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manifestoonmoralmanlove · 3 years

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What will be in my bag? Pre-ordered Manga. Straight and Lez edition.

Here’s a list of English-released manga I’ve currently got on pre-order, and manga series I ordered before but won’t be continuing with the series.

As a note: Some of these titles have been released but I have not received them yet due to a issues with covid backlog effected how things are released. I personally find that if you pre-order it tends to get you manga quicker. It seems there is more pressure to keep up with the new release schedule than chip away at the backlog.

I’m starting with the stuff I’ve already read some of and confirmed enjoyment, then stuff I’m shooting in the dark for, and finally series I have tried recently and have discontinued.

Heteros

My Androgynous Boyfriend

Story & Art by: Tamekou Publisher: Seven Seas

It is rare for straight shit to end up in my library but My Androgynous boyfriend is an exception that will surprise no-one since it’s pretty queer adjacent. This story is mostly a couple being lovey-dovey between jokes about sexuality and gender but (so far) isn’t problematic at all. The female lead is quite enjoyable as she’s well-balanced and has agency throughout. There’s even ace representation! It’s very low-stakes, wholesome, and sweet so far. (Volume 3 is set to release in November.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

Yuri/Lesbian

Even Though We’re Adults

Story & Art by: Takako Shimura Publisher: Seven Seas

Takako is also the creator of Sweet Blue Flowers and Wandering son. I have dipped by toe in to both those series. I overall find their writing kinda meandering and tepid (might just be me) but technically pretty solid. I am hopeful for this series since it features adults....if the title didn’t make it obvious. I was intrigued by the one character being married but the man finding out about the affair quickly and reacting more realistically and interestingly than the average male love interest in a Yuri. I also found myself relating at bit to Akari’s angst about being unlucky with relationships with women. I also do enjoy the artwork! This one is the most likely of my followed series to be dropped at some point. (Volume 2 of this manga was set to release in June this year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

For more click the jump!

Kase-san and Yamada

Story & Art by: Hiromi Takashima Publisher: Seven Seas

This is a series I keep going back to. While it is the very typical low-stakes bubbly, cutesy School age Yuri...it is a very good version of that. Just warm bubble bath vibes. (Volume 7 is set to release in February of next year. I think it was originally supposed to be released this May but was bumped back.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

NOW ONTO THE SERIES I HAVEN’T READ BUT I’M TAKING A CHANCE ON!

Adachi and Shimaura

Art: Moke Yuzuhara Story: Hitoma Iruma Publisher: Yen Press

This, as I understand it, is a slow-burn romance about two delinquent girls. I have heard good things about the novel and the anime series! However I prefer manga to novels and don’t have a funimation account so I went to snag it in manga form. (Volume 1 was set to release in February this year and 2 in September)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

The Girl I want is so handsome!

Story & Art by:Yuama Publisher: Seven Seas

The premise is a young lady has a crush on a handsome older girl who’s oblivious to her advances. When she tries to confess she instead gets roped into being the club manager of the basketball team that her crush is a part of. So it feels like it may end up cycling through 2 jokes and be so deep in the stereotypical manga bullshit you can easily-predict its beats volumes in advance. HOWEVER that is also a premise that is similar to Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun which is legitimately a hilarious series. Also I fucking love butch/stud/masc-presenting women/AFAB people. So I’m willing to risk “The same Anime bullshit” for good jokes and a cute lezzy romance with a beautiful butch. (Volume 1 is set to release of December of this year.)

My Excitement Level: Pretty nervous actually. I hope it works out!

Monologue Woven for You

Story & Art by: Syu Yasaka Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gives up on a career in theater gets tangled in a relationship with a woman passionately pursuing theater. Since it is set between college age women, and appears to be about more personal and mature themes I am interested. (Volume 1 I BELIEVE is supposed to be released in February of next year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

Mizuno and Chayama (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Yuhta Nishio Publisher: Yen Press

Two daughters of feuding families meet in secret. This is by the same author of After Hours. I read a bit of After Hours and found it fine but boring since it seemed without conflict. Conflict doesn’t seem to be in short supply with a story like this! While I enjoy the sugary-sweet high school lesbian romances...those are not in short-supply. So I am always hungry for something darker, meatier, more mature. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

5 Seconds Before The Witch Falls In Love

Story & Art by: Zeniko Sumiya Publisher: Seven Seas

It appears to be a playful fantasy about a Witch and Witch-hunter who’s antagonism turns romantic. This may end up one note and stupid...but I’m always hear for queer romances set in high-fantasy and I haven’t read a Yuri where rivals turns to lovers. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)

My Excitement Level: Low-key

Catch These Hands! (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Murata Publisher: Yen Press

A former delinquent runs into her high school rival. After losing a fight to her she agrees to her terms...her terms being to go out on a date with her. I mean the title alone makes me want to pick it up! It may run afoul of bad anime humor, but I’m hoping with the fact that it’s full of gay adult delinquents that it’ll be a little different. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)

My Excitement Level: Medium-key

Series I have discontinued:

I’m in love with the Villainess

Art by: Aonoshimo Story by: Inori Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gets reborn into her favorite Otome game but she wants to romance the villiain! I had heard a ton of great things about the novel but I picked up the manga version. (If the novel is totally different I can’t speak to it.) For me, the writing is ham-handed, the jokes flop 90% of the time, and the fact the lead’s only personality trait seems to be ~obsessed with a bully~ really dampens this title. Her advances are so aggressive and unwanted I honestly started feeling bad for a spoiled rich bully. I will say it’s saving grace is the fact that the lead is masochistically into the villainess’ tsundere abusiveness. For me I hate tsundere romances if framed like, “I like you DESPITE your insults.” It is only tolerable if it’s instead, “I like you cause you tell it like it is. I’m a dirty little pig. Please step on this bad little piggy!”

Our Teachers are Dating

Story & Art by: Pikachi Ohi Publisher: Seven Seas

Well one reason I stopped the series is that cover you see up there. The sex in this series is fade to black but FOR SOME REASON the 3rd cover has them both butt naked. But on a less superficial note, the story is about two teachers who start dating. And while cute at points, I was just underwhelmed. I think a part of it, is the fact that this behaves like a stereotypical high school romance...and while set in a high school...these are grown ass women not 15 year olds. So I have less patience with the, “Gosh when will I get to kiss my girlfriend?” bullshit. I mean, I would hesitate to call it bad...but it’s just not a good version of it’s brand of bullshit.

Breath of Flowers

Story & Art by: Caly Publisher: Tokyopop

Absolute train-wreck, this is hands down the worst Yuri I have ever bought. The story is nonsensical and all over the place. There is a love rival who’s trying to break the two of them up so she can get with Gwyn...but then switches mid-gear to put in a lot of effort to bring them together intentionally...but she also still wants to hook up with Gwyn...it’s very ???????????? The main conflict of Gwyn is hiding their gender so they can play basketball on the boy’s team (not well explained) is built up hugely and resolved with a hand flick. There is a melodramatic moment where a school nurse says more or less, “GIVE IT UP YOU’LL NEVER BE A BOY!” And it’s like “OH SHIT! The fact that Gwyn is on the basketball team is cause he’s a transboy trying to live life as a boy! Oh gosh it makes so much more sense now!” But the author seems to not even know that trans people exist cause the story bumbles along as if that scene never happened. The closest we get is at the end Gwyn is like, “Look I’m learning to do make-up on myself to make you happy lawl!” Which is I GUESS supposed to be, “NO NO DON’T WORRY ALL OF GWYN’S GENDER STUFF WAS JUST THERE TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER SEXUALLY CONFUSED WHEN SHE DISCOVERS GWYN’S TRUE GENDER! HER TRUE GENDER IS 100% CIS WOMAN CAUSE SHE DID MAKE-UP ONCE! IT’S FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!” Like whaaaaaaaaat? And it ends on a very random scene which doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the story. Ugh just very bad do not interact!

A White Rose in Bloom

Story & Art by: Asumiko Nakamura Publisher: Seven Seas

At an all girls catholic school a young woman falls for a mysterious foreign student. I grabbed this cause it’s gay and I overall like Asumiko Nakamura’s work (she also does Doukyusei, double mints, and others.) However I was just not grabbed with this title. I just felt like I wasn’t getting what was making the MC pants on head obsessed with Steph. Also the lead’s mother tells her that she’s getting divorced and therefore will no longer have money to pay for the university and she’s framed like a super bad person for this. Like I get why the MC (a teenager) would think that something like that is THE END OF THE WORLD! But I remember them really framing the mom like a selfish bitch for this...when like...it’s well established that her mom and dad’s relationship has been toxic for YEARS and that they TRIED SO HARD to fix it. OH WELL! This might be good but it just didn’t grab me in the 1st volume.

I’ll make a post on the BL titles later! Take care and Stay Rotten!

#preorder #my androgynous boyfriend #kase-san and yamada #even though we're adults #Adachi and Shimaura #the girl I want is so handsome #white rose in bloom #our teachers are dating #breath of flowers #catch these hands #I'm in love with the villainess #Mizuno and Chayama #monologue woven for you #5 seconds before the witch falls in love

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nathandiaz · 4 years

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Nathan:

Nathan looked at the pictures before him, there was a stack of them, nearly fifty. He always liked to have them printed in front of him to be able to better determine the quality. He threw one after the other aside, after all these years in the business he fully trusted his gut instinct, if a picture did catch his eye at the immediate moment he saw it, it had to be trashed. This didn't mean it was a bad picture, it just meant it didn't fit the story or the newspaper. The pile of possibly acceptable pictures was on the other side of the stack, currently holding three pictures. The pictures were of some mansion outside the town which was currently on sale, making it the most expensive house available in the county. The daisy fields surrounding it were amazing and Nathan grew a little sad he would never own a house like that. Just as he got near the end of the stack of pictures, having selected just one more that was acceptable, he suddenly noticed a picture that was quite different from the rest. It was one of Kota herself. And not just a selfie either, it was her in the field of daisies, without any clothes and with the daisies covering her up in all the right places, or rather, all the wrong places. Nathan stared at the picture for a little too long before giving a small cough. "This.... is a lovely picture, great lighting and subject, great camerawork as well, but I don't think we can publish this" he said, flipping over the picture for her to see.

Dakota:

This wasn't exactly what she wanted to do with her photography skills, or at least where she wanted to use them, but it was a good gig, the thing she had going with the Edgewater Daily. Taking pictures for their stories, at the very least, she was getting experience and could use them as references. She still managed to take pictures outside of that, which were on her own accord and... more often than not, with herself as the model. The location of her latest shoot was beautiful and what she enjoyed the most was being in the middle of that daisy field, wind rustling them gently, and just the peacefulness she felt there. Still, she got many pictures of the mansion and surrounding area, only a few that included her dog in the frames for an aesthetic look. Kota was watching Nathan a little anxiously, it still freaked her out sharing her pictures with people, even if she was being paid for them. Savannah, her sister, hadn't seen anything Kota had taken in years. The younger Moore daughter made some excuse about the stars not being in the right position before dashing off before her sister could do anything to see the prints she'd brought to Nathan. What Kota assumed to be the good pile of pictures was small and it made her fidget some with the fraying of her jeans, picking at the fabric before Nathan cleared his throat after a moment. She beamed for a moment, smile pressing her lips over her teeth until he turned the last picture around and it was her. Shit. she thought, blinking a couple of times as she looked at the picture. "Ahh, yeah, that wasn't meant to be in there," she admitted, blushing only slightly while she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and meeting his gaze. "But I'm glad you like it..."

Nathan:

He smiled at her reaction. "No I figured as much. Then again, I'm paying per published picture, so what you do with your time is your choice." He took his favorite picture of the house from the stack of four he had deemed acceptable. "so we'll publish this one". Just as he was about to hand the other pictures back to her he took another look at the picture of herself. "you know what, I think we can also keep this one for in the backlog, should we ever have use for it" he said, a deviant smile on his face before placing the picture inside a drawer in his desk.

Dakota:

Dakota watched Nathan curiously, though her cheeks were certainly warm and colored pink, it wasn't a shade of shame but excitement. She shifted in her seat, nodding that she understood before her gaze dropped to the picture he had picked to be published. It was her favorite one. "I really love that one," she said in a somewhat eager tone, the fact that he had picked it made Kota smile before her eyes snapped up to meet his again, brow arching as she watched him tuck away the photo of her in his desk drawer. The blonde's smile grew and she dropped her one leg from her lap to stand and put her palms on his desk, glancing up at him through her lashes Kota smirked and rolled her shoulder in a slight shrug, head lulling to the side a little before she shifted forward to start absently pawing through the other three photos. "-- oh? you're going to lock away my picture in the backlog?" she pouted just slightly, shaking her head a little. "If that's the case, I'm going to charge double for the injustice to art."

Nathan:

He raised his eyebrows at her as she stood up, he loved how confident she was with her own body. He was certain the picture being there had been a genuine mistake, not some ploy by her. He sat back in his chair, blatently looking her up and down, studying her like had done the pictures before, letting letting his sight linger on some of her... perks. "Double huh? I'm not sure it's actually worth that much..." he said, trying poorly to hide the lie.

Dakota:

The blonde blinked a couple times before she scoffed out a laugh and glanced away. When Kota returned her gaze to meet Nathan's wandering one, it was a little more intense than she'd been a few moments prior. "Sure, it may not be the best one I took, but it's certainly worth more than what you pay for the newspapers usual requests," Kota gestured to the other photos on his desk and straightened her posture, putting her right hand on her hip. "-- so yeah, double." Kota smirked, perhaps a little too arrogantly than she should have. "Otherwise I'll have to take it back."

Nathan:

Nathan grinned at her intense insistence and arrogance. "Well, as much as I'd love to see you try and take it back, I think we can work something out... Though now you do have me curious about the other pictures you took. Which one would you consider the best?" He rolled his chair back a bit further and placed his feet on his desk, smiling at her, never breaking eye contact. He wouldn't let himself be intimidated by her.

Dakota:

Once again Dakota arched her brows, only this time she couldn't help the laugh that exited her mouth, brushing past her curious and confident smirk. "It's so cute you think I won't try to get it back," Kota said, glancing from Nathan to his drawer, calculating the actions she'd need to take in order to beat him in opening the drawer. She couldn't make it, she knew, but perhaps she could play another angle. Kota returned her gaze to Nathan and smiled knowingly, swaying her torso some as she absently played with some of her hair against her shoulder, contemplating. "There is this one..." she started, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth briefly to nibble at it before she continued. "You'll have to work a little harder if you want to know about the best one."

#ft dakota #edgewaterhidden #Source: Discord #Ignore this one

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asparklethatisblue · 4 years

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Writing Round Up 2019

I guess I do write enough for one of those. So here we go:

Dragon Age:

A Cat’s Tenth Life (T - Dorian/The Iron Bull)

After a misfired spell Dorian finds himself in the possession of a freshly resurrected undead cat. Everyone is charmed and in love with the new addition to Skyhold - except the Iron Bull.

An illustrated fic of life in Skyhold with the presence of a spirit cat.

This was a collaboration with my good boy @hattedhedgehog (they did the art, the editing, and we brainstormed together). It’s a very cute little story with some slice of life and cat ghosts

The War Table (T - Dorian/The Iron Bull, Cullen/Inquisitor Lavellan)

Dorian decides to seize the moment and have some sneaky fun time on the War Table with Bull. Little does he know...he's not the first to have that idea.

A very short one shot, crack too

Licking Qunari and Other Bad Ideas (E - Arishok/Hawke)

Years of admiration and mutual attraction lead to Hawke and the Arishok striking up a hesitant affair. Predictably, things don't go smoothly at any point whatsoever.

An entire fic based on “what if someone accidentally licked the poison vitaar on Qunari skin” and a joke in the very final scene. Also the Arishok is hot and I will not be taking criticism at this moment

A Truth Found in Freedom (G - Dorian/The Iron Bull)

Skyhold becomes the home of a new group of Tal Vashoth, including a number of children. As Dorian and Bull grow closer to them, they must confront what family means to them, and what they might want from the future.

Once again a collaboration with Harry, in the same manner as before. A kidfic including adoption, character study, and lots of original characters. I originally got the idea when seeing a critique about the usual tropes in “Dorian and Bull adopt a Qunari child” and I really wanted to come up with a story that’s as close to what might actually happen as possible

Good Omens:

Let Sleeping Snakes Lie (G - Crowley/Aziraphale)

Aziraphale confesses his love for Crowley when he can contain it no longer. Oh, not to the demon himself of course. To a sleeping snake.

A fic I wrote after not sleeping all night and then going to uni super early. It’s based on one of my favourite romance scenes from one of my favourite movies (Stardust)

An Arrangement of Convenience (E - Crowley/Aziraphale)

Aziraphale works to purchase a bookshop space, but currently being a woman-shaped creature has its drawbacks when faced with rude property owners. The most obvious solution is to get Crowley to act as his husband and deal with all that nonsense, of course.

So anyone who followed me for longer than a couple weeks knows that I’m absolutely head over heels for “Aziraphale presents as a lady in the 18th century) and I do so love romance stories and bodice rippers and so on. The fake married fic in which they are really enjoying the make believe

Fractured Heart (T - Crowley/Aziraphale)

Angels are sturdy beings, but rigid and changeless and not meant to endure grief or loss. When thousands Fall and many more are slain in the Great Rebellion, they either literally break apart...or forget. Aziraphale's only memories of his lost beloved are his lover's skill at creating stars. Memories he cherishes above all else. It complicates matters when his heart starts attaching to a certain demon, but perhaps his time on earth can teach him how to heal.

My only multichapter fic for Good Omens (so far?). I really got stuck on the idea of angelic marks being their scars, and it’s mostly character study and Aziraphale’s relation with grief and human capacity to change

Spread Thy Wings (E - Crowley/Aziraphale)

After everything they've been through, Crowley worries that he might accidentally get Aziraphale sick with each loving touch, now that they are together at last. After all a demon has Hell all over their body, and Hell's touch is harmful to angels. So while he works on a solution for that problem he can at least keep an eye on the state of Aziraphale's wings to make sure he's not hurt.

Aziraphale, meanwhile, gets the dawning suspicion that Crowley might indeed have a wing kink.

Sometimes I enjoy a trope a lot (Crowley worrying about the effect of his affection on Aziraphale) and then really want to do my own spin on it. I tried to do this as angst free as possible for Crowley at least

Forfeit (G - Crowley/Aziraphale)

Aziraphale decides to teach Crowley a few Victorian party games, and Crowley learns about sneaky ways to flirt within a society based on yearning and repression.

honestly looking up Victorian social conventions is the best inspiration

The Invention of the Salacious Selfie (E Crowley/Aziraphale)

Crowley invented the selfie. And right before doing that he invented the Dick Pic.

Secure in his knowledge that Aziraphale does not in fact own a mobile phone capable of displaying such images Crowley ends up sending dozens of saucy images. It's not like the angel can receive and look at them after all, or access the backlog should he ever get a phone. Right?

I just... needed to do something silly

The Hobbit:

Thutratur (G Nori/Dwalin)

Without a mountain over his head Nori grew up with the stars above him. Good thing he's quite fond of them then.

Will I ever calm down about Nori and star symbolism? No

The Princess and the Thief (G - Nori & Dís, Nori/Dwalin)

After an attempt to warn the royal family about an impeding burglary Nori ends up befriending princess Dís quite on accident. Despite their unusual first meeting and the differences between them it ends up lasting through the decades.

A collection of scenes in the lives of Dís and Nori

Slice of Life, in a way, I always liked to imagine that Nori is friends with someone in the royal family, especially Dís.

#my fic #writing round up 2019

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purrincess-chat · 4 years

Note

27 29 37

27. How do you feel about collaborations?

Is this an offer? XD I’m open to them. I’ve very nearly collaborated with a couple friends before on some stuff, but they ended up falling through cause we kept getting side tracked with our personal wips or busy with real life. But technically the Big Bang was a collab, and I managed to do that even if my partner dropped out…I don’t have a good track record, but I wouldn’t mind doing one. Guess it depends on the person it’s with.

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Oh jeez this is tapping into my very limited fic history. Uhhh *glances at smudges on hand*

So, one of my favorite fics that I actually kept up with and read each update as it came out was Turn Loose the Mermaids, and I would totally write a sequel where Marinette and Chat live a really wholesome and domestic life together. Marinette figures out how to cook, but she can only cook one thing, and gdi if Chat isn’t gonna eat it until he dies because she looks so proud every time and he’s a weak bitch.

37. Talk about your current wips.

As if you have to ask

Oh god, which ones? I have so many. Obviously I’ve been working on Will You Be My (Fake) Lover? this week cause I’m trying to finish up this chapter so I can post it (hopefully tomorrow). I have Kill Em With Kindness which I intend to continue working on soon. Trying to finish up the fake dating AU first so I can get it out of my system cause KEWK is more platonic Adrinette, but I want them to kiss, dammit!

I am really close to finishing Marinette and the Lost Temple. I commissioned that art of fox!Marinette from that AU recently in hopes of pushing myself to finish. It only has two chapters left, and the chapter I’m on is the painful one (which is probably why I’ve put it off). I did start working on it this week as well though. I think once I get through with this chapter of WYBM(F)L? I’ll focus on it.

Moves Like Jagged is one I really want to get back into because chaotic good Jagged is so, so fun to write. I love him. I really like writing chaotic characters for some reason. Kim, Jagged, arguably Chloe at times. I don’t know what that says about me as a person that I enjoy them so much, but it’s fun!

I played myself a couple months back cause I was rereading over Lady Luck when I was kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to work on again soon after I finished MDCSP, and I got to the end of what I have written and was like ‘where’s the rest? the fuck?’ then I was like oh jeez, I wrote this, I have to write more, oh nooo.

In summary: I’m really sorry to all of my readers for the frequency with which I bounce around stories and leave perfectly good stories on hold for eons. I’ll get back to them, I swear. I think in general since Chameleon aired last year I got swept up in a fix-it surge because s3 was…well, *ahem* so a lot of my AUs that I was working on prior got dropped, but now that s3 is over and I’m taking a break in s4, I’m gonna clear out my backlog of spite fics and fix-its for s3 and then dive back into my AUs. We got like no hiatus between s2 and s3, so I’m hoping that s4 gives us a good break cause I have shit to work on man. This was what? 5 of my WIPs? Yeah, cute I have 22 right now, and those are just the ones published on AO3. I have at least 15 more ideas backlogged, and about 5 of those that I’ve started. My mind is a prison. Pleas send help.

#cat replies #asks #writer ask game

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honeymoonjin · 5 years

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enjoy your stay - chapter two

A/N I finished a little early, so I figured I might as well put it out there and get working on chapter three!

ENJOY YOUR STAY ↳Boss!Namjoon, Chef!Jin, Receptionist!Hoseok, Bellboy!Jimin, Bartender!Jungkook, Accountant!Yoongi, Photography student!Taehyung ↳Some inappropriate language and cursing. Later chapters will have sexual content.

SUMMARY ↳Working the graveyard shift at a hotel isn’t the most exciting job in the world, but your coworkers are certainly happy to have you here.

CHAPTER TWO ↳Settling into your new job certainly takes time. Luckily, you’re getting on with the other workers. The only problem is your newest guest.

You had been working at the hotel for a little under two weeks now, 7 nights a week, and while you were getting used to the actual work, the upside-down sleep schedule was another thing.

You weren't usually one for coffee, but you found if you got it from the cafe down the road that had a million different flavoured syrups, you could disguise the bitter liquid as you inhaled it by the litre. Sleeping during the day was just plain weird, and it was probably naive of you to expect a smooth transition to a nocturnal timetable.

That being said, the warm, caring boss of yours was doing his best to ease the change, even once going so far as to let you take a nap in his office - while he was still working in there, no less - when you felt like you were about to fall asleep on your feet.

So far, the workload had been pretty straightforward, but as you would quickly come to learn, every night was different. Your regular tasks were mostly just checking up on everything and everyone, and passing along any messages between staff.

When Jin decided mid-dinner service to tweak the menu for the following night, he couldn't exactly leave and go find Namjoon to tell him. When Hoseok ran out of printer paper, he couldn't just walk away from the reception desk, as empty as the lobby may seem. That was the main reason why Namjoon had to hire a night manager. He found it impossible to be in a million places at once while trying to do his own work.

Your first couple of weeks so far had been you checking up on each of the six staff members (five, really, since you hadn't seen Yoongi since your first night) every two hours, and helping Namjoon out in the office with filing in between.

Currently, at 5am, two hours before you were free to go home and fall in a pile on your bed again, you were cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by haphazard piles of paper. Namjoon was at his desk, gazing intensely at his computer screen, fingers hovering over the keys. While his work was in dealing with current issues like payrolls, bookings, and maintenance, you had been tasked with the backlog of files. Namjoon, while a pretty organised guy in most aspects, had no respect for chronological and alphabetical ordering.

He had shown you a cupboard in the back of his office, with a stack of aging paper the height of a small child leaning dangerously to one side, and asked that you create a filing system.

Here you had been for the past three days, relishing the two-hourly break where you could work out the creaking in your knees and stare at something other than black ink on a white page. It wasn't difficult work, just menial and time-consuming. The paper-heap was a heavy mix of printouts of important emails, photocopies of Yoongi's financial reports, receipts, and, oddly enough, a smattering of Christmas cards every now and then to mark that you had trawled through another year of paperwork.

The pile in the cupboard was finally dwindling, but now your new task was to work out a way to put all the assorted categories away. As it was, every time one of you wanted to leave the office, you had to tiptoe your way through stacks of paper littering the carpet.

You groan and let out a stretch, wincing as you feel the vertebrae in your back and neck click. "Namjoon, I might need to pop down to the office stationery store to get some filing boxes. I think it'll take me the rest of the night to finish up the last of it and then put them away."

He blinks tiredly at you. "The office store closes at 5pm. You missed it by twelve hours."

You yawn. Yup, definitely not used to the nocturnal schedule.

He twitches his eyebrows. "Actually, you could pop down to the accounts firm. It's a two minute drive, and they've got a stationery cupboard. If I gave Yoongi a call, he could set some stuff aside for you."

"Oh, you don't have to wake him for that. I can go another time," you offer, shuffling out of your cross-legged stance to stretch out your legs, wiggling your feet back and forth.

He lets out a laugh that sounds more like a hum. "You don't know Yoongi very well. If you want to sleep, he's probably awake." He pauses. "And vice versa, actually." Namjoon sits up in his office chair and starts punching in a number on his desk phone. After a few moments of silence, his face lightens when someone speaks on the other end.

They share a brief conversation, you too sleepy to pay much attention, and you jump when something falls into your lap. A set of keys on a worn leather keyring. You look up at Namjoon in confusion.

"Take the company car," he explains, "looks more official than you showing up in your Corolla to sneak into the firm." He gives you a tired grin.

You nod affirmatively and pick your way out of the messy office.

The accounting firm is extremely large and well-off, which is probably due to the complete lack of competition in your small town. Surprisingly, there are at least six cars in the vast lot, and the building is totally lit up inside.

It's upon entering that you realise you have no idea where to actually go, so you awkwardly wander around the first floor until you find a young lady hunched over a computer in her tiny cubicle, and ask her where Yoongi worked.

Strangely, she guides you to the top floor of the building, even scanning her staff ID to be able to select the top floor on the elevator panel. Yoongi's office is massive, in the far corner of the floor, with his name engraved into the glass door.

You knock awkwardly, although it's not like he can't see you. He tilts his head to wave you in, then again at the chairs when you don't make a move to go further into the room.

Sitting on the plush armchair, you rub your eyes. "I'm just here to pick up some filing boxes for Namjoon?"

He gives you a small, bemused smile. "So you aren't just here for my company?"

"This is your company?" When he furrows his brow, you realise your mistake. "Oh man, I get what you mean now. I'm sorry, this new job has me tired all the time. I'm a little out of it, if you couldn't tell." Partly to emphasise your point, and partly to avoid his catlike stare, you lower your face and rub at your eyes.

He's silent for a moment, but then you hear his chair roll back and feel the warm weight of his hand on your shoulder. "I'll forgive you this time, sleepyhead. Here, I'll take you to our storage room."

The rest of your visit is filled with comfortable silence; you, too tired to make conversation, and him, probably wanting you to leave as soon as you could so he could get back to his own work. The rest of your shift goes quickly with that same silence, as you do one final round before leaving, drive home with your eyes as open as you can hold them, and collapse in your bed the moment you walk in your front door.

It's a little over six weeks before you see a single customer out and about between the hours of 11:30pm and 7am, and when it happens, you're completely bewildered. It's a young man curled up in the corner of one of the booths in the bar. He has a half-empty glass of some amber liquid, and a little bowl of nuts at the end of the table, and the space in front of him is covered by glossy photographs and a single, very expensive-looking camera.

You had almost forgotten what you were supposed to do when a customer was out of their rooms, and for a moment you hovered in the doorway, unsure whether you should ask him if he needed any help, or just not bother him at all.

In the end, it's Jungkook that makes the decision for you. "Oh, there you are! I have a message for you to pass on to Namjoon!"

The man looks up from the booth to see how Jungkook's speaking to, and you share a moment of eye-contact with him as you walk across the open space to the bar.

He's gorgeous. You selfishly hope that he's one of those customers that stays for a week or two, rather than overnight, in the hope that you get to see him again. His eyes stare deeply into yours, and it's you that looks away first. "What can I do for you, Jungkook?"

"Tell Namjoon Tae arrived."

You blink. "Is that a type of alcohol, or?"

Jungkook laughs. "What is it with you and assuming alcohol is on my mind 24/7? Just because I'm a bartender doesn't make me an alcoholic. No, Tae's that handsome gentlemen over there."

You can't help but sneak another look. The man in question, Tae, lifts his hand in a jaunty wave, but his face stays neutral, curious rather than overly friendly.

You nod at him and turn back to Jungkook. "Tae's here, got it. Anything else?"

Jungkook grins. "Tell him Tae is refusing to pay for his drinks."

"O- Oh. Do you need me to..." you trail off lamely, not sure what it is exactly you could possibly do about a customer refusing to pay.

"Force him to hand over his cold, hard cash? Feel free to try. I'd certainly love to see that."

You clear your throat in embarrassment, feeling the weight of Tae's gaze on you. "I'll go tell Namjoon," you muster, and hightail out of the bar.

Namjoon doesn't seem particularly shocked or concerned that there was a thief in the bar when you told him about your encounter. He just nods understandingly, and leans back deeper in his chair, swaying lazily back and forth.

"So, you know him then?"

His wry smile confirms it. "He's my little brother," he explains. "I give him free accommodation while he stays in school. He's doing a degree in fine arts, if you can believe it." He sighs. "Somehow he thinks it means everything in this hotel is free to boot. That punk."

"That's really sweet of you, Namjoon. I wish I had a brother like you, maybe I wouldn't have dropped out of uni."

He looks up at you in surprise. "I didn't know you went to uni."

"Well," you allow, "it's probably not a good look to put med school dropout on your resume."

"Med school, huh?" He gives you a soft smile. "I went to veterinary school, if you can believe it."

You think of his friendly disposition and caring nature. "I can, actually. It'll probably come in handy one day when Jin accidentally lets his fish of the day loose in the hotel."

He laughs for a few moments, but sobers up again. "Look, we have to put Tae in a different room from his usual because it's been booked already. Would you mind tracking him down and taking him to room 12? I'll set him up with a key tomorrow, well, today I guess, but for now he needs someone to unlock the door for him."

"Sure thing, boss." Your body is half out the door before he calls out to you.

"You don't have to call me boss, you know?"

You grin at him. "Sure thing, Joonie."

You leave before he gets the chance to take it back and stroll contentedly through the hallways, back the way you came. By the set-up Tae had before, you didn't imagine he had gone anywhere in the past few minutes.

You were right. He was still in his spot, Jungkook coming out from behind the bar with a bottle of something to top up the empty glass held in Tae's outstretched hand.

You intercept the bottle as its tipping, making sure the glass stays empty. Jungkook simply nods and pulls back, but Tae looks up when the pouring fails to commence and levels you with a heavy stare.

"Namjoon asked me to take you to your room. Room 12, this time."

He looks back at his elaborate set-up of pictures, then back at you slowly. "I'm busy, but thank you."

He nods meaningfully at Jungkook, who hesitantly holds up the bottle, but you hold your hand out to stop it again. "I know, and I'm sorry, but you need me to unlock the door for you for now, and I get off in twenty minutes."

"Then come back in twenty minutes."

"Uh... I would really prefer if you-"

"Relax, relax, I'm kidding." He shuffles up all the photos painstakingly slowly, disrupting their meticulously arranged display, and tucks them into a pocket of his camera bag. Once he's finished, he jerks his head at his empty glass with a cocky smirk on his face. "One for the road, if I may, ma'am?"

You shrug and shake your head. "Whatever, sure."

Jungkook pours two fingers into the glass, then disappears behind the bar. You stand, shifting your weight from one foot to the other, as Tae savours each mouthful, at long last draining the glass and standing up with his things.

You lead him to his room in silence, not in the mood to make your final few minutes of work go on any longer with his brand of nonsense. He doesn't notice, or chooses not to comment on, your brisk pace through the hallways.

When the pair of you arrive at the door, you unlock the door, and lean in to hold it open for him. Unlike most people who would try their best to shuffle in quickly without any necessary physical contact, he faces you as he slips his body past, breath hot on your face as he passes close enough for you to feel his camera bag push against your torso.

When he's in, you snatch your hand back and fail to say a proper goodbye before leaving.

The lobby is much closer than the service entrance, and so you take that way out in order to leave on time, forgetting to even let Namjoon know you were heading off.

You didn't know what it was specifically about Tae that made your blood boil, but you suspected it was the frustrating combination of an asshole that was devastatingly handsome. A man like that knew exactly what he was doing and how it would rile you up, but some part of you was still glad he was going to be hanging around for a whole semester. Maybe you were a sadist, maybe you were just sexually frustrated.

On your way out the lobby, Jimin is absent, but so is the luggage trolley, so you assume he must have hit the jackpot and got an actual customer for once. Unfortunately for him, it was also at the time he was meant to be heading off. An unfamiliar man in that familiar uniform and hat was hanging around the lobby couches waiting to take over.

Hoseok, however, was still at reception, although his legs were kicked up on the corner of the desk and he was stuffing his face with ramen from a takeout container. He lit up, cheeks full, and waved you over once he saw you.

Hoseok had a habit of making you hang around for ages whenever you did your rounds. Whenever he had anything that needed doing or messages that needed to be passed on, it always came with twenty minutes of backstory and digressions until he finally reached the original point. You couldn't ever get mad at him though, because he was just too lovely to you.

"Hey, muppet, you off?"

You gasp in mock surprise. "My goodness, Hoseok, what if a customer had heard you? They'd be outraged at your informality and they'd leave a one star review on Yelp!"

He narrows his eyes at you, shaking his chopstick like he's wagging a finger. "Don't be foolish. The customers don't come here for the hotel, they come here for my beautiful beside manner."

"You aren't a doctor, Hobi."

"In a way! Just instead of a surgeon of the body, I'm a surgeon of the...customer service."

You sigh at him. "If I understood what you were trying to say, perhaps I could've responded to it."

"Genius doesn't come to all of us, don't worry."

"Okay, Customer Service, MD., I'm going home to sleep off the memory of this conversation." You lean in and give him a side-hug, careful to avoid staining your dress shirt with his spicy breakfast.

"Bye bye, muppet. Maybe if Kyeong-eun arrives on time for once in her life, I can walk you out."

"You still owe me coffee for that one time I snuck out to get you a McFlurry. See you tonight, Hobi."

“See you.”

#bts scenarios #bts au #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts x reader #namjoon x reader #yoongi x reader #taehyung x reader #jungkook x reader #hoseok x reader #enjoy your stay

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the-art-of-animated-gifs · 6 years

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Bill Tavis: One of the originals

For some reason Bill Tavis never made it onto my radar despite being one of what I would call one of the original gif artists. He has made over 500 since 2010 and if you look at art on the internet for about 15 minutes you will probably see one of his trippy fractal gifs. I recently posted some of his new gifs on Cross Connect (his 3rd time being featured there) and he generously answered my questions and had especially thoughtful responses about gifs as art.

Where are you located? Where are you from?

I'm currently living in Austin, TX and grew up in Albuquerque, NM and moved around a few places in between

Do you have formal art training of any sort?

I got a Bachelor's Degree in Animation, and I have taken other classes in painting and programming. A lot of what I do is self-taught though. Also, I believe that you can learn techniques from others but that's only half of the puzzle. The other half is the inspiration and expression and those are things that just have to be felt.

What do you do for a living?

I self-publish fractal posters (www.mandelmap.com), I paint murals, and I sell fine art prints and do commissions

When did you start making gifs, and why?

I first started doing my halftone style back in 2005. It was all done by hand with ink on paper. Someone mentioned that it looked like a computer filter and so I thought I should actually make a filter, even though I didn't know how at the time, and I didn't think of animating it yet. At some point I saw a GIF of moving black and white lines, and I thought "what if those lines were changing thickness as well?" When I finally knew enough programming, right away I designed my halftone software to make looping animations, even though halftones are usually supposed to be for printing purposes. I didn't care because I was obsessed with the way the moving lines looked. I made my first halftone GIFs in 2010 but I didn't know where to upload them in that form, and so I converted them to video to share online. I also only made a few because my code was clunky and naive. In 2013 I improved my halftone software to the point where I could finally get really creative with it, and I also found Tumblr which seemed to be a great place for GIFs. Once I started it was like a faucet was opened, and I have made and uploaded more than 500 by this point.

What keeps you coming back?

I feel like this is my purpose and I think I have some interesting things to say, so I want to take an active part in culture and that requires constant work. My GIF output has slowed down in the last year but I haven't gone away, I'm just exploring new avenues of halftone expression! And there's now a backlog of GIFs wanting to get out of my brain so you can count on seeing more at some point!

What do you think about gifs as an Art Form?

GIFs are perfectly suited for looping animations, and I think loops are very artistic in nature because they don't have a beginning or an end. It's an infinitely suspended moving moment, rather than a finite linear progression like a movie. The lack of sound contributes to this quality. Also, GIF compression relies upon a limited color palette, so it is the perfect format for my halftone style because I am breaking things down into lines of just a few colors. GIFs are also cool because they are actually image files, not video. For those three reasons, I think the GIF format will continue to be relevant, and it has unique aesthetic characteristics that I've never seen in another medium.

Are you making money on your gif artwork?

I have had a couple commissions, but for the most part I haven't made money directly from my GIFs. It's so ephemeral that it's hard to monetize, and making money with the GIFs has never been my focus anyways, I always just wanted to put them all out there for free. I have paid my way with commercial art for a long time, so I saw just how much money can influence expression, and I wanted my halftone work to not have that influence. However I'm not against making money from it and I do make other things with my art that people can buy if they want to support me. Since my style is based on halftones, I have been able to turn some of my work into screenprints, as well as nicer engraved pieces, that you can find on my website https://billtavis.com

#Bill Tavis #Fractal #gif #gif art #gif aesthetic #art #animated art #animated artwork

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oceanfalls-official · 6 years

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Quick Q/A

I received some questions from a reader about Oceanfalls and the work that goes behind it, and decided that posting them publicly would be a good idea!

More under the cut.

Q1. How much of the story of oceanfalls did you have planned out before you started updating it? how fleshed out was whatever story you had?

A. I had the whole story planned, but not up to every small detail. To put it simply it is just key plot points I want to hit at certain intervals, but no detailed paths between them. Since I would usually be filling in the road from plot point A to plot point B using user commands, I never saw a need to plan everything to a T, if that makes sense.

As for the fleshing out, I know how it will progress (again - barring the small details) and how it will end, so yes it’s pretty fleshed.

Q2. Sorta the same question, but for characterization. How long has nino been an idea? has he gone a different direction than you first thought? What about aria? five? kotori? suvillan? corona? solis? door?

A. Hmm, if I'm speaking of when I first came up with these characters, then they're all several years old by now. Nino was the first one I drew, and I designed every other one in relation to him quickly after. Of course at the time it was nothing serious or good by any means, just random fantasy OCs I made as a teen.

If we’re speaking of since Oceanfalls started on MSPFA, all these characters were ready and unchanged. I added no major new characters or made any major changes to the personalities/designs of currently existing characters, since my plans before I started the comic.

As for the direction they're going in... Well, the last answer applies. It isn't much different from my initial plans and expectations as of late. If you asked teen me, then it's wildly different from what I would’ve made those days, mainly in that they’re now actual characters and not just some cool edgy OCs. p:

I think, overall, Oceanfalls isn't vastly different from the initial serious plans I made for it. It's only really different in that I've improved my writing and art since the planning stages, but that's about it. I have made no major change to the plot and plans yet, and I don't believe I will.

Q3. how much time per day/week do you spend working on oceanfalls?

A. I couldn't give you a per-week estimate, but I'll do per day. I usually have a backlog of sketches for future panels prepared in advance for several upcoming updates, which I sometimes revise by adding more or removing anything redundant.

I do my work all on lining and coloring the panels either the night before the update day, or during the update day itself. Generally it takes me six to eight hours to finish up the panels and draft up the text parts if I’m working on it nonstop. (Ex, the latest 17 page update in October took me around seven hours with no breaks).

I usually take an extra hour or so to reread the update draft a couple times, and make edits if needed before posting it. Sometimes, I miss some things or make some typos, which are usually pointed out to me by readers just as the update goes live, and I fix them ASAP. That's about it.

Q4. Are there any general or miscellaneous tips and tricks you could give me? Every bit helps.

A. Read more literature, it will make you a better writer. Always practice the skill you want to improve, art or writing or whichever. It does pay off but you will only notice the effects way way later, because we subconsciously take the small improvements for granted and don't notice them until they pile up and grow.

Also, always take notes of any idea you have, just do it. You can and WILL forget it, or even worse, you'll forget only bits of it and end up remembering a sub-par incomplete idea.

#FAQ #questions #QnA #mspfa #oceanfalls #ocf #asks

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immagettinmyshittogether · 5 years

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Worthwhile distractions

So I’ve been having a little trouble keeping up with some shit lately. A couple weeks ago I got hit with a MASSIVE cold/flu/something. So my diet went out the window in favor of chicken noodle soup and spicy food to clear my sinuses and whatever the heck comfort food I needed to get through the day. Considering how sick I was, honestly, I suspect that my body was burning more calories than normal anyway just to fight it off. And I don’t seem to have gained or lost much weight in the last few weeks, so I think my hypothesis is probably pretty close to true. But I was so sick that I honestly couldn’t think straight for several days. Of course, the days that I was the most sick were Friday through Sunday. So I didn’t miss any work. I just spend the entire next week sniffling and taking dayquil.

Needless to say, for the second time, I missed a writing deadline. My writing income has dropped considerably (which thanks to the two month delay in Amazon sales, I won’t notice until the end of January). Partly because of missed deadlines, I’m sure, but also partly because I think the series I’ve been working on just doesn’t have as big an audience as I thought it would. I was trying to shift from straight up smut to smutty romantic smut. It appears that for short-term and short story/serial publishing, the lowest common denominator might be a better thing to aim for. My sales have been practically nil, and my Kindle Unlimited reads have been a little below average. I haven’t had the heart to check my book rankings, but I know they’re lower than they were the last few months.

Author’s note/edit after posting - I realized that I hadn’t updated anything about last month’s sales. Last month jumped up to over 150. It was on target to hit 200 until Thanksgiving came around and I missed my first deadline.... then it kind of hit a stasis that week, and I basically didn’t earn hardly anything for the entire last week of the month. Still, I’m afraid to look at my current projected monthly income based on what I’ve made so far this month. It ain’t gonna be pretty.)

Then the shit kind of hit the fan at work. I work on a college campus, so these last few weeks of the semester are just kind of a run-up to the end. Always busier than usual, often with higher stakes in order to make sure shit gets done in time. So the next week after being sick has been one of the busiest and most stressful weeks of the semester. I’ll explain the details under the ‘keep reading’ line if you’re curious.

I did manage to get the story out late. So I still managed to publish once my brain was functioning. Unfortunately, I’m finding that at the moment, my usual after-day-job home environment isn’t really conducive to my current writing. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m writing smut, and I have trouble focusing on that with my spouse in the room. Or, more likely, it’s because my spouse has ADD and needs constant background things going on, like youtube videos or something, in order to concentrate. Whereas I don’t, and those things are distractions for me.

I’m wondering if I should just wrap up the various series that I have going now and call this experiment in writing a minimum of a short a week what is was: an experiment. But with winter vacation coming up for me, I will have the chance to sit at home and write without distraction for a few weeks. So I’ll at least try to catch up on my work then and get a good backlog to keep posting.

The pen name I was using for this smut is not one I ever planning on using to make a living. I was just using it to force myself to write something out of my comfort zone, get some experience writing on a long-term repeated deadline, and get a feel for online publishing.

I have learned a bit about serial publishing. And I’m starting to understand why all the old classic serial publishers tried to make things as salacious as they did. In the fast-paced world of publishing, the most important thing is just to grab people’s attention. After that you can worry about quality.

I also had another pen name that focused more on the romance side of things rather than the smut side of things... but that’s an entirely different market, and it generally requires a longer time investment and longer stories. And when all I can do at the moment while I’ve got my day job is about 5k words per week, the smut seemed to be the better option to focus on.

So this winter break might be a turnaround. A chance to try something else. Or a chance to at least finish up my work on one pen name.

But back to the now. this week, since the series I was working on was doing so badly, I decided to put it on hiatus and go back to one that I’d wrapped up the first arc and put on hiatus. The one that had caused my numbers to kinda explode last month. I had an idea for a nice little intro story that was not only holiday-themed, but would be able to stand alone months from now, and would work as a good introduction to the second arc. So I started churning along. I had a lot of stuff to do around the house to start getting ready for the holidays, but my spouse was going to be out of the house for about five hours on Saturday, so I decided to pace myself. Get half of it written Friday, half Saturday. And I was on track. I was about 3.8k words in on the ≈5k story. And I’d already found a suitable image to photomanip into a decent cover for publishing. (Something that often takes a while, sorting through image sites, finding something that fits what I need, but doesn’t run afoul of Amazon’s fear of butts on cover art. Just once, I want to find a picture of a sexy model who would look good on a smutty book cover who’s wearing regular underwear, and not a nigh-invisible thong. The problems of a smut writer.)

And then I got a message from a friend in need. I won’t go into too much detail, but it is someone who had just lost their job, suffers from severe anxiety and depression, and even if the big S word that so often goes along with situations like that hadn’t come up, I still would have done the same thing. I had pants on, brushed my teeth, and ran out the door in record time. (Even if said friend could afford a car, the anxiety issues are bad enough to make driving unhealthy and unsafe) And my spouse got home right around the same time we got back to our house. So we spent the night helping a friend in need. Needless to say, I really don’t feel too bad about missing the third deadline. Some shit is more important. My spouse and I may be super introverts who are terrible at most socialization related things... but even if we’re crap at helping a friend in need, we’re still going to try.

Right now, my spouse and I aren’t in the best place financially. I’m not in the best place health-wise. But I’m still working at it. I’m still getting my shit together. And as I was just reminded on Saturday, I’m not the only one. For everybody out there... if you have too much shit to handle, call a friend. Somebody. Anybody. As I mentioned, my spouse and I are NOT great at being sociable and helping people. We’re actually pretty terrible at keeping in touch. We hadn’t talked to this friend in a few months. But even we were able to help, just by being there and hanging out with someone who wasn’t safe to be alone.

Sometimes we can’t keep our shit together. And that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Sometimes all we can do is try to keep afloat and look for something to hold onto. And sometimes, we can be that something to hold onto for someone else.

... I still have a lot of shit to get done this week, though. After two weeks of neglect when I should have been preparing for holiday visitor (I was hoping for visitors plural, but c’est la guerre. Siblings are all on various coasts, and we can’t always find a way to get together. Especially since only two of the five of my generation can really AFFORD to travel), my house is a MESS. And I still have that story to finish.

Day job explanation time. My official job title on campus is ‘proctor’. Basically, it means two things: I administer makeup and online tests in my office/testing lab, and I keep copies of certain paper tests for a few departments on the smaller satellite campus where I work. There are two main departments that I mostly proctor tests for, one uses the computers in my lab, so all I have to do is check students in. But the other uses paper tests, and I proctor makeups for that department as well as provide the paper tests for the teachers to use in their class.

Unfortunately, the copier on my floor is showing signs of wear and tear. Once you get over about 50 pages in one sitting, it starts to overheat and jam. So this year, they decided to limit the number of pages per copy job to 50. And with good reason. Unfortunately for me, I need to copy rather large batches of tests. And I can’t go to the other copier several floors down, because 1) I can’t leave my lab for more than a few minutes at a time, in case a student comes by with a narrow time window before their next class to take a test, and 2) I’m only scheduled/paid/officially on duty during the lab hours, so I can’t stay late or come in early to do copies.

Needless to say, my first thought was to see if I could just send my print jobs off to the print shop on campus and have them do them all and deliver them. Unfortunately, I need a digital copy to send to them for that. And in spite of the fact that I requested this at the beginning of the semester... all I’ve gotten from that department are the practice tests, not the actual tests. And of course, the practice tests are small enough that I can copy those just fine.

So I’ve been breaking the rules and doing batches of 60-75 pages whenever I can. But that’s still only 15 copies at a time, and I need something like 400 copies of each test. And the copier is occasionally down for a day or so when something breaks and they have to wait to get the part to fix it. And Murphy’s law seems to be in full force, because when I need to refill my inventory, it’s always fine on the days that I have a steady stream of students in my lab, and down the days that I have a trickle and therefore plenty of time with no students so I can close up the lab for five minutes.

The finals, of course, are 8-10 pages each, depending on the class. Which means that I can literally only do 5 copies at a time if I follow the rules. And there’s a hard deadline as to when I need to make sure that I have enough for every teacher. That deadline, of course, being after the last few weeks of classes, when students realize that they REALLY need to get in to take that makeup test and raise their grade before it’s too late.

Thankfully, the department actually got around to sending me a digital version of the finals. So I sent those off to the print shop, several weeks ahead of the due date, and I set the deliver due date as last Thursday at the latest, since I don’t work Friday, and I knew some teachers were letting students who couldn’t be there for the final take their test on Thursday or Friday before finals week. I gave them explicit instructions to deliver it to my lab, warned them that the lab is locked for test security reasons while I’m not there, told them where to get the key, and asked them to email me if, for any reason, they couldn’t deliver the tests.

I got to my lab in the morning to find... no delivery. I checked the support ticket. It said that they were finished 9 days ago... but neither one actually had a digital signature of who finished it. That day just so happened to also be the busiest test day of the semester. The department that uses computer tests in my lab had a final due date for the last chapter that day, so every semester that is always my busiest day. So as soon as I was relieved for my fifteen minute break, instead of taking my break, I ran downstairs to see if perhaps they simply didn’t read the delivery instructions and left the tests in the (thankfully locked) employee mailroom. (Which, coincidentally, is where the good copier is. This will be important later.)

So when I got back from break, the first thing I did was look up how to contact the print shop. Other than submitting a print request... there was nothing. I could look up the employees and email them, but there was no formal support ticket. Only a print request ticket. So I emailed the supervisor of the department.

An hour later, I finally had a moment with no students in the room, so I could make a phone call without worrying about disturbing people testing. So I called the print department. It rang four times... and went to voice mail.

I waited a minute, tried again, just to see if I got unlucky and just missed someone. Still voicemail. So, even though I hate using the phone because that means they’ll call me back instead of emailing, and I can’t really talk when there are students testing, I left a message.

By the end of my shift... still nothing. Nothing at all. And I knew that at least one teacher needed a few copies BY THE NEXT MORNING because he had students who couldn’t be there during finals week. And, just to add insult to injury, because of the holiday coming up, we had to submit our time sheet early this week. So I had no way to report extra time spent staying late to deal with this issue. But the teachers all depend on me, so I printed out a copy of each of the tests, and I was in the middle of composing an email to let the teachers know that I would drop off an unstapled copy and a copy of the answer key in their mailboxes, so that if they desperately needed it, at least they could use the copier right next to their mailbox to make as many as they need for class.

While I was doing that... the phone rang. It was the print shop. Apparently they had finished my print job early, and set it aside and forgotten about it. It was just sitting in a corner of the room, on the main campus several miles away from the satellite campus. She apologized for forgetting about it, said that it was loaded in the delivery vehicle trunk, and as soon as the delivery person got there the next morning he would head over.

Since I didn’t know when he would actually get there, and when teachers would start needing the tests, that still didn’t change much for me. I thanked her for getting back to me, told her that if that should be fine, and just amended the email I was sending out to let them know that the tests SHOULD be there by the morning. But just in case, I was still going to drop off the unstapled copies. (Plus two stapled ones for the teacher who mentioned needing a couple by Friday morning) I’m still not sure how I can report the extra 37 minutes of overtime I had to spend doing that, since the time sheets are already in... and I can’t just add it to next week, because I won’t be working next week.

But I got to work today and... the tests were here. And things have been slow enough that I’ve been able to write this huge freaking post with only a few interruptions here and there. (Okay, now that I’m done helping someone, interruptions here, there, and the one while I was trying to hit post.)

#getting my shit together #writing blog #writing blues #life blog #life blogging #i did mention weight loss #but not very much #stress #work stress #work blog #i'm not actually pulling my hair out #but it came close

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kenzicorinne · 6 years

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Hi! I’m Kenzi Corinne

And I have a lot of art and stories I want to share with you!

That's a big reason why I want to start making weekly journals. Starting today, I’ll be posting a weekly recap of everything I’m working on and plan to work on. This includes the status of my web comic Folk Knight, my visual novel MuseStruck, and all the work I’m doing for upcoming conventions (I hope to see some of you there!)

After this week, the blog entries will be a lot more digestible. But I feel, for this first one, I just need to lay everything out.

So, before the break, I just want to say my asks are open! Feel free to shoot me a question/comment about anything. (Fav ice cream, Hogwarts house, w/e!)

Later!

-Kenzi

Kenzi Blog: Week of 4/2/18

Oh, hey! I’m surprised you clicked “Keep reading.” I mean, I’m glad you did! Makes me feel less like I’m just shouting this to the void... heh ^_^;

Conventions:

Anyway, let’s just dive right in with the most time sensitive item I’ve been working on, convention prep. I’ve got three cons coming up in the next two months *sweats profusely* . This may not sound like a lot for you (or maybe it sounds like an insane “con crud” induced death wish haha) but I am equal parts super excited and super nervous about this! Upcoming cons are:

RavenCon, April 20-22 Williamsburg, VA

Tidewater Comicon, May 11-12 Virginia Beach

Animazement, May 25-27 Raleigh, NC

So I do my printing on my own printer. To save money this time, I’ve decided to try out a Refillable Ink Cartridge system. Which involves...... lots of syringes I guess? Haha, I think I accidentally ordered too many or something so now I just have an abundance of large needle syringes 0_0 (also note they’re a special kind for ink. not the pokey skin kind :P). Syringe Wolverine cosplay?

Anyway, if any of you have tried out RIC or CISS in the past, I’d love to know how it did or didn’t work for you!

MuseStruck:

Okay, so before I talk about my current project, Folk Knight, I think I need to talk about MuseStruck (my other baby). So a couple years ago I suddenly got the urge to make a Visual Novel (gee, wonder where I got that idea... *side glances at Steam catalog* >_>). This VN had inspiration pulled from a lot of my favorite things including fantasy, mythology, classic literature, art, and anime.

Then a year ago, @cornpickerart and I started working on it... and quickly saw the project balloon to a size we weren’t ready for. We thought about cutting back ideas, some trimming was to the story’s benefit really. But then there were aspects that we couldn’t let go. Things that I felt were integral to the story or game experience that we wanted to make.

So. Here’s the thing. We just realized we needed to try smaller things first and work up to the type of gameplay we want to have in MuseStruck. Baby steps. That being said. MuseStruck isn’t dead. Far from it.

I draw characters from MuseStruck still all the time. Though I’ve told myself to not dedicate so much time to writing stories for it and instead put that time and energy into bettering my skills in both art and programming. Now I can say that when I do get back to MuseStruck (which I do have a plan for when that will happen, but I’ll save that for another journal) I know I’ll be more confident and prepared to tackle it! \(^o^)/

(some sketches of MuseStruck characters that I’ve never posted... I have lots of files like this ^_^;)

Folk Knight:

And finally there is Folk Knight. If you made it this far then... wow. I think I might love you. Anyway, this is my current project that I am working on. I would say probably my time is split 50/50 with this and con stuff right now.

Originally I wanted it to be a web comic. Why a web comic? Well... it’s something I’ve done before. @cornpickerart and I ran a web comic back in high school that we stopped once we went of to different states and different colleges.

I wanted to tell a story that takes place in the MuseStruck universe but with a lot less overhead work and a shorter story altogether. So, Folk Knight was born! Well, so it was supposed be but then I realized something... I don’t want to do a web comic. Le gasp!!!

I actually read a ton of webcomics and enjoy the weekly experience and appreciate all the hard work that goes into keeping them up. Seriously! It’s tough stuff! But after a few updates I realized that making the comic was taking a lot of time... and I wasn’t feeling it. Gosh that sounds whiny doesn’t it? I guess what I’m trying to say is, I figured out if I was going to put that much work into something, I want it to be something I want to do. And what I want to do is make a stinkin’ Visual Novel danggummit!

So that’s what brings us to the Folk Knight of now... a serial Visual Novel!

So it’s kinda a combination of both. Baby steps remember? To keep the game making doable for me, I’ll be releasing the Folk Knight VN in chapters. Every chapter will be released free to play, just like the web comic would have been free to read.

I’ve already begun the conversion of my Chapter 1 script into the Visual Novel format and am working with a few beta readers/players to help me work out the story flow and gameplay.

I’m hoping to get a Chapter 1 demo done by the end of April and Chapter 1 completed and released officially by May! I know it’s a tight deadline but I’m seriously pouring all my blood, sweat, and time into this now!

Next Week:

Ooooookay! We finally come to the end of it! What I plan to do this coming week. Well, let’s see... maybe I should just list it? I hope to...

Post some Folk Knight character designs (get y’all introduced)

Finish two fantasy/horror paintings I’ve been working on

I have a backlog of BNHA fan art I should finish too...

Test out the new print system!

Aaand I think I should keep it at that. Don’t want to overdo it. If anyone’s still reading this, like I said, not every journal entry is gonna be a monster like this. I just... had a lot to get off my chest to get this journal thing rolling ^_^;

You are amazing and I wish you the best in all your creative endeavors!(seriously, you got something you’re working on you want to share, hit me up! I love hearing others stories or finding new comics to read, games to play!)

-Kenzi

#artist journal #blog #journal #visual novel #MuseStruck #Folk Knight #Kenzi Corinne

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thechasefiles · 5 years

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 9/14/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Saturday, September 14th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Saturday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).

RIHANNA, PM IN DAZZLE AT DIAMOND BALL–Models, musicians, actors and many more notables came out in droves Thursday night to celebrate superstar Rihanna’s fifth annual Diamond Ball at Cipriani Wall Street, an event to benefit her Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF). Though Rihanna, in a Givenchy Haute Couture ball gown stole the spotlight, another of her guests commanded similar attention: Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Mottley — who made history in 2018 as the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the nation where Rihanna was born and raised — was honored with the 2019 Diamond Ball Award for breaking barriers. Mottley was cited for a 25-year career as an advocate for education, as well as championing causes which empower youth and women. But speaking with the Hollywood Reporter ahead of the charity gala, hosted by Seth Meyers, Mottley downplayed her own achievements against Rihanna’s contributions to their homeland. Barbadian charities receive assistance from CLF — founded by Rihanna in 2012 and named after her grandparents Clara and Lionel Braithwaite — which benefits impoverished communities across the globe, with an emphasis on health, education, arts, culture, emergency response and combatting climate change. Mottley told the Hollywood Reporter: “It’s so special what she’s been able to do. “Barbados is a place where we believe in helping those who cannot help themselves or who are not strong enough to carry themselves. And Rihanna has been able to exhibit that so beautifully in all that she’s done. She carries with her the DNA of the country. “When we became an independent nation [in 1966], our prime minster at the time said that we should be friends of all and satellites of none. “That requires a nobility of spirit, that requires an ability to also recognize that you are as strong as the weakest among you. That’s what Rihanna represents for us.” According to the politician, Rihanna’s impact on her country will be “written about in history books”. Mottley elaborated: “Her legacy is going to be global, but I think it’s also going to very much be coloured by her Barbadian upbringing and the values that she received while she grew up and was nurtured in our country. “And she is still very much a part of it. How she speaks and how she behaves is as Barbadian as you get.” Rihanna also paid tribute to “role model” Prime Minister Mottley. She told the audience: “The Prime Minister of Barbados , the Honourable Mia Mottley; she has been such a role model in my life for many, many, many many years, years before she ran to be Prime Minister, this is a woman that I respected. “I respected her morals, I respected her aspects on different things politically and just her willingness to go against the grain, to go against what is safe. She is very brave, she is very daring and that comes with what she is passionate about and that is a woman I can respect always because that is kinda what I hold myself to.”(BT)

STALLED –The island’s largest rum producer has over 400,000 bottles of rum stuck in containers in the Bridgetown Port awaiting shipment delayed because of the teething problems at the docks associated with the rollout of the new Asycudo World system. According to Managing Director of Mount Gay Distilleries Ltd Raphael Grisoni the shipments intended for Europe and the United States have been there for two weeks. He believes some of the fallout could have been mitigated with better communication from Port officials. This morning, he told Barbados TODAY, “We are the largest exporter of rum in Barbados and for 13 days we cannot export a single container of rum and we actually have 38 containers at the port waiting to be loaded on the ship. This is a major order for us. I understand that this thing will again open up next Friday, so it will be three weeks of non- export activity for us,” said Grisoni, who noted that his fellow rum producers were equally down-spirited by the same challenge. He explained that while the delays have not so far resulted in the cancellation of orders, they certainly place the company at a disadvantage, as this shipment is the stock which retailers depend on in preparation for November and Christmas sales. “It is a big problem because at this time of year we are shipping for the Christmas season for markets like Europe, so it is really painful. The problem is with the communication about when systems would be ready. It was not until yesterday [Thursday] that we learnt that the system would be up next Friday and while that is fine, there could have been better communication,” he contended. Since switching to the new paperless platform on September 9, Customs has been plagued with several issues. Newly appointed Comptroller of Customs Owen Holder has promised it will take the Customs and Excise Department one more week to iron out any kinks it has encountered in upgrading its system from ASYCUDO ++ to ASYCUDO World. “I am very familiar with implementing these systems and I understand the teething issues that will develop with a new system, but from what we are seeing in Barbados currently I can say this is a normal process of implementing the system. So I wish to assure the public that within probably a week’s time it will definitely settle down.” However, Grisoni argued that while he is happy that things will be back on track and function with even greater efficiency than before, he is concerned that there was apparently no backup in place, which could have kicked in to prevent these counter-productive delays. “You must realize that the country’s exports were paralyzed because of the system and I am surprised that we didn’t have a backup system or used the old one just for a couple of weeks, at least to export bulk and avoid congestion in the port,” he said pointing to the anticipated congestion by the backlog. “Next week is going to be a type of traffic jam-like situation when things open up again and I expect that customs will be overwhelmed, so I don’t know if they have extra resources to clear this backlog. Will we have the resources to clear quickly or will we again miss the ship going out? These are the big questions which still need answering but I don’t have the answers right now. It is a real concern for us,” he stressed Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn maintained that the upgrade to ASYCUDO World was especially critical to Barbados. He said while its installation had been delayed since 2014, Government was pushing ahead in its bid to improve the ease of doing business in Barbados. “I want to stress that as we go through this modernization of Customs that the upgrade to ASYCUDO World is critical to Barbados’ competitiveness. “We do not want people waiting in the Port for any extended period of time, waiting on Customs to process goods unless there is a particular reason based on the risk management protocols that have been established, because whilst we are facilitating business there is a national security component that is critical as part of the Customs’ function…” Straughn pointed out. This morning Minister Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland, also made an appeal for patience from the business community. “ASYCUDO World is just one of the activities in a whole list of activities that this Government will implement in terms of improving the ease of doing business and cross border trade facilitation, ASYCUDO World provides the foundation for something bigger to come, which we call the Electronic Single Window… As Minister of Small Business I am happy that we are to implement this because it would increase the ease of doing business and reduce cost,” said Sutherland. He added, “We recognised that there were disruptions and customs has promised to put plans in place, so please just bear with us because it is not going to last.” When contacted the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry BCCI promised to comment but up to time of publication none was forthcoming. (BT)

‘FIRE SALE’ OR FARMING FOR CLICO ESTATES?- The fate of eight plantations, covering close to 2,000 acres of farmland in St John’s farming belt that have been lying idle since their owner went out of business a decade ago, is at the centre of a political firestorm being played out on talk radio and social media. Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir and the Democratic Labour Party, which formed the Government when insurance giant CLICO collapsed, have clashed over allegations that the Barbados Labour Party Government plans a “fire sale” of CLICO farmlands as residential property “under cover of darkness”. The CLICO farms consist of approximately 1,790 arable acres: 941 acres at Todds and 850 acres at Wakefield. Todds is an amalgamation of four farms – Henley, Pool, Bowmanston and Todds, while Wakefield incorporates Clifton Hall, Hothersal, Lemon Arbor and Wakefield. Now the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has called on Weir to back up the denial he made on a radio call-in. On Wednesday, the DLP’s Agriculture and Environment spokesperson Andre Worrell first claimed that the Todd’s and Wakefield estates are to be sold off. Then, Weir took to Down to Brass Tacks programme on Starcom Network to refute the suggestion. “I don’t know how you could turn agricultural land into a [residential] development without first involving the Ministry of Agriculture. “We have a Chief Agricultural Officer who is highly trained and makes informed decisions on these things before they even reach Town Planning [Office],” Weir said. But in a release published on its Facebook page today, the DLP said a Ministerial statement was needed for clarity, contending that Weir’s words on the radio programme did not hold any weight. “Mr Weir has been a Cabinet member long enough to know that interventions on radio talk shows are not enunciated Government policy. “At no time in his extensive telephone conversation did Weir say that the CLICO lands will be offered to farmers or shareholders for agricultural purposes. “Had the Government been transparent in its initial sale announcement there would be no need to speculate. “The Agriculture Minister is also aware that the final word regarding change of use is not his. Those decisions are made by the Minister in charge of Town Planning: The Prime Minister.” The DLP claimed that the farms “are in the high productivity agro-ecological zone and have traditionally been at the upper end of the agricultural productivity scale”. Under the 2008-2018 DLP administration, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Barbados Agricultural Development Management Company (BADMC) and the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC) to bring those lands back into agriculture. A formal plan entitled Returning CLICO Lands To Full Production was drafted. Then DLP maintained that farmers, either through co-operatives or as sole purchasers, should be offered the opportunity to buy or lease the plantations. The party said: “We have maintained that sub-division of prime agricultural land in these economic circumstances for housing development purposes should never be an option in a country with a food import bill in excess of $600m. “There should be no fire sale of prime agricultural land under cover of darkness. “Barbados must have an official Government position specifically targeting the plans for the CLICO agricultural lands at Todds and Wakefield Plantations.” (BT)

MASSY OISTINS BACK IN BUSINESS –After four months of having to travel out of their community for grocery shopping, Oistins residents have returned this morning to the reopened Massy supermarket at the 40-year-old Southern Plaza shopping complex. After being closed for upgrades since May, Minister of Commerce Dwight Sutherland and area MP Ralph Thorne were on hand for the official re-opening of the store which employs 65 people. Barbados TODAY witnessed large numbers of shoppers in the supermarket, many of them freely expressing their happiness that the store had re-opened as well as their satisfaction with the new look and shopping experience.Massy Stores CEO Randall Banfield said: “It would have been an inconvenience for customers who would have shopped here, and we understand that. “We would have provided some shuttle services to get them into some other stores because we have our network of stores nearby. “It is really nice to have the store opened again and we have heard from customers yesterday and today how pleased they are to have the store in Oistins re-opened and in the fashion that we have done it.” Banfield revealed that the store, which is now smaller in size, has been retrofitted with the latest energy saving devices, a move which was praised by Sutherland. The Minister praised the conglomerate for ensuring that the new supermarket was in keeping with Government’s vision for green energy. Sutherland declared: “We have recognised in an era such as this, the use of technology is critical. “I want to shower praise on Massy Stores for investing in state-of-the-art equipment as it relates to refrigeration. We are seeking to become fossil fuel free by 2030. “So, I want to congratulate Massy for leading the charge. They have not only re-opened the store, but they have done so with the Government’s mission in mind.” He also praised the supermarket for sticking to local producers, and urged others to do likewise. The Minister added: This is just an example of what we as a Government would love to see. “Re-opening the store paved the way for small businesses to ply their trade and to have an outlet for their products. “I want to thank Mr Banfield because he has stuck to local producers and helping us build out industries such as the pork industry because these are critical to our development.” (BT)

FOOD COURT REOPENS – With the exception of three eateries undergoing renovations, the all-clear has been given by the Ministery of Health for the reopening of the food court at Sheraton Mall. And yesterday those opened were doing brisk business.On Tuesday, all 21 of the food establishments at the popular Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church mall were ordered shut, with the ministry explaining that after numerous inspections over six days there were “several conditions” in violation of the health services food hygiene regulations. Owners were instructed to carry out the “necessary remedial action”.The cleaning was led by the mall’s general manager, Kamaal Bennett, along with sales and marketing manager Adrian Clarke of Pilot Management Services.Bennett said they began cleaning on Tuesday night, working through to the wee hours of each morning.“Based on the reopening of the stores, the inspectors themselves commended us on the work done. There are three stores which remained closed - Piggies, Yvonne’s and Arabian Knights - but it has nothing to do with the cleaning; they are closed due to ongoing renovations,” he said. (SS)

VAPING HARMFUL – The Ministry of Health has warned the public about the dangers of vaping, particularly on the heels of reports of a rash of deaths and severe breathing illnesses linked to the habit in the United States. In a statement issued today, the ministry said that the cause of the illnesses, which have so far resulted in six deaths, was still not entirely clear, but investigations were ongoing by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kenneth George, said the fairly recent fad, mostly among teenagers and young adults, has involved smoking flavoured e-cigarettes with nicotine oils and more recently marijuana oils. The ministry advised that particularly minors, pregnant women and people who have never smoked should avoid vaping since they were at increased risk of adverse reactions, including respiratory illnesses. People who vape were warned against using home-made solutions, and the ministry stressed that it did not recommend e-cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking aid. The Health Services (Smoking Regulations) 2017 defines electronic smoking devices as tobacco products for the purposes of restricting their marketing and sales to minors and forbidding their use in public spaces. In the more than 450 cases so far confirmed in the United States, breathing problems ranged from coughing and difficulty breathing to chest pain. There were also gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.The non-specific symptoms being experienced include fever and fatigue. The Ministry of Health said it will be issuing guidelines to healthcare providers summarizing the situation and sharing the local case definition for surveillance purposes. The ministry is also asking hospitals and urgent care providers to ask patients who come in with “significant respiratory distress” whether they had been vaping prior to the illness.(BT)

ABUSER BACK IN COURT – A 32-year-old man who admitted to assaulting the mother of his child and harming her will make his next court appearance on September 18 along with the complainant. Shirmaro Andre Michael Coward, of 2nd Avenue, Richmond Gap, St Michael appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today and pleaded guilty to committing the act against Shaddriese Marshall on September 2. Prosecutor Victoria Taitt told the court that the two have been in a relationship for the past two years and share a one-year-old child. Taitt said on the day of the incident the accused, who had been verbally and physically abusive to the complainant, went over to her house to drop off their son. When Coward arrived there however, he began using abusive language to Marshall, embarrassing her and causing her to walk off in the direction of her house. Coward grabbed her by the hair and started punching her on the face and head. Marshall began screaming. Her mother come to her assistance and Coward ran away. However, the prosecutor said, the accused subsequently returned and Marshall called the police. While she was doing that Coward punched her in the head again before running off for a second time. After hearing the facts Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant ordered that Marshall be summoned to court for September 18. With a warning to stay away from the complainant, she granted Coward, who was represented by attorney-at-law Mohia Ma’at, $2,000 bail which he secured with one surety. (BT)

SHOPLIFER JAILED - When a 42-year-old man took up a $967.99 pair of sunglasses and slipped out of Cave Shepherd last week without paying, he sent security on a futile search for him. A worker recognised Allan Orlando Simmons when he entered the store. Two days later, the thief, who has no fixed place of abode, returned to the scene of the crime and approached the same worker who had seen him and begged for money. Simmons who is known to the courts, was apprehended by security personnel, who then turned him over to police, prosecutor Victoria Taitt revealed as she outlined the facts. “I would like some leniency because my mother and grandmother died and my father put me out. I used to work but got into a little trouble,” Simmons told Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant. About the item he stole, he admitted, “I took off the tag but gave it to someone because it was too expensive. “I am a man who normally wears glasses because of the sun. But I want some leniency in this position . . . I was at the prison before it was burned down. I want some leniency, “ he told the magistrate. However, Cuffy-Sargeant informed him that the last time he was before the court was also for theft of items from the same store. For his crime the District ‘A’ magistrate sentenced Simmons to two months in prison.(BT)

LOBO’S CASE ADJOURNED – An Argentinian man charged with theft of money from two of this island’s financial institutions remains on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds. Joaquin Alberto Lobo from Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina has been on remand at the St Philip institution since his first appearance before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant back in July. The 33-year-old alleged ATM skimmer, who arrived in Barbados on July 3, is accused of stealing $3, 040 cash belonging to the Barbados Public Workers Credit Union Limited between July 6 and 7. He is also charged with stealing $79, 770 cash belonging to CIBC First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited between July 5 and 8. He has denied the first charge but was not required to enter a plea to the second charge, as it is an indictable offence. When Lobo appeared before the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court this week the cases against him were adjourned until October 9.(BT)

ARCHER PUTS ENGLAND AHEAD – Jofra Archer took 6-62 to give England the upper hand in the fifth Ashes Test, despite yet more runs from Australia’s Steve Smith on day two at The Oval today. Pace bowler Archer was supported by three wickets from left-armer Sam Curran – including two in two balls – as the tourists were bowled out for 225. Through it all, Smith stood firm, and it was his wicket – lbw to Chris Woakes for 80 – that England and their supporters celebrated the most. It says much about Smith’s stellar summer that this was his lowest score of the series and the inability to reach a century felt like a relative failure. England batted twice in the day. In the morning they went from 271-8 to 294 all out, a total that looked short of par on a flat pitch.(BT)

KING OVERCOMES BRAZILIAN – Top tennis player Darian King battled hot sweltering conditions in Criciuma, Brazil yesterday to set the customary Davis Cup template for the Bajan team by defeating homeboy Joao De Menezes 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 after two hours and 37 bruising minutes. Facing vocal home crowd support as well as meeting 22-year-old De Menezes on the latter’s favourite outdoors clay court, King struggled early to find his rhythm against the recent Pan Am gold medallist in Peru. Even so, the 3-6 score-line did not reflect the closeness of the games in the opening set with both players fighting to establish an advantage.However, King’s ground strokes and greater experience then showed the disparity between the two players with the Bajan ranked at 169 to De Menezes’ 194. Unreeling his passing forehand blazers and deft backhand strokes, King moved from 1-1 in the second set to 4-1. De Menezes then found a Samba wave as well as his favourite clay underfoot to battle back to 4-4 in games winning a double break point at 3-4.King held his nerve and serve to triumph in the second set to set up the decider. With De Menezes committing a double fault in the first game, King did not capitalise fully as he also made the same error. Racking up winning break points on either side of a similar success by De Menezes, King stroked his way within sight of victory 4-1 before the Brazilian fired his sole ace of the match to keep hope alive 2-4.But, as customary as rain on Kadooment Day, King took the match to give Barbados a 1-0 advantage in the contest. However, southpaw Haydn Lewis could not maintain that edge going into today’s doubles as he folded to Thiago Monteiro 2-6, 2-6. (SS)

CALL FOR NEW APPROACH TO TEACHING – A secondary school teacher wants to leave the chalk and talk style of teaching in the dust. Regina Layne thinks that the traditional method is stopping students from reaching their full potential.Layne, who recently received her diploma in education from Erdiston Teachers Training College, was speaking at the St Leonard’s Boys’ Secondary School where the C.O. Williams Group and the Eden Lodge Youth Charitable Trust presented the school with a television and projector system.“It is going to take a while to get it started but. . . I think we do too much writing in the exercise books. I think if we stop the writing we might be able to complete the syllabus in time because we are never able to finish it. “If we reduce the amount of writing that the students do, and if we prepare and give them more, we could accomplish more,” Layne said at the Richmond Gap, St Michael School.During the presentation, she advocated for more creative student-centred approaches. (SS)

HONOR YOUR PLEDGES – As Barbados prepares to disperse its first traunch of financial assistance to the Bahamas, CARICOM Ambassador David Comissiong is pleading for Barbadians who have pledged money in last Sunday’s telethon to honour their commitments. In fact, Comissiong told Barbados TODAY that Government is currently over $150,000 short of the near $500,000 pledged last Sunday night at the Rise Bahamas mediathon. After a ceremony at the Sea Breeze Beach House in Maxwell Christ Church to announce a $24,000 donation by Ocean Hotels Barbados, Comissiong said he was extremely pleased with the outpouring of support from Barbados’ working class and private sector. He however stressed that citizens needed to follow through on promised donations to make the initiative work. “We are now in the process of getting people to honor those pledges and collecting everything in the account at CIBC First Caribbean. As of Wednesday, we were up to approximately $278,000 so we still have some additional pledges to be honored and paid in,” he said. “We will be doing our follow up work and we know there will be some lag but we want to get the first donation out next week with the understanding that more money will follow as it comes into the bank account.” He added: “The funds will go directly to support on-the-ground relief efforts in the Bahamas. The figure we gave out at the end of the mediathon was 441,000. That represented a combination of cash payments at the CBC studios, credit card payments made on the Sunday, cheques made at the CBC studios and payments at various branches of the CIBC bank and pledges.” Comissiong encouraged Barbadians to be proud of their efforts and encouraged citizens to find strength in the organs of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which is the primary coordinator of the Bahamas relief efforts. “The churches that immediately supported the fundraising efforts for the Bahamas, the companies like Cave Shepherd, Ocean Hotels and all the others that have been donating to this cause since last week, it shows that we are on the ball, we are being proactive and we are helping ourselves. We are not waiting for outside actors to come to our rescue. We are helping ourselves,” said the Ambassador.(BT)

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symbianosgames · 7 years

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The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Welcome to the Meganoid(2017) post-mortem. This post-mortem goes into the details on the Meganoid figures and stats. Without context the stats are pretty much silly numbers, so please make sure to read all of this because there is more to the numbers than you might think.

So I'll keep this short, if you want to learn more about who I am, please check out my techblog and website. I've been a full-time (indie) developer since 2004. Mostly known for mobile games, but since 2015 also branching to PC games and even some consoles releases here and there (PS Vita and 3DS). I've never had hit games that made me millions, but I have been doing very decent for many years releasing games that have found a growing fan-base in a niche area. My biggest titles include the Gunslugs and Heroes of Loot series of games and Space Grunts.

The original Meganoid was released in 2010 on Android and iOS and was a very hard platformer with short levels that sometimes had you screaming if you didn't manage to reach the finish. For me it was a turning point in my games as I finally decided to just build games like that since those are the games I love the most. Luckily I found a niche that works for me and an audience that has been growing alongside me and my games. It also managed to reach close to a million downloads since.

Meganoid(2017) is a reboot of the franchise lifts a lot on the designs behind Spelunky, while still maintaining the difficulty of the original Meganoid game. I named it a "love child of Spelunky and Meat-boy in space", which is a very clear description of what the game is. It's not extremely original, but I'll get to that later on!

Oh, the game was also created in "just" two months, but I'll also get back to that if you keep reading..

So before Meganoid I was working on a game called Ashworld, which is a huge project for a one-man development team (which I am) and it's also an open-world game, a genre that I personally have no experience with because I often quit those games within a few hours of play-time. Simply put: Ashworld is a huge challenge for me, and I have been working on it since June 2016.

Seeing as my games are actually my livelihood, money needs to come in on a semi-frequent basis. My business is still running fairly well, I have a huge back-log of games and they are all still bringing in money on a monthly base, but to keep it all running I do have some rules on how long game-projects can take. Ashworld is breaking those rules due to a challenging development phase where I've been learning open-world design and also searching where the actual fun in the game-design is. So the game isn't done, and still needs a few months of work.

Enter the stage: Meganoid.

In January I decided to just do some prototyping with the hopes that I would end up with something playable that could be extended into a game. For this to work, I needed a clear design idea and direction. A game that I could almost create on automatic-mode.

This "automatic-mode" does need some nuance here, I wrote a blog about it a few weeks ago and I think it painted a wrong picture. Some comments and replies I got thrown at me were along the line of "a quick money grab". My bad on writing the article and not being clear about things, so here's to rectifying it:

The game was made in "just 2 months; and 13 years of experience".

The key part being those 13 years experience, factual there are a lot more years of experience, but the 13 years is how long I've been doing this commercially. Meganoid at it's core is a platformer with rogue-like mechanics. I've created close to 60 commercial platform games, and I've been doing rogue-like elements in my last 5-6 games. I know what to expect code-wise, and I know how to program those things without having to think about it.

To put it in some more perspective, my game Heroes of Loot 2 is a huge RPG-adventure/twin-stick shooter, and it was made in little over 4 months. So I normally work really fast and very effective.

Now think what you like about the short-development cycle, I don't plan to change your mind about it, but from a business point of view: this made sense and still delivers a quality game.

To have this game make some profit I needed it to take just a couple of months work so it would be easier to recoup on the costs AND make money on the game.

The development-cycle was pretty short, but since I had some interesting stuff pretty early on I actually showed some screenshots and gifs in the first week of development on twitter,facebook,instagram and a couple of forums. Some of this got picked up pretty early by mobile-game sites, and Toucharcade showed the first couple of video's I released in the weeks after.

I started using reddit a bit more, and finally managed to post something there without it being taken down (actually on second try, the first did get taken down because I didn't disclose that the "pre-order discounts" was on a game I made, which obviously makes a big difference../sarcasm).

The two or so weeks before the launch I already had various mobile sites mailing me for some promocodes, which is the up-side of being "known" in a market. In contrast to that there is the PC scene, where I'm basically unknown and nobody talks about my games.

The launch week I started looking at youtube streamers for the PC version, so I basically searched for big youtubers that covered games like: Spelunky, Meat boy, and a few other more recent pixel-art indie games that fit the same category as Meganoid.

I mailed all of them, close to a 100, which at least one steam-key included (for some group-youtubers I included up to 5 keys) and this all resulted in an awesome 0 streams. I did a follow up email to a large portion of them a week later, and this resulted in 1 Streamer playing it, yay results!

It's still possible some streamers will pick up the game later, having full inboxes, managers that handle emails slowly, or just large backlogs of video's. But I don't hold my breath for any of it. Same goes for PC game-site reviews, so even tho I did everything "right" it basically ended up with fairly little returns on it. The emails were short, to the point, showed a GIF of the game, bullet points, youtube trailer, quick-links and a steam-key included with a link to the website/presskit for more info. All according to the average marketing-advise.

Basically, in my opinion and experience, you need to know people to get things done. But reaching out never hurts and is also the way to get to know more people, so yeah.

Okay, okay! that's what you guys came for, I get it!

Google Play's "Best new seller" list charting

Let me first start with this, Meganoid was so far:

Featured on App-store under "New games we loved" - worldwide

Featured on Google Play "Early Access"

Featured on Google Play "New and Updated"

Top-charted (top 25) in Google Play "Best new sellers" list

Game of the Week - on TouchArcade

"Best games of the week for iOS and Android" - Pocketgamer

Now, back to reality, for those who don't know, making money on games is HARD, on any given day there are 100-500 games released on various platforms. That's EVERY DAY! Standing out from those games is extremely hard, most games you will never see and they get like 5-10 downloads (depending on how many friends the developer has).

With my experience of doing this business for a long time, I set a fairly low but do-able goal for Meganoid: $6500 during the launch-period. I know it's a not a huge game, and it had fairly short marketing-visibility before release due to the fast development cycle.

For me a launch-period is the first month or so after releasing it. My goals is usually to make 80%-100% of the development costs back in this first period. I calculate development costs fairly rough by multiplying each development-month with $2000 and then add any outsourced work costs. Since I do code+design+game graphics that often leaves out-source costs to music and high-res marketing art.

The $2000 is very low-end of what my cost-of-living is each month (in the Netherlands, with mortgage, girlfriend and pets). It doesn't take into account taxes and extra cash-flow for "the future". But we're talking about launch-period here, so a game will live on for a few more years and with future sales and discounts you can often double the money a game made on launch.

So for this game I had 2 months of work, that's $4000 and since there was such a short dev-cycle and I used ambient sounds from my sound-libraries, there was no music cost and just a few hundred dollars for the awesome marketing art. So let's round it to $4500.

Now the point is to get extra cashflow to cover the longer development-cycle of Ashworld and we get to a $6500 minimum revenue that I was aiming for with Meganoid. Again this is all launch-period revenue, because obviously it's a low amount especially if Ashworld development still needs 2 or 3 months time. So I'll get to that in a few paragraphs below.

I released Meganoid on March 30 on iOS, Android and PC (steam/humble/itch, windows/osx/linux) and we're now at three weeks into the release and currently the revenue is just a little shy of the target at $6200. Which is not bad at all!

So let's dig into this $6200 launch-period amount. Where did most of it come from, and why! The biggest bulk of this comes from the iOS version, actually close to 50% of it: $3580. On iOS the game was priced $4.99 with a launch-discount the first week making the game $3.99. Meganoid was made Game of the week at Toucharcade which most certainly helped, one of the weeks best games for iOS and Android on Pocketgamer, but sadly it had no "games we play" feature for the first weekend.

For some reason the game only showed up in the "Games we play" on Monday/Tuesday for the USA App-store, at which point it spiked to slightly below the launch spike so effectively doubling the sales in the 3/4 days it had that front page feature. I'm pretty sure it would have done better if it did have that feature in the first-weekend (during the sale) but those things are pretty much out of my control and I'm glad it eventually did get a feature after-all (something I kind had planned for in setting my revenue targets).

Apple loved it - all over the world!

Second biggest seller was Android, now this was done a little different. I tried some beta stages on Android and this put my game into "Early Access" on Google Play a week before the launch at a $2.99 price. This price was mostly because I believe that the brave people who try out a beta shouldn't pay full price. The game got a nice Google feature in their "Early Access" list, which only has about 20 games listed, so that's a pretty good list to be in.

The possible down-side of this is that a lot of people don't seem to be clear of understanding what "Early access" means on Google Play, so there was a lot more buying going on than I had planned for, and that means I was pushing updates daily to work out some "obviously-beta" features. Early-access users can't leave reviews during that phase, so that might have been a positive thing, the down-side of that is that many people forget to leave a review once the game was released.. so not as many reviews as I normally have during the launch-period. Not sure if I would do that again on Android, but it's been an interesting experiment.

Finally we come to the PC revenue, in total that's $900 which is split over Steam, Itch and Humble. This is also my biggest pain-in-the-butt, obviously my games still don't make much waves amongst PC gamers. Especially since about 50% of that money comes through Itch.io where I ran a pre-order with 20% discount in the two weeks leading up to the launch. So these buyers are mostly people from my own social-circles and mailing-lists, people who in many cases also buy the mobile version and in a lot of cases people who tipped up to $10 (even tho the pre-order price was $3.99!) (THANKS!).

The humble-store sales were about 10% of that, so the rest is up to you to calculate :p

Side note: Besides this launch-period revenue, there is also the added advantage of extra money made on back-log sales. New gamers that see Meganoid will check out my other games and in some cases end up buying a few more of my games. On top of that a lot of subscriptions to my social-circles and mailing list have happened during and after the development of Meganoid, which are all potentially future fans of my next games.

Another important thing to read about, how are the ratings? Because let's face it, making a game in two months isn't interesting if it's a crappy game. On iOS the game has a strong 4/5 star rating from gamers, and on Android it's at 4.8/5 star rating. I'd say those are pretty good ratings (most of my games are around the 4.0 - 4.5 ratings)

On Steam there are only about 4 ratings of which only 2 ratings count since they bought the game on Steam and not through my website/Itch.io or Humble. But I think "all of them" are fairly positive!

Game-site wise, well that's a mixed bag of thingies. As mentioned before, the game was made "game of the week" on Toucharcade, and it was part of the "best games for iOS and Android" that week on Pocketgamer. On the other side Toucharcade's review gave it just a 3.5/5 rating, and Pocketgamer managed to give it a 7/10. So that's the same two websites already making for mixed-reviews. Not sure what to think about it, and it's mostly the reason I focus on the average user-rating on app-stores since those people play the game even after a review.

PC game sites pretty much ignored the game completely, except for a few news-posts on one or two sites. But the whole game-review-site business is something for another topic. In short, those sites only talk about your game if people are already talking about your game, or if there's something controversial to be found, because that brings in readers and thus advertising-money.

Now there's always a part in a post mortem where people go say things that went right or wrong and how things could have gone different. BUT! Meganoid was just as much an experiment as it was a way to earn some extra cash.

For one, the price: $4.99. For a PC game that's a fairly cheap price-point, and it was something I wanted to try out. Normally my newly released PC games go between $7-$10 in the launch period because I honestly think that's what my games are worth for the amount of playtime and enjoyment you get. However, a game like Meganoid is perfect to try out new stuff and I've been wondering if maybe my games would sell better at $4.99. Haven't really compared it yet with my previous games, but my gut-feeling says I sell about as much copies at this price as I do at a more normal price of $7.99.

On mobile the $4.99 is actually on the high-end of things! More experimenting, normally I'm at max at $3.99 and often in the launch week it's at $2.99. I do believe this game could have done better at a $3.99 or $2.99. Possibly sold much more copies with the result being more revenue. Some people hinted I should have lowered the price when I got the iOS feature, but my golden rule is to not punish the instant-buying fans, which I would have done had I suddenly lowered the price within a week of it's release.

In general the gamers liked the game, which is the most important thing. One guy complained that he couldn't get past the first level so it was way to hard, another guy complained that the sound-effects sounded generic (he was a sound-designer offering to do sound effects.. that's business!). One mobile-game reviewer had a lot of problems with the touch-controls, which is ironic for a mobile-game reviewer in my opinion.

I've been pushing regular updates to Meganoid since the release, and I still have one bigger update planned. After that it will mostly complete the work on this game minus any required fixes or OS-updates.

I never create games as a service, all my games receive two or three bigger updates and then I move on. That's my business-model and that's how I stay in business.

As for the game itself, it now becomes a "back-log game". This means I'll be able to do sales and discounts with the game in the next few years. It's also possible to perhaps get it ported and released on consoles or other gadgets, and there are alternate sales-routes the game can take on platforms like Android or PC (different markets, bundles, etc).

On top of that the game engine is fairly straight-forward and easy to repurpose. So it could be possible to re-use the game, create a new game-world and content for it and release like a $1.99 game with it (in fact I already have a funny viking-style game running on the same engine, so who knows).

All those back-log options should be able to at-least double the game's revenue within a year, so let's say the game does $10.000 in total by March 2018. Set against the 2 month development cycle (and 13 years experience!) that's not a bad deal.

For now I got some breathing room again for working on Ashworld, so follow me on Twitter or Facebook if you want to stay updated on that one!

(Grab Meganoid here for Windows,MacOS, Linux, iOS or Android)

#IFTTT #Blogger

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symbianosgames · 7 years

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Oh, the game was also created in "just" two months, but I'll also get back to that if you keep reading..

Enter the stage: Meganoid.

The game was made in "just 2 months; and 13 years of experience".

To put it in some more perspective, my game Heroes of Loot 2 is a huge RPG-adventure/twin-stick shooter, and it was made in little over 4 months. So I normally work really fast and very effective.

Now think what you like about the short-development cycle, I don't plan to change your mind about it, but from a business point of view: this made sense and still delivers a quality game.

To have this game make some profit I needed it to take just a couple of months work so it would be easier to recoup on the costs AND make money on the game.

Basically, in my opinion and experience, you need to know people to get things done. But reaching out never hurts and is also the way to get to know more people, so yeah.

Okay, okay! that's what you guys came for, I get it!

Google Play's "Best new seller" list charting

Let me first start with this, Meganoid was so far:

Featured on App-store under "New games we loved" - worldwide

Featured on Google Play "Early Access"

Featured on Google Play "New and Updated"

Top-charted (top 25) in Google Play "Best new sellers" list

Game of the Week - on TouchArcade

"Best games of the week for iOS and Android" - Pocketgamer

Apple loved it - all over the world!

The humble-store sales were about 10% of that, so the rest is up to you to calculate :p

On Steam there are only about 4 ratings of which only 2 ratings count since they bought the game on Steam and not through my website/Itch.io or Humble. But I think "all of them" are fairly positive!

I never create games as a service, all my games receive two or three bigger updates and then I move on. That's my business-model and that's how I stay in business.

For now I got some breathing room again for working on Ashworld, so follow me on Twitter or Facebook if you want to stay updated on that one!

(Grab Meganoid here for Windows,MacOS, Linux, iOS or Android)

#IFTTT #Blogger

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