#when it gets an audience 5 times per day for an hour

[yuhawari]

underrated ship dynamic this underrated ship dynamic that, the most underrated ship dynamic is the guy who controls the slideshow at the mass fighting for his life x the choir doing damage control all over the missing slides

[battleangel]

The End of Weird Anime

What happens to 80s & 90s anime that arent streaming right now when VHS & DVD completely go away?

The obsession with micro everything, everythings a sound bite, everything is 5 to 7 seconds, even songs, the chorus IS the song now, noone else ever hears anything else.

Only sports, reality TV and competition games can be watched week to week in real time.

All TV series now have to be immediately binged and consumed.

Its essentially bulimia.

Binge Loki in a weekend. Binge Ahsoka in a weekend. Its already done.

Whats next.

What else can I feed the machine with.

No waiting week to week. No such thing as a cliffhanger. No anticipation. No guessing whats next. No watching together as an audience.

Everything segmented, everything bifurcated, nothing in real time, nothing communal.

No season finale, no season premiere.

Same with anime.

Its not VHS or DVD anymore.

Youre not waiting for a release.

Its crunchyroll and Netflix and Funimation and Hulu and streaming.

Its the entire season of Psycho Pass all at once whenever I want to binge and gorge myself.

No asking to be taken to the mall.

No driving to Suncoast Video.

No deciding which $30 VHS or DVD to ask to be bought.

Martian Successor Nadesico or Ayashi no Ceres?

Everything is accessible.

Its less for 3 months of streaming anime than 1 anime used to cost on VHS or DVD.

No downside, if it sucks, move on.

Its not even the old school illegal Crunchyroll which was essentially Limewire for anime where you could illegally download different series.

I didnt waste time downloading for hours on my brothers computer for a shitty anime.

I didnt risk getting a virus on my brothers computer.

I dont have to clear up space.

I dont have to waste time.

I dont have to spend money.

I dont have to risk anything.

I dont have to exert any effort.

Its just, on to the next.

What does the algorithm say a Demon Slayer fan should watch next?

What should I watch now that Attack on Titan is over per the almighty algorithm?

No Viz anime catalogue to pore through.

No RightStuf catalog to highlight and fold the corners of the pages of.

No Animerica to read through every month once it arrives in the mail.

No going through AOL message boards and anime ezboards and geocities and angelfire websites to try to determine what to watch next.

No asking to be taken to your local Blockbuster to check the newest anime rentals in the "Independent/Foreign" section.

Just scroll, select, click and move on.

No need to even download and delete.

Its all streamable, instantly consumed, immediately binged then thats it.

On to the next algorithmic recommendation.

The algorithm never ends.

It always has another suggestion for you.

No meticulously going through myanimelist.com, putting up the hundreds of anime youve watched so far then scouring everyone elses lists to get ideas for new anime to watch.

Whats next after Vision of Escaflowne?

What should I watch after Yuu Yuu Hakusho?

If I can get a ride to the flea market on 18, I wonder what else they'll have similar to Dangaioh & Orguss 02?

To Macross Plus?

I wonder if Sci-Fi Channels Anime Week Festival will show something similr to Iria Zeiram or Armitage III this year.

Ninja Scroll was amazing, I wish I could see Wicked City since its by the same director, Yoshiaki Kawajiri. But I know I wont be allowed to. I had to sneak watch Ninja Scroll at my friends house and her older brother had bought it and thats the only way I even got to see Ninja Scroll at 13.

Everyone talks about Sailor Moon but noone talks about Bubblegum Crisis 2032.

Why not? The Knight Sabers are cooler than the Sailor Scouts and Ill take a cool motorcyle riding ass kicking punk rock singer like Priscilla Asagiri over a whiny, annoying, immature Serena any day. I dont care that shes 14 like me. Shes freaking annoying and a crybaby.

I wonder what other anime are like 8 Man After. It was so hard-boiled and dystopian and futuristic.

What happens to 80s & 90s anime that arent streaming right now when VHS & DVD completely go away?

When laptops and videogame systems are discless?

Then what?

What happens when Crunchyroll, Netflix and Hulu dont want to pay to license some amazing anime that are hidden gems?

In 25 years, when very few VCRS and DVD players and video game systems and laptops that can play VHS tapes and discs are still in circulation and functioning, then what happens?

What their plan has been this whole time: we will only have access to watch what the streaming companies CHOOSE to pay the license for to stream.

We will lose everything else.

We'll lose Cybernetics Guardian, Genocyber, Twilight of the Dark Master, Robot Carnival, Vision of Escaflowne, Iria Zeiram, Armitage III, Saber Marionette J, Martian Successor Nadesico, 8 Man After, Lensman, Demon City Shinjuku, Fancy Lala, Tekknoman, Full Metal Panic...

Only the biggest hits, the most iconic series, the most controversial OVAs and movies will survive in the brand new streaming world devoid of any physical VHSs and DVDs.

Only the Akiras, Neon Genesis Evangelions, Urotsuki Dojis, Berserks, Gantzs, Sailor Moons, Dragon Ball Zs, Pokemons, Gundams, Bleaches, Narutos and Spirited Aways will survive to be streamed.

What about the Serial Experiments Lain?

What about the Nausicaa of the Valley Winds?

What about the Angel Sanctuarys?

What about the Please Save My Earths?

What about the Here is Greenwoods?

Will they be lost forever?

[lucigraves]

I'm poor; I've lived on or under the poverty line my whole life, though I've been lucky to always have a roof over my head and food on the table. I try my hardest to find joy in small things as I navigate managing finances and debts.

I buy myself a $3 drink in the morning so I don't want to kill myself by noon. I get a text from my dental office; my insurance covered less than they projected and now I owe an extra $100+. This is not the first nor the last time this will happen, nonetheless, I suddenly feel very guilty about the $3 drink. For the rest of the day I think about what better things that $3 could have gone toward, I think about every $5 or $10 I spent on something frivolous in the last few years, convinced thar if I had been better with my money I wouldn't be in such debt.

I go to therapy; I know what real self care looks like, but I work 40 hours a week, drive an hour and a half round trip every day. On that drive I see 25+ billboards covering up the trees starting to turn golden. I think about how much it costs for that LED billboard to stay on 24/7. When I do have time to get out of the house, I end up trapped inside catching up on all of the chores I have no time to do before or after work.

Taking part in social media makes me feel guilty. Every word I type out is getting filtered through some AI I can't opt out of, trying to figure out what the trending words and phrases are, what products I need; how to advertise to me.

I talk about needing a new mattress to my friend. All of my ads are now from local mattress stores. I have all personalized ad settings turned off in every app and yet I can't have even one irl conversation without the 10 devices in my home listening to me, waiting to hear me say the name of a product so it can be the next thing I see on a screen.

I've cleared all three of my emails recently, going from 100k+ emails down to nothing in an effort to try to minimize my (comparatively) very small carbon footprint, and so I can keep better track of important documents. I mark emails from any corporation as spam. A week later I already have 2k emails back in my inbox, all from places I just spent hours blacklisting. But the whole store is 50% off and it ends today! I filter the company name through the searchbar so I can delete them all. I notice that the whole store has been 50% off and ends that very day for at least the last year and a half. I wonder how much energy is wasted on some bot sending the same promo email to every person on their list three times per day.

I download a game onto my phone, knowing the truth but still hoping that this one won't be flooded with ads in between every level. I'm quickly disappointed, immediately met with a 30 second long wait to be able to hit the x in the corner that's about 3 pixels across. Another 15 second ad for the same app pops up, this one with an "immediate download" button. Several new games I've never seen show up on my phone the next time I go to my apps; I wonder what else ended up on my phone without my knowledge. I try to download an app for work a while later, but this time I have to prove its me with an authentication code sent to my phone and one to my email. Nothing else on the app store seems to work as quickly as those ads with an faux 'x' and immediate download button.

I find time in between everything else and I start making art again. I open up my account as I contemplate posting something new. It prompts me to accept their new terms and conditions; I either have to give them permission to use my art and my content to train AI to do what I spent years trying to find inspiration for again, or never use the site. I could use another site but curating an audience just isn't something I have time for. I'm trained to judge my art's worth on how many clicks it has; I decide to post it to my private account for just 5 close friends to see.

I spend all of my freetime scrolling; that's what I've been conditioned to do. There's not enough time in the day so the dopamine I need has to come quickly and conveniently. The next post I see is from people literally dying, people begging for help, for any humanity, for laws to be passed that will give them rights and help them survive. I wonder how much money the next politician will spend on their campaign efforts. There's an ad underneath for a gambling app.

I hear about a CEO who was killed - the media wants so badly for me to feel bad; he had a loving family and friends. I think about that $3 drink I felt guilty about a few months earlier because my insurance denied coverage yet again, or how many nights I've laid awake, anxious about all of the debt I have, or if I'll be able to go to the grocery store this week, or if my rent will be late again, or, or, or. I think, he had a good life, he probably lived well beyond his means. He had food on the table every night, and probably never experienced the fear of not having a place to sleep for the night.

I buy myself a $3 drink; I don't feel bad.

[vixstarria]

✨Prepare for an unsolicited info dump✨

I was tagged by @herdarkestnightelegance - thanks!

Do you make your bed? Yes, always - I might leave other things lying around, but the bed is the no. 1 thing that always gets done - otherwise the bedroom looks too messy and irks me

Favorite number? I don't have a favourite number.

What’s your job? So... I work in a small law firm as the person who does everything but provide legal advice. Accounts, IT, HR, admin, random paralegal stuff - I'm your guy (gn). No one at work really knows exactly what it is I do, but they generally assume I'm always busy, which provides ample opportunity to shitpost on tumblr during work hours. E.g. right now. I love my job.

If you could go back to school would you? Absolutely not, I still have PTSD and recurring nightmares about school. I mean, I don't mind learning, per se, but I would strongly prefer it to be on my own terms, remote, and outside of a formal academic environment. And definitely not in the country I grew up and went to school in.

Can you parallel park? Strangely enough, yes. I do note that I do not have a license, however.

Do you think aliens are real? There has to be alien life of some kind out there, but it won't be little green men in blinking flying saucers. ...Although then again, hey, within the infinity of the universe, maybe there ARE little green men in saucers as well, somewhere, who knows?

Can you drive a manual car? Strictly within the confines of an empty parking lot - sure

What’s your guilty pleasure? Oh gosh, of what kind? Food - spicy ramen noodles with a bunch of stuff (mushrooms, egg, etc) thrown in. I love it, but I swear I immediately gain a kg any time I have a bowl. Music - early 2000's R&B, pop and nu metal. It's nostalgia, okay? Media - reality fashion shows that involve competitions, e.g. Project Runway, or ANTM. And cooking shows, but I don't feel guilty about those lol.

Tattoos? No, nothing's ever struck me as significant enough for me to want to have it on my skin permanently. If I had a weird scar I would cover it up with a tattoo, though.

Favorite color? Purple, especially lilac and lavender shades.

Favorite types of music? It fluctuates, but I've mostly been on an electronic / industrial binge lately.

Do you like puzzles? Puzzles often make me feel like an idiot, but if there is no timer, pressure or audience - sure. ...Or like, jigsaw puzzles? I fkn LOVE jigsaw puzzles.

Any phobias? Nope.

Favorite childhood sport? Bold of you to assume I participated in ANY sport as a child, much less had a favourite. Uh. Ice skating and rollerblading was fun, I guess. I sometimes contemplate getting rollerblades again, but then I also rather enjoy all my bones being intact. 🤔

Do you talk to yourself? All the time, although mostly in the form of muttered swears and various exclamations.

What movies do you adore? I'm going to pass on this one, or it might turn into a very long rant. To summarise: I like weird movies, horror and comedy horror. Some examples: Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Army of Darkness.

Coffee or tea? Both. Start the day with coffee, then drink tea for the remainder. I'm very particular with my coffee though - every morning begins with a little ritual of grinding whole beans and preparing it with a french press.

First thing you wanted to be growing up? One of my earliest memories is me wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up, and my little 4 or 5 year old brain thinking that my only options were teacher, doctor and cashier, for some reason, and being sad because I didn't want to be any of those. I don't think I ever wanted to be anything, as a child - I just wanted to read my books and play with my toys. In fact, I still feel that way. 😠

No pressure tagging (and sorry for any repeats): @spacebarbarianweird @thechaoticdruid @snowfolly @brabblesblog @confused-butter-toast @tragedybunny

[tobbesdiscordkitten]

Repugnant Fic: Supervision (vol. 1)

Summary: Tom Bones applies for a job at a daycare centre. What could possibly go wrong?

Characters: Tom Bones, OC: Barbara, Sid E. Burns, and Mary Goore.

Rating: Teen and up audience.

Word Count: 2,124

Warnings: Strong language, children indulging in shenanigans, and mild cult indoctrination.

Tom Bones could never keep a job. Ever. It didn't matter what kind of job he had, whether it be part of the movie theatre crew, a car dealership seller, clerk, janitor, etc., customer service wasn't his forte. He was reckless when performing his duties and he was careless with the customers. If an angry customer snapped at him, he would snap back, and get into a fistfight. Sometimes his ass would land in jail, causing Mary or Sid to bail him out the next day.

Since Tom applied to one or two jobs per year he wasn't draining the band's money by getting into trouble. Repugnant was already gaining more recognition by the masses. Tom didn't need the extra cash. Whenever the band wasn't touring or recording albums Tom would take a side job out of pure boredom.

After Repugnant's last concert ended, it was the same old situation for Tom and his big break, yet, this time, he believed he found the perfect job, not only to avoid trouble, but to cure his apathy: a daycare centre.

Tom's job interviews were usually mediocre. It was no different when he was being interviewed by one of the supervisors at the daycare centre, Barbara. He tried to put on his best impression, saying, 'yes, ma'am,' "no, ma'am,' lying about his past and boasting about what a great influence he'd be for the kids.

Barbara observed his appearance and detected how grungy he looked as if he were in some kind of grunge band similar to Pearl Jam. He did good answering each question, she noted. How bad could he be?

While examining his résumé, she also noticed he listed no prior job experience. She wasn't necessarily looking for someone with experience. Anybody could handle a kid. She just hoped he wouldn't allow them to misbehave. She brushed the thought aside and decided to give him a chance. After all, the people who haven't had a job yet needed one more than those who did. Little did she know... Tom had plenty.

"You're hired." She gave him a yellow slip which had both her number, her email, the address the daycare was located (in case he forgot), and what time he needed to arrive. “See you at noon tomorrow."

Back at the Repugnant hideout, Tom bragged to Sid and Mary about his new job, deeming himself less lazy than them.

"You won't last a fuckin' day, man," Sid retorted.

“Oh yeah? Wanna bet?”

Sid scoffed. "Dude. I've won all your bets." He has, in fact, won 20 of Tom's bets. What started out as a $5 bet steadily grew to $10, $15, $20, and now $50. Tom often wondered where his money went until being reminded about it when Sid flaunted the cash in his face.

"I'm telling you, this job is a keeper."

Sid rolled his eyes. He heard that phrase many times before. "Whatever."

Mary listened to their conversation and drank his beer. He couldn't care less.

The next day Tom arrived on time but wasn't dressed to impress. He walked over and greeted Barbara by the entrance.

"Welcome, Tom. So glad you're here." She would later regret saying that. "The little ones are waiting for you. I'll be back soon with their parents ready to pick them up."

“Yeah. No problem.”

She led him inside into the classroom. All the children were sitting criss cross, staring blankly at nothing. Barbara had taught them well. "Kids, this is your new sitter, Tom. Be nice to him and don't make a mess," she scolded playfully, wagging her finger.

“Yes, ma’am,” they all said in unison.

She turned to Tom and smiled. "They're all yours. Good luck." She patted his shoulder. “See you in a few hours." With that she left Tom to his duties.

He grabbed a chair, plopping himself down in front. "Hey, guys and gals. I'm in charge here. So I say, do whatever the fuck you want."

Shit. He said a bad word. A forbidden word! The girls plugged their ears, and the boys gasped while some giggled in the back, finding the word amusing.

After a moment of silence, one boy, who mustered up all his courage, raised his hand. “Where did you get your nose ring...?"

"This?" Tom pointed to his piercing. "At a shop." He was casual about it. Kids shouldn't have nose piercings. Maybe when they were older, but definitely not now.

“Can I touch it?” The same boy asked.

Tom chuckled. “Go right ahead.”

The kid walked forward and touched the piece of silver. Other kids followed suit and soon enough everybody was touching his piercing. Tom didn't mind being the main attraction. He enjoyed it.

"Did it hurt?" A girl queried.

He gave her a wink. “Only a little.”

"Hey, Tom!" A boy cut in. "Can me and Ethan play ball?"

“Do whatever you want. I’m easy.”

The kids got into groups and did their own thing. Tom watched, occasionally dodging a ball or catching it, before throwing it back.

A girl came up and started running her fingers through his blonde strands. "Your hair is so long." She muttered, almost in awe. In her early comprehension years, guys are supposed to have short hair, not long hair. "Can I braid it?"

Tom didn't hesitate. He allowed her and a few other friends to take each strand of hair and braid it. They chatted amongst themselves until they were finished. Tom thought the hairstyle looked cool and wanted to don it at a future Repugnant concert. Mary, of course, denied his wishes.

“Hair done! Next is makeup." The girls sifted through loads of paperwork on Barbara's desk, hoping to find a makeup kit. They looked inside the drawers and attempted to pull on the locked drawer with no luck.

“Tom, we can't find any." A little girl protested.

“Wait, I have an idea!" Another girl chimed in, holding up a box of markers.

The girls agreed and each grabbed a different color. Bethany used the red marker for lipstick; Charmaynae used the blue marker for eyeshadow; Hailey used an orange marker for blush, Dakota used the green marker for defining Tom's jawline and cheekbones; and the rest had yellow to press tiny dots all over his face. By the end of his makeup session Tom looked like a disaster and a scary clown.

The girls handed him a mirror. He inspected himself, praising the girls for all their hard work while impersonating Barbara, making the girls squeal with laughter.

Although his “makeup" was childish, Tom would later see this as inspiration to use makeup for his Kiki Bones appearance in Subvision.

Meanwhile, the boys were separated into three groups: one group situated themselves at the desks, making paper airplanes and flying them across the room. The second group continued to play ball and the third group wrestled, knocking down a few chairs in the process. Tom didn't care about the mess. He wasn't gonna take charge and clean up or force the kids to do it.

In the midst of all the chaos, one boy walked over to Tom, analyzing his black metal band t-shirt. "Um...excuse me? You like Mayhem?"

“I do,” confirmed Tom.

"My dad does too."

"Really? What's his favorite song?"

The kid shrugged. "I don't remember the exact name, but there's this one particular song he plays everyday." The boy paused and raked his eyes over Tom's tattoos, looking flabbergasted. “Whoa! That's a lot."

Tom chuckled. "Thanks." Suddenly, an idea struck. "Why don't you gather everyone around and I'll tell you guys about each tattoo?" The boy nodded and started herding the rest of his classmates like cattle onto the floor where they all sat, cross cross, staring at Tom...or a second cousin of Pennywise?

"Who wants story time?"

Everybody raised their hand.

"Excellent." Tom rolled up his shirt cuff, further exposing his tattoos. A few tiny mouths went agape at the sight. Tom’s right arm was a full tattoo sleeve while his left arm was half a sleeve. He pointed to the first tattoo he ever received at the ripe age of 17 then started sharing stories for the rest of his tattoos. It took an hour and a half to talk about all the ink but he eventually finished, concluding, "That is how I got my tattoos."

The kids cheered and clapped.

"Are you in a band?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah. I play drums."

"Can you spin your sticks like Nikki Sixx?" Ethan demanded.

"That's Tommy Lee!" Corrected Dylan.

"Guys." Tom caught their attention again. He looked at both boys, smirking. "Yes and yes."

"Well, what band are you in?" Questioned Sophia.

Poor, sweet child, thought Tom. He didn't want to corrupt her innocent facade by revealing he was in a death metal band. However, if she was curious....he didn't want to deny her an answer.

"Anyone heard of Repugnant?"

The kids fell silent. Tom could've swore he heard crickets in the background until a random girl, Jocelyn, spoke, "What does that mean?"

Ah, children and their vocabulary. "It means..." Tom tried to figure out a way to word the definition without scarring the kids too much. "All the bad stuff in the world, things that are inhumane, disgusting, revolting - that's Repugnant."

"So... the worst of the worst?"

"Correct. The worst of the worst."

"I wanna hear what your band sounds like. You think we can attend a concert?" Ethan asked, his eyes widening like saucers. He was getting excited.

Tom didn't want to deject Ethan's dreams by saying he was too young to watch them play live. So, instead, he offered: "Would you like to have a concert here, in this very room?"

All the boys looked at each other, nodding eagerly. Tom dimmed the lights and went over to Barbara's computer, finding a few Repugnant concert videos on YouTube. “Prepare to rock out," Tom warned. "This song is called Premature Burial." He clicked play and the thrashing music echoed off the speakers. "There's me." Tom pointed himself out, smashing the drums. The kids watched. The girls didn't find this type of music enjoyable or catchy. It was unlike Taylor Swift.

Through the grainy film of the video, Mary Goore appeared on stage, banging his head forth and back, while fingering the strings on his guitar. He flipped his head up as his long brown hair fell down near the length of his shoulders, revealing his face and darkened eye paint, as he sang in a deep, growly voice, “Decrepit as you've fallen in disease. Joints are withering as they slowly freeze. Decomposition eating through your head. Mistakenly you're confirmed as dead." The words were incoherent but the boys didn't seem to mind it. Some started to bang their heads and mimic Mary's guitar playing. The girls locked eyes at the screen in horror before scampering out of the room in fright.

Tom didn't pay attention, he was busy using his index fingers to hit the desk, pretending he was back on tour.

The boys started to feel the groove of the music take control of their bodies as the song continued. The indoctrination process was beginning to happen. The boys would become future death metal heads and society had no source of stopping it. These young rebels would continue the legacy of wrecking havoc on ordinary life. Tom couldn't have been more proud.

Next the boys stood up on desks, chanting, “Repugnant! Repugnant! Repugnant!"

Not long after, Barbara barged in, shocked at what was unfolding in front of her own eyes.

Tom quickly paused the video while the boys scrambled off the desk.

"What is going on?!" Barbara shrieked.

Tom stood up, confronting her. "I can explain-"

Barbara gasped at Tom's new makeover. What the fuck happened to him?? His hair was braided and his face was covered in different colors. How did this happen? Why did any of this happen? "The k-kids d-did that to y-you?" She looked around the room, inspecting the strewn items that scattered the floor. "And y-you allowed them to d-do this?" Barbara was in a pure state of shock, she could hardly speak without trampling over her own words.

Tom cleared his throat. It was the only moment in which he was honest with her. He nodded his head, not looking a bit shameful, but rather smug, amused.

"Get out! You're fired." No explanation could ever change her mind about Tom. She pointed to the exit where he left, not saying goodbye to his miniature comrades. "Did he hurt you?" Barbara interrogated, worried about the children’s well-being. The boys shook their heads, however, the girls provided a different response, concerning their mental state after witnessing the shock value that was contained in the concert video.

The daycare centre was the first and only job in which Tom Bones was fired from after a day.

Taglist: @copias-juicebox

Side-note: if anybody else wants to be added on my taglist for certain eras/characters, let me know!

[meddow]

Fic Author Q&A

Thank you for tagging me @curator-on-ao3!

1. Why do you write fanfic?

It’s a bit of a combination firstly wanting to share a plot idea I have with others, secondly, wanting to see something happen which I know won’t happen in the original source, and thirdly, it can be a bit of a fun puzzle – I don’t like this canon, how do I fix it.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

Lately, First Solitary Separate Singular Complete. It was the first fic I wrote after a long break and I was a very rusty when writing it, so mostly what I would have do differently.

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

There will be times when you feel you’ve lost the ability to write. It will come back. It never strays that far away.

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

I do check them and quite often, but just for hits. I like seeing the hit count on my WIP steadily head up and like to interpret that as it has found an audience.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

I wouldn’t mind revisiting Lix/Randall (The Hour) a bit more. I still occasionally find myself coming up with AUs for them. I had half a Victorian detectives AU plotted out in my head back in the day and I wish I'd had the energy to write it. Anyway, it was six episodes over a decade ago and yet they still reside in my head.

6. What motivates you to write?

Partly it’s a race against time to get things down before my inspiration runs out. Partly is that writing for me is like cooking. It’s lovely cooking for myself, but its extra special getting to share what I’ve created with the world and seeing other people enjoy it

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

My muse is very much motivated by newspaper articles and non-fiction and basically shit I see in the world which pisses me off, and Star Trek remains the ultimate franchise for being able to discuss contemporary issues with a shielding layer of fiction over the top.

For example (spoilers for the next chapter of The Endurance of Light) the villains I’m writing at the moment have an ideology which is based of a whole bunch of anti-master, anti-vaxxer and anti-science rhetoric I’ve seen around – and I’m getting to show how the ruling class of that planet use that ideology to oppress the masses and keep themselves in power, while finding and exploiting loopholes that benefit themselves. I don't know if I'm weird, but writing that kind of stuff for me is oddly fun.

Strange New Worlds in particular hits that sweet spot as it has a great set up and characters I adore, but never seems to have enough time/a high enough episode order to really explore the characters and I want to fix that.  

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

Go for a walk. I get all my best ideas either wandering around the local park, or in the shower.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

I can’t speak for any author but myself, but I’m happy to answer questions about future developments (or the general direction at least, I won’t give a blow by blow) if someone asks me in a comment. I don’t like tagging my fics with whether it’s a happy ending or not or whether a pairing is endgame or not because I feel that ruins any tension and/or mystery I want to build for everyone, but in the comments, I can put details below a spoiler cut.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

As a person who has aphantasia (the inability to picture things in my mind), I’d love to know what other people see when they’re writing, and how much detail. For me, I feel like for a scene I get enough in my mind to create one blurry film still per scene. There's no movement though. I can’t picture things like facial expressions changing or what characters are doing with their hands. Often I feel like I’m just writing off vibes.

I've seen a lot of people I follow tagged already, is there anyone who has missed out that wants to be?

[omamervt]

The thing that sucks about livestreaming, especially on Twitch, is that they have you chasing metrics that don't really represent how well you're doing during your stream in order to get monetized.

In order to get monetized on Twitch, which also is how you gain access to some of the basic user experience tools like channel points, polls, ability to accept bits/subs, custom emotes, and, oh yeah, LIVE ENCODING, which allows your audience to set the video resolution to match what their home internet can handle, you need to achieve 3 goals. And seriously, they're all pretty meaningless metrics for success.

First and foremost, they want you to reach 50 followers. At the time I reached 50 followers, I was still only getting like 1.5 average views/stream. It was really just a hurdle to clear as I worked toward Twitch's arbitrary standard for success. Just because someone follows you doesn't mean you'll ever see them in your stream again. It's not like a follow on YouTube, where they can watch at their leisure, or a (good) social media site, where they'll see posts from the people they're following in sequential order. If they miss you live, that's it, they missed it. Even if they watch you stream a couple hours later, Twitch doesn't reward you for that.

Second, they want you to stream for a certain number of hours over 30 days, and for a certain number of days. It's a fairly low number for basic affiliate status, just 8 hours/month, to be spread out over a minimum of 7 days. But one of the fastest-growing Vtubers I'm following is a cooking streamer who only goes live for about 2 hours/day, maybe 4 days/week. Granted, that's 32 hours/month, and more than enough to reach Partner status, plus this guy is collaborating with people from Vshojo to Hololive nearly every month, but still, when people talk about streaming being a full-time job there's an expectation that putting more time in is better, but from making published content like my podcast, I can tell you that having structure and quality typically wins out over quantity. Someone could go live once a month and still be super popular because of their YouTube videos, for instance.

And finally, the most difficult goal to achieve, the average of 3 viewers per stream. This is... again, a pointless model that says very little about how well you're doing as a small streamer, because it requires you to ignore that Twitch places basically no value on a Live View, which is the thing that's actually most comparable to a view on YouTube or another publishing platform. A live view is basically the view that gets counted when someone watches your stream for a set period of time. On YouTube, this is the number you're supposed to care about. It holds the most value. On Twitch, however, a view is only valuable if the person sticks around for the whole stream, which is rarely realistic. I could stream for 5 hours and have 10 people stop by for half an hour each, then leave as the next person joins, and Twitch would still say my average view count was 1 viewer. Do you understand why that's not useful when 10 people stuck around for 30 minutes, watching you do your live show? YouTube would call that an engaged audience. Most podcast analytics standards I've seen would have said those people listened to the episode.

All that to say idk, maybe it's not as bad as you think and if you fail to see any noticeable progress toward reaching partner after getting affiliate, it could just be you're learning the wrong lessons from the reward incentives.

[ontogen1]

You have a brand and you want it to be promoted all across the world. You know you have social media and nowadays it is the only platform where you can reach your brand to the audience swiftly. But, social media is not only for posting your perfect latte art or your backyard, having a strong presence can bring you exponential benefits. Through social media, you can easily reach more people and get customers by making your brand visible. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter are profitable ways to promote your brand since almost 4.2 billion people in the world are using them, it becomes more consistent for people to hang out on it most of the time . When people trust you with your brand, consider you win the race. You’ll get new leads that get converted to customers, and if your customers are happy and satisfied with your services or products, you'll get more deals later on. So let me introduce you to 10 benefits of having a strong social media presence if you choose to spend a few hours on social media per week.

1. Your trustworthy and effective customer service to keep retaining them:

While it is important that your brand needs a customer base, the most important thing is you also need to respond to your customers' queries about your brand. In that way, you can build a long-lasting relationship with your customers. You can respond to customers quickly in no time, as when it comes to social media, all it takes is a direct message to message your customers. Popular apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin all have direct message features that are very convenient for your business to flourish.

2. Being relatable with your audience

There are ‘n’ number of trends going on every day. From relatable office memes on Instagram reels to soft launching the brand like offering a sneak peek or showing behind the scenes which will build anticipation among the audience. Instagram has even started by adding music audio to carousel posts to make them more aesthetic. Creating posts that will make your audience go like, “Hey, that’s so relatable, that happened to me yesterday!” will make them connect with your brand immediately.

3. Promoting your brand without any third party:

Gone are the days when middlemen were there for literally anything. Startups can rely on themselves now, without any third party. You can post your brand on social media without any intermediary. Audiences will look at your brand through LinkedIn posts, Instagram reels, and even through Twitter.

4. New leads every day

Lead generations are vital and at the heart of creating any brand. Without any leads, your brand will be stranded in a desert. But if you use social media logically and attract more customers, 90% of the time those viewers convert into leads and boost up your business.

5.Get your network cycle

As a brand owner, you need to constantly look out for opportunities. Which only helps when you use your social media platform to connect with fellow brand owners. Collaboration with business owners can be greatly beneficial for the growth of your business. Especially collaborating through influencer marketing for brand exposure and fellow business owners will increase visibility.

6.Connect through SEO

Optimizing your social media page by adding relevant keywords will make your page appear when people search related to your brand. Adding a physical location will make your brand easily recognizable, Facebook and Google are prime examples of that. Sharing valuable and accurate content deserves recognition from your audience. When the audience trusts you, they boost your SEO by sharing your content.

7. Advertise your brand with effective costing

Compared to traditional advertising like banners and posters, you can just pay for cost-per-click, 1000 lead impressions and all, which are so effective yet cost less. By this, you can concentrate on your other tasks such as filtering out your target audience. By sponsored content, you can cover more audiences such as influencer marketing. You can also not spend any money and go on with your advertising. For example, you can choose to post carousels and video ads free of cost. But when it comes to organic advertising, you need to remember that consistently posting your content will help you to reach your audience. Don’t keep your brand page stale.

8. Withhold your reputation with your audience

Without any sense of trust, any brand will collapse. It is important to note that all brands, including well-established brands, need their reputation to hold in front of the audience to know about them. Startups have a great opportunity to build their reputation in the social media world as the reach is wide and fast. People when they start loving your brand, will automatically do the work of sharing your brand information everywhere.

9. Increased ROI & Sales

To increase Return On Investment and Sales, all you need to do is to know how different social media platforms work. Each one has a different purpose. For example, using hashtags on Twitter, using visual videos on Facebook, and Instagram reels with catchy content, and posting content on relevant pages on LinkedIn. Following these purposes will lead to more audience engagement and will convert your sales into money. Posting on social media is a great way to get more sales as people are always using social media, which you can take up to your advantage.

10.Make your business measurable

Social media allows your business to measure your success. Isn’t that great? To know where exactly you stand in terms of Return On Investment, or advertisement cost you can use Instagram analytics tools to measure your success. To help you with that, we as a digital marketing agency have the expertise to measure your metrics, calculate your ROI, and boost your sales. A digital marketing agency not only will service you with these, but also give you step by step on how to leverage your social media presence to get more leads. If you need our services, contact us at info@ontogendigital.com, and subscribe to our blog for more such updates.

[necarion]

Slow charging in parking lots?

Was working through a thought experiment with @jadagul about one way of improving car charging infrastructure in the US by using unmetered slow-chargers (120V plug outlets) in parking lots.

Obviously, building out a metered fast charger (or even 240V charger) is going to be far, far more expensive than running a 120V line out to that same space. 120V chargers can charge about 1 kW, and electric cars get 2-5 miles/kWh, so a slow charger space can add about 2-5 charge-miles/hour parked. This isn't a lot, but it's enough to cover a ton of ordinary shopping trips in the US. And even if it wasn't a net-positive, it still reduces the effective milage of the trip by 2-5 charge-miles/hour.

One advantage of this system is that it would tend to increase the dwell time inside the store ("we're getting free charging!") so people would tend to buy more stuff.

The problem is that electricity isn't free. Now, I'm going to take a lot of upper bound estimates here.

In CA, rates are something like $0.30/kWh (CA is an outlier in electricity costs, but it's where I live, so). So for a store to be able to eat the cost of the unmetered space, they need to make $0.30/hour more profit per-customer. As a lot of these places are operating under tiny margins (like 2-3% for stores like Walmart), that's about $17 revenue/customer-hour to make this fully pencil out. And that's assuming that every space that's charging is a customer in the store who might be buying things.

Now, to be a little more reasonable, the extra spending a customer might do at the end, trying to eke out another 5 minutes charging (people aren't rational here) is somewhat more likely to be on stuff that isn't quite as small a margin. Checkout candy bars are like 35% margin, so adding 1 candy bar/hour/space would make up that margin. And marginal profit is generally higher than average profit on anything at the store.

And if electricity prices drop to $0.15/kWh (like they are in Texas during on-peak, a rate which is falling as they add solar) on a store with 3% margin, you're starting to see costs at closer to $5 revenue/space/customer-hour. That might actually reach a level we could subsidize, especially when paired with wealthier customers buying higher-margin stuff.

We could also consider subsidizing it through encouraging stores to add solar. One panel produces something like 500W during daytime, so at two panels you're at net-zero during daylight hours even for 100% occupancy. I could imagine having a bonus subsidy for solar panels if you do 1 slow-charger / 4 panels, or something like that. You could even allow stores to only provide free slow charging during daylight hours, although that makes things less attractive for customers, and for the argument for switching to an electric car, that you can just charge in any parking lot.

Lastly, "free slow charging" is something that works a lot better in places where there is a certain degree of audience-captivity. i.e., paid parking garages. City parking lots could more easily spread out the rate increases to all the customers (which is the direction of the subsidy we want, anyway, right?). If you had a parking garage that advertised "free slow charging" on 20% of its spaces, it could increase the hourly rate by like $0.10/hour on all the customers and come out well-ahead. And for all-day garages, this is even better because you can (1) add $1/day which is a nice round number, and (2) the customers can get 20-30 miles of charge. (Now, this does mean that the garages would lose some customers to garages that don't do that, but this is one place where the subsidy comes in to get the transition in the first place). Movie theaters could also handle that through slightly higher ticket prices.

(Funny option for making the public happy if we do subsidize this: we do this via the car companies, who give the money to the big parking lots on the DL.)

Ultimately, this (free slow charging) is something that might ultimately be a viable option to speed the transition to electric vehicles. I feel like in 10 years, the regular charging network should be sufficiently built-out that we can probably figure out actual metering systems here, even for the slow charging ports. And electricity prices seem to be coming down due to the massive build-out of solar, wind (and hopefully nuclear).

We really need to speed the transition to electric vehicles as much as we can. As a thing developed countries could handle subsidizing for a couple years, adding out free slow-parking in big parking lots seems like something that might just be plausible.

[yesyourstalker]

Neta: training is officially over! It's your first day on the job! How are you guys feeling? Are you excited Antho? Antho are you excited?

Antho:........................................

Neta: look at him. He's so excited he can't even contain himself

Antho:...........................................

Neta: what about you Naomi? Are you excited?

Naomi: yeah....um..... I'm more nervous than anything...... I'm not sure if I'm going to be good with the customers or not.... I don't want to mess anything up or have them yell at me or

Neta: awwww Don't worry, you're going to be great. if something happens you can come to me ok as you have your shift buddy Antho.

Antho:.............. Can I go home early

Neta: You can but you won't be paid for the full day

Antho: hmm

Naomi: so uhhh....... what... what do we do

Neta: well Right now this time it's not a busy time of the year. You guys are hired right after the brunt of spring break. Thankfully y'all didn't have to get involved with that. Right now you're just going to get regulars coming in coming out. Just greet them. Say hi. Answer questions.... you can be on your phone. Just you know..... if someone approaches you assist them.

Antho: how long is our break?

Neta: well this is a 5-hour shift so your break is going to be 30 minutes during an 8-hour shift. You know when you finally get the acclimated to everything it will be an hour. Any more questions?

Antho: I have one

Neta: any questions that pertain to the job and not my physical appearance?

Antho: no

Neta: All right then. So I'm going to be in the back to-

Antho: why are you dressed like that?

Neta:............ I have to go to a graduation after this

Antho: aren't you supposed to look nice during those occasions?

Neta:............................ I'm going to be in my office doing paperwork. Call me if you need me. Also Seth is here if you need it

_______________________________________________

Antho:..........................................

Naomi:..........................................

Antho:.........

Naomi: .. ...... How have you been?

Antho: ehhhh..... Could be better.... Could be worse so yeah...................*sigh*.........

Customer: excuse me

Antho: yeah what is it?

Customer: oh uhhhh do you have the "easy drift" album?

Antho: uhhh... hey Seth!

Seth:..................

Antho:... Seth!

Naomi: I don't think he can hear you. But I heard the easy drift album comes out next week

Antho: oh ....no we don't have it yet

Customer: am I able to per order it and hold it till then?

Antho: yeah sure........*sigh*.... just type in your name and info and we'll hold it for you.

Customer: ok ..... alright all set

Antho: uh huh hears your receipt and here's the pickup date

Customer: thank you have a nice day

Antho: yep.......jack ass....... Who even listens to easy drift?

Naomi: .. ..dads

Antho:.............HA. that's their target audience men past the age of 30.......*sigh*.... hey neta!... .....NETA

Neta: what? What is it? What's wrong?

Antho: do you like easy drift?

Neta: yeah I like easy draft why?.

Antho: hehehehehe.... No reason. Just wondering

Naomi: hehehehehe

Neta: hm....ok.....

_______________________________________________

Antho: Where'd you get your bag?

Naomi: oh I ordered it online. Kawaiicore.com they had a sale on ita bags and I found this one. I thought it was cute it shaped like a cloud and everything. I put some cute pins in it. I have a seahorse pin. I have this one came with the bag actually

Antho: what about that one ?

Naomi: This one's just a pride flag my dad bought me

Antho: No not that one. This one like who's who's that?

Naomi: oh that one's from a show called tentacle tale Odyssey It's about this girl Lost her memory and she has magical powers and she-

Vivy: EXCUSE ME CAN A CUSTOMER GET SOME ASSISTANCE PLEASE?

Naomi: I am so sorry it was not my intention to ignore you. I didn't see you there. That was my mistake

Antho: what do you want vivy?

Vivy: hiiiiii I just wanted to see where you worked? It's nice. Very dark, very moody. Kind of like you heheh

Antho: ........well now you've seen it and you can go now

Vivy: Don't try to kick me out. You could have least introduced me to your friend.

Antho: uhhh..... Naomi, this is vivy. Vivy This is Naomi.

Naomi:ummm ....uh.....hi............hm

Vivy: hiiiii ohh I love your bow

Naomi: thank you

Neta: someone yelling? I heard yelling from my door. Something happened?

Antho:....................

Vivy: Hi, sorry that was me hehe. I just came to visit my friend

Neta: Naomi?

Vivy: No! Antho! but I wouldn't mind visiting you too. Naomi

Naomi: oh hmm hmm

Neta: what? Antho has a friend??? How much did he pay you to say that?

Vivy: 8.50 an hour I charge him extra if he wants to call me his best friend

Antho: hey!

Neta: hahahahahahaha

Vivy: I'm kidding. I'm kidding calm down. You're so grumpy.

Neta: ok ok well it's nice to meet you young lady. I got to get back to work.

Vivy: bye!............. Why didn't you tell me he was the bass player for squid squad? Oh my god I thought you said he was a loser

Antho: he is a loser and he never played for squid squad

Vivy: he was the replacement bass player before like they officially broke up dummy do you know anything about music?

Antho: oh my Cod shut up. I know stuff about music! I just don't pay attention to celebrities and their drama and shit get off my case

Vivy: uh umm hehehe I'm just getting under your skin

Dead Tide : excuse me..... Hello, excuse me I've been standing here for 15 minutes and I still haven't gotten any help?

Antho: ..........um I'm talking to someone right now soooo feel free to wait

Dead Tide: I'm sorry, you must be new here You probably don't know who I am-

Antho: You know I can actually get a discount and most of these instruments. So like you need-

Dead Tide: excuse me!!

Naomi: I...................hu.......I can help you ma'am

Dead tied:....... At least someone's useful I guess............ I need you to bring up these clothes. I need to do an exchange on these tops. A return on these boots and can you put these boots in a separate bag from everything else....... And the rest of this stuff

Naomi:.....ok.......................... Do you have your receipt?

Dead tired:*huff* if I had it I would have given it to you. I already put my card in.............

Naomi: Right....... My....Mistake, I'm sorry ...........ok...........*sigh*. .. ... The we're not able to do a return on the shirts. The return policy is two weeks a year over those two weeks

Dead tide: *sigh*....... I was able to return something past the two week date last time............... Okay, first off those piercings are on the sales rack. They're not supposed to be $ 10 they're supposed to be $ 5.

Naomi: oh ......umm.......let .....me ....uhhh.......

Dead Tide: You ring up the boots twice and those are the ones that I'm supposed to return.........

Naomi:.......uh.....uhhh....

Dead Tide: he just hires anyone.... Do you even know what you're doing??

Antho: hey can you stop being such a bitch?

Dead Tide: excuse me?!?

Antho: I said can you stop being such a bitch? She's trying to do her best in your stressing her out

Dead Tide: well it's not my fault. You guys don't know how to do your job! I mean how can you all be so incompetent?

Naomi: ....*huff*......uh....*huff*......uhhh........*crying*........

Antho: ..................

Vivy: Naomi

Background customers (pulling out phones)

Dead Tide: oh cod here we gooooooooo. Can I get the manger! Please!

Seth: what's going on over here?

Dead Tide: are you the new manager or something ?

Seth: nope ...

Dead Tide: then I guess you're useless to me

Seth: Guess I am (removes hearing aids)

_______________________________________________

Neta: MANAGER WHERE'S THE MANAGER I KNOW HE'S HERE I SEEN HIM

Neta: All right all right. What's going on?................. Naomi...... Sweetie you okay?

Naomi: ..........*huff*.......*huff*.......*sobbing*.........

Neta: ok...... Naomi go to the bathroom okay I'll deal with this and I'll be in there to help you ok.

Naomi:*huff*......*huff*...............*huff*.........ok..............*crying*

Neta: *sigh*......ok................ What's the problem tied?

Dead Tide: I need to return these, exchange these and these were supposed to be on sale and they're not ringing up on sale.

Neta: That's because they're not on sale

Dead Tide: well then why did I find them on the sales rack?

Neta: I don't know but it seems to be a pattern with you. Picking up things that aren't on sale and you claiming it to be on sale

Dead Tide: what are you trying to imply?

Neta: I'm just pointing out a similar pattern from you... Also, I don't appreciate you treating m employees that way.

Dead tired: well maybe if you hired employees that knew how to do their job I wouldn't have to treat them like that

Neta: or you could just be a decent fucking person and be patient with people! You know that she's new! You obviously know that a lot of these folks here are new! Be! A decent! Person! I'm so tired of my employees coming to me and telling me that you're antagonizing them!

Dead Tide:........................... I'm fucking done. Return everything. I don't want this shit anymore...... You just lost yourself one of your greatest customers. The amount of money I spent here and this is how you fucking treat me!

Neta: I treat you how you treat my customers like shit....... Here's your money back. You're lucky I still allow you in here

Dead Tied: You're lucky they allowed you on the surface.......uh......oh

Customers: * gasping*........ Holy shit!..... She did not just see that..........yooooo........ What did she say?

Antho: oh that's that's ssssssssssssssss

Vivy: oh my cod

Neta: That's it. Get out. Your banned I should have banned you years ago. I thought we could tolerate you but I guess not get out of my store now.

Dead tide: ok wait I did not mean to say that

Neta: OUT!

_______________________________________________

Naomi:........*crying* .........*huff*.........*crying*. ....*huff*.......*sobbing*

Neta: hey...... Naomi....... You good ?

Naomi: *crying*.......no!...........*crying*...........

Neta: alright alright come here

Naomi: ......um........I...........I.........I.......think I might quit....... I thought I could do this but I can't.......*crying*........... I'm sorry

Neta: ................................if that's what you want I understand Naomi............ I'm sorry that happened...............

Naomi:........*huuuuf*...............*sigh*

Neta: You shift ends in 30 minutes. Why don't we wipe off your face. Let's not ruin your makeup. It's very nice makeup by the way

Naomi: (blush).........thank you............*sniff*........*sniff*..........

Neta: if it makes you feel any better I've cried in this bathroom plenty of times.

Naomi: *heh*....heheh.......... I'm sorry........ I didn't mean to laugh

Neta: heheheha....... It's okay.................. Your next shift is tomorrow. If you don't show up I completely understand. I won't hold it against you and if you do come back............ We'll welcome you with open arms.

Naomi:.........*sniff*...........*sigh*.......... Okay........ Maybe it was just a bad day...............

Neta: yeah it was just a bad day. We all have them.

Naomi: hmmmm

Neta: she's banned by the way. You're never going to see her again.

Naomi:ok .... I like your suit by the way. It looks nice.

Neta: thank you......I knew antho was just being a little asshole

Naomi: eheheheheh

_______________________________________________

Neta: *uuuuughhhhh*..............*sigh*..........

Antho:...................... So can I go now?

Neta: is the store cleaned up and the money deposited?

Antho: yes

Neta:........ alright......go home.

Antho: is Naomi going to be ok?

Neta: *sigh*......uhhhhhhh....... We'll see. We'll see what happens.... Same time tomorrow

Antho: ok......see ya

_______________________________________________

Neta: ohhh...... ikkannnnn give us a smile.

Koi-koi: hold the plaque up a little more

Noji: Am I allowed to post this?

Ikkan: no......how many pictures are you guys going to take?

Neta: as much as we want

Koi-koi: ohhh my baby graduated!! I'm so proud

Ikkan: ok... We're finished with the pictures. Can we go home now?

Koi-koi: Don't you want to go to dinner or something

Ikkan: can't we do that tomorrow? I'm tried

Koi-koi: ikkan come on

Merv: Let the boy rest dear. We'll celebrate tomorrow

Koi-koi: uh alright.... Tomorrow will celebrate...... My little graduate...ohhh [kiss kiss kiss]

_______________________________________________

Ikkan: yay.... School is finally over.......are you ok?

Neta: I couldn't be happier! I'm so proud! [Kiss]

Ikkan: I know I know.........I meant what happened earlier..... At your store

Neta:.........oh..... that..... How do you know about that?.....

Ikkan: ......................

_______________________________________________

(spat Tok video): neta: You're lucky I still allow you in here!

Dead Tied: You're lucky we allow you on the surface!

Recorder: *gasp* oh my cod! She did not just say that!

{scroll}

(video): y'all need to check out this video. Dead Tide is never going to recover from this!!!! Heheheheh

{scroll}

(video): okay we need to address what happened today at Rock Shock today......... I went in there to pick up the new makeup pallet collab with Cora and Rieff and "ink line beauty"....... they sell makeup now which is really cool .......anyway........ So I went there to get the makeup and I was standing in line behind Dead Tide......*sigh*....She's always there girl. You know she's always been a bitch but...

{scroll}

(Video): I've been seeing this video circle around all day on SplatTalk and the amount of inklings who are making this like hahaha funny thing. It's not cute, It's not funny, It's not entertainment. This is a reality for a lot of us on the surface

TV news anchor: let's just Hope grizzco can recover from that lawsuit..... In other news........a shocking and viral video going around on the internet of a famous splat toker "Dead Tide" going on what appears to be a racially motivated rant in popular music store "Rock Shock". The video may be shocking and disturbing to some audiences

(Neta: You're lucky I still allow you in here!

Dead Tide: You're lucky we allowed you on the surface!)

TV anchor: splat talk has since been removed her content and her account from the website. Making a statement that they are "shocked and upset by the video. They do not hold or promote the views of that splat toker has displayed in the video"

but the video is sparking a lot of conversation about the relations between people who were once below the surface and those who lived on the surface

(random jellyfish): I think the relationship between those who lived in the sewe- underground and those who lived on the surface it seems pretty good. I haven't seen any conflict. I haven't seen any....... Ill will from any group or party.

(Random sea urchin): I feel like we want to pretend that everything is okay and it's not. I will acknowledge that we have made a lot of progress but there is still tension that and still needs to be addressed.

Tv anchor: .......... We did ask the store owner to comment on the situation but was politely denied but he did put out a statement on Inkstagram addressing the situation

Hello everyone, this is Neta. Before I start I went to apologize to those who were affected or hurt by what happened in My store earlier today. As an octarian business owner I always thrive to make a safe and welcoming environment for everyone who walks in and today was not that day. The shocking and upsetting comments that were said by a customer was unacceptable and heartbreaking and just not the energy that I thrive to have. She will no longer be allowed in any of my locations starting today.

___________________________________________

Neta: * inhale* * exhale*.............................

Ikkan: ................... It will pass... The internet is like that they'll jump on another scandal next week

Neta: yeah, I guess you're right........ At least she's getting what she deserves......

Ikkan:............ are you sure you're alright?

Neta: ........ yeah.... I've been told worse things

Ikkan: ok [kiss].....

Vivy and antho belong to @fish-at-fish-fish-resort

[yuhawari]

underrated ship dynamic this underrated ship dynamic that, the most underrated ship dynamic is the guy who controls the slideshow at the mass fighting for his life x the choir doing damage control all over the missing slides

[nickgerlich]

0 To 5 Billion

Twenty-five years ago, the number was 0. No, it wasn’t the temperature, in either Fahrenheit or Celsius. It wasn’t the inflation rate or the interest rate. It wasn’t the number of EVs that had been sold.

Nope, it was the number of people on social media. It simply did not exist. But data released earlier this year show just how much of a force it has become, because there are now slightly more than five billion people worldwide on social media, or 62.3% of the world’s population. It may not be Ferrari-like acceleration, but it is still pretty impressive.

The typical user spends 2h23m per day on 6.7 platforms. Of course, your mileage may vary, but those are the averages. Among Android users, they spend 34 hours per month on TikTok and 28 hours per month on YouTube.

And you wonder where all of your time went.

Overall, Instagram takes top honors as favorite platform, toppling WhatsApp, a popular platform everywhere but the US. Overall, we spend 6h40m a day online doing one thing or another. Based on my weekly screen time report that pops onto my phone every Sunday morning, I am above average.

All of this time has to come out of other things, since we are still kind of locked in at 24 hours available each day. Television watching is in decline, losing another 17 minutes last year. I suspect it is also coming out of interpersonal time, productive time at work, and leisure activities. Sure, we might figure out how to juggle things (how many of you keep a social app open on your computer while at work?), but let’s face it: You’re probably not dedicating quality time to either.

And since marketers go where the eyeballs are, digital ad spend grew by 10% last year to $720 billion. Social media ad spending was $207 billion.

So what does this say about us as a people? A lot. It says that we have changed considerably in a quarter of a century, that no matter how much we may naysay social media specifically, or this digital lifestyle more generally, we have embraced it all nonetheless.

Social media has become the way that people connect and reconnect. Yes, some people use it as a substitute for F2F interactions. Like it or not, this is how we do it, and in the developed world, it has become the de facto means of communication. When was the last time you sent a greeting card of any kind, such as birthday, holidays, anniversary, etc.? Do you even call people these days? My calling log grows more sparse with each passing year. Do you no longer feel the need to attend reunions and similar social gatherings, because you already know what your old pals have been doing thanks to their posts?

We get our news online. We find our entertainment online. We shop online. We get our recipes online. There’s not much we don’t get online. And the implication to marketers is clear as the world approaches digital totality: you either join the tidal shift in redirected advertising dollars, or run the risk of completely losing relevance.

But as we continue the transition, we must be cognizant of the fact that old-school methods of advertising, notably mass communication on broadcast or print media vehicles, is probably a waste of time and money. A shotgun approach to advertising means spending massive sums to spray messages in the general direction of people, hoping that you actually reach some of the people you really want. We can do much better now with targeted advertising. It behooves us to understand the users of each platform, and then utilizing all of the tools available, go after specific people. The audience of many has been replaced by the audience of one.

I know that this creeps out some people, as we have discussed multiple times. But as we approach the end of this course, we need to step back and try to see the bigger picture. This is where we are. Digital marketing commands an ever growing portion of all marketing activities, and I suspect that, while old-school methods may never go away completely, it will be the gorilla in the living room.

Discussion topics like this may summon comparisons to Black Mirror, the Jetsons, The Matrix, and numerous other pop culture touchstones. Those may very well have been prophetic; we just didn’t realize it at the time. If you are uncomfortable with change, you’re in for a rough ride ahead. I don’t see this crazy train slowing down any time soon.

I do hope that my students will ponder these stats, but more importantly think about what it all means. Things have changed even in just the three months we have been journeying together. It may not feel like much, but when you turn to look over your shoulder, you can see just how far we have come, not just in 2024, but in the last 25 years.

That little speck you see in the distance is where we were. We can’t go back there, and to try is futile. Zero may have been quaint, but we’re at five billion now and growing. What you do with that reality is up to you.

Dr “The End Is Near” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[frozen-fountain]

Weird Questions for Writers

…All.

Alright, everyone else go home, I guess. I'll be doing this in stages over the next couple of days because, as much as I enjoy talking about myself, I do still have to write this afternoon. Thank you!

What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Basic Times New Roman, more out of familiarity than anything. I keep meaning to try the Comic Sans trick that supposedly makes it easier to focus, but I don't know if I can bear to look at that all day.

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

I don't relish the thought of those wrist cramps, but yes, I think I would. I can't stand the thought of just keeping it all in my own head.

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

I usually end up doing it early afternoon, after lunch and a few minutes of pacing or stretching to clear my head. I'll also play with my cat for a while beforehand, as if he's tired from being a fearsome hunter he's less likely to get up on the clackboard to help me (results may vary). Then I procure something to drink, pick out something to listen to, and freewrite some word association for a bit if I'm not in the right headspace.

While I have a vague goal in mind for where I'd like to write up to, these days, I only make myself do a single sentence per day. It's usually much more than that, but just that sentence absolutely has to happen every single day if it's really all I can manage. When I'm done, I try to leave at a point I'm actively excited to get back to and have a clear picture, so it's easier to pick up the next day. Usually I jot down a few notes to help.

It's cursed because a lot of the music I enjoy probably is, and because the aforementioned notes have sometimes been things like "toilet paper" or "[character] on her Caravaggio bullshit" and I'm left just sitting there trying to work out what any of this was in reference to, or why Past Froze thought it was going to be helpful.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Susurrus. I try to limit it to one use per story, and maybe one per chapter if I'm feeling extra indulgent.

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

Not a superstition I actively believe, but every time I think a fic might do well it's met with silence, whereas the ones I assume are for me and an audience of three end up performing way better than expected. I don't judge success on external factors and will write what I want to say regardless, but it's a nice reminder that whatever niche oddness you're cooking up might have more of an audience than you realise.

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

It's more a fear about myself, which is that my ability or lack thereof to execute an idea doesn't matter, because what I have to say in the first place is of no interest or value whatsoever and no amount of minutely crafted phrasing can change that. (Needless to say, I would never think this of another person, no matter what they were trying to tell me.)

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

That I do it anyway. That, regardless of how it does or doesn't impact on the world outside of me, I experienced something that made me feel strongly enough to take the time to attempt to recreate it in words. And when, after minutes that feel like hours of agonising over which words to use, I find some that hit the exact resonance and well of allusion I was hoping for? It's about the most accomplished I've ever felt.

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

I'd choose the all-dialogue option because that would be a bigger challenge for me, and also because I have a great model for how to do it in The Fall by Camus. So I'd reread that and pick apart how it was done in a way that worked; I can picture the setting of the novel so clearly even though it's only described in ways that feel naturalistic for characters who are walking through it. I'm guessing this would remain a shorter piece, and I'd have a specific reason for zooming in so completely on what's being said to the exclusion of all else, and I think this would be a great medium for an unreliable narrator. The negative space around what isn't said would have to be as intrinsic a part of the story as anything that makes it onto the page. I think it'd be a really interesting experiment, some time.

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

I believe many, many people have experienced things we currently (and most certainly always will) lack the scientific method to understand and quantify. I'm about ninety percent sure I had a premonition once. I also believe what we say and do resonates, in ways that are hard to track and trace, beyond the moment where they occur. I'm not sure whether this means I believe there's a non-corporeal part of us all that lingers after the physical body reaches its planned obsolescence, and that sometimes this remnant is able to reach out and touch the living from time to time, but it's something.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

At least a fragment of everything I've ever read or written lives under my skin. Even if I hated it or even if I can't remember anything about it besides that splinter that stood out the most. All I've lived - and not lived, especially when I might have had the chance to - is waiting over my shoulder and following me along the corridor, whether as a warning or a tormentor or a guide.

[jimintomystery]

NO BUT READ THIS because I don’t think you understand how impressive this scene is, so I will explain it to you in as pedantic a manner as possible.

1. Although Roger is standing in front of the box in gif 3 (and parts of gifs 2 and 4), if you look closely you’ll notice he spends much of this sequence behind the box.  This made the animation more challenging.  A team of artists voluntarily put in overtime to erase Roger’s legs.

2. To achieve the shaking effect on the box, Robert Zemeckis had it filled with six feral cats.  However, trouble arose when there was no way to make the box stop shaking (when Roger is supposed to hold it steady).  For the next take, Zemeckis hit upon the idea of stuffing a live rattlesnake into the box.  It may seem improbable that all of the cats succumbed to the snake venom on cue, but it’s just one of those clever tricks that have been forgotten in the age of CGI.

3. That is a real hacksaw Bob Hoskins is holding--remember, this was in the days before fake hacksaws were commonly available.  During one take, Hoskins was so distracted by the rattlesnake that he sawed off his left hand.  Although there was debate about incorporating the injury into the plot (Zemeckis thought it would be funnier that way), there were just too many scenes filmed with a two-handed Eddie Valiant.  So the prop department voluntarily spent SEVEN YEARS researching and constructing an elaborate artificial hand.  The prosthesis was so effective that it was written up in the New England Journal of Medicine.

4. Although the camera and the set appear to be stationary, the crew went out of their way to film this scene on the planet Earth, which was moving around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour during shooting.  This was one of the key techniques to make it appear that "toons" were real; if Roger existed in relativistic four-dimensional space-time, it would remind the audience that he had true physical substance.  However, the constant movement of the scene’s light source (the sun) made filming impractical, so Zemeckis decided to move the scene indoors.  You can still tell Eddie and Roger are on Earth, though, because the planet’s gravitational acceleration causes the lamp to swing back and forth.

5. The script called for Roger to pull his hand out of the cuff "when it was funny," but during production Roger found that it was never actually funny enough for him to properly execute the stunt.  Various industrial-strength lubricants were applied to the cuff, but to no avail.  Eventually, the entire scene had to be cut from the theatrical release, as it proved unfilmable.  Finally, in 2007 a team of Pixar engineers voluntarily recreated the scene with computers (since Hoskins had aged out of the role and Roger tragically passed away in 1992) to be included in the film’s home video special edition.

You watch a scene like this and you just have no idea how much hard work went into it.  You kids with your CGI and your Jurassic Parks and your Marvels, you don’t know how good you have it.  These people slaved over this movie voluntarily, and you don’t even appreciate it!  Robert Zemeckis should come over there with his belt and beat some respect into you!  Except he can’t, because he lost most of his fingers 35 years ago in a freak rattlesnake-related accident!  Here’s some more trivia: I sent him a get well card, unlike you rotten ingrates.

Who fuckin’ Framed Roger Rabbit, you worthless snots.  You better bow down and recognize your cinematic lord and savior.

[mystomachfeelsawful]

3:40

When I remember this year, it's not the triumphs or the wins, it's the oops and the silly mistakes. The weird moments in between when something I thought was supposed to happen happened, but not in the way I expected it to.

Cockfight and Woking went up - two projects that have occupied my heart and head for a while (heartspace with Cockfight and physical time space with Woking). I travelled for work a lot, went back to the east coast for a workshop, did a full season of casting at Stratty. I went to New York on a spontaneous holiday to see a lot of plays.

But these aren't the things I remember the most. Those are here:

1 - I evicted my roommate of one and a half years. Tiffany and I have had tension almost immediately since she moved in. Our communication styles weren't sympatico from the beginning (she was a passive aggressive introvert with a noise sensitivity and a bitter personality, I'm an extrovert with no issue with noise with a bitter personality that I hide behind layers of false confidence), but I held onto living with her because I knew she was leaving in March. I felt that if I just endured the bad thing it would go away - very Chinese. Our relationship hit a tipping point when I closed the door to what she decreed as too loudly in January and she started knocking on my door and swearing. Rather than endure two months more of her, I requested that she leave the next day. I took a bit of an L for this - I paid for her accomodations and her movers and had to find her a place that suited her needs (thank you Maddie), but I think this is the thing I was the most proud of this year. Someone was harming me and - rather than do what I always do and assume that I have to accommodate them as I've been raised - I confronted her about it and removed her from my life. I want to do more of this in the future. I think I yield a lot when something is bothering me because I'm afraid of seeming selfish. I want to be even more selfish in the future and have more confrontations. My home feels like a safe place to live for the first time since she moved in.

2 - In June, I found out we'd won the Audience Choice Dora for Woking Phoenix. I found this out at Fu-GEN's kitchen event (which was hilariously happening at the same time as the Doras) and was told there were tickets for the after party. I was over the moon and ran over to the Winter Garden to see if I could get in. I remember showing the security guard my phone with the award on it and being like "i want to buy tickets to the after party" and promptly being told that I couldn't get in. People tried giving me their tickets and I couldn't get in. So rather than go inside and feel celebrated for winning a silly trophy, I waited outside in what my girlfriend describes as "loser behaviour" for 2 hours saying hi to people as they waited for cabs and ubers. I don't know what the lesson is from this, but it was a wonderfully humbling experience that as per usual reminded me that awards are temporary and humiliation is forever. And it sort of reminded me of my own career - begging to be let into buildings that people were exiting. Thank you for voting for Woking Phoenix though - seriously. This instagram account only speaks for me (as it's mine), but after 5 years of working on the project, winning grants and finally doing the thing - it felt vindicating for the community to have the project's back the same way you all did during the run.

3 - During Annie auditions, my nose bled for 30-45 minutes and then proceeded to erupt on the stratford bus home. I bled for another hour on the bus, over my clothes and on my hands. I did not bleed in front of the children (thank god), but I really need to get this fixed. Camille did not help me on this trip and took a nap.

4 - I know I said I wouldn't talk about the blanket good stuff, but going to New York this year as a knee jerk decision in October felt really fulfilling. Doing a spontaneous vacation as a kind of reward for all the stuff that happened this year, running through Chinatown, putting in 20000 steps as Luke birdwatched felt right. Also seeing theatre outside Ontario. I feel I really grew during this trip and felt artistically inspired in ways I hadn't in a long long time.

5 - In the midst of a year of so much theatre and things that were arguably achievements of mine, I find myself learning the most about what I'm unable to do as a artist at this point in my career. What my own blindspots are. I don't say this as a derogatory, but I think I want to get better. I keep giving direction like "don't push", but what does "Push" actually mean? What does rigour actually mean? What does following an intention to the end of the line actually mean? Am I giving too many notes? Am I giving too few notes? How can I be clearer to designers? What actually makes acting/production/choreography good in my eyes - in understandable words? What is a strong vision? I think this year made me start to see the limits of my own ability to articulate things in clarity - that even if my teams believe it, do I actually believe or understand what I'm saying? Is my desire to keep working with fans who are excited to work with me in part me avoiding clarity with working with strangers who don't understand me, share my sense of humor or don't understand my vision? I'm going to spend 2025 training and working on my craft. I want to enter 2026 a stronger theatre artist than I am now.

I SAW 55 PLAYS THIS YEAR. I LOVED

Sunset Blvd

The Inheritance Part 1 and 2

The Hills of California

Salesman in China

The Diviners

Rat Academy

My favourite video game of the year was Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - a game that I played over the span of 8 months and never felt bored by because I took my damn time.

My favourite movie of the year was Look Back.

I want to have a 2025 where I pick fights, where I don't feel shy, where I participate openly and question everything I do in how specific I can be. I don't want to waffle or suffer in silence. I want to prioritize learning and growing and let my own hunger and curiosity shape my year rather than being shy and waiting for permission.

NOW BACK TO G1 STUDYIN

[marketing-13]

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