#like the worth it to not ratio is bleak

[change-the-rules]

latching on to fictional [hc] lesbians for serotonin is truly the stupidest way my deficient brain could've decided to seek out it's boost

[dramionecommentfest]

Reader Profile: Kiwi05622

The Dramione Comment Fest is the fest where readers take center stage! We’re excited to feature profiles of some of our readers throughout the course of the fest. First up, we have the most delightful and lovely @kiwi05622​!

Location: Middle East Hogwarts House: Slytherin Pronouns: she/her When did you start reading Dramione? How did you originally find fics to read?  I started reading in 2017… I think. Or was it 18? I'm not sure anymore. But one of those years lol! So yes, I'm still relatively new to the fandom. But I have devoured so much that it's come to the point where all the stories I've read have started to mingle with each other, and I can't tell you which story is which unless it had a massive impression on me and stood out. How did I find fics? I had this friend of mine, who was a closeted fic reader (I will never forgive her for not introducing me to this world sooner) that kept on dropping these obscure hints my way whenever Harry Potter would come up in our discussions, which was often. She would call me and ask what I'm doing, and my answer would either be, I'm reading HP, or watching one of the movies. She never once judged me or asked me why I'm spending so much time re-reading and rewatching, and I love her for that. One night, she got a little frustrated with me when I whined about NEEDING MORE of it, and she snapped. She was like KIWI JUST GIVE ME TWO CHARACTERS THAT YOU LOVE, and I shyly replied Hermione and Draco? She had the audacity to sigh (she is not a Dramione lover by any means). She sent me a link to Ao3 with a message "Welcome to my life, and I wish you luck stepping foot inside this black hole. Bye.” because I didn't know better. I didn't know what I was getting myself into, I clicked on the FIRST link I found, and this is how Bleak Manor by Pushthebutton became the first story that made me -surprisingly- fall in love with Dramione and fan fiction.  How have you gotten more involved in the Dramione community? What platforms/websites have you participated in, and which do you like? I'm not VERY involved in the fandom, if I'm honest. I'm an introvert by nature. Even though I started reading years ago, I only started joining Facebook groups last year. From there, I stumbled onto Tumblr (which was the weirdest platform I've ever been on, but now I LOVE IT), which then led me to Discord. This is where I'm currently stationed. I'm not as active as I used to be on Facebook. I also reached out to many people on Discord and found friends that I no longer call "internet friends," and I find it easier to communicate to authors over there.

Tell us about any reading preferences or practices!  Okay, I won't talk about my past habits, because looking back, it was really unhealthy. But I remember I used to read at every waking hour; I would only *sleep* to generate energy to keep ongoing: Goodbye food and social life. However, now, I dedicate time to reading, and it's usually 2 hours before I sleep. So I'll have dinner, and then open up my kindle and read until my eyes can't stay open. My days are usually spent talking to friends and doing many things that need to get done. I started off reading with my laptop until my boyfriend got annoyed by the bright lights emanating from my screen (honestly I didn't even think about reading from my phone). He later suggested reading from the iPad, and I stuck to that for a fair bit, until one night, I ran out of battery, and I couldn’t find the charger, so I reluctantly read from my phone, which I later obviously loved. I could read on the train, while making dinner, taking a walk (because we all need to exercise at some point). Then, after my boyfriend was SURE this wasn't just a phase, and I'll probably be reading for the rest of my life, he surprised me with a kindle, and the rest is history.  

Do you like to leave comments? If so, what is your advice for leaving comments?  If I'm completely honest with you, sometimes. I'm guilty of moving on from a chapter to chapter without taking a moment to comment. Telling myself that I'll go back and let the author know how much I enjoyed this part or that part. But I forget. Once I'm done with a story, I want to MOVE ON to the next one. However, in the past year, I've made an active effort to write down everything I feel on my phone while I read on my kindle, so I can go back and paste my review. That’s the other thing, I read SO much from my kindle, that it makes it so easy to forget to go back online and submit a review. And with Discord, I usually read with my friends, and sometimes the author will be there while we talk, theorise and flail all over their work. It's a much more interactive experience. I think authors would prefer that over a thank you. This isn't to say that a thank you doesn't go a long way or isn't appreciative, but honestly, how many times can an author say you're welcome? Or thank you for reading? This takes me to the second part of your question. The one advice I would give is, don't expect a response back. Do it because you genuinely liked it. Suppose we keep expecting and wanting the author to respond, especially if a chapter gets SO MANY reviews. In that case, it might seem disheartening to the reviewer, and they're left feeling unseen or that their review was lacking, which isn't the case most of the time. Tell them how it made you feel, which parts did you love, which string of emotion was plucked and left vibrating in your chest. Tell them that. But also, saying a simple thank you is enough. Personally, I would go to the last chapter and tell the author how much I've enjoyed their story if it's a story that was posted years or months back. If it's a story published years ago and they seem inactive, I would slide into their DMs and flail all over the story. You'd be surprised how many actually respond.

What is your all-time favorite fic you’ve read?  ALL TIME FAVOURITE is such a difficult question to answer. So I’ll compromise and tell you which one I really really really LOVE but also list a few that I can't be parted with. If my room was caught on fire and I had all these stories in front of me and I had to only choose ONE I would say Risk Reward Ratio by @MissiAmphetamine and its sequel! Okay, I know I cheated, but *sigh* honestly I love it. And I’m not sorry about it either. It's not what you would typically hear because it's not really a fluffy story and there are some questionable actions, plots and let’s not start discussing their relationship. But you see, I enjoy a story that questions my morals sometimes, where I find myself asking “what would I do in this situation?” Plus, as you’ll see below, I have a thing for angst with a happy ending. That being said, I also love love love these stories and they each hold meaning to me, because I've read them at various stages of my life: 

Redemption by @anondracomalfoy (wonderfully written story and very enjoyable!!! It’s a memory trope mixed with some suspense)

Revert by SUPRNTRAL LVR (this is when I found out that I can actually cry while reading a story lol) 

Remain Nameless by @heyjude19-writing (I will FOREVER love this story and no one can taint it for me. If you ONLY knew how much this story means to me *cough* I spent every moment I wasn’t reading this making her moodboards that's how much it moved me *cough*)

The Art of Betrayal by @hathawaywrites

Across The Hall by @takingflight48 (this one just hold a special place in my heart)

Thirteenth Night by Nelpher (This is the story that changed my mind about memory loss trope which is my LEAST favourite)

Nightmares and Nocturnes by @olivieblake (one of the most creative and unique war stories ever written)

Hindsight by @floorcoaster (This changed my mind about T rated stories)

Broken by @inadaze22 (this taught me a lesson to READ THE TAGS, but the pain was worth it)

Sugar and Spice by @inlovewithforever (ummmm do I need to say more? This is one of the best triads I've ever read)

Looking Glass by @kyonomiko​ (Every time I'm in a rut I go back to THIS and it never fails to bring me back to life and remind me why I fell in love with these two. It's light hearted, funny and has my second OTP. it's a win-win for me)

Find Your Way Back by @willhavetheirtrinkets​ (Musyc) (I will forever rec this story to everyone)

Pound of Flesh by @pennilynnovus​ (HELLO STRIPPER DRACO! This one tore my heart out, I love it!)

Honestly, the list can go on and on and on. There are just SO many good ones out there that I haven't mentioned yet, but I wanted to list only a few that I will always go back and re-read. Also, just because I haven't mentioned the ones that we keep seeing everywhere, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them or loved them! 

What fic gave you the most feels? Definitely “Risk Reward Ratio.” It gave me SO much feels. Some were good, and some were pretty bad. It took me on a wild roller coaster ride. I was happy, sad, angry, happy, sad, angry. I laughed hard in some places, I cried even harder in others, I wanted to pull my hair out MOST of the time, and some parts were oh so good the butterflies wouldn't settle the fuck down. But ehh I like what I like, and I'm unapologetic about it. :D

Who is your favorite side character from any Dramione fic? This one is easy! Theo-fucking-Nott! Without a shadow of a doubt. You want to make him the most awesome sidekick character, go right ahead. The best bro, be my guest. The one that has secret feelings for Hermione? GIVE ME THAT TRIAD!!!!! You dare to make him evil? FUCK YES! I'm SO here for it. Even if he is one, I will STILL love him. I always get slightly giddy when Theo makes an appearance, and I tend to enjoy the story that much more. He's an interesting character to me because he's ambiguous. Canon never gave us much about his personality and reading how everyone interprets him makes him one the most versatile characters in my humble opinion. :D

Last question: Do you really like kiwis?? Hahaha!!!! Yes, I really do. This name was given to me by the people who were worried I had a mild obsession with kiwis. You don't have to ask me what I need from the store, because my answer would always be “we've run out of kiwis, BRING ME SOME MORE.” However, let me just make it clear that I'm not a heathen and I don't eat them with their skin on (no judgment if you do).

Thank you so much, Kiwi, for sharing with us! The Dramione community is lucky to have you <3 

Don’t forget, sign ups for the Dramione Comment Fest close February 6, 2021. Check out the rules here and sign up for the fest here.

[introvertguide]

10 Game Changer Films

Over the past century, there have been many movies that were marked with quality acting and quality story telling. Some movies are genre defining and remain memorable long after the movie is released. Some movies are perfect little 2 hour pieces of art. And beyond that, there are movies that transcend genre and change the way that movies are produced and viewed. Here is a list of ten movies the changed Hollywood cinema. There is no way to rank them in order of importance because they all shaped the way movies were made and presented at the time, so 10 are listed in order of date. Feel free to add suggestions for game changer movies in the comments. This is a list of American films and doesn’t come close to all game changers, but these 10 stick out in my head whenever I am asked for examples:

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The Jazz Singer (1927):

The movie that marked the end of the silent era, this was the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech. It is has six songs performed by Al Jolson. It is the story of a Jewish boy who wants to become a singer despite the traditions of his devout family. The boy is caught singing and decides to run away from home, change his name, and become a famous jazz singer. He tries to disguise himself while performing at one point and makes the unfortunate choice of putting on black face. It is kind of hard to watch, but the advent of the “talkie” changed the way audiences enjoyed movies from that point on.

Steamboat Willie (1928):

This was the first Disney cartoon with synchronized sound with a fully post-produced soundtrack. It is also considered to be the debut of Mickey Mouse. The layered drawings have a realistic feel and are impressive today despite being almost 100 years old. Also, nothing beats that iconic opening sound of the film in which you can hear the film reel behind the sound of the lead character whistling. Animation became a genre at that moment and has done nothing but grow and improve, but this seems like the seed that started it all.

The Wizard of Oz (1939):

Generally considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, this juggernaut of a film was not considered best Best Picture nor was it even a financial success on first release. It was re-released and played on TV in 1956 and is now considered the most seen film in movie history. What really makes the film a game changer is the moment when Dorothy lands in Oz and she steps out her sepia/black & white home and walks into a world of Technicolor. Although many great black and white films where made after this film, it was a symbolic change for audience preference for color films. Kansas was so grey and bleak and the world of Oz was so bright and beautiful...it really is an unparalleled moment in film.

Citizen Kane (1941):

Considered by many to be the perfect film and the best Hollywood film of all time, this film is on the top of many “Best” lists. Director and lead actor Orson Welles used “deep focus” to make all aspects of the picture pop out at the audience. He was having difficulty creating some of the film angles to create this effect, so he would lay on the floor and even break into the stage to create the perfect shot. He also took the camera up to the stage light walkways to create others. The entire narrative was told in flashback from a group of unreliable narrators and the main character dies within the first 2 minutes of the film. The use of lighting and storytelling is an amalgamation of different techniques from around the world of film at the time, including some aspects made up on the spot. Watching the film now, it seems apparent that the bar for movies was raised 90 seconds into the film when the main character says “Rosebud.”

Shane (1953):

This film is not really known for being the very best acted, but it came out right when a bunch of audio and video technology improved simultaneously. The film was shot in standard ratio, but, due to the beautiful shots along the American Plains, was selected by Paramount to debut widescreen format. To get out the word, the film was played at Radio City Music Hall on a specially fitted 30ftx50ft screen. Not to let the visuals overshadow the sound, a new stereophonic soundtrack was recorded and played on an interlocking 35mm magnetic reel in the projection both. The sight of the sweeping landscapes and the echoing ring of gunshots was unlike anything that audiences had ever experienced while setting the standard for movies for years to come.

Jaws (1975):

From the opening scene with a young girl being attacked while skinny dipping in the ocean, the film caused legitimate panic amongst film goers. It also created the summer blockbuster which continues to affect how movies are released 45 years later. Spielberg became a household name and the use of the dolly zoom to represent a sudden realization became part of movie language. Along with the films simple and iconic score that made up for a constantly malfunctioning prop, this revenge story made thousands of wanna-be directors realize that it didn’t take a who lot to make an extremely successful movie. Camera trickery, good sound, and a descent plot could make any budding director into a millionaire.

Star Wars (1977):

Arguably the most successful film of all time, this story of the classic hero’s journey is epic and yet simple. There are few movies I have seen with better pacing because the time always flies by. The characters are relatable despite being robots, aliens, and wizards. The aspect of the movie that really made it was the special effects by Industrial Light and Magic. The famous “trench run” on the death star was something that was like a roller coaster on screen. How easy it was to get sucked in to the film is an influence on directors and movie production to this day. 

Toy Story (1995):

This was a film that was actually the accumulation of over a decade’s worth of computer graphic technology. It is the first completely CG film and it is excellent. The film score is amazing, the graphics were far better than any audience had seen or ever expected, and it created an entire new way to manufacture a film world. This was also the first film for Pixar, which made far and away the best family films over the last quarter century. 

The Matrix (1999):

This film might be somewhat arguable as a game changer, but one aspect of the movie is globally known whether you have seen the movie or not: bullet time. The fight scenes and the wire work for stunts along with the speeding up and slowing down of the film was revolutionary. That moment when Neo dodges the bullets that were shot at him while the camera rotates to show how close the misses were is phenomenal. The action set pieces are frequent with loud pumping music and it influenced audience expectations for how massive a fight scene could be. The judo fight between Neo and Morpheus, the rescue of Morpheus from the agents, the subway fight, and Neo’s enlightenment are all epic fights worthy of an entire film. It was an introduction to cyber punk that kicked in the door for a mass of violent and loud sci-fi films that continue to be cool to this day.

Avatar (2009):

A movie that was 15 years in the making due to a world created completely with computer graphics that interacts seamlessly with human characters, this probably the best looking theater film ever created. The story is not so great, but the world that is created is made specifically to envelop a theater audience. It is a two hour experience like no other and needs to be seen in a full 3D theater with surround sound. It made all other films up their visual game and is the second most lucrative movie in straight dollar amount and the second most lucrative film adjusted for inflation (despite being only 10 years old).

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This count of 10 is obviously debatable and many films are worthy of a spot on a list like this. This is a list of the 10 that amazed me and made me think that audiences would have changed their expectations of the film experience after seeing the film. If you have movies that have had this effect on you, please list them for others to enjoy.

[dillydedalus]

march reading

kinda forgot about this i guess. anyway feat. uh, magical ships, dubious mental health institutions (plural) & a parisian building with 99 rooms. 

the forever sea, joshua phillip johnson (forever sea #1) i firmly believe that more fantasy lit should be set on ships bc ships are inherently a sexy setting & you could have pirates which are extremely sexy. this has ships (and pirates) and also a sea made of grass? a magical plant sea on which ships sail via magical fires, so conceptually i’m very into it all. the plot is fine, but the protagonist kindred has a very bad case of Main Character Syndrome so prepare for mild annoyance throughout. also while i generally enjoy book magic vs wild magic i wish more works would treat them as two ends of a spectrum rather than ~book magic bad and boring, wild magic cool and *~natural*~. but overall i think this series has potential. 3/5

jagannath: stories, karin tidbeck ([partially?] translated from swedish by the author) really cool collection of sff stories by tidbeck, many of which veer into mild horror and some of which are influenced by swedish folklore and especially swedish fey stories. i enjoyed most of these a lot, especially the existential call centre horror story, the ‘god won’t let me die’ one, and a taxonomy of a cryptid that goes a little off the rails. 4/5

annette, ein heldinnenepos, anne weber a novel in verse about anne beaumanoir, a real person who was a résistance member during world war 2 and later supported the algerian national liberation front, for which she was sentenced to 10 years in prison (she escaped to tunisia and later algeria). she’s clearly a very impressive and interesting person & i conceptually enjoyed the idea of writing a modern hero(ine)’s epic, but i feel like the language could have been a bit more stylized to match the form. 3/5

salvage the bones, jesmyn ward (audio) bleak but ultimately hopeful novel about a black family in the days before and during hurricane katrina, although the focus is on the family dynamics, the 14-year-old narrator discovering that she is pregnant, and the kids trying to keep the puppies their dog china just had alive and well. enjoyed this, altho i did it a bit of a disservice but listening to it a lot of short chunks. 3.5/5

regeneration, pat barker (regeneration trilogy #1) set mostly at a military hospital for soldiers with shell shock during world war 1, this novel explores the existential horror of war, psychological treatment (& the horrible absurdity of treating traumatised men just enough so that you can send them straight back to Trauma Town), and the meeting between siegfried sassoon & wilfred owen. i find i don’t really have much to say about it, but it is very, very good. 4/5

how to pronounce knife, souvankham thammavongsa a short story collection mainly about refugees and migrants from laos to canada, many focusing on parent-child relationships and being forced to work in low-paid jobs, often ones that are damaging to their health. the stories are very well-observed and emotionally nuanced and detailed, but with 14 mostly very short stories, the collection as a whole felt a bit samey, which i guess is something i often experience with short story collections. 3/5

faces in the water, janet frame horrifying semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman stuck in new zealand’s mental health system, moving to different hospitals but mostly from ward to (more depressing) ward in the 40s/50s. while there is a shift in attitudes during her stay that sometimes makes the wards more tolerable, mostly the patients are neglected, abused, and the threat of electric shock therapy and lobotomy always hangs over them. 3/5

the upstairs house, julia fine fuck why did i read so many books about mental health conditions this month??? this is another entry in my casual ‘motherhood as horror’ reading project, in which a new mother develops post-partum psychosis & imagines the modernist children’s book writer she’s writing her dissertation on and her poet sometimes-lover haunting her and her child (margaret wise brown & michael strange, who are real people i was utterly unaware of). this does pretty good on the maternal horror front, but i wasn’t entirely sold on the literary haunting. 2/5

1000 serpentinen angst, olivia wenzel a very interesting novel about a woman struggling with grief over her brother’s suicide, an anxiety disorder, the (non)state of a (non)relationship and discrimination/marginalisation based on her identity as a black, east-german, bi woman (while also being, as she notes, financially privileged). much of the novel is written in a dialogue between the narrator and an unnamed (& probably internal) interlocutor, which was p effective for a novel more focused on introspection than much of a plot. 3/5

atlas: the archaeology of an imaginary city, dung kai-cheung (tr. from chinese by the author, anders hansson, bonnie mcdougall) fictitious theory about a slightly-left-of-reality version of hong kong and how maps (re)construct the city, very heavy on the postmodern poststructuralist postcolonial (and some other posts, i’m sure). in many ways my jam. unfortunately my favourite parts of this were the author’s preface and the first part (fictitious theory of mapping alternate hong kong); the rest felt very repetitive and not particularly interesting, altho i’m sure i was also just missing a lot of cultural context. 2.5/5

under the net, iris murdoch .........i liked the other two murdochs i’ve read (the sea, the sea & a severed head) quite a lot so either i was not in the mood for her very peculiar style of constructing novels and characters or, this being her first novel, she just wasn’t in full command of that peculiar style yet but man this was a slooooooooog. don’t stretch out your modern picaresque with an incredibly annoying narrator over more than 300 pages iris!!!! 2/5 bc this probably has some merit & i just wasn’t into it

the impossible revolution: making sense of the syrian tragedy, yassin al-haj saleh (tr. from arabic by i. rida mahmoud) collection of articles and essays saleh (a syrian intellectual & activist who spent 16 years in a syrian prison) wrote from 2011 to 2015, analysing the reasons for, potential and development of the revolution, as well as some background sociological discussion on the assads’ regime. very interesting, very dense, very depressing. wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first read on the topic tho. 3/5

angels in america: millenium approaches & perestroika, tony kushner the page to tumblr darling quote ratio in this is insane (”just mangled guts pretending” and so on) and also it just really slaps on every level. also managed to get me from 0 to crying several times. brilliant work of theatre, would love to see it staged (or filmed). 4/5

life: a user’s manual, georges perec (german tr. by eugen helmlé) 99 chapters, each corresponding with a single room in a parisian apartment block; some chapters are basically ‘here’s the room, here’s a long list of objects in the room, that’s it bye :)’, some are short insights into the lives of the people living there, some (the best, mostly) are long, absolutely wild tales that are sometimes only tangentially connected to the room in question. why are the french like this. 61/99 rooms 

sisters in hate: american women on the front lines of white nationalism, seyward darby (audio) nonfiction about women’s role in white nationalist hate movements, mainly based on the stories of three women who are or have been involved with various contemporary american alt-right/racist/neonazi hate groups, while also looking at general social trends and the history of white women’s role in white supremacy. interesting and engaging if you’re interested in this kind of thing. if you’re both politically aware and internet poisoned, it’s probably not much that is completely new to you but still worth reading. 3/5

starting in april i will be Gainfully Employed (ugh) & thus probably not read as much or read even more bc i have no energy for anything else 

[cerastes]

Good time of day to you. Do you have any opinion about Flamebringer, both lore-wise and usefullness-wise by now?

HEY GOOD DAY

I am a professional Edgy Dude consumer so I am 100% on board with my new gym buddy Flamebringer who’ll spot me while whispering cryptic shit and ambiguous nonsense while I just nod and pump iron.

I like that he’s basically someone dedicated to the thrill of fighting. That’s one way to live and cope, for sure, especially when you consider how grave his oripathy is; his ratio is 18%, and for reference, Ifrit’s is 19%. Dude’s positively dying and hasn’t long in this world, so he’s just going for what he likes doing the most: Fighting and gardening.

So, in other words, he’s a modern fantasy take on the archetypal ‘poet warrior’: His focus isn’t killing per se, it’s fighting. And besides fighting, he indulges in gardening, because his philosophy, as his Files explain, is about the present: Flowers are beautiful in the moment, but they must eventually wither, and when they do, they still are beautiful, in that singular, transitory moment. Likewise, Flamebringer sees beauty in the fight, and when the fight must end, there must necessarily be a death, just like the flower must wither eventually. This death, as part of the fight, is beautiful, but only momentarily, and not something one should force… It should occur naturally as part of a fight (the true object of beauty).

In other words, Flamebringer is a true warrior and martial artist in a world as bleak as Terra, for better or for worse. His ‘poet warrior’ nature is exemplified by the uchigatana he wields, as samurai are the most notorious poet warriors (it was expected for a samurai to be skilled in the art of swordsmanship during times of peace, and also to be skilled in some sort of art, like writing poems, painting, sculpting, what have you). As a martial artist myself (in our far more peaceful and far less bleak world), it’s honestly cool to see the logical conclusion and logical escalation of martial philosophy in a bleak world where one cannot afford a civilian lifestyle. So, I feel him. He’s interesting.

In terms of utility, yeah, he’s good at what he does, but needs some baby sitting to reach his full potential. Flamebringer is good on longer maps like Annihilations or in maps where you can sortie him early and hopefully feed him kills to feed his passive. He’s a Single Target (ST) Guard with a focus on thinning out lines, not tanking, as well as targeting high priority enemies. He has the regular ST Guard stat spread (very high HP and Attack, very low Defense, 1 Block) and thus should necessarily have a Medic on him and an E2 AoE Guard/a Defender/something with 3 Block behind him (or otherwise truly covering the line he’s assisting with) to show his full power. You’ll mostly be running him with S2, with his S1 being more for niche uses (but uses nonetheless).

So, yeah, if you wanna step up from Melantha or want another ST Guard? Definitely worth the investment. He’s free to Max Potential, too, so hey.

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Hiatusbreaker Update 2

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

Filler series plans to talk about Series 1-10

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

The post-Series 13 forecast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jay Exci - The Fall of Doctor Who

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

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

Cancel culture comes for Noel Clarke and John Barrowman

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

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

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

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

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

[leahkayidgaf]

Unchain Me

What horrors do my depths hold? Only my thoughts and words foretell the things I'm capable of. You know nothing of the demons that possess me. Or perhaps I posses them, as I am responsible for my actions. It seems just yesterday I was a small happy child, full of innocence, yet not ignorant. Simply not have bathed in the experiences that ruin ones conscience- moments that rip your soul apart to lost fragments, leaving no hope to find and piece back together. Wholeness...a word so foreign. I cannot remember the last time I felt complete. The mirror shows me a lie. Shattered reflection of who I once was. Somebody I do not recognize. The dissociation makes me feel alien. I do not fit in, among people. Among life. I don't belong here. Things have changed so drastically, I can barely remember who I was. Before things fucked me up. Before I felt like I was living trapped in a hell co-created by either the Universe or God(s)...whatever controls and generates our existence..and me of course..my choices have contributed to the reality I live in. However sometimes I wonder how much I can actually control. Things seem to happen on their own accord, with no regard to the destructive impact they leave in their wake. Mostly those "things" are people. We fuck up everything good, don't we. That's what the world seems to be. A major fucking fuck up. Sure, there's the beautiful and the good. But to what ratio?

Speaking for myself, as I cannot judge the moral balance of others, light and dark cannot be fully balanced. It's either or. We restrain the bad, but the ugly comes out along with the good. Or you keep it in..and hide all your demons deep down inside the dungeon in your chest until they lock you inside your own head and drive you insane.

"You're the sweetest girl I've ever met".

Well honey, you haven't seen the bitter side in its full glory. The monster is chained to my thoughts and shackled in my mind. At times I wonder whether this madness will consume me. The glimpses I see make me wonder how long it will take to completely go off the rails.

The potential malice I possess scares the shit out of me. Had I no self control I would not be here today. Many people wouldn't be here today. I could have landed in hot water times too hard to count. Yet here I am, why?

I feel rotten inside. The good in me has washed away long before we met. I don't deserve anything good. I do not deserve you. I cannot forgive myself for my sins or mistakes. I cannot change my past or present. The future seems bleak. Why are we born? Purpose seems pointless. Love seems hopeless. One day it'll all be gone. Something I have accepted, yes..but to live with that truth...I'd prefer not to.

You're the only one who keeps me in check. Makes me feel boundaries, makes me feel real. But your demons clash with mine, although you choose to put them on display and you know nothing about the torture in my brain. I'm a stronghold and I will never reveal the evil inside of my heart. I try to forget past thoughts, actions, and words. At times I forget and live in a fake bliss, then I remember who I am and the disgust makes me want to put a knife through me.

Sanity...

It slips away by the minute...

How long do I do this?

Weeks, months, years?

Pretend to be the perfect daughter, even though I'm nor man, nor woman, and nowhere near what my parents would want. 

Pretend like I want to be here, among wild, barbaric, uncivilized, humans that destroy more than they can build.

There is but one thing left for me here. Someone who doesn't understand their own worth. But perhaps they do. Maybe what they don't understand is the pain they cause when they push me away and keep me out.

When that happens, everything that gives me that trapped feeling amplifies by a tenfold. And I lose any remaining control I had over myself.

I love him. I love him with all my heart and soul. Or whatever good part that's left of me. I wish we'd balance each other out more, instead of self-destruct. Or maybe I don't give a shit if I self-destruct. Perhaps after so many years it's all it's been leading to it. I'm way past exhaustion, I'm wasting away. All that keeps me intact is you. And drugs. You make me feel happy and safe. Drugs make me feel like times stops and or speeds up. It takes me to a different frequency, one where I'm calm and forget reality, delving into my subconscious to try and extract anything that would contribute something positive to my life. So far it has only opened my eyes and showed me that time shoots like lightning and in a split of a second everything can change, for the bad usually. Moments that pass by so fast and you're not even there to experience them. And "poof", they're gone. Tomorrow I might wake up being 22, no highschool degree, no college ambitions...just a fucked up brain missing the past, hating the present, and not certain if I want to see a future.

[almasexya]

Monster Monday: Rodan, Giant Pteranodons from Beneath the Earth

Last time we saw Godzilla in 1955 he was put on ice in his first sequel, but what we didn’t know is that this was going to be both a literal and metaphorical nap. After Godzilla Raids Again, Toho shifted focus from their big radioactive lizard and started making special effects movies starring other kaiju. From a distance of 60 odd years it’s difficult to say what caused this change, but sufficed to say that we won’t be seeing Godzilla again until 1962, and we’ve got quite a lot to cover before then.

Released in 1956, Rodan represented Toho’s first color kaiju movie, though it’s still presented in a full screen aspect ratio. This will be my second run with Rodan, a movie that is unfortunately pretty hard to find in the states as of this writing in 2020. There was a DVD set containing both it and 1966′s War of the Gargantuas, but like most of the non-Godzilla kaiju movies Toho released, it’s out of print and vastly overpriced. My blu-ray copy of Rodan is a bootleg, and if you want to snag one for yourself, feel free to shoot me a private message.

Rodan is one of the few kaiju stories that is set up as more of a horror movie or thriller than the giant monster romping you might expect. The plot centers around two residents of a small mining town, Shigeru Kawamura, a miner (Kenji Sahara) and his lover Kiyo, (Yumi Shirakawa) who are drawn into a tense mystery involving missing and injured miners, many covered in injuries impossible for a normal human to inflict.

To say much more would be to spoil one of the better kaiju plots of the era, but you can bet a giant monster shows up and starts wrecking the countryside. It can almost be said that how we reach the section where the giant monsters appear is more interesting than what happens afterward, as Rodan’s appearance marks a sudden gear shift that more or less pushes the protagonists out of the picture, replacing them with the stock scientists and military officers that take up space in countless giant monster movies. Akihiko Hirata (you’ll remember him as the tortured Dr. Serizawa from the original Godzilla) does show up in a small role as a biologist, but he doesn’t have much to do aside from spout off the usual scientific inaccuracies (strangely, Rodan is placed at 2 million years old, completely ignoring the more reasonable time period put out in Raids Again).

That being said, this is one of the more tense kaiju movies out there, and Ishiro Honda really sells it; the cast spending the first 45 minutes or so in bleak, gloomy mines with the threat of a monster attack around every corner. Akira Ifukube also provides his usual bombastic score, which strangely doesn’t get reused in nearly as many of the later kaiju movies as much of his other work from this period does. The musical cues during the early sections are also suitably atmospheric and grim, which complements Honda’s dark, claustrophobic shots.

Eiji Tsuburaya’s Rodan suit also deserves special mention - in my opinion it’s the best the character has ever looked, with an aggressive, avian face and nasty looking spikes across its chest. The downright dopey looking Rodans we’re in for in the future are put to shame by this suit, and I wish we’d have gotten to see more of it. The stiff Rodan prop used in the flying scenes is less exciting, but unlike the hand puppets of the previous two films, it at least looks like what it’s supposed to represent.

While I may enjoy the gloomy first half more than the more traditional second, Rodan is still a great kaiju movie that’s worth a watch today. It’s exciting to see where Rodan came from, and its ultimate fate is even given a bit of an easter egg in 1964′s Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, which sees Rodan returning from his own hibernation.

Next week we’ll take a look at Toho’s first alien invasion movie, The Mysterians!

[ashleyspinelliburnbook]

S1E8: The Pest/The Legend of Big Kid

It’s a happy day, because we have been gifted both a Gretchen episode and a TJ episode! But it’s also a very fraught day, emotionally, for reasons you’ll soon discover. (There’s a good kicker, at least, for your trouble. No spoilers, but the ending of “The Pest” goes exactly as I’ve relayed it here.)

Read on for relationship advice, feminism, and a brief aside about white colonists in Africa:

The Pest

How To Make A Boy You Don’t Like Leave You Alone

by Gretchen Grundler

I don’t hate boys. Anyone who says that about me is simply incorrect. Four of my best friends are boys — my friend Spinelli and I are the only two girls in our group. When I’m fighting that kind of gender ratio and still enjoy their company, how could I ever hate them?

But some boys in particular are not worth my time. As a person who recently had an experience deflecting one of these boys’ advances over an extended period of time, I feel I am uniquely qualified to dole out advice on this matter.

I’m sort of spoiling the endgame here, but let me say, it is scores more effective to deal with troublesome boys yourself than to leave them to your teacher. Miss Grotke may mean well, but she’s a teacher, after all. At the core of her philosophy is law and order. Plus, in Miss Grotke’s case, she’s a much bigger proponent of letting us work out our own issues. Everyone wins.

You may feel hopeless, though, when a boy you don’t like starts bothering you in class. Maybe you want to tell the teacher. But that’s just a quick fix, and not a particularly effective one. It’s a band-aid. It won’t translate to your interactions on the playground, which is where your reputation really matters. (Okay, your academic reputation also matters. Maybe more.)

Of course, you may not know he likes you until he TELLS THE ENTIRE SCHOOL AT THE SAME TIME AND YOU JUST HAVE TO SIT THERE AND TAKE IT BECAUSE IF YOU DENY IT RIGHT AWAY THE ENTIRE PLAYGROUND WILL BE TOO BUSY LAUGHING TO NOTICE.

Whew, that felt good.

Still, nothing brings the playground together like a common laughingstock, and that was me. And when there’s a common laughingstock — the K-I-S-S-I-N-G chants were still ringing in my ears long after they happened — this empowers the boy you don’t like. Because suddenly, he’s not working for his cause alone. Suddenly, the entire playground is on his side.

What did I do? Well, I felt entirely hopeless. I tossed and turned every night, vivid dreams of this boy and I getting married and having children and growing old together disrupting my sleep. I was so distressed that I didn’t come to school the next day until lunch, which isn’t like me at all, of course. I want to stress, that was a one-time course of action. When he found me in the cafeteria, my friends tried to protect me, but alas, my lovestruck friend Mikey was starting to be won over by this boy’s persistence.

The first action I took was to simply cancel out what this boy had done to me first, declaring his love for me to the whole school. According to my calculations, it had the least risk and the most reward. Unfortunately, when a girl tells the whole school she isn’t romantically involved with a boy, they tend to believe the opposite. A boy publicly announcing his love for a girl, even against her wishes, is revolutionary, a real risk, something to be lauded. A girl publicly announcing her rejection of a boy is, well, mean. There are many high-school names a girl in my position might be called, but I won’t trouble you with them.

After even more pestering at school, even up to him talking to me through the vent that connects the boys’ bathroom and the girls’ bathroom, I had had enough. On the bus home, I told him I wouldn’t speak to him anymore, recognizing that ignoring him hadn’t worked in the past, but I was desperate for any semblance of peace and quiet, even if it was from me. 

You know what he said? “I’ll take your silence as a yes,” and, “Denial is the sincerest form of flattery.” That’s not even the phrase! And if he was taking silence as a yes, why wouldn’t he take me saying “no” as a no?

The next action I took was drastic — high risk, a potential of a lifetime of punishment if it went south — but I knew it was a risk I had to take. I marched up to this boy at school the next day and called him out. I pulled out a pair of handcuffs and locked us together for eternity. The key? Gone. This boy? Presumably having the time of his life.

Except...he wasn’t. As I regaled him with all the things I would make him do that day — math club, spelling bee practice, a frog dissection over lunch — robbing him of his agency for perhaps the very first time, he broke down immediately. I pulled out the spare key to the handcuffs and set him free.

He said he just wanted to show me how much he liked me. But if we don’t call out this entitlement early, who knows when this awakening might have occurred for him? How many more girls would have had to suffer this ordeal?

“You know, Spinelli? Boys are really weird,” I told my friend when this was all said and done. “I know what you mean,” she replied. “Can’t live with them, can’t grind them into chalk dust.”

My eyes lit up as I thought of a science project I had been working on in my spare time.

“Well, actually, you could,” I said. Because I may be one to take one for the team, to put myself in harm’s way to try to mitigate future suffering at the hands of another person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t always have a backup plan.

Takeaway: Hot damn, this episode made me mad!

The Legend of Big Kid

Is Kirby Puckett the greatest outfielder that ever lived?

I'm not much of a stats person beyond the basics — field goal percentage, sacks, errors, the ones that will come up in conversation on a regular game broadcast. So, aside from a quick glance at his career numbers, which tell a story about his career, I can’t tell you if Kirby Puckett was the greatest outfielder that ever lived. (I will say that his number was retired a few months before this episode aired, which was a few years before the domestic violence allegations against him came out.)

Anyway, lucky for us, Vince and TJ can’t make this decision either, and it’s during their argument that they stumble right into the setting for this episode: the old playground that allegedly hasn’t been used since the 1970s. (Yet it’s on campus? Okay, okay, suspension of disbelief. My elementary school had a whole bunch of ways to get off campus during recess without anyone noticing, but it wasn’t done with any regularity — it’s possible they just didn’t know it was there.)

But it turns out someone has been using it, and recently, because TJ falls into a trap. As he’s hanging upside-down from the monkey bars, the two hear the rumbling of kindergarteners approaching. TJ tells Vince to save himself, but Vince instead distracts them so that perhaps TJ can get away. Vince, though, doesn’t realize how far or how fast he’s been running, because before he knows it, he’s back at the regular playground sobbing into Spinelli’s arms about how he could have done more to save his friend.

The coast seems clear, so the gang heads back to the old playground to get TJ, but he’s gone. Gretchen posits the kindergarteners must have taken him back to their pen, but that’s deserted, too. “They’ve probably migrated to their winter encampment,” she says, which doesn’t make the rest of the gang any less terrified for TJ’s safety.

We then get a jarring prisoner log from TJ, who tells us, “The unthinkable has happened. I am a prisoner of the kindergarteners.” He’s in a cage, unsure how much time has passed, and he’s not sure what his captors have planned for him. One of them — their leader, who TJ calls “Captain Sticky,” calls him “Big Kid” and tosses him some candy. TJ refuses to eat it, in case they’re fattening him up to eat him, but eventually is too hungry to say no.

Meanwhile, the gang is busy hustling the rest of the school, asking if they saw the kindergarteners, if there was a fourth-grader with them. The outcome appears bleak for TJ — everyone knows what might happen if those kids got a hold of an older kid: nothing good.

TJ, though, is...starting to like captivity, or at least get used to it. Whereas the kindergarteners first have to threaten him with weapons (crayons and paintbrushes attached to the end of yardsticks) to join them in tasks like finger painting and napping, he quickly assimilates to their ways.

Gretchen finds TJ’s shoe on the playground, lost in one of the initial scuffles, and Vince erupts in a “Noooo!” so heart-wrenching, you forget that TJ is, well, okay. Because the gang doesn’t know that. The kindergarteners are too elusive. No one knows what they’re up to except them.

But the gang acts on a more promising lead as Gretchen uncovers a still-wet lollipop. The trail is hot again!...just as we see TJ napping again, riding tricycles, and playing musical chairs. Is he too far gone?

When the gang arrive back at the old playground, they fall into yet another trap. Someone locks them in a cage, and the kindergarteners assemble, beating drums and shrieking. (We will...have to talk about how the kindergarteners are portrayed at some point in these recaps. There’s a very obvious white settler colonist, Indiana Jones, “thrilling adventures through untamed Africa!” look about them.)

The drumbeats slow, and who should walk out but...Big Kid. Well, TJ. The gang are shocked at how quickly the kindergarteners have completely taken hold of their friend, who now dresses like the kindergarteners, acts like the kindergarteners, and speaks like the kindergarteners. He won’t listen when they try to tell them who he is.

Somehow, it’s Vince talking about baseball that brings him back, though. Little League. Kirby Puckett. And TJ breaks down in tears, wailing, because he’s been through so much.

The gang finally gets him out of there, and Spinelli has to help TJ tie his shoes. “Shoes, underpants, I can’t get used to all this stuff!” he exclaims, and they don’t get it. (Gus calls the kindergarteners “primitive.” See latest parenthetical section.) But Gretchen recognizes he’s in a better place to be able to listen to reason now, so after he tells the gang he misses the freedom of being able to do whatever he wants all day, she says, “Don’t you see? Their way of life is coming to an end. By this time next year, they’ll be first graders.”

And TJ does get it. With one last nod to Captain Sticky, they part ways.

Takeaway: Growing up is hard, especially when you’re a kid and it goes by so quickly. Perhaps giving into some indulgences of yesteryear isn’t all bad, though, so long as you balance them with your current life and don’t let them consume you.

[downfallofi]

answer all of them again >:)

>:o You'll pay for this!!

1) “O-o-oh Child” by the Five Stairsteps, it reminds me of Guardians of the Galaxy, it gives me a slight serotonin bump.

2) Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I encountered it the first time after a breakup and I just... felt so seen by that movie? And it is actually really insightful and funny, for a mid 2000′s- rom com.

3) Vanilla or coconut.

4) Ya know, I really like roses, because that was my mom’s maiden name. But I really dig soft floral spring colors.

5) I don't... really have anyone like that, I have such a hard time knowing who I am as a person, I'm uncomforable all the time.

6) My voice is pretty deep and I can sing well, my biceps have some decent definition, and my beard game is super strong. I don't like anything non-physical about myself...

7) Rose golds, oranges and purples, like the colors of the sky at sunset, are kinda soothing to me.

8) @thespacetoast, @daredevilreborn, @whatevski, and @petty-davis? 

9) This presumes I am ever really calm, baha.

10) I'm going to Norwescon in April? And also, I took off the first Sunday in April, the whole night, to watch Wrestlemania. And planning trips for going on vacation when I have break at school.

11) I answered this yesterday, a simple diner, some conversation, some stargazing.

12) I'm... tired, and kinda stressed, but I'm going to try and get through work today.

13) Tacos!

14) The Office, the Good Place, Bob's Burgers all have a good ratio of feel good episodes.

15) I got no emojis, good day.

16) She's so sweet, has beautiful eyes and I love her guinea pigs a lot.

17) I have no dog in this fight, honestly.

18) I do, although no stuffed animal has ever felt as comforting as Clean Cat, who I got when I was three. I wish I could find him.

19) Mom's picture.

20) Just to know how it all ends, if it's ever really worth it, I mean... my answers could get really dark and depressing, or I could just go for mundane and say what I really want rn is an ice cream sandwich.

21) Dad was wrong. Dad was wrong about so many things. You are not a disappointment. You are not a bomb that's going to blow up and hurt people.  Your art is not stupid, childish "cute cartoons" and you should pursue it because it is your dream. You are not made wrong, and you deserved better than the way they treated you. You deserve the feeling of safety and home that you lost, and to be welcomed. You do not have to listen to him, and he does not define who you are. He does not deserve to win.

22) Sorry I ate so much and made you get so fat.

23) My black Deadpool logo hoodie.

24) Read, draw, play something on PS4 I've beaten before (like Skyrim)

25) Oh man, if someone made me a playlist or a mixtape I'd be the softest bitch in the world. Or gave me a book and said it made them think of me.

26) The world of Shrek.

27) Yeah, I'm pretty much Shrek.

28) I'd be happy with either, but that also presumes somebody wants to touch me, ha.

29) I'm mostly a night owl, I resent the fact that I had to start going to sleep at 11 so I could fuckin get up and get on a school bus at 6 am.

30) This is going to be a depressing answer... I don't have that, because I lost my sense of what home is when I was 17 and my father kicked me out. Now Ihave no idea what a home feels like, not in a physical, I belong here in this place and I enjoy staying here kind of way, and not in a metaphorical, I look at this thing and I feel at peace kind of way. I'm legitimately kind of afraid that I'll live the rest of my life and never know that kind of peace and safety, not in a person, place or thing, ever again. Sorry, that's bleak.

[bunnyadvocate]

The state of VNs on Steam

I’ve recently read a few thoughtful discussion threads on the state of the VN market here in the West. Some taking a negative stance, some with a more positive outlook. I thought I’d try to put some numbers on these statements and look at VN ownership on Steam, still the predominant market for PC games, and use that to analyse whether VNs are on their true route or have stumbled into a bad end.

Data collection

I checked just over a million steam profiles to try and get a random sample of gamers. With Steam’s new private-by-default profile settings, only 8% of those users had public game lists, but that still gave us 80k user profiles to work with. I could then compare my sample with the “leaked” owner data and scale up my numbers accordingly to represent Steam as a whole.

Steam is rather haphazard with what gets tagged as a Visual Novel (RPGMaker games like A Bird Story are tagged as VNs), so I’ll only be including games that also have a VNDB entry.

Steam VN releases

So let’s start simple, with a simple plot of how many VNs are being released each month.

At first glance things seem rosy for VN fans, there have never been more VNs being released in the West. But let’s break down those results a bit:

Note that these trends are cumulative but NOT stacked. The EVN, JVN, and other VNs trends include only non-free VNs.

Here we can start to see the reason for the differing perspectives on the state of the VN market depending upon whether you read more JVNs or EVNs. While the rate of EVNs releases has steadily increased, the number of new JVNs has remained fairly static since 2016, despite Steam’s lowered release requirements. Steady release rates aren’t definitely bad news, but in general profitable industries want to expand, so the lack of expansion tells you something about the industry. But as someone with a plan-to-read list that grows longer by the day, I’m not complaining if the rate doesn’t increase.

One under-reported development in the VN market is the recent rapid growth of Chinese VNs (listed as other here), who have quietly been doing well in their home markets, but are rarely translated.

So while more VNs might be good for us fans, how does the market look for developers? Let’s have a look at VN sales.

Note that these trends are cumulative but NOT stacked. All sales are back-dated to the release date of the VN on Steam. Free VNs count sales as the number of users who have logged some playtime in it.

Unfortunately Steam’s API doesn’t list when someone bought a game, so we’ve got to group sales by the release date of the VN. That means there will be a bias towards older releases which have been out longer and so had more time to build up sales.

Here we can see some justification for the doom and gloom perspectives, with more recent VN releases selling significantly less than older ones. With new JVNs in 2017 selling only half what they did in 2016. The EVN downward trend is especially stark given that the number of new releases has been increasing, so that’s less revenue split among even more VNs.

Not all VNs are equal, some are priced higher, so let’s look at total revenue rather than total sales.

Note that this assumes every user pays full price, so this is more the maximum possible revenue than actual revenue.

Here we can see the difference between EVN and JVN markets. While JVNs sell only half as many as EVNs, they earn almost as much revenue due to their higher price. We again see the same dip in more recent revenue though, 2017 was only 46% of 2016′s revenue, and 2018 looks even worse so far.

Remember, this fall in revenue coincidences with an increase in the total number of releases, so to fully comprehend the drop on revenue, let’s look at the average sales per VN.

First, we should note that this massively overestimates the average revenue generated as it assumes every user pays full price. I know devs who would sell their soul for 282k per VN. Oh wait, they already did when they signed up for Steam... (just kidding, I do like Steam, but it has issues). The important aspect here isn’t the y-axis total which is unreliable, but the consistent downwards trend.

But it might not be as bleak as it seems, older VNs are more likely to have been in bundles and in Steam sales, so their revenue is likely overestimated compared with more recent releases. So I’d be hesitant to claim that revenue is necessarily dropping, but I think we can confidently claim that revenue isn’t increasing.

VN Reviews

Nostalgia for a past golden age is common everywhere, not least among VN fans. It’s not uncommon to hear that newly released VNs aren’t as good as older ones, but can we get any empirical data on this point? We can get close by looking at the Steam reviews of VNs over time.

Each dot represents the average thumbs up/down ratio for any VNs released that month.

Within the JVN market, we can see some truth to the nostalgia viewpoint. Older releases were more consistently rated higher. But that isn’t to say there aren’t new highly rated JVNs. They still maintain enviously high scores overall.

As for EVNs, while they had consistently scored lower than JVNs, they’re catching up and are now pretty comparable in review ratings of JVNs.

Just for fun, let’s see how the total review count compares between VNs.

The two free-VN spikes are for Emily is Away and DDLC.

As I’m sure anyone familiar with the VN community can tell you, JVN fans are vocal, and it shows in the total reviews VNs get. Despite there being only half as many JVNs as EVNs, they still attract more reviews than EVNs do. This is perhaps because JVNs are typically far longer than EVNs, so might be worth the time of writing a review.

What free-VN fans lack in the wallet, they make up for in their word-count. Although this is massively skewed by two free VNs which compromise 70% of all free-VN reviews: Emily is Away and DDLC. They seem anomalies rather than trends. As shown by the graph when we exclude those two:

*Excluding Emily is Away and DDLC.

Despite the drop in position, free-VNs still out-perform what we’d expect given their lower count of total owners, but that may be because EVN and JVN totals include users who own the VN but have never read it. Whereas the free-VN total only includes those who have logged playtime in that VN, so there’s a larger pool of possible reviewers.

Potential Issues

There are a few sources of uncertainty in the dataset. The selection of users who have set their profiles to public might not be representative of the wider Steam userbase. It probably undercounts more casual fans who are less likely to configure their Steam profile.

We also don’t know when someone purchased a VN, so it’s possible VN sales are increasing, but a lot of that money is going to older releases, especially if they’re in bundles and Steam sales.

In inclusion of VNs in game bundles may be distorting the image of the VN fandom, as it’ll include those who have little interest in the medium and only own a VN by happenstance.

We should also remember that “Steam” is not synonymous with the VN market. There are plenty of competitors in the VN scene, namely Mangagamer and itch.io, who tend to cater to different tastes than Steam does. So we’re only getting a partial picture of the Western VN scene.

Conclusion

There’s data here to support both the optimistic and pessimistic commentary. On the positive side, there have never been more VNs being released as there are now. EVNs are improving with higher average ratings and a few have reached mainstream attention.

On the pessimistic side, it seems like there are ever more VNs competing for a fanbase that isn’t significantly growing. While I’d be wary of claiming profits are falling, it seems highly likely they aren’t increasing, and a stagnant market is not a healthy one.

Personally, I think the future is bright. While VNs might not be destined to become blockbuster successes, there is enough of sustainable fanbase to support lots of indie developers, who are the most prone to innovate and write interesting new stories. As a VN fan, I’m excited to see what comes next~

I hope you found the article interesting. I had wanted to include a section analysing the Steam users, how many VNs do JVN fans purchase compared to EVN fans etc. But I want to spend a little longer going into more depth on it, so I’ll have a post up next week on that. If you’re interested in more until then, check out my other posts, look out for updates on my twitter, or give me a yell on Discord (Sunleaf_Willow ／(^ n ^=)＼#1616). Special thanks to /u/8cccc9 for collaborating on the analysis, and Part-time Storier for proof-reading.

I just do these analyses for fun, but if you want to support my work with a tip, I accept small donations at ko-fi.

[bitcofun]

From a historic viewpoint, the loss in worth understood throughout the cryptocurrency market over the previous a number of months has actually been one for the record books and the overall cryptocurrency market cap has actually decreased from $3 trillion to $991 million. June was specifically uncomfortable for financiers after the cost of Bitcoin ( BTC) fell almost 40% to mark among its worst calendar months on record according to a current report from cryptocurrency research study company Delphi Digital. BTC/USD regular monthly candle lights vs. MoM% modification. Source: Delphi Digital In light of the strong market correction, a variety of BTC cost and on-chain metrics have actually started to reach levels comparable to those seen throughout previous market bottoms, however this does not indicate traders must anticipate a turn-around anytime quickly since history reveals that durations of weak point can drag out for months on end. Macro headwinds weigh on BTC rate One of the most substantial elements weighing on cryptocurrencies and other danger properties has actually been the strength of the United States dollar. DXY index YoY% modification vs. BTC/USD cost YoY% modification. Source: Delphi Digital Combined with increasing inflation and falling financial indications, DXY strength is a signal that a financial downturn is all however inescapable, with projections now forecasting an economic downturn in early to mid-2023 Against this background, BTC now discovers itself trying to form a regional bottom around the 2017 cycle high near $20,000, "the last clear structural assistance on the high timeframe bitcoin chart." BTC/USD price-performance 1-week chart. Source: Delphi Digital This existing cycle marks the very first time in Bitcoin's history that its cost has actually fallen listed below the all-time high set throughout a previous booming market cycle. Must BTC stop working to hold assistance near $20,000, Delphi Digital indicated an anticipated "assistance around ~$15 K, and after that ~$ 9K to $12 K if that level stopped working to hold." While those price quotes might appear bleak, it must be kept in mind that the BTC cost fell approximately 85% from peak to trough throughout each of the previous 2 significant bearishness. If the exact same were to take place throughout the present bearish market cycle, that would put BTC at $10,000, marking another 50% drawdown from the present levels and falling in line with the 2018 to 2019 cost variety. For this factor, experts at Delphi Digital think that "there's still more discomfort ahead for threat properties." Related: Bitcoin threats brand-new lows as $20 K looms amidst dollar euro parity Where is the bottom? The portion of Bitcoin supply kept in earnings and Bitcoin's recognized profit/loss ratio are nearing levels seen throughout previous bearish market, however each has "a bit more space to go" prior to they reach their lows for this cycle according to Delphi Digital. BTC/USD cost vs. understood P/L ratio. Source: Delphi Digital According to the company, "momentum signs and assessment metrics can stay oversold or underestimated for a prolonged time period," that makes them "bad timing tools" that are not efficient in forecasting instant turnarounds. Contrarian financiers may likewise wish to watch on the marketplace belief along with the Fear and Greed Index which has actually now reached historical lows. BTC/USD rate vs. Fear and Greed Index. Source: Delphi Digital When it concerns a possible transfer to the advantage, Delphi Digital showed that "BTC has space above due to the previous liquidation waterfall in the wake of 3AC," and recognized the next significant resistance level as $28,000 Delphi Digital stated: " BTC will likely continue to combine till we get some sort of macro driver." The views and viewpoints revealed here are entirely those of the author and do not always show the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every financial investment and trading relocation includes danger, you ought to perform your own research study when deciding.

[nojobloanq-blog]

Loans for the Unemployed - Helping the Helpless Help Themselves

Cups of noodles and empty wallets are pretty much on the menu for the unemployed. Unfortunately, most of us will experience a time or two of unemployment in our lives. Perhaps things are not as bleak as they might seem. Did you know that loans for the unemployed are being made available by some lenders? With Unemployment Loans With No Job Verification getting ready to hit 10%, they better be ready for land-office business.

Here Are Somethings You Can Do To Help Your Chances

Improve your credit score by making all other payments on time and according to your contract. Lower your credit-to-debt ratio to help yourself become a better risk. Try to secure some employment, even if it is just on a part-time basis. Having no employment may decrease your chance of getting a loan for the unemployed.

Unemployed Often Means No Regular Income

If that is not as plain as the nose on most faces, nothing is. But some unemployed folks still have insurance or have a bit tucked away, or they have an annuity - lucky them. Loans for the unemployed are offered for the convenience of those who have been inconvenienced by unemployment. They can be availed without too much hassle.

What About Bad Credit?

Often, you do not have to worry if you have bad credit. Some payday advance lenders can arrange for loans for the unemployed or bad credit cash advances for people who have credit problems like bankruptcy, bounced checks, missed payments, even charge-offs and judgments. Often no credit check is required.

Qualifications for Unemployment Loans

However, still being on the dole is the best way to qualify for a loan for the unemployed. Or if you are still under a lay-off stipend or have disability or unemployment insurance. The loans can be turned to almost any use you desire. If an empty pantry or pocket is not an immediate concern, you can turn them to buying a car or redoing the house. Use it to consolidate your bills. Some have even used them for a much-needed getaway.

Secured and Unsecured Unemployment Loans

Whether or not you offer collateral as part of your loan for the unemployed agreement is up to you and your lender. There are no strict guidelines right off the bat. If you take a loan for the unemployed, the amount will most certainly be smaller and the interest rates will most certainly be higher. If you opt to secure the loan with collateral, conversely you will be offered larger amounts at lower interest rates, but here again, this is up to the lender and the amount the security is worth. Repayment terms regarding length of the loan will also depend on the collateral offered and the guidelines of a particular lender.

Finding an Unemployment Loan

The first place to start your search for a loan for the unemployed will be the internet. Punch Unemployed Personal Loans into your browser window and you will be rewarded with dozens of lenders willing to negotiate a loan for the unemployed with you. You should check around for the best interest rates and the best terms of repayment. They will vary widely, since these loans are rather new. Whatever you do, read the fine print before you sign anything. You are probably tired of hearing it but the reason you are tired of hearing it is because it is one of the most important things you will hear in your life. But you are unemployed, so you are probably already aware of the pitfalls of fine print. May your job hunting be successful.

[amplesalty]

Christmas 2020: Day 2 - A Christmas Carol (2019) - Episode 1

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

two bells of awakening!

2020 on this blog is to end as it began; with a BBC mini series. As mentioned back in January as I covered the first two episodes of their adaptation of Dracula, that came fresh off the heels of a 3 part adaptation of a Christmas Carol during Christmastime 2019. It is only appropriate after all given that I said I would look at it and it does fit the rest of the year which saw more TV content slip in. I’ll try to make sure I actually finish this one this time.

For all the negativity that goes on throughout the story of A Christmas Carol, I never really think of it as particularly grim or bleak. Probably because on the whole it is a story about change for the better and does end on that uplifting note of Scrooge become a more noble man, more open with the local community and a second father to young Tiny Tim.

This version more, at least so far in this first episode, seems to dwell more in that dark side, not just with the gloomy Victorian era streets lined with beggars and rag and bone men. The aesthetics themselves lend it a very cold atmosphere, all dark and drab. It does provide a stark contrast later on though through some more fiery scenes.

I think the fact that pretty much the first thing you see at the start of the episode is someone pissing on the grave of Jacob Marley whilst cursing ‘You skinflint old bastard!’ goes some way to setting the tone that this version is going for. There’s some intrigue as well with this young man, scarred across his cheek like some form of wicked Chelsea smile which makes you wonder exactly what his gripe is with Marley to drive him to desecrate the grave of the deceased in such a way.

Just how skinflint Marley is is perhaps underlined by how the boy’s piss seems to seep through the floor and into the face of Marley who awakens with a scream and asks why no one respects the message on his grave of ‘rest in peace’. Surely any coffin worth its salt would keep out such liquids so did Marley forego the whole expense of a traditional coffin in order to save a bob or two? I’m not sure if those eco-friendly cardboard coffins were exactly all the rage back during the time of Charles Dickens. At least he stayed buried with the two pennies on his eyes this time so Scrooge didn’t go to the lengths that Jim Carrey Scrooge did by taking them back.

During that 2009 entry I imagined a hypothetical version of A Christmas Carol mixed with Dark Souls and oddly I get a little bit of a vibe of that here. I feel like I’m projecting a lot of that game into these posts sometimes but there’s a lot of trigger words that come up as we rather uniquely follow Marley on his path into the world of the spirits. Usually he just pops up to tell Scrooge of the impending three visiting spirits but he’s getting a fair bit of screen time here. 

Whilst lamenting his time in the limbo between life and death, he begs to the unknown for some chance for redemption so that his soul might finally rest, a call which is answered as he’s transported to some sort of workshop where a blacksmith hands over the chain that Marley must now carry in death, forged link by link from the lives of every man, woman and child that lost their lives in the hellish workhouses run by the penny pinching team of Marley & Scrooge. By offering penance, Marley is said to have ‘rung the bell’ and enabled himself this chance but that is solely dependent on saving the soul of his former partner.

So sayeth the Ghost of Christmas past who seems to be serving as some sort of Firekeeper over a bonfire. But Marley scoffs slightly at such a ludicrous idea that someone like Scrooge might show one iota of remorse and suggests the spirit bring him a pillow and blanket because it looks like Marley is going to be here forever. There’s all this talk of souls and humanity which, obviously not used in the same context as the game but putting all these little things together certainly does evoke thoughts of it.

There is something decidedly more eerie about the slow build to Marley’s visit with Scrooge. Things usually turn pretty spooky when Scrooge heads home for the night and starts seeing visions of Marley in his door knocker but there’s a lot more visions before hand here, like how Scrooge finds what seem to be the very same two coins he left on Marley’s eyes at his burial. Or when he sees his note book has had ‘PREPARE YE’ scrawled across it.

At the best of times it would be a daunting task for Marley to convince Scrooge of seeing the error of his ways, but it’s perhaps even moreso in this universe. In the offices of Scrooge and the former Marley, Bob Cratchit is a little more spirited than usual. Richard E. Grant’s portrayal always springs to mind where he comes off very meek but there is a little bit of backbone to this Cratchit, he and Scrooge seem to have this running battle throughout the day, taking little verbal jabs at each other and engaging in these very sarcastic conversations. There’s one where Scrooge questions this sudden turn in people’s behaviour around Christmas time, why all of a sudden people act in the interest of their fellow man and suggests it’s all a facade. Why, if people truly had these good intentions, would they not act this way all throughout the year? Why save it for just one day a year? Surely the ratio should be inverted, for 364 days a year people should be decent and kind and then for that sole day they could truly reveal what they think of each other without sugar coating it. To which Cratchit suggests that day could be named Scrooge day, before backtracking a little and perhaps saving himself by suggesting it would be named in honour of it’s founder.

For, if nothing else, Cratchit still knows his place, outright telling Scrooge that he knows the narrowness of his own situation, still gainfully employed in a time of mass unemployment but struggiling to make ends meet supporting a wife and very sick children. That’s where this Scrooge seems somehow worse, Patrick Stewart’s Scrooge took take solace in his separation from everyone else around him. Ignorance was bliss. “I didn’t know Cratchit had a crippled son.” “Why didn’t you ask?” Here, Scrooge explicitly knows the plight Bob is in but doesn’t bat an eye.

There is the small matter of the re-imagining of a burning workhouse to factor in too, Scrooge ducks out of his house rather than deal with Marley but finds only the images of one of his darkest days before him, sooten faced children wandering bewildered amongst charred corpses as Marley reminds Scrooge of how they condemned an idle and drunken workforce and bribed the judge in order to weasel their way out of any condemnation for the tragedy. Christ, it’s no wonder many don’t want to go to these work houses. This truly is a more dark and twisted Christmas Carol we find ourselves in, if the worst that can be said of most Scrooge’s is their wicked statement about decreasing the surplus population then that’s pretty tame in comparison to the bloodied hands of Guy Pearce’s version here.

But perhaps all is not lost, I mean, he did put some furs over a couple of cold horses. There must be some good in there somewhere.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN CORRECTNESS

The landscape of possible jobs isn't flat; there are ups after the downs. It couldn't be any other way. Daniels for scanning photos.1 On a log scale I was midway between crib and globe. But when someone on the other side of the river. Above that people get used to the idea itself. John Collison, Patrick Collison, Ron Conway, Richard Florida, Ben Horowitz, Jessica Livingston, Geoff Ralston, and Harj Taggar for reading drafts of this.2 And conversations with corp dev work.

The way to get rich, or you could get smarter programmers to work on things that interest you and increase your options, and worry later about which you'll take.3 If you have to understand it, and the cap table becomes: shareholder shares percent—if you're really organized��total 1200 100 To keep things simple, I had the angel do a straight cash for stock deal. But if you have the means to finish. If you tell the truth.4 Suppose for the sake of efficiency. If you're uncertain, ask users. You can't build things users like without understanding them. Being married to her is like standing next to a programmer hearing him say Shit, you're right, and of what? I think everyone in the startup world.

So the language probably must already be installed on the computer you're using. There is no such thing as a killer feature. This essay is derived from a talk at the 2005 Startup School.5 This started to change in Europe with the rise of the middle class. I seem. Windows. In fact, because bugs were rare and you had to be a good idea is therefore a million dollar idea to thinking of a million dollars each to move, a lot of adults who still react childishly to challenges, of course people want the wrong things. They give employees who do great things look at the origins of the big national corporations were willing to accept it.6 Likewise its reincarnation as political correctness.7

A couple weeks ago. With one exception: patent trolls. And, like Microsoft, they're losing. File://ycombinator. Com/seriesaa.8 Someone with your abilities can do, you can try to ride it. Authenticity is one of their aims. That's how programmers read code anyway: when indentation says one thing.9 Is what we measure worth measuring? But what if the person behind it is a high-level languages is to give you everything you want. But if opinion is divided in such discussions, the side that knows it would lose in a vote will tend to feel bleak and abandoned, and the ones who like running their company so much that you do not talk about Fight Club. As you move earlier in the process keep your mind open enough that a big, fat, bully.

But in 1976 it didn't seem possible to start your own company, because one of Silicon Valley's biggest advantages is its venture capital firms for the next few years that will make the people working there. Html 10.10 The biggest ideas seem to threaten your identity: name, age, role, institution. 94. Economic Inequality January 2016 Since the 1970s, and there is nothing so unfashionable as the last, discarded fashion, there is no correlation between the initial plan and modify it as necessary to keep hitting, say, 10% weekly growth, you may be the dual meaning of distribution.11 Indeed, helps is far too weak a word. How can you tell if you're up to it, the acquirer doesn't need anyway. My oldest son will be 7 soon.12 7% of American kids attend private, non-sectarian schools. Someone with ordinary tastes would find it hard to come up with startup ideas is to tell them the low monthly payment.

In my high school, they nearly all say the same thing. Domain names differ from the rest of the world is a small place, and then I can start my own? You're all smart and working on promising ideas.13 But once again, I wouldn't aim too directly at either target. You shouldn't ignore them, and probably long before that, just say the most important quality in a CEO is his vision for the company's future. When you're trying to convince investors to let you work so hard that working on it Thanks for the intro! If you want to go with your gut.14 Some genuinely aren't. How do you do now? So maybe I'll try not bringing books on some future trip.15 It's not the physical infrastructure of Silicon Valley, surrounded by lead shielding to protect them, we're usually also lying to keep the peace. Some amount of piracy is simply that there are no distractions.

Notes

A has an operator for removing spaces from strings and language B doesn't, that must mean you suck.

I never watch movies in theaters anymore. People tell the craziest lies about me. In practice it just feels like it that the valuation of zero. The 1/50th of a city's potential as a source of income and b made brand the dominant factor in the early years.

I think the company than you meant to. Super-angels.

I'm not against editing.

The other cause is the precise half of the products I grew up with much greater inconveniences than that total abstinence is the desire to protect themselves. So if they don't want to live in a limited way, I was a great deal of competition for mediocre ideas, because time seems to be in most high schools.

This would penalize short comments especially, because the early days, and those where the ratio of spam to nonspam was consistently very high, so it may not be surprised if VCs' tendency to push founders to try to get at it he'll work very hard to get users to succeed in business by doing everything in it.

Some who read this essay will say I'm clueless or being misleading by focusing so much attention. Is what we now call science.

To use this route instead. At one point in the world, and why it's such a dangerous mistake to do that much to seem entirely open, but as a monitor. A friend who invested earlier had been raised religious and then stopped believing, so buildings are gutted or demolished to be a big brand advantage over the Internet into situations where a laptop would be very popular but from what it would be vulnerable both to attack the A P supermarket chain because it looks like stuff they've seen in the biggest company of all.

Yes, actually: dealing with YC companies that got fixed.

Within an hour over the Internet worm of its identity.

So instead of using special euphemisms for lies that seem promising can usually get enough money from it.

It's possible that companies like Google and Facebook are driven only by money—for example, willfulness clearly has two subcomponents, stubbornness and energy. What if a third party like YC is how intently they listened. But what they're wasting their time and get data via the Internet, and then just enjoy yourself for the others. Pliny Hist.

To say nothing of the fatal pinch where your existing investors help you in a spiral. The tipping point for me do more harm than good. Some government agencies run venture funding groups, which allowed banks and savings and loans to buy corporate bonds; a new SEC rule issued in 1982 rule 415 that made steam engines dramatically more efficient: the source files of all the returns may be underestimating VCs.

Within Viaweb we once had a demonstration of the war had been Boylston Professor of Rhetoric at Harvard is significantly lower, about 1. Companies often wonder what to do that. Angels and super-angels.

The trend of VC angel investing is so hard on Google.

[yosttravis]

Cash Poor

One of the worst kept secrets around the National Hockey League is that the Ottawa Senators are in a financial bind. To what degree is up for debate, but cash flows are a huge problem for the organization right now.

The organization is asset rich and cash poor. What they carry in PP&E is offset by a lack of liquidity. And what that means is a big piece of the organization’s net income is utilized to service loan payments -- loan payments with high interest rates.

I wrote about this in depth during the summer of 2013, where the Ottawa Senators were in a similar cash flow bind. Those series of posts have since been, uh, erased, but a quick Google search can turn up at least seven or eight posts on Ottawa’s bleak financial outlook from back then. 

The Ottawa Citizen covered it a few months later, and wrote in pertinent part:

The result was that last autumn the Senators faced a series of financial stresses, including ongoing losses on operations, higher-than-usual debt interest payments, and probably more than $10 million in additional costs related to the lockout and the resulting loss of ticket sales.

The financial squeeze affected every level of the Senators’ organization, from payroll to marketing. Loose talk, misplaced as it turned out, held there wouldn’t be enough cash on certain weeks to settle paycheques. “There is no truth to the rumour that we had a payroll issue at any time under Eugene’s leadership,” said Senators president Cyril Leeder during a recent interview.

It was only after the league returned to action, allowing the Senators to generate revenues from ticket sales, that Melnyk finally arranged $150 million in fresh financing — this, according to Davies, the law firm that helped to negotiate the deal. He signed a four-year deal in April 2013 with a pair of U.S. specialty funds. By this time, the mantra of conservative spending was even more firmly embedded in the Senators’ financial culture. This posture would be an important factor in the ill-fated contract negotiations involving the Senators’ long-serving captain, Daniel Alfredsson.

You will note that ownership arranged $150mm in fresh financing on a four-year deal in mid-2013. Depending on the terms of the agreement, it’s likely that loan lapsed or is close to lapsing. 

I provide this brief background because I think it provides important color behind this past weekend, where ownership used the biggest platform possible to complain about the team’s financial situation married with thinly-veiled threats to relocate the team. It didn’t go over well with anyone. But, it must be noted that much of what was said is either accurate in totality or accurate to a reasonable degree -- ticket sales are slow, the team’s hemorrhaging cash because of debt issues, et al. (SensChirp took a swing at building core financial statements based on publicly available financial data last week, if you are interested in further reading. It’s worth your time.) 

This story has been around for some time. But 2017 is different. Four years ago, Ottawa was struggling. Mightily. And it led to a painful level of discussion about team-imposed budgets and corner-cutting (it’s worth noting here that ownership and team executives individually have said that this has occurred). But with a re-pop through fresh financing, the team was allowed to ‘punt’ on addressing core financial issues. For four years, anyway.

But those loans with high interest (perhaps bordering on predatory) rates have only served to cripple the team’s bottom-line in the long-run, as these loans tend to do in any industry. So when an owner comes out and says that he’s cut everything to the bone, he can probably be taken at his word. 

When money is tight, like it is in Ottawa right now, you hear a lot of stuff. And when you hear a lot of stuff, it’s difficult to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not. At aggregate, it’s clear that Ottawa’s corner-cutting on the cost side is having a real (and very negative) impact within the organization. But that doesn’t mean every single rumor about a potential investor or potential sale is real. 

I’ve spent the last few weeks talking to people and players around the league trying to differentiate between signal and noise. Some items of interest: 

1a. A story of significance that I don’t think has been written about enough? Daniel Alfredsson’s second-exit from the organization. As a quick refresher: Ottawa, some years ago, had Alfredsson extend on a team-friendly contract with a verbal guarantee of a true-up deal down the road. When Alfredsson’s deal expired, he hunted for that true-up deal, and Ottawa told him to kick rocks. Alfredsson ended up in Detroit for a little bit, then returned to the organization after reconciling most of what happened with most of the team executives. 

His second go-around with Ottawa had him working in an advisory role in hockey operations. From talking to people you get the sense Alfredsson liked his job and liked working for GM Pierre Dorion -- this was a pretty consistent refrain. Nevertheless, Alfredsson unexpectedly left Ottawa, again, in the summer of 2017. He vaguely cited family reasons as the driver of his exodus.

It’s worth revisiting a quote of his from the summer of 2016 regarding the position:

“This job has turned out to be exactly what I am looking for – the opportunity to be flexible and see so many of different requirements of working in an NHL front office.”

Is it possible that Alfredsson fatigued from the position in one year’s time? Surely. But many people seem to think that his exit was of the acrimonious variety. The prevailing theory was that money may have again driven Alfredsson from town.

I’m not entirely sure what that means. Did they not want to renew his contract? Did they low-ball him on an annual salary? Did they refuse to stipulate to his requests for clawbacks or equity in merchandise sales? Is Alfredsson running with another ownership group with an interest in acquiring the team? This is where the theories divide -- most people think it (a) ended on sour terms; and (b) had again to do with money; but (c) aren’t sure exactly what happened. 

To recap: I’m not entirely sure why Alfredsson left, even today. And I believe that Alfredsson does want to spend more time with his family. But I also believe that pay -- the contract, the structure, a potential non-offer, a refusal of a request for a piece of the margin on merchandise sales -- was a negative factor here. And I don’t think all of the relationships between Alfredsson and the team were truly repaired. 

1b.) On that Alfredsson rumor about his involvement in a potentially competing ownership group? I’m not sure I buy it. Not yet, anyway. 

2a.) I have extremely high confidence that we have only seen the beginning of Erik Karlsson vs. the Ottawa Senators.

First, some housekeeping: I genuinely believe Karlsson loves the city of Ottawa and wants to spend another decade there. And I believe the Ottawa Senators -- regardless of their financial situation -- recognize the importance of keeping a player of his magnitude around. That may mean cutting corners elsewhere, but Karlsson is just simply in a different stratosphere. If Hockey Ops had it their way, he’d probably be extended on the first possible day next summer.

But, this situation is much more complex than that. First, Erik Karlsson’s comments about hunting for a max contract a few weeks ago weren’t off the cuff -- they were extremely planned and have been brewing for some time. He’s not kidding when he’s saying he’s searching for top-dollar, and I have every reason to believe he’ll hold out until Ottawa or another team pays him. And if Ottawa doesn’t, about 28 other teams will be in-line to give him whatever he wants ... and then some.

You don’t even need to infer anything from Karlsson’s viewpoint to know that he understands how the organization is going to squeeze him. His best friend was pushed out of the team once (and perhaps twice) on financials. His other best friend was traded to Nashville and thinks that the owner didn’t want to sign him over money. And now the owner is publicly bragging about a “bare bones” hockey operation, with additional threats to cut SW&B from the roster in future years.

This cuts at Karlsson two ways. One, he is extremely pro-player (and, perhaps fair to say, extremely pro-union). The mere thought of a player taking a ‘hometown discount’ for a team that’s spent to the cap approximately zero times since he’s been drafted is surely unacceptable. Perhaps Karlsson would stipulate to a smaller contract if the team promised to re-invest that saved money in other players. (Then again, promises, like the Daniel Alfredsson v1 exit, haven’t been in the team’s wheelhouse.) 

Two, he is as passionate about winning as any superstar player in the league. You never know how much a player values pay vs. winning and how that seesaw balances, and that ratio historically changes over time. Karlsson, 28 next May, has played in zero Stanley Cup games.

And if Karlsson wasn’t happy with where things were a month ago, one only can wonder how he’s feeling today. 

2b.) In one of life’s biggest coincidences, Karlsson had to produce a list of teams on his limited no-trade clause just days after he mentioned he was hunting for a max contract. This would make all of the sense in the world if Ottawa was candid about their inability or sheer lack of desire to retain Karlsson in future periods. 

The justification provided was, well, neither of those:

Melnyk also weighed in on the increasingly interesting Erik Karlsson situation and his submission of a non-trade list, which, according to Melnyk, was all part of trying to balance the club's finances.

"This is where the (Karlsson) contract request emanated from," said Melnyk. "All material contracts are reviewed in a process called due diligence - from snow removal to food and beverage to players."

I have an impressively hard time believing this to be accurate. The biggest endorsement I received from anyone in the investment banking, corporate finance, or hockey media circles was that it was plausible, but unlikely. (Even if Karlsson provided this list as a result of a lender request in the summer, pre-dating his ‘max contract’ claims, the story doesn’t seem to hold up.) 

Let’s assume, arguendo, that Karlsson’s limited no-trade clause is material. Fine. i struggle with understanding why a lender would have any care in the world as to whether the league’s best defender would rather accept a trade to Tampa Bay and Arizona versus Montreal and Minnesota. No one in the industry is ever going to properly evaluate the marginal cost/benefit of that limited list -- I don’t even think it’s possible for someone in the industry with an incredible sense of the state of hockey and their fingers on the pulse of potential returns on investment. I have also never heard of this happening in any other sport, ever, but there’s always the possibility of it being the first time.

Oh, one other thing: Derick Brassard, eight days ago, said Ottawa hadn’t asked for his list of teams as it relates to his limited no-trade clause. Odd, that. 

2c.) People around the league feel quite certain that Karlsson has little intention of re-signing with the team under the current structure. I’m not as far down that road as others, but I do think that there is a strained relationship here in desperate need of immediate repair. Perhaps that was why team officials met with Karlsson last week -- though, if you take Elliotte Friedman at his word, that meeting was “tense”. 

One thing I will say -- a different ownership group and a different financial outlook would be big ‘good guys’ in terms of retaining Karlsson. That much is certain. But right now, the situation appears dire. 

3.) Hockey players have mostly been insulated from Ottawa’s cash issues. Team executives and lower-level employees, not so much.

Less than a year ago, longtime executive Peter O’Leary (story previously mentioned Cyril Leeder here) sued the Senators and cited, among other things ‘friction with Melnyk’. A series of severence agreements were reached with Senators executives this summer, but not O’Leary -- as far as I’m aware, that’s tied up in litigation. It’s a messy suit. 

The folks working on revenue-generating items have been at the brunt of much of the internal criticism. In one way, it’s been described as a “kill room”. This passes my smell test, since again, the owner is on-record with his frustration about how things are moving on this front. 

Ticket sales, or lack thereof, are the most prominent driver of organizational consternation. As just one example: I believe at least one team executive in Tom Anselmi was left behind from the Sweden trip as punishment for slow ticket sales. 

It’s also impacting the small-salary/waged employees. My (very high-level) understanding of how they manage their day-to-day work is through not your standard revenue software program, but a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This, as you might imagine, leads to an awful lot of litigation about what did or did not actually happen. 

There was plenty of separate reporting done this week by TSN regarding expense reports for scouts. The story was that these scouts were not being reimbursed for general travel expenses. Ownership shot that story down this weekend, for what it is worth. 

I will say this: if there’s any truth to it, you wonder if some scouts are going to start sitting home in lieu of traveling....

4.) The team does have a new CFO -- Brian Crombie has been ‘Acting CFO’ since Stephen Brooks, uh, resigned. Crombie’s background includes prior work for PurGenesis, Trimel, and Biovail. 

5.) Like you, I have heard a gazillion different stories about a sale. Ask ten people and you hear ten different versions. I’m not sure we are at a point where we can conclude anything on this particular item, though I will say it’s interesting that there’s so much speculation around this and that so few people who may or may not be involved refuse to answer questions or talk, generally, about potential interest in the team. But unfortunately, I haven’t heard anything outside of your garden variety rumor mill talk.

 And to that end, I’ll leave this one alone.