#also ignore my awful combo and score up there; i was really just trying to run from enemies to take screenshots

[thecodeveronica]

Got this mod for Piers's casual outfit that I love from the first cutscene in Chris's story working after finally unlocking the EX2 so I could overwrite it

life is good and worth living again

[arcticdementor]

I have to begin this column by admitting that “Biden” (note: when in quotation marks, I refer to the “collective Biden”, not the clearly senile man) surprised me: it appears that my personal rule-of-thumb about US Presidents (each one is even worse than his predecessor) might not necessarily apply in “Biden’s” case. That is not to say that “Biden” won’t end up proving my rule of thumb as still applicable, just that what I am seeing right now is not what I feared or expected.

…

I think that both of these grossly oversimplify a probably much more complex and nuanced reality. In other words, “Biden” surprised many, if not most, Russians. That is very interesting by itself (neither Bush, nor Obama nor Trump ever surprised the Russians – who knew the score about all of them – in any meaningful way).

My strictly personal guess is that there is some very serious infighting currently taking place inside the US ruling class. Furthermore, that serious infighting is not about core principles or even strategy – it is a dispute over tactics only.

We have to keep in mind an old truism about outcomes: John F. Kennedy once said that “victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan” and he was right. When any group seizes power and effectively controls its interests, all is well, and everybody is busy consuming the proverbial milk and honey. But when this group suffers a series of humiliating defeats, a typical cascade of events begins:

Finger pointing: everybody blames everybody else (but never himself/herself)

Hindsight wisdom: “if I had been in charge, this would not have happened!”

Infighting over quickly shrinking spoils of war

A collapse of the centralized center of authority/decision-making centers

Generation of subgroups, fighting each other over their sub-interests

In other words, following many years of extremely weak presidential administrations (since Clinton, imho), it is hardly a surprise that infighting would take place (in both parties, by the way). In fact, an apparently chaotic set of uncoordinated, or even contradictory, policies is what one should expect. And that is exactly what we have been observing since 1993 and this dynamic has been getting worse and worse with each passing year).

…

That being said, there are some observations which might be helpful when trying to at least (indirectly) identify who are the main groups fighting each other.

The hardcore, really nutty, russophobes are still here, especially in the US media which seems to be serving not so much “Biden” as much as some “crazies in the basement” kind of cabal. Next to the legacy ziomedia, there is an increasing number of US/NATO/UK military officials who are foaming at the mouth with threats, warnings, complaints and insults, all against Putin and Russia. This is important because:

The “Zone A” media has comprehensively and very effectively concealed the very real risks of war with Russia, China and Iran. And if this was mentioned, the presstitutes always stressed that the US has the “best military in the history of the galaxy” and that Uncle Sam will “kickass” anybody he chooses to. If the people of the USA were informed of the truth of the matter, they would freak out and demand that this path to war be immediately abandoned and replaced with a meaningful dialog.

US/NATO/UK authorities have talked themselves into a corner where they have only two outcomes left: they can do what the US always does, that is to “declare victory and leave”, or they can force Russia to protect her borders on land, air and sea and, thereby, face a major military humiliation delivered by Russia.

Truth be told, during the recent naval exercises UK and US officials made a lot of threats and promises to ignore Russian warnings, but in the end, they quietly packed and left. Smart choice, but it must have been painfully humiliating for them, which is very dangerous by itself.

…

There will be many more NATO exercises in the Black Sea in the future. Ditto for USN operations off the Chinese, Iranian or DPRK coasts. This (always explosive) combo of ignorance, arrogance and incompetence could result in a major war.

LAnother option is the terminally delusional UK government (supported by those Brits who still have phantom pains about their lost empire and, of course, by the largely irrelevant 3B+PU gang) might do something really stupid (say, like this) and trigger a war with the DPRK, Russia, China or Iran and then the US would have to move to defend/save a British Navy which is mostly a joke (at least by Russian or Chinese standards). The main problem here being that the USN is also in a terrible shape and cannot compete against Russian and Chinese standoff weapons (I mean that literally, there are currently no defenses against maneuvering hypersonic missiles! The only exception would be the Russian S-500). The latter two nations, by the way, have joined into an informal and unofficial military alliance for many years already; check out this article and video or this one for a recent update).

But opposite, de-escalatory developments are also taking place. First and foremost, “Biden” seemed to have “farmed out” the “Ukrainian dossier” to the Germans and washed Uncle Shmuel’s hands from it. If so, that was a very slick and smart move (which is something we have not witnessed from any administration in decades!). I highly recommend this translation of a most interesting article by arguably the best Ukraine specialist out there, Rostislav Ishchenko.

Ishchenko goes into a lot of interesting details and explains what “Biden” apparently just did. Frankly, the Germans richly deserve this full-spectrum mess and they will be dealing with the consequences of this disaster for a long time, possibly decades. In fact, the Germans are stuck: they want to be the Big European Leader? Let them. After all, the EU politicians, led by Germany, did all they could to create what is now often called “country 404” – a black hole in the heart of the European continent. Germany is the biggest economic power of the EU? Good, then let the Germans (and the rest of the EU) pay for the eventual reconstruction of the Ukraine (or of the successor-states resulting from the breakup of the country)! Russia simply cannot foot that bill, China most definitely won’t (especially after being cheated several times by the Ukies) and the USA has absolutely no reasons whatsoever to do so. I would even argue that chaos (social, economic, political, cultural. etc.) in Europe is probably seen by the US ruling class as highly desirable since it 1) weakens the EU as a competitor 2) justifies, however hypocritically and mistakenly, a “strong US presence” in Europe and 3) gives NATO a reason (however mistaken, misguided and even immoral) to exist

The US is protected from the fallout (immigrants, violence, extremism, etc.) of the Ukrainian disaster by distance, the Atlantic, a much stronger military (at least compared to anybody else in NATO). The US can print money in any way it wants and has no interests whatsoever in the (dying) Ukraine. If Ishchenko is right, and I agree with him, then there is somebody (possibly a group of somebodies) who is a lot smarter than anybody in the Trump Admin and who figured out that the Nazi-occuppied Ukraine should be an German/EU problem, not one for the US.

There is, of course, also the pessimistic analysis: the US is on the retreat everywhere, but only for the following reasons:

Regroup, reorganize, buy time to develop some kind of coherent strategy

Focus on each adversary separately and prioritize (divide et impera at least!)

Re-analyze, re-plan, re-design, re-develop, re-train, re-equip and re-test pretty much everything in the US armed forces (which have not been shaped by any rational force planning in decades)

Those who believe the strategic retreat theory (I am not personally discounting this version, but I do not see enough evidence – yet – to endorse it either) typically add that “the US only left Afghanistan to hand it over to the Taliban/al-Qaeda and unleash them against “soft underbelly of Russia”. Now, that is utter nonsense, if only because Russia does not have a common border with Afghanistan.

…

Coming back to “Biden’s” great retreat: if “Biden” is smart enough to hang the Ukraine on Germany, “he” is probably too smart to predicate the US foreign policy towards Russia predicated around the “soft underbelly” thingie. As for all the “fire and brimstone” threats of war against Russia, they are not impressing anybody as the Russians, the Chinese and the Iranians know that a confident and powerful country does not need to threaten anybody, if only because the actual capabilities of these country are a very telling “threat” by themselves. But when a former superpower is weak, confused and frightened, it will make many roaring statements about how it can defeat the entire planet if needed (after all, the US military is “the best military in the history of the galaxy”! If you doubt that, just listen to Toby Keith!). In other words, while in the West threats are an instrument of foreign policy, in Russia, and in the rest of Asia, they are inevitably seen as a sign of weakness, doubts and even fear.

Then there seems to be a long list of weapons systems, procurement plans and “defense” monies which have been pulled back, including the (truly awful) LCS and F-35. While it is true that the US is gradually phasing out fantastically expensive weapons systems and platforms which were also more or less useless, this show the ability to at least admit that all that talk about super-dooper US superweapons was just that, talk, and that in reality the US MIC is incapable of producing the kind of superb high quality systems which it used to produce in large quantities in the past (Arleigh Burke, F-15, Jumbo 747, the Willys Jeep, F-16, A-10, Los Angeles SSN, KH satellites, etc.). This is why the F-15X is designed to “augment” the F-35 feet (by itself a very smart move!).

Such an admission, even if indirect and only logically implied, might show a level of maturity, or courage, by “Biden” which his predecessors did not have.

Could it be that the folks at the Pentagon, who do know the reality of the situation (see here for a very good Moon of Alabama article about this), figured out that Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump vastly over extended the Empire and now they need to regroup and “re-everything” to achieve a more sustainable “defense” posture?

Could it be that “Biden” will deliver what Trump promised, i.e. to end the useless (and unwinnable!) wars, stop caring too much about the agonizing EU, silently accept that Russia has no intentions (and no need!) whatsoever to attack anyone and focus on the biggest non-military threat out there: China. Maybe.

As far as I know, many (all?) simulations – by RAND and the US military – and command staff exercises have shown that the US would lose badly to both Russia or China. Could it be that “Biden” wants to put Russia and China on the backburner and “deal” with Iran first? The latest news on the US/Israel vs Iran front is not good, to say the least.

…

So what are we left with?

Frankly, I am not sure.

I think that there is very strong, even if only indirect, evidence which there is some very serious in-fighting taking place in the “Biden” administration and there is also strong, but also indirect, evidence that the military posture of the United States is undergoing what might end up being a major overhaul of the US armed forces.

If true, and that is a big “if”, this is neither good news nor bad news.

But this might be big news.

Why?

Because, objectively, the current US retreat on most fronts might be the “soft landing” (transition from Empire to “normal” country) many Trump voters were hoping for. Or it might not. If it is not, this might be a chaos-induced retreat, indicating that the US state is crumbling and has to urgently “simplify” things to try to survive, thereby generating a lot of factional infighting (at least one Russian observer specialized in “US studies”, Dmitrii Drobnitskii, believes to be the case: see the original article here, and its machine translation here). Finally, the state of decay of the US state might already be so advanced that we can consider it as profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed. The first option (soft landing) is unlikely, yet highly desirable. The second option (chaos-induced retreat) is more likely, but much less desirable as it is only a single step back to then make several steps forward again. The last option (profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed) is, alas, the most likely, and it is also, by far, the most perilous one.

For one thing, options #2 and #3 will make US actions very unpredictable and, therefore, potentially extremely dangerous. Unpredictable chaos can also quickly morph into a major war, or even several major ones, so the potential danger here is very real (even if totally unreported in Zone A). This, in turn, means that Russia, China, Iran, the DPRK, Venezuela or Cuba all have to keep their guard up and be ready for anything, even the unthinkable (which is often what total chaos generates).

Right now, the fact that the US has initiated a “great retreat” is undeniable. But the true reasons behind it, and its implications, remain quite obscure, at least to me.

I will conclude by asking you, the readers, for your opinion: do you think that the US is currently in a “contraction phase”? If yes, do you believe that this is a short-term only phenomenon, or will this retreat continue and, if yes, how far?

[c-atm]

Fighting Flirty Birthday Boss rush Chapter 2: Onion's layers of fun

*Present*

 Steven stretched, a smile on his face as he looked at the statue. "I thought that Priya-mom would be a little more of a challenge actually, but she let me coast by...I think she might be plotting for next time we all have a game night. She's a bit of a sore loser." He relaxed his body, laying his elbows on his knees as he slouched forward. "The next boss, they kind of put me through my paces."

*earlier*

Steven sniffed the air like a bloodhound as he followed the scent coming from Funland, curiosity  and pleasant anxiousness within as he got closer  to the source. "The arcade huh? Did she got little laminar to help?" Steven pondered as he walked in,still following the scent.

He found himself at the back of the arcade, at the prize counter. He looked at the very top to see another box with a pink note, basically bathed in Connie's Scent. scent.  “Maybe it’s Mr. Smiley helping her..Whoa!” His eyes spotted the price tag on the box. “100,000  tickets, the top score on ten games, a combination of the two, or win the token challenge.” Steven hummed as he rubbed his chin. “What’s the token challenge?” 

“Meh!”

Steven looked behind him only to get hugged by a (finally) older Onion. He turned around to return the hug to the boy he saw as a kid brother. After breaking the greeting, Steven looked to see that Onion had his gang with him and they all had mischievous smiles. “Let me see if I remember correctly,” He pointed as a heavy set teen with freckles and tan skin. “Garbanzo.” He spoke confidently, getting a nod of confirmation.

Garbanzo.” the teen answered in a surprisingly deep voice.

“ Nice...Hmm, your sister not with you today, she’s doing well? ”Steven gave him a gentle smile when the boy nodded with a thumbs up. Steven nodded as he pointed to the tallest one there, standing right beside Garbanzo. A  dark skin teen with black coarse hair and a yellow cap. “I wanna say...Squash.” He stated unsure and received a tip of their hat and a bow, showing their squash on their head. Steven chuckled, “Can’t beat a classic. Now...” He turned to the shortest of their group, a girl with near peach tan skin, and slightly shaggy brown hair which she had in a ponytail. 

She  walked up beside Onion giving him a smile before leaning  on the taller boy, her  let arm draped over his right shoulder, before turning to Steven and blowing him a kiss, like last time they met.

“Soup, you’re Soup.” He affirmed, getting a nod from Soup. Steven arched an eyebrow at the hidden smile between Onion and Soup, but decided to ignore it “ So...Safe to assume you’re the Champs here?” He smirked at the four crossing his arms., and putting more  of his weight on his right leg.

“Meh.” Onion arched his eyebrow mirror Steven’s stance.

“Connie is really upping the difficulty.” Steven chuckled. “So..token challenge?”  He didn't get an answer, as Onion looked at him as if asking if that’s the course he wanted. “Token challenge.” Steven answered confidently.

Onion nodded before signalling to Garbanzo and Squash. The two walked up to Steven and onion before digging in their pockets and producing a pouch holding twenty-four tokens each, putting them in Steven and Onions hands respectively.

“Hmmm.. Let me guess, first one to lose their tokens; lose.” He gotta grin from Onion. “ Ok so..”  He was surprised when Onion pointed at him.

"So, I get to choose first, huh..Ok..Ok." Steven looked at the games. 'Most took at least three tokens or quarters, some four and others six So..should I start with a big game, or a small game..also.'  He took a look at the group as they huddled together.  'I doubt I will be just playing against Onion. I'll start with a couple of threes...a fighter. Gauge how they're going to play this.  From there, I can create a more thought out battle plan.'  Steven nodded before  smiling to himself. " Well look at me, thinking ahead like Heartberry. She rubbed off on me after all." He said to himself. " Hey! I chose." He announced getting the gang attention.  

Steven pointed his finger to a two player arcade cabinet, with the words 'lonely blade battlefield VII' on top of it. He looked as the gang turned to Squash, who cracked their knuckles; smirking. 

"So you’re  the fighter of the Gang. Ok let's go." 

The five of them walked to the machine and to Steven surprise, it was a two credit machine. Two tokens, didn't consider that. There might be some one credit machines as well.' Steven pondered. Also, the fact that Squash stepped up first is a little concerning, they might be very good and I'm a bit rusty.'As the two inserted the credits to start their game, he glanced to the side to see Garbanzo whispering something into his opponent's ear, getting a slightly annoyed sigh and nod. Steven turned his focus to the game, picking the samurai known as lonely blade.

Squash chose a dual chain welder, named Akika, a female rival of Lonely Blade from the TV series. 

After selecting a stage, the loneliest  moonlight field, The two began their match. to the untrained eye, Steven and Squash hands would be moving erratically, but to the gang, who watched Squash take down local pros, this was a match between two giants.  

Steven naturally defensive and patient fighting style translated into his gameplay as his Lonely blocked, evaded and parry the stage long assault of Squash's Akika and their whipping chain; slowly advancing upon them, throwing a boomerang blade at opportune times to put them on defensive even for a moment. Once within striking range, Steven purposely clashed a heavy slash against Squash's medium strike, throwing  them off guard and leaving them open

"Hm! Hm,"Lonely said the two crouching light hits tagged Akika, followed by a kick to her side, "Kakh!," two swiping slash that across the stomach made Akika yelp as they stumble back, leaving her defenseless, "HYAK!" Lonely step forward  before giving a heavy overhead slash, bouncing Akika off the ground, "BOOMERANG ASSAULT!" 

The gang watched in awe, as Lonely threw multiple boomerang blades at Akika, hitting the kunoichi hard and ending the fifteen hit combo, leaving the character with only 25 percent of life.  Akika safe rolled as they hit the ground and Lonely was already upon them with another heavy slash ready to take that 25. 

Squash wasted no time unleashing their super move or 'Lonely Arte'.

Just like with Boomerang assault, the screen blackened and time froze, as Akika  swung her chains in giant circles igniting them in a purple aura like flame."ASHURA…" Akika yelled as she hovered forward, hitting Lonely six times as she bulldozed him before knocking him into the sky with a reverse crescent kick; "STALKER!" She tossed the circles like a couple of discs and everyone  watched as Lonely looked on terrified as they collided with him in an explosion of purple, before landing back on to the stage, 40 percent life left.

"Counter hit super, with rage. Make sense." Steven muttered as his Lonely shot another boomerang blade at Squash's charging Akika. He smirked as he saw Akika jump up and divekick towards him. "Sorrow upper!" Lonely flashed gray as he leapt up with his blade, breaking through Akika's attack  and hitting her three times, taking the last of her life bar.

"Round 1 victor: Lonely Blade."the arcade cabinet announced as Lonely blade turned his back to the audience before Akika stood back up rotating her shoulders. The screen faded to black and back again each character in their starting position. "Round 2: Commence!"

Much like the first round, Steven defended himself agaInst Squash's relentless assault; this time Squash's Akika stayed up close, attacking with small punches and kicks to try create an opening. Steven growled as Squash blocked and parried his own attacks, before landing one on him, in the form of a shoulder throw taking thirty percent of his life.

 He tried to retaliate wit a sorrow upper, but was dodged and in turn lost thirty-five percent of his life to an air combo, that consisted of two medium, whipping strikes from Akika chains and a rising spin move called 'Wretched Revolution' Which allowed her chains to hit him five more times as she turned mid-air, before smacking him to the wall and making him bounce. He recovered mid-air and was immediately grabbed and slammed to the ground by Akika leaving him with five percent of life. 

"What, she can just meter-less cancel dash out of W.R now!?" Steven exclaimed, getting a grin from Squash. Steven nodded and kissed his teeth as his Lonely rolled behind Akika in a crouch. Akika swung her chain down in an overhead, then the screen turned a pale blue and rain fell as her chain met with his hilt and everyone watched as as Akika life bar was literally sliced to shreds as the screen went black and sounds of swords swine could be heard as white lines rapidly cut through the darkness, revealing Lonely standing alone looking to sky with tears in his eyes, Akika nowhere to be found.

"Lonely wins, Isolated finish!"

"Master! WHY!?"

Squash looked at Steven, their mouth small as they bit inside of their jaw, before giving Steven their other four tokens,  they were done. She nodded to Steven, but they were done, and went behind the counter, into the back.

"That was fun." Steven admitted " Can't  believe I pulled off his isolation move." Steven chuckled " So what's next? or are we still playing Lonely?"

Onion pointed to a racing machine called 'Escapades of Realms' that took six tokens. 'That would leave me at twenty tokens after this. If I win.' Steven thought as he took a seat in the arcade game. Garbanzo took the seat next to him.

"Garbanzo." He cockily announced as he chose his vehicle, a deep red souped-up viper. 

Steven coughed out a chuckle as he chose a pink Kawasaki ninja, with what looked like three rocket thrusters on the back of it. 

They allowed the game to choose the stage and Steven was wondering exactly  who created this game because they were on a course called planet G..Which looked eerily like Homeworld. 

'I'll look into that later.' Steven decided as the screen opened  up and the countdown began.

"3..2..1.Escape!" The game announced as Steven and Garbanzo both peeled off with a boost start, though Garbanzo timing was a bit more tighter, giving him a stronger, longer boost  compared to Stevens, allowing them to take 1st and 2nd respectively, out of the possible 8. 

Even though Garbanzo boost lasted a whole three seconds longer, Steven had better acceleration and a higher top speed, allowing him to shrink the gap between them little by little, second by second.  As they shot down the digital hard-light track four crystal boxes adorned with a question mark came into view, each a color of a diamond; something Steven chose to ignore at the moment.

He watched as Garbanzo took the blue one  on the far left, he himself took the yellow one and watched as a yellow square appeared at the top of his screen with items randomly flashing  through it before it stopped on a circuit of electricity. "Weapons ok. Wonder what it does?" He whispered as he headed towards Garbanzo  and the first corner of the track. 

Steven watched Garbanzo effortlessly drift around the corner and boosted out. Letting go of the acceleration before getting to the turn,Steven hit the break making a hard right, Unfortunately  his ninja had the worst handling on the track and made his turn wider than he expected, nearly throwing him off the track. Even though he made it around and got a little boost, he still failed to perform usable drift, lost the momentum he previously had, his gap widened again, and the CPU racers were closing in.

“Well let's see what you do?” Steven muttered as he pressed the weapon button on the arcade cabinet and observed as his character unleashed a yellow wave of electricity in a circular area. The attack hit a few of the CPU racers, causing them to sizzle and slowed them down to near halt.”Nice.”

Steven kept on his way, picking up speed as he passed the first checkpoint. As he continued he saw a ramp on the far right with three glowing arrows upon it. He rode upon it, being launched into the air by an auto boost up to a higher section of the track..Right into a blue cloud.

"Oh,  come on!" Steven combined as his view was now obstructed by the haze of blue.

"Banzo, Banzo, Banzo!" His opponent  laughed at Steven's misfortune, but kept his eyes on the road as he took Another box, this time a white one. 

Steven kept on as the haze cleared a few seconds later, revealing his a U -turn. "Crap!" The hybrid swore as he performed a drift a bit late and just remained on the track by luck drifting through a pink box and picking up what looked like a barrier.  

"WHOOOOOOOO!" The birthday gem cheered S he built up a full boost by the drift and released it right out of the turn, into the straightaway passed the second checkpoint; closing in on Garbanzo quickly. "Gonna getcha!"

"Banzo!"

"Gonna pass ya!"

BANZO!" Garbanzo challenged as he activated his weapon. 

Steven saw his screen flash white for a split second before his shield activated  automatically. "Hahaha! You are mine!"  Steven taunted as he passed Garbanzo.  

His laughter was cut off when they passed the last checkpoint, and pieces of the tracks started to fall at random places, as meteors started to fall upon them. 

Both boys were hilarious dodging every pitfall and falling rock as they battled for first. The numbered position alters between 1 and two  every second. it was gonna be a close one as they both ran through multiple boost pads and both received an item box.

Steven looked at his pink item and saw that he got three more boosts. Seeing that he had already pulled away from Garbanzo Steven held the boost just in case as he sped through the track.

"Noo!" Steven grimaced as he saw a tight turn. He drifted the best he could into the right turn and again to the left, being thrown further to the outside of the track. "Come on." Steven encouraged  himself as he drifted into a large swirling pathway, holding on for dear life. "Almost there!!"" Steven  called  out as his vehicle neared  the end of the spiral. Just as he was about to make it off. Garbanzo red viper simultaneously drifting and boosting in the inside corner.

Caught up to him.

Passed him.

and released a pink shockwave tossing Steven off the track as Garbanzo sped passed the last runway, through the finish line in first place. 

"That's cold." Steven shook his head as he was reseted on to the last runway  as five CPU' zoomed by. Using his triple boost he was able to secure fourth place. As he climbed out Garbanzo stopped him and pointed to their places and Steven's pouch. It took a moment but Steven got the gist of it and handed Garbanzo three of his tokens, who gave them to Soup.

"That was fun, a bit sneaky on your part but fun." Steven commented as he shared a fist pound with Garbanzo.

"Gar-ban-zozozo."  The victory playfully taunted, leaning back and rotating his shoulders in a victory dance getting an eye roll from Steven.

“Yeah yeah, still got two tokens over you guys.” Steven smirked before turning to soup.”I know it's my go but, Soup you can choose the next game." 

The girl bounced in place before grabbing Steven's wrist and leading him to a game called 'Meat, Beat, Megalomania!', a sequel to 'Meat Beat Mania'. The differences between the two games were immediate.

For one thing while Mania was one machine that allowed side by side play. Megalomania was two giant machines back to back giving the aura of a head-on match. Another difference is while Mania was all about matching the beat, Megalomania was about matching the beat while attacking and dodging your opponent.

Steven stepped on to the machine,observing  the set up. the eight arrow panels on the floor, the two had hawk drums sticks and the nine rhythm pads behind them, along east, west and south of the screen; A crazy and slightly overwhelming set up for sure. Putting another six tokens and hitting start on the machine, Steven stood waiting for Soup to choose the song since she was the designated  first player, Inserting her tokens while he was taking in the game setup.

With the song chosen, a song curiously enough named 'Waters of Megalovania', the screen went dark before opening up to an animated kitchen with pots and pans bouncing  around to nothing.

"Groove to the beat, Dodge!" 

Steven read out before a picture of the foot panel was shown, instructing him to step on whatever arrow was lit "Fair enough." Steven muttered as the music started up. A quick  pop beat and rhythm entered blared from the machine, urging him to hop in place  grooving to the music.  Until the drums and lyrics hit.

 Traveling through space and time

Everything's about to go down

Even if I told you that you'll

have a really bad time.

 ‘Those some quick arrows’ Steven thought as he saw he watched the arrows shoot down like bullets. “Down, up ,down, left, Right, upper-right…”Steven muttered as he stepped  to the beat being tossed at him. Getting calls of Good, great, or ok from the machine each step he took.

“You’re the beat master now. Attack!” The machine yelled, showing an animation of someone using the drumsticks to beat on the pad  when it glowed, “So my precision translates  to the speed of  the arrows I send to my opponent. Ok.” Steven  grabbed the drumsticks and immediately  the pads started to glow and the lyrics played

 Why'd you gotta play this trick

God I am so freaking sick of you

Stop pretending that you don't

know what you're doing here.

 Steven knocked all over hitting pad after pad as they glowed, “Hah, hah, hah,” He called as  he tried to be a quick as possible 

“Close one! Good shot! Good shot! Good shot! Perfect! Perfect!” The machine continued to call as Steven got the rhythm down of the song.

“Switch it up! Defend!”

Steven's eyes widened as the arrows started to come down again, and even quicker than last time. “Crap!”

 Why are you here anyways

Did you plan this for a long time

Killing every single soul here,

don't you feel kinda bad.

 Steven groaned in anxiousness as he stomped on the glowing panels trying to catch every arrow that came down as precisely as he could.

“Good!, Close! Close! Close! Good! Good! Bad! Bad! Perfect! Perfect!” The machine yelled  those three as Steven tried to catch up with Soup’s impressive playing.

“Stir up some trouble! Attack!”

“Thank god! “ Steven yelled as he got the drumsticks ready.

 Oh yeah you're so innocent

Imma show you what no mercy is

Hopefully you'll burn in hell

and can't ever come back.

 Steven hit the pads with perfect accuracy and speed as soon as he saw them light up.

“Perfect! Perfect! Perfect! Perfect! You’re on fire! You’re cooking now! Perfect!” The machine cheered on both of them as they continued to face off. “Go off! Attack and Defend!”

 Is killing everybody really oh

sooo, good!

Dah Dah-dah-Dah Dah-Dahdah!

 “What” Steven yelled as he grabbed the drumsticks and continued to defend against her arrows while sending his own. “ This is crazy!”  He exclaimed being drowned by the comments of the machine and the lyrics of the song..

 I can't understand

you well I don't want to.

Dah Dah-dah-Dah Dadah Dah!

 “This is a workout!” Steven yelled only to hear Soup laughing maniacally! The machine is now screaming out the word “Perfect!” As if it was on repeat.

 Couldn't you just leave us all in

peace down here!

Dah Dah-dah-Dah Dadah Dah!

 “Come on! Come on!” Steven pushed looking at how close their scores were  and the fact that he was behind by a measly two hundred points or two arrows.

 imma dunk you

so hard so you'll die down here!

Dah Dah-dah-Dah Dadah Dah!

 “Freestyle! Release everything!” The machine was announced as both the nine pads and the floor platform arrows all lit up. Allowing the player full reign, which Steven and Soup took total advantage. The two drummed on the pads and stomped all over the platform trying to overwhelm the other completely in a hailstorm of arrows as the song came to an end.

“Enough Cooking!” The machine yelled as the pads and floor stopped glowing, signaling the end of the match. Steven chuckled as he nearly tripped, feeling a bit fatigued after that game. He looked as the game tallied the totals.

“What?!”

“Ohhh.”

Both Steven and Soup were surprised to see they were tied at 9,967,342,678,800 points

“Meh meh.” Onion said as he pat both of them on their shoulder.  

“Good game, Soup, and nice song choice..Didn’t think you were an Undertale fan.”

Soup waved the Undertale comment off, but gave him a thumbs up all the same, before Onion gave her a one arm hug and the quickest of head pats, getting a smile from the girl.

Steven didn’t say anything at all.but did share a teasing knowing smirk with Garbanzo. “Ok, so that’s one win, one lost, and one tie. Also I still have two tokens over you. What game shall we settle this in Onion?” Steven taunted, lightheartedly.

“Meeeh.” Onion rubbed his chin before turning to Garbanzo and pointed to the gift. After  receiving a nod, Onion turned to the others and led them to an obstacle puzzle game called..

“Guiding the Guys.” Steven said in awe as he looked at the game.. The video game itself was tabletop and stretched two and a half feet. It’s controls were simply a rotating globe for movement, a button for jumping and one for stopping. The goal was to guide the guys or gals through the obstacle course as quickly and safely as possible. The one with the most teammates at the end wins. On the chance that both players have the same amount teammates left they will determine the winner by time..

“The final game. You definitely choose something sentimental” Steven stated matter of factly, “  six tokens too .” Steven stated as he placed his six tokens in the machine along with Onion. 

“Guiding the guys.” The machine yelled to the two showing its title screen. After selecting the stage, a lava pit. The two were ready to go, Steven guys vs Onion gals..” Ready, Set,Go!” The machine yelled, urging the two to start rolling the  globe forward making their groups move forward along the path,

Steven looked over at Onion.s team and watched as the boy continued to roll  the globe forward, making his team run forward instead of walking. Steven started to follow his example and continued to roll forward allowing them to run.  Steven rolled the globe to the left directing them as he caught up to Onion’s team. In front of t both teams were the first of a few obstacles, fire balls spring  fort and on to the track. Steven continued his way as he guided his team through the path, stopping before getting hit by a stray fireball., rolling left to get them through quicker.by making the run.

“Stop” Steven paused the team, before they got hit by a stray fireball, rolling them passed it; nearly making it through, when one of his guys got knocked off.

“Dave guy has fallen, Help him up!?”

Steven ignored the machines call, after all this time he still though that Dave-guy was a piece of clod, 

Onion gals ignored him as well

“Dave has been eliminated.” The machine stated in a somber voice, no effect to either players. “Who cares about Dave guy?” the machine asked.

“No one.” Steven answered coolly, getting a nod from Onion.

 After getting past that obstacle  The two teams raced through a zigzag path  Where another  obstacle  was waiting. This time simple falling boulders that rolled  or bounced down towards them

“Can they use their special skills in this?” Steven asked only to get a head shake from Onion. “ Great,” Steven said sarcastically as he tried to time when they should run and when   they should pause. He turned to Onions' team and watched as Onion dodged all the boulders without trouble. “ Oh I got this' ' Steven exclaimed as he moved cautiously running after successfully dodging a bouncing boulder. Another boulder rolled towards them and Steven maneuvered them so they walked on the very edge of the platform being careful not to let anyone fall over. As that passed he continued the path and pace and very soon they caught up with onions gals.. The rest of the way was a literal climb to the  goal up a mountain. Steven wasted no time directing his team to climb up. As quickly as possible. He still kept caution as he selected foothold after foothold for his team when ranger gut made a mistake and grabbed a loose rock causing a digital rock-slide that took out both teams except for Ranger guy and Karen. For the gals. 

Steven and onion rolled their globes as Ranger and Karen climbed at top speed , The two closed up to the flag, the goal and at the last moment, The mountain erupted and tossed the players into the air with the flag. as they plummeted Steven maneuvered ranger guy perfectly and rolled forward.

“Winner GUYS!” The arcade yelled as the game came to an end and with it, the token challenge in Steven's favor.

“That was a close one,” Steven said as he looked at onion who along with his gang, was clapping his hands. “Aww thanks guys, it was a fun challenge.”

Onion nodded before looking towards Garbanzo who nodded. He walked up to Steven and produced his prize.,The next part of the code along with his birthday gift from them. 

Steven took the pink piece of paper and sniffed it, allowing a smile to spread on his face as Connie came to mind. Unfolding the paper, he read the piece and almost laughed at the irony “4”  .

“For love?” Steven said as he blushed a bit, whatever the code was it seemed to be romantic, something she claims she was horrible at.

“Meh.” Onion pointed to the box and then to Steven.

“You got me a gift guys?” Steven said as he lifted the box a bit and saw three titles ‘Star Guy’, ‘Star Gal’ & ‘Star Person’.  He smirked “A New Guy and Gal that’s cool. Plus ‘person’ didn’t even know they made a person series.Still  never heard of…” Steven froze as he looked at the three new official pieces of his collection. He turned to Onion, ready to cry. “Onion. Bro. How..You serious?”

 “Meh!” Onion nodded, smirking. As He watched Steven look at the new part of his collections in awe. Star guy, gal and person. As the world will know them as. Truthfully though...

“You got the company of ‘Guys’, to make Me, Connie, and Stevonnie into collectibles.” Steven  said in complete amazement They looked just like them. 

StarGuy had his exact outfit with his shield out standing tall. StarGall had Connie's looks, sword and smirk. Wearing her blue hoodie and slacks with a star bralette in her hair. Star Person was Stevonnie through and through, wearing  their combo  of steven black shirt under Connie hoodie , both which fit Stevonnie like a crop top,and  a pair of Steve jeans which were jean shorts for Stevonnie. All in all they were perfect.

“Thank you, Onion.” Steven said as he hugged Onion 

“Hap-py Birth-day, Steven.” Onion muttered as  he broke out of the hug. Smiling at his idol he looked at the dolls.

[imagines-dreams]

Family and Karaoke - Michael Mell Imagine

Rating:PG

Warnings: Michael Mell’s big Filipino family, there are children in this story, loooots of random kissing, Tagalog words

Summary: After being with Michael Mell for a long time, it’s time for you to meet his crazy, big, loud family. Apparently, they also have a tradition that when someone brings in a date, that someone has to do something special.

Word Count: 2147

Notes:  

Tito (“Tea-toe”)=Uncle

Tita (“Tea-tah”)=Aunt

Kuya (“Koo-yah”)=word to show respect to an older male sibling or cousin

Ate (“Ah-teh”) =word to show respect to an older female sibling or cousin

Parol (“Pah-roll”)=a Filipino version of the Christmas wreath, a big light made out of different colors

Mano Po (“Mah-no Po”)=literally translates into “hand, sir/ma’am”, a sign of respect shown to elders where the person touches the elder’s knuckles to the forehead that is said to give the person blessings

Tagalog ("Tah-gah-lowg")= national language of the Philippines

Mahal Kita (“Mah-hahl Key-tah”)=literally translates into “You are the most precious thing”, means “I love you”

You smoothed out your dress for the fifth time that night. You cringed when you realized how sweaty you were. How could you not be though? You were going to your boyfriend’s family reunion for the first time. You had met his parents already, but his whole family? He told you about a few important figures. His grandma, grandpa, a few of his nieces and nephews. Oh god, but you were going to mess up. You were going to forget their names and mess everything up. They would tell him that you weren’t worthy for him and he-

“Babe?”

Your breath caught in your throat. “I’m fine.”

Michael blinked a few times before taking your hand in his. “They’re going to love you. Just like I do. I mean, who can’t love you?”

You shook your head. “I don’t know. I’m just nervous. You’ve told me about your family several times, and they seem amazing. I just don’t want to ruin anything.”

“You do remember I buy vintage collectibles, aka the things that my family thinks it’s a waste of money.”

“But they’re so cool!” You turned in your seat to face him better. “Plus, they make the basement more colorful. I mean, did you tell them that if you get the entire collection, you’re practically a millionaire.”

He smiled. “See, this is exactly why I love you.”

“I love you, too.” You giggled and kissed his hand. When Michael began to blush and stare at you like you weren’t real, you laughed and turned his head towards the road. Good thing the stoplight was red.

Michael shook his head to regain his focus. “Uh, right, we’re almost there.”

You blinked a few times. There was one house with many lights and decorations and the iconic parol Michael had told you about. There were quite a few parols, each one blinking a different assortment of colors. “Woah,” you gasped. “I think which house it is.”

Michael beamed. “It’s been that way since November.”

~ - ~

Michael wrapped his arm around your shoulders and kissed the top of your head. “You’re going to do fine.”

You fidgetted with your purse. “Wait, so who do I do the, uh, mano po thing with again?”

“Aw, babe, just my grandparents, and anyone else who looks like grandparents.” He shrugged. “When in doubt, just follow my lead, ok?”

You nodded. You replayed the action you were supposed to do in your head. They were going to hold out their hand slightly, and you had to gently take their hand and press their knuckles to your forehead. A sign of respect and hope for luck, Michael had told you. But, what if you did it to the wrong person, and they got offended because they were too young to have the mano po done to them.

Michael gazed down at you. Noticing your furrowed eyebrows and tense shoulders, he quickly grabbed your shoulders. Before you could squeal or protest, Michael pressed his lips against yours.

You whined, worried about your dress and hair, but it took less than a second for you to melt against him. His hands grabbed your hips and pulled you closer and closer, even when the two of you couldn’t be any closer. The bright lights and loud music faded to nothing, and you could just feel Michael all around you. His slight cinnamon breath and gentle lips. His hard grip turning into a gentle hold. The brief cold touch of his glasses against your cheeks.

Then, he pulled away from you, and the door opened.

“Michael!”

“Tito!”

You held your hand to your head as you tried to adjust to the exponential loss of Michael’s touch. That kiss left you breathless and slightly dizzy. The bright lights and loud music didn’t help.

Then, Michael’s arm was around you again. “Tito, this is (Y/n).” Your boyfriend blushed a little. “I’m her boyfriend.”

You blinked a few times before extending your hand. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

The man stared at your hand. For a split second, your eyes widened, and you wanted to die under his stare. At least you’d be in Michael’s arms.

However, the man beamed. “Ah, come ‘ere!” He pulled you in for an unexpected hug and squeezed you tightly. “Finally!” He turned around and shouted over his shoulder. “Mikey got a girlfriend!”

Michael’s eyes widened. “Tito, n-”

“Kuya!”

“Tito!”

Suddenly, an army of small children appeared out of nowhere, pushed the man out of the way and tackled your boyfriend. Michael stumbled back a few steps and laughed. He called each of the kids by name, ruffled a kid’s hair, and scooped a little one into his arms.

You sighed at the sight. There were at least ten of those kids, and he was doing so well. How was he able to-

“Come on,” the man said as he welcomed you inside. “You have got to meet everyone, and I warn you, we are all huggers.”

And he wasn’t exaggerating. There were so many people at the reunion. You did the mano po to one grandparent who laughed and tried talking to you in Tagalog. When he realized you couldn’t understand, he apologized and told you that you looked too beautiful for his grandson. You hugged many people, and it seemed like every five minutes, someone new would hug you.

You just went with the flow, floating past the two dining tables of food and grabbing a plate. You floated past a room just for karaoke. The backyard was for drunk relatives and one unfortunate aunt and uncle who were trying to barbeque. Another room was dedicated towards the younger members of the family, where you finally found your boyfriend giving a piggyback ride to one of the children.

You laughed and made your way towards him.

Michael’s eyes lit up. He inhaled through his teeth and found a nice couch to set the child down upon. “Hey!” He kissed you quickly, and you looped your arm around his.

Before any other words could be spoken, four kids ran up to the two of you. “Wow,” the kids said in awe.

You smiled and sat on the ground. “Hey, guys, do you know who I am?”

They shook their heads.

Michael sat down next to you. “Can you guys say, ‘Tita’?”

“Tita,” they repeated.

“(Y/n).”

“Tita (Y/n)!” The kids hugged you and greeted you with “Hi’s” and “I like your dress’s” and “Are you Tito’s girlfriend?”.

Michael just laughed and began telling everyone stories based on video games.

~ - ~

Michael and you collapsed on the couch as soon as one of his cousins decided to entertain the younger ones. Michael patted your shoulder. “Hey, there’s video game room.”

You gasped and narrowed your eyes at him. “How dare you keep that from me.”

He laughed and kissed your cheek. “Race you there!”

~ - ~

“I can’t believe it!”

“It’s not possible!”

“I never thought I’d see the day.”

Michael and you had been the last two standing in a Super Smash Bros fight. It had been ten minutes. Each of you had one life left. No one seemed to have the advantage.

You were intensely watching your character. Your reflexes were getting better since you started dating Michael, and it felt natural to do all the combos you had learned from him.

Michael’s cousins stood around the two of you, absolutely shocked to see the video game master actually struggling.

Then, the game paused.

Someone yelled, “Oh, come on! Who pressed it?”

Michael smirked. “Babe?”

“What?”

Then, he kissed you.

You gasped, and the controller fell out of your hands. You kissed Michael and slowly reached up to wrap your hands around his neck. He pressed his lips against your harder. You had to lean back at the sudden force and ended up lifting your legs so they rested on his lap.

The voices of disgust soon turned into gasps and “oh’s”.

You pulled away, the voices too loud to ignore, and immediately slapped Michael’s shoulder. “Cheater! This is a new low!”

You were too caught up in the kiss to notice that Michael didn’t lay a finger on you. His hands were too occupied winning, while your poor controller was on the ground. Michael kissed you quickly. “It was the only way I could win.”

“You bet it was!” you yelled. You hit him with a pillow.

Michael froze. Then, he smirked. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

“Oh, really?”

Someone yelled, “Pillow fight!” and suddenly, pillows were being thrown everywhere. You caught some, threw some, and even once got Michael on the back of his head. Score!

~ - ~

“I win,” you heaved.

“I disagree.”

“Wanna bet, Mell?”

“No. You win.”

You beamed. “Thank you.”

He laughed and kissed you once before resting his forehead on yours. “I kinda wanna go home.”

You pursed your lips. “Yeah, so do I.”

He nodded. He stood up and held out his hand. “Prepare yourself, it’s going to take a while to say goodbye.”

You looked over the railing. A sea of people waited on the first floor. You sighed. “You’re not wrong.”

Michael smiled and and held you close. “Before we dive into chaos, I love you, and you were wonderful tonight.”

You giggled and brushed his messy hair back. “I love you, too.”

He kissed you sweetly and softly before trying to lead you through the crowd. You and Michael had hugged at least fifteen people before one of his aunts spoke to him in Tagalog. He replied nervously before getting interrupted by her again. Suddenly, the two of you were being pulled into another direction.

“Oh, no,” you whispered. You knew where you were heading. The karaoke room.

“MIchael needs to sing!” someone shouted.

“Michael! Michael! Michael!” they chanted. Someone pushed your boyfriend into the clearing and handed him the microphone. He laughed. “Guys, I haven’t sung in years.”

“We know!”

He shook his head and looked to you.

You opened your mouth, about to say an excuse for him, but your boyfriend shook his head and looked through the songbook. His family cheered like they had won the million dollar lotto.

Michael laughed. “I got it! I got it!” He put down the songbook. “For the record, I hate you all.”

“We love you, too!”

“Go Mikey!”

“Serenade! Serenade!”

You stared at one of his cousins weirdly. Serenade?

Michael blushed. “I know, Ate! I am, I am.”

The music flowed through the speakers, and you had to cover your wide smile. This was too perfect.

Michael took a deep breath. “Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they’re not shining. Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying. She’s so beautiful, and I tell her everyda-ay.”

His voice sounded so heavenly. When he sang the first verse, it was soft and gentle, almost like he was whispering it to you. Then, the chorus hit.

“When I see your face!” Michael pointed at you and beamed. “There’s not a thing I would change, cause girl, you’re amazing.” He held out his hand for you, and the crowd parted immediately. With red cheeks, you took his hand and let him pull you to the front. “Just the way you are.” Michael held your hands and pulled you closer. “And when you smile-”

You giggled and leaned back just a bit.

Your boyfriend wrapped one arm around your shoulders and motioned to the crowd, “The whole world stops and stares for a while, cause girl you’re amazing. Just the way you are.” Being the drama queen he loved being, he added another “yeah” at the end of the chorus. His family cheered and whooped, all while you kept blushing.

“Get her a chair!”

“Someone have a chair for the future Mell?”

“I got a free chair!”

A chair was pushed towards you, and you gladly sat down.

The rest of the song was spent with Michael working the crowd, occasionally kissing you on the cheek or hand, and ending the song with an impressive show of his range. When he was done, he bowed, said, “Thank you,” and held out his hand.

You smiled, your cheeks still burning from hearing Michael Mell serenade you, and took his hand. You curled up by his side as the embarrassment and happiness overtook you. You barely registered Michael quickly saying goodbye to everyone before leading you back outside. “(Y/n)?”

Still holding onto his shirt, you gazed up and giggled. “I didn’t know you could sing.”

He blushed and awkwardly swayed back and forth. “Uh, yeah, my family kinda raises everyone with karaoke.”

“I’m glad they did.” You quickly kissed him. “You have a wonderful voice.”

“Thank you.” He kissed you again. “You were amazing, as always.” He let out a short breath. “Now, I just want to watch some movies and cuddle. Ok with you?”

“Perfect.”

He rubbed his nose against yours. “Mahal kita, (Y/n).”

You smiled. “Mahal Kita, Michael Mell.”

No, I can't speak Tagalog, although I desperately wish I could. Yes, I am obsessed with Michael Mell, and yes, I love my culture so much that since George Salazar is Filipino, I will imagine all characters he plays as Filipino, (aka Michael, Grover, and Mr. D are Filipino because YESSSSS)

Also, if someone has a better pronunciation guide or definition of these words, tell me! I was staring at my computer pronouncing things for at least thirty minutes, and I'm still not sure.

[alexisdejarnettemppr755]

Snapshot of Snapchat

(Now try to say that 10 times as fast as you can)

Snapchat…a platform I thought would become quickly outdated, but it is still chillin’ in the upper ranks. This platform gives users the ability to post non-anxiety inflicting content and the confidence to post the most casual photos. 

People these days are so hesitant when it comes to posting pictures and videos on mainstream platforms, like Facebook and Instagram. We are guilty of thinking things like, “Will this get enough likes?” Being self-expressive and outright yourself is hard because we are always worried about what other people think. Social media puts people in a bubble of insecurities. Snapchat has become a popular platform because what you post and how you want followers to see it is totally up to you. From time limitations to filters that will give you a stellar glow on your dullest day, the platform is a care-free communications outlet.  

Snapchat is a messaging platform and a social network platform. Users can chat with their friends by sending photos, short videos up to 10 seconds long, and even text chats and video calls. One of the cool things Snapchat allows you to do is put a time limit on how long people can view a photo, and if someone screenshots the photo you are notified. Snapchat's disappearing content makes online interaction feel more human and in the present moment. People don’t have to over think about posting the perfect photo or worry about how many likes it will get. Snapchat is like a healthy combo of texting and social media, but with a special twist.

When I was in high school, Snapchat became the rage among the teens. I am pretty sure I used Snapchat more than I texted people. Not gonna lie, in a weird way, I enjoyed knowing who saw what I sent, who was ignoring me, and who was creeping on me. I felt like I was able to know the unknown and, consequentially, made terrible assumptions because the unknown will always be the unknown. Anyway, I eventually gave up Snapchat during college and just never felt the need to download the application again. 

Other social media platforms caught on to the hype of Snapchat’s story trend, so now I can share more casual content on Instagram — and, perhaps, that one great selfie I shamelessly took in the best lighting, but would probably look like a narcissist if I posted the actual picture to my page. Snapchat is unlike my normal media consumption habits because the platforms I currently use make my content alarmingly permanent. However, working for the government hinders my urge to post anything that may be remotely questionable, so it works for me. (I also don’t have the ability to cyberstalk my friends and think I know the unknown.) 

...Snapchat, you were a great run, but I have been better off without you.

It is fairly obvious who makes up the Snapchat community. Users are under 25 make up about 79% of the community — the largest Snapchat age demographic is made up of 18- to 24-year-olds (Statista, 2019). The post-college 25- to 34-year olds make up about 60% and about 45% of users are aged 35 to 44 (Statista, 2019).

I found it surprising that Snapchat does not publish gender information for its users, which makes it difficult to find reliable data to reflect these demographics. However, in 2013, Snapchat co-founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel, revealed that roughly 70% of Snapchat users were women (MacMillan, 2013). Women have basically coined the term “selfie” and Snapchat aides this self-awing habit. And, no joke, Snapchat filters allow us to go from a 5 (on a bad day) to a solid 10. How incredible!

Here is a fun fact that will make your head spin: 50% of male college students share selfies on Snapchat (Omnicore, 2019). Us, women, know that men find some type of satisfaction when it comes to taking the selfie that captures their best angle, giving them that sculpting jaw line they wish they had. We get it! 

The kiddos in high school make up a large group of users and college students take even more credit. It is easy to understand why this is the case, college students have so much to show off and they must share it…and probably with the smallest time frame for others to see. (If you know, you know) Snapchat will at least keep the college crazies from posting the “no-no’s” on social media platforms future employers are likely to get ahold of.

The Snapchat media format is what makes the platform tick. There are multiple filters that can be placed on a photo, from freakishly scary to glam-goddess. There are even voice filters that will keep you and your friends laughing for days. I am one of those people who hates the sound of their voice when recorded…even the goblin voice sounds better...so I was a huge fan of this. Snapchat also has this cool feature called the “geofilter,” where people can stamp their photos with a cool design showing their location and or a cool event they are attending — users can even have their own geofilter created for special occasions. As mentioned before, users have the ability the limit the time videos and photos are seen, making the application wicked fun and more care-free to use. The media platform allow users to post stories, comment on each other’s content, and reply as if you are texting. Snapchat is a highly personable platform, where communication and stalking your friends comes easy!

I have found organizations and brands to use Snapchat — these folks are really trying to get personal. Taco Bell is one of these brands I must mention — the company was one of the first to jump on board and it definitely sparked people’s interest. Taco Bell has utilized the app to showcase new menu items, such as the Beefy Crunch Burrito, and has even gone as far as providing valuable tips on how to score a date on Valentine’s Day. I don’t know if I would really trust Taco Bell’s advice, but, hey, what a way to get personal with your biggest fans! Kudos to you, Taco Bell. Also, Amazon (and of course, Amazon, as if it hasn’t already wedged its way into every aspect of our lives) has jumped on board to the Snapchat train to provide exclusive promotional codes for amazing deals. Brands are catching on to the most popular platforms in order to get people’s attention and to become more personal with their customers — there is authentic value in making that human connection.

If I could travel back in time right before text messaging became the norm, and tell people what the future of text messaging looks like, Snapchat would be the perfect example. Snapchat is the future of integrated cellular messaging and it has ultimately set a standard based on how our generation prefers to communicate. Snapchat is the “story telling” app, where people are free to be themselves while sharing episodes of their daily life and greatest, brag-worthy adventures.

References:

MacMillan, D. (2013, November 20). Snapchat CEO: 70% of Users Are Women. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/11/20/snapchat-ceo-says-70-of-users-are-women/

Newberry, C. (2016, August 24). Top Snapchat Demographics That Matter to Social Media Marketers. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/snapchat-demographics/

Omnicore. (2019, January 6). Snapchat by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts. Retrieved from https://www.omnicoreagency.com/snapchat-statistics/