#like a random background member of the guild who's going off on their own jobs

[princess-of-the-corner]

how would you write a fairy tail self insert fic? like how would you structure the story and go about it?

[howtofightwrite]

Followup: Oragnized Crime Recruitment

The Godfather book and the Mafia games, specifically the first Mafia game, are the closest examples of what the Original Asker wants for his game. Goodfellas is another potential example to base the process of one's recruitment into the criminal underworld. In general, recruitment in fiction is generally based on doing jobs and earning a reputation as to one's success at doing jobs. In Goodfellas, Henry Hill started off doing simple, legal-ish errands for the local mafia before the gangsters saw his potential and entrusted him with more illegal jobs. Original Asker's character could therefore be someone who is affiliated with a mobster, but not part of the inner circle until the character pulls off jobs which makes them someone worth recruiting to the organization. Or one could go the Tommy Angelo route and save a mobster's life. -ironwoodatl01

So, it's worth remembering that Goodfellas is (in broad strokes) non-fiction. Henry Hill was a real person. (1943-2012) He was an associate of the Lucchese family. There are some historical, “inaccuracies,” with the film. Though, his arrest in 1980 for narcotics, and turning state's witness is historically accurate, though the film skims over the part where he was ejected from the witness protection program in 1987. Goodfellas was adapted from Nicholas Pileggi's non-fiction book, Wiseguy. I haven't read the book, but it's plausible that some of the historical discrepancies may have come from the book.

In this case, the OP specifically wanted to avoid a background where someone grew up in the neighborhood. Which, I mean, that is their choice, but it is a very popular recruitment method, in part because it's very effective at screening out potential cops, or even recruiting potential tame cops down the line.

Ironically, thinking back now, Mafia, the original Saints Row, and Franklin's arc from GTA5 are all potential reference points for what the OP wanted, and thinking back on it now, they were asking for input on a game, rather than prose, so I should have factored that in with the original ask. The tricky thing about each of those examples is that they're dependent on a lot of very specific moving parts in their respective stories. (Though, to be fair, I barely remember the original Mafia.) None of them are strictly realistic, but they're all internally plausible, when you start factoring in the various character motivations at work.

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Thieves Guild recruitment in Skyrim, which is one of the goofiest criminal recruitments I've seen in a non-parody. Brynjolf grabs some random psychopath wandering through and says, “ah, yes, you must be a master of pickpocketing and interested in a life of crime.” Does it make any sense? Nope. Does it go a long way towards explaining why the Thieves Guild is falling apart? Yeah, kinda, when you think about it. Does the introduction work? For some players, yes.

If the player wants to get into a questline, the justification can be pretty flimsy and still work for that player. Usually we talk about suspension of disbelief like it's a universal constant, but it's individual per member of your audience. Normally, you want to do whatever you can to ensure the suspension of disbelief is as strong as possible. However, in a game, the player's own emotional investment can help shore up weak points.

I'm going to take a quote out of context (a little), but I'm reminded of a quote from Richard K. Morgan about Halo, “[it] is full of these bullshit archetypal characters and there's no real emotional effect.” And, while he was certainly dragged for that quote (and, really the entire interview, it was a mess), he wasn't wrong. The writing in Halo isn't what does the heavy lifting, a large part of that is the player's effort to get through the story. And, in basically any other medium, this would be an exceptionally bad thing.

You won't make your novel better by forcing your audience to complete reflex tests before they start each chapter.

But, with video games, the gameplay interludes, can actually build emotional investment for the player. Even on very flimsy premises.

I've often written about how writing in different mediums requires different approaches and has different strengths. If you want gorgeous combat, then live action or animation are the best forms for you story. If you want visually striking images that linger, comics might be the right choice. If you really want to get into a character's head and live there, prose will let you do that with a level of fine control that is difficult to replicate. (And, note, there's a lot of different pros and cons, so this isn't an exclusive list.) The funny thing is, if you want your audience to do the heavy lifting for suspension of disbelief, that's one of the places where video game writing really shines.

And so we loop back to the Skyrim example. Brynjolf's approach to finding new talent is absolute clown shoes, but it's something you might not notice if this is why you wandered into Riften. It only becomes a problem when you're just there to snuff Grelod the Kind, or are looking for someplace to unload all this garbage you picked up while delving into a Dwemer ruin up in the mountains.

This doesn't mean you should abandon the idea of good writing, but if your player is on the same page as you, you won't need to worry about having something completely believable. For example, the plot-line of Mafia, or (the original) Saints Row.

-Starke

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[vyhtheas]

FFXIV: A Random Retelling Character Bio’s

Name: Ammathrel’a Vyhtheas Nightfall

Age: 23 

Race: Miqo'te 

Ethnicity: Keeper of the Moon

Gender: Male

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 175lb

Hair: Black

Eyes: Dark Purple

Blood Type: A

Special Markings: 

Three black markings on the bridge of his nose used as a symbol of the three main primal -Egi he can summon.

Black dragon-shaped marking on the left cheek, used to symbolize Bahamut and a mock "Symbol of Knowing".

Place of Birth: Limsa Lominsa

Birthday: Fifth Astral Moon, Second Sun

Affiliations: Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Maelstrom 

Jobs (Classes): Summoner, Scholar, Dark Knight, Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja

Personality:

Ammathrel' a is usually described as being intelligent, quiet, and studious, often seen with a book in hand, and carries himself in a mature, serious manner.

While he is more or less introverted, he becomes more open around his friends and develops a more warm personality, and does his best to show that he appreciates the time he gets to spend with them.                                         

He does suffer from anxiety, usually worrying about how his friends honestly think of him, or feeling overwhelmed in certain situations, sometimes to the point of getting anxiety attacks and losing focus. 

These anxiety attacks can be an issue, especially in combat, causing him to lose bouts that he would have won otherwise.             

In combat he prefers to stay out of range of his opponent, having his -egis engage with the opponent. When he's fighting with others, he elects to use more supportive spells like shields, buffs, and healing but can go all-out offensive when the need arises. He, Vemmasera, and Ulleonne synergize the best together, with Vemmasera doing her best to keep the attention of those they're in combat with her being surprisingly fast and being generally the most threatening. At the same time, Ulleonne usually stands near him caster spells of her own and going into melee when needed. 

Background: 

Ammathrel'a was found abandoned as an infant inside Seasong Grotto outside Limsa and then taken into the care of the Yellowjackets. After weeks of no success tracking down his parents, they have trouble deciding where to send him. During this time Baderon Tenfingers, the proprietor of the Drowning Wench and Limsa's Adventurers guild works with the Inn keep to have a room he can stay in, and when not busy spends time with him. However, weeks go by without any success in tracking down any family, so Baderon decides to adopt him, while he can't spend as much time with him as he would like, he does his best to raise him with the assistance of the Maelstorm guild.

Later in his life, it is discovered that he is mute, so Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn herself orders resources to help Baderon teach Ammathrel' a sign language. She also executes an order for the Yellowjackets and Maelstrom to be encouraged to learn sign language so they can better accommodate those like Ammathrel' a. By this time he's known by most of those stationed around Limsa. He is affectionately given the title of the "Son of Limsa Lominsa" with their only hope that he feels he's apart of a prominent family in Limsa.

When Baderon is busy, he's usually either sent to Summerford Fields not far from Limsa where he helps with farming and other small jobs and being the safest place outside of Limsa, becoming sort of a second home for him. Displaying an innate gift for Arcane magic at a young age, he's let into the Arcanist guild so he can better control and hone his abilities. Unexpectedly he passes each lesson with aplomb, eventually clearing everything they could teach him in a matter of months.

Rumours of his exploits eventually reach Sharlyan, where they send envoys to Limsa Lominsa to encourage Baderon to have the young prodigy study there, believing they could teach him everything would need to become a true master of the arcane. Baderon does consider it as an option, especially with him having less time to properly take care of Ammathrel'a, and higher education would only be a good thing. At first, he denies their requests with him believing that they're just using him as a ploy to add to their rank of talented scholars, without having a care about him and whether he would feel at home in Sharlyan. He's also worried about how Ammathrel'a would feel like he's sending him off to a place, far from Limsa. While Ammathrel' a is young, he shows much interest in the chance to go somewhere new, and Bcann't want Ammathrel' a to miss such an opportunity. After awhile the envoys are able to address all of his concerns, promising to provide the best care possible for Ammathrel' a.

Once in Sharlyan, he is taken under the care of Archon Louisoix Leveilleur who has two grandchildren of his own, Alisaie and Alphinaud, and becomes a sort of a big brother too them. On a tour of Sharlyan, he meets Y'shtola, and Ulleonne, who are pupils under Master Matoya. Despite their old rivalry, Louisoix beseeches her to introduce them to Ammathrel' a, seeking to introduce him to kids around his age, as he doesn't have anyone around his age. However she refuses at first after Louisoix brings up how he was abandoned as an infant and didn't have many people in Sharlyan, and Master Matoya curses him with for trying to use such a personal event of Ammathrel'a's to persuade her, and for the other teachers removing Ammathrel' a from his home, especially with him being so young, having heard of the envoy's difficulties in recruiting him and Baderon's concerns, not realizing it was Ammathrel' a's own final decision. Howeverelates seeing Ammathrel'a's react to this, and Ulleonne bringing up how she relates to him in a way with her own parents not being positive in her own life, she later relents, warning Louisoix that if she see's Louisoix not doing enough for Ammathrel' a, he'll grow up to spite him. After this Y'shtola and Ulleonne start to get to know Ammathrel' a, even learning sign language so they can communicate with him and it becomes a way for them to bond, and later becoming best friends, with Matoya bringing up how Ammathrel' a seemingly is able to bring the best out of the people around him and jokes that she wishes he was her pupil, but as a few years pass she sees that he learns well under Louisoix. After the evacuation of Sharlyan's colony in Dravanian, Ulleonne and Y'shtola end hg to leave their mentor Master Matoya behind, so they and Ammathrel' a set up their own study group, often being seen studying or practising spells together Beyond sign language, Ulleonne and Y'shtola find they are able "read" him usually by looking at his facial expressions, even when subtle, to tell what he's thinking or how he feels about something.

As they get older Ammathrel' a and Ulleonne develop feelings for each other and get into a relationship, with Y'shtola being supportive of them, and often gives Ammathrel' as much advice as she can offer, which he thanks her dearly.

After graduating Ulleonne and Y'shtola join the Circle of Knowing, with the both of them joining Louisoix to help establish the Waking Sands in Thanalan and Ammathrel'a goes to Limsa to reconnect with the home he left early in his life. Despite being in a long-distance relationship, they both are supportive of each other's different goals and often write each other on a near-constant basis, with Ulleonne trying to visit as much as she can.

As time goes on, however, Ulleonne starts to miss Ammathrel' a, but hides this from everyone. Still, Y'shtola isn't fooled by this and expresses discontent with the other members seemingly using Ulleonne as an errand-girl and keeping her away from Ammathrel'a. 

While Ulleonne adamantly dismisses this as she knew what she was getting into joining the circle of knowing, doing her part for the group of friends that helped her and Ammathrel'a adjust to life in Sharlyan. The other members agree that though that they have been somewhat selfish in keeping Ulleonne under their whims for so long with only a few visits with Ammathrel' a, and have her move to Limsa to be with Ammathrel' a.        

While in Ul'dah, Ulleonne meets Vemmasera who has freshly emigrated to Eorzea, being one of the few Viera to leave their clan to find adventure in lands far beyond their home. Vemmasera expresses having trouble adjusting to the culture of Eorzea and her new surroundings, so Ulleonne recruits her to the Circle of Knowing. On one of her visits to Limsa Lominsa, she introduces her to Ammathrel'a, and the two of them slowly become friends. Vemmasera is quite a bit different from Ammathel'a, being more outgoing and extroverted than Ulleonne. But the two of them get along well and decide to pick up bounty hunting together to earn money and as something they can do together. One of the most impressive exploits in his bounty hunting career with Vemmasera is when they managed to board an infamous pirate galleon, taking out the entire crew and taking control of the vessel, even managing to pilot the galleon into port to turn in their bounty.

Ammathrel'a also grows to appreciate Vemmesera's company, she learns sign language and later develops feelings for each other. They wanted to pursue a relationship, but thinking Ulleonne would be upset with them, but this doesn't turn out to be the case. Ulleonne somewhat predicted something like this would happen, and Y'shtola brings up that while Ammathrel'a has the appearance of a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te, he wasn't exactly born to a specific clan, and brings up the idea that Seeker of the Sun have multiple partners, and how he should do what makes him happy.

Character Details:

Ammathrel'a is mute and relies on sign language to communicate, although even doesn't have a lot to say, his friends usually describe him as more of a listener, which they often appreciate whenever they need someone to talk. In contrast, he doesn't have much to reply with, and they find he's good for bouncing ideas.

Being a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te, he is mostly nocturnal and also being a hefty sleeper, often sleeps in late, only just barely being able to get up early. Despite this, he is exceptionally punctual; however, sometimes, this comes at the cost of missing meals and being a bit disorganized.

His outfits usually include coats or robes, even when in hot areas to the confusion of others assuring that he never feels uncomfortable, and likes feeling warm. Surprisingly he doesn't sweat much in the heat, making some question if he was born in Thanalan. However, he hates cold weather, bundling up excessively to try and feel as warm as possible.

While not obsessive about cleaning, his living quarters are notably spotless, except for desks which he uses to study on, with books and papers usually all over the place. He does exceptionally well keeping up with his hygiene, usually taking long showers/baths when he wakes up and when he goes to bed. Often the scent of lavender marks his presence, as it helps him feel more relaxed and less anxious.

Vemmasera and Ammathrel'a's bounty career caused them to gain quite the reputation in Limsa Lominsa, and they manage to amass quite a fortune. However Ammathrel'a would start gambling his half of the wealth away, usually in games of chance, or spending lots during nights out, and this became quite an issue, going against the wishes of his best friends. Ulleonne later forces him to limit his spending and put a majority of his fortune into a savings coffer, only to be used during emergencies.

After the calamity, when he acquires the echo, it gives him a small form of telepathy. Still, only his closest friends can hear him with it, as it's exhausting to keep up, so he doesn't use often, so he only uses it out of necessity or to say "I love you" to his girlfriends.

Ulleonne 

Name: Ulleonne Phoutoux

Age: 25

Race: Elezen

Ethnicity: Wildwood

Gender: Female

Height: 8'0"

Weight: 250lb

Hair: Black with Orange-ish highlights

Eyes: Light Blue

Place of Birth: Ishgard

Birthday: Fifth Astral Moon 17th Sun

Affiliations: Scions of the Seventh Dawn, House Fortemeps

Jobs (Classes): Red Mage, Black Mage, White Mage, Summoner

Personality:

Ulleonne is a generous and compassionate person, usually doing as much as she can to help the people around her, especially those who are less fortunate, and supporting causes such as the Circle of Knowing (later the Scions of the Seventh dawn) with her massive inherited fortune. 

She sees this money long unearned by her family, and make amends for those they've either shunned or hurt in their rise to power. 

While she can be somewhat stern, it's never without reason, only being so when it's justified.

She's very sophisticated, and while might seem a bit cold to strangers, she's very sweet-natured to her friend's, especially towards Ammathrel'a.

She would often compliment him to the point of him blushing, and he would return the favour and is one of the things that brought them together.

She has a fascination with magic, especially thaumaturgy, later learning how to wield a rapier and becoming a red mage, enjoying its combat style which combined black and white magics.

Background:

Ulleonne was the child of two powerful barons in Ishgard, and her early life living in a luxurious manor, with her parents hoping that she'll become what they envision will keep their long-standing history and fortune standing.

However, her house has an infamous long history of being incredibly selfish and mistreating the lowborn in Ishgard and using any opportunity they can to consolidate more power with the Holy See and grow their fortune by profiting off the prolongation of the Dragonsong War.

While in a caravan in Coerthas, they are attacked by dragons, being unable to save her family from the attackers. She's managed to use powerful magics to drive off the dragons and make her way back to civilization and return to Ishgard. 

While she was entitled to inheriting her family's power and fortune, she was too young to be able to manage so much on her own, and feeling overwhelmed she starts looking for help, her requests for support ignored. Eventually, Lord Edmont de Fortemps elects to have her become a ward of House Fortemps, believing that she deserves to have a life outside of her family's history, doing what he can to preserve Ulleonne's estate. 

In this time Lord Edmont notices the strength of her innate magical abilities, and they both agree that she should get to study at Sharlyan's colony in Dravnia, so she can be away from anyone who has ill will towards her own house. 

Being sent to Sharlyan leads her to become an extremely skilled and powerful archmage, and meeting her best friends Y'shtola and Ammathrel'a.

Vemmasera

Age: 28

Race: Viera 

Ethnicity: Rava

Gender: Female

Height: 8’5” (Foot to the tip of ears)

Weight: 267lb

Hair: Light Purple with Pink-ish highlights

Eyes: Emerald Green

Place of Birth: Golmore Jungle

Birthday: First Umbral Moon 32nd Sun

Affiliations: Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Maelstrom

Jobs (Classes): Astrologian, Warrior, Paladin, Dark Knight 

Personality:

Vemmasera is very energetic and excitable, especially with many things being new to her after being somewhat sheltered where she was born. This energy is often infectious to those around her, and her friends describe her as being somewhat chaotic, but good-hearted. A fun person to be around, with her friends crediting her in being an outstanding mood lifter. She is extremely affectionate and albeit flirtatious towards Ulleonne and Ammathrel’a, with the both of them returning these in kind.

Shes often not seen without Tarot cards on hand, using them to help her make decisions, or giving readings to her friends, usually aiming to provide them with the most favourable direction as she can.

Background:

Vemmesera like most Rava was born in the Golmore Jungle, to a very tradition-based clan, and becomes a high priestess, organizing her clan’s traditional events and worships, usually based on the clan’s worshipping the goddess Menphina and their reverence towards the night.

Later in her career as a high priestess, she learns how to use an astrologian star globe to heal members of her clan affected by ailments and injuries, and gains more reverence in her clan, seemingly powerful healing powers.

However, she later starts wondering what else could be outside her clan and wanting to make more of a difference in the world, and in secret decides to leave and find her way to this mystical land spoken by other Rava who’ve left the clan. She makes a lie that her goddess told her true destiny lies beyond and departs the Golmore Jungle, after making sure her other clan members won’t be overwhelmed with her leaving.

After much effort, she manages to make it to Ul’dah where she meets Ulleone and later moves to Limsa.

In combat, while she can effectively use healing and offensive magics to some capacity, she prefers using weapons like axes and swords, being very physically strong and having amiable skill with handling such weapons. Despite not having any previous training in armed combat, getting stronger and more masterful when she joins the Marauders Guild in Limsa, and her bounty hunting with Ammathrel’a.

She also is an expert armour and weaponsmith, preferring to use weapons and armours she’s used herself, believing this helps her understand more about combat and being able to look for vulnerabilities in her and her enemies, and tailor accordingly.

[fallen029]

Hey so I just saw your miraxus post about Master finding out and I was wondering if you could do one where they (miraxus) tell the guild about them getting married

I’ve touched on this before (I feel like I say that in response to every request, but hey, I have a bunch of one-shots), in Clandestine and here’s the original request that spawned this one. Wedding Wars also has a secret marriage (sort of) in it’s plot, so here’s that. Anyways, thanks for asking for so much guild stuff, guys. I forgot how much I liked writing the chaos of them all together. 

.

They were arguing about which job to take, Natsu and Lucy were, because he wanted to go on this cool sounding quest for treasure while she wanted to go the much safer bet of journeying to find a bandit with a reward clearly marked while his was ambiguous. Following a long discussion over just what ambiguous was as Happy snickered in the background, Lucy had nearly won the slayer over to her side when it happened.

Just as she was preparing to snatch the job down and skip right over to the bar, to ask the Kinana to put in the request for them, the guildhall doors opened and in walked Mirajane. And Laxus. Which was weird on it’s own because Mira rarely entered during midday; she’d usually been around for quite awhile. And he wasn’t much of an afternooner, honestly. Laxus either came in at the crack of dawn, to snag a job, or slumped in late in the evening to start his drinking off early before hitting a more apt bar.

But there they were, right around noon, walking in together.

And oh, it was clear they were coming in together. Not just happened upon the doorway at the same time. No. Laxus had an arm tossed over the woman’s shoulder and she had this giddy look about her. A real one. Different than the usual facade of one she put on.

Neither had been seen in a week as Mirajane had claimed to want to take off, a rarity, but a welcome one, everyone felt, and Laxus was prone to long absences, but the sight of them then, wrapped up in one another, was more than a cause for concern.

Lisanna, who was filling in and helping Kinana tend bar in her oldest sibling’s absence, rushed right over at the sight of Mirajane there, once more, in the guildhall, but found herself skidding to a stop as both she and all those around them took notice of the obvious oddity.

“Mira,” she began slowly and uncertainly as she glanced between the two. Mira was grinning brightly and Laxus looked off. “What’s, uh, going on?”

“Well,” her older sister started as, in the hall now, she looked all about as, slowly, the noise died down and everyone began to wonder much the same. “Laxus and I got married.”

“You what?” was the resounding noise from all those present.

Happy, in fact, fell from where he was fluttering about above them, right onto Lucy’s head.

“Hey, cat-”

“Am I,” he asked her, “dreaming?”

“Married?” Natsu looked to Lucy. “Is that what she said?”

“Would you both,” Lucy complained as she reached up to grab the Exceed and shove him off on the slayer, “shut up? I have to go talk to Mira.”

Everyone did in that moment. Save three people who had to talk to Laxus.

“What is she speaking of, Laxus?” Freed was the most impassioned. “We demand answers!”

“Answers,” Bickslow’s baby’s agreed as the man himself was slinking through the crowd, so he could get real close to Laxus and Mira. Mostly Mira. For, uh, inspections reasons. “Papa needs answers!”

“Marrying a Strauss?” Evergreen fanned herself as she stood from the table she definitely was not just sharing with the male member of said family. “Who would ever even concieve such an idea, much less- Elfman!”

He shoved her, full on, out of the way then, to get to Mirajane. “Big sis, I think you’re delirious! Come sit down. Did Laxus slip you something?”

“My boss here,” Bickslow snickered as he was beside the glaring Laxus then and giggly Mirajane, “slipped her somethin’ alright, didn’t ya, boss? Huh? Hey, Mrs. Boss. Can I call ya that? After this whole thing goes sour, you can be Mrs. Ex. Ya like that?”

“Fuck off.” And Laxus shoved him away finally as Mirajane only stared. But he was far from the only one at their sides.

“You cannot,” Lisanna, coming to grab her sister and drag her away from the slayer, “be serious, Mira. How did this happen? You-”

“Marriage is a serious commitment.” Erza had risen from her seat at a table with Cana and Gray, but didn’t make a move towards the pair. No. She just stood and seemed to be glowering somewhat. “One that you must plan for. Even years, decades, perhaps, out. Do you even own a wedding dress, Mirajane? Have you even dreamed of the perfect one? Bought many, even, perhaps, over the years? Hmm? Is no one else concerned with this?”

“I think,” Cana muttered to Gray who remained sitting, just glancing all about because, yeah, this sounded like the exact fuckery that happened on a day when everyone was around, “I mightta had too much to drink. Did Mirajane say that she and Laxus are-”

“Married?” Suddenly, they were joined at their table. Err, well, Juvia didn’t so much sit at the table, but rather, practically, in Gray’s lap, nearly causing him to spill his ale all over himself. “That is what I fear I heard as well. Could you imagine? Marrying someone you only know through random encounters at the guildhall? That will be nothing like our wedding, in the coming months, will it, my darling Gray?”

“Our what?” he complained while trying to shove her then, out of his lap.

“She doesn’t even own a wedding dress.” Still standing, Erza fumed enough for all of them. “How is this fair? It is unjust!”

“It was a surprise,” Mirajane insisted to all those around. Lucy finally had shed the dead weight that was Natsu and Happy (for the time being, at least) and shoved her way through the others so she could stare at her best friend as she spoke. Mostly though, Lisanna’s gaze was the one that the oldest Strauss sibling was holding. “Really. Laxus asked me and then we decided, while we were on our trip-”

“You went on a trip with him?” Elfman raged from where he stood. “What kind of man goes a trip with another man’s sister without saying something to him?”

“Probably the kind that marries her without saying something,” Wakaba suggested around a cigar to Macao who stood by with crossed arms and a glare.

Made sense though.

“Your grandfather isn’t going to like this,” Macao said simply as Laxus, finding his gaze, glared right back. “You know that?”

“I don’t like it,” Lisanna wailed then as she stared up at her sister with tearful eyes. “I mean…Laxus? Mira? Really? Him?”

“Hey!” Bickslow was shoving up then, from where Laxus had tossed him. “Boss! Ya gonna let her talk down to you now? She’s your sister! Put her in her place! Like this.” And he looked to Lisanna then. “I mean…Mira? Laxus? Her?”

“That’s right, Bickslow.” Freed was rare to pick on a defenseless woman (he felt Lisanna pretty defenseless), but desperate times called for desperate measures. “We will crush Lisanna for her insolence!”

“I mean, I dunno about that, dude,” Bickslow snickered as his babies cheered on the idea, “but if that’s what you’re into-”

“Hey!” Elfman, reinvigorated, was shoving his way to the front then. “You will not talk to or about my sisters like that, you-”

“I will so long as she speaks in of Laxus that way,” Freed retorted with a glare.

“Now, now,” Mirajane tried to appease them all though, at the moment, her main focus was pulling Lisanna in for a hug. “You’re all brothers now. Play nice.”

“The hell they are.” Laxus could not hold his tongue for much longer. “They ain’t my brothers.”

“Well, Elfman definitely is, now, dragon, so-”

“Dragon?” Lucy repeated. It was drown out, however, by Happy landing on her head and saying the word to a much higher volume. As she tried to shake him off though, she felt a shove in the back as Natsu was beside her now.

“Hey! Laxus! Where do you get off, huh?” the pink haired slayer complained.

“Probably on Mrs. Boss, I’d assume,” Bickslow snickered which made Elfman rush to attack him, but then Freed was drawing his sword on him and, well, it was a brawl from there.

Still, Natsu’s desire to fight was washed out as he had his eyes on a better prize.

“You can’t marry Lisanna’s sister and not at least fight me for her,” Natsu growled and he shoved Lucy again, this time to get passed her and Laxus was so frustrated then, with the entire thing, that it was just a single crack of thunder, over the pandemonium already going on, that ended the Salamander right where he stood.

“I knew,” Pantherlily complained, over at the table he and Gajeel were still at, the former standing atop it while the later just grumbled about the racket, “I shouldn’t have come in today.”

“Oh, it’s alright, Lily,” Levy giggled. She was sitting with them, before, but stood now, craning her neck to see over everyone, watching the events unfold. Still, she reached over then to pull the black Exceed into her arms and rub at his ears, so he didn’t have to cover them with his paws. “Just a little thunder.”

“A little?” he griped as Gajeel only snorted, still grumbling.

“Who the fuck gets married nowadays anyways?” he griped, more hung up on the idea rather than the participants. He couldn’t give a shit what Laxus did, at all, so long as he left him the hell alone and Mirajane, well, he was on the outs with her after an incident in which he definitely didn’t steal her guitar before she was going to preform at the hall because it wasn’t fair that he wasn’t allowed to preform too. Nope. Definitely didn’t happen. “It’s stupid.”

“Well,” Levy thought, hardly glancing at him. “I might get married someday. I’d hope.”

He choked some, on his drink, before grumbling once more, though this time it was something along the lines of, well, maybe, if someone was really into that idea, it wasn’t so bad.

“Elfman!” Evergreen was the one yelling then as she stepped over the fallen body of Natsu as well as Lisanna, who’d detangled herself from her sister just to go check on him (one shot of Laxus’ lightning and he was pretty bad off) “Let Bickslow go!”

“Never!” He had the other guy in a headlock then as Freed kept shouting at him that if he didn’t release him, he’d be forced to stab him. The man’s wooden dolls weren’t doing so great either. “Not until he apologizes to my sisters!”

“My,” Bickslow gasped out, “sisters too. Now.”

“No,” Laxus growled as Mirajane was shoving at him then, telling him to get everyone to calm down, “they’re not!”

“How can you get married, Mira,” Erza was yelling still, “without a wedding dress? How is it, even, that someone who might have a wedding dress or seven on hand is not gifted the bless of a wedding?”

“Seven?” Cana slurred with a frown as even Juvia stopped peppering Gray with hugs and kisses at the number.

“Perhaps even eight,” the scarlet swordswoman admitted as her cheeks turned much the same.

“What would you even do with that many?” Gray asked, also at least somewhat interested. Maybe. He wans’t sure. He also felt in awe of the woman. “Erza?”

“I like,” she defended as, slowly, she sank back into her seat, “to have options.”

“Or,” Juvia decided then as her eyes glazed over and she imagined the exact scenario, “you could just have seven separate weddings. With your beloved. Tell me, Erza, do you have one of those? Or-”

“Wh- This isn’t about me!” She frowned at all of them. “This is about the irresponsible decision that Mirajane has made.”

“Yeah, marrying a guy without knowing him is kind of more my thing,” Cana offered, also in awe, it seemed, at such a thought.

“What?” Erza huffed. “I meant getting married without a proper dress.”

But there were much bigger concerns, up at the front, as Mirajane had begun to try and at least explain, a bit, to the others. To ease the tensions.

“There is no way,” Lucy said as she refused to go aid the fallen Natsu (he and Happy were getting on her nerves that day, purposely, like always), “that the two of you have been dating that long, Mira. And none of us knew. Not even Lisanna. No way.”

“I agree.” Lisanna had the dazed Natsu’s head in her lap, but still managed a suspicious glance up at her sister. “If this is some kind of a joke-”

“It’s true,” Mirajane insisted as, finally, Laxus went to break up the guys from their brawl, barking out orders now not only to Freed and Bickslow, but Elfman as well.

“I don’t have to listen to you,” the muscular man growled. “Laxus. Who are you to me?”

“He’s your older brother now, I think,” Happy offered and wow, no, Elfman never considered that.

As he tossed Bickslow from him and into Freed, he got the glares of all three members of the Thunder Legion, but it was his sudden tears that threw Laxusoff.

“Oh, Mira, how’d ya know?” Elfman sobbed. “I always wanted an older brother. And now ya married this guy just to give me one?”

“Well,” Mira began uneasily. “Not exactly, but-”

“Why is he hugging me? Demon, get your brother off me!”

“Demon?” Happy didn’t even give Lucy a chance to question it that time.

“This has to be some sort of setup,” Lisanna kept up, “or something. Sis. Please, tell me that-”

“Would I have this?” Mira asked as she held up her hand to them then, flashing the bright diamond of an engagement ring. “If it was just a joke?”

“U-Uh, hey, Laxus?” Suddenly, Lucy was focused on the seething man who was still being hugged by his brother. “Remember all those times that you were so interested in many going out on a date? Well-”

“Don’t be a gold digger, Luce.” Natsu was better then, sitting up as he rubbed at his head. “Anyone can get loaded, when they’re S-Class. It’s not an accomplishment.”

“I would feel accomplished,” Happy remarked as it was Mira’s head he landed on then, so he could stare down at the ring on her finger. “If I bought a woman that. Is Carla around? Don’t let her see this, Mira. It’ll really undersell that fish I was gonna split with her.”

“This,” Erza complained as, finally, she slammed her hands down onto the table with such force it nearly toppled Cana’s barrel, “is absurd. To be so wasteful with your jewels. I am unimpressed! Disapproving, more like it.”

“Didn’t you just say you spent hundreds of jewels on seven wedding dresses?” Gray asked with a frown.

“Eight,” Juvia whispered.

“And what,” Erza growled at them, “of it?”

“N-Nothing! My darling was merely wondering, is all.”

“T-That’s right! Just curious!”

Levy sighed though, still hanging back with Gajeel and the now soothed Pantherlily. “Imagine. Having a diamond like that. It’s beautiful.”

Gajeel set his jaw. “Not that big. Or nice.”

“You haven’t even looked at it, so-”

“Probably doesn’t even taste good.”

“You don’t eat them, Gajeel!” Lily yelled at him as Levy just stared with wide eyes at the implication.

Mirajane though was all giggles as her sister, ditching out on the no longer downed Natsu, came to stand her hand and examine the ring closer. “Dragon proposed to me, the first night of our trip together-”

“A real man,” Elfman sobbed as Laxus finally shoved him off, “is great at surprises!”

“-but then, the last day we were there, we just thought, you know, why wait?” Mira finished as Lisanna turned her wide, blue eyes onto her sister’s similar ones.

“Because of us, Mira,” Lisanna insisted softly. “I mean, I’m in shock right now, so this is really going to hit me later, but I thought we were always going to, you know, plan weddings together. Yours, mine. Now what?”

“You can still have one. A big one. Laxus will fund it.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Laxus can give you one right now.” Mira looked to the slayer. “Make Freed or Bickslow marry Lisanna. Please. Just so we can have a pretend wedding.”

“What exactly do you think I do, Mira?” Laxus complained. “Huh? Just go around bossing people-”

“Laxus? Question.” Freed even rose his hand. “Are Mira’s commands now as binding as yours? Since you are one in the faith? Are you? One in the faith?”

“The faith of what?” Laxus complained.

“We are,” Mira assured him.

“If Mrs. Boss has the same power as the boss, then I guess we gotta listen to her.” Bickslow sighed. “Okay, Lisanna, even though you’re our sister now, I guess you and Freed gotta get hitched.”

The rune mage bowed his head. “I will do my duty.”

“Don’t call marrying me a duty,” Lisanna carped as Natsu and Happy snickered uncontrollably.

“How many toes will their kids have?” Bickslow mused to his dolls and any who were willing to listen. “Since they’re siblings now? And gonna bone and all that?”

“Can we please,” Evergreen begged then, looking to Laxus, “go somewhere and talk about this? Seriously?”

But that was where they were exactly at the moment as it was then, from all the commotion, that the Master awoke from his midday nap in his office. With a yawn, he’d strode out into the bar expecting to have to break up some sort of fight or something or other over a job request, maybe, or a drunken spat. As he glanced about though, seeing everyone crowding around the entrance way, he wasn’t sure what was afoot and rushed over to where Erza sat.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked the woman. Typically she could handle such disturbances on his behalf, but she seemed to be stewing rather than assisting at the moment. “Erza?”

“Laxus and Mirajane,” the swordswoman got out threw clinched teeth, “have gotten married. Without a wedding dress! Or even true love. What a disgrace.”

“What? Married?”

And it only took a moment. The man grew then, sizes above his natural height, causing the entire guildhall to fall into silence once more.

“Laxus,” growled his super big and super scary grandfather. Mirajane, for some reason, was the only one that giggled at his current state as Makarov’s head brushed the roof of the multiple story building. “What is the meaning of this? Married? I thought you told me you were going to just propose to her first?”

“You knew?” came the group complaint of the hall and, at it, Makarov deflated slowly. Figuratively and literally.

“Yes, well,” the man sighed as he returned to his normal state. “Perhaps a bit, but-”

“We’re in love.”

But that didn’t come from Mira.

Instead, as she beamed from his side, Laxus spoke, arms tossed over his chest as he refused to make eye contact with any of them.

“Ain’t that all that matters?” he griped and, even though Erza still was pretty pissed about he dress and Gajeel was definitely gonna take a least a bit of a nibble of that engagement ring when he got the chance, yeah.

That was all that mattered.

[wanderingstoryteller]

Guild Wars 2: Random Trivia About the Crystal Desert

Hello, fellow lore nerds! I’ve been a busy little Branded this past month: getting back into my college routine, doing a bit more creative writing than usual, and engaging in a fun-but-exhausting new activity my sister calls... “socializing”.

Still, I wanted to find time to cover PoF around here -- I’ve had a couple little side projects cooking, and with Path of Fire just one day away (!!!), I was planning something extra special for you guys. It was gonna be a beginner’s guide to the continent of Elona: background information about the region, its history, inhabitants and whatnot. To make sure everyone’s on the same page, and knows the backstory going in.

Oh, it would have been magnificent. If only Arenanet hadn’t beaten me to the punch by doing the exact same thing, but way better and several days early. 

It put me in a bit of an awkward position. What’s a lore nerd to do when his purpose has been fulfilled? With whom do I share my bounty of knowledge? 

And then I realized what I had known in my heart all along... I don’t need a reason to share pointless trivia about a world I love. To share pointless trivia is its own reward, I say! So, rather than step on Arenanet’s toes by doing the same thing they did, I decided to build on top of it. Because Arenanet’s post, as well-written as it was, didn’t dive into what makes Elona such a fun place to hang around in -- its depth. So many smaller details, not central to the story, but adding that extra layer of uniqueness crucial to making a setting memorable.

So that’s my mission here: show off the more obscure plot elements that make Elona such a cool place to be. Things I hope to see touched on, even if it’s just in a bit of throwaway dialogue. I hope y’all enjoy, and if all goes well, tomorrow I’ll be seeing you on the first ship to Amnoon!

The Junundu

To start with something vaguely relevant: a while back, you might have noticed that the Wurms on the Tarnished Coast were looking a little... different. That turned to be because of a really weird bug, which swapped out the Jungle Wurm model for something else. A model just added to the client.

What is it, you ask? Turns out it’s one of the most feared beasts in all of Elona: The Junundu Wurm.

The Junundu are massive, hardy creatures, one of the few living things able to survive in the Desolation. According to Elonian legend, Palawa Joko tried to tame them, turn them into beasts of war for his conquest of Vabbi. But he failed, so he set them loose across his kingdom. Over the years, though, others have had better luck. During the events of Nightfall, the Sunspears were able to tame a small group of Junundu and use them to cross the Desolation safely. 

Yes, this is the reason I got so excited by the idea of mounts. Who doesn’t want to ride an enormous, all-devouring Sand Wurm? I’d name her Kirby.

The Abandoned Superweapon 

The Crystal Desert is filled with ruins. Before Joko took over, the Elonians were constantly trying to settle the place, drawn to Augury Rock and the possibility of Ascension. Some were killed by the Forgotten protecting the place, but at least one colony destroyed themselves. A civil war broke out over the Crystal Desert’s dwindling resources, and in desperation, one side created a weapon capable of wiping out the entire settlement. Under unknown circumstances, the weapon was activated, and both sides of the conflict ceased to exist. 

What happened to the weapon afterward? Well, for a couple centuries, it just sort of... sat there, in the middle of The Arid Sea. An armed, perfectly functional superweapon, forgotten by everyone. Even Arenanet themselves forgot about it for a little while -- the quest content about the relic had to be cut from Prophecies due to time constraints. And so, for another two centuries, it sat. 

Don’t worry, though -- it was eventually recovered by the Durmand Priory and stored in Special Collections, alongside other lost relics like the Holy Grail, Zhaitan’s tail and Ogden Stonehealer. Tyria is safe... for now. 

Teleporters

You modern Tyrians are spoiled, what with your newfangled Asura Gates and fancy shmancy Waypoints. Back in my day, we had to walk to our destination, and we walked uphill both ways! Unless, that is, we were in the Crystal Desert. Then we kind of had it covered. 

While one Crystal Desert colony was busy constructing the most devastating Indiana Jones reference of all time, another was busy revolutionizing desert commerce. Using magic, they figured out how to transport objects instantly between one point and another -- the same technology found in asuran Waypoints, centuries before the asura were ever encountered on the surface. They spent years constructing a network of these “Teleporters”, making life in the area much easier for anyone that knew how to activate them. When their great work was complete, they proceeded to suddenly and anticlimactically die out, just like all the others. 

Tragically, with nobody left to repair them, the technology behind the Teleporters degraded with time. They now stand as little more than a pretty addition to the desert scenery, and a lasting reminder to us all that humans aren’t nearly as dumb as the asura keep insisting we are. 

Ancestor Trees

Ventari wasn’t the only centaur with a love of nature. Elonian centaurs, like the Veldrunner and Losaru prides, were staunch nature-lovers themselves. In fact, much of local centaur culture revolved around their so-called “Ancestor Trees”. 

According to centaur mystics, the spirits of centaur elders would congregate around these places. Eager to teach the next generation, these spirits blessed the fruit of these trees, imparting their knowledge and wisdom on those lucky enough to get a bite. Somewhat rare, being magic and all, they were highly sought after by Elonians, and vigorously defended by the centaurs.

Most Ancestor Trees were burned or abandoned during Nightfall, when Abaddon’s forces attacked and enslaved many of the centaur prides. At least one survived with help from the Sunspears, but I’m interested to see what happened afterward. Have Ancestor Trees flourished across Elona once again, or has Palawa Joko chosen to uproot them once and for all?

The Order of Whispers

Wait, who let these guys in here!? They aren’t Elonian! 

...Or at least, they aren’t Elonian anymore. 

In the modern day, the Order of Whispers is dedicated to defending Tyria from the Elder Dragons. But few know that this wasn’t their original purpose. The Order of Whispers was originally based in Elona, founded by Turai Ossa himself. Their mission? Guard Palawa Joko’s tomb at all costs. Ensure that he never rises to threaten Vabbi again. And stop anyone who tries to set him free. 

They were good at their jobs -- so good, in fact, that almost nobody outside the Order even knew where the tomb was. But all good things come to an end, and the end came in Nightfall. With Abaddon poised to break free of his prison, the Sunspears needed a way to stop him. The problem? That final climactic battle was going to occur at the Mouth of Torment, smack-dab in the middle of the Desolation. No living thing could cross that sulfurous wasteland intact. But there was one being that knew how they might be able to manage it.

Palawa Joko would tell them. He would tell them all about the Junundu, and how they might be tamed. But first they had to set him free. The Order didn’t like it, but they knew it wouldn’t matter in the end if Abaddon wiped them all out. So the deal was made, and Joko returned. 

A hundred years later, the Order was fleeing for their lives. Vabbi, Kourna and Istan had all surrendered to Joko’s forces, and at long last, his enemies were being purged. To survive, they hopped on a boat and fled to mainland Tyria. There they found a civilization under siege on all sides, and a new purpose. 

But with the path to Elona open once again, I can’t help but wonder... what do they make of their first, greatest failure? And do they plan on setting it right?

The Mordant Crescent

The Sunspears might have freed Palawa Joko, but they didn’t like him very much. The feeling was mutual -- Joko knew the Sunspears would defy him when he made his play for Vabbi, and that’s exactly what they did in the end. Unfortunately, they failed, and for their failure, they suffered the worst of Joko’s wrath. Joko had them hunted mercilessly, one by one, and the hunt was led by an order of his own: the Mordant Crescent. 

Ever a fan of irony, Joko formed the Crescent exclusively out of traitors to the Sunspear Order. He had a lot of them on-hand after the conquest of Vabbi. Many in the Order believed their cause was hopeless, and so defected to the winning side. Some did it for power. Some did it for immortality. Some did it to protect their families. Joko didn’t care about their motivations. As long as they were willing to hunt down their former allies, he would accept them.

All members of the Mordant Crescent are powerful necromancers, and granted far more autonomy than Joko usually allows. This is by design -- Joko already has plenty of mindless minions to go around, after all. What he wants out of the Crescent is something far more dangerous: Heroes. Wandering adventurers that protect Joko’s interests on their own initiative, with the same cunning, creativity and determination that had always been employed against him in the past. 

Much like us? No. Exactly like us. Like the rest of Elonian culture, we too have been reforged in Palawa Joko’s image. 

Tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, we travel to one of the richest settings in the history of the Guild Wars franchise. For those of us that have been there before, it’ll be a nostalgia trip like no other. And for those of you who have never had the pleasure, I hope this post gave you a little taste of why I’m so excited. 

See you tomorrow, and may the Six Five bless you!

[ladystylestores]

The George Floyd protests come home to the tech industry – TechCrunch

The tech industry has generally wished that structural discrimination would go away, while pretending that it already has. But technology can be used by anyone for anything. And so, the world has watched video after video of police brutality against Black people in a real-time stream that plays through the closing days of quarantine, culminating in the death of George Floyd and ongoing protests. As employees have left their remote offices to hit the streets, even executives at the largest tech companies —who would usually avoid such complications — have expressed their support officially, online.

What can we expect to change now? After all, diversity and inclusion programs have been getting cut during the pandemic, and stats on employee diversity and VC partner/portfolio demographics have not seemed to be improving quickly over the past decade, at least in aggregate.

First up, a group of Black tech leaders in the Bay Area, including TechCrunch’s Megan Rose Dickey, has put forward a widely-signed petition that specifies five goals including local support and accountability, and commitment to hiring and investing in Black employees and founders.

On the ground in the startup world, a considerable range of investors say they are setting aside dedicated time and resources for Black founders.

Specific proposals for changes to the status quo strike at the heart of of tech as we know it.

To address existing systemic bias, algorithmic and otherwise, contributor Will Walker writes that tech companies like Amazon, Yelp and Grubhub should find ways to feature and favor Black-owned businesses — even if that means re-writing the recommendation algorithms.

And to address systemic bias in who gets funding, Connie Loizos writes that legislation could be the best answer:

Consider that already, most VCs today sign away their rights to invest in firearms or alcohol or tobacco when managing capital on behalf of the pension funds, universities and hospital systems that fund them. What if they also had to agree to invest a certain percentage of that capital to founding teams with members from underrepresented groups? We aren’t talking about targets anymore, but actual mandates. Put another way, rather than wait for venture firms to organically develop into less homogeneous organizations — or to invest in fewer founders who share their gender and race and educational background — alter their limited partner agreements.

Perhaps tech leaders are responding so strongly today because they realize what’s at stake for them if change does not happen faster?

The future of work, according to the people trying to invest in it

Meanwhile, the very nature of work as we know it is being re-evaluated. Megan caught up with top investors in a very popular investor survey for Extra Crunch this week, to better understand the problems and solutions. Here’s what Ann Muira-Ko of Floodgate Capital thinks will create unicorns, as a sample:

How do you enable solopreneurs to build businesses that are fully tech-enabled? We think of this as the ironman suit for the solopreneur. What financial products and software products can solopreneurs use to provide consumers or their customers with the tech-enabled experiences they have come to expect?

How does reputation follow someone? A resume or LinkedIn profile measures where you’ve worked and for how long. With people working more jobs at varied locales, measuring expertise will become a new challenge.

How does an organization maintain knowledge? If a company is reliant on its people to share its history and knowledge base, how can that be disseminated without relying on internal experts (who are on the decline)?

How should productivity tools (calendars & communication) and enterprise systems (CRM, HR, Finance, etc.) adapt to a multi-modal (work from anywhere) work environment? HR is perhaps the most out-of-date, but every tool will require better integration.

If you’re more interested in the cybersecurity aspects of remote work, you will want to check out security editor Zack Whittaker’s set of investor surveys this week, including this industry overview and this pandemic-focused one.

Data shows investors are in fact busy looking for deals

Are VCs actually open for business during the pandemic? Docsend, a key inside data source, has a new report out this week that shows investor interest has boomed in April. Here’s CEO Russ Heddleston on TechCrunch, talking about the activity on its document management platform:

After the initial decline in March, founders and VCs both bounced back fairly quickly. In fact, the next week VC interest increased 10% while the number of Founder Links Created increased by 12%. However, for the following few weeks the number of links created by founders either stayed flat or dropped. But that isn’t the case for VCs. Demand for pitch decks rose steadily all the way through the week of April 20th, which was 25% up year-over-year. In fact, seven of the top 10 best days for Pitch Deck Interest in 2020 were in the month of April.

The fundraising inactivity has been on the part of the founders! Meanwhile, in a separate article for Extra Crunch, he shares that investors are spreading themselves broadly.

In the recent weeks, as we’ve had higher than average supply and demand, we’ve watched as the average time spent reviewing a deal has declined. In fact, we’re at nearly a two-year low. The only other period when time spent dropped below where it is now was in early 2018 (which not coincidentally was also when demand was at its highest). Twice in 2018 we saw time spent go below three minutes and we’re currently at 3 minutes and 7 seconds.

How a growth marketer helped his high school brother win at TikTok

In a fascinating oral history of sorts for Extra Crunch, Adam Guild explains how he helped his young brother Topper get more than 10 million followers in under five months. Here’s a free excerpt:

At first, figuring out which content would go viral seemed random. There was no correlation between likes, comments, shares or engagement rate.

What made the difference in his successful content? Topper needed to find out to maximize growth, so he went through his TikTok analytics insights and noticed a trend: his most popular videos weren’t the ones with the highest engagement rates. They were the ones with the highest average view durations.

“I wanted to test if this guess was right,” said Topper, “so I posted a few videos with a longer length and teased people in the captions to watch until the end.”

It worked; his videos started getting more views, but it wasn’t a perfect correlation. Some videos with high view durations weren’t taking off.

When Topper asked me for advice, I suggested that the key metric to nail was actually average session duration. That’s what YouTube optimizes for, so it would make sense that TikTok would do the same. This metric measures how long people actually stay on the platform — not on the video — and it can be increased by single videos.

He posted another video to test: one that encouraged viewers to rewatch repeatedly because it had a cliffhanger ending — Topper poured hundreds of Mentos into a massive container of Coke before cutting out the ending.

That video was his most viewed yet, scoring more than 175,000,000 views. He decided to use that lesson in future videos by creating content that helped get viewers addicted to TikTok while also being fun to watch.

Around TechCrunch

Join us to watch five startups pitch off at Pitchers and Pitches on June 10th

Join Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz for a live Q&A: June 11 at 3 pm EST/Noon PDT/7 pm GMT

Across the week

TechCrunch:

LinkedIn introduces new retargeting tools

The coronavirus has hastened the post-human era

Zynga acquires Turkey’s Peak Games for $1.8B, after buying its card games studio for $100M in 2017

Huawei’s terrible week

Extra Crunch:

Is Zoom the next Android or the next BlackBerry?

The IPO window is open (again)

Unpacking ZoomInfo’s IPO as the firm starts to trade

SaaS earnings rise as pandemic pushes companies more rapidly to the cloud

What grocery startup Weee! learned from China’s tech giants

#EquityPod

From Alex Wilhelm:

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

This week, however, the Equity crew (Danny, Natasha, Chris, and Alex) agreed it felt silly to drum up false enthusiasm for funding rounds and startups. Instead, we talked about a more critical topic: systemic racism in the United States. Venture firms and tech executives across the country are pledging to be better following the brutal murder of George Floyd and police brutality.

Better is long overdue.

What follows are the resources we mentioned — and a few more — on the show itself. We’ll be back. Now is the time for sustained momentum and change.

Donations

How to be a better ally

Equity drops every Friday at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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