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scripttorture · 4 years

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I have a weird scenario and i want to ask about its implications, mostly focusing on soliditary confinement aspects. So I am writing about this all powerful being who is immortal+eternally youthful (with a human like mind) who gets trapped in basically a big snowglobe created by his powers. Its a big mostly open space set inside a forest with a magic mansion to occupy him and provide him basic needs and the limits of the globe are very defined. {1/4}

{Weird anon} After some time alone he comes to create a friend to accompany him and make sure everything goes well during his absence using his powers. This friend can and does leave for periods of time to fullfill his duties but comes back. The being also realises during his imprisonment his powers dwindle with time and the globe starts to get smaller as he starts to age, meaning he will either die from old age or the globe shrinking. {2/4} {WA}After what he thinks must be a long time, his graying hair biggest indication, kids who knew about his legend come to discover him. They then bring him their older sibling, then their parents to talk and after some plot he gets to get some of his powers back and be free. (Posting my questions in the last part) {3/4} {WA} I was wondering if the confinement area being comfy and big, him having this friend would help during confinement? How could he react to aging/idea of dying? Although this isnt very possible in RL, could the fact he had to create this friend ,but mostly the fact he would have no one else if he didnt, get to him? How could he interract with kids/people who found him, i know people tend to have difficulty with interractions after time. Ty for your help! {4/4} {WA EXTRA} Forgot to mention these but 3 kids are 10 to 12, older sibling is 14-15, parents are mid thirties . Again, thank you for your time.

That’s an interesting fantasy scenario (and not even close to the weirdest thing I’ve been asked) thank you for sharing it :)

I think the first thing to grasp is that this character isn’t constantly in solitary confinement here and that’s a smart writing choice. You’ve got the character creating at least one companion and even though that companion isn’t always present that means it’s likely they’re both getting at least 1-2 hours of contact most of the time.

That doesn’t mean this isn’t a stressful situation and it doesn’t mean there are no periods of solitary confinement.

But it gives you leeway to make the effects of this fairly realistic even with the fantasy concept.

Having a big, comfortable space doesn’t really make a difference to how well people deal with isolation. Socialising is a physical need for social species like humans. But the presence of a companion makes the world of difference.

I think the first thing to decide is exactly how long it takes him to make his companion. A lot of people really overestimate the time we can withstand isolation.

For reference the safe period is about a week. After that most people will start to show symptoms and the symptoms are a lot more likely to persist after release. A month is more then enough time for the character to be seriously effected. A year is a really extreme amount of time. And by the time you start getting to multiple years the chances of suicide attempts are… significant.

With the kind of story you’re describing I get the impression you want long term effects but don’t want symptoms etc to take over the story. I think 1-3 months is a perfect time frame for that. The character would develop long term symptoms but it’s still in the realm where it’s survivable. Which means it’s less likely to take over the whole narrative.

You’ve probably seen my masterpost on solitary confinement but here it is again just in case :) I really recommend Shalev’s Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement which is linked as one of the sources on the post.

As with the symptoms of torture more generally you’ve got some scope to choose symptoms because not everyone will experience every single symptom. There’s still some debate about how common individual symptoms are. However broadly depression and anxiety seem to be very common and hallucinations are less common (though they seem to become more likely the longer someone is confined). It’s a good idea to pick a mix of physical and psychological symptoms.

If you choose insomnia as a symptom remember that sleep deprivation also causes problems which you can read about in the masterpost here.

If this is your first time writing something like this then picking out symptoms can be daunting. I try to think of it in terms of what adds to the story. I try to consider the characters, plot and overall themes. Symptoms that give you opportunities to show aspects of the character’s personality, change their relationship with other characters, highlight themes in the story and/or create interesting problems in the plot later on are all good picks.

It’s also important to consider what you’re comfortable writing and what you feel able to write. If you don’t want to write self harm for example that’s a perfectly good reason for ruling out that symptom.

I have a post that outlines my process for picking symptoms that might be helpful for you. :)

I think that brings us round to the more fantasy side of the questions.

I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know how people generally deal with the idea that they’re going to die soon. I suspect that there’d be a lot of individual variation. I think you’ll get the best answers by looking up charities that support people with terminal illnesses.

I found a couple of links at Marie Curie that might serve as a starting point. There’s this page on palliative care. This general page (with lots of links and first hand accounts) of living with a terminal illness. You might find this page about emotionally processing a terminal diagnosis helpful.

I would treat the emotional issues around the created companion the same as a character who is reliant on only one person for their social needs. Which can put a lot of weird strains on a relationship.

I’m not a psychologist and what I say here is based on impressions I gained from interviews with people who are very isolated. If you see a mental health professional or someone who studies isolation more seriously saying something different take their word over mine. Because my reading and knowledge is broad rather then deep.

Relying on one person for all your social needs isn’t healthy. We all have different needs and it’s a lot easier for those needs to be met when we’re interacting with more then one person. Being entirely reliant on one person puts a lot of pressure on that person. It can make it seem like any problems or issues the more isolated person has are the other person’s fault.

Because they’re not magically meeting all of someone’s needs. And I say ‘magically’ because it’s almost impossible for one person to do the ‘job’ of a dozen people.

There can be a lot of guilt, resentment and anger floating around in this sort of dependant relationship. Even when both parties are genuinely trying their best and trying to be healthy.

Any depressive period or severe mood swing on the part of the reliant character might be interpreted as failure by the companion. As if it’s their job to ‘fix’ the mental health problems he has. And that can lead to a lot of internalised guilt and shame.

Conversely being aware of how dependant he is could make the confined character resent the comparative freedom of his companion. They get to leave. They’ll survive the end of this snow-globe. They’ve never had to be alone as he was.

The companion has a lot of power in this scenario because the confined character is entirely reliant on them. They also have the power to leave. Knowing that can breed resentment, whether it’s rational or not. And if it’s irrational and ‘undeserved’ that can lead to a degree of self hatred and guilt.

For both parties anger at each other and the situation seems likely. Not necessarily all the time but I think it’s likely to come up over and over again.

The companion has their own desires and wants. But the confined character is entirely dependant on them and may well expect them to drop everything to help him/meet his socialisation needs. And the thing is that’s unfair on both of them, because the situation is unfair.

That’s not a critique of the story. It’s unfair for the confined character to expect the companion to be able to meet all his needs and to drop everything to help him. But it’s also not unreasonable for the confined character to grasp at his only option for fulfilling a fundamental need.

I think that if you wanted to treat this ‘realistically’ then it would lead to a pretty unhealthy co-dependant relationship however much both characters tried to avoid that.

But you do have the ability to reduce or avoid that in your story. Because you choose the rules for how this companion feels, acts and behaves.

The confined character may be human-like but in a lot of ways the companion does not have to be. A realistic human-like person would not be able to support all the social needs of another person. But there’s no reason the companion has to be that human.

If you do choose to deviate from a more human-like character I think my advice would be to think through any changes you make logically. And be consistent. If for instance the character can’t feel angry or resentful towards their creator think through what that might mean.

Which leaves the final question about interacting with others and how difficult that can be after periods of isolation.

The exact way this effects interactions depends chiefly on the symptoms you pick out and the character’s personality.

Generally mentally ill people do not want to be assholes or upset other people. But we do tend to have greater difficulties interacting with people and our social interactions can go badly in ways that healthy people don’t tend to experience.

For instance say we have a character who has a severe anxiety disorder and this disorder is often set off by noises they don’t expect. That’s a fairly common symptom and a fairly common trigger for it.

That means that kids running around, shouting or just talking loudly about something that excites them, could set off an anxiety attack.

Some people would get angry in that situation. Because they’re in pain and, even though they did not mean to, those kids ‘caused’ that pain.

Some people would abruptly remove themselves from the situation. Which could leave the kids wondering why/how they upset their new friend so much.

Some people would stick around and not blame the kids. But they might have visible signs of their anxiety attack that could be very frightening for a child who doesn’t understand what’s going on. If an adult they care about suddenly starts shaking and breathing hard and needs to sit down and looks pale- Well worry is natural. And it’s difficult to explain triggers/mental health problems while you’re in the middle of an anxiety attack.

So there’s a set of issues that are symptom driven and around the extra difficulties interacting while mentally ill. There’s also a set of issues around… basically forgetting how to socialise.

This doesn’t necessarily mean being age in-appropriate.

I think the best way to think about it is a combination of finding it harder to interpret other people’s emotional cues and being less aware of the cues they’re sending out themselves. It might take longer for the character to realise they’ve upset someone or they might misidentify the other person’s emotional response.

They might also think less before they speak. Which can mean things like- I guess not moderating what they say to account for other people’s feelings? They might come across as blunt or thoughtless or scatter brained as they jump from one topic to another. They might also have less of a grasp of when to give the other person space and let them speak.

The biggest thing I see survivors of solitary report is that normal social interaction makes them much more anxious/nervous then it did before they were confined. Socialising has a bigger ‘cost’ then before, in terms of energy and emotional impact.

And this often means they withdraw from it more quickly. They need to take breaks. Or they start getting more stressed and frustrated.

I think the main thing to navigate here would be how to explain these conditions and needs to children in a way that doesn’t seem like it’s blaming the kids. Which is certainly possible, but can take some time and care to get right.

I think I’ll leave it there and if you’ve got any further questions drop them in when the ask box reopens. I hope that helps :)

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#writing advice #tw torture #tw suicide #tw self harm #tw cancer #fantasy ask #solitary confinement #effects of solitary confinement #isolation #writing survivors #torture survivors and relationships #unhealthy relationships #terminal illness #writing symptoms

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duhragonball · 4 years

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‘21

Amidst all the popular hype for seeing the end of 2020, it didn’t hit me until about lunchtime what the real highlight is that I’ve been waiting for: For the first time since 1999, the year finally ends in “numberty-number” again. It low-key irritated me that we had to call it “two thousand three” and I was relieved when “twenty-thirteen” caught on, but it still wasn’t right because it was too short, and now we’re back in the sweet spot, and I should be safely dead by 2100, so that’s one less thing I gotta deal with.

Really, even “numberty hundred” rings true to me. “Nineteen hundred” sounds like a year. “Twenty-one-oh-six” sounds like a futur-y year, which is even cooler. So did “Two thousand five”, until I was actually living in it, and it sounds even worse now that it was a long time ago and adults will talk about their childhood happening in that year. Daniel Witwicky would be old enough to get married and grow a fancier beard than me. That’s nuts. My point is that, honestly, it’s the year 3000-3019 that I have to worry about, so if I ever decide to go vampire, those will be the years I hide in the ocean or force society to reset the calendar, whichever’s easier.

I spent New Year’s Eve finishing Superliminal, which I bought on Steam after I watched Vegeta play it on YouTube. It has a similar look and feel to the Stanley Parable, so if you liked one you’d probably enjoy the other, although Superliminal has a different theme. I kept hoping I’d find some secret passage that I wasn’t supposed to take, and a narrator would scold me for finding the “Chickenbutt Ending”, but it doesn’t work that way. Superliminal’s all about puzzles and awesome visuals, but it does have the same soothing design aesthetics as TSP. Honestly, I enjoyed just wandering around in Stanley’s office, and Superliminal does the same thing with a hotel and several other settings. It’s nice.

This got me thinking about how I kind of did everything there was to do in The Stanley Parable, and I sort of wished they would add new stuff to the game, but I’m not sure there would be much point to that. I could play the older version, but it presents the same message, just with different assets. The Boss’s Office would look different, but it’d be the same game. And this got me thinking about various “secret chapters” in pop culture. Secrets behind the cut.

I first heard about this idea in the 2000′s, when fans invented this notion that there was a secret chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I read a website that tried to explain the concept, and of course it lauded J.K. Rowling with all this gushing praise for working an Easter egg into the book, a literary work of “well, magic.”

That pretty well sums up my distaste for Harry Potter, by the way. These days, JKR has thoroughly crapped all over her reputation and legacy, but in the 2000′s it felt like half the planet was in a mad rush to canonize her as a writing goddess, to the point where fans were congratulating her for writing secret chapters that didn’t actually exist. The idea was based on lore from the books about Neville Longbottom’s parents. They were patients in a mental hospital, and he’d go to visit them, and they would give him bubble gum wrappers, intended to demonstrate how far remove they’ve become from reality. The secret chapter lies in those wrappers, which all read “Droobles Best Blowing Gum” or some such. What if Neville’s parents were only pretending to be mentally ill, so as to throw off their enemies? Naturally, they would want to stay in contact with their son, so the bubble gum wrappers would have to contain coded messages. Said code involves unscrambling the letters on the wrappers to make new words, like “goblin” or “sword” or “Muggle” or “Dumbledore”. The problem is that you can also use it to make other words like “booger” or “drool” or “booobbiess.” Play with it enough, and you can make the code say anything you want it to say, which means it’s no code at all.

But the idea was that the not-yet-published sixth HP book would reveal all of this gum wrapper nonsense, and Neville would decode the messages and discover all of his parents’ super-cool adventures. I’m not sure why we needed a secret chapter if Book 6 was going to explain all of this anyway in several not-secret chapters, but that was the whole point. Fans didn’t have Book 6 yet, and they were so desperate to read it that they started trying to extrapolate what would happen next based on “clues” from the previous five. That’s like trying to figure out what Majin Buu looks like by watching the Androids Saga. I guess some wiseguy would have guessed that he’d resemble #19, but that’d just be blind luck.

And when you get down to it, this whole secret chapter business is really just a conspiracy. This is literally how Qanon works. Some anonymous jackass posted vague “hints” on an imageboard, and people went goofy trying to interpret them and figure out what would happen in the future. They call it “research” because they spend a ton of time on this, but there’s no basis to any of it. It took me a few minutes to figure out that you can spell “Muggle” with the words in “Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum”, but that’s not research and it doesn’t prove anything. But all these guys keep looking for “Hilary Clinton goes to jail next week” and lo and behold that’s all they ever find.

In the same vein, the gum wrapper thing was really a complaint disguised as a conspiracy, disguised as a “magical secret chapter”. At least a few fans wanted to see more Neville in their Harry Potter books, they wanted Neville’s parents, or someone like them, to have cool spy adventures or whatever else. The point is, they clearly weren’t getting what they wanted out of the printed works, but they didn’t want to turn against their Dear Beloved Author, so they started casting about for an alternative reality, one where J.K. Rowling wrote a cooler story and hid it in the pages of the one that actually went to press. So instead of just saying “Hey, Order of the Phoenix was kind of a letdown, I hope there’s more ninjas in the next book,” they said “Rowling is a genius because I wanted ninjas and she’s definitely going to give them to me, I have the gum wrappers to prove it.”

The same thing happened all over again when the BBC Sherlock show took a turn for the nonsensical. I don’t know from BBC Sherlock, but I watched the fascinating video critique by Hbomberguy, and it sounds like the show did tons of plot twists until it stopped making sense altogether in the fourth season. If you skip to 1:09:00 in the video, you’ll hear about fan theories that suggested that season four was supposed to be crappy, as part of a secret meta-narrative plan that would be paid off in a secret, unannounced episode that would not only explain everything, but retroactively justify the crappy episodes that came before. But it’s been a few years and it never came to pass, so I think we can call this myth busted.

Most recently, I think we’ve all seen a lot of talk about the final season of Supernatural, where I guess Destiel sort of became canon but only one guy does the love confession and the other doesn’t respond. But I guess he does say “I love you too” in the Spanish dub, which means the English language version was edited for whatever reason. It’s not exactly a secret episode, but the implication is that there’s more to this than what made it to the screen. So the questions turn to what the screenplay said, what the writers and actors wanted to do, etc. etc. My general impression is that SPN fans are a bit more used to crushing disappointment, so they’re not quite as delusional about this show being unquestionable genius, like Sherlock and Harry Potter. Maybe this is an Anglophile thing? Like, if you suck at something with a British accent, people will accept it more unconditionally?

I had seen something on Twitter about how there should have been a secret Seinfeld episode in the 90′s. Someone suggested it at the time, they tape a whole episode, then wait until 2020 to air it, because by then it would be worth a fortune. But they didn’t do it, because it costs a lot of money to make a TV episode, and if you don’t air the show right away, you aren’t making that money back any time soon. Yeah, you might recoup a fortune someday, but Seinfeld was making a ton of money then. It exposes the fannish nature of the idea. A fan would love to discover a cool secret chapter, but a content creator isn’t necessarily keen on making a cool thing and then hiding it where few people would find it.

I thought about doing this myself recently. Maybe Supernatural gave me the bug, but I thought “I’m writing this big-ass story, so what if I wrote me a secret chapter for it? Wouldn’t that be cool?” But no, it wouldn’t be cool, because it’d be the same work as writing a regular chapter, and the same stress I feel when I hold off on publishing it. Except I’d just never publish it, I’d put it in some secret hole on the internet and hope that some superfan who might not even exist can decode whatever clues I leave.

I mean, it’d be awesome if it got discovered and everyone loved it. “Hey, I found this hidden chapter! Mike’s done it again!” And I could bask in the glory. But what if no one finds it? Then I just wasted my time, right? I want people to read my work. My monkey brain needs the sweet, sweet validation of those kudos and comments, folks. Once I realized that, I understood why no one else would want to do a secret chapter either. Easter eggs are one thing, but the bigger bonus features they put on DVDs were pretty easy to find, and with good reason.

I think that’s what made the Stanley Parable so appealing to play, because it teases you with the idea that you can “break” the game and find some extra content that you weren’t supposed to see, but as you go exploring all those hidden areas, it gradually becomes clear that this is just part of the game; you were meant to find all these things, and that’s why they were put here. It’s hidden, but he secret aspect of it is just pretend.

I suppose that what I like about games like TSP and Superliminal is the illusion of secrets more than the secrets themselves. I like roaming through the hallways, having no idea what I might find ahead. I kind of wish I could open all the doors, and not just the ones the game designers put stuff behind, but the reality is that there’s nothing on the other side. I used a cheat code once to explore the unused doors in TSP and it’s just a bright white field on the other side. Interesting to look at, but not much of a reveal. Honestly, the doors themselves are more appealing than anything that could lay behind them.

And that’s probably what makes secrets so fun. They could be almost anything, but once you open the present, the number of possibilities drops to one. If they had ever made that Secret BBC Sherlock Episode, I doubt it would have lived up to expectations, but fans could amuse themselves by imagining what could have been in it. In the end, though, things usually don’t justify the hype. For every Undertaker debut at Survivor Series 1990, there’s a Gobbledygooker debut at Survivor Series 1990. It’s impossible to manufacture a secret with a guaranteed payoff.

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caffeinated-yearning · 4 years

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The Start of Something Awful

@werewolfpine said I should post my writing and I’m doing it because I will literally never post unless someone forces me to, here’s a snippet of the lore of How Doc Ock Comes To Be, featuring my/Ock’s actual mind thought mannerisms. Technically this has only my S/I Oliver and Doctor Octavius a little at the front end, because I do my best work when it’s one character who thinks too much.

Word Count: ~1.4k Warnings: Self-harm (minor), queasiness (minor), astonishingly sarcastic narrator voice

“Hoshino.”

Oliver looks up from the box; as much as people focused on biorobotics, he rather preferred the metal things he’d been working on. None of that confusion of the ‘bio’ aspect. Cold techne and cold metal, a perfect compliment to his frozen heart. Looked up at his teacher- professor, Otto Octavius, and said nothing.

“The test results..?”

Of course! How could he possibly forget the mind-crippling endeavor of writing up a lab report for the sake of his dear professor? It would never pass off as science if he didn’t suffer the hideous toil of turning his experiment into a report; let it be known that the gods themselves would forbid anyone to simply look at the raw data and draw their own conclusions- no, he has to bring their attention to that all himself.

Ability to self-replicate- [Y] Hive mind program- [Y] Formation of simple and complex shapes- [Y] Link to human minds- concept phase. Mobile complex shapes- concept only. Modify macro chemicals within human body- tested in organic slurry, dubious results. Anything else that could be interesting- hasn’t been conceptualized yet.

“Would you call it a success?”

“If it teaches something new, it is a success.”

“Then have you been taught anything?”

Oh, doctor, do not pretend! This is all just a reinvention of the wheel at this point. Smaller and still programmable they may be, but these are all things that have been done before. They were done decades ago, before everyone found biological machinery to hold more promise. What then is there to learn? Humans disagree with metal, that has been the lesson. Oliver answers in so dry a tone; “discussion section: page three. Sir.”

“So I read.” Oliver returns his attention to his robots, still attentive to the good doctor’s words; “you sound irritated- both in the paper and at present.”

It is proper to smile and shake his head, to set the doctor’s concerns to rest. He fails this task, and in the same dry tone; “I’m not. I have concerns that this research is dated at best.”

“Then you are-.”

Interrupting, and how uncharacteristic that was- “I don’t have the time to be emotional, in any event.” The professor seemed off-put by that. Indeed, it was rude of Oliver to interrupt; he makes note of that, and fails to realize that describing himself as necessarily emotionless might instead be the reason for the doctor’s discomfort. Even the good Doctor Octavius had room to be emotional when good or ill fortune struck.

There was a pause, a little too long, before the doctor spoke- he’d turned back only to give a half-question; “I trust that you can be left alone in the lab, Oliver?”

“Yes, Dr. Octavius.” Really, this was such a dumb question. Could Oliver be trusted? Of course not; every faculty member would agree, if they only knew the contents of his mind. Which made it a rather good thing, how very skilled in keeping his thoughts under lock and key he was. Not with his friends of course. With friends you were expected to share a certain amount of information, and in turn they shared meaningless data points that helped one curry good favor if one kept it all in mind. What a fun game that was, sifting through all that data and hoping you came across anything of interest.

Ah. And he was alone. The professor had left without him noticing.

“And if I am consumed by the plague I now set loose upon the earth, thus was my fate since the moment I was born; not God nor Man could stop me or my creations; Pandora, I call upon thee.” He was alone, could he not be dramatic? The box was opened, and the robots did... Absolutely nothing.

Oh good, they hadn’t developed sentience while he acted out his drama.

A scalpel he’d pilfered from his sibling on a recent trip home; it was perhaps not the cleanest, but it would serve to sever, given he’d sharpened it against bricks and stones when he’d had a moment to do so. The only issue now was to shut down his self-preservation instincts, which barely allowed a scratch to be made against himself. But not seeing the place he would cut made easier the act, and he cut into the skin that made up the hair line just behind and below his right ear.

The incision was easier than he’d expected, perhaps because it was so much closer to his dreams’ completion than anything else had been before. He pretends to be surprised by the blood, but to what end? No one is around.

He starts his computer up, watches the robots come to life, and opens up the file “Concept_Phase.chk”. Checkpoint reached, your game will now auto-save, he hums; for the first time he feels the striking chill of fear. He thinks perhaps it is the first time in his life, but knows instinctively this cannot be the case. Either way, one error at this point would be so much more devastating.

They were crawling into that bloodied cut now. He should have worn a different shirt, but at least the black on this one might spare the rest from carrying a stain. They were a horrible itching sensation in his skin- he forces his hand stationary, to meddle now is more threatening. It is most threatening; he does not understand the limits of the human body, but he does understand the delicacy of the brain.

And they are in his brain.

That is the most terrifying part of it all, and he suppresses the urge to vomit. Brains are such delicate things and he has put so many bits of metal into his. He suppresses the urge to stand and run from this horrible thing that he has done. He stays stock still, and feels fear in every muscle and every nerve ending of his body.

And they are in his brain.

He woke up, cold, and pushed himself off the floor. Linoleum or plastic tile- didn’t matter, it was cold. He almost felt annoyance- hadn’t he been doing something? It was awfully uncharacteristic of him to sleep in the lab. The computer lab, maybe, but this wasn’t that.

Oh fuck the robots and the cut- he grasps at his neck, drawing his hand away with the full expectation to pull away half-scabbed gunk, or blood still running. Nothing. He sighed. Maybe it was another dream- maybe he was still dreaming. Dreaming of being something worthy of pride and love, instead of the falsehood he’d built himself into. Of being a worthwhile investment on the part of his parents and friends. Of being something better than this, whatever this was.

Log onto his computer- and how very strange! He’d never run the checkpoint file before, if it was a dream, so why was there a .log version now? It was suddenly beginning to feel very much not like a dream. Uneasiness, like so many maggots in his stomach, seemed to eat at him. He reached up and closed the box that had once been the house of his pride, and scanned over the .log file.

Program terminated successfully.

Oh thank the gods and devils both. It was successful.

But they were in his brain, now. Theoretically, he should be able to interact with them, if all had gone according to plan. He tried not to think about how unsanitary last night’s actions were, or rather to think about that instead of the presence of so much non-biological material now swarming around in his skull. He could feel the crawling- the sensation of parasites under his skin, but how much of that was simply psychological? He couldn’t say.

“Not nearly enough time to run any sort of experiment on them,” he sighed; class would begin soon. Sure, he was already in the building, but still. “How disappointing. How many are left in there?” He finally bothered to stand up and check the box; maybe if he… tried to input commands to those ones? There were still plenty in there; doesn’t take that much metal to make a computer chip inside one’s head then.

They stirred, sluggish and confused. They had never moved of their own accord before... Responsive? Again, move again- and they did. They swayed with little ripples, ocean waves almost.

Link to human minds- [Y].

#[[ Human they Say | Oliver Hoshino ]]#byteverse #caffeinated writing #if people want more then they gotta tell me because I will assume 'no' unless told 'yes'#I don't know why it's not tagging byte but

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tothelasthoursofmylife · 5 years

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4th Anniversary Stuff

I had quite the long day yesterday and now I am a day late^^’

But, well, anyway... Watchdog of the Queen turned four yesterday! Yey!

I have been terrible again with updates in the last few months, so if you’re still here and waiting - thank you! Life and university kept me busy and exhausted lately (and I was, to my surprise, picked for a zine!), but I’m still working on the next chapter and have no intention of dropping this story anytime soon! Not when it is still keeping my brain busy.

I think I’m always getting so melodramatic and repetitive in these posts^^’ Sorry...

Well, last year, I put together some trivia and notes and I thought I would do the same this year! But that’s not everything...

When I started writing this fic, I created a file to collect little bits and pieces as I thought of them. So far, I have 258 snippets in that file^^’ Some are just a sentence long, others some pages. And I thought that, if someone’s interested, you can send me a number between 11 and 258 and I’ll post either the entire thing or part of it. However, if it’s just a sentence or a joke I have saved for later, I will reserve not to post it. (And it’s from 11 to 258 and from 1 to 258 because the first ten are just too old and irrelevant.)

Thank you so much for sticking with me for four years now! And let’s hope for many more^^

Story

The little “add-on” about Oscar and Cloudia on the intermission chapter was actually supposed to be much longer. It would have not just been about Cloudia returning to the townhouse and talking to Oscar there after she met Cedric for the first time, but it would have been an extended version of the entire first three chapters. It was supposed to start with the morning before Cloudia went to that party and end with her conversation with Oscar. It even had a proper name: “The Countess, Once Again.” But I thought it would be too long and too boring, so I just kept the last part of it. I did like the beginning part when Cloudia woke up; I was quite sad to cut it. (I wrote it in late 2017/early 2018… while it was snowing! *sigh*)

While finishing the general outline and concept of Arc 4, I thought about roughly basing it on a fairy-tale, and because it’s set in France, I thought about picking a French fairy-tale. (Also the term “fairy-tale” was actually introduced by Madame d’Aulnoy, a Frenchwoman, so it would have been perfect!) Unfortunately, it did not work out because the arc became too stuffed with other things.

Originally, they were supposed to go to Réchicourt-le-Château, not Nanteuil-la-Forêt, but I changed it to cut their travelling time shorter. They were also supposed to stay at the proper Château Dupont, rather than at an acquaintance’s place. I changed it because I thought it would be too silly to say that, of all places, Nicodemus Townsend was spotted/the Clockmaker is living so close to where Cloudia’s relatives live. I just couldn’t do that – not after reading Villette…

Very early on, Townsend was to appear from the start of Arc 4. He was still the one who stole Queen Victoria’s super-secret box, but it would not have been so blatant. Instead, Townsend would aide Cloudia and Cedric and try to divert the investigation from himself. Cloudia was actually supposed to start liking Townsend (for some reasons), much to Cedric’s chagrin, but this particular aspect was so silly, I scrapped it all and rearranged it.

Originally, the last chapter (Mystery), the next chapter (Malady), and the one coming after it were one chapter. Please remind me to provide a word count for them when I have finished all three. What was I thinking…

Cloudia was lamenting about having apparently lost her family ring in the intermission chapter… Actually, I planned for Cedric to give her the ring in Faint and Low, wrote it into my outline, but I somehow forgot including it. Thankfully, I did not forget to make him return it to her in the intermission.

While working on the intermission, I thought about writing that Cedric and Milton met every now and then in the past year and became more acquainted with each other. Like, Cedric would come to Cloudia when she was extra busy, she would send him to town with Thomas, and they would run into Milton and Wentworth. But then, I finalised Milton’s story and decided that it would be better to say that he did not set foot into England since his villa was destroyed.

Milton and Cloudia met at a reception in 1846 because, years ago in English class, my teacher talked about how “receptions are little parties,” I jotted it down and thought “that might be a good place for their first meeting!” But, according to Wikipedia, “Formal receptions are parties that are designed to receive a large number of guests, often at prestigious venues [..]. The hosts and any guests of honor form a receiving line in order of precedence near the entrance. Each guest is announced to the host who greets each one in turn as he or she arrives. Each guest properly speaks little more than his name (if necessary) and a conventional greeting or congratulation to each person in the receiving line. In this way, the line of guests progresses steadily without unnecessary delay. After formally receiving each guest in this fashion, the hosts may mingle with the guests.” – which is not really what I had in mind back then. But I had already said that they met at a reception, so there was no going back.

There will be a total of three side stories for this arc. The Poker Game was the first. The second will come sometime in the middle after certain pieces of information were revealed. The last will come right after the arc wrapped up.

“The Earl, Reckless” and “The Siblings, Partners” are actually the first two pieces in a little series of five stories about Vincent and Francis. I hope to get out the third next year!

There will be a few more stories about them, but they won’t belong to that collection because they won’t be very readable as “standalone” fics. One of them is the pirate story which was mentioned in the second zucchini bonus chapter.

Names

Anaïs was always supposed to be a girl, but her name used to be Amable because it means “lovable” and I thought it’s such a cute name! Turned out it’s a boy’s name, so I changed it last-minute to Anaïs after the character from The Amazing World of Gumball.

Her aunt Sylviane was originally named Renée. I changed it because I remembered that “Renée” is the name of one of the musketeers in Barbie and The Three Musketeers, and I really dislike that movie.

Aurèle used to be named Gervais. But then, I named another character Gervais and forgot that I already had a character with the same name. Because I had worked more with the second Gervais in my head, I decided to rename the first one to Aurèle. At some point, I cut out the “final” Gervais (who was the original Clockmaker) though and replaced him with the current Clockmaker. So, there’s currently nobody with the name “Gervais” in the story…

I am actually quite lazy when it comes to picking names for any secondary characters. The names of the Dupont servants and most names of the inhabitants of Nanteuil-la-Forêt were generated with a random French name generator.

As I already said, I like naming characters after other fictional characters. I often base their personalities and stories on them as well. When I read a book or comic, or watched a movie or show which I did not like, I name and base characters who get killed, villain characters, annoying characters etc. after the characters from that book/comic/movie/show I did not like. For example, Maven, Manon, Axel, and Brenton were named and based on characters from Red Queen. Maven is, obviously, Maven. Manon is Mare, but her name is from Miraculous Ladybug because she was supposed to be the “puppeteer.” Axel Shade is named after Shade. (But his middle names are from The Infernal Devices which I do like.) Brenton is based on Cal. I chose the name “Von Brandt” because “Brand” means fire or blaze and Maven has fire powers in Red Queen. (-1/10 would not recommend that book.)

Nicer characters are, in turn, named after characters from media I liked. For example, Dahlia, Duke, Cas, the man Cas talked to in Duke’s tavern, and Lucas Renn are named/based after/on characters from A Darker Shade of Magic. Dahlia is Lila. Duke is Barron. Cas is Kell. The man he talked to is Ned. Lucas Renn is Alucard Emery (whose nickname is “Luc”).

Characters

Milton is my least favourite character to write because he has no humorous bone in his body. (Almost) everyone else is joking around, but I simply cannot picture him doing the same. At least, he can talk in waterfalls like most others – even if it’s in a different way. (This does not mean that I dislike Milton as a character! It just makes his dialogue a bit more challenging because he’s always very kind and never sarcastic. He’s the kind of person who, if you were to stab them, would calmly and softly tell you that it’s fine and that they have no ill-feelings for you even though they are literally dying and you are just a random thug.)

His rain-induced-heartache-memory-return is based on a similar thing a friend of my father’s has. When I was little – like six or seven – he and his family were visiting us. It was raining, and he explained that he had a heart operation many years ago on a rainy day and now, every time it rains, his heart phantom-pains. For some reason, it stuck with me, and I eventually decided to give Milton the same condition.

Townsend was a Frenchman (“Nicodème Etienne Bellamy”) for a very short time period because I thought “The arc is set in France, shouldn’t it have a French villain?” But then, I realised that it made no sense why a Frenchman should steal the Queen’s super-secret box and changed it back.

I wrote two stories for a Kuro Advent Calendar in 2017: Waiting and Warming. They were only replacement ideas though: Waiting was the replacement for a little game I wanted to put together but did not have the time for in the end. Warming was the replacement for a clockwork/clockmaker/machinery fic which I could not make work at that time. The Clockmaker Cloudia is searching for is something of a “remnant” from that fic idea.

Actually, Kamden was supposed to be the fidgety one before I gave that trait to Milton.

Misc.

While Milton is someone who does not really hate anything or anyone, I think he would very much dislike the song “Love is an Open Door” if the fic was set in modern times.

Because my sister once asked why “I draw Cloudia with short hair when she has long hair”: I do not draw her with short hair. I draw her with barley curls and a chignon, but the chignon is never visible.

Outtake – beginning of “The Countess, Once Again.”

The day Cloudia Phantomhive was to kill Ronan Parrish, she was tired – tired, bored, and wishing to be somewhere else.

She hadn’t slept well – she never slept well here – and her body both carved and dreaded more hours of sleep and rest. Cloudia had woken up far too early this morning and the dispute in her head had made her decide to stay awake and wait for the sun to rise – and in January, the sun was just as sleepy as she, but unlike her, it took its time to wake.

Not knowing what to do, Cloudia had taken the book she was reading from her bedside cabinet – The Chimes by Charles Dickens – but even though it was written by her favourite author, even though it was “just” a novella, she hadn’t been able to read more than a few pages. And so, until the sun rose and Lisa came, Cloudia spent her time staring into the darkness, the novella still in her hand. And when the sun had finally risen and Lisa had arrived, Cloudia nearly did not notice it; and when she was washing up and getting dressed, her head was still heavy and her body numb and she did not say a single word. Lisa did seem concerned, but Cloudia was thankful that she didn’t address it, that her concern was only shown in her gaze which Cloudia avoided.

Afterwards, Cloudia walked down the stairs to breakfast, the sun shining dimly through the ice-touched windows, and when she entered the parlour, Lisa in her wake and Newman opening the door for her, Oscar was already there.

Almost thirteen years ago, Cloudia’s father had died at the Phantomhive townhouse, and Cloudia herself had lost her memories. Since that day, Cloudia had never felt comfortable or safe or free inside the townhouse again – considering that she had ever felt like that here –, and because she was always sent back to that day whenever something triggered her – and this was even more likely at the townhouse – Eleanor and Barrington had decided that, even if she had Newman and Lisa with her, Cloudia was not to stay at the townhouse without another person. As both Barrington and Cecelia were busy and Oscar had helped her finding out about Parrish, although this “case” had been fairly clear from the very beginning, Oscar was staying with her.

“Good morning, Oscar,” Cloudia greeted him while sitting down, her own voice sounding odd to her.

“Good morning, Mylady,” he said, waiting for her to break her scone in half before he sunk his fork into his cake.

“Cake for breakfast again?” Cloudia remarked, but, instead of directly responding to her words, all Oscar said was, “Mylady, you should make sure to sleep more. Or, at all. It is not good for your health if you keep refraining from sleeping, even if it is the townhouse.”

Cloudia nodded absentmindedly and put cream on her scone. “I will when Parrish is dead and I can return to the manor,” she said, but Oscar did not reply and only ate in silence.

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dangoghz · 7 years

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legitimate advice for new phandom blogs

hey !! so i know sometimes posts like ‘RULES FOR THE PHANDOM XD’ are made and they’re all like “numba one. dan is a squishy bean respect this uwu” but this isn’t gonna be like that lol. im just going to list a few actual things that might help people new to the phandom learn about and become integrated into the community! of course these aren’t ‘rules’ and u dont have to listen to any of it ofc,,, im not here to control ur blog, just here to say what people normally do. feel free to rb whether u are a new blog or not, ill appreciate it either way!

(NOTE: PLS TELL ME IF ANY OF THE LINKS DONT WORK AND ILL FIX THEM PERIODICALLY!)

italicized text is defined in the glossary at the bottom!

1. be interactive!

here, unique to our corner of timmy darn communism, we have a lot of like virtual traditions that everyone knows. these help you to make friends and also grow ur blog with some new mutuals. here are some examples.

networks: networks, or nets, are a sort of selective gc, usually with a theme or concept that it’s based around, in which all who wish to be part of fill out an application form that determines whether they get in. this is kinda the one with the most work, as u also have to make a group blog and info post, but it’s definitely worth it. i have made my closest friends in nets (such as @phleurnet which i birthed), and a lot of people on here would say the same. if you want to know more or apply, my friend diana runs an update blog @phandomnets! (examples, these are all open btw: x x x)

meetups: meetups are not in real life, don’t worry. a meetup is when someone organizes a specific time at which we all post thing around a certain theme! for instance, on halloween on tuesday, my friend milo hosted a halloween meetup. usually people post selfies but if u are uncomfortable with that, u can post art, music, or anything else related to the theme. a blog called @phandommeetupwatch keeps track of these! (examples, all happening soon/just happened: x x x)

follow forevers: a follow forever is a big celebration post when u reach a follower count milestone, no matter 50 or 5k. u tag all of the blogs you love, and they reblog it to appreciate u! it’s really positive and shows people how their work has paid off. usually people are tagged in alphabetical order, and sometimes people bold their favorites but the stylization is up to u. (recent examples: x x x)

milestone activities: sometimes people do things for their followers when they reach a follower count that involves their followers requesting something! there are many many forms of this type of thing. a common one is blog rates, in which there is a set template and the blogger rates each blog that sends in an ask using the template (info post ex: x; rate ex: x). there are also url edits (x), name/url moodboards (x), and more. u can certainly come up w an idea of ur own, being creative is great!

talk to people: that’s right dude!!! ye!!! u can message a blog u think is cool, or send an ask if u think something they made or are talking about is interesting, or add something sweet in the tags (more on etiquette later) when u rb their post. additionally, sometimes people stir up discourse, and u should participate in it if u want (past discourse examples: x x). u can also send asks when people reblog ask games, which are a list of questions with a theme (new one of mine ex: x).

2. play around with your blog!

customizing your blog can start giving you what we call a branding, making you distinguished from other bloggers. this can include everything from as simple as using an icon to coding your own about page.

themes: a blog can be way more appealing if it is aesthetically pleasing. admittedly, i often follow people just because of the smoothness of their mobile theme. a mobile theme is rather easy to construct as u can do it on ur own with a phone. it is how ur blog looks on a phone. although u don’t have to do this, i recommend sticking to two to four colors on ur theme and avoiding stuffing it with a lot of bright things because it can distract from content. additionally, bloggers often make their descriptions short and succinct. (my fav mobiles: x x x.) on a pc, your blog theme can be customized completely on html, meaning there is a lot of freedom. u don’t have to learn to code for this, bc u can find free themes anywhere, just search ‘free tumblr themes’ on google. once again, be creative, but u shouldn’t overload. (my fav pcs: x x x.)

about pages: in order to avoid chunky descriptions but still let people know the key deets about themselves, bloggers create about pages. sometimes these bout pages are uncoded but u can also use html code if u want to. some common things in an about page are interests, maybe personality types/horoscopes/hogwarts houses, original content, and links to other social media. (examples: x x x)

urls: urls are a key part of your blog’s brand. ‘rebranding’ is what people say if they change their url! if u are tired or bored with your url, changing it is an opportunity to change your theme and other parts of ur blog as well. (url change ex: x).

saved urls: saved urls are basically when bloggers hoard sideblogs in order to reserve the urls used for them. if you ever encounter a blank blog that has ‘saved’ as its title, that’s probably it. sometimes people like to give away their urls, either as a constant thing (ex: x) or by doing a url giveaway (x). either way, it’s a good opportunity to change it up!

tags: in order to keep their blog cleancut and organized, a lot of bloggers have special tags for certain people, certain topics, and/or certain types of media. many people in the phandom particularly have tags for dan and phil that match (strawberries and cream, lune and sole, etc). if they have many of these tags, there can be a page for their tags on their blog. this page can be coded with special html or just a regular tumblr page, it doesn’t really matter. but it’s very useful for those who visit your blog, and makes it easy for u to navigate older posts as well! (examples: x x x)

3. learn to make og content!

producing original content helps you establish what your strengths are and why people should follow you. it also allows u to contribute to the fanbase, and gives u a chance of being noticed by dnp! and the validation is lovely. there are many options if u want to make something.

gifs: gifs are an ART here in the phandom, and its mechanisms still perplex me to this day bc ive never tried it. u probably already know what a gif is, but if not, its essentially a short animation made in photoshop that repeats. gifmakers are often distinguished by a unique coloring (example gifmakers: x x x), such as my friend emily’s smooth dark blue tint (x). it can be a long process to learn how to gif but it is very rewarding in the end, from what i’ve heard. (tutorials: x x)

art: there is a very wide range of phanartists, all with such talents, either digital or traditional, that you can draw inspirations from for your own work. you can make cartoons, comics, realism, abstract, nsfw even, or any mix (or none) of the former. artists on tumblr definitely deserve more attention than they get here on tumblr, so be sure to show appreciation towards them! (my fav artists: x x x)

edits: edits are the Graphic Designs of our community and are usually very aesthetically pleasing. they can be centered around a certain event, like a video or something dnp made, or just for fun. the more practice you get making them, the more dexterous u’ll become. they can be a great tool if u like the design aspect of art but don’t want to actually draw. (edit makers: x x)

icons: icons are just the little profile picture that u can insert for ur blog. it’s really easy and fun to make them, kind of like a lazy version of edits. you can make them using photoshop or an app like picsart or medibang, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. more on how to use icons in section 4. (examples: x x x) (my lil tutorial: x)

moodboards: moodboards are nine pictures arranged 3 by 3 that have a certain color scheme. it’s kind of like a collage except the photo feature here separates the pictures for u. there are a lot of innovative moodboard makers that stun me w how pretty it looks or how they arrange the pics. moodboards are also an easy and fun option! (moodboard tags: x x x)

textposts: this is by far the easiest and more common form of content u will find. it’s just writing about dnp in a textpost! if a textpost isn’t very serious, people also call it a meme or shitpost. shitposting is defs on the rise here so its a good business to get into. it’s also a great outlet for ur emotions or personal connections to what dnp do! (example talk tags: x x x)

fics: by far the most famous media to come out of here, phanfiction is a popular form of phan indulgence. u have probably heard of the most scarring ones (list: x), but there is actually a really vast range of it, not just creepy smut! some other genres are fluff, angst, and slow burns. u will discover that, despite the sterotype, not all fanfiction is bad. you can find lovely fics on @phanfictioncatalogue by genre, au, or topic. and, if u need help writing something, many writers would love to help. (a few well-known fics: x x x x x)

4. tumblr etiquette!

i know tumblr might seem like a simple social media (or perhaps not after u’ve read all the above?) but there’s a lot of things that u just....u just don’t do. it’s sort of like virtual manners, and if u don’t follow them, then it’s unlikely that people will like ur blog. once again, this is by no means me forcing u to run ur blog a certain way. it just happens that the types of ppl who break these rules are who we mock in gcs :////////. so yea, here’s some advice.

credits: if u decide to use someone’s art, edit, gif, or icon on the theme of ur blog, check what they require of u before u use it. most content creators strongly ask for credit in the description of ur blog, either by link or like ‘icon/header/art by ____’. it is just a common courtesy to the person who spent time on that, and if u think credit will ruin the aesthetic of ur blog, a) u probably don’t have an aesthetic in the first place and b) learn to appreciate art, binch.

anonymity: anon asks can be very powerful either negatively or positively depending on how u yield them, so make sure that u are careful with what u send. compliments are always welcome and criticism as well, but blatant rudeness or hate will do nothing. u will only make someone feel bad about themselves and it will not accomplish anything. also, u face the threat of all their friends turning u into a meme.

sensitivity: a lot of people here are way too easily offended by harmless jokes, a common example in the phandom being when we insult dnp affectionately and people take it way too much to heart. please don’t start drama over something w no real meaning. however, there are times when it is indeed necessary. if u want to criticise a blogger, be respectful of them simultaneously. by all means, if u spot someone being racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist, or the like, feel free to call them out on it. but beforehand, make sure that u have done ur research and are educated on the topic, or u could turn out to be blatantly wrong.

adding to posts: everyone makes this mistake when they start out here and that’s totally okay, but adding to every post u reblog is incredibly bothersome. a rule of thumb would be don’t add anything unless what u say will actually improve the post significantly. if ur additions are along the lines of ‘LOL’ or ‘i relate!!!!’ or ‘philly is a smol bean XD’, learn to use the tags for heaven’s sake. they’re there for not only organization but also for commenting. some exceptions, though, would be if u are mentioned in the post or the op is your close friend.

respecting privacy: this should already be obvious to u, but respect dan and phil’s boundaries. do not tag them or their main tags (#daniel howell, #danisnotonfire, #amazingphil), in any phanfics, phanart (like specifically with them as a romantic ship), or phan edits. do not talk to their family members, expose their personal info like address or phone number, and do consider that they are real people just like u. we may make things based around phan, but it is kept in a community for us and not for dan and phil’s eyes. this is very important.

5. have fun!

sorry if this is all overwhelming, but i tried to make it as simplified as possible. and also sorry for the sass, i’m kinda tired of all the ding dongs on here and want to prevent further ding dongs from being created. thanks so much for readin and be sure to send me an ask anytime if u have questions! welcome to hell!

glossary

timmy darn communism: me being my usual weird self and replacing ‘tumblr dot com’ with random words that start with the same letters

mutuals: someone who you follow and who follows you; usually who u interact with most

rb: shortening for ‘reblog’

discourse: when theres is intense discussion of a certain topic, sometimes phan-related sometimes not, sometimes serious and sometimes silly

branding: the word ‘branding’ kinda started as a joke, but it’s generally what we use to call what someone’s blog reminds them of, whether it be a certain color or a discussion topic; my branding, if u asked a mutual, would probably be impressionism, tea, and baguettes (dont ask ab that one)

html: a simple type of coding used for designing websites! u can learn basic html here or here, it’s way easier and funner than it looks

dnp: dan and phil; we also say ‘deppy’, ‘dip and pip’, ‘the boys’, ‘the rats’, and more

coloring: basically the stylization of a gif, shown through filters, textures, contrast, brightness, etc.

talk tag: a tag in which all of the textposts that a person makes are sorted into

phanfiction terms

smut: porn fic :/

fluff: just what it sounds like, a type of fic that usually has a lot of soft stuff like cuddling, flirting, and looooove

angst: a fic with a lot of drama, usually sad or very emotional

slow burn: a fic where a pairing, in this case phan, slowly falls in love

au: stands for ‘alternate universe’, a fic in which dan and phil are written not as youtubers but in a completely different scenario (ie. bad boy and new guy in high school, university students, space exhibition, anything u can dream up really)

anon: short for ‘anonymous’

op: short for ‘original poster’, aka who made the post

#this took me SO LONG pls appreciate it #gogh away ester #dan and phil #phan #phandom #phan advice #phandom advice #phil lester #dan howell #luncheon

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thebandcampdiaries · 5 years

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Chords of Eve - Dear Engineer EP

Chords of Eve is a band with a distinctive approach to their creativity. Their sound is unpredictable and refreshingly experimental, combining alternative rock and post-punk with influences as diverse as pop, and industrial. The band recently announced the release of a new EP, “Dear Engineer,” which will see the light of day on April 10th 2020. What’s special about this project is how diverse the music sounds. The EP’s leading single, “Brightside,” features electronic soundscapes and lush guitar tones, oftener reminiscing of artists as diverse as Muse, Radiohead or dEUS, only to mention a few. The title track is a synth-driven indie gem, which makes me think of seminal acts such as Beach House and Portishead. However, the song soon sheds the lo-fi intro in favor of a deeper, more polished sound, with big drums and textured vocal harmonies bringing more definition to the sound. “Evelyn” is one of the EP’s more haunting songs, with fuzzed-out guitar textures and a more somber vibe that might remind you of acts such as Glass Animals or Minus The Bear. On the other hand, the track “Rebuild Ourselves Tonight” is an indie-rock hitter, with a sound that reminds of artists as diverse as The Strokes, Dead Rituals, Francis Moon and DIIV, going for a lush, yet hard-hitting and energetic approach. Last but not least, “The Future’s Not What It Used To Be” is a dance-floor banger with hard-hitting grooves and catchy guitar tones, giving the EP a unique feel. The tracks are masterfully produced and the sheer variety of the sounds on t his record reveal the band’s incredibly diverse feel for creativity and great music.

Find out more about Chords of Eve, and check out “Dear Engineer EP,” which is going to be available on the web starting from the 10th of April. However, the lead single “Brightside” is going to be available from the 28th of February.

Website: https://skytitanmedia.com/chords-of-eve

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chordsofeve

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chordsofeve/

We also had the chance to chat with the band: keep reading to learn more!

- One of the most outstanding features of the album is the sonic variety. Rock guitars with indie beats and electronic soundscapes converge beautifully, creating something really unique. Was this a conscious effort, or the variety just happened naturally by following your instinct?

All of that was done very meticulously. We really wanted to go for a vibe that had the soul and realness of music like Jazz, rhythmic beats and bass that you feel and combine it with the sounds of the future, synths, electronic instrumentation, chirps and buzzes and all of the things we love about science fiction. We wanted to tell a story and we wanted the music to be as much a part of that story as the lyrics which means each instrument needed to be its own character. It took about a year to get the EP completed and it was worth every minute. - Of all the songs on the EP, which one was the most challenging to complete, and why?

The most challenging song was also, to me, one of the most important songs. “Evelyn”. I've come to recognize among people around me a common unspoken feeling of loneliness, not being good enough for the world, or maybe just not mattering at all. This song seeks to capture that dull, persistent, anxiety or sadness so many of us feel. It is titled in honor of a woman that no one had ever heard of, until she jumped to her death from the top of the empire state building and her suicide photograph was featured in the May 1947 issue of Time Magazine. The song is inspired by the letter that she left to her family and fiance, and the struggles that we as human beings face with mental illness and struggles with self-worth and connectedness. Most people have either dealt with these types of issues themselves or know someone close to them that has and it's never going to get better if we are afraid to talk about it. The topic is a delicate line to walk. We wanted to explore it in such a way that does not judge or dismiss but simply recognizes that it ‘is’. - If you could pick any artist to feature on one of these songs as a collaboration or duet, who would you have onboard?

Am I only allowed to choose one?! There are so many interesting singers out there; Joss Stone, Billie Eilish, Beth Gibbons, Lady Gaga, Sister Crayon, Sarah Barthel.. Oh man, I feel like I could add an entire page to the list of those I would like to create a song with. - Because the songs have so many different sounds, do you find it challenging to perform them live, or does it come naturally?

Live performance is a huge challenge for the Chords Of Eve project. It was designed in such a way that we could include a wide variety of singers, much like in the vein of Apocalyptica or David Guetta. They have so many featured artists, no two albums are alike yet they all have a similar groove. But because of this, it is hard to have 10 people go on tour and play 2 tracks apiece live. Sometimes it's hard enough just to have two people whose schedules work together to play live.

- What is the meaning behind the EP’s title, if you want to share?

Dear Engineer is a letter, from a humanoid robot created by man, to its creator asking “What is my purpose here?” It is a concept we as people have struggled with for what seems like forever. What am I doing here? What's the point of all of this? What now? Dear Engineer is the song that asks that question through sonic poetry. It's the letter we leave behind after we have returned to the ether. - Any plans to tour and bring the music on the road?

This project has been particularly challenging when it comes to live performance, due to the style of music and number of different people (and schedules) that are taking part in it. We are striving to do something different than what we've done with past musical groups (which is write a set list, play at a bar, put out a tip jar and do it again the next night.) Instead, we are working to create a new musical performative experience, so I’ll keep you up to date on that as it unfolds. But we will be releasing music videos and there are always our behind the scenes/day in the life vlogs on youtube!

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snkpolls · 7 years

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SnK Chapter 95 Poll Results

The chapter 95 poll closed with 1,069 responses. Thank you to everyone for participating. Let’s do this!

RATE THE CHAPTER (1,019 Responses)

75% of respondents had a favorable reaction for “Liars”. Less than 1% expressed extreme dissatisfaction.

I actually loved this chapter! I was kinda meh on the Marley arc at first, but this completely changed my feelings on it!! Seeing everything from the Warriors' perspective is a refreshing change of pace.

Bertolt is the God of Destruction, RBA deserved better, Magath is actually a nice guy, poor Porco has a terrible name and deserves more love

This is the first chapter in the Marley arc I've wholeheartedly enjoyed. I was always looking forward to getting the Warriors' perspective, but the way in which it's been done has been terrible pacing wise, if definitely interesting story-wise; consequently I've had mixed feelings about the recent chapters. But this one managed to really make me feel for the characters and their tragic, terrible circumstances for the first time in awhile.

Good chapter in terms of lore although kinda meh in terms of story development

I liked the chapter, and the Marley thing we are going through, but I would still like to return to the walls

Not the strongest chapter, feels the same kind of "recap-y" that 63 did, but still a solid outing. I'm convinced we're staying in Marley as the main location for the final arc of the series, with the main cast's appearance kicking events into overdrive.

IN A RECENT INTERVIEW, ISAYAMA REFERRED TO MARLEY AS AN “ARC”, NOT A VOLUME. WOULD YOU BE HAPPY IF THE MARLEY PERSPECTIVE CONTINUES FOR AN ENTIRE 16 CHAPTERS? (1,046 Responses)

We are a fandom divided.

I feel guilty about complaining too much but I really am bitter that I have to wait another month to potentially be disappointed again

I'm kinda concerned where the series is going‚ it seems like Isayama's taking it slow as he's running out of time

As much as i am loving all of this marley pov i do crave for just...idk something else. Like don't get me wrong i love finally getting more explorations of Reiner but it would be better to have some variation: like what about bertholht, why is he a warrior?? and annie; is her dad still around?

I can see why Isayama's doing this, but it feels v e r y s l o w.

I can't believe I'm saying this but I kinda miss eren.

HOW MANY MORE CHAPTERS FROM THE MARLEY PERSPECTIVE WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE? (1,043 Responses)

48.6% would like to see the Marley Files end in 1-3 months. 25.8% of the fandom is much more flexible. Judging from the write in comment, trust in Isayama is still high.

I would be happy if Marley took over the whole manga

I want the main cast to reappear, but to see them from the Marley perspective

I would've like to get back to the Walldians by now, but I think I'm good for another chapter or two of the Warriors.

I'd like the perspective to switch between marley and paradis

Depends if Pieck is often seen.

Looking forward to seeing the fall of Shinganshina from the warriors perspective

I'm starting to think Isayama will troll so hard. Marley Arc to the bitter end. Sasuga Isayama.

If this means we're going to remain in Marley for a while, I hope we'll at least get to see something exciting soon, like maybe at the festival. So far we've been getting more information than action, so I'd like to return to that action soon. I also can't wait to learn more about the Tyber family and meet the members.

WHICH STATEMENT MOST CLOSELY MATCHES YOUR FEELINGS FOR THE MARLEY CHAPTERS AS A WHOLE? (1,044 Responses)

Nearly everyone who responded has enjoyed the Marley focus. 39% would be happy with a little more, while 31% liked it but are ready to return to the main cast.

On the negative side, 3.4% said that while it was necessary they didn’t enjoy it. Only .4% said it ruined their enjoyment of the series.

I like the Marleyan perspective, honestly if the rest of the series was like this (with a few chapters focused on the main cast of course) I think that would be great!

I felt the Marley perspective was necessary but I was bored most of the time. And now I'm just desperate to head back to the main cast.

I enjoyed the Marley perspective and I'm fine with more of it but something has to happen because I'm starting to get bored

This series has just been a series of peaks (Piecks?!) and whenever I think that it's surely gotten as good as it can get, they surprise me. The 30 day wait is hellish lately, more so than ever before.

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL CAST ON PARADIS? (1,040 Responses)

While the previous questions have shown we are patient people, a solid 50% would sell their soul, or at least consider it, for a return to the original cast.

Lemme see the main cast again, but keep the best girl

I would still love to know if Jean has grown some ill-adviced facial hair, but I also love the Marley chapters.

I at least want a glimpse of the Walldians post-time skip! I especially want to see Colossal Armin and if amputee-kun is Eren! I'm okay with a couple more chapters in Marley since I trust Isayama that this part of the story will be important (plus the characters are interesting and I enjoy seeing RBA flashbacks), but I just miss the old crew and want to see what they've been up to the past few years!

I feel like in all honesty, I enjoy the Marley perspective but I'd like to see how our 104th cast is doing. I'd really hate for them to do the same thing to Reiner and Co and recreate Shiganshina.

BOI I want to see the original squad again PLEASE

I love the Marley Arc!

Wake me up when the main casts return

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE CHAPTER? (1,038 Responses)

Judging from the write in comments, Pieck is the best girl. 33% of us had a favorite moment that involved her. Seeing the Paradis mission from the perspective of the warriors and the reveal of the Tyber family had 17% and 18% respectively.

tag yourself im zeke being super enthusiastic over pieck

Boooring... except for sasuga pieck. That part made me laugh.

Zeke's subtle way of warning everyone that the room is bugged, and Pieck and Reiner immediatly understanding.

I was excited to learn about the 9th titan, the Tybar family and Zeke praising Pieck. Very heart-broken for Reiner though.

Tired of seeing Marcel get eaten. Its a little repetatitive

HOW MUCH WORSE CAN REINER’S LIFE GET... FROM THE NEW CHAPTERS, WHICH OF THESE IS THE MOST TERRIBLE MOMENT FOR HIM? (1,032 Responses)

Each new event of Reiner's life is like beating a piñata of misery. Everything is terrible and the sadness candy just keeps spilling out. When the piñata is done, they beat Reiner with the bat instead.

Learning of Marcel's lie, immediately followed by Marcel's death, giving him no chance for closure or resolution

Tough one.. but i say his mom's pressure & the conflict of seeing pradise ppl as normal human being & still having to kill them.

I want some form of lasting happiness for Reiner Braun

#ProtectReiner854

Reiner seems to have inherited Ymir's real titan power: the Complex and Depressing Backstory Titan

I would like everyone to hug the shit out of Reigner.

Being Reiner is suffering. Seeing his face the page after his own father refused to acknowledge him as human broke something inside of me. Also Galliard is still a dick but I'm disliking him less.

NEW CHARACTERS MEAN NEW SHIPS. HAVE ANY CAUGHT YOUR INTEREST? (1,040 Responses)

Someone please remind me to never give “Other” as an option for a shipping question :/ I do, however, appreciate that almost 60% of you would like Reiner to have a bit of happiness.

Annie x freedom from her crystal, Pieck x being exactly right, porco x death, Isayama x vague hints, Zeke x tea, Everyone x Happiness (except them motherfucking Marleyans) and my personal notp, Zevi, were a few of the many write in answers.

WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING NEW REVELATION FROM THE CHAPTER? (1,034 Responses)

Last month learning the identity of the 9th titan was high on everyone’s wish this. This month we got it. 52.5% were most happy to learn about Warhammer.

At least we know the 9th titan. Just a decent chapter, Not my favorite of this arc though.

Really enjoyed this chapter, did not expect a mention of the ninth Titan. The montage of the Warriors was really awesome too.

Tybur family's new plot introduction is very intersting! I still think zakrus in pradise is shady as hell.. maybe he'll play a role in pradise fall.. pradise cant be too unified. Marley is not unified either.

I'm so excited to see more of the Tyber family. Their brief scene is drawn in an epic and mysterious fashion - symbols of seashells, flowing robes, a man with a clenched fist and correspondingly flowing golden locks standing before a crowd. I expect them to play a pivotal role in whatever comes.

MAGATH IS SO FAR THE ONLY MARLEYAN WHO HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THE WARRIORS AS HUMANS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HIM? (1,027 Responses)

Magath is perfectly meh. About 50% of us place him in the dead center between “tiniest gold star ever” and “swell guy.”

Magath is on the Eldians team. He loves and cares about all the Warriors, is possible he loves them as his children...I thought it was cute how he asked them to finish their mission and come home together! Hes like a tsundere "I-Its not like i care about you eldian demons!"

FAVORITE CHARACTER THUS FAR IN THIS ARC? (1,043 Responses)

Reiner wins by a landslide. I think it comes as no surprise to anyone that Pieck has a solid showing with 17%. Zeke came in 3rd with 9.3%

Zeke's unique & bizzarre nature.. immense cruelty + cleverness + immature nature + bizzare obession of games, playing & his twisted concept of fun! This guy is a very interesting mixture indeed.

Pieck is a great new character.

Tbh the series is kind of getting boring but Pieck is Bae

Reiner has become my absolute favorite character in the series.

LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER THUS FAR IN THIS ARC? (1,029 Responses)

Reiner’s dad edged out his mom for least favorite character, but the real news is that 24% of people hate Gabi and Porco even more than Reiner’s terrible parents.

Can i just pick both of Reiner's parents?

Reiners father and mother are both trash i'm taking him away i'm his mother now.

Asshole marley soldier who made bomb noises @ the disabled soldiers

Karina Braun doesn't deserve the hates she gets, she wasn't tricking Reiner...she legit believed ths they would live with his father one day, she really loves him and you see her pain filled face when Reiner lies and says "It was hell"

I like Porkboi more than I'd like to admit.

If I was the Colossal Titan I would find Reiner's father and flip him what would literally be the biggest middle finger ever.

Can't stand Porco. Won't ever forgive him for Ymir. Won't ever forgive Reiner or Bert for Ymir either tbh

HAS THIS CHAPTER CHANGED YOUR FEELINGS TOWARDS THE WARRIORS (1,023 Responses)

51.2% say yes!

I'm far more sympathetic to them than before, especially Reiner. That poor boy only wanted to have his family together.

Last chapter changed my views about them.

Not much - this is pretty much how I though things would be once we found out about the ghetto and Marley. The only really interesting bits are the new pieces of info, like the Tybur family and the 9th titan.

I've gone from 100% love to 110% love

I feel that this "arc" is being dragged on for the purpose of readers gaining sympathy with them and for me last volume was enough to make us sympathize with them. I have no patience left for this especially when I know the end is closing and there is more to cover and I’m afraid it'll be rushed or that I would lose interest before we reach that part

I feel invested in Porco against my better judgment... and I wonder...if there will ever be a moment when Pieck is not exactly right as expected... :o I wanna see Bertholt's past!!!!!!

RATE EACH WARRIOR IN TERMS OF HOW THIS CHAPTER AFFECTED YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF THEM

The Winners: Reiner - 840 people view him more favorably Pieck - 708 people view her more favorably

The Losers: Gabi - 151 people view her less favorably Porco - 161 people view him less favorably

I love RBA. Zeke is interesting as ever. Falco looks like he'll probably end up being a character I'll end up really liking, but he's not there yet. Don't really care about Pieck currently. Hate Gabi and Galliard.

Pieck is love

I wish we'd met Pieck earlier because she's everything.

porco the best

Bardlot is best girl

WHICH CHARACTERS DO YOU GENERALLY ENJOY THE MOST (1,032 Responses)

Looking back over past polls, support for the 104th has stayed consistent. The real change is with the vets. In early polls, 30-40% of people preferred them. That number has fallen to 12%. I suspect some have left the series or aren’t interested enough in the story direction to take the poll.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES (984 Responses)

Tumblr 364 (37%) Reddit 626 (63.6%) Discord 55 (5.6%) Twitter 12 (1.2%)

FINAL THOUGHTS

There were more than 500 additional write in comments. I wish I could publish them all. Thank you for sharing all your thoughts!

I'm still not over the serumbowl and how much the paradis cast showed they're really no better than the ones they're fighting against, so I'm really happy to see the side that's been less favored by the narration so far. Bless the warriors, they're all full of personality and I already love them.

It was rlly heartbreaking when Marcel tells the truth to Reiner and he deludes himself saying: ""wtf are you talking about Marcel? I WAS CHOSEN BY MARLEY, i don't believe you"".The Armored Titan is the only thing hes got...

Next chapter is a recap of the old arcs with Warrior POV I can bet my seafood on it.

This and chapter 94 have been my favorites so far. Please give me more Reiner, more marley, more warriors, more everything. Isayama I love you.

LOVE THE WARRIORS! On a more serious note, im very curious about zeke and his true motives.. what is he trying to accomplish? I also really wish that his relationship with eren can be expanded on. Zeke told eren that he would save him. Does he to some degree care for eren's own life? Or is he just after eren's powers? Regardless, i find zeke fascinating.

Good but background could have been better incorporated with both sides

I'm loving the Marley arc. We need the other side of the coin and this really shows that evil can be grey. Neither the islanders or Marley-Eldians are really bad...they're just all raised/brain-washed in different settings. I really enjoy the added layers fo Reiner.

These few chapters have been really interesting, but I hope to see our guys back on Paradis, unless Amputee-kun turns out to be Eren and the other Survey Corps have infiltred Marley. Would love for the story to continue from that point of view, but with flashbacks as to what happened in Paradis. Really interesting chapters overall, learning about the 9 titans was really hype.

I hope that Isayama gives us an ending almost as great as ATLA. Each character gets a proper conclusion & the entire story is satisfying. I want AOT to go down as one of the top 10 solid anime/manga of all time. I have faith in Isayama but still the future is unpredictable.

I hope we get to see the attack on Wall Maria from the warriors pov next chapter. And I was disappointed that Amputee guy wasn't in this chapter.

More Marley please. Even if some are salty not to see the Walldians, I think it's very enlightening to see Marley and Warrior perspective on this. As would say Bertolt : "no one is at fault" and, in the same time, each side has their fault.

I've been rocking with this arc and loving it, although I've generally had little complaint with any arc of this series, I love everyone :) But I think some development for my favorite characters and their side of the war is backed up by some subtle set-up for the climax of it all. For all that some people are desperate to see the main cast, I think this kind of exploration is necessary, not just for emotional investment, but because it gives us a look at the world the Walldians are so desperate to get to. It shows that the battle is only just beginning; Marley is not the endgame boss, and in fact it might be the only thing standing in the way of total destruction for all Eldians. How do they deal with that? Seeing that from the Warriors' perspective gives it reality and weight.

I am enjoying the Marley perspective, but I'm having trouble with the pacing. These past 2 chapters are moving so slow. And even though Reiner is my favourite character, I wish we wouldn't have such a huge focus on him chapter after chapter. It's becoming a bit repetitive, and I would rather learn more about the other warriors. I am looking forward to seeing RBA's pov of the attack on Shiganshina however. :)

Shit's heatin' up! Woo!

I am such a fuckin' slut for all the Marley stuff. I have been dying to see everything from the Warriors' perspective since the initial reveal of Marley and honestly I live on the tears of everyone bitching about how there's too much Marley. EMA are pretty much...... the most boring characters in the series so I am livin' this up. Give me more.

MORE MEMES PLEASE (and a bit of main cast too)

can i see more bardlot creating titnas???? please answer this one question!!!!!!!

Waiting for Annie to come back. Any moment now.

It's a good chapter, I'm enjoying seeing the flashbacks and the distinction of the Titan powers. On a smaller note regarding that, I wish they'd tell us what makes the Female Titan "female."

Very good chapter, but it feels like one that's setting up for the rest of the volume. I'm looking forward to this festival as well as getting even more details about the warriors' mission on Paradis

Headbutt of Love copyright Isayama

A relatively good chapter, but I reallllllly want to see the main cast again. It doesn't have to be from their perspective, but I just want to see them again after a 4 year time skip.

We will most certainly remain on Marley, but the perspective will soon shift to the main cast when the rest of them arrive to backup Eren and trash the festival in which the Tieber family will present the plan to capture the Founding Titan.

I can see why Reiner had all that plot armour now! Learning more about the warriors (RBA etc, not the new kids :/) has been really interesting and a much needed flesh out of their characters.

I enjoy seeing more of Reiner (cause he's da best) and learning more about his past and the world outside the walls. I would love to see him decide that he's done with Marley and doing things against his moral code (cause let's be real he probably is totally against this shitshow). I know he'll die and that makes me sad so I'm trying to enjoy whatever time we have left with him. ;_;

No doubt next chapter will show the Wall Maria breach from the Warriors' perspective. I only wonder how much of the flashback will be shown in a single chapter.

I hope we get more backstory on Zeke. There's still so much about him that's mysterious. More of him interacting with the other warriors is always good. I really really REALLY need to know what his thoughts on Eren are. Does he still plan on "saving" him, whatever that may mean? And how much does Pieck know?

When will we see giant naked people punch each other again?

I feel sorry for all the warriors but they killed so many people that I cannot see them as pure cinnamon rolls that need to be protected, for me they will always be morally grey.

I love that we are finally getting details about the warriors. This was something long in the making. I can understand where fans of the main cast are coming from, but you just have to have patience until we see the main cast again. For a story like Attack on Titan, which is supposed to be morally grey, we have to have insight on both sides of the conflict. It would have been extremely stupid if Isayama never delved into the warriors background after all the stuff that they had did. The timing of the switch may have been wrong, but I would rather have it now than not at all.

More Marley, but not at the expence of our heroes. It's Shingeki no Kyojin after all; not Yoroi no Kyojin

This arc has introduced the grey into the world of snk, I no longer see any one main character as bad or good because they all have the reasons with them, although perhaps some unjustifiable it still causes me to think about whether this person is a truly bad person or not. It really makes it quite difficult to favour or not favour people, however I do find that it makes it a lot more interesting.

I love these chapters, I really like the depth isayama is going for the viewers to know that this war isn't black and white and it really shines light on the complications of war and who really is the victims of not only war but also being the victims of a manipulative government.

I think this was a very powerful chapter, it had a lot of revelations and hints about the near future events. It is more clear than ever that the clash with the Paradis people is coming very soon. I am not sure how much more of RBA and Marcel heading towards the wall are we going to see though.

I can't shake the feeling that the "Tybur" family is connected to both the Tiber river (i.e. the fertile crescent--Garden of Eden imagery galore!) and Thor's hammer. Isayama likes to pull from both biblical sources and Norse sources for his world-building and I'm curious what's going on with this name.

this might have been my favorite marley chapter (which still isn't saying much but there you have it)

Seeing as I love the Walldians and Warriors equally, I think it's fair to give the Marely side attention. How can we have a dazzling final battle with no build up, including parallels and foreshadowing in this arc? Worse comes to worse I'm sure Isayama would just add the extra chapters he needed to in order to finish the story. Let's enjoy it while it's still being published.

Isayama is trying to make us think that there aren't good sides or bad sides. And he fails. We have already seen the perspective of Marley and they are clearly the villains. Not the Eldians of Paradis. The reasons why the mainland Eldians are supposed to hate Paradis Eldians are absurd. No real life social group/ethnicity is that stupid to believe what mainland Eldians believe. Or what they do to other Eldians.

As usual with every first chapter of an SnK Volume, this chapter was kind of boring, but we did learn about the ninth titan and the family thats been in possession of it. Also, seeing all 6 of Marley's titans on the battle field at once is interesting.

I think this volume will focus on the build-up to the reveal of Amputee-Kun in the present day, whilst also showing the road to Trost from RBA's perspective, which will be awesome

The perspective change felt rushed. I wish everything about the inital time-skip to the ocean had been handled differently. We got no closure whatsoever on so many important happenings and character developments re: serumbowl and basement, and that really frustrates me. The second - 3 year - just rubbed salt in the wound. I want to enjoy the Marley arc, I really do, but this just frustrates me a lot.

Snk? More like Attack on Game of Thrones.

I really do like the perspective of the warriors and as interesting as it is, I just can't get myself attached to the characters, and that makes it tiresome for me. At the beginning I was hopeful, but so far the only Warriors I can relate to are Pieck and Falco and even that's a thin line. I am eager to see them interacting with the main cast though!

This chapter in particular was great. There's so much subtlety in every action and foreshadowing of things to come. We got a lot of interesting info (the Tybur family, 9th titan, shifter memories, TONS of Reiner background, and Porco feels ahhhhh), and also saw how the warriors are operating under the stress that Marley is putting upon them. I especially loved the Zeke's tea meeting. Zeke's aware that they're being monitored and is able to subtely warn the others, who all get it except Porco, and Reiner then saves him from saying something dissident about the Tybur family and possibly Marley. The interactions of the characters are wonderfully done, with a lot of side glances and small details to pick up on. I think Isayama's character development and world building abilities are shining so brightly in this arc. And I can't get enough of the warriors, new or old. Overall, this is swiftly becoming one of my favorite arcs so far. Also please Isayama, stop torturing Reiner, give the poor man a break ;-; My heart can't handle anymore....

Less flashback plz

I just want to find out if Amputee-kun is Eren that's all I freaking want Isa.

I don't want to spend the entire rest of this arc with Marley, but I think it would be cool to first be reintroduced to the main cast through the new character's eyes. Of course, then we'll need to see things from the main cast's perspective again and find out what they've been up to this whole time

Love the new memes. =P thanks pieck and zeke

to be honest, i expected the 9th titan's reveal to be more epic art-wise

I think I am now more on the side of the "Warriors" than the main cast on Paradis and this thinking of mine is keeping me awake at night. I hate Isayama for this because now his "there's not bad or good side in the story" statement hit me in the face. Also fuck I have the need to hug smol RBA and know finally seeing their backstory and situation withe all the hometown and warrior thing was all I was asking for so I am loving this Marley arc but at the same time I wanna see the main cast so badly.

I want to see amputee Kuns plan.

Poor baby Armin is the god of destruction no soft boy :(

I want to learn more of Bertolt's backstory... He's my fav next to Reiner and we know next to nothing on his backstory and motivations.

There won't be an invasion of the island. The islanders will invade, instead.

Knowing each titan's function is good. But I feel isayama could have used the page more efficiently, like not drawing large, single-panel images of titans. I feel it's kinda wasteful to use up your pages that way with not so dense information given out.

Confrontation between Warriors and SC will be super interesting but I'm kind of apprehensive about actually seeing it. It can easily turn into another serumbowl since we don't have clear enemies and everything is relative.

i feel isayama is just making some poor decisions in an attempt to make reiner more likable and while the new perspective is interesting it was introduced far too late in the game

I do find this arc interesting and I would be okay with it going for a lot longer, however I'd hope for a few chapters which go back to the 104th's in between those chapters, just a little show of where they're at during all this, I miss those guys, its been nearly half a year since we had a chapter with them. I love reiner yo he needs to be protected at all costs. But i do wanna know more about berholdt and his family. Please i need some closure on my tol boy.

I can't wait to see Historia again and see what role she will play throughout the rest of the series. To be honest, I'm concerned for her because now that she is publicly known as the queen now, Marley might try to capture her if they find out. And what will Reiner do if that happens? Ymir is no longer around to protect her so now it is his turn to owe something to Ymir. I wonder if Historia will ever meet Porco, I hope she kicks his ass, I will never forgive him for ending such a beautiful relationship.

No one is talking about this but the part where Magath says something about Zeke saying unnecessary things in the meeting has me very intrigued. I wanna know what he means, I'm overall very interested in the role Magath may play in the story. Looks like he is the only one suspecting Zeke at the moment. These chapters have been interesting and I'm in no hurry to get back to most of the main cast, but I would like to see Jean again soon. And Armin.

You know, this was a pretty boring chapter, all things considered. However, I did enjoy seeing Gabi look a bit more "human" for at least a couple of minutes and hope the Falco vs. Gabi bit isn't drawn out for too long (I feel it could get tiresome after a while). Reiner's father honestly surprised me; I didn't think we'd get to see him at all/that Reiner would even be aware of who he was, and yet...we got his perspective and I could not have been happier with what we got. Poor Reiner, but considering his scheming selfish mother (who may also be pretty delusional), it seems fitting.

Pieck and chubby cheeks baby Bertl are the only good things in this depressing arc

Reading Isayama's interview about wanting to change perspective to blur the line between hero and villain made this arc less jarring to me. However, I really want to go back to the main cast. Also, the basement reveal ironically made the series less epic in my eyes. Mainly because the idea of a war

AND FINALLY

As expected of poll-chan, excellent questions!

I enjoy these polls and i have nothing else to say

Come back Momtaku!

<333

#snk poll #snk chapter poll #snk chapter 95 #snk 95 #thank you everyone!

128 notes · View notes

convndrums · 7 years

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here the FAWK she ( the semi-finished masterlist of all my characters ) is ! took way too long but hopefully as you proceed to click on the linque below you’ll know why smh but yep ! i’ll be adding their pages on my account when i’m done with them soon i hope and maybe come back with a bunch of connections for each character but for now this is all i got & smash this like or im me for plots i’d love to get on those finally xx

reintroducing amanda wheeler; intro & info page.

queen of irony. rich post- faux country gal who’s a loud homosexual and writes hetero fics/has an indie het smut for the absolute shits and giggles. dates a married woman she’s utterly in love with and will pull the life support cord for. said to be possessed by a possessed flapper. cute and knows it even though she looks like a republican. socially open & everywhere. morally grey.

reintroducing imogen yates; intro & info page. ( tw violence )

the grey area between your mom friend and your drunk aunt. happily vegan & owns a vegan restaurant called the fork, alt. the vegan cult’s lair. won’t kill you, but will convince you she really wants to. local brat tamer. minds her business via minding others. clashed head-first into nature’s very own reset button: amnesia. used to be satan and traumatized everyone. disgustingly active and accomplishing.

reintroducing ethan holland; intro & info page. ( tw suicide )

he is a sk8r boi, she said see ya later boy ( and meant it. they’re dating now. hey lourdes ! ) a nice person, so nice he doesn’t realize how fake he sounds/is. a certified headass. previously a bully/bully enabler, current guilty fuck. #torn. does the most for his loved ones. doesn’t remember his own birthday. googled foot fetishes once. trolls stan twitter with his fake selena gomez stan account when tumblr crashes. burned a sue of cide note with his name scribbled on it.

reintroducing sebastian miller; intro & info page ( tw violence )

kazimer sokolov whom. russian ex-cult member well-adjusted into a mundane life via lies, a fake canadian accent he’s ‘trying to get rid of’, being a twilight saga aficionado and a dickwad, a lame record store and a tumblr blog to keep himself sane by maintaining a general aesthetic and shitting on people and every discourse out there. knives/books sniffer. allegedly fucked a moose. probably kinkshames as a way to deal with his own “kinks” aka please keep the dead bodies away. ( im kidding i swear but [redacted] )

reintroducing prudence zima; intro & info page ( tw death )

parents died in a fire when she was two months old and it shows. idolizes avril lavigne & her favorite movie is lords of dogtown for aesthetics references. dude. social leech or effortless networker ? both. remains in her lane regardless. cry-types probably. here for a good time, not a long time. steals your stash and smokes you out with it. avid dick connoisseur. minimum effort lifestyle. either on her way to become a manager of some one hit wonder band that finds it’s demise in a freak accident, a drug dealer or god forbid, a guidance counselor; depends. mild cool girl syndrome.

reintroducing jennifer meade; intro & info page ( tw death, violence and abuse )

bi/pussy muncher and proud misandrist, first and foremost. remembers killing her brother very fondly. the one girl in a room to call when you want to kill a bug and you’re relieved until she kills it with her bare hand. tops. unstable & chaotic evil, respectively. the ginger devil. biased and has her minion whom she invests a great deal of her time in brain washing and obsessing over. supposedly here to make amends but that’s not happening any time soon.

reintroducing margot williams; intro & info page ( tw mental illness )

deserves better. very gay. all her friends are heathens xtra, take it slow. corrects typos in the gc. a nerdy editorial assistant daydreaming about publishing houses instead of the magazine she works for. lowkey shy and she’s angry about it. goes off if she must. jacks off to #knowledge and yuri anime. helps with homework and essays and takes the kids out. deadpan because we’re original but she swears it’s just the face & unresolved trauma. stans her therapist. unofficial older sister.

reintroducing chandler accardi; intro ( re-written ) & info page

needs to do better. dropped out of college for culinary school then dropped out of that too. was engaged to an absolute goddess he ultimately wronged ( with her damn best friend, bitch disgostin* ) and got kicked out to the curb. currently residing in the couch of his sister until things are resolved. thot-by-default & annoying. has like three ( 3 ) redeeming qualities. has never been told to shut up and it shows. works at buzzfeed.

reintroducing abel gautier; intro & info page

french and “confused”. lives a minimalist n’ expensive life. if american psycho & french kiss were the same movie. wine sniffer. the devil bakes croissants. will watch you die. takes grudges to the afterlife. gets attached but either ruins it or ruins it to spare everyone, himself included. falls in love a lot but knows how to calm the fuck down. very giving, fortunately. manipulative but isn’t too wild about bending everything to his will.

reintroducing simini gale; intro & info page ( tw abuse, violence & mental illness )

token white actress & character in rosie’s show. [ britney vc ] its me.... against dissociation. a loud mess with an intense mental state and anger issues dulled out by her prescribed meds and whatever pill she got in the bottom of her manager’s purse. dependent and distraught about it. grocery shopping for garbage food and attending comedy stand up shows half drunk as a hobby. stable ? where. very nice and super flighty. heels are hot. wishes she could fight someone without feeling the urge to actually fight someone.

reintroducing calvin o’shea; intro & info page ( tw mental illness )

it’s not just the depression more than the incredible self hatred. walks into rooms with his bad energy, grumpy mood and cunty attitude. graduated college just to shut his dad up. wants to die harder than edward cullen. just doesn’t give a shit. has a baby named freddie mercury ( also known as the antichrist, with alanis, his mortal literal enemy whom he absolutely despises and will not hesitate to put his dick back in again lbr ) who will probably grow up to talk shit about his parents whom he also mentioned in his tell-all book on ellen. works at his family’s bookstore that sucks the life energy out of college students nearing a mental breakdown.

reintroducing isabel pavia; intro & info page ( tw drug use )

contemporary dances her feelings away. too ambitious for her own good but knows what she’s doing. in a goth ass secret society ( here ) a.k.a her new found purpose. knows everything eventually. oddly trustworthy. doesn’t know what speaking loudly is, let alone yelling. loves the moon & has that moon app. had to take painkillers when she twisted her ankle very badly and would take them for a while for stress and performance reasons, but has stopped. a quiet angel.

reintroducing anastasia zeller; intro & info page

ambitious/multi-talented asshole. horror trash & an emotional/mental maze which translates well into her weird works on no sleep reddit and current horror comedy podcast. ( click here for info ). needs a therapist according to a friend, whom she dropped for saying that. will bite your head off. obsessed with her works to an unhealthy point. would love to establish a company and stuff out of it and is working on that. healthy relationships are a semi-foreign concept.

reintroducing morgan booker; intro & info page ( tw death )

vape-curious and takes photos of ghost towns and abandoned-everythings because #vision. had a roadtrip phase like the fake deep idiot he is. morally grey. genuinely here for a good laugh and spreading joy in the form of hover-friendships and taking lit candids of his friends. knows shit and comes off as a creep sometimes but does he really care. knows your mom’s name. lives in a disused hospital bc he’s marinating on that aesthetic.

reintroducing bowie harmon; intro & info page ( tw drug use & abuse )

part of a duo in a web series as the anxious n’ cackling mess. showcases her depressión & anxieté by her colorful wigs n’ new hair dyes. painful receptionist at a tattoo parlor. recovering addict who advocates for drug use. thinks tattooing a ruler on someone’s dick one day would be the peak of her accomplishments as a tattoo artist. daily bad decisions. “ it’s complicated. ” when asked about literally any relationship she has with anyone in her life. traumas include her failed singing career. an ex viner-by-association.

reintroducing shaheen bin baz; intro & info page ( tw violence & mental illness )

the physical deception of going through hell in a short amount of time with zero mental durability to begin with during midterms. trigger-anxious. will shoot your toes off your foot if caught off guard. aided in criminal operations with the brilliance of his mind in codes. would not mind dying. seasons your food. waters his crops in his balcony garden. the grey area between a super laidback dude and a crackhead with violent tendencies. nearing a mental breakdown probably.

reintroducing minka abbott-santos; intro & info page ( tw abuse )

defeats the evil stepmom stereotype one breath at a time. the human embodiment of a deer. gothic angel. alarmingly gets black swan. type to wake up to her staring at you from an armchair across the room, but lovingly, with a book she was reading in hand and two hot cups of tea; she was waiting to start the day with you. spooky until you get to know her and even more spookier when she’s ( note: calmly ) pissed but that’s extremely rare. gentle voice, soul and everything.

reintroducing reuben faulkner; intro & info page ( tw abuse & violence )

rekt hell prince. lived in an amish community with his family until he got kidnapped away from home when he was seven into an awful living situation. doesn’t remember if the gas leak that happened five years later and killed everyone was his doing or not. knows where his real family is after months of tracking them down but. blood kink under investigation. shady bouncer at a shady club. has issues he has no care or time to diminish. fights for the shits and giggles. leaves texts at read. leaves you alone for your own good and his own sanity.

reintroducing alexandra turunen; info page

wants to do everything and be everything and doesn’t know what to do with herself ( read: post-graduation identity crisis ) currently investing in a motorcycle for no reason. essentially jobless. a “retired” kathryn merteuil who “outgrew” her cunning ways since highschool but really only found new socially destructive interests. appears to be self-possessed but she’s #shaken. doesn’t care about how well she presents herself anymore after getting rejected by four universities and refusing to accept her father’s offer to pull some strings to get her in one. sleeps a lot.

reintroducing giuseppe del vecchio; info page ( tw death & drug use )

goes by pepe because well. son of italian oil peeps & is extra. said to be in a cult when all he’s in is this extra ass dining club that does the most for initiation ceremonies. ready to fall in love with you. goes to the king’s college in london and studies business & changes his minor way too often for everyone’s liking. into everything and will be down to do whatever. faux deep. mischievous shit. incredibly unbiased. had his rawrk n’ roll phase that died along with someone in a club literally. still has it but he knows god now & less drugs.

reintroducing kelian scott; info page ( tw death & drug use )

a father/father figure who tries™. runs a mechanic shop/chop shop because bad decisions and dire needs ( had his son to send to school and his daughter who passed away due to a disease he couldn’t afford to treat even after turning his shop into a chop shop. his wife then left him ). stares into the distance. wants the best for the kids but one of them is a junkie ( he doesn’t know yet ) and the other -- his niece -- is an orphan he’s worried about. thinks ahead 24/7. needs to pull out of this dull n’ depressing daily routine he has fallen into like the basic ass divorced dad he is.

reintroducing sal presley; info page

smexy trace & fingerprint detective. talks. the perfect illusion to bring home to your parents and friends. gets shit done which is both a good thing and a bad thing. looks calm, collected n’ well-rested but isn’t. his actual name is salvatore but no. knows how to mix drinks and more; used to showcase his multi-talented ass to make his ( currently ex ) fiancée look good now just himself. was engaged three times; two of those times with the same person. obsessive; gets into his job a little too intensely for no reason but #justice and maybe something else whom knows. loses sleep at least two nights a week as a habit at this point. has an extended family back home he misses occasionally. wishes he could calm down truly.

#smoke:intros #FINALLY RISING HOLY SH-#ill do some plotting n hopefully get on replies soonish hell yea lets GO!

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lordofsunshadowandsailor · 7 years

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replies to replies and sexually charged replies

simblu replied to your post “story (and sexuality) replies”

To be clear.. for other seeing my replies.. I have no problem with what happened because of their same sex (I have male couples in my story) ..it was the lack of love and the presence of shame and disgust that saddened me.

I understood it perfectly from your comments...

It is Tobio that is disgusted with feeling attracted to men, while Alvar is certainly troubled by it, since it is considered both a crime and an illness. The applicable punishments could destroy both of their lives, or even the treatments considered at the time, such as actual castration, chemical castration, replacement of testicles and... no good prospects in whatever direction they look, is there?

Love would have been very bold at the time, me thinks, shame and disgust and doubt and guilt and fear a lot more common, and representative of the times!

I’m also aware, like you have posted about your own story, of having introduced only male characters so far -- and all of them gay, too, in my own story. Women have been mentioned, like a sister on Alvar’s side, and Ms. Rigidhirta and all the women in Tobio’s household (in fact, he is the only man in it), but visually they will appear only much later.

willky12 replied to your post “story (and sexuality) replies”

I will say that it is hard to comment on these scenes for me because I don't want people misinterpreting my feelings or thoughts. Also I feel like I am almost 'intruding' on the writing. It's very raw and deep and personal. I understand where you are writing from and I understand why. I also don't like to see flippant replies like "nice rug" or "he's gorgeous" or similar, so would prefer you to know that my like is in support and when I feel I can express myself I will.

Thank you for your feedback! And also for understanding -- and seeing the writer behind the text. But you would not be intruding. Others views on the story and characters are so precious to me, like what you said about the recurring dream! The thing about flippant replies made me laugh, because I thought the rug in the scene was actually nice and I hope the guys are gorgeous :) -- but totally understand what you mean! Thank you for your truthful support, sincere interest and all the quality comments!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: With a rather vague recollection of the...”

Like, erm WOW! I had to scroll down your page to get to where I last saw, and i got a glimpse of the story and the shots and I was like "0___0" CAN'T WAIT TO READ! So then I gets to this post and thought, oh is this really where I last read, not about the dream and the angels? So I click Previous and it takes me to the dessert and yes it was right, but then I have to scroll back through your posts because I didn't think to click NEXT so now I get teased twice!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: With a rather vague recollection of the...”

Also, I decided to click on @lordofsunshadowandsailor blog to read from there but #83 post is not on that blog that I can find? Or I am going crazy. But anyway, enough from me. On with this VISUAL EUPHORIA!

Tumblr is a very weird media for stories, in my opinion. But this is where I’m in society with great storytellers, and I appreciate the company of all so much! And each of us find a different way of organizing their stories, so that it is very varied among blogs... Post #83 for Chapter Two is exactly where the sequence after the desert dream starts, I’m glad you found it! Clicking on previous/next opens the post in its own window, and I guess it is easier to read chronologically than scrolling up or down.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: While the aristocrat boy did not refuse the...”

Intense :O I am gripped! (Now I've walked the dog, done my reply post and can RELAX with your FANTASIC STORY!!) Also I always thought Tobio was a Top. The wording here about the role he is to take on - beautifully put!

Thank you so much for your enthusiasm with LoSSS!

For many guys, being a top is a cop out, as it is presented as less gay, or not gay at all, since the top does what he does to whatever hole he is getting into, be it a woman’s or a man’s. In this same logic, bottoming is the quintessential gay role-- and therefore I could not phantom one as insecure as Tobio taking such a role, that involves a whole lot of courage and being at ease with oneself, even to take any amount of violence in the physical act, that usually comes from the top.

All the time I’m trying to indicate things more than properly showing them, choosing the words according to that principle, too.

As for the role Tobio is about to take -- he owes it to Alvar, who quite bravely immediately puts them in their respective places, sensing what is most comfortable for both of them.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Tobio could have blamed the exiguous space...”

OMG THE SLY DOG!!! Alvar! Who'd have thought? I hope poor Tobio can handle him. Also this was so erotic to read. It got me twinging!!! :O

Alvar would be in absolute shock to be called ‘sly dog’! Of course this perspective will change in a later post, when the concept of erastes and eromenos in paiderasteia is introduced, and we understand he is just conforming to an ideal form of love, as he sees it.

I should admit this was erotic to imagine and to write, but also challenging, since I did not want it to sound like an erotic fantasy or a script to porn... I wrote and rewrote this so many times, and am not sure I’d ever print this on paper!

But that the words have had an effect on you... Isn’t it reading some wonderfully magical trick?!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Afraid he would finish before they began,...”

Yeah that is a real fear for him, Penicillin eh? I hope Alvar is clean, but I doubt it tbh now I look at him lol (Judgemental much?)

Imagine a medicine student, and how much he saw this in his studies, or even was discretely approached by guys from the sports teams for help... All the time he fears being caught, losing his reputation -- and though Tobio would be able to treat himself if he caught any venereal disease, he knows how hard it would be to hide it from his colleagues. I wanted to show yet another fear keeping Tobio from having sex.

But all too soon Tobio finds himself planted inside Alvar, who has devoured him, and he finds no forces to retreat...

As for Alvar, he looks a little dusty in those clothes, doesn’t he? And though not taking daily baths, like everyone else back then, I’d say he is clean, though I cannot attest it -- whatever is most interesting to the plot should happen. Please judge as much as you feel like, but please share it with me!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Long overdue, urgent satisfaction...”

Subjugating Terror! Wow, amazing wording to capture the mood :O I LOVE THIS!!!

This is the heat of the moment. Tobio has passed an epic threshold in his life -- sex has to be that powerful a happening for him as to momentarily win over his religiosity. Thank you for your appreciation!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: The front door cracked open, letting in the...”

JESUS F CHRIST! How brazen are these two!! That was a close call!! Whew! I had to lean forward to look at this in detail. Amazing picture of naughtiness!!! :D :D :D

Like other scenes for this sequence, I fear it has turned out too dark, and one might not notice the two men kneeling behind the bench... But it had to be so, if I wanted to be coherent with them being sheltered by the darkness of the niche.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: “It’s complicated for them, we all know it....”

I am glad I am reading this now when I know there are more fabulous posts ahead, and don't have to wait for more :D :D :D

I’m rushing to finish this scene and this chapter, since I’m going on holidays soon, so whenever I have at least 7 posts ready, I’ll release them!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: The scandal. And subsequent expulsion. ...”

This is erotica writing at its finest. I can't believe the thoughts this is giving me! Also, perhaps Tobio will be ok with Alvar being so tight and small a bottom - unused and virginal but just as keen as eager to get filled for the first time as Tobio was to fill it. I love these guys. They seem some privacy. Or do they? I sort of am turned on by the public woohoo going on here :D

I think by this point it’s been hinted that Alvar is not unused nor virginal at all -- though he is not promiscuous, either. Sex back then had completely different standards, from what I’ve researched.

I wonder if this scene would ever happen in the privacy of a bedroom... I’m inclined to say Tobio fears intimacy, and he would not have assaulted Alvar (assaulted not being a synonym for rape here, since Alvar clearly wants it too, though maybe not with the same intensity as Tobio) if they were on a bed... It being public, and inadequate, and furtive, and clumsy, in the dark, very adequately suits Tobio’s fears. A romantic situation would have scared him to death. He wants it as forbidden as it can be, so that the act can fit within his stream of past and future suffering.

Still, both men are also very turned on by the public woohoo going on here, as we shall discover in the next posts.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: His own trembling legs feeling weak, and...”

Jees! Tobio nearly strangled the poor boy! I bet Alvar LOVED THAT!!! :D

Maybe he did, didn’t he? And this could send us back to the first scenes of LoSSS, where a grown up Alvar strangles Eddie the Lost Boy, and the tension between them becomes sexual in this post... Maybe he learned it from this occasion with Tobio?

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: His own trembling legs feeling weak, and...”

Also, this pic leaves just the right amount of graphic stimulation for the brain to do the rest. Lovely work Az!!!

I had to move them around, and the bench and the sculpture, unaccountable times before making this shot... There are some pretty grotesque things, and other very explicit shots that will remain unpublished, for I too prefer to leave it to the writing and imagination to complete the scene. Thank you for the compliment!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: “What was that?” Tobio heard one of the...”

Right, this is the one. THIS is the picture that has finally whipped my arse into finally going back to post #1 and finding out wtf Tobio's brain is all about. I'm going to stop being LAZY and do it!!! lol. I fucking LOVE this story! Have I already mentioned that? lol

I have already sent you the link to the first post where Tobio appears, at the very start of chapter Two.

Since the sex scene is a flashback, reading about them ten years later might not help and even confuse things about when they were so young... We’ve seen Tobio is a widow, with an orphaned baby at home, his face destroyed by the war... It’s sort of touching, I hope, to see them so young and before real tragedy touches their lives...

Thank you for your enthusiasm with LoSSSS! Have I already mentioned that? :)

declarations-of-drama replied to your photoset “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Panting heavily, his mouth wide open...”

So it's actually snow leaking in and not rain? �� HAHA JK! Wow, Alvar, you little dick pig!! Somebody gonna need to get an antibac wipe :D

Nearly getting caught simply sent Alvar overboard.

Again, being called ‘little dick pig’ would shock him so much, haha. This and other comments made me laugh so hard, thank you!

As for hygiene -- it will be mentioned later, but I’m left wondering if this is the first sex scene this hall has seen in its existence...

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: With a tenderness that evoked the hurt...”

Yeah who are you kidding. Tobio is not going anywhere! Those scholars would need a bucket of water to separate these two right now. And I would KILL THEM for trying - we need to see this out! So how did Tobio finish? I can hardly wait to click on the next post :O

They are acting like dogs, aren’t them? But I guess their shame would separate them quicker than that bucket of water, if the scholars had not taken the steps up the stairs...

You’re right. Tobio is fooling himself that he will so easily give up on finishing what he has just started, especially after having waited for so long, suffering so much... It also shows him quite coldly evaluating risks, and his self control in holding back his own satisfaction -- like Alvar couldn’t -- and still surrendering to desire in deciding to go on with it.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: But except for their own panting, the hall...”

Go for it boy! Gag him and then destroy that peach!

Haha, this made me laugh so hard! I doubt Tobio is thinking in those terms -- still, that is exactly what he is doing!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: But except for their own panting, the hall...”

:D Haha sorry for my crude comments, my natural love for gay men and their activities has been thrown into the light by your story!

I have to confess I would never have imagined this kind of subdued, sublimating writing to have such an effect... And am made to see a different dimension of this scene with your comments. Gay men and their activities certainly appreciate your love for them -- at least, these two here do!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: He tried stuffing Alvar’s mouth with the...”

To be honest I would have offered to make you Alvar's hat as a mouth accessory for this shot. If you need anything like that for this future story, gimme a shout! :D Also, this is exactly how I would have wanted this to go. Pure rampant repression releasing from Tobio's soul. I'm so happy for him :D

Thank you for the offer! Reading is enough for the readers, though those who are only having a peek shall never know of the detail you mentioned... It’s okay not to have everything in the pictures, I guess. I would often have Sims block from this kind of lack, but I’m fighting my own perfectionism to simply keep on with telling the story, no matter the mistakes or shortcomings.

Yes, let’s be happy for Tobio, though he might not be very happy with himself after this is through. For the moment, he is taking revenge on life -- though it’s poor Alvar who is actually taking the beating.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: He tried stuffing Alvar’s mouth with the...”

Also, I don't know if I would have used the word "relieve" - it sounds to me like Tobio's dick is just too big and almost painful. But maybe I have misinterpreted the wording. (That's the only bad thing I can think about this glorious story so far and thought you might appreciate me being honest)

PLEASE be honest all the time! Do quote my writing, question it, criticize it. (Like Alvar here, I need the beating/spanking to progress as a writer, not just the compliments)

I used the word ‘relieve’ not so much as an indication of Tobio’s size, but certainly of how painful this must be for the bottom. How uncomfortable for Alvar it is to be pounded against bare floorboards, his ribs and pelvic bones hurting, how hard it must be to breathe, and the dust that he is breathing not making it any more comfortable, the lack of room, the restraint of their clothes, and the force of Tobio’s trusts... I did not want to bring in all these details, but that’s why I used ‘relieve’. It feels awfully good, but it hurts badly too!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Tobio couldn’t have known – and being it...”

I hope they have a lovely lasting relationship, though I doubt that it would ever be public knowledge, perhaps an unspoken secret, but I do feel bad that they are stuck in this time. Perhaps they could find a time machine? :D

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Tobio couldn’t have known – and being it...”

Also I'm not sure if my comment is in context with the story because I haven't been back to #1 yet. So forgive me if they are some sort of dream-weaving time lords.

We’ve seen as Alvar did not want to take Apollo Jim to any hospital, but still felt confident to knock on Tobio’s door at 6AM in search of help... Their relationship has survived the war, so it holds some quality and strength in it to have lasted that long... We’ll learn more about it, in chapter Three.

It’s sad that their love is considered both an illness and a crime (and a sin, too, for Tobio) -- but at least death penalty no longer applies to it! As for the time machine -- only Alvar has access to it, in his knowledge of history from Ancient Greece, and in his romantic, idealized fantasies that wrap his sexual relations. Tobio, stuck with religion, should better stay where he is than embark in a time machine -- for he could die on a bonfire or impaled with an spear.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Tobio knew nothing about Greek Love, and...”

Ahh! So this does shed a lot of light onto Alvar's experience. Hopefully he's not a boy from the alleys after all!

Do you mean in present time or in previous incarnations? At 19, Alvar is Lord Phallihurst in the making, and we have seen him admit to have never approached prostitute boys before his search for Apollo Jim -- but maybe in another life he might have been himself a boy from the alleys, or a professional in the brothels, or a slave, who knows?

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Knowing only of his pressing satisfaction,...”

This was a perfect encounter for Tobio's first time. How lucky is he to have found such an eager bottom as Alvar.

Yes -- but he doesn’t know it! He has no terms of comparison, and he doesn’t know how Alvar’s training as an eromenos, the submissive lover, has really made it easier for him, being totally inexperienced and hesitant, to carry out his first intercourse with another man.

And as said above, there is no affection in the act, which suits Tobio perfectly, too!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Whenever his sexual desire sought to...”

The boy has stamina! Unless what he's experiencing is one of those head-fuck moments where time seems like it slows down and a hundred things go through your head, because from the descriptions of Alvar's experience, and grateful need of Tobio's meat I would have guessed that there would be a lot more snow leaking out of somewhere by now!

This post, and the last paragraph in particular, depicts more Tobio’s climax than Alvar’s -- though you’re right to imagine Alvar leaking again from the pounding he has just taken.

In terms of the act, I guess it did not last more than a couple of minutes since Tobio has started trusting -- and it would still be incredibly long, given the exposure of the situation, the risk of being caught still existing, it being his first time, Alvar being not exactly passive... It’s just that I have extended the act along dozens of posts, breaking it with Tobio’s recurring dreams, and the scholars’ arrival, and many personal impressions from both Alvar and Tobio... It doesn’t look so, but as tense and intense as it might have been, it still was a quickie! Which, again, suits Tobio well.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Rather rashly, he was opening an...”

I'm not as good at English as you because I'm only English, but I'm guessing this is the descriptive form of Tobio's ejaculation. I hope his dreams don't haunt him as much now he has crossed this threshold, though I fear his brain is going to make his doubts and self-torment a lot worse :(

Haha, this made me laugh, too!

How many words did I need to use instead of ejaculation, right?! And it’s not even clear when it has happened, is it?

This particular post is the resolution of his recurring dream -- how the desert is invaded by the water from the dam, as the wall that separated them collapses with Tobio having sex and finally surrendering to his desires. And desert or dam no longer exist for him, but a new, boundless sea, that he’ll have to learn to navigate -- for the rest of his life!

We’ll see more of Tobio as we return to his house and office, ten or so years after this sex scene. We know he has married Emily, who died upon giving birth to their daughter... How to bring together the married man who has become a widower and a father, and this gay sex beast from his youth?

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Enlarged, their expanded bodies...”

:( Such a shame. The heat of the moment has now turned into the hate of the moment :(

I just love it how you played with the words containing the same letters!

Shame is the key word here, though in a different sense for the boys than you are making use of it.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “lordofsunshadowandsailor: Though Tobio did not immediately withdraw...”

Heartbreaking to be honest because Tobio will now torment himself badly over this, and poor Alvar who just wants to be fucked and loved by a manly stud :(

From your words of feedback on both Tobio and Alvar, I believe to have succeeded in depicting sex very differently for each of them. Same place, same moment, both engaged in the same act -- but completely different experiences happening concomitantly, opposite even in outcome, as we’ll see with the closing of the scene.

I’m thankful that you have taken so much interest in Tobio, for he is not my focus -- but I did not want to leave him out of focus either. To me, he is more a mirror in which Alvar, who is the protagonist, can be seen with an specific quality of reflection -- Tobio-nesque, I guess we can call it. At the same time, I don’t want to make Tobio simply that bland mirror.

I’d say Alvar wants to be loved more than he wants to get fucked. He thoroughly enjoys the second, but aiming at the first. His perception is that openly offering himself, obediently surrendering, and actively submitting and engaging to pleasure his partner (though, as a side benefit, finding himself uncontrollable pleasure) only might lead him to love, some love, any love at all.

Thank you @declarations-of-drama so very much for the comments --and @simblu and @willky12 too in this post -- your comments and special perceptions of the story put you all in a position of co-writers, really!

#simblu #willky12 #declarations-of-drama

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actuallyadhd · 8 years

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May-be .... ADD

Hi!

So, I think I have ADD. I don’t really know for sure.

I know that I have OCD. But many symptoms that I have became aware of more acutely actually match more to ADD.

We’ve put in a cut because this is a long post. There is an answer at the end, from the marvelous Becca! -J

For me, it takes a LONG time to study. I wake at 7a and finish at least by 12a, almost my entire day is occupied with school, doing homework, going to class. When reading a biology or chemistry or any other textbook, it takes me really long time to read. One page might take me an hour. I keep reading and rereading, feeling as if I don’t get what a sentence means. I try to go ahead, and yet my thoughts and worries pull me back. I also have challenges comprehending certain concepts. Something like energy or electrons can seem VERY VERY abstract for me, and I have to keep going to the dictionary every now and then just to define what a word really means if I don’t really get it (sometimes just common words). I also get a plethora of curious but intrusive questions about what I am reading as I go through it; then I have to pause a bit, think about the question, try to answer it, feel very depressed as if I don’t understand the material when I don’t answer it, and have trouble continuing on afterwards. That almost always happens with science. As a person, I grew up not having a solid science background, so all of these scientific processes and knowledges are just so foreign to me, yet I am exerting the best of influence to learn. Nevertheless, it is crushing: I always have the feeling that I haven’t really swallowed what chemistry is all about. I still have somewhat a disbelief of many tenets in chemistry and biology, b/c they are just so weird and hard to understand. Yet I try to put these thoughts away: they are only disturbances, and I might as well think about them for my entire life without doing anything beneficial. If other people don’t think that way, I don’t need to either :)

I also have problems with concentration and focus. I fidget and move around a lot. It helps me, sure, but I still do it; I can’t stand still for, like, 5 minutes. I always eat my nails, the skin around them, keep folding my hands, look at the clock to make sure I’m not late for class.

And, I can never go to lecture without reading beforehand. Like, if the professor is talking about what I have read, then I totally understand it, and the information reinforces my knowledge. But then, if he/she speaks about something new, I have hard time processing what I am learning. This problem is more subtle when I am watching movies or videos; sometimes, I can’t really understand what people are saying to me unless I turn on subtitles. In the lab, my mind is just boggled: so much to do, not knowing what to write, having trouble following procedures, nodding yes to my instructor while knowing within that I have understood nothing of his answer to my questions, etc.

Especially when doing homework and in exams, I make stupid careless mistakes. Sometimes I just tell myself not to keep checking things over and over again b/c that’s just obsessive-compulsive. And yet, when I don’t, I am more susceptible (naturally) to errors. I feel like I’m rushing through things, and then I get them wrong, and I feel really bad, telling myself that I don’t know what I have learnt despite spending like all my day learning it. One day, I had a chemistry exam, and I mistaken rows for columns: that cost me a point. I am improving in this sphere by use of highlighters, and yet b/c I don’t have much time (b/c most time for me is taken up by reading), I tend to rush: not b/c I am careless, but rather b/c I don’t have enough time.

Sound is a big enemy. I remember years before during high school, I’d sit at the kitchen table, listening to the news while doing my math homework. And yet, now the slightest sound disturbs me, takes me out of the world of academia into anxiety. Whenever I am at the library, I keep moving from one seat to another, one floor to another so I don’t have to keep sitting where there is a person speaking or laughing or on the phone or putting on music, even if slightly. At home, with my family it’s practically impossible to study. I have to keep yelling at my brothers, put my hands over my ears (which is just as annoying and disturbing), go down and constantly eat and do chores and talk with my family (since I meet them on the weekends), and have some fun time for myself — I can’t be and will never study the whole day, no matter what (although I often break this rule :)

Now, I said that back in high school I was better than now, but I also question that. If anything, I had to study long hours as well. I remember questioning myself why I take so long to do homework, to finish math problems, when others do them so fast (a girl did it right in her class!). I always thought that I was complicated, that I was only a studious person (nothing wrong with that, of course, but the typical stereotype). But now I realize that I went hard on myself: I definitely have a mental illness, I just don’t know what it is.

This is just a minutiae glimpse into my mind. I hope you can type a more elongated response than the ones I see here: I know you are a busy person, yet I am typing this right around 1:30a and waking up at 7a the same day to start another cycle of my rather…rather interesting life.

Zhanks!

Soon (Anon)

From what you’ve written, I can tell you’re really struggling with a lot of things which are often part of ADHD (or ADD. The difference between the two can be found here). Before I say any more though, I have to say this: we are not mental health professionals and we cannot replace a thorough evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist. The best we can do is give advice based on our own experiences with ADHD and the information we find about it. If you want an official diagnosis then you need to see a professional.

You’re describing things to do with poor concentration, lack of attention, some difficulty processing information, fidgeting, as well as sensitivity to sensory stimuli. These are things pretty commonly associated with ADHD. Getting a diagnosis requires certain criteria to be fulfilled; the criteria as they are in DSM-V (the diagnostic manual used by most mental health professionals) can be found in this post. In addition to that it might be helpful for you to check out our self-diagnosis post and see which parts you identify with. If you want to get an official diagnosis these posts can help you plan what you want to talk about in the evaluation.

It is also possible not all of these things are because of ADHD. You said that you have OCD, so some of these symptoms might overlap. It is quite common to have two or more comorbid disorders, and some of the things you bring up are also associated with learning disorders (like the amount of time it takes for you to read). A professional would be able to help you figure out your symptoms and what might be causing them.

To be honest, there isn’t much more I can say based only on what you wrote. It’s obvious you’re having a hard time with a lot of things and that it’s affecting your life. I would definitely recommend having an evaluation done because no matter what the cause is, figuring it out will probably be a huge help.

-Becca

#submission #actually adhd #adhd #anonymous #questioning if ADHD

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jacoblaguerreny · 5 years

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Discover How To Market Your Business On Social Media

youtube

How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Learn Why Small Businesses Need Social Media

The Social Cycle - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Social Listening

Social Influencing

Social Networking

Social Selling

Social Media Marketing Tips For Beginners

Choose The Right Social Media Platform

Create A Calendar - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Build A Community - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Share Quality Content - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Learn Why Small Businesses Need Social Media

Did you know that the average daily time spent on social is about 142 minutes per day? That means it’s very likely that your target market is hanging out on a social platform like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. If you’re struggling to get noticed online, it might be worthwhile to learn how to market your business on social media. Many businesses have already been taking advantage of social media, and it doesn’t seem like that trend is stopping anytime soon. If you’re not already on there, then you’re seriously missing out. However, it takes more than just making a random post on Facebook to win with social media. You need some kind of strategy in place. Before we go over any general concepts regarding social media, it would be helpful to think of our efforts in a 4-part cycle. This was originally formulated by Digital Marketer, but I’ll be giving my own adaptation.

The Social Cycle - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Image courtesy of DigitalMarketer

The social cycle is a type of social media promotion strategy that is made up of 4 stages: Listening, Influencing, Networking, and Selling. Each one of these components is necessary to having a holistic approach towards social media marketing. Let’s tackle each piece one-by-one.

Social Listening

Social Listening acts as the foundation for the other 3 parts. Without this, your social media strategy will be ill-informed and poorly executed.

As the name implies, you’re listening to your target market on social media. You’re paying attention to what they’re talking about, and what they’re saying about you.

More often than not, people will turn to social media to get in contact with a company. They may voice their frustrations or provide valuable feedback that you can incorporate into your business.

You can think of social media like a hotline that’s on 24/7. You need to be there to answer it, or else it’s going to create a bad impression in the eyes of your audience.

When you’re doing your listening, there’s 5 things you should be looking out for.

Here they are:

Your brand - Watch for mentions of your company name, products or service, or any other identifying information.

Topics - Pay attention to topics relevant in your industry. For example, if you sell cars, then you should be paying attention to topics in the car industry.

Your competitors - What’s being said about them? And are they talking about you?

Influencers - Pay attention to thought leaders and other influencers in your industry.

Public-facing people - Listen for mentions of leaders or influencers in your company. For example, if you worked for Amazon, you’d be listening to mentions of Jeff Bezos, the founder, and CEO of the company.

Social Influencing

At this point, we should have a pretty good idea of what’s going on around us. This is where we switch and decide to be a bit more proactive with your social media marketing efforts. In this stage of the social cycle, our focus is on shaping the thoughts, opinions, and attitudes of our target market. We do that by sharing videos, podcasts, blog posts, or any form of content that will help inform our audience. We have a few main goals when it comes to this part of the cycle. Firstly, we want to increase engagement with our brand or content. This can take the form of post reactions, link clicks, comments, or shares. Also, we want to create conversations around topics that are related to our business. This also helps to build a “know, like and trust” factor around our business. Simply put, people only do business with people (or brands) they know, like, and trust. Lastly, we want to generate awareness of our products or offers. It’s no use having a great product if no one knows it exists.

Social Networking

In this stage, we’re continuing to be proactive, just like we were in the previous stage. Instead of sharing content, we’re going to be focused on connecting with like-minded influencers and authorities in your niche. Networking is a vital part of any business. No man (or business) is an island and it helps to connect with other brands or businesses that have similar goals that you have. An easy way to network with other businesses is by sharing their content. This can be a win-win situation for both yourself and the brand who’s content you’re sharing. You can share content that you haven’t already covered to help your audience and the brand gets some extra reach from you sharing their content. Networking, whether offline or online, is a long-term strategy. Don’t expect to see results overnight. If you make it a consistent habit to share valuable content from other businesses, this might pave the way for partnerships in the future.

Social Selling

We’ve finally arrived at the final stage of the Social Cycle. If you’ve done everything up to this point, you’re finally ready to start promoting your products and services on social media. To promote on social media, you’re going to need some type of funnel to get things going. A funnel is a representation of the journey of your target market. This is how they go from being a strange to becoming a customer. For example, let’s say you were advertising on Facebook. You could have an ad that promotes a particular blog post on your website. When they land on your website, you can embed an optin form into your post to get them to sign up as a lead. Once they sign up as a lead, you can follow-up via email or Facebook retargeting to get them to buy your product. Each stage brings them a step closer towards becoming a customer. Once they become your customer, you can keep selling to them again and again. If your product is really good, your customers may become your biggest evangelists.

Social Media Marketing Tips For Beginners

Now that we’ve gone over the broad overview of social media marketing, we can now cover some general tips that may be useful.

Choose The Right Social Media Platform

There are a variety of different social media platforms out there like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, to name a few. This doesn’t mean that you need to be on all of them. In fact, spreading yourself too thin can have the opposite effect.

You want to focus on platforms that your target market is already located. For most niches, that would be Facebook. If your niche is big on visuals like restaurants or the arts, then you should also consider Instagram.

Most niches should look into YouTube as well. It’s one of the largest video sharing sites and has over a billion users with every type of video you can think off. Also, internet traffic has been favoring video for quite some time. It’s estimated that 80% of all internet traffic will be attributed to videos in 2020.

Create A Calendar - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Marketing on social media should be just one part of your overall marketing strategy. At the same time, you don’t want to leave things up to chance either. In order to make sure you’re on track, a calendar might prove very useful. If you plan ahead of time what posts you’re going to be doing, you save yourself from worrying about it later. This also helps with being consistent on social media, which is a critical component to having any sort of success with it. For example, if you’re just posting once in a blue moon, it’s going to take a long time for you to get any traction on social media. On the other hand, if you’re posting consistently, then it’s more likely that people will pay attention to you. They will continue to come back to your social media profiles to see your latest updates and will help to build that “know, like and trust” factor between you and your audience.

Build A Community - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

You can’t spell social media without “social” and it seems that most businesses forget about that. At the end of the day, people don’t go on social media to buy stuff. They go on social media to share their life, connect with friends and families, and watch some funny cat videos. If you’re going to invest time in social media, then you need to be sociable. There’s a way to do self promotion on social media without being spammy. And one of the best ways you can do that is by creating a community around your business. If you’ve been through the social cycle, you should already have an idea what interests your target market. Why not build a group around it? You can create groups on Facebook for free and there’s no limit to the amount of members you can have. You can even connect your Facebook Page with your Facebook group and interact as your Facebook Page. This will help to further establish your brand in the mind of your target market.

Share Quality Content - How To Market Your Business On Social Media

Sharing helpful and useful content goes a long way towards building authority with your audience. People want to be in the know and they tend to follow people that can point them in the right direction. The best part is that you don’t have to be the expert. You can share other people’s content and still gain the benefit of building trust with your audience. It is highly recommended that you write your own content and share it on social media as well. Make a list of top blogs in your niche as a reference. Then, make it a habit to share an article or two each week from this list. This also goes hand-in-hand with Social Networking, where the goal is to build connections with other brands in your industry.

P.S. Did you enjoy this content? I share more stuff like this on my email list where I'm documenting my journey towards my first $10,000 month.

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#Affiliate Marketing #Entrepreneurship #Personal Development

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enetproperty-blog · 6 years

Text

Seasonality in the Private Rented Sector and Institutional Investors in Private Renting

In this blog post, I look at “Seasonality in the Private Rented Sector”. Plus, I look at one example of “Clueless Institutional Investment in Private Renting” Seasonality in the Private Rented Sector Does the time of year affect the rental income you can achieve and the speed of letting? Oh yes it can! I first wrote about this in the very first edition of my book, “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” and I incorporated the concept in both my second book for landlords and my guide book for tenants too. (For details of all these books and how to buy them, see the links at the bottom of this post). Seasonality varies by town and city a bit. Towns whose rental population is very dominated by universities and colleges have particularly defined peak months. The strong demand in these months will filter out to the whole private rented market, so even non-student properties will let out faster and at higher rents. So, what are the peak periods? Well, in many towns and cities there is a peak of activity in January and early February when people sense the spring coming and look for a change of home. This is also the same time, in university cities, when returning students are actively out looking to secure accommodation for the academic year starting eight months later, in September or October. So demand is always more brisk in Jan and Feb. Other busy times of year are late August, September and early October when there is a last minute rush for accommodation from students. This is also the time when many new jobs start – so once again, lots of people are out looking for a suitable new home to rent. Seasonality in the Private Rented Sector and Holiday Markets In towns which have lots of holiday lets, the summer season and Easter can be busy periods – and this demand can also filter into longer term lets too. (In many places, landlords have a choice of letting to long term tenants or tourists, so the two markets are interlinked). Otherwise, in non-holiday dominated markets, high summer and also November / December in the dead run-up to Christmas are the quietest periods. Our properties are mainly in London and we have regularly seen demand pick up in January and February. Sometimes, where possible, e.g. where your existing tenants have given notice, it can even be worth persuading them to stay on, if that is at all possible. You could even consider offering discounts off the rent if they stay on for a month. This will allow you to market during periods of high tenant demand, allowing you to let faster and at a higher rent. We are certainly seeing a very strong uptick in demand in London right now, with rents hitting new high levels, after a quiet 2018. It will be interesting to see if this trend shows up in formal data, when it is released in a few months’ time. Demand in Private Rented Sector Picking Up Of course, long-time readers of this blog will know we have long predicted that the exit of private landlords following the George Osborne initiated “tax attacks” on buy to let (non-institutional) landlords would inevitably backfire – and would lead to higher rents, as demand outstripped a shrinking supply. We are perhaps now starting to see the first signs of this. Of course, buy to let landlords have to be on the ball. We have to start marketing our properties as soon as our existing tenants give notice and in the last month of their tenancy. Void periods are anathema to the small private landlord. Clueless Institutional Investors in Private Renting But it seems the big institutional investors, so beloved of this government, are not so smart at reducing their void periods. An example; My wife’s niece went to study from abroad to Aberdeen University. Due to suffering a sudden mental illness, unfortunately she was not able to come for the final year of her studies and duly notified the university authorities last summer. But the clueless Canadian pension fund, (don’t ask!), who run the student accommodation where she was due to live in Aberdeen have only just, in late January, cottoned on to the fact that she did not pick up the keys to her room back in September – and the fact that her room was empty ever since. Post piling up in her mailbox did not seem to seem to make them think anything was amiss. Despite having an address in her home country to write to, they did not think to write there, or ask the university’s admissions officers what was going on. Instead they kept writing to her empty room, where the post kept being returned back to themselves. Eventually, one of her friends happened to pass by the accommodation block, saw all the post piled up and alerted her parents back in her home country. One of the items of post was a final demand for £1500 in accommodation costs, which, of course, she has not used. Can you imagine a small buy to let landlord being as clueless as this – and allowing a room to sit empty? With such a clueless approach to sweating their assets, they will struggle very hard to compete with the small landlord. ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS Services for Private Landlords We help landlords and property investors by showing them how to make money in the private rented sector using ways which are fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk. Our advice is completely independent. We take don’t commission payments or fees from anyone, ever. Services to Businesses and the Public Sector We advise a range of organisations too to help them develop and improve their services and products for private landlords. David Lawrenson, founder of LettingFocus, also writes for property portals, speaks at property events and is regularly quoted by the media. HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG: Blog THE HOME PAGE OF THE MAIN SITE: http://www.LettingFocus.com For general information on our CONSULTING SERVICES: Consultancy and Seminars For ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY FOR PRIVATE LANDLORDS: Property Advice CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – from both organisations and private landlords: Testimonials IN THE MEDIA: Recent Press Coverage BOOKS: “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING”: Our book is the highest selling personal finance and property book in the UK. Click here to Find Out More and Buy it. And if you are from an organisation and would like to bulk buy, please ask us for special rates. “BUY TO LET LANDLORDS GUIDE TO FINDING GREAT TENANTS”: Also, get this great new guide here, which covers everything you’ll ever need to know to avoid either you or your letting agent getting anyone other than the perfect tenant. Click Here to Buy It. BOOK FOR TENANTS: Kids going off and renting for the first time? My Book for Tenants is also Available TO JOIN OUR FREE NEWSLETTER MAILER which goes to over 3,990 people (as at Jan 2019) just send an email to [email protected] We do not send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers, though we occasionally mail landlords about good products from third parties. Please put us on your “white list” to ensure you receive our emails. OFFERS ON PRODUCTS FOR LANDLORDS and TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCTS to LANDLORDS: Landlords Resources PERUSE LAST TEN BLOGS BY GETTING THE RSS FEED: Click Here NEXT ANNUAL SEMINAR EVENT FOR LANDLORDS: Landlord and Property Letting Seminar TWITTER PAGE My thoughts on property, personal finance, plus a lot of other random things: Twitter Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2019. Please link to us here or quote us. We actively pursue copyright infringements. The post Seasonality in the Private Rented Sector and Institutional Investors in Private Renting appeared first on Letting Focus.

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#Institutional Investment in Private Rented Housing #Institutional Investment in the Private Rented Sector #Seasonality #Institutional Investment in the PRS #Seasonality in Private Rented Sector

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unnamedblogggggggg · 6 years

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Reading Medieval Monks

I’ve been reading The Name of The Rose recently, and after the first 150 or so pages (which I admit were kind of boring, although interesting in their own way) the book really picked up and has begun to go from merely good to amazing - which is something I didn’t expect to get from a book about monks in 14th century Europe.

The book itself is about a murder mystery that happens at a monastery. The surrounding happenings are explained in the book, suffice to say Christianity is in disarray, the pope having moved from Rome to Avignon in France due to the chaos of Italy, emperors becoming strong independent of the pope, various heresies springing up as from nowhere and being brutally put down via inquisition. It is in this time that Adsen, a young Benedictine monk novice from somewhere in Germany, comes to travel with William, an older Franciscan monk, in order to learn about how to become a monk.

Up to this point it’s basically like a fantasy novel only instead of learning meaningless bullshit you learn actual useful things about the history of Europe and life back then. The style of the book isn’t 3rd person but is a bit more interesting than that.

The entire story is written as a last will or recollection of all things that happened at the monastery in the 7 days the book covers. This will was then found by some other guy and translated and then forgotten until our author, Umberto Eco, managed to find the manuscript, and then merely published it with a foreword and short explanation of how monk life worked at the start of the book. Thus the entire story, other than the subtitles of the chapter names, is written in 1st person by the monk Adsen, now an old man who regrets his sinful life and believes the Antichrist will come any day.

I haven’t actually read the book to the end yet, but the story is really cool - despite the fact that magic obviously isn’t real you still get people who believe that witches exist, the devil hiding in every corner and actual ghosts that guard the mysterious library for which the monastery is famous for.

But the actual reason I’m writing this blog post that pretty much no one will read is because one very special thing: the humanism in it. There’s no elitism from either the author Adsen or his teacher William, they are humble christian monks who only wish to find out the truth about the murder and do their jobs to the best of their ability. Adsen is a curious young man with a wry and subdued sense of humor, who grows throughout the book - and the supporting cast of characters all offer various tales and viewpoints which I still respect Umberto Eco to have managed to capture as an aspiring writer myself.

And the chapter I really want to highlight in this book, the one that really stayed with me, is the one where Salvatore explains to Adsen his life story. Salvatore is a grotesque man - his face has a cleft lip, his eyes bulge outwards, unsymmetrical - and this is reflected in the way he talks, a mixture of latin, french, italian and the translated language of the book.

He was born in a barren land, described in words of disease and famine, the land specked with pockmarks, and some of the people of the land turning to banditry and cannibalism to make their fortune. Salvatore soon left this place and went with a group of misfits around Europe, joining one heresy, leaving it, killing Jews, Bishops, others in mob violence first for non-Godly and then Godly reasons.

“Why Jews,” Adsen asks him, in what some would call surprising perhaps. Adsen explains that the actual enemies of the heresy he was part of were the wealthy lords of the land. Salvatore of course explains that these were too powerful to be fought, so they fought the enemy that couldn’t defend himself. The violence this mob he was part of enacted was brutal, and their end brutal as well. Salvatore seemingly one of the few who wasn’t starved out in a forest or outright killed, and who managed to get a job in a monastery that satisfies him.

Adsen listens to his entire story, helpfully not transcribing his broken and mixed language but merely writing down what he heard from Salvatore, after the finished story he is amazed at the adventurous life his fellow monk led and thinks in this way: the crazed violence and murder of a mob is different from the cold, calculating violence of a murderer. And he does not think Salvatore is capable of having done the murder, and does not seem to hold any ill-will to Salvatore.

Thinking on it now, Adsen doesn’t hold any ill-will to anyone except for himself, the sins of Salvatore aren’t particularly brought to light, he himself excuses the behaviour of two monks who had homosexual relations and even sex with each other, and doesn’t judge either of them, even admitting that he himself has had similar thoughts in his old age.

He does however have a renewed sense of wanting to figure out things about the heresies he heard mentioned in Salvatore’s confession and goes to ask his teacher William about them - how they are formed, why they exist, how you can differentiate one from the other, etc.

And in this explanation the book really shines, and I have no doubt that such a person as William truly did exist in those days, and still does in droves today. He explained it via a metaphor of society of lepers. He is a Franciscan monk, a follower of the order of St. Francis. He explains it thusly, when Francis went to preach to the people, and saw they did not want his preaching he went out to a graveyard and preached to the carrion birds feasting on the dead there.

This grotesque twist of the tale that Adsen heard, which was St. Francis merely preaching to the beautiful birds without any of that context, shocks him. Afterwards William describes the ultimate goal of St. Francis - he saw in society that while most people were living as they should (the medieval concept of the flock, the dogs and the shepherds representing people, soldiers and priests) there were those who were denied a place in society. He calls these lepers, after all, lepers are the most visible stratum of society which is denied a place in it.

He explains that heresies don’t spring up out of nowhere, they come about because of a very real hopelessness of people, and this hopelessness, not the particular heresy, is what causes them. The common man doesn’t care about theological things. He or she doesn’t give a shit about the nature of the trinity - life sucks, people are willing to kill and die to punish the people that makes it suck and improve the world.

Which is why St. Francis wanted to bring these “wayward sheep” back into the fold, so to speak. He lived with lepers, made an order based on poverty for its monks, and so on. But he had to - and this was key for his goal - join the church itself, because how could he bring back into the fold people who were rejected by society if not by using society itself. Joining the church would, however, deform his message and intent.

Adsen, hearing that both violent revolt didn’t work and neither did peaceful integration is confused as a young man - but as an old man he knows the answer, to not do anything. Of course, you don’t have to agree with everything a book tells you, and it makes sense for him to be this way as a devout Christian.

Reading this in the book has made me realize something, however - when we, meaning of course the middle class in this case, criticize governments we dislike we never really turn that same dread towards governments we like. To put it in a different way: we dread Trump and what he’s doing, it makes us feel guilty that we live such comfortable lives while strangers are dying and suffering for nothing.

But where was this dread and guilt when Obama was doing much the same thing? Unlike Adsen however I feel firm in my beliefs. Hopefully I’ll be able to read this book to completion.

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uniblogyear2semester2 · 6 years

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The beginning – week 1

Another great start to a new semester in game design prototyping, again juan took the lecture and set us off on a very quick journey to a new destination on the course.

This semester we are to create a 3rd person game with a very lenient brief meaning we can base the game off of anything we wanted really in terms of themes and dynamics.

At the end of the first lecture juan told us to split off into pairs and come up with a 2-minute pitch idea for a story and so me and paddy split off into our partnership and started coming up with ideas for the coming presentation next week.

Immediately I already had an idea as I had my mind set on a theme and story for a while.

I wanted to create a medieval fantasy adventure game with a different post-apocalyptic theme embedded within it and so I started to ponder more thoughts into that and coming up with a good story and plot for it as well as exploring the lore.

Over the course of the next week I had come up with an idea which I absolutely loved and so did paddy, he was on-board. The idea came to be “The Blight”, I have created a brief description of the blight to give a little context.

“The story is set 5 years after the war where a great tragedy befell one kingdom turning it into the blight. The blight, slowly devouring the world birthing creatures of nightmare and demon spawn from its dark magical essence. The story follows Elias Lycian, a renowned ranger tasked with protecting the borders of the Bree kingdom from the blight and its many evils.

Elias accompanied by his 4 legged companion, Sphax are to watch the borderlands of the kingdom and protect it from the inevitable approaching death that the blight brings forth.”

Now that is just a very brief description of the idea that I have and I will go into more detail on the idea if it gets chosen next week as a project to work on for the semester so fingers crossed.

Week 2

So it was presentation day today and we absolutely smashed it, paddy left the talking to me and was designated PowerPoint clicker. Luckily my idea was chosen which I am very happy about. We managed to get six people who wanted to work on our idea but despite that me and the lads all still wanted to work with each other just like previous projects as for some reason we seem to work very well together despite being friends although this time around we have the addition of Ryan so in total there are myself as the narrative director, programmer and assistant artist. Toby is the project lead as he is better at the managerial tasks than I am. Paddy and Brad as our artists again and as well as Ryan who is also an artist and a very good modeller.

The workload this week for myself is to construct a one page game design document to outline the concept of the game, the mechanics, gameplay and other important elements.

After having completed the GDD I’m very happy with the amount of detail that I put into it and I’m very certain that the group will be too, this is a very important piece as it is the base foundation for the group to work on. Im happy with the amount if detail that we put into it though I am looking forward to the extended GDD where I have more space to write about the idea.

Week 3

Me and the group had a scrum meeting today and all decided what it was we were going to do this week and we looked over everything we did last week and I was impressed with Ryans wolf I must say was quite impressive especially at this stage. Paddy’s art work was good and brad made a basic log cabin for us to work with. In terms of workload this week for me I was tasked with working on an environment piece as well as some character development. The environment is a piece where Elias is stood at his post looking into the blight and at the black figure staring back at him. Im really happy with the outcome of the piece although I want to go back over it at a later stage and add more detail and the same for the character sketches that I am working on. I still feel as though we need to be producing more work as a group at this point and so next week I think we all need to have a talk about where its going.

Week 4

This week I happened to miss juans lecture due to a personal matter but none the less I managed to reconvene with the group outside of class and get to grounds with what the ball plan was.

For me this week I had to create the start of the alpha prototype level and I already knew what I had in mind, I knew it would be tough as I haven’t used the unity level design features for quite some time but I got back into swing of things fairly quickly.

The level would coincide with the story as the section of the level that I have built is the hill side where the rangers live in the log cabin which overlooks the blight and is the border that they have to protect, obviously I am not able to make a full border for the kingdom but I started on a specific section overlooking the forest and village which is my plan anyway.

This week I managed to complete a good section of the map, which was just the borderlands, hillside and cabin. Ill insert the images I too below. Due to it being the alpha stages I used very basic textures to provide some depth for the player to appreciate. The cabin and all of the assets are still very basic but in a few more weeks it will look much better. In terms of narrative this will be the first level in which the ranger, Elias who the player will control is tracking a demon that managed to cross the border and venture into the kingdom towards the village which I have yet to create. We are quite a fair way away from using any combat features yet but hopefully soon we will see some action.

We are using a place holder character model for now also until the artists make our own, the group as of now are working very poorly for the most part, everyone is very demotivated but im hoping that will change around soon. I need to work on the story a little more at some point but I think next week I will continue with the level and hopefully have something more presentable and fully fledged although I think one of the main priorities is to actually have gameplay rather than a level as juan said. That Is something myself and the group need to realise as the alpha testing stages are coming up quickly. Im very happy with the work I have done this week, I would have liked to have had more of our own models and assets to play with but unfortunately we aren’t there yet so I did what I could with what I had. The level itself I think looks nice. It still needs a lot of work of course but I want to have a finished alpha level by next week so I will be keeping updates on how the next sprint goes but all in all im happy with the work I put in, though I always feel I could do more and so I will try and better myself each time.

Week 5

This week was more of a semi productive week, as I mentioned in my last post I was aiming to have more work done on the alpha level for the game, im really enjoying the level design at the minute. Unfortunately my laptop decided to break half way through the week which set me back quite a lot and so it wasn’t until the day before the deadline that I was able to actually continue with the work when it was back up and running. I mapped out the rest of the level world for the most part, there is still a great deal to be done but for the alpha I think it will be okay. I added a very small settlement with brads new cabin variants in a circle formation down at the bottom of the map at the base of a rough mountain formation.

I added a few more forests around the world too but the only problem is that if I add too many the game will really lag due to the high poly count of each tree. I then went around and start to change the terrain a little more to add more variation from the flat plain, I also added a few place holder textures into the world also.

One thing I really wanted to focus on was a water fall but I am not yet skilled enough to actually use the particle effect system effectively and so I managed to make a river and I am going to leave the waterfall for now. The water I used for the river was also a place holder texture object but it is very effective for what we need at this stage.

The main struggle for our group at the minute is motivation, everyone is still doing the bare minimum and its putting us behind massively, there’s no passion this semester for some reason and it is very frustrating. I really do want to make an amazing game and I know that we can if we apply ourselves.

The upcoming code for the game will be very difficult to actually accomplish and it will require many hours of watching tutorials to figure out how to actually make it work, we need enemy AI’s, player health, damage calculation, sword and bow combat, the enemy attack function and a lot more, there is a lot to do but there are only two programmers and we aren’t the most experienced by any means so this is going to be a big struggle to accomplish but I think we might just manage it.

Overall im happy with the work that I produced though I wish I had more time to do more and to a higher professional standard.

Week 6

This week was a very slow week and very little was accomplished despite my hours of effort due to my skill level now being high enough.

My task for the week was to figure out a way to make combat within the game and use various scripts to make this combat work effectively. I spent roughly 9 + hours watching videos and trying to figure out combat for the game but I just couldn’t do it, either the type of combat wasn’t correct for the 3rd person camera or the scripts would clash with the character within our game. After spinning my wheels for so long I decided to go with another approach. None of the methods I had tried worked so I started to watched a tutorial series from scratch on a personal scene in unity until I had some solid combat working. I had to create a new, different type of 3rd person controller and followed along as well as I could. This camera was a point and click camera without the use of WASD for movement though if required I think I would be able to implement that in to the script.

The series is very long and the combat doesn’t come into it until about two thirds of the way through but I don’t want to miss anything out. The game mainly focuses on the use of an interactive script which all of the other scripts reference so they use everything within that script. I think this script will be derived into the combat script eventually. I have started somewhat creating an inventory system for the game which is very confusing but I’m following along the best I can and making it my own as I do.

I think I will be sticking with this work for the coming weeks but I think I need to look back at the story at some point to see how that it coming along and how we can reference it into the game and make it an immersive experience.

Week 7 – following the events of the 27th of march

Unfortunately, I was met with some events which would really off road my progress in the group more than I would’ve liked. On my birthday the 27th of march I went out to celebrate with some friends and a group of people decided to start some trouble which ultimately resulted in me breaking my leg and so from this I was forced to move back home leaving all of my work station in my accommodation barren for a few weeks. Due to this the amount of work I was able to put in was limited as keeping track of everyone and with everyone was extremely hard as I prefer to communicate and sort things out in person and due to me not being able to I found it very hard to adapt.

I found this whole thing extremely frustrating as I put in a great deal of effort into the game and the narrative and level building side of things and to make matters worse my laptop broke again and that took me a fair while to get it repaired and once it was repaired it wouldn’t let me unity game function properly and so I was no longer able to have an input in the game which wasn’t the end of the world, I could still help with the managerial tasks such as presentations, game design documents and story etc.

Luckily, I had already built the game world and it only needed a few extra tweaks which I believe toby added. I managed to get to call Toby 3 times per week and he tried to keep me up to date on what everyone was doing and how things were going and so my input at this point was more verbal than physical to the group but we managed with what we could.

Week 10

This week we had external testing or the group did and unfortunately I wasn’t able to be there due to my current circumstance which Is extremely annoying in all honesty, you put so much effort into the game and the story for the game and then I cant even access the game on unity and am unable to get to Salford to view the testing session but despite all of that I rang toby as soon as he was finished and he told me everything went find, he sent me over a copy of the external testing notes and we went over and I gave him all the feedback and aid I could on how we could improve the game based upon what the others had said.

All in all though it looks very positive so far, the game itself looks really nice and runs really nice. The features are coming along nicely apart from the combat doesn’t seem to be working and in all honesty I don’t think myself or anyone else in the group is able to achieve the level of combat that we want but none the less I spent many hours doing so when I was back at uni but never came to a successful conclusion.

So for this week I mainly went back over all the work we had done that I could access and made some rough adjustments and touch ups to refine everything and helped out with looking over the feedback we received about the game. I am very happy with everything so far and the changes I have made and I look forward to seeing where the game ends up in the future.

Week 11

Okay so this week I really enjoyed and I don’t really know why. Long story short I had to start on the game design document for the blight, now the game design document is a much bigger and more detailed version of the one page game design document and therefore requires much more attention to detail.

I once again referred back to the work I did for the GDD on the game escape from north korea just to give me a nod in the right direction and im really glad I looked back over it as it gave me a great idea on what else I needed to include and many other aspects that I could improve on, for example the north korea game was very bare bones compared to what I had planned for this one and although I cant complete all of the sections there are still a great deal of sections for me to complete especially from the narrative stand point.

For me one of the most important areas in any game document is the context and concept overview of the game as this is what people first read and need to know about your game, luckily I gave this quite a lot of thought when I created the one page document and so I had a great starting point to follow.

The game overview was split into 5 sections:

· Game concept

· Genre

· Target audience

· Game flow summary

· Look and feel

For me this section of the document is the most interesting and the most fun to talk about and explain. It is also the most relevant section for me to explain as im the one who came up with the game idea and story itself so I think im qualified enough to talk about it.

This section took me a good while as I wanted to make sure that I got all of the information down that was necessary and really gave our game justice. Though it’s a very mundane task going through each individual point I still had to do it.

When it came to the target audience section I was able to get down some detailed information because I referenced back to the testing session we did or that the group did and looked at if the people who played it particularly the ones who fit the demographic of our target audience enjoyed it, this gave me very good insight when it came to explain the target audience and why we think that they would like it.

For the next section of the document I had to talk about the Gameplay and mechanics which in my opinion is probably the most boring to explain as we want to talk about what the game is, not how it works but even so I had to complete the following sections.

· Gameplay

· Game progression

· Mission/challenge structure

· Puzzle structure

· Objectives

· Mechanics

· Physics

· Movement in the game

· Objects

· Actions

· Combat

· Economy

· Screen Flow

As you can see there are many different points that make up the gameplay and mechanics section and so this did take me a while as I found it harder to explain the more technical side of the game as a pose to the story and conceptual side but even so I managed to get through it.

Now even though there are many points here, not all of them apply to our game in particular, these are just template points to discuss but even so I had to talk about why we did or did not choose to include that certain point. I know in our game we don’t have an economy system and so I explained why that was instead of just leaving it out.

One thing I wish that out game had was a working combat system as I feel that this is a very key thing most games should have but even though we don’t I explained what we do have instead. Even though the combat system does not work I still think that the story out shines this aspect which is something I’m happy about.

For this week that is everything I managed to complete as it took me a while to go back over and check through everything making sure I hit all of the relative points that needed to be explained. Next week I am to complete the further sections of the GDD.

If I could go back and change anything which I probably will is the content within the mechanics section as I feel that this was the weakest part for me to talk about and due to it being one of the most important parts I think it deserves to be revisited.

Week 12

As I said in last weeks post this week I was continuing on with game design document and have rounded it up to a very nice conclusion for the parts that I was assigned. Before I started the sections for this week I firstly went back and took another look over the mechanics section for the game as I don’t feel I did it justice in my first draft. I find it hard to explain these sorts of things in a good detailed technical manner and so I referenced a little bit more and later came to something that I consider a good level and just for a further piece of mind I asked toby to go over and look at the parts I wasn’t sure about to see if there’s anything that he would add.

The sections that I went through this week were very fun to talk about and just seemed to flow, I still referenced my older work in order to have a direction on where to go but less was needed this time around.

The first point that I had to talk about was the Story, Setting and Character section and the points are as follows:

· Story and narrative

· General look and feel of the world

· Areas of the world

· Characters

As I said earlier I found this section extremely enjoyable and easier to talk about as the narrative story and world building side of a game is my niche and what I love to do and so discussing these parts was a breeze but none the less I checked over it many of times to ensure that I applied the greatest level of detail that I could.

My favourite sub points to discuss were the story and narrative and the characters as these are two of the main focus points of the game and are also things I spent hours coming up with and developing way before the game was even in prototyping stages.

The last section which I started on but did not finish was the Levels section. The reason I did not finish this is because toby has a better understanding of this section and so he wanted to go over it himself.

Overall I’m really happy with the amount of work that I put into this section and I would struggle to go back over and change anything.

Week 14

This weeks work load was a shorter one as we are nearing the deadline date and all I had to do was complete the relative slides on the presentation and because I am unable to be there I gave toby some notes and things to talk about in my stead. I gave a brief summary on the slides and the things to talk about and I think the group will do a very good job

Week15

Well this week I heard back from the group and they said that the presentation went okay but not as well as expected which is slightly disappointing but I cannot judge as I wasn’t even there to help them out which is extremely frustrating as I put the effort in but am unable to actually show the game I’m passionate about off.

Now we are closing in on the deadline I had to fill out the peer assessment form and so I thought I might just explain what it was that I actually put down for the members and why that is.

Firstly, we can start with Toby, now Toby has been extremely good this semester as leader, right from the start me and him got on the same page about the game and worked very well together and even though the game was my idea I thought it best to let him lead because he is far better at coordinating a team than I am and though at first he was reluctant he accepted and has shown his true colours which I thought to be true at the start, a great leader.

Though toby at times did lack passion and enthusiasm due to other team members not putting the effort it he can be excused as we are all guilty of this, when few people are actually putting the effort in it is hard to stay on that path knowing that others do not share the same passion. Toby this semester was very god with the game making side of things, he took over where I had to leave off, once my laptop broke and I had to go home due to my injury he created some great work within the blight and has made a great job all on his own.

This Is a great accolade as he was the only person for the most part who actually had any input making the game in unity especially when I wasn’t there to help him, no one else wanted to give unity a try and me and toby are expert programmers by any means but he still did extremely well while being at his current skill level.

Secondly, we have Paddy, now I was going to put Paddy, Brad and Ryan under the same category as they all worked at the same level but I thought I may as well individualise it.

Paddy is great artist when it comes to conceptual work on paper but when it came to making digital assets in the game he was very reluctant and so for many weeks just made drawings on paper, yes they were great drawings but after a few weeks in we required digital assets and we had minimal to none which set us back. He like Brad and Ryan didn’t contribute to unity and instead left it to me and toby and so at this point we had three people on the art side of things and no one to really help out with the game and so that’s why I built the game world in the first place.

Paddy sometimes struggled with deadline meeting but the work that he did hand in was to a good level.

Thirdly we had Brad and now much like Paddy he is a great artist but more on the modelling and graphics side of things and I must say he is very good and was able to construct some good low poly models in the prototyping section of the game but even so he lacked enthusiasm as well as passion for the project. Brad mate almost every deadline but when he did the work he provided was the bare minimum which really frustrated me because I know he’s a very good modeller but didn’t want to go further than he had to.

Once again brad never wanted to use unity and left that to me and toby again slowing the process, it was toby who had to import all of the assets into unity whereas the others could have helped to speed up the process but they didn’t.

Overall Brad was a good modeller but didn’t go further than he needed to and never offered to help out in other areas.

Lastly, we have Ryan and now Ryan is very talented with maya and model making but never put much effort in, he produced a very low poly wolf and animated it to some extent within the first week which I thought to be outstanding at the time but then just sort of dropped off the grid and just created a very basic model character throughout the project and didn’t do much else, he never offered to do any more work than he had to and met the bare minimum requirements just like the other artists but the work that he did do was to a good level none the less I just know that if he wanted to he could have done much more.

Disclaimer: due to my laptop breaking i lost many screenshots of the step by step workload i went through and so this is why my blog is lacking in images and evidence but i inserted what i could find.

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