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eriellesudario · 6 years

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Epic Snails on iOS – First Impressions // Review

Epic Snail is a mobile and PC game created by RocketSnail Games where the goal is to shoot your other snail opponents. The game is currently in its open beta stage so it’s not fully completed yet.

The game concept was created by Lance Priebe (aka RocketSnail), one of the co-founders and creators of Club Penguin. In an interview with Adam Hamilton, Lance said that he grew up with G.I. Joe and wished that Club Penguin went on a ‘darker route’ with the snowball shooter aspect.

“I’d love a darker side. I always wanted to add the wars. Like, where is the tactical snowball combat? Where’s the trench-fighting? Where’s the snowball forts? The buildings, the bunkers, WHERE ARE THEY?!”

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Recently, the game was released on iOS and I took the time to give the game a shot. I will be reviewing the mobile/iOS version of the game. All of this will just be my first impressions as I only played it once… which was today.

First look

The whole concept of this game reminds me about this other mobile game which involves worms. It was a 2D (and in some cases, 3D) battle royale game where you take turns placing mines and shooting the opponent using missile launchers and other forms of guns and firearms. But despite the concept similarities, it also has massive differences such as you play as a snail, it’s not turn-based, and the weapons of choice.

The art style reminds me of the TV show Veggietales. Just the 3D look of the snails just reminds me of the cucumber character, Larry.

It’s clear that the snails are to resemble Lance’s animal mascot, the Rocket Snail so that’s really neat to see.

The Gameplay

This game is a multiplayer battle royal game, where the max players per session are 8. Unfortunately, you can’t choose which session you want to battle at and more players can get added when a current game is in session. There are no private rooms so you will be pitted against other players in the server.

There are currently 2 kinds of battle arenas (which get selected in random): The Snowforts and The Backyard.SnowfortBackyard

There are also 3 types of weapons you can choose. The Missile launcher, the assault cannons, and the canon.Missile Launche

Assault Cannons

Cannon

The most popular weapon of choice from players I’ve faced are the assault cannons due to its rapid-fire capabilities. The missile launcher doesn’t seem to work over on the mobile version of the game and the canon is really powerful but you only shoot once and have to hide just so you can wait for it to recharge.

Controls

The controls are not the ones you’re used to.

It’s like a joystick control but you can only move forwards and back, and moving the stick left to right just rotates you but you don’t move until you point the stick forward or backward.

This will take a lot of getting used to.

Art and music design

The music is very, very quirky!!!

It’s this innocent military game that reminds me of that tanks mini-game over in Wii Play. Very quirky and cute and doesn’t sound that intense compared to other shooter games like Halo.

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The 3d art looks really cool. Kinda reminds me of Club Penguin Island but if it’s more military… and snails… But it’s child-friendly and a lot of. the design is REALLY cute.

While this game is Lance’s way to steer away from what Club Penguin was and create a child-friendly war game, he puts in these tiny easter eggs for Club Penguin fans to recognise.

Cross-platforming

This part doesn’t really work well for me at the moment.

The issue was (at least for Mac), I’m unable to log in my main account and just ended up creating another account. And to top it all off, I couldn’t log off or apply with a spare email to save the username of the 2nd account.

Hopefully, this part of the game would be fixed for Mac versions of the game.

My exeprience playing the game

Currently, the game is being played by people who are in the Club Penguin community (with probs a few of their friends). Remember Perapin from my previous post in my side blog? He plays the game… AND HE’S REALLY GOOD!!!

The fact that people in the Club Penguin community are playing the game makes it more welcoming for me to engage with them and the game. Like, being able to recognise each other in a world outside of Club Penguin is such a surreal experience.

Also, having the honour to verse Rocket Snail mano-to-mano is also cool as well (until the battle arena keeps adding more players).

I’d wish there were more customisable options as I don’t want to be green forever.

Overall thoughts

I’m not a fan for shooter games, first person or third person, not a fan. People who know me know that I’d be hiding in one location in either Halo or Counter Strike as I don’t enjoy running around and getting shot constantly by other people.

Epic Snails is a good introduction to the shooting game/warfare genre. It’s child-friendly so don’t expect blood and gore or music that makes you feel stressed. It’s quirky and innocent, and it’s made by the guy who created Club Penguin.

The only thing I dislike at the moment is the controls and me being unable to log in to my main account over on the mac. Hopefully, that gets fixed.

I’d give this a 3.5/5. Since it’s currently on beta, the expectations of bugs and other mishaps are expected but so far, I’m enjoying it!

What are your thoughts on this game? Will you play it? What do you think should be added in this game? Let me know in the comments below!

#2018 #video games #epic snails #review #Youtube

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dribs-and-drabbles · 2 years

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Enchanté ep 10

I've been slow to write this final post...mainly because I was busy last week (I mean, I worked 12 days in a row) but also because I was mildly disappointed with the visual elements of the ep. I felt like they didn't really satisfactorily follow the patterns which seemed to have been set up and used throughout the series. I thought they were utilised well in ep 9 but in ep 10 it all felt a bit disjointed, uncoordinated, and haphazard 🤷🏽‍♀️ (and maybe 'proof' that I was just reading into something that didn't actually exist in the first place).

Anyway...it seems that I still have lots to say because I managed to pull out ten screenshots to talk about...so here goes...

I don't feel like I have much to say about the colours in this first one...only that maybe the dark shades and the lack of any of the seemingly featured colours of the series might strengthen the sense of distance Akk and Theo have at the beginning. Theo wants a great love like his parents, he's blinded by the fantasy of a perfect family, and thinks he can make them get back together (showing how immature he is in his romanticism)...whereas Akk's view is that Theo's parents have made a decision and that Theo should respect it and live with the reality of it - this makes me think of that shot in ep 9 in the library with Theo standing in the Fiction and Akk in the Non-Fiction sections.

Once again, Theo's dad dishes out the harsh reality - “Not all couples in real life end up happily like in the novels, son” - and I wonder if this is what breaks Theo’s spirit and why he chooses to go back to France, effectively leaving Akk...Theo loses faith in the Great Love™...

Now a wee break from Theo and Akk to talk about Im...it was interesting that Im wore one of the few instances of red this ep. I couldn’t figure out why at first (apart from maybe it was simply another red-white-and-blue combination with the wall behind) but then it immediately cut to the shot of the plane pen...

...which is of the same colours. I don’t know, maybe I’m sh*ttalking here, but maybe it’s poignant that she’s wearing the plane’s colours since she’s a large influence on Akk letting go of Theo and not stopping him getting on the actual plane to go back to France...🤷🏽‍♀️

And my MVP! Egg! Gosh I just love her and her energy. She did not get enough screen time 😂 And in contrast to Im, Egg actually bolsters Akk and encourages him to go and see Theo. I wish I could make a cool interpretation about her pink...but this was a little out of left field for me. I would have loved for her to be in blue, for example - which I have been thinking of as Theo’s colour - or even purple...but oh well. Apart from the dark green of his earlier shirt, Akk only wears shades of brown this ep - maybe as a reflection of his desire to be Theo’s Enchante (the connection being that the book is a tan brown colour)...

I was very happy to see the return of the blue and orange combination on Im though - this felt like it was following a pattern set up earlier 👏🏼

I was also so happy with the bedroom scene - with Akk taking care of Theo - with the red behind Theo and the blue of Akk’s shorts (a repeat of the colours they had in ep 9) - it gave me a false sense of security that they were okay and everything was going well. Theo even said his faith in love returned because of Akk... But then Theo said that because of that he felt like he made the right decision...which was to go back to France and leave Akk behind...? Aaaaaand this was where I couldn’t follow Theo’s reasoning.

I'm mad at Theo now. Akk deserves better.

In their conversation, Im repeats Akk's words back to him - Theo has made a choice and if Akk loves Theo then he has to accept it. And this is why Akk doesn't stop Theo or ask him not to go - he says it himself, he would be a hypocrite if he didn't do the same as he told Theo regarding his parents. And whist it all seemed frustrating, that Theo looked like he wanted Akk to stop him, it seems that Theo had to go (pressure from his mum maybe?) and was scared to tell Akk how much he loved him and would miss him. Theo wanted to let Akk go rather than be tied to a long distance relationship, in love but unable to be with the other person. So it’s a sacrifice... but he still didn't give Akk the choice about it. I’m not sure I totally understand the motivations but I can sort of buy this I guess. I honestly think the writers wanted to shoehorn Theo’s character into the Little Prince too much - to have him return to France like the Prince leaves the fox and returns to his home planet. But I don’t think it really worked. I would have preferred if Theo had chosen to stay with Akk, as a show of his returned faith and trust in love which Akk had given him...but who am I?

Anyway, again in this scene, I wasn’t enamoured by the choice in clothes/colours...but I did like the red-white-and-blue (I’m ignoring the yellow) of the painting in the background. I also thought it was interesting that although Theo wore dark blue and white stripes, the clothes at the top of his suitcase were shades of red and brown - maybe showing where his heart really lay (i.e. with Akk in Thailand not alone in France). Also, if the front suitcase in the background had been blue, we would have had another wonderful red-white-and-blue detail - a missed opportunity if you ask me.

And so for the end. I did like Akk’s t-shirt and Theo’s addition of the accent (I felt called out because I don’t always add it 😂) and again I wasn’t impressed by the shades of brown - I would have loved for them to be in their rich red and blue again...but Akk’s darker brown could be like the library shelves...and Theo’s lighter brown could either be representational of the book (Theo resides in Akk’s heart) or of the russet fox 🤷🏽‍♀️

As you can probably tell (because I haven’t mentioned them until now) I don’t care much for the other ambassadors...but at least we got a clear reason why Tan seemed to always be in the background of a lot of the scenes - for Natee to realise Tan was always there for him and therefore missed him when he wasn’t. Boooo...

Anyway, lastly, I adored the Baker Boys crossover! I squealed when I saw the Sweet Day café!

And of course I adored Jimmy...and now I canNOT wait for Vice Versa. JIMMY!! 👏🏼

#enchante #enchante series #enchante the series #akktheo #akk x theo #enchante ep 10 #visual patterns in enchante #vice versa #I'm kind of glad this is over now...and that I don't currently have any particular need to write about other series in this way #I can maybe use my time more effectively...productively...#let's see if this shows up in the tags #I turned off the beta post creator in case that was the issue #fingers crossed

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savvyblunders · 4 years

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Personal Post: Imposter Syndrome, Reading Traditional Books, and thoughts about my own writing

{Just rambles regarding books, fanfiction and some of my thoughts therein.}

It’s been a terribly long time since I read any published books--aside from those written by fellow fanfiction authors. It has reached the point that I find them entirely too cringey. The plots are tame, the characters stiff, the language rote. I especially have a hard time caring if there is a supposed ‘romance’ involved. Forget about het romances, they’re so formulaic that they leave me cold. It isn’t that I have no interest in the portrayal of a relationship between a woman and man, it’s that by and large they might as well have been churned off of a factory production line.

Part of my objection is to the tired old tropes and gender roles which authors (and readers) don’t seem to realize they’re not only falling prey to, but encouraging with their work. The world doesn’t have to be turned on its head to be interesting, but you shouldn’t know from the first few scenes between characters how it will play out--and further more, not care.

I did read a rather good psychological mystery a few days ago, however. I think perhaps it was successful in part because it was so different from the usual run of stories that people publish, but also because there wasn’t a romance shoe-horned into the storyline. The narrator wasn’t particularly sympathetic, but nor were they entirely unredeemed. I don’t want to give too much away, but it explored the themes of bullying, memory, redemption and revenge, with an enjoyable twist that I didn’t see coming--I was successfully led astray by red herrings, which isn’t always the case when I’m reading mysteries. The book, should anyone be interested, was Girl Gone Mad by Avery Bishop.

{I keep on rambling after the break ;)}

I also read another which was such a stinker I deleted it from my Kindle history and couldn’t tell you the title or author. This beauty had a somewhat interesting premise of a woman who wakes from a six month coma with full amnesia and throughout the book has to struggle with not remembering anything and depending on her husband, children and neighbors for the details of her life. Frustratingly, she finds parts of her personality and tastes have changed--at least as far as they all tell her. She begins to doubt that she is who they say--an issue further compounded when certain facets of her life pre-coma are revealed. Then when the ending arrives, there is a twist and a reveal which could have been pretty neat, only it arrived at the end of such a rote story, with such clunky storytelling and unimaginative language that I kind of didn’t care. It was clear, I might add, that the female protagonist was written by a man. Although blessedly he didn’t go into raptures over her perky breasts, long hair, or other physical attributes [insert vomiting]

My reading resulted in a two-fold feeling. One, traditionally published books are by and large crap. A few months ago I tried reading a book from a famous author whom I used to be quite a fan of. It was part of a series with which I used to be enamored. I settled in, expecting a very enjoyable read. After slogging through three chapters I gave it up. The writing was generic, the characters shallow and the ‘bad guy’ was so sketchily written as to be bewildering, not mysterious.

That book left me frustrated and annoyed. But it also revealed something to me which I had somewhat accepted and understood prior to that, but not entirely absorbed. Just because a book is traditionally published doesn’t mean it’s any good. Just because an author is well known--or even on the best seller list--doesn’t mean they can write. There are more places to find interesting, funny, heartbreaking, sexy, fun, amazingly written, daring and wonderful stories than at a bookstore or through Kindle.

The second part of my two-fold feeling was that while, as a writer, I may have much room to grow, I still have valuable skills to offer. My four years of writing fanfiction have honed my talent, refined my style, and influenced my voice, perspective and ability. A good beta, or editor, is invaluable. While I used to write solo and not show it to anyone, simply edit and post, I’ve come to understand the inherent value of feedback. It can be a tricky road, as you might find yourself influenced too much by a reader into trying to suit their tastes rather than your own, but a good beta (eternal thanks to @paialovespie & @hoomhum)--that is to say, a great beta, will not only see the nuts and bolts which might need tightening, but will offer insights which blow your story from ordinary to inspired. The same goes for a ‘personal cheerleader’ (the highest of praise to @mottlemoth) or someone who reminds you at your dark times that you are capable of far more than you can conceive of in that moment. Forget nasty comments online, most of us are our own worst enemies--after all, we know our weakest spots and can zero in on them mercilessly.

Even without a beta, I believe in myself as a writer enough these days (most days) to hope that one day, with hard work, skill, great editing, and some luck, I too could be published. Not a NYT best seller, perhaps, but then, I’m not entirely certain I’d like that. I don’t say this out of any sort of pretentiousness, but because, in essence, these days, I want to write the kind of things that appeal to a more niche audience. I’d like to point with pride at my small book, nestled there on a bookshelf, or available with one click of a button, as something that helps give a voice to a community which has, and still continues to be, marginalized, ignored, fetishized and pandered to, in equal measure. Perhaps it would be for the best if what I wrote wasn’t palatable to the greater reading public.

Of course, those days when I’m full of zest and confidence don’t always last. Like any creator, I fall prey to Imposter Syndrome. Lord, I can’t believe that a time used to exist when I didn’t know what that was! I knew the feeling (oh, how I did), but had no clue that a term existed to encapsulate it. The concept that I wasn’t alone in having days (weeks, months, years) of being cast into doubt that I had anything worth saying--a voice worth listening to--isn’t a new one, but to find out that I’m not alone was unutterably comforting.

Since, like so many people, I’ve been suffering from a lack of ambition and ability to focus during this global pandemic, I haven’t written much at all, that inner voice rang loud and clear. I’m a fraud, a fake. Any ability I had was used up, clearly as shallow as a mud puddle if a little adversity was enough to dry it out. The struggle to get myself past that was, and is, one that swings from good to bad almost day by day. I had to finally give myself permission to be sad, scared, worried, tired, uninspired. Eventually I decided it was enough that I could find comfort and solace in other’s writing. And oh, how I have! Even though days and days would pass when I couldn’t even muster the interest to read, other times I would consume fanfiction fervently, feverishly.

And there was so much out there! Adventure, sex, romance, comedy, crack, fluff, hurt/comfort. It seems funny that I can rail against the ‘formulaic’ writing of published books and then turn to ‘tags’ and ‘tropes’ for comfort. But I think the difference lies in the heart that is written into those fanfiction stories. Most of us, while being somewhat influenced by friends, mutuals and fans into writing for a hungry public, are, by and large, writing for ourselves. The old tried and true ‘write what you know’ advice seemed empty and meaningless to me for years. If we only ever write what we know, then how do sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, etc., get written? My brain went to the obvious and ignored the heart of the matter--it isn’t so much what you ‘know’ as writing what you need. What makes you passionate. Even if you’ve never been on a space ship, or been part of a polyamorous, platonic communal family group, if you write it with that yearning and spirit in your heart, it will reach out to someone else.

Fanfiction, at it’s core, is self-comfort.

In my estimation, looking at traditionally published books, it seems that what most of them lack is that heart. The writers aren’t writing because they need the story, or because they are compelled to tell it. It isn’t that they had a hell of a good time writing it, or that they made themselves laugh while doing so. They had a publishing deal to fulfil, a publisher to make happy, a reading public who had certain expectations. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but if it’s your only motivation...then the writing suffers the neglect and a percerptive reader will note the difference.

By and large, the fandom, the ship, even the trope, aren’t what captivates me most. I’m a pretty eclectic reader. I enjoy a good story more than I do the fact that it is a particular pairing. The draw is how well it is written, any chances the author took, the indulgence into style, formatting, etc. that they allowed themselves. So why should published books be any different? I’ve heard (non-fandom) people dismiss fanfiction as niche. Perhaps it is. But it is also broad, vast, uncharted territory where we’re all having a lot of fun and enjoying the hell out of ourselves.

Maybe those published authors need to spend a little time with us.

#personal stuff #savvy ponders #writing #traditional publishing #fanfiction #pandemic #depression #anxiety #self comfort #introspection

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afinepricklypear · 4 years

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I’m writing this largely in response to angel-rhetenor’s replies on my recent reblog with comments of the post “Why is the BSD fandom so terrible about leaving comments?” The replies I received from this person and the OP were understandably emotional responses but also problematic because they made claims of there being some hidden meaning behind my statements that wasn’t there and accused me of attacking OP, which I didn’t. I’m not posting to defend my statements or place blame, I stand by what I wrote and encourage people to read it, rather than the replies it was given, to decide for themselves. Unfortunately, I know that most people won’t. It is long and it’s easier to see the responses, and because those individual’s posed arguments that are easy to agree with (yes, it is wrong to call someone stupid or to say that their work is low quality when you haven’t read it, and, yes, it’s equally wrong to suggest that writing shorter stories, shorter chapters, one-shots, and/or rare-pairs makes your writing bad – btw, a ludicrous assertion to claim I said, not least of all, because I do and have written all of these things).

As well there were issues that these individuals claim I either ignored or did not speak to, which was simply because the primary intent behind my comments was to discuss analytics, how they work, how to interpret them, and how to use them to improve your own work.

Quick side note, I also briefly want to acknowledge remarks made about my comments being “well-researched” – I deleted the credentials from my original comment, I didn’t think it lent anything to it, but I’ll add them here: I have a BA in Anthropology, I’m two semesters from a BS in Computer Science, and I work as an Analyst for a public utility company. Data, data analysis, and interpreting data as it relates to population behavior, not to mention, research is all, kind of, my thing.

There were a number of issues that were raised by these individuals, and some points made in their replies that I’d love to address, but there is one I really need to talk about that was brought up in angel-rhetenor’s reply: reposting fanwork. This is a big issue in regards to any kind of intellectual property, and angel-rhetenor posed it as being analogous of the issues regarding feedback and whether people “owe” fanfiction writers or, really, any content creators compensation (in the form of likes, feedback, comments, etc.) for enjoying their work when it is provided free of access. This person concluded their statements with the bold, and yes, true assertion that artists and writers deserve recognition for their work.

So, if this conclusion is true, what can I have to say about it, right? This person must’ve really proved me wrong.

Well, the biggest problem I have with this argument is that, as presented, it is a false equivalency. Meaning, the issues behind reposting and giving feedback are not the same. In fact, the issues behind reposting and giving recognition, as this person indicated, are not even the same.

To be clear: The issues behind reposting are not about feedback, not about showing appreciation/gratitude to content creators, and not about recognition.

Now, before you run to your keyboard to react to this statement, let me explain.

These may seem on the surface to be the same thing, they may even feel related to one another, they certainly feel like they derive from the same place in the audience, but it’s important to understand the distinctions between them if you are posting your work online especially because reposting someone’s work, unlike the other issues discussed, can be a legal matter. If find yourself in the situation where your work has been stolen, you need to understand the difference between these issues and why. Although some of the concepts behind these other issues do inform legal problems in the real world, it is not in the way that you may think.

Feedback

One of the things that really set me off about the post that started all of this was OP’s comments to another individual reply on this post that Kudos/Likes are not showing gratitude, that she doesn’t even look at them, and they aren’t real feedback. To an extent, she isn’t wrong. Feedback/Comments and Kudos are not exactly the same. Kudos/Likes are a form of positive feedback only, they do show gratitude for the work, they do indicate that the work was liked and appreciated – that is their entire meaning exactly. An author may decide that they want more than kudos from the readers, but it is up to the author to determine what they are looking for in return from posting their work online and then finding the appropriate forum to get that return – in which case, if you don’t want Kudos, AO3 is probably not the place for your work.

If all you want is praise for your work, that’s what Kudos are, but feedback in general isn’t always given because someone liked your work. In fact, feedback in an open forum is often given by people who just felt strongly about your work one way or another. That is unless you’ve directly asked someone to read and give you feedback – in which case, these kinds of obligatory transactions need to be arranged with the individual up front rather than after the fact, otherwise you are getting into ethical issues of scamming, conning, and manipulation ß this is actually the basis behind “Unordered Merchandise” complaints, which you can read about more on the FTC website. There are ways to encourage people to give feedback that don’t include any of these sticky problems, such as, starting the conversation for them (via the notes section of your story) by asking questions or making your own comments about the work, or simply being clear about what kind of feedback you’re looking for from the readers. Some good examples might be:

· Making speculations about the plotline, “I wonder what this character is really up to…”

· Highlighting parts of your writing you really want people to notice, “Feeling proud of that dialogue, really hope you guys agree…”

· Or calling attention to areas of the writing you feel shaky on, “Not really happy with how that action scene went, felt clunky…let me know what you guys think?”

Additionally, if what you are looking for is feedback to improve as a writer, I might mention that the fanfiction community is probably not the best place to go for it. I love the readers, I’ve been highly impressed by the quality of comments I’ve received on AO3 over the comments I’ve gotten on FF.net, but many of the readers are younger, not writer’s themselves, and, while they can tell whether something is “good” or “bad”, they can’t necessarily tell you why or give you the constructive criticism necessary to develop better writing skills. Additionally, readers tend to be more generous in their feedback because they have received the content for free, in which case, you’re not getting the most honest feedback. Feedback is better received by joining/starting a writing group, teaming up with beta-readers, or hiring an editor. But I don’t want to turn this into a discussion about how to get feedback or use it to improve, that’s not the point of this post.

Given this definition, I hope you can better see how feedback and reposting are not the same thing. While reposting poses the issue of diverting feedback from the creator, there is a vast ethical difference between whether I should be required to give you my opinion on your work or not and me posting your work elsewhere.

Appreciation/Gratitude

Many arguments presented by the OP of the “Why is the BSD fandom so awful at leaving comments” post and angel-rhetenor are predicated on the idea that everyone who read or looked at your work liked it, they were entertained by it, and, thus, should show appreciation or gratitude to you for it. Of course, this is the understood socially accepted behavior, isn’t it? I’ve given you this ‘gift’, and now you tell me “thank you”. As I’ve already argued, this is what Kudos are designed to do. However, beyond gratitude and appreciation, Likes/Kudos also serve as forms of endorsement. It means, I’ve read this and I approve of it. Now, this type of endorsement is stronger in social media systems like Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, where the newsfeed algorithm is going to push to me those posts that people I follow (read as: opinions I trust) are liking and, therefore, helping to grow that person’s audience. In AO3, public bookmarks are actually a better form of an endorsement in this sense. That said, if I’m trying to decide if something is worth my time to read, I might jump to the Kudos to see who else liked it, furthermore, if a story has a large number of Kudos, that means that a larger number of people endorsed it and stamped it with their seal of approval. You might feel that Kudos is meaningless to you, but that is someone giving you a show of support that serves as a visual indicator to other potential readers that your work is worth reading.

Of course, this also touches on the concern raised by angel-rhetenor of audience entitlement. The issue as stated was that audience members feel entitled to a creator’s time and that they are allowed to demand that a creator makes work or delivers new works for free.

The thing is, they are allowed to make those kinds of demands of a creator, at least, until that creator blocks them on social media. In the same vein, you are perfectly allowed to demand people leave comments on your fanwork that you’ve posted to AO3. But just as readers are not obligated to leave you feedback, creators are not obligated to provide free content. You can scream into the wind as loud as you want: GIVE ME FEEDBACK! GIVE ME CONTENT! No one has to listen to you or deliver on it. There’s nothing obligating them to do so. That said, if they like your work and want to see more of it, then yes, they should understand that showing support is going to be the way to ensure new work appears without shaming or guilting or emotionally blackmailing them into it. As I said in my last post, if I have one reader that likes my work, I’m going to write for them. If I don’t have any readers liking my work, I’m less likely to continue that story, I’ll probably just keep writing and posting until I lose interest. But that’s fine. Yes, once again, I get that it can be frustrating especially when you see other works that you, maybe feel aren’t as good as your own, getting more attention because they hit the nail on the head of what their audience was looking for. But you can’t force or obligate the readers to give you that feedback, especially if they, maybe, aren’t interested in supporting your work even if they did enjoy reading it.

As for the comments regarding monetization, and the attitude that “because this is provided free, why should I pay for it from you”…uh…they’re not wrong. This is ECON-101, supply and demand, and, despite popular belief, it is NOT exclusive to fanwork. Every business has to overcome this problem. What are you offering consumers that goes beyond what they can get elsewhere and is worth them spending their money on to get from you?

angel-rhetenor also accused my comments of promoting, rather than discouraging, what they feel is an erroneous and harmful thought process, that “Everyone can make fanwork”. Here’s the thing, everyone can make fanwork. Everyone out there in the fandom is capable of it, that’s what makes it great and accessible to people that want to create. You have to figure out how to set your fanwork apart and how to effectively sell that. It might help to pose this in real world terms: Microsoft Office is a relatively expensive word processing software. Microsoft Wordpad is also a word processing software that comes free with your Windows operating system. So why do people spend money on Office, when Wordpad accomplishes the same thing without additional expense?

You set the value of your own work, you determine how much your time is worth, but the harsh reality is that just because you’ve decided that this is how much you want for your work, that doesn’t mean everyone, or anyone for that matter, is going to agree to pay that much for it, especially not if they can go to someone else and get what they’re asking free. Does that mean that those people are right and you need to start giving your work away for free? No. It means you need to figure out what it is that you’re selling that they should want to pay for, market yourself. Is it higher quality, is it a cleaner more polished work, do you have a better vision or take on the characters, is it a better display of skill. Are you selling them Microsoft Office or are you charging them for Wordpad when it’s a free software? You’ll still have people that are willing to settle for less, Wordpad is still around for a reason, but there are those who will pay you for your work because they want your work.

However, if no one wants your work for the price you’re asking, you need to revisit your business model, and that might mean that you need to improve what you are trying to sell. In terms of artists, there are decidedly better artists out there than others who are posting and sharing their work. Now I may hit the ‘Like’ buttons for a beginner artists’ shared artwork to show them support and encourage them to keep trying, but I’m not going to buy their artwork until they have developed their skill. A slightly better artist, I might pay for their work, but I’m not going to pay as much as I would for artwork from a master artist. This isn’t to say that the beginning artist sucks and didn’t work hard on their artwork, but to claim that they should receive the same return on their product than a more experienced artist who has spent many more years developing their skill is unfair to those artists that have put in the hours to develop their craft, and actually does more to harm people who are trying to monetize their work than helps by belittling and devaluing what it takes to develop a skill and build a following around their work.

Now I know where people are going to go: doesn’t saying it’s okay for people to share their work free with no obligations support the idea that people can also just take your work if they want it? You can go ahead and jump to the Reposting section to get the full answer on this, but in the meantime, consider this example: Imagine you’re shopping for a couch. You go to the store and decide its way more than you’re willing to pay, decide to shop around some. On your way home, you come across someone dragging their couch out to the curb, you go to speak to them, turns out it’s brand new, past return date but too big for their place so they’ getting rid of it and yes, you can take it if you want. Does that mean I can now go back to the store and just take the couch they had on sell there for free? No. The idea that because someone else is giving their work away for free, doesn’t then justify you taking someone else’s work for free.

Posed like this, I hope it’s obvious to see why demanding endorsement (in the form of Likes/Kudos) is, once again, not the same issue as reposting someone’s work, and, a bit of how these concepts relate to monetized works. In fact, many people who are reposting works when confronted with this perspective would easily counterargue that they are showing appreciation/gratitude by reposting someone else’s work. They see it as a sincere form of endorsement and support to that creator. They say “imitation is the highest form of flattery”, right, so outright copying must be the height of love? Which brings us naturally to recognition.

Recognition

It is a true statement that artists should be recognized for their work. Recognition is not feedback nor is it appreciation or gratitude. Recognition is just saying, “This person created that”. This is the most flummoxing part of angel-rhetenor’s argument regarding reposting because in terms of reposting, it is not enough to say that the artist needs to be given credit, and giving credit is not the issue regarding reposting. Someone can repost my story on Wattpad, complete with name on the byline, a link to my AO3 profile or email so that readers can contact me and ensure that feedback comes to me, and then they could even leave a comment praising my work and telling me that they’ve posted it on Wattpad for me, “You’re welcome!”.

So, what’s the problem here, huh? They’ve given me feedback, they’ve given their readers a method to forward me feedback, they even let me know that it was posted there, made sure proper credit was in place, and I can’t think of a higher form of endorsement, or show of gratitude/appreciation, than going to the trouble of reposting my work elsewhere for me in an effort to help give my work attention and grow my audience. Gosh, aren’t they nice? Isn’t this wonderful of them? They seem like they did all the right things.

Except, I don’t want my work on Wattpad. That’s why I don’t post it there.

Reposting

It is easy to get confused on what the real issue is in regards to reposting someone else’s work, especially because there are so many other concerns that get lumped in with regards to it that, reposting may affect, but those issues don’t have any relevance to the ethical reasoning behind reposting. I hope I made it pretty obvious in my last example, that there are ways that reposting work can look, on the surface and, in some instances maybe even truly, be beneficial to the creator. The reposter can seem to do all the right things in terms of addressing those issues, but it’s still wrong. At this point, many of you are probably thinking, “Well they needed permission before doing all of that, duh!”

But permission isn’t the issue either. The issue is ownership.

It is incredibly important for a content creator to understand the concept of ownership in terms of intellectual property, because this is the way it will be argued in terms of the law, and this is the information you need to gather before you post your work online (what are you agreeing to in terms of your ownership of your work when you post to a platform) or make claims of theft. It’s also important not to conflate this issue with things like recognition, showing appreciation/gratitude, or giving comments/feedback, because those are strawman arguments that are easy to counter. They don’t actually support the notion that you shouldn’t repost another’s work even though they may all represent reasons that a creator doesn’t want someone else reposting their work.

When I post my work to AO3, I am only granting people access to read my work for free through AO3, I grant AO3 permissions to distribute my work through its various networks, and while a reader is able to download my work from AO3 for their own individual use, no one else is allowed to distribute it. This is the explicit contractual agreement that authors and readers make when using AO3, and in that sense, exactly as I have stated, no one owes you anything for reading and enjoying your work, because you are giving them that access to it for free. Arguing that they are then obligated to give you feedback after the fact falls into the same realm as ‘Unsolicited Merchandise’.

However, you are not giving anyone ownership of your work just because you have made it available for them to read or view. Retaining ownership of my work means that I get to dictate where and how it is distributed and displayed. For a real-world example, let’s take into consideration holiday decorations. I might decide to decorate my door with a Holiday Wreath, it is free for people to see, they are not required to come to my door and thank me for the decoration, but they also cannot take my wreath and move it to my window or to their own door or to the door of a neighbor down the street. Depending on what they do with my wreath, it can be classified as vandalization or theft.

This is a problem that just about everyone that shares their creative content online is going to run into, and it is difficult – in many instances, impossible – to fight against. This is not a widespread issue, as angel-rhetenor suggests, in the sense that the majority of people are purposely doing it despite knowing the reasons for why they shouldn’t. Most people actually want to do the right thing, they just don’t know what the right thing is, and when you confuse all of these elements and complaints within the fandom, it can be difficult to determine what is right. You will see people reposting artwork asking who the creator is, unintentionally contributing to the problem and if they don’t know who the source is or what the permissions are for sharing that work, they should not be reposting it. You’ll see people remarking to a reposter that they need to give credit to an artwork, when, no, unless they can prove they have permission to post it, they need to take it down. These people are not trying to do wrong in most of these cases; they just may not recognize that this is a problem at all. Some might even misunderstand and argue that “because it was posted in a public place, it is now public property”, but the flaw with that argument is that it was not posted in a public place. It was posted to a private platform for the use and purposes of that private organization that owns that private platform as contractually detailed in that private platform’s Terms of Service, which you agree to when using that private platform’s services. AO3, Tumblr, Twitter, etc., all have written into their ToS that their content providers retain ownership of the content they share via these platforms. When you repost someone’s work from AO3 or Tumblr or Twitter or…so on and so forth, you are not just stealing someone’s property, you are in violation of that platform’s Terms of Service.

Does that mean that there aren’t individuals in the community that do it knowing full well that they shouldn’t, and having been given the reasons why? Absolutely not. Criminals exist. They are a thing. The question is, how many of these people fall into that category? Not as many as you think, most are willing to take it down when they understand why it is wrong, but it is made more difficult that many people don’t understand IP to be property owned by someone, IP Theft is often considered to be a victimless crime, and the fact that when you post something on the internet it becomes difficult to control where it is spread.

Unfortunately, if your work is not monetized, damages are hard to prove over IP Theft and usually take more effort/resources to combat than what you’ll get out of winning the fight, you may not have much in the way of a copyright claim unless someone has commercialized your freely distributed work. In other words, if someone stole a story, I wrote to share with people free on AO3, and posted it to their website which is monetized through advertisement, they are now profiting off my work and I have grounds to sue them. People who do monetize their work have a bit more of a leg to stand on in terms of copyright claims, because they can demonstrate financial damage caused by the theft or plagiarism of their work. But it is still an arduous process that causes more than just emotional distress over “nobody likes my work”.

So here is the bottomline: If you are posting your fanwork on free-to-access platforms, no one is obligated to give you feedback and no one is obligated to Like/Kudos your work. That is endorsement and support that goes above and beyond what you’ve agreed upon by posting on that platform. It is a nice thing to do and does help to ensure that your favorite content creators continue to create work. They will most assuredly stop if you do not give them encouragement. That said, content creators should not be telling their audience that they need to or they are required to give feedback or comments on works they’ve read/enjoyed, or to shame those who do not, on the grounds that they are “not being grateful or appreciative”, because that is emotionally manipulative and, overall, unethical. If you want feedback on your work, that needs to be arranged and agreed upon before sharing it.

Reposting someone’s work without their explicit consent isn’t just morally wrong, it is a crime. Equating it to asking for feedback or showing appreciation trivializes the severity of the issue. These are not equivalent, and while not giving someone feedback on their work may hurt their ego or lead to them feeling discouraged from continuing to create, reposting someone’s work can have real world economic consequences for the creator and cause tangible damages.

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darkspellmaster · 6 years

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Okay...Some thoughts...

This is probably one of the things that pisses me off a lot, and I consider my petpeeve, so go into this with this warning. I am not going to be nice about this. You’ve been warned.

So I read this lovely post here about constructive criticism, and who boy...have I got some thoughts on this.

Here’s the thing, we as viewers of any medium are constantly giving unsolicited criticism every freaking day across social media, over the phone, and in person to other people. We do so without consent of the authors, film makers, and artists, every...day. Period. So this idea that you can only give consented critques is a load because the fact is that we’re doing it every damn day on this website, without the okay of the creators of the series that we watch, play, or read.

Look how many people put up reviews on tv shows or books, or movies or games that they watch and play. How many of them have written to the authors or creators of these works and asked for their okay in writing a review on their work on tumblr? Authors don’t go about asking for random fans to say what they like or don’t like about their works, yet they don’t go about complaining when people posts their thoughts. Or if they do complain you get backlash as they are not being “Professional” enough.

So what makes it okay to do it to a published author but not okay to a amateur author? The only difference is that the published author is being paid and the amateur is not, but that author spent hours, days, weeks, months and possibly years, perfecting a work that, honestly as a writer I can tell you, may not be up to their standard, but there’s a deadline there.

Amateur writers have the luxury of not having to complete their work, of not having a set deadline. So they can go back and correct and update and do whatever they want to their work. Once a book is published, unless the author get’s to do an updated version of the book, that’s it...it’s done. So getting feedback early and by as many people as possible for writers is actually a good thing because once it’s out, it’s out.

This is what keeps bugging me about this idea that you should just let people write whatever and not comment on the work in a critical way. The fact is, once you have placed your work in the public eye, it’s no longer just your work. Just as authors have to contend with seeing their works adapted to the screen and in some cases cause them to be wrecked, and see people daily write fanfiction to “Fix” their mistakes, so to should fanfiction writers have to come to grips with the idea that someone may not like their work and want to “Fix” it, or at least help them in correcting their mistakes in how they have presented characters.

I keep hearing this same story of “But I have Beta readers”, great and fine, but the fact is that the Beta readers, unless they are people that are not your friends, are going to be soft on you. Yes I’m being honest here, you will be given the softer comments unless the person is being directly honest with your work. Having voices outside of your beta readers is an eye opening experience because it forces you to look at your writing from a different perspective and pushes you to make changes that you may not have seen before because, in a lot of cases with Fanfiction, the person beta reading is a friend who likes what you like and will say “But it’s good.”

The idea that someone shouldn’t give constructive criticism over fanfiction and that because you like the story the way it is, doesn’t preclude you from facing the fact that as a story writer, especially as a lot of fanfiction authors tend to want to eventually get into the writing field, need to grow and change and face the idea of having their work being evaluated critically.

I read, “Well unless I give you consent to be critical of my work.” Exactly what do you think you’re doing when you post that work out there? You want reviews, what do you think reviews are? Review are, as defined by the Dictionary, “ a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary.” It’s the appraisal of the work, and, in serialized fiction, as that’s what Fanfiction is as you are publishing it chapter by chapter rather than as a complete thing, you are therefore going to be apraised by those reading it per chapter.

What do you think happens in comics? It’s weekly and monthly and the writers get feedback from fans and the Editors based on the reaction from the readers. As a writer you are not only writing for yourself but for your fans and readers as well. You can’t just look at something and go “This is just writing for me” because the moment you share it with someone, it’s no longer just your story, it’s their story too because they react to what you write. And the idea that you need to have consent to be critical of a work that’s ever evolving...well why not bring that to the whole of entertainment. Should we be asking for TV shows for consent when we say we like or don’t like their works? Seriously this is what you’re asking for when you’re saying that you need to have consent to critique something.

Speaking of consent...

Fanfiction itself is a special thing, given that, it’s technically writers using pre-existing work from an author and, in essence, taking a copyrighted thing and creating their own work with it, without the consent from the original author. Take Anne (Ann) Rice for instant. She doesn’t like fanfiction because to her that’s people changing her characters that she’s invested over 15 books into creating. They are her creations and by saying “Don’t criticize my fanfiction” your being kind of hypocritical if you’re in turn changing up an author’s character because you feel that they should be shown a different way.

As writers you need to have critiques. Saying “Well I don’t want your opinion” on something is daft honestly. Because that’s all reviews are, just an opinion that you can ignore. You don’t have to take the review, you don’t even need to turn them on if you don’t want. The thing is, all stories are going to be reviewed. You need to learn to deal with them.

The problem is that a lot of people giving notes to people are not professional editors or have never been trained in it. So they’re going to come off as mean and harsh in some cases, and this in itself is an issue. People need to learn to be less harsh on how they go about commenting, but at the same time writers need to learn to accept that there are times when their writing does suck and they need more than one or two sets of eyes upon it.

You can write a story for fun all you want, but for readers if it’s hard to read the story, if the characters are way out of character, how are we supposed to engage with you then? How are we to, as people have said, “analyzes and talk to you about your story” if we can’t critique aspects of it that don’t sit right.

As a writer myself and someone who has original stories that I’m working on, any comment, even the bad ones, at least give me an idea of what people are seeing when they read my work. Some are dumb like “You suck,” and “I was expecting more of X character when it said it was going to be in there.” And yeah, they stung, sure, but the thing is, it made me go “Okay so I need to include more of this because of who is reading my work and what they are expecting of me.

You can’t live in a bubble as a writer, this is a myth that needs to be burst. Even back in the day, readers had a lot of influence on writers. Conan Doyle was originally planning on killing off Holmes but because of the backlash he got to come back. Agatha Cristie didn’t like her little Belgium Detective, but she kept writing him and even self inserted herself in there to annoy him, because fans loved him. Authors are entertainers to their readers, they are the customers whom the storyteller is trying to entertain. If you’re going to complain about the readers thoughts then you’re better off just sharing your work among friends that you like.

Honestly, it sounds like a lot of people would prefer it if someone went and did a fix it fic to their fanfiction over dealing with someone giving them something to consider for their next work. You know what, maybe that’s a solution. I propose that from now on, if someone doesn’t like a fanfic, since it’s not copyrighted, as it’s using already copyrighted characters, we should be allowed to fix fic your fanfics to do what we want them to do. Would that be better and easier for people to deal with?

#concrit #constructive criticism #constructive feedback #fanfiction stories #fanfiction #writers need to learn to deal with having critiques.#and yes I know i'm gonna get hit by a lot of asks or complaints over this

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pride-vns-blog · 6 years

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LGBTQ VN Week: Day One! (6/18)

Welcome to the first day of my LGBTQ visual novel recommendation week, in honor of Pride Month 2018! Every day from today (June 18th) to Sunday (June 24th), I’ll be talking about four visual novels with LGBTQ themes, characters, and/or creators that have stood out to me and explaining a little bit about why I like them! I also reached out to a handful of those VNs’ developers and talked with them about their work, so you’ll be seeing a casual interview tagged onto the end of every post, too. ✨

To kick things off today, I’m highlighting four visual novels that are practically bursting at the seams with personality, all in their own ways — Saturn’s WORST DATING SIM, Obscurasoft’s Coming Out On Top, Brianna Lei’s Butterfly Soup, and Madeleine’s Inverness Nights!

Hit the jump to read about watching Animal Planet with punks, beta-testing hookup apps, Mario fire alarms, and why it is that so many visual novels seem to use character archetypes.

One note before we get started! This list isn't meant to be reflective of "the objectively best LGBTQ visual novels" or anything like that, which I want to be ultra-clear about upfront. It's not a list of all the ones I've ever played, either. There are plenty of visual novels with LGBTQ characters/themes that have been recommended to me frequently — while I was working on this list and over the past couple years — that didn't make it onto this list because I couldn't afford to buy them, or because they just weren't for me when I did buy them, or because of a million other reasons.

To give an example of this in action: I barely have any originally-Japanese language visual novels on here, because the number of M/M ones that get translated is already so low and already nearly 100% commercial, and I'm way more inclined to pay for M/M than anything else. (Reason: I'm gay and I like looking at hot guys.) For the purposes of this list specifically, I've also cut out a fair few BL-marketed VNs — from both Western and Eastern developers — that skirt around the issue of whether or not the protagonist is gay/bi/etc awkwardly.

I also tried to limit myself to one VN per team, picking the ones I thought were best representative of their output and leaving space to mention other works of theirs that I'd liked, with the aim of keeping this list from being totally dominated by studios who'd put out a lot over a long period of time. And then personal taste for other genre and content details comes into play, so it cuts out even more from what's left! In the originally-Japanese BL category alone, that left me with a single nominee, which was... Well, you'll see!

Basically, I went over a lot of different options to settle onto a list that's ultimately only supposed to be things that I, personally, would recommend! And I don't want to recommend things I didn't enjoy, one way or another. Nobody wants to sit through multiple paragraphs of a slog where I'm trying to talk about a game I didn't actually like (or, in plenty of cases, a game I couldn't afford) without acknowledging that I didn't like it. To be totally honest, that sounds like it would suck to try and write.

So if your favorite LGBTQ visual novels aren't on here, but you want to give people an excuse to play them, I'd love to read anyone else's personal recommendation lists! I'm not a journalist or a reviewer and this isn't anything close to a formalized games review blog that I'm planning to update ever again; I'm just a VN dev who felt like sitting down and making a list of other LGBTQ VNs I liked one day, so I went and I did it. And I felt like giving those other devs a platform if I was going to talk about their work, so I took my own Patreon earnings to pay for as many as I could, then I went and did some interviews, too.

Thanks for sitting through (or skimming, as the case may be) that wall of text! Without further ado, let's talk WORST DATING SIM!

WORST DATING SIM (SATURN)

Itchio Tagline: “MRGRGR.” Genre(s): Slice of life, shitpost. Release Date: January 22nd, 2018. Content Warnings: Brief depiction of blood; violence.

Out of all the visual novels I’ll be covering over the next week, WORST DATING SIM is the only one I haven’t seen nearly all the content for, and not for a lack of trying! Saturn’s debut visual novel, a challenging conversational simulator where a punk named Etsuji decides to follow you home and hang out with you purely because he can, features a grand total of 69 ways you can get a GAME OVER. By and large, these endings come at the hands of your newfound friend (?), who’s got a temper and a sensitive streak a mile wide. If Etsuji doesn’t like what you’re saying, he’ll knock your lights out, and you’ll get booted back to the title screen.

The way WORST DATING SIM doubles down on this challenge is by intentionally removing Ren’Py’s default save feature — if you piss Etsuji off, you’re back at square one, period. You have to either somehow retain the information yourself or turn to someone else’s successful run for help, because it’s deliberately designed to be done in a single playthrough without reloading. Even a fair few jokes in the script, like “I’m sure in several alternate universes he’s punched my lights out, but so far I’m safe,” are dropped in to acknowledge the fact that beating WORST DATING SIM is more akin to powering through a run of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. (But don’t worry, the Skip Text function is still there to help you out!)

As someone who does turn to guides frequently to find out what I’m missing on my third or fourth playthroughs of visual novels, I assumed from the start that at some point that I’d want to find a walkthrough in order to see any real endings. But the sheer charm of Etsuji’s responses and, to be completely frank, how much fun I was having just trying to scale Etsuji’s emotional mountain meant that I never really hit that point while playing. WORST DATING SIM’s distinct personality struck exactly the right chord in my brain that made me want to keep playing by myself, tunneling away at it persistently, and it made the ending(s!) feel all that much more rewarding.

WORST DATING SIM is available now for free on Itchio, and you can follow Saturn on his Itch.io or Twitter (NSFW) for updates on more potential WDS content or his other upcoming visual novels.

COMING OUT ON TOP (OBSCURASOFT)

Itchio Tagline: “The erotic comedy gay dating game that'll make [you] laugh, cry, and get a little boned up! Hot dudes included.” Genre(s): Comedy, romance. Release Date: December 10th, 2014. Content Warnings: Nudity; mentions of homophobia; sexual content; seriously there’s a lot of sex in this.

If you’ve played M/M dating sims in the English language sphere any time in the last five years, you’ve probably heard of Obscurasoft’s Coming Out On Top — drawing more from the Western tradition of porn by and for gay men than anything else, it tells the story of newly-out college senior Mark Matthews and his run-ins with hot guy after hot guy (after hot guy, after... you get the picture). With the help of his roommate Penny, he also takes on the hookup app scene and delves into a sea of bonus dates funded by Kickstarter backers, which were released steadily from January 2015 to December 2016.

Coming Out On Top’s steady stream of humor never goes so far as to be totally derailing from its focus on sexuality and Mark’s genuinely sincere approach to relationships, casual or otherwise; Obscurasoft manages to infuse the numerous sex scenes with enough awkwardness, humor, and personality that actually playing through them back-to-back feels less like a string of pinups and more like scenes Mark is actively involved in or growing from. As a character, especially one whose archetype has gotten a lot of mileage in gay porn since the dawn of mankind, it’d be narratively easy to let Mark remain a generally undefined slate for players to project themselves onto.

And while there is a degree of personalization, especially when it comes to how blatantly horned-up some of the dialogue is compared to other options the player can choose, Coming Out On Top is still very distinctly Mark’s story. His specific insecurities from years of being closeted don’t vanish as soon as he comes out, and hookups don’t always work out for him the way they might in ten minute long “first time” AVs. His grades still matter, and his friends still exist, and he’s still got his own sense of priorities the player can disregard (at their own fish-related peril) or see through on the slow climb to the end of his senior year.

Coming Out On Top is available now for $14.99 on Itch.io, and Obscurasoft’s website; to get early updates about what they’re working on next, you can follow their News & Updates blog or their Twitter.

BUTTERFLY SOUP (BRIANNA LEI)

Itchio Tagline: “Gay girls playing baseball and falling in love.” Genre(s): Comedy, slice of life. Release Date: September 16th, 2017. Content Warnings: Parental abuse; violence; racist language; homophobic language; ableist abuse and slurs.

The strength of Butterfly Soup’s personality, from beginning to end, is founded in its four point-of-view characters — kindhearted Diya, reckless Min, sharp Noelle, and carefree (?) Akarsha. As a group of ninth grade friends with different priorities and different reasons for joining their shared baseball team, which are as obvious as the hugely-varied color schemes of each girl’s clothes, they play off of one another easily. Lei uses her fair share of actual memes, but never ones that feel like the speaking character — usually Akarsha — wouldn’t say them, which holds true to the rest of Lei’s dialogue writing. It feels distinctly ninth grade without ever being mocking or trivializing the way everything is so extremely important all the time when you’re a ninth grader.

Part of that strength definitely comes from Lei’s willingness to lean on each character’s archetype and unpack it at the same time; Diya’s physical strength and sheer skill, combined with her reluctance to talk to strangers, could have easily seen her shoehorned into a much more detached character than she’s written as. Instead, she’s thoughtful, expressive, and deeply concerned with the people she cares about, even if she can’t always necessarily communicate that to them very well through her ever-present anxiety. Exactly how their own differences manifest and each of the three other girls’ reasons for being that way are slightly trending into spoiler territory, but I think Diya’s fellow main characters also each have their own similarly-smart tweaks on familiar archetypes that make their joke-filled banter all that much more personalized and memorable.

Although there’s a lot to love about the positive, hilarious moments in the protagonists’ everyday lives, one of the things that I think worked just as well narratively were the scenes that required all those content warnings up there. They're very much going to be a YMMV situation for different players, especially with my own caveat that my relationship to dysfunctional families is coming from white Irish ex-Catholicism rather than those two specific Asian cultures’ values — trying not to give any spoilers about which characters I’m referring to, here! — but in-text, they’re never situations without any future, because we can see that future where the group has each other, and they always have room in the moment to be angry, or upset, or hurt without the narrative itself punishing them for failing to be perfect. Instead, they get to play baseball and fall in love and set off fire alarms, and they do pretty okay.

Butterfly Soup is available now for free, and you can follow Brianna Lei on Itch.io, Twitter, or Tumblr to learn more about her upcoming work.

INVERNESS NIGHTS (MADELEINE)

Itchio Tagline: “Every relationship ends.” Genre(s): Historical fantasy, drama. Release Date: June 30th, 2017. Content Warnings: See Itch.io page.

There are a lot of things about Inverness Nights that worked for me in a way I don’t know that they would have in another visual novel — in particular, Tristram’s character is difficult in ways that pretty directly pertain to some of the content warnings linked above, and I was personally interested in seeing the text unpack that bit by bit. The eventual turn the story takes further on in your playtime, to try and phrase that in a way that isn’t super spoilery, was something I personally didn’t mind taking a little longer to get to.

Curious to hear what its developer Madeleine had to say about the story, their thoughts on character design, and what they’re up to next, I reached out to them for an interview!

IVAN: Thanks for having me, Madeleine! To get this conversation started, how would you sum up Inverness Nights to everyone reading this?

MADELEINE: Inverness Nights is a game about queer isolation and the importance of queer community outside of romantic relationships. Set in 18th c Scotland you play as Tristram Rose, an immortal gay man who has just broken up with his mortal boyfriend, and decide how he’ll cope with the loss as someone unable to tell the world around him that he’s magical and queer.

Sounds spot-on! And definitely a great summary of all the things that made it super appealing — to me, at least, haha. Before anything else, I want to note that it's been just about a year since you released Inverness Nights! Congratulations! How's the experience been, and what particular highlights or lowlights over the past year stand out to you?

It was good actually releasing a game, I enjoyed that part a lot! Aside from that, I really appreciated a couple of thoughtful reviews it got where people connected with it as a game where being queer is difficult, but not bleak. I think that because AAA games love tragic gay stories indie games can sometimes feel they need to be ultra-positive to balance that in the other direction, which is cool, but as someone who likes stories that’re more in-the-middle it was a gap I wanted to fill. There was a good reaction to that, albeit a quiet reaction. It’s a very ‘first game, niche game’ complaint but the lowlight would probably be that not many people played it — however, there are a lot of understandable reasons why it worked out that way so I’m not too hurt overall.

Haha, getting something finished and released is definitely a great feeling; I'm personally really glad you stepped in to fill that niche, as someone who likes things that are honest about their characters' pain without feeling exploitative or endlessly hopeless! In the fantastic (but spoiler-filled) Medium postmortem you wrote on your process, you say that "an important part of marketing visual novels is selling your characters"; the postmortem goes into that in fairly great detail, especially as it pertains to ensemble casts, but would you care to expand upon that observation in the scope of the visual novel genre (and how you're keeping it in mind for future projects) a little bit here?

People make fun of visual novels sometimes for their reliance on archetypes — you know, look up the average dating sim and you can probably tell in an instant who the bad boy is, who the smart girl is, so on — but when you’re selling a character driven game to people, you can’t give away the cast’s backstories and quirks up front or there’s nothing to play for, so you’ve got to find some sort of shorthand to suggest what an audience wants will be there, and that usually comes back to telling them which archetypes you’ve got. When I started Inverness Nights I kind of laughed at that reliance on archetypes and tried to do something different but I learnt the hard way why it’s important. At the moment I’m finishing a game called Catacomb Prince with my didn’t-quite-finish-it-for-a-jam group Skeleteam, and when our character artist Roxy was doing the designs I gave her very broad notes on who the cast were so they’d be more archetypical. Consequently we have a very recognisable cool girl/frat boy/petite NB slate of romance options that people’ve connected with waaay more easily and way faster than anyone did with the IN cast, which I think speaks to why it’s a sound approach.

I definitely agree in the importance of finding a good balance with archetypes; I've had people who've instantly bonded when I invoked "shy genius" or "lovestruck best friend", which ironically has given me a bit more of that freedom in telling their stories more uniquely! Could you shed a little light on what Catacomb Prince is, without too many spoilers, and what your storytelling influences for a visual novel like that have been?

Catacomb Prince is a Gothic comedy; you are Prince Vitali, trashy heir to a fantasy Renaissance kingdom, and you have woken up dead five years after a raging party. Your parents still expect you to inherit the throne despite your new skeletal appearance, but your kingdom’s laws require the King to be married. Find love, find your killer — or die again trying.

It’s mostly inspired by Animamundi: Dark Alchemist, which is an old kitschy BL VN about a guy named Georik taking up alchemy to make a new body for his decapitated (still living) sister while hiding his hobby from his friends. Animamundi has some very gloomy stuff happening but it’s so over-the-top about it that it loops around to being a very funny game, and I wanted more experiences like that in the world, so here we are. There’re also some aspects of other goofy Gothic stories in there, like Hammer Horror movies and EC Comics, though the romance aspect of it means it’s not all rib-ticklers all the time. We took care to make the love interests more than just fodder for jokes and/or horror. They’re complete, kissable people, with flesh and everything.

I am not doing a good job of easing up on the skeleton jokes but please believe me on that last point.

Glad to hear the love interests have skin! Not super fussed about that, personally, but I'm sure some players would have logistical concerns about things like skeleton-on-skeleton kissing. (I'd like to go on the record and say I'm pro-skeleton and extremely pro-skeleton puns, so I'm waiting with bated breath to get to play as your not-breathing protagonist.) Other than what we'll be seeing in Catacomb Prince, what kind of genres and themes are you interested in exploring more of in the future?

After Catacomb Prince I’m going to work on finishing an IF game I started last year called Captain Dracula, about being the last survivor on a submarine after your Captain reveals he’s Dracula. That’s also a comedy. I spent three years making Inverness Nights so taking a breather to make funny games for a while seemed like a good plan, and I’m really into classic horror, so I’ve gravitated in that direction with it. I’ve also got a regular no-pictures no-choices fantasy novel I’m several drafts through at the moment which I’ll hopefully be releasing later this year. Once those’re off my plate, I’m keen to try making either an 80 Days-style narrative travel game or a Clock Tower-style point-and-click horror for a change of pace. I want to do something that’s more about exploring a place; I do academic stuff as well as indie development and all my academic work has been on how we explore places in games, so it feels weird that I haven’t made anything that utilises my research.

It sounds like you've got a lot coming up! I'm looking forward to seeing how you can combine your academic studies with your fiction work, which already have such strong settings of place from the get-go. And last but not least, what LGBTQ visual novels from other developers would you like to recommend?

It's IF rather than a VN but I love Heart of the House by Nissa Campbell, which is a Gothic game about an exorcist trying to remove an evil presence from a Victorian manor house, and maybe also wooing some of its residents. It’s very atmospheric and you can be NB, two things I like a lot. With caveats I’m also really keen on Animamundi (like I mentioned earlier — fun, funny MLM but warning for violent horror elements and sexual abuse), and The House in Fata Morgana (a dark romance about a trans man trying to rescue his girlfriend from a cursed manor, there’s an extensive content warning list on its website). Lastly, on the lighter side, Butterfly Soup and The Duenkhy are both good VNs about queer people making friends :) probably play them when you need to smile after all the grimmer suggestions I’ve made.

Awesome — and thanks again for your time, Madeleine! It was a pleasure.

Inverness Nights is available now for $12 USD, and you can follow Madeleine on Twitter or Itch.io to keep up with all the skeleton romances and Dracula adventures they're setting their sights on next!

Thanks to everyone who read this far! Keep an eye on the Twitter thread or this blog for tomorrow’s post, where I’ll be talking about four more visual novels that I think do some crafty things with their creative design!

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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What a Walking Dead Negan Spinoff Could Look Like

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“P.S. Negan Lives.”

Those were the final words written by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman in a letter following the conclusion of the comic’s 193rd and final issue. It was a cheeky missive to fans clamoring for confirmation that their favorite character made it through the series unscathed. It was also an acknowledgement from Kirkman that, try as he might, he just can’t seem to quit The Walking Dead’s big bad.

Negan could have died at the conclusion of the comic’s major “All Out War” arc, but he didn’t. Kirkman then had him lined up to be shot and killed by Maggie in Issue 174, but illustrator Charlie Adlard talked him out of it. The comic’s final issue could have mentioned that Negan died peacefully in an idyllic cabin “offscreen.” But instead a grown up Carl Grimes acknowledges that someone must be taking all those supplies he’s been leaving.

Kirkman was never able to close the book on one of his most beloved (and also hated) creations, because the storytelling possibilities he presents are endless. Sure enough, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the writer wanted to craft a comic book store exclusive to help boost the industry’s flagging sales, it was Negan he turned to once again with the one-off special issue fittingly titled “Negan Lives.”

Now The Walking Dead TV show is facing the same conundrum that Kirkman once did. The character, as played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan for more than four seasons, has seemingly run his course. He was defeated, then rehabilitated, and then finally cast out of Alexandrian society (before making his return once again, of course). With The Walking Dead set to conclude after its 11th season, AMC’s attention has turned to all the various spinoffs that can be mined from it. And doesn’t the crude, charismatic bat-swinger just seem like a great choice?

According to the actor who plays him, everyone seems to be in agreement that he is in fact a great spinoff choice. When Morgan stopped by the Conan talk show, he revealed that discussions are underway surrounding a Negan spinoff.

“It’s definitely being talked about,” Morgan told Conan O’Brien. “I think they’re thinking of a couple different ideas, but I’ve definitely had conversations about possibly continuing the story of Negan. You know, we just did the ‘Here’s Negan’ story, which is sort of the prequel [of] how Negan became this guy, and I shot that with my wife which was so cool.”

“Here’s Negan” was indeed very cool. But was it enough to launch Negan into a whole new round of televised storytelling? We shall see. For now, it’s worth examining what some potential Negan spinoffs could look like, using both the show and the comic as our guides.

The Walking Dead Comic

Following the events of The Whisperer War, in which Negan helped defeat Beta and fend off Alpha’s horde, the one-time Savior’s story essentially goes into hibernation. Just like in the show, the comic characters elect to give Negan his freedom as a reward for his help, but also banish him from Alexandria as punishment.

Unlike the show version of Negan, however, the comic version pretty much accepts his fate. He doesn’t return to Alexandria but some Alexandrians do come out to find him: namely Maggie, who still wants to see Negan properly punished for killing Glenn. As Maggie’s newest beau Dante (who is nothing like his now-dead TV iteration) tracks Negan down, it appears as though he’s slipping into old habits. He discovers a baseball bat in a barn and wraps barbed wire around it, creating “Lucille 2.”

When Maggie and Dante confront him though, Negan immediately gives up on regaining any of his old swagger. He reveals that he’s tired, in pain, and lonely. Maggie killing him would be a mercy. So Maggie elects not to be merciful and leaves him alive. Negan is never seen again in the main comic run. It’s not until the comic’s final issue that we even get confirmation he’s still alive. Carl Grimes drops off some supplies at a house that has a “Lucille” headstone in front of it.

This latter day version of Negan isn’t really well-suited for the action-packed nature that a Walking Dead spinoff would want to depict. But that doesn’t mean that the show can’t draw some inspiration from his big attitude change as it puts him in more dynamic situations. “Here’s Negan” went a long way towards building sympathy for the character. Negan will have to maintain at least a bit of his woeful weepiness in any spinoff to stay sympathetic.

Negan Lives

The aforementioned Negan Lives comic is 36 pages and is designed to fill in the gaps between the events of Issue 174 and the final image of Negan retired to a life of quiet contemplation.

Admittedly, not much happens in this spinoff either. While in exile, Negan meets a beautiful young woman named “Lucy” and after his initial shock wears off, he correctly deduces that she’s a honeypot for some bad dudes to come and kill him. Those bad dudes are named Derrick and Barry and they want to kill Negan because…well, it’s not entirely clear why. Maybe his living environment is highly desirable and they want to take it.

The Walking Dead: What “Here’s Negan” Changes from the Comic

By Alec Bojalad

The Walking Dead: How “Here’s Negan” Opens the Door for a Saviors Origin Story

By Joseph Baxter

In any case, after being forced to dig his own grave, Negan is saved by some Deus Ex Zombie and kills Derrick by plunging a shovel into his chest. While doing so, he expresses extreme disappointment in the fact that the duo didn’t just kill him from the outset. Negan is one of the very few people in The Walking Dead universe who fully appreciates just how dangerous Negan is. It’s baffling to him why people don’t kill him when they get the chance.

Once the deed is done, Negan invites Lucy to join him on one final mission. He’s going to return to the hospital where he left Lucille’s body and give her a proper burial. Maybe then he can find some peace.

Even though there isn’t much action in “Negan Lives” to inspire an entire Negan TV spinoff, it does present another important bit of the character’s evolution. It reveals how Negan can be chastened and sad, while also still being his old vulgar self…and a highly competent killer to boot.

The Jeffrey Dean Morgan Show

With a lack of good storytelling options from the remainder of the comic run, it’s clear that any Negan spinoff is going to have to rely on original material. Should that be the case then we have but one word of advice to the Walking Dead decision-makers.

Just let Jeffrey Dean Morgan cook!

It was legitimately exciting when Morgan was cast as one of The Walking Dead’s most iconic characters since the actor has a long track record of charming audiences. Morgan was excellent as one of the first big guest stars in Grey’s Anatomy. He was supremely likeable as the father of the Winchester boys on Supernatural. He was even pretty compelling in his limited time as The Comedian in Watchmen.

In the early seasons of his performance as Negan on The Walking Dead, however, it was clear that something was a bit off. The actor’s rugged appearance didn’t translate perfectly to Negan’s clean-shaven militaristic look. The rapid string of profanities that worked so well on the page didn’t seem quite right coming out of Morgan’s mouth. And then there was the “lean”, oh that silly Negan lean.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“Here’s Negan” was one of the best episodes of The Walking Dead ever, and a bold reset for both Negan. Morgan was able to find the dramatic core of the character by tuning down much of his more cartoonish elements. Some of that comic charm is welcome to join Negan in any hypothetical spinoff, but Morgan needs to be empowered to continue to portray a more grounded version of the character to really make this work.

The post What a Walking Dead Negan Spinoff Could Look Like appeared first on Den of Geek.

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blockchain2071tj-blog · 4 years

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Trivia Column�U"Virtual Globe" and Digital Collectibles in the Post-epidemic Era

In 2020, due to the severe impact of the epidemic (COVID-19), the use of the virtual planet has been rapidly spawned, as well as the digital change of industries is being carried out across the world regardless of nationwide boundaries; the question is, how do i prove that I am the creator of this work? ? Additionally it is because digital works are too easy to copy, as well as the resulting problems are the inability to confirm their scarcity. This short article is the newest opinion from the "Small Factors" column. The author can be Justine Lu, the co-founder and CEO of Lootex, a blockchain virtual treasure auction home. (Trivia: Industry Particular VII "Review and Possibility of Blockchain Online games" - Lootex. Justine Lu�U2020 Taiwan Blockchain Illustrated Guide) Being born being a human being gets the nature of gathering. From little to large, with all the growth of money, we've some series of different stages, whether it's shiny stickers, stamps, video game ace credit cards, comics, NBA player cards, dolls, all the way to fashion brand sneakers, brand-name hand bags, Famous watches and also artwork. So long as we can fulfill the emotional link or the excitement of hunting, we have been willing to spend time, money and energy to collect. Along with enjoying it at home, we can furthermore showcase with others, create topics, obtain keys to enter the city, and make friends , And even exchange transactions with people to expand your collection lineup. The mapping to the virtual world can be easy to visualize. For instance, in the game ?Globe of Warcraft?, somebody is always going after 100% full achievement, unlocking the Pokemon illustration of ?Pokemon Move?, collecting the exquisite furniture in ?Pet Crossing Club?... The key reason why game designers devote the game Entering the accomplishment and collection program is only arousing the player's selection addiction, assisting the ball player to experience this content that has not really been done, and motivating the player to continue the overall game, just to prolong the life span of the game. Related subjects: Private Encrypted Bond Era: NBA Players, Ethereum and Individual Bonds Related subjects: Zhai Li burst table, a Taiwanese group made "homogeneous girl" into a unique card token collection within the chain Let the Nationwide Treasure from the Palace Museum enrich your tropical isle. Image Resource: But, do you realize?

The prevailing "digital collectibles" still have some unsolvable issues that make it challenging to recognize the value: The greatest advantage of the creation of simple replication of the Internet is the fact that "information move" becomes hassle-free and rapid. When I wish to share a newly drawn computer sketching creation for your appreciation, I can copy it and deliver it for you within a couple of seconds. The question is, how can I prove that I'm the creator of the work? Additionally it is because digital works are too easy to copy, as well as the resulting problems are the inability to verify their scarcity. Lack of true ownership The biggest disadvantage of present digital collections is certainly that they are "subject to others." For instance, the virtual cherish you have worked so hard in the game will eventually disappear when the sport manufacturer stops operating. Which means that your virtual treasure is only certain in the overall game world, not assets you can use freely. Related topics: Column�UDisregard the laws and regulations of economics? Crack the scarcity theory? The idea and origin of "Multi-Edition Limited Encrypted Artwork" Related subjects: The world's initial case! Lithuania will concern "central bank electronic foreign currency" LBCoin next week, but it will be used for collection instead of trading (CBDC) Why use blockchain to create "digital collectibles"? Weighed against the well-known cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, the format of another foreign currency is very appropriate to represent distinctive, indivisible, and irreplaceable characteristics, known as Non-fungible Token (Non-fungible Token, abbreviated as NFT). I personally prefer to call it an encrypted certification, because the literal meaning can accurately explain the characteristics from the "item". Due to the blockchain blessing like a digital seal, electronic collectibles can also reflect their value: * The information in the electronic authenticity encryption certificate can prove to be the authenticity issued by the issuer or creator, and cannot be tampered with, and the scarcity is guaranteed. * Easy to monitor. Anyone can query the issuer, owner, amount of issuances and transaction history of the resource on the public blockchain. There is no need to dispute ownership, just verify it. * The extremely circulating ERC-721 standard of Ethereum continues to be probably the most mainstream digital format today, that's, the largest consensus in the community, and it is an easy task to interface with programs on the blockchain, and electronic assets will undoubtedly be truly cross-platform. To provide an easy-to-understand illustration, just like the 3C hardware specification USB 2.0, no unique modification is required, and all hardware can easily read it. Since it is unimpeded, it also brings tradable and exchangeable features to it. In other words, blockchain creates electronic assets that may exist independently, and may be used in different applications without unique communication. As for how exactly to define the "material value" of digital collectibles, we must go back to the old topics of currency consensus and requirement and supply. A lot of wonderful articles on the net are worth reading through, therefore i won't repeat them here. Related subjects: Column Sights | What supports the value of NFT property? The opportunity and liquidity high quality of on-chain art Digital collectibles have already been a trend. The concept of digital collectibles 's been around for a long period abroad. Lately, there has been a wave of using blockchain technology to make NFTs. List many relatively large investing platforms currently available on the market, such as for example: SuperRare: Gathering several well-known artists, "only sell works of art authorized by them" as its greatest feature, and the price is relatively high. Makersplace: A digital art auction house founded by early users of Pinterest. Inheriting the design of Pinterest, the city functions of collectors or artists are the most complete. KnownOrigin: The masterpieces collected on this site feel more street hippie, and the price is relatively near to the people. All three make use of smart contracts to design a profit revealing mechanism. 85% from the revenue from direct selling of works is usually attributed to the inventor, 15% is attributed to the publisher (platform); within the second-hand market, the seller will get 87% from the selling price. Creators can still obtain 10%, and web publishers (platforms) obtain 3%. Related topics: NFT series-Meet the blockchain, talk about the annals of cryptographic art you don't understand (1) Take into account the current collections need to go through a long period of operation and market producing, the subsequent revenue created tend to be not related to the original makers, they will certainly be filled with grievances. The existing platform uses smart contracts to get rid of traditional marketing techniques, which really is a great boon for new creators. Of course, it isn't just artwork. Also the NBA player cards that we liked to collect when we were young will be released in electronic version. With the expression of media digital format, the ball player cards aren't limited to 2D planes, but record the wonderful times of Stephen Curry within the championship video game. , Isn't this more vivid than rigorous paper cards? Related topics: Collect the legendary celebrity NFT tokens! NBA and Mysterious Cats team's "NBA TopShot" video game launched in beta ?? // The card design released by NBA Top Shot in May 2020 There's also cases of electronic collectibles in Taiwan. In August 2019, Taiwan's Personal team furthermore collaborated with all the blockchain startup Lootex to start NFT cards for your film ?Sage Thieves?, and these cards can be used in real-world online games designed by SELF. In the past, the peripheral products of movies had been at most film soundtracks, postcards or posters. Now digital collectibles may also be launched. Film businesses can even positively manage fan communities through the set of collectors. SELF completely demonstrates electronic collectibles. Turn into a CRM marketing device, and continue steadily to tell enthusiasts the stories they haven't completed telling within the movie. Remarks: NFT proprietors and transaction background are recorded within the string, and anyone can query their blockchain tackle. How can I play electronic collectibles? Speaking of physical selections, dolls are used as examples. They can all be used to play, beautify the home, publicly screen and show off, and speculate on cost investment. The same goes for electronic collectibles. If you have NFT digital choices, as long as you go to digital platforms like Cryptovoxels and Decentraland, you can decorate your house onto it as you like (provided that you need to buy land on the platform to build a residence). Please refer to Lootex's usage of the Ukiyo paintings open sourced by Metropolitan Museum to produce a film that will be put into the exhibition space after NFT: // So long as you have NFT digital collections, it is possible to freely decorate your home in the digital world. Because the collections are made into digital file format, of course you should show the advantages of multimedia. If it's made into a 3D file format, you can even combine AR and VR showing off your very pleased trophies. // 3D is much more vivid than a rigid plane -The Fukuoka Museum of Japan scans social relics into 3D digital archives, which can be presented in AR. - -The picture shows the work of the Taisho era: Hakata humanoid "Chuo Yu"-international brand names such as for example LV and Gucci in the style industry have previously launched design virtual models with games such as for example ?Sim?, ?Animal Forest Friends?, etc.�QVehicle F1 racing in the world, Nike and NBA within the sports world are also rushing to adopt the asset file format of NFT. These brands not only need the product sales of physical products, but also generate topics through digital goods, and also generate another software scenario (the most frequent one is that digital collectibles could also be used in games, such as for example: NBA team management games ), perhaps it can also create another way to obtain financial resources. What's better still is that brand name owners have perfected the list of core fans, that may convey information more conveniently, airdrop gifts to honorable customers anytime, and include gamification design to make sure a higher amount of fan adhesion. Summary In 2020, due to the severe impact from the epidemic, the application of the virtual entire world will be rapidly spawned, and the world is undergoing digital transformation of industrial sectors regardless of nationwide borders. The music industry suddenly started a wave of on the internet concerts, but I nevertheless feel that merely streaming videos is too outdated. best bitcoin games 2020 must praise the well-known rap singer Travis Scott for your virtual concert kept in the game ?Fortnite? in 04 of this yr. The virtual live concert was full of creativity, and there were as much as 27.7 million gamers (without repeating accounts) watching! // A virtual concert that breaks imagination. He himself had been the biggest winner of this digital concert. He received 9,478 reports, 1.4 million a lot more enthusiasts in his interpersonal account inside a 7 days, and Spotify's streaming has reached 80 million moments many. Needless to say, he didn't give up the chance to sell electronic peripheral products. ?Fortnite? has launched Travis Scott themed styling for fans to buy. -Source: Epic Games-The concert is positioned in games that want payment to enter. There may be brands worrying about being consumed tofu, as well as the threshold for followers to enter is certainly too high, shedding the original intention of contacting consumers in good sized quantities. It really is conceivable that in the foreseeable future, more and more physical activities will undoubtedly be "forced" to be in a free virtual planet. Perhaps one day, my favorite Japan singer Ringo Shiina no more has to pressure herself to conquer her fear of flying and go abroad to carry a concert. Fans all over the world can still take pleasure in her lively singing while sitting at home, and even purchase it at her very own wallet. Her NFT digital poster will be decorated within the virtual house, together with the commemorative NFT ticket, stored around the blockchain for a lifetime. ??

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spnbaby-67 · 7 years

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Craving You - Chapter 11 part 1

Summary: Now the cat’s out of the bag about Jensen’s job, will he be able to keep it from {y/n}. They also get to share some fun in the hot tub. Jensen also ask {y/n} a question, will she accept it?

A/N: I have to say thank you all who are reading this story, it really means a lot to me. I also want to thank a few who help me beta this chapter, @writersaredreamers, @secretlyfurrydragon (and for her to keep pushing me to write thank you), and also Laura @just-another-busy-fangirl, She has some great stories as well. Also Jensen is single, so no hate on Danneel she’s amazing. Gifs are not mine so credit goes to original creators, please do not post my story any where else without my permission, re-blogs are great and i appreciate that! this is part 1 of 1 chapters tonight! Long read ya’ll.

Warnings: Major warnings here guys, do not read if your under 18, sex female receiving, male receiving, Ice cube sex, hay loft picnic,

Jensen’s POV

“What the hell happened?” Lisa’s husband Hendrickson asked as he held her in his arms.

“I dunno sir, I was with {Y/N} when we heard a splash. I immediately went over the partition wall to save her.” He was out of breath as he kneeled down by them dripping wet.

We both looked around for anyone she may have argument. “Thank you Jensen, I appreciate it. I just hope she and our baby is ok.” He held her close to him

I look over at {Y/N} then back at him. “She’s pregnant?”

“Why do you look so shocked Lieutenant Ackles? Females get pregnant all the time.” He looked at me like I was crazy.

Once he said my job title, I prayed to god {Y/N} didn’t hear him. I looked over at her and she was relaxed, beautiful and thankfully didn’t hear anything. “I know that Cap, but I didn’t know Lisa was pregnant. She was drinking earlier and I know some pregnant women don’t drink so it caught me by surprise,”

“It’s ok, a lot of people don’t know and I’d like to keep it that way.” He looks over at {Y/N}, “How’s the case going?”

I took a deep breath, “So far so good, she hasn’t really talked about her job but I know in time she will. I’m doing what I was told to do and keeping things together, I know my job sir.” But what Jensen was thinking about and didn’t dare say, is that he was actually falling for {Y/N} he knew if his captain caught wind of his feeling he would be pulled from the case.

“Good, just keep an eye on her and if she says anything pertaining to the case report back to us. When it’s time to issue a warrant for Sheppard and Pellegrino, we’ll let Kali know so she can be prepared as well. We promised Singer that we will take care of this and not hurt her in the process, just keep an eye on her ok.” He smiled at me as he put his hand on my shoulder, Lisa had started to gain consciousness.

“Yes sir,” I agreed and he dismissed me saying he had it from there. I went back to join {Y/N} in the hot tub.

{Y/N} POV

I reached for Jensen hand to help him get back in, the first step could be tricky in the dark. “Is Lisa ok?” I asked.

“Yeah she’s ok, she um must have fell in accidentally or someone pushed her. Jeff doesn’t have video cameras out here does he?”

I shook my head, “Not that I know of, but I’m sure her husband can ask to see who pushed her in.” I smiled at him, not knowing what else to do.

He just looked at me, after our little session earlier it felt strange with him now. I don’t know what to ask him or what to say.

“So um, earlier before we were interrupted. Can I ask, what happens next or was that a onetime thing?”

He took my hand in his and looked at me, “I would like to have this go further, I really like you {Y/N}. You make it so easy for me to be myself when I’m around you, I feel relaxed. I don’t know if it's love so soon, but I do know the chemistry we have between us, is strong. I’d like to see where this goes between us, will you take this journey with me?”

I smiled then leaned forward to kiss him, “I’ll be glad too,” I wrapped my arms around his neck and once again I was on his lap straddling him. “Now, where did we leave off?” I leant into him kissing him with my arms securely around him.

I felt someone tap my head, breaking from Jensen’s soft lips I look up to see Jo. I sighed. “What’s up?” Jensen continued to kiss my neck.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” she raised her eyebrow questioningly.

“Yeah sure, give me a second.”

She looked at me and with the compromising position I was in, she agreed to give me a few minutes. “Babe, I need to go see what Jo wants,” he was still kissing my neck and holding me tight.

He sighed as his arms relaxed to the side of him. “Hurry back?”

“Hmm, I’ll be back.” I kissed his lips and got out of the hot tub, the cool wind hit my now cold skin and I got goosebumps like crazy. I grabbed a towel to dry off a bit before I went into the house to see Jo. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I saw the concern look on her face.

She pulled me to the side hallway that led to our rooms, no one was there or close by, she leaned back against the wall. “Jeff’s pissed, the fight with Lisa today and now her nearly drowning in our pool. He is pissed and upset about it. Please say you were in the hot tub the whole time.”

I looked around and then at her, my face turned red. “I was, I um was making out with Jensen. I’m sure it’s on the video if Jeff has cameras out here.”

“He does, his boss has requested to see them. I can’t believe you were making out with him, geez girl in public.”

“Hey, don’t knock it. I’ve seen you and Jeff do it, besides it was in the backyard of your house not in public, public.” I innocently batted my eyes at her.

“Well, be prepared to have Jeff talk to you about it.”

“It’ll be ok, come join us the hot tub feels great.”

“Ok, give me a few minutes to warn Jeff of your extracurricular activities so he won’t too be shocked.”

She hugged me and I went back out to join Jensen. Upon going out I saw Jeff standing by the kitchen island with his finger on the bridge of his nose as if to hold back a headache. I go over to him.

“Hey, you ok?’ I look at him.

He smiled as he turned to face me. “Yeah, just work stuff, it’s all part of the job. Nothing for you to worry about,” He paused then smiled. “So Jensen hmm. A little make out session there.” He raised his eyebrows at me.

I blushed and felt my cheeks turn red. “Um yeah, can you clip that part out by chance?”

He looked at me like he had won a prize. “Maybe, better get back out there before he gets to lonely and some other girl steps in your place.”

“Not a chance, we are dating so ha. But I will get back out there.” I smiled and went back outside.

After the drama of Lisa falling into the pool and all, everyone started to dwindle down and leave for the night. Jensen was the last to go, and as he was in the driver’s side of his truck, I stood by him.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked him with my arm laying across his lap.

“I have some actual work to do, but I would love to see you after if that’s ok. Maybe take a picnic on the ranch?” He leaned down to kiss me.

“Hmmm, I’d like that. Or we can go horseback riding and I’ll show you some beautiful area in the back 40.”My hands found the back of his neck.

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll see you then.”

He kissed me and I backed out of the way so he can shut the door, his truck was so huge I couldn’t reach up to kiss him one last time of the night. He looked backwards to make sure he didn’t hit the fountain, Jo would kill him if he did. Then he waved by to me. I sighed watching him leave before going back inside the house, which when I did, I had two sets of eyes on me. Crap, they saw the video.

We all sat in the living room after I changed out of my wet close and put my PJ’s on, Jeff had some amazing wine which I got to remind myself to ask him what it's called because it was so good. I sat on the small loveseat by myself with my feet under me, and they sat before me together which made me feel better because of the arguments earlier. They still haven’t said anything about it, but I’m assuming it had to do with the situation with Lisa. Right now I don’t care, because I was officially dating the single most handsome man in the world and I was extremely happy about that. Being in the right place at the right time, well worth it. Thank you God. I winked up at the ceiling hoping he’d see it. I went to my room after a great evening spent with them, just as I was to get under the covers I get a text. My smile widens and my heart thumps seeing his picture

After his text, I put my phone on charge because the battery was dying and if we were going horseback riding tomorrow, we’ll need it. I’m not sure how he is riding a horse, but that body on a horse damn sweet dreams tonight.

The next morning, I got up around 9 am to the smell of bacon and pancakes. I love bacon and when I smell it, it’s like an automatic reel me in I’m there motion. I slip on my slippers and head on out to the kitchen, I see Jeff there dressed in sweatpants and a black t shirt. His hair is ruffled and looks like he had a Mohawk going, I had to giggle. He heard me and turned to face me.

He held a spatula in his hand, pointed to the bar stool behind him. “Have a seat breakfast will be ready in a few seconds.”

I did as he said, his voice was gruffly and sounded like he was still asleep I had to giggle. “Where’s Jo, Jo? She still sleeping?”

He took a couple of plates from the cabinet and placed the food on them one by one, “Hmm, she had a big night last night after we left you.” he winked at me as he sat in front of me.

“Oh really?” I got some orange juice from the fridge. “Don’t tell me you got her caught under all that?” I waved my bacon at him indicating his body.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that handsome body.” I felt a hit as Jo back slapped my head when she approached unannounced. “That body, is one fine piece of perfection and he’s all mine.” She went over to him and leaned into his back as she kissed him.

“Ewe get a room.” I laughed.

“Hey, we aren’t the one who needs a room.” Jeff had to remind me. “Someone got pretty hot and heavy last night in the hot tub, so I don’t want hear it.” he snickered back.

My face flushed and I held my head down, “Well, it was very amazing too I might add. Jensen can really work those hands.” I knew that would make him squirm.

He puts his hands to his ears. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no I don’t want to hear about Jensen’s hands. TMI.” He walks to the fridge.

I looked at Jo and we both laughed so hard that I almost fall off my stool. “Awww poor Jeff, now you’re stuck with the image in your head now.”

He gave me a look and without warning, he took the water spray from the sink and got me. “Oh really? You’re on.” I looked around to see what I can do to get him back with, Jo looked at me and pointed over to the right side of her. I smiled and saw the bag of flower sitting there, I quickly grabbed it and as he sprayed me to keep me away, I threw some at him which got all in his beard and face. Both Jo and I laughed so hard it was hilarious watching him trying to clean his beard.

I patted his back as I leant over his right shoulder to see if he was ok. “You ok?”

What I thought was him needing help turned out to be something totally different, the closer I got to him the better chance he had to pay me back. He took the sprayer and aimed right at me. Now I’m soaking wet. “Ha! Gotcha!” he turned to look at me like he won.

I spit the water that was in my mouth out towards him and he laughed, “Seriously Jeff? That’s so childish.” I huffed as I crossed my arms.

“But the look on your face, that’s priceless.” He laughed as he pointed at me.

“You’re so in trouble Jeff, you just wait. Watch your back, be very aware!” I squinted my eyes at him and he was still laughing, I turned to go to my room to shower and change only to see Jensen standing there with Jo. “Seriously?” I shook my head, “I hope this day gets better, by the way Jo keep an eye on your man. He’s so in trouble.”

I kissed Jensen, you can tell he wanted to laugh but he was a good boyfriend and held it back. Or at least I think he did, no telling what happened when I went on behind my back when I left to go take a shower and get ready to go riding. Men, grrrr I huffed as I walked angrily to my room.

@writersaredreamers, @theshygirlao3, @secretlyfurrydragon, @secretimpala67

#Jensen Ackles #jensen ackles fanfiction #jensen ackles x reader #Jeffrey Dean Morgan

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heavensims · 7 years

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Greymont Bay Interior Designers

Rules:

Cannot use any custom content, including patterns

Cannot use any store content

Cannot use any stuff packs

I know these are strict rules, especially the CC one. Believe me, I do. I’ve been dealing with it since I started working on lots for GB and it’s definitely been one of the hardest things to stick to.

Residential lots do not have to be furnished to the nines or cluttered up. Think EA release (but please dear God, better CASTing) since most residential lots will be utilized by townies and not seen by players.

That said, I would like the lots to have basic livability. Players can always choose to purchase a house unfurnished, but a lot must meet minimum requirements for townies to move in, like plumbing, appliances, and a place to sleep. Only a few houses will be required to have a crib (to keep the silly things from populating like rabbits). There will also be price ranges for each subsection that need to be adhered to.

FAQ:

Q: Will you edit my lot after it’s done? A: Generally, no when it comes to the interior (see below for landscaping). If you’ve included content not allowed, then yes, I will remove it, or replace it (I don’t have CC installed in my GB save so it will be pretty easy to check for). I also plan on having all lots have electrical boxes, heating/cooling units, and drain pipes so if you forget to add these, I’ll add them in. That said, if you return a lot that uses the CAST presets (or has patterns that are turned the wrong way) or a lot that has routing issues, I will fix them.

Q: Do I really need to CAST stuff? A: Please do not just use preset EA furniture or preset colors for patterns. I can do that and it defeats the purpose of me asking for help.

Q: Are you sure I can’t use _____? A: Yes, I’m sure. Sorry. Greymont Bay has always been intended as a very minimum CC world for release.

Q: Do I need to edit the outside or landscape? A: Please do not change the existing exterior in any way. You may add outdoor furnishings like lawn chairs or patio tables, but please no pools or additional plants/terrain painting/etc. Also, please do not change the doors/windows. You may recolor the interior sides of them (for example to a wood grain) if it better suits your palette, but don’t switch them out or recolor what shows outside.

Q: Can I change the layout? A: In most cases, the layout is set and has been (minimally) tested to be sure that furniture should fit and sims can move around. If you want to move an interior door a couple tiles over or something, that's fine. Lots where you can do the floorplan yourself will be noted. Please don’t move exterior components like windows/doors/fireplaces and please, please have a layout that functionally makes sense.

Q: Do I have to have all the EPs to help? A: It depends on the round of decorating. In some cases, I will just send a library file of the lot that can be placed anywhere and then sent back to be put on its intended lot. In that case, you may not need all EPs, only the ones required for the lot itself. If you’re participating in rounds where you’ll receive a private beta of the world (due to lots that aren’t flat) then yes, you will need all the expansions.

Q: When do I need to finish? A: There’s no particular rush since there are still other lots to build. If something comes up and you can’t finish your lot in a month or so, please let me know privately and we can decide between us whether a replacement is needed. I’m a pretty slow builder so I don’t foresee this being an issue in most cases.

Q: Why can’t I build a lot from scratch? A: I’ve got a really clear picture in my head on how I want this world to look so this is a compromise on getting stuff done and still getting the world finished. While I’d love to let people build from scratch, I can be pretty picky at times and I wouldn’t want to put any stress on myself OR the people helping me if things didn’t come out the way I pictured.

Q: Do I need to playtest the lot? A: Yes, please! Save a copy to your library first, so you don’t inadvertently save a lot with dirty dishes or unpaid bills (I’ve definitely done that before). Move a family in and check routing to make sure that your sims can get to everything they need to get to; they can sit in the chairs, use the shower, both sides of the bed, etc.

Q: Will I get credit for my work? A: Absolutely! Anyone that helps me will get credit in the final upload post as well as having their name included in the lot description in game.

Q: Is it a secret or can I show off my work or the world? A: I’d love to see photos! You can post them both here on tumblr and/or in my MTS Creator Feedback thread. If you post on tumblr, I track the tags ‘heavensims’ and ‘greymont bay’ and should see them.

#Greymont Bay #CAW #ts3 decorating #TS3 #TS3 help wanted #world #Bar Harbor #WIP #hsoriginal #TS3hsoriginal

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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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100 Days of Comics! 040/100: Alpha Flight #110 (1992)

Alpha Flight! That’s what today’s rummage brings us! Canada’s premier and possibly only superhero team! Wolverine’s original team! Vaguely good guys in the weird hellscape that is Marvel’s Canada. Why is Marvel Canada so evil? Probably Canada raised creators like John Byrne having a goof.

Anyway, this issue of Alpha Flight is also an Infinity War tie-in. Oy.

So Infinity War is when Adam Warlock’s evil side, expelled when Adam Warlock became a god at the end of Infinity Gauntlet by seizing the Infinity Gauntlet and decided he’d be a pure logical god by expelling his good and evil sides, steals a bunch of Cosmic Cubes from various universes and sets off on a long, complicated and sorta impenetrable plan to get his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet right when Eternity reverses the Living Tribunal’s decision that the Infinity Gems would lose their powers if all brought together. And also he made a bunch of doppelgangers of Marvel superheroes and while some were creative, mostly they had sharp teeth. The only doppelganger worth a shit apparently was Spider-Man’s who survived beyond the event.

Oy. Comics.

This particular issue also demonstrates the worst way to write tie-ins to events. And Infinity War had A LOT of tie-ins.

Was this necessary context? Ehhhhhh, ish.

We start off with some narration about the Ska’r. Apparently an off-shoot of humanity that fed off base emotions. The Ska’ar and their city was cast out from reality. Where they wait for release.

That established, we join Talisman of Alpha Flight as she waffles on buying some tacky tiny skeleton earrings. She also bemoans that all she wants to be is normal but because of her father Shaman, she can never be.

Ever since she reached into her father’s medicine pouch and withdrew the Circlet of Enchanting, her life has pretty messed up. Her mind is full of terrible images of a locked door and an ocean of bones behind it (probably the city of the Ska’r?).

Oh, and then she’s attacked by the new Omega Flight. Omega Flight is like the Masters of Evil or Sinister Six or Frightful Four. A group of villains assembled with a major hate on for a specific hero team. Obviously, in this case, Alpha Flight.

Meanwhile, at Four Freedoms Plaza, a bunch of heroes have gathered for Infinity War. Reed Richards (secretly his doppelganger) is going to explain the event to them once Spider-Man and some other stragglers show up. Secretly, he’s going to try to blow them up.

Several of Alpha Flight are there but I can only really identify Guardian and Sasquatch.

Back at the mall, Omega Flight. There’s Miss Mass, Sinew, Strongarm, Bile, Tech-Noir, and... Brain Drain! Oh hi, Brain Drain! You’ll be cooler once you join Squirrel Girl.

For whatever reason, this version of Omega Flight has been organized by the Master of the World (I mostly know him for getting super killed by Carol Danvers so she could steal his shit to use against Kang). And it seems they’re targeting Talisman to try to unleash the Ska’r.

Talisman magically costumes up and tries to blow Omega Flight away but Miss Mass has the power of being too big to be blown away and she THRAK!s Talisman across the head.

Tech-Noir tells Brain Drain to “tear them screaming from her skull!”

Meanwhile, Gamma Flight (Manikin and Witchfire). They are Alpha Flight’s reserve team. They used to be Beta Flight but they got demoted because Windshear saw them run away from Dream Demons. So against Manikin’s better judgement, the Gammas are out beating up muggers. Its ‘training.’

Witchfire gets distracted with how unfair their demotion was that her concentration slips and one of the street punks whacks her across the head. So we get to see Manikin’s power. Apparently he can summon different versions of himself from across history because collective consciousness? So caveman Apeman, goo pile Proto, and refugee from Zombies Ate My Neighbors Highbrow.

Back at Four Freedoms Plaza, guy with maple leaf on his chest is BORED.

Even though off-screen the events of Infinity War meant that a gamma bomb blew off the top floors of Four Freedoms Plaza, Reed Richards and Iron Man turned out to be doppelgangers, and Thanos made an appearance and now everybody thinks he’s behind it just because of a long history of being behind this kind of thing.

Problem with tie-ins. Telling a story around a story being told elsewhere so we go from Alpha Flight members waiting to hear whats going on to Alpha Flight members reacting to what’s going on with several exciting things happening in the Infinity War book. This is less than an ideal way to do a tie-in.

The idea should be to tell a side of the story you can’t get in the main book. But this is just going ‘you really should be reading Infinity War.’ And because of the way the Infinity War plot was structured, this is just Alpha Flight members sitting around with a bunch of other heroes not doing anything.

Alpha Flight member Puck even complains about just sitting around. Sure there’s things of cosmic import going on but if they’re just going to be sitting around anyway, Alpha Flight would be better off home saving Canada.

Something Alpha Flightish and Infinity Warry finally happens when Cyclops announces they’re putting together an expeditionary force to send after Thanos and that Wolverine, Sasquatch and red-head with goggles are going to be on it. Shaman is going to be aiding the other mystics.

Meanwhile, Toronto: some goblin-looking person called Goblyn senses something dark this way comes. And then some jerk with a white streak through his red hair starts setting the town on fire.

And what I’m pretty sure is Gamma Flight gets ready to confront him.

Nearby, Alpha Flighter Windshear arrives at the mall to find Talisman being taken away ranting that “THEY’RE OUT!” So I guess the jerk Gamma Flight is getting ready to confront is one of the Ska’r. We never did see what they looked like in that opening bit.

Geez, this issue is kind of a mess and the blame falls at least on trying to tie it into Infinity War. The stuff with the Ska’r and Talisman and with Omega Flight and with Gamma Flight seems to be the ongoing stuff that they were doing regardless of Infinity War. But the Infinity War tie-in stuff wasted a lot of space doing nothing but establishing nothing was happened, a lot was happening in another book, nothing was happening, and that Alpha Flight would be on the expeditionary force that the heroes were putting together.

The issue needed some re-balancing. Use only the stuff post-explosion and make it more about the Alpha Flighters reacting to being put on the expeditionary force, to be transported across the universe to fight a guy that once killed half of everyone everywhere.

Make the issue about the hole Alpha Flight left in Canada by sitting around in conference all issue. Have Gamma Flight have to pick up the slack while still not getting the respect. Have one wryly comment that it must be nice to be respected as the top squad while getting to sit on your butt all day and then humorously cut to the gamma bomb at Four Freedom Plaza blowing up.

If this is an Infinity Wars tie-in, have Gamma Flight fight doppelgangers of Alpha Flight maybe.

Bottom line, this issue is pulled in too many directions. It introduced a new version of Omega Flight and this was such a big deal that they got to vandalize the cover by drawing Omega over the Alpha Flight logo but we don’t really get much of them.

I’m just talking out my ass though. I don’t know enough about Alpha Flight or the issues surrounding this issue. And this is not a great first exposure to the team.

#100 Days of Comics!#Alpha Flight #Omega Flight #event comics have been screwing over books since event comics were invented #its not just a new thing #no offense Alpha Flight fans but I prefer the League of Canadian Superheroes

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dorothydelgadillo · 6 years

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7 Essential Content Marketing Apps & Tools I Can't Live Without for 2019

Who has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and struggled to get out of bed for this first post-holiday morning back at work?

Don't get me wrong -- it's only been in recent years that I wake up each day feeling hashtag blessed about the fact that I get to do what I'm passionate about for a living alongside some of the smartest people I have ever known.

Still, I'm dragging this morning.

And my to do list is a mile long.

Because, fun fact, pillar pages don't write themselves. Nor do whitepapers, blog articles, or case studies.

This surprises me, given how every other article I read recently has to do with the rise of Skynet as a reality; you'd think they'd have figured out how to do all of that by now, right?

Just kidding, I love robots -- from a distance.

Plus, hyperbolic posturing about the robot apocalypse aside, there are a lot of ways technology and automation have already transformed the way I map out, write, and produce the content for a lot of our strategies.

(And I'm not even counting HubSpot Marketing Hub.)

Since neither content (or pimpin') is easy, I'm going to share the apps and tools I use every single day -- and consider indispensable -- to produce a good portion content you interact with on this website.

App #1: GatherContent

If you've ever worked with me on a project, you know I live and die by GatherContent, a centralized content creation, production, and collaboration platform I can only assume was created by Zeus from on-high -- it is that magical.

I was first introduced to GatherContent years ago by Jessie-Lee Nichols (now IMPACT's Design Supervisor) when we were working on a website project together.

I'm resistant to change -- especially when it comes to someone trying to "evolve" or "improve" my processes, but Jessie-Lee was persistent.

"You'll spend less time chasing down approvals, trying to find drafts in Google Docs, and digging through your emails," she said, zeroing in on my biggest challenges. "Everything is one place, with real-time visibility into the status of every single piece of content in a project."

Lo and behold, she was right. Flash forward to now, there is no project I work on that doesn't leverage GatherContent.

From within GatherContent, I can work with multiple collaborators, give access to my higher-ups so they can see the status of a project or single piece of content at any time -- whether it's 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., they don't need to email, call, or smoke signal me to find out the status or deadline of a piece of content.

For writers, I can leave comments and assign out changes. Additionally, either the writer or I can overwrite whatever content is there. There is a rollback feature that allows someone to see what changes have been made without whoever made the changes having to highlight them or call them out.

Finally, GatherContent keeps me sane. It isn't free -- although the pricing is very reasonable, especially if your a small business. (If you're an agency dealing with lots of clients or content production, you'll need to be smart about how many projects you set up.)

But what it saves me in time, content project administration, and sanity makes it worth it to me. I'm infinitely more productive with it, and I would consider it the most important tool I use.

I also can't even imagine managing all of the different projects I oversee without it. It's life-changing.

Of course, if you're one of those folks who loves searching through endless Google Docs and emails, and spending more time calling and emailing about content projects instead of actually doing the work, you probably won't need it.

As I mentioned, GatherContent isn't free. It starts at $83 per month, with lots of options for organizations.

App #2: Bear

I have a confession to make: I absolutely hated writing when I was younger.

In fact, one time when I was eighth grade, I turned in an essay where the last paragraph was the same sentence copied and pasted over and over again, just so I could meet the minimum word count requirement without having to put more effort into it. (My teacher didn’t appreciate my sense of humor.)

Obviously, I've come around since then.

But my change of heart only came about because eventually I realized that (a) I was good at writing, and (b) it wasn’t the act of writing I despised so much, but rather I hated the cluttered and distracting writing experience of Microsoft Word.

Enter stage left, Bear.

Bear (available only for iPhone, iPad, and Mac) is an app that's all about empowering users to "write beautifully." And it does that so very well.

It's gotten to the point where everything I write -- IMPACT blogs, content projects for clients, freelance projects, etc. -- always passes through an initial rough drafting stage within Bear.

In addition to comprehensive and lengthy content creation, Bear can also be used as an Evernote-esque notes application, making it quite versatile.

Bear is free, but if you splurge on the paid version ($1.49 per month or $14.99 per year), you can enjoy custom themes, syncing across multiple devices, and exporting capabilities.

App #2: Hemingway

Whether you’re a seasoned content creator or you’re a new kid on the inbound block, you undoubtedly know how hard it is to write and edit your own work -- and not just because you are too close to your writing to gauge its quality.

Thankfully, someone created Hemingway.

In addition to being one of my favorite authors -- as well as one of the best characters in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris -- Hemingway forces you to evaluate the readability of your work.

It tells you what grade level your work reads at, and it scans your work for sentence complexity, passive voice, and overuse of adverbs.

While you have the option to write directly in the Hemingway app itself, I find these kinds of mark-ups to be very distracting while I am trying to form my ideas for the first time.

Instead, I usually type of my first draft in Bear and then copy it over to Hemingway, when I'm ready to switch my brain over to editing mode. (But how you choose to use this app is entirely up to you!)

You can use Hemingway for free through your web browser at www.hemingwayapp.com, or you can download the desktop version for $9.99.

App #3: Grammarly for Google Docs

OK, Grammarly isn't new, but you know what is? Grammarly for Google Docs.

It's not a separate tool from standard Grammarly. It's just a new feature that is so freaking valuable, I have to call it out separately, on the off chance that those of you who are familiar with the product haven't heard about this.

For those unfamiliar with Grammarly, however, it is a standalone desktop and web app that also has a Google Chrome extension that scans your writing in various places across the web -- or as input by you -- and provides editorial suggestions.

It's not perfect, but it has saved my patootie more times than I care to admit; especially when I'm rushing through emails early in the morning.

Unfortunately, as with any technology, there were a few blind spots for the tool -- places online where Grammarly could not go. The most annoying of which was Google Docs, one of the most widely-used content collaboration word processing apps out there.

Even though I spent the early part of this article swearing off Google Docs for GatherContent or Bear, I still use it a lot.

For example, sometimes I want a word processing application where I can also fiddle around with images and more visual formatting that GatherContent and Bear purposefully avoid in their feature set.

Finally, Grammarly made the announcement we've all been waiting for -- Grammarly for Google Docs was now in beta for those using the Google Chrome extension.

Please remember that no automated editorial assistant is infallible. Review every suggested edit; never blindly accept them all.

Grammarly is free, although I highly recommend the premium version, as it scans for more nuanced grammar issues that can substantively elevate the quality of your writing.

App #4: WordCountTools.com

One of the most game-changing editing lessons I have ever learned is not to edit for everything all at once. Rather, you should edit for style, grammar, and narrative progression separately, in individual editing phases.

That’s why after I put my work through the readability test of Hemingway, I drop my work into the text box on www.wordcounttools.com.

Not only does this website tell you how many words your composition has overall, it also targets one of my biggest writing “quirks” -- redundancy.

(Seriously, I don’t know what my problem is, but I am incapable of going a single column, essay, or blog post without repeating certain words or phrases.)

Below the area where you paste copy, you’ll see a keyword density box, which counts how many times non-“grammar words” appear in your work.

I know, it seems almost stupidly simple.

But as someone who spends a good portion of my day editing the work of others, trust me when I say it’s likely that more than a few of you reading this post should also be using this tool.

App #5: Noisli

I used to spend so much time at work trying to find the perfect work playlist on Spotify to keep me on track. Music is supposed to help spark productivity and creativity, right?

Wrong. Well, for me, anyway.

I don’t know whether I’m defective or something, but most of the time I find myself distracted by music.

Either I get wrapped up in the song itself -- even if it’s only instrumental -- or, when one song ends, I don’t like what comes up next, so I break from my work to spend 20 minutes trying to curate a new ideal soundtrack.

Noisli is a stunning, minimalist (and free!) background noise generator. Or, as they like to say, Noisli is “your productivity companion.”

Even though there are multiple studies showing the positive effects of ambient noise on productivity, Noisli confused me when I took it for a test drive a couple years ago, during a particularly challenging copywriting project.

At first, listening to noise while working seemed… strange. Not to mention completely boring. Now? I’m a total convert, and it’s pretty much all I listen to when I’m trying to get sh*t done.

With my free Noisli account, I’ve created and saved custom blends of sounds -- which you control using the soundboard shown on the left -- that can set the tone for my entire working day.

Sound options include rain, thunderstorm, wind, forest, leaves, water stream, seaside, water, bonfire, summer night, fan, train, coffee shop, white noise, pink noise, and brown noise.

As my Creator's Block co-host (and long-time work pal) Jessie-Lee knows, my favorite Noisli blend is one I call "rainy trainy." It’s a personalized symphony of thunder, rain, train, and fan sounds. There's also a splash of coffee shop, for good measure.

I created this soothing blend because I love traveling by train and have been doing so for years -- in my 20s, when I would travel home to Washington, D.C., while living in Boston, and now, when I travel to and from my home in Annapolis, Maryland, to IMPACT's home office in Connecticut.

Fun fact: You can also share blends of sounds with other people.

Noisli is available for free through the website. There is also a free Chrome extension and iOS app available for $1.99.

App #6: SEMrush Content Template

I learned about this gem when I was working with Franco Valentino of Narrative SEO on a comprehensive SEO analysis we published last year. Now, I don't leave home without it, so to speak -- especially when I'm crafting individual pillar strategies.

If you have SEMRush, simply click on “SEO Content Template” in the menu on the left near the bottom and enter the keyword you want to base a piece of content around. It will spit out recommendations on everything -- target length of your content, links and semantic keywords you should include, and much, much more.

It also has a rich-text editor, where you can test the content you're creating that targets a particular keyword string against the recommendations it provided:

SEMrush costs money, but it's worth the money. They also have a lot of different pricing plans, depending on the needs of your organization.

App #7: Evernote

Given how ubiquitous Evernote is, it almost feels like a copout to include this in my list. That said, I spent years not understanding how or why millions of people and scores of businesses trust the elephant-branded app, before it finally clicked for me last fall.

Now, I'm an Evernote freak, too.

For the three of you who haven't heard of Evernote, it's a note-taking application you can download or use through the web. You can clip things from the web, create templates, scan and attach documents, and sync your notes across multiple devices (if you pay for the premium version).

I also love how I can easily share notes in my Evernote -- for example, a table of contents developed during a pillar strategy brainstorm. By clicking one or two buttons, I can share an accessible URL that stays updated if I make any changes to the document, instead of having to copy and paste the information into an email or a Google Doc.

But for me, it's application is simple.

I've created notebooks for my podcast, my pillar strategies, and general notes for content I'm working on. It's where I store all of the preparation notes for pillar strategy sessions, the questions I'm going to ask a Content Lab guest, and where I outline longform pieces.

There isn't much to say about Evernote that hasn't already been said by somebody else. But what I will say is that so much of what I have gotten out of it only came about once I understood it was all about how I organized and setup my Evernote.

If you're looking for a virtual notebook to help you make sense of all of the back and forth that shouldn't live in disparate emails or Google Docs, but also has no business living in something like GatherContent, I can't recommend Evernote more.

Evernote is free with premium and business options available.

The Best Writing Hack Is Honesty

Even though all four of these apps have revolutionized the way I think about and approach my work, the best piece of advice I can give you about how to boost your content creation capabilities is this:

Have an open and brutally honest discussion with yourself about what specifically you don’t like about the writing process.

No app or program can tell you what your problem is or fix a writing roadblock you can't identify; they can only help you once you have some idea of what pain point you’re trying to address.

The answers will vary drastically from person to person, as they should. For instance, while my struggles were rooted in distraction and focus, yours may be founded in writer’s block, which is an entirely different beast.

So, while I think each of you will like at least one of these apps, I hope you’ll also do yourselves a favor and figure out what part of your own personal writing process really needs improving.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/content-marketing-apps-tools

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sheminecrafts · 6 years

Text

Favstar says it will shut down June 19 as a result of Twitter’s API changes for data streams

As Twitter develops an ever-closer hold on how it manages services around its real-time news and social networking service, a pioneer in Twitter analytics is calling it quits. Favstar, an early leader in developing a way to track and review how your and other people’s Tweets were getting liked and retweeted by others on the network, has announced that it will be shutting down on June 19 — a direct result, its creator Tim Haines notes, of changes that Twitter will be making to its own APIs, specifically around its Account Activity API, which is coming online at the same time that another API, User Streams, is being depreciated.

Favstar and others rely on User Streams to power its services. “Twitter… [has] not been forthcoming with the details or pricing,” Favstar’s creator Tim Haines said of the newer API. “Favstar can’t continue to operate in this environment of uncertainty.”

Favstar’s announcement was made over the weekend, but the issue for it and other developers has actually been brewing for a year.

Twitter announced back in December that, as part of the launch of the Account Activity API (originally announced April 2017), it would be shutting down User Streams on June 19.

User Streams are what Favstar, and a number of other apps such as Talon, Tweetbot, Tweetings, and Twitterrific (as pointed out in this blog post signed by all four on “Apps of a Feather”), are built on. Introduced as the Twitter Streaming API for developers, the aim was to provide a way for developers to get continuous updates from a number of Twitter accounts — needed for services that either provided alternative Twitter interfaces or a way of parsing the many Tweets on the platform — in a way that did not slow the whole service down.

The newer Account Activity API provides a number of features to developers to help facilitate tracking Twitter and using services like direct messaging for business purposes:

As you can see, some of the features that the newer API covers are directly linked to functionality you get via Favstar. The crux of the problem, writes Haines, is that Twitter hadn’t given Favstar and other developers that had been working with User Streams (and other depreciating functionality) answers about pricing and other details so that they could see if a retooling of their services would be possible. (Twitter has provided a guide, it seems, but it doesn’t appear to address these points.)

The post on Apps of a Feather further spells out the technical issues:

“The new Account Activity API is currently in beta testing, but third-party developers have not been given access and time is running out,” the developers write. “With access we might be able to implement some push notifications, but they would be limited at the standard level to 35 Twitter accounts – our products must deliver notifications to hundreds of thousands of customers. No pricing has been given for Enterprise level service with unlimited accounts – we have no idea if this will be an affordable option for us and our users.”

One of the consequences is that “automatic refresh of your timeline just won’t work,” they continue. “There is no web server on your mobile device or desktop computer that Twitter can contact with updates. Since updating your timeline with other methods is rate-limited by Twitter, you will see delays in real-time updates during sporting events and breaking news.”

Favstar has been around since 2009 — its name a tip of the hat to the original “like” on Twitter, which was a star, not a heart. Haines writes that at its peak, it had some 50 million users and was a “huge hit” with those who realised how the network could be leveraged to build up audiences outside of Twitter — including comedians and celebrities, tech people, journalists, and so on. It’s also tinkered with its service over time, and added in a Pro tier, to make it more user-friendly.

Somewhat unusual for a popular app, Favstar appears to have always been bootstrapped.

But there have been two trends at play for years now, one specific to Twitter and another a more general shift in the wider industry of apps:

The first, regarding Twitter, is that the company has been sharpening its business focus for years to find viable, diverse and recurring sources of revenue, while at the same time putting a tighter grip around how its platform is appropriated by others. This has led the company to significantly shift its relationship with developers and third parties. In some cases, it has ceased to support and work with third-party apps that it feels effectively overlap with features and functions that Twitter offers directly.

In the case of Favstar, the service rose in prominence at a time when Twitter appeared to completely ignore the star feature. MG once described the Favorite as “the unwanted step child feature of Twitter. Though it has been around since the early days of the service, they have never really done anything to promote its use.”

Fast forward to today, and Twitter has not only revamped the feature replacing the star with a heart (I still prefer the star, for what it’s worth), but Twitter uses those endorsements to help tune its algorithm, and populate your notifications tab, and to provide analytics to users on how their Tweets are doing. In other words, it’s doing quite a bit of what Favstar does.

And if you think of how Twitter has developed its own business model in recent years, with a push for video and working with news organisations and other media brands, the same early users of Favstar as detailed by Haines (celebs, news and other media organizations, etc.) are exactly the targets that Twitter has been trying to connect with, too.

The other, more general, trend that this latest turn has teased out is the one that we’ve heard come up many times before. Building services dependent on another platform can be a precarious state of affairs for a developer. You never know when the platform owner might simply decide to pull the plug on you. Your success could lead to many users, business growth, and even an acquisition by the platform itself — but it could nearly as quickly lead to your downfall if the platform views you as a threat, and decides to cut you off instead.

Interestingly, there could be some life left in Favstar in another galaxy far, far away. We’ve reached out both to Haines and to Twitter for further comment and will update this post as and when we learn more.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2IklPWb via IFTTT

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technicalsolutions88 · 6 years

Link

Favstar’s announcement was made over the weekend, but the issue for it and other developers has actually been brewing for a year.

Twitter announced back in December that, as part of the launch of the Account Activity API (originally announced April 2017), it would be shutting down User Streams on June 19.

The newer Account Activity API provides a number of features to developers to help facilitate tracking Twitter and using services like direct messaging for business purposes:

The post on Apps of a Feather further spells out the technical issues:

Somewhat unusual for a popular app, Favstar appears to have always been bootstrapped.

But there have been two trends at play for years now, one specific to Twitter and another a more general shift in the wider industry of apps:

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2IklPWb Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

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abckidstvyara · 6 years

Link

Favstar’s announcement was made over the weekend, but the issue for it and other developers has actually been brewing for a year.

Twitter announced back in December that, as part of the launch of the Account Activity API (originally announced April 2017), it would be shutting down User Streams on June 19.

The newer Account Activity API provides a number of features to developers to help facilitate tracking Twitter and using services like direct messaging for business purposes:

The post on Apps of a Feather further spells out the technical issues:

Somewhat unusual for a popular app, Favstar appears to have always been bootstrapped.

But there have been two trends at play for years now, one specific to Twitter and another a more general shift in the wider industry of apps:

We’ve reached out both to Haines and to Twitter for further comment and will update this post as and when we learn more.

0 notes