#I should probably get one of those I'm online banner i think

[zaptap]

finally got around to using leanyoshi's gear seed checker since i knew that the shell-out machine rewards are determined based on a seed, which is different during splatfests, and i wanted to make sure i didnt miss out on anything i could be close to getting on my splatfest seed before grand fest ends

and. wow. only 15 away!

i doubt i'd make it to 286 during splatfest (and the next gold capsule after that point to get the other banner is over 2000 away which is absolutely not doable)

(btw if you haven't heard--from now on each season has the silver/gold jackpots from both year 1 and year 2, so both drizzle season ones are obtainable currently. idk why they didnt just make them all available but i guess it's at least better than just one. you could in theory get them all in one year now instead of two)

anyway, my non-splatfest seed looks much better than the splatfest one. lots of stuff 100 or 200 past the previous one, which isn't that bad (and this is after having gotten 6 in the past 2 years just from 5k/conch/challenges and never paying for 30k pulls). i might have to be careful to make sure i don't pull a gold/silver when ive already gotten all of the ones for that season, idk. i suppose i should probably put my conch shells into it before splatfest starts, idk if i'll get 12 of them during grand fest (+3 daily 5k ones) but paying a few hundred thousand when i have over 4mil doesnt seem that bad.

misunderstood because the next stuff on each was pretty similar. splatfest seems to apply to the sneak peek too, so it's using the splatfest seed now. and since i'm probably not ever getting anything else from the splatfest seed even assuming they rerun a few fests, i guess that means i should save my money and only use conch shells on it until grand fest is done

the other thing i found out from the seed checker that i was curious about (since it shows you online multiplayer badge progress):

challenge wins DO count for these badges. i have never touched anarchy battle and i think itd be funny to get these without doing that so it's cool that i can. now if only i didnt keep missing almost every single challenge that they do (ironically ive had a harder time doing them since they made them every other rotation. why cant they run them the whole day)

(i also found out that i'm 165 turf wins away from the 1200 badge, and the remaining specials i didn't get the 30-win badges for while 1-starring weapons are each no more than 6 away. some of those i could get when i do the order ones)

[princeshroob]

Hi, so I started playing Arknights almost exactly a month ago, so I thought I'd jot down my pulls and stuff down here.

First off... okay, normally I would post her summon screen here, but unfortunately I was rerolling for her and I got impatient and started skipping the screen (and I wasn't sure of the animation cues for 6* operators) so I don't have that, so have the e2 screen instead. What I do have however...

Is a screenshot of the game telling me that I got a Mudrock token. Which means I got her twice! And before you all ask, no I didn't miss out on a previous attempt thinking I didn't get her because of her armor, because whenever I got a 6*, I would end up looking at their profile page, go "huh, neat" and then continue rerolling, so I would've seen that I got her (and would've and did ask my friends if this was in fact who I was going for)

Oh, but that's not the end of my pulls on this banner, because when I did one (1) more pull, literally, I got this!

Yeah, I got Surtr who was the other rate-up on that banner, who I was told that I should try to get due to how good she is! Like, one of my friends has even gone on to say she's one of the top three meta characters in this game, so while I don't completely understand exactly what makes her good, and probably won't for a while, she's probably gonna hard carry my squad once I really get her going.

Oh, before I forget, I did buy Mudrock's dress just because she looks gorgeous in it! Moving on...

Angelina ended up being the guaranteed 6* I got from the beginner banner, and I actually got two of her, so that's nice.

Next is these two together because I got the Top Operator tag two times already (actually three, I got a Bagpipe dupe from that) and these are probably the best operators I could hope to get those times! (In regards to what tags I got, anyways) I'm doing pretty darn well for not doing a lot of pulls from the gacha (think I only did 31 total, counting the beginner banner, but not free pulls from the limited one at the time)

Anyways, that's it for the gacha pulls. I am taking note of other operators that I got, but I only want to talk about the 6* ones. But that's not the end, because I also want to show off how I'm doing in CC.

Basically, I already completed Risk 18 and got all of the challenges done. For r18, I basically did a combination of the Surtr and Horn low end clears I've seen online mainly to make up for the fact that neither of them were at full power (support Horn was from a rando, so I think that means she was stuck on skill level 7 instead of whatever m level she's at.) Of course I'm told that there's more stuff coming next week, but r18 is pretty much the hardest barrier to rewards this event (and forget going any higher just to flex) so I'll be taking it easy the rest of the event.

[13beachesxx]

wondering if i get so melancholy every year around this time because for roughly the first 18 years of my life, it was a time of joy and excitement. i loved back to school day so much. so much. the new stationery i'd get to gear up for it, my shiny pretty pencil case, whatever backpack i was rocking that year (fond memories of my black and pink powerpuff girls backpack and also my pale blue snoopy backpack!), what outfit i was gonna wear, my hair....one time i even decided i was gonna debut cornrows on the first day back lol. 3 hours in a hair stylist's chair just to look snazzy for first day back. the excitement in the air was so palpable i could probably pee myself from excitement on the drive up to the school. seeing all your favorite teachers' faces, seeing all your old friends, and the new kids — oh my god, the new kids. us boy obsessed girls immediately trying to assess if there were any new hot guys this year or if that was a wasted hope, scoping out everybody who looked new and unfamiliar, immediately grabbing the new girls and getting them to sit with us, get to know us, get to know all about them and accept them into our fold.

i know i tend to rose tint SO many things in my past and that too might be a trauma reaction to paper over all the bad, but my god was school my happy place and refuge. i did not experience SAD in my childhood or teens because well, for starters, it didn't get as cold in the city as in england or here up in the mountains. or in moscow, but whether the cold ass weather had any effect on me back then, difficult to say. i think not. probably more like i enjoyed it because of all the fun stuff, ice skating, sledding etc. that particular affliction probably came on with my depression and compounded every year after i turned 18 until it finally hit me that every year, without fail, i was becoming extra suicidal each november. now at least i know and and can steel myself and prepare and that somehow mitigates the worst of it.

but yeah.... maybe this is it. i read some girl's account of how she remembers a particular trauma every august, that without intending to, her body remembers it and she tenses up and feels those effects. can you feel something equally profound for a happy memory that you miss now? maybe that's a part of it. i always felt so bittersweet seeing "back to school" banners in stores or online shops, even back when i was going to uni, knowing that demographic no longer includes me. that used to be one of my favorite times of year, as slow boring summers came to an end and the excitement of a new school year crept up, slowly, even as it was still hot. shit i could probably rival harry's excitement getting on the hogwarts train, and i don't think my family situation was half as dreadful as his ever. it was just an exciting, happy time, and to think that my autumns have become...very much not that, well i could just cry thinking about it. the acute and vast gap between the two experiences is indeed great. i think i long for the structure too, the blocked out blocks of days that were scheduled for me, the after curriculars, all of that. you really don't have time to be sad about the weather changing when you're so fucking busy with basketball practice or trying to put on a play. you really don't.

now i'm like lmao should i just get some qualifications and go into teaching. lowkey it would feel like a hack of getting some of that magic back, as an adult. maybe if all my dreams end up in the toilet and none of it pans out, i could do that. a new backup plan lol. or nah, i would probably not like the reality of being a teacher, not at all. i just want to feel the magic of getting out of the car and seeing my favorite teacher. i miss them all so.

[xuenstrugglestoblog]

You may be a keyboard warrior, but I still don't think you should mess with the BTS Army...

Yeah... The BTS fans are the scariest kind in all of K-pop fandom.. But we're gonna talk about K-pop fandom and how it (kinda) took over the world! Before that, K-pop is a genre of South Korean pop music that gained massive popularity internationally in recent years. You must have scrolled through Twitter, TikTok or Instagram and came across names such as BTS, BLACKPINK, IVE and etc. I think we can say that K-pop isn't just about music itself or the pretty idols- it's a culture itself.

I can say that's true because I was once neck deep in the BTS fandom to the point I went from reading those Jimin x YourName fanfictions to writing my own (lol I can't believe I'm just exposing this right here BUT FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES RIGHT? #screwdigitalfootprint). We're gonna talk about how the K-pop fandom has grown into a global force that's changing the world on how we think about music, community and even social causes.

Can we just appreciate Felix's visuals, voice and part in Chef's Menu for one second before we go through the boring things.

Yup. That's enough.

1. The K-pop Fandom as a Cultural Powerhouse

Like I said previously, K-pop isn't just about music and idols anymore, it's culture, people. Fans don't just listen to K-pop now, they even embrace the Korean language, learn about Korean culture, have personal names for their fandoms (eg. Blackpink fans are called Blinks) and made slangs that are only used an known within the fandom. This may all seem so sudden this K-craze but honestly, it's no accident. Jang & Song (2017) noted how K-pop fandom encourages worldwide to connect with Korean culture, creating what's known as the "Korean Wave" or the "Hallyu". Most neck deep K-pop fans don't just listen to Korean songs, as I observed- they'd go all out to watch Korean dramas, eat Korean food and even downloaded Duolingo just to learn Korean for free (me. I did that. Now I'm on my 437 day streak). Thanks to the invention of the internet and social media, fans can join in this wave from anywhere in the world, creating a virtual space where cultural exchange happens every day.

Also, we should probably give K-pop fans kudos because if they are anything, it's organized and dedicated. Liu (2023) has observed that K-pop fans often organize streaming marathons, trend hashtags, and launch coordinated efforts to boost their favorite idol's visibility. This isn't random enthusiasm- K-pop fans are dead serious on making an impact and they know exactly how to do it. I know as well because in Korea when an idol has gone and finished their mandatory military service, fans would arrive in hoards at the entrance with signs and banners just to welcome their biases back into civilization (see this article of J-hope from BTS finishing his mandatory military service). Fans' dedication to make their idols trend and win awards is a huge factor of why this fandom is so powerful it's almost like a cult at times.

GIF break with this cute clap of J-Hope's Dreamworld MV.

OKay done.

2. Resolving Identity Crisis and Connecting with K-pop

For some fans, K-pop cured identity crisis provided them a sense of identity. Laffan (2020) explored this idea from a social identity perspective, noting that being part of a fan community can lead to some amazing psychological benefits. When fans connect over shared values and interests, they get this feeling of belonging. Imagine this : you feel out of place in your hometown but you found an online community where people just "get" you. That's what this K-pop fandom does for millions of people all over the world. However, it's definitely not just about connections, it's also about shared joy. Celebrating a comeback together, streaming the latest album release and commenting in real time via X, all this gives fans a collective experience. They celebrate together, go through things together and even at times, be there for each other when times are tough. Through these experiences, K-pop fandom creates an emotional bond that's hard to break.

Jang Won Young may have her fair share of haters but we can't deny those visuals, God Bless her mother for bringing such beauty into this world.

Moving ON,

3. The blue bird app X, Fandom Activities and the Digital World

Social media, such as X (formerly Twitter, RIP), is where K-pop fandom comes alive. I mean, yeah, they are other platforms out there such as Weverse and Instagram, but we're mainly going to focus on X. Maros & Abdul Basek (2022) observed how fans use platforms such as X to build strong online identity, sharing fan art, memes, fancams and more. X isn't just for you angry rants no more; for fans, it's a digital space where they find their people. I think I've mentioned that K-pop fans are extremely talented, organized and dedicated so you get so many cool things such as fan art, translations, fan-made lyric videos, fanfictions and etc. which strengthens their bonds with each other and their favorite groups. Plus, fandoms can overlap and co-exist such as Individual A loves Aespa and Le Sserafim so she makes a fanart that's like Aespa x Le Sserafim and it's really original and interesting, you can't really get things like that elsewhere.

I should probably mention as well that each K-pop group will have their own official fan club that works almost like a mini-organization which adds to my point that these fans are really organized. These fan clubs at times will coordinate global events (on and off line), set up streaming parties and even fundraise for relevant charities. Maros & Abdul Basek (2022) praised how these fan clubs show a level of coordination that goes way beyond casual fandom. These fans were willing to spend not just their money, but time, effort, blood, swear and tears (a little cheeky BTS slip right there) to make sure their idols succeed and stay visible globally.

I hope this makes you feel SPECIAL.

We're towards the end just a little more, please hang on.

4. The Good, the Bad, and the Banter

Like any big fandoms, the K-pop fandom has its challenges. I mean, it's pretty similar to how when a friend group gets too big, there's bound to be more disparities and fight breakouts. So there's this thing called "fan wars" which are rivalries between different fan groups, which can sometimes get a liiiiiittle bit intense. Liu (2023) points out that this competitive spirit is partially due to the way the industry ranks groups based on chart numbers, awards, and sales. While yes, competitions does spice things up, it can also create friction between fans who are each rooting for their favourites... Especially, those passionate ones...

Another known challenge is burnout. I myself, personally, experienced it, which is why I left the K-pop fandom back in 2019. The burnout is so real. Keeping up with the nonstop flow of content such as new albums, live streams, social media updates, new groups debuting, who has left group, who is dating this idol and who broke up, all this information can take up too much brain space at times. However, the new generation of K-pop fans are more open-minded, since I do noticed too that some within the fandom are starting to openly discuss these issues, advocating for balance, self-care and put your mental health first among other things. This is quite healthy and it shows how adaptable and self-aware the fandom can be. They're learning how to handle the pressures of fandom life and are even creating mini support systems within their communities (Laffan 2020). However, for my case, I do think I'm a little old for this since I juggle school, work and personal life balance (I play 3 sports) so I don't have any extra spare time for this but I still keep up with news from time to time (can you tell by how knowledgeable I am in this field?).

Why did NewJeans have to disband I'm so sad because they were the first band to made me reconsider hopping back in the pits of hellfire fandom.

Look how cute Hanni is hehe (she's a minor and you're going to jail if you smiled and agreed).

5. The Future of K-pop Fandom

Okay we're at the conclusion now. Thanks for making it so far and reading till this point. So to conclude, it's clear that the K-pop fandom isn't just a passing trend and it's here to stay for a while. It has become a global community that changed lives. Jang & Song (2017) discuss how the influence of K-pop goes beyond the music itself since it also acts as a bridge for cultural exchange and even social impact. From stream parties to donating to charities in the name of their idols, K-pop fans are using their passion to make a difference which is great honestly. With a blend of cultural appreciation, a touch of social bonding and a splash of online presence, K-pop fandom represents a new kind of community that brings people together across borders and different backgrounds. As long as there are fans eager to connect, I can say that this fandom will only continue to grow. Which is quite awesome since this fandom can inspire others and redefine what it means to be a "fan" in today's digital age.

Here is xuenstrugglestoblog checking out with her last blog :)

References

Jang, W & Song, JE 2017, The Influences of K-pop Fandom on Increasing Cultural Contact, National Research Foundation of Korea Grant, viewed 14 November 2024, <https://barnettcenter.osu.edu/sites/default/files/2019-08/the_influences_of_k-pop_fandom.pdf>.

Laffan, DA 2020, ‘Positive Psychosocial Outcomes and Fanship in K-Pop Fans: a Social Identity Theory Perspective’, Psychological Reports, vol. 124, no. 5, p. 003329412096152, viewed 14 November 2024, <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0033294120961524>.

Liu, CY 2023, ‘The Research on the Influence of KPOP (Korean Popular Music) Culture on Fans’, Communications in Humanities Research, vol. CHR Vol.4, no. 1, pp. 63–68, viewed 14 November 2024, <https://chr.ewapublishing.org/article.html?pk=f9ac124f75f94d07afd869e60bd5d9c9>.

Maros, M & Abdul Basek, FN 2022, ‘Building Online Social Identity and Fandom Activities of K-pop Fans on Twitter’, 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 282–295.

[adultswim2021]

VACATION

Oh, hello there. Oh, this? I'm just using this online shopping website to look at some birthday cards online. You see, it is my birthday on Thursday, and it's one of the ones where the number has a zero at the end of it, and I'm looking for the perfect card that I can demand my family and friends all buy for me, so I can have "one happening birthday". Finally!

I've taken some time off work, and I'm more-or-less going to dedicate the weekend to taking a couple of day trips and doing some other things I've put off for a while. And, I just realized, this would be much easier if I didn't have to worry about updating this while doing all that. So, I'm taking this week off, effective last night when I was GONNA do a post, but then I realized I didn't have all of my research materials handy, and it took all night to get those things downloaded, and then it was late, and also I wanted to watch seven episodes of "Tanner '88" instead.

So this is my announcement of my intent to not post, probably until next Monday. Some of you might say "that sucks dick", but it's a dick that we all have to suck.

So here's a big Mail Bag post:

In reference to my pondering about Marc Summer's absence in a Robot Chicken sketch about Double Dare:

apparently they did get marc summers for some later episode. i know this because i watched him interview tim heidecker on some webshow/podcast he has and i remember him bragging that he'd been on robot chicken and asking tim if he ever had, and tim kinda going "uhhh, no, i don't think so" lol

LOL. Tim & Eric couldn't be more at odds with Robot Chicken. I am going to guess that when they were younger and much more "punk rock" they probably shit talked them when being interviewed for cool magazines like Time or Zillions.

One time my job hired a guy with whom I had maybe one of the worst personality clashes I ever had (I am a demon from hell and I have zero ability to not show it when I'm annoyed or angry with somebody, sorry to that guy I wish I weren't like this okay), and he got it out of me that I liked Adult Swim and he immediately tried to talk to me about Robot Chicken, and I was like "I don't really watch that show" and he immediately asked "don't tell me you like that Tim & Eric crap!"

whats your favorite thing you bought at a second hand store to make yourself not look like a looky loo

I have a B&W video monitor I bought at a garage sale. It's beautiful, very flipable, but I paid 5 bucks for it and like how it looks. VHS tapes actually look amazing on it. I wanna figure out a way to rig it up with some kind of raspberry pi machine that just loops old cartoons on it or something.

did you do something to the banner? it seems more...expansive.

I tried to get it to display more "properly" because it bothered me how pixelated it looked but I think I sorta fucked it up. I tried to change it back but tumblr's edit feature sucks. I guess I should just do an AI upscale or something. But yes I shittily drew on it to make it look wider, you caught me.

Me love the way you walk sometimes The way you talk is so hot Now you know let’s have a shot of rum Then me can make you come With me to the ocean That would be phat You can be my bow cat Nice ital breeze Bring you to your knees We're jammin'

punani likers everywhere, this one is for us

That's Shenmue 3, dipshit

Dang it, you are right.

Brownies was probably the best episode they did that season and I was surprised they weren't willing to do that style of show for the entire series. It seemed more like what Adult Swim wanted from them?

Something for "da" stoners... as a weed-taker myself., I would have to agree!

When was the last time you POGGED off?

What bitch?

Lol I was being silly telling a stupid joke. Chapotraphouse has the ice cream as his sound bite now.

I tell you this guys, I had a weird dream that Toonami Tom said he would sponsor me I'd have to sell out and let him hold the Adult Swim 2021 brand. And I'd have to suck his dick. It was a disgusting dream. No Tom, I would never do that in real life.

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

WE DON'T WANT THIS, MARVEL.

After finishing a tedious eighth episode of She-Hulk, I believe I'm ready to talk about the absolute abomination it made out of this show, single-handedly. @marvelentertainment I really want you to read what I have to say.

Firstly... no beating around the bush, what was that video of Jen for? Is that really what we want for our female superheroes? I remember the same Marvel changing Natasha and Wanda's suits for a more practical approach. The same Marvel that was wading far away from the male gaze, the same Marvel I, among several other viewers my age, had come to fully accept, and all of a sudden we're back to where we began.

The first three phases of the MCU, especially the pre-AoU era, emphasized the fact that Tony Stark was a self-proclaimed "playboy" yet we never got to see any evidence of the same in the movies through media. We never got to see any videos, as such, of him being leaked out in the movies for the world to see. We see Jen discussing "America's ass" with Bruce but we never saw Steve or really any other superhero faced with such an unprecedented situation. I see the way one might say that the video travesty of Jen can be considered "unique" to her struggle as rising up as a superhero, and as any goody two-shoe hero, she is struggling. But is that the struggle we saw Nat go through? The struggle Wanda went through? The struggle Carol had to go through? Is this the way the earlier female superheroes paved for the new generation? I think not. And let's not even talk about how a majority of Jen's personality is defined through her dating life which is absolutely hideous given that she is a lawyer and probably has more substance to her personality than more than half of modern-day superheroes.

There could have been a million scenarios created for Jen to become a controversy for the public. They could have put out her online dating accounts, her browser history, maybe a video of her debating in proposition of something unacceptable like over-consumerism or climate change or something along those lines to show her questionable side in a satirical manner which would ring with the current vibe of the show but no. They had to make it a vulgar video of her. Why? Because she's a lawyer? Because she's attractive? Because she is a beloved public figure? Because in that very episode, she has a debate with Matt about the secret identity of superheroes and how they should be able to keep them secret to keep themselves and their loved ones safe? Is that the standard of irony Marvel is able to create in Phase Four? Well, it isn't very brilliant.

That brings me perfectly to my second argument. Matt. Obviously, because that was not what the character deserves. I am sure everyone clearly sees the stark contrast between him in the MCU and him in the show. In Daredevil, he's shown as practical, tactile, be it chaotic and fundamentally flawed in his thinking in some ways sometimes, but he is a strong character. In his MCU debut in She-Hulk, all that gets horribly parodied to an annoying somebody who projects the hardships of their life onto a new and immature, rising superhero.

Matt has an entirely different experience as a superhero, well technically, he's still just a blind man micro-managing the hell out of the most chaotic 220 square kilometers of NYC with whale-like abilities and his two sticks of determination but that's beside the point. The point I'm trying to make is that he is not a Hulk. Bruce Banner is. Yet he is written off in a scene as mansplaining and ignorant and gets scowled at for not being a woman. He offers aid, solace and reconciliation to Jen at a difficult time in her life and apologizes for something that is not even his mistake, yet she treats him like he is, quite literally, not the only man on the planet who could help her, because she is over-confident of how "strong" and "capable" she is. But no, only Matt can give her advice while actually just projecting onto her his self-destructive, dangerous and hostile lifestyle as a vigilante. Why so? Because he happens to become a potential love interest less than ten minutes later. Him turning from her opponent to an advisor, to a partner in literal crime to a love interest all in a matter of minutes! I still don't understand whether I should find this ridiculous or the fact that this all happened in a single episode, all thanks to echolocation.

The third and last problem and probably the biggest problem with the show is how it introduces into Marvel the leftist agenda. The way Phase Four has been so far is that it allows the female superheroes to walk all over the original male superheroes. The way they are shown without the sort of nuance the male characters have in the way their origin story defines them is.. inconsequential. In fact, the origin story of most of these women actually doesn't exist in the movies at all. I believe this video essay will be able to explain this better than I can as it delves deeper into the topic and explores several facets of the problem. The way we see Jen's training montage and the way she becomes the epitome of "Hulk-ly" glory is toxic and emasculates Bruce, but that is not the only problem, it also undermines his power as it implies that Jen is better than him at what he has been doing for over a decade, albeit she was introduced about half an hour ago.

The leftist agenda is most definitely introduced into Marvel to attract the younger audience and wishes to carry the arena of its viewership elsewhere as the old fans lose interest after the death of Tony, Steve, and Nat. But even after being openly leftist, I am not very satisfied with the imbalance it has created between the male and the female superheroes. There is still the need for the old struggle we saw alongside women empowerment, the Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor movies give us that struggle which is why they are legendary (although I am not very proud of Love and Thunder either). The way we saw the OGs struggle for their place in the world as heroes, even Matt had his struggle, also the Civil War drift and the way it established the MCU OGs as THE BIG ONES. That lacks and that is the entire heart and soul of the superhero movies, that is the reason why No Way Home did so well (because of Tobey and Andrew) but also because it has that old-school struggle that we see heroes go through, which justifies what defines them.

In a nutshell, Marvel Phase Four emerges as toxic and disloyal to the leftist agenda as well as its audiences both young and old with the release of the eighth episode of She-Hulk, and I truly wish they take the right turn from here because if this is the path where Marvel turns wrong, it shatters all the adoration it acquired from the last phases and even after what charade went down in this show, I still believe there is hope for redemption.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[spitblaze]

I fully believe fiction does affect reality, I’m a victim of believing I wanted to be r*ped because I decided to read hard erotica likely written by 30+ year old men at the age of 14, but at the same time, I find it insulting that someone wants to compare my trauma of being groomed by a father figure to some anime boys a girl wrote. Because while some people get influenced by these things most people don’t. When I was about 17 I made a donation post asking people to donate money explaining my situation and very few did. No one cared about my real suffering. But I see tweets of some girl writing incest porn getting called out that gets thousands of people to call attention. Maybe it's just me personally, but I can't help but feel so damn angry over this. I feel like most of these people making these posts just wanna feel good about themselves and don’t actually care enough about what happens in the world. My groomer didn't use some fictional couple, and most people don’t. Usually they use their own ocs anyway. I’m in therapy still over my issues, but I just feel completely defeated at this point, I really don’t think we should make a billion callouts to some stupid ass fan fiction and instead we should donate our time to helping those we can, there's resources. I had to take a lot of energy to just write this like this and I’m sorry for just dropping this I’m just so damn tired of this nonsense, fiction can affect reality, but more often than now some girl on twitter isn't going to be convincing a bunch of kids that being groomed is ok, it's a one in a million case, and there's worse issues and other ways of using our energy.

Hi there, I'm not comparing your trauma personally to this deal- you weren't the only person who sent in a message, believe me, there were at least two others saying 'yea its just a drawing it doesnt matter at all', which...isnt true as you have just pointed out.

Your situation is terrible, the things you have gone through are terrible, and I can't start to speak on behalf of everyone who hasn't gone through these things- but I think I can reasonably say that we DO care what happens in the real world, and a lot of this activism you're seeing probably comes from younger people- teens and young adults- who don't really know what to do about it, don't know if they CAN do anything about it, but want to put some energy towards solving this problem and end up kinda...just making online firestorms against other teens and young adults instead of directing their energy towards more productive things. It's also kind of an internet societal expectation now to participate in activism, and actual real world activism is hard, but yelling at someone on twitter is very easy, but that's a slightly different problem. The point is that I get your frustration, these people mean well but for a good part not really focusing their anger in the right direction.

I would for sure encourage everyone riled up about this to look into actual steps for prevention and care for victims of csa, if you live in the US looking into things like PCAA or the Children's Defense Fund, and looking for volunteering opportunities for similar organizations in your area. I get that a lot of us would love to give but are barely keeping ourselves afloat- time is a lot easier to give, or if you really REALLY don't have another option- Tab For A Cause! Literally the easiest way to do this, just a browser extension that makes every new tab a page with a few banner ads, and the payment for those ads can be put towards charities of your choice, including Save The Children (which has an A- from Charity Watch so it's good). I'm not an expert on anything involved but I think I'm safe in saying it's generally a good idea to back up your words with actions.

[rinasred]

Night falls, I'm cast beneath her spell.

An hournite fic -

Summary: Rick has been engaging with a mystery girl online, he hopes that she reveals herself to be his long time crush beth... maybe he gets what he's hoping for. <3

read on AO3

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Rick had always been good at keeping things to himself. He never understood how some people can go around telling others every aspect of their own lives. He was especially that way in school and on social media. His classmates knew absolutely nothing about him, if you asked them they'd probably just say he's the angry kid with the drunken dad (of course no one knew he’s actually his uncle). Or recently they'll mention how he hangs out with those weird girls all the time, meaning Beth, Yolanda and Courtney. But that's about all the knowledge Rick's peers have about him.

Sitting on his bed rick scrolls through his Instagram feed, where he keeps himself anonymous. A noise comes from his phone to show that he has a notification. It's a message, and there's only one person it can be from. He checks it to see that it's from a user by the name of BubblyGirl04. A grin comes across Rick's face as he reads the notification. Rick and this girl have been messaging non stop for the past months, they've been talking even before he found out about hourman and the JSA.

With a giant smile on his face Rick opens the message to see an image attached, it's a photo of delicious looking pasta. Under it the mystery girl wrote.

Bubblygirl04: So... What do you think? Do i just get better or what?

YellowMustang: It looks amazing, my mouth is actually watering up... And to answer your question, yes, you do in fact get better.

Bubblygirl04: Thanks!! You're too sweet for you own good!! <3

Rick looks up from his phone, his face heats up as his cheeks turn a reddish color. Luckily he was alone in his room, he would die if anyone caught him blushing the way he is now.

BubblyGirl04: So tell me, do you think that i should join the cooking class at our school? I don't want that to make it easier for you to figure me out.

YellowMustang: Join as you please, I don't think the cooking instructor will see you coming. She's probably gonna have to call up Gordon Ramsay to our school.

YellowMustang: Alsoooo... What's so scary about me figuring out who you are??

Bubblygirl04: Lmaoo Gordon Ramsay? No i definitely can't handle the pressure of him tasting my food, i would go into anxiety overload. And we talked about this, I don't think i'm ready to reveal who i am... Not quite yet anyway.. sorry :(

Just like that, he could feel his heart sink in his chest. Like blades being pulled out of it, he would always suggests that she tells him who she is, but she never seems to be ready. But Rick could understand, he wasn't sure if he was ready to reveal himself to her yet. He would never admit it but he was afraid she'd be disappointed. She's sweet, smart, talented and funny, he couldn't imagine losing her because he wasn't good enough.

Yellowmustang: Yeah ok, don't be sorry, i understand.. it's just.. sometimes i wish we could be something real.

Bubblygirl04: We are real?? Are we not??? We talk everyday, and we tell each other everything about our lives?

Yellowmustang: ... It's not real until i get to hold you... It's not real until i get to whisper in you ear that you're mine..

-read-

Rick's mind made up so many situations as to why she didn't reply, it's been forty minutes since he had sent the text and still, nothing. He lays down on his bed with both palms covering his face. He groans when the thought of his message comes across his mind. He wonders if he should get up and do something to distract himself, but honestly nothing can really take him mind of this girl.

A ping can be heard from his phone, Rick jumps up and sees the phone laying at the bottom of his bed. He chuckles with the hope that it's a text from the mystery girl. Leaning forward he grabs the phone and checks the notification. The banner across his phone reads "JSA GC". It was from the imessage group chat that him and the girls made a few weeks back. His excitement toned down when he realized it wasn't from the girl he had hoped.

Courtney: Rick!! WTF!?!??! You're like super late, where are you??!?!

Yolanda: Relax Court, i'm sure he's just held up... Rick we need you here, pat has a whole thing set up for us... You know how he is.

Rick: Sorry, i had something come up. But i'm on my way.

Rick sends the text and quickly gets up and puts on his shoes. He puts his hoodie on and rushes out the door. He knew that if he were any later, he would never hear the end of it from Courtney. He gets in his yellow mustang that belonged to his father, thanks to pat it's now a working engine. Driving to the Pit stop where the group is, Rick couldn't help but ponder on everything that happened with the mystery girl. But he knew he couldn't think about that at practice, he needed to have his full attention on practicing, the injustice society was still out there somewhere and they needed to be stopped.

Arriving at the pit stop entrance Rick is approached by Courtney immediately.

"What the hell rick? It took you long enough, doesn't taking down the ISA mean anything to you?" Courtney lectures.

"Yeah of course it does you know that, i just.. got caught up in something but it's fine now."

Yolanda walks towards Rick as she stands besides Courtney. "You okay rick?" Yolanda questions. She looks at Rick with a sincere concerned look, she could tell something had been bothering him.

Rick pretends not to notice her concern. "Yeah, i'm fine. Can we just get started already." He says while walking further into the pit stop. He notices Pat has dummies of the ISA up again, well at least they aren't as cheesy looking as the ones Courtney destroyed. There are around four cpr dummies on sticks decorated with makeup and costumes resembling the ISA members. Wow, is this what pat spends all his free time doing? Rick thought.

"Rick! Good to see you buddy. Alright now that we're all here, i'll tell you what we're going to be studying today." Pat stated to the four teens as they stand in front of the bleachers awaiting his instructions.

While Pat was rambling on about teamwork and it's important on the field, Rick zoned out after noticing Beth. Something was different, her hair wasn't down as it usually it, it was braided down into crown braids. Rick stared in awe as she shyly looked at Pat while paying close attention to what he was saying, she cared so much about these missions and never missed a single practice. Rick admired her efficiency, he admired her everything.

"Alright so today we're going to be focusing on how your abilities work together on the field. So we will start off with each of you being paired with one another and we'll see how you can use your powers to help each other out. Then we'll do one last practice with all four of you, got it?" Pat explained.

"Got it." The three girls say in unison.

"O-oh, yeah got it." Rick says shortly after them once he's focus is back on pat and off of beth.

Pat sets the dummy of icicle in the center of the room. "Alright first we need Courtney and Yolanda, let's see how stargirl and wildcat can work together to beat icicle." Pat states.

Courtney picks up the cosmic staff from beside her feet, she gets in a fighting stance. "Alright, i was born for this." She lets out eagerly.

"Uhh, Yeah me too!" Yolanda adds on.

"Okay let's go, and while we're practicing, Rick and Beth you guys can wait on the bleachers until it's your turn." Pat explains.

Beth goes to seat in the middle of the bleachers and sits down before taking out her phone and staring at it longingly. Rick's eyes follow her as he can't help but to gaze at her.

"Gee, i get lectured for being late only to be benched? Quite a team we have going here." Rick complains sarcastically before walking to sit next to beth, his legs began to rush because of his excitement of finally be able to be with her all day but he tries to slow down as to not seem too eager.

Booms and zaps can be heard as Courtney and Yolanda practice on the dummies. As always Courtney is complimenting herself after every success and Yolanda is just excited to put use of all the amazing things her cat suit can do. Rick watches them practice for a second before turning to Beth, she still had a sorrowful look on her face as she stared at her phone.

Rick notices she hasn't said a word to him all day, which was unusual of Beth, she's usually the first to initiate every conversation. She didn't ask anyone how their days were or talk about all the amazing things her and chuck talked about, nothing.

Taking a deep breath Rick tries to think of something to say to break the silence. "So... How are you beth?" He asks, sliding closer to her on the bench.

Beth looks up from her phone and towards Rick, their eyes meet. Rick heart begins to beat out of his chest as he glanced into her honey brown eyes.

"Oh hi rick.." Beth says looking up from her phone. "I'm fine... Super excited for practice.. How about you?" Beth says, not sounding like her normal chipper self.

Rick couldn't help but think back to the mystery girl, because for a while he had hoped beth would reveal that she was behind the account. It made sense, both beth and the mystery girl had so much in common. They both are have no siblings, they have distant parents and not to mention their talent for cooking and baking. But Rick thought he was just getting his hopes up, he felt as if he let his existing crush on beth cloud his judgement.

Even though Rick really liked this mystery girl, his heart belonged to beth since the first grade. Ever since she was the only one to remember his birthday (rick's asshat of an uncle was too drunk to bother remembering). She brought him in cupcakes that she made herself, they were chocolate and fudge, with vanilla frosting and the words "happy b day rick" written on top in green frosting. Him and Beth sat together at recces that day and at the cupcakes on the bench.

Rick was never the type to remember specific details, but he could easily go on about the gorgeous blue sundress beth wore that day, he remembered her telling him she wanted to wear something special for his big day. She sang him happy birthday in the most beautiful harmony. He never forgot how beautiful she sounded, even when the teachers couldn't bother to do something for his birthday, he knew he could always count on beth.

"I'm okay i guess." Rick responds fidgeting in his seat.

"Well thats good to hear." Beth says going to look back at her phone.

Rick notices how often she had been staring at her phone screen today, which was fairly unusual. Beth was never the type to use her phone during conversations. "You waiting on a text?" Rick suggests, hoping to get some type of explanation out of her.

Beth jumps and quickly puts her phone away upon hearing those words. "No, it's nothing i was just thinking about something a friend of mine sent me." She says vaguely, turning her vision to rick finally.

He could tell something was wrong, he knew her better than he knew himself. "Hey, how about we let wildcat and stargirl do their thing in here, and go get some fresh air while we wait for our turn." Rick suggests, hoping to get some alone time with beth for the first time today.

"Sure! I could use a breath of fresh air." Beth responds, getting up and walking towards the exist, rick follows behind her.

The summer sun rays touch Rick's skin, the heat was really starting to come in now that summer has officially started. He smiled and watched as beth took off her cardigan and tied it around her waist.

"So, umm beth... I think i have something that i want to ask you, i mean i have been wanting to ask you about this for some time, but i was a little too embarrassed in case you'd say no and it's well its a lot-" Rick rambled on, preparing himself for what he was about to ask, he couldn't believe he had finally gained the courage to do so.

Beth walk closer to rick, placing her hand gently on his arm to calm his nerves. "What is it rick? You know you can tell me anything!" She reassures him.

He did know, thats what made her so amazing. "Beth... I have feelings for you." Rick admits.

For a second it felt like time had stopped as rick glanced at beth's precious face to see her reaction to his words. She gapes her mouth and her eyes widen in shock. He soft hold on Rick's arm becomes a soft grip.

"You... have feelings for me?" Beth asks rhetorically. Rick nods his head in responds, he slightly pouts, afraid of what she might say next.

"Do you feel the same way?" He asks. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, his palms were dripping with sweat. He felt as if he could faint any second.

Beth eyes light up, her shocked expression turns into a grin. "Oh my god- RICK!?!? OF COURSE I LIKE YOU!" She shouts as she rushes in for a hug.

The warmth of Beth affection calms Rick down immanently, a grin as bright as the sun comes across rick's face as he sighs out of relief. They embrace each other for some time, not even realizing how much time had passed.

Once the hugs ends, beth lays her hands on rick's shoulders, as he grabs her waist slighting to bring her closer to his height. Rick's heart flutters as he stares into beth's eyes, he would always catch glances of her eyes when they hung out, but he was always to shut to look into them for too long. But not today, he felt like he could stare into her eyes forever, looking at her had always made him feel safe.

Rick couldn't even think about the mystery girl, whoever she was, if she wasn't beth, it didn't matter to him.

"Can i confess something to you Rick?" Beth questions, with a look of concern in her eyes.

"You can tell me anything, beth." Rick replies, he knew that she couldn't say anything that would dim his happiness. The girl of his dreams had just admitted to having feelings for him too, this moment was too special to be ruined.

"Well, i've kind of been having a thing with this guy-" Beth begins, those words sank Rick's heart. He never experienced such intense jealousy in his life, the euphoria he felt had slowly began to fade away as he listened to beth speak.

"And well we met online and never actually talked in person, in fact i'm not exactly sure who he is. And I don't know if i'm gonna keep talking to him, because... whenever i talk to him, i've always imagined you." Beth lets out.

Rick's joy comes rushing back upon hearing the end of beth's sentence. She imagined him, even when she talked to other guys, he always dreamed of being on her mind as much as she was on his. Then slowly, rick's logic comes into play when he ponders upon beth's situation with this guy.

He thought back to how he was in an exact similar situation but with a girl, could it be? After all this time imagining beth, could it actually be that Rick was right.

Before he could even think of the words to say in response to beth's confession, rick leans in his lips brushed her, delicately. The warmth from her lips caused rick to shiver as he cupped the back of her neck with his right hand.

After a while, when the kiss is over, rick dazedly stared into beth's eyes again. She stared back, her face surprised but pleased with Rick's response.

"Hey beth." He says.

"Yes?" She replies.

Rick leans into her ear and whispers, "You're mine." He could feel beth freeze up upon hearing him speak those words, just like that it clicked to her as well. "Now it's real." He says finally.

[dokurorider-blog1]

[survivor-ingary]

Episode 3 - "RIP tribe Jenkins we were too powerful" - Riley

The 3 tribes of Pendragon, Hatter, and Jenkins have been reorganized and condensed into 2 new Hatter and Pendragon Tribes. Tribal immunity is Scavenger Hunt.

The fact I have Brayden and Toph in my merged tribe boosts my serotonin. i have a feeling colin may be someone to keep an eye out for in the future now...

RIP tribe Jenkins we were too powerful. I guess we'll see how Pendragon pans out.

yall doin me dirty putting me with brayden i just hope that by some miracle me him anastasia and ellie can work together? like i still dont know if theyre plotting on my ass vdshibshj i know brayden told anastasia to take me out when this game started oop but lemme see if dis works. i hope riley follows the logic of the old tribe sticking together and thatll be 5 votes. im kinda obsessed with toph like since the beginning of the game he looks like someone i could totally play with so def wanna work on that relationship. ava and nya? i believe? lets say hello and work on those relationships as well. dis is a bit overwhelming but we shall see how it goes

uh... well... i am SCREWED. me and ginny were the only ones separated from the Jenkins tribe... RIP. 4 pendragons, 2 hatters, and 2 jenkins... the main things i see here are pendragon yoinking one of the hatters / jenkins and voting the other off... OR a 4-4 tie... OR they're gonna target one of me or ginny cuz none of us have gone to tribal council yet. this is really dicey, and I need to tread very, very carefully from hereon. (ALSO GINNY BARELY TALKS PLS I NEED YOUR HELP GIRL)

This swap actually turned out pretty amazing for me. I still have Keith and Moth who I worked semi-close with in the pre-swap. Additionally, I've met up with Colin and Babs. A little Raffy magic could keep me very safe on this tribe. I think Kenneth is super fun as he is a newbie AND active. He will definitely make it far in this game. I hope, at the very least, that I can be by his side to make that happen. However, I am wary he might just be making these strong social connections with everyone. As a final note, OG Pendragons have this tribe 4 to 8. That's both good and bad. Good because we have numbers. Bad because that may make people target me very early on just for being a part of it. So, I have decided that if I were to throw any of my OG Pendragons to the wolves it would be Jonathan as I haven't been able to connect with them as well as Keith and Moth. Other than that, I hope this tribe doesn't have to go to tribal all that often between now and the next swap/merge. These people are lovely.

I'm getting a bad feeling about this... Since most of my Jenkins tribemates are on the other tribe, I KNOW they're good cuz we just keep getting W's... so I think there is a good chance we might lose the challenge. I contributed a good amount, so I hope that the target won't be on me if ever we lose the challenge :( I really don't wanna go, and I wanna reunite with Dennis/Ellie and maybe Anastasia and get further in the game.

i worked hard on this confessional

Our tribe did our absolute best in this challenge. I have no idea who is getting targeted if we go to tribal as everyone is so quiet. All I know is that I want to keep Colin, Kenneth, and Keith close to me for this stage of the game. They are the only ones who consistently talk to me. Challenge results: Pendragon wins due to a 10% advantage, Hatter Tribe must go to tribal council the following day.

THANK GOD I FINALLY GET TO GO TO A TRIBAL, ITS BEEN TOO LONG!!!!

Look, before you go to tribal with a group of people it feels like there’s a barrier of game socialization because you haven’t been able to go to tribal with them. But leading up to tribal and after it, a whole new can of worms is available for game talk. Unfortunately it’s an extremely simple vote because Nya has ghosted all of us, but at least we still get to go to tribal so I can talk game with more people even if it’s only a small amount with this easy vote. But who knows, someone might decide to switch shit up!

And also I absolutely love this tribe (Minus Nya cause I haven’t met them) so I’m glad that I get to go forward with this group although I won’t be nearly as happy if we go to tribal again because as I said, I do enjoy this group of people a lot

Moth (Tumblr will only allow me 10 images so player banners stop now, whoops) I believe the only reason I will make it to the next round is because of Raffys advantage. I’d be so screwed otherwise

I like Babs. They got good vibes.

Also I’d kill to know how the other tribe reacted

Dennis in a perfect world i would try to not vote out nya but bdksksksoksks theyve done it to themselves. no need to make waves. unless someone else is secretly plotting on me i think this is about to be an easy tribal. damn one point. miss ellie had her name down on stuff that she didnt do. also overslept that first challenge is she purposey trying to sabotage and play the villain? who knowssss also ive broken my streak of never going to tribe tribal sigh

Toph So what’s happening, I can’t remember the last time I made a confession but the tea yall ?! Soooo the tribe swap happened and my gut was right soooo okay intuition work ! I feel like I really like everyone from the merge and nya as remained inactive since, after losing the challenge it seems like an easy vote but you can never be to safe, I have my little allinnce with Brayden and Ava which is wig and I really dig Ellie , Anastasia, and Dennis too, I’m gonna be so nervous if we have to go to tribal agian because it could be me ! I’m not to sure about Reilly but they seem nice ! I feel pretty good with Anastasia as well and feel we could rope her into an alliance easily, I’m just gonna due my best right now to play the middle, keep my head down and speak positively. I really need to find an idol or something even better just so I don’t have to worry as super much and just plain worry then lol. If anything I’m gonna stay loyal to brayden and Ava the most since there my day one homies. Brayden seems to be close with Anastasia which could definitely help in are favor of having the numbers on are side. But could mean he would easily cut me for her if needed, so that mean I need to get closer with Ava, just to gaurnetee my safety, I have to look out for me this game and only me, making sure the numbers are kn my side I’m constantly on the right side of the vote should help me strageticly float to the end and win my crown thank you very much. I’m also lowkey worried about alliance’s being made right now without me! Everyone seems to be online but my chats are a bit quite but this could be me overthinking things mmmhmm I’m not sure, we’ll anyways it was nice to vent to y’all. :)

Riley Nooooooo I can't believe we lost by just one point. Damn the Hatter tribe's secret bonus point boost >:(

Kenneth I am honestly in such a shock that we won that challenge... Raffy really came in clutch and helped us win AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Now I don't have to worry about being randomly blindsided or targeted for at least a couple more days now pls I just hope we get lucky again and another swap happens where I would be on the right side of the numbers, all prepared for merge domination >:) Raffy Oof. I know the other tribe is MAD because I would be too. Like, we only won because of my advantage giving us a 1 POINT LEAD. That's crazy! Honestly, this works for me as I can still focus o n making strong social connections within this tribe. By the time we go to tribal, I will be so integrated with this tribe that voting me out would do a lot more short-term harm than long-term good. I want to see if Kenneth would start an alliance with me as that is someone I want to work closely with. In this alliance? I have no idea. I'll probably let Kenneth take the lead on that since I want him to feel like he is in charge. Dennis nothing is real

if i go tonight i would applaud it bc i am so sure nya is going. it would be a goop if the vote really wasnt nya but everyone is more or less trying to do the easy thing i think. i just hope she is okay and just too busy for dis.

some time has gone by and im just chilling. im not chilling because i feel safe, im chilling because i dont know what else to do. i cant be all game talk 24/7 because then im an outcast and would get targeted. besides the obvi alliances like a+b and maybe(?!?!??) an e(?!) in there, idk what alliances there are. like there has to be something but i dont have the picture yet. as yall know im not in any alliances in my current tribe besides i guess ellie who i fear is a saboteur lol and most likely working with a+b. a+b are such a double edged sword for me ugh. am i really in their best interests???????????????? am i really in ellies best interest???? do they know about her idol too?????????? likeeeee thats the issue. if im not really in their best interests then im the next to go after nya. i am probs very low if not the lowest on this tribe if dats true. i mean what if i really am in their best interests and theyre all genuinely trying to work with me? idk! if not then im next to go efuhijdhvbf and i fear im probably not.

i really like toph. taurus sun (in the 12th!) gemini everything else king. hes got social game on lock like who wouldnt wanna work with him ?! and hes a cutie ?! ?! ?! but i seen the chart -.- i know what hes doin. i think hes working with ellie. but he reaches out to me and probably others but i like our conversations. (but im sure everyone loves their conversations with toph!! hes great!!!!! friendly ol toph wont harm a fly ?!) i hope he likes me and sees i actually would wanna work with him above all the gorls and chooses me over them too.

ava also knows what theyre doing. saturnian legend. we barely talk but little short bits here and there. i hope its bc theyre busy but im sure ellie is talking to them more than me amongst others too. oop also possible alliance, brayden toph ava who all swapped together. so gotta keep that in mind. but yeah i dont really think im much of their priority esp if theyre on vacay they would hear a name and not stress too much if its mine bc we dont have ties like that.

riley and i talk here and there, had a lil chat today

someone once told me that i just look like someone you cant trust but you can :( sometimes :)

so yeah here i am having lots of thoughts over the last few days.

maybe im not super super invested just yet bc i feel like the rug is gonna get swept out right from under me again :))) also back on my bs telling people im a leo moon. i shouldnt weaponize astrology but hey.

[super493x]

OK I made this post last night while pretty drunk but I still stand by a lot of it. I shouldn't have been as aggressive, and for that I'm sorry.

Gacha is a predatory game mechanic, and I don't think games that have it should be celebrated, despite whatever redeeming factors they mY have.

Story time.

I have some pretty poor impulse control. Because of this, I tend to avoid games that have microtransaction, which includes most mobile games. However, one game slipped through that filter: Pokemon Masters. I'm a big Pokemon fan, and the prospect of the NPC trainers getting a little more fleshed out interested me enough to download it when it launched.

I was obsessed with it for the next three weeks. I spent most of my free time (and some of the time I should have been doing my job) playing it. Looking back, it was mostly just grinding. Grinding through the story, grinding for items to power up my characters, and grinding to get enough if the premium currency to scout for trainers. By the end of I got almost every 3-star trainer, a few 4-stars, and two 5-stars. But I wanted all of them. I had to get all the characters to consider the game complete. It was a Pokemon, so of course I had to catch em all.

This last point might just bother me because I'm a completionist, but I still spent way too much time staring at my phone to make number go up, and because number go up my brain was happy.

Anyway

At this point I was out of the currency needed to scout trainers. I really wanted to scout so I could finally get Kris and Brendan. I got impatient. So I fidgeted for a few minutes before deciding to buy some for about $12. I selected the associated bundle and clicked purchase. Fortunately, I had neglected to add my credit card info to my account and it didn't go through. I just realized what I had attempted to do. What the game was trying to get me to do. I had almost fallen victim to this slimy tactic. I uninstalled the game a couple minutes after that, and I haven't looked back.

The worst part was that the core gameplay was kinda fun, if a bit brain-dead. There was a certain charm to seeing all these trainers has interacting with each other I wouldn't likely see elsewhere. I valued those moments. But they're supported by a foundational design flaw that's intended to prey on people like me.

I'm not opposed to monetization in mobile games. I've bought mobile games before. If Pokemon Masters charged 10-15 dollars and had all the characters unlockable via basic progression or side-missions, I probably would have bought it. DLC kinds bugs me as well, but if new updates brought along 3-5 dollar expansion packs with new characters/alternative costumes and Pokemon, I wouldn't have complained.

I don't play Genshin Impact, but a lot of my online friend group does. They've been doing so nearly daily for the past year. I always hear them talk about how they NEED to get their daily tasks done, or that they need to grind for levels, materials, primo gems for character pulls, resin, etc. If there's a character they want in the banner you have to grind even more so that you won't miss pulling them. It's not respectful of your time or your wallet.

At the end of the day, all gacha games create a negative feedback loop of grinding and F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out). You grind for hours and hours for resources for a chance to get something you want to use. That's just gambling with extra work. I don't mind luck in a video game, but I don't like gambling. I hated it in the Pokemon game corners, I hated it in Pokemon Masters, and I hate how prevalent it has become in modern gaming. Much like it's Vegas counterpart, it's designed for exploitation. This cycle only gets worse once you actually spend money on a game like this. You've finally sunk some money into the game and drew the character you wante, you'd be stupid to stop playing now, right?

tl;dr, gacha games are 90% grinding. The do not respect your time unless you spend excessive amount of money on it. That's not how games should be designed.

Thanks for reading. I hope this conveys my feelings on the matter more effectively. I'm gonna go play Picross.

gacha games should not be winning awards oh my fucking god

every gacha game is full of shitty and exploitative mechanics. gacha is a fundamentally awful system to implement into a game. gacha is antithetical to good game design. the normalization of microtransactions in most mobile games does not make them any less awful. but these games have waifus and husbandos so i guess people will always flock to this shit.

character design does not fix awful and exploitative game design.

on a totally unrelated note, genshin impact seems like a boring game that’s all grind in the vain hope that you unlock a character to do some really boring combat with. 

make the game $20, make expansions the same price or lower, make it so you actually unlock the characters and their weapons by doing quests, and you have a game that respects your time and money

anyway genshin impact winning an award at the game awards (let alone any award at all) is a fucking disgrace. not that the awards have any actual value, but still.

[jade4813]

Jade, how are you? Did you peep TF FB page recently? there is a lot a hate towards Iris there, in every post I saw most of people shitting on her and I honestly think it's even worst now than in the previous seasons 😩 do you think due the backlash the network could made the producers kill Iris off or sideline her? because I don't think the producers would do that but we all know that C*W is trash 😒 since you have a brother that works w television do you think I'm overthinking?

I wouldn’t worry about it. I think they know The Flash’s Facebook page is just a cesspool of hate. And if you look everywhere else - Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. - there’s a lot of love for Iris.The Internet has been around long enough for show runners to learn that one website’s opinion isn’t indicative of the fan base as a whole. To be frank, the Internet’s opinion as a whole doesn’t necessarily speak to the general fandom. Remember, the people online who talk about it every week and dissect and get really into it? We are the outliers. If the show runners wrote the show based off what Online fandom says, they’d be cancelled in a year. If there are 3,000 passionate stans Online, there are ten times that who never talk about it on the computer. They just watch week to week. That’s the majority of the audience. And do they have passionate love or hatred towards Iris? Probably not.I mean, think of the shows you watch casually - the ones you might tune into every week, but you don’t talk about them after or really even think about until the following week. The ones where you might remember all the characters’ names but maybe not. You may have characters you’re more “meh” about than others and some you’re more “aw, I like them” than others but either way, you just kind of move on. You aren’t screaming for them to be killed off. You aren’t screaming for others to get their screen time. You also aren’t yelling about how they need a whole arc about X, Y, or Z. That kind of fan is the one the show runners are writing for. That is the general audience.As far as online, they care people ARE talking but most show runners aren’t caring what they’re saying. Because, again, it’s a small subset of their audience that cares that much anyway, and the way they dissect and the things they care about may not be what the general audience cares about. And even if they did pay attention to what was said online, Facebook is a cesspool, but every other place online has a huge amount of support for Iris. Why would they think one site’s toxic/racist opinion was more important than the overwhelming love elsewhere?So what do the show runners pay attention to? First...ratings. However they measure that figure. For CW, they’ve had to move past traditional ratings and focus on online engagement too. Flash is still #1 for the network - apparently on both. And while it’s true the overnight ratings across all networks and almost all shows have dropped in the last couple of years, 1) they are aware of that trend in the landscape, so Flash falling too isn’t a big surprise or deal, 2) Flash is in its 4th year, and ratings generally decrease over time so that’s not a surprise either (nor will it be a surprise if at some point another show becomes the new #1 for the network - in fact, the network desperately wants and needs another hit), and 3) apparently Flash is consistently a show that about doubles its ratings with streaming views, so it’s still going REALLY strong for the CW.Also, if they pay attention to what people are saying, it’s going to be to critical reviews. Not because they care what EW thinks of Flash, per se, but because reviews can bring in new audience members or drive them away. And while you will never get 100% consensus on anything, there’s been a lot of praise for Candice and her acting (and Iris) in critical reviews.Frankly, I don’t think you have to worry about them being so freaked out by Facebook that they do away with Iris. Here’s the thing. Take a step back and look at the trend of how the marketing and the show has handled their non-Grant cast since the beginning. In particular, look at Candice’s trajectory.When the show started, there was all this buzz about Danielle and Caitlin and how great it was that a woman was in STEM. They patted themselves on the back for it. As for Candice...well, she had several critical outlets outright ignore her and a few others call for her to be fired. Finding a shot of Iris in trailers became like a quest to find the Fountain of Youth. There was a lot of looking but very little finding - and when there was a shot found, it was often from the back so we had to analyze “is that her or a random extra?”Then 2A happened. These were dark days. Little screen time. Little buzz. She wasn’t even the one consistently invited to panels and cons. Remember the Heroes and Villains discussion panel where she wasn’t even invited though almost everyone else was? Yeah.If we were still in that position, I’d tell you it’s prayer time. But then look at what happened. Earth 2 Iris. Remember, leading into the episode, it was pretty clear they did NOT expect for Iris to be anywhere close to a draw. They thought the audience would be like “well, that’s nice...but KILLER FROST...” (Also remember that Caitlin-heavy or even centric episodes were getting pre-screened for critics, expecting to generate a lot of buzz.) But what happened? They pre-screened and critics were like “okay, it’s good to see Killer Frost. But IRIS...we have to talk about Iris because THAT WAS AMAZING!” And after the episode, what got an astonishing amount of buzz? Iris.So they were like “oh, maybe we should do more with her” and started playing her up a bit more. Through end of S2 to first half of S3, they have her more to do and critics noticed. Again, there was a lot of talk about her acting ability and how she nails each scene. And the show played her up even more. To the point where it’s Grant and Candice who are consistently talked about at cons and in interviews and who are invited to panels. Weren’t they the only ones invited to something like Paley last year? If you have a show where someone comes in and the EXPECTATION is that they’ll generate a lot of buzz and then they don’t...or if you have a situation where an actor or character is given every opportunity to steal the focus of buzz and attention (by marketing and promos focusing heavily on them, for example) but they just don’t manage to do it...if the show had started with her being treated like female lead but another character kept stealing her thunder and buzz...then you can worry about what the show may do with their character under X or Y circumstance. Or think trolls on Facebook will matter. But Candice has had the opposite. Even CW marketing often ignored her and treated like she wasn’t the female lead (remember the Women of CW banners and such?). Well, DP was somewhat better known at the start. So they treated Candice like they didn’t think she’d be a draw or people would care about her. And then time and time again, when the show expected someone or something else to be the focus of attention and discussion, the chatter has been about Iris. Positive and negative, but she’s a character people talk about. She gets attention. And how many times has it happened that an episode was clearly geared towards getting chatter on something else (or the expectation was that it would) and yet it’s Iris/Candice/Westallen that gets the chatter they expected that other character/plot to get?And you can tell they’ve noticed. Look how they’ve increased her prominence. Look how they focus promos. We had a whole promo teasing the Westallen therapy humor. Could you imagine her getting a promo like that in late S1/early S2? I sure as hell couldn’t.So the people in charge clearly think Iris works for them. They’ve increased, not decreased, her show profile. And not because “well, of course we expect she’ll be popular so we’ll set her up for success at every turn.” They didn’t expect her popularity - they were in fact often surprised by it and shifted THEIR approach to give her focus based off the positive response to HER. Not the other way around (she didn’t get her positive response because they were giving her the focus). So, look. Things can change in another 6 years. But they clearly think Iris and Candice are a draw. And not because they always assumed she would be and are acting on that assumption. But because they came to realize she was and could be and began to capitalize on that. So is one site like Facebook going to overcome the combination of factors that led them to realize that they needed to give her more prominence and focus? That made them realize there was a benefit to treating her like female lead, sending her and Grant to cons, making her one of the main female faces for the network? I doubt it.And also notice that Facebook has hated Candice and Iris for years with a ludicrous amount of vitriol. But every time people call for her to be killed off, what does the show do? “The focus of the season will be on saving her and you can suck it.” “Oh, you want her dead? How about she becomes team leader instead?”They clearly know there are those who hate her. They clearly also don’t care what those people say. They keep doubling down on her because they have reason to believe that doing so works for them. So I’m not at all fussed about Facebook. I suspect the show runners don’t care much about the trolls on Facebook either.(And being honest, most of the time they know that their show IS being discussed but they neither know nor care what is being said. They know Iris generates buzz. Good and bad. But in the new landscape where online chatter is calculated with ratings, WHAT’S being said is less important than the fact that week after week, people can’t keep Iris’s name out of their mouths. Facebook may be spending time bringing her up to say they hate her, but week after week, Iris’s name is being said at least second most on that site. And THAT’S what they are paying attention to. People can love her or hate her...as long as they keep talking about her!)