#i love the current server crew but just in case i wanted to post this again

[good-beans]

HI reusing this post but I'm going to hop on in like 20 minutes if anyone wants to come draw with us :3

Interest check/scheduling poll :)

Earlier I mentioned that I wanted to get braver and start chatting more with the online pals. It's become an official new year's resolution, so here we go: I'm going to set up a little discord server where we can chill and do art together!! You don't have to do art, but it'll be open for everyone to stream their screen so it'll feel like An Event rather than just an awkward phone call, haha. You don't even have to talk, you can just vibe. I'm not quite confident enough to do games yet, but I want to work my way to that 👍

If this was something others were interested in, I was wondering what times work for people. I'm making it a poll for ease, but feel free to reply if there's more detail. My schedule's pretty free so I can work with you guys. I'll try out a few different times as we go! I'm setting the poll for a week but I'll probably reach a conclusion in just a few days.

Time converter because I'm in EST lol

[sortasirius]

What the Fuck Happened to the SPN Finale?

Okay so here it is, my Charlie Kelly style manifesto.

Before I get into it, I recognize that I will look like this to many of you, and that’s okay, I understand:

Secondly, your personal Takes about the writers don’t interest me, I don’t need to hear them. This, as I’ll explain, is going to remain a writer positive blog, and that’s the end of it.

Third, and most importantly: some of what I’m going to talk about is fact, and some is highly educated speculation. I will notate what is speculation, just so there’s no confusion or hot takes in my inbox that I’m a conspiracy theorist or stirring shit up for no reason.

A list of what I’ll be discussing

The episode in regards to the rest of the season

The episode issues: length, editing

Scene placement and speculation of scenes cut

The scrubbing of Jack, Cas, Eileen

Network involvement and general timeline of when things were cut

Misha: theories on where he was, official company line, why we can’t expect to hear anything directly

The silence of the cast post episode (in Misha’s case, mid episode) and what this might mean

Jensen speaking with Kripke about the ending: why it doesn’t mean what you might think (also why kripke remained positive on the ending)

Walker, and why this episode had a major shift

Why the network would do this or get involved

Why the writers of the show simply aren’t the bad guys here, and what I “want” out of this post, since I know it’ll get asked

This is very long and under a cut, but I hope you’ll give it a read.

The Episode In Regards to the Rest of the Season

So, I’ve discussed this already here, but it’s the most obvious thing to me, and that’s the way this episode simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the season.

These people in this room have, truly, been nothing but consistent when it comes to their arcs, especially this season, and the marked dropoff in quality for the finale episode is just too sus to discount to me.  Dabb’s whole focus has been character-based.  In his seasons, we’ve moved far away from MOTW and bro-codependency, the found family taking it’s place.  Does it really sit right to anyone that that was all thrown away in literally the last episode of the entire show?

This is speculation on my part, but as a writer myself, there is no way I would be happy or willing to stamp my name on something that I didn’t think would, at the very least, wrap up the season+ character arcs that I and my team had been crafting.

And before anyone comes in here saying, “well GOT did that!”  Bruh.  The writing was on the wall for GOT long before the final episode.  You could tell that the showrunners just wanted to be done (not only from the plot, but from the fact that they lobbied for a shorter season).  Miss me with that, it doesn’t apply here.  Andrew has, besides Singer and J2, been with the show longer than anyone.  He cares, he is meticulous and detailed, and this ending feels worse than anything Bucklemming has ever written, let alone Dabb.

Additionally, I’ve seen a lot of people say that Dabb was never behind Destiel, that it was all Bobo and Meredith and no one else.  That is reductive to the point of insult of the work Dabb has done to get this greenlit.  This man did not write the s13 Dean grief arc to be slandered like this.  That being said, YES, Bobo and Meredith were the leads on the DeanCas arc this season, but ANDREW IS THE SHOWRUNNER, TO GET EVEN THE CONFESSION APPROVED BY THE NETWORK HE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THEIR BACKS.  AND HE DID.

Finale Issues

So, now that we’ve gotten the fact that this episode doesn’t hit on any of the major themes the show was barrelling towards all season, let’s discuss the fact that the episode is just...weird.

Not only is it shorter than any other episode (I think with the intro and the credits/crew thing at the end, it was around 38 mins), but it was also...idk, 90% filler?

One of the lovely humans in the POLOL server did the legwork here, and broke it down:

This is weird, y’all.  Most series finales are LONGER than normal (Lost, SOA, Longmire are the ones I can think of off the top of my head), and for the final episode to be this?  I saw more than one person point out that we only really needed 19 episodes, what was the point of 20?  AND THAT’S EXACTLY IT?  WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS FINAL EPISODE IF THIS WAS ALL WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET?

It simply doesn’t make any sense, the first half of the episode was rushed, a final monster hunt gone wrong, but in the second half?  Nothing really happened?  Sam lived his entire life and Dean just drove around.  It doesn’t make sense to have all the emotional arcs left unaddressed in an episode that definitely needed some kind of spark.

Here’s the speculation I have: the episode seemingly went through a lot of changes between the initial inception of the final season and when we actually got it, but I think it would have been passable (as in, we wouldn’t be sitting here asking each other why each arc feels incomplete) until the editing room got ahold of it.  The only think that makes this episode make sense is network fuckery.  Truly, that is the only thing.  It explains the weird, cuts, the rushed pacing of the first half followed by nothing in the second half, the double montages of “Wayward Son” back to back, and Dean just...driving around for the last half of the episode.

Scene Placement and Speculation of Scenes Cut

Before I get into this section, the info of the shots in the episode I have come from a source that @occamshipper​ got a week or so before the finale.  She’s talked about this here.

So here’s what Min was given:

1-5: 1 INT MEN OF LETTERS – DEAN’S ROOM Dean is greeted by Miracle

6-10: 6 INT MEN OF LETTERS – HALLWAY/SAM’S ROOM Sam has his routine

D1 1 11-15: 15 EXT FARM HOUSE Establishing

N1 1/8 16-20: 19 Dad’s journal, marker, drawing of masked man in journal.

21-25: 23 INT IMPALA – PMP Driver picks the music

N2 1 3/8 1,2 26-30: 28pt2 INT BARN: A face from the past

28pt3 Sam and Dean say goodbye

28pt4 Shot early for technical reasons, presumably the overhead shot

N2 31-45: 41 INT MEN OF LETTERS – SAM’S ROOM Sam’s alarm goes off D4 1/8 1 46-60: 56 INT N7glasses for Sam, laptop.

So...it all fits right?  It all tracks with the actual episode, where it lands, etc.  The issue is between shots 29-40 which were apparently “too big to spoil.”  Uh.  Where are they?  And where’s 28 pt4?

After Dean dies, the next scene is Sam burning him, then shot 31, the shot of his alarm going off.

So.  Where are those 11ish shots?

PLUS we have the boards, which are scenes we KNOW were actually shot:

As well as scenes for 20 that were shot in 19.

It’s just...weird, it’s weird and again hits on the fact that the episode is so short and like 80% montage.

The Scrubbing of Jack, Cas, and Eileen

So now we have to reckon with the fact that Eileen was last mentioned by Sam after she got snapped by Chuck, Jack’s last mention is that he’s off being God somewhere, and Cas’ last mention is a ~knowing look~ between Dean and Bobby.

I’m sorry, make it make sense:

????????  That’s the end if it?  They don’t need to be discussed after this???  It’s just simply not something a writer would do, they would not introduce these characters, these arcs, without thinking there’s going to be some kind of follow through here.

So not only were three major characters (including two leads and both of the original characters’ love interests) completely wiped from the finale episode, it was as though Sam and Dean never even needed them, which just...ain’t it.

So why Eileen and Jack too?  Why not just take Cas out of it if they were afraid of the gay?  Because, ultimately, the episode went back to Kripke’s original story: just the bros, they only need each other and no one else.  They don’t want anyone else, they don’t need anyone else.  Easier to go back to something they knew was successful than trust the writers and their audience and take a big leap.

Alex even said he shot for 20 with “some of the guys” here.  What happened to that footage?

The complete 180 of it all still shocks me, I still cannot believe that we were essentially at the finish line, and the network just stopped short, and decided to go run another race, at the expense of the arc of this fifteen year legacy show.

Network Involvement and When Things Were Cut

Okay, now into the juicy stuff.

So I’ve pretty well established that network fuckery is clear, but how much did they get involved, what was the original intent?

Well again, we may never actually know what Andrew’s original script was, but I think, at the least, it would involve Dean speaking his truth to Cas and Sam living a life with Eileen.

Now, it seems today, that Misha said that Jimmy Novak was supposed to be in the finale in one iteration of the script, and while initially my brain was like “that truly makes no sense and he’s either straight up lying or telling a half truth,” I think what may be happening is Misha talking about as much as he can right now.

So Jimmy right.  Weird as fuck.  Why would he been in the Roadhouse and not Cas?  My current thought (this is about as reachy as I’ll get) is that Jimmy had no lines, could he have been in the Roadhouse as a red herring, like it said “Jimmy” in the script but it was just Cas in human clothes, a way to get around the network saying Cas couldn’t be in the final scene.  Also, you’ll notice that Misha didn’t say that Cas wasn’t supposed to be in the ep at all, just Jimmy in the last scene.

All this to say, there have clearly been multiple versions of the script, getting lighter and lighter with Cas and Eileen as the network pulled further and further back.  Remember, Dabb has to get things approved before they get shot, and if the network kept asking and asking and asking to cut Cas and Eileen, he had to find a way to work around it.  Granted, I still think that if we had been able to get a Dabb script that wasn’t torn to shreds in editing, it wouldn’t be so bad.  It may not be what a lot of us wanted (Dean speaking his truth to Cas and a reciprocation), but doing everything he could to give it to us in subtext or visual clues.

Plus, in all honesty, my man can’t keep his story straight anyway.  He said twice in his panel that the Empty and offscreen Heaven ending weren’t his original ending either.

In addition, remember that Jensen did ADR post episode 18, AND said in a meet and greet last weekend that Dean’s reaction to Cas’ confession was “cut down.” (Source here).  Many of us clowns got excited when we first heard about ADR, because we thought it would be upping the ante on Dean’s reaction, but I remember being a little sus when it was just crying.  My speculation on that is that they cut out Dean actually SAYING something, @winchestersingerautorepair​ spoke about that here.

The biggest sins were, in my opinion, committed during editing, where the network got too gun shy and sliced the episode until it was nothing but a heartless bro-fest of a finale, not mentioning anything about the other major characters that we all love, and letting the boys just suffer in separation until Sam died and finally joined Dean in Heaven.  The editing came by cutting all the major emotional beats between anyone other than Dean and Sam, leaving the skeleton of the story intact, just shorter and less...poignant than it was ever supposed to be.

Misha

We know Misha was in Vancouver, we know he quarantined, but we also know he wasn’t in the final scene, when he spoke about being in the last moment of the show months ago.  We were not crazy, he was there, he quarantined, and, in all likelihood (speculation but fitting with the timeline), he actually may have shot something (not much, but something).

I have sources here, here, here, and here showing where Misha was at that time.

Remember, the man was completely open about coming back until they finished shooting (look at this thread).  The switch happened, just like everything else, halfway through them shooting.

Please also remember Jake Abel posting his “Where’s Misha” video here.  Jake isn’t malicious, he isn’t being nasty here.  Misha was there, and everyone that’s trying to convince people he’s wasn’t just...isn’t telling the truth about it.

This is one of the things that makes me really mad, because they’re literally attempting to gaslight people into thinking, “oh we were totally wrong he was never supposed to be there” WHEN HE WAS THERE, WE KNOW HE WAS THERE.

So we’ve already heard from several people (Meghan Fitzmartin, Jay, a PA on the set of 19 (WHO WAS NOT WORKING FOR 20), Misha himself) that this was all down to Covid restrictions.  Ultimately, as this post says, we’ve heard FIVE versions of where Misha was.  None of it makes sense, but the Covid protocol seems to be the company line that others are repeating.

You may ask: why?  Why lie to all of us when we have questions?  Why, in Jay’s case, say that we’re all spreading false lies to stir up trouble, when we just have questions and things that do not make sense.  Simply?  Warner Brothers is absolutely massive.  These people have their careers to protect and are likely all under NDAs.  They want to work for WB again and don’t want to burn bridges, including Misha.  It sucks, but that’s why it’s unlikely that we’ll hear someone come out and say, “yeah we’re lying to you.”

Silence of the Cast Post Episode

So this is...probably the worst part of all this, at least in my opinion.

The guys had all been pretty excited about the end of the show (especially Jared, but Jensen’s panel last week was Jensen as happy and jokey and positive as I’ve ever seen him.  He was so excited about episode 18, about what it meant for Dean and for Cas, and I just cannot buy that he would have been that excited unless he thought there was something more in the episode.

Misha live-tweeted the episode, and was watching it with his kids.  It’s well known that Misha and the kids don’t watch the show because it’s too scary, and let’s ask ourselves, why would he have them watch an episode that he’s barely even mentioned in?

He also stopped live-tweeting at a very specific point in the episode (Dean’s death) and has not mentioned Supernatural since then. 

None of them, not Jared, Jensen, Misha, or even Alex, said anything about the episode for nearly 36 hours, when Jensen posted a salty photo on instagram.  It’s just...not what you’d expect for the end of a 15 year show, when the cast and crew are so close to the fans, so close to each other. 

My theory?  They didn’t know.  They thought Misha was, at least, going to be in the episode in some way, and when he wasn’t, they decided not to say anything.

You really think that Jensen “Heller” Ackles would have been so excited about the end of the show last week if he thought Cas wasn’t going to be in it at all?  Nah son, doesn’t make any sense.

Even today, in Jared and Misha’s panels, they seemed sad and...more than a little careful, both saying that there were things they couldn’t say, both talking around things that we all have questions on.

Jensen Speaking with Kripke

So this is where a lot of people are getting fodder to take shots at the writers, saying that Jensen hated it from the beginning, but I don’t think so.  I actually think I know what Jensen went to him about, and it wasn’t the lack of Cas or the weird pacing or the montages (which I don’t think were there when Jensen got the script); I think it was the manner of Dean’s death.

I know a lot of people were upset about that, upset with how...normal it was, coming off an episode where they literally beat God.  I actually didn’t mind it, I thought it was an interesting thematic take to be like: you can be a hero all your life, but sometimes shit happens, and you just die.

But imagine how hard that was for Jensen to read.  He would run to Kripke for that, because for him, Dean dying by being impaled by a piece of rebar had to be tough to swallow.

So, why didn’t Kripke say that?  Why didn’t he say, “oh well he had a problem with Dean’s death, none of that other stuff was in the script.”

Guys.  Why would he get involved?  He’s not going to burn bridges any more than anyone else is.  He said the ending was good because it’s the easy thing to do, it’s simple, will cause him no problems in his career, and he can just ignore the people trying to engage with him on it.

Walker

Something else to talk about is the major shift this episode had from the rest of the season: the shift from Dean to Sam.  I am NOT saying that Sam isn’t important, he definitely, absolutely is, but it was DEAN who really needed to wrap up his arc, Sam just needed to move on, get married to Eileen, become the leader he was always meant to.  So what changed?  What was with the shirtless scene, the Austin number and random case there, most of the episode being heavily Sam focused, going through his entire life in a montage?

Anyone else notice the 375 Walker promos, or Jared’s little spiel about Walker and how he hoped SPN fans would “come along for the ride.”

It’s...kinda obvious?  CW wanted to appeal to who they think the key demographic of SPN and Walker is: rural areas in the South.  It would explain a lot, why so much editing, why so Sam focused, the Austin number, the number of Walker promos, all of it.

I’m not saying this is fact, I don’t know that it is, but it is a little suspicious that even in Jared’s panel today, he talked A LOT about Walker and how he hopes SPN fans will watch it.

Why Would the Network Get Involved?

Simply put: $$$

If they think Walker can be the new SPN, and that those crazy SPN fans liked it originally, it’s a lot safer to go with the “original intent” of the show than do something risky (like making one of your two original leads queer).

And?  They don’t care.  They don’t care that the episode didn’t make sense, they don’t care that all the emotional arcs were left hanging, they don’t care by (potentially) smashing together two of Dean’s monologues (one to Sam, one to Cas) that it came of as...gross. ( @curioussubjects​ wrote a beautiful post showing how part of that death speech was likely meant for Dean here).  They don’t care, they never have, they just want to make their money and move on from the too-loud fandom that fought for representation too hard for too long.

It can’t help but feel insidious, which, honestly, it might be, but it really all comes down to the next cash cow, which, they think, is Walker, even at the cost of the fifteen year legacy show.

The Writers and What I Want

So here it is, all this weird, sus shit laid out on the line.  And you know what?  To me, there is no way to blame the writers, because they didn’t want this.

I don’t think Dabb and Bobo would have gone ahead with the confession in 18 without thinking that there would be some closure to that arc, they wouldn’t have done that not only to the fans, but for the sake of their own story as well: no writer wants to start something that they can’t finish. (And this applies to both Cas and Eileen).

Here’s a basic rundown of what I think happened: they had a clear arc from 18-20, ending in reciprocation at some level from Dean, Sam marrying Eileen, Hunter Sam as the new Bobby, Dean in heaven with Cas and big roadhouse reunion at the end. Covid prevented a good amount of that. Network had to stare at big gay 18 for six months, got cold feet. Thought about Walker, target audience and alienation of the rural areas if it went full gay. Misha quarantined and likely shot something (not much), he was then cut by execs and went home. They likely added in lines referencing Eileen and Cas to make it clear but more subtextual. They wrap, editing gets it and hacks it to pieces, so we get a shorter episode that’s mostly montages and jarringly bro-centric with nothing else. Arcs are left hanging. Dabb gets episode but it’s too late, there’s nothing he can do. Actors aren’t told so they can continue to do positive PR for the ending, they all found out at the same time we did: hence almost complete silence about the finale.

And you know what?  They warned us.  I talked about it here, but they’ve been telling us all season that Chuck wasn’t the writer, he’s the network.  I don’t think, still, that they thought it would be cut up like this, into something so unsalvageable that it’s been panned by almost everyone, even people who didn’t care much about Dean and Cas.

Finally, a masterpiece can be ruined by editing, and while I’m not sure even the script they ended up shooting on was a masterpiece (due to the network meddling already), but to me it’s blatantly obvious that it’s no one but the network that caused this, that took away closure for Dean, Cas, and even Sam.

So what do I want?  Nothing really, there’s nothing we can do, but I wrote this mostly to show people that the writers are not your enemy.   In fact, to the people trashing them?  You’re doing exactly what the CW wants you to: blame the obvious targets, blame Misha, blame Jensen and Jared, blame Dabb.  Scream and yell at them on Twitter and about how the show is ruined because of them.  The network keeps their engagement levels high, they don’t get as targeted for their behavior, and just keep moving along.

Just, please, think about who did this,  Mourn the show, be angry, but not at the people who fought tooth and nail for this for literal years, not the people who wanted it more than we did, not the people who cannot say anything because of their careers and the NDAs they’re bound by.

Someone is going to spill eventually, but until then, we just have to wait, and continue to be loud.

[20dollarlolita]

Is the Dollar-Chan Pattern School open to all sewists with questions looking to learn, even if they're not exclusively lolita-focused?

Okay, so my first reply was a formatting mess, check the notes for a reblog where I fixed that. Original is now under a cut.

Yes, but it still is a lolita-focused idea. You will pick your own patterns, within my guidelines. However, it's definitely going to be a case where people who are making lolita are the target audience, and people who are making other things are guests who are participating in part of the event

A lot of this is going to be taking an existing pattern and making it fit as a lolita garment. If you personally want to take the instructions for taking a pair of shorts and adding incredible volume and poofy little cuffs to it, and make that into something other than lolita bloomers, that's your right, but my instructions are absolutely not going to say, "and if you don't want to make bloomers, you can--" because who doesn't want to make bloomers?

There's going to be lolita-specific resources, the same way there are on this blog. I will go on at length about twill and lace and all of that will be framed in an EGL context. The passion of my blog is to get people who are interested in lolita fashion, but are intimidated by the price, to have the power to save money by making their own lolita items.

This also currently has an eventual goal of being confident at using Japanese lolita patterns published in places like GLB and OnS. For a western user to do these confidently, they need to know how to read a pattern, not just read instructions, and they need to know how to measure themselves against a pattern and make the pattern fit their body. That's the first two major skills that we're working towards.

That said. Sewing is sewing and I want people to have fun sewing. Sewing skills are universal and I want people to have them. I'm not going to stop and tailor the work for people who aren't interested in lolita and if you shit talk lolita i will ban your fucking ass because we don't do that in my server. I'm not going to make you wear it, but I will expect you to respect it.

If you've never been to a lolita meetup, you've probably never seen the small group of people wearing jeans, who are friends with the lolita-clad folks at the party but who don't wear the fashion. They're usually the Boyfriend Crew, though not exclusively, and they're usually happy to take coord photos and are generally part of the group in some way. If they can laugh when I call my parasol my "Kelly Eden Parasol because I got my dollar-to-yen wrong" then they're part of the group even in t-shirts. I'm not going to kick the Boyfriend Crew out of a meetup and I'm not going to kick the...non-lolita crew out of the group. But at the end of the day you need to be ready for a lot of this to be entertaining for you, but not for everything to be something that you're interested in. I would love the fringe audience to be interested and enjoy

Yes, sort of? Yes? But also Yes? Okay. So.

First of all, the Dollar-Chan's Pattern School posts that I put on this blog can absolutely be followed by anyone who wants to learn more about using and modifying patterns, and learning to read patterns by the pattern instead of the instructions.

The passion of my blog is to get people who are interested in lolita fashion, but are intimidated by the price, to have the power to save money by making their own lolita items. That is the audience that I'm building this towards. There's going to be lolita-specific elements in this project. However, I do recognize that the idea of learning to use and modify patterns appeals to more than just that audience.

As for the Discord community, so far there's plenty of people who appreciate the lolita aesthetic but don't really want to wear it. That's fine, but I am going to be clear about one thing: If you shit talk lolita fashion then I will ban your ass. I deal with that when I go out and so I'm not going to deal with it in my own discord.

If you've never been to a lolita meetup, you've never seen the number of people's plus-ones who are wearing t-shirts and jeans and who are totally happy to take pictures and hold parasols and share in the jokes, but who aren't interested in wearing the fashion. This is pretty normal and it's fun to have people in that position along, but they're also sort of like guests at someone else's house. The party isn't going to cater to them, but they're welcome to enjoy the parts of it that they're interested in.

So yeah, if you're okay with that, then I think it'll be fun. If you like how I write and how I share information, then you'll like folowing along. But, I mean, step 2 is going to be taking an elastic shorts pattern and adding fullness to make bloomers. If you don't want to make bloomers, you're on your own for figuring out what to do with giant pumpkin pants. So, just go into it knowing that. One of the first big goals is going to be working off Japanese patterns and dealing with the main issues of the pattern being too small and in a different language. Go into it knowing that, too. We'll get to making patterns too, but I'm going to be teaching it as making lolita patterns. And I think you'll have fun if you are aware of all the limitations and aware that I'm not going to change the focus on lolita even if there's pressure to change it. In the beginning, this blog was a way to motivate myself to make more lolita things for myself, and it's still that in its own way.

[memryse]

hello tumblr i present my canon-compliant "DSMP But... Everybody Discovered Large-Scale Organised Religion" mianite au which took a few hours to write up oops. basically here is a list of which god everybody would follow and why, based on canon events (i have therefore left out a couple of the members who don't really do lore or be on the server much because i definitely don't know about them enough to be accurate!)

dream: mianite. obsessed with control, you get it. went too far though and developed his own obsession with controlling the server so he is now godless and in jail

tommy: dianite. tommy is a favourite of dianite's - he's idealistic with a penchant for chaos, and like i said in my other post dianite probably sees himself in tommy a little. they're both misunderstood as Bad People

tubbo: ianite -> dianite, he converts post-doomsday. grew up as a follower of ianite and trying to follow her path put added pressure on him during his presidency. embraces being a dianitee with the start of the nuke program, but he keeps all his ianitee family heirlooms. ianite still holds a soft spot for him because of his family and occasionally gives him minor blessings. that being said she's of course a little disappointed he chose to change gods, but respects his decision

ranboo: no god, but enderwalk ranboo is an acolyte of ianite; awakeboo eventually converts to ianite when he reads awakeboo's note and decides to become more active in conflict resolution. he realises ianite actually aligns with his newfound ideals, and is of course more in touch with his ender side. however prior to this he wasn't really very keen on worshipping any gods, seeing as all he saw from them was wars waged in their names.

wilbur: also an atheist. probably prayed to dianite during pogtopia ("dream, i want to be your vassal" type beat) but other than that he's the type to criticise organised religion and be an independent leader, no need for gods. wilbur and ranboo narrative foils my beloveds!!!

techno: ianite. the thing about c!techno is he has one goal and he will stick to that no matter what - it's not total order, but it's not chaos either because there is motivation and reasoning behind it. also, a core tenet of ianitee ideology is not involving yourself in conflict until somebody personally wrongs you. much like butcher army era techno where he retreats to a peaceful (more godly, in this case) life until he's hunted down, at which point he Fucks Shit Up. in general techno holds grudges and takes even slight betrayals very seriously.

phil: ianite. i can see antarctic duo as former warriors of ianite! idk i don't have much to say phil is just.. a chill old warrior. probably jaded and tired of fighting wars for his goddess, but he still prays to her. specifically he prayed every night that wilbur could finally find balance in the afterlife. :)

niki: also ianite. definitely. niki values her own beliefs and morals, she's her own independent self. maybe she was a mianitee pre-nov 16th, but not since then. this makes the syndicate pretty much just a secret squad of ianitees (+ ranboo who everyone kind of just assumes is an ianitee given that, yknow, enderman). this is extra fun with the syndicate table being an end portal

sam: mianite 10000000%. he puts his commitment to duty above all else. not really much more to say he is just fully committed to keeping the server safe by carrying out mianite's will and imprisoning dream.

foolish: he's a god himself, so he doesn't follow any of the main three. however in the past he did work with mianite, enforcing his control over the land. from what we know about his totem of death period it wasn't like.. wanton destruction, it was him seeking control through violence, so i'm not inclined to say he worked with dianite back then.

george: man just wants to sleep and farm wheat, he's mianite. ez.

sapnap: also mianite. dream team as mianite's strongest and most revered knights!!!!!!

puffy: she's a pirate lady i don't know what to tell you other than she was part of capsize's crew. ianitee pirate ladies i care you. plus i feel like puffy centres mostly on people and not allying herself with specific nations or causes, she believes in balance above all.

eret: i view the greater dsmp as a mianitee nation, so as king of it they obviously have to follow mianite. eret has always strove to be a good king and help their nation prosper. plus, who knows what went on in the past with foolish. former mianite warriors eternal duo? i think so! (i think it would be cool if a literal reincarnation of herobrine was a mianitee purely because it fucks with everybody's expectations)

quackity: dianite. not just because he's chaos incarnate at times but like his entire current arc is so reminiscent of the fact that s2 dianite was literally a businessman. rip ghost dianite you would've loved c!quackity

fundy: oh boy here's a complex one. fundy switches gods frequently - look how much he craves acceptance from authority figures, from a substitute parental figure. i think right now his prophetic dreams could be interpreted as him being chosen by a certain god who sees potential in him, but i can't say who bc we don't really know too much about them or even why he's suddenly having them. that being said his chaotic scamming foxboy side definitely embodies dianite and he should have stuck with dianite the entire time but nah he needs Validation

jack manifold: follows dianite, but dianite isn't really pleased with him trying to kill tommy so often (seeing as he likes tommy). this is why he has such comically bad luck. his god is continually fucking with him.

karl: ianite, specifically chosen by her to become the historian of the server. the purple theme.. the duty to write down history as it truly happened (as opposed to censoring history like a certain mianite did). the existence of both the in between and the other side. karl Is balance. thank you. (also this makes karlnapity's marriage one mianitee, one ianitee and one dianitee. diversity win!)

schlatt: mianite (derogatory)

the eggpire is pretty much just the darkness isn't it. mianite was the blueprint actually.

bbh: dianite at first, judging by the badlands' ideology. corrupted by the darkness though.

antfrost: also dianite, but probably really lowkey about it and only ever prayed when the badlands needed his blessings. again, corrupted now

hannah: mianite - her connection to nature is by extension also a connection to mianite, the god of the overworld. plus she cared about maintaining harmony on the server and went to lengths to ensure it like the whole "killing her own dogs to protect them" thing. currently on her corrupted girlboss arc though

punz: dianite, he likes money and killing people idk what more you expect from me. even after joining the eggpire this has not changed at all. he'll work for other gods' followers for the right price but he's not changing his core beliefs

ponk: i don't know very much about him i'm ngl, especially not pre-eggpire. prior to his corruption though i do kinda like the idea of a mianitee doctor doing fucked up little experiments idk he just has mianitee vibes to me in the same way tucker was a mianitee.

skeppy: he and bbh are obviously both dianite together prior to the egg. it simply would not be right of me to put him anywhere else.

purpled: ianite. the colour purple... the tendency to stay so far out of conflict that he doesn't even log onto the server... mans was born to be an ianitee actually

[mamahersh]

The Road to Hell (is Paved with Good Intentions) Chapter 7

“Season 8 was well underway, and the server’s first conflict is bubbling just under the surface. But BDoubleO can’t worry about that right now because he has an Etho to find so they can work on the Horse Course together. However when Xisuma calls a surprise server meeting on behalf of EvilXisuma, BDubs gets his answers about where Etho’s been in the worst way possible.”

(CW: angst, mild torture)

Chapter rating: T

Nice long conclusion chapter to make up for the short one yesterday! From BDubs view, plus nHo hurt/comfort (emphasis on comfort)!

As in all the previous chapter posts, if you’ve enjoyed the ride I took direct inspiration from this oneshot on AO3! Please give them some love and appreciation.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6

It had taken days before Xisuma figured out what EX had done to the server that had caused the respawns to break in the way that it had, and how to fix it. However, figure it out and fix the problem he did, and with respawn mechanics back to normal, everyone who had died and respawned during the glitch was able to reset their health completely. And properly set their respawn points as well, since part of the glitch seemed to be that people’s respawns were being set as they were dying. But the biggest adjustment in the days after EX had caused havoc was trying to help Etho recover.

While Etho seemed relatively ok once he was able to talk again (his tongue and all his other lingering injuries were fully healed with the fixing of the respawn, though figuring out a way to get him to respawn was both more difficult and less difficult than BDubs had expected); BDubs was hearing from Iskall that all was still not right with the world. Normally, Hermits would let current season basemates/regional allies/faction mates do the heavy lifting of any emotional or mental stress that a particular Hermit experienced on the daily unless the Hermit asked for help from specific Hermits. But in this case, BDubs felt he should invite Etho to an nHo reunion/get-together. Even if Etho didn’t necessarily need the reunion, BDubs knew the rest of the nHo did. 

They had all been in various states of hysterics by the time they had gotten Etho out of the restraints and the death loop he had been locked in. BDubs had been the first person to breach the room, with Iskall and Beef right behind him. Beef had blocked up the water to stop the cycle as Iskall and a recently arrived Cleo began breaking restraints while BDubs clutched Etho’s freed hand (thinking back, he probably shouldn’t have. Etho’s hands had looked hardly better than the rest of his mangled flesh. He also wasn’t sure how they managed to get his wrists detached from the cuffs, as his arms and wrists were still solidly clipping into the restraints). Hypno had fiddled with the camera and looked over the speakers, before he managed to get everything deactivated and convinced the remaining Hermits to gather at Cleo and Joe’s base. By the time the Hermits were assembled at Joe and Cleo’s base, and Etho had been safely transported from the floating box, Doc was a hissing mess, Beef was greener than normal as his stress seemed to activate the alien transition, and BDubs had resorted to constantly checking his clock (a nervous habit he had picked up from 3rd Life, but the less he thought about that hell server the better). Etho had been quickly whisked away by Iskall to their shared base, but was just as quickly relocated to the Spawn Egg; as neither had wings, and Etho wasn’t nearly healthy enough to try and scale his own base in the sky. Plus, being at the Spawn Egg had the added benefit of easy access by the rest of the server so that other Hermits could stop by and check in on Etho’s progress while they all waited for Xisuma to fix the respawn mechanics. BDubs stopped by once while Etho was recovering. It was a little out of his way when trying to visit the Yes Wings Club, but figured he might as well since he hadn’t seen Etho since they had saved him 2 days before. 

Etho looked about what he had expected to be honest. Since they were worried about whether a normal respawn would register his tongue being gone as normal if they healed it properly with potions, the other Hermits had determined to wait on healing him till after he had properly respawned. That left him bedridden till the server was fixed though, which no one was happy with. BDubs was told later that supposedly Etho had understood during the few times he was lucid enough to listen to someone during that time. While he had been there though, Etho had been solidly asleep, Iskall asleep himself by Etho’s bedside. BDubs had taken a moment anyway to sit on Etho’s other side and just quietly talk to him about what he had been up to in the day or two since they had saved him. Iskall had come to briefly to see who had been talking, before settling back into his chair to rest.

BDubs had left pretty quickly, if he were being honest. Seeing Etho as vulnerable as he was left BDubs feeling a bit ill. After that, it had only been a day or two more of anxiously waiting for Xisuma to fix the server before they had been able to get the other Hermits respawned properly. (There had been several deaths during the time the respawns had been on the fritz, including a couple during the search from fall damage.) But when it came to Etho, they had tried to explain what needed to happen during one of the next times he was awake, but he had been becoming more unresponsive the longer he had been bedbound. So with heavy hearts, it had been decided that Etho needed to respawn as soon as they could decide a way to do so. After much debate between Iskall and Xisuma, it was decided that a quick anvil to the head would suffice.

It was told to BDubs later that Etho had respawned a few paces from the bed he had been sleeping in at Spawn looking incredibly confused and lost. It took close to a half hour to explain what had happened to him before him and Iskall went back to their shared base. And if Iskall was to be believed, it sounded like Etho hadn’t slept since the first night back. Which was almost a week ago. Not that many of the other Hermits were doing better. From the sounds of the grapevine, Mumbo still blamed himself for what had happened to Etho, and despite apologizing and promising Etho a cut of all his profits that season to make up for his decision (which he had been told Etho had forgiven Mumbo for and told Mumbo to keep the profits as he was just respecting Etho’s choice) he insisted on trying to find ways to make it up to an increasingly exasperated Etho. (Which BDubs noted was somewhat out of character, since Etho almost never missed a chance to keep someone in his debt and exploit them for his own projects). Other than Mumbo, Doc had been reported also to not have been sleeping as much, but instead he worked on his most recent engineering marvel. Beef had been throwing himself almost entirely into setting up his own shop outside the Derpcoin market to sell his own brand of non-evil cat food. BDubs knew that Beef was taking the whole: “Derpcoin is actually evil not even a meme” thing incredibly hard, since his whole thing this season had been going over to the dark-side as an alien (which BDubs still didn’t understand how that had started in the first place). BDubs himself was doing just fine thank you very much! Sure, he’d been struggling with sleeping at night himself (every time he closed his eyes he could see Etho strapped to that chair and drowning again), and yeah, he’d been trying to work on the shopping district by the mountain instead of the Horse Course (he had heard from Iskall that Etho had been working on something outside the base, and BDubs had a sneaking suspicion he knew at least one of the projects Etho’d been working on). But he definitely wasn’t nearly as bad as the other members of the old nHo. Definitely. He couldn’t lie to himself, they were all having a bad time. 

So, as BDubs was wont to do, he took things into his own hands and sent invitations to all the nHo members to come by his base for a get together. The date was set, and he visited every member in person leading up to the event to make sure they were coming, no excuses! (He knew it was particularly urgent as when he went to check on Etho, he finally found him sleeping in one of BDubs’ builds next to the horse course, and when he got Etho awake, he cracked exactly 0 height jokes until he tried to get Etho to come by later and it was a height joke every minute. The height jokes were BDubs’ way of figuring out how nicely Etho wanted to play. The less the better.)

But now the day had finally arrived, and BDubs welcomed each one of his friends into his base with open arms and a smile. First to arrive was Beef, seeing as he was closest. Then Doc. Then as BDubs was debating messaging Iskall to find Etho for him, the man himself showed up on BDubs’ doorstep. Everything went off without a hitch in the beginning. They all were able to reconnect and chat about bases and projects they were working on; Doc with his redstone magic he was getting from his friends on another server, Beef and his efforts to create a new kind of cat food, Etho and his many projects ranging from an inventory sorter to the horse course, and BDubs with his latest shop attempts in the Big Eye Crew shopping district. (It was good to see Etho making fun of BDubs’ attempts at making a redstone shop. Etho hadn’t heard of it yet, and it was a delight to see him light up while joking about what BDubs could possibly make with redstone that even someone like Grian couldn’t do themselves.)

It all comes crashing down when Etho asks Beef more about the cat food. Specifically what was wrong with the old cat food. 

Now Beef hadn’t expressly said that he had been working with EX for having a cat food stand at the Evil Emporium; but he had implied that his previous cat food flavor would be going on the back burner. What they all had assumed was that Etho at least generally knew most of the gossip on the server. But what BDubs should have guessed was that Etho had been very absent this season, and unless the current events were directly affecting his plans, he had never been one for being up to date on server events. So BDubs should have guessed that Etho asking about cat food would only end in a bittersweet ending.

“So Beefers, you said something about your cat food getting a new recipe… What happened with the old recipe? Not up to snuff?”

“I will have you know that all my cat food is premium and delicious, and I will not have you slandering it in this way,” replied an overdramatic Beef. 

The nHo chuckled at his antics before Etho came back with, “Well if it wasn’t the quality then what was it? Now you have me intrigued.”

Beef shrugged. “I just wanted a cat food to really call my own is all.”

Etho gave him a look. “Wouldn’t the other cat food be yours too?”

“Well…” Beef looked deeply conflicted. BDubs decided to say it for him. “He was working for the Evil Emporium since he started to change into… I guess it’s an alien?”

Etho stilled at the name, and the rest of the group held their breaths. “Ah,” he replied, suddenly tight as a bowstring.

“Which is why I’m making a new brand of cat food, one which I’ll be selling from a shop near my base for diamonds,” soothed Beef, trying his best to keep Etho away from bad memories.

“I can see why you changed brands then,” replied Etho through a forced calm. He was not subtle in the least however. Bdubs wondered if the hurt in Etho's eyes was from the idea that his closest friend had supported the monster that had hurt him, or the idea that his friend would completely change his plans for the season due to one off script incident? Bdubs had a feeling it was definitely the former.

(BDubs had asked Xisuma after all was said and done if he remembered anything leading up to them being in front of the screen at his base. X had said the last thing he had remembered before that was meeting up with EvilX to discuss business strategies before blacking out after their customary greetings. He explained it had happened before, but he had somehow never thought much of the memory gaps. However, he agreed with the rest of the Hermits that had talked with him about it that it was a problem that would need to be investigated because it sounded like mind control. And a player that could control the server admin was a force too powerful to allow free. Or at the very least, a player that needed to have some very hard limits as to what they could do placed upon them.)

“You know, Etho, have you been ok?” asked Doc hesitantly. BDubs hoped that Doc knew what he was doing, because Bdubs was definitely lost.

Etho looked a bit like a cornered animal at the moment as he looked between the 3 of them like they had betrayed him. “Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?”

Doc gave him a look that BDubs thought was completely justified. “Etho, you went through an incredibly traumatic experience only a week or so ago. It is completely fine if you aren't doing ok.”

Etho sighed. “And what would you even do if I wasn't ok?”

Doc gave a hissy whine and moved from where he had been situated to sit close beside Etho. “Well, we'd figure out what we can do to make it a little closer to being ok.” He looked down at his lap. “I know I've been struggling with sleep recently, so I understand at least if you aren't sleeping either.” Etho looked vaguely stricken.

“You were part of the group that was watching, weren't you?” BDubs watched as Etho began to close off. Doc just nodded miserably. “And the two of you?”

BDubs felt gutted, knowing that Etho either didn't remember him breaking in to save him and holding his hand; or was purposefully ignoring the memory. “I stopped you from drowning more by blocking up the source block...” muttered Beef, looking pretty hurt himself.

“I found your enclosure and got the search party together to come finish breaking you out; and was there next to Beef when he was saving you,” finished Bdubs, a bit more of the hurt shining through because he couldn't hold a poker face even if his life depended on it. But also, Etho needed to see that he wasn't alone, in a lot of ways.

Etho looked appropriately chastised, if also incredibly grateful. “Thank you, all of you.” He leaned lightly into Doc's shoulder; the most affection he would normally show to anyone. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you 3, so thank you. Thank you so much.” They all politely ignored the sniffling coming from behind the mask, though Beef situated himself on Etho’s other side, and BDubs decided to try and strategically place himself on the floor in front of Beef so that if Etho wanted to lean a leg against him, he could. BDubs was so tempted to drape himself over Etho’s legs, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Etho probably wouldn’t handle being immobile in a sitting position well for the foreseeable future. However he was vindicated when his hair was playfully ruffled by an Etho hand as the 4 of them devolved into just sitting with each other. 

BDubs should have guessed that Etho wouldn’t stay down long however, as Etho (after inconspicuously wiping the corners of his eyes dry) said, “so, who wants to help me prank the Boatem Crew?” BDubs could feel the devious smile creeping across his face.

“Now you’re speaking my language Canada boy!” Etho wheezed a quiet laugh above him. 

“You sure you want to be slinging that kind of slander at me short stuff?”

“SHORT STUFF?!?!” BDubs got up in a huff. “I’LL SHOW YOU SHORT STUFF, YOU DAMN BEAN POLE!” Beef, Etho, and Doc all burst into chuckles, leaning into the couch as they tried to get themselves under control. “YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY, DO YOU? Ooooooh, you are all playing a dangerous game!”

Etho and Doc proceeded to laugh harder, leaning against each other. “What are you going to do BDubs, bite our ankles?” asked Beef before breaking down laughing again. 

“I’LL BITE YOUR ANKLES JUST WATCH ME!” and with that, BDubs was all over Beef, trying to get a solid shoulder punch in, but being thwarted at every turn. A stray punch at Doc, and suddenly everyone but Etho was rolling around the floor trying to playfully murder each other. Etho wheezed in laughter at their antics, and expertly avoided getting added into their mischief by eventually hopping up a ladder to the next floor and watching from the opening.

Eventually they managed to settle down, and by the time they had gathered themselves enough, it was night time. BDubs, with a lighter heart than when he had let in all his friends earlier in the day, said goodbye to them with promises that if Etho really was serious about pranking the Boatem Crew, the nHo would be right by his side. They left one by one, first Doc (who complained that he was already behind schedule on his build), then Beef (who playfully recommended Etho come help him run his shop if he wasn’t too busy helping Iskall dye prismarine), and lastly Etho. But before Etho departed, he said, “you know, I already thanked you, but I feel I should do it again.” He met BDubs’ gaze. “Thank you so much for finding me. I don’t know how that would have ended if you hadn’t caught sight of that place”. 

BDubs was humbled by Etho’s gratitude, though he still replied with, “You’re my friend Etho, of course I would give it my all to find you. I’m just happy we were able to do so before it was too late. And if you ever need to get away from it all, it’s pretty nice out here once you get past all the big eyes.”

Etho wheezed a chuckle in response, a hidden smile brightening up the corners of his eyes. “Sure, I’ll keep that in mind. You take care of yourself now, you hear? I don’t want to be hearing of too many shenanigans from you, ok?”

BDubs laughed in response, and nodded. “Can do! And you do the same, ok?” He let the humor drain a bit, a more serious tone shining through. “If things get bad, please let someone know. Doc knows what happened, and he would be able to tell you who else was there that you could talk to if you needed it.”

Etho nodded. “Yeah, yeah. If it gets bad I always have Iskall and you guys.” Etho glanced at a clock in his inventory. “Looks like I should be off. If I start now, I should be able to get back before sunrise.” Etho waved goodbye as he turned to go.

“Stay safe! I’ll see you around then,” called out BDubs as he watched Etho quickly jog to the nearest source of water. Then, once acquired, he flew with the flick of his trident, starting his way back to the nether portal so as to make it back to his base safely.

BDubs went to bed that night content knowing that if Etho ever needed the help, he knew who he could reach out to.

-fin-

[purplesurveys]

1277

Who are you most nervous about introducing potential significant others to?  Ooooh moving forward, probably Angela hahahaha I have no idea how I’d break it to her if ever I do start seeing somebody again. She’s well aware of all the shit that I let slide so she might get intense with the scrutineering.

What is the most exciting thing about your life right now?  Just the fact that I feel on top of the world these days. My days of being depressed and picking at my insecurities seem to be far behind me and the change has looked to be apparent coming from friends who’ve told me I seem happier, louder these days.

What was the most important non-academic thing you learned in high school?  To not be scared to fight harder for the things you believe in or what make up your identity, coming from having to hide a same-sex relationship during that period. That feeling of being constricted and having to hide to stay on some conservative seniors’ good graces really pissed me off so high school was really crucial in letting me discover just how much I’d be willing to fight and test the waters to be able to live as me.

Have you ever had a job that deeply affected your personal life? How so and do you still work there?  Hmm no, not really. If anything my job is one of the things that helped make me a lot livelier and happier.

Do you have a “one who got away”?  It felt that way at the start when my view was still skewed, but it didn’t take long until I realized she was not a loss at all.

If you were in a superhero movie, would you be the hero or the villain? Hero.

If you found a mouse in your house, would you be frightened?  Mice or rats are the literal worst fucking thing I could see in my house. I definitely see myself making a big deal out of it lmao, especially rats.

Have you ever tried to perform magic tricks?  Nobody ever taught me, so no.

Can you do more with a yo-yo than just "go up and down"? Nah, which kinda makes me feel ashamed because considering it was a Filipino who invented the modern yo-yo, I feel like it should be my responsibility to know a few tricks LOL.

What is one form of technology that you wouldn't be able to live without?  Instant messenger.

Did you get an allowance, growing up? Why or why not?  Starting high school. Before that I was living in our family’s duplex, so my grandma could make packed meals for all of us – not to mention the fact that my parents were also still on their way to establishing themselves at their respective workplaces so we weren’t all that well-off yet. 

When we moved into our own place, we started with my mom making our meals but eventually it just proved to be time-consuming and a lot of work considering she also had a job to go to. With that and the fact that both my parents at that point already got a couple of promotions, we switched to allowance.

Would you rather go to a water park or an amusement park? Why?  Amusement parks though I would only probably head to the safer rides and food stalls with all the deep-fried offerings haha. I cannot handle more intense rides. On the other hand, water parks have always sounded nasty to me.

What is one instrument you wouldn't mind learning how to play?  Piano.

What's the longest amount of time you've had to wait in line for something?  The stupid LTO, because you can never count on government agencies to be efficient. Technically my whole time in there took a couple of stages, but all in all I spent eight hours there.

What is something that you would like to learn more about?  Korean. I just graduated from my Basic Korean 1 class but I already have plans to enroll in the following course, since I seemed to do well and I want to keep the momentum going.

What is something that one of your family member collects?  Mom has a large collection of chef-themed figurines and other sorts of trinkets like a chef timer, shot glasses, etc - but mostly the figurines - that she has displayed in a glass case. I should keep that in mind for when I start Christmas shopping, actually...she hasn’t updated that collection in a long time. Thanks for the idea!

Have you ever moved to a new school before? If so, how did it feel?  No, not in the middle of the same period since I went to the same school from kinder to high school for 14 years. I only “moved” when I started college. Like I’ve said in previous surveys, it felt freeing to finally not under be the hands of an environment ran by...well, Catholics. It was a culture shock to see rallies everywhere, to find out I could wear short shorts or even go to school naked if I wanted to, and to see boys in my class (I went to an all-girls), but it was all the good kind of shock.

Have you ever legitimately forgotten to do homework?  Always, because I never wrote them down.

Do you enjoy autumn leaves or spring flowers more? Why?  I experience neither season.

Depending on where you live, why might a day of school get canceled? Typhoon.

If you could meet any fictional character from a book, who would it be? Melanie Hamilton from Gone with the World.

What are some common places that people tour when they come to your city?  I rarely see foreigners here since my area isn’t particularly known for tourism; most go to the island provinces like Cebu, Aklan, Palawan, etc. If I had to recommend spots here, I’d tell them to go for Pinto and maybe the rooftop bars that offer a view of Manila’s skyline. 

What's one food that you did not enjoy as a child, but do as an adult?  Chicken curry, which I used to dread.

Would you rather have a mermaid tail, a fairy's wings or a unicorn's horn? I guess the wings just because I feel like it’s the only practical one.

What is an animal that you'd like to have as a pet but it's not allowed?  I don’t think that way about animals I can’t keep as pets anyway.

What are some things that you do to make the world a better place?  I always clean up at restaurants (my mom doesn’t understand why I do it because “the servers are here for a reason, Robyn”) but I always see the relief on their faces when they see I’ve stacked up the plates and cups so I don’t see a reason to stop doing it. I keep the door open for people who happen to enter/exit a building the same time as me, share dog adoption posts, don’t make a fuss about or towards a shop staff who messes up...things like that. I hope it’s able to help, even if just in a small way.

Has the last person you had sex with ever had sex with someone besides you?  I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has already.

What’s your favorite store at your mall?  We have several malls within the vicinity but I like frequenting NCAT.

Have you ever done a workout DVD?  No but my mom is fond of those.

Who usually takes out the trash in your family?  Either of my parents.

What song are you currently obsessed with?  My Universe is soooooo good. It’s Coldplay’s classic sound but they somehow managed to perfectly blend in BTS’ style as well, so I love how it turned out.

When you go fishing, do you make someone else get the fish off the hook?  I've never gone fishing.

Do you take any prescription meds?  Nope.

What happens if you don’t take them?  Who was the last person you dreamt about?  My dad.

Do you prefer your tea sweetened or unsweetened?  Sweetened, though I don’t usually actively look for iced tea. I’d have it if it was served, but I don’t typically order it for myself.

How often do you honk your horn?  As long as I am annoyed, which gives my mom a mini heart attack every time because she insists I just let people have their way to avoid getting into fights. Sometimes when she’s driving and someone’s being stupid on the road I lurch forward to do the honking for her and it pisses her off soooooooooo much but it also gets the job done so *shrug*

Do you have any children? If so, names and ages? I don’t.

Have your parents ever witnessed you doing something inappropriate? What?  TMI but I almost got caught doing the m-word once but my reflexes were at lightning speed that day so when my door opened I was able to fix myself up and appear as though nothing was happening lol. My mom also saw a hickey on me once but I was able to veer the conversation away when she started inquiring.

Did you get babysat a lot as a kid?  No, I did the babysitting.

If you were the principal of a school, what would you do differently? Actually deal with teachers who mistreat or make issues towards their students. I had several teachers I know didn’t like me but I could never do anything about it because there was no way in hell the school was going to take my side.

Are you doing anything fun tomorrow?  Continued from yesterday. If I took this question yesterday to refer to today I would’ve answered yes because we actually have a really fun PR stunt scheduled for execution today, wherein we get to sponsor someone’s whole wedding from food to flowers to the host and fillm crew :D :D But tomorrow is just Monday so the real answer to this is no.

What is something you'd like to receive as a housewarming gift?  I dunno the usual housewarming gifts, but I would appreciate anything practical, or anything that you’ll need at the least expected times, like batteries or even like Sticky Tack.

How old were you when you first experienced the effects of puberty?  Oooh I was an early bird – I was 9 when I could first tell my first period was on its way; it came a month after I turned 10.

What is your least favorite holiday, and why?  I don’t dislike any holiday because they all mean a day off work lol.

What were some outdoor games you played as a child?  We usually played piko (hopscotch), our local version of freeze tag that we dubbed “Ice ice water” for whatever reason, and a garter game that we call 10-20. Dodgeball was a favorite during recess and lunch, too.

Did you accompany your parents on "Take Your Child to Work" Day? That’s not observed here, but my mom did use to take me and my siblings to her first workplace. Are cemeteries peaceful to you, or do they freak you out?  They’re actually more interesting to me than anything else. I like learning about the different lives of many different people, even if I only technically know them by their birthday and date of death. Sometimes the inscriptions would be more detailed and tell more about their life, sometimes I’d come across babies who only lived a few days...and it’s just interesting to have those glimpses into life.

Which ancient civilization would you be interested in learning more about?  Filipino, because Western colonization destroyed proof of most of it. 

Do you have better long-term memory or short-term memory?  Long.

What was the last situation that made you cry? Describe.  I cried this morning. Nothing bad or heavy, I just found myself thinking again about my mental state last year.

Which forest animal would you be most afraid to encounter?  Anything that wouldn’t hesitate to tear my limbs apart.

Do you believe in anything supernatural? (ie: spirits, etc)  No.

Has anyone close to you ever gone to war?  No. The closest link I have to the military, other than my dead great-grandfather, is Angela’s uncle who’s like a general or like a colonel or something, idk titles.

Have you ever experienced altitude sickness?  Yeah, occasionally. Pressure in the ear is a bigger nuisance to me, though.

Is there anything, any event, you wish you could remember more clearly?  The last time I saw my grandfather. My only clear memory of him that day was stepping out of the house to leave (my mom and I were visiting) and him sending me off with the message to always be kind and good. If I had known I would never see him again, I never would’ve left.

Have you ever rubbed anyone’s feet?  Hmm no, not that I can recall.

If you had to get advice from someone of the opposite sex, who would you go to?  I’d go to Hans for certain advice, but not for every single situation. He’s the only person that comes to mind.

What was the last new food/drink that you tried?  So last Wednesday I finally got to try this Instagram-based doughnut shop that I’ve been eyeing since August and it turned out to be even MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTEDDDDDD. Like yeah their photos were always mouthwatering but I didn’t expect it to taste as good as it looks, since most pretty food I’ve encountered usually end up just tasting meh. Anywho, I got two orders of their sampler box and they served me their specialty bacon doughnut, signature brown butter, and a bunch of their chocolate and peanut butter variants and I loved every single fucking thing.

Have you had a good day today or was yesterday better?  Oh it’s hard to tell, it’s only 9:05 AM. Both days might be uneventful, though.

Have you ever played Sudoku?  I don’t actually get how to play it hahaha. I feel like I’m too stupid for sudoku.

Do you ever take surveys for money?  I tried it last year when applying for jobs was still a bitch for me, but the thing is most of those surveys look for employed participants so there was rarely ever a survey that fit me anyway.

Do you like Barbie or Bratz better?  Bratz.

Do you prefer purple or green grapes?  I don’t like grapes.

Who was the last person that made you laugh?  Idk, probs one of the boys since I was watching videos of them earlier today.

Where does your best friend live?  A nearby city.

Who did you last confide in?  Angela.

Does your car have an alarm?  Sure.

Where was your mom born?  Somewhere in Metro Manila.

What can always make you feel better no matter what?  My dogs.

What is something you’ll never eat again? Why?  I don’t think there is anything. I feel like I’m always bound to retry things and that I would be open to doing so, even fruits. One thing I’m firm about never drinking again, though, is coconut water. Get that SHIT away from me.

What is currently happening that is scaring you?  I’m not feeling scared these days.

Have you ever found a stranger’s note somewhere? If so, what did it say?  Probably. But nothing sticks out.

[life-0r-death]

17, 19, 21, 46 for the writing ask thing! ^_^

Currently, my writing habits are to enter my YGO server and chat with the crew before participating in writing sprints. Writing sprints, as you know, are timed events where myself and others enter into it and write as many words as we can in a specified time. Though, the server I am a part of uses it more as a collaborative writing time. No one wins anything special by having the most words other than a small bit of bragging rights 😁 But during these times, I sit and write for either 10 or 20 minutes intervals, or write for 1 or 2 hour intervals. The collaboration motivates me to get leaps of work done, and it’s what I do almost every day.

I write things I want to see the next part of. I don’t really write for other people other than myself, but I post it in case someone wants to enjoy the story I’ve created. The kudos and comments on it are tremendously motivating and inspire me to write tons more, but when I don’t get those, I typically hang in the YGO server or just write moments I want to see in my stories. Sometimes I watch movies too for inspiration 😉

😆 My absolute favorite character to write is non-other than Jack Atlas. I love his sass, his rage, his unique brand of confidence! He’s a lot of things I am not, but I get to write them out. And when he’s being more adult-like, he’s still got an edge that I just love to write. Plus, even though he’s the ‘King’, i think of him as a princess, waiting for Yusei to come rescue him. A princess with some edge and powerful muscles 😂

😳 I totally reread my own stories 😅 Sometimes I do it to go over what I have already written like for EFGD. Sometimes I need that reminder that x was wearing this and y responded like this. Other times, I just forgot what I wrote and like to look at it with fresh eyes. I always find things about it I need to correct or improve upon which is always a nice thing to gain. 😁

Thank you for the wonderful questions, @darkmagiattack! 💜 I had fun answering these, and I’m sure you already knew most of them 😉 But it’s always a great self-reflection 🖤

[islynffxivrp]

Islyn Zulamath

Template is from the @balmungrp, thank you for posting this for use.

THE BASICS ––– –

Age: 25

Nicknames: Issy, Zula

Birthday: 30th Sun of the First Umbral Moon 

Race: Viera; Rava Clan

Gender: Female 

Sexuality: Pansexual, she just wants a healthy relationship

Marital Status: Widowed

Server: Balmung; Crystal Data Center

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE ––– –

Hair: White with lavender highlights

Eyes: Heterochromia; Blue and Green

Height: 6′3″

Build: Muscular and well built, even though she eats a lot

Distinguishing Marks: Plum colored facial tattoos; Forehead crystal; Beauty mark near mouth; Long scar along her left thigh

Common Accessories: She wears a necklace with her wedding ring on it. She worries about loosing it in a battle if she wears it on her finger.

PERSONAL ––– –

Profession: Currently none, although she loves to cook and grow herbs.

Hobbies: Farming, Cooking, Reading; Drinking when she’s on a mercenary job

Languages: Common

Residence: N/A (working on getting a home)

Birthplace: Golmore Jungle, but didn’t live there past her 2nd nameday

Religion: Neutral? She believes there are gods but doesn’t hard worship any.

Patron Deity: Llymlaen, the Navigator

Fears: Falling in love again, spiders, and horrible thunderstorms

RELATIONSHIPS ––– -

Spouse: Dolin Silverspear, Hyur Sailor

Children: None

Parents: Unknown Birthparents; Captain Lovilra (mother figure)

Siblings: Unknown

Other Relatives: Unknown

Pets: None at the moment but she’s always wanted a pet 

TRAITS ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ––– –

Smoking Habit: She tried when she was young, never again. Drugs: Never, even though some of the crew did Alcohol: She’s an ex-pirate....yes

Likes:

Food in general, mainly sweets though

Honesty

Kids

Jellyfish

Dislikes:

Spiders

Thunderstorms

Liars/Cheaters

Most Spicy foods but tolerates them to be nice if made for her

RP HOOKS ––– –

Scribbling Away: When she’s not fighting, harvesting, or cooking, Islyn can often be found sitting in a tavern, pub, bar, whatever you wanna call it scribbling away in a worn, blue leather journal. Her hand writing may not be the prettiest but its not like she plans on publishing the thing.

“Ye be staring, just ask what ye want.”: If she catches you staring at her she won’t hesitate to approach you, or call out from her side of the room. Mention something about how strong she looks or maybe how good her food smells will loosen her up a bit and she will “hopefully” come off a little nicer. Maybe buy her a drink or two if you really wanna know her. 

“Eat. Ye can't defend yerself or yer mates if ye be so thin.”: She’s really a sweetheart. You look hungry? Stomach growls and she can hear it with her ears no doubt you best bet she’ll be pushing a plate of something towards you and she won’t take no for an answer. So “motherly” better eat your veggies.

~~~OOC Information ~~~

I am currently looking for a RP FC on the Balmung World; Crystal Data Center. One that is preferable nice to new Roleplayers like myself. 

I’m ok with any RP that’s not sexual; cuddling, kissing, thats ok but thats about as comfy as I’ll get unless I get to know you really well. 

I am also open to having a pre-established relationship with a character as long as it is something that we both agree on. If you’re interested in her whole backstory, let me know and I will gladly share it as long as it remains OOC. No cheating allow :p

I am also in my 20′s so I would prefer no one under the age of 20 to RP with knowingly, just in case something happens. 

CONTACT INFORMATION  ––– –

Tumblr: islynffxivrp.tumblr.com2

Discord: PenguBirb#5172 (introduce yourself and just say something about Islyn so I don’t ignore you lol)

[incorrectcadenzaquotes]

WELCOME ABOARD CADENZA

intro: yo my name’s trace andddd i’m a casual writer who spends more time in a self fulfilling prophecy loop about writer’s block than actually writing but i believe that can change with this project.

BASICALLY .. this is a piece of (idw) transformers fanfiction that will be based off of mtmte/LL in that the story revolves around a crew aboard a ship (cadenza!). the twist is that these are all OCs based off of friends of mine on a discord server. 

now, this idea originated earlier on this year (2019) anddd last time i worked on it was may and it is currently late december lmao . SO this sideblog is to make memes and shitposts from the cast so that i can both keep up my inspiration and also understand the characters better! (a starting cast of 11 and total of 19 , jesus fuck..)

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO here’s the guide to the cadenizens - our cast aboard the cadenza :D

these are all the notes i have currently - some characters are more fleshed out than others! but just an intro

CAPTAINS

pursuit - this one’s me!

psych consultant / jr tactician, autobot

speedster, black-red-gold, changes detailing a lot

prideful, relatively young, can be pretty darn bold/brash

mostly in charge of paperwork/technical stuff, public speaking

very few can get away with calling him “junior”

prowl fanboy, before cadenza was roommates with circlet and pandora

gives nicknames to everyone, this is law aboard cadenza

assigned mission by prowl to find stragglers/NAILs wherever in space (near the end of the war and prowl foresees the autobots winning soon, so it’s a last recruitment in case anyone wants to speed along the resolution)

pandora

product/weapon designer, autobot

spaceship-like alt mode, pink-purple-blue, outlier ability “pandora’s box” (details tbd)

hesitant but very positive and lighthearted, altruistic

in charge of coordinating people and asking favors/assigning jobs/communications - the more socially demanding interactions

loves to make teasing jokes about people, everyone knows she’s nice anyway so can’t really take it too seriously

circlet

artist, autobot

helicopter, lavender, rounder more streamlined appearance rather than sharp edges

neurotic, clumsy, cute until very angry

excels at graphs, organization, planning (often works with datum on this stuff)

known pursuit for basically their whole lives, practically brother and sister

THE CADENIZENS

deckout

frame designer, autobot

level headed, talks things through

he has spent far too much time with pursuit, putting up with his constant detailing and general bullshit

arc

welder/repairbot, autobot

likes order, rules, slow and steady wins the race!

mechanics = art

datum

analyst/engineer, ex-con, autobot

does his best to contribute, very organized, mindful of his past

works with circ on organizing and plans

like. truly, notoriously organized. how does he do it

armordive

revolutionary journalist, autobot turned NAIL

flying ship alt mode (likely will post separately)

loves random controversial facts that are really obscure

here to write about the crew

he’ll be picked up along the way, not part of the starting cast

roadagain

organics expert, humanitarian, secretly a rogue con, “NAIL”

softback jeep, orange-black-dark gray, camera/tripod attachments

speaks highly of original decepticon cause, bubbly, charismatic, he’s such a nerd

filming his own nature documentary

he’ll be joining the cadenizens when the crew get to earth, he’s with a group there along with stevotron, trip, and shamble

envoy

mediator/diplomat, autobot

space suv, black-red-light gray, weapons loaded into chassis but can’t use them all at once or it’ll drain her spark

easy to talk to, good listener, she has a.. mild obsession with money

was assigned to this mission by prowl 

trip

recently constructed in the war, unknown function, autobot turned NAIL

loves jokes/pranks (esp with stevotron), surprisingly intuitive at times

trainee, dabbles in everything aboard cadenza, he pretty much just helps out all around

among the group on earth

letariat

supply manager/rationer (pls . this man is an entire communism joke i can hardly handle it it’s amazing), autobot (participated in early decepticon uprisings before war broke out)

dark humor, has a gentle/serious side, he bottles up more than he should tbh

avalanche

politician turned soldier, decepticon prisoner

military truck ? thing?

disdainful of ex-cons, grammar nazi

uh he probably joins aboard along the way, not starting cast

shamble

poet, autobot, early con leanings

half of a jet alt mode, duobot (not like... just the legs or anything. he’s a whole bot)

very chill, loves plastic models/figurines from human culture

another member of the group from earth!

sicarius

musician, eukarian, autobot

beastformer, spider (sicarius desert spider)

energetic, she is fond of organics and small talk

livewire

psyche nurse, medical nurse, autobot

off color, clown-like scheme

friendly, a little more reserved in group settings

they do NOT take shit while on the job

stevotron

NAIL

the second half to the prankster duo with trip

originally had a very common cybertronian name so he picked this one to show his appreciation of earth 

the acting leader of the group on earth out of necessity more than anything else like desire for power

5P4M4

cadenza’s resident artificial intelligence

catalogs interactions, highkey wingman without anyone asking for it

and, well, the role of this last guy hasn’t been finalized. honestly all of this is subject to change though tbh 

stabilizer

security director? ex-con, not with the crew(?)

seeker, jet

hot headed, ambitious, can seem cold, dry humor, loves flying

jaded by autobots, tries to keep his cool, wants to ascend ranks despite his past

YALL IF ANYONE HAS LIKE... THINGS THEY’D LIKE TO SEE IN A FIC? OR WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS PLS SPEAK UP I DONT RLY EXPECT THIS TO CATCH THE INTEREST OF PPL OUTSIDE OF THIS SOCIAL CIRCLE BUT ON THE OFF CHANCE IT DOES THEN U KNO THE DOOR’S OPEN

[lavender-hemlock]

the be honest meme. - ALL OF THEM! -From ya know who.

Breathes. I am going to kill you. Everything of the honesty meme is under the cut you absolute fruitcake @kazexvoss . 

1.     What would prevent you from following someone?

Possibly if that person isnotoriously opinionated and hateful towards any opinion that opposes theirs.That’s about the only preventive thing. Just unbearable and toxic people. 

2.     Are aesthetics important to you? If they are, why?

Sure, I think aesthetics aregreat outlets to demonstrating outside of screenshots and prompts what yourcharacter is about in an array of colors, art, or examples. It’s beautiful.

3.     What current rp trend do you hate? Taken.

4.     How do you explain rp to someone in the real world?

Hahah- I don’t, but I would probably compare it to my lovefor literature and writing if I had to. I’m writing stories and adventures.

5.     Do you prefer interacting with male muses or female more? Why?

I don’t have a preference!

6.     Do you prefer writing male muses or female more? Why?

I write female muses because it is simply easier for me to put myshoes in the shoes of a female muse. For obvious reasons I should hope. However,I have written with a male oc in the past. I want to, just haven’t found theright dynamic yet for ffxiv. I had a male Au Ra by the name of Xathun- but nowhe is simply my retainer that brings me stuff he deems is shiny. 

I love himeven if he brings me level 5 rocks.

7.     What’s your opinion on call-out posts?

I think they are both useful topoint out harmful individuals who have harmful or greedy intentions – andharmful because some call-out posts I believe are just posts to continue a potstir off the platform itself or off the drama seeping from another dms. Thereis a time and place for all things.

8.     Name any three things about the rpc that bother you. Taken.

9.     What is your opinion on exclusivity? Do you practice it? Why / why not?

I think exclusivity iscompletely up to those who choose to practice it. I only practice it on whetherI am comfortable. Very few people can make me feel uncomfortable- but my guthas yet to fail me in this. I will not RP with anyone who makes meuncomfortable or if they are just looking for ERP. I’m not about it.

10.   Have you everhad a bad experience with commissions? As either someone who makes them or assomeone who buys them?

I have not had a bad experiencewith commissions. I really need to seek out one.

11.   What do youknow now about rp that you wish you knew when you first started? Taken.

12.   Have you beeninvolved in drama? Do you regret it?

In this community, I have onlybeen involved in one instance. It was during my first few months joining FFXIV,super early on. A RPer tried to guilt trip me for not responding to them forone day. One day caused a lot of drama from someone else’s greed and possessivenature.

I don’t regret it. It just demonstrated another example for me to be wary of everyone’s intentions. Unfortunately. It isthat split-second decision that you want to think the best in everyone that brings the failure. Oops.

13.   Have you everthought about leaving rp? What caused it? What changed your mind?

I probably considered leavingRP when I was leaving a forum base that I had invested eleven or so years of mylife into. I had grown so much through it and watched as it died out bit by bitonly for trolls to really remain. None of the inspiration was there and noone truly seemed passionate about anything but bars. Taverns. 

I changed my mind when I joinedFFXIV. At first I played the game because it was something to do. I wasbored and things were dying down for me. I have loved the FF series for such along time, so I thought, why not? Screw the pay wall. I just played through AtRealm Reborn and focused that down in a binge. Over time I got the itch Iwanted to write, and that had propelled me right into the RP crew in Siren.Then that branched onto the Tumblr. Creating my blog has led me to meet such wonderful people along the way. 

14.   Do you think rphas had a positive or negative affect on your life or you as a person?

Positive for sure. RP helped meduring the years I was unsure who I wanted to be, what I wanted to express, andhelped me communicate more when I said so little. I was so much moreintroverted, and the writing RP brought was so uplifting.

The character, Haine, I madeyears ago is a force in my life that influenced my traits as a role model. She’llalways have a special place in my heart.

15.   How has rpchanged you personally?

I suppose this builds on thelast question, huh?

Without finding RP as anoutlet, I don’t think I would have been ready to embrace what I could be.Things could have been far worse in my life, and I like to think some of thetraits I had crafted Haine to be throughout the years helped me remain true towho I should be rather than what everyone wanted me to be- or knock me down tobe.

16.   If you couldchange one thing about rp on tumblr, what would it be? Why?

I don’t think I want to changeanything- I would just want to encourage others to write and express themselvesmore in their outlets. Which can be writing, drawing, aesthetics. You do you.The passion is my favorite thing to see in others.

17.   Have you eversent a message to yourself on anon? Why?

No. Why would anyone do that?

18.   Have you eversent hate to yourself on anon? Why?

Why… would anyone do that? Arethey okay?

19.   Do you deleteanon hate or post and address it? Why?

I am content to say I havenever received anon hate. Yet.

20.   Have you everfelt pressured to write something you weren’t comfortable with?

No. I refuse to put myself inthat position.

21.   Have you everfollowed someone because you felt like you had to, not because you wanted to? Taken.

22.   What would makeyou block someone?

I try to avoid blocking becauseI believe most things can be recovered- because if I put you on that block list,I am never looking at it. You’re gone. You must be very toxic to get put there-or annoying. There was that one guy…

23.   Have you everstolen something from someone else?

Does luck count? Because Iswear I stole someone’s luck once and it was the funniest thing I had everwitnessed.

24.   Have you everhad something stolen from you? If so, how did you handle it?

Yes. I’ve had the alias Hainefor over ten years. I carried that name from my old RP community and thisperson that I used to call a good friend disappeared. She came back under a newname, and then I went on a hiatus. I come back, she’s going as the name “Haine.”She pretended she was just an anonymous person and not the friend I always knewbut playing stupid never was her skill.

I was… indifferent at first.Yet, it felt like a part of me was being violated. I knew her. It hurt. I hadmade Haine as this love child of my creativity. I tried to be reasonable butthen this person began to start discourse so it would go. “Did Haine do this?” “Whydid Haine do that?” It was confusing to always say “It was the other one.” Whenoften duplicate alias’ were not typical.

It was upsetting to say theleast, and after a while, as above it as I like to be- I started getting prettyangry. It was never pretty. I can regret a bit of it.

25.   Are you open toduplicates? Why / why not?

As in duplicates acrossservers? I do that! I had stared on Siren originally before I made a characteron Balmung before world visit opened up. I think duplicates are helpful in caseyou want to keep your strong attachments in both data centers.

26.   How do you feelabout vague posting?

Vague… posting?

27.   Do you followpeople even if they don’t follow you back?

Of course! Someone I followdoes not have to follow me back. I love their content and I want to stay tuned!That is the entire point! If they follow back, it is just equally delighting.

28.   Do you readpeople’s rules before following or interacting?

If they have rules, yes. Ithink it is very important to have OOC communication to express what you willallow or what you find inappropriate.

29.   What is youropinion on “reblog karma” and do you practice it?

I don’t.. understand.

30.   How have youresponded to popular slang used on tumblr? Do you use it in every day life? Doyou use it at all?

I don’t follow tumblr trends enough toknow?

31.   Is theresomething you don’t know the meaning of but you haven’t asked anyone becauseyou think it’s supposed to be general knowledge? Was there ever something youhad to ask someone to explain?

OH! I think I did this once. Beingnew on Tumblr awhile back, I did not understand a lot of things. So some of theterms was lost on me. I think I remember asking what on earth a “mun” was. Itwas lost on me.

32.   Have you everexperienced discrimination?

Yeah.

33.   How do you feelabout personal blogs following your rp blog?

The more the merrier! I thinkthat makes it more flattering to see. It makes me think that something on myblog had to be nice for someone to want to keep up on their personal blog.

34.   Have you evercried while writing a reply?

Oh go- Yes. Recently. The plot lines that make me feel things are the best kind. Happy, excited, nervous, bittersweet, thrilled. I love it. 

35.   Do you readother people’s threads or do you only read your own?

I read other people’s threads,and my own. I read mine several times because I figure it can be better. I love reading thewriting of others.

36.   What’s onething that other people seem to hate that doesn’t bother you? Taken.

37.   How do you feelabout tagging triggers? Do you tag them? How do you determine what istriggering content and what isn’t?

I don’t feel anything for themor tag them.

38.   What advicewould you give to someone new to rp?

 Embrace what you want to be and do not divert from what youare comfortable with. Feel free to go to public places and watch others work.If I know the person who is new to RP I would usually offer to be their partnerto get them into the cadence.

This exhausted me. I felt things throughout this journey of asks, and through it all I give to you- 

[mudaconstructions]

while i appreciate the fact that episode 12 part 1 gave us a bunch of new art (grace and mercury for example) and featured a lot of cool kitties i dont think that can save the episode for me tbh. more details under the cut

the fact that with bringing back grace and (technically) jonah vard's actions have basically no consequences now and sebastian going from "im going to KILL vard" to forgiving them is just proving to me that the plot and characters can and will bend around them to justify their actions however it can

like you can not tell me sebastian being the insidious little bastard he is would forgive vard so easily when they still killed his friend and his sister. i didnt buy it when it happened with rachel and hephaestus and i especially cant believe that Sebastian Motherfucking Zeppeli of all people would be open to the idea of forgiveness. it's so unlike his previously established self that it becomes jarring to watch and frankly it made the rest of the episode hard to sit through

and to me that signals a larger issue with strings that i havent seen any people bring up (or at least not that i know of) - the increasing dissonance between the crew's characters and their actual preferences for the game's course as players. going off my experience in the break time server and watching strings it's become clear to me that the crew genuinely enjoys the whole vard thing and wants to follow that plot point, but there hasn't been enough explanation given for why their characters, who have a Lot of reasons to dislike (or at least distrust) vard would go along with the same plan.

like im sure they're having a good time going on with the whole "vard not bad?" thing and learning about severed stands or whatever and im glad! at the end of the day they are still a friend group who play ttrpgs and happen to record their games and upload them online and they dont technically owe anyone an explanation for why things happen in their games - it is assumed that something happens because it would be fun - and that's why i can't fully denounce strings' plot twist as being genuinely Bad because the crew is having fun, and that's what matters + im not in the crew so i cant dictate what happens in game. but I can't help but find this turn of events very dissatisfying as a viewer, because it goes against what i, the viewer, have seen of these characters and the previous stories and that's why it's becoming increasingly frustrating to watch new episodes knowing that the vard plot point will be front and center and every single character that's not meant to be viewed as a True Bad Guy will bend around it and possibly act ooc.

and like, i am trying so hard to enjoy strings' plot because literally everyone else around me (cept for my friend) fucking loves it!!!! and im trying to see the good in it post-episode 11 but it's so difficult when it warps the characters from previous parts, devalues their achievements that were done via stands, and in some cases breaks an entire part's narrative (the quiet decay) because the "stands.... secretly sentient?" reveal has retroactively removed any emotional connection between the users and their stands that had been there before.

im running on copium fumes right now and the only thing i could hope for that might make the vard thing better for me is if it turns out to be some long con being played on everyone and that vard is actually Wrong about the nature of stands and that they're severely misguided at best and outright evil at worst... but i dont think that is the direction strings will take, because the crew and westley seem to be a-okay with the current turn of events as of strings 12 pt 1, and with the introduction of, you guessed it, even More Sentient Stands i do not have high hopes for the rest of strings plotwise. at this point im mostly staying for cool/funny character moments, for hephi and yogurt, and to catch up with everyone else in break time

overall im not satisfied with strings' plot as of ep 12 pt 1 and i cant say im excited to watch pt 2 when it'll definitely go on about justifying vard even further when there is no reason to

tl;dr im feeling like this right now

[zeroadult479]

Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Il

Thanks for watching my videos!! Please remember to rate and comment. All feedback is welcome (positive or negative). Also subscribe to my channel. Matchmaking changes in – posted in Game Discussion. The covered site of your Rashi, Lagna, Dasha, Antar Dasha and Nakshatra including your near future. In Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Classic, a way to play WoW near-as-dammit as. In Ground Forces Realistic mode, matchmaking is performed based.

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Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Illustrator

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Matchmaking

May 14, What the blazing hell is that? We dedicate this article for the new buyers, the old buyers, for those who love them, for those who cannot stand them, for low tiers and high tiers, in short, for everyone. Because this tank brings out emotions from all of us. Have you ever got the feeling, that something just does not belong? A sale stunt for the biggest market on Earth became an every hour reality on all servers. Forerunner of the pay to win? The Type then stood out among other toned down premium tanks compared to fully teched same tiers.

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Comments Shares There are not many games that can attract 21, visitors to an exhibition centre in Moscow in December. Temperatures drop as low as minus 22 degrees centigrade, fresh snow becomes ice on roads and pavements and strong winds add further to the dominant air of hostility. With million registered users, however, World of Tanks has enough followers to overcome the elements.

In World of Tanks, your crew plays an important role in improving the combat effectiveness of your vehicle. In this guide, you’ll learn all about crew rank, skills, experience, training, and .

First daily victory with the vehicle Coefficient of 2 No Exiting battle during loading screen or countdown No “Joining a battle” bonus. Since your tank is actually present in the battle until it gets destroyed, it can passively earn XP e. No “Joining a battle” bonus. Since your tank is actually present in the battle until it gets destroyed, it can passively earn credits e. Exiting battle after countdown There is a penalty for XP earning, but only if the tank has not yet been destroyed.

Also, if the tank was not destroyed before exiting, further XP can be earned passively while it remains on the battlefield, e. Credits as earned, there is no penalty. If the tank was not destroyed before exiting, further credits can be earned passively while it remains on the battlefield, e. Team Damage inflicted Small penalty, supposedly twice the amount of XP you would receive for causing the same amount of damage to the enemy. Penalty to an amount of four times the repair costs required to fix the damage that was inflicted, limited by the total amount earned during battle.

Team Damage received None. Half the repair costs required to fix the damage or a quarter of the penalty paid by the player s who caused the team damage, whichever is lower. You will NOT get experience for: Damaging an ally’s tank, even if said ally is “blue” i.

How Wargaming Sabotages Competition (War Thunder)

Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Illusion

For a WoW veteran, World of Warcraft: It felt strange, walking into rooms filled with memories, where everything felt smaller, older. It was also the house where, on Christmas Eve , I came home with a copy of World of Warcraft , an exciting new game based on the lore of a strategy game I already loved. In Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Classic , a way to play WoW near-as-dammit as it was when it first came out. Blizzard have made no secret of how they feel about unauthorised versions of the game, but the time has finally arrived for an official one.

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Starting from Update 2. Read below for all the details. Legendary Camouflage In Update 2. A legendary camouflage is a special colour scheme applied to only one vehicle model. Just like universal camouflage, a legendary camouflage can be installed in any slot for winter, summer and desert maps. Tanks were available for purchase before the introduction of this camouflage type will be able to resupply their legendary camouflages for free after each battle. The distinctive feature of legendary camouflage, in addition to its stunning design, is the possibility to temporarily remove it and repaint the tank according to its standard historical pattern.

In such case the name of the tank will also change to the standard one: Type 62 In the future, legendary camouflage will have the standard resupply price in credits, which depends on the vehicle Tier, for all vehicles with the exception of the already given out.

Matchmaking

Battle ratings are calculated by examining how well an aircraft or ground unit fares in different game modes, and they may differ for each game mode for the same vehicle for example, an aircraft or ground unit may perform considerably better in arcade mode than realistic battles mode, and so will have a higher battle rating in the former. This allows for a balanced game at all ranks and using all vehicles, meaning that certain nations having technological advantages at different periods in the game’s timeline is not an issue when playing, and planes that are too powerful do not ruin gameplay for those flying less effective aircraft.

Aviation In Arcade mode Comparison sheet of fighter aircraft’s BR in Arcade For Arcade Air Battles, a formula is in place that calculates your overall Battle Rating, aka the Battle Rating that the Matchmaker will use to match opponents against you, based on the three highest aircraft in your lineup in regards to their individual BR. That said, the important thing for you to know are three short facts:

Not really a date (Grains Petitioner is a victim of dating violence and has reasonable cause to believe that he or she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of another act.

You may order presentation ready copies to distribute to your colleagues, customers, or clients, by visiting http: BMW recently announced its intention to skip next year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, issuing a statement about re-evaluating its trade-show strategy that amounted to the age-old “It’s not you, it’s me.

E la MotoGp fa la F1: Elezioni Molisevince il centrodestra: Fi cala ma non Elezioni Molisecinque motivi per cui M5s ha perso. Toto Cutugno a Che tempo che fa:. Update your software and prevent problems. Updates available for you. Download the free trial version below to get started. Double-click the downloaded file to install the software.

Tanki Online

Leave a comment Wizard My current spell in Wizard has come to an end. I was part-way through the second Grizzleheim sequence when my time came to an end. All in all it was good fun to play in the Spiral for a bit, and I may very well return on and off. World of Warplanes Very sporadic playing, on the whole. I did manage to achieve my second Ace, which made me smile.

I have also gotten a few games in on my second Tier II aircraft, the Demon.

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First daily victory with the vehicle Coefficient of 2 No Exiting battle during loading screen or countdown No “Joining a battle” bonus. Since your tank is actually present in the battle until it gets destroyed, it can passively earn XP e. No “Joining a battle” bonus. Since your tank is actually present in the battle until it gets destroyed, it can passively earn credits e. Exiting battle after countdown There is a penalty for XP earning, but only if the tank has not yet been destroyed.

Also, if the tank was not destroyed before exiting, further XP can be earned passively while it remains on the battlefield, e. Credits as earned, there is no penalty.

World of Tanks overhauls its matchmaking system

You pay your money, you take your choices (Last Updated January 18 ) There are quite a few premium vehicles in World of Tanks, sprinkled across the various nations, classes, and tiers. As stated above; premium vehicles come in a variety of forms, and there are a few limitations on what they can be. Generally speaking and there are exceptions , premium tanks will be slightly inferior to fully upgraded tanks of the same class and tier. They span tiers 2 to 8 and have a few special quirks; as one example, a premium vehicle can use crew trained on vehicles of the same class at no penalty.

Premium Tank Guide: You pay your money, you take your choices (Last Updated January 18 ) There are quite a few premium vehicles in World of Tanks, sprinkled across the .

In the game, you are fighting with giant, walking robots in 6v6 pvp matches controlling territory by capturing beacons, and, of course, by destroying other robots. Last year was a very good year for War Robots. The number of installations was tripled, and reached 50 million. DAU is about , players. Why does War Robots attract players so much? Judging on its dynamics, War Robots is the only adequate game in the genre niche of slow shooters, which is dominated by World of Tanks WoT.

In a slow shooters game, exchanging of fire lasts longer than in the mainstream shooter games. It looks more realistic when long fights occur between combat vehicles with armor and survivability.

2018 Gameweek 2 Discussion (No new threads, include all GW2 yarns here)

That’s 6M paying customer, in the same league as WoW, despite much smaller developer budget. The only gameplay is going to the field and battle enemy tanks, head on. PvP games are killed by the “PvP spiral”:

As I have spent many hours looking for World of Tanks mods, bonus codes, free gold, t-shirts and more, I’m pretty sure you’ll find something for yourself as well. To start, take a look at the main menu above or pick one of the popular categories below.

In Air Realistic mode, matchmaking is performed based on the aircraft selected for the battle. Since the vehicles not selected cannot be used in the battle, there is no need to include them in the calculation. In Ground Forces Arcade mode, matchmaking is performed based on the tank with the highest BR in the set. In Ground Forces Realistic mode, matchmaking is performed based on the tank or aircraft with the highest BR in the entire set depending on which vehicle has the highest BR. Many players have a preference for several modes.

For their convenience, there is a ” vehicle preset ” mechanism, which allows players to save preferred and frequently used vehicle arrangements in their hangar. This allows players to prepare for any type of battle in just a few clicks. Matchmaking by Bracket Air Simulator battles use this matchmaking method. When the player opens the Air SB interface, they will see several identical missions where the only difference is the BR of the permitted aircraft.

Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Illustrator

All you have to do is select the desired battle rank and assemble the required aircraft in your set.

Let’s Play! WoT 92 – Premium Matchmaking Tanks

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[mortiel]

Mass Effect Andromeda Post-Mortem Disquisition

Preface

Recently, I had this impulse that it was about time I sat down and put my thoughts on Mass Effect Andromeda to "paper" in a more coherent manner than previous comments, and in a conclusive way that gives everyone the explanation behind my decisions that they deserve.

This turned out to be an amazingly horrible idea. I'm overly verbose at my most concise of times, and this was a very complicated matter. Needless to say, these penned thoughts now rival the Encyclopedia Britannica in length. Seriously, if you all make it through this in one sitting without falling asleep, you deserve a bloody cookie or something.

Now, as many have noticed, my build guides and live streams for the game have stopped. My future content planned for map guides and strategies have also been canceled.

The reasoning? As a pro-consumer advocate, I cannot justify continuing to make content that supports a game that I personally would not recommend anyone buy. Each build guide, live stream, or other content I make for this game perpetuates the idea that I support the game and that you should buy it. Such is no longer the case. This decision unfortunately took much longer than it should have, as I spent literally months in a state of cognitive dissonance.

So now here we are. To keep things orderly, this will be broken down into a clear format: Opening, Single Player, Multiplayer, Community, and Summary. Mostly so I don't get lost and start wandering around a supermarket in my underwear like a dementia patient.

So, without further distraction, allow me to present my disquisition on Mass Effect Andromeda:

Opening

Mass Effect Andromeda has been a game of unparalleled and divisive controversy. Even the months leading up to launch, there were lines of people in camps looking for both ways to love and hate the game. It was abundantly clear this game had a lot of passionate people anticipating its launch.

Unfortunately, the game made a really poor first impression on people due to issues that were anywhere from aesthetic like facial animations to tedious like stellar flight animations to game-breaking like multiplayer server outages. First impressions are everything, and the game's first impression was reason why the game was received so poorly.

After most of those issues started clearing up so did the criticisms. It was then that one started to get a clearer understanding of what Andromeda did well and not-so-well outside of fixable bugs.

Single Player

The gameplay of Andromeda was, for the most part, a vast improvement over previous games. Before launch, I was vocally concerned about the "sticky-cover" being introduced, especially after playing Ghost Recon Wildlands that has a horrible sticky-cover system. I can happily admit my concerns proved to be unfounded. The game is generally fun to play... Be it driving in the Nomad or in combat.

The worlds were also quite well made, for the most part. The first planet I'm pretty sure had colour-swapped art assets ripped from Inquisition's Breach. Or was it actually the Breach?

[#SharedUniverseConfirmed]

Otherwise, the game looked great. Harvarl was honestly my favourite as far as design goes, but that's not shocking considering is was much smaller than the other planet maps. Smaller maps mean level designers can get more detail in the same timeframe as larger maps with only a small impact on game performance.

Unfortunately, that's where most of my praise ends. See, Andromeda is, as is BioWare's forte, an RPG. It's not an action-adventure game that is focused primarily on action and environmental storytelling. It has a very clear narrative. The problem is that the narrative is largely re-using most of the story elements from Mass Effect 2 while poorly trying to copy the companions from Mass Effect 1.

Why is copying ME2a problem? Wasn't that one of the best titles in the franchise? ME2 was the second story in a trilogy. That kind of story presumes the player already is entrenched in the current environment... Lore, protagonists, antagonists. You should already have your "compass" in the story, but that's not very easy when everything is new.

The examples of this start early with the death of Alec Ryder in the very beginning. The player has no real emotional connection with Alec, so an extremely influential character had no more weight than a red-shirt like Jenkins from ME1. The way I equate that is to imagine if ME2 were the first ME game you played... Shepard dying 15 minutes in would really mean nothing to you as the player. You have no attachment to him by 15 minutes in… Unless, of course, you just spent the entirety of another game playing as him and cultivating relationships with him and the crew.

And then we get the poorly copied companions. In ME1, you have 2 permanent human companions (after Eden Prime) with Ashley and Kaiden. Both fit on the crew because they are assigned to the Normandy by the Alliance military. Personality-wise, you had the Kaiden the emotionally conservative and Ashley the emotionally radical. You other companions: Liara, Garrus, Tali, Wrex... You were able to experience the motivation of why they joined you first-hand:

Liara was a scientist specialising in Protheans, and you needed her help to better understand the Prothean Beacon and information it gave you. Socially, she was nerdy and socially awkward in a "quirky cute" way, making her more endearing to some.

Garrus was a C-Sec officer convinced Saren was bad and determined to prove it even without the Council's approval, and Shepard was in a unique position to facilitate that. Socially, his strong convictions and aspirations to bring justice make him a strong moral compass for some.

Tali found evidence of a bigger plot behind Saren, and, having some insight into Geth enemy you were facing, was ideal for the mission. Socially, Tali's soft-spoken idealism act to brighten the mood of the story.

Wrex claims to "just want in on the action" after you help him take down Fist, but deeper inspection finds that he admires Shepard and sees him displaying attributes he thought of as what a Krogan should be.

Compare that to Andromeda: Two humans, male and female, assigned to the mission with Cora and Liam. Inverse the genders of the ME1 humans, where Cora is the emotionally conservative one and Liam is the emotionally radical. And by “radical" I mean immature. Seriously, he's like a bloody preteen. Sadly there is no Virmire on which to leave Liam.

As far as the aliens go:

Peebee joined because you're investigating Remnant vaults and she is somehow an "expert" on "RemTech", despite only studying it for a few months by herself. It's trying to match to Liara, except Liara had been studying Protheans for decades with teams of researchers. Peebee has the same “nerdy and socially awkward" trait found in Liara, again trying to get that "quirky cute" vibe.

Drack joins because... He likes killing Kett, I guess? It's essentially distilling Wrex into "just a thug" and trying to copy that. Unfortunately, whereas Wrex peels personality layer back like a turtle-shaped onion, Drack never really evolves and grows as a character. You just find out his organs are failing because he's so badass.

Vetra joins because she can help you with "stuff" and serves as a sort of quartermaster for a ship of maybe a dozen people. Despite the fact that her apparent talents in wheeling-and-dealing would be better served to both Tempest and Nexus if she were on the latter not the former. Makes perfect sense if you don't think about it. However, BioWare determined we "need" a Garrus on the crew. Except Garrus was so much more complex even just within the story of ME1. Vetra sadly will never match Garrus' reach and flexibility.

Jaal was the only exception here. Superficially, he's a copy of Javik from ME3 in his archetype, true, but he at least felt like he had a reason for being on the ship: A liaison/ambassador to the Angarans. Surprisingly, his character also has actual depth and dimension, albeit at times he felt like the “man-meat" in a Harlequin romance novel... Surprised he was missing full head of long flowing hair and wasn't introduced to us by galloping a horse down a beach at sunset whilst shirtless. He's the Fabio trope in an alien body, but that makes him interesting nonetheless, even if only comically so.

Why am I focused on the companions so much? Because that has been one of the foundational pillars of BioWare storytelling… From HK-47 to Kang the Mad to Mordin Solus, BioWare has defined themselves by crafting memorable and endearing companions. Mass Effect 3 was all the more memorable because you got to experience the effects of the Reaper War on each of the people you had befriended along the way. BioWare felt as though it lost touch with that cornerstone by recycling character archetypes from Mass Effect 1.

BioWare has not been as solid with major narrative writing of late, however. Case in point, Andromeda’s was seemingly copied directly from Mass Effect 2. Archon is a generic bad guy. You could insert Coryfish or Harbinger-Possessed Collector#212 instead and I'd be unable to tell the difference. His motivation is ripped straight from ME2... I was honestly waiting for him to announce that he was the Harbinger of our perfection at several points. This is honestly the gravest problem to me... So few stories nowadays can give us a compelling antagonist. No one ever makes the bad guy relatable anymore. Saren, despite his reasoning being warped by Indoctrination, thought he was SAVING everyone. Loghain was convinced that fighting Darkspawn would leave Ferelden open to attack from Orlais, which he judged to be the worse of two evils. Eredin's home world was on the brink of annihilation. You hate all of those antagonists because they all did something you find reprehensible as the player, but all of them have motivations that at least you could find understandable albeit going about things the wrong way.

And then we had the conversations. BioWare got rid of the really thematically weak binary morality system… And replaced it with something worse. They tried to copy Dragon Age 2's"mood" choices, where you'd be given choices that would fit a certain personality style you could use to better role-play your character. Which would have been fantastic, albeit I can't imagine why anyone would choose anything other than Snarky.

Unfortunately, the writing team appeared to have not really fleshed that out since you are rarely given a full gamut of choices. Most times you are given the choice between “logical" and "emotional" responses and that's it. Even then, there were times when those two options were the exact same line! This was naturally compounded with the long-standing problem with "summarized conversation wheels" where what the summary of a choice sounds like it means and what your character says are often two completely different things.

The combination of all those things made the main story feel like fan-fiction, not BioWare's famous storytelling.

Then we get the side quests. The MMO fetch quests forced into the game as filler because BioWare had to shoehorn in the "open world" gimmick into a game that really did not need it. It is content padding... It fills the world with “stuff" and keeps the player in the game for longer. Worse yet, larger side-quest arcs were left unfinished. Those both are design choices based on deliberate tactic used to maintain market demand for DLC. I know a lot of people are still angry about not getting any single player DLC, but the truth is that many games are releasing nowadays as DLC-selling frameworks rather than actual full-featured titles, and that's horrible for consumers. This was no exception.

Overall, the sheer lack of creativity in the single player story really lend credence to the rumours of project leadership woes during the process of creating this game. This feels like a game made in eighteen months, not five years.

Multiplayer

Then we go on to the multiplayer. Before the game launched, I had a lot of concerns about the multiplayer when coming from Dragon Age Inquisition that had extremely flawed design choices. Many of the developers/producers were actually very forthcoming with assuaging my concerns. There would be no promotion system that allowed player stratification and the RNG loot table would be more akin to ME3'smultiplayer where you gain items from packs until they reach Rank X and they are removed from the drop table. Seemed great.

My first complaint from the beginning was that the multiplayer character skill points were now tied into the RNG drop table… Whereas ME3 awarded you appearance options for repeated drops of the same character, MEA also added skill points every other drop, meaning you now had to get a character dropped to Rank X before you could use them to their fullest. Furthermore, whereas previously each class had a linked XP pool for all the characters of that class, Andromeda separated them all out. Both were done to extend playtime in order to increase potential microtransaction sales.

The second complaint I had was that powers, weapons and combos all felt grossly underpowered. An often-quoted statistic in games difficulty balance is “time to kill", or TTK. As the name implies, this is the time it would realistically take a player to kill an enemy. The TTK on average in Andromeda was nearly 70% longer than ME3's multiplayer. It didn't make the game more difficult, just more tedious. Enemies taking too long to kill are often called “bullet sponges", and are generally not liked in games primarily because it's a done to make the enemy more difficult, which it does not do.

Then, once the game officially launched (I was playing the multiplayer before launch), the multiplayer matchmaking servers would experience frequent disconnections and almost daily outages. That meant that the times when you could even get into the multiplayer mode, chances of finishing a match would extremely small.

Needless to say, I did my due diligence and carefully outlined these problems to BioWare.

The server issues were a high priority and fixed within the first week or two. Then BioWare started giving new content and balance changes for multiplayer. Fortunately, the feedback that I and many others had given to BioWare helped them to better balance the damage output of players, leading to a more enjoyable experience. My other feedback was ignored, which I waved off because I suspected there wasn’t much to be done about some of the more deeply engrained design problems.

However, ME3veterans would quickly notice that new content delivered was considerably less substantial than what ME3 received. Whereas ME3 received tons of new characters, weapons, and maps in bulk drops every month or two, Andromeda saw a trickle of content… A new character here; A new weapon there… Maybe a map once and a while. The amount and variety of content delivered to the multiplayer was next to nothing, which not how you keep people playing a horde-mode multiplayer bordering on being completely forgettable.

Then Patch 1.09happened. For those not acquainted with this horrendous excuse for profiteering, BioWare released its largest content drop to date… Which saw very little actual new content. Instead they doubled the amount of drops you could get for a single character (from Rank X to Rank XX) and quadrupled the amount of weapons drops in a similar fashion… Now, each weapon had three variants that would start dropping once that weapon was Rank X, each themselves dropping up to Rank X. The three variants, or "augmentations", each had a generic added effect that was the same for each gun. BioWare called it “extending the progression" for the multiplayer.

Now, why was that a big deal? It means you have more to work toward, right? Unfortunately, that's not actually it. See, as I said, all the loot is based on RNG lootboxes. YouPlay some matches, buy some "packs" (lootboxes) and get random items as a reward. There are different grades of lootboxes that offer differing rarities of items. Simple, right? Well, sure, until you start looking at the numbers.

During the same time period (March-September), BioWare has released 28 new weapons and characters in ME3MP compared to 13 new weapons and characters to MEAMP. You'd think that would mean there’d be less “grind” to MEAMP, but unfortunately, this is where things get unsettling:

For those 28 new weapons and characters, it totaled 172 drops one would need to get to max your manifest. With the 13 new weapons and characters in MEAMP, it totals 540 drops to max. This is due to the “S” variants of common weapons, the additional character ranks, and weapons augmentation that pad drops without actually adding anything new. MEAMP has added more than three times as many RNG drops while adding less than half of the new content. And those numbers are only for new content… If I factored in what was available at launch, the difference would be even more insane.

Sounds a bit shady, right? That’s because it is. More drops means more “grind”. More “grind” makes microtransactions look more appealing. I’ve written out thoughts before on how delicate balancing the “grind” of free-to-play games is, where you have to respect the time of the free player while still encouraging microtransaction sales. This is an example of an unbalanced system, mostly because it relies on RNG lootboxes. If you think all I’ve said sounds malevolent now, just wait.

See, this RNG lootbox system is employed by a lot of games, most of which are free to play. It relies on manipulating the player into falling for a mixture of the Gambler's Fallacy and the Sunk-Cost Fallacy.

The former is when a person assumes the statistical probability of past events affect the outcome of statistic events in the future. For example: Losing thousands at roulette is acceptable because it means I’m about to win big on the next spin.

The latter plays off the fallacious logic that the more time/money/effort you spend on something the more indebted to that something you become. For example: Losing thousands at a craps table means I have to keep playing until I win because otherwise all I’ve spent up to now was wasted.

The comparison to gambling is deliberate.

The RNG lootbox system is frankly a manipulative and unethical business practice. Even if the game is rated M, children and young adults still play these games where their minds are still not fully developed, and companies like BioWare are legally allowed to effectively get them addicted to gambling with this system. Most governments don't see this as gambling because the reward has no material value. You know what country has actually taken a stand against this? China. China is the country forward-thinking enough to realise how bad this practice is and have classified it as gambling. "China" and “forward-thinking" are not two words you often hear in the same sentence in the Western World.

I understand BioWare is a business and wants to make money. That's quite fine. Instead, they could employ more ethical microtransactions like those employed by Digital Extremes in Warframe: If I want to unlock a specific character or weapon, I can buy that outright for real money. The cost should be dependent on the difficulty to obtain. To acquire them for free, I have to earn them from more time consuming tasks like playing a specific map, against a specific enemy type, or both. Of course, in order to maximize revenue from the more ethical business model, BioWare would have to commit to releasing a considerably greater amount of new content for the multiplayer than what Andromeda has.

To be completely honest, given the level of separation ME multiplayer has from its single player even in the development cycle and that they are targeted at two separate audiences, I've honestly been suggesting that BioWare should consider spinning it into a standalone free to play title. I think the same should happen to DA multiplayer as well. Then it can see a small team of continuing support with new characters, weapons, maps, and balance changes. All funded by those new, more ethical microtransactions I suggested. But I digress.

Community

Now this is where things get unpleasant. Andromeda itself, despite my criticism, is an overall above average game in its current state. It is not terrible, but also not very good. This is why I used to not recommend purchasing it unless you got it on sale for at least 50% off. That's what I felt the game is worth.

However, what turned that recommendation from "Get It On Sale" to "Avoid Like The Plague" is the community.

While many, if not most, of the community around BioWare games are amiable enough and just enjoy the games, there is a sinister fanaticism that lurks in the dark places of the community. This fringe fanaticism either fervently hates or passionately loves the game, and harbors and intense level of bigotry.

Months before Andromeda was released, videos were being made openly calling for a boycott of BioWare games due to the political ideologies of individuals working (at that time) for BioWare, while others were praising BioWare for those same ideologies. Both positions were a Fallacy of Composition… Assuming that something true of one part of a body must also be true of the whole body.

If only that were the end of it. As launch got closer, so did the intensity of turning any developer interviews or updates into some kind of political clash. In all fairness, this was not exclusive to Andromeda… In fact, I could posit that it might just be a reflection of the then-current state of modern society. Regardless, Andromeda was controversial without ever having posed a single controversial position.

Then BioWare made a mistake. It gave out press copies of Andromeda to review outlets and "influencers”, the latter of which I will be discussing more in a moment. However, while reviewers were under an embargo that prevented them from releasing their review until the day before the game was released, BioWare allowed “influencers" and people that subscribe to EA/Origin Access to play and stream the game for 10 hours one week before release.

By the time professional reviews came out… Which were generally positive… There was so much confusion already permeating the internet. Clear, concise, and fair-minded criticism was drown in a sea of angry denouncement and cult-like devotion.

After a few scathing criticisms and popular memes arising due to issues in the game, a few of BioWare's loyal influencers" set about attempting to counter much of the criticism leveled at the game either by justifying mistakes and design choices or by outright attempting to discredit critics themselves.

Let's take Mass Effect Follower (now known as BioWare Follower), for example. He made a video titled Addressing the Criticism in Mass Effect Andromeda where he attempts to simultaneously justify the existence of bugs in the game while discrediting those that was put forward with comments like:

"Now, the reviews are people's opinions and nothing but that. [...] That should not deter you from trying out the game and seeing if you enjoy it yourself. Some people are not a fan of RPGs or open-world games and from there they're not going to like Mass Effect Andromeda and therefore they're going to write negative things about the game. Plus, as many of you know from being on the internet, some people just like to cause negative feedback. [...] They just want to say bad things about a game just to fuel hate. [...] Try to ignore them if you can."

Yup, he just tells people to ignore all negative reviews, because they either don't like RPGs/open-world games or they are just trying to promote hate. Or like this:

"All the story missions I've played have all felt well written and set up. The side missions I've done are widely varying in what you have to do and they feel like they have a meaning. The random characters I come across feel alive and like they have a purpose for being there."

Which feels like a legitimate public statement written by BioWare themselves. This first point made there I've already outlined my heavily diverging viewpoint, and the second two points are outright falsehoods. Essentially the video asks people to ignore negative criticisms of the game and just buy it based on his questionable claims on quality. Then, for all the bugs, hope that the game would be fixed and hope that the story would get better based on nonexistent future content.

On a small level, I pity channels like BWFollower. Once a channel becomes a certain size, it becomes beholden to the content it makes. When that content relies on an amicable relationship with a corporate AAA developer, a channel might feel pressured to make content that portrays work of that corporate AAA developer in a favorable light or risk being black-listed by that developer. It's an unenviable position, but it's entirely self-imposed.

This kind of content is what's known as subversive advertising, and it's not always done knowingly. BWFollower may not have realized that he was manipulating people into making a purchase that they may not have wanted. Nonetheless, it does not change the effect it had. When you are a public figure... One that a major AAA game developer would consider to be an "influencer", you have a responsibility and a trust... One which BWFollower completely failed. It is about the most anti-consumer reaction to a game possible because it crippled the ability for consumers to get fair and honest information before making a purchase.

Not everyone has money to waste on a game they won't enjoy, and so-called "trusted" voices countering healthy consumer feedback undermines the trust consumers have in those of us that with any measure of public responsibility. This utter deception perpetrated by several similar such "influencers" was, without a doubt, one of the most pivotal elements leading to the consumer backlash against Andromeda. The Streisand Effect, they call it.

Summary

Overall, I think Andromeda was indicative of the overall state of BioWare during the development of Inquisition and Andromeda... Including the upcoming Anthem. They were creatively rudderless, sailing whatever way the wind was blowing, denoting a lack of proper creative leadership and overall project vision.

Now, that may have changed. BW Montreal was merged into EA Motive and Aaron Flynn was replaced by Casey Hudson as GM of BioWare (essentially their top spot in the company). The only beacon of hope that Anthem won't turn out to be as bland as Inquisition/Andromeda is that Drew Karpyshyn (the main reason BioWare games are popular) is the lead writer on the project.

As I write this, the multiplayer is still currently receiving updates but the single player support was ended a few weeks ago. I imagine that Andromeda's multiplayer will continue receiving updates for months to come as they continue to unethically on money out of players through manipulative microtransactions that really should be legally classified as gambling.

Going forward from here, there are several lessons and opportunities for BioWare. They have already made changes to their organisation that may see their content improve. However, I will not presume that. Time will reveal what, if any, effect those changes create.

The lesson I have learned is that corporate greed inevitably diseases creativity. Not only has this experience made me extremely distrustful of BioWare, but AAA game development as a whole, which is honestly for the best. Businesses should not be entitled to your patronage. They should earn it. Something which BioWare has seemingly forgotten.

In writing this, however, the most unexpected realization result from the release of the latest entry of BioWare's most popular franchise: Where their path forward became much less certain to many fans, mine became clear. More information on that will be coming soon.

That, in its totality, is my post-mortem of Mass Effect Andromeda. Feel free to share your thoughts on the game and stayed tuned for some new things coming soon.

Once again, this is Angelus de Mortiel, signing off.

[onemanzerosquad]

New York Blackbeard Diary Pt. 3

Day 11.......Woke up.....Started my day getting breakfast then headed to my neurologist office to get my form from my job in regards to my restrictions. After, went to the library to print out documents in regards to a situation that led to someone purchasing something from a PayPal. Pretty much someone hacked into my PayPal and purchase a monthly subscription to watch a show smh. As I was heading to work, I thought about all of my problems and have decided to take care of all the problems. Feels like time is not on my side in my opinion and I can no longer deal with the bullshit no longer. As take care of the problems head on, I have no problem dealing with consequence even if my body limitations is at risk cause. I'm alone in this and that's no one fault cause everyone has their own problem to fix.

On on to the side story......2012.......

The new year started and I was in a long distance relationship. Unfortunately, It didnt last long. Obviously, communication was the cause of the problems. From there I was talking to girls got into a relationship but that didnt even last too. Then I saw her. Now I'm not gonna write her government name. So I'm gonna name her HopelessRomantic. Unlike every women I've been with physically, I actually found her online. I didn't expect her to give me a chance but she did. At first, we were back and forth breaking up and making up. Then mid year, she broke up with thru a inbox smh. She was right tho, I wasn't doing anything with my life and she felt I had no ambition. It's crazy because before she broke up with me, I wanted to let her know that I finally got a job lol. During that time til September, I was dating and talking to other women but at the same time trying to get back with HopelessRomantic. Then at one point, HopelessRomantic was going through a tough time. So I took an opportunity to help her out. I was making sure she was okay. Then one day there was a BWA (beach) reunion show and since I told HopelessRomatic about my backyard wrestling career, I invited her to the show. That day was interested as I got to see some of the guys even my first love and by the night, I brought her home and "Netflix and chill" happened lol. It was our first time doing something after 9 months of us knowing eachother. From that moment on we were back together but this time she trusted me and gave me another chance of love again. On to other things,in that year I started wrestling officially in BWA (Bronx). I had a chance to wrestle in RCW but I decided not to go. I knew I wasn't going to be comfortable there and plus the only people I would mostly trust would be the DIW wrestlers that I meant in 2011. Everyone else ehhhhh (the white boys weren't really there lol). BWA (Bronx) hands down was the best time of my backyard wrestling career. Holy Convictions Tag Team with Genocide, 4 aces, matches with Loco, Dixon, Dom The Don, my epic match against Gencocide that open everyone's eyes, and the match of the event of SuperShowDown (their Wrestlenania), against Joker. I had a epic time in the BWA (Bronx). Now back to HopelessRomantic. Our relationship was great. Our families liked us together, I got to see her often, I was working, the sex was great lol, and she even motivated me to actually go to college. The original plan was to go study Criminal Justice. Then December hit and after the hurricane, I came from chilling with a friend and HopelessRomantic send me a message on Facebook breaking up with me. There wasn't a particular reason. She wrote like an essay but it had nothing to do with me. I can only assume she wasn't interested anymore. So the year was heading to its end. So I decided to live it up with Black, Red, Green, and Blue Label with some 40s. Regardless of the break up, I still had good year.

Day 12.......Woke up and started my day with a cup of coffee. Went to my job to pick my check check my app to see how much since I started last week and today was pay week and apparently I got no pay listed on this week. So I can only assume my next check will make up for last week or something. Money is always with no value hard to get by but hey whatever. So went on my morning and TD Bank to fax the people apart of my dispute case and unfortunately the bank printing machine doesn't work doesn't work. So another Negative Nancy in the poison air of New York City. After work, I saw my Autismo crew (J God, Weirdo, and Porn Plug). Chopped it up a little bit and by the way F**K WWE 2K!!!!!

On on to the side story......2013......

2013 new year.....still working on and off. Surprisely, me and HopelessRomantic kept in contact regardless of the breakup. One day I brought her over just to chill. She got cozy which didn't bother cause she was single as was I. From what I remember, we were talking and it led to her being emotional and she was crying. So held her tight then boom......we had sex......The next day we were talking and I kinda express to her I wanted to get back together but she didn't want that. I actually cried but accepted and got over it. Probably like a month later, she got into a relationship with someone else which sucked even more. Other than that I signed up for a program that dealt with Digital Media and did well in the program. I was still working but not as much. My birthday but on that day I was sick (for about a week). After I healed, I started this new job that my guy Dirty Sandchez aka Eyevrows from Getaway hook me up with. It was an maintenance job. Did the job and all. July 4th hit and partying up drinking doing my thing. I woke up and got a call from HopelessRomantic letting me know that her Aunt passed. All I had was tears cause her aunt meant a lot The last time I talk to her was Mother's Day so the pain was more. I was mad and I played Dante's Inferno with anger. From morning til night, I beat the game. The one thing I notice alot that day was I had double vision that whole day. I would think that would be gone by the morning but it wasn't. After hanging out with my boy. I started to fall easily and constantly told I looked crossed eyed. By August my left leg felt like I or sprained it. August I finally hit the switch and started college. I was studying Mental Health/Domestic Violence Counseling. First semester went well. All As and 1 B. I even had my own little crew.

SIDE NOTE: One person in that crew ending up being my girlfriend (2016)

During the first semester I was still dealing with my health problems. Things got worse. My hands were so numb that I couldn't write. My double vision was there everyday and I had a hard time walking on my left leg. After going to the emergency room doing MRIs and Catscans and testing my strength with a group of neurologists and constantly hearing that I'm so young (I was 22), I saw a neurologist and he told me that I have Multiple Sclerosis.......

Day 13........Woke up, got ready, and speed walked to the bus stop to get to work. Unfortunately, I got a little late due to the bipolarness of the bus coming on schedule. When. I got to work, I couldn't punch in due to the app I punch in on couldn't connect to the server. After work, I went to see a friend that I haven't seen in quite some time and that was pretty much my day.

On on to the side story......2014.......

2014 came. I finally got my finally treatment after waiting for months for insurance reasons smh. I had to take it every week. I continued college by taking free classes inthe winter semester which was apart of Fall semester. As a result passed both classes with an A. From there my GPA was 3.6. With my education background with a learning disability, D equalivent grades, being in special ed classes, and receiving services due to my learning disability, for a guy with a incurable health condition that pretty much messes with your body depending on the central nervous system state, it was remarkable for something like that to happen. Spring semester hit and once again did my thing in classes, went on dates, and followed the routine of being on grind. Then the summer semester hit and I was offered to take a short summer class and I took it of course since it was free. That morning of first day of the class, I wanted to do the impossible and walked from my home to school (Albemarle and East 19 to Manhattan Beach). It took about 3 hours. Got to class on time and kind sat around or whatever. Some other people got inthe class and informed the professor that they were in the other classroom. For some odd reason I was more aware of a woman saying that then the others. Crazy cause that same woman ended up being my girlfriend by the end of September. We ain't saying government names. So her name for this post is Hermione (she likes Harry Potter). She had tattoos, smart, and she was honest for what I feel most of the time. Eventually the relationship didn't last and ended the same way.......a message. Her reasons made sense I guess (went too fast). Honestly I don't believe time should be a determining factor for a relationship to happen. If you feeling this person then give it a shot but that's just my opinion. Also, in 2014, I officially ended my backyard wrestling career against my friend, my brother, and my on screenplay rival Rodney Banks. It was the perfect ending to the legend that was called Heavy D.

Day 14.......Woke up. Gather some clothes and did some laundry. Sat outside for a little bit and headed back to the shelter and took a power nap. Woke up about 3 and watch One Piece Episode 901. I'm already current with the manga. So I'm basically watching what I already read. That was pretty much my Sunday. Plus I need all the rest for the upcoming days of this week. I gotta say, I'm slowly getting myself together to the point that people inthe shelter are noticing me more as hardworking individual. I'm always on the move and that's being notice and respected by people in the shelter.

On on to the tragic side story......2015

2015 started off okay. Winter semester was a success. I saw Hermione. But I didnt really give her attention after the break up but after we talked, we became friends and that was it nothing more. Spring semester came and I did my thing again and lived the college life but got a job. So now I'm get on my grind and officially had no time for much. Summer was here and my mother was working getting her passport to go back to Jamaica and see her family after years. One time I came from work and as usual expected my mother to be home since she doesn't like to be out late. She nevered came home which was extremely alarming. Call the police and I was informed that she was in the hospital in the city. Got to the hospital and use the phone to locate and she was in the 3rd floor ICU. I didn't know what ICU meant at that time but I knew it was something bad. Got to the ICU and saw my mother........Hospital covered with a bandage on her head as if someone bash a metal bat on her head. Come to find out, she had a seizure and fell on head in the street very hard. I was in tears. All I can remember was that the last time I saw her she told me that she was heading out. My mind was wtf like this ain't real. Called everyone I can call and every got the news that my mother was inthe hospital. She eventually got transfer to a rehab center in Far Rockaway Queens. Things seem to be okay. Then I come home from a hard day at home and I get phone call from a friend informing me that something happened and my younger brother didn't sound okay on the phone. Went to the hospital my mother was sent to. Her eyes was closed. Next couple of days saw her as the machine was helping her breath not responding or reacting inthe room. The doctor spoke to me and younger brother and pretty much said there a very little chance they can help. By October 12th. My younger brother called me and informed me that our mother died........

Day 15......Woke up.....Had to skip gym again. I had to get my mail and sent some emails. After, I went straight to work. After work, I happen to see a face I haven't seen in quite some time and we actually introduce our names after knowing each other for years. It's kind of cool knowing someone and finally just engaging in a conversation (just regularly). Then mailed my my money order to this One Shot Deal that I owe money to unfortunately. While on my way back to the shelter, I started thinking.....now knowing that just about everyone knows that I have Multiple Sclerosis......Hawk's Eye will be on me and my refusals from any assistance will make things a little more tough and edgier. So at this point, I have to be smart on everything I do. But I'm sure I'll get through this someway.

On on to 2016.......

2016 was here. After a hard 2015, I was able to keep the home, still work, made sure my health was good and survived a hard semester. I made the impossible possible. On the other hand, things were different. I started living somewhat a independent free life. I went to school, work, and party on the weekends. I was even going to the strip clubs and bars just living it up with my people. Eventually, I had this feeling like I needed to be what I was and I felt it was time to look for love again and I found it. No government names revealed. So her name was SoReal lol. I knew her since I started college (2013). We kept in contact and eventually we got together in July. It was love again. I haven't felt this type of love since my first relationship. She was smart, hardworking, and very determined to finish college. I was in love. When she felt she needed me, I was ready to help. We went on multiple dates. We talked all the time and we expressed that we loved each other. Other than love, I GRADUATED FROM KINGSBORO WITH AN ASSOCIATES!!!!! By September, I was city bound at City College. By the fall semester thing weren't good between me and SoReal. She distanced herself from me and with that I got less focus on school. Our relationship was so back and forth. When December hit, I got a letter from the landlord informing me that I must pay 3500 dollars in two weeks or I get evicted. So rent is not really being paid by my roommate, I'm barely getting thru college, and my relationship is a mess. As a result, I was still in relationship surprisingly, I pass my classes (barely), and I had to ask for assistance from this service called the One Shot Deal (where your whole rent is paid off but you got to pay back the money that was covered. 2017......would finally bring me to the limit.....

Not everything was meant to be......

Jikai........One Last Time. The Past From The Last View 2017 The Fall Of A Headliner

Mad King Recharging Arc

[magicalmoonbeam]

Remembrance, part one.

I never update my Tumblr with personal information anymore; but today I am feeling nostalgic and wanted to write a post about my life (of sorts.) A post remembering things I have done, things I want to do and give thanks for certain aspects of my life. Or you know just give thanks in general for living. :)

I’ve been trying to remember all of the jobs I’ve had in the past. One day I suspect I won’t be able to remember any of them at all and it’d be nice to have them written down somewhere...honestly, they won’t be in order, besides the first and most current; but here it goes:

Pacific Sunwear, Retail Clerk

Albertsons, Cashier

Studio One to One Photography, Receptionist

Anchor Blue, Retail Clerk

Firehouse Subs, Sub Maker

JCPenneys, Photographer

Brandon Regional Hospital, Labor & Delivery Unit Coordinator

Target, Guest Services & Cashier

Outback Steakhouse, Host - Take Away - Server

Bella Baby Photography, Photographer

97X, On Air Radio Personality

BFG Communications, Brand Ambassador for Natural American Spirit

MKTG, Brand Ambassador for Natural American Spirit & Camel

Brand Ambassador (Various Companies) for: Three Olives Vodka, Fords Gin, Samuel Adams, Schofferhofer Grapefruit, Radeberger Pilsner, Casa Noble Tequila, Lolea Sangria, LiDestri's Pink Lemon Liqueur, Cask & Crew Whiskey, Mu Coffeehouse Cocktails, Dixie Vodka, Rudo Tequila, Estrella Lager, Not Your Father's Bourbon, Jose Cuervo Tequila, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Moosehead Lager, Arrogante Damiana Liqueur, Cointreau Liqueur Events Executed: Gorilla Style Marketing for Sprouts Farmers Market, Marketing for Aldi Grocery Store Location Grand Opening, Westfield Malls Event Marketing

SLOTix Experience, VIP assistant (Lady Gaga, Depeche Mode, Sam Smith)

Passyunk Avenue, Bar Tender & Server

British Airways, Cabin Crew (Flight Attendant)

I honestly feel like I am missing one or two jobs in there..Through out high school I had a tendency of finding a newer and more exciting job more often than not. Not as an adult however, I tend to stick with the jobs that are fulfilling and excite me. Right now my job is at risk of redundancy due to COVID-19 & unfortunately it is the job I had hoped to make into a career for the rest of my life; or at least work within the company in some aspect until I retired. I’m not sure what the next week will hold but I will say I am so thankful to have been a flight attendant for the time that I was given...and hopefully will for longer.

The jobs that I have had certainly made for life experiences. My top three would have to be: 97X, Mobile Brand Ambassador (I traveled around the US and was paid for it!) and British Airways (Again the traveling aspect is A+). Like I said, I’m not sure where I will be in a week or two but I hope it’s somewhere exciting.

Enough about working life...now for regular life...I grew up in Florida, traveled around the US (working) for about 4/5 years after college, lived in Boston for half a year (worked at an Outback Steakhouse up there) but now I live in ENGLAND. Never in a million years would High School me have thought I’d have ended up here. To make a long story short I took a trip to London a few years back and absolutely fell in love with the city; it was then I was determined to move here. It’s actually insanely difficult to move countries if you don’t hold dual citizenship in case you were wondering...but I found a way.

..to be continued because it’s getting dark and I’d like to close the windows in my flat. Bye for now. :)

[anachef]

Review: Can Epcot’s Coral Reef Restaurant Rise to the Surface?

Coral Reef Restaurant is a table service option in Epcot’s Future World at Walt Disney World.

Learn About: Coral Reef Restaurant

Epcot Restaurants Disney World Restaurants

As you might imagine, Coral Reef is located in the Seas Pavilion, home of The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It’s one of only two table service restaurants in Future World — the other being Garden Grill in the neighboring Land Pavilion. The biggest draw to Coral Reef is the centerpiece of the restaurant: the six-million-gallon aquarium where fish, sea turtles, and (sometimes) divers swim by throughout the meal.

But even with that draw — making Coral Reef a truly unique Disney World experience! — Coral Reef often sinks to the bottom of DFB’s rankings of table service restaurants. Sadly the food just hasn’t been that great over the years. Lunch in 2014 was decent at best, with the Seared Mahi Mahi being the only I’d-get-that-again dish (alas, the Sriracha Shrimp we enjoyed on that visit are no longer on the menu…).

But you know we like to re-review restaurants on the regular, since chefs, menus, and servers change up regularly. My most recent visit was the best I’ve had in terms of food, and while it won’t move Coral Reef up to the top of the list at Epcot — admittedly a difficult park because there are so many awesome choices — it gives me hope that maybe the restaurant is providing a better experience for guests.

Coral Reef

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Coral Reef is the star of this restaurant, and for those who love sea life or aquariums, this really is a must-try. Nothing quite compares to the beauty of dining with only eight inches of glass between the diner and the sealife.

Aquarium views

The stadium seating here is designed to provide views, even if you’re not immediately tank-adjacent.

Coral Reef Seating in front of aquarium

Coral Reef Dining Room

Details from the entrance through the dining space emphasize the seas, with mosaics, carpeting, fabrics, and lighting designed to submerge you in the theme.

Octopus at check-in counter

Ceiling light effects

Light Fixture

And if you and your crew want to learn a thing or two during your meal, you can search for creatures using this handy Fish Guide!

Fish Guide

So which of these gilled friends will end up on the plate (ouch!)? Thankfully none of them, but their cousins aren’t so lucky! Let’s take a look at the menu.

Eats

The menu at Coral Reef has changed a lot over the years, with only a handful of starters and entrees. Even with its limited offerings, Coral Reef does have a decent variety, with fish and seafood dominating but turf-based dishes (and a vegan entree) available as well. Lobster Macaroni and Cheese is a popular option.

Coral Reef Menu

Meals here start with bread and butter, and even this staple has changed with the times. Current bread is rustic, floury rolls, thick and warm.

Bread and Butter

Butter here used to be sprinkled with black sea salt, but that’s no longer the case. This is a straight-forward way to start the meal.

Bread and Butter

The Crispy Rhode Island Calamari is a much better start! This fried squid dish is crispy, as advertised, and topped with Roasted Corn Relish and Tomatillo Sauce. This is packed with flavor and textures. Awesome way to start the meal!

Crispy Rhode Island Calarmari

The Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli is another starter option, but it’s heavy enough to work as an entree (perhaps particularly for vegetarians — sans prosciutto! — as there’s only one veg option in the entree section). Opinions at my table were split on this one. I thought it was a little bland and heavy, but my dining companion loved it — it was her favorite dish of the meal.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli

The ravioli are served with Artichoke, Leek, and Dill Cream and topped with Baby Asparagus, Prosciutto Chips, and Balsamic Glaze. The Balsamic Glaze carries a good amount of flavor, but the rest of the flavors were washed out, for me. But, again: my companion loved it, so it’s worth a try if this sounds like something you’d enjoy!

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli

For the carnivores there’s this 10-ounce Top Grilled Sirloin Steak served with delicious Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes, Creamed Spinach, and Bercy Butter. The potatoes tasted like twice-baked potatoes and had a nice richness of flavor. The spinach was fine but not remarkable. The Bercy Butter is a great addition! It’s a compound butter loaded with the flavors of shallots and white wine.

10-ounce Top Grilled Sirloin Steak

The steak itself was not a winner. It was tougher than I’d like, and the flavors just weren’t there. This is definitely not a steakhouse steak, but if you must have red meat at Coral Reef, this will fill the role.

The stand-out of the meal, though was the Shrimp and Grits! These were truly fantastic and worth coming back for. The Sauteed Shrimp, Local Corn Succotash, Andouille Sausage, and Creole Spice Emulsion top faaaaaabulous Cheddar Cheese Grits.

Shrimp and Grits

Seriously. The grits and the emulsion on top — which was like a spicy aioli — make the dish.

Shrimp and Cheddar Cheese Grits

Desserts at Coral Reef have been mediocre at best in the past, and this visit was pretty much par for the course. Many readers recommend the Baileys and Jack Daniel’s Mousse, and I totally should’ve listened to you guys!

Dessert Menu

I went with the Key Lime Tart, which should surprise no one. I typically enjoy the tart flavor of key limes, and this was all right, though not a stand-out.

Key Lime Tart

This Key Lime Tart incorporates other fruity flavors in the Strawberry Sauce, Tropical Fruit Glaze, and Boba Pearls. 

Key Lime Tart

The disk on top was tasty, and the key lime did work with the rest of the flavors. I appreciated the effort with the white chocolate shard, but it just wasn’t a wow. It was fine, and that’s sort of a sad way to describe dessert.

Key Lime Tart

The Turtle Cheesecake presents really well, with Pecan Florentine, Chocolate and Caramel Ganache, and Caramel Sauce. There are lots of pastry techniques at play here, and some good contrasts in texture.

Turtle Cheesecake

The pastry sea turtle and blue sugar wave are cute additions that play into the theme of the restaurant (isn’t there something fun about eating a pastry turtle whilst watching a sea turtle swim by?).

Turtle Cheesecake

But, again, this wasn’t a stellar dessert. Nothing stood out to us screaming “come back and eat this again.” It was humdrum.

Turtle Cheesecake

In the future, I’ll get the mousse to give that a try — or maybe I’ll just stop at the grits because yum!

Nosh or Not?

Swim into Coral Reef Restaurant if: 

the appeal of dining adjacent to a massive aquarium is irresistible.

you have little ones that will be sufficiently entertained by the aquarium that you’ll be able to sit in peace and enjoy a meal.

you’re into seafood, and want to try all of the options at Walt Disney World.

you want to try all of the table service restaurants at Epcot.

Stay on the shore if: 

you prefer to enjoy table service meals that are more consistently delicious.

you don’t care for the aquarium setting (or you just don’t want to look a fish in the eye while you’re… you know… eating one).

quick service meals fit your touring schedule better.

you prefer to eat your way around World Showcase instead.

Overall

So here’s the thing: Coral Reef Restaurant has never been at the top of our lists of dining options at Epcot. With so many options just a quick walk away in World Showcase, it’s hard to decide to eat in a restaurant that’s inconsistent, at best. So while this meal experience was better than ones I’ve had in the past, I still rank it close to the bottom of my list of table service restaurants at Epcot.

I know, that’s kind of sad. Especially because the draw of dining in the aquarium is really appealing. If you’ve got kiddos or adults who absolutely love the Seas Pavilion and sea life in general, it is definitely worth a try. But with so many dishes being hit-or-miss, you’ll want to temper your expectations a bit.

See all of Epcot’s table service restaurants ranked in this DFB Guide YouTube video!

What’s been your experience at Coral Reef Restaurant? Let us know in the comments! 

Related posts:

36 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do at Walt Disney World!

Review: Unique Eats at Epcot’s Spice Road Table in Walt Disney World!

21 Myths About Walt Disney World Food DEBUNKED

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