#anyways i think the PC should just simply be allowed to hurt people.

[kylarsobsession]

i was talking with a friend about how we both really think dol could use more violence and like...the ideas we came up with...i wish i knew how to mod LOL but i REALLY think this could be implemented and work within the story

i think having the option for the PC to kill unnamed NPCs if they're close enough to a breaking point after going through so much would fit so good in the game. maybe just one or two in specific scenarios so it's not like you're a serial killer but it would add flavor to the PC.

like if you meet certain requirements during a noncon encounter with a random unnamed NPC you can get you the chance to kill them, maybe kyler gives you a knife for self defense and protection at some point, or you just find a brick on the ground or a pipe. but i feel it fits more for spur of the moment so those last two work better

and OBVIOUSLY afterwards you get like, + + + + trauma and stress

maybe different stats give a different reaction, high sadism makes it so it's less trauma and stress? if it's repeatable maybe it stops giving trauma or stress? but I feel having it repeat would get boring and lose the impact.

but I think different outcomes would work!

There's a realization with + + + + trauma and + + + stress for one outcome

a different one with the text "you finally feel safe." With just + + trauma and - stress

Maybe if you've had max/near max trauma and stress for a while you just get text that's something like "you knew something like this would happen." And that could either raise or lower trauma/stress I feel.

also! killing someone would DEFINITELY amp up the horror aspects of dol, with ivory wraith already giving you hallucinations in the library where the students that usually talk about whatever get ivory's glowing text and call you graverobber and thief, you could get them calling you murderer and that could lead into a scene where sydney asks if you're alright, because you look sick you could have nightmares of it, waking up with + stress and/or + trauma. or if you wake up screaming you could get + love + robin's confidence if they run in to check on you. or bailey running in to check on you and offering you their..own kind of comfort. which i will talk more about next! you could get scenes for some LIs/Named NPCs where they try to comfort you if you confide in them, and depending on your stats with them if they believe you and worry for you, or if they think you're just some murderer.

characters I think would work for telling you killed someone (in self defense) robin: prompted to tell them if they run in to your room after you scream due to the nightmare, i think depending on how high/low their confidence is they could be scared of you but still love you, or hold you and tell you that they'll protect you

eden: i think they would be proud of you for defending yourself, but still get mad because you could have gotten hurt or caught by someone (also theyd think it was hot. sorry.)

black wolf (wolfperson): similar to eden, i don't think they'd really get how much of a big deal it would be for you to have killed someone, but they're also proud that you're strong enough to protect yourself

kylar: they'd tell you they could have done it for you, you didn't need to dirty your hands with this, but it's ok. they'll help you. don't worry. (if kylar is stalking you when the encounter happens they could help you hide the body after, otherwise you get a + + crime, but with kylar with you no + crime happens, though you end up passing missing person posters with the person you killed and get + + stress) (also would think you were hot for it)

bailey: they're mean, rude, and sell you off if you're short money, but they do care about you, they always come running in the orphanage when you yell, if you have a nightmare they can come running in, seeing that no one is in your room they can tell you to shut up, but they see your face and this obviously isn't like other times you've had nightmares. your face is different. they reluctantly sit on the edge of your bed (or just reluctantly ask you what's wrong) and you get the chance to tell them what you did, and how it's haunting you and all you can think about. obviously bailey is in some deep shit with what they do, they've absolutely dealt with murder before. they know how it can affect someone. and now two different things could happen. they sigh and walk over to you (getting up from the bed if they sat down) give you an awkward half hug, or they could sigh and tell you that they'll give you an extra day or two to get some money for rent, but just this once.

whitney: when they're in a relationship with you, i really feel they could border on kyler if they were a little more unhinged, with how protective they can get of you (punching someone in the stomach and beating them up and stealing from the person that either has sex with you or just SAYS they'd have sex with you on halloween) but i don't think they've ever done something as serious as kill a person, so they'd think you were bullshitting for a minute, until they see how serious you are, they'd get worried about if someone saw you, if you'd get caught, call you a dumbass while hugging you (sorry im weak to sweet whitney)

pure sydney: they get scared but try to reassure that they're sure it'll be ok, it was for your protection. They'll pray for you. - - love corrupt sydney: still taken aback but doesn't lose any love, says something about how if protecting yourself gets you sent to hell they'll go down with you

AND! i think the PC should be allowed to choke out NPCs during noncon encounters, if they manage to gain control of the situation.

depending on if this is before or after you killed someone the text could change

If you haven't killed anyone, you naturally stop once they pass out. but if you have you keep going until it's a force stop and you get + + trauma + + stress

[aevallare]

on the topic of jayce is literally one of the best characters:

PEOPLE DONT GIVE HIM ANY CREDIT FOR BEING SOOO KIND AND RESOURCEFUL AND PASSIONATE,,,like yes ofc hes made mistakes whatever hes a fictional character and also he always does what he thinks is necessary for good?? and hes been forced into really precarious situations that quite frankly DONT allow him to sit and think hard abt what his next step can be and often his gut tells him to just keep on going and try to save people-- not to act at the cost of everyone else-- and thats fucking amazing!!! hes genuienly trying to be a good guy!!!!! and also if he hates viktor a little bit...well yeah no fucking duh hes a little easily misled and he was told the man was /doing unethical human experiments on zaunites/ after they (tragically) broke contact OVER HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION....like yeah no DUH hes gonna think viktor maybe fucked up. anyways i believe in jayce supremacy bc hes really trying his best at a time where he really should be thinking about himself and thats. so admirable

CONT: sorry for the long ask just. as a league enjoyer and an avid league reader and also a long time fan (been around since the beginning of ur fics + read jaycevik Since They Came Out On League) I cannot STAND this jayce slander

wahh! hi! sorry that this took me a second; i needed to be on pc to give this the attention it deserves :angel: i'm so glad you enjoy my work!!!

OKAY. OKAY. you came to the right place. this is a safe place for jayce sympathizers and apologists. i have cultivated a garden, a society, of jayce-lovers, and this sounds like hyperbole but truly i'm only half-joking.

okay. let's get serious. i'll put it under a read-more. sorry in advance, bestie.

i don't think any fictional character is above critical analysis. like actually, i think that's... kind of the whole point? not to be a pretentious douche with an english degree (which i am) about this, but my problem with analysis of jayce's character by people that don't like jayce is that it's performed almost solely through a lens colored by the critic's perception of viktor.

you can't talk about jayce without viktor, and you can't talk about viktor without jayce, which isn't a problem unto itself! they have to have each other to create any kind of satisfying narrative! unfortunately, many arcane fans don't appear to understand that viktor is going to fuck up a lot and that he's going to fuck up bad. to fans of league viktor, this is THE APPEAL. he wants to cut out all emotion, but he's infinitely more pathos-driven than jayce is, even though the tropes played straight would make us think the opposite. the point of this, because it might seem rambly and incoherent (and it likely is both of those things), is that many people who love viktor arcane seem to think he can do no wrong.

and what that means is that it's damn easy to rake jayce over the coals for doing things that, from my perspective, are simply choices made by a man who is doing the best he can with the information he has at his disposal. viktor-lovers look at jayce and call him classist (which. like. dude is middle-class at best. my man apologizes as soon as he fucks up and says something classist on the bridge!), stupid (jayce is prodigal; it's not his fault that he's surrounded by a cast FULL of prodigies!), and ungrateful (because he didn't have a psychic link with viktor and had sex instead of rushing to viktor's bedside without anyone telling him viktor collapsed).

jayce cares so much. he cares about every injustice shown to him. he has an unbelievably soft heart. that's why long-time fans understand just how bad this is going to hurt (affectionate) when talis gets a little more giopara-fied.

arcane does a damn good job showing us that monsters are created by other people. you can't have jayvik unless jayce and viktor end up hating each other a little. jayce and viktor don't become jayce and viktor unless jayce lets viktor fall when his work is stolen, unless viktor makes compounding bad choices in the name of his glorious evolution.

it's opposing ideology wrapped in parallels, a man forced into being a symbol and another man who made himself into one (never mind that that wasn't his intent).

[vicecityhq]

██████████████]99% LOADING...SUSPECT INTO THE APD DATABASE...

WITNESS(ES) SAY HE REMINDS THEM OF: the last plump dumpling on the plate that you and your friend fight over, the betrayal you feel when you drink a milkshake that’s too cold and get a brain freeze but it’s too good to stop, and the buzzing of a bumble bee flitting from flower to flower. With a slight resemblance to LEE JOOHEON  (JOOHONEY) of/the MONSTA X.

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW ENTIRE FILE.

FULL FILE:

Last Name, First Name: Kkul Beol (actually his full name. He doesn’t have a surname) ALIAS: Yellowjacket Realm of birth(if earth, nationality): Divine Realm Age: Unknown, but has lived 26 years in Earth realm Date of Birth: May 20th (aka World Bee Day) Gender: Male Preferred Pronouns: he/him or they/them Species: Spiritual Fairy Occupation: The Howlers, Dealer Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

VISUAL FILE:

Skin Color: Milky, pale Eye color: Varies Scars: None Piercings: Ears, Dimple piercings Tattoos:When he doesn’t have his wings out, they manifest as bold linework that follows along his shoulder blades and down his back. He has a colorful fairy pinup girl on his right inner forearm. A bumble bee design on his left upper arm that blends into a fairy circle tattoo on that inner forearm. Various weeds and flowers on his legs. Hair color: Varies Abnormalities: Since Beol can reinvent his physical form to his liking, his features may change on a whim. However, he does tend to stick to the same form, with only his hair and eye color varying. Transformed form:As a spiritual fairy, Beol’s physical form is only a formality that allows him to better experience the world. His spiritual presence is formless and genderless. It is almost like looking at dust when it catches the light.

PERSONAL FILE:

RELIGIOUS BELIEF:  N/A SINS:  greed  /  gluttony  /  sloth  / lust  /  pride  /  envy  /  wrath VIRTUES: chastity  /  charity  /  diligence  /  humility /  kindness /  patience /  justice KNOWN LANGUAGES: Korean, English, Gaelic SECRETS: Beol manages to get out of being prosecuted for his crimes by charming the officers who try to arrest him with his fairy dust or using illusions to escape. SAVVIES: drawing, getting tattooed, playing pranks. Powers & Abilities: fairy dust manipulation, healing, wish granting (but it usually has a hidden caveat), semi-immortality, empathy, energy manipulation and absorption, energy barriers, energy blasts, malleable anatomy/shapeshifting, spirit physiology, illusions, intangibility, possession, telekinesis (via fairy dust manipulation), teleportation.  Traits: (positive) chipper, animated, fun-loving and playful. (negative) fickle, impatient, gets petulant when things don’t go his way, doesn’t realize his pranks can be harmful or perhaps he feigns ignorance. Aesthetics: the last plump dumpling on the plate that you and your friend fight over, the betrayal you feel when you drink a milkshake that’s too cold and get a brain freeze but it’s too good to stop, and the buzzing of a bumble bee flitting from flower to flower.

BACKGROUND CHECK:

Date of Birth: May 20th, year unknown Date of Death: N/A Crime Record: Beol knows that he should avoid getting entangled with the authorities at all costs, but his innately mischievous nature contradicts rationality. He rather enjoys skating on thin ice when it comes to getting caught. When he was a “teen,” he often got in trouble for truancy, vandalism, and theft. Now, as an “adult,” he has to be far more conscious about getting caught. He has been charged with possession and possession with the intent to distribute, but - miraculously - has not served any jail time.

Background/Biography:

In a time long ago, Celts used to believe that when a person slept or entered a hypnotic state that their soul left the body in the form of a bee. Sometimes those souls got lost on the way back (or perhaps were detained) and found their way to the divine realm of the fae, where they would become what is known as spiritual fairies. Or at least that was the story Beol’s mother told them, but the reality was that there was no living fae who remembered exactly where they originated. Their mother would affectionately call them their ‘wandering little bee’ because Beol was an adventurous child who could never be tied down in one place. It came as no surprise to them when Beol decided to leave the realm they’d always known and venture out into the human world.

When Beol crossed over to the mortal plane, they embraced the incredibly different way of life with childish wonder and enthusiasm. At first they explored in their spiritual form and enjoyed playing all sorts of pranks on unsuspecting humans, but - as is typical of the fickle nature of fairies - that grew boring quickly. Beol eventually constructed a physical form so they could better interact with others around them. Being a young and playful soul, Beol chose the façade of a school-aged child since their fun-loving antics were very similar to his own. What he didn’t take into account, though, was that a parentless, vagrant child stood out and it wasn’t long before his friend’s parents became concerned for his well-being.

In his naivety, Beol didn’t think much of it when they’d asked where he lived and who looked after him, telling them that he took care of himself and stayed wherever he wanted. That naturally led to the police being contacted and Beol was placed in an orphanage until they could find a family for him. Truthfully, he could have simply flitted off and ventured someplace new, but the idea of living with other kids sounded like an eternal sleepover to him and how could that be bad? Of course, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies in the system. Many of the orphans came from broken homes and were passed around to fosters that were no better. They’d come back with new scars and bereft of their smiles, their innocence gobbled up by the darkness within others.

Beol couldn’t stand seeing them hurt. He could vividly imagine how they’d gotten each bruise like he’d experienced it himself and felt their anguish like a bottomless pit in the center of his chest. Yet he wasn’t powerless to fight against it like they were and Beol quickly went from using his abilities for harmless fun to avenging his friends. He would go out of his way to be assigned to their previous foster parents and would make sure to traumatize them so much with his illusion magicks that they never dared to take in another child again. While it did make him feel better, his habit of terrorizing parents tarnished his record and made him increasingly difficult to adopt out. Not that that bothered Beol. Sure, it was hard watching his friends eventually leave to go with loving parents, but protecting those that remained had become his responsibility and he knew he wouldn’t be able to do that if he left. Besides, he had parents and didn’t need new ones, even if his counselors never believed him when he told them.

As he “aged” into teenage years, Beol’s outer image evolved to suit his interests and style. He became close with the more rebellious crowd, other lost boys and girls like himself who couldn’t care less about authority or conforming to what society wanted. They spent more time in seedy pc bangs and back alleys sharing a pack of smokes than they did in school or hoping for families that would never accept them. It was around this time that he actually came out about what he really was and where he’d come from, though that identity seemed like a far off memory now. He was no longer a shade wearing the suit of a man and could freely embrace his quirkier side without worrying about anyone disapproving.

INTERVIEW QUESTION (para sample): “Just run us through what happened that night”. - Officer

This charade always amused Beol. Every time he found himself in this position, with an officer staring him down on the other side of the table in the cramped interrogation room, he wondered why their initial play was to put on this veil of ignorance. As if they didn’t already know what he did or have evidence against him. Did it actually work on suspects? He assumed that most people dug themselves into a hole trying to weave a pitiful fallacy with the same gusto as a scared child blaming the broken vase on the cat in the hopes that it would exonerate them. Beol, on the other hand, was a sophisticated liar and not burdened with the pressing need to evade something. He could phase out of the room right before their very eyes, after all. So the only reason he had to deceive them was simply because it was fun.

“Well, I can’t just start with last night, officer. That’s not how good storytelling works.” He countered coyly and rocked the chair back onto the two rear legs so he could kick his clunky boots up onto the table. Dirt and grime broke loose from the deep grooves in the sole and fell onto the open file set out before the policeman who was trying his best to see unperturbed, but Beol relished in the neigh imperceptible way his jawline tensed in annoyance. “It all began when my parents died in a tragic car accident and I was adopted by my rotten aunt and uncle. You know, they always told me my father was a drunk and that the apple wouldn’t fall far from the tree. So at least I’m exceeding someone’s expectations. Anyway, this one day, we went to the zoo for my cousin’s birthday and there was this enormous python-”

[sstrongstyle]

𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Adam Cole x OC, mentions of Seth Rollins x OC 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: After nearly a decade of being the golden girl of WWE, Adaline Marin wants out. Their ring was no longer home, haunted by her first love and upon reaching her thirties, the face behind "Aspen Glory" wonders if the passion she once had was still ablaze. Instead, she gets sent down to NXT to join the Undisputed Era. The next three hundred and sixty-five days, all captured by cameras for the history books, become a year of revival, reinvention, and realization with her legacy at stake and a new flame from the past emerging. 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: All characters are referred to by their real life names (for the most part) 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: I love feedback! Please send some my way! <3 Very background heavy chapter, no real fun, but more to come. If you’re interested in being added to a tag list, let me know!

CHAPTER THREE.

June 8th, 2019

Adaline couldn't believe that she didn't just agree to this, but agreed for it to be done for an entire year. It wasn't like she cared about being in management's good graces and volunteered to do it, but she somehow got hoodwinked into agreeing to a 365 special on herself. She was the last person in the world to enjoy having cameras on her when she was out of the ring and no longer Aspen Glory. Doing interviews out of character for Adaline felt like pulling teeth. She avoided Total Divas at all costs. Even appearing on stuff like Ride Along and UpUpDownDown was difficult for her.

"Just call me the modern day Undertaker," Adaline rolled her eyes, but she smiled a bit, as she sat down for the camera.

She liked her privacy as much as any other wrestler that had cameras constantly on them, but especially since fans liked to pay extra attention to her life for whatever reason. Adaline attributed it to her once long term relationship with Colby, highly publicized at several points because of whatever dirt sheet rumours and private leaks that were thrown their way. She was quiet at all times, her Wikipedia page only covering her wrestling career, as she had been as vague about her childhood as possible in the past.

Raising an eyebrow at the producer, Craig, a few feet away, Adaline wasn't sure where to begin. "I can just talk about anything?"

Anything but the few things on the "no mention" list. Most were contributed by WWE, but a lot of other things were provided by Adaline. This included her past relationship with Colby outside of kayfabe and especially anything to do with Nikki Bella.

"Start with talking about your career so far. You can name drop companies and non-contracted performers, but only because we'll be editing whatever we don't want aired, anyway."

"Right," she shifted slightly, unsurprised. "Well, I'm turning thirty-two this fall, so this will be into my sixteenth year of doing this thing."

She wasn't exactly sure why the Network executives wanted to give her a 365 special. As far as she knew, most of the episodes were focused on wrestlers overcoming serious injuries or taking the next great step in their careers. Was this what NXT was supposed to be for her?

Craig's expression remained blank, as he pushed his semi rimless glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "You started at sixteen years old?" His eyes never left the clipboard in front of him, where she assumed was a list of prompts to ask.

"Yeah, I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and I worked retail and other random part time jobs for two years while training and working local shows in Toronto. Bingo halls, high school gyms, random parking lots, you know," Adaline explained further, still trying to loosen up her tense shoulders. "When I turned eighteen, I dropped everything and moved to the United States because I knew I was limited, wrestling where I was wrestling. I was an illegal alien with no plan and just a few hundred dollars—the dumb indie wrestler dream."

It'd been so long since she looked back at that time in her life. Once embarrassed by her roots, Adaline felt a warm, fuzzy feeling at the pit of her stomach and couldn't ignore the swelling of pride in her heart. She'd come far.

The look on Craig's face induced Adaline to continue, so she took a deep breath. "My early work happened in Pennsylvania, where I fought my way into gyms and I mean fought. It was really hard at that time for a woman to be taken seriously. It was guys like Drew Gulak and Jon—" Although Craig said that she was allowed to name drop non-contracted performers, she was positive that uttering the former Dean Ambrose's name wasn't worth it. "—um, who helped me learn the ropes and culture in that area. Chikara's Wrestling Factory really helped me out and I did stuff for them and other places like CZW. Drew was the head trainer at the CZW at the time and was one of the first mentor figures I had."

If Adaline had to put her money on it, she would have said that Craig was bored out of his damn mind, but then again, he had the same expression on his face ever since he walked into the room. "Did you just stay in the northeast for that portion of your career?"

"I ventured a bit more west as time went by. Definitely lingered around Illinois for a while, since it's where the top independent women's promotions were at the time. Funnily enough, I ended up living in Chicago for about ten years after that." To be with her boyfriend, but she didn't mention that. "I did some time on the west coast, not as much as I wish I did, but I definitely had some fun doing stuff in California and for a split second, Mexico. Three years into working in the States and I somehow, by a miracle, land myself in the locker room of Florida Championship Wrestling."

To this day, Adaline wasn't exactly sure how she got in. The tape that she sent the developmental recruits was god-awful and her tryout promo was more than cringy. However, looking at other people in her recruitment class, it was clear that officials and scouts looked at potential over everything—how well could they be molded into the WWE standard, the ceiling of their entertainment value. She wasn't sure if she should feel flattered that they saw that in her or not or if they simply saw that she could be easily manipulated.

"It was definitely a time down there. Difficult, yes, but I learned so much." Adaline could recall nights crying into her pillow out of frustration for where her training was going and how she was treated by the other talent. Girls often claimed how hard they were judged for being models and dancers before coming to FCW, but it was just as hard being an "arrogant indie schmuck." There weren't many women from back then who could relate to the garbage that she went through.

Craig asked, "Do you think performers then had a harder time in FCW than the recruits down in the PC and NXT today?"

She paused, taking the question in. "Not a harder time, per say, but the process is much smoother now, while being more of a burden. We have the state of the art Performance Center now, compared to that warehouse we used to train in. NXT gets so much more exposure now that it's harder to reinvent yourself at your own pace." Adaline said. "In a way, because NXT is now its own brand, I would say that talent from the FCW era were much more catty in the sense of starting drama and wanting to move up to get on the road with the main roster talent. The divas division back then was a very different culture to the women's locker room here at Full Sail, which is now very welcoming. Everyone wants to help each other, not drag them down."

There was nothing Adaline wanted to do more than expose certain names, but she held herself back. The catty environment, the hazing, the drama and sabotage, was too much for her. She was just glad that she move on from there quickly, as her memories in developmental hurt her as much as they did help her.

"And after FCW?"

Adaline grinned. "Oh, come on. Everyone knows what happened after that."

For the first few years, she was afraid that the only reason she got lumped in with The Shield was because she was Colby's long term girlfriend and that they assumed he would be most comfortable with her as their valet. After all, Adaline wasn't exactly progressing as a character in FCW. She was scared of that, and only being considered as eye candy and a side item for the boys. It took years of understanding from other people and seeing the product in the eye of the executives that they truly must have seen potential in her.

And if all of the above were true anyway, then Adaline made damn sure to prove herself to be otherwise in the past few years.

"My time with The Shield was everything I could ask for and more. I'm glad I spent that portion of my career with those guys, I don't think I could have found my way around without them. We were all definitely kind of lost, but we had each other, and we were really family." She wanted to say are family, but things were different these days.

Adaline talked to Joe the most, at least up until her move to the yellow and black brand. He texted and checked up on her often while she was off TV. Jon came here and there, but things were different. She only kept up with him through Renee, since the man clearly had yet to discover how to reply to a text.

Then, there was Colby.

Things were good the first couple months after the big finale. As fine as they could be, really. They were on different brands leading up to Wrestlemania, which contributed tremendously to the smooth sailing. After the Royal Rumble, though, things got. . . weird and of course, she hadn't known it yet, but it was around the time he started seeing Becky.

"Hey, Becks, some of the girls are going back to my hotel room after the show," Adaline had tapped Becky on the shoulder after catching her outside of the trainer's room during the later hours of Elimination Chamber. "You gonna come and kick my ass in Mario Kart?"

For whatever reason, Becky's expression dropped. "Oh, uh, actually, I'm just gonna head back to mine. Call it in early, y'know?" Tripping over her words, the fluster in her voice was a tad suspicious to Adaline, but she brushed it off.

She'd proceeded with her plans with Pamela and Leah, playing video games into the early morning. Adaline didn't even think of Becky and her obvious excuse until Leah mentioned that she ran into Becky on her way back to her own room.

"It was written all over her face! Someone definitely got lucky that night," Leah mused at the makeup table, two days later at Smackdown. "Who do you think the guy is? She's definitely not one for random hookups."

Adaline knew that she wasn't owed an explanation to Colby's new love life, but she was a little disappointed that she figured it out on her own. The little things, the rumours she heard backstage, all pieced together for her to realize what was going on between the two of them. Maybe Adaline wouldn't have felt so ruffled about it if it wasn't made to be so weird and secretive. She didn't tell anyone what she found out, keeping it to herself until they announced it themselves.

"Stop making excuses for him, I know why he's late." She didn't even look up from her phone, as she waited in the passenger's seat of the group's rental car. "He's with her, right?"

This was at the tail end of The Shield's farewell era in February earlier that year. Though, Adaline was not heavily involved in the storyline as some expected her to be—the escalation to her own Wrestlemania feud had been going on and she had duties to fulfill on the Smackdown brand. She wasn't there for the buildup throughout the month on Raw, but she was able to join the reunion at Fastlane. It was the group's last match together and the group begged personnel to let her be apart of at least the final moments.

Joe and Jon simply exchanged looks with each other in response. They clearly knew about the couple and probably found out from Colby himself. While nobody said anything to Adaline about it, deep down, they all knew that nobody needed to. She knew Colby more than possibly any other person in the world and the two weren't surprised that she figured it all out.

"Right." Jon was the one who chose to break the awkward silence. "Well, he can meet us there. Let's get this show on the road, we got some beautiful people waiting to see my beautiful face at that bar." It felt a little wrong to not wait for Colby on their way to the roster's "Goodbye Shield" party at a local watering hole, but even Joe was sick of waiting and started the engine.

"We had the time of our lives in that initial run. There's just too memories that I'll cherish forever, you know. But, my memory of all time is surprising the fans at Fastlane, when I showed up to accompany the boys to the ring one last time and having that farewell embrace as the show went off air." Adaline quickly blinked back the tears, as sensitive as ever, but she didn't like showing that side of her to the camera. "I swear to god, time seemed to just completely stop for those few minutes. It was out of this world, nothing like it."

The most magical part of wrestling was the crowd, there's no denying that. On the eve of Fastlane, Adaline felt mountains of love and excitement from the fans, knowing that they were witnessing the end of an era. All four of them knew it was the end of an era, in many ways more than one. Adaline and Colby, who were always known as a collective, rather than individually, were now apart and were now moving on from each other. Mox chose to chase his dreams elsewhere, away from the three that became his family. Joe's legacy in the industry was building and building, year by year. They were no longer the people they were in 2012, having finally gotten a taste of wealth and glory after early years of struggle when the four used to share a single hotel room to save costs.

She'll always be grateful for her run with The Shield. At the beginning, she was just happy to be in a main roster storyline. She was just happy to be able to maximize her time with Colby. Beyond that, Jon and Joe became her family. Bickering over who's turn it was to drive after long house shows, getting to know Joe's kids, playing video games in the locker rooms and every hotel room, and nobody leaving the trainer's room until everybody was clear. No one got left behind.

Back then, it was like that. Now? Adaline can't help but feel like she's come to that point, without any of the three by her side for the first time in a decade.

Craig sighed a little too loudly, rolling up his sleeve and glancing at the shiny watch on his wrist. "We're running out of time. We'll touch on your time with The Authority and everything since then for our next interview day, maybe also dig a little deeper into your new alliance with Undisputed Era." Adaline tried not to breathe a sigh of relief, already worn out from the questions. "Last thing. What are your expectations going into NXT, considering all that you've gone through in sixteen years?"

A question that she didn't know the answer to.

"It's good catching up with you. You have your locker number?" Coach Bloom stood up from his chair from across the desk, extending his hand for Adaline to shake.

She nodded, taking his hand. "Yes, sir. I'll be on my way, then."

Being called into the head trainer's office was similar to the feeling of being called into the principal's office and she had more fear in her body than someone who had just arrived should have had. That was the feeling that Bloom gave off to all NXT residents, but she knew that there was always care behind his tough demeanour. He simply wanted to welcome her properly to the PC on her first official day.

Meanwhile, Serena had been sitting to the side of the two of them and she couldn't confine the grin stretching across her face. When they had shook hands, she instead pulled her old friend into a tight embrace.

"I'm so happy you're here," she whispered into her ear, not caring that Bloom was rolling his eyes at them, mumbling about something for the two women to take it outside of his office.

They had only reunited so few times since Serena signed on as a coach for the Centre a year ago and it only made the moment feel so much sweeter. At the very beginning of Adaline's career, Serena had served as such a helpful mentor figure, even going into their short lived time in the FCW women's locker room together. To have their paths intersect once again, at yet another pivotal part in Adaline's life, seemed poetic in a sense.

Adaline walked out of the office, in tow with Serena. "I guess I'll be responding to your drills again, huh?"

"And you better do it damn well," she raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "I'm still in shock that you're here. They really didn't want you going anywhere else, huh?"

Shrugging in response, the Canadian sighed. "I'm in shock, too—considering that NXT wasn't apart of the plan." Adaline was getting tired complaining about how the wool was pulled over her eyes during her contract negotiations, but it was starting to fully settle in. Meeting the guys in Hunter's office softened the blow. It was time to shut up and accept the facts.

"People everywhere watched what you did all over the world during those two years that you were gone. You don't need this company to be a star, they need you," Serena said. "Have you maybe considered that you're here because you did all you could do on RAW and Smackdown?"

Those words echoed in Adaline's head, as she trudged into the women's locker room.

It had almost ten years since she started this journey in this company and it seemed like almost everybody that started with her had already grown tired of it. Her first road wives, April and Celeste, were long gone. Danielle decided that she was worn out and was gone. Trinity had recently taken time off and wasn't sure when she was coming back to the ring. Saraya, someone who Adaline thought would be wrestling in her sixties, was retired. Even the goddamn Bellas weren't around anymore. Ninety percent of the division from a decade ago was gone. Wasn't she exhausted, too?

She envied women like Becky and Pamela, who were still hungry for more. There were others who had just made the main roster and some down with her in NXT now, who suffered through the struggles of the indies and were still ready to claw up to the top. Adaline wondered where that drive was for her.

Every locker was labelled by ring name, some with more long-standing plates—mainstays like Io Shirai and Bianca Belair. Meanwhile, others simply had a laminated piece of paper slapped on top of the metal. These were the recruits who had yet to prove themselves, the names that Adaline couldn't recognize.

A shiny, new plate shone on the locker that sat at the corner of the room. Aspen Glory, it read, in all of its permanent lustre.

She slammed her gym bag onto the bench, the impact echoing throughout the empty room. The process felt foreign, making a locker home when Adaline spent so many years travelling to probably hundreds of different arenas and treating each space and moment as temporary. She wasn't sure where to begin, as she unlocked the door and was met with a clean, baby blue interior.

There were some basic things that she brought, like extra socks, a water bottle, and shower shoes. Adaline quickly filled the locker up with these contents and it still appeared so barren to her. What the hell else was she supposed to put in it? She shrugged, not thinking too much about it. Then, she heard the door creak open.

Somewhat hidden away from the front of the locker room, Adaline could hear a distinct voice that seemed to be talking to someone over the phone and a smile formed, hoping it was who she thought it was.

"Yeah, that sounds good for dinner. I just got into the PC, I think Cheree's already waiting for me. You know how she is, she's always early. Alright, bye, Johnny, I love you. See you."

A flash of blonde hair only confirmed Adaline's suspicions. It was Candice LeRae, who hummed the melody of a 90s pop song and chewed bubblegum, as she strolled over without noticing the other female in the room. She easily unlocked her name plated locker, which was across from Adaline's, and nearly everything spilled out from it being too full.

She groaned. "Oh, crap," Candice said, trying to chase a bottle of dry shampoo that had begun rolling across the floor, only to be met with Adaline's bemused expression.

"Hi."

"Hey," Candice replied with a grin, a little perplexed.

Almost instantaneously, they pulled each other into a hug. Knowing that she would be diving head first into the unknown, Adaline was aware that she couldn't navigate all on her own. The two Breezango idiots were too busy figuring their own things out and she couldn't voice her anxiety to her new stable mates, wanting to give off a confident face. There were only so many people that Adaline could turn to outside of them, so she gave Candice a heads up that she was now reporting to the Performance Centre.

Adaline bent down and reached out for the lavender can for her shorter friend, passing it to her. "Your shit's a mess, girl."

"Yours will be, too. Give it a month," she rolled her eyes and peeked over her shoulder at Adaline's belongings on the bench. "You're moving in today?! I honestly did not expect to see you here so soon."

"I told you that I landed a few days ago, didn't I? I've been in meetings all weekend," Adaline replied with a groan. She had only been in Orlando for such a short amount of time and the amount of work and settling she had to do was taxing. The NXT tapings hadn't even begun, yet.

Candice said, "Yeah, it doesn't really slow down for another week or so. You'll love it here, I promise." As everyone else had promised Adaline, who clearly wasn't convinced.

The blonde turned around and put the can back into its place—if it even had one, in that mess of a locker—and began rummaging through her personal possessions. Candice let a out a soft a-ha! when she found what she was looking for at the back of the space, a Minnie Mouse hairbrush. Adaline chuckled softly at the sight and turned around, closing her own locker.

"Are you off to go workout?"

"Yeah, Cheree's wanted to get some cardio in. Any more meetings today?" Candice replied.

Adaline shook her head. "No, just moving in." She gestured to her gym bag and locker.

"Well, while you're here, the taping schedule is posted up by the west wing double doors, you know, the ones to the main gym. We can check it out together. Actually, would your name even be on there?" Candice thought to herself, considering that she was one of the few people who were made aware of Adaline's presence. The taping schedule wasn't usually subject to the change unless there was an injury, but producers were known edited the cards last minute to accommodate random returns and debuts before, at least once the talent found out.

The woman in question just shrugged in response. "Beats me. It doesn't hurt to look, right?"

"Then, we can check out the travel schedule. Ooh, I hope you're coming with us to the midwest loop at the end of the month!" Candice became giddy. "We'll hit the road together, no men! I wish we got to do that more often when you were in Cali."

Adaline didn't get the opportunity to do so often, but she loved wrestling in The Golden State and especially in PWG. When she worked with them in the past, she always travelled and hung out with Candice.

"I don't think so, but probably the next one?" she shrugged.

The two began chatting more for the next few minutes, mostly about Adaline settling in and her new house. Always the lazy type, she'd been procrastinating and the boxes in her home were left untouched, despite her promising herself that she would get it all out. The small talk about something other than wrestling for once settled the restlessness in Adaline, a small distract of sorts.

It wasn't like she disliked talking about wrestling, rather it was all that seemed to be on her mind for the past while since Wrestlemania. Somehow, it was the first time Adaline really took notice of that, considering she lived, breathed, and ate wrestling for the past sixteen years of her life. A part of her felt worrisome for the sudden awareness of it, wondering it had any relation to her other career concerns.

Unfortunately, the brief, sweet wrestling-free moment was cut short when the locker room door slammed open.

Everyone knew who Shayna Baszler was, or at least, every woman in the company did. After all, the current NXT Women's Champion was probably next in line to overtake your spot in the animal kingdom. Management wanted to push her to lead the division once she would inevitably leave NXT and become a box office draw for all of the big pay-per-views and tours and media.

Some said that Shayna was one of, if not, the most intimidating women on the NXT roster and bore a vicious gaze. Even upon entering the locker room that was nearly empty, her presence demanded attention. All eyes drew to her so naturally and so quickly as they tore away from her out of fear.

"Out of my way," was all she had to say to Adaline, not even flinching at the sight of the veteran and former women's champion.

Adaline zoned out for a moment, completely baffled by the attitude that she was just given. She couldn't help but scoff, trying to process the disrespect that was being shown to her.

She narrowed her eyes at Shayna. "The hell did you just say to me?"

In between them, Candice just sighed. It seemed like that she wanted to end what was going to be an ugly dispute early, but something held her back. Adaline hoped it wasn't out of intimidation by the former mixed martial artist.

Shayna stared back at the woman in front of her. "You think you can just waltz in here and act like you got this brand on lock? They get tired of you on the main roster and Japan couldn't offer you enough money, so you come down here to fuck around?"

Adaline wanted to find out how Shayna found out that she was going to be here, but that wasn't the main concern of hers. Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground, hearing Shayna's words. Clearly, she didn't like her or some rumours already began to float around backstage. Regardless, Adaline was already on the bad side of the de facto locker room leader.

With the fury running through her body, though, she didn't give a damn.

"I'm going to say this once, so you better listen up," Shayna began, "I think you're entitled. I think that you've ridden on the coattails of your ex-boyfriend for your entire career. So, I don't like you. Plain and simple."

"You think you know me?" Adaline's voice began to rise, but Shayna held up a hand and didn't let her finish.

She said, "Maybe for you, being here is like a little vacation before someone like Ashley Flair gets injured and creative will need another spoiled brat to bury their women's division with on Smackdown. For some of us, NXT is our entire lives. Don't mess that up for us."

With that, Shayna bumped Adaline's shoulder when she walked away to the other side of the room and behind a wall to another area of lockers. All she could hear after was the stomping of boots and the slamming of a metal door open. Meanwhile, she was in complete shock of the conversation that just happened, wondering if she just imagined it.

Looking at Candice's sheepish expression, though, it confirmed that Shayna Baszler did indeed strut right up to Adaline and cussed out one of the scariest warnings that the latter had ever heard in her life.

"Honestly, she gives that talk to every new girl," Candice said in a low voice, as she ushered Adaline out of the locker room.

"You can't be serious," Adaline shot back, still worked up over what happened. It took all the will in her body to not barge right back in and swing at Shayna's smug face.

The target was now on her back and she had yet to even step into the yellow brand's ring. If she was being honest, it was definitely a wake up call to where she was now and the expectations weighing down on her shoulders. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She didn't even want to be here. Adaline wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was terrified for the first time in years.

[la5t-res0rt]

Okay, but please consider once again; Beetlebabes and Anti Shippers should both be allowed to enjoy Beetlejuice without hate from anyone, we’re all just looking for a good time. You can avoid content you dislike, by either blocking a tag or user entirely. You don’t have to read something or look at it if you dislike it. Nether-Receipts also mostly counts death and rape threats sent directly to users and isn’t intended to send any hate to users. Hell, anti’s are allowed to submit things too!

ok here we go again so i get what youre i saying i understand that that would be super cool if everyone could just get along but the fact of the matter is that there are people in the world who are extremely triggered and hurt by certain content

and yes you can block people and yes you can block tags but if people know it will get a rise they will find a way

i have received accounts of certain parties deliberately breaking rules in discord servers that were clearly stated simply because they do not care about other people’s comfort or they do not care if theyre bothering people which frankly really bothers me

i have said before that i think a lot of people on the internet in general have issues with over identifying with bad traits and making it too integral to their personality and i think thats not great but i see it a lot

you could even argue that these anons that i have received tonight could have been sent through other channels via incognito windows or alternate accounts etc im fact i know for a fact that someone who sent me asks is someone who previously did have me blocked

isnt it sort of funny that im getting all of this all at once almost as if people have probably been talking about my shitty blog and planning out what theyd say to try and stump me but jokes on them i never shut up and have too much to say always i am never at a loss for words

if someone sent you to do this im sorry thats a huge bummer 

one more thing i gotta mention bc it would be cruel to not bring up but the accusations that you mention im not okay with those either im also not okay with making broad generalizations about eating disorders or responding to jokes with fiction with explicit rape the latter of which was deleted im pretty sure i dont know the specifics that was before i got tumblr but someone sent me a screencap

and im going to say this one more time i am pretty sure a lot of those asks are self sent if you examine the language and the content of the asks on the whole antis are pretty pc there are exceptions of course but on the whole there are certain phrases that arent used like slut is one that stands out thats kind of a slur in some circles

all im saying on that is that some of the worst asks that are sent seem to be almost too awful like the opposite of too good to be true i cant confirm that this is the case but it is what i think based on what ive seen from screenshots

also

you mention that antis can submit things too

thats kind of not true actually

i was angry recently because i saw that someone had actually reported someone for anti anti wow i hate how that sounds basically they were reported to the blog for saying some pretty mean things about fans of the musical that could be classified as gatekeeping and general nastiness for sure

the response to that submission was a lecture from the author of the blog and it was then deleted 

so yeah maybe they can submit but its not likely to be taken seriously but that being said if you want to send me stuff i wont repost it but i will get angry about it

anyway you seem like a nice person who only wants the best but to quote apersonal hero of mine magneto peace was never an option there is too much bad blood and too many morally sticky areas some of which are literally illegal in the united states but the internet is hard to monitor 

i hope this counts as considering

i stand by what i said in previous asks have a good night

[creativerogues]

How I Dealt With: Alignment VS Player Actions

So I’m just going to go into it with a recent example of how the Player’s Actions actively contradicted the Alignment of the Character they’re playing.

Hard Hat, the Tortle Wizard and Necromancer, needed to find 5,000 Gold Pieces in 2 Days to give to another Wizard, so that that Wizard can scribe a Spell Scroll that Hard Hat needs.

So rather than asking the rest of the Party, rather than thinking it through in a way that went with his Character, Hard Hat’s Player chose to act in a way that, while not directly, opposed his Character's Alignment as a Neutral Character.

Hard Hat’s Player chose to go out into the Town of Fostin, the Town the group is currently in, and through a combination of Charm Person, Suggestion and Enthrall, force the rather rich townsfolk of the City to give him their money, like he was some kind of wizardly highwayman...

And while I, as the DM of that Session, did allow him to do this, I told him that Hard Hat’s Alignment as a Character has now shifted, from Neutral, to Neutral Evil...

Now for some of you reading this, however you run your D&D Games, it might sound a bit weird that I, as the DM and someone who is not that in control of the actions of the Players, is allowed to change a Player Character’s Alignment on the spot, but there was a reason as to why I did so...

The reason I’m ruling this as a “temporary” alignment change is because the actual Player’s literal justification for these acts is: “Well the ends justify the means, we’re hurting people to help people.”

And as he was already a Neutral Character, a shift that steps him towards the Evil Side for this Section of the Adventure definitely seemed appropriate after this…

After all, no one who calls themselves a Hero would willingly force an innocent person into giving them money.

But why only Neutral Evil? Well not just because his Character was already Neutral, though that did help a lot, but because this was an action that Hard Hat’s Player thought was the only option, despite it not being the only option.

He had two days of downtime to find 5,000 Gold Pieces, and in the mind of Hard Hat’s Player, he thought the only way to get that 5,000 Gold was through nefarious means...

But if he had just conversed with the group a whole, or simply asked for help from the other Players, they might of discovered a much easier way to get that money on time to the Wizard that asked for it.

Hard Hat had a limited time frame to achieve something that Hard Hat’s Player thought was practically impossible. And while Hard Hat did achieve it in the end, the Player themselves had to justify why this needed to be done.

After all: The ends justify the means, don’t they?

There’s also another example I’d like to give where another player in my most recent session proposed something that I thought would directly oppose his ideals and methods.

Nemorith, who has been delightfully nicknamed Nemo, was returning to the Ship the Party had gained. Nemorith had been away from the Party for over two and half months, on his own adventures with Hard Hat the Necromancer during parts of his leave.

Now, Nemo is a Druid, or as I sometimes call him in my Games: a Wild-Man.

Nemo had lived in the mountains of the Himmelblas Region of my World for over a decade, and had grown up to respect nature, while also remaining neutral, and understanding that violent acts do occur in nature, but only for the needs of food and survival.

This gained him the Alignment of Lawful Neutral. He had a Code, an Oath you might say, and he stuck to it as much of possible, even finding some extremely over complicated ways to deal with issues even though the simplest way to deal with them was: Kill the Bad Guy.

But in this Session, Nemo returned to learn that everything had changed...

Kentucky, the Aarockra Barbarian with a Southern Accent, had become Captain of the Ship during Nemo’s leave, and the Crew took to him well over the 2+ Months in-game that Nemo had been gone.

Foot, the Tabaxi Bard had become quite renowned in the City, performing at taverns and gaining quite the gold pile and renown during Nemo’s leave and levelling up to 5th Level while Nemo was gone, gaining some new Spells and Magics...

Whinny, the Kenku Rogue had learnt to write, and even talk in semi-coherent sentences while Nemo was gone. She had learnt to write Common and can write short sentences now and even speak them while almost making sense.

Everyone was slightly different, while Nemorith remained the same, and he didn’t like it.

And so when the Group threw a Party to celebrate Nemo’s return, he hated it.

He wanted to leave the Party, just get on the ship and sail somewhere else and hopefully go back to normal, but that wasn’t happening.

Instead Foot was performing on-stage to a packed bar, Kentucky was lifting beer barrels that weighted more than most of the Party over his head, and Whinny was writing letters and painting banners to saying “Welcome Home”, writing in Common for the first time Nemorith had seen it.

And he actually grew jealous, everyone was suddenly better than him, they knew more magics, became better at their skills. While he and his Tortle Wizard Friend Hard Hat were just... Surviving...

And this caused a conversation between Hard Hat and Nemorith that I didn’t expect, where Nemorith proposed something to Hard Hat that I thought deserved an Alignment Change.

He proposed that Hard Hat cast Modify Memory on Foot, the Tabaxi Bard, so that Foot would forget all the renown and magic he had gained over the past two and half months.

And when Hard Hat refused to do so, Nemorith attacked Hard Hat.

The rest of the Party, who were still celebrating and partying (just on the ship instead of in the tavern), heard Nemo and Hard Hat shouting at each other, and heard a scuffle.

The situation at that point escalated to the point where Nemorith was locked in one of the bedrooms on the ship until he calmed down.

He was locked in there for almost three days...

So why did I change his alignment?

Well, because of what he said, the way he acted and what he did.

A Character that was Lawful Neutral and had a personal code that stopped him from injuring others, was suddenly attacking his own party members because they didn’t do what he said.

And he broke his own code, he wanted to to destroy a fellow party members process by casting Modify Memory to make that Party Member forget all the new magic and experience they’ve earned, and essentially level them back down to Level 4.

This caused me to change Nemorith’s Alignment to Chaotic Neutral, since he no longer seemed to care about his personal code in that moment, just wanted something, and when he was denied it, he lashed out at the Party in anger.

Now, there is a happy ending, Nemorith apologised to the rest of the Party, and the Group had a pretty deep and emotional talk on why they should stick together and what it means to be good.

But during those three days that Nemo was locked in his room, punching and kicking at the walls in anger, Nemorith’s Alignment, at least in my mind, was Chaotic Neutral...

I hope this Post has been helpful to you. I honestly think the DM having partial control over the PC’s Alignments and the ability to shift and change a Character’s Alignments based on the Player’s Actions is Neat and works if both the DM and Player agree that a Character’s actions in a game are deserving of an Alignment Change.

And if you need even more examples, take Vox Machina from Critical Role.

Vex’s Alignment shifted after she stole a Broom of Flying from a fellow Party Member (SPOILERS?) and Pike’s Alignment shifted after she ruthlessly killed a Creature in a way that her Deity didn’t like....

But anyways I hoped you liked this Post, and if you think I should do more Posts like this or more Posts on the topic of Alignment, let me know!

[goatyuzuru]

Thoughts on 2018/2019 Season

Actually, I am supposed to be on a figure skating fast because I want to take a break, take a step back, and remove my feelings from this sport. It’s helped me a lot this week. But I think before I refast, I want to say I’m just so glad this season is finally over. The way the corruption of this sport escalated was beyond what I even expected. I knew about the corruption, the politicking, the amusement of the way judges score skaters, however, I didn’t think it took less than 1 season for it to get to a new level. I see skaters getting low 80s to mid 90s throughout 1 season. I see robbing everywhere. I see selective calls. I know it will not change even after this season ended, but having this off season will allow me to breathe.

Over the past weeks of grieving about World Championships 2019 Men’s event results, I am now in a mix of stages among bargaining/depression/acceptance. I think I ranted too much on twitter and Planet Hanyu last two weeks that I don’t think I need to talk about my denial or anger stages. 

Bargaining

There were many what ifs that went through my mind during these couple of weeks.

“What if Yuzu was never injured? not at cor 2018, not at nhk 2017, or not even his many other injuries that he’s decided to never share with the public? He would probably have been invincible by now.” But that is such an unrealistic and greedy expectation for an elite skater. Also, Yuzu is a human who simply makes the most out of what he has. I don't want to think of him as invincible or superhuman. We are all human who think we are subhuman trying to be superhuman. Yuzu is already inspirational by being his full potential. He allows me to love both the weak Yuzuru and the strong Yuzuru.  

“What if I never discovered Yuzu in 2016? What if I never discovered figure skating in 2010? When I first came to know Yuzu I thought because he won so much, the sport actually rewards talent. After a while I slowly discovered the ugly truth that even when he did win a lot in his life, he’s been robbed and underscored chronically. It was he who earned those titles, snatched those scores off from the judges’ dirty hands, challenged the system, and fought his way to be above the scoring corruption and above the sport. So when I found out the truth about what this sport really is, I really wished I never knew about it.” But then to know Yuzu is also one of the best things that happened to me. He inspired me as a person in so many ways. And to know Yuzu means I have known what true figure skating is. There is real figure skating in Yuzuru Hanyu and the figure skating that ISU is promoting. 

“What if he never won at PyeongChang? That might have been better for me to quit watching figure skating at that time." But that would be super selfish and stupid. The gold medal is one of the best compensations that happened to Yuzu throughout his competitive life as a skater.

“What if he retired after PC? The sport doesn’t deserve him. Everyone benefited from his presence except the man himself.” But I am not Yuzu and I can’t walk his journey. I can’t feel his pain or happiness so how would I know he won’t still enjoy his difficult road ahead. 

“What if Yuzu changes the way he skates? What if he tries to go with Nathan’s or Vincent’s strategy? The system doesn’t judge program components correctly or penalize incorrect techniques, so why bother following the rules when you’re not rewarded? Or "what if he changes his nationality to Canada, Japan doesn’t deserve him anyway?” But I realize from Yuzu’s interviews that while he hates losing the most, he would never change himself in order to win. I realize that it is as hard for Yuzu to empty his program for the jumps as Nathan delivering a complete program. Likewise, it is as hard for Yuzu to cheat his techniques as Vincent trying to correct his. And even if Yuzu did all of these things Nathan or Vincent did, he isn’t an American to get this treatment. Yuzu isn’t the one who should change, should lower his standard. It is the ISU, the judges, the tech panelist, the federations. Yuzu does not need a new passport to win. He did it before to be beyond the corruption, he can possibly do it again. 

After bargaining so much, I realized none of the what ifs will do any good for Yuzu, for the other skaters, for the sport, or myself. I was led to a stage of depression.

Depression 

I guess to many spectators, the scoring discourses on social media and among fandoms seem very silly or “not that deep”. But as someone who thoroughly invest my time, energy, and emotion as a fan for it, I find the necessity in having these voices so that even if the scores don’t stand or the system collapses, the true figure skaters can be remembered, the message of unfairness can be reached to new fans. Seeing myself, who is this much invested into the sport just as a fan, I wonder how much more the many figure skaters, who’ve gone through such pressure and discipline, financial hardship and injuries, emotional breakdowns and sacrifices, have been robbed of their potential titles/scores/sponsorships.

The problem I’m seeing is not only the skaters who don’t benefit from the corruption are negatively affected, the skaters who benefit from the corruption also get hate from many people. Look, I don’t hate the American skaters like Nathan/Vincent/Bradie or the Russian skaters from Eteri camp/Samarin...etc. When I don’t like someone’s skating I am usually just indifferent to them, meaning I don’t bother following them. That’s simple; if you don’t like something, you stop watching it. The problem is these skaters are being shoved into my faces and the way they are being overscored robbed me of my enjoyment for the sport because I find it unfair. That’s also very simple. So I hate to see people generalizing all of the rants are coming from a place of biasness or antis. That is not true. Also, as soon as you are a fan of certain skater, in my case a Yuzuru Hanyu’s fan, you are automatically being labeled as a sore loser or hater. The thing is, many fans who truly study figure skating would agree that the scores don’t match with what are being seen. But it happens that they might be a smaller part of a fandom and don’t get too vocal about this. So instead of seeing everyone as an obsessive fanyu, perhaps the reason many of them fight so hard is to see someone like Yuzuru Hanyu, who is the epitome of a figure skater, gets rewarded deservedly. Perhaps it’s because we value great technique and great skating and the skaters who won happen to not have those? I think it is fair to say a lot of people would get hurt because their favorite skaters did not win and the initial reaction could be a bit overwhelming. That’s normal. But if what they are witnessing in the sport that led to their criticism are fair, they should have the right to vocalize their criticism in order for justice to be heard, especially the rulebook to back their criticism. 

Yet over and over, no matter how reasonable many people have been. No matter how much effort in putting up videos to compare skaters’ programs or to explain the discrepancies in the way the tech panel called or didn’t call certain elements, the ISU and general public decide to be ignorant about it. They create their own narratives or put up media play to benefit themselves. They take down videos to remove the evidences. I even think of proposals on how to change the scoring system/format. Maybe the skaters shouldn’t get the scores right after they skate? Maybe we should only have 1 panel of the same judges? Maybe the judges/tech need more time to review the elements and program components? Maybe ice scopes should be inplemented for all jumps and in all countries. Every single element will be put into video cuts for the judges and tech to review and mark the bullets accordingly so the GOEs will autopopulate? The definitions in the rulebooks need to be given more objective, quantative metrics based on collective data or stats? Maybe the scores should be temporarily announced 2 hours after the competition (if the scores get announced later, the competition will be shortened) and the public can vote for what scores need to be reviewed. They can ask the judges to write a review at the end of the day on why they score the elements/PC and if the public do not agree they judges will get a strike. After 3 strikes in their career, the judges will be banned from judging? If any fed decides to bribe the public, at least someone can report it? I thought about all of these possibilities...

And I realize the products are not going to change as long as the creator isn’t willing. There will always be some loopholes.

Acceptance

I am slowly accepting all of this, what I cannot do and what I can do. Accepting neither means that I am agreeing with the results or scores nor normalizing the way the sport plays out. I only know that I cannot change the way ISU/feds politicking or how the general public’s view about certain skaters/achievement stans bandwagon on the glory of its beneficiaries' achievements. But what I know is I will not give them what they want: my attention/money/support. I don’t want to give attention to the undeserving skaters whom I feel like they try to promote. Rather than giving these skaters attention through my ranting, instead, I can just go back to how I should, which is stop watching them. It will be hard since Yuzu will be competing against some of these skaters and that I will follow his career as long as he allows me to, which makes it inevitable that I would see other skaters somehow. But if I would just really ignore, it would allow me to stop feeding on my hatred/bitterness toward other skaters, who aren’t bad people and are pretty talented per se, and just support Yuzu as his fan. I want to spread the love so that even if he perhaps might not always win or get the highest scores on paper, his greatness could still be felt and seen. Because of the love that is spread for Yuzu on twitter, Olympic Channel acknowledges him as the biggest star. Laureus twitter now actively tweets about him. Figure Skating is such a low profile sport but Yuzu is often compared to other greats like Rogers Federer or Tiger Woods (lol) or even Ronaldo by commentators. That shows how he really beyond this sport.

At the end of the day, I console myself that whatever Yuzu has achieved does not even define everything about how great he is as a skater. So I will just try my best to enjoy his career when I can. 

[real-freedom-of-fiction]

@antisoriku I thought you were going to block us? Unless you forgot, if so hurry up with it.

Anyway, you’re the one who stated your race first-- I simply did it because you’re the one who brought your race into your argument first as if that gives you somehow a leverage in this topic. I’m not speaking over you, but I sure am not someone you can speak over either.

We also do not know if Nessa is black-- she could be any ethnicity, or simply extremely tan, since this is Japan we’re talking about and they aren’t as careful when choosing a character’s skin tone, they just do it. 

I’m saying people who falsely accuse others of racism do deserve this backlash-- because you’re hurting individuals who have experienced racism outside of the online world you inhabit far more than should be considered healthy. You’re making a mockery of what racism is by shouting at and attacking artists who don’t draw the character black as midnight to your liking. 

I think it’s a good way to laugh at something stupid and trolling-- to laugh at it, call it stupid or whatever, and move on. By overreacting and basically giving these people what reaction they are looking for, you’re the one’s encouraging it. Also, some of these individuals are artists who had their artwork taken and “fixed” by assholes who don’t understand color theory of the fact washed-out style exists. I don’t blame some of them for being pissed. 

With freedom to express and speech will come potential backlash-- which is expected, especially if something is actually ignorant or bigoted. I’m not surprised that people who are doing this are receiving backlash, but I’m also not surprised this is happening and backlash to people having double standards when it comes to drawing characters skin colors and tone.

This is what happens when you falsely accuse others of being racist, this is what happens when you steal peoples artwork and “fix” it without their consent, this is what happens when you don’t understand color theory or washed-out art styles and label them whitewashing.

By laughing at it and moving on isn’t giving power to reactionary bullshit, unlike what you’re doing. You’re making it out as if it’s going to bring back the 50s Jim Crow Laws-- it’s not, but it is a counter movement to the radical PC culture and misuse of serious terms like racism. This is what happens when you try to “improve” peoples art in regards to PC and faux-SJW activism, you piss off other artists and the artists you’ve accused and hurt, and thus they’re doing what the freedom of expression and speech allows them to do-- make inflammatory artwork and throw a middle finger up at assholes like you. 

Either way, the freedom of it all is you can criticize other peoples speech and expression, so enjoy that, more power to you. 

- Mod Zackray.

[therealdragonnerdagain]

Okay. I stumbled across this “article” about light-skin privilege, and while some of these instances are correct, most are really, really wrong.

And it annoys me when dark-skin people try to act like our lives are so much better and so much easier than theirs just because we're a little lighter.

Okay, maybe my experience was different because I'm light-skinned but do not pass for white. But still . . . in my personal experience, I did not have all these so-called privileges.

This is very long, so sorry to people who are scrolling by it. Just unfollow me. I want this to be seen, though. 

Not really. White people always assume that my views are racist against white people. Black people always assume I'm an Uncle Tom who hates black people and worships white people. (shit, people have done that to me here on tumblr without even seeing my face.)

Talking to anyone about race issues as a light-skinned black person is always pick your poison.  

But again, I don't pass for white, and I can be racially ambiguous. So there's that.

How the FUCK is being racially ambiguous a priviledge????

How???

Being racially ambigious just opens me up to more racism. People generally look at me and see whatever their prejudice leads them to see.

I've been mistaken for Asian, Samoan, Latin, Native American, the list goes on. It usually depends on what I'm wearing and whether or not I'm talking, but the end result is always the same: I face racism for a group I don't even fucking belong to. I have slurs hurled at me for looking like someone I'm not. I'm kicked out of a place for being a race that I'm not. I'm almost arrested in the library for being a race that I'm not.

Yeah. People not immediately knowing your race is super fun. Especially when you have to go through a series of intrusive questions from black people and white people alike who are trying to decide what you're worth as a human being based solely on your ancestral background.

I'm also just dark enough to get hassled by the police. Yeah. I'm super privileged because I'm not dark-skinned.

This is a joke, right?

People treat me like an angry black stereotype all the time. Doesn't matter that I'm light-skinned. I am still "of color" so I must be that angry, loud, neck-rolling stereotype. And as a result, people never listen to a fucking word I say or else tell me to stop being "ghetto" and "angry" as a silencing tactic so that they don't have to listen to me.

I just came from four years at a racist college where every teacher and student treated me like a angry stereotype just for trying to have a reasonable conversation about racism (god help me if I said a word about Ferguson). They didn't understand why I was frustrated, and no matter how calm I was, they continued to exaggerate my reaction to their casual racism, because they insisted on seeing me through a filer of prejudice.

Look at my old, old posts on this blog. *Someone* called me an angry black "cliche" (after accusing me of being white) the second I said I was black, because it's impossible that I could have been calm as fuck while laughing and insulting them (which I was). 

The elf Iris in my current avatar is light-skinned. The lighting makes her look dark. And also, Inquisition had shitty skintones. But then Bioware has ALWAYS had shitty skintones. Don't let the anti-pc crybabies who baaawww about Andromeda tell you otherwise. Andromeda is not a conspiracy to screw over white people by fucking with the skintones. Bioware has always sucked at two things: animations and skintones.

Anyway. I get treated like I'm angry, violent, and dangerous all the time by racist white people.

A couple years back, I tried to date a white girl. I immediately knew she was racist when she started acting afraid of me, like she thought I was going to attack her anytime she said something to provoke me.

I know it was because I was black because she kept going on about how she wasn't “used” to black people and all this other racist shit. And the whole reason I was angry in the first place was because she told me how her friend was practically a Nazi and I said I didn't want to meet a Nazi, so this meant she had to verbally attack me in defense of her racist piece of shit friend -- then act afraid of me when I was visibly hurt.

It was very hurtful to be treated that way, and I have many more heartbreaking examples of being treated like an animal, but I won’t bother. Just suffice it to say:

No, dark-skinned women. You aren't the only ones.

Lol. What?

White people always, ALWAYS make the assumption that I'm poor, to the point that my life was a living hell in high school.

When I was in high school, I was one of two black girls in my class. All the white kids assumed I was poor and from the ghetto. I wasn't. I was actually from a white, racist confederate-flag-waving catholic neighborhood down the street from the school. We had just moved there from a place that could be called "the ghetto" but in all honesty, we were living in "the ghetto" for about one year. Wow. I'm so from the hood.

I tried telling my white classmates that I was from a nearby neighborhood, but they refused to believe me. Why? Because the tv said da blacks was from da hood!!!!

Meanwhile, dark-skinned black people always assume that I must have grown up rich, spoiled, and well-educated. Simply because I liked to read and spoke "well," I always had dark-skinned people ridiculing and humiliating me, or else telling me with a sneer that I talk "white" because I sound educated.

I have been whipped my entire life by bitter dark-skinned people who jumped to the insane conclusion that having light-skin and liking to read means I never suffered financially a day in my entire life.

While in the service, I had many dark-skinned drill sergeants who hated me for this reason alone. They would go out of thier way to publicly humiliate me, saying things like, "Were things always okay? Hmm?" and treating me like some kind of spoiled princess that I wasn't simply because I was light-skinned.

When you're light-skinned, there's always this assumption (from dark people) that you're weak, wussy, smarter than you actually are, richer than you actually are, more educated than you actually are.

My drill sergeants would give me tasks that were too complicated for me simply because I wasn't the genius they assumed I was. This resulted in me being publicly humiliated because I was just -- gasp! -- an average person after all.

My light-skin also resulted in people treating me like some kind of wuss, when half the shit we did in basic training, I had already done in summer camp (zip lines, climbing great heights).

I was also heavily resented for having gone to college for two years (at the time, I now have a degree) so drill sergeants would make me throw my expensive lap top in the mud while screaming at me and humiliating me.

When I moved across the states to a new home, my moving man was a black dark-skinned man who was laboring under the delusion that me being light-skinned, well spoken, and living in a two storey house meant that I was rich and that he should try robbing me on the road during the trip.

He stole half my furniture, thinking, "Oh, she's a rich light-bright anyway, she'll just buy more." Then he tried to bully me out of money I didn't even have. Needless to say, I had to call the police to get rid of him and to get my stuff back.

After the incident, I wound up homeless on the street and living out my car for about a month while I found a place to live (because the place I had prepared to move into decided no niggers were allowed).

Yeah. I was so rich and so privileged.

These dark-skinned people wanted to punish me for grasping at opportunities that anyone could get (I was going to a fucking community college at the time, not Harvard).

These people wanted to punish me for a lifetime of riches and privilege I have never known.  

No. White people always assumed I grew up poor in the ghetto. Black people always assumed I was rich and that I had everything.  

Wrong again.

When I was a little girl, I had hair to my ass and every BLACK PERSON assumed it was weave.

I was light-skinned during the time that I lived in California (because when I lived in Hawaii, I always had a very dark tan) and the entire time I was in Elementary school, little black girls (dark-skinned) were coming up to me and asking if my hair was weave. I didn't know what weave was, so I just stared at them blankly and answered that it was hair.

In reality, it was only white people who assumed my hair was mine, and even then, half of them just scoffed and said it was weave too. There was a white boy at my high school who was particularly cruel about black women’s hair and targeted me specifically.

I've had to deal with people -- mostly black people -- making fun of my hair for majority of my time on this earth. They pulled it when it was long. They mocked it when it was broke off and was short.

I had a dark-skinned cousin who slapped me with a curling iron because she was jealous of my skin and hair.

All that hatreful treatment out of jealousy. Out of some delusion that my life would be better or easier because I had lighter skin. But in reality, I had no privileges that would protect me from this hatred.

If anything, having light skin but not passing as white meant facing rejection and hatred from white people and dark black people alike.

The last guy I dated actually did this to me.

He was half white and half black, and it later came to my attention that he was only dating me because he thought I was the same.

One day we were on a date, and he started drilling me about my parents. He seemed utterly convinced that I had at least one white parent.

When it turned out I was "just black" (as in, both my parents were black), he couldn't wrap his head around that. Like it was impossible for a black woman to be beautiful without having a non-black parent (see, he was calling me beautiful before that.).

That shit is insulting and degrading, and it happens all the time to light-skinned women. When you tell someone you're just black, and they're DISAPPOINTED, like just being black isn't fucking good enough.

And you know what happened after that?

Once it was established that I was "just black," then everything I did and said was colored by his racism. If was I angry, then I was ghetto, loud, too angry (because black women aren’t allowed to be angry like everyone else).

And he was also a misogynist who assumed an attractive woman has to be stupid -- who seemed to prefer his women stupid -- so when it came about that I wasn't so stupid, it was just another reason for him to eventually dump me.

So this mixed guy was both racist and misogynistic. And my light skin did not protect me from him. If anything, it led me right into his trap. Had I been dark-skinned, at least he never would have spoken to me, fucked me, and then discarded me in racist disappointment like the piece of shit he was.

See above.

People assuming I'm mixed has never been a positive attribute. In fact, their disappoint when they learn that I'm NOT MIXED has always been tremendously hurtful.

Also, having to play that, "Gee, what are you?" game, like you're a dog at a dog show laying out their pedigree is fucking disgusting.

Actually, no. This is not a "privilege."

White people tanning themselves to imitate my skintone is not a good feeling. It's an icky feeling. Because they can have my skintone and be treated like a human fucking being, while I still have to deal with everyday prejudice.

White people wanting my skin has been nothing but disgusting, humiliating, and degrading.

It's called fetishing. And it's gross. And it's NOT a privilege.

Once I was staying at a military rest home, and this white woman there rudely talked over me during a group session, then threw a tantrum when I assertively asked her to let me speak -- because light skinned women have white people talk over us too. 

The white woman insisted I was a rude, uppity, angry black woman -- despite the fact that I had calmly and firmly asked her to stop talking over me.

Later, this white woman realized her actions were racist and wrong, so to prove she wasn't racist, she kept going on and ON about my "peach colored skin," and how much she wanted to look like me and have my hair and all this other shit.

I wasn't a person to her. I was a bunch of accessories. And in her attempt to prove she wasn't racist, she just proved she was racist.

She even started calling me "Peaches," which was really fucking disgusting.

Could you imagine if I started calling a white person "Milky?" I'd be lynched as anti-white, but somehow, it's always okay for white people to dehumanize other people like this.

In other words, my skin isn't valued by the people who are trying to imitate it. It is fetished. Like craving to be fucked with a double-headed dildo at Chuck E Cheese. Or wanting to be fucked in a sling while a guy in a Batman costume spanks you.

Except it's immensely more weird and wrong to fetish a human being.

No. No, I don't.

My light skin didn't get my ass into Harvard.

After high school, my scholarship program turned out to be farce. So I wound up going to a community college that anyone and their mother could get into.

At same community college, two elderly, racist white women conspired to flunk me in Creative Writing and English Composition -- which they did.

I also couldn't find a job. If anything, having a white-sounding name and a white-sounding voice meant getting called for more interviews, only to see the disappointed looks on white people's faces when I walked in that door with my golden brown skin. They always complimented my purse and turned me away.

As a result, I've only had two jobs in my entire fucking life. One, because the boss was a black misogynist who loved hiring black women so he could harass them. The second, because I knew a white woman who worked at the place, and the uber racist white boss would only hire me on her word -- then started harassing me as a thief and a drug addict the entire time I was there.

Aside from those two jobs, my only other job was the military. And I joined for the same reason most black people join: I COULD NOT FIND A JOB.

I could go on, but this is long enough.

I'm not saying light skin privilege isn't real. I'm saying it's not exactly what dark-skinned people imagine it to be.

Sure, white people find me more appraochable, but this means they always feel comfortable being bigots in my presence. I can't count the number of racists who didn't know I was black going on about black people. Or the number of white friends I've had who think I won't mind if they talk shit about black people.

Just . . . ugh.

While dark-skinned people do have it pretty hard, we shouldn't be handwaving the things light skinned people have to live with, as if their/our lives were a fucking picnic.

Especially when we're so constantly rejected by own people.

I relate to this poem so much:

EDIT:  I am basically refuting the idea that being light-skinned means never facing racism.

And in case some white person wants to use this as "proof" that white privilege doesn’t exist, here is one of the actually accurate articles from EF:

http://everydayfeminism.com/2017/06/about-white-privilege-best-of-ef/

[tammy152vbucks-blog]

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People every can phenomenon: Is this Fortnite V Bucks Hack Free ? Damn trenchant is. Totally free with very easy to work. Just a day you can simply make unlimited amounts of V Bucks. Crazy right? The only requiements instead of operating this Fortnite Hack are to express the website at facebook and facebook. Come on, that's like a joke almost. It takes zero effort to help press couple of buttons in return for numerous V Bucks using this Fortnite V Bucks Hack Generator. In order for the V Bucks subsequent generated in to the Fortnite account it takes only 1-2 Minutes. Another instance of why you should be enjoying that Fortnite Cheats tool.

Like in most games, shadows become an important GPU reference in Fortnite—so very much so that it has one of the largest frame rate jumps when walked away, depending on the environment at the time. To take place around, because of the cartoonish style of the game, it is so worth seeing that becoming the shadows off does have a huge overall affect how the game looks, making it look a lot more horizontal and dull when compared to control them at.

Next, you'll have to write in the amount. You can run so reduced because 1 or the most amount possible in-game. Just to ensure that the code works, you might want to set in a large with sensible amount. If you realize that the Fortnite V Bucks generator does work, you can always arrival with request for a different amount. These methods don't think about the way many repeat transactions you get to.

Fortnite Battle Royale is without having a question the biggest competition in the planet today. In this Fortnite V-Bucks guide, so be moving you through anything there is to know about the micro currency for Fortnite. We'll be detailing whether or not there are ways to obtain Fortnite V-Bucks for free, as well as how you could watch out for free Fortnite V-Bucks scams.

[dogtrainingmontreals-blog]

What Is Effective Present Chain Awareness

Indeed, I think it was Larry Site of Bing who noted that the newspaper industry's times are numbered. He said that there will not be magazines in the foreseeable future; that's printed words in some recoverable format being delivered to your doorstep. He was predicting the demise of papers, and he did estimate when it would happen, he explained it might happen in a few years, or possibly even ten years, nevertheless they wouldn't exist in the future. Few can refuse what he was expressing, and when he produced that common many years before the papers were laying down, merging, or simply losing sight of business. Some newspapers are finding that they can put up pay surfaces to make more money, and possibly the engineering we speak about as pill pcs has at the very least help them for the reason that regard wherever persons can take their magazine with them on the go, and study it online for a few pounds per month or week. That is labored effectively for the New York Instances, Wall Road Record, and other well-known and well study newspapers. But it doesn't appear to be working for all your local newspapers, although some who have a stranglehold on their regional industry are doing fine with  jax corp

  Then again, why would anybody spend to view a magazine on the web when they can visit Bing Information, surf the news and get information from all around the planet, possibly even better information, or articles which were downloaded from the Related Push in to local newspapers. Frequently a number of these stories we keep reading the other part of those pay walls is simply regurgitated Associated Push information anyway. Thus, one should question; why must we spend? An article on ARS Technica titled; "Brazilian press to Bing News: pay up or leave our content alone - Bing says being told to pay for is like, "difficult a cab driver to take tourists to eat." By Megan Geuss on October 21, 2012 was curious. A similar thing has been happening in France, and other places and it appears that they are hoping to get Bing tripped up in copyright law. You need to understand that trademark law differs in Europe and probably in Brazil and other places. In the United States we've "Good Use" situation law on the books which seems allowing at least a paragraph and mention of the a brand new story. Bing has been really good at giving traffic based on this "fair use concept" with links to the specific article, that's if you intend to read more. Occasionally persons do not, and perhaps this is exactly what the Brazilian push is worried about. People just study the first section, and subject, and then they don't really require to see the magazine, choose the magazine, or pay to rise above the pay wall of this company online. These businesses still find it hurting income, but in actuality Bing is probably supporting them a whole lot more than it is hurting them. Shouldn't the magazines all around the earth get with this program and get into the 21st century? The reality is that position quo industries die hard, and they struggle to the conclusion using their power to move their political will onto the market. However, with no development everyone is remaining back in the Stone Age, and that means we may as well be reading our text on chiseled rock, or difficult to obtain parchment paper. The printing push changed the entire world, and today it is adjusting again, it's time to have up with this program, and take pleasure in the trillions of pages on the web from whatsoever new resource they come from. If these Brazilian papers need to limit what their viewers study and be their sole supply of information that's rather self-serving.

[punkwhodrinkstea-blog]

The Dream Requires Good People

Sup folks, it’s been a pretty normal week I guess and despite a few minor hold ups. I’m in the mood to create and write. I have so much work to do ahead of me that I hope to get finished this next week or so that no matter how productive I am, it never seems to be enough. But I’ll say more about that after the main blog post. Let’s dive right in.

So the Gamer dream is the idea of having all consoles; Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo and PC to all play games together without limitation. The Gamer Dream is also to have a group of tightly knit friends and community to play games with. A community that is not toxic or full of trolls. The idea is to have a like minded group of people who have a strong bond and relationship with who you can enjoy working together to overcome enemies and various challenges in the gaming world. Now thankfully Microsoft has been slowly bridging the gap between PC and Xbox but sadly Playstation is not in the loop and Nintendo well… they are doing their own thing these days. Of course Microsoft would rather leave Playstation out of it so they have a leg up. Unfortunately money is the main reason why consoles and PC won’t all be compatible together, but that’s not the point I will be leading up to in this post. However to add to this, if we want all players to be able play together equally despite the hardware they are on then I have an idea. On PC every game has setting as to how high or low the graphics quality is. If you have a weaker computer then you turn these settings down and your computer will run it better but the graphics will be worse. If you have a big strong computer then you can have these settings higher or maxed out and the graphics will be as good as the game will allow. But what about really weak computers or lets say a first an Xbox One wants to play a game that would require the power of a supercomputer, not just a gaming computer but a really overkill type of gaming computer? I think games should start coming with the option of a “Low Polygon” style of the game that is fully compatible with the original version. An example of a “Low Polygon” graphic style game would be The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. The reason it was designed with that art style wasn’t because they thought it was better but simply because the Wii U and the Switch can’t handle realistic looking or even high detail graphics on a large open world scale. So the elegant solution was to use the low polygon art style for the graphics. You can also make games that have even less polygons than Breath of the Wild that will still look good. So if all games (or at least most games) came with the option of the low polygon style then my weaker laptop would be able to play more newer games at only the cost of highly detailed graphics. I would like to think we can all agree that graphics don’t make a game and even if we did think that was true, there’s no harm in making another version of the game for weaker hardware. Plus it would open up more jobs because someone would have to reskin the game and maybe even have to rework lighting and some game mechanics in order for it to work well. Anyway that’s  just a thought that would help bring gamers together and help make gaming more affordable which is a complaint for some people.

Anyway let’s get to the point of this post. Gamers all want to play in a comfortable community and make relationships with others who all share the hobby and passion for gaming. This is because gamers feel like they belong in the gaming world more than they do in the real world. Everyone wants to belong somewhere and everyone wants to connect and be friendly with the people in their community not just gamers. With the online world though it’s hard because people can be toxic and act like trolls and be jerks because they are only on a server with you for a short time. People can be like this in real life too. People are rude at restaurants or at stores because they have no obligation to be a good person to the staff or others there because they think it’s no big deal since they won’t see them ever again and if they do, no one will remember who it was. Also the mental health and emotional well being of people in the first world is getting worse and worse creating worse and worse people. Who would rather blame the world around them and take out their anger on them instead of trying to be the best they can be for others and themselves. People also have a tendency to ignore their problems and let them pile up while they try to cope with it in a non-productive and unhealthy way like getting drunk or high. This is causing people to be a huge problem. There is no system that we can put in place to fix people and make us safer or happier in social environments because we, us, the people are the problem. I know people who when someone does something that hurts their feelings in the slightest, they just burn that relationship and try to avoid the problem but it only fills them with anger, bitterness and a pile of grudges which they put so much effort and stress into holding against others. The people make themselves bad friends. By that I mean because they don’t work at making themselves a better person or put themselves out there to learn and they are not willing to take any criticism. This holds them back from growing and learning so they just stay the exact same and never try to be better and this affects both them and everyone around them because they are a crappy person to be around. My sister is like this and it sucks to live in the same house.

Now how do we fix this? How do we convince people into not being ass holes? How do we get them to be open to growing and trying to be the best person they can be, instead of being selfish and just trying to get everything they want as easily as possible? I

I don’t know.

I’ve spent all of my life (at least the parts I can remember) trying to be the best version of me, that I can be. I worked hard to get new skills, be nice to others, not assume the worst in others but still be realistic, I try not to be unrealistically positive or negative. I even went through depression because of many reasons but a big one is watching people, like my family, refuse to be open minded and be considerate because they’d rather sit around and pat themselves on the back by comparing themselves to others that they think they are better than. These types of people don’t become better, they just become bitter to anyone who they are convinced might be better than them and they will spend their conversations trying to convince themselves that they are better. This is all in the name of Pride and Greed. This holds back relationships, it destroys relationships, this makes relationships fake and it ruins our potential for true joy and happiness because we can’t admit that we aren’t perfect…. FUCK people.

I guess that was a bit of a rant eh?! Sorry about that. Anyway the point is we will never have our dream come true if we don’t accept our faults, believe the better in someone and do our best (no matter how hard) to be the best versions of ourselves that we can. Now I know this isn’t easy and for those of you with mental illness I can say from experience it seems to be the hardest thing in the world. Also guys basically just don’t gossip. It’s that simple. It makes up about 90% of conversations and it’s toxic, shallow and not helpful in the slightest. I was/have been depressed for over 4 years and getting out of bed was always a terribly painful experience but I knew that if I wanted to get anywhere in this world and to get there happily and as the great and good person I hope to become. I knew I was going to have to try my hardest no matter how crappy I felt, no matter how worthless or tired or how much pain I was in. I needed to keep a strong moral compass, have good integrity and simply be a good person through and through and not just on social media or to someone’s face but to always be a good person and work hard. My family has done a great job at making me feel worthless and has tried to bring me down and tell me that my moral compass is wrong and has never stopped questioning my worth ethic or integrity but somehow I survived long enough to literally tell them to fuck off. Here I am now with a truly amazing relationship… I have the great honor of being a good person who someone considers to be a great guy because I worked through the pain and unpleasant times to become who I am today and I am proud of who I have become. My girlfriend and even her family all see me for what I have become and they see that through all resistance I have worked hard to grow. My girlfriend seems to think I’m a good and great person, someone who she can imagine spending the rest of her life with. But I didn’t become that person by sleeping around at parties or gossiping at school or ignoring my problems. I didn’t chase many of my human desire for pleasure. I stood my ground with my morals and I learned through reading and church sermons. I have books, Church and God to thank for steering me right. I’m not here to through Jesus stuff at the internet but I would seriously recommend opening up to the idea of Jesus. The catch is though, if you have any questions or doubts, dig deeper and don’t ignore it and let it just sit there. You have to find that answer! It helps enormously. For this I went to a Bible college but honestly it could have easily be replaced by books, internet research and studying my Bible better. Of course when finding info from a source that’s not the Bible I’d suggest double checking that it’s true because you don’t want just anyone speaking into your life about what kind of morals you should have.

Anyway my girlfriend is am amazing young women who has also stood her ground in the face of our immoral world. She has abided by the same morals I have and we have both put our time and effort into being the best we can be for others and those around us, even when it has been hard and costed us.  This outcome has given us the best relationship I have ever seen. I honestly can’t think of a better relationship than ours. We have been only dating for a year and we are young be we are seeking wisdom and guidance from those who know better and from God. Honestly folks when you see posts online about failed relationships that’s because one person in the relationship or even both people in the relationship are trying to put their own wants, needs and desires before the other’s. I would elaborate but I think I will hold off on giving relationship advice for a while longer. I think I need to get wiser first.

So to wrap this up I want to add to when I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I said how much work I have ahead of me and that’s very true. Anyone who has read this blog over the past 6 months or so knows that I have been accumulating ideas for content and stuff for a website that I’m building that will having all of my creations. Whether it’s a simple drawing, blog post, my book, gaming news, gaming blog posts, art, Faith based stuff, comics (in pixel art style) and even a small gaming community that I will run in the later hours of the day... AND even more along with merchandise. I have big hopes and dreams and heck if all is going well I may even be able to get enough ad revenue and donations from anyone who actually finds and likes my content to be able to make a job out of it. It would be a dream come true and it’s a long shot but by using my spare time to the max, it just might be possible. Of course I must start small and slowly add different content as things go on and even if my site doesn’t achieve high hopes it will still act as a great portfolio to any future employers. I want to have my book done and site mostly running on a schedule by the end of spring or sooner. However… I have burned myself out a little bit and need some time to recover from all the work I’ve already done trying to get things done. So I am aiming to have my book finished and ready for close friends to read by march break (or spring break for americans). Then I want to enjoy my march break as much as I can by doing my more low key and enjoyable things. Since everything I will be doing for my website is stuff I enjoy I will still technically be productive but I will certainly let myself get lost into the gaming world and sleep in or whatever. Not working for a deadline but any work I do will be just for kicks. Like a vacation. I won’t be going out with my family to any fancy restaurants to listen to their shallow conversation bull crap, I will be just doing whatever I want and relaxing. I will hopefully be visiting my girlfriend a bunch and hopefully it will be nice and relaxing (sometimes it’s busy when I go there due to helping dumb/poor people or a small child is jumping on my head). Anyway yes, I will be taking a vacation, a free vacation that doesn’t require spending money. I actually wrote a blog post a long time ago talking about how you can get that stress free vacation feeling without the need of a cruise or resort or spending any money. Anyway folks, it’s been fun and I have a great fews days ahead of me. Peace out and be sure to work hard everyday to be the best version of you that you can be. Take my word for it, it’s far more important for you to be a good person then to be a smart one or cool, strong, etc. The world doesn’t need that kind of person, the world needs good people. People who are genuinely good through and through.  

[fernandadanielstuff-blog]

Email Deliverability

We have built up the way that regardless of how innovation's changed the way ordinary physical organizations work, email showcasing stays to be an applicable piece of pretty much any advertising effort buy email database.

You could be an incredible publicist full certainty that you can create top quality articles that are completely persuading for your email pamphlets. Whats more, you are sure to the point that with the messages, there is a 10% change rate holding up to happen! However....

You have to guarantee that the messages can be conveyed to possibly intrigued clients' in-boxes. There isn't a point in thinking of the best pamphlet in view of your duplicate written work abilities when nobody will read them. There isn't any individual who is perusing. There isn't anybody you can change over into a client.

This is the theme that I am will cover today - email deliverability.

Numerous years prior, email deliverability was never an issue. Everybody utilizes email benefits uninhibitedly and without dread of being spammed. Email spamming has, sadly, influenced how we utilize email. Deceitful specialists have changed the way we convey through a standout amongst the most incredibly successful showcasing instruments. Specialists ought to understand that they need to begin consider executing email confirmation models to guarantee that clients and intrigued individuals will get the messages that you convey.

There are examples whereby individuals have 10,000 email addresses in their email database and we are typically discussing an effective transformation rate of around 1%. This means 99% of the email isn't perused or have been delegated SPAM!

Dealing with the above suspicion, how about we be certain and envision that your transformation rate is twofold of that....2%. Out of the 100 individuals who DID get the email, you are just going to get 2 clients who really observed your email and purchases your items.

What's more, when you complete a retrogressive math, 2 out of 10,000 individuals (the quantity of gets in touch with you have in your email database) parallels 0.02% which is much lower than the market normal. Truth be told, with THAT transformation rate, you will most likely be unable to take care of the expense of your email showcasing effort by any stretch of the imagination.

What is email confirmation?

It now presents to every one of us the path around to understanding what email confirmation is. It is a kind of programming that verifies the wellspring of the email. It coordinates the PC that you are sending the email out from with the site's space name. Out of sight, the email is checked, the sender (email advertiser) and email (beneficiaries' ISP) is rapidly being validated.

The reason for email validation is to keep individuals from sending email tricks or phony bulletins from the mail server, henceforth, decreasing the measure of spam in beneficiaries' inboxes.

There are three manners by which email confirmation should be possible - SPF Record, Reverse DNS and DomainKeys.

SPF Record

SPF is one of a kind in a way since it will really confirm PCs that are approved to send messages out for every area name. PCs other than the ones determined are not allowed to send messages out to the database of email addresses. The purpose behind this is on account of the larger part of SPAM messages are sent by means of manufactured email addresses. When you utilize this email validation technique, you are telling the recipient that you are sending credible messages from THIS PC and you are doing your level best to guarantee that nobody manhandle the consent that they have offered you to speak with them. In the event that deceitful individuals endeavor to take advantage of your database and endeavor to spam them, the recipient's email server perceives that it is from a manufactured email address.

Executing it is simple. You should simply to sign into your web facilitating organization's cPanel and actuate Email Authentication.

Turn around DNS

Turn around DNS implies that the server decides the space name and the host when email is gotten. They check it against the IP deliver to check for realness. As a matter of course, cPanel would have consequently introduced the Reverse DNS benefit for you yet it won't hurt to twofold check with the web facilitating organization that you are presently utilizing.

DomainKeys

In cPanel, DomainKeys is an email verification framework that checks approaching sends against the source to check whether the messages were altered. Why? This guarantees the messages are rolling in from the correct source and it additionally takes into consideration simpler following of SPAM messages. DomainKeys verifies if the email was REALLY sent from the area that it cases to have been conveyed from. By empowering DomainKeys under your cPanel, you help your web facilitating server convey the messages specifically to the beneficiaries' inboxes all the more easily.

Best Practices

1. Consent

There are no two courses about this - you have to get authorization from your clients or potential clients previously sending them messages. You can do this with a strategy we call the twofold select in or affirmed pick in or checked select in system; with that set up, you are then allowed to send exceptional connects to the intrigued supporters so they can confirm that they are INDEED keen on subscribing to your bulletin. In the event that they have experienced such inconvenience to agree to accept your bulletin, you can make certain that they ARE keen on your items, administrations, mark or....your organization.

2. Habitually Maintain Your List

Many individuals disregard skiped email messages because...what damage would it be able to do? All things considered, let it be realized that we ought to dependably attempt to expel undeliverable email tends to that skips back 2 or 3 times each 30 days.

Why experience the inconvenience? ISP's track the level of bob back and will piece them on the off chance that you endeavor to consistently send email delivers to them.

3. Content

a. Title of Your Emails

One beyond any doubt fire approach to get into the wrong books of your supporters is to put in a SPAM-related watchword. A case would be Viagra, ad and request now. You are just executing your own particular showcasing effort when these words are utilized.

b. Message Format

Trust it or not, spammers love to utilize HTML designs when conveying mass messages. As indicated by an examination done by Aweber, it was uncovered that plain instant messages neglect to achieve the beneficiaries 1.15% of the time. HTML messages don't see the light of the day 2.3% of the time.

Over them, HTML is vexatious in light of the fact that they take more time to load and takes up more circle space. Along these lines, choosing amongst HTML and instant messages, I trust a plain content one is vastly improved.

c. Words/Phrases

I might want to emphasize and strengthen this - never utilize spam watchwords in your email...be it title of email body. Famous spam watchwords are 'drug', 'contracts', 'profiting', 'erotica'.

d. Pictures

Some email advertisers love to utilize pictures for their email promoting campaigns...for a few, the pictures IS the email message! A few organizations utilize a rate following innovation to ascertain the quantity of pictures that were opened up. You may debilitate open rate following to keep your email from being sifted through on the grounds that it contained excessively numerous pictures inside the substance.

e. Connections

Tragically, as valuable as email may be, it has been a prominent vehicle for email infections as well and they, frequently, spread by means of connections in messages. A few clients who don't know about this mainstream culture move toward becoming casualties while other people who have been struck one time too much, are careful about downloading connections or notwithstanding getting to them by any stretch of the imagination. It is constantly better to give a connection to a site URL to help lighten their feelings of dread. It likewise diminishes the extent of the email message which implies speedier stacking time.

4. Particularly for Malaysians

Malaysians, before actualizing their promoting effort, should contact two critical gatherings. One, their web facilitating organization. Two, the Internet Service Provider. The reason is that both these gatherings do have a top over the quantity of messages you can convey every hour email lists.

For instance, you may have 10,000 email addresses in your email database however your web facilitating organization may have topped everything off at 400 messages for every hour. Over that, your ISP could have set the breaking point to 10MB every hour. These are only cases that I am utilizing, each ISP and web facilitating organization have their own particular breaking points.

Anyway, we must be careful not to surpass those points of confinement on the grounds that the IP or site might be blocked...by BOTH your ISP and web facilitating organization.

For the individuals who are utilizing an email advertising programming, set your farthest point. For instance, the product should just be lining up 399 messages for sending each hour (we are utilizing the case of 400 every hour, according to case above) and it ought to naturally line the others up for sending when the 399 messages have been sent.

[hopefulphantomwonderland-blog]

New Post has been published on Pagedesignweb

New Post has been published on https://pagedesignweb.com/the-war-on-used-games/

The War on Used Games

As we prepare for the coming wave of next generation systems, we should be anticipating improvements on all the good things we associate with the current crop of systems. Moving forward we expect: better graphics, faster processors, more engaging games, you get the idea. But not everything that we’re anticipating will be a progressive movement for gaming. At least, as far as Sony and Microsoft are concerned, you can wave goodbye to playing used games on their systems. Although these are just rumors at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if they came to fruition. It’s very plausible, especially when taking into consideration that several game publishers have already fired shots at the used game market.

Most notable is Electronic Arts(EA), who became the first publisher to institute the practice of charging gamers, who bought used games, a fee to access codes that come with the game. To elaborate, Downloadable Content(DLC) codes are included with new copies of a particular game and only with those codes, can that content be accessed. EA expanded its project to include playing used games online. Gamers would now have to pay $10, in addition to the cost of the used game that they purchased, in order to have access to the online components of their game. Ubisoft has since followed suit, requiring an online pass for its games as well. You can identify the games which require an online pass as they bare the,”Uplay Passport”, logo on the box.

Ubisoft decided they’d take things a step further and implement Digital Rights Management, a practice more often associated with DVD or CD anti-piracy efforts. Assassins Creed 2 was the first game to be effected by this practice. In order to play the PC version of Assassins Creed 2, gamers are required to create an account with Ubisoft and remain logged into that account in order to play the game. This means that if you lose your internet connection, the game will automatically pause and try to reestablish the connection. However, if you’re unfortunate enough to be unable to reconnect to the internet you’ll have to continue from your last saved game; losing any progress you may have made since then. This will be the case for all of Ubisoft’s PC titles, regardless of one playing single-player or multi-player. While Digital Rights Management has been used to combat DVD and CD piracy for quite some time now, this will mark the first time it’s been used for a video game. In light of Ubisoft’s implementation of DRM, Matthew Humphries of Geek.com, cautions that it’s feasible that eventually even console games will require online registration in order to play them.

So what’s the reason for all of this? According to According to Denis Dyack, the head of Silicon Knights, the sale of used games is cannibalizing the profit of the primary game market. He also claims that the used game market is somehow causing the price of new games to rise. His proposed solution is to move away from physical disks and embrace digital distribution. Essentially he’d like to see services like Steam or EA’s Origin replace traditional hard copies. There are even rumors that the X-Box 720 will embrace the exclusive use of digital downloads and not use disks at all. Whether Microsoft will actually follow through with that plan remains to be seen.

One could argue that Sony has already laid the ground work for preventing used games from functioning on their future system. At the very least, they’ve already made quite an effort to make used games significantly less desirable. Kath Brice, of Gamesindustry.biz, reported that the latest SOCOM game for PSP, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3, will require customers who purchase a used copy to pay an addition $20 dollars to receive a code for online play.

I’d like to see some quantifiable evidence to support the claim that used games are in fact hurting the sales of new games at all. Without some actual facts, it sounds to me like a whole lot to do about nothing. Case in point, within 24 hours Modern Warfare 3 sold 6.5 million copies, grossing $400 million dollars in sales. Correct me if I’m wrong but you haven’t heard Infinity Ward complaining about the used game market and it affecting their bottom line. That’s likely because they’re too busy counting their money earned by creating games that people actually want to play. Imagine that. Maybe the problem isn’t that used games have a negative impact on the sale of new games but, the problem is instead that game developers need to make better games that gamers are willing to pay full price for.

In my opinion, not every game is worth $60 simply because it’s the suggested retail price. Looking at things objectively, not every game is created equally, therefore not every game is worthy of costing $60. Whether it’s because that particular game failed to meet expectations and live up to the hype or because it lacks any sort of replay value. It’s ludicrous to argue that gamers should pay top dollar for every game especially when they all too often turn out to be horrible disappointments, like Ninja Gadian 3, or they’re riddled with glitches like Skyrim.

I suspect that the War on Used Games is nothing more than a money grab by developers, upset that they’re unable to cash in on a very lucrative market. To put it in dollars and cents, in 2009 GameStop reported nearly $2.5 million dollars in revenue from the sale of used consoles and used games. And not one red cent of that profit reaches the pockets of game publishers. Greed as the motivating factor for the declaration of War on Used Games is transparent. Especially when you consider that when GameStop began separating their revenue from new games and used games in their financial statements, EA thereafter instituted their $10 dollar fee for used games.

In the absence of empirical evidence, I’ll have to settle for anecdotal. I’ll use myself as an example. I’m planning to purchase a used copy of Ninja Gaidan 2. I’ve never been a huge fan of the series. I didn’t play the first one because I didn’t have an Xbox and at the time it was an Xbox exclusive. And I never played the original version. Needless to say, I was never clamoring to play Ninja Gaidan 2. However the innovation in the second incarnation of the game, which allows you to disembowel your enemies, is enough of a novelty that I’d like to play through it at some point. I can buy it now, used, for about 10 dollars. If it was only being sold at full price I would more than likely pass on playing it altogether or maybe rent it. My point is that game developers are not losing money because of used games; you can’t miss money you weren’t going to receive anyway. They’re simply not getting money they weren’t going to get to begin with.

Unless you have a significant amount of disposable income and a considerable amount of free time, you’re probably like me and you prioritize which games you plan to purchase and how much you’re willing to pay for them. You decide which games are must haves and which games you’d like to play but are willing to wait for a price drop before getting them. Then there are the games which you’re interested in, but they tend to fall through the cracks because they’re not all that high on your radar and you’ll maybe pick them up several months later, or even years after their release, if you ever pick them up at all.

I find it ironic that the looming death of the used game market could likely spell the demise of GameStop who, ironically, push their customers to pre-order new games and purchase them at full price. One would think that game publishers would be appreciative about this service and not detest GameStop and treat used games with such scorn. Pre-orders not only help promote their games but they function as a forecast of potential sales as well. Even Dave Thier, a contributor for Forbes Online, who describes GameStop as, “a parasitic bloodsucker that doesn’t do much besides mark up discs and sit in the mall”, recognizes the folly of passing the burden of the used game market onto the consumer.

I’ve only once pre-ordered a game myself. At the behest of J. Agamemnon, I pre-ordered Battlefield 3, which is ironically a property of EA. I paid full price for this game and was happy to do so. In large part because I was granted access to several weapons and maps that I would have had to wait to download had I not pre-ordered it. I propose that instead of punishing gamers for wanting to save their hard earned cash, the gaming industry needs to learn to incentivize gamers into wanting to pony up to that $60 dollar price tag.

I titled this article The War on Used Games in an effort to be tongue-in-cheek and poke fun at how whenever the government declares war on drugs or terror or whatever it may be, they only succeed in exacerbating the problem. It should come as no surprise seeing as how the government tends to take the most asinine approach possible trying to “solve” problems. The end result is always the same; precious time and resources are wasted, and the issue is that much worse than it was before they intervened. If the gaming industry does indeed go down this path; they’ll only hurt themselves in the long run, fail to share in the revenue they so greedily covet and worst of all, hurt their customers, who keep the gaming industry abreast with currency.

It’s very ironic and actually very fitting that it’s EA who are spearheading the effort to attack the used game market when they themselves are one of the largest beneficiaries of used games. Chipsworld MD Don McCabe, told GamesIndustry.biz that EA has what he referred to as a “franchise software house” in that they “upgrade their titles; FIFA, Madden; all of these are effectively the same title upgraded each year. And people trade in last year’s for this year’s.” He went onto say that those titles are the ones which are most often traded in. Shutting down the used games market effectively destroys a tried and true method in which fans of EA’s franchises keep up-to-date with each of EA’s annual releases. Aside from nostalgia, what would be the point of holding onto FIFA 11, when FIFA 12 is right around the corner?

Don McCabe, an executive at Chipsworld, explains that, “consumers won’t prosper under this new system, as copies of the game will lose their resale value”. He goes on to say that retailers will “just readjust [the price] bearing in mind you have to buy the voucher.” The CEO of SwapGame cautions that “customers who trade in for cash or credit do so to acquire new games they could otherwise not afford.” This means that ultimately it will be the publisher who ends up losing money because when retailers adjust their prices to reflect the increase in cost for used games, the resale value of the game will drop and new games are less likely to be purchased.

I’m a fan of several EA franchises, I enjoy Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and I’m a die hard Sony PlayStation enthusiast. As their customer, I’m outraged and offended by their current practices. I fear for what future methods they may use to further stifle or even kill the used game market. That said, I’m hopeful that these companies will be receptive to the outcry of their customers and adhere to our wants. I implore them to discontinue punishing their customers in an effort to capture what they perceive as missed profits. They risk not only alienating their customers but they risk finding themselves with significantly fewer customers and substantially less profit. And at the end of the day, that’s really the bottom line.