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junietuesday · 4 years ago

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my top 10 botw ships bc i might as well jump on the bandwagon on @botwstoriesandsuch this is hilarious

10) urbosa/zelda’s mom. hate that they fucking buried our gays but theyre so soft and it adds so much to the story

9) robbie/purah. i can see it. chaotic scientist bisexuals. but what im seeing here as an alloaro is that theyre friends with benefits who also use each other to get out of boring parties so they can get back to their ancient tech

8) zelink. i love their dynamic in general which is why this is ranked so low, honestly i prefer them as chaotic bffs but they do make a good romance....two people connected across time and through fate to always be there for each other....i can see the appeal even if the whole “lover bonded by soul” is the opposite of my thing

7) paya/zelda. i like the themes of duty and tradition vs the new and different, what with paya being raised to be the leader of the sheikah and zelda’s whole entire thing

6) miphlink. like with zelink, i love their dynamic, link having a childhood best friends is just so sweet and again the themes of duty to the country vs people you care abt, but i enjoy these two as mlm/wlw solidarity not so much as romance

5) revamiph. honestly hwaoc made me ship it. the gentle healer w the prickly fighter. red and blue bisexuals. short people solidarity. the way they bridge cultures, social class, so many things to be together. theres something here

4) sidlink. both of them trying to move on from their past but feeling guilty about leaving the people from before behind, but Also carving a path toward the future with these new people they care about. both learning to open up to each other, sidon who refuses to show anything but optimism and link who refuses to show anything but strength. also the height difference is funny

3) zelpha. princesses in love! the contrast between the princess who is struggling with her power and her relationship w her father and is doubted by the people, but who despite it all tries to stand up for herself wherever she can and do the thing she truly loves vs the princess who’s mastered her power and has a good relationship w her family and is adored by her people, but can’t gain the confidence to just confess and be open with the person she likes and do anything purely for herself! it’s so so delicious and i am a simple lesbian.....

2) eggbot/sheikah slate. i can see a rivals to lovers dynamic here with how the two are both pieces of ancient tech that zelda obsesses over in turn, but then they grow to respect each other as technology with different functions that work in tandem. but also they do have potential for a hard and fast romance, with how eggbot literally awakens to the sheikah slate’s chime in that introductory scene. like they were created to work together. there’s also a lot of potential for worldbuilding with these two and what’s better than that. really you can make this ship be anything, with eggbot’s lightheartedness there’s humor and banter, but with its time travel abilities there could be angst about honesty and communication, it’s such a versatile ship. lastly i mean theyre nonbinary icons

1) revalink. i am a sucker for repressed gays figuring out their shit together. with how both of them are valued only for their fighting ability and nothing else, but with link it was thrust upon him with no choice and with revali he saw it as the only way for people to respect him. revali’s bitterness against link for being chosen by the master sword while revali had to work so hard for his status honestly feels so justified, but then you think about it from link’s perspective and how he never chose any of this and now people are depending on one child to do the heavy lifting of saving the world, how he felt so pressured by everyone that he literally wouldn’t speak - contrasting with revali’s verbosity, because well-read people are always respected. just. the two learning to share their emotions with each other and lower their masks to gain a mutual respect for each other’s abilities but also really caring for each other despite those abilities because that’s not what makes you a worthy person. it’s really touching and with the whole canon setup of “revali is dead and link is rescuing his soul” there are so many opportunities for angst i don’t even have time to detail, but revali’s snark and pretty much any personality you can give link, whether snarking right back or letting revali lose his cool by just not responding, plays off of it for hilarious banter.

#june speaks #loz #long post #well THAT was certainly an essay

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icharchivist · 4 years ago

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Thank you for answering the previous asks and hope you're prepared!

How much, out of ten, are you of each winter troupe member?

Have a good day :3c

ahah thank you for doing that all the way!

and oh boy i thought i was prepared but turns out-

okay notewise.:

Tsumugi: 7/10, Tasuku: 3/10, Homare: 4/10 Hisoka: 9.5/10, Azuma: 10/10, Guy: 6/10

(if you're supprised Azuma is actually my ultimate kin and it's not Hisoka: congratz i fooled all of u. the only reason i don't have an Azuma icon is that i genuinely think he looks too sexy in some arts and it doesn't feel Me despite everything else. The more u know.)

And. i need to warn that i went much more into personal details for Hisoka and Azuma under the cut to the point where it may be overwhelming. And that Azuma's entry alone is 2.1k words long. What the fuck me.

Relating to team "we have so much trauma" is going to be so much fun.

coughs, anyway take care :3c

(Links: Spring, Summer, Autumn , Winter ranking)

Winter my beloved, this is going to be a normal, non emotional ranking at all.

Tsumugi: 7/10 I relate to his lack of confidence, and the way he gave up on everything he loved when his spirit was crushed (re what I was talking about with my Kumon rant). On my down time I did study a bit of psychology and though I wouldn’t put myself at the same level as a psy student I’m often told I read people mostly in an accurate way so I can relate to that. I can use my powers for Evil like nudging people in some direction or knowing where to attack, but I am super aware of that and I’ve been extra conscious about not having it happen again for over ten years now DLKFJDLF (Azuma is kinda like that too). But yeah the fact he is like that too makes it relatable.

I also think that the whole “feeling you fucked up and took all the responsibility when a friendship broke apart” is also something very relatable. So is “ghosting your friends after that”. I relate to the fact he’s a nerd too. I relate to him more than not but I guess I just removed points because of how while I relate to specificities the whole thing doesn’t connect as much as it could?

Tasuku: 3/10 he’s probably the one I relate the least to. I honestly didn’t understand Tasuku much until Nocturnality on my first read, and it’s only then that things clicked. Legit I saw him the way Azuma saw him dLKFJDKFJDF. But I do feel it relatable that he feels responsible for failing his friend and that he took it upon himself to try to read more into how people are behaving to try to prevent it from happening again. But else he’s. genuinely not like me KDJFKLDFJDFL

Homare: 4/10 mhmm. I think I relate to the way he is passionate and how much he genuinely loves. I also relate to the fact he is pretty analytic, though the details of what makes his struggles are not something I relate to easily. I have felt broken before, I was told i was broken or unfit in some ways, so this particular pain is something I completely understand. I also did use to be an artist and a writer so I can relate to that passion of his, although as I mentioned in others ranking *shrugs*. That said he’s very much more exuberant and confident than I am and I would assume I know how to deal with people emotionally a bit more.

Hisoka: 9.5/10 oh boy where to start. This is going to be a tough one to get into without getting extremely personal. To start with, I’m a sleepy baby. I sleep a lot DLKJFDF though not much at night. I used to fall asleep in class all the time my friends had to always be on the watch out for me. I don’t have much energies. I love plushy and I love being comfortable in some places. I also really love sweets tho not as much as him. I also do care ways too much for my specific plushies and pillows (I do have huge penguins plushies too).

I, too, have memories issues, though of course to a lesser extend. I have a lot of trauma and for a lot of them I ended up getting fuzzy memories. I used to be in a pretty toxic environment where I constantly had to make use of my memory to survive, and so when my memory started failing me, I was terrified. My parents gaslight me all the time and pretends a lot of things that happened didn’t happen and that I’m crazy for believing it happened, so the moment my memory started to fail me I started to panic a lot. It terrified me to not being completely sure whenever I could trust myself or not. It made me feel extremely unreliable. It’s still something I struggle with a lot.

This would have been my answer pre-awakening moon at least. I always related to him to some degree so Awakening moon was a slap in the face in a way I wasn’t ready to deal with, and this is where I have to be uncomfortably personal.

I am the youngest sibling of 3. My eldest sister ran away from home when I was 6, never to be seen again. My other sister resented me because I used to be very close to the eldest and she was jealous about it, and while the reasons were linked to our parents, who were extremely toxic to us and kept us into this toxic environment for years on end, my sister took all her anger out on me. While we’ve discussed it as adults now, our relationships is too strained to fix it nowadays.

It took me a long while – it took me Azuma’s arc actually – to realize that the way I feel for my eldest sister is more akin to grief than to abandon. I don’t even remember her. I don’t remember her and still apparently the way I was close to her was the reason my sibling hold it against me. I couldn’t even remember *why* my sister was mad at me because I don’t even remember being close to my sister that much. All I know is that she left because the situation at home was too toxic. It was.. so messy.

I have. Much more trauma linked to that specifically but that’s the root of something that hit me in the face with Hisoka’s arc. Because I can’t remember a person that disappeared from my life, and yet it was enough for it to break and shape everything I’ve lived through since. I couldn’t even start to talk about how it still impacts me now 20 years later. I’m just now making peace with the fact this was grief. This is the gist of the reason Hisoka’s arc hit me as hard as it did (and the fact that Chikage is actively undoing all the bad things his own grief pushed him to do on Hisoka is the reason Chikage is so compelling to me. My sister could never lol.).

I felt also that I had to take all the responsibilities for what happened. I felt like I could make things easier for the family after this trauma, at the rip age of 7, and no one stopped to think maybe a child shouldn’t have to be dealing with a collective family trauma like this. But well. Here we are.

I relate to the fact Hisoka also struggles to accept everything that happened. And that now he’s trying to make things better for others people he can relate to. It’s so… complicated.

Also I can’t forget the fact Hisoka tried to kill himself and :/ as someone who has had a lot of suicidal idealization in my life this really hit a lot harder than it should have.

In general I would just say that socially I’m not really like him except with people I’m comfortable with teasing. Hisoka can be a little too rude and it’s where I can’t relate lol. But otherwise man I care him so much I feel so seen. I’m just removing 0.5 points for that and I don’t give him full mark because of what I’ll explain next.

Azuma: 10/10 This one is going to be a trip. It’s about twice the length of the Hisoka’s rant. Mister took me by the throat too. As I think it’s clear now I cannot relate to the fact he genuinely loved his family and how much his family cared for him. Yet I relate… to about everything else.

On the surface I do think I seem more approachable and easy to talk with. I try to be the kindest person I can be, to not be judgmental. I’m conflict avoidant, just like he can be, and if I’m annoyed with someone I’m muuuuch more likely to use passive aggressiveness like he does with Tasuku when he’s pissed at him. (sidenote: I do find it funny that Tasuku was the only character I really felt I didn’t get until Nocturnality, while Azuma was having the exact same problem, and then he became one of my fav the moment it clicked. Azuma is my braincell.)

More often than not, there’s a smile on my face and I try to be soft in the way I can be. I’m generally pretty calm, I’ve been told I was soothing, or give good hugs, this sort of stuff.

Now onto the heavy stuff.

I have a lot of nightmares and night terrors linked to a lot of my traumas. I’m honestly scared sometimes to go to sleep ^^”. But in general, if Hisoka reflects a lot of a personal trauma and how it would personally affect me, Azuma reflects a lot on how I would behave with others people in general and especially when I’m unwell. I’ve coped most of my life with, everything that happened to me, by just. Trying to keep people at armlength. I don’t want to let people close to me, especially irl. Discussing all of that online gives me a distance that allows me to discuss it but, I remember in high school I was going through very bad things, and a few years later I was hanging out with a friend and I happened to open up about those things. And she was going livid because, she had known me for what, 6 years at that point? And she never knew any of this. We talked a lot then, we were close, but she never knew all those things about me until years later. It kinda scared her because to her I was always a sweet and cheerful person and she never expected that I was doing this badly. I remember then she brought up something we discussed back in a party with many of our others friends from high school and similarly they were all. “how did we never know any of this.”. Seeing Azuma in Nocturnality kinda brought me back to that convo tbh LKDJFLKDFJFD.

But I’m good at pretending I’m closer to people than they think. I’m an excellent listener. A lot of my friends tended to rely on me as the person they could talk about their problems to. I used to do it much more back then but I also used to pour a lot of energy trying to make it easier for people, solving their problems. Full on Therapist Friend:tm:. It does help that, as I said with Tsumu, I have basis in psychology so sometimes some observations I can make help much more than expected. Just like Azu tbh lol.

Oh also I am cuddly with my friends in general. I’m super touch starved but also to the point I feel uncomfortable to seek hugs because I just don’t get any on a normal basis and my body isn’t used, but I’m super cuddly and when I’m with my closest friends I’m like a koala.

And it gives people the impression to people that I’m very close to them because I know them well, and I know the ins and outs of why they behave the way they do. But. I kinda feel like it’s one sided more than not. And it’s all because of me, because I keep my walls up very high and it means people don’t generally expect that I’m hiding things.

I’m good at distracting too. I don’t relate to how flirty Azuma is but I keep seeing it as him distracting others. It’s flattering, and just embarrassing enough that the person ends up dropping whatever they may be pressing on Azuma to talk about. And, while not with flirting, I do that a lot, especially using compliments like that. (That said my kindness or teasing has been misinterpreted as flirting before DLKFJDLKF I’m trying to be extra conscious about not having that misunderstanding happen nowadays but man it happened a lot).

Azuma knows a lot of people, and has been supporting a lot of people, but he doesn’t let people in as much.

And a lot of it is linked to his own sense of grief. Of the fact he has lost so much he can’t afford to go through the pain of losing something again, so he distances himself from it before it can hurt. And I do that a lot.

I mentioned in the previous rant but it’s seeing Azuma’s arc that made me understand how much it’s more grief than abandon that makes it so hard for me to move on. And a part of me kinda just. Grieves the family I could never have, the normal life I wish I could have lived and clang too all of my life. When Azuma told Guy “I was always so lonely. Everyone had families they could take for granted but I had no one.” Oh my god it destroyed me. And how he mentions just afterward that while he has new people to rely on, it couldn’t change the fact he was still feeling this pain of losing his family and it just. Man. Might be crying right now.

It’s like… I think the reason I especially related to that is that, in therapy I’ve often discussed my problems in the lenses of neglect and abandon but the problem with that lenses is that, at least with the therapists I had, they tend to focus on the fact that therefore I /must/ be still yearning for them to change and turn around, like I could change something. But I don’t. I was resigned at some point. And it’s really only when I read that that I felt this exact resignation I have been feeling all that time. I think I mentioned once how reading a3 felt like going one step toward recovery I didn’t know I could get and this was exactly the scene I meant. It legit took a weight off my heart that i've been carrying for decades. It was the strangest feeling in the world.

Anyway more in general too, on top of keeping people at distance, I am also a pro at “suddenly disappearing/ghosting when I get too close and/or have a relapse”. When Azuma starts to pull his relapses like we see in Nocturnality, I see myself. Legit had a friend who read a3 who called me out about that DLKJFDKLFJ. Acting weird like this, closing yourself in like this, coming back to some harmful coping mechanism as a way to connect back with your own self, those are all things I do. And it sucks. Like. The things I put my friends though sucks. But I really can’t help it sometimes.

I’m good at listening and observing, I’m generally good at picking up why people act a certain way, but I’m still very distant. I do everything I can to pretend I’m not distant and generally it fakes an idea of intimacy that I don’t specifically see as such.

And I see all of that in Azuma in ways that are terrifyingly relatable. Another thing Azuma says in this convo with Guy, about how “Everytime I would go to sleep, I would wish the morning would never come” me. Mood. Holy shit. Feel seen. I hate it. Just in general though the way he talks about morning as this terrifying thing is me. Between the night terrors and the fact morning genuinely makes me feel horrible, that’s kinda why I end up oversleeping until the afternoon DLKFJDF Azuma my lord I feel you.

Because of my nightly panic attacks I do try to come up with ways around it mainly by drinking some relaxing tisanes and stuff. Oh and I did have a huge period in life where I HATED being in the sun, and I fucked over all of my melanin because of that. as a kid I would tan very easily, but now the sun hates me as much as I used to hate it. So when Azuma is a drama queen about not wanting to stay in the UV too much I’m just like. How dare you pull out a mirror on me I didn’t ask for this. (also I have been called a vampire by people esp when I was a teen but that’s just how people called edgelords like me. Still. Reo my beloved.)

There is honestly so many little things with Azuma that reminds me of myself like this that it makes me go nuts. If Hisoka is who I relate to in term of specific trauma and how I cope personally, Azuma is more like, the direct physical impact of my trauma on me and the way it makes me relate to others people, as well as just every little behaviors here and there that are just so specific.

One of the only thing I really don’t relate to Azuma about is his love for Alcohol but I think if you replace it with like, my addiction to juice it works out the same.

Oh and, that’s a stupid but funny thing to me, I project hard on how much the reason he keeps his hair long is a form of mental stability for him, because I legit keep my hair long for my own mental stability. I have tied ways too much of my recovery process to my hair that when I see Azuma coping with grief with his hairstyle and how almost cutting it would be him spiraling down, I felt seen.

also i have 0 stamina just like him.

ANOTHER THING is also the fact Azuma is genuinely yearning for connections with people but he spent so much of his life keeping people away that as much as he’s yearning for it, it takes him so long to be able to lower those walls because he’s been so used to keep people away that he can’t reply to this yearning. And the way how, once he actually ends up feeling this bit of vulnerability toward people, he would suddenly shut in like it suddenly scares him? Mood.

One last thing (i promise) (i think) is that, if it wasn't obvious from all my ranting.... So much of myself and the way i view myself is defined by my trauma. I struggle to exactly come to term with my identity in any shape or form that isn't deeply related to my trauma. Even if you asked me what my sexuality is (please don't), my actual answer would be completely shaped by the fact i have so much trauma linked to sexuality, romance and gender, that i don't want to process it at all and can't actually manage to "fit the boxes" because i cannot see myself as something else than my trauma, or explain my feelings without linking it to my trauma. Honestly at times i find it kinda cringeworthy from me because i really, really can't tell about anything about my identity without thinking of my various traumas (i talked about a few of them in those rankings but it's not even the tip of the iceberg for a lot of stuff.) And when i see the way Azuma is in particular, maybe i'm projecting, but i feel like a lot of it is the same. Like not processing his age because if he does it reminds him of how he outlived those he loved (which is an headcanon but com'on.) or how even his hair is linked to his trauma. Or how he doesn't drive because it's linked to his trauma. I feel SO seen.

If it wasn’t for the fact he genuinely loved and was loved by his family, I would have felt exactly the same about everything regarding him.

But I still give him a full mark because the way Azuma’s arc has affected me is beyond any possible words I could use. And also because I legit wrote above 2100 words just on how much I related to Azuma ALONE. Even Hisoka took me 800 WORDS. HELLO. Guy: 6/10 Back to general coping here, Guy isn’t exactly relatable to me except in well. For exemple the ways the others relate to him, especially Hisoka and Azuma. So his memory loss to cope with intense family trauma is relatable to me, the way he can have nightmares and night terrors is also hella relatable to me.

But something that’s more Guy that I relate to is the whole “Step dad kept talking down on him and verbally abusing him until Guy basically completely closed himself in” because man. I won’t elaborate but I’ve really felt from reading that verbal abuse the same way I felt thinking back to how my ex-step dad used to talk to me. It made me so angry on his behalf. And the way he internalized it to cope was something deeply relatable.

Another thing with Guy is the fact that Guy did genuinely believes himself inhuman and tbh there was a time when I was very young where I would catch myself unable to feel a bit of humanity mostly from how I kept shutting myself in. (The reason I don’t relate to it with Homare is that this “inhumanity” was never actually there even if Homare did believe in it. But for Guy he went the extra mile convincing himself to the point where he denied this humanity as far as possible in a self destructive way and :/).

SO YEAH Winter is like. Therapy for me. The problem with “Trauma: The Troupe” is that saying “I relate to the Winter troupe” means “I may have problems and so what.” And it sucks.

if you read that wordvomit, congratulation, was it worth it?

Take care!

#closes eyes and pretends i didn't just type all of that for azuma ANYWAY #bows down thank you for indulging in my fav passion of 'therapy via a3' the more we go #ichafantalks a3 #pandapillow #ichareply #also man Risky Game is going to absolutly murder me isn't it.

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grahamstoney · 10 years ago

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How I Won The Entrepreneurs Master Class Kick Ass Goal Competition

New Post has been published on https://grahamstoney.com/mindset/how-won-the-entrepreneurs-master-class-kick-ass-goal-competition

How I Won The Entrepreneurs Master Class Kick Ass Goal Competition

If you’re interested in what I did to rank among the winners of the Entrepreneurs Master Class Big Ass Goal Competition in March 2015, here’s what my submission looked like:

Name: Graham Stoney

Please state your original goal:

Get on TV doing comedy by 13th February 2015

Have there been any changes to your goal since the original submission? If so, what changes in direction have you taken and why?

The basic strategy is to intuitively create funny stuff, see what works, put a comedy routine together that I can deliver on TV… and start stalking The Chaser team from ABC TV.

It’s proven rather challenging; but hey, it’s a stretch goal so that’s normal, right?

What are the key action that you have taken toward your goal?

Wrote it in my goal book. Worried about Meditated on it every day.

Completed a Stand-Up Comedy course with City East Community College

Wrote 20 minutes of comedy material for my upcoming Stand-Up Comedy course graduation show on March 23rd 2015. The show got postponed several times beyond my goal date; apparently, that’s show biz for ya.

Auditioned for Short & Sweet Theatre Sydney, 2015. Landed the role of Tom in LockOut: The Musical (a comedy). Rehearsed for ages. Went on stage. Got rave reviews: “a wonderful song and dance musical performance extraordinaire”

Set up/updated my social media presence including my comedy blog, Facebook page, Google+ business page, Twitter feed, Instagram Account, LinkedIn profile, StarNow profile and YouTube Channel; all linked and automated wherever possible. At least Google will take me seriously now.

Configured my comedy blog to auto-upgrade & resolved some technical issues to minimise future need for IT support.

Engaged an SEO consultant to check my onpage SEO strategy.

Made these funny videos to promote LockOut: The Musical. Got feedback on what worked in them.

Made a video about my cleaner; which turns out to be full of lies, but is nonetheless funny.

Attended an Improv Theatre Sydney workshop at Giant Dwarf Theatre, which is run by The Chaser team. Totally failed to meet any of them.

Asked fellow Comedian Susie Youssef, who appeared on The Chaser’s Media Circus in November 2014, how she got on the show. She said “The Chaser guys called me”. When I asked “How do I get them to call me?”, she replied “Spend 10 years getting to know them”. Bit of a problem given my February 13th deadline.

Landed the role of Sidebar in Audience Therapy, another comedy play in Short & Sweet Theatre Sydney 2015 Festival. I play a Dr Phil-like TV therapist, who is basically an excellent showman but an incompetent therapist. Lots of audience participation and interaciton.

Attended the Comedy On The Edge workshop at The Chippendale Hotel . Got up and delivered 3 minutes of material, and got feedback on it. Several comedians said I was funny, and that it’s really hard to make comedians laugh.

Went to lots of comedy shows to suss out the vibe and see what works, and what doesn’t.

Asked my Comedian mate Ray Badran about his agent, Century Entertainment. Networking, networking, networking. He recommended them.

Outsourced my YouTube video SEO by finding a great local contractor on elance.com. Trained and built a working relationship for her to automate future YouTube video SEO and blog posting.

Set up a no-contact boundary with my mother, so I can feel good about myself for the first time in my life.

Began studying Tai Chi to manage my stress levels.

Moved to Bondi, a more creative area than boring old Lane Cove. Got a new lease on an apartment, and on life.

Practised doing comedy with everyone I talked to, including my property manager, people on the bus and at the beach.

Went to the beach, meditated and played drums every day to create a sustainable work-life balance.

Went to bed early whenever I could.

Spent way too long writing this submission.

What have you learned about business and/ or yourself during this challenge?

Getting on TV requires actually knowing people who cast stuff for TV, and having an agent.

To do Stand-up on TV, I need to have a solid routine which I already know works in front of a live audience. I need to get in front of live audiences in order to do develop that.

I’m only really funny when I feel safe and am not stressed out.

It’s a journey, not a destination. Keeping this in mind absolves all failures challenging learning experiences in which goals appear to still be located in the future.

What has been the outcome of this?

I’m a lot closer to living my dream than I was 3 months ago.

Have you achieve your goal?

I’ve ChromeCasted my YouTube channel to my TV. Does that count?

Remember to come to [intlink id=”1625″ type=”post”]my upcoming gig[/intlink] at Balmain Workers Club on 23rd March 2015!

#entrepreneurs master class #winning #Mindset

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foodcourtdetective · 7 years ago

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The Connor Project: American Tour (Chapter One)

Warnings: Swearing Word Count: 1,461 Summary: Girl goes to the mall. Girl reconnects with high school friend during suicide awareness concert. High school friend offers girl a spot on the tour bus. Girl agrees because of cute boy. Cute boy has a girlfriend. Five young adults drive through the US. What could go wrong? Hopefully the author will come up with a better summary for the next chapter. Established Evan/Zoe. Leading up to Evan/OC.

Chapter 1: Let’s Go to the Mall

It was a simple mission: Get in. Get a black shirt. Get out. Claire sighed, frustrated with herself for spilling pasta sauce on yet another collared shirt at work. The Olive Garden had an easier uniform than most and while the stains certainly didn’t show, Claire was too exhausted to do laundry every night (especially since the laundry room in her apartment building was a bit spooky). Having a fourth shirt in the rotation would lengthen the time between washes and maybe give Claire that extra amount of sleep needed to keep herself from being as clumsy as she was.

But like many of Claire’s projects and day-to-day activities, she soon faced distractions. For example, her best friend from her old high school kept texting her.

Al the Pal: Heyyy Claire! You’re never gonna guess where I am! Al the Pal: Okay, since you’re not responding, I’m assuming it’s taking you some thought figure it out. Al the Pal: Okay, you better not have blocked me after the Jello incident of 2013. Al the Pal: Girl. Al the Pal: I’M IN YOUR TOWN! Text me ASAP.

God, she really hadn’t changed since the last time they were together. Claire loved Al, but life had gotten too hard and she didn’t want to hold back her Ivy League bound friend. They still stayed in touch, but it was usually the Instagram comment or DM message here or there. It was rare to get a text, never mind several, unless Al was really excited about something. But why would she be here in September? Doesn’t she have college orientation? Come to think of it, Claire hadn’t had the time to check Facebook or anything that would update her on her friend’s future. She made a mental note to log on later. Spotting the J. C. Penney, Claire picked up the pace to the store. Maybe if I make this trip quick enough, I can grab some food from the food court.

Thirteen minutes later, Claire was making her way to the food court. But strangely, the relatively half-full mall was packed around a decent-sized stage set up right next to the food court. It was hard to see through the crowd, but it sounded like a Christian teen group singing. Claire tried to push through to the food court on the right, but soon stopped when she heard a familiar voice.

“There’s a place where we don’t have to feel unknown. And every time that you call out, you’re a little less alone!” Almost immediately as she turned her head toward the stage. There was her childhood friend Alana Beck looking as passionate as usual on the electric keyboard. Claire then started taking in the other members on stage. Was that Jared Kleinman on the drums, the kid who once got kicked out of her freshman health class for refusing to refer to the male genitalia as its scientific term (“what do you mean I’m not allowed to refer to the penis as a sex sword?). She recognized Zoe Murphy playing the electric violin, a step up from their days together in the middle school band with plastic instruments. There were a few other instrument players who looked older; Claire didn’t think they went to her old school. They looked like actual band members. Inevitably, the blonde’s eyes drifted to the boy center stage, gripping the microphone tightly like he was trying not to lose his balance in a subway car. He looked familiar; the sweaty upper lip, the tight nervous smile, the blue striped shirt. She couldn’t put a name or voice to the face though. His voice was rather beautiful though as he sang the last line.

“You will be found.” His words gave Claire a genius idea. With a mischievous smile, she took her phone out of her back pocket and finally responded to Alana’s texts, the crowd roaring around her.

Claire Bear: Heyyy Alana! You’re never gonna guess where I am! Claire Bear: I’ll give you a hint: You have been found. As she tried to make her way towards the front of the stage, the cheering audience resisted, trying to nudge or elbow her back. Claire persevered, shoving her way to the side of the stage. Before she could call for Alana, her foot caught on something, possibly the wheel of the nearby Annie’s cart. The clumsy blonde began hurtling towards the ground when someone caught her, their hands rough on her. As they helped her back to her feet, Claire soon recognized the smirk and nearly laughed out loud.

“Woah there, M’lady. Looks like you were falling for me for a second there!” Almost immediately, Alana rushed over to Claire’s rescue, rolling her eyes.

“Jared! Don’t hit on her. She’s not gonna react like your little fan girls!” Jared took a step back to get a good look at the blonde, nodding in approval.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Dossett the Vet? Where did you run off to last year? I was gonna ask you to the Prom!” Claire laughed at the old nickname, shrugging off the strong emotions associated with the events of last year.

“You know I would have said no. Besides, Al here was a more organized date anyhow!” At the mention of her nickname, Alana reached over to hug her old friend.

“Where have you been? I’ve texted you several hundred times, Claire!” The blonde shrugged, ruffling Alana’s hair playfully.

“I work at the Olive Garden now. It’s a very demanding job. I work forty hours a week plus overtime to earn minimum wage plus tips!” Alana gasped, suddenly coming up with a better idea.

“Zo and Evan! Get your lovebird asses over here!” Sure enough, Zoe and the lead singer wandered over holding hands. When he saw you, his grip slipped.

“S-sorry, sweaty-“

“I know babe, your hands get sweaty,” Zoe quipped, her attention hyper-focused on the other three.

“So you know that while I’ve been the sole soul keeping the website for the Connor Project up to date and everything, we’ve been having some issues with our social media pages run by our very own Jared Kleinman,” Alana began as everyone looked pointedly at the aforementioned Jewish dork. He shrugged.

“Hey, you wanted a cool Instagram, right? The meme machine is still on it!” He finger-gunned, but only Evan half-hearted gestured back. Alana rolled her eyes, continuing her speech.

“Anyway, so Jared and I could really use some help on the online front. We could spend hours and days posting flyers, reading applications, interviewing strangers. Or… we could vote to accept Claire Dossett, high school friend of most of us, into the ranks effective immediately?” The applicant in question’s mouth dropped a little, shocked at the sudden impulse of her usually methodical best friend.

“Alana’s right as usual. I’m cool with Claire,” Zoe announced, flashing a grin to finally acknowledge the blonde band geek she remembered.

“Only if majority rules,” Jared decided with a smug smile, glancing over at his hopelessly awkward and anxious male companion. As Evan began sweating and stuttering, Claire instantly remembered Evan Hansen, the sweet but terribly anxious boy in her public speaking class junior year. Still cute.

“I v-vote with Zoe. She can s-stay, stay here with us! That is if-f-f she wants to? She never exactly s-s-said yes, so I guess it’s up t-t-to her? I mean, I want her to s-stay. Not in a weird way… just in a not mean way because I think you’d be a good f-fit for the job?” Evan covered his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed. Claire’s heart went out to him; he was clearly struggling. Everyone turned their attention to the blonde, anticipating her decision. She smiled at all of them gently, sighing in disbelief before she took out her cell phone.

“I guess I’ll call my manager right now and tell him I’m not doing my 10-7 shift tomorrow!” Alana clapped giddily, immediately drawing up plans for the new sleeping arrangements. Zoe and Jared scampered off to help the band put the equipment away, Zoe patting Jared on the back as he muttered: “but now the boy-girl ratio is uneven.” As Claire dialed the memorized phone number one last time and pressed the phone to her ear, she caught Evan’s eye. His lips parted for a moment until his brain caught up with him, forcing his eyes to her all-black sneakers. The blonde quietly smiled to herself; perhaps this spontaneous life decision would work out after all. But as her boss answered the phone, it suddenly hit her: am I gonna get paid for this?

(Author’s Note: Let me know if I should keep this going. I tagged the two people who liked the post I made about this fic. If you guys want off, just hit me a DM, I won’t take it too personally. I was thinking of also publishing on AO3 once my invitation is processed. The link will be put here x.)

Tag List:

@thequeenhaslanded, @liyahisdabomb

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cookie-waffle · 8 years ago

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what are your headcanon personalities for the 3d links?

OOOOOAAAAAAAHHH I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!!!

I did post some of my headcanons in detail a long time ago but since I love talking about them it wouldn’t hurt to talk about them again. Fair warning though, this reply gets LONG.

SS: Basically a big cuddly bunny. Very sweet and affectionate. He’s always daydreaming and losing focus in class (mostly due to his ADHD). He’s also slept in every possible surface you can sleep on in Skyloft. And when he was younger Groose and the gang™ would even have a contests to see how many random objects they can place on and around him before he notices and wakes up (the highest record was 3 books, 10 sky stags, 30 small loftwing feathers, 7 eggs, 2 pot lids, 20 rupees, and a remlit). But there little contests eventually stopped when Zelda chewed Groose out for it. Speaking of Zelda, Link actually kinda enjoys how much she fusses over him. He likes having someone who looks after him, which could be partially because his parents died when he was very young so the only one who was every there to encourage him and make sure he didn’t get into any trouble was Zelda. Does Link have a crush on Zelda? Oh yes, ABSOLUTELY. But the kid has a tendency to be super oblivious to things sometimes and he can’t seem to figure out that Zelda likes him too. Almost all the other kids and even professors at the academy can see it (hence why Groose feels so threatened by him) but Link just seems completely oblivious to it all. He doesn’t even fully realize the full extent of his feelings for her until he has to save her from Gihrahim and The Imprisoned. Now as for his relationship with Groose, Groose was never the kind of bully who was brutal and beat Link up and try to torture him constantly. He and the gang™ would just throw some bad insults and pull mean pranks on Link from time to time. Even if he did want to be brutal he’d never have the guts to do it out of fear of Zelda getting upset at him. However there was ONE pretty bad incident where Link and Groose got in a big fight and Groose ended up giving him a bloody nose. (Groose did get suspended for a while after that.) However despite all this Link never really hated Groose, at most he just found him really annoying and irritating. But after the events the events that took place in Skyward Sword, Link and Groose actually became pretty good friends.Before Link went on his quest he didn’t think too highly of himself or think he was that special. All he felt like was some kid with barely passing grades trying to become a knight. He wanted to become partially to honor his parens who ere both knights and even met at the academy, and also because his grades at his old normal school were horrific and Knight Academy has easier academic classes (so like math, history, and english) but is seen as an acceptable alternative to normal school since being a knight is considered an honor. During his quest he began to mature a lot more. No matter how scared or exhausted he got he refused to give up because he knew Zelda needed him and the only way to ever see her again was to keep pushing on. His journey did get emotionally taxing at times but he did manage to pull through without losing himself. And he didn’t do it just because someone told him to, he did it to save the girl he loved. After Zelda was crowned as the first queen if Hyrule she did marry Link who then became the first king. When they were in their early to mid 20s they had some kiddos who Link absolutely spoiled rotten.

WW/PH: Weird awkward gremlin child. Doesn’t sleep quite as much as Sky did but he still sleeps quite a bit. Not the most socially inept Link and certainly was not the most confident Link when he started out his adventure. But his little sister Aryll looks up to him nonetheless. Although he was not anywhere near prepared for what he ended up getting thrown into on his 12th birthday he did always have some sense of adventure. He would often explore and play the forrest with his little sister. Growing up as the oldest child on the island, Link is used to playing and communicating with younger children. But unfortunately he also has a bit of a hard time socializing with children around his own age. All the other kids on outset island were like 4-8 years old, the only time he saw kids his age or older than him was on the rare occasion that a ship would stop by to restock IF it just so happened to have a family with children on board. The first kid his age he actually befriended was Tetra who is FAR from a normal child. At first Link was even quite intimidated by her until when eventually he got used to her shenanigans. Tetra did not like him AT ALL at first. Like Link, she never had much interaction with children her own age, but unlike Link, rather than growing up with nothing but younger kids, she grew up around nothing but adults and learned how to boss them around pretty well too. Link saw her as bossy and mean at first and Tetra saw him as kind of a pest who was just there to get in her way. But they did eventually warm up to each other and became close friends. They were an odd couple but somehow it worked out. Link never gave leaving Outset much thought until his sister was kidnapped. His original plan was to get her back as fast as possible and head back home. Buuut as we all know that didn’t work out as planned. Throughout his journey Link gained much more self confidence and wasn’t as easily intimidated by challenges. After the events of WW and after Tetra and the crew™ went out to find new land, Link wrote letters to home every day. He tried to keep his family updated on his adventures as much as he could. And years after the events of PH Link and Tetra did get married and became the rulers of New Hyrule. They had like… way too many kids…. Like… 10…. TEN CHILDREN. (4 of which they had before they were even married) The little gremlins could be absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to control at times but Link still adored them anyways. Link’s family came to the wedding. Grandma was still alive but very old and weak. If there was one last things she wanted to do it was to see her grandson as a full grown man with a family. Aryll was a grown woman and had a family of her own. And Linebeck was there too! And Grandma recognized him… and Linebeck recognizes her… she does not remember him fondly and starts threatening him… apparently he dated her daughter years ago and broke her heart, came back 4 years later, promised to marry her, and then fucked off again never to return…. Oh wait then this must mean…. oh shit… THE WEDDING RECEPTION HAS SUDDENLY BECOME VERY AWKWARD.

OoT/MM: Oh this one…. this one ain’t happy… Link was the only child in Kokiri Forrest who often dreamt of the outside world. When he set off on his quest he was cheerful excitable and ready to see new sights and meet new friends! He was a but scared of adults at first because up until then he had never seen an adult before (other than the Great Deku Tree that is). This carried into the part of his journey where he aged up 7 years. He still only had the mind of a young child so he still felt like he was on a fun adventure. But that did not last… he eventually became extremely traumatized, basically ripped away from his childhood and forced to grow up when he wasn’t ready. He had lost who he was before. When he was sent back to his childhood came back mature beyond his years but also traumatized. He could never be the same again. This only got worse in MM. He started to get angry more often, felt much older than other children his age. He could however, handle a lot more hardships than he could have in the past. He was not afraid to get up in people’s faces, he was not easy to intimidate, some monsters would even cower away in fear when they saw him. Despite how shockingly young he was he was able to give off an intimidating presence if he wanted to. After the events of MM he never really was able to find Navi, and it took him many years to find his way back to Hyrule. Along the way he ended up losing Epona in a battle. He was all alone. He NEEDED to make it back to Hyrule. During the events of OoT he did indeed end up falling in love with Zelda/Sheik and was hoping to ask her hand in marriage when he finally made it back to Hyrule. But when he finally did it was too late and Zelda was already married to someone else. He ended up marrying Malon instead and had children with her. He did love her very much, but there was always something deep inside that mad him yearn for his soulmate. Malon did notice this but decided never to bring it up. But even though Link never became the prince of Hyrule he was able to get a position as a high ranking Knight. One night before Link set off to battle, he felt in his gut something bad was going to happen. So did Zelda. They tried to convince themselves it was just nervousness but deep down they knew something was going to happen. So for that one night, the two let themselves give in to their feelings and they kissed. Just once before he left.Link never returned from the battle.

TP: He looks stern at first glance but he’s really quite gentile and kindhearted. He has a great love for animals, is very good with kids, and probably unironically uses the word “ya’ll'id’ve”.Teenage girls go absolutely crazy over him but he’s not too interested in dating or girls. He’s kind of a chill dude actually. Unlike Sky Link, he can focus on things easily and is very good at completing the task on hand quickly. He’s also nice to talk to because he’s a very good listener and never interrupts or speaks over people. He has very good manners for a boy his age. As for where Link came from, no one really knows…. Hanch and Jaggle just sorta found him wandering around aimlessly in the forest as a toddler and all the villagers in Ordon made it a group effort to raise him. There were some blod stains on his clothing when he was found that did not come from him, suggesting that his original caretakers were killed by monsters (who were most likely really after Link because of his triforce birthmark). He was never really around other Hylians growing up, so Zelda was the first Hylian he ever met, or at leasts remembers meeting. Link found Midna a bit irritating at first because of all the teasing but after a while he would start to playfully smart mouth her back and the two started to make it into this sort of game of who could come up with the best sassy comebacks. Before his journey Link never felt like he had a big purpose or anything like that. He didn’t even know that the triforce birthmark he had meant anything. He was raised by humans with human culture and legends, not Hylian culture. So he sure had a lot to learn. When he discovered that he was the hero of legend it was all a bit overwhelming. But he did it anyways. He wanted to make sure his friends were okay more than anything. After the events of TP Link stayed in Hyrule and became a knight. When he got older he started to fancy the (now queen) Zelda who he had become good friends with over the years. Unfortunately… he didn’t live long enough to propose to her. He died at the age of 20 of a serious infection from a poison arrow that went unnoticed. When he was still ill but knew he wouldn’t make it he requested to be brought back to Ordon so he could pass away at home, and he stayed in his wolf form the entire time so his friends would not be able to see how much he was really suffering. Zelda insisted to be at his side. She had a great respect for him and he was a good friend. She never fully knew how he felt about her, but the final look Link had given her when he looked into her eyes for the last time was a look of pure love. There is a legend that says each time the hero or princess dies they can see all of their past live’s memories in their final moments…

BOTW: Can be shy, very quiet, but incredibly sweet. Like Sky Link, this Link has ADHD. Except instead of not being able to focus, he has the type of ADHD that makes him VERY VERY HYPER. As a young child it was hard to keep him from climbing over and running over everything. And on top of all that he has incredibly high energy levels. He very reckless as a little kid but he saw it all as just fun and games. He would laugh, giggle a lot, and even speak loudly. But it all changed when his father started to train him as a knight… Most would assume Link chose this path. People think he did it because he wanted to be like his father. But truth be told, his relationship with his father was actually cold, controlling, and emotionally draining. Link’s father made him dedicate all his time to training. He was no longer allowed to play with the other children because his father wanted to discourage childish things like playing. He was deprived most of his childhood. He did however, become an exceptional knight. And he learned how to control his hyperactive tendencies. But he also developed high levels of anxiety. He was used to being severely punished if he slipped up so he made sure to try his best to never show what he was feeling or thinking when on the job. And when he found out he was the hero of legend his anxiety got all the worse. He couldn’t even speak anymore he was so terrified of making a mistake. He became selectively mute and only spoke around close friends like Mipha, or when someone who has a higher level of authority asked him a question, speaking in a very soft, quiet, and sometimes even difficult to hear voice. (this didn’t stop him from muttering smartass remarks @ Revali under his breath from time to time though)When he was assigned to be Zelda’s knight it changed his world. He was surprised how much he could relate to her, he LOVED listening to her ramble on and on about her interests, and every time she smiled it made him briefly forget all of his anxieties. However, fearing that he may say something he regrets, he rarely spoke to her. So all he could do was be there next to her, silently falling more and more in love. Eventually Zelda did get him to open up more and although he was shy at first he did greatly enjoy speaking with her. They related to each other a lot and felt an instant connection.After Link awoke from the shrine of resurrection, he did not remember anything of his past, including his father. So he no longer felt too much of a pressure to hide his emotions so much. He did however, carry on some habbits he had from back then. Things like rarely speaking unless spoken too and some of his anxiety issues stayed. When he regained all his memories of Zelda he remembered how in love he was. The emotions would hit him hard. And gave him more the reason to want to save her. On his quest he showed a lot of his old personality traits that he used to show when he was younger. Being a lot more cheerful, very friendly, and just wanting to run around and go on adventures. He also eats. A LOT. And this kid will literally eat anything (except live frogs). He’s literally cooked a pile of rocks before and he STILL ate it. He’s trained himself to be quite the chef even though not all the dishes always end up great (hence the rocks). Link also likes animals similar to Twilight Link. He is especially fond of horses. He’s one of those people who has this strange ability to calm down horses a lot more quickly than most people. Even though Link can hide his emotions there is one thing he can’t hide. And thats blushing. When he blushes his face and ears get very red and it is noticeable. And he blushed so much around Zelda that she just assumed that’s what he normally looked like. After the events of BOTW Link did eventually reagin the rest of his memories piece by piece. Some memories he was happy to remember, and others would sometimes make him an emotional sobbing mess and Zelda would have to stay up all night comforting him. When Link and Zelda finally revealed their true feelings for each other Zelda almost immediately wanted to ask for Link’s hand in marriage but she stopped herself out of fear of overwhelming him. So she waited to ask him a year later. They decided to start a family soon and to have many children because the Yiga clan was still out there and would not hesitate to kill Zelda given the chance, ending the Goddess’s bloodline. Having many children would be kind of like insurance. If one of them gets slain there will still be others left to continue the bloodline. A morbid thought that Link and Zelda did not like to think about but it was true. They ended up parenting 11 of their own children and 2 that Link adopted on impulse because he has a huge soft spot for kids and Zelda of course could not refuse. (yes know that’s more kids than Wind Link had but at least these ones were PLANNED).Link and Zelda made sure to give them the childhoods that they never had. Link made damn sure that he did NOT raise them like his father raised him. He did teach them how to climb, shoot arrows, and basic sword combat for survival reasons but he did his best to never force anything onto them. And surprisingly, the kids were usually well behaved (much unlike Wind Link’s kids). This could be because Link has a very calming presence around people. People no matter what age seem to be much more at ease when he’s around, especially Zelda.

#legend of zelda #loz #legend of zelda headcanon #zelink #okay to rb

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shsl-mothy · 8 years ago

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45 Character Dev Q’s

Link 2 original post

1. Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

Yuka technically has/will have 2 sisters in-law’s after she is married to her fiance, Kazuo Yamamoto. One sister is named Akako Yamamoto- she and Yuka do not get along at all. In fact, Akako is the one responsible for a majority of Yuka’s bullying as she grew up. The other sister, Shiro Kamiya, was adopted into the Yamamoto family in some not-so-nice ways. Yuka has never been allowed to speak to Shiro, but she doesn’t particularly dislike Shiro either.

2.What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

Yuka’s relationship with her mother is incredibly close. Her mother is the one who got Yuka interested in insects in the first place, and was the one who encouraged Yuka to study entomology if con-artistry wasn’t what she wanted. Yuka was originally supposed to get into the Kagome clan’s business in crime, however due to her horrid health and waning interest in such things, her mother pulled some strings for her daughter so that Yuka could just study and live as she liked. Her and her mother are inseparable- it is a very loving relationship.

3.What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Yuka is also very close with her father. Yuka sees him less as his work as a hitman is very sticky work and he has to put that before his family, however Yuka is a total daddy’s girl. She loves her father very much- and he would do anything for his daughter. He’s viciously protective of her, to the point of where he would kill for her in a heartbeat if that meant she was safe. He’s also the one responsible for while Yuka is so spoiled- he rarely says no to her.

4.Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

Multiple things have changed her, pre-despair and post-despair. Pre-despair, the first thing that fundementally changed Yuka was likely when her giant hornets were accidentally cued to attack her fiance. She watched this huge man whom she platonically loves almost die at the hand of her study, which she though she had a master control over. At this point in her life, she was already very down on herself and rarely socialised with anybody, so this was the nail in the coffin of her having a very negative self esteem. She ran to HPA to try and build up her mastery over her study after that, determined to never let her fiance see her again until she could prove to him she had control.

Post-despair, I suppose something that fundamentally changed her was both Adachi and Genta’s death. She deeply respects those two, and after they both died, despite it being horrifically traumatising for her, she felt a growing sense of determination to try and succeed for them. Once it came out that it was a simulation and she was able to speak to these boys again, she had already grown into a slightly braver person. This is why she acts so differently now from how she was at the beginning of the game.

5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

Honestly... she doesn’t do this in game anymore, but in pre-despair, it was easy to find insects in her pockets. And other items like sweet scents, sugars, and pheromones. She carried them because she wanted to attract bugs to her as much as possible. She also carries her basic essentials with her, such as identification, her wallet, money, etc. Various medications are on her as well, and surprisingly, a switchblade. She didn’t get it in game, but she typically carries one outside of the game.

6. Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Not really? But Yuka doesn’t sleep very often, so when she does, her dreams are incredibly vivid, almost surreal.

7. Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

When she has nightmares, she typically dreams about hornets. They don’t usually do just one thing, they’re just typically hornet nightmares. As of late in the game, Yuka finds herself dreaming about past death’s as well.

8.Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

She has! Though she’s awful at it because she’s so physically weak that even handguns make her arms tired, her father taught her how to shoot a gun. Her first target was a normal paper target. No, she did not hit the centre ever. She managed to get the paper at least a little bit, though.

9. Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Yuka has always been ultra rich and has had a high social standing. It’s not a very popular standing based on the fact that she was born into the higher ranks of a crime syndicate, but she is still rich and very ladylike when she needs to be. However, she hasn’t always lived in a huge mansion. She used to live in a very small town- her parents wanted her to live peacefully as a child before moving into the bigger city with the larger main clan of yakuza, where her fiance lives. Unfortunately, with her bullying history, it wasn’t very peaceful, but the intent was there.

Yuka actually has a lot of sway on what she can make happen in the crime world merely because of who she is and who she is getting married to (future oyabun of the Yamamoto clan), but she never actually does any work herself. Consider her a spoiled princess instead of a queen.

10. Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

Yuka doesn’t mind either way, though she has a penchant for always wearing dangerously short skirts.

11. In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

Probably when Kazuo almost died in front of her or when he nearly beat somebody to death for her right before her eyes. Also, when Genta actually died in front of her. Scary stuff! The current oyabun of the Yamamoto clan also scares Yuka a lot, any situation she needs to speak to him she gets very nervous, especially since she almost killed his son on accident.

12. In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

Whenever she is left alone to her own devices and is focusing on her work, is when she is the most calm. She loves her intricate studies. She also feels very calm in Kazuo’s arms, and now in-game: Ailani’s.

13. Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

She has a normal squick to it. She’s not grossed out for a certain reason, but it’s not nice to look at in great amounts either.

14. Does your character remember names or faces easier?

I’d say shes good at both, but is slightly better at names. She’s got a mind for information.

15. Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

Yuka is very very material. She loves money, she flaunts money, and she carelessly spends money- merely because she grew up with whatever she wanted. Yuka was incredibly spoiled. Yuka isn’t necessarily greedy to the point of wanting everything in the world, she is just not used to people saying no to her. But, on the other hand... her entire wardrobe is custom made for her, for pete’s sake.

16. Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

Yuka goes for success. It’s sort of sad, but a truth of her family is- no matter how loving it is to her, they are built on accomplishments. Yuka is very loyal to her family, so thinking of disobeying and not being as successful as she can be is very bothersome to her. However, as of late, Yuka’s been slightly considering going the happiness route. In the back of her head, she’s considering running away from her arranged marriage... but it’s still a lot to consider for her.

17. What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

Yuka has a little porcelain doll that she liked a lot. Yuka loved loved loved this butterfly net she got from her mother. Her mother used to catch butterflies to pin them, and she gave it to Yuka when she showed interest in butterflies and moth’s as well.

18. Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

Yuka’s lowkey a sapiosexual, so she admires the fuck out of wisdom. It’s why she likes Genta so much. This wisdom doesn’t need to be academic though, she admire’s Adachi for his practical and gruff wisdom (so to speak).

19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

Yuka’s biggest flaw is the fact Yuka is incredibly nervous and scared of people. It’s calmed down over the course of the game, as it’s forced her to take a more brave role, but her fear of people, social inept��ness and overall rude and push-away personality has caused many of her relationships to crumble, in and out of game. In addition, it’s why she was bullied so harshly growing up.

20. In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

Yuka compares herself to others so damn much. She does it very unhealthily, and tries to compare herself to others, hoping she would amount to them. She self criticises too much. At the same time, she tries to put others down for being lesser or lower class than others, so it’s a vicious cycle.

21. If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

Highly depends. Yuka is highly logical in this manner. If she makes it out to be another person’s fault by fact, then Yuka is absolutely relentless in letting other’s know they are at fault. (Just ask Sarara and Holly, and a little Michiko, Yuka has fucking went OFF on them in canon!)

However, when Yuka thinks it’s her fault, she gets incredibly down on herself. To the point of where it’s obsessive, and incredibly unhealthy. She has always been negative and depressive So if something is her fault, she practically grovels to try and gain forgiveness- it’s pretty bad.

22. What does your character like in other people?

Yuka appreciates smarts, patience, and somebody brave enough to protect her, but not belittle her as weak. She appreciates people who can give her long conversation, or people that just try to work hard in general. She herself is spoiled, but it’s hard for her to relate to other spoiled people. Though, it’s not impossible persay- she is friend’s with Michiko after all.

23. What does your character dislike in other people?

A LOT. Yuka is so... so... SO fucking picky about who she associates with. She’s judgemental of people who are too mean, too emotional, yet too emotionless, to reckless, yet people who are too particular. She’s such a hypocrite too, she’s some of the traits she hates as well.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

It takes such a long damn time. Nobody in the game has gained her full trust. She has people she trusts to a degree, and she appreciates them a lot, but only people like her fiance, who she’s known since childhood, are the truly trusted people in her life. It takes a long time for her to even consider you an acquaintance, so.

25. How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

Yuka keeps her suspicion separate from her personal relations, so if she is suspect of someone, it doesn’t change her personal thoughts on somebody. Hell, they could be guilty and she would still think of them positively. However, if you wrong her in particular... that’s when you should be a little concenred. Yuka is big on trust and grudges.

26. How does your character behave around children?

Yuka is surprisingly SUPER motherly. She takes after her own mother, in multiple ways. One way is that around children, she’s very caring and observant, she want’s to make them happy. She wouldn’t be a mother herself, but she’s a brilliant auntie.

27. How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

Yuka’s pretty baaaad at confrontation usually. However, if you manage to get on her grudge list, then she will go to you and list your every flaw to you. Again, just ask Sarara, Holly, and maybe Michiko hahaha. Yuka goes from a nervous wreck to a furious monologuer, it’s both intimidating and lame.

28. How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

Yuka Kagome is a fucking bug, she’s so damn weak and sickly- she CANNOT resort of physical violence herself. Now, if her fiance and gang are around, or if she has easy hires around, THAT’S a completely different story.

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

Yuka wanted to write children’s books. For a while she also wanted to become an idol.

30. What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

Yuka HATE’S sweets with a passion. It makes her gag. Though, she hates it for a reason actually. Yuka is used to being surrounded in a sweet scent, that smells like a combination of sweet sugars, rotting fruit, and intense flowers. It’s simply just being around that for way too long that make her lose interest in sweet tasting foods. Make’s her gag, actually. It’s a sacrifice she makes to attract insects.

31. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

Yuka is most comfortable when she’s surrounded by people that she loves, surrounded by people that know her for who she really is. Yuka as a person is incredibly caring and loving, it’s just that she has suffered a lot to the point of where she feels she needs to hide that part of her. When she is surrounded by her loved ones and interests, in an environment she loves (nature) she mellows out immensely.

32. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

Yuka hates crowds- she often panics in them. New people, people bombarding her, and expecting things of her make her very nervous. She hates being in positions of authority as well. She deeply prefers solitude or people around her closer circle of friends.

33. In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

Highly depends on the situation. If it’s legitimate criticism, Yuka will consider it and change her ways, if it involves information unrelated to her. If it’s uneducated criticism or unwarranted, or if it relates to her emotionally, she gets incredibly defensive and even acts threatened- she hates her intelligence or way of life being questioned in negative ways.

34. Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

Yuka will usually try to improve the method a bit more, before giving it up. An example is nightwatch. It was started to be used against them, so she tried to change it before giving up on it completely. She doesn’t like people who give up easily, so she only moves on to new methods if she has exhausted all her options of attempt.

35. How does your character behave around people they like?

I mentioned this earlier in a few other points, but Yuka is very sweet and caring. Very motherly as well- she’s very caring. She loves to spoil her friends and loved ones if they’re truly close to her. She’ll spend ridiculous amounts of money on them, and make them homemade meals. Yuka will even listen to their problems. She is still logical, so she’s not the best to ask for answers you want to hear, but she is good at telling you what you need to hear to truly get something fixed or finished.

36. How does your character behave around people they dislike?

So. Pettily. Yuka will usually put aside her dislike to cooperate in times of need, but in normal situations, Yuka is honest about her distaste and will make sure somebody knows it. She’s very petty, and will start fights if she feels even slightly threatened by them. However, if she feels like she has the upper hand on them, she can get very condescending, as if they’re not worth her wasting her breath.

37. Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Yuka ties in honour with her status, so I suppose it’s both. Her family is very honour based, however they have their own definition in honour obviously as her family is a crime syndicate. They find this honour through servitude and success, so status is very important back at home for her. It’s partially why she is so incredibly defensive about her relationship with Ailani! Yuka feels like it’s wrong for her to be in that relationship at all, because she’s betraying her familial honour and the engagement they put her into. It’s her one role to play since she never had to go into the business- so she hates being teased about it.

38. Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

The latter. But again, that depends on if she’s alone or surrounded by her Peeps. If she has her fiance’s gang around her, or her fiance in general, or people she’s hired, she is indeed ruthless enough to try and remove a threat. Yes, by death. She’s... not a good person.

39. Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

No! Well, yes if you are the type to count insects as animals. She’s been bitten and stung by her insects countless times. She used to cry because of it, but now that she’s relatively seasoned as an entomologist, she can handle it pretty calmly, as she knows what to do if they’re venomous or harmful. Never been bitten by a larger animal, though.

40. How does your character treat people in service jobs?

Yuka is polite and kind. She isn’t overly warm, as she has no need to be, but she has never mistreated anybody in a job relating to service. Yuka is particularly close to her fiance’s butler though, if we want to be literal in terms of ‘service’ job.

41. Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

If it’s relating to material items, she sort of just expects it to come to her as that is how she was raised. But goals and accomplishments must be gained of your own hard work- she hates slackers.

42. Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

Her fiance’s father and mother, in a way. He’s a scary ass parental figure, but he’s taken care of Yuka sometimes.

43. Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

No, she has not.

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

It takes Yuka 6 fucking years to actually say I love you confidentially to Ailani outside of this murder game. Another 4 to even consider marriage. Yuka has such a hard time saying I love you. She can never say it without meaning it- it’s a huge step for her as a person.

45. What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

Yuka on a normal basis doesn’t really think about death, it’s more of just a reality thing for her. The thought of her life being taken away scares her more than the actual concept of death. In a killing game though, that has been warped a bit over time.

#ooc #meme

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symphonicwinds · 8 years ago

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Sophia Reviews: Persona 5 Confidants

I keep seeing people posting thoughts/opinions of each social link confidant of p5, but I noticed a lot of them were based on not 100% runthroughs, aka they didn’t finish everyone’s social links and don’t 100% understand everyones character arcs. And I guess I wanted to talk about everyone/my experience going through EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN SOCIAL LINK besides caroline and justine’s or else I wouldn’t have a reason to NG+ to full competion.

This discussion only covers the development/characterization of each confident within their own link, and the overall quality of the social link and their benefits to the gameplay. This does not include how I feel about the character as a whole, especially the ones with a significant amount of screenime in the main story. Me not liking a confidant’s link =/= me not liking them as a character.

I should also mention that I flip between the words “social link” and “confidant” a lot. For those of you who haven’t played past Persona games, social link was the word for confidant before Persona 5 decided to get Edgey™ and change the name.

This is the first of a series; because I tend to talk a lot and there are 21 stinkin’ confidants in the whole game, I will be dividing this into parts. This is part one, and it covers Arcanas 0 (the fool) to 4 (the emperor). I will release them as I finish them, with 5 arcanas at a time. Stay tuned for arcanas 5-10, tomorrow!

PSA: BEWARE OF SPOILERS. This is a spoiler-tastic discussion, since this discussion includes late game/end game social links. If you haven’t beat the game yet, please, good lord, please do not read this until you’re done. Don’t do that to yourself.

0. FOOL - IGOR

Igor’s link was probably one of my favourite social links, mainly because of the twist of Not Igor towards the endgame. I know some people dislike auto progressing social links, but I think it worked just because of the twist. I played persona 5 blind (besides using a confidant guide because holy shit there would be no other way I would be able to do that in my first play through otherwise), so I legitimately didn’t pick up on the Fake Igor thing. I also played persona 5 with the Japanese cast because I’m a fucking weeb I’m learning Japanese right now and holy shit I need all of the listening practice I can get. I knew the voice was off but I figured they didn’t want to impeach on the original talent of the previous voice actor, who had died.

Honestly, I still don’t 100% understand the final arc, in the rebirth v staying the same, and I’ll revise this section once I do get a comprehensive understanding of it, but I liked the idea of the Protagonist breaking free from his chains to the point where it’s visually shown in the velvet room. The fact that he only breaks free from the velvet room’s chains by the time the reveal happens was really interesting to me, and the fake igor plot was really intriguing because it completely changes your perception of the game.

As a social link, on the gameplay side, Igor’s is great, but also expected. More personas, extra EXP when fusing personas. You get these as the story progresses, so you can’t miss out on them.

I. MAGICIAN - MORGANA

Again, another story progressing confidant. I do like Morgana as a character, and I especially think that he is much better than Teddie, but I kind of found Morgana’s confidant to be slow moving. Igor’s social link was similar in that regard, but it’s expected to be because the beginning of Igor’s social link is more mechanical/for the sake of the game than actual character development. And the effect of the twist is compounded by that. The highlight of Morgana’s social link was definitely his disappearence, as it helped resolve some character issues along with advancing the plot along. I also didn’t like how everything came together at the very last second; again, this works with Igor because you don’t expect Igor to have growth/his own character, but Morgana does, so the pacing of his social link was kind of rough. Obviously this is because it was tied into end game plot points, but I wish his dreams were more explicit, or that he learned a bit more about himself over time, rather than shoving it at the end.

Morgana’s unique confidant boost is the ability to create infiltration tools, which are really useful in your Palace runs. You will not be able to miss out on getting this, but it is a great individual benefit. He also receives the standard party boosts but he lags behind other party members in this regard because he doesn’t reach rank 10 until the end of the game, making him the last party member to get maxed out. Obviously this isn’t as much of an issue if you didn’t max out all of your party members beforehand, but because of that he was always backup for me, besides during boss fights.

II. THE HIGH PRIESTESS - MAKOTO NIIJIMA

I guess I should start this off by saying that, Makoto is best girl.

Makoto appealed to me, mainly because I related to her the most, out of pretty much the entire cast. I sympathize with her dynamic with Sae, her desire to be “useful”, and her struggle with creating an purpose for herself, rather than doing what other people tell her.

In terms of her social link, I really liked her dynamic and relationship with Eiko, as they were really great foils to each other. Persona 5 is great at having minor NPCs/other characters affect the character growth of their confidants, and Makoto’s link is no exception to this. I really liked how Eiko and Makoto helped each other grow, and watching them bond was sweet, especially since you know that Makoto hasn’t really had any friends prior to joining the Phantom Thieves. I think the biggest thing I enjoyed about Makoto’s link is how subtle it is; she doesn’t have a huge fundamental change as a character, but rather, she gains the resolve to follow her dreams. Ann’s link functions in the same way, but it’s a bit less subtle than Makoto’s.

Makoto’s romance exclusive scenes were great, but they weren’t spectacular. As someone part of the Queen’s Guard (Makoto fanboy/girl), I liked them a lot! And getting her flustered was absolutely adorable. My only gripe with Makoto’s romance option is that it is too subtle. While this works for her character development, I kind of wish her feelings for the protagonist were more apparent. Her confession felt kind of forced, especially in contrast to other romanceable social links. Once you romance her, it’s great, but the confession itself is kind of flat.

Makoto’s social link bouses are the same as any party members, so they’re very useful! Her unique attribute is letting you see enemy drops, which I never found to be that useful.

III. THE EMPRESS – HARU OKUMURA

I really, really want to talk about Haru, because all of the discussions I’ve seen around her sum up to be “She was okay, but I didn’t really finish her link.”

LET ME AMEND THAT FOR YOU.

I do like Haru as a character, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate her gentle, sweet character. I also think it’s hilarious that she uses an axe and a machine gun as weapons. But I don’t think her character was handled very well, especially with her father’s death.

I know, for story reasons, that we couldn’t have Haru out of commission for long for the sake of her grieving. But Haru never openly grieves about her father’s death, and it seems like she’s completely unfazed by it. I understand that grief comes out in different forms, and it is explicitly shown that Haru stays with the Phantom Thieves to avenge her father, but there is no sadness shown. The death of a parent, especially your only one, can’t really be “gotten over” in the span of a week or two, it’s something that follows you for the rest of your life. I understand that Haru didn’t want to bring down the rest of the team, but I kind of wish that in her actual social link she does show signs of distress behind closed doors. Of course, that would probably make her social link busier than it needed to be, especially since she already has so much going on, but I feel like that should have been addressed.

Haru’s link is essentially her trying to figure out what she wants to do with her future, between trying to dissolve the arranged marriage between her and Sugimura, figuring out who to trust in the swarm of advisors trying to help her manage Okumura Foods, to her own life goals and aspirations outside of her father’s company. And while these are all great ideas, ultimately I feel like Haru’s link was too overloaded with different problems for each issue to develop in the best way possible. And because of that, completing Haru’s link left a lot to be desired for me. I think what’s there is fine, and I especially enjoyed Haru developing her passion for gardening and later coffee making, but I wish there was more time to explain or to go through the other issues presented in her link. I also think that the whole “Sugimura lied to you about your engagement” resolution felt like a cop-out to what could have been an interesting story in itself.

One more thing I wanted to mention: Haru’s social link does succeed where Makoto’s doesn’t where it shows Haru slowly falling in love with the protagonist, cumulating in an adorable “denial” of her feelings for him. It genuinely hurt me to turn Haru down, because I had already romanced Makoto.

Other than the standard party bonuses, Haru’s confidant also allows you to grow veggies a la Persona 4 Golden. The veggies are great, especially because they’re SP healing items. What makes this better than Leblanc coffee is that it doesn’t take time out of your day to plant and harvest your veggies, as Haru essentially does it for you. While it’s not absolutely vital to plant veggies, especially when you can make coffee/curry at Leblanc, and you probably have SP adhesives at this point of the game, it’s definitely a good bonus.

IV. THE EMPEROR – YUSUKE KITAGAWA

Yusuke is another one where I love his character, but his confidant wasn’t my favourite.

While there aren’t any major glaring flaws like Haru’s link, Yusuke’s link just wasn’t as memorable to me. I know a lot of people love his link, and I know a lot of people wanted him as a romance option but really the true OTP is Akechi/Protag, but I think his link was…okay.

I do appreciate Yusuke’s internal struggle; either “selling out” to earn a living or staying true to his ideals, while trying to figure out the true meaning of beauty, but it didn’t really resonate with me as hard as some of the others. I’m not entirely sure why? Perhaps I don’t relate because I’m not an artist. However, I will say that, while it didn’t personally wow me, Yusuke’s link objectively was well done. Yusuke is a comic relief character in a lot of ways, and his social link had a great balance between comedy and more serious moments. I also really like how Yusuke always appreciates the Protagonist’s company, and this social link does a really good job at showing the bond between Yusuke and the Protagonist, rather than the social link just happening while the Protagonist is just there.

I also want to disclose here that, I have no idea what Yusuke’s sexuality is. While I don’t necessarily think that he’s straight, I also don’t believe that Atlus intended on making him queer, just because Japan is still incredibly conservative about sexuality. And from the way his character is presented, he seems more eccentric more than anything else; he doesn’t strike me as queer in the same way Kanji from Persona 4 does.

Yusuke’s confidant bonus, besides party skills, is the ability to duplicate skill cards. If you manage to get a good skill card, this is a fantastic skill to have. I personally didn’t utilize this as much, but that was because I didn’t use or obtain that many skill cards during my playthrough.

#sophia's thoughts #persona 5 #p5 #p5 spoilers #igor #makoto niijima #morgana #yusuke kitagawa #haru okumura

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vikab · 8 years ago

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p5 thoughts

After having drawn so much fanart of p5 (most of it being Yusuke) before the game even came out, even with my hype when I started playing on the release date, I only FINALLY finished persona 5 OTL

Below will be my mini-review and thoughts on the game?? spoilers are gonna here on the entire game

Total playtime - 87 hours 40 minutes

OK this is gonna be disorganized mess but i will try to be .. not messy Story: The story unfortunately was very weak :( Like the game had an AMAZING start and it was tackling really important issues. I really started to care about Ryuji and Ann and their goals. Then Yusuke joins and I thought the game was just heading in perfect direction. Then I felt off during Kaneshiro’s arc as Makoto did not really feel .. really into the whole PT thing?? sorry Makoto fans i love her but she felt rly overrated... anyway Futaba’s arc no doubt was my favorite but then the game really started falling apart. like lets not talk about the whole series of events that were Morgana leaving the team that was straight up BAD. the pacing picked up a bit for the Casino dungeon and it was really intense then its Shido and thing kinda... fell back into this weird pacing ... Ah yes, let’s just wait 20 days to see if Shido has a change of heart or we die. After that the pacing was still all over the place then the huge plottwist happens. I knew about it but still liked it! The last arc had on point emotions and feels so it felt like a good ending to the game. SEVERE PACING ISSUES KILL THE GAME FOR ME THOUGH. I get that they still wanted the calendar system but honestly i dont think it worked any huge favors for the game . .. anyway yeah the game started amazing then dropped close to death then picked up again but not as good as the beginning Characters: I have not managed to finish a lot of confidants so near the end the parts where confidants help out it was .. very lacking lol .. . if that part wasnt so depended on the confidants that you have finished.... But overall the characters were good. Pacing of the story and the story itself did not do any justice to them I think and it feels bad bc everyone had so much potential but having a big cast it was obvious that not everyone was getting the attention they deserved Ryuji - good bro and I loved him but the middle part of the game and the constant “we gotta get the girls!” moments were so . . ugh ... confidant rank and beginning of game ryuji was absolute best though Ann - same goes for her as with ryuji that the beginning of the game was best characterization moment for her. I liked her a lot and she’s pretty bro for female heroine! but the constant fanservice kills me guys Morgana - boy did i dislike morgana for the most of the game. he really felt like teddie 2.0 at times and i just did not have a lot motivation to like him. Last arc of the game tho?? i love morgana??? i wanna cry tbh those parts near the end really resonated with me so my final verdict is that i like morgana a lot now Yusuke - I LOVE THIS BOY. while i get the beef that people have with his recruitment arc (the whole nude modeling thing) I thought it was ok since my interpretation is that he was just pissed and really needed that inspiration he found in ann but idk. otherwise his arc was good but goddamn fuck you atlus for continuously treating him like a weirdo?? PT is supposed to be a gang of misfits and yet even the teammates keep treating him like a weirdo. . that was just really bad like come on let me kiss yusuke and feed him. also will never forgive atlus for not letting yusuke move into leblanc. He’s a very good character and very level-headed so i love him sm. he has really great moments Makoto - I liked her a lot! i do think she’s a bit overrated and that she doesn’t fit well with PT but I think that’s just the issue with Atlus pacing of the story, because her issues during her recruitment were really good (as in i did feel like she would fit into PT well) Futaba - I LOVE THIS GIRL!! I played with jpn dub which I think does much better justice to her characterization. Her entire arc was so so good and I felt like she was a really solid character going through growth. her confidant was very very good. She has a lot of funny moments and I love her antics with Yusuke. they are the blessed characters of this game. too good for this game. Haru - love her too!!!! she was so nice and sweet but damn atlus did not do her justice at all. she is the “last” party member to join and it is so sad she does not get a lof interaction with PT. like I wish PT interacted with her somehow throughout the game before she joins, be it like help her out sometimes or something bc they go to same school so when she joins later the team dynamic can easily accept her. Goro - we dont talk about goro jk but honestly he was handled bad. his link was automatic and I get why but his initial personality just makes me hate him a lot. he was cool as a party member but not for long. I expect him to appear in spinoffs bc wtf was that ending for him goddamn atlus. i like a lot his potential as a character but everything else? hate Sae was for me quite funny during the interrogation (when you start the confidant parts) but after her casino her involvement in the story I really ended up liking Sae. she’s good Also gonna mention Sojiro bc i love that coffee dad. His dynamic with Futaba and protagonist was extremely good!!! such a solid family. I loved that he finds out the truth and how he handled it. love u sojiro Speaking of protagonist, I really really really wish atlus would ease up on the “silent protagonist” a bit more. for a game as huge as this, the silence does not do justice to the protagonist. idk i just wish there would have been a bit more voice to him and solid characterization other than some off-hand comments that imply the underlying personality. i get the whole “self-insert” part but it sucks stop putting it in games Overall character summary: pacing sucked so characterization suffered a lot. a lot of characters don’t get their time to shine and while I love them a lot it really sucks to see how they were treated. Pacing ruined a lot of things including team dynamic. Palaces: (in chronological order) Kamoshida/Castle - IT SUCKED I HATE IT. being the first freaking dungeon it sure was extremely hard and damn long. also not knowing about the calling car system really hurt lmao. i just hate this dungeon and i got stuck there a lot too Madarame/Art Museum - THE BEST ONE! Honestly I think it is the only palace that really did feel like a heist! It is a very beautiful palace and im probably also biased bc its Yusuke’s arc but this palace was legit fun to get through. Kaneshiro/Bank - it was ok, good music. i don’t really feel much for it and I was just mostly annoyed how long the vault part was. Futaba/Pyramid - I loved it a lot too! 10/10 music I had a lot of annoyances with coffin shadows and the puzzles for a bit but overall the music and aesthetics really made the palace work well with the story Okumura/Spaceship - we don’t talk about the “lunch break” parts.... overall it was ok and I liked its aesthetic. also the implications about the workers there was good sad material. Sae/Casino - 10/10 music. overall i disliked it a lot bc some of the parts really dragged and I hated gambling in there to progress. Shido/Ship - 10/10 music. overall i liked it / it was ok. the mouse mechanic was a bit fun, the last part being ... 3 boss fights in a row without saving was sure something. 10/10 creepy outside aesthetic of sunken city. Mementos Depths - not to be confused w/ p3/4 style dungeon we know as mementos (which were pretty much mindless fun to progress thru), the depths was ... so good. mostly for the creepy aesthetic 10/10 would suffer again. the music track Freedom and Security, that plays during goro’s bad end credits, plays as the theme for this dungeon and jeez did it make me feel so emo. the parts where you can talk to locked up people who are apathetic to the world just gave me depression and i loved it.. . i didnt really like the later part of it (when tokyo merges with mementos) To rank the palaces overall its: Art museum > Mementos Depths > Pyramid >> Ruse Cruise > Spaceship > Casino > Bank >>>>>> Castle Gameplay mechanics were very solid and fun. Movement a bit could be clunky (or that’s what i felt like) and stealth mechanic in dungeons was ok. The gameplay has A LOT of attention to detail and i appreciated it a lot. UI was cluttered but it worked and was quite Aesthetic. I think the game would have benefited if the stats weren’t so important to the social aspect or if the calendar system was revamped. Final boss imo was not as bad as P4 but still ... sucked. P3′s final boss fight is still ultimately my favorite. P5 comes close but once again, pacing issues. Protagonist summoning freaking Satanael was cool af though. Honestly my big issue with P5 was the PACING that made the story and characters suck a lot of times but overall the game was extremely solid and memorable. Of the persona entries i played i think P5 is special so I can’t really rank it. I am really attached to the game despite its heavy flaws that kill me. P3 and P2 are still quite my favorites but P5 is like really close to them so I guess it’s a fave too i love those phantom thieves

#vika talks about video games

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theonyxpath · 8 years ago

Link

Yep.

It’s my turn for the annual winter fever and hacking coughing chest cold.

Ugh.

I’m going to digress right now, but you’ll see that this lil story will link my cold and the next subject of discussion today:

When I was in grad school, pure luck gave me a chance to have the first puppy I ever raised. She was half Dalmatian and half Pit Bull and gorgeous and strong. Her name was Wee Bea. While she was still in her first year, I came down with one of these awful colds. So bad, I was shaking with chills even covered with the few blankets we had (we were poor students and didn’t have much in the way of bedding).

As I was laying there and my teeth were actually chattering, Bea climbed up on the bed and sprawled her full body length over mine. Which she had never done before as she preferred curling up under the blankets next to me when she was allowed on the bed. She stayed on top until my fever broke later that night, and just like that slipped off the bed and curled up in her basket.

Her work there was done.

Pugmire adventuring party by Claudio Pozas

So you can understand that I haven’t needed much persuading when it comes to the magical power of dogs and the depths of feeling that dogs can both feel themselves and engender in people. Depths that I believe are a big part of the magic of Pugmire.

Which I bring up because this Wednesday afternoon we will be sending out links to the Backer PDF for the Pugmire Core Rulebook to the Kickstarter backers who pledged for it. Eddy and all of us at Onyx Path are just thrilled to be able to get this out where folks can actually read it, and play it, and send us feedback about it!

We’ve never actually delivered a new reward via BackerKit, so we’re finding our way with this. The plan is to let non-backers, and you know who you are, still be able to “pre-order” Pugmire on the site until we get closer to printing and shipping the physical parts of the project. In fact, right here: http://ift.tt/1WC83B5

Amirani for Dark Eras Companion by Vince Locke

Other, non-doggy things:

We’re hoping that the physical PoD proofs for Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker come in before Wednesday so we can set it on sale along with the Condition Cards for Promethean 2nd and Beast.

We talked a bit about Onyx Path panels at GenCon this coming August at our meeting today. We mostly stick to the informational “What’s Up With…XXX” kind where we have developers talk about their upcoming projects, but are playing with the idea of different kinds this year.

What do you think? If you’ve gone or intend to go, or just have thoughts about the kinds of panels we could host, throw your ideas into the Comments here so we can talk about them.

Mirthful Mike Chaney is looking for artist submissions, and we’ll have info going out on our social media later this week. Right now, he is interested in artists whose styles match the feeling of the World of Darkness and the Chronicles of Darkness sets of game lines. You can submit links to websites (he will not open zipped files or anything like that) showing work you’ve done as well as any messaging for Mike at this address: [email protected]

The Mirthful One is also looking for graphic designers interested in doing layout work for our books. As you can tell, we have a lot of projects being worked on right now, and more on the way! Just like potential artists, you can submit links to websites (he will not open zipped files or anything like that) showing work you’ve done as well as any messaging for Mike at this address: [email protected]

I’m sure there’s more I wanted to talk about, but my brain is fogging up.

So let me leave you with a non-dog pic that is the line-up of the signature characters for Monarchies of Mau. We told our cat-lovin’ friends we hadn’t forgotten about them while doing Pugmire, and we hope you find these characters intriguing.

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

We’re exploring card game Kickstarters, packaging, and components, for Prince’s Gambit. I’m working on the KS pages this week, and our video genius is assembling edits while Justin is picking music. Things look good, and we are all for starting the KS in Feb so long as the process of pulling the KS together cooperates. If so, then Monarchies of Mau KS would be next, after Gambit.

ON SALE!

For 2 MORE DAYS Hunter: the Vigil explodes into the Bundle of Holding! For two more days, you can pledge for first edition Hunter: the Vigil PDFs at massive discounts and 10% of your purchase goes to the RPG Creators Relief Fund, INC too, which is very cool. Check it out here: http://ift.tt/2jUHawr

This offer is doing really well- thanks to all of you who have supported a great cause so far!

And we did something we never before attempted and have added WoD Armory to this set of PDFs! For those of you who pledged already- we give this with our thanks! And if you haven’t pledged yet…well now you get even more awesome PDFs when you do!

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages!

Both the Beast: the Primordial & Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition Condition Cards will go on sale Wednesday, the 8th on DTRPG in PDF and physical card PoD versions! Great for keeping track of the Conditions that are on your characters!

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Ruins of Empire (Mummy 1893-1924). Perhaps the quintessential era of the mummy in the minds of Westerners, this period saw the decline of the two greatest empires of the age: British and Ottoman. Walk with the Arisen as they bear witness to the death of the Victorian age, to pivotal mortal discoveries in Egypt, and to the horrors of the Great War.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k0XDhX

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Sundered World (Werewolf and Mage 5500-5000 BCE). At the birth of civilization, in the shadow of the Fall, the Awakened stand as champions and protectors of the agricultural villages spread across the Balkans. In a world without a Gauntlet, where Shadow and flesh mingle, the steady taming of the world by humanity conflicts with the half-spirit children of Father Wolf.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k16mRj

Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes for Beast: the Primordial is available now as an Advance PDF: http://ift.tt/2j7p7lO

This book includes:

An in-depth look at how Heroes hunt and what makes a Hero, with eleven new Heroes to drop into any chronicle.

A brief look at why Beasts may antagonize one another, with seven new Beasts to drop into any chronicle.

Rules for Insatiables, ancient creatures born of the Primordial Dream intent on hunting down Beasts to fill a hunger without end, featuring six examples ready to use in any chronicle.

The PDF and physical book PoD versions of Reap the Whirlwind, the Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition Jumpstart swirls into being on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2i1WPpD

You are a vampire, a junkie. Every night, you beg and you borrow and you steal just a little more life, just a few more sweet moments. But there’s a guy at the top. The Prince. He’s got everything. The money, the secrets, the blood.

Tonight, you’re going to take it from him. Tomorrow, there’ll be hell to pay.

This updated edition of Reap the Whirlwind features revisions to match the core rulebook for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition. Text edits and rules clarifications have also been updated.

Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes:

Rules for creating and playing vampires in the Chronicles of Darkness

The first two levels of every clan Discipline, the dark powers of the dead

A complete adventure by noted horror author Chuck Wendig

This new revised Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes an updated booklet, 7 condition cards, and the interactive Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition character sheet.

It is now the preordained time for Dawn of Heresies, the Mummy: the Curse novel written by internationally renowned author Brian Hodge to arise! Both PDF/electronic and physical book PoD versions are now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2iEP9dW

Rawhead and bloody bones

Steals naughty children from their homes,

Takes them to his dirty den

And they are never seen again.

So says the nursery rhyme that gives birth to Rawhead, the most fearsome entity to imperil the living since the infamous Roller. Once an obedient mummy by name of Benefre, a desperate bid by his cult fails in tragic fashion, and in so doing, sends him to the Devourerís waiting, corruptive maw. What remains of Benefreís ambitious soul rises again, impure and unholy, set to the execution of a scheme so baleful, it constitutes a heresy even among his own misbegotten kind.

All that stands between Rawhead and his terrible aim are a lone mummy, Kemsiyet, and what little remains of her cult following its destruction at Rawhead’s hands. Declan, her prized security aide, and Fiona, an Irish researcher only just recently inducted into the cult and its blood-soaked world, must fight both the odds and the clock in order to prevent a calamity the likes of which the world hasnít seen since the days of the mummies’ creation.

About the Author:

BRIAN HODGE is the acclaimed author of 11 novels, almost 125 short stories, and four full-length collections. His first collection, The Convulsion Factory, was ranked by critic Stanley Wiater among the 113 best books of modern horror. Heís currently wrapping up his fifth, The Immaculate Void. Among gamers, he is perhaps best known as the author of the first official Hellboy novel, On Earth as It Is in Hell.

Recent works include “The Weight of the Dead,” from Tor, and novelettes of cosmic horror in The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu and Children of Lovecraft. His oft-reprinted 2013 novella, “The Same Deep Waters as You” has recently been optioned by a London-based production studio for development for television. Brian lives in Colorado.

Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://ift.tt/2i1XOXd

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

Travel with us all the way to the Red Planet for the Cavaliers of Mars Jumpstart: A Festival of Blades, available in PDF and PoD on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2biWBpR

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes:

A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! The Advance PDF is now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbM9me

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

Discover the long-awaited Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition as we unearth the Advance PDF now on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbQjus

This book includes:

A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

CONVENTIONS!

Discussing GenCon plans. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Every chance the booth will actually be 20′ x 30′ this year.

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

CtD C20 Jumpstart (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

Second Draft

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

BtP Beast Player’s Guide (Beast: the Primordial)

Book of Freeholds (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

Development

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

CtD C20 Anthology (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

Editing:

VtR A Thousand Years of Night (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)

W20 Song of Unmaking novel (Bridges) (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary

C20

M20 Book of Secrets – AD’d

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

V20 Dark Ages Companion – Sending out contracts… as I’m behind on paperwork

EX3 Tomb of Dreams Jumpstart – Art over to WWP for approval.

Dagger of Spiragos

VTR: Thousand Years of Night

Cavaliers of Mars

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

V20 Lore of the Bloodlines

Prince’s Gambit – Kickstarter Prep.

Dark Eras Companion – artist shenanigans.

Proofing

Necropolis Rio

At Press

Ex 3 Screen – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Ex 3 core book – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Beast Condition Cards – On sale this Wednesday in PDF and physical POD versions on DTRPG.

CofD Hurt Locker – Physical PoD proof on its way.

Secrets of the Covenants – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Beckett Screen – At Printer, being printed.

W20 Shattered Dreams – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Shattered Dreams Screen – At Printer, being printed.

Promethean 2nd Condition Cards – On sale this Wednesday in PDF and physical POD versions on DTRPG.

Beast Conquering Heroes – Advance PDF now on sale at DTRPG, gathering errata.

Mortal Remains: Beast- Red In Tooth and Claw – Went out to Beast KS backers, gathering errata.

Dark Eras: Doubting Souls – Waiting for OK to order PoD proofs.

Dark Eras: Bowery Dogs – Waiting for OK to order PoD proofs.

Pugmire – Backer PDF to backers this week.

Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – Out to backers.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Today a year ago we went out to a freezing cold parking lot on the outskirts of town at 5am to meet a dark green semi hauling unwanted dogs from kill shelters down south. Our big brown buddy had suddenly died right before Christmas, and the house felt empty without a dog in it, so my wife found what looked to be a good fit for us on a rescue website. That morning, Molly came gingering down a ramp from the green semi, and pulled her handler over to us as she enthusiastically greeted her new family. No sound though, not a yip. She still does everything enthusiastically, and has proven to bark really loudly if she needs to warn us. She is a Good Dog.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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embracetheapocalypsewithme · 8 years ago

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Embracing the Apocalypse, Part 6: A Faint Whiff of Bullshit in the Air

Summary: Negan has impure thoughts about a certain green-eyed cutie, but battles away the urges with spaghetti. Lying to yourself is easier when you're carbo-loading.

Word count: 1,494

Warnings: Smut, Negan, Negan being Negan, Comic Negan being Comic Negan, oral sex, and inadequate pasta.

Part 1: The Tale of Thelma Facefuck

Part 2: What’s Up, Doc?

Part 3: A Successful Job Interview Begins with a Firm Handshake and Ends with a Salty Surprise

Part 4: A Crack in Everything

Part 5: Sorting Duty Sucks

Part 6: A Faint Whiff of Bullshit in the Air

Part 7: Turn and Face the Strange

Part 8: Poor Life Choices

Part 9: 8.5 out of 10

Part 10: No Plan

Part 11: Negan Settles Rebecca’s Hash

Part 12: I know Where That Hand Has Been, Negan

Part 13: Gimme Danger

Part 14: The Loneliest Hours of the Morning

Part 15: Well, Fuck You Too, Kitty!

Part 16: That Escalated Quickly

Part 17: Well Fuck Me Gently with a Chainsaw

Part 18: Shards of Glass

Part 19: Donkey Heaven

Part 20: Morphine Dream

Part 21: Promises to Keep

Part 22: Are You a Killer?

Part 23: That the Hill You Want to Die On?

Part 24: Keeping Up Appearances

Part 25: Bird on a Wire

As always, you can read it below the cut, or by clicking this lovely link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8807527/chapters/20855636

Tags: @unicorn-blood-splatter @negans-dirty-girl @opheliadawnwalker3 @negans-network (If you want to be added to a tag list, let me know!)

Part 5: A Faint Whiff of Bullshit in the Air

When he had opened the door to the janitor’s closet, Negan had expected to catch one of the Sanctuary’s citizens in the act. Which act, he wasn’t entirely sure. Fucking? Smoking? Drinking maybe?

Finding Rebecca hadn’t been quite the scandalous conclusion he had hoped for, but he couldn’t necessarily say that he was disappointed either. Her eyes were bloodshot, making their green colour appear even more brilliant.

Were those tears rimming the corners? She had claimed that her allergies were acting up, but he thought he detected a faint whiff of bullshit in the air. As they spoke he began to analyze her mannerisms, looking for any indication of the issues “Doctor” Krouse had mentioned earlier. He found none.

Her tone was jovial and even a little bit playful. She seemed relatively at ease, even teasing him about his name again. He watched her walk away for the second time that morning, enjoying how her hips swayed back and forth before his eyes.

Her comments about “the man upstairs” going down on her had conjured up some fun images for his brain to contemplate. Most of them were of her perched on the edge of his bed, bare legs spread open for him as he knelt before her and teased her clit with his tongue. He could almost hear her moans as he felt another pang of arousal hit him, this one even stronger than the last.

(bet she tastes sweet like honey)

(damnit, you idiot! stop this shit! you can’t)

As she neared the end of the hall, he noticed Rebecca’s pace slow. She stopped dead in her tracks and stood rigidly, her whole body tense. He considered for a brief moment that maybe she was going back into the state she had been in when she arrived at the Sanctuary. He had no clue how this shit worked. Did people just pop in and out of being catatonic?

After what felt like a very long time, but had probably only been a few moments, her body relaxed. He thought that he heard her whisper, “Oh, fuck me!” to herself, but she was far away and it was hard to be sure.

(wishful thinking probably)

Her shoulders raised and lowered as if she had taken a deep breath. She resumed her journey, turning around a corner and out of sight.

(weird. but nothing too strange. probably forgot something in her room. maybe she’s not as fucked up as brad thinks)

He shrugged and turned in the opposite direction from where Rebecca had gone. He had business to attend to.

The remainder of his day consisted of meetings with scouts and scavengers, debriefings with supervisors, and planning sessions with the Saviors. He had forgotten how many details there were to go over just to keep the place running on a basic level. There were supplies to find and infrastructure to maintain.

Now that they had to barter fairly, rather than shaking down the nearby communities for half of their shit, it was all that much harder to keep going. Every day was like an eternal struggle just for the basic necessities, and he was at the centre of it all, orchestrating every detail. By the time dinner rolled around, Negan was equal parts exhausted and hungry, but opted to get reacquainted with his bed before even thinking about food.

His private room still bore many of the decorations that had been there during his first stint as leader: deep red chairs and a sofa, a four-poster bed with dark sheets, bookcases, and a fireplace. Sherry hadn’t bothered to change everything after taking over, it seemed.

(could it fucking be that she didn’t actually hate my taste in everything after all?)

He kicked off his boots and sat on the bed before deciding to lie down for a moment. He just needed to close his eyes and rest. A nap would be perfect. He would tune the world out for a while, and then he could deal with dinner.

But as he tried to allow his body to slip into sleep, Negan found that his brain would not settle down. Images of green eyes, teasing smiles, and curvy hips flashed before him in the darkness behind his eyelids. The pangs of arousal were relentless now. He could feel the crotch of his pants tighten over his hard cock as he thought about soft lips murmuring in his ear, kissing his neck, trailing down his chest and stomach to finally taste him.

“Fuck!”

He sat up quickly, pissed off at himself now. This was stupid. He had just met this girl; had only spoken to her twice in his life. She wasn’t even really his type. She was too cutesy and petite and he felt like he could crush her beneath his large frame without even trying. But he had to admit that there was something about her that made him feel like he simultaneously wanted to protect her from the world, whilst absolutely defiling her with his cock.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fucking fuck.”

He swivelled around with an annoyed groan until his legs were dangling over the edge of the bed. He knew that sleep was going to be impossible, but he didn’t want to give into his brain’s urge to jerk off right now. Deciding that food would be more productive than trying to sleep, he slipped out of the bed and put his boots back on before making his way down to the building’s cafeteria. Dinner was just about to be served.

***

The cafeteria was harshly lit, crowded, and noisy. Benches and long tables filled the expanse of the room. Today’s meal was “spaghetti”, according to the menu board. The dish appeared to consist of overcooked noodles and under-seasoned sauce from a tin, and it tasted like something usually fed to patients recovering from surgery.

But it was food. That was something to be treasured in this world, at least.

Normally he ate quickly in his room and spent his nights reading or bullshitting with his Saviors over a glass of scotch, though the latter option had become somewhat rare lately. Some of the old Saviors who had survived the war were still around, and new recruits had been added to their ranks during his absence, but it seemed like the dynamic had changed somehow. Most of them tended to avoid socializing with their “fearless leader”, so he was mostly on his own in the evenings. Hell, the even scotch supplies had started to dwindle, much to his disdain.

Tonight he would try eating in the cafeteria. Maybe he would even make a friend. Grabbing his plate and cutlery, Negan scanned the room for a place to sit. Without fully being conscious of it, he looked for dark hair with faded red at the tips. Finding no friendly or familiar faces in the crowd, he sat in a corner and ate his meal slowly and unenthusiastically in silence. By the time he had finished eating, the room was beginning to empty and the kitchen crew had started to pack up the leftovers. It was then that he realized he hadn’t seen Rebecca come down to eat yet.

(it’s not that i was looking for her. i’m just a perceptive guy. that’s all. i have to be to keep this place running. can’t have people fucking starving on my watch)

His inner pep-talk had nearly helped him convince himself that he hadn’t, in fact, decided to eat in the cafeteria for the sole purpose of running into Rebecca again. He stood and made his way to the kitchen’s counter where a man with a mustache and graying temples was packing up for the night.

“Hey,” Negan began.

“What do you want?” the man asked with a hostile look.

“Give me some spaghetti in a container...to go.”

The man smirked, “What’s the magic word?”

Negan’s eyes narrowed, “The magic word? Oh, I guess that would have to be FUCKING NOW, DICKFACE!” he was raising his voice and making a scene. Several groups of stragglers began to get up from their tables and vacate the room, hoping to avoid being caught in the middle of a fight.

A female voice from the back of the kitchen called out to Mr. Mustache, “For Christ’s sake, Ed! Give the man a fucking plate and be done with it.”

“Yeah, Ed. Give the man a fucking plate,” Negan said flatly. Then, in a lower, menacing tone: “And don’t spit in the shit either. It’s not for me.”

Ed began angrily slopping noodles and sauce into a container before slamming it down on the counter as hard as he could without breaking it.

“Gee. Thanks, Eddy. Have a magical evening!” he called over his shoulder after picking up the container and walking toward the exit.

He made his way from the cafeteria to the room that he knew “Doctor” Krouse occupied on the second floor, and knocked on the door. After a few moments he heard rustling from within. The door opened a crack and the paramedic-turned-“Doctor” peered out at him.

“Oh, hello there. I wasn’t expecting anyone tonight. Uh…nice to see you again.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just need to get some information from you,” he held up the container of sad-looking pasta, “Got a delivery to make.”

#Comicnegan>#comic negan #twd negan #twd fanfiction #negan smut

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isearchgoood · 4 years ago

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Blog Topics: How to find Your Sweet Spot (Even in a Boring Niche)

Posted by DaisyQ

I hate to tell you, but Googling “blog topic ideas” is not going to give you the content you should be creating.

Not all content is created equal. Letting the internet tell you what to blog about leads to mediocrity. Mediocrity is fine in some cases, like forcing yourself to show up at the gym at 5:00 p.m. when you’d much rather call it a day. But if you’re going to try and stand out in the very crowded search results page, you won’t stand a chance.

The reality is, it’s hard

The web is overrun with companies that have bigger budgets than you and can churn out content every day. Meanwhile, you’re lucky to get a blog post out once a month. Where you put your time can make or break your digital efforts. How do you compete? What content will grow your traffic month after month and year after year?

If you’re going to put your time into creating and promoting a blog post, and hope to get results, you owe it to yourself to figure out what you’re best suited to blog about.

Forget the 50 handy tools and blog topic lists

The internet will say: “Just research topics using these 50 handy tools and you’ll get a ton of ideas!” That’s cancelled. Slogging away with topics every week for three-plus years taught me that this advice — though well-intentioned — quickly wears thin. Especially if your topic or industry is niche.

So here’s what I would recommend instead:

Figure out what your people care about

Find where the magic happens

Keyword research your topics

Brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize

Execute

And that’s what we’ll cover. It may take a little more time, but it will give you ideas and direction you can use for months.

Figure out your people

The best way to find blog topic ideas is to look at your audience. What are their pain points, concerns, and obsessions when it comes to your products? Easier said than done sometimes, but chances are you already have at least an inkling on why they choose you. So start there and backtrack.

If you’re lucky, you’ll have some research or set personas to use. If you aren’t, make do. The point isn’t to get hung up on idealizing your audience, or nailing down that brand of tofu sausage they like. The point is to nail down their pain points and desires and move on.

Think about your best customers: How are you helping them live their best life? What are you helping them solve? What frustrates them about your line of services? When do they realize they need someone like you?

Take the time to understand the people that currently buy from you. So you can find more of them. In some cases, finding your audience is easy. In other instances, your audience is really diverse, or you just want what your neighbor’s having. Getting the perfect audience persona isn’t super important. Just get a good enough portrait, and move on.

Find where the magic happens

I barely passed math in college but one thing I did get was Venn diagrams. Two circles, and the magic is where they intersect, cool.

When mulling over what to blog about, I use this type of diagram to decide what I am best positioned to talk about. On the left would be the audience interests and concerns that you figured out in the previous step. On the right, your expertise. In the middle, you get a set of themes that you can specialize in. This doubles as the position you can take in your customer’s world. If you can pinpoint a mix of exciting, aspirational, and realistic themes here, that’s best.

It’s one thing to know what your audience likes. But chase that, and you’re competing with Medium or Buzzfeed.

It’s another to know what you’re good at talking about. But chase that, and you’re talking to yourself.

The magic is finding the spot where your audience’s interests and yours intersect.

During a recent workshop, a woman asked me, “I’m a photographer, and the people who like to work with me are outdoorsy — so are you saying I should create a blog post on hikes in the area?”

No.

Don’t do that.

There are a lot of websites out there that are way more invested in writing about hikes than you, and chances are they have more authority in that topic.

My reply to her: “How about creating content around the most photographable hikes in the area? You can create one blog post for Instagram, another for portraits, and even another one for engagement photos!”

The point is not to create content just because people care about X, Y, or Z. Ask yourself what you are best equipped to talk about, and how that intersects with your audience's interests. The more specific, and more unique to you and your audience, the better.

Keyword research your topics

Once you know your sweet spot, think about general topics and plug those into a doc or spreadsheet. Then pull those ideas into your favorite keyword research tool. I generally start with a list that has one root word, and export out different keyword ideas using a few tools. As I get more ideas, I plug those in, export, and build a small but healthy list to work with.

There are a couple of tools worth investing in to get this information (and some free options, too). Because I believe in a simplified approach to tools, I recommend:

A keyword research tool like Moz, SEMrush, or Keywordtool.io

A content research tool like Answer the Public, or Buzzsumo

A bonus tool like Ubersuggest or good old “People Also Ask”

Rank your bounty by monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and social interest. Then, cherry pick the topics you want to tackle for the quarter.

Don’t be disheartened if your key terms are competitive. It’s the 2020s — anything worth anything is competitive. The goal is to start creating content that will pay off over time, while you grow your domain authority.

Word of caution: the topics you pick should be in your sweet spot and help your readers live their best life.

Brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize

Once you've defined the themes that can anchor your content efforts, use these four categories to help you pick topics within those areas. I like to think of this approach as a pyramid where you cover all the obvious “duh” questions before moving on to the sexy stuff.

Think about topics that would apply in each of these four sections, starting with the largest, general foundation category.

Evergreen content relates directly to the product or industry. These are the questions people ask day in and day out. At face value, the keywords may seem like small fish — i.e., they only get 800 to 1K monthly searches. But if they are aligned with your topic, then you very much want to answer these questions. If you don’t, someone else will. Ultimately, the goal of content is to bring in website visitors who are researching your product or service.

Original research answers a question or provides insight for an area closely tied to what you do. It’s premium content (long form blog posts, supporting guest posts) that takes more resources to create than a typical blog post, but helps build domain authority. This content hopefully helps you get links from reputable sources and is also fun to work in.

Trends and timely content are blog posts that aim to generate buzz, capture attention, and may aid in link building, but tend to be short-lived. These are topics that are in your sweet spot and hot right now. Jump on these seasonally.

Lifestyle content is blog content on topics that relate to company values and will connect with readers. Yes, it’s nice to show the human side of your business, because people buy from people they like. But I’d rather have a post that answers my questions over a post showing me cute dog photos, you?

What might seem like basic info to you might be a totally new revelation to your potential audience.

I've built a blog to attract over 100K monthly visitors, and one thing I learned was that the content that brought us traffic month after month was the basic stuff. The simple, how do I figure out ______ stuff.

And chances are your blog (or website for that matter) lacks this “beginning of the buyer’s journey” content. If you think everybody knows this stuff, they don’t. You’re probably too close to it — I’ve been there, too.

Questions you can ask yourself to get going:

What are some common questions that your audience asks? What are the solutions you can give them?

How would you explain this concept to your grandma, or a kid?

What is a cool trend with __________ that is worth investing in?

What do you wish your best customers knew about __________?

Sources of information you can also look at:

Trade pubs (for ideas that can be repurposed for the general audience)

Events (for ideas that can be super timely and relevant to a select audience)

Influencers in your space (for ideas on what your audience gravitates to)

Execution

Ideally you’ll have a mix of topics on the pyramid to choose from, each quarter. Schedule those. I’ve used Google Sheets, or Trello. The cool kids use Airtable — whatever floats your boat and helps you get your content out.

Eyes on the prize

Blog traffic growth should pick up speed over time. If you build your content accordingly, it will. Determine the point where your interests and your audience interests intersect. Find topics that cater to that sweet spot by answering common FAQs. Add original research seasonally, and sprinkle in some trends and lifestyle content.

When you create blog topics that are more in line with your brand and your strengths, and that match what your audience is looking for, you are much more likely to stand out in a crowded space. The internet is hella crowded — to differentiate and appeal to customers, you need to “do you” best.

To help us serve you better, please consider taking the 2020 Moz Blog Reader Survey, which asks about who you are, what challenges you face, and what you'd like to see more of on the Moz Blog.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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whitelabelseoreseller · 4 years ago

Text

Blog Topics: How to find Your Sweet Spot (Even in a Boring Niche)

Posted by DaisyQ

I hate to tell you, but Googling “blog topic ideas” is not going to give you the content you should be creating.

The reality is, it’s hard

If you’re going to put your time into creating and promoting a blog post, and hope to get results, you owe it to yourself to figure out what you’re best suited to blog about.

Forget the 50 handy tools and blog topic lists

So here’s what I would recommend instead:

Figure out what your people care about

Find where the magic happens

Keyword research your topics

Brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize

Execute

And that’s what we’ll cover. It may take a little more time, but it will give you ideas and direction you can use for months.

Figure out your people

Find where the magic happens

I barely passed math in college but one thing I did get was Venn diagrams. Two circles, and the magic is where they intersect, cool.

It’s one thing to know what your audience likes. But chase that, and you’re competing with Medium or Buzzfeed.

It’s another to know what you’re good at talking about. But chase that, and you’re talking to yourself.

The magic is finding the spot where your audience’s interests and yours intersect.

During a recent workshop, a woman asked me, “I’m a photographer, and the people who like to work with me are outdoorsy — so are you saying I should create a blog post on hikes in the area?”

No.

Don’t do that.

There are a lot of websites out there that are way more invested in writing about hikes than you, and chances are they have more authority in that topic.

Keyword research your topics

There are a couple of tools worth investing in to get this information (and some free options, too). Because I believe in a simplified approach to tools, I recommend:

A keyword research tool like Moz, SEMrush, or Keywordtool.io

A content research tool like Answer the Public, or Buzzsumo

A bonus tool like Ubersuggest or good old “People Also Ask”

Rank your bounty by monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and social interest. Then, cherry pick the topics you want to tackle for the quarter.

Word of caution: the topics you pick should be in your sweet spot and help your readers live their best life.

Brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize

Think about topics that would apply in each of these four sections, starting with the largest, general foundation category.

What might seem like basic info to you might be a totally new revelation to your potential audience.

Questions you can ask yourself to get going:

What are some common questions that your audience asks? What are the solutions you can give them?

How would you explain this concept to your grandma, or a kid?

What is a cool trend with __________ that is worth investing in?

What do you wish your best customers knew about __________?

Sources of information you can also look at:

Trade pubs (for ideas that can be repurposed for the general audience)

Events (for ideas that can be super timely and relevant to a select audience)

Influencers in your space (for ideas on what your audience gravitates to)

Execution

Eyes on the prize

To help us serve you better, please consider taking the 2020 Moz Blog Reader Survey, which asks about who you are, what challenges you face, and what you'd like to see more of on the Moz Blog.

TAKE THE SURVEY

from The Moz Blog http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/9375/13736557

#The Moz Blog

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epackingvietnam · 4 years ago

Text

Blog Topics: How to find Your Sweet Spot (Even in a Boring Niche)

Posted by DaisyQ

I hate to tell you, but Googling “blog topic ideas” is not going to give you the content you should be creating.

The reality is, it’s hard

If you’re going to put your time into creating and promoting a blog post, and hope to get results, you owe it to yourself to figure out what you’re best suited to blog about.

Forget the 50 handy tools and blog topic lists

So here’s what I would recommend instead:

Figure out what your people care about

Find where the magic happens

Keyword research your topics

Brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize

Execute

And that’s what we’ll cover. It may take a little more time, but it will give you ideas and direction you can use for months.

Figure out your people

Find where the magic happens

I barely passed math in college but one thing I did get was Venn diagrams. Two circles, and the magic is where they intersect, cool.

It’s one thing to know what your audience likes. But chase that, and you’re competing with Medium or Buzzfeed.

It’s another to know what you’re good at talking about. But chase that, and you’re talking to yourself.

The magic is finding the spot where your audience’s interests and yours intersect.

During a recent workshop, a woman asked me, “I’m a photographer, and the people who like to work with me are outdoorsy — so are you saying I should create a blog post on hikes in the area?”

No.

Don’t do that.

There are a lot of websites out there that are way more invested in writing about hikes than you, and chances are they have more authority in that topic.

Keyword research your topics

There are a couple of tools worth investing in to get this information (and some free options, too). Because I believe in a simplified approach to tools, I recommend:

A keyword research tool like Moz, SEMrush, or Keywordtool.io

A content research tool like Answer the Public, or Buzzsumo

A bonus tool like Ubersuggest or good old “People Also Ask”

Rank your bounty by monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and social interest. Then, cherry pick the topics you want to tackle for the quarter.

Word of caution: the topics you pick should be in your sweet spot and help your readers live their best life.

Brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize

Think about topics that would apply in each of these four sections, starting with the largest, general foundation category.

What might seem like basic info to you might be a totally new revelation to your potential audience.

Questions you can ask yourself to get going:

What are some common questions that your audience asks? What are the solutions you can give them?

How would you explain this concept to your grandma, or a kid?

What is a cool trend with __________ that is worth investing in?

What do you wish your best customers knew about __________?

Sources of information you can also look at:

Trade pubs (for ideas that can be repurposed for the general audience)

Events (for ideas that can be super timely and relevant to a select audience)

Influencers in your space (for ideas on what your audience gravitates to)

Execution

Eyes on the prize

To help us serve you better, please consider taking the 2020 Moz Blog Reader Survey, which asks about who you are, what challenges you face, and what you'd like to see more of on the Moz Blog.

TAKE THE SURVEY

#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking

0 notes