#I might be projecting based on various people I've worked with lol

[cliffjumpersasscheeks]

I spent my entire shift last night coming up with this shit. You have to know restaurants to really get how accurate this is lol. I'm a fucking nerd.

So this is the 141 as line cooks/restaurant au

None of my friends know enough to get the funny

Ghost - grill/butchery (cis, gay)

Bigass knife bag don't touch it or he'll stab you

All black, wears construction boots and tac pants. Wore mask during covid and then just kept it on, everybody forgot what he looks like without it.

Baseball hat

Called ghost because he doesn't have a car and never gets rides, just kind of appears and disappears. Soap has a bet going that he lives under a bridge.

Uses collection of knives, each one hand picked. Touch and he will stab u

Favorite tongs, favorite spoons. Touch and he will stab u

Plain apron, tied in front so people can't untie it from behind

Sober for 5 years

Closes pit with Price every night so Roach can get to class

Doesn't talk much at all, but has the loudest 'behind, hot' you've ever heard

Arms covered in oven burns

Soap - sautée (cis, pansexual)

Full set of globals, everyone teases him about it. Canvas knife roll

Refuses to wear a hat

Colorful chef coats plus leather/denim hipster apron. Traditional shoes, jeans

Always has a band aid on at least one finger

Has the Aux at all times

Called soap because he started out as dish at the restaurant

"front man" for when deliveries or inspections happen

Functional alcoholic and pothead

Flirts with every single server in existence, somehow gets laid every weekend

Drives a purple jeep with red rims

Price - executive (cishet, massive ally)

Apron always hanging untied - constantly either going to smoke or coming back from smoking. Cigarette in his mouth or behind his ear at all times

Hat from game

Never wears a chef coat, always wearing slouchy t shirts from vendors or events.

Ancient steel toe clogs, classic black kitchen pants

Set of old school beat up German knives, keeps them very sharp. Leaves his leather knife bag at work.

Problems with authority, especially Graves. Will stand up for any of his cooks. Makes sure that the line and dish eat, whether he's supposed to make a staff meal or not.

Yells during service and then apologizes.

Closes dish every night with Ghost so that roach can make it to class.

Everyone banishes him to the parking lot when an inspection happens

Drives a 2009 dodge minivan

Gaz - garmo/pastry (he/they, bisexual)

Went to culinary school, always wears coats from previous jobs (all Michelin star places somehow), traditional checked pants, and those steel toe pumas. Bracelets and striped apron.

Exclusively uses Japanese knives, flat pack hard knife case

Slips roach messed up deserts all night

Always messing with new menu ideas and platings, also helps Price with the bookkeeping

Deeply despises Graves and makes a big show of saying yes sir while glaring at him

Drives a hybrid gray truck

Roach - dish pit (enby, ace?)

Newest addition, paying their way through night classes at the community college.

Sweats and college or event t shirts

Sneakers that Gaz passed down to them

Called roach because one came out of the drain on their first day and they jumped so hard they fell over the mop bucket

Sleeps in the dry storage during slow nights

Basically the kitchen mascot

Terrible haircut that soap gave them on the back dock

Vapes and is embarrassed that they like the girly flavors

Rides electric scooter everywhere unless Price gives them a lift

Kate Laswell - gm (cis, lesbian)

Will make servers cry, still the best boss

Constantly annoyed at Price (sibling vibes)

Hates Graves

Drives a suburu and will kill you if you make a gay joke about it

Graves - owner

Piece of shit

Drives a tesla

Never to be found on busy nights or events, but likes to take credit

Shit talks every generation after his

Always wearing suit pants and shirt with Patagonia vest

[gabeorelse]

Resource: Writing Craft Masterpost

Okay, so one of my favorite things to do when I'm not writing but I want to think about writing is to study the craft. Seriously, I'm a HUGE writing nerd and learning is one of my favorite parts of the process (besides the actual writing lmao). Below is a list of my favorite craft resources that I don't see recommended a ton but which I've found do a great job of identifying and explaining the nitty-gritty rather than just giving blanket advice like 'show don't tell'.

Ellen Brock's Youtube Channel

Ellen Brock, according to her bio, is an editor who has worked both freelance and in the publishing industry. The resource here is on her channel - TONS of free longform videos that break down structure, character arc, anatomy of a scene, dialogue, prose, principles of revision, anything you can imagine.

My favorite video: Character Arc meets Story Structure. An hour long video explaining how character arc and story structure marry within the 3-Act Structure. I made an annotated cheat sheet/study guide just based off this and it literally fixed my WIP lol.

Susan Dennard's Writing Academy - Free Resources

Susan Dennard is a published author who, disclaimer, I have not checked her books out yet (though I've been meaning to!) but I have found her blog post archive invaluable. She writes a ton on writing craft, publishing, revision, etc, and I've coopted a lot of her strategies, particularly in revision, for myself. Highly recommend.

Unfortunately, it looks like my favorite resource (her revision advice) is behind a paywall now (which, fair, she did a LOT of free stuff over the years), but I might put together a frankenstein version of my own revision method one of these days - it's heavily influenced by hers.

ShaelinWrites Youtube Channel

Another writing youtuber who really gets to the nitty-gritty. What I love about them is they are a pantser/discovery writer and they show, both through their advice and success, that you CAN be a discovery writer and not just end up in a mess of unrevised monstrosity, which is what I feel like a lot of people assume. They also do a lot of videos on writing confidence, process, and mindset which have all been very helpful to me.

My favorite video: How to Become a Confident Writer. This video really helped me get back some of my confidence and love for writing when I was struggling. They have similar related videos, and I basically watched ALL of them at various points, but this one really helped me.

LocalScriptMan's Youtube Channel

Okay, here me out. This one is a bit of a departure. I feel like LocalScriptMan kind of takes on this tough love/tough life advice persona, and I don't mind it, but some people might. He's also focused on screenwriting, but a lot of his videos apply to general writing principles, and I feel like, as with the other resources, he really gets to the heart of the craft and breaks down principles in a way I really like.

My favorite video: it's a tie between The Key to Writing Freakishly Good Dialogue and How to Actually Succeed as a Creative. I really liked the latter because I interact a lot with other authors who are querying agents or have one foot in the publishing industry, one foot not quite there (like me), and his attitude toward success changed my mind about how to approach the industry. His advice is something like 'most people keep looking for that big break, but that's very self-focused. If you want to succeed, help others and make yourself a valuable person, not only to get that big break, but because then you can do what you love: creating stories and working on projects, even if they're not your own'. This is a bit more applicable to the screenwriting community, but I do think overall the best part about writing is not just writing, but community, and I think he hits the nail on the head with that one.

Summary: obviously I am not an affiliate (these people 100% do not know who I am lol), but I get frustrated when I'm trying to find answers to my writing problems and all I get are shitty SEO based articles written by the Masterclass website lmao. So over the years I've cultivated my favorites, and wanted to share them. I hope these help anybody who needs them!

[xxswagcorexx]

the swagcore fic archives will become real in 5:

anyways, hi, i write too much fanfic, but a lot of it is on anon. i know a lot of people go to me for fic recs (you can see a post with More fic recs here) and i'm happy enough with my fics to recommend them to people :) also for funsies i'm gonna put small author's notes after each entry!

the stuff with my name on it:

Swap by cherubium and swagcore

[CLICK] [Jaron]: Statement of Ash…Swag, regarding events surrounding his husband, Red Doons. Statement recorded live from subject on April 4th, 2023, recording by Jaron Yeager from the LIFE Insitute, London,...Ohio. Statement begins. [Ash]: Are you seriously gonna be recording on that? or: a fic written for day 2 of roses and smoke week, swap/horror.

A/N: a collab fic I did with the lovely cherny! all i'll say is that we might have lied a little bit in the beginning notes. heh.

the sleep buoyancy investigation by swagcore

While Fundy walks around his street, he notices an odd poster about researching dreams. Having weird dreams all of his life and with nothing else to do, Fundy grabs the contact information and heads to the address. What possibly could go wrong? - "the sleep buoyancy investigation" is an experimental fic made with Twine. This fic is based on the Stargate Project, a now-defunct project by the CIA to study psychics. Word Count: ~3k

A/N: this fic was so so fun to do. my god. it really gave me my first taste of really experimental fics and that is something i've been playing around with! i do have an idea in mind for another fic like this (which is one of the first fic ideas i had when going into the lifesteal fandom) so! i'm excited for when i actually put my head down and write it!!!

from a windowsill by swagcore

It’s a cold night tonight. As Pearl stares out to the moon, feeling the wind through the tower’s rafters and the howls of the hound army roar from below her, she squints her eyes. There’s supposed to be a blood moon tonight. or: it's late at night, and pearl has some thoughts about the blood moon (and herself)

A/N: i'm going to be real, i'm a dl!pearl sleeper agent. i love her so much and her character is sooooo....*dies*.......she makes me ill!

late night break-ins and henna by swagcore

Ash visits Soc Inc. at the very normal hour of 3 AM on Christmas to give Red a Christmas present.

A/N: fun fact, i wrote most of this on an ipad at one of those friend reunions my dad had with his friends 💀 we were like 8 hours away from our house so i couldn't exactly leave so while on vc with my good friend toast we worked on fics together LOL she's actually the one who came up with the water bottle thing. it was awesome

misc collabs i did:

insufferable hand in insufferable hand by Anonymous

ashswag and reddoons get married in a very thought out, entirely sound plan.

A/N: this was a collab wiith np13, who you might know from "all of the roads led to you". it was actually working on this fic at first, i mentioned wanting to write a swagdoons divorce fic, and it brought me on the team to work on this one. this fic was so silly to work on and i had a great time writing it!!!

the various anon fics i have written:

one and a half cups of stout by Anonymous

Bdubs and Etho leave a party and are now burdened with the task of grocery shopping for cake ingredients. - (or: etho drags bdubs to his apartment so they can bake together)

A/N: god this fic was so fun and fluffy to write. i love baking in general, and the amount of detail i managed to put into this fic and how cozy-feeling it is is something i'm really proud of. fun fact, it's my most viewed and kudosed fic of all time, as well as the first fic i felt really, really proud of!

pommes voyage by Anonymous

headcanon that ren started making potatoes like crazy, like to the amount doc started to check up on him - originally a post meant for tumblr

A/N: this fic was really fun to write as well. it was supposed to be a tumblr post, but i got really carried away (and when i sent a screenshot of it into a gc my friend replied with "that is terrifying", and i decided to leave it as a standalone fic instead of a post) and it's a fun fic to read, methinks

and maybe, you'll find peace in the sun by Anonymous

During the time [x] escapes prison for the dozenth time, [s]he takes a quick detour to pick up some supplies. or: [x] finds an unguarded house in the woods, stealing ingredients so [s]he can make some stew

A/N: alright so, as a disclaimer, this was a fic written before ivorycello transitioned, but for archival purposes, i haven't changed it. for this post, i've made it clear what part i've changed. i'm still proud of this fic, in general, and ivory has since said that her past persona doesn't bother her anymore, so that's why i've included it here. once again though, read with those warnings in mind

the sun vanished by Anonymous

The stars revolve around Planet. It's their little secret, and most don't know enough about the stars to be able to notice. That's why, when they got banned, no one noticed that the sun vanished.

A/N: my first lifesteal fic! i really, really like the ideas in this fic and how i've conveyed them. fun fact i wrote most of this while in the car from homecoming--but i'm really proud with what i managed to beat out considering ost of it was written in a car backseat

dust by Anonymous

After winning Double Life, Pearl has some thoughts about the end of the world while looking at the death menu.

A/N: this fic is AWESOME i love minecraft death screens and like i said before, i'm a dl!pearl enjoyer to the MAX. it's also the first fic i ever had translated, and it was such a nice surprise to see it was translated in my email inbox that morning <3

jackalope by Anonymous

have you heard the myth of the jackalope? (of course you have. who am i kidding.) --- or: a character study on rekrap, as told by the myth of the jackalope

A/N: this was originally for a comic that was, looking back, wayyy too ambitious for my art skill level LOL. i've been brewing it in my brain for a while (hell, even my english teacher at the time looked over at it), and i still find it fun to read. once again, experimental fics ftw!

take your time, we've got all night by Anonymous

It’s rare to find quiet moments like this–moments safe enough for Ash and Red to get some sleep without either of them going on looking shifts. It’s a luxury in the apocalypse. And yet Red still couldn’t get his mind to shut up and let him sleep. Great. or: red can't sleep during the apocalypse. he wakes ash up and both of them spend the night talking about their pasts.

A/N: i'm already a huge sap in the notes, but this is, arguably, one of the most important fics i've ever written. for context, i wrote this while i was really down due to my entire family but me getting covid right before my finals and our winter vacation, so that left me alone in my room for 2 weeks. i was really down, especially since i couldn't spend christmas with my family as a result. however, writing this gave me something to pass the time, and the reception on it when i posted during a dark time in my life really helped. it's also the first swagdoons fic i've ever posted, so there's that too :) also, one of the comments of someone going back to read it a few months later also came while i was in a rough patch, so that really helped <3

four of a kind by Anonymous

Ash, Branzy, Clown, and Red close up the casino for the week.

A/N: first of, CASINOQUARTETCASINOQUARTETCASINOQUARTET- and fun fact, this is one of the first fics written after casino quartet first became a Concept (which. considering i first came up w/ the concept in the swagdoons server is. Yeah <- ill) so that's rlly fun to see how big casino quartet has become considering i see it in random places now LOL

l'appel du vide by Anonymous

If there’s anyone that knows Death, it’s him. or: sven escapes death, and still feels the void linger around him. and he has some thoughts about it.

A/N: i loveeeee minecraft death mechanics holy moly....anyways yeah this fic was so fun to write and the concepts are *chefs kiss*. it's also the first fic in the kenadian fandom tag so there's that too!

5 years, eleven months, and seventeen days by Anonymous

It's been 5 years, 11 months, and 17 days since they went missing. or: laurance is still investigating his friends' disappearances. even after all of this time. (he can't seem to move on, can he?)

A/N: this fic was a gift for my bestest friend ever :3 i'm going to be real it's been like, 6+ years since i watched mystreet but my friend reminded me of how fucked it was and i felt really included to write this. i loveeee fucked up implications in fiction!!!

jenga tower by Anonymous

"Dude-" Ash says through a wheezed breath, "Do you think this a little much?" Clown hums, "Mmm, no. I think you're just fineee." "Exactly," Red chimes in, definitely not helping the 'hey wouldn't it be funny if we all laid on Ash?' cause. or: casino quartet turn into a human jenga tower. for roses and smoke week, free day

A/N: once again. casino quartet brainworms strike again. i think this is the only fic i finished in time for the first roses and smoke week LOL. it's very fluffy and i still think it holds up. yeah they'd be Like That

what's the point of living if you can't die with someone else, huh? by Anonymous

"you mentioned about me going back home, right?" ash nods, eyebrow raised with suspicion. "well," red starts, "i think i said this last season: 'what's the point of living if you can't die with someone else?'" red gets up from the floor, "and you haven't used your god powers much," he says as he offers ash a hand to get off the floor. "dude." ash can exactly see what red's asking. or: alternatively titled: who knew killing your bestie with god powers could be so affectionate?

A/N: i love love love sappy swagdoons so much. this fic was so fun to write all of their memories and stuff. i love them so much i want to pinch both of their cheeks so bad!!! <333

a late night conversation about a stolen horse (and a few other things) by Anonymous

Red's going out for a supply run, and runs into Ash. They have a conversation about a stolen horse (and a few other things).

A/N: once again, sappy swagdoons. i love them so much. i'm going to be real a lot of this was inspired by this one survival guide book that i've had for literal years. i've kept it with me for fic purposes but when i was little i did read through it out of boredom so i do have a little bit of knowledge, which inspired this fic LOL

the thing about ash: by Anonymous

A glitch (as defined by Wikipedia) is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. In an article by Alex Pieschel, Pieschel writes that a "'glitch' suggests something more mysterious and unknowable inflicted by surprise inputs or stuff outside the realm of code." (or: ash, as told in the very nature of himself and what makes him, him.

A/N: okay i'm going to be real this is one of those fics that i'm 90% sure i was struck down by god to have a vision for this fic. i'm really proud with how deep i made the metaphor and it's one of the fics i'm most proud of :) it's awesome

mors mihi lucrum by Anonymous

"death to me is reward" is it really? (or: zolister has some thoughts about the trophy room)

A/N: this fic was so so fun to write. if you haven't noticed already, death in minecraft is one of my favorite things to explore and that showtime smp video activated a nueron in my brain when i watched it. i love death in mc so so much <3

Ashswag's 3-step, very simple plan, to survive the Genesis SMP by Anonymous

Exactly what it says on the tin.

A/N: this is another one of my "hcs into a fic" fics, and it's really fun! i'm going to be real, i still don't know much about ultrakill but i fuck with the aesthetic hard. that clair de lune level is so pretty....

in another universe: by Anonymous

things would have ended differently. (an experimental webweave done on ao3)

A/N: this fic was SOOOOO fun to do. i've always wished for webweaving to be more of a thing outside of tumblr, so this is an experiment into other options! it's so awesome i love experimenting with fanfiction...

the best of the best, you'll die like the rest by Anonymous

Agent Rek Rap II, an ex-agent trying to enjoy his life in early retirement. Or well, he was trying too. He gets invited to a concert by a familiar name. (He already knows how this is going to end.)

A/N: this fic turned out so well. i had a general vibe and i RAN with it. it was so fun to write, and hopefully, it's a fun read if you also like spy stuff!!!

homemade comforts by Anonymous

If Red was being honest, he reveled in moments like this. Moments when Ash and he were far away from all of the violence, all of the responsibilities, and away from any prying eyes around them. Just Ash and Red, cooking together in their shitty little kitchenette that only fits two people.

A/N: this fic was so so fun to write. i'm going to be real, it was supposed to be part of another fic where it showed swagdoons across servers but i decided to make it a standalone. i love cooking together with people so much, and hopefully this fic conveys that :)

it’s no big deal (that i love you) by Anonymous

Sometimes Ash understands people when they call him and Red a couple. They are partners, in a sense, but not in that way. After all, when you’ve spent so long as enemies, survivalists, comrades, even, you notice a lot about the other person. From tracking down Red’s movements to stealing that stupid bell from Capital City, to pressing down on wounds and praying it didn’t get infected, they’ve been through everything. Been through the happy, sad, and angry tears together, and everything else in-between. But of course, everything they did had to be a business deal—a private agreement between just both of them. or: ashswag has some thoughts about red while they fall asleep together (ft. swagdoons qpr)

A/N: once again. sappy swagdoons. because i am predictable. this fic is so fluffy, and i'm so proud with how deep the metaphor is and how soft and fluffy everything is. qpr swagdoons ftw!!!

fallin' in love by Anonymous

Ash and Red go to a pumpkin patch on their day off.

A/N: more fluff. i love them so much. i love fall vibes and pumpkin patches so this fic was me putting all of the fall vibes i could into this fic. so glad it's going to get cooler where i live now LOL

...and, scene by Anonymous

kenadian, the train escape, and the fourth wall. ...and all of the horrific implications that come alongside it.

A/N: this was written as a spirtual successor to my prev. fic about sven. it was so fun, and fun fact, it's the first fic in the kenadian character tag! yippee!!!

world is mine! by Anonymous

In a sleep-deprived move, Minecraft player Ashswag decided that making a Hatsune Miku cosplay would compliment his entire God shtick perfectly. or: ash becomes swagsune ashu

A/N: this fic was mostly written for shits and giggles, but although i haven't have much time for it, cosplay is something that's so dear to me <3 i love the craftsmanship that does into it!!! and the community is so kind <3

go to the end with me, my lover by Anonymous

“Hey Ash? I…want you to come here and take a look.” Red says warily. Ash quietly follows Red ahead. He climbs over the rubble Red is looking out on and— Oh. It was their wedding venue.

A/N: fun fact: i first heard of this song in class when someone showed me the mv after school and um. well let's say i shed a few tears. god if you haven't watched the love wins all mv, please do. it's so well done <3 also in general SWAGDOONS WEDDING LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO (ignore the angst)

it takes two to tango, but somebody has to lead by Anonymous

The tango is a dance that requires someone to lead, and a partner willing to follow them. (or, swagdoons through the ages)

A/N: this was so fun. i love writing in different formats!!! also it being experimental is AWESOME i love playing around w/ language :3 also i love acherswan so so much so that was also a bonus!!!

developments by Anonymous

A group photo of the Hemlock family and staff. Absolutely nothing goes wrong.

A/N: i love photography so much, esp as someone with terrible memory. i've been having fun exploring it in fics recently so yeah!!! also the first fic in the whitepine tag #awesome

memento by Anonymous

“You have a pretty face,” Red says out loud without thinking. Ash stops in his tracks, whipping his head back to stare back at Red. “I—What?” “Ah. Um. You look nice when you’re talking,” Red clarifies, “Wait.” Red steps closer and grabs Ash’s jaw. “The fuck—” or: Red is a photography student and takes a picture of Ash.

A/N: listen me and my friend dusty were talking and my brain came up with the most gay scene ever and i HAD to write it. once again, i've only used dslr's in my life, but hopefully the magic of photographing someone was captured in this fic. old people yaoi.../silly

and OH BOY that was a lot of fics. these are the fics i'm really proud of, so i hope y'all enjoy (and please say nice things to me if you have enjoyed them). thank you for making it through this LONG post!!!

[grievedifferent]

CHRIS 4 JOSH? let's talk about it ... and let's be honest.

read more for length only, it's all pretty sfw and non-triggering content.

speaking with otter first and foremost, here are her thoughts on the matter:

for context, she has a degree in video game art & design, so she knows the entire pipeline for how video games were and are made currently. she actually graduated like right around when UD came out, so this is perfect because she also helped me understand some of the modeling and why the original game is just honestly more fluid in mechanics versus the remake, so i've been giving the remake a pass in a lot of big ways and just sort of accepting everything else as is in conjunction with the original game (and in our case, the 2013 prototype).

basically, she said it originally looked like this is what likely happened: a texture artist was given permission to do a heart, someone else or that same artist put in CHRIS + JOSH and basically whoever was in charge of them (i have no names for this) likely said "you absolutely cannot confirm a fan ship, it's not happening" which is why it became CHRIS 4 JOSH. otter was explaining how the 4 looks a little off like it wasn't there originally but more of something to replace what was underneath. like a 4 covering a +.

still likely meant to be a joke, maybe it could go so far as to that texture artist shipping it, but either way, it was never going to make it into the official game as a way to be interpreted as josh and chris are canon. i know the app contradicts one major thing for chris and ash because the game itself literally confirms they both like each other in various scenes and context clues and all of that content we get in-game for them.

based on my own time being in school for video games, this makes a lot of sense. i might not have finished, but i did learn this lol. so, what she's saying is pretty on point. that's how companies are, even if it's "supermassive" ... they are working under sony.

so, does it mean anything? not really. i know this was probably huge for the other side of the UD fandom (i see it being two sides: rpc and non-rpc, which can be similar but are generally very different ... in-between those spaces are typically the fanfic writers and then the sub-genre of reader insert fanfic writers if that makes sense? anyways). but it really means nothing.

it's just a little easter egg. if we want to look into it at all? it was likely done by chris (otherwise it would say josh 4 chris if it was from josh), and also ... i know this sounds probably so lame, but that's just how guys are. they act like that, especially if you're super comfortable with a long-term friend. people have probably wondered about it based on how close and jokey they can act, they don't seem like the type to "shy away" from any sort of intimacy, especially for a joke, and idk, they're just like that? that's pretty normal.

HOWEVER ... where this gets even more interesting for me is this part: bringing in the 2011-2013 prototype, the game that was being pumped out for demos and such before supermassive did an entire rehaul of the original 2010 game (so, this is not london studio's project anymore, it hasn't been for a while, and their original iteration actually had hannah and josh as a couple named hannah and clayton).

why is this interesting? i've mentioned before several things about that prototype specifically: a) mike and chris never changed from design to actor, they were always solid (so it's weird to not even consider using their old voice banks for new content for the 2024 remake but okay??), b) this had originally intended (all the way back to london studio) to really be a "couples game" that "couples play together", giving the controller back and forth, and c) the fact that sam clearly liked josh in the original iteration, josh did not feel the same, but he had basically the same relationship with chris, who seemed to still like ash and vice versa, but josh also had a pretty high energy by comparison both in general to rami's josh and also to specifically chris in comparison to (that verison of) sam.

let's dig into 'c' a bit more. the sam and josh problem. it's not really a "problem" but i think there's somewhat of a general misunderstanding as to what their relationship is realistically like based on their connections and affiliations over what is sort of "expected of them".

here's what we know for facts:

sam and josh know each other, we can maybe assume from childhood or middle school era, but long enough for sam to be considered hannah's best friend.

which brings me to my next point: sam is hannah's best friend, not josh's. not even "hannah and beth's best friend". she is hannah's best friend. this is josh's little sister's best friend. i have to reiterate this because i see this huge sort of blackhole when it comes to this fact about sam and hannah. this is literally sam's entire tagline! even the game sort of forgets that sometimes? sam actually somewhat harshly criticizes hannah in her bedroom, something that is only open to sam and no one else. i'm not sure where this idea that sam is there for josh when she should be there for hannah. you can also tell sam and josh weren't that close over that year because she needs chris to confirm that a) this entire getting back together is a good idea and b) if josh is doing okay. if they were close, wouldn't she know? also, josh wasn't that close to anyone besides seemingly chris? which sort of makes sense but even he only lets chris see certain sides of himself. so, they aren't as close as people i think mistake them to be.

they were supposed to have something one-sided in the prototype before the finalized release. in the protoype, sam likes josh, but josh seems to not reciprocate. it's heavily hinted at when she flirts with him in the scene at the lodge door, which is very different but also somewhat the same as the version we get.

the finalized verison of sam (ie "hayden-sam") doesn't seem to have a crush on josh ("rami-josh") ... at least, from what i can tell. i think she actually feels somewhat uncomfortable around him, if we're being honest. maybe not before the prank, we can see they are comfortable together briefly in the new snapshots on the camera, but after? definitely so. this makes sense. they are somewhat avoiding each other. why would she go back there? both hannah and beth are dead, leaving josh.

finally: josh is hannah's older brother, thus acts as an older brother to the group ... sam included. this is literally in josh's characterization.

so, delving into probably headcanon territory here, and i'm not even going into my own sam headcanons ... basically, i think sam sees josh as an older brother and josh sees sam as a little sister figure. ik ik it's boring.

hear me out here: i think this was done simply because there are so many couples in the game already, which is so funny because it was supposed to be a couple's game but then got changed to a sort of "play alone or pass the controller".

now? UD is meant to be played either on your own or between multiple people, you can assign one person to each person you're playing with or just split the cast up the way otter and i do. it's more liberal and intentional to be that way versus its original intention. think about it: when you really start actually playing, there are two for sure couples, one maybe "will they won't they", and then two that aren't dating. that does feel more realistic just in general in a friend group, doesn't it? people date each other, break up, bring new members in, etc, but not everyone always dates everyone all the time.

also, i think just blanketed, supermassive wasn't even considering that likely at least one of those characters is probably gay or bisexual. until dawn is only so deep because it can only go so deep, and if they were going to go deep? it was going down the mental illness rabbit hole along with the background story they were trying to flesh together coupled with the mo-cap technology they were working with.

also, not to be that person, but life is strange came out in 2013 and kind of nailed it, right? they had their own set of issues they tackled incredibly well, whereas it doesn't really fit into UD. UD is about being a true "classic horror" story with the heavy use of intentional character tropes. so, give UD some grace here, i'd say.

cause let's get real for a second: there were so many last-minute changes while holding onto the threads of what they wanted. some stuff from the prototype for example is pretty shot-for-shot or word-for-word and some is super different. like ... im sorry, but the wolves aren't in the prototype (just as an example), so you can see how fast they decided to put those in because those wolves are literally broken animals.

back to sam and josh: taking my own headcanons aside, i don't think it's impossible to headcanon sam having a crush on josh at any point in her life that she knew him pre-UD. it's not uncommon, of course. he's classic older brother, he's fun, he's cute, he's friendly, and he's always around. again, while i think at least narratively they took that aspect of sam's character out when they cast hayden (she gives a much different, honestly better vibe for sam from the original actress, whereas ashley is like the same ngl), there is something to be said about not saying anything, i suppose. i just don't see it as something that was meant to be noticed, if that makes sense. not that it's not fitting? i guess?

but it's how josh feels, more the position he's in, that i sort of get caught up in why i'm sometimes hesitant with outright sam/josh with no plotting beforehand (as if it's canon). josh is the older brother. for him, there's sort of some lines he feels he isn't supposed to cross, trust he isn't supposed to break, and just sort of general boundaries? like, age isn't necessarily his factor here, it's literally how they met and how they know each other. it would be likely hurtful to hannah, probably awkward? i imagine?

so, is josh willing to cross his sister's comfort like that? yes, he lies to her ... about his mental health. it's never implied anywhere else that josh lies to hannah or beth about anything else. also, we can argue it's the parents hiding it from his sister's, wanting them to have a certain view of their brother.

then, post-death, we know there's a huge change in their relationship. josh and sam become distant, as i've discussed above.

with a lot of plotting and specifics, i could do it. just blanketed? or like ... how i see these characters without anyone else's interpretations in consideration? like just playing the game as is without even considering rpc? i don't see it.

so, what about josh and chris then? i'm not going to lie, i've only even recently come around to the idea, and even that comes off to me as still one-sided if it were ever even considered. likely? it would have been chris like ash, ash like chris, josh maybe likes chris? but that's so pushing it to assume supermassive would imply, though it's actually more sound for inferences in the prototype.

the chemistry josh and chris have is very natural. we can give that partially to the actors, of course, and partially to the writing. they have known each other a long time, and i've talked about it above how that's just how these types of guys are sometimes. they're just comfortable with each other.

so, even i'm just writing general headcanons without taking anyone else's specific interpretation in mind? i see it like this:

josh and chris? best friends from childhood.

chris and ash? the intended "will they / won't they" of the game.

josh and sam? older brother figure to younger sister figure (ie the friendship that can form with this type of bond, but likely nothing else).

but josh flirts with sam, remember? he infers he'd help her with the bath. he also calls mike and jess pornstars, says he wants to get friendly with ashley in the snow (and calls her a sleeper hit), etc. he's pretty mouthy about that sort of thing. it's just how he is. i guarantee if that were jessica in the bath, he'd say the same thing, and might even be more persistent about it (given that jessica is more playful than sam in that regard). however, were that emily in the bath? not a chance, he probably wouldn't have said anything tbh. i also write sam as a lesbian.

okay, so this is all "canon and great" and everything ... but what about me? what are my personal ships?

i can see so many with josh. i think that he's probably more gay than straight. he sees himself as open-minded.

does he lean more towards men or women? privately: sexually and romantically speaking, men. socially: women.

i have it that he chooses the "women make me uncomfortable" option when i play. i think this makes sense for josh.

why do women make him uncomfortable, but he socially pursues them? is he actually attracted to women? what is his sexuality for real? so, why women: it's socially understandable and acceptable. it's what he's relied on since puberty / actively encouraged to pursue since dating was on the table. he's with such a "bro" crowd — and so bro-coded both in being written that way narratively speaking while also just self-imposing that sort of role to himself ... while also naturally filling that role. his sexuality with labels: bisexual with a heavier male leaning preference, would be considered more demisexual when it comes to women. he is attracted to men romantically and sexually, and he is attracted to women, but there has to be a relationship fostered for it to be more romantic than sexual. i think he's fooled around with girls, but never had penetrative sex with them. he's likely never been with a guy, as he's very closeted, despite this being his active preference. women intimidate josh and make him uncomfortable.

further on him being more closeted despite being in the industry: josh has his family's reputation to consider. the world doesn't always agree that being bisexual is natural and non-offensive. he would be outright just called and labeled gay (which isn't entirely inaccurate but is not accurate). it could hurt his family. this isn't 2024, this is the 2010s, and yes it was getting "big" in the way we see acceptance now, but it wasn't so seen. people were (and still are) hiding. think of it like this: if josh has to hide his mental illness the way he does, he's likely having to hide his sexuality.

i think that's why the traits we do see in josh are so exacerbated because he has to stifle so much of himself down that the parts he's allowed to express become the loudest to hear.

all of that to get us here: my ships for josh.

personally? again, no other interpretations are considered necessarily, just ships i like based on various things from simply aesthetics to actual connections i can see them having.

what about chris/josh? honestly? i never even considered it until recently, and now that i have, it seems more obviously (if anything) one-sided by josh (the giver) to chris (the receiver). i don't think chris has ever consciously thought about it. josh (probably) has. as a default, however, i write them as bros. i do genuinely love their friendship. that being said, i do like it as a ship. i don't write my main plotlines with that in mind, though.

quickly: if anything, i think chris is the most compatible for josh (and vice versa). there is a lot of game evidence to support this, but that's for its own post.

josh/ashley -> this had always been my previous top ship for josh, but as more context becomes available via the remake and data mining the game, my opinions have swayed a bit, but i will always love joshley. it's a demi thing with them, i think. i also think josh is kind of jealous of ashley's relationship with chris (chapter 2 is called jealousy, and yes, that refers to the matt-mike-em-jess stuff but could be inferred to the trio), yet actively supports his bro, so doesn't really "get in the way". in fact, he encourages it.

josh/ashley/chris -> i see this as mostly ashley dating both chris and josh, maybe josh having some feelings for chris? from there, it's open-ended, but it's mostly "ashley has two boyfriends", and i am here for that. i love her.

additionally, i do ship chris/ashley. i like that josh is actively trying to get them together, and i think while it's for "nefarious reasons" or whatever you want to say when we see it in-game, josh is acting as a direct reflection to how he always has been ... so we can assume he's always been trying to get chris to make the move on ash.

josh/jess -> this is primarily aesthetically speaking, i think they just would look good together? opposites attract? pre-prank of hannah, it's definitely that ... opposites attract. he's not really her type, lbr, but she's probably his type in the way she's pretty ... but she is also intimidating to him. it's funny because, ultimately, that sort of confession to mike that jess gives about her insecurities would be very understood by josh (and actually matt, who i see as insecure), and i like all three of those boys with jess. yes, i hold jess accountable for the prank, but just character traits and such? i can see some vibes here. also! a lot of my fondness for this ship probably comes from post!verse stuff, like retribution, etc. honestly, i just like these two together not even romantically? i just want to see more of them interacting idk josh and jess are very contrasting characters that could go really well or horribly wrong together. also, i just have to say that i feel like there was some genuine interest when jess suggested that josh might be flirting with her and mike (jokingly) asked to basically have a threesome together, like she was kind of into it ngl.

why none of the other UD boys with josh? like mike and matt? we don't really see too much matt and josh unfortunately. i'm also a huge matt/jess shipper idk but i just don't see matt and josh being compatible, and i also write matt ... and i also write matt as straight, so. there's that aspect. but generally? i don't see it.

so, no em and josh? i literally do not have enough canonically to go by to even say what their default dynamic is like! they never talk!! like ever. so ... once i can establish with an emily writer what that is, i'd be more down to clown.

i can't with mike, either. i love mike btw, literally no shade to him, i don't think josh is the right fit for mike either by any means. mike is great at "handling" josh at his worst in a crisis (kind of? idk it depends sort of on the choices you make, but i get his vibe, i do get it) to get him from points a to b, but that's about it. mike also just comes off as very straight (to me).

all of that to say this: i generally write things as they are from the game unless there's a pretty good clue, inference, or some sort of thread i can unravel to make something make sense. it has to make sense for me, i'm just that type of person.

but ... with the right chemistry, plotting, and a bit of time? anything can happen. just because i default see something one way doesn't mean that i cannot be convinced otherwise ... or still hold that belief for the game itself but write enough development that i love something else in an rp sense. i'm a very "this is game, this is rp" and then from there, i take from the game to make the rp experience more game-like. does that make sense? did any of this make sense?

[heartsyncproductions]

Welcome back to another look back at everything I managed to do during the year of our chaos 2024! This was a weird year creatively, most notably because I was working full time in a new job in healthcare AND I was sick about twelve times this year. Both of those things really cut into my time for any creative work. However, I still managed to get some things done and goals checked off, so let's take a look!

I released a few things this year, so let's go through them:

Burning Academia Chapter 1 & 2 (plus some bonus content): In my goals list at the start of the year, I said I wanted to have up to chapter 4 done LOL Honestly, I think if my health hadn't failed me so much this year, I could have released up to chapter 3 and have been working on chapter 4 by December. But that just isn't what happened. Most of my time not working was spent sleeping this year since I was sick so often, and I think that really shows based on how most of things I got done were super short.

FaithEater: My Blasphemous/Dark Souls inspired otome! It was nice to release an otome this year, especially since I didn't get to Spring Boy this year (we'll...get into that). This was also the game that ranked in any of the Velox Fabula jam iterations I've joined which honestly really took me by surprise. I made this in 36 hours, and I really love the world I envisioned here. This is on the shelf as something I might come back to for a longer project as well! It was also my most popular of the visual novels I released this year as well, which I thought was interesting!

WINDOWBOY Drowning: The second game in the PRETTYBOY Inc. series and made for O2A2! This one came out of nowhere and wasn't the game I was thinking of making for the next game in this series. That being said, I really love the vibes it ended up having, and I'm glad it exists! This also got a let's play video this year (as well as the first PRETTYBOY Inc. game), which was a unique experience for me seeing as most of my games are super obscure.

Where Sea Foam Fades: The last game released this year! Honestly, this was something I made for fun because I was going through a brief pirates of the carribean obsession lol. I think this was the point where I realized just how much more comfortable I'd gotten working in Ren'py, and I'm proud to say I finally understand the basics of the program without feeling like I constantly need to reference the documentation!

Other things I did:

Raffle for Palestine: The Interactive Fiction community put this together and I offered to be one of the writers to be raffled off! This was one of the first community events I did, and it was a really great experience. I'm super proud of how much we raised for the various families

Secret Santa: I did the VN dev secret santa this year! I was super anxious at first, but I loved the piece I did and I also was in love with my piece I got back! I'm hoping to do more community events in 2025, but I've been taking baby steps due to my mental health. We've been getting there this year, though!

Was part of a dev team for Velox Turbo 2: I did it!!! I said I wanted to take part in a team at some point, but I didn't think I'd be ready to do so until next year when I felt like I got my bearings. Granted this was at the very last minute (December!) but I actually allowed myself to collaborate with people and it was a fun experience! I'm really proud of myself for taking this step, and I'd love to do it again at some point in 2025!

Goals for 2025:

I'm going to be honest, I'm keeping this pretty minimal for a variety of reasons (most of them can all be boiled down to Life), but here's what I'm hoping to get done in the next year

Spring Boy: FOR REAL THIS TIME. I can explain this, actually. I think when I lost the files for this game originally, I hadn't realized just how hard it had killed my motivation for the game. I spent most of 2024 slowly getting that motivation back and trying to make the game not feel cursed in my brain anymore. I also didn't want to force myself because I didn't want to hate the game or build resentment towards it. That being said, I did finish up the sprite redraws and the new script for the new demo. I just need to slowly chip away at the new backgrounds and figure out some coding things and then the new demo will be out!

Burning Academia up to Chapter 4: Also for real this time lmaO I think I understand my pacing with my new life set up a lot better now than I had at the beginning of the year, so depending on how often I get sick, this should be doable! Chapter 3 is pretty close to be being done, and then I'll have the entire year to work on Chapter 4. Chapter 4 will also be a little shorter than Chapter 3, so I think it's doable this time around.

Whatever I come up with for game jams: I just really love doing game jams, so I'm hoping to release a few things throughout the year for different ones!

Closing Thoughts:

2024 was rough. I'm hoping for 2025 to not be as rough, but I'm trying to plan for it as though it might be. Health wise, I'm probably going to be doing some testing to see if I do have an autoimmune deficiency (my sister-in-law, a nurse, says based on my history it's a possibility). I'm also going to try to schedule and time block things better this year to do the things I want to do.

I'm not really upset I couldn't hit my main goals of 2024. The fact I did anything at all when I spent over twenty weeks of the year sick and miserable is kind of a miracle all on its own! I'm pretty happy with what I managed to get done this year. But I would like to at least release Spring Boy fully.

I think after I finish up the last of Chapter 3 of BA, I'm going to switch gears and put most of my energy into Spring Boy for a bit until its done. It's been sitting around since 2023 and it feels like its time for me to finally dive in to it.

With all that said, thanks to everyone who has checked out my work as always! I hit 1k followers on itch.io which is wild to me lol, so thanks to everyone whose played and enjoyed my work enough to follow! I hope you enjoy whatever comes next and good luck with the new year!

[feverdreamjohnny]

Hi, I’m a newer game dev (at least I’m tryin to be one lol) and I’ve realized that I have a really hard time finishing projects, because I just get burnt out and lose any passion I had for it. Do you have any advice?

Here's how I've (sort of) navigated these issues:

- Make small games. This was originally my "starting out" advice for people, but as time has gone on I genuinely think this is the only practical method for indie development. When I say small, I mean SMALL. I don't mean "oh, make an 8 hour game with hidden levels and side quests," I mean "your game is, at most, a single hour long, preferably 30 minutes." I've seen enough indies overscope their work and get stuck for nearly a decade without a finished product because they wanted to replicate the scope of a game made by several people with millions of dollars. You can definitely attempt larger projects down the line, but for the most part smaller games are what give you consistent growth as a creative, a reliable audience, and if you monetize them on steam or itch.io - an income. It's also a great opportunity to explore experimental design/art without risks, which is always valuable.

- Regardless of the game's scope, you need to take multi-day-long breaks if you're experiencing burnout. Game development is a cerebral discipline and it will tire you out fast. Forcing yourself through burnout might squeeze out more results, but you're just amplifying burnout down the line. Recognize that the breaks are a natural extension of the process and don't wreck yourself trying to be "more" than that. Hell, even painters sometimes need a bit of space from their work before they can continue, why would it be any different here?

[MORE BELOW THE BREAK]

- Don't get hung up on the game not coming out like you thought it would. If you become frustrated because the game doesn't reflect your ambitions, it's easy to lose interest and want to move on from it. Games will almost never resemble the initial vision. Sometimes you have to avoid being a perfectionist and accept your game for what it is.

- Find community (if you can). Surrounding yourself with other developers can be a great motivator for your own work, and being able to tap into a larger pool for second opinions and assistance can help you break barriers that otherwise would've stopped your work.

- Take your time. Game development is slow, and learning the various disciplines inside of it is a lengthy process. It took me 8 years to do the stuff I do today. Granted you might have an easier time if you're older than I was when I started, but in general it will take years to get to a point where you feel confident.

- Try a different engine from time to time. Most modern engines are fairly well suited for independent game development, but the available resources surrounding the engine (such as documentation and community support) can vary wildly. I strongly recommend window shopping across several engines. There's a small chance that you're having a hard time because the engine you're currently using isn't well suited to you and your goals. Some recommendations based on the ones I've personally tried:

* Game Maker Studio 2 - Great general purpose engine for 2D game development. Has a great community and plenty of learning resources. It's also fairly user friendly. It does have a license cost if you want to monetize your games, so keep that in mind. Scripting is done with GML, which is very human-readable.

* Godot - One of the best open source 2D/3D game engines. Doesn't have all the features of its competitors, but it's rapidly evolving and what's already there is more than enough to make most games. It's also compatible with various programming languages! Also, being open source means that it's completely free of licensing costs.

* Unreal Engine - Freakishly powerful 3D game engine at the cutting edge for modern game development. The C++ scripting might be fairly tough to work with as a newcomer (especially since it's built around a special wrapper for the engine that changes some of the rules), but it does have a well supported visual scripting backend that could do you some good. 2D games are certainly possible in Unreal, but it's clear that's not what the engine is intended for. Also Unreal has a neat licensing policy where you don't have to pay them unless you make more than +$1M, so that's cool.

* Unity - This is the one I use. It's great for 2D and 3D, and has a rapidly evolving feature set. It's one of the few engines with a swappable rendering pipeline system, which lets you pick the fidelity to work with relative to your game: With HDRP you can work on high-end games, and URP is great for doing everything else. Like Unreal you can initially monetize your games for free, but you have to pay a monthly subscription once you cross +$100k. Also you have to pay a monthly subscription to get rid of the splash screen which kind of sucks. Other than that, it's a very robust engine with possibly the largest community of the engines listed here.

[cilil]

5, 6 & 8 for the Eowne week ask?

Thanks for the ask!

Appearance idea

Conveniently I was asked about this by various people before (unrelated to this ask game), so I'm going to take and adapt my summaries from there -

Eönwë's "default" is a mostly humanoid form, basically model "standard angel man". Unlike Manwë's "airiness" he has the muscles, bone structure and just overall mass appropriate for a male humanoid warrior and is therefore significantly heavier and physically stronger than other wind spirits. He also has a pair of (physical) wings that are capable of flight and it looks like he has a pair of small wings as ears, but in actuality he has normal Elven ears that just have feathers on them (and they can emote). He also usually has humanoid legs and feet (to fit into boots and such).

His feathers are white with the occasional golden, brown or black spots, his hair is white golden/pale blonde and curly (inspired by cherubs, since it's my hc that depictions of angels in Middle-earth are based on Eönwë) and his eyes are usually sky/azure blue.

When dealing with fallen/evil Eönwë or him being so enraged he loses his shit, I swap this palette, giving him yellow/orange eyes (like raptors have, though you can also imagine Sith eyes if you want lol) and his skin, hair and feathers all have an eerie, cold blue tint, basically highlighting the wind spirit, storm and bird of prey angle instead of the angel angle (haha).

There's also a more "animalistic" humanoid form - though it only very, very rarely comes out - that is bigger and more eldritch, with additional plumage for example in the shoulder and chest area, tail feathers and bird feet.

Fanon idea I've adopted

That's a bit difficult to tell. Not because I think I'm the master of all things Eönwë who has come up with everything herself or any bs like that, but rather because I've loved him and read and written about him for so many years that it's hard to remember which ideas came when and from where.

I suppose one idea that I can say with relative certainty came from fanon is him having a close relationship with Finarfin, as well as having a relationship with/connection to Maglor. Both of these I've since picked up on in my own writing or am planning to pick up on in future projects and want to expand on.

Favorite friendship/platonic relationship with Eönwë

I'll preface this by stating real quick that with a lot of relationships it's fic and verse dependent whether I write them as platonic or romantic so if you see me talk about some relationships here and write them as romantic pairings another day I wasn't lying to you, I'm just trying out something new/doing requests😆

So one is definitely Ilmarë. I talked about her relationship with Eönwë more in depth in another response yesterday, so I'll keep it brief here: I like them as work besties, being in the weird position where everyone expects them to date, but they aren't really interested in that. In verses where I ship Ilmarë with Arien Eönwë is also very supportive of them, disregarding any feelings he might have - he just wants the girlies to be happy.

I also have to explore Manwë and Eönwë platonically more, I'm now realizing, but I'll get to do that soon with a Lost Tales based fic (which means that Manwë will be his Papanwë in that one). Cute!

Another friendship I like for Eönwë is Olórin. I see them growing closer post-War of Wrath, not least because Irmo and Nienna saw that Eönwë was struggling and decided to sic one of their emotional support Maiar on him. When Olórin dies in battle against the Balrog, Eönwë is absolutely devastated, wishing he could've helped him.

[localthumbcache]

Hi it’s me again! Honestly that’s cool I thought it may have been omegaverse related but in case it wasn’t I didn’t want to embarrass myself. 😭 I blame wattpad and the fact like I really liked werewolves. 😔

Anyways! Definitely if you do post anything related to your characters I would be happy to read! They’re really stunning!

Also I was curious how you gain inspiration for your characters. I know you mentioned you put parts of yourself into their stories and/or them, but are there usually any other factors that help you figure out how they may look or who they’re personalities will be? Whether it’s a songs, lyric(s), animals, aesthetics, shows/movies, or anything.

Hey hey anon!! ᵔદᵔ

Loll tbh I kinda judged the omegaverse at first until I watched coleydoesthings video on it. She gives a very good explanation and it even got me interested soo here we are! I was a tiny bit hesitant on sharing the smut here bc "cringe" but idrc!! (This is tumblr lol we're all weirdos)

And tysm!! 🩷 I'm glad to hear that 🥺 I might work some more on the doc since I'm pretty much gonna be in bed all day 😭 probably won't get to release it today but hopefully I'll be halfway done or smth

Also, since I don't actually play the game a lot (I've even removed some gameplay mods) I've been thinking about making short stories until maybe one day when I actually want to work on a full series - once i get the lore and all that jazz locked down that is. For now they'd just be little scenarios and things that happen in their lives ᵔદᵔ I don't rlly like the gameplay so might as well use the sims as a creative medium lol

I get most of my inspo off of pinterest and sometimes other people's sims! I have a simspo board which has faces, character concepts, and even style inspiration. I also have moodboards dedicated to them, which helps me put together their overall vibe. Music is kind of a factor too, although I associate a sim with a song I already know instead of making sims based off of it. Some sims I've based off of people I know irl

I also want to work on a mini music project as well as a voice canon one :> ohh and an incorrect quotes one too! Just a silly way to understand their characters a bit better :3

I take inspo for world building as well! I'm really focusing on vampires rn. I took some inspiration from dracula, the vampyre, interview with a vampire, and various yt videos on vampire lore/history. This video explains the biology of vampires (he even scientifically explains how crosses are harmful to them!!), and this one explains their history.

For example: before the pretty, well put-together person that we envision when we think of vampires, vampires before that were depicted as more animalistic than anything. So why not have the best of both worlds!! When in human form, my vampires have very little vampiric qualities (ex. Keith's eyes have a red glint to them, the vatores ears are slightly pointed, and all of them have larger canines than the average human), they're able to show up on camera and have reflections, and crosses are only harmful to them if they're blessed. When they turn into their dark form (or "true form" as hunters call it), however, they do not have a reflection, they cannot be caught on camera, and like the old vampires, they appear monstrous.

[tj-crochets]

I personally always have many things in my bag, and a card game is not one of them, but ussually pen and paper for little kids, and a book and at least one craft project for me, plus kind of gamey knick and knacks (like my glass cabachons or magnetic rings). I do not think its very common, as most of my friends and family routinely call out the "botomlessness" in my bag whenever I pull out something deemed unsual by them (ussually the crafting materials, project, scissors or knives or needles or hygene products). The extrovert/introvert aspect is definitely interesting! I know most of the avoid boredom things in my bag are definitely for me, but I like to tuck granola bars or cookies just in case someone around me gets hungry. I find your aspect of things absolutely wonderful, and suggest a word-based charades type of game to add to your deck (Alias, was I believe its name)

Thanks! I'll check out Alias, I've been considering getting one of those teeny tiny versions of board games to keep in my bag but a charades-based game sounds like a really good option too I didn't know that the mini versions of board games were a thing until my sister started working on a cruise ship and I got her like every teeny tiny board game I could find for her birthdays but I figure if they'll hold up to flying around the world surely they'll hold up to my purse lol My family thinks my purse is bottomless too! I mean, currently mine is mostly just my various medications (split into "emergency" and "as needed" categories), but I keep a side pouch of purse just for "things other people might need", like bandaids, a roll of those doggy bags (sometimes a waterproof bag is so handy to have), benadryl, stuff like that. I should add a granola bar, that's a good idea Edit: I totally forgot to add I usually have a small plushie in my purse for people having bad days! Usually I end up giving them to kids, but I've also given them to adults who seem to be having a rough day

[loser-female]

How do I get into cybersecurity? It looks fascinating but I don’t even know where to begin (for context, I am 28, have a BA in a completely unrelated specialization, and live in the US) 💛

Hi! I wasn't ignoring you, I just had shit days at work. Keep in mind that I work in EU and the labour market is different. I've heard a lot of lay-offs in the last few months but I have no idea if this involved cybersecurity positions or not. Also I'm a SOC Analyst specialising in Threat Intelligence. There are a lot of more positions to look out for, like if you are a lawyer you could go on the cyberlaw, privacy or auditing route.

Languages skills are appreciated a lot of you work in Threat Intelligence (I speak 4, currently learning Mandarin and my country sign language), coding skills are useful too.

Now, the usual path is:

1. Degree in computer science or software engineering (or math or physics, I did two years at physics)

2. You take a specialising course of some sort.

Some universities offers cybersecurity degrees I think (in my country it's a master's for example), and sometimes they might prepare you for CompTIA certs too. If you are lucky sometimes companies hire interns for like 6 months and they too make them study. My company did this... For the last interns. I had to be start my shifts after a month of learning lol. Idk if my manager threw a dice to choose between me and the other guy or if he noticed my ability.

I didn't follow that path, for various reason. I did a bootcamp and I took my certifications. But:

1. I've volunteered in a similar field for years and years (information research, debunking);

2. I speak 4 languages;

3. I did two years of physics before my health declined.

I do not recommend that part, because while I'm stupid good at my job, frankly my previous experience as volunteering did much more than any bootcamp.

Two points I feel I need make:

1. Certs. There are like an hundred or more, and it's a mess to figure it out. Plus it all depends what kind of role you want. Good news: most likely the company that will hire you will provide you access to few courses and the possibility to gain some of them, but IMHO taking a Sec+ or a Net+ is not a bad idea before looking for a job. While EC-Council is what HR looks at... Frankly let your company pay for it. Sec+ is like 350$ while a Ceh is 900$.

2. Downsides of my job - these are not talked enough imho.

-I work insane hours, I have two weekends free every two months because I work in shifts. I get paid more in my country (like I have a base hour rate and I get paid from 25% to 75% more of that rate if I like work on Christmas or a Sunday, nights get paid more obviously)

-I spend a significant amount of time studying and looking at news sites, social media to catch "the last news".

-Male environment. When I go to a conference I'm one of the like 20 women out of 1000, of which like 5 have a technical role like I do. It does make it feel like you are a freak even if no one is mean to you. I work from home, and I have only a female colleague - when I go to the office I'm the only woman out of 20 men. I love my colleagues and my manager, mind you, but if you are not in a good environment it's going to be a mess.

- Every company has a different set of tools, standards, programs etc that they use, and of you want to change job it can be hard to adapt.

-A SOC is a fast-paced environment and can be very stressful by nature, because it's a 24/7 service, and in certain parts of the day you can be inundated with alerts and issues to solve. And sometimes you have empty hours because nothing happens and it's boring.

- it's very important also to have soft skills because (like I did it today) you will be in charge of explaining what's going on to clients in a way that a 5 yo will understand, you will be in charge of projects, need to set enough time to study...

- You will meet people 1000x better than you are - and if you don't have the right mentality it's hard to deal with them, because you (well at least I do lol) will feel like an idiot and no one likes feeling like an idiot.

-Long hiring process. It took me a month from the first interview to be confirmed and two months to actually start - and this could really be a problem.

-Networking and connecting with others while it didn't land me a job definitely improved my skills, my credibility in the environment and who knows what else will happen in the future. Take what you can from others, most will be happy to share and help.

BUT!

Before committing you can try it with popular games such as Tryhackme or Hack The Box. They have learning environments where you can "play" and learn some basics. A real SOC or pen-test is like doing 10 of these challenges together but I had a lot of fun.

I hope this is enough! I tried to explain everything that someone considering a career in cybersecurity. Again, consider that I'm in Europe so this info might not be 100% accurate in the US.

[ilovemosss]

First Line Tag Game

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

first of all thanks to @fantasyinallforms for tagging me in this! it's helping me get a little excited about my endless supply of WIPs lol

that being said- i have almost literally nothing finished at the moment (a lot that is close, though!), so you lot will have to be happy with teasers. if anyone sees anything theyd really like to read more of, drop a comment!

also since i most definitely don't have 10, i'll be dropping the first paragraph of each!

"The first thing Bilbo registered when he woke was that the bed was cold. The second was the gleam of Orcrist in the moonlight, and a close third was the wild look on his husband’s face as he stared down their bedroom door. Naturally, the first thing Bilbo did when he saw these things was grab Sting. The second was to find the danger Thorin was clearly aware of." - A Slight Overreaction, a prompt fill for @fellowshipofthefics march madness!! if you don't know about it check it out!

"In the end, he really couldn't help it. All their hard work, struggling and sacrifice for- Bilbo couldn’t even bring himself to think it, he was too busy choking back laughter. He felt he might've been a bit hysterical as he reached for a piece of the treasure, hand wrapping around its round form." - The Trouble with Meddling Wizards, a crack fic posted on ao3, this is a fic about the kind of shenanigans thirteen dwarves and a hobbit can get into when stoner wizard radaghast the brown decides to help them with their quest

"Bilbo closed the book with an audible snap, groaning as he did. He rubbed at his temples to try to alleviate his headache, but it didn’t seem to be working. Thorin looked up from his own book, studying his husband as he did. He noted the creases on his forehead, the frown on his lips." - all good things must come to an end (but the bad just keep on going), this fic is a bit of an ode to all the books i've read that i couldn't wait to be done with, where bilbo and thorin trade bad books they're reading just for fun

"Bilbo sat up at the sound of the door to the bedroom adjoining his creaking open, a sound he never heard unless he was the one opening the door. Nobody was supposed to enter that room, and anyone who knew anything about him knew that. Unfortunately for Bilbo, that still left fourteen uninvited suspects. Mind made up by that fact, the hobbit crept his way to the connecting door, a haughty speech about the impropriety of a stranger searching his home dying on his lips at the sight behind it." - Bigger Than the Whole Sky, this fic is the absolute pinnacle of my bagginshield fics at the moment, the golden child, my favorite project i'm working on right now. it's about loss, heartbreak, renewal, healing, and moving forward after tragedy. based loosely off of tswift's song by the same name, this fic will likely be launching a series (the various installments of which will be published in due time) about being queer and happy to be so. i could deep dive about this fic, this series, and where i want it to go for ages, but i think i'll save that for another post

and that's all for now, folks! i'll be creating more as i answer things like march madness prompts, and just in general as i have more time to work on what i want to work on

if you got this far, thank you so much for reading, and stay tuned for new works! i'm always open if anyone is interested doing some beta reading, and if you have any prompts you might like to see filled, hmu! as ever, my askbox is open to all of the above and more!

[thedude3445]

current irons in the current fire

Before I get to start new fun projects to kick everyone's asses, I gotta finish the stuff already out there, so let's remind ourselves what those are:

(gonna make a readmore cut thing because this got too long, as rambles often do)

Systemless, the very silly very gay epic that's wrapping up finally after 3 years, I'm aiming to finish in April. Honestly this book is super up the Tumblr alley and even has BL romance but I forgot to promote it on here lol. I'll do that when the ebook versions come out

Golemancer, which really bombed compared to my original expecations, but it's still a pretty well-liked story honestly. I am going to wrap up Book 2 since it's already almost done, then publish ebook versions, and if those do well I'll finish the series later on. I should have done this over a year ago...

Japan Romance, the codename for a long-gestating project I've been working on since 2019. It was a novel, then a comic, now it's a visual novel, and yes I'm intentionally adding these comma splices why do you ask? When this project comes out someday you are gonna flip out, I promise. It's gonna be my ultimate early career project.

Project U, a collab with Ktalaki, the actual mspa prophet and not me actually. This project will never see the light of day, on purpose.

Game Jam. Quinlan Circle is gonna do a week-long game jam during Golden Week. Unless the game is literally unplayable, we will post that online afterwards.

Project Z, this is a codename that's actually just the impending release of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, a game that I suspect will take up an entire month of my life. Still working on creative projects even while this game is out is going to be my life's ultimate challenge. When Fire Emblem Engage came out I totally failed at doing anything but playing that game (and also dealing with various life crises throughout February but that's a story for another time AKA an actual blog essay not this thing)

MSPA Reread 2023, a project that's semi-creative because it's unlocking entire spheres of my brain I forgot even existed. The sheer nostalgia that came with reading Homestuck Act 5-2 took up multiple days of my life reminiscing about old projects and long-dead forum thread. I'm on Act 6 Intermission 3 now as of today, and I think my friend group will finish around the end of April. Later, I'm gonna read the Epilogues and Homestuck 2 for the first time and see why people hate them so much lol. I know they're not "strictly canon" but I'm a long-time Star Wars EU fan, so fluid canonicty in layers is totally normal to me. Maybe not to other people...

(also I guess Psycholonials counts here? And the visual novel games? IDK about those quite yet)

Anyway there's one thing that I'm building to, and that's a project codenamed Really Big Story. You might be able to guess the story concept based on the codename. Quinlan Circle has been going for almost 5 years now, and we're getting ready to work on something super ambitious. But we can only work on it after we're all in better spots creatively. For me this means finishing (or quitting) all the stuff I've built up over the years. I have too many projects!!!!!

If you actually read this whole thing, send me an ask for which of these you want me to ramble about in my next mini-blog. I'll do that tomorrow or something (the mini-blogs will never be as long as this one, at least I hope so lol because this took like 20 minutes)

[pudding-parade]

tl;dr: I have a strong urge to completely overhaul my entire Sims 3 set-up, and it's going to take forever and be a gigantic pain in the ass.

The non-tl;dr version is behind the cut. Because I just feel like whining at the void.

I want to get rid of Origin because...Well, Origin. The last time it did a "critical update" it fucked up my game install and I had to tinker to fix it to get it to, you know, load. And then not crash after running for five minutes. (My game very rarely crashes, normally.) It was a pain in the ass that I do not wish to repeat. And I certainly don't want this EA App bullshit, either, especially because TS3 is the only EA game I play or want to play. I'm certainly not going to give EA more money and buy the game again on Steam, so a bit ago I arrr'ed the Games4theWorld complete Sims 3 file. But, I've been procrastinating like mad on switching over to it because I'm sure there'll be headaches involved in doing so -- I remember having to go into the registry when I reinstalled everything on my old computer after de-sims3pack'ing my game -- and...and...I just want to plaaaaaaay the gaaaaaame. But I think I'm almost ready to take the plunge. Almost.

When I do, I'll have all the SPs, which I haven't had before. I only have the High End Loft pack and that only because it came as part of the combo pack that I got my base game in. And I'm thinking I'll also download all of the non-hair (because I hate EA hair) Store content in .package files, too, and just reinstall everything that way. Because the way that I DIY'ed what I have when I de-sims3pack'ed my game, none of the Store worlds are actually playable. They'll load, but you can't move any sims into them. I have all the objects from the worlds, and they work fine, which is what I care about most, but I would like to use the Store worlds to travel to for vacations, and I can't do that with my setup right now.

So if I do all that, then I'd have all EPs, all SPs, and all the Store content that I'd want. And you know what, I think that might be just about enough for me for a save that doesn't have a special scenario (like the "tribal" thing) or aesthetic, like the whole rustic thing. If I'm just playing a modern, normal game, I think EA-only might be enough...except for a few things.

Like, I just can't with EA hairs and eyes and skins and makeup. But I'm good there. I have stuff I like and don't feel a need for different/more. (Except for hairs, of course, but that's a whole other project that I'm almost done with.)

And then there are patterns. I neeeeeeed patterns because the EA ones mostly suck and I use patterns a lot. So I have ton of them, but a lot of them that I have I just don't like in-game and have never used. Some don't tile properly. Some are a pain in the ass and/or impossible to recolor when such a thing is important (like on woods). Or the scale is wrong for things that I'd want to use them on. But also, of course, some of them I really like and definitely want to keep. They're all in merged files, though, which means I need to look at the individual files. Which I do have, thankfully. I wasn't stupid enough to delete them after I knew the merged files worked. It's just...there's a lot of them. Like, a lot a lot. I'm a pattern hoarder along with being a world hoarder. Culling will take time.

And then I need to install the bazillion patterns that I've downloaded recently from Certain People who upload multiple sets every day. You know who you are, if you're reading this, and I'm not complaining. I am, however, work avoidant. LOL

And then there's the clothing, shoes, and accessories. I have a lot of clothing that just looks like crap in-game for various reasons. Also, a lot of high-poly, high-res stuff that's meant more for photoshoots and that just looks out-of-place in normal gameplay. I don't know why I'm holding on to it. It just all needs to go. I also have a lot of shoes and accessories that I never use. Lots of jewelry that clips a lot or is just too large, lots of shoes that do weird, painful-looking things to a sim's feet. Or that make them taller, which just messes up animations, making them no good for gameplay. That all needs to go, too. Which, again, means combing though the individual files, and there are a lot of them. I'm tempted to completely start over from scratch with clothing/shoes/accessories, re-downloading stuff I know I like and re-preg-morphing the clothing, etc.. It might just be easier that way, in the end. Then I can separate things into stuff I use for rustic/primitive saves and stuff I use for modern saves because right now everything's mashed together (because I am the dumb), and it takes a long time for CAS to load, even with the smooth patch.

I'm also tempted to go minimalist with objects, at least for most saves, just sticking with EA stuff and very select custom stuff. Of course, this wouldn't apply to more rustic saves, where I need a lot more custom stuff to suit the aesthetic. So, I need to go through all my files and separate out the rustic/primitive stuff from the other, more generic, stuff. Because right now, as with the clothing, everything's just mashed together in merged files, and it's a complete mess.

So...*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I guess the best course of action would be to cull/organize/redownload/remerge the CC and then do the switch-over to the arrr'ed install. It'll only take, what? Five years? Yeah, that oughta do it. Maybe by then I'll really be ready to do the install switch-over. LOL

[magpiefngrl]

What?! You are not a native English speaker ? Omg, you’re English is amazing. You write si well and you are definitely one of my favorite author.

Reading that you have so many WIPs got me a bit curious. Do you feel like sharing anything about it? Anything you want.

Hi!

Thank you so much for the lovely compliments! I'm thrilled you think my Eng is amazing :))

But yeah--not a native speaker. I learned English as a Second Language.

That being said, I studied English in uni, I'm a qualified English teacher and, most importantly, I lived in the UK for several years back in the 00s. I also have a summer job that takes me to Kent for 1-2 months most summers (like now. I'm in the UK).

As for the WIPS, this is what happens with me: 1. I have a lot of ideas. A LOT. Like, I can generate ideas like no one's business. And although some I might simply get out of my head and on paper, I do have many that I wish to develop further.

But 2. I've had a few years of a combination of writer's block, full time job, and loss of fandom friendships that have affected my writing and made the WIPs pile up.

These are some of the WIPs that are my current priorities:

two original romances that started off as ideas from my drarry fics but have become their own thing now.

secret desires, (wangxian) currently 1 chapter up. Started as a project during one of my fiercest writing block + quarantine depression periods. A friend in a writing server gave us one word prompts each month and I decided to write a fic using each prompt as the title and the inspiration of a chapter. I've got 2 more chapters written but I'm not happy with them yet. *sigh*

Last summer I had big plans for my writing and I even launched the 2021 Summer Writin' Challenge. Some people contributed some stellar works as you can see from the AO3 collection. I started writing a few, but didn't finish them. I'm halfway through a wangxian fic (nested narrative or story within a story) which I'm very excited about. I really want to finish this one. I'd like to play around with the challenge a bit more and write more stories--might take away the "2021" from the title and make it a perennial summer thing to account for my various writing blocks lol

There is a drarry fic which has been in my mind, and it's based on a goldilocks idea I had once (here). I know there's a fic (or more?) with the same premise too. If I write more drarry, this is prob what I'll write but it'll be just porn.

EDIT TO ADD: I've started writing a coda for The Gift (currently hidden) and I am going to heavily revise some chapters. I wrote it in a rush and am not super happy with some parts of it, so I'm going to make sure when it's revealed, with the Coda, I'm happy with it.

Cornwall fic was one of the most pressing WIPs until about a month ago--it's such a relief to have finished that one.

I'm excited to try and get some more writing done when my summer job ends.

Thanks for the ask!

[survivor-algonquin-blog]

IMMUNITY RESULTS #1

Hope everyone got their groove on!!! Let's get to the results,,,

But first let's meet our lovely JUDGES!!!!

Zach!!

Hey! Zach here. A couple of main seasons under my belt and lucky enough to have played with all of the hosts. I've done this challenge and work in entertainment, so I'll be bringing a critical eye to the table and have no reservations about not holding back. Good luck!

Sarah!!

Hi my name is Sarah. Ive played 7 main ts seasons so I am officially qualified to judge now. I cant wait to see what yall did.

Vilma!!

Hi I'm Vilma and all you need to know about me is that I have a burning love for music videos so I hope y'all put in your best effort tonight <3

Now let's get to some music videos!

Castor's Music Video & Explanation

This is the official submission for the Castor Tribe. We choose to do the music video “Bring me to Life” by Evanescence. This song has a strong theme of Duality throughout the lyrics, and we chose to represent that by only using two tribemates for the lip-syncing portion of this challenge. The video focuses on Bobby, crying out for help, but being shut down by his inner thoughts, portrayed by Bryan. At the beginning of the video, you can clearly see the inner turmoil going on, shown through the colour colour changes and spinning screen. Throughout this portion, it is clear he is listening to Bryan, and letting it hold him back, keeping all these negative emotions inside. About half way through the video, there is a clear tone change, with the scarf starting to come off, signifying an opening up, of Bobby starting to let his thoughts out in a healthy way, and his inner voice becoming quieter and less relevant as time goes on. The video ends on a dark room, lit by a single light, showing that as dark as things may seem, there will always be light at the end of the tunnel, you just must keep moving forward. We felt that this was a good representation for survivor for several reasons. Firstly, in order to progress far in the game, you must be able to rely on other people to keep you sane. One of the Key elements of survivor is the ability to outlast the other players, and that requires you to mentally outlast them as well. You can clearly see that on the Edge of Extinction season, where it is only the mental fortitude of these voted off contestants giving them a chance now. Secondly, there have been several survivor Contestants that have struggled with the ideas of self-doubt, and depression both during and after the show, most notably, Sugar, after Survivor Heroes Vs Villains, as well as Spencer Bledsoe, after Game Changers. Finally, no matter how dark you may think your prospects in survivor are, if you believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and keep pushing through, you will always be able to make an impact. We chose to make the video focus on only two of our tribemates because most submissions for these types of challenges tend to include almost all the tribe members, and we wanted to create something that stands out. All of us contributed to the final product in several different ways. Firstly, we had Lilly, who was the Creative Director, and Task Manager. She came up with the narrative and focused on creating a realistic schedule in order to get everything done on time, and to a good quality. Bobby and Bryan, you saw in the music video, as our lead lip-syncers. Aaliyah was the editor of this video, putting to use her skill in a way much better than anyone else on our tribe could have accomplished. Finally, Michael and Jack created the write up, in order to communicate our thoughts to the judges, to show the amount of effort we put into this project.

Zach:

Creativity:6

The explanation for idea of the music video was strong and well intentioned, if not wholly originally, but I’m not sure it is entirely reflected in what got with the video. I appreciate the deliberate choice to use only two members of the cast to support that idea, so I can’t ding for points there, but I don’t think what we got was what we were promised in the explanation.

Effort: 7

Going off of the intro text, I’ll take it in good faith that everyone contributed as much as was mentioned, and despite execution, I cannot fault their efforts if they all tried.

Composition: 5

Any time there’s a vertical video, it’s going to hurt a little, but I won’t dwell on that too much. I will say that the video ending before the song ends does not help its case. Also, the idea behind the colors and the black and white to show emotional change was a good thought, but did not have the payoff that it should have had. The rationale behind it feels more film school interpretation of something after the fact than intended execution.

Theme: 7

The theme as explained was a solid one, and definitely can see tones of it in the performances and set dress of the actors. Nice job. Bryan will haunt my dreams.

All-in-all, I think this was a good effort and it’s obvious that this team works together well and has lofty ideas. I think the technical skill might be lacking, and it seems like everyone here is very structured in their thinking. I prefer that way of thought so I’m with them, but they needed a little more creative flair here to pull it off.

Sarah:Creativity: 5/10

Effort: 5/10

Composition (editing): 7/10

Theme: 8/10

I wish I saw everyone from the tribe in this but I get your reasoning behind it. It was still just overall ok

Vilma:

Creativity: 4/10

You made a creative decision to include only two people of your tribe in the lip sync and while I appreciate the ballsy move I can’t help but feel I would’ve enjoyed the video more if more people were included in it.

Effort: 5/10

Bobby was the king of the show and really put his soul into it.

Composition: 4/10

Rule number one in music videos: film horizontally! Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of the constant use of cheap looking effects but otherwise the editing was fine.

Theme: 6/10

I think the duality theme in your video was nice an well thought-out but it would be a bit hard to understand without your thorough explanation of it.

Castor Total: 69/120

Elan's Music Video & Explanation

She walks! She talks! She twerks! She's BARBIE! Jump, dance, and sing with your very own customizable doll! Dress her up and take her out. Barbie is your BEST FRIEND! You can be a Barbie Girl too! SHE'S BARBIE! (batteries not included)

Zach:

Creativity: 7

The idea of using Barbie girl for the song was a strong and out of the blue choice, making it look like a commercial really took it over the top. I can’t go higher than 8 because they used a lot of the original music video to cover gaps, but overall, more creative an idea than I’ve seen in a while, and the execution was beautiful which leads me to:

Effort: 8

To put what they put together as quickly as they did takes a lot of coordination from whomever was putting it together, but the fact that most people went so far as to dress as “Barbies” shows that almost everyone was committed to the gag. There were a couple of people who obviously didn’t have as much time to give to this, but substituting them as the Ken was a nice save.

Composition: 9

Obviously when working with iPhones and computer cameras, the visual leaves something to be lacking, but that is more than made up for here with the various superpositions, graphics, texts, crawls, and cuts. It felt like I was watching a bizarro QVC commercial that was as fun to watch as Barbies are to play with, keeping them right on mark for their:

Theme: 9

The fact that this is basically a weird commercial for Barbies is as fantastic as they are plastic. Every inch of it was filled with something to reinforce the theme, whether it was ordering details, people playing with the toys, warnings, calls to actions, or disclaimers (the bottom Mattel crawl was a brilliant example of all three categories of judgement coalescing to reinforce the them.

I wasn’t planning on rating anyone high, but this was weird, original, well done, and fun. Nice job. It was visual candy, high energy, and all surface, which I wouldn’t typically go for, but that’s what Barbie is about.

Sarah:Creativity: 9/10

Effort: 10/10

Composition (editing): 10/10

Theme: 8/10

You guys impressed the fuck out of me and made me literally LOL.

Vilma:

Creativity: 8/10

Cute outfits, cute barbie nicknames, cute editing, cute CuTe CUTE I want these slutty barbies to myself

Effort: 9/10

The barbie QUEENS and the editor guy did a phenomenal job. It looks like most of your tribe participated, although the Barbies outshined the Ken’s a bit. But overall you guys really put yourself out there and put in the most effort.

Composition: 10/10

The editing was ON POINT. Great job ten out of ten.

Theme: 8/10.

I stan the barbie theme and song choice btw Aqua is a Danish band so I love me some nordic representation <3 My only complaint is I wish you introduced us to the handsome Kens too.

Elan Total: 105/120

Hibou's Music Video & Explanation

We lip synced Survivor by Destiny's Child. Due to time constraints Gavin couldn't be in the video, but it doesn't matter since Sammy stole the show. :) The editing got a little weird at the end. Some of the file types were different and that causes playback issues. Also the deadline was fast approaching so the sequences towards the end are a little longer. :p

Zach:

Creativity: 2

Hate to be harsh, but going for Survivor for Survivor is a little too on the nose. Listen, it’s a great song, and some people have some great energy, but creatively, this was low hanging fruit. On top of that, the video is literally just lip-syncing, which is basically like playing a Borneo Game in 2019. Given that they’d be given plenty of examples of other ways this can be done well, I can’t rate this high. To paraphrase the song “you’re better than that.”

Effort: 4

To the people that contributed to this, I appreciate your attempt. The one guy who really embraced the challenge, got a mic, light-up glasses, the hat, et al, if this was based on just your effort, I could go much higher. It’s as high as it is because of you. Unfortunately, it’s a team challenge, and for the brief moments that we saw most of the other players, you can see them reading the words on the screen as they capture their performance. I hope everyone enjoyed it more than it shows, but again, to the point of the song “you’ve gotta work harder.”

Composition: 2

Vertical videos really just need to be turned 90 degrees and it would feel like we’re watching a movie. Or if you’re given vertical videos, copy the layer, move it to the back, enlarge, and blur. It will make it instantly more watchable. This grade isn’t solely because of that though (3 vertical videos don’t help though). The titles screen is cute, but assembled poorly. Some of the text is covered some of the pictures. There’s no real pace to guide us through the song. The cuts seem arbitrary. Editing is very hard and never appreciated, so to whomever put this together, if you did your best, nice job and I encourage to stick with it, but kinda feels like “I’m not gonna give up” was something you were saying to yourself over and over again when trying to make this work.

Theme: 2

Picking this song was a bold choice since it’s so obvious, but you can’t lose points in this category based on choice alone. But given that choice, you have to really knock it out of the park, and I don’t think the bat even touched the ball with this one. There’s nothing here that screams either Survivor nor what Destiny Child was singing about, I don’t know if we’d be weaker without this song in our life.

Look, I hate to be critical, especially since it’s obvious some people put it in a lot more work with this than others, but to be honest, this wasn’t a shining example of what you’re all capable of. It’s hard putting these together, and maybe it just wasn’t worth it this time. Making music videos can be fun or terrible depending on with whom you work. I wish you the best, but I feel like because of this, for one of you “I’m gonna make it, here on Survivor” just isn’t true.

Sarah: Creativity: 4/10

Effort: 3/10

Composition (editing): 6/10

Theme: 4/10

You tried.

Vilma:

Creativity: 4/10

I feel like you guys could’ve been more creative with your Survivor theme. I like that you introduced everyone in the beginning but other than that the video was very simple.

Effort: 6/10

Most of your tribe seemed to participate and that’s always nice to see. Some of you guys were really feeling it too so big props to that!

Composition: 3/10

Again, gotta deduct some points for not filming horizontally. Plus the lip syncing was VERY off most of the time, such a simple thing to fix and the video would’ve seemed much more professional!

Theme: 5/10

Your song choice is literally perfect, you GUYS are survivors and you know it but I wish you would’ve included little skits or something to emphasize the theme.

Hibou Total: 45/120

Congratulations to Castor and Elan for winning immunity!! which unfortunately means Hibou you will be heading to tribal council, where you will be voting off the first person in Tumblr Survivor Algonquin. Tribal will be live over Google Hangouts, and we plan to start at 9:00 EST. please let the hosts know beforehand if you will be able to attend tribal council or not.