#Lighting Market Major Players

[mukulblog1]

India LED Lighting Market: Size, Trends And Outlook To 2024-2029

Lighting plays a crucial role in enhancing productivity, safety, and aesthetics across various sectors, ranging from industrial and commercial to residential and automotive. In India, the LED lighting market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by factors such as technological advancements, government initiatives, and increasing demand for energy-efficient solutions.

Key Insights into the India LED Lighting Market

The India LED Lighting Market has been experiencing remarkable growth, with the market size estimated at USD 4.70 billion in 2024 and expected to reach USD 6.77 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.29% during the forecast period (2024-2030). Several segments within the LED lighting market have emerged as key drivers of this growth, including automotive utility lighting, automotive vehicle lighting, indoor lighting, and outdoor lighting.

The industrial and warehouse segment holds the largest share (58%) in 2023, followed by residential (24.4%), commercial (15.2%), and agricultural lighting (2%). The growing industrialization in India, coupled with the focus on energy efficiency, has propelled the demand for LED lighting in industrial and warehouse settings. Similarly, the residential sector has witnessed significant adoption due to increasing urbanization and government schemes promoting affordable housing.

Trends Shaping The Lighting Sector

The lighting industry in India is witnessing several key trends that are shaping its trajectory. One significant trend is the increasing demand for energy-efficient lighting solutions, driven by government initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme, aimed at constructing affordable residences. Additionally, the automotive industry's expansion and rising per capita income are driving the adoption of LED lighting in vehicles and residential spaces.

Major Players in the India LED Lighting Market

The India LED Lighting Market is characterized by the presence of several Major Players, including

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited: Crompton Greaves is a leading player in the LED lighting market, offering a wide range of products known for their quality and reliability. The company focuses on innovation and sustainability to maintain its competitive edge.

Havells India Ltd.: Havells is a prominent name in the LED lighting sector, known for its diverse product portfolio and strong distribution network. The company continuously introduces innovative lighting solutions to cater to evolving consumer needs.

OSRAM GmbH.: OSRAM is a global leader in lighting technology, offering cutting-edge LED lighting solutions for various applications. The company's focus on research and development ensures its products remain competitive in the market.

Surya Roshni Limited: Surya Roshni is a well-established player in the LED lighting industry, known for its efficient and cost-effective lighting solutions. The company's emphasis on quality and customer satisfaction has helped it maintain a competitive position in the market.

Wipro Lighting Limited (Wipro Enterprises Ltd.): Wipro Lighting is a trusted name in the LED lighting market, offering innovative and sustainable lighting solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The company's commitment to technological advancement and customer-centric approach keeps it competitive in the industry.

These companies occupy a significant portion of the market share and play a crucial role in driving innovation and competitiveness within the industry.

Read Also:- Exploring The Dynamics of The LED Lighting Market Report

Recent Developments and Innovations Lighting Market 

Recent developments in the LED lighting market include the introduction of new products and technologies aimed at enhancing user convenience and energy efficiency. Companies like Signify have launched innovative solutions such as motion detection technology for lighting systems and energy-efficient LED tubes. These advancements reflect the industry's commitment to meeting evolving consumer demands and sustainability goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the India LED Lighting Market presents lucrative opportunities for growth and innovation. With increasing industrialization, urbanization, and government support for energy-efficient solutions, the market is poised for significant expansion in the coming years. By leveraging key trends and focusing on technological advancements, players in the LED lighting industry can capitalize on emerging opportunities and drive sustainable growth.

FAQs

Q.1 What factors are driving the growth of the India LED Lighting Market? Ans. The growth of the LED lighting market in India is driven by factors such as increasing industrialization, government initiatives promoting energy efficiency, and rising demand for residential lighting solutions.

Q.2 Which segments within the LED lighting market are witnessing the highest growth? Key segments driving growth include automotive utility lighting, automotive vehicle lighting, industrial and warehouse lighting, and outdoor lighting, particularly in streets and roadways.

Q.3 How are government schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) impacting the LED lighting market? Ans. Government schemes promoting affordable housing, such as PMAY, have spurred the adoption of LED lighting in residential spaces, contributing to market growth.

Q.4 What role do major players like Havells and OSRAM play in the India LED Lighting Market? Ans. Major players like Havells and OSRAM are key contributors to the market, driving innovation and competitiveness through their product offerings and market strategies.

Q.5 What are the recent innovations and developments in the LED lighting industry? Ans. Recent innovations include the introduction of motion detection technology, energy-efficient LED tubes, and high-performance lighting solutions, aimed at enhancing user experience and sustainability.

#Lighting Industry #Lighting Sector #Lighting Market Major Players #Lighting Market Analysis #Lighting Market Revenue #Lighting Market Growth Rate #Lighting Market Size #Lighting Industry Competitors #Opportunities in Lighting Industry #Challenges in Lighting market

[mukulsoni1]

Illuminating Success: Insights into the Lighting Market

Explore the vibrant landscape of the Lighting Industry Competitors, where innovation meets functionality. Navigate trends, major players, and the strategic pathways shaping the future of lighting solutions.

#Lighting Market Future Outlook #Challenges in Lighting market #Lighting Industry Competitors #Lighting Market Major Players #Lighting Market #Lighting Sector #Lighting Industry #Top Players in Lighting Market #Lighting Market Growth Rate

[soapoet]

How they'll confess their feelings

requested by anon.

like & rb if it resonates ♡

01.

Shufflemancy: Hands to myself by Selena Gomez

This energy is very open and inviting. Your person is quite bold, and when they know what they want they show persistence, and adapt quickly to changing winds. They are not fazed by much and can weather any storm. They have a bit of a "won't take no for an answer" type of energy to them, but not the toxic kind. They may appear to you as somebody who doesn't take things seriously, or perhaps they are so direct in their affections and intentions you simply take it as something said in jest rather than the honest truth of their heart, something they'd say to just about anybody and therefore not for you to give much merit. They don't take themselves too seriously and have a very uplifting and lighthearted presence, which can so easily be assumed to go hand in hand with non-committal or even player tendencies. In reality, they simply enjoy keeping things light to assure those around them are having a good time and don't sweat the small things, which very well may stem from a childhood in which they served as a mediator or created distractions during rough times, aiming to always find silver lining to avoid dread and loss of hope in their loved ones. They are nurturing and protective by nature and do, in fact, know when to put their serious face on, and then they surprise all with their dependability and their ability to persevere, always coming out of things unscathed and even striving.

Their confession is direct, but places the ball in your court. They are good at marketing themselves and would make a great salesman by their persistence alone. They are confident, but not cocky, though they play on a little bit of arrogance for entertainment value. I'm hearing things such as "you're going to have to eat today anyway, so might as well get fancy with it", which holds that essence of boldness and persistence that I am picking up on so strongly. They show through actions what they have to offer, and whilst they will take a serious rejection, they're playfully pushy in this way where they don't expect anything other than the chance to treat you to a little something like a dinner and that way show you what they're made of. They certainly appreciate and enjoy a little game of cat and mouse to start with, so any initial reluctance from you that is less like rejection and more like a challenge for them to prove themselves to you is not only welcome but encouraged. They're somewhat traditional, but treat you like an equal. A major goal to them is to allow you to have a good time and not worry about things in their presence. There is a lot of laughter involved here as well, and you'll find yourself charmed by them effortlessly. It may be hard to actually pinpoint where exactly a confession occurred because their pursuit of you is ever-present from the start.

Additional details: new phone, swimming pools, wine, get togethers, stocks, business, airplanes, real estate, steak, gyms, football, wrestling, DJs, white sneakers, movie theatre, necklaces, bouquets, big family, cars/opening car doors, shopping, pranks, instagram, nail salons, entrepreneurship, beaches, pizza, Amazon, cruises, leisure, stand-up comedy, concerts, high-end brands, red, B/D/T/K/J, Libra/Gemini/Cancer/Leo.

02.

Shufflemancy: There till the end by JERUB

Quite jittery, restless energy. Your person is overcome with emotions leading up to this occasion, and the various scenarios they play out in their head trying to find the correct when and where and how make their stomach churn like they're spinning around in a carousel. They want to be bold, but perhaps it would be too risky, so they play it cool, or at least try to, only to find that their approach may actually be much too vague for you to catch on. This person is usually quite open with their emotions and easy to read. To their near and dear they are an open book and they pride themselves in their own ability to read others. They always try to cheer up loved ones and strangers alike, even when they aren't certain what to say or do they try their best. This person always seems to get back on their feet when they're knocked down, and their inner strength may come as a surprise to some because they look rather harmless and have a very bright energy about them, like the sun that so easily could be overcast. It is often said that the brightest smiles are on the faces of those who have known the greatest sorrows, and that appears to ring true with your person. Their optimism is a tool developed for survival, and has gotten them far in life. They often wield this optimism for others too, selflessly rallying behind others and their goals and dreams, and serve as the number one supporter tirelessly and try to make sure nobody feels left out in the cold.

In their attempt to find the balance between delicate and bold, they may find themselves so overcome and frustrated that they simply blurt it out. For some, they may opt for something silly or lighthearted, that is still direct, but does not feel as scary to them. They could confess via a game of hangman, or even write one of those "do you like me? yes/no" notes of bygone playground days and bruised knees. They are endearing, and I see that you two have much in common. There's a strong foundation of friendship, too, which may be their source of unrest as they wish not to ruin what you have. They may very well end up going on a tangent, blabbering on about their feelings nervously to fill the silence so much they don't give you the chance to speak before you shush them and put them at ease with the knowledge that it is mutual and they have no reason to fret and fluster so badly.

Additional details: video games, tabletop games, converse, Fruits basket, Sailor moon, slurpees and milkshakes, youtube, mismatched socks, animals, lofi, indie, grocery stores, parks, band t-shirts, empty playgrounds, bubblegum, mints, cemeteries, mason jars, art, guitars, cotton candy, thrift shops, fishing, bicycles, plushies, scrunchies, friendship bracelets, rodents and birds, small towns, nuggies, venting, Pisces/Leo/Aquarius/Scorpio/Sagittarius,J/V/S/L/N.

03.

Shufflemancy: When we're old by Ieva Zasimauskaitė

Oh dear. This energy feels like a neat and tidy office with loose papers thrown about. What happened here, I could ask, but you did. You happened. This person seemed content in the daily routines, their feet planted on solid ground, until suddenly their foundations were tested by a hurricane. Sweeping in and changing everything, you turned their life upside down. At first they may have been frightened, worried that you will surely be a problem. They could at first wish to solve you like a puzzle, only to find no corner pieces because you are ever-expanding, a fairytale with no end but many twists and turns and many pages still unwritten. They are perplexed, but oh so fascinated. You awaken wonder and awe in them, as though you came in to show them a peek of what's beyond the veil, far away from their mundane, solved, scientific, factual, proven reality. You inspire them, yet your words and ways challenge everything they know. They go through rapid growth triggered by you, and a lot of it not for the faint of heart. They are a rock amidst storms, a lighthouse keeper assuring safe passage for ships at sea, and have never quite known the depths of the sea and the crashing waves that you call home.

If you are observant, which many of you certainly are, you may notice the battles that take place inside their head even when they remain so calm and collected on the outside, and know long before they tell you just how they really feel about you. For many of you, they may find the circumstances iffy, the timing poor and unfortunate, but their feelings are as real and true as they are overwhelming. They experience many sleepless nights, and may argue with themselves, a court case as both the prosecutor and the defendant, whilst you seem to be the judge and jury and hold the key to the inevitable verdict. They may very well need a green light from you, but they will confess their feelings candidly, likely in a place only semi private for the sake of your comfort, thinking you need escape routes as they're convinced what they read off of you is a trick of their own mind and false hope that what they feel is mutual. They are gentle and cautious, try their best not to overstep any real or perceived boundaries between you. Though they hide a romantic behind their exterior, your first talk about something more between you can at first feel like an interview, as they wish to cover their bases and make sure they wouldn't waste your time or you theirs by having different directions and goals in the long-term, because the long-term is what they want. This group is the most likely to see fast engagements and marriage and other such milestones due to this clarity early on.

Additional details: spirituality, churches, meditation, sleep hypnosis or lucid dreaming, tarot, astrology, weddings, moving, soda and energy drinks, nostalgia, piercings and/or tattoos, hiking, travelling, community, helping, third party or recent breakups, to-do lists and planners, glasses, stress, cooking, purple, blue, gyms and sports, metal, journaling, blogs, text messages, tech, Leo/Virgo/Capricorn/Cancer/Pisces, E/T/K/H/A/S.

04.

Shufflemancy: Die for you by The Weeknd

This is very potent energy in comparison to the other piles. It is heavy and deep, almost suffocating but closer to a weighted blanket rather than true smothering. This person feels everything quite deeply and never seems to know how to express themselves or where to even put all these emotions, as though they always find themselves in aisle three struggling to hold all their items and wish they had just grabbed a basket upon entry. Their feelings for you creep in slow and steady like a predator stalking its prey from the tall grass, and before they know it they are met with great fear of abandonment and worry you will be swept up by another, worried that even if you were theirs you could do better. They may very well have history of poor relationships which ended in their demise, leaving their heart broken and full of trust issues. You may not even be aware of their insecurity as they carry themselves with confidence and are at ease with their peers, mix and mingle so effortlessly and appear so carefree. They have a lot of passion and take their work and hobbies very seriously. Their dedication to the things that matter most to them is remarkable and they have tenacity to push onwards regardless of any odds stacked against them, though their energy mostly comes in spurts and they require time to recharge or recompose themselves after all their sudden leaps and efforts. They may confuse you, as their devotion to you as an ally burns so bright, yet they seem to not make any moves to indicate that there is more to it. Perhaps this person is confused too, because for many it is possible that they once chose to not pursue love seriously due to past experiences, yet your presence is so stable and safe they want to so badly take a leap of faith in your direction.

This clash of desire and fear is not easy for them, and they go through a long period of denial from which they constantly find themselves slipping, always saying or doing something more than what your dynamic would call for, acting out the role of a partner out of their ease in your presence, then stepping back and fighting the current that threatens to wash them downstream to unknown territory, only to once again be lulled into this comfort you provide. They catch themselves daydreaming of a proper commited relationship with you often, but just as often they shake their head and wave those thought bubbles away. Their eventual confession is just as tumultuous as the feelings that reside within them. It could occur as a result of a heated argument, or at a time they are convinced you will leave them or hurt them and they simply fail to stop their outburst. Most will put it in a kiss before they put it in words, and there may be a lot of stressful and overwhelming emotions happening all at once for both of you as this strange and quite frankly exhausting push and pull dance reaches ots climax and comes to an end. This revelation fortunately provides instant relief to all this torture as though a kiss and whispered promises serve as morphine.

Additional details: lighters, vinyls, mesh, velvet, Lana Del Rey, Phoebe Bridgers, parties, drinking, shattered glass, bruises and hickeys, astrology and numerology, college, fwb, jealousy, cats, red, d&d, mass effect, social media, tinder, birthdays, plushies and figurines, kdramas, taboo, letters, poetry, reels, LED lights, therapy, pastries, Aries/Scorpio/Capricorn/Virgo, F/B/A/G/D.

05.

Shufflemancy: How you get the girl by Taylor Swift

It may take some time for this person to outright say anything, because their energy is as slow as it is steady. They don't make hasty decisions, and like to take their time to perfect all that they do and say. Despite this meticulous energy, they are quite light and airy. They may be quite critical of themselves, and always strive to do their best and measure up to their own, sometimes near impossible, standards. They are strong and independent, yet may have grown up within a lot of instability, which lead them to solidify into a rock so that turbulent times would not shake them as it did in the past. They have a dominance about them that is neither threatening or demanding. They carry themselves well and do not step on any toes as they go about their life achieving every goal they set for themselves. They try to learn to relax and live a little, and find it easier to do in good company. Their circles may be small and close-knit, as though they wish to keep their life private and managable, quality over quantity. They are incredibly loyal, and though they are difficult to get to know and rarely let down their guard, once you're in, you're truly in, and they would move mountains for you just as they do for everyone they hold close.

They may lack experience or confidence in love, for some they poured all their energy into their studies, careers, hobbies, or other relationships like family and friends, and decided not to force love. With you they feel comfortable and safe and may go out of their way to allocate time to spend with you every day, and they diligently remain at your disposal for anything at all should you need them. The foundation of trust and support they lay down over the course of many months and seasons changed before they dare confess what cards they hold so close to their chest provides promise of longevity and purpose for your relationship. They may confide in their loved ones for advice and encouragement before they come forward. Sitting there shuffling notes, getting up and pacing and wracking their brains for just the right words to say, but in the end their confession is just as light as ever. You may have felt for a long time that the two of you were practically dating, though without the official stamp of exclusivity, and this is what they may allude to in their confession. Words untold always on the tip of their tongue come out gently, but with certainty and with a firm hand for you to grab and hold on to. This occurs in a comfortable routine environment, something safe and predictable. Nothing lavish, nothing big and bold, no fireworks and marching bands. Just amidst your usual day to day, making it somehow unexpected and expected all at once, as though it was inevitable, but still surprising. Their confession may leave you in tears of relief or joy or shock, or a concoction of them all, yet this new chapter feels like freshly baked bread and a good morning text. So simple and sweet and natural in this simple brand of perfection of theirs.

Additional details: classical music, working out, family, wingman, salad, selfcare, psychology, puppies, car problems, 20 questions, countryside, eyeshadow palettes, phone calls or voice memos, LDR, school, lace, divorce, trauma, literature, lgbt+, trains, movie nights, floral, anxiety, politics, medication, doctor's appointments, news, red lipstick, green and beige, nature, baking, giggles, Attack on titan, Leo/Taurus/Libra/Pisces, Y/J/A/E/W.

06.

Shufflemancy: Call my name by Priest

This person will need some encouragement. Some sort of signal that their plane will land safely and is cleared for approach. Their energy is like contained chaos. Their mind is everywhere all at once, yet they appear at peace, relaxed, and so calm on the outside. They aren't surprised by the butterflies in their stomach, but have a tendency to enjoy them while they last without acting upon their feelings. Typically they expect these butterflies to fly away eventually, but it seems with you they've made a permanent home making their heart flutter every day, far beyond the usual expiration date. This surprises them, and makes them a little uneasy. They so often keep to themselves and don't bother others with their feelings or their needs, that they find themselves at a loss when they try to find the right words. Which is peculiar, as they seem to have such a way with them under any other circumstance. Always knowing the right thing to say, providing heartfelt guidance and insight at the drop of a hat when somebody needs it, known by their kindred spirits as both wise and witty. Yet this eloquence becomes a lost artform when it comes to expressing themselves and their feelings, and they feel embarrassed by their tongue-tied stutters and inability to string together a coherent sentence. Perhaps in their youth the key to their survival lied in becoming invisible and minimising their needs and blurring their boundaries. Now they go with the flow of life and may sometimes feel like an intangible being amongst solid mortals with beating hearts that to them sound so loud they couldn't possibly speak loud enough to be heard.

Their approach is careful, like a detective uncovering a crime clue by clue. They plant seeds and nurture them, hoping you will notice the tiny leaves which poke out from the dirt. They have perfected the art of dropping hints, and are looking for a signal that they are allowed and welcome to do and say more. Their pursuit of you can feel like a slowburn persuasion of you to say something first, like they're the puppeteer behind the scenes pulling strings in their favour so that confessing their secrets won't be so scary. You'll come to find the depth of their true feelings shocking. Once their walls come down and they show their vulnerability you will find them so sincere and sweet in their hopes and dreams for the two of you that you may find yourself teary-eyed. They come with the offer of dedication to waking up every day choosing to love you, actively, as a choice, keeping this promise like an oath. It's hard to pinpoint a confession here, as they weave a web, luring you in, coaxing it out of you first, or get close enough to the truth that there can be no doubt in either of you.

Additional details: childhood wounds, cereal, multiple tabs open, mobile games, distractions, true crime of haunted side of youtube/tiktok, horror movies, cold hands, dyed hair, Olivia Rodrigo, kpop, foxes, cats, blue birds, keys and keychains, beanies, venus flytrap, headphones, chips, broccoli, spicy food, books, wikipedia, reddit, ADD/ADHD, flannels, fairy lights, gaming setups, lightsabers, aviation, documentaries, persona games, nighttime, magic, netflix, Gemini/Cancer/Aquarius/Pisces/Sagittarius, K/P/V/Z/M.

#pac reading #energy reading #intuitive reading #pick a card reading #pick a card #pick a picture #pick a pile #tarot reading #tarotblr #love reading #love pac #future spouse #soapy.post

[cher-rei]

afterglow- pt.1 [ T.A.A ]

pairings: trent alexander arnold x femreader

summary: young and aspiring marketing and business major jamie carter (you) is privileged with working alongside the liverpool marketing and public relations team while also getting entangled with their star player and right back, trent alexander arnold.

[wc: 2.6k] [part 2] [part 3 ] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8]

genre(s): friends?? to lovers, work romance, fluff

notes: I've had this idea on my mind for months but I had no idea how to execute it at all. also instead of using the y/n insert, I gave the character a name even though it is read from your pov. It just made it easier to write lmao

"ms carter?"

your heart dropped at the sound of your name being called by an unfamiliar voice, which was something you were going to have to get used to. nonetheless, you turned around to see an older man approaching you with a warm smile and something in his hand.

when he got close enough he put out his hand and you politely shook it as a greeting, still not sure who you were talking to. before you could speak up however, you were interrupted by something being put in your hand.

"this is your staff id," the older man said and you took a closer look at the lanyard in your hand. the picture you had taken less than a few weeks ago was set neatly inside with your name, and position.

carter, jaime

[public relations manager- social media and marketing department]

public relations manager. those three words were enough to make you feel light headed.

you liked to think that your employment on liverpool fc's marketing team was nothing but pure luck. from the moment you handed in your resume for your university final year internship out of pure whim, then to you getting accepted for whatever reason until you got the email no less than a month after graduation asking you to come in for an interview.

all that lead up to the moment you were currently in. standing in the middle of the empty anfield stadium that you had visited for nearly every home game since you were a child. it was nothing but pure luck.

you were broken out of your daze by the older man chuckling about something, which showed that you hadn't heard a single word he said during the past five minutes. you mustered up a smile regardless to play it off and proceeded to follow him for what you thought was a building tour.

"I just realised that I never properly introduced myself," he laughed dryly and gestured for you to step into the tunnel before him. "I'm billy hogan- chief executive officer and I'm ever so sorry for being in a rush right now but I'd like you to be at the training center within the next 30 minutes."

your eyes widened in shock, your feet absentmindedly picking up its pace while hogan continued to speed through the building tour, leaving no room for questions but you decided to make a mental note to ask someone else when you got the chance.

you were escorted to the black s.u.v along with hogan immediately, running through the hundreds of questions you had at the moment. you know you only had room for one though before he was on another phone call.

"uhm sir-"

"yes ms carter?" the older man addressed without trailing his gaze from his cellphone screen or the pile of documents in front of him.

oh gosh.

you managed to clear your throat. "I'm not too sure why I'll be needed at the training center. shouldn't I be in the office or..."

when he heard you start to trail off, hogan shut the folder in his lap and turned to look at you with an expression you couldn't quite read. there was a moment of awkward silence that passed between the two of you in the backseat of the s.u.v, the driver not paying any mind to the conversation.

"our last marketing manager had to be fired because we found out that he was leaking information out to reporters and news broadcasters along with four other employees."

oh shit.

you shuffled in your seat as you tried to think of a response to the news but whenever you parted your lips to say something hogan would raise his finger as a sign that he wasn't done talking. so you swallowed the bitter taste in your mouth along with any comments and listened intently.

did it sound like he was targeting you and bordelined threatening you? yes, yes it did. but you were sure he meant well and was only trying to bring his point across.

"we're low on staff and that's why you were handed two very crucial roles and are expected to make up for the losses. you'll be working alongside the team as you read in the contract," he began once again with a knowing look which made your stomach drop.

because you didn't read the contract. not fully at least. your older sister was the one who urged you to sign it the second it was sent to your house. hell, it could've stated that you were required to donate an organ and you wouldn't have known all because your were too excited and didn't spare anything a second glance.

"but why didn't you just promote people that were already in the department instead of giving me the position straight away?"

hogan let out a dry chuckle and tended to his phone once again, not looking back at you. "because nobody else wanted the position. it's dangerous up there ms carter. so you may feel important right now, but if you can't handle the workload and expectations it's going to get messy."

well this is news to me.

to sum up hogan's lecture and recital of the contract off by heart, you were in fact set up to be working alongside the team as a higher ranking media representative because there needed to be more field work done. no pun intended.

but the fact that nobody else was up for the position didn't sit right with you.

"just make sure they look good for the camera and keep everyone entertained. you're an influencer yourself, so I'm entrusting you to keep everything in order. you were hired because you are young and are in the game already. so keep yourself level-headed and do your best."

no pressure I guess??

deciding to wear sneakers instead of heels today was by the far the best decision you've made in weeks. the weather in liverpool during september was nothing short of horrid. when you stepped out of the car your face was immediately hit with the harsh and crisp air that reminded you why you spent majority of your time indoors.

"welcome to our axa training center," hogan gestured to the building in front of you, it's ceiling to floor windows having you gawking in awe. "this is where you'll be spending a good amount of your time, but it's not as bad as it seems I promise."

what's so bad about watching a bunch of professional football players train half naked?

unlike your last building tour, hogan actually took his time showing you around this time. from the lobby, breakroom, staff rooms, gym and finally to the field where the team was out practicing-- or at least that's what you thought was happening judging by all the screaming.

the second you stepped foot out onto the field, klopp turned to look at you with a welcoming smile.

did he just sense my presence??

you felt frozen in your spot, the world had practically stopped spinning the second he called you and hogan over. when you made it over he halted his conversation with the person beside him to shake your hand.

"it's lovely to finally meet you ms carter," the team's manager politely greeted and it took every single nerve in your body for you to not do something stupid.

you bashfully laughed and brushed his comment off, "if anything, the pleasure is mine. I am extremely honoured to be working in this position."

after a few moments of getting to know each other and klopp giving you a bit of an idea of what he expected media-wise, you realised that you had work cut out for you, judging by klopp saying, "think of this as your second family. the team needs something different, and you ms carter, are exactly the home improvement that we need."

you felt like the weight of the world had just been put on your shoulders again, and his tone of utter sincerity wasn't making it any less pressurising. of course you wanted to do well and give your all into this role but it was going to take a bit of time getting used to.

I should have read that damn contract.

"would you like to meet the team?" klopp asked with a smile and lightly patted your shoulder.

the gesture alone was enough to render you speechless, and you weren't quite sure if you heard him correctly. "would I like to do what?"

"boys!"

your eyes widened in shock as he called the team over. you didn't know what to do or say, your fight or flight mode had nearly been activated and you swore you were about to sprint out of the training center, all the way back home.

you anxiously fiddled with your fingers, not knowing what to do with your hands as you watched the group of soccer players head your way with little to no care to which klopp gave you a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "don't worry, they won't bite."

you mustered up an awkward laugh, muttering under your breath as you mentally prepared yourself for the moment. you obviously hadn't met any of them before, the closest you had gotten was going to the stadium to watch their matches.

the closest you had gotten to any interaction with any professional soccer player in general however, would be at the beginning of the year when jude bellingham followed you back on Instagram. which was still the best day of your life up to date.

you were awestruck, words unable to form as they all huddled up in front of you. you could see the sweat beading on their foreheads which caused a shiver to travel down your spine.

"boys this is ms jaime carter." klopp gestured to you and you managed a small wave, trying to ignore the sound of your heart beating in your ears. "she'll be working with us from now on, as manager of the pr manager for both the marketing and social media departments."

you were greeted with a choir of 'hello's' and listened to klopp give everyone the run-down and a little enlightenment into the situation regarding the last bundle of staff that had to be cut off so abruptly.

"pfft, snitches."

you head turned to look in the direction of the comment, that was immediately reprimanded.

"curtis," klopp started and the soccer player pursed his lips apologetically.

"sorry boss."

"aren't you a little too young to be the manager of two departments?"

your eyebrows raised at the question from harvey. klopp and hogan had to attend to a last minute call from the clubs directors so you were left with the team to "get to know each other", but most of them got back to training which left you with harvey, curtis and trent.

you shifted your weight to your right leg, your head tilting to the side challengingly as you eyed the boy. "well you're younger than i am and playing professional football. what does me being a pr manager make any difference?"

trent and curtis couldn't help but snicker at your counter, jokingly mocking their younger teammate until he got visibly irritated.

"you can't deny us the right to laugh at you," trent said jokingly and kicked the ball to harvey, who passed it to cutis again.

their banter went on for a few minutes as you watched the ball pass between the three of them until harvey spoke up again.

"you're straight out of university though so--"

his sentence was cut off by someone yelling, "ball!", to which you all instinctively looked up only to realise a little to late that it was headed in your direction.

shit.

you backed away just in time to get the ball before it hit the ground. the second it came into contact with your foot, you sent it back virgil's way to which he gave you a smile.

a familiar feeling stired up in your stomach after, but you pushed it aside and for back to your train of thought. "and you're straight out of high-school. so i rest my case."

a moment of silence took over, trent and curtis both shifting their gazes from you and all the way over to virgil who was over at the goal post.

harvey was taking the moment to recollect your high school comment. it was because he was short wasn't it? that's all people had to throw at him these days.

it was trent's turn to speak up, his eyebrows raised while curtis muttered to himself about the distance or something like that. "have you played before?"

before you could answer, your name was being called by hogan since it was time to get back to the office building. you huffed out a breath and sent the three boys a smile.

"looks like today's 'q and a' was cut short." you took a few steps back, stuffing your hands into the pockets of your puffer jacket. "you might as well stock them up for next time. I'll be more than happy to feed your curious minds."

#trent alexander arnold fluff #footballer x reader #trent alexander arnold x reader #liverpoolfc x reader #trent alexander arnold fanfic #footballer imagine #cherrei writes

[arimiadev]

visual novel misconceptions

despite being around for several decades, there are still some prevailing misconceptions about visual novels, both from people outside the sphere and people interested in getting into them. they're one of the most diverse mediums out there so it's important to be aware of misconceptions, especially if you're new to them.

I initially wrote these out for people interested in becoming visual novel developers for my guide on how to make VNs, but I hope it'll get more people interested in reading them as well!

Every visual novel has sexual content.

Visual novels come in all shapes and sizes, which includes content. Not every visual novel has sexual content, nor is it required to sell well. Visual novels are a medium for storytelling rather than a genre, so they can be anything you want them to be.

Every visual novel is a dating sim.

Similar to the last one, some people think every visual novel is a romance game or a dating sim. Not every visual novel has romance in it, nor is it required to do well.

Every visual novel has choices and multiple endings.

Some of the most popular visual novels out there like Umineko When they Cry don’t have choices. Choices and multiple endings aren’t required to make a visual novel—completely linear experiences are fine.

Visual novels need to be long.

Some of the top visual novels on itch.io right now are under 25k words, which puts them under 2 hours of playtime. Visual novels don’t have to be a certain length—they can be as long or as short as the story needs them to be. There’s even an annual visual novel jam, O2A2, that focuses on making a visual novel under 1k words with limited assets.

Visual novels don’t sell well.

This is very much your mileage may vary. Some visual novels sell very, very well, such as how the recent Our Life: Now and Forever Kickstarter gained almost $300k. Marketing is an entire field just like art and writing and isn’t something you can skimp on or push to the end.

Visual novel players hate reading.

A vast, vast majority of visual novel readers want a visual novel—they want a game that is light on gameplay and heavy on story where that narrative is delivered via reading.

You don’t have to add gameplay to a visual novel to keep people interested. Rather, minigames added at random can deter players. Visual novel players want an engaging story—if you’re worried of losing their attention, then focus on a tighter script or cinematography.

Visual novels need to be anime style.

Visual novels originated in Japan and most do have an anime style, but visual novels do not need an anime style to sell well. The art style for a game will change the audience for the game—players who want something anime style probably won’t be interested in a semi-realistic style, but other people will be. It’s all about finding the right style for your story and finding the audience who responds well to it.

go experience them!

VNs are extremely diverse and varied - so go try some! You can find thousands of visual novels in English on itch.io and Steam.

#visual novel #visual novels #visual novel game

[jack-pseudonym]

A Love Letter to Herobrine

So, fun fact: that screenshot that I'm using as the thumbnail is not the origin of Herobrine as a piece of Minecraft mythology. This image was first posted on 4chan around August 31st, 2010, and the character had been floating around the Minecraft forum for a while before that.

The earliest description of a character resembling Herobrine was posted around July on a general creepypasta thread. The Minecraft wiki calls this story "White Eyes." It was posted by a user named Flaky and you can read it here. The post doesn't feature the iconic Herobrine design, but it's the origin of a lot of the beats that keep coming up in Minecraft horror stories.

To summarize real quick: a Minecraft Alpha player is so creeped out by the weird noises and phenomena in a cave under their base that they seal it up and move elsewhere. Eventually they discover a dungeon with a single broken music disc inside, which causes the cave noises to return louder than before. To play the disc, they need resources from their old storage room built directly above the cursed cave. When they return to their base, the player has an encounter with a pair of glowing white eyes. Eventually they go creepypasta-insane from listening to the music disc and (I think) die.

The contents of this post are not as important as the fact that the author provides us with a screenshot of the cave, which should be right next to the famous Herobrine image in the history books.

(If you're not seeing it, check the bottom left.)

The next Herobrine sighting is the famous one. It's pretty much a compilation of all the ideas about the character that were floating around the Minecraft forum at the time. The main thing it introduces to the canon is the idea that the "Herobrine" account was owned by the deceased brother of famous Minecraft dev Hatsune Miku. The obvious implication is that Herobrine is his ghost. It also gives us the classic "fog hill" image, of course.

The third "canon" sighting was concocted by an early Minecraft streamer named Copeland. This is the highest effort of the three and probably the first Herobrine Sighting Video ever recorded. The first thing Copeland did was edit Herobrine into a few wide screenshots of his base to create hype for the stream. This resulted in the third member of the triumvirate of famous Herobrine screenshots, and honestly maybe the creepiest.

In order to get Herobrine on video, Copeland changed the texture of a painting. He went live shortly after, playing like normal for a while before “encountering Herobrine” in a dimly-lit room, screaming, running out of the room, and turning the game off. He continued to stream for a bit after that before declaring he would delete the world.

Why is Minecraft scary?

It's important to keep in mind that Minecraft at this point had exactly one full-time developer and no marketing department. The only reason a given thing was added to this version of Minecraft was that the developer thought it sounded interesting. This had two major effects on the state of the game that enhanced its creepypasta factor substantially.

One: the game is very bare-bones. Minecraft Alpha's infinite replayability comes from its core concept rather than a depth of additional features. Even some basic quality-of life fixes like the ability to stack most food items are absent from this version of the game. This resulted in the features that were present being scrutinously analyzed and theorized about by hundreds of people at a time on the forums, because once you had diamond armor and a big house there wasn't much else to do except dig into mechanics.

Two: many of those mechanics and features that did exist in Alpha were bizarre, and several of them seem like the developer was going out of their way to create a creepy atmosphere. Let's take a look at the mechanics I'm talking about and examine how each of them contributed to the Herobrine mythology.

Fog and light

One thing the White Eyes story and the famous Herobrine post have in common is a focus on low view distance. The second post even specifically mentions that they were playing with their render distance set very low since their computer didn’t have the specs to run anything higher, which most people in the 2010 indie gaming community could probably relate to.

This is relevant because Minecraft cuts off your view distance really sharply. If your render distance is set close to you, everything beyond the cutoff disappears into a thick bank of fog. This is probably best illustrated by looking at the same hill from the famous screenshot with a higher render distance.

In the Herobrine screenshot, this entire back half of the hill is completely cut off. Literally anything could be inside the fog and it would be totally invisible until you got within a few dozen blocks.

On top of that, this hard cutoff of visibility happens the same way with darkness. Walking just a few blocks into a cave leaves you completely unable to see anything until you place a torch. And, of course, if that torch were to be somehow removed, you would be instantly plunged into pitch blackness. Just look at the White Eyes screenshot up above.

The simplistic lighting engine of Minecraft Alpha is obviously not intended to make the game scarier. That said, as someone who’s become totally accustomed to modern Minecraft’s smooth lighting mechanics, it’s really remarkable how much more eerie the game is when you’re consistently forced to walk into total darkness and thick fog to get anything done. Without smooth lighting, when night starts to fall it looks like an enormous shadow passing over the whole world.

If you've heard of the classic Internet creepypasta Ted the Caver, there's a bit where Ted is stuck inside a similarly cursed cave with no light. Earlier in the story, the writer points out that darkness in caves is different from darkness above ground - there is straight-up no light to see with. Your eyes never adjust. Something could be literally inches from from his face and he would never see it. These older versions of Minecraft feel like that.

(If you want to experience the horrors yourself in the modern day, turn smooth lighting off, brightness down to Moody, and crank your render distance down. I seriously recommend it.)

Dungeons

Dungeons are the only place in this version of Minecraft where you can find naturally generated cobblestone. The normal way to get cobblestone is to mine stone and place it back down, and it was the go-to strong building block for quite a while. This gives dungeons the distinct feeling of having been built by someone.

But this is contrasted with the monster spawner, which is one of the most alien blocks in the game. It’s not obtainable in survival mode in any way, it’s destroyed if you try to pick it up, and the floating image of a monster inside the cage is still probably the least blocky thing in the game.

Dungeons are also extremely rare for some reason. You could easily spend weeks in the same survival world and never find one, especially if you didn't enjoy caving for the sake of it once you had all the diamonds you needed.

All this is to say that if you were a Minecraft player in 2010 who’d never encountered one, someone on the forum describing finding a dungeon would sound exactly like the intro to any other creepypasta you'd read recently, right up until it happened to you. It's hard to convince your subconscious that an eerie forum story is completely fictional when things like dungeons are real.

Music discs

Okay, I've been writing about the eerie side of Minecraft for like a thousand words, and I somehow haven't brought this up yet. We need to talk about Discs 11 and 13.

The vast majority of music discs in Minecraft are electronic music tracks composed by German musician C418. They’re basically lo-fi beats to relax / play Minecraft to. There are two considerable exceptions to this genre. Let’s talk about 11 first.

The first thing you’ll notice about it is that the colored portion is black and the outside of the disc is cracked and broken, which is one of the most creepypasta things to ever be in a real game. And then, when you pop it into the jukebox and turn it on, instead of lo-fi electronic beats, you get this.

The track opens with heavy breathing and footsteps on stone, as the recorder of the disc runs through what is pretty clearly a cave. They sound terrified of something, but after a few seconds they stop and catch their breath. Soon, though, there’s a sound like faraway music and the recorder breaks into a run, faster this time, terrified again. The speed of the footsteps increases until the sound changes from stone to dirt, a sign that they’re almost at the surface, until there’s something that sounds like a growl and the sound abruptly cuts off. The last few seconds of the recording are static.

This is probably the most overtly horror-themed Minecraft ever gets, and this disc features heavily in a lot of Minecraft creepypasta. It makes sense. In the middle of an album of chill, electronic music, there’s one disc that’s a found footage horror short film, complete with the person holding the recorder meeting with some fate at the end. Imagine you’re going through your friend’s old VHS collection and there’s a copy of The Poughkeepsie Tapes in the middle of it with no explanation.

Also, this is the only time there’s any real physical evidence of another person existing in this world. Villages weren’t added until the release of Beta months later, and even then, this doesn’t sound like a villager. It sounds like us.

Disc 13 is less infamous by comparison, but it’s still jarring compared to the rest of the soundtrack. 13 consists mostly of slow, reverberating ringing sounds, and at this point I’m going to bring in the last weird Minecraft feature, because they sound like cave noises.

Cave noises are maybe even more infamous among the community than disc 11 as “the thing that makes Minecraft scary.” The most common of these noises are either relatively realistic, like wind or something, or eerie but obviously musical, like part of the soundtrack. Every so often, though, you’ll get one that sounds like footsteps, or the sound of a minecart traveling down a distant track. There’s obviously nothing actually there, but it’s another piece of evidence that even if you’re the only person in this world, there are things here that you didn’t make. This is not helped by the fact that the criteria for a cave noise occurring include darkness.

Conclusion 1

If you take all of these things together - the fog, the darkness, the weird signs that you’re not necessarily alone in this world - it’s easy to see where the sheer amount of creepypasta about this game comes from. It would not be unbelievable in 2010 that something like Herobrine could actually be in the game, and even if you were an adult and didn’t buy that he literally existed, Minecraft Alpha is still a nearly perfect game for scaring the shit out of yourself after just having read a bunch of horror stories.

(I know this because I scared the shit out of myself several times while revisiting Minecraft Alpha for this essay.)

Why Herobrine?

Surprise! There's more.

So we know where the Herobrine story comes from: a bunch of people playing an old, weird sandbox game that - intentionally or by accident - also functions surprisingly well as a survival horror game, and scaring themselves because it’s fun.

Now I want to talk about why the Herobrine story specifically resonated so hard with people that it still exists while hundreds of others have been basically forgotten. Keep in mind, the White Eyes story originated on a thread for a completely different creepypasta that no one has ever heard of. So what’s special about Herobrine?

To start with, we need to take a look at the specifics of Herobrine that set it apart from other creepypasta characters. The Minecraft wiki has a definition of “canonical” Herobrine that includes the first forum posts and images, like the famous 4chan post, as well as the Copeland streams. These are, quote, “fundamental to the creation and popularization of the character.” So let’s look at the commonalities between them.

Herobrine apologism

The most interesting thing these stories have in common, especially compared to more modern Herobrine, is a complete lack of aggression from Herobrine in game. The narrator of White Eyes does go crazy and maybe die, but that happens due to influence from Disc 11. The actual entity with the white eyes only appears once, and it never personally acts on the player.

In the original 4chan post, Herobrine is explicitly stated to run away and disappear if the player tries to approach and get a clearer look at him. The Copeland saga begins with Herobrine watching him in the corner of a screenshot, and even during the close encounter Herobrine doesn’t chase him out of the house or even follow him. He just stands there.

Just looking at the original Herobrine canon, there’s almost no reason to even conclude he’s malevolent at all.

So if Herobrine isn’t out to get you in the original canon, what does he do? Aside from watching you from the edge of your vision, there are a few consistent things to watch out for in the oldest videos. The most famous Herobrine signs are pyramids made of sand, trees with the leaves removed, and tunnels to nowhere, almost always lit with redstone torches.

The thing that strikes me about these signs is that they’re almost player-like, except with no internal logic to them. Building structures, cutting down trees, and digging tunnels are core to the gameplay loop of Minecraft, except in the Herobrine versions there’s no productivity. The pyramids are uninhabitable and the tunnels are never deep enough to find ore. It’s like what someone would do if they knew what you were supposed to do in Minecraft, but couldn’t understand why.

By far the most common explanation for the origin of Herobrine is that he’s a ghost. The most famous herobrine story says that he’s the dead brother of Hatsune Miku, and that part of the mythos is considered basically canon now. Even if you don’t like that element (can you tell I don’t?), a lot of posts from this time period describe him as the ghost of a miner. This is probably because the game literally has inexplicable mining sounds programmed into its caves. Either way, it’s hard to avoid the idea that Herobrine used to be a normal guy. Someone who lived in this empty world before you did.

"REAL HEROBRINE SIGHTING 100% PROOF"

There’s a Youtube playlist that I come back to a lot. It’s called “The Oldest Herobrine Sightings Ever (In Order!)” Most of the videos are either clearly faked, made by a 9-year-old, or clearly faked by a 9-year-old, but they still have a vibe to them that totally captivated me when I was younger and half buying into it.

They still give me a similar feeling years later, which is obviously partially due to nostalgia, but I don’t think the feeling is actually the exact same. It’s not quite nostalgia, and it’s not the the fear-slash-fascination I felt in 2012, glued to these videos while ready to run out of the room at any time in case something too scary happened. It’s closer to a good kind of melancholy.

And if you go back to The Oldest Herobrine Sightings Ever with the idea of feeling some empathy for him, it makes them hit a lot harder than if you just assume he's a murder ghost who’s coming to get you. I know I’m pretty far into Death of the Author territory at this point; I’m projecting an amount of emotional complexity onto fake cryptid sightings made by internet babies that almost definitely wasn’t there to begin with, but that doesn’t make this reading of the story any less impactful to me.

In order to make this point of view more believable, I’ve cherrypicked a video from the playlist for us to look at. The video is, naturally, called “REAL HEROBRINE SIGHTING 100% PROOF” by CreeperAssassin87. It's only five minutes long and I recommend watching it so you can determine for yourself if I'm making shit up.

In the video, CreeperAssassin heads out of their (pretty impressive) base only to find themselves face-to-face with the man himself. What happens next is probably the best example of my point in the whole playlist, but if you watch the other videos closely you can notice this pattern.

CreeperAssassin says very confidently that Herobrine started “chasing” them, but look at what he’s actually doing. He’s not running at the player or even really looking at the screen, and he’s not armed with anything more dangerous than a pickaxe. Remember, at this point in history, Herobrine wasn’t believed to have any magic powers to attack you with either. There’s nothing actually threatening going on here.

After that jumpscare, CreeperAssassin naturally spends the rest of the video running away and hiding, with Herobrine following close behind. My favorite part comes after the player has sealed themselves inside the wall of the castle. Herobrine breaks in, and once he has CreeperAssassin completely cornered...

...he doesn’t do anything. He just stands there and stares. The narration claims to have “luckly escaped” [sic], but I genuinely find it hard to see any malice in his behavior here.

One of the last appearances of Herobrine in the video is him watching CreeperAssassin through the window of their base after they block off the door. At this point, the video has firmly established that he's able to break blocks, and CreeperAssassin is completely cornered again. If he wanted to harm the player, he could do it easily. But once he's shut out, he just resigns himself to it.

Again, this video is probably the strongest example, but this observation holds pretty well for the vast majority of Herobrine sightings from this time period. If you shift your perspective a little bit, his behavior is not far off from what a normal person might do if they encountered another player for the first time.

Oh, hello. Who are you? It's nice to finally meet someone else. I thought I was alone out here.

Of course, nearly everyone he meets runs away and shuts him out. Eventually most of them either abandon their haunted worlds or delete them entirely.

Conclusion 2

For a lot of people on the Minecraft forums in 2010, Herobrine may have been an introduction to stories like this. I obviously doubt that a tragedy about a ghost doomed to wander alone forever was what any of the people involved here intended to make. That said, those emotions are still present, and strongly enough that they inspired me to write this entire thing.

I believe this contrast between the fear created by reading a scary story about an eerie game and the inherent sadness of the Herobrine figure is what made this story stand the test of time. Compare Herobrine with his more one-dimensionally hostile imitators, and then compare him with other creepypasta hall-of-famers like Ben Drowned. All the greatest urban legends make you feel something more complex than "afraid."

One last thing that I thought made a really good anecdote to conclude this vibes-based essay.

One of the most successful post-canon additions to the Herobrine lore is the idea of a Herobrine spawner, a structure you can build that will let him in to your world. The materials needed to do this are pretty consistent between stories, involving a base made of gold, redstone torches, sometimes some mossy cobblestone, and a netherrack pillar on top. Lighting the netherrack on fire is what activates the structure.

(There are some pretty obvious parallels here with real-life rituals meant to summon ghosts or spirits, especially the lighting of a fire.)

The origin of this structure, as far as I can tell, dates back to one of the first ever mods meant to add Herobrine to the game, a server plugin released in 2010. This plugin not only introduced the spawner, but Herobrine’s behavior in it is really interesting. He’s much more docile in this plugin than in the substantially more famous Herobrine Mod released the following year, where he directly attacks the player and summons zombies and whatnot.

The keystone here is the name of the plugin, the file you have to download to let him into your world. It’s not called “Him,” or “WakeUp,” or “WhiteEyes.”

It’s called “iLoveYou.”

#pseudoessay #minecraft #minecraft alpha #herobrine #creepypasta #migrated from old website #long post

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

What are some major differences that you've noticed between the Japanese and international TWST fandoms in regards to characters they like? Why do you think that's the case? (One I've noticed on the top of my head is Trey being more popular in Japan while he's completely written off as a "big brother" character in the west.)

The main differences in character popularity that I’ve noticed (or at least the most immediate ones I think of) are that Trey is much more popular in Japan than he is internationally and that Malleus is much more popular internationally than he is in Japan.

I think a lot of trends in character popularity (including the cases of Trey and Malleus) can be attributed to differences in demographics and culture. (Please note that everything I say in this post are vast generalizations which are NOT representative of every individual, nor each group.)

To begin with, the JP audience is predominantly older/working women, whereas the EN audience is skewed younger (adolescents and young adults). This age shift between the parts of the fandom can have an impact on general tastes in characters.

I genuinely think a large part of the reason for Malleus’s popularity overseas (and especially in the west, more specifically America) is because he happens to be designed and written in a way that appeals to the demographic of players there (ie younger people). A lot of the media marketed towards adolescents and young adults in the west often involves edgy/dark, brooding protagonists or love interests (bonus points if they’re also some kind of supernatural being). These are your Twilights, your A Court of Thorns and Roses, etc. It’s what people are used to as a trend in western media, and it is what is sold as “desirable” or as “the fantasy” to young, impressionable minds—and it keeps happening because it has proven to be effective. Then here comes Malleus, who is so very close to what many young fans are already familiar with and may already enjoy the tropes of. It just naturally falls into place.

Now, Japan also has a lot of media featuring angsty characters and supernatural beings. A lot of your typical isekai shows and manga/light novels come to mind lookin’ at you, Kirito from SAO. So why is it that Malleus is not as popular in his country of origin than he is overseas?? Well, I’d probably (once again) chalk it up to demographics. The wish fulfillment fantasies featuring edgy characters are primarily aimed at a juvenile/teenage audience, and, as I’ve previously mentioned, this is not the case for TWST’s audience in Japan. It’s mainly older women, and because of their maturity and life experiences, they may be more likely to appreciate subdued/subtle characters that the younger international fans would maybe deem “boring” (like Trey).

I think another reason for Malleus’s popularity, particularly in the west, is because he actively notices Yuu compared to the other characters. A majority of the things that happen in TWST can occur without Yuu really being there; however, because Malleus’s friendship with Yuu is consistently mentioned throughout the course of the main story, it actually lends weight and importance to Yuu’s presence. This aligns with “main character” culture in the west, which emphasizes “standing out” and the protagonist playing an active role in the story rather than being sidelined. I don’t think the “main character” culture is as prominent in Japan as it is overseas because Japan values collectivism over individualism. (This is even reflected in many Yuusonas of Japanese creators not having super fleshed out profiles/backstories, or the designs being more lowkey.) Therefore, Malleus would lose some of the appeal he gets from actually acknowledging Yuu.

Again, I want to stress that these are just my best guesses to explain character popularity discrepancies. These generalizations are not representative of everyone, nor are they entirely accurate.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst en #twisted wonderland en #Malleus Draconia #Yuu #Trey Clover #twst x reader #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #quesion

[markrosewater]

How does market research evaluate how popular a very old plane is? For instance, Lorwyn and Alara are around 15 years old. The only players that were around when they first came out have been playing a very long time. If these planes are popular among enfranchised players, (as shown in your recent return poll), what's making them unpopular? Is it the original 15 year old data or is there some way of getting newer, relevant data out of the newer player base?

Yes, we’re talking about the original data. When we make a set that doesn’t sell well and the market research from when it came out says the majority of people didn’t like the world, it’s a tough pitch to return.

That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. We returned to Kamigawa. But it does mean there’s a lot higher bar to clear to get a green light. We have to have a perfect pitch of how we can do it in a way that players will love.

Remember, Kamigawa started out as a world inspired by Japanese pop culture, and not as a return to Kamigawa. I, and a lot of other people, had to make the case of why it should be Kamigawa. And we got the green light because we came up with a great plan.

[danhengiel]

Comments on Acheron

After watching about, pretty much every single Acheron build guide, pre release character run beta version, and general "what to expect" videos on yt, I think my consensus comes down to the most repeated points as well as a general overview eliminating all bias:

Lightcones: NO WAY of knowing how significant the DMG decrease is between an S5 Good Night Sleep Well light cone and her signature yet. Assume her best-in-slot is always her signature. What to do? Pull on the weapons banner till you get enough copies of GNSW to superimpose to the highest lvl unless you get her signature cone early.

Team comps: As a day 1 player, I have every standard 5* character and it's possible to run a sustain Welt team with Pela eventually Silver Wolf if I get her on rerun. However, some more options include: - Acheron, Support Pela, Support Welt, Sustain Gallagher - Acheron, Support Pela, Support Silver Wolf, Sustain Gallagher - Acheron, Support Pela, Support Welt, Sustain Fire MC/Gepard with Trends of the Universal Market LC for extra debuff when hit - Acheron, Support Pela, Support Sparkle, Any Sustain with TotUM LC (Sparkle cannot debuff so consider having a high speed (160+) Sparkle to make this work) - Acheron, Support Kafka, Support Black Swan, Any Sustain - ALL F2P: Acheron, Support Pela, Support Sampo, Sustain Natasha

Relics: Build her as a typical Hypercarry (CRIT DMG/CRIT RATE/ATK%/SPD) in order of stat prioritization) and make sure to have a Lightning DMG planar ornament

Traces: ULTIMATE UPTIME!!!! Make sure her Basic ATK and Ultimate trace lvls are as high as possible after unlocking the 3 major traces (bonus traces)

Overall: For supports, get as much speed and effect hit rate to apply as many debuffs as possible onto enemies to be able to achieve Acheron's Ultimate (her most powerful attack) as fast as possible and clear the enemy. THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT IF YOU'RE RUNNING A SUSTAIN WELT, BECAUSE HE CANNOT SUSTAIN INDEFINITELY (unlike Fu Xuan, or even as comfortably as Luocha or Huohuo)

Other Priories: If you don't have 2 invested 5* sustains, GET THEM FIRST because you don't want your Acheron dying on you during MOCs because you're too much of a gambling addict and didn't save up enough trailblazer power to properly farm the right relics (me)

Support character LC: With the lack of nihility LCs that provide debuffing benefits without having smtg to do w DOTs, main options include: Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat, Fermata (if one of your debuffers can apply a shock or wind shear), Good Night Sleep Well, and Before the Tutorial Mission Starts (free if you were a player during the first Silver Wolf banner). Kafka’s signature (Patience is all you need) is good as well, but if you’re using a 5 star lc it’s preferable to use smtg more accessible if you can’t get Acheron’s signature. Here’s a link to read up on their abilities

Her kit wants as many debuff applied to characters to get her ultimate out faster, though sometimes with a strong enough support harmony you may not even require a 2nd or 3rd nihility unit. Please be sure to check your own account’s character investment and calculate accordingly

#honkai star rail #acheron #hsr acheron #raiden mei #honkai #acheron honkai star rail #Acheron hsr #star rail #hsr #honkai star rail characters #.text

[saturniandevil]

February 2024 Important Dates

AKA my notes on The Astrology Podcast's February forecast.

January recap: With Pluto now in Aquarius we've got new technological developments: "flying taxis" going to market, Google's new AI set to release around Jupiter in Gemini, and the first commercially available see-through LED screens. In Saturn-Neptune news, Apple's new VR operating system is being advertised as "spatial computing." Aquarius loves to experiment for the joy of discovery--even if society ends up rejecting some of these new projects. Austin points out many prophetic "near future" fiction stories came out under Jupiter-Saturn in Libra in the 1980s, which was a preview of those conjunctions occurring in air signs for the next 200 years (we had the last earth ones a few years ago). Saturn-Neptune also connotes widespread political misinformation (as it did in 2016)--we've got AI deepfake videos of political figures being used not just for humor, but also to try and sway voters in the New Hampshire Primary. Another notable Saturn in Pisces story is the restriction of the Red Sea trade route and subsequent rerouting of cargo ships along global trade routes. The Mars-Saturn conjunction in Pisces in March will likely show major developments in maritime combat or disasters.

We enter the month fresh off Pluto's ingress into Aquarius. There's a lot of energy in the sign this month, some good and some difficult. The faster-moving planets will be joining Pluto in Aquarius specifically for the first time since the 18th century, giving us the first tastes of what the next 20 years will bring for society at large. For personal charts, what house does Aquarius fall in?

February 5th - Mercury enters Aquarius, conjoins Pluto This is the first planet to join the Sun and Pluto in Aquarius. Venus and Mars will follow this ingress-conjunction pattern later this month--and the new Moon is in Aquarius. Mercury-Pluto brings up information and power such as classified document leaks, as well as hidden pathways or getting lost in the labyrinth. Determined efforts to delve into deeper truths can pay off, but we can also become obsessed with something no one else can see. Other significations include taboo subjects, with science and social rules being especially important in Aquarius, and negating ideas we once thought were true. Paranoia and manipulations also abound with Pluto-Mercury. In Aquarius we'll see these issues take light especially through new technologies. In general Pluto magnifies small things to their biggest extremes--something microscopic may change society irrevocably, etc. The PRC has a timed chart with Aquarius rising with the Moon in Aquarius, and indeed has been leading the world in uses & development of certain new technologies, which in turn has brought power struggles with other major players in those fields.

February 6th - Fortunate date (not pictured)

Set at about 8:00AM local time, this chart should give you 11° Pisces rising. The Ascendant ruler Jupiter is in the 3rd house in a day chart, emphasizing communication and other 3rd house topics. The Moon in early Capricorn applies to a trine with Jupiter, bonifying her. The Jupiter-Saturn sextile is emphasized here; while Saturn is very close to the Ascendant, he's more cooperative in a day chart, and is being received by Jupiter (is in Jupiter's sign), who he's trining. Thus Chris predicts it'll be a good balance of consolidation and growth. This does have Mars in the 11th house in a day chart, so it's not great for matters involving friends, groups, and alliances. But it is good for communicating, neighborhood, education/learning, weekly schedule, siblings, and starting a daily practice (Saturn will help us establish routines).

February 9th - Aquarius New Moon

At 20° of Aquarius, the closest configuration is a square from Uranus (19♉), connoting a disruptive or unexpected component. This is also the first Aquarius New Moon with Pluto present--Pluto will be weighing in on all monthly meetings in Aquarius for now. We can expect concerns around independence and freedom, but also emotional volatility. "How do I break from this pattern?" asks the rebel, knowing it'll be better than keeping things as they are. Mercury also applies to a square with a Jupiter during this time, expanding communications & bringing (possibly excessive) optimism. The Jupiter-Saturn sextile that hung over much of January weighs in as well, balancing our drives for both growth and consolidation.

February - 12th/13th Mars enters Aquarius Soon after he conjoins Pluto.

February 14th - Mars conjunct Pluto This is the first hard aspect since the square circa October 7th. There are going to be about 10 of these conjunctions during Pluto's trip through Aquarius. Mars connotes military operations, while Pluto brings underground groups and struggles. We've been having power dynamics stirred up in the Capricorn parts of our charts the past 20 years, and now this moves to our Aquarius house/area of life. Possessiveness and excessive force are also connoted by this planetary combination; exercise caution and take special care not to go too far. Austin describes this feeling as a "struggle against annihilation," even when we're not actually fighting for our lives. It'll take self-control and grace to navigate this Valentine's day well.

February 16th - Venus enters Aquarius Soon after she will conjoin Pluto, and later Mars.

February 17th - Venus conjunct Pluto The intensity, obsessions, and making mountains of molehills brought up by other planets' Pluto contacts will now show itself in the realm of relationships and social interactions. We get the extremes of affection and its negation with Venus-Pluto. This can be a good time for experimenting in the arts: we're getting a new movie based off Frankenstein, which was published under Pluto in Aquarius. Much of the novel is from the perspective of no the doctor but his experiment--when are we our own lab rats?

February 18th - Sun enters Pisces

February 22nd - Venus conjunct Mars Unfortunately Mars, Aquarius, and Pluto do not bode well for Valentine's-adjacent activities. Some positive connotations include magnetic allure and deep, passionate connections with others, extreme vulnerability and devotion. However, keep watchful for power struggles and manipulation in relationships and attraction. Ask yourself, "is this healthy or is this too far?" and try to set healthy boundaries. (Though the answers may be clearer in hindsight.) Look out for hastiness in relationships, jealous and aggression in love, or attraction to drama or conflict. Try to balance passion with reason, communicate clearly, and express that energy through creative outlets.

February 23rd - Mercury enters Pisces

February 24th - Virgo Full Moon

Immediately after its exact opposition to Saturn, the Moon applies to one with Saturn, who as a matter of course is also applying to Saturn by conjunction (pictured above is the Moon between these oppositions). Austin describes this as a magnified check-in with Saturn, as we're approaching the 1-year mark for Saturn in Pisces (early March). How have you been bearing having to swim with weights on? Or maybe you've hooked something powerful on your fishing line--how will you reel it in? Chris says this lunation highlights tension in the Virgo part of our charts as well, shedding light that may help us identify solutions. We have a Sun-Mercury-Saturn conjunction a few days later that will bring our attention back to Pisces.

February 26th/27th - Mars square Jupiter Jupiter wants to help, but something's getting in his way. We can also think about taking risks, leaving our comfort zone, and increased energy/enthusiasm. However, as Mars is overcoming Jupiter (earlier in the zodiac), traditional sources would indicate that the warlike side of things will gain the upper hand over peaceful Jupiter. Mars in Aquarius connotes rogue or outsider forces, while Jupiter is privileged by stability in Taurus. Keep a lookout for global trade points and major conflicts, which will likely see developments around this time. Some positives of Mars-Jupiter include increased motivation, taking bold actions, and meeting ambitious goals. On the flipside is impulsiveness, overconfidence, and recklessness. Mars-Jupiter is willing to take a risk. Sometimes, it's better not to know exactly what you're getting into so you don't get overwhelmed by a monumental task; other times, it doesn't work out. This is the placement of the intrepid explorer.

February 28th - Moon, Mercury, and Saturn conjunction in Pisces This occurs at 9 degrees of Pisces, and each planet applies to a sextile with Pisces in the following days. Jupiter brings us another management check-in after Saturn's: how have we been balancing growth with consolidation? Jupiter's going to pick up speed and zoom out of Taurus later this year, moving away from this balanced position to a difficult square with Saturn. We've been balancing weight with buoyancy, but once in Gemini Jupiter forms more of helicopter to Saturn's submarine--vehicles that can't be combined. With Saturn and Mercury (and the Sun shedding light), we'll likely see changes in the status of maritime trade and travel. From Saturn to Jupiter we may see something go from being stuck to unstuck.

As we wrap up the month, we've got some Pisces planets approaching Neptune while Jupiter approaches Uranus. And don't forget, we've got 29 days in February this year!

#transits #forecast #february 2024 #mundane astrology #the astrology podcast #pluto in aquarius #mercury conjunct pluto #mars conjunct pluto #venus conjunct pluto #venus conjunct mars #saturn in pisces

[mukulsoni1]

Illuminating Success: Insights into the Lighting Market

Explore the vibrant landscape of the Lighting Industry, where innovation meets functionality. Navigate trends, major players, and the strategic pathways shaping the future of lighting solutions.

#Lighting Market #Lighting Industry #Lighting Sector #Lighting Market Major Players #Lighting Market Analysis #Lighting Market Revenue #Lighting Market Growth Rate #Lighting Market Size #Lighting Industry Competitors #Opportunities in Lighting Industry #Lighting Market Future Outlook

[diabolus1exmachina]

Piper GTT 

Before the dominance of the big conglomerate car manufacturers took hold in the late 1960s, there was room in the market for niche companies whose products fulfilled the demands of a few drivers who wanted something a little different to the everyday, somewhat bland mainstream offering. Some companies such as Lotus thrived and are still with us while the likes of TVR have come and gone (several times), hopefully to return. Others had their day in the sun but ultimately disappeared after a relatively brief but bright life; Piper sits firmly in the later camp. Though the end results were fairly diverse, these companies’ approaches had remarkable commonality with cheap to produce fiberglass bodies (no need for expensive tooling which required high production volumes to amortise its costs) sitting on bespoke chassis while their running gear, which was financially impossible for a small business to develop and manufacture, was sourced from the industry’s major players.

Piper were kept pretty busy trying to build cars so production records are sketchy to say the least and it is thought that just eighty road cars and some twenty racers were built making them rare beasts today, though their survival rate is undoubtedly higher than that of propriety sports car such as say MGBs. Formed in 1966 by ex-racer George Henrotte, owner of Campbell’s Garage (hence the Scottish Piper logo and company name) in Hayes, Kent with the able assistance of engineer Bob Gayler (ex Harry Weslake), machinist Ken Packham and artist come designer Tony Hilder who had been responsible for the McLaren M1A, their first ‘whole car’ effort started as an evenings and weekends project until a customer, Gerry Hall, showed an interest in buying one. With his role as Works Gemini Formula Junior team manager winding up, Henrotte gave the green light for a limited production run of the pretty sports racers with four being completed for customers to add their powertrain of choice to; Hall put an Alfa Twin Cam in his, Bobby Bell a Lotus Twin Cam while racer Jerry Titus opted for a Buick V8. With a Mallite (balsawood/alloy sandwich) monocoque F3 car another Piper product, the company was building a reputation as a hotbed of outside the box thinking and a road-usable GT car was the next project. Approached by some Austin Healey Sprite racers who were looking for a light and sleek home for their running gear, a mock-up of what was to become the Piper GTT was shown at the 1967 Racing Car Show, apparently yielding an impressive seven hundred enquiries.

With Henrotte being kept busy with the tuning side of the Piper business, there was a timely intervention by Clubman racer Brian Sherwood who had not only bought a Piper GT but as the Sprite guys gradually fell by the wayside, was instrumental in more suitable Ford components being introduced at the expense of the BMC kit. With Sherwood now very much hands on, the Company was split with car production moving to his Wokingham premises while Henrotte concentrated on the aftermarket components business, though the companies remained closely linked both financially and practically. Through the late 1960s production increased from a drip to a trickle until Bill Atkinson, an enthusiastic GTT owner who had joined the company in the summer of 1969 as Works Manager, and Tony Waller (Sherwood Holdings’ Company Secretary) made great strides getting the GTT into some sort of series production. Instrumental in saving Piper’s car business, Sherwood was at heart a racer and he took them on an ultimately ill-fated foray to Le Mans in 1969 with the ultra-low, mid-engined GTR, an ambitious project that is thought to have cost £250,000. His untimely death late that year coupled with strikes at Ford ultimately resulted in the company being wound up in June 1971, despite the strong progress being made by Atkinson and Waller on the car production and development front (the longer wheelbase P2 was eventually launched in early 1971). However, this was not quite the end of the road for Piper; reborn as Emmbrook Engineering under the same management team, the Piper P2 remained in production until 1974.

#Piper GTT #Lotus #TVR #McLaren M1A #Ford

[cher-rei]

afterglow- pt.3 [ T.A.A ]

pairings: trent alexander arnold x fem!reader

summary: young and aspiring marketing and business major jamie carter (you) is privileged with working alongside the liverpool marketing and public relations team while also getting entangled with their star player and right back, trent alexander arnold.

[wc: 2,5k] [part 1] [part 2] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8]

genre(s): friends?? to lover, work romance, fluff

"do you have everything?"

charger. phone. apartment keys. suitcase. wait did I say charger?

"uh huh," you answered your sister and closed the trunk of the car, giving her one last hug before joining the staff on the bus that was parked outside of the main office building, along with the team bus.

you watched as she drove away into the early morning. 6:56 to be exact which meant that the sky was covered in hazy clouds, giving into the dusky look despite it being morning. you let out a breath and watched as the cloud of condensation formed.

you put in your airpods and shoved your free hand into your pants pocket. the drive wasn't long and you had to be on the field to oversee training for some clips so you dressed comfortably. a pair of navy blue nike parachute pants, a navy blue sweatshirt with a black shirt underneath and a pair of new balance.

the stroll to the bus was quiet, your mind elsewhere as you watched the staff members roll onto the bus after putting their luggage away. you sent a smile clara's way after she waved at you, and you were mentally preparing yourself to sit beside her during the ride when you were caught off guard by someone tapping your shoulder.

with eyes wide in shock, you whipped around to face the reason for your mini heart attack.

"oh," you sighed thankfully and paused your music when you saw klopp standing in front of you, an apologetic smile on his face.

"good morning to you too," he greeted with a chuckle and you returned it with a sheepish nod before falling into a brief conversation about today's match and it took a bit for you to realise that you had to get in the bus where everyone was waiting.

"jamie's watching the match today?"

you stifled a laugh at curtis' entrance, watching as the group's manager gave him a pat on the back. "she'll be watching most of our matches curtis. I told you this already."

curtis let out a knowing hum as the rest of his teammates piled onto the bus, making sure to greet you. he paid close attention to one person in particular however and suddenly had a light bulb moment.

"is she joining us on the bus?"

you quickly shut him down which caused klopp to let out a breathy laugh but curtis was adamant and didn't want to back down.

he took a few steps forward and swiftly took your suitcase out of your hand and gave it to the driver to put away before you could even fight him for it. "wouldn't you rather be accompanied by people your age? we don't want you to die of boredom the entire ride."

you narrowed your eyes at him, knowing very well what he was doing. "It's just an hour. I'll be fine."

you were about to take off when curtis shot his boss a look that took the older man a moment to register. "uh jaime," he called out after you. "you're more than welcome to join us. I think it'll be less of a hassle too, seeing as we'll get out at the hotel together as well."

you've got to be joking.

you let out an even heavier sigh. "no se--"

"--don't worry. you can sit next to me," curtis chimed in effortlessly and slung his arm around your shoulders as he led you onto the bus, talking about how much fun you two were going to have on the ride.

and to be honest. it wasn't a terrible experience.

when you got in it earned quite a few surprise looks considering that it was curtis of all people who got you on the bus.

when you walked over to the middle of the bus with him, you were met with a very confused alexis. "uhm?"

"well, give the lady her seat," curtis said and gestured for him to get up and you couldn't help but shoot alexis the most apologetic look you could muster up.

he stifled a laugh as he watched curtis point to the seat next to alisson. he reluctantly got up of course and pat you on the shoulder. "I should be the one apologising to you."

you sighed as you checked your uploaded Instagram story, trying to wrap your head around the fact that you were out on a soccer field at 7 in the morning.

everyone had just gotten back from checking into their hotel rooms and to your luck you were sharing a suite with clara. she was only a year older than you were but she was the sweetest person you'd ever met.

she was rather soft-spoken and kept her life behind the camera. which was exactly what she was doing right now as she took some pictures of the practice session so that it could be uploaded.

practice had started slow but that didn't mean that it was boring. you watched with your lips pursed, eyeing one player in particular before turning to clara who was a bit further away. she shared the same expression as you, one of utter shock.

you put your hand in front of your mouth and mouthed something to her. "he looks so hot."

in return, she gave you an eager nod and waved you over to look at the pictures that she had taken. there were a lot of things that you wanted to say in that moment but you had to hold back for multiple reasons.

both you and clara had to pretend to seem like you were actually doing your job instead of fangirling. "It's illegal to look this damn good."

from beside you clara stifled a laugh and gave you a brief look to see you staring at the footballer, a glint of something in your eyes that she couldn't quite make out.

"he doesn't have a girlfriend," she said with a smile and turned back to the front and took a few more pictures.

it took a moment for you to register her comment. "what difference does that make?" you asked with a quirked eyebrow. "I mean at least I won't get jumped for looking at him, but still."

you hadn't expected clara to laugh as hard as she did. your joke really wasn't that funny but it had the girl doubling over, and you couldn't help but burst into laughter as well when she snorted. you tried your best to calm her down but it just made it worse.

"dude everyone's looking at us," you managed out breathlessly. "the joke wasn't even funny."

clara shook her head in disagreement and wiped a few stray tears off her cheeks that were blood red. "I'm sorry--" she apologized with a snicker. "I just imagined you getting into a fight with a girl and you would get bodied so hard."

your jaw dropped in offence and a slight blush rose to your cheeks. "we're done here."

clara watched as you jokingly stormed off and smiled to herself. "you can do more than just look at him though!"

you whipped around in shock at how loud she had said that. but luckily no one was paying any mind to your little argument and carried on with what they were doing. "clara stop!"

about 10 minutes later the videographers had gotten their cameras rolling and it had brought you back to your presentation that had to be ready by next week thursday. entertaining alternatives. how were you supposed to think of any entertaining alternatives?

as an influencer yourself you took into account that you hadn't posted anything in a while and spent most of your time twitch streaming. you started on tiktok in late 2021 and blew up not too long after. there wasn't much to it— you were pretty and people found you funny but it wasn't much of a job for you since you posted anything you felt like.

but your twitch career was something that you'd always wanted to take a leap into, so when you grew a big enough following you started your account with your now ex boyfriend who was still going about his career as per normal.

to the public your breakup was ended on mutual terms and it was stated that you felt that you were better off as friends. he cheated on you with your best friend. there was nothing mutual about that at all.

you dated for nearly three years before you found out, but you weren't even sure how long they had been seeing each other. and you didn't tend to find out. you needed to get away, so the second you got the chance you moved out of your mother's house in london and moved to liverpool since your sister was here.

and luckily she was more than happy to let you come and live with her for a bit until you got your own place. it was just her, her husband noah, and her 4-year-old son alex who were away visiting noah's parents back in london.

it's been a year now. a very quiet year at that seeing as you distanced yourself from your friends who had in fact known about your boyfriend cheating. but you were happy and that's all that mattered.

oh shit, I have an idea.

"ali. my man." you greeted with a smile and gave the goalkeeper a high five but it was obvious that he was either concerned or suspicious that you were standing in the net with him.

he chuckled at your sudden mood shift and continued to put on his gloves since everyone was getting ready for some shot practice. and frankly it was the viewers favourite segment to watch.

you slowly wandered through the net, taking a look around. "It's nice in here. you come around here often?"

the older man chuckled at your rather cute yet amusing joke. "yes I do actually. how about you?"

you shook your head to the side and took a deep breath. "I prefer to be on the pitch. I'm all for the action you know?"

you watched as he eased more into the conversation and played along, and you couldn't help but smile. "hm, you seem like the type. I heard that you played until you finished high school. center forward right?"

a smile drew to your lips at the fond memories, leaning back into the post as you nodded your head. "I was like if chloe kelly and leah williamson had a baby."

ali wasn't the only one to laugh this time. from the other side of the field you could hear jurgen laughing along with the videographers. you hadn't noticed that your interaction was being filmed but at least it was something new.

you turned back to the goalkeeper with a hopeful smile, "that's actually what I wanted to talk-- dude!"

harvey nearly hit you with the ball. well technically he did, but alisson was able to jump in front of you and catch it just in time. you stood behind him in slight distraught and tried to fully process what had just happened.

"let's switch up practice a bit and use jamie as bait," harvey exclaimed and raised his hand with a proud smile. "all in favour say I!"

you scoffed in disbelief to see everyone on the team raise their hands. you were so close to jumping that garden gnome but ali stopped you and told you to carry on talking. this was the equivalent to a trust fall to be frank, but you were desperate and tried to doge the ball everytime it was kicked so that he could save it.

"okay, so basically trent and I kind of have a bet going on right now."

a chuckle left the goalkeeper's lips as he sent the ball back drawin's way while harvey urged everyone to kick the ball a little harder. "a bet? are you two fake dating?"

you pulled a face at the accusation. "ew no."

as if.

"long story short— the garden gnome wanted to tussel but I said no and then he threw trent under the bus and I was like 'hey why not?' but he won't let me because he's obviously scared that I'm gonna beat him and the only way he'll let me is if I can get a goal past you."

you didn't even bother taking a breath in between anything you said and surprisingly ali got it all. he got up from the floor with a deep breath and handed you the ball to kick out, and you did so with ease and made sure to send harvey a look.

"so you want me to help you with this so you can beat trent, but I'm also assuming this has something to do with your idea for 'alternative entertainment'," he said as he ran through your rant again and you gave him an eager nod.

you probably looked like a child to him. oh gosh.

you took a step to the side and got ready to hide behind him as you saw trent get the ball ready. "how did you know?"

"you kept on mumbling 'alternative entertainment' over and over for like five minutes while you were standing behind the post."

you eyes widened a fraction and you gave an embarrassed smile. "oh. that's nice."

that earned another chuckle and a reassuring pat on the back. "I'm in. just tell me when your pitch is approved and we can start."

it was finally match time, and everyone had started filing out of the tunnel at molineux stadium. it was 4:50 p.m with ten minutes left till kick-off with the team was on the pitch for warm-ups.

you were sitting peacefully by yourself behind the barricade, your camera out as usual to take a few pictures of your own and checked on the tags on twitter for some feedback from supporters. the stadium was fairly rowdy but since it wasn't a home game the atmosphere wasn't anything in comparison.

it was a few minutes before kick-off when you felt someone slide into the seat beside yours. you glanced at trent from the corner of your eye before returning your attention back to your phone screen. "fancy seeing you here."

trent wasn't playing today due to a minor hamstring injury but he wasnt expected to come and watch the match. you heard him mumble under his breath, something about you being british but you brushed it off and got back to what you were doing on your phone.

neither of you said anything for quite a bit of time and kept your focus solely on the game in front of you which had taken a turn just seven minutes in when lee chan scored for wolverhampton.

"fuck," you muttered and sat back in your seat, trying your best to read the game.

from beside you trent couldn't help but glance over at you every so often. he watched as you bit your bottom lip in concentration which caused an unfamiliar feeling to swell up for him.

he cleared his throat awkwardly, trying his best to gain your attention. "I'm sorry about earlier. is your arm okay?"

you turned to look at him with a teasing glint in your eyes but your expression remained neutral. "yeah, I'm fine or whatever. i'm not the one with the hamstringy injury."

he nodded his head slightly and turned to the field once again half debating with himself over whether or not you were being sarcastic or not. silence took over for another 10 minutes before he mustered up the courage to say something again.

"were you serious about the whole 'if leah williamson and chloe kelly had a baby' thing?"

an amused smile drew to your lips. "well that's for you to find out when you're ready to play again."

trent stifled a laugh at your confidence and he felt the acceptance sink in. he didn't quite know what it was that intrigued him but he was willing to find out. he just found you strange that's all. and he was having quite the time giving into the banter and your overflowing confidence.

he couldn't lie and say that he didn't find it fun. the entire game he had to fight back the urge to laugh because of something you said or a comment you made about some of the players.

"do you think darwin would drop his hair routine if I asked?"

"£20 says that robbo tries to tussel with someone."

"I totally forgot that shorty was on the field. nah garden gnome suits him better."

"I just know for a fact that domi's face card never declines. I mean he's my lockscreen wallpaper for a reason."

it got to the point where he had to take a moment and sink into his seat anytime he wanted to laugh. at some point, jurgen came to join the two of you to rant about how you weren't scoring anything and it was near half time but you gave him some reassurance.

"we always come back second half though. just throw them all with some water to wake them up and you'll get at least two goals I'm sure."

were you right? of course you were. lightwork.

cody, robbo and an own goal.

there were eight minutes of added additional time so you took the time to relax, after 90 minutes of screaming and complaining. and you started to notice that trent was warming up to you and actually made conversation.

progress.

"you tagged me in your story? are you even allowed to do that?" he asked and you shrugged your shoulders, not seeing a problem with it.

you quirked your brow. "do you have a girlfriend?"

trent's lips parted in shock at the question, not sure how to respond or what you meant by it. he didn't know how long he spent looking at you lost in thought but it felt like eternity. "no."

"then yes, I am allowed to do that."

posts:

#trent alexander arnold fluff #footballer imagine #liverpool fc #trent alexander arnold x reader #football imagine #footballer x reader #footballer x you #liverpool x reader #trent alexander arnold fanfic #fanfic #cherrei writes

[thefirstknife]

If going by the Destiny 2 content creator reactions and their fans of Lightfall then the greatest enemy to all is the concept of a Cliffhanger.

There people wouldn't be able to handle any non bing able media. If they had to watch Breaking Bad, any mystery story or what have you before Netflix i imagine they'd throw a fit

Yeah, I'm feeling the same. I genuinely don't know what people expected from a penultimate expansion. Talked about it before in regards to how the marketing for Lightfall may have been a little weird and how people ended up feeling misled by it, which is a fair complaint to have. But if we go further than that, I still don't know why people expected "all answers immediately" from an expansion that's clearly not the final one. We knew right away that this is not the ending.

This is a good opportunity to talk a bit more about some extra stuff which will be below, because I'm choosing mercy for people on mobile:

Another thing that gets me as well is that this is simply how Destiny always does the story. Like, it's a live service game and has been for 10 years. Campaigns are on a frequent hit-or-miss scale and aren't really all that expansive on their own anyway; a 3 hour campaign is NOT and never has been the totality of Destiny's story. As a matter of fact, like 90% of Destiny's story is told in written format with lore and side quests and other stories, not in campaigns. Campaigns are generally just the initial setpieces that shift the narrative in a certain direction with a singular event, but the majority of the story happens as consequences of that, over the course of years.

There's been so much stuff that we've been waiting for years to be explained. I always figured this as something that the Destiny community loves and expects. I got here only in D2 and only got into lore properly in Shadowkeep, so everything I knew by reading about Destiny's past story and community reception was that the mystery and the players coming together to figure things out was one of the main draws of the game. That's how I perceived the game, its lore and its community when I joined. As something where we work together to pore through texts to understand where things are and where they are going.

Actually, recently one of the biggest complaints going from Beyond Light and onwards was that Destiny has lost its mystery component. It's been a frequent and overwhelming critique of the story and seasons. How seasons are here to just quickly sum everything up in neat and presentable infodumps given to us by characters and lore tabs that tell us everything directly without any need for deeper engagement. This obviously isn't even fully true (Beyond Light's deepest mystery remained undetected and misunderstood by the majority of the playerbase and still is to this day (that would be Savathun replacing Osiris)), but overall yeah, certain things were absolutely streamlined in comparison with how lore was done before.

Like, no contest: frequent seasonal story drops that give us dozens of lore books, item lore, quest lore, dialogues and so on over the year that are easy to acquire and are readable in the game, as well as stories that happen weekly and are more engaging than just playing a 2 hour campaign every six months or every year have all done A LOT for the lore to be more approachable and less "mysterious." I put that in quotes because people frequently also misinterpret what "mysterious" means or at least aren't talking about the same concept. I've noticed that there's quite a bit of backlash for stories being resolved and character arcs being finished. To a lot of people, that's the removal of "mystery." In a sense, a lot of people want an endless story that never resolves but that gives just enough easily consumable fandom-related details that aren't really progressing the story in a meaningful direction.

But yeah. To end this tangent here, people have been complaining a lot about the lack of mysteries and wonder in Destiny. Which is just weird to me because that's just how stories work. At some point, the story will start resolving the mysteries. And yet, then came Lightfall which brought completely new mysteries and some of the most fascinating ones I've ever experienced in the entire Destiny setting and people just kinda... Didn't care. I attribute a lot of this to people just not recognising that they're no longer into the story all that much. They no longer want to engage with a mystery, they just want to see the conclusion. They don't have the energy or the interest to pore through the texts anymore or engage with the fandom or, indeed, wait for information to be revealed, especially if this isn't the type of stuff they like.

For example, there's a lot of fans of the type of gothic horror mystery about the Hive and Lightfall simply does not fit that aesthetic. And mind you, Destiny is famous for genre switching all the time so this is something that should be expected. But Lightfall's futuristic high concept scifi story that's about virtual realities, mind uploading, human experimentation with nanotechnology, bizarre alien entities that play with the concepts of consciousness and the nature of reality, and so on is something that a lot of people have no interest in. And as much as I want to say "skill issue," it's a matter of taste. It's completely normal to me that there's people who aren't into this. However, a lot of those people just refused to engage and then proceeded to say that the story is objectively bad, "worst expansion ever" and so on. Absolutely insane to me. Like, genuinely baby behaviour in my mind. The "upset because we're not about me" type. Meanwhile I've seen a plethora of people who have quietly, almost ashamed, admitted that they like this stuff more than Witch Queen. No one should be ashamed or afraid to say that.

And most of all, there was disappointment that a "new mystery" was started "too late" when things were "supposed to be explained." And first of all, things ARE being explained. Again, this is a live service game. It's updating over the course of the year. We've received so many explanations and threads to follow and read about and engage with while we wait. That's the whole point; keep the content coming over time. Second, for people who claim that "Lightfall's campaign wasn't complete," yes it was. The Lightfall campaign was to save Neomuna and stop the Witness from destroying the Veil. We did both of those, except the Witness deceived us (as it is known to do) and it never wanted to destroy the Veil in the first place; it wanted us to get there with a Ghost. And it ends with us falling for that deception (out of necessity of course: our hands were kinda forced. Brilliant deception in that regard) and losing to the Witness as it hijacks our Ghost and opens the portal (but we do end up saving Neomuna and have the Veil at our disposal now to start researching it). This is known as a plot twist: a big "oh shit" moment in the climax of the story where we realise we've been duped and we've done exactly what the villain wanted all along.

Which leads me to the third point, perfectly summarised by your ask and by a single word: it's a cliffhanger. Lightfall is the penultimate expansion in a ten years long story. It's a cliffhanger before the end. It's supposed to keep us wondering what the fuck happened and how are we going to solve this until TFS drops. It's supposed to question our place in the universe, our understanding of it, the nature of everything we've learned so far, the extent to which we were right and wrong about the Light and Darkness, as we prepare for the finale of the saga. I genuinely don't know which answers people were expecting to be delivered in a 3 hour campaign that would immediately tell you everything you need to know and then you'd put the game down for a year OR you would keep playing and seasonal stories would just be meaningless side stories that don't progress the plot (yet ANOTHER complaint about seasons that's been going on for a very long time and an unsolvable problem: people want seasons to be meaningful stories that progress the plot but also not meaningful enough so that they can be freely skipped without missing important story bits. These are contradictory statements. Both cannot be true).

And of course, it's completely normal if this just didn't work for people. It's an important distinction to make here; "I understand what it tried to do, but it didn't work well for me" is a completely different statement from "this was a bad story and the worst expansion ever." I've never seen this distinction being made as pretty much everyone only ever spoke about it in the latter terms. How the state of the story is awful and "dangerous," how the writers "dropped the ball," how things are horrifically bad and nonsensical and so on. In worst cases, it was straight up "Bungie should fire these writers." There's also a lot of people who claim wholeheartedly that they've understood the story, but then can't tell you what the theme was or they start going on about how Nimbus was a bad character who "wasn't even sad for Rohan," which immediately tells me they haven't finished the story. So I'm afraid I don't believe those specific types when they say that they understood it, but didn't like it.

Most of all, this was a REALLY long-winded way to say that this ask basically says it as concisely as possible: Lightfall is a cliffhanger before the end. It's SO important to consume more than one media and learn some media literacy. This isn't even remotely a long wait as far as cliffhangers go in general. We need people to stop expecting the media to get churned out mindlessly in quick succession for instant gratification. Hell, some would absolutely classify Destiny as being churned out quickly. And meanwhile we have players here losing their minds and crying and throwing things because they have to wait 3 months for a new season. Absolutely bizarre to me. Try waiting for a book series to continue for longer than ten years.

#destiny 2 #lightfall #ask #long post #if you click read more

[the-corner-window]

Endwalker: A Retrospective (1/2)

Final Fantasy XIV's most recent expansion "Endwalker" has been a big point of conversation within the community for some time since its release back on December 3rd, 2021. It released to high critical acclaim as the summation of a ten year long saga within one of the most popular MMORPGs available on the market today. I want to look back at the long walk to the end before we blaze a new trail unto the dawn. As someone who's logged several thousand hours over the course of my journey throughout Etheirys I've finished many quests, ran a majority of the content (excluding Ultimates, in due time...), and met a wide range of folks sinking time into one of my favorite games. First off, we dive right into the Main Scenario Questline, hereon referred to as the "MSQ". Most of anything the expansion entails requires you to have conquered the arduous journey the game lays out before you. The production quality of the MSQ is well above where it started, and the increase in quality of the cinematic direction, the voice acting, and the narrative intrigue have all played into making Endwalker truly feel like the culmination of all that came before it. The emotional beats hit hard in some spots, and there's a good mix of light-heartedness in between momentous crescendos that act as a sort of palate cleanser to keep things from becoming strenuous or overbearing for an expansion story the length of a standalone single player RPG. I want to refrain from going into much detail in consideration of those players that have yet to complete the MSQ, but there were a few scenes that actually choked me up, and I'm not typically one to get emotional consuming media. Though that can be said for the base Endwalker MSQ, or the "6.0" content, there was something lackluster about the narrative that followed the climax that felt weaker in comparison. The quality is still there, and in some ways they showcased more of what I hope we get to experience in Dawntrail, however nothing about the more isolated adventure really had me buzzing off the same high as some of the previous post-patch story content such as within Shadowbringers or Heavensward. I do hope that we see some payoff in content down the line, perhaps in the next expansion or even further out, but as of now it felt like getting a lukewarm brownie as a dessert after eating a perfectly seasoned steak. That may seem a bit harsh, but I did still enjoy the brownie. On the topic of the endgame however, I must admit I'm speaking in near isolation since I was a much more casual player before Endwalker released. The encounters ranging from Extreme Trials to Savage Raiding feel really solid, if a bit intense at times. Raiding has been my primary focus in the game for nearly 2 years at this point aside from MSQ completion and it's been fun, but frustrating. Having done some of the more mid-tier content in Stormblood and Shadowbringers such as Eureka, Bozja, and Ishgardian Restoration, the options available to me in the post-patches of Endwalker seemed to amount to either Savage Raiding or using a spreadsheet to upgrade my Island Sanctuary which isn't my favorite kind of content by any means. I had no real drive to push through the new Criterion Dungeons since there was nothing they offered that I felt worth the hassle of pursuing, and Deep Dungeons have never been my favorite content so I've gotten little time in with the new Eureka Orthos. In the end, here just weeks away from Dawntrail's release, my biggest drive to log in is getting my alternative Jobs I've neglected up to the current max level, meeting new people through the more social aspects of the game such as visiting player-run venues, and running PvP activities to finish off my Series.

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #ff14 #ffxiv endwalker #dawntrail #game review #game suggestions

[mariacallous]

The first devices that will have to be sold according to strict EU directives will hit the European market after Apple on Tuesday presented its new iPhone with a USB-C charge point.

A European Union law requires phone manufacturers to adopt a common charging connection by December 2024 to save consumers’ money and cut waste. The iPhone 15 is the first Apple device to have a USB-C charger instead of Apple’s usual Lightning charger, after the EU ordered manufacturers to introduce identical connections.

Apple fiercely opposed the law in 2022, arguing that it would punish innovation, but the 27 EU member states make up the largest single market in the world, so they relented.

Common chargers are not the only requirements in the European Parliament’s push to make life easier for consumers and reduce waste, a Croatian member of the European Parliament, Biljana Borzan, who was one of the strongest advocates for the adoption of that act, told BIRN

“The single charger initiative is ten years old. The European Parliament then gave a mandate to the European Commission to implement it. A charger is an independent act, but in addition to mobile phones, other small devices such as tablets, game consoles, speakers, keyboards, headphones and laptops are also included,” Borzan said.

“My political group [Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament] has been the loudest about chargers. We cannot say that I was the initiator because it was initiated before I arrived in the European Parliament, but I certainly worked intensively on it,” Borzan said.

The common charger is not the only battle against Big Tech that the EU has won. Brussels believes it will win several more in the coming months.

The EU’s new technological target is artificial intelligence, AI, since the chatbot ChatGPT pointed to the rapid development of this technology last year. Brussels hopes to give a green light to a comprehensive AI law by the end of 2023.

“The directive on artificial intelligence is in the last negotiations. There are other directives that are relevant, for example, the Ecodesign Directive, but also my Directive that determines the availability of software to the consumer,” Borzan said.

The October 2022 landmark Digital Services Act, DSA, and the accompanying Digital Markets Act, DMA, are the biggest and latest attempts to rein in big tech companies.

The DSA requires companies to crack down on harmful and illegal content online and to assess the risks their platforms pose to society. Violation of the rules incur a penalty of 6 per cent of the offender’s annual global turnover.

Under the rules, 19  large internet platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, had till August this year to comply with the DSA. All platforms will have to comply by February 2024.

These major platforms have already introduced changes, including the banning of targeted advertising to children.

“Different parts of the DSA apply to different market players. Last week, the Commission published a list of ‘gatekeepers’, large platforms that will bear special responsibility for the content on them. They are not overly enthusiastic about it, and Zalando even sued the EC before the European Court because they were involved,” Borzan told BIRN.

The changes are not limited to the EU. Snapchat said it would also limit personalized advertising to minors in the UK.

The DMA is another thorn in the side of technology firms, especially Apple. The law aims to dilute the dominance of the big players and make the market fairer.

The EU has an eye on six of them, in particular: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft and ByteDance (TikTok). The DMA will force Apple to allow third parties to use its App Store.

General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, came into effect in 2018 and was the strictest and best-known EU law in the field, ensuring that citizens have to give consent to the ways in which their data will be used.

In May, Ireland’s privacy regulator imposed its largest ever single fine of €1.2 billion on Meta for transferring personal data between Europe and the US.