#and Google says average is in your 40s

[blub-blob]

that's... concerning. welp time to do some magic shit to get that shop to come to me #blob talks

Should I get it?

[physics-of-one-piece]

Physics, my love. I have a question for you. That beautiful flamingo man with the glasses and the lanky legs...

Just how wide does Donquixote Doflamingo smile?

How big is his maniacal grin? How far do his lips part when he laughs in that mischievous way? There is something about his smile that I am absolutely in love with.

Hello, Snail! ❤️❤️🫂🫂

Beautiful flamingo man with his sunglasses and lanky legs and beautiful smile. 😍🥰🦩🩷

Thank you so, so much for sending this question. It delighted me to see it. I myself always wondered just how big are those smiles, I always just guessed well about the size of his hand so 30 cm, but now I get to fully submerge into this study.

"There is sth about his smile that I am absolutely in love with." I know, right? It's such a beautiful smile. Whenever I see his smile, I just want to kiss him 🥹 right on his teeth. Give them a peck.

Okay, without further ado, let's do it.

First, we need to figure out how much height his head has. Height of head is 13% or 1/8th of the human's height. I went with the 1/8th but 13% gives a similar result literally the same one.

305/8 = 38 cm. However this is an average so we'll put it to be 40cm

Doflamingo's Head Height = 40 cm

Why do we need this? Cus we'll be working with pixels and we need to know (and we'll do it for each image cus each image is a different size) how many pixels is 1 cm and then we'll draw a line measuring the width of his smile (without the dimples factored in) and see how long in pixels that line is then convert the pixels to cm and get how big of a smile the King of Dressrosa has Spoiler, it's BIG. Ha. That's what she said.

First, we'll take this one. Straight downloaded the manga page and then sized it so it's only this panel.

Wook at him and his big smile 🥺🥺🥺 isn't he absolutely adorable?

After measuring, his face is 199 pixels height

So that means on this image 40 cm = 199 pixels

How to get how many cm is one pixel?

We go pixels/cm, so 40/199 = 0.20

So 1 pixel=0.20 cm

Now we measure out just his smile. We don’t go to the dimples. According to google, the width of the mouth is the width of your teeth. Kinda. So we’re gonna go to the corners of his lips.

122 pixels width.

Now, we do 122×0.20

Doflamingo's Smile = 24.4 cm

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. YES. THAT FITS. YES.

Let’s do it with another picture.

Handsome, handsome man. He could be telling me sth terrible but I'd be too busy being mesmerized by his smile to catch anything and just agree and say "Yeah, totally." just to keep him smiling. (I am weak.)

Okay, once more his head height it’s 199 pixels, interesting. So we stick to the 0.20 cm per pixel

Let’s measure his face width while we’re here, so you guys can tell how much of his cheeks his smile takes over.

131 pixels width for his face

Doflamingo's Face Width = 26.2 cm

113 pixels this time of his smile width, a bit of a smaller smile, but no less beautiful.

This smile is 22.6 cm.

So this smile leaves only 2 cm of no-smile on each cheek.

(swoons)

This is one of my fav smiles of his. This charming, pleasant, handsome one. It’s arrogant, but damn is it HANDSOME. 

341 pixels = 40 cm

1px = 0.12 cm

200 pixels × 0.12 = 24 cm

So, I think it’s safe to say this is how far his smile stretches.

For comparison, the average human smile is 2-4 cm wide (I think)

Let’s see the one where he’s going toward Punk Hazard!

246 pixels height = 40 cm

0.16 = 1 px

144 pixels wide smile

This smile is 23.41 cm wide.

Okay so the anime team draws Doflamingo’s smiles even BIGGER than they are drawn in the manga it seems to me?

Once more, proof Toei animators are absolute simps for Doffy. They drew him beautifully.

Let's do some from the anime. Let's do this one below.

Height of head 418 px = 40 cm

Width of smile 265 px × 0.09

25.35 cm

I TOLD YOU. I TOLD YOU THE TOEI ANIMATORS DREW HIS SMILES BIGGER. TOEI ANIMATORS, I SEE YOU, AND I LOVE YOU. 

Since we’re focusing on his mouth, let’s see how big it opens as in when he opens it wide. 

449 px = 40 cm the same, they only change his mouth.

1px = 0.08

Width of this grin 254 px × 0.08 = 20.32

Bite gap when talking - 99 px = 8.91 cm

This is not his maximum mouth opening.

Fuck, I’m gonna - wait, I’ll go to the same first pic (this one)

104 px height for maximum mouth opening (yes I know there are others but I’ve got like 20+ pics of Doffy smiling now I am feeling overwhelmed by his smiles)

The measurements for that was 0.20=1px

104×0.20

….

20.8 cm maximum mouth opening/mouth height/open mouth height

Doffy's Maximum Mouth Opening = 20.8 cm

HAHAHAHA

What that mouth do, Doffy, what that mouth do? 😉😉😉😘

THIS MAN GIVES THE BEST ORAL I JUST KNOW I - (gets shot)

This iconic one when he asks Luffy “Gear Fourth?”

547 px = 40 cm

1 px =0.07

Width of smile 345 px = 24.15 cm

Thank you so much for the ask, Snail! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ There are more pics and things I did so this continues in the reblog cus I reached the pic limit 😭!

Taglist: @daydreamer-in-training @moonbaby26 (cus I think you might be interested) @ohnomyhooves

[harloqui]

The Mathematics of Shifting

I went to the doctor the other day, for the typical autoimmune issues I've mentioned on this blog. While I was talking to one of the doctors about my issues, they offhandedly confirmed my feelings with a "we noticed your eosinophils were quite high." I'd always suspected that, but I hadn't had any tests to confirm, and although it was likely I just wanted to confirm medically before I started claiming something... Although googling it it's almost a fact that if you have autoimmune issues you'll have high eosinophils, so I guess I could have claimed it anyway.

But as I was leaving the doctor's office, it occured to me that maybe this is why at least some shifters are the way they are. A symptom of my autoimmune condition is that I don't get cold; when it's flaring I could be out in sixty or even fifty degree weather and still be hot. A lot of shifters also describe this same symptom, and while it's not always tied to being a shifter (many conditions are tied to high eosinophils) enough shifters have mentioned it that I think there may be something there. Eosinophils are white blood cells that are responsible for a bunch of functions in the body, including wound healing and chemical signaling.

And then later on it occured to me that with this information, maybe shifting is less like breaking a bone and more like self-cannibalism? Eosinophils in eosinophilic diseases attack the human body and its organs, but it doesn't outright cause damage the way a broken bone or serious physical injury might. I've seen therians try to disprove shifting by using calculations for injuries as a gotcha - the logic being that if you were to injure yourself a thousand times over you'd die from shock or an energy deficit. But if shifting isn't a critical injury, and your calorie source is yourself, then you can bypass those restrictions.

So I decided to do some calculations. I found an academic journal which goes into the calories of an average adult male organ by organ. Total calories of an adult male is around 143,771.33cal, and their weight is around 65.99kg. Now, googling how long it takes to heal an injury (I know I said shifting isn't like healing an injury but unfortunately there isn't any data on how long it takes to heal from eosinophilic diseases and the calories burned from them) it would seem as if it takes 30cal per kilogram of weight. 30cal × 65.99kg = 1,979.7cal/kg. (I'm going to treat the entire body as if it is a giant "wound" instead of tiny unspecified cuts and injuries.) Different sources say that the human body is composed of 40% skeletal muscle, 18-24% fat, and 14% bone (for men). I'm assuming the rest is things like cartilage, keratin (hair, nails), smooth muscle, organs and other bodily byproducts that don't fit into this.

So assuming our 65.99kg man has 40% skeletal muscle, 18% fat, 14% bone, and 28% everything else, we can take the percentages of 1,979.7cal/kg, since I'm assuming that the 30cals would be distributed evenly around the body, or to the parts that need it the most. 40/100 × 1,979.7cal/kg = 791.88cal/kg, 18/100 × 1,979cal/kg = 356.346cal/kg, 14/100 × 1,979cal/kg = 277.158cal/kg and 28/100 × 1,979cal/kg = 554.316cal/kg. We'll really only need skeletal muscle and bone, since as far as I know fat isn't modified (it may be redistributed on the body or used, but it itself doesn't appear to be touched by the shifting in the same way), and hair, nails, etc. simply don't have a rate attached since they tend to be negligible. Organs may not be severely affected as well (if they were, shifting would kill people immediately) and I'd have to assume they're largely untouched.

(Note that for me and other shifters I've talked to, bones do not break, they moreso flow? into an area. This is why I'm not calculating for the breaks of a bone or anything like that, there's nothing to break.)

Muscle damage is graded on a severity of 1 to 3, with grade 3 injuries taking months to heal and grade 1 a few weeks. I chose a grade 2 injury to represent shifting since it would most likely mimic a severe injury, but not to the point where you couldn't use the muscle or function with it. Grade 2 injuries take at most 16 weeks to heal, so 791.88cal/kg of muscle × 7 days = 5,543.16cal/kg per week so then 5,543cal/kg × 16 weeks = 88,690.56cal/kg. Bone takes 12 weeks to heal at the latest, so 277.158cal/kg × 7 days = 1,940.106cal/kg and 1,940.106cal/kg × 12 weeks = 23,281.272cal/kg.

88,690.56cal/kg skeletal muscle + 23,281.272cal/kg bone + 554.316cal/kg everything else + 356.346cal/kg fat = 112,882.494cal/kg total to heal bone and muscle, or reform a shifter's body.

Calories of adult male (143,771.33cal) - calories of "shifted" male (112,882.494cal/kg) = 30,888.836cal/kg left over, meaning that if you were to shift using your body as energy, you'd have 30,888.836cal/kg to spare. Now, if we were talking about calories you need to ingest needing 112,882 of them would be an unreasonable amount, unless you healed over a period of weeks or days. However, since the body is our energy source, it will be the source of calories used while shifted, and we'll assume the process is sped up.

The human body is imperfect at digesting calories - off the top of my head I've heard 65% of what we eat is actually used as energy, with the rest being burned while processing those calories or simply lost while processing, but more recent estimates have it at 95%. I know reusing parts of the body isn't exactly like digesting external matter through your stomach, but assuming it's similar enough, 95/100 × 112,882.494cal/kg = 107,238.369cal/kg so 112,882.494cal/kg − 107,238.369cal/kg = 5,644.1247cal/kg lost. So transforming would (assuming you were efficient at digesting matter) cause you to lose around 5,000 calories, which actually lines up with the claims I've heard from other shifters, who say they get really hungry after shifting but not overly so to where they'd need medical assistance or the like. 5,000 is around the amount athletes eat, so it's not an unreasonable amount to build back either.

Going a little bit further... If that's how many calories athletes burn, the body temperature of athletes in action should be applicable to shifting, right? A body temperature above 40°C is dangerous for long periods of time, because it denatures proteins and destroys the body. But it would seem athletes regularly go past that without necessarily suffering ill effects, indicating that at least on some level the body can handle high temperatures short term. (If you're disabled however, the risks increase due to physiological differences, so this doesn't apply across the board.)

So shifting (if my math is right and all this is applicable to the real world) should typically lead to a calorie deficit of around 5,000 calories, a body temperature above 40°C (but not too far) and exhaustion similar to that of experienced athletes. It does not destroy the body, because everything is in accepted ranges and the body is being "digested" and used as a source of food.

Feel free to check my work. A lot of the math surrounding this stuff is hard to do because a lot of the values necessary to calculate it have never been studied. I was trying to find the amount of calories hair growth would take even for an average adult human, but hair is considered negligible and the people I've come across tend to use sheep's wool as a replacement, which might distort the calculations a bit. If you have any values for me to work with though, you're more than welcome to send them to me! I'll see how I can work them into my calculations, if possible.

[pebblysand]

Why’s fan fiction so bad these days.

hi anon! i can't tell if this is a dig at my fics, a dig at other people's fics, or just a standard observation. having said that, i typically don't answer asks that don't say hello/thank you/some sort of minimal human acknowledgement but i did find this an interesting question to raise, so.

i don't necessarily think fanfic is "bad" "these days". IMO, the ratio of good v. bad fic has been pretty much equal in most of the fandoms i've been in overtime. about 30-40% are so bad they're unreadable (i'm talking: awful grammar, terribly OOC, plot that makes no sense, etc.). about 50-60% are "a bit meh", meaning that if you're in a very small fandom where there is nothing else to read, you'll probably read them out of sheer content starvation, but they won't really give you anything of substance. if you're in a big fandom with loads of content, you'll probably pass on them. then, you have probably about 9% that are really good. this, to me, is the stuff you would recommend if you were building a rec list for others, which you believe everyone should read. and lastly, you have the top 1%. those are the fics that have taken your breath away, are imprinted in your brain forever, you've re-read them ad nauseam and have written love letters to the authors about.

i find this ratio pretty much invariable. it was the same when i was writing for Silk, for The Good Wife, and now for HP. it also seems to be the same per HP niche. to me, there's a top 10% of post-war fics, there's a top 10% of harmony fics, etc.

but the major thing to note here is that what is top 10% for me might not be top 10% for you. that's why you don't have everyone reading or reccing the same things, and that's the joy and the beauty of diversity of taste and opinion, as far as i'm concerned. it's why i disagree with your general assessment that "fanfic is bad" "these days". that's something you think - not necessarily something someone else would think, on the basis of the content published. to give you an example, in hinny circles, i see floreatcastellum and northumbrian recommended a lot. on tiktok, i see manacled recommended a lot. having skimmed through these works, they -- personally -- do not do anything for me. but that doesn't mean they're "bad" fics. i'm sure they're great fics. they are loved by many, many people. they're just not something i vibe with, and they're not in my top 10%. just like loads of people think my fics are not for them. and that's absolutely fine. as long as you don't come in screaming in all caps insulting authors whose works you don't vibe with, we can all very happily coexist.

having said that, i have to admit that as far as my taste goes, i'm currently building a massive Google Sheets rec list (yes, coming soon, i promise ^^). one of the things i'm tracking in this rec list is the date of publication/completion of the work. and from what i can see at this stage, the average date of publication of my top 10% works is 2016. which, i think, does also say something. while i do still find loads of fics published semi-recently that i like, i also do have to acknowledge the fact that if we're looking at my own personal taste... you're probably kind of right.

so, why is fanfiction so bad these days?

i think a large part of it is that my personal taste doesn't necessarily align with that of the wider public. i'm not on-trend, let's say. AUs are pretty much the gold standard now, and particularly what-if AUs (e.g. what if Harry was a Muggle? what if Ron was in Slytherin? what if Sirius survived? etc.) you see tonnes of these recommended on reddit/being published all the time. loads of people are also interested in more exploration of characters and niche ships i'm personally not interested in (marauders, death eaters, etc.) there is also a prominence of fluff (or low-stakes romantic angst), particularly in the hinny, dramione and drarry fandoms. it's escapism from canon (and possibly, escapism from the harsh reality of our world), that i just personally don't vibe with/am not looking for. we see this in original fiction as well, with the drive towards fantasy/romantasy in recent years, and more recently still, with "cosy" literature. i don't particularly enjoy these genres in original fiction either, so i think that's probably also why i don't particularly vibe with the fanfic in that same trend.

i also think, just overall, there is less content being published in the HP fandom in general. thus, proportionally, less fics people will vibe with. this is in part simply due to the age of the source material (this happens to TV shows a lot: once a series is over, people tend to gradually drop out of fandom). it's also, i believe, due to the fact that there was a boom of fandom involvement during covid (as people had nothing else to do), and that people have now gradually dropped back out. lastly, it is probably also due to the fact that a large portion of people who used to be in fandom have dropped out due to JKR's controversial opinions. all of these things combined means that there is less overall content, and thus less content you're going to like as an individual.

additionally, globally, many countries are currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. this matters because, as i always say, "fanfiction is a rich person's hobby". meaning that: if you're going to truly make an effort in writing, and truly get involved in fandom, you need to have time on your hands. time you won't have anymore if you're struggling, having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. writing at a high level is a massive time suck and very few people, right now, can afford to spend hours upon hours producing free content. it's sad, but it's true. so, of course, that's inevitably going to drive good writers out of fandom. and, sadly, it will disproportionally impact good writers, because they will be the ones who will spend the most time on their craft. it's very quick to write shit fic with loads of grammatical mistakes, much harder/longer to write something high-quality. it also disproportionally impacts, of course, marginalised communities, who will then not produce the high-quality content that represents them.

lastly, i also think that one thing that demotivates writers at the moment, is an overall drop in community engagement. i was very reluctant to buy into this up until very recently because, tbh, i always get the ick when people try and argue that things were "better before" but i have to admit... i've been getting loads of comments/DMs lately from people telling me things like "i never typically comment on fanfic, but...[your fic is great]" or people coming out of the woodwork telling me they've been reading castles for years, without ever making contact before. and, not to criticise any of these people, because i truly cherish every single comment, and i understand people might feel very nervous engaging, but you have to admit that if So Many People do the same thing, you end up in a situation where many good writers get demotivated thinking no one is reading their fics because they're not getting any engagement. and, while yes, people should write for themselves first, it's easier said than done when you're just posting into the void.

so, yeah, idk, maybe instead of complaining, we should be looking at making writing conditions better for online writers and encourage more diversity in fandom. you're always going to have trends and writing styles that you more ore less vibe with, that's immutable, but creating the conditions for more voices to be able to participate is definitely a very large factor in that.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Friday

SpaceTime 20241122 Series 27 Episode 141

Black hole consuming matter faster than its theoretical limit

Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole in the early universe that’s consuming matter more than 40 times faster than its theoretical limit.

Solving one of Uranus’s mysteries

Astronomers have discovered that an unusual kind of space weather squeezed Uranus’s magnetic field, dramatically compressing its magnetosphere just before NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past it in 1986.

A new spacecraft to track how Earth’s surface moves

Scientists are developing a new satellite designed to measure ground movement on the Earth’s surface.

The Science Report

The World Meteorological Organization says 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record.

Ultra processed foods are now dominating diets globally.

Toy dog types bred for companionship have the biggest brains relative to their bodies.

Skeptics guide to the tethered satellite UFO story

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[keirou-kun]

Bruce Wayne has bradycardia

So I'm re-reading the first Justice League tpb [the one from the early aughts, just after Infinite Crisis] and there's this little tidbit that Clark drops about Bruce:

Bruce's normal resting heart rate is less than 40 bpm. 40 bpm is excited for him; it's a noticeable change. Now, either our writer did not bother doing a bit of simple research, or this says kind of a fucking lot about Bruce and the kind of training and restraint he's learned over the years.

A 5-second google search tells me that the 'official' average resting heart rate for an adult human being is anywhere from 60-100 bpm, with the real numbers [according to Harvard Health] being more like 55-85 bpm. This is a resting heart rate. This is the average range of how fast your heart should be beating when everything is normal and chill.

Bruce Wayne's is noticeably less than that. Now, this isn't unheard of; another 5-second google search gives me the Wikipedia page for bradycardia - which honestly I'd never heard of before today - and the note that the lowest heart rate ever recorded on a healthy human being is 26 bpm. A pro cyclist is recorded as having a resting heart rate of 28 bpm. Given Bruce is one of the top martial artists and overall athletes in the world, I 100% believe his resting rate could well be that slow but even so.

Holy heart rates, Batman

[ocrpsearch]

Hey all, 21 y/o writer here looking for a 21+ writing partner interested in a fandomless fxf, mxf or nbxf omegaverse plot! I myself would prefer playing f.

Before diving into ideas lets get through the boring parts. I don't mind if we roleplay on tumblr, discord, google docs, etc. I don't know how much I write max but I’m semi-lit to lit, I average 3 paragraphs - quality over quantity always in my book. I'm not picky on fcs, if its not my character I don't believe I have a say in what people use.

I don't do rapid replies, I have a job and go to school, so I respond when I can and prefer not to be hounded.

I'd love an rp that's 60/40 split for plot & smut. I love a good story, good drama and good building with smut as a fun little bonus. The two ocs I have in mind are both submissive leans and are either omega or omega variant(I play omegaverse by the expanded sub-variants version for more variety).

I don't enjoy passive plotters even if I have simple starter ideas or pairing ideas, I prefer someone who can brainstorm or come up with ideas to improve the roleplay. With that out the way lets get to the two plot ideas I have!

Plot A- Our characters are in some way platonically close. My Character(MC) has been needing some company as the anniversary 4th of her breakup with her former fianceé nears, Your Character(YC) offers to either stay at her place or invite MC to stay with them. From there they spend the next two weeks together, unfortunately their rut/heat starts unexpectedly, how will they handle this?

Plot B- This one is a little more pair-specific with golden retriever(YC) x black cat goth(MC). It's a bit more of a slow burn, opposites attract, unrequited crush type deal. MC has a secret crush on YC, and has never acted on it for reasons we have yet to discuss. YC is entirely oblivious and sees MC as a coworker, a friend, or something like that. But the more time they send together the more obvious that MC has certain feelings she's struggling to express since YC isn't picking up on hints.

If you're interested please reach out to me via DMs, we can discuss limits and things privately and I can send over my two oc sheets I have that are decently detailed. Hope we can write together 💕

dm user: peachp0p

[foreverisntenough]

Just curious but have you ever thought about going back through some of your older works and adding links to items you've mentioned that aren't linked? LOVEEEE your fashion taste

Thank you for complimenting my taste level. That makes me happy. I wanted to share fashion with you all to provide a little further insight into my characters visually [and I guess subtly what I like too] 🤍🤍🤍

---

This is not directed at you anon nor is it meant with any animosity to any of my readers - just simply wanted to take this opportunity to share some comments on your question from me...

Regarding links... I've gotten told a lot that some don't work and I really am sorry. I feel so bad this is bothering readers.

I am not entirely sure how to fix this right now. Some of the links do work/ some don't. And It's not that i think you all don't deserve to see them, it's why I included links to begin with because I want to share! That said, with all the work I do on current fics and other works - I'm not sure I have the bandwidth. I'm not sure I have the time at the minute for me to go back and read all of my series and click every link to check them.

I imagine most of the links are the one's from earlier works but it could be the case for even something as current as 'Movie Night'... I just can't control when products get taken down off their sites

For now, it'd be most helpful when if someone is reading spots a bad link and they want to know about it, shoot me a quick dm message... That said, I am in no way asking my readers to do that for me but if you see one it'd be really appreciated!

Honestly I will try to see how to do this best go forward and fix any from the past eventually. I just am not totally sure how to go about this just yet.... Because if I change the items linked, the text surrounded them would have to change... and eventually those may disapear too...

Maybe I will add a quick outfit photo at the bottom of the fic? Idk. That feels disconnected because what if it's described in the first paragraph.... Feel free to send ideas....

I do have a few more thoughts unrelated to the links but related to my works and if you want to read you can... if not feel free to keep scrolling ...

First and foremost I want to clarify this is not a complaint. This is meant just to be Fie being vulnerable with my readers, not an accusation rather an opportunity for me to provide insight...

While I write because I enjoy it. The work I share is done solely for you all because I love my readers and the community we've built and in turn give and take would be really appreciated.

In saying I'm working 'for' my readers, I want to provide some context. Just from a simple google search (though everyone is different) writing 10k words, they generalize it to take two weeks to write…. And on average it takes some 40 minutes to read it... that's 0.0014% of the time I spent on it.

On Jan 31st I posted a 12.9k word chapter, on Feb 6 I posted a 13.3k word chapter, followed 5 days later with a 13.4k word chapter.... I really do put so much hard work into this. And I want to! But from ideation, character planning, character development, plot points, direction of the narrative, writing pages upon pages, and then writing scenes and scrapping them, editing them to flow, editing them to be best possible grammatically, linking items, reediting so it fits on tumblr's format.... I could go on it’s time and effort.

So please know... I really am trying so hard to deliver good work for Fie's community to enjoy. I am so sincerely sorry that sometimes I might miss something, or things like links don't work.

I can not reiterate this enough. This is not a complaint. It's just a lens into my side of things and why I appreciate my readers SO much, particularly those of you engage with my work. The effort I put in means so much more if my readers put effort into engaging with me,

I will keep working to put out content you enjoy, working on improving my writing, working on finding innovative ways to make things more engaging ,and most of all, working on making sure my community is happy here in the ForeverIsn'tEnough World.

xx FIE

[suckitsurveys]

Was it a boy or a girl to text you last? I haven’t checked in a bit if anyone’s messaged me but the last person I remember seeing text me was my sister.

Name something you are doing tomorrow? It’s Thanksgiving, so most of the morning I’ll be prepping food, and then going over to my sister’s in the afternoon.

Do you sleep on your stomach? I do, or my left side.

Where are you going to be at 4pm tomorrow? That is when we are planning on eating Thanksgiving dinner.

Last time you saw fireworks, with whom & where? I was with my husband in the park by our house.

Are you missing someone? Yes.

Do you like horror or comedy? I tend to prefer comedy.

Who did you last share a taxi with? I think the last time I was in a taxi was in New Orleans when my dad and I took one from the hotel to the train station to go back home.

Dogs or cats? Cats.

What were you doing at 12 this afternoon? That is in an hour.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Yes.

What’s your favorite season? Summer.

When’s the last time you did something you knew was wrong? I rode in my car for a bit without a seat belt this morning.

Do you hate being alone? No.

Is there a girl that knows everything or mostly everything about you? Yes, mostly.

What about a guy? My husband.

What color shirt are you wearing? I’m wearing a dark blue shirt and a black hoodie.

What are you listening to right now? The washing machine in the basement. Karenna purring. Light traffic.

If you won a lot of money on the lottery, what would you buy first? Sushi.

What was the last thing you bought? Groceries.

What’s your greatest fear in life? My fears being used against me.

Who was the last person to see you cry? Mark.

Who was the last person you hugged? Mark.

Do you think you would be a good parent? I think I’d be OKAY but not okay enough to want to fucking do it.

When was the last time you cried? Yesterday. Basically a daily occurrence since Nov 5th

Who was driving the last time you were in a car? I was.

Does any part of your body hurt right now? I feel kinda achy actually.

Who was the last person that text you and what did it say? I’m not checking if anyone new has messaged me but my sister texted asking me to start a google doc for the family’s xmas wishlists.

What was the first thing you thought this morning? Wondered what time it was.

How many times do you talk on the phone a day on average? I usually call Mark on my way home from work.

Do you like your bed? I’d love a new mattress.

Do you like your life? Generally.

When did you last talk to your brother or sister? She texted me today if that counts.

Do you ever wanna know who you are going to marry? I am married.

How much cash do you have on you? $30.

Who are the 3rd and 7th texts in your phone from? Not checking.

Are you tanned? No.

Are you upset with anyone? Always.

Did you get any compliments today? Yes.

Have you ever gone to court? Yes, kinda. I had to appear in front of a judge for a “sentencing” when I got my bullshit trespassing arrest. There wasn’t a full court with attorneys or a jury or anything. They just read me and Mark the fines we had to pay and we were on our way.

Do you get jealous easily? Eh.

How good is your eyesight? It’s horrible.

Would you ever want to swim with the sharks? Sure.

What time did you wake up this morning? Around 4:30am.

What are you doing Saturday? Probably putting up Christmas lights at my dad’s.

What is in your back pocket? Nothing.

What were you doing at 3am this morning? Sleeping.

What do you usually do first in the morning? Check the time.

What color is your room? The walls are light blue.

Are you any good at math? Not particularly.

Any plans for Friday night? We might go to my mother in law’s.

What did you do last weekend? This past weekend I babysat my nieces all weekend.

Do you have a little crush on someone? Just lil celebrity crushes hehehe.

How old is the last person you kissed? 40.

Why did you last cry? The world fucking sucks and I’m getting my period.

Why did you kiss the person you last kissed? I was leaving for work.

What’s their name? Mark.

How has this week been? Eh.

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

Because I love coral reefs I am hoping to create a beautiful coral reef planet full of them. A few things that are on my mind. Obviously, coral reefs only grow in tropical areas, which should probably exclude the poles. That's fine. So a few questions on that. What is the best way to extend the tropical range? What is the narrowest possible temperature range between equator and pole? How well can I do if I diversify my corals with plenty of heat or cold resistant coral? What characteristics do those corals need? Also, this is very much a living and evolving planet so I have questions on how these coral reefs have changed over the different periods What would make the current period long-lasting and not have had the last mass extinction too soon? I want certain coral species to be ancient and have survived multiple mass extinctions. How can I design those?

Addy: I did some searching, but I'm no climate-dinosaur expert, so the best I've got for you are some rough outlines of our own planet's history.

We've had many coral reefs over the eons - the largest (from my understanding) were during the late Devonian period, but they were actually made of different creatures than what make up our modern reefs. They died off, though, and our modern corals took their place. Those modern corals really took off during the Cretaceous period, so I'm looking at that for climate stuff.

The Cretaceous period had high water levels (~300+ ft above modern sea level), which meant that you had large, shallow stretches of ocean over areas that would otherwise be land. The poles didn't have ice caps (average polar water temperature was around 40°F), and Antarctica was covered in forests.

You did have periodic oxygen deprivation events, but you could probably prevent those by introducing some more currents into your oceans. Our Cretaceous period had some pretty clustered continents, which, to compare it to HVAC, meant that they didn't get a lot of ventilation. Really easy for it to get stuffy in a room without ventilation… or to use up all of your oxygen and suffocate. So! Make the areas a bit less clustered, give your continents a bit more room to breathe. Open a metaphorical window. That'll help prevent mass extinctions.

For land temperatures… from what I could find online, the areas within the latitudes from the equator to ~10° were tropics, the 10°-30° latitudes were arid subtropics*, the 30°-45° latitudes were humid subtropical with moderate/heavy rainfall, and then the polar regions were temperate.

* Might be from the oceans getting squeezed like that, not much room for the winds to pick up ocean spray

A couple useful links:

https://www.climate-policy-watcher.org/global-climate-2/cretaceous-era.html shows some specific temperatures for certain regions

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/fossils-and-geological-time/corals/ info about corals

https://www.britannica.com/science/Cretaceous-Period info about the Cretaceous period

So if you've got a warm planet with large regions of shallow ocean, then you've got a coral-happy environment. We have sections of modern Earth that are like this, but they're only sections. Cold-resistant coral are going to live a bit deeper in the ocean, and are a sort of bastion of safety when ocean temperatures rise. They don't support the same marine species as the shallower reefs, but the cooler temperatures they live in are generally safer during periods of global warming (which we're seeing again now, as the planet warms).

Certain coral species to survive… I'd say that you'd get family lines that'd survive, that's easy, no problem. Whatever didn't die in the last mass extinction lives on, and its offspring will be whatever species come next. If you want it to be an exact species, then you'd probably need to have the last extinction to have happened relatively soon. If you're just looking for something that looks similar and acts pretty much the same, then it can have happened however long ago, no issue. 

[hamptercatapult]

i typed out and deleted a post about reusable menstrual items prompted by an annoying ad but realized my personal opinion on these items do not matter. anyway i looked at the ad again and got pissed off again for another reason

cuz like the text appeals to the idea of reducing your waste and helping the environment yeah okay w/e thats not fucking effective on a global scale but what ever

but the fucking ad is about the Cost of these things and demeans the reader [assumed to be A Women] by comparing the "amount saved per year" (and by what metric are these numbers gathered?) to the cost of. a fucking Pumpkin Spice Latte. you know. because every menstruator looovvvvees a pumpking spice latte and is stuuuuupid so She doesnt know that $220-$30=$190 and that is a lottttt of money and you can buy sooooo many pimpgkjn spcieb larbnees with that #girlmath

like wooow now i can buy 15 more pumpkgmfnmgnfmfnfjnfbf per year for the next 2 years according to the math on this ad oooooooooh my goooood stopppppppp

like. okay. okay ill do the math!

lets say the statistically average person menstruates for 6 days a month, every month. over the course of 2 years [24 months] , that equals 144 days of menstrus. menstrual products need to be replaced about every 8 hours on average. therefore, assuming the use of 3 tampons per each day of menstrus equals 432 tampons over the course of 2 years. a quick google search found that i can buy a box of 45 tampons for $10. im gonna round up to the nearest box of 45 and say that, over the course of 2 years, a statistically average person might spend around $100 on tampons. which is less than half of what this ad wants you to think you are spending!!

and sure. yes. $30 is still less than $100, saving $70 over the course of 2 years. by this metric thats 11 godforsaken seasonal beverages!

but now! now! instead of disposing of each sodden strip of cotton and inserting an unsoiled product, you must rinse out your viscera in the sink and re-insert that product! what fun

and of course the numbers for everything i calculated vary WILDLY from length of menstrus to product cost. but i feel that ive still illustrated my point well enough. for this wayyyy too long silly post about a stupid advertisement on tumblr.fuck

and you know what. i looked at the damn wikipedia page for tampons and theres a section on cost!

so you can tell that the advertisers for this product did not even look at wikipedia before spitballing an amount! which even at its assumed Maximum is $180 [for 2 years] which is STILL $40 less than what this stupid ad says!!!!! fuck! i hate advertising

[whatinthe-greenbeans]

1-98 ask game

Im not gonna answer some of them just cause 1- I’m lazy, and 2- I couldn’t think of an answer. I’ll just put N/A (no answer) for those ones

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Mugs definitely, I love mugs. Teacups are a close second though, those are pretty cool.

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Chocolate bars

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Bubble gum (this also depends on what brand of bubble gum though)

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

I was homeschooled so idk

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

Soda cans/bottles, whatever the soda originally came in basically

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

Grunge or goth

7. earbuds or headphones?

Headphones 100%

8. movies or tv shows?

tv shows, movies are too much commitment

9. favorite smell in the summer?

This is oddly specific, my mind is blank

10. game you were best at in p.e.?

Again, homeschooled. I’ve never done p.e.

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

A bowl of cereal

12. name of your favorite playlist?

“More unnamed vibes ✨🕺”

13. lanyard or key ring?

Lanyard

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Skittles

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

The kite runner was really good. I also loved when we read Shakespeare

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

It depends which part of my body hurts that day

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

combat boots

18. ideal weather?

When it’s really sunshiney right after it rains

19. sleeping position?

On my side

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

Notes app or google docs if I’m on my laptop

21. obsession from childhood?

✨dinosaurs✨

22. role model?

N/A

23. strange habits?

I have a lot of habits but I wouldn’t say any of them are strange or out of the ordinary? I’m sure there’s something but I can’t think of it right now

24. favorite crystal?

N/A

25. first song you remember hearing?

Idk man that was too long ago for me to recall. Probably some Katy Perry or something??

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Old lady activities- but outside (reading, crocheting, etc but it’s in the sun so it’s 10x better)

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

Old lady activities still but it’s inside because cold

28. five songs to describe you?

That requires way more thinking and self awareness than I posses. Ask pyxy maybe they know

29. best way to bond with you?

Literally just hang out or hold an interesting conversation with me

30. places that you find sacred?

N/A

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

I dunno, probably jeans and a cool shirt ?? (I wear the same things every day)

32. top five favorite vines?

I LIKE A LOT OF THEM HOW SHOULD I PICK???

33. most used phrase in your phone?

Probably me yelling ‘KYEL’

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

🕺 Avocados from Mexico 💃🏼

35. average time you fall asleep?

Like how many times per day? Once a night, I don’t nap. If we’re talking how long it takes me to fall asleep then it’s more like an hour+ of laying in bed and staring at the ceiling

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

Some of these questions are really challenging my memory

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Suitcase

38. lemonade or tea?

Lemonade

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

Pie

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

N/A

41. last person you texted?

@pyxy-styx

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

Jacket pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

Hoodie

44. favorite scent for soap?

I do not like scented soap

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

Fantasy but I also like sci fi

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

T shirt and leggings /pajama pants

47. favorite type of cheese?

All of the above

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

A peach?? Idk

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

N/A (I can’t think of any rn but I’m sure there is some)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

Watching someone else laugh so hard that water came out of her nose

51. current stresses?

I have a concert coming up soon but I think we’ll be fine

52. favorite font?

Times new Roman (I don’t use a lot of fonts, this one is nice though)

53. what is the current state of your hands?

I’ve colored all over them

54. what did you learn from your first job?

N/A

55. favorite fairy tale?

Dude most of the original fairytales are pretty gruesome, they’re all really cool

56. favorite tradition?

My family is boring we don’t really have specific traditions

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Oh boy do you wanna know (N/A)

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

Creative ability in general, specifically with music and crafts like crocheting or sewing. Ig I would also consider my fixation and knowledge on psychology and brain stuff a talent.

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

Gaslight Gatekeep Kivenboss

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

N/A (I haven’t watched any anime so)

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

“But before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a persons conscience” -Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

62. seven characters you relate to?

Nimona(Nimona), hiccup haddock(HTTYD), Charlie spring(Heartstopper), Peter Parker(specifically the Tom holland MCU spider man), Anne Shirley(Anne of green gables), Katie Mitchell(Mitchell’s vs. the Machines). Kinda basic characters but idc.

63. five songs that would play in your

club?

All the gay songs

64. favorite website from your childhood?

I wasn’t really on the internet as a ki

65. any permanent scars?

Yeah

66. favorite flower(s)?

Marigolds and carnations are really pretty

67. good luck charms?

N/A

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

I’m not typically picky when it comes to the flavor of things, nothing comes to mind that I just really hated the flavor of.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Pretty much everything I know about cannibalism

70. left or right handed?

Right

71. least favorite pattern?

Anything that has so much going on it overloads my brain

72. worst subject?

The one I’m worst in is probably any type of history but I don’t hate any subjects

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

I dislike weird flavor combos in general so I can’t think of any I like

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

I could probably get up to a pain level of like 5 or 6 and not even really notice just cause I suck at noticing what’s going on with my body. Pain meds also just don’t really work well for me, so I rarely take any

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

I think I was six, almost seven probably?

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

French fries 🫶🫶

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

I know nothing about plants. I think plants with vines hanging out of the windowsill would look cool though

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

Sushi

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

School ID. I have a horrible rbf in my license photo

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Earth tones

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

I grew up saying fireflies but lighting bugs is so much cooler

82. pc or console?

PC

83. writing or drawing?

Writing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

Podcast

84. barbie or polly pocket?

Barbie

85. fairy tales or mythology?

I don’t know much about mythology but it’s cooler so I pick mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Cookies

87. your greatest fear?

I don’t actually know

88. your greatest wish?

My father dies (/hj)

89. who would you put before everyone else?

Your mom

90. luckiest mistake?

N/A

91. boxes or bags?

Depends what I’m putting in them

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

lamps and other alternative lighting over the big lights any day

93. nicknames?

My legal name + the nickname that goes with it (I hate these), my preferred name + nickname of my preferred name, kiven, plus whatever random crap my friends come up with

94. favorite season?

Autumn

95. favorite app on your phone?

Tumblr (im a mobile user, tragic I know) or Spotify

96. desktop background?

A drawing of a rainy day

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

All in all it’s around eight

98. favorite historical era?

The renaissance was pretty cool. Industrial Revolution era is also really fascinating

This took way too fucking long to do but here it is

[frankenkyle19]

Don’t ever feel like you aren’t writing enough. I have around 28 full fics and compared to some I feel that’s not a lot, but it is to me. Over the course of those 28 fics I have written around 43k words. Which is absolutely insane. For reference google says that an average novel is 80k which is less than 40 more than what I have written, and that’s not included my headcanons and all. Moral of the story, don’t compare your work to others. Slow progress is still progress, and you don’t have to write 10k fanfics to make them good. <33

[the-daily-tizzy]

China does NOT hold the largest amount of U.S. DEBT; U.S. Social Security Administration does!

A woman, or man dies at age 65 before collecting one benefit check.

She/He and her employer paid into the system for almost 50 years and she collected NOTHING

Keep in mind all the working people that die every year who were paying into the system and got nothing.

And these governmental morons mismanaged the money and stole from the system, so that it's now going broke.

And they have the audacity to call today's seniors "vultures" in an attempt to cover their ineptitude.

The real reason for renaming our Social Security payments is so the government can claim that all those social security recipients are receiving entitlements thus putting them in the same category as welfare, and food stamp recipients.

By changing the name of SS contributions, it gives them a means to refute this program in the future.

It's free money for the government to spend under this guise.

The Social Security check is now (or soon will be) referred to as a Federal Benefit Payment ?

The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a "Federal Benefit Payment."

This is NOT a benefit.

It is OUR money, paid out of our earned income!

Not only did we all contribute to Social Security, but our employers did too!

It totaled 15% of our income before taxes.

If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in Social Security.

If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both you and your employers' contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved .

This is your personal investment.

Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month

That's almost three times more than today's average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration. (Google it – it's a fact).

And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)!

I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts.

Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did (or Lyndon Johnson).

They took our money and used it elsewhere.

They "forgot"(oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking.

They did not have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them…and they didn't pay interest on the debt they assumed.

And recently they have told us that the money won't support us for very much longer. (Isn't it funny that they NEVER say this about welfare payments ?)

But is it our fault they misused our investments?

And now, to add insult to injury, they are calling it a benefit, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it

This is stealing !

Just because they borrowed the money, does not mean that our investments were for charity!

Let's take a stand.

We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare.

Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government.

Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going for the sake of the 92% of our population who need it.

Then call it what it is: Our Earned Retirement Income .

[roxtron]

Splatoon 3's game mechanics are absolute bullshit at this point. And I wasn't sure what other vague term to use, because that's the shortest way I can describe it. Yes, this is going to be a long post, ranging from discussing badges, matchmaking, weapon balancing.. etc. I've had a lot of issues with the game for a while now and while the fandom is a part of it, I already addressed part of that in one of my other posts, so I'll keep this one dedicated to the game itself. Keep in mind I may over-explain things so this post is as accessible as I can make it to people who don't play the game.

Salmon Run Issues.

I think I'll start with the badge issue, since it's one I have personal experience with. EVP 999, specifically.

(Context paragraph.) For those who don't know, EVP is a ranked badge you can get during one of the game's extra modes, Salmon Run. The gameplay itself isn't incredibly important to explain why this badge setup is awful, so I'll go over the context that is important. Every match is about 6-9 minutes (Depending on if you get the king salmonoid, which appears every couple of waves.) Each match has 3 waves, a wave 1 loss gets -20 points, wave 2 loss is -10, and a wave 3 loss results in no point change. If you win a match, whether or not it has a king salmonoid, you get 20 points. Keep in mind the name of the badge here with that information in mind. The game expects you to get from EVP 40 to EVP 999 within ONE SINGULAR ROTATION. Each rotation lasts a quarter over a day and a half, around 40 hours. As an example of the hours they give you, the current rotation as I type this started at 9 AM on the 17th, and ends at 1 AM tonight, which would be the 19th. With previous calculations done by the fandom (That are not 100% accurate, but the closest we can get.) To count for lobby-waiting time, inevitable disconnects from the lobby, even if you got 0 losses it can take anywhere from 6-7 hours. Due to splatoon's TERRIBLE matchmaking, unless you have a team of friends to do this challenge with, you're probably gonna get a decent amount of losses. Let's say you only lost 1/4 of your matches, depending on which wave you lost, you may have to do another full match to make up for that loss. If it takes roughly 50 matches of solid wins to get to EVP 999, and you lost 1/4, let's say all wave 1 losses, you'd be behind by about 12 losses. Which means you'd have to get 12 more wins just to undo those mistakes. That already adds roughly another 72 minutes to the amount of time it would take, nearly an hour from only 12 losses.  While we're at it, let's say you actually got a healthy amount of sleep, 8 hours each night. That could potentially mean you're skipping out on only part of the rotation, for example if you went to bed at 10 when the rotation ended at 1 AM, but for calculation's sake, since it's not fully two days, let's go for the amount of time the rotation lasts, a day and 3/4 worth of sleep. If you get a decent amount of sleep, that decreases the amount of time you have to play by 14 hours. Leaving you with only 26 hours to get EVP 999. But oh wait, you're a functioning human being, you're gonna need to take breaks to eat and go to the bathroom. According to google, "on average, we spend only 1 hour and 8 minutes of every weekday consuming food and drink.." Once again counting for a day and 3/4, that's nearly 2 hours spent eating and drinking. Which would leave you with 24 hours. But oh, yet again, the bathroom exists. Once again according to a google search, "the average person spends 30 minutes in the bathroom daily." Again, 3/4 of a day added, that's nearly an hour to add to the count. Which brings us to 23 hours. If all you do besides playing this video game is eat, sleep, and use the bathroom, you only have around 23 hours of the 40 hour window to play. So that's assuming you have that day and 3/4 free, and don't spend any extra time doing things like socializing or talking to your family or roommates. Oh wait.. you might have a job? Working 9-5.. Or school? About 6 hours in the day are lost, even if you have no homework. Forget even attempting this.

 Now here's the part where we get to my personal experience: I have gotten this badge. And I never want to do it again. Every time I complained about these circumstances or saw others doing so, the response was basically just "get good." And I'm one of the people lucky enough to not have had a job or school work when I attempted this. Now that I do have the badge, I can safely say: this response is bullshit. You're not "not good enough" to get the badge. The game simply doesn't give players enough time to get the badge without dedicating an unhealthy amount of hours playing it. The game really doesn't get much harder as the hazard level increases either: It's not a skill issue. It's a time issue, and if you have terrible teammates, a matchmaking issue too. When I got this badge, the rotation was the same. It started at 9 AM, and ended at 1 AM the next night. The first night I started playing around 7 PM, I had spent the entire day cleaning. According to the screenshots I saved, I finished playing around 3 AM and got to EVP 480. So in about 8 hours, I had only gotten about halfway there. Unfortunately for me, I was sick, and woke up at 9 AM the next day. I also had a hard time falling asleep, I remember only getting about 3 hours that night. I played the ENTIRE DAY. I don’t know how many breaks I took to eat or go to the bathroom, but I can tell you it wasn’t many. I was dedicated. Eating and using the bathroom were the only breaks I took. I was dead-tired, zoned out, and trying hard not to stay on autopilot. By the time I finished, my mind had melted so much it didn’t even feel like the same map anymore. Logically, I knew it was, but each jump felt like it was coming from a different place entirely. The time I finished? Around 12:40 AM if I remember correctly. I was nearly 15 minutes behind the cutoff, meaning if I had lost one or two matches: I would’ve just barely missed the count for the badge entirely, after all I went through. I got the badge but, my god, at the cost of my physical and mental health. That was at least 4 months ago and I still remember how drained I was so clearly. The worst part is this wasn’t even a rotation on a map I wasn’t good at, or completely random weapons that leave you forgetting what weapon you’re even holding: Nope. It was on my second favorite map, with me being good/decent at 3/4 weapons in the rotation, with 1 weapon randomized. It was a GOOD rotation, and I still came that close to failing. All the people that claim it’s easy: I am willing to bet money they did this with friends or other pro players. I didn’t have a team of four. The person I typically play with was unable to play beyond a few matches of the rotation. I was doing this completely alone, only with help from pools, which were still new at the time. And I’m good at this game too. This badge is COMPLETELY unattainable for a casual player. And I know it’s intended to be a pro-player badge.. But, I honestly struggle to decide whether or not it was worth it. I’m glad I got the badge, but I certainly went through a lot to get it. 

What makes this frustrating is that there’s such a simple solution: Checkpoints. Yeah, there is none. If you can’t get the points before the rotation ends, your number will be reset to 40. Even if you got to 990, you will still go back just like everyone else. What makes this even worse is that Splatoon 2, which introduced Salmon Run, did have checkpoints. Another point: Splatoon 2 didn’t have any sort of badges. No matter how high your score got in Salmon Run, you would not receive a reward for doing so. And yet, the game would give you a checkpoint every 100 points up until 400. I never got that far, but from old posts, it seems like 900 is the highest you could go. Even this would be so much better, if you got up to EVP 500 and the game would reset your points to 400, that means you’re already nearly halfway there AND you still have the full rotation to keep trying! It’s such an easy fix, by giving players checkpoints you’re giving them more time to achieve this goal, even if it got reset back to 400 that is WAY more attainable than getting reset to 40. Some people argue against this because “oh, what about the poor, poor sweaty players that got EVP 999 without checkpoints?” As one of them, y’know what I say? Fuck it. I don’t care if that makes my achievement less valuable, I can always tell people “I got the achievement before they added checkpoints.” It just feels like “I suffered, why shouldn’t they?” I didn’t expect to have written this long of a post solely on the EVP 999 badge requirements, so I’ll move on to the servers.

Matchmaking

It’s no secret this game’s matchmaking is terrible. You can be a pro player and still get in lobbies with new players. And no, that’s not an exaggeration. Like I’ve mentioned, I’m a player with the EVP 999 badge, and I’ve gotten into X rank. Granted, I haven’t gotten good enough matchmaking to get near a badge for it, but that’s part of what we’re complaining about today, isn’t it? Unfortunately it’s hard to use any sort of stats to prove this, as now you can really only see the stats players choose to show off, so you don’t know what level they are or if they’re simply hiding higher rank badges because they prefer characters’ head badges. The simplest way to show this is to just.. Play the game, or watch videos of other players. I don’t think any way I write it could be more damning than.. Watching a clip of someone getting a wipeout, and yet your teammates still manage to lose the ranked match, despite the goal being wide open. Or watching a rank C player get matched with a X rank player.  Unfortunately this is just the category I’m not as good at writing about, though I planned to, I apologize. So I’ll link some videos that can explain or show this. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dYcdFs0Hojk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZw3PZoU-E https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lh9TpiaFt0Y (This video is sarcastic, btw.) Other people have complained about matchmaking enough that I feel like if you’re involved in the community, you probably don’t need it to be explained to you anyway lol. It’s something the majority of players can agree on. Either way, I’ll move on to another somewhat-fandom related issue, though I do once again want to focus on the game itself, less than the way players influence it.

Splatfests.

While Tricolor has had plenty of issues since the game’s release, I actually wanna start by focusing on one specific update that changed the point system we should be talking about. Here’s the chart for reference.

(Before: Splatfest Sneak Peek 8p, Votes 10p, Open battle 12, Pro battle 12, Tricolor battle 15. After: Sneak peek 7p, Votes 8p, Open Battle 12, Pro battle 12, Tricolor battle 18.) Now, while this hasn’t affected the splatfest results yet due to the way points have been collected by the winning team: I want to make this very clear: it could, drastically. It doesn’t seem like a big change but it makes Tricolor such an important category, despite being a problematic game mode, it could single-handedly give you a win. Let me explain by going through hypothetical situations. Let’s say Team 1 got Sneak Peek, Votes, and Pro battles, Team 2 got Open Battles and Tricolor battles, and Team 3 got no points. Pre-update, Team 1 would’ve gotten 30 points, and Team 2 would’ve gotten 27 points, giving Team 1 the win. Post-update, Team 1 would’ve gotten 27, and Team 2 would’ve gotten 30, reversing the numbers completely. Post-update, even though both won a point on turf wars, and Team 1 had not only the votes but the playtime during sneak-peek.. Team 2 would’ve still won simply because they got Tricolor. I dunno about you, but this seems pretty broken to me. Sneak peek counts how much XP players get in the week before splatfest, basically how much you play. Winning the votes would literally mean the majority of players chose that category. They EACH get one turf war category, and yet the second team would win solely because they got a category that’s only available halfway through the splatfest? A category the lower votes actually have a better chance in due to less mirror matches? That’s prioritizing Tricolor WAY too much. If Team 1 gets 3/5 categories, Team 2 can win just by getting those remaining 2 categories. 

Some people praise this change because it makes it less likely for the popular team to win, and still gives others more of a chance, but honestly? I think it makes it more likely for unpopular teams to win, depending on how severe their lack of popularity is. As I mentioned before Tricolor is way more likely for less voted teams to win due to the lack of mirror matches. If a team has too many players, previously they may not get matched in Tricolor at all, instead matched into a regular turf war match, but at least now, a mirror match would result in them playing Tricolor against their own team. No point gain for anyone, just practice pretty much. You could have the possibility of playing for hours, and getting less points than someone who played half as much as you, simply because they didn’t get as many mirror matches, and got to play matches that actually count towards your team’s points. Plus, with the gamemode only being available during the second half of splatfest, it can kinda encourage players to only play Tricolor, and nothing else, since it’s worth that many points. And I can’t lie here and say I’m not one of those people, lol. Turf war is boring to me so I tend to mostly play Tricolor if I don’t care much about the splatfest theme and I’m not very dedicated to who wins. I don’t think that votes should be worth more than Tricolor, but I don’t think Tricolor should be worth as many points as it is. Worth votes and sneak peek combined, nearly 1 1/2 of the points the turf war categories are worth. I’m not sure what an ideal system would be, I’m not a huge fan of sneak peek as a category personally, I feel like it’s better the splatfest points are within the time of splatfest itself, and that having the snails to use on the machine is already enough to encourage players to play more during that time, if they want to. But, my point is, Tricolor is worth way too many points in comparison to the other categories. 

Especially when you consider Tricolor’s broken history.. When Splatoon 3 launched, it actually released a demo specifically for splatfest leading up to the release date. During the first half, it was just the typical turf war modes. But during the second half of the splatfest.. Whichever team had the most points was put in the lead. The leading team would be put on the Defending team for Tricolor mode. If there weren't enough players, you’ll be placed into a regular turf war match. But here’s the thing: You didn’t have a choice. If you were on the leading, defending team, you could ONLY play Tricolor. If you were on Attacking (Not in the lead) you could choose to play turf war or Tricolor. Which is why most people complaining about how unbalanced the gamemode was were met with: “Just don’t play it then.” Or any type of “get good” argument. This was only from players on attacking teams, too. Even worse, naturally after how unbalanced it was: The win shifted from Team Scissors to Team Rock. But if you complained about Team Rock winning due to Tricolor: Take a wild guess what would happen to you. This continued and only started to get recognized after youtubers made videos about it, and/or until the next splatfest came along, and people previously on the attacking team were left to defend and experienced how difficult it was. Like I mentioned in another post. And according to these polls: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/08/poll-what-did-you-think-of-tricolor-turf-war-in-splatoon-3 

(What do you think of Tricolor Turf War? “It’s good (Team Scissors)” 12%, “Attacking team is best! (Team Rock and Paper)” 36%, “It’s easy” 6%, “Defending sucks, I hated it.” 46%) I think the results speak for themselves, as only 12% of those in the poll, team scissors, actually enjoyed defending. Whereas 46% hated it. 

(Do you think Tricolor needs improving? “No, it’s perfect!” 5%, “Ultra Signals need to be changed, they’re too good” 17%, “The defending team needed some kind of boost” 26%, “The maps aren’t built for tricolor, they need to change.” 10%, “Weapons aren’t suited for a three-way match” 1%, “Results should be checked more often and defending team should change to match” 15%, “It should be 3-v-3-v-3” 18%, “I want old splatfests back!” 9%) NOBODY was fully happy with Tri-color. Only 5% of people actually said it was good as it is. I don’t think anyone would consider that good for a demo. Ironically people assumed the defending team would do best, since it was 4-v-2-v-2 instead of 3-v-3-v-3. But clearly that was a wrong guess. If you got the signal, you’d get an infinite sprinkler to give you free turf throughout the match, and if you got both? You’d get free turf in the middle of the map. Right where the defending team spawns. And god, there was a LOT of spawn-killing. For some added perspective, these were spawn points for the teams.

And this is what a lot of maps looked like at the end.

The attacking team’s spawn has a lot of high ground and multiple entrances to get to the middle. There were far too many opportunities for the attacking team to get to the middle, and far too little opportunities for the defending team to get in the attacking team’s spawn. (Which was the only way to get enough turf to overpower at least one of the other two teams.) Needless to say the first demo was an absolute wreck. But we’re not done yet. Somewhere around September, their temporary solution to splatfests was to make it less likely to even get into them. If I remember, the rate may have been around 2%. It was very unlikely, I played for a couple of hours and got LUCKY to get in 2-3 matches. Obviously people were upset with this too. They tried changing points and maps, but it was never enough, so they simply gave up and made it so that you could get into Tricolor on Defending or Attacking regardless of if your team was winning or losing. This change was mixed at the time but unfortunately I think it’s the best solution they could come up with, considering they were completely unwilling to change the mode’s gameplay. If all we have to work with is changing how players get into matches, so be it. Though players would get extra points if they got randomized onto the team responding to their points. For example if the winning team got placed into defending. Nearly every splatfest there’s been some sort of complaints about the map, though they largely stem from what a lot of people mutually agree on: The mode should have been 3 players on each team, so they could balance a third of the map for each team. Trying to squeeze 2-v-2-v-4 is just difficult to do without giving one team too much of an advantage, especially when one team spawns at mid. The fact that the original purpose of 2-v-2-v-4 has been rendered useless- With it originally being to give the other teams more of a chance to catch up. (Which was a bit unfair already, to be honest.) It doesn’t matter if they can be on any team now. It’s backtracking, really. Trying to appease the fandom while refusing to address the core issues because they’re too stubborn in what they’ve created. Speaking of being too stubborn to change core gameplay.. 

The Balancing. 

Yeah, Tricolor isn’t the only thing people have been upset with since launch. One of the new specials introduced, the crab tank, has absolutely been argued as an overpowered special. Even in pro tournaments there’d be teams with 3-4 crab tanks. Needless to say people were definitely choosing that special more often, and for a reason. On launch, the crab tank has 500 HP. In comparison to a normal squid, which only has 100 HP.. You can see why this thing is a pain in the ass to fight. If you’re a short range weapon, unless you get the opportunity to sneak up on the back, you’re dead. With extremely high range and damage, the thing’s like an overpowered Hydra Splatling, without the need to charge up. What makes this more of an issue is that: It’s barely been nerfed, at all. Its stats have barely changed since launch. They spent months slowly trying to make players happier, not by changing the tank, but by changing the effect other specific weapons have on it. Specifically by increasing the damage certain weapons deal to it, decreasing the amount of damage done to certain specials.. The tank was never actually made less powerful, and if you didn’t main a weapon that got any of these specific changes- It wouldn’t matter to you. The only stat change is that the duration changed from 9 seconds to 8 seconds. Yeah, what a big change, right? They made special power up more effective anyway (Which increases the duration) so you could very easily undo the tiny inconvenience this update created.  As a slightly less inconvenient change, tenta missiles got a lot more powerful from splatoon 2 to splatoon 3. I can’t find the exact stats for comparison, but back in splatoon 2 the targeting was much less effective and easier to dodge, in splatoon 3 its targeting is much more accurate, and for whatever reason, it’s generally a lot more dangerous to deal with than it used to be. Back in splatoon 2 dodging tenta missiles was pretty easy, yet in splatoon 3 it’s harder to do successfully. I don’t have the stats to know why, but I wish I did. Still, it’s a minor change, though it caused players to heavily spam them with weapons that can refill their specials quickly. So it definitely affected the game. And now we move on to what was my biggest sign this game was going downhill and the devs didn’t fucking care. When it was announced they were bringing a splatoon 1 special into splatoon 3, I think we all expected major changes for it, but somehow.. They didn’t. All the specials in splatoon 1 are infamously overpowered, and you’ll quickly see why. You thought a tank with 500 HP was bad enough to deal with? Try dealing with an INVINCIBLE SPECIAL. That’s right. You CANNOT damage this thing until the duration is over. (Which, by the way, was actually INCREASED from splatoon 1 to splatoon 3.) What made me the most shocked about this special being added was how little they seemed to care about the ways it can affect the game. On launch, if you went into the Kraken you would NOT lose any of your clams in clam blitz. Most specials you either lose your clams or you cannot fire them, and considering how quickly it was changed so you would lose clams, I’m willing to guess they just didn’t think about it. Unfortunately around that time I played ranked a lot, so you can imagine what an experience that was. Splat Zones? The Kraken can just run around the middle, and remember, you can’t kill it, and if you get close to it you’ll die, so if you don’t have a long ranged weapon, you can’t do anything about it. You just have to sit there and let them take the turf. Rainmaker? Not so bad, but it can basically be a shield for the rainmaker holder. Tower Control? OH MY GOD. I don’t know if they fixed it since, but at least back when I played more often, a kraken could just sit on top of the tower and keep getting points. The only way to retake the tower is to either push off or kill the person on top of it: Oh right, you can’t kill them. Needless to say I didn’t play tower control much after that. 

Now think about how all of these issues combined affect the game. You can’t have much fun playing the basic modes because of the balancing and matchmaking issues, you can’t have much fun during the special events like splatfests unless you’re on the winning team and it’s a good tricolor map.. So how do you still have fun? It’s why I stopped playing. I like playing video games competitively. I’m really good at them, and I know that, I have really rare achievements in other games I find more difficult. But I honestly gave up on this game for a while. After all these issues piling up, I couldn’t find a point anymore. With all the matchmaking and shit, I genuinely don’t think I can have much fun in this game again unless they somehow fix the many issues the game has right now, or unless I can get any friends into the game so I can get a team of 4 and not rely on random level 2 players. I’ve only been playing the special events so naturally I don’t have much recent experience. The game just isn’t fun anymore. The community, and the gameplay itself.. It’s been rough. I used to love this game a lot, and don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it or anything, but I hate the way Nintendo and the fanbase are treating it. I’ve let this rant go on for a really long time at this point so I’m gonna cut it here. If I think of more I wanna say I’ll add it in reblogs or something but for now, I think I’m done lol. 

[onlinemarketingjuice]

Frugal Marketing: Top 10 Obscure Tactics to Skyrocket Your Website Traffic

Navigating the digital landscape on a tight budget can be daunting. But with strategic and budget-friendly marketing tactics, you can increase your website traffic significantly. Here are ten obscure but highly effective strategies, complete with success rates and helpful tools, all implementable within a budget of $5000.

1. Embrace Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising has tremendous reach. With as little as $5 a day, you can reach over 1,000 people on Facebook alone. Also, you could expect to pay anywhere from $0.50 to $2.00 per action (click, retweet, like, follow, or “boost”) for a Twitter campaign. Nextdoor, the neighborhood-focused social networking app, presents a unique opportunity for brands seeking to target consumers on a hyper-local scale. As with all social media advertising, the cost to reach 1,000 people (often referred to as CPM) could vary significantly depending on these factors. CPM is your cost per mile. It measures your rate per 1,000 impressions. It’s best to start small, monitor your campaign closely, and adjust as needed to optimize your budget. Tools like Hootsuite allow you to manage and analyze your campaigns across multiple platforms.

2. Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound marketing leads have a 1.7% close rate. Tools like SEMrush or Moz can be crucial for finding keywords, analyzing your website’s SEO health, and studying your competition.

3. Leverage Email Marketing

Email marketing has an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent. MailChimp, an affordable email marketing tool, allows you to create newsletters, automate emails, and analyze your campaign’s performance.

4. Dive into Content Marketing

Content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising. Platforms like WordPress make it easy to start a blog, while tools like Grammarly can help ensure your content is well-written and error-free.

5. Host a Webinar

Studies show that between 20% and 40% of webinar attendees turn into qualified leads. Webinar platforms like Zoom offer affordable options to host your virtual event.

6. Run a Contest or Giveaway

Contests on Instagram can generate 64x more comments and 3.5x more likes compared to regular posts. Tools like Rafflecopter can help manage your contests and giveaways across multiple platforms.

7. Collaborate with Influencers

According to a Mediakix study, 89% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels. Apps like Upfluence or AspireIQ can help you connect with micro-influencers in your niche.

8. Use Retargeting Ads

Website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are more likely to convert by 70%. Tools like Google AdWords and Facebook Ads Manager can help you set up retargeting campaigns to re-engage your website, visitors.

9. Partner with Non-Competitive Businesses

According to a CoSchedule study, businesses that blog collaboratively have 2x more traffic. Look for guest blogging opportunities or partnerships within your niche to share and co-promote content.

10. Try Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing accounts for 15% of all online revenue from digital media. Using platforms like ShareASale or CJ Affiliate, you can set up an affiliate program to incentivize others to promote your products or services.

Remember, the key to frugal marketing is monitoring your results, optimizing your strategies, and adjusting as needed. With these tactics and tools, you can maximize your budget and drive substantial traffic to your website.