#i was in a mood to create a fake screenshot so here’s that

[i-m-not-o-fucking-kay]

devil works fast but duolingo works faster huh

[kobblefort]

Rushsly: The Early Days 3

It's hard for me to believe that anyone actually believes in the things they're selling. I genuinely believe we are basically living in a world controlled by Ed Edd & Eddy except replicated as archetypes onto the entire 'business class' instead of as just three funny cartoon characters. More and more shit is built to break instead of last and half the things people try to sell you literally aren't even real. I mean surely the day traders and NFT hawkers are laughing, right? They've got to be thinking, oh my god, those suckers actually bought it. Now they just have a piece of paper that says "soybean futures." Now they have a little bit of text permanently adhered to a little bit of the internet telling everyone that they own one particular ape PNG. But I don't know because when I try to meet them where they're at, read their Twitters and Facebooks and Reddits and shit, they sould like they actually believe every word of it. I always assume all the jargon is to make it sound more legitimate to outsiders but I guess if you go through all the trouble of learning this bullshit language you have to convince yourself it actually means something. That pieces of paper that say "soybean futures" and claims to owning particular ape PNGs really matter. Nothing in Dwarf Fortress is real either but I don't want to act like it is or make anyone else act like it is. A machine blinks certain patterns of light at me to stimulate my imagination in response to my input. Neither my world or yours will actually be changed by the text and sprites on the monitor. And I don't want to sell you anything. I just want to play with my fake little computer people. You can watch if you'd like.

I forgot our civilization is fucking called The Comedy of Sweating. Here we see the kobolds dancing a jig called "The Pregnancy of Glitter." What the fuck is with our names guys seriously

Armor and weapons are created. Training begins. However the ratfucks have already left the area. It's not really a waste, since I will eventually need the military, but it kind of feels like it, because the ratfolk got to just come in and kill some kobbles and then leave with no bother at all. We've been made Bitches of this world...

The kobbles bury Alzlr tooth-by-tooth. Moods sure are dropping around the fortress! But the worst mood goes to a certain ranger turned guard captain...

In the midst of taking this screenshot, he jumped from the second-worst possible mood to the third-worst, so I guess training is going well for him. It makes sense. When you see people who are like "I pick up heavy stuff and put it back down until my brain stops making the bad thoughts" they do that because it works. You literally can run away from the bad feelings, like physically run, or at least make a really heavy dumbbell go up and down, you can just take a brisk walk away from the bad feelings. It's very frustrating that it works this way because the very last thing you want to do when you have the bad feelings is do the things that meaningfully get rid of the bad feelings. It's easier to just drink alcohol but then you just feel even worse later. I don't understand people who smoke weed to "get away from their problems" because I literally become my problems, I get high and scared and the only way to fix it is to clean my apartment and make active steps toward getting my shit together, but I guess some people do smoke weed to specifically not do that, and that's probably bad too, but I don't know, it doesn't seem as bad as drinking I guess.

I've come to the opinion that everyone in a green shirt is useless to this fort. Animal dissectors, hunters, whatever, we really don't need that shit.

Working on some upstairs fortification and suddenly we are menaced by a fucking Werebeaver. I wish I got a screenshot of it but things happened real quick.

A hunter and a peasant run out on the bridge to fight it there, which is both the worst place for them to do it because they will be crushed and instantly deleted by the moving bridge, but also the best place for them to do it, because the were-beaver will also be crushed and instantly deleted by the moving bridge. And so, both the were-beaver and any potential infected it created are obliterated with minimal casualties and the single pull of a lever. Look yeah it's fucked up as hell but I've seen too many fortresses go down over were-beasts. The last time I had to do the trolley problem for a video game was the quiz at the beginning of Prey and that hardly counts. It's better for any potentially infected to die because simply put if they don't there will be way more death. So we say goodbye to a hunter and a peasant (I have to pretend I'm not pleased with this) and life goes on. However the were-beaver got WAY too close to our door, mere tiles away from dooming the entire fort, so I've decided to build some bird towers. "What is a bird tower" you might ask?

I'll get back to you on that, but first I have to memorialize the guys crunched up in the mechanisms of the bridge so that they don't come back as ghosts and haunt us. Seu Dacrilz was apparently a fellow glove pervert - RIP to a real one. 😔

Nobody knew what to say about Gralit, who was a hunter, which, you know, oh noooo, that sucks sooo baaadd haha xx, im sooo sorry. Either way, the catacombs are starting to get uncomfortably full over here, seven occupied coffins and two memorial slabs. I'm going to use the slabs to block them in so that if a necromancer ever attacks they can't raise our fallen homies, and it's also very space-efficient. I'm sure that's cold but I'm following the golden rule on this one. I'm literally an organ donor, the second I die they can cut me right open and start giving out my guts like Halloween candy. I don't give a shit, I don't need it anymore. What's the deal, is it going to make me look fucked up for my funeral or something? I don't care, I'm literally not even going to fucking be there.

So the idea behind a bird tower is that you put some birds on top of a tower. Well, ideally just one bird, but we have a peacock and a peahen, so if we lock off their pen with a nest box they'll be able to have some babies, which will ultimately let us expand our bird tower operations. Animals can "scout" for enemies that don't automatically reveal themselves when they appear on the map but instead need a kobble or animal to actually physically make line-of-sight visual contact with them. The reason you have to use birds is that because in Dwarf Fortress, rather than having to feed birds with tiles of grass, they simply generate insects and other tiny vermin into existence around them, which they themselves eat for sustenance. I've heard they plan on changing this mechanic eventually, but I don't want them to, because it's quite useful and more importantly really funny.

Sparring has begun so "RIP my mentions!!!" as someone who just posted something inflammatory on purpose would say. Unfortunately, unlike someone who just posted something inflammatory on purpose and is very clearly in the wrong, I cannot just say "Alright - I'm muting this now." I don't know how I fucked up my alerts like this or how to fix it but oh well shit happens. It's not that big of a deal. It used to make a little clicky sound every time a move happened which was a that big of a deal but now it's just kind of stopped. In the kitchen I suddenly had an intrusive thought of me taking my chef knife and just absolutely cutting myself into pieces. The imaginary vision of seeing the blade slice right across my eyes is still so vivid that I keep physically cringing, LOL!!!!!

Oh fuck me, more ratfolk thieves. Pretty disappointed in the Bird Tower for missing them completely.

However they were absolutely fucked on by both squads in an instant. A little annoyed at how much bow-bashing I'm seeing, ranged weapons in the current version of Dwarf Fortress are a bit fucked and I'm sure the mods are only making it worse. Archers carrying around bolts and crossbowbolds carrying around arrows, it's pandemonium. Well they'll figure it out. Or they won't.

Dwarves roll into town again. Our economy has been banging hard as fuck lately so hopefully we'll be able to buy up all of their meat and cheese and booze and whatever other stuff looks shiny. To a kobble, seeing a shiny thing is like how playing Xbox 360 is for us.

koble eat chease lol

The dwarves try to hardball us into selling all our ammo to them, but that sounds like a terrible idea, so we just give them more gems. And one stack of arrows, because that was worth 1000* to them, even though dwarves don't even use arrows. Whatever though not my business how you wanna spend your money! We walk away with absolute mountains of fine cloth, meat, fish, and vegetables.

Making steel is taking forever, and trying to move the metal bar stockpile up one floor is a total shitshow so far. Speaking of floors, one simply has to wonder whether it's time to dig for the caverns or not yet. Forgotten beasts and that ugly mold lurk below, but it's also where you can get black and blood-red wood by chopping down mushrooms, so it's impossible to say whether it's good or bad. We haven't actually needed power for anything, the kobbles are doing fine without milling and minecart rollers would be a lot of trouble just for me to fuck up and crash heavy iron minecarts into poor innocent kobbles over and over because I suck at minecarts. I've been thinking about making one of those "minecart shotguns" that just crashes into a barricade and shoots a bunch of spikes or something everywhere, but for now, I'm going to try serrated disc weapon traps because I've never really used them before.

The rainbow worshippers have had a good run of being the only religion with a temple but I'm afraid we're going to have to make at least a "general purpose" temple. For off-brand religions. In case you worship the store-brand god. The Wal-Mart of churches, if you will

Clicking on this random tile is how I found out the emblem of our civilization is three cabbages. That makes me really happy. I just had this idea for the trap tunnel of paving a road into the base with lignite or bituminous coal stones, then having magma waiting behind some floodgates above it so that it can drop down and start the entire road on fire, or at least I think that's how it would work. I'm going to try it out, it'll work in tandem with the iron sawblade traps I think.

Will it actually do anything? Impossible to tell. For once I'm actually kind of excited to get invaded. Speaking of invaders these guys just showed up that are the opposite of that.

Can I be real with you man I don't like what you guys are doing. I don't know if it's weirder or less weird that you milked a more sapient creature than just a kangaroo. I would already not like you milking the kangaroos in the first place but that's just something we do with animals we're all past that I guess. Like if I sold you human milk would you buy it. I don't know. But they had a drake and a goose so fuck it, second Bird Tower complete. The peacock and peahen are sitting on 6 eggs right now but who knows if they were actually fertilized or not.

Let's actually take a minute just to get some zoomed out shots of the base, show what a fuckfest it is.

First floor below the moat level is pretty normal. Just some farms, and then a Craftsbold guildhall that they never really use. I really like diagonal doors, but I haven't actually been using too many in this fort.

Below that, the "throw shit on the floor" floor. Pretty much all furnaces with two asheries, and the stockkeeper's bedroom+office+dining hall (left) and the caravan voice's bedroom+office+dining hall (right (There is no difference besides the color of that one door (They're also a bit shit)))

Catacombs floor. That pit you're seeing in the bottom left was original my garbage dumping pit but then it was kinda where I wanted to put my moat and the kobbles didn't really like throwing stuff into the water for some reason so I had to dig a different garbage pit.

Miscellaneous fuckery floor. This is a nightmare, lol. I wanted to "have fun with organic shapes" at the start but I kind of just made horrific spaghetti. I mean it's efficient spaghetti is the thing, these kobbles get shit done fast. Except steel. That's taking forever, almost 4 seasons since I finally got the steel process started and it's only yielded 80 bars so far. Still I can probably get started on steel weapons soon.

The Merriment Floor. We got our tavern The Permanent Snack, temple to the god of rain and rainbows The Pale Chapel, off-brand church with a window to view into the burning floor trap, and (I really hope I don't regret it lol) and just through the tavern is the Chief's chambers. Yep you can go straight from getting drunk to yelling at the chief, he's literally right next door, he has to pass through the tavern to get to and from his bedroom, we don't let his ass slide for anything!!! If we make it until the Winged One comes over, that'll eventually be their lot in life too. We don't let nobility just slink around private gardens and luxury apartments having secret little meetings here your ass is EXPOSED.

Did one of the kobbles literally do the "bucket balanced on the door" prank. Do you see that shit in the bottom left did they do that??? what the fuck?????

Military area. The archery range is temporarily shut down because I fear I have the "arrows/bolts disappearing through the floor" glitch again (it has happened before) but after a couple seconds of observation the kobbles don't really care that I clicked pause on the zone and will continue shooting at the targets. They do however use the little arrow return gutter downstairs but when there were more targets, more ammo seemed to just disappear. Like there were all 5 targets in a row there for a while and the ammo was just gone.

I still haven't really wrapped my head around how fucking big the iron veins I found down here are. I mean holy fuck we are balling. Ok I ran out of images so that's the end of another post.

[tsukuyomiland]

Someone:

-Abuse my affection by making me an emotional slave that had to be ready to talk to them at the time they said or otherwise get guilt-tripped ("I feel so alone" "you said you would be here").

-I had to be ready to comfort them at any time, with situations like me having my baby niece crying in my arms and they DEMANDING my total attention even knowing it, or demanding drawings to make them feel better.

-Lies to me. Blatantly.

-Makes me feel miserable filling my life with constant negativity. I wasn't allowed to express any kind of personal happiness publicly because it "hurt their feelings". Me drawing better than them also hurt them, I felt compelled to pretend I was less skilled.

-Contacts IRL friends of mine and tell them my now husband is "manipulating me". (He was in fact saving me of their toxic influence).

-Steals my art. Lies to me when I demand my art to be removed. Sends me a broken link to a blog. Later I find out they only changed the username and I find my art again used without my permission.

-Steals concepts and characters I created. Lies blatantly about their creation to erase my contribution and real origin.

-Erases my name from collabs.

-Writes a journal on Deviant Art full of blatant lies. When I call out, they say my screenshots are fake.

-Copies drawings from me (and other artists). They get comments like "nice pose", they only say thank you without mention it was referenced-copied.

-I demand those drawings to be deleted or at least, get credited. I'm ignored. The drawings are still there.

-Impersonates me, takes my username and posts stuff with the intention of discredit me. Some allude to things like "how to make fake screenshots" showing that they were aware of their activity and were ready to use that argument against me even knowing it would be false, showing their bad faith.

-Sends me repeated insults, some as tasteless as calling my newborn son "broken condom". Allusions to the fascist dictatorship my country suffered. Calling me lazy for not drawing my comic... The day after I gave birth. And much more. I have screenshots of all of them, so I have proof.

-Accusations of plagiarism. I only took the characters I made and put them in a completely different context. Telling my story is a copy of theirs is like saying Gone with the Wind is a copy of Jurassic Park.

-Accused me of being friends with a person with who I exchanged barely a couple conversations and with which I have no connection at all.

Me:

-Decided to cut a friendship after months of emotional suffering that was affecting my relationship with my husband, my mood, my skills, after I found a "secret blog" full of stuff I feel unable to support, after they told me a thing that was the final red flag I was able to put up after a history of ignoring red flags.

-I decided to choose my own happiness.

-I decided to choose mental health.

-I never insulted.

-I never lied.

-I felt manipulated, with the feeling my only value to them was my drawing skills to be used for their project and my relative popularity in a fandom to help them to get noticed themselves. I had the feeling the only reason they clinged to my friendship was that they would lose the use of my skills. The episode of the stolen drawings confirmed it to me.

-I only asked my stuff to get removed, ready to move on and hoping my characters and concepts won't be used never again. After they lied to me, I decided I earned my right to recover and use what was mine. I even surrendered one of those characters completely as a gesture of good will because they had an attachment to said character.

-I've shown repeatedly actions of good will and hopes of stable terms.

-I deleted my Deviant Art account, that they helped to boost in watchers, in order to not be accused of 'taking advantage' of their action. I haven't had an account on dA ever since.

-I've sent private emails to manage our problems directly. Ignored by them.

-There is no one left on their side who was a witness of our friendship, relationship and exchanges at the time, because I was the only friend they had then -another lie: they said once that I wanted to isolate them so I could be their only friend, totally false because I always encouraged they could search new friends in their area and even helped them actively to set the accomodations for an Erasmus trip. In the opposite, they are who made actions to get me afar from my irl friends and husband so I could focus only on them. They can say whatever they want to the people surrounding them now and be believed because they don't know me at all, never worried about knowing my side, and I don't expect it. My image is at their mercy, and they don't hesitate in using lies. There is nothing I can do against it that doesn't require legal action.

But I guess I'm the baddie, huh.

[kkulmoon]

SUNSET HEARTBEAT | KTH

pairing: Taehyung x Reader (f)

genre: fantasy au, hybrid au, sci-fi (?), fluff, angst

word count: 5.1k

rating: pg

a/n: ngl i feel like the beginning portion is a bit rusty, by rusty I mean it may feel a bit slow but pls give it a chance 🥺, I struggled to write that 😭. I am also tagging two very lovely people who were excited about this, hopefully you like it uwu @blossomkoo​ @inkedxclouds​. This fic is part of Bangtan Scenery’s collab ‘April Showers Bring May Flowers’, make sure to check out everyone else’s entries!

warnings: implied sex, other than that none, except for heartbreak and slight purple patches here and there cause I was in the mood hehe

beta read by: lovely angie @scvkjin​ and amazing emi @bangtiddies​ 💕 

synopsis: The time had come for the seventh sun to rise. For the seventh and last color in line to have its cycle. As one indigo supernova signified the coming of a purple nebula, you and Taehyung spent the remaining of your last day together creating something of your own. If it comes into fruition can only be known years in the future. A decade after you found someone unlike anyone. Truly one of a kind. Someone with a destiny they couldn’t outrun. It has been 10 years since the birth of a purple sun.

☁︎ masterlist ☁︎

It was in your final year of university, twelve years ago, that you met Taehyung. That same year you decided it was time to give up on the idea of becoming an astronomer. Quite frankly, you were just too dumb. However, it did not mean that you couldn't enjoy it all while living a life where pretending that you truly understood everything was your best bet, your only bet. They all say that interest and dedication trumps natural talent, right? For that same reason you decided to still attend as many astronomy lectures as possible even though you were studying to become an English teacher. You were always quiet and attentive so either the professors didn't notice you or let you be. Either way, what mattered was that you got to be there.

The first time the two of you interacted was a random weekday in April, near finals’ season. You were sitting at the back of the room as usual. The professor had handed out some papers to be passed back. A gold tinted hand with slender fingers, on which well groomed and shiny fingernails were present, reached out to you. You could all but wave away at the paper, trying your best to dismiss it. A pouty and confused expression was what you got as he continued to jab the paper onto your palm. You kept trying to mouth 'it's okay' but he was persistent. Not much of a purple characteristic but surely a sun one, now that you think about it. Finally you settled for a verbal response.

“I don't actually take this class, so really, i'm fine.”

He retreated his hand for a second, “Huh, don't we all wish that was true,” he said as he placed the paper on the small desk in front of you instead. “You've got this! We're almost done, hold in there.” You got a thumbs up before he turned back to focus on the class.

And every week from there on, whenever he got a short moment in class while the professor was writing on the board Taehyung would pester you with motivational notes filled with sayings. One particular somber April morning where you looked more tired than usual he even went as far as offering to help you with the class and your homework. You did your best to decline and yet that same night you got an email in your inbox that told you he obviously hadn't understood.

| Kim Taehyung     Chapter 15: Helpful Resources, (hang on there, you got this!) |

While you didn't take the class and had no official obligations to learn anything, you were still interested in astronomy so you decided to have a look. The links did clear up some questions you had during the lecture. However, you didn't want him to be wasting time helping a lost cause. As much as you loved reading about astronomy and learning about it, you were slow and having him help you was more than unnecessary. The definition of futile work. You decided to send him a screenshot of the official classes you were attending from the university's student portal. You made sure to censor your grades. He truly didn't need to think that you were any dumber, all he needed was proof that you weren't taking the class.

But once again, Taehyung's sun qualities shone through. Where it would have been expected for the person to drop the subject and for the two of you to go back to your habitual behaviour, he thought otherwise. He responded, but this time instead of answers he had questions, none of which you felt like answering so you left him on read. Well, the email version of read. You opened the email, read it, thought about answering it but ultimately left the email thread to die on the read pile.

A week went by. No Taehyung and you felt relieved. At least that's how you think you felt, the sleep deprivation might have been playing tricks on you. As yet another day came, where the indigo sun let its rays shine, Taehyung thought it better for him to act as the sun. You hadn't seen him in class, but it just turned out he changed his usual spot. He tried to catch you before you left the room but your daydreaming self was quick on her feet. He had a quick talk with the professor before he hurried to you.

“Hey!” The sound of sandals echoed against the cement floor. “Hey! You there!" 

You kept on walking, as far as you knew your name wasn’t you there'.  Someone grumbled behind you only to exclaim after a short while. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Hold up, I need to talk to you.” So in that case you were 'you there' and someone was Taehyung. 

You stopped walking and turned around. You couldn’t help but cock your head at him. You had only seen Taehyung from the torso up while in class. His attire surprised you for some reason. Maybe because he was a STEM student and you had expected him to look more uptight. He looked like one of the people from the pot dorm down your hallway.  Everything he wore was oversized except for the big knitted headband he had on now that he was outside. He looked devoid of colour with his muted clothes, but his cross body bag stood out with its patterned rainbow material.

"Yeah, what is it?" The quicker you could get it over with the better. However, Taehyung didn’t seem to agree with you on that aspect. He took his sweet time to fix the misplaced headband as you were left to witness the action. As much as you would have liked to categorise the scene as boring, it would have been a lie. His grey hair strands somehow managed to sparkle in the sun. They didn’t shine the normal way hair shines when light reflects on it. His hair literally sparkled as if it had recognised something familiar within the sun rays. But at the time you just thought you were being delusional or being tricked by the elements of his beauty.

"You didn't answer my email," he asked with curious eyes and an innocent tone. Right, that happened.

"Oh, that... uhm... I just haven't gotten the time to go through my email, things have been a bit hectic," you shot him a sympathetic smile.

Taehyung seemed like a pretty understanding person but he sure wasn’t dumb. You saw the way his tongue shifted to lick his lips as his teeth found their way onto his bottom lip. He trailed his hands on the strap of his bags as a pensive lip bite made adorned his features. Taehyung could have either been nervous or so irked by the bullshit you just spat at him that his body was reacting. Either way you felt bad for your white lie, but maybe not bad enough.

"It has been two weeks though," Taehyung stretches his back to stand straighter, "Also I take a chem class with Hoseok and you're always chatting in the gmail chat so..." 

What do you say to that? You lied and the worst part of it all was that you were caught right in the same moment. Your mouth opened and closed continuously as a hot flush made itself present on your ears and neck. You made note of the fact that Taehyung seems sweet but he actually packed a punch and was definitely ready to confront you on your bullshit. Classic STEM student approach, just face things head on. Thinking back at it, that was yet another instance in which his sun characteristics took the wheel. The sun's rays don't budge for anything or anyone and they certainly don't cave in to make others feel comfortable.

"Uhmm... right. But I am here now, so ask away!" Maybe your fake enthusiasm could make up for your little lie. Taehyung gave you a wondering look as he calculated  the pros and cons of continuing this conversation, You hoped the cons would win. 

“Uhmm, alright, fair enough,” He shrugged and the pros must have won because he kept talking. “Why do you go to astronomy lessons if you don’t take the class?”

Why did he want to get into your personal business? You could have very well told him that it was none of his business, turned around and left. But that seemed a tad bit too rude for you and for some weird reason you didn't want him to think of you as any more rude that you had been.

Would you paint yourself as an overly ambitious student that just had a general love of learning or would you tell him the truth? If you were to lie again you were sure he wouldn't manage to uncover this lie.

"I just like astronomy and find the class interesting, on top of that I've got time so like why not?" You felt good about your response, so good you were happy that you had made the choice not to lie to him, again.

"Oh okay, then how come you didn't apply for the program?" Wow, this dude was really trying to uncover all of your flaws during the first real conversation you've had. He should have become a detective instead, his focused and analysing eyes made it very hard for you to lie and not feel any residual guilt. He would, without a doubt, catch you if you were to slip up again.

"Uhm... I just felt like education was the right place for me you know." You shook your head with squinted eyes in hopes that he would just get you. Which he obviously didn’t if you had to go off of the way his jaw jutted out to the side. 

"Well, to put it simply, I am not the brightest of students and while actually taking the class would have been a nightmare, just being there and listening and learning at my own slow pace just makes me feel better about my shortcomings."

Taehyung's lips parted slightly. Okay, maybe you didn't have to give such a confession but he had been pushing and you wanted it to just end.

"Ohh, I see." Not the response you expected but how else do you respond to someone who said that they were too dumb to follow their dream. "But still my offer stands, if you need help trying to understand anything, feel free to tap my shoulder in class."

"But you changed seats to sit in the front."

"Nah not really, I was just bitter that you hadn't answered and didn't want to hurt you. From now on you'll see me at my usual spot in front of you."

The squeamish movement that accompanied the words ‘hurt you’ gave rise to a wondering look on your face. Hurt you? Why would he hurt you? Taehyung looked pretty harmless so you decided to not take his weird comment at face value. He most likely meant hurting you in a verbal sense.

The rest of the semester progressed in that same weird manner that characterised your relationship with Taehyung. A constant push and pull that kept being encouraged by your closest friends– Hoseok being the top player in the game. Inevitably, the more time you spent with him the more you warmed up to him. A month down the road the two of you decided to put a label on it. Or it was more so you who needed a verbal confirmation that you had somehow managed to catch someone's interest.

It took you awhile to reset the way you thought. Your wandering mind wasn’t only filled with personal affairs anymore, another individual had found their place in your day to day thoughts. All of a sudden being affectionate wasn't something you had to actively be, it was simply default mode whenever Taehyung crossed your field of vision.

For that reason alone, finals season was filled with movie nights, whispered love confessions, enough takeaways from different cuisines that you felt you were now ready to become a food critic. But the most precious instances of that time was the afternoons where Taehyung did his best to teach you astronomy and you being too lazy to listen despite your interest. You can't help but ask yourself if you would have been more attentive had you known what astronomy actually meant to him.

You had now been with Taehyung for one entire year. One year filled with diametrically opposite feelings. The good, the bad and the ugly. But ultimately all of it was left at the door the moment the two of you decided to reconcile despite the drawbacks. You were happy. The kind of happy that you don't recognise until it's gone. That can only be acknowledged in the midst of incoming fury. You had never in your life wished for the ability to predict the future. To see what happens after sunrise before it is manifested. 

One particular day eleven years ago, you wished that astronomy was fake, that the sun wasn't real and that it never needed to rise or set, to be born or die. You wished the sun didn't exist, knowing very well that that would mean the most important person in your life wouldn't exist. But you could have dealt with that. 

Longing for something you know you could have hurts far more than craving for the unknown. In the latter situation there's at least hope, that if you search hard and long enough you could find that thing you so deeply want. In the former, you know where that thing is, it's in fact right under your nose, or more accurately right over your head, where you can feel it at least a little bit every single day. Except this time you can't have it, no matter how hard you wish for it or how long you choose to wait. The whole scenario was like a twisted marshmallow test. Made to incite cravings with no intention of ever quenching them.

This all started a year following the start of your relationship with Taehyung. At that time you took notice to how hot he would get at the most unexpected of times. A behaviour that was usually reserved for when he was irritated or angry. It wasn’t only him that was hot but he radiated the kind of heat reserved for an extremely sunny summer’s day. 

You overlooked those instances and decided not to pay them too much mind. It could just be you having the extreme hots from him. However on a particular night, you just couldn’t bring yourself to stay in bed with Taehyung. The sheets were drenched and the windows had fogged up. You had to leave and find refuge in your living room sleeping right by a fan. 

The coming morning you woke up to breakfast on the table and right beside it there was a thick pocket sized book. The Book Of Suns. That was the white title that was engraved onto the black cover. Taehyung was nowhere to be found but his belongings were still in your room so you assumed he had gone for his morning walk. 

You had to make a choice between the two. Would you read the book first or you would eat breakfast first? You knew that whatever you were about to find out would most likely curb your appetite. Your hand glided against the rough cover of the book. 

Wouldn't it be better to read it now, just in case something made you extremely sad? That way you could cry before he got back home. Whatever it was that you were about to find out was very important to him, important enough that he wanted you to form your own opinion of it in peace. He wanted in no way for his presence to taint your reaction towards the truth that he had been hiding. Or as he thought protecting you from.

You sat down by the table, knees to your chest as you brought the book onto your hands. 'The Book Of Suns' was, as you realised after reading it, just that, a book about suns, in particular Taehyung’s sun lineage. It was a story about your world’s suns, the rainbow sun family. A fact unknown to you before that very moment. You were surprised by your behaviour, you weren’t exactly known for having calm reactions. It must have been Taehyung’s scent on the sweater you wore. It tickled your nose and calmed your senses. The book served as a track record for the next person in line to become the sun. It had seven chapters. Beside each chapter title in the contents page there were small vertical lines. The first six suns had five lines while the last had four. Taehyung must be purple sun. You read silently or more so you attempted to read silently, the deep breaths you were taking in effort to digest everything couldn't be contained.

After a continuous hour of reading you got to what was perhaps the most interesting chapter. Where do the dead suns go? And most importantly what do the suns that have yet to be born stay? You were cautious about continuing your reading. What if you found out that Taehyung was in fact just the ghost of someone that didn't actually exist? Or worse what if Taehyung would cease to exist? 

Fear curbed your initiative to let your eyes continue their dance on the page. But fear also did its job in fixating your attention on the slightly faded black letters present on the off-white pages. Fear of the unknown is always worse than that of the known.

Deep in the forest, there was the garden of suns. Every time a sun died and resurrected as a human, their statue appeared in the garden, where their sun soul was kept, only to vanish on the day of their sun birth. In the middle of the pages there was a picture, at the back of it you could read Taehyung’s harsh handwriting ‘The garden of suns -15/07/39’. He had been there four days ago.

The statues of the first five suns were covered with vibrant collared moss equivalent of their sun pigment. The sixth and seventh sun’s statues were only slightly visible in the photograph. They seemed to be in an intermediary phase. Not quite gone, yet not quite there. It was hard to figure out whether they were emerging or vanishing. That’s until you remembered the previous week’s news report. A supernova was on its way and scientists believed it would most likely occur near the end of next year. 

The indigo sun is near its death, and a purple sun is nearing its ascent. 

Taehyung’s statue was the one vanishing. His sun soul was ready to find its owner and ascend to its rightful place amongst the other stars. Just as you were about to continue reading, ready to delve into how this whole sun birth situation went about, the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded in the dead silence. Clinging keys and heavy steps entered the apartment. 

No 'hello' or 'glad to see you're finally awake'. But could you blame him? It would have been weird to act as if it was like any other of your usual mornings. You wished you had mustered up the strength to get off the chair and go greet him at the entrance. In your mind you did that but in reality you stayed rooted right where you were, back squeezed into the corner between the table and chair.

Taehyung walked in to lean against the door frame that lead into the kitchen. He looked exhausted. Dark under eye bags decorated weary eyes. You thought you could hear a tentative squeak come out of his mouth. Maybe you should've said something, because he looked like he was hurting and trying to find the appropriate words to start a conversation he knew would only end with heartache and tears. You thought that talking about the small steps he made outside was a good way to segue into talking about the biggest step he would take in his life. One that he could unfortunately not walk back on. 

"How was your walk?" You managed to ask before Taehyung walked past the kitchen and into the bedroom. He stopped midway, standing in the living room, where sun rays illuminated his surroundings. You couldn't help but think that it was very fitting for him to become a sun. The rays may have been bright and hot but he was the only one able to make you feel as hot as the sun and make your smile shine brighter than the biggest star. He was already a sun. Your sun. Why did he need to leave and become everyone's sun as well?

"Pretty good, helped me wake up," he said and sat down on the bean bag present beside him. You put the book down on the dining table just to look back at him from your seat. You were just there, in the moment, sitting down and doing your best to have an internal conversation. Both of you knew that words would hurt too much. And they surely couldn't bear the complete weight of what your current predicament meant neither could they have illustrated the joint pain that was shared between two beating hearts.

Your conversation might have been dead but the emotion was very much alive. You stood up from your seat, Taehyung's knitted sweater fell back down to caress your thighs. The walk to the beanbag felt like an eternity, not because it was but because you made it so. You had felt his sour and vigilant mood and you knew that being playful at that moment was your best bet. You tiptoed back and forth all the way to the beanbag as the sweater shifted here and there to reveal skin that was highlighted blue by the sun.

He was upset but he couldn't manage to keep his mouth set. His lips would stretch and unstretch as small playful wiggles played at the tip of his mouth. Finally you had found your way to the bean bag. You stood tall as your body cast a shadow over his. You placed a foot on the bean bag as the material sunk under your weight and you found your place on his lap. 

Right there, that's the kind of pat in the back that Taehyung gave you as his arms enveloped your slouching form. You snuggled your head deep into the crook of his neck and inhaled all the way in. If he was really gonna be leaving you, you needed to make sure you could imprint the scent and feel of his flesh right onto yours.

You sat there, quiet, with synchronised breaths yet fighting thoughts. How in the heck were you supposed to manage this? Him just being gone? Sure, you had a year left before it was officially time, but a year is far from a lifetime, what he had promised you.

"You are sure you don't want to talk about it?" Long hand strokes continue to comfort your back. You move your buried head side to side, groaning in response. Alright is all he said. Things were far from alright.

While on that morning you decided not to talk further on the topic, the coming months were filled with explorative trips to the Garden of Suns, where you would spend hours listening to Taehyung tell you about the stories of him and his sun brothers. He talked about being particularly close to the blue sun.

"It's just because he literally has no filter," he said gazing longingly at the statue covered with flashy blue moss.

"Is that like, dangerous?"

"Well yeah for you, but I am a sun remember." He turned around on the grass to face your way.

"And that's probably why I orbit around you." The huge grin that found its ways to your face was uncontrollable and contagious as Taehyung couldn’t help but snicker at your corny joke.

Just like that, your months together flew by until it was finally d-day. You hoped that waking up wouldn't be a necessity but Taehyung refused to let you sleep through it. He refused to let you think that it was all a dream. Getting yourself off the bed and into the shower felt like an endless task. One that he was patient enough to help you with. In hindsight you feel bad about having put him through that on such a significant day. He was, most likely, having a harder time dealing with his destiny than you were. That day was one to remember, the most vivid of them all, the most cherished of them all yet the most sad of them all.

All of that happened in the past and you were currently in an unsure present. The indigo sun had faced its fate, to be extinguished in an equally coloured supernova that would give rise to the last one in line, a purple sun. One day they would all be back to the complete cycle. A day where you wouldn't be present.

It has been ten years since Taehyung became a sun. You could talk to him, well, not really but you could see him and most importantly feel him. It had been a decade since you asked him to leave you something to remember him by, a part of him, a living one. On the night of Taehyung’s sun birth he decided to take you up on the offer. Cuddled up, in each other’s arms that’s how the day progressed. While usually persistent yet gentle, that night Taehyung felt it was appropriate and maybe in fact vital for him let his sun like ferocity be expressed. How else could you have understood the intensity of his feelings, a muddy mix of grief and love. The remains of that one last heated night were left for you to admire and cherish.

You thought you would manage to stay up the entire night to witness the purple sun birth but Taehyung’s warmth, forehead kisses and soft singing lulled you to sleep before you could realise it. 

Nothing was felt. No heat, no cold. Nothing was seen. No light, no spark. Taehyung was gone into the void in the same effortless way he entered your life. You’ve now been waiting over a decade to know if the fruits of that night would come into fruition. Conception can only happen when eclipses take place. Eclipses happen every 126 months. It has been 10 years. Half a year is left.

That half year could not have passed at a slower pace. It was a Thursday, yet another tiring day at school. You loved kids but you were drained of energy. You couldn't wait for time to pass by so that you could leave. It was Thursday, which meant you could watch the sunset to its complete  end without being bothered. It was also Thursday, the day after you got your first ultrasound. Taehyung may have not been there but that didn't mean you couldn't share the remaining of your waking hours with him, whenever you thought it was possible. You looked out of the window from your classroom to see purple hues in the sky as the sun said goodbye to leave place to another night.

The clouds thought otherwise, for some reason they always felt the need to be there to cloud his presence. What right did they have to cover up his tint? If it weren’t for them you would have been able to bask in his purple light, let it colour you bare as your feelings went from blank to purple butterflies that made you lose sight as tears formed in your eyes.

So you did what any sensible person still in love would have done. As soon as the clock struck 4 pm you ran to catch the train that would take you from skyscraper views to wide flower fields. It took the train two hours. You did your best to enjoy the way he set along the ride. Once you arrived you were left with two entire hours to enjoy the last of him and say goodbye to Taehyung and hello to the darkness.

During that time you reached into Taehyung's patterned cross body bag. You truly hated it but it was his so you kept it. You pulled out the ultrasound picture and raised it to the little part of sun that was still left. You didn't actually think that he would, through some weird magical way, actually be able to see it. It was more so something to calm your conscience. But most importantly, it presented you with the opportunity to capture an unusual family picture. It was you, the ultrasound, your baby bump and the purple sunset all in one picture. One that had found its rightful place on your bedside table.

Years unmasked themselves to reveal the growth of your child. One that grew to inherit the intensity of her father. Every now and then you made sure to let her know about him. As young as she was she couldn't truly understand it all, but as a child your love story was something that was within imaginable grounds. So you took advantage of that and taught her all you could about him. Maybe if you started early she could manage to develop past your less refined genes with regards to learning.

You took your time to tell her all that she wished to know and all that you wished to share. Sugarcoating to the maximum, cause that’s what Taehyung would do, but still making sure to keep a coherent timeline. One specific day you are unable to answer her question.

"Wh–why did dad break the promish?"

You had to fight long and hard with your tear ducts. Never had you cried in front her and you didn't intend to do it anytime soon.

In fact in one way or the other, Taehyung hadn't lied about keeping his promise. He had omitted some important specifics but he hadn't completely been untruthful. He said a lifetime and he would give you a lifetime. It just happened to be one where he wasn't always there, present by your side. 

However he would always get up to see you rise, and always say goodbye as he sets down to give place for lonely nights. And on all of those goodbyes unlike the one where he left you for the first and last time, you could swear that in bed with your child pressed to your chest, you could feel and hear his sunset heartbeat as clear and strong as the rays of a certain purple sun, your only one. Sun rays filled with his most cherished truth: 

‘I will turn purple when i miss you and to say i love you’.

Posted: May 28, 2020

[bartseq-fanzine-2019]

Announcement

Greetings humans, 

This is the official announcement for Millennia, the Bartimaeus Sequence Fanzine! In this announcement, you will find instructions on how to sign up and learn more about the zine details! 

Deadlines: 

Applicant Deadline: Application period until September 10. (If we get messages for late applications, we can open till September 30th at the latest.)

 Submission Deadline:

Creative period! (Now to November 30th) 

Check in- November 1st. (Tell us your progress/completion status!) 

Deadline- November 30th. 

Zine publication date: Zine organizers will format and put out the finished PDF by December 20th if possible. (Dec 31 at the latest.) 

Zine Information: 

The zine will be titled Millennia, with the theme of time continually passing... 

It will be separated into sections for each individual book in the sequence 

To expand on the theme, the majority of the zine will be filled with memorable scenes from the books in chronological order. 

These scenes can be depicted with imagery, writing, or a mix. Ideally each scene will include a memorable quote either in the piece (fake screenshot) or on the side in extra white space (Sign up for scenes in the “ideas sign-up” google excel sheets)

However, we want the zine to read like a film concept art book, in honor of the new upcoming (hopefully?) movie. 

So it will also scatter in images of: 

Character designs 

Setting concept art (landscapes etc) 

Storyboards 

Magical artifacts/rune/spell designs (Gladstone’s staff, the amulet, pentacles (specifically named pentacles in the sequence), denotations, rosemary, etc.)

 Miscellaneous bonus images (Bart’s various forms..) 

Some example art (not ours, credits go to original artists) 

These are only examples, you do not have to draw like this! You can add quotes/scene excerpts anywhere, not just like shown in the examples.

Concept art: Character Sheet Example 

Concept art: Landscape example 

Scene art: example (this example is missing a quote) 

Scene art: cinematic style example (this example is missing a quote)

Scene art: quote/excerpt on side example

Scene art: quote/excerpt on top example

Scene art: Fake screenshot example (add a quote in white on the bottom black bar) 

(Check out the “inspiration” channel on our discord, if you want some more ideas of what kind of art we are looking for.) 

Information for artists: 

(Psst: People can sign up to illustrate a cover for a book!) 

Image resolution: 300 dpi 

Dimensions: 8.5x11 inches or pixels: 2550x3300 is ideal. (Only use 1063x1375 if 2550x3300 is too large for your art program to handle) 

Traditional artists please scan your works at 300 dpi and size 8.5x11 inches or pixels: 2550x3300. 

Other dimensions are okay if the artist wants a certain ratio (etc. landscape or vertical) but the smallest dimensions must be at least 8.5’’ 

Note: (Recommend not putting really important details on edges of drawing) 

Send in character/other designs with a plain white background so that we can uniformly add a brown paper texture behind it. (If you have issues or questions about this, we can work something else out too, just message us!) 

Fake screenshots meaning adding  a black bar above and below your artwork and write white text in that bar (like a real movie would have text at the bottom if captions were included) so it would be nice to have the text in a standard font with white lettering.

Information for writers: 

Writing focused on Bartimaeus or the other main characters would be great. Whether that involves filling in missing scenes (Like what happened between GE and PG, case of the curiously heavy trunk etc.) or writing your own headcanons about the characters, it would all work. 

(Note that they have to fit and make sense within the canonical universe and cannot be alternate universe. Etc. “superheroes AU would not be allowed since superheroes aren’t canon) 

Writing has a lot of freedom but cinematic writing (dramatic, movie-like scenes) or dramatic language is encouraged.

Putting more focus on imagery and mood is also great but optional. 

An example idea would be to write out how you imagine a scene would happen in the movie. 

How do I sign up?

Register first on this google form: https://forms.gle/2HPAon3G8fdKZQ4Q7 

Write what you are planning to do in this ideas sign up google sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QAkMcMKEpcPIwgDu9zo5iolGx-MOk0oMbXnS79gtlrg/edit?usp=sharing

The sections are: 

Plot ideas dump → AOS/GE/PG/ROS 

Art ideas dump → Artbook art 

Writing 

For example: 

If I were signing up to illustrate an AoS scene, I would first put the idea in “plot ideas dump”, cross the idea out (so we don’t get repeats), then I would go to “AOS” and sign up for it. 

If I were signing up for a concept art, I would first put the idea in ‘Art ideas dump”, cross it out and then I would go and sign up in “art book art” 

If I were signing up for writing, I would go straight to “writing” and sign up. (I do not have to pick a idea from the scenes and concept art ideas tabs (those are for artists))  

3. Join our discord to interact with other members or alternatively follow our tumblr to keep updated as we might be posting further instructions!

4. Remember to “check in” before or on Nov 1st to let us know where you are/if you cannot finish it in time/if you have completed it/ (There is a section on the “ideas sign-up” sheet where you can fill out. (we might add additional check in days if needed so keep updated ^^)

Where and when do I submit the piece when I am done? 

You can submit at anytime! 

You can either: 

post it in the discord “submissions” channel 

message us on tumblr 

Ask us for an email address

How many pieces can I submit? 

You can have multiple submissions, however you need to let us know by adding what else you are submitting in the “ideas-up” google sheets. 

Can I submit old art or writing? 

We are looking for new content created especially for the zine, but any content is always good so if there is an old art that few or nobody has seen and fits the dimensions and theme requirements, ask us and we might accept it! 

Can I promote this on social media? 

Go ahead and thank you for supporting this zine! 

What if I cannot make the deadline? 

If you are sure you cannot make the deadline, please tell us ASAP so that we can open up the idea again for someone else to take. 

If you are going to be a few days late or just need a small extension of a few days, shoot us a message and it’s probably going to be okay. 

If you are backing out of the zine, it’s okay, don’t worry and let us know before Nov 1st!

What if I have an idea I want to sign up but it has already been taken? 

If the idea is a book scene, then you have to find another one 

However, if the idea is concept art, then feel free to do your own version of it. (Seeing multiple takes on the same designs and characters is great!)

What do I do if I have questions or want clarification?

 If you have any questions, feel free to message us on discord or tumblr! (On discord, we have a channel called “ask questions here” specifically for this purpose!) 

Our discord: https://discord.gg/Rn2F6Tq 

Our tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tbtfanzine

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 2 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the late April report, although some may be older than that. I will do my best to keep posting these at least once every 10 days if not sooner. 

Have any topics you would like to see me cover in more detail? Drop me a line here on Tumblr, or email me through my website. I’m also on Twitter and YouTube if you prefer social.  

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

If you sell on Etsy, this is your reminder that the Offsite Ads program kicks in on May 4, and people who make under $10K a year on Etsy can opt out if they want to avoid the additional fees. I have a summary here. 

Issues with mail delivery during the pandemic continue. Canada Post has suspended on time delivery guarantees and warns of December level volume.  USPS is not shipping to 113 countries, including many APO addresses. 

I am still interested in posting articles and lists of resources for small businesses and artists during the pandemic, so please pass on any good resources you know about. HubSpot did a page for Australia, and one for the United States.  See my previous edition for a longer list. 

ETSY NEWS 

Mask sales have created a huge boom for Etsy, but also some busts. “Suddenly millions of people were logging on to Etsy, searching for masks nine times every second, the company calculated.The site was not ready for the rush….There are now 50,000 sellers on Etsy who have each sold at least one mask; 10,000 have sold at least 100. Etsy staff spent time calling the most popular sellers to weed out scams, but also to ensure well-meaning sellers were not over-promising.” There have been many threads from sellers whose shops were de-indexed due to both bots and to Etsy wanting to limit their sales until they catch up on open orders, creating a lot of complaints at a time when their customer service response is hugely delayed. 

Some sellers report receiving listing credits for masks, although several who received money did not sell masks, and many others who did sell masks got nothing. 

Another Seller Handbook post on what people are looking for while they are under lockdown (TL;DR: home decor, activities, bath & beauty) , as well as suggestions for how you can pivot your shop. They include the top search terms for each area; some examples: washable paper towel, garden, birthday gift,  printable wall art, puzzle, board game, puzzle adult. “As shoppers transform their living spaces for multifunctional uses like working, exercising, and homeschooling, they’re looking for cozy comfort as well as fresh, on-season style updates that offer mood-boosting appeal….113% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “home office...127% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “indoor garden...“Face mask” was the top searched term for the last five weeks (as of April 23, 2020)” Finally, “In recent Etsy buyer research, one third of shoppers who anticipated purchasing on Etsy in the next three months reported planning to buy gifts.” [Although the article doesn’t mention this, I strongly recommend emphasizing somewhere in your shop that you can send the order directly to the gift recipient, if you sell giftable items but sales are down right now. I am getting a lot more requests for gift notes than usual, and more people are paying for tracking so they know when the gift arrives.]

A study says that 30% of Etsy sellers do not save for emergencies, and 74% want Etsy to help them when emergencies arise. 

Two new features for users of Etsy’s USPS labels: free pick up requests, and easy customer return labels. 

Etsy launched an exclusive collection with Joseph Altuzarra. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Moz just came out with an excellent guide to keyword research that you all should at least bookmark to come back to later, even if you don’t do keyword research now. The introduction contains a good definition of long tail with a graph; “Only about 20% of the keywords people search for will be popular "head" terms. The majority of keyword phrases will be less-frequent, long-tail keywords.” There’s even a downloadable 2-page cheat sheet on the basics at the end. 

There may have been a Google search update around April 16, but I am mostly posting this article for the graphs showing search volatility in the past 1-2 months; those changes in the second half of March into early April seem to be mostly user-driven due to the pandemic, rather than algorithm changes. 

Backlinks are not all created equal, and time is sometimes one of the factors in weighting them. [text and video] 

This analysis of near 12 million Google search results turned up some interesting correlations with ranking. Not surprisingly, sites in first place have many more backlinks on average than the other sites on the same page. It was a bit surprising to learn that page loading speed didn’t correlate with ranking at all (that may change once everyone goes to mobile first indexing in the fall), nor did using the keyword in your title tag. “Pages in Google’s top 10 results contain 65% to 85% of the keywords that they’re ranking for in their title tag. However, we found very little (if any) correlation between keyword-optimized title tags and higher rankings on the first page.”

Google may delay its move to complete mobile-first indexing by September, depending on how sites are managing due to the recent disruptions.

Some businesses are moving the money they spent on advertising over to SEO, because there is a longer-term payoff vs. a short term impact from someone seeing an ad on a given day. Good SEO can get you ranking on many search engines for years, if you are lucky. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Not surprisingly, the top times for social media traffic have changed during the pandemic; here’s an updated list. 

Thinking of starting a YouTube channel? Here’s a beginner’s manual including screenshots on how to set it up, as well as tips on YouTube SEO & other marketing tactics. 

Don’t know what to put in your email newsletters? HubSpot picked 17 examples they think are awesome. 

Facebook rapidly revamped & expanded its video chat option to compete with Zoom & Houseparty, called Messenger Rooms. Note that “Room calls are not end-to-end encrypted, but Facebook says it does not view or listen to calls.” The are also working on the ability to charge people to watch live streams. 

Twitter had a good first quarter but the stock still fell because it does not look like they are recovering from the pandemic effects very quickly. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

As mentioned in my last edition, Google Shopping is now offering free listings on its US platform, and rolled out a bit early for some even though the start date was given as April 27. Your Etsy listings will not be shown in the free ads if you opt out of Etsy’s Offsite Ads program, and you are not allowed to add marketplace listings to GS yourself, but this may be something you are interested in for your website, if you sell to the US. Some tips on setting up Merchant accounts correctly for this here and here, and optimizing your listings here. If your standalone is on Shopify, they have instructions here. 

As ad prices are dropping for some items on some platforms, it has become easier for small businesses to start campaigns, especially experienced online sellers who can now take advantage of the ecommerce boom. [I agree with this for the right types of items or service, but I don’t think it is going to work for everything.]

New to online advertising, and don’t know where to start? HubSpot has a good introductory overview here, with details on the main options available. 

Google is offering ad credits to small & medium sized businesses as pandemic relief, starting in late May. Note that you need to have been running ads last year with Google to be eligible. . 

Google Ad users will soon need to submit proof of identity & location, starting with US users. The move is to help prevent scammers and increase transparency. Early response to the announcement is mixed. 

Facebook is no longer forcing advertisers to use its Campaign Budget Optimization, meaning businesses will continue to be able to set different budgets across all of their campaigns. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

If you have an ecommerce site built with Wordpress, here’s how to track your email newsletter clicks through Google Analytics. 

And for your ecommerce site, the best alerts to set up in GA. 

Bing Webmaster Tools has a great feature that tracks traffic to connected accounts other than your website or blog - but Twitter has been removed from this list. 

There are far more Instagram analytics apps than I thought. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Many ecommerce platforms/website providers are being pressured to reduce the fake COVID-19 disinfectants on their sites, including eBay, Facebook, Shopify & Alibaba.

There is a new app that lets buyers shop with multiple businesses who run their sites through Shopify, called Shop. Among other things, it will feature businesses local to the user: “A recent survey of global consumers by Ernst & Young found that 34% of respondents are willing to pay more for local products amid the pandemic.”

Shopify’s stock is flying high right now, and it has become the second-most valuable company in Canada, in part due to the surge of sign ups after the start of the pandemic. 

Since page loading speed is important to buyer conversions as well as SEO, if you have a Shopify site, you will want to read about which themes are the fastest & slowest to load. A few are ridiculously slow, & you will want to consider your goals if you are thinking of using them. 

Jeff Bezos has moved back to managing Amazon operations due to the pandemic. “Bezos was also personally involved in Amazon’s decision to suspend third-party vendors from shipping non-essential items to Amazon’s warehouses, helping ease the load on workers so that they could more efficiently ship goods like baby products, groceries, pet supplies and personal care products.  He also signed off on Amazon’s move to halt tactics it normally uses “to encourage customers to put more items in their shopping carts”.

Meanwhile, Amazon VP states that Amazon has done a lot for sellers during the pandemic, including suspending “repayment of all Amazon Lending loans for sellers in the United States and the United Kingdom until April 30.” I guess that is why their profit fell to only $2.5 billion in the first quarter of 2020 despite their gross sales being up 29% due to the pandemic buying. 

Amazon’s pilot program for verifying new sellers by video calls is continuing; contrary to previous reports, they say they are not using facial-recognition technology, but they are checking photo ID against the video call. 

eBay has extended its suspension of most seller performance standard rules until June 19 for sellers in the UK. They are also extending their free listing offers, and after banning mask sales are now apparently envying Etsy’s sales and are encouraging sellers to make fabric masks.They are also planning a way to confirm sales that involve local pickups [podcast & transcript]. 

eBay had lower 1st quarter results than they & others had predicted, so the stock went down. Here is the call transcript for those interested. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

The pandemic sales trends have switched from hoarding essentials to food & home comfort items. “As spring eased toward summer, cooking at home also began to include gardening. "We see continued growth in gardening," said Ventry. ... Growing herbs, he said, played well with the home cooking trend, too. "We saw similar trends from 2008 to 2010, during the recession."

Ecommerce sales are way up, perhaps 50% up in the US right now, and some of these people will continue their increased online shopping, so it is a good time to launch many types of new campaigns. (warnings - some “not safe for work” language) 

HubSpot has been producing a weekly pandemic report on its customers core business stats, such as website traffic & sales rates. They speculate that we might be seeing a bit of an overall recovery as of last week. 

MISCELLANEOUS

There are still more good work-from-home articles coming out that can also be relevant for those of us who have been doing this for a while now. Using a schedule to be more productive is a common topic. As is managing to be productive with kids around. 

[ma9l]

Annotated Bibliography: Instagram and Depression Sources

Frison, Eline, and Steven Eggermont. “Browsing, Posting, and Liking on Instagram: The Reciprocal Relationships Between Different Types of Instagram Use and Adolescents’ Depressed Mood.” CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, vol. 20, no. 10, Oct. 2017, pp. 603–609. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1089/cyber.2017.0156.

The authors in this article took the approach of doing a longitudinal study on 671 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19. They decided to do this because they noticed that a cross-sectional longitudinal test had not yet been performed between mental health and Instagram use. The results confirmed that the more browsing one does on Instagram, the more depressed their mood is. On the flip side, they also found that the more depressed one is, the more likely they are to post on Instagram when they are depressed. It addressed both sides. Either Instagram can affect your mood, or your mood can affect how you behave on Instagram. This article was published in 2017 and the authors both have a PhD in this field of study which increases their credibility. Charts of data were provided to demonstrate how they measured and collected their results. The charts display information regarding the different times the participants were interacting in different ways on Instagram (posting, liking, or browsing) and jotted those activities down. In order to measure, they used a scaling system of numbers 1-7 where participants would rank how often they did one of the 3 activities with 1 being never and 7 being several times a day. Another chart shows the relationships between those activities with a depressed mood so we can see how they correlate. Something these authors took into account was they considered whether gender had anything to do with the likeliness of someone being depressed after spending time on Instagram, but the results for each sex were similar. To my understanding, there are multiple ways one can browse on Instagram whether it be by scrolling through your feed, viewing stories, watching Instagram TV/other videos, and visiting accounts of those you follow. Because there is such a variety in what you can do on the app, there must be a variety of emotions that users experience as they bounce from one activity to another. The article stated that browsing had the largest impact, but I am still curious as to how the others compare.

Hunt, Melissa G., et al. “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression.” Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, vol. 37, no. 10, Dec. 2018, pp. 751–768. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751.

This article can be found in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Here, four authors work together on an experimental study to discover if social media plays a role in causing “worse well-being.” Rather than experimenting with only one platform, participants (from the University of Pennsylvania) were asked to limit the use of three: Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat to ten minutes a day or they were assigned to just use them as they normally would for three consecutive weeks. This created a control group and a test group. Interestingly enough, after the three weeks were up, both groups resulted in being less anxious and having less FOMO (fear of missing out). The authors credit this to more persistent self-monitoring. However, the group who limited themselves proved to be less depressed and lonely than the controlled group who didn’t make any changes. The study is only about a year old having been performed in 2018, a lot of facts and numbers were included thanks to the authors’ research, a clear outline of the process, and a defined prospective timeline of events. The procedure involved a voluntary sign up, surveys scaling different categories, participants sending screenshots of their battery level at specific times which is affected by the amount of time they spend on certain applications, etc. It is very thorough and well thought out. Limitations and the possibility of manipulation were considered as well. This study focused on social media in general, yet each form of social media has unique characteristics that could potentially alter or skew results based on which specific applications were used at a particular time and for how long the user spent on a single platform. For example, Facebook has a lot more to see than Instagram does when it comes to scrolling. Facebook is endless, whereas Instagram displays a kind reminder saying “you are all caught up” once you get to where you left off. I feel like one could be tempted to waste more time on Facebook than Instagram and therefore be exposed to more negative factors and consume information that would affect them mentally. Then again, maybe it all comes down to the content provided. Either way, based on the findings of this study, the authors recommend limiting your social media use to 30 minutes a day to improve your well-being.

Hwnag, Ha Sung. "Why Social Comparison on Instagram Matters: Its impact on Depression." KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems, vol. 13, no. 3, 2019, p. 1626+. Gale OneFile: Computer Science, https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/apps/doc/A586241540/CDB?u=utahvalley&sid=CDB&xid=c957fbb6. Accessed 26 Oct. 2019.

The study was officially published in March of this year (2019) by Hu Sung Hwang at KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems. Out of all of the articles, this one was the most applicable to me because the study focused on college students. 245 college students who used Instagram were surveyed on questions related to Instagram activities and their relation to social comparison. The article claims that there are three types of comparison: upward, downward, and horizontal that each contribute to our psychological well-being either positively or negatively and considers whether or not they contribute to depression. I wish she would have gone into more depth on what defines the three types of comparison because I didn’t quite understand that concept and how it tied back to the topic. Unlike the other sources a lot of background information on the topic was provided here which gives us a better idea of how educated the author is on the subject matter. It also makes up for the lack of charts or photographs as proof of experimentation having taken place. Another thing the author made sure to do was she broke it down and looked at individual aspects of the title of the piece, meaning she separately discussed instagram, social media, and depression and then combined them to understand how they are connected. This journal excerpt was long and well-developed. The areas measured include: Instagram use, activity, social comparison, depression, and demographics.  The final results produced are as follows: “Taken together, these findings indicate that the daily amount of time spent using Instagram and the frequency of Instagram use influence all types of social comparison. In addition, they also suggest that users who spend more time looking at other people's status updates or commenting on other people's photos are more likely to experience upward social comparison than other types of comparison.”

Lup, Katerina, et al. “Instagram #instasad?: Exploring Associations among Instagram Use, Depressive Symptoms, Negative Social Comparison, and Strangers Followed.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior And Social Networking, vol. 18, no. 5, May 2015, pp. 247–252. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0560.

Similar to the NBC article below, this study focused on Instagram as an outlet rather than an inlet. In a sense, this means the authors were considering how people use the platform to express themselves, particularly when they are sad. The authors predicted that the negative connotation of Instagram has risen due to social comparison and the number of strangers followed. The second contribution (strangers followed) hadn’t been addressed by any of the other articles yet, so that was a clever insight. They were able to reach the wide array of 18-29 year olds by hosting an online questionnaire for 117 individuals. By doing this, they were able to analyze both how frequently the participants used the app as well as the number of strangers they followed. To insure that the test was reliable, two different types of scales were incorporated: the Center for Epidemiological Resources Scale for Depression and the Social Comparison Rating Scale. This helped them measure and recognize patterns and relations: “Findings generally suggest that more frequent Instagram use has negative associations for people who follow more strangers, but positive associations for people who follow fewer strangers, with social comparison and depressive symptoms.” A question I have is what about having strangers as followers? A lot of accounts are public on purpose because they want strangers to follow them. Does that influence what people post? I wouldn’t be surprised if it did because these kinds of people are usually concerned about the numbers and getting people to follow them, which only happens when they post certain things. I would even go as far as saying they become fake. They post what their followers want to see as opposed to what they sincerely want to share. Why? They don’t even know these people? I would be curious to learn more on this matter. Anyway, in the title of this article, the hashtag #instasad is mentioned. I had a hard time deciding if that was a real hashtag that the study was based on or if it was created by the authors because it made sense with the topic. Either way, you can surely find the tag on Instagram and a decent selection of depressive posts linked to it. Because this study was performed in 2015, it is more out of date than the other sources I looked into, but it is important to view earlier stages of research to see how it’s grown and developed over the years. Having been released 4 years ago, it’s interesting to note that the same problems we experience today existed back then.

Mackson, Samantha B., et al. “Instagram: Friend or Foe? The Application’s  Association with Psychological Well-Being.” New Media & Society, vol. 21, no. 10, Oct. 2019, pp. 2160–2182. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1461444819840021.

An obvious curiosity that was explored within the article: “Instagram: Friend or Foe?”, was that of the difference between those who use Instagram and those who don’t. The question in the title itself imposes that we ask ourselves how we personally view the platform. I don’t think most people would strictly say one or the other, I believe there is hesitation because so many of us have a love-hate relationship with Instagram, making it both a friend and a foe, just at different times. Now, depending on who is asked, people might wonder whether or not the impact the app has on it’s users is really all that significant compared to people who avoid it entirely. Is it worth avoiding? Or does it hardly do any damage? I feel like Instagram should be balanced between friend and foe, landing in the middle somewhere as more of an acquaintance than anything else. This way, it’s up to you to decide on the kind of relationship you want to have with it. If you want to get to know it better, you’ll spend more time with it, whereas if you have negative feelings toward it, you may want to distance yourself at times and take frequent breaks. Isn’t that how relationships with humans are defined? Along with this, some of the most common mental illnesses these days are depression and anxiety. They almost go hand-in-hand. This article addresses both as their negative connection with Instagram is brought into question. Results confirmed that those with the application ranked higher in experiencing symptoms of the illnesses than those without it. The reason they refer to the platform as a “friend or foe” is because it can be used for both good and bad. Yes, this article is up to date-very much so, in fact. It was put out on the 10th day of this exact month and year. In depth research on depression and anxiety were outlined near the beginning of the issue. This was smart and necessary because it provides readers with the opportunity to be more informed on the illnesses before drawing conclusions about it. In short, this article was a success because it clearly proved that “Instagram is associated with psychological well-being.”

Macmillan, Amanda. “Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health.” TIME, 25 May, 2017, https://time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

This TIME  article is slightly outdated because it was written in 2017, but that doesn’t mean the information within it is false; In fact, Instagram has been around for almost 10 years so it is actually more recent than it is old. I stated in my project proposal that through my research I wanted to see how Instagram compared to other social media platforms and this article addresses exactly that. “Out of five social networks included in the survey, YouTube received the highest marks for health and wellbeing and was the only site that received a net positive score by respondents. Twitter came in second, followed by Facebook and then Snapchat—with Instagram bringing up the rear.” This supports my topic and tells us that Instagram is the least beneficial for our well being, which reinforces the significance of researching this specific issue. The author was helpful as she compared the pros and cons (positive/negative effects) of social media rather than just focusing on one or the other. Not only does this article give us the facts, but it also suggests ways to change. Some of those ideas include: a “heavy usage” warning, a highlight for photos that have been edited or changed from their original state, and finally teaching it to students as part of their health education in school. I agree with these ideas and I’m excited to see the difference they will make after being implemented. I’m especially passionate about having it be taught in schools because children are the rising generation and humanity depends on them for creating a bright future. Not only that, but they are also the most common users of these platforms ranging from elementary to college aged students, thus are the ones most needing to be educated in safe usage. As we can see, action is fortunately already being taken, but the issue can’t be fixed overnight. I appreciate how it concluded by saying “We must be ready to nurture the innovation that the future holds.” Technology is a part of our day and it isn’t going away so we need to find ways to embrace it.

Miller, Caroline. “Does Social Media Cause Depression?” Child Mind Institute, https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

This article was written by a member of Child Mind Institute, a non-profit organization. Her name is Caroline Miller. The organization is dedicated to helping children and families with mental health issues and disorders. Although there is not an exact date listed, the website is current and still running because the copyright year is 2019. Outside educational sources have been linked throughout the write-up with raw facts and data to inform readers about the studies that have already been done as a reminder that people are actively engaged in resolving the conflicts with social media. Since the website revolves around mental health, some of the links take you to related subjects written by other members of the Child Mind Institute team that can deepen your understanding and widen your view of mental health. Miller has the perspective that Instagram doesn’t directly cause depression, but that the time spent on Instagram only correlates with the rise in depression. Several negative associations with social media besides depression, but those which still fall in the same realm, are listed in consecutive headings. For example, sleep deprivation, isolation, or less healthy activity are a few Miller dives into. A clinical psychologist for CSI says: “The less you are connected with human beings in a deep, empathic way, the less you’re really getting the benefits of a social interaction… The more superficial it is, the less likely it’s going to cause you to feel connected, which is something we all need.” I couldn’t agree more. Often, it’s easier to replace our social health with social media rather than going out with friends or attending events, but social media needn’t be a replacement. Instead, it should only be considered an additional way to connect with others. It’s a great tool to keep in touch with people-especially for those who live far away, but it isn’t a genuine way to develop and strengthen relationships. Thanks to the article, 6 tips for healthier social media use are layed out near the conclusion of the piece This shines a spotlight on us as it invites us to reflect on how we can improve our health as it relates to online activities. This is similar to the article by Pawlowski who also gives helpful advice on the matter.

Parnell, Bailey. “Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?” YouTube, uploaded by TEDxTalks, 22 Jun. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg_9C7gw0o.

Unlike the other sources I found, this one is in video format as a 2017 TED Talk. Bailey Parnell is the speaker. She’s an award winning digital marketer, public speaker, etc. In her talk, she, herself, started out by demonstrating a monologue of someone scrolling through Instagram and reacting to its content. It was funny, lighthearted, and relatable which is a fantastic way to introduce your subject and get your audience engaged. Parnell had previous data and statistics to show up on her PowerPoint slides, but she also did some primary research on the spot by surveying her listeners. She asked them questions and had them raise their hands. She was able to involve her audience, and see if her previous research aligned with the experiment she did in the moment. One example of this was when she asked if anyone noticed the notification alert in the upper corner of her slides. Several people had and admitted that it was driving them crazy. I am the same way because I am always checking my notifications to get them to disappear. It’s like a checklist where you have to mark the task off to say it’s been acknowledged and completed. Is this a demonstration of addiction or obsession? Something to think about.. Bailey used pathos through her tone of voice, but mainly towards the end of her speech as she had slides of kids who had committed suicide because of the bad experiences they had online. It got so bad for them that they gave up because they couldn’t handle it anymore. If that doesn’t encourage you to reevaluate your online interactions with others, I don’t know what does. The stance she took on the issue was that social media isn’t the issue, it’s the people who use it. We don’t have to be negatively impacted by it, but we allow ourselves to be by the way we engage with it. Like several other articles, tips were given on how to be safer online and Parnell also says not to get rid of it because it's not going anywhere, but to, instead, find ways to practice “safe social”.

Pawlowski, A. “Can Your Instagram Photos Reveal That You're Depressed?” NBC, https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/can-your-instagram-photos-reveal-you-re-depressed-ncna794041. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

This news piece has a unique take on the depression/Instagram correlation concern. Instead of seeing the platform as an inlet where one is obtaining a bunch of information that can contribute to their mental state, it views it from the opposite side of the spectrum in saying Instagram can also be used as an outlet for your emotions and reveal whether someone is depressed to their followers based on certain characteristics like the color scheme they use in their photographs. The colors blue, white, gray, or black seem to be more commonly associated with depressed individuals due to their dull, melancholy appearance, but not always. It’s important not to assume that everyone who uses that color scheme is depressed, but is still a trend amongst persons with depression. The article is rhetorical and uses a great deal of pathos in its tone as it appeals to emotion. It does this by giving a real life example of a woman who filled her account with pictures that portrayed how she was feeling which was, in fact, depressed. It also discusses how a computer program was designed to review these photos and identify whether someone was depressed. It is still in the works, but could be useful in the future for assisting those who aren’t receiving proper help with their condition. I was curious before starting my research on this issue about how involved parents are with their children’s social media use and under a heading titled “If you’re a parent worried about your child’s Instagram images…” it advises them to check in with their kids in a constructive way. If I were a parent, I would be following my kids on all the platforms and addressing them in person if I noticed anything concerning because they probably aren’t going to approach me voluntarily. I think it’s safe to say that most parents want to have a strong and trustworthy relationship with their children so they feel safe enough to talk to them when they aren’t feeling like themselves, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. That is where social media becomes a tool for parents. The article concludes with a paragraph on self-reflection and self-analyzation which encourages you, if you’re feeling down or different, to look at your own photos to see if any of them confirm depressiveness. This applies to everyone whether you’re the one who is depressed or someone you know. It can either persuade you to reach out for assistance, or allow you to be a helping hand for someone else.

Wong, Brittany. “An Instagram With No 'Likes' Could Have A Big Impact On Mental Health.” HUFFPOST, 10 May 2019 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/instagram-hiding-likes-mental-health_l_5cd092d3e4b0548b735e50bc?guccounter=1. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

This article from HUFFPOST has an interesting layout. Aside from other sources, Wong uses the visual spectacle to her advantage by including a video introduction and a screenshot of an Instagram post to break up the written article itself. Perhaps the most important thing about this source, and the reason it is so reliable, is the fact that Adam Mosseri, who is the head of Instagram, was directly engaged-and he should be! Who is more credible to speak about this topic than the head of Instagram himself? He performs a presentation in the video where he suggests three ways to make the Instagram app safer for its users and to actually combat cyberbullying which can most certainly contribute to depression. If the head of instagram recognizes that something is up, then something is definitely up. Granted, money could very well be his motivation for making these changes, I still think he is wise in making these suggestions. In Canada, a separate test was being experimented with based on the question: ”Could a like-free Instagram make us a lot less thirsty for approval and more mentally sound?” In simpler terms, the number of likes would be removed from a person’s post so that the viewers focused more on the content of the picture rather than the engagement with it. This differed from Mosseri’s suggestions, but was still a clever idea and worth reading into. Negative and positive effects of social media are mentioned throughout the article, links to related sources are cited, and it was written in May of this year so it is very recent, which makes the data more relevant to the present. The author of this source even includes examples of a man and woman (Sarah and Cam) who personally participated in the experiment with a “like-free Instagram” in order to see how they benefited. They both reported that they prefer not being able to see the likes on photos. Count me in! I want to know what that kind of experience is like. Imagine how much your thought processing would change!

[tripstaysnoided]

Sweet Beginnings Tag

First, thanks @nickysimblr!

This will be long as I have a lot of thoughts about screenshotting for almost six years now. I’ve taken somewhere in the realm of 10,000 - 15,000 most likely. Uptown alone has 3,600 screenshots uploaded to WordPress and many more than I don’t use...

I got my “start” a lot earlier (quotes because my storytelling attempts were just...different from what I do now and I barely stand behind them now) and in TS3′s run. The top screenshot is my first extant screenshot ever and it dates back to the summer of 2012. Middle is one of my first TS4 screenshots, and last is an Uptown pic from a few days ago (though that editing job was for this post in particular...no idea what it’ll look like in a chapter)

I’m not good at using the camera to convey emotion but I think that the characters themselves can make up for it. I started out as someone who wrote very game-driven stories and leaving my characters and their faces alone, but there is little effective emotionality without manipulation. The Sims, at least in its last two incarnations, is not a very smart game in that regard. So Journeyman, my sim in the first picture, had two modes: stone-faced TS3 idling and fighting with his wives (dude got divorced and remarried a lot). He had a lot of personality but it came in bursts, short-lived ones in the grand scheme of his life. I was imagining that he was in a bad mood getting up that day, but what about him says that?

But for a while with TS3, I still loved simply playing my game and trying to rationalize its logic. So I settled for screenshots that weren’t quite as emotional as I wanted. Ones that betrayed my seriousness for a bit of game-induced silliness, even though I optimally wanted something that was serious. I always had that desire to be.

The fear of “faking it” was something I let go of when I discovered poses and got good at using them. And more when I first started making ones for personal use. Suddenly it felt much more right to manipulate the game and mod it to get what I wanted to see. The big moment was just...knowing the game’s system too well. For The Sims as a whole, there’s a point where the illusion stops and you’re not playing a game. You’re watching mechanics you figured out continue on and it hits you: this is all fake. Why keep up the illusion yourself when you don’t believe it? Why not cheat and pose and mod until your game crashes under pressure?

And with that, I got where I wanted to be at last.

I did at least always employ decent composition, and I kept the damn walls up and plumbobs away from Day One. I heavily prefer it for gameplay too. What drew to me to screenshotting and visual storytelling at all was treating it like an extension of photography. Now I do very little photography in meatspace but my screenshot collection grows and grows. The tools change but images are images. You’ll hear the same rules for composition repeated throughout the visual arts. It’s my biggest question to anyone struggling with it: “find an image that you find visually appealing. What do you like about it? What did they do to make it that way?” I absorbed a lot of technique from television and I have absolutely no shame about that. (I also have no shame in taking writing influence from TV and movies and no one should)

Was my walls up obsession born out an innate desire to tell “real” stories all along? Idk. And has my composition improved? There’s one thing I keep catching myself doing (even today) and it’s not getting the tops of heads in shot. Hence me cherrypicking a recent picture that I framed correctly. Granted, there can be a reason to have to frame a shot that way, but when I catch myself, often the full head is a better choice. Close shots are great and rarely do I see beginners who shoot too close rather than shooting far too far away, but I’ve been at this game for too long to keep excusing it for myself.

At the end of 2014 was when my laptop croaked after I spilled coffee on it, so I upgraded to a better desktop and got a major graphics bump. Unfortunately, graphics quality is not a thing that can be learned.

Editing is still my weak spot, considering that I hadn’t done much of it before joining the Tumbles. I resize and sharpen my pics and have for a while now, but I’ve just been...allergic to pushing myself further. I’m also stubborn. I won’t use Photoshop, I won’t use Reshade for TS4 (considering it if I go back to TS3), I don’t like my sharp edges messed with. I’m always trying to find a place that’s comfortable for me.

But I also read through stories and blogs and no one has their aesthetic and editing figured out on Day One. It evolves and changes if it needs to and I’m happy to find people that continue tweaking theirs. It’s actually what I like the most about a storytelling community like this: there’s real-time feedback and a record of progress unless you purge it (like meeeee).

Now this one isn’t a linear improvement, but a thing I had to re-learn in TS4. I like busy images and all the sensory overload of them. In TS3, I did a lot of pattern and texture overload to make a room pop. To give it a rich and detailed landscape for the eyes to soak in, even for something as simple as a bedroom...

...and then EA pulled the rug out from under me. TS4 had no create-a-style (as we know) and a lot of the earlier items are pretty wretched in how little texture they have and there’s a lot I refuse to use. Where’s my fabric? My wood grain? I’m glad they improved and that we have some fantastic CC creators out here, but I repeat those questions a lot.

Some people would find the setting for my first TS4 shot fine, if bizarre (fighting in your son’s room, really?) but the flat textures just are gross to me and the room has nothing interesting going on.

EA and I have both gotten better. For me, it was through learning. Maybe pattern overload is a thing for a different game.

But as it turns out, I might not need it.

[dearmishudad]

Key Metrics for Measuring the Impact of Influencer Marketing and KPIs

“what gets measured gets managed.” - Peter Drucker It was Peter Drucker who said that what gets measured gets managed.  Which means it would be great to be able to enter data on a spreadsheet and output an Influencer performance rank. Having metrics gives you the chance to compare one Influencer's performance to another, or to other marketing efforts.  To try to get at some metrics, you’ll want to define some key performance indicators, also known as “KPIs.” For example -- are you looking to see a specific increase in comments on your posts, or an increase in your number of followers? Those are measurable and realistic.  

Typical KPIs

Typical Influencer Marketing KPIs. Source: DearMishuDad's Class

Decide on Your KPIs

It’s commonly thought that KPIs should include: Reach (which is the number of followers), impressions, views, engagement rates, and increase in followers and shares.

Source: DearMishuDad's class As you can see from the Instagram Insight screenshot here, most of the data for those KPIs can obtained from the social media platform analytics, which makes things convenient.

Measuring number of followers is easy However - evidence shows that number of followers is not the best KPI to use. According to various testing, the more followers an account have, the lower level engagement. That's why Nano and Micro-Influencers are so in demand this days.  Number of followers just does not tell you anything about potential levels of engagement, which is really important. So a better thing to look at would be Engagement -- and what THAT can tell you about added value, commitment, and trust.

Not Everything is Measured

Influencers - Not everything is measured.. Source: DearMishuDad's course However, there are some intangible things that just cannot be measured easily, or at least not without doing survey research. For example, It’s hard to measure loyalty, especially short term It is also hard to measure how a marketing campaign builds brand awareness. But over time, with repeated exposure via best-fit Influencers, your target audience should have increased awareness of your brand. What about people who see an Influencer’s post, but don’t “Like” or “Comment” -- they are still seeing it and it will have an impact, even if that can’t be measured? Take this post for example -- people like it, but not many commented. Could it be that there was just nothing to say, but it still made them smile? I think so! Finally -- Influencer marketing has a delayed effect, Like all Marketing - the point is to get your brand into people’s minds and to have the Influencer generate trust for your brand. Then - when they are in the buying mood, your brand will come to mind. So yes, practical measurements are critical, but some of the ROI of Influencer marketing is not immediately evident and only manifests indirectly and over time.

My Suggested Measurements

Since evaluating Influencer Marketing is not as straightforward as some would have you believe, I’ve developed this practical scoreboard for evaluating an Influencer. You can track your follower numbers, before the Influencer posts about you and couple of days after.You can measure the increase in comments. How many shared the content the Influencer created for you. Quantify the entries in case you are making giveawaysTrack how many times your brand was mentioned. If your brand was DEFENDED somewhere (such as on facebook), that's a BIG bonus to the influencer, this is huge!You can measure the benefit you get from having an Influencer create totally awesome and original content for you*not fake ones. And finally, don't forget about the delayed effect. This means give the influence 30-90 days to take effect.

Glosier is doing it right.

Smart Use of Influencer Metrics

An example of a brand that is obviously using the right metrics is Glosier. Do you see what great content and engagement they gained by working with Micro-Influencers? The impact is mind blowing and they mostly use unknown influencers who are real life customers. It's obvious that this is a brand that chooses long-term advocacy and positive sentiment over short-term engagement. Generating that engagement comes from working with influencers who align with your brand and are passionate about it. Capturing that engagement requires brands to be thoughtful about their metrics: move away from ‘old metrics’ like press coverage as well as shallow data such as ‘likes’ or clicks. Instead, what you want to look at is depth of engagement, including things like sentiment over time and long-term uplift. Last word: to get Influencer Marketing right you should treat it like any other marketing channel - test, optimize, and try again. Try different brand stories, with different Influencers. Work to understand the market and know your customer.  There is no substitute for the hard work! Read the full article

[punkscowardschampions]

Rio & Buster

Rio: Quick, gimme a place I could be going

Buster: Where do scumbag lads from the 24 holiday?

Rio: 😑

Rio: Safe to say nowhere that looks like the French Riviera

Rio: going somewhere without phone signal guys, no there won't be pics to show you when I'm back either, bye

Buster: For real though, you could say you've got a job somewhere

Buster: No tourist shots 'cause you're working so hard, like

Buster: Under lock and key serving those drinks

Rio: Hmm

Rio: might work

Rio: can just say it was shit when I come back after no time at all

Buster: When you're getting picking grapes at a vineyard but don't get picked by the man of your dreams 💔

Buster: You just can't get the daddies these days, babe

Rio: 😂 Shut up

Rio: clearly past it but you don't need to rub it in

Buster: You shut up

Buster: You're with me, you've never looked better

Rio: Firstly, that's the point, no I ain't

Rio: Stick to the story boy!

Buster: 😂

Buster: Didn't realise you were screenshotting this convo, like

Rio: Obviously

Rio: Everyone so highkey

Rio: Like no one's questioning Nance what she's really doing or who she's going with 🙄

Buster: If you wanna go gay so nobody questions why you're coming with me you probably should've put some groundwork in before now

Buster: Better go kiss some hot girls quick, like

Rio: Very subtle, babe

Rio: Been there, done that

Rio: still don't think it's gonna be bought

Buster: 😏

Buster: Have you actually?

Rio: 🙄

Rio: FOCUS

Buster: I am

Buster: On that

Rio: Thought you didn't like sharing?

Rio: Double standard, like

Buster: It was before me so I'm not

Rio: Hmm

Rio: Not dying to know all the hot lads I've kissed though are you 😂

Buster: We can compare numbers if you want, babe

Buster: No shame here

Rio: Knew it 😏

Rio: Posh boys

Buster: It's not my fault if half the boys at school are in love with me

Buster: Irresistible, aren't I

Rio: So charitable

Buster: Well, I was gonna take you shopping before we go but if you don't wanna then fine

Rio: I was being nice

Rio: 😇

Buster: I reckon you can be nicer

Rio: Fine

Rio: I'll tell you all about the hot girls

Buster: Yeah?

Rio: but first 💳 me

Buster: Fine

Buster: I was being purely selfish anyway, there's so much shit I need before we can go

Rio: Jokes, babe

Rio: Same though

Rio: Last year's bikini ain't gonna cut it

Buster: Honestly, you can't be showing me up even if you are safe from the socials

Buster: So tell me what you need

Rio: I ain't walking 50 paces behind you

Rio: even if you've got lanky ass legs

Buster: Please, I could get you to do anything

Buster: But there's no fun in that, you gotta walk in front if anything

Rio: Keep it up and I'm walking away fr

Rio: Birthday boy or nah

Buster: 😂

Buster: Try it, I'm faster than you, and I'll easily just pick you up and carry you away, babe

Rio: 😠 Try it

Rio: 👊

Buster: I will if I have to

Rio: I wouldn't if I were you, I couldn't find you anything special so I'm like half your present still

Rio: Keep me on side, trust

Buster: You're protesting too much. You know you'd love it

Rio: Shh

Rio: You're being very unhelpful when I'm sat here tryna swear blind I ain't going away with a lad

Buster: You should just admit you are

Buster: That way we don't have to keep the bruising to a discrete minimum

Rio: Effort though

Rio: creating a fake mans, easiest way to get caught out

Buster: I'm real

Buster: Just don't use my name or family tree, obviously

Rio: Work on my mates

Rio: Not sure if the fam is that dim

Rio: hmm, sounds vaguely familiar 😂

Buster: How many details do they need?

Buster: Fucking hell

Buster: None of your business fam 😂

Rio: You have no idea 🙄

Rio: Perks of avoiding 'em truly

Buster: All your exes drop in with a CV and blood sample or what, like?

Rio: Don't

Rio: You know my 'rents out here making 'em part of the fam when we're like 2 weeks in

Rio: irony not escaping me 😬

Buster: We're literally never telling 'em

Buster: I'd have to dump you

Buster: Christ

Rio: What have I been saying?

Buster: How the fuck have our parents got such different vibes?

Rio: I know, how did my Ma happen tbh? 😂

Buster: She fits in to this fam's whole touchy feeling mood

Buster: It's my 'rents who are keeping that professional distance

Rio: You reckon?

Rio: It's a pretty even split tbh

Rio: how often are we seeing Joe, like

Buster: True

Buster: But like, I told my dad the birthday plan, cool place, hot girl, and he hit with an eyebrow and moved on

Buster: Nan and Granddad spinning in the graves they ain't yet in

Rio: Don't jinx 'em like

Rio: but nah

Rio: I reckon they just reckon that's how you prefer it

Rio: Little enthusiasm wouldn't hurt, though

Buster: Maybe they used it all on Nance's ideas

Buster: Gotta make sure she doesn't dramatically throw herself into the sea or some shit

Rio: I'm telling ya

Rio: Gon' be sipping cocktails with a babe in some naff resort

Rio: Got you all so fooled with this artsy shit

Buster: 😂

Buster: Benidorm with a butch

Rio: I'm glad you went for that joke 'cos it's too soon for Costa Del Sol with a cougar, like

Buster: Don't start me on the whole MILF thing

Buster: 🙄

Rio: Poor Nance

Buster: You've gotta draw the line when she's got actual existing kids

Buster: I'm not trying to be that kind of daddy

Rio: Don't think she planned on bringing the kids along, like

Rio: So not part of the fantasy

Buster: Don't

Buster: Never say fantasy in relation to Nance again, yeah?

Rio: Got it

Rio: That's a line I'm fine not crossing, don't worry

Buster: Better be

Buster: If you tell me she's one of the hot girls you've kissed we're over

Rio: Don't be twisted

Buster: I'm just saying

Buster: No need to take the sibling rivalry there

Rio: Gross

Rio: safe to assume I ain't her type either, like

Buster: Unlucky babe

Rio: 💔

Rio: Guess you'll do

Buster: Fuck off

Buster: You love me

Rio: Yeah

Rio: you know

Buster: Say it though

Rio: I love you

Rio: Idiot

Buster: You better

Buster: I'm sharing my birthday with you

Buster: Haven't done that since I was a kid, cheers

Rio: Hey, I'm fine with a party bag, babe

Rio: All about you

Buster: I'm not gonna hit you with a slice of cake and send you on your way

Buster: Don't worry

Rio: Good to know

Rio: Bit of a trek for some Colin the catterpillar tbh

Rio: love you and everything but

Buster: 😂

Buster: You think my mum ever gave us that? Come on

Rio: And you tryna say they're so zoned out

Buster: Always ready to brag, every single one of us

Rio: You know I had the best though

Rio: 👸

Buster: 'Course

Rio: When ur first daddy just spoils you too hard, like

Rio: 💁

Buster: Explains a lot

Rio: wys boy

Buster: 😏

Rio: Rude

Rio: 😣 Imma stay here if you're not being nice

Buster: It ain't. You know I like it

Buster: Start shopping, babe, you'll see how nice I'm ready to be

Rio: Ain't even got your bday money yet baby

Buster: We're spending that when we're there

Rio: Exactly, so I got me

Buster: It's my birthday you have to do what I want

Rio: But

Buster: But nothing

Buster: I've got you

Rio: Okay

Rio: I won't argue

Rio: bday rules and all

Buster: Good

Rio: How many out out outfits do I need?

Buster: like 4

Rio: Right

Rio: I can make this work

Buster: No doubt

Buster: Not to sound like my sister but I swear I'm over my entire wardrobe right now

Rio: 😂

Rio: Any excuse

Buster: Babe you can laugh but what the fuck is some of this? Like seriously

Rio: 😏 I mean

Rio: sure I tried to tell you at the time

Buster: I find that hard to believe

Buster: You always manage to make yourself heard somehow

Rio: I know

Rio: Impressive, isn't it?

Buster: One word for it

Rio: Come on, ain't trying keep you quiet

Rio: say what you mean, babe

Buster: Don't distract me, I'm very busy 😏

Rio: Having a wardrobe crisis, sure

Rio: Promise, don't care what you're wearing

Buster: Alright, catch me in the finest the 24 has to offer

Rio: Hoping to catch you out of 'em like but alright

Buster: You don't need hope

Buster: Just determination

Buster: Have you thought of your lie yet?

Rio: Planning to be hard to get all of a sudden?

Rio: I'm just gonna not lie

Rio: but be vague, obviously

Rio: social media ban should keep from suspicion, been to enough places I can describe a generic hol, like

Buster: Well, you're always saying I'm vague and you'll know where I am if you need a hand

Buster: Have you been too enough places with shit WIFI to make that believable though?

Rio: 😩 idk

Rio: its stressing me

Rio: maybe you're camera shy

Rio: or ugly as hell

Buster: Baby calm down it's alright

Buster: This is meant to be a good thing, yeah?

Buster: Me and you together celebrating

Rio: I know

Rio: I'm sorry

Rio: Everyone can just respectfully fuck off for a bit

Rio: It'll be good, I will, promise

Buster: I love you

Buster: And we're gonna figure this out

Rio: I love you too

Rio: pisses me off 'cos it feels needless

Rio: I know we have to and it ain't but, shouldn't have to be this much of a drama

Buster: Yeah, I know

Buster: I know what I said about keeping your fam in the dark forever and tempting as it is, I swear it won't always be like this

Rio: Don't chuck me

Buster: Don't be an idiot

Rio: It's what you said

Buster: Come on

Rio: I know

Rio: this is why we ain't telling

Rio: talk about an awkward breakup

Rio: imagine if your 'rents had

Rio: did they ever think of that like, could hardly avoid each other

Buster: Maybe they did but they couldn't handle the awkwardness

Buster: Fuck staying together for the kids, they had to do it for the whole fam's sake, like

Rio: Oh my God

Rio: what I'm saying, really trapped themselves

Rio: 😬

Buster: If you get sick of me give me warning so I can move to another country, yeah?

Rio: 'Course

Rio: least I could do

Buster: Cheers

Rio: Promise I won't get all psycho Chlo about it either

Buster: Don't

Buster: I see her at school so often it's got me so jumpy every time I walk past a mirror I cross myself in case she appears

Rio: Yeah, that is shit

Rio: at least I don't HAVE to be anywhere Ryan is

Rio: can hardly walk out or tell her to leave

Buster: Yeah

Buster: Speaking of that cunt though, how's he been behaving?

Rio: Been pretty quiet

Rio: knock on wood, like

Rio: saw him in town once and he was his usual charming self but that was just chance so

Buster: Glad I don't have to waste a wish on that then

Rio: Definitely not

Rio: Lucky that, really don't fancy adding him to the list of people I gotta give the dl on where I'm going 😂

Buster: Lucky 'cause I don't fancy you getting mad at me when I knock him out, more like

Rio: Oh, babe

Rio: forget about him, I am

Buster: Sorry

Rio: Don't be

Rio: You're cute, and I wouldn't be mad on principle

Buster: I hate that I can't protect you from all his shit, that's all

Rio: I know

Rio: but it ain't that bad

Buster: I get that you can handle it, I'm not saying that, I just don't want you to have to

Buster: If I could be the protective boyfriend and warn him off everything would be fine but

Rio: Maybe but

Rio: maybe not

Rio: he's just a prick

Buster: Yeah

Buster: Fuck him, we don't need to talk about him anymore

Rio: Agreed

Rio: Maybe I can get a job out there

Rio: in the casinos, hmm

Buster: We're meant to be playing hard not working hard, babe

Rio: You know I gotta hustle

Rio: I'm over the angel fr

Buster: Get a London job when we get back, then I'll never have to miss you

Rio: That'd be nice

Rio: But we both know I can't

Buster: Lie to me

Buster: I want you here all the time

Rio: I wanna be with you all the time too

Rio: Again, one day

Rio: I think Drew would at least cover Indie's rent but she shouldn't be alone, she's still a kid

Buster: Yeah, I know

Buster: You wouldn't be you if you didn't look out for her

Buster: And I quite like you so

Rio: 😏 Steady

Rio: Don't get all mushy

Buster: 'Course not

Buster: Who do you think I am?

Rio: Was gonna say

Rio: slow down and wait for me if you've already started your celebrations, like

Buster: I wish

Rio: We'll be making up for lost time so soon baby

Buster: You gonna jump out of a cake for me?

Rio: Couldn't get Dad to bake me in

Rio: Spoilsport much

Buster: 😂

Buster: To be a fly on the wall for that convo, though

Rio: He knows I'm extra but

Buster: Unfair 'cause I'm always insisting you keep my secrets but you're such an open book, babe

Rio: I dunno

Rio: I kinda like it just being me who knows

Rio: How selfish

Buster: I'm well proud

Buster: You really are learning

Rio: Bound to happen eventually

Rio: So persistent, babe 😉

Buster: What can I say? You're worth putting the work in

Rio: 😚

Rio: Baby

Buster: I'm not going soft, don't worry

Buster: I'll be rude to you later, I'm sure

Rio: Be the rudest if you did go soft on me

Rio: Ultimate insult

Buster: Fuck that

Buster: I could never

Rio: Happens to the best of us, don't worry 😂

Buster: Shut up

Rio: Really, nothing to be embarrassed about babe

Buster: Are you trying to jinx me or what?

Buster: Good luck

Rio: Just giving you something to prove

Rio: you're so adorable when you're mad

Buster: You trying to say I've still gotta prove myself to you?

Rio: No

Rio: I'm saying I like it when you do

Buster: Yeah?

Rio: Yeah

Rio: been too long

Buster: I miss you too, babe

Rio: It's so stupid

Rio: not even gone yet and already thinking about how much I'll miss you when we're back

Buster: It's shit

Buster: But it'll be Christmas hols before we know it and nobody can bat an eyelid about us being together then

Rio: Hooray for forced family time, yeah?

Rio: Don't let anyone hear YOU saying that though, so suspect

Buster: You know I don't waste my time talking to any of that lot

Rio: Hmm

Rio: So bad 😏

Buster: I wonder if Nance will be in a better mood with me by then

Buster: Don't really wanna have to do a whole secret santa vibe

Rio: Season of goodwill

Rio: Can put hope

Rio: add it to your wishlist now, like

Buster: I'll start thinking about her gift soon

Buster: Go big or go home, literally maybe

Rio: Work on that Winter wardrobe

Buster: Maybe I can send her on another trip, get her out of my way and do a nice thing all at once

Rio: Maybe

Rio: Sure you don't wanna spend time with her though?

Buster: You're funny

Rio: I'm not joking, like

Buster: Well, it's still hilarious

Buster: I'm trying to get her on side not further off

Rio: Maybe it is running before you can walk

Rio: still, gotta start somewhere, babe

Buster: You do, you mean

Buster: You're well determined to sort this, aren't you?

Rio: Your relationship with your family?

Rio: Duh

Buster: You're cute

Buster: Annoying but cute

Rio: What, like you want it like this

Rio: Come on now

Buster: Like it matters how I want it

Buster: I don't get to fuck up and still call the shots

Rio: It does matter

Rio: and she's not renounced you

Rio: it ain't that deep

Rio: not quite

Buster: Whatever

Buster: I can't make her talk to me

Buster: She's not you

Rio: I'll lock you in a room like

Rio: she can be mad at me then instead

Buster: Don't you dare

Rio: 😂

Rio: Don't be a baby

Buster: Don't start

Buster: You were behaving

Rio: Only lasts for so long

Rio: Do something about it if you're mad

Buster: Nice try

Buster: I'm not gonna make it that easy for you to get what you want

Rio: 😒

Rio: I'm so offended

Buster: Don't be a baby

Rio: 😲

Rio: Touche

Buster: 😏

Rio: 😣

Buster: Are you giving up just like that, babe?

Rio: I'm very busy don't distract me

Buster: Touche

Buster: But you didn't listen when I said it, so don't expect me too

Rio: I'll leave you to it then

Rio: So sorry

Buster: Don't

Rio: Sure?

Buster: Stay

Rio: 'Course

Rio: You don't want a kitten, do you?

Buster: You've got so many jokes today

Rio: We're giving Nancy one

Rio: Ma found a pregnant cat

Rio: they're so cute

Buster: 'Course she did

Buster: Sounds like you want me to have one so you can, babe

Rio: Shh

Rio: stop foiling my plans

Rio: [pics]

Buster: I'm not raising a baby with you

Rio: Cats are so low maintenance

Rio: it will keep you company

Buster: Good for them 'cause I ain't

Buster: Also not lonely, like

Rio: Boo

Buster: Take one for Indie, I'm sure she'd be buzzing

Buster: So would the cat if they can get high, like, but

Rio: I'm definitely not giving you one now

Rio: don't get a cat stoned, you monster 😂

Rio: and Indie wants a dog

Buster: Dogs can definitely get high, right?

Buster: Sure I've seen that online before

Buster: Indie'll have to clean up her act

Rio: We'll see if that's strong enough incentive

Rio: I doubt it but

Buster: Yeah

Buster: She'd have to get pregnant to make that stick I reckon and nobody's ready for that

Rio: Don't even play

Rio: Jesus

Buster: Just saying

Buster: Unlikely you'll be taking care of a puppy or kitten any time soon

Rio: We can have a dog

Rio: not like she's gonna be blowing smoke in the poor things face

Rio: so dramatic

Buster: You don't reckon you've got enough responsibility with her and the flat?

Buster: More fool you

Rio: Only got to walk and feed it

Rio: waaayyy easier than Indie

Buster: True

Buster: What isn't though?

Rio: Bless her

Buster: Maybe I can throw a kitten Chlo's way

Buster: Properly distract her

Buster: She'd probably call it a love token though, yeah?

Rio: Um yeah

Rio: may as well wife her now, like

Rio: no no

Rio: and she ain't having one of mine 😒

Buster: What so you're gonna keep them all?

Rio: Have you been to my gaff?

Rio: Probably 😂

Rio: if Ma knows people who might want 'em then they'll go

Buster: I can't believe you're giving my sister one

Rio: She's so buzzing

Rio: Easy bday present forreal, unlike some

Buster: I thought you were my present

Buster: So unless you're gonna be difficult

Rio: I had to get you something

Rio: Don't get too excited though

Rio: well, can about me

Rio: standard 😉

Buster: I was gonna say

Buster: Don't do yourself down, babe

Rio: Please

Buster: I mean, do put the work in still

Buster: As much as I miss you, you've still gotta bring it

Rio: When have I ever done anything less?

Buster: I can't lie, you ain't yet but you know

Buster: You might get bored of all this

Rio: You gonna stop bringing it too?

Rio: 'Cos that's the only way that's happening

Buster: Please

Buster: That shit's impossible

Rio: Glad to hear it, babe

Buster: I love you

Rio: Love you

Buster: I wish we could go now

Buster: With or without your fam's need for details being satisfied

Rio: Me too

Rio: I don't care no more

Rio: think I'm drug trafficking if you like

Rio: save the intervention 'til I'm back, though

Buster: 😂

Buster: Seriously, it's bad enough that I can't brag that I'm with you day to day, on my birthday when you're the gift that keeps giving, I should be able to

Rio: Babe

Rio: You're so cute

Buster: Shhh

Buster: You know I'm speaking the truth

Buster: So over not being able to pose with you ever

Rio: I know

Rio: Me too

Rio: but it's still worth it

Buster: 'Course

Buster: Don't ever think I'm saying it ain't, yeah?

Buster: Unless I actually do, but that's not happening

Rio: Got it

Rio: When do you reckon we can tell people

Rio: or if we should

Buster: I'll tell them now if you want

Buster: Just say the word

Rio: You don't wanna do that

Rio: time for celebration yeah

Buster: I want you

Buster: It's too late for them to take their gifts back if they ain't still in the mood to celebrate

Rio: Priorities

Buster: When do you wanna do it? Sat around the Christmas tree, like?

Buster: There's never gonna be a good time

Rio: Exactly

Rio: I'm scared

Buster: I know

Buster: But whatever happens, you're safe with me

Buster: I'm not going anywhere, not without you

Rio: Yeah

Rio: I feel it, I really do

Rio: We'll think about it, but we've got fun to have first, like

Buster: Just think, they can't all hate us, there's so many of them, that's basic probability, yeah? Someone's gotta be alright with it

Buster: It's not like any of the fam actually have room to judge anyway

Rio: It's a number's game, yeah? 😂

Rio: Already thinking like you in that casino

Rio: I don't want any of them to hate us, is the issue but you know

Rio: gotta be real

Rio: it's too hard to live like this and think it's forever, nah

Buster: You know it, babe 🎲 I'm so ready

Buster: Yeah, but I don't reckon anyone will

Buster: Not with all the shit this fam has been through already

Buster: And like you said, even if there's drama, it's gotta be done

Rio: Same 💃

Rio: I don't wanna think about it anymore, distract me

Buster: Okay baby

Buster: [Sends pics]

Buster: Think about me

Rio: How could I think about anything else now? 😻

Rio: Why you so good

Buster: Spending too much time with you, obviously

Rio: I mean #myinfluence

Rio: Your nude game has no doubt gone ⬆

Buster: Doing yourself a favor is the ultimate selfishness

Buster: Well done

Buster: So proud

Rio: See? I knew what I was doing all along 😚

Rio: Basic rules of karma, send good nudes and you shall receive

Buster: I'll ignore the implication that my angles were for shit before, yeah?

Buster: 'Cause when you asked for a distraction I don't reckon you wanted a fight

Rio: Come on 😏 Gimme that

Rio: you can say you've my fair lady'd me if you want

Buster: I'll let you have it 'cause I know I wasn't trying for the girls in this postcode

Buster: If you promise not to get too fancy on me

Rio: I'm not gonna be the one to call myself a bit of rough but we all thinking it

Buster: I was gonna say real

Buster: But alright

Rio: I prefer that

Buster: Whatever we're calling it, it's working for me

Buster: I like you

Rio: Works for me

Rio: You're not so bad yourself too so

Buster: Yeah, I know

Buster: 😏

Rio: Letting you have it

Buster: What else are you gonna let me have before it's officially my birthday?

Rio: Not your presents, if that's what you're thinking

Buster: Come on

Buster: I'll act proper surprised on the day

Rio: 😏

Rio: Was about to doubt your acting ability but we've pulled this off so far so maybe you can be trusted

Buster: No need to ever doubt me, babe

Buster: I'm that good

Rio: Okay, just one, like

Rio: Mum enough for you? 😂

Buster: 😂

Buster: OG MILF

Buster: Nance missed a trick there

Rio: It's frankly insulting

Rio: she's seen me in peak ma action and still not feeling it

Buster: Poor baby

Buster: I got all the good taste, that's all

Rio: 😻

Rio: Gonna let you have that too, not just to save my ego

Buster: You know it's true too

Buster: You've always been my type, babe

Rio: Yeah?

Buster: Yeah

Buster: Don't let the torture like kiss fool you

Buster: I reckoned it was gonna be my finest moment, at the time

Rio: It was perfect

Buster: Babe

Buster: Don't lie

Rio: I mean

Rio: obviously it wasn't the most technically perfect but

Rio: I'm glad it was you

Buster: Me too

Buster: My mum and dad talk a lot of shit but there's something to be said for having firsts with someone

Buster: Someone you actually want

Rio: Yeah

Rio: never good to look back on someone you've been with and really think, what the fuck

Buster: I've got enough of them without adding you to the list

Rio: Same frankly

Rio: Gotta try and keep the number down

Buster: Exactly

Buster: Why I don't do repeats

Rio: Well, the idea is repeat when you like 'em

Rio: not guaranteed you won't regret but you know, better odds in that category

Buster: 'Course

Rio: Have you ever slept with the same person more than once though?

Rio: Surely

Buster: Yeah. You

Buster: I mean, when I was a kid I did all my firsts with the same girl but once we fucked she chucked me so

Buster: Lesson learned

Rio: Awh

Rio: How mean

Buster: She regretted it

Buster: Not my bad, like I was obviously incredible but

Rio: Naturally

Rio: Nah, most people do

Rio: well, from what I can gather, the girls do and the boys were just scared then underwhelmed by it all

Rio: oh god, do not take me back, like

Buster: Same

Buster: Granted there's a lot of shit I could and would do better or not bother doing in the first place but like

Buster: Nah

Rio: Yeah, can't waste your time on that

Rio: who knows who or where you'd be now if you did it different, like

Buster: Cunt then, cunt now

Buster: It doesn't matter

Rio: Shut up

Rio: You are not

Rio: and you weren't that bad, anyway, we're all entitled to that phase

Buster: You're so biased

Buster: Just always loved me

Buster: Can't get enough of it

Rio: 😏

Rio: Why do you want me to think you're a cunt so bad, honestly

Buster: 'Cause I am

Buster: And you're too smart to buy into my bullshit, yeah?

Rio: I am

Rio: but you might not be if you're actually convinced you're a bad person, like

Buster: I'm not saying I'm 😈 just that I ain't a good person, let's be honest

Buster: Chlo reckons you can't buy class but what you can't buy is a decent set of morals

Rio: You are

Rio: You've just done some shit things and who hasn't

Buster: Like I said, you're shamelessly influenced by your 😍

Buster: I'm not mad about it though

Rio: 😑

Rio: No

Buster: Don't get mad about it yourself

Rio: I'm not mad just

Rio: You should know you aren't a bad person

Buster: Give me another year of being stuck here being a cunt first

Buster: 'Cause I know there ain't much I can do about that

Rio: That don't count, they don't deserve nice things or you

Buster: Stay with me though, yeah? Even though you do

Rio: I will because you are

Rio: You're good where it counts

Rio: and you're gonna make things up with Nancy you know

Buster: I'm gonna try

Buster: Patience is one thing I am good at, like

Buster: Get it done in the end

Rio: Exactly, you wouldn't give a shit if you were an actual cunt

Buster: I'm sure not every cunt is an only child, babe

Buster: She's still my sister

Rio: Stop fighting it

Rio: Accept your 😇

Buster: Alright

Buster: But only 'cause I'm hoping it means you get to be 😈

Rio: Might make an exception for you, babe

Rio: 'cos you know, I'm practically perfect in every way, like

Buster: Yeah

Buster: Perfect for me, which means you know when to be good and when not to

Buster: So please

Rio: Okay

Rio: I'm convinced 😈

Buster: Glad to hear it

Buster: Call me until I'm convinced too

Rio: 🤤 Sir yes sir

[weekegg2-blog]

Thirteen of Third Coast’s Favorite Scary Gaming Moments

As Halloween weekend comes to a close, you might be feeling a bit of sadness at the prospect of all the spooky fun fading. Don’t fret though, because Halloween isn’t over yet, and neither is all the scary fun. Here at Third Coast, we’ve compiled a list of the scariest moments we’ve had playing video games, and we’re here to share them with you. So grab some Halloween candy and explore our favorite frightening game moments. Then, if you dare, scout the Halloween sales on Playstation, Xbox and Steam’s Halloween sale (starting today) and spend some time reliving the horrifying moments we mentioned. Third Coast gamers Antal Bokor, Marielle Shaw, James Brod, Matthew Bucher and Allison Manley share their favorite scares below.

Screenshot: Penumbra: Overture (via igdb.com)

Penumbra: Overture

I came across Penumbra a few years after it came out, and I’m not sure exactly what drew me towards it. It immediately gave me an eerie, found footage sort of vibe, like I discovered something forbidden, or even cursed. Penumbra’s inherent jankiness really helped drive that impression home, but if you’re willing to suffer through some clunkiness you’ll find a truly unsettling, extremely atmospheric and compelling game about a man trying to find his long-presumed dead father in a remote underground facility in northern Greenland. Brave creatures, fight your deteriorating psyche, solve physics-based puzzles, and uncover horrific mysteries. Developed by Frictional games, known for Amnesia and Soma, Penumbra is a survival/psychological horror that will haunt you.

-Antal

Screenshot: Tomb Raider III

Tomb Raider (Series)

I may have already mentioned I was hooked on Tomb Raider from the very first game, but what needs mentioning in a list of scary games is that there are some truly terrifying moments in those first three Tomb Raider games. Some are by design—like the incredibly creepy last two levels of the original game, where the walls pulse and strange aliens abound—but others happened more organically. I remember being engrossed in a complicated puzzle in the midst of a lush jungle in Tomb Raider III only to nearly die of a heart attack when a tiger would suddenly ambush me, destroying my moment of quiet contemplation. Perhaps the scariest thing I remember happening in any Tomb Raider game I’ve played though was during Tomb Raider III, when a giant Shiva statue came to life in what had previously been a peaceful puzzle room. The legacy continues, too, as Shadow of the Tomb Raider turned out to have some very frightening foes in the depths of its cave systems. 

– Mariel

Screenshot: Subnautica

Subnautica

Not a conventional horror game, Subnautica is perhaps the game that scared me the most on this entire list. When I reviewed it last year (link to review) I mentioned its scarier moments, and even after putting about fifty more hours into that game since I reviewed it and even knowing all of its secrets, I still feel uneasy in its depths. There’s an extremely primal fear throughout as you are introduced to an underwater food chain that places you somewhere in the middle. Star Trek-like technology helps surviving under the oceans possible, but not necessarily easy as uncovering its mysteries puts you closer to some of Subnautica’s more terrifying creatures and environments.

-Antal

Screenshot: Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear is great because it’s a first-person psychological horror game featuring classic works of art mixed with grotesque uses for body parts… but it’s also got a LOT of great jump scares. Throughout the game (set in an artists’ manor), a lot of the paranoia comes in constantly-shifting hallways, many of which have words written on the walls and over the doorways. In one of those hallways, the wall above the door says “DON’T LOOK BACK.” When you see that, you just have to turn around, right? Let’s just say that if you play the game, you probably don’t want to. Unless you want to change your pants.

-Allison

Screenshot: Dead Space

Dead Space

I’d heard of the Dead Space games for years, and I’d always been interested. Resident Evil 4 in space, and gorier? Sign me up. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Dead Space is a horror game for people who don’t like feeling completely defenseless, without sacrificing the teeth-grinding anxiety that horror games give you in spades. It has plenty of satisfying weaponry, which is perfect when you’re going up against some of the most disturbingly scary creatures in any horror game I’ve played, because when every enemy you face looks like it was ripped right out of The Thing (which is a must watch for horror movie fans), you know you’re going to have a bad time. All of this is brought together with a setting that feels like Alien but scarier makes Dead Space a must play for fans of the horror genre.

– James

Screenshot: The Evil Within

The Evil Within

Legendary director and developer Shinji Mikami, best known for his work with Capcom and the Resident Evil Series, helped not only create the modern survival horror genre—but he also helped redefine it with Resident Evil 4 in 2002. When Evil Within came out, I think people were expecting another genre defining game. Instead, we got a mind fuck that is worthy of cult status. Gritty and rough around the edges, Evil Within is like playing through a horror hodgepodge. Taking cues from Silent Hill and the Resident Evil series, The Evil Within plays like the nightmare you would have after binge playing as many games in those series as possible. With a story that jumps from setting to setting without much explanation (until the end), increase the sense of hopelessness. And if that wasn’t bad enough, even on “Normal” difficulty The Evil Within can be pretty difficult, and checkpoints can be pretty sparse adding another layer fear in the form of lost progress. The sequel (see our review here) is a lot more conventional to modern horror standards, and while it never felt as gritty as the original, is also worth a look.

-Antal

Screenshot: The Forest

The Forest

I went into The Forest preparing to be scared. I knew it was a sort of Descent-esque survival game, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much horror would be involved. Try as I might to convince myself that the terrifying mutations that exist in the forests where my plane crashed weren’t real, the sounds they made, the way they hunt in packs, and the particular combination of twisted body parts they’re made up of had me legitimately terrified for almost the entire first half of the game. Adding to the fright factor, the monsters’ attack patterns are erratic—sometimes they’ll charge straight for you in groups, but sometimes they’ll fake you out, letting out a crazy sort of laughing sound as they do. Once you start exploring the caves, you’ll find newer and deeper horrors, with bloody limbs you’ll need to brush past, empty camps where things went terribly wrong, and the knowledge that just around the next bend you may encounter something you can’t get out of. While I eventually conquered my paralyzing fear of The Forest’s citizens and was better able to face off with them, I still can’t shake that uneasy feeling every time I load back into the game. 

– Mariel

Screenshot: Bloodborne

Bloodborne

Not strictly a horror game, its risk/reward mechanics can create some stressful moments—but more than that, Bloodborne is absolutely chock full of horror style. Werewolves, giant insects, and even eldritch horrors abound in a game that is just as horrifying as it is difficult. Arguably the best game in the Souls series, Bloodborne reinvents as much as refines the Souls series in a way that even Dark Souls 3 couldn’t completely match

– Antal

System Shock 2

When you think of evil video game AIs you might think of GLADoS, but the first think I think of is Shodan. While GLADoS had a sort of plucky wackiness to her evil, Shodan was ruthless and terrifying. Not satisfied with sending her zombified, mutated and cybernetically enhanced minions after you, Shodan also enjoys taunting you as you fight for your life, as seen in the above reveal rant from the original System Shock game. While the original System Shock is a cult classic that has been re-released over the years (with Nightdive Studios even working on a complete Unreal engine-based remake) I personally found System Shock 2 to be the scarier of the two, but they’re both great atmospheric games—and the spiritual predecessors to the Bioshock series.

-Antal

Screenshot: Bioshock

Bioshock

Going into Bioshock, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d picked up a PS3 a year or two after its initial release and was going back and trying to play the games I’d heard everyone raving about. I didn’t expect to be taken in by the game, but as soon as I emerged from that initial bathysphere ride into Rapture I was hooked. And scared. The lonely corridors paired with the cheerful 50’s dance classics set the mood perfectly, and it was all downhill from there, from the terrifying masks on the bunny splicers in their bloodied dresses to the Scripture quoting, hymn singing others gone mad and waiting to tear you apart. All this without even mentioning the terrifying stomping and hissing of Big Daddies lurking nearby, or the inherent scariness of the Little Sisters who accompanied them and their high-pitched shrieks. Bioshock had me so entirely immersed in its world that I still think of those frightening depths today. 

– Mariel

Screenshot: Raw Data

Raw Data

Raw Data is one of the few VR games that really manages to feel like a “full” game. It can also be really terrifying. Sure, we’ve seen a lot of horrible things in games, as evidenced by the stories you’ve read in this article so far alone. But when you’ve got the headset on and you’re in a dark laboratory corridor where there’s been a containment problem and robots in various stages of disrepair start attacking, it’s a whole new sort of fright. The worst ones for me were the ones that slowly slithered on the cold tile floor only to leap into your face at the last second. Even with weapons at the ready, I felt ill-prepared for their glowy red eyes and cold metallic skin so close to my face I could almost feel it.

-Mariel

Screenshot: Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 2

One of the scariest moments I remember from a video game was in Resident Evil 2 for N64. One of the most memorable things about early Resident Evil games for me was simply opening doors. The creak of the door and the darkness inside served as a loading screen, but was also nerve wracking. Would something pop up? What was waiting for you in the next room? After playing through Resident Evil 1 and growing used to that loading screen, RE2 made it scary again. Opening doors was business as usual until one door opened to reveal a horde of zombies coming into your area.

– Matthew

Screenshot: Alien: Isolation

Alien: Isolation

When Alien: Isolation came out to rave reviews, I was super psyched to wash my mouth of the bitterness that was Aliens: Colonial Marines and finally embrace a truly good Alien game. And then it was so scary I couldn’t beat it. I played it for several hours, reveling in its retro-futurism and its recreation of a 1980s Alien world—one that believably sat between Alien and Aliens. But then I ran into that damned xenomorph, some primal childhood fear reared its head, and I was paralyzed. My mom used to warn me that watching the Alien franchise would scare me, but I certainly did not listen. After imagining there was a slickly oily, acid-blooded creature waiting to kill me with its razor claws and extending, stabby jaw for the majority of my life, facing a moving and thinking manifestation of my childhood fear was too much. I never beat Alien: Isolation—because it scared me too much. But I vow to return someday…just not today.

– Antal

We hope you’ve had fun with this list of our favorite scary game moments. If you’ve got your own favorite moments to add to this list, leave them in the comments!

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Categories: Game, Games & Tech, Round-Up

Tagged as: Alien: Isolation, Bioshock, Bloodborne, Dead Space, gaming, halloween, Layers of Fear, Penumbra: Overture, PlayStation, ps4, Raw Data, Resident Evil 2, scary gaming moments, shadow of the tomb raider, Steam, Subnautica, System Shock 2, The Evil Within, The Forest, Tomb Raider, Xbox, XBoxOne

Source: https://thirdcoastreview.com/2018/10/29/eleven-scary-gaming-moments/