#and each and every time I have to log into the school websites I truly wonder if I made the right choice because Oh my god

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

My favorite part of fafsa is where it doesn’t even ask you if your family is going to contribute, it just assumes they will, and then spits out a total bullshit number based on that 🙄

[elite-amarys]

It occurs to me that we in the League Club often talk about our ranking system, but I do not believe anyone has explained how it works for the non-club members on this app. Please, allow me to provide a brief explanation in the hopes that this will encourage more to join.

When a Blueberry Academy student joins the League Club they are automatically placed in the lowest rank, which is Rank 5. There is no win ratio that must be maintained to stay in Rank 5, but there are minimum number of battles that you must complete every week. These battles must be against other League members, and witnessed by either a higher ranking member or Blueberry faculty. These battles are logged and recorded, and win ratios are tracked.

The next rank up, Rank 4, does have a minimum win ratio that must be maintained, though it is not particularly strict (currently it is 1:5 win:loss). So long as you are meeting your weekly minimum number of battles and maintaining the current Rank 4 win ratio you will hold your rank.

This continues to be true as you move up through the ranks. The number of minimum weekly battles does go up the higher up you climb, as does the win ratio that you must maintain. Because it is a ratio system, doing more than the weekly minimum amount of battles does not necessarily increase your rank, but there is a very direct correlation between how fast you rank up and how many battles you engage in weekly. This is because, of course, the more battles you do the better you become at battling.

Once you have increased your win:loss ratio high enough, you will be able to access Rank 1, also known as Challenger Rank. These are the club members that are permitted to challenge the Elite Four and, should they be successful, the Champion. There is no limit to how many times a Challenger Ranked member may battle the Elite Four, but if they make it through the Elite Four and up to the Champion and then lose they will be forced to restart their challenge from the beginning. Challenger Ranked members are not required to make challenges, but there is a very high win ratio that must be maintained. Battles against Elite Four members are counted in their win ratio.

The number of weekly battles that must be maintained, as well as each rank's required win:loss ratio can be changed at the discretion of the leadership team (that is, the Elite Four and Champion). We publish a weekly newsletter detailing each members' current ranking and exact win rate, challenger battle results, and any changes to the ranking system that have been decided on. This newsletter is posted on our website and emailed to our members, and is prepared and distributed by yours truly.

Elite Four members are determined by Championship seniority or Challenger ranking. Because this is a high school and an optional club, we do often lose members that graduate or simply decide to leave the club. If a Champion is defeated by a Challenger, the previous Champion is bumped to the top of the Elite Four and the lowest ranking member is bumped back to Challenger Rank. Alternatively, if a current Elite Four member graduates or drops out of the club, the leadership team will meet to review current and past Challenger Ranked members, their win ratios, and overall suitability to be an Elite Four member and offer their preferred candidate a spot on the Elite Four team. This successful candidate will be considered to be the lowest ranking member of the Elite Four, but can rank up if another member drops out or if they themselves make a successful Champion challenge.

Elite Four members do not have a specific win ratio they must maintain, but we do have a set number of Challenger battles we must engage in. This number is reviewed frequently, and determined by the amount of members currently in the Challenger rank. If we fail to meet our weekly quota we must submit a report detailing why (i.e. If there is an unexpected drop in Challenger Rank members who are actually attempting a challenge). Additionally, if we notice that a member is losing far more Challenger matches than the rest of the Elite Four team it may lead to a review of their title and potentially see them removed from the team.

So, to summarize. Everyone starts off in the lowest rank, and can battle their way up through the ranks by improving their win ratio. Only the members who reach Rank 1 may make a Challenge run against the Elite Four and Champion, and members in this rank are eligible to apply for an Elite Four position should one become available.

[tact-and-impulse]

@shepherds-of-haven, thanks for the fun prompts! I’ll be collecting my fics on AO3 as well.

encounter

She really doesn’t belong here.

Her fingers nervously run over the extra card in her pocket, as she scans the undulating crowd for telltale ashen hair and displeased features. It’s difficult, with the rhythmically flashing lights overhead. She’s tried calling, but with the heavy bass tingling in her jaw, it’s no wonder that Prihine hasn’t picked up. What her roommate could be doing in this downtown club, she has no idea, but she also doesn’t know the other girl that well. Prihine is from a wealthy Norm family, she never cleans up after herself, and from her frequent complaints, she loathes that she’s living in an ancient and cramped freshman dorm with a scholarship student who never goes to parties. But if something unsavory has happened to her, that would be awful.

So, she renews her grip on Prihine’s student ID and heads further into the building. She keeps to the walls, which are speckled with colorful paint and feel slightly sticky. But with her back covered, it’s safer this way. At first. Someone is shoved out of the crush, their solid back colliding into her, and she instinctively freezes. The pressure is brief, but she doesn’t wait to hear an apology, before she’s scrambling for the first exit sign in sight. She hurtles into a side street, ignoring the protests of a draft, and turns the nearest corner before collapsing.

The night air is cold, and she inhales lungfuls, trying to calm down. Trying not to cry. She has to find Prihine soon, and then, she can go back to campus. Where her classes are. Where the Mage clubs are filled with people who all know each other from Capra, while she was homeschooled. Where the Hunter organizations talk around her, forgetting she can understand their conversations. She hasn’t felt truly alone in years, but right now-

She isn’t. There’s someone here. She lifts her head and at the end of the alley, only a few paces away, she can make out the silhouette of a Hunter. White hair, gray eyes, a couple of piercings glinting in one ear, tattoos running up and down his arms. He’s crouched and balanced on his heels, an unlit stick of charch between his fingers, as he stares at her. 

“You okay?” His voice is low and placid, like he’s just woken up. 

“I...I just need a minute. I’m not good with crowds in tight spaces.”

“Yeah, I hate it when people breathe on me.”

She vigorously nods in agreement, before realizing. “Then, why are you here?”

“Band has a gig tonight. What about you?”

“I’m looking for my roommate. She forgot her ID, she can’t get back to our dorm without it.”

He gives a skeptical look, tucking the cigarette behind his unpierced ear for safekeeping. “Are you sure she’s in this club?”

While she answers, she takes out her phone. “She hasn’t returned my texts or calls, but she has Instagram. One of her cousins is famous on there, I think, and my roommate’s competitive, so she posts a lot. It looks like she was here in her last one...oh.” She frowns at the website, blocked entirely by a notification. She never did download the app, only searching for clues via Prihine’s frequently used social media, and now she needs an account to continue viewing.

He stifles a laugh, but his expression is only mildly amused as he extends his open palm. “Can I log in and try?”

“Sure. Thank you.” She draws closer to him, passing her device over, and his hand envelops it entirely. His thumbs are almost comically oversized as he types.

“Haven freshman?”

“Yes. Are you an upperclassman?”

“I dropped out a couple years ago. I’m across the street, at the culinary school. Is this the post you mentioned?” He slants the image towards her and she recognizes Prihine’s selfie, taken while she was waiting in line.

“Ah, that’s it! Have you seen her?”

“No, but one of my friends might have. He helps with the band’s publicity, so he’s around. Mind if I ask him?”

“Please, you’d be really helpful. Thank you, um...” 

“Halek.” He supplies, as he dials another guy named Riel, judging by the brief greeting when the call goes through. 

The conversation is short, and she notices the roommate must be from Leore, but she focuses on locating Prihine for the time being, only speaking to provide information and her own name. Riel doesn’t remember seeing the other girl, but he’ll check with security and will call back when they find her. The line dies, and with her phone back in her hands, she hesitates.

Fortunately, Halek pats the adjacent pavement. “Feel free to wait with me. Band’s not on again for another hour, so I’m not leaving.”

Relief sweeps over her, and she sits down, inquiring. “What do you play?”

“None of the others can agree on a genre, but I’m on drums. We perform around town, sometimes on campus if you’ve heard us before.”

“I don’t think so. Sorry.” She reflexively apologizes. “I don’t get out much.” Certainly, nowhere other than lecture auditoriums and the dining halls.

“What’s your major?”

“Biology, I’m pre-med.”

“Ah, that explains it. You’d get along with my twin brother, he’s currently applying and I don’t envy him. Everyone in our family’s invested in his acceptance, since somebody needs to live up to their standards. He’s not at Haven, but I can give you his number if you have questions.”

“I don’t want to bother him, if he’s stressed out.”

“He’s always stressed out though. That’s just how he is.” Nevertheless, his tone is fond.

“You must be close.” She draws her knees up, interlacing her fingers around them. “Your family doesn’t approve of your career?”

“They never did, they wanted me to be a politician.” He makes a disgusted expression. “No thanks. Too much work.”

“It definitely is. Signing papers, holding press conferences. A lot of people would be breathing on you.” She does her best to maintain a straight face.

“Exactly.” His gaze shifts to meet hers, and she’s not sure who breaks first, but in the next moment, they’re both laughing. Her hair’s fallen loose, and as she recovers her composure, she tucks it behind her ears. Not for the first time, he glances at the white streak, but he doesn’t mention it. Instead, he fishes in his back pocket, removing a small punch card that doubles as an advertisement. “Politics would mean quitting my job at the café too. It’s quiet, we have some Haven students like you.”

She accepts it, noting the offer of a free meal after five purchases. “What kind of food do you serve?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” He pulls up his Instagram, scrolling through vibrant pictures of their daily specials, each plate unique. It all seems appetizing, especially in the short cooking videos. In the clips, his steady fingers arrange sandwiches, work over pans of sizzling ingredients, and decorate confections.

There’s one motion in particular that intrigues her. “How’d you do that? Break an egg with one hand?”

“It’s just easier for me, keeps my other one available.”

“You make it look natural.” She attempts to figure out the trick, imagining an egg in her palm and flexing her knuckles.

“One of the waitresses can do it too.”

“So, is it a hiring requirement?”

He laughs again. “No, the other one breaks every egg she touches. You can meet them and see for yourself. You’d probably get along with them.” There’s a pause, as he gives a thoughtful expression. “Thanks.”

Too surprised, she stammers. “F-for what?”

“Usually, I’m too tired for these late night gigs, but right now, I feel fine. I can make it through tonight.”

“...Me too.” She softly says. Her earlier panic has been forgotten, and Halek’s presence is comforting. She’s having fun, just sitting out here and talking. Laughing, which she hasn’t in a long time. Already, she feels closer to him than anyone on campus.

Riel’s return call interrupts them, with the news that her roommate is currently detained at the club’s entrance and clearly unhappy by the screeching in the background. It’s her cue to go, and she hastily brushes herself off, thanking Halek again.

“No problem. Are you going back to your dorm?”

“I thought I would.” She hesitates for just a second, before venturing. “Or I can stay? And listen to your band’s performance?”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “If you want, I can let you in backstage. Take a nap, eat the snacks I brought. You don’t have to worry about crowds at all.”

Oh. That’s very kind of him. Her heart skips a beat, and she hopes she’s not blushing. “Okay then. I’d like that. See you soon?”

“See ya.”

Squaring her shoulders, she makes her way to the front. She braces for whatever abrasive words are in store, but she’s made up her mind. For the first time this semester, she’ll try to have an enjoyable college experience.

[mariaiscrafting]

i saw you talk about “blocking etiquette” in one of your posts and i was wondering if you could briefly explain that? my blog is a baby (i joined in march) so i really don’t know any of the unspoken social rules haha. i feel i should know this before i say anything ever thats dream critical lmao

also saw you have a ton of asks so feel free to answer or not there’s no obligation ! take care of urself it seems like a lot to handle rn

I'd like to preface this by disclaiming that I've been on Tumblr since 2014, so I think I have a good sense of blocking etiquette as it's evolved with Tumblr culture, but I might still be presumptuous/wrong about some things.

Anyways. So, on Tumblr, there's generally always been a "block first, ask questions later" mentality. No matter the fandom, people kinda just unfollow or block people at will because Tumblr's algorithm is so shit at recommending things for people that unfollowing/blocking are really the primary ways to tailor what you don't want to see. So, if you frequent a search term/tag search, like "dream smp," you'd likely block someone who posts things frequently to that tag, but whose content you dislike. Blocking is, obviously, still used as a means to stop interacting with just plain assholes, as it is on every social media site. But more times than not, Tumblr users block blogs for neutral reasons related to how they want to tailor their social media experience, rather than a personal vendetta against someone.

Frankly, from my perspective, this was the main use of block lists back in the day. They weren't so much ways to truly hate on anyone's blog since anyone deemed a true asshole would likely spur a reporting campaign against them, rather than an addition to a blocklist. No, Tumblr blocklists were almost always so people who frequented certain tags simply... didn't have to put up with some people. If there was a wave of problematic shippers inundating a fandom/character tag, of TERFs inundating trans/feminism tags, or something similar, they would likely be put on a blocklist simply because Tumblr users wanted a comprehensive list of people they might come across, but didn't want to have to see posts from. Along a similar vein, a lot of mcytblr blogs advocate simply blocking people who post imagines in the main mcyt/dream smp tags, rather than harrassing each and every one of them into fixing their tag habits. Like, they're just annoying, really, and this social media site is so big that just blocking the ones who frequent the tag is so much easier than anything else.

One notable difference about Tumblr blocking as compared to Twitter blocking is the malintent behind Twitter blocking. Twitter fandom subtwts will advocate for blocking someone particularly if they're being cancelled/a Twitter user simply dislikes them enough. In addition, I've seen more than one Twitter user unironically say that they block people who unfollow them, as if following/unfollowing them were a personal affront, and blocking people were some component of this social game that reeks of cliqueness and high school levels of maturity.

That isn't to say that Tumblr blocking etiquette doesn't have pitfalls, because it has many. The main one I've noticed is that, especially in smaller fandom spaces, someone who's considered problematic might be enmassed blocked by lots of users in that fandom, and effectively be shut out of that fandom. If they're put onto a blocklist, a problematic post is circulated enough, or they're blocked by enough "big blogs" in the fandom, these users can be kept from reblogging, liking, or sending asks to a large part of the fandom they participate in. Vague posting doesn't really get you anywhere on Tumblr because of how insular each blog is, as opposed to Twitter, where screenshotting someone's profile who's blocked you and/or complaining very obviously about someone blocking you without naming them is commonplace and can be easily spread throughout a subtwt. This means Tumblr blogs who were mass blocked end up reaching much less members of their fandom, cannot really stand up for themselves in the face of mass blocking unless they're infamous enough for people to recognize their name, or participate in the discourse that promoted their blocking in the first place. While I haven't really experienced this, all of this is taken from what I've observed mutuals and recognizable blogs going through over the years.

Another note is that this website is kinda fucked, coding-wise. We all know this. This means that there are a million holes in the blocking system that make it even more annoying to navigate when people have blocked you, and that ends up getting more people blocked than maybe should be.

First of all, those imagine blogs aren't just posting in the main tags for shits and giggles, or to be cumbersome and clutter the main tags. They're doing it because Tumblr is dying, and even in a fandom as big as mcytblr, it's almost impossible to boost/promote your original content. The Tumblr algorithm sucks at spreading awareness about popular posts, more and more Twitter refugees means less and less people who fucking reblog > liking posts, and basically the only way posts can blow up anymore is by being found through a tag that is trending or frequently browsed through the "most recent" setting. This includes dream smp and many smp character names, so obviously imagine blogs are going to take advantage of this and maintag. It's the reason mcytblr constantly tags "m*necraft" despite being told off, time and time again, for doing so by mineblr. And it's the reason I've likely been blocked by many people- because I had to make the decision between spreading awareness of a post that took a lot of effort and that I thought was important enough to main tag despite being critical/negative, or keeping mcytblr happy by not cluttering their bias's tag with a crit post. Sure, some of mcytblr likely blocked me because they thought I was annoying/disagree with me, and that's fine. But I'm sure many blocked me for the same reason I block imagine blogs and mineblr blocks dream smp stans- because they wanted to peruse their fave's tags, and they simply blocked a random blog that posted something they didn't like, without really thinking much of it.

Second of all, side blogs kinda fuck up how blocking works. It's annoying as hell to see a post you really like in the main tag/search, only to find that the person blocked you upon trying to reblog. Because of sideblogs, people will oftentimes block a sideblog because it's that user's fandom blog, without blocking their main, so the user is left kinda seeing their stuff time and time again, without being able to interact with it.

Speaking of how fucky the code is because of the blogging system, reblogs make it even worse. Most social media sites simply make it so a blocked user cannot see another user's profile, posts and all. But Tumblr not only allows this, it kinda fucks up the search function by sometimes allowing people you've blocked/who've blocked you to show up in main tag searches, it didn't take into account the fact that you can still see an OP's post when someone else reblogs it, and Tumblr didn't think to just fucking fix all these holes and just wholly omit someone's posts if they've blocked you, or you've blocked them. So, despite blocking people, you can still be logged in and see all their shit, and they can see yours. It's kind of annoying as fuck.

[maximumhideoutpatrol]

Arthur (the PBS cartoon) means a whole lot to me, and I just remembered that it's coming up to it's last season so I'm gonna talk about it

So I was very much a PBS kid. It was the main channel I was allowed to watch as a kid, and Arthur was the show that was on in one of the 7:00 to 8:00 am blocks (depending on the year) so I watched it every morning for a solid 5 years give or take during elementary school. It always has been and remains to be one of my favorite shows on air.

As an autistic kid, I legitimately think I learned most of my social skills from this show. They showed me how people talked to each other, and to an extent how to deal with executive functioning difficulties, and stay organized. They showed me examples of what it all should and shouldn't look like. There were friendly seeming kids and kids that came off as less friendly but were still showed to be good people. There were quiet, less main character-ish kids who still had extremely rich and interesting lives. The episodes ended with a resolution that showed you what the right thing to do was.

As a kid who grew up with congenital eye problems, patched for 7 years, and had multiple eye surgeries before Kindergarten, and always felt different because of it they had a main character who wore glasses, that weren't just an aesthetic characteristic, and they had a blind character who fit in perfectly with the rest of the cast. It's easy to gloss over now because it's so much more common now to see young kids with glasses, but even 10 years ago it was far less common, and the fact that Arthur had these characters and Arthur didn't just have glasses, but had blurred vision when he took them off was a lot for me.

As an autistic kid with special interests in autism and disabilities there was representation and content there. The characters weren't in every episode, and there are definitely things that could've been done better (see the discussion of Asperger's). But all in all it's definitely better than some other kids' shows have done.

I cannot emphasize enough that I watched this show into middle school, so it was a part of my life longer than some of my friends had been.

Mr. Ratburn is the only representation that matters. I've been lucky enough to grow going to a relatively gay church, and generally know that gay people existed, this of course didn't stop me from taking forever to realize that I'm a gay people too, but that's for another time. I'm not sure if it's because I felt like I had a connection with this character more than I may have had with other people, or that Mr. Ratburn did have to "come out" like I did, and wasn't just known as being gay as a lot of other characters/people in my life. But I was in 10th grade when that episode came out, and I logged onto the PBS kids website to watch the episode as soon as it was available, and I was bawling. I don't cry because of media that often, but this really did it. Gay rat wedding.

They have d i v e r s i t y. And it's normal, and it's everywhere.

The characters have FLAWS and IT'S OKAY.

Very small detail but made me feel so extremely seen as a child; George Lundgren celebrates Santa Lucia (a Scandinavian winter holiday), a holiday that I also celebrate, but no one else. I've met knows of and George celebrates it and it still makes me happy.

This show means so much to me, I feel like I can't be the only one. It's truly one of my favorite pieces of media. It may just be a me thing but it feels like a piece of neurodivergent culture. Yeah, can you tell that I got more tired as I wrote this? There's more that I don't feel like I'm qualified to speak on, but like it's there man.

Arthur's an absolutely incredible show. Marc Brown is truly a king. I cannot thank that show enough for existing. I can't wait to see what happens in this final season.

[peterspideyy]

chapter 4 - partners in crime

series masterlist

————

you walked into yours and tom’s shared apart, laughing at a comment tom said as he followed behind. it was nice. actually talking to tom. you forgot about all your past with him. it was like he’s never changed. something you think could never happen. but, here you were, laughing at one of tom’s classic sarcastic remarks. which was one of the many reason’s you fell in love with tom.

you see, after you both...broke up, it was terrible. not only did you loose your boyfriend, but your best friend too. you and tom have known each other for years, and of course once you grew older, you started to fall head over heels for each other.

you were the first to fall in love with the holland. you were around 8, while tom was 10. in your head, at that age, you didn’t truly understand what it meant by ‘love’. you thought love was like royalty, based off all the princess films and books you watched. the prince, was always strong. but, most importantly, he will always try and impress the princess. no matter the cost. so, when little old tom was showing off his drawing to you, you froze. tom was your prince. and so you fell in love with him. well, rather the act he put it for you.

however, when you moved into high school, you still didn’t know what ‘love’ truly means. of course, you gained some knowledge on the subject, but you thought all ‘love’ meant was sex and selfies for social media. you thought the idea of love, was to impress other people, not yourself. so, when you and tom had your first kiss (for a whole 10 seconds) you really thought you found your soulmate. or rather the idea of your soulmate

now when you and tom grew up into adults, both of you realised what ‘love’ actually means. it’s not for social media. or your friends. it’s not trying to impress the other person. it’s not intimacy. it’s not the fancy dates, to show the world how much money you’ve got.

true love, is having a shoulder to cry on. a shoulder to vent to, about anything without feeling scared or embarrassed. true love is the person who supports you the most. true love is looking after each other, when they’re too drunk to remember their own name. so, as an adult you finally realise what true love means. and realise how tom has been your true prince, since the start.

but, since you broke up, you felt too upset. too angry to speak to tom. it caused you to fall apart from each other. in a intimate way and a friendly way.

it was easy. moving from being best friends, to a couple. but, since breaking up as a couple, you also broke up as friends. and it hurt you both.

“well, what’s the plan now with the case.” you sighed, pouring you and tom a cup of coffee.

tom laughed, “well since i barged in on them, which will help, trust me, we now know what there exact plan is. without taking it from a computer screen.”

“i’m not going to lie tom,” you spoke, picking up the two steamy cups, and walking over to the table tom was sat on, placing them on the countertop and sitting opposite him, “you could of at least warned me you were going to go, instead of just well...leaving the apartment.”

tom rolled his eyes, playfully, “y/n, i always do stuff on my own remember, so i’m sorry if i forget to tell you that i’m leaving.”

“it could of became 10 times worse!”

“but did it?” tom winked, sipping his coffee, before making a face as it was too hot still.

“touché.” you shrugged. you were only looking out for him.

“so,” tom spoke, breaking the silence, “how have you been?”

“what do you mean?”

“well, i haven’t spoke to you since we you know, so how have you been?”

“oh,” you shrugged, “i’m good. just focusing on work, that’s all what’s happening with me.”

tom laughed, “of course, you’re main priority is work.”

“and that’s a bad thing?”

“no,” tom looked at you, “i didn’t say that, it’s good. you always put other people in front of you, one of the reasons i love you.”

you froze. love. not loved. love. he still loves you?

“i-i mean why i fell in love with you.”

“how are you?” you asked, changing the subject quickly.

“oh erm it’s fine. nothing really exciting going on in my life at the moment. how’s your brother?”

“max is good, he’s getting married next year to amelia.” you replied, blowing on your coffee.

you didn’t mind tom asking about your family. even though, your brother hates tom’s guts after he broke up with you, he will always have a soft spot for tom. they both practically grew up together.

“that’s sweet. i knew they would always end up together.”

you couldn’t help but cause your heat to clench at his words. that’s what people said about you two. but, of course life happens.

“mum asks about you, you know,” he carried on, “she misses you.”

guilt rose in you at what tom was saying. because tom grew close to your family, you grew close to him. his family was like yours. but, you lost contact in them all since the break up.

“she misses your outings to get coffee.” he added.

you and nikki have always been close, so every two weeks you would go out, just you two, to different cafe’s to eat, drink and talk each other’s ears off. it was super nice and soon became a tradition between the two of you. a tradition, that has stopped.

“same.” you frowned slightly, skimming your finger over the top of the coffee mug, remembering all the laughs you both had. tom sensed how guilty you felt, immediately regretting bringing up each other’s families.

“erm,” he coughed, awkwardly, “have you told carson what’s happened?”

“yeah, i texted him quickly on the way up.” you nodded, hating how awkward it got so quickly. tom nodded back, unsure on how to respond. or if he should respond.

“right, thanks to our new friends, we now have a better chance at getting our score.” keith spoke through the computer to one of the men, finally breaking the awkward silence in the apartment. you smiled slightly at tom, him returning the gesture, before you both got up to go over to the screen.

“isn’t there something else we can get? like a million dollars or something?”

keith laughed, “that’s what all the mob groups go for, but we’re different, yes? we’re going for the best score. and thanks to our fbi friend, we know have more entail, so get to work and sort out another meeting with our new friends, okay?”

“yes sir.” the man replied, walking away before keith left with his bodyguards.

your eyes went wide. fbi friend? who’s working with the red dragons?

“what?” tom whispered, thinking the same as you.

you looked at tom, to lock with his as you both stared at each other.

“is there a mole in the agency?” you mumbled, not believing what you were saying.

tom shook his head, “i don’t know. i don’t know who could do something like this. i-i don’t know who betray us like this.”

“who has access to the fbi database, especially about the red dragons?”

“erm, me, you, carson, harrison, peter-“

“wait, harrison?”

“no, it couldn’t be him. i trust him with my life.”

you looked at him, before turning around to log onto the fbi website. clicking numerous of buttons, you went onto the red dragons recent log ins, to see how harrison was only logged in a few minutes ago. showing tom the computer screen, he shook his head.

“we can’t just believe it’s him, after what a log in? anyone could have done it!”

“tom, i can’t believe it either, but he has worked on the red dragons before, maybe he’s decided to work with them?”

“no, y/n, i can’t believe your judging him based off this!”

“i’m only judging on what is there, tom. harrison has logged in, a few minutes ago which is when we found out about the mole in the first place. a coincidence? i think not!” you screeched.

tom groaned, “i-i can’t belive you. harrison is my best friend. he was yours as well.”

“well, things change.” you growled.

you and tom gave each other a hard stare, before you breathed out heavily, walking away into your room, locking the door behind you. you leaned against the door, sighing loudly.

so much for you and tom being friends again.

————

a/n- hey guys! sorry for taking agesss to update this story. this is quite a short chapter, but trust me it will get longer ahah. hope your all okay :)

--

tags:

@averyfosterthoughts @cyrusandhiscollaredahirts @hayleeharling @youhavemyfantasticbeasts @hollands-osterfield @coveredinthemessimade @deathofmissjackson @itsjusttor @chaoticpete @dreamofaprilsblog @iamaunicorn4704 @parkeret @loveforthor @aevoit @supernaturalwriter24 @spiderbibby

[cowboylikedean]

folklermore spn finale: the last great american dynasty

Okay so this post took forever to write for a couple reasons. 

First of all, this one is special in that it has two readings for my grief.

The first one is terrible and heartbreaking and honestly I don’t want to spend a lot of time on it. I see Andrew Dabb as THE great villain of Supernatural, and he truly had a marvelous time ruining everything. The sarcastic nature of the song goes in to speak to the fact that I feel legitimately crazy for how much I blame him. It’s sad and heartbreaking. I think about it sometimes when i hear this song and instantly force myself to stop thinking about it and go back to the other view. 

So the other view is more what you might expect with the vibe of the song... but it is SO HARD for me to put into words, I found. So I’m sorry if this is messy and disjointed and all over the place. 

I spoke in cardigan’s post about how I’m not the fan the show wanted and there’s a large part of the narrative in the folkermore-spn-finale feelings for me that expresses not being the fan the narrative wanted or needed.... Most of the time this is brought up in this, it’s angry, or sad, or whatever... but this time... this time it celebrates it.

I had a marvelous time ruining everything.

Putting this under a cut because it’s very long. I didn’t mean for this to get this long rip.

I let myself sink into the feelings of wonder and awe I felt when I first fell in love with the show and then let myself find the conclusion that IF I did in fact “ruin everything” (aka the show) by not being the fan the show needed me to be to enjoy it, at least I had a good fucking time!

From that first bit where Taylor sings that Rebekah’s salt box house took her mind of St. Louis.... Supernatural took my mind off my life too. I remember when I first watched the show, I was 20 and I’d just failed out of school (the first time). I was lying to my mother and her husband (who I lived with) about going to school. I rode the city bus at the time because I didn’t have my license yet. I’d leave the house and say I was going to the bus stop down the street. Instead, I hid in the woods that separated my neighborhood from my grandfather’s back yard. I worked at his house “after school” every day from 4-6, taking care of his house, doing light cleaning and cooking, helping him adjust to being a double amputee so it worked out nice. Every night I pre-loaded 5 hours of episodes on my computer so I didn’t need the internet and every day I would sit in the cold on a log and put my computer on a slightly bigger log and curl up in my warm coat for a day of Supernatural before heading inside to Pappou’s house at 4. Sometimes, I just waited until the afternoon when I knew my mom would be gone and I could go home where it was warm and I had wifi. Sometimes though I got wrapped up and I just stayed there.. all day. 

Supernatural is, what I would consider, one of the last great american TV shows. Like... It’s right there with Grey’s Anatomy as the last TV shows that have an actual following where people watch it and it’s a thing that haven’t been corrupted by the streaming world. Television is so important to me, it’s my favorite medium of storytelling and it’s been lost. Streaming destroyed it. People say we’re living in a “golden age” because there’s “so much good TV” but there’s NOT! What we have is high production quality on a lot of mini-series and long-format movies that have been randomly split up into “episodes” but don’t make sense if you space them out in any way. The episodic serial format of television has been LOST and that’s heartbreaking... 

But to me... this song... it’s about The Last Great American TV Show, The Last Great American Fandom, The Last Great American Dynasty over my life, my fandom, my relationship with tv, and my world view. 

The line “How did a middle class divorcee do it?” also just... First of all there’s something so distinctly American about it... We all know Supernatural is itself a sort of lover letter to Americana... it’s the aesthetic of Nowhere USA which is part of what makes it so effective and heartbreaking. The line in the song is about how Rebekah was just... boring, average, a little sad. Someone unremarkable you feel a little pity for. That’s the Nowhere USA of the aesthetic of the show... THAT’S the heartbeat of “Americana.” It’s boring, average, unremarkable, a little sad, you kinda pity it, it shouldn’t be that deep, but it is. It’s when the unremarkable accomplishes the remarkable. And that’s the whole myth they fed us as kids, isn’t it? I could never explain the beauty of this line inside or outside the context of Supernatural to someone who isn’t US American so I’ll just stop trying... but it’s just kljasfkd 

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that first stanza in the first verse... When I fell in love with Supernatural, I was boring unremarkable, a little sad... and the show was a wealth of possibilities... but also I was at a point where I was getting over the main fandom I’d had for the past year and a half (Buffy) and I had just fallen in love with Sherlock and I had nothing but time. I wasn’t bogged down with the anxiety of school, I got to devote my whole life and existence to this show. I was also a wealth of possibilities, and as we know the show was also boring, average, unremarkable, and a little sad. Both me and the show were Bill and both me and the show were Rebekah.

So when the wedding between me and the show was charming, if a little gauche it made sense cause there’s only so far new money goes. For me, this represents 2012-Mishapocalpyse: The Golden Age... Look... It’s no secret 2012 was my favorite year of all time... Tumblr was small and fun and hadn’t been corrupted by wanting or trying to be “cool” or “edgy” or “interesting.” I chose the mishapocalypse for the end of this era to me because that was the last time I felt like I could come on tumblr and really just LET GO into insanity. Almost instantly people were shit talking it as if it was not the single most fun 24 hours this website had ever had. In 2013, we saw the rise of YFIP and people trying so hard to “””prove””” they were “”””cool”””” unlike ~those~ tumblr people!!! It was pathetic. But in 2012, we just... had fun. And it was charming, if a little out there. But there really is only so far that the youthful innocence of an online community that’s new goes. 

But I picked out a home on tumblr. And our parties were tasteful if a little loud. Tumblr in 2012/2013 was..... Fun. From mapcrunch to the mishapocalpyse. Some would argue about taste, but I’d say... “if a little loud.” I really just can’t separate the fun I had on tumblr back then from spn and I can’t separate spn from the fun I had back then. 

But then of course, we all need to settle down some times because the fun doesn’t last forever. In this line, I hear myself in both Bill and Rebekah and I hear the show in both Bill and Rebekah. Both of our hearts gave out and the other way to blame. 

So then the chorus... “who knows if she never showed up what could have been?” I CHANGED because of the show, I don’t know who the hell I’d BE without it! And likewise, I don’t think *I* personally changed the actual show, but the show WAS changed by each one of us. The show itself is folklore, changed and shaped in each retelling. There’s a creative freedom to the chorus that lives in that love.

So then there’s the second verse. After the rose colored glasses came off, Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set forever and I gave up on the greater spn fandom forever. I dropped the hellers and joined the tight knit Dean stans. This verse is about living in spite. It’s that wild American rebellion mixed with a little bit of sensual romanticism. In season 9, it was us against the world. And the reality is we were angrier than this verse gives and less free and fun... but looking back, it felt like A Time. I don’t know how to put it into words really but it was like... We found ways (and continue to find ways) to celebrate Dean when we weren’t supposed to. Fuck everyone else Dean is perfect. 

And then in the second verse, we celebrate that rebellion. The change from “the maddest woman” to “the most shameless woman” in the chorus is so important here... In the first chorus, Rebekah and I were mad and crazy and wild. In the second chorus, we had no shame. We lived IN SPITE of the state of the world around us and fucked anyone who had anything to say about it. 

In the first chorus, “who knows if she never showed up what could have been” paired with “maddest” has this creative potential. Like who knows who I would have been without spn and who knows what the show would have been without us, the fandom. And in the second chorus, that line changes to this destructive force. Like the show and I were both shameless to just exist, you know? because we would have been better without each other... but even as it acknowledges that, it’s still... sweet.

So then we have the time I left the fandom. Here we only hear bits and pieces of Rebekah’s life and Rebekah’s time in Holiday House. She was only seen “on occasion.” And on occasion, you could find me reblogging some Dean stan posts, getting into spats with Sam stans, posting about how the writers suck, calling out a heller. But 7 years is a long time and my fandom sat quietly in the history of my blog... And then it was picked up by me. 

Rebekah, in the song, refers to my past. My previous relationship with the show. Taylor’s part refers to my current relationship with the show. 

Who knows if I never showed up what could have been? If I never came back, what would my life look like? It would have been healthier, I’m sure. But then again - I needed this. And if the show hadn’t came back who would I be? 

But there goes the loudest non-woman this fandom has ever seen. I will scream from the ROOFTOPS! and what I want to scream is EVERYTHING from the past but with my full grown adult context. I know now more than I knew then that I had a MARVELOUS TIME ~ruining everything~!!! And I get to CELEBRATE THAT! I get to let go and have fun. I get to sit and think of Nov 5 and how that night, I relived those parties that were tasteful if a little loud. And then every day since I relived flying in the Bitch Pack friends from the city. I get to CELBRATE!

I may not have been the fan the show wanted. I may have fucked shit up. I may have lived in spite of this show even when I lived because of it. But damn I had a marvelous FUCKING TIME Ruining. Everything. Everything this show built it wanted me to see and love and appreciate with these toxic fucking relationships and the destruction of Dean Winchester can KISS MY ASS cause I had a MARVELOUS time fucking that shit up. Everything this show wanted from me that I refused to give it. Every SPEC of growth and learning and fun and enjoyment I have had from this show.... was toxic. It ruined it. Because it was not the growth and learning and fun and enjoyment the show WANTED ME TO HAVE. But damn did I have fun. 

The show and I are the last great American dynasty full of rebellion and spite and damn is it fun. 

[good-and-colorful]

Okay, this story is too perfect not to tell.

Buckle up kiddos, it’s about to get weird. (It’s also long, so continue at your own peril).

So a little over a year ago, I had to apply for a security clearance as part of the onboarding process for an internship. As part of this massive pain-in-the-ass ordeal, you have to go get your fingerprints... scanned? Yeah, we’ll go with that word. And you have to go to a specially designated location to do so. Now, you would think, with the number of students at school who have to do this, the designated location would be close to campus.

And that would be reasonable, wouldn’t it, Tumblr?

But this is the government we are talking about, so the nearest location to school is a town 45 minutes away called Monticello.

Now, Monticello is an interesting little town. Its entire economy is based on tourism; you see, Monticello is home to an amusement park. It’s called Indiana Beach (yeah there’s a body of water there) and its motto is “There’s more than corn in Indiana!” (As a lifelong resident of Indiana I cannot disagree more). This amusement park is not your average Six-Flags style deal. Oh, no. That would be normal. No, this place looks like the county fair came to town in 1986 and never left. It is astounding that nobody has died there, either from a freak roller coaster accident or from a heart attack while eating one of their $5 buckets of fried whatever.

Monticello also has meth, which probably explains a lot of what is about to happen but I digress.

Now the place I had to go to for these fingerprints was called Ship n’ Dip. What the fuck is that, you ask? Well you see, I can describe it physically but in order to truly understand the supernaturally fucking weird aura of this place you’ll just have to drive out to Monticello yourself. 

Continuing:

I arrived at Ship n’ Dip on the morning of my appointment and parked in their gravel parking lot next to their hand-painted Ship n’ Dip sign. Across the parking lot, they are advertising FedEx shipping. Odd, I think. That can’t possibly be the same business. I enter the store, and I am immediately taken aback by the smell of old wood and the frail figure of an old lady behind the counter immediately to my right. We are the only two people in the entire store. I look around, and it appears that this woman has stolen a lawn decoration from every grandma in the state of Indiana and is now selling them to the citizens of this meth town in the middle of nowhere. I am the youngest thing, living or not, in this store. The old lady takes one look at my confused ass and goes,

“Are you here for the fingerprints?”

I am no longer in the twenty-first century, and I’m willing to bet I am no longer in this plane of existence.

I fill out the paperwork and she walks me to this fingerprint scanner nestled in one of the displays. I feel like a spy. Here behind this rack of dusty stuffed animals and ball caps is this high-tech government-issued machine. It’s green, like the watch from Ben 10.

She spends way too long trying to get my fingers to scan right on this thing, and like every old lady who ever existed, has to call someone for help. A very tall, very heavy younger man materializes behind us and gets it all to work. 

With twisted knuckles I get back in my car, drive back to school, and promptly forget everything.

An entire calendar year passes. @imcoolwithonions​ has to get his I-9 verified for a completely different internship, and for whatever godforsaken reason this needs to be done at a government-designated location. Now, you would think Tumblr, that since so many students likely go through this process, the nearest location is probably close to campus. 

Tumblr, do you know where this location was?

I am minding my own business on a wonderful July afternoon, innocently doing my work like a good noodle, and I hear from the other room, “Where the hell is Monticello, Indiana?” 

Do you know what it feels like to be a sleeper agent? I think I had a pretty good guess on this July afternoon. 

He explains to me that he must go to a store called Ship n’ Dip, and that it is a store that sells hot tubs. Now I don’t recall there being any hot tubs in this establishment but this entire thing is weird enough already, fuck it, they sell hot tubs now. @imcoolwithonions​ drives to Ship n’ Dip in Monticello, Indiana, and I spend the afternoon trying to remember if they sold hot tubs. Stumped, I give in to my curiosity and Google search Ship n’ Dip, assuming that it never actually existed in the first place and all who go to Monticello are brainwashed into believing they went to a place that takes a different form for each person who visits it. 

No, it’s real, and here is the list of goods and services they offer:

This place inspired the Hot Tub Time Machine cinematic universe. This place is New York’s hottest club as described by Stefon on Saturday Night Live. This place scans people’s fingerprints so that the federal government can grant security clearances. This place spells gift shop “gift shoppe”.

It finally dawns on me: 

FedEx shipping.

Pools.

Ship. Dip. 

I astral project to the top of the sketchy-ass ferris wheel at Indiana Beach. It smells like fried things and sweat. In the morning, I wake up a changed woman.

Two more weeks pass. (Oh you thought this story was over? You thought it was weird enough already?? Strap in, folks, we’re not done yet!)

Two weeks pass, and I accept a job offer out East. I’m home now, still in Indiana. I’m filling out onboarding paperwork and applying for apartments. My guard is down.

I received an email this morning, Tumblr. 

I must go verify my I-9 at a government-designated location.

The Earth King has invited me to Lake Laogai, and I am honored to accept his invitation.

I log into the stupid website, hands shaking, hoping that the nearest place isn’t fucking Ship n’ Dip. 

It’s not. It’s a place in town that, despite living here the majority of my life, I have never heard of. It is next to Round the Clock Restaurant, which is a restaurant that I have driven past countless times without ever really paying attention to it. My grandma took me there for dinner once and made me order milk. This is my only memory of Round the Clock.

My appointment is on Monday. If you don’t hear from me, assume that I have been assassinated by one of the other-dimensional beings occupying one of the liminal spaces masquerading as a government-designated location.

Godspeed, Tumblr. 

[smabrothers]

11 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Site this Year

DO YOU LOVE YOUR WEBSITE?

If the answer is no or not really, you shouldn’t even continue reading this article. Just go visit our shop, choose a design that you like and start building a website that you’ll be proud to share online, and invite prospects to browse through. A site that will effectively promote your work and help you book more clients. Otherwise, what’s the point in keeping this powerful marketing tool, investing time and effort into it, if it doesn’t help your business grow and flourish?

It’s not enough to JUST have a website. It needs to look good, it needs to present information in a clear, accessible way. It needs to create a strong first impression and make your prospects feel like they’ve found THE ONE. Otherwise, you’re competing for the attention of the same audience alongside another few hundred businesses. And let’s agree, that’s an exhausting game.

If you’re not sure whether your current website does a good job, here are 11 aspects you can look into to decide whether it’s time for a revamp (listed in no particular order). Know that our Biggest Sale of the year is coming soon. If you want to grab a higher discount code this Black Friday, join our Facebook Community group. That’s where all the secret deals will be shared! 

1. It’s Not Memorable and Doesn’t Stand Out

What was cool 3 years ago, may not be this year. Maybe you were one of the early adopters of a new design style or aesthetic, but that was 2-4 years ago. Look around, everyone has similar website designs, especially if they use them ready out of the box. That’s why we created Flexthemes and Flexblock – to empower you with more design freedom. Create your blocks and page layouts. Make your website look and feel like YOU. It’s all simple and intuitive. No code skills are required. 

 And, you can personalize your mobile site version too, if you want.  

2. It Doesn’t Reflect Your Brand

This one should be straightforward. Your website promotes your business online 24/7. If you’ve rebranded recently, if your photography style changed and evolved, if you’re offering new products and services to your customers – your website should reflect and advocate that change. Otherwise, you’re attracting the wrong type of clients, those who are after your old type of work. This brings us to reason #3.

3. You’re Not Attracting the Right Clients

We explain this in more depth in How Design Affects Your Business Growth article, but the point is – if you are not getting inquiries from the type of clients you want to work with, you are not positioning yourself correctly on the market. One golden rule is to carefully curate your work. Check the content and galleries you show on your website, remove the type of work you don’t want to do in the future (i.e. family, portrait, editorial, etc). Carefully select your BEST, fresh images (the type of projects you want to do more of) and include them on your homepage. This will immediately filter out some of the inquiries which are not a good fit for you. Make sure all your content is consistent, including colors, fonts, icons. An example of consistency in a website would be this.

4. Outdated Theme & Technologies

This one affects your visitors’ experience on your website. “Old school is cool” does not apply when it comes to functionality. The digital world is constantly changing and evolving. Web standards shift each year, dictating new tools and technologies for building a good website. Your clients’ preferences and tastes shift even faster. What was trendy yesterday, may not be next week. Hence, if you want your business to succeed, you need to be agile with your visual presentation and website design.

 If you’ve built your website over 3 years ago, most likely it’s far behind in terms of looks and functionality. It probably has outdated code that can slow down its loading speed or the way it responds on different devices. It may also not be compatible with some of the latest popular browsers. Take our example, 3,5 years ago we launched our first Classic themes with the drag and drop page builder, a year and a half ago we released FlexBlock, and in November 2019 the world greeted the first Flexthemes. 

 The difference between our old, classic themes and the Flexthemes is huge (we explain it here). Building a custom-looking website with our new themes is a whole lot easier. You don’t need to know code, you don’t need to add CSS snippets or hire a technical team. The new visual editor is so simple, your grandma could probably do it (yet please don’t make her do your tasks). 

The bottom line here, if it’s been a while since you’ve built your site, start looking for website design inspiration and a more modern template to use as a base.

5. Mobile Friendly

I sure hope this is not the case, but if you still don’t have a mobile-friendly website – get a new theme NOW! Even if you do have a responsive or adaptive design, you still need to keep up with the latest trends. Newer themes include modern CSS code which allows your site to adapt nicely to any device. They also allow you to hide certain page blocks for mobile and ensure a faster and smoother user experience. Also, you must know that Google cares about the experience you offer to your mobile guests, since over 50% of website traffic comes from portable devices. 

Offering more control to our clients over the design and functionality of their mobile websites has always been an important goal on our list. With Flexthemes, the steering wheel is in your hands. You have access to the mobile view of your website sections, can easily make adjustments, hide or show certain areas of your site to ensure a truly wonderful and unique browsing experience for your mobile guests. 

If you’re not sure how many of your prospects access your website via their phone, if you’re wondering whether it makes sense for you to customize your mobile site – check your site’s stats. You can do that via your Google Analytics account if you have one connected to your website. 

Mobile is important and it won’t go away in the next years. Don’t leave money on the table with a poorly performing mobile site, it’s one of those crucial business aspects that you can’t ignore anymore.

6. Your Website Loads Slow

Aim for a loading time under 4 seconds. If you’re not sure how quickly your site loads, use tools like Pingdom or GTmetrix to check how long it takes for your site to load, and which files are the troublemakers. Poor results could mean you have some work to do. Slow loading speed could be caused by several reasons: heavy, unoptimized images, underpowered hosting and, even an old, poorly performing theme.

The first one can be easily solved by following this Ultimate Guide to Saving Your Images for the Web. For the second one, check out this article describing 5 key criteria to choosing a good hosting provider. Yet, if the issue is caused by an old, outdated website template, you can start shopping for a new one.

 View Flothemes website templates here.

7. Your Bounce Rate is High

This is extremely important. If you’ve been pouring your heart and time into blogging, SEO and marketing, bringing a lot of traffic to your website – yet the second they access your homepage (or any other page), they bounce right off of it – you have a problem. You’re losing leads and potential clients.

A high bounce rate indicates that you’re doing something wrong, either with content, with the navigation of your website, or the overall look and feel on your site. On average, a bounce rate between 40-60% is considered to be OK (this varies depending on your industry).

You can check your bounce rate via Google Analytics. Log in and go to Acquisition >> Overview tab. If it’s higher than 70%, follow these 9 Steps to reducing your Bounce Rate. If it doesn’t help, it’s time for a website redesign, and we do suggest seeking some expert advice in UX and UI.

In case you want to dive deeper into Measuring Performance and Tracking Success for your site, download our SEO guide here.

8. Security

To be honest, new or old, any website can be hacked. The experience is stressful and painful, especially when you lose information, or/and have to rebuild everything from scratch. However, older websites rely on older technology, therefore chances of a security breach are higher. Make sure your theme is updated and follow these 12 steps to make your site more secure.

9. SEO

Let’s start with the basics. Do you have a blog? You should, as it’s a powerful marketing tool to drive more traffic and users to your website, through keywords, internal links and, backlinks.

You also need to know that search engines love good, updated content. Every time you make an update to your site, Google and other search engines crawl and index your pages, thus your site ranking gets recalculated. If you keep your content updated and of GOOD QUALITY, you increase your chances of getting noticed on Search Result pages. Pair that with a charming, good-looking website, and you’re guaranteed more attention.

If SEO is something that you’ve been planning to dive deeper into, check out our SEO guide for photographers. Also, take a look at this incredible post by Dylan M Howell on Content Strategy and How to Blog like and Expert. 

10. Do I need Call to Action?

Of course, you do. And it’s not just a button or link added here and there. It has to be placed strategically, to keep your users engaged with your website and browsing through more content. We explain How Call to Actions work in Design in this article, but the idea is to guide your site visitors through your content to your Best Work, then to your contact form or sales page. If your current website is limited in CTAs (Call to Actions) and doesn’t allow much customization – it’s time to get something more flexible and powerful. With Flexthemes for example, you can easily create new page layouts to support your sales campaigns and convert more users into prospects. They allow you to fully customize any layout, add buttons, images, videos, texts, and other design elements. 

Never leave your site visitors wondering what they should do next. If it’s not subtle and intuitive, they’ll leave and never return. And that’s sadly a lost business opportunity.

11. All those Cool Apps & Integrations

An old outdated website template may not keep up with all the new apps, plugins, and integrations available out there. So, if you want to integrate your favorite Studio Management System, Photo Editing app or, any other useful tools that simplify your workflow – be prepared to update your website on a regular 1-2 year basis, and use the most modern, up to date templates for that. 

[leisurelevin884]

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Does GAMING Sometimes Be You Feel Stupid?

In the ‘90s, televisions got larger, and gaming consoles got much more powerful. Nintendo and Sega fought for the top spot with the Super Nintendo Entertainment Program, and the Sega Genesis, respectively. You are going to find all the retro games for SNES and Genesis you loved back in the day in one particular convenient spot. From Golden Axe to Mega Man X, all your favorite 16-bit titles are readily available at the Retro games shop.

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The benefits of this cloud model for gaming? The newest gaming hardware does not come low-cost: hundreds of pounds for a console or thousands for a tricked-out Computer, plus the games themselves - and with gaming technology constantly evolving, upgrading hardware each handful of years is mandatory to love the newest titles at their greatest. By connecting to devices in the cloud, fees are lowered to a subscription fee, and the provider takes on all the responsibilities of keeping higher-end gaming systems. With no have to have for on-web site hardware, cloud gaming also saves space in the home and eliminates the noise and heat generated by gaming machines.

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Functioning in partnership with Vox Media, Polygon brings its community original content material on video games and their creators. Persons interested in the gaming culture verify up on Polygon many times throughout the day for the most current and reliable news, evaluations, previews, and videos viral in the gaming globe. Their eclectic Forum houses wide-ranging discussions and opinions on games and gaming trends.

This (Weblog) is exactly where you can study almost everything I know. Discover about the finest board games for game nights in original evaluations, get recommendations on every thing from organizing to snack and drinks, and read up on inclusivity and diversity in gaming communities. There's stuff here for person players trying to chip in on game night, to hosts who want to (ahem) up their game, to organizations interested in hosting typical board game nights.

Some like it wireless. Some choose to go old-school with wires. If you take place to belong to the latter group, you may possibly want to give the Havit HV -MS672 Wired Mouse It may not have a incredibly exceptional optical sensor that can run in the 16,000s, but its maximum of three,200 DPI should be enough to offer you with an exceptional gaming knowledge. Its DPI settings can also be adjusted to three other levels with the lowest at 800 DPI. The Havit Mouse also comes with breathing LED light effects including 7 circular LED light effects to set the mood in your game.

Green Man Gaming needs that you have a registered account ahead of you can use a coupon code. If you already have an account, merely log in just before you commence purchasing or ahead of checking out. If you do not have an account, you should enter an email address, password and user name. The web site will email you a hyperlink that you click on to confirm that your email account is valid. You are going to then see a Vouchers area close to the button of your buying cart. A large white box, which you can see in the image beneath, is where you enter your code. This box will not develop into readily available till you make an account or log into your existing account. You can then click on the proceed to payment web page to pay for your games. Green Man Gaming will preserve your shipping and billing particulars on file unless you opt out. Obtaining that data saved in your account makes it simpler to check out and get the games that you want rapid.

In reality, in the realm of mobile gaming, ladies are much more probably to be avid participants than guys! According to a 2017 Google Play and NewZoo survey , 65% of U.S. girls ages 10-65 play mobile games - and that is a big audience. What's additional, according to the identical survey, girls make up practically half - 49% - of all mobile gamers, and they tend to play a lot more frequently than their male gamer counterparts, making them a lot more probably to come to be habitual (and consequently lucrative) players.

[fuzzarchive]

Not to romanticize Homestuck but reading the comic while it was ongoing and still updating was truly an experience unlike any other.

There was no update schedule whatsoever, and when the comic was going to update was anybody’s guess. Sometimes the comic would update, and then not update again for a couple of weeks or so. Other times, the comic would update, and then update again only a couple hours later while everyone still hasn’t gotten over the previous update yet. The comic could update at noon or early in the evening, but it could also update at 3:00 AM. An update could happen or not happen at any possible time.

Due to Homestuck’s insane update timing, there were people who would just have the website open all the time and keep refreshing over and over, and there were people who would log onto their social media with no idea that an update had occurred and they would get spoiled immediately. To fix these problems, someone created a program that people could download called MSPA Notify. The program would constantly be checking the website every minute or so to see if new pages had been added, and if there happened to be any new pages a sound effect would play and you would see a notification on the bottom right of your computer screen, showing an image of a different Homestuck character each time.

There is nothing that will ever be able to replicate that raw, visceral feeling that I had when I would come home from school to see Vriska and the word “upd8″ sitting there in the corner of my desktop. Or when I’d be watching some random youtube videos or drawing something or whatever and I would see that pop-up and drop everything that I was doing. Or when I was working on an important essay or school project and the worst homework distraction to ever exist shows up. Not just the idea of there being an update, but the noise itself that the notifier made was enough to make my heart skip a beat. And when I clicked the notification to bring me to the website, I knew it could be anything: My favorite character could show up, a character could die, a ship could become canon, there could be a new flash, or it could just be an absurd joke with some sbahj imagery. Or, it could be a combination of those things.

Then when you went to Tumblr or Twitter after reading the update, you would be greeted with all this speculation and analysis people would post, people’s hysterical reactions to the events that just happened in the comic, and even fanart of the update which you have no idea how people could have drawn that fast.

These days, anyone can check out Homestuck on the new website if they’re interested, but it’s not quite the same. Sure, they will be getting to know all the same lovable characters that we did and get to the same shocking events and plot twists, but they will be missing part of what once was the Homestuck experience. I loved Homestuck and I loved its characters, but by far the thing that I enjoyed the most about Homestuck was having it blow up in my face again and again, and all of the friends that I had made along this wild ride. If you weren’t there for it, you will never get to experience it, and that saddens me. Now that the epilogues are coming out though, I hope that everyone who came to Homestuck after it ended gets a little taste of what that was once like.

Also, there was a time near the end when Homestuck actually did have an update schedule. It would update at midnight on weekdays. I hated predictable updates, and I wanted all of the chaos back because I liked the element of surprise. The team that’s behind the epilogue on twitter is apparently saying that they will not be telling everyone when exactly the updates are going to occur, as if to keep it a surprise, and there are some people who are complaining about that, so I’d just like to say this: People complaining about the random updates shut the fuck up and just let us have this challenge.

[haringdyke]

How to Generate Business Ideas Through The Brainstorming Technique

Generating promising business ideas isn't easy, especially if you're alone and you do not know how to start doing it. However, through brainstorming, you can come up with great ideas that could lead you to begin a terrific business. Brainstorming is just a method of producing a group of individuals to consider something the exact same time, usually with a goal of solving a problem or producing good thoughts.

If you're really stuck and you can't generate decent business ideas independently, you can engage your colleagues to encourage you. Do not forget that the combined brainpower of a bunch of individuals, coming together to deliberate on a specific problem, can spark off ideas and solutions better than you working independently. I'd so like to share with you some of the suggestions on ways to use brainstorming to create good business ideas.

1. The first issue would be to scan the environment to identify the issues that will need to be solved along with the demands that people have. As you're the one spearheading the whole exercise and the principal beneficiary, you should have the ability to pose the problem to the group.

2. Secondly, identify people which are going to be a part of the brainstorming group. The way to identify them all depends on you and the people you surround yourself. The identification method is followed by an invitation for them to take part in the exercise. You may engage your friends; state on Facebook, to take part in brainstorming. You can even carry out online surveys.

3. Get as many ideas as the group could create. The more ideas generated the better for you. No thoughts should be blocked. All ideas should be permitted whether good or bad, whether wise or foolish. All members must be left free to develop ideas which are as funny or as absurd as you can. Bear in mind that all ideas are great because from the poor or silly ideas, good ones can be found. In any case, the term"GOOD" makes sense since there's also"BAD".

4. Respect all thoughts from the folks in the group. By regard, I mean you need to respect them as precious and you should therefore avoid criticizing them or assessing them. It can spoil the entire process and people become uncomfortable distributing openly what they have in their thoughts. In the brainstorming stage, all ideas are equally valid. It is therefore a good practice to keep enjoying each and every member of this group that generates a notion.

5. Do not repeat ideas previously mentioned. While I say this, I don't mean that if one repeats an already mentioned thought, you stop them. It will sound as if you are just too much restrictive. And that doesn't bring out the expected benefits. What you need to do, when somebody repeats an idea, would be to use the identical notion to jump into other new ideas. You use it as the foundation for to other new ideas.

6. Clarity is important in creating business ideas. Ideas shouldn't be complex and detailed. Individuals shouldn't inform winding stories that end up making people confused and eliminate time. Members need to be properly guided to precisely and concisely bring out their thoughts.

7. Avoid being judgmental. When you do that, it will obviously have a negative effect, especially on shy individuals or on those that are not knowledgeable about the thought of letting their thoughts flow and expressing them openly. You'll be spoiling the entire procedure.

Finally, I want to remind you that in the event you've been finding it hard to generate ideas to begin a small home business, consider applying this technique of brainstorming. It can work wonders for you. Don't suffer alone when you're surrounded with a number of resourceful people and when you can also get them over the internet. Wish you good luck!

Good Business Ideas For The Home Business Entrepreneur

The notion of creating an income from home is very attractive, especially when you've got the drive and ambition to start your own business. However small or large your entrepreneurial dreams, there are loads of great business ideas to be explored.

Forget the"Get Rich Quick" schemes or the promises of steady income for very little time commitment and"all you need to do" is invest in an upfront program (if something appears to be too good to be true, it likely is), and concentrate on making your own business doing something you love. When there are great business ideas which have made money for some you want to discover a business that excites and energises you. With the proper motivation and a solid business idea you will have the tools for success, and the ability to continue with your business over the long run.

Superior business ideas for home business entrepreneurs fall into three broad classes:

1. Virtual Services

With the gigantic growth in outsourcing of certain tasks or tasks, there are lots of opportunities to provide your services virtually. This means that you can work at home and provide services like admin, writing, marketing, design, information technology or social media to businesses. Either on a project basis or as their digital PA (personal assistant), marketing officer or social networking expert.

As a digital PA you'll handle all of the tasks a PA would, logging costs into a spreadsheet, booking trips, organising calendars, booking training, preparing materials for presentations and events, but based at your home.

With systems and tools like google Docs, Dropbox and other online sharing programs, it is easy to share information and supply spreadsheets, documents and reports remotely to your customers.

As a freelance writer you may offer to write reports, articles, edit articles, post blog comments, manage forum marketing, provide blogging, tweeting or HubPages content, the choices are limitless.

In case you have knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization ) you can offer a service building traffic to your customers' sites and blogs.

Locate clients by promoting your services on a Facebook fan page and by contributing to relevant discussions on Facebook, forums and blogs. Or you can discover freelance work through websites like Elance, Guru or PeoplePerHour.

2. Local Services

Use your skills and expertise to provide services to local businesses. In case you have even the most elementary marketing, online or social networking skills you can offer to be their marketing or social networking expert. Charge on a per job, hourly or monthly retainer speed, depending upon your regional market and the experience you're offering.

Many regional businesses are great at what they do but struggle to find new customers and market their business effectively online. Stop in and talk to some regional businesses and show them the way to help them get more customers, by enhancing their online marketing or social websites.

A good suggestion is to get the regional newspapers, church, school and parish newsletters and determine which firms are advertising. Contact them and talk to them about ways to help them get more business, or spend less.

3. Online Business

Online businesses are flourishing as demonstrated by the explosion in the numbers of individuals online and using Facebook. Home business entrepreneurs are discovering opportunities online like never before. Begin with a hobby, skill or something you feel passionate about and look at ways to generate income from it.

Superior business ideas include becoming an infopreneur. Create information products to discuss your ideas and experiences with others to help them resolve a problem, or fulfill a need. This can be by means of a blog, forum or community site, membership website, ebooks, reports, newsletters or online training.

Information can be given in downloadable formats so clients receive the information they want straight away, and you make money each time your merchandise is downloaded.

An information business isn't hard to set up, low risk and you can test your ideas on a small scale prior to producing more comprehensive products. Promote affiliate products to check your market or make money selling goods on eBay or Amazon.

If you are selling physical products that you may use drop-shipping to automate the fulfilment and shipping of your goods so you don't need to take care of products. The drop-ship company will handle the invoicing, payment and shipping of the goods. All you do is promote the product to the client.

The aim with an online business is to automate as much of it as possible, so you set up the systems and leave them to operate. That way you will have a truly automated business which makes money even while you are sleeping or away on vacation.

I'm a huge fan of small niche websites which you set up and forget. They will not make you rich but you can create as many little niche sites as you like and multiply your income. A niche site will concentrate on solving a single problem for a particular market, such as weight loss, caring for bearded dragons or betta fish, or eliminating acne.

Superior business ideas are all around. Start looking at the possibilities everywhere you go. See what the hot topics are in magazines and newspapers, listen to what people are talking about (or whining they are missing) and begin with your own home business now.

[bombtimer]

On pseudo-public participation

Looking at my friends’ blogs, they have been already communicating their ideas based on their forte, along with sharing their personal stories. They are so academically eloquent and interestingly, they still have an individual touch that sheds new light on that matter. Sadly, I have difficulty to transform an academic perspective into a personal one; writing academically is fine by me since fewer emotions are involved. This is exacerbated by the pre-successful idea to launch a blog once discussed with my friends back in the Lab (LOL). Or another piece that I wrote for a nascent website which stopped producing contents ever since, which in turn traumatises me even more. Yet, as many academia that I follow mostly on Twitter do, I think it is essential to mainstream a perhaps-too-theoretical idea, not only to further the knowledge but also to contribute to, however cringey it probably sounds, the societal progress. 

Alright, enough reminiscing. Now let us proceed to the serious part. 

In this piece, I want to elaborate on my personal view regarding my dissertation, which revolves around the concept of public participation in the digital era. A theoretical framework will be presented, followed by the context of Jakarta, Indonesia as the place where my dissertation takes place upon. Several major arguments will be presented and summarised at the end, which therefore closes this writing. 

[Disclaimer: I do not give the bibliography therefore this piece might be deemed a personal opinion. I really should have drafted the article version of my dissertation hence it will be deemed ‘original’ in the academic setting. However, I am still working on it hence, sadly, the arguments will be limited. The ‘censored’ part is really open for discussion; over dinner or evening cafe session, perhaps?]

Putting public participation in the current smart city discourse

Public participation is naturally the simplest measure of how a citizen can express their political rights, exemplifying the bottom-up approach in the decision-making process. Arguably, the extent to which public participation is designed has been widely elaborated; from Sherry Arnstein’s seminal work of ‘ladder of participation’ to the latest suggestion of how participatory practices should be designed. The pertinent examples include public hearings, consultations, and the advisory committee. Furthermore, these extensive literature have noted the success and setbacks of public participatory designs across the world; whether the practices are more deliberative or not, and the challenges that are still adamantly present through decades; which include the difference in resources to commit to the whole policymaking process i.e. time, travel cost, income, and family structure.

As the digital era is also transforming participatory practices, the notion of public participation seems to be evolving by using map-based software in the decision-making. Many studies exhibit Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) or similar terms i.e. Collaboratively Contributed GIS (CCGIS) and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) as the way of integrating participatory mapping into policy-making. While PPGIS and CCGIS put the citizen with the decision-makers at the same table and at the same time, in VGI perspective the citizens are positioned as the living sensors which ‘capture’ and ‘emit’ both information and its coordinates to the other end where the data are then stored, structured, and analysed further. Indeed, the latter practice puts citizenship in the lowest ladder of participation, both in the traditional definition or in the most recent one. On the one hand, citizens as sensors provide invaluable contents for specific mapping—both aims and spatial resolution. The practice is also important during an emergency, like forest fire mapping, for example. Furthermore, VGI is argued to limit power relation influencing the participatory process, which is often present in face-to-face meetings and forums. On the other hand, as crowdsourcing data reflects the urban inter-referencing effects of smart city initiatives, some argue for its self-congratulatory nature i.e. to achieve a city’s success based on self-deliberated KPI metrics—rather than being truly adapted to the local context. 

Summing up, some question of the quality of VGI to be put on the table while some signify its benefits in more practical understanding. At this point, the choice is between scrutinising the use of VGI as a means to an end in public participation context; whether it is politically correct or not, or rather, devising the analytical framework to gain some insights from the crowdsourced data. Choosing to further the latter, the case of Jakarta, Indonesia will be elaborated.

Jakarta in a nutshell

Being one of the most densely populated metropolitans in the Global South, Jakarta has been storing potentials of becoming an abundant source of crowdsourced data with its approximately 10 million population. There have been some initiatives that use Twitter users to inform which area has been flooded or mobile app that crowdsources reports from the users regarding their surroundings. Some studies even recognise the success (if not the measurement of it) of these organic platforms in collecting public concern to be inputted to decision-making. With many challenges that this metropolis faces periodically i.e. traffic jam, flood, or waste disposal, the various applications which identify those problems define their significance.

Premise 1: Quantitative analysis actually speaks

From what I have learnt for one year, quantitative analysis sounds more when you present the assumptions in the beginning. Basically, there might be data transformation i.e. log-log transformation, winsorization, etc. (such a statistics nerd, sorry) if needed, but the most important thing is answering “What does your data represent?”. There is also spatial analysis, where the geographical attributes are taken into account. The intersection between these schools of thought, in my opinion, complements each other’s limitation. The classic example, of course, would be the Ordinary Least Square Regression vis-a-vis Geographically Weighted Regression. There might be a new insight emerged once you delve into the spatial features of the data.

For the case of public participation, I blatantly used the number of Qlue Indonesia reports in 6 months as somewhat representative of public participation. Qlue Indonesia itself is a company that built a smartphone-based application to report a problem e.g. waste being uncollected, damaged roads, and broken public facilities. For each report, a user will have to take a photo, give the location coordinates, and fill up some fields to elaborate on the problems. 

Yes, I know. There might be biases there; literature defines crowdsourcing to be not giving the whole democratic or rights to the citizens. Or in other words, crowdsourcing is not anywhere near participating in policy-making. Yet, my argument would be that now is the time to use whatever data we have in hand to try modelling our complex world. From this application, I get enough data (n ~ 50,000) for six months to analyse. Then again, every user in crowdsourcing platforms generates their own data, which somehow they participate in defining the problems; an initial yet important step in designing pertinent public policy. 

Once you started the quantitative analysis, it should be kept in mind that the result is not the most accurate of a predictive model. We are not chasing the perfection of such tools, but rather use the model to better elaborate our standpoint. Some say that modelling uncertainty of our model is way a better perspective, as we acknowledge all the assumptions and limitations of our work. After all, measuring public participation has been in a qualitative manner all these decades; we should take a very cautious design in analysing it from a quantitative perspective.

Premise 2: The biases, still?

Speaking about the biases, one must remember that the quintessence of public participation should be the representation. The ideal condition is where everyone has a say to be taken into account, let’s say in the development of social housings in a particular area. However, it is difficult to define 'everyone'. Should it be all city inhabitants? Or rather, should it be based on administrative boundaries? After all, one will say that it is the people of the surrounding project area has 'more' rights to allow such development impacting their daily life for some time.

The thing is, not many people have similar interests over a topic. People have ranging understanding an interests towards their environment, or what Steven Johnson and others called 'vantage points', a condition where people become more selective in processing information and developing knowledge. For example, people in a city-scale will resist the development of a nuclear plant, while if new waste disposal area is to be developed in a Subdistrict X, only people living in Subdistrict X will respond to such plan. Another example recognises the topic. One would be interested in the topic of municipal budgeting, while the other one is just into advocating better public transport. Some might collaborate and thoroughly inspect the budget for developing new bus route, but all should agree that there are people that do not have similar interest, nor the required knowledge to act on those things.

Note: This picture depicts that the female user count as a regression variable is highly significant only in the yellow area

This leads to the socio-economic and demographic features of society. As people come from different backgrounds and upbringings, their vantage point is shaped and changing over time. Such dynamics also generate a condition where priority has to be selected in the first place. For example, if all happens at the same time, a mother would tend to her children rather than attending a forum of new school zoning policy. Or, underprivileged people will think about travel cost twice if they want to attend the public hearing, compared to those who prefer voicing their concerns directly. In the cultural perspective, there would be many examples that there are certain dynamics, which cover body language and political stance, that may hinder the effective design of public participation. This includes that the elders may be more respected than other tribe members, which may be highly influential when a decision is about to be made.

To be more contextual, the current digital era has transformed public participation designs into more technology-aided platforms. Yet, the classic issue of the use of technology is the digital divide. One might argue that the reasons for people having access to technology are congruent to those of people participating in policy-making. Though it should be confirmed first, to some extent, current utilisation of technology might exacerbate the representativeness issue in participatory practices. People who do not have access to municipal reporting platform on their phone, due to incompatible phone for the app or lack of information on the existence of the app, just simply will not contribute in tagging any problem through the app.

Indeed, the biases in current practices of participatory designs are mostly caused by the converging representation of divergent society. These opaque layers need to be carefully addressed to generate a public policy, which one may assume its equity towards all.

Premise 3: Local knowledge, unravelled

While putting the citizens as the living sensors, one must contextualise the information within its spatial attributes and to the extent of additional information in each report. The latter implies the comment from each user. Several methods suggest text mining, which may result in sentiment analysis. Other technique may group the records based on several keywords into several topics. By this premise, first, we should list every word within the context that might be deemed positive and negative in value. Then, compare every word from the comment, iterate the value, and let the statistics define the results. The challenge would be using the pertinent library and tool packages (hello, machine learning) in the local language i.e. Indonesian and its informal words, which sometimes may be lacking. 

Combining this result with its spatial attributes will further the analysis, even possibly add into the debate of generalisation in geodemographics vs. the highly-granular big data. While several socio-economic indicators are not in high resolution, this coerces the analysis based on the administrative boundary. If the result is later presented to the decision-makers, the delivery of follow-up services will sometimes be blind by this geographical entity, which might be really disadvantageous in an emergency. But indeed, all of this made-up condition works if there is only one channel that is used for the citizens to report something.

Investigating how the public engages in decision-making needs to address the fact that there are multiple ways for one to notify the government about an incident. We talk about informal channels which might be different from a city to another, such as collective action in doing something, local governments in a village, or else. A multi-level, multi-approach set of analysis will prove that indeed there is a complexity in decision-making, even in its earliest step: answering “Is there any problem that we should respond to?”

And...

I know I tried really hard to deliver my thoughts on this matter. This piece only delves into several superficial entities of public participation, which might be flawed by thinking that the number of reports in a certain geographical unit equals to the level of public participation. Yet I argue that using the seemingly-superfluous information, indeed we can gain necessary information in identifying problems that occur around us. We can use different quantitative and spatial tools, along with addressing the biases of public participation which hopefully leads to the unravelling of the local knowledge. Some would be optimistic in using the tools and how-to aforementioned, particularly referring to the fact that data is all around us. However, I humbly suggest that we should look at the bigger picture, starting by identifying how to analyse our own society across the ladder of participation, one of the generalisations of the public that I personally like. By acknowledging the complexity, at least we progress in how to include ourselves in the decision-making process.