#our every move in our campaign it’s awesome

[shrimpari]

“I made a pact with Vol, a pact of Blood”

Strahd von Zarovich and his very, very good friend.

[that-house]

Do a personal ranking of every damage type in dnd 5e

13. Bludgeoning. now this may strike some of you as controversial but here at that-house it's our heartfelt belief that hammers are for pussies

12. Piercing. arrows and spears? also for pussies

10. Poison. if i wanted to Not Deal Damage i'd be healing people. half the statblocks in the game are immune to this shit. hell, half the commoners in the game probably picked up at least a resistance somehow

9. Thunder. what

8. Fire. look, fireball is nice and all but again. i'm here to HURT people. this is DAMAGE types. stop resisting me. places above thunder damage because Meteor Swarm, like the birgus, fucks hard and fast (that's right, i cited my sources. thank you hbomberguy)

7. Cold. A lot like fire, but, strangely, hotter.

6. Acid. What poison wishes it was. like if fire was a juice. Sexy and destructive. oh yeah baby melt the flesh from my bones

5. Lightning. fuck, man, i just really like lightning. it's probably the most used damage type in my campaign, purely by accident. helps that one of the PCs is immune to it, so he gets to feel cool

4. Necrotic. liches are hot. don't question that previous sentence ok. let's move on

3. Radiant. if you're cool, that's nuclear radiation. if you're cooler, that's pure rage, cleansing wrath in damage form. if you're lame it's basically fire damage but borrowed from god, and that's still pretty cool

2. Slashing. Swords are fucking awesome, man. I'm gonna go live by one sure hope nothing bad happens

1. number one... it's gotta be Force babey!!!!!!!! least resisted/immune damage type, eldritch blast, what can't she do? the F in Force Damage stands for "fuckable" and the M in Magic Missile stands for "i'M gonna use a legendary action to magic missile your unconscious body so that you fail three death saves instantly that's right bitch it's force damage time i'm playing hardball"

[blackboxfaxes]

Battle Report: House Kurita vs Word of Blake, Rematch

For the second campaign turn in a row, Kote Lance came under attack by the Blakists' lead Assault element - a Highlander, an Awesome, and a Crab, all heavily customized. Kote Lance was busy repairing after their last engagement with the Blakists - Raine's Marauder was already active, but Kimiko's Blitzkrieg, Casey's Black Knight, and Heather's Blackjack had to make rolls to emergency start. None of them booted up turn 1, as Raine moved her Marauder up, the other side of the field covered by the Raiden squad usually assigned to Heather.

The Tonbo at the bottom of the image is just set dressing, and the clear acrylic circles are all woods.

>[Reactor online. Weapons online. Sensors online. All systems nominal.] Heather's Blitzkrieg was, true to form, the first mech to activate, rolling a 10+ on turn 2, and she immediately set out to punish the Blakists' Crab for pushing forward, loosing a pair of Ultra AC20 shells on it, neither of which connected, but they certainly let the Blakists know she was there. Raine exploited a heavy woods, keeping her covered as she traded PPC blasts with the Blakists' custom Awesome. It also mounted a Gauss rifle, which she had only one answer for...

>Glad you ladies joined the party. Now, let's deal with our uninvited guests. That answer was the Gauss rifle mounted on Heather's Blackjack, as she leapt to the top of her repair facility, relying on the Jumping Jack ability to keep her accurate, she joined Raine in pouring fire down on the Awesome. Casey, as always, ran her Black Knight out of her mech bay on MASC, screaming the Coordinator's name, daikatana held high.

>Hey, Kimiko, how's your uppercut? With the enemy Crab having moved to the very cliff's edge, and wanting to avoid taking fire from the Awesome and Highlander, Heather saw an opportunity, and ran directly under the Crab, blocked from the other two mechs by the cliff's edge, and fired a pair of shells straight up into the Crab's forward-protruding fuselage. One shell connected, shredding the armor on the Crab's left torso and staggering it, while Heather, Casey, and Raine focused the Awesome.

>I'm gonna getcha Combined fire from those three mechs knocked the Awesome flat as it reached the cliff. The Crab retreated, and Kimiko, seeing herself threatened, pumped the breaks and streaked halfway across the field, aiming to flank around the Blakist formation. The Raiden squad, almost forgotten, saw a golden opportunity, and jumped for the Awesome.

>Alright, let's do this The Battle Armor weren't the only ones to see an opportunity. As the Awesome lurched to its feet, Casey's mech kicked its MASC in, for once not failing the roll, and reached point blank with the Awesome. The only problem with this idea was that it left her in full view of every enemy mech, and all of them focused fire on her exclusively. This put enough firepower into her to knock her flat, costing her her chance to use her hatchet, and getting the Awesome to stomp on her arm for good measure.

>Think we can handle this on our own? Kimiko's Blitzkrieg steamed and buttered the Crab with a second AC20 shot in the left torso, disabling its XL engine and leaving her open to move on the enemy Highlander. Meanwhile, Casey got up, and once again took all the fire from the Blakists, and then fell over AGAIN despite her piloting skill of 3. This time, however, the Blakist Awesome also fell. Now it was the Battle Armor's time to shine, and they jumped on their victim, going for the swarm.

>[deranged screaming that suddenly cuts off] Casey, having failed to connect with a melee attack and lost ninety percent of her armor, decided discretion was the better part of valor. The Blakist Highlander, under attack by a Blitzkrieg, contemptuously swatted it away with a gauss rifle and a PPC shot to the same torso section, taking it from untouched to disabled in two shots. The Awesome, however, tried to stand up. Perhaps struggling because of the battle armor clinging to it, it rolled a 3 when it needed a 4, fell on its arm, critted its arm, detonated the gauss rifle mounted there and electrocuted the pilot, who blacked out. The Raiden squad were of course delighted, and moved in for the kill. At this point, the Blakists conceded. While I was down to essentially one untouched and two half combat-effective mechs, he was down to one, and called it early rather than lose his Awesome. Each of us salvaged our own mechs and rescued our own pilots, leading to no lasting material changes to either side.

[certaincollectionlandblog]

Eddie Munson with a tall SO

Eddie sat at lunch with the hellfire club when his eyes caught sight of a pair of long sexy legs attached to a girl who had an even prettier face. She had her head thrown back mid laugh at something one of the cheerleaders had said. Eddie would have known if she was a cheerleader because Chrissy would have talked about you. Eddie wasn’t sure who she was, but he was determined to find out just exactly who she was. He in that very minute made you his new mission, who were you and how out of everyone in Hawkins did you catch his eye?

Eddie sat in his van after school working on planning the next campaign for the hellfire club when he heard the gym doors open and that angelic laugh he had heard at lunch again. His eyes jerked up to see you leaving the gym with some other girls who all had on basketball uniforms. He saw you wave goodbye to the girls and walk towards the sidewalk as the rest of the girls walked towards the parking lot. Before he could realize what came over him, he was out of the van and yelling “excuse me”. Before the words could even get fully outside of his mouth his face felt like it was on fire.

You turned around with a sweet smile and that angelic voice as you said an energetic “hello!”. Eddie caught off guard at the fact that you actually replied was caught looking at the way your mascara was a little roughed up and how your checks were flushed the most pretty of pinks.

“Hello? Eddie, are you okay?”

What the hell?! How did you know his name? Was he supposed to know yours? He didn’t think he knew you.

“What. Oh yeah I’m okay just a little dazed there for a second you know how school will rot your brain.”

You giggle. That darn giggle of yours is going to get him into trouble one day. You move closer standing directly in front of Eddie when he realizes that you’re actually taller than any girl he’s talked to. In fact you’re taller than him! It’s not that much of a difference, only a couple short inches.

“So… what did you yell at me for?” You say still giggling.

“Oh that. Yeah I saw you headed towards the sidewalk and was wondering if you needed a ride home after basketball?”

“Wow Eddie that’s really sweet! Yeah if you don’t mind that would be awesome!”

“Yeah no problem! Couldn’t let a pretty lady like you walk home all alone. I hate to say this, but I don’t know your name”.

“Oh silly me! It’s Y/N! I just figured you knew who I was. I went to the same middle school as you, except I was shorter then and about two years below you. We used to hangout sometimes in music room. Once we reached high school I started basketball and then I don’t remember us ever hanging our again.” You said sounding a little disheartened.

“Oh. Ohhh. That was you! What happened to you? You look so different? I didn’t even recognize you, I thought you moved away!”

“Eddie silly I grew up” you laughed.

“Yeah I can tell!” He threw his head back laughing.

The whole ride home you and Eddie reconnected and it felt like everything was right in the universe again. You and Eddie promised to hangout again, he even agreed to come see some of your games. After that night you and Eddie became inseparable. You and Eddie soon found yourselves becoming more than friends. He would get jealous at other guys who cheered for you at the games. Sometimes in those late hours of the night he wondered how your legs would feel wrapped around him and what it would be like to kiss all the way up them. By the time Christmas had rolled around you and Eddie had officially become a couple.

Eddie became obsessed with your butt and how conveniently places it was. So close he often slipped his hand into your back pockets when you were walking together. He worshiped your legs, but he absolutely adored your thighs. Nothing could stop Eddie once he started on his mission of marking your thighs up with love bites. The sex was incredible. Eddie felt like he was losing his mind every single time you two got it on.

You loved being able to kiss him at any time without having to lean up or bend down. It was perfect! Eddie treated you like an absolute queen! Worried about wearing heels out? No problem Eddie’s going to show you just how much he loves you in those heels as soon as he gets his hands on you.

Eddie loved every second he spent with you. More importantly Eddie loved every single inch of you too!

[shinydixon]

WILL YOU WAIT FOR ME? (EDDIE MUNSON X READER)

Anon:  truly had to hold myself back from requesting all of the prompts but I finally settled on 118. “Will you wait for me here? I promise I won’t be long.” Sidenote your writing is amazing ❤

 Prompt:  118. “Will you wait for me here? I promise I won’t be long.” (changed a little bit)

 Words: 827

 Warnings: A lot of kisses, that’s it

 ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE (also, I don’t write anything since 2020)

“Today session was amazing! Who would have ever thought that Sinclair’s infamous little sister could save all of our asses against the cult of Vecna?”

When Dustin and Mike bought Erica at the Hellfire club as Lucas’s sub, Eddie wasn’t that happy, however you, having met the little girl after the little “adventure” at Starcourt Mall the previous summer; knew that Erica was the definition of “don’t judge the book by its cover”.

After hours of tension, with all your characters down, except for Erica and Dustin’s, your friends left the room jumping and laughing, happy to have won the campaign.

You decided to stay behind, helping non other than the Dungeon Master himself (and, your boyfriend) cleaning up the table…you didn’t look forward to get an earful from the drama club kids for not tidying up their so called “temple of the arts”.

“Yeah, I mean, beginner’s luck I guess” came Eddie’s unamused reply.

“Oh! Did a 12 years old girl hurt your ego baby? Admit it, that was awesome! The tension, the adrenaline when she got a natural 20, the fact that….” You weren’t able to finish the sentence because, said Dungeon Master, just picked you up from behind.

“Care to repeat that sweetheart?” you could feel his grin against your cheek

“I was just saying that you’re a little butthur-“

“I am what?” his grip on your waist tightened, you couldn’t keep your laugh inside anymore

“Okay, okay you took the defeat with maturity, you’re not being a brat, not at all”

“That’s what I thought” he didn’t waste any minute, he turned you toward him, like this he could finally face you.

“Hi there princess”

“Hi”

Gosh, after all the time you two were together, the honeymoon phase should already be over.

Instead, here you were, staring at each other, with those lovesick smiles on both of your faces.

“So, the great dungeon master would like to come at my place tonight? It would be an honor”

At that Eddie’s smile slowly faded.

Usually, after every Hellfire Club meeting, you two headed to Eddie’s trailer or your place, spending the night together.

For this reason you weren’t really expected to be turned down, your question being completely rhetorical.

“I’m sorry princess, I have a meeting with a client”

“Don’t you bring weed at school?”

“Yeah but this particular client asked me for…something heavy”

At that you detached from him, Eddie could sense you’re discomfort at his admission.

It’s not that you didn’t know about his…job, but when he started to sell other drugs, in addition to weed, you were worried of the consequences.

What if said client ended up overdosing? What if the police discovered his secret stash?

Don’t wanting to upset you, Eddie was really quick bringing you again against his chest.

“Don’t be mad baby, we’ll see each other tomor-“

“Edward Munson, you know very well that is not what is upsetting me”

Eddie, knowing very well that you using his full name meant trouble, just buried his face onto your head, placing little kisses on the top.

“I know sweetheart, I know…what do you say if, once I’m done, I’ll come to your place? Will that ease all your worries a little?”

You finally move your head from his chest, finally facing him.

“Fine, but, for the records, I’m still mad at you”

Eddie’s smile reappeared, you swear he could light any room with that damn smile.

“I’ll make it up to you”

The way he leant down kissing your pouting lips so sensually was just a preview of what was in store for you.

“Okay, okay Casanova, off you go now, the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be free to come at mine”

With that said, you and Eddie proceed to pick up the D&D supplies, closing the room, and heading toward the parking lot, hand in hand.

Once arrived at your car, he opened the door for you.

“So, will you wait for me there? I promise I won’t be long”

“I’ll leave my window open just for you”

He gives you another long and slow kiss before parting ways and heading towards his van.

You were about to get in your car when you noticed none other than Chrissy Cunningham waiting near Eddie’s van.

The queen of Hawkins high wanted to buy drugs? From Eddie?

While driving you couldn’t shake off the bad feeling you got after seeing who Eddie’s client really was, however, what made you worried was the possibility that Chrissy’s asshole boyfriend will find out she bought drugs from Eddie, and all the consequences Eddie will face.

What you didn’t know, was that all the nightmares you thought you didn’t have to face again after that 4th of July, will come back and, this time, will affect the person you love more than everything in this world.

[female-buckets]

A record WNBL crowd of 7,681 at John Cain Arena fell silent as Lauren Jackson was assisted from the floor just 62 seconds into the game.

Just minutes earlier, the legendary Jackson was the final player announced to a raucous ovation. Like much of the last twelve months, the gravity of watching the all-time great go to work had drawn the eyes of many to the WNBL, perhaps for the first time.

After her bronze medal heroics at the Women's World Cup in Sydney with the national team last year, Jackson has played a major role in the Flyers campaign, averaging 14 points and five rebounds in a perhaps more than expected 21 minutes per game.

As if the fairy tale story needed any more juice, Jackson's trademark determination and will once again came to the fore, with the recent news that she has been carrying a fractured left foot through a large portion of the season.

"The great news is that it's not my broken foot, it's the other one," Jackson joked of the suspected serious Achilles injury.

With scans to come on Sunday morning, there is a genuine fear that this may be last chapter written of the remarkable comeback of Jackson, with just four games left on the Flyers schedule before the postseason.

"For me, I said I was on borrowed time," Jackson said. "It's hard, the way that I feel right now, I don't know. I'm pretty tough, but when I felt it, I felt something pop. I was just standing there, I said to the referee that I can't actually walk. Now I can't put any weight on it, whatever it is, I'll go get the scans in the morning and go from there. Hopefully it's just a stinger but I don't know."

"As soon as I felt it pop, I was like oh my god, that's my day over. I went to try and walk and I couldn't. The poor ref, she said she can't stop the game, I said that's fine, but I can't actually move so I don't know what to do."

Jackson's absence understandably took the air out the building for the first quarter, before the Flyers and Flames put on a show that came down to the final possession with Tiana Mangakahia knocking down a free-throw with 2.7 seconds left to help lift the Flames to the 68-67 road win.

The aura of Jackson may have brought a large portion of the crowd, but in the end, it was the high-quality play on the court that captivated those in the stands. The 26-point performance of Mangakahia in particular is of note, with the star guard recently included in the Opals extended squad in preparation for the 2023 Women's Asia Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics.

"I obviously had a lot of time to take in the atmosphere and the crowd was just incredible. That was so awesome to see that at a WNBL game, just to suit up was one of the greatest privileges," Jackson said.

"What a magnificent thing for women's basketball in this country. It's a domestic league, it's the premier national league but to have that kind of support in Melbourne was just incredible.

"I've said it a million times, but I think off the back of the World Cup and the visibility that basketball has had, it's really lifted the profile of our sport. Hopefully it's just the start of many games like this. It was great to be able to prove that it can be done and I'm pretty sure every single person in that stadium enjoyed that game."

Flyers head coach Cheryl Chambers set aside her disappointment for Jackson and the Flyers, to praise the Southside organisation for what was a spectacular advertisement for the league.

"There is some real talent across the whole league, so hopefully there's some people there that don't go every week that think they are going to get on board and support women's basketball," Chambers said.

"The other thing I'm proud about our organisation is, we probably weren't ready for this game, we could have asked if we were perfectly ready for this game, was it the perfect one to have against Sydney, all that kind of stuff. Gerry (Ryan) and Ian (Coutts) took a chance on women's basketball because we weren't one hundred percent ready and I think sometimes we wait until we're one hundred percent and it's too late. It's an awesome thing for women's sport."

Postgame, Jackson took part in a presentation on court, before remarkably presenting to the media for a press conference that she could and should have been expected to skip. Shifting between crutches and a wheelchair for comfort, understandably in pain, Jackson continued to lead the discussion for the growth of the women's game in Australia.

"You've got to take risks to take that next step and evolve and grow. As a league, we're doing that," Jackson explained. "As a team in the league, I think Southside is definitely pushing those barriers and trying to set the standard.

"That's what we did tonight. Gerry and Ian and our whole team should be so proud of what our front office was able to do, to bring that crowd out here tonight. I'm very, very proud to be a Flyer."

It would be difficult and near on impossible to imagine another athlete of Jackson's status in any sport presenting in this manner given the difficult circumstances, though, in some ways it shouldn't have been a surprise. This is who LJ is. A class act.

"Nobody could have scripted this last year, it's been completely insane. Then how ironic, how ironic (is this), it is what it is," she said with a smile and a shake of the head.

Claiming another medal for the national team could have been the perfect swansong for Jackson, but her work was not yet done, with her presence in the WNBL a delight for basketball fans young and old. It would be foolish and premature to write Jackson off given what has been witnessed over the last 12 months, but in a bittersweet way, if Saturday night is ultimately the last time Jackson suits up in a professional environment, doing so in front of a record-breaking crowd would be fitting for a legendary legacy.

All Jackson has done is create history since she first burst onto the scene more than two decades ago as a teenage star. Saturday night at John Cain Arena was no different.

[nixytea]

ROSE-COLOURED BOY (k.sn smau)

➴ — CHAPTER 012

wc: 831

the sun’s rays fell through the windows of the library, glass filtering the cheers from the field downstairs. sitting by the windowsill was a boy with rose-pink hair, nose scrunched up in concentration. his attention was directed towards the book in his hands, lips parting slightly as he mouthed every word his eyes skimmed over. 

another boy wearing the same uniform walked in, a fond grin stretched across his rakish yet soft features. “sunoo! are you done yet?” 

sunoo peered over the spine of his book, glaring at his best friend. “shush, not so loud, jake. we’re in a library in case you didn’t notice. practice ended early?”

“yep,” jake confirmed, a hint of pride in his voice. “guess who won the practice match today?”

“hmm, i don’t know. wanna tell me?” sunoo quipped, the edge of teasing sarcasm going unnoticed by jake. 

“ugh, listen to me sun! the first years were awesome today, i’m so glad we got to recruit them. if we keep this up belift might win nationals again this year! by the way, heeseung, riki and i are going on a convenience store run together. wanna come?” jake’s words came out in a single breath in his excitement, earning a chuckle from sunoo. “hey, then you’re gonna call me to say your sister scolded you for reaching home late again.”

jake shook his head. “not when she finds out i’m with you, mr student council candidate. so let’s go. the sooner we eat, the sooner i get home.” snatching the book from sunoo’s hands, jake picked up both their bags and headed towards the door, ignoring sunoo’s muffled cry of protest.

twenty minutes later, sunoo found himself sitting at an empty counter in a poorly-lit convenience store, chatting with jake and his teammates. the conversation had begun on the topic of school, and was now somehow on the topic of their schoolmates. In other words, gossip.

“no but seriously, i heard yn has a whole lot of secret admirers. even the boys in my year are leaving love letters in her locker,” heeseung pointed out, taking a sip of his yoghurt drink.

jake huffed in response. “our house has way too many boxes of chocolate piling up. i think there’s still some leftovers from last year's valentine’s day.”

“but aren’t half yours?”

“that’s the chocolate. yn’s collection consists of jewellery she refuses to wear. It’s all pretty tacky so i’m not surprised. so yeah, my sister’s more popular than she thinks. her best friends aren’t bothered though.”

from the corner of his eye, sunoo spotted riki waggling his eyebrows meaningfully towards his senior. “what’s it like being popular, huh? out of the millions of confessions you receive, how many have you actually accepted?” 

jake visibly floundered, eyes widening as he leaned towards riki. “none! i’m too busy with school to date, you romance-starved child. ask sunoo, he’s got confession letters too.”

“what?! why me?” riki and heeseung’s expectant gazes landed on him, and sunoo couldn’t help the crimson blush dyeing his cheeks. he leaned back, trying to avoid looking them in the eye lest they read him too easily. luckily for sunoo, he wasn’t so much of an open book as jake. “i’m busy with the election campaigning, so i don’t accept confessions,” he offered. to sunoo it sounded like a pretty lame excuse but riki and heeseung were already nodding their heads in agreement. 

“such a model student.”

“no, it might be him hiding his crush on someone.”

“excuse me why is that the conclusion of all things-”

“no, no, riki’s got a point,” heeseung mused, an odd look on his face. “don’t tell me…a brother’s best friend trope?! are you in love with sim yn?

“...what.”

“it’s a feasible speculation. jake, your thoughts?” riki pointed his triangular gimbap at jake’s chin, pretending it was a microphone.

“i mean…i don’t know? what do you want me to say? I’m not one of those protective brothers, yn can date whoever she wants.” jake shrugged absently, taking a huge bite out of his food.

the topic finally moved from there, pulling a sigh of relief from sunoo. as the sky grew darker, the boys began to head home, riki and heeseung in one direction, jake and sunoo in the other.

jake nudged his best friend gently, sending goosebumps down sunoo’s arm. “hey, about what they said earlier. you don’t actually like my sister, do you?”

“Uhh…why this all of a sudden?” sunoo’s throat constricted, questions floating in his mind. what was jake thinking? had he been thinking about it since an hour ago?

what if sunoo said yes?

“if you did, i’d trust her with you, you know. just be honest with me.”

sunoo sighed gently, a tired grin on his lip as he shook his head. “don’t think too much, jake. let’s just enjoy the air tonight.” pulling jake into a hug, sunoo held his best friend as they walked home, the night breeze edging them along.

synopsis

since your brother’s sudden death, your life has been turned upside-down. disillusioned from life’s supposed wonders, you just want to stay mad at life. but class president kim sunoo is a living, breathing ray of sunshine - your worst nightmare. luckily for you, he’s not leaving you alone anytime soon.

a/n: a little flashback on sunoo’s end! so...yes this is late i am sorry i am a lazy person but also a perfectionist so i spent hours on this chapter alone what am i doing with my life honestly

taglist (open) @lockburn-castle @sheismultifandom @hsg-ashsk

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[thebigshotman]

Hello everyone! Happy 8th Anniversary to Undertale and 2nd Anniversary to Deltarune Chapter 2!! Hard to believe Undertale’s been around for so long already and that the funny spam man has existed for 2 years now. I figured that since it’s such an important day in the fandom I’d check in, say hello, and explain where I’ve been and when I’ll be back!

Cause, once again, I definitely disappeared 😔 I meant to make my usual “hey college is starting back up I’ll be away for a month or longer while I sort myself out” post but that…obviously didn’t happen. Part of why is I was busier than usual leading up to the first week of the year, helping with freshman move in and orientation! Which was fun, but I apologize for the sudden absence with no explanation because of it.

College has definitely started! I’m on Week 4 now, and throughly enjoying all of my classes, but they’re keeping me busy. Small Philosophy and Communication Law assignments every week, and this week I have a couple screenwriting assignments to do, too. And with a D&D campaign on Fridays and work on the weekend, there’s really no space of time for me to really be here. You might have seen me send asks and like posts the past couple weeks but that’s all I’ve really been able to do.

But enough about apologies and excuses-when will I be back to get to what I owe? Well, despite having no work this weekend, it’s still out because of family weekend activities at college and a baby shower to go to. The next long break at college isn’t until October, which isn’t ideal to keep you guys waiting til, but honestly my grades suffered a lot last fall, and I think part of it was because I focused on being here above everything else. Not that you guys aren’t awesome and important, far from it!! You guys are awesome and definitely important ❤️❤️ But real life is just as important, and I don’t want that to happen again.

So I’m just going to say that if something happens and I’m able to get to everything before then, great!! But if not, that’s how things will have to be, and even if I am able to get to stuff early I’ll probably be dipping right back out again. I also deleted all of the asks in my inbox, just so my brain doesn’t get overwhelmed with things to reply to when I do come back. If you remember what you asked me and want to send it again, please do! It’s nothing personal, it’s just to avoid mental clutter.

Well, I think that’s about all that I wanted to update you guys with! There’s an awesome Deltarune fan animation that just came out yesterday for the anniversary, it’s awesome so please check it out (warning for flashing lights and some disturbing stuff towards the end). I’ve been thinking about you guys a lot, like “every new Alternative song I listen to conjures mental AMVs/animatics of our muses together” a lot, but unfortunately things are going to have to wait a little while longer. I’m sorry once again, but it’s for the best.

I love you all 😊 Thanks for hanging in there, and I’ll see you all soon.

Mun Bri

[radikylie]

Journal entry 5 million years later

Wow. It’s been well over a year and a half since I posted anything super personal and probably close to two years since being active on here. It has been a rollercoaster. In November 2021, I accepted a job at a university in the state where my love lived. After my graduate assistantship ended in 2020, it took me a year and a half to find a full-time job because of Covid. I applied to nearly 100 jobs and only heard back from maybe 10% of those jobs. And then I had exactly 3 and a half weeks to move my entire life across the country and move into an apartment with my then long-distance girlfriend when I was offered a job at a mid-size university.

Sometimes my life still doesn’t feel real. I’ve been so happy to be with my Emily and our quirky little sweet cat, but navigating life as an adult in this clown world has been extremely hard. I still can’t believe I live in fucking North Dakota. Our first two winters here have been the most brutal I have ever experienced. Boy, I thought I had SAD when I lived on the east coast but it sure is worse here. We hate living in a red state, but at least we live in the biggest city that is the most progressive.

My job as an admission counselor has been rewarding, difficult, draining, fun, and now mixed with frustration and disappointment. Our education system is a complete dumpster fire. Our incoming students and current students are having mental health crises every fucking day. It tears me apart sometimes to think that I am promising students a future I can’t guarantee with how the world is right now and where it’s going. In a week of traveling, I can drive over a thousand miles and spend over 30 hours in a car. There are high expectations and pressure to bring in first-year students because they are the true cash cows and there’s been a national decrease in enrollment across all institutions. The people I work with have been genuinely great people and are the best parts of the job sometimes. But the pay is absolute shit, and that coupled with rising greedflation and my outrageous private student loan debt feels like it’s crushing me. I don’t know how much longer I can take.

I recently applied for another job within my office that pays 10k more, and I know deserve something insanely better, but it would have been a good transition point and actually allow me to save money to move, and to get an EdTech job that is remote. I was denied this new job, the other candidate had “years of direct marketing experience” where I didn’t, but I had almost 2 years of experience in my office. I’ve shown them consistently that I have strong project management skills and organization for handling all of the texting/calling campaigns we do for students which was another part of this new job. It was handling all of the communications for print/emails (project management) and the job description didn’t even place a strong emphasis on design or marketing. But that’s what they went for in the other candidate. A white man. He wore a fucking flannel to the interview. If he didn’t have an awesome portfolio to present and he doesn’t bring the “wow” factor to this job, I’m going to be even more pissed.

And you know what also makes me mad. Last year around this time, we were actively hiring for another admission counselor position, and I was on that search committee. We were down to two choices, someone with 14 years of experience, and another person who interviewed so strongly but only had previous tour guide experience in terms of higher ed experience. We asked our supervisor if we could choose the person with less experience and she said that she would support that. We offered the position to the person with less experience but they eventually declined because the salary was so low (which we did advertise the salary??). So for this position I wanted, why would they not elevate another person in their office who has worked so fucking hard and has gone above and beyond for this position, and knows this office and best practices. So why does years of direct of experience matter now?

I cried for like the whole day. People in my office were rooting for me to have this job. The woman who previously had this job, she came from my position before that and didn’t even have a master’s. I cried because I felt trapped in this job, mainly due to capitalism. I cried because I felt so betrayed and underestimated. My direct supervisor was the chair for the search committee, and I know she doesn’t want to lose me as a counselor. Our director told me that my supervisor “adores” me, and that I consistently come up in their conversations about how I do great work and I get shit done. My director said she was excited that I applied and hoped they chose me, so I went into my final interview feeling very confident because she had already met the other two candidates before me.

When my supervisor called me to tell me the news (she was a at a conference), she started out saying that she appreciated me so much and that the other candidate would let them go in another direction that they didn’t even know they could go. I couldn’t speak. My voice cracked and I said thank you for letting me know and we ended the conversation. She followed up with a message on Microsoft Teams saying she appreciated me again and would like to help me build my skills to get me a job in EdTech, which is what I ultimately want. And I wonder if this response is because I low-key indicated to my director (because she flat out asked me) if I would leave if I didn’t get this job and I said yes. I don’t think my supervisor realizes how immediate I want (more like need) to leave.

I went home early crying after spending the entire week, waiting for the call, with extreme brain pain (psychophysiological disorder) symptoms and upset stomach to where I couldn’t eat because I was so stressed. Essentially, my nervous system thinks I’m in “danger” when thinking about travel season so it sends me unpleasant physical symptoms, like nerve pain in my face and muscle aches and nausea to where it gets debilitating at times. And travel season is both Fall and Spring. This past spring, I had to drive on icy back roads to rural parts of ND where my phone service does not work at times and once my tire starting leaking because it had a screw in it. I had a lowkey panic attack because I didn’t know what to do and needed to go to small town (population of 207) to get it patched. I was raped on a back road in a car with a man I thought I could trust when I was 20 so being out in the middle of nowhere gives me so much fucking anxiety. I’m stressed at the thought of college fairs starting in less than 2 months.

Stressed because I can’t do this fucking job anymore. The thought of being in this job for another travel season, like 6 weeks or more on and off of traveling start mid-September through November. And what’s worse is that we get “reimbursed” for our meals that we are out on the road but because North Dakota is North Dakota, I only get reimbursed up to $35 dollars a day meanwhile my coworkers traveling within MN can get up to $70 per day. So, when I travel, I have to be as frugal as possible and still lose money because I only get $6.50 for breakfast (unless I’m at a hotel and they have breakfast), 10.50 for lunch, and 17.50 for dinner. It was fine when I first started out but because of greedflation, it’s so much harder.

My student loan payments are like $700 dollars a month, and even though I have three fucking degrees, I’m stuck at an entry level pay despite having an MS degree. The pay across campus is abysmal. The pay for people with advance degrees is absolute shit. They advertised a mental health counselor position here which required a master’s or above and a license in counseling or social work for 43k. Like WHAT. That is what was offered to me when I started. I can’t save money long-term to get out of this fucking state, and we can’t even pay to go on a mini-vacation for a weekend trip. I had to tell my best friend from high school that I couldn’t go to her very fancy wedding on Cape Cod because there’s no way I can even save for myself. And I don’t think she will ever understand what its like to financially struggle and it feels like she lowkey resents me for it, and it makes me feel alone knowing she could never understand since both her and her husband come from a family with money. I worry she thinks I am just dumb as hell and not responsible with money but I can’t save for fucking anything. 

And my god, it could be so much worse. I know this, and am grateful for what we do have but it feels like we have very little to look forward to, and we pretty much can only spend what we need and not for things we want long-term. My family was exactly middle-class and moved into upper-middle class by the time I was in late high school, so it’s brought me more perspective. We are what they call “new poor” - we are one unexpected medical bill/car repair bill away from financial insecurity. I never had to worry about things like this before, I grew up blessed, and I know this. I try to give what I can when I can to my community and family and friends in need.

I tried to pick up a second job at really, really cool brewery but the shifts are so long (6-8 hours) and I sprained my knee on the job which led to my entire back seizing up two days before my birthday a few months ago. The worst birthday I’ve ever experienced. When my back spasmed, I couldn’t walk for three days. I cried the entire time almost. The first day it happened I screamed in pain with every little movement, like so much so Emily worried the cops would be called. Emily had to do everything for me – help me shower, eat, go the bathroom and she cared for me so well. I am so blessed and lucky to have her. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I had to go back to physical therapy and that was expensive also because health insurance is a fucking scam. It took me about a month to get to 60% okay.

I couldn’t work at the brewery for months and the money from there was so good because it’s an insanely huge operation so now I’m back in the same position now, and don’t know if I can physically keep up with the work. They work their employees so hard, not in a bad way necessarily, it’s just the nature of it because it’s in the top 10 breweries on untapped or whatever. I don’t think I can physically handle more than one or two shifts a month, but I’m afraid to work a whole shift again.

My health is not great. My desk job already has me gaining weight paired with PCOS that feels like it’s out of control, and my body hurts from sitting all day. My face is constantly breaking out from hormonal acne, I’m sure it’s been from all the stress I’ve been under too, but also because everything in this fucking world is harmful to us in one way or another. I’m not at the highest weight I’ve ever been but close to 20 pounds extra since I moved here. Its just so hard to find time and energy to workout because I have so little of both. Especially when I’m traveling, and it’s harder because the cheapest food when I’m out on the road is fast food so there’s not a lot of options to be healthy, especially in fucking ND. I think the only healthy/salad bowl kind of place is in the city we are in and the capital of ND and that’s it lol and its also more expensive. Driving for hours and hours is so exhausting. So. my mental health and self-image have been suffering from all of that too.  

But it feels like we are stuck in this city that is filled with terrible drivers and roads, and these brutal winters. The winters wouldn’t be so bad if the city actually maintained the roads better but every other week it feels like we are risking our lives to go to fucking work. I’ve had to drive through blizzards when I’ve never had any winter driving experience before. I’ve had an entire panic attack/mental breakdown on the interstate here that was completely iced over for 75 miles and I needed to get to the other side of the state for a fucking career fair for work. There were cars in ditches, and another fucking blizzard on the way after receiving well over a foot of snow in some parts of ND. If we weren’t visiting Em’s parents in the same town, and if she didn’t take over and drive on the icy parts for me, we would have never made it. I would have been paralyzed in fear at a truck stop without her, and she really showed up for me that day.

Spring and Fall both lasted maybe 3 weeks before it was either hot or cold season which seems to be all that ND has. Spring used to be my favorite season, but here the flowers don’t bloom until late May and its just mud and rain. Its depressing as hell. At least the summers have been mild in comparison to the disgustingly humid summers MD/VA have. When we do get a few really humid/hot days everyone complains so much and its funny to me because that’s basically any day in the summer on the east coast. It wouldn’t be so bad if our apartment ac unit actually fucking cooled our apartment below 72 degrees on a consistent basis. When its extremely hot and humid here, our apartment has gone up to 79 degrees if we do any sort of cooking or baking. It takes days to cool down, even with extra fans.

The city we live in does have a cool community and lots awesome local businesses. That’s been a saving grace. They do a lot of farmer’s markets, vintage markets, community/mutual aid events. If the world ever completely collapsed (which I feel is inevitable), I would feel pretty safe here and secure knowing the community is full of genuine and resourceful people. It’s a very safe and cheap city to live in because nobody wants to live in these winters. But we have no real friends here. We have our work friends who are just that, and it’s incredibly disappointing. We are both introverts but crave deeper connections with others, even if its only a few. One of the hardest lessons I have ever had to learn, and still learning, are that friends are like the seasons – they come and go.

I miss my family. I miss those summer days where I would wake up late, and my brother’s family would come over to swim. The dogs would be playing, and my niece and nephew being silly. My dad would grill and my mom would make a bunch of sides and we’d eat outside on the deck together. No plans except to go play a silly little video game by myself or with some people later that night after going for a walk or a run in my neighborhood in the woods. I miss sitting out in my driveway under the stars and trees with a good playlist, smoking a bowl, and reading about aliens. I miss my niece and nephew coming over every Tuesday and the house being so crazy with them but never a dull moment. I didn’t think I would miss that so much. My brothers can be assholes (my older brother more so), but it was nice when we were all getting along.

My relationship with my parents has gotten better as I’ve gotten older but they still can’t give me the emotional support that I need. Emily’s mom has been more emotionally supportive. My parents never ask me how I’m doing, just what I’m doing. I wish they would come visit me but I don’t think they ever will. They wouldn’t even fly me or Emily out for Christmas even though they have more than enough money to do so. They’ve been going on 10-day vacations in Jamaica at fucking Sandals, and doing weekend trips all over the east coast. But seeing me is not enough of a reason to fly here. 

They keep telling me how much they miss me and want me to move back but then don’t do anything to help me do that. They said they would help us move if I got a job on the east coast but don’t care that I’m drowning in student debt.  They disappoint me still and it feels like I have to grieve my relationship with them of what I need versus what they give me. It’s been that way my entire life. I know that they will never apologize for the things that they did while growing up. It’s a sad thing to come to terms with.

Another thing I have had to come to terms with is my purpose in this world, I guess. When I was 18, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to help people in some capacity. When I was 21, I had this grandiose idea and plans for how I could do that and save the world. When I was 24, I wanted to be a recreational therapist and create a holistic community center. When I was 25, I had started a master’s degree in Higher Education because I wanted to be a graduate assistant to a unique women’s college program within my university, which I worked hard to desperately create a safe space for young women, but the university didn’t give an actual shit about it. I didn’t think I would end up in higher education but here I am.

This is not where I expected myself to be at all, but I really did enjoy working with my students. So, I stayed in it. I finished my degree. And now I feel “stuck” in an education system that is very much a fucking dumpster fire. I’m feeling burnt out, I guess. It’s wrecking my mental and physical health. My nervous system is on high alert all the time, I think. I feel like I can never get enough time to actually rest and recover.

I’ve also had to re-evaluate my “purpose”. I’m an extremely spiritual person and have very much moved away from New Age completely but very interested in paganism or Mother Earth spirituality. I used to think that I had to have this grandiose purpose to change the world, but I recognize that the most important change comes from the self and extending that out to your community. Small acts of kindness can go a long way and encourage others to do the same, creating a chain reaction. But where exactly does that leave me?

Part of me wants to go to another university because of the “prestige” around it, but every institution has its own problems and is still within America’s education system that is a fucking shit show. I’m so concerned about how others see me sometimes, especially in professional sense. I felt like I was a late bloomer in all things because it took me 6 years to get my bachelor’s, but I also had a complete thyroidectomy after struggling with severe symptoms from it, and then being raped 3 months after the surgery. I was academically suspended for a year after my surgery and SA because my GPA was so low. There are so many people from that period of time who wrote me off as a dumb stoner and had no idea I was abusing weed because of trauma. Even my ex-girlfriend and her friends just thought I was a dumb stoner.

So, I guess I feel the need to “prove” that I am more than what they assumed me to be. I thought that I needed to be so career-driven to change the world and I am starting to understand that having that mindset is not a healthy way to live and will lead to self-destruction and burnout. I never thought I would hate my current job as much as I do. And I’m realizing that I don’t necessarily hate the work, but rather the expectations and circumstances surrounding it. I could stick out this job longer if I was paid more but it feels like I am running out of time to find something different before travel season starts again.

I’ve essentially quiet quit at this point. I feel like I have to detach myself from everyone because it hurts that I’m going to have to leave some of the people in my office, and I would go to bat for them at any time. I’ll be doing just above the bare minimum, and will not be volunteering as often to do extra things any more. A coworker of mine just got placed into her dream job and I’m so excited for her, but her leaving also gives us more work to cover. Another reason why I need to leave. And if I can leave before travel season, I feel a little guilty leaving during an important peak time, but they put me in this position. 

I can’t do it. I won’t if I don’t have to. And if September comes, and I am still searching for a job, I will do the college fairs with the goal of leaving before October. They could have given me the other position and I would have grown into it, and worked extremely hard to exceed their expectations and they could have arranged to have a new admission counselor in my position by the time college fair season started. But they made their choice. I need to make mine now.

But now I feel like I have to redefine what work means to me. Fuck the system. I can make my own path. I can change the world without a grandiose career. Its okay to just show up to work and then live your life. And so, I hope that my next job is in EdTech (and remote) that can give me financial freedom and security because that’s what it really all comes down to. I want a “lazy girl” job. A job that I feel good about and is not as emotionally/physically demanding so that I have the money to help others and do what I want. I just want to live a comfortable life, and one where I am not always worrying about money.

So, in order to get that, I think I need to release all of this. It’s been holding me back. I deserve a job that pays me well, and lets me live the life I want. A job that lets me help my friends and families, and give back to my community. I don’t have to bear the burden of being in a career that is glorified for how much you give and destroy yourself for it. I can’t imagine what k-12 teachers feel every day.

I think the next piece is letting go. Doing a trust fall for Mother Goddess to catch me and deliver me to my next opportunity. Trusting that the perfect job is on its way to me, and I won’t miss out on something that is for me. I deserve a job that gives me a better work-life balance. That I don’t feel like I am killing myself to survive. I have the money to live how I want, and all of the time and energy I have for other things is abundant.

I get so caught up worrying about making the right or wrong choice, or missing out on a job posting. I get caught up thinking that I’m not quite enough – I don’t have quite enough experience or direct experience or the right degrees. I get caught up with thinking about the cost of living in other states and what I can’t do or where we can’t move to. What if I’m meant to focus on the good, and all of the possibilities and different lives of Kylie. The possible exciting adventures in store for me.

Its reminiscent to how I felt when I couldn’t find a job after my graduate assistantship. I was stressing over every little thing. And then I finally just surrendered. That’s what it felt like after my huge disappointment with Bryn Mawr College and they decided not to hire me but not long after that I was offered my current job. And how I felt after running into my ex at a grocery store and having a panic attack and obsessing over how I’m going to meet my love and what I do or don’t do that could lead me to missing that connection. I eventually had to acknowledge and say that I surrender to the wonderful mystery that is the Universe. About two weeks of recognizing my need to let go of control, I met my Emily.

The catalyst this time is not getting this position within my office. It was a devastating disappointment. I’m still trying to reconcile that. But it has also opened me up to the fact that I do deserve something insanely better - better pay, better benefits, better work-life balance. I know my worth. And while I feel betrayed that I wasn’t picked for this position, I don’t need to punish myself or the people in my office for it. I do still feel a hint of resentment towards my supervisor, but she’ll understand the choice she made when I get offered my next job.

At first, I wanted to sulk. I wanted to quiet quit as loudly as possible. But now I see that I need to cherish my time with everyone. I want them to miss having me. I want to leave the office on good terms. But I want people to know that they lost my loyalty as well. I want people to think that they wish I was still there because of all the light and humor I brought. So. I will not be jumping at every opportunity to volunteer extra time and energy towards things. I will not be half-assing this job completely, but I will not be going above and beyond as often anymore either.

I am still incredibly sad and frustrated at this disappointment, but I see it was necessary and its time for me to move on, as scary as it seems. I will miss these people so much. So now I need to let go. Trust fall. Mother Goddess, A-team, I trust that the perfect job will find its way to me and will bring about the most exciting and best chapters of my life. Thank you for this.

[nanowrimo]

Community Fundraising Means Showing Up for Each Other

Let’s talk interdependence and donor support today with our Director of Community Fundraising, Allison Celosia. She wants you to feel empowered as a returning or first-time donor to NaNoWriMo and our broader literary arts community.

Image id: A yellow and teal graphic of a bar chart entitled “FY22 Annual Budget USD $1.4 Million.” There are four bars, from left to right Corporate Partners 21%, Community Donors 46%, Store Merch 20%, and Affiliate Income 13%.

Did you know that NaNoWriMo is story-powered by more than 8,000 individual donors every year? In fact, more than 45% of our annual revenue comes from community members like you.

This year, our annual operating budget is $1.4M… aka, we have to raise $1.4M in funding to sustain our amazing community and writing programs. (For the super math nerds, that’s more than $600K from community members alone. Whoa! That’s donor power!) 

This annual budget plan ensures that we offer our programs free-of-cost to all our participants. We want to provide everyone access to their stories, to their imagination, to the overall joy of writing and reading. Eliminating a paywall is one HUGE way we can do that for our community.

But ahh, what does that look like in context with everything going on in the world? We’re seeing news headlines about the highest U.S. inflation rate in 40 years. This means a carton of eggs is 3 times the price as it was last year, gasoline is USD $7 per gallon in some cities… the list of commodity price pain points are endless. Same goes in the U.K., Canada, Germany, India, and so many other countries where Wrimos live, work, and write.

For me as a community fundraiser, historic inflation rates might spark fear and anxiety. I might feel pressure to “do whatever it takes to get that cash.” But that’s not me! I’m an abundance mindset fundraiser. I’m a humanity-comes-first fundraiser. I’m good with reorienting our metrics to better reflect our economic reality because at the end of the day, I know that our community—myself, the rest of the NaNo staff and board, and all of our 8,000 donors and counting—are doing the best we can to invest in the good health of our creative community.

We are about to enter our fall fundraising season with two big campaigns ready to mobilize all our community resources: NaNo Prep and our Double Up Donation Weekend. In a few weeks, I will be inviting all of us to give within our means, and that is really an invitation to be thoughtful about your own financial power and privilege.

For many of us, it means donating to NaNoWriMo this year might look a lot different. 

Maybe you want to give, but feel pressured to give at a certain amount and it has frozen you from making any contribution at all. My response is, “That’s fine! Would moving to a monthly recurring donation help ease the financial commitment? That way, it’s not a lump sum donation but a smaller donation once a month.”

Maybe your donor interests lie elsewhere this year because of, well… gestures at the state of the world. My response, “Awesome! Do you want help budgeting, so you can make meaningful donations to all the causes that matter to you? We can do that!”

Maybe you are straight up mad that rent is high and groceries are more expensive, and you don’t wanna hear from me asking for money. My response, “I hear you. I’m a renter in Los Angeles, and am feeling similar pains. Fundraising can feel extractive. After reading Edgar Villanueva’s Decolonizing Wealth as a staff team, we learned that we could reframe money as a tool for building love and restoration, rather than for punishment or penalty. You’re an important member of this community, no matter your donation level or even if you donate zero zip zilch at all.

Ultimately, we hold each other accountable and we also hold each other tenderly when it comes to mobilizing donor dollars to sustain NaNoWriMo as an available, inclusive resource for hundreds of thousands of writers around the world. 

The math of raising $600,000 from community donors doesn’t go away with hard times. We need those funds to keep our programs accessible and free-of-cost. Our annual budget covers personnel expenses, technology needs to support more than 350,000 Wrimos annually, and a merchandising store and fulfillment center to provide fun writers’ tools and goodies to support us along our writing journeys.

That’s when I remind myself that we’re a community first. We can rely on each other and step up wherever we can. Maybe this is the year we move from 8,000 donors to 10,000 donors to share the work of raising funds, maybe this is the year we build out more partnership drives to build resources with like-minded organizations and friends—the opportunities are limitless when we prioritize mutual support and interdependence as ways to sustain NaNoWriMo and our entire creative community.

Stay tuned, as I continue to wax poetic and bring more community support into our fundraising efforts here at NaNoWriMo.

Allison Celosia is a storyteller, written word mostly. She edits aloud in real time and trips over their native Bisaya (Filipine) tongue. Allison is also a movement building fundraiser who centers community relationships in their work. Outside of fundraising, they are active in local labor organizing. She makes challah bread with her own home-milled flour and reads bilingual children’s books with her nephew every chance they get.

[sinkat-arts]

Semi-professional data-science-y thoughts from a UX designer re: 10% kudos to hits ratio ahead.

tl;dr: As everyone has already said, it's Not Great. Just read the tags and summary to decide if you want to read something.

tl;dr2: ... and I took that personally.

Alright, no one asked for this, but the post of someone saying they only read fics that have 1 kudos per 10 hits is floating around twitter. Since it's part of my job to pay close attention to analytics to evaluate the success of my designs and user flows, I figured I'd just... info dump. It's aggravating that at least one person is out here using a terrible metric based on a misleading piece of data to ignore whole swaths of amazing stories.

"Hits" is raw data, and that's pretty useless! In the case of AO3, it shows any entity accessing the fic, once per 24 hour period (so if you hit a fic 4 times in one day, it'll only count the first time as a "hit". It will restart your count the next day.). It does not weed out junk/irrelevant data. This includes: - People who keep the tab open for weeks at a time so it refreshes when the tab is focused. - People who visit often to reread. - People coming back every time a new chapter is released. - Authors visiting often to reread / edit. - People who were never going to read because they weren't the target audience based on the tags / summary. - Web crawlers. Bots. Etc, etc, and on and on. What you want are good faith hits from your target audience.

You can only leave kudos ONCE, regardless of how many times you visit.

Which means that a better measurement to get accurate conversation would take into consideration only UNIQUE visitors who spent a significant amount of time on the page, indicating that they read at least enough of the fic to indicate that they are actually part of the target demo. THAT'S the number you compare to the number of kudos received. (Note that this is still a bit of a gray area since someone can open the story and just leave it open without reading. Short of looking over someone's shoulder, this is the best you can do... unless AO3 adds heatmaps to our stats page, which I don't see happening any time soon, haaa.)

EVEN IF the data itself were good, a 10% conversion rate is astronomical as a KPI (key performance indicator, a measure of success). So we're clear, a "conversion" is an instance of a person seeing the thing (your fic) and doing what you want them to do (leaving a kudo). Not that you can really compare fic satisfaction to an ecommerce funnel, but your average conversion rate on, say, a marketing splash page is LESS THAN 3%. If you hit 5% on your campaign, you're having a pizza party in the office, guys. And marketing campaigns can be incredibly sophisticated affairs, fueled by massive research efforts, seo work, algorithms based on user behavior and all kinds of creepy ass data collection, etc. Fic promos are... you know. We chuck them up on social media and pray people see them.

So not only are hits as shown in AO3 a very poor metric to calculate conversion, a 10% conversion rate as a MINIMUM bar for entry is just ridiculous.

Clearly, I've thought about this a lot. I've gotten stuck watching my "conversion rate" go down as hits increased but the kudos didn't move. I've felt badly - so badly - about my proudest moment (where writing is concerned), go nowhere after I finished it. Thinking about it in terms of realistic conversion rates helps me, so I'm mostly sharing this information for anyone else out there it may help.

Super cool that that person is happy with their method of finding fics to read. They're depriving themselves of some really awesome stories, though. A far better way to decide whether or not to read something is to use the search function and filters to narrow things down and then simply read tags and summaries.

And if you start reading and don't like the style... nothing is keeping you there. You can bounce (which, hey, a bounce rate is another metric that would be far more handy than a raw hit counter).

Anyway... behold, my absolute failure of a fic (which resulted in wonderful comments that have made me cry because folks were moved or took the time to leave interesting related information or drew things for me or still periodically send me really cute bears).

[digikestra]

Why digital marketing agency is important?

Imagine this: you've built an incredible product or service. It solves problems, fills needs, and is undeniably awesome. But there's one hitch - no one knows about it. In today's digital age, that can spell disaster. That's where a digital marketing agency swoops in, ready to be your secret weapon for success.

The Ever-Changing Landscape of Digital Marketing

The internet is a dynamic beast, and the way people find information and interact with brands is constantly evolving. Keeping up with the latest trends, algorithms, and best practices can feel like a full-time job in itself. This is where a digital marketing agency like Digikestra shines. We are a team of experts who live and breathe digital marketing. We stay ahead of the curve, constantly researching and implementing the most effective strategies to get your brand noticed and, more importantly, chosen.

Benefits of Partnering with a Digital Marketing Agency

Sure, you could try to tackle digital marketing on your own. But here's why partnering with a dedicated agency like Digikestra is a much smarter move:

Expertise at Your Fingertips: We have a team of specialists covering every facet of digital marketing, from SEO and social media management to content creation and paid advertising. This ensures a well-rounded approach that reaches your target audience across all the right channels.

Strategic Planning & Execution: We don't just throw random tactics at the wall and hope something sticks. We take the time to understand your business goals, target audience, and unique brand identity. Then, we craft a data-driven strategy tailored to achieve measurable results.

Staying Ahead of the Curve: The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing. We stay at the forefront of industry trends, ensuring your campaigns leverage the latest and greatest strategies to maximize your return on investment (ROI).

Content is King (and Queen): In today's digital world, high-quality, engaging content is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. We help you create informative, valuable content that resonates with your audience and positions you as a thought leader in your industry.

Measurable Results & Transparency: We believe in data-driven decision making. We track the performance of your campaigns across all channels, providing you with clear reports and insights. This allows us to constantly optimize your strategy for maximum impact.

Focus on What You Do Best, While We Handle the Rest

Running a business requires wearing many hats. Let Digikestra handle the complexities of digital marketing, freeing you to focus on what you do best – running your core business operations. We'll take care of building brand awareness, driving traffic to your website, and converting leads into loyal customers.

Ready to Unleash the Power of Digital Marketing?

If you're ready to take your brand to the next level and unlock the immense potential of the digital marketplace, then Digikestra is your perfect partner. We're a passionate team dedicated to your success. Contact us today for a free consultation and let's discuss how we can help your business thrive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Visit our website at DIGIKESTRA to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your marketing goals.

[udifytech]

7 SMART WAYS TO GENERATE MORE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Udify’s Lead Gen Magic!

Ever wondered how businesses make those incredible connections and turn curious visitors into loyal customers? Well, it’s all about mastering the art of lead generation, and at Udify Technologies, we’re here to spill the beans on our 7 smart strategies that can skyrocket your business success!

Cracking the Code: Lead Generation 101

First things first, let’s demystify the term “lead.” A lead is like a potential buddy interested in what you offer. The lead generation process is our way of bringing these buddies into your circle of happy customers.

How It Works: A Little Lead Gen Magic

Imagine this: You attract interested folks, get to know them a bit, and then work your charm with strategic marketing. Bingo! You’ve got a lead. Repeat this process, and voila – business growth!

Our 7 Smart Moves for Lead Gen Awesomeness

Email Marvels: Ever received a personalized email that felt like it was just for you? That’s the magic of our email campaigns, connecting with you every step of the way.

Web Wonders: A stunning website and irresistible landing pages? We’ve got that covered, turning curious visitors into solid leads with clever calls to action.

Content Charm: Valuable content is our secret weapon. From blogs to videos, we create content that speaks to your audience and draws them into your world.

SEO Sorcery: Ever Googled something and found exactly what you needed? That’s SEO at play, ensuring your business pops up when your potential customers are on the hunt.

Social Media Showdown: We’re all about engaging with your audience on social media, creating a buzz that not only attracts leads but keeps them hooked.

Adventurous Ads: Picture this – your business ad reaching exactly the people who need it. That’s the power of our targeted online ads.

Friendship in Partnerships: Strategic partnerships open up new avenues. Imagine your business mingling with a whole new audience – that’s the magic of collaborations!

 Why Choose Udify’s Lead Gen Magic?

Boost Your Brand: We’re not just about getting leads; we’re about making your brand shine bright.

More Sales, Less Stress: Turn those leads into loyal customers, watching your sales figures dance to a happy tune.

ROI Delight: Our strategies are crafted to make every penny you invest count, giving you a bang for your marketing buck.

Conclusion Let’s Create Your Success Story!

In a nutshell, Udify Technologies is your go-to friend for turning leads into success stories. Ready to take your business on a joyous ride of growth? Join us – where every lead is a step closer to unlocking your business’s full potential.

[pinoyaksyonnewsph]

High road to tollways integration: Two options available for motorists

Mark July 1, 2024 on your calendar since this day signals the unification of RFID cards currently in use by tollways in Luzon. It means that only a single RFID card will activate and hoist the bar as the tollway operators will go cash-less at the same time for a seamless travel system.

The so-called “Toll Collection Inter-Operability” has begun its test run, with only selected vehicles taking part Wednesday last week in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Skyway, Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and Cavite-Laguna Expressway Calax).

Once the “inter-operability” system is completed and put in place, motorists are given two options, according to the Toll Regulatory Board. One, they can get a new account and a new RFID sticker or, choose which of the Easytrip or Autosweep electronic stickers to retain and use.

Easytrip belongs to the group under the control of Manuel V. Pangilinan while Autosweep is operated by San Miguel Corporation led by Ramon S. Ang,  president and chief executive officer.

These two business titans having envisioned the unified tollways system a few years ago, are pushing for it to reach perfection. Let’s hope no one throws a monkey wrench into this noble plan.

Geometry C EV: Geely has the right angle

Trumpeting the Monday launch of its new electric car as “a paradigm shift”, Geely Philippines hosted an event at its North Edsa showroom that also ushered the arrival of Naoyuki Takeda as new president and CEO of Geely’s corporate vehicle, Sojitz G Auto Philippines.

In his inaugural address, Takeda spelled out a plan that could breach the conventional boundaries of the automotive industry. “Our commitment goes beyond words; it’s evident in the actions we’re taking, the changes we’re making, and the improvements we’re implementing.”

With Takeda behind the steering wheel, Geely is angling for a definitive role not only “as auto providers but also as contributors to the dreams and aspirations of individuals seeking a better and more fulfilling life through their vehicle.”

Furthermore, Takeda pledged to strive for a 5-star customer experience as his top priority.

Emphasizing the value of media partnerships, he encouraged motoring journalists to actively engage, saying that “your insights are invaluable, and your feedback is crucial“.

Geely said the unveiling of the Geometry C compact crossover signified its continued evolution and contribution to a sustainable and aspirational future.

Geometry C EV runs on a 70-kWh battery pack that has a range of up to 485 kilometers. Propelled by an electric motor that churns out 200-horsepower maximum and 310-Nm of torque, the EV is rated capable of speeding up from 0 to 100 km/h in just seven seconds. Its speed tops off at 150-km/h. This promises to be another awesome EV that should spark fierce competition in its segment, provided it is priced reasonably.

‘Taralets Pinas’ rolls out : Mitsubishi turns 60

Like hitting the proverbial “two birds with one stone,” Mitsubishi Motors has launched a nationwide campaign celebrating the Filipino spirit of adventure and its 60th anniversary as well.

The double- barreled move, Mitsubishi says, is a way to promote the “Instagram-able” tourist spots and at the same time crow about the features of its vehicles that have given it the top 2 ranking, next only to Toyota in terms of sales nationwide.

By this time, the TARALETS PINAS campaign shall have rolled out in certain provinces  — Bacolod, Guimaras, Iloilo, Pampanga, South Cotabato, Davao, Cebu, Kalinga, Baguio, Bontoc, Siquijor.

With every episode showcasing the rich and colorful heritage and culture of each province, motoring enthusiasts are invited to make their journey better and more exhilarating with — what else, but – Mitsubishi autos.

Backstopping the campaign is an interactive website which features helpful information on destinations, road trip itineraries, and food trip tips. Motorists, their families and friends will do well to share their travel stories, experiences, and photos.  MMTC President & CEO Takeshi Hara said during the campaign launch, “We encourage Filipinos to pack their bags, fuel up their Mitsubishi vehicles, and embark on their own TARALETS PINAS adventure. We can’t wait to see the amazing places you’ll visit and the incredible experiences you’ll create with Mitsubishi Motors.” This should be a tantalizing challenge for motorists to take up.

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[cosmicvent1434]

🎉 Happy New Year from Cosmicvent Software! 🎉

As we welcome 2024, we're thrilled to be your partners in all things digital! 🚀💻

🌐 In the world of websites and online vibes, we're here to make your brand shine brighter than ever! Imagine us as the architects of your online dreams, ready to create something special just for you.

🚀 Get ready for an amazing ride! Our team is all set to design awesome websites, run smart campaigns, and bring a touch of magic to your online presence.

📈 2024 isn't just another year; it's an opportunity for your brand to sparkle online like never before. Let's team up, explore new ideas, and make your online space truly fantastic.

🥳 Here's to a year of user-friendly websites, clever marketing moves, and making your brand the talk of the internet town. Thanks for choosing Cosmicvent Software, and here's to a year filled with digital triumphs!

🌟 Happy New Year – where every click is a step towards your success story! 🚀💻 Visit :-https://www.cosmicvent.com/

[daniella100]

Happy Father’s Day!

I gave my Dad a red rose. “Red roses for true romances..”🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹.

I think there’s a push to take down the importance of the family in our lives, kids changing sexes without parental assistance or knowledge, teachers telling kids how to feel about race, the State dictating kid’s medical health. I know there’s a lot of power and subsequently money in it , but move over: This movement will never win. Just check every single mega hit in entertainment; it’s all about family. Long live the Family. And if you as a parent agrees with it, go for it. You’re free. Freedom is awesome isn’t it?

I heard that Biden just gave a speech and he ended it with a And may God Bless the Queen. amazing no? This one gets a free card all the time… imagine if it had been Trump that said it? Eh!

It turned out that Facebook didn’t censor my Author’s page because of content. They did it because they thought I was impersonating someone else; I just had to tell them that I was me for real and instantly my page was back up. Oh and Instagram, a Facebook branch, reinstated Robert Kennedy Junior’s campaign page. On the same week as mine. Coincidentally, we were brought down at the same time. I was flattered that my Author’s page was plagiarism material. And the Robert Kennedy Junior bid made my heart sing. I love good company. Glad we are back up.

I suggest you start to love fair company. It’s decent to be fair! I love fairness! How can Trump be indicted when Clinton didn’t ? She erased 30,000 emails from a foreign hostile country using an unsecured server. Which she lied that they were about yoga classes, etc, haha, cute eh? If Clinton didn’t go to prison , Trump shouldn’t either. And more; the Biden Administration with its Nato expansion mantra puts all of our lives in danger. Nato? Why only the West can defend itself? Russian lives don’t matter? If Russia, North Korea, Iran and China created their own Nato and piled up missiles in Mexico, the United States would start a war too. Hello America, the world is not ours to manipulate. Cut the crap.

Enjoy your Father! Enjoy his memory and the name he gave you.