#please feel free to issue a version of this post that is more accurate yourself (any reader) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pathos-logical · 1 year

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[ID: an animated GIF that reads "Tumblr 2022 My Year In Review", and shows a variety of moving stickers including the anon profile picture, grabs, stars, hearts, the plinko horse, the reblog symbol, and the tumblr symbol. It looks like a page out of highschool sketchbook. End ID.] (ID by @thetragicallynerdy <3)

I posted 7,770 times in 2022

118 posts created (2%)

7,652 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tmoblrina

@pathos-logical

@carfuckerlynch

@generic-internet-name

@three-magpies-in-a-trenchcoat

I tagged 6,482 of my posts in 2022

Only 17% of my posts had no tags

#described - 2,771 posts

#that's my queue - 1,032 posts

#described by me - 809 posts

#storytime - 675 posts

#unreality - 273 posts

#tumblr - 263 posts

#to watch later - 242 posts

#mutualsposting - 226 posts

#lovecore - 213 posts

#tropes - 184 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#i didn't see a post like this earlier and didn't have time to say it myself but happy diwali to all who celebrate i love you 💜🪔🌟🕯💛

My Top Posts in 2022:

who needs IDs, how do they help and why are they used? i've always been curious, i mean no harm by asking, so sorry if this is rude

Not rude at all anon, I'm so glad you asked!! Image descriptions are accessibility aids for vision-impaired folks and anyone who may have issues parsing an image (ex: an autistic person unable to comprehend a visually busy art piece). For people who can't see an image for any reason, IDs provide a way to understand what's on screen, whether it's a meme or tweet or art. For example, a blind person using a screen reader (a device that reads text out loud) wouldn't know what an undescribed all-image post was talking about, but with an ID they could know it's a tweet and then a meme mocking it

IDs can look abstruse and intimidating when you're unfamiliar with them, but I promise they're not! The simplest step to making your blog more accessible is scanning the notes of a post to find a comment with an ID and reblogging that version of the post instead! If you're interested in learning how to write your own IDs, I really love this post as a resource, plus the amazing People's Accessibility Server if you have questions or want to request descriptions! I'd also like to plug my pinned post, which has a link to a doc with templates for a ton of memes so you can describe posts yourself!

I hope this wasn't too much text and that your question was answered clearly, anon! Please feel free to go through my "image descriptions" and "accessibility" tags for more info!

115 notes - Posted October 13, 2022

Copying tags in accessible ways on mobile

(Large text: Copying tags in accessible ways on mobile)

People screenshot tags all the time, whether to share a funny joke or add important commentary, but they often don't realize that this is inaccessible to vision-impaired people and many others. This is a problem because a lot of people primarily use Tumblr on the mobile app, which doesn't let you interact with tags at all unless you screenshot them. However, accessibility is always worth the extra time and effort you can spare, so here are some ways for you to easily copy tags without spending too much of either!

Image-to-text softwares

(Large text: Image-to-text softwares)

If you simply must screenshot those tags, you can still convert them back into usable text! There are plenty of easy-to-use websites that allow you to take any downloaded image and extract the text from them. I prefer onlineocr.net, but the Google Translate app has the same feature! All you need to do is input the image and hit the button, and it'll spit out the text for you to copy. This method is fantastic for images with lots of text, not to mention it's easy to do and generally accurate, and I use it all the time to great effect!

Going to browser

(Large text: Going to browser)

If you're on mobile, it's probably a safe bet to say that your phone also has a browser app. If so, all you need to do to copy the tags from a post is copy the link of said post into a browser and then copy the tags from there. This method can mean extra formatting, since hashtags and links won't copy over, but it's relatively low-effort to do and doesn't take long at all!

Going on PC

(Large text: Going on PC)

If you're on mobile, you can also consider saving the post with desired tags to your drafts. This means you can easily access it on another device, aka a computer, and copy the tags there! Copying tags on desktop is possibly the easiest way to do it, since all you need to do is highlight the text and paste it later- it'll even save the link formatting when you do! The only extra step you might have to do is add spaces between the tags, since they'll automatically come smushed together and only separated by hashtags. This method might mean you take a little longer to reblog the tags, but it is very much worth it to make the post accessible to all!

Going forth

(Large text: Going forth)

These methods are a smidgen more effort than just screenshotting or prev tagging, but I don't think it's a bad tradeoff at all! I hope this can provide quick and easy ways for everyone to get more used to thinking more conscientiously about accessibility. And these aren't your only options- alt text helps people who use screenreaders, and you should always add an image description below screenshots if you're going to add them. Hope this helps!

TL;DR: Instead of screenshotting tags, which makes them inaccessible, other options are: using image-to-text software, copying the tags on a mobile browser, or copying them on desktop Tumblr.

290 notes - Posted January 5, 2022

Gif makers will be like "how can I fit as many inaccessible font options as exist on planet earth into one three-word movie title"

413 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

How to Keep Doing Descriptions (from someone who does a fuckton)

Plain text: How to Keep Doing Descriptions (from someone who does a fuckton)

This is a list aimed mostly at helping people who already write IDs; for guides at learning how to do them yourself, check my accessibility and image description tags! I write this with close to two years of experience with IDs and chronic pain :)

Get used to writing some IDs by using both your phone and your computer, if you can! I find it easier to type long-form on my laptop, so I set up videos and long comics on my phone, which I then prop up against my laptop screen so I can easily reference the post without constantly scrolling or turning my head

I will never stop plugging onlineocr.net. I use it to ID six-word tags, screenshots of posts, and even comic dialogue! On that last note, convertcase.net can convert text between all-caps, lowercase, sentence case, and title case, which is super helpful

Limit the number of drafts/posts-to-be-described you save. No, seriously. I never go above 10 undescribed drafts on any of my four blogs. It doesn’t have to be that low, but this has done wonders (italics: wonders) for my productivity and willingness to write IDs. If I ever get above that limit, even if it’s two or three more, I immediately either describe the lowest-effort post or purge some, and if I can't do that then I stop saving things to drafts no matter what. No exceptions! Sticking to this will make your life so much easier and less stressful

My pinned post has a link to a community doc of meme description templates!

Ask! For! Help! Please welcome to the stage the People’s Accessibility Server! It’s full of lovely people and organized into channels where you can request/volunteer descriptions and ask/answer questions

I make great use of voice-to-text and glide typing on my phone to save my hands some effort!

Something is always better than nothing!!! A short two-sentence or one-sentence ID is better than no ID at all. Take it easy :)

If you feel guilty about being unable to reblog amazing but undescribed art, try getting into the habit of replying to OP’s post to let them know you liked it! This makes me feel less pressured to ID absolutely everything I see

I frequently find myself looking at pieces of art which feel like they need to be considered for a bit before I can write an ID for them, and those usually get thrown into drafts, where the dread for writing a comprehensive ID just builds. Don’t do that! Instead, try just staying in the reblog field for a bit and focus on the most relevant aspects of the piece. Marinate on them for a little; don’t rush, but don’t spend more than a handful of seconds either. I find after that the art becomes way easier to describe than it initially seemed!

On that note, look for shortcuts that make IDs less taxing for you to do! For example, I only ever describe clothes in art if they're relevant to the piece; not doing that every time saves a lot of time and energy for me personally

Building off of that, consider excusing yourself from a particular kind of ID if you want to. Give yourself a free pass for 4chan posts, or fanart by an artist who does really good but really complex comics, whatever. Let it be someone else's responsibility and feel twice as proud about the work that you can now allot more energy to!

As always, make an effort to find and follow fellow describers! It’s always encouraging to get described posts on your dash, and I find that sometimes I'm happier to ID an undescribed post when the person who put it on my dash is a friend who tagged it with "no ID"

TL;DR: To make ID-writing less stressful and more low-effort, use different devices and software like onlineocr.net and voice-to-text, limit the amount of work you expect yourself to do, and reach out to artists and other describers!

442 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

[ID: A cropped screenshot of two crabs on the tumblr dashboard. They are right next to each other and both say “love <3.” End ID]

PEACE AND LOVE ON PLANET EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Plain text: Peace and love on planet earth!!!!)

821 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr Year in Review 2022 ->

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #:))))#my posts #kay talks #described #long post

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pacheco19leslie · 2 years

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The greater information and facts you provide about yourself and your internet site on the internet, the more likely it is actually that customers will discover your web site which your content will appear near the top of search engines like google -- a higher goal for all those seeking an online residing. nofollow는 백링크로 허용되지 않는다고 검색엔진에게 알리는 것입니다. 즉 이러한 백링크들은 많이 걸린다고 하더라도 검색엔진최적화에 큰 영향이 없습니다. 그러므로 반드시 백링크는 "Dofollow"가 포함되어 있어야합니다. 4. 타겟 키워드가 포함되어 있어야합니다. 자신의 타겟 키워드가 맛집이라면 맛집 또는 Restaurant와 같은 단어에 링크가 걸려있는 텍스트 링크의 형태로 링크가 포함되어있는 것입니다. 같은 단어로 반복해서 작업하다보면 인위적으로 볼 수 있기 때문에 영어 단어를 이용하는 것도 하나의 방법 중하나입니다. 2. 댓글을 통한 스팸 방식이 아닙니다. 우리는 일부 판매자와 같이 댓글을 통한 스팸성 방식으로 백링크를 생성하지 않습니다. 이미 존재하는 페이지에 다수의 댓글을 통해 링크를 생성하는 것은 백링크로서의 의미가 없습니다. 우리는 하나의 백링크 생성을 위해 하나의 독립된 페이지를 생성합니다. 구글상위노출 특히 고가치 백링크의 경우 프로필 페이지를 생성합니다. 프로필 페이지는 검색엔진 봇이 보다 의미가 있다 판단하는 구조입니다. 1. 끊어진 연동건조공법 나는 단방향 백링크를 만드는 데 완벽하게 작동하기 때문에 끊어진 링크 구축 방식을 좋아한다. 그 기술에는 웹마스터에게 연락하여 웹 사이트의 끊어진 링크를 보고하는 것이 포함된다. 동시에 다른 웹 사이트에서 해당 링크를 대체하도록 권장하십시오. 그리고 여기, 물론, 당신은 당신의 웹사이트를 언급한다. 당신이 웹마스터에게 고장난 링크를 신고함으로써 호의를 베풀고 있기 때문에, 당신의 웹사이트로 다시 돌아갈 가능성이 높다. 그러므로 끊어진 링크 방법을 사용하려면 먼저 리소스 페이지가 있는 틈새에서 관련 웹 사이트를 찾아보십시오. Google에서 다음 검색 쿼리를 사용하여 검색: 당신의 키워드 + 링크 키워드 + 리소스 키워드 inurl:inciple 예를 들어, 만약 내가 육아 웹사이트가 있다면, 나는 육아+링크를 찾아볼 거야. 이러한 페이지에서 끊어진 링크를 쉽게 찾으려면 Check my Links라는 Google Chrome 플러그인을 다운로드하여 설치하십시오. 이 플러그인을 사용하여 다음 페이지에서 404개의 링크를 모두 검색했다. 4. 경쟁자를 염탐하라. 만약 여러분이 더 많은 유기적인 트래픽을 얻는 것에 대해 진지하게 생각한다면, 여러분의 주요 경쟁사들의 온라인 마케팅 전략을 최신 상태로 유지하는 것이 필수적이다. 소셜 미디어에서 경쟁업체를 염탐하고 링크 구축이나 수익 창출 기법, 콘텐츠 마케팅 방법을 찾아야 한다. 몇 가지 팁: 경쟁업체가 웹 사이트에 새 콘텐츠를 게시할 때 경고를 받을 수 있도록 설정하십시오. 그들의 이메일 뉴스레터를 구독하거나 소셜 미디어에서 팔로우하십시오. 경쟁업체가 언제 어떤 백링크를 구축하거나 수익을 올리고 있는지 알아보십시오. 이것은 당신이 그들의 최고의 백링크를 복제하는 데 도움을 줄 것이고 그들이 그들의 웹사이트를 홍보하기 위해 어떤 방법을 사용하고 있는지 더 잘 이해할 수 있을 것이다. 만약 그들이 게스트 블로그를 통해 링크를 받는다면, 같은 웹사이트에서 게스트 작가가 되도록 노력하라. 만약 그들의 링크 대부분이 블로그 리뷰에서 나온 것이라면, 블로거들에게 연락해서 당신의 도구를 시험해 볼 수 있는 시연을 제공하라. 결국, 그들은 그것에 대해 리뷰를 쓸지도 모른다. 내가 경쟁사들의 백링크를 감시하기 위해 가장 좋아하는 도구는 모니터 백링크라고 불린다. 가장 중요한 네 명의 경쟁자를 추가할 수 있다. 그때부터, 당신은 그들이 획득한 모든 새로운 링크들을 포함하는 주간 보고서를 받게 된다. 도구 내에서 이러한 링크에 대한 더 많은 통찰력을 얻고 가치 및 기타 SEO 메트릭스를 기준으로 링크를 정렬할 수 있다. 유용한 기능은 아래 스크린샷에서와 같이 내 웹사이트가 이미 가지고 있는 모든 링크가 녹색으로 강조되어 있다는 것이다. 나는 이 기술을 사용하여 새로운 링크 구축 기회를 쉽게 결정할 수 있다. 모니터 백링크를 통해 내 웹사이트가 얻고 있는 모든 백링크를 추적할 수 있다. 링크 구축 캠페인이 성공할 때마다 대시보드에 들어오는 모든 새로운 백링크를 볼 수 있다. 당신의 페이지가 최적화되는 방법은 순위를 매기는 능력에 큰 영향을 미칠 수 있다. SEO의 페이지 순위 요인은 무엇인가? 페이지 내 순위 요인은 적절히 최적화되면 페이지 순위 지정 능력에 큰 영향을 미칠 수 있다. 검색엔진 순위에 영향을 미치는 가장 큰 페이지 요인은 다음과 같다. 최근 구글의 강진에 맞춰 검색엔진최적화(SEO)가 점점 중요해지고 있습니다. ① 테크니컬seo 테크니컬seo는 웹사이트 규모 별 총 30~50여개 HTML SEO 요소를 작성 및 점검하며 HTML외 요소로 최근 구글/네이버에서 중요시하고 있는 속도/모바일/서버 최적화 및 네이버 Search Advisor, 구글 Search Console을 최적화합니다. ② 콘텐츠seo 콘텐츠seo는 주요 포탈사의 키워드 검색 결과와 자사 및 경쟁사의 키워드를 분석하여 핵심 & 연관키워드를 선정하고 키워드 별 검색량 및 적합도를 측정하는 키워드 리서치를 수행합니다. 또한 리서치 결과를 웹페이지에 적용하고 검색결과를 지속적으로 모니터링하여 상위 노출을 위한 데이터 기반 키워드 로드맵과 전략을 실행합니다. 7. 오픈그래프(Open Graph) meta og 태그(tag)와 트위터 카드(Twitter Cards) SNS미리보기 화면은 평소에 친구나 지인에게 공유를 하면서 보셨으리라고 생각되는데요! 웹페이지의 공유 버튼 혹은 URL을 복사하여 SNS로 콘텐츠를 공유합니다. 이때, 해당 콘텐츠의 요약내용이 “SNS에 게시되는데 최적화된 데이터”를 가지고 갈 수 있도록 설정하는 것입니다. 공유 할 때 미리보기가 이상하다면 클릭하지 않을 확률이 높겠죠? 네이버 서치어드바이저 > 웹마스터도구 > 검증 > 웹페이지 최적화 > 콘텐츠항목에서도 체크를 하고 있습니다. 당연히 설정해야겠죠? 8. 캐노니컬(Canonical) 대표/표준 URL 주소 동일한 웹페이지가 서로 다른 URL을 가지고 있을 수 있기때문에 검색엔진은 판단을 할 수 있는 기준이 필요합니다. 이때, 정식 URL을 알기 위해 Canonical URL을 지정하는 것입니다. 동일한 웹페이지가 각각 다른 5개의 URL로 검색엔진에 등록되어있다면 5배 더 방문자가 높아야 하지만, 실제 방문자는 1개의 URL인 경우보다 오히려 낮게 됩니다. 이유는 5개로 분산된 URL의 중요도도 함께 분산되기 때문입니다. 올바른 백링크 구축 방법 올바른 백링크는 사람들이 필요로 하는 양질의 데이터, 정보를 제공함으로서 자연스럽게 공유를 유도하여 사이트의 신뢰성을 올리는 것입니다. SNS 활동을 통해 백링크를 구축하거나 적절한 사이트 내부 이벤트를 통해 사이트의 백링크를 구축하는 방법도 바른 백링크 구축 방법에 포함됩니다. 특히 이제 막 초기 사업을 시작하신 분들이라면 돈을 주고 판다는 양질의 백링크를 산다고 하더라도 쉽게 상위에 노출되지도 않습니다. 이미 여러분의 경쟁상대는(대기업, 중견기업, 중소기업, 개인사업자)는 마케팅 활동을 진행하고 있었고, 이것이 SEO에 좋도록 계획하여 작업을 하고 있지 않은 부분이라도 이미 상위 노출되고 있음으로 그들의 페이지에 방문한 많은 방문자 수, 공유 횟수가 알고리즘에 중요한 척도가 되기 때문입니다. 이것을 키워드 선점효과라고 하는데, 이런 경우 더 양질의 콘텐츠를 제작하거나 그것이 어렵다면 키워드 우회를 통해 새로운 전략을 세워야 합니다. 사실상 경쟁이 너무 과도한 키워드지만 투자 대비 수익이 높은 꼭 필요한 키워드라면 오히려 검색광고를 추천드립니다. SEO최적화 3. 내부 검색엔진 최적화 웹페이지까지 키워드에 맞게 작성하셨으면 내부 검색엔진 최적화(On-Page SEO)작업을 통해 상위노출에 적합한 상태로 만들어줍시다. 용어가 생소하신 분들은 이렇게 이해하시면 됩니다. 구글 로봇이 잘 읽어갈 수 있게 내 홈페이지 정보를 설정하는 것 이라고 이해하시면 편합니다. 그 중에서는 제일 핵심적인건 바로 메타태그인데요. 메타태그는 웹페이지의 정보를 담고 있는 태그입니다. 홈페이지 관리자모드나 head태그 내에서 메타태그 삽입이 가능하며 아래와 같은 내용으로 삽입하시면 구글 로봇에서 읽기 편할 것입니다. 하지만 메타태그는 좀 생소할 수 있기 때문에 사이트 제작자나 전문 업체에 문의하시는게 빠를 수도 있습니다. 그 외에 사이트맵이나 robotstxt 파일 권한도 꼭 해결해주시기 바랍니다. 사이트맵 같은 경우 내 웹사이트의 구조를 나타낸 파일입니다. 이 파일을 구글 서치콘솔이나 네이버 서치어드바이저에 제출을 꼭 해주셔야 내 웹사이트의 구조를 검색엔진이 잘 읽어갈 수 있게 되고 그렇게 될 경우 순위상승까지 가능한 것이지요. Robotstxt 파일은 검색엔진 로봇에게 내 웹사이트의 접근권한을 설정하는 파일인데요. 원래 기본적으로는 네이버와 구글 로봇이 읽어갈 수 있게 설정되어 있으나 간혹 차단되어 있는 웹사이트들이 있습니다. 이러한 웹사이트는 아무리 작업해도 구글이나 네이버 웹사이트 영역에 노출 자체가 힘들 수 있기 때문에 꼭 robottxt 파일도 점검하시는게 좋겠습니다. 10. 메타 업데이트 메타 업데이트를 통합 사이트 새로고침은 Google또는 프로페셔널 SEO에서는 권장되지 않습니다. 앞서 언급한 301 리디렉션을 통한 방법이 훨씬 더 좋습니다. 메타 업데이트를 구현할 경우 다음과 같습니다. Google의 JohnMu는 다음과 같이 말했습니다. "URL을 변경한 경우 메타 새로고침 유형이나 JavaScript리디렉션을 사용하지 않는 것이 좋습니다. 이러한 종류의 리디렉션을 사용하는 대신, 서버가 일반 301리디렉션을 수행하도록 하십시오. 검색 엔진은 JavaScript또는 메타 검색 형식의 리디렉션을 인식할 수 있지만, 이는 제가 기대할 수 있는 것이 아닙니다. 301 리디렉션이 항상 훨씬 더 좋습니다." Moz의 자체 리디렉션 가이드에는 다음과 같은 내용이 있습니다. "5초 안에 리디렉션 되지 않으면 여기를 클릭하십시오."라는 텍스트와 함께 5초 카운트다운이 가장 일반적으로 연결됩니다. 메타 업데이트는 일부 링크 주스를 통과하지 못하지만, 사용 편의성 저하 및 통과한 링크 주스 손실로 인해 SEO전략으로는 권장되지 않습니다." 확인작업: 리디렉션 경로 확인기(구글 확장 프로그램)를 사용하여 개별 페이지를 확인합니다. Screaming Frog 또는 다른 사이트 크롤러와 함께 확인합니다. 추가작업: 개발자에게 301리디렉션을 표준으로 사용하는 것의 중요성을 알리고 특별한 이유가 없는 한 메타 업데이트를 사용하지 않는 것이 좋습니다. 리디렉션 유형 사용을 모니터링하도록 매월 검사를 예약합니다. 11. XML Sitemap XML사이트 맵은 구글과 다른 검색 엔진 로봇들이 당신의 사이트를 탐색하고 이해하는 것을 도와줍니다. Google의 검색 콘솔 도움말 가이드는 XML사이트 맵의 목적과 유용성에 대해 매우 명확하게 설명하고 있습니다. "사이트의 페이지가 올바르게 연결되어 있다면 당사의 웹 탐색기가 대부분의 사이트를 검색할 수 있습니다. 그렇다 하더라도 사이트 맵은 특히 사이트가 다음 기준 중 하나를 충족할 경우 사이트의 탐색 기능을 향상시킬 수 있다.” 대형 사이트의 경우 반드시 Sitemap을 제출합니다. 사이트에 서로 연결되지 않은 내용 페이지가 많이 있는 경우 Sitemap을 제출합니다. 외부링크가 거의 없는 신규 사이트의 경우 Sitemap을 제출합니다. 다음은 XML사이트에서 발생한 가장 큰 문제 중 몇가지 사항입니다. 네이버 의 알고리즘 변화로 구글 뿐만 아니라 네이버 에 대한 SEO(검색엔진최적화) 관심이 많아 지고 있습니다. 다른 나라 와 같이 구글,빙,얀덱스 같은 검색엔진이 시장을 주도해 온 것과 달리 우리는 네이버 나 다음 ��은 포털에 기대어 오랫동안 사이트를 운영 해 왔습니다. 그러다 보니 검색엔진에 친화적인 사이트 운영 보다는 네이버 환경에 맞는 광고 위주의 마케팅을 해 왔습니다. SEO를 위해 꼭 필요한 테크니컬 수정에 대한 시간 투자 와 나를 찾는 유저들이 바라는 컨텐츠 생성 및 SEO 에 친화적인 여러 방법들의 노력 없이 마케팅을 해 오다 네이버 알고리즘 변화로 이제는 그런 부분에 대한 노력을 기울여하는 매우 익숙치 않은 상황에 직면해 있습니다. 이런 상황을 타개 하는 방법 중에SEO를 전문적으로 진행하는 업체들과의 협업이 있습니다. 그래서 SEO를 위한 업체 선정에 있어서 중요한 항목들을 정리했습니다. 아래 내용들을 보시고 참고 하시길 바랍니다.

#백링크구매 #구글상위노출 #구글상위작업 #SEO최적화

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writingwithcolor · 3 years

Text

Jurassic period alien interacting with key cultures and historical figures in Middle East & Asia throughout history

@ketchupmaster400 said:

Hello, so my question is for a character I’ve been working on for quite a while but wasn’t sure about a few things. So basically at the beginning of the universe there was this for less being made up of dark matter and dark energy. Long story short it ends up on earth during the Jurassic Period. It has the ability to adapt and assimilate into other life animals except it’s hair is always black and it’s skin is always white and it’s eyes are always red. It lives like this going from animal to animal until it finally becomes human and gains true sentience and self awareness. As a human it lives within the Middle East and Asia wondering around trying to figure out its purpose and meaning. So what I initially wanted to do with it was have small interactions with the dark matter human and other native humans that kinda helped push humanity into the direction it is now. For example, Mehndhi came about when the dark matter human was drawing on their skin because it felt insecure about having such white skin compared to other people. And ancient Indians saw it and thought it was cool so they adopted it and developed it into Mehndi. Minor and small interactions though early history leading to grander events. Like they would be protecting Jerusalem and it’s people agains the Crusaders later on. I also had the idea of the the dark matter human later on interacting with the prophets Jesus Christ and Muhammad. With Jesus they couldn’t understand why he would sacrifice himself even though the people weren’t deserving. And then Jesus taught them that you have to put other before yourself and protecting people is life’s greatest reward. And then with the prophet Muhammad, I had the idea that their interaction was a simple conversation that mirrors the one he had with the angel Jibril, that lead to the principles of Islam. Now with these ideas I understand the great importance of how not to convey Islam and I’ve been doing reasearch, but I am white and I can understand how that may look trying to write about a different religion than my own. So I guess ultimate my question is, is this ok to do? Is it ok to have an alien creature interact with religious people and historical events as important as they were? Like I said I would try to be as accurate and as respectable as possible but I know that Islam can be a touchy subject and the last thing I would want is to disrespect anyone. The main reason I wanted the dark matter being in the Middle East was because I wanted to do something different because so much has been done with European and American stuff I wanted to explore the eastern side of the world because it’s very beau and very rich with so many cultures that I want to try and represent. I’m sorry for the long post but I wanted you guys to fully understand what my idea was. Thank you for your time and hope you stay safe.

Disclaimer:

The consensus from the moderators was that the proposed character and story is disrespectful from multiple cultural perspectives. However, we can’t ignore the reality that this is a commonly deployed trope in many popular science fiction/ thriller narratives. Stories that seek to take religious descriptions of events at face value from an areligious perspective particularly favor this approach. Thus, we have two responses:

Where we explain why we don’t believe this should be attempted.

Where we accept the possibility of our advice being ignored.

1) No - Why You Shouldn’t Do This:

Hi! I’ll give you the short answer first, and then the extended one.

Short answer: no, this is not okay.

Extended answer. I’ll divide it into three parts.

1) Prophet Muhammad as a character:

Almost every aspect of Islam, particularly Allah (and the Qur’an), the Prophet(s) and the companions at the time of Muhammad ﷺ, are strictly kept within the boundaries of real life/reality. I’ll assume this comes from a good place, and I can understand that from one side, but seriously, just avoid it. It is extremely disrespectful and something that is not even up to debate for Muslims to do, let alone for non-Muslims. Using Prophet Muhammad as a character will only bring you problems. There is no issue with mentioning the Prophet during his lifetime when talking about his attributes, personality, sayings or teachings, but in no way, we introduce fictional aspects in a domain that Muslims worked, and still work, hard to keep free from any doubtful event or incident. Let’s call it a closed period: we don’t add anything that was not actually there.

Reiterating then, don’t do this. There is a good reason why Muslims don’t have any pictures of Prophet Muhammad. We know nothing besides what history conveyed from him.

After this being said, there is another factor you missed – Jesus is also an important figure in Islam and his story from the Islamic perspective differs (a lot) from that of the Christian perspective. And given what you said in your ask, you would be taking the Christian narrative of Jesus. If it was okay to use Prophet Muhammad as a character (reminder: it’s not) and you have had your dark matter human interacting with the biblical Jesus, it will result in a complete mess; you would be conflating two religions.

2) Crusaders and Jerusalem:

You said this dark matter human will be defending Jerusalem against the Crusaders. At first, there is really no problem with this. However, ask yourself: is this interaction a result of your character meeting with both Jesus and Prophet Muhammed? If yes, please refer to the previous point. If not, or even if you just want to maintain this part of the story, your dark matter human can interact with the important historical figures of the time. For example, if you want a Muslim in your story, you can use Salah-Ad-Din Al-Ayoubi (Saladin in the latinized version) that took back Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. Particularly, this crusade has plenty of potential characters.

Also, featuring Muslim characters post Prophet Muhammad and his companions’ time, is completely fine, just do a thorough research.

3) Middle Eastern/South Asian settings and Orientalism:

The last point I want to remark is with the setting you chose for your story. Many times, when we explore the SWANA or South Asian regions it’s done through an orientalist lens. Nobody is really safe from falling into orientalism, not even the people from those regions. My suggestion is educating yourself in what orientalism is and how it’s still prevalent in today’s narrative. Research orientalism in entertainment, history... and every other area you can think of. Edward Said coined this term for the first time in history, so he is a good start. There are multiple articles online that touch this subject too. For further information, I defer to middle eastern mods.

- Asmaa

Racism and Pseudo-Archaeology:

A gigantic, unequivocal and absolute no to all of it, lmao.

I will stick to the bit about the proposed origin of mehendi in your WIP, it’s the arc I feel I’m qualified to speak on, Asmaa has pretty much touched upon the religious and orientalism complications.

Let me throw out one more word: pseudoarchaeology. That is, taking the cultural/spiritual/historical legacies of ancient civilizations, primarily when it involves people of colour, and crediting said legacies to be the handiwork of not just your average Outsider/White Saviour but aliens. I’ll need you to think carefully about this: why is it that in so much of media and literature pertaining to the so-called “conspiracy theories” dealing with any kind of extraterrestrial life, it’s always Non-Western civilizations like the Aztec, the ancient Egyptians, the Harappans etc who are targeted? Why is it that the achievements of the non West are so unbelievable that it’s more feasible to construct an idea of non-human, magical beings from another planet who just conveniently swooped in to build our monuments and teach us how to dress and what to believe in? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, it’s because it should: denying the Non-West agency of their own feats is not an innocent exercise in sci-fi worldbuilding, it comes loaded with implications of racial superiority and condescension towards the intellect and prowess of Non-European cultures.

Now, turning to specifics:

Contrary to what Sarah J. Maas might believe- mehendi designs are neither mundane, purely aesthetic tattoos nor can they be co-opted by random Western fantasy characters. While henna has existed as an art form in various cultures, I’m limiting my answer to the Indian context, (specifying since you mention ancient India). Mehendi is considered one of the tenets of the Solah Shringar- sixteen ceremonial adornments for Hindu brides, one for each phase of the moon, as sanctioned by the Vedic texts. The shade of the mehendi is a signifier for the strength of the matrimonial bond: the darker the former, the stronger the latter. Each of the adornments carries significant cosmological/religious symbolism for Hindus. To put it bluntly, when you claim this to be an invention of the aliens, you are basically taking a very sacred cultural and artistic motif of our religion and going “Well actually….extraterrestrials taught them all this.”

In terms of Ayurveda (Traditional holistic South Asian medicine) , mehendi was used for its medicinal properties. It works as a cooling agent on the skin and helps to alleviate stress, particularly for the bride-to-be. Not really nice to think that aliens lent us the secrets of Ayurvedic science (pseudoarchaeology all over again).

I’m just not feeling this arc at all. The closest possible alternative I could see to this is the ancient Indian characters incorporating some specific stylistic motifs in their mehendi in acknowledgement to this entity, in the same vein of characters incorporating motifs of tribute into their armour or house insignia, but even so, I’m not sure how well that would play out. If you do go ahead with this idea, I cannot affirm that it will not receive backlash.

-Mimi

These articles might help:

Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens

A History of Indian Henna (this studies mehendi origins mostly with reference to Mughal history)

Solah Shringar

2) Not Yes, But If Ignoring the Above:

I will be the dissenting voice of “Not No, But Here Are The Big Caveats.” Given that there is no way to make the story you want to tell palatable to certain interpretations of Islam and Christianity, here is my advice if the above arguments did not sufficiently deter you.

1. Admiration ≠ Research: It is not enough to just admire cultures for their richness and beauty. You need to actually do the research and learn about them to determine if the story you want to tell is a good fit for the values and principles these cultures prioritize. You need to understand the significance of historical figures and events to understand the issues with attributing the genesis of certain cultural accomplishments to an otherworldly influence. 1.

2. Give Less Offense When Possible and Think Empathetically: You should try to imagine the mindsets of those you will offend and think about to what degree you can soften or ameliorate certain aspects of your plot, the creature’s characteristics, and the creature’s interactions with historical figures to make your narrative more compatible. There is no point pretending that much of areligious science fiction is incompatible with monotheist, particularly non-henotheistic, religious interpretations as well as the cultural items and rituals derived from those religious interpretations. One can’t take “There is no god, just a lonely alien” and make that compatible with “There is god, and only in this particular circumstance.” Thus:

As stated above by Asmaa and Mimi, there is no escaping the reality the story you propose is offensive to some. Expect their outcry to be directed towards you. Can you tolerate that?

Think about how you would feel if someone made a story where key components of your interpretation of reality are singled out as false. How does this make you feel? Are you comfortable doing that to others?

3. Is Pseudoarchaeology Appropriate Here?: Mimi makes a good point about the racial biases of pseudoarchaeology. Pseudoarchaeology is a particular weakness of Western-centric atheist sci-fi. Your proposed story is the equivalent of a vaguely non-descript Maya/Aztec/Egyptian pyramid or Hindu/ Buddhist-esque statue being the source for a Resident Evil bio weapon/ Predator nest/ Assassin’s Creed Isu relic.

Is this how you wish to draw attention to these cultures you admire? While there is no denying their ubiquity in pop-culture, such plots trivialize broad swathes of non-white history and diminish the accomplishments of associated ethnic groups. The series listed above all lean heavily into these tropes either because the authors couldn’t bother to figure out something more creative or because they are intentionally telling a story the audience isn’t supposed to take seriously.*

More importantly, I detect a lot of sincerity in your ask, so I imagine such trivialization runs counter to your expressed desire to depict Eastern cultures in a positive and accurate manner.

4. Freedom to Write ≠ Freedom from Consequence: Once again, as a reminder, it’s not our job to reassure you as to whether or not what you are proposing is ok. Asmaa and Mimi have put a lot of effort into explaining who you will offend and why. We are here to provide context, but the person who bears the ultimate responsibility for how you choose to shape this narrative, particularly if you share this story with a wide audience, is you. Speaking as one writer to another, I personally do not have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I think it is important to be face reality head-on.

- Marika.

* This is likely why the AC series always includes that disclaimer stating the games are a product of a multicultural, inter-religious team and why they undermine Western cultures and Western religious interpretations as often (if not moreso) than those for their non-Western counterparts.

Note: Most WWC asks see ~ 5 hours of work from moderators before they go live. Even then, this ask took an unusually long amount of time in terms of research, emotional labor and discussion. If you found this ask (and others) useful, please consider tipping the moderators (link here), Asmaa (coming eventually) and Mimi (here). I also like money - Marika.

#alien character #historical fiction #science fiction #pseudoarchaeology #Middle-Eastern cultures #South-Asian cultures #Islam #writing with Islam #mehendi #cultural appropriation #areligious perspectives in writing #asks #WWC

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lunasilvermorny · 4 years

Text

Facing the past - Luna and Jacob

This is not part of the headcanon. It’s simply a dialogue that Luna and Jacob would have had if they actually talked about their problems instead of sweeping everything under the rug.

They have so many unresolved issues, that I thought it would be an interesting concept to explore. It got intense.

Enjoy.

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Luna: Aren’t you tired of playing the victim when you’re clearly at fault here?

Jacob: Right, I forgot I was talking to father’s mindless lacky.

Luna: I am not his lacky! Just because you have a warped perception-

Jacob: Accurate perception.

Luna: -of me, doesn’t mean that you know what the bloody hell you’re talking about!

Jacob: Won’t you ever shut up?!

Luna: You’re a failure! You have no one to blame but yourself-

Jacob: Yes, father.

Luna: -if you only did something with your life-

Jacob: Yes, father.

Luna: -instead of acting like a child.

Jacob: You’re right, father.

Luna: LIKE NOW! ACTING LIKE A CHILD!

Jacob: At least I can think for myself!

Luna: Oh, right. You’re so edgy. Hey everyone, look at me-!

Jacob: And I’m the child?

Luna: I wear leather and I smoke like a chimney! Aren’t I cool? Screw the man - literally!

Jacob: Is that supposed to be funny?

Luna: You are a self-centered prick that has nothing to offer and can only stand up against literal children and bully them!

Jacob: I was trying to prevent you from turning into HIM!

Luna: You were trying to kill me!

Jacob: Oh, please. Could you be any more mellowdramatic?

Luna: What about the time you used Bombarda on me?

Jacob: I was aiming for your toy.

Luna: You hit my god damn face!

Jacob: By accident!

Luna: I was 6, you psychopath!

Jacob: Were you already a mindless lacky at the age of 6? Impressive.

Luna: What about the time you destroyed my arm?!

Jacob: It was a tiny scratch-

Luna: It took the healers 6 mouths to fully reconstruct it!

Jacob: Fine, but I was a kid too!

Luna: Funny, when I was at that age, I haven’t completely obliterated any of Olivia’s limbs!

Jacob: Of course not, you were too busy climbing up father’s bum!

Luna: Father this, father that-

Jacob: Yes, father this, father that! He’s the real monster, if you’re looking to blame anyone.

Luna: You think I don’t know how he’s like?

Jacob: Oh, please.

Luna: Because I do-

Jacob: OH, PLEASE!

Luna: I know more than you think, you just never gave me enough credit. You never had even the slightest respect for me!

Jacob: What is there to respect? You were a mini version of him!

Luna: I was a child!

Jacob: You were a little devil.

Luna: I WAS A CHILD!!

Jacob: You can yell it all you want, still doesn’t change the fact that you were a nasty little twat.

Luna: Oh, me? Really? Was I the one that constantly pranked you?

Jacob: You were asking to be pranked, with that stupid face of yours.

Luna: Was I the one that constantly belittling you?

Jacob: It was a matter of time and you know it.

Luna: No, it wasn’t.

Jacob: It was. I knew he’ll get inside your head eventually and turn you against me, so what was the point in even trying? I had no chance, you adored him!

Luna: I have my issues with him, just as much as you do.

Jacob: Yeah, right.

Luna: What the hell would you know?!

Jacob: Aren’t you still in that cozy closet of yours? I know mum knows, she always knew, but does he know?

Luna: ...

Jacob: Right. So you haven’t told him - what a shocker!

Luna: Why the hell would I tell him?

Jacob: Because that’s who you are! You want to know how he reacted when I told him?

Luna: You should’ve kept it to yourself.

Jacob: How can you, of all people, say that?

Luna: He’s old and set in his ways. What’s the point in antagonizing him?

Jacob: You’re right, how dare I find men attractive?

Luna: That’s not what I meant and you know it.

Jacob: All I know is that you’re a little coward. Afraid to ruin your reputation as his perfect little princess?

Luna: He is old! What good would it make?!

Jacob: Don’t you want to be yourself?

Luna: I don’t need to! Not in front of him.

Jacob: Wow, so rebellious.

Luna: You told him because you knew it would push him over the edge!

Jacob: Ha! Oh, really? Was that the reason? Good to know!

Luna: He already had his problems with you-

Jacob: Exactly. EXACTLY! Do you have any idea how it feels that my own father hates me?! My own father thinks I’m a bloody mistake!

Luna: And instead of proving him otherwise-

Jacob: There was no way to prove anything! That horrible man made my life miserable ever since I can remember!

Luna: Look at that, just like you did to me.

Jacob: I was trying to help you!

Luna: You were taking your frustration on me! I was your bloody scapegoat, since you couldn’t confront father, and you know it!

Jacob: You are so blind!

Luna: No, you’re just a hypocrite!

Jacob: Fine, I’m a hypocrite! But it doesn’t mean that man gets a free pass for all the crap he put me through!

Luna: He had a messed up family too-

Jacob: Don’t you even try-

Luna: -they were literally Death Eaters!

Jacob: -to compare the situations. He married mum out of spite! He brought us to this world out of SPITE!

Luna: They messed him up-

Jacob: That doesn’t justify his actions!

Luna: -really bad and you know it.

Jacob: He messed me up!

Luna: Yeah, well. Me too. That doesn’t mean I’m crying about it like a freaking infant!

Jacob: YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS MAN DID TO ME!

Luna: Yeah, made you feel worthless. Boo-fucking-hoo. Join the club.

Jacob: Really? Did he ever beat you up?

Luna: Of course not.

Jacob: Did he ever screwed up your face so badly that mum had to literally reconstruct it?!

Luna: I know that he’s not a good man, but he wouldn’t resort to violence.

Jacob: When he found out I’m gay, he used the CRUCIATUS curse on me!

Luna: ...

Jacob: Do you have any idea what it’s like being tortured by your own father?!

Luna: ...

Jacob: Nothing to say, all of a sudden?

Luna: You’re a liar.

Jacob: Oh, am I?

Luna: Yes, you are clearly lying.

Jacob: Of course you’ll say that, you worthless arse.

Luna: You must be really desperate-

Jacob: Why would I lie about it?!

Luna: -to create such fake- BECAUSE YOU’RE A LIAR!

Jacob: ASK HIM! Ask mum. Let’s see what they’ll say.

Luna: Fuck you.

Jacob: And if you ever come out to him, that’s exactly what’s expecting you. You’re welcome, by the way. I had no one to give me a heads-up.

Luna: Shut up! I don’t need to hear these kinds of lies for the psychopath that was probably a few pranks away from using the same curse on me!

Jacob: I would never-!

Luna: You are the only one that ever physically hurt me in our family.

Jacob: ...

Luna: How dare you pass the blame to him, after everything you’ve done.

Jacob: I... I never intended to hurt you, honestly. You were just so much alike! With your stupid smirk and insufferable voice-

Luna: I was helpless.

Jacob: Well, so was I.

Luna: I don’t care. You are the older sibling, you should have known better.

Jacob: ...

Luna: You don’t deserve any sympathy. None!

Jacob: I care about you and that’s more than that horrible excuse of a father would ever give you. He is incapable of real love and you know it.

Luna: ...

Jacob: There is no such thing as unconditional love with that man.

Luna: I don’t need unconditional love. Never have.

Jacob: He is a bad man.

Luna: I know. You’re both bad-

Jacob: He’s worst!

Luna: I know.

Jacob: No, you don’t. If you don’t believe me, then you don’t know.

Luna: Nothing would convince me that you’re telling the truth now.

Jacob: Then ask him.

Luna: I will, but I already know that you’re lying.

Jacob: We’ll see.

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

Some cuts are just too deep to mend. I can’t think of any scenario that could ever truly repair their damaged relationship. That’s why they chose to just ignore the past and act as if nothing happened, while letting all the passive-aggressive remarks slip through the cracks.

This post is long enough, but if you’re interested, I’ll add the part where she asks their father about Jacob’s allegations.

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

Edgar: Yes, Luna. Come in.

Luna: Hello, father.

Edgar: As you can see, I am very busy. Is it urgent?

Luna; I just have one question.

Edger: All right, go ahead.

Luna: Have...have you ever…?

Edgar: Speak, child. I have no time for hesitancy.

Luna: Have you ever used the Cruciatus curse on him? Jacob, I mean.

Edgar …

Luna: …

Edgar: No.

Luna: Okay…

Edgar: Anything else?

Luna: No, that's all.

*She turned to leave*

Edgar: Luna.

Luna: Yes, father?

Edgar: You have great potential and your OWLs prove it. Do not let him take you down with him. He is below your level in any regard and he knows it. That is why he dragged you into the these vaults nonsense and that is why he is planting these ridiculous ideas inside your head.

Luna: Yes, father.

Rowan: So, what happened?

Luna: He did it.

Rowan: Oh, Luna, I’m... I’m so sorry-

Luna: I don’t want to talk about it.

Jacob: So, have you asked father yet?

Luna: ...

Jacob: Didn’t like what you’ve heard?

Luna: Of course I haven’t asked him, you’re obviously lying!

Jacob: Figures. You’re such a coward.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #barely headcanon #luna silver #jacob silver #edgar silver #messed up past #there are no saints in the silver family #every time i'm starting to feel sorry for jacob #i remind myself #that he was a terrible brother to luna #and it balances things out for me #their father's family abused him too when he was a child #no nice slytherins in this family #sorry for all the cool slytherins out there

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veryvincible · 4 years

Note

Hello! I was told there was a new iron man comic launch this year. So i googled iron man 2020 and I happened to stumble upon your blog about iron man 2020. I know you weren’t pleased with it, but is this new family dynamic true? Is comic Tony adopted and has a brother? I low-key can’t handle the fact we won’t have MCU Tony anymore so I wanted to check comics but it’s so convoluted and I don’t know where to start and why is it so different? 😭😭

He is! The family dynamic itself isn't too complicated to figure out, so don't worry too much about that. That actually wasn't true in canon until pretty recently, but they retconned some things to make it work. I can explain that whole ordeal for you if you'd like! Just let me know. I'm getting ready for work atm, so it might take a while.

As for the "why is it so complicated?" question... It's really about the timeline. The MCU was a collaborative effort with relatively few changes in writers, and every piece of the MCU was made to work with the pieces before it and the pieces to come. There are, of course, inconsistencies- there are, like, 20 movies or something- but generally speaking, the MCU as itself is a whole and complete entity.

The comics, on the other hand, have been going for decades. There have been a shitload of writers, all with their own ideas of what Tony Stark is like, what his goals are, and what he's been through. The political climate can also change what's being written and the messages that are being sent in certain decades. There are a lot of discrepancies, a lot of sliding timeline issues, and a lot of backtracking (sort of). So, different runs contradict each other (sometimes pretty drastically!), and though there are a few traits and pieces of canon that most 616 Tony fans can agree are true to his base character, the fact remains that you can personally consider or disregard whichever pieces of canon you desire to make the comic-reading experience as enjoyable for you as it can be.

That being said, if you're a fandom kind of person and you'd like to orient yourself more toward the version of 616 Tony you're most likely to see in analyses and comic fics (sort of), you can look up any number of basic "What's the difference between 616 Tony and MCU Tony?" posts. Sineala has a really nice one here on tumblr, and there are other blogs off-site that touch on it with regards to specific events (like CW.)

There is a lot to read if you want to be "caught up," or very knowledgeable about Iron Man, but if it helps at all, I've been reading for about a decade now and there are still gaps in my knowledge. No one expects you to know everything right away; it's quite the opposite, actually, where more knowledgeable people in fandom spaces are willing to share information you might be lacking without condescension.

If you'd like to be able to participate in comic conversations more quickly and with more confidence right away, though, I know a lot of people who went from the MCU to the comics and are doing perfectly fine in comic-fandom spaces.

If you'd like to shoot me a quick DM at some point, I'd be happy to provide as much information to get you started as I can. If not (understandable!), I can link some posts from trusted members in the community about the same thing.

I'm sorry I can't compile all the links right this moment! I just figured I'd answer your ask now so I didn't forget about it later on, which I'm unfortunately prone to do.

Thanks for the ask! Hope this helped ease your concerns a little bit. I'll try to get together what resources I can once I'm home.

If anyone else has thoughts on good starting points as well (since I've seen plenty of differing opinions on this, and it's probably best to offer a few different choices based on what experience anon is looking to have), please feel free to share!

One last tidbit of reassurance for anon, because it can be overwhelming and you might feel deterred from fandom spaces until you feel like you have the "right" amount of information:

All of what we're doing in fandom is for entertainment, for catharsis, and for whatever else it is that we need from the media we're consuming. We don't need to be in consensus to find a sense of belonging among those in fandom we interact with. Your knowledge will grow, you'll have productive discussions, your opinions will change again and again and again, and this is standard. You belong.

P.S. If you haven't checked out the MCU-canon comics and you're still missing your guy from the big screen, you can check those out! I haven't read them personally, so I can't tell you how accurate to the films they actually are or how they even came to fruition, but they sure are there!

#cassks #marvel 616 #marvel #long post #sorry if this is worded strangely or doesn’t make a lot of sense #i am like drowning in xanax right now so my brain is like #not in the business of knowing what I have said and what i have not said

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unchartedwater-thejourney · 4 years

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The Corona Staycation Update

The virus. Not the beer. Clarifications are important. So... this is new.

Ah dear journeyers, I won’t say I haven’t been worried. This entire concept has been unsettling on the same level as the beginnings of any dystopian future or zombie plot. I’ve run the full gambit on the topic. From entitled annoyance at the inconveniences, to panic for my friends and family and the uncertainty, to now a more rational alertness. And I guess that’s okay. The important part is working through the state of irrational fear. Because that reduces our ability to think clearly. We need that ability more than ever right now.

So by now basically everyone knows the harm of COVID19 and though some may feel it is disrespectful to the current health and economic crisis to not acknowledge it. I feel we can tune in for the news for that, I’m going to speak of the benefits of the Corona Staycation. 1. Environmentally, this has improved most of the planet drastically. I’ll be extremely curious if the forced quarantines and reduced human interaction actually buys us time for global warming, once the dust settles and the numbers roll in. At the very least, it’s shown how much of an impact we have on our fellow earth occupants.

2. Health- Hear me out. People are going stir crazy and literally climbing over themselves to go for walks, because there’s not much else to do. They are also exploring anything they can do at home because being told to watch tv and play on your phone makes it instantly less fun.Teenager effect. So meditation, yoga, those sorts of things people have been meaning to try, they are probably trying them.

3. Everyone’s house is going to be ridiculously clean. Less to block CoronaVirus, more because of the aforementioned boredom. When you are stuck at home, you start to notice that clutter spot WAY more... and you actually have time for those “I’ve been meaning to get to that, but I’ve been busy”

4. Hobbies/Wish Lists- Been meaning to try pottery? Now is the time! Binge watch EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. We can finally keep up with the streaming services. Improve your solo hobbies. Take up art! (Follow a new blog- I know I know, self serving)

5. The mirror of society. For Americans, this is definitely one of those awkward moments isn’t it? Our health care system, which is designed to cost too much and prioritize a small minority... is really doing exactly what it was designed to do. Cost too much and prioritize a minority. Oops. Economic inequality is also getting a harsh assessment- if you walk into a store in the shortage areas, most of the inexpensive things people need to survive have already been taken. What’s left is what people don’t want (usually health food, sadly) and what people can’t afford. But this is a positivity post, and I meant that. Perhaps, one day, we’ll be able to cite this moment as proof of these things and why changes are necessary. We’ve at least proven the resources are available when there is enough motivation.

6. Time- If this has shown us nothing else, it’s that time with the people you love is a privilege and it can be taken away. Appreciate the people you do live with, and enjoy the time you have with them. Learn more about them. Love a little more. For the people you can’t be with right now, remember that physical distance is not emotional distance and this will pass. Hopefully, when this is over, we all appreciate a hug a little more. And give them a little more often. And hold hands. And laugh together. And enjoy the general presence of not being alone.

What can we do?

Keep our morale up. Listen, share, and spread accurate information- that’s obvious. But more than anything we need proof we’re not alone. This isn’t an issue defined by borders or politics. This is a Human Issue. For perhaps one of the few times in modern history, we are all motivated by the same desire to protect and survive. Be the better version of yourself. Share laughter and kindness. Send dorky messages to your friends, we need each other more now. Be excellent to each other. We’ll party on in a few months <3

Please feel free to share this and add your own silver linings to the #coronastaycation. Let’s spread some positive energy around the world.

#cornavirus #covidー19 #positivelife #silver lining #one world #coronastaycation #captain america #avengers #marvel

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opsecretsanta2019 · 5 years

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FAQs (mobile-friendly)

This is a mobile-friendly copy of the FAQs page for easy reference, accurate as of 24 October 2019. For the most updated version, please check the FAQs page in browser or on desktop.

FAQs below the cut! Mobile-friendly rules here.

Where is the application form?

It’s linked in the rules page. Please read the rules before applying, thanks!

What is this?

It’s a one piece holiday gift exchange on tumblr!

When are the deadlines?

15 Nov – Applications close. 22 Nov – Santas assigned. 27 Nov – Santas confirm assignments. 25 Dec to 31 Dec – Post the gifts! 5 Jan 2020 – Tell me if you didn’t get your gift. 9 Jan 2020 – Backup santas notified. 31 Jan 2020 – Backup santa gifts posted!

The close of each day is 11:59pm HKT (GMT + 8h). Please note that my timezone is ahead of most countries.

How do I join?

To enter, you must read the rules and complete the application form linked on the rules page.

You must send in the application form before 15th NOVEMBER 2019 at 11:59pm HKT (GMT+8h).

If you apply, please commit to creating and giving a gift.

What’s this password thing you have in the application? What password?

If you don’t know the password, please read the entire rules page carefully from top to bottom. For easy reference, here’s a link to the rules and the mobile-friendly rules.

Applications with an incorrect password will be rejected during santa/ giftee assignments, even if applicants received the response email.

Oh no! I made a mistake in my application form/ I got the password wrong/ I left out something. What do I do?

You can edit your application anytime before applications close on 15 November 2019 (2359h HKT). You should have received a response email with the edit link.

I made a typo on my password. Will I be rejected/ do I need to edit my application?

Nah, that’s fine, I’m willing to accept typos. Your application will get denied if the answer clearly shows that you don’t know the password.

Who sees the information I put in my application?

The middle section with your preferences will be copy-pasted and sent word-for-word to your santa. Your santa will also get your tumblr URL/ username. If you addressed any comments to your santa in your miscellaneous comment section, I’ll pass those along too.

Only the mods will see your email and other details. For now, that’s only me (@codedredalert) and @narramin. Since the volume of work got overwhelming, I got her on board as a mod.

She’s a close friend I trust, and while I don’t think we’ll have anyone else joining us as a moderator, If you’re very concerned about other people finding out about your email address and other application details, maybe give this event a miss.

What do I have to do when I post my gift?

Mention the name of your giftee in the post (like this: @url). Also mention @opsecretsanta2019 in the post.

Tag #opsecretsanta2019 and any appropriate compulsory warning tags (#n/sfw, #graphic violence, #major character death, #noncon or dubcon, #underage , #chose not to use warnings , #no warnings apply).

Consider writing a nice message to the giftee to go along with the gift, if you like.

If it is Not Safe For Work, please put it in a read-more and tag it appropriately.

Send me a link to your post! I will be re-blogging all gifts under #finished gifts.

How do you select Secret Santas?

I sort participants by naughty and nice into a SFW group and a NSFW group. After that, both groups are separately put through a random generator. Once giftees are drawn from the generator, I will manually check to make sure santas/ giftees share at least one mutual interest.

You should not be giving to the same person you’re receiving from.

What does it mean if I’m in the NSFW group?

If you choose NSFW, it means you are okay with making or receiving NSFW content AND are at least 21 years of age.

You do not have to create a NSFW gift if you don’t feel like it. You may or may not receive a NSFW gift.

Can I make/ receive NSFW?

To potentially receive or send NSFW material, you must be 21 years or older when applications close on 15 November 2019 2359h.

If you make something NSFW for your giftee, please put it under a read more and tag it appropriately. If your NSFW gift is/ could be flagged, please post it on another site and provide a link in a tumblr post.

Why must I be 21+ to receive/ give NSFW? I’m an adult in my country.

I don’t want drama/ legal issues about adults sending NSFW to minors. 21 is the highest age of majority as far as I’m aware, so that’s what I set it as to cover everyone. Sorry, kiddo.

I’m not 21+ yet but I will be by the time applications close. Can I still say I’m 21+?

Happy early birthday, I hope you have a great time! Please go ahead and put yourself on the NSFW list if you want. I’ll take the cut-off for age limit at the point where applications close aka 15 November 2019 2359h HKT.

What is considered NSFW?

NSFW components for the purposes of this event (loosely based on the R rating guidelines of the Motion Picture Association of America):

(1) Violence: Canon-typical depictions of violence are generally SFW (eg. brawls, blood, stabbing). However, violence that is detailed, realistic, extreme or persistent would make a work NSFW.

(2) Language/ Profanity / Swearing: Generally, swearing is SFW, but you’re encouraged to keep it mild. You have a maximum of one (1) singular “fuck” to give in a SFW work. Use it wisely. Excessive or extremely graphic swearing would make a work NSFW.

(3) Drugs/ Substance Abuse:

Canon-typical depiction of smoking is SFW (eg. chain smoking or smoking several cigarettes/cigars at once is SFW). However, smoking/ nicotine addiction that is detailed, realistic, extreme or persistent would make a work NSFW.

Canon-typical drinking of large amounts of alcohol is SFW. However, alcoholism/ alcohol addiction that is detailed, realistic, extreme or persistent would make a work NSFW.

Mention of drugs used in a medical context is SFW. Otherwise, any drug use or mention of drug use would make a work NSFW.

(4) Nudity and sexual content:

Nudity that is depicted visually (eg. art) is NSFW, regardless of whether it is sexual or not. Please post a censored/ partial preview of the art and link the full piece on another site. (Tumblr might flag it otherwise lol.)

Non-visual nudity (eg. writing) is NSFW if it is sexually-oriented. Please ensure that it is under a read-more.

All sexual content is NSFW regardless of medium.

Hugs, kisses and cuddling are SFW.

Can I opt to be in the NSFW list, but still say I don’t want to receive/ create a certain type of NSFW (eg. specifically not sexual content, or drug abuse)?

Yup! Generally, giving more information in your application is better. It’s good to be clear and upfront about your likes and dislikes. It helps me a lot in deciding if I need to re-roll when I double-check your random match. It helps your santa know what not to give you too.

Is ____ pairing/ content/ gen allowed?

As long as they’re canon One Piece characters, yes. This event aims to be as inclusive as possible. Just make sure you tag appropriately.

Are OCs/ self-insert/ Y/N fic allowed?

Sorry, nope. I’m sure you and your OCs are lovely, however, this is a One Piece event, so please only feature canon One Piece characters.

You CAN sneak in a little extra cameo if you really want. Eg. a random person in the background/ a random shopkeeper in your fic. But the focus must be on canon One Piece characters.

I personally consider ____ content problematic. Will you allow it?

The compulsory warning tags (following those on Ao3) generally cover a wide range of potentially offensive content. Please be responsible for your own content regulation by blacklisting the necessary tags. I cannot be responsible for everyone’s content consumption.

I’m personally triggered by _____. Can you tag it?

Your personal triggers will already be accounted for in the application form and the information sent to your santa. So, this shouldn’t be a problem for your gift. Also, there are the compulsory warning tags for you to blacklist if necessary.

If you think there is still a very high chance that other people’s gifts will have your trigger, send me an ask off-anon proposing (1) a feasible identification system and (2) a tag name. We’ll see if we can work something out.

I promise to hear you out. However, I will exercise my discretion as to whether it is feasible for me to impose your request on every post on this blog. If your request requires a moral judgment or a lot of work on my part, I am less likely to impose your request.

It’s not possible for me to please everyone. I’ve done my best to cover the generally-accepted warnings. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

What kinds of gifts are allowed?

Anything digital as long as you personally created it for your giftee!

SUGGESTED minimum guidelines for different types of content are below (feel free to go above and beyond if your heart desires):

– Art – 1 artwork, sketches are okay as long as characters are recognisable

– AMVs – 30 seconds. Please use only official art/ anime/ movies as your base.

– Animations – 3 seconds, sketches are okay as long as characters are recognisable

– Animatics – 30 seconds, sketches are okay as long as characters are recognisable

– Edits – 2 edits of good image quality. Please use only official art as your base.

– Fanfiction – 100 words (prose), 20 words (poetry)

– GIFsets – 2 gifs of good image quality. Please use only official art/ anime/ movies as your base.

– Music cover – 1 minute. Please cover only official One Piece songs/ motifs.

– Playlist – 10 songs. Please try to find out about your giftee’s music taste and cater to that if possible.

– Podfic/ audio reading – You MUST get permission in writing from the fic author before making the recording. In your recording, you MUST clearly state the original author, the title of the original fic, and the website where the original fic can be found. In your post, you MUST give LINKED credit to both the original author AND the original fic.

Do I need to meet a minimum for my gift?

There are suggested minimum guidelines for different types of content, but there are no strict minimums. The gift creation for this event is intended to be very achievable, stress-free, and accessible even to first-time creators.

Do I have to follow a winter theme in the gift?

Nope. Anything goes! Just try to do something you think your giftee would like according to the information you were given.

Can I send something in the mail?

Sorry, please don’t. This exchange is digital-only.

Hey I'm a writer who uses Ao3. Is there an Ao3 collection for this event which I can add my gift to?

Yup, here’s the link to the opsecretsanta2019 Ao3 collection. Please feel free to add your fic(s) to the Ao3 collection during the posting period (aka 25 December 2019 to 31 December 2019). It would be good if you could drop me a message on tumblr when you do.

I don’t know what an Ao3 collection is/ how to submit works to an Ao3 collection/ how to specify gift recipients etc?

Here are the Ao3 Collections FAQs.

I’m not very good at art/ writing/ etc.

That’s okay! As long as you put your heart into it, you’re welcome aboard!

I want to join but I’m shy/ intimidated generally/ by my giftee/ by everyone’s expectations.

Hey, it’s alright, we’re all nakama in the same anime pirate boat here to enjoy some holiday time. Just try your best and have fun!

I didn't receive my response email?

Ah, the automated emails have a daily limit, sorry. You can send me a message and I'll send you a copy manually. Thanks!

When and how will I get my Secret Santa assignment?

On or before 22 November, I will contact you via your tumblr blog. Please keep your askbox/ submit box open between 14 November 2019 and 23 November 2019.

If I can’t reach you on tumblr, I will use the email you provide in the application.

If you applied on time, but did not receive a giftee assignment, please contact me.

When should I send my gift to my Secret Santa?

Any time on or between 25 December 2019 and 31 December 2019.

Can I let my giftee know who I am?

Only once you post your gift. In other words, yes but not earlier than 25 December 2019.

Can I contact my giftee to clarify things about the gift?

Yes but you cannot reveal your identity before you post your gift (eg. use anon asks). If you can’t contact your giftee via tumblr, just do your best with the information you have.

What if my giftee doesn’t have anon asks on/ doesn’t respond?

If you can’t contact your giftee anonymously via tumblr, just do your best with the information you have. Most people wrote detailed applications, so this should be workable.

If giftees are feeling up to it, consider keeping anon asks open for the duration of this event so santas can make clarifications if they need to. It might mean that the gift turns out more to your personal taste.

Can the mods contact my giftee to ask things for me?

We’d love to but we can’t afford to take on the extra workload of being the go-between for everyone’s giftee questions.

You will get your giftee’s tumblr URL. Feel free to check out your giftee’s tumblr and see if they accept anon asks. Please respect their personal rules on interacting if you send asks.

Oops! Something has come up and I can’t participate!

If you have to drop out, please do it before 15 November 2019 if possible. I want to make sure every participant receives a gift.

If you have to drop out after 15 November 2019, please send me an ask. I will assign backup santas.

Please note that if you drop out or are deemed to have dropped out, you may or may not receive any gift.

Please note that if you don’t confirm participation by 27 November 2019, you are deemed to have dropped out.

Oh no, I missed the confirmation deadline (27 November 2019)! But I can confirm now though I’m late! Please please please will you still make sure I get a gift?

If you confirm late but before 15 December 2019, maybe, but at my discretion. If a replacement/ backup santa has already been assigned, likely no.

If you confirm on or after 15 December 2019, no. It’s up to luck whether you get one or not. May the odds be ever in your favour.

I don’t use tumblr much/ my tumblr is dead, but I will be contactable and post on tumblr for this event. Is that okay?

Yup! As long as you communicate and post according to the timelines, it’s okay.

How many mods are there?

Two. The older posts like this one use mostly “I”, since I started this event alone, but beacuse of the number of participants and the workload I got another person on board.

My art/ writing/ main is @codedredalert, and the second mod’s writing/ cursed/ main is @narramin.

Have you, the mods, ever run an event like this before?

Nope. I, Red, have participated in maybe two. Take that as you will.

Suggestions and advice from experienced people are welcome! I may not be able to use/ implement them in this event, but the learning is appreciated.

Are you, the mods, going to be participating as a giftee/ santa? I want a chance to get content from you/ give you things.

Awww thank you, that’s so sweet. Alas, I am just your humble mod. I’ll have my work cut out for me running the event and some major IRL things. Anyways, I'll be doing the matchups so I feel like I ought not to participate.

I’ll step in as a backup santa/ pinch hitter if necessary.

Since narramin leveled up from being a humble participant/ backup santa to moderator, she will be still participating, but due to her own request she won’t know her own santa. Needless to say, her santa will be randomised too.

Will you read/ comment on all the gift works?

I would like to, but I don’t want to make promises unless I’m sure I can keep them. I,,,,, will try.

Currently, I’m considering reblogging with functional tags first and slowly going through to add the fun comment tags later. I think I could make that work.

I would be in a better position to talk about this after applications close and the matchups and drop-outs are finalised. Thanks for your understanding.

Is this event affiliated with _____?

Nope, it’s just us, alone, in this coffin-boat built from our own hubris.

I don’t like your bad jokes and your weird western pirate talk. Can you stop?

Does Zoro have a sense of direction?

The question I wanted to ask isn’t answered here?

Thank you so much for reading the questions before asking. Please feel free to send an ask to this blog or an email to [email protected] .

#important #opsecretsanta2019

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lydiaandarry · 5 years

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{The Murder of Alternative Character Design}

Hello there!

My name is Arabella, but you can call me Arry if easier. You may be looking at the title and feeling a bit confused by it. “The Murder of Alternative Character Design” may be quite a confusing title and leave others wondering what the hell it even means. But that is why I am here to spread awareness about this horrible phenomenon that is going on in recent pop culture. Especially with superheroes. ‘Alternative Character Design’ to me is when a character (usually a superhero) looks different from the traditional standard of the type of character they represent. I can name quite a couple of alternatively dressed superheroes who get made into more traditional wear or boring wear in their live-action debut. So let’s invade the topic!

(The poor costume design recently...)

I don’t know if you have noticed but the quality of costume design and the importance of comic accuracy has lowered in demand. It seems now like live-action adaptations of a comic book character just throw whatever they can to seem “different” or “out there”. Yet it murders the costume design to begin with. Recently in “Birds of Prey”, one of my favorite DC female characters ‘Black Canary’ has had her main outfit leaked on set. And there are no fishnets to be seen or a bodysuit or anything that represents the character in the comics. I personally love Black Canary for that reason with how different she looks and how she isn’t afraid to wear leather, fishnets and reveal skin, things that could be seen as hooker-ish. She rocks and makes it look stylish and badass. Yet in Birds of Prey, it seems like they went for a more ‘preppy’ approach where nothing about her screams ‘Black Canary’ but perhaps the colors. Even then, black and yellow in DC and especially to non-comic book readers just screams Batman. Netflix recently released a show called “The Umbrella Academy” and I don’t really know much about the comics except that it was created by My Chemical Romance babe Gerard Way who I grew up listening to his music. Even after they broke up. It saddened me to see the complete difference from the comics to the actual live-action adaptation. The art is nearly killed with the inaccuracy as Allison Hargreeves doesn’t have her awesome purple-blue hair. Klaus didn't have his awesome skull shirt, ouija pendant necklace and signature bright orange hair. Diego’s long, blond hair is completely disregarded despite the lack of longer hair on dudes in superhero shows. All of this is disregarded for a more preppy, modern and “up to date” look that kills the character design that made the comics look so different in the first place. And it’s Gerard Way’s creation for crying out loud! He was part of an alternative group! They didn't look nearly as normal as the people in the show look. Even Klaus looks normal compared to how these people used to look. It’s changed for diversity and relatability to other characters but where’s my representation? Where’s my second personality’s representation? And this isn’t just on DC’s end. Marvel does this as well with my favorite X-Men character, Kurt Wagner, a.k.a Nightcrawler. Who seriously wore a Thriller jacket in X-Men Apocalypse. It was the worse outfit I have ever seen on Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler in the comics is basically Gothic. He wears dark clothes, looks kind of scary to the point where people fear him on a daily basis, and has hints of red here and there. The usage of color in Kurt’s design is usually creative and done justice. Now I could understand if they were going for a more X-Men Evolution Kurt but even then, the outfit was better and Kurt is rarely seen as blue in that outfit because when he is blue, it is shown to hardly work with being blue.The colors don’t go well with his skin. Also, his personality is a lot different to X-Men Apocalypse’s but we are talking about character design not writing. And can someone please show Legion FX how to dress punk people? Don’t say David Haller is punk when you hardly dress him as punk.

(Why is this an issue?)

So, why is this an issue? You may ask me when reading this post. They’re characters, Arry. They aren’t always going to be comic-book accurate. Why are you so upset over all of this? As an artist, to me, character design and clothing choices is just as important as personality. Appearance is the first thing you see of anyone and it can say a lot. You express yourself through your appearance more than you think. When creating a character, I always make sure that I have the character design down pack. It’s my favorite thing to do. I am not against preppier clothing or modernizing things. I understand that this is something that has to be taken into consideration when taking a character and placing them in live-action. There are some things that are too difficult to carry over. But why make a live-action adaptation of something if you are not going to use the version that everyone who reads the comics is familiar with? What’s wrong with having abnormally colored hair? I get that diversity is a hot topic right now and it’s amazing that everyone is getting representation in one way or another. But diversity goes deeper than just skin tone. I have never seen a true alternative like character outside of cartoons that was done right. And I have tons of favorite goth girls in cartoons (Gwen & Crimson from Total Drama, Sam Manson from Danny Phantom, Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Triana Orpheus from Venture Bros, Jinx & Raven from Teen Titans, The Hex Girls from Scooby Doo, Rogue from X-Men Evolution, Joan of Arc from Clone High, Marceline from Adventure Time, Marie from Ed, Edd, and Eddy.) the list goes on. These aren’t characters you see in live-action though. These aren’t female characters that are even considered in live-action or even superheroes for that matter. And comic books are incredible for the reason that you don’t have to conform to normality. You can make any character you want. That’s why we have such unique characters in comic books and even in cartoons. Justice Friends has a colorful witch named Miss Spell and Valhallen is a metalhead. This is one of the many reasons why Neil Gaiman has been picky and harsh over making his Sandman comics into live-action because Sandman features so many subgenres of styles. Goth and punk, mostly. These characters aren’t represented in live-action adaptations. They are forgotten about or normalized. Kurt Wagner is a background character and they still couldn’t dress him how he is in the comics. The Umbrella Academy normalized its characters a lot in clothing choices. And it’s sad. There are people who dress like this and should be able to see themselves in at least one superhero. Kurt Wagner teaches us that not all goths are gloomy and depressed or dangerous. He’s a goth with a pure soul and good heart. Sandman comics make Death and Dream and Delirium seem normal, like they don’t have to change to be liked or good-hearted. They are who they are. The Umbrella Academy basically showed that you could wear abnormal costumes, have colored hair, have longer hair for a dude and still be an awesome superhero. X-Men has tons of abnormally colored hair characters that rarely make it onto the big screen, they are usually brought to small screen like Blink and Polaris in The Gifted. And in Legion FX, the most evil and villainous character is a punk. David Haller is not a good person on Legion nor can he be considered an anti-hero anymore. He is a despicable being with a god complex. Punks already get the bad rep of being dangerous, angry, and mean-spirited. Do we really need a character in mainstream media to be punk while also had killed multiple people and raped his girlfriend? That’s not progressive, that’s moving backwards. Superboy doesn’t even have his leather jacket, leather gloves and black circle sunglasses anymore with his undercut. He’s just narrowed down to a tee shirt and jeans most of the time.

(How can we change this issue?)

I am not exactly sure. I know it seems kind of lame to like… bring up an issue and then not offer a solution. I feel like the best way to fix this problem is to hopefully notify costume designers that the world is in need of different styles. Their designs are not “out there” or “different”, as the comic book characters designs were already out there and they completely changed them. I am a huge judge when it comes to costume and character designs in live-action adaptations and I may make a post on why that is. I feel like we need to open our eyes to newer looks. To give some representation to those who dress differently from others. The issues that I brought up are already done and over with. Bad representation for punks as evil and villainous. The Umbrella Academy normalized every character, even Klaus. And hopefully Marvel can give us the Nightcrawler that we deserve as Fox no longer has the rights. All we can do is hope that this comic inaccuracy is a pasting phase and that creators will soon give the outcasts a voice and a chance for better representation. To stop being the villains or bad guys.

This was a short rant that I felt had to be done and I had to explain some issues. I hope you enjoyed my post and agree with some points that I made. If you have any questions on the matter, feel free to message me. If you like this post and want to see more like this, feel free to follow our Tumblr! And if you liked the post, feel free to reblog and like. I post every Wednesday and Saturday! I will see you on Wednesday. Peace out!

#character design #characters #cartoon characters #dc comics #marvel comics #x-men #rant #the umbrella academy #birds of prey #black canary #superboy #nightcrawler #kurt wagner #alternative #alternative fashion #post #my opinion #my post

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zeroadult479 · 3 years

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Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Il

Thanks for watching my videos!! Please remember to rate and comment. All feedback is welcome (positive or negative). Also subscribe to my channel. Matchmaking changes in – posted in Game Discussion. The covered site of your Rashi, Lagna, Dasha, Antar Dasha and Nakshatra including your near future. In Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Classic, a way to play WoW near-as-dammit as. In Ground Forces Realistic mode, matchmaking is performed based.

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Matchmaking

May 14, What the blazing hell is that? We dedicate this article for the new buyers, the old buyers, for those who love them, for those who cannot stand them, for low tiers and high tiers, in short, for everyone. Because this tank brings out emotions from all of us. Have you ever got the feeling, that something just does not belong? A sale stunt for the biggest market on Earth became an every hour reality on all servers. Forerunner of the pay to win? The Type then stood out among other toned down premium tanks compared to fully teched same tiers.

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Comments Shares There are not many games that can attract 21, visitors to an exhibition centre in Moscow in December. Temperatures drop as low as minus 22 degrees centigrade, fresh snow becomes ice on roads and pavements and strong winds add further to the dominant air of hostility. With million registered users, however, World of Tanks has enough followers to overcome the elements.

In World of Tanks, your crew plays an important role in improving the combat effectiveness of your vehicle. In this guide, you’ll learn all about crew rank, skills, experience, training, and .

First daily victory with the vehicle Coefficient of 2 No Exiting battle during loading screen or countdown No “Joining a battle” bonus. Since your tank is actually present in the battle until it gets destroyed, it can passively earn XP e. No “Joining a battle” bonus. Since your tank is actually present in the battle until it gets destroyed, it can passively earn credits e. Exiting battle after countdown There is a penalty for XP earning, but only if the tank has not yet been destroyed.

Also, if the tank was not destroyed before exiting, further XP can be earned passively while it remains on the battlefield, e. Credits as earned, there is no penalty. If the tank was not destroyed before exiting, further credits can be earned passively while it remains on the battlefield, e. Team Damage inflicted Small penalty, supposedly twice the amount of XP you would receive for causing the same amount of damage to the enemy. Penalty to an amount of four times the repair costs required to fix the damage that was inflicted, limited by the total amount earned during battle.

Team Damage received None. Half the repair costs required to fix the damage or a quarter of the penalty paid by the player s who caused the team damage, whichever is lower. You will NOT get experience for: Damaging an ally’s tank, even if said ally is “blue” i.

How Wargaming Sabotages Competition (War Thunder)

Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Illusion

For a WoW veteran, World of Warcraft: It felt strange, walking into rooms filled with memories, where everything felt smaller, older. It was also the house where, on Christmas Eve , I came home with a copy of World of Warcraft , an exciting new game based on the lore of a strategy game I already loved. In Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Classic , a way to play WoW near-as-dammit as it was when it first came out. Blizzard have made no secret of how they feel about unauthorised versions of the game, but the time has finally arrived for an official one.

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Starting from Update 2. Read below for all the details. Legendary Camouflage In Update 2. A legendary camouflage is a special colour scheme applied to only one vehicle model. Just like universal camouflage, a legendary camouflage can be installed in any slot for winter, summer and desert maps. Tanks were available for purchase before the introduction of this camouflage type will be able to resupply their legendary camouflages for free after each battle. The distinctive feature of legendary camouflage, in addition to its stunning design, is the possibility to temporarily remove it and repaint the tank according to its standard historical pattern.

In such case the name of the tank will also change to the standard one: Type 62 In the future, legendary camouflage will have the standard resupply price in credits, which depends on the vehicle Tier, for all vehicles with the exception of the already given out.

Matchmaking

Battle ratings are calculated by examining how well an aircraft or ground unit fares in different game modes, and they may differ for each game mode for the same vehicle for example, an aircraft or ground unit may perform considerably better in arcade mode than realistic battles mode, and so will have a higher battle rating in the former. This allows for a balanced game at all ranks and using all vehicles, meaning that certain nations having technological advantages at different periods in the game’s timeline is not an issue when playing, and planes that are too powerful do not ruin gameplay for those flying less effective aircraft.

Aviation In Arcade mode Comparison sheet of fighter aircraft’s BR in Arcade For Arcade Air Battles, a formula is in place that calculates your overall Battle Rating, aka the Battle Rating that the Matchmaker will use to match opponents against you, based on the three highest aircraft in your lineup in regards to their individual BR. That said, the important thing for you to know are three short facts:

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You may order presentation ready copies to distribute to your colleagues, customers, or clients, by visiting http: BMW recently announced its intention to skip next year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, issuing a statement about re-evaluating its trade-show strategy that amounted to the age-old “It’s not you, it’s me.

E la MotoGp fa la F1: Elezioni Molisevince il centrodestra: Fi cala ma non Elezioni Molisecinque motivi per cui M5s ha perso. Toto Cutugno a Che tempo che fa:. Update your software and prevent problems. Updates available for you. Download the free trial version below to get started. Double-click the downloaded file to install the software.

Tanki Online

Leave a comment Wizard My current spell in Wizard has come to an end. I was part-way through the second Grizzleheim sequence when my time came to an end. All in all it was good fun to play in the Spiral for a bit, and I may very well return on and off. World of Warplanes Very sporadic playing, on the whole. I did manage to achieve my second Ace, which made me smile.

I have also gotten a few games in on my second Tier II aircraft, the Demon.

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Also, if the tank was not destroyed before exiting, further XP can be earned passively while it remains on the battlefield, e. Credits as earned, there is no penalty.

World of Tanks overhauls its matchmaking system

You pay your money, you take your choices (Last Updated January 18 ) There are quite a few premium vehicles in World of Tanks, sprinkled across the various nations, classes, and tiers. As stated above; premium vehicles come in a variety of forms, and there are a few limitations on what they can be. Generally speaking and there are exceptions , premium tanks will be slightly inferior to fully upgraded tanks of the same class and tier. They span tiers 2 to 8 and have a few special quirks; as one example, a premium vehicle can use crew trained on vehicles of the same class at no penalty.

Premium Tank Guide: You pay your money, you take your choices (Last Updated January 18 ) There are quite a few premium vehicles in World of Tanks, sprinkled across the .

In the game, you are fighting with giant, walking robots in 6v6 pvp matches controlling territory by capturing beacons, and, of course, by destroying other robots. Last year was a very good year for War Robots. The number of installations was tripled, and reached 50 million. DAU is about , players. Why does War Robots attract players so much? Judging on its dynamics, War Robots is the only adequate game in the genre niche of slow shooters, which is dominated by World of Tanks WoT.

In a slow shooters game, exchanging of fire lasts longer than in the mainstream shooter games. It looks more realistic when long fights occur between combat vehicles with armor and survivability.

2018 Gameweek 2 Discussion (No new threads, include all GW2 yarns here)

That’s 6M paying customer, in the same league as WoW, despite much smaller developer budget. The only gameplay is going to the field and battle enemy tanks, head on. PvP games are killed by the “PvP spiral”:

As I have spent many hours looking for World of Tanks mods, bonus codes, free gold, t-shirts and more, I’m pretty sure you’ll find something for yourself as well. To start, take a look at the main menu above or pick one of the popular categories below.

In Air Realistic mode, matchmaking is performed based on the aircraft selected for the battle. Since the vehicles not selected cannot be used in the battle, there is no need to include them in the calculation. In Ground Forces Arcade mode, matchmaking is performed based on the tank with the highest BR in the set. In Ground Forces Realistic mode, matchmaking is performed based on the tank or aircraft with the highest BR in the entire set depending on which vehicle has the highest BR. Many players have a preference for several modes.

For their convenience, there is a ” vehicle preset ” mechanism, which allows players to save preferred and frequently used vehicle arrangements in their hangar. This allows players to prepare for any type of battle in just a few clicks. Matchmaking by Bracket Air Simulator battles use this matchmaking method. When the player opens the Air SB interface, they will see several identical missions where the only difference is the BR of the permitted aircraft.

Matchmaking Near Shawneetown Illustrator

All you have to do is select the desired battle rank and assemble the required aircraft in your set.

Let’s Play! WoT 92 – Premium Matchmaking Tanks

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empmoniitor · 3 years

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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RECORDING KEYSTROKES

Keylogger!! A fancy term with a deeper meaning and excellent benefits. The 2020 pandemic brought us a situation where we all started working from home. All the companies keeping a closer look at their employee’s tasks are now a bit worried. Handling remote working employees and maintaining their productivity became a headache for managers.

And keylogger software came into play. It’s not 2020 when keystroke logging got introduced, but higher authorities started considering it more.

Before moving forward with the blog, let’s see what it refers to and some of its benefits.

KEYSTROKE LOGGING

Keystroke logging or keyboard capturing is a method of recording the keys punched on a keyboard throughout the working hours. Once the keylogging software gets installed in a system, it works behind the screen. It works safely and organically for all devices. And the best part is after getting it installed in your employee’s system, they remain unaware of it.

The tool will monitor each action performed on the keyboard. It will provide a detailed report of the keys struck during the working hours. It will also show when the employee was not working. It maintains the records accurately for every device separately.

Keystroke loggers are of 02 types.

1. Software Keystroke Loggers

2. Hardware Keystroke Loggers

Keystroke logging is legal. Are you thinking that keeping an eye on someone without their awareness is legal? Yes, it is because the companies are not here to steal their employee’s passwords. The organizations are only concerned about their employees working appropriately from different corners of the world.

Now let’s get back to where we started. So we are here to discuss some of the best keystroke logger software for Windows 10. Okay, everyone in the company is not from a technical background, and the managers cannot engage each of their IT guys to keep installing the tool on every device.

Not to worry because we have a solution for each of your issues here. We will be discussing the features of some tools for Windows 10. So, then you can pick out the best for yourself.

RECORD KEYSTROKES FOR WINDOWS 10

The tool records the keypunches on Windows and holds an appropriate record. The managers and higher authorities can access the records later and check the performance of their employees. Keylogger software is not only for companies. You can keep an eye on your spouse and kids as well.

Your employees will never know that their keyboard is getting monitored. But you will get a detailed report of what they are doing throughout the office hours. Hence, you can know on each project they are working and what is consuming more time.

IS IT LEGAL?

Yes, only if you are using it for the right purpose. The companies using keylogging for monitoring the tasks accomplished by their remote employees is legal. They can have a list of their productive and unproductive employees by looking at these reports.

We know that it is in their rules of some companies not to use social media during working hours. But if the employees log in to their profile during office hours, it becomes illegal to collect their info. It will be completely wrong on the organizations’ part to hold the passwords of their employees.

We hope you can understand the difference between both of them.

THINGS TO AVOID WHILE CHOOSING KEYLOGGER FOR WINDOWS 10

We do not want to waste our time and money by choosing the wrong keystroke loggers. Hence, here we have made a list of stiffs to avoid while choosing the best for your company. You do not want your employees to know that they are getting monitored. Otherwise, you can never know that they are working dedicatedly or just to show off.

1. NO REMOTE KEYLOGGING

We think the main purpose of a keylogger software must be monitoring remote employees. The reason is now the employers and employees have started seeing the flexibility in remote working. So make sure you pick out a tool that monitors all your remote employees at ease.

As discussed already, these tools are uncomplicated to install. Hence, even if you recruit employees from any corner of the world, you can get it installed. You can start maintaining a record of all the tasks they are working on right from day 01.

Otherwise, it will become difficult for the managers to get back to each employee after a span to check the assignments on which they are working.

2. END-USER VISIBILITY

It’s a big no-no!! You cannot let the end-user know that they are getting monitored. Just imagine if your employees know you are holding records of their keyboard, they might feel you do not trust them. And we do not want that. Employers trust their employees, but it is also necessary to know if they are working dedicatedly.

So, choose a tool that works in the background and is not visible on the screen. Otherwise, the reports that you receive might get tampered with. You must pick out a tool that provides you a detailed record while being completely invisible.

Hence, try taking a test drive at first. So choose a device that comes with a free trial so that you can test it with a Windows 10 device first and then install it in your employee’s system.

3. NO COMPENSATION

If the keylogger software does not work the way you thought it would, you must demand your money-back. You cannot invest in something that does not work well for your organization. But some companies are already aware of their product yet make fake promises and have a no compensation policy.

So do not go for this kind of company or their tools. Make sure they have a free trial or a compensation policy.

RECORD KEYLOGGERS WITH THE BEST SOFTWARE

1. EMPMONITOR

EmpMonitor is one of the best tools for keystroke logging, and there are several reasons why it tops the list. It is excellent for keeping records for the in-office and remote employees. You will never miss out on any of the minute details regarding the keypunches of your employees. It will provide a detailed report in real-time showing the keyboard captures.

There may be hundreds of employees in your company. EmpMonitor can easily monitor each device and share a report. Oh, you do not have to worry about the storage as well. All these records get stored using the cloud-based storage facility. Hence, the higher authorities can access them whenever required.

Apart from that, if you wonder that the employees might get their passwords saved and do not have to type it more often. Then, how do you monitor them? Well, for this, EmpMonitor has another astonishing feature that is Screenshot monitoring.

EmpMonitor keeps on taking screenshots at random intervals. It is to let the managers know about the screen usage of their employees. Isn’t that convenient? Like you can monitor both the keyboard and the screen of your employees at a time.

It is not like any other regular keylogger software. It is unique in its way and acquires enormous employee monitoring features. It gives you a detailed report of your productive and unproductive employees as well.

The software gets uncomplicatedly intrigued with other software, so there is no hassle of installation. And you can rest assured that your employee’s details are not getting stored.

A Step-by-step Guide To Record Keystrokes Using EmpMonitor

Step-1: Click on the link: https://app.empmonitor.com/

Step-2: Log in to your account by entering the username/Email and the Password.

Here you can see the EmpMonitor dashboard.

Step-3: On the left-hand side, click on the Employee section.

Step-4: Here, you can find 02 options saying

1. Employee-Details

2. Employee-Attendance

Step-5: Click on Employee-Details

Step-6: Select the name of the employee and go to the Actions column.

Here select on Track-User-Settings.

Step-7: Here, you can customize the setting, tracking features which include Application used, Key Strokes, Web Used, and Screenshots.

2. SPYRIX KEYLOGGER

Spyrix Keylogger software is quite a useful tool. But the features of this tool are limited to Windows PCs. It has the same traits of monitoring the keyboard usage of the employees in an organization. You can also keep an eye on your remote employee’s keyboard captures through this tool.

Spyrix is somewhat an expensive app if you are going for its pro version.

3. ELITE KEYLOGGER

Elite Keylogger also acquires the same features as Spyrix. But you would not get screenshot monitoring and other traits as EmpMonitor in this. It was quite popular in the market for some time. It is also somewhat expensive, and the fund keeps increasing once the number of devices increases. It also gets limited to Windows PCs only.

Check Out Our Latest Posts:

Identify and Resolve Workplace Conflict With these 05 Steps! 7 Simple Productivity Measuring Strategies For Your Business 05 Scientifically Proven Methods To Increase Productivity

WRAPPING UP

In this blog, we have tried including all the information that you require before investing in keylogger software. We have mentioned the things that you need to avoid while choosing a tool for your company and some of the best software as well.

Do let us know which tool you are choosing for yourself.

I hope the article helped you know about recording keystrokes. Is there something that we can incorporate? Please drop your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!

Originally Published On: EmpMonitor

#Employee Monitoring #Employee Management #Employee Productivity #Employee Monitoring Software #Record Keystrokes

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sunnyoongi · 6 years

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FAQ - mobile version

Important pages

About = What this blog is about.

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More Melanin = Where we promote other anti-whitewashing sources/blogs.

Explanations = Contains links to answers we give to complex questions/topics.

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Fansites to avoid (for bad behavior) = Page/s that contain fansites that are sasaengs, stalkers, scammers etc.

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Make Up = What we assume their foundation shade is.

Sunny Yoongi Merch = If you want to support us/wear our stuff.

We also have an "faq" tag you can look into as well.

Restoring

1. What does “Restored” mean? Please check this ask

2. What program do you use to restore? (Tutorial included) We currently only restore on desktop: all admins are using Adobe Lightroom Classic CC, which is a more advanced and professional software. And rarely we would use Photoshop when we need to layer things. We also used to use Photoshop Express for desktop, we made a tutorial for restoring with this application.

When we used to edit on mobile: we used the free app Photoshop Express. You can also use camera360 and facetune. To be honest though, the photos are not going to be as high quality as the ones on desktop and might come out really noisy.

Further help and assistance for restoring: assist tag

3. What kind of process do you go through while restoring? Here is a short explanation of what we analyze in order to restore and here is a post discussing the rules we have to follow during the process.

4. How do you know your restore is accurate? Please refer to this ask. And this one.

5. Can I restore too if I am not East/Southeast Asian? Not by yourself, no. The reason why is linked to this ask and this ask. If you would still like to restore by submitting your restores to us, please refer to this ask.

6. Can videos be restored? Yes it's possible. We don't do it because it's too much work and a very tedious one. We don't feel that it's very necessary since there are usually other unwhitewashed videos/content available.

7. You're making them too light. You're whitewashing them just the same! Please check this ask. If you have an issue with a certain restore , please politely tell us about it and we will look into it and possibly redo the restore. Don't be a dumbass and wait to the last minute before sending us hate.

8. I don't think you're doing an accurate job! This ______ restore doesn't look good. If you have an issue with a certain restore , please politely tell us about it and we will look into it and possibly redo the restore.

Skintone

1. How do you know what their natural skin tone looks like? Please check this ask.

2. What make up foundation might they wear? Check this page please.

3. How do I know my own undertone ? Check this ask please.

Whitewashing

1. How does a picture get whitewashed? Please check this ask.

2. I don’t know anything about whitewashing / colorism ? Please check our Explanations Page to look for discussions regarding complex topics within whitewashing / colorism / restoring / racism / etc.

3. How are you so sure the pictures are whitewashed? Please refer to this ask.

4. I can’t tell when they have been whitewashed or not? This page might help you.

5. How do you know it’s not just the lighting? Please, check this page.

6. Why do people whitewash? Please refer to this ask.

7. Can videos and gifs be whitewashed? Yes they can. Please check this post.

8. What about just lightening photos? Is it whitewashing as well? Please check this ask.

9. Do the BTS members whitewash themselves too? Yes and no. Please check this ask.

10. Is it possible to whitewash pale skinned individuals? Yes, it is. Please check this ask.

11. Can pictures be whitewashed accidentally? Yes, they can. It's due to inappropriate camera settings.

12. Is there a difference between a whitewashed picture and a picture that was edited (brightened) because it originally had bad lighting?

Please check this ask.

About SUNNYOONGI

1. How do I use the search bar? Just type the words you’re looking for, like a member’s name or a tag.You can search on multiple tags just by typing them down separated by the space bar (ex: “taehyung daw” - when looking for restores of taehyung during dark and wild era). Tags for eras are the abbreviations of it’s names, check the Tags Page for all of them.

2. What do all of your “uww” tags mean? UWW is an abbreviation for the word unwhitewashed. So all posts on that tag are considered unwhitewashed or “natural” by the admins.

RUWW = Reblogged Unwhitewashed, unwhitewashed content that we reblogged.

OUWW = Original Unwhitewashed, unwhitewashed content that we posted ourselves on this blog.

Here is the Tags Page if you need other tags.

3. I’m looking for references that have not been whitewashed/restored? Just use the uww tag or the fansites with the sun symbol or go to @sunkissedbts.

4. Do you have permission from the fansites to edit their content? Hell no. Here is why we won’t reconsider.

At the very least, we will give credit. But we also refuse to link their content. We have only started giving credit recently. We might go back through our old posts and credit old edits, only when we have time to do so if it doesn't halt this blog's activity or our lives.

5. Can you restore selfies/selcas? Sorry, but we won’t restore selfies. Check this post for more info.

6. How many pictures can I submit for restoring? As many as you like! We just ask that you pay attention when submitting the pictures or giving us links so that what you’re giving us is in high definition and not cropped or furthered edited by the fandom (after it was released by the fansite etc).

7. Why haven’t my submissions been posted/ restored yet? Sometimes we take a while to restore them cuz of personal issues and just life in general.There’s always the possibility of Tumblr eating your message. If you submitted a selfie, it won’t be restored.Or if you submitted a Black and White photo or any graphics editing. Unfortunately, not all whitewashed pictures can be decently restored. Sometimes we just can’t undo all the damaging previous editing. Here are examples of photos than we couldn't fix at all. Some pictures actually do not need to be restored even if they might look like they have been whitewashed. In such cases we will post the picture and explain it.

8. Can we use your restores for icons/headers/graphics editing etc? (Plus tips) Yeah, sure! This ask may help regarding how to edit without whitewashing plus additional resources. We are here to spread awareness, provide a safe space, and educate others. We will focus more on the social aspect. Aesthetics or graphics is not our goal. It is up to the individual person on how they want to edit it/crop it. Whether they give credit to us or the fansite is up to the individual’s own choice. We will no longer ask for credits for photos, graphics, or any of our restores. We just ask that others do not whitewash the photos.

9. Do you know about fansites that don’t whitewash? / Any fansites I should stay away from? 85~90% of fansites whitewash. It would be easier to focus on the ones that don’t whitewash rather than the other way around.

Please check our Fansite Compilation Page.

Also please follow@sunkissedbts for fansite/news/official/endorsements photos that are not whitewashed/minimally edited photos.

10. Do you recommend any other restoring/melanin/anti-whitewashing blog(s)? Actually yes, we do. Check in the More Melanin page.

11. Can we know more about the admins of this blog? Despite choosing to remain anonymous for the time being, you can find out some things about us on our About Page and we also take personal asks.

12. Did you call Yoongi ugly? Yes we did, please check this ask.

13. Are you guys on twitter? We only have personal accounts, nothing sunnyoongi related. You are welcome to share our stuff there if you want!

#faq #mobile faq

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joh-gaming · 6 years

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Why is this affecting me so much?

This is probably going to be an incredibly long post, one that I don’t expect many would read but that I feel I have to write. If not for Epic to read it at some point, then for myself, to remember this and why this game was so important.

I will have a lot of personal opinions, unfair comparisons and highly critical comments in those comparisons that may or may not be accurate. There will also be speculation as there’s more going on than what they’ve been willing to say.

If you care, then please, click on Keep Reading to continue.

How did I learn about it?

Honestly, I have no idea and that’s an issue that lead to its current situation. This is what I remember hearing back then. Paragon is a new game by Epic Games, creators of the Gears of War series (which I’m not really a fan of) and the Unreal Engine (which has always fascinated me) It was going to be a MOBA (which I hate, don’t like any MOBAs except Paragon but I’m getting ahead of myself here)

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Clearly the above isn’t enough to get me to try it, on the contrary. So what was it, I must have seen something that made me think, this is worth a try. As great as that announce trailer was, none of the heroes in it speak to me, not even Sparrow whom ended up as my first mastered character and the one I own the most skins for. It wasn’t a gameranx before you buy thing which to this day I haven’t seen nor plan to, nor Angry Joe’s first look which again, I have no interest in watching. I’m not being critical of those channels, it’s just that I already experienced the game, most if not all of its iterations, so I really don’t care what they had to say about it.

Well... funny enough it was Overwatch the reason I gave Paragon a try. While Paragon is relatively older than Overwatch, it was in closed beta for the first few months. After trying, and falling in love with Overwatch’s beta, I felt the need to fill that void but with another, hopefully similar game. Then I saw the announcement of Paragon’s own free open beta weekend

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I don’t remember if I took part on it or not, the next thing I wrote of Paragon after that was Digital Foundry’s graphic comparison of the game on PC and PS4 vanilla (at the time, the only PS4 there was) praising how a console game let you use mouse and keyboard.

Now, going back to Overwatch for a second, there are a few things you should know. 1. I have a friend that is part of the Overwatch team 2. I bought the game myself, no free keys and it was the PS4 version 3. I didn’t have enough money to buy it at launch, I ended up buying it late June or mid July, can’t remember and it’s not THAT important right now. 4. I tend to prefer cartoon like graphics as they are pretty much timeless

With that being said, this was my first impressions on Paragon, having tasted Overwatch.

“I feel really bad for the artists working on Paragon. Clearly a lot of effort was put into the design and modeling of the characters but good God they're so damn boring. The maps are also bleh with a palette that doesn't help things at all. Animations feel like over a decade old with awkward jump and run. I will be surprised if this game is actually successful 'cause it's a MOBA and what's the most important part of a MOBA? The damn heroes.“

I’ve been wrong before, but this is probably the top one. The map in question is what we now call Legacy. After spending a long time in super colorful maps in Overwatch, I found myself in this semi realistic map with ruins and a jungle that looked old and boring. Movement was too slow and I’m not sure what I was talking about with the animations, maybe they were bugged at the time ‘cause Paragon’s animations are impressive. Some of the best work in gaming.

Needless to say, I had a rocky start with Paragon, mostly because I didn’t understand it. I don’t know how long I tried it before I deleted it but that’s what I ended up doing. I got frustrated and instead of doing research I just quit.

So, going back to Overwatch for another second, how long was my honeymoon after I bought it? It lasted for about a month, after that I started seeing all the issues the game had and has (most of them are still there) especially on consoles. Broken heroes, Play of the game that encourages nonsense, the “scoreboard” that highlights the wrong things, lack of content, lack of heroes, easily exploitable on certain maps, etc. So I guess, thanks to Overwatch, not only did I dare to try Paragon, but fell in love with it. (btw, I did check, bought Overwatch mid June and by mid July I was sick of it, only made worse in August trying to get the limited time skins I wanted) And that’s not even talking about how Overwatch popularized Loot Boxes (yes, they have existed for a long long time, they just made it seem OK in a full priced game, ‘cause it was $60 on console)

Now, I couldn’t find this anywhere but I remember I returned to Paragon when Lt. Belica was announced. Gave it another go but again, failed to understand the character and gameplay. I will get more into the true problem for new people later on, but for now let’s go with why did I delete the game a second time. Well, it wasn’t out of frustration this time, rather than HDD space on my PS4. At the time it didn’t support external HDD. When did I return in a more permanent manner? When Countess came out.

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She became my main for a while, which is funny ‘cause part of her kit was taken from the hero that would completely grab me forever. I started understanding the design decisions of the characters and the graphics, I got past the part where they wouldn’t last a few years, I was wrong about that too. I think they found the right balance between realistic and somewhat cartoonish to make the graphics last. That and they weren’t shy on retouching characters later on.

On November 2016 I said this

“Now I have a better understanding of the game, mind you that if I were to read about it I MAY learn it faster, but I prefer to learn from my own mistakes rather than trying to play like someone else that is probably more skilled. I can accomplish a similar standard just playing with things that work for me rather than what is "optimal". Or that word that gets on my nerves, the META. Fucking meta...”

Funny, I still agree on that.

Paragon growing on me

I’m going to quote myself again, but I’m going to edit said quote for context purposes, not trying to say something different than I said before. For instance, the post was made with a video that I won’t include here, so anything mentioning the video is out of context.

“The more I play Paragon, the more I like it, but at the same time the more I notice its problems. Paragon currently has 24 heroes with a new one added every 3 weeks. Only has one map and one game mode, but it's free and high quality so no complaints here. However if you're like me, you tend to pick certain characters based mostly on looks not on play style. This is one of the biggest issues in Paragon and even Smite for that matter. The character design in Paragon is on point but at the same time it’s dull and boring.

You have your human characters, your robots and your beasts. They decided to go with a semi realistic look for the game instead of doing the cartoon like design from popular and unpopular MOBAs. Which is fine I guess, you want to differentiate yourself, especially when now everyone that does it is instantly going with "an Overwatch look". On PS4 they had to lower the graphics quite a bit.

Paragon has a hero limit since launch and you can't switch heroes of course. The character selection process is completely random (I was the first to pick this time by pure luck) there are no rules for this other than what common courtesy SHOULD dictate. Personally, even if I get to pick first, let's say if the third player selects Countess before I do, I consider that a priority so I leave Countess open for him. You should learn how to play at least 4 characters. Game actually wants you to learn five characters, that's why you get 5 deck slots by default.

I prefer to play Countess, but I'm better with Sparrow and already have experience with Belica. That being said, the whole mastery system induces people to rage quit when the character they wanted gets picked by someone else. It starts off fine, but eventually leveling up your character becomes a chore and a grind.”

This was still back in November 2016.

On December 2016, I had this to say about the game

“There were a few things keeping the game from being as good as it could be. One of them being the learning curve. This wasn't your go in spray and pray your way to victory while you press a button to get a highlight at the end of the match to feel great about your awesomeness. No, in Paragon you needed to learn a lot about the mechanics, you had to build your character from scratch, and you had to find a way to balance your build to be ready for what's to come. It was amazingly refreshing to be honest. Sure it took me some time to like it, mostly 'cause I still feel the graphics aren't what they should be and the characters, while having an interesting design, they lack a palette that makes them unique.”

“This past Tuesday, Epic Games decided to upload Monolith. Basically Paragon is now a whole different game. Taking into account player feedback, mostly for how slow the game was, they applied a lot of changes to the mechanics of the game. Some of the changes would have been enough in the Legacy map to make the game nearly perfect, but no. Monolith is a smaller map than Legacy, character speed is improved but then it creates other issues when you fight other heroes. Certain classes are now having a tougher time. You gain less card power, forcing you to stay on the map longer rather than going back to base to level up. That in theory would be great if you weren't so fucking weak for half of the game. So what are people doing to combat this? They basically have the same builds. Build for attack speed and power, then some life steal and you're good to go. It's boring now, it's more like a shooter. “

I ended up that paragraph with something I regret and therefore won’t repeat. Even if it didn’t happen... I didn’t uninstall the game and have no plans to do so. Not even after it’s gone (unless it keeps affecting my health, more on that later)

“The simplification of Paragon, as a whole, made it more accessible to regular players, you know your regular multiplayer bro. So it's kind of funny to see the rage quitters because the early game is so painfully slow (in terms of levels) and how easy it is to die when you don't understand how minions and towers work. They changed more things in Paragon than what Massive changed in The Division. Paragon is like a different game, one that doesn't require you to be as smart as before. You now stack attack and go play. That's why I'm a little disappointed with the update. Thankfully they are listening to the feedback so perhaps they can find a middle ground between this version and the previous one, because both have great ideas, they just need to remove the bad ones. A match in Paragon is still more fun than a match in Overwatch though.”

2017, a roller coaster of emotions

Last year alone Paragon went through at least 3 big changes. Many think these changes lead to its current downfall but I don’t agree. In a community corner video (I may edit this if I find it again) they said (a bit arrogantly I may add) that Legacy won’t ever come back. Keep in mind that while at first I was one of those that felt betrayed by the changes Monolith brought to the game, I was still playing and having fun. Originally the thought was, “we don’t want to split the community” and at the time I agreed. But looking back I failed to see the same thing they missed, the community was already divided. Bringing Legacy as a mode, or a more strategic version while Monolith would be more fast paced wouldn’t be bad.

Look at Smite and Overwatch, both games that wouldn’t want to have a split community, now their games have plenty of modes. Keeps players in because if they tire of one thing they could test another ‘cause at the end of the day, it’s the heroes that will keep you coming back. So it wasn’t the changes, more like a pinch of arrogance and a lack of modes. The player retention they later complained about, was of two folds, lack of ranked mode and a poor tutorial.

What made Paragon different and special, besides the heroes I will come to love even more than those in other games, was the card system. You’ll find videos from ‘tubers that are now jumping to conclusions just to talk about the closure of a game they never even heard of. You’ll hear them say something about it being pay to win with buying cards and what not, which funny enough was true in 2016, nobody said anything about it then, but all of that was removed when they added the card crafting system so long ago that I don’t even remember when that was implemented.

Building a deck was crucial to success in Paragon, just as much as understanding minions, towers, your role, buffs, rotations and kills. For most of the 2 years, the jungle was crucial too, that was changed in one of the latest patches. Some say for the worse, I’m not too sure it was. If it was simplification they were after, then the current jungle makes the jungler job easier to understand. Farm, get some levels and skills, then go help the lanes. True that had it been a mode in Monolith with Legacy being the more strategic match, it would have been better received, or at least that’s my perception.

People don’t like to feel dumb, even less to realize they actually are. If what I’m writing here makes me sound dumb, then perhaps I am, but it doesn’t matter as this post has nothing but my sincerest thoughts on the matter, even if I’m trashing Overwatch along the way. I think Paragon was a great game, unique in a sea of MOBAs, that people just failed to understand and that the developers didn’t support correctly.

Was Fortnite the issue?

Epic Games is often accused of doing popular things then scrapping them, fad chasers is what they call them. Paragon started when MOBAs were a big thing, just like Fortnite started when Minecraft was a thing. Sure at the time you had Cliffy B on board so he wanted a gritty and scary thing in Fortnite. Fortnite was one of those games that went through development hell, a game that if not by PUBG catching fire (see what I did there) and they being able to rip it off, it would have crashed and burned by now. Fortnite was sold as an Early Access game

I clearly bought into Fortnite’s Early Access, hence the screenshot of the banner unlocked. What made me buy Fortnite when I knew it wasn’t done? If there’s one thing I learned from playing Paragon, is that Epic will change everything trying to find the best system for the gameplay. I wanted to be a part of that too, I wanted to see the game change and grow (keep that expression in mind) over time. I also wanted to thank Epic for Paragon, so I thought this would be the best way to do so.

I was aware of Fortnite before I knew anything about Paragon, I mean like I said, it’s one of those games that went through development hell. I was watching one of their livestreams when they were giving away keys to almost everyone, they didn’t give me one (at the time it was a PC only game) so I never got the chance to try it myself. Over time I stopped paying attention to it as I never got a key, nor even acknowledgement that I wrote them asking for one. Why was I interested in Fortnite? Well, obviously the cartoon graphics as I mentioned before, then there’s the whole building thing which I enjoy a lot (main reason why I like Fallout 4) and Orcs Must Die 2 is one of my favorite Tower Defense games. (Keep that game in mind too)

If I had known that everything they said about working on developing what is now a mode (Save the World) was a lie, I would never have wasted money on Fortnite. The game is as incomplete now as it was on launch. Sure they have had events but almost every resource is going into the Battle Royale mode. Again proving that they are indeed fad chasers. If you feel like I’m wrong here, that it was a logical business decision and that justifies whatever you’ve spent on Fortnite, then fine, that’s what you think. But personally, I can’t recommend anyone to spend money on ANY Epic Games game from now on. This will sound like Blackmail and maybe it sort of is, but I do mean this, if Paragon is completely closed (as in I can’t play it in any way, shape or form) to me, I don’t see myself giving EG money again in the future. I don’t just say things like that and change my mind when it’s convenient, I haven’t bought an EA game since they burned me with SimCity 2013.

The Heroes of Paragon

Paragon has a bunch of great heroes, my favorite hero would come out in May 2017. That would be Phase. I’d say it was love at first sight but it wasn’t, it was love at first try. Before Phase there was Aurora, a controlled type character that had the looks and mobility, not to mention damage output. I often play range roles or control types, while Aurora was melee, I felt she has more mobility than Countess plus her control abilities were great to set up team attacks. I never thought a support would be far more interesting to me.

Phase’s kit was amazing, actually it was too good to the point where she broke the game for some people. One thing is a good support, another is a support good at everything. Good at healing, dealing damage and controlling the enemy. She got nerfed a couple of times, with her healing being affected the most, she’s still my main. For whatever reason, Phase felt like a part of the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5. Granted that after reading her lore I completely understand why that was the case, but the fact that I thought about it without reading it says a lot about the work put into the character itself

There are so many nuances in her animations, even her new launch pad animation. While not as involved or defining as most of the characters’, it still feels like a Phase launch. Her relationship with Shinbi was explored later, it was interesting but it didn’t change what I thought the character was like. She is the character I’ll miss the most, but don’t think she’s the only character I like a lot.

1. Countess 2. Aurora 3. Lt. Belica 4. Sparrow 5. Dekker 6. Serath 7. Morigesh 8. Zinx 9. Drongo 10. Wraith 11. Yin 12. Gadget 13. Muriel 14. Twinblast 15. Murdock 16. Shinbi

I will miss all of them. There are a few I haven’t even tried.

The greatest game I couldn’t play

From September 19, 2017 to January 9 2018, I didn’t have internet access. Hurricane Maria had destroyed our infrastructure leaving many of us in a terrible situation. Originally I was OK, I was prepared for around 2 months of no power, let alone net access. My house held fine (or so it did at first) and my family was OK. Then it started, the following days it started raining what felt like non stop and the damage Maria did, was now evident. Water was pouring in, my things were getting damaged, first I lost my bed, then my desk, well to cut to the point, I pretty much lost my house. I don’t have the money to fix it and with the situation my country is in, I don’t think it’s even worth it.

All I kept thinking about was, man I wish I could play Paragon again. Sounds silly but everyone has something that helps them disconnect from whatever terrible reality they are in. For nearly 4 months that’s all I wanted to do. Late October I moved to my brother’s house, it had power, water would come later but at least it had power. I started playing some games to avoid thinking of what I lost and had yet to lose, as I couldn’t save everything important. Nothing clicked, all I wanted was to play Paragon. I would watch my captures of my game time, over and over and the “music video” I did of my first coop match playing her

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I missed the October event, I wanted that mummy Yin skin. I almost missed the winter event skins, got net back right when they extended the event 1 more week, so I was able to buy Morigesh and Aurora’s skins. Those weren’t the last skins I bought, no. The last skin I bought was the Panda skin for Phase. The day before they announced that Paragon would close.

So you see, the answer to my first question, why is this affecting me so much? well, after losing my house and some of my things, the game I wanted to play the most is going away too. It breaks my heart, I saw Paragon from almost every stage in development, highs and lows I loved playing it, I still do. There are terrible games that somehow are still up (Day Z comes to mind) yet this amazing game that is making so many people cry, it’s going away. Or is it?

Were we lied to?

It all points to yes, something happened that they can’t talk about. In their open letter they said

Here inside Epic, we’re talking about the future of Paragon in pretty much the same terms as you’re talking about it. The core challenge is that, of new players who try Paragon, only a small number continue to play regularly after a month. Though Paragon has evolved, no iteration has yet achieved that magical combination of ingredients that make for a sustainable game. (As an aside, the problem isn’t marketing or how to make money with Paragon. We have good ideas that would solve those problems if we can find a way to make Paragon grow.)

So, if the problem wasn’t marketing (which btw it was, it wasn’t even promoted 1/5 of what Fortnite has been) nor making money with it, the problem was making it worth the effort. At least that’s my opinion. Fortnite success came over night, so it was an easy decision to ditch their less popular game even though it is their superior product. But is that even the case here? While Paragon is going to close for us, in China it started its closed beta

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What the flying fuck is going on here?

It’s hard not to feel betrayed, it’s hard not to wish Epic Games failure (I try not to) but nothing is harder than seeing a great game close, with some relatively true explanation but no real logic behind it. Closing Paragon, even if it was to make development on Fortnite easier, is a mistake. Leave it in life support until you can come up with better ideas for it. The rank mode they were working on was never implemented in Paragon, instead it was moved to Fortnite. So don’t tell me you did everything for the game, it died because you didn’t support it Epic. It died because you killed it not because we left, I never left. As the final months are quickly going by, and I try to enjoy my final moments with it, in an analogy I rather not say, I feel myself getting sick. I get this massive headaches now, Paragon may have nothing to do with it but coincidentally, they come after playing a few matches. It hurts to know it’ll be gone and that I won’t be Phase anymore.

On the other side, I hope Epic Games have realized that Fortnite is more of a platform than a game. Quickly being able to transform itself from tower defense building game to a battle royale with building elements. I mentioned Orc Must Die series, well their latest game was one of the many MOBA attempts that kind of failed. They had to add the classic gameplay that made them popular in order to keep their fans, because they were bleeding players like crazy. Now, the current version has plenty of modes, kept the MOBA, (EDIT: They removed the MOBA mode) added the classic and created a few more. Fortnite can be Paragonized if they wanted to, they could even add some of the Paragon characters to Fortnite, I would gladly pay for Phase.

Soldier Class

1. Belica 2. Murdock

Constructor Class

1. Terra 2. Greystone

Outlander Class

1. Phase 2. Twinblast

Ninja Class

1. Shinbi 2. Kwang

And clearly, I’m not the only one that thinks that’s doable. naastika.deviantart.com

Final thoughts

I may be angry and disappointed, and I do mean it, that if I can’t play Paragon or Phase (mostly Phase) any more, that I truly won’t support any more Epic Games games, but I do appreciate the rare opportunity to play such an amazing game. I’m too old to like video games for the gamey aspects of it, I prefer the media side of it, the opportunities it offers as a story telling device that surpasses books and movies. I started my gaming on the Atari 2600, I’m done with jumping around for hours or shooting for no reason. It is extremely rare for me to get attached to a game with no narrative, and the fact that Paragon pulled this off, speaks to the talent working on the game.

Thank you for Paragon, and fuck you if you do close it.

#Paragon #personal thoughts #Epic Games

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lovewavesxx · 7 years

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Love Waves – EP 7 – WTF ARE WE DOING?

Click here to read Love Waves - Introduction

“WTF ARE WE DOING? –E xx.”

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/ericajones10/playlist/4WpepDQVwmxbMSLi2JGuSJ

Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/love-waves-ep-7-wtf-are-we-doing/idpl.u-4JombJltjBX3Rv

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwEZgDEorNRQRokZrxPmUwyPZTIzslqpd

1. Lauren Sanderson – Conversations (feat. DYSN)

2. THEY. – Truth Be Told

3. Post Malone – I Fall Apart

4. Snow Tha Product – Waste of Time

5. Drake – Furthest Thing

6. Marty Grimes – Fuxk Around

7. The Neighbourhood - #Icanteven (feat. French Montana)

8. Blaise Moore – HANDS

9. G-Eazy – Shoot Me Down (feat. Anthony Stewart)

10. Tory Lanez – Friends With Benefits

11. Childish Gambino – Heartbeat

12. Beyoncé – Hold Up

13. SZA – Prom

14. Marko Penn – Same Ones

15. Dylan Matthew – Sober

16. Cam Meekins – Heart

17.Cardi B – I Gotta Hurt You

Click here for my twitter @ericajones1010

Click here to leave a comment or say something idk :) (it’s anonymous)

do·ing

ˈdo͞oiNG/

1. the activities in which a particular person engages.

2. effort; activity.

This is probably the most aggressive playlist I’ve made for this series so far. To be very honest I am struggling with how to write this description accurately. Bare with me while I get to the end zone, and I apologize in advance if it gets long. Just know it comes from my heart.

I used to be the type of person who had issues controlling my words in heated moments. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt someone I loved because of something I said. Words can hurt. Words can’t be taken back. Due to my growing awareness of that flaw, I really started to work on staying silent and thinking very hard about what to say and how to react in situations that are high stress and potential breaking points in any form of relationship. Since I’m human, it’s still a work in progress at times.

One of the most disgusting things I learned throughout this process of trying to fix myself is that even when I do not release those bitter statements into the world, they still exist in my head. It’s very frustrating for me. If you truly know me, then you know at the heart of everything I want nothing but the best for everyone I love and even people who have hurt me.

It can start to become very draining to think about all the awful things you’d wish would happen to someone because you’re angry at them or because of something they did or how they treated you. That way of thinking is repulsive. It’s not a quality I want in someone else or myself. I’ve learned it is much less stressful to say and genuinely feel that you want the best for that person instead. That’s it, the best. The best of whatever they feel is most fulfilling in their life whether it involves me or not. You can’t choose what happens to you, but you can choose how to react.

The act of letting anger, jealously, and hurt go can be difficult. I still struggle with this. While the journey can be an uphill struggle, getting to the other side is very refreshing. It’s very freeing. For every uphill there is a downhill. Never forget that.

So, the initial concept of this playlist came from an internal confusion I’ve dealt with for what seems like forever—the ups and downs of having someone you care about so deeply and not being able to let them go. It feels sort of like dancing around with them on all of these uphills and downhills. Complexities and confusion is hard for me to deal with. At the same time, I’ve learned my head definitely has the ability to go wayyyy above and beyond thinking and trying to navigate a situation that is not clean cut.

Grey areas drive me nuts because I’m the type of person who wants things to be crystal clear. I want to know what is going on and why. I’m usually an all or nothing type of gal. Having to hold back or put boundaries on any form of relationship feels very unnatural to me. It makes me uncomfortable being told how and when to act.

If I can move my schedule around or make time for you I will without you asking. That goes for friends, family, anything. I prioritize the connections I have. I can’t explain why I’m like this, but I just am. If I care about something or someone I will always fight like hell to make time and give my absolute best effort possible. There are no excuses for not fighting to keep your greatest priorities fulfilled and in the best shape possible.

That being said, I struggle with the differences in priorities I have when another person doesn’t seem to match my efforts. It can kind of feel like a slow death. It can feel like your soul is exporting itself in effort towards another, and when very little is being returned or evenly matched, it can leave you feeling drained.

Another thing I can sometimes struggle with is accepting the difference in opinion or view other’s have towards me, or something I feel very passionately about. I’m stubborn, and I always have been. I get that from my father haha. But at the same time I think I do a decent job of not letting my pride get in the way when I realize I am wrong.

Conflict and disagreements no matter can big or small can be frustrating, but without differing opinions we’d all be the same and let’s be real, that would be hella lame. I think what I’ve learned most from being in situations where there is a disagreement in views is it allows for a perspective other than your own to be heard. It can create a dialogue. Over the past year, more than ever, I have learned I would much rather us have a disagreement and a conversation because of that, than to just give up and leave. I suppose that whole fighting aspect of me morphed more into genuinely fighting to keep growing connections with people I value so highly.

It’s also weird because over the past few months I’ve learned I don’t want to change anyone. I don’t want to control anyone or their behaviors I find less desirable. I’ve learned you have to sometimes accept what you do not understand or agree with. However, there’s a beauty in that act of acceptance. I think that’s how you know your intentions and love is pure—accepting their existence for everything they are in the present. I just want you to be the best version of yourself, and my opinion on what that version is or desired to be is absolutely irrelevant. The only person who can be the judge of what is best for you, is you. I can only be there by your side through everything in support. That’s all I have the power to do or even want to do—support you on your journey. Of course there are aspects that would be a welcomed change, but at the end of the day I only want someone to change if they want to. My views are invalid.

This playlist is meant to display confusion. If you listen to the stories within the songs it’s all very chaotic. It plays with the idea of letting go, coming back, being selfish, being selfless, wanting, lusting, loving, hating, and being annoyed—all of it. At the core I think it displays how uncomfortable I can get when a situation arises and plays with my insecurities in any form of relationship. It’s sad, but when I feel threatened I feel the need to protect myself by lashing out. I want to be cold. I want to be like, “Fine, fuck you.” BUT I am still trying sooo harddd to fight nawwwttt to beeee soooo bitter and petty. Nobody wants to love something that is so negative. It’s gross. Like, it’s literally my least favorite quality that I am seriously trying to fix. *insert sos emoji*

To overcome that feeling of being insecure, uncomfortable, confused, bitter, and even sometimes upset things aren’t going the way you hoped they would, I think it’s easiest to actively calm yourself down and focus on the very moment you are in with yourself or with a person who has the potential to evoke those emotions. Don’t think about the potential of what they could be because you might be creating expectations that may never be met and that could upset you. Don’t think about what they were in the past because you aren’t there anymore. Focus on the present moment you are in with them. Fight like hell to be at peace with them and yourself as you exist in the same moment together. I think when you reach that point life gets way better. It feels like you kind of made it. It feels like that downhill is about to be sccchhhwweeeettt.

To briefly discuss the root of the inspiration behind this wavy playlist I had a friend recently say, “You guys are on and off more than a light switch.” They said this after the playlist and concept were created, but I think it still fits. That statement at face value is funny to me. It’s also accurate. Upon further reflection though (since I’m like, the best at thinking too much) I think it’s important to remember that even when a light is switched off, the wiring doesn’t go away. That spark can always return. It just takes one action. That’s it. A moment of courage or effort can have the potential to light up your entire world and change everything you know. It’s also important to remember that without darkness you may never appreciate the light you are given no matter how long it lasts. A deep connection is rare. I wouldn’t trade mine for anything.

Song Explanations:

The playlist opens up with Lauren singing about wanting to be with someone who makes her grow upward, but the person there right now isn’t pushing to be better or make her better. The lyrics in the second verse show how Lauren is evolving positively and the girl she’s referring to isn’t progressing.

Truth Be Told not only has a great sound, but the story is fairly universal as well. The opening line is, “Say somethin’ / Know that there’s two sides to every story.” Literally, please just say something. Verse two talks about why they broke up.

Click here to read to lyrics for Truth Be Told by THEY.

So, I actually listened to Stoney the night it was released last year. I was mainly obsessed with No Option, Feel, Patient, Leave, Feeling Whitney, Hit This Hard and Congratulations. It wasn’t until recently I saw a short video of Post Malone singing I Fall Apart live on Twitter and I was like, “Bruh, I felt the words you just sang in my soul.” The emotion he conveyed was powerful. Since then, I’ve been listening to the song probably too much. The lyrics “I fall apart down to my core,” leave me shooketh.

Snow nails how I feel sometimes when my anger and frustration gets the best of me. “Getting attached / I’m gonna go / I’ll be alright / I’m better alone..You’re a fucking waste of time.” Her flow is ridiculous. This song is so smooth whether you’re dealing with anything or not.

Furthest Thing by Drake was a song I played heavily during the spring of 2017. I would list my favorite lyrics from this song, but it would be damn near the whole thing. Most importantly though is the lyric, “The furthest thing from perfect like everyone I know.”

Click here to read the lyrics for Furthest Thing by Drake

I used to think there was a certain point at which I would give up on Him. Hell, Fuxk Around is even by one of his favorite artists, Marty Grimes. So many people have told to move on. Forget about it. He’s dead weight. He’s a mess. He’s a fuckboy. The list goes on. To some degree I have moved on. I don’t hang onto every word or silence between us like I used to. I don’t feel angry anymore. I just feel this weird calm right now. I think that’s good though. I mean, it sure beats crying myself to sleep or craving his attention, like I once did. I swear I used to see the type of car he once had like evvv-eryyy-wherrre and the reminder of him would just unleash this weird wave of heat over my entire body, until I got distracted enough, and then it would leave. What’s even more weird is that I wish I could actually put words to why I would feel that way so I could’ve controlled it better. Either way, time and space have a way of bringing people together or keeping them apart. I guess for us, for now, I’m just lucky we manage to always find our way back eventually. It kind of feels like nothing could actually break that connection past repair because we’re too honest with each other.

#Icanteven is just a littttt ass song by one of my favorite bands who manages to mix genres ridiculously well.

Friends With Benefits by Tory Lanez is definitely a song that makes me just want to dance. Everything about the song makes me feel dangerous. And yeah, I know that sounds crazy.

Heartbeat by Childish Gambino is a song I’ve been playing A LOT. One of my friends made this sick playlist for me and this song was in there. The entire narrative is wild and the music production is even wilder. It’s all sooo great.

“Hold up they don’t love you like I love you..What a wicked way to treat the girl who loves you.” Ya know, it’s crazy because I think a lot of the upset I used to feel from people I had feelings for was derived from me giving so much and just expecting my efforts would be matched by them. I learned that is definitely not the way to be. You either stick around because you care enough about them or you leave. What they do or don’t do hopefully shouldn’t drive you away unless you let it.

SZA is literally my queen right now. Her album Ctrl changed my life when it came out in June. The entire album speaks to me. Prom was the first song off the album I really felt a connection to. The beat reminds me of a heartbeat. I can relate to the lyrics, “Fearin’ not growin’ up / Keepin’ me up at night / Am I doin’ enough? / Feel like I’m wastin’ time,” because sometimes I do feel like I’m not where I should be or I’m not doing enough to get to where I feel I belong. In my head I hear not only myself, but another perspective from someone else saying, “Promise to get a little / Better as I get older / And you’re so patient / And sick of waitin’ / Promise to do better / Shoulda coulda / Prolly wanna let me go / But you can’t, oh.” That same perspective of someone not being on my same level also bleeds into the lyrics, “Please don’t take it, don’t take it personal / Like I know you usually do.” I accidentally take, like everything wayyy too personal sometimes. It’s dumb, and I’m working on it. I don’t mean to be something that frustrates you, and I know you don’t mean to frustrate me. It just happens.

Click here to read the lyrics from Prom by SZA

Same Ones by Marko Penn is this dope song that expresses a few different phases I’ve had in my life, but at the core I stay with the same ones who have always been there for me.

In the past I’ve had to deal with being with someone who was going through some issues, and they dealt with those feelings with substances. It kills me inside when other people choose an object or substance over me. You only want me when it’s convenient for you but your actions are having negative effects on you and me. It makes me feel like I’m not good enough, and it hurts to see you medicate yourself so much. The song Sober by Dylan Matthew is well produced and I enjoy the story he tells.

I see myself a lot in Heart by Cam Meekins. I relate to the female he’s singing about and I also relate to Cam’s perspective too. “Coffee colored eyes / Sick of writing love songs.” Sometimes I feel so intoxicated by his brown eyes, and sometimes it annoys me that he inspires some of my best work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It makes me feel like a creep. I used to feel like the next lyrics, which is really weird when I actually think about it. “It’s like when I am far from you, I want nothing but you / But when I have you here, it’s like I’m only thinking “fuck you” / So maybe I’m the problem, I can’t figure it out / Because no matter what I do, the cycle keeps going around.” I think it has to do with the expectation and fantasy you build that person up to be in your head and then you get disappointed when they don’t live up to the standards you A) didn’t tell them about and B) should’ve never placed on them in the first place. I swear, I have learned so much about people and myself over these past couple years.

The last song is sooooo fucked up. I Gotta Hurt You by Cardi B is crazy. There used to be a time in my life where if I got hurt or felt attacked by someone I just felt the need to get them back with that same hurt. Not physically, but I do have a mean side I am deffo not proud of. It doesn’t even make sense to hurt something you love, but it happens.

If you stuck with me through all of this mumbo jumbo I wish I could give you a hug. I went IN on this week’s playlist and description. Congratulations, I opened up too much about parts of me I do not like, but I’ve never really been scared to express myself. Learn from my mistakes because I am trying my damndest to do the same. There’s this episode of Scrubs where Turk keeps telling Carla she’s making mountains out of molehills. I hope when I get out of line those closest to me continue to keep putting me back in my place. It stings, but I’ll love you for it anyway.

Love,

-E xx.

p.s. To go back to the title, “WTF ARE WE DOING?” I have no clue, and I don’t care to try and figure it out right now. Despite everything we’ve been through, life is still litt when I get to exist with you. I’ll always want to cheer you on. I wouldn’t trade our seconds for anything hun. xx.

#comp playlist #lauren sanderson #they.#post malone #snow tha product #drake #marty grimes #the neighbourhood #blaise moore #g-eazy #tory lanez #childish gambino #beyonce #sza #marko penn #dylan matthew #cam meekins #cardi b

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markjsaterfiel66 · 5 years

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Enginursday: A Beginner's Guide to Sourcing from Alibaba

Alibaba is the Wild West of product sourcing - a freewheeling, international bazaar offering low-cost bulk parts and products that range from the mundane to the, well, bizarre. Here, the risks are high but the potential benefits manifold. You may seek your fortune reselling low-cost goods (or finding low-cost parts for your widget), but you may find yourself flim-flammed, hoodwinked and yes, even bamboozled. But oh, the rush when your diligence pays off!

It seems excited.

I will begin with an important disclaimer: at this stage in my procurement career (and in SparkFun’s history), sourcing from Alibaba is basically the last resort. SparkFun has worked hard over the years to develop a list of trusted vendors. Many of these companies have locally-based representatives, knowledgeable sales contacts and field application engineers we can meet with face-to-face to discuss all our latest needs and quirks. Others are vendors in China, Taiwan and other countries whom we discovered via Alibaba eons ago, and have since built long-standing relationships with.

If you already have a supplier with whom you have an established, trusting relationship, love and cherish them all the days of your life. Understand also that their capabilities may extend far beyond what’s reflected in their catalog or line card. If there’s something specific you need, ask your existing contacts. At the very least, they may be able to provide you with a referral. I also highly recommend ThomasNet as an alternative starting point for finding reliable, quality sources for components, hardware, equipment, you-name-it.

That said, onto the fun. If you’re starting from scratch as we once did, or you simply like to walk on the wild side, you may be ready to plunge into the wacky world of Alibaba. Let’s begin with the search bar.

Don't look at my search history.

This part is pretty straightforward. Here, you can search for parts by keyword or toggle the little arrow to search for particular suppliers. As with any search, you’ll want to find that sweet spot between specificity and generality. It’s also important to know what that thing you’re looking for is called! That seems obvious enough, but keep in mind that there are different synonyms out there for the same type of product (e.g. “coin cell” vs. “button cell”), and businesses in other countries might have different naming conventions than you’re used to.

You can also browse items by market (at left) if you have a vague idea of the type of things you’re looking for and just want to peruse the marketplace. There’s also a new image search feature (the camera icon at the right). As it turns out, you can even search for products based on the current status of your life:

Time to hit the gym!

Once you’ve honed in on a thing you might want to buy in quantity, you’ll see on the product page a handy little pricing scale, info about shipping charges and lead time.

How many horse masks will you require today?

Great, right? Well, ignore it. IGNORE IT ALL. It could be accurate, sure, or it could be that the supplier just put random information in there because honestly-who-really-knows. If you want to know how much the thing costs, ask.

But first, try to learn a little about the supplier by clicking on the supplier name at right and perusing their company page. Alibaba is far less Mos Eisley Cantina-ish than it once was. They have a variety of verifications and certifications to help you sort out the legit from the sketchy, although there’s always some risk regardless. I like to see a high customer satisfaction rate, “Gold Supplier” status (multiple years is always a plus) and a decent rate of response.

Lookin' good.

Once you’ve achieved that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling, feel free to message away. At the bottom of the page you’ll see the box you can use to send a message to the supplier. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep this first message as simple as possible. I’ve found that I’m far less likely to get a response if I include multiple questions, customization requests, lists of products, sample inquiries, etc. I know, it’s hard to imagine that somewhere a sales rep is perusing their inbox and smashing that delete button every time a message is more than three sentences long, but there it is. Here is the basic template of what I send:

Dear Mr/Ms [rep name], Hello, this is [name] with [company name]. Please quote me for [quantity] pcs of your [product name or part number]. Thanks and kind regards, [name] [email address]

That’s it! This is not to imply that Alibaba suppliers won’t send you samples, customize their product, give you quotes for multiple pricing tiers and multiple products, discuss terms, etc. This simple first email jus gets the conversation going, and you can feel free to move on to all those subjects and more once the wheel has begun turning. Alibaba has a messenger feature, but I always include my email in the signature of the first message to emphasize that I’m okay with them emailing me directly. Personally, I prefer to communicate this way, but to each their own. If you do include your email, you will eventually get spammed, so be ready. You can also make a “business card” on Alibaba, which includes your contact information, and you can choose whether to share it or not with each message you send.

Yes, there is such a thing as too much squid.

You may find you’re not satisfied with a quote or minimum order quantity (MOQ). $1,400 per ton of giant squid tentacles may be more than you are willing to pay, or perhaps you only require 10 tons of them instead of 25. Again, ask away. Alibaba reps often have room to haggle. If you have other quotes or retail pricing to show them for comparison, go for it. Just don’t be a jerk about it. Consider what you might be able to offer them to make it worth their while.

If an MOQ is higher than you’re willing to commit to, it doesn’t hurt to see if the supplier has some flexibility there, too. Maybe they can lower it if you commit to purchasing multiple different products (giant squid eyeballs?). You might also consider committing to multiple smaller orders spaced out over the course of a year, assuming you’re confident in your volume projections. If you have a slew of questions, I recommend putting them in a numbered list to avoid important details getting lost in a big block of text.

I always request at least one sample before agreeing to purchase an item in quantity. Usually, suppliers with whom you do not have an existing relationship will expect you to pay for the sample, and that’s quite understandable. Sometimes they’ll just request that you cover the shipping. I usually ask them to send an invoice with a PayPal ID/email, but you can also pay directly via Alibaba. It’s important when requesting a sample (as with a full order quantity) to confirm what it is you’ll be receiving before committing to it. Some product pages display multiple products, or have multiple versions of a single product available with varying specs. Requesting a datasheet, manual, or any other supporting documentation is crucial.

This may require some vetting.

Once you’ve received, evaluated and approved a sample, you may be ready to commit to a full order. I won’t dive too far down the rabbit hole of payment terms, but most Alibaba suppliers will expect money up front, often via bank wire transfer (“T/T”) or PayPal, at least for your first order. Be wary of Western Union, as it offers relatively little protection against scams.

Alibaba also offers its own Alibaba Secure Payment platform. I haven’t personally used it for more than small dollar (usually sample) transactions, but it does offer a path for disputing transactions. You will also want to work out your shipping method and terms with the supplier. That is yet another topic that could be a post unto itself.

No, we don't make scooters.

A final word of caution: be wary of copyright, trademark and patent infringement. Even companies that are generally open source still aren’t exactly thrilled with companies impersonating their brand. It’s one thing to build off an existing design, but it’s another thing entirely to copy it and slap another’s logo on there. Knockoffs tend to hide quality and reliability problems behind the mask of others’ hard work and diligence. And they leave the real companies’ support personnel scrambling to field questions about products that end up having nothing to do with them. So once again, don’t be a jerk.

Moreover, should you choose to be a jerk nonetheless (or inadvertently stumble into jerkhood), customs often stops shipments of knocked off products, and you as a reseller are potentially liable for the things you choose to put on the market. Some violations are harder to spot than others. Did you know you can trademark a vague color combination? Well, neither did we!

Which leads me to another thing: educate yourself on product compliance issues (RoHS, CE, FCC, Prop 65, etc.), export restrictions, etc., or consult with someone who can get you on track in that vein. There’s a whole prairie full of rabbit holes there.

Anyway, if you want to source on Alibaba, just remember the five Ds:

1) Don’t take anything for granted 2) Documentation, documentation, documentation 3) Don’t be a jerk 4) Do do do due diligence 5) Dkeep it simple

And here is my Comprehensive List of Things Not to Buy on Alibaba:

ICs (take our word for it)

Uranium (this happened)

Human hair (because yikes)

Endangered species

Stuff that will get you sued

Things you otherwise can’t legally resell

Bulk mayonnaise (I mean why)

Doll heads (self-explanatory)

This cannot be unseen.

Be careful out there, folks. Take my timeless wisdom into consideration, trust your instincts and you will (probably?) do just fine. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I will emerge from my meditation cave to reply as soon as the Alibaba oracle bestows her answers upon me. Happy hunting!

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sableaire · 7 years

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I know KS is well you already know but I actually want to continue it just cause I'm curious on how it'll end /or who will end up dead first/ but the thing is... we are allowed to like what we like right? As long you know what's real and what isn't it?

I’m of the opinion that people simplify this issue too much. Consuming problematic media is not inherently wrong, but it’s not just enough to know “what’s real and what isn’t”.

Now, this is one particular issue in which I use my own behavior as a model, but note that I am not going to try and claim that my views are the ‘correct one’ or that my approach is better than others. However, I would just like to offer to everyone who worries about this some insight into a philosophy that isn’t quite so black-and-white as others I have seen.

Basically, like every ask I ever receive, the answer’s going to be long, so hang on, Anon. Please note that Google Chrome ‘ran out of memory’ while I was writing this post, so if anything cuts off at a weird point, I just lost that portion and didn’t notice…

More below the cut:

First thing’s first: I consume problematic media. As an aspiring writer, I enjoy experiencing stories that make me feel things, even if that feeling might be “dear god, this is what it feels like to watch a train wreck”, and as someone who thrives on new experiences, I enjoy being able to feel a broad range of emotions in a safe and controlled medium - either dreams or fiction. If there was a way to try psychedelic drugs and or ‘bad trips’ without risk of physical or psychological damage, I would try it.

Heck, I’m the kind of person who tries to induce sleep paralysis and nightmares for fun because I get a kick out of the sheer terror. It’s inevitable that I sometimes like to read about the visceral horror and sickening dread that comes from highly dangerous and awful situations. (Of course, I also have my limits, but that’s not the point of this post)

That being said, I try to be mindful about my enjoyment of such content in many ways, and I’m of the opinion that everyone else should as well. Something I always say is that “people can’t help how they feel, but they can help how they behave,” and through that behavior the feelings might change over time. However, you can’t blame someone for a reactive emotion, be it positive or negative. Humans don’t have control over their emotions.

As such, of course we’re all allowed to like what you like, but ‘liking’ something is not your ‘behavior’. Liking something is a feeling. Everything else you choose to do are actions, and you need to think them through because every action has a consequence, either on you or the environment around you.

Since you mentioned Killing Stalking, we’ll use it as an example. Although you’re allowed to like what you like, do you also know the reasons why some people are so vehemently against it? It’s not just the murder and it’s not just the depiction of abuse, and it’s not okay just to handwave it all under “haters will be haters”. These are people genuinely upset about this comic’s contents and consumption, and as someone who is choosing to enjoy it, I personally feel as though fans have a responsibility to first understand what these people are so upset about, and then make an informed decision whether or not to read it.

Once I learned that Killing Stalking was so negatively received by some individuals, I did my research. I read reasons why people dislike it. I specifically searched for primary sources, reactions of gay men and reactions of individuals with BPD. I went in with a neutral mindset - I had only just started reading the comic and I wouldn’t have minded giving it up at that point - and then decided what points I could empathize with and thought about how these viewpoints - different from my own - would affect my actions. Typically, there are three questions:

1) Will I continue reading/watching?

2) Will I financially support this content?

3) Will I socially support this content?

Question 1:In my opinion, only the first question depends on your personal likes/dislikes. Yes, you can like what you like. You can consume questionable content. However, if your answer to that is ‘yes’ or even a ‘maybe’, you absolutely have to ask yourself the next two questions.

Question 2:We live in an era of rampant digital pirating, and though yes, it is a crime and people are always encouraged not to, I’ve never personally met someone of my generation who hasn’t pirated a movie if they missed it in theaters and then couldn’t find it on Netflix and or Amazon Video. Popular books can be downloaded as PDFs or epubs. Foreign comic translation is a veritable unpaid industry of its own, on the internet (which is its own bucket of problems, but that’s not what this post is about).

So, ultimately, though the economic and moral implications are a bit hazy, you get to decide whether or not you financially support anything you watch or read. You can decide whether or not something that you find enjoyable is also something you think there should be more of in the world. In the modern capitalistic era, you as a consumer have the power to vote with your wallet, in a sense. I’m going to give an example of how this might work after this section.

I will say, however, if you plan to indirectly profit off your interaction with certain media, no matter how problematic, you have an obligation to support the author for their work. If you are going to write a movie review as an official film critic, you have to watch it in theaters. If you are going to write a book review in an official capacity, buy the book. This is partially because I believe that if you’re profiting off someone else’s work in any way, that someone should be compensated even if you hated it, and mostly because I believe that reviewers will be more accurate if they actually pay the money to see if something was “worth their money”.

This is also the reason why I bought Killing Stalking through its official channels. I had built up a surprising following for my lost-in-translation posts and even received a small sum of donations for my write-ups. As such, as an aspiring content creator myself, I could not in good conscience not pay for the webcomic when the official version was so easily accessible to me. This is also why once I felt too uncomfortable with the content and author’s comments that I stopped my lost-in-translation posts as well. I didn’t feel comfortable financially supporting her, and I didn’t feel comfortable profiting off someone else’s content for free.

Also I just didn’t want to read anymore, ahaha.

An example of something I would watch if I didn’t have to financially support it, though, is the new Ghost in the Shell movie. Even though I have pretty much vocalized everything I dislike about it, I am curious to see it for myself. If I really, really wanted to, I could easily watch the movie without providing financial support or official viewership. However, in exchange, I wouldn’t feel right writing a review about it, especially not a monetized one, due to my personal stance on creative content and also because a low-quality laptop-screen experience would greatly differ from a cinema-quality experience.

Question 3:And lastly, separate from the financial question, you have to ask whether or not you will socially support something. Word-of-mouth and fandom content are powerful, powerful forms of marketing, especially on Tumblr.

I read Killing Stalking and actively contributed to the fandom with my cultural / language translation posts. However, followers of mine might have noticed that aside from the first week or so, I never reblogged any fanart or other such content. This was because, although I personally was reading the comic with some interest, it was not content I wanted to actively encourage others to read. For the same reason, I assured all my followers that every post of mine with Killing Stalking content would be appropriately tagged so that they can blacklist it, should they feel it necessary.

There are some things that I read and enjoy that I choose not to support publicly or enthuse about. Some might call it disingenuous and others might tell me not to let others censor my behavior, but it is an intentional decision on my part. In the case of Killing Stalking, I had several reasons.

Firstly, I knew not all my followers were comfortable with it, and I want my blog to be a comfortable and accessible place for most people. This was especially true because I knew for a fact that I had some younger followers age 14 and 15 and so, and let me tell you, I remember being that age and feeling like I knew enough to make informed choices. I have learned more with age, enough to recognize that rather than controlling the media I consumed, the media I consumed was controlling me. I was young and impressionable, and I made some mistakes I’m not proud of.

I was especially careful after the first week or so to not post fanart, no matter how nice, because as a teenager, I was so, so, so easily influenced by good fanart. In fact, I am still so easily won over by good fanart and funny content, and this is a problem for me as a person, and it’s dragged me down some pretty questionable rabbit holes in the past.

Secondly, another reason I limited fandom participation outside of my lost-in-translation posts was because sure, Killing Stalking is an interesting story in some capacity, but it isn’t a story I would outright recommend to the general masses, like I would some other media. Killing Stalking is more of a story that people will end up finding if they’re interested in such content in the first place.

In fact, it’s something that I would have found worrying if it had become widely popular, because then it truly would become a social influence and start affecting people’s views of the world.

As an additional note, some people would argue that the ‘lost-in-translation’ posts that I made might have been a form of promotion for this comic. Perhaps that is true, I don’t know. However, the way I see it, the people who would have seen those posts were individuals already in the fandom, and how I saw it, the fandom needed something more than just the fanart and the fanfics. There were a lot of people explaining why fans of Killing Stalking shouldn’t support the comic, but the problem is - and I know this from experience - the vast majority of fans, especially younger fans, won’t read about people hating what they like.

More often than not, a diehard Harry Potter fan won’t read an article about how much the original Harry Potter books suck, except to judge the person who wrote it. Sure, Killing Stalking isn’t Harry Potter and honestly it’s laughable that I even made that comparison at all, but the nature of fans don’t change from story to story. Fans are fans. Killing Stalking fans either wouldn’t have read or wouldn’t have taken to heart some pretty harsh, legitimate criticisms of the comic, especially when they’re really into it.

If someone is already a fan of something and someone comes up to them telling them (often aggressively) that they are wrong to be a fan, those two individuals are already established as enemies. Heck, we see how heated sports fans get about their teams. It’s also pretty much proven human nature, especially in individualistic societies, that if someone tells you not to do something, you feel the need to continue in order to re-establish your autonomy.

So a large part of why I made those lost-in-translation posts was so that people already in the fandom had someone within the fandom they could engage with who could offer some perspective on some of the more dangerous elements within the story. And people have come to ask me for advice about it, you included, Anon! And I’m genuinely grateful that you value and trust my opinion on topics such as these.

Reasons why “I know it’s not real” is not an adequate excuse for unchecked fandom behavior:

This is a metaphor I spent some time developing, but I think it fits. Though, I did come up with the metaphor thinking of a gun-free area, so it might not apply to all parts of America, aha, but let’s just roll with it:

Say, for instance, you have a model gun. Anyone can tell that it’s fake if they take the time to look at it, but it’s still a pretty accurate depiction of a gun. You know it’s not real, and most adults can tell it’s not real. Saying “the content’s not real, so let people reblog whatever they want” is akin to saying “it’s not a real gun, so let people carry it wherever they want.” Sure, that may be a fair point… except, long-term, carrying realistic model guns wherever you want leads to two distinct but significant problems:

1) Children grow desensitized to the sight of guns.

2) It becomes harder to tell the difference between model and real guns.

Problem 1:If children become desensitized to the sight of guns, they grow desensitized to the true danger that comes with holding a gun. One of the most powerful moments of my life, to date, is the first time I held a big, sharp knife. Because I had never held a knife before, I felt the weight of the metal, saw the glint of the edge, and oh boy, I was a little terrified knowing that I held a potential weapon in my hand. It kept me wary. It kept me careful.

Children who grow up desensitized to guns wouldn’t have that with guns. They wouldn’t feel that same danger, and really, that means there’s just one less hurdle between them and real guns.

Problem 2:Where oh where to begin with this. First of all, if children grow up thinking all the model guns are real guns, they’ll end up getting a real gun instead of a model gun. What will they say when they get caught and in trouble? “Everyone else does it, though!” and it may or may not be true.

Secondly, if some people start carrying real guns around amidst the model guns, and the model guns look realistic too, we have difficulty picking out the real guns from the model guns. We know they’re out there, but we can’t tell which is which. It’s not like you could check every single person out there carrying a model gun.

Thirdly, it becomes more difficult to tell real danger from fake danger. In a model gun society, maybe it’s commonplace for people to point model guns at each other as a joke. Haha, it’s fake, we all laugh. But maybe there’s someone out there being threatened by someone close to them with a real gun, disguised as a joke, and we can’t tell.

The Explanation:Maybe I lost you a bit there. It’s a little difficult to see how this relates to problematic fictional media. But again, let’s take Killing Stalking and pretend it became widely popular and mainstream. If something gets super popular and mainstream, it becomes a fad.

I’ll be honest, I lost this entire section when the post restarted, so I’m going to just give you the cliffnotes version. I’m sorry, I’ll rewrite it at some point;;

1) Children get desensitized easily. Think of any drugs, even alcohol or tobacco. The more you take, the more your body builds a tolerance, the more you need to take next time to have the same effect. The human brain is one of the most changeable parts of the body, and it will do the same thing with fictional media. Repeated exposure to something will have an effect. That’s why exposure therapy exists. Simultaneous exposure is a whole different beast. That’s why Pavlovian conditioning exists.

2) Desensitized children grow up into desensitized adults who think that what they went through / the intensity / content of media they watched was the norm, and they will go on to raise children who might end up even more desensitized than them. Perhaps that would just make it ‘natural social change,’ but is is a desirable one?

3) Also, in the case of Killing Stalking, people wore cosplay with visible signs of abuse to conventions. Some conventions have children attending. I am of the opinion that children should not be exposed to fake signs of physical abuse as that is not something that should be normalized.

4) Just these last two weeks, two separate men in two separate countries Facebook Livestreamed the murders they committed. We are living in a technologically developing society that is simultaneously exhibitionist, voyeuristic, and Orwellian. If media like Killing Stalking became popular and mainstream and encouraged similar media to come onto the market, especially in live-action, it will become harder and harder to distinguish the ‘real’ from the ‘not real’. In the future, someone might livestream someone they keep locked in the basement, reassuring their viewers that it’s all ‘fake’ and just an ‘experimental storytelling’ thing. In a society where such media is commonplace, we just might believe it.

In Closing:

I am aware that not everyone has the patience, energy, or desire to do this research with every controversial piece of media they choose to consume. That’s up to them. However, even these individuals have a responsibility to be mindful about their behavior. Even if you don’t research, if there are people criticizing the content of whatever you are reading/watching, acknowledge that there must be something that bothers some people. You cannot determine that you are right and they are ‘too sensitive’ without actually doing the research.

Be mindful that, no matter what measures people take, there are probably preteens in your fandom. I won’t tell you what to do with that information, but at least keep it in mind.

One person’s mindfulness changes little, but little changes build up. I would write more but it is long and I have a headache, good bye;;

#Anonymous #consumption of media #killing stalking #ks ask #long #fiction #murder//#guns//#knives//#problematic media #problematic content

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