#I should be doing something else so of course I do my first little neopets comic thing in years

[green-neggs]

The first time Mr. Devilman met his neighbor and their potentially mutant petpet slorg was a disappointing one but hey, at least it was new. Not often you get many not lost visitors on Terror Mountain.

[ladala99]

More Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermilion Rambling

Extreme spoilers edition - I'm about 7/8 of the way through the game, I think. Maybe a little less. My characters are level 36 and my completed file has them at like, 43.

After a big Detective Pikachu->Mewtwo Raid->preparing 3DS Pokemon games Pokemon for transfer (which I'm still in the middle of) break, I'm back to playing A Tear of Vermilion, at least during the weekdays.

At first I had a harder time getting into it, but then I actually got to the next story beat: the confirmation that Mile is alive.

I didn't actually remember this part - the part at the starting village. With Mile's possessed body being used by the main villain to cause problems in the village and corrupt the nature spirit.

Already, I am a sucker for games that take you back to the starting village, but something is wrong. Neopets: The Darkest Faerie in particular hit me hard since I played in the starting village as a kid and didn't beat the game until I was in college.

In this game it didn't hit me as hard, but it still hit. The darker music in the familiar town. The peaceful villagers being possessed by the villains and being used against Avin. And Mile in particular. The childhood friend. The healer in all aspects. Being used as a weapon against his best friend.

And now, past that, I've reached a plot point where Avin and co. are trying to find an explosive crystal and I'm like "why do I remember this of all things?" Although, by Michel's reaction to them, I wonder if what I remember is from Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, as I've played that game twice. I do recognize Michel's full name and I know he's from that game, but I think he has green hair in that game while it's brown in this one? Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else.

Seems there is one nature spirit left to save, and then we'll be able to enter the final area. Writer guy says he's wrapping up his series, and I got the final book in the Swordsmaster series, so the game seems to be coming to a close.

It is interesting how the story changes to be much more videogame-y after the first half. In the first half, you're traveling the land with two goals: deliver a thing to one place, and then another, and find Eimelle, wherever she happens to be. Everything else that happens is incidental, and Avin and co. get involved because they're good people who want to help. This ends up making them friends who help Avin in his goals.

The second half, you go to a shrine and find out you need to backtrack across the land and go to 5 other shrines. Each shrine has a boss you must defeat to receive a token. Get all the tokens to unlock the final area.

And of course, getting back into the series, I get obsessed a bit and decided to think about/chart out my course through the Trails series to follow. Nevermind that I still have two more Gagharv games I want to beat before then, and nevermind that I have a ton of other games I'll be mixing in, meaning it will be literal years before I get to my first new game.

Perhaps my biggest problem - the fact that I own Trails in the Sky First Chapter and don't have any way to get the others - will be solved by then. Maybe they'll actually release that trilogy for Switch (or Switch 2 or whatever).

Or maybe not. And I'll have to make the decision then whether I want to watch a playthrough of the other two games to see their stories before moving on or accept the uncommon situation of having the information of the first game and not the others going into the second arc.

I should probably watch the videos. Since I think I'd be more confused knowing some but not all than I would knowing nothing going into the second arc. But I'm not going to not play the game I bought.

But this is also Not Something I Should Be Worrying About Right Now. Because, again, it'll be years before I reach the point where I'm starting the Trails series.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Who’s your favorite comedian? I don’t have one.

Aren’t you sick of all the *Are We Alike?* surveys? I see a lot of those on Bzoink and I don’t get why they’re so popular. 

Do you think there’s anything you did better, when you were younger? Yeah, like living life. ha. I was stronger and braver and handled things better compared to now.

Would you take the advice you give others? I should.

What did you have for lunch yesterday? I didn’t really have lunch, I just snacked on chips and dip and had some macaroni salad a little bit after. 

What’s one thing that you would change about yourself physically? Yes.

What song has made you cry? The acoustic version of Everlong by Foo Fighters is one.

How would you define success? Accomplishing something you wanted to accomplish/getting the desired result. <<< Yep, well put.

Who was the craziest teacher you’ve ever had? I didn’t have any “crazy” teachers.

Do you think the Earth will face an apocalypse one day? It will end one day.

What’s the last thing you got paid to do? I don’t recall.

What’s the one thing you could eat everyday? Ramen, which I do eat everyday.

What do you hate about yourself? A lot of things...

What’s your favorite alcoholic drink? None. I don’t drink.

Are you hyper today? I’m never hyper. I don’t have the energy.

Does Bzoink need an upgrade? *shrug*

Do you have a Millsberry account? No, I don’t even know what that is.

Do you have a Neopets account? I had one when I was a kid. I’m sure it doesn’t exist now.

What’s your life philosophy? I don’t know.

What was the last thing you talked to your friends about? --

If you are interested in going out with someone, what do you do? Nothing, ha.

Do you ever go to the beach? Yeah, I love the beach. I’m in serious need of beach trips this summer.

Would you rather have a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? Coffee, of course.

How’s your hair looking right now? Like a mess.

What’s something your mother always says? She likes her f-bombs, ha.

What’s something your dad always says? If something he’s eating is really good he always says it’s “out of bounds.”

What’s your favorite thing to wear? Leggings and oversized graphic tees.

Have you ever had a near-death experience? Yes, twice.

What do you order at Starbucks? A venti peppermint white chocolate mocha with soy.

What kind of exercise do you enjoy? None. :X

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had, and what was it from? The one that made me a paraplegic. 

Do you still have any of your childhood toys? If so, what? Yeah, my Barbies are stored away.

Did you have a Precious Moments colouring book? No.

Don’t you miss being 13? I do.

How’d you react to receiving your very first pimple? I wasn’t happy about it.

What’s your favorite day of the week? I don’t have one. My days are all the same, really.

What room of your house do you spend the most time in? Mine.

Do you have MSN, Yahoo, or Skype? My email is yahoo.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? On a nice beach vacay somewhere.

Do you ever have any problems just *moving on*? Yes.

Do you collect anything? Giraffe stuffed animals and knicknacks.

If you saw a shooting star, what would you wish on it? God health.

Do you like rollercoasters? No, I’m a big scardy cat. Wouldn’t be good for my back either.

What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for someone else? I haven’t done anything romantic.

How do you celebrate Halloween? I just stay home now and watch scary movies.

Who is your favorite villain? Michael Myers, Ghostface, and Penywise.

Do you have a favorite coloring book artist? Yes, her name is Eriy. 

How many pairs of shoes do you own? Like 6.

Have you ever wanted to model? No.

When you want to unwind, how do you relax? Catch up on YouTube, watch TV, listen to ASMR.

How do you react when someone you know’s having a freak out? I’m not the best with those situations.

Have you ever seen someone have a seizure? No.

Do you have a phobia? Yes.

Who is your hero? My mom.

If you were to commit a crime, what would it be? Uh, I don’t want to.

Have you ever used drugs? Only weed.

How would you define what you want out of life? I’d like to get my health better managed and do something with my life.

What’s your favorite car? I don’t have one.

[emilyofjane]

Life Update (don’t worry, it’s a good one this time)

For those of you that have been following me for awhile, you might know that my personal life has been kinda...rough this year. But things have been going a lot better for me recently, and I have BIG news about my career path and my future as a whole.

But first, I need to provide some background:

As you all know, I’m a senior Biochemistry major in college, and I plan on graduating this December. Over the past year, however, I slowly began to realize that I’m...really not that good at my major. I’ve always kinda struggled in my science courses; I’ve never been able to make any higher than a B in any of my lectures, and the only labs that I earned an A in were my Capstone labs because my mentor is just really nice. When I started applying to grad school this past summer, I suddenly discovered that my major GPA (which is based only on my science courses and is separate from my overall GPA of 3.3) was well below 3.0 — too low to get accepted in any of the graduate programs I wanted to apply to.

The whole reason I became a Biochemistry major in the first place was to use it as a stepping-stone for my ultimate goal: to move on grad school and become a cancer researcher. So when I suddenly realized that I was guaranteed to be rejected from grad school no matter what, all of my plans for the future were suddenly turned upside-down. I felt like I had just wasted 4 1/2 years of my life working towards a degree that I didn’t even want; I was stuck in limbo with a mediocre undergraduate transcript that would never lead me to where I wanted to go in life. To make matters worse, I had taken out nearly $80K in student loans at this point, so I couldn’t just jump ship and switch majors, either. I was too far into my degree to turn back now, so I just felt stuck in a career path that I wasn’t even good at, let alone enjoyed.

My confidence took a nose dive after that, as did my motivation. It made me feel so incompetent to see everyone else breezing through my senior-level science courses while I struggled to get a C, that by the time my last semester started this fall, I sort of just...stopped trying. I didn’t see the point in putting in my best effort when I knew it was never going to be good enough anyway. I hit my lowest point in October, when I couldn’t even bring myself to log onto my Zoom lectures or pull up the slides to study. My grades plummeted beyond the point of salvaging, but when I finally broke down and told my mother about it, she refused to let me get a full medical withdrawal, basically forcing me to fail all of my classes and drop my already low GPA into oblivion. I truly felt like the world had set me up for failure, and that my entire future was ruined.

But then, as I was crying in bed and silently cursing out my mom for refusing to help me, I suddenly had an epiphany.

I’ve always loved to write and create, ever since I was a little kid. I remember writing stories in my notebooks in elementary school, which blossomed into writing short stories on Neopets, roleplaying and collab writing with my Deviantart mutuals in middle school, and eventually writing fanfiction on Tumblr and AO3. For the past few years, my catchphrase has always been “in a perfect world, I would’ve become a screenwriter instead of a scientist” because writing was my true passion, but my parents wanted me to pursue a practical career instead. You see, my parents are both business people, and their philosophy has always been “you have to make sacrifices to yourself and your family.” And I’ve always been a pretty smart kid — not a god-given genius like they thought I was when I was younger, but still very bright — and I’ve always thought that science was neat, particularly astronomy. That’s why I ultimately went into science instead of art; my parents convinced me that I could never make a living doing what I loved, and that I should become a scientist so I could support myself and my future family instead of “wasting my intelligence” on becoming a “starving artist.”

But if there’s one thing that they never took into account, it’s that I’m not like them. I’ve never really cared about money or material things in general — all I really need is food, caffeine, a roof over my head, a nice soft bed, my cat, and some wi-fi access, and I’m happy as a clam. I don’t care about going on regular vacations, or living in a fancy house with a pool in the back, or having a wardrobe full of cute and fancy clothes, or driving a nice car without bumps and scratches, or whatever the case may be; they never took into account that I don’t need any of that stuff to be happy, and I never have. And, even moreso, they never took into account that I’m not straight. They pushed the heteronormative narrative on me for so many years — that I was practically guaranteed to find my soulmate in college and get married and have kids or whatever — that I honestly believed them; it wasn’t until I actually got to college and discovered that I was aroace that I began to think otherwise. By my Junior year, I knew that I was never going to get married or have a family of my own, and frankly, I was perfectly okay with that. Besides, quarantine alone has been living proof that I’m perfectly content with living as a hermit by myself with my cat. Add these two factors together, and it becomes increasingly obvious that money is never going to be an issue with me; as long as I can pay the bills and support myself and my cat, that’s all I’ll ever need.

I realized all of this as I was sitting there in my bed, and it was at this point when I finally asked myself: did I really want to spend the rest of my life doing something that only made me miserable?

Once I realized this, something changed inside of me. I decided that I didn’t want to pursue science anymore, and I wanted to pursue my real dream of becoming a screenwriter in LA. And the very next morning, I marched straight to campus and met with every person I could think of to make it happen.

Now I’m planning to graduate with a Regents Bachelor of Arts in December, and I managed to drop all of those science courses I was failing in while keeping enough credits to maintain my student status. I haven’t reached the finish line yet — hell, I’ve literally just gotten started — but the important thing is that I got started. I finally feel like I have control over my own life again, and this is honestly the happiest and most optimistic I’ve felt about myself and my future in years.

Tl;dr I’ll always love and appreciate science, but I finally realize that I was never meant to be a scientist. My true calling is to be a writer, and that’s exactly what I’m going to be. I’m going to graduate with my Regents Bachelor of Arts this December, build up my resume and portfolio, save up enough money to move to California, and become a screenwriter for TV and movies in LA. It’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to happen right away, but I’m not going to let that stop me from following my dreams — no, never again.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y’know i think the whole reason that I hated using wordpress (who has now ironically bought this hellsite) in that first year of the comms & media course i began at uni.... was because it’s another social media platform, like twitter etc, where you had to make yourself open to the mortifying ordeal of being known.... and that it‘s also perceived as the “professional blogging website” bc it has competent coding etc.... and you’re also kinda forced to find your niche to pump out content to write.... so that you might get noticed by their “explore” feature/filter.

you also have to sound “professional” when you write on wordpress. wordpress makes it seem like you’re meant to be devoid of your personality for the sake churning out content and subscribers (or at least that’s what it felt like to me tbh).... and possibly eventually sell your services or have advertisers apply for ad space on your blog so that you get paid. and maybe you also sell merch through your blog/website. you have to have a professional sounding URL to sound adult and business-like. you have to have a pro profile pic of yourself or your blogs brand name or whatever the fuck as your display pic or header. it’s really built for you to make your blog a business or for a business to have a blog. it’s not built, in my view, for someone like me, to “authentically”, if you will let me permit to say, express who they are.

whereas on here, i’ve been anonymously posting under the same URL that i started with in my late teens/late high school. people think im just a simple mysterious roaring pikachu (until i post a selfie lmao); that likes mid2000s emo/pop punk etc bands and any random new tv show/movie/media and political posts that come up on her dash.... so that her blog isn’t focussed at all.

in terms of content here on tumblr, i can reblog any random old jackshit posts in a row and still get reblogs/follows; and it’s the same with my own original posts. im in my own little corner of the internet and it’s nice. im allowed to be myself. have my meltdowns and swear like a fucking sailor, like i’ve always done lmao. no professional jargon bullshit here. no language sanitisation to make it sound professional.

i don’t have to sell my hobby. i don’t have advertisers asking for ad space (or however it works lol) bc absolutely fucking no one has cracked the tumblr advertising code yet (except for those frickin scummy scam survey websites, lol. which i’d never join. or those ugly clothing websites as well). like, okay, yeah, obviously in the past i’ve wanted to get paid for wasting my time here on this hellsite; and have actually wanted to employ someone else to maintain my blog, by cleaning out my old blog posts and liked posts lmao..... but i’ll never do that bc it’s my fucking blog and it’s my baby that i’ve had since 2011 lmao. then it’s not authentic.

i can yeet out my internet personality here which i’ve built for almost 10 years (or at the point mentioned at the beginning of this post, it was 4 years) lmao. why the fuck should i/do i have to do that again on wordpress??? the effort and time is too much. i don’t have to have a brand name or even have a display pic on my dash that’s me. i could be hermione granger. spongebob. pikachu lmao. who the fuck cares??? it’s tumblr. like fuck, i don’t even fucking know what my branding would actually be for this fucking blog lmao 😂😂😂 let alone my WP one.

but the anonymity on tumblr is so freeing when every other social media platform forces you to have a profile that’s painfully open & public, even when you have good privacy controls on. like some of the things that i still haven’t done on facebook, for example, are adding a cover photo. and filling out the stupid “about me facts” or whatever the fuck section. as well as filling out my location/where i live. so, that everyone i know, can know everything about me. and those things? in this age of data hoarding and exploitation/selling for ad services??? fuck no. they already have enough of my data as it is. they don’t need any fucking more than what they already bloody well have.

anyway. just. i’ll never move to wordpress. and if wordpress ever starts to charge for the use of tumblr or takes away the feature of anonymity by telling people to make some type of professional sounding URLs and wanting professional display pics..... i will fucking leave this blue vortex hellsite, stat..... and will miss the former anonymity that tumblr had.

as an addendum:

i just realised that the only other kind of social media site that i used, that had the same level of anonymity as tumblr (if you don’t count neopets as one lmao), was stumbleupon.... which let you build a profile of all the random pages that it suggested to you on a certain topic that you picked.... and it eventually let you talk to people through your account and add people, and added profile suggestions for people who had similar interests to you. it’s such a shame that stumbleupon shut down about 2 years ago or something now. that was such a wonderful site, even though i never talked to people on it 😂😓.

[neostalgiapodcast]

Transcript - Neostalgia Episode 33: We Interview TNT!

[Upbeat piano music plays as intro] Caroline: Hi, I’m Caroline Hannah: And I’m Hannah Caroline: And this is Nostalgia Hannah: This is a Neopets podcast, but like Neopets, it is not for children Caroline: So hello and welcome everyone. We have a very special episode for you today - we are sitting down with Scrappy, Jade, and Raven from The Neopets Team. Hannah: OMG Caroline: Oh my God. Hannah: [laughter] Caroline: Welcome everyone! Thank you for doing this! Jade: Hi! Thanks for having us. Scrappy: Yeah, thanks for having us! I’m so excited to be here. Caroline: Um..we’re excited to be here, uh..we got an exclusive tour… Hannah: Yes Caroline: …of the Neopets offices Jade: So exclusive [laughter] Caroline: Uh..we went to lunch with some of the TNT staffers… Hannah: We went in Scrappy’s car.. [laughter] Caroline: No big deal Scrappy: We didn’t crash, thank God. [laughter] Hannah: No, we didn’t crash, we didn’t crash [laughter] Caroline: Um…yeah! So thanks again for having us. Um…we just wanted to start off talking a little bit about Neopets. We just got to the 20th anniversary, which is huge Hannah: Yep Caroline: Congratulations Hannah: Woo! Jade: We did it all, you know? Caroline: Yeah, it was all you guys [laughter] Jade: We’ve been here since then, so.. Caroline: Um, but like, why do you think Neopets has lasted for 20 plus years now when many of the other virtual pet sites haven’t? Jade: Big question, off the- off the bat Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: Yeah…I mean, I always attribute our…you know, being here after 20 years and still being..you know, going strong and with all of our fans… definitely the community. I mean.. Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..our users are so loyal and passionate.. Hannah: [chuckles] Caroline: Very passionate Scrappy: ..and awesome. Yeah, you know, passion…they’re awesome. We uh, you know, the comments sometimes, you know, negative ones… Hannah: [laughter] Scrappy: ..positive ones, the highs, the lows, they’re all… Jade: Everything…it makes it what it is. Scrappy: Yeah, no, they’re great. Really, it’s them, for sure, and I think just the community has stayed so strong… Hannah: Mmhmm Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..that it’s definitely up to them. Hannah: Mmhmm Caroline: Absolutely Hannah: Cool. That’s good. Caroline: Yeah, I mean, that’s why we ca- we keep coming back, certainly Hannah: Yeah! Yeah. It’s just had..you know…and there’s also kind of nothing else like it. Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Like, even though there have been other virtual pet sites, I feel like… Caroline: There’s something special about Neopets Hannah: ..something’s different. I don’t know if it’s, you know, it’s nostalgia but it’s also just like, functionality, um.. But how long have you been planning for the 20th anniversary? Scrappy: 20 years [laughter] Hannah: Oh, good answer Caroline: Yes Scrappy: Um, I mean I think it’s something we’ve talked about for a long time, of course with Comic Con in July, we were thinking about it way before then even. Obviously we got a lot going on with Neopets…we, you know, have a lot of different projects going on so..it’s not like we could put all of our resources and time into it for sure.. Hannah: Mmhmm Caroline: Sure Scrappy:..but, um, I mean I think it’s something we’ve been looking forward to and talking about for at least..probably about a year Jade: Six months to a year, yeah Caroline: Yeah…I mean it is a big event, and I think everyone really liked the..the little 20th anniversary event.. Hannah: Yeah, it was fun Caroline:…with all the capsules, and the avatar…um…which brings us to our next question, uh, which we talked about a little bit before off mic - Who wrote those riddles for the 20th anniversary event? [laughter] Scrappy: Yeah, one of our writers, uh, Scribbles.. is his, uh, TNT name Jade: Scribbles Scrappy: He’s been on the brand for a while, um, doing stuff with Neopets but he hasn’t really done too much for the site yet, he hasn’t had too much writing on the site so this was one of his first. So uh, you know, definitely get used to it because he’ll be around for a while, and he’ll be doing a lot on the site so.. Hannah: Okay. They were really good! Scrappy: He had so much fun with it, yeah. Caroline: Yeah, I - I think congratulations to Scribbles, because.. [laughter] Caroline: Truly..like for this being what you guys keep reminding us is a children’s site, they were some…difficult riddles Hannah: Yeah, I was stumped. For like, being someone who’s played on the site for like, a very long time…I..straight up couldn’t do them. Caroline: Yeah. Yeah, like even knowing the history, I was just like “It could be this…but it could also be this”… Hannah: Yeah, it was tough Scrappy: I think that was the point! So I’m glad, yeah Hannah: Yeah, no, it’s good, it was like a real… Caroline: Yeah, it was a challenge, for sure Jade: Cause we do have like, easier site events, like Festival of Neggs, where it’s like - it’s very obvious... Caroline: Yeah, of course Jade: ...so we wanted to kind of do something different, like kind of actually... Hannah: Yeah Jade: Cause you guys are really smart and like, inquisitive… [laughter] Jade: Like, we see that every day, so I think he really wanted to challenge everybody Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: And even to see people on the boards talking and being like, “Well, what do you think it is” and “What do you think it is”, that was awesome to see too… Caroline and Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: ...and I think just seeing the community being able to like, interact with it… Jade: Come together.. Scrappy: ...yeah, was super cool. Jade: Yeah, it was awesome Scrappy: Super cool for him, I know he loved it. Jade: Yeah Hannah: How often do you like, lurk on the boards? Like, just like... Scrappy: A lot Jade: Every day [laughter] Jade: For me- for me, it’s every day... Hannah: Yeah Jade: ..and people probably know this already, but yeah, I try to comment as much as I can.. Hannah: Okay Jade: I tend to get in trouble when I do go on the boards… [laughter] Jade: ...because people- I’ll come with like, one thing, and they’re like, “But what about the Battledome?” and “What about…” [laughter] Jade: ..and they’ll just like, bring all these things and I’m like, “I have no control, I swear”.. Hannah: Yeah Jade: ...but yeah, I try to get on there… Scrappy: I used to be the same way.. Jade: Yeah Scrappy: ...and I would comment for like- I was just answering a question like “Hey guys”, just quick poppin’ in Scrappy… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: and I’m just gonna answer this and I’m gonna leave... Jade: And it’s just like, boom Scrappy: ..and like everybody comes and they’re like, “Answer my ticket” and.. Jade: “Answer every question we have”.. [laughter] Scrappy: Yeah, answer all these four thousand questions and I’m like, “Guys”... Jade: “I’m so sorry” Scrappy: ...“I gotta go” [laughter] Caroline: You’re only- you’re only one person Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Um...well that was just like an off the cuff question, but… [laughter] Hannah: ..uh, we had talked a little bit about merch on the podcast a couple weeks ago, and so we were wondering if there were any hints as to what new merch people can expect? Jade: Hmm...the inside scoop.. Hannah: Yes. Anything you can give away that’s like a hint? Jade: Sure Scrappy: So, we definitely are going to have new merch in this next year.. Hannah: Okay Scrappy: ..around 2020; so we’re super excited about that.. Caroline: Awesome Scrappy: Um, I- don’t know, you know… Jade: Specifics? Scrappy: ..specifics yet.. Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: I know there’s certain things we’re talking about, um...obviously, actually Comic Con was really good for us because we could kinda see what people liked and what they didn’t.. Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: Um… Jade: Pretty much everything sold out.. Scrappy: Yeah Caroline: It seems like it was in high demand Hannah: It was good! Yeah Jade: It was insane, we were not anticipating that at all .. Scrappy: Yeah, there was… Jade: We were like, “oh we’ll just sell a few things”... Scrappy: Yeah…[laughs] Jade: ..and it was like a horde of people, like… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Jade: I think by like the second day we were out of half of everything… Scrappy: Yeah, we didn’t even get that much… Jade: It was insane Scrappy: We were just like, “Well let’s just test it out and see if people will still, you know, like the merch and stuff like that… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..and it was all gone in a couple days and we were like “Oh… Jade: “Oh, well, okay…” Scrappy: “...guess we should keep doing this…” [laughter] Hannah: Yeah, for real Jade: So that was like our test Scrappy: Yeah… Jade: So now that we kind of know the demand… Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ...we definitely are very excited to like, see what kind of things we can do, and shift our own agenda into what you guys might want, so.. Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ...yeah Caroline: So we’re thinking maybe....plushies? Some pins, maybe? Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: Um...I’m not gonna say anything for sure… [laughter] Scrappy: But like, you know, plushies would always be great...of course they would, we love them… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: I mean, plushies...I’m not gonna say for sure they’ll come but I think they are one of the most, you know, just sought after… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, definitely Scrappy: So we’re probably… Jade: We’ll do some things first... Scrappy: We’ll do some things first… Hannah: Yeah Jade: Yeah Scrappy: ..to like, test it out… Jade: ..test it out.. Hannah: Test the waters...mmhmm… Scrappy: ..then we’ll probably do something with them Jade: Yeah Scrappy: They’re just so cute Caroline: Yeah - we’re very excited Hannah: We’re excited Scrappy: [chuckles] Hannah: All right, cool. That’s good. Good to know it’s coming. Jade: Have you guys seen like, the Ebay sales for plushies? Hannah: Yeah Caroline: That’s what I’m saying is like, it’s very… Jade: It’s insane Caroline: Like, there’s-  there’s only so many out there now… Jade: Mmhmm Caroline: ..and like, they’re so in demand that it’s-  it’s a lot Jade: These are the only ones left from like, the original, like office… Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: Yeah... Jade: ..so we- we hold on to them with pride. Scrappy: I remember the Comic Con event - not this past one a few months ago, but last year’s - um, we just had a few plushies like, on the tables… Jade: Mmhmm..oh, yeah! Scrappy: ..to kind of decorate..they were all gone by the end of it.. Jade: All gone! Scrappy: ..within like, ten minutes really, they were just… Hannah: [laughter] Jade: They were decorations Scrappy: People would just kind of like, sneak them out… Caroline: People stole them?!? Scrappy: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah… [laughter] Caroline: Oh my God! Scrappy: They stole everything.They literally - unless it was one of the big banners… Hannah: Yeah Jade: It was gone Scrappy: ..it’s hard to obviously like, walk out of there with… Caroline: If it’s not nailed down Scrappy: Yeah...no, they took everything Hannah: That’s crazy Scrappy: Which was like, fine - like, we kind of expected it, but we were like “Okay, guess they like them” Caroline: Um… Scrappy: And next year we were smarter and we like, put them in prize bags but people loved those still too, so… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: It was, uh, a lot of demand at the- the Comic Con party, for sure Hannah: Yeah, oh yeah Caroline: We got some as well… Hannah: Do you still have any of the old trading cards? Like, around anywhere? Jade: Maybe… Scrappy: I- I think we might have some, yeah.. Hannah: Okay Scrappy: ...not a lot, though. Hannah: I tried to find- I used to be really into them and I had like 500, 600 cards… Jade: Oh my God Hannah: ..and I tried to find- they’re somewhere in my parents’ house, I can’t find them.. Caroline: She keeps searching Hannah: They- my parents swear that they did not throw them away but I don’t know… Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: ..I couldn’t find them, I feel like they’re gonna show up in like 20 years Jade: Exactly Caroline: That would be like a gold mine, frankly Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: We have like, some books that are like- have like, the masters of them and all that… Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: ..but then just like, random packs around… Hannah: Okay Scrappy: ..I think we might have a couple but not a lot… Raven: We had the full on game at some point… Hannah: Okay Scrappy: Yeah Raven: We played it, like… Hannah: Yeah Raven: ..we sat down and we read the rules.. Hannah: Mmhmm Raven: ..and figured it out, and we put it away really well..then we can’t find it. Caroline: Ah...Put it away too well [laughter] Jade: Exactly Hannah: Yeah...sad Caroline: I’d also just like to point out, since this is an audio medium, Scrappy does have a black Kougra plushie in front of her.. Hannah: Yes Caroline: ..and Jade has a little rainbow Poogle.. Hannah: Yeah Caroline: ..which are extremely cute. Hannah: They’re very cute [laughter] Jade: They’re our comfort plushies... Hannah: Confirmed [laughter] Jade: ..in case we get nervous. Scrappy: We carry them around all day, every day Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Jade: We also have them here in the lab too Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Yeah, there’s a few around us Jade: We’re here in Dr. Sloth’s Labs...that’s what we call this room Hannah: We’re in a very Neopets-friendly room Jade: Yes Caroline: We’ll probably post some pictures, uh...there are some amazing portraits of… [laughter] Caroline: ..King Coltzan and other characters here Hannah: Yeah, it’s very good Jade: Please do Caroline: Yeah...I’m really- really rethinking the idea of maybe having a Neopets themed wedding [laughter] Jade: That would be amazing Hannah: You should Scrappy: We’ll sponsor it, we’ll come bring all this stuff, put it up, yeah… Hannah: Yeah, that’d be great Scrappy: ..have plushies everywhere.. Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Amazing Jade: Still sold on that wedding registry idea.. [laughter] Hannah: Yeah, Neocash for your wedding Caroline: Let us know if this is something y’all would be interested in [laughter] Jade: That would be great Caroline: Uh, all right...very serious question. Jade: Ooooh Caroline: Any idea when we might get a new Neopet species? Jade: Ooooh...good question. Scrappy: It is a good question [laughter] Scrappy: I have an idea..of when you’ll get one… Hannah: Okay Caroline: Mmhmm Hannah: You don’t have to say when.. [laughter] Hannah: ..but there is- but there is an idea? Caroline: There’s a- there’s a plan in place? Scrappy: There is, uh...you know...a plan to have a plan Hannah: Okay Caroline: Okay, great Jade: A plan about a plan Scrappy: There’s a plan about a plan Jade: Exactly Hannah: Do your artists like, draw up ideas for species like, regul- like, just for fun, or like, do you have like backlogs of like, stuff that never really… Scrappy: Um, they draw them up for fun, for sure.. Hannah: Okay Scrappy: We- we actually got some from- one of our, actually, other producers, so funny, he just draws in his free time, he’s not an artist.. Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..he just likes to draw...he sends me some sometimes… Caroline: Really? [laughter] Scrappy: He just sends me some like, “Hey, I think this would be a cool Neopet to do”, like...that’s awesome, our whole company has a lot of fun with it.. Jade: Very creative Scrappy: Yeah, very creative, and they like to, so yeah.. Hannah: That’s cool Scrappy: Definitely just, draws them in their free time Hannah: Okay, cool Caroline: You know what I remembered that I did wanna ask...um, we still want to know - do you have any idea what that weird Nimmo in the middle of the 20th anniversary picture was? Hannah: Oh yeah! [laughs] Caroline: Was it an alien Nimmo? Do we know? Scrappy: Ohhhh Jade: Can we put a name to it? Raven: That was an interesting day Jade: Doctor...what’s his name? What’s his TNT name now? Scrappy: Doctor Doodle? Jade: Doctor Doodle Hannah: Doctor Doodle.. Scrappy: Yeah, he, you know, he invented… Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: ..a new, uh, thing that we haven’t seen yet, and maybe we’ll see it soon, but, um… Hannah: Kinda interesting Caroline: Maybe in the next 20 years [laughter] Scrappy: Maybe in the next 20 years you’ll see it Jade: Exactly Scrappy: That was the whole point, some of it was from 20 years ago… Hannah: Okay Caroline: Okay Scrappy: ..some of it’s for the next 20 years. Hannah: All right Caroline: All right Hannah: Foreshadowing, got it Caroline: A look ahead to the future Hannah: So it was actually a very smart move [laughter] Caroline: Brilliant Scrappy: And you picked it up, good on you guys Hannah: Yeah- yeah, we... Raven: We’re also doing time travel, if you didn’t know Scrappy: Yeah Jade: Yeah, of course Hannah: Yeah, I mean, I didn’t..um, I didn’t notice it until people on Twitter.. Caroline: That’s true, yeah Hannah: ..posted it, and I was like “Oh!”.. Jade: We didn’t either Caroline: People are like, on it.. Hannah: Yeah! [laughs] Jade: We didn’t either Hannah: Yeah, no, people were on it and they were like, “What is that?” and I was like, “Oh, wow, I don’t know what that is” Jade: It didn’t help that it was like, dead center.. [laughter] Hannah: I know, it was like right in the middle… Jade: Like, cannot escape… Hannah: [laughs] Jade: ..we see you.. Hannah: That’s funny [laughter] Hannah: Um, well...anyway...moving on to another important question… [laughter] Caroline: We’re so good at segues [laughter] Hannah: [laughs] We don’t have segments to like… Caroline: Yeah, that’s true Hannah: ..to direct the conversation. Um, how is the HTML5 conversion coming? Um..and, to jump off of that, do you know which games might not be making the cut? Scrappy: So the HTML5 conversion is going really well.. Hannah: Okay Scrappy: ..a lot of it.. [sighs] A lot of it, obviously Neopets is huge and there’s so much to do… Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..even like, customization and all the items, there’s just like so much to it that uh, it just takes time.. Caroline: Sure Scrappy: But it’s going very well actually, we’re really excited, we’re trying to get something out to people pretty soon Hannah: Okay Scrappy: Um, for the games side of it, so we’re gonna start with um, the most- probably 20 most popular games… Hannah: Okay Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ...which is like, you know, 90 percent of the game plays anyway Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Yeah [laughs] Scrappy: And pretty much from there, we’ll just kinda like feel it out and what people think… Hannah: Okay Scrappy: ...and if they want, you know, more of the old games, or if they want us to bring in some new games- we’ll probably do a little bit of both.. Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: So it’ll kind of start with the original like, 20, 25, and then we’ll just kinda build from there Hannah: Okay, cool Caroline: Sounds like a plan Scrappy: So we don’t know the exact ones yet… Hannah: Yeah, yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: Some of them might come later… Hannah: That’s good, okay Scrappy: ..some of them might come not at all so… Hannah: I think that’s- that’s fair. Caroline: Yeah Jade: We’re all- we’re all still waiting to see.. Hannah: Yeah [laughter] Caroline: As long as you guys have Meerca Chase, it’s fine Scrappy: Oh yeah, for sure Hannah: Yeah, I feel like that’s a… Scrappy: That one’s already done, so.. Hannah: That’s like a top 20, right? Caroline: Yeah...you gotta Scrappy: That’s like a top three, really… Hannah: Top three, really, okay. Do you have like, the data on like, which games.. Jade and Scrappy: Oh, yeah Hannah: What’s like the number one most played? Scrappy: Kass Basher Hannah: Huh Caroline: Really?? Scrappy: Yeah… Hannah: I would never have guessed that… Caroline: That’s very interesting... Scrappy: That’s like, consistently number one, yeah Hannah: I never play that [laughs] Caroline: Maybe… Hannah: What about like, two? What are- what are the…? Scrappy: Probably Meerca Chase is up there… Hannah: Okay, yeah Scrappy: Um...trying to think of the third.. Hannah: I guess like.. Scrappy: Faerie Bubbles is up there for sure… Hannah: ..like, avatar games probably are.. Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Destruct-O-Match? That’s a popular one? Scrappy: Destruct-O-Match is in the top ten for sure.. Hannah: Ice Cream Machine? Scrappy: That’s my favorite game, I love that Hannah: Oh my God, that’s her favorite game too! Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: Is it? Caroline: Yeah, it is Scrappy: Oh yeah, that’s my favorite Hannah: Um… Scrappy: Yeah, I read like how you- well, I heard it on one of the segments, I feel like, how you play, and I tried to do that and it just didn’t work for me [laughter] Caroline: Listen, everyone’s gotta develop their own style of play, you know… Hannah: All right, yeah, that makes sense it’s a popular- well that’s an avatar one too.. Caroline: Yeah Hannah: ..so that makes sense, but... Caroline: But I feel like also… Hannah: ..it’s also fun Caroline: ..some of these are a little cathartic, like the Destruct-O-Match.. Hannah: Yeah Caroline: I get to smash the boulders, Kass Basher, maybe you’re getting out.. Hannah: Yeah, yeah Jade: It’s classic Caroline: ..a little bit of that aggression, you know... Hannah: Yeah, like “Ughhhh” Scrappy: Yeah, yup. I think it’s our CEO’s favorite, he plays it all the time [laughter] Scrappy: I’ll like be walking by, and I’ll be like “What are you doing?” and he’s like, “Just playing Kass Basher” and I’m just like, “Okay” [laughs] Hannah: It’s a good- it’s a good game. Jade: That’s awesome. Hannah: Haven’t played it in a while actually. Maybe I’ll check it out. Caroline: Yeah [laughter] Caroline: Um, okay, and speaking of games, we saw at the Comic Con, um, some art and a little demo of what you’re calling “Neopets X”.. Jade and Scrappy: Mmhmm Caroline: Do you have any updates on that? Scrappy: So, um, Neopets X...will not be its name, but it’s kind of just like a... Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Obviously [laughter] Jade: The secret name Scrappy: Yeah, so that one’s also coming along very well Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: That one is actually also planning on starting off as a beta, um, I don’t know exact dates… Jade: Yeah Scrappy: ..but sometime next year, pretty early next year we’re hoping for Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: Um, updates on games, I mean, it’s a 3D world builder, um, we’re super excited for it, it has some kind of crafting elements to it, it has, um, it has some fun just kind of social elements to it too, of being able to like craft with people, um...Yeah, there’s a new storyline, which is super exciting.. Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..there’s new characters, um, also, Scribbles, who helped out with the 20th anniversary event, also has helped out a little bit with this game, along with, um, their other team who has been focused only on this… Hannah: Right Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..which, they’re amazing.. Jade: They’re so awesome Scrappy: ..yeah, they have done some amazing things with this game. The art looks amazing, the animations… Hannah: Cool Scrappy: ..yeah it looks Jade: They were- they were just here… Scrappy: Yeah! Jade: ..was it this week? Scrappy: Uh, last week...Oh my God, that was this week Jade: That was this week...wow. [laughter] Scrappy: Holy crap, it’s been a long week [laughter] Jade: Yeah so we kind of got to see- we got to see all the updates, and like.. Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ..cause we’ve seen it since the beginning, and they just come and pop in and like “Look at this!” and we’re just like, “Oh, yeah!” [laughs] So we’ve got to see the progression of it.. Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ..and it’s- it’s really come along. Scrappy: It’s cool, you get to see like a new world introduced, which is awesome.. Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..new stories are always fun.. Jade: And in 3D! Scrappy: In 3D! Jade: We’ve never done that Scrappy: Yeah, no, the whole thing is really- it’s awesome, and again, the team is amazing that has worked on it and they’ve done amazing on the game Jade: Amazing job, yeah, so it’s gonna be exciting.. Scrappy: Yeah Jade:  to see what you guys- I mean, there’s already fanart about some of the characters, so.. Hannah: Really? Caroline: Wow Hannah: Oh wow, I haven’t even seen it Caroline: Amazing Jade: Right after Comic Con, it was already out so.. Hannah: Oh cool Jade: ..it’s pretty cool to see like, those characters develop and what you all think of it so.. Hannah: Is it like, directly connected to the site, or is it its own...platform? Jade: It’s kind of… Scrappy: No, it’ll be its own game Jade: It’s connected but yeah, it’s kind of its own thing Hannah: Okay Scrappy: Like platform-wise, yeah, you’ll be able to get it from the store, it’ll be like an app.. Hannah: Yeah, okay Scrappy: Yeah, yeah, so it’ll be on iOS and Android Hannah: Gotcha Scrappy: Um, yeah Hannah: Cool Scrappy: Yep, so an app. It’ll probably tie into the site, you know, you’ll be able to get rewards and stuff Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, I was gonna say, kind of like with Legends & Letters? Scrappy: Yeah Jade: Mmhmm ...spin-off world... Scrappy: So you’ll be able to get rewards and some stuff like that, but it’ll be its own standalone Jade: Yeah Hannah: Oh, okay, cool Caroline: Sweet Hannah: Um, well, to transition into some like, lighter questions… Jade: [laughs] Hannah: ...what is the wildest thing you’ve ever seen on the Neoboards? Jade: Oh God...this has been one of the hardest questions… Scrappy: I know, this- honestly, I was thinking about this.. Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: ..I don’t know.. Caroline: I mean, to be fair, there is like, new stuff every week. Hannah: Yeah Caroline: That’s how we consistently keep getting material for this [laughs] Jade: Not every week, every second, there’s new- there’s new boards [laughter] Hannah: Yeah Caroline: That’s true Jade: Like I always try to save boards on my computer and I’ll come back the next day - “this board is gone”... Hannah: Oh yeah Jade: ..and I’m like, “Nooooo” [laughter] Scrappy: I’ll like copy and paste certain boards if I’m like, “This will be gone in an hour”, so… Jade: It’s so- it’s quick, like you guys can talk fast… [laughter] Jade: ..like, I don’t know how you do it. Hannah: Yeah Jade: But, most of the time, when we see the crazy stuff, it’s gone by the time we get there… Hannah: Yeah Jade: ..unfortunately [laughs] Scrappy: Yeah, I know. I mean… Jade: But there was that one time where all the moderators were gone.. Scrappy: I was gonna say, that probably is the craziest thing.. [laughter] Scrappy: ..that I have seen.. Jade: Yeah Scrappy: ..cause even like- it was crazy from the user side.. Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: ..but it was crazy from our side, and so that was probably the craziest one, because it was like… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..for a few hours.. Jade: Yeah Caroline: Just chaos Scrappy: Chaos [laughter] Scrappy: We were in chaos, they were in chaos… Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: ..everything was in chaos, just- Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..that’s the perfect word for it Hannah: Yeah, there’s so many screencaps from it Scrappy: All it was, was just chaos Jade: Yeah Hannah: That’s funny Scrappy: So yeah, that has to be it Jade: It was so insane Scrappy: So yeah, we came back and we kinda saw some of the things that had been going on.. Jade: The screenshots Scrappy: ..while we were gone and we were like, “Oh, well… Hannah: [laughs] “Okaaay” [laughs] Scrappy: ..Neopets just took a break from being a kid friendly site but that’s okay…” [laughter] Caroline: I’m just picturing that gif from Community.. [laughs] Hannah: With the fire, yeah Caroline: ..where he walks back in with the pizzas and everything’s on fire, and you’re like “What happened?!” Hannah: [laughs] “Oh my God!” Scrappy: [laughing] That is literally- Jade: We reference that- that meme… Jade and Scrappy: ..all the time [laughter] Jade: Yeah Scrappy: All the time Jade: I think there is a JS version of it too, like the JumpStart version.. Hannah: Oh yeah? Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ..of like, just “This is fine” Hannah: I think there- yeah, I think I know what you’re talking about Caroline: “Everything is fine” Jade: We- we constantly spread that around the office Scrappy: Yeah Caroline: Amazing Hannah: That’s funny Raven: I think that was the first story I heard about Neopets when I started working here Hannah: Oh yeah? Caroline: Yeah, it was big Scrappy: That’s like our most memorable one that we tell newcomers to our company, like “Yep…” [laughter] Scrappy: “..this one time this happened, and everything was just in disarray…” Jade: In flames Scrappy: “..but like, if you can handle a situation like that, then you can work here..” [laughter] Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: “..then you can do anything” Caroline: That’s true, it only gets better from there Hannah: [laughs] Caroline: Um, okay, so you know- as you probably know, we do a segment called Kyriiosities every episode where we feature some of the...strange items that are on the Neopets site. Hannah: [chuckles] Caroline: Do you guys have a favorite weird item that you’ve come across? Jade: So this is another hard question, cause we come up with new items like, every week.. Caroline and Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: I know Jade: Like, there’s at least ten items per week so for us it’s just like kind of analog like, “yeah, that’s an item, that’s an item...” Scrappy: Yeah, right [laughter] Jade: It’s- It’s Neopets...But I tried to do some research, and I looked up a few weird ones.. Scrappy: I know, you have to like, really think about it.. Jade: You really do! Scrappy: Cause there’s like, so many… Jade: Cause everything’s weird, technically.. Scrappy: I know, right? Jade: But I found Bacon Tape.. Hannah: Okay Scrappy: [chuckles] Jade: ..Sobbing Onion, and Adhesive Tape Tostada, and I have pictures here.. Hannah: Oh, great! Caroline: Amazing Scrappy: [laughs] Hannah: Oh my gosh… Jade: ..if you guys want to see. Hannah: Jade has done her research Jade: [laughs] Hannah: Oh yeah, Bacon Tape… Caroline: Wow...wow. All right, we will post- Jade: This is actually from Reddit, so...thank you Reddit Scrappy: That’s crazy [laughter] Caroline: We will post pictures, on...yeah Scrappy: I- Yeah, I actually have talked to a couple members of the team and actually, a few of them brought up the Non-Lethal Sandwich... Jade: Oh! Hannah: Hmm...okay Scrappy: ..as their favorite one. Hannah: Non-Lethal Sandwich, okay Caroline: It is strange… Scrappy: As opposed to the Lethal Sandwich.. Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..which is a totally normal item. Hannah: No, that’s normal Caroline: [laughs] It’s fine Scrappy: Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. It’s the Non-Lethal one that’s bizarre. Jade: That’s the weird one Caroline: I mean, if you don’t have a Pizza of Death or Lethal Sandwich, Non-Lethal Sandwich.. Scrappy: [laughs] Hannah: It’s nothin’, yeah Caroline: ..whatever. Hannah: But, speaking of food- is there a Neopets food that you would most like to eat? Caroline: If it were real Hannah: Like, that looks like, delicious. Cause some of it does look really good. Scrappy: Some of it does look good Jade: Some of it does...and some of it is disgusting Hannah: Yeah [laughs] Jade: And you’re like, “Why?” Scrappy: So…yeah…the thing with me, which we talked about a little bit earlier- I am the pickiest eater you will ever meet in your life..Like, I eat like a total of four things Hannah: [laughs] Jade: We- we have a place that comes- every single day there’s new restaurants downstairs, cause there’s not a lot of food places around here.. Scrappy: Yeah, so it’s almost like a food truck kinda thing that’ll come Hannah: Oh yeah Jade: She eats- she eats none of it Scrappy: None of it Hannah: None of it? Oh my God Caroline: Do you just bring your own lunch? Scrappy: They have like Greek food, they have...No Jade: Tacos…nothing. Nothing goes by. Scrappy: No, nothing Raven: We had an event at some point, a couple weeks ago, with tacos and then.. Scrappy: Yeah, tac- like a make your own taco stand Jade: She bought it! And she didn’t eat any of it Hannah: You don’t eat tacos?!? Scrappy: No.. Raven: She ate only rice Scrappy: I know… Jade: It’s spicy Hannah: Oh, spicy Scrappy: Yeah, I can’t do spice Caroline: I mean, I- I do feel that… Scrappy: Yeah Caroline: ..I cannot handle the spice.. Jade: But it’s not spicy Caroline: ..but like, you can do some tacos Hannah: [laughs] Jade: Zero spice Scrappy: And nobody talking about it- they’ll be like, “This isn’t spicy at all” and I’ll be like, “Guys, my mouth is on fire, don’t tell me this isn’t spicy” [laughter] Caroline: Everyone has their own levels of tolerance… Scrappy: Exactly! And mine is at the very bottom! [laughter] Scrappy: I have no tolerance! Hannah: So what’s like, your favorite food? Scrappy: Pizza Hannah: Okay Caroline: Okay, so like any- any of the like- a cheese pizza… Jade: Cheese Scrappy: A cheese pizza is probably like my favorite thing in the world Jade: Cheese. Mac n cheese, pizza cheese, anything cheese Scrappy: Yeah, anything cheese. Cheese, cheese. Caroline: Okay Hannah: Gotcha Jade: But for me, I’ve always wanted to try borovan? Hannah: Oh yeah! Caroline: Yeah! Scrappy: I was actually gonna say borovan! Jade: Yeah…cause like, how does it taste? Like, what? Vegetables and chocolate? Hannah: Yeah.. Caroline: Yeah Jade: How would that- how would that be good? Hannah: It looks like coffee, but..yeah [laughs] Caroline: I don’t know… Jade: I’ve always wanted to know what that tastes like Caroline: I mean, it is the season Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, I would love to try a hot cup of borovan Scrappy: I know, what a seasonal- Jade: That would be fun Scrappy: Nice, yeah, we should do it Jade: We should make a video on that Scrappy: We should’ve Jade: Making them.. Scrappy: That would’ve been so fun Jade: Part two? Caroline: [laughs] Maybe, uh- maybe one of the Neopets food creators will try to recreate it Scrappy: Yeah! Hannah: Yeah! That’s a thing happening now, so… Jade: That would be great Hannah: They should Scrappy: They should! Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, I would love to see that Jade: Those are some of my favorite times of like, the year, when we do, like, NeoCreation Week. Caroline: Mmhmm Hannah: Yeah Jade: Seeing you guys’ submissions… Scrappy: Oh my God… Raven: Amazing Jade: ..amazing Scrappy: ..they are so amazing Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: They’re so talented… Hannah: Yeah, there were some really cool ones Scrappy: Yeah, we did the capsule a few months ago for- yeah, for like… the NC capsule Jade: Random Contest Hannah: Mmhmm Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: Yeah, the Random Contest. People put in their own items, and we only got to pick like, ten and then the capsule sell- Jade: It’s- there was 260 entries Caroline: Oh my gosh! Hannah: Oh, wow! Scrappy: And they were so good! I sat there for weeks… Hannah: [laughter] Jade: It was hard Scrappy: ..going through it with Jade, and we were like… Jade: That was half the work Scrappy: ..”What do we pick? These are so good!” Hannah: Wow Jade: It was really cool Scrappy: No, they were amazing. The capsule itself actually- funny story, that one was submitted, and we were like- cause a lot of them we obviously redid to like, put them in the Neopets… Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..you know, the style. Uh, that one we were like… Jade: That can be kept Scrappy: ..“It’s perfect. It’s just perfect” Jade: We just kept it… Caroline: Wow Hannah: Wow Jade: ..the original artwork. Scrappy: Yeah, so that was awesome… Jade: Yeah, that was really cool. Scrappy: ..they were so talented. It’s just..amazing. Jade: Mmhmm Hannah: Yeah, some people are really- Scrappy: I can’t draw at all, so like… [laughter] Caroline: Not- yeah, not me. Not me. I wish. Scrappy: I can’t do anything Hannah: No, we don’t- yeah, we just talk [laughs] Caroline: This- this is what we do. We- yeah, we talk. Scrappy: We talk Hannah: [laughing] We just talk Scrappy: We eat, we talk. That’s it. Jade: Yeah, exactly Hannah: Yeah, we do- we do, yeah Caroline: Um, okay, so you guys have been here for a few years now.. Jade: Mmhmm Caroline: ..what did you know about Neopets before you actually started working on the site? Were you familiar with it at all? Scrappy: So, we have a couple people here that were like pretty… Jade: Die-hard fans Scrappy: ..I don’t wanna say super fans.. Caroline: [laughs] Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..but they were fans, for sure, bordering on super fans. I wasn’t that- I knew about it… Hannah: Mmhmm Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..and I like, had dabbled in it here and there.. Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Of course Scrappy: ..but I started in the company not even working on Neopets, and when I came over, I was kinda like “Okay, this is interesting”. And then from there, I just like… Jade: Full blown Scrappy: ..went down this rabbit hole… Hannah: [laughs] Caroline: [laughs] Yep Scrappy: ..of like- I would stay here for like, hours… Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: ..til like, one a.m., for like, weeks on end and just.. Hannah: Play Scrappy: ..play, and people would be like, “Are you working?”, and I’d be like… Hannah: Yeah! Scrappy: “It’s research!” Hannah: [laughs] Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: “I’m catching up”, like… Caroline: Absolutely Scrappy: ..I wanna know everything about the site! Hannah: Yeah Caroline: You do! Scrappy: And now, um, I play…all the time Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: Yeah, no, I do. I love Neopets, and I can like, give myself all the items… Caroline and Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: ..and customizations- like, customization is my favorite thing to do… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..I have like- I have all Kougras, obviously Hannah: Mmhmm Caroline: Obviously Scrappy: But uh, I have like five Kougras that I just constantly dress up, and I get my items, so… Jade: You cannot talk to Scrappy about Kougra- any Kougra bashing will not be had in this office. She will come- Caroline and Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: No - Kougras are my absolute favorite thing in the world Caroline: You will- you will not hear it from me, I personally love a Kougra Hannah: No- I love all the cat ones because I’m like, a cat lady… Scrappy: I feel that, I like them too, yeah Hannah: ..and so, yeah [laughs] Scrappy: Whenever- Hannah: Any cat Neopet, I’m cool with [laughs] Scrappy: Yeah, whenever someone’s talking about like- you know, if we’re gonna do new merchandise, or we’re gonna make a poster, and they’re like, “What pet should we put on it?” - Kougras. Jade: Always. Caroline: Kougras [laughter] Scrappy: Kougras. Always Kougras. Caroline: It’s classic! Everyone knows Scrappy: They’re so cute! Hannah: Do you have a- do you have a least favorite Neopet? Like, do you have one that you’re like, “Uuchh” Scrappy: Jubjub Jade: [gasps] Caroline: Really??!? Hannah: Whoa [laughs] Jade: Controversy! Caroline: Wow. Wow. Scrappy: Oh my God, I’m gonna just retire Hannah: No, I’m just surprised! Jade: I’m offended, almost Caroline: I mean- I mean, we’ve- Hannah: I’m just- I’ve never heard that before Jade: Right? Raven: They’re adorable! Scrappy: Really?!? Jade: What did they do to you?? Scrappy: Oh God, now I feel bad [laughs] Caroline: Jubjubs are like- I would say- No, no, no, no… Hannah: No, I just Caroline: They’re like middle of the road for me Jade: Right. Right. Hannah: We don’t Stan Caroline: I really don’t like the- the bug ones, we’ve talked about this… Hannah: Yeah Raven: Yes- Buzz Jade: Awww Hannah: Yeah, yeah Caroline: And then, in the middle, Jubjub…is like, fine Hannah: Yeah [laughs] It’s fluffy! Jade: It’s like, fine. It’s neutral Scrappy: You know I think I hate about Jubjub? Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: Because my favorite thing to do is customize… Jade: Ohhh… Scrappy: …they look… Jade: They’re hard. Caroline: It is hard. Scrappy: They can’t- Yeah.. Jade: They’re hard. Caroline: It is hard. Scrappy:  ..you can put on like a wig, and maybe- that’s it. Jade: Sure Hannah: Okay, yeah. That makes sense. Caroline: The feet are disproportionate Jade: Mmhmm…that’s true. Scrappy: Yeah, it’s really- yeah. So I think that’s probably it for me. Hannah: Well- what I think is so interesting is that- I was reading like, when Neopets was uh, first created, or like when- when it was gonna be sold for a number of ways… Jade: Mmhmm Caroline: Yeah Hannah: ..the creation of the Xweetok was supposed to be like, a really ugly Neopet. Scrappy: [laughs] Jade: [gasps] Hannah: Like, it was like, I think, um- Caroline: Oh yeah, the creators were kind of like- Hannah: The creators’ last hurrah? Jade: No way… Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: It was just like, “Ugh, I’m just gonna leave them with this”… Caroline: Yeah…”Uh, here” Hannah: And it’s really cute! Jade: I did not know that! Scrappy: Oh, it’s the cutest! Caroline: I think- it’s one of my favorites! Scrappy: And it’s one of the most like, popular, for sure, yeah Hannah: Yeah! Yeah. I don’t get it. I dunno.. Jade: Rude. I love Xweetoks. Scrappy: Backfired! [laughs] Caroline: There’s really no accounting for taste Scrappy: No Hannah: Yeah Caroline: I dunno Jade: It’s a surprising one Scrappy: No- I think that- I like see, you know  it, the popular list of Neopets and I’m like,  “Wow, this many people really like this pet? Crazy.” Hannah: Yeah, I know Scrappy: But you know what, to each their own. Hannah: Yeah. It’s- Caroline: I mean, that’s the great thing- there’s such a variety… Hannah: There’s something for everyone Caroline: ..that everyone can choose what they want Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: That- And that’s just like- I feel like that’s such just like a point to even the core of Neopets as a whole… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..of just like, there is something for everyone… Jade: Everyone’s- Hannah: You can do what you want Caroline: You can play it how you want Scrappy: ..colors, pets, yeah- Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: ..like features.. Hannah: Games Scrappy: ..everything. It’s just whatever you want. Jade: Oh yeah. I got a question on the editorial recently and they were like, “Would you ever get rid of a species?”. I was like, “Excuse me??” Caroline: Damn Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: Oh my God! Jade: I’m sorry…what? We’re just gonna get rid of all of them? Like, what kind of message is that? Hannah: [laughing] There would be like, an uprising Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: Oh my God, we would never do that! Jade: No! Scrappy: We love them all Caroline: You would be like, mass pounding them… Jade: Right! Like, what? Caroline: ..that would be horrible Hannah: What is the like, least pop- do you know the least popular? Like the one that’s- yeah Scrappy: Um, I could find it, I don’t know off the top of my head, um.. Jade: There’s a list, right? Scrappy: There is a list… Jade: It’s on the site Raven: It’s on the website, I think Jade: Yeah, it’s on the site Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Oh really? Okay. Scrappy: Yeah, there is like, that generic list… Caroline: And it changes- Hannah: Yeah, you’re right, it is on there. Caroline: Cause it changes too Scrappy: Yeah Jade: Hmm…I don’t remember Caroline: Not that much, but it does shift a little bit, here and there Scrappy: Yeah, I don’t remember either Jade: Yeah Caroline: Jade, do you have a least favorite? Jade: I’d say Skeiths Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Yeah, that’s fair Caroline: You’re not wrong Jade: Yeah, they’re pretty hard to customize Scrappy: They’re pretty low, yeah, mine too, yeah Hannah: Yeah, they’re not the best Jade: I mean like, they’re cool but just not like the best customizable ones, I guess Raven: Krawk is the- currently the least popular Hannah: Huh Caroline: But that’s also because they’re hard to get- Jade: Cause they’re hard to come by- Hannah: Oh, okay Scrappy: Yes, I was just gonna say, the limited edition ones… Jade: Yeah Scrappy: ..are kind of in their own… Jade: Lane? Yeah Scrappy: ..you know, game… Hannah: That makes sense, yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..because yeah, they’re- they’re harder to get Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: So yeah, we usually remove those ones, but… Hannah: Hmm. Well! Good to know. Caroline: Good to know Jade: What about you- what about you guys? Hannah: Least favorite? Jade and Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Um…well I know...uh, yeah, it would probably be Skeith or Buzz Jade: Mmm Caroline: Yeah, Buzz is tr- truly the worst, I’m sorry. Hannah: [laughing] Yeah Jade: Yeah Scrappy: Buzz is bad Hannah: Yeah Jade: Yeah Hannah: ..we’re not- I had to- I had to make one and paint one for that… Caroline: Wait, wh- Hannah: ..frickin’ Rainbow Fountain avatar! [laughter] Caroline: Oh, that’s right Hannah: I had to do it! Jade: Had to do it [laughs] Caroline: Had to. You had to do it, girl. Hannah: I did it! Yeah, I did it and then I- Scrappy: They’re all perfect in their own way, exactly [laughter] Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, I mean- Hannah: Yeah, there’s a time and a place [laughs] Scrappy: There’s a time and a place for them all, we love them all Jade: Yes Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, and there’s only six slots so it’s- Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: Yeah Caroline: you- you gotta pick what’s important to you Scrappy: Yeah…they just- yeah. Hannah: Which could be six Aishas, you know? It’s fine. [laughter] Scrappy: Could be six Kougras, I don’t know! Hannah: It could be! Caroline: Who can say? Jade: Aishas are the perfect pet Caroline: There’s no wrong way to play Neopets Scrappy: There is none Caroline: Unless you’re cheating. Don’t do that. Jade: They’re the perfect pet to customize Hannah: They are the perfect pet to customize Scrappy: [laughing] Unless you’re cheating, perfect. Caroline: Don’t do that Scrappy: Then you’re playing Neopets wrong. Hannah: There you go Jade: Yeah, whenever we- whenever we create items, we always use the Aisha first to customize… Hannah: Oh yeah? Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Hah! Jade:  ..cause they’re the most like, accomadable Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Justice! [laughs] Caroline: Wow. Wowwww. Scrappy: Yeah Caroline: This is Meerca erasure. Scrappy: And a Blumaroo! Jade: And Blumaroos Scrappy: And a Blumaroo, yeah. Hannah: And Blumaroo, okay. Caroline: Okay Jade: And Blumaroos, yeah. One four-legged, one two-legged… Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ..so..yeah. Hannah: Okay, that makes sense. Cool. Caroline: Sure ...I guess. [laughter] Hannah: I’m thrilled Scrappy: I know, my Kougra’s not in there either, it’s ridiculous, but… Hannah: I am personally thrilled. Caroline: Wow. Jade: There’s also the controversy on how to say it, right? Cause some people say ‘Eye-sha’. Hannah: Yeah Jade: She says ‘Eye-ee-sha’, so…yeah Hannah: Thank you! Caroline: That’s how Hannah says it Hannah: That’s how I grew up saying it, was ‘Eye-ee-sha’, yeah Scrappy: I mean- I believe it’s an ‘Eye-ee-sha’ Hannah: Yeah…but on the thing, it’s like ‘Eye-sha’, yeah Scrappy: And I work for Neopets, so I believe I can say that and it’s officially a thing [laughter] Hannah: I mean, I won- like, maybe, maybe- yeah, exactly. And also, it was started by British people, and they have different ways of saying things… Caroline: That’s true Scrappy: Exactly, yeah! Hannah: So the pronunciation guide is, you know, British Caroline: Yeah, they say- They say Grarrl like, ‘Grahl’ Hannah: ‘Grahl’, yeah Scrappy: Yeah, right? Caroline: And I just- that’s just not for me… [laughter] Jade: No Caroline: ..it’s ‘Grar-uhl’ Jade: It’s hard ‘Grar-uhl’, yeah Hannah: [laughs] It’s a hard ‘Grar-uhl’ Caroline: Why would you have the Rs in it if you didn’t want us to pronounce it? Jade: Yeah [laughs] Hannah: Yeah! Yeah. It’s ‘Grar-uhl’. Like it’s growling. Caroline: It’s growling! Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: ‘Grar-uhl’ Jade: Exactly. We concur on that one. Caroline: Oh my God Hannah: Anyway Caroline: Um, is there anything else you guys wanna say, or anything you want to ask us? Jade: Oh, gosh Scrappy: I have a question. Caroline and Hannah: Sure! Scrappy: So what would you guys say is like your favorite thing to do on Neopets? Jade: Hmm Hannah: Okay Scrappy: We love to hear this from people… Hannah: Yeah Jade: Yes Scrappy: ..because everyone’s answer is usually different Hannah: Um, I have always loved the avatar collecting, I think it’s really unique and fun, and I have never found another site that offered something like that… Jade: Mmhmm Hannah: ..and I think- I got into that like, pretty early in my Neopets career… Caroline: Your Neopets career? [laughter] Hannah: ..when I was like, maybe eleven or twelve… Jade: Mmhmm Hannah: ..um, and I kind of like, discovered the avatar chat, and like, all of the like, secrets and everything surrounding it. Jade: Yeah Hannah: So that’s what’s really kept me coming back, because I, um, am not the best at games, but like, trying for game avatars or like, just random ones, where you have to just like, going to the Snowager every day, and just stuff like that… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: ..um, it’s like the thrill… [laughter] Hannah:..of the- of the random event, um, and it happening, and when I’ve gotten like, really rare ones that I’ve been trying for forever, it’s like, the best Jade: Such an accomplishment Caroline: Yeah, it’s a good feeling Hannah: Yeah, it literally feels so- and I have to tell my boyfriend and he’s like, “Okay”… [laughter] Jade: “Sure, sure, whatever” Hannah: ..like, ”I don’t know what that means” [laughs] Um, but luckily now I have like, an outlet for it, which is great Jade: Yeah Hannah: Um, so yeah, definitely avatar collecting for me, and then like, um- I mean, collecting in general, too, like I also have a gallery of um, ice lollies... Jade: Oooh Scrappy: Nice Hannah: I really like the art, I think they’re really cute, and then that’s evolved into like, lollipops and popsicles and things like that, so… Jade: Mmhmm Caroline: Mmhmm Hannah: ..all the items and the collection aspect has always been my thing Jade: So for avatars, cause you said you had what, like 360? Hannah: 333 Jade: 33, my bad. So do you like… Hannah: [laughs] Not quite 60 Scrappy: That’s such a perfect number… Hannah: I know! Scrappy: ..l almost like wouldn’t even want another one Hannah: I know! [laughter] Jade: ..so do you like, switch between them, just to like, flex your avatars? [laughter] Hannah: Um, I- I do tend to- I change them like, seasonally, sometimes, so like… Jade: Okay Caroline: Yeah Hannah: ..I’m not like, super active on the boards though so like, nobody ever sees them [laughter] Hannah: But like, I think right now I have- I think right now I’m using a holiday one Jade: Nice Hannah: Um, and then I used to be also like, really into like, making fonts, like, when that was a thing… Scrappy: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah Hannah: ..um, and I- now I pretty much just use the same old template or whatever, but I used to be like, really into it, and I had a whole like, page for it and I made them for other people and stuff… Scrappy: Cool! Jade: That’s awesome! Hannah: ..that like always matched to the avatars and so…it was a whole thing. Caroline: Yeah Hannah: But yeah… [laughs] Jade: That’s great Scrappy: That’s awesome! Jade: That’s so good to hear Caroline: I’m boring, I just like the games [laughter] Caroline: I like to play the games, uh, the games that I’m good at… Hannah: Destruct-O-Match Caroline: ..not the bad ones [laughter] Caroline: ..not the platformers Hannah: No Caroline: Um, yeah, I love to play a Destruct-O-Match, I love to play a Hasee Bounce… Hannah: Mmhmm, mmhmm Caroline: It’s weirdly calming, I don’t know what it is… Hannah: It is calming Jade: No, I get that Caroline: ..it’s truly like, I come home from a hard day at work, and I’m like “Time to boot up the ol’ laptop and play some games on Neopets.com” Jade: [chuckles] Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: I agree Jade: That’s awesome Caroline: Yeah Hannah: Yeah, it’s a good stress relief too, for sure Caroline: It is Jade: It really is. Yeah, when I first started, um, that was pretty much my assignment that Scrappy gave me, was just go through Neopets and just- cause I- I wasn’t really, uh, familiar with the brand as much as everyone else, so… Hannah: Yeah Jade: ..I just went through the site, played like every game… Hannah: Yeah Jade: ..and that was my job… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Hannah: That’s awesome [laughs] [laughter] Caroline: Jade: ..I was like, “Yes, I just get to test- test games”… Caroline: I’m su- I’m sure you learned a lot Jade: I really did! Snot Splatter is my favorite game, personally… Caroline: Oh my God! Hannah: [laughs] Jade: ..yeah, It’s- Scrappy: No way!! Jade: I love it, I don’t know why Caroline: That’s horrifying Scrappy: What?!? Caroline: Oh my God Jade: I don’t know why, it’s super addicting Hannah: Every time-  that game is always like, one of the Games Challenge games or whatever… Caroline: It is, yeah Hannah: ..and it always takes me many times Caroline: I like the concep- like, the- the game mechanics of it. I do not like the snot. Jade: Yeah Scrappy: Me neither Hannah: [laughs] It’s, yeah…the snot- the snot aspect can be rough Caroline: It’s very gross Jade: I don’t know why I like it. It’s just addicting for some reason Hannah: Yeah Jade: Just the bubble pop- it’s so satisfying to me Hannah: Yeah, it- that part is Caroline: Mmm…okay Raven: Is it like a pimple popping game? Jade: No, it’s like snot… Hannah: And they grow… Jade: ..and they like, expand- Caroline: It explodes Raven: Yeah, but is your thing with that game because of like, a pimple popping- Jade: No, I hate pimple popping stuff [laughter] Jade: I hate that, no Hannah: Yeah I do too, it’s gross Jade: No no no..I think it’s just the satisfaction of- Hannah: No, but when you can get all the bubbles aligned and they go… Caroline: Yeah, you have it all set up Jade: ..yeah, the bubb- the like- what is that called? The effect when- Caroline: Like a chain reaction? Jade: Chain reaction effect, I like it Hannah: Yeah, and they all go- yeah, it is satisfying Jade: I think it’s that- the ASMR interest I have… Hannah: Uh huh Caroline: [laughs] Jade: ..it’s like that same thing, the satisfaction. I don’t know why. [chuckles] Scrappy: Fair enough. Hannah: That makes sense. All right, I like that. I like that. Caroline: Okay, interesting. Very interesting. Scrappy: That was a good answer. I feel bad for being appalled… [laughter] Scrappy: ..at your game choice Jade: It’s okay. It’s okay. Hannah: I just think we’ve never heard anyone say- Caroline: No, I- that’s just my visceral reaction, I’m sorry Jade: It’s okay. I stand by it. No worries. Caroline: Okay Hannah: I like it. I think that’s good. But um- yeah, anything else you guys wanna like, plug, or like, promote before we say goodbye? Jade: Oh my gosh.. Scrappy: Oh my gosh Jade: Do we have anything to promote? Scrappy: Um… Hannah: Anything up and coming? I don’t know Scrappy: [sighs] Hannah: It’s the Advent Calendar right now Scrappy: Yeah, it’s the Advent Calendar right now, we have- Jade: Everything’s already started, pretty much Scrappy: Yeah, everything like, December-wise is already started… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..um, I don’t know…like, big things for next year…we already have so much going on… Raven: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: ..and I probably shouldn’t say too much but like, next year’s gonna be so much fun, we’re so excited about it… Jade: It’s gonna be a big year. Just know that. Hannah: Okay, cool Scrappy: ..yeah, it’s gonna be a big year. We wanna do a lot more, um- well, I don’t know how many, but hopefully a lot, but um, like, events, like Comic Con… Hannah: and Caroline: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..how we did that, to go and like, actually talk to people and meet people, we love that Hannah: Yeah, yeah Jade: Yeah Scrappy: Literally, it’s…so fun. Comic Con is stressful to plan… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah, it’s crazy Scrappy: ..but the night itself is- Jade: Really fun Scrappy: ..like the best night of the year… Jade: Yeah Scrappy: ..it’s so fun Raven: Everyone is so nice… Scrappy: Yeah Raven: ..and it’s fun to see the- the love and dedication that the people have for Neopets… Scrappy: Yes Raven: ..it’s always really like, humbling, so like… Scrappy: Yes. Even just to hear their stories… Raven: Yeah Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..of like, what it means to them, and why they’ve stuck around for so long… Raven: Yeah Scrappy: ..and like, why it’s so important to them…is so awesome for us… Jade: It’s inspiring Scrappy: ..so we wanna do more of that for sure. Raven: Yeah, I met a- a girl last year at Comic Con from uh, Mexico… Hannah: Oh, wow! Raven: ..that had driven to San Diego for that, and we spoke in Spanish for a couple hours at the party, and she asked for a selfie… Scrappy: [laughs] Raven: ..and I was like, “Okay” [laughter] Raven: Um, and I saw her again this year and she immediately recognized me and gave me a hug… Hannah: Oh, cute! Caroline: Awww Raven: ..and we like, we talked for a while again, and it’s- it’s kinda nice because sometimes you’re having a bad day… Hannah: Yeah Raven: ..and you’re like “Ughhh”… Scrappy: Yeahhh Raven: ..but you know there’s, like, people who love the game and people are there supporting it, so it kinda helps you like, “Okay, let me get back in the mode..” Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: Seriously, if I’m like, having a bad day, I’ll just like, hang out on the site sometimes… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..and just like, go play… Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: ..and see just, people and everything they’re doing, and how they’re talking, and even like, go read some of the messages they’ll send like, TNT Jade: Mmhmm….so sweet Scrappy: Oh my God, it puts me in such a good mood, literally every time Jade: There’s- there’s that one, uh, NT article that you won’t let me delete, and it’s like “I love you Scrappy”, that’s like, what it’s titled… [laughter] Jade: It’s just this whole article about- she’s like, “Please don’t submit this, this is just for you” and I can’t delete it… Hannah: Aww… [laughs] Scrappy: No… Jade: It’s just always there Scrappy: ..and we just like, kept it- it’s my favorite thing. Hannah: That’s cute Jade: It’s so sweet Scrappy: When I’m having a bad day, I just go read it and it makes me happy Hannah: Aww…that’s cute Caroline: That’s awesome Jade: It’s great Scrappy: If the writer of that is listening to this… Hannah: Yeah [laughter] Scrappy: ..you’re the best, and I love you too. Hannah: Hopefully they are Jade: So yeah, if anything to promote, just like, stick with us, we know it gets hard sometimes… Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: Yeah Jade: We’re humans too, you know… Caroline: Yeah Jade: ..we mess up things, and this site is 20 years old… Hannah: Mmhmm Scrappy: Yeah Jade: ..let’s never forget that Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: [laughing] Yeah Jade: Some- some pages have not been changed… Scrappy: Yes Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Truly Jade: ..since the creation, so… Raven: I think it’s- I think I’m the one here who has the less time with Neopets… Jade: Mmhmm Raven: ..cause I’ve been here for a while but I started working on another game and then moved to Neopets… Jade: Mmhmm Caroline and Hannah: Mmhmm Raven: ..and it was…a little bit overwhelming trying to learn the- the lore Jade: The lore Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Yeah Raven: I remember going to Jade and she was like, “Here’s the bible” Jade: [chuckles] Caroline: I was gonna say..! Hannah: So that does exist Caroline: It’s real, it’s real Scrappy: Yeah, we have bibles around and they’re huge! Jade: We’ll show it to you guys Hannah: Okay, cool Caroline: There have been rumors on the boards… Hannah: Yeah Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: Yeah Caroline: ..so…there is a lore bible Jade: There is Scrappy: There is Hannah: Cool Raven: There is, so I kinda saw the bible- Scrappy: It needs to be added to, even… Raven: Yeah…mmhmm Scrappy: We have, I guess, some stuff over the past..little bit that we need to add to it… Raven: Yeah Jade: Mmhmm Caroline and Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: ..but uh, yeah, it’s huge Hannah: That’s awesome Raven: Yeah, and it’s a wormhole, I mean, right now… Scrappy: Yeah Raven: ..I do my dailies… Hannah: Yeah Caroline: Of course Raven: ..I have a gallery where I collect plushies… Jade: Mmhmm Hannah: Okay Raven: ..so it’s like- it’s- now I’m just like, “Okay, let me go on Neopets”… [laughter] Scrappy: Yeah, right Jade: It’s become- it becomes a part of you Scrappy: Yeah, it literally does! I can’t even remember my life- Caroline: So you guys- you guys go on Neopets when you’re not at work, then? Scrappy: Yes Jade: Oh yeah, every morning I check um, the Neopets Facebook group Hannah: Oh Jade: I forget- Neopets Nation Raven: Neopets Nation Hannah: Yeah! Raven: Shout out to Neopets Nation [laughs] Caroline: Yeah Jade: Yeah, I check it every single day… Hannah: Oh yeah, we have some listeners from Neopets Nation Scrappy: Yeah.. Jade: So…yeah, that’s like my daily thing that I do Hannah: That’s awesome Scrappy: No, I literally can’t even remember a time in my life now… Jade: Where you don’t check it Scrappy: ..when Neopets wasn’t a part of it Jade: Mmhmm…yeah Hannah: Same [laughs] Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: Like, a huge part of it Jade: You try- you try to like, separate work from your life… Hannah: Yeah Scrappy: No Raven: It’s difficult Jade: ..but it just becomes your life, really Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: Yeah Raven: I have all the social media on my phone… Scrappy: Oh yeah Raven: ..and every now and then I’ll get notifications on Instagram or Twitter, and it’s the weekend, and I’m like “Do I really wanna wait til Monday? I’ll just like this tweet now” [laughter] Caroline: Awww Raven: Because like, it’s really cool! Scrappy: [laughing] Yeah, I’ll just retweet real quick and then it’ll be good Hannah: That’s cute Scrappy: Yeah, no…Neopets is- Jade: Neopets is life Caroline: Truly Scrappy: Yeah…eat, sleep, breathe Everyone: [in unison] Neopets [laughter] Hannah: Well that is..the perfect way to end this interview, I think Caroline: Yeah. Thank you so much for doing this, guys, we really appreciate it. Jade: Of course Scrappy: Absolutely! Hannah: Yeah, this is like a dream come true Scrappy: [laughs] Caroline: Truly, my 13 year old self is like, screaming right now [laughter] Hannah: I would be like…I would be like- like wouldn’t care about anything else I had accomplished in my life and my 13 year old self would be like, “That’s- this is the coolest thing that you’ve done” [laughs] Caroline: You’ve done it. I mean- this is it, we might as well just stop now. Hannah: Yeah Jade: Just stop now- last episode, here we go Caroline: We’ve peaked Hannah: Yeah, it doesn’t- I’m- it’s…it’s really cool Raven: It’s like, “Masters? Psshh” Hannah: I know, who cares? Jade: Who cares Hannah: Yeah, like… [laughter] Caroline: Mm…I got engaged..mmm Hannah: No, no Scrappy: Who needs these real life things? Jade: Secondary [laughter] Caroline: No, I’m just- I’m just kidding, I love you- love you Mike, love you so much [more laughter] Caroline: Love you Hannah: [laughing] Um…but yeah… Jade: But thanks for coming in Scrappy: Yeah! Hannah: Of course! It was so cool to see the office and like, just all the stuff that’s around, and all the like, Neopets- Scrappy: [laughs] Jade: I hope- I hope it lives up to your… Hannah: No, it’s super cool Jade: ..your dreams Hannah: It does Caroline: Amazing Hannah: I had no idea what to expect, so this is like…perfect Jade: Did you know all the lights would be off? Hannah: No, I didn’t [laughter] Hannah: They work in darkness Caroline: They do like to work in the dark Raven: Yes Scrappy: Yeah Hannah: [laughs] I could see how that makes sense Jade: We- we don’t… Scrappy: There are a lot of windows- Jade: We don’t, it’s the artists Hannah: It makes sense Scrappy: No, no, no, I- Caroline: No, I get it Hannah: Yeah, yeah Jade: The artists need it Scrappy: I like the darkness, actually, it’s really… Jade: It’s for the glare, that’s the reason Hannah: Yeah, yeah Caroline: Yeah Scrappy: I love it now Raven: It’s a bit of a riot whenever for some reason, the lights go on… Jade: Oh my gosh Scrappy: Oh my God Raven: Everyone suddenly is like, “Who turned on the lights”.. Jade: “Why are we here” Caroline: Is it like- Hannah: [laughs] Scrappy: People freak out, they’re like, “Why are the lights on, guys…” Jade: It’s scary Scrappy: ..”Is there a fire, is there an emergency, like what’s going on” Caroline: It’s like when you’re at a school dance and it’s over at the end… Jade: Oh my God Scrappy: Yeah! Caroline: and they turn on the lights, and everyone’s like “Aaahhh!” Hannah: “Aahhh!” Jade: So true Scrappy: That’s literally us, you’ll hear just like, people from like, all areas of the office… Jade: Just like, “Huhhh” Scrappy: ..be like, “What’s happening” [laughter] Hannah: That’s funny Jade: It’s a crime Scrappy: Yeah Jade: [chuckles] Scrappy: We turn them off immediately… Jade: Mmhmm Scrappy: ..and everyone’s like, “Oh, thank God. Back to our darkness” [laughter] Jade: It is nice Scrappy: Yeah. No, it’s awesome. Jade: Yeah, welcome to our dark office Hannah: Well Caroline: Well Hannah: It has been a delight Caroline: Yeah, thank you so much. Truly an honor. Hannah: And we will end it as we always end it.. Caroline: Of course Hannah: Um, so, with that being said- Good night, mr. coconut. Caroline: Good night, mr. coconut Scrappy: Good night, mr. coconut Jade: Good night, mr. coconut Raven: Good night, mr. coconut [laughter] Scrappy: Wooo! Caroline: Yayyy [Upbeat piano music plays as outro]

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #207

“it’s late, and you’re still staring at the light; to call it an addiction’s impolite.”

Nevermind what gender you ARE, what gender do you WANT to be? Happy being a girl. Do you ever feel ashamed revealing your age? When it's to people who are aware of how behind I am in the adult world in any context, yes. Very. If they know nothing about me, then I don't care. Are you confident enough to reveal your height and weight? Height, I don't care. Weight, fuck no. What do your parents call you? Both usually say "Britt," but Dad's more likely to use terms of endearment like "sweetie" and such. Well, Mom does use "hunny" a lot too. How old were you when you first got to go on the computer? Idr. About the "normal" age for little kids that played Neopets, probably. Would you say you’re an emotional person? Way too emotional. What’s a color that suits you the best? Black. And a color you just can’t pull off/don’t want to? Probably most... I wouldn't know, almost every single thing I wear is black. I have literally one light purple shirt, and I think that's the only non-black shirt I own. Describe yourself when you were 6 years old? Very talkative, extremely imaginative, outgoing, I was definitely weird, tomboyish, very happy... Man, I miss being that kid sometimes. A type of personality you just can't stand? The older and older I get, the more I cannot STAND a closed mind. I like people who accept they're far from always right, and sometimes, your "right" isn't such for someone else, and that is fine. You don't have to see the same way to still get along perfectly (though of course, there's no need to respect an opinion that spits upon, invalidates, or is just plain hateful towards another person/group). Like just as an example 'cuz I feel like I explained that poorly; I'm really not into the idea of polygamy at all, but I'm not against it for people it works with. You do you. Your appearance in one word would be? "Abilify." :^) City type of person or country? I like the live in a more country-ish area, but I found through Chicago I LOVE /visiting/ cities. What’s something you’re obsessed about right now? When am I not obsessed with Mark, meerkats, Silent Hill, opossums (a newer addition), WoW, etc. etc.? My whole life runs on obsessing over something, fren. Your reaction if someone told you you look 10 years older than your age? ZOINKS that would suck ass. Do you really badly want anything right now? For the past couple weeks, I've become more and more antsy to get up to Sara's again. When I land a job, fancyin' up my tattoo just because as I've said again and again it is SO important to me and must be perfect, then I'm saving up to go back up there. What’s something that makes you really stressed out? With all this job searching and such going on, it's like all I can think about, so why not mention what fucked me up at my previous ones: Putting me in a position of responsibility and expected knowledge. Ex., when I was a sales associate and was asked "Oh, do you have this?"/"Where is this?", it was CONSTANT PANIC MODE because I never knew and had to ask somebody, when I was expected to be a knowledgeable employee to the customer, and then comes the horror of feeling like I'm inconveniencing and annoying them. Have any particular standard look you look for in a significant other? I don't have a "standard look," no, but I am more likely to be drawn to a gothic appearance. But I don't actively search for someone that meets that criteria or anything. Do you listen to Wiz Khalifa? No. What are your opinions on marijuana legalization? Please legalize medicinal use already. Recreationally, idk. Do you date outside your own race? I'd have no reservations against it. I dated a Hispanic... less than a day, but still, you get the point that I don't have a problem with it. What are some of your turn-offs? SEXIST/MISOGYNISTIC, too old-fashioned, racist and/or homophobic, raunchy, arrogant/self-centered, lack of sincere interest and enthusiasm in conversation, poor hygiene, I'm gonna get SHIT ON for saying "too slutty," not taking dating seriously... that kinda stuff. I'm so picky. Are you gay, straight, bi, or trans? Bisexual. Are you vegetarian? If not, would you ever consider becoming one? I'm not now, but I hope to return to it after I get to my goal weight... In my few months of vegetarianism, it was proven that my immense pickiness with food was making the diet unhealthy for me, as I was strongly lacking in certain vitamins and such. I'm going to have to somehow overcome that if I want to return to it, which I REALLY do want to do the more and more I get into animal welfare and care. Are you in love? Yes. Are you more of a pessimist or an optimist? Pessimist, I think, out of the two. But I like to see myself as a realist. How much money is in your wallet? Literally just $11 lmao. What’s your favorite sex position? Only experienced in these with a man, so answering with that in mind. I like sitting on his lap, facing him, with my legs around his back. What do you ultimately wish for in life? Happiness and peace. Have you ever been pregnant? No. What do you think about tipping at restaurants? Tip your goddamn waiter/waitress, assholes. I do believe in tipping based on the quality of service, BUT at least give them SOMETHING for working. Do you have your driver’s license? No jkajdsklfaj;wer. I haaaave to practice more. Whenever I'm in the car, I always strongly prefer to listen to my music, controlling it from the passenger's seat, and at least right now, I can't drive with loud music, barely any at all really, so I have a hard time giving up blaring my music while Mom drives lmao. Have you ever passed out from drinking? No. What’s your favorite carnival food? Idk, I don't go nearly enough. Who did you last kiss? Romantically, Sara. Platonically, either my niece or nephew when leaving. Have you seen the final Harry Potter movie? I haven't even see one. Ever been called a slut? No. Would you ever have sex with someone not of your preferred sex? I'm bisexual so like- Would you ever get back together with any of your exes? No. Do you take any meds on a daily basis? Yep. What did you do today? Watched LPs as always; did some job searching; played WoW, way shorter than usual though; took a nap; made a new icon; took a shower; listened to music; did some social media scrolling. The usual stuff. What do you wear to bed at home? A tank top and pj pants. What do you wear to bed when you're somewhere else? The same, but with a bra. Is there a place you keep any prized/secret things whilst you’re away? No. Do you have any phobias? What? Why do you think you have this/them? I'll just talk about the unordinary ones, 'cuz I have a lot. The ones I'd consider "weird" are vomiting, whale sharks, and pregnancy. Vomiting is because it's just incredibly unpleasant, but also because I know what goes down is not supposed to come back up. Like no one likes puking, no shit, but I'm legit afraid of it and lock up on what to do when I feel it coming, like I don't know what to do. Whale sharks... ahaha. It literally came from World of Warcraft. The design of their mouths is fucking horrifying, and I hate hate hate how they sometimes phase in-and-out of the Vashj'ir map so just like pOP UP. NAH, SON. It's just their damn mouths, even though I know their esophagus is far too small to swallow a human. As for pregnancy, just... ew. I'm afraid of parasites, and it's a parasitic relationship. Something should NOT be growing inside of you. What skill do you possess that you are most proud of? I'm very compassionate, especially when it comes to others enduring emotional struggles. I really feel for hurting people. What is your greatest strength (e.g. honest, loyal, brave)? I have strong morals and stick to them. I'll always stand up for what I feel is right. What’s your greatest shortcoming or flaw (e.g. cowardly, alcoholic)? Ah jeez, there's a lot... but probably my anxiety. It's held me back and manipulated my actions since middle school. I struggle not followings its rules, but I'm sure trying. Who do you most admire? Mark, my mom, Sara, Sara's dad, Steve Irwin... man, there's too many great people. Who do you most love? Sara, my mom, and my pets, Teddy especially. What three things do you look for most in a partner? EXPRESSING OF THEIR EMOTIONS/TRULY FEELING!!!!!!!!, compassion, and a cool head. If you could ask God (to atheists - IF there was one) one question, what? Hm. Good question... There's a lot, but mostly little wonders; I feel like I have a decent understanding of the god I personally see, so don't have any magnificent questions. Perhaps regarding why they created our world. That'd be interesting. Rate yourself on these traits from 0 to 10: 0 - do not possess this trait. 10 - you have great amounts of this trait. Calm temper: 7. Charm: *big shrug* Cheerfulness: 3-4. Confidence: 0-3. Courtesy: 8-10. Curiosity: 6-10. Forgiveness: 9-10. Generosity: 8-10. Greed: 0-3. Helpfulness: Well, I like to try to help, but I don't feel I'm very successful at that, so idk. Honesty: 5-9, depending on who I'm talking to and what the subject is, I guess. Loyalty: This is very flexible, and I don't feel like I can put a number on it. It depends on how deserving you are of the trait, and yes, you can lose my loyalty in a heartbeat if you give me reason to take it away. Optimism: 0-4. Patience: This can go from a whopping 0 to a 10, lmao. Very dependent on the situation. Self-sacrifice: 8-9. Wit: -10. Briefly describe your family. Kinda broken. Tight bonds scattered between certain people, no bonds with others. What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you? The breakup. I wouldn't wish that night upon Satan himself. How did it affect you? We know. Have you ever had any recurring nightmares or themes in nightmares? Speaking of that... Jason is in most nightmares I remember. The common theme is it's either after the breakup and we have an awkward running in with each other, or it's long before when everything was "perfect." All things considered, I'd call even that a nightmare. Those fuck with me the most. Do you currently have a boyfriend/girlfriend? Yeah. Do you have any close friends? I can count those on maybe two fingers. Of what are you most proud? Letting Jason go. Of what are you most ashamed? I've talked about the Joel situation multiple times. What is your religion? Theist. Where do you stand on abortion? Mostly pro-choice. Where do you stand on the death penalty? Sometimes justifiable and one's deserving end. Felons are lucky enough it's done humanely. Where do you stand on wearing fur? If you're not surviving out in the arctic, fuck you and all you stand for. Could you kill somebody? I'm perfectly aware I could in defense situations. For what reason would you kill somebody? Defending myself or loved ones. Hell, probably even strangers. I'd kill a rapist with zero fucking hesitation, even if they were assaulting someone I'd never seen before. Would you SERIOUSLY CONSIDER killing anybody right now? No. Do you trust easily, or not? NOPE. What, if anything, would you sacrifice your life for? Defending peace, gay rights, or if it was to protect most of those I love. What are your dreams/ambitions/goals? Be a successful photographer, reach financial stability, come to a point where I'm actually proud of what I've done, play a roll in wildlife conservation, be happily married, and just overall be content and satisfied with my life. How do you plan to reach them? Working my goddamn ass off and not taking "no" for an answer (not about the marriage part tho lmao). Do you ever want to have a family someday? With children? No. Who would you want to start this family with, or do you not yet know? I just want a pet family with Sara. What do you see yourself doing next year? Man, I don't have a clue... What do you see yourself doing in twenty years? I don't want to think of that. That's too far ahead. I'll be 43... I've gotta work on too many things now. Would you ever have an affair? I'm very curious as to who would actually answer "yes" to this. Would you ever have a one night stand? No. Lmaoooo actually this is sad as fuck, but I think I've said in a previous survey just knowing myself, if we were both single and clicked, I'd be doomed if it was Markiplier. My morals would sadly go out the window. If you had a month of nothing (no work, no obligations) what would you do? That's literally been the story of my life for years now, especially the past two. And it's torture. Would you ever choose a career or job where your life was at risk? No. Well, actually, I do want to do wildlife photography, and it can be pretty dangerous. Were you present at any major historical events (e.g. 9/11)? No. Do you have any famous relatives? No. Ancestors, yeah, but not close relatives. Are you a loyal member of any organizations? No. What type of criminal would you be? With how forgetful I am, I'm certain I'd be a very clumsy one that gets caught very quickly, lol. What are you listening to right now? "Voices" by Motionless In White. If you had to choose a stripper name, what would it be? Um idk. If your phone started ringing, who would you hope is calling? Someone for a job interview. Do you drink? Rarely and/or for some special occasions. Never enough to get drunk. Do you smoke? No. What is the first thing you notice in someone? I guess posture? How they carry themselves? Do you get attached easily? BOY! DO I!!!!!!!!!!! Do you like your eye color? I wish they were more blue. Would you go bungee jumping/sky diving if given the chance? Definitely not bungee jumping, I know how I react to that kind of up/down movement, and probably not skydiving, either. Have you ever been to a psychiatrist/therapist? Both regularly since middle school. Are looks important in a relationship? Not very. What is your favorite thing to do? Binge a new song I fell in love with for like days lmao. What was the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? PhotoScape. It's easier to move watermarks for photos on there, and I was working on the ones I took a few days back. Do you like to gossip? No, I feel super guilty. What kind of computer do you have? An Acer. Do you know all the words to your national anthem? I think? Have you ever failed a grade? No. Have you ever made the opposite sex cry? Yes. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? Nah. Have you ever slapped someone in the face? No. Do you own a designer purse? Hell no. Waste of money for a goddamn purse that's just gonna get dirty and scratched. What’s the weirdest rumor you’ve ever heard about yourself? Jason and I magically had a baby over summer vacation when I was very obviously never pregnant. Do you say the "h" in the word “herb”? No, though I did for a super long time 'cuz I had no idea it was wrong. Do you speak any languages besides English? Not fluently. Can you run in high heels? I wouldn't really know, but boy do I doubt it. Do you have to take stairs or an elevator to get to your house? No. What do you usually order at Subway? Ummm I think white bread, ham, American cheese, bacon, jalapenos, banana peppers, and Chipotle sauce. I think that's it. Did an alarm wake you up this morning? No. How long is your mother’s hair? Past her shoulderblades, near the middle of her back. Is there any particular place you’d like to vacation to next? Surprisingly, I'd love to go somewhere tropical, like Hawaii or some shit like that. Somewhere with clear water and unique, beautiful wildlife and nature. What is your beer of choice, if any? Never tried beer, never want to. The smell is bad enough. That and I associate it with when Dad was an alcoholic. Did you share a bed with anyone last night? No. Well, other than with my cat. Do you know anyone who volunteers regularly? Yes. Have you ever ruined a nice pair of shoes, and how? Maybe, playing in puddles or biking through them and mud as a kid or something. Who were the last friends you went to hang out with? Sara. How many chairs are in the room you’re currently in? None. Have you texted a relative in the past week? Not besides immediate family. Are you doing anything important today? No. If I were to bring you any type of food right now, what would you pick? If I was actually hungry, I have been craving hotdogs on the grill like CRAZY lately. No clue why. When did you move into the house you’re currently living in? April-ish 2017. Do you ever sleep with the light on? No, I can't. Do you pray to Jesus? 20+ years of that did nothing. No. What was the last thing you ordered at Starbucks? N/A Do you have a bonfire pit in your yard? No. Would you consider being homeless if it meant you could travel the world? I don't know; there's lots of factors to consider. Would I be willing to leave my pets (but Teddy, probably; I'd want him with me) with my mom? Would I have something like a camper? Where am I getting this money to travel and provide for myself? Do you know your next-door neighbor? Mom knows one, but I personally don't. What’s something you have never done? Lots of things? As an example, uhhh... I've never done a cartwheel, despite childhood efforts? Name someone you know who is a true risk-taker, adventurer, and free spirit. Do you admire that person? Idk. Do you wish you were more of a free spirit? I think I already am, but it'd be cool to be more of one. Are you allergic to any medications? No. How do you feel when someone says something you’ve experienced doesn’t exist? Tell me depression isn't real, my PTSD isn't genuine, I can "get over" my anxiety if I want to hard enough, stuff like that, and I will not fucking associate with you. These are things that have massively affected my life; I dare someone to tell me these experiences aren't real issues. What worldview do you have? A realistic one, I think. I'm positive in some areas, negative in others. Hm... I'm probably more pessimistic about the world's future, though. Do you have friends who have different religious beliefs than you? Duh? If applicable, who was the first person you “came out” to? Sara. What’s one thing you’d like to do more? Travel. What was your style in high school? Some emo/metalhead hybrid that wished with all her heart to be capable of affording a goth wardrobe and bitch I still do. What’s one thing you are jealous that other people got to do but you didn’t? Have a healthy teenage experience. Have you ever taken birth control pills continuously? I have for years for my cycle. I had just about debilitating cramps and sometimes periods that lasted over a week. Who is your personality twin? Sara is probably the closest. What’s a common name that you hate? Edward, above all. Not a big fan of William, Robert, or Allen, either. Who do you wish you were best friends with? If you don't count my girlfriend as "best friend," maybeeee... Alon still? Or Baylee. I need to talk more to her, she's awesome. Do you own a camera tripod? Yes. Did you ever believe in mermaids? I don't believe so. …in fairies? I believed in the Tooth Fairy. …in Santa? Yes. Have you ever purchased alcohol? Yes. What is your newest hobby? Hm, I don't think I've found a new one for a long while... What gives your life meaning? I don't know. What motivates you to do what you do? The pursuit of happiness. What was the weather like the last time you went out? Too fucking hot. Do you go for walks often? No, though I really want to around a lake at a local, small park. Problems consist of no way to get there myself, it's WAY too fucking hot with my sweating issue, and my knees just wouldn't have it; I know I couldn't walk the full lap around it. Also expect some art installations around the path and probably the gazebo are PokeStops for Pokemon Go and really wish I could play it, so that's bait to do it lmao. What color shirt are you wearing? Pink. What is your favorite type of YouTube video to watch? It really depends on who I'm watching. Favorite on the face of the planet are Mark's ego projects, then my second fave are probably Shane's conspiracy videos, then I love let's plays. Do you need any new clothes right now? I seriously need more pants. And new bras. Do you collect anything? If so, what? Silent Hill merch and meerkat stuff. ^and if not, what would you like to collect? When I can buy shit myself, ya girl is gonna have way too much Markiplier merch. YouTuber stuff in general, actually. Too shy to ask for that kinda stuff now lol. Have you ever experienced a miracle? I don't think so. What was the last thing you ate? A burger. Do you ever eat food that’s intended for kids? ...? Like, baby food? No. Or maybe you mean shit like Lunchables? In cases like that, sometimes? What was the last stupid thing you did? Oh boy, who knows. Do you get embarrassed easily? You. Have. No. Idea. What are your top three names you like for a daughter? Alessandra, then uhhhh... I like Chloe and Adrian. Would you ever film a vlog of yourself giving birth? Hell no. I'd never wanna see it, I'd never want my hypothetical child to have to witness that, etc. Do you like getting caught in the rain? No. Wet clothes are no. Do you think your hair looks best straight, wavy, or curly? Straight, I guess? Though my hair does swoop to the right, so it's kinda a wave? What was the last craft project you completed? Oh, yeesh. I don't do crafts. The closest thing was I guess Sara's Valentine's Day gift for last year? Name 3 YouTubers you would like to meet in person: Markiplier is literally the only one that matters lmao and it's not "would like to meet in person," he will be forced to endure meeting me ok. Meeting Shane Dawson would be amazing, he's such a relatable sweetie, aaaaand #3 would probably be Rhett and/or Link, as similar to Mark, they deserve a tear-filled thanks as well as back-breaking hugs for seriously helping in keeping me alive through my suicidal year. I mean it when I say they genuinely helped me keep going. What color are your nails painted currently? They’re never painted. Do you use a pill box? No. List 3 people you know who were loving and then turned cold: Jason, Jason, and Jason. Have you ever felt threatened for your life? No. Which did you like better: high school or college? My college experience was horrid. High school had great memories, but of course negative ones, too. Which year of your life stands out to you as the most significant so far? 2017. …and why? It was my year of recovery from the breakup. What was the last store you shopped at? I went to Wal-Mart with Mom. I think that was the most recent, anyway. Do you have a favorite pharmacist? No. Do you have a favorite cashier at the grocery store? No. What’s something you discovered recently? I'm a Billie Eilish fan. What makes you more creative? Music. What’s the last magical thing you experienced? YO okay so when my brother and nephew were here, we went to the science museum and into a 360 VR-esque show about astronauts. I got SO nauseous and dizzy, but it was nevertheless extremely cool. What is the theme of your bedroom? It doesn't have a theme. Have you ever lived in a dorm? No. When was the last time you stepped outside of your comfort zone? Just tonight! I ordered at a drive-thru myself. Would you rather ride a camel or an elephant? An elephant! Do you want to lose weight? You have no fucking idea. Which insects scare you, if any? Lmao most. Especially rhinoceros beetles, big beetles in general honestly, cockroaches, earwigs, centipedes... like a lot okay. I like observing praying mantises, but I would probably have a fucking heart attack if one was on me. Do you think it’s silly to be afraid of a tiny insect? Well, yeah, though I get the likely survival reason, that being we know many are venomous, so we're naturally averse to them, especially if we don't recognize the type. Were you raised religious? Yes. Have you ever been abused? No, thankfully. Is there a coffee shop you like better than Starbucks? N/A If you could afford to get your hair professionally done, what would you get? Man, I have SO many color combination ideas. If I could get it done in the safest manageable way by a pro, I saw this look once with totally bleached/pure white hair that fades to blood-red tips, and BOY would I get that in a heartbeat. If you had a lot of money, do you think you would use it wisely? I hope so. I think so. The only thing I imagine myself being weak with are tattoos. Do you know any rich people who are very irresponsible? I don't think so... List five careers that you’d like to have: Meerkat biologist, paleontologist, artist, poet, something in wildlife conservation/protection. List five far-out things that you’d like to do before you die: Scuba-dive, I'd LIKE to ride a rollercoaster (far-out for me, trust me), but I know I never will, and uh... idk. Riding a motorcycle would be cool, but that's another thing I hiiighly doubt I'll do. What was your first imaginary friend’s name? I never had one. What was the name of the first pet that you loved? Chance, a cat my mom rescued. She was our very first family pet. She was absolutely incredible. Do you like to go barefoot? Unless I'm in a house, no. Do you like the same colors now that you did as a kid? Yeah. Do you have a YouTube channel? Yeah. Is there someone who stopped talking to you for no reason? Oh, who to begin with? Did you ever get called horrible names like whore, skank or bitch? "Bitch" more than once. Where did you sleep last night? My bed. Have you ever slow danced with anyone? With Jason, yeah. And I don't think so, but maybe Sara briefly? Have you ever cried in public? Yeah. What would you do if you were pregnant? I don't have a fucking clue. Do you like cuddling? With someone I love. Have you ever cried in school? Yes, but I think I kept it private. Who’s the last person to send you a message on Facebook? A woman whose wedding I'm shooting this Saturday. Have you ever witnessed someone else engaging in a sexual act? Just making out. Where did you get drunk last? N/A What’s your relationship with the last person you texted? She's my girlfriend. If someone went through your pictures, would they find a dirty one? No. How did you do on the last test you took? I haven't been in school for a long time. How come you’re not going out with the person you love? I am.

[soujun-arts]

Angelina’s Acorn Story

▷ Warning : This story contains mentions of an adult being intimate with a minor (17 y/o), abortion, swear words and violent situations. Don’t read if those makes you uncomfortable. Story under cut.

For as long as I remember, I've always wanted to help people around me.

It started in school when I helped my classmates with difficulties and then later on to everyone I could help. This exacerbated empathy led me down a specific career choice, I decided to become a nurse. I knew it wasn't an easy career path, but Brightvale always had one of the best school for that. With my parent's benediction, I enrolled in this school. I was 17 and the pride and joy of my parents. My mother was a faerie Kacheek and my father a tyrannian Moehog and both were pretty old school. They were proud of me as long as I behaved. My father wasn't too keen on me pursuing my studies as he thought a female place was at home, taking care of the kids and her husband. But times were changing and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop me.

It's in that school that I met him. He was tall, charming and the best looking neopet I've ever seen. Before I knew it, I had fallen head over heels for him. His name was Lionel Norington, he was a doctor coming straight from Neovia to cover for one of our teacher who was on a sick leave. He was 35, had hypnotising eyes, a luxurious head full of hair and a grey Lupe. The only grey neopets I had the chance to meet were all pretty dull looking and looked like walking depression. He was the complete opposite of that. Every gesture of his, the way he talked, the look of his hand, his long fingers... everything drove me crazy. It was the first time I felt something so strong for someone, and I have yet to feel these feelings again. I knew I shouldn't, he was an adult and I was a mere kid for him but I couldn't help devouring him with my eyes. I guess he noticed because he often smiled at me, a slick and mischievous smile, meaning he knew the effects he had on me. He knew of his powers of seduction and wasn't ashamed to use them.

That should have been my first red flag. But I was young, stupid and he should have known better. He should have known better than to flirt with his underage student, better than playing with streaks of my blond hair, telling me how pretty I was. He should have known. I wanted him. I wanted him so badly I couldn't even think straight anymore. Then it happened. As I wanted to head home for the night, a carriage flew by on the road, hitting a massive puddle of water from the rain we've had for the past few days, effectively drenching me.

"My, my, how unlucky dear Angelina. You can come with me, I'll lend you some clothes and towels so you can change and dry yourself before going back home." said Lionel's voice behind me, who happened to witness the scene.

I followed him, thinking nothing of it. The towel was warm and fuzzy and it felt really good to get rid of that muddy and cold water that stained my light skin. I came out of his bathroom, Lionel sitting at his desk, his back towards me. When he heard me, he turned around, his fiery eyes on me. I was fully clothed but it was as if I had nothing on me. My heart started pounding and I clenched my hand on my chest, trying to control it. I wanted him. He stood up and came towards me, stopping a few centimetres away from my face.

"You really are my cutest student." he said in a husky voice, his warm breath gently caressing my neck.

We kissed. I don't remember who did it first, was it me or was it him ? I don't remember, all I can remember is the fire burning me all up, his fingers caressing my skin under my clothes, my hands under his shirt and his body pressed against mine. I was thrown into a whirlpool of emotions and I couldn't get out. I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop. I wanted him.

That night I rushed home. It wasn't like me to come home late and I didn't want my parents to know. I didn't want them to know their daughter wasn't a virgin anymore and that I had sex out of marriage. I didn't want them to know but I wanted the whole world to know. I wanted to feel this burning fire again. Knowing that I had to wait till the weekend was over to see him again was droving me insane but I had no choice but to take it.

I was anxious, what would I say to him ? Will he even acknowledge what had happened between us ? I know I was underage but I would be 18 in a few months, was it really that bad ?

-

My heart dropped when I saw our regular teacher was back and teaching as if nothing had happened. Lionel was gone. He had to know. Why didn't he say anything ? Did he used me ?

I was heartbroken and felt like throwing up. He knew he would be gone and yet.. And yet, he still made love to me like there would be no tomorrow. He knew. He knew. He knew. I was angry.

I was desperate. Yet, I still wanted him back.

-

I've been sitting on the ground next to the toilet for two hours, looking at the pregnancy test at my feet through the tears in my eyes. No matter how much I would stare at it, I knew it wouldn't change the result. The plus sign was clear as day, I knew I was pregnant. Lionel's child. I wiped the tears away from my face, trying to regain my composure. What would I do ? Lionel was nowhere in sight and my parents would kill me.

I walked the corridors like a ghost when I spotted him. He was there, speaking with the school's director, a massive bearded tonu. Lionel was there ! I watched them shaking hands and saying goodbye to each other. Then, Lionel turned away towards the school's entrance, with his luggages in his left hand. Without thinking, I ran toward him.

"Lionel ! Where are you going ? Where were you ? You disappeared for two weeks !" I cry, trying to hold the tears in.

"It's Mr Norington, Angelina. I'm your teacher, don't forget that." he spat, his eyes as cold as ice.I looked at him, shocked and in disbelief.

"What ? What are you saying ? After we.."

"Don't say it." he abruptly said, cutting me off. "Look, Angelina, we had fun but I have to leave and go back to Neovia."He gently pushed me aside and walked through the gate without even a glance back at me.  Still in shock and gasping for air, I followed him.

"You.. You can't leave me!" I cry, grabbing his sleeve.

"Look, like I said it was fun but nothing serious. I really have to leave and you're being a burden right now."

"I'm pregnant Lionel ! It's yours !" I can't hold the tears in anymore.He stops, holds my chin in his hand so I would look at him.

"Do you really think I care ? Throw it away for all I care." he said in a voice void of emotions. "Don't expect anything from me. I don't give a shit about this child. Abort, give it away or kill it as soon as it takes its first breath, I don't care. Now, move ! I don't want to see you ever again." His red eyes are staring into mine, colder than a winter night in Terror Mountain. He pushes me aside and walks away. Not once did he glanced back at me.

-

I'm starring at my hands clenched on my knees. My father has been yelling at me for the past 10 minutes while my mother is stuck with a shocked expression on her face. He suddenly rushes upstair and I can hear him roaming around my room. He launches a bag at my feet. I can see a few of my clothes inside and grooming products.

"Take this and get out of our house. I don't want to see you ever again." he says, his voice still fuming.

"But... dad ..." I try to to say, fighting the tears once again.

"There are no dad anymore ! I DON'T want to have a little slut living under my roof !  Take your immoral ass out of there and I forbid you from ever coming back here again.”

He violently grabs me by my arm and drags me towards the door. I try to catch my mom's eyes but she keeps on avoiding me, looking away as if her husband wasn't throwing their only daughter outside, to live on her own. As he pushes me out, I fell on my behind, on the beautiful paved roads of Brightvale. Dad throws the bag at me and slams the door shut. I can hear him shout at my mother that it's obviously her fault her daughter is such strumpet.

-

I spent the night in a shelter, with other neopets who had nowhere else to go. I was lucky they had a room for me.

I had to make a choice.

With everything that happened, I guess I should have resented that baby that was growing in my belly. But I couldn't. All I could feel was the purest of love for it. I had thought of abortion of course, especially since I witnessed it first hand when I helped a friend through the process. But what good would it be for me ? Even if I went through it, my parents would never take me back under their care. I couldn't go back to nursing school either since they were paying for it. Would I be able to let my child go and let it be adopted by a loving couple once it was born ? No, I knew I couldn't. I felt a strong bond towards this child already. I was the only one person out there to protect it and I would do anything in my power to do so.That night, I decided to throw away my dream to become a nurse. This child would become my dream.

-

I went to the Castle of Brightvale to get hired as a maid. I knew I could live in the castle and would be fed as well, though it would take away some of my salary. I had no experience but the recruiter, the head of maids, a middle aged blue Elephant named Evangeline, decided to give me my chance. I will forever be grateful to her as she was a better mother for me than my own ever did. She helped me and taught me everything she knew about being a mother. She herself had had 8 children ! As my due date approached more and more, she gave me a care package with old clothes and toys her children used to have.

"Take this Angelina. I know some are not in the best shape but I hope it can help you and the little one." she said, a big grin on her face.

"I can never thank you enough for all you did for me." I whisper.

"Don't mention it ! That's what females should do, take care of one another."

I turned 18 without even realising it. My tummy was getting so round I couldn't care about anything else but was eager to get back to work. Evangeline insisted that I should rest and that I would be getting back to work soon enough. I just wanted to work as much as I could, I didn't want my son, because I knew it was a boy, to suffer from my mistakes. I wanted to buy a small home so the two of us could live together. A small house full of love, full meals and clean clothes.

-

I gave birth on the 30th of October. It was an "easy" birth and I didn't suffer too much. Evangeline was right by my side the whole time, encouraging me.He was the most beautiful and precious thing I had ever seen. Evangeline cleaned up my baby boy a little and put him in my arms. He was so tiny with the cutest snout. He had his father's hair and skin colour, but he had big eyes like mine and was a gelert, just like me. As he was crying, I swore to protect him, no matter what. I named him Reginald, a name meaning "wise and judicious" hoping it would help him somehow.

-

Reginald grew up to be an healthy boy, curious about every.single.thing. A cricket dead on the floor ? Super interesting ! A bug flying around the room ? Super interesting ! I loved watching him develop in such a way. He was my beautiful baby boy.

When he was three, we want together to the grand festival of Brightvale. Which would mean lots of food and fireworks. I've always wanted to bring him there but I always thought it would be too much for him as he was still too young. I put some ear plugs into his ears to protect him from the overwhelming noises and we dove outside. Little did I know these would could handy.

We happened to cross path with my parents. I hadn't seen them even once since they threw me out. They still looked the same as they did almost four years ago. Since they didn't see me, I pretended I hadn't seen them either and took Regie with me, next to a stand where you could fish plastic ducks.

"Oh, so here is your bastard child, Angelina." spat my father, who finally noticed me.

"Don't talk about him like that !"

"What ? Isn't it what this thing is ? Or did the bastard's father decided to marry you ?"

By the look on my face, he immediately knew it wasn't the case.

"How dare you speak to me or my child like that ?" I spat, shaking with anger.

"Hmmpf, what else do you want me to say ? You are a shame." he said, turning his back to me, leaving. "As for the bastard," he said, turning back to face me, "he will never amount to anything. How could he ? With such a slut of a mother."

Outraged, I grabbed his shoulder to force him to face me and slapped his face as hard as I could.

"Don't EVER dare speak to my child like that again !" I screamed. "He's better than you will ever be !" I quickly turned on my feet, grabbed Regie in my arms who was looking at us with wide and unknowing eyes, and ran away, thankful the ear plugs spared him from hearing what happened.

-

"Are you sure it's okay, mama ? I can stay if you want to ! I don't want you to be all alone."

I watch my son who is standing in front of me. We celebrated his 20th birthday this year, and here he is, ready to live his life to the fullest. He received a letter the other day that he was accepted and would be able to join Neovia's police force in a few days. A dream he had for years now. He looks at me with his big blue eyes, tainted by a shade of worry. How beautiful my son is.

"Yes darling. I want you to be happy. Follow your dreams, and never let anyone stop you, okay?" I say, faking my enthusiasm, as I really don't want to see him go.

"Okay, but you have to make a promise to me then !" he says, suddenly grinning with all his teeth.

"What is it, Regie ?" I ask, curious.

"I promise I'll follow my dreams, but you have to promise me you'll follow yours !" he says softly, holding my hands in his. "I know your life hasn't been easy because of me." he whispers, his voice shaking a little.

"Don't say that, I've never regretted having you in my life. You are my sunshine." I put my hand on his cheek. "Never forget that I love you more than anything else."

"I know that... But I also know you gave up on your dreams to take care of me. I feel like it's more than time that you take care of yourself. Didn't you want to become a novelist lately ? I wouldn't be opposed to you finding love either, you know ?" he says, embarrassed.

"I already found it." I laugh, squeezing him in my arms.

"You know that's not what I meant mama !" he says, as we both laugh.

-

I watch him from the train station platform. The train that will take my baby far away from me. I could have moved with him, but I feel like I have to let him live his life. Plus, I might cross paths with Lionel there and it's something I don't need. I know Regie won't know it's him if he ever sees him so I hope he can stay safe.

The train leaves the station, taking my sunshine away. We both look at each other as long as we could, tears flowing in our eyes. He will be fine, I know he will be fine.

I tuck my hair behind my ears and take a deep breath, the wind dancing in my dress.

Looks like I have a novel to write.

[sashaskyward]

“...and you're angry, and you should be, it's not fair...”

I posted something yesterday, on Facebook, as did many of you probably. As the day went on and I started to process everything a little more, I realized that that one paragraph post doesn't do it justice. That one paragraph post doesn't say what I want to say. It doesn't even come close. So I'm making this post. I know it's going to be long. If you talk to anyone who regularly talks to me then you know this is actually just par for the course when I get to think and write my words down rather than just speak them. Maybe no one will read the entire thing. But I'm hoping that maybe at least one person does. And maybe they hurt too. We can grieve together.

I heard the news yesterday before it was confirmed by anyone in the band. A lot of people were posting about it and posting songs and I was crying but I didn't fully believe it. I kept telling myself that it was a hoax, that I needed to wait for confirmation.

I can't even describe the noise I made when I saw Mike Shinoda's tweet confirming it. I think it might've been the most agonizing noise I've ever made. A sob that was held so much devastation and despair. My mom held me and cried with me as I sobbed harder than I ever have in my entire life. I sobbed so hard that I thought I was going to throw up.

I don't remember the first Linkin Park song I ever heard. I don't remember who it was that got me into them. That's how long ago it was. I know I was still in the single digits age-wise though. I don't remember if it was my neighbor playing Crawling for me and us listening to it. It was most likely my brother though. One of the perks of having a brother seven years older is that I got to listen to the good music at a VERY young age. Linkin Park is one of those bands. He gave me the most exposure to them.

Hybrid Theory was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. I loved it. I wasn't exposed to much rapping growing up and there was something about the singer's voice that I fell in love with. The hybrid (see what I/they did there?) between rock and rap was something that my little brain hadn't even considered possible. I have a distinct memory of sitting in my neighbor's room and begging him to play Crawling over the stereo one more time.

Back then the only reason I went online was for Neopets and playing games and I didn't really grasp what the internet could do. So I didn't really know when Meteora came out. I do remember hearing it, somewhere, again probably though my brother, and immediately recognizing the voice. That ferocious voice that I could pick out anywhere. That mixture of rock and rap that I craved. Even if I didn't listen to LP nearly as much back then, I knew it was them. And my love for the band grew with that CD.

I asked for Minutes to Midnight for Christmas in 2007. I was 14 years old and for some reason didn't buy it myself when it came out. I patiently waited for Christmas and my parents got it for me. It was different than the first two but still felt like Linkin Park to me. It felt more evolved. It felt more grown up. Like the band had taken time off to grow, similar to how I grew up a little. As grown up as a 14 year old could be anyway. I fell in love with that CD too.

In 2010, at 17 years old, I remember the band releasing little puzzles for the fans to solve. I remember translating binary and opening whatever free editing software I had and trying to figure out how to edit pictures that were posted and refreshing the two biggest fanpages over and over again to try and figure out answers as to what was going on. This was the lead up to the announcement of A Thousand Suns. I had a feeling that this CD would be different. It was. In my eyes, A Thousand Suns is a masterpiece. It's my favorite CD. The story it tells, the way the songs flow, the music. I adore that CD.

2012 was LIVING THINGS (as much as I hate the all caps phase they went through, it is what it is) and it was kind of a revisit to the old style. But with the new style mixed in.

2014 was The Hunting Party and at first I wasn't a fan of this CD. And it scared me. I listened to it and just sorta shrugged and moved on. Looking back on it, 2014 was a weird year for me. I was at my lowest point in life. My mom was diagnosed with cancer that year and I think part of me just didn't want anything to do with anything for most of that year. I fought that year, harder than I ever have. I stayed positive though. I listened to LP and their older CDs and it helped. It helped quell the crippling fear that I held in my heart. (Unrelated note: mom is doing great if anyone was wondering.)

I listened to The Hunting Party again in either late 2014 or early 2015. Really listened to it. That's when I fell in love with that CD. A Line in the Sand is one of my favorite LP songs and it's from that CD. I listen to it regularly with the rest of their discography.

When the song Heavy was released earlier this year my first reaction, like many others, was confusion. The song got stuck in my head though and I gave it a chance. I listened to it over and over again and without even realizing fell in love with it. I'd tell people that it was catchy and I didn't know if I liked it or not as I was listening to it for tenth time in a row that day. Safe to say that I liked the song.

One More Light was released and I love that CD. I don't care if it's pop songs. I don't care if it's different than everything they've done. But that's what they do, isn't it? They change things up every CD and that's one of the reasons I love them. I don't get bored.

I knew the song One More Light would make me cry. Before I even heard the song, just hearing the band describe it, I knew I would cry. And the band played it live before the release of the CD and I remember laying in bed at 2 in the morning sobbing because that song was just so sad. It was a song that hurt.

And when the CD was released I listened to the album version and just cried. My parents were \on the couch three feet away from me, confused and all I could do was wave my hands around and say “I knew this song would make me cry. I knew it.” and cry harder because for some reason, even though I'd never really felt strong grief before, it hurt. The song hurt me and I somehow connected to it even though I had no real reason to. I've had family members pass away and I get sad when I think about it. I've had people I look up to and inspire me pass away and I cry because they affected my life but just this one song made me feel so much more than that.

Linkin Park is so much more than just a band to me. Over the years I've gone through phases with bands. Linkin Park is one band that I never had a phase with. It was never a phase. It was always there. I always found myself going back to then. When I didn't want to listen to anything else, I'd listen to LP. When I was angry at the world or sad or happy or any emotion at all I would find myself back with LP. Listening to them. Absorbing the music and the lyrics.

I can say with certainty that I grew up with this band and it helped shape me into who I am today. It shaped my musical tastes into what it is today. It broadened my horizons.

There are so many songs I want to share. So many videos. Lyrics. Memories I have with this band that changed my life so much. I didn't though. Mostly because I couldn't process what was really going on.

I have more Linkin Park music on my laptop than any other band. No other band even comes close. No other band even touches the amount of LP I have. I have their main albums and demos and live versions of songs and different versions of the same song where there are only minuscule differences but because it's different I had to have it. Over the years I've scoured the internet for ANYTHING I could find from this band. I don't even have everything. Right now I can think of quite a few things that I don't even have yet because I've just been too lazy to download the songs.

This band has gotten me through the best and worst parts of my life. And will continue to get me through life. I will never stop listening to this band. I will never stop listening to Chester Bennington's voice. His voice and his words will follow me for the rest of my life and I will cherish what I have from it.

It's safe to say that I've never felt grief this hard. I didn't know Chester Bennington. I wish I could say I met him and got to thank him for everything but I haven't. And I never will. August 5th was when I was supposed to get my chance to see them live. To get to hear this monster of a voice in person. But I won't get that. I'll never get that. And I'm jealous of all the people who have.

Chester Bennington was so much more than just a singer to me. The way they treat their fans made me feel like I was a part of something. Like I was part of a family rather than just a fan of a band.

I'm devastated. That's a pretty good word for what I'm feeling right now. That and agony. And I'm grieving. And it hurts so much. I want it to stop hurting but I know it isn't going to. Not for a while.

Chester Bennington was a legend. His voice and his passion and his music changed so many lives for the better. It changed music. I don't think there will ever be a voice to match his. There are others who are just as distinguishable but none like his. None that will ever touch me the way his has. I can pick his voice out anywhere.

I woke up this morning and for a split second thought it was all a nightmare. But I didn't even have to look at my phone or anything to realize that it wasn't. The splitting headache that I had and the immediate burning in my eyes told me everything. The fact that I was wide awake at 6AM after only two hours of sleep told me everything. The hole in my chest told me that it was all real. Every terrifying and painful part of it was real.

I'm listening to the band right now. I'm crying all over again (I say that as if I haven't been crying since we got the news). I hope Chester finally found peace. I just wish he found that peace here with us. I keep going back to fansites and reading posts that people are making and someone said something that struck a chord in me. Something that summed everything up in such a short and perfect way that I started sobbing all over again:

“One saved millions, but millions couldn't save the one.”

RIP Chester Bennington. I'm gonna miss you so damn much.

“Remember you're loved and you always will be. This melody will bring you right back home.”

[aleatoryalarmalligator]

Life Story 2002 Summer Part 20

The whole idea of reinventing myself was paramount to my existence at about this point in my formative years of junior high and I had hoped to make some kind of transformation over the summer that would make me much more desirable by the time I hit 8th. I had always been comfortable living inside of my own head until then. I didn't care that I had so much poofy hair, or that I wore no make up or that my clothing was all gender neutral. I wasn't jealous of anyone. I hadn't been happy – in fact I had been quite miserable, but it was always easier just to retreat into my own imagination. Now I was very conscious of my existence outside of myself. And in that world, I had never had a lot of control. Kyle had gotten pretty popular in the last few months of 7th grade, and there were a lot of girls that were getting chummy with him. I was not the only one who liked him now. I could tell that the days of us frolicking in the grass together was over. I managed to keep his attention, but I had sold my soul to do that. I had to open up the floodgates to every boy in my age bracket to let them know that they could tease me – that I had no boundaries. That was my way of preventing that door from shutting. I didn't have the wisdom to really accept that it was over, and what was once a crush was becoming a fervor of faith and denial.

This was probably the first time in my life that I actually felt like a teenager. Katie, Samantha, Sarah and I would all have sleepovers – I was invited now – and we would look at magazines, draw, listen to the radio and talk about boys and girls we didn't like as we looked out and watched the wind blow through the trees. We all had Neopet accounts then, and we were all really into it. During the day, I would get up, and we would often times hang out down by the pool and people watch on the benches by the store. I didn't dare actually swim in the pool anymore, and besides the place was packed and swimming was more like wading in the lava's of hell along with the million other souls. My friends loved to watch their crushes with their shirts off. Sarah liked Rex, Samantha might have still been into Andy – but maybe someone else. Katie was into this guy who lived in Alaska that visited for the summer named Luke. I felt kind of weird though. I didn't get into the shirtless guy thing. For the most part it seemed really out of sorts with how I liked Kyle. Something seemed a little too deviant about sitting and watching him swim and I never really thought about him sexually. I was mocked by my friends and told that I was lying. Nobody could even imagine what it was even like to not have dirty thoughts. I felt pressured to pretend that shirtless guys got to me so I tried to anyway.

We all had become super obsessed with Eminem. The Eminem Show had come out and at the time that was my favorite. This was a deep shady thing for me though. My dad was opposed to rap, and didn't want me to listen to it. I would have been grounded and punished harshly. So if I did listen to it, it had to be secret. Secondly, Samantha was the only one who initially had an album. Nobody I knew ordinarily ordered things online, and if there were Eminem Shows on the shelves, they would get bought up instantly. I was also not of age to buy the unedited version. Samantha had to buy hers up in Spokane. So what I actually had was a blank tape that I had Samantha tape for me. I would listen to it while my dad was away and when he got home I had to take it out of the tape deck and hide it under my mattress.

One of the first things I wanted to do to fix myself up was to get my hair to stay down. It had never crossed my mind to try. So I got a box from the store that was meant to straighten your hair. It worked for the most part. My hair was long and more wavy. I also noticed that a lot of girls on MTV and at school were into tanning. I have always been a pale one. Personally, I didn't really like being tan. But I was very self conscious about my acne, which I thought would blend better if I tanned up a bit, and the hair follicles on my legs were obvious and spotty. My friends had soft hairless legs. So, I started putting on the fake tanning stuff. I looked a little silly. I mean, you could see where I had not evenly spread it on my skin. I also only had about two nice outfits at the time that I felt were suitable for my new look. In order to not have to wear anything unseemly, I started bathing in my clothes. That way I would never have to change. I would walk out of the bathroom dripping, and people would ask me why on earth I had just taken a bath in my outfit. It was a weird time for me.

I was so proud of myself. I wanted Kyle to think of me as pretty. I barely could admit this to myself but that was my aim. I was everyone's favorite comedian with the whacky hair. I wanted to be more feminine. I was excited and very self certain that my new look would cause him to give me a second glance. So Roxanne helped me get the tanning lotion. She helped me with my hair. And then I got a ride back into Kendrick. I wore my best summer attire, and I walked down to the park with Allison. Kyle was always out and about, so I knew he would be down there. I decided that in order to get attention I would need something that he would think was entertaining. I grabbed some finger nail polish, and I thought – 'hey, maybe I will paint bugs rainbow colors and he will come over to me and want to help. It seemed like something he would have been amused by. I went down to the park area quite confidently and sat down where he would be able to see me. I tried not to act too obvious. But he was disinterested. I tried to play it cool, but I was screaming inside. This had never really happened before, aside from maybe a few times when he had been dating Mary.

I looked over, trying not to be obvious, and there was Melissa. She was all over him. She was getting a piggy back ride from him, and squeezing him. When I looked over at her, she looked over at me, and she knew somehow. She continued to upgrade her flirting and look at me more. She knew why I was there, she knew I was jealous. I doubt she was really all that into Kyle at all. She was just hyper aware of my crush somehow. I was beyond baffled. Kyle was eating up the attention from this small deer eyed blonde so of course why would he bother with me.. He even glared at me at one point when I went into the store to use the bathroom. I was hurt. I wanted to start crying and storm home. I had gone through all this trouble to fix my hair and to look nice, and he didn't notice. And why should he? It took me a long time to look nice, but a lot of the girls in my class simply looked great as soon as they woke up in the morning. I would never be like them. I started trying to paint the some poor beetles that Allison and David found for me on the playground. I felt incredibly stupid doing it now, but I had to keep up the act. The poor dumb bugs who didn't deserve their rainbow deaths squirmed away as I painted them. Eventually Kyle came up to me and looked down at what I was doing “That's stupid”, he looked over at Melissa as he said it. My heart broke in half.

I was so lost in my own disappointment that I didn't even quite remember walking home. I felt this lonely sense of failure. I felt embarrassed and stupid and shaky. And  of course it started to rain. Also, this strange feeling of rage was growing in me. I had never actually been jealous of another girl before this point. Even when Kyle dated Mary, I had understood it as a necessary evil. I was truly jealous of Melissa. She was smarter than me, more gorgeous than me, tiny. She knew how to get to people in just the right way to influence them. She was some kind of mastermind. It's like she could look at people, and get exactly what she wanted out of them, and it didn't even matter. She got from point A to point Z with ease. I however, was stumbling on C, and nobody had any real hope for me getting past H if I am to be honest with myself. She seemed insatiable, and it all went mindlessly smooth for her. I am sure on the outset that Melissa was full of her own self doubt, her fears and such. But it came off so smooth. Everything that bothers me shows. I have always felt a bit like I was covered in honey surrounded by insects. Everything affects me – and there is no escape. I have to make things work as I go along for this reason. I went home, and for some reason I went into my father's room – he wasn't home – and I cried on his bed for several hours.

Sarah's grandparents on her father's side came from Arizona up to Idaho to visit family. They liked to camp at this place at the end of Clarkston called Chief Timothy – which was a little island like plot of land with camp areas, a sort of marked off swimming area of the Clearwater River, and it is always bustling in the summer. It's off the highway that would eventually take you to Portland or Seattle if you were inclined to keep going, depending on an eventual left or right fifty miles ahead. This area is the beginning of the Washington desert, and it has it's own unique dry rockiness to it that will be with me till the day I die. It's honestly not impossible to get well over 100 degrees in this area in the peak of summer. Sarah agreed to stay with her grandparents for the weekend on the condition that I was able to come along. It was a terrible and memorable weekend. Her grandparents wanted us to sleep in a tent outside. I have never liked camping at all, but we went along with it. We brought a boom box with Eminem of course. We got our drawing stuff so we could draw, and a lot of coca cola. We intended on making the most of it.

Sarah's grandfather on her dad's side was probably the most typical retired old man that you can have in your mind. Think of the stereotype of this sort of person, and you have him. He was overall pretty nice but he didn't really stand out to me at all. Then there was his wife. She was actually not biologically related to Sarah. She was not very smart. In fact, I could barely stand her the whole weekend. She said snotty things. She made rude comments, and almost everything she asserted was incorrect.

The first thing that I remember going wrong is that she would not let us cool off in their air conditioned motor home they were camping in. She had this 'children go out and play and leave me alone attitude'. And it was very hot. We just had to find ways to stay cool until it would finally cool off, but that wouldn't even be till after ten o'clock at night. We got to come in to eat bologna sandwiches for lunch where we watched jeopardy with her briefly ,and then we were sent out into the heat. Sarah is allergic to everything. We were getting pretty sunburnt and she insisted that regular old skin lotion would block the sun. The skin lotion that she had for us was Jerkins and Sarah was allergic to it. She laughed at Sarah and was very rude when she tried to tell her that she was allergic, saying Sarah was a lying teenager. So on top of being third degree burnt, Sarah also had rashes from the lotion all over her skin. I was also burnt horribly by the end of it. I remember my skin blistered and cracked. It even bled in a few places. That dumb woman though.

Her grandfather cooked raw hamburgers on a grill, which were not cooked correctly. We had to resign eating these burgers. This offended Sarah's grandfather and grandmother who were very proud of their rare burgers. Swimming was nice at first. We started kind of going crazy being there for four days. We would swim around the netted area singing Superman by Eminem over and over for  hours. On a side note, that is a horribly sexist and annoying song that kind of makes me ill just thinking about – actually a lot of Eminem songs are sexist and all of them are annoying – but I didn't know then and Sarah and I didn't really get what sexism was back then partially because it was permeated in our culture so heavily that it seemed normal to blame the women for being the losers in the relationships, the unfun ones, the bitches. There was definitely some internalizing a sense of self loathing at my own girlishness for me at this point in that impossible double standard where if you are too girlish you are a dumb ninny, but if you are too outgoing or proud you are some kind of a hostile man hating bitch.

The really strange events happened at night though. I shall try to explain. I had for years been fascinated with cryptozoology and had I not wanted to be a comic book artist, I was set on somehow making it as a cryptozoologist – which for those who do not know what that means is by internet definition “the search for and study of animals whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Loch Ness monster and the yeti.” Particularly, I was fascinated by The Jersey Devil, which is this mass hysteria hoax creature with the head of a mule, the body of a kangaroo, the hooves of a goat, and the wings of a bat that some religious people claimed to see back in the 18th century, but somehow gets spotted by people in New Jersey every blue moon. Of many of the possible unknowns out there, I don't think that the Jersey Devil is very likely to ever be proven as real for obvious anatomical and environmentally sound reasons. So it could be said that as I sat there in the tent one of the nights talking about it, we had gotten ourselves a little jumpy, probably thinking more about our haunted houses and the like. It was late, and there was nobody on the little island walking around. We started hearing this strange sound that sounded like a shopping cart being pushed down a hill, along with the this clomping sound of horses. At first I sort of freaked and got jumpy about it because it was just odd. I made this joke that it was the Jersey Devil pushing a shopping cart. We kind of listened to it, and I think we both kind of started looking for a logical explanation. I mean, surely there had to be some good reason why there was this crazy sound at midnight on this island.  But it really made no sense. There were no horses allowed, and no real reasons for someone to be pushing a shopping cart, so as the noises got closer, we started getting kind of nervous.

Eventually it became distant again and went away, And then, this light that had been above us went dark. For just about the entire time we had been sitting in the tent for that few hours, there had been a light outside of our tent that beamed straight down that had made it relatively easy for us to see inside of our tent, such was it's brightness. It seemed benign and I hadn't thought of it at all. But when it went out when it did, I commented to Sarah' 'Hey, the street light just went off” and then Sarah sat there in stunned silence and told me in this somber quite sense of  realization and horror “Renee, there was no street light there.” I argued in horror and denial that there must have been. By this time we were squeezing together nervously in our blankets. We suddenly felt watched and at several points we thought we could see this shadow outside of one or the other side of the tent– and perhaps that was our fear playing tricks. But there was honestly no light source to be found to account for that big bright light that had been above us.  It was very bright. Eventually we fell asleep out of fear. Sarah sort of turned off when she had gotten frightened. I was suppressing a rushed need to run into the motor home and hide. When we woke up that morning, there was indeed no overhead lights just above our tent at all. There would be no real way to get one above our tent unless it had been suspended from something in the air.  And of course, all the adults thought we were making it up. To this day, this situation really has made me scratch my head. I wouldn't take it into as much consideration, but Sarah was with me and experienced and saw the whole thing take place as well. It was definitely bizarre.

A rule to anyone who ever thinks it may be a good idea to swim in that water by Chief Timothy – don't. I have known a few people who got Beaver Fever in that area. And I ended up getting an ear infection from the dirty water that was miserable. My father was in denial that anything needed to be done. He didn't want to pay the money to have me go into the emergency room. He simply assumed that this infection would go away by itself. But each day got worse and worse. Eventually I couldn't sleep. My jaw ached. I couldn't touch my ear or hear very well. I was miserable for a few weeks. He went to see our grandma Betty down in southern Idaho, and I had to stay behind for five days – with the notion that eventually this infection would go away. It did not. I stayed at Jodi's house on her couch. I started feeling more like a ball of sweaty pain than I did a girl. I watched hours and hours of music videos. It was the summer of Nelly's annoying 'It's Getting Hot In Here'.  Finally when he got back I went into the doctor, who have me a pill and some numbing stuff that worked immediately. The inside of my ear began to crackle and gross stuff started dripping out, but it was so relieving.

On the fourth of July, I made the error of telling Roxanne I would spend it with her,  since I had nowhere else to spend it. The 4th of July before had been pretty terrible, if you read previous entries to the life story blogs I write, and I was weary of getting involved with something awful. Roxanne's 4th of July ended up being horrible. She went out with Jody's family, the Browns. They were all rednecked and hammered. The firecrackers they had weren't even very good. Roxanne became too drunk to drive. And as became clear then and in later situations, Roxanne is a wretched drunk and should never drink. She was screaming and crying. I was seven miles away from home, and nobody was sober enough to drive. I was under dressed and cold.  Roxanne said that I would just have to stay the night at the Browns because their house smelled like vomit, and I vehemently refused. This made everyone drunkenly annoyed at me. Eventually Jody drove me home. It was yet another annoying 4th that I in no way enjoyed.

I went home, and I remember getting that tingly sense of joy knowing I was alone at last in my home. Most of the time, being in my house alone was frustrating and made me a bit nervous, but there are also several times where even to this day, I come into an empty house and it is very satisfying. It has this leveling calming element to it conditioned into my being after days where I was overstimulated or depressed or needed space from friends or my father and needed time to myself. I made my bed on the couch and listened to the cracking of the fire crackers outside. I could see Kyle dancing up and down the street with a sparkler in hand, and it made me happy. At least someone was having a good time. I turned on the radio, and it was one of those rare situations where a radio station that ordinarily only plays pop music decides to put on a song that isn't of that genre. I had never heard Bohemian Rhapsody before. It's a well known song I know, almost too cliché, but honestly, when you listen to it for the first time – really listen to it, it is theatrically impressive and completely original. There is no song even remotely like it. I remember being blown away and quite impressed. I teared up I was so mesmerized. It was probably the best thing that has ever happened on one of my 4th of July's.

Maria moved back into Lewiston. She had gotten an apartment in Juliaetta. But she had a severe nervous breakdown. She had taken a can of peas and smashed it against her head very hard and needed stitches. I remember feeling really bad. At the time, I didn't know what it meant to feel that awful. She had just had Ian and perhaps it was postpartum depression mixed with the depression that she already had.

And also, Roxanne's dad finally died. I didn't go to his funeral, and I am not even sure if he had one or not. There was a big thing about money. Roxanne instantly inherited 90,000 dollars. Her other two way older brothers she didn't know very well also inherited quite a lot. I've said it before, but by god, I really wish I had that kind of money. I'm not mad, but that kind of money could really be the thing that turned things around for me. I could go back to school. Get my health under control. Roxanne did nothing of the sort of course. She was drunk for the entire time and the second she got that money everyone was her best friend. My mom borrowed money, Jody used a lot of her money, she was constantly surrounded by an entourage of people. There was no budgeting or I think even conscious awareness of what was being spent. Free drugs for everyone. People started doing a lot of meth with Roxanne. She had dabbled with it before, but now that she had all this money, there were drug dealers looking to make a profit.  My mom was in on the meth. Everyone was getting pretty crazed about meth. I wasn't completely aware of this, though I sensed the instability and frenzy of it all.

Roxanne was staying at these apartments at the time called Adam's Lane.  For a time, my mom didn't have a place after we had left the trailer behind so she was there as well. My father would drop us off on the weekends. They really were kind of crummy. I remember there was this bench that had all these women's numbers soliciting sex and prostitution right next to the playground. It was all either in sharpie or etched into the wood. It would say – call this number if you wanna fuck , some women's names and the like. Before you let your kids play in the playground you had to get the needles out of the park, and though we didn't know it at the time, there was this creepy old man who would sit and stare at the kids and we found out later that he was a pedophile. Someone chased him off, but the landlords did nothing.

Since Roxanne inherited that money, she was absolutely never sober at all. She was completely out of it. Nobody ever took the garbage out, so the entire downstairs was littered with bags of garbage, and it didn't smell too nice. There was one weekend where my mom was staying there, and Roxanne was at her absolute worst. I have never seen her this drunk before or since. She had been drunk for over a week straight. At one point she had walked off into the town and had come back two days later, still completely wasted. Some guy had given her a ride home, and she didn't even remember what happened – though it didn't seem like she'd been raped. She was screaming and crying and I was trying to stay away from her because she would go through bouts of rage and laughter and crying and in every case she was prone to getting physical and had no filter at all. I remember my mom was cleaning and trying to look after her nervously. We were all just trying to calmly live around her until she sobered up. She decided that she was going to tickle attack me. I don't remember what made her get to that point where she thought of this, but it crossed her mind and she went for it. I hate being tickled even lightly. She threw her entire body on me, and I could barely breath. She was digging her nails into me as hard as she could frantically like a lunatic. I felt suffocated and helpless and I realized that I was going to have to viciously fight back if I planned on getting out from under her. I bit her hair, which made her let go of my wrists. With a free hand, I punched her, but she didn't stop. I punched her then as hard as I could, and she fell to the floor sobbing miserably.

She started crying how sorry she was for being cruel to me when I was young. I don't hold it against her, but Roxanne really did make life hard for me when I was young. She was in some ways extremely abusive. So her guilt about that came pouring out. My mom actually understood why I had done what I had done and didn't give me any grief for it. She told Roxanne that she had had it coming. Then she led Roxanne to her bedroom where she sobbed herself to sleep. In the morning, believe it or not, she wasn't even hung over. I don't understand why not – but she just wasn't.

Katie spent half her summer pursuing this Luke guy before he went back home up to Alaska. He had this sister named Coty that became Katie's best friend outside of our circle. I didn't really like Coty or Luke from what I knew. I met them by accident in Lewiston. Everyone was walking behind the houses on the hillside, sometimes traveling through people's back yard for the sake of adventure, and it was strange to see Katie in the same town my mother lived in, but there she was behind the Adam's Lane Apartments. I went with them. I didn't really like them, but I can't now remember the reason. There was this situation with Whitney involved (mentioned previously) that made Katie a forever enemy of Whitney's. Katie became infatuated with this Luke person, and he saw Whitney noted her beauty, and like an annoying foolish man of medieval times, decided to attempt to win Whitney's heart by standing outside of her house until someone had to tell him to leave. This made Katie enraged. So for the next year or so, Katie would spent at least an hour each week drawing pictures of Whitney being skewered by horned animals, be it a unicorn or an elk. She would draw her being disemboweled. She would draw close ups of Whitney's nose. It was pretty hilarious actually. Somewhere I believe Sarah still has one of these drawings kept. I wish I had kept more of Katie's artwork. It was actually pretty funny.

Here is what i have written thus far of my life story.

PART 19 - http://tinyurl.com/rfhbms8

PART 18 - http://tinyurl.com/ycrznrwk

PART 17 - http://tinyurl.com/y77unlng

PART 16 - http://tinyurl.com/yadpsv8c

PART 15 - http://tinyurl.com/yb3lt6k5

PART 14 - http://tinyurl.com/yb4cfedq

PART 13 - http://tinyurl.com/yalanq9s

PART 12 - http://tinyurl.com/yc79mw94

PART 11 - http://tinyurl.com/yc9qhj84

PART 10 - http://tinyurl.com/yb734w24

PART 9 - http://tinyurl.com/yc2t6vfw  

PART 8 - http://tinyurl.com/ybl37utq

PART 7 - http://tinyurl.com/ybvo283g

PART 6 - http://tinyurl.com/kbc9dwu

PART 5 - http://tinyurl.com/msnz4am

PART 4 - http://tinyurl.com/k9x8esg

PART 3 - http://tinyurl.com/mwp9atx

PART 2 - http://tinyurl.com/lbt6xq2

PART 1 - http://tinyurl.com/l8xbvg8

[projectmedusarp]

Welcome Kara! We’re pleased to announce your audition for Nova Sinclair / Pyrokinesis has been accepted! Please send an ask to the main from your account within the next 24 hours so we can set you up with the OOC blog. We can’t wait to have you join us!

{{ PLAYER INFORMATION }}

NAME: Kara

AGE: 26

TIMEZONE: EST (Eastern Standard Zone)

PRONOUNS: She / Her

ACTIVITY LEVEL: I’m normally pretty active during the day/night, but my schedule can be a bit unpredictable because I’m a nanny and the kids aren’t organized enough to tell me when they need rides ahead of time lol. So sometimes I have to randomly disappear to take them places. During the summer, I’m pretty much free after 1pm but for driving kids around (and I have most weekends off). During the school year, freedom comes roughly after 3:30 or so.

PREVIOUS ROLEPLAY EXPERIENCE: I’ve been RPing since I was eleven and on neopets so… god, like, fifteen years? Roughly six on tumblr.

PERSONAL TUMBLR CONTACT: Link Removed

TRIGGERS: Incest

{{ CHARACTER INFORMATION }}

CHARACTER: Nova Sinclair

PRONOUNS: She / Her

AGE: 31

FACE CLAIM: Natalie Dormer

POWER: Pyrokinesis

QUOTE: “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

PERSONALITY:

Witty - Nova’s got a quick sense of humor and a snappy retort for pretty much any situation. She is a clever woman with a sharp mind and tends to use jokes as both defense and offense. It’s a talent that gets her far with her writing and it’s good in sales, as it tends to make people relax around her.

Affable - Nova is the agreeable sort with a talent for making people feel comfortable around her; it’s that old school southern charm. However, though it takes a hell of a lot to rile her up, she is not what anyone would call a pushover. Mostly she’s agreeable because she just doesn’t have the patience for conflict and avoids it if she can help it. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, after all (though she’s never really understood why anyone would want to catch flies).

Curious - Some call it nosy, Nova prefers curious. She likes to know things, likes to be involved. She likes to know about people and she likes to learn about a variety of topics. Of course, sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong has gotten her into trouble a time or two, no matter how hard she tries to avoid it. Some people don’t appreciate others poking into their business. Especially a writer who will (and has) used stories she hears in fiction.

Imaginative - Nova creates situations in her head and sometimes can conflate them into something worse than they are because she tends to imagine the worst possible outcome. It serves her well in her writing. Not so much in real life, however.

Ambitious - Nova has worked her way up from the bottom to the top, a true rags to riches story that she tends to keep to herself. She has always had big dreams and is good at getting what she wants. She isn’t above doing whatever has to be done to meet her goals.

Reserved - A lot of people let Nova’s friendly, cheerful front deceive them into thinking she’s easy to get to know. She isn’t. She’s secretive and not at all forthcoming about herself or her life. She doesn’t let people in easy and trust has to be fought for. She likes to keep herself to herself and it’s hard to get past the high walls of privacy she’s built to the person beyond it. Though Nova has plenty of acquaintances, there aren’t many she’d call friend and she prefers it that way.

Judgmental - Nova’s far from easy to impress and if you make one wrong move, she’ll judge you for it instantly. She’s got a strong sense of what she’ll tolerate and what she won’t and she tends to be quick to write people off when they cross it. Second chances aren’t her forte. Friendly, sure. Forgiving? Not so much.

BIOGRAPHY:

Nova was born in New Orleans and lived there with her single father until the age of ten, when he was killed in an accident on the construction site he was working on. Nova was left with very little and she didn’t much like foster care either. At around thirteen, she ditched her foster home and became a bit of a street urchin. Easy to get lost in a city the size of New Orleans, and that’s exactly what she did for a very long time. She mostly conned people out of their cash with a sweet smile and her big, bright eyes, asking for bus fare from strangers or a couple of bucks for lunch because “my daddy gave me some cash this morning, ma’am, but it must’ve fallen out of my pocket on the way to school.”

Ever since she was small, however, Nova had a quick and creative mind and she used it to her advantage. It meant that even on the streets, she had big dreams and a strong will, one that would get her on her way to the top. When she was sixteen, she lit out of New Orleans. She worked on a river boat for a time, sailed her way up to Memphis, then took a bus over to New York City. In Nova’s mind, that was the place to be when you had big ambitions and wanted any chance of making them come true.

With nothing but a backpack full of clothes, a battered notebook of scribbled stories, and forty-seven dollars in her pocket, Nova set up at a local shelter and breathed in the air of the big city. She liked it immediately, the brisk pace, the clipped northeastern accents, the way everyone minded their own business. It was exactly what she’d been looking for and Nova was gonna make it work for her.

It was in this shelter that she met Dotty Fisher, a middle-aged shelter worker who took a particular shine to Nova in her early days in New York. Nova liked her too, this woman with a kind smile who made her think of how a mother should be. Bit by bit, she began to trust Dotty, even let her read some of her stories. When Dotty came to her about the idea of getting her GED and trying to go to college, Nova enthusiastically set about doing it all and ended up graduating with honors a handful of years later. She got a job and a crappy little studio apartment and got to work soon after. She had much bigger fish to fry.

Nova’s first novel was published when she was twenty-five, a thrilling mystery that became a best selling novel. Following that success, Nova purchased a small bookstore, which she now runs while writing on the side. Since the first novel, she’s written two more, both hugely popular, though her preference for anonymity meant that she’d written all of them under a pen name.

Nova was quietly celebrating a movie deal in the works for her first novel when she drank the tonic water that would chance her life as she knew it. It was definitely a bit of a shock for someone whose life is spent surrounded by paper to discover she could manipulate fire – all she’d been thinking was how she wanted the fire in the fireplace to burn a little hotter, a little brighter, and suddenly the flames shot so high that they blackened the stone mantle – and she has been quietly and curiously testing her powers out since.

Alone, of course. With someone like Nova whose ear was always to the ground, it was impossible to miss the murmurs of disappearances plaguing the city…

HEADCANONS:

Sometimes when Nova is stuck on a particularly hard section of her writing, she’ll sketch out a scene to try and form a picture in her head. She has no real talent for drawing, however, so her desk is often littered with nonsensical stick figure drawings, most of which are only half finished.

Nova is a notorious pen chewer. It’s a habit she hates, but can’t seem to break. At least twice a pen has exploded in her mouth and her face has been stained with ink for days, but no matter what she tries, she can never get herself to stop.

Nova bought her own store instead of keeping her job at someone else’s because it means she can mostly set her own hours and doesn’t get in trouble if she’s a few minutes late getting back from lunch or if she shuts the doors a few minutes early. For this reason, there are no store hours posted on the store front and those who want to shop there kind of just have to get lucky about when they decide to go. Surprisingly, her most frequent shoppers tend to find this charming. She has one regular who acts unfailingly surprised any time he shows up and she’s actually open.

She’s a deep sleeper, the kind of person who likes sleeping in a freezing cold room with tons of blankets piled on top of her. She tends to keep late hours and wake up late, so the book store is never actually open before noon on any given day.

Nova is queer as a two dollar bill. It’s not something she flaunts, but it’s not something she hides either. She’s just always been more interested in and more comfortable with women. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Nothing currently (:

[nemesis113]

virtual neocode huge rant

i had so much planed for the neopets comic, i want to speak about it because i feel it was a really nice project of mine.

     First of all i posted in every board that i needed help for a comic, in the post i introduced me and the idea of a rp that i would make into a comic, i needed ten people and i gave them the basic idea. 10 kids were sucked into the world of neopets. simple and interesting, maybe a little bit overused but hey i had so many ideas to make it different.

    i actually got the ten people (counting me of course) i explained that i was the dm and that this would be like a game of dd, i even searched a random number generator, you know, because we needed a dice and something we could screenshot (now that i think about it, they could cheat with that method).

    They chose his neopet that would be their companion, made a little profile for them and i get to draw them in my style, now this is were everything went downhill but lets talk about that later.

Prologue of the comic.

The neopets team was trying to implement this new technology that would allow kids to enter the digital world and interact directly with their neopets, but, every attempt at doing this ended on failure, except one day, nobody expected it to work but for some reason they got the energy needed to make it work.

      Dr Sloth whom already knew about the new feature sent a grundo to install a machine that provided the energy the tnt needed. His plan was simple, he would use one of the kids to get to the real world (like Noah in that arc of yugioh that nobody remembers). So is the day of the inauguration of the new feature and the team does a final countdown, while at the same time Dr. sloth watch everything goes according to his keikaku  plan, without realizing that there’s a cable there that is connected to a bomb. His grundo noticed to late this and -bang- explosion. continue under the jump

Chapter one “Welcome”

This chapter start with two people in the dark, well not people, neopets. Something just happened and the light went out, but not before 10 invitations were send and accepted, you guessed it, the chosen ten.

  The ten kids wake up in a kind of limbo with many doors (which were important to the plot) and one of my oc greeted them to the virtual world of neopets, also she inform them that for some kind of deus ex machina problem, they wont be able to get out, but don’t worry because the expert is working on it,

   My oc then explain some rules of the game, like if you loose all your hp then is game over (now i was, at this point, not sure how that would work out, cause they could loose all their hp like in any dd game) and that the doors in that limbo could be used to move between places. Also the lobby of every hotel was some kind of hud where they could go and transport themself to other places of neopia (i had planned a chapter where the snowgager scaped and went throught those doors causing havoc). So the oc ends her explanation and sent them to the art gallery where they would meet a new character.

   AAA is there to give them the official welcoming (nobody else wanted to do it and poor aaa was the only one they could order to) he then explain that the girl in that limbo is an AI that he created (there was an idea that before the new feature, the neopets interacted with an ai that followed the commands of the person behind the computer, but it was so convoluted that i scrapped that). AAA is also the “expert” that should be fixing the code and all, he tells the chosen ten that he recommended against activating the new feature but poor soul nobody ever listen to him, anyways, what came next was a painful one by one introduction if every people i got.

  This was one of the problems with the project, when it came to me drawing them i found it so hard, they gave me some info but not enough for me and my lazy ass, also i never find the motivation to draw some of them and i’m going to sound bad but, i wasnt inspired by them. Sorry guys.

  What made this section a little better for me was that, while the kids introduced themself, i also presented the first two enemies; Vira and Pantadiablo (not sure if that’s his name in english). They were sent by somebody to spy on the humans and also they had another mission. pantadiablo and vira interaction was of those who don’t like each other but have to work together. They carried a tube with a fuzzle (i guess that’s the name) one on fire.

So basically what followed was some kind of welcoming parade and happines and party with a lot of fun and such. when i think about it i ask myself if i could have do it, like, i was planning this huge scene with a lot of neopets and such, in the end of the chapter the protagonists go to a big dinner and everything is perfect until:

-FIRE THE MONEY TREE IS BURNING!!!!!!1-

Chapter 2 Fire

This was the first mission of the team, they would have to either save the tree and the ghost that lived there or wait long enough till The ghost Lupe appeared, tbqh i wasn't expecting the tree to be saved and we will never know if they could do it. The ghost Lupe would have blamed the children for the destruction of the tree, well until, Vira and Pantadiablo appear!!!.

  Now i had even planned the fight with them, it was a turn based fight, Vira with 700 hp and pantadiablo with 450 but with the ability of stun and cover. Vira was a toxic user and could also summon those little gremlins on fire, each with 10 hp and a really small chance of burn the objetive, so Vira was playing safe and pantadiablo had to wait 3 turns for his stun and cover could be used two times in a row before failing.

  Vira on the other hand had a low attack (2 points), but, the poison could stack with burn and cause a impresive 19 points of damage, now, you could say that 19 damage doesnt sound as much, well you would be wrong cause every player had only 120 hp!!!!. Tho, Vira would never attack someone poisoned and burned, and the effect only lasted 3 turns for poison and 2 for burn, so if you were poisoned in the first turn you would lose 7(plus 1 cause the basic attack of vira)  at the end, then vira use her turn to summon the fire petpet that would attack the poisoned player IF the player is burned then the player would’ve lost 19+1 (the basic attack of the fire petpet), the next turn vira would attack other player trying to poison them, and the fire petpet would attack the new next target (but with only 10 hp it was hard for it to last more of one turn because every player had the base attack of 8 + the points they assigned to the stat), so at the end of this third turn the player would take another 19 points of damage, so, 8 + 20 + 19 =47. Damn. As an extra anti frustration feature the ghost lupe would appear every 8 turns and heal every status problem and also restore 20 hp of all players.  Take out Vira would take like 15 turns as most and pantadiablo other 5. Wowzer this is actually pretty well planed, maybe i can make a little video game with this

[toast-connoisseur]

All the weird asks

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? -I love coffee mugs, tea cups, and wine glasses even though I don’t drink any of those drinks lol

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? -Chocolate bars!

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? -Cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? -“a pleasure to have in class” of course!

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? -Nothing beats bottled soda from Mexico!

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? -I guess I’m a bit of goth and tomboy mixed? I don’t think any of these really describe me, I’m more into the retro/rockabilly style.

7. earbuds or headphones? -Earbuds for the most part.

8. movies or tv shows? -Movies!

9. favorite smell in the summer? -Chlorine in pool water.

10. game you were best at in p.e.? -The “soy down and chit chat” we’d play on a rainy day indoors.

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? -Egg and a slice of toast!

12. name of your favorite playlist? -I made my best friend a “From Hot Girl Summer to Thotumn” and it’s pretty lit.

13. lanyard or key ring? -Both? Lanyards are cool though.

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? -Anything with tamarindo!

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? -Rosemary’s Baby although i technically got to pick it for my assignment.

16. most comfortable position to sit in? -I switch a lot because of my back pain but I usually like when my legs are raised.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? -My chucks!

18. ideal weather? -Sunny with a slight breeze so it’s not hot.

19. sleeping position? -Half on my side. I sleep odd because I want to sleep on my stomach but my boobs won’t let me.

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? -Post it’s and laptop!

21. obsession from childhood? -Stickersss

22. role model? -Dita Von Teese

23. strange habits? -I tend to chew on the side of my tongue while I concentrate. I’ve been told it makes me look stupid.

24. favorite crystal? -Green Aventurine

25. first song you remember hearing? -Something by Shakira probably

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? -Beach!

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? -Cuddle up and watch movies!

28. five songs to describe you? -Dancing Queen (ABBA), Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen), Flawless Remix (Beyoncé ft. Nicki Minaj), Kiss My Sass (Cobra Starship), and Act Up (City Girls)

29. best way to bond with you? -Tell me a secret and I’ll tell you one of mine

30. places that you find sacred? -None now tbh

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? -Uhh a band shirt and leggings? Idk lmao

32. top five favorite vines? -How? I’d have to write all the lines down or hunt links on YouTube lmao

33. most used phrase in your phone? -TEAAA

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? -1 800-588-2300 Empiiiiire TODAY

35. average time you fall asleep? -M-F around 10ish or earlier and weekends I try to sleep late!

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? -The “forever alone” ones lol

37. suitcase or duffel bag? -Depends on where I’m going and for how long.

38. lemonade or tea? -Lemonade

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? -Ohh this one is tough... umm pie?

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? -We always had riots and brawls but one time the way it started in one corner of the school and made it all the way to the other end was funny because you could see how the riot spread.

41. last person you texted? -My sister!

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? -Jacket!

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? -Jean jacket!

44. favorite scent for soap? -For body soap, I like a soft clean scent and for hand soap I like eucalyptus mint.

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? -Sci-Fi!

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? -Pj pants/shorts and a tank top!

47. favorite type of cheese? -Provolone

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? -An Orange, you gotta peel off the layers before you get to the sweet stuff!

49. what saying or quote do you live by? “Life sucks and then you die” -My senior year government teacher

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? -Literal nonsense my friends and I come up with.

51. current stresses? -Work, school, family, the virus... should I continue?

52. favorite font? -I’m honestly so used to Times New Roman that I forget others exist.

53. what is the current state of your hands? -Washed and clean!!

54. what did you learn from your first job? -Kids are fun, adults suck

55. favorite fairy tale? -Cinderella!

56. favorite tradition? -My family doesn’t have any so I’m hoping I’ll have some someday with someone.

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? -All of 2018. Finding a home within a week, keeping a full time job even though I’m exhausted, finishing college

58. four talents you’re proud of having? -I give really good hugs, I’m good at helping people, I’m a self-starter, and I’m very organized

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? -Yiiiikes

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? -I know nothing about anime

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? -“The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.” -Moulin Rouge (2001)

62. seven characters you relate to? -None, really. Which is a good thing considering I mostly read stories about murder mysteries and I am in fact, not a murderer.

63. five songs that would play in your club? -Act Up (City Girls), I Want it That Way (Backstreet Boys), Bye Bye Bye (NSYNC), Shake That Monkey (Too $hort), Oye Mi Amor (Maná)

64. favorite website from your childhood? -Neopets!

65. any permanent scars? -On my pinky from a cut with glass and on my eyebrow from stitches I got

66. favorite flower(s)? -Recently? Peonies

67. good luck charms? -Just the number 17 really

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? -Sea urchin

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? -All leaves have symmetry!

70. left or right handed? -I’m right handed for writing, left for everything else really

71. least favorite pattern? -I love all patterns!

72. worst subject? -Math, but I like it?

73. favorite weird flavor combo? -Certain cereals with chocolate milk lol

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? -10

75. when did you lose your first tooth? -I have no idea. All mine fell out early on.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?’ -Potatoes are my favorite! I’d go with french fries though

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? -The one you can grow out of a little bean lol

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? -Always sushi

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? -School ID

80. earth tones or jewel tones? -Both but I like the pop of jewel tones!

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? -“You would not believe your eyes, if 10 million fireflies...”

82. pc or console? -Console

83. writing or drawing? -Writing. I love to draw, but I’m shit at it

84. podcasts or talk radio? -Podcasts

84. barbie or polly pocket? -Barbieee

85. fairy tales or mythology? -Mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes? -Por que no los dos? Umm cookies!

87. your greatest fear? -Being buried alive

88. your greatest wish? -To be happy

89. who would you put before everyone else? -My nephew

90. luckiest mistake? -Interviewing for an entry level position and getting hired for something higher up

91. boxes or bags? -Depends on what I’m transporting

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? -Sunlight in the morning, fairy lights at night

93. nicknames? -Barbie, Barbz, Dumb Bitch

94. favorite season? -Spring

95. favorite app on your phone? -IG

96. desktop background? -The moon

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? -All my family and I used to have my best friends numbers too but then they switched their numbers and I never re-learned them

98. favorite historical era? -The Modern Era? Minus the racism.

Thanks Anon💕

[severetyrantwasteland-blog]

Five Real Life Lessons I Learned From Childhood Video Games

Occupant Evil, particularly the initial three of the arrangement, showed me that occasionally it's best to keep away  Clash Of Clans Hack  from a circumstance where it could cost you everything with a specific end goal  to save what little ammo you have. I drew near to the finish of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis with totally zero ammo and right now harmed. When I would endeavor to keep running for it, I'd kick the bucket. Being the derpy 12-year-old I was, I obviously didn't have numerous spare guides so had toward restart... the whole diversion. I adapted rapidly to just utilize what I frantically required and to spare the rest.

Being an, ahem, monetarily lashed undergrad, I utilize this same rule with regards to cash. In the event that I  app clash of clans hack   just have a constrained income, I know to just utilize that cash in the midst of dire need and arranged by significance. The need, particularly as an upperclassman, went a bit of something like: Beer, Coffee, Bills, School-related buys, and finally nourishment.

Approve, so perhaps that lesson wasn't exactly also learned.

2.) Problem Solving

Computer game Example: Lemmings

I distinctively review playing this diversion  app clash of clans hack  on my Sega Genesis and when those little folks with green hair would begin falling into the pits I would shout at my TV screen. "I put an extension there! What's happening! Goodness, it's not sufficiently far." I adapted rapidly to see the issue territories and, utilizing the rough assets given to me, race to devise a procedure. Drop too far? Give them an umbrella! Can't burrow? Blow one of the lemmings up!

These days I don't need to stress over  app clash of clans hack  falling into any pits or stalling out in a fix of earth, yet I do be able to see issues and, utilizing what is accessible to me, deal with an answer. In the event that I just have ten minutes to get the opportunity to class, however the building is on the contrary side of grounds, what would it be advisable for me to do? The appropriate response, individuals, is RUN.

3.) Persistence

Computer game Example: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Presently, this may have been the main computer game I at any point played on the PC that wasn't in a two-dimensional world, so it might have been my blame that the controls were completely appalling  app clash of clans hack  for the starting gamer. In any case, that inept deterrent course on Lara's grounds kept me furious and unpleasant for quite a while before I could finish it without blunder. You'd need to remain on the last pixelated edge of a column to bounce and plunge and, ideally, get the edge of the following column.

Industriousness is the way to adapting any new ability. In the event that I didn't take in this, I would not compose this article.  app clash of clans hack  I most likely would have stopped after my first repulsive endeavor at composing. I wouldn't set out to keep at it and work towards bettering my grip of the English dialect on the off chance that I didn't discover that diligence was the way to change.

4.) Responsibility

Computer game Example: The Sims

On the off chance that I recall accurately, The Sims turned out at generally a similar time that Tomagotchi and Neopets  app clash of clans hack  progressed toward becoming trends. Each of the three of these things were what I jump at the chance to consider as Step 1 to Responsibility. Beyond any doubt there were no genuine impacts of being a dull manager, yet to this 12 year old the prospect of seeing one of my virtual pets (and yes, I am calling my Sims my pets) bite the dust was a sickening one. In the event that I neglected to sustain it, they kicked the bucket. On the off chance that I neglected to tidy up after them, they noticed. Maybe it was all only a substantial social trial to instruct my age that we as a whole were inadequate in the cleanliness aptitudes office? We are, all things considered, the last age to play in earth after the age of five.

In the event that The Sims showed me anything, it's that I am not sufficiently mindful for a genuine living item to rely upon me. I slaughtered such a large number of my Sims because of carelessness that I'm certain I'm on a Most Wanted blurb in SimCity's Police Department.

5.) The Importance of Thinking Outside of the Box and 5a.) The Importance of Typing Quickly

Computer game Example: King's Quest

Goodness, King's Quest. In my psyche, it is presumably the most arbitrary mashup of fables, popular culture, and irregular riddles that at any point graced the PC Gaming world. Where else might you be able to be on a screen with a gingerbread house and witch, at that point abruptly get swooped up by a goliath condor? Nothing beats investing a considerable measure of energy in the screens "LOOK"ing at something in the expectations that it would be valuable later on. You required a really decent creative ability with a specific end goal to try and think to climb that mammoth oak tree or to move down the well in the basin.

With respect to composing rapidly, how about we backpedal to that condor. You needed to type in "Hop" with a specific end goal to influence Sir Graham to bounce into the condor's claws. It must be coordinated flawlessly. On the off chance that you miss, you need to trust he appears in another screen soon. After fifty or so endeavors, you understand that you should type "Hop" and hit enter (Two stages!) in such a short measure of time that the letters on the console were presumably rubbed off.