls her eyes, but is careful to never actually show (or even feel) any real anger or upset at the world around her. basically it’s like she’s on thin ice all the time, as toothless as the Rosiers might seem at first glance, aside from just being snobs. The scene of her under the rose trellis and by the fountain talking to her brother was the first real image I ever had of Lydia and what she’d be like in this fic. The roses are beautiful- but also completely artificial- they aren’t natural growth, they were forcibly created to bloom so wonderfully with magic and potions. We also get the first hint of Lydia’s metamorphmagus abilities here.

Lyle stands in contrast- the prodigal son to Lydia’s seemingly perfect daughter. Whereas she is always gracious and polite, he’s sullen and rude, acting more like he’s still a teenager than a 30 year old man. Lydia says “They wouldn’t even know me” in reference to guests showing up early- suggesting that the face she was just speaking to Lyle with is not necessarily the same one she’s about to put on for the party. The one real concern Lyle seems to show is that Lydia might forget to wear her engagement ring- she doesn’t seem to go around wearing it at home, which already tells us a lot about her relationship with Tom, and it is odd that in this one regard Lyle seems actually concerned- does he worry about Lydia’s interactions with Tom for her sake or his own? The ring is very much a product of the time period- it’s not an antique or heirloom like many pureblooded engagement rings might be, it’s brand spanking new, something Lydia is not at all bothered by- she clearly doesn’t mind that Tom isn’t like the other supposedly pureblood men she knows, and she is spiteful about the fact that others are jealous of her luck in becoming engaged to someone slated to become the Minister for Magic. We then find out she is just 23- very young compared to many of the other adult characters. On the other hand, we also get the sense that Lydia is looking forward to this marriage to Tom- she may not have had a say in the matter, but she certainly doesn’t view it with much trepidation or disgust, whether she actually likes spending time with him or not. She is also very aware that their engagement is part of the political machine- it looks better for Tom to marry into one of the Sacred 28 families, so that’s exactly what he’s doing, and she happens to be the lucky young lady. She acknowledges that her parents have put their faith in him to help bring back an era of grandeur and power, but expresses little interest in that herself, having more focus on the future and what it holds for her personally. Lydia then literally does up her face, which is pretty much suited to the ideal beauty standards for the time period- peaches and cream complexion, thick, light hair, small nose, thin eyebrows, dark lashes and pink lips. It’s not about what she likes, it’s about what other people expect and want to see, and, as she notes, what Tom in particular seems to like- she’s already picked up on some of that. We then get a brief flashback to their first meeting when Lydia was just nineteen and Tom twenty-six; how easily he charmed her parents and how interesting she found him, mostly because he wasn’t all over her or condescending to her. Tom is very particular about who he accepts drinks from, we see. And barely a few hours after being introduced to this man, Lydia is pretty certain she’s going to end up married to him- not because she’s falling in love, but because she knows her parents will be in favor of the match due to Tom’s political connections and rising star in the Ministry- plus the wealth it promises to bring to the family. Lydia’s reaction to this, we see, wasn’t anger or fear but general apathy. ‘Oh well,’ she seems to think. ‘Better him than someone worse.’ This doesn’t seem to be a very normal reaction for a young woman, even from a pureblood family- Lydia comes across as deeply pragmatic to her very core right from the start. We then see that Lydia has, in fact, heard of Amy, surprise surprise, but any mention of Tom and Amy’s very peculiar relationship in school has been reduced to the assumption that it was a hormonal fling. Then we finally get the party started; “No one picks a wallflower” Lydia’s mother warns her, but Cordelia has nothing to worry about- Lydia knows how to command a room and has zero issues flattering and chatting with whoever comes her way. We see more of what she finds appealing about Tom- he’s not lusting after her or forcing awkward conversations about their future, he mostly leaves her alone unless he needs her for something, which Lydia seems to prefer. For all her social graces, she seems to be a deeply solitary person who’s used to confiding in no one but herself. Tom shows up with the Princes here, and Lydia greets him like the perfect 50s housewife with a drink in hand and a kiss on the cheek. Together they put on a very cute show of young love for the Princes, and then later reunite to talk business. They discuss how things are looking good for Tom in the polls, and then Lydia does seem to express a genuine interest in something for the first time all night, and asks if they can dance. As it turns out, she really does like to dance. She also likes to needle Tom a little- she takes a risk in bringing up Amy at all, mostly so she can judge his reaction. Tom could have headed the whole thing off had he been able to shrug and go ‘who?’. Instead he reacts as if electrocuted, which really tells Lydia all she needs to know. Whoever this Amy Benson is, she and Tom have some unfinished business. Lydia quickly changes the topic, sensing Tom’s not happy to have been asked about Amy, and tells him she’s missed him. Is this true? Tom seems doubtful, but they agree that love often revolves around people entering and leaving each other’s lives, only to pop back up again. Wow, what could that be foreshadowing?

#ask #anon #ask game #grass crown #recommendations

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djin-sation · 5 years ago

Text

Never Too Late

From lilacmermaid25’s prompt: Madam Secretary Prompt: Elizabeth is so sleep-deprived on the campaign trail that she forgets about Henry’s (or Stevie’s/Jason’s) birthday.

It has been a long week. Today was especially exhausting. But then, it was the last trip before they are headed home. She had been looking forward to this. A night of uninterrupted sleep and Sunday as Mike promised following the result of a positive poll unless gravely necessary. A smile crept on her face, home finally, she thought. Finally settling on the couch in the bus, she dozed off.

All Henry wanted to do was spend his birthday with Elizabeth. He knew when they decided she would run for President that they would have very limited time. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, especially when campaign trail and Mike took up most of his time lately. He considered himself to be fairly understanding of her hectic schedule and did his best to not complain. He knew that Elizabeth is guilty enough about not treating him the way he deserves because of how busy she often is, but the short conversation he had earlier before they we’re cut-off, again, by Mike kind off made him neglected, hurt. It is his birthday. He didn’t expect a big greeting or what not but a simple one or anything would have been good. Well, he knew better than to be upset. It’s not her fault that she had been too busy she forgot it’s his birthday. Then she texted she’s on her way home. He smiled. She remembered after all. He took comfort in the fact that she’s coming home tonight. She had been gone for a week since it is a critical stage in the campaign. With a renewed smile, he went back to the kitchen to join his daughters prepare for dinner.

“I’m home.”

“MOOOOM!”

Their children scampered happily to greet their mom. Henry smiled and continued to put the dishes on the table. He prepared all her favorites. A pair of arms surrounded him as he was about to put in the last dish.

“Hello handsome.” Elizabeth breathes in his scent. She missed him soooo much.

He turned around and gave his wife a sweet peck on the lips. “Hi gorgeous. Dinner?”

“Yes please.” He guided her on her seat. “Oh wow! These are all my favorites. Thank you so much guys. You didn’t need to do this. What are we celebrating?”

They all paused. Like that of a movie. Stared at her in disbelief.

It was Jason who spoke. “Seriously mom? You forgot? It’s dad’s birthday.”

Suddenly her smile faded. She turned her head towards Henry. She swallowed the lump on her throat. She opened her mouth to utter an apology,

“It’s okay Elizabeth. You’ve been busy.”

She was flooded with guilt. He had never forgotten her birthday, no matter how busy he was. She stood up and made her way to her husband. “I am so sorry Henry. Happy birthday baby. I’ll make it up to you.” She gave him a tight hug before placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

He cupped her face. Looked into her eyes, telling her it’s okay. “You’re here now. That’s what’s important.”

The kids offered to do the dishes which Henry was very thankful of. He could see how exhausted Elizabeth is, no matter how much she tries to show interest listening to their children chatter over dinner. He sent her off ahead, whilst he helped the children clear the table.

Few minutes later, he headed to the bedroom, leaving the kids to finish the dishes. He pushed the door open and his jaw dropped.

The entire bedroom was decorated with tiny tea light candles, soft music playing, and a very sexy Elizabeth on the bed. Clad only in her black teddy which was his favorite. He took a step closer to the bed, not taking his eyes off his wife. She looked very soft and somewhat got a shy smile plastered.

"Happy birthday Henry.” She bit her lip, her cheeks flushed. There was something the way Henry looks at her that makes her feel suddenly shy. He looks at her adoringly, like she was the most beautiful woman in the woman. Not that he doesn’t look at her like that in the last 30 years of their lives but she couldn’t get used to it.

Elizabeth offered her hand. Henry reached out, letting himself fall in bed into his wife. He wrapped his arms around her as she reached to kiss him. It was soft and slow.

“I love you so much Henry McCord.”

He got lost in the blue of her eyes. He wiped a tear that escaped. He smiled at her. Tenderly, he started kissing her eyes, her cheeks, her nose, “I love you too Elizabeth McCord.”

He then kissed her on the lips. This time it was needy. Like he was conveying how much he missed her. His kisses trailed down to her jaw before he began to nibble on the sensitive skin behind her ear. She tangled her hands in his hair as his hands roamed her sides, slipping underneath teddy. She could feel her skin tingled everywhere as his fingers touched and found herself craving more. She tugged at his shirt, he pulled it up over his head before ridding hers.

He switched places with her and laid down on the bed, pulling her on top of him. Her legs on either side of his hips, she could feel how hard he was already. She rolled her hips against his as Henry grabbed her waist and ran his hands up her sides again before pulling her in for another kiss. He took a nipple into his mouth. She steadied herself by placing her hands on his toned chest. The way that his tongue flicked across her nipple left her wanting more as she could feel the heat between her legs. He pulled back when he heard her moans begin to fill the room.

"Elizabeth, you're so beautiful like this. Just for me to see. Let me take care of you tonight baby."

She nodded as he sat up and quickly flipped her down onto her back and hovered over her. He trailed kisses down her jaw, to the valley of her breasts and down the smooth skin of her tummy before he stopped right above the waistband her lacey panty. He slowly lifted your hips as he leaned back to pull them down and toss them to the side. She lays bare underneath him and he silently worshipped her as he finished undressing. He grabbed her ankle and placed a kiss on it before kissing his way up her leg, nibbling on the skin on her inner thigh. His breath ghosting over the area she wants him most as he gives her other leg the same attention.

He looks up at her and smirks, knowing how much he's about to wreck her. She bites her lip and can feel the lust in the room. Before she can say anything, she feels his tongue slip between her folds. He starts out with slow kitten licks before attaching his lips to her bud and sucking it. She bucks her hips up and he raises her up and clicks his tongue at her before using his free hand to hold her in place. His tongue continues to work her open and she can feel her release building. His name becomes a mantra on her lips as she slowly come undone.

He pulls away and leans in for another kiss. She doesn't even mind that she can taste herself on his tongue as he slowly enters her and pulls her legs around his waist. He rests his forehead against hers and cups her face again.

"I love you so much, baby."

"I love you too, Henry."

He nibbles at her bottom lip as he begins to slowly thrust in and out. It's slow and with purpose. He doesn't want to rush through this. He wants to take his time, just let her feel him and enjoy the feel of her velvet walls around him and memorize the sound of her voice as she cries out his name. It's almost as soft as the first time the two of them made love. He reaches down and scoops her up in his arms and pulls her up into his lap. Their chests are flushed against each other as he guides her hips up and back down onto him. He meets each roll of her hips as he sucked deep red marks onto her collarbones. She threw her head back to give him more space to mark her. She loves it when he left her reminders that she is his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and reconnected their lips. They moved in sync with one another.

He laid her back down and picked up his pace. His hands massaged her breasts as he rocked his hips into her. She grabbed onto his wrist with one hand and with the other, reached up to cup his face. He grabs onto her hand and kisses the inside of her wrist before sucking on her first two fingers and guiding her hand down to your clit. He moves her hand for her in time with his thrusts and she can feel the coil in her stomach begin to tighten again. She wraps her legs around him again to pull him closer. He kisses her again and swallows her moans as they tumble off her lips.

"Elizabeth. Elizabeth, I'm close. Baby, I'm so close."

Her moans get louder as she feels the coil begin to unravel. She clench around him and feel him twitch inside her as his thrusts become sloppy.

"Fuck baby, you feel so good around me. Wait for me baby, I'm almost there. Come with me."

He manages to hold off as her continued to clench around him. Her moans sounding strangled in her throat and she knew that she wouldn't last much longer. She felt Henry pulsating inside her before she clenched around him again, immediately feeling his warmth shoot into her. Her name now leaving his lips as if it were the only word he knew and that sight alone sent her over the edge as her orgasm washed over her. They both rode out their highs together before he slowly pulled out of her and laid down next to her and pulling her close to him. He brushed the hair off her forehead as he leaned in and kissed her there. She threw her arms around his waist as their legs tangled together, leaving featherlike kisses across his chest.

They laid quietly for what seemed like an eternity, only the sounds of their breathing filling the room. It was rare for the two of them to have time like this. He pulled her closer to him, almost laying on top of him, and wrapped his arms around her. Her head tucked underneath his chin as he kissed her temple and drew invisible pstterns on her back.

"Henry?"

He hummed in response.

"Promise you'll wait for me while I'm gone?"

"I'll always wait for you Elizabeth."

"I know, but-"

He hushed her with a kiss.

"No buts. I'll fly out and see you when I can."

Henry captured her lips again before laying her back down on her side and turning to face her. He immediately pulled her back into him and held onto her waist.

"Wait, I almost forgot your gift! I had that for a while.”

Elizabeth began to pull away and get up when he threw his leg across her to keep her in place. He smirked at her as she laid back down and kissed her again.

"Being with you like this is the only gift I need right now."

He pulled her back into his chest and began to kiss behind her ear again, sending goose bumps down her body. His hand trailed its way down her sides and in between her legs. She whimpered through the kiss as he pulled back to admire her. He had that look in his eyes and she knew that they were in for a long night. She raised an eyebrow and he nodded. He laid her on her back and kissed his way down between her legs and began to kitten lick at her once again. He is convinced at that very moment that birthday wishes still come true.

#MADAM PRESIDENT #Madam Secretary #elizabeth and henry #henry mccord #elizabeth mccord

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utaprifanzine · 6 years ago

Text

Zine Feedback (1/3): General Concept

The Concept & Rules section was optional, but the majority of those who did fill it in voted in favor of the original pitched concept (and I would assume those who skipped this section also had no issues with it either).

However, as promised, I will be discussing some of the comments and suggestions that were made and any small changes occurring to the concept as a result.

A couple responses did point out that giving each event/gacha only two pages of content (barring the set that’s used for the cover) isn’t enough to go in-depth into any of them, and that it might be more interesting to only pick a few which people are most interested in. Then, contributors would be able to explore those stories a lot further than what they were in the game.

While I do agree with this - trust me, if I could increase the amount of content without compromising variety and page count, I would - the success of a zine following that format would heavily depend on which events/gachas were chosen, meaning it would be decided by a poll and would end up being a popularity contest. That itself isn’t a problem, but it would lead to only the popular sets/events getting content, which kind of clashes with the initial reasoning behind why the concept followed the chronological release order in the first place - so that every set and event could be represented.

I do like the idea of focusing on only a few of the stories and fleshing them out more, but I think it’s something that’s better suited to a “fan favorites” zine. It might be something that we can put together in the future!

Similarly, a couple of people also mentioned that it might be better to instead have an over-arching theme for the zine that tied in the characters and sets/events featured. This suggestion is also really appealing, but, like above, it would make it more complicated to make sure each release was represented in some way down the line. Again, I do really like the concept, so if people are up for it, maybe we can put together something like a holiday edition SL zine later in the year?

Other suggestions included going by character, or how the cards were connected to each other, which were also great suggestions - particularly the one about going in character order. My only qualm with that, was that going by character may end up dividing the boys and turning the pages dedicated to their cards into character-centric pieces. I want the interactions be represented just as much as each boy, and I think that people are more likely to forget about them in favor of focusing on the boy who’s page the work will be featured on.

One thing that I was actually worried about when I pitched the zine comment, and which someone did bring up in their response, was that the events in this volume of the zine were all the ones that were not released on EN, so EN-only players may be discouraged because they’re unfamiliar with the stories. Unfortunately, I can’t increase the page count because of weight restrictions (my original E-zine concept was well over 100 pages, but we cut it so that we could offer to send printed copies to people), but I can and will attempt to hunt down fan-translations of the event/event card stories for those who need them.

It was also suggested that the art and the writing could be related. I do think this is a good idea as well, but I’m also worried about limiting the creative freedom of the artist/writer too much, so I think it’s better to leave it up to the contributor. We can add an option on the applications for people who would be willing to collaborate with the person doing the other page. (To clarify, it would be for those who don’t really have a solid idea of what to do for their page and are happy to work with the other person, NOT for people to go “I want someone to draw/write MY idea :)”)

Another good suggestion that was brought up, was to make the zine a charity zine instead of a non-profit one. Admittedly, I did think about that when putting the concept together, but decided it was too risky since it may end up backfiring on us. If we make it a charity zine and don’t tell Broccoli, then we risk them finding out about it and possibly getting upset with us for making profit off of elements/characters/stories which they own (even if we’re not keeping the profit, it’s still making profit). If we make it a charity zine and do tell Broccoli, we risk bringing their attention to a project that they may not have noticed in the first place (Broccoli has been infamous for ignoring the western audience in previous years) only for them to refuse us and then watch us to make sure we don’t go through with it. I may be being a little dramatic, but Broccoli has been known to be very touchy, and I think it would be better to play it safe and stay non-profit.

Summary: The pitched zine concept will remain the same, but there were a lot of great suggestions! We will definitely be adding an option for contributors to collaborate if they want (completely optional) and be providing links to fan-translations of the JP event stories on the final concept post. Some of those suggestions are even things that we could try out in possible future zines (ones that aren’t general SL ones).

#utapri #utapri fanzine #uta no prince sama #shining live #uta no prince shining live

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wizardessheart-sideb · 5 years ago

Video

youtube

The latest episode is here! Below the cut is a transcription

HEWWO!

Hello everyone, welcome to Royal Magic Academy Radio, a podcast about Wizardess Heart. I’m your host, Mari. So uh. YEAH, we had a lot of big stuff happen since the last episode, so let’s get on with the show.

GAMING NEWS

Event-wise, we got a joint Romance Point slot that brings back some of Elias and Luca’s past stories AND CGs. So it’s a combo of two guys AND stories and CGs. There’s a new star collection event, All Aboard the Mystery Express. I have to say I never expected to get a mystery train event, but I’ll take it. I think it’s a good theme and I like Hugo’s story. I haven’t read any of the other stories because I don’t care about them and I don’t have Klaus’ yet.

We got Joel’s sequel! His main route early bird is still running, so we’re getting like Double Joel. Or in my case, triple Joel since I’m transcribing his main route so. It’s Joel season y’all.

We also now have quite a few new features. After years of asking, we now have a greet all button. While I’m glad this is a thing since a lot of people are happy about it, I personally don’t use it because using greet all and then sending people messages for that extra 20 Lune is a nightmare. I did a time comparison using my personal account and then the one I use to screen record stuff for Ceragon Dubs, and if you use greet all and then go into your friend list to send messages it’s a lot longer. But it wasn’t as long as how much time I spent screen recording, logging in and out of facebook accounts, and video editing and breaking out my phone and screen recording that for a timer.

There’s also a new feature on consumable items. I mean, that’s the best way to describe it. So basically, there’s now a thing called limited time items. As the name suggests, they’re only available for about 15 days, and if you don’t use them in that time, they disappear. So far, we’ve seen this with Story Tickets and Muffins. I imagine it will probably go over to the other snack items, but I don’t know about the others consumables. Time will tell, I suppose.

FUTURE EVENTS/SPECULATION

Okay so since we’re now getting the next batch of sequels, if we’re going in the order of the poll, Hiro’s is next. That is all. Although I do think we're gonna get season 10 first. But yeah, Hiro's should be next. Sequel-wise, at least.

CALL AND RESPONSE

And now we have the long awaited response portion of call and response! Everyone’s favorite segment where I have no clue what I’m doing, I take shit from Love Live!, and I am met with the realization if I were an idol my call and response would be the worst because I can’t think of anything, which is why we make Love Live references. Ngl I feel like my call would be like “Who’s my favorite audience member?” and then the audience is like “me!” and I fake mishearing them and I’m like “memes?!” and then we all dab or some shit because that’s my brand. Dabbing at everything. Okay but yeah so. I asked you guys to rewrite character bios so. Let’s have some FUNNNNN.

Okay, and I sort have things in the correct places so I can just read them. I mean "sort of" because I have to go through DMs and stuff, but... Okay so our first one is from @nadia-the-wizardess. And hers is for Hugo which of course it is, I love you dude. So she submitted... And I'm not gonna try to be a complete ham. I'm gonna try and have some dignity while reading these. "Friend or foe? The masked man seemed to be at every turn, either helping us or using us to his advantage. He claims he has come from the future to help put us on the correct path and change our tragic destiny. We still don't know what Hugo is truly planning, but despite all this, I've decided to put my faith in him and join him in his journey through time and save his-- our future!" And then her sidenote, "(God I hope I did this right sbhdnsns)." You did! You are all good and I - you know I love Hugo, probably… well… probably just as much as you. Hugo is my best boy, so.

Okay, so. God, this segment is cursed. I… This is literally the fifth time I;ve tried recording this one little story because like my mic just keeps like cutting out. I need a brand new mic like this one is not cutting it anymore but anyway. So this call and response has a funny story behind it. So essentially like when I first get responses, I don't necessarily read them carefully at first, like I'm just kind of aware. Like “okay, like some.” So when I first did the call and response a while ago, um, I was vaguely aware that I had two and one was from Nadia and the other was from an anon. And so obviously like I push it back and then, uh, me and my friend have been chatting, who's not Nadia. That's the only identity clue I will give you cuz I'm not going to say who it is but um, *laughs* she's gonna be so mad though. So anyway, so me and my friend were talking and she was like, “Oh hey, I have a question so ‘theoretically’” in quotes, if she had sent a call and response answer to me like, would she have to make a new one or like whatever, like trying to figure out what's going on. And I said like honestly I’ll use whatever you give me because I do literally like whatever people spend in and I will use so it's a free-for-all, like I’ll use anything.

And then she told me that was good because she forgot what she, and I air quote this, “theoretically” sent. And I was like, “Well you”... This was before I checked my inbox cuz I was like, “Oh, I’ll just go in and like copy paste in and put in our chat. So I was just like “You could always ask me to send you things” like if you don't remember what you do - andthis goes for anyone. Like if you send a response by not DM by like inbox and you don't remember what you wrote like you can totally just message me and be like, “Hey I sent this, I don't remember how I worded it exactly I'm worried that I messed it up could you please tell me what it was” and like totally go ahead and do that like I don't mind. So then, you know, like I went into my inbox so I was like, “Okay let's see what she said” and um. This is what she said. “Call and response for Sigurd (Feat. Leslie) - Sigurd's the only student who can equally terrify the staff at Olive Garden along with Klaus. With his overbearing obsession and appetite for any sort of pasta, he's best known as Klaus' right-hand man when it comes to needing a bud for their 2 for $12 appetizer promotions.” Not sponsored by Olive Garden. “I hear even though he currently majors in Magical Creature Taming, rumor has it he'll be switching to Culinary Magic for... ‘Reasons.’ Personally, I'd rather not know,” Same. “but if you insist...*Shrug”

And anyway this is cursed and yeah, I can understand why my friend did not want to like, confront me about this. Oh God, RIP. We got through it, she's fine.

So our next one is from @uraminowaltz and she has two and they're both for Klaus because of course they are. I should just rename this segment to me roasting my friends. Okay, so her serious Klaus one is: “Likes: Tea, sweets, challenging games, cooking. Dislikes: Coffee, Zeus,” Girl me too. “Irresponsibility, abuse of authoritative power. Hobby: Cooking, inventing magical tools. Skills: Unintentional romantic gestures, endurance with magic, WORKAHOLIC.” Yeah I-I felt that. I felt that. So the joke one: “Likes: His giant personal ring of 500 different keys. Dislikes: Losing his keys.” Also same. “Hobby: Making copies of his keys. Skills: Losing his keys PLEASE HELP HIM FIND HIS KEYS HERE IS A CROWDFUNDING LINK TO FIND HIS KEYS IT'S FUNDED AT 60%.” Oh, Klaus. Klaus. Honestly though when they did the Klaus II profile and it was like, thing that worries him, uh, losing, uh, lost his keys I was like goddammit. Like it just… It was one of those things that I didn’t realize was on brand for him, but then once I read it and saw it, I was like “Oh God yeah yeah that's his brand that's his... poor baby, that's his brand.”

Okay so our second to- Actually, it might second-to-last I haven't checked the notes of that post so I guess I have to do that too. Okay so anyway, @sigurdcurtisholdsmegentle said… uh, did some, and you're going to be surprised who it was for. It was for Sigurd. So their joke one and they said… Their personal note for this was “Please actually kill me for this.” No I will not. You must atone for your sins. Uh... “Likes: Pasta. Dislikes: People who don't like pasta. Hobby: Naming spices in the pasta sauce. Skill: Cooking Pasta.” I'm very glad you did not put anything else because I would not want to read that out loud and that is NOT a challenge to anybody *laughs* So their serious one is: “Likes: Jazz music, Puns, The Rain, Make up.” Hell yeah. “Dislikes: His father, Himself, Ch… *laughs* CHICA,” I… We’re going for it. We’re going for the discourse and controvershy. The controversy. I can’t talk. Uh. Also dislikes “Blood. Hobby: Writing letters, Playing trumpet, Playing chess with Klaus. Skill: Decorating, Well timed exits, Running on little to no sleep.” Poor baby. But yeah I mean yeah. That's him. So the next one is... that they did was for Mel so it's “Likes: Apple cider, Plants, Perserving wildlife. Dislikes: Time Magic, Sol Felia,” It’s feh-lia not fee-lia, right? Like it’s not… I don’t feel like it’s fee-lia? I’m like pretty sure it’s feh-lia. Okay, it’s feh-lia now, I’m making the executive decision. It’s feh-lia now. Uh. “Oranges, Explaining.” God I felt that like whenever I reread Sigurd’s route, Mel's like “I don't want to explain” I’m like please shut up stop it like please, just explain. Good God. Like you're just making more trouble for yourself my dude. “Hobby: Sleeping in the greenhouse, Reading lore. Skill: Botany, Making wands, Flower” Oh my God, flower arrangements, that’s so cute. Oh my God, I love that actually. Like, I mean honestly like I liked all of them, but like that's so cute. That was super cute, I really like that one.

So, I don't think my call and response post had any notes. Except from people just liking it but I'm going to double-check cuz I'm not 100% sure.

Okay so it's time for our final call and response which will be my own. I literally have to bring up the my inspiration, my muse to *laughs* to do this. Okay so like, my whole inspiration for this prompt was the fact that like Azusa never got like an actual profile. Like it's all just question marks and um, we're going to fix that. And that's why I got the idea like, “oh that be really funny like everyone just rewrote things.” Let's go for the serious one first. That way I can do that and then I can goof. So my serious profile rewrite for Azusa and I did not write this beforehand, so… yeah! Let’s see… “Likes: his brother. Dislikes: hypocrites, himself.” Uh, that’s such a… *laughs*

That's such a mood. Every dude in this game is like self-loathing and some way. But I mean that's just how people are so I mean I guess it's not actually like that much of a stretch. But anyway. “Hobby… ………” Uh. You know, it's bad that I can't think of anything not just because like, I can't think of anything, but because he's one of my favorites and I'm like, “does he even have hobbies” like I'm not - I'm sure he does but I mean… “Hobby: telling Randy to shut up” I don't know. Uh, “Skill: onmyojutsu” just because we're basic and that was our serious one. And now for the fun one.

Um…. okay so, “Likes: his family. Dislikes: people. Hobby: ……….. you know. Skill: being a jackass” I don't know. I'm not even going to try and improv a description. Oh, poor Azusa. Although I do wonder if- when he gets a sequel, I wonder if that… I wonder if they’re gonna, like, continue making the, you know, kinda like additional info thing or if we’re gonna get like, a real profile for- Okay like, okay. I would be so fucking mad if like once he gets his sequel and they put like his like, um, like second profile thing and it's literally just all *laughs* it’s all question marks. I would be so fucking mad. I’d be like “come on PLEASE. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO US.” Okay anyways, so that was call and response. Thank you guys for coming on this journey with me. Um, that was fraught with recording problems and I'm not looking forward to transcribing this, but sometimes you just got to do what you got to do.

ROUTE REVIEW

All right, so it’s time to review Sigurd’s route. His route had come out a bit before I started playing, and I vaguely remember getting a notification about it, but honestly I don’t remember too much about it. I was playing Yukiya at the time and while I thought Sigurd was cute, I was too lost in the Yukiya sauce to do anything but Yukiya-related stuff.

It honestly took me a while to play Sigurd’s route, like i played it for the first time last year, and like. I just genuinely enjoy Sigurd so much. Like he’s such a funny guy and so sweet. Falling in love with a guy like that just feels natural. And the story handled it super well too. The story balances plot and romance very well and they feel very cohesive.

The plot was really solid, with enough ends left to get resolved in Mel’s route. But then again, I’m very partial to this mystery series and no, I’m not just saying that bc I cosplay sol maiden!Liz. It’s a good story idea, bront. Not to mention there’s like, a lot of fluff in Sigurd’s. I mean it absolutely has upsetting moments, but it’s just. Okay like I don’t mean to get on a soapbox or whatever, but it’s just. I feel like my culture gets inundated with these images of cishet relationships where men don’t treasure their partners. I acknowledge it’s toxic and it’s a serious problem and all, trust me this sort of thing is something I’ve taken enough classes on to consider it an unofficial minor, but like I’M SO TIRED OF SEEING THESE CISHET MEN BE JERKS TO THEIR CISHET GIRLFRIENDS. Like really, we’re gonna romanticize a dude being a jerk to his girlfriend and not show the repercussions of this sort of behavior and act like it’s normal? Really? That’s what we’re gonna do? So like any media that portrays a guy as being loving and smitten and affectionate with his partner is just. That’s so refreshing and so WONDERFUL like I eat that stuff UP. Like it’s so clear Sigurd is so taken with the MC and it’s just like hot chocolate on a cold day.

So yeah the plot’s good and Sigurd is just. Wonderful. But I also love how much lore we got in this route. We got country names, continent names, what sort of extra curriculars the academy has. Even some Goldstein lore. In my opinion, the best routes usually have some hella cool lore details and this route had a lot.

And this is a minor thing but. As someone who was raised with their cousins and stuff, they just nailed the cousin interactions between Klaus and Sigurd. I have a cousin who, as of now actually since birthdays, is the same age as me, although usually I’m older. My cousin and I mess with each other all the time and he bullies me constantly. I’m just kidding, I’m definitely the Sigurd to his Klaus. And like Sigurd and Klaus, we actually play a lot of games together, or play the same game at once. We’re both really into video games and his latest hobby is bullying my brand new Fire Emblem husband Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. But in all seriousness, the game handled then well and the only way they could’ve made it more realistic is if they kept poking each other and making weird noises at each other. I mean, do you REALLY have a cousin if you don’t greet them by screeching like a pterodactyl?

Typing this all out makes me realize how weird my cousin and I are.

Okay but anyway. This route is very good and Sigurd is just an absolute doll. I highly recommend reading.

BYE BYE!

And that’s it for us today!! Thank you guys for tuning in this week. I’m sorry this episode is late. I was going to record it yesterday but something happened and basically made me give up on doing anything I wanted to do yesterday. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and hopefully next episode will be on time!! With that, have a great week! This is Mari, signing off.

#wizardess heart #shall we date wizardess heart #wizardess heart+#shall we date wizardess

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vennilavee · 6 years ago

Text

effortless

pairing: sam wilson x avengers!reader

prompt: “I’ll be right back” kisses: A puts their hands on B’s shoulders from behind them, where they are sat on the couch. He leans down and around, while B turns his head a little, accepting the quick peck

from this list

A/N: thanks for the request @honestly-how-do-you-art. I hope you enjoy! Let me know your thoughts.

Your favorite part of getting ready for these opulent parties was getting ready with Sam. There was something intimate in the ritual you two had- him helping you into your dress, you tying his tie for him, him watching you apply mascara and your lipstick, and you buttoning up his suit.

It was almost like a dance without music- his fingers softly whispering across your exposed skin as he holds you in front of a marbled mirror, your head leaning back against his shoulder and his lips barely grazing the nape of your neck. You both would speak in quiet tones, as if the rest of the world could hear you. Giggling to each other about anything and everything. The way the light of the extravagant bathroom caressed Sam’s eyes always left you breathless.

You were proud to be the woman on his arm, and he was proud to be the man on yours.

But he’s not getting ready with you today. Because you were both on an undercover mission. You would’ve usually jumped at the opportunity to go undercover with him, but you were both told to keep your heads down and not attract any attention to yourselves.

Sam had scoffed in Nick Fury’s face when he pointedly looked at the pair of you-

“I don’t get how this is qualifies as undercover,” You rolled your eyes, “Everyone knows who we are.”

“So you both better keep your hands to yourselves, get what you need and get out before you get your asses handed to you.” Fury said sternly. And yet, you still couldn’t take him seriously.

“Sounds easy enough,” Sam said dryly.

What did you need to collect, anyway? Oh yes, it was a flash drive located in a painting that your target had stolen, back when you, Sam, Bucky, Steve and Natasha were in pursuit of them in Marseilles.

What an incredible cliche.

Now, you were in Paris. The city of love, and all you wanted to do was get ready for this stupid party with your boyfriend, who was apparently off limits.

It was just you and Sam at the party- Nat had managed to hack her way into separate invites for the two of you. She had laughed when you were still pouting about not being able to go as a couple and Bucky had said ‘You can’t blame Fury. You attract attention when you’re together. You both ranked number 1 on that poll that Buzzfeed put out of favorite Avenger couples, remember?”

As you swipe on your second coat of red lipstick, you wonder if Sam felt the same strangeness getting ready without you as you did getting ready without him.

Sam can see the Eiffel Tower from the Renaissance Paris Le Parc Trocodero Hotel, where this party is being held. He frowns at the exuberance of the hotel room he’s getting ready in. He frowns not because he’s displeased with the room, but rather because he knows you’d appreciate the pristine, satin sheets, the golden glow of the light that the antique lamp gave off, and the marble of the bathroom floor.

Maybe he can hustle Tony into upgrading his room to an executive suite so that after this is over, the two of you can stay in Paris. Neither of you had been to Paris, much less been to Paris together. With your anniversary coming up, it had been an idea flitting around in his head.

It was a little cheesy, a little romantic. But you’d love it.

Your pale blue gown billows behind you as you take a breath and verbally confirm that you’re heading down to the ballroom. Steve grunts in affirmation and reminds you to not be seen or leave any trace of yourselves behind.

“See you soon, baby girl,” Sam’s reassuring voice filters through the comms and you can’t help but smile, especially when Bucky actually giggles at Sam’s term of endearment.

Bucky is your number one fan.

Your heels are already pinching as you paint your most vibrant smile on and mingle with the crowd. These people all smell like money and expensive champagne. You spot your target fairly quickly- he’s close one of the many bars in the room and you murmur that bit of information through your comms.

Blending into the crowd after grabbing a glass of wine from the bar, you indulge yourself. You have to force yourself not to look for Sam, and instead, you focus on catching your target’s eye.

Because that’s your job today. To make sure the extraction team had enough time to find the painting. You didn’t understand why one of you could just distract your target while the other could retrieve the painting but Fury hadn’t bothered explaining himself.

Sam had said that this was Fury’s way of looking out for you and maybe letting you enjoy the time you had in Paris. You had snorted at the thought of Fury letting you two enjoy anything.

“Whoa, baby girl,” Sam’s voice is low and strained in the comms, as if there weren’t other people listening in, “You blow my mind. You got a date tonight?”

You scan the room as warmth spreads throughout your body. But you still don’t see him so you keep your eyes on your target. In a room full of people, he finally spots you and you look away, pretending to be bashful.

Hook, line, and sinker.

He’s quite handsome, you think as he approaches you with a grin. But he’s no Sam. A flash of Sam’s gap-toothed smile trickles through you mind as you spit a fake name back at the stranger in front of you. You bat your lashes a few times at him and widen your eyes for good measure, enjoying the way his false bravado falls and how he stutters a question.

“Poor guy. I think you just stole his soul,” Sam observes passively, “Are you a siren? A mythical being, perhaps?”

Bucky laughs through the comms and you have to bite your lip harshly to stop yourself from laughing right in the stranger’s face. A rush of affection floods through you at your boyfriend’s words.

It’s only been a few hours since you last saw Sam, but you miss him already.

As smoothly as the evening had been going, you are unsurprised when things start to go downhill.

The stranger has led you in the direction of his hotel room, which was a win for you. You hope the small camera chip in the comms shows the hotel room number on the monitors that the team is looking at from their remote location.

He squints at you, as if you look different in the light of his room compared to the light of the ballroom. Is he starting to recognize who you were?

“What’s wrong?” You flash him a bright grin, the one you know makes him weak in the knees.

“N-nothing, I just thought... Nevermind,” His accent is slight- it’s not a French accent. It sounds Greek or Turkish.

You hear Sam say that they’ve got the room number, and for you to get out of there. But what reason do you have to leave the room?

“Oh, I just realized... I left one of my bracelets at the bar,” You lie. It sounds half convincing but he looks at you suspiciously. “It’s a special bracelet. My mother gave it to me before she died. She had it handcrafted for me and I’m-I’m s-sure you u-understand.”

Tears start to form in your eyes and he grows visibly uncomfortable, giving you a firm nod.

Another lie.

You leave the room and are unsurprised to see Sam at the end of the hallway. Looking back behind you to make sure you aren’t being followed by him, you allow yourself to smile widely at Sam. Your cheeks hurt for a moment as he makes his way over to you.

Sam wants nothing more than to twirl you in his arms as your pale blue dress twirls along with you. But you both are out in the open. The extraction team should have been here by now.

“They should be here by now,” You murmur, mirroring his thoughts.

“Maybe they got held up,” Sam muses.

“Yeah guys, extraction team is a little delayed. They got held up,” Natasha confirms. Before Sam can ask how long a little is, you cut him off.

You know that if you both stand here in the hallway debating what to do, your target will come out and your cover will be blown.

“I’ll be right back,” You promise Sam. Your hands squeeze his shoulders and you kiss his cheek quickly, then the corner of his mouth. He smiles at you encouragingly. You wink at him before entering the room.

He’s unsurprised to hear a yelp and a thud. Not even thirty seconds later, you come out without a scratch on your face.

“Fury should’ve let us do this by ourselves,” You roll your eyes, “You can tell him I said that Natasha.”

“Noted,” Natasha chuckles, “Just wait there until the extraction team comes, alright? And then you two lovebirds can enjoy Paris.”

“Yeah, yeah. Where would they be without us, anyway?” You joke. Your face lights up at the mention of enjoying Paris and Sam doesn’t miss it.

“You look beautiful,” Sam circles your waist with his arms, holding you after what feels like forever, “The most beautiful thing in Paris. Minus the Eiffel Tower at night.”

You laugh and push at his chest. You both ignore Steve’s exaggerated groans through the comms and Bucky thwacking Steve across the head.

“You’re handsome, baby,” You murmur, tugging him closer to you by the lapels of his suit jacket.

“Let’s stay here for the next week,” Sam suggests, his hand cupping your jaw.

“Seriously?” You whisper-squeal as excitement floods your irises.

“Seriously,” Sam kisses your cheek, “We’ll see if the Eiffel Tower has anything on you.

“Happy almost anniversary baby girl.”

#sam wilson x reader #sam wilson #sam wilson x you #sam wilson fluff

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thelightningawardsofficial · 6 years ago

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Review | Northern Star

Judged by Mary Seph (ArimaMary)

Category: Simple Is Best

[ Author: Tieg2001 ]

>Title 3/5: "Northern Star" does the trick. It tells the reader the story is about Fubuki. Perhaps it is merely bad luck, but I have read that title being used recently in other stories so it does not come across as impressive or eye-catching. It is an alternate ending of Fubuki's arc, so something like Rising Star or taking another step and tie the title with something referenced in the story itself (basically, using a metaphor) will make it more relevant and eye-catching, making the reader go "ahhhh" or "ohhhh "when they understand why the story was named that way.

>Plot 16/25: I have to say, it took me quite a few reads to understand what was going on. Perhaps it was the word choice or the lack of physical description that made the story feel as if the characters were floating. This caused a snowball effect that affected your other scores in its respective categories. I would say half was the plot shown in the anime, and another half was your own twist; although at the first read I didn't see any divergence as you mentioned because of the first thing I said. I judged only on the plot of your own creation. What made the story fall in this item is how these new events were handled. The beginning is interesting; it would be so much better if the word choice improves considerably. The second twist didn't quite work as well because it seems to come out of nowhere. Starting from the beginning of the story, I don't know the protocol when an avalanche occurs so I will guess it is similar to a landslide. Someone reports it, and authorities like the police and the ambulance come to investigate. It is unclear if the sirens are getting close because of the accident or because of the avalanche (which has to be cleaned of course). On another topic, it would have been interesting to have had a solid visual of the state of the scarf when it was first mentioned. Was it hanging from a branch, a piece of metal, or in the floor? How come the lady asked if it was Fubuki's and not who did it belong to? On the topic of the lady, someone definitely should have stayed by his side to get a testimony or for emotional support. I was sure it was going to be her. He's just a little boy after all!

The next scene suffers from the recurring fault I first mentioned, unclear wording. I had no idea which soccer match it was because there were no pointers at the very beginning, grounding the scene. And it was just as hard to know who this goalkeeper was without a name--recommendations for these points are in Grammar and Style where I bring up more of these examples. The part I had the most trouble understanding was the turning point which hints a time skip, I think. Because I am still confused after thoroughly dissecting this one-shot. The change in the characters around Fubuki after this skip seemed baseless, out of nowhere. First being aggressive then supportive. Where did that come from? It needs a trigger, a strong one; and it will raise the emotions--the rising action--to swipe the reader off their feet. The ground has plenty of potential. You need to dig deeper.

>Characterization 11/20: I will be scoring the following characters: Shirou (little and teen), Atsuya, the lady, and those two characters whom I won't name due to spoilers. Firstly, Little Shirou didn't portray much of his personality save from "Atsuya. . ." which by this point is a trope. Personality is best shown through actions, and the most distinct, the more a character's psyche is exposed. With third person narrator, this is where I recommend you place your focus. Secondly, the lady seemed really cold, leaving little Shirou alone. Her dialogue seemed to be merely for plot purposes rather than anything else. I want to bring up the turning point again, the rising action, and this is a key point where Fubuki's personality would--should-- have shone. He was like clogged water where he should have risen like a tsunami and flood the reader with emotions: anger, sadness, helplessness, and hope. With a character as beloved as Fubuki which rose the popularity polls (like the wind!), it was this strong relatability and capacity to make the viewer feel empathy that he became a favorite. From the ten points of his character, I gave you five, and a two for Atsuya because, sure, the dialogue was in-character, but his personality/actions were inconsistent. The lady didn't do much, and those two characters seemed to be for plot purposes rather than having actual personalities.

>Grammar and Writing Style 11/15: Now for the good stuff. I put extra effort in this part because of the time you have been writing. I hope this can help a lot. The way you used spacing is quite messy and at times confusing--those short scenes in which extra spacing. Sadly, Wattpad doesn't quite work well with an extra space like in books. But! I just read a story which made great use of this spacing. In general, you have three options: spacing, symbols, and transition phrases. For this part, a transition phrase might work well. You need to find when to use which. But the symbols were used appropriately. Good job.

On another topic, there was some glaring use of passive voice, two clear examples being "Silence reigned, no sound was to be processed by Fubuki" and "By the use of skilled faints, the football got carried away forward by Gran." Use active voice instead. This is big. Always check for passive voice while editing. Onto style, there were instances in which some descriptions were too vague like "creature of [the] wild". "Wolf" delivers a clear and concise image in the readers head. Use clear words. I can say this the whole story. This is crucial. Fortunately, this can be easily fixed with adding sensory descriptions: the yells from the team, the grass at Fubuki's feet, the distance he feels from the match as if he weren't there. Ground the story, and you can ground a reader to it. Perhaps you are trying to sound fancy (and I apologize if those words sounded rude) but trying to make something seem bigger than it is in the narration shows the writer is trying to make something seem bigger than it is. Dialogue-wise, it seems the lack of dialogue tags in the italicized dialogue ended up backfiring, merely adding to the confusion. Save from the lines that were obviously Atsuya's, I had no idea who this person was or how to follow their lines. If you want to add mystery to the identity, you can describe their voice or throw hints about their appearance for the reader to put the pieces together, like breadcrumbs leading to a house made of candy.

You requested some analysis in your use of metaphors and I will focus on that now. One of the best metaphors was mirroring Fubuki's actions with his tears, and I will mention this again in Feels Factor. Using his tears as a starting point glued the tragedy tighter. You also compared the pure white snow with the smoke. To make this one more effective, you could add what the black smoke represents (tragedy, loss, trauma, etc) to the purity of the snow, because both are blinding but in different ways. The white snow seemed to represent Fubuki's desire to escape from reality aka the black smoke! Years passing like a blizzard was really nice too!

>Originality 8/10: I took two points for half of the one-shot being about events shown in the anime. I like you chose to show the accident at the very beginning and write about Fubuki in his best and its worst. My scoring is harsh enough so I will cut this part short.

>Feels Factor 11/15: Readability definitely seems to be the rock Northern Star bumped and fell face first on. It didn't make me feel because I was busy trying to understand what was going on, and in some moments when I felt a ripple, it was because the phrasing seemed out of place. As I said previously, clear words. "The boy with no family" would be easily replaced with "orphan boy" and be saved from a weird sense of pity that didn't quite belong there in my opinion. The events in this story are crucial moments for Fubuki as a character and a person. The readers should have felt all the emotions that flooded him: despair, helpless, sadness, anger, emptiness, and whatever else you wanted to show.

One thing that worked really well was "One tear fell. And then the boy." That's tragedy. The impact that caused the second sentence being the start of a new paragraph was so effective. Also, when he found Atsuya. I winced a little. Third person point of view is detached, but can also allow some strong imagery and description that are limited in other POVs. Tell me about the bloody snow, the smell of gasoline, the yells of Raimon, Gouenji's angry frown. I know I have said this quite a few times, but your writing reminds me of the first years I started to write. Don't lose faith, each story counts!

Total: [Raw] 60/90 [Final] 67%

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snkpolls · 7 years ago

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SnK Chapter 99 Poll Results

The chapter 98 poll closed with 1,751 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated.

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,722 Responses

On the “awful” to “awesome” scale of 1-5, nearly 70% of respondents rated “Guilty Shadow” with a “5″, making it the highest rated chapter since we started polling. Well done, Isayama!

On that day, Marley received a grim reminder... this chapter woke up the obsessed snk fan in me, finally JESUS CHRIST

SNK has always been a wild ride, but I don't believe I've ever been this excited and frustrated that I don't have the next chapter in my hands RIGHT NOW- if only to satisfy the itch of knowing which half-hidden face is who from Paradis. And also to figure out what they've done to Porco, Pieck and Zeke to neutralize them while Eren gives Reiner the most uncomfortable tableside chat.

My heart was pounding throughout the entire chapter. The last time that happened was chapter 84 and I gotta say, I finally feel like this whole Marley arc has been worth it. What an adrenaline rush it's become! Now that's now Attack On Titan is supposed to be. I can't wait to see everybody else again and proceed to reach the climax of the story.

The hype for SNK 100 is too real. Everything will explode

I need Ch100 right now immediately. Waiting another month is going to be torture. In the meantime I hope Porco and Pieck enjoy their time in the pit. If it turns out that Helos is Levi I will eat my own platform boots

It was amazing. Really great story.

I'm so glad this chapter is fake and SnK ended last month with everyone having a huge pizza party!

....is it December yet?

DID THIS CHAPTER SHOOK YOU? 1,711 Responses

To not be excited by this chapter was simply not an option, but I’ll assume that those who voted “Yes” are slightly more subdued than the majority of us who shouted “AW YISS”.

omfg hype for next chapter!!! How does Eren not have a leg, it really should've grown back, this doesn't make sense. Why is he even there, I feel like I missed something but it's probably just this manga's bizarre structuring. I've been selling my soul the past few months. There is nothing more to sell.

Kill me now The hype is REAL. I had a feeling issue #100 would be THE BANGER. This issue (#99) however set the stage for the next one. We have potentially Connie and Jean going undercover, we have Willy's solution that is just about to be revealed, the Asian woman's sudden leave, etc. I am really excited to see what will happen next month. Just need to add: seeing Eren's hand cut to threaten Reiner and Falco was such a power move, I had chills all over.

Boy howdy this was crazy I'll tell you what

Holy crap I love isayama. What a genius!

God help me I cannot wait another month

Endgame right here, brothers.

#shooketh

WHAT SIDE CHARACTER MOMENT DID YOU MOST APPRECIATE? 1,720 Responses

The giant red chunk that wins this question is the “All of the Above” option with 26.4% of the vote. “Every character with a partially hidden face” was second with 23.8%. There was plenty of excitement around Trapdoor-kun. He came in third with close to 20% of the vote.

I hope the SnK world has a heaven or some shit, because then Bertolt can maybe be finally happy together with his dad at least ;-;

ANNIE IS ALIVE AND FREE CHAPTER 100 HYYYYYYPE

I love moment with Trapdoor-kun/Connie (I hope it's him). He promised Reiner in Utgard Castle that he'll return the favor and I want to see their reunited. Maybe Connie will save Gabi and the other kids in this shitstorm. Please Isayama! Connie needs his personal moment!

ON THE SCALE FROM “FLUFFY KITTEN” TO “ACTUAL PENNYWISE”, HOW CREEPY WAS EREN IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,727 Responses

Eren’s creep factor was strong! More than 70% of us picked a 4 or 5 on the “Actual Pennywise” scale.

Eren is 100% savage. Damn I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't like him. His meddling works so well with his bitter ass and his sense of entitlement over making all these fuckers taking his freedom away disappear and get their comeuppance (read: the whole world). Fucking human worms.

Eren using Falco as a hostage makes me cry

Eren gave me fucking chills of fear

I'm loving this Eren alignment shift. Lawful Good boy is changing and I am HERE for this.

Eren's "Same reason as you" and "I don't have a choice" are the single most savage moment in the series.

I don't like Eren at all... Poor Reiner

Eren is frickin INSANE

ON THE SCALE FROM 1 - 420/69, HOW MUCH DID EREN ACTIVATE YOUR HARDENING ABILITIES IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,713 Responses

The creep factor and hobo hair didn’t hurt Eren’s attractiveness for the majority of the fandom since 36.1% would love to be locked in the basement with him right now. The second most popular choice was the extreme opposite. 22.2% selected “ewww no” on the question about Eren’s attractiveness.

why did y'all have to write "Lock me in your basement, Hobo Daddy!"

Protect Reiner Braun You've made me have sexual thoughts about long haired Eren, damn you pollster!!!!

Eren made both my jaw and panties fall straight to the floor. It's finally getting somewhere.

my mom called eren hobo daddy o__O"

Eren being so chilled out and yet so chilling at the same time...how does one being so cold make the room seem a lot hotter than it actually is?!

I want to officially shame Eren for telling Mikasa to cut her hair during training and now he could model for L'Oréal (I love his hair but he is a hypocrite)

EREN FUCKING JAEGER. I want to say he's cool... but I feel so strangely conflicted. I'm turned on by his loony face but at the same time fucking terrified that it's all going to crumble. He'd grown so much. I can't believe the kid that we used to adore has turned into such a beast.

eren would be a 4/5 if he shaved his facial hair imo

WHAT WAS EREN’S MOST CHILLING MOMENT? 1,717 Responses

Again with the “All of the above” as top pick. The most popular write in was “Reiner. Sit”. We clearly made a mistake when we forgot to include that.

Reiner. Sit.

His eyes all the time, they're like windows to hell

Everything! Eren was so chilling and bad this chapter, I love love loved it!

The fact that he's still missing a leg, it should've grown back, does he just keep cutting it off?

Messing with the head of an already mentally unstable Reiner

Eren did not come to play. Cutting his hand was a power move and then when he said "same as you." I can't wait to see him transform into a Titan. Reiner wasn't ready for this. He looks like he's gonna pass out.

I never thought i needed psycho!eren and badass!eren in my life. But then i read this chapter and HOOOOOOLY SHIT!

WHICH OF REINER’S TORTURED FACES WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 1,707 Responses

I’m borrowing a quote from a friend who said, “Reiner had enough panels of his sanity crumbling like pie crust to fill a photo album”. We thought so too and had a hard time limiting ourselves to just these six. The look of horror on page 20 was Reiner’s expression as Eren told him, “I’m the same as you. I didn’t have any other choice.” It was the winner with 44.5% of the voice.

Note to Isayama: If you want to torture a character, hands on the face is the way to go (even when those hands are strangely tiny.)

Don't freak out, Reiner, your buddy Eren has come to save the world just like you've always wanted.

I wonder how bad will Reiner's strabismus be when Eren ultimately touchs the Bertolt and Annie subject.

Someone please protect Reiner D: (and maybe give him a hug)

ISAYAMA STAHP TORTURING REIGNER!

#stopreinerabuse2017 >:)

Reiner is the true victim here man

If Reiner didn't have a drinking problem before he sure has one now

I really don't like seeing Reiner looking so scared... It makes me feel so bad and helpless because I can't do anything. ;-;

I’m expecting Reiner to go full insane next chapter. Seriously, he can only be pushed so far!

I absolutely love Reiner's suffering faces :D I also loved how shocked Falco was. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen, that why Eren told him to stay. He wants to save his life. I only wonder what will happen with the other kids.

reiner has baby hands

CAN YOU PINPOINT THE EXACT MOMENT FALCO’S HEART SHATTERED? 1,700 Responses

This was not a fun chapter for our poor little bean. There was no shortage of moments with him looking on with wide-eyed horror as the situation was unfolding. His expression on page 35 was the landslide winner. It’s the moment Falco realized Eren must’ve met Reiner during his time on Paradis.

My boy Falco doesn't deserve this.

DONT HURT BABBY FALCO

Calm the f down Eren! You’re scaring Falco!

Falco is too precious for this messed up world

WHAT IS RANDO MCSOLDIER WHISPERING TO MADS? 1,709 Responses

We have a poll meme now and don’t think I wont use it! Thank you to the 29.1% of you for playing along. We were a close second. Thank you also to everyone who took the question seriously. One respondent suggested they might be whispering about the fact that all the warriors were missing. I love that thought.

Yes. There's sour cream in Marley.

For the question of what Rambo McSoldier whispered, I'm actually kinda wondering if he's whispering about someone being missing from the crowd. (I.e, Reiner.)

how much farther is my sour cream joke going to go

I do NOT trust Eren one bit and we still do NOT know if there's sour cream. Crazy stuff man.

This wasn't an option for the question about what the soldier was whispering to Mads, but I thought it had to do with that panel where the guy on the rooftop said to "report it" no matter how small it is. The Marley soldier was relaying that report, whatever it is.

The lack of concern over the disappearance of all the Warriors from the audience is alarming...unless it's part of their plan, which removing the fighters from the crowd sounds like something inline with what Paradis would be attempting if they're about to hijack the play.

CHARACTER ALLEGIANCES! WHICH SIDE DO YOU THINK EACH PERSON IS ULTIMATELY SUPPORTING?

So much uncertainty here! We are truly divided over Willy, Zeke and Kiyomi’s loyalties.

I do not think that Zeke would be on Paradis side, he had that chance and discarded it as an idiot.

The Warhammer Titan seems to know so very much about Paradis and the truth (and Eren's name) that I think it's no coincidence he looks like an adult long hair Armin.

Willy was such a sweet pie in this chapter. I wish he joined the Team Paradise.

Why did the Asian lady wish Willy good luck and then immediatly got away from the play as fast as she could? The plot thickens...

Everyone need to calm tf down and stop being huge mega douchebags on the whole warriors vs paradis sides of the fandom Ima lose my goddamn mind let yams tell the fucking story. This fandom is killing me far more effectively than yams ever could, crying Reiner or no!

The Asian lady and the rest of the Azumabito definitely know something, as they didn’t stay for Willy’s play, and she said that “she hoped he’d play his role ‘safely’”

What is Willy's game? With so many important people there, it is setup for a massacre. But, why tell the truth beforehand? There is a part of me thinking that it is all a setup to Willy simply saying we're all going back to Paradis.

WHAT ALLIANCE DO YOU THINK IS MOST LIKELY? 1,697 Responses

EZ and REZ feelz so strong! A sizable percentage think Kiyomi is also a part of the alliance.

I love/hate how much Isayama plays with us (?).. this is the worst who is with who and why and when and how is it its 99 chapters and i am stiff as confused as when i watched the first anime chapter in 2013...

Yeah, I still believe in Reiner + Zeke + Eren alliance. Grim Reminder won't happen and I will be a happy, happy fan." İt's amazing!

I think Willy is working with Armin, whereas, Eren is working with Zeke. Isayama did say they were going to split.

I think Zeke is helping Eren for the time being but I also think it is only a temporary alliance. He will double-cross Paradis like he did the Restorationists and Marley before the end, and he will be a sizable end-game threat to both Paradis and Marley.

"Lady" Kiyomi of the Azmabito family seemed like she was teasing Willy before his performance, since he was so nervous. But then, she said "you're very brave. And you know our family very well", she seemed like she was threatening Willy

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CRAZY EREN. I think he's gonna offer an alliance with Reiner so they can both save the Eldians. I hope the SC will appear next chapter!

I'm willing to bet 'The Owl' Eren knew Willy and the Asian chick when he was still living.

WHY WERE PORCO AND PEICK SEPARATED? 1,715 Responses

62% believe Porco and Pieck were captured to keep them from meddling. An even larger majority believe Zeke was in on it. Hmmmm....

about porco and pieck. I think they will be locked somewhere. But not to take their titan. Well, it's good opportunity to take their titan but... who wants do that anyway? Jean, connie? I think not.

PLEASE SAVE PIECK

"We done fucked up" -peick and porco

My favourite panel is Pieck looking at 'springer, not a shower' whilst falling into the sin bin. Wow, she's perfect.

Porko remains oblivious

WAS ZEKE PART OF THE PLOT TO SEPARATE PORCO AND PEICK? 1,701 Responses

That would be a solid “yes”.

Zeke does seem to comply with too much questionable activity to not be working secretly with someone. He doesn't question being separated from Pieck and Porco, he's the only one not facing the guard that summons them, he let - encouraged- Reiner to go with Falco right as the ceremony started, and the baseball mitt Eren had likely had something to do with him. The Zekeret is still a wild card though so it makes all this hard to pinpoint.

WHO IS THE SOLDIER THAT TOSSED PORCO AND PIECK INTO THE BALL PIT? 1,691 Responses

Nearly 80% of the fandom thinks Connie is parading around Marley as a very tall Marleyan soldier. The write in responses on this were insane!

A pikupork shipper

Hajime Isayama

The Plothelping Titan

If Pieck knows him, the most probable option is Connie, buuuut... Is he even taller than Porco? He used to be really short, has he grown up?

When I first read the chapter and found similiarities between Connie and the trap-kun soldier I was like "what the fuck?!" And than I thought Connie being that soldier would be absolutely LIT.

I don't think any of the background characters are people we know. We saw how Isayama does that with Amputee-Kun, he appeared several chapters before the official reveal and there was no doubt once it was done. Trapdoor-kun, Helos Cosplayer, anyone else? Nope. as expected of pieck, she figured out the soldier was an impostor

Personally I really hate how people are making these predictions and analyzing details like chin shape in attempt to recognize him. We simply do not see enough of his face to tell who it is so it's pointless that people are arguing about it so vehemently. It could be Connie. I could be Levi. It most definitely isn't Armin. It could be a whole lot of people but right now at least half of the people will be wrong about it so arguing is going to get us nowhere. End of rant.

Zofia from the future, who traveled through paths

DID PIECK PASS A MESSAGE TO THE SOLDIER SHE HUGGED? 1,717 Responses

Yes. As expected. WHO IS THE HELOS COSPLAYER? 1,703 Responses

Jean trounced this poll question with 64.4% of the vote. “No one important” was second with 18.4%. 8% are hopeful it’s Levi.

A Majestic Stallion

A member of Paradis Team, but it is too early to say who

Jean dressed up as Levi aka the REAL Helos (Deja Vu).

Kenny "The Ripper" Ackerman rides again!

I want the Helos cosplayer to be Hange, but if it's not, Armin would be interesting.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPEFUL FOR IN CHAPTER 100? GO NUTS AND CHOOSE AS MANY AS YOU WANT. 1,718 Responses

1,161 (67.6%) Seeing the rest of the SC

1,134 (66%) Annie. Please. It’s been 84 years,

1,027 (59.8%) Information about character loyalties

1,013 (59%) Learning Willy’s “one solution”

875 (50.9%) The Warhammer Titan

788 (45.9%) Eren wreaking havoc

781 (45.5%) More Reiner suffering

747 (43.5%) RIP everyone sitting in the audience at the play

652 (38%) Grim Reminder

565 (32.9%) Action with the Asian Clan

534 (31.1%) Overwhelmed Falco turning into a falcon and flying away

Seeing the rest of the Survey Corps is our dearest wish, followed by a sighting of Annie. The most common write-in was simply “Levi”.

RIP Gabi and everyone else in the audience. But mostly Gabi.

I'm saying it now - there won't be another Grim Reminder. It would be the worst possible move to make. However, I can see some sort of staged assault happening.

What if chapter 100 is just an elaborate reenactment of the finale of shrek two where shrek and the gang ambush the castle with a collosal gingerbread man whilst fairy godmother sings. Honestly I would pay good money to see willy start singing 'i need a hero' with a choir behind him make it happen isayama I believe in you.

I am going to sell my soul for chapter 100

All the pieces are being set in place. It is about to begin. We don't know for sure what will happen but things are about to get wild. Prepare the feelingstrain cause we're all hopping aboard

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL CAST ON PARADIS? 1,712 Responses

No matter how great a chapter is, we remain desperate for the original cast. Last month 34.5% select “5” on the poll. This month that number was up to 38.1%.

And gimme some of that paradis crew daddy yamyams ✊️💦✊️💦😩

I'm severely lacking in Ackervitaminz

I'm tired of Marley to be honest. I hope next chapter shakes me, because this chapter didn't at all.

i still wanna know what the little miserable gremlin man is doing and my badass child Hanji

I loved the Marley chapters, but GOD I NEED MY PARADIS CREW THE SNEAK PEAKS ARE KILLING ME

while I haven't really been in any rush to return to the main cast, I'll be really excited to learn that they've all infiltrated Marley in this way, and for some final smack down to begin soon.

It's just a setup chapter I just want my Mikasa fix.

GIVE ME MIKASA AND ARMIN BACK. I MISSED MY BABIES. I WOULD SELL BOTH OF MY KIDNEYS TO SEE THEM WELL AND HAPPY AGAIN. JUST GIVE ME THAT WISH ON CHAPTER 100 ISAYAMA. AM I ASKING TOO MUCH?

WHICH CHARACTERS DO YOU GENERALLY ENJOY THE MOST 1,717 Responses

Cries forever for my vets.

Nearly 100 chapters in and I feel like I'm losing my damn mind. Oof. Isayama...amazing. PS: I will continue to select 'The Vets' even long after The Vets are gone!!!

(fist bumps you, my friend!)

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES 1,695 Responses

Last month this question was 40% Tumblr and 48% Reddit. This month Reddit was most active on the poll with 56.8% of the responses. The other platforms remained consistent.

"Where do you primarily discuss the series" giving 4chan the silent treatment? Although I guess what they do doesn't really count as discussing.

ANY OTHER CHAPTER THOUGHTS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE? We had 360 write-in responses and some were essay sized in length! Thank you all for your enthusiasm! Here’s a portion of the comments.

EXTRA DANCC

It's about to be lit fam

NERD-SQUAD TO THE RESCUE! Nothing but goosebumps for that entire chapter thankyou.

If Helos is actually a lie created by Marley and Tybur, then was the devil of all the earth a lie too? Or did it exist in reality? Will it return? And how the hell could Tybur know of Kenny and Uri sitting in front of that lake? Does he have some spies on Paradis? All this stuff is just becoming more and more fishy...

I want everyone to die.

Is it just me or did Reiner lose weight? Not aroused. Isayama sensei please try harder.

Pieck grabbing Zophia's shoulders. 100%. A+. As expected.

Okay, so, we've been speculating like mad on how Eren arrived in Marley. Reiner asked the same thing. And Isayama, through Eren's words, answered us: "is that really what you want to ask first?" LIKE DAMN, at this point I'm sure Isayama reads our blogs. At least he answered the "Why", kinda...

for god sake. reiner's suffering have to stop TTTTT-TTTTT

Bertl deserve this world.

Isayama has officially changed his icon to Reiner. Protagonist confirmed. It was Reiner's story all along. We were just along for the ride. The very traumatic ride.

I love the parallel between Reiner and that old man that hanged himself back in Paradis. I'm quite sure that Reiner, like the hanged-man, is looking for judgement. Cool to see how Bert nightmares played a big role in the end.

sc stans are insane I wonder how bad will Reiner's strabismus be when Eren ultimately touchs the Bertolt and Annie subject.

needs more porco

Is Eren gonna sacrifice himself for the sake of saving the world as a scapegoat? Will his death be the only meaningful one in the whole series??

I hope to God Armin has a different haircut.

Learning that we're getting ova of Lost Girls and reading this chapter was the best way to start my week. I love you I wish Isayama hadn't made Reiner so hot. Too hard to focus on everything else going on =\

if reiner wants to get judged maybe he should look to judge judy for judgement, that'd be lit

I love my shifter kids, but they're fucked.

I don’t personally think there will be a Grim reminder 2.0, Paradis people, ie Armin, Hanji and all, usually don’t fight fire with more fire, they plan better shenanigans. Also, how they would be considered better than marleyans if they did the same stuff? They won’t play this low, they also know that Grim reminder™️ Is everything but effective.

Isayama why it's great that we have all those informative, descriptive chapters but something need to happen. I hope that next chapter will be full of action.

SHOW ME MIKASA AND LET HER AND EREN BE MARRIED. And let annie be alive and well and dont make reiner any sadder. #chap100 No

Soldier, who are you? Willy, what are you really trying say? Eren, will you start causing some trouble? Levi, come out!" AAAAAAAAAAAaa!!!!

Pieck was actually exactly right! I always loved her design and oppressed but trying her best herb merchant aesthetic. So cool that she saved the lives of Reiner and Zeke, her influence on character relationships and the plot.

In RtS I wanted Reiner dead. Half to end his suffering, half to be vindicated for the things he'd done, but I guess it was Berty Beetle's turn.

I miss Levi so much, it's been such a long time since we've seen him and all I want is for him to keep his promise to Erwin and obliterate Zeke. I can see him now, sitting with his arms crossed as Zeke enters the room. "Been a while, you piece of shit. Not so tough now when you're not ripping a bunch of people in half with rocks, eh?" He cracks his knuckles. "I will destroy you. I will make it hurt. Because you killed Erwin Smith and I promised him, I *promised him* that I would end this fight for him." Ahhhh please Isayama. <3

CHAOS FOR THE CHAOS GOD The slow build has been so worth it, we're all going to hell and I can't wait

Annie is alive. That shouldn't be a point of discussion anymore,

Please make my children happy, they suffered enough

I really think Jean is the Helos cosplayer because of face/mouth shape. That might be wishful thinking though :') Also DAMN EREN REALLY IS HOBO DADDY

ISAYAMA CAN YOU PLEASE DRAW BERTL FAMILY OR PHOTO OF HOOVER HOUSE OR WHAT SO I CAN REST IN PEACE I WANNA BERTL AGAIN I DONT CARE WITH OTHERS

I just want to say that the chapter 99 pre release megathread on /r/ShingekiNoKyojin was one of the best things to ever happen, and i'm proud to be a part of it.

Now i just want to see jean What if we're all just too hopeful and in reality the helos cosplayer and trapdoor-kun are just normal people. If Annie isn’t coming back I’m rioting honestly. Also where TF is mikasa?!

I LOVE PIECK SO MUCH she is becoming one of my fave characters. Also hopefully nothing happens to cause Reiner’s mental state to become worse than it is right now. CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT CHAPTER I think the Asian woman is Mikasa. My evidence to support this claim is that after she talked to Willy, she said ‘let’s go’ to her body guards. As if she knows what’s going on.

Seeing Pieck being smart and quick-witted made me like her even more. I'd be very sad if she ends up being killed or if Porco and her never truly meet the original main cast. Give us those warriors/soldiers interactions Isayama.

Annie...please...it has been too long now...

Regarding Eren he ackwonledged that Reiner and co. were just clueless kids trying to save the world when they destroyed the Wall. And he is stating that he as well has been forced in this role. I think he is trying to bring Reiner to his side as well as to remove a Warrior (and Falco) from the stage where things will soon go wild.

This shit was lit lit lit!!! I need war!

If the marley arc was a dubstep song, this chapter was the part where the song builds up in speed and frequency and ends right before it levels off and the beat subsequently drops. Ya feel? Warriors, come out to plaaaaay.

IMO PIECK IS ON EREN'S SIDE AND SHE ACTED IN FRONT OF PORCO

I want to know who works with who (especially ZEKE), how they arrived in Marley, I want the SC but also I really love the Warriors, asdfghjkl I really don't know what to expect but I love the way Isayama keeps us on this subtle line between ""OMG"" and ""WTF MAN"". I want some answers! AND I DEFINITELY WANT ANNIE BACK

I hope Sasha is in Marley too. She needs pizza.

Too few panels of Marco's death. 😠

i miss zeke memes

PATHS

I love the art in the recent chapters. I will forgive slow pacing for good art.

Karina is a bitch

Isayama give Reiner a break or kill him already, end the suffering pls

And lastly, the Rick and Morty copypasta meme made it's way into our poll. I laughed!

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Attack on Titan. The humor is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Eren's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation - his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realize that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Attack on Titan truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Zeke's existential catchphrase "As expected of Pieck 👉😶👉," which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Hajime Isayama's genius unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools... how I pity them. 😂 And yes by the way, I DO have a Reiner and Historia tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- And even they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.

Thank you also to those left nice comments about the poll. We appreciate it!

#snk polls #snk poll #snk chapter 99 #snk poll results

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years ago

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OAN Is So Dangerous Because It Looks Like a Real News Channel

It’s the president’s favorite “news” channel, and a cornerstone of America’s growing disinformation problem. It’s One America News (OAN), a rotating collection of wobbly conspiracies and gibberish that has more in common with a state-run disinformation network than a credible news organization.

OAN’s definition of “news” has included false claims of electoral fraud, baseless Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories, false claims that the novel coronavirus was developed in a North Carolina lab as part of a vast government conspiracy, and accusations that last summer’s protests over the police killing of George Floyd were part of a diabolical “coup.”

“According to the mainstream media, the riots and extreme violence are completely unorganized,” the network proclaimed last August. “However, it appears this coup attempt is led by a well-funded network of anarchists trying to take down the president.”

Last June, 75-year-old Martin Gugino had his skull fractured after being shoved to the ground by Buffalo police officers. Video clearly showed the elderly Gugino doing nothing wrong, but OAN insisted he was an “Antifa provocateur” using sophisticated tech to target the police.

“Newly released video appeared to show Gugino using a police tracker on his phone trying to scan police communications during the protest,” the network falsely claimed.

Tuesday, YouTube suspended the OAN channel for a week after the company uploaded a video promoting a bogus cure for COVID-19.

In seven years OAN has gone from completely unknown to being routinely amplified by Trump, catering in many ways to an audience of one. It is a symbiotic relationship, in which Trump can point to what vaguely look like news reports to buttress his own conspiracy theorizing, and the network, by providing them, can access his massive and loyal audience.

This relationship, like so much about Trump's presidency, is seemingly unique and aberrant. But while experts say OAN’s impact is overstated and future success unsure, they also warn that without a major course correction, the channel’s modest success is a troubling harbinger of dumber and more dangerous things to come.

OAN is the brainchild of millionaire Robert Herring, who ran a chain of Los Angeles pet stores before making his fortune printing circuit boards. In 2003, Herring created Herring Networks, which includes WealthTV, a self-proclaimed “lifestyle and entertainment cable network,” and OAN, which was launched in 2013.

Few gave OAN a second glance until it became a network exclusively dedicated to pandering to Donald Trump’s insatiable ego. Dating back to 2015, Trump touted the network and its coverage of his presidential bid, and throughout his presidency, he has praised and promoted it to his tens of millions of followers. Throughout election season, OAN heaped lavish praise on the president, even pulling polls that dared suggest Trump might not win his reelection bid. And post-election, both Herring and the channel he founded have pivoted to parroting false Trump claims of rampant electoral fraud.

Much like the alternative-reality contemporaries OAN hopes to compete with, the channel’s unbridled dedication to Trumpism—and the relentless repetition of every conspiratorial MAGA brain fart—is routinely portrayed as objective journalism by company executives.

“We’re a no-fluff, very fast-paced live news service meant to inform,” Robert’s son Charles Herring told the Washington Post in 2017. “News anchors are not allowed to express opinions. They simply deliver the news and we leave it up to the viewers to decide. It’s not our family’s mission to determine the news.”

The president’s adoration of OAN means that despite being banned from briefings by the White House Correspondents’ Association for ignoring CDC safety protocols, the channel has been allowed to simply ignore the ban, and on any given week can still be found amplifying ludicrous claims from White House grounds with a quality reminiscent of high school A/V clubs.

Last week, OAN received yet another signal boost when Trump tweeted out a segment featuring bogus claim of electoral fraud propped up by “expert analysis” by Ron Watkins—son of 8kun (formerly 8chan) owner Jim Watkins—who is alleged to be a cornerstone of the QAnon conspiracy cult, where the false claim first originated:

But even with daily free marketing from the president, OAN’s real-world influence has been largely overstated.

OAN doesn’t subscribe to industry-standard Nielsen estimates, so accurately measuring its viewership has proven to be a guessing game for TV ratings firms. (OAN claims to reach around 35 million potential homes, little more than a quarter of the total number of U.S. homes that currently own a television set.) Research firms like Kagan estimate OAN’s reach to be 23 million cable subscribers, a significantly smaller potential footprint than right-wing outlets like Newsmax TV (58.2 million) or Fox News (78.6 million). When Nielsen attempted to more accurately measure how many of those users actually watch the channel last year, it wasn’t pretty:

OAN’s ambitions have been challenged by the fact that numerous major cable outlets, including Comcast, Spectrum, and Dish Network have refused to carry the channel. A June Bloomberg report attributed this reluctance to stringent OAN contract requirements, an asking price out of line with the channel’s quality, or a lack of interest in being associated with controversy.

OAN’s biggest cable distributor, AT&T/DirecTV, has been trimming costs due to sustained TV subscriber losses from cord cutting and mismanagement. Reports earlier this year indicated that OAN’s contract with AT&T is up for renewal next year, potentially removing AT&T’s 19 million potential viewers from the equation if a new deal can’t be reached.

Neither OAN nor AT&T responded to inquiries about the status of the contract.

While OAN may not be brainwashing a massive audience; it is providing plausible-seeming props and set dressing for Trump as he uses social media to create an alternate reality in which he won the election, defeated the coronavirus, and is unfairly besieged on all sides by mean journalists and the “deep state.” It’s a false reality OAN hopes to take to the mainstream.

The MAGA set has become furious at Fox’s failure to more fully embrace false claims of election fraud, and for (accurately) calling Arizona for Joe Biden before other outlets on election night. A recent Morning Consult poll found that Fox News’ favorability among Republicans dropped from 67 to 54 percent post-election—simply for occasionally telling viewers the truth.

But without free daily advertising from the president, overtaking Fox will be a steep uphill climb for the fledgling network—especially if OAN continues to double down on conspiracies and nonsense, Stanford professor of political economics Greg Martin told Motherboard.

“Fox News in some sense created the market for OAN, by building up the taste for conservative-slanted TV news in a large audience,” Martin said. But he added that Fox maintains its massive audience by including just enough hard news (like a legitimate election data team willing to call Arizona early for Biden) to keep at least the illusion of integrity intact.

Martin’s research has found that in terms of gaining cable TV market share, there are diminishing returns when it comes toward pushing extremism at your target audience, suggesting that OAN’s quest to out-conspiracy Fox might not be a winning formula.

“One of the points we make in the paper is that there is a tradeoff in moving farther towards the ideological extreme: if people watch, you'll have greater influence on their beliefs, but you also increase the risk that they are turned off by it and don't watch at all,” Martin said.

Martin added that Fox has been very successful at this balancing act to create the illusion of mainstream respectability, but a network like OAN positioning itself even further to the right of Fox is likely to be drawing viewers from a limited pool of total viewers.

“Fox has already pushed the envelope about as far as you can go before the returns to additional ideological extremity start to turn negative,” he said. “So I am skeptical that OAN will achieve anything like Fox's influence on public policy and politics in the US, even if its ratings were to continue to grow.”

While OAN may never see the same level of success as Fox News, it doesn't have to: It has had, and could continue to have, real effects on the public discourse just by inverting the usual formula by which powerful people reach a mass audience via news outlets. And other media scholars say the success it has seen is a troubling omen for the future of U.S. journalism and America’s accelerating battle with disinformation and propaganda.

Victor Pickard, an American media studies scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, told Motherboard OAN’s rise comes at a major inflection point for U.S. media. With U.S. journalism facing an existential and financial crisis—and so many bad faith actors looking to fill the vacuum created—OAN will likely be the least of our problems.

“It's difficult to imagine a surefire way to undo the damage to our media ecosystem, but one key piece of any solution must be to rebuild local journalism, whose dissolution has created the vacuum into which all manner of conspiratorial nonsense and disinformation has rushed in,” Pickard said.

Decades of corporate consolidation and layoffs have hit local journalism particularly hard, replacing quality local reporting with a troubling combination of Facebook conspiracies, Trump-loyal disinformation empires like Sinclair Broadcasting, and a flood of even more malicious actors looking to disguise corporate and political propaganda as legitimate local news.

Researchers have shown repeatedly that as local journalism is replaced with homogenized fluff and nonsense, Americans not only become less informed and more divided, but local corruption reporting falls through the cracks. In some instances, a lack of quality reporting has been directly linked to a measurable impact on election results.

Pickard noted that without addressing the underlying rot that fertilized the rise of the U.S. disinformation problem in the first place, things are likely to only get worse.

“Several structural conditions enabled the rise of OAN,” Pickard said. “First are the commercial values that incentivize media outlets to privilege profits above all else,” he said. “The proven formula of outrage-driven commentary is both cheap to produce and captures audiences' attention, which advertisers covet.”

In short, we’ve created an entire information ecosystem that prioritizes engagement above accuracy or insight, one in which it’s often not as profitable to tell the sometimes-boring but important truth.

Pickard has been a consistent advocate of providing more public funding for U.S. journalism as an antidote to the corrosive impact of engagement-based advertising. He also advocates for stronger “public interest protections that mandate social responsibilities such as maintaining ideological balance and fact-based coverage in our news media.”

In the 1940s the FCC passed the Fairness Doctrine, which required that broadcast news outlets cover issues of public interest fairly. But the rules were demolished in 1987 after Republicans spent years demonizing them, insisting they violated the First Amendment. Even if still around today, the rules would have only applied to broadcast television, not cable TV.

With inflammatory nonsense so profitable and Congress increasingly divided, a more modern proposal seems all but doomed. In its place, U.S. media policy has consisted of rubber stamping problematic mergers, eliminating decades-old media consolidation rules, and doubling down on an ad-based media environment that only tends to reward the inflammatory.

Without a major funding boost for real journalism and a massive rethinking of U.S. media policy, “news” empires like OAN will continue to see outsized influence on U.S. discourse, Pickard said—and it's not hard to imagine the possibilities for more sophisticated actors creating bespoke fake news for powerful politicians and political movements. Media experts also argue more mainstream journalists and outlets need to rethink their role in amplifying or validating bad faith viewpoints in a misguided quest for artificial balance.

“I predict that our news media in general will continue to worsen because there's less and less actual journalism,” Pickard said. “Meanwhile, the rightwing, fact-free media model is a proven money maker with no countervailing force.”

As trust in institutions is eroded, the public tends to turn to dubious, sometimes terrible alternatives to reinforce their shaken worldview. OAN wasn’t the first “news” outlet to exploit our failure to prevent conspiratorial thinking from being mainlined into the American bloodstream, and without a dramatic shift in U.S. media policy and funding, it certainly won’t be the last.

OAN Is So Dangerous Because It Looks Like a Real News Channel syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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twocoursemeal-blog · 7 years ago

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TCM People’s Choice: Shabu & Mein!

TCM Ramen Month v2.0: Shabu & Mein (Lechmere)

The people have spoken, and they want Shabu & Mein! We had a poll on our facebook page asking our readers where they wanted to go for our first TCM Reader’s Choice Dinner. Our readers are pretty great, because they made an excellent decision!

We ate:

Some stuff we will not talk about:

Spicy Fried Calamari (solid, a little chewy, but nice)

Bacon Wrapped Enoki Mushrooms (I hope you like bacon grease. We do, these were great)

...and some stuff we will talk about:

Steamed Crab Shumai

Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen

Hell Ramen

We didn’t eat (personally), but ordered:

Lobster rangoon

Fried Soft Shell Shrimp with Miso Mayo

We drank:

Sungwa Old Fashion

Angela’s Thoughts:

I’d never been to Shabu & Mein (to be honest, I’d heard not-so-great things about it…). Matt continually tried to convince me of its goodness, but I was unmoved; I am glad that I was completely wrong! The restaurant was large and inviting, and the service was excellent. We’d requested a table for 10; 8 brave souls wanted to experience a Ramen Month review first-hand. To make it more of a special occasion, we all ordered drinks and shared appetizers.

The drink I ordered, the Sungwa Old Fashion, featured a Japanese Whisky front and center in a familiar cocktail. The drink was quite nice, and well-balanced. The use of Japanese Whisky made the cocktail pleasantly mild, but still complex and flavorful. It was on the seasonal menu, but I sincerely hope it sticks around for a while. We also shared a number of appetizers. Though I didn’t get to eat them all, they all looked pretty good! Lastly, I pored over the ramen menu, planning my line of attack.

The ramen at Shabu & Mein is very customizable. You can choose your broth (Tonkotsu, Miso, Soy, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, and variable specials), your style of noodles (thin ramen noodles, thick ramen noodles, udon, yam noodles, veggie noodles, and rice vermicelli), and you can add toppings (quite a substantial list). To be honest, it was all a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, Ramen Month was “only shoyu” month for me, which limited my decisions… until I saw the “Hell Ramen” on the specials menu.

It was billed as a “special spicy broth” with a number of toppings, like eggs, scallions, pork, corn, bean sprouts, and fish cake! I love fish cake! I asked our server what type of broth the Hell Ramen had, hoping it was shoyu-based. It wasn’t shoyu-based. It was pork- and beef- based. It was also $18... Despite that, at the 11th hour, I abandoned “Only Shoyu” Month. What can I say? I really missed Pikaichi’s Jigoku Ramen (RIP <3). I ordered the Hell Ramen with thick noodles, and all I can say is “No Regrets.” The Hell Ramen was absolutely delicious!

The broth was a striking red color, certainly reminiscent of the pits of hell. And wow, was it just as hot. The spice level was no joke. There were cut pieces of chili and entire peppercorns floating around the bowl, and when you tasted it, they made themselves known. The first few bites were fine, but by the end my mouth was burning and my nose was running a bit (but I still couldn’t stop eating). The flavor was very chili-forward, but the mala tingle from the Sichuan peppercorns brought it to the next level. If you’re not spice-tolerant, be careful. Otherwise, I highly recommend it!

The whites of the eggs were stained red just from their short time in the bowl. The egg is nice, though maybe a little north of ideal cooked texture. The marinade on the egg was sweet and delicious, which was a welcome juxtaposition against the spicy broth. The noodles were also well-cooked. They were nice, chewy, and tender, but not quite overcooked. I am pretty sensitive and unforgiving to noodles that end up over al dente, but the softness of the ramen noodles was pleasant, to me. The peppercorns and chili flakes tangled up in the thick curly noodles, making the spice relentless.

The pork slices were a bit smaller, but they were cooked very well. The pork was delicious, and perfectly tender. It didn’t have a strong meaty flavor (maybe it got lost in the sauce a bit), but it did have a nice, slightly sweet flavor. Mix that in with the broth, and you have an excellent serving of chashu. The corn and bean sprouts were there too, adding small pops of sweetness and relief from the spice, respectively.

Now, to what I was most excited for: the fish cake. It, like the egg, had been stained by the broth (the outside was still that bright dyed pink, but the inside was a dull red). It was delightfully springy; one of my favorite aspects of fish cake is the texture -- it’s something that you don’t often get in ramen. It had a nice savory flavor, which paired well with the fruity sweet notes in the broth from the chili. It was a nice and interesting addition to an already-great bowl of ramen.

The cherry on top was the nori sheet, soaked during my entire meal in this spicy, fruity, chili oil drenched broth. It soaked up the spice so perfectly! It was an absolutely fantastic finish to the meal! Shabu & Mein (and Matt, and my readers, whom I doubted), forgive me. I was so wrong. Shabu & Mein was much better than my expectations, and I need to go back for that Hell Ramen.

Matt’s Thoughts:

In fairness, I’d been to Shabu & Mein many times before. It’s right down the street from my work, and it’s a common stop for our company outings. But worry not, dear readers - I won’t let my previous visits influence this most recent one. Shabu & Mein had better bring their A game.

This was our first ever TCM Fan Meal, and we were so excited that so many of our readers (read: friends who put up with our constant posts about the food we already eat), set aside time on a Friday night to join us for dinner. As y’all know, big groups pair well with small plates, and we were able to order a variety of different apps and small plates. Overall, they were very solid! I’ve enjoyed Shabu & Mein’s various apps several times before, and the consistency on flavor and cook always leaves me feeling optimistic when I think about trying something different. My favorite of the small plates was definitely the crab shumai, which had the classic light, delicate shumai texture plus pleasantly soft chunks of crab meat. I’d order them again in a heartbeat, and couldn’t bear to get them cooked any other way than steamed.

At Shabu & Mein, I got what I always get, which is the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen. As an added bonus, I remembered to ask for thick noodles, since Shabu & Mein generally provides the thinner straight style of ramen noodles in this dish. I’m a creature of habit. Don’t judge me. I also asked for my eggs on the side, since I’ve had so many good eggs ruined by sitting in hot broth for too long, waiting to be taken to the table. Shabu & Mein has generally done a great job of cooking their eggs to that perfect (for me, at least) runny-yolk consistency, and I’ll be honest, I wanted them to do well (an unnamed co-reviewer on this blog had previously expressed some concerns that Shabu & Mein’s ramen was not worth considering) [spoiler alert - the yolks were a little overcooked, but the whites were nice and had a surprisingly sweet soy-forward taste from the marinade].

After a remarkably glamorous tray full of halved ajitama arrived (huge props to the restaurant for giving you a FULL egg with your ramen instead of just a half), the ramen was distributed. I’ve got to say, it was definitely one of the more underwhelming initial bowl presentations we’ve experienced during Ramen Month v2.0. Color? A little drab and monotonous (though to be fair, some of that may have been due to the poor lighting at our table). Toppings? Aside from a tangle of wood ear mushrooms, a dollop of spicy paste, and a slice of pork covered partially in an already-submerged piece of nori, largely undetectable. Things were not looking good.

Until of course, I mixed it all together and took a sip. The powerfully deep, rich, balanced tonkotsu broth flooded my palate like a porky velvet blanket (it’s better than it sounds, I promise). At least, everything was nice and gentle until the spice came in and drop kicked me right in the back of the throat. Damn, that stuff is spicy! The texture of it almost reminds me of a soy-based paste, which adds an additional thickness and creaminess to the already decadent broth. This balance of “smooth pork - kick” went on in a way that kept me going back for more every time. Broth gets too rich? Capsaicin-induced pain can fix that. Pain too much? Just enjoy some of this silky pork bone broth. Oh, you just had a sip of broth, you say? And repeat.

Of course, you can’t have a broth like this NOT get into all of the toppings. Of course, the pork fat-infused nori sheet carried the heat just as well as a strong taste of the ocean. Of course, the noodles were perfectly cooked to that springy al dente texture, and carried the broth up like some kind of bizarre reverse firehose. We’re not here to debate any of this.

What we are here to talk about (at least, what I am here to talk about) is Shabu & Mein’s chashu.

Yep. You heard me right. Congrats, Shabu & Mein! You did it. You delivered my favorite chashu in all of Ramen Month v2.0. I am impressed.

Shabu & Mein’s pork was unbelievably tender. Not “overcooked-and-mushy” tender, not “it’s-all-fat-so-how-could-it-not-be-tender” tender. I’m talking “beautifully cooked, impeccably cut, smartly seasoned, deep, eye-closing-rock-back-and-forth-in-delight” tender. It was that good. I wish I had ordered a side of it. I may still go back there just to order a side of it. If they offered a way to buy a loaf of the stuff like Yume does, I may actually just take them up on it. When you can cut through your pork with chopsticks with little to no effort, but still have no issue picking it up to eat it, you know it’s done right.

Go to Shabu & Mein. Get whatever ramen calls out to your soul (it’ll be good, I’m sure). Or don’t, that’s fine too.

But whatever you do, make sure it comes with an extra side of pork.

Overall:

Great drinks, great ramen, and great company; what more could you ask for? The first TCM Reader’s Choice Meal was a rousing success, and we can’t wait to do something similar again. We’re so glad that Shabu & Mein rose to the challenge and gave us an all-around excellent meal. If you’re in the area (and even if you’re not), we really do recommend that you visit.

We give Shabu & Mein 4 plates of breathtakingly consistent ajitama out of 5.

Waow. You made it. The end of Ramen Month v2.0. How are you two doing?

Angela: What a great way to end. To say that I am pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. After the first two or three reviews, I kind of regretted doing Ramen Month v2.0. I’m glad that all turned around. As long as new ramen places keep opening in Boston, maybe we should make this an annual thing...

Matt: Talk about ending on a high note! After the terrible winter of 2s and 1s, I really thought there would be no end in sight. Did I wake up one day and not realize I had become Job? And then we went to Little Big Diner. And then we went to Oisa! And then we went to Shabu & Mein!! It felt like Boston’s ramen had been hiding from us, testing us to see if we were truly worthy of its gifts. Well, dear readers, we persevered, and we were blessed for our suffering. And what a blessing it was.

#boston #ramen #ramen month #4 stars

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dramioneasks · 7 years ago

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Can you please please make a lost of pros and cons for posting a dramione story on ffn/ao3/h&v/lj/tumblr/wattpad/etc? Maybe addressing the number of views and audience? Amount of flames. Their navigation and UI and UX. Etc. anything that comes to mind. Thanks. I really appreciate it. 🙏🏻

Howdy!

This ended up being a rather long post, so please click on the link below to read the rest…

It is also entirely based on my personal opinions and experiences from posting my fics at these sites. This likely isn’t a completely comprehensive list, just what came off the top of my head… so… feel free to add a comment to this post on these websites’ features and I’ll update it.

❤️ @refictionista

So… without further ado…

The Pros and Cons of Various HP Fan Fiction Websites

Posting on FFnet

Pros:

Largest and most popular fan fiction website… like… in the world

Has an official app that makes downloading fics super easy

You can have ‘book covers’ for your fics

You can create polls

Has in-site PM feature

Very user friendly posting process

Interest can be determined via reader reviews, favs, and follows

Can be posted immediately (no wait times or approval process)

Communities for collecting fics

Best analytics of any fan fiction site

Allows saved drafts

Cons:

384 character max for fic summary… brevity is not one of my virtues

Any author notes, foot notes, chapter notes, etc. are part of the chapter and thus they affect the word count

You can’t rearrange the order of the chapters

Tagging is practically non-existant, limited to characters (with a max of four characters)… of these, you can only do (duo) pairings (no triads)

Keeps having these weird glitches that mess up my update notifications

Allows anonymous guest reviews, of which I’m not a fan… anonymity can lead to flaming drama… and I don’t mean the genre…

Formatting is extremely basic… meh

You can’t do anything resembling links… I once had a chapter that was supposed to be an email thread… the email addresses had to be typed out as name (at) domain (dot) com… shudder

Can’t post above a ‘M’ rating

I haven’t figured out their forums

@sennalya said: I personally dislike ffnet because their search/filter/block options plainly suck and their tags simply don’t exist.

Posting on AO3

Pros:

You can write a fic as a gift for another user

You can add co-authors

Fics can be part of a series… bless this feature

You can rearrange the order of the chapters

Has a prominent trigger warning (Archive Warning) display

Tagging system is extremely well done, search functionality is amazing

Has a viewing history feature

Comments (their “reviews”) are done as messaging threads by named users… like the threads (they’re more interactive than just plain reviews) and the lack of anonymity cuts down on the flaming drama

Several search list sorting options

Formatting options are amazing… like… even superscript… amazing (but to use these more advanced formats, you need to know your coding)

Separate chapter summaries, chapter notes, and end notes (all useful to determine an accurate word count)

Interest can be determined via reader comments, kudos (their “likes”), bookmarks, and page hits (guests/anons can only leave kudos)

Can be posted immediately (no wait times or approval process)

Several in-site fic downloading options (.mobi, .ePub, .PDF, and .html)

Integrates with LiveJournal and other fanfiction communities for fests and other challenges

Allows saved drafts

I’m a big fan of their legal advocacy initiatives

@sennalya said: You can do it all in your doc (MS Word or whatever), and when uploading, click the rich text button (top right above the text field) and simply paste your chapter in. Just tried it with heavily formatted text (bold, italics, superscript, and it took it all. Only had a bit of a glitch that I had to insert an empty line to the text field before I could paste at all, weird). If you have a coded text, chose the html button and paste your text in. It’s really very user friendly!

Cons:

No PMs

No mobile app

Analytics are okay but not great

My book covers have to be added as separate chapters

Posting on H&V

Pros:

Not going to lie, my favorite site

Just dramione

You can rearrange the order of the chapters

Search functionality is custom tailored for dramione fics

Fics show their banners in the search/list display (so I’m not too upset that I have to add my book covers as separate chapters)

Allows bookmarking on specific chapters… and when you last clicked on a fic/chapter

Reviews are done as messaging threads by named users… like the threads and lack of flaming anon drama… FYI, I never seen any review drama on this site

Fics can be part of a series

Separate chapter notes and end notes (useful to determine accurate word count)

Top (insert category) lists

Submissions are reviewed and approved by admins prior to posting, and the verification/approval process helps to maintain fic quality standards

Allows saved drafts

Cons:

Website is currently down and has been for a while… they say it’s just technical difficulties and will be back soon (fingers crossed)

Sometimes it takes a week or so for a chapter submission to be approved and then posted

Analytics are basic

I know you can follow/subscribe to a fic, but I haven’t figured it out

Posting on LJ

disclaimer: I’ve only posted fics on LJ that were submissions to fests.

Pros:

Used in quite a few fests and communities

Some of these journals are devoted entirely to a specific pairing or genre within that pairing

Good formatting options

Good mobile app

Cons:

Mostly used for one-shots… can have multi-chapter fics, but I’ve only had that done for me with a submission that was part of a fest… I poked around once but still have no idea how to that myself on my own LJ page

Formatting options are available, but you need to know your coding

Haven’t even figured out how the analytics work

No saving of drafts

Posting on Wattpad

disclaimer: this is based on previous experience. I removed all of my fics from this site because I didn’t like the display… completely a personal preference.

Pros:

Great mobile app (most readers access the site via the app)

You can add book covers

Easy to use… no coding required

Cons:

Mainly original fiction

Formatting options are basic

No saving of drafts

Analytics are basic

Posting on HarryPotterFanFiction.com

disclaimer: this is based on previous experience. I removed all of my fics from this site after a chapter update to my P&P parody fic was rejected due to it violating their ToS (it too closely resembled Jane’s Austen’s original story).

Pros:

Submissions are reviewed and validated

Has in-site mail feature

Reviews are done as messaging threads

Decent formatting options

All Harry Potter fan fics

Cons:

Upload process was confusing at first

Analytics are basic

Posting on Adult-Fanfiction.org

disclaimer: this is based on previous experience. I removed all of my fics from this site because I kept having difficulties just simply trying to log into my account on my preferred web browser.

Pros:

Posting adult content fics that wouldn’t be accepted on other archives

Cons:

The search function and tagging systems are antiquated… most fics I found were spread by word of mouth recommendations

On a restricted/blocked domain in many locations

The formatting options are a hassle

Upload process is significantly less user friendly and confusing

I never figured out their analytics

Other fan fiction websites (that host HP fan fiction) but that I’m not familiar with…

MuggleNet

Quotev

deviantART

FicWad

Internet Archive

Feedbooks

Goodreads

FictionPad

MediaMiner

The Maple Bookshelf

Lost D/Hr Fics (I added it to this list, but you don’t post there… it only posts fics no longer available)

Some people also post their fan fics here on tumblr… search for the #fanfic tag

#thoughts and opinions

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summerscramble-event · 7 years ago

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❝ Can you believe that skyline -- ? Ah, well, perhaps you all can’t, you haven’t seen it yet ! Believe me when I say its beautiful, and I’m a man who knows beauty !

❝ I know, I know, ‘ Laslow don’t be wasting time ’, but I assure you, you’ll LOVE what I have to say this time ! I have excellent news regarding our schedule of events ! Er, that being we have one. Tentative as it may be, myself and Robin squared ( talk about weird ?? ) have agreed that this will give you all the basics of the week’s layout, so you all can plan ahead ! Considerate, right ? I know, you can thank me later for being so thoughtful. ❞

JUNE 25 – SUNDAY KICKOFF.

SNO CONE SOCIAL.

Cabana check-in, but save the unpacking for later ! Complimentary sno cones are served all day long as we, the mods, spend today welcoming guests to the luxury Hotrealms resort! Grab a sno cone from the cabana bar because today is the day to get to know your fellow resort comrades! Walk around the resort and view the boardwalk, and as always, I am ALWAYS available for any lonely adventurers. Take a stroll on the beach and wade in the water, go for a swim if you’d like ! This is just a day to get a feel for your surroundings and explore everything the resort has to offer ! Kick back, relax, and socialize ! . . . or don’t, if that’s what you prefer.

JUNE 26 – SWIMSUIT SHOWCASE

Did someone say ladies in bikinis – AHEM – er, swimsuits all around ? Surely you’ve already procured a swimsuit, why not show it off ? We are now taking reservations to walk the stage for this Summer Scramble’s Swimsuit Showcase ! Handmade or commissioned, if you’re interested in the opportunity to earn bragging rights about being on stage, then this is for you ! Come in your bikini best -- or, your best in general I suppose, whatever your preference, we have room for you on the catwalk !

Also, Robin and Reflet have given me word of a sandcastle contest ! I personally will offer you bonus points if you manage to build your sandcastle on someone. I would assume they will have more information on this later !

***STARTING MONDAY, JUNE 26, SENDING ☼ WILL EARN YOU A TURN AT THE MONOMONO MACHINE FOR A PIXELATED PRIZE! THIS WILL CONTINUE ALL WEEK. YOU MAY SEND ONE ONCE A DAY. MODS WILL BE WORKING ACTIVELY TO MAKE SURE ALL ARE ANSWERED DAILY, BUT PLEASE BE PATIENT.

JUNE 27 – BOARDWALK BUZZ

The boardwalk is NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN. All shoppes have been open for a while now, we realize, but now there’s more to do ! Vendors have all moved in and – is that lemon cake ?? Anyway, there’s going to be a whole big stretch of gift booths, and leis are available for purchase ! You may see some familiar faces running booths of their own, so be sure to give them your support and stop in ! Avoiding having to walk all the way into town for something small for your love interest has never been easier! Well, except if they need a new shirt, or a sunhat, but you get the point. Also, along with the boardwalk vendors, we’re excited to announce the dunk tank among many other activities! Yours truly will take the first seat ( more like forced into it ) and the other two will follow suit. No ticket necessary, just jump in line until time limits are cut short, as will the lines. But this is your chance to show no mercy, and get your game face on for Wednesday ! And have I mentioned the sunset from the view of the boardwalk ? Not even a beautiful girl could distract me – er, alright, alright, maybe she would a little.

And I’ve also heard word of a . . . crushing watermelons contest . . . ? What in the Gods’ name . . I suppose some of these people can crush watermelons with their bare hands. Perhaps that’s something someone can enlighten me on later.

JUNE 28 – VOLLEYBALL AND BEACH WRESTLING

Is your team ready to take the trophy home ? Is your body beach ready ? Wednesday is being spent on beach front territory ! The volleyball nets are going up, the referees are ready to call the shots. Gather up your teams and play to win ( you’re joining TEAM LASLOW, right ~ ?) . Trash talk is always fun, but don’t get out of hand, now ! Nobody likes a sore loser, especially when you already know you’re going to lose ~. Compete to defeat, my friends, lay on that sunscreen thicker than faceless skin !

For those uninterested in volleyball but still wishing to compete and hone their skills: maybe beach wrestling is good for you ! Go up against other strongmen, or women, in a test of physical strength. Nobody likes a face full of sand so come prepared to knock your opponent to the ground. Try to keep rough physical harm such as actually making someone bleed all over the sand to a minimum . . we’re really trying not to have any casualties . . please don’t turn this into a death match. I’m begging, I’m not a very good nurse.

Not the sporty type ? Grab some goodies and flags to wave from the boardwalk and cheer on your favorites to victory! They’ll love hearing your harmonious cries ~, even when you’re cheering for me.

***Volleyball teams ARE ENCOURAGED. There has been talk on the dash about potential teams and this is to organize all of those. Matches will be generated ala ‘ hunger games simulator ’ style. We will be posting a call for captains very soon, are we’re looking for 4-8 teams to compete gauntlet-style. If you are interested in forming a team of 10-12 players, be on the lookout. Ground rules and more description on this to come ! All ‘ teams ’ will get a special treat!

JUNE 29 – WATER GUNS, PAINT BALLOONS, AND HAVOC OH MY

Seems like Anna has some new ‘ weapons ’ to share with us ! Only these come in the form of pelting your enemies without mercy! I daresay no one is safe from the attacks of those who even they think they can trust. All of you sitting ducks in the umbrella lounge had better watch out! Oh, it would proooooobably be wise of you to not wear your Thursday best for this, ladies and gentleman, it’s about to get messy ! Water guns and paint balloons will be available at checkpoints for pickup, only one weapon per person but balloons are unlimited ! Let’s see who can avoid getting hit ! No holds barred and no one’s off limits – w-well except for me of course ! You wouldn’t hit your humble host now would you !?

JUNE 30 – BONFIRE/MOVIE NIGHT

Spend your day how you like, my friends, but you have to join us for the bonfire ! Anna has told us she’s providing the makings for uh, s’mores I believe ? Chocolate and marshmallows on graham crackers ? Sounds good to me ! I’m certain a few candy-loving souls will melt at the taste of one! Also, yours truly will have an extra little treat in store for you ! In addition to this, once nightfall is upon us, we can partake in SCARY STORIES. Bring your most terrifying stale to hold the attention of your comrades and really scare us ! Make us so paranoid to walk back to our cabanas without holding someone’s arm afterwards ! Top three scariest stories get prizes ~ Good enough to give it a go, right !? C’mon, don’t be so afraid to give us a fright !

*Scary stories can be SUBMITTED to the EVENT PAGE INBOX. These will be compiled into a compilation post for other followers to READ and VOTE on which one they think is best! NAMES WILL NOT BE ATTACHED to give fair chances and rule out ‘popularity’ votes. DEADLINES FOR SCARY STORIES ARE BEFORE THE 30TH !!

** Scary stories MUST be original. Any submitted may be subjected to be cross referenced for copy/paste. Obviously be as creative as you want, and as in character as you can be with this! Names/URLs will not be posted with them to again, avoid popularity vote, so being ‘ in character ’ is encouraged !

*IN ADDITION, we will be planning a movie night rabb.it stream ! A poll will be going up to vote on a movie to be shown FRIDAY NIGHT. Time is still TBA once we are able to figure out an ideal timeframe. So pop some popcorn and join us !

JULY 1 – FINALE FIREWORKS SHOW

Ah, the end of a vacation can be so bittersweet. The final day is always the hardest, is it not ? Having to pack up all of your things and shamefully realizing you’ve bought too many souvenirs . . wait, that isn’t just me right ? Fear not, my friends, this wonderful week shan’t end with an upset, but with a bang ! Preoccupy your day with whatever you would like but join us Saturday night for FIREWORKS ! Anna is helping me put together a great lineup of a lightshow for you all ! We’re hoping you’ll enjoy it and that will wrap up a breathtaking and relaxing week up nicely with a bow as we all return home !

❝ And I, your humble host, will be most everywhere during this week. If we bump into one another, do join me for a smoothie, eh ? ❞

❝ This is all for now, but if YOU have any suggestions, don’t be afraid to approach me or either of the other two, or drop something into our suggestions box. And if you would rather run something on your own, OUR VENDOR APPLICATIONS are still open ! I would love to see more of my wonderful comrades selling their wares or contributing to this in any way they can ! It’s been lovely to see the excitement already ! We’ll see you soon ! ❞

** Many of the main events will have their own ask meme to coincide with it ! Activities and other roleplayer’s booth events are taking place everyday, but of course, people are busy and threads and ask prompts can be continued on other days, and even past the event week ! We are actively working to make this schedule work and be fun for everyone ! We hope you’re as excited as we are !

#mod lasnigo ;#sea sky and sun ;; summer scramble #tentative schedule of events as we see them!#we're so excited to present this to you guys!!

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