#just sharing some random screenshots from 2016 for now

[sgiandubh]

Autopsy of a gay lie: the Wikipedia trail

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

― Abraham Lincoln

For starters, sorry for the length and numerous screencaps. It is an investigation, after all and these are sorely needed.

Never underestimate the conjugated power of Internet, a Sunday afternoon and the lightbulb moment that can happen while baking something, because you know, people have also to reward themselves at some point.

I might have fucked up my foolproof Lemon Squares recipe, but I regret nothing. It took me three hours I could have gratefully used to finish that spirits post, but this is too damn good not to share.

Remember Meow Kabob's cross my heart and hope to die pinky swear she found confirmation of Data Lounge's allegations on Wikipedia, out of all places? How she regularly unburies that infamous screenshot listing S under the Wiki "Gay Actors" category? How she told us, filthy and uneducated shipper mob, over and over again, that story about STARZ people scouring the Internet far and wide and scrubbing any gay reference related to S, as soon or shortly after he was cast as JAMMF?

I can confidently prove now Lincoln's perennial truths I quoted above apply to this situation.

I was just pouring my lemon juice, eggs, flour and sugar mix over the hot and nutty shortbread when I stopped in my tracks: 'wait a second, isn't Wikipedia an open source project? BUT OF COURSE IT IS, SILLY COW - yes, I very often talk to myself like that. RUN. NOW. I HAVE TO KNOW.'

Sure enough, like death and taxes, the full edit list of S's Wikipedia page was there for everyone to see:

Even better, since Internet is forever, we have full access to all these edits and can take screenshots.

This is how Sam's Wikipedia odissey started, on November 11th 2007, when he was the complete underdog:

A ' strapping lad with natural dark blonde hair and 6'2'' tall', ideal for the role of Alexander the Great - pious silence and RIP. I grinned, because it sounds well, naïve? It also sounds gay, perhaps? What else does it prove, other than the gay crowd has an acute interest for novelty and a wandering eye?

Nothing. Not even remotely related to S.

Also, note the two classification categories: British TV actor stubs/ British actor stubs. Mark them, they stayed still and alone for a looooong time.

Up until 2009, in fact, when the wikientry was no longer considered a stub and even got several category additions:

Then again, some movin' on up, on that semi-dormant page, in 2013. Totes normal:

By early 2014, even more interest in S commands an expanded webpage and a longer, more detailed, category listing:

Let's quickly peruse 2015...

2016...

The incorrect Irish descent category stayed there for about ten days, until removed by another user. This is how it is done and it is then added to the list:

2017, 2018, 2019, early 2020, no change in the categories, but all hell broke lose content-wise. From Cirdan, the 'estranged brother' acting in a very gay connotated theatre production I have never heard about, in London, September 2016...

...... to a woman named Tiffany Trach who used to dream the impossible dream, in October 2016 (and she was not the only one, far from it)...

...to some halfwit being rightfully slapped for adding brainless Flukenzie Floozy content in March 2017:

By that time, I was getting supremely bored clicking on links and wanted to pack the tent and throw my lemon squares in the trash bin. But, lo and behold, what do I see on January 26th 2020:

With the tag possible vandalism:

Whodunnit?

A very brave person, hiding under a string of random numbers...

... and one single contribution EVER to the Wikipedia juggernaut. This is what I would call a targeted attack:

It stayed like that, unmolested, for five days only, until the user Spiderpig662 decided enough is enough and did something about it...

....categories being then restored to the previous wording:

The last vicious gay reference on Wikipedia dates back to May 28th 2020 (Ha-wa-wee, anyone?), was labeled as 'hate speech' & promptly removed:

Where wuffter is, in British Cockney slang:

Same modus operandi, this time an IP address, pinging in (you simply can't make this shit up, can you?)...

County Durham, FYI.

I then asked myself when exactly did Meow Kabob appear on Tumblr?

Even more exactly, on...

That is, to say the least, a troubling coincidence.

I do not imply anything, I have no wish to attack anyone. All I am saying, is that particular argument, which this user is shouting anytime she is prompted to, had a very short online lifespan. How could an American woman, who appeared in this fandom shortly afterwards, have known about changes operated for five days only, by an unknown user, on the open source webpage of a B-listed British actor?

I have only one question, Your Honor:

WHY?

I rest my case.

[Edit]: To make it maybe more clear, I now know where the person adding that category lives, thanks to Wikipedia's own tracking system:

No surprises here:

Augusta. Georgia. USA.

Now, yes. Now I rest my case.

[bgeevee2005]

Things I've been working on for quite a while

Ok. I know I haven’t drawn or written anything properly for quite some time now. However, I’ve been working on new ideas I’ve been planning to share one day. Keep in mind I might not share them immediately, as I’m Senior in high school, and I have to do exams for both graduation and other stuff related to my education. Anyway, enough with all of these, here are all my ideas I've been working on:

Liberty Gangstress (LBGT) - a Pokémon story, which will include many of my brand new OCs I’ve worked on for over a year. Similar to Heateon, whose story plot was based on Need For Speed Heat, this new story plot will be inspired by Need For Speed Unbound.

Creating and introducing multiple new OCs, and sharing some one-shot stories I’ve gotten ideas for, and whose Alpha & Beta versions were written with the assistance of ChatGPT. Before you all ask, no, I only used ChatGPT to help me get inspiration and motivation for these stories and characters, while everything I’ll show to the public will belong 100% to me.

Outlaw Gangster (OG) - A heavily rewritten story, whose original was a very old Pokémon story I wrote from between September 2019 to January 2021. In this case, however, all characters will be humans, and keep in mind that many of the characters in it will also be inspired by people I know in real life. So please, if you have anything about any of the cast, keep in mind that some characters might have prototype patents from IRL people. Story will take place in a different timeline from the IRL one, as the story IRL was originally established back in 2016, when I was only 11 and half. And unlike my most stories, this one will possibly be exclusive to only some sites, as uploading everything everywhere is getting harder and harder for me everyday.

Rush Gotham Blur - a Pokémon story, which story plot takes no inspiration, and it’s my own original. It’ll basically be considered a missing link that connects all my stories.

Millennial (Alpha/Beta title) - a Pokémon story, which will be a sequel of LBGT, taking place in the near future, and also set in a fictional city, based nearly perfectly on my own hometown Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

Trying my best to share as many video game screenshots as possible, mostly from Gran Turismo 7, but also from The Crew 2 & Motorfest, and if possible, from NFS Heat & NFS Unbound as well.

I’ve been working on a Discord server for a while now, and if you’re interested, you can join, and I’ll send you a private invitation, as I don’t want everyone to join. This is my new server, as I had an old one, which was an epic failure in my own personal opinion, as I was only 15, meaning I sucked really bad back then. Anyway, if you want to join, text me via Discord or by the websites’ personal DMs. I do that for security and safety measures, as I don’t want random and unwanted lurkers and haters in my servers. 

Keep in mind that I might not be able to accomplish everything I have shared here, as I’m over 18 now, and I don’t know how much I might be able to accomplish. However, if you don’t see anything shared from what I’ve written here, don’t worry, I might be able to share them one day, just not immediately.

Finally, before you all ask, I know I haven’t done anything online in a very long time, I just went through a lot of personal and online issues. So if you see me being inactive, don’t worry, I’m still here, I just need time for myself.

Ok. I think this is all for now. If you have any questions, text me in the comments or hit me via Discord DM. However, if you do the latter, please introduce yourselves to me first, as I’ve been scammed by online hackers multiple times on all my social media, and I have some serious trust issues as well. It’s not personal, I just don’t want to become a victim of hackers and scammers, as I almost fell for one back in December 2023.

Stay safe! And try your best to stay strong!

From BGEevee2005 (Martin/Marto/Miles)

[thesecretattic]

WONT BE TAKING MORE SCREENSHOTS, please read directly on FB - Zara Sauleh or Tumblr: TheSecretAttic.

I’m still not well my mother was clenching her teeth and saying “You didn’t die” angrily. When I said that hugging part in a certain post a few months back the one which had his pic which I had got when I was looking for his show on Wikipedia which I came to know due to a fanclub when I accidentally clicked on the notification panel as I have not seen him or anyone he knows his friends or relatives or siblings since 2016. I had written in that post “I’m so hurt that in heaven when we’ll meet I’ll hug him and cry, cry a lot.” I had read that soulmates acknowledge each other once they reach their higher purpose or calling or meet the elevated plane of their soul/ as in their highest potential or else they can be influenced on earth and get mean to you (I don’t believe in it much as these are all human interpretations and I had more reasons than him to act like that I was more vulnerable but I was still good with him) I was forced to believe that maybe at least in heaven he will accept me so I wrote it but I actually didn’t mean that cuz I’ll look the same there also… hence I had already made different plans, I would say this since 2019 ever since it struck me that I’ll be keeping to myself and not associating with anyone I’ll be the complete opposite (now you know why people are antisocial? Cuz they are unwelcomed) I will not repeat the same mistake, when you are born you intrinsically know you are supposed to be someone’s friend, another’s family member then a lover etc. you realise you will have some or the other role to play in people’s lives but then takes years to realise that people don’t want you, no one does at times even your nuclear family doesn’t so it’s best to stay away from everyone. I’m too unwell I’m still not feeling okay, I’ve somehow written it I can’t cry more. I’ve never felt this sick before and you’ve seen my nerve in the recent hand pic with my iPhone on my main insta for those of you who have the ID, it’s still up and it’s been like this ever since I’ve become bed ridden or got my first flare due to all this stress 2016, it pains and swells more I had a nightmare today where I saw myself looking up for Preet in my sleepy state on twitter and like I said I never stalk anyone, I saw that twitter had changed the layout of their profiles and it now had a collage of photos which would keep changing probably because I had widgets in mind cuz I was putting them together and I saw he was doing some show and he was standing in front of the banner with his gf and he had posted a pic of his mom and I was saw he had also shared a pic of Aneri in a short hairstyle a bob cut - that was nightmarish I kept believing it was real while I was asleep and I woke up half drowsy and immediately checked my search history on twitter and any random person’s profile to convince myself that it was just a nightmare. Next I saw a big black bird almost like a vulture entering our window and room & my mom fighting with me as usual. I still have a little bit of fever and I’m not well bye.

- Zara Sauleh

#harshrajput #anerivajani Ppl involved) #salonichopra #pseudofeminist #mohsinkhan #pishachini #jiyashankar

[kaylynn-langerak]

Simblr Community Challenge

I was tagged by @arielovessims , @limejellysims , @oliveandgrimshouse , @janika31 , and @penig ! Thank all of you so much for tagging me! Apologies for the absolute wall of text, I'm a rambler.

Simblr community challenge by Amelettes!

How long have you been playing the Sims?

Since 2000 or 2001, (so like 2/3 of my life) sometime after Livin’ Large came out, but before House Party. I was 10 or 11, and me and my mom went to K-Mart (RIP), where I discovered Livin’ Large. She also thought the game looked fun, so she bought it for me. I was so excited to play and spent the whole ride home looking at the box, only to not be able to play it because we didn’t realize that it was an expansion pack and that meant we had to have the base game. I’m certain I cried. But within a week or so she got me the base game, and I was instantly addicted. My mom used to let me skip school on new expansion release dates, and had to drive an hour to the nearest GameStop to get them. She did the same thing for TS2, which I started playing the day it came out.

How long have you been a Simblr, and why did you become one?

I think I started this blog in July 2017. After my ex burned my house down in September 2016, I discovered that one of the few things to survive the fire were my TS2 discs. But after I let my pc dry out for a while and got it running again it turned out my disc drive no longer worked, so I started looking for an “alternative” source for the game and discovered that Ultimate Collection was a free thing I could get. I’d already been following some simblrs on my personal tumblr for a while (I was lurking on you guys!), and decided to make one of my own to post screenshots from my game, but rather than make a side blog I made a new email and account so my dash would be nothing but sims!

What type of Simblr are you?

A sporadic one? At first I just posted random gameplay stuff, I’ve dabbled in stories, and I make cc. I’d love to get back into writing stories, and share cc more often like I used to, but my mental health is, well let’s just call it “not good”, so I struggle to even do things I enjoy. I still have a desire to do things, and I do write down a lot of ideas, but it’s just hard for me to actually do the thing. I’ve pretty much been in a state of “be back soon - struggling right now!” for like 2.5 years and it sucks. I feel bad.

Which generation of Sims do you primarily play?

TS2! TS1 might have been my first love, but TS2 is my true love. I do wish I could play TS1, but my pc hates it. I really need to just sit down and fight it until I can make it work. TS3 has also been growing on me the past year or so. It does have some really awesome features, but is also just a general mess in other ways? That’s another one that I need to just sit down and take the time to figure out what mods to get, how they work, where to get the fixed worlds and content, etc.. Something I never liked about it was how the actual sims themselves look? Like potato-y but also uncanny? Or is that just me? But I’ve seen really beautiful TS3 sims that don’t look like that at all, so again, if I could just put the time and effort into making pretty faces and fixing the glitches/annoyances I think I could get a lot more into TS3. TS4 doesn’t really interest me? My grandma got me the base game years ago, and it lives on the shelf with all my other sims games but I never installed it, not that my sad old pc could handle it anyway. My boyfriend got Xbox Game Pass recently, and they have it on there so maybe I’ll mess around with it on console? I do like looking at other people’s TS4 though, and I love 4t2 conversions.

Rules - Tag some people, and let the community bonding commence!

I tag @asimplevampire , @withlovefromsimtown , @thatmultifandomteen , @sixamese-simblr , @frauhupfner , @furbyq , @silverspringsimmer , and anyone else who wants to do it, just say I tagged you! Feel free to not do it if you don’t want to, or already have!

[knightofameris]

—𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬—

◦ 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ◦ 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠! ◦ 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠! ◦ 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒! ◦ 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠!! (𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠!)

𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠' 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒: blacklist “ameris 500 celebration!” if you don’t want to see any of my posts about this celebration! also if this flops i will cry. jk i won’t but it’ll definitely take a hit on my heart u__u (and if it does flop, you didn’t see this post)

—𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍—

Ahhhh! I’m so amazed that I got to 500 followers despite the fact that I barely?? Post?? And sometimes I just talk about random shit but even then, I still appreciate all of you guys so much? I have a few options on what I have to celebrate and I am so excited heheh. But before I get started I just,,, Have a few more things I’d like to talk about (cus I like to talk LOL). Feel free to skip though!! 

content continued below the cut!! (warning; introduction is long because I just have a lot of thoughts I want to share LOL. seriously, feel free to just skip) 

I know that I only really started posting Haikyuu!! around my 300 mark, and I feel like the people after my 300 mark are the one’s who are active because of how much I come onto tumblr and then disappear. 

If you don’t know this, I’ve actually been writing on Tumblr since 2015/2016. I’ve just changed blogs so many times that it’s like, hey, this is my new blog. Or like, I would write for a few months, disappear, come back but then everyone who followed me was dead so I was like eh I’ll just start again or whatever. And I think this makes me very very soft because out of all the communities I’ve been in, I’ve truly felt more welcome/at home even?? With everyone in Haikyuu? Like yeah there’s shit that goes down every few days or whatever but it’s always so fun to see people interact with each other and though I was hesitant at first (because before this the only writer I’ve ever interacted with was Scout for marvel oop) I’m really glad I reached out to a few of y’all and vice versa. 

But despite that, Marvel will always hold a place in my heart and to everyone who followed me from my Marvel days, thank you for supporting me way back when. And even to my Narnia days (AHAHAHA). I don’t think I would’ve continued writing on tumblr without your guys’ support. I know that younger me appreciated you all for reading those old works (even if I hate my old writing now). 

And to everyone now, thank you for sending in asks or commenting on my works. I actually think I would’ve disappeared by this time from this blog if you guys didn’t interact. I’m not saying I’m writing for the follows or the notes, if that makes sense. But it’s more like, I feel less of a robot that people expect to churn out works. Idk, it makes me feel like a person? And it just gives me a lot more serotnin than you might think!! 

One last thing though, it’s not me saying I expect you guys to always read my work and always comment. It’s more so, I’d actually rather have you guys comment or whatever because you want to and you want to read it. Like on one hand yes it does make me feel appreciated but I also don’t want you to feel obligated or feel guilty of you don’t read my things. No matter what, I will always be writing. It definitely does feel nice tho LOL 

I promise in the future, if I ever do intros they won’t be this long lol. 

Phew. Anyway. 

For this celebration, this is only for Haikyuu!!

—𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒—

I love love love self ships SO much. So I want to hear about your guys’ self ships! 

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬

this will only be open from 12am september 23 — 11:59pm september 25 PST 

any requests received before or after will be deleted (may be extended depending on how many requests I get!)

do keep in mind that i’m starting classes soon so it will take me some time to get through this.

send it in through asks or submissions! 

send in as many asks as you’d like

if you use an emoji to show who you are, include it on all asks :3c

nothing nsfw for this, thanks!

since this is a follower celebration,,, i do have to ask that you be following me! honestly, i won’t check if you are, thats too much work on my part but it would mean a lot if you’re following me to participate in this celebration! ); 

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 [example]

i will be creating two instagram posts with one of them having a comment section (3-4 screenshots)

i might also include a screenshot of your profile and/or your s/o if I can put in more pictures!

chats with your s/o ( heheh (; ) (1-2 screenshots)

chats with your s/o’s team! (1-2 screenshots) (this will possibly be with the entire team or just a select few)

take a look at the example as that’s what i’ve done for a friend of mine!!

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨

send in 1-2 headcanons about you and your s/o

send in a little bit about your personality!!

your pronouns! and a name you’d like to go by!

give me your instagram handle! (not your real one, but what it would be within haikyuu) otherwise, i’ll make a random one based off your name!

what are your ~aesthetics~ 

what phone nickname would u have for your s/o (or any other people on the team) so it can be more personalized! or if ur like me where everyone is just their name besides a select few

do u have particular texting habits?

what’s your favorite animal? this is what I will be putting as your profile picture! alternatively if you submit all of this through my submissions and give me a piccrew, I will use that!

you could give me the most BASIC description, you don’t need to do all of these points, and i’d be fine with that. It’s up to you how much you want this to be personalized <3

(also this one’s not necessary, it’ll just be more ~fun~ but lmk if u wanna be a manager of the team! or if u have ur own little AU so u might have other certain details u want to throw in. otherwise i’m gonna make it a sorta free for all lol)

𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒: hi! my name’s ameris and i ship myself with suga! my pronouns are she/her/hers and i like to think that suga and i have a sort of childhood friends to lovers trope. i also like to think that we go stargazing at least once a month no matter what! my aesthetic is definitely space heh. i’m a little bit like suga where i’m chaos and baby! i curse a lot and i have way too many interests to count but i always like trying new things! my instagram handle would be ameris_stars (dude idk lMAO) and suga’s name in my phone would be Koushi <3 i make a lot of typos and i like using a mix of emojis and emoticons/occasional kaomojis. my favorite animal is a fox or dog!

this,,, is a lot but i’m okay with that! heheh

to protect you, I won’t publish your ask! I will make separate posts titled w/ your name + s/o + emoji (if you use your emoji). If you do it off anon, I will tag you! 

Request List!! If you don’t see your name on here, just submit it again :3c I will not be tagging for the sake of not spamming you guys lol. 

—𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐔—

I would love love love to get to know you! So tell me about yourself! 

what’s your favorite color?

who’re your favorite haikyuu characters?

favorite haikyuu teams?

you got any writers you want to give a shout out to?

maybe a little self promo too?

adsfasdfasdflj i will keep bringing this up but like any,,, spice asks,,, about the haikyuu characters cus like,,, lol

horn knee asks will be tagged with: “ameris needs a drink” which honestly sounds like i need an alcoholic drink and at this point, yeah 

please be 18+ if you do send in any spicey asks!!

This can go on for as long as y’all want really, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I’ll just answer these like normal and spread them out too lol

—𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐄—

I have a few ask games I’ve reblogged before, so I have a few linked for you LOL 

intrusive asks 👁👄👁

~space~ asks! (this has a lot more!)

zodiac asks (just about my writing!)

writer’s asks

a little game I got from my friend which I think is absolutely so much fun

this is a version of fuck-marry-kill, but send in THREE characters (this one can be from any mix of my interests!) and I’ll choose which one I’d rather have a fanfic trope with: 

“enemies-to-lovers” 

“childhood friends-to-lovers” 

and “fake dating”

would definitely prefer haikyuu characters

but doing a mix and match from all my interests is a lotta fun

things i used to or am currently into: haikyuu, marvel, bnha, demon slayer, rwby, sailor moon, voltron, dc, overwatch, tales of vesperia, legend of zelda, bungo stray dogs, narnia (lmao), one piece, uhm, i’ll add more if i can think of more, tbh u can even just say random characters and i’ll just google them 

As always though, feel free to ask me any other questions!!

this will also go on for as long as whenever, i’ll probably spread out this one! 

—𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒—

AH. It was lookin a little long so here’s the link to the post :3c (will edit post later!!! when I come back from my exam!!!)

to those who got to the end, omg i’m sorry. i talk so much. but thank you for your support and just getting through this block of words hakdfhkasf

[lazybirdxd]

Kaylor: The hidden true timeline

Sometimes reality exceeds our expectations, and oftentimes we are not aware that such reality exists. Until we take a deeper look.

I recently finished reading a (controversial) fanfic by a certain writer (If you’re an old Kaylor you know which fanfic, if you’re new, it’s called “Kaylor: The timeline”) and what stood out for me the most about that fanfic is that it is incredibly accurate in the way it tells the story, a story that is well thought of, it has a chronological coherence and character construction that is very difficult to surpass. The amazing thing about it is not the story in itself, but rather the level of insight it gives about the characters, behavior analysis, recognition of complex emotions and its roots in the characters, as well as a constant foreshadowing of the aesthetics of the coming era (reputation era). I think that because of this complexity and the level of details included, both Karlie and Taylor wrote it. How did I arrive to that conclusion (that many of you older Kaylors also suspect to be true)? -I'll be focusing only on the authorship of the fanfic, if you want me to analyze the story, leave a comment!-

Taylor discussing Karlie’s inability to communicate any uncomfortable situation to Taylor in the 12th chapter of part two.

Well, let’s see. The fanfic has an element of entertainment to it (no, that’s not my strongest argument, but hold on), it’s as if the writer knew which parts of the story to highlight in order for the readers to be engaged with the story from the beginning. But it doesn’t JUST take a good story for a book to be read (or in this case, a Wattpad book), you need to have the right characters in your story for people to feel identified with and represented by them. In essence, the story needs to make sense, needs to remain just a story (that means having the right amount of fantasy and the right amount of truth so that it still feels real), it needs to have complex yet relatable characters that appeal to the essential parts of human nature, and a relatively simple vocabulary (unless your expected audience is very educated) along with descriptive (visual) language, because the public has to imagine the situations the characters are going through, as well as their very environment. Also, your use of your chosen lexicon has to convey all the meaning of your story in its simplicity. I don’t know about you, but these requirements feel like the abilities of a very advanced writer, and not one that just posts random stories that they created in their head after reading a tabloid in the line of the supermarket.

The writer of the fanfic saying he/she had never written anything personal before the fanfic (I cut the screenshot on this one, but I will put the full picture later on)

Anyway, as seen above, our “fanfic” writer claims to have never had any experience at personal writing before this fanfic, which is very suspicious, given the amount of reads that this fanfic has (1.7 Million at the moment of writing this post) as well as the good reviews and people commenting on Wattpad how that is their 4th or 5th time reading the entire fanfic all over again, meaning that for the reads to be this high, the writing has to be at least really good.

I cut the screenshot here, but if you go to the first chapter of the fanfic you’ll see more people commenting similar things.

Now, with regards to the foreshadowing I talked about earlier, the fanfic was written in early 2016, and the reputation era began in late 2017, plus we know Taylor plans her tours and eras one year ahead, therefore she needed to plan the reputation era and tour one year ahead (see section Event promoters), despite her saying in a GMA interview from Lover era that she only plans 6 months in advance (which is just impossible due to recording dates, negotiations, hiring booking agents for the countries she will perform in, meetings to discuss marketing strategies, aesthetics of every era, etc…), therefore by 2016 she had at least some idea of how the 6th era was going to look like. This fanfic weirdly coincides with the aesthetics of reputation long before reputation was released. Hmmm…

This fanfic AU was last updated on February 2016.

“Interesting… Tell me more about this writer”.

Alright. Also, It’s a she and she has a Tumblr account that I took time to carefully read.

Our writer turns out to be a she.

But before I go into really heavy stalking further detail, read this disclaimer: I am no behavioral analysis expert, I do not possess any type of psychology major or minor, I’m not even doing an undergraduate course of psychology, this is me applying all the books I’ve read about human psychology as it is my hobby. I’m a Computer Science student. Having said that, let’s dive right in!

Now, this is what I observed when looking through KaylorFanfiction’s profile:

1. The writer doesn’t share, reblog, post pictures frequently or makes her personal opinion known in topics outside the fanfic(s) or writing in general. (I observed this after spending a significant amount of time scrolling down her blog and just noticing her behavioral patterns).

2. Assertive (short answers to asks on Tumblr).

3. Usually writes in caps to highlight important things (just like Taylor), words or phrases might be uppercase.

If you’re wondering about the numbers, they are questions.

Okay, let’s see Taylor now:

4. The writer is 6 feet tall (like our favorite supermodel).

The link to the questions.

5. The writer is enthusiastic about feedback (like Taylor).

6. Has one female dog named Phoebe Buffay (A pet named after a well-known tv show character.)

Interesting to note that in the second ask, the writer tells that she has only had one puppy, which reminds me of a certain someone who also has only one puppy:

7. Is in college. Or was.

I say was because, although we have pictures of Karlie on her first day of school at NYU, it isn’t completely believable due to a lack of attendance later on if you google “Karlie Kloss attending NYU”, therefore my conclusion is that her proximity to a college environment comes actually from her brother, who truly attended Notre Dame University. An interesting observation that may back my induction is that if you go to KaylorFanfiction’s profile you’ll find that when she talks about college she never specifies which one she’s attending, for that same reason, if it was true that Karlie attended, then she would have no other choice than to be proud of her wife girlfriend through her secret alternative account for her achievements (I mean, it’s NYU, who wouldn’t be proud?). Taylor The writer might have wanted to tell the narrative of a broke college student (the exact opposite of what Taylor is) to go unnoticed on social media, but the quality of the story and the richness of it made it unbelievable that the story came from an inexperienced writer (more on that later on).

In other words, this account was Taylor’s escape bubble where she could talk freely and give her opinions without dealing with the consequences. I was afraid I could be breaking that bubble with this post, but considering that she said she no longer uses the account, I figure that It was safe for me to post this.

8. Has been making connections with literary agents and small publishing presses (as detailed above).

Guess who also makes connections with certain agents and publishing agencies… (See the manager and booking agents)

9. Has a passion for music and wanted to learn how to play guitar on her own as a teenager but stopped.

The full screenshot above, as promised.

Also, doesn’t she being obsessed with music and learning from a young age reminds you of someone else?

Link to the interview.

Link to a compilation of homemade videos of Taylor singing as well as an interview where she says she learned to play the guitar at a young age (minute 1:29).

10. Reads books about music (detailed above) and learns about music in general, from a very young age.

11. Writes original content outside fanfic.

Interesting, given that she never had written something personal before (personal as in of her own making, not as in the fanfic is her life), that makes me question what did she write about before this fanfic? Journalism? But she is obsessed with music, she told us that herself. Could that original content possibly be… songs?

So far we know she is obsessed with music, she discovered she liked to write novels (I’d rather say books) through writing this fanfic, even though she doesn’t read fanfic at all, wonder where she got the inspiration and experience to make it the most read fanfic of that topic on Wattpad if she also never did anything personal, which makes me now believe that by personal she meant her life, because there is no way you can never have done anything of your own creation while having original work. Therefore, the original work she refers to, are songs (as detailed above when saying she wanted to do something with songs). She could have meant anything by saying she wanted to do something with songs, but so far, these are many many coincidences pointing to Taylor the authorship of a particular individual, and as BBC’s Sherlock said: “The universe is rarely so lazy”.

12. The author never reads fanfic stories.

The picture speaks for itself

13. The writer doesn’t like speculation. Compare to Taylor’s 25th birthday tweet.

Interesting…the author is not into speculating, yet she wrote an entire fanfic on a relationship she claims is not real to her. Basically, she ignored the definition of “speculation”.

Thus, if we wanted to make sense of the reasons for her particular fanfic creation writing taking into account that she doesn’t like speculating and that this is just a creative outlet, we would have to assume that what she writes in her story is based on an objective truth, her speech again (not liking speculation) is contradicted by the mere fact that Wattpad is for aspiring writers looking to share their work with the world (usually a fictitious work). So, if our writer doesn’t like speculation, yet creates a “fictional” story on a site dedicated to that purpose, she’s either lying about not liking speculation or she’s hiding the truth in a platform dominated by fiction in the hopes no one will see (through) it. Okay, maybe she’s lying about not liking speculation (after all, people lie all the time), but given the continuous similarities of our writer’s personality with Taylor’s, and the fact that in the universe everything is interconnected, this can’t be a coincidence. But why would Taylor go to such lengths to tell mostly the truth? Well, given Taylor’s character and the way she rose to fame (through what she called “Opening up her diaries for the world to see”) there is an inherent need in her for self-expression, but she can’t express herself freely all the time (remember the behind-the-scenes interview where she’s filming Lover video and she says her life is like a fishbowl) because her career is image-based, and one picture will outspeak any word or explanation she might have. Thus, she might have to go to these or more lengths to truly express herself and her beliefs in order to keep her mental health and creativity flowing.

14. The writer loves to add drama to her writing.

Do I have to remind you of Taylor’s lyrics to Endgame?

“I swear I don’t love the drama, it loves me “

15. The writer has an inclination toward social justice (similar to that of Taylor).

And comparing to Taylor…

Also, the fanfic is very very detail-oriented, and the writer said in a note on one of her chapters:

Finally, to top the icing…

Our writer got knee surgery. The very word surgery sounds to me as a lot of stitches being made. Where have I heard about stitches before? Maybe Out Of The Woods can be a good beginning…

“Twenty stitches in a hospital room”

My dissertation is now over. I hope you enjoyed it without thinking I’m going insane, because that’s what I’m thinking right now. Have a good night/day.

[amyloo13]

Two different parts of the house that I badly furnished in 2016, using only the base game, as it was all I had at the time. This was my first attempt at furnishing any house fully, and it was... not great, that’s for sure. I wish that I had just gone with the version of the house furnished by the creator on the Gallery, but it is what it is. I still have not furnished the entirety of a house to this day, at least any that I actually liked in the end. 

[idratherlivefreetofail]

Screenshots form HUGE Announcement! :D

Oh my god I couldn’t help but have this big stupid grin on my face while watching this video. ^_^ Seán has seriously come so far since the cabin in the woods and hell even since last year too. He’s grown so much as a person and is so much more confident in himself which is so nice to see after seeing him have so many low moments last year. He has so much light in eyes in this video and you could feel the excitement and passion just radiating off of him and I love seeing that. Just think, a few years ago Seán was just a random guy in Ireland living a cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere shouting his ass out at video games and making videos about them just because he simply had fun doing them. Through that passion he found a place where he belonged and place where he could be heard and share who he is. Then he got to turn that passion into a job and now has millions of people that come from many different walks of life that support him and who find their own inspiration and their own way through their lives because of his passion, the things that he creates and just from who he is in general. But now he’s been to so many different places, has met a lot of those people and because of his passion he’s got so many incredible opportunities and got to make amazing unforgettable experiences through them. Who once was a random dude in Ireland now is living a dream that’s become much more and much bigger then himself. This guy I met at Pax East in 2016 who had so much passion, love and excitement meeting some of those people that support him. I still see and feel that same passion from him every single time I see him and he’s become someone who I’d always believed and knew he would be. So I can’t help but be proud of and happy for Seán for how far he’s come and how much he’s grown. It’s inspiring knowing all that and just seeing how happy he is now. :)

@therealjacksepticeye Congratulations for this amazing opportunity Seán if you see this post. I believe that you can do anything that you set you mind to. You always have and always will do me proud and I’m so incredibly happy for you. Always keep being who you are Seány-Boy! :D -Vannessa

[seraphaltima-blog]

An open letter from Mateus’ Goblet Ward 12

And so I'm inspired to write my first, and hopefully only, tumblr post.

It's come to my attention that certain cranky people are quite suddenly extra cranky about Mateus' housing situation. That is to say: Mateus, which up until now has had the distinction of being the smallest server replete with open housing plots, suddenly has none left. This is in no small part due to the fact that SE has recently locked Balmung (among other worlds) and marked us as a "preferred server," causing many from Balmung--which hasn't even had so much as an apartment open in close to a year, if I understand correctly--to see us as the new promised land of milk and honey and housing. As such, we have officially unofficially been designated a secondary roleplaying server.

Do I feel sorry for Balmung's housing woes? You know what--no. Not at all. They crammed something like 25,000 people on a server intended to hold about 7,000, assuming the population was appropriately spread throughout the datacenter. Which, okay. That was their choice! But people don't seem to realize that it was a choice. Either you get to have the bustling community of dozens if not hundreds of characters everywhere you go and the rich market board full of any product you could dream of buying... or you get to have a small server with open spaces while tolerating an atmosphere I've heard described as "depressing" or even "skeletal" and a low-supply economy that may force you to be more self-sufficient than you'd prefer. They made their choice, and yet many felt entitled to have their bustling server AND open spaces of their own. SE did a fantastic job of obliging with the addition of apartments, which saw housing woes healed on basically every server but Balmung.

"But random internet person," you say, "what does any of this have to do with Mateus?"

Many people feel entitled to own a house. They feel that even knowing there are only 2,160 plots (soon to be 2,880) on any given server, they can and should be allowed to go at their own pace and have free access to any content they like, including housing. They want a house of their own, but they don't want to accept that lots of other people want it badly enough to work harder for it than they did. As such, when all the housing plots evaporate out from under them on account of people who wanted it badly enough, they get upset. And they find other places to direct their irritation--soandso is denying me a home--instead of directing it inward. At the end of the day, that upset person has had literal years to acquire a house of their own. Now that opportunity is lost, and it's no one's fault but theirs.

So Mateus is out of houses, and people are complaining because they feel like they lost out forever. That now they're at the mercy of vicious plotflippers or camping for auto-demos. That this dream that hasn't mattered to them enough to act on will now never come true.

"But random internet person," you say, "what does any of this have to do with you?"

Well you see, fellow random internet person, a fair amount of the hate people are feeling is being lobbed toward myself and my friend, because people see something we did as very unfair. They don't have the courage to speak to us directly about this, of course, but they talk a lot of crap behind our backs, and we're not stupid and find out about it.

A little about me first, so you might perhaps come to understand why I care so much.

I've played FFXIV a long while. I had a legacy character from 1.0, but I restarted on Gilgamesh on zero-hour of 2.0 beta phase 4, in which any character you created was going to be carried over to the real game. I watched as it grew to immense proportions. You see, it had been designated the official BlueGartr and Reddit and, somehow, generally raiding server. Gilgamesh was where you went when you wanted to get shit done. I didn't pick Gilgamesh for that reason. My husband was friends with some people who wanted to be there.

So it was crowded, and I wished it wasn't. I didn't really have a basis for comparison, though, having only really played on Gilgamesh in 2.0+.

I obtained a house in Gilgamesh when the subdivisions were first added, which was not long after they were first-first opened up from being FC-only to allowing for personal homes as well. My house was in the Goblet--ward 8 plot 54. Despite there being plenty of homes available to choose from, I chose the last ward's subdivision quite on purpose, looking to carve out my own little sanctuary of peace and quiet. Well, a noisy FC moved in next door that liked to trample all over my fence and roof, so... so much for that. Still, I loved that house and put a lot of effort into the decor, which was tons of fun. I like to think I did a great job, but everyone thinks that, I guess.

So fast forward a bit--we're in Heavensward now. I started a project that called for leveling an alt with the same name and appearance of my main. I picked Behemoth. It was still a big...ish? server, but it was nowhere near the size of Gilgamesh, and I finally felt like... I had been holding my breath without knowing, and finally I could breathe. So when a third alt was required for my silly project, I actively sought out the smallest, quietest server I could and transferred/fantasia'd my old legacy character there.

That server was Mateus, and to me, Mateus was perfect. Mateus felt like home. Random encounters with people were rare but incredibly friendly, and with Mateus’ inflated economy, I soon bought a home of my own with the money I'd made from PotD drops. For my home I chose a literally entirely empty ward. That first night, I watched the Moonfire Faire fireworks for hours from atop my roof, over a sea of empty plots, feeling at peace.

That screenshot is dated August 11, 2016. Less than a year ago. Housing was released to Free Companies on December 14, 2013, and expanded to allow for personal purchases on September 16, 2014. And yet, nearly two years after literally anyone could buy a home of their own, on Mateus, many wards of the Goblet were like this. Even the more in-demand areas of Mist and Lavender Beds had areas that looked like this.

Mateus showed no signs of getting bigger. At all. Homes were bought by whatever newbies were curious to play with them, and yet they were being demolished at roughly the same rate, as people streamed away from this "corpse" of a server toward the promised lands of savage modes and ex primals and real economies. Meanwhile I spent more and more time on Mateus, to the point where my small cluster of Gilgamesh friends were concerned that I was on the brink of leaving. Because to me, Mateus was perfect. Mateus felt like home.

Around this time, I got to chatting with a lovely person from Leviathan with whom I share some unique/niche interests. In September, we started alts on Mateus together, and we bought them houses together in the Goblet. Ward 12, plots 14 and 20, across the Brimming Heart from each other. We made a free company for ourselves, to share materials and gil, and when we leveled that up and saved up enough money, we bought ourselves the medium in the same area, plot 19.

We decided we really loved playing together--and that we really loved playing together on Mateus--so having no real attachments to Gilgamesh or Leviathan, we transferred our mains. And we bought them houses, too, once we were able to, seeing as how our savings had been wiped out by the transfer limits. But we worked together to earn the money, as we had the previous three homes, and we bought them. And we decorated all five houses together. Coming up with ideas, making lists, splitting up the work, placing things and playing with them until we got just the desired effect. It was the most fun we'd ever had playing this game. Our own tiny paradise, carved out just the way we liked it.

We finished those first alts to 60, and we started another pair. Because you see, our alts have a specific theme to them--a set of characters from this game, of which there are 15--and we wanted to have them all. It didn't start out being about houses. We just loved making and leveling alts together. So I'd have 7 and my extra character for my side project, and she'd have 8. We had always planned it that way. And, well, we were only two houses away from owning all seven around the brimming heart, so we completed our collection when the second pair of alts hit 50.

Or so we thought.

We did some really amazing things with houses six and seven. Made rooms and scenarios unlike anything we had ever seen. Things we thought would be impossible with the items available in XIV. We had found our true love in this game, and it was decorating. We began to talk about what this or that character's house would be like. When we wanted a break from leveling, we would pick a ward or five and ride around and look at every single house there. I'm serious, if you owned a house on Mateus at that time, we visited it. All of you.

The few other homes in our ward kept auto-demolishing. The mansion in 30 went first. We worked and saved and worked and saved, and it devalued and devalued for weeks, because there was no demand for it at all. We both had alts at 60 on another server--my aforementioned Behemoth alt, and hers elsewhere. We moved them both to Mateus and bought the mansion just before Christmas.

The next house to disappear was 27. That had been a cute little female elezen who always ran around in WHM AF, who was only like level 53ish... but one day their theretofore pristine chocobo stable stopped being cleaned, and a little over a month later their unsightly orange and blue default-colored house had evaporated. We only had three not-us neighbors left, and many of the other wards were in the same boat. We decided on an ambitious project given how disconnected our new mansion was to the Brimming Heart, where the rest of our homes were: we would claim the entire eastern half of the ward with our 16 characters, once they were all at least 50.

I mean, hell, clearly no one else wanted them. People were leaving, not moving in.

So we leveled and bought and decorated, leveled and bought and decorated. These homes were not just being claimed and left unused. They were, and still are, loved. We always go into a house with an idea. A theme. An intent. Furnishings are chosen with care. There are meanings in everything that no one will ever know but us. Symbolism. Look, we're nerds, okay? The weirder it looks, the more symbolic its intent. Probably. These characters we're paying homage to, we love them.

The next house to evaporate--and this was a huge surprise to us--was the mansion at 13. We knew for a fact the owner of 13 was still actively playing. He simply didn't want the house anymore and let it go. He never did anything with it, so perhaps he just didn't enjoy decorating as content. We knew exactly which character to put in it--someone who deserved a mansion but only had a cottage. Now that we had the chance....

So we took someone out of the Brimming Heart and moved him up there instead. And we were left with a hole where once there had been a sea of 17 beautiful matching black stone homes.

We wanted to fill the holes, and we still had so many ideas, and there were still at least a thousand empty houses on Mateus. That's when started to make extra free companies and move certain characters around to new plots in order to expand on their ideas.

Today, there are no more plots left on Mateus.

But long before that happened, there were no plots left in Ward 12. We own 28 houses -- 16 personal, 12 companies. Two of these thirty homes in the ward are not ours. We owned the whole ward even when this was posted, drawing sudden attention to the fact that this so-called corpse of a server had some meat left on its bones -- food for carrion birds, should someone desire a feast.

And then SE closed Balmung and Gilgamesh, and Mateus was invaded. And suddenly, people care about Mateus housing for the first time in nearly three years. Suddenly, people think we are *the* worst people. Because how dare we enjoy the game in the manner we chose to enjoy it.

How dare we?

How dare you.

You, who finally deign to set foot in my home. You, who hated Mateus for all the same reasons I felt it was perfect. You, who would take away the last year of memories I've made with one of the best friends I've ever known. You, who don't care about the fact that we have cultivated something unique, interesting, and amazing, because you feel it denies you the chance to throw up a hideous paissa wall and plop a chocobo stable and a garden plot in front of an otherwise unused black hole with Dragonsong screeching away in the background. You, with your head so buried in your cliques that you thought we came from Balmung within the last month and achieved all this thanks to SE’s allowance of free infinite gil transfers, not realizing we wanted to be here, that we love it here, that we worked our asses off for all this from nothing but the million gil each we were allowed to bring with us from our mains.

How dare you.

If you would look at something other than the placards in your impotent rage that the same FC tag is on a few of them, you just might notice you're standing in one of the best goddamn wards in the entire game. But more than that, you might just realize you're walking through the last year of our lives. You're seeing what we love, our passion, our reverence, our teamwork, our achievement.

And you demand we just give it all up. Because suddenly, these houses that have been here for years waiting to be loved… suddenly, now, you want one.

No.

Anyway, you're welcome to come look. We aren't quite done. We have a few closed homes, even (to our shame) a couple of yards that still need done, and some homes that want for some added detail since the doubling of furniture slots. It's all on hold for just a short while thanks to Stormblood. But we have ideas, plans... and we'll be right back to our housing obsession when we're done leveling our first few things to 70.

Please look forward to it. I know I am.

Final notes:

1- I don't claim to speak for my friend. For all I know, she'll be horrified I've posted this. If you take issue with anything I've said, take it up with me. My main is Seraph Altima.

2- We are not affiliated with any similarly named individuals on any other server. If you think you can send a tell to someone on Balmung and be speaking to me (or someone who can speak sense into me), especially after I've gushed about how much I love Mateus, you are an idiot.

3- As our houses are our passion, we are both happy to answer any questions you may have about our ward. Just talk to us.

4- While we do not roleplay ourselves, you are welcome to explore our ward and use it for any roleplay event or storyline you like. You have open and ongoing permission. If you take notice of the theme of our ward, you can see it's a perfect place to go if you'd like to write something about your OC being tricked, lured, or tempted by something otherworldly.

5- I'm well aware I'm not going to change any minds with this. People will say "but we couldn't save in time" or "but my friend just started" or "but if you love decor so much, why not give others a chance to love it, too." But we built this together, and I'm not giving it up, and you're not changing my mind, either. I just want my perspective out there, because right now we're just being demonized. Every story has two sides.

6- If you really want someone to demonize, the people in Goblet 12sub -- all those homes owned by FCless characters, whose homes are closed or, in some cases, entirely unbuilt -- actually did what you thought we did. But you know what? Whatever. They still put the work in before those without homes.

[simlaughlove]

Hello!

I just thought I’d drop in and give everyone a little update on what’s to come over time. Cause I know I don’t post very often and I don’t want you all to think I’m inactive again lol. Everything I want to say is a bit jumbled in my head, so I’m just going to list my thoughts and hope it makes sense lol. Sorry in advance for any and all typos! And you are awesome if you actually read everything below the cut!

Summer Pigtails

I’ve been slowly working on updating texture issues with the Summer Pigtails set of hairs I released last year. You know the one where lines would appear on the hairs when zooming out?

I’ve slightly edited the textures to fix that problem and remapped a few sections to better to completely separate the right and left sides for duo colors (think Melanie Martinez or Harley Quinn). 

I’ve added proper hat chops! They broke all my packages... as in crashed my game! Apparently trying to update the newly extracted meshes didn’t want to work. I had to completely remake all the packages. Problem fixed!

Bad news: Recolors will no longer work with the new packages (not that they would have worked with the new remapping anyway, sorry!).

Good news: Pigtail accessories will be released with the updated packages! 

More good news: all adult hairs are done and children hairs are in progress!

I won’t release any new hairs until I get these pigtails updated, it’s just a super duper guilt thing on my part. That won’t stop me from releasing other things in between though! 

Bodysuits?!

So, with my newly released swimsuits I’ve had requests to make them top version bodysuits that can be used with any bottoms (or a nude bottom for use as a swimsuit).

I’m almost done with this, a post will be made about it and links will be added to the original posts.

Now my question is, would you all prefer the more versatile bodysuit over actual swimsuits? Or both? Also, when I do tucked in versions of tops (as I have in the past) would you all prefer those to be bodysuits as well? 

I don’t mind doing it, since my actual purpose for them can still be achieved.

Gift for followers!

I have one, I do. I’ve had it since before I hit 10k I promise! I know @bowl-of-plumbobs​ really wants me to release it lol! He saw it before it was even decided it would be a gift, no asking he won’t tell! 

Thing is, my gift is a gift of haaaairs (and that is the only hint you get!). Which kind of conflicts with my deepens voice “no new hair releases until pesky pigtails are updated” lol. 

Soon though, soon!

Current WIPs

Other than the hairs I’m updating, I have quite a few projects that I’m working on. Some are big, some small (pft me with a small project lol).

Hair, clothing, accessories, shoes, conversions... you name it I got a WIP for it in some way, shape, or form.

The status of various WIPs is really random though, just depends on what I’m in the mood to work on.

I also have plans to update previously released custom content, such as things with small issues that appear in game. I also have some explody lower LOD dresses that I need to fix, oops! 

Did you know that there is a small seam issue where the head meets the neck on all older custom content tops and full body meshes? I’m not sure when the issue popped up though. I’m thinking sometime during or after December 2016 (since the Cut It Out! tops I released don’t have it, but stuff before that does). The only way I’ve found to fix this is to make a new package (cloning the old package doesn’t fix the issue, it has to be an all new package)! Weird.

In the top left corner of my blog is a pink box that once clicked produces a menu, at the bottom is a checklist of some of the projects I’m currently working on. I plan to actually check things off once I get something done that is listed on it lol. 

Side Blog & New Pages

SimFindLove - this is an ongoing project, it’s not meant to be a typical custom content finds blog, but more of what is in my mods folder. My mods folder gets a clean, so does this blog. Everything I use in preview pictures can always be found on this blog. New pose used? It will be reblogged. I’m still trying to figure out how I want things tagged, hopefully in the future it will be easier to navigate through clothing lol. I also reblog tutorials and resources I like!

Resources - this is a list of all the overlays, makeup, default replacements, and mods I use in my game. Some of these haven’t been reblogged to SimFindLove yet, I dunno if they will or not yet since I update links once a month if needed.

Custom Content Creation (CCC!) - this is a list of tools and tutorials I have bookmarked, along with a few notes that I thought I would share. I get a lot of asks and messages about how to make hairs or clothing, so I thought this would be a good starting off point. And it’s not that I don’t want to help people out, it’s just that I suck at explaining things. I tried to keep the list organized by subject. This is by no means all the tutorials that are out there, only what I have personally learned from or have found useful in some way.  Also, keep in mind this tutorial list is centered around sims4studio and/or blender.

Hey you! Yeah you!

Help a girl out! If you see any issues in game with custom content I’ve released, please let me know! Don’t be shy! And screenshots would really be helpful. You can either send an ask or message me xD

Sometimes when I work on stuff, then test and play with it in game I miss things. And I’d really like to fix any issues that pop up!

THANK YOU!

[techyblogger]

How I Grew In The SEO World, Launched My International Link Building Agency And The Business Values I Believe In - INTRODUCTION POST BE NICE :) https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/g02trg/how_i_grew_in_the_seo_world_launched_my/

My name is David, 28 Years old from TLV IL, I'm an SEO Expert who provides International Link Building Services and Link Building Consulting Sessions - Working in the field for over 5 years.

I would like to share with you a bit about myself and how i operate my International Link Building business.

I started on my own around 5 years ago when I decided I shouldn't continue to Med school after I successfully past all the entree exams (Every Jewish mom's dream is to have a son doctor so you can imagine she was furious but that's for another post). I started learning SEO on my own, from scratch, driving my old beat-up Suzuki from business to business trying to score some clients 🤣 back when everything felt possible and I was young and energetic.

Slowly but surely I managed to gather proper experience, skills and proven results. I was super committed to making it big in this business, I secured some big clients as a part-time freelancer and 1 year or so later (2016) I started lecturing in some of the biggest universities in Israel educating hundreds of students on SEO / Digital Marketing over a period of 3 years, up until the end of 2018. It was definitely one of the best eras in my life so far, super fulfilling always pushing myself to be the best marketing expert and teacher I can be! 16 months ago (Jan' 2019) I decided its time for me again to take a big leap of faith and I launched my full-time SEO Company "Web David".

At the beginning of my independent way, it was absolutely awful lol. Sleepless nights, the mental stress of getting clients and getting good opportunities, providing for myself and my family, programming my time correctly, dealing with tax authorities, you name it, all the fun stuff :)

I think the stress and responsibility freelancers take on themselves while trying to provide the best services altogether making ends meet are underrated as fuck and it's not for anyone! no matter how much the "motivation gurus" urging you to QUIT YOUR JOB TODAY! its bullocks, one should mentally prepare himself for the trials and tribulations of becoming fully independent and building a successful business.

Although the beginning was filled with hardship and struggles, a lot of lessons learned over time, my skin got thicker, i was managing my tasks and cash flow much better, i was getting massive clients and getting top rankings in difficult niches.

I managed to pull through due to hard work, dedication and a fully developed business plan which i stuck to along the way. I'm now in a position in which I hire 25 Foreign writers, 4 SEO workers full-time and 2 VA'S worldwide, i grew in this business as i learned so much in my journey.

So after you know a bit about me back to my current businesses :)

Now, My main occupation is foreign link building. I'm an expert in this field, actually, it makes for over 70% of my business's income these days, and growing.I invest most of my time expanding my international network of sites (Over 15K+ Sites WORLDWIDE) while creating great international opportunities for my clients and I. I manage huge operations for international companies in budgets of around 75k-100k a month handling and carefully maintaining their international link building efforts and overall reputation.

MY MAIN CLIENTS ENGAGE IN THE FOLLOWING NICHES:

CBD Products

International Flowers Delivery and Gardening Products

Crypto - Affiliate & Trading sites

Legal Gambling, Legal Sports Betting, Online Casino Betting, Crypto Betting (Cool Niche)

Sports News, Esports

Steel, Energy and defense industries

IN WHICH COUNTRIES DO I OFFER LINK BUILDING SERVICES?

Spain, Latin America

Italy

France

Germany

Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark

Poland

Russia

Brazil

Japan

UAE

​

The turning point for my business was when I decided to focus on International Link Building. I recognized the demand for many corporations to handle themselves properly in foreign markets and get more traffic globally because as we know, the world is bigger than the US, UK, AU :)

One of my biggest clients ever, a local flowers delivery company in the united states decided to extend their services worldwide and with my help building a masterful plan, we managed to dramatically grow their income and get a crazy boost of organic traffic while conquering top positions in places like Spain, Brazil, and Japan. International companies want a professional securing the best possible links in relevant countries for their audiences and of course, for Google in different parts of the world.

The barrier of language and culture can be time and money-consuming. not knowing the market of accessible sites in different countries can cause headaches not mentioning creating the right content in a proper native tongue, distinguishing the native slang and common pricing in a foreign country. Most business entities or SEO Companies just want someone trustworthy to handle their affairs without juggling back and forth between temporary freelancers.

SO WHY DO MY CLIENTS MY TRUST ME WITH SUCH BIG BUDGETS AND OPERATING THEIR INTERNATIONAL LINK-BUILDING CAMPAIGNS?

My international Connections and Expertise - my connections spread globally from small niche blogs to huge traffic magazines all over Europe and Asia. over 15k+ sites in 12 different countries in total! I have one of the biggest International Networks For Guest Posting amongst global SEO Agencies, No Doubt About It :)

​

My actions are measured, my techniques are surgical - In a field where most link-building freelancers are beginners who tries to get some more income from random sites and big agencies are overblowing prices, i decided to take this game to the next level - you need someone on your corner who'll monitor the bigger picture and not only build random links for you. my team and i take into consideration a long-term game plan, calculate every aspect that can affect your Google rankings with links like:

unique IP's

the placement of your anchors on a page

Multi-Language Content creation

Keyword selection

spam-free sites

good reputation sites

the linking ratio of potential posting sites

nurturing your traffic value and domain authority

purchasing domains on your behalf

automated reporting

more advanced methods like sky-scraping, tier-2 links or multi-level strategies, social bookmarks, fixing internal linking issues duplicated content and more.

​

I'm reliable and confidential, so is my network. it's in my best interest in keeping my client's keywords and links safe and spam-free by any means necessary. i will never share any data on my clients or make a move that will compromise their traffic or income. In the first deals with a new client, i will only share the data of the sites and some screenshots in order to block any unnecessary penetration into my network of sites and to verify any potential client as legit. some clients even ask to use only sites which block bots from ahrefs and other tools - a request I'm happily obliged and am able to help with.

​

My pricing is honest. I strive to provide the best prices i can give out. I'm trying to keep myself competitive and fair - my main goal is to maximize my clients' investment with pure value and results I will never charge over-priced rates. whether it be International link building, foreign content creation or manual outreach. For example, The Hoth (the biggest link building agency in the world which FYI doesn't provide foreign links) prices the most basic links - DA20-30, NO TRAFFIC, and minimum data about them for around 400$ a piece!! Another big guest posting site like PR NEWS. IO charges 200$ per article!! and tries to convince clients they can use it a number of times which is misleading and can actually put your website in danger! and let's not mention rookies who offer posts on free platforms like medium or web 2.0 blogs, links from multiple sites sitting on the same IP, filthy sites spammed with viagra links, no-index links, and all the other nonsense legit businesses just don't have time to deal with. How do i know all of this? like i said, international link-building is my bread and butter - i know the inside and out of this biz😎 and, yes my pricing is so much better!

​

I leverage my client's budget for the best possible websites and placements. i prefer to work with bug budgets because it gives me the possibility the negotiate the best prices possible and close deals that will benefit all sides. using a proper budget i can secure amazing placements in awesome rates and significantly lower the expanses of link building overall.

​

All Foreign SEO Solutions Under 1 Home - I remove the headaches, the multiple vendors that can't be trusted, the spending on unnecessary outreach - Content, Links, Outreach all in 1 Home. i aspire to fully manage your entire binternationaludget and provide maximum results I choose the word home on purpose to emphasize that i try my best to make my clients feel at home whether it be 24/7 support, full transparency awesome communication and yes - having some fun along the way🙌 As a rule of thumb - I only work with good people in trusted companies i believe in and enjoy working with.

OK COOL, SO KNOW WHAT?

In the next couple of weeks, I'm rolling out my International services in some selected platforms and groups along with my new English website so i wrote this post as an introduction about me and how i found my way in SEO to make Potential clients and SEO experts understand this is what I'm good at and love doing every day.

PM ME or COMMENT for any question about link building or inquiry about my INTERNATIONAL services you might have.

I'm enthusiastic to offer FREE 30-Min Consultation over Skype to legit companies only! to examine your SEO GAME and talk about expanding your traffic globally.

It will be my honor to help legitimate businesses with their Link-Building efforts abroad. I'm cooking some great deals and placements for CBD Companies in Europe and selected countries, ill try to update every week on some great deals, i really hope you found some value in here, Again feel free to ask me ANYTHING

Happy Easter Much Obliged David.

submitted by /u/letsfuckinggo520 [link] [comments] April 13, 2020 at 12:46AM

[theteablogger]

Andy’s Instagram

I said in my "I'm back" post that Andy is still engaged in some of his old behavior patterns on his Instagram. He said last fall on Facebook that he has "no real interest in maintaining the big public persona fandom thing," but that was and is obviously not the case. Here is a run-down, with screenshots in case he deletes things. Other people's faces and usernames will be censored and comments will only be included if they're relevant in some way.

Overidentification with a fictional character

This is the most obvious element of Andy's Instagram behavior: the majority of his photos concern or are linked to Bucky and the MCU in some way. Until very recently, if he wasn't actually in costume for the photo, his comment would talk about how much his hair looks like Bucky's, he'd refer to himself as Bucky, or Bucky would appear in the tags. To some extent, this is normal for cosplayers on Instagram and other social media platforms; however, given Andy's history, it seems like a terrible idea for him to engage in this sort of behavior.

Remember, this is the guy who verbally, emotionally, psychologically, sexually, and otherwise abused a number of people for years and tried to excuse his actions by claiming that his mental illness/es had caused him to believe, among other things, that he was the embodiment of various fictional characters and some real people, and/or was in contact with them as they existed in parallel universes, and that everything he did was necessary to save the world. Only four years ago, he said that he'd been writing something from Neville Longbottom's point of view and suddenly started to see and hear this fictional character in the room with him. Within the last three years, he was explicitly tying in Destiel with his relationship with Brittany in SPN meta posts. Just last year, he was claiming to have very specific sense-memories of New York in the 1920s and '30s, but lampshaded it by saying that he probably picked up some information during "the gap-filled years", which he felt made him even more like Bucky. This was around the same time that he started talking about how his hair had mysteriously changed color all on its own to look exactly like Bucky's, much as it changed when he "became" Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

As I and others have said time and again, if Andy honestly believes that he did horrible things to people due to mental illness making him unable to differentiate fantasy from reality, why would he ever engage in behavior that risks triggering an event like that again?

Here are just a few examples:

#buckyhair and #buckywiththegoodhair come up a lot.

Andy’s hair just naturally looks like Bucky’s. Yup.

Of course a fictional character's training has any bearing at all on Andy's real-life abilities.

This post has nothing whatsoever to do with Bucky, but note the hashtag.

I find it very hard to believe that Andy's really been planning this tattoo for years and that it has nothing to do with Bucky. I guess we’re supposed to believe that it’s a huge coincidence that the current design and his future plans for it coincide so well with the placement of Bucky’s metal arm. Without explicitly saying so, he offers this as evidence of how he’s “so connected to Bucky”.

Yes, Andy himself is a superhero.

Again, there is no actual Bucky in this post.

Here, Andy over-dramatizes his actions while being hit by a car to make it seem as if he responded in much the same way that a highly trained supersoldier would. Someone replies, "You are literally Bucky oh my god are you okay??"

Andy also says on his Instagram that his Bucky cosplay has motivated him, more than anything has before, to work out and to get in better shape. While this is a good goal to have, it's worth noting that talk of/promises to change lives for and by means of fandom (and characters that Andy channeled or embodied) was a major component of the BagEnders and DAYD cults. In the latter case, getting into better physical shape was part of it, with “Dumbledore’s Boot Camp” and the cross-country hikes.

Tying fandom in to real-life politics and world affairs

This was also posted on tumblr. The text is a paraphrased quotation from The Avengers, from the scene in which Captain America saves the life of an elderly German man (by implication a survivor of the Nazi regime) who is the only one brave enough to stand up to Loki.

Andy is hardly the first person to conflate being a slash fan with political or social activism, but considering his history, this gets an extra hard eyeroll from me. People's lives are at stake due to LGBTQIA persecution in Russia, so naturally it's an extremely emotionally charged issue, and Andy is right there to take advantage of that. He also talks about learning Russian, supposedly for career reasons, although people on tf-talk have pointed out that the Russian film system is closed to outsiders, the field is rather crowded in Eastern Europe, and oddly enough, people in countries that are not Russia tend to speak primarily non-Russian languages. (A Russian class did not appear on Andy's Spring 2017 transcript, so he only took it for one semester, if at all.)

I also notice that he says he's "about to learn a lot about Russian time zones", as if he's never had a Russian friend before. One of the women that he emotionally manipulated via tumblr and Skype is Russian and lives in Russia.

This is not the only post of Andy as Bucky wearing a POW/MIA shirt as part of his cosplay and using hashtags like #honorourvets and #powmia. If he really wanted to honor military personnel, a minority group, etc., he wouldn't use them as props to draw more attention to himself.

Another post about cosplay and slash fandom as a form of activism. What a shame that his cosplay partner puts his real-life relationship ahead of "being a tree by the river of truth", and that his fiancée puts her discomfort with "anybody else gettin' their hands on her man" (as Andy says in the video) ahead of their great chemistry. [/sarcasm]

Andy has repeatedly made passive-aggressive comments about this man's being unwilling to do Stucky photos because of his and his fiancée's boundaries. I didn't think much of it until I noticed that a comment giving Andy kudos for showing respect had been met with pontification about how he would really love to be able to do Stucky photos, but "real life romances come first" and he wouldn't want to do a Stucky shoot with a "stunty, stilted, or no-homo vibe".

I also think the way he refers to his "wonderfully devoted fan following" in Russia speaks volumes about how he thinks of them. Everyone is just a means to an end, and usually that end is narcissistic supply.

Here's some post-election political Bucky art. Run through Google Translate, the caption reads (bolding mine):

I'm sorry that my Russian is bad, small and new. I'm grieving for America tonight. I do not believe in religion. I believe in God. I do not think I found this place by accident. Here I learned that a place can have bad leaders, bad laws and good, strong, kind people. It's Russia. Now it will be America too. I hope we can change and have good leaders and good laws.

He continues to portray himself as wise, compassionate, and haunted by the fact that the rest of the world is not equally so. This also continues his old pattern of imparting mystical significance to his participation in a fandom.

Using superhero imagery "to highlight the problems faced by real world vets" on Veterans Day seemed disrespectful to Andy…so instead, he posted a picture of Cap and an apology to veterans for Trump's having been elected. Because that's completely different.

International Women’s Day. See previous point about his use of people and issues as attention-getting devices.

Courting younger, politically-minded people with condescension and a hefty dose of misinformation

Here are just a couple of Andy's posts about the 2016 presidential election:

I can't even tell you how many times Andy made tumblr posts inviting random strangers to his (his parents') house to hang out and have fun; this is the same old story from another angle. Anything to lure new people into his influence. (This video is incredibly condescending, by the way.)

This (part 2) (part 3) is the Instagram version of this misleading tumblr post. I'm going to go ahead and admit that this and several other tf-talk comments about his BS surrounding the election were from me because I was incredibly angry about Andy's once again taking advantage of people's completely justified fears about a volatile situation.

See also this brief but masterful takedown of his "shh everything will be fine" tumblr post after the election.

Here's a completely unironic post (part 2) (part 3) about how back in the day, only intelligent, right-thinking people had the ability to share their opinions with large numbers and wide ranges of people—but now any jackass pleb can get on the internet and spin anything in any way that they want, to reach any nefarious end. "Credentialed experts, not Instagram gurus. Data, not anecdotes." There he is again, hiding in plain sight.

Talking about how poor he is

It mainly takes the form of the usual posts about doing or making XYZ impressive thing on a shoestring budget because Andy Is Wise and Resourceful, but there's also this (part 2).

Stupid art school! Not only do they expect Andy to take art classes instead of just accepting that he is The Most Talented; they also expect him to purchase supplies! Thus he can no longer attend VA ComicCon…unless his friend knows "a magic money tree or a way to get free tickets." One or the other must have materialized, because he made it to the con anyway. Obviously Andy's friends are free to pay for things for him if they want to, but remember that he has a history of lying or "bending the truth" to get money out of people.

Making and endorsing extremely poor decisions

Yes, he says that he only had one Oxy with his giant tumblr (sic) of wine. That doesn't matter. It's unwise to mix any amount of opiates with alcohol, and equally unwise to discuss it publicly, especially given his tendency to encourage much younger people to regard him as some sort of font of wisdom and life advice.

This is how Andy achieves the one-armed Bucky look. Yes, a lot of people can pop their shoulders in and out of joint at will, but it's a bad idea, especially given the amount of time that he spends with it in this condition.

I spoke with the same doctor whom I consulted about the horrific binding injury that Andy claimed to have sustained. They said that repeatedly dislocating one's shoulder is very likely to cause instability of the joint, which can be debilitating (and quite dangerous, I would think, if his shoulder went out while lifting weights or something). Additionally, every time his shoulder is popped out and reset, Andy risks incurring torn muscles and stretched or torn ligaments/tendons, a trapped nerve, and vessel damage. Some of these effects become increasingly likely the longer it's out of joint. Andy, if you happen to read this, please stop doing this stupid thing. I may not like you, but I don't want you to injure yourself, for fuck's sake. And please stop instructing other cosplayers in how to accomplish dangerous things for the sake of a costume.

I have no idea whether Andy was checked out by medical personnel after he was hit by the car. I hope so. It's the #noexcuses tag that really gets to me. Attention, everyone: never, ever assume that you are 100% okay to engage in strenuous physical activity after an incident like being hit by a fucking car. It doesn't matter how slowly it was moving at the time. Without a thorough physical examination, you cannot be sure that you haven't sustained a non-apparent injury that will cause trouble later. Something like this is absolutely a valid reason not to go to the gym the next day, as intense cardio or weight training may exacerbate damage of which you are not yet aware. This post of his is incredibly irresponsible.

Promoting DAYD

Last October, in a post that featured photos of the GoT feast, Andy referred to DAYD as "a fairly popular HP companion novel", as if it were the HP equivalent to the Star Trek novels rather than a fanwork.

Andy continues to urge new people to check out the fan novel that he used as the basis for the second cult of personality in which he manipulated and took advantage of a great many people. (Also, DAYD got a neutral, one-line mention in an Atlantic Monthly article alongside Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, but okay.)

He is so hoping that someone will ask about that tattoo.

Grooming female companions

I'm not sure what other word to use for Andy’s relationship with this person, as public information about it is limited to what appeared on Instagram. Please understand that I am not judging her at all and do not wish to identify her in any way. Considering Andy's behavior with Abbey, Brittany, L, Silven, and others among his female friends/followers, I think it's important to talk about it.

This is the first overtly romantic cosplay picture that Andy has posted in MCU fandom. His cosplay partner’s comments are very telling:

It really was the best day for me. … I love you my handsome cosboyfriend you seriously are my best friend my love and I truly believe my partner I know when you call me "your" Natalia that I am loved and care for more than I could ever imagine. I love you

If this person is roleplaying as Natasha, it makes no sense to refer to Bucky as her "cosboyfriend". She is talking about Andy. Whatever is going on here is pretty fucking intense. And given his proclivity for redheads, it is not lost on me that he has selected a character who’s had a canonical relationship with a red-haired woman in the past, giving him an excuse to act out scenes like this.

Here is a romantic photoset of Andy with the same woman, to whom he now refers as "the cosgirlfriend". She replies,

I love you my beautiful cosboyfriend … By the way you owe me roses now … [you're] the beauty im the beast

A commenter asks whether this is "canon, or just two beautiful people being beautiful together," wondering whether Andy and this fellow cosplayer are an IRL couple. Andy neatly dodges the question by referring to the comics.

Andy's "cosgirlfriend" has also called him gorgeous, left a suggestive comment on one of his bathbomb photos, talked about missing him/his face, and referred to him as "baby" and "dear". All of her comments were left within ten days, and of course Andy didn’t respond publicly to any of them. In my opinion based on what Andy has done many times over, the little information that I have (not all of which I am comfortable sharing) suggests that this may have been another situation in which he love-bombed a woman and quickly established what she felt was a very close, deep relationship with romantic possibilities, and then backed off just as quickly. As of 5/30, Andy had taken down the first picture of the two of them and she'd asked for the second to be removed as well. He did so earlier this month. I have not attempted to contact this person, as I feel that would be crossing a line, but I'm guessing that she requested their removal because she’d received negative attention and/or warnings about Andy.

Miscellaneous

I will not share screenshots of these, but Andy has posted several pictures of himself with young children. He loves kids, perhaps in part because they tend to be so much more credulous than adults and they make great attention-getting props. In one notable instance, he posted a picture and video of a little boy from Romania, who he said was a huge Captain America fan who'd love to hear from Sebastian Stan. Andy and some of his friends tagged the actor several times in the posts and comments. All the boy talked about in the video was his Pokemon fan creations, while Andy tried hard to drag the conversation around to Cap and Bucky. The picture that he posted was also Pokemon-related, as was a later image of a drawing the child had made. It seems likely, given his past behavior, that Andy is using this child (who may or may not be interested in Marvel characters at all) to gain the attention of the actor who plays the character around whom his life currently revolves.

Andy has consistently referred to the kittens as "our babies" for a couple months now, which is understandable because he lives with them, but also makes me nervous because of his history with the rabbit, the mouse, and Boo.

He recently shared a picture of himself with a very good Seven of Nine cosplayer and called back to his days in the Star Trek: Voyager fandom. Reminding people of the first time that you lied your ass off to a fandom for attention is probably not a great idea, Andy.

Here he is using another flimsy excuse to humblebrag about his alleged genius IQ, which he's been doing from the very beginning. Andy never changes.

Andy also now has a Patreon on which he is offering a tutorial for Bucky’s metal arm. Someone at tf-talk has noted that his bio includes a different origin story for his costuming interest than he gave in Viva La Cosplay. Then, he wanted to appear charmingly naïve and to make his work look more impressive by claiming a lack of experience. Now, he wants to look super legit to attract more patrons.

The higher reward tier includes a 20-minute [Facebook] messenger session for Q&A and for Andy to talk the patron through customizing the arm for themselves. A) Facebook’s policies mean that a lot of people will have to give Andy their RL names for this...which is one reason that he likes using Facebook. B) That doesn’t seem like very much time to go over customization. Would any cosplayers like to weigh in on this?

[confessionsofalionholic]

The RMA Fiasco & Staff / Userbase: My Two Cents

First, let's get a few things straight.

Disclaimer: This is based on what I remember based on Jackster's and these blog posts, LD threads, screenshots and other stuff. I'm not Jackster or the staff so I can't have a 100% clear view of both perspectives and I haven't covered everything 100%, but I tried to be objective. All my arguments are based on the assumption that Jackster's screenshots, quotes, post claims and facts from their blog are all true ( and I have no reason at the time to doubt them as of now. ) They could be withholding or warping information, but I highly doubt it. My opinion can be subject to change as information changes. Also, I hope my arguments make sense as I'm kinda distracted writing this. If anyone actually cares about this I'd love to debate open-mindedly and courteously and clarify things.

***************************************

Here is the RMA intro excerpt from the news post when it was introduced to the game:

"This awesome 1 GB oasis item is something entirely new! As you pick a slot, a random marking will fill it up with a random opacity. It's of course to be expected the marking will be a common or a custom one, HOWEVER, there is an extremely rare chance to get a Raffle marking, Event marking or Applicator marking, and even rarer chance that a Rosette marking will pop up!

Notes: *Future markings will automatically be affected by this item in proper rarity types *Mane Markings are included *Markings can duplicate, as it's completely random *Mottled Rosette or any future mutation related markings are excluded"

Posted on 2016-06-24 13:53:44 | ( No edits to news post visible )

We can nitpick and throw words and definitions and technicalities around all we want but there's no refuting this evidence. Jackster and Locust chose to invest the money in LD for an item that doesn't guarantee special marks and the news intro and item description, seen every time the item is used ( though the description alone explains well enough ) clearly state what it does and definitely don't claim or imply there is an equal chance for a special or event marking to appear.

Furthermore, here is another definition of random from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

"adj. Mathematics & Statistics

Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution"

Based on THIS definition, the item truly is random. As Abbey / Kitty confirmed, there are different percentages for the rarity tiers but still, this would be the "probability distribution." Anyways, it's already obvious there isn't an equal chance for the non custom or NCL / Oasis markings, those are "super rare" outcomes. 

As far as I know the description of the RMA hasn't changed; it's always been: 

"You can choose a slot and have a chance at it filling up with any random common or custom marking at random opacity. BUT! There is a super rare chance for a rare type marking such as raffle, event or even a rosette!"

The issue is that a few users claim the percentages should be public in the description as they only purchased the item thinking it was more likely for rare markings to appear. I don't see a need to divulge the exact percentages different marking pool outcomes as that would kind of take the fun out of it, and the item itself explains it adds a random common or custom marking BUT there is a "super rare" chance for rare markings.  

As an example, would exact percentages for random mutations popping up in breeding be publicized, or, say, the chances of certain breeding items of producing each type of mutation tier we would all likely be discouraged. We already know mutations are rare with the less common ones being even rarer as they should be to preserve "specialness", but despite these small chances, people have gotten leopons and lethals and other super rare mutations from both item and natural breedings. GMO cows, for example, often produce common mutes and fails but some have gotten pons and other specials from them.

When I saw the rare marking percentages publicized myself all thoughts of purchasing a couple to try for project / rare mark disappeared, however, even if they implemented RMA only special markings.

 "This Week's Game Poll:

Would you like Random Marking Applicator to have markings that are exclusive entirely to the Applicator itself? 

877:  Yes! Gamble will bring a unique reward!" 

Personally, I think upping the chances of the RMA applying rare / event markings just a liiiitle bit would promote more RMA sales as those who purchase them for projects and customization goals would be willing to spend more if they see results at least more often. Either that or maybe an item extra you could purchase to slightly up the percentage for a certain marking of your choice since the odds are so against you?

It's kinda like egg yolks. Some people purchase them in bulk from the TC with GB purchased from the site, supporting LD. Upon use they sometimes fail and give little to no stats, "wasting" the purchaser's money, but the risk is worth it as sometimes they give up to 15 stats (?) and even if they don't work that well they give a decent amount of stats if you purchase a decent amount which is relatively attainable during the event due to their relatively cheap price and they don't give you 0 stats more than a few times in a row. It depends on your budget, stat goal and how many yolks you get but you're pretty much guaranteed at least some stats from using a couple of yolks so most people are satisfied and purchase more, though some bulk buyers say it is a bit expensive in the long run.

The staff had no responsibility to "refund" this oversight, as the item explains itself clearly in its description in my opinion, a description visible every time you use it, mobile or not. I've defended it further above.

What's more of an issue in my opinion is why they revoked the offer to Jackster, which there is no solid evidence for. We can't see what Jackster said and if it warranted the staff's removal of the offer and can only rely on incomplete, personal accounts of what happened. From what I see Jackster sees polite, reasonable and courteous, but then again people here have said they're rude and brag often in chat, so I don't know. I do think it would be a nice touch to give Locust and Jackster, who have both contributed to the community a little freebie for the trouble if the likelihood percentage is implemented, and even if not it would be a nice gesture. Staff just has to be careful that other members don't see this as an opportunity to beg and guilt trip them into other favors which is the difficult part.

**** As for staff, I think people have gotten too ...jaded with their presence. They may claim "Oh, so and so is an ___, they ___." but they offer no proof. People interpret things differently and can share this opinion anywhere, even here. Some people may believe hearsay from this blog and hate staff with no real evidence of their character. Some users can be overly defensive or entirely misinterpret gentle reminders from staff and go here to complain. Pretty sure one user even said this months ago on this blog about a mod, taking back their original claims that X member of staff was rude saying they were upset at the time and the mod was actually super sweet.

I don't know any of them personally, but all of my dealings with staff & admins have been courteous and given the opportunity a few have gone out of their way to help me out with tickets & questions on their own time, and I've seen almost if not all of them be kind, friendly and helpful in general to others. Staff are humans too, and though they may not always be objective they do their best. They're all humans with lives and worries and forgetfulness and downfalls every now and then, just like you and me. That doesn't excuse any unfair behavior, but they do make mistakes and overlook things. We all do.

Likewise, Jackster seems to be a notorious LD member, yet I don't see why. They seem interesting, intelligent, well articulated, courteous and even generous, though then again I don't follow the community or chat 24/7 or even that closely at all. I could say much the same for all the staff members I have seen in forums and such and talked to personally - they've always been courteous, helpful, interesting, and a few, given the opportunity, have even gone out of their way, taking time out of their busy days to help me out in a pinch.

Tl;dr: There's too much animosity and baseless accusations of staff and also between the general userbase itself. No, it's not always rainbows and unicorns, sometimes some staff may do unfair things but if there is no proof then take those claims with a grain of salt. Many complain about other users or staff here but provide no evidence. If there is proof, courteously confront them if you can. Kindness can go a long way, and often if you don't go causing trouble you never get into it. If you're afraid of being silenced, you could find someone who will help you here.

As for the RMA, maybe for website profit and growth best interests and for users to get more out of the item it would be a good idea to up chances of rarer marks, and maybe an additional item could up the chance of a certain mark and / or pool. Furthermore, a "compensation" gift for the trouble could be given to those heavily impacted who have helped the community out as a kind gesture such as Locust and Jackster as long as staff doesn't turn into a freebie machine.

[thisdaynews]

Assange fight draws in Trump's new intel chief

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/assange-fight-draws-in-trumps-new-intel-chief/

Assange fight draws in Trump's new intel chief

Fairbanks recorded two phone calls she had with one of Grenell’s close associates, Arthur Schwartz, and took screenshots of their conversations about Assange and Grenell. She also gave the materials to the nonprofit transparency group Property of the People, which provided them to Politico.

The screenshots and phone calls span from October 2018 to September 2019. In them, Schwartz tells Fairbanks that Grenell was “taking orders from the president” when he got involved in facilitating Assange’s arrest and urges her not to disclose what she’s been told about Grenell’s role in the process.

But Schwartz appeared to grow frustrated and fearful after Fairbanks tweeted, on Sept. 10, 2019, that Grenell “was the one who worked out the deal for Julian Assange’s arrest.”

“I don’t want to go to jail,” Schwartz told Fairbanks in a September 2019 phone call, accusing her of posting “classified information” in the tweet. Fairbanks posted the tweet around the time Grenell’s name was being floated to replace John Bolton as Trump’s national security adviser.

“Please. I’m begging you,” Schwartz says in the recording. “They look at you, they see that we speak, that’s bad.”

Grenell’s entry into the legal fight over Assange highlights the fact that, in since-deleted tweets from 2016, he promoted the WikiLeaks disclosures targeting Democrats; later, in April 2017, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo labeled the group a “hostile intelligence service” aided by Russia.

And the suggestion that one of Grenell’s close associates who was not in government may have been privy to conversations surrounding a sensitive law enforcement operation will likely raise more questions about his fitness to lead the entire U.S. intelligence community. A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not return a request for comment.

It’s not clear whether Schwartz was actually privy to anything classified, or whether Grenell told Schwartz anything about his involvement in Assange’s arrest. “I highly doubt I would tell her anything real, accurate or of any importance,” Schwartz told Politico, adding that Fairbanks is “not someone that I trust.”

“I barely remember that conversation,” Schwartz said. “I remember that she was slinging mud at a friend of mine on social media and I wanted her to stop. Knowing that she’s not too bright and easily manipulated, I threw a bunch of nonsense at her that I thought would get her to stop. And she did stop.” Schwartz also said he did not recall chatting with Fairbanks over Signal, a secure messaging app.

In a written timeline Fairbanks provided to Assange’s legal team that was also obtained by Politico, Fairbanks said Schwartz told her on October 30, 2018—two weeks before prosecutors accidentally revealed in a court filing that DOJ had secretly filed criminal charges against Assange, and nearly six months before Assange was arrested—that the U.S. government would be going into the embassy to arrest him, and implied that Ecuador would allow it to happen.

That same month, Grenell had secured Ecuador’s cooperation with the arrest, via the pledge for no death penalty—but his role was not revealed publicly until ABC News did so in April 2019.

“I need to let Julian’s lawyers and family know that the president personally ordered an anti WikiLeaks ambassador from a country uninvolved in the case to secure Julian’s arrest,” Fairbanks told Schwartz on October 30, 2018, via the encrypted messaging app Signal, according to screenshots provided to Politico. “It’s clear he’s a political prisoner and his health is deteriorating rapidly. I don’t know if it will matter to them, but it seems important, and they should know.”

Schwartz was not sympathetic, but didn’t dispute her claims as he sought to persuade her not to reveal the impending operation to Assange.

“I wouldn’t get so emotional until you see exactly what that worthless piece of garbage did,” he replied, referring to Assange. “There’s a good reason the death penalty was on the table.”

Fairbanks was incredulous: “Are you sure it’s not just Clinton friends taking some random photos and pinning it on him for revenge or something?”

“Forget about pictures,” Schwartz replied, possibly suggesting that he had access to non-public information. “There were other things that happened because he did what he did that led to horrible suffering and death. I have zero sympathy for him. Doubt you will either when/if it comes out publicly.”

Fairbanks visited Assange on March 27, 2019, roughly 2 weeks before his arrest, and relayed what she’d heard from Schwartz in October, she told Pierce.

On March 29, Schwartz told Fairbanks in another call obtained by Politico that “there’s an investigation now, into people at State” into who leaked Fairbanks the information about the operation. “I’m sorry,” she replied.

Schwartz is well known in Washington as a Trumpworld fixer who often criticizes journalists and other perceived enemies on his Twitter account. According to the New York Times, Schwartz is a “central player” in an effort to “discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists.”

But last September, he appeared worried about being exposed himself.

“I don’t want to go to jail,” Schwartz told Fairbanks in the September call. Fairbanks denied posting anything classified, telling Schwartz that she had just been referring to the ABC News report, from months earlier, about Grenell’s role in the Assange operation.

Schwartz was not convinced. “Ric’s role is classified,” he said. “You can’t do that … you are posting things that are classified, that no one knows, that has not been reported…I know what’s been reported, I see what you’re tweeting, what you’re tweeting is not what was reported. Someone’s going to go to jail. You need to stop this.”

“Yeah, Julian’s in jail right now, because of this,” replied Fairbanks.

“I don’t want to go to jail,” Schwartz retorted.

“Alright, well, I’ll delete my tweet, only because you’re saying you’ll get in trouble,” Fairbanks replied.

“I don’t want to go to jail,” Schwartz repeated. “Please. I’m begging you … They look at you, they see that we speak, that’s bad. He’s [Grenell] is taking orders from the president. OK? So you’re going to punish me because he took orders from the president? I’m begging you, I’m begging you, please.”

Fairbanks agreed to delete the tweet, but retained a screenshot that was reviewed by POLITICO.

The materials will be introduced as soon as Wednesday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the legal strategy, and are “just one piece of the argument” that the U.S. criminal charges and extradition request for Assange stemmed from “a political imperative to get him at all costs” rather than a good-faith legal process.

Another big piece of that argument was presented by Assange’s legal team last week, when they submitted a statement from one of WikiLeaks’ lawyers claiming that Assange had been offered a pardon on Trump’s behalf by California’s then congressman Dana Rohrabacher.

Assange would be pardoned, Rohrabacher allegedly claimed, if he would provide evidence that Russia was not WikiLeaks’ source for the hacked DNC documents that the organization released in 2016.

Rohrabacher acknowledged meeting with Assange, but said only that he promised to ask Trump to pardon the WikiLeaks founder “if he could provide me information and evidence about who actually gave him the DNC emails.”

“At no time did I offer a deal made by the President, nor did I say I was representing the President,” Rohrabacher said in a statement.

Ryan Shapiro, the executive director of Property of the People, said he wanted to release the Fairbanks materials now because they raise concerns about Grenell’s judgement.

“The Trump regime is consolidating power and the nation’s new top spy is a former Fox News contributor and far-right public relations flack who appears to have leaked classified information to a Trump family political fixer who subsequently shared it with a prominent alt-right blogger,” Shapiro said. “Americans must confront the Trump regime’s ongoing seizure of power or suffer the United States’ descent into genuine authoritarianism.”

Read More

[shirlleycoyle]

What Bernie Supporters Think of the Term ‘Bernie Bro’

Over the last few weeks, it's become clear that Bernie Sanders could actually become president. The Vermont senator is polling very close to Joe Biden in Iowa, has a large lead over everyone in the latest California poll, and seems likely to do very well in New Hampshire. The prospect of Sanders winning the nomination has the finance world freaking out—there are already reports of stocks falling as he climbs the polls—and has inspired a backlash from his many detractors. Centrist pundits have declared him to be unelectable, and his former competitor Hillary Clinton has denounced not just Sanders but the entire "culture around him," which she recently described to the Hollywood Reporter:

It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters. It's his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women. And I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture — not only permitted, [he] seems to really be very much supporting it.

The "Bernie Bro" stereotype isn't new, of course, but the notion that Sanders supporters are different from other Democratic voters, and even dangerous in some way, seems poised to dominate the never-ending debate over the 2020 primary. It scored a major piece of ink on Monday, when the New York Times ran a front-page story headlined, "Bernie Sanders and His Internet Army." It describes a passionate fan base who donates their money and time to their candidate, but also sometimes attacks opponents with insults and even threats.

"When Mr. Sanders’s supporters swarm someone online, they often find multiple access points to that person’s life, compiling what can amount to investigative dossiers," the Times wrote. "They will attack all public social media accounts, posting personal insults that might flow in by the hundreds."

If you’ve ever posted anything slightly critical of Sanders, this sort of dogpiling may sound familiar. (Full disclosure: I'm a Sanders supporter who yes, spends a fair amount of time online.) Interviews with dozens of Sanders backers find them admitting that the "internet army" can at times be vicious—a reality that many leftists themselves bemoan. But they also see the Bernie Bro narrative as an invention of the media and the Democratic establishment.

Standard-issue online sparring is often conflated with threats, and Sanders supporters feel frustrated they are so often associated with the worst behavior of their fellow travelers. "Most Bernie supporters online tend to be young, somewhat irony-poisoned, and angry. I'm including myself in this group," Joe Conley, a 33-year-old Sanders supporter, told me over email. He pointed out that there’s an "irony gap" between Bernie supporters and people on the receiving end of their ire. While tweeting a photograph of a pig with shit on its balls might be a standard-issue troll for a member of left Twitter, it’s perceived as online harassment from people who aren’t acquainted with this language of certain subcultures. At the end of the day, every political tribe has its toxic streak, so why do "Bernie Bros" get singled out?

Even as a self-identified Bernie Bro, I’ve gotten a fair amount of grief from leftist dudes on the internet. But I’ve received an equal heaping of hate from women who supported Clinton, anti-semitic Trump trolls, and beyond. Though fewer in number than Sanders supporters, Andrew Yang backers can be just as fiery online—notably, there are a significant number of irony-drenched #YangGang members from 4chan and other Trump-adjacent corners of the internet. Tulsi Gabbard, another Democrat with fringe appeal, has an intense fan base that contains members of the far right. In general, the culture around political celebrities has become more like regular celebrity stan culture, meaning fans feel intense emotions and share them online, and campaigns have little control over those feelings. (Sanders’s popularity is forever intertwined with his online army, but his campaign does not promote cyberbullying or misogyny—as the Times story noted, the Sanders campaign has publicly condemned bullying. That hasn't stopped it.)

One Bernie supporter sent me a dossier of all the abuse Bernie supporters receive from "loyalist Democrats" and "Donut Twitter." (Anti-Bernie liberals sometimes use a donut emoji in their Twitter names. It's a long story.) This collection of screenshots is really ugly, with people tweeting things like "I’m rooting for Bernie supporters' death," and "anyone that fucking supports Bernie Ratfucker Sanders is a piece of shit." There is also a glut of disgusting, unquotable, racist and misogynistic insults that have been hurled at Nina Turner, a Black woman who has worked with Sanders for years and co-chairs his 2020 campaign. (VICE was unable to confirm the authenticity of all of the screenshots and is not linking to the file, but did verify that many of the abusive tweets were real.) The fact is, the internet is a cruel place for everyone, regardless of who you’re voting for in 2020.

"I really think we are no more mean or aggressive than any other group of people," said Peter Graham, a 28-year-old who works for Disney and is voting for Bernie. "[It’s that] Bernie has younger supporters that are very online, [they] are probably better versed in sardonic Twitter dialogue, and there's more of them."

The stereotype of a nasty online leftist bro—unmistakably masculine, usually sneering—predates that election season. In 2008, the feminist writer Rebecca Traister (then a Clinton supporter) published an op-ed on Salon, bemoaning the rise of the "Obama boys." Young women who backed Clinton, she wrote, told her "about the sexism they felt coming from their brothers and husbands and friends and boyfriends [and] described the suspicion that their politically progressive partners were actually uncomfortable with powerful women."

Leftists have accused the mainstream media of using this stereotype as a club to beat Sanders with. "The ‘Bernie Bro' narrative by pro-Clinton journalists has been a potent political tactic," Glenn Greenwald wrote on The Intercept in 2016, calling it "a journalistic disgrace." And the idea that the democratic socialist's base is largely male is arguably just straight-up false: Polls have shown that Sanders supporters are diverse across racial and gender lines, with young women making up a larger proportion of his support than young men.

Yet the narrative has remained pervasive, likely because there are plenty of genuinely nasty Bernie supporters lurking online, and more recently, because Sanders has achieved frontrunner status. Since his rise in the polls, Bernie has received a deluge of negative press from mainstream publications. "This isn’t about Sanders supporters being uniquely toxic. It’s about Sanders leading in Iowa and New Hampshire and leading a genuinely diverse working class movement," one Bernie supporter tweeted in response to the New York Times article. "Elite liberals fear and despise the working class. That’s the reality."

"This is ruling class propaganda," another remarked. "And rather than keeping Bernie above the fray, the campaign's scolding of supporters was used to validate their false narrative of abusive Berners, as I feared it would be. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. So don't."

Peter Daou, a former Hillary aide turned Bernie diehard, expressed dismay about the Bernie Bro stereotype over the phone. He said that he and his wife, Leela, now "receive the same type of personal attacks" as he did in 2016, when he was loudly supporting Clinton online. "People are using the term ‘Bernie Bro’ in a targeted way,” he said. "It’s a toxic narrative, leftover from 2016. The idea of these raging white males online that all support Bernie is the establishment’s way of trying to torpedo Bernie’s campaign."

Jovan Prunty, a 31-year-old who works in construction, also takes offense at the Bernie Bro narrative. "As a Black man I think this term erases me and all his other women and POC supporters," he said.

Sanders supporters generally agree that there are toxic leftist men whose behavior is out of bounds. But they insist that those people are a minority. Jaya Sundaresh, a writer for the socialist publication Current Affairs, voiced that sentiment on her Twitter in a post that garnered 15,000 likes: "I'm just going to say it: the Bernie Bro stereotype might be bullshit, but there's a variety of irony-poisoned shithead leftist dudes who have caused nothing but pain for myself and my female comrades." Over the phone Sundaresh was careful to emphasize that even though shitty men do exist on the left, the phenomenon is not specific to one edge of the ideological spectrum. "I’ve been swarmed by Pete Buttigieg supporters," she said. "I’ve also had good conversations with them."

Small, persistent jabs from Bernie supporters are unsurprisingly hurtful to people who support other candidates. Zandy Hartig, a Los Angeles-based actress, who backs Elizabeth Warren, tweeted on Wednesday, "It sucks that I feel I can’t tweet about my favorite candidate. my friends are respectful when they argue with me, but random people will jump all over me. It’s not their candidate’s fault, but it scares me nonetheless. And maybe that’s the point." Unkindness ensued, with Bernie supporters informing her that Warren does, in fact, suck, and imploring her to "calm down."

"I don’t think it’s Bernie fault," Hartig emphasized to me over the phone. "But I don't want to comment [anything pro-Warren] because when I have, people come down really hard on me and I almost feel like going private." (Her Twitter is currently private).

"During the 2016 election, I really didn’t think there was such a thing as a 'Bernie Bro,'" Hartig continued. "But this time, we’ve got a woman running who is much more progressive [than Hillary]… I’m starting to think it has a lot to do with misogyny."

The nastiness of online political culture has resulted in a gap between those like Hartig, who feel attacked by swarms of online Bernie heads, and Sanders supporters who complain that they are being unfairly stereotyped. Misogyny exists in every corner of the internet, they say. So why are we mostly talking about Bernie Sanders? "You’re gonna tarnish an entire movement as 'bros'?" Daou said. "[It] erases all the women, the women of color. There’s an ageist, a sexist, and a racist component when you generalize a diverse movement under the term 'Bro.'"

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What Bernie Supporters Think of the Term ‘Bernie Bro’ syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[topicprinter]

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Sam Evans (u/haulincubes) of You Call We Haul Junk Removal, a brand that makes junk removal servicesSome stats:Product: Junk Removal ServicesRevenue/mo: $18,000Started: May 2016Location: Central PennsylvaniaFounders: 1Employees: 3Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?My name is Sam Evans. I am 23 years old and a recent graduate from Penn State Altoona. I am the founder of You Call We Haul Junk Removal, a junk removal company that removes anything from single items to hoarder home cleanouts. We’re located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and have been in business (part-time) since May of 2016.We service any and everyone who may have unneeded items they are looking to get rid of. People often ask what items we consider junk, to us junk is anything you no longer need or want.Our main customers are middle-aged and up adults, typically with a higher income that do not want to or are unable to do the work themselves. We complete over 75 jobs per month, bring in about $20,000 in revenue per month profiting about 65% per job.imageWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?When I was ending my freshman year of college, I was sitting in my dorm room one day when I got a call from my cousin. Both of us had been flipping items on eBay since we were 14 and always loved to find ways to make some extra money. He told me about a book called Effortless Entrepreneur, written by the founders of College Hunks Hauling Junk which is currently the world’s second-largest junk removal franchise.I ordered the book on eBay for $4 and as soon as it came to my dorm, I immediately started reading. About 20 pages into it, I called my Dad who is a used car salesman. I told him that I was going to start a junk removal company and that I needed his help finding a truck. After nearly a week of calling him telling him every reason I could come up with as to why I needed to start this company, he was finally in. He helped me find a $1,000 truck on Craigslist, a 1991 Ford F-150. imageI bought the truck, printed out some flyers at my school’s library, ordered a few hundred horrible business cards, and was officially in business.I had zero validation for the idea other than that big companies were making a killing doing it and I figured I could as well, after all, who doesn’t have some extra items lying around that they’re dying to get rid of? I minimized the risk as much as I possibly could because the truck that I bought was worth a lot more than the thousand dollars I paid for it. I knew that even if I failed, I would be able to resell the truck and make some money. Starting with a beater truck was my way of putting out a minimum viable product.I had zero expertise and am still learning every single day that I work on my business. The only business experience I had before this was flipping items on eBay and running Facebook pages while I was in middle and high school. When I was 14 I built, grew, and sold a network of Facebook pages with over 5 million daily active users that were based on different teenage jokes and issues at the time. The biggest page had over 3 million likes and was called I HATE WHEN MY PARENTS ASK WHO I’M TEXTING, if you were active on Facebook in 2010 and were in high school at the time, I bet you like the page - go check and let me know. My financial situation at this time was a few thousand dollars that I had in my bank account from these previous businesses. Knowing absolutely nothing ended up being an advantage. I failed a ton in the first few summers of running the business but learned more than I ever did in the classroom. Everything takes time and effort, if you put in the effort you will be successful in the long run in whatever business you decide to start.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.There was no design process when I started out. I put out the most minimal viable product I could. The truck was cheap but luckily it did not have any rust so it had a tiny bit of curb appeal if you appreciate old Ford trucks. My flyers and free craigslist posts were really the reason I started to get business.In my area, saying you are a Penn State student or graduate holds a lot of weight and people love to support a fellow Penn Stater. On these flyers and posts, I really honed in on the fact that I was a current PSU student home for summer vacation, looking for a way to make some extra money. The original flyer had a picture of a roommate of mine holding up a random couch that we found sitting in a field by campus.I did not do anything legally for almost two years after starting this business, as I ran it only in the summer while home from school and on breaks when I could actually find some work. My first summer in business in 2016, we did barely $3,000 in sales. Once I took the business legal 2 years later before my senior year of college, I had about $1,200 in total legal and insurance costs to turn into a legitimate business. Upon graduation and taking the business full-time, the costs of insurance ramped up having employees and a much larger truck.Describe the process of launching the business.When we first started we did not have a website, Facebook page, or Instagram account. We spread the word by taping flyers to mailboxes, free Craigslist posts, and sharing screenshots of our flyers in local Facebook groups which were our biggest source of customers.It took us about a week to get our first customers and we were profitable by the end of month one in which we did about $2,000 in sales. Starting with very humble beginnings in a beat-up old Ford truck and no advertising budget taught me that just getting started and taking action is the most important step. When it comes to service businesses that are already a proven model, I always think about the line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it they will come.” Whether it is junk removal, landscaping, garage door repair, or any other home service business, proven models like that work.I also learned that even having a small web presence like a Wix website or a Facebook page can do wonders. Showing people what you do rather than telling them is key to any business becoming successful.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?Since launch, the only paid advertising we have done is Facebook ads. We are starting to roll out Google ads this month but Facebook has done wonders for our business thus far. If I were to restart, I wouldn’t put as much faith in Facebook ads as I did though because the costs have nearly doubled in the past year.We typically spend less than $600 a month on ads but really need to up the ad spend to reach our current goals. We do a ton of grassroots marketing. Bandit signs, stickers, signs in customer’s yards, door hangers, giving out t-shirts, etc.image imageOur biggest successes from organic marketing have come from midnight bandit sign drops. Going out in the middle of the night allows us to put out 50-60 signs in high traffic areas in under three hours. We map out where to put them based on incomes in various local zip codes. Zip code incomes can be found through USPS Every Door Direct Mail tool. We’ve also been utilizing the Nextdoor app which is tremendous for home services. If you are recommended on that app, customers treat it like the bible. They will hire you blindly and agree to any price you say.We also post on social 2-4x per day, every single day. It is a great way to gain customers organically and get a lot of exposure for the company. Videos work great for home services because as I’ve said before, people want to see who they’re hiring to come into their homes, especially women hiring men. They want to be able to trust a brand and social media is a great way to build that trust for free.https://www.instagram.com/p/B4prmVJHDvC/How are you doing today and what does the future look like?Today, we are growing every single month. We are doing about a 75% profit margin on each job but expect that to go down over time as we hire more employees and acquire more trucks. We are going to start investing a lot more heavily in PPC ads and SEO to gain more exposure in our area. Right now we have about 1,200 facebook likes and a little over 700 Instagram followers. We typically have about 400 people visiting our site each month. Short term we want to reach 100 jobs completed in one month and hit $30,000 in monthly revenue. We believe we can do that with the one dump truck we currently have as long as we up our ad spend.Long term, we want to franchise the business. Junk removal is growing at an extremely fast pace as we live in a society that thrives on convenience and wants to show off to their peers, so people are buying more items than ever before. Studies have shown that less than 2% of people know how to get rid of unneeded items so the industry is really just getting started.We’re confident that through the culture we are building we can get our employees on board to start their own locations. We will give them the choice of where they want to start because we believe the model we’re perfecting will work in any location. Junk removal is an extremely fun business because no two days are the same, you meet very interesting people, and you never ever know what you are going to find.Employees love it because they can keep some of the stuff they find too which makes it all that much more enjoyable. It really is the perfect, simple business model that anyone who is willing to hustle can start and succeed in.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Since I’ve started this business I have really learned to appreciate services. The home services industry in particular is only going to grow in the next 5-10 years. We’re moving away from the times of people wanting to do everything on their own. Our society is starting to value time over money and that means paying people to do the things they do not want to do, like removing the broken freezer from their basement.I was very lucky to start my business during college when I really could not fail. Being able to work on it for three summers and research it not stop during the school year set me up to succeed post-graduation. I didn’t have to jump in blindly and hope it would work, I had already proven the model and created a solid base of customers that were constantly referring me business.One of the best decisions I made was joining a junk removal mastermind group. It taught me more in 3 months than I learned in 4 years of college studying business. I highly recommend that people try to find Facebook groups or subreddits where they can share ideas with other owners in their industries and if there aren’t any, start one.What platform/tools do you use for your business?Platforms I use are: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube for learning, Housecall Pro, Quickbooks Online, Nicejob.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Books:The Power of BrokeEverything by Malcolm Gladwell to challenge how I thinkEverything by Dale Carnegieto challenge how I interact with otherLiving With a SealThe Last LecturePodcasts:How I built this with Guy RazThe Home Service ExpertHumans 2.0Business WarsApps:Alarmy- I used to hit the snooze button multiple times, every single morning. This app allows you to find a barcode in your home or elsewhere and scan it, you then have to scan the barcode to shut off your alarm. There’s no other way to get it to stop other than to scan that barcode. It’s a blessing and a curse, trust me.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Start. Just start. If everyone waited for the right time to start, we wouldn’t have any entrepreneurs. Don’t think you need to know everything, no one knows everything. Take a ton of risks, every successful person ever credits their risk-taking ability with them becoming successful. Don’t try to build the next Facebook or Instagram, you do not need to reinvent the wheel. I bought a thousand-dollar pick-up truck and got started.If you over-think things it just makes it harder for you. Put out a minimum viable product and hustle, the results will come if you do not stop.Most people think they’ll make a ton of money and their business will boom from the beginning. Rarely is that ever the case. Give it time, lots of it, and do everything in your power to grow your business. Everything takes time and effort, if you put in the effort you will be successful in the long run in whatever business you decide to start.Where can we go to learn more?WebsiteFacebookInstagramLinkedinIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.For more interviews, check out r/starter_story - I post new stories there daily.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM