#I’ve done a bunch of other assets like these but they’re very specific and don’t look as clean

[scribblemakes]

No one would mind if I started posting about Neocities website building right? Anyway here are some pixelated cursors I recreated (feel free to use them, they’re already sized correctly) and some website themes I’m working on! I’m hoping to make them available for people to put on their own sites at some point.

[ID: Three images of pixelated cursors and two images of website pages in mobile view. The first website page is styled to look similar to a Windows XP desktop. The second is custom and shows an art gallery of Psychonauts fanart. /End ID]

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 5/18/21

i haven’t been able to get the tweet “castlevania is named that because it was the first metroidvania in a castle. hope this helps! :)” out of my brain. non-spoilery castlevania thoughts below

listening Mushroom Picker Dance by Flowex from the game Samorost 3. a good use case for spotify is making it spit out video game soundtrack i’ve never heard. i can only describe the bleeps and bloops as “scrubby”. hope that makes sense to LITERALLY anyone else. also my brain goes “ping!” when the guitar kicks in

reading the first volume of the poe dameron comics and ONLY the first volume of the poe dameron comics written by charles soule and mostly illustrated by phil noto, bc my library does not have the other ones. serviceable! checked back in with my brain about if we still like mr noto’s art and brain said “yes!”. i will not remember thesec omics by next week, and that’s good, bc they’re good enough to serve their purpose in the moment but don’t veer into gross weird shit. just regular weird star wars shit that’s never really explained, like this big egg.

watching castlevania s4 is more coherent than s3 but i still don’t enjoy it.

e9 is genuinely some of the most technically excellent animation i’ve seen in my life and way more than i expected from a netflix anime. well fuckin done there at least. sorry you’re all trapped in the stupidest plot that’s somehow not an idiot plot it’s just very poorly conceived

wish the trio got together earlier

as @itsybitsydragon​ pointed out, this show has the bad habit of undercutting its most emotional moments with low-quality banter. now, i do love some levity and some banter, but a time and a place gang

if they give me a s5 i am going to riot bc everything i wanted out of castlevania i got from crownofpins’ Baba series. and an extra three seasons of bad tv (so sad they cancelled it after s2) is extra shit i don’t need in my brain

playing new plan: instead of kind of shrugging every week and going “yeah nothing new in genshin or stardew or pocket camp” i am going to randomly generate a word (not the first word, but the first word that catches my fancy, bc the first word i got was “investment” and i don’t care for that very much). i will take that randomly generated word (this week is “bronze”) and go to itch.io, home of unspeakable games.

this week we have (free! play right in your browser!) The Flame Prepared - “In a retro-futuristic reflection of the collapsing Bronze Age, you manage a telephone switchboard that connects people across the world.“

it’s a cool concept, and it’s remarkably polished for a two-week game jam game. there’s not a lot of moving parts, and it all clicks together nicely. i do wish there were fewer hard failure points- this feels like it wants to be a traditionally-formatted visual novel with maybe a minigame instead of the format it is in now (although it uses the format it has very well imo- it makes textual sense and it does reinforce the feeling of desperation as you try to do something anything to help people within the confines of your job). it is satisfying to run your cursor over the tiles and watch them shiver a little, and it is satisfying to plug in the switchboard wires. they also did a good job of juggling eight separate characters’ storylines in under an hour and tying things up nicely.

the makers of the game have a more hopeful view of enacting change within a system than i do, but that’s too long to get into for a tuesdaypost. have this other thought instead: i’ve been playing a bunch of very asset-flippy Unity game demos for research lately (you’re a dude, in a mysterious corridor-based environment, trying to solve a Mystery by shooting things), which made the lesbians in The Flame Prepared stand out more. in my off time i do specifically seek out games with strong queer overtones OR canon queer characters, but this wasn’t tagged as such and it was Nice after a slew of things i didn’t particularly enjoy

making crossed stitch, the evergreen wretched hive pattern. damn i did a lot since the last time we saw this, two weeks ago

[cakeandpi]

Parker!! spoilers abound

hm, so Harry (aka Lawyer) has been fired/let go and no one gave him the memo on it. Is his old job/boss going to be this episodes mark?

oof, Harry is bad at being subtle with his ‘okay look in [place]’ comm directions

ah okay so isn’t a legal firm that’s about representing their clients to the best of their ability. it’s a firm whose about smoothing bad things over for rich clients so that there’s little to no consequences.

“I remember when you wanted to change the world.”/“World did change. We just went along for the ride.” So the world changed the boss, the boss gave up on changing the world because he saw a way to profit from it and didn’t care that he hurt others along the way.

The way that car drove up onto the curve, I thought that was Sophie in a big hurry at first. (I would have thought Parker but there wasn’t enough time for her to crack the safe, get to the relevant files, get out, and then drive there.) But no, it’s Maxwell’s thugs because the man holds a grudge apparently. So I’m going to guess he’s going to be the season big bad? Or is he just a 2-episode bad guy and we’ll find out who the real big bad is later?

Hardison: listing various problems on various international efforts he’s helping with Eliot: let’s make this a restaurant metaphor Hardison: *very much regretting ever buying Eliot that brewpub*

Nuts and bolts about bad guy details

Also that bit about Hardison being distracted by problems is definitely a distraction, there’s no way he’d pause on making sure their safehouse was secure

Eliot is not so much pissed as insulted that the world is at the point of advertising the corruption rather than him needing to beat it out of someone.

drone!!

*snort* eliot's usually the grouchy one, and he’s carrying a trashcan right now. there’s no way hardison doesn’t make some oscar the grouch joke once he sees that.

“It’s like you never stopped.”/“Yeah. Quite the act.” Sophie slows down at Hardison’s comment, then sighs and sits. She’s finding this tiring now. Is it because she’s out of practice? Or because after so many years of retirement, her hearts not in it anymore? And Hardison notices. He doesn’t say anything concrete immediately, because Sophie hasn’t really elaborated on what’s going on with her. When she does - it’s her grief, and how its affecting her grift now - there’s this concern in Hardison’s face. There’s absolutely going to be a meeting between the OT3 about how to straddle not straining Sophie too much and not babying her should she stay on for another job after this.

“But I can’t work forever, can I?” There’s a defeated tone to this, and it’s true - Sophie’s just human, one day she too will pass on. Her grief for Nate (and how being back with the team keeps reopening that wound) is coloring her view on this for sure. (Did Nate work himself to death?) It’s also, very distantly, a remark on the OT3 - they too can’t work forever. They were Sophie’s and Nate’s proteges. And it’s not that the OT3 doesn’t have anything in place if they go down - they’ve got small teams running all over the world. But they don’t have their own personal proteges. Harry’s a decent start, but they’ll need to recruit and open up their circle to at least one, maybe two more before they’re ready to retire. Before they, too, burn too hot for too long.

“You hear that? That’s a very distinctive sound.” YES

Another Basil & Brick truck! This one has.... empanadas, ropa vieja, sancocho, and I think the last one is yuca frita. Mm, yuca fries.

BREANNA!!!

Parker! Taught Breanna to tail people! (Hardison in particular?) When she was 11! Wait does that mean Parker’s met Nana?! Also Parker is so smug and satisfied that Breanna paid attention to her lessons.

“I teach every kid I meet how to do crime.” <3 be gay do crime

This is a big ‘I’m telling mom!’ argument and I love it, especially the “I think she’s napping” LMAO

“How you saved Eliot’s life all those times” Oh man Hardison is sleeping on the metaphorical couch tonight. But also I need to come back to this later because honestly and really? Hardison has - as part of a group team effort - saved Eliot’s life from himself. By giving him a way to work through his anger issues, by caring for him, by showing Eliot he’s needed and that he’s more than just a hitter. The team saved Eliot’s life. (And there’s probably a bunch of erasing digital trails/etc where Hardison did more directly save Eliot’s life but that's besides the point.)

“But hacking’s kind of old school anyway.” And as she goes on, Eliot goes from aggrieved to ‘oh, a new best friend’ because now he has someone to help him annoy Hardison.

Parker pulls Hardison into a side room (by his ear, but he’s not protesting in pain so that’s got to be just for show). And then pushes him up against the wall and Hardison is like ‘okay whatever lecture is coming can it not be like this?’ If it weren’t for the glass walls that’d be some makeout stuff right here.

LOL at Parker’s standard for a ‘normal’ person being ‘uses Uber, pays taxes, and has a birth certificate’.

“Wait is this like that time in Paris?” I... don’t remember an episode set in Paris with a robot and explosions so this must be during the time skip. And - “... but you didn’t want to hurt Eliot’s feelings so you secretly wanted us to agree.” I’m going to scream if there’s no confirmed ot3 by the end of the season. And cry. And read a whole bunch of fic.

Look at these two being honest with each and communicating and respecting each others opinions, they’ve grown so much from pretzel metaphors.

“You’re not mad. You did the Picard tug.”/“I am mad.“/“Did the tug. You know I like that.” Parker might be mad (at Hardison? Breanna? Both?) but not so much that she’s completely shutting out Hardison, giving him a nonverbal signal that she’s not pissed, just needs some time to be upset before everything’s okay.

“One. Job.” Parker says. And we the viewers know it’ll be more than one. But really what that means by now is that this is an audition. Parker may have taught Breanna some things, but now Breanna has to show that they do better with her rather than without, that she’s an asset and not a liability or dead weight.

I laughed so hard that because this shit’s illegal, there’s no cutting corners on the paperwork.

“And you didn’t get tortured.”/“Not this time.” I can’t tell if Eliot wants Harry to get a little bit tortured or if he’s just reminding Harry that this time around people were in a good mood and showing off.

Breanna stops herself before suggesting something, and Hardison, for all that he isn’t delighted at her presence and protested her being here, encourages her to speak up. If she’s going to be part of the team, even for one job, she’s part of the team and that means speaking up and throwing ideas out there for others to bounce around, even if it winds up being a football that can’t be dribbled.

OT3 TEAM JUST GOT DUBBED ‘DRILL TEAM’. (why is that also somehow a dirty joke i’m dying here)

Oh one of the baddies is a Com4r4t fan... oh wait no this is the beginning of a plan backfiring.

Aww Breanna is so proud of what she’s done! It’s very much like season 1 Hardison. So Sophie and Hardison go to do their own thing, only that means the baddies are here to talk to Breanna and she doesn’t have backup.

THE 'LET ME GET MY BOSS’ THE SPIN AROUND AND THE ‘WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING MY STAFF’ I LOVE BREANNA.

“I’m your neighbor who runs a business built on discretion.” This is going to go very badly depending on how Breanna plays this. At least she gets the earbud in to call for help!

Another Brick&Basil truck! Etoufee and jambalaya, dammit eliot stop choosing delicious food to advertise. 

“I monkey-shamed the DJ” I. Love. Her. Also Sophie’s already read Breanna as having the skills to just need general guidelines for an impromptu grift rather than needing to be fed specific lines.

“Okay here’s the thing.” And there’s a pause, we’re thinking he’s about to come down real hard on Breanna, and then we get “I love Com4r4t.” he is a fanboy I guessed it right!! And then he does go through with the threat, but not as a ‘cancel it or die’ sort of threat, but a ‘if i’m disappointed you die’ way.

Breanna nails the impromptu grift though she’s understandably a bit shaken by the threat at the end. (What newcomer wouldn’t be?) But the threat is what pushes Parker into deciding Breanna should go home ASAP. This is Hardison’s family, from before the team, and Parker isn’t about to risk messing that up. If she pushes for Breanna to stay when Hardison doesn’t want Breanna to, and something goes wrong? Parker would never, ever forgive herself.

But as Sophie has pointed out, they’ve all been out of their depth at one point or another. That doesn’t mean that someone should be sent packing.

Lmao Eliot being possessive of the drill.

“Then you ain’t got no more problems ever again.” There’s a certain sense of morbid humor with the team, one that’s both necessary but also a reality. They deal with this level of danger on a semi-regular basis. Harry just hasn’t caught up to that fact yet.

I have a feeling this particular baddie is going to end up dead for managing to drive a 40% cut.

“I’m just saying dude.” I love that Eliot and Hardison don’t have to rehash their entire arguments anymore unless they’re really enjoying themselves, that they can just be all ‘you know I’ve said my piece’.

“Don’t get distracted by the side gig.”/“Is it a side gig?” For all that the team has been their main focus for so long, for all that they all have side projects and gigs, this has been eating up more and more of Hardison’s time. What I thought was him pretending to be distracted earlier may have been a real distraction. And Eliot’s noticed, and he’s noticed that Hardison hasn’t noticed, that Hardison needs to make a choice here.

“In our line of work, you’re one of the best. But in that line of work you’re the only one, man.” Eliot has a soft smile at the end of that, and it's a bit painful, even as I saw it coming, to hear Eliot suggest that Hardison begin to step away from the team’s day to day.

“It’s okay to grow up, to realize you’re not the person you used to be.” None of them are the person they used to be. Not Sophie, not Parker, not Hardison, and certainly not Eliot. They can see that in each other if not in themselves. (Eliot, being the most grounded of all of them, already knew he’d changed eight years ago.)

“You never grew up.”/“Yeah. I achieved perfection pretty early, huh?” Even as Eliot’s the most grounded, even though he’s the one saying that there’s no one else that could fill Hardison’s role in that other work, the idea that Hardison might actually choose to step away from the team is too raw to handle without turning to humor.

Harry’s a bit jumpy, but he’s learning to play it off. I like that he’s a very different character from Nate, that it’s not his anger or ego driving him so much as a desire to make restitution.

And a “Dammit Hardison”

Ooh, Eliot’s in the vents too, just in time to help Parker. (She doubtless has her beloved taser but that would take time away from getting into the vault.)

“I smell lasers” Ahahahahaha

“You’re going to compare me to Eliot right now?” (’over the comms, where others who aren’t Eliot can hear?’ Hardison did not say out loud.)

ouch, okay, Hardison hurting his back like that might be what actually makes him choose the other gig over the team, or at what makes him take a little vacation so he can heal from that. (back injuries are nothing to play around with!)

how did Maxwell get past Eliot? but it’s all good, Eliot’s right behind to disarm him. And Parker’s been doing her hitting lessons, she didn’t even need a taser or to stab anyone!

Oh Harry, the bomb will be used, it’s just not time yet.

New Orleans gumbo is its own food group.

Okay so Hardison’s done a lot of work getting this place in order... WAIT IS THAT A PUNCHING BAG? That’s a punching bag! It might not be the love-letter the brewpub was but it’s definitely a thing added specifically for Eliot.

Oh no, Eliot might realize what Hardison’s doing with this, but Parker hasn’t caught up yet that Hardison’s going to be taking a break from the team.

Parker’s blindsided by this, and she’s upset, but she’s not mad because why didn’t she see this coming she should have seen it, so she leaves to deal with her emotions alone. Hardison follows, naturally, she knew he would, but she can’t face him because then he’ll see her crying, and Parker doesn’t do emotions easily. She’s torn between wanting him to help people and wanting to be with him (and she can’t go with him, she needs to be helping people too).

And Parker doesn’t want Breanna there without Hardison. Again because it’d put Hardison’s family in danger and that’s a step too far for Parker if Hardison doesn’t okay it. And also because with Hardison leaving, Breanna’s just going to be reminders of what Parker’s missing. And Breanna doesn’t have Hardison’s skillset, can’t fill his shoes - not that she should but she can’t, and Parker, I think, is already mentally preparing herself to go it alone again. Because if this job needs Hardison so bad, then surely Eliot’s got some project that needs his specific attention, and it was just one job for Breanna, and Sophie’s been adamant that this is one last job for her, and Harry’s still new and will probably decide to do his own thing given time to think... I think that’s where her brain is at, at least for the next thirty seconds, before she catches up with herself and realizes that more like the time she busted her leg than the team dissolving around her. (This kind of went weird places but that’s stream of thought for me)

And as they come back in Parker’s already cheering up some, because that wave of despair has already blown over. Yeah, she’s not a parent, but she’s good at teaching when she tries.

“It could be a reunion tour.”/“No. I’m retired.” It’s very different from Nate’s old protestations. He was not a thief. Whereas with Sophie it’s not ready. And while they all point out that she’s been happier while doing cons, that they could use the help, it’s not forceful or overpowering. It’s still Sophie’s decision. They’re not going to make her house their new base and taunt her with it; they’re not the sort of people who’d do that anymore, and anyway that’d be cruel instead of a fun sort of goading.

And because they give Sophie space to make a decision, while she doesn’t want to make a long-term commitment, she’s willing to take on ‘just a few more’.

[freshlybakedspiderbread]

I brought up hanyang type 88 here and i said i’d explain, so here I am!!

okay so first off here’s a bunch of likely useful context about girls frontline. There is this feature in the game called digimind upgrade, or mod 3, where certain t-dolls can be upgraded past the normal maximum levels and stats, and at the same time gaining whole new abilities and also a new design. Basically a reinvention. There are like hundreds of playable characters in the game, and only a fraction will get mod 3s, typically the ‘main characters’ who are relevant to the major ongoing plot.

two things about getting a doll who has the ability to do digimind upgrade, to actually do that. One, is that it can be very costly in terms of in-game materials. like, maybe i just played the game wrong but I would have to grind for weeks in order to amass the materials to upgrade just one doll to mod 3. So even though by now there are dozens upon dozens of dolls who are capable of this feature, i’ve only actually done so with like, less than one dozen. A normal player probably has to be picky.

secondly, and this is the big one, every t-doll’s mod 3 comes with story cutscenes that become available for you to view upon upgrading them. Personally, i think most of the only worthwhile mod 3 stories are the ones that are associated with the actual major characters of the main story, especially since their upgrades actually happen in-canon and their mod 3 stories fill in blanks or otherwise expand upon the regular story chapters.

for the t-dolls who aren’t major characters that get digimind upgrades, their associated stories tend to follow a very basic pattern. They’re feeling like they are falling behind other T-Dolls in abilities or are otherwise experiencing a drop in confidence in their abilities, but then find the resolve in them to either change themselves or stand by an aspect of themselves, and this leads them to heading to the lab to get upgraded. obviously theres some nuances here and there depending on the character, but a lot of them, from what i saw, follow this basic pattern.

hanyang type 88 has a mod 3 but i certainly never wanted to see it. Firstly, using the feature at all takes up resources are kinda precious so i wasn’t just gonna use it on anyone. Secondly, she is just one of many one-off t-dolls that basically dont ever show up in any actual main story cutscenes or even funny events. Thirdly... you saw what she looked like in the linked post, i was in no rush to make use of her.

That being said, even if you don’t ever upgrade a t-doll, simply having them in your possession allows you to at least view the first of four parts of their mod 3 story, which nets you a small amount of those materials needed to see the rest (its a pretty fiendish system, huh o_O). I was lacking in some materials to upgrade a doll i cared about, so i just mucked around, eventually happened upon type88 again and decided that instead of just immediately feeding her to the furnace, I’d watch the first chapter of her mod 3 story. I watched it, it made me just curious enough to look further, and well. ...I got into it. Exactly what I got into, i shall now just elaborate and summarise the whole thing in my own way! Warning, it’s long!

(disclosure: my summary will bias towards my own preferred interpretation whenever any aspect is somewhat vague.)

The story starts with type 88, or as she is called by others in griffin base, Ai, working her shift in the base’s cafe, because what else would she be doing.

i hate looking at her! Anyway, its just a pleasant peaceful day and Ai is taking the logistic person, kalina’s order when suddenly in the middle of a conversation, Ai freezes in place and starts making worrying sounds.

kalina here and the t-dolls present in the cafe are concerned, and talk about how Type88 has actually been crashing like this more and more frequently lately, yet has not reported any of this to the maintenance crew despite the advice of her friends. They try rebooting her on the spot, but it has an even more concerning effect, because she starts erratically acting like she doesn’t recognise the others, and talks about how she is a maid in “Jiangcheng Cafe”. Afraid that her neural cloud (her mind) has been scrambled, they put her to sleep and bring her to the repair bay.

Its in the repair bay where they explain exactly what is wrong with type88. She is a fairly old doll, and her processing capacity has been severally clogged up for a long time. Her internal memory is overflowing because many large sections of her mind is filled with very large encrypted files (memories that she stored away). she is likely to keep crashing and possibly even cease functioning entirely one day if those encrypted files are not deleted, but nobody is really keen on just deleting parts of her mind without her consent. For now, kalina just opts to try and decrypt the files and see what they are.

And from here, we watch type88 memories from her perspective. Sort of. Kind of. It gets complicated later but for now, we view the first memory of her life, not as a combat t-doll type88, but...

...as 59898, a doll designed to be what is basically a ‘crash test dummy’ for testing artillery technology in a research station. With a purpose like this, 59898 has an (ostensibly) rudimentary AI. Her learning ability is intended to be used to better aid the results of their testing, but she also knows how to understand and even imitate specific human gestures in order to better respond to instructions or conversation, even though she herself has no voice module to speak with. She is assigned to assist one specific person.

first off, i was pretty shocked right off the bat that this story above so many others actually has unique assets to it. The above two sprites don’t show up anywhere else in the game, i don’t think. Secondly, this woman’s name is only ever spelled with those white squares, so I’m stuck with having to just calling her ‘the pilot’, as dry as that sounds... I just don’t want to type out weird characters every time, or call her ‘triple cube’...

Anyway, so 59898 is assigned to help this woman in testing artillery tech (stuff like mechs and tanks). I should mention really quick that in the game’s story, during this point of time is when world war iii is happening, but that’s just a backdrop for robots to eventually gain more prominence. Anyway, we move on to the second memory, where some time has already passed. At the beginning of this memory, the pilot is visibly depressed, which 59898 takes note of.

Her ‘comfort mode’ consists of patting the pilot on the head, who while surprised, actually is grateful. She feels comfortable enough to talk about her worries aloud to the doll, mentioning how she is a war refugee and has to make a living in the research base because she can’t go back to her home in china, at least not before making enough money for a very expensive and exclusive train ticket. She continues to talk at length to the doll...

...not that the test doll is capable of responding to anything she says. The pilot insists that she’s happy just to have someone listen to her though, since she feels like she can’t really express her feelings to any other person on the base. Despite that-

That aside, the pilot says that referring to 59898 by her serial number all the time feels a bit weird, so she decides to give the doll a name. (I sure wish the story would give this woman a name too, other than ‘three white squares’ but oh well...)

She talks more with Jiangcheng Ai, or just Ai, after that, asking her if she’d like a change of clothes sometime, like some casual clothes, or an old maid outfit from an old cafe job she used to have (I guess they had to throw in any explanation for that outfit somehow) Point is, more and more time passes.

As time passes though, and we go into the third memory, the pilot brings up complaints to her superiors about how the more recent testings, becoming more increasingly intense and frequent, are putting a great strain on Ai, and even repairs can only help maintain her chassis so much. She insists on wanting to take Ai’s place in the testing, but they refuse because, well, Ai’s entire purpose is to take the strain of these tests so that the human pilot doesn’t have to, and the doll is just a tool there to pave the way for the pilot to eventually take over the mech in action

The next time Ai wakes up from her most recent repairs, the pilot is there to greet her, and Ai can tell straight away that she’s unhappy and tries to comfort her again. The pilot is not surprised at this and talks about how this is how Ai has been since they first met. She goes on to say how all the other people on the base don’t know her half as well as Ai does. Ai tries to understand and determine what the pilot’s intentions with saying all this is, but she cannot do so and can only listen while offering ‘executing - affirmative nod’.

The pilot talks about how once the war is over, she’d like to take Ai back home with her, where they could go to all sorts of gatherings, and the pilot would introduce Ai to her friends.

Ai reviews her personal data, confirming that she has no owners or obligations other than the pilot, so she executes another affirmative nod, and the pilot says this:

As Ai tries and fails to further determine this, something bad happens! if you’ve read this far, i’m sure you’ve already guess what happens next...

At that exact moment, a warning goes out and the research base is being attacked by nebulous enemy forces. With no time to talk anymore, both the pilot and Ai head out into their first real fight.

They spend a good long while repelling enemy forces, working well together and apparently using all sorts of wacky anime weaponry like beam blades and whatever ‘retrograde evasion’ is!

obviously though, you already know this isn’t going to end well for them... When the pilot takes a breather, Ai moves to protect her, but at a critical moment, a sudden high-speed projectile comes her way. In the next instance there’s a crash, and we move onto another memory. Where its all fire and debris, and Ai can’t move.

^ this text box actually repeats several times, indicating that she is repeating her scan for life signs over and over. She gets an internal warning from her systems (differentiated with red text) that she has insufficient power and it warns her to immediately cease ineffective operations. [Unable to detect owner life signs] repeats again.

At this point, uuuuh, its a little stupid actually? because two humans show up, reusing generic ‘bad guy’ sprites from other events that don’t match the current environment and situation at all (one is in a suit and the other is in casual clothes). but the reason they’re here is to provide exposition out loud about what happened. It looked like the human’s mech took a hit for the doll and was blown to bits, though they talk about how that doesn’t make any sense.

Ai at this point tries to execute a bunch of different actions like hugging [target not found] and screaming [no relevant module] but they all fail, and her internal systems tell her that her power is running out and she will cease to function in 30 seconds.

So in those last 30 seconds, Ai decides to quickly review her internal files. the damage she took has corrupted her memories and she doesn’t have the time to properly go through them, so she executes a ‘simulated processed records’, which basically mean she’s just filling the blanks of those memories herself with simulations.

And I have to say. I was decently into and enjoying this little story so far, but its this part that’s the reason i became forced to make this stupid giant post. the first ‘memory’ loads up, and we see the pilot.

Different ‘memories’ of the days spent with the pilot are loaded back to back, each are very short and only last a few lines. Across these files, the two of them talk comfortably with each other, Ai is invited to go get coffee with her, the pilot talks about how going alone is boring and would rather spend time with Ai, Ai saying back with her own words that she always likes spending time with her, etc etc etc.

And then finally, she loads one last ‘memory’, from earlier that same day, before the explosion and the fighting.

and she shuts down.

i passed by this scene the first time all calm, but an hour or so later when I was in the bathroom replacing shampoo bottles, i started thinking about it and I literally started sobbing. And then again later that night when i was in bed. I hate this game!!

so that’s the ‘end’ of that, and the next scene opens, once again in griffin base’s cafe, except...

Ai is sporting a brand new (ugly) look. She says she’d like to take kalina’s order but she was just leaving on other business, as she likes keeping herself busy with all sorts of work around the base ever since she got upgraded into a gundam gajinka. and after she leaves, kalina talks with the other dolls about how Ai used to have some cache issues because her neutral cloud was too full, but upgrading into this new chassis easily fixed that and even allowed her to make use of her old locked away abilities.

Because of the way this scene in the cafe opens up exactly like the very first one at the beginning, it makes me believe that this final scene is also a simulated ‘memory’, that is, Ai filling in the blanks of her corrupted memories with what she wishes to be reality. And i feel confident in believing that because after the scene fades to black, we see more of her internal system monologue.

She (the system) says that the priority execution is to preserve those encrypted memory logs. She does so, and the neural cloud upgrade is complete with confirmation of no loss files. With no risk of deletion in this new form, she executes the command to unlock the encrypted memories. And finally...

[spiderbread dies]

i still wouldn’t use her in gameplay because i can’t stand looking at her design but  i told you all i eat up robot with feelings stuff and this is like prime example of exactly that... and if i didn’t make this post, i think my own neutral cloud’s cache would be at risk of overflowing x_X!

[my-miraculous-headcanons]

Kim Possible AU

In which Marinette is in gymnastics, is childhood friends with Adrien, and somehow became an agent-for-hire when someone accidentally dialed her number to call for help instead of actual, professionally trained agents. That’s right, they called a preteen for help, didn’t have the time to call anyone else, and rolled with it.

Also Adrien is a total goofball with a hairless cat. He still has both his parents, who start out overprotective but gradually loosen the reigns when it becomes clear that his friend will keep him safe.

(The reason I put gymnastics and not cheerleading is because I’m pretty sure that’s an exclusively American thing? Besides, gymnastics kind of makes more sense, skillset-wise.)

Origins

     • Marinette took gymnastics since she was seven, mainly because her clumsiness had been turning into a bit of a problem. (Parents start to get worried when their child’s having genuine physical difficulty in not hurting themselves. They thought gymnastics would help her learn balance, and also allow her to burn off some of her natural childlike energy.) By the age of eleven, Marinette is the best in her class, and is thinking about entering competitions.

     • Adrien is Marinette’s childhood best friend. Along with gymnastics, Marinette also started taking ballet, which is where the two met. Adrien was taking ballet because both his parents had taken it, and also because he thought it would be fun. Since he’d been taking it longer than Marinette, he helped her out in class, and the two have been inseparable ever since.

     • Adrien helped Marinette build a website to help get her name out there when they were eleven. They took videos of her doing a couple moves, and added a contact number. Unfortunately, (or, rather fortunately, actually,) Marinette’s number is very similar to a number for a group of agents who do pretty dangerous, life-saving jobs. 

     • Marinette’s first call is from a man requesting for help at a rather big bank in Paris, not far from her house. Being eleven, she doesn’t really understand that this is probably something she should inform the police, rather than handle herself. So, she and Adrien (who she sneaks out of his house) rush over, and save the day themselves.

     • Adrien had videotaped the impressive gymnastics Marinette had pulled off in order to safely get through the security lasers and shut them off. After that video was posted, she started getting calls on a much more regular basis, all from people in need of help. It wasn’t the sort of attention she was looking for when making the website, but she can’t deny she doesn’t love her new job.

The Present

     • By the ages of 16, Marinette and Adrien have travelled all over the world, gaining favors from a bunch of grateful individuals, and are pretty dang famous. They aren’t necessarily given special privileges at school, but if things are urgent, then they’re allowed to leave and makeup missing work online. 

     • Adrien is still a model, still plays piano, still takes Chinese, and still does a lot of different sports. On his own, he’s actually pretty famous. However, in this world, it’s pretty much impossible for him to display the ‘perfect, gentlemanly son’ persona when most of the world has seen videos of him screaming at the top of his lungs, running around in his underwear because somehow his pants got pulled off again. Yeah, he’s a straight A student with the classic, rich people training, but he’s still an utter dork and everyone knows it.

     • Marinette, while still taking gymnastics, has lost interest in making it a life career when she already sort of does it already. She’s picked up other interests, one of them being fashion design when Adrien had introduced her to what goes on behind the scenes in his workplace. She’s good at designing stylish, yet very practical outfits, and made uniforms for herself and Adrien for their ‘side jobs’ as agents-for-hire. 

     • While Adrien isn’t necessarily incompetent, he’s more of the ‘do first, think later’ type of guy when it comes to their dynamic, which often leaves Marinette to do the planning and problem-solving. At this point, it’s kind of abundantly obvious that, while Adrien is academically more profound, Marinette is vastly more analytical, and probably has a ridiculously high IQ if they ever bothered to check. 

     • There isn’t a main villain. Papillion doesn’t exist because Gabriel is completely aware of what his son is doing, still has his darling wife, and has literally no reason to waste his money on illegal activities. He’s a big name in the fashion world, it’s not like he’s looking for world domination or something stupid like that.

     • (I’m sure you’re wondering why the fuck Gabriel Agreste would let his only son go off on dangerous adventures like that on a daily. Well, he didn’t at first, but over time Marinette proved to be a more effective bodyguard than Adrien’s actual bodyguard, so he became more chill. Also, Adrien’s the face of his company, and with all the brave and daring things he’s done alongside Marinette, his popularity ratings are through the roof. Son has fun, is well-taken care of, still performs exceptionally in all his extracurriculars, and does well by the family business? It’s a win-win on all sides.)

     • I would make Lila Shego, except Shego is an actually likeable villain who’s genuinely smart, badass, and fun to watch. So, idk who Shego is, definitely not any of the catty girl rivals Marinette has to put up with, but you can’t have a Kim Possible AU without Shego, so she’s definitely in there. 

     • Max is probably Wade. Honestly makes the most sense, but here’s a suggestion: Max and Kim are the ones who contact Marinette when she has a mission. Max is great with numbers, technology, etc, but Kim’s expertise in completely random shit like sports, terrain, and necessary gear needed for specific situations makes him a valuable asset to the team.

     • We all know who Chloé is going to be, I don’t even need to say it but I will anyways. Say hello to our Bonnie, everyone. She was probably in that ballet class with Marinette and Adrien too, years ago. 

     • While Tom Dupain is still a baker, in this AU Sabine Cheng went on to pursue her dream as a literal rocket scientist, and succeeded. So, Sabine is basically Dr. James Timothy Possible. 

     • Adrien has a hairless cat named Plagg. His father is allergic to fur, and Adrien’s allergic to feathers, so he was sort of limited to pets like fish or lizards, neither of which he really wanted. He found Plagg outside gorging himself on camembert by a dumpster. Having been previously a street cat, Plagg’s growth was stunted, so he stayed pretty small.

     • Luka is obviously Josh Mankey. Marinette and Luka date for a while, but eventually break up on mutual terms due to him not being able to handle some of the dangerous things that pop up in her life often. While he doesn’t panic when things go south, he’s not really physically equipped to protect himself... He’s a musician, not a fighter.

     • Listen, y’all can fight me, Marinette’s longest relationship before finally getting together with Adrien is going to be with Kagami. Kagami handles the dangerous things that go on in Marinette’s life perfectly well, and they date for several months. Eventually, they do break up, but still remain good friends. (This is the period in which Adrien realises he’s jealous of Kagami, and has feelings for Marinette.)

Get Together

     • For those of you who haven’t watched Kim Possible, (and honestly what the hell are you even doing with your life if you haven’t,) Kim and Ron get together at a school dance (prom, but I don’t think prom exists in France,) and share a slow dance with each other. Uhhh so basically think Despair Bear, except Adrien and Marinette are wearing fancy clothes, just got together, and share a kiss in the end.

     • Marinette had recently broken up with Kagami before the dance, and is a little upset over not having a date when she already made herself a dress. Adrien is dealing with his realisation that he likes Marinette romantically, but keeps quiet about it and gives her a shoulder to cry on because she’s hurt, and he’s not going to take advantage of that. He suggests they go to the dance together as friends.

     • Kagami is there, and Adrien confronts her as to why she had broken up with the most amazing girl in Paris. She tells him that she came to the conclusion that, though she loved Marinette with all her heart, Marinette clearly had someone else as her #1. Kagami was sick of having to compete for that position when the other person didn’t even need to try. Adrien is left baffled by this.

     • Marinette overhears this as she’s walking over to ask Adrien for a dance. Kagami looked past Adrien’s shoulder, directly into Marinette’s eyes, and smiled knowingly. Then she walked away, sipping at her drink. 

     • Adrien turns around, pretty green eyes latching onto hers, and Marinette immediately understands what Kagami had meant. A slow song comes on, and she asks him to dance. Things fall in place from there.

     • (Of course, after they’ve kissed and become a couple, some dumb villain is going to inevitably crash the party and try to kill Marinette, as usual, but they deal with it like they always do.)

Alright that’s the end! This was an almost completed draft of mine I had, and since I’ve been lacking on content recently, I thought I’d quickly polish this up a bit and post it. I also have some other completed things I could polish up on, but eh, don’t feel like it right now. Enjoy!

(And maybe tell me how you’d imagine your favourite KP episode would go with Marinette and Adrien as the protagonists instead!)

[wethepixies]

Welcome to part two of our interview series, pixies! Today, we’re presenting our interview with four of the flaptastic people who make this rewrite possible. They had a lot to say, so this post is rather long - keep reading to see the full interviews!

Our first two Game Creator interviews feature two of our beloved artists - Rachel and Ci.

How did you first find out about the WTP project, and what inspired you to start working as an artist?

Rachel: In a computer graphics class I took last semester, one of our projects reminded me and my friend of Pixie Hollow, so we were reminiscing about the game and I really wanted to see if there was a rewritten version of it. When I found WTP and saw they were accepting artist applications, I was super excited because I loved the game and was starting to get into animation at the time as well. I also just adore the process of game development in general, so I was thrilled to become a part of WTP.

Ci was introduced to the project by a friend who’s also a staff member!

What is your favorite part of your job as a WTP artist?

Rachel: My favorite part is being able to contribute my work to a bigger project. Seeing the art I worked on in the game is really exciting to me. Just knowing that the work you put in is helping to further the game is really cool. As for my favorite thing to work on, it’s really strange, but I enjoy creating the UI buttons and signs for different meadows or shops.They’re super small and no one really pays attention to them, but they’re also extremely necessary so I guess I just like to make them, haha. They don’t always take too long to make but I think they’re cute. Also, I’m especially excited for all the new meadows, as I really enjoy helping to restore the beautiful art for the meadows.

Check out this gorgeous sign that Rachel restored for one of our meadow teleporters!

Ci: My favorite piece of art that I’ve created for WTP was probably a background I restored for a general winter theme/season back when I first joined. It’s not being used right now, but it’s pretty and you’ll just have to take my word for it :’)

How long does it take for you to work on art for WTP, and how do you fit that in your schedule?

Rachel: The time it takes really depends on how much of the project we have completed already. Oftentimes we’ll be working collaboratively and finish what other people have started. So if we are working on something from scratch it can take quite a while, but sometimes it’s just a matter of adding finishing touches and compiling pieces together to create a finished product. And each task takes a different amount of time. For instance, resizing something small will take a few minutes, but creating an atlas for fairy clothing can take hours, especially when you need to restore an item from scratch. Either way, I think it’s still beneficial for us to take our time to create the best product we can. Personally, I don’t always get to work everyday, but when I do, I’ll spend hours because I like to finish tasks in one sitting if I can, although I can’t always haha.  I think that working in moderation is always a good idea as long as you’re getting your work done, and knowing we have so many fans really pushes me to get tasks done and do them well. As for fitting it into my schedule, because of quarantine, I definitely have a lot more time to work on WTP, but during the school semester I would have to plan out what I needed to get done and when I needed to do it in order make sure I could get all of my school projects and WTP work done on certain days in order to avoid as much stress as possible. 

Ci: I don’t have time to work on artwork daily, but I do try to stay on top of what other people are working on, so a small chunk of my day is dedicated to discord. Sometimes I’ll be busy for weeks and do a whole bunch of tasks afterwards in one go, and sometimes I try to take on smaller things (pre-corona I’d sometimes spend time between lectures because that’s often the only time I have!). Some tasks are 5 minute jobs, like UI, but others, like adding clothing, take a few hours. Backgrounds probably take me the longest. A couple hours for a few days, if I have time to work on them daily. They’re really fun when starting!! but after day 3 it’s quite the grind. I like to sleep on those, since there’s so much detail in the PH backgrounds that I’ll inevitably miss something.

Rachel, you mentioned atlases and spritesheets - can you explain what they are and how you use them?

Rachel: An atlas and spritesheet contains all of the different variations of a clothing item or anything you can change on the fairy. So for instance, the hair atlas has all of the different types of hair you can choose when creating your fairy packed into one single file. So in order to make one you have to create all the hair pieces, position them correctly on a fairy reference, export each hair image, and then combine them all onto the atlas file. Then a json file is also created to describe where each image is in the file in order to use it in the game. The spritesheet is similar and is basically a horizontal version of the atlas with all of the images that we use in CAF to scroll through whatever you’re changing.

Do you start the graphics by hand or via some digital web design program?

Rachel: I almost always use digital programs. Sometimes I’ll plan something out quickly on paper but most of the time I’ll use Photoshop. We also use DragonBones for animation.

Ci: All of the research we do is online, so it saves a couple of steps and retains image quality to just keep everything digital. I also don’t have a scanner :’)

And finally, what’s the most challenging piece of art that you’ve made for WTP?

Rachel: The most challenging piece that I’ve done for WTP was probably the hair atlas for when a player creates a fairy because it was the first project I was taking on. All the hair was made already, I just had to resize, reposition, and fix any pieces that were lower quality, and although it was daunting at first, once I started, I was able to get the hang of it (even if it took a few tries), and now I’m super happy I learned how to do it.

Ci: We were missing a whole area of the CAF background (the part that shows up when you’re picking a name) that got passed around for one or two months, and eventually I got to work on it. It was the closest to a custom piece of art that I’ve made for WTP; the middle was a giant blur when I got to it. My motivation to complete it was honestly just being able to get it off the to-do list forever, when I was done I posted a before and after to the staff chat (which I try not to do bc it’s not really productive) because I was so excited about it :’))

__________________

We had so much fun learning more about our artists’ jobs! Next up, we decided to sit down with WTP game developer and administrator Teresa!

How did you first find out about the WTP project, and what inspired you to start working as a developer? 

Teresa: A friend I made in the Pixie Hollow community said that her favorite mini game was Bubble Bounce, so I decided to make it for her. I had started prototyping and showing it around, and someone from WTP saw my work and invited me to join the team.

As we know, WTP is a voluntary project. How do you fit working on WTP into your schedule?

Teresa: I’m actually quite good at time management, and I’ve decided to make WTP a priority. That means that I can’t always say ‘yes’ to other things I want to do, but that’s ok.

What are some of the main things you look for when adding staff members?

Teresa: You need to be able to take criticism well and communicate effectively. A certain level of quality needs to be maintained to build a good game, and criticism sheds light on any blind spots you may have. If you aren’t communicating clearly and frequently, then your value to the team is very low – everyone needs to be on the same page so that work doesn’t get redone and wasted, and to keep an accurate development schedule. Being willing to devote more than a couple of hours a week is also a major plus.

How do you decide which parts of the game you should work on first?

Teresa: There’s this concept called the Minimum Viable Product. Basically, you just strip the project down to what is necessary and work out the kinks. Then you can add new features that enhance the gameplay.

What’s the most challenging issue you’ve faced while creating the game?

Teresa: There was a problem with the animation plugin that I was hoping would be fixed by the maintainers before the demo release. It was a really big deal, the game would be entirely unplayable. At the last minute, I had to dig into the plugins source code and figure it out myself. In the end, it wasn’t actually so difficult – but boy was it stressful. Really I would say that the biggest problems have stemmed from not having enough artists on the team! There have been multiple times where we had to delay updates because we didn’t have all of the assets ready for me to use in the game.

How do you go about fixing a game bug?

Teresa: Gather all the info I can from users experiencing the bug, and try to reproduce it. Just observing the behavior is often enough to figure out the problem. When it’s not, check the logs or step through with the debugger.

Have you ever worked on or made a game before WTP?

Teresa: I’ve worked a bit on some 3D open source game projects, never worked on the multiplayer parts before, though. I also make mods for games.

Lastly, what are your favorite and most rewarding parts of being a game developer?

Teresa: Pushing the boundaries of my knowledge and comfort zone, definitely. As a developer, I’ve learned a lot of new technologies and some new domains specifically for WTP. I also find being able to fix things that I don’t like about games very rewarding. Being an administrator has benefitted me as well. As an admin, I’ve had to cultivate skills in team leadership and project management.

__________________

Finally, we interviewed Lavender Merryheart, our sound designer.

First off, how did you first find out about the WTP project?

Lavender: I found WTP from a Youtube video, and played the demo. I was excited to be able to re-visit PH and when I saw the audio designer application, I wanted to help out however I could!

Are you remaking the music from scratch based on any remaining audio from sources like youtube?

Lavender: Both! We salvage what we can, and re-create what’s needed if. In the future, there will be some new, original music too! When we need a sound effect or music, we first check to see if there’s a good quality clip preserved of the original. It needs to be clear and without extra background sounds. If we can’t find any, then I will dissect the sound or song and try to figure out how it was made, then recreate it.

You mentioned that you make new sounds if needed, how do you go about making them?

Lavender: New sound effects are made by piecing different recordings together, such as the audio you hear when you click the talent orbs, which was re-made from the sounds of a heavy book shutting and wind chimes. If we need to remake a song, I make a new track by re-recording each instrument’s part on a midi keyboard. Then it will be edited it in Logic Pro X, using instruments and synths from the Kontakt audio library.

What’s the part of being an audio designer that you’re most excited about?

Lavender: I’m most excited about getting to write new music for the game! I can’t reveal to you what it’s going to be used for yet, but in the process for the last WTP track I wrote, I thought about how to represent the area it will be used for and what instruments and mood would suit it the best. It was a lot of fun to try to both express my style and also give it that Pixie-Hollow-sound!

Finally, how do you fit working on WTP into your schedule?

Lavender: I keep a to-do list and project notes to help organize what needs to be done, and work on WTP between class assignments. To refrain from burning out, I try to spread out my different tasks and work on a variety of things.

__________________

After we learned about what goes on behind the scenes on WTP, we wanted to learn a little bit about some future plans and hopes the staff have for the game. 

Art wise, what sorts of things will be designed from scratch in the future?

Rachel: Although we still have a long way to go before creating our own work as we have to replicate what was in the original game first, I believe that new clothing and hair might be designed from scratch in the future.

Ci: Right now, we’re still committed to restoring the game in its original form–this means that we try not to design anything from scratch. We’ve discussed the possibility of custom content in the future (items + clothing, pets, meadows, maybe even minigames?), and when the time comes, all of that will be built from scratch. That said, pertaining to the look and feel of the original pixie hollow will be a priority for those updates too.

What game feature from Pixie Hollow are you most excited to have?

Teresa: Personally, I am excited for the skill system and wilderness! We have some new ideas to try out, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

Do you plan to have seasonal differences and events, as well as competitions and activities?

Teresa: Yep! Can’t wait! We are already featuring player’s outfits in the shop catalogue, so that’s sort of a mini fashion spotlight, but there’s definitely more exciting things to come. Fashion spotlight was one of the most beloved competitions/events in the original Pixie Hollow!

In the future, will the game be available for mobile and/or consoles?

Teresa: You can already play WTP on mobile! At some point we will have options that allow the game to run smoother on mobile devices. Console versions won’t be a thing, though.

Is there anything that was in the original Pixie Hollow that you’d like to change in WTP?

Lavender: I would change the whisper noise it made when you got a message, it got a bit annoying. And it would be really neat if you could choose from a few different songs to have played in your fairy’s home depending on your mood! I had the ice themed house and have heard the music a few too many times!

Teresa: There are things I want to tweak, and fully plan to! We have already added a couple of small new things, such as the second sitting pose and featuring real player’s outfits in the shop catalogue. I hope everyone enjoys them!

The last thing we wanted to talk about is the staff’s personal feelings about WTP and about their jobs, as well as ask them about their inspiration.

Is there anything new that working on WTP has teached you?

Rachel: As an artist here I am definitely learning new technical skills and developing as an artist in general. Some examples of art skills I’ve been able to develop include creating atlases and spritesheets for fairy clothing and hair, getting familiar with DragonBones as I’d never used it for animation, and just gaining more experience in Photoshop. And I basically just learned all these things by trying them out and asking questions if I needed help.

Lavender: Through WTP I’ve learned more about creating sound effects, because when remaking the old sounds for WTP, I really have to think about what each one is made out of (for example, the pouch sound was re-created using a paper bag rustling, leaves crunching, and a bell synth).

How do you feel about the community growing so much in a short amount of time?

Teresa: I really didn’t expect it, and it has been a bit stressful, but I hope we are handling it well. I would never have imagined that a TikTok would be the reason either! Having more eyes on us makes me feel restless. We had to adapt the discord server to keep it safe and make information more accessible to new members.

What do you remember about Pixie Hollow? And did it change your life in any way?

Lavender: I joined right at the beginning, and loved how it really felt like you were stepping into a different, magical world. My favorite thing to do was decorating and creating/collecting items for my house, as well as the minigames and item crafting/ baking, I’m most excited to see these features again! Also, a good memory from the game I have is going to the summer pool party in the ballroom, and playing games in the tearoom with friends! The music in Pixie Hollow was one of my earliest inspirations for pursuing a career in film/game scoring. Currently I am studying for a degree in film/game scoring! I’m obsessed with fantasy games, nature, fairy tales, magic, and mythology, and I write music to try and illustrate the stories and have the listener feel like they’re visiting the scene. You can hear some of my original music on Spotify under the name June Westfield!

Rachel: I was so young that I have trouble remembering everything. I do remember sometimes getting on the phone with my friends and talking as we played together and explored meadows, which was really fun. I also really enjoyed completing tasks and playing the minigames. I have no idea why that was so fun to me, but I just liked getting achievements and beating my scores.  

Do you feel like some people may have unrealistic expectations for WTP? And do you think it can ever be as big as Pixie Hollow was?

Teresa: Yes, but I can’t blame them. So far I am the only developer to have actually worked on this game, so it’s a lot of pressure, but of course the players can’t know that. For some reason the things that everyone thinks will be the easiest to code are always the more difficult ones, funnily enough. For example, a flying mechanic like the original game is sort of complex, whereas adding new meadows is extremely simple. Do I think WTP will ever be as big as PH? Definitely not. Pixie Hollow had millions of players, Disney advertised it, and it had a full development team behind it. A lot of the original players will have moved on. I’m actually surprised that so many people have found us already!

Are there any artists that you look up to or are inspired by?

Rachel: I don’t have anyone specific in mind who I look up to, but I do watch a lot of cartoons and really admire animation and all of the work that goes into it. I get really inspired seeing different animated works and am super impressed by the entire process of it.

Ci: I used to actively make art outside of WTP and definitely had a whole list of people whose styles I looked up to, but now that I’ve moved away from that I mostly remember individual pieces. I had to dig some up for this question! loish, gawki, and Hethe Srodawa, are a few.

Lavender: Some composers that inspire me are Enya, Faun, Loreena McKennitt, and Secret Garden. They are all fantasy/new age genre artists that create enchanting music!

The WTP community is a great place to make friends! Is there a person in the staff that you’ve formed a strong friendship with?

Rachel: I’ve definitely become a lot closer with many of the staff members, whether it be looking up to certain people like our team leads, chatting with the other artists in DMs and helping each other out, or just having fun conversations with all the other staff members and sharing funny stories and pictures.

Teresa: Asteria is probably the best friend I’ve made at WTP, as we have talked the most. I have also met Kass in real life – she’s the sweetest! I love everyone on our team.

(Kass is one of our moderators - we’ll hear from her in the final interview post!)

And finally, What does working on a game that’s so loved by people mean to you?

Teresa:  It is so heartwarming to be a part of something that brings people joy and makes them nostalgic. Pixie Hollow’s fan base can make me a bit anxious at times. Sometimes a group of players will want one thing, and then another group wants the exact opposite and it can be hard to make a choice. There’s a lot of pressure in trying to stay true to the original game’s vision while also being fresh, but it drives me to deliver the best work I can. I put a lot of time into WTP, and have actually burnt out a few times already. Luckily, I love building things so much that it never lasts long.

________________

Next up in our interview series - our social media team and server moderators! Stay tuned to hear their answers to some of your questions.

[hellyeahomeland]

“Prisoners of War”: an HYH recap

The finale of our last season opens just as the finale of our first season did: with Nicholas Brody’s suicide tape. Brody stands before us just as we remember him: uniform pressed, grainy black and white, defending his decisions to the masses. Carrie drives late at night, her face steely, as those familiar words echo in her ears: “People will say I was broken, I was brainwashed. People will say that I was turned into a terrorist, taught to hate my country. I love my country.”

She arrives home, again, to an empty house.

Back in New York, Linus is paying Saul a surprise visit.

Saul: Hey, man! Am I fired yet? Linus: Miraculously, no! But Jalal Haqqani is definitely not dead, did you have any idea? Saul: Yeah, it was my entire idea. I didn’t tell you so you’d have plausible deniability. Linus: WHERE IS THE ALLIGATOR? Look, Hayes is pissed and is saying he’s going to take out Pakistan’s nuclear facilities if they don’t stand down. Saul: Jesus. Ok, get in the car, I’ll explain why I’ve been acting so fishy on the way back.

The next morning, Carrie’s enjoying a nice cup of coffee while watching her former enemy Tasneem deliver an address at the UN. Tasneem explains that the US are basically a bunch of annoying bullies and they have no choice but to defend themselves with everything they have. After, Anna goes back to the Russian Federation’s office and into Director Mirov’s office, where she notices the red flight recorder. She recaps Tasneem’s speech and Mirov is delighted because they’re all about to get promotions. Anna is steely-faced and says he deserves it.

Carrie arrives at Charlotte Benson’s giant mansion. Two Russian hunks, one of whom looks EXACTLY LIKE Jonas but is not, escort her to Charlotte’s murder demo. Actually, Carrie’s not going to murder him. She’s just gonna mix a few chemicals and create a gel that she rubs on his skin to immobilize him, then the Russians hunks will murder him. According to Yevgeny, they’re the best, and Yevgeny wants nothing but the best for his girl. Carrie looks like she may actually vomit, even though I already completed that bingo square.

In the Oval Office, Saul arrives for his meeting with Hayes but instead it’s just Evil Spawn Zabel, who looks so totally delighted to be going one-on-one with Saul again. Saul shares that the flight recorder indicates the helicopter wasn’t shot down after all, it was just mechanical failure. Zabel seems intrigued initially, the wheels in his head probably spinning to figure out how he can play this to his advantage. But Saul doesn’t have the recording and in fact has no proof. Zabel says he’s full of shit. They basically talk past each other, neither side budging from the facts (or, as Zabel would say, “facts”). He pronounces Saddam in Saddam Hussein like it rhymes with “Goddamn” and then says the Iraq War was a good idea “for the record.” Hugh Dancy revels in the slime.

Saul’s relaying this shitshow to Linus when he arrives home to find St. Maggie. Mr. Bill “I’ve Had It” Mathison has a friend who swore he saw Carrie at Langley the other day, which makes no sense to me or to Maggie but Saul’s like “could have happened!” Wasn’t Carrie on trial for being involved in the president’s murder? Anyhoozles, Maggie is once again exasperated with Carrie, her sister whom she just can’t understand. Carrie hasn’t even stopped by to see Franny. Saul agrees it’s strange.

Ironically, while Maggie is paying a house visit to Saul, Carrie is paying a house visit to Maggie. Well, more specifically to Franny’s bedroom, where’s she’s hidden a go-bag filled with cash and a shitload of meds and a half dozen passports. On her way out, she pauses on a photo of Franny, her hair red as ever, in a bright yellow rain coat. She takes it with her.

Later that night, Carrie arrives back at Saul’s, looking again like she could hurl at any minute. She spots the Russian hunks in a nearby car lighting up a cigarette. She steps inside to find Saul, sitting in his library, listening to the Fleabag soundtrack. It’s very ominous. Dad is NOT happy!

He confronts her immediately. Why hasn’t she seen Franny? Actually, why the fuck is she even back here? Seems like she’s planning a quick escape. But why come back in the first place?

She deflects initially, but it’s Saul. She knows that he knows. He knows that she knows that he knows. There is a lot of knowing going on.

Carrie: You know the answers to all your questions. Saul: I still want to hear you say it. With my own ears. Carrie: I made a deal with Yevgeny. The flight recorder for your asset in Moscow. Saul: Asset? What asset? Carrie: Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I know she exists. I know how you communicate. Saul: Good God, Carrie, tell me you haven’t. If you have, you’ve permanently crippled our position in Russia. She’s the last live source we have there. The rest were sent to the wall by Allison Carr, a thing that was 0% my fault. Carrie: We can rebuild the intelligence network. Saul: It’ll take a decades. Meanwhile they slowly strangle us. Carrie: Let’s worry about all that tomorrow. We’re on the brink of nuclear war today in case you forgot. Saul: Relax, I’m talking to some journalists tomorrow. Carrie: Lol, like that will make a flying fuck worth of a difference. Saul: Well, sometimes that’s the price of doing business. Carrie: Who even are you? Saul: What do you want from me? Carrie: GIVE ME HER NAME. Saul: I never will. God, get the fuck out of my house. You’re turning yourself in ASAP.

Carrie storms upstairs and starts to mix the not-murder potion. For some reason she forgets to close the door because Saul walks in a few moments later. She panics and smears the gel across his neck. He looks confused for a second and then collapses. Carrie looks in shock at her mentor sprawled out on the floor. She signals the Russian hunks on the street outside. Sara begins to have an actual panic attack thinking Carrie might murder Saul.

Saul can hear her, of course, but he can’t move. He can barely speak. She tells him to give her the name, now, or some Russian dudes are gonna murder him. She says it’s out of her hands when it’s entirely in her hands. She explains to him the legacy plan. The poor guy looks literally dumbstruck. She asks him to see reason. No one person can be worth the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It’s an interesting replay of his conversation with Zabel earlier.

The GRU team walks in then — she gives him one final chance, but he still won’t say her name. They take him into his bedroom, which is GIANT, and begin prepping for the murder.

Carrie tries again. She tries really hard, with everything she has.

“Everything you have ever asked of me, I have done.” In a single line, their whole relationship, eight seasons’ worth. He stares back up at her, simultaneously expressionless and filled with hurt and pain. Is there no fucking line?

Then: “Come here,” he mumbles, barely audible. She leans in close to him, expectant. “Go fuck yourself.” A fat tear rolls down her face and she shakes her head at the GRU team. She says something about a fallback plan and then turns toward Saul, every inch of herself sorry and lost and guilty. “I had to try,” she says quietly.

The fallback plan is to go see Saul’s sister Dorit (“Saul, what do you have?”) in the West Bank. And, once there, to tell Dorit that Saul’s died of a stroke and Dorit needs to go back to DC at once for funeral arrangements. Carrie plays somber yet dutiful surrogate daughter well. She’s disgusted with herself but, again, can’t hold back. Wherever the line is, if it existed, she’s lost it now.

While she’s helping Dorit pack, she makes her move and pokes around the legacy plan. Dorit, like Mira before her, sees her brother in this woman all too clearly. “Always an ulterior motive,” she says. But Dorit is kind-hearted and she does have an envelope for Carrie. There’s a thumb drive inside and Carrie looks so relieved she could cry. She sends Dorit on her way (but not before swiping her phone... I LOVE YOU CARRIE).

Back in Washington, Saul has full motor control again but he’s really late for his meeting with those journalists, and Linus, ever the mensch and detective, realizes something’s fishy pretty immediately. Nevertheless, Carrie’s just given word to Yevgeny that she has the name, so they peace out anyway.

Yevgeny arrives at Dorit’s house on cue and dressed for warm weather. Carrie’s not getting a needle to the neck this time. She’s on full alert, gun pointed straight at him before he even walks through the door. She makes a big show of patting every inch of his body down for a weapon that he actually doesn’t have, and then tosses him a piece of paper with Anna’s name. Then she shows him what’s on the flash drive.

Here’s what’s on the flash drive: a much darker-haired Saul, with different glasses, explaining who Anna is. Aside from Carrie, she is the most important professional relationship in his life. She’s an asset but she runs herself (sounds familiar!). She is extraordinary. And he never told her because he was protecting her. Carrie turns away — his soft, sure words are like daggers. Everything he’s talking about on that tape is destroyed. Carrie took a match to it all.

Anna’s now burned and Mirov knows. Saul rings up Resident Hottie Scott Ryan at the UN for an assist. Saul pleads with him to get Anna out of there ASAP. At the same time, Mirov’s men run in quick pursuit. Scott and Anna make their way to a dead-end room in the basement and barricade the door. Anna asks for a gun, not to shoot her way out… well, at least not out. Anna is determined, assured, confident. She won’t let them take her. You can tell how she’s been such an incredible, independent asset all these years and why Saul wants so desperately to save her. Scott refuses to hand over his gun and Anna asks to phone a friend.

On the phone, Saul reacts initially just like Scott. There’s got to be another way. We can get out of this, you don’t have to do this. But she is persistent, she’s determined. She wants to end this on her own terms. “I’ve never known anyone so brave,” Saul says, his eyes wide. He orders Scott to give her the gun. On the other end of the line, Saul hears the single shot. He winces in pain.

Shockingly, Russia followed through with their end of the deal and Mirov gets up at the UN with brand new evidence that Jalal Haqqani didn’t shoot down the president’s helicopter. It was an accident and now the whole world can hear the cockpit recording for themselves. Watching in Israel, Carrie’s disgusted. Yevgeny, ever the considerate boyfriend, asks if she’s ok.

Carrie: Just cut the bullshit, the game’s over. Also, why the fuck are you still here? Just leave already. Russia’s a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace Prize and a decent woman is going to be tortured and killed by your government. Yevgeny: That decent woman got two assets of mine killed in Cyprus. Carrie: Oh, I’m sure they were both good samaritans. Yevgeny: Fine, if you want to blame me, go ahead. Carrie: Good, I do blame you! Yevgeny: Look, sometimes it’s just the cost of doing business. I did what I had to do. Carrie: WHY DO ALL THE MEN IN MY LIFE SAY THE SAME THINGS? Yevgeny: He should have pulled Anna from the field the second he realized what you were doing. Carrie: You just don’t fucking get it. He didn’t pull her because he trusted me. He fucking loved me. I betrayed him. I broke that.  Do you even understand what that means? Yevgeny: You’ll survive. So will he. Carrie: I don’t know what it’s like on your side but it must be very lonely.

In the Oval Office, Hayes, Zabel, and Linus—still not eaten by an alligator—are huddled around the TV watching Mirov’s press conference. Mirov pleads with Hayes to stand down following the reveal of this big misunderstanding. Suddenly Zabel looks like he wants to get eaten by an alligator! Hayes asks Linus, who hasn’t been addressed directly by POTUS in 4-6 weeks, for a direct line with the military. They get Owens on the phone. Zabel’s plan to start a phony war to consolidate power and kill more brown people has been thwarted. Everything’s coming up Linus!

Back at Dorit’s house, Yevgeny tells Carrie that Anna’s killed herself. She’s about to make some quippy remark like “Sorry you missed out on some gulag fun” when Yevgeny connects the dots for her and says that Saul must have warned her. And then Carrie connects the dots for us: Israeli counter-intelligence knows too. Time to book it! They hop in their getaway car and head for Ramallah. Yevgeny has people there who can smuggle her into Syria. And then? And then…

Are you sitting down? We fast forward two years. We’re in Moscow. Carrie Mathison is in a large, spacious penthouse. She is applying MASCARA. TO HER EYELASHES. HER HAIR IS CURLED.

“You almost ready?” says a familiar, accented voice. IT’S YEVGENY. She turns and smiles. Y’ALL THEY ARE LIVING TOGETHER IN MOSCOW.

Sara: [head explodes]  

He asks if she’s excited. “Very.” Remember in season five when Claire’s like, “Carrie’s doing great, for five minutes.” This is like that only better.

Yevgeny gives her a gold necklace, for “finishing.” Do we all get one too? He tells her what she’s done is very, very important and it’s time to celebrate. It’s sort of surreal. The best way I can think of to describe it is the season of Lost where Jack and Kate are off the island and living together and in love and if you were, say, into that, it was paradise. If you were, say, not into that, it was bizarre as fuck.

Once ready, Carrie runs into her office to get her purse. It’s… about what you’d expect her office to look like. There are stacks of books everywhere, documents printed out and tacked to the wall, sticky notes all over the window. The picture of Franny in the yellow rain coat is still there. She turns to the wall and takes it in. It’s pages and pages of news articles about the CIA’s drone program, Abu Ghraib, the black sites, torture. Familiar figures—in real life and in-show—are visible. Snowden, Brody, Quinn, Keane. It’s her professional career—her entire life—arrayed in one final collage for us to take in. The familiar closing score from “The Star” begins playing as she shuts off the lights.

Cut to Saul, in his house, now much emptier. He and Dorit are packing boxes. He’s had a heart attack and is moving out, presumably to someplace where he’s not alone all the time. The phone begins to ring. It’s someone looking for a Professor Rabinow.

Then the jazz stars to play. Yevgeny’s big celebration for Carrie was a jazz concert by Kamasi Washington and crew. It’s electrifying. They’re both into it, bobbing their heads as much as one can bob their head to jazz. It’s a clever callback not only to the jazz musicians Carries spots in the pilot but also to this oft-parodied passion of hers. The cacophonous sounds, it’s bliss.

The song finishes and out of the corner of her eye Carrie spots a woman in the orchestra exit her seat. She absentmindedly rubs Yevgeny’s knee. It’s a subtle but specific detail with one purpose and that is to reveal that this relationship is real. It is comfortably intimate. It exists in the grey--in the duplicity--that Carrie’s relationships with men have always existed in. Maybe that’s her happiness. Maybe that’s how she’s not alone.

In DC, Saul pays a visit to his friend Claude, who calls him Professor repeatedly, even though Saul claims all that stuff is over with. Well, the package addressed to Professor Rabinow that was just delivered this morning begs to differ.

At the concert, Carrie excuses herself to go freshen up her makeup and ends up at the vanity right next to that woman she’d spotted. The other woman eyes Carrie, before casually taking off with Carrie’s purse. Carrie takes hers.

At his home, Saul has the Professor Rabinow package. He opens it. It’s Carrie’s book, the presumed result of all that research in her office. It’s called Tyranny of Secrets. A haunting black-and-white image of Carrie stares back at him from the cover. This is her work... and it’s his, too. He flips through the first few pages. He reads the subtitle, “Why I Had to Betray My Country.” And the dedication, “For my daughter, in the hope that one day she will understand.”  

He doesn’t get it until he does. He flips the book upside down into that familiar Y shape and then extracts a slim piece of paper from the spine. She reads: “Greetings from Moscow, Professor. The Russian S400 missile defense system sold to Iran and Turkey has a back door. It can be defeated. Specs to follow. Stay tuned.” He looks up in awe, a hint of a smile across his face.

At the concert, the saxophone blares in her ears, vocals ringing, strings, bass, piano, drums. Everything, all at once. She sighs, then smiles, bathed in blue light. Not noise. Music.

[mamthew]

I figured for you fine folks playing Persona 5 Royal, I'd take some time to write about some Japanese cultural features I learned while researching the game that might help some folks to contextualize the game's themes. I hope that this knowledge might enhance others' experiences with the game that way it has enhanced mine. Before I start, though, I'd like to start with two disclaimers: First, it's important to remember that while these cultural features might hold different levels of importance in our own respective cultures, that doesn't mean they're entirely alien to us, either. Bong Joon-ho said of the success of his film, Parasite, that "we all live in the same country now: that of capitalism," and that sentiment similarly applies to many of these other concepts. Much of what I'm writing about here are simply the Japanese flavor of power dynamics and societal structures we all live in, and I'm neither looking down on Japanese people nor claiming that my own culture is free of these power dynamics and societal structures when I identify them. Second, I'm not Japanese, and thanks to the Covid outbreak, I actually missed my shot to visit Japan. I have a close friend from Japan with whom I've discussed much of the research I've done, but I'd love to hear from other folks who are more familiar than I am. If I say something here that's inaccurate, or doesn't line up with your own experiences, let me know in the comments, or direct message my page! I've pulled much of this from a bunch of different academic sources, but unfortunately I've only got the one personal source with whom I can regularly discuss what I've learned, and he obviously can't be an expert at everything I've read about. The most central theme to Persona 5 is that of seki, which Joanna Liddle describes in "Rising Suns, Rising Daughters: Gender, Class, and Power in Japan" as "the idea that there is no proper place in society for a person who is not registered in an institution or organisation." Persona 5 is a game in which all of its characters are stuck on the margins of society, and playing it through the lens of seki helps to place this into sharp focus. Seki is best understood as the organization of society into in-groups and out-groups. In Yasuo Aoto's "Nippon: The Land and its People," he notes that this very strong consciousness of who is and isn't in groups can be attributed to historical factors, citing the need for joint cooperation in rice cultivation, the long history of feudalism, and the Confucian emphasis on belonging to a clan. The most clear example of a seki is the koseki family registration system, an outdated holdover from a bygone era, maintained for so long essentially to maintain some form of codified oppression of women after the current constitution bestowed them full rights. The koseki was once a fully public document that displayed the names of every member of a specific family. Women who married were stricken from their family's kosekis and written into their husband's kosekis instead, while women who divorced were stricken from those, finding themselves and any children they took with them without a family to which they officially belonged. Women who married into families without kosekis (to foreigners, for instance, or to a "mukosekisha," a person whose birth wasn't registered) were stricken from their own kosekis but weren't written into new ones, essentially making them less Japanese. Now, kosekis aren't accessible to the public, but they still legally enforce that certain people are less legitimate as citizens. In some ways, not being in a koseki provides similar issues as not having a birth certificate or social security number would in the states. This is a major factor in the stigma against divorcees, as it is common knowledge that a divorced woman and her children are not logged in any koseki. Most of the characters in Persona 5 are from broken families, which means that many of them are not in kosekis, and therefore on a cultural and legal level are less legitimately Japanese for it. Only one of Ann's parents is Japanese; Ryuji's mother divorced her husband; Yusuke, Futaba, and Akechi are orphans. However, seki as a concept is broader than this. One's family is a seki, but so is the company for which they work, their group of friends, their group of coworkers, their classmates, clubs or social groups to which they belong. Sataka Makoto writes in "105 Key Words for Understanding Japan": "There are only a very few people who hop jobs or religions. Job-hoppers are criticized as unstable characters and 'isshakenmei,' [or] devotion to one company, is considered better than 'isshoukenmei,' [or] trying one’s best (....) The Japanese companies are still very much like feudal clans. The top position is often hereditary, like that of a feudal lord, but the employees don’t complain strongly." This strong devotion to one's company has been purposely cultivated to suppress class consciousness. It's commonly believed in Japan that over 90% of Japanese people are middle class. Nakane Chie states that social stratification in Japan is broken up vertically, between companies, rather than horizontally, between classes, saying that, "it is not really a matter of workers struggling against capitalists or managers but of Company A ranged against Company B (...) [they] do not stand in vertical relationship to each other but instead rub elbows from parallel positions." Obviously, it's not true that Japanese is almost entirely middle class; Liddle notes that the economists who argued this defined members of the same class as "homogeneous in lifestyle, attitudes, speech, dress and other status dimensions," but that there is still much variance in assets and vulnerability to economic change. On top of this, the ruling class does still function as a bloc, acting with much more class unity than the working class does. Persona 5 discusses the drastic amount of worker exploitation in the Okumura dungeon. The game shows us "karoshi," a term that literally just means dying from working too much, which is a common occurrence in Japan, and absolutely a result of exploitation of the proletariat by the ruling classes. It's hard to fight back against this exploitation, though, because of the vertical stratification of workers into different corporations. It's a major barrier to class solidarity when workers from two different companies see themselves as being members of different sekis, and therefore not really meant to interact all that much. There's more I'd like to write, especially about the single-party system and just how much Shido is mean to represent Shinzo Abe, but it's almost 4 AM, so I'd better hold off on that. Anyone who's interested in the Koseki can read at least parts of Gender and the Koseki in Contemporary Japan on google books: https://books.google.com/books?id=gR9WDwAAQBAJ This article from 2016 on the koseki system is a quicker read and helps to bring to light some of the system issues: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2016/07/10/issues/japans-discriminatory-koseki-registry-system-looks-ever-outdated/ Part of Rising Suns, Rising Daughters is on google books, and it's a fascinating read if you're interested in class, gender, and the intersections between the two: https://books.google.com/books?id=X7h_6gCRuAUC This article was a good jumping-off point to start seeing some of the real issues discussed in Persona 5: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-real-world-problems-behind-persona-5

[helpvashikaranline-blog]

Love Marriage Specialist in Delhi

Love Marriage Specialist in Delhi

Love Marriage Specialist in Delhi is a marital relationship orchestrated by the tyke and the tyke via their own certain choice with a viewpoint to practices. The fifth residence shows traditions and also customizeds. In like manner religious customs are examined from the nine house. Intercast Love Marriage Specialist Astrologer Ji in Delhi suggests forsaking both the practices and conventions in these letters the fifth house is possessed by strong earths. The most grounded planet to build force for marital relationship or love connections if Saturn took after by rah. In a male chart, if Venus is pestered by Saturn combination or expected by Rahu or a marriage of love showed. The presence of the courteous fellows above need to be rakish in a female graph. So ruins Id is anticipated or participated in your letter with Rahu Saturn viewpoints are going there, she has fun with a guy and has illegal relationships. Inter cast love marriage specialist astrologer ji relies on after the capability of Venus, Rahu, Saturn and the Moon in the male chart.

Love Marriage Specialist in Delhi Help to Solve Your Marriage Problems

Love Marriage Specialist Baba Ji in Delhi is organized marriages, the character exam is done early and also widely. Once a potential partner or man of the hour winds with the character test, households are normally really versatile on the majority of various issues.

(What’s more, it’s suggested certainly, people of character reference reside in palatial houses and also video game Versace only).

1) A family member’s event. You don’t should anxiety over how your friend is going to end up. You’ll understand he’s ideal because your family members do an extensive police-commendable specific verification on his family members, their identifications, their emotional wellness problems and how they accept various family members.

2) Shared high qualities. Family members tend to choose buddies taking into account discussed high qualities. So you could bet your roti, the fellow you’re wedding considers training, cash associated stamina and also keeping up religious and also social customs. He, alright fine– his family members, in addition values gold and also gemstones which they anticipate to offer you for whatever is left of your life. Credit rating!

3) Love blossoms. You may not drop anxiously enamored, yet rather you can be prepared to adore a life that is agreeable, steady as well as persevering. There’s something charming around a love that maintains going. I’ve seen the a lot more extended arranged marriage couples are hitched, the even more grounded their love and also relationship for one another has a tendency to be. Furthermore, it is likely this relationship is the main authentic partnership both sides have had. When you don’t have other specific to contrast with, the individual your wedding celebration can appear like a stunning Rugosa rose.

4) No convincing reason to stick around constantly for that remarkable suitor that may never surface. As Tracy Macmillan has said therefore love relational unions, many girls do not get hitched due to the fact that they’re searching for a large range of shallow high qualities in males. She claims that the major top quality that should matter is character. Given those guys of personality focus on relational unions, and on a regular basis, for the long run! In arranged relational unions, the character exam is done early and also broadly. Once a prospective lady or male of the hour finishes the character test, households are usually truly adaptable on a lot of various problems.

(Exactly what’s more, it’s suggested undoubtedly, individuals of character reference reside in palatial homes and game Versace just).

5) Moms and dad verified as well as sustained. Your individuals anticipate spending a bunch of energy with your upcoming friend who merely means additional thought, representation and also enhanced determination. On the off chance that they cannot stand being around him for rather a very long time (months) on end, you are certainly not going to understand spending energy with your folks as well as spouse. Considering that he’s going to invest household celebrations and also social events with you, ought to uncover somebody who is family members attested as well as accepted.

6) A solid facility. Family members pay unique mind to those things that will stick over the long haul– obtaining restriction as well as expert as well as career potential. Beyond a shadow of a doubt this might be on the blunter side of points to young people yet on the occasion that you’re prevailing feeling, money matters.

The more you have of it as well as the more your future spouse gains, the better off you are.

Gracious, and just how concerning we just claim your in-laws have to move in with you in their maturation, they would love to understand will have the capability to fiscally boost them. In India there is no more prominent event in a household compared to a wedding event, significantly mobilizing each possible social commitment, link bond, conventional quality, passionate supposition, as well as monetary asset. In the masterminding and also leading of wedding events, the mind boggling stages of Indian social structures best reveal themselves. Love Marriage Specialist in Delhi is thought about critical for practically everyone in India. For the individual, marital relationship is the enormous landmark in life, representing the relocate to adulthood. Essentially, this step, such as everything else in India, depends little after specific accord yet rather takes place consequently of the endeavors of various individuals. Certainly, even as one is normally presented to a certain family members without the task of any sort of individual choice, so is one given a mate without specific disposition consisted offsetting up marital relationship is a standard obligation regarding individuals and also various relatives of both lady and also partner to be. Intercast Love Marriage Specialist Baba Ji in Delhi organizations with each other entail some redistribution of riches and furthermore putting together and also rebuilding social realignments, and also, undoubtedly, cause the organic generation of households.

[bluemoonpunch]

speaking of royalties, some armys (so called "manager armys" think BTS are underpaid by Bighit and Bang PD (including BT21 royalties and rejection of individual endorsement deals and projects) so BTS need not to renew their contracts. did your cards ever show anything regarding mistreatment or financial injustice?

I mean, my cards don’t really show me things, lol. I’ve never specifically seen any direct mistreatment between BigHit and the other members in any way that severely affects them mentally or physically. I’ve had my own concerns about how they are getting paid and how much they are getting paid considering the differences in how contracts within the industry differ between the US and SK. 

Like, they have a bunch of random things that ~Western~ artists don’t have such as the company paying for their housing and stuff, even though they can and have bought their own places, plus paying for little things like their travel expenses, which I guess is normal, but they can take a hefty chunk to cover them and their staff. Then the company itself handles everything pretty much, like there’s not the COMPANY, and then the LABLE, and then the MANAGER COMPANY, and then the PR COMPANY, like it’s all done in one place pretty much, so I’m sure there’s more than a standard 15% - 20% cut from every check, right? I’m sure they have some sort of insurance thing with the company as well.

I’m not very educated on idol contracts and what levels there are, how extensive they are, what rights the individuals and the companies have under SK laws, but I’m aware of the fact that some companies just flat out don’t pay their artists at all. Like, they’ll just cover living and travel expenses and leave them with nothing. I feel like BigHit does take a bit of advantage of this, however, I don’t think they’re dumb enough to withhold a shit ton of money from BTS because of how big they are and because they are their only source of income.

All BTS has to do is say they are, all seven of them, considering not renewing their contracts because they feel that they are underpaid and Bang PD will start writing checks right then and there. BTS could drop BigHit and have a $30M contract from LA at their doorstep within 24 hours of the news becoming public. Unlike other groups, BTS does not rely on their company to make them, they made the company. They put BigHit on the map, not the other way around. Fans won’t pull any sort of “company loyalty” the way they might with YG or JYP. It’s purely the people in the group, not the image that the group represents or is attached to, so the relevancy, the money, and the success will follow BTS even through a label change, a name change, or even a location change. BigHit knows that.

They are an asset and really need to be compensated for that because it really is as simple as them deciding to break off from the company and doing shit on their own and BigHit and all of their upcoming groups will go belly up. I’m pretty sure they are paid very well, but I’m also sure that BigHit takes a bigger cut than they should be, but it’s not so much that BTS is still living in a 3 room dorm wearing knock-off designer clothes and shit, you know? 

Like, to put it simply, BTS could be paid more, but they aren’t really being ripped off or taken advantage of. Like, it’s a sensitive area with them, for sure, BTS knows their worth and they do literally just say what cut they want and shit. Like, you know how Jin talked about how he had to talk to staff and shit for like an hour just so he could keep his hair dark? It’s kind of like that like they’ll argue for it because they’re not afraid to. A few years ago, for sure, they would have just kept their mouth shut, but lol, they are beyond that now.

[pdchronicles]

Long Post about Trolls in WoW

I have, for a very long time, had an issue with the way Trolls are portrayed in World of Warcraft.  On the surface, this must sound like a rather pretentious and borderline entitled statement to make, and I understand that.  I’m not trying to sit here and tell Blizzard how they should portray a group of people that they’ve created in their own game and in their own intellectual property.  Instead, I’m trying to explain a potential that I see in them.  I’ve mulled over making a post about this in a place where someone at Blizzard might actually see it, but I’m concerned it will come off as a bunch of complaining in an already saturated echo chamber.  I’m also not confident enough in my own ability to effectively capture my thoughts and articulate them into carefully ordered words.   Before I continue, be aware that I’m going to be referencing things that I’ve seen in BfA’s beta, so there will be heavy spoilers in this post.   I was prompted to make a post like this after seeing the outdoor content that will be released with the new Warfront feature in Arathi Highlands.  Before this content was datamined, we learned that Witherbark Village got an overhaul in its design, with new assets added to spruce the place up and make it look quite nice, and very Troll (even Zandalari) themed.  The Warfront content includes a quest to kill 20 Witherbark Trolls in order to drive them out of Arathi Highlands.  The quest for both the Alliance and the Horde are the same, albeit with slightly different text.  Here is the quest text for the Horde-side quest: “The bloodthirsty Witherbark tribe has always refused to join the Horde... and now that the Horde holds Arathi, we will succeed where the Alliance has failed. Drive the forest trolls from the Highlands.“ In a war between the factions, wouldn’t it make sense for the Horde to try to gain any allies that it could?  A bloodthirsty group of Trolls seems to fit right into the Horde that Blizzard is currently portraying to us.  It’s right there in the quest text.  The Horde’s mentality here is “if they’re not with us, kill them”.  It’s true that this convenient alliance has been done before, such as way back when the Orcs aided the Darkspear Trolls.  Or, when the Taunka joined the Horde in Wrath.  And it’s likely being done again with the Zandalari, because I don’t understand how they would join a Horde led by an undead unless the circumstances were incredibly dire.  (More on that later.)  However, I think the only thing more tired than “convenient alliances” is the “Trolls being driven away from their home” trick.  Darkspear by the naga.  Drakkari by the Scourge.  Amani by the elves.  Frostmane by the Dwarves.  And so on, and so forth.   I think that it’s totally in-character for the Alliance to want to drive the forest Trolls out of Arathi.  However, I think it would make more sense for the Horde to try to work with them, even if it’s just leaving them be and perhaps encouraging them to attack the Alliance for them.  It’s possible that I’m stuck clinging to an idea about the Horde that is no longer relevant.  Before we had Garrosh, who was interested only in orc superiority, and before we had Sylvanas, who cares only about herself, we had a Horde that served as a refuge for the people of Azeroth who suffered because they were different.  This was something that I could relate to, deeply, because I have always felt different myself.  I’m a gay man living in a predominately conservative part of the United States, a country that seems on the brink of a moral crisis, where the people in charge, if they had their way, would deny me basic human rights in the name of their religious beliefs.  I live in a country where the current “president” jokes that his vice-president wants to “hang all the gays”.  I don’t think I need to explain this in any more detail to show how my own feelings of being an outsider made me relate to what the Horde was.  They were a group of misfits who banded together to help each other because the other people around them hated them and didn’t want them to be a part of their world.   The Horde feels much different now.  I struggle to both relate to it, and feel like I’m a part of it.  Still, it would be nice to see a little bit of that from time to time, and the situation in Arathi Highlands offers a small opportunity to do so.   Another reason I felt I needed to rant about all of this is because I’m simply tired of the Trolls being the go-to bad guy fodder.  As if it wasn’t obvious, they are my favorite race in the Warcraft universe.  I love the fact that they are one of the oldest sentient civilizations.  Zuldazar is the oldest city, still standing, in the world.  They mastered magic before the elves.  Elves are descended from Trolls, the magic of the Well of Eternity mutating them into what they are.  Trolls, through their Prelates of Rezan, also mastered the art of the holy warrior before Human paladins ever came into existence.  The Amani Trolls hunted down the C’Thrax and sacrificed almost everything they had to defeat Kith’ix.  They saved the world.  Trolls are the oldest (we think) non-Old God or non-Titan created beings on Azeroth.  They called the Titans “The Travelers”, and they witnessed the Titans first battle with the Old Gods.  Trolls never enslave anyone.  When the lower castes of the Zandalari wished to leave the Empire and go out into the world, the Zandalari encouraged them to do so.  These lower castes would eventually become the Gurubashi, Amani, and Drakkari tribes.  It’s because of these tribes that the Aqir haven’t destroyed Azeroth.  The Trolls’ persistence at hunting them down forced them to split up into separate groups themselves:  Azjol-Nerub, Ahn’Qiraj, and the Mantid Empire. That was quite the history lesson, but it helps to articulate my point.  The Trolls have a long, deep, and varied history.  This makes it an absolute travesty that they are used for little more than villain fodder and comic relief in the game itself.  Every circumstance of the Trolls doing something evil can be traced back and attributed to one thing:  Desperation.  They are constantly losing their home to outside invaders.  The first example of this was the elves, who stole the Troll’s lands because they wanted the magic within it.  The Great Sundering, a fault of elves, caused terrible destruction, death, and starvation for the Trolls.  In desperation, the Trolls called out to their gods, and these calls were answered by Hakkar, and this led to even more suffering.  The Drakkari killed their own gods for their power in a desperate attempt to stop the Scourge from destroying their tribe.   I could go on like this for a really, really long time, but I think you get the point.  For a people so ancient, with so much history, and so much potential for their culture, they deserve better than to be slowly and efficiently erased from existence.  But, that’s what’s been happening over the course of WoW’s history.  Just look at the Darkspear.  They have gotten so little development that we don’t even know who’s leading them right now.  We don’t even have very many of them left to be candidates for the role.  The elephant in the room, of course, is the incredibly disappointing end to Vol’jin’s character arc by unceremoniously killing him off by a random demon in the opening act of Legion.  There are so few notable Darkspear characters that Blizzard invented a new one, just so the Alliance could kill him during the Battle of Lordaeron.  They have already killed off so many of the Tribe that they had to invent one...to also kill off.  This, in a game that felt the need to add two more “races” of playable elves in a game that already has two.  And a new class that’s only playable by elves.  I have never understood this direction. With all of this on my mind, I hope you can see where I’m coming from when I say I’d like to see something other than “kill the Trolls” in a quest.  But, let me shift gears here, and maybe be a little more optimistic for a while.   I’m thrilled that the Zandalari are being added as an allied race for the Horde, and I’m excited that we’re going to get to explore and experience Zandalar.  I do think it’s unfortunate that these things are being added to the game now, because the faction war is really putting me off.  More specifically, the direction of the Horde, and Sylvanas leading it, is really dampening my enthusiasm and I’ve been really struggling to get past that.  It’s going to be really depressing if their methods for getting the Zandalari to join the Horde will be to make them suffer so incredibly that they have no choice but to ally with them.  But hey, I said this was supposed to be optimistic now, so let’s get to that.   In the novel Shadows of the Horde, Vol’jin mentions that King Rastakhan has a plan to unite all of the Trolls once more.  This plan is only hinted at, but it’s described well enough that it is clear that whatever this plan may be, it is different from that of the Prophet Zul.  Vol’jin denied Zul’s offer of joining with him (along with the Drakkari, Farraki, and Gurubashi), and the events of BfA fully reveal what Zul’s plan ultimately entails.  (Hint:  It’s not good.)  King Rastakhan’s plan appears to be different from this, and doesn’t seem to involve any of the shady shit that Zul’s been up to over the last several years.   In that same novel, while Vol’jin is conversing with the spirit of his father Sen’jin, the elder Darkspear seems to indicate that perhaps it is time that a Shadow Hunter once again leads the Trolls, like it was before the formation of the first Empire of Zul.   Fast-forwarding ahead to BfA itself, there is an area in Zuldazar that is sort of a Troll embassy.  It’s a place where a representative from the different Troll tribes meet, each tribe represented by speakers.  The Amani, Farraki, and Gurubashi, being the largest of these tribes, have their own specific areas.  The other, smaller tribes all hang out together.  The existence of this area might just be for flavor, but I like to believe it has some other purpose.  It could be there to give further merit that King Rastakhan is working on a plan to unite the tribes once more.   In addition to this, there is a Zandalari NPC in Zuldazar who offers to give you a glimpse of your future, in a way.  One of the possible things that she tells you mentions the unification of the Troll tribes.  

Again, it could be here for flavor.  But, why?  I’d like to think this is another hint that Rastakhan has some sort of plan for the Trolls, and that we, the player, could be a part of it.  And since this is seen during the Horde leveling experience only, it means it’s the HORDE player that could be a part of it.  The optimist in me hopes this is foreshadowing an eventuality where many, if not all, of the Troll Tribes join the Horde.   Naturally, there are a thousand holes that can be poked into this.  But like the Trolls I love so much, all of this wishing and hoping is a result of desperation, because we’ve been given so very little in regards to the Trolls for years now.  Blizzard just can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to making Trolls suffer.  It doesn’t stop in BfA.  Nazmir is an entire zone dedicated to killing Trolls (Blood Trolls), and there is no option or hope of saving them.  The Zandalari, in turn, are made to suffer through the murder of several of their most revered Loa by both the Blood Trolls and Zul’s fanatics.  It’s questionable whether King Rastakhan will even survive the expansion.   These thoughts, this negativity that I have has been plaguing me for a very long time.  It started in full with Vol’jin’s death.  I don’t mind admitting that watching that happen made me cry, if that’ll better articulate how strongly I feel about this race of misfits.  I’ve felt a pang of sadness and regret every time I’ve watched Blizzard unceremoniously kill off a Troll character before they could be fully developed or their character arcs brought to a meaningful conclusion.  Zuni.  Torunscar.  Zul’jin.  Vol’jin.  Durja.  Zin’Jun.  Not to mention the countless “cannon fodder” NPCs.  The voice line of a dying Troll on the Broken Shore yelling “Da pain!” still fucking haunts me.  Blizzard’s portrayal of Trolls is heartbreaking.   As you can probably tell, I care a bit too much about this.  Trust me, I recognize that.  I’ve been dealing with this in a number of different ways, not least of which is continuously reminding myself that WoW isn’t for me.  It’s for a huge audience of different people with different interests and different passions, and it’s unfair of me to expect my own desires to be fulfilled.  At the end of the day, my point here is that I see incredible potential for amazing stories and it frustrates me that I seem to be in the minority about that.  Games are an amazing medium and they offer this unique ability to make the player feel like a hero.  That feeling is the main reason why I play games in the first place.  The real world is complicated, ugly, confusing, and it’s not always clear which choice is the right one.  In games, it can be different.  You can see the wrong and you can stand up against it or help to fix it.  I’m finding that more and more difficult to experience in WoW because I’m playing a race that I feel its creators care very little about.   In an attempt to wrap this up, because I’ve been at this for way too long already, I want to see what Blizzard has in store for the Zandalari.  Their portrayal will likely decide if I still stay invested in WoW to any degree, or if I finally leave it behind for good.  None of the characters I have exist canonically in WoW’s story any longer.  Why the hell would I put them through that?  But, I still enjoy the gameplay and getting inspiration for my own stories from Blizzard’s creativity.  This is their game and their story to do with as they please.  I’m just hoping they recognize the potential that they have with the Trolls and start utilizing them for something better than they currently are.  Thank you for reading.  

[hopoo]

DEADBOLT Q&A

I tried to answer every question as honestly as I could, so I hope this is a good read. If your question isn’t there, it’s either identical to another one asked or joined together with another question. Cheers!

Q: In total, how much time does the campaign of Deadbolt span? It’s hard to tell, what with it being infinite nighttime and all.

A: I would imagine a month-ish. It is implied that the Candles are doing some sort of investigative work between missions, which would surely take some time. Q: Did you have any major inspirations for the visual design of DEADBOLT? A: John Wick is obviously the biggest one! Q: What would hopoo do if someone made a game completely based and inspired from Deadbolt and its… Concept? (with permission and not) A: There’s no way DEADBOLT is that unique in settings or thematics – ultimately, you know what’s right and what’s wrong when you’re inspired by a work, and so will everyone else! If you feel obligated to ask for permission, maybe you’re not exploring enough original ideas? Q: When will we get modding? if so could we get a simplified modding kit? Any plans for updating dedbort, even just the map editor? Feature for adding custom sprites, rotation tool, copypasta tool, just to name a few… A: So the thing with that is that the map editor is only half the equation – while the map editor may be writing stuff to files, it also has to be interpreted on the end by the DEADBOLT game itself. Therefore, adding features that aren’t supported in engine simply won’t work – it won’t know what youre talking about. While rotation is supported in the engine, it doesn’t know how to read that from the files, etc. I also am trying to avoid any legacy issues where old maps are required for old versions of DEADBOLT, or vice versa. Q: When is deadbolt 2 coming with werewolves and mummies A: Werewolves aren’t undead you dingus. But mummies could be cool.

Q: Will the stuff that came with the release of Deadbolt on Play Station, will be added on PC? A: Nope, that was sorta our deal-sweetener for getting on the Sony consoles. Q: Will we ever see expansion levels for Deadbolt or would we get Deadbolt 2 instead? A: DEADBOLT 2 maybe sometime

Q: Does Ibzan is gay? A: I haven’t really thought of the sexual orientation of any of the characters, and I definitely don’t want to pull a JK Rowling and retroactively assign them. So in terms of canon, that just hasn’t been explored.

Q: Would you prefer deadbolt 2 to be in 3d and 2d? Would you do a sequel? A: DEADBOLT is probably the narrowest design space I’ve worked with – there’s no dodging, insta death, insta travel attacks. By the end I felt very stretched out in terms of enemy design, and for that alone I’d think 3D. But hey, I may also just hate 3D by the end of RoR2 so who knows :^). I’d love to do a sequel one day, most likely from the perspective of Ibzan. But who knows! Q: Did Ibzan want to kill the Fire, or just try to reconcile with it? A: He just wanted to talk – but who knows what would’ve happened after the Fireplace rejected him? Q: Would you be interested in going back to the world of deadbolt sometime in the future? I remember hearing somewhere a 3D concept would be interesting to work on. A: I wish I was talented or driven enough to write comics for it – I think DEADBOLT is more about the stories of individuals, compared to RoR who is a story of the universe. I wrote the Cassette Tapes to reflect that. Q: Looking back, is there anything you’d change about Deadbolt? A: Hmmm… I just wish I somehow could expand more on the lore and gangs, and what their goals were. Gameplay-wise, it was a tad too short. I liked doing a few standard stages, and then a mix-up stage (sniper, trap, boss, etc) – maybe we could’ve fit in a few more rotations. Q: What’s your favourite loadout? A: Death/Taxes and Flashbang, like a scrub. Q: Would you ever be interested in restarting the asset suggestion thread A: I consider DEADBOLT to be done – as a 2 (now 3!) man team, we financially can’t do the games-as-a-service thing like most big companies can for smaller games like DEADBOLT. I also intended DEADBOLT to be a one-and-done thing as a contrast for Risk of Rain, which we updated for years after release.

=CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT= I personally also think that EVERY game getting a bunch of DLCS and updates and patches for a long time is, in a way, exhausting as a player. I think it makes it hard to feel satisfied when you finished a game and it’s over and you feel completed in the journey, knowing it’s not ~technically~ over until the devs stop patching. I think it’s great for some games (mostly multiplayer-based ones), but some games you just gotta let… finish, on a good note. Semi-open ended endings are always unsatisfying, in my opinion, and so recently it just feels like you don’t ever complete a game. …On the flip side, we are planning on doing lots of post-launch support for RoR2 because it’s actually inline with our design goals, so don’t fret! Q: Will bugs like Scythe not having a cover sprite or some enemies not having a falling sprite (which causes the game to crash) be fixed? A: Which enemies have been missing a falling sprite? They should be resorting to idle, not crashing. Bosses? Q: Just wanted to say, you guys are my favorite games studio, hands down. Now for the question: Now that the Reaper has completed his task and is allowed to rest, what’s next? Is the Fireplace going to keep him resting for a while? Does our MC have another task to accomplish? A: The Fireplace has never let a reaper “rest” before - the reason he is allowed to rest is because Ibzan never got to, and the Fireplace is trying something different with you. This is unexplored territory for the both of them – presumably he just pets his cat and gets bored before getting back to work. Q: What happens to everyone else in the afterlife? A: People who aren’t in the Place? Who knows, and who cares about boring happy afterlife 😊 Q: I had a question about the lore. There’s mentions of places outside the city, across the river Styx. What are they and what are they like? A: The Styx connects the other realms together, including (presumably) wherever the demons came from. This is explored lightly in one of the demon cassette tapes. Q: Will you ever expand more on the world of deadbolt or are you 100% done with it at this point? A: Nope definitely not done, really wanna explore more one day Q: What’s your office address? For post and stuff, maybe I want to send you a box full of A4 sheets of paper with a thousand hoopters on each. A: Maybe this is the paranoia in me but I’m not comfortable posting my address online – you can just tweet it at me a thousand times instead Q: Did Ibzan think the flames would give warmth to the Dredged or was he just lying to them and using them for his own gain? A: He was lying to himself, but he did truly believe that this was going to work, because this (at the time, anyways) seemed like the only way out. Metaphor woawoawo Q: Could you add some sorta DEADBOLT reference into RoR2?  Will the Reaper be playable in Risk of Rain 2 as a bonus? A: Definitely references happening in some form, but playable might be stretchin’ it a bit, especially since it’d be taking up the slot of some more in-universe secret character. Q: How excited are for RoR2? A: Honestly very nervous for the reception, with very big shoes to fill as a sequel for RoR. I just hope people like it, and that we don’t get burnt on 3D because there’s so many possibilities in the future for our games in 3D. Q: How are the Demons born? We know they’re made in birthing chambers, but then is it just like humans or is there anything specific needed for a demon to be born f.e. skeletons>suicide, zombies>overdose, etc. A: Demons aren’t undead and don’t naturally exist in the Place, which is why they have to be smuggled over – they exist in whatever version of hell is in the DEADBOLT universe, and are natural denizens of the underworld. Q: was izban hot before he died? A: The hottest Q: do all the nightclubs canonically have chris c. as the dj A: Yes Q: I love Deadbolt very dearly and i’ve listened to its soundtrack (particularly “Now I Am Become Death”) more times than i can remember. What’s your favourite tune from Deadbolt ? A: Defunktorum or The Proverbial Dust Biters Q: In the Hardmode Cassette Tape it talked about a Reaper that wasn`t the current Reaper that we play as in the Game. Was this Reaper Izban? Since in the tape, he talked about the fireplace as his friend and that could be why he wanted to go back to the fireplace through the portal at the end of the game, to revisit his friend. A: Yes yes and yes. This was most heavily implied in Ibzan’s “home”, which parallel yours. Q: Will RoR2 still have opportunities to create silly messy builds like covering the screen in missiles or releasing an endless stream of Thqwibs? If so, how are you working to mitigate the performance impact of those crazy builds? A: Yep! Currently we have a system that detects the average particle count in a scene and slowly adds a chance non-important effects (like hitsparks or impacts) don’t ever spawn. This will at some point also involve turning off expensive effects and reducing particle LODs. Q: I really love the attention to detail to the characters, environment, aesthetics and gameplay mechanics. Its themes on the criminal underworld and the supernatural give a unique identity in a high-octane/stealth pixel action game I have not seen before. Additionally what prompted or inspired you to make DEADBOLT in the first place? A: DEADBOLT in its entirety was supposed to be not-Risk of Rain. It’s a gorey, violent, moody singleplayer puzzle-stealth game. We were just burnt out from the Risk of Rain experience, and we also wanted to flex our design muscles a bit and show that hey, we’re not just a one-trick pony of gamedevelopment :^) Q: I just played through this game on PS4/Vita over the weekend. Huge fan of Risk of Rain. Even bought it through Limited Run Games. So I had to pick up Deadbolt (Didn’t previously know you had made it either.) and I love it. Its a super solid experience. I’m not sure I have any questions about it. I guess I was curious if co-op multiplayer was ever considered in development? Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see what you guys make next. A: Nope, because of the reasons above – we wanted a single player game, since RoR was a multiplayer one. Q: First of all, congratulations!! I really loved the game since came out, I bought it for my birthday, since risk of rain made me fell in love with all the pixel art in it, deadbolt didn’t disappointed me!! Everything in it I love it! Thanks for the game!! Now the question You already answered about how the skeletons or vampires came to be in that Place, how the vampires are killed by their lovers, but, how a reaper, becomes to be a reaper? I mean a candle said “I’ve never been so close to one” A: Originally, the reapers were actually supposed to be from suicides – if I remember right, the reaper when going down the stairs to the docks still has the hole in the back of his head in his sprite. Currently, it’s not explored how a reaper is made – I think a bit of mystery is always needed in making a believable universe J Q: Lorewise how many reapers are there total? Why are they incredibly fragile compared to the undead? What makes the reapers not undead? A: IIRC there were 4 fireplaces in the final stage, which was supposed to represent the way the fireplace was communicating to all reapers in the field. Q: Do you like turtles? How about corgis? A: Yes, and yes (although there’s way too many in Seattle now). Q: Did you have any idea Chris would break out a whole band’s worth of musicians for the soundtrack? His work was superb and the OST remains my absolute favorite to this day. A: DEADBOLT OST was actually done with many people – it must be in the credits somewhere! If I remember right, there is at least a drummer and a musician.

Thanks for all the questions, and happy hunting :)

hopoo

[andrewdburton]

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020

I got this question from a reader named Kelsey a while back:

“I haven’t started a Roth IRA yet, but I intend to once I graduate from college. Where should I begin looking for the best one, and how can I tell that they are good?”

Great question. Not only is it important to start investing early, but you should also make sure that you pick the right accounts to do it in.

That’s why I’m going to show you how to evaluate a good brokerage as well as give you my recommendations for which ones you should open.

The 5 best IRAs of 2020

Vanguard

Charles Schwab

Ally

Betterment

Fidelity

How to find the best IRAs

How to open an IRA

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

Automatic investing

The 5 best IRAs of 2018

Below are some of my favorite IRAs for 2018. When you’re done checking out the recommendations, be sure to keep reading to find out how you can set up an automatic system so you invest passively.

1. Vanguard – Best Funds

Click here to open an account

Vanguard is what I use — and they’re a fantastic brokerage due to their low-cost funds and great customer support. They’re a tried and true option when it comes to the investing world.

No account minimum

Automatic investing

Most funds require a minimum $3,000 BUT there are funds you can purchase for as low as $1,000

$20 account service fee BUT it’s waived if you sign up for their statement e-delivery service

Commission-free ETFs when traded within your brokerage account

Want to optimize your personal finances? You can improve them without even leaving your couch. Check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance for tips you can implement TODAY.

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2. Charles Schwab – Best Overall

Click here to open an account

Schwab is a very reputable and reliable brokerage on top of offering one of the best checking accounts out there. Plus if you do have a checking account with Schwab, they’ll automatically link the brokerage account to it. Very handy for automatic investing.

No minimums to open account

No maintenance fees

No commissions for Schwab ETFs

Low-cost funds

Automatic investing

Opening a Roth IRA is a great way to improve your personal finances. But if you want to take it to the next level, check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance .

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3. Ally – Best Rates

Click here to open an account

Ally is an online bank — and they’re a great choice for anyone looking for an IRA. Since they’re online, they don’t have to deal with a bunch of overhead and pass their savings onto their clients.

No minimum opening amount

No maintenance fees

Low commissions

Offers many other IRA products like IRA CDs and IRA Online Savings Accounts to add to your account.

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Betterment – Best for Hands-Off Investing

Betterment is a fantastic option if you’re looking for a painless, hands-off investing experience. They’re a robo-advisor that provides customers with features like automatic rebalancing for when your stocks and bonds start to stray from your wanted asset allocation. They’ll also let you determine your own risk tolerance to help you build a great portfolio that’ll work for you. Overall, a great choice if you’re looking for a robo-advisor.

No minimums to open account

0.25% management fees

Automatic rebalancing

Automatic investing

Goal-setting tools

Bonus: Having more than one stream of income can help you through tough economic times. Learn how to start earning money on the side with my FREE Ultimate Guide to Making Money

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Fidelity – Best for Newbies

Fidelity offers an intuitive experience for anyone just getting started in investing, while providing plenty of lucrative funds and hands-on tools for those more experienced in investing too. The platform also comes with no fees for trading funds yourself, and they also host a big catalog of great ETFs. If you’re looking for a broker to help you trade, though, you might find yourself saddled with a fee to do so. Overall, it’s a great place to start if you’re new to investing.

No minimums to open account

No fees per trade

Great catalog of ETF options

24/7 customer service

Ready to ditch debt, save money, and build real wealth? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance.

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How to find the best IRAs

Contributing as early and as much as possible is important since each dollar you invest will be worth much, much more with time.

To start, you’re going to need to open an investment brokerage account with a trusted investment company. Think of the “investment brokerage account” as your house, and the IRA as one of the rooms.

Although this account will probably hold only your IRA, you’ll be able to expand it to hold other accounts later (e.g., taxable investment accounts or additional IRAs for your spouse and kids).

When it comes to finding a good IRA, you need to look at three areas:

1. Low open fees

You’ll want to compare minimum required investments before you open the investment account. For example, some full-service brokerages require you to have a hefty minimum amount to open an account.

A while back, I called up Morgan Stanley and a representative recommended a minimum balance of $50,000.

“Technically, you can open an account with $5,000,” she said, “but the fees would kill you.”

This is why you use a discount brokerage. Most do require a minimum fee of $1,000 to $3,000 to open an IRA — but sometimes they’ll waive it if you set up an automatic transfer fee. Which brings us to…

2. Automatic investment

The second thing you want to look for is an IRA that’ll allow you to automatically invest your money.

IWT is all about automation. It takes the pain out of investing yourself each month and allows you to put a financial system in place that’ll earn you money passively.

With an IRA automatic transfer, your brokerage will automatically take money out of your checking account each month and invest it where it needs to go.

Even if they don’t, that’s okay. You can set up a monthly automatic transfer so your money will grow without you having to think about it (more on that later).

3. Good features

You should also investigate the features of the account.

Will you have 24/7 customer service? Is the online interface easy to use? Are there reputable fiduciaries ready to answer any question you have? You should be able to call them up on the phone and get recommendations for people like you to invest.

While you should absolutely spend some time looking for an IRA with those three things, the important thing is you get started.

Yes, you could spend hundreds of hours doing a detailed comparison of the total number of funds offered, frequency of mailings, and alternative-investment accounts available, but more money is lost from indecision than bad decisions.

Just pick one of the three above and get started.

Bonus: Want to turn your dream of working from home into a reality? Download my Ultimate Guide to Working from Home to learn how to make working from home work for YOU.

Back to Top

How to open an IRA

All of these places offer an excellent variety of funds to choose from, so you can’t go wrong with them.

Signing up is easy too. Follow the steps below to open one up today.

NOTE: Make sure you have your social security number, employer address, and bank info (account number and routing number) available when you sign up, as they’ll come in handy during the application process.

Step 1: Go to the website for the brokerage of your choice.

Step 2: Click on the “Open an account” button. Each of the above websites has one.

Step 3: Start an application for an “Individual brokerage account.”

Step 4: Enter information about yourself — name, address, birth date, employer info, social security.

Step 5: Set up an initial deposit by entering in your bank information. Some brokers require you to make a minimum deposit so use a separate bank account in order to deposit money into the brokerage account.

Step 6: Wait. The initial transfer will take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to complete. After that, you’ll get a notification via email or phone call telling you you’re ready to invest.

Step 7: Log into your brokerage account and start investing!

The application process can be as quick as 15 minutes and will put you on your path to a Rich Life.

Bonus: Ready to start a business that boosts your income and flexibility, but not sure where to start? Download my Free List of 30 Proven Business Ideas to get started today.

Back to Top

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

An individual retirement account (IRA) is an investment account that gives you amazing tax advantages for retirement saving.

The two common types:

Traditional IRA. This account allows you to invest pre-tax income. You’ll roll over your 401k into a traditional IRA whenever you leave a job. Currently, anyone younger than 70 ½ -years-old is allowed to contribute to a traditional IRA. Once you hit that age, you are required to take out a minimum withdraw each year that is a specific percentage of your funds.

Roth IRA. This account uses your after-tax money to invest, giving you an even better deal on your investment, as you’ll also pay no taxes on any gains when you withdraw on it. There are currently no age restrictions on a Roth IRA — however, there are income restrictions.

Currently, there’s a yearly maximum investment of $6,000 to both accounts ($7,000 if you’re more than 50 years old). A Roth IRA currently has an income limit of $135,000 for single tax filers and $199,000 for married couples joint filing. A traditional IRA has no such limits.

However, these limits change often, so be sure to check out the IRS contribution limits page to keep updated.

Though there are advantages to both IRAs we highly recommend you get a Roth IRA. It’s one of the best investments you can make as a young person. It’s simply the best deal I’ve found for long-term investing.

If Roth IRAs had been around in 1970 and you’d invested $10,000 in Southwest Airlines, you’d only have had to pay taxes on the principal amount. When you withdrew the money 30 years later, you wouldn’t have to pay any taxes on it…

…which is good because that $10,000 would have turned into $10 MILLION.

Overall, time is your best friend when it comes to your Roth IRA. And over many, many years, that’s an amazing deal.

Back to Top

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

An IWT reader wrote me about a conversation she had with her friend a while back. The friend mentioned she’d been contributing to her IRA for almost 20 years.

And then … she sent me this email.

“Wow that’s great!” I said. (The IWT reader.)

“Yeah, but it’s barely increased at all.” I felt a sinking feeling.

“You know you have to buy the funds right? It’s not enough to transfer money into an IRA, you have to choose the allocation.”

“What?” she said.

RAMIT, MY FRIEND HAS BEEN PUTTING MONEY INTO A ROTH FOR OVER 10 YEARS AND NEVER SELECTED FUNDS. IT’S A GLORIFIED SAVINGS ACCOUNT. SHE’S MISSED 10 YEARS OF INVESTMENT GROWTH WITH COMPOUND INTEREST. I DON’T KNOW IF I’M MORE ANGRY OR SAD.

Holy shit.

She’s right. Very few experts are ever crystal-clear in telling you that you need to actually INVEST your money when you have a Roth IRA (you can find these instructions in Chapter 7 of my book).

The worst part? The $3,000 her friend “invested” could have been worth more than $12,000 today. That’s $9,000 in EFFORTLESS money — and because it’s a Roth IRA, those earnings would have been tax-free.

You know I had to ask how her friend felt when she learned the truth.

“I feel kind of cheated,” she says. “I could have been earning more money for all of these years, yet no one ever told me about this important step.”

This is why I started writing IWT. This woman went out of her way to get educated. She went as far as opening a Roth IRA and even contributed thousands of dollars. But because she didn’t understand the tiny technical features of this retirement account, she lost out on $9,000 of tax-free earnings.

Should she take some responsibility for not knowing exactly how a Roth IRA worked? Of course.

But it shouldn’t be this hard. You shouldn’t have to be a financial expert to have your money do the right thing, just like I shouldn’t have to understand how a carburetor works to drive my car.

That’s why I wrote my New York Times best-selling book on personal finance — so you could use my financial system, and in six weeks, automatically make your money go where it needs to go.

Get your copy here.

So remember: An IRA is just an account. Once your money is in there, you have to start investing in different funds to see your money grow. I love target-date funds for most investors, which you can find in Chapter 7 of my book.

Invest in your IRA automatically

Finding a great IRA to begin investing is just the first step to saving for your future. If you REALLY want to build a financial system that’ll help you earn money passively, you need to automate your finances.

To help, I’ve created a 12-minute video on how to do exactly that. Just enter your name and email below and I’ll show you how to create a personal finance system that’ll save and earn you money passively for years to come.

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/best-ira/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[kennethherrerablog]

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020

I got this question from a reader named Kelsey a while back:

“I haven’t started a Roth IRA yet, but I intend to once I graduate from college. Where should I begin looking for the best one, and how can I tell that they are good?”

Great question. Not only is it important to start investing early, but you should also make sure that you pick the right accounts to do it in.

That’s why I’m going to show you how to evaluate a good brokerage as well as give you my recommendations for which ones you should open.

The 5 best IRAs of 2020

Vanguard

Charles Schwab

Ally

Betterment

Fidelity

How to find the best IRAs

How to open an IRA

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

Automatic investing

The 5 best IRAs of 2018

Below are some of my favorite IRAs for 2018. When you’re done checking out the recommendations, be sure to keep reading to find out how you can set up an automatic system so you invest passively.

1. Vanguard – Best Funds

Click here to open an account

Vanguard is what I use — and they’re a fantastic brokerage due to their low-cost funds and great customer support. They’re a tried and true option when it comes to the investing world.

No account minimum

Automatic investing

Most funds require a minimum $3,000 BUT there are funds you can purchase for as low as $1,000

$20 account service fee BUT it’s waived if you sign up for their statement e-delivery service

Commission-free ETFs when traded within your brokerage account

Want to optimize your personal finances? You can improve them without even leaving your couch. Check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance for tips you can implement TODAY.

Back to Top

2. Charles Schwab – Best Overall

Click here to open an account

Schwab is a very reputable and reliable brokerage on top of offering one of the best checking accounts out there. Plus if you do have a checking account with Schwab, they’ll automatically link the brokerage account to it. Very handy for automatic investing.

No minimums to open account

No maintenance fees

No commissions for Schwab ETFs

Low-cost funds

Automatic investing

Opening a Roth IRA is a great way to improve your personal finances. But if you want to take it to the next level, check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance .

Back to Top

3. Ally – Best Rates

Click here to open an account

Ally is an online bank — and they’re a great choice for anyone looking for an IRA. Since they’re online, they don’t have to deal with a bunch of overhead and pass their savings onto their clients.

No minimum opening amount

No maintenance fees

Low commissions

Offers many other IRA products like IRA CDs and IRA Online Savings Accounts to add to your account.

Back to Top

Betterment – Best for Hands-Off Investing

Betterment is a fantastic option if you’re looking for a painless, hands-off investing experience. They’re a robo-advisor that provides customers with features like automatic rebalancing for when your stocks and bonds start to stray from your wanted asset allocation. They’ll also let you determine your own risk tolerance to help you build a great portfolio that’ll work for you. Overall, a great choice if you’re looking for a robo-advisor.

No minimums to open account

0.25% management fees

Automatic rebalancing

Automatic investing

Goal-setting tools

Bonus: Having more than one stream of income can help you through tough economic times. Learn how to start earning money on the side with my FREE Ultimate Guide to Making Money

Back to Top

Fidelity – Best for Newbies

Fidelity offers an intuitive experience for anyone just getting started in investing, while providing plenty of lucrative funds and hands-on tools for those more experienced in investing too. The platform also comes with no fees for trading funds yourself, and they also host a big catalog of great ETFs. If you’re looking for a broker to help you trade, though, you might find yourself saddled with a fee to do so. Overall, it’s a great place to start if you’re new to investing.

No minimums to open account

No fees per trade

Great catalog of ETF options

24/7 customer service

Ready to ditch debt, save money, and build real wealth? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance.

Back to Top

How to find the best IRAs

Contributing as early and as much as possible is important since each dollar you invest will be worth much, much more with time.

To start, you’re going to need to open an investment brokerage account with a trusted investment company. Think of the “investment brokerage account” as your house, and the IRA as one of the rooms.

Although this account will probably hold only your IRA, you’ll be able to expand it to hold other accounts later (e.g., taxable investment accounts or additional IRAs for your spouse and kids).

When it comes to finding a good IRA, you need to look at three areas:

1. Low open fees

You’ll want to compare minimum required investments before you open the investment account. For example, some full-service brokerages require you to have a hefty minimum amount to open an account.

A while back, I called up Morgan Stanley and a representative recommended a minimum balance of $50,000.

“Technically, you can open an account with $5,000,” she said, “but the fees would kill you.”

This is why you use a discount brokerage. Most do require a minimum fee of $1,000 to $3,000 to open an IRA — but sometimes they’ll waive it if you set up an automatic transfer fee. Which brings us to…

2. Automatic investment

The second thing you want to look for is an IRA that’ll allow you to automatically invest your money.

IWT is all about automation. It takes the pain out of investing yourself each month and allows you to put a financial system in place that’ll earn you money passively.

With an IRA automatic transfer, your brokerage will automatically take money out of your checking account each month and invest it where it needs to go.

Even if they don’t, that’s okay. You can set up a monthly automatic transfer so your money will grow without you having to think about it (more on that later).

3. Good features

You should also investigate the features of the account.

Will you have 24/7 customer service? Is the online interface easy to use? Are there reputable fiduciaries ready to answer any question you have? You should be able to call them up on the phone and get recommendations for people like you to invest.

While you should absolutely spend some time looking for an IRA with those three things, the important thing is you get started.

Yes, you could spend hundreds of hours doing a detailed comparison of the total number of funds offered, frequency of mailings, and alternative-investment accounts available, but more money is lost from indecision than bad decisions.

Just pick one of the three above and get started.

Bonus: Want to turn your dream of working from home into a reality? Download my Ultimate Guide to Working from Home to learn how to make working from home work for YOU.

Back to Top

How to open an IRA

All of these places offer an excellent variety of funds to choose from, so you can’t go wrong with them.

Signing up is easy too. Follow the steps below to open one up today.

NOTE: Make sure you have your social security number, employer address, and bank info (account number and routing number) available when you sign up, as they’ll come in handy during the application process.

Step 1: Go to the website for the brokerage of your choice.

Step 2: Click on the “Open an account” button. Each of the above websites has one.

Step 3: Start an application for an “Individual brokerage account.”

Step 4: Enter information about yourself — name, address, birth date, employer info, social security.

Step 5: Set up an initial deposit by entering in your bank information. Some brokers require you to make a minimum deposit so use a separate bank account in order to deposit money into the brokerage account.

Step 6: Wait. The initial transfer will take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to complete. After that, you’ll get a notification via email or phone call telling you you’re ready to invest.

Step 7: Log into your brokerage account and start investing!

The application process can be as quick as 15 minutes and will put you on your path to a Rich Life.

Bonus: Ready to start a business that boosts your income and flexibility, but not sure where to start? Download my Free List of 30 Proven Business Ideas to get started today.

Back to Top

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

An individual retirement account (IRA) is an investment account that gives you amazing tax advantages for retirement saving.

The two common types:

Traditional IRA. This account allows you to invest pre-tax income. You’ll roll over your 401k into a traditional IRA whenever you leave a job. Currently, anyone younger than 70 ½ -years-old is allowed to contribute to a traditional IRA. Once you hit that age, you are required to take out a minimum withdraw each year that is a specific percentage of your funds.

Roth IRA. This account uses your after-tax money to invest, giving you an even better deal on your investment, as you’ll also pay no taxes on any gains when you withdraw on it. There are currently no age restrictions on a Roth IRA — however, there are income restrictions.

Currently, there’s a yearly maximum investment of $6,000 to both accounts ($7,000 if you’re more than 50 years old). A Roth IRA currently has an income limit of $135,000 for single tax filers and $199,000 for married couples joint filing. A traditional IRA has no such limits.

However, these limits change often, so be sure to check out the IRS contribution limits page to keep updated.

Though there are advantages to both IRAs we highly recommend you get a Roth IRA. It’s one of the best investments you can make as a young person. It’s simply the best deal I’ve found for long-term investing.

If Roth IRAs had been around in 1970 and you’d invested $10,000 in Southwest Airlines, you’d only have had to pay taxes on the principal amount. When you withdrew the money 30 years later, you wouldn’t have to pay any taxes on it…

…which is good because that $10,000 would have turned into $10 MILLION.

Overall, time is your best friend when it comes to your Roth IRA. And over many, many years, that’s an amazing deal.

Back to Top

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

An IWT reader wrote me about a conversation she had with her friend a while back. The friend mentioned she’d been contributing to her IRA for almost 20 years.

And then … she sent me this email.

“Wow that’s great!” I said. (The IWT reader.)

“Yeah, but it’s barely increased at all.” I felt a sinking feeling.

“You know you have to buy the funds right? It’s not enough to transfer money into an IRA, you have to choose the allocation.”

“What?” she said.

RAMIT, MY FRIEND HAS BEEN PUTTING MONEY INTO A ROTH FOR OVER 10 YEARS AND NEVER SELECTED FUNDS. IT’S A GLORIFIED SAVINGS ACCOUNT. SHE’S MISSED 10 YEARS OF INVESTMENT GROWTH WITH COMPOUND INTEREST. I DON’T KNOW IF I’M MORE ANGRY OR SAD.

Holy shit.

She’s right. Very few experts are ever crystal-clear in telling you that you need to actually INVEST your money when you have a Roth IRA (you can find these instructions in Chapter 7 of my book).

The worst part? The $3,000 her friend “invested” could have been worth more than $12,000 today. That’s $9,000 in EFFORTLESS money — and because it’s a Roth IRA, those earnings would have been tax-free.

You know I had to ask how her friend felt when she learned the truth.

“I feel kind of cheated,” she says. “I could have been earning more money for all of these years, yet no one ever told me about this important step.”

This is why I started writing IWT. This woman went out of her way to get educated. She went as far as opening a Roth IRA and even contributed thousands of dollars. But because she didn’t understand the tiny technical features of this retirement account, she lost out on $9,000 of tax-free earnings.

Should she take some responsibility for not knowing exactly how a Roth IRA worked? Of course.

But it shouldn’t be this hard. You shouldn’t have to be a financial expert to have your money do the right thing, just like I shouldn’t have to understand how a carburetor works to drive my car.

That’s why I wrote my New York Times best-selling book on personal finance — so you could use my financial system, and in six weeks, automatically make your money go where it needs to go.

Get your copy here.

So remember: An IRA is just an account. Once your money is in there, you have to start investing in different funds to see your money grow. I love target-date funds for most investors, which you can find in Chapter 7 of my book.

Invest in your IRA automatically

Finding a great IRA to begin investing is just the first step to saving for your future. If you REALLY want to build a financial system that’ll help you earn money passively, you need to automate your finances.

To help, I’ve created a 12-minute video on how to do exactly that. Just enter your name and email below and I’ll show you how to create a personal finance system that’ll save and earn you money passively for years to come.

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020 published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[samuelfields]

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020

I got this question from a reader named Kelsey a while back:

“I haven’t started a Roth IRA yet, but I intend to once I graduate from college. Where should I begin looking for the best one, and how can I tell that they are good?”

Great question. Not only is it important to start investing early, but you should also make sure that you pick the right accounts to do it in.

That’s why I’m going to show you how to evaluate a good brokerage as well as give you my recommendations for which ones you should open.

The 5 best IRAs of 2020

Vanguard

Charles Schwab

Ally

Betterment

Fidelity

How to find the best IRAs

How to open an IRA

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

Automatic investing

The 5 best IRAs of 2018

Below are some of my favorite IRAs for 2018. When you’re done checking out the recommendations, be sure to keep reading to find out how you can set up an automatic system so you invest passively.

1. Vanguard – Best Funds

Click here to open an account

Vanguard is what I use — and they’re a fantastic brokerage due to their low-cost funds and great customer support. They’re a tried and true option when it comes to the investing world.

No account minimum

Automatic investing

Most funds require a minimum $3,000 BUT there are funds you can purchase for as low as $1,000

$20 account service fee BUT it’s waived if you sign up for their statement e-delivery service

Commission-free ETFs when traded within your brokerage account

Want to optimize your personal finances? You can improve them without even leaving your couch. Check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance for tips you can implement TODAY.

Back to Top

2. Charles Schwab – Best Overall

Click here to open an account

Schwab is a very reputable and reliable brokerage on top of offering one of the best checking accounts out there. Plus if you do have a checking account with Schwab, they’ll automatically link the brokerage account to it. Very handy for automatic investing.

No minimums to open account

No maintenance fees

No commissions for Schwab ETFs

Low-cost funds

Automatic investing

Opening a Roth IRA is a great way to improve your personal finances. But if you want to take it to the next level, check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance .

Back to Top

3. Ally – Best Rates

Click here to open an account

Ally is an online bank — and they’re a great choice for anyone looking for an IRA. Since they’re online, they don’t have to deal with a bunch of overhead and pass their savings onto their clients.

No minimum opening amount

No maintenance fees

Low commissions

Offers many other IRA products like IRA CDs and IRA Online Savings Accounts to add to your account.

Back to Top

Betterment – Best for Hands-Off Investing

Betterment is a fantastic option if you’re looking for a painless, hands-off investing experience. They’re a robo-advisor that provides customers with features like automatic rebalancing for when your stocks and bonds start to stray from your wanted asset allocation. They’ll also let you determine your own risk tolerance to help you build a great portfolio that’ll work for you. Overall, a great choice if you’re looking for a robo-advisor.

No minimums to open account

0.25% management fees

Automatic rebalancing

Automatic investing

Goal-setting tools

Bonus: Having more than one stream of income can help you through tough economic times. Learn how to start earning money on the side with my FREE Ultimate Guide to Making Money

Back to Top

Fidelity – Best for Newbies

Fidelity offers an intuitive experience for anyone just getting started in investing, while providing plenty of lucrative funds and hands-on tools for those more experienced in investing too. The platform also comes with no fees for trading funds yourself, and they also host a big catalog of great ETFs. If you’re looking for a broker to help you trade, though, you might find yourself saddled with a fee to do so. Overall, it’s a great place to start if you’re new to investing.

No minimums to open account

No fees per trade

Great catalog of ETF options

24/7 customer service

Ready to ditch debt, save money, and build real wealth? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance.

Back to Top

How to find the best IRAs

Contributing as early and as much as possible is important since each dollar you invest will be worth much, much more with time.

To start, you’re going to need to open an investment brokerage account with a trusted investment company. Think of the “investment brokerage account” as your house, and the IRA as one of the rooms.

Although this account will probably hold only your IRA, you’ll be able to expand it to hold other accounts later (e.g., taxable investment accounts or additional IRAs for your spouse and kids).

When it comes to finding a good IRA, you need to look at three areas:

1. Low open fees

You’ll want to compare minimum required investments before you open the investment account. For example, some full-service brokerages require you to have a hefty minimum amount to open an account.

A while back, I called up Morgan Stanley and a representative recommended a minimum balance of $50,000.

“Technically, you can open an account with $5,000,” she said, “but the fees would kill you.”

This is why you use a discount brokerage. Most do require a minimum fee of $1,000 to $3,000 to open an IRA — but sometimes they’ll waive it if you set up an automatic transfer fee. Which brings us to…

2. Automatic investment

The second thing you want to look for is an IRA that’ll allow you to automatically invest your money.

IWT is all about automation. It takes the pain out of investing yourself each month and allows you to put a financial system in place that’ll earn you money passively.

With an IRA automatic transfer, your brokerage will automatically take money out of your checking account each month and invest it where it needs to go.

Even if they don’t, that’s okay. You can set up a monthly automatic transfer so your money will grow without you having to think about it (more on that later).

3. Good features

You should also investigate the features of the account.

Will you have 24/7 customer service? Is the online interface easy to use? Are there reputable fiduciaries ready to answer any question you have? You should be able to call them up on the phone and get recommendations for people like you to invest.

While you should absolutely spend some time looking for an IRA with those three things, the important thing is you get started.

Yes, you could spend hundreds of hours doing a detailed comparison of the total number of funds offered, frequency of mailings, and alternative-investment accounts available, but more money is lost from indecision than bad decisions.

Just pick one of the three above and get started.

Bonus: Want to turn your dream of working from home into a reality? Download my Ultimate Guide to Working from Home to learn how to make working from home work for YOU.

Back to Top

How to open an IRA

All of these places offer an excellent variety of funds to choose from, so you can’t go wrong with them.

Signing up is easy too. Follow the steps below to open one up today.

NOTE: Make sure you have your social security number, employer address, and bank info (account number and routing number) available when you sign up, as they’ll come in handy during the application process.

Step 1: Go to the website for the brokerage of your choice.

Step 2: Click on the “Open an account” button. Each of the above websites has one.

Step 3: Start an application for an “Individual brokerage account.”

Step 4: Enter information about yourself — name, address, birth date, employer info, social security.

Step 5: Set up an initial deposit by entering in your bank information. Some brokers require you to make a minimum deposit so use a separate bank account in order to deposit money into the brokerage account.

Step 6: Wait. The initial transfer will take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to complete. After that, you’ll get a notification via email or phone call telling you you’re ready to invest.

Step 7: Log into your brokerage account and start investing!

The application process can be as quick as 15 minutes and will put you on your path to a Rich Life.

Bonus: Ready to start a business that boosts your income and flexibility, but not sure where to start? Download my Free List of 30 Proven Business Ideas to get started today.

Back to Top

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

An individual retirement account (IRA) is an investment account that gives you amazing tax advantages for retirement saving.

The two common types:

Traditional IRA. This account allows you to invest pre-tax income. You’ll roll over your 401k into a traditional IRA whenever you leave a job. Currently, anyone younger than 70 ½ -years-old is allowed to contribute to a traditional IRA. Once you hit that age, you are required to take out a minimum withdraw each year that is a specific percentage of your funds.

Roth IRA. This account uses your after-tax money to invest, giving you an even better deal on your investment, as you’ll also pay no taxes on any gains when you withdraw on it. There are currently no age restrictions on a Roth IRA — however, there are income restrictions.

Currently, there’s a yearly maximum investment of $6,000 to both accounts ($7,000 if you’re more than 50 years old). A Roth IRA currently has an income limit of $135,000 for single tax filers and $199,000 for married couples joint filing. A traditional IRA has no such limits.

However, these limits change often, so be sure to check out the IRS contribution limits page to keep updated.

Though there are advantages to both IRAs we highly recommend you get a Roth IRA. It’s one of the best investments you can make as a young person. It’s simply the best deal I’ve found for long-term investing.

If Roth IRAs had been around in 1970 and you’d invested $10,000 in Southwest Airlines, you’d only have had to pay taxes on the principal amount. When you withdrew the money 30 years later, you wouldn’t have to pay any taxes on it…

…which is good because that $10,000 would have turned into $10 MILLION.

Overall, time is your best friend when it comes to your Roth IRA. And over many, many years, that’s an amazing deal.

Back to Top

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

An IWT reader wrote me about a conversation she had with her friend a while back. The friend mentioned she’d been contributing to her IRA for almost 20 years.

And then … she sent me this email.

“Wow that’s great!” I said. (The IWT reader.)

“Yeah, but it’s barely increased at all.” I felt a sinking feeling.

“You know you have to buy the funds right? It’s not enough to transfer money into an IRA, you have to choose the allocation.”

“What?” she said.

RAMIT, MY FRIEND HAS BEEN PUTTING MONEY INTO A ROTH FOR OVER 10 YEARS AND NEVER SELECTED FUNDS. IT’S A GLORIFIED SAVINGS ACCOUNT. SHE’S MISSED 10 YEARS OF INVESTMENT GROWTH WITH COMPOUND INTEREST. I DON’T KNOW IF I’M MORE ANGRY OR SAD.

Holy shit.

She’s right. Very few experts are ever crystal-clear in telling you that you need to actually INVEST your money when you have a Roth IRA (you can find these instructions in Chapter 7 of my book).

The worst part? The $3,000 her friend “invested” could have been worth more than $12,000 today. That’s $9,000 in EFFORTLESS money — and because it’s a Roth IRA, those earnings would have been tax-free.

You know I had to ask how her friend felt when she learned the truth.

“I feel kind of cheated,” she says. “I could have been earning more money for all of these years, yet no one ever told me about this important step.”

This is why I started writing IWT. This woman went out of her way to get educated. She went as far as opening a Roth IRA and even contributed thousands of dollars. But because she didn’t understand the tiny technical features of this retirement account, she lost out on $9,000 of tax-free earnings.

Should she take some responsibility for not knowing exactly how a Roth IRA worked? Of course.

But it shouldn’t be this hard. You shouldn’t have to be a financial expert to have your money do the right thing, just like I shouldn’t have to understand how a carburetor works to drive my car.

That’s why I wrote my New York Times best-selling book on personal finance — so you could use my financial system, and in six weeks, automatically make your money go where it needs to go.

Get your copy here.

So remember: An IRA is just an account. Once your money is in there, you have to start investing in different funds to see your money grow. I love target-date funds for most investors, which you can find in Chapter 7 of my book.

Invest in your IRA automatically

Finding a great IRA to begin investing is just the first step to saving for your future. If you REALLY want to build a financial system that’ll help you earn money passively, you need to automate your finances.

To help, I’ve created a 12-minute video on how to do exactly that. Just enter your name and email below and I’ll show you how to create a personal finance system that’ll save and earn you money passively for years to come.

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/best-ira/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020

I got this question from a reader named Kelsey a while back:

“I haven’t started a Roth IRA yet, but I intend to once I graduate from college. Where should I begin looking for the best one, and how can I tell that they are good?”

Great question. Not only is it important to start investing early, but you should also make sure that you pick the right accounts to do it in.

That’s why I’m going to show you how to evaluate a good brokerage as well as give you my recommendations for which ones you should open.

The 5 best IRAs of 2020

Vanguard

Charles Schwab

Ally

Betterment

Fidelity

How to find the best IRAs

How to open an IRA

What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

REMEMBER TO INVEST!

Automatic investing

The 5 best IRAs of 2018

Below are some of my favorite IRAs for 2018. When you’re done checking out the recommendations, be sure to keep reading to find out how you can set up an automatic system so you invest passively.

1. Vanguard – Best Funds

Click here to open an account

Vanguard is what I use — and they’re a fantastic brokerage due to their low-cost funds and great customer support. They’re a tried and true option when it comes to the investing world.

No account minimum

Automatic investing

Most funds require a minimum $3,000 BUT there are funds you can purchase for as low as $1,000

$20 account service fee BUT it’s waived if you sign up for their statement e-delivery service

Commission-free ETFs when traded within your brokerage account

Want to optimize your personal finances? You can improve them without even leaving your couch. Check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance for tips you can implement TODAY.

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2. Charles Schwab – Best Overall

Click here to open an account

Schwab is a very reputable and reliable brokerage on top of offering one of the best checking accounts out there. Plus if you do have a checking account with Schwab, they’ll automatically link the brokerage account to it. Very handy for automatic investing.

No minimums to open account

No maintenance fees

No commissions for Schwab ETFs

Low-cost funds

Automatic investing

Opening a Roth IRA is a great way to improve your personal finances. But if you want to take it to the next level, check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance .

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3. Ally – Best Rates

Click here to open an account

Ally is an online bank — and they’re a great choice for anyone looking for an IRA. Since they’re online, they don’t have to deal with a bunch of overhead and pass their savings onto their clients.

No minimum opening amount

No maintenance fees

Low commissions

Offers many other IRA products like IRA CDs and IRA Online Savings Accounts to add to your account.

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Betterment – Best for Hands-Off Investing

Betterment is a fantastic option if you’re looking for a painless, hands-off investing experience. They’re a robo-advisor that provides customers with features like automatic rebalancing for when your stocks and bonds start to stray from your wanted asset allocation. They’ll also let you determine your own risk tolerance to help you build a great portfolio that’ll work for you. Overall, a great choice if you’re looking for a robo-advisor.

No minimums to open account

0.25% management fees

Automatic rebalancing

Automatic investing

Goal-setting tools

Bonus: Having more than one stream of income can help you through tough economic times. Learn how to start earning money on the side with my FREE Ultimate Guide to Making Money

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Fidelity – Best for Newbies

Fidelity offers an intuitive experience for anyone just getting started in investing, while providing plenty of lucrative funds and hands-on tools for those more experienced in investing too. The platform also comes with no fees for trading funds yourself, and they also host a big catalog of great ETFs. If you’re looking for a broker to help you trade, though, you might find yourself saddled with a fee to do so. Overall, it’s a great place to start if you’re new to investing.

No minimums to open account

No fees per trade

Great catalog of ETF options

24/7 customer service

Ready to ditch debt, save money, and build real wealth? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance.

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How to find the best IRAs

Contributing as early and as much as possible is important since each dollar you invest will be worth much, much more with time.

To start, you’re going to need to open an investment brokerage account with a trusted investment company. Think of the “investment brokerage account” as your house, and the IRA as one of the rooms.

Although this account will probably hold only your IRA, you’ll be able to expand it to hold other accounts later (e.g., taxable investment accounts or additional IRAs for your spouse and kids).

When it comes to finding a good IRA, you need to look at three areas:

1. Low open fees

You’ll want to compare minimum required investments before you open the investment account. For example, some full-service brokerages require you to have a hefty minimum amount to open an account.

A while back, I called up Morgan Stanley and a representative recommended a minimum balance of $50,000.

“Technically, you can open an account with $5,000,” she said, “but the fees would kill you.”

This is why you use a discount brokerage. Most do require a minimum fee of $1,000 to $3,000 to open an IRA — but sometimes they’ll waive it if you set up an automatic transfer fee. Which brings us to…

2. Automatic investment

The second thing you want to look for is an IRA that’ll allow you to automatically invest your money.

IWT is all about automation. It takes the pain out of investing yourself each month and allows you to put a financial system in place that’ll earn you money passively.

With an IRA automatic transfer, your brokerage will automatically take money out of your checking account each month and invest it where it needs to go.

Even if they don’t, that’s okay. You can set up a monthly automatic transfer so your money will grow without you having to think about it (more on that later).

3. Good features

You should also investigate the features of the account.

Will you have 24/7 customer service? Is the online interface easy to use? Are there reputable fiduciaries ready to answer any question you have? You should be able to call them up on the phone and get recommendations for people like you to invest.

While you should absolutely spend some time looking for an IRA with those three things, the important thing is you get started.

Yes, you could spend hundreds of hours doing a detailed comparison of the total number of funds offered, frequency of mailings, and alternative-investment accounts available, but more money is lost from indecision than bad decisions.

Just pick one of the three above and get started.

Bonus: Want to turn your dream of working from home into a reality? Download my Ultimate Guide to Working from Home to learn how to make working from home work for YOU.

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How to open an IRA

All of these places offer an excellent variety of funds to choose from, so you can’t go wrong with them.

Signing up is easy too. Follow the steps below to open one up today.

NOTE: Make sure you have your social security number, employer address, and bank info (account number and routing number) available when you sign up, as they’ll come in handy during the application process.

Step 1: Go to the website for the brokerage of your choice.

Step 2: Click on the “Open an account” button. Each of the above websites has one.

Step 3: Start an application for an “Individual brokerage account.”

Step 4: Enter information about yourself — name, address, birth date, employer info, social security.

Step 5: Set up an initial deposit by entering in your bank information. Some brokers require you to make a minimum deposit so use a separate bank account in order to deposit money into the brokerage account.

Step 6: Wait. The initial transfer will take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to complete. After that, you’ll get a notification via email or phone call telling you you’re ready to invest.

Step 7: Log into your brokerage account and start investing!

The application process can be as quick as 15 minutes and will put you on your path to a Rich Life.

Bonus: Ready to start a business that boosts your income and flexibility, but not sure where to start? Download my Free List of 30 Proven Business Ideas to get started today.

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What’s an IRA and why should I have one?

An individual retirement account (IRA) is an investment account that gives you amazing tax advantages for retirement saving.

The two common types:

Traditional IRA. This account allows you to invest pre-tax income. You’ll roll over your 401k into a traditional IRA whenever you leave a job. Currently, anyone younger than 70 ½ -years-old is allowed to contribute to a traditional IRA. Once you hit that age, you are required to take out a minimum withdraw each year that is a specific percentage of your funds.

Roth IRA. This account uses your after-tax money to invest, giving you an even better deal on your investment, as you’ll also pay no taxes on any gains when you withdraw on it. There are currently no age restrictions on a Roth IRA — however, there are income restrictions.

Currently, there’s a yearly maximum investment of $6,000 to both accounts ($7,000 if you’re more than 50 years old). A Roth IRA currently has an income limit of $135,000 for single tax filers and $199,000 for married couples joint filing. A traditional IRA has no such limits.

However, these limits change often, so be sure to check out the IRS contribution limits page to keep updated.

Though there are advantages to both IRAs we highly recommend you get a Roth IRA. It’s one of the best investments you can make as a young person. It’s simply the best deal I’ve found for long-term investing.

If Roth IRAs had been around in 1970 and you’d invested $10,000 in Southwest Airlines, you’d only have had to pay taxes on the principal amount. When you withdrew the money 30 years later, you wouldn’t have to pay any taxes on it…

…which is good because that $10,000 would have turned into $10 MILLION.

Overall, time is your best friend when it comes to your Roth IRA. And over many, many years, that’s an amazing deal.

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REMEMBER TO INVEST!

An IWT reader wrote me about a conversation she had with her friend a while back. The friend mentioned she’d been contributing to her IRA for almost 20 years.

And then … she sent me this email.

“Wow that’s great!” I said. (The IWT reader.)

“Yeah, but it’s barely increased at all.” I felt a sinking feeling.

“You know you have to buy the funds right? It’s not enough to transfer money into an IRA, you have to choose the allocation.”

“What?” she said.

RAMIT, MY FRIEND HAS BEEN PUTTING MONEY INTO A ROTH FOR OVER 10 YEARS AND NEVER SELECTED FUNDS. IT’S A GLORIFIED SAVINGS ACCOUNT. SHE’S MISSED 10 YEARS OF INVESTMENT GROWTH WITH COMPOUND INTEREST. I DON’T KNOW IF I’M MORE ANGRY OR SAD.

Holy shit.

She’s right. Very few experts are ever crystal-clear in telling you that you need to actually INVEST your money when you have a Roth IRA (you can find these instructions in Chapter 7 of my book).

The worst part? The $3,000 her friend “invested” could have been worth more than $12,000 today. That’s $9,000 in EFFORTLESS money — and because it’s a Roth IRA, those earnings would have been tax-free.

You know I had to ask how her friend felt when she learned the truth.

“I feel kind of cheated,” she says. “I could have been earning more money for all of these years, yet no one ever told me about this important step.”

This is why I started writing IWT. This woman went out of her way to get educated. She went as far as opening a Roth IRA and even contributed thousands of dollars. But because she didn’t understand the tiny technical features of this retirement account, she lost out on $9,000 of tax-free earnings.

Should she take some responsibility for not knowing exactly how a Roth IRA worked? Of course.

But it shouldn’t be this hard. You shouldn’t have to be a financial expert to have your money do the right thing, just like I shouldn’t have to understand how a carburetor works to drive my car.

That’s why I wrote my New York Times best-selling book on personal finance — so you could use my financial system, and in six weeks, automatically make your money go where it needs to go.

Get your copy here.

So remember: An IRA is just an account. Once your money is in there, you have to start investing in different funds to see your money grow. I love target-date funds for most investors, which you can find in Chapter 7 of my book.

Invest in your IRA automatically

Finding a great IRA to begin investing is just the first step to saving for your future. If you REALLY want to build a financial system that’ll help you earn money passively, you need to automate your finances.

To help, I’ve created a 12-minute video on how to do exactly that. Just enter your name and email below and I’ll show you how to create a personal finance system that’ll save and earn you money passively for years to come.

The 5 best IRAs to open in 2020 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/best-ira/