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asavt · 2 years

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Since you have headcanons for Lear, do you have any for Rachel, Sawyer, and Cheren?

*rubs hands* Of course I do dear anon.

(Will include some royallectureshipping I'm sorry-)

Under read more!!!

For Sawyer and Rachel…

-Much like how Lear looks up to Rachel and Sawyer and thinks of them as family (older siblings), Sawyer and Rachel think of Lear as their little brother. They would deny any claims on this though, as, under their eyes, this would be unprofessional from them as Lear’s retainers.

(And Lear could deny it, but if they ever told this to him he would be really, really happy.)

-I don’t think?? I've seen a lot of how Sawyer ended up serving Lear’s family or how he ended up as one of his retainers anywhere in the game?? I kind of made up something myself. Like, Sawyer’s family being something like, the lead/head of the servants in the house? Lear’s mother requesting Sawyer’s mother/father to let their son play with hers? And all that just leads to him ending up as his retainer.

That would make it so those two have known eachother longer than Rachel has known Lear, but I think Rachel would meet them like…a year later (if not only a few months) after Lear and Sawyer meet.

-Rachel actually has hands, and painted nails. If you have seen my art of Lear with his nails painted then I’ll let you know it's her who taught him how to paint them and/or does it for him. If she finds the time, she will do some nail-art. Has convinced Sawyer to let her paint his too. Not too often, but sometimes he will have one or two colored in a nice color that doesn’t stand out too much, sometimes with a small little design too.

-Sawyer does some painting. Idk why this came to me. I just think it is a nice hobby. I imagine he paints a variety of things, small objects, flowers, landscapes, sometimes people too. He does it to relax and clear up his mind a bit, sticks to making simple artworks but if he has the time he will work on more complex ones. Any painting you see decorating some of the rooms of the Battle Villa are probably his.

-There’s this one lullaby they will both either sing or hum whenever Lear is not feeling ok. Something the queen used to sing as well to a younger little star and his two best friends.

-Both have a HUGE respect towards Cynthia and Cheren too. With Cheren they are a lot closer, not being afraid of asking for his assistance in anything if they see it necessary (they avoid it, since he is more of a guest on the island, but know they can count on him). They are kind of terrified of Cynthia, from what they’ve heard as well as from what they have seen themselves. They still think of her as a very kind, very nice, very cute woman tho.

Cheren…

-The boy, the guy, the teacher ever. All of his students think of him as a great teacher and trainer, and look up to him. He is often swarmed by the younger ones asking him about any recent battles he had or what he did while he was traveling around Unova. He would be ignored so much in class if it wasn’t because his class actually likes him and has a hive-mind of “he knows, he knows and we should listen to any advice he gives us”.

-As much as he is loved by his class and the trainers he has selected and trained with for the gym, they all also kinda hate him. They hate him because every once and then the one book shelf reserved for decoration in class gets a new cursed figurine placed by yours truly. Is it one of those weird looking amoonguss? A weird spoink inside an egg with a system to make the egg move continuously? The most bootleg-looking action figure of Ex-champion Alder doing that dance from that shooter game that was famous for a few years? No one knows what’s next but they all cringe at the sight of any new item their teacher decides to bring.

-Got the habit of holding hands from Bianca. Only with very close friends or family though (Hilbert and Bianca, Hilda, N sometimes, Lear too, Sawyer and Rachel as well from time to time).

-Some pokemon from his original team are staying with his family, other (like Serperior) stay with Prof. Juniper, helping her out. He didn’t want to leave them in the PC box without anything to do. The only one staying with him currently is Liepard, who mostly stays at his place lazing around.

-A disaster when it comes to romance.

-Easily flusters. Whenever Rosa, Nate, Hugh or any of the others gives him a compliment he will get a slight pink hue on his cheeks.

I'll be adding to this as well later on! currently a bit tired to keep it on!

#ask #asa answers #Headcanon time baby!#Across a Sea of Stars #Cheren #Sawyer #Rachel

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greencharisard · 3 years

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I promise I'm still working on that pokemon project, but it's a pokemon-trainer set of 6 of a 'mon that's very detailed so it's taking a lot of time, and I ended up artblocked.

The first pick was the first thing I did after almost a week of not drawing, what happened is roughly this:

- Was still working on-and-off on the pokemon pic set, and a new TLK one.

- Re-downloaded Steam for some reason I can't remember.

- Found out Spore is in there with all three packs and on sale (base game+creepy & cute+ galactic adventures)

- caved and bought it cuz it's been years and I wanted the third pack and a convinient way to access it that wasn't a 10+ y/o disc/code I've used a million times on 5 or 6 PCs.

- Played it for 3 days or so, including a day were I completely messed up my PC by tampering with the core folders (went back to normal now THANK GOD) and played switch games for that day.

- Spent another half day after fixing my PC making an EA account to have a proper acc on Spore itself (had to go forum digging, it's a mess). Then played Spore more.

- In all of this watched one HK meme video and stated getting a bajillion of them in my YT recommendeds.

- Played a bunch of switch games for a day trying to stay away from Spore and start drawing (failed).

- Decided to start playing HK again at piss off o'clock in the evening. Still couldn't get past Hornet in Greenpath.

- Next morning finally beat boss 2 and open up a MASSIVE CHUNK OF THE GAME.

- spend the next 2 or so days playing that, including most of today.

So yeah, I fried my brain, in an attempt at grudging trough the art block I tried making an OC, then also tried making self-inserts because Hollow Knight has been my lifesource for the past few week or so, while Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss have been one of my latest obsessions for months, so it only felt fitting to morph my crittersona to fit in those universes.

- First I wanted to draw him as an imp, technically I already drew him as a demon/sinner, so a creature native to hell seemed like the next best AU choice. I didn't think much about what he would do, I just focused on the design part itself, and even then as you can see I had quite a few ideas I tried out on the side. One of the main reasons that made me think he'd fit as an imp is that in an earlier design he had that I never posted the tip of his tail was arrow shaped instead of being just a tuft like now (I should draw that impish form again sometime, he was basically like now but not a noodle). For the clothes I kinda used stuff I own irl as inspo, while thinking "what would fit the HH/HB style?" so I used a sleeveless hoodie, a black shirt (I have a lot of those, I just made one with a generic skull pattern here), and the only pair of jeans I own that I can actually stand to wear... escept by the time I remembered I wanted to draw those I had already drawn cargo pants on him out of habit, so I just colored them like jeans instead... I would probably love pants like these lmao. Oh and chains linked to the belt loops, I actually have those too, they're made form crafstore legit normal chains, not ones made to be actually worn like this. Listen I got them in high school I was an edgy basard and I didn't know where to get stuff like that so I just asked dad to get some like this instead ok. I have a pair of normal steel and a pair of black ones, here he's wearing the latter.

- The other idea was to turn him into a HK bug, more specifically, a mosskin tribe member from greenpath, cuz it's my favorite stage of the game with how pretty it is (listen the artwork of that game is goreous ok). He would probably be a bit of a loner/outcast, always hiding with his leaf/bush cape; the lighter fuzz is part of his body. I imagine he'd be a side character you have to go out of your way to meet and interact with, and depending on how you do so his outcome in the story may vary: one option is that he just stays like normal if you befriend him, the second is he succumbs to the infaction and he ends up being a secret boss an you have to kill him, a third however is maybe he does get infected, but if you do some sort of side quest before defeating him you can cure/save him still(?) Idk. His boss/infected form is partially inspired by aspids (because they're some of the most annoying enemies and I think that fits him/me well enough :') ), he probably attacks from a distance with a combo of spitting at you directly from the ceiling and throwing bubbles of infection around the stage by swinging his tail; maybe even releasing bursts of orange gas like some other enemies when you hit him (in later pahses). And yes, the name is a pun; I noticed the characters in this game either have descriptive names/adjectives, or normal names so I went with a combo of the two.

art and characters by me, do not copy, trace, repost, reuse ecc without my permission please.

#hollow knight #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #self insert #fan character #fan art #my art #my ocs #my sona #videogame #cartoon

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teaandgames · 4 years

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The Tea Times - June 2020

Well, we’re officially over halfway through the year at this point. I know for many people it feels like we’re dragging ourselves over that point but try and keep your chin up. All bad things must end. In the world of games it’s been a rather packed month, with some high profile releases and some unexpected announcements coming out of the woodwork. Hopefully that’ll tide us over for the second half of the year where things will, hopefully, start to look up.

At A Glance

Valorant, Command & Conquer Remastered Collection, Desperados III, The Last of Us Part II, Summer in Mara and Pokemon Cafe Mix released.

Resident Evil 8: The Village, Crash Bandicoot 4, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2, Pokemon Unite, Pokemon Snap and Lost in Random announced.

Kingdoms of Amalur is getting retooled!

Rumour mill: Far Cry 6 and Batman!

UK strikes out at loot boxes!

Playstation 5 is revealed!

Cyberpunk 2077 Re-Delayed!

The Releases

My goodness there’s a lot to get through this month. Let’s begin with Valorant, a team shooter developed by Riot Games. Many team shooters have jumped up and been smacked right back down but Riot Games, the League of Legends lads, have some proper grunt behind them. I’ve heard a lot of positive chatter about Valorant, and seen some exciting videos, so there’s every chance. I’m too incompetent for these type of games but if you’re not then it released on PC on the 2nd June.

I’m also too incompetent for Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection but that’s not going to stop me. While it’s not much of a collection, containing only Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert, there’s a lot of love in the package. The retooled art is nice to see, while also preserving the spirit of the original. It’s a heavily nostalgic game and a reminder of when RTS games were about the base building and not screaming at your teammates. If you fancy a trip down a FMV-laden memory lane then it was released on the 5th June.

Desperados III caused some long forgotten light bulb to spark in my head, though I can’t really explain why. It’s a real-time stealth game set, rather unsurprisingly, in the Wild West. Was there much stealth there? My mind has been too corrupted by images of people blind-firing at each other with revolvers. Still, Desperados III seems to have an action element to it as well for when you’re bored of killing people and stashing their bodies. It’s also getting decent reviews too, which is encouraging. If you fancy some rootin’-tootin’ throaty slittin’ then Desperados III came out on Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the 16th June.

Summer in Mara is a funny one. It popped up constantly on my Facebook, sending me ad after ad. Normally this would turn me against a game but, in a rare twist, it actually got me pretty excited. It’s a farming game, with an exploring element to it and I am all about that. It also looks gorgeous, in screenshots at least. I actually didn’t realise it was out yet so I will soon be booting up either Steam or my Switch to get on that. I’m ready to waste another hundred hours. It released on the 16th June.

Well now here’s one that’s been doing the controversy circle. Released on the 19th June, The Last of Us Part Two was quickly subjected to review bombing. Possibly because it committed the cardinal sin of acknowledging that the LGBT community exists. Ah well. That nonsense aside, it’s picking up top scores and awards, much like its predecessor. It appears to be heavily story focused though the physics, by the look of it, are top notch too. If you liked the original then give it a whirl. It was released on PlayStation 4 on the 19th June.

Even more unexpected is Pokemon Cafe Mix. Not too much to say about this one, to be honest. It’s a pleasant little puzzle game about serving folks in a cafe, which is staffed by Pokemon wearing adorable outfits. It’s free to play, with microtransactions, and seems like a nice little game to kill a few minutes. It dropped on the Switch on the 23rd June.

The Announcements

It seems like every five minutes, I found another game that had been announced. Not least of all is Resident Evil 8: The Village. If you remember, I adored Resident Evil VII and I hope that the sequel carries on its spirit. It’s certainly in first person and the trailer gives me hope. It also has an old man in a flat cap with a shotgun which always gives me hope. The trailer is absolutely dripping with symbolism too. It should be coming out next year.

Next in line of the unexpected sequels to nostalgic games is Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, which has a trailer set to The Rockafeller Skank just to maximise that early 2000s nostalgia. As you might expect, it’s about time. That title has its tongue buried deeply in its cheek. It looks like a proper return to form too, with bright colourful graphics and a fresh Cortex plan to ruin. While I never got on that well with the Crash Bandicoot franchise, I know a lot of people will be excited for the return to form. It’ll be out on October 2nd.

Lord, they are cranking out Bloodstained games, aren’t they? Back in 2018, the original Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon came out, which was an old school Castlevania game in all but name. A companion game, Ritual of the Night, made things 2.5D. Now however, we’re back to Curse of the Moon with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2. It looks like it keeps the old school Castlevania art style, which is nice to see. If you’re in the mood for an older flavour of game, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 will be out on the 10th July.

The second controversy on this list is a new Pokemon game, Pokemon Unite. In this case, the ire may well be justified. Pokemon Unite is a MOBA, of all the bloody things, which is a bit of an odd move. It’s a pretty heavily saturated genre, full of big names, and I don’t honestly know how much market Nintendo will be able to carve out of that. Add in the fact that it has a definite connection to Chinese company Tencent (which doesn’t have the best reputation) and it goes some way to explaining the mountain of dislikes the video has gotten. Ah well. A release date has yet to be announced.

What is much more up my street is Pokemon Snap for the Nintendo Switch. The original was one of the highlights of my emulation days. Basically, you ride on a little cart through the world of Pokemon, taking pictures of them in their natural habitat. Then Oak looks through them and reveals how weak of a photographer you are. It’s not a game for everyone but if you always wanted to see Pokemon frolic around like normal animals then Pokemon Snap is your game. No release date yet, though.

Still not too sure about Lost in Random to be honest. I think I just like me some dice games. It’s set in a fairly dark world where people’s fates are decided by a roll of the dice, but it also has something of an upbeat tone in the vein of Tim Burton. It’s an action-adventure game, with some pretty heavy looking combat, set in a gothic fantasy world and all of those are good things. If you like the sound of it, then Lost in Random will be out next year.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

Well this is one I wasn’t expecting. I did a whole piece about how the intellectual property had been handed around like a game of hot potato, even landing in the hands of the state of Rhode Island at one point. THQ acquired the property rights in the end and they’ve now announced that they are giving it a fresh coat of paint, which is being handled by the folks at Kaiko, who did the Darksiders remasters. So it should be fairly decent.

What confuses me is that the things they are working on are the graphics and the gameplay. The two things that Kingdoms of Amalur didn’t really suffer from. The game always looked pretty gorgeous, to be honest. It captured the spirit of a fantasy forest nicely. I never looked at it and thought, damn this needs retooling. Same with the gameplay really. It wasn’t anything amazing but it wasn’t screaming for a remaster.

Honestly, Kingdoms of Amalur’s biggest flaw was from the core design. The huge open levels with bugger all in it, quests that didn’t really do anything interesting and long lore dumps that put you to sleep. That’s not really going to change if you’re just doing surface level stuff. Still, we don’t know for sure what they’re changing so you never know. The remastered version should be out in August.

The Rumour Mill - Exotic Locales And Batman

The first of our rumours this month revolves around Far Cry 6. The latest entry Far Cry 5 was set in North America and revolves around a cult, which probably hits a little too close to home for some people. If that’s not your bag then you’ll be pleased to know that Far Cry 6 will be set somewhere more exotic. No exact details at the moment but I imagine there will be sunshine and clear waters. It’s also supposedly due to be released before April next year, COVID19 depending. If the rumour is true, we’ll hear more about this on July 12th.

For those more interested in the caped crusader then you may be interested to know that there’s a good chance of Warner Bros. announcing two Batman games in August this year. This rumour is fuelled by the fact that two domains have been registered. They point towards two titles, ‘Gotham Knights’ and ‘Suicide Squad’. The second one is more obvious and probably inevitable, given that we’ve had a whole film about them. Not sure about Gotham Knights though. We should hopefully have more info at DC’s fandome event on the 22nd August.

UK Says Loot Boxes Are Not OK

Following on from the example of companies like Belgium, UK ministers are asking for a review of evidence with regards to Loot Boxes in games. The issue comes from the definition of Loot Boxes as gambling. It’s not an unreasonable definition, as it encourages people to put in a varying amount of money for the chance at getting something rare and exciting. Everybody wins, of course, but most of the time it’s basic stuff that entices you to try again. Sounds like gambling to me.

People aren’t too happy with advertising gambling to under 18s so this decision has a lot of weight to it. If Loot Boxes are declared to be gambling, then games will be required to remove them or change them up so they can be sold to under 18s. They may even remove the games entirely. How enforceable that will be remains to be seen but it will likely make it harder for multiplayer games to be marketed in the UK. Not a happy thing but we’ll have to wait and see what the evidence says.

The Sleek, Sexy… Router?

Well here’s an interesting one. Sony released their first images of the PlayStation 5 design this month and people are already disagreeing with it. I can see why. It’s a very sleek, futuristic design. Minimalist white and grey in an obelisk like shape. I’m in two minds about it myself. On the one hand, it’s quite sleek and attractive. It doesn’t look like a ‘console’ which I think is a good thing. It looks memorable.

On the other hand it looks like a wireless router. You’ll have to make your own mind up on this one.

Re-delayed

Just a quick one to end on. CD PROJEKT RED are fully committing to making sure Cyberpunk 2077 is ready to go. To that end, it’s been delayed back to November 19th. They’ve been fully transparent as to why as well, which is refreshing. Essentially, while it’s good to go content-wise, they need extra time to go through everything and iron out those bugs. A good reason, as reasons go.

They did however release some new gameplay trailers to keep people going, so make sure to check those out to remind yourself why it’s worth waiting until November! That’s all for June, see you in July!

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echoeternally · 4 years

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2020 Fanfic Schedule (Halfway)

Guess this is still going to be what I check in with.

But hey, we’ve actually made it through half of the year so far! 2020 has been, uh, not so great, honestly. But, if you’re reading, then you’re still with me, so, I’m glad that you are.

Anyway, my life is a bit crazed for now, I’m working on moving out, so I’ll probably be slowing back down to less contribution. But after you see Q2 updates, I hope you’ll be ok with that.

For the original below, we’ll start with that.

…

Q1 (January - March) ~ Completed

Planned update for: Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 45 ~ Updated!

Q2 (April - June) ~ Completed

Q3 (July - September) ~ In Progress

Pushing update for: Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 29 ~ Updated!

Q4 (October - December)

Pushing update for: Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 30, planned finale

…

As you can see, a lot of the content that I had planned for later in the year was moved up during the time we’ve had off, so, I got a lot done. And this is only focusing on the major fanfics that I’ve written. I’m going to include the full Q2 section below the rest of the posts.

Since I’m going to be changing my life up a bit by moving out, I’ll probably be slowing down on updates, so that’s why I’ve left only the original two plans on the list. And, they’re also not promised updates, since I’m up in the air, and that means my schedule is too.

Some explanations below the cut.

Q1: Since I had time at home, I pumped out a lot of writing, and managed to write up both chapters for the Mario fanfic, ENY. I didn’t realize they were going to be about the same topic, but I put out 30k for those two, so, it just happened to work out nicely for them. Though I did some writing beforehand, it was really in March that I got all caught up, and then ahead of the game.

Q2: During the beginning of April, something crawled into my head and nagged about finishing my Star Fox fanfic, NoL, and refused to go away. So, I got frustrated, resorted the story and broke apart the chapters already written, changed the author’s notes, and wrote up the last four chapters. Totally unplanned, but it was cathartic to let it go. They were steadily released soon after, and during that time, I worked on the Pokemon fanfic, MGR, to keep with the updates. Also, I included some new fan art for ENY’s AO3 version, since there was a small burst for those between March and April, and I was really excited to include them. As I continued along during May, when I originally planned to take a break but my brain refused to allow it, I wrote a lot more. In the middle of the month, MGR gained another update that was slated for the third quarter. Since that was finished by the middle of May, I decided to go back to working on ENY, and finished a chapter for that, which was completed by the end of May. However, there was more content that I wanted to add, so I added another chapter in June, which ended the main fanfic updates. In addition to this, I updated the one-shot collection of Pokemon fanfics, Scattered Petals, and added two old stories for it. Also, I wrote an extra story for a friend that worked very hard during the pandemic.

Q3: Home pretty much started sucking at the very beginning of June, and I think I posted on here about needing to quit, and then I wrote up another post about more of what I was dealing with, but I haven’t posted that yet since I seem to be jumping the gun on expectations regarding my personal life matters. So, instead, I’m just going to continue working on everything, moving out and writing, until something needs to give. While I’ve already completed writing the next chapter for MGR, that’s Chapter 29, I don’t know what will be happening throughout the remaining months of July, August, and September, so, I’ll just refrain from promising its completion. Since Chapter 30 will be the finale and a major update with it, one that would be better with big audience participation for its aftermath, I’m leaving that as a fourth quarter push update, in which my life will hopefully be somewhat normalized by then, but I can’t imagine it will be for sure. As for ENY, I’d like to update that once more as well, but it already got an unplanned update, so, it’s time for that to rest for now. If my life vastly improves over the back six months, well, who knows?

...

Well, that should cover the main content for a while. As I mentioned, I did include additional updates during the second quarter, so that really looks like this below here:

Q1 (January - March) ~ Completed

Prior entry for: Upon A Dream, Bowsario one-shot ~ Completed! Planned update for: Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 45 ~ Updated!

Q2 (April - June) ~ Completed

Planned update for: Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 27 ~ Updated! Pushing update for: Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 46 ~ Updated! Extra update for: Nexus of Lylat, story overhaul, +4 chapters ~ Completed! Planned update for: Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 28 ~ Updated! Planned update for: Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 47 ~ Updated! Extra update for: Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 48 ~ Updated! Extra update for: Scattered Petals, one-shot collection ~ Updated! (Twice!) Extra update for: Colors of Another Life, Fire Emblem one-shot ~ Completed! Extra update for: Quiet Life, Mario one-shot ~ Completed! Pushing update for: Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 29 ~ Updated!

...

As it turns out, I had a lot of time to work with during the second quarter, since that was the high time of the pandemic. If you break it down further, that actually has this look here:

Upon A Dream: Completed in February Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 45: Updated in March

Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 27: Updated in April Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 46: Updated in April Nexus of Lylat, Chapter 15: Updated in April Nexus of Lylat, Chapter 16: Updated in April Nexus of Lylat, Chapter 17: Updated in April Nexus of Lylat, Chapter 18: Updated in April Nexus of Lylat: Overhauled & Completed in April Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 28: Updated in May Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 47: Updated in May Eternally Never Yours, Chapter 48: Updated in June Scattered Petals, Chapter 7: Updated in June Scattered Petals, Chapter 8: Updated in June Scattered Petals: Ported to AO3 in June Colors of Another Life: Completed in June Quiet Life: Completed in June Melting Gelid Roses, Chapter 29: Updated in July

...

And I wanted to list all of those like that mostly to show myself that I didn’t just sit around doing nothing, but I updated a lot during the second quarter and put a fierce amount of effort in.

At any rate, this isn’t really for just me to look over, so I should wrap it up here. I actually did manage to play a few video games and got some reading done as well during this time, so, I did some of what I wanted with my free time too.

Along with my personal life drama, work also started back up in June/July, which is probably why most of my updates stopped around the middle of the month there, just slightly after. I’ll try to keep someone posted if I end up in the hospital with the virus, since that doesn’t seem to be contained yet. (I don’t think it’s currently bad where I am, not as bad as it has been earlier, but I’m not comfortable regardless.)

For everyone, I hope you’re all doing well to take care of yourselves! Between the pandemic and the protests for equality, a lot went chaotic through June, so, I really hope you’re taking care and staying safe to the best of your ability. Don’t give up, though, because we’ve still got several months ahead of us!

That should be everything for now. Thank you all for your continued support and patience. I really hope you’ve enjoyed the story updates all this while, and maybe they’ve been good distractions. But that’s for you to know, and me to find out over the course of time. For now, I’ll just keep doing my best.

Thank you for reading!

#fanfic update schedule #for all my wips #progress #echo's fanfics #long post #echo eternal #echoeternally #eternallyecho

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winterfang53 · 4 years

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Gajevy Week 2020 - Letters

Super late but here you go!

Gajevy Week 202 day 1: Letters! I hope you enjoy!

Levy was running the moment she got off the bus; her red backpack bouncing on her back while her lunchbox threatened to fly out of her hand. The 12-year-old raced down the block towards her house, only stopping at the mailbox at the end of the driveway.

Excitement gleamed in her eyes as she eagerly opened the wooden frame only to deflate at the emptiness within.

“Not today I guess,” Levy sign, pouting as she trudged towards the front door, lacking the energy she had only a moment before. “I hope it comes tomorrow then,” Levy said quietly.

Levy made her way into her house, almost tripping over her older brother’s shoes at the doorway. “Stupid Jellal,” she grumbled loudly, catching the attention of someone in the kitchen.

“Levy is that you dear?” her mother called, poking her head around the corner, “how was school, Honey?”

“It was fine,” Levy said hesitantly, “Mom, did you get the mail by any chance?”

Levy’s mother smiled brightly, “Your letter’s on the table, Sweetie.”

Joy brightened Levy’s eyes, making her throw her shoes off in hast to bounce her way into the kitchen. There, sitting the on the light wooden table was a plain white letter with her name scribbled in bad handwriting. Levy squealed as she leaped towards the letter only for it to be ripped from her hand.

“What’s this?” Levy’s older brother Jellal asked, holding the letter above her short stature, “a letter from your boyfriend?” he teased.

“Jellal!” Levy screeched, her cheeks flushing with anger and embarrassment, “he’s not my boyfriend and gives me it back!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jellal laughed, “your penpal, who you wait with bated breath for every letter he sends you. It’s kind of sad Lev.”

Before Levy could defend herself, a show flew through the air to smack her brother in the face. Looks like her mom was here to defend her instead. “Jellal stop teasing your sister and put your shoes away!”

Levy snatched her letter and bolted up the stairs to her room, locking the door so her brother couldn’t chase her.

Downstairs, Levy’s mom chastised her son: “Why do you have to tease her like that? You know how hard it is for Levy to make friends -- those letters brighten her day!”

“Sorry Mom,” Jellal grumbled, “I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just she really needs to make more friends than the one boy who’s her penpal from last year.”

Their Mother’s eyes soften, “I know Honey, but you know how shy she is, she has a hard time connecting to the other kids. Let her appreciate the friend she has now.”

“I just hope he doesn’t stop writing her letters,” Jellal signed as he gazed up the stairs, “it would break her heart.”

Upstairs behind Levy’s locked door, sat Levy on her bed gazing at the letter in hand. It was a plain white envelope -- like always -- with her name scribbled in a handwritten that she could recognize anywhere as her penpal Gajeel Redfox. Last year, before the summer started, Levy’s school started a penpal program between her school and a school on the other side of the state. It was mandatory for all 5th graders in her school to participate, making shy little Levy write a letter to a complete stranger.

Levy can still remember how nervous she was writing her first letter -- an introduction letter about herself -- and how her tummy hurt for 2 whole weeks while she waited for a response, only for her to bristle in fury at the response her got:

You sound short.

Gajeel Redfox, as Levy came to discover, was a boy of every few words and took much joy in teasing her even though letters. Levy had been so mad that she wrote a very rude letter back. For the rest of the summer, Levy and Gajeel sent “hate mail” to each other, calling each other every name in the book until the first week of school when it dawned on her that the program was over.

Levy had come to look forward to each letter; the excitement of interacting with someone her own age wasn’t something Levy got to experience often -- given her lack of friends. During the second week of 6th grade, Levy sent a letter to Gajeel asking him if he still wanted to send letters and for 2 whole weeks, Levy sat again with her tummy hurting. When that letter came, Levy almost cried happily at what was written:

You’re funny Shrimp, why on earth would I stop now?

Now, in April and almost a whole year of writing letters, Levy and Gajeel still exchanged letters almost every week -- just with less teasing.

Levy gently opened the letter, so as not to rip the letter, and pulled out the plain white notebook paper that Gajeel always wrote on:

Shrimp,

My Ma says I need to start my letters by asking how you are so here: How are you? I don’t really know why I need to do that, you would tell me if you’re ok or no but whatever. Has your school started ‘preparing’ you guys for middle school? Mine has and it stinks. What’s the big deal with middle school anyways? The only difference is that you have more than one classroom now, big deal. My Ma says it’s a bigger deal than that but I think she’s exaggerating. See? I used a big word -- I AM using that stupid dictionary you gave me for Christmas so now you can’t say I’m not! Yes, I know there were Pokemon cards in the dictionary but you still gave me a dictionary for Christmas. That’s worst than socks Shrimp!

Anyways that not the real thing I want to talk about. My folks are dragging me and Wendy to go see my grandparents out of state this summer, we’re gonna be there for a whole month while dad has to go overseas for work! I put their address at the end of this letter so you know where to send your letters to me. I’ll be there from June 23 to July 25 so don’t forget!

P.S. I hate making friends too, most of my friends are my cousins, well and you. Don’t let the other kids bully you ok? I’m not there to beat them up.

Gajeel

Levy smiled as she read her letter, blushing slightly at Gajeel’s hidden concern for her. Even if he was mean most of the time, Levy knew that he cared for her in his own weird way. His letters were the highlight of her day -- save for reading. Levy hoped from her bed and pulled out a large box from underneath. There, Levy had every letter Gajeel ever sent her. Kissing the letter, Levy placed it in the box before hopping over to her desk to write her reply.

…

Levy and Gajeel continued being penpals for years to come, surprising everyone even themselves on their commitment. It wasn’t until high school when both Gajeel and Levy got cellphones did the letters slow down a bit and were partially replaced by texts. Letters, texts, and later calls allowed for Gajeel and Levy’s relationship to flourish until one fateful day during the first week of college did Levy and Gajeel finally meets -- 7 years after the first letter.

“Welcome to Art History 100 everyone!” the professor called out at the front of the class, “why don’t we start by introducing ourselves: Everyone, going in order, please stand up, give your name, and give a strange fact about your self!” Levy sat in the middle of class, her hair pulled back in her favorite headband -- a gift from Gajeel -- as she nervously waited for her turn. Finally, after what felt like forever, it was her turn.

“Um, Hello I’m Levy McGarden and my strange fact is that I’ve had a penpal since 5th grade that still actively talk to,” Levy said shyly before sitting down.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” the blond girl next to her said, her brown eyes showing her honesty, “I didn’t think penpals were still a thing!”

Levy beamed at the girl -- Lucy if she remembered correctly. “Yeah, we were pretty unusual. I’m Levy by the way.”

“Lucy,” the blond said nodding her head with a smile, “did you two ever meet up or anything?”

Levy shook her head, “no, he lived on the other side of the state so we never got the chance.”

“What about now?” Lucy asked quietly since there were still people introducing themselves, “where does he go to school.”

Levy frowned at this, “I don’t know, to be honest, he told me it was a secret. Knowing him, he probably did it to piss me-” she was cut off then by a familiar voice that she had never heard in person before.

“My name is Gajeel Redfox and my strange fact is that I’m Levy McGraden’s penpal, Gihi!”

Levy could only gab at the towering male with thick black hair, silver piercings, and a fanged grin smiling over at her from the back of the room. There, in the flesh, was her crush since grade school, her penpal, Gajeel Redfox.

“You asshole,” Levy said softly, unable to stop the smile that was spreading across her lips as Lucy cooed on how cute this was. Throughout the rest of the class, Levy couldn’t help herself from looking back at that man who pissed her off and make her smile all with the same breath. Meeting the red eyes that teased her from the back while Lucy giggled at her the whole time.

“You have some explaining to do you jerk!” Levy growled playfully as she whacked him after class.

“Gihi! What? You didn’t like the surprise?” Gajeel laughed, dodging her little fists, “damn, I must say Shrimp, you’re living up to your name!”

“Gajeel!”

...

4 years later, at their wedding reception, while Lucy was recounting the story, Levy slip over a folded paper to her new husband.

“What’s this?” Gajeel whispered, his brow raised in question.

“The first letter of our marriage,” Levy said smiling, “read it.”

Gajeel eyed her in question before unfolding the paper only to choke on his own tongue;

“We’re pregnant?!”

I hope everyone enjoyed this!

#gajevy week #gajevy #Gajeel X Levy #Gajeel Redfox #Levy McGarden #fairy tail

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crasherfly · 3 years

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Weekly Update

It’s a privilege to write about personal shit this week.

There’s not much I can add to the conversation about the election, suffice to say it was both better and worse than expected, and I’m glad that society isn’t immediately collapsing, at least this week.

Which is to say I’ve never been so glad to focus on my stupid, deeply low-stakes life updates. Obviously, the future is still uncertain and there will be plenty of work to do in the days and years ahead, but a week ago, I wasn’t certain if I’d be witness to a reality where questions like “how did a week of not drinking go” and “what are you playing” still matter.

So without further ado...

It was a challenging week, obviously.

Not just the election- I’m talkin’ for like- EVERYTHING. Home life. Work life. Creative life. I could go on. You get the idea.

I went on full blown quarantine as of last Friday after learning a member of my household may have covid. You wouldn’t think it was much of a change from my normal every day, but man, I did not realize just how many little things were working together to keep my sanity together.

A short list- weekend walks to pick up morning coffee, Friday night carry-out sushi and pizza, my weekly groceries at the co-op, and most importantly- trips to the weight room- all suddenly off the table until testing results come in.

In my state, testing often requires booking at least 3 days in advance, and it can take another 3-4 days just to get results back. Luckily, everyone in my home works remotely, so this doesn’t put us out too bad. I can’t imagine now non-remote workers manage. Even so, having to toss all the precious little things I’d managed to keep despite the pandemic stung. I even had to put my wrestling watch parties on hold- they took place on Discord, but one of my friends would normally come over to watch.

I’ve worked through a lot of huffy anger and annoyance over the course of the past few days. Losing my ability to get to the gym as the weather turns especially hurts. As a weight lifter, I’m pretty reliant on what the gym offers. Early into the pandemic I got a lot of folks snidely telling me to go lift paint cans. I resisted the temptation to tell them they could in turn pay for my back surgery. Thanks to the pandemic I’ve learned that the gym is actually a need for me, emotionally and physically. Losing it, even for a week, feels awful. I can’t wait to get back to it.

Until then, jogging and biking will have to suffice.

One positive- I’ve gone a week without drinking!

Based on my tracking, that’s actually the longest I’ve since June, which is nuts.

Predictably, I have gained weight. Because no good deed goes unpunished.

I don’t know if I’d say I notice any life-changing effects yet. For all I know, my body is still adjusting to the sudden absence of all the shit it’s normally used to working in overdrive to break down.

A few things I’ve noticed- my runs are going slightly better, I can stay up later working on games or creative endeavors, and I’m actually experiencing REM cycles again- meaning I’m dreaming, and dreaming vividly. I also get incredibly hungry around 10:30 every night- because, surprise!- that’s when I’d normally sit down with a beer or glass of sake. So I’m working on finding ways around that.

I can’t say I’ve felt a huge urge to drink. I occasionally wonder when, or indeed if, I’ll grab a glass of beer again any time soon. But beyond that, it’s been pretty easy to lay off. The fatigue alone was just such a pain to work through, not to mention the way a glass of beer would just kinda pin me into place for the rest of the night. I like how active my brain is now in the late hours.

But I do watch a lot less anime now :(

On that note, here’s what I’ve been playing lately!

Outer Worlds (XBONE)

So, you probably missed it last post- probably ‘cuz I forgot to write about it in my first draft, but I wrote about my Total Kill Run that I just wrapped up in Outer Worlds.

The short and dirty version for those of you who can’t be bothered to go back and read- I tried to do a run where I killed every NPC in Outer Worlds, a space RPG from the Obsidian, and instead got sidetracked with completing the nefarious Board’s story and ended up doing a Board run instead.

I was surprised by how humor and wit the game brings to its commentary on your wanton slaughter. The devs were not bluffing when they said you could kill anyone and anything in Outer Wilds and they even prepared a few nice moments in anticipation that some players would try.

I was disappointed to find that the Board’s mission- and indeed, some of the progression points I followed on my own go-it-alone-and-kill-everything story, mirrored the Good Guy story beat-for-beat, basically shrugging and saying “well, you’re gonna do this anyway, like it or not”. At several given points you can kill everyone you like- but you’ll still have to find that keycard, access that terminal, or visit that far off map point now matter how hard you try to get out of it.

I was finally struck by how little I missed. I skipped A LOT of stuff- almost every sidequest and all the companion quests. And you know what? I had a fine time. I might even say I had a better time. So much time in Outer Wilds is devoted to fetching, traveling, and sitting in load screens. Turns out you do less of all of that when you just go guns blazing into every civilized map.

Some friends earlier this week were talking about revisiting old Bethesda-style RPGs like Fallout: New Vegas and Skyrim. It got me thinking about whether or not I would bother doing that myself any time soon. It’s true those are better games than Outer Worlds. But if the point of Outer Worlds is to echo those positive experiences so closely...what does my recent experience say about the source of that reflection?

Just a thought I’m chewing on. I don’t have a good answer. But feel free to HMU if you have your own thoughts!

NeoGeo Arcade Stick Pro- Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury, World Heroes 2

Friday night I sat down at my desk, dimmed the lights and hooked up my NeoGeo Arcade Stick Pro. On my second monitor, I brought up move lists for King of Fighters ‘95 and started my fighting game learning journey.

I did OK, in my opinion. I stuck to just learning the hero team- Kyo, Daimon, and Benimaru. I even managed to trigger a few level 1 supers. I think I could safely beat the average player at an arcade now- but there’s definitely plenty of system I came nowhere close to learning all the ins and outs. However, after trying out a few subsequent KOF games, it seems like my learning should transfer forward.

I also tried out a few other games on the stick. Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury aren’t games I’ve had prior exposure to. In my experience, they seemed a little slower than KOF. The command lists were definitely shorter. Samurai Shodown was absolutely gorgeous and felt really, really good to play. I could see getting really into it.

My big highlight was World Heroes 2, which I ended up playing most of the night. It’s a bit sillier than the previously noted titles, but it has a really fun roster and a good, medium-sized move list that isn’t too taxing to remember. I had seen some of the characters, like Johnny Maximum, on the Spriteclub roster, so it was cool to see them in their native environment.

Overall, the Arcade Stick Pro is holding up nicely. The stick itself is solid, and the deck is a natural fit on my lap or desktop. I’m not noticing any serious input lag and the buttons seem really responsive. Of all my retro consoles, this might become one of my favorites.

Endless Space 2

AMPLITUDE’s 4x sci-fi has entered hallowed realms of my “Games I will Be Playing 20 Years From Now” list. A massive, sprawling turn-based strategy about managing a spacefaring empire, Endless Space 2 is great for those weeks where I want to play a 4X that I can resolve within 20 hours.

For my most recent run, I once again took up my favored faction, the Riftborn. Every game is a learning experience, so this time around I was determine to try and tackle the massive and deeply inconvenient quests that Endless Space 2 mercilessly slews at you every_damn_turn.

I was mostly successful. I didn’t finish my faction’s quest, but I did complete the Academy quests. Throughout every game the Academy looms as this impartial faction that hires out heroes and provides boons to those who donate resources to it. In the endgame, the Academy offers a quest that forces every active civilization to choose sides regardless of existing alliances. Depending on the results, the last phases of Endless Space 2 can look very different

I finished the questline, unlocked a cool cinematic and learned that next time I should definitely not ignore those quests, however obnoxious they might be. The faction buffs earned from successful completion are....pretty wild.

Sunless Skies

Another week, another dead captain in Sunless Skies. This captain had a particularly long run- I had managed about...15 hours with him before losing him to some enemies that I was not at all prepared to fight. Death comes quick in Sunless Skies- a single bad decision can lead to swift death.

This run I at least managed to bank a ton of valuable supplies and upgrade my engine. My next captain will have a better shot as a result. I’m not sure when I’ll pick the game back up. After a particularly long run I usually take a long break- weeks or even months. We’ll just see what happens.

Pokemon Shield

I’ve finally, FINALLY beaten the endgame of Pokemon Shield. At least, I think I have. I’m sure there’s a few more things to do here or there, but for the most part, I think I’m done. I beat the champion and saw the credits roll. There’s some DLC to visit and more ‘mon to catch, but mostly, I’m done.

I had the opportunity to take care of some trade evolutions and partake in a friendly battle with a friend. It was the first time I’ve done that since...I kid you not...the playground in 5th grade.

It was...really fun?

I’m a deeply casual pokemon player. I don’t search for shiny ‘mon or suss out perfect numbers. I just use who I think looks cool and I try to keep type and consideration in mind. As a result, my friend and I had to agree on some ground rules for average levels- but the result was a compelling match.

I found myself afterwards making plans for another battle night. This tends to happen in November- I get really into Pokemon again for a few weeks. Historically, this is ‘cuz I’m normally traveling a lot for the holidays. That won’t be true this year, but old habits die hard.

Maybe I’ll even bust out my 3DS again soon. Who knows?

Quest 2: Revisited

Last week, I posted some thoughts about the Oculus Quest 2. I’ve spent another week with the headset, testing some new features and trying some more involved experiences. I’m happy to report my thoughts on the machine are still positive.

If anything, my impressions are MORE positive than before. My eyes have grown used to the world of VR. I’ve found a setting on the out-of-box headstrap that I don’t hate. And I’m finding more experiences than I initially suspected I might.

I’ve had a change to run the Link option, for instance, which allows you to use your Quest 2 as a Rift. It’s actually pretty seamless, requiring only a good desktop and a USB cable. My cable seemed to suffer from some bad speeds, so my experience was pretty laggy, but with an approved cable, I have no doubt the Quest 2 could handle just about anything you throw at it.

I finished Superhot, and have only raving reviews to offer. It is a perfect introduction to all the Quest 2 can do. Given limited space, Superhot places you in do-or-die situations where you must dodge, duck and shoot your way through enemies. When you move- time movies- so you will often find yourself forced to take stock of your surroundings before making your next step.

It is sharp, offers a great mix of puzzle solving and brisk action, and even serves as an ad-hoc workout. Picking it up with your Quest 2 is a must.

Encouraged by Superhot, I gave Job Simulator a try. It is a zany VR experience that humorously simulates a number of white collar job environments. It is short, funny, and with no shortage of silly interactions. I spent several minutes in my digital office cube shooting staples into neighboring cubes and giggling at the angry responses of my co-workers. WHO THREW THAT. STAND UP.

Finally, I’ve taken some time to try and get into the streaming world beyond the Mozilla app. It has been both encouraging and...well, not so much. I’ve mostly been dinking around in Bigscreen, an app that offers a number of Pluto TV channels in digital theater environments. You log into a room with other people, who appear as avatars, and you all watch the shows together.

Well, sorta. Most people don’t really watch the shows so much as they throw digital tomatoes at the screen and shout upsetting shit at each other. The server population seems really low, so the massive theaters take on the quality of a creepy XXX cinema, where one always feels a bit apprehensive of who they might meet.

At its best, Bigscreen is genuinely funny. I’ve made nightly stops at the Star Trek theater, which plays old reruns of Next Generation. The most enjoyable moments come in the spirit of MST3K, with witty comments and memes as people throw digital refreshments at the screen. I’ve found myself giggling despite myself.

At its worst, Bigscreen is a deeply racist and sexist hideaway full of the types of folks you’d normally shush the hell out of in a real theater. You can mute people, but it’s a tedious task. A reporting function also exists, but who knows how or if its being enforced at all. Finally, unless you’re doing a film rental, you’re going to be subjected to commercials on everything from erectile pills to The Blaze. I’ve described it to others as being Peak Late Night Cable: The App. If that appeals to you, well, it’s there and it’s free.

I’ve tried streaming my desktop, both on Bigscreen and via Oculus Link. Both were very laggy. There’s a very popular desktop streaming app I could try, but it costs IRL money. Honestly, most of what I’d want out of my desktop streaming I already get from Mozilla.

I like the Quest 2 a lot. I hope we see more experiences tailored specifically to it, as opposed to through the Link function or via desktop streaming.

Dungeons and Dragons

I finally wrapped up my improv sessions with my local DND group. Having just finished The Lost Mines of Phandelver, I wanted to take some time between campaigns to improv and get off the grid a bit.

The result was 4 sessions, 2 hours each, where I had nothing prepared in advance and I let my players take the lead. I gave them a map I’d built of the region and told them we could go anywhere they like.

My party ended up splitting into two groups- one heading to Castle Grayhawk, and one to Neverwinter. Antics ensued, personal quests furthered, and by the end, everyone felt ready for our next adventure at the Salt Marshes.

An interesting takeaway- when doing improv sessions, I had almost zero fights. I never once broke out the battleboard and only a handful of attack rolls were even attempted.

I, personally, like combat a great deal. So I don’t think that will be my style forever. But it was interesting to see what my sessions could look like without it, especially after such a combat-heavy campaign.

Anime

I’ll be honest- I’ve fallen really behind on this season’s anime. I have so many hobbies, and one thing gets shoved aside for another, necessarily so. This time, it’s anime and manga. I promise I’ll get back on the horse soon.

As the year winds down, I’m already thinking about my experiences over the past year and what my end of the year experience list will look like.

I’ve seen so many amazing titles this year.

Like, I get deeply, viscerally emotional when I think about Re:Zero.

My heart races as I think of the thrilling high points of Tower of God.

I delight in my inner goth kid as I ruminate in experiences like Gleipnir and Berserk.

I’m going to have a lot to talk about. Just thinking about it motivates me to get out there and see more.

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knifehecker · 5 years

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undertale day [long post]

it’s the 15th!! happy 4th birthday undertale!!! normally i try to do a little art or something but this year i decided to do something a little different. there’s a lot of content that’s become core tenets of my experience with the fandom -- changed the way i thought about the characters, how i engage with the fandom, opened my eyes to new ways of writing -- and i thought it’d be neat to compile some of those into one post to share with other people. so without further ado!!!

40-minute Deltarune Piano Medley - FaceImplosion [MUSIC]

ok, i know this is deltarune and not undertale, but this medley incorporates songs from both games so i’m gonna say it counts. and honestly, i could say a LOT about this piece!! i’ve watched and listened to a lot of ut/dr medleys, and this has to be the most lovingly crafted of its type that i’ve ever seen. Ever. a lot of care has been put into the order and combination of the songs (some funny, some sad, some mindblowing, ALL amazing) and the art is so good that every time i listen i find myself watching along. there’s a lot of easter eggs, especially for the attentive listener/watcher, and this medley deserves far more than the 6k views it’s gotten so far.

Undertale Album Project - Various Artists [MUSIC]

Songs From Mt Ebott is a collaborative album project that contains dozens of tracks from a score of different artists. i have a lot of favorite tracks from this album, not to mention the individual track art created for each, and if you’ve never heard of this project before, i really recommend giving it a listen! (FaceImplosion also did a piano track for this album, by the way, which i’m linking separately because it’s one of my aforementioned favorites.)

Chara - tigerblossom [MUSIC]

im not gonna lie. this was my favorite piece of fan music for a long time. it’s a medley mashing a few different songs together, short and sweet, but it comes together in such an incredibly heartfelt way at the end that whenever i end up listening to it i find myself wishing the track was about five minutes longer. they also have an underfell version of your best friend that i recommend giving a listen!

Photographs - FuriousPoplar [FIC]

in terms of “post-paci everyone lives au”s, there’s been a lot of ground covered by a lot of different people, and after a while the concept feels almost a bit...same-y? but this fic covers a sorely-needed conversation between an alive chara and asriel in a way that i’ve never seen approached by anyone else before. it’s cathartic, it’s extremely well written, and it doesn’t shy away from the ugly sides of trauma and recovery, which is so greatly appreciated. it also hit me...REALLY hard, which i think is a testament to how amazing this piece is.

Turn Back - foxsgloves [FIC]

i read this one pretty early on in my time in this fandom, and it’s continued to influence me long after. the premise: frisk keeps loading over the brief time asriel has his body in the epilogue, and simply spends time with him as they both prepare to move on towards the end. it’s sad. it’s cute. it’s amazing. it’s something i go back to reread sometimes late at night when i want to reread something friendly and familiar and a little sad. and its been one of my favorites ever since i read it.

You Wear Your Grief Like a Badge - Draikinator [FIC SERIES]

how do you even TALK about ywyglb? do i talk about nate’s impeccable voice in their writing? how true to character they are with the kids? how they set the scene of a post-pacifist world still shaking with the echoes of the past? the series starts with flowey taking frisk’s soul captive while chara and sans form an uneasy alliance in order to get them back, and then spirals into a tense, sweet, funny, awful, heartbreaking experience that reshaped how i viewed the boundaries of my own writing. draikinator’s writing has been and continues to be a huge inspiration to me, and i heartily recommend giving any of their stuff a try.

A Numbered List of Things That Aren't as Badass as They Sound (ex. Monsters, Suicide, Burning in Hell) - rosyy [FIC]

a brief glimpse into chara and asriel just before It Happens, While It Happens, When It Happens. the prose here is the sort of flowery delirious feverdream you’d expect from a kid dying of buttercup poisoning, and i love it to bits. i also want to mention a dr who crossover by the same author, because it has kris as the doctor and frisk as the stray they adopt, and its also the perfect antidote to the angst the first fic provides.

Risen Up (or, Of Fallen Children and Mountain Kin) - paradoxpangolin [FIC]

oh jeezums, how do i even start with this one? post-paci, frisk comes to the conclusion that the best way to ease the tensions between human and monsterkind is to put on a musical about their time in the underground!!!!.....except this leads to its own host of complications, and things get a bit Messy. this fic hasn’t updated in a bit, but it contains so much in its 140k of already published writing that i feel the need to urge you to read it anyway. i’m really partial to autistic frisks, and this fic has what’s got to be my favorite portrayal of that in ... probably the entire fandom? honestly, most (if not all) of the characters in this fic are autist, and it’s just. very good. i love.

you’re like a mirror, reflecting me - batterytriplicate [FIC]

a daemon au exploring what frisk and chara’s journeys might have been like with the extra distinction between monster dust and daemon dust. i completely forgot about this fic until i was trawling through my ao3 history for this post, and i’m really really glad i found it again. i think i was in the middle of trying to figure out this exact au when i first found this fic, and it did everything i was thinking of (and more) so much better that i felt more than content leaving it at that. so if you like his dark materials and want to see a fantastic little daemon au, give this a shot!

soulless-pacifist - vsemily [ASK BLOG]

soulless-pacifist..... if you’ve never heard of this askblog, you’re in for a treat. i wasn’t with it from the very beginning, but i started reading towards the middle of its main story arc and stuck with it to the end, and suffice it to say, it has to be my favorite fandom askblog to date, purely for how well its written, how well its drawn, and how it’s one of the....only askblogs i’ve ever seen come not only to a FULL conclusion, but to a satisfying one! the mun also worked with a programmer to create a fangame for its final arc, which is so above and beyond that im still kind of in disbelief. in short: this askblog followed frisk and their passenger after the events of a soulless pacifist route, and continues on with them as they grow together and find their place with a whole host of twist and turns in store. also, memes.

Shine your light with me, chase all the dark away - FancifulRivers [FIC]

this au follows frisk and chara after the events of the game. unlike most post-paci runs, though, chara has their own body back, while they and frisk are hiding back in mt ebott after the monsters have left to avoid the complications of being runaways and also.... incredible guilt and trauma. things don’t really work out like that, though, and i really recommend this read. fancifulrivers has also been an incredibly prolific writer who’s uploaded a lot of really good ut fics, so this is a great starting point to jump off of for their other stuff!

repercussions - proximally [FIC]

this fic... i think this one fic is the one that’s impacted me the most during my early days of this fandom. it’s short, and sad, and is a twist on the soulless pacifist ending that i was left thinking about literally for months after i first read it. instead of saying any more and risking spoiling it, i’ll just leave the author’s desc: “You made a mistake, and you pay for it with your life. “

The Great Boondoggle - Masu_Trout [FIC]

the premise of this fic is pretty simple. post paci, frisk is walking home. they come across a Bad Guy. hijinks ensue. but what sets apart this fic from others for me is the way frisk is written here. when this fic was published in early 2016, most frisks i came across were the...sweet harmless woobies that were pretty typical from the fandom. this is one of the first frisks i came across that was kind of mean, and a little cold, and had very obviously had a long upward climb to being the sort of person who chose mercy instead of fight. this portrayal is a lot more common nowadays, which i’m super grateful for, but since this is one of the first fics i came across that really nailed this portrayal, i felt i should leave this here. i also recommend their pokemon/ut au, which is toriel and frisk centric and i also love to bits.

and....well, i was gonna say “that’s it”, but i honestly had to cut quite a few things from this list to keep it from stretching the dash too much. there’s been a lot of incredible content created by this fandom over the years, and this is by no means a comprehensive list of my favorites. but these are some of the ones that impacted me in a really special way, and if you were kind enough to check them out and maybe even liked them, please consider leaving a kind comment for the creator! if you’re the author of one of these pieces reading this right now: thank you so much! im looking forward to finding even more favorites in this year and the next.

#undertale #deltarune #fic rec #longpost #long post #techinically its NOT the 15gh for me yet but theres like. an hour left #and i cant wait to post this anymore SO!!!!#idk theres a lot of stuff this fandom has produced thats been pretty. terrible #but there's just as much if not more stuff people have created thats changed the way i thought #about other people and myself and the way i interact with the world and all that #etc etc etc #anyway. im gay

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moonlight-mellohi · 5 years

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Finding Our Stars - Bonus Mini Chapter

Ok @sugarglider9603, here is chapter one!

Alright I want to make something clear.. I chose Pecha because of Picani, please accept my reference :)

Also READERS PLEASE NOTE the Bonus Chapter links will be available ONLY ON THE MASTER POST, this includes the minific of MJ and and Iris that I've posted before, I have adjusted the links so it is no longer the Part 2 link on part one and (now) part three, Part 2 link is now Shine Freely My Friends. If want to read these extras later on, check out the Master post link, you can also find Pokeside art from me as well :D

Ao3 link

Ao3 series link

Chapter 2

Master Post

Words: 1,447

Summery: 'They seemed to be in a room with many other brown Eevee eggs, some still as rocks while others shook a bit, one on the other not to far away having a few cracks of its own. They lay in nest of blankets, the warm sun shining through a window straight onto his egg shell pieces. The Eevee squinted, he could see perfectly fine, but the light bothered his eyes, most likely since he basically stared straight at it as he entered the world.

The human opened a door to what seemed to be a large shed or small barn, for they exited onto a sprawling green field, trees sprouting here and there. Berry bushed lay at their bases, Oran, Sitrus, Logan, Pecha, Cheri, and many others spread between.

But what was fascinating were the brown pokemon currently turning to watch the human.

The Eevee's eyes widened as Eevees like himself stared back, brown eyes curiously inspecting him.'

A world were they were wanted to be one thing, but then ignored as extras when not. Where when every other of there kind around them kept separate, two connected like puzzle pieces. All was normal for several months

Until a new Eevee hatch.

And without realizing, Sleep and Pecha connected to a much bigger puzzle on a journey to find their little dark Star

Chapter One

Crack

what.. was that? 'Light' his mind supplied. The creature pushed a paw to the egg's shell, lightning bolts shooting along.

crack

"C'mon c'mon c'mon" a voice? Someone was talking outside wherever he was, instinct kicking in. The creature kicked the shell's inside, pushing.

crack

The light grew brighter and brighter as more fell through the splits, causing the pokemon to blink, the light bothering his eyes.

crack

Almost out.

crack

Just a bit more.

crack

Almost-

CRACK

The egg split open, the Eevee inside tumbled out.

"Ugggh, another normal" the voice muttered, making the Eevee look up.

The figure above him reached out a hand, patting him head "sorry bud, you not the one. Let's go put you with the others" the Eevee blinked, shaking his fur as he stood and chirped a confused ok.

The human picked him up, letting the Eevee look around.

They seemed to be in a room with many other brown Eevee eggs, some still as rocks while others shook a bit, one on the other not to far away having a few cracks of its own. They lay in nest of blankets, the warm sun shining through a window straight onto his egg shell pieces. The Eevee squinted, he could see perfectly fine, but the light bothered his eyes, most likely since he basically stared straight at it as he entered the world.

But what was fascinating were the brown pokemon currently turning to watch the human.

The Eevee's eyes widened as Eevees like himself stared back, brown eyes curiously inspecting him.

"There's another one hatching right now" the human announced to the crowd, setting the newly hatched Eevee down. No Eevee made a move toward the human, just continuing their business when they walked back inside.

Eevee blinked, confusion filling him "excuse me" he squeaked to a nearby Eevee. She stop confused "what's going on?" He asked, curiosity filling his mind.

"That's Manti" she explained, shaking out her fur "they/them pronouns. Apparently they're breeding for shiny grey colored Eevees, when ever they come out with one it's brought over to their house instead of staying with us" Eevee stared at the large house she pointed at before walking away.

He jumped a few minutes later as the door opened again, 'Manti' sighing as another brown Eevee lay in his arms. He set the squinting Eevee down next to the other before walking away.

"What going on?" The squinting Eevee asked, confused. The older Eevee explained as the walked over to a shaded spot, apologising with his small knowledge.

"That's so weird" the younger mumbled softly, starting a tad scared out at the other pokemon. They ended up curling together near a Peacha Berry bush under a red apple tree, the younger enjoying the sweet tasting berries. The taste was ok with the older, but maybe a bit too sweet.

"Hey" the younger looked up "it's ok to be scared, we're new to all this" the older snuggled closer "we'll stick together."

The younger hummed "it might be possible Manti could name us, or give us to someone else to name, but do you wanna give each other nicknames? Might be easier since we're both Eevees" he giggled.

"Hmm ok, how about Sleep for me, since that's all I want to do right now" the older joked, causing the younger to laughed. "All right then Sleep, what's mine?" Sleep felt his cheeks heat up slightly, but couldn't help but let out a small laugh "how about Peacha, since your so sweet?" He suggested, giving a grin as the younger gave a very noticeable blush and froze. Sleep felt sudden fear, what if he took offense, what if he didn't like it, what if-

The younger smiled, tucking his head under the older's chin "I love it" Peacha whispered.

______________________________

Sleep watched sleepily as Manti entered the Hatchery. It had been several months since Sleep and Peacha hatched, only one shiny grey Eevee had appeared. Manti seemed very happy, the two being close enough to hear them mutter "finally a Jolteon" before walking off. Apparently the human had been attempting for a long time to gain every shiny Eevee and Eeveelution, already having the normal furs.

It had been quite a while since the last shiny though, Manti gaining more and more annoyed.

"FOR ARCEUS SAKE" a scream raged from the Hatchery, startling Peacha from sleep. Manti exited, clearly upset but just let out an sign, setting the Eevee down before walking away. Sleep looked curiously at the new Eevee.

Even for a newly hatched, the Eevee was very small. It crouched in the setting sun's lights, darker than normal furred slightly spiked in fear. Poor Eevee must have been terrified having a scream be the first noise he heard. Anger at Manti bubbled in Sleep for a moment before Pecha stood up, bounding over to the curled up Eevee.

"Hey" Pecha whispered and Sleep wandered up behind "are you ok?" The Eevee glanced up, brilliantly rich violet eyes stared. Sleep blinked. Manti really must have not gotten a good look at this Eevee, otherwise it probably would have never left his sight.

"I- I" the dark Eevee mumbled, shrinking down. Pecha blinked "oh no it's ok, Manti's not mad specifically at you" he comforted.

Sleep gently nudged the Eevee up, the small one following them. After that day the two hatched, the Pecha bush under the rich red apple tree had become their sleeping spot. There was a large radius of open grass between that tree and other objects, giving the two, now three privacy.

The two calmed the Eevee down, explaining the situation as they curled him between the two.

"So, Manti is a shiny breeder?" The Eevee mumbled tiredly as the others nodded. The violet eyes were locked on the sky as stars started shining brightly, calming the Eevee even more.

"Do you.. do you want me to leave you guys alone?" He whispered asked.

"No!" Pecha cried, snuggling up closer. The Eevee blinked "but your so close, I don't want to interfere."

Sleep shook his head "we choose who we want to be around" he looked up at the stars alongside the Eevee "and to prove that I, the amazing Sleep, with give you a nickname" Pecha swatted him with his tail "of course, only if you want one."

The Eevee looked over and hesitated "are.. are you sure?" Sleep nodded.

"Alright.." Sleep and Pecha snuggled the small one closer "how about Star, dark one?" Sleep mumbled sleepily, glancing one last time at the sky the violet eyes were still latched onto.

The dark one thought for a moment, before nodding.

"I.. I like it" Star mumbled, smiling.

______________________________

Manti walked out, fresh air shifting around them. Footfall behind them made the breeder turn, smiling as an old friend walked out.

"So I heard you were looking for an Eevee. I just had a special looking Eevee born about two weeks ago, bright purple eyes. It's not a shiny so it's useless to me, but a dragon evolution would look cool with those eyes.

When Sleep and Pecha woke up, their little Star was gone.

______________________________

Sleep comforted Pecha as the younger cried. "Don't worry, we'll find him" Pecha just shook his head.

"Manti took him while we slept, he probably gave him off to a trainer" he mumbled between tears. It was probably true, occasionally humans would come by and take one of the 'extra' Eevees along with them.

Sleep growled "we will find him" the tone causing Pecha to look up as Sleep stood up, making his way to the fence.

"But we can't leave!" Pecha exclaimed, eyes wide. "Yes we can" Sleep argued calmly, hopping through the boards "just no one has. Listen, Manti doesn't care about us, we might have been split anyways because they gave us to two separate trainer" Pecha hesitated, remembering the sad truth.

"I'm leaving to find our Star, whether your coming or not" Pecha finally looked up, determined. He hopped through the fence, tucking his head under Sleep's chin and nuzzling the Eevee's chest "like you can get rid of me that easily" Pecha purred.

the two split, glancing one last time at the Eevee farm, seeing other Eevees watch them with shocked faces as the turned away.

"Now" Pecha growled, walking into the forest, the unknown "let's get our Star back."

#sander sides #pokemon #remy sanders #emile picani #emile sanders #virgil sanders #manticore chimera #dragon witch #tw crying #i just realized Virgil is connect to all three groups now #like Remy and Emile #Deceit and Remus #and Thomas Roman Logan and Patton #woops now i need to change the center piece to Virgil instead of Thomas #shiny hunting #running away #Teaming the Pieces Together

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daddopenguin · 4 years

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#Thankyougamefreak

Here's my take on what I've learned and yeah I'll probably sound like a kiss ass to some of you but here is my thoughts.

I grew up with Gen 4 Pokemon starting it's reign, it's the first time I've seen it as a little child and eventually I saw the older stuff and I love it to this day. Now I do understand yes Gamefreak has the price of 60 dollars on their games so yeah they do have resources but remember their projects happen like a year or two after the latest one which yeah is mainly on not the staff but higher ups decision however they are people who have yet to figure out how to put in their amazing old content in with well what feels like a short amount of time.

They spend months literal months having to program from what I've seen over 900 Pokemon now, you really think they can fit everything with their time limit? Now you could ask reasonably "Shouldn't they delay it like Animal Crossing did for a better experience?" Well yeah but who knows if their staff made those recommendations or not and were ignored or shot down.

But like this shouldn't lead to actual DEATH THREATS over a game with magical, god like, alien like, and man made pets that you feed and battle with, trade or literally any mechanic they offer. I'd like to think the Let's Go games were like experiments to see if the game is ready for the next big console and you know what those graphics didn't really lie neither did the size of the game. It can run on Switch, hell they're probably still trying to figure out how the hell will they fit IDK like a Russian region in, Russia is fucking big. Sure BoTW is massive but it took lots of time and Game Freak staff doesn't really get that privilege and they're really used to their old work thinking "It won't be too much" then well they have a lot!

An RNG (Random number generator) with literal random chances on nature and stats and encounter chances along with IDK did I mention about 900 Pokemon existing now! It's a lot to program and design my dudes, don't act entitled I have seen the god damn Nintendo Treehouse live chat long enough to know you're either a scumbag who decides to start sending mother fucking death threats to tired ass people who have worked for so long day and night for a motherfucking pet video game it is Japan my dude they will work til they die it has happened in companies in Japan and the bootlickers who think it's flawless like I get it but it has it flaws OK gen 7 teased Pokemon following you but they never let it really happen.

Game Freak yes makes mistakes that cut your favorite stuff or they try to keep it in but they have to cut it to meet deadlines, DEADLINES EXIST!! Don't act like you've never done a god damn essay that feels really long and takes really long or get this in the art community deadlines are something that are feared because you don't want to rush your project but you like kind of have no choice but to rush it a bit and you feel moody because you feel like it could've been done better at your own pace. Idk what goes on in everyone's lives but it is common with students, movie makers, and IDK game creators, especially game creators that have worked over 20 years now trying to adjust to making something entirely new with different resources.

"But Daddopenguin!!" I hear most of you yelling, "How come your post about this controversy is looking like you bootlicking Gamefreak?!" Great question, I'll answer with this:

I'm not bootlicking I'm stating obvious things that even an old blind man can see but people with vision cannot somehow see it

Listen you can be critical of the game but let people who go to it because of fond memories or just straight up enjoy it, they also see the flaws and point those out but it doesn't mean they can't enjoy it. It seems so popular to shit on games and sending death threats to people who aren't even in control of the situation it's just normalized but so shitty. Yeah bootlickers are annoying and would threaten to kill you if you don't like the franchise and worship it like it's god when it's not that, it's a game nothing more nothing less.

I thank Gamefreak for making this franchise cause it has been there for me and many others to use as a coping mechanism and just to have fun, cute, cool and great times also music is still great to this day. Sure the game is same old same old, and grinding can be boring and tiring, but it's also something for fans new and old to enjoy whether it's for the story or just gameplay in general. Sure there are times where I rage quit the game because a certain Pokemon line has a stupid bullshit rare catch rate but it doesn't mean I'd send death threats over that, it's how it was programmed and yeah challenges are nice to have.

Yeah I don't like that National Dex got cut but I'm not super dissapointed, it wasn't in the first Generation 7 games I'm not sure on the sequels I haven't looked in on that I'll admit. But is this worth making people you don't know hurt and ashamed over things they've been told to do and hell maybe some of the higher ups can't really prevent shit from being cut because of GAME SIZE and COMPATIBILITY with the Switch. Sadly same stuff with the 3ds but a system can only handle so much data being put into it and we'll most of the people at GameFreak have been there for years and still have yet to find out how to properly program a whole lot of new stuff while trying to keep the old stuff in the time limit they are giving. Redesigns can cause reprogramming and changes of RNG data that can only be fixed or changed in the amount of time given before the short deadlines GameFreak decides to give it's own company, why do you think the Sonic movie was delayed, new design causes the animations and lip syncing to be redone and it takes TIME.

I also saw complaints about VA not being in Pokemon games yet and let me say this just as I said with Sonic movie, lip syncing takes time and GameFreak is sadly scarce on it plus it's like what's the point in complaining? If it gets voice acting it gets voice acting, if it doesn't it doesn't, I get it Zelda has been around just as long if not longer than Pokemon and did the voice acting after 20plus years but come on its not gonna completely define a game like Pokemon or not it'll lead to voice work than just dialogue noises like any RPG except the latest Fire Emblem games IS makes longer and bigger games than Pokemon same with Zelda so it's just like I said it either happens or not.

I think I dragged on long enough I had lot to get off my chest about this but this felt like something that needed to be said. I'm not praising corporate bullshit nor am I willing to shit on a game series I grew up with because a few things they thought they couldn't afford to put in got cut I guess if anyone responds a certain way to this they just do and it's either just death threat bullshit or an alright understanding person. I'll take my leave now.

#pokemon gen 8 #thankyougamefreak

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tumblunni · 5 years

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Man today was A Chore. I got some good stuff done in the end but the middle of it felt awful and im just relieved it ended on a better note i guess? I had to spend like three hours sitting waiting for a package listening to some horrid old ladies talk about how child abuse is great and all the flaws of modern life stem from the fact we dont smack kids anymore. And like..fuckin.. "Ha ha remember how we used to fail all our classes and lie and hide our grades because we were scared of our parents and do anything to try and make the beatings hurt less BUT NOW IM AN ADULT I KNOW MY PARENTS WERE TOTALLY RIGHT YES" And friggin discussing all these beatings and LAUGHIng?? Laughing about being beaten and about going on to beat their own kids like ha ha this is so fuckin normal and just the logical conclusion of everything?? Like these were GOOD MEMORIES?? Fuck man i was like that gif of the dude with the giant vein in his head it was SO HARD to just sit there and try not to hear what they were saying. I actually ended up buying like 20 scratchcards just cos i was running on autopilot and trying anything to distract myself. (Only wasted 10 pound tho cos i won a few quid along the way and lost it again lol)

And gahhhhh after all that waiting i just get told my package didnt arrive today and i just have to come back tomorrow! So i went home super depressed and had to try and talk myself out of it and yeah. AND THEN i get a phonecall from the post office literally right then, saying 'yo whoops the parcel arrived a lil late, come get it before we close'. It was kinda funny, like me conquering myanxiety self hateness actually summoned a good luck better resolution to the story?? And i rushed down there and managed to get the parcel and all the post office people were REALLY NICE,like they'd gone kinda mom friend on me from seeing me come in and out asking for this parcel for the whole entire day. I dont know either of their names but thank you nice red hair lady in charge of the parcels and scratchcard corner grandma who chatted with me! If i see them again another day i have to go into the post office, i'll be sure to say thanks!

So yeah anyway i FINALLY have everything sorted now to do my Lets Play of the new pokemon game! I probably wont be able to start it til saturday evening or sunday morning though? Cos tomorrow i have the Big Stress of meeting again with my estranged sister and hoping i can maybe repair our bond. I dunno how long we're gonna hang out or even what we're gonna do or if its gonna go well, aaaa!! And then on saturday i need to wake up super early and catch a million buses to get to a cool art class place. Maan its been a busy week lol!

Oh!! And the stuff of actual success today!! Cos yeah some stuff did go well before the big post office trashness, and i need to focus on that instead of the awkward middle. Big good thing the number 1! I met with my support worker and had a really nice meeting in the new cafe in the local library. She was just super nice and gave me a great motivational talk about how i was handling this whole sister thing really well and she was proud of me. She said she got my voicemail i left for her during the whole thing and she was really sorry she was late replying to it and she was really worried how it all went. I totally forgot i even sent her that voicemail during all the mess! So i just got caught up in the panic and forgot to call her back, aaa!! Im glad she knows im okay now! And we had a nice hot chocolate and she said she's also proud of the progress i've made in going out and being social more often, pointing out how when she first met me i was too nervous to go to this cafe and now we're havong a nice day here. And i was like "but thats not a very big accomplishment" and she was like "ITS BIG ENOUGH, BUNNI!!!" Dammnit what did i do to deserve these kind people? *sniff*

Oh, and then she also helped me learn how to post an international package and IT IS FINALLY DONE!! Summon-daze, keep an eye out for parcel number 1, containing 25% of all the books i have for you!! They said it should reach you between 5 to 14 days. Sorry its so long, it seems the christmas rush starts a whole damn month early! *sigh* And i feel proud of myself for pulling it off, it was so stressy and embarassing aaaa. Just the soul pain of asking so many questions of the post office lady and holding up the line and having to go back and forth and be like 'is the parcel ok now? No?' *awkwardly crabwalks back again* But now i know! And i can definateky handle it all better next time! And aaaaa i just really hope it all goes well and i hope she likes the books and i hope i can afford to send the rest soon!

And then also i was brave enough to go to the other cafe too! I had to kill a lot of time so i had a second hot chocolate at the other place lol. That one is more busy and standard restauranty instead of a small library place, so its a little more imposing. And i actually had a small sandwich too! Somehow eating things in public is one degree more scary than drinking a drink? Dont ask me to explain my anxiety lol, even i dont know! XD it was weird eating a sandwich with a knife and fork tho?? Like the lady just gave me a knife and fork and i felt too polite to say 'umm actually i ordered a sandwich so here have them back'. It was a toasted cheese so the bread was all warm and chewy and really hard to cut! Really really nice though, it helped heal my soul from all the stress. Oh and i tried an american root beer for the first time! Its so cool and weird! Like a slightly bitter/salty sweetness combo? And how it foams up like beer even though its a soda??? Thats so WEIRD AND NEATO!!! Oh and umm maybe i should give myself some points for making conversation with the post office people too? I was so awkward and anxietyish so i feel proud that i managed to articulate myself well enough to actually ask for my parcel, and then they were just so nice and tried to chat with me and i...vaguely managed to chat back, lol.

Oh oh oh! And also i bought a shoes! I shall officially dub them The Murder Shoes~! It was a really good deal in a clearance thing at the supermarket, for shoes that actually looked pretty awesome! These big neat boots covered in WAY TOO MANY metal studs and belts and awesomeness! Theyre like goth cowboy aesthetic?? I love them, i dont have too many professional shoes and these are that but also funky cool!

So yeah several good things happened but the bad bit in the middle was just so long and frustrating that it left me in a big downer mood where it was easy to forget the good stuff. Writing it out like this kinda helps! And also to remember i have stuff to look forward to for the rest of the week! And, well, more challenges to face, but i feel more optimistic now!

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lovemesomesurveys · 6 years

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Did you talk to anybody taller than you today?: Everyone, besides small children, are taller than me. Have you seen “A Cinderella Story” w/ Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray?: Yep, many times. What is your favorite brand of chap stick?: ESO or EOS I always forget the order, but yeah that one. Have you ever been to New Brunswick in the summer?: Nope. I’ve never been there at all. Have you ever been to Florida in the spring?: I’ve never been there at all either.

Have you ever been to Vancouver in the winter?: ^^^^^ Have you ever been to Boston in the fall?: ^^^^^ Have you ever been to St. Louis or St. Paul?: Nope. Have you ever been to both in the same 11-day period?: Have you ever driven down a red dirt road?: No.

Do you think horses could run faster on the road or through fields?: Fields, probably. Why do you feel this way?: I just do. Is it past 6 AM?: No, it’s 12:27AM. Is it past 6 PM?: Yes. Are you wearing shoes?: No. Describe the worst time you’ve ever been shocked.: Hmm. I don’t know what I’d say was the worst time. Have you ever been shocked when a cashier was handing you change?: Yes. Have you ever had spicy sweet chilli doritos?: I have. What’s the longest song title you can think of?: Just about any one of Fallout Boy’s songs. And the shortest?: Freebird. Have you ever went to sleep after the sun came up?: Many times. Were you scared of Y2K?: Yeah, even though I was pretty young. Are you scared of Y2K12?: Nothing came of that either. LOL, can you type 2012 in roman numerals?: No. Which button on your cell phone did you last press?: I It was probably the home button. Who did you last call?: My mom.

How long was the conversation?: Just a few minutes. Do you enjoy stepping on ants?: No. What state is nearest to you?: Arizona. What city larger than yours is nearest to you?: Los Angeles.

What country is nearest to you?: Mexico.

What town smaller than yours is nearest to you?: Hmm.

Does the color purple remind of you of anything or anyone?: It’s my mom’s favorite color. Also, Prince’s song “Purple Rain” and the movie, “The Color Purple.”

Did you talk to your bf/gf last night?: Single.

Can you honestly tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi?: Yes.

Do you wish Pepsi never existed?: I don’t care that it does. I just think Coke is better.

Do you think love is the most beautiful thing in the world?: Sure.

What do you want thrown at your wedding?: You assume that I will get married. Or that I even want to.

Do you plan on getting married in the near future?: Noooo.

Have you ever been to: Timbuktu, Mali: Alberquerque, NM: Avondale, AZ: Evansville, IN: Evansville, IL: St. Petersburg, FL: Richmond, VA: Vancouver, BC: Chihuahua, Chihuahua: Memphis, Tennessee: Portland, ME: Portland, OR: Springfield, PA: Indiana, PA: Eerie, PA: Eerie, IN: Lake Erie: The Pacific Ocean: The Indian Ocean: India: South Africa: Peoria, AZ: Peoria, IL: Flagstaff, AZ: Huntington Beach, CA: West Hollywood, CA: New York, New York: Toronto, ON: Henderson, NV: Henderson, KY: Indonesia: Dubai, UAE: Cincinatti, OH: Newport, KY: Newport Beach, VA: Virginia Beach, VA: Washington, D.C.: Puerto Rico: The largest city in your state/province/etc: The largest city in your country: The largest city on your continent: The largest city in the world (Tokyo): The largest city in your county/parish/etc: The largest city in every state/province/territory/etc boarding yours: The largest city in every country boarding yours: The largest city on every continent: Nunavut: Spain: Dawson City, YK: Dawson Creek, BC: Do you eat quiche?: It’s been years, but yeah I like it.

Do you eat Butterfingers weekly?: Uh no. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I had one.

Do you read the newspaper more often than once every 2 weeks?: I don’t read the newspaper, I read the news online or watch it on TV.

With what color toothbrush did you last brush your teeth?: White and blue.

Do you bathe your dog?: Not me personally, but yes we do.

Does it have a collar?: Yes she does. She has a cute collar and ID tag.

How long were you last sleeping?: I took a 2 hour nap yesterday. I haven’t slept since then, yet. I’m really tired, though.

Have you ever played “Dungeon Explorer: Warrios of Ancient Arts”?: No.

What brand PS2 controller do you think is best?: I don’t know anything about that stuff.

Do you like Keith Urban?: I like a song or two.

Have you ever been to urbandictionary.com?: Yeah.

Do you have a porch swing?: We don’t even have a porch.

Is that a good thing?: I don’t see why it would be a good or bad thing if we did.

When did you last feed goldfish (whether they were yours or not)?: Not since my own when I was a kid. What is the last sweet thing you ate?: The strawberry milkshake I had.

Spicy?: I can’t have spicy food anymore. :(

Salty?: The soy sauce I dipped pot stickers in yesterday.

What is the last dream you remember having?: Something random and weird as usual.

Do you know anybody whose language you speak better than they do English?: No.

What’s your favorite pokemon?: I liked Jigglypuff.

What’s your favorite pokemon game?: Never played any of them.

Is anything good on TV right now?: I doubt it seeing how it’s almost 1AM.

Have you ever worn a blue hat?: Possibly.

What about a sweater and a sweat shirt at the same time?: No. I’ve worn a hoodie and a jacket or a sweatshirt and a jacket at the same time, though.

What’s your area code?: Nah.

How many area codes would you recognize?: Not many.

Do you know where sponges grow?: In the ocean.

Have you ever read “Where the Red Fern Grows”?: Yeah, in 5th grade.

Who is the author?: I don’t recall.

Do you like suspensful books?: Yes.

What about scary ones?: I like mystery and psychological thrillers.

Can you name every hamster you’ve ever had?: I had two when I was a kid, but I don’t recall their names.

What’s the last building you were in that had more than 4 floors?: Not sure.

How far away is it from your house?:

Did you drive there?:

Have you ever driven to Utah? No. Have you ever been to OK, TX, NM, and AZ in one day?: No.

Do you like road trips?: Depends.

Isn’t it awkward when someone mentions they just lost a loved one?: Only because I never want to say. There’s nothing you can really say. I’m also not good with comforting others.

How do you react?: I express my condolences but other than that I’m just like awkwardly there not knowing what to do or say.

Have you ever been to a funeral and everyone else seemed more sad than you?: It wasn’t something I paid attention to. There wasn’t like a who’s sadder than who thing going on. It was just a sad, rough day for everyone.

Do you even like scary movies?: Some.

Do you have a bus pass?: Nope. No need for one.

Do you take a bus daily?: I don’t take the bus at all anymore. I used to have to sometimes while I was still in school, but those days are over.

Do you know anyone named Roger?: No.

Is he older or younger than you?:

What’s the age difference in the youngest and oldest people you’ve dated?: One year.

If I told you that answer was 8 years for me, would you believe it?: I don’t have a reason not to.

Do you answer your own surveys?: I don’t make any.

Do you like go-gurt?: Wow, I haven’t had one in yearssss. I liked the strawberry banana ones.

Have you ever eaten something, and the food stayed on your hands forever?: No...

Is that worse or better than it staying on your breath?: I’ve never had that problem.

What did you last drink that was brown?: Diet Coke.

When did you last deficate?: Ew why do you wanna know that.

When did you last suffocate?: Never.

When did you last relocate?: As in moved to another house or something? Five years ago.

When did you last perspirate?: It’s freakin’ hot here, so it’s not such a rare occurrence. Ugh, I hate summer.

Who did you last irritate?: My family, I’m sure.

Who (or what) did you last imitate?: I don’t know.

What (if anything) did you last irrigate?: Not sure.

Do you think it’s annoying or cool when I rhyme questions like that?: I didn’t care, sorry.

Do you watch pro wrestling?: Nope.

Why or why not?: Not my thing.

What are your plans for the next March 11?: Uh I have no idea. That’s a long ways away.

How many days do you think it snowed where you live in the last 365 days?: It doesn’t snow in my city, unfortunately.

Is your birthday less than 8 months from now?: Yeah, it’s next month.

Will you wake me up when September ends?: Nah I’ll probably forget cause I’ll be asleep, too.

I have been to 28 US states. Am I beating you?: Yep, by a long shot.

Do you like yarn?: I don’t have anything against it.

Do you enjoy my geography questions?: They’re whatever. It’d be more interesting if I actually traveled.

What is the last thing you used a brush on?: My hair.

Who was your best friend from your high school while you were there?: Amanda.

Do you have any pants you’d be embarassed for your friends to know about?: No.

When did you last stand up?: Never.

Did I just make you realize how long you’ve been doing this survey?: Nope.

Have you ever shopped for 2 hours at Dollar General?: No.

Do you think that’s crazy that I witnessed someone do that today?: I don’t care lol.

Have you ever dated a teenager?: When I myself was one as well, yes.

Were you popular in high school?: Hahah nope. That was perfectly fine with me, though.

Does your city have a Poplar Street?: I think it does.

Do you know what a poplar is?: Yes.

Do you like lemons?: No.

What color are your eyes?: Dark brown.

Got any plans for July 24, 2009?: Well we’re in 2018 now and I have no idea what I did on that day 9 years ago. This July 24th I don’t have any plans as of now, but that’s 4 days away from my birthday.

What about July 24, 2012?: I don’t know, man.

Or do you think minimum wage doesn’t need to be $9.65?: It’s $11 here, I believe.

Do you think the raise in minimum wage is partly why our economy is ruined?: Not getting into that right now.

Did you watch your favorite television show today?: One of.

Did you listen to your favorite song today?: I haven’t listened to any music so far today.

Did you play your favorite video game today?: I’ll be playing The Sims 4 soon.

I don’t know how many pairs of shoes I own! Do you?: Like 6.

I have about 4. Do you have them organized?: They’re just in my closet.

So when did you last go to the zoo?: A couple years ago.

Have you ever filmed a movie?: For a class project in high school. A very, very crappy one.

In the zoo?: Filmed a movie in the zoo? No.

Who is your favorite teacher from high school?: I had a history teacher my sophomore year named Mr. Coffey who was really cool.

What’s under your bed?: Nothing.

Do you think money should be green?: I’m used to that.

Do you have children?: Noooo.

How much did you pay for your last meal?: Like 5 or 6 bucks, I think.

What’s the longest period of time you’ve had a goldfish?: I had fish for a few years as a kid.

Would you rather go bowling in the spring or summer?: I don’t care to go at all, but why would the season matter for something like that?

Do you like lazar tag?: Never been.

What about miniature golf?: Never been.

Have you ever been to a casino in Canada?: Nope.

Have you ever been to Bear Lake in Saskatchewan?: No.

Do you have any t-shirts you’ve owned for 7 ½ years that still fit you?: How specific, but yes. Some older than that.

Do you know how it feels to be heartbroken?: I do.

Is your house currently on fire?: Uh, no. I wouldn’t just be here chillin’ taking this survey... Do you like ramen noodles?: Yep.

How far away is the nearest fire station?: Pretty close by.

Is your dog a real barker?: Nah. She barks if someone knocks, sometimes when she’s in a playful mood, or when she wants something. It’s not excessive. Our neighbor’s dogs on the other hand....

Could you see yourself with short hair?: I had short hair for years.

Can bad hair alone make someone unattractive?: I hate when my hair looks really bad, which it always does now. Have you ever eaten bad spinach?: I don’t believe so.

Have you ever had banana nut cheerios?: No.

How do you know how to spell Mississippi?: I just do.

#personal #text #survey #surveys #long survey

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simplemlmsponsoring · 5 years

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New Post has been published on http://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/internet-marketing/wordstream-employee-spotlight-taylor-chan/

WordStream Employee Spotlight: Taylor Chan

WordStream has some impressive employees in its ranks: from industry influencers to marathon runners, from analysts to authors. The Employee Spotlight series aims to highlight the talented individuals who work here. Each month, we’ll be featuring an interview here on the blog and on our social accounts.

For this month’s Employee Spotlight, we spoke with Taylor Chan. As a product manager here at WordStream, Taylor works closely with our engineering and design teams to design and build new product features. Specifically, she oversees basic connections between our flagship software, WordStream Advisor, and ad platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads. She also works on the 20-Minute Work Week (helping you make all your weekly optimizations in 20 minutes!) and a new, exciting feature called Strategies, which we’ll dive into imminently.

Originally from the Philadelphia area, Taylor graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Biological Engineering. She joined WordStream about a year ago, bringing with her no shortage of product development expertise, a passion for shrimp-filled spheres, and an irrefutable mastery of board games.

How long have you worked at WordStream?

I’ve worked here for just over a year— I started December 2017. I came from a company that was much bigger, and everyone was super specialized in their roles. There were four or five flavors of product managers and you had to pick just one. I was really looking to join a smaller team—something that would help me learn a wider range of skills and continue to become more well-rounded. It’s been really great. I’m a lot closer to the strategy aspect of the business than I was previously, which is huge.

How did you hear about WordStream? Why did you want to work here?

I worked in consulting for a little bit—manufacturing consulting. I have done a lot of strange things actually! At that time I was working in a water bottle factory and an almond factory on the ground floor trying to make their lines more efficient. I can’t say I joined WordStream for the marketing aspect, per se, but it’s been very cool learning it. I really didn’t know anything about it beforehand; it’s been crazy to learn what an integral part of our lives it is. But as far as what attracted me to the company, it was more about the people I’d get to work with and the size.

I found WordStream via a random job posting, but once I came in I really gelled with the people on the product team that I interviewed with. They seemed really thoughtful about their choices and what they were doing, which was something I wanted. The conversations felt natural with them.

Can you talk specifics about what your role involves?

I was originally hired specifically for the 20-Minute Work Week. The whole idea of that instantly appealed to me. I’m a person who loves to-do lists, and I’m huge on optimization and efficiency. So the job is really about bringing all those things to our customers at scale. It was really exciting for me. The 20-Minute Work Week is essentially where our customers want to go for quick hits; quick optimizations they can execute on in just a couple of minutes. And then you have the strategy piece where you’re looking for that next big, meaty thing to take your advertising to the next level. That’s the new project I’m spearheading.

Can you talk a little more about that Strategies feature?

Sure. When we say “Strategies” we’re talking about some of the more advanced things our customers can do—things that our customer success team consults them on now. They tend to be pretty complex, and often need to be done over the course of many different sittings. These are things like getting remarketing fired up or creating competitor campaigns or optimizing for mobile. At the moment, these kinds of strategies aren’t really accessible to people who aren’t super familiar with the native platforms. So what we’re trying to do is bring the things our customer success reps are preaching into the software.

That’s really cool. What kind of work goes into that? Is there a timeline for completion?

So it’s not out yet. But the way it works is we have a huge amount of data about all of our different customers, and we’re going to use all that data to identify the top strategies that are right for each customer. So we might find that a particular strategy like RLSAs works well for SaaS (Software as a Service) customers. The software would then automatically recommend that strategy for the customer and prompt them through a nice multi-step flow, a flow that would be both understandable and also faster than manual implementation.

As far as a timeline goes, we’re hoping to come out with the first iteration of the feature in February 2019. There’s a lot of basic work that needs to be done to get the first strategy out the door, but then they should come more rapidly. Ultimately, we’re hoping to have 10+ strategies that span Google, Facebook, and Bing. It’s incredibly challenging, because it involves taking the art that’s in our reps’ heads and getting it down on paper. For instance, how do you actually correctly set up a competitor campaign? And how can we bring that into the software? There are a lot of people here that are bigger marketing experts than I am, so it’s going to require a complete cross-functional effort to actually hash the whole thing out.

Has any other project here been particularly challenging?

Last year, I was working on improving the Add Negatives algorithm. That’s the most used 20-Minute Work Week alert. We are always trying to improve our algorithms so that the suggestions customers get are as relevant as possible. This one was really challenging for a few reasons. First, it’s extremely difficult to nail down a one-size-fits-all algorithm. For example, locations might be really good negatives for one customer, but they might not be great for another. And because a lot of our customers are small business owners, there’s not always an abundance of data to go off of.

So that project was very difficult. Right now, our engineering team is working on totally redoing the UI of that alert so that it uses the new algorithm, then also incorporates knowledge that only the customer knows. We’ll walk them through a process that helps them decide: do we really want a negative, or do we actually want a new keyword? Or do we actually want a new ad group? Whereas before you could only accept or reject what was suggested, now you can really analyze your search queries to select the best option—even if it’s not what our algorithm came up with.

Very cool. Switching gears a bit—has any one thing you’ve learned here particularly stuck with you?

I think I’ve learned to have more empathy for other departments here. For example, I learned Python here when one of the engineers taught a class about it. So, now I can read some of the code the engineers write, and I see just how much effort goes into my “easy” feature idea. I also have gotten the opportunity to shadow a bunch of Sales and Customer Success consulting calls, which helped me build empathy for all the work they do.

What’s your workspace aesthetic like? Minimalist? Homey? Neat?

It’s very neat. Like usually if the cleaning people move something just a little bit I can tell. Especially if they have the monitors out of the line…Everything has a place [laughs]! But yeah, I like to have some plants or some homey touches. I had this little eco ball, like a water sphere that had little shrimp in it. I killed them, though, so I don’t have anything right now. But in the future I hope to get them again.

You killed them accidentally or on purpose??

Accidentally! They were in the wrong sunshine when they died. It’s called an ecosphere, and it’s this entirely closed system that has like plants and shrimp. You can’t open it so it’s supposed to be self-sustaining…but obviously it was not.

You need to put your head down and get some work done asap. Do you have a go-to song?

When I’m at work and I want to focus, I like quieter acoustic music. But it has to have words; I can’t do classical music that would make me even more tired. I listen to this one playlist on Spotify over and over. It’s called “Calm Down.” I don’t even know what you would call the genre, but it definitely helps me decompress.

If WordStream announced a last-minute day off for tomorrow, what would you do with your suddenly free day?

OK—so I play Pokemon Go. You remember that? From like 2017? Well, I still play it. I have played it every day since it came out. I’m really into that. My husband plays it, too. It’s a game that involves a lot of walking around to different places so if I had the whole day off, it would be great to just walk around and do that.

What are the best spots to catch Pokemon around the city?

Probably the best spot is Castle Island, but Castle Island and Boston Common are both really great. The first week the game came out there were just like hundreds of people at Castle Island, and there was a Blastoise. I took a video on my phone—I was running in a crowd of a thousand people trying to get this thing.

If you didn’t work in marketing, what would you do?

I’m very into board games so I think I would do that. Maybe I could be like a board game designer or a board game tester. Or I have this idea where I would open a board game café. I also have this idea where I could go into schools and teach board games. Because it really develops a lot of different skills—problem solving, cooperation, etc. Two of my favorite games are Eldritch Horror and 7 Wonders. I’ve joined various meetup groups over the years. I also play board games with a group of WordStream people that meets every other week.

Anything else you do in your spare time?

I play volleyball, pretty poorly, in the Social Boston Sports leagues.

I also volunteer for the Crisis Text Line, which is basically a suicide crisis line but over text. I used to do it over the phone when I was in college, but I like it over text better. A lot of people in that kind of crisis feel more comfortable over text. It’s a lot of younger teenagers who don’t really know what other resources they have available.

How long have you been doing that?

For two years. It can be pretty intense. Sometimes I’ll take a break for a month or so. Especially over text, it can sometimes feel like you’re talking to the same person over and over again and they’re not getting better. But it definitely feels good when you can help someone. Like sometimes the texter will tell me it’s the first time they’ve told anyone about this. It’s rewarding to know you are helping in that way.