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briannajohnson1512 · 1 year

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How do you prevent mental health problems?

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood and aging.

Why is mental health important?

Mental health is important because it can help you to:

Cope with the stresses of life

Be physically healthy

Have good relationships

Make meaningful contributions to your community

Work productively

Realize your full potential

How can I improve my mental health?

There are many different things you can do to improve your mental health, including:

Staying positive. It's important to try to have a positive outlook; some ways to do that include

Finding balance between positive and negative emotions. Staying positive doesn't mean that you never feel negative emotions, such as sadness or anger. You need to feel them so that you can move through difficult situations. They can help you to respond to a problem. But you don't want those emotions to take over. For example, it's not helpful to keep thinking about bad things that happened in the past or worry too much about the future.

Trying to hold on to the positive emotions when you have them

Taking a break from negative information. Know when to stop watching or reading the news. Use social media to reach out for support and feel connected to others but be careful. Don't fall for rumors, get into arguments, or negatively compare your life to others.

Practicing gratitude, which means being thankful for the good things in your life. It's helpful to do this every day, either by thinking about what you are grateful for or writing it down in a journal. These can be big things, such as the support you have from loved ones, or little things, such as enjoying a nice meal. It's important to allow yourself a moment to enjoy that you had the positive experience. Practicing gratitude can help you to see your life differently. For example, when you are stressed, you may not notice that there are also moments when you have some positive emotions. Gratitude can help you to recognize them.

Taking care of your physical health, since your physical and mental health are connected. Some ways to take care of your physical health include

Being physically active. Exercise can reduce feelings of stress and depression and improve your mood.

Getting enough sleep. Sleep affects your mood. If you don't get a good sleep, you may become more easily annoyed and angry. Over the long term, a lack of quality sleep can make you more likely to become depressed. So it's important to make sure that you have a regular sleep schedule and get enough quality sleep every night.

Healthy eating. Good nutrition will help you feel better physically but could also improve your mood and decrease anxiety and stress. Also, not having enough of certain nutrients may contribute to some mental illnesses. For example, there may be a link between low levels of vitamin B12 and depression. Eating a well-balanced diet can help you to get enough of the nutrients you need.

Connecting with others. Humans are social creatures, and it's important to have strong, healthy relationships with others. Having good social support may help protect you against the harms of stress. It is also good to have different types of connections. Besides connecting with family and friends, you could find ways to get involved with your community or neighborhood. For example, you could volunteer for a local organization or join a group that is focused on a hobby you enjoy.

Developing a sense of meaning and purpose in life. This could be through your job, volunteering, learning new skills, or exploring your spirituality.

Developing coping skills, which are methods you use to deal with stressful situations. They may help you face a problem, take action, be flexible, and not easily give up in solving it.

Meditation, which is a mind and body practice where you learn to focus your attention and awareness. There are many types, including mindfulness meditation and transcendental meditation. Meditation usually involves.

A quiet location with as few distractions as possible.

A specific, comfortable posture. This could be sitting, lying down, walking, or another position.

A focus of attention, such as a specially chosen word or set of words, an object, or your breathing

An open attitude, where you try to let distractions come and go naturally without judging them

Relaxation techniques are practices you do to produce your body's natural relaxation response. This slows down your breathing, lowers your blood pressure, and reduces muscle tension and stress. Types of relaxation techniques include

Progressive relaxation, where you tighten and relax different muscle groups, sometimes while using mental imagery or breathing exercises

Guided imagery, where you learn to focus on positive images in your mind, to help you feel more relaxed and focused

Biofeedback, where you use electronic devices to learn to control certain body functions, such as breathing, heart rate, and muscle tension

Self-hypnosis, where the goal is to get yourself into a relaxed, trance-like state when you hear a certain suggestion or see a specific cue

Deep breathing exercises, which involve focusing on taking slow, deep, even breaths

Are you performing up to your potential?

This is a question I have posed to athletes from college field houses to major league lockerooms. The common answer to that question is “No.” So, I ask them, what are they doing to do about it?

Explore

90% MENTAL

Most athletes are hesitant to look inside the mind as a way to improve performance. It’s really easy to work harder in the weight room. It feels good. The benefits are tangible. It’s really easy to work on mechanics or to look at video. Those activities are needed but they also put more emphasis on the body than the mind….. Athletes need to realize, when it comes to performance, there is a mind/body connection.

What are you going to do about it?

To know more about Mental Skills Coaching visit:

https://bobtewksbury.com/services/

#MentalSkills #Coaching #MentalTraining

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chainofclovers · 3 years

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Ted Lasso 2x9 thoughts

It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Coach Beard; he’s one of my favorite characters on the show, and he’s so well-written and well-acted that somehow I tend to be both perfectly satisfied with the details we see and truly curious to understand more about the way he thinks, what’s really happening re: his professional and personal devotion to Ted, where he comes from and where he’s going. I don’t need to know his name beyond the name he wants to be called, but I want to know why we don’t have any other names for him. And I don’t need him to be a bigger focal point of every episode, but I very much needed this episode’s world-exploding reminder that every single character on this show has a rich inner life, full of joys and troubles.

“Beard After Hours” is like a movie, but one that scatters its climaxes and puts off its resolutions...because it’s not a movie. It’s episode nine of a twelve-episode season of TV. When the episode ended, I felt this almost frantic “But he needed to break up with Jane for good before the end of the episode!” feeling. I was so pulled in by the idea of being able to tell an entire story in one night, of going on an odyssey alongside a complicated hero, that watching Beard and Jane find each other in that club felt as intense as the fact that we don’t know if Ted responded to Rebecca’s voicemail and we don’t know what’s going to happen with Rebecca and Sam and we don’t know who isn’t getting married and who is having a funeral in 2x10 (I mean, I have my strong suspicions, but still!) and we don’t know if Richmond will be promoted back to the Premier League. And on and on. I didn’t mind feeling desperate for the story to resolve even though I understood after thinking about it for ten seconds that of course it couldn’t resolve yet. Or ever. Or yet.

I’m a big fan of the TL episode recaps/reviews Linda Holmes writes for NPR, and I have to quote something from this week’s directly because it so perfectly explains my feelings:

The power of the scene where Beard dances in the club isn't that it's a beautiful romantic climax. It's that it's an explanation of why he cannot seem to extricate himself from this bad relationship. What makes the worst relationships so dangerous is that they have elements that feel good that are very hard to get elsewhere. Beard knows that; he tells it to God. What's concerning isn't that Jane makes the world seem more interesting; what's concerning is she's the only thing that does. That doesn't take away from the joy of the dancing; it just tells you that even happiness is complicated.

I love Holmes’ perspective here so much, because it articulates something I was struggling to figure out: how it can feel so legitimate, like such a (temporary but nonetheless powerful) relief, for Beard to find Jane in that club and to have this moment of euphoria as his night nears an end. How it is possible to experience that relief on behalf of a character while fervently wishing it could end differently, because it’s so clear from the abusive text messages and the toxic calls and the manipulative interactions that Jane is terrible to him and they’re terrible for each other. But Beard knows this. He knows it when he hugs Higgins in the parking lot after Higgins is honest with him in a way Ted and Rebecca and Keeley have not learned how to be, and he knows it when part of his prayer includes the clear articulation that Jane isn’t the cure for what “ails me.” He’s inching closer to greater self-knowledge just as Ted is.

And the two big resolutions that really, really needed to happen did. I didn’t know I needed Paul, Baz, and Jeremy to get to wrap up their own night out on the pitch at Nelson Road, but I did. It brought actual tears to my eyes. And the other resolution was Beard showing up with the other coaches’ coffees for their meeting to watch the game film. As interesting as it would have been to see what Ted would have done if Beard hadn’t shown up, I’m so, so glad that he did. He’s got a messed-up face and some truly epic pants on, but otherwise this is just Beard showing up for work, showing up for his friends. It was incredible to realize that Beard and Ted haven’t been exaggerating when they’ve referred to his sex-and-drug proclivities in the past. The night documented in 2x9 might have been particularly scary and violent and euphoric and awful and meaningful, but this type of all-night adventure isn’t a foreign concept for this guy. In all the other episodes of this show, when we see Beard we’re seeing someone who might have been out all night, who might have spent the hours the sun was down desperately pushing himself closer to whatever edges he could find.

I don’t really want to touch upon all the allusions in this episode. They are abundant, they are well-documented, and also I haven’t even seen the movie After Hours. I enjoyed this episode for its allusive qualities and I enjoyed this episode for what it was and I feel like I have to be at peace with the fact that I’m never going to pick up on every single reference on this show and that is okay.

So, yeah, if this entry on my tumblr dot com blog seems remarkably devoid of references and allusions, it’s not because I’m not into it but because I find it too overwhelming to actually write about.

Very into the Misplaced and Discovered box at the Crown and Anchor. (That’s what Mae wrote on the Lost and Found box at the pub, right? Whatever it is, it’s so funny.)

Beard hallucinating Thierry Henry and Gary Lineker was truly upsetting and a great indicator not only of how broken things are between the Richmond coaching staff right now but also how deep Beard’s self-loathing might go. If you’d asked me before Thursday if I thought Beard loathed himself, I would say no. That deepening of knowledge alone makes 2x9 worth it.

James Tartt and his friends in the alley. Such a nightmare. I go back and forth on how much of the night was real, and part of me has decided all of it is, short of the images of Henry and Lineker. (And even that is real to the extent that it was a way of articulating what was in Beard’s head.) But watching Beard in physical danger brought on by the same abuser who had him so upset in the first place. It was a lot.

I’m so excited that Paul and Jeremy and Baz got some spotlight this episode. It was so wonderful to see them out of the pub. I love that they ended up telling the Oxford snots who they really were. They got to see Beard going to bat for them and smoothing over the situation socially, and that actually made it more possible for them to end up being truthful about themselves. Because they have nothing to be ashamed of, and they deserved the magic of that night. (And for it to end on Nelson Road. Every feeling. Oof.)

I feel like I barely have anything to say about the trouser-mending lady or the many places Beard goes or his key-dropping or the nightmarish feeling of wanting to be home and being unable to be home. It all happened and we all watched it and again, it was a lot. But I do feel incredibly moved and fascinated by the fact that Beard very obviously still hasn’t been home when he brings in the coffee. He’s had to sleep at the club for Jane- and key-related reasons in the past, and this time it’s not that he’s slept there but it still feels like a kind of homecoming he was robbed of for the entire night. Ted and Roy and Nate are there. He’s gotten their coffee orders correct. Ted is growing and evolving (he wants to learn from what’s happened, he’s insisting upon it even when the others resist) but he’s done a really perfect (almost romantic in its loveliness) thing by presumably spending his evening following a breakdown of his own speeding up the game film to 10x speed and adding Benny Hill. Ted is not OK and Beard is not OK and Nate is not OK and Roy is pretty OK but could very easily be not OK because he’s just joined a coaching staff with a whole lot of not OK. But they all showed up.

I am very into the realism of the lights being off in the club other than the coaches’ office (@talldecafcappuccino pointed this out!), and the way we’re seeing their desks from a different angle because this episode is unfocused on Ted. It really added to the mindset of being hungover and exhausted and unable to go home or even to know exactly what home should be; even this warm, familiar place feels off even as it’s a relief to be back there.

I am excited to return to our regularly scheduled programming with the full cast of characters, but I really adored this episode for what it taught us about Beard and what it illuminated about the humor, pain, and complexity of each person who inhabits this universe. Beard may not be loud about his long-standing beliefs or about the things he’s learned, but there’s a lot happening in there and I appreciated getting to spend 43 minutes with him and (in the case of the ticket he scrawls on a piece of paper so the pub guys can get into Nelson Road) the moments he sets in motion.

#ted lasso #ted lasso s2 spoilers #ted lasso 2x9 #meta by me #a lesbian watches ted lasso #coach beard

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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: May 15th Part 2

And here’s the next part of the long answer set of the day!

When will OL: N&F take place? Beginnings and Always took place during summer breaks, will now and forever take place during a fall break or will the characters be going to school at the time of the events we play through?

It takes place over all of the fall season, so school will be happening in OL2. Some events do take place in school, though many times events only start after school is already out for the day, haha.

Hey!! I have kind of a weird question?? I’m sorry if it’s been answered before and I just haven’t seen it but is OL 2 taking place during the same years as OL 1? I’m just curious, thank you for such amazing games!!!

It’s a similar time frame, but not 100% exactly same.

Do you have any idea when the demo for now and forever will be available?

Hopefully this fall! But that’s not a guarantee.

Okay the crime show in Step 2: Growing up. Long blonde hair, police station, crime series? Was it The Closer? Because I’m the same age as MC and Cove and my mom was constantly watching that when I was 13. 😂

Haha, yeah! The Closer and, to a lesser degree, Medium were the kind of shows I was referencing there. My mom also used to watch those back in the day.

Hey um this might be an odd question but if the setting of OL: N&F is fall/autumn, what country or city will it take because my mind tells me it is either Poland or Canada. Also I can't wait for the game I am hyped

It’s set in the USA again. We’d like to be able to have cameos and that’s easiest to do if the OL games take place in the same country.

Is it possible for the PC of OL to have non-seriously dated other people in the in between years even if they’ve had a consistent crush on Cove?

You can causally date Baxter in Step 3 if you get his DLC and then ultimately choose Cove in Step 4. If you mean off-screen people, it doesn’t really come up, but you can certainly headcanon that. The game never says Cove is the only partner you’ve ever had.

Is there going to be a Kickstarter for Now and Forever as well? For like voiced names and stuff again? Didn’t find B&A until after it was released and I’d really love the opportunity to hear my name in the game 🥺

Yeah, we are gonna have a Kickstarter with getting a voiced name as a reward! Though, it will be more expensive than it was for OL1. I feel bad to raise the price but we realized too late the first time around that it was being super undersold for the amount of work it took, aha.

Do you know how much the remaining DLC for OL will cost? (Step 4, Derek, Baxter)

Step 4: Free

Wedding DLC: $2.99USD

Derek DLC: $4.99USD

Baxter DLC: $4.99USD

Has an artist for the new position been picked yet?! I'm super excited for the new game!

We did fill that spot. Thank you so much for taking the time to apply!

hmmm what would it take to get each of the XOXO jerk squad to feel the need to hug you?

They’d have to first like you a fair amount, otherwise the most you’d get is maybe a pat on the shoulder. If they were attached, they might hug you if you broke down crying or if you gave them super good news.

Unless it’s Shiloh, of course. If you want a hug you only have to ask!

May i ask how the Derek DLC will work? I believe that there aren’t any memories in step 4 and doesnt derek’s dlc take place during that step? So will the dlc add memories? Thank you!

Derek’s DLC will add five Moments to Step 2 (a new page will appear on that screen if you get the DLC). Then in Step 4 you’ll have to choose between playing the default epilogue or going through the Derek romance story.

Is the pc version on itch,io different from the steam version? Like an offline one or something?

Steam has achievements, but that’s about it. Both can be played offline, if you prefer.

I've been wondering this for awhile, what determines if cove winds up with a ponytail in step 3? I've done multiple runs with different MCs with varying hairstyles. Or does it have to do with a particular moment in step 2?

I’m afraid I can’t say exact choices that determine things. But generally it’s preference based options in the Step before that decide those things.

Any Floret Bond updates?

No, the artist had to leave the project and it’s been on-hold. I’m not sure if I want to try working just with what we have or replacing it all entirely. The design is a bit too specific for us to easily find someone who could mimic it. Hopefully we’ll work things out later, though.

In step 3 is Cove's plan always to stay in sunset bird?

Yeah. He is never ready at 18-years-old to make a big life change.

I love your content! If it's alright to ask, you answered in a previous ask about how Jeremy was too particular with what he likes his types to be romanceable with just any MC and it's sort of got me wondering.. What /are/ his types and/or preferences and such? Sorry if it's a lot!

Jeremy likes stubborn jerks and will not date someone who’s sweet or even generally a decent person, haha.

uh, excuse me if you said this somewhere before, but how will step 4 be actually? Will it he like an actual step and have moments and dlc and all? Or will it be more like a long epilogue of some sort?

Will the step 4, the wedding and extra routes dlcs be paid too? Im just confused, sorry if im asking too much

Step 4 is only an epilogue, so it’s just a long series of scenes one after the other rather than a collection of Moments you can choose from.

The Step 4 epilogue is free, the wedding DLC, Derek DLC, and Baxter DLC cost money.

i’m not sure how much of the wedding dlc you have planned already, or if this would be to spoilery, but what kind of wedding traditions will be included? i keep thinking about how flustered cove would get over a garter toss & was wondering if we’d see a scene like that haha. obviously no worries if it’s not included, i’ll enjoy literally anything cove related

I don’t know for sure yet, haha. Right now we’re focused on the parts before the big day. We’ll see how many scene alterations we can include for the wedding itself later on.

Hello! Firstly, thank you for creating such an amazing game like OL, and I couldn’t be more excited for OL2! Out of curiosity, are you looking for any writers to come on for OL2 or are you all pretty much set in that department? Just thought I’d shoot my shot haha but I’m still excited regardless ^^!

We will be hiring writers for OL2 later this year! Thank you for the interest.

Will we be blessed with a spin-off Yandere Cove, like XOXO Blood Droplets?

Sadly, no. It’s a shame but there’s not enough time to keep making OL1 bonus/spin-off content.

How is Q pronounced?

I’m afraid Q’s full name hasn’t been publicly announced yet so I can’t answer here (Q and T are the first letters of the names for the new LIs in Our Life: Now & Forever).

Question; is the steam version getting a Mac update? I purchased the dlc there thinking it had Mac support without realizing it and just wondered if I’d need to refund it to purchase on itch.io 😭

I’m really sorry, you will need to get a refund from Steam. We do hope to have it there for Steam eventually, but have no idea of when it’ll happen. Apple requires special notarization to be an officially accepted app for their devices. We don’t have that. Steam requires having that, Itch will let you release it as an non-notarized third party app. That’s why Itch is the only place that has the Mac version right now.

would you mind posting outfit sheets for Cove in every step? it would make things a lot easier for us artists. it would save a lot of time spent looking for references

I think we did do the earlier steps when they were finished way back in 2019 (this game took a long time to make, aha), but we can probably repost them sometime!

In our life n&f, will we be able to get into qprs/will there be more options in regards to having deep platonic relationships with the love interests? Because as an aroace individual, it would be great if there could also be emphasis on platonic love so that it's more aspec inclusive.

It’s a little hard to say at this point. There may not be things like a wedding DLC for OL2 and so the relationship for platonic and romantic feelings might not go as far as it did in the first game. We’ll kind of have to see how much we can do based on timeframe/budget constraints that will only be set near the end of the year. But we will be keeping things like that in mind at least.

hi! i really really like your game and im absolutely in love with it! i cant wait to try your other games like xoxo droplet and future OL NF :))

during the step 3 erands moment i got curious, which fudge flavor is his favorite? it seems like he likes all of them, but which 4 do you think he would like best?

also i noticed that in some playthroughs cove would let me give him a piggy back ride, and in some he wouldn't, how come?

how does your choices affect cove's interests or looks? i replayed the game without changing any choices but i got cove to look different, is it just random?

thank you!

Cove’s favorite flavors are ones with nuts and that are fruity! But he appreciates them all. Whether or not you can give him a piggyback ride depends on if your MC is fit/large enough to hold a muscular 6-foot-tall beach boy, haha.

Cove’s appearance does depend on choices and it’s generally tied to choices that are preference based rather than emotion/action based, such as which key chain you pick in Step 1.

Is it possible for cove to reject MC's proposal at the end of step 3?

Nope. He’ll always accept.

hi! i was wondering how heavily the side characters will be featured in the our life wedding dlc? obviously it'll be cove & mc focused, but i was thinking it'd be sweet if we could take lizzie dress / suit shopping or dance with cliff at the wedding or something.

The side characters are there about as often as they are in normal events. So, it’s clearly focused on Cove but he’s not the only person you have any meaningful moments with.

When will responses be sent out to applicants?

I’m afraid we don’t send responses out to all applications, only ones we’re interested in offering the position to. Not everyone likes rejection emails and the amount of applications is too high to contact them all to say we’re not hiring them. We post updates on the job page when a position has news. Right now we’ve filled every role that was open.

Is there also going to be the option to keep your relationships with the love interests platonic in Our Life: Now and Forever? That's something I really appreciate in Our Life: Beginnings and Always

Yeah! OL will never force you to end up in a romantic relationship with someone.

I was wondering, in the Step 3 Happiness moment, what are the different fishes Cove can compare MC to? I got "you'd be a paradise fish, because being with you is paradise," but my friend got "you'd be an angelfish." Are there more variations?

He says paradise fish if you’re a couple, angelfish if he’s just crushing, and then a royal dottyback/queenfish/emperor tetra (based on your gender) if he likes the MC platonicly.

Hello! So, in one of the Step 3 DLCs, Cove's arm was gone. I think it was to show him putting his arm behind his back. But if that wasn't the case, did it get yeeted?

Thanks for letting us know. That was an error we tried to fix a little while back. When did you make the save file you were playing? If it was older that might be why it happened. Or maybe the error wasn’t fully fixed after all.

Asking for your opinion, but do you think Cove would at all be into ABBA? Because all I could imagine during the car trip in step 3 was him and the MC belting to Mamma Mia.

Haha, yeah, there’d definitely be some ABBA songs he was into.

So throughout the game, Cove can develop different interests depending on the player’s choices; does this mean that he can have different careers in Step 4? Or his is line of work in adulthood never mentioned at all?

He can have different career paths in Step 4!

Hi!! I'm so so sorry if this has been asked before but I just acquired knowledge about the so famous nsfw dlc for OL and nearly chocked on my bubblegum 💀💀💀 So, my real inquiry is if that specific moment will have any kind of impact at some point of the fourth step OR if it will just be treated as a side-story-ish “what if” scenario.Also, is there any chance there'll be something similar for Step 4? Haha jk,,, unless 😳Questions apart let me thank you profoundly for making the best visual novel I've ever played 😭 Really really looking forward the epilogue and OL2 💕 Have a nice day

It’s just a bonus side story that’s fully separate from the main game.

It would be nice to have one for Step 4 too, but I sadly don’t see us having time to actually do it. I don’t know, if people are still asking for more OL1 content several months from now it might be doable and worth doing.

I'd just like to ask, when is Baxter's birthday :0 -- I'm really curious esp with their zodiac signs so ;w;

I don’t know, haha. Maybe I’ll come up with one someday.

Please help!! I bought the Step 3 DLC but I still have no idea how to get to where you can propose to Cove - any tips?

How do I get the option to propose to Cove at the end of the game?

You can click HERE for a discussion on that.

I love that Miranda and Terry are getting together! I'm curious if you have canon sexualities for them? Also just wanted to say how much I love OL and how much joy it brings me everytime I play it <3

Terry likes ladies and Miranda likes dudes!

ngl Step 4 Terry's design reads like y'all see trans guys as their assigned gender more than you see them as men to me (a trans guy)... like maybe if he isn't heavily dysphoric, I could see it, but everything you've said about him doesn't line up with that. Even then, immediate warning bells go off in my head looking at him. I wouldn't have touched the game if I saw him ahead of time.

I’m sorry you aren’t comfortable with the way the design looks. The situation with Terry is that he’s now open about who he is, but the body he was born with is still physically the same. He only came out recently as an adult and hasn’t gone through any treatments/procedures yet (his chest is flatter because he wears a binder). However, even though his body hasn’t transitioned at the point Step 4 happens, no one treats him as anything other than the guy he is. Having a trans character who’s identity is supported/respected from the start is what we’re going for in this case. But what we’re doing with Terry isn’t the only trans content we’ve ever had/ever will have in the future.

how would baxter react to bae pyoun and vice versa? and can you please detailly explain both love interests personalities from our life 2: now and forever? i was just curious, sorry for dumb question!!

I imagine it’d be pretty opposite experiences, haha. Bae would initially think Baxter is pushy and thoughtless, but would quickly realize, oh, he’s instead a soft, considerate boy. Very cute. Baxter would first be struck with the impression that Bae is charming and gentlemanly, but then would realize that, no, he’s a sarcastic asshole. And I’m afraid we can’t reveal the personalities for the next game yet.

Sorry if you've already answered this, but I have a question about the patreon exclusive moment you're working on. I was wondering if it's mainly going to be CGs or if it's mostly character sprites + backgrounds with some CGs.

Either way, thank you for doing the Lord's work and not only making Cove, but making this bonus moment as well 😌😌😌

It’s mostly sprites/backgrounds with two CGs!

—– —– —– —–

Thank you again for the interesting questions everyone :D

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

#our life #Our Life Beginnings & Always #Our Life: Now & Forever #xoxo droplets #ask #gb patch #gb patch games

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illusory-torrent · 3 years

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Why I prefer the Genshin Impact fandom to the RWBY fandom.

I'll start off by saying what many of us are thinking. It's sad that the ships are nearly the only thing the RWBY fandom talks about because the plot leaves so many in a state of dissatisfaction. I've seen so many RWBY fans and non-fans alike say, "Oh, I don't care about the plot, I'm only watching for [insert ship here]" or "I'm going to drop the show if [insert ship here] doesn't happen". For those who doubt me, please believe me, it's a thing.

Now, when I say that the RWBY fandom only really cares for shipping, you might ask, "Is that not what every fandom does though?"

Well... yes! You're right. However, I think the RWBY fandom takes it to the next level.

First off, the theory-making side of the RWBY fandom has completely died. I remember there being videos theorizing if Yang was part-dragon Faunus or Ruby being a fox Faunus. These days, the fandom's theories boil down to, "What's up with the void that Team RWBY fell into?" due to V8's ending, but back during V5-V7, there were hardly any theories being posted. Most people just don't care anymore.

Second off, Miles and Kerry struggle with writing characters outside of pairs. Not just romantic pairs, but pairs in general. Most characters only have interacts with their team partners, their love interests, their familial relationships, and... that's it. Blake is a prime example of this. Her best interactions are with Yang (her team partner), Sun (her former love interest), Ilia (another former love interest), and Adam (her ex-boyfriend). Her worst interactions are with Ruby (her team's leader, whom she hardly interacts with) and pretty much everyone else. Even her interactions with Weiss are few and far between. Another example would be Penny. Prior to Volume 3, Penny's best interactions were with Ruby. Penny hardly interacted with anyone else in a meaningful way. She dies and Ruby's tearful reaction is focused on. Why? Because she's one of the few characters Penny actually had a relationship with! Penny comes back in Volume 7, and she still only really interacts with Ruby. Her only new relationship that's developed is with Winter... and we find out why. It's because when Penny is killed by Jaune, her maiden powers are transferred to Winter, the rightful owner.

Miles and Kerry being unable to write outside of pairs is why we only have each of our characters only interact with certain other characters. Before Jaune helped kill Penny, did he ever even have a real conversation with her? We'll never know! Has Blake even talked to Jaune before? No idea! Did Yang even care that Pyrrha died? Probably, but we viewers literally never see the two interact prior to Pyrrha's untimely demise.

This type of writing (whether intentionally or unintentionally done) promotes shipping culture. Characters interact primarily with their love interests (who may or may not also be their team partners). This is why RWBY's fandom is so focused on shipping. Hell, even Blake's VA tweeted at Clover's VA with a joke regarding this.

Clover's VA: Has anybody heard of this thing, “shipping?”

Blake's VA: Welcome to RWBY.

[Photo for anyone who needs proof, in case these Tweets are deleted in the future.]

Blake's VA even once had to make a post saying, "Y’all, you know I love my Bees, but not everything is Bee related. Some is just RWBY hype in general. Calm yo’self.". The fact she even had to clarify that not everything she posts about RWBY is related to a ship is astounding. Imagine having to tell your audience that not everything you post is related to a fictional pairing.

The RWBY cast even had an segment on The Ship-It Show where, you guessed it, they talked about their favorite and least favorite ships. Their tagline even was that "Shipping is a creative expression, so don't limit your creativity!", which went over with the fandom about as well as one would expect.

Finally, Miles Luna recently posted a Cameo video where he stated, "Just remember: shipping is fun and pretend, and it’s just supposed to be a good time. Don’t be one of those people that attack other shippers and get real mean and toxic. We’re all just here having fun with wonderful make believe characters and make believe worlds, and I think that is a beautiful activity, as long as you’re doing it responsibly and kindly."

So as you can see, shipping is a big part of the RWBY community. I'd venture to say that shipping is the most important part of the RWBY community. And that's fine! Shipping in itself isn't a bad thing. It's only when it gets completely out of hand where it becomes a problem. And I feel it is becoming a problem in the RWBY community. Rooster Teeth, if you need your show-writers to remind the fandom that shipping is supposed to be fun, you have a problem.

Well, how does Genshin Impact avoid that problem? The fandom itself is large and the game is quite popular, so how does it handle not becoming a complete shitfest shipfest?

For starters, Mihoyo doesn't confirm any ships at all. This is for profit reasons, the game is a gacha game designed for players to spend money on their "waifus" and "husbandos". Characters have outfit customization for this exact purpose. Mihoyo benefits from keeping characters canonically single. This is why, while people think soon-to-be-released characters like Ayaka and Tohma are dating, many people also believe these same characters to be single.

Second off, VAs are unable to give their opinions on certain ships and on lore. For example, the VA for Lumine, the main female protagonist, confirmed that Lumine was 15, before apologizing and deleting her comments. The VA for Childe signed some Childe x Lumine artwork to sell, but blatantly stated that he only really shipped Childe with Childe. The VAs avoid discussing unconfirmed ships/lore and, in this way, Mihoyo avoids controversy.

Finally, Genshin Impact only recently came out. This means that the theorizing part of the fandom is still alive and well. There's plenty to theorize about since there's so much us players don't know about the story. Lore tidbits are celebrated by lore junkies, folks who want to theorize on the characters' backstories or on the protagonist's journey to find their twin sibling are more than welcome to do so.

So while the Genshin Impact community engages in tons of shipping, none of the ships are more canon than any other. A Zhongli x Childe shipper might argue that their ship is canon because Zhongli gifted Childe some chopsticks, but a Zhongli x Ningguang shipper could easily argue back that Ninguang is a reincarnation of Zhongli's former friend/partner Guizhong. And of course, a non-shipper could look at both of these arguments and believe them both to be false.

I think this allows shipping to remain a fun and lighthearted activity in the Genshin Impact fandom. You can ship what you'd like, or you can just enjoy the plot and lore like a normal gamer.

So where am I going with this? Well, my thoughts are that no matter what the fandom, there will always be shipping. There's always gonna be some degenerates (like myself) who see two cute characters and want them to get together. However, it's up to the creators themselves to decide where to go with ships or to even entertain them at all. Mihoyo, in my opinion, handles the Genshin Impact fandom's shipping craze much more successfully than Rooster Teeth handles the RWBY fandom.

So what are your thoughts? If you're in both fandoms, which fandom do you prefer and why? Let me know!

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chooseyouovereveryone · 3 years

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Brittana Analysis Part 1: Musical Choices (Main Songs)

So anyone who knows me will know I love Brittana a crazy amount, and I spend way too much time breaking down every tiny detail about them. I’ve written a fair few analyses about them on Reddit which people seem to enjoy, and the lovely @hopefulobjectmiracle suggested I posted them on here for people to read. I’ll no doubt add more as time goes on, but going to post up what I have for now. If anyone has any requests for analysis, my ask box is always open because I love doing these :) Happy reading! & congrats for making it through my essays.

Part 1 covers a music analysis of all their main songs and the meaning behind them. Part 2 will cover their smaller parts in group songs etc.

Me Against The Music

This one is less a lyrical analysis, because I don't think the song explicitly relates so much, more a contextual one. The Me Against The Music scene is a shared fantasy that Brittany and Santana have while under anaesthesia. What's telling is that the fantasy they have is an exact replica of the original music video between Madonna and Britney Spears, which is well known for it's heavy undertones of a same-sex relationship. The plot shows Britney chasing Madonna, with Madonna becoming increasingly more susceptible as the video goes on, until right at the end when Britney catches her and goes to kiss Madonna, who then disappears. It's a cat and mouse chase, a fight for power. With Brittany playing Britney, and Santana Madonna, this fantasy represents to me the way that Brittany is chasing Santana trying to break down her walls, and she gets close but just as she does so, Santana pulls back. In the original video Madonna disappears into thin air when Britney tries to kiss her, in the Glee version Santana is switched out for Britney, but the symbolism is the same and foreshadows the Brittana arc that we get in S2. Brittany always gets close to having Santana, but then Santana pulls away and at times she loses her. So for me, the significance in this is 1) the fact they both have a same-sex fantasy about each other and 2) how Brittany's subconscious is filled with the idea of feeling like she is chasing Santana but that every time she gets close, Santana is ripped away.

Landslide

This was a song chosen by Santana to tell Brittany how she feels about her. It may not be the most "obvious love song" choice to everyone but that works for two reasons. The first being that Santana was scared. This was a big move for her, so she certainly wasn't going to go all out and sing an obvious love song. She wanted something with subtlety, something with meaning for her and Brittany rather than for the whole Glee Club to pick up on. The second being that Santana "has the perfect song" instantaneously. From the way she doesn't need to think about it, it's clear that Landslide is already a song she associates with Brittany, and it's probably something she laid alone in her room listening to. Now she's ready to share that. It was a song that had meaning for them, but I do think lyrically it makes sense also. For me it's about Santana realising life is passing her by and that she needs to just be herself. Time makes you bolder is one of the most poignant statements in the song. The whole bit about "building my life around you" could be a double meaning. The first being she's built her life around this friendship she has with Brittany and she's afraid to tap into the relationship dynamic because doing so would inevitably alter the platonic side of things. The second being that she's built her life around this idea that she's straight and she's "normal" but she's now realising as time goes by she needs to be true to herself. I tend to think it's the latter, and that the meaning is around Santana realising she needs to let go now and just be true to herself and to Brittany before she wastes any more time. It's ironic that the next scene shows Brittany choosing Artie, which shows that Santana was already too late and the time had already passed her by. (thankfully that all worked out tho)

Songbird

In contrast to Landslide, Songbird is a very obvious love song. The song explicitly says "I love you" and you can tell by Santana's delivery how much she genuinely means that. Since this is a private performance for only Brittany, Santana is able to choose a song that overtly expresses her feelings. She doesn't have to mask it with subtlety because of the Glee Club, like she did with Landslide. While Landslide was about Santana to giving into her feelings and accepting a change within her, Songbird was the next step from that in freely expressing her love to Brittany. Santana says this in her own words before singing it. Some key lyrics beside the obvious "I love you's" that stick out are "for you, there'll be no more crying" which could relate to all the backwards and forwards Santana has done over the years (telling Britt she loves her, taking it back etc.) and times she possibly made Brittany cry, as well as the fact she has probably spent many years crying over this herself and wishing these feelings could go away, but now she's putting a stop to all of that. Following on from that "I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright, I know it's right" relates to Santana giving into all of those feelings that she's spent years pushing down about the love she has for Brittany being wrong, and really taking hold of her own self acceptance. "To you, I'll give the world. To you, I'll never be cold" is also very fitting for Brittana because it's well noted in the fandom how soft Santana is for Brittany, and how she's the one person she's not cold around. Lastly "I wish you all the love in the world, but most of all I wish it from myself" could relate to Artie in that she wants Brittany to be happy but mostly, she wants to be the one that gets to love her. I think we can all agree the lyrics, the meaning, the performance itself, the delivery from Naya were all *chefs kiss* in this song.

Cherish/Cherish

The song that Santana pays the God Squad to sing for Brittany. We don't actually see Santana choosing the song, but I think it's more likely that Santana picked it since she was paying for it, rather than the God Squad randomly picking one. If it was that kind of scenario where they picked for her, I feel Quinn would have picked the song, on the basis that it was meaningful for Brittany and Santana's relationship. I also imagine this is a song that Santana listened to back in the dark days when she was too afraid to be with Brittany in the way she desired. The lyrics talk a lot about wishing in the past tense. "you don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you, you don't know how many times I've wished that I could hold you" etc. These are likely all the kind of thoughts that Santana had back in the past, and there are also a lot of references to hidden love and hidden feelings within the song.

If I Can't Have You

Okay so Santana might say that this song was about her love for fame, but I'm sorry, I don't believe her. I'm not discounting her wanting fame, but there's no way at least some of that song wasn't aimed at Brittany, just by the way she kept turning to her and gesturing at her. She was pretty much transfixed on her throughout the majority of the performance. But Brittana (Santana in particular) are generally very private with their relationship and in their declarations, so my theory? It was predominantly for Brittany but Santana got embarrassed around all the focus on them, so she gave the excuse about fame and told Brittany later who it was really for. No deeper analysis needed. If that song was Brittany, the lyrics apply to them easily, as they could with most relationships.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

This one is simple. It's all in the lyrics. Mr Schue sets the assignment not only as a tribute to Whitney, but for the New Directions to express and explore what's going on with them. For Brittany, she just wants to dance with somebody who loves her, that person obviously being Santana. It's highlighted in the performance and how she pulls everyone up before Santana, and finally gets to Santana for the "with somebody who loves me" line, then at the end where she says Santana is her favourite to dance with. It could be that dancing and being happy with Santana is really her only concern at the moment, or it could be deeper than that. It could be that she is deflecting her deeper issues (the fact she is failing which she'd surely know by now) and as a result only wants to focus on dancing with Santana. The two loves in her life (the third being LT) meshed together and combined.

Mine

I did a whole deep analysis on the meaning behind this, because unlike the other songs this really doesn't fit contextually at all. It's a love song based around staying and holding on, and Santana chooses to sing this right before breaking up with Brittany. I never really understood that song choice, until I looked deeper into it. You can read that here if anyone wants to read it in more detail. If you don't want to read that though, in short, I think that Santana chose that song because when she made that choice to break up with Brittany, I think she can almost picture the future ahead of them and how eventually they are going to make it, they are going to be together, but right now she needs to break up with Brittany so that they actually get that happy ending that she can see. And that fits the whole last verse of the song where she's like "we're gonna make it now, I can see it now" etc, which otherwise doesn't make sense contextually when you're about to break up with someone. It's similar to what happens in the original video for Mine, where Taylor meets the love of her life in a cafe and she "sees" the whole future ahead of them (arguments included) as soon as they meet.

Make No Mistake (She's Mine)

Pretty self explanatory with this one because it's all in the lyrics (and the amazing delivery from Naya). She still loves Brittany and in her eyes Brittany belongs with her. It kind of links back to what I just said about Mine, in that I don't think Santana truly expected Brittany to move on. She told her she could because essentially she had to say that, but did she actually think Brittany would move on? I don't think so. I think she always thought breaking up with Brittany was needed to cement their future and that they'd end up better because of it, but then Sam put a spanner in the works which sent her straight back to Lima to fight for Brittany and stake her claim. Of course saying someone can move on and seeing it are two very different things. I really wish they would have kept the parallel version of that with Brittany/Santana/Elaine and that they kept Dancing On My Own in.

Valerie

This one is definitely more contextual than lyrical. Santana picked this number because it was meaningful to Brittany. It was the first number she choreographed, and so Santana learning Brittany's part of that routine and dancing it with Mike, was a way for her to spark something in Brittany that she was currently lacking and reignite her love for dance to remind her of herself. Clearly she chose to do a dance duet because it's Brittany, but it's poignant that she picked the first song that Brittany choreographed, and it was obviously meaningful to Santana too as her first solo. Although more contextual, the lyrics do carry meaning too. "Stop making a fool out of me, why don't you come on over Valerie" could refer to Santana wanting Brittany to get up and dance with her, while "I miss your ginger hair, and the way you like to dress" could relate to A) Santana missing Brittany in general and B) Santana missing the old care-free Brittany who loved to dance and wasn't consumed by MIT and math equations.

Hand In My Pocket/I Feel The Earth Move

Obviously this song was chosen for mash up purposes in line with artists they had to stick to, but I do think the song choice (chosen by Santana) were relevant to her proposal. The lyric "one hand in my pocket" is indicative of her hiding a ring. I really liked how Santana kept getting down on one knee mid performance (I feel like she was doing this teasingly to foreshadow what was to come rather than she was gonna propose mid song since clearly she had a big speech planned- but I love how every time she did it Brittany would get down as well ) and then all the further foreshadowing with the dragging of the chair that she wanted Brittany to sit in. It's not the most "romantic" of duets, but Brittany and Santana are very private so I feel like it made more sense for them to do a fun duet when it was in front of everyone. I do adore the bit where they're singing the "ooh baby when I see your face" etc. and they only have eyes for each other and look so utterly and adorably in love and happy. That bit really has my heart.

Wishin' and Hoping'

A song about Santana from Brittany's perspective which makes a welcome change. The performance itself is obviously a dream sequence when Brittany is thinking about heaven (because being with Santana makes her feel like she's in heaven and angel wings remind her of her ), but I think the lyrics fit well with the whole narrative we see in S6 of Brittany doing a heavy bulk of the wedding planning and trying to make sure everything is perfect for Santana. This is something we later see as causing her stress in the wedding episode, when she is so nervous and obsessed with it being perfect that she becomes a bit of a bridezilla obsessed with superstition. There were also cut lines from Brittany about everything having to be perfect, and though they weren't canon in the end, it's clearly the angle they were going with. This song links to that because it's all about how ultimately just being yourself and showing the person you love that you care is enough, and it almost foreshadows the conversation that Santana later has with Brittany where she says they don't need any of the traditions or the perfect planning because they create their own luck. They love each other, and that's enough. The performance has Brittany singing about wishing and hoping and planning, but it's Blaine, Artie and Sam who sing "all you gotta do is hold her and kiss her and love her and show her that you care", so it's almost as if they are assuring Brittany. Also pointing out the part of the performance where they sing about planning, and Brittany points at her stomach, one of many S6 clues put in there to hint that Brittana will have a family together in the future ❤️

Our Day Will Come

It's another straight forward one that doesn't really take much analysis. It symbolises how the day has finally come for them to get married and start the rest of their lives together, after such a long, hard journey getting there. One of the key lyrics is "no one can tell me that I'm too young to know", which indicates that someone has tried to tell them they're too young to get married. We know that Kurt said this to them, but since Kurt is singing in this duet with them and he apologised, it may be someone else. Santana's dad maybe? Either way, whoever said it to them, they show in this duet that they are certain about their commitment and the future ahead of them. The song also has the lyrics "I love you so, and you love me" which is repetitive of what Santana said to Brittany earlier in the day before they got married when she saw Brittany in her wedding dress. It symbolises what the ending of their whole arc is about. That after a whole lot of doubt, pain and a long road to get there, they are both finally happy together and content in the love they have in each other, and very proud of that love. Santana in particular I feel always doubted Brittany's love for her. Even when Brittany said yes to marrying her, Santana couldn't believe it. On their wedding day, all those doubts are finally gone, and it's actually Brittany who's doing the worrying. The worrying that Brittany does takes us right back to the beginning of Brittana, when Brittany had her own doubts and fears in the relationship because Santana just seemed like something out of reach for her, that she'd never fully get to have. It's like she has a moment of panic, that something could mess this up the way it used to get messed up all those years ago. Our Day Will Come symbolises the end of all of those doubts, and the start of their new lives together.

#brittana #brittany and santana #brittanalysis #brittana analysis #glee analysis #santana and brittany #santana lopez #brittany pierce #glee santana #glee brittana #glee brittany #brittanypierce #santanalopez #brittany s. pierce #glee songs #brittana songs

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l-sincline · 3 years

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I talk about a big plot hole of SBI not being canon and also why it would work as canon and ALSO what problem saying SBI isn’t canon actually reveals under the cut because I’m very torn.

(Also I’m very much so rambling from a writers perspective, there’s definitely a lot more at play that I’m glossing over lol)

Why is it at all meaningful that Phil was the one who stabbed Wilbur?

By taking away the father son dynamic (even if it is just found family) you lose a lot of the emotion in wilburs death, because now it’s just some guy who came on and went “Oop- time to die!” You lose a lot of the trauma behind Wilbur’s death, being killed by your own father and some man who just felt like he was doing a moral good are two very different things. Though part of Ghostbur’s trauma is certainly the result of his own actions, parts can also be attributed to those around him, especially being killed by his own father in a pro-sbi world.

And the argument that SBI itself creates plot holes doesn’t really work here either- a big part of the dream smp is that no one really has a fleshed out backstory. Even with Ranboo, all we know is that he seems to have some form of memory loss. A lot of time in the dream smp is spent focused on the present, which is great, the story doesn’t really need to delve into the past.

When it does, it’s just tidbits of information that don’t really have their own story behind them, such as everyone’s favorite fish mom, sally (or the lesser favorite, Samsung smart fridge.) We don’t NEED to see Sally or get a ton of detail about Sally and her relationship with Wilbur, we just know that she’s Fundy’s mom. And that’s really all we need to know, should need for more information about Sally arise, it can easily be inserted because she wasn’t given some big elaborate backstory.

In its best case scenario, it would’ve been the same with SBI. By just saying “yeah they’re all related” (once again, in a found family situation or not) you can leave ends open to interpretation until you need to fill them in. Obviously at some point the disconnect between the family would need to be addressed, but that isn’t really as hard as it may seem. We already see Phil and Techno having a clear fondness for each other, Tommy clearly cares about Phil’s opinion and him in general (even if he isn’t as open about it) Wilbur generally seems to only hang around and enjoy their company as well as trying to bring them all back together (there’s also that mention from earlier of the importance that Phil is the one who killed Wilbur) and deny it as he may, Techno came to help Tommy (and Wilbur) out of their pogtopia situation at the drop of a hat, and also continues to shield Tommy despite knowing it could get him in big trouble.

As it stands, the family dynamic is clearly a little broken, but there are many, many events in the plot that explain this. Tommy has a pretty deep distrust of techno- duh, he watched this man (brother?) who he thought was on his side murder his best friend infront of an audience at their enemy’s command. (I won’t even get into the withers, that’s a whole other can of worms that goes way deeper than SBI) Phil clearly prefers techno- well unfortunately he did kill one of his sons and the other one got exiled, he is kind of stuck with techno only, though I must also mention that every parent has a favorite child (if you think this is untrue: congratulations, you’re the favorite) Overall, there are a lot of events in the plot that would lead to the family being a bit dysfunctional right now, Wilbur seems to be the one trying his hardest to get them back together. We can assume this is because he lost his memories and doesn’t really understand why they aren’t all of good terms.

At the end of the day, as much as I love techno (blood for the blood god, E, whatever other nonsense you want me to spout) it does actually seem that he’s the only one actively pushing against the dynamic. (Tommy seems to just... exist within it. Not really for or against. Unless he states otherwise in the future in which case hoo boy) Phil seems pretty content with his role as ‘dad’ never really actively denying it while also seeming to refer to the rest of the boys as kids. (I mean, really, the checking in on Techno and then seeing Tommy there and saying that it’s been awhile and he’s glad they’re together and talking?) Wilbur has also confirmed things in reference to the SBI family (Technos older than 2 minutes... right?)

The denouncing SBI issue ends up less as “guess the family isn’t canon?” And showcases more that there’s some communication not happening behind the scenes. I mean truly, if they all decide “yeah that isn’t canon” then there really isn’t much you can do, but the box Technos opened is that there’s communication not happening- and that’s what’s causing plotholes. Storytelling through roleplay can be extremely riveting (trust me, I role played for many years) but there are certain things that need to be agreed upon between all members, sbi being a big one right now. While Phil and Wilbur are off dropping bits of SBI lore, Technos busy saying it’s not real. Looks like Sleepy Bois Inc might need to have a little chat? Who really knows. Hope it sorts out like the Tommy finding technos house thing did lmao.

#dream smp #mcyt #sleepy bois inc #technoblade #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #ph1lza #aghgdhsdhggshdg #had to get this one out of my brain #none of my friends would give a shit about this #so you all get to see it instead #I did not proofread this #if i got something wrong I got something wrong #let me lie in my own hole in peace

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wakraya · 5 years

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Meat or Candy: HS EpilogueS

So how about that Prologue to the Epilogue, huh? (How is a Prologue to an Epilogue even a thing, god dammit)

We were kind of anticipating this thanks to V, but honestly until Viz Media posted it (early), I was even slightly doubtful that it was going to actually happen, and yet here we are! We live in a post-Epilogue world! And what a fucking ride this beginning was, so let me talk a little bit about it. And, obviously, for those who haven’t read the Epilogue yet...

v Homestuck Epilogue Spoiler Warning! v

Let’s address something to begin with, and that is a lot of people’s conception of the Epilogue having a more somber tone than the rest of the story. Rose and Roxy are drifting apart! Rose’s getting migraines because of her Seer Powers and she’s starting to medicate, although she says it’s all okay and she’s not going to have a substance abuse relapse! John is depressed and despondent!

So let me first say that- Yeah. Yeah the Epilogue has started on quite the worryingly sad note. But just like the little quips and jokes, and Calliope’s cheery attitude, there’s still that Homestuck touch beneath. The thing, though, is that where Homestuck was always more teen-aimed, the Epilogues are aiming to be a bit more adult. And adult doesn’t mean that it’s got to be Grimdark and Depressing. But they’re all adults with deep traumas and problems. And that’s something that has to be addressed, and which the story is putting importance on addressing in the first place. We also have the fact this is just the start, and what comes after could quite definitely vary in tone.

Additionally, we’ve changed the format to written Fiction, entirely. We’ve got our usual dialog, but there’s prose. Narrative. Hussie always described some events, but the lack of any visuals makes it need to go into more detail- And more importantly, we’re getting direct glimpses into John’s Mental State. We’re seeing his internal monologue, something we’ve barely even seen before in Homestuck, and that in itself adds quite the layer of darkness.

But it is not all bad. Nor good. Those are mortal terms, remember?

Yeah so, the Epilogue is just laying the Meta stuff quite thick isn’t it? Rose has been having visions. Other Timelines. Relevant events. She knows that Canon is incomplete. Plot holes. Unfinished business- She knows that John has to travel back in Time and complete the Masterpiece. She is saddened she won’t see John again.

They’re in the victory state. The game is Won, but now, the very foundation of their existence is literally in jeopardy. The Fandom is discontent, the comic grows older, fades from collective consciousness. Rose knows that John has to close these loops to give the comic a coherent ending, so that the events of Earth C can be meaningful, but doing so... Will likely require John’s sacrifice.

And Roxy, on the other hand... Doesn’t want him to go. Obviously she’s concerned about his well-being. She and Callie offer him a Choice. He can go and fulfill this destiny, or stay and ignore it. In any other story, you’d be certain the Hero would leave in a mission of self-sacrifice- But this. This isn’t just any story.

Callie offers him a more symbolic choice. Meat, or Candy? One, substantial, filling, heavy, but tough to swallow. The other, light, fluffy, but not as filling, and perhaps enough to make one a bit sick. This is an obvious metaphor about John’s Choice, we don’t even need to examine Hussie’s prior talk about Meat and Candy. It’s quite heavy-handed, really!

Meat, John goes back and makes the ending legitimate, making it so that the events of Earth-C are canon, at the cost of him not returning, and the ensuing drama that may lead to.

Candy, John stays behind, we get a happy ending, they start to get over their issues together and get back together into one big group of happy friends- But as a result, the story loses legitimacy, allowing Plot Holes to remain unfilled, it becomes comparable to Fanfiction.

That’s what worries Rose and Roxy. Rose has learned over the years to follow along the Alpha. Incoherent, confusing things make her lose it, Jasprose’s appearance made her have a little breakdown. She attaches herself to this validity of canon, this sense that what they’re doing had some semblance of canon legitimacy, but to do so will mean she will never see John again. On the other hand, Roxy is sick of all the bullshit they’ve gone through and she wants to be happy and have fun- But she also knows it’s like, a big cosmic duty, and is confronted with the possibility John will just do it.

And then there’s Calliope. Smiling, giddy, seemingly not worried about what’s going to happen even when John may be about to die. And it makes sense! After all, Calliope is us.

She’s just happy the Epilogue is finally here. If John goes back in time, her favorite story will have a closed end and become coherent. If John doesn’t go back in time, she’ll get romantic fluff and relationship development she oh-so-craves. To her, to us, people invested in seeing where the story goes, a continuation in either direction is a win-win situation.

But here’s where the Epilogue ends for now. The Prologue of all things. This was a set-up, to what is going to come next. And what is going to come next is almost definitely a split choice. I don’t know if they’ll go for one route first and then the other, or if they’ll drop both and we’ll be able to choose. But both options will become available. Meat or Candy. Canon Legitimacy or Development on Earth C.

Of course this all comes with the possibility of a third choice. John’s journey was a lot about finding a way outside of the rules, after all- Reconciling Canon and Non-Canon, managing to make Earth-C’s events legitimate AND coming back to enjoy building his life together with everyone else, screwing the Choice and doing what feels right. That would be quite the fitting ending to Homestuck wouldn’t it?

Because ultimately, that’s what it’s always been about. Reality is cruel, it makes you suffer, but you’ve got to push through, grow, learn, and value that which is around you, love yourself, love others. Do what feels right. Do what you want. Just staying and ignoring a cosmic destiny feels wrong. Going back and away from your friends is wrong. What is left to do, but to tear everything apart, again, to unravel the choice and make of causality what you want?

Whether we only get two choices, where it’s implied neither is fully canon and only the existence of both simultaneously would provide a fitting Epilogue, or we get a literal third choice uniting the two trains of thought...

I’m quite intrigued to see what we will get next.

And by the way, if we’re considering only two options, and not a third one that ties everything together, I will always choose Candy myself. Not just the happiness, not just the development. Even if it makes Canon less legitimate, even if it ‘ruins’ the canonicity of Earth-C’s events. With how much of Homestuck’s story is about overcoming the absurd expectations of reality and becoming free and happy, it just sounds like a wonderful ‘Fuck You’ to Lord English’ narrative. Even if it’s in the form of a Fanfiction, having their happiness recognized on an official capacity and not having to bend to the whims of the Alpha Timeline.

It’s quite liberating, isn’t it?

Some final, Miscellaneous thoughts!

-Rose’s not gonna fall back into addiction. We’ve got some concerning tags, but ‘overdosing’ isn’t one of them, and I trust her capacity to overcome it.

-Barack Obama is definitely going to show in Dave’s raps.

-Actually most of the tags could be a rap and/or a Strider making absurd jokes and comparisons. Although many of the political, abuse-centric, and LGBT-related ones could easily tie with some big talk of someone to someone else about lots of social issues and give quite a lot of interesting and good insight.

-I can’t believe we can say that Bimbofication and Vore are just actual content warnings for Homestuck Content and I’m living.

#Homestuck #Epilogue #Upd8 #Homestuck Spoilers #Spoilers #Meat #Candy

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putschki1969 · 5 years

Text

Wakana LINE LIVE ~ Summary

Title: Monthly#6 o’clock Radio LINE LIVE [2019/09/26] Download link: !Click me! (some hiccups here and there) All credit goes to my friend @mowskyuu ( @sky_emi on weibo) The entire episode (including all the other segments) can also be found on Bilibili (in higher quality). All credit goes to VOCALOIDの生放送

Notes: As always, be prepared for a long read (keeping things short is not my forte). You better get yourself a cup of tea and some cookies. Without further ado, let’s get started. 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

We start out with our hosts Daniel and Rina introducing the program schedule. Wakana will have a special appearance in the guest corner. Rina was very hard to understand at first, I think her microphone didn’t work properly. Turn up the volume during the first few minutes or so. Be sure to lower the volume in time or you will have a heart attack when Wakana finally joins the hosts. The audio is still pretty bad afterwards so you will have to adjust your volume a lot. Ahhh, Wakana looks so pretty with her navy dress and her gorgeous long hair. It’s been a while since we have seen her with her hair open like that. It has really grown a lot!!

Since this is Wakana’s first time on the show Daniel is providing a short introduction. The usualy stuff. Born on Dec 10, from Fukuoka, Studied music ever since she was 12. Took part in all kinds of events since she was 17. Moved to Tokyo and joined the FictionJunction project. Debute as part of Kalafina by singing the theme songs of KnK. Recently started her career as solo singer with her single debut in February 2019. Just yesterday her live blu-ray got released. Daniel points out that he is also a Sagittarius, he was born on Dec 16. Then they get to the main topic of this episode. Something that Wakana is currently into. Wakana chose to talk about “gyoza” because she ALWAYS loves to eat them. She will never get tired of them. She even goes as far to create live goods related to gyoza. This shows how strong her love for gyoza is. Daniel wants to do a test with Wakana to find out what kind of Gyoza Type she is. Wakana is very excited to do the quiz. She is super curious to find out what type she is [Go HERE to find the test]

Q1: You really wanna eat gyoza but you already have plans to meet someone you like later on. What do you do?

Have some gyoza as you normally would

Just eat a tiny bit of them

Eat gyoza with garlic

For an extra kick add a lot of garlic to your gyoza

Decide not to eat any gyoza

Wakana goes for answer #5. She would rather not feel bad about the smell when she meets someone. She could always go for vegetable gyoza that won’t make you smell bad but then again, if she has a bad craving for gyoza she has to eat them with a LOT of garlic.

Q2: Before heading to bed you turn on the TV and realise an interesting movie is about to start. You have to get up early in the morning. What do you do?

Watch a bit and go to sleep

Watch it while constantly dozing off

Watch it to the very end

Immediately fall asleep

DVR it and go to bed

Wakana goes for answer #4. She hardly ever watches TV. Usually she watches stuff online on Netflix or something. She tends to watch about three films every day, she has her own schedules. And once she is done she immediately goes to sleep. Sleep is super important after all. She worries a lot if she doesn’t get enough sleep.

Q3:Do you see yourself as a hot or cold type?

More of a cold type

More of a hot type

100% a cold type

100% a hot type

Neither

This question is giving Wakana quite a bit of trouble. Also, the answers are taking super long to appear. Wakana works her magic. And she eventually goes for answer #2!!

She doesn’t see herself as a complete “hot” type but she is definitely not the “cold” type. She always gets hot super fast and super sudden. And she gets easily over-excited/hyped when she is talking with others. Also when she is together with her colleagues or having lunch/dinner with someone, her conversations tend to get heated quite quickly. Daniel is kinda surprised because he didn’t get that impression of her. Wakana says that all the fans who have known her for a long time will surely understand. We have seen how she acts after all...so it’s really not a surprise for us.

Q4: Do you have a strong personality?

Very strong

Considerably strong

A little strong

Not very strong

Rather weak

She goes for answer #2 again. She believes herself to have a somewhat strong personality. Right now she wants to try a lot of different things, she listens to so many different artists and gets inspired. Then Daniel remembers that there is another host so he finally starts including her as well. XD But only for a few seconds. And her microphone is still wonky...

Q5: How do you interact with your friends?

I socialise a lot but nothing serious

Just a small number of friends with a strong bond

I put all of myself into my friendships

I keep my distance when socialising

I have no friends

Answer #2 AGAIN. She really likes to spend quality time with her friends, like going to dinner and having a nice girls’ night. She also likes to do Ghibli meet-ups with all her friends who love Ghibli just as much as her. On to the final question.

Q6: Rate your own positivity from 1-5! Wakana goes for the highest rating. => 5. She has a very positive outlook on life. She always tries to look straight ahead and make the best of it. But of course there are some regrets here and there despite all the positivity. Sometimes she can get a bit cranky and negative. For example, when she fails to get enough sleep or forgets about it. She tends to get really annoyed with herself at times like that. She will make sure not to forget about her sleep again.

Daniel says he isn’t the positive type and he would rate himself as 1. Rina on the other hand also goes for 5 just like Wakana. Wakana is happy about that.

Drum rolls for the result. Wakana can barely hold it in, she is so excited to find out which type of gyoza she is.

Wakana is the Plenty of Garlic&Ginger Gyoza Type!! Wakana is not surprised about the garlic. A unique personality with a strong commitment to your own personality. Very honest and straightforward, many people will be attracted to that sort of personality. Imagining you were a gyoza, a garlic and ginger dumpling is really the best fit because it has a great kick to it and it is very popular. You may not always leave the most pleasant aftertaste (Wakana’s “noooo” is so cute here, she is sad to hear that!) but you always leave a strong impression and people will remember you longer after an encounter. Overall Wakana is happy with the result since she really loves to eat this kind of gyoza. She likes things that have a kick to it. Such an interesting quiz. Turn out that Rina did the same quiz and she had the same result. Wakana is happy they are matching. They even have the same hairstyle today with the open hair and parting in the middle. Daniel is the Boiled Gyoza type. Wakana mentions that she recently talked about boiled gyoza in her fan club magazine. They are soft and yummy and juicy. Anyways, everyone should try the quiz too! It’s a lot of fun!

We then talk about how Wakana doesn’t only love eating gyoza, she also really enjoys to make them. Back in May of this year she visited her older brother and his family in Australia. She helped his wife make gyoza for all of them. It was fun to make them in a place that’s so far away. They bought the gyoza skin at an Asian store and then made them together. They were super yummy. Her niece helped too. Rina happened to make some gyoza too the other day. Wakana is impressed. Daniel adds that he recently went to Gyoza no Ohsho which is a popular restaurant chain focusing on gyoza and Chinese food. Wakana hasn’t been there in a long time and wants to go as soon as possible. Rina went to a place called Gyoza Yasubee or something. Wakana also wants to go there. She wants to go everywhere. If it went her way she would be throwing a gyoza party tomorrow. Everyone is invited.

Time to introduce the gyoza goods Wakana has created for her fan club event.

First we get her lovely bag which can be worn in many different ways. Then we have her gyoza plate. She added the characters/kanji of her name to make it more personal. Then we have her GyoZame shirt because she loves both gyoza and same (sharks).

And the stickers of course. Fans are commenting that they have bought all the goods and love to use them. Wakana thinks her shirt is super cute [it really IS!!] A fan requests a slightly burned version of the gyoza bag. So that it looks like a proper pot sticker. Wakana then shows the inside of the bag which is cute and soft.

Daniel notes that Wakana often posts gyoza on her instagram. These pictures are all taken with her very own camera - Wakame. Rina is also a big fan of cameras. Wakana is once again happy to find someone who enjoys the same things. And she is sorry that Rina is getting sidelined all the time. Wakana’s brother seems to be quite the professional when it comes to camera work. Apparently he takes pictures of make-up and for that he needs some super fancy lenses. It’s very complicated and she doesn’t really understand all the details. Camerawork is very hard.

Now we are getting to all the promotional stuff. Nothing interesting here. First they introduce Wakana’s Blu-ray which got released yesterday. They provide a sneak peek of the limited edition. Daniel shows a few pictures from the booklet. Due to the exaggerated reactions of Daniel Wakana tells us that there are no sexy pictures in the booklet even though it might seem like that if you just judge from the noises Daniel is making. They talk a bit more about the contents, the setlist etc Wakana talks about loving Spitz and Miyuki Nakajima. She loved singing Jida during her tour because at that time Japan transitioned from Heisei era to Reiwa era. She felt like it was very meaningful to sing a song like that. That Tokyo performance was actually her final Heisei live.

As we know, Wakana is currently working on new releases. She loves this sort of work. Exploring different genres, finding new kinds of music for herself. This process makes her very happy and she always looks ahead to discover something new. Because she is super positive as we have learned already.

Some promotion for the December lives. As she just mentioned, she is working on a lot of stuff and she hopes that we will get to hear some of it very soon. Sadly, the final greeting is cut off. Last but not least a very patchy Kinmokusei from the live. Consider it a sneak peek for the Blu-Ray. Her performance is lovely. I hope it gets you hyped to watch the release!! Edit: Be sure to check out the Bilibili version to listen to the song in its entirety.

#kalafina #wakana #video #summary #line live #gyoza #wakana is a precious cinnamon roll #and a garlic ginger gyoza

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mannatea · 5 years

Note

Kent/Lyn, 12 & 35. Hector/Farina, 50!

Thanks for indulging me, but sorry it took me 90 years to get to it. ;P I made it extra long to remind you of the good ol’ days!!!

Kent/Lyn:

12. who do they confide in when shit hits the fan (besides each other)?

I feel like Lyn is the kind of person to have multiple go-to people, depending on the situation at hand.

She strikes me as an understanding and accommodating friend: there are some things that she just wouldn’t burden Florina with/that Florina might not be comfortable with discussing. Rank probably matters a little bit, here, because some issues don’t leave the room (or at least they stay only with the people in the room), like state secrets or the equivalent, but Florina’s perfect for regular friendship things (especially softer emotional discussions), reminiscing about the good old days, and some good old-fashioned harmless venting.

For angry venting, there’s always Sain and Wil. Sain is the right choice if she wants someone to get angry with her—you know, the supportive angry rant-with-you kind of friend who echoes your sentiment and allows you to have a dialogue with emotion! Wil is best if she wants a more neutral opinion/listener who will offer to help/give advice after the rant is over.

Depending on the setting, Wallace is a good choice for some ranting, too, but I love the thought of him being kind of like an uncle figure to her; he fills in some of the gaps about her mother she never really knew were missing, and had a real love for both of her parents that shows in the way he speaks of them; something she kind of holds onto because nobody else gets it.

Hector’s better for a sparring match than dialogue, but sometimes that’s what Lyn needs to get her mind off of things. I like to imagine he kind of ‘gets it’ when she needs to get out some frustration or something; it’s not anything she needs to talk about, but in absence of that, Lyn is the kind of person who still has to do something. If she’s looking for a word-fight she’ll go to him, too. He’s good for that, and he doesn’t (usually) take it personally.

Eliwood is a hard one to pin down, because it’s hard for me to imagine they’re really that close; I don’t think he ‘gets’ her the way most of the other characters do? He tries, though, and that counts for a lot. Also, he’s a lot like Florina in that he’s trustworthy: a good confidante. If Lyn ever needs personal advice (relationship or otherwise), I think Eliwood would be the right guy to go to for her. He wouldn’t tease or poke fun at her, and that information would NEVER reach anyone else’s ears. Ever. He’d offer diplomatic/polite advice with a smile and with an attempt to understand the situation and any important details first. He’s good at asking the right questions most of the time.

It’s been a long time since I deeply considered Lyn’s relationship to Hausen, but I think right now I’m sort of high-key imagining that they’re almost, like…fake-close? It’s not that they don’t love each other, because I think they do in their own ways, but being related or being interested in getting to know someone isn’t just a ticket to a close relationship. Not only do you have to want that, but you have to be compatible AND willing to take the time to cultivate what’s there. Lyn and Hausen both have tons of the latter, but I’m not so sure they’re compatible.

Her friendship with Kent still matters of course, so his place in this mix is probably a bit of everything, but he’s a high(er)-ranking individual she can confide in about information the others aren’t privy to…and he’s also a very good confidante (he’d rather die than betray her trust). She wouldn’t angry-vent at him too much because rather than just get emotionally hyped with her (Sain) or listen to her and offer calm, friendly advice (Wil), he strikes me as the type who wants to Fix It Right Now—even when that’s not necessarily the appropriate response. He may also kind of freeze up and Not Respond At All (when he doesn’t know how exactly he’s expected to respond), almost as a defense mechanism to avoid Responding Poorly.

–

Then you have Kent. Besides Lyn, he uh…really only has Sain.

But hey, that’s actually pretty much perfect for Kent. He’s never struck me as the kind of person who enjoys societal pleasure of any kind overmuch. It’s not that he finds it painful so much as maybe awkward? Most of his life has been in service and when he was younger and more impressionable—at the age where you learn to make friends and all that—he was more interested in impressing the adults in his life. Thus, he has only ever had one or two people to talk to about more important personal matters.

Again, it’s probably for the best. A couple of very serious and important relationships is about his maximum capacity. I don’t think he could maintain a slew of decent casual friendships (the way Lyn can), but also his bar for friendship and what constitutes a friend is very high.

Fiora is a good option for some general commiseration re: failure if he would bother to open up about it, but I don’t think either of them would do so easily. Still, they’ve both been commanding officers and I think that alone gives them something to talk about and discuss. I also feel their general morals line up, so if either of them need a rant about something other people would judge them for, they can go to each other.

Fiora and Sain are both great in that they would have Kent’s back if he needed it, so depending on how shit hit the fan, he could lean on either of them (but more easily on Sain just because that friendship has been years in the making; boon companions and all that).

He has decent relationships with some other people, though. I like to think he still looks up to Wallace, thinks well of Wil, and is on friendly terms with Florina, but I imagine his general acquaintances either stagnate or suffer because he’s not good at multitasking emotionally.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though.

(I didn’t really mention Farina because...eh. I enjoy their interaction and I love writing it, but without a lot of very meaningful buildup, I wouldn’t even consider them friends.)

35. do they have any regrets (regarding the other, or just in general)?

This is a delicious question and a perfect one for Kent and Lyn. Let’s assume their paired ending:

I always take the endings (paired or otherwise) with about a grain of salt. You know: more like suggestions!

Kent and Lyn’s ending makes a reasonable amount of sense (you may have noticed that some endings just don’t ring true to characterization), but it also manages to be ridiculously open-ended. I guess at least it’s “happy.” (Unlike Canas’s. Damn blizzards.)

Anyway, Lyn abdicates and/or never assumes the throne (I guess there’s wiggle room there), Caelin’s totally fine with being absolved into Ostia (you know this is gonna happen), and they’re so chill about this that they don’t even mind Lyn running off with a former vassal. Maybe they didn’t want her ruling in the first place?

Eh, who knows.

The wording leaves room for questions/interpretative differences and all that, but the basics of it boil down to: they both go to Sacae.

This means they both give up things to go there, but we can’t pretend Kent isn’t the one making the bigger/more obvious sacrifice. He literally gives up everything except Lyn. Which, okay, the scope of it isn’t easy for a lot of people to grasp, but like, imagine leaving everything you’ve ever known and moving somewhere else with what you can feasibly carry with you on horseback.

That might not be too hard. Lots of us have moved across a country or even overseas.

Now imagine doing this, but doing it knowing full well that you may very well NEVER AGAIN hear from the people you’re leaving behind.

And not just that, but you’re leaving everything familiar to you. You don’t know the roads, the trees, the shape of the land, the colors, the smells.

Let’s talk Best Case Scenario! Even if, in good ol’ Fire Emblem-land, where farmers can be knights and all that, Kent comes from a farming background, he’d have left that behind before age 10. Again, on the BCS track, let’s say he retained a bit of that knowledge! Great! He knows a little about living off the land!

But he doesn’t know how to do it the way Lyn might know how to do it. So we have to go back to Lyn. She’s still pretty young herself, and her culture was big on group work; it’s not like anyone did the big chores alone. So Lyn almost surely has at least basic knowledge of what to do/what needs done, but 1) never would have done all of it, because roles were outlined, and 2) after a couple/few years away from it, and without the chance to grow into her role as a woman within her society, how much of the really important survival stuff does she actually remember? (Some of this depends on how old you think Lyn is and if her society felt she was an adult; either way she wouldn’t have been an adult for very long IMO, not enough to function in her society as such.)

There’s tons of stuff to explore here!!!!

Lyn in Caelin has the same problem Lyn on the plains has: she still doesn’t get to become an adult the way she always would have imagined she would. Her culture isn’t dead, but with less than ten surviving people, the chance of it fully dying out within a generation is huge. She can pass some stuff on to a child, but not everything. It’s not the same. She’s going to have to mourn this, and it may not hit her until she’s out there again and the reality of what’s missing hits her.

She could join another tribe, maybe—in theory, it might be more complicated than that—but their customs aren’t going to be the same. Heck, they might not even speak the same (exact or similar) language. (Would they even accept Kent with her? This could be something Lyn is sacrificing to bring Kent with her.)

Anyway, Lyn gets a little of what she wants going back to Sacae (at least freedom), but she doesn’t get her culture back and she doesn’t get that lifestyle back that she misses.

Kent’s making the bigger sacrifice, though, because nothing about Sacae is familiar to him.

Depending on what they try to do and where they go, it’s really easy to imagine regret existing in little bits and pieces.

Kent strikes me as the sort to very rarely have *deep* regrets. He may oftentimes ‘regret’ doing or saying something, but the bigger decisions he makes are done with conviction and never with haste, so he usually stands by them and his heart allows him peace.

That said, there’s no doubt he has regrets. I like the idea of him having a few regrets about situations where OVERALL he feels he made the best choice, but the regret stems from the negative things that happened because of that choice (having to fight his former peers/allies/teachers, for example, or fleeing and leaving his men to possibly die when Laus attacked). You know, he wanted to have his cake and eat it, too, but he couldn’t have both.

And then we have his relationship with Lyn.

I bet he low-key would have regrets about going to Sacae after-the-fact. Not the *actual* going, and certainly not in loving Lyn, but in not spending more time with his family beforehand, in not being more prepared, not asking enough questions, not bringing more supplies, not learning more of the language(s), et cetera. So much can go wrong out there without a support system. Kent’s not stupid and he’s not helpless, but he only has control over so much, and accidents happen. If they ended up in dire straights and there was little he could do to help...or was even actively hindering progress, he’d blame himself and it’d be a whole mess where he feels like he can’t contribute and he’s worthless, and then he’s depressed and miserable.

Lyn surely has regrets in general (re: her culture and her parents and all that), but I don’t think she regrets anything deeply easily (something she kind of has in common with Kent). It usually takes a lot for her to get that lingering gut-wrenching regret feeling. But you’d better believe if Kent ended up miserable she’d feel it. She’d hate being the cause of anyone she cares about’s personal pain, but it’d be a little extra awful if she’s fairly content out there and Kent isn’t.

I rambled too much and my head hurts so I’m not sure if any of this makes good sense, but I think there’s a lot of room for regret within their lives and even their relationship—especially if things go poorly for them. Not the loving part, of course, but the part where they pursued something and because of that their partner isn’t happy anymore (or accepted anymore, or whatever).

Hector/Farina:

50. if one of them were to come back after a long time, who would come to who? would it go well? would the other person take them back?

The only one who would probably ‘come back after a long time’ is Farina, because Hector’s pretty much tied to his canton after the end-game, so I gotta go with that.

As to if it would go well or not, well, I’m pretty sure I’ve RP’d like 30 variations on this theme (LMFAO), but the biggest factors are: their relationship with each other, and time.

If Hector was kinda into her and she acted like she was fine with that and then flew off for 10 years and came back trying to act like nothing was wrong... Well, it wouldn’t go well. I mean, not at first anything. (Nothing a good RP couldn’t fix, though. :B)

At that point in time, though, for an example to work with, it’s hard to say if Hector would ‘take her back.’ He may be unable to do so officially (married, busy running a country that’s falling apart at the seams, he has a daughter to worry about) and/or emotionally unwilling to let her back in. (Though this depends a lot on their former relationship and how she left/if she ever wrote to him or visited, if feelings were confessed, a lot of what-ifs, tbh.)

It also depends on how lonely he is. It gets clear that Hector and Eliwood get super busy and don’t even get to see each other regularly after the end of the game, so it’s possible that Hector would desire contact with someone who Gets Him (or at least Gets What He’s Been Through). The FE7 endgame is pretty much the opposite of FE8′s: it’s like nobody even knew it was happening and they gotta go back to their cantons like they didn’t just fight a whole ass dragon; he might be happy to have someone he can talk to about that again (in the event that his former vassals may no longer be in his direct employ and/or Farina fought by his side that day).

#markoftheasphodel #answered mail #fe7 hour #long post #sorry binches i warned ya

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thefuriousstarlightstudent · 5 years

Text

Literally Billy Batson chapter four is here! It’s a very long story why it took so long, but I do apologize. It shouldn’t (hopefully) take that long again. :)

Chapter Four Ao3 Link: Positive

Fawcett City, U.S.A.

October 5th, 2010

The car ride is silent. Billy isn't sure if it's because Mr. Wayne is a quiet person or if it's Billy's own hostile attitude towards… well, everything that's keeping everyone quiet. Billy's unwilling to break the silence, and it seems, so are they. The entire ride is - in a word - awkward. Tense is another word Billy might use.

It's almost worse because Billy is sitting in the back and both Mr. Wayne and Dick Grayson are sitting in the front seats, passing meaningful looks back and forth so smoothly that it reminds Billy of how Batman and Robin communicate. In fact, something about them is oddly familiar, and not just in how smoothly they communicate. But that's silly to think; Billy has never seen either of them before today.

It doesn't take long for Mr. Wayne to pull the car to a stop in front of what has to be the fanciest hotel Billy has ever seen in his short life. There's a man in a red uniform waiting by the door who takes the keys from Mr. Wayne and immediately gets into the car, driving it off towards a parking lot. Billy watches for a moment before following Mr. Wayne and Dick into the hotel.

Rich people are weird, he decides. Is it really that hard to park your own car? Or to have to walk more than fifteen feet in slightly chilly air to get inside a building? Mr. Wayne doesn't seem like the type of person to be so lazy. Billy doesn't really like Mr. Wayne at the moment, but he doesn't think he's so self-centered either.

As they walk through the hotel, Billy watches Mr. Wayne. He smiles a lot, more than Billy would expect. He also comes off as slightly goofy. But the thing is Billy doesn't think that's how Mr. Wayne really is, because as soon as they're out of sight of the hotel receptionist and other guests in the waiting room, he goes right back to being the quiet and introspective man who gave Billy his mom's letter and drove them here. Mr. Wayne puts on a very noticeable front, at least to Billy.

He files the information away for later.

They don't walk very far. In what feels like no time at all to Billy they arrive at a hotel room. Mr. Wayne slides a card and the door pops open, revealing a room that is at least as large as Billy's old house from when his parents were alive.

He snaps his mouth shut. He hadn't even noticed it had dropped. The whole place looks like it should be where a movie star stays, or even a king. Heck, some of the gods Billy has met would be happy to stay here, and they're the pickiest beings Billy has ever met.

Billy tries to keep his emotions in check. As cool as this is (and extremely extravagant), he doesn't want to be impressed or amazed. He doesn't want to acknowledge that any of this may be true. That maybe, just maybe, C.C. Batson isn't his biological dad. He just wants to go home and pretend that this isn't happening.

After a moment, Billy notices a woman near the back of the room. She has brown hair with grey streaks. She also wears a lab coat. This is probably Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Billy realizes.

"Hello," she says, looking up at the sound of the door closing and walking towards them. "I see you're back, Bruce. And you must be Billy. I'm Dr. Thompkins. How do you do?"

"I'm Billy Batson, but I guess you knew that."

Dr. Thompkins' lips twitch at his name as if he's told a spectacularly funny joke and she is trying her hardest not to laugh. Billy isn't quite sure what she finds so funny about his name, but she seems like an okay person. Something about her is just very soothing.

"Do you know what you're doing here?" she asks.

Billy scowls slightly. "Yeah. I do. Mr. Wayne told me he wants to do a paternity test because of a letter my mom sent him after I was born."

"Go ahead and sit down then," she says, gesturing towards a chair. "I'm just going to be doing a cheek swab. Then I'll use that. An analysis shouldn't take long; the equipment is all here."

Billy sits down. "Doesn't DNA analysis take longer to do than an hour? I thought it took a day or two."

Dr. Thompkins seems surprised by his question. She shoots an impressed look to Mr. Wayne.

"Normally it does," she concedes. "I have equipment that makes it a bit faster and easier."

"Ah," Billy says. It makes sense Mr. Wayne is able to have it done quicker and easier. He has money. Money makes everything easier and faster.

As Dr. Thompkins gathers what must be the proper equipment. Out of the corner of his eye, Billy sees Mr. Wayne sit down awkwardly on the end of a bed as if he's not quite sure what to do with himself. Something about that strikes him as funny, even if he doesn't laugh. Dick sits down on the floor at Mr. Wayne's feet.

Billy isn't quite sure what to make of Dick. The teen is so friendly it's abrasive. Billy's met his fair share of teens during his years being homeless. Most of them aren't this friendly. They're okay, sure, but they're also high half the time. It makes it hard to talk to them or enjoy their company.

"Open please," Dr. Thompkins says.

Billy drops his mouth open and lets her swab it with the cotton. The rubber gloves she's wearing are uncomfortable and feel strange when they brush the inside of his mouth. She removes the cotton after a moment, leaving his mouth dry.

She drops the cotton swab into a plastic bag quickly and zips the bag.

"The results should be back in about an hour. I'm going to go and run them in the other room."

As she leaves, Billy finds himself thinking that he hadn't even noticed the hotel room had more rooms. How big is it?

Billy hopes that the test comes back negative. He hopes that he's not Mr. Wayne's son. But the more Billy thinks about it the more he can see it being true. His mom wouldn't have written the letter if it wasn't the truth. And honestly, Billy looks like Mr. Wayne a lot. A lot more than he looked like C.C. Batson, at any rate.

The room is quiet. No one really talks or moves, nor do they make a move to do so. Billy thinks it's because they're not quite sure what to say to him. There's a moment where Mr. Wayne shifts as if to stand up or say something, but in the end, he stills again. Billy's thankful for that, in a way. He doesn't think he's ready to face this all, not fully, at least.

They all stay quiet for the rest of the hour until Dr. Thompkins comes back, lips thin and almost frowning. She's holding onto a small stack of papers tightly, knuckles white. Billy thinks he knows what she's going to say.

"The paternity results are here," she says, holding the papers out to Mr. Wayne, who is quick to snatch them and reads quickly. She retreats to the other room and closes the door, leaving the three of them alone.

Mr. Wayne's face is stiff. Billy finds himself unable to read the man's expression easily, which is beyond frustrating.

Finally, Mr. Wayne looks up at Billy. He feels his heart sink.

"I am, aren't I?" Billy asks. "Your son, I mean."

Wordlessly, Mr. Wayne stands up and gives the papers to Billy. Mostly they're full of techno mumbo-jumbo that Billy doesn't have a chance of understanding unless the Wisdom of Solomon is coming into play.

The chances of Doner 1 being the biological father of Doner 2 is 99.78%. This is considered a positive result because of-

Billy sets the papers down, hands shaking slightly. He drops his hands to his sides so no one notices. Mr. Wayne is his dad, biologically at least. The letter had said that his dad, C.C., knew about it, he knew that Billy was Mr. Wayne's son. Did he still love Billy? He remembers his dad loved him, but what if it was all a lie?

Well, it was, in a way. They hadn't told Billy. They'd lied about it and said he was C.C.'s son. Even his mom lied to him. And sure, maybe they'd eventually been planning to come clean, but they'd died before they could. They'd died and left Billy alone with Uncle Ebenezer.

(At least there's one positive, Billy finds himself thinking. He's not related to Uncle Ebenezer.)

Billy feels hot tears well up in his eyes, threatening to spill over. He wipes them roughly with his sleeve.

A moment later, he feels a hand on his shoulder. Billy looks up into Mr. Wayne's eyes. He looks, not pitying, but understanding, which is a step higher than Billy had expected. It's strange. It's not exactly unwelcome.

"I am sorry, Billy," Mr. Wayne says sincerely. "If I had known…"

"What?" Billy asks dully, feeling drained and lifeless. "What would you have done? Taken me from them?"

"No. But I would have been there for you after they died. I would have been there instead of your uncle. Maybe I could have been there and you wouldn't have run away."

Billy stiffens. "You know about that, huh?"

"You aren't in a foster home. You haven't been adopted. Officially, you're still a missing person. The only reason was that I found your name on a school field trip checklist. Not in the system though…"

"So, what now?" Billy asks, trying to steer the conversation away from his magical attendance. "You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"

Somehow, Billy knows the answer. Mr. Wayne isn't anything like he seems to be on television. He's nice, kind, understanding. It's hard to be mad at him.

"No, I'm not."

"I can't leave Fawcett," Billy tries. He sounds desperate. He is desperate. Fawcett City is his life. It's his home. All his friends are here. His work is here. It's where he lived with his parents when they were alive.

"You can't continue living alone," Mr. Wayne argues. "It's not safe, especially not if you're only ten."

"I've been plenty safe so far," Billy mutters. "I don't need to be protected. I never have."

"You're ten. Wouldn't you like to feel safe? Have a warm place to sleep?"

Billy bites back the comment about his apartment being warm. He can't let them know about his magic. Not yet, at least. He doesn't want to put them in danger or make them think he's a bad guy.

"Billy, the point is Bruce doesn't want to hide you like an inconvenience or get rid of you. You're not a problem and he's not ashamed of you. He just wants you to be safe. He's just really, really bad with feelings," Dick finally bursts out.

"It's not that," Billy says. To be honest, the idea that maybe Mr. Wayne may have wanted him hidden so he didn't have to deal with a surprise son hadn't even occurred to Billy. It is nice to know that he doesn't want to hide Billy, though. "I just really love it here. It's where… it's where I lived with my parents."

Sure, now the tears are crocodile tears, but if it works… well, he's not exactly going to complain. And even though the tears are fake now, a big part of his words is true. He doesn't want to leave because it's the last place his family lived together, whole and happy. But he also doesn't want to leave because this city needs Captain Marvel. He can't just leave.

"I- I understand that," Mr. Wayne says awkwardly. "I do. But I can't just leave you alone. Please, understand your mother asked me to take care of you if anything happened to her or - or your father."

And Billy does. It's certainly nice to know that his mother didn't want him staying with Uncle Ebenezer, at any rate. That she had a backup plan.

"I understand," Billy says. He does, really. And he knows there's no possible way he's going to be able to convince Mr. Wayne to leave him alone. In a way, it will be nice. To not have to worry about money anymore. Or the other things he generally has to worry about.

Mr. Wayne doesn't say anything else and removes his hand from Billy's shoulder. He stays in place for a moment before wandering off after Dr. Thompkins, leaving Billy and Dick Grayson alone.

"Bruce can be a little rough around the edges," Dick says. "It doesn't mean anything though, so don't take whatever he says to heart, or do, depending. He's kinds of… weird."

Billy looks over at Dick. "Well, it's not like that's that strange. Grown-ups are always weird."

"That they are. I'm still trying to figure out why myself."

"Me too," Billy agrees.

"And about your parents, I'm sorry."

"It's been a long time."

"Still," Dick says, sounding much too knowing about the feeling of having your family die. "Sorry. I know how much it sucks. Especially when you have to go live with a stranger."

Billy studies Dick, who is no longer looking at him. And somehow, Billy can see himself living with them. He'll just need to figure out a way to keep working as Captain Marvel.

Fawcett City, U.S.A.

October 6th, 2010

Billy stays the night in the hotel with them. They let him have one of the many rooms himself, even let him lock the door. It makes him feel much safer. He may think they're good people, but he's not dumb. He's not just going to trust them completely.

The only issue is today is a school day. Billy can't just skip, but apparently, he's supposed to. He doesn't like that. Billy hasn't missed a day of school except for when he's been sick. It feels irresponsible to miss it today, even if it's for a good reason. Maybe he should make them think he's transferred. He's pretty sure he can cast a spell to do that.

Billy will have to somehow sneak away to cast another spell. Or maybe he'll just call in sick for now and let Mr. Wayne deal with it later. He's sure the man can for him. And that way Billy doesn't have to worry about getting caught sneaking away and/or using magic. Those are both things he really doesn't want to have to explain.

"Oh, you're awake," Dick says, emerging from the room he was sleeping in (seriously, four bedrooms! In a hotel!). "How did you sleep?"

Billy shrugs. "Okay, I guess. The beds are too soft."

"Yeah, I know, right," Dick agrees. "I hate sleeping in them too."

Billy hums in agreement. He wonders if he could make a run for it. Not that he wants to, of course. And even if he did Mr. Wayne could probably just have Superman come find Billy. He probably has access to him since he funds the League.

If Billy's being honest with himself, having someone alive who cared about him, like a parent, kind of, is going to be nice. It's exciting. Strange, but exciting.

The more he thinks about it, the more Billy realizes he looks like Mr. Wayne too. And not just because of similar hair color and skin tone. Billy really looks like him. He has the same eye shape, same nose, same mouth, same everything, really. Except for the eyes. He has his mom's eye color.

"We're heading back to Gotham City today," Dick says.

"I figured. I don't really want to. I like it here."

Billy really has to figure out how he can keep being Captain Marvel too. He'll just have to sneak away and transform, then fly to Fawcett City. Luckily, he can fly at the speed of sound, so it shouldn't take long. It is inconvenient though. He'll also have to find out some way to keep an eye on the news in case there's anything big that happens in Fawcett so that he can come and help, whenever.

"Fawcett does seem like a cool city," Dick agrees.

"It's just - Gotham is bigger. I won't know anyone. But everyone is going to know me, aren't they?"

"Probably."

"Here I'm a normal kid, but in Gotham, I'm going to be a billionaire's son. Or at least living with a billionaire. It's weird."

"I know exactly what you mean. But it's not as bad as it seems, I promise. You adjust, at least."

"I don't want to adjust. I want to have everything stay the same. And I know that's dumb," Billy says. "But I don't want to be a billionaire's son. I just want - I want…"

"Your parents back," Dick finishes softly. "It's cool, but you'd give everything up for your parents. Even a billion dollars. Or living with someone who has a billion dollars."

"Is that bad?" Billy asks, slightly desperate. "That I'd rather have them back than have Mr. Wayne know about me existing?"

"I think I would give anything to have my parents back," Dick says. "Even my friends. The life I have now. I think I'd probably give it all up in an instant if there was even a chance I could get them back. I miss them."

"Do you think - will I have to call Mr. Wayne dad?" Billy asks. He doesn't want to call the man dad. His dad is C.C. Batson and always will be, regardless of the information about having an alive biological father. "I mean, I guess he is, but he didn't raise me. My dad did. I don't want to call anyone else dad."

Dick laughs. It's a little thick like he's holding back heartbreaking tears. He looks at Billy with a grin so wide that Billy's surprised the teenager's face isn't split open in two.

"No, Bruce won't make you do that. I'm pretty sure he understand why you won't. He's pretty awesome like that. He wouldn't say no to being called Bruce though. Between you and me, being called Mr. Wayne makes him feel old."

"Thanks, Dick," Billy says.

"It's no problem at all. I get this is all pretty crazy and definitely not asterous."

Billy bites his tongue to keep from asking about that last word. He doesn't want to be rude. Not when Dick is being so understanding.

"Yeah," Billy finally says. "Not asterous."

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jkl-fff · 5 years

Note

5 The Hierophant, 8 Strength, 9 The Hermit, 10 Wheel of Fortune, 12 The Hanged Man and 14 Temperance.

5 The Hierophant– I suppose the traditions with which I have the deepest connection are therather silly but fun ones that seem to be quite specific to my family.

For example, even though “International Talk like a Pirate Day” (Sept 19th)is allegedly something celebrated around the world (it isn’t; it’s totallyparodic, but go big with your ambitions or go home, right?), I’ve never knownany group other than my family to actually dedicate a day to talking likepirates. Also, apropos of pirates, whenever someone achieves some sort ofvictory (say, when my lawyer family members win a trial, or when someone nailsa public speaking event, or when my sister-in-law sells a painting, etc.), wehoist a Jolly Roger on our flagpole.

Likewise for “Black Cat Appreciation Day” (Aug 17th), when we feedour 5 cats (all black) special wet food, make them wear little hats, and havethem dance.

And, in particular, there’s “Black and White Days” (the week of May 15th)which serves as a kind of family reunion on my mom’s side of the family (Iswear, it’s not racist! It’s a festival for Holstein cows, because she comesfrom Cache Valley in Utah, where dairy is the basis of the local economy! It’sbeen going on for literally over 100 years.). We do a barbecue and watch the town’sparade.

8 Strength – Youmean I only get *one* subject to go on about for hours?! But I could blatheraway about *so many* different things!

Critical Literary Theories (especially those related to gender and sexuality)and how they’re based off of and apply to real life—they ain’t some “IvoryTower Academic” bullshit, but real and meaningful methods through which toexamine and freakin’ improve the world!

Story-telling and writing, including the hows and whys of various techniques toimprove a person’s competences in both! Complete with examples both classic andcontemporary, esoteric and popular, of instances where it fell flat or shoneforth!

Animation and Video Games and Graphic Storytelling, and how rich and valuablethey are as individual artforms in their own right (they’re not specific*genres*, for all 79 hells’ sake! do we consider “film” to be a specific genre?no, it’s a mean to convey different stories in different genres!)! I swear, Icould RANT FOR A SOLID WEEK about how ludicrously unfair it is that they’redisdained and belittled as “kids’ stuff” when, quite frankly, in many waysthey’re way more advanced than standard “live action” cinematography orconventional novels!

9 The Hermit – Asof right this moment, what I like best about myself is how my reflexive habitof analyzing most everything critically is making me both a smarter and a morecompassionate person.

Like, of course, I don’t see *everything*; I miss a heckof a ton and still have more ingrained prejudices than I’d like, sometimes evenstuff that seems surprisingly obvious once pointed out to me … But what I dosee has made me more aware of the suffering of others, and more driven to begentle with them because of it. Also to dismantle the societal structures thatperpetuate needless suffering.

And when something new is brought to my attention, I try to ponder over it andbecome more educated about it. I like this trait about myself, and wish it wasmore common than it seems to be.

Also, my hair. It’s freakin’ FAAAAAB-U-LOUS!

10 Wheel of Fortune– No matter how much changes in my life, I find I can always count on myimmediate family. I’m extremely lucky in that regard.

And I can always come back to some really engaging stories, too. Final Fantasy9, 10, and Tactics, for example; Gravity Falls and Steven Universe, The LastUnicorn and ParaNorman; Terry Pratchett’s novels, Balzac, Alexandre Dumas …Those will always be there for me.

12 The Hanged Man– This one is a bit trickier to answer, because it feels like all the majorparadigm shifts in my perspective (regarding philosophy, religion, politics,social justice, and all big similar issues) happened a few years ago. Anythingsubsequent to those—anything more recent than those—feel like simply anexpansion and application of those ideas, in a way.

However, one thing that tumblr in general has helped me to learn is that fanficand fanart and fandom in general … really do exist only for the fun of thefans. Kind of an obvious realization when said out loud, right? Yet my attitudeto crossovers and self-inserts was dramatically different when I first got ontumblr several years back.

It also has helped me to nuance my understanding of queer identities andsexualities, to broaden my appreciation and acceptance of them.

14 Temperance – If we’re talkingabout me personally (meaning what *I* cannot indulge in safely), then theanswer is alcohol and other drugs, whether they be stimulants or depressants.

Because of my Depression and my Anxiety, I’m constantly trapped in my own headand fighting not to spiral down. As a result, the idea of something that couldremove me from myself is … intriguing. Downright tempting, in fact. Like, *not*feel the heaviness or the emptiness that I do feel all too often? Or *do* feela rush of energy and elation (ecstasy, anyone? ba-dum-chee!), or a long anddreamy haze of felicity? Who wouldn’t want that?

But all of those substances are wretchedly addictive, and I’d lose myself tothem far too easily. So I can’t risk indulging in them, not even once.

In addition, I can’t really safely indulge in existentially depressing storiesfor too long at a time, or I start getting all … what’s-the-point-of-it-all angsty.Even when the stories are ones I enjoy full of comedy, albeit dark comedy, like“Bojack Horseman” or “Rick and Morty”.

Thanks for the asks!

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moomingitz · 5 years

Note

What did you think of Wreck-It Ralph 2?

Now that I finally got to watch it(matinee when everyone was still at school and work, so I had the theater nearly all to myself), I can finally answer you.

Spoilers ahead! Don’t keep reading if you haven’t watched it yet, and don’t want to be spoiled!

I, for most of the part, enjoyed the film.

I liked how all of the aspects of the internet and it’s websites were personified in an actually very relatable and realistic way, and it actually tied into the film’s story well, instead of it being very cynical and blatant like in the Emoji Movie. If you’re someone who keeps comparing it to the Emoji Movie, or think it’s going to be on the same level as it, well don’t worry, because Ralph Breaks the Internet is a way better film. I was amused by seeing all of the websites for seedy hotels/motels outside of the Disney website.(Anyone who’s even went down to Florida around outside of Disney World will know exactly what I’m talking about.) I got a kick out of seeing a beat up sign for “Geocities” in the internet wasteland Ralph landed in. There’s really only two particular nitpicks I have for how they portrayed a certain part of the internet, but that’s for another post.

I like the new internet characters in the film, including the ones for the “Slaughter Race” game. When it comes to the internet specific characters, my favorites were J.P. Spamley and KnowsMore.

However, there are two big gripes I have with the film’s story, and it’s not only what I think kept this movie from being just as good as the first film, but almost completely soured the entire film for me:

I didn’t really like how the whole conflict between Ralph and Vanellope was handled. Unlike people who try make it about how evil and controlling the horrible menz are, I didn’t like how one sided it was. Yes, Ralph was being petty and childish over not wanting Vanellope to leave Sugar Rush and join Slaughter Race on the internet. But, as far as I see it, Vanellope was also not only being very impulsive with her decision to leave, but I would go as far to say she was even being kind of selfish about it. And when I say that, I don’t mean it’s because Ralph wouldn’t be able to see her all the time like before, but her leaving could have easily have made things worse for the state of Sugar Rush, even after it got it’s new steering wheel.(She was apparently the most popular character in the game after the events of the first movie, after all.)

Vanellope’s whole, “I’m bored because nothing ever changes here, and I want to follow my dreams.”, reasoning for wanting to leave and stay in Slaughter Race only comes off as more weak when, as far I’ve seen from the movie altogether, she never really made an effort to try and make things work throughout the whole film. It especially seems like all the more of an excuse when you take into consideration that what set the story in motion the first place was the result of a gesture of kindness Ralph tried to make for her by making a new track in her game. So it’s not like Ralph never took her wants or needs into consideration to begin with. Vanellope could have tried to make things work without having to leave Sugar Rush, even after that whole big virus clusterfuck happened, by having new tracks added to her game at night(so future players wouldn’t suddenly be caught off by surprise and break yet another steering wheel), go visit Slaughter Race at night when the arcade was closed so she wouldn’t be stuck doing the same things in the arcade at night, or even help make some kind of Slaughter Race/Sugar Rush crossover happen or something to help spice things up. It’s not like Slaughter Race ever officially turns off or doesn’t have someone playing it once nights comes. Instead she just basically went, “This place is more cool and fun than my old home! I’m just gonna move here right at the drop of a hat, now.”, and then also not even being outright honest to Ralph and straight up tell it to him to his face, even though he may not want to hear, but instead do so behind his back while he’s putting himself through cringey clickbait videos to correct his mistake of getting her game unplugged.

And you know what? I would have been fine with Ralph and Vanellope both being selfish in their own ways and putting their own needs over others, not taking full consideration how the other side feels and vice-versa, and how just because they’re best friends doesn’t mean they need to agree on everything and have the same goals in life. However, I did not like how it was Ralph and only him who was unquestionably in the wrong throughout the entire film, and not once was Vanellope ever held accountable or even challenged in any real meaningful way in the film in the slightest. She’s bored and wants something new, oh no! Doesn’t mean you should just up and permanently leave your game/home just because of that, without weighing in other and less drastic options first. Just because you like the place you’re vacationing to, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to just up and move to that place immediately after your vacation to it is over. Anyone with enough life experience will tell you that it’s not a good idea to just suddenly up and move to a place you’ve only visited once, and do so just because that first and brief visit gave you a good first impression. Visiting a place and living at ‘said place are not the same experiences. What happens if Vanellope eventually gets bored of Slaughter Race just like she did with Sugar Rush, or it turns out that the game isn’t that great of a place to permanently stay in as she thought it would be at first glance? Is she gonna move to yet another racing game, then? The whole thing just seems like a temporary solution, if anything.

It feels like Ralph and Vanellope regressed more as characters if anything in this sequel. Like the development they got in the first movie was mostly just forgotten or it didn’t happen, and when the whole drama between them started to get into full gear, I was thinking to myself, “Really!? Are we seriously going through this, again?” This movie makes the mistakes allot of sequels do, which is going back to square one. It just felt out of character for both of them, and it made both of their inner conflicts and needs seem very insignificant and childish as a whole. How the whole conflict between Ralph and Vanellope was executed, how one-sided it was, and their reasons for it even happening in the first place, left a bad taste in my mouth and it nearly ruined the whole film for me. It’s like when you’re eating something that tastes really good, and enjoying it and you’re having a good time… but then you suddenly you feel the crunch of something really gritty in it, and it almost ruins your appetite for the rest of meal.

My second big gripe, but not as big as the one I just went on and on about up above, is how they sorely underutilized the other already established characters from the first movie. I figured Felix and Calhoun weren’t gonna be the main characters in this sequel, but I was at least hoping they were going to have as much of a part they had in the first film. Even having them join Ralph and Vanellope on the internet, and having their own B plot together, would have been better than having them just completely disappear until the ending of the movie like they never even existed. What was seriously even the point of having them adopt the other Sugar Rush racers if we don’t even see it play out during the course of the film?(Though I like to imagine that Calhoun basically smacked them all upside the head the second the scene with their new “children” being little shits to them cut away.) Like I’ve seen other people suggest, they should have just made that whole thing a short before the movie or something. Hell, after this movie I would really like to see them make shorts, or even a series, based in the Wreck-It Ralph universe, taking place after this sequel, to hopefully rectify the underutilization of the characters outside of Ralph and Vanellope.

I came in expecting and knowing it to be a mainly Ralph and Vanellope focused movie, so that helped me not be majorly disappointed when I finely got to watch it earlier today. For what it was, the movie was mostly entertaining, and if anything I actually enjoyed the more commercialized aspects of the film. I just think this could have been a better sequel as it should be, and I feel like they wasted a perfectly good opportunity to expand on the other side characters, and on the video gaming world and what’s left of arcades in the US. And again, how that whole conflict between the main characters was done rubbed me the wrong way. If you come into this film knowing what to expect, and for what it is, you’ll most likely enjoy it for most of the part. But if you come in wanting to see Felix, Calhoun, and the other characters from the arcade again, and do more with them this time around, well, expect to be disappointed.

#Disney #Wreck-It Ralph #animation #rant #awaits possible backlash #opinions #spoilers #Wreck-It Ralph spoilers

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bitingmascot-blog · 6 years

Text

Lovable characters in video games

So, you saw him or her on the screen. You thought they looked kinda cute. You pay a bit closer attention to them as you progress through the game. Suddenly, they say something or move in the ways that make your heart skip a beat. If this character is playable, you most likely start to fancy them over the others. If this character is a part of a story, you eagerly progress through the game to get more info about them and look for opportunities to interact with them. The way you feel is perfectly normal. Most likely, this is also what the game developers wanted you to feel when they were creating this character.

Sometimes we - the developers - want you to fall in love with the characters we created to make your overall experience throughout the game as personal and meaningful as possible. The features that trigger your interest towards a character may come from various places, such as from the way they look or their mutual interest in something you like. These features about the characters are all intentional and designed to pique your interest in one way or another.

I’d love to explain some of the things I’ve learned about character creation over the past few months. I’ve made a couple characters full of thought and detail for our current game we have under development at Biting Mascot. Creating these two characters in particular taught me a ton, and I feel like I’m ready to share some of my thoughts with you.

So, with that, let’s get into the tips and tricks I found extremely useful for creating lovable characters:

Know where they are coming from…

In order for characters to have a reason why they do things the way they do, they need a backstory. Our past pretty much determines our current behavior and beliefs in real life, and this should be the case for fictional characters as well. This makes their actions not only constant and relatable, but also believable. This is important in order to make the character feel like they are a part of the universe and not just some random mob giving you directions or mindlessly following you around. Give the characters a reason to have habits and beliefs. A past life.

…and where they are going

This is really important. You have to figure out what it is that your character desires. This alone determines the sole purpose and the reason of existence of the character in your game. It doesn’t have to be anything big. For example, a simple craftsman could desire to produce quality armor for his customers, and that’s their passion. Something that keeps them going. You could also give them a child or a pet that they need to look after, and that could be the reason why they need to keep the shop running. It can be anything you want or what the game needs, really. Whatever it is, it’s bound to make your character more interesting straight from the get go.

Know what makes them unique

Depending on how deep you want to go with the character, you could think about these little subtle elements about them that set them apart from the rest of the crowd. Do they adjust their hair frequently? Do they walk around drunk all the time? Are they afraid of pigeons? These could all be features that do not occur anywhere else in your game, and thus the people who play the game will talk about “that one guy who was afraid of pigeons”. Especially when they can’t remember his name. One thing is, that abusing contrarieties when designing these features sometimes works out the best. For example, there’s this very tough and bulky bad guy in the enemy team… and he just happens to have a soft spot for ice cream cones. He can’t help but run after an ice cream van when he hears one, no matter what kind of evil activities he was in the middle of. It makes him pop out and seem more natural. No one’s bad to the bone. And on the contrary side, no one’s all happy and pure either.

To make the characters seem more down to Earth, I’d suggest going by something like 85% evil or good (depending on the character) and 15% on the contrary side. I feel like any more or less than that could easily become confusing or too extreme for the character to seem realistic or relatable anymore.

(I have a really funny “real life” reference of this that I want to share. Think about a girl who always wears make up to school or work. One day, she shows up not wearing any, and she might look a bit odd or even ugly to you. Now, think about another girl who never wears make up. One day, she shows up with mascara and eyeliner on, and she’s suddenly the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. This is exactly what playing with the contrarieties does. The good becomes the bad and the bad becomes the good for a moment. You suddenly hate the good guy for acting worse than they normally do and adore the baddie for showing signs of improvement and effort.)

Match their looks with their personality

This is the final part. You need to think about how the person you created would look like if they were alive. For example, if they were in a war before, they might have some unhealed scars. Or if they always get their clothes from their older siblings, the clothes could be way too big for them. Things like that. Before the details though, you of course need to know the basic things like their race/species, age and gender to start building their figure. Maybe you want to make them slender if they enjoy activities that require agility. Maybe you want to make their fur really rough if they are not interested in grooming themselves. Keeping things simple and realistic for the most part when deciding these things is going to make your character just that much more believable.

Making a character physically attractive is all up to you, though. You have to decide whether or not this is something you want to do with your character. If you do want to however, knowing your game’s target audience is going to help a ton. Making a character match their desires in real life is sure to keep a player hooked just a while longer. I wouldn’t want people overdoing this though. You CAN get attracted to characters without them running around almost naked. Just saying.

On the final note about the looks, try to focus on bringing out the character’s personality as you design their movement, postures and facial expressions. Study how your character would respond to hate and love, or how they would look like if they are thinking about something very deeply, for example. There is a reason why we do these actions and gestures differently from each other in real life as well, and that is all caused either by our instincts or because of our pasts. Our own backstories.

The Final Note

All in all, you want your characters to not feel out of place. You really want them to feel real. You want the player to feel like they really are alive. The more the character is going to be relevant to the story or gameplay, the more you should put time into creating a meaning for their existence and reasons for their actions. Get to know them. Study them. And bring them to life.

So, now. Go out there and create characters so irresistible that people can’t help but fall in love with them. Make them fall in love one way or another.

- Susanna / Artist

#gamedev #indie #kajaani #finland #march #character design #video game characters

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talabib · 3 years

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The Dos and Don’ts Of Living A Happier Life.

There’s no shortage of how-to guides on making money and seeking fame and fortune, but these guides tend to leave out a crucial element: what to do when all that money and success still leaves you feeling empty and unfulfilled.

You might wonder how someone with endless amounts of money could possibly feel unhappy with their life, but, as experts explain, money is no harbinger of happiness. In fact, money, fame, adoration, awards and the newest cars, clothes and gadgets can’t bring anything but a fleeting sense of happiness in the guise of pleasure.

To find sustained and meaningful happiness, we must look beyond money and the shiny new toys it can buy. We must look within ourselves, and to the steps we can take to change our perspective on the world around us, and not lose sight of the things that really make life worth living. Ahead, you’ll find a variety of tips and methods to help you develop a happy mind and a happier life.

Many people believe that happiness depends on external factors, but it doesn’t.

If someone asked you to define happiness, what would you say? Most of us assume we know what happiness is, but, if we stop to think about it, the concept becomes fuzzy. Let’s take a closer look to see if we can pin down what it is, as well as what it isn’t.

One common misconception is that happiness depends on external factors, such as material goods or events. People tend to associate happiness with nouns, like cars, vacation destinations and sexual partners, or moments in time that mark a personal or professional triumph.

What all these things have in common is that they provide only temporary moments of pleasure. As a result, people develop the impression that their happiness is tied to other people, or to whether or not a future event will occur.

This isn’t ideal, because, when your happiness is inextricably linked to external factors, you have no control over your happiness in the here and now.

You don’t have to look too hard to see that this arrangement doesn’t bode well for sustainable good cheer. In fact, the more you turn to external sources for happiness, the less happy you’ll be.

For millennia, people have lived under the misguided assumption that they can buy happiness, if only they had enough money. Yet there are numerous studies that show that wealthy people are just as miserable as anyone else.

When the average person sets out to gain money, they do so to buy all the luxury items they associate with the good life: big houses, fancy cars, massive TVs and stereos. But these things don’t just fail to bring lasting happiness, they also end up putting people into debt. The resulting financial pressure can easily send a person spiraling into more anxiety and depression than they had before they bought all their fancy toys.

Happiness isn’t found in the future or the past, and it won’t be delivered by other people.

While life is an amazing gift, it’s far from perfect. On any given day, we can be confronted with illness, heartbreak, an unexpected financial calamity or any number of anxiety-inducing events.

As a way to escape these difficult moments, we often resort to activities that take us out of the present. If you’re looking for happiness, this method of escape is actually a mistake, because happiness can only be found in the present.

When your mind isn’t focused on the present, logic dictates that you’re either ruminating on the past or fantasizing about the future. These are common places to be, since it’s easy to daydream about finding a perfect job, going on a perfect date or winning the lottery so you can pay off your student loans. Other times, you might be caught up in the past, lingering over memories of better days or cringing over a regretful thing you wish you hadn’t said at the company picnic last weekend.

Spending time in the past or the future may seem preferable, especially if there are ongoing problems in the here and now. But you can only find happiness in the present, because that is where the experience of life takes place.

In addition to spending too much time in the past or future, another common pitfall is expecting other people to bring happiness along with them when they enter your life. Many people think: if only I could find that perfect Ms. or Mr. Right, everything would be in harmony!

Of course, when that perfect person does come along, they inevitably discover that happiness didn’t magically appear. Instead of realizing that other people aren’t the key to contentment, they decide to bring yet another person into the mix: if only we had a child, then everything would be perfect!

No matter how strongly you believe someone else is the key to your happiness, the fact is that no lover, friend or child will ever be capable of providing you with the sustained, lasting happiness you seek. That kind of peace of mind can only be achieved by going inward and finding it within yourself.

Happiness is different than pleasure, and happy people have common traits.

If you have a sweet tooth, your idea of happiness might be a delectable bar of Godiva chocolate. The chocolate may be delicious, but this way of thinking reflects another common mistake: confusing pleasure with happiness.

Like money or material goods, pleasurable sensations are fleeting experiences that will never add up to a satisfying or lasting state of happiness. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with pleasure, or that we shouldn’t celebrate and enjoy it. But you must keep in mind that pleasure is a sensation, and therefore unstable; in the scales of life, it will always be balanced out by sensations of pain and discomfort.

Happiness, on the other hand, can be sustained and experienced separately from the changing circumstances of your life. In other words, happiness can be relatively stable, as long as you stay in the moment and keep your attention on the positive elements. That way, even if there are feelings of pain and discomfort, it is possible to remain content and happy in life.

You may be wondering, how is this possible? This kind of steady happiness can be attained by staying aware of your emotional state, and embracing the experience of life as it is happening. Let’s say you’re feeling lonely. Instead of immediately turning on the TV to distract yourself from this feeling, stay present and accept the loneliness as a perfectly natural feeling. If you relax and tune in to yourself, you’ll find that the steadiness of happiness can exist alongside your temporary feeling of loneliness.

While there are no rules or shortcuts that work for everyone, experts have found some commonalities in those who have managed to sustain their happiness.

Happy people tend to appreciate the simple things in life: they’ll admire picturesque scenery and appreciate a good night’s sleep. They also have professions that they find motivating and engaging, and they make a point of looking after their health and wellness.

Moreover, happy people are content to be on their own, which means they tend to be selective about who they spend time with. Those they do let in as friends or partners are supportive – not the bad company that unhappy people often keep. If you think that more people will make you happier, you might be more willing to keep company with some shady characters.

Unhappiness and harmful behaviors can be triggered by survival-related fears.

Now that we have a better idea about the nature of happiness, let’s take a look at the other side of this emotional coin and see the different reasons we can end up unhappy.

One of the mysteries preoccupying modern researchers is why so many people who live an affluent life with plenty of money and creature comforts remain unhappy. One suggestion is that there are fears about survival behind this unhappiness.

When evolutionary psychologists look at the neurological wiring of the modern human brain, they see plenty of primitive connections that are still active.

A significant part of our brains’ development took place during the stone age or earlier – times when survival rates were relatively low, and we needed all the mental help we could get. Big threats to survival included getting kicked out of the tribe, or losing access to resources. Either experience could easily have been a death sentence.

These days, our survival instincts continue to be triggered by threats to our social standing, or the potential loss of valuable resources like money. If a coworker gives us the cold shoulder or the phone bill suddenly doubles, we can feel a sense of life-threatening panic that isn’t necessarily warranted by the relatively benign problem at hand. But as we inevitably encounter many of these social or financial problems throughout our days, we can experience a constant level of stress and unease that adds up to a general unhappiness.

Is it any wonder that, with all this daily anxiety, we engage in compulsive behavior intended to calm our nerves? Ironically, however, such behaviors – like binge eating junk food – tend to be far more harmful than the cold shoulder from the coworker.

Our fears are so strong that the attempt to avoid them can lead to long-term harm and unhappiness, such as when we stay with an abusive or manipulative partner. Our desire to be connected, even to someone who is bad for us, is directly related to our instinctive desire to avoid the fear of being cut loose and left to fend for ourselves.

Ultimately, if our instincts believe it to be a matter of life or death, then our happiness can suffer. Unfortunately, much of that suffering is needless these days.

Childhood trauma can increase the likelihood of chronic unhappiness, but it can be treated.

If you know someone who’s in a perpetual funk, you may feel the urge to tell them to just snap out of it. Surely they’d start feeling better if they would just get out of bed and get some sunlight, right?

Just because this kind of response works for you when you get the blues doesn’t mean it will work for someone whose past experiences have left them with a more chronic unhappiness.

A constant depressive disposition may be the result of childhood trauma.

If someone has a traumatic event in their past, especially if it occurred in their first six years, it can significantly increase the severity of those instinctive fears and inform how that person will react to rejection or scarcity.

Therefore, the quality of parenting during those formative years can greatly influence how a person will respond to the common stressful situations of everyday life. If someone’s parents provided unconditional love and support early on, they’ll have a wholly different perspective on life than the person whose parents were abusive, absent or emotionally unavailable. Indeed, not being loved as a child can be very traumatic – so much so that the effects can last a lifetime.

However, this doesn’t mean that people with a traumatic childhood are doomed to be unhappy.

Even though trauma has been linked to the mind’s instinctual response system producing more anxious reactions to the world, other areas of the brain such as the neocortex offer hope. The neocortex is the center of our conscious decision-making as well as our emotional and cognitive intelligence, and it allows us to take in new information and choose our responses.

Take someone with a history of trauma. When they stumble into a financial hole, their survival-related fears could kick into overdrive. If they take a moment to let the neocortex do its job, instead of letting the instinctual response take over, they can put the problem into perspective and come up with a solution. Rather than succumbing to fear, the person could choose to come up with a better monthly budget.

The more the neocortex is used, the stronger it gets. It can also be helpful to see a professional; therapists can help us change our perspective and look at things in a positive way.

Being happy is up to you, and it helps if you have a plan.

Money is something we can spend, borrow, loan to one another or save up for a rainy day. But happiness isn’t something we can take or borrow from another person. If you want more happiness, the only place to look is within yourself.

There are things that are out of your control, like the ups and downs of the stock market. How you respond to those peaks and valleys in life is, however, completely within your control. Since you won’t find happiness from external sources, you need to accept that it’s purely your responsibility.

Simply put, you can’t wait for the world to change and meet your expectations of a bright and happy universe. You need to take it upon yourself to shift your own perspective. Imagine the pursuit of happiness as a step-by-step process, and one that you can work on from moment to moment – with the optional support of therapy.

You can cultivate happiness by taking the time to create and maintain a solid life plan. It’s so easy to get caught up in daily, time-consuming struggles that you never find the right peaceful moment to come up with a clear-headed plan for your life. Carve out some time in your schedule, even just thirty minutes at the end of every day, to focus peacefully on your plan and on what’s going on in your life.

Your plan should include clear goals for all aspects of your life, including personal, professional and free time. When you think about these things, ask yourself: Is there too much stress in a particular area and not enough time to spend on hobbies. Is there too much sitting around and not enough income being made?

With a plan in place, you’ll be able to direct your energy to where it’s most needed, thereby taking responsibility for your happiness and well-being. You should still focus on staying grounded in the present moment, but, as you put your plan into action, you’ll have the comfort of knowing where you’re headed and what needs to be done.

To be happy, practice daily gratitude and keep things new and interesting.

There’s an old saying, “You never truly appreciate what you have until it’s gone.” Imagine losing absolutely everything: your possessions, your friends and loved ones – even your health and freedoms like traveling and voting. You’d miss them, right? Now imagine slowly getting each of these things back. How grateful would you be?

You shouldn’t have to lose things in order to be grateful for all you have. Gratitude should be something you experience daily, as it’s a powerful way to bring more happiness into your life. After all, why would you want more things in life if you’re never appreciative of what you have?

You can make a daily habit of practicing gratitude for the good things in life. A good way to get things started is by making a list of the things you currently have that you’re grateful for. Be careful not to overlook the common things that are often taken for granted.

Many people take their health for granted. Only after recovering from the flu or another illness are they reminded of what lucky people they are to live a life free of any restrictive health issues.

Also remember to take note of the small, joyful moments in life, such as finding a perfect avocado at the store or crossing paths with the stranger who has a nice smile and holds the door open for you.

Another helpful practice is to avoid falling into a mundane routine by keeping things fresh and exciting.

When your life falls into a monotonous routine, you’re essentially making sure that nothing new and exciting happens. It’s easy to forget that there is a huge and exciting world out there to discover – even in your own neighborhood! Make the effort to shake things up every so often.

If you walk to work, try taking different routes from time to time. Make sure you notice the world around you. Having an exploratory attitude toward life will stimulate your curiosity and open up your senses to the world, all of which is good for promoting higher levels of happiness.

Happiness can be found in shedding needless things and avoiding unrealistic goals.

How would you feel if you got to live in a mansion with expensive furnishings, five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a massive kitchen and yard? Now, what if you were responsible for keeping all the rooms, carpets, furniture and fixtures clean? What about maintaining that huge yard and its impeccable garden?

Having a lot of stuff comes with a lot of responsibilities, and can quickly turn into a stressful headache. No wonder many people have found happiness by heading in the other direction and letting go of the stuff they don’t really need.

When you look around your home, do you see lots of clutter? Are your closets filled with clothes you have no intention of ever wearing again? Are your shelves so filled with junk that you no longer see the stuff that really brings you joy?

Take some time to sort through your belongings and get rid of the clutter that turns a happy room into an eyesore. Not only will you discover more space, you’ll also gain a better appreciation of the books and clothes that really bring you joy. This process can happen in every room of your home, and it should apply to everything from furniture and cooking utensils to knicknacks and gadgets.

While you’re at it, think about how you can declutter your mind as well.

We are happier when we get rid of unwanted feelings, like that nagging jealousy over a friend’s recent streak of good fortune. To let go of these unwelcome thoughts, acknowledge them when they surface and then make a conscious decision to set them free. It might require several attempts before they finally stop showing up, and you might consider therapeutic help to make those efforts more effective.

In the pursuit of happiness, it’s also worth paying attention to ways you can avoid setting yourself up for disappointment.

That can easily happen when you set goals that are overambitious and far outside your reach. Of course, you should strive to be your best at work and in life, and to improve your skill set in order to make that happen. But if your goal is to play the cello better than Yo-Yo Ma in the space of five years, you may be aiming too high – and the inability to achieve your goal may ruin your enjoyment of playing the instrument altogether.

Avoid being overexposed to news media and blowing things out of proportion.

Do you ever find yourself getting tense and anxious while scrolling through a news feed full of articles about political conflicts, violence, corruption and discrimination? It’s valuable to stay informed, but your feed doesn’t always provide you with the most accurate perspective on the world.

In fact, to stay happy, it’s advisable to limit your exposure to negative media altogether.

Many media outlets put a negative or extreme spin on the news to get more attention. They all know that the public has a negativity bias, which means we focus more on a negative news story than a positive one. The reason for this goes back to those primitive survival instincts. We had to listen when someone talked about a friend getting eaten by an alligator to avoid a similarly gruesome fate.

The media shamelessly exploits our very human weakness for bad news, often ignoring the good stuff to focus disproportionately on the bad. As a result, it’s easy to look at the news and feel anxious and unhappy, since it seems like there’s nothing but misery everywhere.

Fortunately, you can prevent the media from manipulating your feelings. Knowing about this purposeful imbalance is a good start. It also helps to be mindful of which news sources you let in, and to block your exposure to especially imbalanced sources.

Finally, be aware of your own tendency to create drama and blow things out of proportion.

If your partner isn’t very good at cleaning up, you might come home after a challenging day at work and tell them that you’re fed up with how messy they are – that it’s a sign of how little they respect you. Things quickly escalate, and, before you know it, you’re having a big argument. One thing leads to another, and the result is that a loving and healthy relationship is needlessly tested.

There is a healthier perspective to have in this situation. Remember that different people have different ideas of what constitutes an unreasonable mess; failing to do some chores is not necessarily a sign of selfish behavior. The next time your loved one does something annoying, remember all the loving things they have done recently. Sustaining any relationship is a challenge, but keeping the good things in mind will help you to stay happy.

Our happiness is in our own hands. Yet, rather than looking within, people tend to seek happiness from external sources like money, gadgets and relationships. Lasting happiness will never come from these things over which we have no control – it can only come from inside. To sustain happiness, we must stay grounded in the present and have a positive outlook on the world. We must cultivate gratitude. In order to overcome our instinctive survival-related fears, we should plan and focus on realistic future goals that provide sustainable happiness in our personal and professional lives. By focusing on well-being and personal fulfillment, rather than wealth and power, we can work toward seeing the beauty around us and achieving peace and happiness.

Action Plan: Keep a bullet journal. Making a plan for a workable path to happiness is all well and good. But each and every day carries with it the potential for surprises that can send you off track, as well as plenty of distractions, like that Netflix series you’ve been waiting for.

The solution here is to keep a bullet journal, which is essentially a calendar that allows you to list daily goals, like exercising, meditating and reading. Each task can then be ticked off when you’re done, and at the end of each month you can feel the warm, happy glow of satisfaction at being able to see all you’ve accomplished.

#The Dos and Don’ts Of Living A Happier Life.

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fugandhi · 6 years

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Roseanne: A Swan Song

Roseanne had recently made an inappropriate twitter (according to somewhere online; you can look it up) remark and then deleted it, and it was a pretty awful remark from what Kim told me.

So, I love “Roseanne.” That show is my favorite television show, and has been ever since I was a young boy. I remember growing up even thinking, “Man, that kid DJ looks SO MUCH LIKE ME” with the bowl cut and everything (yeah I have humble beginnings because I’m an average person).

I don’t know why Roseanne said what she said, but I know it’s wrong to make pretty damn offensive remarks about someone based off of their appearance - Especially if it is something that has to do with their race, gender, religion, nationality, etc. I mean - that’s like totally common knowledge by now I would certainly hope.

I was not surprised when I found out that her show got cancelled. It is absolutely heart-breaking. The best American TV Family (next to The Taylors of course; Home Improvement is my Other favorite TV show; Al & Wilson are my favorites, rest in peace to Earl Hindman) is at the mercy of the American public due to Roseanne Barr’s very stupid remarks. She apologized afterwards, and of course she deleted the tweet - but we all know the damage has been done.

So - I feel kinda silly because the correlation between The Conners and the show “Roseanne” and then the actress Roseanne Barr are so closely relatable (just as my household felt growing up; even though my family is not exactly like theirs, but the growing pains were in my humble opinion) that it can be very difficult to discern where reality and fantasy are divided.

I know Roseanne is a good person. Recently in my life, prior to the Season 10 comeback from the gang - Kim & I actually bought the entire 9 season box set from like walmart or something….nothing fancy.. Needless to say - We still watch the show on our own to this day with joy and genuine happiness.

Some of the most important life lessons I’ve had to learn that helped shape me as a human being - from being a child to a man - I was able to find in this show. I have a simple family - we are all hard workers and we don’t ask for much other than a God’s honest fair opportunity just like any American, heck, any human household.

It breaks my heart knowing that Roseanne has to not only go through the Hawaii circumstance which is very, very heart-breaking in it’s own right, but then also Roseanne now faces public scrutiny for thoughtless remarks due to whatever was going on with her at the time… I don’t have any relevant context so I cannot determine why she said what she said - all I know is - she removed it, she realized she was wrong, and she apologized, and her show got cancelled and now every single person that was genuinely happy and legitimately putting their best effort forth now has to suffer under a guilty-by-association almost like a punishment they didn’t collectively deserve.

So, with all that said - I have to be transparent about my ignorance. I do not know who Roseanne was talking about - I do not watch cable tv, I do not overwhelm my heart and mind and soul with the herculean amount of bad news and bad stories that are just…. almost robotically informed to the public. Like…do news anchors stop and just friggin have mental breakdowns due to the overwhelming amount of just nonstop negative stories that they have to constantly share?..I mean dang. Anyway, back to my point..

I don’t know who she was talking about, but I will tell you I saw the photo of the lady and I didn’t even think the joke was funny (it’s just downright mean, Roseanne). I know that Roseanne, and a lot of people, may have animosity or a lot to say towards like different people, or just anyone who may have a different belief or like different point-of-view (or I guess different way-of-life), but yeah, it’s completely wrong to just start making fun of someone’s appearance over whatever personal prejudice or personal bigotry or anti-whatever - it’s just like this: Be Good & Be Nice. It kinda goes back to the fundamentals of the household - If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say it at all - I guess this is a lesson for all of us to keep in mind. Roseanne Barr is a household-name, she is very well-known, her fame is never going away, even with this stupid thing that happened (Anyone remember that whole Baseball/National Anthem uproar?) - Roseanne has been through a lot and a person of her intelligence and strength (especially Spiritually - She believes in God and she’s like very prominent about her religious beliefs) so she will continue to create important messages in her lifetime.

As far as the negative impact her words created - she has to heal the wounds. Either way it’s none of my business - I actually just watched the last 3 episodes of season 10, Kim and I had forgotten about them due to life happening.

So - after finding out about the upsetting remarks, and then that the show was cancelled very quickly afterwards (duh) - I watched the last three episodes of season 10 - and I still enjoyed the story. The very last episode, I believe, was a perfect ending for The Conners’ story. Roseanne’s Masterpiece is Complete.

The last episode was so profoundly meaningful, for myself as a viewer, let alone watching it with Kim (who of course was crying because it’s our favorite show). The funny thing is, I thought the last episode was completely fitting despite the fact that it was not planned to be the last episode.

The original last episode, back in season 9, was very heart-wrenching - especially with the fictitious death of Dan Conner - who is like the quintessential All-American Male (OH YEAH! John Goodman you are a blessing - God Bless you, Sir!) and that left a very powerful impact for me as someone who truly admired the show from beginning to end. You know, my favorite seasons are still like Season 1 & 2. I feel the same way about Home Improvement - which I still believe to this day deserves a full-fledged comeback season too - I mean yeah - it could happen. Anyway back to Roseanne - this show was very special in it’s initial stages. The Conners are not only a reflection of the average American Family, but they are a reflection of how American folk actually behave in a general sense - very hard-working, very smart, very big hearts, and very big dreams.

The struggle for the common family is the main concept of Roseanne, and yes it’s from her own unique perspective, but she had come out with full force in honor of Mothers and Wives across the land. It was a BEAUTY. It still is. Those seasons are still true - although it’s all a fantasy - there’s real pain and sorrow and real joy and bliss throughout these episodes.

The Conners represent American Values and the growing pains of us all who have had to work and earn our keep and also open our narrow points of view to concepts outside of our comfort zones (without having to compromise our free-will or beliefs). The show is very much like a photo album, or an energetic snapshot of how each of our respective homes have been - maybe that’s why the show clicks so easily for an average person who doesn’t come from like riches and wealth - and even then - I’m sure an obvious socialite could still at least identify with the personal growth and struggles of at least one of the characters. Whether it’s Bev being chastised by Jackie and Rosie for being too much of a judgmental hoity-toity kinda basket case (with the sweetest intentions) - or if it’s Dan throwin’ a hammer through dry-wall due to coming to terms with his own mortality as a man.

This show is powerful. The performances are spot-on. The quality is there. If this show wasn’t so damn lovable then why would people not cry over these stories and these genuinely damn fine acting performances (from everyone, even down to simple featured extras). There’s a lot of talent that was either on the show or in the behind-the-scenes - that have all gone on to work on other successful projects. Roseanne has so much sway. She carries so much influence because people believe in her. I still believe in her. I don’t believe she would go out of her way to try to hurt others - Granted - I did recall watching a video online of Tom Arnold saying “You know, Roseanne the person and the character are 2 different people - She and ABC should apologize to the American Public” - and I saw that back when it was like her 3rd or 5th episode into the last season (so maybe this is karmic debt for Roseanne? God only knows dude).

Either way - the show is still amazing and you can’t take away the incredible accomplishments & achievements of everyone involved (even people who just don’t care about it anymore - which is cool too - because at the end of the day it is purely entertainment).

It’s astonishing to witness such a social outburst from American citizens - I’m like - dude there are worse things that come out of her mouth on her friggin tv show that people seem to just laugh and forgive instantly (for the sake of their own entertainment)…however funny - sometimes ya gotta make the choice between good and bad taste. I don’t agree with what she said. I think she mouthed-off and obviously displayed her own ignorance & obnoxiousness simultaneously and then thought about it afterwards. I forgive her.

I think it’s important to display a certain sense of forgiveness and mercy - obviously she already had her show pulled from her - but she is human. She’s not perfect by any means, neither am I, and I would never choose to play Devil’s advocate, I would only want to help sustain the legacy of not only her but of John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Alicia Goranson, Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman, Natalie West, Sarah Chalke, Glenn Quinn, Johnny Galecki, Estelle Parsons, Martin Mull, Michael O’Keefe, and the list goes on… There’s a lot of people who still believe in the values of what this TV Family symbolize & represent as the common family.

ABC was never the right place for Roseanne. Netflix would be so much more suitable - especially with the recent FOX buy-out situation that prompted Matt Groening of The Simpsons and Futurama to leave (uh yeah, Disney is trying to monopolize which is lame). I think whether or not Roseanne continues (with or without ABC) - the legacy remains strong.

To conclude, It kinda surprises me that people hold Entertainers & Comedians & Musicians to a higher level of consequences (especially in a sociological standpoint) in comparison to other aspects of society. It’s like… to me… it just seems odd that Entertainers are treated like Political Leaders, and Political Leaders are treated like Entertainers. Isn’t that Odd to anyone else? Either way, I digress. God Bless the efforts of every person, especially Sara Gilbert, who really seemed to genuinely put their hearts, souls, minds, and their Faith into their work in telling the story of the contemporary family in American society. I thank all of those people from the bottom of my heart. All good things must come to an end I suppose. In the end - no one is Perfect. I’m not. You’re not. Roseanne definitely is not (lol), but you show me someone who is perfect (other than God) and I will call them a liar. We’re all in this together people. Stay Strong.

-ATOMIK 1

“Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.”

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