#context: i made this account october 2022

[wings-of-flying]

damn okay we've hit 10,000 posts... cool cool cool

[gacha-incels]

South Korea's 'Gaming Kingdom' Falling Apart Due to '쌀먹' and 'Gacha'

Economy insight

CULTURE AND BIZ

published October 4th 2024 this I thought was just an interesting opinion and analysis of the Korean gaming industry which heavily features critique on gacha. it is originally in Korean and has been mtl and edited into english so it’s not going to be a 1:1 but the very basic info should be there. If you see any discrepancies please lmk and I’ll edit it asap. Thanks for your help and understanding everyone

South Korea was once known as a gaming powerhouse; it was a term that frequently described the nation’s gaming industry. Even today, games are the leading export in South Korea’s content industry. As of 2022, South Korea’s game export revenue reached $8.9 billion (around 12 trillion KRW), which accounts for more than 67.8% of the country’s total content exports.

Globally, South Korea's status remains strong in the gaming industry, ranking 4th after the U.S., China, and Japan in a global market worth 282 trillion KRW. Though there have been fluctuations over the years, South Korea has maintained this position since the early 2000s. From a numbers perspective, South Korea still stands as a gaming giant.

However, if you listen to voices from within the industry, the phrase "gaming powerhouse" is hard to come by. A brief look at industry trends reveals concerns about a crisis: "The South Korean gaming industry is in trouble" or "There's no more innovation." Why is it that despite boasting a much larger export volume and market size than K-pop or K-drama, the core of South Korea's content industry, gaming, faces such grim assessments?

Broken growth caused by an incorrect business model (BM)

The key to South Korea's gaming industry growth was PC online games, which spread with the high-speed internet boom in the early 2000s. At a time when other countries were settling into arcade or home console markets, South Korea entered the PC online gaming sector��a move that turned out to be a masterstroke. With a fast market entry ahead of other nations, South Korea took the lead, pioneering its own paradigm. But today, the industry is struggling to even maintain its domestic market, losing ground to countries like China.

Everyone in the industry knows why. The unique business model (BM) of the South Korean gaming industry, particularly the trade of game items, is seen as a major obstacle to growth. The term “rice farming” (쌀먹- note I went thru a bunch of translations of this and this is the one that I thought made the most sense in context.. if you know the actual set in stone translation lmk)—a slang term meaning “making money by selling game items”—reflects how making money through games has become a major reason for gamers' choices. Currently, 60% of the South Korean gaming industry's revenue comes from in-game item trades, showing how central this model has become.

The core of "rice farming" is the sale of in-game currency or items that allow players to save time on gameplay. Game companies have capitalized on this psychology, introducing probability-based items, also known as "gacha." Gacha, a system similar to a lottery, can reward players with rare items but is also highly risky. The system is often regarded as being close to gambling.

The gaming industry has desperately tried to conceal the fact that probability-based item models have elements of gambling or promote a gambling mindset. If public opinion were to focus on the gambling-like nature of these models, it could literally lead to the downfall of the entire industry. Since this "goose that lays the golden eggs" brings in massive profits easily, no one has been willing to sacrifice it, even though everyone knows it's a problem, making it difficult to change.

The issue is that this culture has dominated the South Korean gaming industry for a long time, severely damaging the overall diversity and competitiveness of the industry. The current crisis stems from a decline in trust in the gaming industry as a whole, following multiple allegations of manipulated probability-based items, which has subsequently led to a decrease in revenue.

Instead of focusing on enhancing gameplay or user services, companies have drawn in users solely with gambling elements, while users, motivated by the desire to make money, approach these games with a gambling mentality. This dangerous dynamic is the main reason why the gaming industry is in its current crisis. The fixation on a flawed business model has led to distorted growth, and the industry has so far stubbornly ignored the issue.

It’s not that there haven’t been calls for change. Many in the industry have been raising alarms, warning that continuing down this path will eventually lead to a collapse. However, market forces often silenced these voices. By 2023, the festering issues that had been ignored for so long have now grown into an irreversible cancer.

Today, Korean games are no longer judged by their content but by how well they incorporate gambling-like elements. One might wonder how this is any different from Japan's national gambling game, pachinko. This is the current state of South Korea’s gaming industry. What's even sadder is that all of this is a result of game developers knowingly turning a blind eye to the situation, blinded by short-term profits.

A Gaming Industry that Talents Ignore

Beyond the distorted growth caused by flawed business models, there are numerous warning signs for the Korean gaming industry. The most noticeable problem is the significant decline in competitiveness when it comes to developing new games. Recently, it has become increasingly difficult to find new Korean games making a mark in either the global or domestic markets. This issue has worsened since the gaming paradigm shifted to mobile platforms. In 2022, only one Korean game made it into the global top 10 for mobile game revenue. The domestic revenue rankings tell a similar story, with most of the top 10 games being either Chinese titles or mobile versions of games that have been in service for over 20 years. This clearly shows the lack of competitive new game releases.

Experts point to the distorted personnel structure of current game development companies, where decision-making is dominated by professional managers who often lack a deep understanding of games. They highlight that Korea's game development culture is plagued by rigid hierarchies and processes, rather than fostering individual developers' creativity.

Survey data shows that the average tenure of employees in the Korean gaming industry is only 2.8 years, and six out of ten game developers express dissatisfaction with their current working conditions. This stands in stark contrast to the foreign gaming industry, where passionate developers drive innovation with fresh ideas. The so-called "crunch culture," where overtime and late-night work are expected, is another major factor hindering the progress of Korean game development. The high workload, compared to other IT sectors, causes talented workers to gravitate toward other industries, leaving game development behind. This is not just a problem of individual developers' working conditions; it poses a structural threat to the future of the Korean gaming industry. Unless the industry escapes from its stagnant development culture, a resurgence for Korean games will be difficult.

The rapid pace of technological change surrounding games has also intensified the sense of crisis in Korea's gaming industry. When it comes to adopting and utilizing emerging technologies that drive next-generation gaming trends, such as the metaverse and blockchain, Korea has fallen significantly behind leading nations. The power that once positioned Korea at the forefront of game innovation seems to have all but vanished.

Industry insiders unanimously agree that the root cause lies in the complacency of game developers, who prefer to take the easy route and prioritize making quick money over embracing new challenges. This results in the industry circling back to its distorted business models. Looking at this trajectory, it's no surprise that concerns are growing over whether the Korean gaming industry can maintain its past glory in an increasingly competitive global market.

The Last Golden Time

For the South Korean gaming industry to recover, fundamental innovation is needed. The focus must shift from aggressive commercialization to delivering the intrinsic value of games—fun, emotion, and immersion. A drastic change in game design philosophy is required, prioritizing enjoyable experiences over pushing players toward in-game purchases.

Additionally, a flexible, autonomous development structure that values creativity must take root. Only in such an environment can future hit games emerge. Risky and innovative attempts should be encouraged, even at the cost of failure. More companies need to embrace new technologies and genres.

The road to reclaiming South Korea’s status as a gaming powerhouse will not be smooth, but if the industry collectively prioritizes the essence of gaming and takes one step at a time, the path to revival can open. Now is the last golden opportunity for the industry to unite for its future.

[m7z]

In memoriam

I spent the last 30 minutes or so skimming through my Tumblr archive from 2011-2012 trying to find a post I know I wrote about my paternal grandparents’ love story, but I couldn’t find it. I probably moved it to another blog at some point and deleted it here. Along the way though I found all these other memories from my early 20s, such as my coming out/confession letter to a best friend from high school, many reblogs of sappy quotes/graphics/book snippets/lyrics, reblogs of photos of places I wanted to visit (many of which I’ve now been to), songs I liked, tech news from the era (like the death of Steve Jobs), political news from the era (like marriage equality, and Barack Obama’s reelection), many reblogs about Glee, my own photos from my early days of living in San Francisco (and interning at Twitter)… All of which is to say, it captured this whole era of my life from ~10 years ago that, in retrospect, was quite pivotal.

The reason I went looking for that post is because I found out yesterday that my grandpa passed away. My dad texted me and tried to call when I was in the middle of a work meeting. I registered the text but didn’t respond, and then called back after. It was the middle of the night in China at the time (around 2am), and he learned the news earlier when my aunt had called him, and she’d been notified by the staff at the seniors home where my grandpa had been living.

As I processed the news and decided on my plans, I told people the context that he had suffered a series of strokes and had been on the decline since last summer, so this news didn’t come as a shock. This is in contrast to my paternal grandma’s passing in January 2022 (also January) from a heart attack which was sudden, quick, and utterly shocking. As the matriarch of our family, her death had hit everyone really hard then.

At his passing, my grandpa was in his late 80s, possibly 87 or 88. Which is objectively quite a remarkable achievement for someone born into the chaos of 1930s war torn China to a poor rural/farming family. He joined the communist army as an accountant/admin, and then the local police after the war, and then worked at the state hemp/cotton company until retirement. He and my grandma met in their 20s, fell in love and got married despite oppositions (this is the story I had posted about that I was looking for), had 2 kids and 2 grandkids (one of which is me), traveled, had health issues and took care of each other, and grew old together.

I realized yesterday that I wasn’t reacting as emotionally as I did to my grandma’s passing — one because he’d been on the decline, and my dad/aunt thought he almost wasn’t going to make it after his last severe stroke in July. I think I had emotionally prepared for this back then, and so expected this to happen at some point. The other reason is that his quality of life in this last year, after these strokes, had become quite poor. He couldn’t eat or talk or walk, and had become reduced to almost just skin and bones. It had become painful to see him in this state, and I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore.

However, at the same time I still feel sad and regretful because I was hoping to see him at least one more time. Even though he hasn’t been able to speak since July, and he didn’t really recognize anyone anymore… even so, I was hoping he'd hang on until I visited again.

When my grandma passed in 2022, the pandemic, travel restrictions, and lack of flight options had made it virtually impossible to travel back. The last time I visited China was October 2019. Since then, in the last few years when we called, they’d almost always ask when I can go back again. My grandpa did this all the way up until his last stroke in July when he couldn’t speak anymore. When the pandemic largely ended in 2022, I’d always say “soon”, even knowing it was impractical with the Chinese government's onerous visa policies. When they finally reinstated the pre-pandemic visitor visa policies in March 2023, I started to say that I'll go back during the summer, then the fall, then the winter, then the spring. One reason is that the flight options were both expensive and inconvenient, but the larger reason is that I prioritized other plans in my life. I'm not sure where I could've squeezed it in, but I do regret that I didn’t try harder to visit sooner.

Circling back on the whole “eras of my life” thread — I always felt like as long as my grandparents were around, I still feel like a kid in some way. They treated me like one, still babied me whenever I visited or called, and would remind me of funny anecdotes from my childhood. I know I’m pretty lucky to have gotten 30+ years with almost all 4 grandparents in my life. I also know I’m lucky that they loved me as much as they did — because not all of my friends had the kind of close relationships I did/do with their grandparents.

Growing up, I was always pretty close to my grandparents, more so to my grandma who I genuinely enjoyed talking to and would call regularly, but I have many fond memories with my grandpa too.

I recall when my family first immigrated to Canada, I would cry about missing them. Later when I went back to visit as a teenager, I would cry on the flight back to Canada.

My grandpa liked to write simple rhyming poems after he retired, liked to drink and smoke and only quit in his 60s, and liked to sing Chinese opera. One year for my birthday, he wrote a “hidden message” poem where the first word of each verse added together would say “happy birthday <my Chinese name>”.

One really special memory of him I have is when I was in kindergarten, and during afternoon nap time (which I hated) he showed up unexpectedly and took me out of school. We didn’t live in the same city but he was in my city for a work trip, and he’d decided to take me out of kindergarten early that day so we could spend time together. I remember it feeling so unexpectedly awesome — one because I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to (skip school) but also because of the surprise visit itself.

The only time I felt emotional yesterday was when my mom told me how, even though I won’t be able to attend the funeral, I could pay my respects at both of my grandparents’ gravesites when I visit. The thought made me emotional because… they can finally be reunited again, or at least not be separated by death.

Didn’t really know what I was going to write when I started this, and the words kept pouring out, but I’m glad I did.

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

A couple of thoughts on the BigHit Music/BTS relationship and... that rumour!

First the rumour

So, let's get the rumour out of the way... [though I'll probably come back to it eventually].

Last month an anon directed me to a rumoured 2020 blind item, about two members, who hadn't extended their contract...

This account is a known Taekook account. The comments/replies suggest the original poster of the blind doesn't exist and they posted this blind just before closing their account... but here's the thing why can't I find any reference to the original post. You're not telling me shit loads of Taekookers, hell OT7 and solo stans wouldn't have been all up in that shit if this blind was around in 2020. I never saw such a blind back then and I follow two big blind item websites (they have always intrigued me). This makes me think the post wasn't real. But perhaps there's a slither of truth in it...

Then on 11th Feb 2023, Crazy Days and Crazy Nights posted this...

And in the comments, there is the prevailing theory that BigHit/HYBE is deliberately not promoting their (Tae and JK) solo project stuff as some sort of evidence to back this theory up. Despite the fact that BH doesn't promote work that they don't produce themselves. I have yet to see a tweet or Weverse announcement about RM's involvement in a K-Variety Show he's doing, or Hobi, Suga and Jimin's recent fashion brand deals. Why because those companies are more than capable of promoting their own work with the members themselves.

Tae's cooking show is currently being promoted by the broadcaster as per usual and JK's World Cup Single was for a different label so any promo would have been done by them. Also, if BH weren't supportive of these endeavours do you really think they would allow their staff to travel and work with the Tae and JK and and provide support on these projects? You knot

I also find it interesting that a blind item that is supposedly 2 1/2 years old is suddenly back again and linked to a recent company purchase and Blackpink. That just seems suspicious.

I'll leave that there for a bit...

Let's keep it on the down low...

Now let's look at HYBE and BigHit and why I think the boys might have more control than we currently see.

Earlier this week, in light of the whole HYBE/SM drama, I saw two TikToks from the same user that piqued my interest and how BTS might have more power than we think...

Now I, like many others, was under the assumption that HYBE had full control over BigHit, but after a little research, I've found that this TikTok is true and BigHit is a separate entity to HYBE itself...

This twitter thread from April 2021 (when Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings were purchased), is very insightful and all publicly available...

So, in essence, when HYBE was in the process of purchasing Ithaca Holdings from Scooter Braun, Bang PD did something, he and the HYBE board (mostly made up of former BH Entertainment people) unlisted BigHit Music from the stock market and separated it off as private company. Still owned by HYBE but privately owned by them and independently operated and not affected by HYBE's dealings.

Before I move on some context that's needed for later…

In 2018, BTS re-sign with BH

In 2020, we discover BTS's contract renewal will run from June 2020 to June 2024

October 2020 BH Goes public BTS get shares in the company

6 months later Big Entertainment splits in HYBE and BigHit Music.

By 2021 we learn they have extended their contract for the full 7 years to 2027.

2022 BTS go on break from group duties ahead of enlistment.

NOTE: I think Points 3 to 5 are very important to all of this....

(I hope we're all still here, lol)

Why do I think this is important and shows us why BH/HYBE is not out to get the boys?

Firstly, it shows that HYBE wanted BTS/BH to be protected in case anything happened to the rest of HYBE. This is pertinent considering the CDCN blind specifically mentions the purchase of the US company. How it's worded suggests that BTS profits paid for it and that the boys are in a slave contracts. If BH is sperate that suggests that their profits don't automatically go into HYBE's bottom line. Also, any idiot with a Google Degree can tell you in seconds that BH had one of the most progress profit sharing deals with its artists.

Additionally, we don't know who owns the shares in BH, we know that in March/April 2021, HYBE was the sole shareholder, what's to say that other entities are shareholders too... such as BTS.

Think about it, in 2020 HYBE/BH were trying to persuade BTS to do the USA thing, what if BTS who were not in a happy place with all the speculation of enlistment, plus covid, were close to saying no to an extension and a push into the USA. What if HYBE offered them something they could refuse, which would kill two birds...

What if BTS wasn't happy about BH becoming HYBE?

So why did BH not become HYBE in 2020 and waited until 2021? I wonder if the answer to this was BTS and their contract extension. Imagine this...

You're BTS and the company you've literally built, is about to go public and you as artists who were promised more control in your contract could potentially loose said control when the new company is formed. Add to this you've yet to officially extend your contract and said company want you to do something new and could benefit them massively (US market push & new ventures etc.).

Your BTS, what would you do?

Me I'd kick up a fuse until you made sure there were some provisions in place to protect your brand and your creative freedom.

Maybe, that's why BigHit didn't immediately become HYBE because BTS weren't fully onboard.

What would placate them?

Maybe making BH into a separate entity and giving the boys the control, they crave?

The would do two things, ease their minds about the USA push a little, as well as the change to HYBE.

However, this could happen straight away, and would take several months to implement, it's also possibly why the Scooter Braun detail didn't happen sooner. Prior to this happening, they were given share in HYBE, and I think during that six months they were given iron clad contract extensions that benefited them and BH (note not HYBE) greatly.

Another thing to consider... perhaps BTS are shareholders in BH Music the private company. All we know is originally when they private the company HYBE was the sole owner; once you're a private company you don't have to announce things about profits, stocks & share sales unless it's a takeover situation, unlike HYBE as public company.

I also think this private (and very possible) arrangement might be what led HYBE to purchasing stock in YG Plus because HYBE would get a slice of BTS revenue (from manufacturing/distribution costs that YG Plus generate) prior to BH/BTS getting their profits, because... what if, only a small portion of BH's actual profit can go into the HYBE's bottom line.

Anyway...

In conclusion, I think there was a slither of truth in the "original" blind item, but I wonder if it involved all the boys, perhaps led by the two (who we all believe to Taekook).

No, I don't think it was connected to their sexuality, but more likely their (BTS's) unease of the company they helped build going public and a possibly fear of being undermined by any new management, as well as the push into the USA.

The latest version of the blind, is most likely being stirred up by antis who want to isolate Taekook from the others (hence the constant HYBE don't promote their solo work, even though HYBE/BH don't do it for other members), making them out to be diva's who want more and more. Then use incorrect information in the process and therefore creating a blind that actually doesn't make factual sense.

The Blackpink thing? I have no idea.

[beardedmrbean]

A misleading seven second clip of President Biden could reshape Facebook's misinformation policies ahead of the 2024 election, but the platform — and the American electorate — are running out of time.

The Oversight Board, the external advisory group that Meta created to review its moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram, issued a decision on Monday concerning a doctored video of Biden that made the rounds on social media last year.

The original video showed the president accompanying his granddaughter Natalie Biden to cast her ballot during early voting in the 2022 midterm elections. In the video, President Biden pins an “I Voted” sticker on his granddaughter and kisses her on the cheek.

A short, edited version of the video removes visual evidence of the sticker, setting the clip to a song with sexual lyrics and looping it to depict Biden inappropriately touching the young woman. The seven second clip was uploaded to Facebook in May 2023 with a caption describing Biden as a “sick pedophile.”

Meta’s Oversight Board announced that it would take on the case last October after a Facebook user reported the video and ultimately escalated the case when the platform declined to remove it.

In its decision, issued Monday, the Oversight Board states that Meta's choice to leave the video online was consistent with the platform’s rules, but calls the relevant policy "incoherent."

"As it stands, the policy makes little sense," Oversight Board Co-Chair Michael McConnell said. "It bans altered videos that show people saying things they do not say, but does not prohibit posts depicting an individual doing something they did not do. It only applies to video created through AI, but lets other fake content off the hook."

McConnell also pointed to the policy's failure to address manipulated audio, calling it "one of the most potent forms of electoral disinformation."

The Oversight Board’s decision argues that instead of focusing on how a particular piece of content was created, Meta's rules should be guided by the harms they are designed to prevent. Any changes should be implemented “urgently” in light of global elections, according to the decision.

Beyond expanding its manipulated media policy, the Oversight Board suggested that Meta add labels to altered videos flagging them as such instead of relying on content takedowns initiated by fact-checkers, a process the group criticizes as "asymmetric depending on language and market."

By labeling more content rather than taking it down, the Oversight Board believes that Meta can maximize freedom of expression, mitigate potential harm and provide more context and information for users.

In a statement to TechCrunch, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that the company is "reviewing the Oversight Board’s guidance" and will issue a public response within 60 days.

The altered video continues to circulate on X, formerly Twitter. Last month, a verified X account with 267,000 followers shared the clip with the caption “The media just pretend this isn't happening.” The video has more than 611,000 views.

The Biden video isn't the first time that the Oversight Board has ultimately told Meta to go back to the drawing board for its policies. When the group weighed in on Facebook's decision to ban former President Trump, it decried the "vague, standardless" nature of the indefinite punishment while agreeing with the choice to suspend his account. The Oversight Board has generally urged Meta to provide more detail and transparency in its policies, across cases.

As the Oversight Board noted when it accepted the Biden “cheap fake” case, Meta stood by its decision to leave the altered video online because its policy on manipulated media — misleadingly altered photos and videos — only applies when AI is used or when the subject of a video is portrayed saying something they didn't say.

The manipulated media policy, designed with deepfakes in mind, applies only to "videos that have been edited or synthesized... in ways that are not apparent to an average person, and would likely mislead an average person to believe."

Critics of Meta's content moderation process have dismissed Meta's self-designed review board as too little, far too late.

Meta may have a standardized content moderation review system in place now, but misinformation and other dangerous content move more quickly than that appeals process — and much more quickly than the world could have imagined just two general election cycles ago.

Researchers and watchdog groups are bracing for an onslaught of misleading claims and AI-generated fakes as the 2024 presidential race ramps up. But even as new technologies enable dangerous falsehoods to scale, social media companies have quietly slashed their investments in trust and safety and turned away from what once appeared to be a concerted effort to stamp out misinformation.

"The volume of misleading content is rising, and the quality of tools to create it is rapidly increasing,” McConnell said.

[fridayiminlcve]

I posted 4,867 times in 2022

That's 4,867 more posts than 2021!

1,099 posts created (23%)

3,768 posts reblogged (77%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@starburns

@fauxdaylight

@missyouinthemorning

@ anuraboy

@theonewhocouldmakemestay

I tagged 1,472 of my posts in 2022

#q - 404 posts

#asks - 141 posts

#stranger things - 111 posts

#art - 92 posts

#fave - 56 posts

#spotify - 50 posts

#pjo - 50 posts

#yr - 38 posts

#heartstopper - 32 posts

#ph - 29 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#at least im not in 6th grade but like. why ar the teachers so terrible my mom is genuinely thinking of making my sister pull out next grade

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i hate you 'abcdefu' i hate you 'ten things i hate about you' i hate you 'i just called to say i hate you' i hate you angry tiktok girl music without any original lyrics or tunes made literally only so 10 seconds of it can go viral

61 notes - Posted December 2, 2022

#4

happy she's got you mesmerized while i die saturday to those who celebrate btw

66 notes - Posted December 3, 2022

#3

anyway HI its me nike ur fave boymutual fuck this fuck the fact that i ahve to make this post but. anyway tumblr deleted my accoutn for apparently no reason and i am physically crying. if u could pls reblog this then that would be great

x

105 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

#2

i love u fairy lights i love u diya I love u little candles of wax and battery powered candles i love u projector lamps i love u strip lights i love u lights and lamps etc i love u mithais i love u gifts i love u rangolis i love u melas i love u kaju katli and i love u diwali !

187 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

what is your problem with tiktok or booktok and colleen hoover lmao its not that bad surely

the fact that it actively promotes overconsumerism, the way it sells books to you by just playing into already heavily milked out tropes with very specific character niches that are seen in every book nowadays and how the reading is just seen as something aesthetic or a part of the "it girl routine" maybe? if those are enough reasons for you?

does the fact that these books are the first things you see when you walk into a bookstore not bother you? when you ask someone for a book recommendation they'll follow it up with "its a romance slow burn enemies to lovers". it's always about the aesthetic of the book, how many lines can you take out of context and post as a compilation of your super cute romantic annotations page on instagram. no analyzing the book, no theories, no symbolism or meaningfulness at all. how people stand reading those kind of books and still feel any kind of emotions over these flat as hell books with no world or character building is genuinely baffling to me

no one seems to know about actual literature anymore, which not to sound like a boomer but i think its definitely true. there's always been trend cycles, i agree such as the harry potter craze from the 1990s to the 2000s and the dystopia hunger games/maze runner/divergent blast in the early 2010s but tiktok has just.. shortened these cycles so much. as a result, people like our darling colleen hoover whose written around 46 books since 2015 (according to google) try come up with as much fresh content as they can as quickly as possible for the readers (see overconsumption). the fact that this lady outsold the bible is not outstanding to me, its fucking concerning.

and after all that, the result is badly written books with characters who're about as dimensional as a piece of paper, overuse of tropes, read like they've been written by a toddler, toxic-ass relationships being romanticised, very unnecessary sex scenes and countless other things. seriously if i wanted to read about the kind of stories hoover tells i would just open a wattpad account.

this isn't to say that all booktok books are terrible. i'm trying to highlight some of the flaws i find in authors like colleen hoover, emily henry, taylor jenkins reid, ali hazelwood, sarah j maas and elena armas. some of their works are quite decent :) six of crows, thsoeh, tsoa, circe, daisy jones, where the crawdads sing etc are some books which i think everyone has heard of if theyre active online which were actually nice reads. also i am BEGGING u to reach out of your comfort zone and read something different like non-fiction or fantasy or one of the classics for once if you only read booktok like seriously it might be hard but just do it for the love of god!!

1,258 notes - Posted November 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[jade-everstone]

The yearly tradition returns: 2022's Summary of Art!

And hey, I did something a little more design-y than my past ones! Will admit it was a bit tricky to fit each month's pics into the frames this time but I'm glad I tried a different look than usual 

thoughts on each pic + reflection on the web + how I want to handle art going into the new year below:

January - Iri Intro!

From a somewhat short-lived thing I wanted to try out: Doing sketches of OCs just to serve as an introduction reguardless of quality. The good thing is, because quality's not a factor I can do these whenever in whatever format or polish. I just prefered doing larger pics this year

-

Febuary - A 'Cereal' Debate (comic short)

Ok, but she's got a point when you think about it.

From a comics class I took spring this year. The only prompt was "conversation"... well, heated debate in this case.

-

March - The School Mystery (comic short)

Another one from that Comics class and goddamn I think the panel featured here alone is one of the hardest things I drew that semester. That's pen and ink with minimal digital edits and damn hoping one day I could somehow make a longer comic with a similar style bc it was really fun to ink honestly.

-

April - The Fish Project

JADE WITH THE FRESH SALMON???? REAL!

Ok but for the real context, this was an April fools project I had in the works since 2021. I turned all my active art accounts at the time into an OC Fishing irony page and sent Jade, Iri, Risa, Jpeg, and both Prisma's on a fishing trip. Not sure how I'll top that in the future... I'm not revealing until April >:)

-

May - MOONROT

May was when I redesigned & revealed Io to the public! They got a bunch of art this month, but the CN challenge art is my favorite of all of them.

Huh. Suprised I didn't immediately burn out because that semester was extreme in terms of work. I guess wanting to draw Io was that strong.

-

June - Life, After Wither

A pre-Artfight 2022 pic: I was Team Wither! I like doing splash pics for my own page for Artfight and this stayed my main banner for just about most of the year.

The mini-story I made up for this is these three teamed up across dimentions or something to visit this forest.

-

July - In the Studio, fr

I don't normally do post-Artfight related pics, but Moog ended up getting the most attacks this year and I wanted to give her an extra pic based on it.

Seems she kept a souviner from the forest in the last pic.

-

August - B-Hold! The Portal King!

For Clockday on Newgrounds, Strawberry clock the portal King himself!

Kept getting swept up with other things to jump on Newgrounds events, I wasn't gonna miss one of the bigger ones!

-

September - //  DIRECTION //

(outside of being gay for the robot-) I just wanted to draw Alia tbh. With a similar energy she had in her older art too.

-

October - HELLSPAWN

ABSOLUTELY NEFARIOUS HALLOWEEN PIC!!!

Featuring Io's true/original form + their 'powered-up' state

-

November - The Fowl Pest (Mock-Cover)

The last two are for my Digital Illustration class. This one is a mock-book cover based on a worldbuilding project of mine (still need to organize it before sharing).

Though tbh if I do want to do more art for said project I might go tra-digital or use a grittier style. During crit I was told this looked "middle-grade"... when the world is "older-YA/Adult"... still like the pic, but damn.

-

December - Lan Party!

*Sigh* Always wanted to go to one of these! But alas, me and my irls are all busy these days. This is based off a different project I'm working on.

I ended up debuting some different designs for my OCs for said project (notably; Iri, Risa, and Human!Midi) but separate pics for them will have to come next year. In terms of digital lineart, this was the most intense I did this year (traditional lineart comes easier to me than digital).

---

So... 2022. Jesus Christ

This year was rough for me on things personal, and things non-personal. I mean jesus christ every other week something came out that was hostile to artists one way or another on top of some rough patches in my life. I don't want to jinx 2023 or leave things on this note though...

I think my biggest takeaway from this year is I need to rethink a lot of things. How I want to do art, where I want to go, or even my 'digital wellbeing'. This year, I realized keeping art a Hobby or staying "part-time" (as in small gigs & private comms only) might be healthier for me in the long run. I've already had my doubts with a lot of "professional" practices when I was shooting for it (a tl:dr it felt like "no fun allowed" half the time). But realizing how horribly i've treated myself and my art with this chase? That was another thing.

I think i've done a lot of strong pics compared to past years. Especially in terms of backgrounds and not being afraid to draw them (though I could always use more practice, lol). But I've also come to terms with I've been affected by social media without realizing it and how it hurt how I do art. Basically, for the past two years I've been working under the fear of being boxed into doing one thing. Be it fanart, genres, etc. To the point I stopped doing things to force a "brand". Specifically, I stopped doing fanart unless it's oc-centric. I hid straight-up fanart, and started getting irrationally upset over the metrics fanart gets over my original works.

And I hate it. I hate how I let myself judge the value of my work over "numbers and engagement". I hate how I boxed myself in trying to avoid being boxed, because of chasing this corporate measurement of worth. And most importantly, I hate that I nearly forgot that I enjoyed making fanart, because of some dumb culture caused by social media numbers and algorithms. I'm exhausted. So for 2023, I think I want my main resolution to do better with my online life & how I treat myself and my art. I want to pull away from social media a bit more (ironic considered i just came back here heh), spend more time on the slower web & offline if possible, and break that cycle of letting numbers judge my self-worth. And maybe help others do the same. It's much easier said than done, but I don't want to do nothing about this toxic hellscape that is how art is treated online, I want to do something even if the only person I directly help is myself.

And for what it's worth, focusing on my site so far has been cathartic. It's somewhere I can set up my art, projects, weird shit, etc. on my own terms, how I like it. It's quieter over there. And I'm glad I kept working on it beyond just a "portfolio site".

But I guess I have all of 2023 (and what's left of 2022) to process that. For now, I could use some extra time to pretty-up my website some more and take a few more naps before the year ends.

---

extra note: this post is a (slightly modified) mirror of a post over on the everlogs:

Website Version Here!

[hollyoxleylevel6]

My quote experiments

Following my conversations with Dot and Emily, I decided to choose one quote from my recordings and give them to different people for them to create the conversation that came before it. I thought this would be quite interesting because it would work similar to overhearing part of a conversation and trying to guess what they were talking about. This would give me an insight into how different people interpret a phrase.

I decided to use the phrase "It's like a little tickle, but a tug as well." (Treais and Gilchrist, ,2023b), which was a description my flatmate Heather used to describe when her insulin pump is ripped out. I chose this phrase because I think it is quite open and can be used to describe a lot of things. However, it is also a bit obscure meaning the person will need to think about their answer.

I found it quite interesting on peoples first reaction when I gave them this phrase. Some started laughing, others instantly started writing but some gave me a freaked out look and asked me whether this quote was suitable for a university setting. I found this quite funny becayse nearly all of them twisted the innocent phrase into something sexual when they first read it. However, instead of using their first impressions to direct the narrative, the majority of people took time to consider what they should write. I found this reaction quite intriguing because on the people I asked explicitly told me that they chose a narrative they deemed more 'appropriate' than the one they first thought of. Therefore, when reading them I began questioning whether their answers may have been vastly different if they did not know this activity was for my university project.

On the other hand, this response to the phrase shows me that writing the first narrative this phrase shows, creates a chaotic response. I like how this answer twists the phrase so much that it changes completely from the original meaning.

In conclusion, I have found that recording a conversation can lead to many different narratives depending on the context it is given. By changing something as small as where the people are and what their tone of voice is, I can create multiple narratives by only using one exchange.

When talking with Emily earlier, she told me about Overheard London. Overheard London is an Instagram account that has quotes the admins have overheard somewhere in London. When looking at this account I was inspired to try my own experiment with creating the narrative by choosing 4 quotes and creating the story behind them.

I found this exercise quite fun to do myself because I needed to think what setting and context I wanted to place the phrase in. This would set the overall tone and layout of my narrative.

However, with my narratives, I decided to write down the first narrative that came to mind. This made my responses more instinctive because I did not overthink them. I like how this made my responses feel less scripted. The responses from the others feel more like a script instead of a conversation because each sentence looks planned out. Meanwhile my narratives feel more loose and less detailed.

Following these experiments, I am interested in exploring why amusement was the most popular response to the phrases. This will give me a better understanding on how I can express my narrative typographically, as I will be able to see how I can evoke different emotions.

Overheard London. (2023). “Until you have cried on public transport, you’re not a true Londoner”. Instagram. [online]. 31 May. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6Pt2mPDi4/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==. [Accessed 18 October 2023].

Overheard London. (2022). “I’m 50% wondering if it’s too late to drink coffee, and 50% wondering if it’s too early to drink wine”. Instagram. [online]. 14 July. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf_rP90M-nq/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==. [Accessed 18 October 2023].

Overheard London. (2020). “I’m a stay at home daughter”. Instagram. [online]. 25 August. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf_rP90M-nq/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==. [Accessed 18 October 2023].

[xtruss]

Gas pipelines form Russia to Europe (Welt)

Is Russia Limiting Gas Flows To Europe?

— August 2022, Updated October 2022

Is Russia limiting gas flows to Europe? The surprising answer is: no.

Many people in Europe and beyond seem to believe that Russia, in response to Western sanctions, has been limiting gas flows to Europe. Yet this is not the case, as the following analysis shows.

There are currently five major pipelines that supply – or could supply – Russian gas to Europe: Nord Stream I and Nord Stream II through the Baltic Sea to Germany; the Jamal pipeline through Poland to Germany; the Soyuz and Brotherhood pipelines through Ukraine; and the TurkStream pipeline through the Black Sea and Turkey to Southeast and Central Europe (see the map above).

All of these pipelines are currently out of service or run at limited capacity – though not because of Russian retaliation, but because of Western sanctions or political decisions:

The Jamal pipeline is closed because Poland has terminated the operational agreement with Russia (after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to become independent of Russian gas).

The Soyuz pipeline – which accounts for about one third of the gas delivered through Ukraine – has been closed by Ukraine after LPR forces took control of the gas compressor station.

Nord Stream I runs at limited capacity because Canadian and EU sanctions have prevented the maintenance and return of several Siemens gas compressor turbines.

Nord Stream II was completed in late 2021 but has never entered service due to US political pressure on Germany; Germany canceled certification of the pipeline on February 22.

TurkStream – which in 2014 replaced the South Stream project – remains operational, but because of EU sanctions, Bulgaria has denied euro payment to the Russian Gazprom Bank. In contrast, Hungary has defied EU sanctions and continues to receive gas through TurkStream.

Another widespread misconception is that Russia demanded “payment in rubles” to retaliate against Western sanctions. Yet this is not the case, either. Instead, after Western sanctions against the Russian central bank froze about $300 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves, Russia decided that euro and dollar payments for gas have to be made to an account at Russian Gazprom Bank and will then be converted into rubles by the Russian central bank (to avoid seizure by the US/EU).

Why is Russia not (yet) actively limiting or stopping gas flows to Europe? Simply because Russia is interested in earning revenue from gas exports, being seen as a reliable supplier, and avoiding further escalation of the Ukraine conflict and direct confrontation with NATO countries. However, Russia did put pressure on Kazakhstan to prevent Kazakh oil exports via Turkey instead of Russia.

Why then is Europe jeopardizing its own gas supply through sanctions against Russia? The initial goal likely was to cripple Russian export revenues and the Russian economy. Yet this has largely failed as international oil and gas prices have risen to record highs. Thus, Russian oil and gas revenue has actually increased since the outbreak of the Ukraine war (though tech sanctions are still biting).

However, the Western response can only really be understood from a US perspective, not from a European perspective. From a US perspective, cutting off Russian gas flows to Europe is a means to isolating Russia, forcing Europe to switch to American and Arab LNG gas supplies, and pressuring Europe into supporting the US proxy war in Ukraine. The most obvious example of this strategy is the Nord Stream II pipeline, which the US blocked despite a German-Russian agreement.

Moreover, the US strategy in Ukraine has to be seen in the context of the broader US strategy in Eurasia. Back in June, former US Secretary of State and former CIA director, Mike Pompeo, explained in a speech at the Hudson Institute: “By aiding Ukraine, we undermined the creation of a Russian-Chinese axis bent on exerting military and economic hegemony in Europe, in Asia and in the Middle East. () Indeed, by empowering Ukraine, we demonstrate to China the cost of invading Taiwan. () We must prevent the formation of a Pan-Eurasian colossus incorporating Russia, but led by China.”

Nevertheless, most European countries – including Germany – will still reach their gas storage target levels for the winter season and may be able to partially replace reduced Russian gas supplies with supplies from other countries, though at significantly higher market prices. This has already led to some bizarre situations, such as Germany’s largest fertilizer producer having to halt production, while German fertilizer shortfalls are being replaced by imports from – Russia.

Update: Still No Russian Energy War

On September 5, the British Financial Times published an ambiguously worded article that has received worldwide attention: “Russia halts gas supplies to Europe until western sanctions lifted” (later changed to “Russia switches off Europe’s main gas pipeline until sanctions are lifted.”).

The article once again suggested that Russia was deliberately “halting gas supplies” to retaliate against Western sanctions. In reality, the Russian government stated that they “remain committed to their obligations and contracts”, but that they cannot operate Nord Stream I as long as the technical equipment of that pipeline remains sanctioned.

In particular, the six Nord Stream I gas turbines, maintained by a British division of German energy company Siemens, remain sanctioned under British law – four of them are still in Canada, one has been transferred to Germany instead of Russia, and the last one is affected by an oil leak that Siemens is not allowed to repair due to British and EU sanctions.

The Financial Times later added a quote from the energy spokesman of the European Commission, according to whom Russia was “unwilling to deliver gas to Europe through other pipelines”. Yet as seen above, those “other pipelines” have been closed by Poland, Ukraine, and Germany.

That Russia is still not waging an “energy war” against Europe can be seen by the following facts:

Russia continues to deliver gas through the Brotherhood pipeline to European countries and even to Ukraine (!), and through the TurkStream pipeline to parts of southeastern Europe.

Russia is ready to supply gas through the Nord Stream II pipeline, whose turbines are maintained by Russia itself, as soon as Germany (and the US) would open that pipeline;

Russia continues to deliver oil via Ukraine to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline, even though Ukraine temporarily closed this pipeline in August. However, an EU embargo against Russian oil imports was agreed upon in June and will come into effect in January 2023.

The British BBC was more accurate, this time, when they titled their article: “Russia blames sanctions for gas pipeline shutdown”. Indeed, the decision to decouple Europe from Russian energy supplies remains an entirely Western geostrategic decision, yet Western leaders and Western media, understandably, would like to blame Russia for that decision (and the consequences).

Update October 2022

On September 22, the Russian security service claimed to have thwarted a Ukrainian sabotage operation against the offshore TurkStream pipeline. Four days later, on September 26 (one day before the opening of the Baltic pipeline connecting Norway via Denmark to Poland), a series of explosions damaged the NordStream I and II offshore pipelines between Russia and Germany. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described the destruction of the pipelines as a “tremendous strategic opportunity” to reduce Russian influence in Europe.

[visualandpublicart]

Yo Soy Chinatown, Salinas | I am Chinatown, Salinas

Exhibit & Public Art Installation

Yo Soy/I Am Chinatown, Salinas engages the power of community through histories, storytelling, and first-hand accounts of Chinatown as home, cultural landmark, and complex socio-cultural microcosm. This exhibition is part of a two-year-long community public art and exhibition project in partnership with the Visual and Public Art Dept. at CSUMB and made possible in part by a grant from The Creative Work Fund, a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund that is also generously supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Yo Soy/ I Am Chinatown, Salinas features a series of daguerreotype portraits that bring us face-to-face with the socio-cultural concerns, histories, and stories of Chinatown. Binh Danh’s new body of work includes a public art installation, collaborative community engagement, and an art exhibition that displays a complex 19th Century photographic process as a tool for empowerment and a medium for examining socio-cultural and political issues that affect marginalized communities. Danh’s work explores the historical context of Chinatown, Salinas through community-sensitive work that employs first-hand perspectives to identify the complexities of revitalization and cultural preservation efforts alongside issues of racial disparities, exclusionary ordinances, and the criminalization of neighborhoods, communities, and public space.

EXHIBIT ON VIEW: OCTOBER 3 – NOVEMBER 18, 2022

PUBLIC ARTWORKS ON VIEW: OCTOBER 1, 2022-MAY 30, 2023

_______________________________________________________________________

[thorraborinn]

What was the function of Winter Nights as a celebration?

Presumably it had many different overlapping functions. It's probably the best documented of the three major blóts (hǫfuðblót), but the sources are still not adequate to draw conclusive conclusions about anything.

Strictly speaking, Winternights (vetrnætr) is probably not the name of a celebration but the time of year (though vetrnáttablót 'Winternights blót' is attested in Gísla saga). It continued to be observed after conversion to Christianity and on to the present day. On the modern Icelandic calendar, it's the last two days of summer. Some early modern sources are in disagreement with each other about some details. This year it begins October 20 according to the University of Iceland's almanac (since it's two days, but three nights, I presume this to mean it starts on what we would call the evening of the 19th, and that winter actually begins on the evening of the 21st, also included in Winternights, though I'm not actually certain about that). Furthermore, since winter precedes summer, Winternights may have been considered an observation of the year ending and beginning ("heathen new year" so to speak). We have no evidence that they maintained a count of years equivalent to, like, "it's 2022 A.D.," so if this "new year" had any administrative importance, it's probably that it served as a deadline for some things that might have been ordered at the previous alþing.

In the sagas we see frequently that people chose that timing to have big parties that many people attended. Food would be abundant around then because harvests would be complete and animals recently slaughtered. Rich and powerful people sometimes took Winternights as an opportunity to made grand displays of generosity that both showed off their wealth and secured the loyalty of their followers. It was a popular time to hold weddings. Religious observations are mentioned frequently in connection to Winternights, such as blóts to Freyr (Gísla saga), and the famous description of a blót attended by Hákon góði in Heimskringla occurred at Winternights. There is also significant evidence that the dísir were celebrated at this time by some people (especially Norway), although it seems that others in Sweden were more likely to celebrate the dísir in the late winter/spring. Some people believe that the álfablót (a strictly private occurrence) mentioned in Heimskringla also occurred then, but I disagree; it's part of a series of events that begins at approximately Winternights, but must be later in the year to account for travel time. Either way, there is little reason to assume that this particular alfablót is characteristic of widespread contemporary customs, though it could be related to Freyr being worshiped at Winternights as mentioned before.

I'm going to isolate this for repetition because many heathens seem to have trouble with it: in sources founded primarily in Norwegian and Icelandic customs, the dísir tend to be singled out for worship around the time of Winternights, and this is where the term dísablót comes from. In sources founded primarily in Swedish traditions, the dísir seem to be singled out for worship in the late winter/spring, and this is the context we get the word disting (< dísaþing) from. These are two separate things, and neither seems to be universally "Norse." See the Terry Gunnell article I will link to at the end for more.

In more recent times in Iceland, veturnætur was also the time for making predictions about the winter through methods like observing the behavior of mice and birds. There was a tradition of "reading" the Milky Way (vetrarbraut, literally 'winter-path') from east to west, with light and dark spots meaning good or bad weather (there is apparently disagreement over which is which). Using sheep spleen and/or intestines to predict the weather seems to have also been done (consider that, since this was slaughter season, entrails would have been abundant).

There is some speculation that dísir and/or other invisible beings, especially female ones, were more pertinent or influential during the winter, and that Winternights on one hand, and the end of the winter on the other, are liminal times of transition into and out of this period. For this, as well as more detail on some of what I've already said above, see "Season of the Dísir: The Winter Nights, and the Dísablót in Early Medieval Scandinavian Belief" by Terry Gunnell.

For more further reading on the social role of holidays see An Arena for Higher Powers by Olof Sundqvist, for calendar stuff see Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning by Andreas Nordberg (Swedish but with a substantial English summary at the end) and/or "The Festival Year: A Survey of the Annual Festival Cycle and its Relation to the Heathen Lunisolar Calendar" by Josh Rood.

Other sources for this post were almanak.hi.is, the actual printed Háskóli Íslands almanac, and Saga Daganna by Árni Björnsson.

[my-mt-heart]

I think that anon is right about the context of people who work with the show saying it was "always" going to be in Europe - specifically that they're not referring to discussions that happened prior to AMC greenlighting the spin-off in September 2020.

Looking at all the comments Gimple, Kang, and Norman made about the spin-off when it was first announced, it seems that the general concept they initially had was that Daryl and Carol would be going on a mission - or different missions - and would return home from time to time so they could have crossover episodes between TWD and the spin-off. Along with the comments about it having a different tone and the characters being comfortable in their own skin, both Gimple and Norman referenced a mission, familiar faces appearing, and the plans for crossover episodes more than once.

I think that's why the Covid delay and AMC choosing to cancel TWD so they could get the streaming rights back from Netflix is significant. It seems that forced Gimple and Kang to rework the spin-off because they would no longer be able to do those crossover episodes with TWD. That doesn't mean the characters wouldn't be happy or comfortable in their own skin - I think it was more about giving the spin-off a cohesive, overarching storyline that would connect with the TWDU as a whole since they couldn't do crossover episodes.

This is the timeline of events that I've worked out with information from DearTV, Facebook, and a YouTuber with inside connections -

March 2021 - Kirkman said that they were working on a spin-off set in another country in a public interview. Tales of the Walking Dead or Isle of the Dead are both set in the US so he was most likely referring to the Daryl and Carol spin-off.

June 2021 - they filmed the World Beyond coda setting up the variant walker storyline in France. This has been confirmed by a well known and respected PA from TWD to have been done intentionally as setup for the Daryl and Carol spin-off.

July 2021 - Kang said that she submitted the pilot script for the Daryl and Carol spin-off. Since the plans to set the spin-off in Europe were already in place, the pilot script would have followed that plan. By all accounts, Melissa was on board with doing the spin-off in Europe at this point.

Unknown date between July and October 2021 - Melissa said she wanted to take a break after TWD finished filming. AMC delayed production on the spin-off to accommodate her taking a break. That's probably why they're filming in September instead of July this year.

October 2021 - Kang changed Daryl and Carol spin-off to TWD4 on her IG profile.

December 2021 - rumors that Melissa might not do the spin-off began to circulate in Senoia due to information that came from people who worked with the show. This was going on for months behind the scenes before anything leaked out and could be why Kang changed her IG profile.

January 2022 - Kang changed TWD4 to TWDU on her IG profile.

January/February 2022 - there was reportedly tension on set because Melissa had not yet made up her mind and they needed to know her decision for the final episodes.

February 2022 - Melissa gave her final decision not to do the spin-off at all because she couldn't go to Europe for private, personal reasons.

February 17, 2022 - one of the writers for TWD posted on their IG instastory that they were called back to work for a zoom writing session. Rewrites were done for the two final episodes of TWD with multiple possible endings. They were doing rewrites up through filming the finale.

That's basically it. There were no nefarious dealings or secret plans. Melissa was not forced out - she chose not to do it for personal reasons. AMC appears to be working with her to the extent they can. They couldn't delay the spin-off indefinitely and it's too late to change the location they've spend over a year setting up - it would cost too much money and they would already have applied for permits and such in Europe for filming in September. Plus hiring crew, etc… There are hundreds of people involved in putting a show together so they can't screw up everyone's schedule and the overall budget for the show just because 1 person can't go to Europe in September. The most cost effective solution at this point was to continue the spin-off as a Daryl solo mission starting out and hope Melissa could be part of it later on. It's still going to be the same storyline with the variant walkers in Europe that they've been planning since at least March 2021 - they're just writing Carol out for the time being.

Yes, I remember the interviews where Norman and Gimple said the original plan was for Daryl and Carol to return every now and again to the main show before Covid/cancelation changed things. I don't remember the word mission being put out there, which in and of itself carries a very different tone than the show being described in the first press junket in September 2020. Again, a lighthearted monster-of-the-week type road show where Daryl and Carol are "comfortable in their own skin" and "just seeing who's out there." I think Norman also referenced a couple of western shows to draw a comparison.

You're suggesting variant walkers in Europe had been established by March 2021. I'm not necessarily disputing that time frame. My argument from before still applies. However early on, if it was sometime between September 2020 and March 2021 for whatever reason (maybe to connect to TWDU like you said), the concept *changed.* Carylers may be passionate, but we are not stupid and we did not ALL misinterpret something. A lighthearted monster-of-the-week roadshow and variant walkers in Europe are not the same show. The former is grounded, emotionally-driven, kind of procedurally. The latter is gimmicky/maybe horror-driven and mission-orientated which certainly does not warrant Daryl and Carol being happy/comfortable. The former is what we were excited about, not the latter which was not made transparent to us for [insert business reason here], but nonetheless makes us feel strung along.

Now. As for your Melissa timeline, I'm not outright dismissing anything, though I do want to raise a few points. You highlight Melissa's agency throughout the whole process, that she was able to sit on the decision for months, holding up production, essentially burning the studio’s and her coworkers’ time and money until she finally decided to walk. Not only does that seem uncharacteristic of what we know about her professionally, but if she’s under contract, she wouldn’t have that type of freedom. In my heart, Melissa has the power to do as she pleases, but all you have to do is follow the money (Mel’s $20 mil to Norman’s $50-$90 mil) to see she does not in fact have AMC wrapped around her finger like that. So she’d be in unless AMC told her otherwise. A personal emergency or illness is different, and I will get to that.

You also mention AMC went out of its way to accommodate Melissa by pushing production. In one of the statements from April ( I forget which), it was said that filming for the Daryl show would be in two or three months, implying July, and I think in a different statement they said "summer." Then a couple weeks after that, Norman said September. So to me, it seems like if they pushed, it was to write Carol out, not to try to give Melissa a break. But that's beside the point.

You say Melissa made her final decision in February, which again, I’m not dismissing, but I’m not sure why they would have to still write multiple endings through March, which is more time and money that was allegedly already burnt waiting for Melissa to make her decision. Presuming all this did occur, that means AMC lied to several reporters when in March they said the Caryl spinoff was still very much happening. One even had a screenshot where AMC still referred to it as Daryl and Carol thereby continuing to string the fans along, but that's also beside the point.

Come back at me to elaborate on the production details if you so choose, but just know none of that is what I’m driving at. Here's what I'm seeing in all these asks I'm getting (weirdly the day after Melissa's birthday trend, hmm) as well as by AMC, JDM, and Norman. That it was Melissa's choice. She "made a call." She "needed a break." She "blew up a project." While at the same time, everyone is suggesting that she's dealing with something personal. I would very much like to know why then there is not one shred of compassion, understanding, or empathy being put out there for her or why AMC wouldn’t have her reps release a statement, which can absolutely be done without invading her privacy and would have spared them all the backlash. 

Why is the language so cold and dry, twisted to hold her accountable? Why is it that when Andy left for personal reasons, which resulted in a major drop in ratings, cast and studio still supported his decision and spoke about him warmly? That seems very unfair to Melissa. Even if it's just a messaging problem. It's like she's being used as the scapegoat to ensure that Caryl and Carol fans hang in there for the Daryl show which I can't see making any emotional sense. Either he’s on a solo mission that puts him back in that toxic hero mind frame or he’s happily exploring the world on his own, undermining the comfort and joy he finds with Carol and family. I'd be very glad to see Carol join him eventually if that's the best I can hope for, but I'm not tuning into something I’m scared will damage what I love about Daryl based on the hope Carol could maybe possibly crop up someday. God help the people waiting for Rick and Michonne to reunite in the trilogy that everybody and their dog knows isn’t happening anymore. Just another reason not to trust. 

So...yeah. That's where I'm at. Pretty much where I was before I read this.

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Hiatusbreaker Update 2

Although the premiere of Doctor Who Series 13 is still a while off, let alone the announcement of a premiere date, there are a few things I’d like to talk about before that time comes. Let’s get right into it.

Filler series plans to talk about Series 1-10

Some time ago, I had plans to make a ten-part series talking about Series 1-10 in detail, but because I had a lot of stuff going on, those plans were reduced to something I call Doctor Who 10 for 10 - 10 Things for 10 Series, which was to state ten things about each series with at least 4 to 6 of these things being my opinions on each series. This was intended to be a filler series to bide the time before Series 13 comes out, but that may have to come at another time. I’m also continuing with Kisekae Insights if anyone wants to check it out.

The post-Series 13 forecast

Since Series 13 would be Jodie Whittaker’s third series as the Doctor, signs are pointing to this being her final series. There are also rumours stating that there will be two specials in 2022 that would serve as her final episodes. If this is the case, then it means that Jodie Whittaker would have been the Doctor for five years; a five-year-long ordeal of pain because series seem to be released pretty much every other year as a result of the almost-year-long gaps between them, not to mention the fact that less episodes are being produced as time goes on. Whether Chris Chibnall will be remaining on is still unknown at this time. Frankly, I’ll be glad when this is all over because I (and many other fans) have been kept hanging for so long. I just hope the Timeless Child payoff will be worth it.

At this point, the only reason why I’m still watching the series is mainly because I want to know how the Timeless Child arc plays out. The initial shocks have come and gone, but now this is where we wait and see if the aftershocks are as worse.

When I started my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews, I made a pact that I would cut off all ties with the series going forward if the Fourteenth Doctor was another female. Given the Timeless Child arc and the rumours that Olly Alexander would replace Jodie Whittaker (which would make him the first gay actor to play the Doctor) that came and went because his agent stated that he was focusing on music for the time being, I’ve honestly stopped giving a shit at this point. I’ll probably continue being a casual fan of Doctor Who, watching episodes as they come out, but regardless, all that this series will be to me is like what the Koei Warriors series has degraded itself to over the past decade. I’ll still be grateful for all the inspiration and opportunities it has provided me with over the years, but I’ll probably accept that the series has gone on a downward spiral with seemingly no way of coming back up. But hey, all will be revealed in due time, so the forecast isn’t that bleak for now.

The first look into Series 13 (added 26 July 2021)

So just today, two days after I originally published this post, the teaser trailer for Doctor Who Series 13 was released following the 2021 San Diego Comic Con@Home. Aside from the Doctor, Yaz and Dan, the only other character we see is Vinder, a recurring character throughout the series who will be played by Jacob Anderson. Recurring character, you say, and that’s because Series 13 will apparently be a single serialised story. This brings callbacks to The Trial of a Time Lord or more loosely, the multiple two-parters of Series 9. We still don’t get an exact premiere date, only that it will premiere “later this year”, but given that Series 11 and 12 took about 10 months to film, we can predict that filming of Series 13 will likely be wrapping up in the next month. Whether there will be a shorter run of five or six episodes (thereby reserving two of those episodes for the 2022 specials, assuming they won’t be filmed separately to Series 13) is unknown, but regardless, I’m looking forward to watching and reviewing the series for myself.

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall leave Doctor Who (added 30 July 2021) 

In news that will surprise no one, Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall have announced that they will be leaving the series in 2022. Technically, the news isn’t much of a surprise in terms of Whittaker than it is for Chibnall, as Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have been showrunner for two Doctors each. But hey, with this, it means that my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews will also be a review of Chibnall’s run as showrunner.

My initial thoughts on this, which may or may not change coming up to Whittaker’s final episode - it was an okay run while it lasted, but honestly, good riddance. How’s that five year plan of yours going, Chibnall? If your plan was to divide the fanbase and leave them hanging with gaps between series, then you’ve really done it.

On top of this, Series 13 will be six episodes long, with the remaining two episodes to be broadcast as specials in 2022. The first of them will be a New Year’s Special (surprise surprise) and the second will follow in Spring 2022 (Northern Hemisphere). The Thirteenth Doctor’s final episode will premiere in Autumn 2022 (Northern Hemisphere) as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations. Some tentative dates I’m predicting are 18 October 2022, the 100th anniversary of the BBC, 23 November 2022, the 59th anniversary of Doctor Who, or 1 January 2023, which would make it another New Year’s Special (I’m not discounting 25 December 2022, I just think it’s less likely given how this era has been).

With this, the Fourteenth Doctor is expected to debut in 2023, the 60th anniversary year of Doctor Who. I just hope the new production team doesn’t disappoint the fans with that.

In terms of statistics, Jodie Whittaker has played the Doctor for 31 episodes, making her run the second shortest behind Christopher Eccleston. Peter Capaldi played the Doctor for 40 episodes, Matt Smith for 44 episodes and David Tennant for 47.

My hopes for Whittaker and Chibnall’s final episodes haven’t changed; I want to see what happens with the Timeless Child arc (and also Ruth). Whether the Fourteenth Doctor will be male or female (or played by a non-binary or trans actor), I have a few basic preliminary hopes for the next run; make each series 13 episodes again with a Christmas Special each year and put the series back on Saturday nights, like it was before Whittaker and Chibnall. Also, can we go back to filming in the 16:9 ratio? I can never get over how weird it looks on my screen (at full screen, it doesn’t look so weird when I have it playing on half screen, which is what I usually do when I write my reviews).

Jay Exci - The Fall of Doctor Who

Yes, it has been a while and I know I could have told everyone about this earlier, but better late than never I suppose. A couple of months ago, Jay Exci did a 5-hour long critique of the Chibnall era in his video, The Fall of Doctor Who. For some reason, there are those who see it as controversial because they’re NPCs who don’t want to hear criticism of the Chibnall era or they’re spergs who aren’t mature enough to sit through a 5-hour video they can watch in chunks, but hey, it’s pretty good. This is more in-depth than the reviews that people like Bowlestrek or Nerdrotic make, which essentially put Jay on their level in the eyes of the NPCs despite denying that they are on their level and being a sperg about how they’re better than them. Welcome to the party, Jay, you can check out anytime but you can never leave. 

Anyway, you can check out the video below. Even if you don’t feel like watching the whole video, I highly suggest that you watch section 4.2 onwards (timestamped link here) as it does resonate with my feelings on the Timeless Child arc. I swear, this is just like Dynasty Warriors 9 all over again. I know the feeling.

Cancel culture comes for Noel Clarke and John Barrowman

The thing about cancel culture is that people can be petty about things other people have done or said years ago and they can justify it with the excuse that they’re doing it to hold those people accountable. Depending on the context, it can expose the fact that that person is a major piece of shit or it can be an overreaction to something, which in the minds of today’s society is normally the latter.

Around the time that Noel Clarke was nominated for a Bafta at the end of March, allegations emerged of abuse and sexual misconduct against him. 20 women came forward with their stories and as a result, the final episode of Viewpoint was pulled from broadcast (but still released on Blu-ray and DVD) and Bulletproof was cancelled before filming on the fourth series would begin.

In May, video emerged of Clarke at Chicago TARDIS in 2014 talking about how John Barrowman would expose his genitals and slap it on people and things. This led to allegations about Barrowman surfacing, resulting in him apologising for his actions even though he had already been reprimanded for them over a decade ago and apologised in November 2008. Despite this, his contribution to the immersive theatrical event Doctor Who: Time Fracture was pulled and Big Finish have decided to shelf the release of Torchwood: Absent Friends, which would have featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

Now, I don’t care about Noel Clarke by any means, but this situation is honestly sad for John Barrowman because it shows that cancel culture spares no victims and leaves no fossil undiscovered. These PR stunts have clearly shown that the spineless people involved with those productions are so concerned with saving face that they are unable to just overlook these transgressions for the sake of fans who actually wanted to see him reprise his role as Captain Jack Harkness. But hey, what do I know? I don’t really care for anything other than the TV series, but it really shows how shameless corporations can be.

Once again, we don’t exactly know when Doctor Who Series 13 will premiere, but if you ask me, I predict that it will premiere in October or November. I’ll see you all again around that time.

[rozinaaa]

Here's some reading that I've done, mainly reading one specific chapter, and combing through it by picking out arguments which could work well in my essay.

This is (to reference things properly, APA 7th style) Buick, J. (2002). Virtual reality and art. In S. Mealing (Ed.), Computers & Art (2nd ed., pp. 109-117). Intellect. 

I've picked up some nuggets of wisdom from this short chapter although it dates back to 20 years ago, and a lot has changed within this context during that time, so this might already seem outdated since it's nearly as old as I am, minus a year, which is saying something.

The Nuggets of Wisdom That I Have Picked Up™ include the following:

"VR conjures a geeky picture..." p. 111 - What I've learned from this (from this snippet of a statement alone) is that VR isn't typically viewed as a creative medium, certainly not within an artistic context, especially when the statement continues to say that "...bodies weighed down by helmets and gloves, trailing wires, aiming for 'immersion' in a totally new 'world'. But we are already familiar with similar technology that uses mental rather than physical immersion: computer games supply minimal information and depend on adrenalin, humour and competitive ambition for their addictive appeal." which implies the fact that VR initially started out as an irony: you essentially wear bulky items on your head and on your hands, in the hopes of being immersed in a different world, which (at the time) was viewed as a cumbersome and unrealistic task, if not pointless (why try immersing yourself in a fake world whilst being "weighed down by helmets and gloves" when you could simply touch grass and be a part of the real world instead?), a far cry from what VR is today, because for one thing, the "trailing wires" have essentially been axed, and "bodies [are no longer] weighed down by helmets and gloves", since anyone in 2022 and beyond can simply purchase a VR headset, which fits snugly on their head, essentially looking like a chunky sleeping mask at best, along with clutching a pair of advanced batons, so that they interact with the virtual world, possibly in a more immersive and lightweight way now than how it was back in 2002 where things were still clunky. However, it is still clunky, but not how it was 20 years ago, especially now that VR is being commercialised, where the term "metaverse" is thrown around like a marketing buzzword, probably because it is, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg having rebranded Facebook to Meta in October 2021, with hints that the overarching company will aim to start tracking people in their (Meta's) own bland corporate virtual world, therefore adding to the dystopia of being constantly watched, where other companies blindly follow suit, simply because a notorious corporation has predictably become a trailblazer in commercialising it, simply because they have the reputation and revenue by doing so, despite the fact that smaller companies have been doing this long before.

Moving on, it also states that "The traditional concerns of sculpture have been shape, space, texture, light... Many historical and contemporary artists also take account of position, context, duration, sound, rhythm, colour, temperature, size, motion, height, direction, interaction and, ultimately, meaning. In VR likewise all or none of these considerations may apply and they may change: shape may shift, spaces turn, textures grow, light move... nothing is fixed, not even gravity, and nothing has to be presupposed." p. 110, which implies that sculptures in the physical context are inherently static, because once it's made, it's made, and cannot really be that easily modified. However, sculptures within a VR context can quite literally defy the laws of physics, and can be as outlandish and as immersive as possible, something which can only be viewed as a fever dream within the physical world, perhaps beyond the wildest imaginations of sculptors within the traditional sense. Additionally, within this context, sculptures can even break predefined expectations of sculptures themselves, by becoming things which break every convention, being top heavy and still being able to stand upright, having the ability to literally walk through a sculpture like a ghost (but the roles are reversed, so that the sculpture itself is viewed as a ghost, rather than the person encountering it), and this can also link to the dreamlikeness of virtual reality as medium, since anyone (with the time, the money, the space, the skills, the creativity etc) can literally recreate their dreams like for like in VR (ironically, this something that I'd like to achieve at some point within my life, assuming that I live up to the average life expectancy of at least 80, where I create my own little metaverse of all the dreams that I can recall). Additionally, this dreamlike observation links back to when I first tried VR in a very casual context at the age of 16, where I tried it out in the safety of the college atrium, in which I played a game (I forget which, it's been 5 years), only to realise that it felt extremely dreamlike, where it somehow felt real and unreal at the exact same time, where I knew I was experiencing it, but also knowing that it felt about as real as a dream (especially since my dreams tend to be fairly realistic, where I'm convinced that they're actually happening, until I wake up, and realise that it didn't actually happen); I then tried it again the year after in the exact same context, where everything was the exact same, only that I was a year older, and still found it as disorienting as ever, just making the connection that I could essentially use VR as a dream medium, where I could visually communicate my dreams as effectively as possible, simply through my own experiences of trying out virtual reality as a college student on exactly two occasions, one year apart.

Following on from the dreamlikeness of VR, "Being a lobster or a slime-mould or a door knob in VR requires us to experience ourselves as if we were those things, using our human senses." p. 110, you cannot look at yourself within a virtual world at all, since most VR experiences tend to take place from a first person perspective, where looking down at your "hands" is essentially non-existent; you essentially become the thing, essentially a character, and within this context, you become the sculpture itself, destroying all the laws of physics, essentially doing fancy dress without having to get changed, and being able to dress up as literally anything ever, without any consequences.

Furthermore, "VR seems to provoke a hostile reaction from some who see it as irresponsible and disconnected from reality." p. 111, where, following on from the dreamlikeness of the medium, it grabs a hold of all your senses and all your attention; your peripheral vision is completely blocked out, where all you can see is the virtual world that you're in, where you wear built in headphones to block out any noise from the real world, in order to make the virtual world a lot more immersive. Essentially, over time, one's perception of reality becomes so distorted that they struggle to differentiate between what's real, and what isn't, because they're so used to experiencing things which can be perceived, but aren't actually there.

So, these have been my half-baked thoughts after having read exactly one text, and whilst it would be good to go into ridiculous amounts of detail, I simply do not have the time to make all of it as coherent as possible, although I'd love to be able to write a fully fledged book about it one day.

[thelagendjz4]

Digital Bureaucracy

Artificial Intelligent and Blockchain Supported Document Management and Transfer Solution

What is Digital Bureaucracy?

It is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported Blockchain Project that aims to end the difficult and long-lasting paperwork and bureaucracy transactions between countries, institutions, and individuals. It is a document management and document transfer solution specially developed for a decentralized blockchain, aimed at making your life easier with the combination of artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies.

Documents and Bureaucracy transactions in documents, invoices, land registry, vehicles and many more are distributed in the Blockchain database and then your documents are distributed decentralized in a comparable, irrevocable way on the blockchain network. A system where the submitted information can only be seen by users who have Hash key. This confirms, or can be verified, by comparing the

What is the difference between Digital Bureaucracy and other projects?

Digital Bureaucracy started as a document management and document submission project over the blockchain network by completely ending the existing bureaucracy system. The Digital Bureaucracy aims to create a long-term solution for large-scale tokenization, which are the true core values of blockchain.

Because it is a project where you can provide document management and transfer of documents by performing digital bureaucracy, countries and international bureaucracy procedures. It is on its way to becoming a project that can be used by the most successful projects, including countries and Government agencies.

WHAT IS DBC?

DBC is the first Decentralized Bureaucracy System that simplifies and standardizes data using blockchain technology. We facilitate bureaucracy across Individuals, Institutions, and Countries on the Blockchain Network.

Decentralised Platform.

It is fully decentralised and is backed by Blockchain.

Managing Bureaucracy with One Click.

Our project will allow you to handle bureaucratic procedures and tedious paperwork that makes your life difficult, efficiently, and securely.

Artificial Intelligence

We are a Bureaucracy Transfer network that uses the power of Artificial Intelligence and connects the World.

How does DBC Work?

Digital Bureaucracy is making our lives difficult. It is instated everywhere and is carried out by the Municipality. Official documents, Invoices, Home and Vehicle purchase and sale, School and Education, Health and Hospital, Finance and Business, Customs procedures, Passport and Identity procedures are just some of the areas of example.

The DBC Project has made it possible to manage the tedious document transactions that causes complexity in our lives. For a moment, imagine that paper is not used within the World. With DBC, you will be able to send and receive your invoices, official documents, insurance and hospital documentation, customs and tax transactions, home, and car buying/ transactions, international, official, or personal information/documents using a single click encrypted over the Blockchain Network.

Combine the structure of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, allowing you to trade securely and quickly.

Bureaucratic procedures will rely on the help of Artificial Intelligence completely. It is a great project that will ensure swift and reliable transfers over the blockchain network.

Dependable and rapid payments. You will be able to send even the highest payments at the lowest cost.

Safe storage of school and hospital transactions on the Blockchain network. It enables making an action or obtaining information simpler with just a click.

To facilitate the blockchain network in our daily lives, DBC started to develop its own Blockchain infrastructure to provide convenience in the listed areas below:

DBC Solution

The DBC token has been created to be used in the Digital Bureaucracy Infrastructure and to become the currency of the future. DBC token is the Crypto Currency that will be used in your bureaucratic transactions around the world.

What is DBC Token?

DBC Token is a virtual currency created to cover the Blockchain network fees of the Digital Bureaucracy system. Efforts are underway for our project to take party in many Exchanges according to our DBC Token Target table.

DBC Token will be used to cover Digital Bureaucracy Blockchain Network fees. Binance Smart Chain (BSC) Manufactured using BEP20 Smart Contract.

• Token Symbol Name: Digital Bureaucracy

• Short Token Name: DBC

• Token Standard: BEP20

• Blockchain Platform: Binance Smart Chain

• Total Supply: 200,000,000 DBC

DBC Token Sale

The DBC token was created using Binance Smart Chain (BSC) BEP20 Smart Contrac. The token’s third party service wallets, exchanges, etc. It provides compatibility with and easy-to-use integration.

How can I participate in the DBC Token sale?

DBC token is issued decentrally. It is a unique platform; completely user friendly that is secure, smart, and easy to use. You can buy the tokens from the ‘Token Sales’ section of our website. You are also able to have DBC Tokens free of charge by following our Social Media accounts.

Start: 2021-04-30

Total Supply: 200.000.000 DBC

umber of tokens for sale: 25.000.000 DBC

Tokens exchange rate: 1 DBC = 0.010 USD

Acceptable currencies: ETH, BNB, BTC, USDT

Minimal transaction amount

1000 DBC / 10 USD

ICO and Presale

Stage A - Presale Global

Date: 30 April 2021 - 31 July 2021

Bonus: 1% - 5,000 DBC+ 2% - 10,000 DBC+ 3%

Stage A Sales: 25,000,000 DBC ($250,000)

Stage A sales price: 0.010$

Investor Data (KYC): NO (can be purchased anonymously)

DBC Token Distribution: All DBC Tokens will be distributed when the ICO Expires on April 30, 2022.

Stage B - Presale Global

Date: 1 August 2021 - 31 October 2027

Bonus: 1% - 5,000 DBC+ 2% - 10,000 DBC+ 3%

Phase B Sales: 25,000,000 DBC ($1,250,000)

Stage B sale price: 0.050$

Investor Data (KYC): NO (can be purchased anonymously)

DBC Token Distribution: All DBC Tokens will be distributed when the ICO Expires on April 30, 2022.

Stage C - Presale Global

Date: 1 November 2021 - 31 January 2022

Bonus: 1% - 5,000 DBC+ 2% - 10,000 DBC+ 3%

Phase C Sales: 25,000,000 DBC ($3,750,000)

Stage C sale price: 0.15$

Investor Data (KYC): NO (can be purchased anonymously)

DBC Token Distribution: All DBC Tokens will be distributed when the ICO Expires on April 30, 2022.

Stage D - Presale Global

Date: 1 February 2022 - 30 April 2022

Bonus: 1% - 5,000 DBC+ 2% - 10,000 DBC+ 3%

Phase D Sales: 25,000,000 DBC ($5,000,000)

Stage D sales price: 0.20$

Investor Data (KYC): NO (can be purchased anonymously)

DBC Token Distribution: All DBC Tokens will be distributed when the ICO Expires on April 30, 2022.

Team

The Digital Bureaucracy team aims to eliminate the difficulties in your life by bringing together Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. Our Project is created in an open-sourced way completely. You can contribute to the development of our project by joining our team.

Roadmap

The Digital Bureaucracy team is a non-profit team dedicated to the development, management, and progress of the block chain ecosystem. The decentralized operating mechanism of blockchain technology provides our team with a unique management structure. Since the current bureaucracy structure has become a problem in everyone's life. Our team members act with a common sense and a new-minded view. All decisions to be made in the areas of project or progression, development, and promotion. With the DBC software we are working on, the issue of elections taking place on the block chain. The team then decides the decisions about the selections of the project.

2019 - Q1

Release and Distribution - Providing Bureaucracy between Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Supported Countries, Institutions and Persons to eliminate delays and uncertain transactions in today’s Bureaucracy system. The beginning of the infrastructure was provided and aims to facilitate these difficult document and file transactions by combining Artificial Intelligence and the Blockchain network.

2020 - Q1

Our team started building the foundations of the DBCChain software for Documents and File Transfers.

2021 - Q1

DBC Token Binance Smart Chain (BSC) - created and published with the BEP20 Smart Contract.

2021 - Q2

In order to support DBC Token sales, Airdrop and ICO Program, the user panel has been integrated into the system and activated.

2021 - Q3

To purchase DBC Token, Offline Crypto Money payment methods have been added to the user panel.

2021 - Q4

DBC Token has been added to Pancakeswap.finance Liquidity pool and Exchange sections.

2021 - Q5

The Digital Bureaucracy (DBC) Whitepaper was completed and published.

2021- Q6

DBC Token Airdrop and ICO Program was launched. In this context, 25.000.000 DBC Token has been opened for sale with ICO pricing.

2021- Q7

DBC Chain will perform P2P, Miner, Genesis tests

2022 -Q1

ICO sale Completed and Token Distribution.

Airdrop distribution completed and Token Distribution

2022 - Q2

CoinMarketCap list

Coingecko list

2022 - Q3

DBC Wallet Android and iOS application publishing.

2022 - Q3

Top 10 CMC Exchange listing (KuCoin/Bithumb exchange)

Roadmap v2.0 release

Future products development

For More Information Click Links Bellow:

Web: https://www.digitalbureaucracy.org/

ICO&Airdrop: https://dbc.digitalbureaucracy.org/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/DigiBureaucracy

Telegram Group: https://t.me/digitalbureaucracy

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitalbureaucracy

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Digitalbureaucracy

Medium: https://medium.com/@Digitalbureaucracy

ANN: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5328282.0

Whitepaper: https://www.digitalbureaucracy.org/Whitepaper-EN.pdf

Author: Thelagend jz4

My Bitcointalk Profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2577207

BEP-20 Address: 0x61e238964a4676C2AC8D830714A95618B3De942B

[tinydark]

The Black Crown Project Will Return

UPDATE SEPT 2022: Teaser here! Blog post here!

“aye bete es cooming back and i jest know, alright? i jest know. there’s certain signs yeh look fer when yeh in a place as empty as this is.” - Parlay

The What

Clerks, it has been too long. The Black Crown Project launched May 2013. It went offline October 2014. In July 2017, its author, Rob Sherman released an extensive archive with a license permitting anyone the ability to make anything with it, and in 2018 updated that to include commercial work.

The Black Crown Project was a multimodal narrative horror game with themes of disease, work, anthropology, and obsession, to name a few. It was released on the StoryNexus platform: the same platform which inspired me to make GAM3, a browser-based game engine, in January 2013. StoryNexus wouldn’t last much longer than Black Crown as a supported platform, and Failbetter (Fallen London, Sunless Sea) shifted their focus toward traditional games built in Unity.

I am Vael Victus of Tinydark Studio. In November 2020, Failbetter was able to provide us with a JSON dump of the entire game. Being that my engine was initially inspired by SN, I have been able to import much of the data intact and with a little bit of novel code, have somewhat restored the experience. Right now it lives in the form of a clunkily traversable archive available here:

https://www.theorbium.com/blackcrown/

Please note The Orbium will be rebranded sometime in 2021. You will simply have a Tinydark account. I’ll fix the above link when that happens.

The How

Pulling in the storylets was certainly a trial, but things are stable and I’m generally happy with the import process. What remains is the storylet (in GAM3: “event”) requirements and results. I could pull them in and start reconstructing the game, but the time isn’t right and it isn’t straightforward. More on that in the When section. For now, I would like to detail what I’d like to do with TBCP.

I’m happy to say the data is comprehensive enough that I can fully restore the game. In fact I can do better: a cursory probing suggests there were a few paths that may have been locked out due to bugs. I plan to restore the game and then improve it in the following ways:

Monetization. Black Crown launched with per-storylet premium currency unlocks which, to memory, could easily total $25 per character if all were taken. I estimate restoring the Project will require a further 200-250 hours of my time and I’m happy to do it for free. So. I’d like to provide all Nex-locked content for a flat fee of $10 for the account. This will modestly help offset hosting costs. Any previously locked storylet branch would simply be playable on any character, and the ones that cleared conditions would be put on cooldown (which are like ability cooldowns in any game). I plan to brand this as “buying the game”, which additionally would bring with it unlimited character slots and a near-infinite boost to your action bank: such that you could play the game for very long sessions. Maybe other goodies like Discord roles.

Gameplay. The action system will be present because actions are important to our genre. However, as per Tinydark design ethics, you will have a large bank of them, which should allow you to be away for 12 hours at a time before maxing out. Living Stories were events that fired on real-world time, but this made little sense in the context of Actions and were more a cheap way to pull the player back into the game. These events will now fire dependent on how many actions you’ve spent: every 50, The Manger may pop up. You may slightly heal every 80 actions. I don’t remember digging to be a very engaging experience, so I’ll see if there’s any room for some risk-reward mechanics there.

Technology. GAM3 far exceeds SN’s capabilities. Multiple character slots, better event (storylet) structure and flow, a more responsive UI, detailed character pages; these are just a few things Black Crown will be able to have built-in from the start. The structure of the game will change somewhat due to the way we handle events. We’re able to have as many child events as we like. Clerks possessing an Alexandrian memory may remember the intro to the game asked some questions, and each time, you would answer, read, hit the continue button, and then load up the next one. Instead you’ll answer, read, and immediately be presented the next one. It’s also this improvement in structure that makes the Project a little more time-consuming to get just right.

Balance. Progress via the main qualities was mostly irrelevant, either because the challenges were too hard or easy for your level to matter in them. I’ll be switching to the narrow difficulty scale for the main qualities. I’d like to invoke a small sense of character progression and the agency to strategically ‘grind’ the stats. (not simply by spending more actions)

App. We should have an app on the Android and Microsoft stores. Apple devices will be able to save the webpage as an app.

Some minor text edits. I may make the prose clearer where appropriate, but I won’t risk corrupting (purifying) the soul of the game.

And Beyond?

What I’ve detailed above is what I consider the Story Mode of Black Crown. It can exist that way forever and I’d be happy to provide the game as a Tinydark Studio offering. While I think I could eke out Shermanian prose if I stare at it long enough, I don’t think it’s right to add any new story paths to the base game. 

I may be interested in exploring the realm of multiplayer roleplay and survival within the world of Black Crown. This would be its own “game mode” and the prerequisite would be completion of Story Mode on a character, granting access to a Roleplay character. I’ve always been interested in reading players’ personal trottering notes (interpretations of the miasmae) and GAM3 will easily be able to produce them as items by the time Black Crown would be released.

The When

I am aiming to re-release The Black Crown Project in October of 2022. I assume I’ll release the app versions shortly after the web version is released.

The release is far away because my primary focus, once this very blog post is published, is on another game I’m developing. I can reasonably assume the bulk of its development will be done by Summer 2022, and I’ll take a break to let things settle while developing Black Crown. Some other factors:

TBCP needs to resurrect some features from Olde GAM3, namely the pool (”deck”) system and maybe the pyramid or ‘triangle’ leveling curve Fallen London is known for.

Housing the miasmae on their own page, preferably with trottering notes.

The time it will take to read through all of Rob Sherman’s notes to better understand the game.

I think humanity is disease-fatigued right now and the whole three-feet-apart schtick may be a little out of season.

So yeah, get hyped. TBCP is coming back “forever.” The best source of updates is our Discord: https://discord.gg/tjYTUGQ

May your inhalations be shallow and your exhalations be responsibly paced, Vael Victus