#SO many youtubers etc I like are promoting this shit

[but-the-library-of-alexandria]

in 2024 I wanna stop hearing about betterhelp

#elise's posts #SO many youtubers etc I like are promoting this shit #fyi for those who don't know it's a REALLY unethical business trying to take advantage of the mentally ill #and before you say 'but how else am I meant to find a therapist that does online sessions' #post-pandemic most therapists offer this #and if you want the whole 'I can text my therapist for therapy anytime 24/7' thing... #sorry I know it might sound useful but it's SUPER bad for both your own mental health and your therapist's #sorry but therapists are not meant to be there for you 24/7 #that's not their job and it's really unhelpful for YOU to become dependant on a 24/7 therapist #betterhelp do not vet their therapists thoroughly #and some people say they have been evangelised to on betterhelp by preachers who ask the algorithm to assign them queer and atheist clients #many reputable therapists state that it's a terrible business model promoting unhealthy practices to patients #it claims to be the cheapest option but it's more expensive than the most expensive therapist I've ever had (I'm in the UK) #and significantly more expensive than the cheapest who was still good and probably more qualified than some people on betterhelp #you pay extra for the middleman #(being allocated a therapist you didn't choose and vet yourself isn't great anyway imo surely you want agency in this huge decision?) #and I'm sorry but pride counselling is a branch of the same company #please just look for therapists that specialise in your needs through a regulatory model and get in touch with them directly #not all of them have waitlists and tbh if every therapist on betterhelp is available whenever what does that say about them

[shakespeare-official-account]

LISTEN UP, FUCKERS!!!

It’s swearification-and-cursing’s birthday in like 3-4 days, sooooo we’re gonna have a party like what we did for YTK to celebrate. Please spread this around and try not to let her know. Tags:

Parent: @eharmony-official.

aunt: @i-bless-your-heart

the siblings/cousins/in laws: @cars-official

the niblings: @real-hottopic @spotify-kids-real

grandparents: @tinderofficial @incognito-mode-official @basically-bumble

other people: @thesmallestclown @i-identify-as-an-ominous-threat @shakesberes-ghost @totally-ikea and anyone who wants to join!!!! Sorry if this bothered you, I just want everyone to know /pos. If you don’t want to be tagged for stuff, please reach out and tell me in an ask/dm/post

If you guys want roles, like in YTK’s party, we have:

Birthday girl: enea herself, obviously

Proud mom: @eharmony-official, this is undebatable

The nice aunt: @i-bless-your-heart, also undebatable

The shy sibling:

The outgoing one:

“I’m too drunk/high for this” *proceeds to get more drunk/high*: @jupiter-the-god

Selling the booze/drugs: @definitelytherepublicofireland @green-day-unofficial

“I’m too gay for this” *proceeds to flirt with anyone and everyone*: @autism-speaks-real

“I’m too gay for this” *proceeds to either fail at flirting or not flirt at all (or both)* Jupiter-the-god

The annoyed neighbour who joins in the end:

The arsonists/chaos creators/felony commuters: @confusedhomicidalrage @nanochittle and I

the (not-so) reluctant chaotic/arsonist/criminal: france-unofficial

The chaos gremlin: @femboy-hooters-official and ireland

The adoring younger sibling:

Chaotic child: autism-speaks-real

brings the food: @froggiefemboi is making pizza. @the-official-italy will be cooking every recipe in her grandmother’s cookbook, INCLUDING SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE!!! The-official-potatoo is bringing potatoes

the disaster assistant cook: france-unofficial

is the food: @thesmallestclown, who will be the pizza ingredients

summoning satan with a Dorito: @gimmickswag and @rocks-anon

trying to stop the satan summoner: crystal (please tell me their @), @totally-france, France-unnoficial

reading a book/listening to music in a corner: @india-official, @hyperfixationsgobrrrrr and maybe me if i feel antisocial :P

trying to get everyone to play a game and failing: @jollibee-real (Mario kart)

here for the food: @bingle-official

here for the ride: puddles-of-ominous-threats, @non-tyrannical-usa

“Who the hell invited this guy??” @walmart-the-official

the DJ: France-unofficial

the assistant DJ: totally-France

the couple who insist they’re platonic but 10 minutes later were found making out in the bathroom: @jupiter-the-god and @definitelytherepublicofireland

asleep:

the one who knows everyone: @official-the-united-states

Lovey dovey couple who gross everyone out and do the lady and the tramp spaghetti scene together: @france-unofficial and @the-official-italy

Argue like an old married couple because they are one: @the-official-publix and @kroger-fr

the one with negative rizz that works at the wrong time: @actually-kroger

promoting and committing aroace crime: @same-pic-of-callisto-everyday @puddles-of-ominous-threats

the grandmother who should be dead but bakes wayy to much for occasions: @dunkin-the-real-one

stealing random shit: @yes-im-youtube-kids

chaperone: @canadian-tire-real

Obviously, there will be a million other amazing roles which haven’t been put on the list. Please reply, dm, send asks etc. if you want to be on the list as something else! You can also have many roles :) Anyways; have fun and spread the word!!! :D we strike in approx. 72 hours, send swearification dms, asks or anything to wish her. The weirder the merrier!!!

DISCLAIMER TO ALL: TO AVOID CLUTTER AND CONFUSION, YOU GUYS CAN REBLOG YOUR REPLIES, BUT I WILL EITHER REPLY TO THE POST AND TAG YOU OR STRAIGHT UP ADD YOU.

#shakespeare #william shakespeare #swearification #birthday party #important #reblog this #tags #the pink sparkle family

[doubleddenden]

The topic of Palworld is pretty charged, but often times I see people be shamed for liking it because the CEO tweeted stuff about NFTs and the company using AI art in a separate game. Acting as if that's the most damning thing ever for a gaming company in an industry filled with similar people.

Make no mistake, I dislike both AI art and nfts, but do you realize how many gaming companies have involvement with that?

To begin with, Pokémon used AI art in a promotional piece for Pokémon Go in September, and nobody gave a shit because uwu Pikachu. The Pokémon Company also put a job listing some months back seeking an expert in NFTs. That's not quite damning evidence, but if I were a betting man, no "NFT expert" will willingly say "yeah nfts suck are bad for the environment, man, I'll take my paycheck and fuck off now." There's also a strong argument to be made that Pokémon has stolen ideas from fakemon artists (Finizen and Palafin, Scovillain, Dipplin, etc) and other franchises (kaiju movies, Dragon Quest, Megaman, final fantasy, western cartoons and food mascots, etc), a dubious legal statement that claims they own all fan art from the remixes and fakemon made on youtube to the pikachu your kid drew at breakfast; they have yet to apologize for the state of Scarlet and Violet while charging full price to millions of paying customers for a clearly unfinished and barely functioning game (which i did enjoy, but you can't tell me it was finished baking when it struggles not to shit itself just to run), and a bunch of other things people shit on Palworld for, but A. It's Pokémon so people don't care and think it's fine, and B. That's not the point of this post.

You know who else does NFTs and AI art? (Yes I heard Muscle Man from Regular Show in my head just now, too, moving along)

Square Enix sold several of their IPs for NFTs and claims to have used AI art "a minimum amount" in Foam Stars, yet I see nobody yelling for boycotts of Final Fantasy 14, 16, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, Life is Strange, etc etc etc.

Sony has invested in both, they want to implement AI into gaming, and has a patent for nfts to be used in games and consoles, yet there's no movement to throw out your playstations.

Bandai Namco- you know, that company with a hand in pretty much most anime games on the market and popular games such as the Dark Souls games? They have a game called RYU that's essentially a virtual pet game that uses the blockchain, and its AI driven, among other projects. Yet there's no outcry to stop playing the many, MANY games they brand with. This also includes quite a few Nintendo games (btw they just partnered together to form a special studio quite recently) like Smash Wii U/3ds and New Pokémon Snap. Nobody gives a shit though.

Android, Microsoft, Google, Apple- I don't even need to explain those, they have whole teams dedicated to both. Even popular VPN companies accept crypto.

I'm just saying an awful lot of you guys that scream and shit bloody murder about Palworld's company being involved with that shit are either the biggest "It's okay when my favs do it" type of hypocrites, or you're sorely ignorant to just how evil and greedy most corporations are. You'll be hard pressed to find a game company with popular AND fun games that DOESN'T have some interest in either, let alone movie and show studios. That's the awful reality we live in.

You have 2 options

1. You basically stop doing anything involving most modern tech, including throwing out your pc and smart phone. You could probably live a comfortable life with tech circa 2010, but you have to be aware that any thing you buy may go towards a cause you don't like.

2. You accept that people can enjoy a product while not necessarily agreeing with the CEO of said product. Most CEOs tend to be jackasses anyway, that's kind of the shared trait they all have. You can also discourage companies from using them while understanding it is everywhere.

Palworld at the end of the day is just a toy, that's it. From the looks of it, it's not even actually hurting anyone, and it seems like the company at least treats their employees pretty decently- at least according to a few things I've seen here and there that seems rather progressive for a Japanese studio (with room for doubt obviously, it's a company after all and as we've established, they're all evil). At the least its not like when people supported Hogwarts Legacy and directly put money into JKR's wallet so she can openly hurt more Trans women. In fact, the only people seemingly hurt in all of this Palworld drama are obsessed Pokémon stans that can't accept a parody, or the Pokémon Company themselves, who rightly deserve some punching up tbh.

You can just say you dislike the game, that's fine, I totally get that. Even though I personally think The Pokémon Company deserves a few nut shots after the way they've treated fans these last few years with the state of their games (and you know, stealing ideas from fans without credit), I can see why someone would be turned away from a parody that's literally meant to be Pokémon with guns. I can totally understand all of that, personally I'd prefer if the game was MORE like Pokémon with turn based combat.

But if you're going to defend Pokémon because you think its perfectly innocent because of Wooloo or something like that, just be sure you're aware you're defending the World's Richest Franchise and their own attempts at AI and NFTs while calling out an indie company (a real one thats learning as they go, not the fake "We're totally indie" franchise that hasn't been indie since gen 3) for having a ceo that also seems interested in the same stuff. And remember, you don't become number 1 without hurting people somehow (we could dig up receipts about certain partners Pokémon has teamed up with, such as Tencent with Unite, but I'd rather not right now.)

Just saying. I don't think you're an irredeemable person for still liking Pikachu, cuz I do too believe it or not. I've been a life long fan and still have fun with the games despite the clear scummy business practices towards their paying customers. Just maybe extend that courtesy to the millions of players just trying to have fun in this awful, putrid, shithole planet that just keeps getting worse and worse with each passing day.

Plus... you know, think about it. Do you think Pokémon would ever get around to making a gunless Palworld? Probably not. Do you think Palworld would exist if The Pokémon Company and Nintendo were the slightest bit chill about Pokémon fan projects like SEGA is with Sonic? Also probably not. From what I've read, the devs just wanted to make a fun game that happens to mostly be ARK with Pokémon adjacent monsters. That's not really a bad thing, all things considered, and it seems like the worst they've done is reference official Pokémon when making their own models.

Palworld being successful is actually beneficial to Pokémon fans, as well. It'll never really truly compete, but it has outsold Legends Arceus in terms of units sold (not as much financially because Palworld was only $30 plus a sale recently, but still impressive), and it is enough that Game Freak is aware of its existence. Let Palworld light a fire under their ass, and maybe GF will actually finish their next game before releasing it for full price (and no, we're not bringing up the tired imaginary ball and chain game devs, game freak owns 1/3rd lf the franchise and can easily take methods to get more dev time, they just haven't because money). Just saying, at least the Paldevs were honest enough to sell it in early access for half the price.

#palworld

[goldenpinof]

curious about your perspective – what do you think is the primary reason for the current comeback, and for the large scale of it (daily videos, new heavily marketed merch, etc)? are they trying to make up some monetary loss? is it true revitalized passion? the influence of the new management? lead-up to a major project/announcement? i'm guessing there's an element of at least the first three, but interested in your opinion as a noted non-cynical cynic (compliment btw)

under the cut because that's a lot. and it's not even all of my thoughts, unfortunately.

no one is gonna read it. but if you are, i'm sorry in advance.

ahaha. about merch. did you notice how they just continue to promote the calendar and the catboy sweater even though the initial release and promo had a deadline aka till December 1st? this is a fishy marketing right there. and i would love to know: why they did what they did (i'd assume they printed more calendars than people ordered by Dec 1st, but that's not our problem as customers. we shouldn't have been put into a framework in the 1st place if there was a chance for this shit to go south. this theory goes against the "pre-order" with a start of shipping in 2-3 weeks); why their managers allowed it (from a legal perspective); and why dnp didn't say anything. anyways.

i do think that Dan is trying to compensate for wad losses. and i know that he was "joking" about not making money or making negative money on tour. but i saw ticket sales a day before each show (only public information, not the inside official data from venues), it's still on my blog. and the sales didn't look good. so, how much of it was a joke? and compensating by making content that we and they enjoy isn't a bad thing, btw! i also think that he feels guilty for leaving us and the dnp brand behind for so long without actually giving us anything in return. thus so many comments on this 5-year hiatus and potential future ones. blame youtube originals, i know. not really his fault, but his choice of (the lack of) communication is his fault. and again, i always come back to wad. something fucking clicked in his head when he saw not as many people as he hoped for (or expected), how dedicated were some of those who still supported him during wad, and also he realised that without stronger managers he was not gonna make it solo. and he dragged Phil along because they do everything together and only then it works the best, and also dnpg's return in full force needed new energy for the amount of sponsorships they decided to do (i think, it's mainly Phil's pushing, because he is pro-sponsorships, they just need to be more careful with it on dnpg because Dan (hopefully) has principles when it comes to this. which is amazing. you go, girl!)

i'm very suspicious of dnp's new management right now. so idk. i think, again, most of it comes from Phil, because Phil thrives on their gaming channel, and that's basically the only easy way to survive on youtube and make money right now (for him). i'm glad dnp separated dnpg from their solo careers at least on the management and content levels. it gives Phil the room to use dnpg as a brand to pitch and fund his ideas/projects if it's ever needed. and now, after we survived the hiatus, they can pause dnpg for a couple of months to focus on their solo projects without losing the majority of the audience because technically we would know the reason and also we grew a thicker skin.

i do think that Dan is using dnpg to later help himself with a stand-up special or tour or some sort of series (danisnotokay). i also think he will use it to promote wad dvd (which is good. i will be disappointed if he doesn't use dnpg. like, bitch, why are we even here then? those who went through wad with him, i mean). i wonder if Inter Talent (i'm separating their name intentionally at his point because they piss me off) was smart enough to announce Dan and Phil's signings 2 weeks after UTA announced Dan to just make us pay attention to Dan's solo career again. as a hint of something coming our way. you know what i mean? i wonder if it was intentional. like UTA made a huge announcement, Dan retweeted it and posted it on instagram stories. it was a big deal. meanwhile, dnpg began thriving again and our eyes were on Dan anyway, so of course we noticed that solo career was on the maps again. Inter Talent was basically silent as another representative of Dan (and Phil), despite having them on the website for at least a month. and now 2 weeks after UTA's announcement (which was on November 22, 2023) Inter Talent was like, "hello? do you remember we signed Dan? and also Phil, and their joint channel?" Dan said wad dvd is almost cooked. wouldn't it be genius to stir our interest up step by step? (a part of me still thinks that Inter Talent's social media managers are just slow as fuck though. also they don't even care to check facts about their clients. UTA didn't fuck the announcement up like that, btw. and i doubt Inter Talent realises how nosy dnp's audience is, and that we are very likely gonna notice and spread even this stupid announcement. maybe they are dumb and it's me who is a fucking genius planning steps to present wad dvd to the masses, ugh. when will Dan pay me, like for real.)

i'm surprised you don't think it's heavily connected to new projects. i would bet my kidney it does. Dan will fuck off the moment he needs to focus on danisnotokay or someone offers to sponsor another tour (which, please, someone do. i need to see him for professional reasons). the question is, fuck off for how long and if it's gonna be communicated thoroughly or not. i'm not saying he will leave for 6 months without giving us something in return to balance things out. no, no, no. i don't think he would dare. but 3-4 weeks, maybe 2 months? sure.

is it true revitalized passion? well. *nervous laughter* i'm gonna defend Phil like i'm a phillie, even tho i'm not. he wanted it just as much as we did. so i believe it's a true revitalized passion at least on his part. i hope he fights for it if it's necessary, i hope he asks us for help if needed. i hope he threatens Dan with an actual divorce and forever home if needed. like, bitch, if there's a chance to keep dnpg alive without Dan actually losing his will to live, we should use that chance. Dan's stubbornness and delulus are not the reason to kill the most fun and profitable thing they ever created aka dnp brand. let it exist, even if alongside solo projects, even if it's 2-3 videos a month. damn, even 1 video (i don't mean during pauses made specifically for the peaks of solo projects). i do think Dan enjoys the attention, money, and possibilities their returned audience can give him. he also enjoys working with Phil. he certainly does not enjoy promoting their videos. and he is lucky he has Phil for that. is it a true passion for the gaming channel and joint branding solemnly? i genuinely don't think so. now, this dnp brand puts Dan into a framework, unfortunately. and i understand his desire to grow as a "strong independent Dan", and i wish him the best. i will root for him no matter how much of a floppy-ding-dong it can potentially be. i want him to fulfill his dreams and have a team that will fight for his interests. and i hope to god, UTA and Inter Talent are the ones. don't fucking tempt me with your unprofessionalism. but do i think Dan's head and heart belong to dnpg or dnp brand? no. i'm happy that he is at least trying. a part of me doesn't even care about the reason. i'm curious, but in hindsight, it wouldn't matter or change anything.

other thoughts, because apparently i decided to vomit on a keyboard tonight:

i'm glad dnp took back a bit of control over the editing on dnpg. i hope they will try to edit more themselves when gamingmas is over. or they will teach their editors better. because man, we need to slow down with these cuts.

i do think that dnp brand will expand, and dnpg and merch aren't the only things we should expect. (twitch, podcast or liveshows, onlyfans or its equivalent, vlogging series not limited by ditl, and other things that i forgot). reaction videos are already a thing and it's very funny because it's what youtube wants, so Dan must feel amazing right now falling for it :)) it's good thought because it's fun and torture for all parties involved.

i think by these reaction videos they are trying to rewrite their internet history a little bit for those who are new. it's not gonna work with us but at least dnp can control the narrative in new people's heads (i wonder for how long though).

with new people, the phandom will become more generic and dnp will love that. it can actually help Dan with new projects i think. Phil as well, but we don't know shit about it right now.

i wonder if Dan returns to working with charities.

if they involve more phannies, not only artists, it's gonna be interesting.

in case i'm wrong, don't step on my neck, i don't know anything for a fact. half of it is alleged, the other half is wishful thinking <3

#answered #wad #wad dvd #inter talent #uta #dan and phil #ahahah suffer yall #dnpgames #dan and phil's merch

[earthnashes]

hey, sorry, but i was wondering how you started on your fitness journey? i'm in a similar spot that you were two years ago and i want so badly to make the progress you have. i keep trying to begin but stopping because i get too scared or nervous, it's so daunting. do you have any good resources like websites/videos/youtube channels/blogs/etc.? i would really appreciate it. you look awesome and your post was super inspiring.

No apologies needed! It is pretty daunting man because it's getting into it for the long run.

Before I finally stuck with it I started and stopped several times in the past as well. If I were to give short tips personally on how to get started based on how I did:

-Start with the most simple thing for you and focus on building a habit out of it. Whatever that is, do it even if you don't want to. For me, I started with a scheduled walk around a trackfield (one full loop around the track) twice a week.

-Take the time to really outline your goals. Make sure to include short term goals and not only long term ones! It helps to say "I'm gonna walk for 5 minutes" and building up to the goal of "I'm gonna walk for 60 minutes", for example. Additional: having something visual can help with tracking it.

-Take it slow, and keep it simple. You're in this for the longhaul. And it will be very slow, but trust the progress and focus on the present

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

As for resources, these are what I used (with some notes if it helps!)

Jeremy Either's Youtube Channel

Great source of information in regards to many things, particularly muscle building. I already had a base understanding of working out due to my sports background, but he's great for complete newbies and for anyone who needs a refresher. I still watch his stuff today but I don't rely on it nearly as much now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

Hybrid Calisthenics Youtube Channel

Fantastic channel for complete beginners and for people looking to get into the swing of things again, but at a slower rate. He focuses on being genuinely positive and encouraging finding ways that'll work specifically for you. That includes doing variations of exercises that may be too hard at first, like variations of the pushup, or pullup. Simple routines to get you started without destroying yourself. Very good channel, honestly.

Sean Nalewanyj Youtube Channel

He was the first fella I followed before I found Jeremy. His content is short, punctual, and easy to understand, so if you're looking for much quicker advice without the super detailed explanations his YT Shorts would be recommended. You'll likely have to do a little more research on your own to supplement the knowledge though. Like Jeremy I still watch his content.

Jeff Nippard Youtube Channel

His content is chocked full of research based shit and sometimes can be a tiiiiny bit much to follow, so not really something I'd recommend for beginning lifters. That said, his content in general is downright fascinating and if you're looking for in-depth analysis on the world of bodybuilding, powerlifting, and so on, he's my go-to.

Leanbeefpatty Youtube Channel

Her content is far more vlog-ish, but she gives solid advice while simultaneously just being fun to watch. I like how much more relaxed her stuff is as well, so if you're looking for something that isn't as potentially stressful I'd recommend her over anyone else listed.

Eugene Teo Youtube Channel

I've only just started watching him a couple of months ago but he's been a joy to listen to. His content is relatively chill but he gives indepth explanations without getting too science-y with them. He also promotes things other than fitness that'll help with your goals; stuff like mindful hobbies, healthy food-relation habits (for example: there's no such thing as a good or bad food), so on.

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

Other sources I've used to help educate myself the more I got into it include MyFitnessPal (I use it to count my calories and macros), Healthline, countless other youtubes I won't list just so I don't talk your ears off, and asking for tips from fellow gym goers who attend the same gym I do.

I hope these are of some help to you! And keep up the grind; take it one step at a time, and if you need any more advice you think I can help with I'm all ears. I'm rootin' for ya! :)

#weightlifting #powerlifting #ash talks #earthsong talks #training tips #workout tips

[writers-potion]

Writing Webnovels 101

There is one key difference between printed/ebooks and a webnovel: you need to adapt your writing for a highly distracted audience.

Unlike a traditional reading experience, people reading on the web have a gazillion other tabs, windows and notifications demanding their attention. So, here are some things to keep in mind when you’re writing for a digital platform.

Short, To-The-Point sentences

Keep your sentences short so that the reader doesn’t lose themselves in the middle.

Keep descriptions short and to the point while focusing on the action of the story.

Fast-paced

Each chapter must have significant action that contributes to plot progression.

Use well-placed cliffhangers that wouldn’t lose the reader in between chapters.

Trope-Led Story

The function of tropes is to provide a distracted reader with a ready-built framework to understand the story.

Using the right tropes is also important to attract your target audience since it tell up upfront about what kind of experience they’re going to have.

Emotion-Led Story

Deliver emotional highs and lows right off the bat, because big, intense emotion is what the readers are looking for.

Emotional information is easier to digest and retain than technical description.

Big emotions are easier to hook into and relate to.

Linear Storyline

Keep flashbacks, flashforwards, time skips to a minimum.

For a distracted reader, a straightforward timeline is a lot easier to understand and return to after a hiatus.

Focused Plot

Having multiple subplots weaving in and out of each other is probably not the best idea.

Keep delivering the emotional experience that the reader is looking for and provide only relevant information.

Technicals

Choosing the right platform

There are so many ways you can write online, from building your own website to writing short episodes on social media platforms.

You can use: novelfull.com, readlightnovel.me, Ltnovel.com, Wattpad, Webnovel, Wuxiaworld, etc.

Before you start posting on a platform, research into the kind of readers it has, what are the most popular genres, etc. Make sure you are pitching to the right audience.

Promoting Your Work

Many writers now promote themselves through newsletters, Instagram, YouTube, etc. but for someone just starting out, creating digital content on top of writing can be tough.

Join a webnovel community and get to know some of your fellow writers! The goal here is not to span other established works to links of your site. As time foes on, linking to one another and making recommendations would come naturally.

Set a Realistic Posting Schedule

Your posting schedule determines how often your readers get to interact with the story world and with one another. It’s how often life gets breathed into your story.

However, going for five days a week isn’t going to be sustainable, unless your story is already finished.

There is no magic number, so figure out a consistent, regular schedule that you can stick to. At least once a week is recommended.

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee! ☕

References:

https://creators.wattpad.com/writing-resources/write-your-story/what-is-a-webnovel-indepth-guide/

https://www.drewhayesnovels.com/blog/2014/1/25/shit-i-wish-id-known-before-starting-a-web-novel

#writer #writers #creative writing #writing #writing community #writers of tumblr #creative writers #writing inspiration #writeblr #writing tips #writers corner #writers community #poets and writers #writing advice #writing resources #writers on tumblr #writers and poets #helping writers #writing help #writing tips and tricks #how to write #writing life #let's write #resources for writers #references for writers

[cursed-man-prayers]

In my experience, Gaylors are often misunderstood as being solely concerned with Taylor's potential past relationships. Someone, swifitie or not, will see a post about VS fashion shows, Dianna's tattoo, or kissgate, and then assume that that's what being a gaylor is: making inferences based solely on photos, PR, and vibes. But there's so much more to it than that.

Being a gaylor is about appreciating Taylor Swift's lyricism, her ability to wrap the truth in layers of poeticism, the way she hides in plain sight. Being a gaylor has taught me so much about sapphic history. Because of Taylor, I've learned more about Emily Dickinson, Sappho, and queer literature in general. I've heard my experiences as a sapphic represented in songs like gold rush, illicit affairs, Call It What You Want, Out of the Woods, and in so many of her songs.

There's also the overt way Taylor has aligned herself with Pride and queer artists. From singing Delicate at every Pride event she's performed at, to choosing openers for tour who are known for being queer, Taylor has intentionally positioned herself as someone who cares about LGBTQ+ people and rights. She used the YNTCD music video to promote the Equality Act. She wore a bracelet with bi flag colors that said "proud." She said "gay pride...makes me, me." Regardless of how she identifies, it's clear that she doesn't mind people saying she is or might be queer. If she did, there would be more than vague post combating the rumors. She said Lavender Haze was about dodging "weird rumors," and those rumors were the ones fueled by heteronormativity and misogyny, not queer people seeing ourselves and our history represented in her music.

When I learned about gaylorism a couple of years ago, I thought "wow, this is a really interesting way to look at her music." Listening to Taylor Swift and hearing queerness isn't invasive speculation. It's the natural outcome of what Taylor herself writes, what she willingly puts out into the public to be listened to and dissected and pulled apart for the sake of finding meaning.

Taylor Swift has never said the words "I'm straight." Despite many opportunities, especially during the Lover Era, to say "as a straight woman, I support...(the Equality Act, LGBTQ rights, etc)," she never did. She has been vague, and she has been vague on purpose.

I've been feeling weird about being in this community the last few days. With the YouTube video that's been making the rounds (which, as I've said, is by a Youtuber whose videos I enjoy and recommend to people frequently. I'm literally subscribed to her Patreon), and with GlitterGate and stupid shit happening on Twitter, I've wondered if it's worth it to keep writing and talking about Taylor Swift Fruity(TM). But I listen to Taylor's music constantly, and I can't stop hearing the queerness. I can't stop forming thoughts about the way she writes and the narrative of her last several albums.

tl;dr: Aside from incriminating photos, interview comments, and what we've been told about Taylor, her lyrics are full of queer themes and symbolism and history. I can't listen to Taylor Swift without hearing how sapphic her lyrics are, and I shouldn't have to.

#gaylor #gaylor swift #glittergate #kissgate #lyric analysis #there's more to gaylor than one can learn from a casual google search

[olderthannetfic]

You might get a kick out of this article someone linked me to, to try and argue that BL is in fact fetishizing (because Yada Yada women consume it and produce it and all that)

https://www.youthoutright.org/articles/fetishization-of-the-queer-community

Article is a fairly short read. But I have to chuckle at it as "evidence" since it makes a fair amount of claims with 0 sources:

That young teenage women make up a majority of fandom (and that's whose consuming/producing BL)

Straight, white women get paid more to write gay romance novels (and that these novels often feature Adonis like males with 0% body fat and no body hair; play into gender/hetero norms)

Etc.

Honestly the....article, if I can even call it that, isn't cohesive. I do find myself agreeing with its first two paragraphs...and surprisingly only the first two. However, this article spends a lot of its time focusing on fetishization of Trans bodies and chasers who go after transfolks bodies (which I'm not too familiar with this so if anyone wants to speak up on this point...)

I'm very confused by how someone could read this and think "this proves my point!"

--

Sigh.

I don't even agree with the beginning. Trashy "girl-on-girl" isn't what's making men think women exist to serve them. Society is doing that. Porn is a reflection, not a cause.

Not to mention the fact that f/f-for-dudes is astronomically common compared to shitheads pestering lesbians in bars. The latter are too common because the correct amount is 0, but just based on the numbers, a lot of dudes are capable of consuming this porn without being confused about what's fiction and what's reality.

The mass quantities of f/f-for-dudes do make it hard to find f/f-for-ladies, but this article has taken the wrong message from that. The correct takeaway is that we need better labeling and search features that are driven by the nerdy desire to categorize and not by algorithms that want to sell you stuff.

As long as het romance novels or porno movies for straight guys or bestselling thrillers or whatever are popular, they're going to drown out the algorithmic results for more niche things one is interested in.

Libraries and AO3 don't have this problem. Amazon and Youtube do.

the world of “slash fiction” (fanfiction portraying a romantic and often sexual relationship between characters from a given source) began centering gay men

Wow, article writer. So you know nothing then.

it’s been claimed that straight, white women are paid more than gay men by publishers to write gay romances

I'm honestly embarrassed for this article writer. First, most of this burgeoning field is selfpub anyway. Second, many established writers in the romance field are women, and established names will probably have a shot at better pay than new people.

Third, anyone who injects "white" like this is a moron and a wanker. If we're talking about racism in the Romance field (and boy howdy is there a lot), white gay men are no better, and men's race is just as relevant as women's. Either we're talking about race or we're not.

As it stands, this author just comes across as a misogynist piece of shit.

The overwhelming majority of these romances portray relationships between white, cis, abled men with no fat or body hair.

I have bad news for them about cis gay men's media. (Well, okay, some of that has a lot of body hair and interminable descriptions of the smell of ball sweat and stinky armpits, but still...)

Men who fit the first archetype will take the position of “top” in the numerous, inaccurate, graphic-as-possible sex scenes that are central to these stories and also appear to be central to many readers’ enjoyment.

I see we're in the usual "I, a sex-repulsed person, speak for all of humanity" mode.

People like horny art. News at 11.

These are complex issues deeply rooted in society. It’s difficult to envision mitigations and solutions. However, somewhere to begin would certainly be promoting more positive, intersectional, realistic representations of queer people and queer relationships. A vital action that can further this goal is choosing to consume media with queer representation that was created by queer people whenever possible.

Honestly, my response to this ending is:

Fuck off, you entitled git.

This uninformed little whiner is equating all kinds of unequal things. Chasers are all over the place, but they aren't the ones writing fanfic or any other amateur, personal writing. We have no right to other people's hobby time. Sure, we can vote with our feet, and we should, but this article doesn't really sound like it's advocating that: it sounds like it's crying that other people have different taste from the writer. Boo, hoo, hoo, someone I don't like got attention.

It's the usual ignorant trash.

Embarrassing.

[snaillock]

i’m sorry but my mind has been rotted with steamer! rin, hiori, and nagi ideas recently

like imagine them collaborating and steaming shit like dbd with each other all the time

i can imagine hiori having the prettiest most aesthetically pleasing layout out of the three but when he gets mad and opens his mouth, oh baby does he get vileeeee. it’s hilarious to watch him switch from sweetly talking to his chat then cursing out some teammate he randomly matched all within a span of one minute.

i feel like rin would have the most generic layout from a free template he got off of google images. he’s pretty much what you would expect from an emotionally repressed 16 year old male streamer: the most vile yet weirdly childish insults you’ll ever hear in a span of five minutes while borderline violating tos and his fans constantly defending him because “he’s just a minor who doesn’t know better🥺” (oh he knows honey he knows…)

nagi wouldn’t even gaf. if we’re lucky he would maybe just maybe have his webcam in the left hand corner with absolutely nothing else (moistcritical ass layout) even then his face would just be his classic neutral :x all the damn time no matter what happens

on their own, i feel like hiori and nagi would just stick to typical fps games (with hiori leaning towards the gorier ones ofc. i mean he gotta release his parental frustrations somehow). meanwhile rin would honestly stream any type of horror from triple a games to a free indie rpgmaker game he found on some random kinda sketchy looking website. he would gain such a loyal niche audience from that

hiori would hire a really good editor to edit and upload his streams to his youtube channel. he would most likely gain a whole separate youtube audience from that. prob has some youtube exclusive stuff as well.

nagi would just upload the whole damn archived stream to youtube, that is if he actually remembered to save the vods and not permanently lose the stream. he doesn’t even care that the uploading takes forever he still can’t be bothered with cutting down the video. (thank god twitch has a feature for viewers to cut out their clips from a stream cause lord knows nagi wouldn’t have done it)

rin would actually edit the clips all by hand, mainly bc he could only trust himself to edit them the way he wants. he can only spend a little time editing tho since he has a pretty busy schedule irl

i can imagine hiori being the most popular one out of the three with how much effort he would put into stuff like self promotion, connecting with his audience, plus him just having an overall nice and likable personality, etc. (also the sight of him and his cute face raging would be pretty fucking funny for his audience to watch)

rin would be the second most popular since he does put plenty of work into making his content at least decent since this is something he does in his free time. plus his channel name would be on twitter trending every now and then because of some iffy ass take he said on stream

nagi would be the least watched out of all of them since despite being pretty damn good at games, he would be pretty boring to watch tbh. he wouldn’t put much time into the self promoting part of it either. that is until he meets reo. when reo finds out about his little streamer side gig, he would totally have him put more effort into it, even if it’s small things like actually announcing stream times since that’s all nagi is willing to do. he kinda becomes nagis de facto manager. before then he just piggybacked on rin’s and hioris clout whenever the trio collabs together

an: ok so i’m gonna stop this post here since i have so many more ideas i want to vomit out but i don’t want this post to be too long so part two coming out shortly.

#★ snail.writes ★ #i love these hc vomit posts i should do them more often #don’t mind me just projecting my secret dream of becoming a streamer onto these characters #blue lock #hiori yo #nagi seishiro #rin itoshi #blue lock headcanons #blue lock hcs #wrote this while watching nothing surprisingly

[most-annoying-sponsorship]

Any submitted propaganda under the cut

BetterHelp - 44

the ads are unilaterally either cheesy 'everyone needs help sometimes pardner' stuff or a therapist who works for betterhelp saying how good betterhelp is. notably was an uptick in ads AFTER it was revealed how bad betterhelp is for actual mental health and how it doesnt vet its therapists lol

It’s overpriced, they underpay their workers, they have fake 5-star reviews and they sell your info. So many big YouTubers still promote Betterhelp to this day when most this info came out in 2018-ish. Fuck Betterhelp, all my homies hate Betterhelp

I guess it’s more of a podcast sponsor in my experience but OH MY GOD it’s such a bad business, but more importantly for this poll I just hate hearing youtubers/podcasters put on a serious voice to talk about Mental Health and how they themselves have struggled with Burnout and blah blah it literally all sounds the same. It’s like a psa in the middle of your video.

not only is it annoying bc it’s everywhere but it also sucks ass & exploits people

not only annoying, but a harmful service as well!!

It's being sued or smth rn (class action I think?). The program has been sketchy af and exploiting people who are experiencing mental illness or trauma, falsely claiming they have a full scale psychiatric team when they don't, selling data, etc. All for profit. Every other sponsorship is annoying, sure. But I instantly lose a little bit of respect when I hear a YouTuber talk about the importance of mental healthcare and then point you to BetterHelp.

The motherfuckers at Betterhelp call it ""'therapy""" but it sells your data. Youtubers I like promote this bastard of a conpany without a care in the world. I don't know why it is legal, I don't know how they get away with it, and I'm going to rip Betterhelp molecule by molecule

Its a scam trying to get your data and they dont even follow HIPPA laws or vet their therapists and they've had so many scandals that I'm shocked they still get sponsors unironically

Doesn’t even work like they’ve had a ton of controversy and the Youtuber is always like “lemme get real with you guys for a second… ok… phew… I go to therapy” and it’s like OKAY WELL YOU SHOULD GIVE A SHIT THAT THE COMPANY SUCKS THEN 💀

Takes advantage of people needing access to mental health care, when in reality BetterHelp is a terrible company that treats therapists AND clients like shit. The FTC recently gave them a huge fine for selling client health data to for-profit advertising corporations like Facebook but they still deny wrongdoing and haven't stopped the shill campaign. At least when a meal kit service or w/e is poor-quality usually all it means is you wasted your money, but if you trust the wrong therapy service there is a lot more that can go horribly wrong. (Cerebral is even worse since it was essentially all the problems of BetterHelp mixed with handing out addictive controlled substances like candy, but I haven't seen it on Youtube as much)

This is the only sponsorship that has actively made me unsubscribe from anyone that advertises it. While others like raycon or squarespace are usually annoying. Betterhelp is actively harmful to both their patients and their therapists, sells personal health data of their users to ad companies and it isn't even cheaper than real therapy at this point like they claim to be. It makes me see red when I see another youtuber saying how "good" it is and how it helped them (which it honestly looks like a script at this point) and telling their usually young audience to sign in. And then they dare to ignore the thousands of comments telling them about how bad betterhelp actually is. Like, I thought we all knew about their shady practices. It has been common knowlege since 2018, why are you acting surprised when you get called out. But I guess they pay really well so I hope those 1000$ were worth it I guess. Sorry for the ramble.

I've never tried it so I can't know for sure, but by all accounts the app is shit, yet everyone talks about it as though it's the best thing ever

There are sooo many controversies with BetterHelp and youtubers stopped accepting (not medically trained professionals, highly unethical and unprofessional and rude etc) sponsorships with them until recently like they all just forgot how shitty it was and it makes me dislike the youtuber every time i see they accept one

A shitty company taking advantage of those struggling with mental health (overcharging, horrible therapists, sharing data with third parties etc.) and yet everyone is sponsored by them

It harms both the therapists and the patients using it and is particularly evil to do that during the current times

Fake therapy and unqualified folks

they literally prey on mentally ill people for their money. their therapists seem extremely unqualified. i have heard so many horror stories including therapists telling (non-religious) clients to pray their problems away, talking about their own problems to the client for the entire session, and sitting on the toilet mid appointment. i genuinely don't understand how otherwise respectable creators can take their sponsorships in good faith because i have ONLY HEARD BAD THINGS

Shit company that abuses their “patients” and takes their money, and youtubers REFUSE to listen to their audiences on this

Not only is it incredibly fucking common and annoying, but it preys on and is advertised to people with mental illness. It apparently isn't very helpful for this (it seems like therapists don't even have to be licensed) but still presents itself as therapy. People have also said it sells your data and isn't confidential at all

It's everywhere and I heard it's actually a little harmful sometimes.

THEY STEAL YOUR INFO??? YOUR DEPRESSION IS LITERALLY BEING MONETIZED FUCK THESE GUYS JUST DO A NORMAL SCAM LIKE ESTABLISHED TITLES INSTEAD OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SUICIDAL PEOPLE

It's a legitimately harmful product and it is /everywhere/

It's basically a scam and can cause actual harm!

Evil fucking service, straight up dangerous

Its not even real therapists

IT DOES NOT VET ITS THERAPISTS. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH, BETTERHELP DOES NOT VET ITS THERAPISTS. It also doesn't pay nearly enough.

it's a scam that preys on people trying to get help with their health

Literally sold user data from THERAPY SESSIONS

somehow it doesn't matter how many times there's articles about how better help abuses patients personal data, uses counselors who aren't licensed therapists, does conversion therapy on ppl who ask for lgbt sensitive counseling....ppl STILL take the money and i hate it

It's a scam and people (even some professional therapists have promoted it). "Despite its credible presentation, BetterHelp was caught selling data to Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest. The company recently settled for $7.8 million. The FTC confirmed that BetterHelp pushed people into handing over health informatio" quote is from this article which sums up the problem pretty well: https://www.themarysue.com/betterhelp-controversy-explained

It turns out they sell user data for advertising purposes which GOES AGAINST WHAT THERAPIST GROUPS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!!!

always feels really dystopian to get advertisement for scammy corporate mental health services... like what a sign of failure for society if ppl have to rely on such expensive and potentially unprofessional ways of getting the help they need. get that thang away from mee

therapy site with bad therapists on it

It's actually bad morally speaking

AWFUL SERVICE !!! every youtuber who still takes this sponsorship is cringe to me

Jim Beam "People Are Good For You" Ad - 1

I hate this ad. 1st of all, as an autistic person, being in a loud crowded bar would be a sensory nightmare for me. Also I don't like the taste of alcohol. So borboun is probably gross anyways. 2nd, I wouldn't want to go a bar because I would concerned about getting sick. That's because it's flu and cold season where I live, and Covid-19 is around. Lastly, I've seen this ad enough times now that it's annoying. So no Jim Bean, I will not be going a bar or buying your bourban (or anyone else's) anytime soon.

#polls #sponsorship smackdown #round 1

[hermithomebase]

wanna see the thing u almost posted yesterday (for comparison's sake)

here; it was abt the gc’s thing

everyone here and on twitter needs to be really serious with themselves and realize the Only reason this is a controversy is because it’s dream. and i mean that so genuinely.

so many artists DM their fans/group chats for promotion or for liking their tweets/rting to say thank you or whatever—you have artists like taylor or ariana or adele inviting them to their studios and houses for exclusive previews. even in my OWN EXPERIENCE i’ve had blackbear dm me to say thank you and love you because i was supporting his album rollout.. this is COMPLETELY STANDARD!

and even if we want to pretend dream is just a regular youtuber/streamer: he is not the only one who does this he is just the only one who gets shit for it. Ranboo, Skeppy, and BBH (who is Known for doing this btw) are well known for dming fans/gc’s just to crack jokes, clear things up, promote etc and that’s just off the top of my head.

sure, if you want to argue that because of allegations he shouldn’t do this you can—but does that not just feel like forcing him to profess guilt of things he’s claimed aren’t true by never doing normal shit again ?? clearly if he has no problem doing this publicly he isn’t worried about how it comes off, which tells me enough anyway. again, this point is up to you to decide your level of comfort.

everyone is free to feel put off by it or feel excluded because you weren’t part of it, but to get your panties all twisted up because he’s doing something everyone else already does is insane to me. <- which, is about half of “drontroversy” anyway.

#prompt.input

[philsmeatylegss]

Dans video yesterday just made me aware of the fact of how crazy it is that 4 years ago dnp went on one of the biggest youtuber world tours to date, like there were so many non-european/non-american locations. But this tour there is at least a handful of those places that neither of them are able to preform in again because homosexuality/promoting homosexuality is illegal there. Like thats wild.

On that note, we know that the orginal plan was to come out june 2018 (which didnt happen obvs) but like, they were fully out to themselves (phil has been since the beginning but you get my point) so just imagine what it would have been like for them to be preforming in singapore or russia etc and knowing their existence is illegal.

Yeah he said it quickly so it was funny but then you think about it and you’re like shit that’s fucking sad. For both dan and the people living in those places who want to see them. I remember I think in India (?) maybe russia (?) at an ii show they said something along the lines of doing stuff that this country wouldn’t like because there was recently an anti gay law or something? Idk someone knows what I’m talking about p

#asks

[dumbsack]

One last flex of my dislike for Echoes and probably my last "shit on Echoes" post until the idiotic scumbags that run the game do something else deplorable and greedy. Consider this my mega post about the game with some thoughts and reasoning put into it besides *incoherent screeching*.

Echoes of Mana sucks. We all know that. I'm shouting into the void at this point. The loading times are unacceptable, co-op is a joke, the incompetent devs couldn't figure out what to do WITH A BASIC FRIENDS LIST, pull rates are absolutely awful, there was little to no testing done, Bravers is the most shameless display of greed I've ever seen in any game ever, Gingham was fucking awful, gems were a good idea but poorly executed, and characters RARELY interacted in meaningful ways in crossovers. It was a bunch of horseshit all the way through. Characters would be advertised together, only to not show up together (Duran and Angela and Charlotte and Kevin are promoted a LOT together, but only show up together in social media posts and gems (ironically getting more likes on those posts than the story chapters do...), Amanda never interacts with Sumo, Keldy never says a word to Lekius, etc. While the Secret of Mana trio get to freely interact with each other, female protags never got to interact in meaningful ways...).

The quilt/tapestry theme was so forced. We only get to see one (1) stitched together world (DoM and LoM)... And it did nothing with the crossover. Cool. And I died internally every time the dispatches said "WE'RE WEAVING UP GOOD STUFF".

What the fuck was up with the gems for SD3? No DSK/Loki vs Duran gem? No Bil and Ben vs Hawkeye? No pornomags gem? No Grand Croix gem? A good chunk of the gems for SD3 are made up bullshit. Yet, whenever someone farts in Secret of Mana or Legend of Mana, there's a gem for that. Hmm.

Don't get me started on the banners, though. Good grief. Fire and Ice, the so-called 31st anniversary celebration, was absolutely terrible. Terrible boss, ho-hum story that did nothing with the characters... I could say that about pretty much every event, actually, except for maybe 3 of them, max. (Any event with Duran in it because he was allowed to be a character, and the Manor one with Fuji, Randi, Popoi, and Blainchet.) Also, the events text was straight up broken for like a day. Lovely.

As funny as the LoM and Toto crossover was, being shilled at so explicitly at the end was the biggest slap in the face. No, I don't want the creepy Riesz statue, and I don't want to subject myself to the LoM anime. I don't want to look at Shiloh's weird lumpy, ballsack abs ever again.

I know I can't be too mean about this, but the English version has so many typos. As an amateur fanfic writer, I get it. I can't tell you how many typos I've passed over by accident that pop had to point out to me in my shitty fics after I've posted them. ... But neither of us are getting paid for writing/editing fanfic. So... Yeah.

But, my biggest problem, which I cannot overstate...

I absolutely detest how Angela's character is represented in Echoes. It directly contradicts and violates her character in TOM to the point I don't think the writer of that chapter actually played the Dragon Lord arc... Or the game at all, only getting snippets of dialogue from YouTube videos or some shit. Everything about chapter 2 undermines her arc AND Duran's completely (honeycomb: "lol I just trained hard to get magic lol xdddd")

In the chapter, she is shown training (yes, she says she had training when your main asks how she got to Cascade Cavern) and effortlessly fighting alongside Quilt, Honeycomb, and Duffle WITHOUT MAGIC, and tooootally besties with...

Okay.

No.

I'm sorry, this is not the same character as the one depicted below. The Angela in ToM is clearly a girl out of her depth and not the bad boss bitch she is in Echoes.

It's very heavily implied that Angela is very sheltered, lazy, selfish, and has probably never left Altena, expressing only a very vague understanding of the lay of the land (she couldn't even name Alrant!) Early game Angela in TOM pretty much lucks into her victory in her first fight (the tutorial fight!) expressing disbelief she was even capable of doing such a thing. She then almost promptly passes out in the cold and is luckily rescued by some locals.

Once you get into the meat of the game, she's pretty eager to pass off the fighting ("I can leave the fighting to you, right?"), immediately wants to take a nap upon reaching Jadd, bitches about Molebear Moors ("I'm filing a complaint about this path!"). Overall, it seems like she fluked her way to Wendel, making her way there by sheer luck, not skill.

None of these "negative" traits are shown in Echoes. Without consequence, YOUNGER, PRE-MAGIC ANGELA, after a cringe-inducing speech about friendship or whatever, she jumps into the fight with the Crimson Wizard alongside your stupid group and comes out unscathed...

Which is what completely undermines Duran's arc. Duran, one of the strongest swordsmen in Valsena, got owned by the CRIMSON WIZARD and almost died (and many of his fellow soldiers/knights were killed that night, ones implied to be more experienced than he is!)

"oh, but sack," you say, "she didn't fight the Crimson Wizard alone! She had help from Quilt, Duffle, and Honeycomb!"

ah yes, three other undertrained kids. That makes it better.

No. It doesn't. Let me reiterate: trained Valsenan soldiers, said to be among the best in the world, died to CW. Pre-magic Angela should have gotten hurt, or faced some kind of consequence for trying to take down an opponent like that. But no, she doesn't. I can believe she and Duran can take down Full Metal Hugger. Sure, fine. Whatever. That's just a big, dumb crab, not a powerful wizard even late game Duran and Angela still express difficulty facing even after getting stronger, judging by their battle dialogue.

"But sack! It's just a dumb gacha story! Don't take it so seriously!"

I know! But boy. BOY. BOI. AAAA IT'S SO EXPLICITLY BAD AAAAAAAA-

"Hey sack! Angela slaps the boys shit in Jadd when they approach her bed! She must be strong!"

Those are slapstick powers. Duh.

Also, this is a nitpick, but I really hate the retcon with male mages being overly present in Altena. In ToM and SD3, a soldier explicitly states the Altenish army is comprised of all women, which implies male mages are pretty rare (José, CW (who actually isn't a wizard lol he had to borrow evil powers like a little bitch)). I can believe non-mages are discriminated against, that's fine. I can believe Angela would stand up for Framaus if he was being bullied. Honestly? I think that's great! Angela may be selfish and a jerk, but I can definitely see her standing up for him for being a non-mage.

But, former besties? No. You don't talk about a former bestie like, "ew I have nothing to do with that guy!" You would probably say, "we used to be friends, but then he became a huge dick." All Angela states on the matter to Duran is "it's complicated" and that "he used to be nice". Yeah. Also lmao, the irony Framaus finally starts calling her Angela only for her to loathe when he calls her that by the time ToM rolls around is amazing. Really makes you wonder if Angela bumped her head and got amnesia or something.

Oh, and I do not find Framaus endearing or sympathetic. He's a creep. A fucking CREEP.

Ah, I get it now. Angela is too naive to realize that. Okay, chapter's issues absolved! (Not.)

Oh, and don't get me started on Angela replacing Framaus with Victor, too. Makes her look like a fucking psycho. Did the Echoes writers forget Victor exists or what? He's the only Altenish character not present in Echoes.

Fuck.

Fuck this chapter. I hate it more than Heroes of Mana, and that was a whole game of stupid horseshit and nonsense.

Echoes sucks. Angela's contradictory representation in Echoes is merely a symptom of a poorly managed, poorly written, poorly coded game.

Also, who the fuck thought it was a good idea for Hawkeye to be the Mana swordsman? You're the worst. The literal worst. Fuck you the most.

#echoes of mana #bitching and moaning #hate this game #trials of mana #Angela

[goldenpinof]

I have to say, the smartest business decision dnp ever made was to not sell or outsorce their channels or content in anyway, maintaining sole rights and control over their content.

It was just announced that Anthony padilla has bought back smosh, and people have been discussing why smosh fell in the forst place etc and it all comes down to the fact that they sold it to a media outlet, who then went bankrupt because they didnt actually know shit about content creation.

And EXACTLY the same problem happened with the 'britcrew' back in the day and a lot of the most popular youtubers. They sold their channels or the rights etc to external management companies in the hope that they would help the channels grow and earn more money, but in the end it was just the opposite and most of those management companies have since tanked. The newer ones are better but the ones from the 2010s were always doomed.

But dnp never joined in on this and they have always been quite open about this. Infact thats why they were often so removed from the british youtuber scene. They obviously still have a team of people to help them with certain things and they aren't completely independent but they do maintain control and legal rights to everything they make and do. The most creative control we have seen them give anyone else was with BBC radio 1 and with dan and his tv show (and we know how that turned out). They even made their own merch company to avoid outsourcing (which yes irlmerch has many issues, but youve got to admit it worked out well for them for the most part)

And what that has meant is that, while they definitely aren't the top preforming youtubers anymore, they aren't doing badly either, and they have a much easier opportunity to make a comeback, especially if they start exploring other content avenues. Their success wasnt the highest out of anyone, but their decline has also been slow and steady. They genuinely managed to gain a stable career and income out of all of this which not a lot of people can say. I just think its interesting.

other then bbc i think dapgo also has to be mentioned espesially with recent comments from dnp :)) the moment they give away too much control it goes a bit sideways. even Dan's tour was too much of a shitshow due to miscommunication with promoters, managers and etc. like, remember Dan didn't have a right to do a pre-show in Belfast despite it being a part of the UK leg? and he found out about it right before the show. the whole Amsterdam thing. the added shows and cancelations of shows. speaking of giving away rights and delegating things.

tell me more about the britcrew selling their rights to companies, please. i don't think i know about it. Zoe had a lot going on and some of it was controversial and she didn't have a say in some stuff. but other then that i'm clueless? Joe and Caspar started their own company, and i don't think Joe was heavily involded in anything before.

#excuse my english #answered #youtube

[gogtopia]

Your thoughts on the yt-twitch divide are so fun to read!! I’m currently doin a bit more research into it but YouTube seems to be trying to expand its content bidirectionally which is rlly interesting—there was a conference a month or so ago I went to where Susan Wojcicki and her chief data scientist talked about the algorithm and the ways that they’re currently trying to promote rlly short-form content (like YT shorts), which is why I was so shocked to see that they ended up bringing Sykkuno over, because streamers are the exact opposite of that short-form, tiktok-esque content with hours-long broadcasting. I honestly am just so interested to see where YouTube is going with this shift, bc then they’re playing a long game with every single type of audience, yk? You have the people who are looking for short, quick bursts of stimulation that they’re trying to push in YouTube shorts, the vast range (though on average abt 5-10 minutes long) of the shit they’re known for, and then streamers who are known to put out streams that are supposed to hook people for extended periods of time.

Personally I think that’s their issue, and why it seems so corporate—it literally is! They’re trying to spread themselves sooo thin covering every base of media consumers on the planet while lagging behind in maintaining what they already have. Recently, they announced a feature similar to raids (which I like but have some critiques of) for streamers, so it seems they’re putting in some technical effort to make YT streams a bit more bearable to Twitch viewers. But idk I don’t know how the hell that their model is feasible rn because it seems like a lot of people from a lot of different groups are unsatisfied with YouTube bc they can’t seem to balance their technical capability limits with the business side of things, whereas a platform like twitch or tiktok have one singular audience they need to tailor their platform to. I’d love to hear ur thoughts though they’re very well-written and I feel like PepoG when I read them lmfao

i rmr seeing you post abt going to that conference and i was like omg that’s so cool! i’m definitely not as informed on all this as you since most of what i know is just from streamers and chatting with my friends about it but i do think it’s super interesting. i knew that they were trying to push shorts and to me it kind of makes sense. beyond the fact that most social media apps will try to capitalize on trends for others, youtube is a video content platform. in many ways both shorts and streaming can be considered an extension of that. i do think it’s slightly funny that youtube is pushing shorts so hard and kind of flopping after they for the past several years have been pushing creators to make longer content via monetization and the algorithm so that most videos are at least ten minutes (i remember watching some mike’s mic video/podcast ep where he went into how the algorithm worked a year or so ago but i can’t for the life of me find it rn) even though youtube was in many way founded on shorter videos. so it’s almost like they’re trying to move backwards to capitalize on that short form content after they, to some extent, pushed that content away from their platform.

i definitely think they’re spreading themselves too thin with it. it’s better to do one thing well than everything poorly but i think many companies value profit over user experience and youtube definitely falls into that category. they need separate interfaces for shorts and streaming to be more successful if they want them to be a core part of their site, but obviously that takes time and resources to code/design/etc. i do think they have a shot at becoming a successful livestream platform, especially because twitch isn’t exactly a perfect platform to create for. i mean, ludwig and sykkuno are two creators with huge audiences immersed in that streaming culture. but i think it comes down to them listening to those streamers and their audiences. they need to listen more to their users otherwise these projects are going to fall flat, like i feel like YT shorts has been.

#alyssa i always love reading what you have to say youre so smart #alyssa tag #answered #sandsofdteam #long post

[more-than-a-princess]

@yukikorogashi asked: [ mint ]  when did you start your blog? what made you start it?

Colourful Interview (Munday Meme) - Accepting!

In the most simplistic explanation, starting this blog was a combination of the following things:

I was roughly a year and a half into my current job and I really, really needed a creative outlet. To put it blankly, my job can be a stressful downer quite often and many of my hobbies aren't really things I participate in every day (exercise isn't a hobby, it's a necessity for me).

I knew I didn't want to write a fanfic series. I wanted to go back into collaborative writing, but mostly I didn't want to juggle handling both an AO3 account and a blog to support/promote the account. I could do it, but honestly, it felt too much like work and when I inevitably lost interest in whatever fic series I was writing, I was certain I'd probably piss some people off for not finishing things (which...I did end up doing. Sorry about that! My unfinished fics will stay buried).

Group RPs, after several failed attempts for about 5-6 years or so on this site, were a no-go. I wasn't about to depend on (unreliable) mods to ensure I had a place and people to write with.

I'd just finished my first part-watch, part-playthrough of DR2 after watching the first game's anime years back. I'd forgotten about DR until mid-2018 or so, where it popped up either on tumblr or youtube. The characters looked more interesting to me than the DR1 cast (Though Byakuya and Celestia are still dear to me). I watched/played, I enjoyed, I immediately was amused that there was a European royal character with an interest in anime, horror movies, serial killers, and cults. A+ interests with A+ personality, just mildly annoyed at the time she was underutilized and written poorly. But rich people problems? One of my favorite things, if not favorite thing, to write.

After a convention in mid-2019, I wanted to keep fandom going in my life outside of cons and cosplay. I was at a point where I was torn between writing Haru from Persona 5 and Sonia, but Sonia won out as 1. There was no way I could figure out how to play P5 the game and not just watch P5 the anime. I'm shit at video games. I did not grow up with them and 9 times out of 10, I will choose to read a book or watch TV/a movie over playing a video game. Just my preference. 2. I liked the overall plot and message of DR but, again, the execution was poorly done (not the executions, but the story and character development). 3. I'd spent nearly 20 years, off and on, writing not-so-nice characters for the most part and wanted a change. You know the sort of badass, fighting, tough female characters or the sassy know-it-all or the flirty, clever temptress type of characters? Yeah. I wrote them for a long, long time. 4. I knew I could do a lot with Sonia, her European royal background, and her interests, hobbies, struggles, strengths, etc.

Okay, maybe that wasn't simple after all, but it was a lot of factors that fell into place that made this type of blog and this muse the ideal writing outlet for me.

#more-than-a-princess answered #more-than-a-princess musings #(Colourful Interview meme) #yukikorogashi #(Thank you for the ask!) #(One day I will not write a novel as a reply to an ask) #(But today is not this day)