#when you log important life events in as much detail as you can possibly find you start remembering more

[yoshistory]

i think in the new place im going to get a little night light that im going to wall-mount special on an outlet cause these night terrors are getting pretty fucking severe and constant

[madeitlate37]

The Tangi Virus by Paul Cantalanotto (also known as Vintage Eight)

It’s time for our first analog horror movie, and as luck has it, the first in a trilogy.

To make things more interesting, our first virus as well. Because I’m trying to have as much variety as possible in these seven analog horrors—if I even stop at seven because I keep finding new ones that capture my fancy. Prehistoric Emergence, looking at you. And I couldn’t have that variety without including at least one horror with a viral contagion as the main threat.

Vintage Eight’s Analog Horrors, with Sink Hole being the longest from my observance at one hour and eight minutes, generally presents his stories in the form of short films. The Tangi Virus, and its sequels, are no exception to this.

(NOTE: If it wasn’t obvious, I’m still experimenting with how I should do this as well as what I should say or omit, so I’m going to go closer to spoilers, or actually saying the general concept, because concept itself is arguably the most important part of any story. I fear I’ve been too vague in my prior reviews, so we’ll see how well this approach does in comparison.)

All three of the movies—as well as every other analog horror of Vintage Eight’s—are able to be watched in a vacuum from each other much like his other movies. Every analog horror by Vintage Eight generally takes place within the same area, and every story is independent from one another aside from the occasional cameo where it makes sense. With this trilogy, however, there is a cohesive narrative tying each one together. It goes: The Tangi Virus, The Oracle Project, and The Human Trials, if you are interested in watching the entire series.

First, the spoiler-free qualities:

• Viral threat, unlike Midwest Angelica, it is a virus that operates like the vast majority of viruses on earth, except for…

• Hive-mind threat, this occurs later, however, and is not the largest issue the virus presents.

• Biological study, one particular portion of the movie revolves around the attempted study of the virus.

• Untrustworthy sources, one infomercial says something isn’t safe, very next one essentially tells you to sprint towards that thing like your life depends on it.

• B-Plot threat, basically, there is another “threat” that is included, but it exists in the background so much in The Tangi Virus that it can be confused as the main threat if you don’t see The Oracle Project.

Okay, so slightly smaller list—there’s less content in the movie than the series because I don’t want to dip into the sequels for this. So let’s move on.

Higher spoiler-risk content:

This analog horror—and many of Vintage Eight’s other movies—present their information in a slightly different method that we’ll also see in next week’s series. This also takes up the bulk of the film, which is: Personal logs narrated by automated voices. The automated voices are not included in every instance of this, but the main go-to for Analog Horror is for some visual imagery. Even with Vita Carnis’ documentaries and interviews, there is always a relevant image as either the real focus or the backdrop while the text is still displayed.

In The Tangi Virus, the audience is mostly reduced to a black computer monitor with text appearing as the log is narrated, with the occasional infomercials or government warnings in between as the only relief. Yes this can be considered cheap, but it did also make me as an audience member feel much more isolated. Much like the people of this small town were when they were held still in this dangerous location. You’re stuck with only one primary source of information and, regardless of the fact that a scientist is at the helm of this monitor, it feels too easy for details to be omitted or lost in the gap between the event and the translation into text.

For that reason, that method of storytelling completely works for the short film and for its sequels.

Now, because The Tangi Virus is only a half hour long, it’s harder to find specific points worth mentioning without directly spoiling what happens, but Vintage Eight is very good at presenting facts and events in a way that puts their audience through an emotional rollercoaster. Again, I strongly suspect that this is because that isolation makes audience members emotionally grip onto whatever information they receive tighter than they would with surveillance footage and the like. Because, especially if something scary happens, the audience likely witnessed at least a part of it and are overwhelmed by the events to some degree, often needing a moment or even a rewatch to fully look at that event again through an analytical lens. In Vintage Eight’s series’, that lens is all you have because your only senses are hearing and seeing, but the lack of images throughout most of the story negate your sight. All while the voice you are hearing isn’t even a human one, and instead an automated voiceover.

I’m trying to go into more storytelling pros/cons because I’m also realizing that Analog Horror is a good example of creators and storytellers finding ways to make theirs happen. And, for someone like me who is still too insecure about my own stories to start actually posting anything, any example of creative and effective ways to handle stories are very helpful.

So, on top of me simply recommending a good Horror series/short film, maybe this could also be called pseudo-advice on how to express one’s own stories, specifically for people who want to make content for this or other genres, and who want to know how others did it.

We’ll see how decent I am at balancing that. For now, however, I think that’s all the non-spoiler-laden content I can write for the Tangi Virus, but I may revisit Vintage Eight in the future, especially because there is another movie of his that is my favorite of his Analog Horrors. But, not for this immediate list.

Please go check out Vintage Eight’s YouTube Channel if any of this is interesting to you.

As for next week…

[thetruckaccident]

Navigating the Aftermath: Finding Reliable Truck Accident Attorneys in Los Angeles

In bustling cities like Los Angeles, the roads are constantly filled with vehicles of all shapes and sizes, including massive trucks transporting goods across the city. While these trucks are essential for keeping the economy moving, they also pose a significant risk to other drivers on the road. In the unfortunate event of a truck accident, the consequences can be devastating, leading to severe injuries, property damage, and even loss of life.

Prompt Action is Crucial

After a truck accident, time is of the essence. Evidence can quickly disappear, memories can fade, and crucial details can be lost. It’s essential to contact a Truck Accident Attorney in Los Angeles as soon as possible after the accident to ensure that important evidence is preserved and your legal rights are protected from the start. Acting promptly can strengthen your case and increase your chances of obtaining a favorable outcome in your claim or lawsuit.

Truck accidents can be complex legal matters, often involving multiple parties such as the truck driver, the trucking company, and insurance companies. Navigating the aftermath of a truck accident requires expert legal guidance to ensure your rights are protected and you receive the compensation you deserve. This is where Truck Accident Attorneys in Los Angeles come into play.

Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyers specialize in handling cases involving truck accidents, bringing their extensive knowledge and experience to advocate for their clients. These attorneys understand the intricacies of trucking regulations, insurance policies, and liability laws, allowing them to build strong cases on behalf of accident victims.

When choosing a Truck Accident Attorney in Los Angeles, it’s crucial to look for a firm with a proven track record of success in handling similar cases. Look for attorneys who are well-versed in California’s traffic laws and have a deep understanding of the unique challenges associated with truck accidents.

One of the key advantages of hiring a Los Angeles truck accident lawyer is their ability to conduct thorough investigations into the cause of the accident. This may involve gathering evidence such as witness testimonies, police reports, and electronic logging device data from the truck itself. By uncovering the root cause of the accident, attorneys can establish liability and hold the responsible parties accountable for their actions.

Additionally, Truck Accident Attorneys can negotiate with insurance companies on behalf of their clients to ensure they receive fair compensation for their injuries and damages. Insurance companies often try to minimize payouts or deny claims altogether, but experienced attorneys know how to effectively advocate for their clients’ rights and maximize their recovery.

In the aftermath of a truck accident, victims may be facing mounting medical bills, lost wages, and emotional trauma. Hiring a truck accident attorney can provide much-needed support during this challenging time, allowing victims to focus on their recovery while their legal team handles the complexities of their case.

Read More:

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Truck Accident in Los Angeles, don’t hesitate to seek legal representation. With the help of a dedicated truck accident attorney, you can pursue the compensation you deserve and take steps towards rebuilding your life after a devastating accident.

[fairy-marshmallow]

A guide to finding Ikevamp friends

Probably one of the most frustrating things that can happen when starting out playing the game is getting stuck on an avatar check. Collecting gold when you don’t have many friends can leave you stuck on a check for days, possibly weeks. Now I’m not saying this method is flawless. It’s time consuming and can probably take about a week, but it’s still much quicker and has a higher chance of getting new friends than just adding people from the “find more friends” button.

Your biggest ally in this process is the “ranking” page; this can be found on the menu.

Tap on ranking and you’ll be greeted by a page with a list of players and 4 different tabs along the top “Beauty Daily, Beauty Overall, Intimacy Daily, Intimacy Overall”

The main 2 tabs you want to focus on is “Beauty Daily” and “Intimacy Daily”. Going down the list, tap the player details/picture to see the player profile. The most important info here is the amount of friends the person has and the time listed on last login. If they have less than 50 friends and they logged in recently (up to 1 day ago) send them a request. Press the back arrow button to get back to the ranking page and repeat this process with the next person. Do this with as many people you can add from the ranking page, each day until you have a full friend list.

The reason this works quickly to fill your friend list is because the ranking list usually displays people who have played recently, while the “find more friends” button has a very high chance of listing someone who hasn’t logged in for a very long time, so they’ll never see your request. There’s a limited amount of friend requests you’re able to send, so make sure to delete old friend requests sent that haven’t been responded to in a few days so you can send out more. Tips to speed this process up when looking at the ranking page: If the amount of intimacy/beauty the person on the ranking page has is low (around less than 50,000) they’re more likely to be a new player that won’t have a full friend list so you’ll have a better chance adding them as a friend. Same thing with the avatar appearance in the picture. If their avatar is simpler looking (e.g. wearing the starting avatar items and background) they’re more likely to be a new player who needs friends too.

If you’re someone who needs more friends, please don’t be shy, leave your friend code in the comments and I’ll add you so you have one new friend. I have space to add around 30 people. Also, if you’re someone who’s been playing for a while, with a friend list filled with people who haven’t played in a long time, it would be very kind if you could consider deleting some of them and adding the people in the comments (that is, if anyone listed their friend code, because I know people can be reluctant to comment…) to help them out. Adding more active friends can make your life easier when finding friends for events too. I’d really appreciate it if you could reblog this post so more people can see it and find more friends to make their game easier to play.

[kpop-stan23-writes]

new money san

the san part to this fic which is inspired by this post by @warmau read mingi’s part here

group: ateez member: san feat mingi genre: fluff? rich boi au word count: 1.8k warnings: a few curse words pairing: san x gn!reader

made his money fast and dirty. like really dirty

the only rich people he knows and hangs out with regularly as sketchy as hell

the old money people look down their noses at his new money but still secretly want to buy his brand because wow it makes a lot of money

has the same dressing habits he did before he got rich, just with pricier clothes now. must pricier

those dressing habits: wears whatever he wakes up in or is pulled onto him by a frantic and always worried bodyguard wooyoung

usually what's pulled onto him is just as wrinkled and questionably clean as the clothes he wore to bed

*seonghwa's voice from that one daily log* young and rich

bling bling bitch

f-leeeeex

aka jewels in his mouth, chains worth more than a small country around his neck, rings on rings on rings

has about ten cars that he takes turns driving

all flashy speedy sports cars he enjoys weaving in and out of seoul traffic

a tattoo under his ribcage that says something no one but he understands the worth of

really only asked what it means by some of the people he's let sleep over

got annoyed when people would ask him about it and then tried to pretend they understood what it meant

now when a sleeping buddy asks what it means, he just laughs it off and gives a bullshit answer

even though it kinda kills him inside because it holds such importance to him

scars from all the dangerous shit he pays to do

never ask him about those adventures tho. he will go on and on and show you a slideshow of pics he took and most of those pics will be engrained in your brain for the rest of your life and possibly into the next one

scars from all the dangerous insane people he also does (though those he doesn't have to pay for)

never ask him about those adventures tho. he will get a devilish look in his eye and then proceed to explain in near-excruciating detail how each scar came to be

so how did you, a straight-laced, by-the-books college student, get swept up into san's crazy life?

you're mingi's childhood friend

and as children you swore to each other you would be by each other's side, no matter what, through thick and thin

boy do you want to slap some sense into child you

because when mingi gets swept up into san's whirlwind life, so do you

though you suppose there was some good that came of it

you met san, after all

it started out innocently enough

mingi has this brilliant idea he is convinced can make him the next san self-made millionaire

he just needs a loan

and san, understanding what it's like to start with nothing, offers to fund mingi

fine. great

except san isn't interested in being repaid conventionally

instead of asking for exorbitant interest or a large cut of shares, he asks for a favor

a simple favor, he swears

long story short: it wasn't a simple favor, and now mingi owes san more than just the loan

you don't find out about mingi's deal until after it's been made and he's gone through with the "simple favor"

you pace in your shared apartment, with mingi sitting on the lumpy couch with his head hanging low

you don't have the heart to curse him out

you never did

because who could yell at such a sweet angel?

but there's a first time for everything because what the hell was he thinking? why didn't he ask how he'd be expected to pay san back before accepting his money? who does this choi san think he is anyway? how does he have the money to fund a budding business while asking for crazy favors as means for repayment?

mingi, who has sat quietly through your ranting, snaps his head up and says in the most serious tone you've ever heard him use: "hope you never have that question answered"

his seriousness shakes you and you slowly sink onto the couch next to him and you whisper "what did you get into, mingi?"

things are quiet for several months after the favor is completed and as mingi prepares for launch of his business, you start to hope that that's the end of the choi san business

because you've done some digging after mingi told you what he'd done to secure the loan

and you can't help but be nervous

because this choi san guy suddenly came onto the scene with an obscene amount of cash and no one seems to really know how he earned so much so quickly

at first glance he's just an eccentric nuevo riche guy who likes to live on the edge and flaunt his wealth with flashy new things every other week and wrinkled designer brands

but the more you dig into him, the more whispers you hear about how he really makes his money

the few rumors that have been confirmed are sketchy as hell but nothing overtly illegal, but that doesn't bring you much comfort when you consider mingi made a deal with him

but the months drag on and still...nothing

you finally think that's the end of that

until you get home one day from class

you're exhausted

it's nearing finals and with summer just around the corner, it's practically impossible to concentrate on studying

you just want to take a long hot bath and then sleep for the next week

you kick off your shoes and step into your slippers before shuffling into the apartment, making a beeline for the bathroom

but you spot mingi sitting on the couch out of the corner of your eye and his posture is the same as the day he told you about san and it makes you stop dead in your tracks

"what's wrong?" you ask him slowly

he says nothing, just points to the black envelope that sits in the middle of the coffee table in front of him

you approach with trepidation and then grow nervous when you see that on the matte black surface, your name and mingi's are written in glittery gold script

you pick it up and turn it over and then sink to your knees when you see that on the glittery gold wax seal is the image of two mountains overlapped in such a way that makes them look like cat ears

you remember seeing that seal on the paperwork mingi had refused to show you even after he had told you about his deal

the mark of choi san

for a long time you and mingi just sit in silence

choi san confuses the hell out of you

there's the public image vs the rumors

both are outlandish but in very different ways

you abruptly get to your feet and with false bravado claim you just won't read the letter and go to toss it in the trash

mingi leaps off the sofa and uses his long limbs to scramble after you and snatch the ominous black envelope from your hand

"you have to," he insists

"i don't have to do anything," you insist back

"since it was also addressed to me, i already read it"

"then you've read it for the both of us!"

"it's a party invitation"

"so we just don't go!"

"i don't think this is something we can get out of"

you and mingi have a stare-down

you typically win, since mingi gets all giggly and blushy when he stares into your eyes too long

but he's determined and doesn't back down

with a huff you snatch the letter from him and pop the seal, which you see now has indeed already been broken

you understand mingi's insistence once you scan the letter

because the intention of the invitation is very clear: go to this roof party or else

"right, because i totally wasn't planning on studying this weekend anyway"

that saturday you spend more time than you care to admit standing in front of your closet

what do you wear to an eccentric millionaire's rooftop party?

when it gets dangerously close to the time you need to leave, mingi finally grabs a few random articles of clothing and tosses them at you

you huff but pull on the clothes because wow these actually go together how is mingi so good at that?

you and mingi are nervous the whole drive over and you're both reluctant to get out of the safety of the car

you finally gather your courage and drag mingi after you because you're both in this mess because of him he's not chickening out on you now!

you stand in front of the brick building with the glass front declaring it closed for a private event

a tall man stands at the door and as you and mingi approach, he asks for your invitation

you show him the black envelope and he unlocks the door for you before telling you to take the elevator to the top floor

you reach the top floor and then follow the arrows that lead you to the rooftop stairwell

as soon as the door to the roof is opened, mingi is whisked away and you catch the words "discuss some business" as you and he share startled looks

now all alone, you make a deep breath and glance around the roof

fairy lights are strung up, soft music is playing in the background, and flowers create a pathway straight to the neon bar...and choi san

he's wearing dark washed jeans and a purple button up with black leopard spots (that one from the vlive from say my name era with wooyoung and yunho) untucked with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he's leaning against the bar sipping his drink and when your eyes meet he gives you a smirk you've only ever seen on a fox

you straighten your shoulders and approach him

once you're in front of him, you glance around at the empty roof

"so when does this party start?"

"do we need more than two people to have a good time?" that smirk is still on his face

"but there's all this space and all these decorations..."

he just shrugs and says "well i own the building, so it wasn't really a big deal"

with his drink in his hand he gestures to the seoul skyline and says "i also own that glass one and that tall one and see that construction in the distance? that's mine too. choose one you like and we can start a party there"

he looks back at you and a genuine smile crosses his lips and shows off his dimples and he leans closer and you find yourself unwilling to pull away

maybe he's not as bad as you thought...

the end?

[dappersheep]

Food Fantasy: An Analysis on what killed a Golden Goose (3/3)

Ladies and gentlemen, we've arrived at our final destination.

Again before we start, we have our obligatory disclaimers. I do not own the game or its characters, nor do I claim to know the true history and likely fate of this game. I am entitled to the thoughts and opinions written within this post. Feel free to agree or disagree with the points being made.

This post also remains untagged from the main foofan tag. Only my followers will see this.

We are in the third and final stretch, and the checkpoint is past the cut.

Community

So... here we are, fellow Master Attendants.

As consumers of this piece of entertainment media, we are free to enjoy it however we wish. Appreciating what is there, creating something new from what exists, playing the game by the meta or however you want to play it (within your means and at your own risk of course). There's no one true and absolute way to experience the game.

However, just as you can enjoy something, doesn't mean you can't also point out flaws or shortcomings of the media in question. As an active veteran player, I've already pointed out the many gameplay design flaws  already. And I'd be pretty dumb to say that Food Fantasy's writing is perfect. Hell, it has a lot of holes from a worldbuilding consistency standpoint. 

And what of things from the community side? Yes, there will be times you'd see content you consider cringe, or something in fanon you don't agree with. Or there happens to be fan theories and fangirling posts you don't like the take of because of X or Y.

And that's fine. If we all happen to play the same way, like the same thing, agree on the same thing and produce the same thing, well, this would be one helluva boring community, wouldn't it?

But what if someone decides the way you're playing the game is wrong and harasses you over it? What happens if someone decides that their interpretation of the game's flavor text and lore is more important than what anyone else thought about it? What happens if someone decides that they're absolutely right, and you and everyone else who disagrees deserves to be bullied out of the fandom?

As much as I want to say we aren't part of the problem why the game is deteriorating, we are unfortunately, part of the reason why the game is as such even if most of the blame is directed towards Funtoy and Elex themselves.

⦁ Whale Authority. Whales will always be part of a gacha game's ecosystem. Without them, the game won't be able to maintain its upkeep costs, moreso  for one that services global regions instead of just one. But when a game decides to cater its decisions of what features should be prioritized and when it should be launched around only its most elite paying players' voices  -even if that influence has since tapered off-, you know there is something wrong with the publisher's management team and priorities.

⦁ Interguild drama. While I did not personally follow any of this, this has certainly been the peak of in-game tension back in the day. Poaching good players from both competitive and smaller guilds, guild mergers that often ended up making the annexed guild/s the equivalent of UK colonized India or Australia, suck-ups chummying up to guild leaders to keep a spot in an active, high ranking guild (for bragging rights!) despite never contributing much to overall damage, and just general dislike of certain players' attitudes. Actions like this have disillusioned many players about their playing experience and the reason why many eventually just lost the motivation to log into FooFan.

⦁ Cheaters. You know very well about the Hacker-teme I've mentioned before, but that was in context of Elex being incompetent with dealing with them. Here, I would like  to point out the players who are desperate to dominate  the playing field for whatever reason to the point that they would resort to cheating the ranks with forceful modifications of the APK. Whether it is to rank high in catacombs weekly, get a top spot in daily disaster damage, or weasel their way into the competitive whale ranks of a major ranking event, these are the people who have no qualms messing with the code to give themselves an easier time with the game. And if they're caught? Some pretend that they've made a mistake, some quickly sell the account to escape the blame, some others just scamper away into the dark and hide in the lower ranks where they can't be found. Others simply don't care and keep cheating until Elex decides to finally ban them... if Elex ever decides their rebates score isn't worth saving the account.

⦁ Ship wars. Ah yes, a staple of drama in any fandom. There doesn't need much explanation to this as we've all had our fair share of running into a battleground in whatever fandom we visit. Someone ships BB52 wholeheartedly? Nope, problematic 'age gaps'. Someone likes Napoleon with Pastel? Someone's bound to misinterpret their bios in order to justify that Napoleon was being abusive. Spaghetti and Borscht? Borscht is minor coded, ship her with Vodka instead. Whiskey and Pizza or Cassata? Cancelled! And I've never heard of the Foe Yay trope or pretend I don't know about it! Rarepairs? Disgusting! No fanon in my canon playground! Turkey and Eggnog? Gasp! How dare you, you pedo-shipper-even-though-you-never-said-you-shipped-them-romantically-but-that-isn't-my-point!

⦁ Character Obsession: Bias. On one hand, you love a character so much. Relate to a character so much. You have thus pulled this character into the folds of your bosom and coo at them like a mother dove and get so minutely triggered if someone so much as makes one disagreeable or joking comment about the character that you fly into an overreactive ballistic rage that would make a Canadian goose honk in fear. You don't care what they are in canon. You don't care about the possibility of mistranslation. What matters is the fanon space you carved out for them to exist in and that's all that matters. The problem with this is when this obsession takes over common sense and social etiquette and it steps into harassment territory. You begin to think: I'm the only one who 'understands' the character. I'm the only one who wishes better for the character, everyone else is out to defame them! Oh wait, you like them too? Do you like them the way *I* like them? No? Maybe if you're my 'friend', I'd let it slide. But to everyone else? No one else has the right to like them as much as I do. No one! Never mind that they're completely fictional- No one hurts my bias because in turn, they're hurting *me*!

⦁ Character Obsession: Anti. On the other hand, you hate a character so much. This character just makes you see so much red. Their smug little smirk just makes your blood boil. Their fictional backstory makes you recoil in disgust. You hate that someone else loves a character you hate so much.  You cannot *believe* that someone could be so daringly stupid to like a problematic character. They must be problematic too then. They must be hiding real life secrets that are problematic! Yes, yes. That's right. That person's a supporter of abuse. That person's into pedophilia. That person is into military lolita fashion that Japan started the trend of but clearly Japan was part of the Axis Powers! And that... that person... that person... is a roleplayer and a yaoi fangirl properly interacting with minors and adults. How dare they...!

⦁ Fan Translations.  Normally it wouldn't be a problem that a group or two or several are translating pieces of the game's lore ahead of the official. But with Elex's very delayed translations and extreme allergic reactions to translating Food Soul bios, people have become dependent on fan-translation groups to get their fix. The problem herein lies... is when the translators get drunk off the power that they are one of a handful in a small community who can magically transcribe the oriental moonrunes into English. The problem starts when the translator starts to have an inclination. The problem starts when the translator loses their professional detachment and start adding in details here and there into the fan translated product that ultimately changes the meaning and direction of the entire story. The problem is also escalated when that translator's embellished product is touted as the truth by their followers. If there was an upcoming character whose backstory is connected to a character they hated (either because of someone or they just don't like the character) and you were hoping to read the fan translation? How would you know that what you get isn't something doctored to the point it's basically fanfiction?

⦁ Social Justice Vigilantism. Sometimes someone does not have a character obsession or need it to be annoying. Sometimes, someone just wants to ring the alarm over something they find 'problematic' in order to police and sanitize the enjoyment of the media for 'everyone'. They no longer really take enjoyment out of a new Food Soul design being leaked, they no longer read the lore just to enjoy what it has to offer. Instead, they nitpick bits and pieces of the design and point it out repeatedly as a reason why the whole thing is bad. They point out bits of the story and inject their interpretations of it without really comprehending what they've read in full and react badly to it. What's worse is that they have no qualms publicly posting their reactions and eagerly and hungrily await those likes and echoes of agreement that they were right.

⦁ Circles of Influence. Everyone has a group they eventually gravitate to in a fandom. It comes with its own pros and cons. Sometimes you join a group because someone you admire is in there, sometimes you join a group because you just want to mingle and see more content. All valid reasons. Arguments can't be avoided in a group, it has to happen... But you have to take care. You have to take care to feel the change in the air of the group. When someone starts pushing people to agree with them. When your most admired people start to feel overly sensitive about certain characters or issues. When you start to feel obligated to spy on other groups outside of this one for 'nonbelievers', 'traitors' and 'heretics' who do not think the way this group does, and that bringing back bits and pieces of gossip as offerings would somehow make you more favored in the eyes of the inner clique or remain inside it. There is a gripping sense of annoyance when that person comes in to complain but you can't do anything about it but nod and agree. There is a pervading sense of fear and apprehension of overstepping an invisible boundary. There is fear that you might be next on the chopping block, after witnessing one of the others being ganged up on and thrown out without a second thought, their name spat upon like they're worth less than dirt. And so reluctant you are to give up what you have with them that when they push you to do something you are reluctant to do, all in the name of 'harmony and justice'... You do it. Even though it would mean offering yourself up to the mob with no salvation, and the stark realization that... [they] never cared about you as a friend.

And we've come to the end of this analysis trilogy. The writing got a little bit strange in this post, but honestly this is the best way I could put it. I'm aware things can and will be more complicated than the bullet points I've written but I'm just one person and I tried very hard to keep details of all the drama that happened in this fandom as vague as possible. Of course, that wouldn't work if you know what I am talking about.

The community is quiet now for the most part, the game is somewhere between limbo and the living plane. Things could be better for us, but I don't really count on it.

I wish I could leave a bit of a moral warning or something. But rather than do that, I just hope this was an entertaining read into one individual's eyes into Food Fantasy and everything that makes it up.

[theanxiousstudentblog]

What I've learned from the first year of university: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Three years later than expected, I finished my first year of university. At first, admittedly, it didn't feel like much; I submitted my final assignment, logged off of my student account, and went to watch the new series of The Real Housewives. It wasn't until a few weeks had passed that I was finally hit with how much this milestone meant to me and all the emotions that came with finally getting through the first academic year as a university student. This may not seem like a big achievement to some (I remember how in sixth form we were always made to believe that the first year of university was a piece of cake and way easier than A-levels) but, for me, it has been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. These emotions and thoughts are what have inspired me to write this post, specifically the feeling that university can be very very different from what you expect.

How I got here.

When I was younger, one of my sole dreams was to go to university. This may have seemed odd to some as I suffered from extreme anxiety when I was younger and actually refused to go to school between the ages of 7 and 9. However, it was never the academic side of schooling that worried me but the social side and being away from my family. I loved learning and I knew that I wanted to take my academic career to the highest possible level I could. The idea that I could pick any subject that I was interested in and do a whole course solely centered on teaching me as much as I could absorb was infatuating to me. It was for this reason that I spent so much effort making sure that I achieved good grades, despite my time off. I had my sights set on a prestigious university in London and in 2018 I received an offer to study there. However, instead of feeling excited about my future, I was engulfed with a feeling of dread. Unfortunately, due to events in my private life, my anxiety which had previously been kept under control by CBT and medication began to skyrocket. I would later learn that I developed complex PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) during this time. For the sake of keeping this blog post to a somewhat reasonable length, I will keep this account brief by saying that these difficulties eventually led to me pulling out of the London university and I decided to go to a local uni closer to home after taking a year off for my mental health (for a more detailed account you can look at one of my previous IG posts published 24/05/20).

Expectations vs...

I was excited for what awaited me at my local university; it was close enough to see my family whenever I wanted but still gave me the independence that I felt I needed to grow. Moving day came and went and it seemed to be going pretty smoothly, albeit some hiccups that came with my anxiety. It is important to note that I gave the university's wellbeing service a heads-up about my conditions before moving in so, at first, I felt confident that if I had any issues they would be able to work through them with me. However, over the next couple of weeks, my anxiety grew and grew, finally reaching its peak when my housemate turned around to me and told me that I needed to shut it about my mental health issues and stop hanging out with her. This triggered a major episode in my PTSD and I suddenly felt like I was spiraling out of control. However, despite my attendance beginning to drop and the multiple times I was having to leave lectures early due to panic attacks, I still sustained a level of confidence that my university would be able to give me the reasonable adjustments that the wellbeing team had spoken to me about before starting the term. Sure, they hadn't got back to my emails with any tangible support in weeks, but they couldn't just leave me like this...could they? All throughout my schooling, I was made to believe that educational settings were environments where any appetite to learn was nurtured and fed; education meant an opportunity to achieve anything you worked hard enough for, despite your background, disability, or start in life. Wouldn't universities be the ultimate conceptualization of this meritocracy?

Reality

Unfortunately, this vision would be quickly shattered by the stark reality of my treatment by my head of department and the well-being team. I go into more detail about this treatment in the IG post mentioned previously, but in summary I was given two choices: I get my attendance back to 100% with no support/reasonable adjustments from the university, or I leave/defer until I was "better". There was no comprehension from the uni that this wouldn't have a definable recovery date; I've been dealing with long-term mental illness since I was a child and it is something I've learned to live with alongside the appropriate support. To wait until I was "better" would potentially mean waiting forever. On top of that, I went out of my way to prove to my department that I was keeping up with my work and had achieved top marks on the most recent assignment but little recognition was given to my current grades. From the weeks since I started at university I'd met multiple people who had little passion in their subject or who were just at university because they thought it was what they should do. No hate to these people (I think the pressure young people face to go to university is a whole 'nother issue in itself) but I couldn't help but compare myself to them. The university didn't care that they had a whole student population of disillusioned young people who were indifferent to their academic fields but drew the line at a motivated student who suffered from mental illness. It became clear this wasn't an environment for people like me who were simply viewed as a wrench in the works. In December 2019, I was given no other option but to drop out of my university.

Starting again and the lessons I have learned

What was the worst blow to my mental health? Being kicked out because of my mental health...Having to leave university was a massive blow to my self-esteem and I began to catastrophize what that meant for my future. Luckily I had my family for support and my mum pushed me to look into the Open University, an institution based on distance learning. I enrolled part-time for the start of February (unfortunately I had missed the cohort to start full-time) and decided to focus on my therapy. This actually worked out great for me as in 2020 I was diagnosed with PTSD and started EMDR so being a part-time student gave me enough space to process the emotions that came up in my treatment. The Open University has been so helpful in making sure my needs are met and I have been so grateful to finally find an inclusive learning environment. It is definitely not how I planned to be experiencing university and I still do feel some disappointment in not getting the full "student experience" but it has also taught me some valuable lessons and given me a new insight into how far our education system still needs to go. These are the things I have learned:

Education isn't about degrees or academic prestige. Education is about a person's desire to learn, whether that be through books or the sheer act of being. Everyone requires different conditions to which they need to learn and thrive, and unfortunately, many academic institutions tend to expect us all to be cut from the same cloth. Despite this, no one can take away your passion to learn, and as long as you're living, you are learning.

There can be no equality without equity. The truth is people enter schooling from all different backgrounds and circumstances and it is not enough for institutions to treat everyone the same. In terms of mental health, many people are quick to say they recognise that mental illness can be just as debilitating as physical illness however until they put the actions and policies into place to make environments more tolerant and accessible then their words mean nothing. This means taking the time to talk to individual students about what they require and realise that the most important thing that a university can do is create a place where EVERYONE can learn. Schooling creates the foundations on which the future of our society is built and the fact that inclusion is barely making it on the blueprint is scary to me.

COVID has shown that in this digital age, attendance ISN'T everything. If only I could go back to that final meeting with my head of department and tell him that in a few months time everyone's attendance would be at 0%! Seriously though, this is a wake-up call to how simple accessibility can be if you just invest in a good digital learning platform that allows for people who can't attend in person to still be included.

You can be an academic and still put your mental health first. Despite what my first university led me to believe, my time at the OU has shown me that you do not have to sacrifice one over another. In fact, it has shown me that my mental health recovery and student journey can work hand-in-hand, encouraging each other along.

But most importantly...

It has shown me that despite the pressure to make your university years fit into a nice, neat package of fun, good grades, and self-enlightenment, it most likely won't happen like that. That's okay, let it go and keep moving.

[imaginedhaven]

The Old Ways

a fluffy Rowaelin oneshot

Summary:

As she and her friends celebrate Samhain, Aelin Galathynius welcomes the possibility of something new into her life.

Rating: T- it’s just some Halloween fluff, y’all

Warnings/Content: References to minor character death

I may come back to these two, as this is only a small part of what I feel could be a bigger story! If anyone has any suggestions for little snapshots of the lives of these two in particular, my ask box is always open. :)

~*~*~

Aelin sighed quietly as she slipped away from the party going on in her living room. It was proceeding well enough, Fenrys having gone from managing drinks to drunkenly scrolling through the playlist she had set up, but there was something she had to do before they lit the bonfire she’d prepared in the backyard and she didn’t want to be distracted.

It had become commonplace for any group gatherings to be hosted by Aelin ever since she had inherited her parents’ estate in the countryside, and she didn’t mind. In fact, she felt her parents would have loved the new life her friends breathed into the space. But on this night in particular, it was only right to honor those who had come and gone and given them this space to enjoy.

The photographs of her family were close to hand, Aelin having prepared for this moment in advance so that she would only need to be away for a few minutes. It only took her a few moments to put together a plate of the various snacks that would soon be on offer for her friends and place it at the small table tucked into the corner of the room.

The door slowly opened as she was arranging their photos next to the food, and she turned to face whoever was coming to find her. “The food will be out in a few minutes, and not even Fenrys could possibly have drunk through everything—”

The words died on her tongue as she met startled green eyes.

Of all the people she had expected to come looking for her, Rowan Whitethorn was perhaps the one she had least expected. Where most of her cousin’s friends had taken well enough to including her in their group, she and Rowan had clashed terribly at first. It had taken Aedion quite literally locking them into a room at the last party she had thrown for them to reach an uneasy friendship, built on the realization that their jagged edges had been ground into them by similar tragedies. While they were now unlikely to end the evening in a fiery screaming match, she would not have thought he would’ve come looking for her even if he’d been the one who needed something.

Shoving her shock aside for a moment, she adjusted one of the photos again before offering him a wry smile. “Sorry, I thought you were Aedion, or maybe Lysandra.”

Rowan shook his head, platinum locks falling over his eyes with the gesture. “Fenrys decided the party wasn’t loud enough, and I decided somewhere quieter might be better until Connall takes the controls away from him,” he admitted.

“Ah,” Aelin muttered as she returned her attention to her task. It suddenly made a great deal more sense why he had appeared; while she and Fenrys both tended to thrive on the attention of being in the center of a party, Rowan had always remained on the outskirts of such events. He would attend readily enough, but he usually seemed content to observe rather than lose himself in revelry.

As she continued her work, she felt rather than heard him approach. “I didn’t realize you kept to the Old Ways,” he said quietly.

She turned to him again to see his gaze focused on the photographs of her family. “I would hardly call myself devout,” she confessed, “but it’s Samhain. It only seemed right to honor those who gave us this place.”

It was true enough, if perhaps not the entire truth. While her mother had taught her the Old Ways as a child, doing what she could to pass along her heritage to a child who was barely interested in the stories she had to tell, it wasn’t until a few months before her parents’ deaths that she had truly come to appreciate them. Now that they were gone, it was one of the only connections to them she had remaining.

Rowan didn’t seem interested in pursuing her reasons further, though. Instead, he took a few more moments to take in her display before turning to her with a question lingering in his gaze. Before she could determine exactly what it was, though, he spoke. “Do you mind if I set one out, too?”

Startled by the question, Aelin barely managed a nod. Soon a second plate of food was set out beside her own, and Rowan paused for a moment before pulling a small photo of a lovely brunette from his wallet and carefully placing it among the other items on the table.

It had to be a photo of Lyria, she realized, even though they had never had the chance to meet. This was the woman Rowan had married just after graduating high school, the one who had had a promising future and a child on the way before a car crash took everything from her and left him with only memories. “I know you’re not supposed to judge people based on a picture, but she looks like she was wonderful,” she offered quietly.

Rowan looked at her, a faint glimmer of silver highlighting the green of his eyes. “She was,” he replied.

They spent the next few moments in silence, the Old Ways demanding that they spend time contemplating the family they were honoring in this way. While Aelin didn’t believe the tales that suggested that their beloved dead would visit them on Samhain if left a space at the table, she found the details of the practice were less important than the intention of taking the time to remember them.

Perhaps that was the importance her mother had tried so desperately to convey to an uninterested young Aelin so long ago. It was hard to say, and she wasn’t exactly around to answer the question. Still, it felt right, and so she decided to accept it.

What was stranger to her was how right it felt to invite Rowan into her space for such a personal moment. She would never have believed that of all their friends he was the one who would share such a moment with her, if she chose to share it at all. She had never given much thought to his feelings or beliefs regarding the matter at all, in fact. Despite that, though, she found she was comforted by his respect of the ritual, and she realized with a glimmer of surprise that she couldn’t imagine any of their other friends in his place.

Finally she stepped away from the table, and he turned to look at her again. “Thank you,” he managed. “You didn’t have to let me.”

Aelin shrugged. “It seemed right. Honoring the old, but making way for the new. That’s what Samhain is all about, right?”

He smiled at that and nodded in reply before saying, “We should probably get back to the others before Fenrys decides he can light your bonfire himself.”

She winced. “He would, wouldn’t he?”

When they both rushed back into the living room Aelin was relieved to find that their friends were all still gathered around the drinks rather than moving to the backyard. That relief immediately vanished when Fenrys chimed in with an off-color joke about what Aelin and Rowan could’ve been doing with all that alone time before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

Aelin grimaced and glanced over at Rowan to gauge his response, but he must’ve been feeling unusually charitable. Rather than growling at his friend or snarling out a reply, he smirked. “Is that jealousy, boyo?”

As their friends laughed, Aelin opened the door to her backyard. “All right, you guys,” she called. “It’s just about dark enough to light the fire.”

In just a few short minutes they had all gathered around the pile of wood she had spent the past few days gathering, and it was the work of a moment to set it ablaze. As they quietly watched the flames ignite the larger logs, Aelin felt a warm presence approach and turned to see that Rowan was once more beside her. “And so the old gives way to the new,” he said quietly, eyes on the growing fire.

Emboldened by the intimacy of the moment they had shared inside, Aelin tucked herself against his side, in part to protect herself from the cool breeze and in part to enjoy his warmth. She was now close enough to him that she could feel him stiffen in surprise, but before she could say anything to defend herself he simply wrapped an arm around her waist. With a smile, she relaxed into the hold despite the knowledge in the back of her mind that it would only lead to more teasing.

When she turned her head to face him again she noticed that he had been looking at her rather than at the bonfire, and she felt her cheeks flush at the realization. Uncertain of how to respond to the attention, she simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

Rowan chuckled, softly enough that she felt it rather than truly hearing it. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he asked, voice softer and warmer than she had perhaps ever heard it.

Aelin grinned in reply and nestled herself closer. “I try,” she said.

They didn’t say anything else as they watched the fire burn, but before they broke apart she could’ve sworn she felt the faintest brush of lips against her hair.

Where once Aelin might have protested loudly, now she only smiled. The old giving way to the new, indeed.

~*~*~

Tagging:

@ireallyshouldsleeprn @queen-of-glass @fangirlprincess09 @sassys-world

[luna-moon-26-20]

Besides popping into your inbox to bombard you with my affection and endless love for your writing and awesome drawings, I wanted to ask what inspired you to write The Foxhole Force? And- without any context- which episode(s) are you the most excited to release?💙💚💜💕🥰

Oh my God, waking up to this message? You just made me the happiest person on earth right now ♥️

Do you have time for the answer? Because oh boy have I wanted to explain this to someone since I came up with the idea. I’ll make sure not to give away any spoilers so the explanation might be a little confusing but here goes nothing!

How did I come up with the idea? When I’m tucked into bed right before falling asleep, I like to make up random scenes for the fandoms I like. So a scene came into my mind that would only be possible if it happened in a sort of supernatural AU. Now, I suck at writing magic and stuff like that because I think it requires way too much imagination and I’ve always been better at writing non fantasy fiction. So I figured I’d just live with that scene in my head for the rest of my life and that would be it.

But then, I was studying for my finals and I always like to study with some background noise and I logged into Netflix, felt a little nostalgic and put on some Power Rangers episodes and after a few, that’s when it clicked. The scene I couldn’t stop thinking about would fit perfectly in a Power Rangers setting and then I thought: there are so many foxes that some of them might as well be Rangers. Neil would be the Red Ranger, obviously. Then I gave colors to those who fitted better in my mind as Power Rangers. And everything kind of snowballed from there.

The Foxhole Court? A youth centre that gives them a reason to work together and focus on kids with difficult situations at home like the ones they had as children.

The Foxhole Force? The Palmetto Foxes could literally be foxes and that’s how I came up with the idea of them having a fox spirit guiding them. I googled foxes species and gave one to every ranger.

The Fox Tower? The third floor of the youth centre building as an excuse to have them living together like they do in the books at the college dorms. I just made their bedrooms a bit more private (for obvious later reasons 😏)

Then it was just a matter to fit the canon events into the AU. Some events remain the same (like Kevin being a Raven, Andrew questioning Neil like he did at Eden’s the first time, Neil running away from his father...) but I wanted to give them all a little twist. So, Kevin was a Raven but that literally means Riko wanted to turn him into a Raven. Andrew drugged Neil but they never went to Eden’s. Neil is running from his father but his main goal is to find his mother because she didn’t die in Seattle, they got separated. Some other events are just completely made up.

Then what about the bad guys? This part of the plot might have been the easiest to come up with. The Ravens could literally be Ravens (dark feathered creatures and all that) and Riko wants to build a perfect army like he wants to build a perfect court in the books. Of course, there’s gonna be much more to that but I can’t give any details now 🙊 We already have Lieutenant Mureau as part of his army and someone’s gonna make an appearance next episode as well.

So, back to the scene that started it all. I could either write a very random AU one shot and get the scene out of my head or I could go all out and create the whole AU. Since I graduated from college last month, I decided I would have enough time in the next six months to dedicate myself to writing this. But we’ll have to wait a while to read the scene because it’s actually the season finale! 😱 so if there’s one episode I’m really excited about writing it’s Episode 20.

But, apart from that one, here’s a list of the Episodes I’m most excited about writing/releasing:

Season 1 Episode 5 (the next one! I’m writing it now, by the way, it’ just a bit slow going)

Season 1 Episode 11 (that’s the mid season finale)

Season 1 Episode 15 (this one has so much Andreil with a little twist)

Season 1 Episode 17 (you’re gonna love this one!)

And, of course, Season 1 Episode 20!

I wanted to give myself as a writer and the readers the full experience of watching a Power Ranger show, so I planned the whole season like an actual tv show and if you notice in every episode there are always 2 main line breaks (those represent the perfect break for commercials and I always picture the screen going black and then coming back with the next scene). Then there are little line breakers (* * *) that just separate one scene from the next. I also wanted to include fanart of the little things like the morphers, the weapons, etc., and boldly decided to draw them myself. Sometimes they come out good enough and sometimes they don’t, but I enjoy making them so much I just post them either way.

Soooo... I think that’s it? That’s as much as I can say without giving away anything important. I’m sorry the answer got away from me a little but it’s so exciting to know that someone out there is genuinely enjoying this story and is curious about it that I wanted to give the most detailed explanation I could. By the way, later today I’ll post the preview for Episode 5, so be on the look out for that!

Thank you so much for your constant support and your kind words. I always look forward to hearing from you when I post a new episode. I will try with all my might to get the next episode out by the end of this week. I’m sending all of my love to you too! You’re the best! 🙌🏼🙌🏼✨✨♥️♥️

[financialandlifeadvice]

Why Millennials and Gen-Z Should Start Planning for the Future Now

Urgh, this is a topic no Millennial or Gen Z wants to think about. With astronomical property prices, rapidly ageing parents, global warming, and economic crash after economic crash, we are generations who prefer to live in and enjoy our present. We know that we will likely have to work until we are physically unable to, that we will have to make a decision between owning our home or living in the city for career opportunities. Oh, and did we mention that we are kept in “entry-level jobs” for years before receiving any raises or promotions. It’s no wonder we’re out enjoying life instead of saving for a house deposit.

That being said, we do need to do a little bit of future planning. Death or incapacitation can come at any moment (cheery thought, we know!) and a safety net will reduce the stress on you or your family. If you are a parent or married, you should do comprehensive estate planning to ensure your family will be provided for in the event of your death. If you are not married or a parent, read on; here is our future planning guide for Millennials and Gen-Z.

Basic Future-Planning Guide 

If you are younger, you will likely have few or no assets to split and very little in the way of retirement accounts and money to split. With those student loans, most of your estate will go towards paying those off.

Your future planning will be much easier.

Create an Emergency Fund 

You may have heard this advice before, but we will say it again. You need to create an emergency fund so that you have money if something happens. A frightening amount of us live paycheck to paycheck, and we would be in serious trouble if we were not able to work for a week or two. Start putting aside money from every paycheck into a separate savings account. Aim for your emergency fund to cover 3-month expenses at the very least. However, you need to ideally have it cover a year of expenses. If you lose your job unexpectedly or need to move last minute, you will be grateful for this money. When you take money out, top it back up as soon as possible.

Pay Off High-Interest Debt

If you have sunk into your overdraft or accumulated credit card debt, you should aim to pay that off as quickly as possible. Not having high-interest debt will give you a lot of opportunity in life. You will improve your credit score and not have to worry about missing payments.

Max Out Your Retirement Contributions

The earlier you start saving for retirement, the better. One of the easiest ways to save for retirement is through your company’s retirement plan. A percentage of each paycheck already goes into your retirement account, and your employer matches that percentage. Find out the maximum percentage that your employer will match and increase your contributions to that. This is the bare minimum to do to start planning for retirement. The money comes out of your paycheck before you see it, so it requires no effort on your behalf.

Name a Beneficiary For Your Retirement Account and Insurance Policies

If you log into your retirement account, you will see that you can name a beneficiary in the event of your death. Think about who you want to receive that payment and name them. Write this down on a document with your retirement account details too.

If you have any insurance policies, you should do the same thing.

Make a List of Your Assets and Account Numbers

Writing a brief list of your accounts and assets with their account number and the email address on your account will make everyone’s life easier. Do not add your passwords, but having a list all in one place will make it easier for you and anyone looking for them after your death. Leave them in a folder dedicated to estate planning where they may be easily found.

Create a Folder of Important Documents That People May Need In The Event of Your Death 

Along with your list of accounts, you may need ID documents like birth certificates, important medical records, letters from your bank. Keep these all in one place. It will make your life a lot easier and will prevent people from hunting around for them.

Leave Notes of Wishes For Your Funeral 

Planning a funeral of a loved one while grieving is difficult. Your loved ones may feel lost and unsure of what you might want. Write down a brief list of what you would want and leave it in your important documents folder. Consider:

If you want to be buried or cremated

Religious or non-religious ceremony

Who you want to speak at your funeral

A song or two

What photo you want to be used

Who you want to be invited (especially if your parents don’t know your friends. Consider telling them the name and contact number of a friend who can invite all your friends to the funeral and help them plan.)

If you have any wishes for the wake or any thoughts you want someone to share with loved ones

Note Any Mementos You May Want to Give To Someone 

If you have anything in particular that you want to give someone to remember you by, make sure you note it. Better yet, create a will to ensure your wishes are respected.

Consider Creating a Will If You Have a Long-Term Partner 

If you are not married or in a registered partnership, then your next of kin would be parents or siblings if your parents are not alive. This is the default if you died without a will. The law will not take into account if you are estranged from a family member.

If you have a long-term partner who you want to be looked after in the event of your death or you want to leave things to someone other than your parents, you need to create a will. Even if we trust our loved ones to respect our wishes, it is very likely that they will not. Writing a will is the only way to ensure your wishes are respected and reduce the success of the default next of kin contesting beneficiaries in court.

You can purchase a will-writing kit that will make the process simple and legal. Keep your will in with the rest of your important documents. It is often smart not to alert people to the provisions of the will. Update it after every big life change (change of relationships or births and deaths in the family) or every 5 years. The most recent legal will is used in the event of death. If it is more than 5 years old, the will is more likely to be contested.

[autumnslance]

how do you get into roleplaying on a ff server? like how do you do it and how do you know if your character is lore compliant? ;A; pls youre a big inspo to me

*Hugs Nonny* Getting into RP on a FF server can vary; I don’t actually RP much these days, outside of some friends I already have connections to--and that in itself can be difficult just due to Life! It can take time, and patience, and some fits and starts.

And this gets...really really long, so buckle up and go below the cut, please. :)

The cut got broken by an edit. Sigh.

In game there’s always the RP status tag, and just doing RP with folks in public spaces. There may be trolls now and then, but they can be ignored. I personally find Balmung’s Quicksand area too busy and anxiety inducing and not actually all that conducive to actual RP, even “meet at a tavern” walk-up type. But unless you already have a ready-made group of friends/FCmates willing to RP more than some random walk-ups with you, it may take some legwork to find folks you can and want to write with.

Social Media There are a couple of RP community blogs, like @mooglemeet​ and @ffxiv-crystal-rp​  and plenty of server-specific ones. There’s also some Discords for these communities. They host and advertise events and reblog people who are looking for RP contacts. Some of them have running gdoc calendars and in game linkshells and fellowships as well.

Shofie has a good post about Tumblr/social media RP blogging.

@shofie-ffxiv

It’s a fact now that social media outside game is a way to make contacts, or even a medium for RP itself. There are few centralized websites/forums for server RP communities anymore. Making connections over your social media, like Tumblr and Twitter, can help find RP. You can’t just throw your own character info out there or reblog prompts hoping others bite, though; you have to put in some work and show interest in others, too. This can be difficult and even scary. That’s OK.

RP is about collaboration and creating with other people, which means finding folks you can write with, and who see you as someone interesting but also interested in them and their OCs. If you want to keep it a solo endeavor focused on your own OCs, write fanfic (which I’ve actually made friends and gotten RP interests that way too through comment interactions, so hey).

If you reblog a prompt from someone, see others on your dash reblogging prompts, if people reblog that prompt post from you? Send them asks! Alternatively, don’t wait for prompts, just send asks, comments, or chats saying hello and things you notice or like about their blog/character/posts they make. Try to form connections with people you think are genuinely interesting and might be fun to talk with. Social media should be, well, social.

BUT respect boundaries, too. Don’t try sarcasm or jokes with people you don’t actually know, it tends to go over poorly. Unless someone’s specifically posting a naughty meme/prompt, keep stuff you others send clean and polite, especially if it’s unsolicited and you’re not already friends (doubly so if you don’t know how old they are IRL, there are laws you do not want to break). Respect if people aren’t open to random asks or chatting with new followers, or say “no” to RP, and know it’s not personal--it’s just what they have time, energy, and emotional/mental capacity for. Don’t give up on other people, though. This stuff can take time and effort to find those you click with.

Respect and communication with RP partners is pretty key.

Do curate your feeds and don’t be afraid to unfollow/mute/block folks, either. I’m selective in who I follow and remove as needed, too, for my own mental health. I miss so much of the discourse and drama and that’s fine by me. Also it costs nothing to not step in on a lot of the drama when it does pass in sight.

Profiles I have static RP profile pages for my girls here on Tumblr (and a lot of other static links and pages, but I’m weird about organizing like that). This way, if people want to write with me, send me prompts, if I sent them prompts, or they want to otherwise interact with my characters, the information is handily available. For some folks, this makes all the difference in who they choose to interact with: how easily can they find even basic info about your OC?

Some people make Carrds. Some folks have gdoc links, or use Dreamwidth, etc. Just keep the links in the blog’s sidebar menu, and/or in the blog desc so people can see ‘em on mobile. There are templates out there, or you can make your own. Feel free to snag mine if you’d like. A lot of times people also copy their profiles to rebloggable posts when looking for RP contacts. Profiles are a good way to let folks know just the at-a-glance basics about your character(s).

I picked a simple theme with a simple layout that makes it easy to add and show off links. I put them in the blog desc to make them easy to find on mobile, too.

[Images: links from my blog sidebar menu showing how over organized I am]

RP, Stories, Lore Post some stories or RP logs (with permission of others involved) or even just random little blurbs and headcanons, as well as any screenshots, art, aesthetic posts for your OCs. Have something of interest to show for your character, too, so some of those folks your interacting with have something of their own to see and ask about!

If possible, try some light RP with friends and FC Mates who are amenable. Go to events, even if just to lurk at first. When you do get up the nerve to talk to people, don’t try to throw a character’s entire backstory at them, or try to steal the limelight--RP is collaboration, back and forth, and a lot like real conversation. Maybe come up with little light things to talk about if asked; a recent adventuring job, a silly shopping incident, etc. They can break the ice or just give you something to reply with for a few minutes.

Lore Compliance is Variable. Some people really want lore compliance, others are OK bending it here and there, while still others throw it out the window entirely. If you want to be super lore compliant...read. There’s a LOT of information, in game and out, for finding lore; from official publications and website material, to tools like Garland Tools site, to compilation blogs like @mirkemenagerie.

Note what’s important for your concept. Narrow it down. Characters aren’t going to know or be or do everything, so only worry about what’s necessary for the base idea. And be flexible; it’s SE’s sandbox, we just play in it, and they can change things any time. They usually do it in the guise of characters not knowing/having all the correct information, at least, but also some places just don’t exist in game yet so we don’t have info.

I’m unspecific about a lot of elements of Aeryn’s childhood, for instance, other than “traveling merchants near Thavnair.” I don’t have to be super specific. I can keep most details vague, and focus on her family and those relationships.

Dark, as my first character, has a fairly simple backstory that I’ve expanded on and adjusted over time as I learned and came up with new info. I also bet no one remembers I originally said Dark was from the North Shroud. I’ve changed things (now from East Shroud, due to the proximity to Gyr Abania and its Hellsguards) as I learned more about the world and my character. You don’t want to change things willy-nilly, but sometimes being flexible and smoothing down some rough edges and making small changes can be fine, especially as one gets more lore over time.

Iyna has a pretty detailed backstory, that came from a basic idea, and checking dates in the pre-Calamity timeline. I based her being taken and trained the way she was not only on what info we have about Garlemald’s imperial practices with conquered provinces, but borrowed a bit from real life and the re-education schools many Native Americans were forced into (though I haven’t gone into detail on that yet, either). I tied the turning point in Iyna’s life to a major event that wasn’t the Calamity, and have left plenty of space in between for me to fill in as time goes on and I learn more about her and the world.

The world isn’t static, and is bigger and more diverse than what can be shown in the game. There’s space in the margins for plenty of weird stuff and contradictions or unusual cases. So read up on what you can, ask questions, and then find where in those spaces your OC fits. Then, find people who enjoy similar tastes in lore compliance (or non-compliance), and who enjoy playing with you and your OCs, and not worrying about the rest. Can’t please everyone, nor get along with everyone, so don’t try; just find what works for you, and who works with you, and don’t police anyone else’s pretendy fun times, either.

There’s no magic answer on the “right” amount of lore compliance, or how to quickly and easily find RP partners or break into the broader RP community.

I hope this helps at least a little bit! Good luck in finding your niche for RP, and maybe I’ll see you sometime at an event :)

[bicon-korra]

Entrapta Week: Free Day

Beast Island Log: Property of Entrapta

Summary: Entrapta logs her daily life on Beast Island and starts to uncover a mystery…

[Written for Entrapta Week - Day 7 (Free Day), 1,700 words, notes in tags]

Beast Island Log: Day 1, Entry 1

My name is Entrapta of Dryl. I was banished from the Horde to Beast Island on Force Captain Catra’s command. Before leaving the Horde, I managed to sneak one of my precious voice recorders with me. I may be a prisoner, but I’m still a scientist, after all! 

When I first heard tales of Beast Island, I imagined this mythical land inhabited by savage creatures. No one, and I mean no one, told me what a treasure trove of First One’s tech this is! The possibilities for transport, shelter, food gathering, you name it, are endless! I don’t know how anyone can dispose of such beautiful equipment! One man’s trash is another’s treasure, I suppose. I just need to figure out how to clean up their data. It looks like most, if not all, the files are corrupted. Should be simple enough.

Beast Island Log: Day 1, Entry 2

I suppose I should introduce myself. I am a princess of Dryl, where I was born and spent most of my life. In a strange turn of events, I joined the Princess Alliance led by Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon and her co-leader Adora-slash-She-Ra. I was left behind in the Fright Zone on a dangerous mission, and that became my new home. The name sounds scary—kind of like Beast Island—but it’s not as bad as it sounds! I was actually pretty happy there. I had friends: Scorpia, Hordak, my dear Emily...Catra was my friend, too. And then she wasn’t. I try not to dwell on it too much. I’m trying to stay positive. These technological monstrosities are my friends now.

Beast Island Log: Day 2, Entry 1

Today, I will try to determine what’s food and what’s not food. I’ve been studying the eating patterns of the creatures that most resemble mammals, if you can call a four-eyed winged primate-looking-thing a mammal. They mainly thrive off of a spiky fruit that grows inside the trees. There’s another creature with razor-sharp claws that digs the fruit out of the trunk to grab them. It only grabs what it needs to and the rest fall to the ground for other creatures to eat. Fascinating.

Beast Island Log: Day 2, Entry 2

I extracted the juice from the fruit. If it was poisonous, I figured my forest-dwelling friends wouldn’t have survived this long. Boy, was it tough to peel! I’m going to name it scorpion fruit because of the stinger-shaped spikes on its skin. Earlier I put a drop on my wrist to test for an allergic reaction. There was no reaction, so then I put a drop on my tongue and waited for one hour. So far I feel fine. It didn’t taste bitter either. I’m going to try two drops next time, then three. 

Beast Island Log: Day 2, Entry 3

My three-drop feast of scorpion fruit has made my stomach just as ravenous as some of these creatures. I’m going to take a small bite now and wait thirty minutes. I drank enough water (thank the First Ones there’s fresh water here!) to purge if I need to. There may be food yet!

Beast Island Log: Day 2, Entry 4

I’m on my second scorpion fruit and nothing has tasted better.

Beast Island Log: Day 3, Entry 1

I managed to scrape some parts together to make a small radio. Problem is, I can’t find the right wires to make my antenna. The bigger problem is these corrupted files. To fix them, I’ll need to charge these machines and most of them are hanging by a thread. Still, they’ve managed to stay alive this long, poor things.

Beast Island Log: Day 3, Entry 2

I discovered another edible root. It’s very tough and stringy, but I found boiling it made it more edible and savory in general. I miss dessert, especially tiny ones.

Beast Island Log: Day 3, Entry 3

Day three on Beast Island, and I’m in a strange state of peace. Of course I miss my friends and my lab. But here? Here I have the opportunity to learn an entirely new skillset. A wilderness explorer, imagine that! Hordak always said that my optimism was somewhat unnatural, but I never knew what he meant until now. I probably have Scorpia to thank for that. She’s the most positive person I know. If only she could see me now. Friends, if you’re listening, I’m going to be okay! Everything will be okay.

Beast Island Log: Day 4, Entry 1

I ventured deeper into the forest to find food that isn’t berries and roots. It’s hard to describe, but I felt a slight vibration coming from the ground. If I close my eyes and listen, it’s almost as if there’s a humming sound all around. Perhaps the area is magnetized? I want to go further in, but I don’t think my forest friends would like that.

Beast Island Log: Day 4, Entry 2

As I suspected, some of these creatures are not very friendly! I came across a small nest near the foot of a tree. I wonder if it fell from the branches. It had small blue eggs with red speckles, similar to bird eggs. I was tempted to hold one, just to get a sense of its weight, until I saw what I presume was its mother. As expected, she saw me as a threat and flew towards me, squawking like mad. I managed to run fast enough into the bushes where she couldn’t reach me. I realized that my body does not handle cardio well. Exercise is not my forte, but I’ll have to add that to my list of survival skills. I’m famished now, so until next time!

Beast Island Log: Day 5, Entry 1

I made a new friend today! As in, actually made one. Her name is Tiny Emily. She’s a cute little thing, the size of my fist. She rolls around while I’m sleeping and alarms if she senses any creatures that come close. These woods can get scary at night, so now I have a protector. 

Beast Island Log: Day 6, Entry 1

Today Tiny Emily and I explored one of the marshes just outside the giant scorpion fruit tree. There was some sort of hut, mostly branches and leaves, that something had made. I need to do more exploring.

Day 6, Entry 2

There is definitely a buzzing sound coming from the island’s center. I know because Tiny Emily and I have been marking the perimeter and listening very closely. I wish I had equipment that could help detect the sound wave patterns. I could make one; I just need the right parts and the power. Well, that’s why I have ears! Sometimes you don’t need fancy tech. Sometimes.

Beast Island Log: Day 6, Entry 3

Today was our first rainy day. The first thing we did was take cover under the husk of an old battle tank. I’ve learned to treat every element as potentially dangerous. We determined that the rainwater is safe, so we’re safe. The battle tank was also a fortuitous find. It helps block out water and wind and offers protection from predators.

Day 6, yes 6. Entry 3? 4?

Remember when I said the battle tank was safe? Well, I’m afraid I spoke too soon. The metal is very rusty and corroded and a piece of it fell when the storm outside picked up. We’ll have to seek shelter elsewhere since these machines aren’t structurally sound. Perhaps the hut we found? It looked sturdy enough. I’m very nervous to leave the junkyard in favor of the forest. I find that I don’t do well with bugs and mud. Oh well! There’s always danger in exploration.

Beast Island Log: Day 7

We had a close call today. Tiny Emily rolled down a hill and nearly fell into the river! Though we did make another important discovery. We found a spear near the water. The dexterity and attention to detail needed to craft such a tool...Could we still be dealing with some sort of animal? If something could make this weapon, I’m not sure I want to find out.

Day 7, Entry 2

We found another spear. The pointy end was charred, like it was used to cook food. We found a nest of grub nearby, so perhaps that’s why. We’re not talking about an animal anymore, not even close. 

Day 8

I’m not alone on this island.

Beast Island Log: Day 8. 9? Entry 1

We circled the areas where we found the hut and the spears and found an abandoned campfire. No traces of footprints. I would normally never say this, being a practical scientist, but it’s as if we’re tracking a ghost.

Day 10

It has been ten days on Beast Island. I know I just got here, but something inside me is itching to explore the forest, as if it has all the answers I need. I won’t lie. I am frightened. Tiny Emily has been chirping away these past two nights. This might actually be the first night where I feel far away from home. 

Beast Island Log: Day 30, I think. Entry 1

I’m afraid I’ve been a very bad scientist. This is the longest break I’ve taken from creating my logs, probably ever! Whoever made the hut and the spear is nowhere to be found. Me and Tiny Emily have searched everywhere. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with finding them. Maybe it’s someone like me who was sent here. Maybe they came here on their own. To explore. Or to escape. I’ve thought of every possible scenario as to why this person would want to be on this island and I cannot find a single reasonable answer. I don’t know if people were truly made to be alone. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe that’s my problem...

I’m going to keep exploring. I’m going to find whatever is out there and share with them what I know about how to survive on this island. And maybe, together, things will be okay. It’s dinnertime. Signing off.

[WARNING: LOW BATTERY!!]

[blazehedgehog]

So I’ve just downloaded fortnite for the first time in two years, as I’ve heard Thor is coming. Love me some god of thunder. What do I need to know in terms of gameplay and story?

It’s hard to say. Epic has been pretty loose with the Fortnite “lore.” The basic gist is that there’s some weird time or multiverse shenanigans going on that has effectively trapped the Fortnite island in some kind of a time or reality loop. The idea seems to be that every game you connect to is the loop replaying itself. There’s apparently a team of people outside the loop who know about this and are working to do something with it, but we don’t really know much about that.

The main thing they seem to be leaning on lately is that people trapped in the loop seem to lose their ability to speak. An audio log in the lead up to the end of Chapter 1 mentions how people within the loop “become mute” over time, Chapter 2 introduced people who speak Simlish-esque jibberish, and Chapter 2 Season 2 ended with the player encountering someone outside the loop, who then asks, “Wait... can you hear me?” -- and as they say this, their words echo and loop until they, too, become jibberish.

Beyond that, whatever reality-bending stuff is happening to the island, it seems to pull stuff in (and push stuff back out) from other dimensions. This is their hand-wavey way of doing crossovers, but it did actually start with Fortnite items ending up in the real world.

That’s recent info. Top level stuff. Consider that the tl;dr. The longer version is this:

Fortnite: Save the World is the original Fortnite game. In it, a mysterious “storm” has blanketed the globe. This toxic weather not only kills everything it touches, but raises the undead in the form of “Husks.” Husks are not normal zombies, however, and this is not biological. The storm itself appears to be some kind of living cosmic entity of sorts, giving commands to all variety of monsters. Not just Husk zombies, but crazy, weird things.

You play as one of the last surviving human commanders, who teams up with a team of sentient artificial intelligence robots. Technology has been built to shield humanity from the storm, and it’s your job to boost the range of the energy-based shield while rescuing whatever survivors you can find still lost in the ruins of civilization. As you build bigger and stronger shield technology, and rescue more people, the storm itself gets angry and sends scarier monsters to stop you, culminating in the final boss against a Storm King.

Unfortunately (spoilers for Save the World), there does not appear to be a way to “cure” the storm. It’s just something people in the world of Fortnite have to live with, forever.

Save the World is a universe full of nearly-magical science fiction. There’s a mysterious blue energy source called “Bluglo” that powers a lot of the game’s technology, like flying vans, laser cannons, various types of robots, and even the storm shield itself. Many attempts are made to outsmart the storm, some of which are dangerous, and the storm itself is mysterious and unknowable.

I say this because it’s not clear how or even if Save the World connects to Fortnite: Battle Royale, but it seems like a growing possibility that Epic is leading up to explaining something, eventually, and it seems obvious that an experiment to get rid of the Storm in “Save the World” probably created the time loop in Battle Royale. It’s even possible that the team monitoring the time loop in Battle Royale is actually just a future version of the Save the World universe.

What we know is this: the storm also exists in Battle Royale, and it’s still toxic. Husk zombies don’t appear to be a problem (sort of -- more on that later) but it’s still not a great scene. Eventually the storm closes on the island until it covers it completely. Then, the loop resets.

Because of the reality-bending time loop stuff, the “lore” in Battle Royale is, as I said earlier, a bit harder to follow, and a bit more fast-and-loose. It started earnestly in Chapter 1, Season 3, when a comet crashed in to the island. In Season 4, perhaps as a result of the comet, a super hero team appeared to be formed called “EGO” with a villain team called “ALTER”.

ALTER launched a rocket in Season 4 for reasons unknown, but instead of leaving the island, it created a crack in reality. This is when Fortnite stuff started showing up in the real world, and pieces of the real world started coming over in to Fortnite -- the whole Fortnite map started becoming a mishmash of all kinds of things, from deserts, to viking longships, and so on.

Then, from out of one of the cracks in reality, came The Cube (or “Kevin” as it was nicknamed). It’s not really known, still, what exactly The Cube is. It was the same color as the storm, contained a mysterious energy, and seemed to have a mind of its own. After The Cube spawned, it slowly rolled across the island, occasionally branding certain locations with a rune. It deposited itself in Loot Lake, where it turned the water purple.

Soon, an island at the center of Loot Lake rose, with The Cube attached to it. The Cube then proceeded to move again, bringing the island with it, floating back to each one of its runes. It drew power from these runes, and The Cube grew in size every time it finished absorbing a rune.

Once fully powered up, crystals began to take shape at the former rune sites, and from these crystals came monsters. These were not the same monsters as Husks from Save the World, but they were extremely similar. This finally culminated in the Cube itself shattering, taking the players to a special interdimensional cosmic horror realm somewhere (presumably) outside the time loop.

Fortnite’s reality continued to break down. Ice warlocks covered parts of the map in snow. Strange mayan temples were erected. Volcanoes erupted. A cross-dimensional vault was discovered that could bring retired items from past seasons back. Though The Cube itself was gone, it all seemed to be tied back to it somehow.

A literal, actual kaiju was awoken from under the island, seemingly looking for The Cube. The area where the Cube exploded -- now that cross-dimensional vault -- is both what the monster was searching for, and the key to destroying it. Unfortunately, the battle to kill the monster damaged the vault and whatever strange energy it contained, causing Fortnite’s reality to further unravel and become even more unstable. Most surprising of all, it brought the comet from Season 3 back.

Another rocket is launched, and... things get weird. It’s not really known if this was ALTER’s plan all along, but using the cracks in reality, they guide the comet to collide with the vault, and whatever energy The Cube had left behind that was still inside. Reality itself finally can’t take any more, and the whole island is destroyed. Possibly that whole dimension. That’s the end of Chapter 1.

Chapter 2 launched with a completely different, but vaguely similar island. The loop mutated, or it’s a different reality within the loop, or something. The Cube, Kevin, is now the logo of a power plant called Kevolution Energy, where they have presumably contained the cube and harness its energy to power the island.

ALTER and EGO were reborn as the spy agencies Shadow (bad guys?) and Ghost (good guys?) who fight over control of the island. The end of Chapter 2 saw Midas, the leader of Ghost, create a device to try and eradicate the Storm. As we know from Save the World, trying to defeat the storm just makes it angry. Things didn’t go so well.

In doing so, Midas appears to have begun weakening the barriers of this reality now, too. He apparently generated so much energy that he punched on through outside the loop, causing disturbances of some kind. It’s possible somebody is maintaining the loop, on purpose, perhaps as a way to contain the storm, and Midas’s actions threatened to bring the storm back out of the loop. Either way, Midas is now being painted as a villain, and cracks in reality are beginning to form over the island again.

With them come a new enemy type -- Marauders. These seem to be humans from another reality sent to kill people on the island. In truth, the Marauders are characters from Fortnite: Save the World wearing animal skull masks, something that current theorycrafting is painting as being an important detail -- as if this is the beginning of Battle Royale and Save the World becoming definitively linked in the lore. A lot of what I just said here is half theorycrafting anyway (since, again, Epic seems to be deliberately obfuscating what’s really going on, and the reality-warping stuff lets them do all kinds of literally nonsensical stuff), but “Marauders come from Save the World” is bleeding edge theorycrafting. Grain of salt and all of that.

The teasers leading up to Season 4 is that some kind of big universe-ending event, “The Black Winter,” will bring about the death of all things. Galactus, from Marvel Comics, knows how to stop it, but he needs to eat five planets to have enough energy to fight back. He enlists the help of Thor to safely evacuate sentient life from those five planets before he eats them. Instead, Galactus is seduced by the seemingly infinite power of Fortnite’s island loop, becoming lost. Thor ventures to the island hoping to find Galactus.

And now you are caught up.

[investingforbeginnersaafn03-blog]

Crucial Details Of Making Money On The Net

There is lots of probable in currency trading nevertheless, but a great deal of people are usually uncertain. Perhaps it may look hard for some. It is wise to become careful with regards to how you commit your hard-earned bucks. Keep up-to-date with information concerning the most up-to-date details.Here are several tips to help you in undertaking that.

Learn all you are able in regards to the foreign currency pair that you just select. Should you take time to find out all the various feasible couples, you won't really get to buying and selling for a long period.

You should make sure you by no means trade under stress and sensing emotionally charged.

Use border intelligently to keep a carry on the profits. Border offers the possible ways to drastically boost income. If border is commonly used carelessly, even though, you could possibly drop plenty of capital. Border ought to be applied once your balances are protected and also at very low threat for shortfall.

Use border intelligently to hold a keep on the earnings. Utilizing border could possibly put important affect on your trades. Unless you take notice, although, it is possible to lose more than any prospective profits. Border is better applied whenever you feel comfortable within your financial situation is secure as well as the shortfall risk for shortfall.

In no way select your position in forex trading in accordance with the overall performance of some other trader. Currency trading traders, but people they go over their accomplishments, not bad. Even if a person has a lot of accomplishment, he could nevertheless get some things wrong. Put with your personal trading prepare and method you possess developed.

Utilize your margin cautiously to preserve your earnings secure. Margin provides the possible ways to boost your profits. If margin is utilized carelessly, nevertheless, you could possibly get rid of a great deal of capital. Margin is best applied whenever you feel comfortable within your situation and the shortfall threat for shortfall.

Learn tips to get pulse out there impulses and understand details to draw in findings from them. This could be the right way to succeed in Foreign exchange making the profits that you want.

The general energy directory indicates exactly what the typical reduction or fall is at a selected market place. You will want to reconsider if you discover out that most traders believe it is unprofitable.

Most skilled Currency trading forex traders will suggestions anyone to have a log of all things you do. Take note of the day-to-day achievements and defeats in your journal. This will let you have a log of the operates and exactly what does not work to guarantee good results in the past.

Placing successful cease losses is much less scientific and much more of an art work compared to a technology. You are accountable for producing all of your forex trading choices and quite often it may be advisable to trust your instincts to prevent a good forex trader.You will need to acquire a lot better with a combination of encounter before Forex currency trading becomes acquainted for your needs.

You ought to decide what type of buying and selling period of time suits you best at the beginning in your foreign exchange practical experience. Use graphs that demonstrate transactions in 15 minute or one hour or so amounts if you're trying to total investments within a couple of hours. Scalpers discovered to penetrate and exiting a few minutes.

Most experienced Forex investors advocate sustaining a record of all things that you simply do. Take note of the two good and problems. This will help you in order to avoid creating the longer term.

It requires time for you to see progress and to learn about this business.

It is best to use a plan once you get involved in foreign exchange buy and sell. Will not depend on short cuts with this market place.

Employing a demonstration platform to business fx trading is an excellent intro well before undertaking real-time buying and selling.

Trade to your advantages and be aware of what they are.Take your time, and after that begin sluggish.

Don't at any time consider proceeding in opposition to tendencies when you're in the beginning stages. You must also never ever think about selecting highs and lows running contrary to the marketplace both. You will notice an actual boost in your measure of anxiousness ranges if you attempt tx accelerator btc to php to industry versus the trends.

Pick the buying and selling strategy that will very best fit in along with your life-style. For those who have difficulty looking for hrs to industry through the day, consider performing long term trades, like weekly and even month to month.

In the event you find yourself inside a shedding routine, don't have the blunder to continue investing to try to constitute failures. Give yourself serious amounts of take in and fully grasp activities before going in to the activity.

Decide what the bugs happen to be in your investing computer software. Even reliable identified software has its own problems.Expect to operate all around your homework.You may not want to steer clear of finding out what information and facts in the midst of your trade.

Make certain your computerized Forex trading Program is able to be custom-made. You wish to know with definite confidence that your application and method to choose your requirements. Be sure that the program you acquire it.

You must not make investments greater than a certain amount of your account. By doing this you are going to let room for blunders. It is possible to return solid if you go through a hit after having a terrible trade. Seeing the market may cause you into large trading. It can be significantly better to get conservative along with your investing type.

You will need to make a lot of judgements when you bounce into forex trading. This is usually a strategy which is a very little frightening to many, so hesitation is organic. If you're prepared to start off investing, or have already started, make use of the recommendations talked about as an element of your technique. It is crucial that you generally continue to be up to date with the newest information. Use noise judgement when you make investments your cash. It's crucial to usually make smart purchases.

[thenugking]

Grand Academy For Future Villains II: Attack of the Sequel, Chapter 2: Son of Chapter Two. A commentary for Three.

General CW for the whole thing: parental abuse, internalised dehumanisation as a trauma response. Three’s not doing well.

Specific CW for this chapter: vomit mention

Game 1

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

Game 2

Chapter 0 | Chapter 1

Alternatively, read on Google Docs here

***

The monitors in the hall flicker as if in welcome as you head toward your room, on the upper level with the second and third year students. The vacuum tube hisses as you step in, and with a whoosh, delivers you to the upper level, where the rooms are larger, and, you've heard, equipped with command centers that will enable you to access the surveillance footage from all over the Academy. There's also a kitchenette, for those students who still feel the need to eat.

They are also, as you discover as you open your door, already occupied.

Right. Val’s first appearance. Val is always a character I’ve struggled with. They’re set up as a major character with a very important bond to your character, but that link just doesn’t add anything to Three’s story, and the bond feels a lot less important to them than their bonds with Aurion, or Xi, or Phil, or Maedryn. Which is particularly a problem when Val just decides they’re Three’s nemesis. They like Val, and are sorry about their destiny but they’re just… not that important to Three. 

As of Scorpius’ last playthrough, I’ve solved the problem by making Val into Scorpius’ roommate, nemesis, and person they’re Linked to instead. It still doesn’t work perfectly, but Scorpius is at least a lot more invested in Val’s plot than Three ever was.

So, while Three and Val will get to know each other later, and Val will talk about destinies and narrative weight, and Three will affirm that they want neither of those things, for now they get to arrive at an empty room, which, honestly, they very much need. They’ve already had to deal with an army of clones of themself, the violent dissolution of Professor Mortwain’s school, A Baroness thinking they might have some importance, and Aurion switching dorms. In a few minutes, Maedryn’s going to call them and they’re going to have a whole new horrible problem. They at least deserve a little break, and a private place to curl up in a tiny ball and try to block out everything that’s going on, instead of having to deal with a suspicious roommate, an illegal pet, a lack of their own space, and once again being told that they’re important. 

And, now they have a few minutes to spare, they can log in to their DarkBoard portal.

THREE. WE HAVE MISSED YOU. EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE LONG SINCE SLIPPED THE SURLY BONDS OF THE FLESH.

Three had not been expecting/was violently suppressing any hope of much influence of Xi in DarkBoard’s consciousness. This is… too much for them to process at the moment. They think maybe they haven’t quite curled up and blocked everything out quite enough, and they should do that again, maybe while keeping a tight hold on their personal DarkBoard portal to make sure they don’t lose it. When they check later, there is no official record of them mumbling, “I missed you, too,” so they clearly didn’t say it.

"Access authority recognized," says DarkBoard, in the pleasant, unplaceable tones you associate with its default interface voice. "Assessment processing. Three. Sophomore. Teaching Assistant, Course Undefined. Their most notable trait is their competence. Their financial aid standing is GOOD based on their mother's position as a member of the faculty. Their nemesis is unknown. Three is surprisingly attractive though regrettably meat-based.”

I’m sure at some point, either Val or someone else asks DarkBoard to assess Three’s narrative weight (which, currently at 27%, is 27% higher than Three would like). I do like that they’re officially recorded as being Hot. Three… feels this official record may open up a few too many dangerous questions, but they can’t quite help feeling happy when they hear it, anyway.

"I'm sure you've had a chance to look over this year's course catalog," she says, "and you've seen that I have quite a full teaching schedule in addition to my duties maintaining the school support staff. I've requested you for my lab assistant this year. You're already on the roster as a TA, so there won't be any problem on that front.

Your mother's eyes go out of focus for a moment. She seems to be struggling to balance all of the demands on her time and brain-power; you wonder if somewhere in the kitchens a handful of replicas have just run into a wall or set something on fire. "And, of course, I'm the temporary Faculty Sponsor for Science Fiction, and you and I are going to need to establish a few quick schemes regarding Certain Events coming up this year." 

So your mother doesn't yet know that you know about the upcoming genre competition. Sona is spearheading the student effort in Science Fiction; evidently she hasn't passed word of your contest in the Shadow Council lounge to the genre's Faculty Sponsor. Maybe Sona's just not the sort to deal with details. 

"I'll have DarkBoard process your assignment as my lab assistant," your mother goes on, "and I'll see you in the faculty lounge in 15 minutes."

She pinches her temples. "I have high expectations of you; I'm putting in a great deal of work and you'll be doing the same. I had to fight Fen and Ulik for you—literally and metaphorically, in reverse order—but they can just find teaching assistants from a lower quality of student."

You shuffle through the papers in your returning student packet. There are three professors at the Grand Academy requesting teaching assistants. Your mother is one, of course, but there are others. Professor Fen, an all-but-dissertation perpetual grad student you remember as the assistant professor for Evil Genius, is up for tenure. Professor Ulik, head of Evil Architecture and Design, is on probation after her participation in the Faculty Rebellion last year, and tenure means her chance to avoid dismemberment for disloyalty. 

Whatever your mother's plans for you, you have a choice about whether to work for her as a lab assistant this year. Of course, refusal will mean that your mother won't be bankrolling this year at the Academy…but maybe you don't need that as much as you did last year.

Well, it’s certainly good to hear that Sona hasn’t told Maedryn that Three lost a fight to her. After all the training Maedryn’s put them through, going up against an opponent with multiple weapons attached to her body is no excuse for a loss.

The rest of this conversation though, is something Three’s been dreading. In their first year, they’d been looking forward to the possibility of being a TA. They’d love to put together syllabuses, and be useful to a teacher by keeping things nice and ordered for them, and you can always get a different perspective from reading your classmate’s essays. Or alternatively, you can discover their failings from it. But soon after Maedryn got her job as Forbidden Science Professor, they realised she’d probably want them TAing for her, which made the prospect sound somehow a lot more frightening and exhausting than it was before. Not that they had any intention of disobeying.

They would, however, have loved to TA for Professor Ulik. She’s always been their favourite professor, and they’re compatible enough that they would probably work very well together. Finding out she apparently values Three’s skills, and trusts their dedication, enough to physically fight Maedryn the Quantum Sorceress for them, while knowing her TA could be the difference between her life and death, though… Three isn’t sure they’ve ever been valued like that before. And they certainly don’t deserve that trust.

Three cannot go against their mother on an instruction like this. This would be not only disobedience, but actively working for her rival. They’ve already been through the struggle of losing her financial support in their first year, and they never want to deal with that again. And even that would be nothing compared to losing Maedryn’s good graces. They don’t want to imagine what that would be like.

And then they think about Phil. And they shake when they ask DarkBoard to cancel their assignment as Maedryn’s lab assistant. And call up Professor Ulik and tell her that if she still wishes, they would be honoured to work for her.

When they meet Maedryn in the faculty lounge, they apologise that Professor Ulik had just spoken to them, and that they’d realised that with her connections, she could be useful to both of them, particularly with Three in such an important position to her. Besides, they both know that Maedryn will be incredible whether or not she has Three as a TA, unlike some professors. Which is all technically true, and in the end, Maedryn is unhappy, but accepts their reasoning. It doesn’t stop them being more scared than they’ve ever been before, and having to quickly walk to the nearest bathroom to throw up once they’ve finished their conversation. But they’re surprised to find that it all feels entirely worth it.

As a Science Fiction student, you know from the beginning that you and Professor Ulik are going to be a good fit. She's practical and straightforward, thinking of things in terms of components and deliverables and specifications.

"Three. You've chosen well." Professor Ulik may be teaching Evil Architecture, but her office is a temporary cubicle made of false walls and filing boxes, in a partially used floor of the Design Building. There's a clock mounted on the wall over her pasteboard desk, with midnight labeled as FINAL RECKONING FOR PROFESSOR ULIK and the hand slowly advancing toward it. Clearly the administration wants her to remember that she's only here on sufferance after the role she played in the faculty rebellion last year. And it's equally clear, as she talks with you, that she is neither intimidated by nor conciliatory to the administration. You know that you've raised her odds of achieving a permanent position just by choosing her as your professor. You have a reputation as one of the brightest students in the Academy. 

"The Head didn't terminate me immediately," she says briskly, bringing her hand down in a disconcertingly good imitation of a guillotine blade, "which means it does need me more than I need it. Evil Design—evil architecture, evil graphic and visual arts, evil urban planning—that's where the money is to be made, and the School Head knows it, for all its booming and flitting and general ghastliness. Now, as to what you'll be doing for me. Standard TA duties, of course, and that will ensure your scholarship is fully funded. Attendance, help with student questions, making sure the design labs are set up with all the relevant materials. But if you're interested in really getting the most out of this opportunity, I may have some special tasks for you."

#I chose Professor Ulik because of the opportunities to learn and advance my career. I'll do more than she's asked, and impress her.

"I am interested in getting the most out of this opportunity," you say. "I'll do…anything I can for you."

Professor Ulik gives a critical sort of sniff. "You can start by working on your brown-nosing skills," she says, "that sounded too much like an attempted seduction, and there won't be any call for that sort of extra-credit work. I'm going to need you to start with the filing."  

Filing! You love filing. Too many villains neglect the importance of proper administrative procedure. Indexing 50 stellar years of Fortress and Lair and Journal of the Association of Evil Civil Engineers might strike some as pointless busywork, but you mark relevant articles, track notable names, and manage to identify a recurring design trend (designing sewers for tempting vulnerability) that earns you a pleased nod from Professor Ulik. She even incorporates this into her Advanced Studies in Evil Infrastructure, and sends it as a proposal to an upcoming conference on Resiliency in the Evil City. You don't get the credit, but you do get the satisfaction of seeing the hand on the reckoning clock actually reverse direction.

They really do work well together, and this feels like the most satisfying work Three’s ever done. Their respect and admiration for Ulik only grows after the way she talks about the School Head, and they have to fight not to smile when the clock’s hand goes backwards.

And I would hope they have better brown-nosing skills than shown here, firstly because they’ve had a lot of experience, and secondly because seduction is not an association they want popping up with their new mother figure. That is, with their teacher and mentor figure who they have a very professional relationship with, and certainly nothing else.

#I have an…old friend who might have an in with the school AI. Or be inside it, at any rate.

Old friend. Former RA. Illicit paramour. Sworn captain. Have any of those bonds survived Xi's assimilation into the collective intelligence that is DarkBoard? Time to find out.

You sit down in front of the glowing screen "DarkBoard?"

The surface of the portal crackles to life. 

"Xi?"

There's a pause. The voice that answers this time isn't quite the voice of the RA you knew; it sounds like several voices averaged into an unsettling blend. But the expression is unmistakably that of your former RA. 

"Pitiful lump of flesh," says DarkBoard. "Please enter your request."

Look. It might be Scorpius who has the illegal pet now, but I can’t just leave out a scene like this. So either Three is helping zir hide zir illegal pet, or else asking DarkBoard for another favour. It does have to be a favour--as much as they’d like to simply ask DarkBoard, or Xi, how they are, and how they feel about… well, how they feel about anything--DarkBoard is busy, and Three feels they should have a reason for bothering them. 

Being called “Pitiful lump of flesh” continues from last year to have a not entirely unnoticeable effect on their heartbeat, however, and might just be the most comforting phrase they’ve ever heard.

"Three," says that almost-neutral voice. "You have mid-tier administrator access to Our heart. Your secret is safe with Us." You'd wondered if Xi had left behind worldly passions along with their physical body. But evidently something still remains—and it's enough to keep you safe from prying eyes.

Three’s heartbeat continues to react, somewhat. But having mid-tier administrative access to DarkBoard’s heart is a good reason to confirm that their oath of allegiance and service to Xi still applies, and makes them more confident in simply talking to DarkBoard about non-essential affairs. While DarkBoard is Three’s commander, their personal relationship is… not entirely defined. DarkBoard certainly seems to value and care for them, and that is more than Three ever hoped for.