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randomestfandoms-ocs · 4 years ago

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Drop the Evie essay you wrote

okay so first of all it wasn’t really an essay the way some of my ramblings are, more like just me writing down all of my thoughts in a vaguely coherent manner bc my brain was running too fast to really organize it

and second of all, just to be on the safe side, these are the potential trigger warnings that I would give for the essay — I don’t know if they all actually come up or not, but better safe than sorry, so proceed with caution!

Potential TWs: being outed, parental neglect, character death (canon), suicide attempts (semi-canon), eating disorders, lots of mental health issues, and lots of general trauma and feelings of never being good enough, and canon typical references to drinking/drugs/partying/etc

so just like a fun fact, Evie’s vitamin water of choice is zero sugar strawberry lemonade and yes i spent too long reading reviews on different flavours all because gossip girl did an entire product placement episode

anyways now onto real thoughts let’s go lesbians let’s go

so okay evie has a... very negative experience with Lily’s various boyfriends and husbands. When Evie was younger she was always hopeful that this time would be different, that they’d be a family, that her mom would actually stick around, and every single time she’s been let down and left heartbroken. When her mom starts dating Bart, Evie is very against it but she just can’t be bothered to even try to talk to Lily — Lily will date him, maybe get married, play house, abandon her children, then get divorced, and the cycle will repeat, and Lily will never give a shit about how her children feel about it. Bart is just the latest rich man for Lily to set her sights on. Given the overall shittiness of most of Lily’s exes, Evie had figured she would be a lot more vocally against Lily dating again, but Bart...

Bart himself may terrify Evie, but Evie’s unwavering faith that Chuck will always protect her outweighs that fear, and Evie has long since given up on her mom caring about her opinions so she just takes comfort in the fact that Chuck will be there and tries to just ignore the rest — and the fact that Bart is pretty much always away does help with that. That being said, she was very distraught when Bart spends season 1 christmas with them, but then Bart’s “present” for her was flying Chuck home for a few days because Lily mentioned that Eric was teasing Evie about being excited about having Chuck as a brother, and he's trying to semi-win over the kids (aka bribe them into accepting him as Lily’s fiancé)

Evie speaks several languages! She started learning French and Spanish at a very young age, and then picked more up from Lily’s various husbands. She’s not fluent in all of them but she can hold conversations in eight languages — and four of them were from Lily’s boyfriends (and italian was half pieced together from French and Spanish), and she just keeps learning more because she tries to keep herself too busy to think at any given moment

Rufus is her favourite step-dad by far, but Chuck is her favourite step-sibling (and second favourite sibling, after Eric). That being said, Bart was surprisingly decent to her because even he quickly figured out that Evie has the innate ability to get Chuck to do basically anything, and he wanted her on his side, only he underestimated how much Evie hates him for treating Chuck like shit — as she says in 2x07, “if you want us to be a family, you should learn how to be a dad”

Evie has a bit of a thing for stealing coats lmao — it’s not unusual to find her stealing Chuck, Eric, Theo, or even Nate’s jackets when she gets cold or starts feeling particularly self conscious. At the housewarming party she actually gets to bothered by all the media watching her constantly that Chuck goes and gets her one of his blazers to replace the cropped one she was wearing, and she immediately feels a bit more at east

Evie is a jock like it’s understated but she’s on multiple sports teams at school and plays outside of school too — she’s also in dance classes several times a week, along with private vocal lessons, and being part of every theatre production at Constance Billard (musicals and plays), and is on the yearbook committee. Basically, Evie needs a fucking nap, and with a lot of pushing from Chuck and Eric and Theo (to balance out Blair “do absolutely everything in the name of Yale” Waldorf) she does eventually ease up on her extra-curriculars

She holds far too much power in the Constance-St Jude hierarchy. She’s a freshman, but it’s well known that Evie is completely untouchable. Some people (cough Jenny) might try to cross Blair, but no one is stupid enough to go after Evie — she’s not just Blair’s protégée, she’s also under Chuck’s protection. And when Jenny does try to cross her in season 3 (physical and emotional bullshit, public humiliation, telling the entire school she’d tried to kill herself and had been at Ostroff not “in florida”), well... she learns that even being family won’t stop her entire life from being destroyed

Speaking of Jenny... that’s a very messy relationship — I want to like Jenny, I really do, but I just... don’t so far. They’re a very sweet relationship early on, neither of them had dated before and they were just really smitten with each other and things were good. There were definitely some issues because of the Jenny-Blair war, but they’d been okay — or so Evie had thought, until Jenny dumped her by means of introducing everyone to her new boyfriend, Asher. Then of course there’s the party and Jenny outing her, and then just not talking to her for months until she needs something from them (an in to the White Party). Eric manages to convince Evie to play nice, but he does so under the impression that Jenny had apologized to Evie — he didn’t know she’d only apologized to him. Eventually Jenny does apologize and Evie tries to forgive her, and she keeps giving Jenny more and more second chances (especially once they become step sisters), but Jenny really just keeps hurting Evie to get on top because with Blair gone, Evie immediately becomes the new queen, and Jenny cares more about being queen than being nice. Little does she realize that part of why Evie became queen with no challenge is because she’s nice.

and regarding Evie’s other relationships... so serena was a really good big sister when Eric & Evie were kids — Blair was the responsible sister and Serena was the fun sister, but it was a good balance and it worked. But when the twins were around eleven and Serena was around 13, she became besties with Georgina Sparks, and everything went to shit. Serena started getting into partying and drinking and drugs and became just as flighty and unreliable as Lily, which takes a significant toll on the twins’ mental health — side note, one of their therapists at the Ostroff Centre believes that their significant codependency stems from the abandonment issues they have as a result of Lily and Serena just up and leaving them whenever anything “better” comes along.

And unfortunately for the twins, this was around the same time (grade 6) that Theo got sent to boarding school, so really they lost both their sister and their best friend at the same time, and Theo leaving also messed up the overall group dynamics and they half lost Nate too — he was still in their lives but he went from being the dad to Blair’s mom to being more of a big brother, and there was this sort of hole that didn’t get filled until a couple of years later.

And of course, a lot of it then fell to Blair to try to fill that hole and the holes left by Serena and Lily and went from being sort of “mom friend big sister” to “literally the closest thing we have to a mom”, which is also just a lot of pressure for a thirteen year old girl and part of why Blair and Chuck got a lot closer after he ended up becoming their dad was because she finally had someone that she could talk to too.

Also like full disclosure, Chuck never really intended to become their dad. He started off as a reluctant big brother because he was Nate’s best friend and Nate was the dad friend when they were younger, and Evie just kind of decided that she loved him and like no one can argue with Evie so all of a sudden he was part of the family. He doesn’t really become dad until the van der Woodsens move into the hotel because suddenly Eric and Evie are just always there, and he doesn’t even realize it until months later, after Serena is gone and he realizes that he’s been skipping parties to like play mario kart and shit with the twins and Blair is just like “lmao yeah buddy you’re the last one to get this memo”

and then there’s this list that I made of the NJBC’s roles in raising the twins and theo back when they were younger

Blair: holds their hands to cross the street, teaches them not to talk to people who wear sneakers or to strangers, teaches them how to dress themselves like respectable people, makes them finish their homework before watching tv, hates all of their nannies and only trusts dorota to take care of them Nate: teaches them to tie their laces and their ties, plays video games and sports with them, helps them with homework and doesn't get impatient when they struggle, lets them use his notebooks to draw in when they're bored Chuck: will destroy anyone who hurts them, teaches them street smarts and how to tell when someone is lying, is the one who lets them do dumb and reckless things because he'd rather they do them when he's there to get in trouble, still refuses to believe that they know what sex is Serena: reminded them that it's okay to have fun and draw outside the lines, stood up for them when lily was being a shit mom and always tried to protect them from the worst of her neglect, came up with games to play when they were sad to take their minds off whatever is upsetting them

And Theo!!!!!! Theo has been their best friend for their entire lives! They’ve known him since they were babies and the three of them have always been inseparable! Like highkey they were just a more functional NJBC lmao, and we love them for it! Theo getting sent to boarding school was really hard on all three of them but they stayed in constant contact and whenever Theo is back in the city, it’s almost impossible to see them not together. Theo does know that they were in the Centre, so once he’s back full time, he’s spending as much time visiting them as he can! Even when Eric and Theo are dating (and later when Evie and Theo are dating), the group dynamics really never change! It’s still always the three of them, and sometimes Jenny in s1, they’re still each other’s family, and they’re still just a bit too interdependent to be entirely healthy (it’s the trauma and neglectful parents)

on a slightly related note, neither of the twins drink anything other than champagne and sometimes wine, and neither of them touch drugs at all, and it’s entirely because of Serena. They’ve both seen how much she’s changed since she got into that scene, and especially since ‘liking partying’ turned into ‘alcohol addiction’, and they’re both too afraid of ending up like that to even take the risk. It’s something that definitely sets them apart from pretty much any of their peers, but they’ve gotten very good at just laughing it off with a “hey, I just don’t want to end up on Gossip Girl tomorrow” which people generally accept

(that being said, Evie did smoke for a while pre-canon bc cigarettes curb hunger, but she hasn’t smoked at all since ending up in the Centre, and once she’s out too many people have an eye on her for her to even try, and she does want to stop)

(TW ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, fairly detailed discussion) so okay the breaking point for the twins... lily had just gone awol again and Blair was away visiting her dad and evie was at the archibalds’ house hanging out with theo, who was home for a weekend, and eric didn’t want to call anyone because lily’s disappearance had left him in a spiral of feeling annoying and like people didn’t really want him in their lives and there wasn’t a specific trigger but instead of the spiral slowing down or evie/chuck/blair being able to pull him out of it, it just kept getting worse until he was slitting his wrist in the bathroom — only Evie had just gotten home and when he didn’t reply to her calling his name, she got freaked out and started looking for him and when she saw him, she just... couldn’t deal. She called 911 for eric but then she was just in the bathroom and covered in his blood and she didn’t know what to do and she needed to calm down so she grabbed a bottle of valium that she thinks was Lily’s but instead of just taking one pill she ended up taking all of them and downing them with a bottle of vodka serena had hidden — once she realized what she’d done she called Chuck and basically just said “I think I fucked up” and Chuck freaks out (understandably) and rushes to their suite and gets there basically just in time to see both of them being loaded into an ambulance; he claims he’s their brother and rides with them to the hospital where he calls blair, and arranges for his jet to pick her up asap, and then tries (unsuccessfully) to get in touch with lily

#lizziesxltzmxn #ask #answered #evie van der woodsen #about evie #freshman generation

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telekinesiswrites · 4 years ago

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Ashley Brown Relationship Headcanons

I can imagine Ashley meeting someone in the library. She’s sitting in her usual place in the corner, surrounded by textbooks, and when she briefly looks up to glare at some noisy students, she sees you. You’re sitting there with your nose in a book, looking pensive, and that’s when Ashley’s mind starts whirring. Every day after that, she looks for you, and seeks comfort when you’re there. You’re a constant. What she doesn’t know is that you’ve been noticing her staring and that if she looks over at you one more time, you’re going to march over and introduce yourself to her. Thankfully, she does.

Ashley loves being the little spoon when it comes to snuggling. She feels so safe when she’s surrounded by you and after the events of Blackwood, she craves that security.

She’s always been skittish due to her overactive imagination spurring into slight paranoia, but after Blackwood, Ashley’s jumpiness only worsens. She flinches at slamming classroom doors or car horns blaring when she’s walking around campus. If someone is walking behind her, and has been for some time, she’ll walk a little faster and try her best to ignore the hair raising on the back of her neck. However, when she’s with you, her worries begin to disappear slowly. She would squeeze her hand tightly and mold herself into your side. Ashley looks to you for protection and you provide it every time.

She adores nose kisses and how can you resist when she has a nose as cute as a button?

Don’t expect a full night’s rest when Ashley spends the night. She’ll shake you awake, whispering frantically about hearing a noise int he living room, or that she swore she heard the front door creak open. That’s when you sleepily trudge out to wherever she heard the sound, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, with Ashley clenching at the back of your shirt, peeking over your shoulder. Ashley will apologize for every single false alarm and sometimes even start crying because she knows her paranoia isn’t normal. She’ll always, always, be surprised by your patience.

Ashley relishes in the moments she has alone with you. Her favorite pastime is having your head in her lap, dozing off, while she reads aloud to you and softly strokes your hair.

Ashley doesn’t have to be in a relationship for very long before she starts daydreaming about a future with her lover. Like, will you live in a trendy loft apartment in New York City? Will you have kids? Will you walk her down the red carpet at the premiere of a movie that’s based off her best-selling novel? Of course, she’ll never admit to her fantasies right away; they’re her secrets until the timing is right.

You’ll always find it adorable at how she snorts when she laughs. Pulling her beanie down over her eyes is a surefire way to pull this laugh from her.

When she’s not sleeping over, Ashley will sometimes show up at your front door at two in the morning, seeking comfort after a night terror. A simple phone call won’t do; she needs you to pull her into a loving embrace and console her.

One of the more serious moments you have with her is when you find a box in her apartment that contains pictures of people you’ve never met before. She snatches the box away from you, chastising you for being so nosy, but when you ask her about it, Ashley sighs. That’s when she tells you everything: Beth and Hannah’s deaths and the prank that lead to their demise; the twisted pranks Josh pulled and how she still has nightmare about them; the Wendigos; and everything else. She tears up when she tells you that she tried to stay friends with everyone, but being with them reminded her too much of everything that happened at Blackwood. She confesses at how easy it was to slip into reticence, only leaving her apartment for classes and study sessions at the library. She’s still friends with everyone on Facebook and she wonders if she’ll ever be friends with them again. She sobs when she brings up Chris, who she admits to having feelings for at one time, but she felt guilty about putting him through life-or-death decisions. You hold her all night as she reminisces because that’s the only thing you can do for her other than listen.

One of your favorite memories with Ashley is the time you put on some upbeat music, notched it up to maximum volume (though you did receive a noise complaint later), and started dancing with her. At first she was hesitant, insisting that you turn it down before you get in trouble, but pretty soon she’s jamming out right along with you. She’s laughing, face turning red from dancing so hard, spinning in circles as she moves with the music. You stop and watch her because for the first time, you’re seeing the real Ashley. She’s not flinching at loud sounds, or checking over her shoulder constantly, or crying her eyes out when she feels like she’s inconvenienced you. She’s…happy. When Ashley noticed that you’re not dancing anymore, she asks you what’s wrong, and that’s when you sweep her into a passionate kiss.

Ashley’s a cheater when it comes to games. She would be the kind of person to knock the controller out of your hands during Mario Kart, switches chess pieces when you’re not looking, etc. You’re aware of what she’s doing, but you let her get away with it because the victory dance she does when she wins is fucking adorable.

Loves Pinterest. She has a whole board dedicated to you, filled with date ideas, relationship quotes, those cheesy relationship goal posts, etc.

She prefers dates in secluded spots. A park with a playground with no people or a nearly empty theater are ideal for her.

You both adopt a cat which Ashley refers to her as ‘her child’.

Ashley is an extremely good writer, but she doubts herself a lot, which causes her to give up and start over whenever she thinks a project isn’t perfect. She has to have constant feedback and she’ll come to you a lot for help. Since honesty is one of her strongest traits, Ashley appreciates it when you give her balanced critique, telling her both the good and bad things about her writing. You love every story she gives you though because they are truly beautiful and poetic and well thought out. You just wish she would stop criticizing her own work so much.

Some nights are spend outside, stargazing. You two have long talks about life and the meaning of it, among other philosophical things. Ashley is extremely intelligent and she longs for the moments where she can get into the mind of another.

When it comes to Facebook, Ashley’s the kind of person who doesn’t post much. She’s extremely private, but when she changes her status to ‘in a relationship’, you’re so happy.

Following this, you start getting messages from that Chris guy Ashley mentioned before. He worries about her and wonder if she’s doing okay because she always ignores his messages. You and Chris start talking and eventually start planning on a way to get Ashley to meet up with everyone again. When you two finally schedule a meet-up, you start getting more and more nervous about Ashley’s reaction. Will she be happy? Angry that you went behind her back and invaded her privacy? Will she break up with you because of it? The day of the meet-up happens and your nerves are shot, but you mask it pretty well. When you and Ashley walk into the coffeehouse, you and Ashley are waiting in line when Jessica comes up behind Ashley and hugs her. When Ashley turns around, she’s met with the whole gang, and she’s utterly speechless. Then the tears start. In the end, she’s not angry. She’s so fucking happy to be with her friends again. And when she finds out that you and Chris planned the whole thing, she hugs you both the hardest.

Months pass and you start to see Ashley get better. She isn’t isolating herself anymore, instead seeking out the company of her friends, and she even started seeing a therapist to help her cope with the events of Blackwood. Eventually, your one year anniversary arrives. To celebrate, you gift her with a new locket. It’s not as romantic as it is symbolic. She had worn her old locket during the events of Blackwood so it was tied to some pretty dark memories, but her new locket represents all the time she spent with you, all the progress she had made in getting better, and to the future you and her were working towards.

Ashley’s eyes begin to water as she opens it, seeing a miniature picture of you and her inside. “Can you…can you help me put it on?”

She never fails to wear it every single day.

#until dawn headcanons #Until Dawn #Ashley Brown #ud ashley #ashley until dawn #ashley brown x reader

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naivesilver · 5 years ago

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silvaze for the ship thing!!

thank you friend

Send me a ship and I’ll tell you:

How do much do I ship it?: Never heard of it/ Notp / Dislike / used to ship / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / IS IT CANON YET?

THEY’RE GREAT I LOVE THEM Sega have them interact more please this is a matter of life and death

What non sexual activities do they like to do together?

They like gardening together (that’s canon too, IDW is doing shit right) and also good old fashioned cuddling once they’re not fighting for their life anymore

Who does chores around the house?

They share bc they were both raised right. Also after surviving in a hellish landscape they both know how to do stuff and how to rely on each other so it was natural for them.

Who’s the better cook?

As for the previous point they both know how not to starve but I feel like their food wouldn’t be...that great...Blaze would probably try to be lawful good about it and follow recipes and stuff before accidentally burning something, while Silver would go balls to the walls and create concoctions that vary from disgusting to culinary masterpiece bc he’s very enthusiastic

Who’s the funniest drunk?

Probs Silver but mostly it would be hard to get Blaze drunk so nobody would really know what she’s like drunk. Once Amy Rouge and co manage to have her down a few drinks on a girls night out they will know just what kind of karaoke-singing, bad-decision-making drunk gal they unleashed.

Do they have kids?

I love giving fankids to every Sonic ship and I think these two especially would make great parents...so soft...so fiercely protective...Not a herd of children tho, maybe two or three

Do they have any traditions?

I honestly think they would celebrate not only birthdays, romantic anniversaries etc but also the day they were reunited after Blaze’s “death”? Not some grand thing, just acknowledging how lucky they’ve been and appreciating what they have

What do they fight about?

Silver is a reckless, naive feral baby who always manages to get himself into trouble and Blaze sometimes keeps herself under too much control and is def more guarded than him. They clash about what these things entail for them in battle but also while meeting new people, sometimes ferociously, but they always find a solution and/or a compromise together in the end

What would they do if they found their paring tag on tumblr? (If they have one)

Listen I don’t fucking care keep my children away from Tumblr drama they would probably be perplexed at how people are attacking each other over stupid things when there’s so much good to do in the world

Who cried at the end of Marley and me?

Silver obviously. Blaze was a bit shook too but the hilarity of hugging a weeping Silver and patting his head like “there there”? Unparalleled.

Who always wins at Mario kart?

Blaze. For all that he’s used to gravity-defying situations, Silver keeps falling off the rails (yes, I’m projecting, I SUCK at Mario Kart)

One thing I like about this ship?

They’re both just so...good? It’s clear there’s mutual respect and they trust each other completely, and that their feelings are based on a deep, solid friendship. also they both baby

One thing I don’t like about the ship?

Every time I see them I remember this “friend” I had in middle school who introduced me to the fandom but was also utterly convinced that Silver and Blaze were siblings (not even a sibling-like friendship, just biologically brother and sister) and would insult me if I dared say otherwise so yeah

The song I would say fits them?

No song I suggest could ever top Dream of an absolution but I quite like Giant by Rag’n’Bone Man and Calvin Harris for them bc it kind of reminds me of the way they get the best out of each other and help each other grow and save the world

A headcanon about the paring?

They met bc their mothers used to fight Iblis together and were of the habit to show off their babies’ skills like “oh yeah silver lifted a house with his mind yesterday” “that’s cute, blaze burned down the same house with just a glance afterwards” and in the background silver and blaze would just be doing the stupidest shit like eating dirt or crawling out to danger bc dumb feral kiddos

#dxrkblaze #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #silvaze

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foofygoldfish · 4 years ago

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EVERY SINGLE FUCKING QUESTION for the kids ask because YOU KNOW I WANT THAT CONTENT

oh my goooood

okay so i’m fairly certain i asked you what pairing i should do this for but it’s been so long that i can’t remember

so i’m gonna do this for elizabeth and tess!

1. how did they feel about raising children? did these feelings change once they became parents?

it wasn’t something they really thought would happen? they’re both older, they’ve both lead dangerous lives - not really the ideal situation to raise kids in, y’know? things change, when they get to jackson and they become “official” and.... i’m drifting away from the point lmao

they’re honestly more than a little scared to be parents - elizabeth’s never felt like she’s good with kids (even if kids adore her), and tess - she just knows that the world is dangerous, even if jackson seems safe.

2. what’s their parenting approach? do they raise their children differently than how they were raised?

elizabeth absolutely refuses to be the kind of parent that hers were, which means she can come off as a liiiiittle overbearing at times, even if she’s still a little clueless? tess, though, raises

(edit; hi i apparently forgot the finish the question!!! i don’t remember what i was going to put there lmao)

3. what is their favorite thing(s) about their children? what do they love about their children the most?

they both love how happy and energetic and normal they are - tess says that they remind her of her cousins kids, from back before the outbreak, and that (so far) they don’t seem to be too affected by living in a post-apocalyptic society. my brain isn’t giving me anything concrete for the second question, so a vague answer... elizabeth loves running around and playing with them, and watching them play with the animals in the barn. tess - this is cheesy as fuck and i’m sorry - she loves watching them while elizabeth is reading to them

4. who gets the most emotional seeing their children grow older?

elizabeth. they’re babies, they aren’t allowed to be teenagers/adults/etc!!!!

5. who do they think their children takes after the most? which traits do the children share with their parents? (appearance or personality wise)

elizabeth and tess agree - they both take after bee, just in different ways. ryan is quiet and curious, lane is chaotic.

6. how do they celebrate their baby’s first birthday? are they the type of parents to go over the top for birthdays/holidays?

both kids are adopted well after their first birthdays - lane was ten and ryan was six. their first birthdays as maxwells, though, are big shindigs. elizabeth doesn’t know how to throw a casual party...

7. how do they soothe their crying baby when they’re out in public? who’s the best at rocking the baby to sleep?

i’m not sure if they ever adopt a baby - but tess for both, elizabeth is Not Good with babies

8. how do they care for their children when they get sick? who checks on them in the middle of the night?

elizabeth makes sure that they stay on the couch or in bed and she brings them whatever they need - water, tea, soup (so much soup), blankets, books... tess is more likely to take them to hannah and get medicine.

bee is also the most likely to check on them at night - they both will, but tess is better at sleeping through the night, so it’s just that elizabeth is more likely to be awake.

9. who is the most protective of their children? what makes them both shift into overprotective mode?

oh they both are - tess makes sure they’re protected from anything outside the walls of jackson (and is upset when she finds out lane went behind her and bee’s back and asked tommy if she could go on patrols), while elizabeth will absolutely fight anyone who bullies them.

10. who spoils their children the most? who finds it difficult telling their children ‘no’?

elizabeth. for both.

11. what was their baby’s first word(s)? if the baby’s first word was something used to address their parent(s), who claimed bragging rights?

they don’t know :(

12. do their kids ever find them embarrassing?

lol yes

questions for the kids

13. what is their name(s)? is there any significance to it? any nicknames they go by? or cute pet names their parents give them?

ryan and lane are the ones that exist at the moment! neither of them were named by elizabeth or tess, but ryan’s name is special to elizabeth - that was her older brother’s name. ryan’s nickname is rye, but lane doesn’t like nicknames (her parents call her laney, but she pouts)

lane:

and ryan! (liable to change but)

(ben, not klaus lol)

14. how were they like as small children? did their personality change drastically as they grew older?

lane was... chaotic. she was the first that elizabeth and tess adopted, coming to them when she was ten, and well... let’s just say sharky would like her. she’s a goofball and clumsy and she really likes fire, just as much as her mom does. she calms down a little bit as she gets older, but she’s still fairly chaotic.

ryan has always been quiet, but he’s very much elizabeth’s kid - he sticks to her side as much as possible, and is really only talkative when he’s with her. he loves both his moms - he just clicked with her sooner. he becomes a little more outgoing as he gets used to jackson, but he’s never really too fond of being around people.

15. what do they usually eat at restaurants? are they a picky eater?

well, i doubt they really have a variety in jackson - probably just whatever is in season. lane tends to favor anything fried, though, and ryan likes pizza. neither are too picky, though.

16. have they ever scared their parents?

oh have they

ryan likes to climb things - he’s fallen asleep on rooftops and in trees before. lane... just.... lane.

17. what was their favorite childhood toys/games growing up?

lane loves apples to apples - elizabeth is trying to hide the existence of cards against humanity from her for as long as possible, just for tess’s sanity. ryan likes mad-libs - both the ones his family makes up for him and the little pads that you used to be able to buy at gas stations etc.

18. which parent do they call out to whenever they have a bad dream?

tess - she’s better at getting out of bed quickly (even if she was fast asleep), and she’s better at figuring out what they need than elizabeth is.

19. what is their favorite thing to do with their parents? any favorite games or mutual hobbies?

tess insisted on family game night - either video games or board/card games. elizabeth’s tried to make it a little more of a video game night (she kicks ass in mario kart), but tess and lane both prefer board games. ryan’s pretty good competition, though!

20. did they grow up to be different than what their parents had expected?

honestly, elizabeth and tess didn’t know what to expect? elizabeth’s honestly not surprised that either kid ended up like they did, though

#elusetta #asks #elizabeth victoria #tess #elizabeth x tess #tlou #who knows if the read more ends up in the right spot

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tokiro07 · 5 years ago

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Okay...

So the theory goes that Jumpman, the Mario from Donkey Kong, is actually the father of Mario and Luigi (based on the fact that the original DK is supposedly now Cranky Kong and the current DK, who has faced off against the current Mario, is the son of DK Jr.)

If that is true, then Jumpman is likely the same Mario that worked as a demolition man in Wrecking Crew, given both the era of the game and the fact that Jumpman could easily have been a generalized construction worker (as he was stated to be a carpenter in DK). There is a Luigi in Wrecking Crew, though, so maybe not, but who knows, twins could easily run in the family and maybe Jumpman named one of his sons after his brother

Either way, that would mean that Jumpman, the father of the Mario brothers, worked with Foreman Spike, who for some reason hated Jumpman and his brother. Depending on the game, Foreman Spike bears a striking resemblance to either Wario or Waluigi. Now, we already know that Wario and Waluigi are canonically not brothers, so I’m not saying that Spike is both of their dads.

Just one of them.

(Long post under the cut. This whole thing really got away from me, but I think it ended pretty nicely, so I hope y’all enjoy it)

Probably Wario’s, if I had to bet, given that we know Mario and Wario have known each other since childhood (stated explicitly in the instruction manual for Six Golden Coins), so it would make sense for them to know each other if their parents were work “friends,” and it would especially make sense for Wario to be as hateful of Mario if his dad, Spike, were hateful of Jumpman. Hell, it would even explain his name. Jumpman has a kid and names him after himself, and then Spike has a kid around the same time and decides to invoke some nominative determinism and labels his kid “bad Mario.”

How Waluigi fits into the picture is ambiguous, but with a number of simple solutions. While some early sources indicate that they are brothers (strategy guides, official websites, etc.), while later sources refer to them as either cousins (Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games) or as friends (Mario Sluggers, voice actor Charles Martinet). They could be adoptive brothers, but this wouldn’t really explain the visual similarities, unless Waluigi explicitly modeled his appearance after Wario or Foreman Spike. This wouldn’t require that they be brothers at all, though, as Waluigi could have done that even if he was just a friend. The cousin aspect works best at explaining the visual similarity and even the name, as that would mean that his name was chosen to spite Luigi just the same way that Wario’s was chosen to spite Mario. The only issue there is that we’ve never heard of Spike having any siblings. He’s had multiple conflicting designs, so MAYBE there’s multiple Spikes and Spike is a family name, but I doubt it.

Personally, while the cousin angle wraps everything up the most neatly, I’m still a fan of the idea that Waluigi is some kind of shapeshifted disguise for Tatanga, since the two are both purple misanthropes with an unhealthy obsession with Princess Daisy, a hatred for the Mario brothers and an odd friendship with Wario. This would also of course explain why the exact nature of their relationship is so unclear, since it would imply that they’re outright lying but can’t keep the story straight. I would rather the cousin thing, though, since I would like Tatanga to be able to make a comeback, but that would still be a really fun twist.

The one major hole in all of this, though, is that Pauline appears in Mario Odyssey and gives no indication that she’s not the same Pauline from Donkey Kong, implying that Mario and Jumpman are, as they’ve always been presented, the same person. However, there is surprisingly an explanation for this. You see, in the original Donkey Kong, the damsel in distress was a blonde woman referred to as Lady. It wasn’t until the remake for the GameBoy that she was redesigned to be the brunette Pauline that we know today. While particularly damning sources (Shigeru Miyamoto, Smash 4) have claimed that Pauline and Lady are the same person, various extended Mario media present them separately (The Cat Mario Show, a 1994 encyclopedia, various Mario manga), and even present them as having opposing personality types. Naturally, Shigeru Miyamoto should be considered the most credible source here, but that’s no fun, and he also said he was Bowser Jr’s mom, so I’m going to ignore him.

So.

Jumpman’s pet Cranky Kong kidnaps his girlfriend, Lady, and he has to save her. Sometime later, Jumpman orders two children from the stork with Lady, whom he names after himself and his twin brother, Luigi, after a somewhat delayed delivery. His work rival, Spike, and Spike’s brother...Stanley the Bugman, why not, maybe he blames Mario for DK getting into his green house, both have children delivered around the same time, and name them Wario and Waluigi to spite Jumpman’s children. The Mario brothers and Spike children grow up to hate each other, and DK Jr. has also grown up and decides to kidnap Mario’s girlfriend, Pauline, just as his father did to Lady all those years ago. Mario saves Pauline, but unlike Jumpman and Lady who were brought closer together by their trauma, they break up, although they remain friends. Some years later, after Mario has established himself as a recurring hero to the Mushroom Kingdom, gets a toy line which DK III becomes weirdly infatuated with, leading to Pauline’s second kidnapping by a DK (or this is the first time, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 was just a remake of DK on the GameBoy to give more context, the specifics aren’t too important here). Sometime after this, Pauline becomes mayor of New Donk City, which is adorned with references to Donkey Kong and his family’s crimes as if it’s all one big joke to these people. But I digress.

Somewhere in all that, Mario is given a castle for some reason, which is the last straw for Wario, who I imagine is working on a farm at the time, given that his best friend is a hen named Hen. Deciding that back breaking labor doesn’t satisfy his ambitions while his rival lives it up as a hero, Wario enlists the help of the alien Tatanga (who now that I think of it, he may well have met on his farm during an attempt to abduct a cow or something) to trick Mario to leave his castle so that Wario may steal it.

After Mario foils Wario’s plot and reclaims his castle, Mario extends an olive branch and invites Wario to play tennis with everyone, as that’s just the kind of guy he is. Wario, realizing he doesn’t have a partner, either a) invites his cousin Waluigi, who has gone into construction like uncle Spike (evidenced by his excavator in Mario Kart), since he loves sports and hates the Mario brothers as much as Wario does, or b) recruits Tatanga and has him disguise himself as someone who could ostensibly pass as a family member to lay low in case anyone tries to hold him responsible for his crimes (which they wouldn’t since they never try to arrest Bowser or Wario, but apparently he doesn’t know that)

As far as I can tell, the only thing we’re missing is where Waluigi was when Wario and the other Star Children were being delivered by the Stork and intercepted by Kamek. Perhaps he got passed over since he didn’t have a star? Maybe Bowser captured him and found he didn’t have a star, then discarded him.

Actually, what if...

Waluigi was SUPPOSED to be delivered to Spike.

Waluigi was SUPPOSED to be Wario’s brother.

But when Bowser went back in time to find the seven Star Children, he messed up the route that Waluigi was supposed to be on. When the Stork got Waluigi back, he accidentally delivered Waluigi to the wrong house, the way he did to Mario and Luigi at the end of Yoshi’s Island (as shown in Yoshi’s New Island). Unlike with the Mario brothers, though, the Stork didn’t catch this mistake, and Waluigi grew up in the wrong household. Maybe it was even Stanley’s, and Waluigi’s inherently nasty personality clashed with Stanley’s kindly personality, but he still inherited his adoptive father’s love of plants! Can’t believe I was able to work that back in.

That’s why no one knows if they’re brothers, cousins or strangers! Because they don’t know who he was supposed to be delivered to, but they can’t deny the visual similarity! That’s why Waluigi’s so misanthropic, because he wasn’t delivered to the right house and he felt out of place!

That last bit could easily be explained by being raised under Spike’s influence, though, since Spike is apparently the kind of jerk who would sabotage his own employees to get a bigger paycheck for himself.

Either way, I think that lends to a really solid idea for the story of a Waluigi game.

A long time ago, I suggested a game where Waluigi somehow travels through time and goes through levels themed around various Mario franchise titles (Waluigi’s Time to Shine), but now I know how to frame it! Waluigi, feeling odd about his family situation, asks Bowser how he travels through time so he can see where he comes from. Bowser throws him through a wormhole and Waluigi witnesses the events that lead to the Stork delivering him to the wrong house. He decides this is either Bowser or the Stork’s fault (Bowser makes more sense, but it would be super funny if the Stork ends up being the final boss) and journeys to exact revenge. The spell or technology tethering him to the past messes up, however, resulting in Waluigi being in flux and going through all of the Mario franchise.

It’d be really funny if when playing through the Yoshi’s Island section he becomes his baby self and knocks Mario off of Yoshi (resulting in Mario’s capture by the Toadies), giving Yoshi some weird new ability the way the Star Children did in Yoshi’s Island DS, but I’m not sure that having one level have a completely different control scheme would be the best idea.

It could also be that Waluigi rides Yoshi as a full grown adult, which would also be pretty silly given his lanky proportions.

A Wrecking Crew level near the end would also be a fun way to bring the story full circle, revealing Waluigi’s relation to Spike and Wario, and establishing that Mario and Luigi are the children of Jumpman and Lady.

Waluigi, Nintendo’s ultimate loose end, would be the catalyst through which all of the loose ends of the Mario franchise are tied.

Get on that, @nintendo

Edit: This ended up having a couple of revisions, but rather then amend this post, I just ended up making two others. You can check those here and here

#super mario #waluigi #wario #foreman spike #mayor pauline #stanley the bugman #pauline #long post #speculation #my theories #game ideas

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irrevocably-delicious · 6 years ago

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Cultivating an enjoyable video games experience with non gamers aka How do I get my non-gamer significant other to play games with me?

Video games.

Once a niche hobby of adult programmers in the 70s, before targeting 10 year old boys in the 80s and 90s, video games are now a mainstream hobby and entertainment product that has shown tremendous growth in the past 30 years. While films and serialized shows have shown some developments, with new technologies and the invent of streaming, the gaming industry has undergone a complete transformation in only a few short decades. Entire genres have been created, along with improved graphics, mechanics, and storytelling.

But with more people getting into video games now more than ever, the age-old question continuously resurfaces:

“How do I get my significant other to play video games with me?”

And it’s an understandable question! Games are an important hobby to some, and it’s nice to be able to share in that passion and joy with the person you love most. I completely understand this. I’m a cosplayer and I’ve definitely conned my boyfriend into pressing seams for me or sitting in hour long panels about EVA foam. It’s not exactly his number 1 priority, but we have fun together doing it, and he’s able to appreciate my craft a little more because of it.

Similarly, he’s not an artist, but he always helps me table in Artist Alley, gives advice on new prints to make (“If you’re going to make a niche DnD print, at least display it near the DnD stuff to be a conversation starter”) and stays up til 2am cutting stickers with me. It’s exhausting, but we have a lot of good memories from doing it together.

It’s nice to include your significant others in activities that bring you joy.

So how the hell do you convince your partner to engage with video games… if they never have before? And what kinds of games are going to give you the best experience?

Hi. Welcome. This is where I come in.

I’m not a gamer. At all. I’m awful at video games. Whilst my boyfriend was growing up and devouring every console he could convince his parents to buy, I was being a horse girl. No Halo for me today, sir, I have a showjumping class to attend. The only video game I would willingly participate in was Singstar during sleep overs, and that was because I was a musical theatre kid and knew this would be the only video game that I could completely decimate my peers with. Street fighter? No thank you. But I will wreck your shit with Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne.

But somehow, even though this is my upbringing, I have to acknowledge the fact that over the past 10 years I’ve actually played… a lot of video games. I think I’ve figured out the key. I think I’ve distilled the answer. Now obviously this is purely based on my experience, and everyone will have slightly different results, but I will now present you with my scientific anthropological findings of how you may be able to repeat this process.

“How do I get my significant other to play video games with me?”

Now I think there are two ways to go about this.

1. Play a video game together where both of you are holding a controller and in charge of some aspect of the game. Ie. Character, assistant, the right foot, etc.

Now I realize this seems obvious.

“You mean I can play a video game with my significant other by actually playing a game with my significant other??? Uhhhh yeah…. I WOULD THINK SO”

But hear me out. Out of the two ways you can go about this, I actually think this is the hardest way (I’ll explain why soon). My partner and I do not often play games together like this. What we usually do, and what I would be more likely to recommend is:

2. Play a game where you (the gamer) have the controller, and your SO participates or watches from the couch.

This is what my boyfriend and I usually do, and it’s the less likely of the two options to cause arguments, fights, and tears.

But let’s first look at option 1.

Playing a game together

Do you remember when you were in high school and you had to do a film study for a semester? And your teacher would explain all the different camera shots and angles and what they meant? A low angle shot where a character towers above makes them seem intimidating. A character cloaked in shadow indicates that the character is sneaky.

Your teacher told you all this, but in reality, all of these meanings were probably pretty obvious to you. You intuitively knew what they meant because you had been raised on watching movies. You were already familiar with this language of film because it had always been present in your life.

Well guess what? Video games have a language too.

And just like film, if you have played video games your whole life, you might be surprised at just how much of this language you have absorbed, and how much of this literacy is REQUIRED to play a modern video game.

The fact that triangle is always jump, x to interact, L2 to aim, R2 to shoot, circle to crouch, square to reload… all of that is assumed knowledge that you would probably have ingested over time, so it comes completely natural to you now.

Your SO doesn’t know any of this. They probably don’t even know that the L and R buttons exist. I didn’t. I still forget.

This is why choosing a game to play together is so difficult. When you finally do choose one? You have to be patient. You cannot get annoyed when your SO has to ask every five minutes what jump is again. They may have difficulty navigating around menus and UI. They may have difficulty moving around in game. Side scrollers are pretty intuitive, but games that require you to position a camera? Ie. Most third person or first person anything? Oof. That’s hard. They might fall off a lot of bridges or stare at the ground a lot. This is a skill you have to build up. You have it already. They don’t. It’s important to remember that saying anything like “You can do it, it’s easy!” or “Why are you having so much trouble with this?” is NOT HELPFUL. It’s only going to make your SO feel stupid/bad. Remember, they don’t give a shit about video games. Their life has been just fine without them until now, and it will continue to be just fine without games. They are only doing this FOR YOU. So why would you want to make someone feel stupid for just trying to make you happy?

Treat them like a baby deer. Gently. Tentatively. You are slowly drawing them into the clearing. Any harsh comment will send them running.

Based on all this, here are some recommendations on games that work well to play with your SO.

1. Games you are SUPPOSED to be bad at.

You know how I just talked about how there are general conventions over controls? And that it can be frustrating for your SO to learn these whilst they come intuitively for you?

Well what if you eliminated that disparity by playing games where the controls intentionally make no goddamn sense? By playing a game with whacky controls, it evens the playing field. Your SO is learning and struggling with controls, but so are you! This way your stupidity is not humiliating, it creates a sense of comradery. There’s no shame, just silliness and fun. The game I played with my partner that made me first realise the genius of this was… Octodad.

Octodad is collaborative. It’s an absolute nightmare to control, but for once my boyfriend’s muscle memory was actually a detriment. He would instinctively go to move like he would in other games, but that’s not how Octodad works. So he was rewiring his muscle memory whilst I was just a blank slate.

“Trigger to grab things? Yeah sure. Why not? I don’t know any better.”

It also hits that sweet spot of being short enough that the silliness doesn’t grow stale, and has a sincere enough story that you do become invested in the fate of the octopus in your hands.

10/10 Octodad. Highly recommend.

Other games in this genre that I feel would be worth a look:

- Man Fall Flat

- QWOP

- Surgeon Simulator

- Super Bunny Man

2. Hey! It’s Nintendo!

Ah Nintendo. It’s where most children start, so it seems like a logical place for a burgeoning gamer to begin. But specifically, what I want to recommend are the range of excellent Nintendo party games that are simple to navigate, fun, and often cooperative. I can’t play an FPS, but Mario Kart comes very easy to me…. Or as easy as it does to anyone. Similarly, Mario Party requires almost no video game literacy, and you can introduce it to your SO as “It’s just a board game that happens to be a video game”.

Although we do joke about Mario Kart and Mario Party being “friendship killers” because of their competitive nature and how easy it is to sabotage other players. If you are worried about these games maybe causing to much distress, I would also recommend the tried and true Wii Sports or the more modern 1-2-Switch. It has a cow milking game! It’s fun! And you can laugh at one another as you make terrible dick jokes.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND SUPER SMASH BROS. THAT IS NOT AN INTRODUCTORY GAME.

If you really want, play it on co-op team mode.

In summary, when picking a game to play with your SO my general recommendations are:

- make sure the game has very simple controls and linear movement (if any at all)

- or have a game with bonkers controls so you can learn them together

- avoid competitive games to start. Or play competitive games that require no video game literacy. The best FPS or Tekken player is NOT going to win Mario Party. It’s just luck.

Playing games this way with my partner is fun, but not how we usually play games. This is because if I want to play a AAA title, or maybe a great JRPG I’ve heard about, I have to move on to the second method.

Playing games where the gamer has the control and the non-gamer watches/participates via other means.

This is how my partner and I generally play games. Because my partner is the one holding the controller, navigating the game, combat and menus, I am not required to have any of that assumed knowledge I mentioned earlier.

But how can you make watching a video game compelling?

It’s actually not as difficult as you might imagine, but you’re right in that it does rule out a chunk of games. If you have grand dreams of your non-gamer girlfriend fawning over your sweet League of Legends skills… then I think you need a bit of a wake-up call. Competitive online games, FPS and sports games (such as FIFA) are generally not fun to watch. This isn’t a blanket statement! Some non-gamers could find these fun. But generally, if you don’t know the skill it requires to perform certain moves or strategies, or are unfamiliar with even the basic rules… these games just look like a mess.

Me watching someone play Overwatch: “Wow… I suddenly have motion sickness”

I find the most compelling games to watch are: Narrative driven

Think of all the games that are basically movies with some gameplay thrown in. Uncharted and the Tomb Raider reboot are just long form Indiana Jones movies. The Last of Us is a survival, drama, horror movie that makes you question your morals and how far you are willing to go to help humanity. The Witcher captures a rich narrative and lore comparable only to the Lord of the Rings films. The Yakuza series might be the best mob movie I’ve ever seen. All of these games are great and as engrossing to watch as they are to play. Lovable characters, compelling obstacles, and a good dose of spectacle keep them entertaining. Narrative driven games are my favorite to just sit and watch whilst my partner plays.

However, “narrative driven games” encapsulates thousands of titles, with some being more suited to watching than others. To help narrow down games that are enjoyable without a controller, I’ve narrowed it down into 3.5 sub categories.

1. Games with a looser/more predictable narrative, but the visuals are just so damn appealing

2. Choice based games – with the sub category of puzzle games

3. Mediocre games, but they’re fun

Each of these categories creates a uniquely different gaming experience, ranging from a cinematic “sit and watch” style, to a higher participation, more co-operative team based style. Let’s start with the first as it’s the easiest to define.

1. Games with a looser narrative, but engrossing visuals

Sometimes games will have a good story, but you’re just not sure if it’s good enough to sustain someone’s attention for 20+ hours. Maybe it’s a little predictable. Maybe you know the hero is destined to save the day. Will this be enough to hold my SOs attention?

And I think you are really the only one to answer that.

But let me first tell you about one of my favorite games, and probably only the second game I ever played with my partner.

DMC.

I fucking adore this game.

Eat my ass. It’s great.

But is the story that great? I mean it’s cool. Half angel, half demon boys. Long lost twin brothers. An evil demon who killed your father and has now essentially become a mob boss and corrupted your city. It’s cool. It’s interesting enough, but at the end of the day, you know Vergil is going to betray you. You know your cardboard cut out girlfriend(?) is going to be a liability. You know you’re going to defeat that demon boss with your big sword.

But god damn, if it isn’t a riot to watch. Devil May Cry has some of the most stylish and slick combat, that it’s really entertaining to just witness. You can cheer on your SO on as they climb up to a SSS ranking and maintain their combo over 5 whole minutes. The soundtrack is blasting. The level design and art direction are stunning. Watching Dante get dragged into Limbo is always an experience, and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to walk into this time. DMC still has one of the most inventive boss fights I’ve ever seen and I’m honestly waiting for another game to top it.

So, I think if your visuals are captivating enough… that can definitely save a game with maybe just a good to average story. It’s just a treat for the senses.

Other games I would put in this category would be:

- The Arkham games, particularly Arkham City and Arkham Knight. God the combat is just great to watch, with each punch really feeling brutal and heavy. The spookiness of Gotham is eerily beautiful, and finding all the easter eggs in the world is a real treat.

- The latest Spider-man game from Insomniac games

- Breath of the Wild – I just like… being in this game

-Nier Automata – this one is a bit weird. I wasn’t sure which category to put it in, but felt because of the interesting mechanics and gimmick of playing over and over again to reveal more of the world and story, I decided to put it here.

2. Choice based games

This is definitely my favorite type of game to play, and the one that I think is the easiest to engage with, despite the lack of controller in my hand.

The whole reason I started playing games with my partner is because he was playing a game and after a while I just… sat down… and started watching.

The game was Mass Effect 3, and I just became really involved in the story and the choices my partner was making. We have since gone back and played the entire Mass Effect series multiple times, and I feel it really exemplifies what is so fantastic about playing a choice-based game with a non-gamer.

Choice based games still allow your SO to be heavily involved. If you are letting your SO make choices, then they are still playing the game. Just because I wasn’t the one actively shooting Collectors does not mean I had no impact on our game experience. It was my choice to cure the genophage. My choice to spare the Rachni queen, and you can be damn sure that it was my choice to romance Garrus across the series. Choice based games are fantastic for keeping your SO engaged and the two of you can cultivate your own story and endure consequences together.

Obviously I love Mass Effect, but some similar games in this style would be:

- Until Dawn

- The Witcher

- The Persona series – but be careful! These games are long so may not be great as an introductory game

Visual Novels! – Visual novels are excellent for this! They’re purely choice based, and it doesn’t matter who is clicking the next button. For an added amount of goofiness, take on roles and do stupid voices. Do it. It’s great. Nothing makes me laugh harder than romancing an anime schoolgirl with an old man voice.

They’re short, but can be replayed for a different ending if you wish. My partner and I played Dream Daddy together multiple times and were avid about who our favorite dads were. I liked Robert and Craig. My partner liked Damian and Brian.

My partner and I have actually just started playing a new visual novel, but along with it being choice based, I would also classify it as a puzzle/problem solving game.

2.5 Puzzle/problem solving games

Puzzle games are great for a similar reason as choice-based games, as they keep your SO involved. Only this time they are helping to problem solve. Many times I’ve been able to figure something out before my boyfriend, so I can go “ohhhh take that, drop it here, then move that here” and it’ll work!

Currently we’re making our way through the Danganronpa series, which is a bit of a hybrid between a visual novel and puzzle game. It’s not a difficult game to control or navigate at all, so I could play it on my own, but I like playing it with my partner as we bounce theories off of one another and work together to solve a crime. I’ll remember certain pieces of evidence he doesn’t, or he’ll remember one throw away line from the opening 3 minutes of the game that is now an alibi. During free time, we’ll each pick a character to talk to, so we both get to learn more about our favorite characters.

“I wanna talk to Sakura because she seems sweet and I want her to have friends”

“Ok, then I’ll talk to Mondo because he seems funky.”

And so on. The process is collaborative.

Some games of a similar genre that might be fun:

- Catherine from Atlus

- Portal 1 and 2

- The Phoenix Wright series

- Resident evil 2 – this one is a bit odd, but resident evil 2 is almost a memory game as you work to remember all the things you’ve picked up, the pieces you need to unlock doors, and prioritize the weapons you’ll take with you. “No take the grenade rounds. If we’re going in the offices, we left that face hugger there, remember?”

Finally this brings us to our third category, and also the most difficult to explain. So I’ve just called it:

3. Average Games, but there’s just something enjoyable about them

Sometimes games are just… fun. Sometimes the story is alright, the gameplay is repetitive, but the characters and writing are just so inherently likeable or interesting that you can keep watching. For me, this whole category was created as a way for me to justify my fondness for the Saints Row series.

Saints Row is, on paper, pretty unremarkable. It’s a ridiculous series of games about a street gang coming into fame and eventually political power, and the outlandish things they have to do to climb that ladder. Often cited as a “GTA clone” the gameplay is repetitive and almost boring at times, with most of the missions falling into the “Go here, kill people” category. The world isn’t particularly pretty or interesting. It’s just a city. One that you’ve seen a million times if you’ve played any city-based open world game.

So why do I love this unremarkable series? Why am I oddly attached to these characters?

Ultimately, I think it comes down to the characters being written with a certain amount of honesty, and the interactions between them feel genuine and oddly heartfelt. I don’t really care about rival gangs or accumulating money, but if it lets me ride in the car and have another sing along with Pierce, then I’m going to do it.

I like the weird sexual tension between the Boss and Shaundi, which only seems to become more prominent if you play as the female Boss. I love Matt Miller and him ranting about his Nyte blayde fan fiction. I like finding out the Boss has read Jane Austen.

It’s just silly and fun, with a good amount of ridiculous spectacle. It’s definitely not a series that I could recommend. It just kind of appealed to something in me. I think there are lots of games that could fit this category. Most people will say that the Borderlands series is “Alright” but it has a lot of fun dialogue and characters who keep it entertaining. Similarly, despite lack luster reviews, I know a lot of people really enjoyed the 2013 Deadpool game because Deadpool was written just like he is in the comics.

This category is the hardest to nail, and you may go through several games that you think are “hilarious” or “crazy fun” that just don’t gel with your SO. That’s ok. As you play more, you’ll eventually be able to develop a sense of each other’s tastes and what will appeal to you.

General Advice in closing

TL;DR, here are some good parameters to stick to until you reach a consensus of what games your SO might enjoy.

- Games with a good story and compelling characters will always be entertaining

- If the combat is long and takes up a good proportion of the game, it should be visually interesting to look at. If the combat is repetitive or boring to watch, it should clip along at a good pace and only come in short bursts. Bonus points if there’s party banter!

- Start with shorter games, then build up. It’s a big demand on someone to sit through a 60+ hour game for your first few attempts. Maybe put that Tales game on the shelf for now.

I’ve tried to keep this advice general, but obviously you and your SO will have different interests, and you should appeal to those. I love anime. I love hot boys. Due to these factors, I am more than willing to sit through a long form JRPG about two rival noble boys, as it appeals to my weeb sensibilities. This is not something I would expect others to be able to do.

I generally don’t like films about heists or organized crime. It’s just not a genre that appeals to me, so asking me to sit through Grand Theft Auto is probably not the wisest choice. I have played GTA5 for those that are curious, and it’s not my favorite. It’s definitely not bad, and I do expect other non-gamers would be entertained playing through the story of it. There’s definitely a good story there! It’s just not one that satisfies all of my needs. Just like how I don’t expect every person to love sitting through God of War or Jak and Daxter.

Getting to learn each other’s likes and dislikes takes time. Favorite movies can be a bit of an indicator, but transferring to a different medium complicates things. The most important thing is to listen to each other and be respectful. If your SO doesn’t like your favorite game of all time, that’s not a personal insult. You are likely just experiencing the game in a different way than they are, and they can’t relate to that.

Along with being respectful, obviously don’t pressure your SO into anything. Sometimes you’ll find that your SO might not want to play games with you because they had such an awful experience trying to play with their exes or other friends previously. I know I was really hesitant to ever pick up a controller again after an incident where I couldn’t navigate my character over a log, because I was not used to controlling a camera, and was made to feel really stupid and useless. I threw up my hands and said “Fuck this shit” for a long time. Your SO might be hesitant to play games with you because they worry that you’ll just get frustrated with how bad they are. You can reassure them that this won’t happen, but it’s still their choice to say no.

At the end of the day, it’s ok to have different hobbies. You don’t have to share everything. If you are lucky enough that your non-gamer SO might want to try playing games with you, then be kind, and be patient. When picking games to play together, try to pick something you can both enjoy. Go on a journey together. Have fun!

It’s a game after all.

#video games #gamers #storytelling #how do I tag this?#essay #advice #review #i write stuff #opinion #blog

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blackchildrensbooksandauthors · 6 years ago

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✍🏿What’s Your Story?: Phelicia Lang

“What’s Your Story?” is a guest post feature on BCBA web. Authors-traditional and self-published-are invited to write about their books, writing journey, creative process, inspiration, rewards and challenges of publishing, etc. They can go in whatever direction they choose. We are excited and grateful for their willingness to share, and we hope you enjoy our guests’ stories.

The story of Me on the Page Books begins when I was the stay-at-home mom of four children. Access to engaging books with characters that looked like us was not readily available in our city. At the same time, my oldest daughter was having challenges accepting her skin color. Her experience was traumatic to me, and I set out to reverse this stigma.

Having grown up in a diverse city and attended predominantly black schools, churches, and a very diverse college, I embraced who I was and assumed my kids would too. I was raised with the healthy images found in subscriptions to Ebony, Ebony Jr., Jet, and Right On! Magazines, but they were no longer available. I begin searching far and wide and ordering what I could to fill my children’s request for good literature. Continue reading

Books in the Tay Reader Series:

Tay Goes to the Zoo (Book 6)

Tay Goes to the Go Karts (Book 5)

Tay Goes to Karate (Book 4)

Tay and the Hot Day (Book 3)

Tay Goes to the Game (Book 2)

Tay Goes to Chess Club (Book 1)

Find more children’s books by Black authors here

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If you believe BCBA provides a valuable service, please take a few minutes to DONATE and support our mission to promote awareness of children’s and young adult literature by Black authors. Thanks in advance for your thoughtful gift!

#Black children's books and authors #phelicia lang #me on the page books #tay early reader series #indie authors #reading #literacy #books #our stories matter

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thelibraryatgatsbys · 3 years ago

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Here we have a story that I started recently.

I'm probably not going to finish it. It's called Sonic Boom, and I don't know why I started it, it never really made me happy to write.

(also, since it's unedited, it has "elephants" in it to mark where I wanted to change something/wanted to summarize something and come back to go into detail later)

Elephant: make it so the aliens wanted to kind of keep their visit on the down low, so they could just come, have fun, and not arouse a government after them.

Soleil checked her compass again, making sure she was still headed due east. The valley outside of town was overgrown, filled with tumbled over, half rotted logs from the old building projects long since abandoned. It held a charm in the daylight, but it was just spooky at night, in the mist.

She had been to this place often, but in foggy conditions a compass never hurt anyone. She clambered up onto one of the logs, plotting her path up the steep incline, before beginning. Sometimes she had to jump from log to log, sometimes scramble up wet dirt and leaves, and sometimes edge along creaking branches until the top of the hill came into view.

It could almost be counted as a cliff, but not quite.

Sitting in the pine needles at the edge, she looked into the valley below her, where the usual Saturday crowd gathered around the big tree.

Every kid, 10 through 20 knew about this place. It was miraculous this place was safe for ten year olds, most teen hangouts weren't, but there was something about this place that kept people kind. People looked out for each other in here.

She trotted down the hill towards the huge oak tree with a campfire a few feet from the base, repositioning her backpack. The clearing was fenced with thick blackberry and pieces of discarded wood and plastic from town. A few picnic tables and benches littered the clearing, with two fire pits. The oak tree held half a dozen treehouses, two of which had roofs and could act like houses in a pinch.

She waved to one of the kids at the fire, who saved back.

"Hey, Sully!" The kid said.

"What's up Vinny?"

"Not much is up with me, but Ed needs to see you. He told me to tell you when I saw you."

She frowned. When Ed wanted you, there was normally something wrong.

"Well, I'll see you round, then, Vinny. Take care."

Vinny saluted, grinning.

Into the many tree houses, she climbed towards the one at the top, the most elaborate one, the common haunt of her good friend Edward, the scientist.

He kept track of it all. If there was something you needed to know, from cryptozoology to history to aesthetics to Mario Kart strategies, he knew it. And he had a good bit of it recorded in his diaries. What a weirdo. She loved him.

Inside, she found him staring intently out his telescope.

"What's up, Eddie?"

He looked up, nervous.

"Well, come see for yourself."

She shrugged, stealing around piles of books.

Looking in the telescope, she didn't immediately see something wrong but then it caught her eye. A bright green spot in the center of Orion's belt.

"What does it mean?" She asked?

"Well, it doesn't mean iminent doom, don't worry, but... I can't say I know exactly what it is."

"So like...."

"It's not an asteroid or something that's going to strike the earth. It's getting closer to us, but it's slowing down at a rate that if it hit Earth at all, it wouldn't hurt us."

"Well that's good. Do you have any theories?"

"Well, yeah, but it's kinda dumb."

She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"No it isn't. You figured this out before any of the nasa people did, your idea about what it is isn't dumb."

Ed rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, it kinda seems like.. A ship."

"Like, aliens?"

"Yeah. I think that thing is aliens."

"That is so, so cool. You think they're coming here?"

"Well they're on a direct tragectory course for earth. Probably."

(ELEPHANT: this story is gonna be tough cuz it's the 'independant kids doing their own thing but with their parents' support 2000s era w/ whole computer labs and stuff outta bedrooms. Y'know, the stuff you never did cuz you were busy being feral in the woods. It'll take some effort to make this feel natural)

"Alright, so we might meet aliens in a while. How long till they get here?"

"This is the first night I've observed them, so I'll have to take some more calculations. But, given the rate of size increase based on tonight's observations alone, I'd say... Maybe a week."

Soleil smiled, pushing the hair out of her face.

"A week. Gonna maybe meet aliens in a week. That is so cool, Ed. You're so cool."

"Uhh, well, th-thank you! You're cool too!"

Two days later, Soleil got a call from Ed smack dab in the middle of telephone hour. She was on the phone with Darby, who was

discussing the dance from last week, the nerd con coming up, some new kittens, etc. She was expecting a call from Rin in a couple minutes, and was working on a mutual coding project over a chat

room on some server on her computer when the line in the dining room rang. Nobody ever called the dining room phone unless it was important, and nobody ever answered the dining room phone buy

her. Darby was wrapping up anyway, so she said a giggly goodbye and hung up, heading curiously to the dining room.

On the other end, Ed's voice was excited.

"We were right! We were right, it's allens!"

"Yo, that's amazing! How can you tell?"

"W-well, they talked to me."

She stared at the roof, dumbfounded.

"Well," He continued, "not to me specifically, but to the people of earth. And since I'm the only one listening, I heard jt! They said they came in peace."

"Pfft well I should hope so. Do they have a mission or something?"

"That's why I'm calling you. They wanna know stuff about earth.

They're landing to observe earth for a while. We're video calling tonight, and I wanted you to be there. Come to my house at 7:45, there'll be a few other kids there, but not many. Some trusted fellow

scientists. Will you come?"

"Oh yeahl I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll wear some nice clothes."

"Thanks Sully, I can't wait to see you there."

The call ended, and she did a little happy dance. Aliens. Real aliens.

And a nerd party. She didn't know which one was better.

That evening, she walked through the suburb towards the DeLorean house in a light blue skirt with puffy sleeves and jeans with flowers emproidered on them.

A few of the nerds were standing out in the yard, with capri suns, discussing nerd things.

Ed opened the door when she knocked, ushering her in with a smile.

"Thanks again for coming, Sully, this is going to be great."

"You know it."

They hung out for about half an hour until 7:40 rolled around, when they and the assembly of kid scientists moved to Ed's room.

He turned on the TV, messing with the large computer and keyboard beside it, until the screen buzzed to life.

They waited in an eager silence for the clock to strike 7:45.

Suddenly, the fuzz on the screen cleared, showing the insides of a ship.

The aliens were adorable. They looked mammalian, and their body looked like a cross between a meercat and a swan, with a smart head sitting atop am elegantly curved neck. Their bodies long but compact, with two pairs of both arms and legs, with tufts of dull orange fur over the elbows, knees, knuckle, chest, ears, and a tuft on the tail. They had no nose other than two slits, and their eyes were big, red, trusting and inquisitive. (ELEPHANT: LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ALIEI wasNS BETTER, MAYBE REWORK IT)

"Greetings, human, we meet face to face at last." The one facing them directly said, his voice like helium. He sounded as though he were very excited, but was trying to hide it to be professional.

"Greetings, my friend. My name is Edward DeLorian, and these are my friends/colleagues."

"I am Hilarion, and these are my classmates. We have been sent from our home planet for our first unchaperoned school trip, and we request permission to visit Earth."

"Are you sure Earth is the safest place to visit?"

"Indeed. Extensive tests on our world's show that there is nothing there capable of harming us."

Soleil muttered, "wow," under her breath, before Edward continued."

"I don't know if I can give you permission, I'm not in charge."

"Well it's your planet, right? According to our laws, any lawful citizen of the planet that has not committed major criminal activity and harbors no ill will against the chancellor may give an alien permission to land. Is that the way it is there?"

The humans muttered to each other, trying to decide how to answer. Finally, Soleil spoke.

"Since it's rare we get alien visitors, we don't have a real rule about how they should land. But the way you have described things leads me to believe it would be perfectly fine for you to land here. Is there an adult that you can contact and vouch for you if something does go wrong?"

"Indeed, we can contact any of our parents at any time."

"Excellent. I'll allow mr. Edward to continue discussing from here."

Ed mouthed "thank you" to Sully before continuing.

"A-ah yes, you'll need a place to land, right?"

"Yes. We'd like to meet you, so we request permission to land near your current location."

"Granted. There is a large abandoned field that should be big enough."

"Hmm, ok, we're locked onto your location now and... Alright, yes, I see the field you mean. That will work splendidly. At our current rate of acceleration, we will arrive in five earth days roughly."

"Ok, that sounds just fine. Is there anything we can assist you with?"

"At this moment, no. I must thank you, Edward and company, for being so helpful with this. We look forward to meeting you soon."

The scientists smiled and nodded, remaining professional until the call ended, when they all screamed in excitement.

A similar thing happened aboard the spaceship. As soon as the call ended, the fluffy creatures lept from their seats, buzzing around the room, making excited, happy chittering noises.

Hilarion and his littermate, Gi, danced around each other.

They were going to meet real live humans in five days.

"How was your day, sweetie?" Soleil's mom asked as she set a plate of mashed potatoes on the table.

Sully scooped up an eye raising amount of mashed potatoes, with a bit of chicken and steamed vegetables to go with it.

"It was good. Like I said yesterday, we talked to Aliens, and they're coming earth to learn stuff. As long as it's ok, the scientists and I are going to camp out behind the baseball park for the next four to five days so we can make sure we welcome them to earth. Is it ok if I do that?"

"Of course, kiddo, you pack a mean punch, I bet you'll be fine."

Her mother whirled, giving her father "the look."

Dad looked up from his book.

"What I mean she does."

" What your father means is yes, you may. As long as you are with other people that we've met and there's a phone somewhere around, you can stay out in the field."

"Aww, thanks mama! Hey, would you two like to come with us?"

Her mother looked at her, considering.

"Out in... The brush. For several days. To see... Aliens."

"Well, maybe you could just tag along with me the night they show up. That way you don't have to spend so much time outdoors."

Her mother nodded, looking at her father, who smiled and nodded as well.

"We'll be there, kiddo." Her dad said.

The next day, Soleil stood, hands in pockets, in front of a brownstone house in the city. She was in need of the services of the occupant's son. This was the Rodger household, where the ever mysterious Rabbit lived. Rabbit, who's read name was probably Chad but never told anyone, was a 17 year old working from home, in the possession of a truck, which Soleil hoped to aquire the services of.

It was always hot in the city, so she took her hands out of her pockets. She wore a neon yellow tank top with an elephant on it, and some cargo shorts, and was still too hot. She put up with a flannel around her waist, since it would be cold that evening. The summer light filtered in from between the buildings and trees, in a beautiful way that only summer could manage.

Inside, she heard someone stomping down the stairs, and the door opened.

And again, there was about no way his real name wasn't Chad. Baggy pants, orange t-shirt over a white long sleeved shirt, perfect, bleached blond hair, and the most amazing sunglasses ever. Something straight out of star trek.

"W'sah little dude?"

"Quite a bit, actually, but it's somewhat confidential. Are you still offering taxi services?"

"'course."

"How much would it be to privately taxi say, a dozen ner- erh, scientists to and from the suburb for four days?"

"'bout a hundred bucks, I guess. Them lil scientists planning a mad scientist con someplace?"

"That'd be fun. We should do that someday, but for now, until you're on board with the project, I can't spill a word."

Rabbit considered.

"Done. For a big project, I take 25% up front."

"Naturally."

She fished the money out of her flannel pocket, handing it over.

"Meet me in an hour at the DeLorean household. That's 1503 Duck Street."

"Sure thing, lil dude. The truck's got seating for 8, if we're trynna keep the law."

"Oh, certainly. "

On schedule, Rabbit turned up on the front steps an hour later, as the gaggle of 10-14 year olds with camping gear prepared to pile into the truck bed, which was converted into a miniature seating area that could hold 6 people with plenty of footspace. They decided to go six at a time, saving cab space for more camping gear.

Two trips, a long winded explanation of the project, and dozens of bad jokes later, Ed and one other scientist, a black haired girl named Daisy, were trying to make a fire at the chosen campground. The mobile lab was set up nicely behind them, and Soleil pulled a cooler out of the back of the truck, putting it beside the fire pit.

They were tucked in between a big oak tree and the tall net that kept stray baseballs in the ballpark next door, with town just barely visible. The grass in most of the field was tall and unkempt, but under the trees it was almost nonexistent.

Soleil watched them struggle with the fire for a couple of minutes, before offering assistance.

Rabbit walked over to the now burning fire, hands in pockets.

"So, dudes, you need any like... Adult supervision up in here? Cuz... I'm not busy, and this sounds super fun, so like. I. Could stay here if you want."

Soleil looked up, sly.

"How much?"

"Well I guess this time it can be free, I mean... Major scientist bivouacs can be exempt."

She glanced at Ed, who was smiling.

"Of course you can stay."

And so the group settled in for the night. Rabbit produced an electric guitar, realizing too late to save face that he couldn't use it without, well... *Electricity*.

(ELEPHANT: they agree on location and time, and then the humans recruit an older kid with a truck to drive them around and get stuff set up. Sully invites her parents, and they agree to come. Edward invites his parents, and they say they wish they could come, but there is s shallow spot in the fabric of reality and they need to be on guard against it. A scene where him and his dad have a small heart to heart about how his parents love him and respect his work, but need to work on other stuff. Good messages, y'know.

The night before the aliens arrive, the scientists, Sully, a few other kids, Sully's parents, and the truck boys, are in the field, and have a sleepover. The aliens *should* appear tomorrow night, but there's no perfect guarantee, so someone is guarding their little camp 24/7 for the next couple days.

But the aliens arrive right on schedule, at night on Saturday.

Last line is "what should we do first?")

#discarded writing #abandoned wip

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blschaos3000-blog · 5 years ago

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Its 2:47 pm

Welcome to “8 Questions with…….”

Two things struck me about our next guest,actress Jamie Ohlsen,one ….she looks like a complete badass that you want to share a foxhole with in a fight. Anyone that would think about messing with her should think twice,no..make that three times before making that step. Two,she has a lovely smile and really beautiful eyes. And why would any director try and hide that smile should be dragged out back and meet the cheetah up close and personal. Yeah,Jamie has that kind of smile… But she is also fearless as well…because at a age when most performers have established a career already,Jamie decided to START hers and how it happened is one of those kind of starts you only can get in Hollywood. Now she has been cast in a series on Amazon Prime,rubbing elbows with a huge favorite of indie actors,Robert LoSardo and is looking to create her first feature film. Rumor has it that not only will be cheetahs in it but Jamie is going to show off her wonderful smile. While killing bad guys of course…. One can’t but admire Jamie for working very hard on her young career and getting the place where she is at now. I am so happy Jamie agreed to do our series and answer the 8 Questions we sent her…..enjoy!

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your latest project.

Hello! My name is Jamie Ohlsen.

I recently completed 2 indy feature films as well as a Sci-Fi dramatic TV Series. I was brought onto the TV Series the end of Season 2.

The first indy feature I was in is called “Crossed”. I play an assassin named Lulu Chang that works for a crime boss named Drevin, played by the talented Robert LaSardo. It’s a dramatic crime-action movie. Some other recognizable faces in the film are Omar Gooding and Thomas “Tiny” Lister Jr (Otherwise known as Deebo from FRIDAY). This film is almost out of post-production and will be released soon!

The second indy feature I was in is called “Desire Lines”. In this film, I play a character named Viscid, a manipulative owner of a holistic adult film company. This film is also almost out of post-production and will be released soon!

The TV series I was cast in as Sergeant Newton is called “Age of The Living Dead“. It’s currently released on Amazon Prime, as well as FX Asia. I was cast during Season 2 which just completed principal photography on 09/16/19. Viewers can watch Season 1 in full on Amazon Prime. Season 2 (Which is the Season I am in) is set to be released in 2020. This show is about Humans and Vampires being quarantined in the US by the rest of the world. The humans occupy the west and the vampires occupy the east. They are separated by a “No man’s land.” They currently have an agreement to not try and kill each other, but things start to go wrong with that agreement. You’ll have to watch to see how wrong it goes…

Where were you born and raised at? Are members of your family naturally artistic?

I was born in Bellflower, CA. I lived the majority of my life in Los Angeles County, but I did live in Stockton, CA (NorCal) for a total of about 8 years. My family would move us from LA to Stockton and back every 1-2 years. I guess you could say they got bored easily! *lol* It’s funny because growing up I didn’t understand creativity how I understand it now. I used to think that you were only an Artist or Creative if you knew how to draw or played an instrument. So I never thought I was an artist or creative because I sucked at drawing and didn’t play instruments. I was more into sports. My parents and sisters also didn’t seem artistic or creative to me because they didn’t do those things either. But I only recently realized (In the past 10 years) that my family is very creative and artistic!

Growing up, we didn’t have much money in our family. So when a neighbor would buy their kids a new basketball hoop, or go-kart, or slip-n-slide, my mom would make us one by hand! She was so creative with building things. She never wanted us to feel left out. She’s an amazing mother!

My father used to sew and write poems. He never mentioned that to me as a kid, or even as an adult. I only found out because I went over to his place one day and found an old pillow that had a poem sewn onto it. I asked him where he bought it and he said he made it when he was young!! I was so shocked! He also shows his creativity through how he dressed and what jewelry he wears.

What led you to become an actress? Who helped you the most when you first started out?

I’ve been obsessed with film since I could remember! I have a very vivid imagination so I get lost in every film. Even if it’s not the greatest film. *lol* So much so that when I was a kid, I was banned from watching horror films with my mom, dad, and two sisters. They banned me because prior to that when I would watch it with them, I’d end up sleeping with either my parents or one of my sisters. I guess they got tired of that! haha I realized that movies allowed me to go to different times and places. That’s amazing to me. I attempted becoming an actor when I was young, but my parents just didn’t have the time or the money to help me with that. Fast forward to January 2018. Acting had been tugging on my heart, soul, and mind for years. I just kept ignoring it. This time it tugged so hard, I had to listen. When I first started out, my GF/partner helped me a lot. She helped me with my scenes and self-tapes. She still does! Also, my now Producing partner, Marvin Williams, helped me a lot too. He’s the first person that I had a meeting with about the BIZ part of SHOWBIZ. He was casting for a TV series and I contacted him for a role. We met to chat and during our 3 hour-long conversation, he told me, “You’re going to do well as an actor, but you’re also a Producer!” He said that he could see it by the way I spoke, carried myself, and how my mind worked. I wasn’t only an artist, I was a businesswoman. Since that day I approached this business as an actor and producer. And I must say, it’s paid off for me! Thanks, Marv!! I also owe a lot to my other producing partner, Darien Smith. He cast me as Lulu Chang in Crossed and has helped, guided, and is rooting for my success in this industry as well! Thanks, D-Buck!

What was your first acting role and how did you feel after booking it?

I was at home on my computer. I googled, “How to become an actor.” I saw a post from Backstage. I went to their site and scrolled through the different roles. I didn’t have an account and wasn’t 100% ready to sign up and pay, but luckily I saw a post about an LGBTQ short film. I then saw a role for a DJ. I thought… ” I can play a DJ!” Luckily I saw an email that I could grab off of Backstage and email directly from my Gmail account! I realized later that rarely happens, so I guess it was meant to be! 🙂 So I emailed the casting person some photos of me and my info. I got an email back within 15 minutes! They sent me sides to do a self-tape. I had never done a self-tape (didn’t even know what it was) and didn’t know what sides meant. So I had to google all of this! *LOL* I was SO nervous. I started to question this whole acting thing… but my gut told me to just do it!! So I went to my bathroom and set up my lighting and backdrop. I must’ve done 100 takes! I was so tired of doing it over and over, so I just picked the best take and sent it! AHHHH!!! 20 minutes later I get a call saying I got the role!!!! What!?? Crazy, right? That was it, I was HOOKED!

What is the audition process for you like? Do you do anything special on days you have an audition? How do you handle not getting a part?

Auditioning at first was nerve-racking!! It still can be, but it’s not as bad for me as when I first started. It helps to do it often as well as to train on how to do it. I’m not sure if I’ll ever not feel a bit nervous in auditions, but I do feel myself becoming more confident and less nervous these days. What I have found that helps me is to focus on my character and be that person. Don’t think about Jamie, because Jamie is not in the room, my character is. Also, focusing on imagining the auditioning room being the scene that my character is currently in. For example, a kitchen, park, jail cell, hotel, hospital room, etc. Be in the scene before you get into the room. Breathing techniques help me a lot too. Help to calm my nerves down. Lastly, not trying to book the part. But just going in there and serving the scene and story. That makes me less nervous as well.

I audition so much, I’m used to not getting 99% of the things I go in for. I also come from a sales background, so I have thick skin when it comes to rejection. There have been a few roles that I wanted so badly and didn’t get. Those definitely hurt a bit, but I don’t allow myself to roll around in the mud, so-to-say, for too long. So within an hour of knowing I didn’t get it, I accept it.

How did your producing career get started? Can you walk us through a “pitch” for a project you are trying to fund? How hard is it to retain creative control from the people who are funding your project?

As mentioned earlier, my now producing partner, Marvin Williams, helped me to discover the “Producer” in myself. Once he told me that, my every move became strategic towards becoming a great producer as well as an actor. I then started to do research on, “How to become a producer.” I didn’t find many “How to’s.” So I started to research successful Producers names and started to follow and read about their journeys, trials, tribulations, and successes. I then came across the partnership of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. What a fascinating story and journey they have! I started to study what they did and started to emulate a little of it. I was also still getting coaching and tips from Marvin. I still do! I’ll say that my road to becoming a successful producer has not been a walk in the park! I’ve met some questionable people who pretended to be people they aren’t and feel I have dodged a few bullets!! So grateful for that! I now have my dream team in place. We are in pre-production for our first project as a team. We are producing a horror feature film. It will be shopped at the studio level due to Marvin William’s connections and partnerships. I will also be a lead actor in this film. I cannot wait for everyone to see this!! The pitching of projects in regards to how me and my team do it entails putting a pitch-package together for our investors to visually see. We’ll discuss the script, the feel of the film or show, as well as what our plans are for distribution. The key is to have trust with them as well as to be excited! Investors want to know that you know what you’re doing with the project, are excited about it, will complete it, and get it sold! Our team will not make any film or tv series that we cannot sell. It’s not hard for us to retain creative control because we set expectations upfront. If you want full creative control, your investors need to understand this from the very beginning. Transparency is key!

What were the three best pieces of wisdom given to you professionally and have you applied them in your career?

1- Control your destiny in this business by becoming a producer and/or creating your own content. If not, you’ll be waiting around for people to say yes to you.

I apply this daily. As mentioned earlier, I feel moving through this industry with this always on my mind, I feel has gotten me things I wouldn’t normally have gotten.

2- Expect this business to be a marathon, not a sprint, but do your best to walk fast…

I always have this on my mind as well. I understand this isn’t a sprint to the finish line, but I also don’t want to wait 30 years to accomplish what I want to accomplish.

3- There are people less qualified than you doing more than you, so don’t make excuses, go after what you want!

This one really helped me in the beginning of my career. I would sometimes doubt myself. But remembering this helps me to just focus on what I am doing and not to compare my career and other’s careers. We all have our own paths/journeys. We can all accomplish what we want if we just work hard, smart, and stay the course!

How important is a management team to an artist? What do you expect from them?

If you would’ve asked me this before I signed with my new management agency (Shout out to DIVERGENT TALENT MANAGEMENT), I would’ve said, “ehh.” Before Divergent I was with two other managers. I had to fire both of them. I wish them the best of luck. Now that I’m with Divergent, I now understand how amazing a great management team is to my career! Darcie and Jennifer work their A*#es off!! Seriously. They send me a monthly report of everything they submitted me to for each month and I am blown away. I never had a manager do this. It makes me want to win even more just for them to win as well. Thanks, ladies!! I don’t expect much. It’s simple. Communication, hard work, understanding of where I’d like to go in my career and help me to get there, as well as give me constructive criticism and help me to grow.

How hard is it for you to detach yourself from an intense role?

To be honest,I’ve yet to do a crazy intense role. I feel like the horror film I am about to shoot will be my most intense role. So check back with me after that! 🙂

You are producing your dream film….who are you casting and who is directing and why?

Leonardo DiCaprio, Sarah Paulson, and Martin Scorsese come to mind. Leo has been a favorite actor of mine all of my life. He’s gotten better and better over the years and I feel I would learn A LOT from being on set and working with him. Sarah is a phenomenal actress. She’s gone to dark places on AHS. I definitely would want to work with her and learn from her as well. And Martin Scorsese, well… do I really need to explain!? haha!

The cheetah and I are flying in to watch your latest film being made, but we are a day early and you are playing tour guide, what are we doing?

First, we’d go grab a bite to eat at one of my favorite vegan restaurants, Crossroads! You’ll love this place! Even non-vegans (Me) love it! Then, we’ll explore a fun WB backlot tour! If you’re in LA, you have to see this at least once, especially if you love films and movie-making! Next, I’d take you to the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Museum. It’s a bit of a depressing subject matter, but it’s fascinating and should be widely known and talked about! Then to end the evening, we’d lighten the mood back up and I’d take you to one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Little Tokyo! Their fish is always fresh and their service is A1! We could then walk around and see the little shops and then go to my favorite ice cream spot called, Bae! SO GOOD!!!

I like the thank Jamie for one of my favorite interviews I have done yet. I felt I learned a lot not about Jamie and her career but also what really goes on behind the scenes in indie film Hollywood. We wish Jamie the very best in her career and will keep a sharp eye for her TV shows and films. To keep up with Jamie,you can follow her on her various SM Platforms.

You can follow Jamie’s career on her IMDb page. Follow Jamie on her Twitter page. She also has a InstaGram page.

Feel free to drop a comment below,we love reading your comments and thank you for your support!

8 Questions with………actress Jamie Ohlsen Its 2:47 pm Welcome to "8 Questions with......." Two things struck me about our next guest,actress Jamie Ohlsen,one ....she looks like a complete badass that you want to share a foxhole with in a fight.

#8 Questions With #acting #actress #Age of the Living Dead #family #indie films #indie horror #Jamie Ohlsen #Producer #Robert LaSardo #TV series

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delightfully-daisy · 7 years ago

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CHARACTER SHEET: DAISY AUDREY ELOISE CANARD

And she's been living on the highest shelf... Oh, and they come unstuck Lady, running down to the riptide Taken away to the dark side

[TW: sexual assault mentions; eating disorder mentions]

STATS

Birthday: 14 January 1995

Hogwarts House (Primary): Ravenclaw

Hogwarts House (Secondary): Hufflepuff

Myers-Briggs: ESFJ

Enneagram: Type 3

Height: 5’4

BACKGROUND OVERVIEW

Mother: Lilian Ophelia Marie Harcourt Canard

Father: Jacques Didier Canard

Mother’s Occupation: lawyer—business law

Father’s Occupation: stockbrocker

Family Finances: quite wealthy—combination of old money on both ends, as well as parents’ own ambitions and finances

Birth Order: middle child

Siblings: Nicolas Etienne Jeannot Canard (24); Andre Leon Charles Canard (19)

Other Close Family: Aunt Cecile on her dad’s side (who has a girlfriend and is like super cool and a movie producer); she has another aunt on that side who has two kids her and Nic’s ages but I don’t have my notebook on hand so I cant look up their names oh well; Lilian is an only child

Best Friend: Clarke

Other Friends: Annette Grant, Hermes Petros, Toulouse Bonfamille, Stanley Schell, Abby and Tabitha

Enemies: Tito? Lol she thinks so :C

Pets: a cat named Sabrina! Her family also has two dogs named Gigi and Fifi

Home Life During Childhood: her parents were both very busy, but she and her siblings were very close and her dad made a huge insistence on family time when they were together; to this day they have a designated week in late July and winter where they go on vacations together; she’s very close with Nic and her dad; Andre can be a bit of a brat; she clashed with her mother a bit growing up but she’s starting to understand her more

Town or City Name(s): Paris, France

What Did Her Bedroom Look Like: very nice and spacious, big windows with a nice view, she has a canopy bed, everything is in pastel colors, lots of whites and pinks—nothing too loud, everything soft like a Rococo painting, a big walk-in closet, a nicely lit vanity, the artwork in there is carefully selected, everything has its place

Any Sports or Clubs: did newspaper also probably a creative writing club; used to fence and do ballet, but quite around 13/14 years old

Favorite Toy or Game: loved paper dolls

Schooling: one last semester at Pride U; probably did some pretty expensive private school in Paris

Favorite Subject: Composition, Art History

Popular or Loner: Popular!

Important Experiences or Events: was sexually assaulted at 17, her then-boyfriend lied about it and harassed her for months after

Health Problems: undiagnosed anxiety, lowkey makes herself throw up after eating sometimes also

Culture: French

Religion and beliefs: Raised Catholic, she wants to believe in a benevolent God but does not really like the Catholic church; she wants to believe in the goodness of people

PERSONALITY

Bad Habits: worries, limits her food intake a lot haha, has a tendency to keep her emotions inside before lashing out, cries a lot

Good Habits: uh, organized, keeps up with her fitness, ambitious, kind-hearted (in her own way), stylish

Best Characteristic: determined—once she sets her mind on something or someone, she will not quit

Worst Characteristic: scared—her number one limitation in life is that she is too scared to take chances/take risks/do anything without security

Worst Memory: the whole sexual assault thing and also the night she broke up with Tito

Best Memory: oh gosh, probably getting her bike back

Proud of: not much lol, uh maybe her fashion sense, she’s like really insecure though and attributes all her successes to other factors, poor bby

Embarrassed by: e v e r y t h I ng have you seen how much this girl blushes

Driving Style: she’s a fantastic driver—fast, daring, drives stick-shift in heels, cuts tight corners on her motorcycle, she’s fab, best driver of my characters (except maybe for Eva, but that’s cuz Eva has heightened reflexes lol); does have a tendency to speed, but doesn’t do it except on isolated roads

Strong Points: determined, hard working, kind-hearted, stylish

Temperament: gosh im not sure its like a mix of sanguine and melancholic

Attitude: outwardly, confident and determined; inwardly, really fuckin’ anxious and insecure about everything

Weakness: she’s so insecure and not good with criticism and she’s soft little flower it is easy to crush her

Fears: everything—not being good enough is the main one though

Phobias: see above lol

Secrets: not too open about the whole sexual assault thing for obvious reasons, also he like harassed her for months afterwards

Regrets: every romantic relationship she’s ever had because it makes her seem stupid and heartless and foolish

Feels Vulnerable When: uh always? When she’s being emotional, tbh, since she’s been told to restrict that

Pet Peeves: people who assume she’s dumb, people who assume she’s shallow

Conflicts: oh gosh where to begin—the fact that she wants the world to be this good, ideal place where she has the ability to help it, but the reality that class differences/prejudices in other areas are very real and very hard to overcome; her own desire to do more with her life, but knowing that rejecting her family’s values would not be good, and she really loves her family; navigating being a soft woman in a world that otherwise respects hard, sharp ones

Motivation: She wants to be successful and to make a change in the world.

Short Term Goals and Hopes: Graduate, get a good job somewhere in a big city.

Long Term Goals and Hopes: Rise to the top of her career, hopefully get married at one point.

Sexuality: bisexual

Exercise Routine: goes to spin class three times a week, does a barre class twice a week, weight training the other days, very committed exercise schedule

Day or Night Person — Day.

Introvert or Extrovert — Extrovert.

Optimist or Pessimist — Pessimist, though she tries to be optimistic to other people.

LIKES AND STYLES

Music: girly pop, MUSICALS—she’s a huge musical gal, sings in the shower all the time. Loves taylor swift, knows that its problematic to love taylor swift, but does so in that well #feminism way that’s also lowkey problematic ahaha. Her iTunes is mostly musicals and pop and some classical music too, she likes ballet music.

Books: classics and romance novels; also some trashy YA romance; went through a John Green phase in her high school years; her favourite book is The Bell Jar. She also reads those like “Oprah Book of the Month” club books and enjoys them. Gets most of her reading list from bestsellers lists.

Magazines: VOGUE aka the Bible; also Cosmo and Marie Claire and other high-fashion magazines; whatever the French equivalent of Time is, but also Time; started a subscription to the New Yorker whilst she was in NYC and keeps up with it

Foods: has a sweet tooth—loves chocolate. Chocolate-covered strawberries are her favorite. She thinks she can handle spicy, but she can’t really.

Drinks: Margaritas are her cocktail of choice; she loves champagne and lattes

Animals: cats! Also she loves swans and thinks its so romantic that they mate for life, but she won’t admit that lol

Sports: follows Formula One racing tbh and also fencing

Social Issues: Feminism! (she’s like lowkey a bit of a white feminist) Magick Rights! (lowkey also a bit of a problematic activist in everything; she’s trying though) Also involved in environmental issues!! (she works on a turtle fund thing with Stan)

Favorite Saying: “I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.” – Audrey Hepburn

Color: Pink!! Any and all shades! Also likes a nice rose-gold. Fond of pastel colors in decorating.

Clothing: Has a very classy, preppy style; lots of skirts and blazers; usually always in heels; most everything is designer and high-end; she takes pride in her style; she also dresses more on the conservative end, but does own a few sexier pieces

Jewelry: very classy, never overdoes herself with jewelry; simple pendants and studs

Games: played the Sims a lot, played racing games with her brothers, Mario Kart fan too

Websites: Instagram—also has a finsta bc she’s hip; tumblr; Pinterest

TV Shows: Downton Abbey, Sex and the City

Movies: The Devil Wears Prada!! (Also Titanic)

Greatest Want: To be successful and make a difference in the world

Greatest Need: To overcome her fears

CURRENTLY

Home: lives in Castle Suites in a very luxurious one-bedroom flat

Household furnishings: everything is impeccably decorated, lots of pastels and golds, there’s a big window in the living room (which has like white furniture and soft lights everywhere, big white rug on the floor, lots of throw pillows), her room has a big bed with lots of pillows and her closet is organized by type of clothes and colour

Favorite Possession: her car

Most Cherished Possession: her motorcycle

Married Before: Nope.

Significant Other Before: Tito (rip); asshole French boyfriend, Michel

Children: n/a

Relationship with Family: huge Daddy’s girl, but Daddy is also very busy and not super around all the time and she doesn’t really confide in him; very close to older brother, Nic, sometimes they feel like they are the only people in the world they can trust; younger brother has a strained relationship bc he can be kinda douche but they love each other; relationship with mother is---complicated, they are very similar and often butt heads because of their differences though and Lilian thinks she knows what’s best etc etc and Daisy is just starting to see her mom in a new light

Car: BMW, she also has a motorcycle

Career: journalism student, editor-in-chief of campus magazine: Social

Dream Career: editor in chief of a fashion magazine that also has like a huge philanthropy side

Dream Life: said career, has not given much thought to the like actual life part of it, but ideally she’d like to be married to the love of her life and have two kids as well

Love Life: uh imma get back to you on that

Hobbies : reading, dancing (she loves dancing), driving, sketching fashions, cleaning (lol), amateur baker, used to be a fencer, writing (she used to write short stories but has not in a while)

Guilty Pleasure : those trashy Harlequin romance novels….

Sports or Clubs: Social, PrideU’s premier campus lifestyle magazine; probably involved in like journalism clubs

Talents or Skills : she’s a great dancer and a fantastic driver; also a good writer

Intelligence Level : she is great auditory learner, very sharp and quick to pick up what she listens too; writes the best out of my characters; reads a lot too; not great at sciences or math, but she tries her best and the hard work pays off; a fan of history, but only as it relates to cultural stuff (wars bore her); the most emotionally aware of others of my characters, can read people well

Finances: wealthy—parents are wealthy each from their individual families and from their own careers, pay for their children

#about #today is a daisy day i feel like ive neglected my beb #character sheet #this is the best i could do gif wise

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sneegsnitties · 8 years ago

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Making It Work Chapter 1: Confessions

so this is my latest fanfic... heres the AO3 Fanfiction.net aaaand Wattpad :D

I am posting it here as well

Summary: "Cole was glad to be human again, he could finally touch water without dying, he could feel, he doesn't have to worry about disappearing

But he soon finds himself jealous about Jay and Nya

Jealous of Nya because she has someone like Jay

Jealous of Jay because he has such a beautiful girl like Nya

He realizes he has a crush on them both"

Cole had never thought that he would be in a polyamorous relationship with his best friend and his girlfriend, well, now his boyfriend and girlfriend... this was new to him and to Jay and Nya... They have to learn how to make it all work. This is going to be a bumpy ride with many adventures ahead...

Pairings: JayxNyaxCole

Cole was glad to be human again, he could finally touch water without dying, he could feel, he doesn't have to worry about disappearing

But he soon finds himself jealous about Jay and Nya

Jealous of Nya because she has someone like Jay

Jealous of Jay because he has such a beautiful girl like Nya

He realizes he has a crush on them both...

And he's felt this way ever since they moved into Yang's temple, he's attempted to ask the old ghost for advice. But he was clueless as well. So that didn't help much...

So here he was, eating a piece of cake in the Tv room, not really paying attention to what was on.

Then Jay and Nya walked in and sat on action couple of bean bags that were placed on the ground

"Hey Cole, you don't mind if we play video games do you? Jay asked

"No... I wasn't paying much attention to the tv, anyways.

He was glad that he had dark skin, or else they would've seen the blush that was spreading on his face

"Are you okay...? You look a little uncomfortable" Nya asked with a concerned look on her face

"Y-Yeah, just still getting used to being human again..." he said, shrugging

Okay but that wasn't a lie, he had to remember that he couldn't walk through walls, or float, or disappear.

Not in the bad way of disappearing, just, becoming invisible... so he could get out of this awkward situation

They didn't seem convinced... but then Jay whispered something into Nya's ear and she gave a small laugh

"Bet you can't beat me in Mario Kart!" Nya grinned and turned on the gaming console abd grabbed a controller after putting the game in

"Oh, you're on!" Jay grinned and grabbed his controller

He watched as the two as they chose their characters and proceeded with the race, it was slightly entertaining seeing the both of them being so competitive against one another

He contemplated on telling the two how he felt, but he didn't want to ruin their relationship again.

So he finished the slice of cake he had and got up to go to the kitchen, the two were too focused on their game to notice that he had left ---------------

After he put his plate away, he ran into Kai

"Oh, hey cole" Kai said, but then he must've noticed something was off about the former ghost

"Hey are you okay?" He asked frowning

Cole shrugged, he didn't know how to explain how he was feeling,

"I was just gonna go train or something"

Kai didn't look entirely convinced, "yknow you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah..." Cole said and started to walk towards the training room, "but I'm fine..."

Kai followed him, "Cole, we've been living together for, I don't know, at least 6 or 7 years?" He said frowning, "I've learned that when any of us say that were fine, we really aren't... if you bottle up your emotions, it'll just make you feel worse" Kai paused, "trust me, it's better to talk than to keep it hidden"

Cole sighed, he was right... about both things

Living with your friends, has you learn their habits, how they hide their emotions

Bottling up your emotions never ends well either...

Kai put his hand on the black ninjas shoulder in reassurance

"Okay... but I don't know how to explain it..."

"Take your time, and how about we go to your room, that's more private than standing in the middle of the hallway

Cole nodded in agreement, and walked in silence with Kai towards his room

When they entered, Kai asked again, "what's wrong, cole?"

"I really don't know... but I think I might be jealous"

Kai raised an eyebrow, "of who? Jay and Nya?"

"Y-Yeah, I think... I don't want to ruin their relationship again! I felt really bad about it the last time..!" Cole said nervously

"Hey, Hey slow down... tell me why your jealous" Kai said reassuringly

"Okay..." Cole took a deep breath, "I'm jealous of Jay... because he has a beautiful person like Nya... I'm jealous of Nya because she has a great guy like Jay... I don't know, it's stupid..."

Kai raised an eyebrow, "so your saying your jealous of my sister and Jay, because you like the both of them?" Kai said, smirking, and raised an eyebrow

Cole felt his face go warm, "y-Yeah..."

"So that's why you've been all awkward around either one..." Kai chuckled

Cole's eyes widened, "you knew!?"

"Aw c'mon, dude, it was kinda obvious" he shrugged

"Do the others know..?"

Kai shrugged again, "Zane might, cause being a robot and all... and he has Pixal in his head, and I don't think Lloyd cares... Jay and Nya might not, but who knows"

Cole groaned, "I just don't want it to end up like last time..."

"It won't, I'll talk to the both of them.. And have them talk to you" Kai said patting my shoulder

I nodded, "thanks..."

"No problem!" Kai grinned and walked out of the room

Cole let out a deep sigh and flopped onto his bed, he didn't know how this was going to turn out, and he hoped that Kai wouldn't ruin anything...

---------------------------

He ended up lying there longer than he intended to, taking a short and unintentional nap where he lay, slightly uncomfortable, but otherwise fine... and

He looked at the clock on the nightstand next to his bed, it read to be nearly 6:30... dinner would be served soon... so he got up and walked to the Dining hall, and was surprisingly the first one there...

He pulled out his phone, finally being able to use it without it falling out of his hands, he had a bunch of notifications from his social media accounts, most were likes, and the rest were comments, reblogs, etc.

He tended to ignore certain comments...

But that didn't matter to him anymore since Jay and Nya walked in...

Sitting on either side of him

"Hi Cole..." Jay said softly

"Hey..." Cole whispered

"So Kai talked to us.." Nya said putting her head in her hands on the table, Jay followed her example

"O-Oh..." he hoped that Kai didn't mess any thing up..

"He said that you like the both of us, that you were too nervous to tell us yourself" Jay said

"He also said you didn't want to ruin our relationship with this.."

"So we talked... and we came to an agreement"

Cole held his breath, he hoped that they wouldn't say what he feared

"And... we want you to be with us..." Nya whispered

Cole's eyes widened, "R-really?"

Jay nodded, "We don't want it to end like last time either, I don't want to go through that again"

"Me neither... that's why I was so nervous about this..." Cole gave a chuckle and rubbed his arm.

Nya smiled, "well... last time was when we were all a bit younger than we are now... and hopefully more mature..." she glanced at Jay quickly, who caught her glance and his face turned a bit red from blush.

Cole grinned, he was feeling better now that he knew how the two felt about him...

"There's a smile!" Jay said grinning and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, making him sport a blush of his own

Nya smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek, resting her head on his shoulder. Jay followed her example, leaning on him as well.

Cole blushed harder, he was glad that his dark skin hid most of the blush, but he relaxed under their touches...

Dinner was served not long after their talk. They explained their newly formed relationship.

Lloyd understood, he said he'd rather have our relationship over the fights we used to have over Nya, and other little things. Though, he said not to get too mushy around him.

Lloyd still finds romance gross, like he did when he was physically younger.

Mentally, he still sometimes acts like he's 10, or around that age. It's easy to forget how old he mentally is, how mature he often acts. The poor kid needs a break.

"As long as you guys don't fight like you used to, I'm fine with it" Lloyd grinned

Zane approved, he said pixal did as well.

Wu had no comment, not sure if he approved or disapproved. Maybe he feared that it will end up with us fighting again.

Cole had no idea what Misako thought... she didn't comment comment on it either.

Kai, sent me a look, like an "I told you so" look. I rolled my eyes at him.

Other than that, dinner went well. They talked about recent events, flirted with one another a little, or attempted without falling into giggles.

Then, later that night, he thanked Kai for helping him out.

"No problem, anything for my friends" he grinned, "and please, try not to hurt my sister..." he added with a serious tone in his voice

Cole nodded, "I wont, o-or I'll try.. I'll try not to hurt either of them"

Kai nodded and walked off.

Cole sighed again and went to go find Jay and Nya.

#ninjago #tempjago #Making It Work

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stuber45188020 · 4 years ago

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How I teach my kids to drive

A reader recently asked me if I’d written a post with tips on teaching teens to drive.

I haven’t done that, because it felt a little off-topic for a frugal blog.

But, I did a poll on my Facebook page asking readers if they wanted a post on the topic, and the results said yes.

(And a few sweet people said they didn’t need the tips but that they would read anything I write.)

So!

Off-topic or not, here I am.

First: I’m not a driving instructor, and this should not be construed as professional advice. I am just sharing what I do with my own kids.

My kids have not had much at all in the way of driving experience prior to getting their learner’s permits (we don’t have a tractor or a boat or a go-kart), so we really are starting from scratch.

Given that, here’s what we do.

We do 30 minute sessions at first

Driving with a total newbie is a little stressful for the parent.

And it’s a little stressful for the teen too.

To maintain a cheerful attitude and sufficient focus for both of us, we just do daily 30 minute sessions at first.

We start in an large, empty church parking lot

Midweek, most church parking lots are really empty, and there are very few cars coming and going.

This means there’s almost nothing to run into, which makes it perfect for a new driver.

We usually do several 30 minute sessions in the church parking lot making laps in all directions just to give my new driver a feel for turning, accelerating, and braking.

Next up, neighborhood streets, early in the day

Generally speaking, there’s less traffic coming and going in the early to mid-day. And unless people are working from home (!), there are fewer cars parked in the streets.

Neighborhood streets are annoying because there are no painted lane lines and because streets can be narrow, but they ARE great for someone who is driving super slow.

We start out in our neighborhood, but we usually end up touring alllll the neighborhoods near us.

At this point in the driving process, I keep a “new driver” magnet on the car just because we are often so slow, I feel the need to announce it.

Small-ish side roads come next

I actually breathe kind of a sigh of relief here because these roads feel a little easier than neighborhood roads.

You do have to drive faster, but no one parks there, no one is walking, the roads are wide, and there are lane markers!

Once my new driver gets to this point, it’s easy to do lots of local exploring, combining side roads with neighborhoods.

Highways

I try to start with practice on highways that don’t require merging (some of the smaller highways here are that way).

Once my driver has gotten a little more comfy dealing with high speeds, then we start working on highways with merge areas, starting with simple ones.

I’m not gonna lie, teaching a kid to merge is sort of un-fun! There are so many things to keep an eye on.

I usually take off the “new driver” sticker at this point, because I’ve discovered that on multi-lane roads, people actually seem to drive more dangerously around you if you have the sticker.

Adding driving into regular life

Once my new driver is comfy with highways, we can really work driving into regular life instead of having dedicated driving sessions.

Drive to church, drive to college, drive to friends’ houses, drive to run errands, and so on. This is usually when we really start doing a good job of racking up the hours because it’s so much less effort.

These kinds of trips do require some parking, which is a little bit hard at first. We generally park in the back of the lot at first to make it nice and easy (fewer cars to run into!), and if the parking situation is just too tough, we switch seats and I take over.

The more experienced they get, the more parking they do, and eventually, they get much better at it.

Hours and hours and hours…

So, that’s basically how I’ve gotten my kids through the many hours of the driving required.

They also get six hours behind the wheel with an instructor from the driving school, and that’s when they learn to parallel park.

I don’t mess with that.

Three other random tips

One

I put the new driver in charge of keeping track of the hours in the little booklet, just for a little extra responsibility, and one less thing I have to do. I have them write the hours down after every session so we don’t lose track.

Two

If you are feeling stressed while teaching your kid to drive, it can help to remember that driving with a new student feels incredibly dangerous, but it’s statistically not.

(A study showed that teen crash risk goes up once they’re on their own; with a learner’s permit, the crash rate is similar to that of their parents.)

And if you need more proof, consider that insurance companies generally do not raise your rates until your living-at-home kid gets their license.

If learner’s permit accident rates were high, I think insurers would ask us for money as soon as our kids get learner’s permits!

If you are in the car with your kid, helping them anticipate problems, helping them know when to turn and when to merge, they’re not going to be super likely to make bad driving decisions.

So, take a deep breath; you’re probably going to be ok, regardless of how it feels.

Three

It try to be kind and encouraging.

My kids have all tended toward self-doubt and discouragement rather than immediate cockiness as they learn to drive, so I’ve tried to be kind and reassuring as we learn.

“It’s ok, everyone makes mistakes, you’re doing fine, it’s normal to feel like 50 mph is VERY FAST, everyone has trouble parking at first…” etc.

And that’s the end of what I have to say about teaching teenagers to drive (1000 words later.)

If you have tips to add to mine, add ’em in the comments!

And if you have questions I didn’t address, feel free to leave a comment as well.

The post How I teach my kids to drive appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

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gethealthy18-blog · 6 years ago

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Bring Back Date Night: Fun & Unusual Date Ideas on a Budget

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/bring-back-date-night-fun-unusual-date-ideas-on-a-budget/

Bring Back Date Night: Fun & Unusual Date Ideas on a Budget

When my husband and I were newly married, we didn’t have much money, but it didn’t matter because our favorite thing to do was just spend time together. Of course, life and kids happened and while it is wonderful, it does make it a little tougher to spend quality time alone.

We’ve been working on ways to rekindle that early dating spontaneity and find fun, creative, and even unusual date ideas to try (and not just on Valentine’s Day or other special occasions!).

Experts say that weekly date nights help couples have more intimate and lasting relationships. I’m lucky to have a romantic and adventurous husband (he’s Italian) who helps break the “dinner and a movie” routine and try new things.

Maybe one of these ideas will sound like something you’d like to try!

Date Nights: Then vs. Now

Pre-kids, when we wanted to go on a date, we would just go. Usually it was something free or very inexpensive because we were on such a tight budget, but even a walk at the park or a picnic was great.

As any parent of young children can probably appreciate, these days, going on a date is more of a ten-step process:

Decide to actually go on a date and have enough time to ask the other person if they want to go

Call 3-5 people until you finally find a babysitter

On day of date, pre-make food for whichever meal you’ll be missing at home so the kids are well fed (I don’t do this anymore since I found this shortcut)

If the date is at night, also pre-bathe children so the babysitter doesn’t have to

Remind kids to clean rooms, do chores, etc.

Find something to wear … if you’re an overachiever, maybe even put on makeup

Make list of all instructions and emergency contacts for babysitter

Finally make it out the door to go on the date

Almost fall asleep during dinner/movie/etc. because you have small children and aren’t used to staying awake after 9:30 PM

Come home to find all the kids are still awake, and drive babysitter home

This of course isn’t to say that it isn’t worth it to get out kid-free once in a while, but if staying in for a date is more practical, the good news is there are still ways to make it special (and without doing the same old thing).

Date Cost: Then vs. Now

The cost to go on a date has changed a lot too over the years!

It used to cost $0-$10 to go out with my husband because we would go for a walk or hike, or to a free event at a local outdoor theater. If we were really splurging, we would go to a bar for drinks, dinner, and a movie.

Now, a babysitter usually costs at least $40+ for an evening, a nice-ish dinner is easily $50+, and if we went to a movie that is another $22. $112 for a basic dinner and a movie seems like a lot, especially since it can be hard to find healthy, real food options and my husband prefers to watch movies at home.

Fun Date Ideas (At Home or Out!)

We decided long ago that we would make weekly date nights a priority, but also that many of these date nights would happen at home after the kids were in bed (cheaper, easier, and not a problem if we fall asleep by 10 PM).

Over the years, I’ve developed a list of some of our favorite at-home date ideas. We’ve found that even if we are just spending uninterrupted time together after the kids go to bed but are intentionally not on our phones or laptops, we have a great time and can rekindle some of that fun, quality time spontaneity and romance of our early dating and married years.

1. Massage (My Favorite)

The whole lots-of-babies-in-8-years has made me a big fan of getting a massage. Pregnancy, nursing, and now carrying around toddlers are a big demand on the body and every mom could use a good massage. Unfortunately, a good 60-minute massage can cost at least $80 in most locations.

While there are some great massage devices to use at home (this is my favorite), a much more romantic way is to try an at-home massage course.

This Melt Massage for Couples course is taught by a husband and wife team in a really easy-to-learn format. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, now that we both actually know how to give a good massage!

2. Sports (His Favorite)

You might think my husband would have to con me into this one, but watching a sporting event is one date night we both enjoy equally. We share favorite baseball and football teams and have weekly dates to watch games.

For big anniversaries or birthdays, I’ll try to work out getting actual tickets to a game so we can go together.

3. Chess

If you don’t already have a chessboard and set, you can pick up an inexpensive one and learn to play together. It’s fun and great for your mind, and also a great game to teach your kids!

4. Rekindle the Fire (Literally)

We built a fire pit in our backyard and some of our favorite at-home dates involve sitting by the fire, sipping wine, and just talking. Lights aren’t just for Christmas … hang a string or make these homemade tiki-torches to create a romantic and cozy backyard atmosphere.

5. Documentary Date

We enjoy watching documentaries together and often this leads to good conversation about a controversial topic. Some great documentaries that are available on Netflix or Amazon to stream online are:

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Fed Up

The Business of Being Born (my fave, definitely not his)

Man on Wire

Microbirth (another one I liked)

Free Solo

There are literally hundreds of options depending on what type of documentaries you like.

6. Personality Quizzes

Sitting on the couch tonight? Try one of these free personality tests you can take online, either just for fun, or to learn something about each other:

7. Go for a Hike

These require a babysitter or leaving home unless you happen to live on a lot of land, but spending time outdoors and disconnected from technology is a great way to reconnect. Look up local parks and try a new spot you haven’t explored!

8. Watch a New Show

Not a groundbreaking date idea, but still relaxing and cheap! We don’t watch much TV, but over the years there have been a few series that we’ve really enjoyed and that gave us an excuse for regular date nights at home. We definitely pair this idea with a nice glass of our favorite wine.

9. Cook Together

Another activity that I probably enjoy more than my husband does, but cooking together can be a lot of fun, especially when trying new recipes (I might know where you can find some…) or cuisines. Pick a recipe to make together. If you have the time, pick a movie that corresponds to the cuisines and enjoy dinner and a movie. Make an Italian meal and watch an Italian movie together, or try your hand at sushi-making and watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

10. Breakfast Date

Dinner is the typical date meal, but no need to leave out the others! Breakfast is a healthier (and cheaper) meal to eat out. Head to a diner or local restaurant for an early morning date, and reserve the rest of the day for some good couple time. It can also be easier to get babysitters on a Saturday morning or let your kids play at a friend’s house.

11. Embark on an Adventure

This is my husband’s favorite type of date, and it fits well with our decision to stick to experiences instead of material gifts. I’ve enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone on some of our more adventurous dates. One memorable year we went scuba diving, but there are tons of possibilities! Visit an indoor rock climbing gym, go kayaking (another one of ours), race go-karts, try ice skating (not my favorite!), or if you are really brave … try karaoke!

12. Around the World at Home

This is a recurring date theme for us. Going out can be difficult with little ones, so plan a fun date themed around ethnic foods and enjoy it at home once the kids are in bed. Make your own sushi and eat on the floor. Make healthy Mexican food and watch a movie in Spanish. Make fondue and eat by candlelight. Whatever you choose, set the mood with music and decorations to make it fun! Even if you don’t go for ethnic foods, enjoy a late-night date at home and cook for each other! This is also a budget-friendly way to keep the romance alive.

13. Go Camping

This certainly isn’t for everyone, but it usually promises to be a bonding experience and is really healthy for you too. Always fun as a family, but if you can sneak away for a night, go camping as a couple. The alone time around the campfire will give you a chance to really catch up, and the potential for unforeseen circumstances (wild animals, rain, etc.) makes it an adventure.

14. Volunteer

This is a great way to get closer as a couple. Once we tried it, I wished we’d started right away as a newly married couple. Focus on a cause you both believe in and volunteer together. This is something great to do with kids too. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, raise money for a cause, or pick a service project at your church. It might make you grateful for what you have and will certainly be some quality time with your love! Another advantage … spreading the love doesn’t cost a thing!

15. Visit a Local Attraction

We often forget about the things that others come to our town to see. Go to a play at the community theater or check out the comedy club. Find an arboretum or botanical garden and walk around. Hit the batting cages or mini golf or even just browse the bookstore together and talk over a cup of coffee. If it is in season, visit an orchard or pick-your-own farm or take a tour of a local brewery or vineyard.

16. Exercise or Do an Activity Together

Exercise can be fun as a couple! Pick a new sport to learn: tennis, racquetball, basketball, or swimming… just pick something you enjoy. For an activity, go miniature golfing, paint pottery together, take dance or painting lessons, or go bike riding or canoeing. These are often the best times to talk and you get the chance to develop a new hobby or skill.

17. Paint Each Other’s Portrait

Feel a little funny staring into each other’s eyes? Painting a portrait is the perfect excuse! Reconnect in an unusual way by reviving or learning a new skill. Lots of laughs will be had, I promise! It’s ok to just have fun with it, but I also recommend an online class from Udemy if you really want to learn some new skills.

18. Just Do Nothing!

Seriously … all parents know it’s harder than it sounds! Once the kids are in bed (and repeatedly threatened asked to return to bed), choose to de-stress by ignoring everything else that needs to be done. (Ignore electronics, too… hide them if you have to!)

Dim the lights, light some beeswax candles, turn on some relaxing music, and just hang out together. Talk, sleep, cuddle, laugh… just like the old days!

Most Importantly: Turn Date Ideas into Reality

Making time to spend as a couple can be much more challenging than it should be, especially with kids. Make the decision to make your relationship a priority. Take the time to brainstorm new date ideas and make them happen… no need to wait for a time like Valentine’s Day to have an excuse to spend time together!

What was your best (or worst) date ever? Would you try any of the date ideas above?

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/1601/date-ideas/

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symbianosgames · 8 years ago

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Thomas Brush is the sole creator of Pinstripe, a TKDESCRIPTION which launched on Steam April 24th. Thomas scored, illustrated, designed, and developed Pinstripe over the course of five years. Thomas is also the creator of award-winning Flash games Coma and Skinny.

I’m laying in bed writing this postmortem at 1:42 pm in the afternoon. The blinds are closed and my room is a gloomy gray. Ever since I launched Pinstripe, my game about Hell, I've experienced just about every stage of grief. And why has it been raining all week ever since launch?

Sorry to sound moody, but completing Pinstripe left me empty and completely out of energy, both physically and emotionally. This postmortem is coming at an overwhelmingly burned-out time in my very young career in the games industry. I would never, and could never, do this again — make a game completely alone over the course of 5 years. As I see the Steam sales slowly drip in, I’m still in a death spiral of strange highs and lows regarding the reason why I chose to make this game to begin with.

The start of Pinstripe felt different — a lot different:

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I was 5 years younger, passionately pounding away on my brand new MacBook purchased with cash earned from my glorious Flash game years. I was in the basement of Clemson University’s library in South Carolina, building a game that was going to shake the world. Thanks to the Indie Game documentary, I was positive I was going to be the next Edmund McMillen. I was going to be an indie legend.

That was the initial spark, and then it turned into an obsession for really no reason other than to make a great game. I wanted to make games full-time, and I would stop at nothing to do so. Three years later I would be married, a Clemson University graduate, and working in a cubicle as a graphic designer for tire and plumbing hardware companies. During lunch hours I would stuff my sandwich down fast, and eat pretzels while trying to finish my game. Little did I know it would take five full years (one of those years as full time work) to finish it. This was partly because I was so anxious to get work done, I wouldn't really think twice about what I was doing.

God help me. Looking back is tough.

My final burst of energy was spent on the Kickstarter campaign sent straight from Heaven. More on that later.

But in the midst of crossing the finish line, I'm instantly thinking: what was that all about?

1) Music

Pinstripe's soundtrack was the easiest thing to create, and I feel it is the most valuable element. It was super fun to write, didn't take too long, and fit the mood of the game. What more could I ask for?

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2) Unity

Unity was the first decision I made prior to development, and at the time it wasn’t a no-brainer like it is now (I'm willing to have an honest discussion if you disagree). Regardless of what software you choose, remember that revenue potential does not stop at Steam. Because of Unity, revenue can extend to pretty much any platform you’re willing to build for. Pinstripe has been through so much QA that fortunately a release on another platform is likely just a couple months away. Additionally, Unity was easy enough to learn, but I was also not-so-smart about how I was building things. Without getting into too much detail, most of the code and plugins used from two years of work was completely overhauled and rewritten. Some of the more recent plug-ins used in Pinstripe (Spine, InControl, Steamworks.NET) are super easy to use, and I’m not sure what I would have done without them.

3) Constructive Criticism

The IGF judges of 2015 did not really like Pinstripe. I'm glad they told me — so much in the game was severely flawed. From flat characters to pointless, drab puzzles, within a day I learned through email feedback that Pinstripe was not ready for launch. Not at all. You know the feeling: you think you’re done with your game, and then suddenly realize you probably have another year or two before launch. It’s a sinking feeling like none other. It’s the worst. But I bit the bullet, printed out the comments, and slapped them on my office wall. I read them pretty much every day, and would pace my office explaining their solutions to George (my pup). I’m proud to say the game is 100x better because of this feedback.

4) Made With Unity mini documentary

In late 2015, this random film guy from Los Angeles emailed me one day and wrote “Hey do you want to be in a documentary about Unity?” That night I went crazy and drove to my parent’s house and told them “Your son is going to be in a documentary.” I felt like the coolest kid in South Carolina. This random guy was Ben Proudfoot, a super accomplished film producer who was hired by Unity to document various Unity projects. What I mean is, make indie devs look really, really cool. Ben and his crew flew to my house in the suburbs and we shot for a couple of days. I think the coolest moment was when the crew had millions of dollars worth of film equipment sprawled throughout my house, and they just acted like it was no big deal while I stood staring with my mouth open. When it was all said and done, it was awesome to see the final product plastered on the screens at the Game Awards, and ever since then, Pinstripe has had generally good press coverage, and my confidence level was boosted enough to keep going. Oh, and to my next point: Unity let me use the documentary to help build my Kickstarter campaign a couple months later.

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5) Kick-freaking-starter.

I love it! Pinstripe would have never been finished without it's Kickstarter campaign. It’s kind of odd to think about, but last year, when the Kickstarter finished I thought to myself, “100K. Do I really need 100K to finish this thing? I’m basically done with the game.” I was certainly wrong. In the game industry, and especially in the indie game field, it’s so easy to underestimate the amount of work and money involved in getting a project off the ground. That said, regardless of what I thought, it sure felt good leaving my desk job for good to pursue my dream career. It felt so good.

Here’s how it went down: I’m eating my lunch in private in the dark basement at the marketing agency I worked for for three-years (I was pretty depressed during these years), and I hit the launch button on Kickstarter. Within the hour, I think about 6 grand was raised. It was at that point that I knew I was out of there for good, and onward to starting my own full-time game studio. Eventually over 100K was raised, and it was a euphoria I wish I could experience again. I’m so grateful to my backers on Kickstarter, because I know without a shadow of a doubt I would have never released Pinstripe without them.

SPECIAL BONUS THING-THAT-WENT-RIGHT: My Wife

I don’t cry very often. But last night, I was listening to Such Great Heights by The Postal Service (my wife and I used to listen to this when we first met before even Coma was released in 2010), and I began to struggle to hold back tears. I didn’t want my wife to see me, so I ran outside under the night sky and began to weep. I feel stupid saying it, but knowing why I was crying doesn’t make me feel so bad: Kelsey stuck with me through the ups and downs of making Pinstripe, and I would have cracked and quit if she didn't believe in me. She eventually came outside and we just talked about how crazy the journey has been. Making games is mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting. For most indie game devs, they are likely working day jobs and pursuing their dream of making games under gloomy lamp-light in cheap apartments. This often interferes with basically everything involved in a normal life: friends, family, partying, recreational stuff, etc. College for me consisted of thinking about Pinstripe in class and working on Pinstripe in my apartment or the library at night. Through it all, I had a dedicated cheer-leader shouting me to the finish line.

1) Media Coverage

I’m assuming I don’t have to go into the importance of getting noticed. I struggled to get coverage during the last two years of the development of Pinstripe, and launch day was no different. A TIME article gave the game a 5/5 on the day it came out, but a good chunk of reviews for Pinstripe came a bit later than I expected. I can't quite say with confidence this effected the game's launch in any way, but it certainly concerned me. Everyone involved in the launch strategy hit the ground running months before launch, sending a bunch of Steam keys and trying to engage the Kickstarter community, but we honestly got hit with some bad luck. Outlast 2, Little Nightmares, and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe all launched around that week. We tried so hard to find the perfect window, and that’s the week we landed on. Pretty frustrating, but I think a long-term strategy for any game is likely more effective anyway. I’m still crossing my fingers for a healthy shelf-life for Pinstripe.

2) Project Management

I wasn’t the most scheduled or organized person during the first years of Pinstripe’s development. I recall scrapping full scenes from the game without a thought, and rebuilding game-play mechanics from scratch because they were broken, rushed, and boring. I don’t recall creating a single story-board, I never wrote out the plot, and began coding puzzles before researching how to do it effectively. It’s a lot of fun saying “Pinstripe took 5 years” but what I haven’t really said is that most of that was wasteful, ignorant development. Fortunately, I feel I made it out of the messy production unscathed, because Pinstripe is generally bug free, healthy and well-received on the Steam store. But again, it took five years. Five years is too long, and it will likely take a fifth of that for my next game thanks to something called planning. I think the first concept I drew was two years in:

3) Money

I’m still living on a reasonably thin salary, but I’m fortunate that the salary is generated by game-development. For three years, the money I was making was from a full time gig as a designer, so most of my time was not making Pinstripe. When I was making Pinstripe, I was tired and fighting to find motivation. What if you spent three year working out and you didn’t gain a single pound of muscle? Sometimes it felt like that. On top of that, I didn’t have a ton of great equipment, and illustrated Pinstripe’s scenes on a laptop screen. I can’t remember when this happened, but I recall a photo of me on my laptop working on Pinstripe posted by Unity, and someone mentioned the shot being faked because nobody makes games on a laptop. I think at that point I decided it was time to get a bigger monitor. Overall, having a tight budget basically limits your game's quality across the board. QA, localization, ratings, high quality graphics, great music, marketing, and a somewhat lengthy game all cost a great deal of money. I’m grateful some money eventually came when it did, because I desperately needed it.

4) Unity Script

Don’t use UnityScript to make your Unity game. Every time you save a UnityScript file, it takes an unholy amount of time to compile into Unity as opposed to a C# file, and the support for it is not great. The folder structure for Pinstripe is ridiculous and bizarre because of UnityScript. I have a folder called “Zippy Scripts”.

Yes, it’s called “Zippy Scripts".

I needed a folder labeled with a Z so that it was at the bottom of my project hierarchy (for sanity), and I also needed a folder that was compiled fast and last. The explanation here is likely convoluted, but by year four I had so many UnityScript classes that the compile time was taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I ended up moving all my scripts into a folder that didn’t compile every time I hit “save”. The problem here was in order to reduce compile times I had to move my UnityScripts next to C# scripts in relation to their compilation, meaning any C# classes could not access the UnityScripts. At this point, I was desperate, and created “translation” classes. Ones that were in a folder that allowed for variables to be passed between classes written in different languages. I know, this makes no sense. But it worked. Metaphor: it's as if I placed the final card onto a house of cards and for some reason, the card itself stood up straight and didn’t fall over. At this point, I just said “I don’t know why it works but it works” and left it. So now the compile times are faster, but if I could do it again I’d use C#. Hands down. It’s just faster.

5) Advice

I’m not going to go into specifics, but plenty of advice was thrown from all directions about Pinstripe over the course of it's 5-year development. Some of this advice was taken because of fear, other times because it came from genuine friendships, and other times I took it because it was from “professionals”. I don’t quite know what the rule of thumb here is, but I’m formulating something. I think, for me, you should compare people’s advice with your gut feeling built from experience. In my case, I sometimes trusted people who had lots of “experience”, when in reality, I potentially had more. This sounds petty and I’m sorry if it does, but it’s certainly important for indies who lack confidence to understand.

I feel a sense of relief, a sadness, and a sudden spirit of adventure — I have no idea what lies ahead, but I have a feeling it’s going to be really fun. I can’t say right now what that whole experience was about. Lately, I've been wondering if it was just some silly teenage dream that manifested into an obsession. Who knows. Time will tell. As for future projects, I have this game idea in my head, and I can’t wait to get it out. I’m excited to start and tell no-one. The secret feeling of starting a project and it being only yours is very special. I guess that was really the fuel for Pinstripe: a feeling of making something awesome, with 100% of it coming straight from my heart, and no-one could tell me no.

#IFTTT #Blogger

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