#i just hate ads and in general how the free version of the platform is semi unusable.

[transxfiles]

wish there was a way to easily post entire playlists on tumblr without using an external function. like if we could just post a series of mp3s through the site itself. i mean!! weve got the mp3/audio share function which is so beautiful bc i can just have tunes on my blog. but sometimes i want to share a full playlist of mp3s. listen to my songs boy!! imagine. it would be so beautiful.

[smallturtlebomb]

.ᐟ 𐰁 𝗓 ᶻmasterpost timeeeeeᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

/\_/\ (\ __ /) A__A

( ˶•o•˶) ( •ω• ) ( •⤙• )

ଘ(ა🍱) (ა🍙૮)｡ (🍜٩ )੭

✰ sup im lee/stb but u can call me whatever you’d like. And welcome to the disaster team, nice to have ya ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱₊˚⊹ i am a minor so pls, do not be weird to me. i go by any pronouns but id prefer if you’d use they/them on me, thx

✰ i really, and i mean REALLY love tmnt & monkey wrench at the moment but i also like splatoon, dunmeshi, sing, tf2, murder drones, class of 09, gravity falls, and a lot more…

✰ go ahead and feel free to ask questions abt me or my ocs. i rlly like yapping so it would be great if u did that _(^_^)_

✰ askbox/art requests: open!!! i would love to draw for you guys!

✰ status: semi-active. i won’t post original stuff that often anymore due to school so plz be patient with content.

✰ here r some of my rp accounts:

@c0m1c-c0llecter (odyn from tmnttlr)

@n3k0-c0la (ml my tmnt oc)

@s3a-sc3n3-k1ng (akira my tmnt oc)

@s0ur-fl0wer (mina my tmnt oc)

@th30r1z3r (rae my tmnt oc)

@gradient-orange (my version of tmnt mikey)

@wing-wave (wingnut from tmntmm/tottmnt)

@turtl3-0f-str3ngth (tmnttlr oc)

@zap-ray (tmnttlr oc)

@coda-soda-boba (tmnttlr oc)

✰ some of my au’s:

splat wrench: mw boys + other characters r in splatoon

turtle wrench: rottmnt boys get transported to the mw universe

new generation: rottmnt fan kid’s r in the bad future and they go thru some stuff

✰ websitez:

pronouns page

strawpage

✰ writing stuff:

ml’s backstory

how the mad dogz met tlnd

turtlewrench plot

luz’s lore drop

✰ main tagz:

#stbyapping💥

#stbreblogs❕

#stbwriting💌

#stbart💣

#stbaskbox⭐️

#stbrp🌀

#stbfanart💤

✰ old tagz mention

✰ au tagz:

#turtle wrench

#N3W G3N3RAT10N

#splat wrench

✰ mutuals, mutuals, MUTUALS!!!:

#myc the bat🦇 ( @in3fin , pookie bear ^_^ )

#karkat♋️ ( @garfunkopop , the creature… )

#turtletempura🍤 ( @tempurafied , older sibling >_< )

+ idk who else to add (mutuals if u wanna be added, lmk!)

!!boundaries, bfyi, and dni!!

⇩(PLZ READ)⇩

✰ i do oc x canon & f/o content. i will sort of avoid other ships with these characters (im not mad at u for shipping the character I like with another, im just trying to protect my sensitive heart)

✰ im sort of sensitive so clarify things 4 me plz so i do not overthink ^_^

✰ im ok with u dming me, just state ur purpose and there will be a 50/50 percent chance I’ll respond

✰ for art requests, i will draw anything EXECPT NSFW. remember i am a MINOR and I don’t draw stuff like that

✰ idk if I’ll start commissions soon since I’m pretty busy at the moment

✰ I will accept art trades! I like doing them :p

✰ you can use my art as a pfp/banner (credit isn’t forced, but appreciated)

✰ do not repost my art and/or claim it as ur own on other platforms. I find it very disrespectful since I took my time making it

✰ do not copy/edit my art

✰ ok time for dni:

tcest/incest, proshippers, lgbtq+ phobia, pedos, zoos, ableist, racism, sexism, heavy nsfw, weird fetishes. all of this makes me very uncomfortable. if you interact with me in any way, i will block you.

✰ in rottmnt, i do not like casey jr x turtles, kendra x turtles, cassandra x turtles, and april x turtles. I ship april with sunita & cassandra, I ship jr with my oc, and kendra is my wife. i will avoid content containing these ships.

✰ i will call my f/o’s wife/husband/bf/gf/lover/partner so if ur uncomfortable with that, sorry!

✰ im not that great of an artists so expect some mistakes in my artwork

✰ i do not have a schedule 4 posting art and chapters of my aus/stories so pls be patient with content!

✰ my phobias:

trypophobia. just seeing pictures make me shiver and scratch my skin a lot.

trypanophobia. i don’t hate seeing them but being injected with a needle freaks me out.

nyctophobia. im not that scared of the dark, only what’s in it.

claustrophobia. seeing pictures are ok but being in the situation makes me panic.

acrophobia. picutres are ok as well, it’s the situation i hate.

anddddd… that’s all i got 4 now! cya around ^_^

[fahrni]

The Musk Files - Definitely not a Genius

This guy is just like every other bully in the world. And to top it off he has money so he’s allowed to get away with behavior most people find abhorrent.

He ignores rules and laws and generally does whatever he wants free of consequence.

He’s a terrible human being.

Some of these links are fairly old since I haven’t posted one of these in a long time.

Yoel Roth • The New York Times

Backed by fans on social media, Mr. Trump publicly attacked me. Two years later, following his acquisition of Twitter and after I resigned my role as the company’s head of trust and safety, Elon Musk added fuel to the fire. I’ve lived with armed guards outside my home and have had to upend my family, go into hiding for months and repeatedly move.

Chris Taylor • Mashable

“This X shit’s got to go,” author Stephen King tweeted Thursday. That post received 71,000 likes by the end of the day. Elon Musk, creator of “this X shit,” responded to King with a “XX” and a winking-kiss emoji. Musk’s reply had a relatively tiny 7,300 likes at time of writing, despite the fact that Musk has 150 million more followers than King.

Jacob Kastrenakes • The Verge

Elon Musk wants X to be the center of your financial world, handling anything in your life that deals with money. He expects those features to launch by the end of 2024, he told X employees during an all hands call on Thursday, saying that people will be surprised with “just how powerful it is.”

Dan Sinker

A year ago Elon Musk took over Twitter. Too much has happened in the 365 days that followed to even begin to chronicle it all here, but the short version is that he quickly fired 80% of the staff, broke a bunch of things, paid racists, misogynists, and homophobes to set up shop, picked (sometimes literal) fights with anyone who struck his fancy, lost billions of dollars, and changed the iconic name and logo to the letter X just because.

Zoe Schiffer • platformer.news

On Friday, the National Labor Relations Board issued its first complaint against Elon Musk’s X Corp. The board accused X of illegally firing Yao Yue, a widely respected principal engineer at the company, for pushing back on Musk’s return-to-office policy, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Platformer.

Eric Hananoki • mediamatters.org

X’s internal reporting system repeatedly responded that posts claiming “Hitler was right” and that there needs to be a “final solution” regarding Jewish people don’t violate the platform’s “safety policies.” This isn’t an isolated example: The Center for Countering Digital Hate similarly released a report today finding that X has failed to remove neo-Nazi content on its platform in numerous cases.

Techdirt

CNBC is running an excerpt from the new Walter Isaacson book about Elon that details what happened with the closing of the data center, and it is way, way, way crazier than even I expected. When Musk talked about how he “disconnected one of the more sensitive server racks,” he meant that entirely literally, in that he literally unplugged it, involving a series of improbable (and ridiculously dangerous and stupid) decisions that resulted with him under the floorboards in the data center pulling the plug, after multiple people warned him not to.

Unprecedented

In July 2023, Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a Saudi Arabian Twitter user who had criticized the Kingdom’s corruption and human rights violations via an anonymous account with only 9 followers was sentenced to death.

Kylie Robison • Fortune

Elon Musk plans to remove headlines from news articles shared on X

Anne Applebaum • The Atlantic

But the drones ran into a problem: Starlink, the satellite-communications system that Ukraine had been using since Russia invaded early last year, unexpectedly wasn’t working. This was a surprise to the engineers. Several people, in Ukraine and elsewhere, frantically called and texted Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink, to persuade him to enable the system.

Sheldon Cooper • Forbes

Twitter, the social media platform officially known as X, appears to have deleted all images from the website that were posted between 2011 and 2014. Links that used Twitter’s native shortening service are also broken.

Pete Syme • Business Insider

An NYU professor with 560,000 followers says he’s been locked out of his X account for over 2 weeks after declining to meet with Elon Musk

Casey Newton • platformer.news

Today let’s talk about a wild weekend of backtracking at the company formerly known as Twitter — and how it should inform the way we cover Elon Musk and his frequent promises in the future.

Nitish Pahwa and Nitish Pahwa • Slate

An Interview With the Guy Who Was @Music on Twitter Until Elon Musk’s X Took the Username Away

[noonecanhearyouscreen]

The Bad Movie Rules

Watching Bad Movies has become a thing we do on purpose now. In this age of media saturation, watching a bad movie has become more than something that can wreck your day. Now we can seek out horrible things to watch and argue about what's the worst! Isn't living in the future great kids? That arguing about what's worst though, therein lies the problem. Just by ratings the worst 5 movies on IMDB are:

Disaster Movie- The terrible parody version of films like Armageddon.

Manos the Hands of Fate- which…we will come back to. 

Birdemic: Shock and Terror- You may have heard of this one, but the main complaint I hear is  the "effects are terrible" of course they are, have you seen this thing? I'd be more surprised if they were great.

Super Babies: Baby Geniuses 2- A barely put together children’s comedy that isn’t even intended for the people that hate it.

The Hottie and the Nottie- Not even an incompetent movie so much as a misogynistic romantic comedy about a guy falling for the “hot” girl’s “ugly” best friend. Most of the complaints are that this stars Paris Hilton, and if you think she’s the worst actor ever…oh you sweet, summer child.

In my mind only one of these even has a chance at being the worst movie ever, because four of these things barely qualify as movies. If you want to enjoy a bad movie with your friends, none of these are going to be enjoyable. So I’ve come up with a list of guidelines that will lead you to the kind of hubris induced failure that is worth your time.

1- It must have had a theatrical release

If a movie didn't get a theatrical release, that means that the people behind it didn't think it was worth advertising the film.  They basically decided they would rather wait till people watch it accidentally via streaming (or home video in the good old days). If they don't care about it, there's probably nothing worth seeing.

However, if a bad movie has had a theatrical release it means that someone believed in this movie enough to buy advertising, print posters, send it to theaters and charge people for the pleasure of seeing it once. And that is beautiful. This includes major releases on streaming platforms that are advertised like theatrical releases. 

2- No Blatant Cash Grabs

Similarly blatant cash grabs don't count because no one really cared about this movie in the first place, not one person was actually attempting to create something. These movies were not filmed, they were manufactured. Complaining that these movies are bad is like complaining that spray can cheese is bad. What are you really expecting?

Cash Grabs Include:

Sequels: Sequels are predisposed to being awful because generally they aren't planned and a filmmaker is offered huge sums of money to make one even though they only really had one good idea. See also prequels. Can you blame George Lucas for making Episode I? It was free money, and he'd already used up his good ideas. Ditto whatever Star Wars sequel you don’t like: studios only make sequels because they know the public will watch them, so whose fault is it really?

Fool Your Grandmother movies: Anything by Asylum counts under this heading as it is all they do. Asylum never really expects anyone to watch Transmorphers. They just expect to make enough money to get by on people's grandmothers buying the wrong movie at Christmas, or someone pressing play because they “just saw an ad for that movie.”

Parodies and "Genre Comedies": These are really the same as above but they're basically just making the same movies expect filled with unfunny jokes and ultra low budgets. Basically only Mel Brooks ever knew how to do a parody right anyway. Speaking of-

3- No Comedies. 

Drama- Quality= Comedy

Comedy- Quality= Misery

You don't really want to listen to someone tell bad jokes for two hours do you?

4- It has to have the best chance possible.

This is by no means an endorsement of  the American movie studio system. 

Just as a movie can be excellent because its makers made the most out of their small budget and limited effects, to be truly bad a movie has to squander every possible advantage it has. It's no fair calling something bad if it was made by a college student in Russia for $10. If someone makes a good movie with that it would be an achievement, if you make a bad movie with that it's expected.

This also applies to movies that are made for a niche audience: Christian movies, Sci-fi channel movies, Lifetime movies, etc. It's not fair to call a Christian movie the worst thing ever when that studio only accepts scripts from Christian filmmakers about Christian themes. They aren't playing with the same deck.

5- Someone Had to try.

This is the key to having a great bad movie experience. Just one person, who believed in the movie enough to give it their best shot. Whether it's a classically trained actor who's acting their heart out of a terrible script; a set designer who has amazing potential; or a brilliant director desperately trying to salvage horrible performances. All of these things can show you a glimmer of hope in an utterly terrible movie.

I ask you, dear reader, to keep these rules in mind as you follow me down the dark and unholy rabbit hole we’ll call Bad Movies with Brad. Sometimes we’ll adhere to these rules heavily, sometimes I’ll break one to show you a glorious exception to the rule. Sometimes I’ll show you the brutal aftermath of exposing these films to human test subjects, or as I call them, my friends. And maybe someday I’ll have a whole vault of these films that I can show Hollywood whenever they decide to remake them.

[manggaetteokkie]

So what are your top 5 favorite BTS songs and then top 5 favorite BTS videos?

Then what are you top 5 favorite Jikook moments? Lol Haaaard questions

Gonna combine these two cause I think these are from the same anonie, who I’m starting to think likes to make people suffer djfhskdh (if it’s not from the same person, then big rip) 

Sorry this took so long, I was really trying to narrow it down to top 5 and I think I still ended up failing... I actually do this with my friends but usually, we’re a little bit more generous by narrowing it down to stuff like: top 5 title tracks, top 5 rap-line, top 5 vocal line, top 5 albums, etc... Asking me top 5 songs from their entire discography is absolutely savage.

For my top 5 BTS songs (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER BECAUSE I BARELY NARROWED IT DOWN TO FIVE, YOU CANT MAKE ME RANK THEM):

Blood Sweat & Tears: the monarch, the goat, putting it simply, the absolute best. I honestly remember when the Wings short films started dropping, my friend and I panicked HARD because we were like “WTF IS GOING ON WHAT IS THIS”. And then the teaser dropped, and it was so different from the “typical” BTS we’ve been getting, so we were even more confused. But then... The MV dropped and that was honestly just such a massive turning point for everything. Also, as an ARMY with a Jimin bias, I almost didn’t survive it.

Attack on Bangtan: okay this is honestly just such a fun hype song that never gets old no matter how many times you listen to it? It’s honestly a classic and whenever it plays on Run BTS, I know I’m either about to witness an epic moment or it’s gonna send my ass on the floor from laughing. (Also, let us never forget Tae’s “Nico nico niiii~”)

I Need U: okay this was The song that got me learning all their names and holy shit, I’ve listened to this song so much, it’s currently 5th most played song (out of nearly 2k songs) in my iTunes with 1,338 plays. When one hears “Fall...”, one does not simply resist the urge to belt “EVERYTHANG” with feelings. Also, funnily enough, the one that first caught my eye was Yoongi, there was something so eye-catching about the way he rapped in such a despondent manner at the start of the mv. 

House of Cards: I definitely need to put this one because I’ve listened to this song a total of 2,104 times, if you add the Prologue (short) version total (861) to the full length one (1,243). This was my “hoe” anthem long before My Time was born. I deadass fell in love with the song 10 seconds in, there was no saving me and you cannot stop anyone from doing emo bodyrolls when it comes up. Jikook’s bridge? I can’t sing to save my life but you can bet your ass I’m lipsyncing to that shit every single time.

I HATE THIS. I HATE PICKING THE LAST ONE, I WANT TO FIT THEIR ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY INTO THIS LAST SPOT FFFFFFF.

And now, the last one... can I cheat and throw Euphoria, Serendipity and Seesaw all at my 5th spot? Cause I REALLY can’t pick one out of these 3 skjdhfkshdkf I have such an emotional attachment to Serendipity and Euphoria at this point (DJ Swivel remix of Euphoria? Hello?? I almost cried??? You are me, I am you?? HMMM????), and Seesaw just really surprised me. I absolutely was not expecting it, but holy shit, Seesaw slapped and it slapped hard. At this point, I’m like, anything Yoongi touches turns to absolute gold, I can’t resist him.

Okay I have so many other faves (Spring Day, Baepsae, etc.) but since you only asked for top 5 and not, like, top 100, I have to stop myself here, but I also very curious about your top 5s if you guys wanna share!! Let’s see how well you do, only narrowing it down to 5.

For my top 5 BTS videos (I only counted Bangtan Bombs and live performances, excluding MVs, since you didn’t specify. Otherwise there are too many... just thinking about how many Run BTS episodes I could fit otherwise lmfao):

Perfect Man: I’m a Jimin stan. What did you expect, me to not include this masterpiece??

As I Told You: Good lord, Jungkook was so fkn attractive in a hockey jersey of all things. I honestly loved it so much, I can listen to the live audio as is.

2018 MMA - IDOL Intro Performance (3J focus): Again, I am a Jimin stan. But seriously, from Hobi hitting every. single. beat. while dancing on a raised platform, to Jimin’s fan dance (I streamed the show live and I couldn’t focus on anything else after), to JK lounging like the absolute king that he is, what’s not to love?

It’s Tricky Bangtan Bomb: oldie but goldie, honestly. All of them were babies but holy shit, if their casual dancing didn’t absolutely make me fall in love with them all over again. It honestly never gets old no matter how many times I watch it.

BTS Carpool Karaoke: I have to admit, I honestly got stuck picking the last one so I went with this one because I feel like this is a really really good video to introduce others to BTS to. From their amazing acapella vocals (JK belting Finesse lives in my mind rent free) to how they were so perfectly themselves? You had Hobi’s sunshine smile in the middle, Baby Mochi, Jin’s “I don’t know what he said, but let’s laugh ha ha ha ha”, etc. 

Okay I have to admit something, I probably forgot like 90% of their videos so if any of you guys mention a video, I might go “AH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THAT ONE SKDJFHKSH” so take this list more as a “bangtan videos you should 100% watch” :^)

For my top 5 jikook moments (you absolutely devil, how could you ask me such a question), in no particular order because, again, I actually cannot physically bring myself to rank them:

Jimin comforting a crying JK during LY: (6:05) the way Jimin ran over as soon as he saw Jungkook bent over, facing the backstage. My heart. And he kept JK company for a bit, making sure he was fine before leaving. This whole thing just makes my heart melt into a puddle no matter how many times I think/see about it because it’s like, the timing is just? Anpanman barely started and he just looked over, saw, and ran over. Jesus Christ.

That Jikook moment during SY Seoul Finale: Just how much comfort Jimin must represent for Jungkook to let the dam free once again just seeing his face aghhhhhasgdahj I literally made an entire post about that moment because of how incredibly soft it gets me. I’ve linked it but it’s also my pinned so it’s very easy to find. 

“Are you guys dating?”: (start) holy shit okay so this moment is so sdjkfhkdshkfdhks the way both of them were so giggly? It never fails to make me laugh how absolutely done Joon sounded when he said “push quickly!” Also, just how soft did Jimin make his voice when he asked “are you ready”? and how JK, the single most competitive member of BTS, was just giggling the entire time and didn’t even try pushing Jimin before Jimin ended up eliminating himself. Not to mention how JK couldn’t into Jimin’s eyes and only finally made eye contact with at the very end :^)

MMA 2018: lmao okay so I’m just gonna throw this entire fkn night into the mix. I still remember how it was the wee hours in the morning for me when I started following the live stream and damn, they were literally inseparable the entire time. My TL was exploding in Jikook content and between watching them through the official broadcast and watching the fancams, I was BUSY. They did everything: whispering to each other’s ears, slinging their arms around each other’s shoulders, JK massaging JM’s nape, JK pulling JM down to sit... phew.

GCF in Tokyo: Okay so this is one of those things that the more you think about it, the more you can’t believe it’s real. I couldn’t not include this simply because of how meaningful the whole thing was. There’s so much about it that makes me ????? because JK really booked a two-person trip to Tokyo for Jimin’s birthday. And Jimin genuinely had fun on that trip. The whole thing just shows how comfortable the two of them are with each other because they’d never had gone on a trip together elsewise. I recently saw a Korean movie director’s reaction to GCF and the whole thing didn’t have any subs, but the two reactors were like “ohhh... these two... these two must be really close” (they’d reacted to BTS MVs before, but they’re not familiar with how the members are outside of that). From my limited Korean understanding, the movie director then commented “Because the model and the director are so close, it’s very natural” (if I’ve gotten any Korean followers, I’d love to get confirmation on the words said because my Korean understanding isn’t perfect and I don’t want to be spreading crap around). GCF in Tokyo is also the first video posted under the GCF label, with JK editing the whole thing himself. He filmed, he directed, he edited. And his main actor was Jimin.

I was this 👌🏻 close to adding LY lap sitting and Rose Bowl moments but I had other faves to include so I thought I’d go with something else :^) GCF forced its way into my list, I had no say in it.

Okay so I hope this was enough skdjfhkdshfs this post got really long cause I couldn’t help myself from giving reasons for why I included the ones I did, I’m sorry sjkfhdks Please feel free to share you’re own fave songs/videos/jikook moments!!

[samyistrying]

3-Word-Prompt: Astronomy Tower, Tears & Dawn. Prompted by / Written for @pauleonotis

Drarry // Established Relationship // Hurt / Comfort // (kinda) Angst // Post-Hogwarts // General Audiences // AO3 // German Version 

The Balance 

“This is going to be fine. Of course! Nothing can go wrong, right?”

Harry didn’t feel like the emotional support he was supposed to be in this situation. Not surprisingly, he more than nervously pushed open the door to the platform of the Astronomy Tower and looked around worried. Everything was dark, only the moon and a few stars provided the necessary light. Perfect conditions for their project.

“No need to be so tense. The Healer wouldn't have recommended it if it was too risky,” Draco replied, a little bit of well-hidden restlessness in his voice. He looked around on the platform, no reaction to be seen.

Harry sighed. He wondered how he had let himself be convinced into this madness. But it was probably for the best.

“Is this place good? Or should I rather stand where I-?” Draco faltered.

Draco still showed no reaction, but Harry suspected that his own facial expression had become independent. He didn't like this place. Not since Dumbledore died. And that this experience brought them back here after years was even less pleasing to him.

“Yeah, maybe that's better. I think you were standing about here.” Harry gestured in the approximate direction; he didn’t really trust his memory.

“Harry, if this is too much for you, you don't have to stay.”

There it was. Harry had already heard enough of this sentence. But there was no question. Of course, he would support Draco, no matter how uncomfortable it was for him.

“Who's tense now? I'm staying.”

Draco just shrugged, of course. He only had a rough idea of what he was getting himself into. Harry was afraid Draco would soon lose his calm attitude.

“All right, come here! I have to cast the spell.”

Harry followed the call. He knew what would happen now, he had made the connection with Draco hundreds of times before. Even if only for a few seconds. Draco's Healer had insisted on preparing them sufficiently, so they had practiced restlessly until he’d been satisfied.

“Mr. Potter, you will be the bridge to reality. It's incredibly important that you don't lose yourself in memories.”  That's what the Healer had said and it had sounded easy to Harry. But now that he was actually where it all had happened… He had thought it would be easier.

Leaning his forehead against Draco's, their wands united in their hands, Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on freeing his mind while Draco quietly began to speak the incantation.

It wasn’t simply Legilimency that they would use here. The spell was more complex, allowing them to withdraw completely into their minds. Quite useful to search for a particular memory, but also very dangerous, because it is easy to get lost in the past.

That's why Harry was here. To bring Draco back.

Can you hear me?

Harry flinched a little, Draco's voice was unusual every time it sounded in his head and didn't come out of the blond wizard's mouth.

I'll take that as a yes.

Harry disengaged himself from their position and looked at Draco for a moment, who returned the look calmly. He didn't know what he was getting himself into here. Of course he was calm.

You're worried.

“No,” lied Harry. The connection would let Draco know he wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't care. He didn't want to make Draco nervous.

Harry…

“It's all right, okay? We've talked about this. I know how important this is to you!”

Draco sighed, then nodded. “It'll be fine.”

Harry closed his eyes, concentrated on Draco and his thoughts. That was just the jump-start, soon he had to break free and stay in reality.

Draco's memories flew past him, flashed up, faded. It was almost too fast, but Harry knew Draco was searching. This place, it was supposed to help him find it.

An impatient wheeze of Draco almost brought Harry back to reality prematurely.

You'll find it, stop worrying!

This time Draco snorted, but in his mind voice and Harry almost laughed. The former Slytherin was quickly brought to drive up the wall. Usually Harry enjoyed this a little too much.

I can't find it, I'll need yours.

Harry frowned. He knew that Draco was good at assessing his abilities, but the decision seemed a bit hasty to him.

Not yet.

Harry, I'm serious! I won't find it. I only need the first 3 seconds….

Harry rubbed his temples; Draco's memories flew past him faster and faster in front of his inner eye. Everything in him was reluctant to give Draco the memory he asked of him. He knew that Draco thought Harry was so coy because the memory hurt him and although that certainly added to his discomfort, it wasn't the whole truth. With the pictures would come the emotions and he didn't want Draco to see the full extent.

I can find it for you, you just have to- Can you slow this down?

Draco's mind voice growled annoyed, but the stream of memories actually slowed down. Harry almost sighed in relief as he began to search in rapid succession.

A white peacock on a green meadow, a broomstick between his legs, the autumn wind in his hair while he turned brown leaves red and yellow again with wandless magic. Draco's childhood memories. So many holes, so much blurred or erased. Harry understood why Draco took this risk.

The feeling of parchment in his ink-dyed fingers, the splashing in front of round windows, loud laughter that filled the Slytherin Common Room. Hogwarts. Harry was on the right track.

Why don't you just show me your memory? This would be so much faster.

Draco sounded almost bored.

Shh, I'm close!

Cold hands on his wrist pulling him to class, the tiredness that occupied his limbs while he was studying late at night, green eyes, dark hair…

Potter! That’s private!

Harry could feel the memory being wrested from him, he immediately slipped into another, a harmless one.

It's not private, it's me! I was literally there when you looked at me! And stop calling me that!

Snow - no, ice! So much ice and music, the rustling of dress robes, more music, not very good music.

You won't find it.

Draco was right, not here. Not in fourth year. Harry let the stream of memories float past him faster. He didn’t want to surrender yet, he felt that he was close. Too close to give up.

Harry…

Just a minute! I think I almost got it!

You’re wrong. You won't find it.

“Draco, can you shut up, I'm trying to concentrate!” Harry had said it out loud, hoping it would have more effect than his mind voice.

He kept looking.

Red eyes, snakeskin, stone walls, Hogwarts, an apple, a chirp, pain. So much pain and hate. Tears and blood, the smell of iron, the smell of death, water. More pain. Pain from one wound, from multiple wounds. Again the memory was wrested from him, but Harry went into the next one without comment. He was close. So close.

And there it was.

Wind cutting his skin, an old man with white hair in front of him, the trembling of his body. Words that didn’t reach him. Harry's heart skipped a beat.

There it is.

I can't see it.

You- What? Of course! This is your memory; I can see it right here in front of me!

I know there's something there, I just can't see what it is. It's… hidden.

This time Harry sighed both in his mind voice and in reality. That was bad. Very bad. The Healer had warned them that this could happen. Draco had repressed this memory, but they had never been able to pinpoint the exact time it had happened.

“When it has been too long, sometimes it’s not possible to reawaken the memory through external influences and the spell alone,”  the Healer had said. “There are other methods to access the memory, but it’s risky. Mr. Malfoy, it may be that you can only awaken a distorted version of your memory; that wouldn't bring your parents back.”

Harry had been furious when Draco had said that he still wanted to hear about the methods. Draco hadn't understood why Harry had gotten angry. Of course not. He didn't remember, how could he know?

Draco, please-

I have to do this, Harry. I can't help it!

Harry's heart grew heavy. His worst fears would come true. He didn't want Draco to go through that pain. There was a reason why he had repressed this memory, why his mind wanted to protect him from it! It was too much; it might throw off Draco's balance. It could tear him apart.

It's going to be hell.

I know.

No, Draco didn't know. He couldn't have known. He had forgotten.

You will not only awake this memory. You'll live through them all. In one fell swoop.

I know.

Harry exhaled noisily.

Draco, I- Are you sure?

Yes.

How can you be sure? You don't know what to expect. You can't even imagine how painful-

No, you don't understand. I forgot them! Forgot, Harry! My own parents!

“A fairly common side effect,”  the Healer had said. “When our mind represses a memory for our own protection, it sets off a chain reaction that makes us forget even the most important things or people.”

The chain reaction would have spared no one. Harry knew he was lucky Draco hadn't forgotten him. No, he had forgotten his parents instead.

At first, only fragments had been missing, but eventually Draco hadn't even seen them anymore. Even when Narzissa took Draco's hand, the gesture was tormented, as if she was not his mother, but a distant relative he met for the first time in his life.

It had taken months to find out which memory had triggered this chain reaction. And just as long to prepare this night, to reawaken the memory, to undo everything.

Your parents were no saints, Draco. Your mind was trying to protect you. Your father-

I know that.

No, Draco didn't know. He couldn't have known. He just thought he knew.

You wouldn't want to forget them either, would you? They're dead, you wouldn't even have to see them, but you wouldn't want to forget them. The memory of them, everyone assumes that it just hurts you, but you love it. There is pain, there is despair, but there is also love and happiness. Joy and hope. Everything is a balance, you said so yourself.

Harry was silent and Draco continued speaking softly.

You think the pain will throw off my balance, but it won't. The pain, the memory, everything I have forgotten, they are part of the balance. I need them. So, please-

And then Harry kissed Draco's cool fingers, pressed them to his lips, and when he let go, he nodded.

The risk is high. If you see my memory but it doesn’t activate your own, then you will only keep a distorted version. Your parents will remain strangers, your spirit remains veiled.

Harry, I kno-

And you will feel my emotions from the memory. You have to resist feeling them, do you understand? If you start to believe my emotions, then -

Then you will know that I hated you. Then you won't be able to forgive me. Then you'll never be able to believe again that I feel nothing but love for you. Then your memory will be distorted and you might forget that you love me. That I love you. Oh, Draco…

Trust me. I know I can do this .

Harry nodded gently, holding Draco's fingers in his tight grip and tried to calm his heart. He trusted Draco. Of course he did.

Entering his own stream of memories, Harry hesitated one last time.

Ready?

Yes.

Harry concentrated, saw the night, saw the Astronomy Tower, saw the pain, saw Draco, saw the old dying man, then released the memory for Draco and opened his eyes. His part was done, now it was on Draco to remember. 

And Draco did. He remembered everything, every detail and Harry stayed with him. Remained his bridge to reality.

He watched. Watched as the love of his life screamed, lashed out, cried for help, whimpered, suffered pain and sold his soul to the devil once again.

And he did nothing. Only holding the cool fingers, set free the tears that ran down his cheeks lonely and were carried away by the wind.

He waited. Waited for Draco's cries to die down, for their connection to fade, for Draco to return to reality and sink to his knees in Harry's arms.

And then, as dawn broke in the east, he held Draco. And he never let go of him.

[duckduckngoose]

Dsmp survey overview/results

Its a long boy so its under read more.

While it wont affect the current results, the survey is still open: https://forms.gle/J6JoS79CUGNFz2Y26

Answers on survey: 178

Some notes before i start:

-The survey has been open for 20 hours before the overview was made

-Unless alot of (non-free) options are also at 1 custom answers wont be counted

-Completely free questions wont be shown on the overview, for the sake of privacy of people who asked to not have their answers shown

-While alot have answers have come in, this is not a reprensentetive of the entire fandom. The fandom is huge and spread over multiple platforms, the results being completely accurate to the fandom is impossible

-All takers of the survey are from tumblr, the survey was also promoted on twitter but it didnt result in answers

General starting questions overview

Most common answer:

Bisexual (54 answers)

Least common answer (exluding free answers):

Heterosexual (7 answers)

Notes:

As seen in the question, there was a change that would be made but too many people took the survey already and deleting an option would mess up the results

-

Most common answer:

Woman (50 answers)

Least common answer:

Man (20 answers)

Notes:

Nonbinary was added as an option later on as an request. How many people answered other are nonbinary is not known.

-

Most common answer:

Origins SMP (143 answers)

Least common answer:

Epic smp (11 answers)

Notes:

Origins and 3rd life smp where added later on due to how much theyve been answered in the free question.

-

Most common answer:

Art (88 answers)

Least common answer:

Clips (4 answers)

Notes:

Music, cosplay, theories where forgotten to be included on the list

-

Favorites and least favorites

Note: this part will include a top 3 most chosen answers instead of just 1.

0 answers on options will not be included in the results

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Tommyinnit (33 answers)

2. Wilbur (alive version) (30 answers)

3. Tubbo (24 answers)

Least common answers;

Awesamdude, Puffy, Schlatt, Connor, Sapnap, Ranbob, Karl jacobs and Niki (1 answer)

Notes:

Technoblade and Ranboo where tied for the majority of the early phases of the survey, but in the end didnt even make it to the top 3, how sad.

Sally and friend where also included as an option, but got 0 votes. Ranbob was also not an option, however someone said Ranbob was their favorite character on a free question so ranbob was added to the results

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Ranboo (41 answers)

2. Tommyinnit (30 answers)

3. Technoblade (19 answers)

Least common answers; 

Niki, Skeppy, Punz, Hbomb (1 answer)

Notes:

Tubbo is in 4th place, and only has 1 answer less than technoblade, several people are at 0 but 0 answers are not included in the results

-

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Dream (66 answers)

2. Georgenotfound (19 answers)

3. Technoblade (14 answers)

Least common answers:

Micheal, Punz, Puffy, Jack manifold, Ranboo (1 answers)

Notes:

Most common reason for answering Dream is just hating the character, for george its not dislike, simply least favorite, for techno its being critical of the character.

Reason for disliking character is not included in review, simply only looked at regarding the least favorite character question

More questions

Notes: some of the reviews of questions in this slide will be formatted in a top 3, others simply only the most and least picked option. This is due to this part differing in types of questions more than previous parts.

Most common answer:

No, but i am critical of characters (80 answers)

Least common answer:

I made like 1 critical post (15 answers)

Notes:

‘Yes, and very often’ was answered 0 times, and not included in the final results

-

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Technoblade (35 answers)

2. Dream (22 answers)

3. Philza

Least common answers:

Georgenotfound, Sapnap, Tubbo, Fundy (1 answer)

Notes:

The none option is not included in the final results, neither are 0 answers options

-

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Prison Plot(s) (123 answers)

2. Snowchester (118 answers)

3. Syndicate (101 answers)

Least common answers:

Lsandburg (25 answers)

Notes:

Some plots might have been forgotten, plots that are over arent mention and character specific plots are not included

-

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Tommy (129 answers)

2. Ranboo (126 answers)

3. Wilbur (104 answers)

Least common answers: Purpled, Skeppy (2 answers)

Notes: Skeppy and Purpled where forgotten in the original answers (a mistake), hoever they still are answered on the free answers

-

Note: ‘If a lore event happens, how do you choose the POV to watch?’ question has been left out due to the many custom answers/the lack of use it has on the research

-

Note: Results to these questions have been added together due to them being closely related to eachother

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Tommyinnit (82 answers)

2. Tubbo (74 answers)

3. Ranboo (66 answers)

Least common answer:

Georgenotfound (2 answers)

Notes:

none

-

Extra question that arent needed, but which im rll curious ab

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Any older mcyt (111 answers)

2. Undertale (97 answers)

3. Sander sides (96 answers)

Least common answers:

Unnus Annus (20 answers)

Notes: Unnus Annus and Jacksepticeye/Markiplier where added later on request

-

Top 3 most common answers:

1. Tumblr (176 answers)

2. Twitch (108 answers)

3. Youtube (101 answers)

Least common answer:

Instagram (35 answers)

Notes:

Tik tok, Discord and ao3 where forgotten to be included

-

Extra free answer notes

The free answers are not included in the results, but they all have been read and apreciatted.

Extra extra notes without trying to sound smart

Ok all of this was so fucking wild. Like i made a survey expecting like 20 answers maybe 50 at most and almost got to 180 answers.

Also i spend 2 hours making this overview, answers doesnt feel like an word anymore and im fucking tired.

Anyways all the comments on the survey are amazing, im keeping the survey open for probaly forever and imma play minecraft now.

Also if you read this entire thing your pogchamp!

[unforth]

Hi there! I absolutely loooove the destiel fic collection and think that it's a genius way to expose fans to fics that might not always get as much attention on fic recs and when searching on ao3. I was thinking of trying to create a similar collection for another fandom and was wondering if you have any tips? Or if there's anything that you wish you knew when you started it? Thank you!

Hi!! Just for openers, sorry I didn’t reply to this yesterday, my mom’s basement flooded and took with it all my writing time, sigh. ANYWAY. On to the topic at hand. How to make a “faves survey” for another fandom, and have it resemble what I’ve made for Destiel? Well, here’s what I’ve done, hopefully some of it will be applicable to you...

1. This is the most important part: Do NOT let it become or be perceived as a popularity contest. Never release the raw stats (except perhaps to a small number of people who you trust to help you). Never announce a “winner.” Never share a ranked list. Never act as if more votes equals better. Never ever suggest in anyway that your purpose to find “the best.” Treat people and fics who get one vote with just as much fanfare as people and fics who get 50 votes. I do release a “top 20″ list just because so many people asked, but even then, it’s in alphabetical order, and meant more as a snapshot. Encourage people to vote for their favorites that aren’t already in whatever collection you end up making, and encourage people to vote for things they don’t usually see on rec lists. Aim for an expansive range of types of fics being voted for, and make it clear - no ship shaming (or secondary ship shaming, if yours is ship-based like mine, rather than being general to a given fandom) or kink shaming. 

2. Keep the survey super simple. People don’t read complex instructions, and they’re not going to want to rank lists or anything like that. You can see the one I use here. Feel free to emulate it, copy it, modify it for your own purposes. I used to just do boxes but people would routinely put in way more than 5/10, and while I didn’t really mind the extras, it greatly increased the amount of work I had to do, and since the survey routinely gets a couple hundred replies that I go through, I decided to make it a little harder for people to go over the limits. Don’t bother asking for people’s names or trying to validate the results. I’ve tried. People don’t want to put their names, and validation encourages people not to submit...AND doesn’t prevent cheating...so is really pointless. Just keep it anonymous, after four rounds I can say...that works best.

3. And, speaking of people going over the limits, and cheating...people will cheat. No matter how clear you are that number of votes don’t matter, no matter how much you insist that whatever data you’re collecting will only be used in so-and-so a way...you will spot people “cheating,” for various definitions of the word cheating. People who vote for their own works. People will submit multiple surveys. People will “ballot box stuff” for their favorite(s). People will list more than the maximums you’ve asked them to. People will submit works from other ships, and - though it’s never happened to me - if you make it fandom-general I’ll lay heavy odds at least one dumbass will submit for some other fandom entirely. It happens in different permutations every time, some more obvious than others, but it happens. And the conclusion I reached is...so fucking what? In the end, since the idea is to highlight as many different great works as possible...screw it. Let people vote for themselves. Let people ballot box stuff. Let people submit multiple surveys, or list more than whatever maximums you’ve set. In the end, since every work is treated as equal and one vote is worth as much as a hundred...if they’re cheating to up the vote count, it’s irrelevant, and if they’re cheating to vote for more works, then yay! more works to include! and basically the only thing I’ve found that reduces cheating is to make it absolutely clear to people that I’d really rather they not but ultimately I can’t stop them, so do their thing I guess? And it does help. I got less cheating each time I do it, or at least less that I’m able to catch lol. (as a side note - the one exceptions is the “works for others ships.” Those you can see listed on the “INELIGIBLE” sheet of the spreadsheet I link below, but I don’t add them to the AO3 collection.)

4. Spreadsheets are your best friend. You’re going to want some way to organize the data you’re collecting. I’ve got a public version of the sheet I use that you can see here. It’s pretty similar to my “private” version, except the private version includes actual vote counts, separated by which time(s) I did the survey that the work in question got votes. I mostly use that data so I can do comparisons over the years (“this year X works were added to the collection that were never in it before!”) and because I like numbers. However, depending on how exactly you plan to use the data, you may not even need to tally vote counts, and you could do one that’s more similar to my public version. Also, if you make an AO3 collection, you’re going to want some way to track which works you’ve invited, which have been added, etc., cause otherwise it’s just a nightmare to keep track of. (a little more on this later).

5. Decide how and where you’re going to share your data - as an AO3 collection? As a public spreadsheet? On social media? Maybe you want to make a side Tumblr just for it? Or a Discord server? etc. etc. Like, I’ve got a pillowfort group (though I hardly use it) and a channel in a Discord server (thanks again to the PB folks for making space for me!) with the AO3 collection being the main portal. You want to make sure that it’s advertised enough that people know it exists, and also be prepared that short term you’ll hear basically no feedback on whether people use it, and even long term it’ll be once in a blue moon and suddenly eight people will be like WAIT YOU’RE THE PERSON BEHIND THAT THING I LOVE THAT THING. In that respect it can feel a little thankless but I’ve definitely found that people do use it, it’s just that there’s no real way for people to let YOU know they’re using it (and, honestly...good? This isn’t really about us, after all, it’s about all these fic writers, the goal is to bring attention to them, not ourselves, we’re just a go-between for the writers and the readers.)

6. For making an AO3 collection, you’ll have to invite every single work individually. Some people have their accounts set to auto-accept invites, but otherwise whether the work actually gets added will depend on the authors. Some people will never accept the invite. Some people won’t know how to accept the invite. Some people will accept the invite and then subsequently remove their work. Some people have left these parts completely and will never even see the invite. That’s why it’s important to track who has added and who hasn’t, and periodically double check it (I double check every six months or so). For the people who don’t accept the invites for whatever reason, you can bookmark the item to the collection. HOWEVER, if you do this with your personal account, every single one of those bookmarks will be listed under your personal AO3, which is why I ultimately made the Faves survey its own account - it’s entirely to facilitate bookmarking. You can also use the “Bookmark External Work” feature to link to works that aren’t on AO3, and to tag them to whatever extent you want to. Here’s some examples of how I chose to bookmark external works.

7. Things will inevitably get complicated. Authors will change their names. People who do the survey will use shorthand you’ve never heard of for some fic you don’t know. People will misspell things and you’ll either recognize it even with the typo...or you won’t. People will vote for things that list eight different ships and you’ll have no idea which one is endgame. People will vote for things that have been deleted, or they’ll tell you it’s definitely on AO3 when it’s not, it’s on some other platform. The list of random things I’ve had to deal with is stupidly long and I’ve probably forgotten even more. Just...roll with it. Do your best. Ask for help (“Someone nominated a fic abbreviated as ABC to the collection and didn’t give the author and I have no idea what it is, help me Tumblr!”). And in the end, if you’ve done everything you can think of and you still don’t know...let it go. It’s just not that worth worrying about. And sometimes if you step away and look again in a few days you’ll figure out another way to search and it’ll pop up. But honestly I’ve got a handful of works I still haven’t been able to track down, and that one work that someone submitted that’s only available in Finnish and is explicit and behind a log-in wall on a small independent Finnish-only fic archive...well, I spoke to the author and confirmed the work exists, but otherwise...whelp, it’s not linked, and I did my best. That’s all you can do.

8. No matter what you do, someone somewhere will probably get upset about it. The first time I did the survey, when it got the most traction, I actually got a little hate, and I got some anons who were like “oooooo did you know that ~x~ is cheating” and I had a little “HOW DARE YOU NOT PLAY FAVORITES WHAT ABOUT MY PERSONAL FAVE?” and just...decide how you’re approaching the survey, and stick to your guns, and if anyone is a douche, hit the block button. And, related...

9. Transparency is most important imo. Not transparency for vote counts obviously, but transparency for what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, and what you hope to accomplish. Make sure your goals are clear from the start (mine weren’t that first time, hence some of the problems I encountered) - if it’s to highlight as wide a range of works as possible, say that. If it IS to pick a favorite, say that too. Just be clear, and honest, and above board, and it should work out okay.

10. Side note...one of the saddest things about all this is that if you do it over an extended period you’ll see authors deleting their works. As such, I personally chose to download every work that gets a vote, that way it’s at least preserved. I then expanded that into a much larger archive that I’m still adding to all the time, trying to save as much Destiel as possible. But then, I’m an archivist at heart, whether you want to branch out in that kind of direction is up to you.

...okay, that’s everything I can think of. Hopefully I didn’t scare you too bad. I don’t know what fandom/ship you’re looking at but for perspective...first time I did the survey I got about 400 replies, and then the next two times it got about 200, and this most recent time it got about 300. I chose to do mine annually, on the assumption that gives some time for people to come and go for fandom and a lot of new works to get created, and I deliberately timed it for about a month after the biggest fandom event (the DCBB) that generates fics, to give people time to read those fics and consider them in their voting. For me, that means I happen to run the survey starting on January 1st, and I keep it limited to 15 days, since usually it tapers off anyway. But you could try experimenting with different schedules, or leaving it open all the time, etc., it just depends how much time you want to devote to monitoring and updating it. For me, I mostly want to do a big burst of work and then not have to think about it most of the rest of the time, lol.

So...questions? comments? thoughts? wanna tell me I’m dead wrong? I’m all ears, lemme know how I can help!

[spockandawe]

HEY THERE, you have me interested in The Untamed but I'm a little lost as to where to start, there's both a 50 episode normal version and a 20 episode special edition, which should I watch/start with? Also WHAT does your svsss tag stand for? I'm seeing "The Untamed" and "Chén Qíng Lìng" and "Mo Dao Zu Shi" and "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" thrown around as synonyms or related pieces of media, but nothing with svsss!

Sure thing!!

Okay, to start with, I’d definitely go with the 50-episode version. It’s a Lot, and there is some padding added to the story compared to the original book, but twenty episodes seems really, really short to do justice to the central plot 

(a quick skim of google tells me that the special edition leans harder into the original novel’s gayness, which the show has to be coy about, because china. i think there are expanded scenes featuring the two leads, which is awesome, because their acting is AMAZING, but that just means the plot scenes are even more compressed. I saw at least one person recommend that you not do the special edition unless you’ve consumed the story in at least one other more standard format already)

Also! Iirc, the show is available on youtube and netflix, among other platforms, though those two are wonderfully accessible. However, comma, I do hear from people fluent in chinese that the subtitles sometimes are inaccurate in unnecessary/unfortunate ways. From what I hear, viki has the best complete set of subtitles (I think there may be fansub projects in progress, but I am not at all in touch with those. I still haven’t watched the show myself).

And the general summary of my current webnovel fixation! There’s this webnovel author who goes by mxtx, who currently has three complete books out, which have all been translated into english. Then after I finished those, I started branching out into other authors and webnovels, though I’m not too deep into that end of the pool yet. I’ll break each book into a separate paragraph for clarity. 

Oh, and. Each of these books is explicitly gay, and set in ancient fantasy china, in a wuxia/xianxia setting, which I’m not too familiar with myself, but I believe it functions a lot like how authors will use ‘ancient fantasy europe’ as a playground where they don’t necessarily need to match up to established countries/cities/etc, but they expect readers to recognize certain conventions, like I’d be able to recognize a western author writing a basic feudal setting, or recognize witches and wizards, without them explaining the whole thing from the bottom up. Since I’m not familiar, it raised the difficulty level a little for me to get into the genre, but the webnovel translators tend to use footnotes and I picked up a lot as I went on.

(if you are interested in any of these, novelupdates.com is a good central resource collecting links to various fan translation projects)

So! Mxtx. Her earliest book is The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS), which is also the shortest and most linear of her books. The general premise is that a guy who’s been hate-reading this (straight) stallion harem webnovel with a dark protagonist. He goes to bed, and wakes up in the novel, as the protagonist’s dickbag teacher, who is doomed to eventually die horribly. He wants to not die, and is also a decent human being, so the book follows the “original” novel derailing from its intended path, and accidentally getting super duper gay. This one is about to come out in donghua form, but I think that may be its first non-book adaption.

Her second book, which was adapted into The Untamed/Chen Qing Ling (CQL), is also known as The Grandmaster Of Demonic Cultivation/Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS), which really manages to be the hardest of her books to summarize. Wei Wuxian, the grandmaster of demonic cultivation, dies. Thirteen years later, he wakes up in someone else’s body. Most of the world would like him to stay dead, tbh, but he’s a good egg, and he and his old friend(????) go forth and solve a necromantic mystery together, and also there is romance-romance and ten million family feelings. This one gets nonlinear, with several extended flashback sequences, and the story STARTS at about the midway point of the plot. This has been adapted into an audio drama at least once, a manhua, a donghua, and now a live action show, so it goes by a million different names in its various formats.

Her third book, and the LONGEST, is Heaven Official’s Blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF), and oh my god, it’s so long, and I love it so, so much. This gets into high fantasy much  more than the other two, including the idea that as people develop their cultivation and powers, they may eventually achieve immortality and ascend to the heavens. The story follows Xie Lian who achieved immortality and ascended to heaven! And then fell. And then ascended! And fell again. Eight hundred years later, he ascends for the third time. He meets Hua Cheng, the ridiculously powerful ghost king, who most of the other immortals are terrified of. But Hua Cheng seems to like Xie Lian! And Xie Lian thinks Hua Cheng is a sweet boy! (hua cheng is a sweet boy, but only for xie lian). This also has extended flashback sequences, but is a more linear story than MDZS, I think. Also it made me cry, which, wow, rude. I love it so incredibly much. This also exists as a manhua, but I think it’s still being published? I haven’t read it yet.

NOW. Mxtx is working on a fourth book, but it’s not out in chinese yet, never mind english. But I needed More. I was getting some SVSSS vibes from this one other book, which, *wobbly hand motions*, but I am enjoying the hell out of this book purely for its own sake.

Meatbun is an author with other books that I haven’t read yet, but I am currently in the middle of The Husky And His White Cat Shizun/Er Ha He Ta De Bai Mo Shi Zun (Erha/2ha), which is at this moment being adapted to a live action tv show called Immortality. There are MANY warnings that go with this book, though the google docs translation files do a good job of placing warnings at the front of every document and in front of relevant chapters. The general premise! Mo Ran basically conquered the entire world, put down all resistance by force, and was a super powerful but Kinda Dumb emperor. As part of this, he took his old teacher, who he despised with a burning passion, prisoner, and abused him a Lot. The story starts as rebels try to mount an assault on his palace, and Mo Ran’s cousin gets impatient with how slowly things are moving and runs ahead of the group. He finds that (suicide warning:) Mo Ran has... taken poison, and is in the middle of dying. This doesn’t stick. He wakes up as a teenager, apparently having traveled back in time, and starts living through events again, with the knowledge of his past life. It took me a while to warm up to this story, but ohhhh my goodness, it’s so TASTY. The translation for this one is ongoing, and I am in AGONY waiting for further updates.

So those are the ones I’m currently into and mostly blogging about! I also read Dreamer In The Spring Boudoir, mostly because feynite wrote an SVSSS fic set in the universe of that novel, which was good in some ways, left me cold in others (and the original novel is straight, with a society with rigid gender roles, so making it super gay in the fic made the setting much more interesting to me). Meatbun has other writing, which I haven’t sampled yet, but I am definitely interested in doing that sometime soon. 

Sorry, I know this is a LOT, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask me!! I got into these mostly via being interested in the untamed, so I read them as 1) mdzs, 2) svsss, 3) tgcf, 4) erha, which was an order that worked well for me. But if someone was looking for a general order to read them in, independent of that, I might suggest 1) svsss, 2) mdzs, 3) tgcf, 4) erha. They’re all really good, and scratch different emotional itches, and each of them has at least a few characters who sucker-punch me RIGHT in the goddamn heart. They’ve been a HUGE help for me dealing with the restlessness and/or apathy of quarantine, so I’ve been evangelizing them to pretty much anyone who will listen to me, hahaha

[sourpunchsims]

created by: me and @berryconfetti​

Like music? Like berry sims? Or don’t? That’s fine too! I introduce to you, a 5 10 11? generation music based legacy

*inspired by @a-kind-berry/red​‘s Seven Songs

@berryconfetti basically wrote gens 6-10 as an expanded version of this, so half of the credit goes to them. If you find anything wrong with the challenge, don’t hesitate to let us know! We will also be adding new generations as we get new content! If something isn’t specific, do whatever you want to!

I follow the tags: #lmds & #musiquedessims! Also tag me if you want when you start it so I don’s miss it! I would love to see your challenges!

*The name literally translates to “The Music of The Sims” in French!

This does use quite a lot of packs. If you don’t have something, feel free to substitute in something else! Most importantly, have fun!

Generation 1: Pop

Packs Needed: City Living, Get Together, Get Famous Color: Pink Aspiration: World Famous Celebrity Career: N/A, allowed a part time job to get some beginning funds Traits: Self-Absorbed

You’ve always dreamed of becoming a pop star. You leave your quaint home in the country side to move to the city, to try and make your dream a reality. It’s tough, but you know you have what it takes. You love hanging out with your friends and having weekly karaoke nights, whether they’re at your home or out in the city. Form a band or go solo, it’s up to you!

When you have a chance encounter with a fan, you never expected anything to come of it, but you end up falling in love. Bad fan fiction, anyone?

Live in San Myshuno or Del Sol Valley

Max Singing and Dancing skills

Reach level 5 fame and have a good reputation

Have weekly karaoke nights with your friends, until life gets too hectic from you getting more and more public attention

Marry a fan (RED)

Generation 2: Rock

Packs Needed: City Living, Get Famous Color: Red Aspiration: Musical Genius Career: Entertainer: Musician branch, then Social Media

You inherited your parents love for music and want to start your own band, but you don’t want to be the singer. You’d rather rock out on a guitar any day. With your parents backing you, your band quickly climbs the ladder. But when you fall in love with a band member, things start getting complicated, and eventually the band breaks up and you marry your love and settle down. You’re also very into social media and sharing your life on the web.

Live in San Myshuno starting from Young Adult until you’re an elder, then you can choose to retire somewhere quieter with your family if you wish

Max the Guitar and Media Production skill

Have and update a social media platform frequently- simstagram or simstube

Form a band as a teen

Have the band break up in your YA stage

After the band breaks up, quit your job and enter the Social Media career

Marry a band member (BLUE)

Have at least 3 kids

Generation 3: Karaoke

Packs Needed: Get To Work Color: Blue Aspiration: Joke Star Career: Entertainer: Comedian branch

It seems the musical gene skipped over you. While your siblings follow in your grandparents/parents foot steps, try as you might, you just can’t sing or dance. Instead, you move to Oasis Springs to focus on comedy. You use your name to your advantage, what with your grandparents being famous world wide and the handful that remember your parents’ old band. In your free time, you work on your photography.

Complete your aspiration/max your career

Move to Oasis Springs

Max Comedy, Charisma, and Photography skills

Marry a co-worker (PURPLE)

Have only 2 kids, that are close in age (or cheat for twins!)

Try to get your parents band back together for one last show, if nothing else, before they’re elders

Generation 4: Disco

Packs Needed: Get Together, Jungle Adventure Color: Purple Aspiration: Master Chef Career: Culinary: Chef branch Traits: Dance Machine, Foodie

The dancing gene is back! You want to learn every style of dance, but you also have an intense love for baking. You forced your sibling to help you practice dancing whenever you could, and they were your guinea pig for your baking creations. You maintain a close relationship with them throughout your life, until the death of your parents changes them.

Max Dancing, Selvadoradian Culture, and Baking skills

Meet your spouse (GREEN) in Selvadorada

Complete the master chef aspiration

Be best friends with your sibling, until the death of your parents

Fall out of touch with your sibling for a while before trying to mend your relationship

Generation 5: Alternative

Packs Needed: Base Game, Island Living (optional) Color: Green Career: Gardener- only work from home Aspiration: Any of the outdoor ones

You still have a love for music like most everyone else in your family, but you don’t see yourself pursuing it as a career. You end up in the country, on a farm, raising a garden and a brood family. You like to wood work in your free time, even dedicating a work shop to it. You also love to dabble in lots of different instruments. You know what they say, jack of all trades, but master of none.

Move to a farm as a YA, after getting married

Max Gardening and Handiness skills

Reach at least level 5 in 3 or more instrument skills

Complete the Gardening collection

Complete your chosen aspiration– Renaissance Sim would also be a good option*

Marry your childhood best friend (ORANGE)

Have lots of babies! At least 5 to help with the farm!

Make and use lots of wooden things in your house, for function or decoration

*Optional: Use the off the grid lot trait once you move to your “farm”

Generation 6: Nursery Rhymes

Packs Needed: City Living, Parenthood, Seasons (optional) Color: Orange Aspiration: Super Parent Traits: Childish, Geek, Family Oriented

You loved having so many siblings and now that you’re all grown up you still love playing with toys and doing childish things. You wish you never had to grow up (yay for Peter Pan syndrome!)! You were never good at playing music despite all the instruments around the home, but you did enjoy making up silly poems and songs, which entertained your brothers and sisters. When it’s time to start your own career as a Young Adult you start sending your poems and songs to publishers, eventually becoming a published author of Children’s stories!

Max Parenting, Writing, and Video Gaming skills

Have a baby sitter job as a teen

Complete the Void Critters collection

Marry a childish, cheerful, AND/OR outgoing sim (GRAY/CHARCOAL)

Attend GeekCon every time (or at least every other time) it happens

Go roller/ice skating regularly with your family- you decide how often. 

*Could be like a tradition. Could even make it a holiday and have it happen once a “year"

Generation Seven: Heavy Metal

Packs Needed: Vampires, Seasons (optional) Color: Gray/Charcoal Aspiration: Any vampire aspiration Career: Criminal: Boss branch

You hated how happy and cheerful your family always was and want to distance yourself as much as you can from it, and them. Whenever a pop or dance song starts you change it to the Spooky station. You meet a vampire as a teen and become obsessed with vampire culture and their way of life, eventually asking to become one, taking pleasure in singing the Vampire’s siren song for that sweet, sweet plasma

Complete one or more vampire aspirations

Max Vampire Lore, Mischief, & Pipe Organ skills

Become good friends with a vampire you meet as a teen and get them to turn you

Become a Master Vampire

Marry a vampire (YELLOW- not necessarily the friend that turned you)

Move to Forgotten Hollow after being turned

*Optional: Never have contact with your family you left behind- they wouldn’t understand why you chose this

Celebrate Halloween!

Generation 8: Classical

Packs Needed: Spa Day, Vampires, Vintage Glamour Color: Yellow Aspiration: Mansion Baron Career: Critic- Arts branch

You have a taste for the finer things in life brought on by your vampire parents who shared with you the knowledge and appreciation of history, antiques and pretty (valuable/rare) things. You want the best of everything and the best house to show it all off. Your dislike of the common music on the radio has you hire a butler so that they can serenade you with the classical sounds of the piano and violin

Max Violin, Piano, & Wellness skill

Marry a snob or materialistic sim (TEAL)

Fall in love with a human- not necessarily your spouse ooh spicy- and cure yourself to grow old with them

*heir must be human

Collect all the rare collectibles

Go to the spa regularly

Have a butler

Throw a black and white party regularly

Generation 9: Punk

Packs Needed: Get Together, Outdoor Retreat, Get Famous (optional) Color: Teal Aspiration: Public Enemy Career: Politician

Growing up you didn’t always like your parent’s beliefs and had a different outlook on life and love. You pushed the boundaries to get your voice heard! Basically the Rebel™ gen.

Max DJ, Charisma, & Herbal-ism skills

Have a house fit for dance & dinner parties

Host a dance OR dinner party (different crowds) once a week

*Optional: Become a celebrity with a bad reputation

Be in a club that has mischief, DJing, & the give speech interactions

Have a child from a one night stand (WHITE)

Never marry

Generation 10: Ballads (Love Songs)

Packs Needed: Get To Work, Seasons, Island Living (optional) Color: White Aspiration: Soulmate Career: Own a flower shop retail store Traits: Romantic, Loves Outdoors, Your Choice  *Berry Optional: You’re a color shifter and change colors based on your emotions

Your parent didn’t believe in love, but you’re a sap for romance. You dream of finding your soulmate and having the perfect white wedding. You also have a love for flowers, so you start your own flower shop, but after falling in love with a customer and starting a family you want to help more people find their soulmates. You start developing an app where people can share love poems and songs to woo other sims they match with.

Max Gardening, Flowering Arranging, & Programming skills

Make at least one app

Marry a customer and have a family and never divorce

*Optional: the customer was secretly a mermaid

Celebrate Love Day

Generation 11: Disney

Packs Needed: Island Living Color: Coral Aspiration: Beach Life- after completed, Curator Traits: Child of the Ocean, Child of the Islands, Romantic Career: Conservationist: Marine Biologist path

You grew up watching your parents be so in love and you want that kind of love so badly. On the same notion, you feel such a strong connection to the ocean and water in general. You have always longed to visit Sulani and when you see a job opening there, you jump at it. Pack your bags! Sulani, here you come!

Max Logic, Fitness, Charisma, & Singing skills

Complete the Seashell & Buried Treasure collections

*Become a mermaid if you weren’t born one

If you were not born a mermaid, “trade your voice” to an evil sea creature to become one

You “get your voice back” after you complete the seashell collection

Have at least 2 spouses throughout your lifetime- one before you “get your voice back”

Seduce the first one into marriage with your mermaid powers- desperate for love- before bitter-sweetly realizing that kind of ‘love’ isn’t real and wipe their memory and let them go

Whether or not you have children with them or not is up to you

Ultimately end up with a co-worker that loves the island as much as you do

***Gen 12- coming with the Realm of Magic pack***

If you guys do this, tag me in the beginning of it, or use #LaMusiqueDesSims or #LMDS. I’d love to see what you guys do with it! <3

[fyrapartnersearch]

Fandom Search into the New Year

Hello there, And thanks for reading this! Currently looking for more people to write with, in my free time. As I find writing, as both a way to destress from a long day, and to kill time in an enjoyable way. This post, is clearly for fandom based writing. I will list which Fandoms, and any thoughts for plot/characters we could/might include. However, everything mentioned is not needed. As we can build any idea, from the ground up. Just keep that in mind, thank you :) First, a few things about me, and such: 

I am 18+, and ask that my partners are around the same. 

I live in the East Coast (EST time zone) ; and work a part-time job. So my reply schedule varies. 

I write in 3rd Person, Past Tense. I ask my partner does the same; but I always keep in mind, mistakes do happen. Typically, I wish to stay with Canon Characters, but will mention within each Fandom specifically, if I do or not. 

Length, and such can be discussed. 

Platforms I write with include: Discord, Email. Open to others, as well. My Email, the easiest way to contact me: Onesplendidbubble@gmail.com

When it comes to Romance within a story, I do lean more towards FxF pairings, but also open to FxM, and MxM. But I can't do a Romance only themed story. I need other themes within. 

Any questions, feel free to ask! 

Now, onto the Fandoms,  in no real order: 

Dragon Ball: I have a few thoughts, when it comes to this Fandom. One, lingers within Universe 6, of the Dragon Ball Multiverse. Within the Sixth Universe, I'd like to adapt the Tuffle Arc, from GT. Having Cabba, Kale, and other Saiyans from said Universe dealing with this threat. No help from the Seventh, just the Sixth dealing with a problem. I do fancy Kale and Caulifa as a ship, so if we want to include that, let's! --My second thought, as a possible plot,is an AU of sorts. Dealing with Gohan, during the Buu Saga. However, the Saga doesn't go as it usually does. No Buu. Instead, Gohan gets to focus on Hero Work, as Great Saiyaman. In this, we can include any number of new villains, or include of Non-Canon Characters, as new foes for the Hero of Justice to deal with. Videl can be a key figure, trying to figure out Great Saiyaman, and perhaps become Great Saiyawoman. 

Kingdom Hearts: Another series I love. Though, when it comes to some aspects of this series, I wish things went a different way. Of course, some of those might be answered in the Re:Mind DLC, coming out soon. Though, I leave this fandom open, if we wish to dive into any moment of KH, and re-write. Sorta, a AU, What-IF story, perhaps. Or, we can dive into any game, and explore around. Kinda like how the 358/2 Days Manga did. (358/2 is my favorite title, if any one was curious.) Again, ideally, Canon characters for this Fandom.  One idea I have had for a bit, is a Final Fantasy X-2 inspired one, with the gals from KH working together on some adventure. Said Adventure, is in the air, but if you want to dive into this, awesome!

Arrow-verse/Cw DC Universe: Crisis is Here! WORLDS WILL LIVE, and WORLDS WILL DIE. Personally, really been enjoying Crisis. But, I digress. Some ideas we could go about: Creating our own Earth, within the Multiverse. -Playing with whatever characters we want, in a tale we create. -Dealing with Earth-X, and a possible Multiverse Invasion! -2040's! I love the future characters of: Mia, Conner, William, and Nora (despite what happened to her) We could set things in a AU of 2040's, and a new Trio. We would have to figure out who would be the Super-girl add in, as Nora would be the Flash add in, and Mia and her team, clearly the Arrow members. -Crisis even! If we want a different character added in, maybe from Titans, or any Earth, and want to change how Crisis was played out (from the three parts out now), we can! I am open to adapting comic characters, who haven't been within the shows yet, too! 

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: For this Fandom, I actually wish to craft our own characters, and story. As, spoilers, this is a sense of a Multiverse within Jojo. Let's go in our own. Of course, I would prefer if we keep certain names; as in Joestar. I feel one of our characters, should be a Joestar, in our own Universe. Could be the start of the Generation in our story, or already a descendant. Other Family names we could keep: Zeppeli, Brando, Kishibe, and others! But, our own versions of characters (if that makes any sense!) I'd like to have Hamon, somehow added too. I always liked Hamon, but of course Stands are all the rage. 

Star Wars (Disney Era):  So, I had just seen, The Rise of Skywalker. If you have not, no worries, no spoilers from me. Though, I will note- I did not hate or completely love it either. I am alright, with what it is, considering everything leading into production and what not.  That doesn't mean, I wouldn't do things differently. So, if anyone is interesting in some AU, within the Skywalker Saga- changing events (perhaps re-writing TROS completely,) or what not, let's start crafting. It could be our own re-write, or scrap ideas from that film all together, and create some end of the Skywalker Saga, we want. Or, if we want to dive into any moment in the universe, we can. 

Persona 5:  My favorite Persona game, given the fact I have only played P5 and games connected/involving characters from. I have watched some of P3, but I have no real interests in P4, as a friend has told me the basic summary of the game. That said, for this Fandom, I prefer to stick with the canon characters, as much as possible.  Though, plots can be anything really! Want to dive in some Redemption Arc for Akechi? Some time-loop with Akiren/Joker? Dive into some romantic tale with our Favorite Ship? (Mine is MakotoXAnn~). Crossover with another game? Maybe Kingdom Hearts? Any number of AU's? Let's chat and steal some hearts! 

A small list of others, that I don't have too much thought out about: Pokemon (Games, and Manga mostly) , Star Battlefront II (EA) , Power Rangers/Super Sentai, Marvel Comics. 

Thanks for reading! If interested, feel free to get in touch! Share any thoughts you may have! I love OOCC too! So, let's nerd out. Thanks!!!

[wolfgabe]

Oddworld Soulstorm and the Epic exclusivity problem

Now just to make it clear now this is not a hate post on Oddworld Inhabitants or the Epic Store but I feel this is something that needs to be explained and saId so here goes

So it recently has come to my attention the PC version of Oddworld Soulstorm will be an Epic Store exclusive. Yes while I can understand OWI’s decision to an extent, I I believe now is a good time for me to go into detail on why I feel all this rampant exclusivity hoarding from Epic is quickly becoming a serious problem for the PC market in general.

Okay lemme first explain my current pc gaming setup which consists of just two platforms. The first is steam where I get the majority of my PC games and the second is GOG which I set myself up with recently to better satisfy my retro PC gaming interests. Between these two storefronts I felt relatively confident all my PC gaming needs were satisfied as pretty much any game on PC I was interested in I could generally find on Steam if that wasn’t the case there was GOG which is great if you are into older PC games in particular. It never felt like I was really missing out on anything in general nor did it feel like I was being punished for choosing one platform or the other. But now we have the Epic Store which at times I cannot help but feel is being used by Epic as a means to punish Steam users in particular outright through their rampant buying of exclusivity which brings me to one of my main issues with the Epic Store in that it is starting to feel like freedom of choice on PC no longer matters. To understand why I feel freedom of choice is key in the PC Market, lets take a look at Microsoft who as of late has been taking more steps to get many of their Xbox exclusives on more platforms as a way to expand their audience. Cuphead for example is readily available on the windows store but there is nothing stopping you from purchasing the game through steam and they even offer it on GOG if you would prefer to get the game DRM free. The point is Cuphead is not only on PC for those who do not own an Xbox console but PC users also have the added freedom of being able to get the game on their preferred storefront of choice. Microsoft could have easily just kept Cuphead and the rest of their Xbox games on PC exclusive to the Windows Store but they actually respect the customer’s freedom of choice which is ironic considering how in the 90s they got a lot of flak for being highly anti consumer.

Now I have seen people complaining about exclusives but to be straight I don’t really mind console exclusives as their primary purpose understandably is to give consumers an added incentive to invest in that particular platform. This has long been one of the key staples of Nintendo’s continued success as they possess some of the most valuable IPs in gaming which give people a reason to invest in Nintendo platforms because that is the only place where you can play those games. To break it down in general most console exclusives tend to fall into three main categories. The first is the first party games which are primarily developed by the platform holder’s in house teams i.e pretty much  almost every Nintendo game in general. Next we have the second party titles which are not developed in house but usually by an external studio that is owned by or has ties to the platform holder which constitute the majority of Playstation and Xbox’s own exclusive titles and to an extent a lot of NIntendo’s recent games which are often farmed out to external studios an example being the recent Luigis Mansion games which have been handled by Next Level Games. Another example would be Rareware during the SNES and N64 era due to Nintendo having a significant stake in ownership of the company Last we have the third party exclusives, these are generally the result of a deal between the developer and the platform holder such as the Persona series other times its the result of the platform holder offering to assist in funding and publishing the title i.e Nintendo and Bayonetta 2. In some cases third party exclusives may be timed exclusives in that they are only exclusive to that platform for a limited time frame before being released on other platforms.

Now looking at the Epic Store you start to notice that really the majority of its exclusives tend to fall into just two categories either being paid for by Epic or in some cases Epic literally mandating exclusivity just to allow the game to be sold on their store. What makes this particularly worrisome is the fact a lot of the games Epic has acquired the exclusivity to have roots in crowdfunding which more often than not has led to people who have backed the game being screwed over entirely on certain platforms with Shenmue 3 being the most glaring example of this. Paid exclusivity is just something I feel that does not belong in crowdfunded or kickstarter games in general period. Like imagine with Shovel Knight if you backed the game for PC and found that now the game will be Wii U only because Nintendo offered Yacht Club a mountain of cash. You would understandably feel both cheated and betrayed because you backed for so long is now going to be locked to a platform you had no interest in to begin with.

Back to my previous point when a third party game is console exclusive it is generally because the developer has determined that particular platform is the most suitable for their games primary audience or it is because the devs and the platform holder manage to reach a deal designed to benefit both parties as well as the consumer. Bayonetta 2 being Wii U exclusive was largely due to Nintendo offering to help publish the game because no on else would really. This is why the Bayonetta series going forward has largely become Nintendo exclusive because the series owes much of its continued existence to Nintendo. With the Epic Store a lot of the games that are exclusive really feel like they have no reason at all to be Epic Store only. With the Epic Store exclusivity feels less like an added incentive and more like a punishment for non Epic Store users as well as a means to try and mask the stores own inherent problems.

This brings me to my next main point in that Epic has given people relatively little reason to want to invest in their platform outside of exclusive games. When you compare the  Epic Store to Steam and practically every other PC storefront the numerous flaws and shortcomings quickly become apparent. I am fairly certain most people are readily familiar with the horror stories about the Epic Stores horrendous security holes as well as Epic’s connection to Tencent a shady Chinese corporate entity, but what I find most baffling is why Epic somehow expected to seriously compete with Steam when their storefront does not even have a fraction of the functionality and features that have largely been a staple of every other PC storefront for years. Imagine how it must feel for someone who has bought all the Borderlands games on Steam only to be forced to abandon all their friends to play Borderlands 3 on a platform that is not even capable of something as simple as creating friends lists. Coupled with the fact that Epic apparently cannot even manage their own store sales properly and you can clearly see why a good majority of people would prefer not to give Epic their money.

It’s pretty easy to forget Steam’s beginnings were relatively humble compared to the digital distribution behemoth it is today, When steam initially launched in 2003 it was little more than a glorified matchmaking portal for Valve’s own games. When you look at the Steam’s history and evolution you see that Steam did not become what it is today through exclusivity hoarding or trying to punish devs and players for choosing other platforms. Steam became what it is today because it grew and evolved with what the PC gamer wanted. This brings me to the problem I believe that most people have with the Epic Store in that it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be what the gamer/consumer wants. Instead what the Epic Store has amounted to so far is essentially Epic attempting to steamroll its way into the PC distribution market through paid exclusivity and punishing people who choose Steam as their primary platform on PC. I do not mind the idea of multiple storefronts on PC and I do believe competition is necessary for a healthy market. But I strongly believe Epic has no right to proclaim they are fighting Steams monopoly when Steam never really was trying to be a monopoly to begin with along with the fact that almost everything Epic has done with their store front over the past year or so has been the exact opposite of pro consumer.

Back to Soulstorm, while yes I can understand that Oddworld Inhabitants would likely need some financial assistance to complete their game I cannot help but feel there are plenty of other people or publishers they could have easily partnered with that did not involve restricting the availability of the PC version of Soulstorm. While I am not angry with Oddworld Inhabitants, I still consider this move highly self defeating in a way as they may have effectively self sabotaged their own game’s sales potential as well as alienated a good chunk of their fanbase by allowing their game on PC to be locked to a storefront a good majority of people hate for very good reason. I won’t be surprised at all if this ends up backfiring on Epic in the end as the Epic Store exclusivity has simply served to push more people toward the Playstation version of Soulstorm based on a lot of reactions I have seen so far.

[jlf23tumble]

Four Hangout: Recap

Oh, man, I know I “owe” this one, so I’m doing it, but I hate it for about 15 different reasons, 14 of those being Ben Winston, which means I’m gonna keep this fairly short. The Four Hangout (lmao, I will never stop laughing at the attempts to team up with Google’s shitty tech) predates my entry into this fandom, so I’m not as on top of every little thing that happened around it (and my god, there were some doozies). I’ve found other posts that do a better job of transcribing some key moments), but I’m sure lots of others are out there, and as ever, I recommend taking 35 minutes to stare at this work of art for yourself.

Whenever I’ve seen gifs from this, the read is that at least two people are coming off a coke bender as we all focus on Ben’s rather ham-fisted attempt to get Louis to admit that he hates people thinking he’s gay. But in rewatching it in full now and knowing more about the context around it, the true vibe is exhaustion mixed with some very real anger/mulishness aimed at management in general and Ben in particular. Because the point of the Four Hangout isn’t to promote Four, the album, but to exonerate the D’s management team, blow smoke up Ben’s ass, and “clear the air” about whatever rumors have been going around that the D’s team doesn’t like, all posed as questions theoretically from the fans, yet weirdly management focused.

I’ve found lots of good blog posts that summarize these 35 or so minutes, but here’s an executive summary of my comments coupled with others I’ve found:

Ben Winston is an insufferable dick

The D is so fucking TIRED at this point, everyone’s low energy, but Louis’s voice is the softest, raspiest, most enchanting thing

They regularly creep on social media and are up on pretty much everything fandom related

There are no rumors they need to dismiss except that they’re currently alive, go on, ask them twice!

Liam is great at delivering the corporate spiel

Harry really did get them sneezes out

The Louis/Ben feud is one thing; the Harry/Ben feud is a whole other

Louis reads fanfic (and has some faves!)

Narry are ride or die WMYB, except for when Harry needs to have a go at Ben

Zayn has somehow made himself look even more godlike

Louis has super cute socks

With that in mind, let’s jump into some key moments, but I’m paraphrasing a lot because it’s so hard to hear over all the cross-talk, asides, and inside jokes. More under the cut!

Shout out to Louis's collarbones and quiff combo...his voice is about to give out, but he’s so OPEN and present for this total shitshow, even when he defiantly refuses to take the path he’s being guided down. Also, please @ god let me play some poker while we enjoy a bacon butty over brunch, his face as Niall introduces Ben as a “very, very good friend of ours” (me as both Ziam and Harry):

One of the most subversive things this band does is effusive praise when they’re pissed off, and never is it clearer than here, when Niall gushes on about all the wonderful work Ben has done for them, and the other boys pick up on it and start whistling and clapping (Louis: “My hero”; Harry: “LOOK AT THOSE TEETH!”) until Ben gets extremely uncomfortable.

We’re off to a good start, with Ben being sure to preface that all of these questions are from the fans, and then Harry asking Ben if he’s wearing makeup (Ben, mildly affronted, “No, I’m not wearing any makeup, but you guys do, you wear a lot of makeup, don't you, Harry” [Harry: “Tons”; Ben: “Well, you need to”]).

The first question is about the difference between this album and their first one, and it’s such a stupid, easy question that I want to answer it for Niall because I can do it in my sleep. Ben then asks Louis if he likes visiting the X Factor, if it reminds him of the old days (you know, four years ago), and AGAIN, this is a dumb-ass question, and Louis’s a pro, so what do you think he’s gonna say? (Of course he likes visiting, it’s lovely to go down and relive it). Is Harry nervous about playing there again tonight? Nope, it’s fun!! He can enjoy it this time around! Simon Cowell doesn’t give him ANY anxiety!!

The next question is about the simplicity of the old days, and my god, does my heart break for Liam saying that they had to work really hard back then, so it’s nice that four years later, they get a few more vacation days. Louis agrees, adding that the first American promo trip was a grind where they did 10 things a day (multiple interviews, signings, radio appearances, rehearsals, and shows)

Ben asks if they ever go back and watch clips of themselves from their early days (this genuinely does seem like a fan ask), and wouldn’t you know, Niall was just chillin’ out last week, rewatching all the video diaries again. Louis admits that his red trousers and braces were loud, but they worked for the time, “Or do you disagree, Ben?” (Ben: “No, I loved it.” Louis: “Thank you.”) And I wish I could travel back in time both so I could kill Hitler AND witness Ben showing up somewhere in a pair of Toms, only to be faced by Louis Tomlinson telling him that he wore that style two years ago, and he wouldn’t anymore, which Ben says cut him down to size (I highly doubt that, but I would have love to see it).

All of this fashion talk is side-winding into a question about who tells them what to wear and whether they have control over their image now. They all note that they wouldn’t have dared to push back in year one, presumably because “experts” were telling them what to do, plus it was all free (which makes all the dragging on their old looks extra fun to watch). Then Ben asks whether they make their own decisions now, and Liam says yeah as Louis smirks, lmaooooo, which morphs into, well, we have much more input than we used to have. I’m here for Harry giving a slow, long-winded answer as a construction project starts up somewhere in the studio, and Louis yells, “Keep it down” into his mic.

Ben, I mean, the fans want to know what piece of advice they’d give the fetus versions of themselves, if they could go back in time, and Louis advises his younger self to have a second glance in the mirror and see if he’s really sure about that particular outfit. (Ben: “Is that…really?” Louis: “No, Ben, I’m just trying to make a joke.”). Liam would fight the haircuts, and Harry would burn the supras (I’m assuming; Louis: “They were outrageous”). Zayn would tell his younger self to have a bit more fun, to try and take it all in and enjoy it more. :(

“The fans” are curious about the negative side of social media, how the D just exploded on YouTube and Twitter after X Factor, and does it ever go too far? Liam channels my inbox and says that people forget there’s a person on the other side of an anon message, that these guys see all the things that are said about them, and they’re self-conscious with cameras and comments, but it’s okay, they put up with it. Louis’s addicted to Twitter, and says that there are negative people there, but you’ll find negative people on every social media platform and in real life, too, it is what it is.

Of course, “the fans” are curious about how all this social media shit affects their girlfriends, and I would kill to hear more about what Narry, the two singles on this couch, keep giggling about in this ridick convo that I’m not even gonna bother to sum up.

Ben’s curious how the fans always manage to leak everything the band does, and yes, Louis, tell us more! How does it make you feel? Liam thinks it’s anticlimactic, Niall’s only beef is when something is leaked a week before it’s out, and everyone else just gets annoyed if it breaks the structure of a rollout, but nobody talks about songs that are leaked that were never meant for official release (cough cough, "Home”), and Harry’s just happy people get a sneak peek and then still buy the album, so all is good. Me as this exchange: Ben, incredulously, “It’s amazing they’re able to constantly do it”; Liam: “Lots of high-tech people out there.”

Probably my favorite part of this is the fanfic discussion, which kicks off with Ben’s “I've noticed, not that I’ve read it, but there's been a lot of fanfiction published about you boys, books published, have you any read it?”

Zayn avoids it at all costs, but Louis’s aware of a fic writer’s book deal (who????) and says that he’s come across some of it on twitter (!!!). He finds some of it utterly bizarre (looking at you, self-inserts), but he’s read some nice little stories, and he’s seen some that go very deep and very, very weird. Liam acknowledges that it’s a whole different world, that he gets the idea of it, of fans putting themselves in situations with them (and Jesus Christ, it kills me that they’ve had to read self-insert wattpad fics), but some of it blows his mind. Niall doesn’t know where to go looking for it, but don’t worry friend, Ben’s gonna hook you up with his favorites! Harry is noticeably quiet during ALL of this.

With a horrible segue, Ben says, “Speaking of things that are made up, what’s the biggest rumor you’ve heard about yourself, this is a question lots of fans are asking” (SURE THING), and Harry never gets enough credit for his dry delivery, such as the way he says, “We’ve all been dead a couple of times.” But Ben can’t let it go, and that’s when Louis does his whole, “No”….dramatic pause (he might be saying “Go,” but the point is, he lets this bit drop where it lands). Zayn jumps in with the rumor that Niall used to be a jockey, and god bless him, honestly.

Ben realizes he’s not getting anywhere with this, so it’s time to move on to the actual album, why is it called Four, etc. It’s not really all that interesting, tbh, nor is the name they didn’t go with as a band (Liam’s dad’s suggestion, which was USP, if you’re curious). Liam figures USP will flourish one day, and this whole section proves how funny Liam actually is. I’m curious about all the One Direction tribute bands they’re mentioning, and I’m totally down to check one out if they’re ever in my area, just fwiw.

Anyway, moving on! What song are they most proud of? Zayn loves “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and Louis is WAY into “Fireproof,” which Liam’s down with, too. The part that’s interesting gets glossed over because Ben’s an idiot, but they talk about how many songs they’ve written that don’t make it to the album, like, Liam has a tattoo that says “somewhere is a place that nobody knows” from a song we’ll never hear called “Man on a Mission,” and how many others are stored in this vault (23 or 24 were in the final running for this album, where are they)? Harry suggests those songs will be on USP’s first album, and I will absolutely buy it. His story about the Norway bus trip makes me want to dig deep (he was on a party bus in Norway and heard one of their songs, sung by them, that had never been released anywhere, and he was the only one who knew it).

Zayn hints a bit at what happens (voting), and Liam hints at all the meetings, but I would love to know so much more about this process, especially since Niall says that lots of people are in these meetings, with lots of opinions (Simon, label, other managers).

Ben says that another recurring question is about what “Stockholm Syndrome” means, and I love the Alex Turner-esque dodge we get on Harry literally describing what Stockholm Syndrome means, without any real insight into what the song’s about. Still, I live in the awkward that happens right after this drops, with Ben still somehow trying to get them to admit they don’t feel trapped, lmao:

Ben asks about which songs are about specific people, and god, I don’t care because all of this section is lies. Then he tries to get them to talk about songs they don’t like, and they aren’t here for that, like, Liam will say he can’t casually listen to WMYB, but he loves performing it, and the best part of this is Harry saying he’ll crank that song and mouth along, pretending that he’s Niall.

For their favorite songs, Liam goes with “Fireproof,” Louis goes with “Midnight Memories,” Niall goes with “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” Zayn can’t pick one, and Harry says “Best Song Ever.” Ben likes “Through the Dark” because of course he does, and that’s when the needling from Harry starts about “Gotta Be You,” and I don’t understand, but I live for him on the attack, so geddit, son (also, Niall, with his “your boyfriend’s back, and you’re gonna be in trouble,” etc., YES).

Another question Ben kept getting from fans (got it!) is what would be the one thing they’d change in the past four years, and Louis starts with, “Why would you want to? It’s been great, there’s no point.” Liam agrees, and that’s that. Ben’s next question is what moment they’d relive in the past four years, and Niall says he was really nervous at MSG, although Zayn thinks it was a great gig BECAUSE they were nervous. Nothing’s really happening here, so Ben asks Harry what’s going on with his hair (I guess “the fans” want to know?), and Harry just says it tends to grow, that’s what hair does, and he’s letting it all hang out.

Another “fan” question that makes me laugh from Ben: “Who makes the decisions in One Direction? Is it always your call?” And they all say NO, but Liam jumps in with, “It’s totally us, people ask us now, ultimately we call the shots,” and there’s a LOT of back-chatter here, so draw what you see.

Ben tries to push how much they love the “Night Changes,” video, and AGAIN, Harry gets on his case about “Gotta Be You,” and someone else covers it better than I ever could, but this goading by Harry is wonderful. Ben’s creative process for video concepts is fascinating because he basically admits that it’s easy or it’s really hard (read: he steals it or just throws a shitty idea to a wall to see if it sticks).

Ben asks if they get nervous about people liking the album, and Louis says they care if critics like the album or not, but really, he’s out there on twitter searching different song titles to see the fan reaction. This is also when we learn they aren’t on ye olde social meeds that much anymore, but they all enjoy a good old-fashioned creep session (Zayn especially). Harry’s comment about feeling vulnerable when you release something you’ve been working on for a year feels especially poignant—he gets excited and nervous all at once—and I really don’t get this whole controlled leak promo thing they did for Four, but who am I to question Modest or Syco?? All I want to know is what Niall’s talking about on the side.

[dracox-serdriel]

Tumblr Horror

If you want to skip this post, tap the ‘J’ key to jump to the next one. You can also tap the ‘K’ key to jump to the previous post.

(Note: This post contains spoilers for content from various media of the X-Files, Hannibal the TV show, and Grimm.)

I’ve had this blog for years. I started off (a long, long time ago) on LiveJournal, and moved to Tumblr when I realized the platform had more interactive functionality for building online communities and general dialog, which made the site very appealing.

The lack of censorship for public posts with so-called “adult themes” was also highly appealing to me because my favorite genre is horror. When sites start to censor “offensive” content, horror is always on that list. If it’s not directly stated as “offensive material,” then the ever-widening gray area of censorship swallows it up bit by bit.

Want an example? Here’s a post from earlier this year where Tumblr expands its content restrictions. I don’t remember hearing much uproar about these new  restrictions... and at first glance, it seems to focused on things like hate speech and threats of violence. Yet take a good look at this excerpt:

Don't post content which includes violent threats toward individuals or groups - this includes threats of theft, property damage, or financial harm. Don’t post violent content or gore just to be shocking. Don’t showcase the mutilation or torture of human beings, animals (including bestiality), or their remains. Don’t post content that encourages or incites violence, or glorifies acts of violence or the perpetrators.

One could argue that horror doesn’t have violence or gore “just to be shocking,” but it’s also 100% possible to argue that horror does exactly that, particularly horror subgenres like slasher, splatter, and torture (just to name a few), but it also impacts pretty much everything under the horror umbrella.

It also puts a lot of things that aren’t considered under the horror umbrella but are... horror-adjacent. For example, dramas about serial or spree killers, including procedural dramas like Mind Hunters and Criminal Minds, as well as true crime based on them.

Where does the line fall here, exactly? If I had tons of posts about how cool fictional character George Foyet (aka The Reaper) is, does that qualify as “glorifying” acts of violence? If I had tons of posts about the character’s crimes, complete with screenshots from the show and maybe a few fan illustrations to fill in the gaps, would that qualify as “glorifying” acts of violence? Would it qualify as “showcasing the mutilation or torture of human beings”?

Let’s move away from the spree and serial killers for a second. Let’s assume that Tumblr views anything other than their mug shots qualify as “offensive” or “adult” content, despite the popularity of shows/fiction/general content.

What about shows like the X-Files? In the second movie, X-Files: I Want to Believe, there’s a two-headed dog that exists by way of unethical science experiments. It’s also killed in self-defense by a main character. Animal mutilation and torture? Check! There are countless episodes that focus on illegal human experimentation by the government, including the discovery of mass graves (02x25 Anasazi), testing infectious diseases on prison inmates (02x22 F. Emasculata), TV-induced mind control (03x23 Wetwired), and stealing/experimenting on human embryos (05x08 Emily). And that’s just a few of the things perpetrated by the government. That’s not including the town of cannibals (02x24 Our Town) or the more selective cannibals, like the guy who killed people for their fat (03x06 2Shy), the guy who ate people’s brains (07x03 Hungry), or the guy who drained melanin (04x03 Teliko). Don’t forget the demon who slaughters people - including having one eaten by a giant snake (02x14 Die Hand die Verletzt), weaponized bacteria-turned-killing-machines (05x18 The Pine Bluff Variant), and even a crocodile (03x22 Quagmire), which is an episode where both a beloved pet dog (RIP Queequeg) gets eaten and a crocodile is shot and killed.

Then there’s shows like Grimm, which has plenty of violence with the added bonus of the mythology of the show blurring the human/animal line. It’s got everything from the main character mailing two decapitated heads to Jack the Ripper possessing a main character to continue his killing spree. And that’s the “mostly human” violence... let’s not forget the animal-like violence from wesen characters fighting each other with tooth, claw, venom, etc.

I probably shouldn’t even touch the TV show Hannibal, even though it handles violence so beautifully and in such a creative way. It still contains tons of gore, violence, psychological manipulation/trauma/abuse, and, of course, cannibalism. One could easily argue that many of the crime scenes depicted on the show are “just to be shocking,” such as the totem pole of bodies (01x09 Trou Normand), people disfigured to look like “angels” (01x06 Coquilles), and people who have been savaged by what appears to be “some kind of animal attack” (02x09 Shiizakana), and people who are still alive despite being sewn into a giant corpse mural (02x02 Sakizuki) or having part of their brain removed to accommodate a beehive (02x03 Takiawase).

Now, before we get much further, there’s this question that people always ask that I know I’ll need to answer. So let’s get it out of the way.

What’s the point of horror?

When it comes to most genres, people who don’t like a certain genre often regard it as “boring” or “hard to follow” or, well, just not their cup of tea. But for a genre like horror, people who don’t like it often regard it as “gross,” repulsive, or maybe just plain cheesy (depending on what’s being discussed).

For example, a person who doesn’t like historical documentaries will almost never describe them as “offensive” or “gross”; whereas, many people who don’t like horror describe their dislike in exactly those terms (e.g., “that’s gross!” or “all that violence offends me!”).

I understand the response. My point here isn’t to criticize the responses of others when it comes to horror - there’s nothing wrong with being grossed out by a slasher flick. My point is that many people don’t simply dislike the content - they’re offended by it. There’s also a strong general tendency (regardless of personal opinion) to draw assumptions about the people who like “offensive” content (including porn-level sexual content). 

For example, people who like horror “like” to be scared... that the unrealism of horror (meaning, the fact that it’s fiction - or a fiction-ified version of a story) gives us the distance we need to enjoy and process the gore/violence/other elements of horror.

I can’t speak to why anyone besides than myself likes horror, but look at how the topic is written about and even studied. Type “why people like horror” into a search engine. Open another tab and type “why people like comedy” into that same search engine. Compare the articles from the top results. For me, most of the horror results are from psychology or psychology insight sites; whereas, the comedy results have less technical papers and more, well... humor. There’s only 1 article about people who don’t like comedy (framed as a joke), compared to over half the horror results also mentioning people who dislike/hate horror.

This small example can show you how different the conversations about horror are from comedy. But feel free to compare other genres - documentaries, for example - and you’ll see a very similar trend in terms of contrast. Keep in mind that many documentaries include plenty of disturbing content, such as the details of war crimes.

So, when it comes to horror, conversations tend to be polarized. It’s reasonable to classify most horror as “adult” content because, yes, it often includes gore, violence, murder, etc. But people will often brand horror-related material as “offensive” and will sometimes even argue that it “encourages violence” or “glorifies violence,” especially for horror materials that defy traditionally codified aspects of horror (e.g., movies or stories that don’t contain “poetic justice” or the antagonists being caught/stopped/punished).

So... what’s the point of horror? The question is annoying because there’s a ton of answers - and of course, it varies by person - but it’s also annoying because people often ask it to support the idea that horror is superfluous and/or gratuitous (aka “just for shock”). Much of modern censorship focus on “the gratuitous” - if the violence is “important to the story,” then it passes muster. If not - or if there’s just too dang much of it - it’s described as “gratuitous” (and thereafter, often censored). Sometimes, the act of answering the question “what’s the point of horror?” in a way plays into this kind of censorship... because it operates on the idea that you need a reason/a point for horror for it to be valid.

Related questions: Does viewing violence “inspire” or “encourage” it? Doesn’t seeing so much violence desensitize us? Even if a catharsis - a release - is experienced, doesn’t horror doing more harm than good?

Returning to the new content restrictions, check out the post A better, more positive Tumblr:

Over the past several months, and inspired by our storied past, we’ve given serious thought to who we want to be to our community moving forward and have been hard at work laying the foundation for a better Tumblr.

...

We spent considerable time weighing the pros and cons of expression in the community that includes adult content. In doing so, it became clear that without this content we have the opportunity to create a place where more people feel comfortable expressing themselves.

Bottom line: There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content. We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community.

(emphasis mine)

I had been holding out hope that horror would not fall into the “offensive adult material” gray area on Tumblr, but if these changes are actually about creating “the most welcoming environment,” then horror is definitely on the chopping block, regardless of whether or not it has sexual content.

After all, plenty of people view horror as gratuitous and/or “offensive” and/or gross. Which means horror posts are (and will continue to be) reported as abuse/bad content. 

Tumblr is saying that sexual content (which people could choose to ignore and choose to block with a number of tools) is being banned because its inclusion has an “unwelcoming” or “uncomfortable” affect on the community of this platform, that’s ultimately rooted in the fact that Tumblr sees sexual content as gratuitous. This is backed up by the fact that, despite the popularity of adult content on this platform, Tumblr believes that cutting that content out will have more positive affects than negative ones.

I haven’t found solid numbers on how many people like horror, but a lot of sources suggest that approximate 1/3 of the population has an inclination toward horror, but nearly 2/3 of the population dislikes horror... Even if these numbers aren’t entirely on-target, I feel confident in arguing that, statistically, more people like sexual content/porn than horror.

If cutting objectionable (yet popular) material will benefit Tumblr, I doubt they’d worry much about cutting objectionable and fairly unpopular material.

To be clear: for the moment, I’m not going anywhere.

But I have a feeling that many of the things I use Tumblr for will soon be gone and/or fall under the constant eye of censorship scrutiny. From my experience, this results in content drying up (why post material to a platform you have to battle to keep it live and public?).

According to Tumblr, there are a lot of sites that “feature adult content,” which means relocating shoudn’t be a big deal, though I’m not sure if this applies to other similar platforms. But, of course, it is a big deal. And it’s a pain.

Exporting content to sucks pretty much all the time, regardless of where you’re going. Especially for those of us who’ve accumulated thousands and thousands of posts over the years. Sure, if I export it from Tumblr, I’ll have a record... but all those records will point to Tumblr URLs - many of which will be defunct in two weeks because “private” posting will be engaged, making the URL no longer visible/accessible. That’s not even talking about all the defunct blogs that will be dotting my dashboard and posts because the users have moved on...

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, June 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across from May 31 to June 21, although some may be older than that.

(Unfortunately, a few of this edition’s entries were lost somehow, & I could only remember one of the missing, so if you know of an article/post that should be included, please let me know, & the piece will be added here as well as to the next post.)

My busy few months are now mostly over, so I will have more time to get working on this Tumblr, new blog posts & the new forum I want to start; expect more frequent updates starting in July. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Shopify is going to run fulfillment centres for its US customers within the next 2 years. “Right now Shopify will offer early access for merchants who ship between 10 and 10,000 items per day, and by the end of the year the company aims to offer two-day shipping to 99 per cent of the United States.” They announced other plans at the same time, including better shop tools. 

If you have your own website, conversion rate optimization is something you should be looking at. Why? Because “[a] simple tweak on a landing page can double or even 10x that page’s conversion rate” which can be much easier to do than doubling your traffic. [Note that this is not a short article; it’s a full guide.]

Matching searcher intent is a crucial part of great rankings. This long article tells you pretty much everything you need to know on making that happen with your content, with real examples for their site. 

Mary Meeker released her annual internet trends report; shorter summary here. “If you're looking to connect with the next generation, you should be maintaining at least some awareness of gaming culture, which is where attention is increasingly shifting.” “Some 51 percent of the world — 3.8 billion people — were internet users last year, up from 49 percent (3.6 billion) in 2017...E-commerce is now 15 percent of retail sales. Its growth has slowed — up 12.4 percent in Q1 compared with a year earlier — but still towers over growth in regular retail, which was just 2 percent in Q1...Customer acquisition costs — the marketing spending necessary to attract each new customer — is going up.

ETSY NEWS

Etsy retired several of its Support/Help email addresses, including support@etsy.com, all without any official announcement. 

You can now link photos to variations - but only with one variation, not both. 

Etsy’s annual report for 2018 is out; I didn’t see much new here, but if you catch something, please leave a comment or send me an email so I can add it to this summary. [They actually mentioned “abilities” in their list of things they accept diverse ranges of, but as usual, they only give any details about gender, race/ethnicity and sexual orientation. Disability is invisible for them.]

A new bunch of US states will have state taxes charged for online sales as of July 1. 

Ryan Scott will be Etsy’s new Chief Marketing Officer as of June 24. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google broke with tradition & decided to warn SEOs about the core search algorithm update that started rolling out on Monday June 3 and ended on the 8th. There are multiple reports of some UK news companies taking a hard hit while others picked up visibility. It’s still too early for much comprehensive analysis, but here is a summary and another more recent one. 

At the same time, Google also rolled out an update that increases site diversity in search results, often limiting each website to 2 entries in Google’s top pages. Think of it as Google's approach to “clumping”. They insist it is separate from the core algorithm update. Early analysis finds that it didn't change much for most searches. 

Websites sometimes rely too much on Google traffic, which is dangerous whenever they change something (i.e., daily). Here are 5 ways to make your site/pages more resistant to algorithm updates. 

Most decent SEO tools cost some money to get the full value, but here is a list of 55 free tools including keyword research, stats, linking, and technical tools. (Some have paid versions as well, but just ignore what you don’t need.)

SEO sometimes requires stating the obvious; check out this tweet with a graphic from an SEO conference. 

Rand Fishkin did a major review of clicks from Google search, & found that nearly 50% of US google searches result in a click (often questions such as weather, or spelling). Only 45% led to clicks on non-paid links, & non-Google companies. But “for every click on a paid result in Google, there are 11.6 clicks to organic results. SEO is far from dead.” Search Engine Land did a TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) summary here. 

Fishkin also has some good insights on making a profit through SEO. [video and full transcript] I think the point about having a strong profit margin is really important - it is going to get more expensive to sell online as time goes on. Etsy is not the only provider trying to squeeze more pennies out of its customers. (Fishkin’s whole push lately is that you must be a known brand to survive; I am reserving judgement on that for the moment.)

Most blogs haven’t done their SEO correctly, but you can fix that. [video & full transcript]

Hate it when your site/business gets mentioned online, but they don’t link to you? There are ways to get other companies to link to you. 

The latest Google mobile search redesign has folks pitching fits about how ads now look like organic search results. For your own website & other sites where it is possible, make sure you have a favicon that stands out from paid ads. [If you Google “CindyLouWho2″ on mobile, my blue fossil coral avi shows for my website & this Tumblr blog.]

Voice search isn’t taking off like people thought it would, although around 30% of Americans use virtual assistants regularly. 

Is audio SEO going to be a thing? Dr. Pete looks at Google’s decision to post podcasts in search results. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Facebook announced its move into cryptocurrency with Libra, which will launch in 2020. 

Contrary to some reports, it seems that fewer people are using Facebook regularly. While time spent on FB drops, Instagram in particular is seeing more interaction. 

Getting the right image sizes and dimensions is really important for each platform; here is an infographic on all image sizes for Facebook. 

“[T]he right time for you to post on Facebook will be different than the right time for someone else to post on Facebook.” A summary of multiple studies on the topic, with tips on using your Facebook Analytics to narrow this down for your business. 

After banning mass messaging earlier this year, WhatsApp is prohibiting sending newsletters through the app as of December. 

A decent guide on using Twitter for your business. “...tweets with images get 150% more retweets”.

Thinking of running a Twitter chat? Here’s a complete guide, including Hootsuite templates. 

You can get new content ideas from Reddit. “Reddit.com saw 542 million visitors in March 2019 alone.”

Pinterest is expanding its shopping program, now called Pinterest Partners, to provide more shopping opportunities on the site. 

A study of the 500 top-followed Pinterest accounts shows that home decor is most popular among influencer topics. [infographic with text.]

Short video platform TikTok is still showing rapid growth. “Digital wellbeing is more important than it has ever been. Since tech companies started optimising for user engagement, the user is unable to escape the app. You will always feel dissatisfied when you close the app, because the notifications keep on coming and the content never seems to end. To us it seems, TikTok has taken this idea to another level and built the user experience to deliberately create addiction.“

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Using Google Ads for your website? Make sure you avoid these 7 common mistakes. 

Google now allows you to target people who are “regularly in your target locations” - but it doesn’t really define how they calculate that.

Instagram Shopping is most popular with younger people (at least in the UK).

Good tips on improving your Amazon ad effectiveness, especially cost-effectiveness.   

Some tips on Microsoft Audience ads, and how to get the most out of them. It includes some good general tips, like looking at your profit margin. 

Facebook produced an infographic on how to best create FB ads, especially, for mobile. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Google has purchased analytics company Looker; Etsy uses the platform already. 

The Google Search Console is now giving users 90 days of data for some reports. 

Here’s a new WordPress plugin that tracks clicks on pdfs on your site through Google Analytics. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Paypal has developed “a customizable e-commerce platform”. 

Amazon has extended 1-day Prime delivery. Their ability to do that largely depends on how they are taking control of the shipping methods used, moving away from using other big companies. 

Amazon closed Spark, its social media competitor, and it redirects to a page of customer-curated collections. 

Some Goodwill stores are now selling thrift items on online platform OfferUp.

Opinion article: is feature-driven retail preventing people from buying?

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Human brains like stories, which is why you should use them in your marketing. “Stories do another thing: They trigger the release of this neurochemical called oxytocin, which is known in some circles as the love drug. About 10 years ago, all we really knew about oxytocin is that it’s released when, say, a mother is with her baby. But what we’ve discovered since then, through the work of neuroscientists like Dr. Paul Zak, is that stories trigger the release of oxytocin in much the same way.” 

Sell luxury goods? The market is changing as younger people make up a larger chunk of the core. Millennials will make up 50% of the market by 2025. The article has some interesting stats on the luxury resale market: “Overall 45% of true-luxury consumers participated in the second-hand luxury market, and more than one-fourth (26%) have bought pre-owned goods”  which is a trend some luxury vintage sellers might want to watch.

Generation Z prefers personalized content & isn’t as worried about privacy as older generations. 

US adults now spend more time on mobile devices than they do watching tv. Much of that time is spent on mobile apps instead of browsers, & audio (podcasts & music streaming, mostly) accounts for a large chunk of time spent. 

US retail sales grew by half a percent in May, less than predicted. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

As the US looks at starting an antitrust case against Google, articles are reminding the government what other countries found, and what they should be looking at now. Businesses big & small have filed complaints. 

The Google Cloud outage on June 2 that took down YouTube, Snapchat and Shopify among other sites points to the need for everyone to have a backup system. [Remember, Etsy is also moving all functions to Google’s cloud.]

Sick of writing product descriptions? Imagine if it was your full-time job, and you didn’t have any hand in making or curating the products.

[thearkhound]

Hideo Kojima interview with MSX Magazine (2005)

The following is a translation of an interview with Hideo Kojima that was published in a special commemorative issue of MSX Magazine published on May 12, 2005. At the time, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on the PlayStation 2 was the latest entry, while the MSX2 entries of the series, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, had just been ported to Japanese feature phones, although they would later be given an international release a few months later through their inclusion in the Subsistence re-release of Metal Gear Solid 3.

In this interview, Kojima talks about his involvement with the MSX development department of Konami and how it shaped him to become the game developer he would become later on and also discusses some of the other MSX games put out by Konami. The original Japanese interview can be found here, which also includes an interview with Metal Gear 2 sound designer Kazuhiko Uehara, which I might post a translation at a later time.

EDIT (2019/6/8): I completely revised the translation of this interview, since I’ve noticed quite a few mistakes that slipped by me after the initial posting. I’m much more satisfied with this version of the translation. I’ve also uploaded my translation of the Kazuhiko Uehara interview, which can be found here.

Disliking The MSX At First

We brought you a present, Mr. Kojima (an MSX Game Reader, an adapter that allows users to play actual MSX cartridges on a PC with an emulator).

Hideo Kojima: Oh, cool! This is truly amazing, isn't it. Nice! (opens box). Are they still selling this?

Sorry, but we're currently sold out. Of course, that one is yours.

But you can't put two cartridges at the same time. [TL's note: Most MSX computers had two cartridge slots. Some Konami cartridges had special features that would be unlocked when played together. For example, playing Gradius/Nemesis with TwinBee on the second cartridge slot would replace the Vic Viper with the actual TwinBee.]

Actually, you can. You'll just need to buy another Game Reader.

Is that so. (while looking at an issue of MSX Magazine) MSX... How nostalgic. How are things going with the MSX?

We were not sure how many copies of the first issue we would sell, but it went beyond our expectations. There are many passionate fans.

There are many developers who came from the MSX. Even in Konami there are many people who would tell me that they joined the company because of Metal Gear. But the truth is that I actually hated the MSX when I joined Konami. (laughs)

Huh, is that so? Now that you say that, there are quite a few people who came to the MSX without ever getting a Famicom bought for them.

But in the end, we would only use it to play games on it... Everything else was done in BASIC. Nowadays I like playing games on it, but I don't use any of its other programs. It's way too complicated for me. But back then there would be many people who would try making stuff on their own.

Why did you hate the MSX at first?

Back in my college days, I thought about joining the game industry since I spent most of my free time at the video arcades. But the MSX hardly crossed my mind. When I joined Konami I was only thinking of doing arcade and Famicom games and I had many ideas for those platforms, but for some reason I was assigned to do MSX games instead. It was difficult (working on the original MSX) since sprites would disappear when you line them up next to each other and the graphics were monochromatic. It was pretty painful.

Did you had to design things yourself too?

It was that sort of era. The development tools were made in-house and after our meeting was over, we would go to a place that was like a design department to use them. The arcade and Famicom departments would also have their designers nearby.

It must had been pretty difficult under those circumstances.

Essentially the MSX couldn't surpass the arcade nor the Famicom. At least not in terms of graphics and sounds. Therefore you had no choice but to be focused on your work. So when it came to the planning, level designs and playability, you really needed someone to be a planner. The MSX division was the only Konami department that had planners. Although a planner is not what you would call an actual profession, they generally served double duty as designers. I started my career as a planner and thanks to the excellent seniors who were there to guide me, I was able to acquire experience that allowed me to make unusual games such as the original Metal Gear.

Using Hardware Limitations To Your Benefit

What brought upon the existence of the original Metal Gear?

I think it can be told now. At the time there was a popular arcade game by Capcom titled Commando, so I was told to make a game similar to that, but on the MSX1. [TL's note: For some reason Kojima mentions the MSX1 specifically, even though the original Metal Gear was released on its successor, the MSX2. I'm guessing he's either misremembering or he's talking about a prototype version that ran on the older hardware. It’s hard to tell.] Back then I think you could only move in six directions. Six directions was going to be impossible, but even reducing it to just four was too restricting. We had no choice but to make a game that could be done without enemies. And that's what allowed me to develop Metal Gear.

Metal Gear's gameplay system used the MSX’s hardware limitations to its own advantage.  It’s noticeable during gameplay that there aren't that many bullets on-screen.

They wouldn't come out horizontally either. There were five function keys, so we thought about using each of them. The F4 key for example, would bring up the transceiver. Simultaneously pressing one key and another was unthinkable on a controller.

If I remember correctly, the original Metal Gear didn't cause much of an impact at first, but afterward it started getting a following as word of mouth spread. It was a difficult game to understand at first, but then people ended up acquiring a taste for it.

That's because the company didn't interfere with us too much. At that time, arcade games were still pretty popular and the Famicom boom was in its peak. While the MSX was also popular, we were selling less than the other departments, who were selling millions. But because of that, we were given more leeway to do what we wanted. At the company's cafeteria they would post the five best-selling games for each platform on a board. When it came to the MSX, the top five titles were all games published by Konami. We were proud of that fact, but our salaries were never raised.

We're going to interview Mr. Uehara for this issue too. Did you two work together on Metal Gear?

We worked together not on the original Metal Gear, but its sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. I had the most joy in my life during that period. A contrast from the original Metal Gear, which was the most difficult for me. We did Metal Gear 2 for most of 1989, but it wasn't released until 1990. It took a while to come out since our team had to assist in the development of SD Snatcher. It ultimately ended up becoming the last MSX game we ever released.

And then it evolved into Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation.

When I heard there was going to be a home console capable of 3D polygon graphics, my first thought was "we can finally do a true hide & seek game". We kept the bird’s eye view so far out of reluctance, but I was curious if we were capable of doing stuff like hiding under desks or inside lockers, so we were going to make Metal Gear Solid with a simple set-up, but contents of the game ended up being almost identical to Metal Gear 2. Stuff like “searching the back of the game box [to learn a certain character’s frequency number]”.

Metal Gear Solid was a huge success at the end.

Yes, but the MSX version [Metal Gear 2] was the most interesting.

Konami’s Golden Titles

Snatcher was another memorable game for us.

After I've finished working on Metal Gear, the way people saw me within Konami changed. My status was raised quite considerably, but my salary was still pretty low. (laughs) I didn't know what to do next, so I took a one week vacation and drove to Awajijima with a friend. At that moment I felt like I wanted to make an adventure game like the Portopia Serial Murder Case, a game I was into during my college years. Also, if it was an adventure game, I would've be the one making the vital decisions during development. Working for a game company that specialized on arcade game was tough, since they prioritized programmers.

The original version of Snatcher was the one for the NEC PC-8801.

While planning out Snatcher, Enix put out another game titled JESUS. It was a great game, wasn't it? When I saw [JESUS], I was convinced that I had to develop [Snatcher]for the PC-8801 or it wouldn’t be good. Konami’s condition was that I would also develop an MSX2 version of the game, but I was extremely pleased with that and thought “alright.”

It was the first Konami game developed for the PC-88.

That's right. We had quite a lot of pressure, since we didn't have the tools nor the sales channel. It was ultimately released a year and a half behind schedule. After that happened, we couldn't make the sequel anymore [TL’s note: The PC-88 and MSX2 versions of Snatcher ends the story on a cliffhanger at Act 2. The later console versions added Act 3 as a conclusion, but originally Kojima wanted to do a Snatcher sequel that picks up from where Act 2 left off.], so we ended up going back to the MSX.

The game afterward was SD Snatcher.

That's right.

I wondered at the time why it became SD.

I thought so too. I wondered myself why they were developing such a game. Nevertheless, nobody would’ve known how the story of Snatcher would’ve ended if we didn’t include the rest of it. It would’ve been an awful story.

Space Manbow [a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up released by Konami for the MSX2 in 1989] was another game that we were passionate about.

Initially the game was going to be titled "Alphard" if I’m not mistaken, which didn’t seem like a very marketable name. The game itself was excellent in terms of programming, but something about it didn't seem too interesting. That was when Mr. Akihiko Nagata [the head of the MSX department, who would end up becoming the executive producer of the original Metal Gear Solid.] loudly proclaimed something like "Space Manbow sounds good, doesn't it"? The Manbow [otherwise known as a Ocean Sunfish] was a popular fish back then. The title was decided after everyone said "huh?".

I heard that they had to replace all the characters in the game in around a month.

It was actually supposed to be a port of Thunder Cross [another side-scrolling shoot-'em-up by Konami, released for the arcades in 1988], but the developers ended up becoming too absorbed into their work. At the time Uehara and myself would work together until midnight and since my lodgings were located close to him, I would drive him home there while listening to the music he composed for Metal Gear 2 on the car. We usually had dinner together. We would go to a nearby sushi bar or something, get drunk, have a fight and then we would get up early for work... It was that sort of lifestyle.

I get the impression that the entire staff were lodging together.

That's right. The building in Kobe even had a bath and a gym. I once stayed there for 24 hours. But there were no friends around, even during vacations. I had no choice but to travel alongside co-workers during vacation trips. We were an unhappy bunch.

The Reason Why Konami’s MSX Games Were Interesting

We have a strong impression that the content of Konami's MSX game were thoroughly scrutinized before they were released.

That's because we had planners. That's how our development method differed compared to the other departments at Konami. At the MSX department we would do the packaging, catch-copy, design and manuscripts for a game’s manual all by ourselves. We did everything. It brings me back.

The planner system was the key.

There was this sort-of mentality of “making the player have a game over in one coin” that was borne from an arcade origin like Konami, which resulted in simple games. Those kind of game were really rampant when I joined the company, so I would get angry whenever I was told that I only have a day to come up with the backstory of the game’s world. PC game companies, such as Square and Enix, understood what world-building was about, and that’s where planners like Yuji Horii [creator of the Dragon Quest series] came from, since their development infrastructure were completely different. However, in such situation, the presence of unusual markets such as the MSX, is what I think what Metal Gear made possible, which made me who I am now.

The graphics were pretty too.

At the time our in-house tools were pretty substantial. Not just on the MSX, but also on the arcade and Famicom departments. At the time when other companies were using mouses, we were already using stylus pens. But that wasn’t the reason why our graphics were good. You can still draw poorly even while having decent tools. But afterward, our compression technology would be applied and that’s what made it look good.

How did Konami managed to release so many quality games in a row?

The department at the time evaluated the games thoroughly. We had around four teams, each led by a different planner, and they would evaluate each other's works. If one of them was putting out an uninteresting game, everyone would join forces to fix it. Everyone in the other lines would stop their work and help rebuild the game. This accommodation would last around a month. It was interesting.

Games that are made like that tend to be successful.

They all were. Space Manbow and Hinotori both underwent that process. Treasure of Usas didn't turn out to be very interesting though, even though people helped out on it. SD Snatcher was also completely remade when I got involved. That's why we never put out a bad game. You could say that was our corporate or house style.

Emotional Support From MSX Users

It's not unusual for people to buy games because of the creators involved nowadays, but back then we would buy your games because of your involvement.

Back when the original Metal Gear was being made, Famicom games were selling so well that there was a lot headhunting happening. We were told that we couldn't put our names in the game, but we really wanted to. In the end, we ended up doing so and my name appears as "H. Kojima" on the staff roll [TL’s note: They actually used his full name in Metal Gear. “H. Kojima” was used on the NEC PC-8801 and MSX2 version of Snatcher.]. This practice wasn't allowed elsewhere, but we were forgiven since we were doing only MSX games.

That's how we were able to follow your work.

We would receive survey cards asking "is Kojima-san alright?", but since they only saw my name written in romanized characters, they would write it in kana only or use the wrong kanji characters. They didn't start publishing my face and the kanji for my full name until they released the PC Engine version of Snatcher. In terms of sales, we were outclassed by the Famicom division, so we didn't get much praise, but we sold well enough to be kept around.

But we did your recognize your games.

During the MSX1 era, it would take a pace of 3 months to produce a single game and it was the same thing for the Famicom. Maybe 6 months if they realy took their time. In my case, my projects would've taken a year and a half to complete, which wasn't normal back then. Naturally, nobody appreciate that.

They would complain that you were taking too long.

The sales people around me were kind though. After the release date, I would've received tons of FAX where they would sent me everything. Even if we weren't appreciated in a business sense, we were still recognized thanks to the players and sales people around us.

We are happy to know that you received positive feedback.

The survey cards and letters we've received were always placed in the lounge. I would read them over and over again like I was indulging them. We would also receive chocolate around this period. Nowadays we don't get them that often.

MSX users like us would often argue with the Famicom-owning kids at school. For example, we would brag that the MSX version of Gradius had a long laser, while the Famicom version didn't have that.

That's amazing, but no matter how you put it, the MSX was inferior in terms of hardware and it was expensive at that, wasn't it? But since [MSX users] came from a highly intellectual place, we strongly felt we had to implement various schemes to appeal to them.

Your experience with the MSX is what led you to become who you are now.

It was because of the MSX. At the time I thought "Why must I join the MSX"?, but now I'm truly grateful. I believe the MSX department was really blessed, since I haven't been so for a while.

We are looking forward to your future games. Thanks for the interview.