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felassan · 3 years

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DA4 Lead Producer Scylla Costa’s BIG Festival talk, “Challenges of Dragon Age production during the pandemic”, can currently be rewatched on YouTube here starting roughly at timestamp 8:57:02 after a lil presenter blurb/intro. It’s 1 hour long. When it was streamed live, there was an English translation ‘voiceover’. There isn’t in this vid, however I want to post the link for Portuguese speakers, and also it’s neat for everyone to be able to see all the slides he presented with for themselves in context.

I don’t know if an English-language version will get put up so I’m sharing the notes I took during the talk below, in case anyone’s interested and because I might as well since I wrote them. The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.

Edit: Found a place to re-watch the English version of the talk

(Quick note: I didn’t note down everything, mostly things that caught my interest, so this isn’t exhaustive, and when I was watching I was real tired, so pls bear that in mind and don’t take these notes as bullet-proof 100% accurate gospel or direct quotes. If you watched it and think I’ve written down something wrong/misunderstood, let me know and I’ll fix. Also if you’re a Portuguese speaker and I’ve gotten something incorrect or missed something important etc, again just let me know.) **

** Edit: I’ve now gone through my notes while watching the talk again. I’ve filled in some of the gaps (although they still don’t cover everything said) and so forth, and now I’m no longer worried about there being possible errors in this post.

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For some context, this slide contained the breakdown of the talk’s structure. Bear in mind there are other slides present in the talk than the ones I’ve posted here, I didn’t include caps of all of them, just ones which were of note to me.

In the talk, chief Producer Scylla goes over challenges of DA4 production during the pandemic. He discusses the adaptations - necessary skills and learning from remote work - and he ponders on the future of teamwork.

After the launch of ME3 he became a producer, all his MMO and other experience helped a lot. He was on DAI for 3 years and MEA for 9 months, then Anthem. Today, on DA4, Scylla and another Lead Producer were the heads of the whole project, and there is his boss is the Executive Producer Christian Dailey.

^ the usual AAA game development cycle (brief introduction)

AAA games are games that are launched for several platforms simultaneously.

In BioWare’s case, the pre-production phase of the game development cycle can have from 5 - 30 people, and up to almost 60 people when they’re just about to go through the gate to production.

In the pre-production phase, they go through the game’s concepts and prototypes and start developing systems. They seek the game’s concept and focus, and its key features. They do lots of market research. In the case of BioWare, all their games are strong in narrative, so they have lots of tools related to game narratives and supporting the development of a narrative (cinematic design, dialogue system etc) that get focused on in this phase. Other parts of the team such as writers and cinematic design need these systems to do their own roles.

In BioWare’s case, the pre-production phase through to launch can take 4 - 6 years, but it does depend on the size of the team during development.

With regards to Dragon Age 4, they were coming close to the time when they would shift from pre-production to the production stage when the pandemic hit.

During the production phase is when the development of content and features takes place, with the systems mostly already existing from the pre-production phase. A few new systems may be developed in this phase. In the production phase is when things start escalating, and the team really starts growing, to like 2- or 3-fold the prior pre-production phase size.

(DA4 is currently in the production phase.)

In the alpha phase, features have to be fully implemented and systems all have to be running / working. All the game features should already be in the game by now. They test from pre-production onwards, but this phase is when they run heavy technical tests with lots of players trying to play at the same time. In the beta phase, the idea is that you should now have full content and that now you’re balancing it and running more and lots of different tests with players before launch. There are final tweaks and then the final launch, when in the weeks prior to launch, all the different business units and areas e.g. marketing team, technology team, publishing team, get together once a day and all of the game’s issues are reported and brought to the table to be prioritized. Then they decide the next steps re: these issues (this is known as ‘the war room’).

After the launch there are usually patches like day zero patches and other patches, this being standard industry practise. The last stage is the new content stage where there are DLCs and a game with more content.

On March 12th 2020, the team gathered to review the DA4 story in the new office. Everyone was very excited. (They had spent over 10 years in their last building and had noticed that with the team growing they needed more space. In August 2019 they found the new studio in the city center.)

Anyway that evening, they got an email from the CEO which contained instructions and said that due to the pandemic, they should from now all start working remotely. They had known that this happening was a possibility so they had been planning on how to have all the devs working from home, but initially less than 50% of the devs were able to work from home successfully/efficiently due to various issues e.g. you need a VPN to be able to log in remotely to do your job normally, varying home office setups. The day after this, the office was basically deserted, except for Scylla, the IT infrastructure people and one or two odd devs.

Scylla was part of the team that was working on allowing the devs to work from home. They first started looking at the short-term changes they needed to make to allow this.

“First, take care of our developers”.

When the pandemic first hit, their and Scylla’s [as Lead Producer] first priority was to look after the devs. Many of them are parents (schools and day-cares were shut, children were studying from home), others have relatives living with them, others have other personal circumstances which of course need to be taken into account when it comes to assessing what needs to be taken into consideration for this new scenario. So, they looked at each dev on a case-by-case basis in order to evaluate, speaking to each one and asking them what they could do to support them.

One of the first changes/adaptations they could implement was flexible working hours and flexibility around deadlines. Generally speaking the devs got a lot of support, EA was really good and really supported the devs especially in the first months of the pandemic (and they are still supporting them). Initially not all devs had suitable office spaces at home, some were working from the living room from laptops or at the kitchen table. The whole covid situation basically just happened over night and nobody was really ready to deal with that change. So their first step was to enable their devs to work remotely. As a producer, Scylla’s main task is to communicate with the team such as via a number of daily meetings. He doesn’t depend so much on powerful hardware.

“Enable developers to work remotely”.

This slide shows some of a BioWare audio team. Different teams have varying and specific needs in order to do their jobs and therefore in order to do them remotely. For example, the audio team need good-quality speakers and amplifiers, while the lighting and art teams need other specific equipment such as tablets and large screens. So there was a lot of work they had to do to go through each dev to understand their individual needs and what needed to be done for them. ‘Could they download the builds? Did they have the right performance [tech-wise]? Could they submit their changelists, their codes to the server?’

Some devs needed a more powerful internet connection as it would take 6-8 hours to download a build (some devs live rurally). Some needed a lot of cable, as they were working far away from their routers (sometimes up to 50m). As time went by things got better and better.

The chair devs work from is also important; a kitchen able chair etc is not suitable to sit in for long-term desk work, possibly leading to health issues like back ache and blood circulation problems in the legs.

Every 3 months they had money given to help devs buy new mice, keyboards, monitors - anything they needed really in order for their office setting at home to be improved. For a while, because lots of people [generally, in society] were needing and buying them, it was quite hard to buy things like webcams and microphones.

On mid- and long-term changes:

In terms of DA, we have to look at this from 2 perspectives, the change in the personal and the professional environments.

As a consequence of working from home, people tend to be less active during the day (even in an office, you go between meeting rooms, up and down stairs etc). Physical activity supports life quality and therefore work quality. Scylla noticed that he began to feel listless and such, and found that he needed to change his routine that he had initially developed when he started working from home, for example; having a normal start time (as in, have a semblance of structure in your day as if you were still working in the office site), get dressed at the normal time, not having meetings over lunch etc. This wasn’t just him, lots of other devs encountered this and had this experience too. Devs which adapted faster had better productivity and became more productive faster.

Scylla bought a stand-up desk which he can raise up and down, and at meetings he would be delivering a talk while standing or even while walking on a treadmill. Other devs also got stand-up desks. He tracked his body’s data on a Fitbit. These sorts of things helped improve physical and mental wellbeing. Other devs did similar things, like starting going out for jogs or began practising yoga. Essentially, everyone needed to make changes to their daily routine in comparison to what they had been doing prior to the pandemic.

The pandemic has been a thing for over a year now. In their location, every couple of weeks a new restriction is put into place or a rule is changed, and every two weeks there’s a new thing that you can and can’t do. Scylla also started moving around his property. He worked on his desk, fixed it up and painted - taking up a new hobby. Other devs picked up new hobbies too. These are good ways to be active and also to be somewhere else, i.e. to break up the working day and not be spending it all in one home office-type location. Scylla found that when he made these sorts of changes to his routine to improve his lifestyle, the data output by his Fitbit as indicators of his health/wellbeing etc improved, e.g. number of steps taken in a day, heartbeats per minute while at rest. As stated many of the other devs went through a similar process.

On the professional side of things:

They had to improve remote delivery of builds. Accessing things from home as a dev requires a VPN. They need to download a build every day and then upload it to the server after making their changes to the game. They had to work with infrastructure and research other tech, such as streaming tech to allow remote console access, in order to better facilitate this process. For remote access, they also had to work on adapting communications channels.

“Adapting channels of communication.”

In this slide, the team are working on the storyboards. Before you can implement motion capture & performance capture, you have to ‘run the storyboards’ like this. These are small illustrating drawings which reflect the drafts and are meant to quickly reflect the intention of the scenes that are to be built. Before the pandemic, the team would go to meeting rooms like this, sit down, talk and interact in person. After the pandemic, the question became ‘How do you do this over Zoom?’ You can, but it’s not quite the same; it’s harder to see peoples’ expressions, some people are embarrassed speaking over Zoom etc. Therefore they had to adapt their communications systems, and unlearn the ways in which they developed before in order to relearn and learn new ways of communicating.

Slack was a tool that they adopted on this front. Communications channels can be confusing on Slack, so there was a need to develop structure. For example, how quickly should someone reply (as a recommended convention for the purposes of work)? They had to define the process/procedures for the channels so it was clear for the team as a whole how it would all flow (this is important especially if you have a team with say 30 people or as a whole hundreds of people). Before the pandemic, they had stand-up meetings where they’d go around in a circle every morning and talk about their activities - what they’re going to be working on, any roadblocks they had encountered etc. The question arose ‘How do you replace these?’ They ended up doing Slack messages at a certain time of day and updating their statuses with some details on what they’re working on and color-coding (green - fine, yellow - need help, red - busy/blocked out).

Another issue that they faced was unforeseen - the number of meetings that devs were having really shot through the roof. When there wasn’t a good structure of communications channels, any conversation would become a meeting. Everybody began scheduling meetings left and right, and at the end of the day they would have little time left in which to actually work on their to-do lists. Hence, they had to work with the team to really analyze and be very pragmatic. ‘Which meetings needed to happen? Which didn’t? Is a specific meeting really necessary? Which meetings should be recurring? What can be done over Slack?’ This guideline had to be given to the team to help, and it improved things a lot. The number of meetings decreased a lot and they got more effective. For example, by making sure to set an agenda for meetings beforehand, and by having meeting notes (then a dev who didn’t really need to be at a meeting could skip attending and just quickly review the notes output after instead). They also decreased the standard length of meeting times from the default Outlook blocks of 1 hour and 30 mins to 55 mins and 25 mins respectively. This 5 minute change gave devs time for things like bio breaks (also 4 hours in a row at a computer in a home office with one meeting after another just isn’t good for a person).

“Adapting p-cap and mocap”.

On content:

From a content point of view, the most difficult thing in terms of the pandemic was adapting p-cap and mocap (performance capture and motion capture). They hire actors and it’s a large studio. The pandemic meant big limits to what they could and couldn’t do. The actors had to be masked and 5 meters apart in distance (although it doesn’t look like it in some of these shots due to angles). Also there could be no other person around in the studio - only the actors. The directors instead would ‘patch’ in remotely on big screens (you can see this in the second photo in the top right).

Before the pandemic, they felt that they wouldn’t be able to do p-cap or mocap properly remotely, as the directors would usually stand right next to actors giving guidance on their performance. The techs would also usually be near. But they adapted! The keyword is adapting, changing process. It’s harder and it’s different, but it is possible, and people start rethinking what is possible. What was said to be impossible before now is possible.

P-cap differs to mocap in that it also captures voice and facial expressions.

On the future of work after covid:

There will probably be more working from home and more flexibility for workers e.g. being able to work say 3 out of 5 days from home. It does depend on what a dev’s specific job is however. For example, the audio engineers require lots of specialist equipment and said equipment is of higher quality and quantity in the office. So, depending on role, devs might be working more often or less often from home.

Another development is that lots of devs are moving house. In lockdown etc people started reassessing what’s most important in life. Some are moving further away from the studio to get a cheaper rent or for example couples who both needed an office space to work from home from but their current place only had one area. Others are moving closer to nature for a better quality of life, and still others have other different reasons for doing so. Over 10 devs that he knows in fact have recently moved, including Scylla himself.

The pandemic changed certain skills being used by people on a daily basis. Scylla used as an example of this one of his soft skills, being able to tell from looking/interacting in-person with someone if they are stressed out. Obviously it’s less easy to tell if someone is stressed out when you’re remote, so you adapt different ways of checking in with people in the new situation. To continue carrying out his role as Lead Producer, he began checking in with his team pro-actively on the new comms channels and asking how they were doing.

Also, now that companies are more open to working remotely, there is going to be increased competition for hiring devs. They saw both sides of this coin at BioWare. They were able to hire devs from many places that they couldn’t hire from before e.g. Montreal, Vancouver, the US, as there’s less need for devs to relocate to Edmonton or Austin. This opens up opportunities to hire really intelligent and skilled people that they would not have had access to before.

Question and answer segment:

The pre-production phase has been concluded. They’re in the production phase.

They are not giving out a lot of details yet but Scylla is really excited as a big fan of the whole series. He thinks that with DA4, they will have the opportunity/possibility to launch the best story out of all DA games. He feels that the characters they’re making are amazing. He’s dying to say more but can’t.

When you work from home you need to keep your team as productive as possible. During the pandemic, when people started working from home, they noticed that some people became more productive and some people became less productive. They were analyzing it on a case-by-case basis so as not to make assumptions. They were interested in seeing what they could do to help. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were looking at the devs as people and seeing what they needed.

Production of DA4 still needed to continue during the pandemic because they want to be able to launch the game.

This slide shows a writer. Writing is an example of a role which is more able to work from home easily.

Their productivity did go down in the first month of the pandemic. After adaptations, some people then became more productive than they were before (this was role and personal situation-dependent, examples of this being artists and coders who were able to art and code at home without being interrupted, thereby being able to produce more). Covid has affected productivity in general, but this is part of our new reality. They have adapted and adjusted some deadlines. They have enough data (Scylla LOVES data) now to understand how long it will take them/how long they’ll need to launch the game. They have always had historical data for this purpose, but they’re doing more of this sort of thing now to ensure that they are doing things at the right time.

Remote hiring opens up the door to more talent joining, so if someone has talent geography will hold them back less. Some companies though may choose not to hire people from other countries due to labor issues, cumbersome legal aspects, time zones. But even in such cases there are activities for example that can be carried out while the rest of the team is asleep such as testing or working on the build, or there are cases where those companies still will want to hire a specifically/highly talented person even in spite of the potential legal aspects and so on.

On mental health: People were affected. There is the mental, physical and social impacts of the pandemic situation on people. EA supported them during the pandemic in terms of their mental wellbeing, there are specific companies (services offered, speaking to a therapist) that they can contact if they need something or help. EA had always been good at supporting them with this sort of thing but this has improved further during the pandemic. Another change was that they could/can take a couple of days off if they needed/need to because of the pandemic e.g. to take care of children, who were obviously not at school at the time. As a producer he had to be very mindful of all of this. How much they were monitoring peoples’ wellbeing really went up during the pandemic.

A question that was asked - in terms of DA4′s storybeats, is there anything in there that they decided to change due to the pandemic as it wouldn’t be sensitive or appropriate to include anymore, for example a plague plotline or something? Scylla’s answer is that DA and ME are games in which they try to have narratives that are relatable, which include things which people will identify with, so that players understand what characters are going through etc. Nothing in DA4′s plotline/storybeats has been changed (in the frame of this question, relating to the pandemic), as it didn’t have anything in it that could be specifically or a directly connected to a pandemic-type situation or anything. Of course the DA story has Blights and the Taint, but these are different & fantastical things and existed long before the pandemic situation. So this wasn’t the case with DA4 and there was no need to change anything, but this has happened to other games where they decided to change a storyline due to a strong correlation with something in the real world.

There were then concluding/closing remarks. The message he wants to send is that a crisis will always spark opportunities. Look at a crisis and try to see how you can grow.

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[☕ found this post interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

#dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #covid mention #long post #longpost #wanted to write these up properly and post them yesterday but wasn't able to #mass effect #anthem

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jokertrap-ran · 3 years

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(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Main Story Chapter 1-3: 命运的拐点 Destiny’s Turning Point Translation [3rd Beta Test]

*Light and Night Master-list is under WIP *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Game is slated for release this summer! (Estimated to be 8/8/21) *Beta Test’s main story tag will be #Dreams of Light and Night

Police: Name?

Cindy: My name's Cindy. My earrings are gone! I've spent an entire week on them. Please, you must help me find them!

The girl who was desperate to the brink of tears was none other than Cindy, the oldest contestant amongst us all.

Half an hour ago, Cindy had suggested reporting this to the police seeing as how many of the designers had their accessories go missing. Now, she was the first one to undergo questioning by the police.

Police: Earrings, you say? Alright, I've noted it down. Has anyone else lost anything?

Designer A: Me. I lost an Emerald hairpin.

Designer B: My pearl necklace is gone too.

MC: I'm (Y/n), my brooch has also gone missing.

Police: I've gotten the gist of the situation here. All of your items were found lost after less than half an hour after having been left here.

Police: My colleague went to check the surveillance tapes. There was no one suspicious who entered and left the room during that time frame.

Cindy: How can that be...

Police: But there are blind spots where the surveillance cameras cannot reach. Plus, things don't simply disappear for no reason at all.

Police: So, I'm asking everyone to think carefully about it again. Did any of you see anyone who was acting suspicious?

MC: A suspicious looking person…

The image of the figure dressed in black and wearing a mask flashed into my mind along with his skull pendant and flickering silver chains.

MC: I saw someone that I didn't recognize walk out of the room, but I thought that he was a model…

MC: But now that I think about it, no model would come here.

Police: What did this person look like?

MC: He’s very tall and looks to be around 185cm. He wasn’t wearing a staff uniform.

Police: Can you give me a detailed description of his appearance and how he was dressed?

I nodded, trying my hardest to remember what I’d seen in that split-second.

MC: I couldn’t make out his features since he wore a black mask, but I remember his clothes…!

MC: He wore a black leather jacket paired with light grey jeans and a pair of studded boots.

MC: He had a long silver necklace with a skull pendant hanging from it along with a few silver chains hanging from his waist.

MC: His countenance is hard to describe. He appears to give off a very mysterious vibe, but honestly, the design of the pants he wore needs to be optimized...

I continued prattling on, unaware of how the policeman who’d been recording my descriptions down stopped short.

Police: Optimized?

Suddenly realizing what I'd just said, my face flushed in embarrassment.

MC: Sorry, but that's pretty much all I saw…

Police: Alright. We'll look further into the matter with this information.

Police: However, considering the large number of people here, the vastness of the venue and the small number of missing items, it’ll be quite difficult to find them.

Police: You'd best be prepared.

Everyone lapsed into collective silence after the police left. The solemness of the atmosphere in here was tangible, like a heavy cloud that hung over all of our heads.

Cindy had already succumbed to despair. She silently squatted down; head buried into the crook of her arm.

★Night Choice: Settle your own problems (Didn't select)

☆Light Choice: Comfort Her

I walked up to her, gently patting her back.

MC: Don't worry, I'm sure the police will be able to help us all find our missing accessories.

Cindy: You guys are all young and talented… you'll have other ways to spring back if you fail here, so of course you wouldn't be too worried about it… but such a thing doesn't exist for me…

Her soft voice was distorted by her sniffling, so much that I could barely distinguish what she was trying to say between sobs.

I'd overheard the others talking about her before. Cindy was originally a white-collar worker who'd eventually resigned and got a loan to study design overseas. It was a do-or-die situation for her, in a way.

I didn't know what I should say to comfort her, for everything I say right now would only pale in comparison to what she was going through. All I could do was to gently pat her back.

Cindy: Why did this have to happen now…? It took me such painstaking efforts to get this far…

All the doom and gloom that she exuded was contagious, and I soon felt my heart drop along with her worsening mood.

???: What are you crying about?

No one actually expected Wu Yue, of all people, to be saying something this harsh. She strode out of the crowd under everyone's surprised gazes, walking in front of Cindy and pulling her back upright. Her expression was a tad savage.

Wu Yue: If you don't want to let all your previous effort go to waste, then you'd jolly well shut your trap and redo it. Do you really think it was all so easy for everyone to get this far!

Wu Yue: Those who whinge and always feel sorry for themselves but do nothing to fix it will never succeed.

This was the first time I've ever heard her speak off-stage.

I couldn't help but to be surprised at the look of dead seriousness on her face.

MC: There's still another 3 days before the competition, so let's hurry and start re-doing what we've lost.

Gao Cheng: I... I can help everyone fetch the materials they need. You can also ask me for help if any of you need an extra hand...

Designer A: I've already long since wanted to change my hairpin design! I'm sure the new one this time will turn out a hundred times better! You guys better watch out!

More contestants started inputting, and the gloomy atmosphere soon dissipated. Cindy had also stopped crying, vigorously rubbing at her eyes.

Cindy: You guys are right. I cannot give up here…

Despite all of us not knowing what results awaited us 3 days later, and despite all of us being fellow competitors, we were all teammates now, working hard with the same goal in mind.

After getting our moods in check, everyone returned to their own working space, making the best out of the remaining time left to continue with their respective creations.

❖☆———————————★❖

The hands on the clock had already moved past the 8 PM mark by the time if gotten up for a good stretch.

MC: The gown's pretty much good to go, and I've also finished drawing out the new brooch design. Everything's turning out pretty well~

Gao Cheng: Your design's inspired by the starry skies, right? It's really pretty…

Gao Cheng's faze lingered on the draft of my design for a while before he seemingly snapped out of it. He raised his head, frantically waving his hands in front of him with a flustered look on his face.

Gao Cheng: S-Sorry, it wasn't my intention to peek at your design. I just happened to get attracted to it when I walked past…

MC: Don't worry about it, you came at a great time. Could you tell me what you think about it?

Gao Cheng: Is the brooch meant to represent the brightest star in the sky?

MC: Yup, it represents the north star.

Gao Cheng: But Polaris isn't actually all that bright. It shines at 2nd magnitude, so you can use a darker gemstone to represent it.

It was as if he were an entirely different person when it came to the topic of stars. He gushed enthusiastically about it with unrivalled passion and seriousness.

Gao Cheng: Ah, I just like astronomy, so I know about it a little more than others. Please don't get mad at me...

MC: Why would I be mad? I'm actually extremely thankful for your input!

I'd previously searched up pictures of the starry sky up on the internet to use as reference pictures, but what Gao Cheng said reminded me once again that even though the pictures captured by a camera's lens turn out beautiful, it still isn't as real as the real thing.

Nothing beats seeing it with your own eyes and ascertaining it for yourself after all.

MC: Maybe I should go up to the rooftop and check the stars out.

❖☆———————————★❖

The cold air of the night greets me as I push open the doors to the rooftop. The vast night sky was spread out before my eyes, the many little red dots beneath it denoting lights of the thousands of households below.

I held onto the railing with both hands raising my head to inhale deeply.

It was then that my phone rang to life as messages from An'an came pouring in one line after another.

An'an (SMS): I've gotten my hands on the guest list!

An'an (SMS): You won't believe how elaborate this guest line-up is! Osborn's actually coming, you know!? His club's going to be collaborating with the Warson Group!

MC: ...Osborn?

An'an (SMS): Please tell me you still remember him. I've shown you a picture of him before! He's my favourite R1 racer who has won 4 consecutive championships!

I hadn't yet had the chance to truly think back on it when I suddenly heard a faint noise. It was the familiar sound of metallic chains clinking against each other.

There had been no one here when I came up to the rooftop.

My heart leapt to my throat as I unwittingly headed towards the direction of the sound.

There was someone hidden within the shadows, standing silently in one of the corners where the moonlight never reached.

Seemingly having noticed my gaze, the person moved forwards, stepping out of the shadows.

❖☆———————————★❖

I finally managed to vaguely make out his appearance. He was tall and intimidating even from a distance away. He wore a black jacket across his shoulders, the moonlight glinting off the skull necklace that rested upon his chest.

MC: That's the guy I saw back in the corridor!

I hadn't yet recovered from the initial surprise of seeing him here when I suddenly noticed that he was holding a red earring between his fingers.

Cindy's Earrings! So, he really WAS the thief!

The clouds blocked off the moonlight, darkening the skies as my heart raced, pounding loudly in my ears. Did I interrupt him in the middle of something? Am I going to be "silenced"?

All hesitation flew out the window the moment my thoughts stopped there. I immediately turned and made a dash for the exit.

However, just as I was about to pull the door open and make my escape, a well-defined hand pressed against the door, blocking off my escape.

??: And just where are you running off to now?

❖☆————— ⊹ Dreams of Light & Night⊹ —————★❖

Previous Part: (Chapter 1-1) | Next Part: (Chapter 1-5)

#光与夜之恋 #Light and Night #Otome #Translations #Tencent #萧逸 #Osborn #齐司礼 #Sariel #陆沉 #Evan #查理苏 #Charlie #夏鸣星 #Jesse #Dreams of Light and Night

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naruto--imagines · 5 years

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Sasuke x Reader [Baby Project]

[A/N] I do not own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I own the GIF that is featured. I do hold ownership over the story itself, please do not re-post it anywhere. Thanks! <3

Just like a majority of the students in your school you had a crush on Sasuke Uchiha. Yours had started when you were in grade school. One day while at recess a group of boys started to pick on you. They shoved you to the ground and called you all sorts of mean names. They were ruthless and even when tears started to pour down your face they didn’t stop. Not until someone else intervened. Sasuke showed up and with some harsh words sent the other kids off in the other direction.

“Are you okay?” He asked holding his hand out to you.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” You responded as he helped pull you to your feet.

“Good. See you around.” He said before running off to his friends.

That’s where it all started. That one moment of kindness.

Your crush followed you all the way through grade school and middle school. Up until present day, your third year of highschool. Despite the many years you spent in Konoha, you had yet to talk to Sasuke since that fateful day. Other girls had no issue with professing their love for the Uchiha, but you weren’t as confident as they were. The boys from grade school left deep scars, and the hidden wounds only deepened later on. The bullies stopped by your seventh year, but the damage was done. And it had caused lasting effects into your teenage years.

Currently, midterms were coming up in three weeks. You were sitting in health class, the topic until midterms passed was Sex Ed. Kurenai sensei had done a great job to explore all avenues of the subject. Abstinence, birth control, STD, etcetera. Last week she showed you the birthing video and promptly scared all of the kids in your class.

“Alright class, today we are going to begin your midterm project.” As she said this a technician with a ‘RealityWorks’ shirt walked in wheeling in a dozen RealCare Babies. “Each pair of you will receive a baby and it will be your job to take care of it for the week. Today you will be partnered up by me, assigned your infant and supplies, name your babies and get your bracelets. These bracelets collect information from your baby 24 hours a day. It will react like a real baby, cry when it is hungry, when it soils itself, and when it needs soothing. It will also record if you shake, drop, or don’t support the baby’s head in anyway. You will have to pass your bracelet over the censor in the chest to learn what is wrong, this will be further explained in the instruction booklet I’m handing out.” She said as she began handing out the booklets.

After she passed them out she then grabbed a bucket from her desk and shook up the contents with in. “Since we don’t have an even number of boys and girls, I will draw names from the bucket and that will be your partner.” Kurenai explained.

She began drawing names, and with each pair she drew you grew more on edge with who you’d be partnered with. Finally she called out your name. Then immediatly after she called out Sasuke’s name. You sat stiff in your seat, not moving until Kurenai told you to get with your partners.

In all honesty, you were nervous to be partnered with Sasuke. Sure your crush originated from his kind actions when you were younger. But over the years he became more reserved, and slightly cold. Even you had to admit you noticed the change.

Eventually the two of you pushed your desks together and read through your instruction manuals. Once you read through the booklet completely each pair was called up to obtain their artificial baby. After picking up you baby and supplies everyone received the bracelet to operate the animatronic. Then you were told choose a name for your babies (Kurenai told each of you to refer to them as babies to make the experience more real).

“So, any idea?” You question tentatively.

“Hn, not really.” He replied with a bored look on his face.

“What if we used a random name generator?”

“Fine with me.” Sasuke replied. With that you took to the internet, and that is how you got the name Yuki.

“Okay, now that everything is settled, I will activate your babies and your project will begin.” Kurenai said before simultaneously through the room babies started to cry. You quickly took action soothing your baby faster than your fellow classmates. Once your baby had been calmed you decided that you and Sasuke needed to figure out a schedule.

“Well, how about for the rest of the day we switch off at every class, and we could meet up after school at the coffee shop down the street and discuss some more then.” You suggested.

“Sure” He replied. “I’ll take him for the next class.” Sasuke said as the bell rang dismissing your class. Sasuke reached down and grabbed the baby carrier holding Yuki and the mock diaper bag with the supplies before he left for his next class. The day went on and soon enough the two of you were walking to the coffee shop with Sasuke carrying Yuki between the two of you. As the two of you sat there you had your fair share of “looks” from other patrons, until they realized that it was a fake baby. (The scanning of the bracelets and lack of movement eventually gave it away)

“How about during school, I’ll watch him for the first half of the day, and we can switch after the lunch break.” You proposed.

“And for after school?” Sasuke questioned taking a sip from his drink.

“Since you have prep-school, I can take him for that time. And then we can alter nights.” You replied.

“Sounds good to me,” Sasuke said “I have to get going.” He replied standing up.

“Sure, I’ll take him tonight, and I will see you tomorrow.” You said with a shy smile.

“Yeah, see you later.” Sasuke replied leaving.

“Okay, Yuki, let’s get you home.” You said leaving the coffee shop.

The night went smoothly, you easily slipped into the role of caretaker while getting your homework and chores done. Nightfall provided a bit more of a challenge. You were able to put the baby down easily and ended up falling asleep soon after. Then it began, every hour and a half Yuki started screaming. The first time he needed a bottle, then a diaper change, finally it was 3 in the morning and Yuki simply wanted to be held. For an hour. You put him back in his carrier and fell asleep. And shortly after you had to wake up to go to school.

You showed up with yuki in his carrier and easily breezed through the first half of the day. At lunch you meet up with Sasuke to eat lunch. Then afterwards you handed over the baby items and Yuki to Sasuke as he went to his next class. Before long it was the end of the day and you were meeting up with Sasuke again.

He quickly handed you the baby carrier with an irritated expression on his face.

“Everything okay?” You ask receiving the carrier from the teen.

“No, he wouldn’t stop screaming through my last class.” He explained adjusting his bag. “I’ve gotta go, I’ll text you after class to pick him up.” Sasuke said walking away.

“Okay see you later.” You said walking off with Yuki to find a bench to sit on and wait for Sasuke.

During the time you sat there Yuki had only fussed to be held, which was easy enough to do while reading for class. You were lucky to have practice with infants. Your sister was several years older than you. Three years ago her and her husband gave you a niece. Since the two of them worked they frequently requested your assistance with baby sitting little Ami. Including over nights, which gave you plenty of experience for your current project.

Soon enough Sasuke was finished with his prep-school classes and you were meeting up with him. You handed over Yuki and the diaper bag before saying goodbye and going your separate ways.

The next morning you meet up with Sasuke before class and immediately noticed the bags under his eyes.

“Rough night?” You questioned.

“Yuki woke up every forty-five minutes.” Sasuke said with contempt, practically throwing the baby carrier at you.

“Yeah, he did the same to me the other night.” You replied gently rocking the carrier in your hand.

“How were you able to function yesterday?” He asked in genuine curiosity.

“Well, I helped my sister with raising my niece while her husband was away on business trips. Sometimes I watched Ami for the whole night so it was good practice for this project i suppose. But mostly we took turns during the night waking up to see to Ami’s needs.” You explained to the boy in front of you. You looked up to Sasuke and caught him staring at you rocking the carrier. “UH, but that was probably too much information. My bad” You said glancing away from him with a blush on your face.

“That’s a good idea.” Sasuke stated

“Huuh?”

“After prep class tonight I’ll take you to my place. We have a guest bedroom you could use, that way we can watch Yuki together.” He explained.

“Oh. Uh, sure! I think that’s a good idea. Let me message my mom and make sure it’s okay with her. I’ll let you know at lunch.” You told him.

“Yeah, see you later.” Sasuke said handing you the diaper bag and walking to class. You quickly shot your mom a text asking to stay with the Uchiha’s for the next two nights for the project before walking to your first class of the day.

By lunchtime your mom had said that she didn’t have a problem with it, only requesting to talk with Mrs.Uchiha before you went over. You relayed the message to Sasuke when you saw him. He gave you his mother’s cell phone number so you could get it you your mom. After that, the two of you went on with your normal routine until school was over.

With Yuki in hand you walked to your house to pack a bag for the next few days. Bag and baby in hand you said ‘bye’ to your mom and walked back to the school to meet up with Sasuke again. The two of you made your way to his house where you meet the rest of his family before Mikoto shows you to the guest room you’ll be staying in.

Once you were settled in it was time for dinner. You hand a nice time conversing with the Uchiha family (not to mention the excellent food) before you and Sasuke went up to his room with Yuki to do your homework.

Sasuke’s room was pretty average. The walls were a light grey with a few posters scattered around. His bed had a blue blanket on top of it and his desk was on the adjacent wall with his closet straight across on the opposite wall. Finally a kotatsu sat in the middle of the room without the futon. That’s where the two of you sat doing your homework with Yuki sitting in between you.

Soon enough you two had finished your homework and were getting ready for bed. You volunteered to keep Yuki in your room for the night since your room was across the hall from Sasuke’s you left your doors open so both of you had easy access. Each of you decided on taking turns when Yuki woke up, you taking the first wake up.

Everything through the night went fine. Yuki woke up almost every hour, but you came to expect that. Sasuke and you took your turns until the morning. The two of you woke up and got ready for school. After breakfast the two of you walked to school together and continued on with your normal routines. Then after school the day repeated with the two of you walking to Sasuke’s place, eating dinner, doing your homework, and going to sleep. Both of you ready for the project to be over tomorrow.

Friday morning around 6am Yuki woke up again. You got out of your bed and sat on the floor next to the carrier. To your surprise Sasuke came in and sat next to you.

“You didn’t have to get up. I’ve got it.” you told Sasuke.

“Yeah. I was up already.” He replied. The two of you sat in silence for a little while. “You’ve really saved me with this project.” Sasuke said, his voice drawing your attention up from Yuki so your eyes catch yours. “I’m glad I got paired with someone who knows what they’re doing.” He said, you accepted the sort of backhanded compliment. Especially since Sasuke doesn’t hand out compliments very frequently.

“You’re welcome. Glad I could be useful.” You responded falling back into silence.

The two of you stayed sitting like that for quite some time. Even after Yuki fell asleep and you placed him back into his carrier. In fact, you two sat on the floor until the sun started to peak through the window and it was time to start getting ready for school. You both moved to get up from the floor to start your morning routine when Sasuke spoke up again.

“If you’re free tomorrow,” He started hesitantly, an unusual characteristic for the Uchiha, “would you wanna get something to eat?” Sasuke finished, slightly turning fromm you attempting to hide the blush on his face.

“Ah, sure. I’d like that.” You responded with a smile on your face. After that the two of you got ready for class.

Today was the final day of the project. In class you returned the babies, everyone excited to be done with the animatronics. You were also excited, not necessarily to be done with the project (you thought you had done really well on it), but because you had the chance to get to know Sasuke better. An because of your date tomorrow.

#Sasuke #sasuke x reader #naruto imagine #m/m #m/f #gender neutral #reader insert #imagine

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skriaki · 4 years

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TOP 10 NINTENDO SWITCH GAMES 2019 - my arbitrary list!

Sometimes it's good to be proven wrong. I was pretty sceptical when the Switch was first announced, as it didn't seem too different from the Wii U's gamepad. Then I spent two years watching Nintendo enjoy a complete reversal of fortune, to the point of potentially amassing a more compelling library than Sony's or Microsoft's consoles. So that's how I quite suddenly found myself buying a Switch in October 2019, after having resisted the PS4 and Xbone for five whole years, and my free time has since been dominated by this little machine that defied the odds.

Some of Nintendo's business decisions can still seem inexplicable, but releasing a powerful handheld console that can also be docked with a TV at a moment's notice has proved to be an inspired idea, rather than the gimmick the Wii U's gamepad mostly turned out to be. And along with Nintendo's dependable series of top-notch exclusives, the Switch has enjoyed much better third-party support, which is how I ended up buying Dark Souls for the fourth bloody time just because the option to play it portably was too tempting to resist.

The Switch is the first console I've bought since the PS3 and for all Nintendo's quirks, there's a reason the Switch has dominated Christmas wishlists for three years running. Games like Super Mario Odyssey feel like full-size adventures that just happen to have a portable option, as opposed to handheld games you can also play on the big screen. This is the first year in a long while that I've actually played enough topical titles to justify a "games of the year" list, even if my recent Nintendo bias is pretty blatant.

So with that caveat in mind, and in no particular order, here's my entirely subjective list of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2019.

Luigi's Mansion 3

This is a franchise I'd always been curious about and can finally have an opinion on. The process of going from floor to floor of the hotel hoovering up ghosts and solving puzzles is pretty straightforward, but Luigi's Mansion 3 has so much polish and personality crammed into the cartridge. Luigi is immediately lovable as a determined coward, and each level has a wildly different theme that's realised with extravagant audio and visual flair, so progress always feels rewarding. Though this isn't true horror by any means, there can be an unsettling atmosphere and some of the bosses are pretty freaky. I officially love this oddball franchise and am desperate for a chance to play the story again in co-op. Unquestionably a first-class exclusive.

Doom (Switch port)

Not to be confused with the impressive Switch version of Doom 2016, this is the iconic Doom made cheap and accessible. While purists may take issue with some minor technical deviations, this is the first time I've got most of the way through Doom because the portability and *glorious* true dual-stick control makes this easily my favourite version. There's even a cheat menu for when I just want to mindlessly punch hell beasts. The main thing that ages Doom is its maze-like structure, but playing it casually experience alleviates that frustration somewhat. At a grand total of four pounds, this is a BFB (big fucking bargain).

Untitled Goose Game

You know a game is good when the only asterisk I put on my recommendation is that it *may* be overpriced. Untitled Goose Game took the internet by storm this year because it's the quintessential indie game: cute, simple and with anti-authoritarian undertones. As a horrible goose, it's your mission to cause havoc in an unsuspecting English village, interacting with people and objects to cause chain reactions of chaos. Some of the puzzle solutions are maybe a bit obscure, but 90% of the time just messing around with everything in the area will lead to a solution. Untitled Goose Game makes up for its brevity with sheer comedic charm, feeling much better-designed than a "lul so random" affair like Goat Simulator. A honking good time.

Terraria (Switch port)

I have spent literally hundreds of hours on the PC version of Terraria, so when I was broke after buying my Switch the new Terraria port was an obvious cost-effective choice. While the controls aren't as precise, the amount of time spent mining and sorting through loot makes this a great handheld experience. I can't comment on the multiplayer options but few games represent such a sheer value for money, as there's always a new cave to explore or a new boss to overcome. Time has been kind to this 2011 classic, grind notwithstanding.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

While I personally enjoyed the original Yooka-Laylee, it was definitely flawed and I never seriously expected to see a sequel. But Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launched quite abruptly and did a pretty spectacular job of upstaging its predecessor. All the previous game's half-baked feel has been replaced with clever design touches, like the equippable tonics which grant helpful abilities at the cost of a currency penalty. The titular Lair is actually the final level and available to throw yourself at right from the beginning, but beating it without first obtaining more hitpoints by completing other stages is incredibly hard, which is a great way to incentivize progress without denying more confident players the option of beating the game earlier if they can meet the challenge. Impossible Lair might be this year's biggest surprise, and despite a modest budget I think it's worthy of comparison to excellent 2D platformers like Rayman Legends. Just don't expect to defeat Capital B on your first attempt.

A Hat In Time (Switch port)

I recently reviewed A Hat In Time but at the risk of repeating myself, it's one of the most charming games of the last few years and an incredibly impressive crowdfunded achievement. Mario's offerings may be a grander technical feat, but A Hat In Time is a fast and fabulous journey through a series of weird and wonderful worlds that all feel distinct in content and tone. It's very openly inspired by GameCube-era platformers like Mario Sunshine and Psychonauts and it easily scratches that itch. Simply one of the best original platformers of this generation, and I defy you not to love Hat Kid's cheeky antics.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch port)

As someone who thinks the original Spyro trilogy holds up better than most early 3D games, I'd have actually preferred a simple port rather than a full remake, but The Reignited Trilogy is honestly impeccable. The updated visuals are gorgeous while maintaining the general style of those old, jaggy models, and very little of the gameplay or content has changed except for sensible updates like the ability to immediately warp between every level you've visited. Having full dual-analogue control is also an absolute godsend even for a PS1 veteran like me. Though Spyro may seem a bit basic these days when faced with modern platformer marvels, the Reignited Trilogy makes these old favourites accessible again at a generous price point.

Ring Fit Adventure

Yes, I have a Wii kicking around in a box somewhere. No, Wii Fit never held my attention as anything more than a curiosity. Ring Fit Adventure, meanwhile, is limited only by my cholesterol-encrusted heart and dislike of excessive showering. This is an honest-to-goodness attempt at making an RPG out of a workout toy, and the amount of polish put into the game's presentation and hardware implementation is pretty remarkable. Levels involve jogging on the spot and squeezing the ring accessory to collect goodies and overcome obstacles, and periodically you'll engage in turn-based combat where you use a custom selection of exercise moves to deal damage. It's a fantastic idea pulled off much more elegantly than it sounds. The ring accessory unfortunately makes this quite an expensive game, so it'll take a lot of regular use to get your money's worth, but I can honestly (and surprisingly) say that exercise suddenly becomes more compelling when it's presented as a light RPG adventure with anthropomorphic gym equipment encouraging you to take breaks and drink plenty of water.

Pokémon Sword/Shield

Disclaimer: I can only give my impressions from 25 hours of playing Pokémon Shield, so this is DEFINITELY not a full review. That being said, this is still an easy recommendation to existing Pokemaniacs and a good starting point for any new acolytes. While the core formula hasn't evolved (har har) much since the very first Pokemon, Sword and Shield still has a number of modern quality of life improvements that make previous generations show their age. I've had so much fun building a core crew of cute and/or badass 'mons in a weird Nintendo version of Britain, and the online features combine with a VASTLY improved random encounter system to make grinding far less of a concern. The wild area takes some getting used to, but it's satisfying to come back and capture the huge Onyx you had to run away from a few hours before. Even if Pokémon Sword/Shield has some technical blemishes and could have pushed the series further in some regards, it's still easy to see why this franchise has maintained such a beloved status for so long.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-mars-tered (Switch port)

Along with Dark Souls, Red Faction was a game I never even knew I needed on the go, but now I've got it I can't imagine ever going back. A cult classic due to its amazing destruction physics, Red Faction sees you leading a proletariat revolution on Mars, literally tearing down corporate monuments to free the working class from systematic oppression. The open world is a bit claustrophobic and the shooting isn't exactly mind-blowing, but there's a reason I've beaten Red Faction every couple of years ever since its original 2009 release. The Switch port does the game justice and if you set the difficulty to easy then this is one of the best rage-venting experiences money can buy. So yes, I recommend getting your ass to Mars.

#gaming #nintendo #goty #2019 #switch #nintendo Switch #game review #review

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oh-ranpo · 5 years

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nothing but a number. (9)

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader

AN: Sorry this has taken so long! I’ve been in a funk so my writing hasn’t gone as far as I would have liked it to. I still love and appreciate all of you for your feedback on this story! This is definitely a nice fluffy change to ‘Better Now’, however there may be a few more little angsty sub-plots for this story. I don’t think it’s going to continue past 11-12 parts though. Let me know what you think! Tag list is closed.

The next week flew by faster than you would have liked it to. You didn’t have a lot of filming to do because most of your parts had been finished, but you still had to show up on set in case they needed to do any re-shoots. Thankfully, Gwilym had a slow week so he was able to hang out with you in your trailer most of the time so that you didn’t get bored. Ben would come hang out too, but he tried to give the two of you as much space as possible. Especially considering you were going to be spending the next few weeks with him and away from Gwilym.

You spent most of your time together either playing board games, watching movies, or just talking about life. You learned a lot about him in those few days that you spent together, and you found yourself falling for him more and more. Even when you weren’t hanging out in your trailer, you were over at his place for dinner. You had limited your amount of time spent in public because neither one of you wanted everything to be splayed across the internet.

There were different news outlets that were still speculating on your relationship status, but it was getting easier to ignore. Your friends would text you almost daily asking which man you were actually dating, but you ignored them. For now, the only people that needed to know were you and Gwil. Well, of course Ben knew too, but that was it.

“So, you’ll be gone for how long?” Gwilym asked again, as the two of you sat on the couch in your trailer, a movie you had seen a million times before playing on your small tv. His arm was draped over your shoulders, and you turned your body so that you were facing him. It had been the first thing he had said in a while, and you could see a look of sadness on his face.

“3 weeks, I believe. We’ll spend a couple weeks traveling around Europe and then one full week in Japan.”

Gwilym nodded, his eyes avoiding yours. The two of you hadn’t talked about the press tour much. You had been waiting until a little closer to time so that you could figure out exactly what the two of you were before you were asked a thousand times about it. You still had a little over a week now before you had to face that.

“Maybe I’ll be able to come out and visit you before you head to Japan.” His voice was quiet, almost apprehensive as his blue eyes slowly panned over to meet yours. A wide smile spread across your face and you gently cupped his cheek with your hand. You had grown to love the feeling of his beard beneath your fingertips.

“If you aren’t too busy, I would really love that,” you replied. His nervous expression melted and a bright smile took its place. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours, and you sunk further into his embrace.

Everything about Gwilym was so soft and cozy- his kisses, his smile, the way his arms wrapped around you and pulled you close. You would have spent every waking hour with him if you could, just so you could continue holding on to that warm feeling in your chest.

“I would also love for you to come to the wrap party with me tonight. As my date.”

Your words pressed against his lips, and his eyes slowly re-opened. Even though it was a party just for the cast and crew, it would be the first big event the two of you would attend together. It was safe because there wouldn’t be a lot of outside cameras there, so it wasn’t like you would be hounded by paparazzi. This movie had brought Gwilym into your life, so it only made sense to you that he be there when it was over.

“If that’s what you want, then I would be honored to come.”

Your heart fluttered in your chest, and you placed another quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. You glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already after 2:00pm.

“Crap, I guess I should get back home so that I can get ready. Dinner for tonight starts at 6.”

Gwilym nodded and released you from his arms so that you could stand up. He was quick to follow.

“I guess I should go and get ready as well, now that I have a hot date and all.” You could tell that an embarrassed look crossed your face when he laughed and gently swiped your hair back behind your ear. “I will call you when I’m on my way to pick you up, okay?”

You nodded as he bent down to kiss your forehead before exiting your trailer. You turned the movie off that had been playing, and followed behind him soon after. You hadn’t been really looking forward to this wrap party because of how sad you were going to be to have to say goodbye to a lot of the wonderful people you had been working with, but you knew having Gwilym by your side was going to make things a little bit easier.

x.x.x

You weren’t sure how Gwilym always managed to pick the perfect outfit that made you weak in the knees, but when he showed up at your door to pick you up later that night, you were stunned by how handsome he looked. He wasn’t even wearing anything fancy, just a nice blazer and a pair of dark wash jeans, but he still took your breath away.

“I don’t think that I look good enough to go anywhere with you,” you sighed, your eyes shamelessly raking over his outfit. If ‘heart-eyes’ were humanly possible, you were sure that you had them in that moment. Gwilym laughed as he stepped through your door so that you could close it behind him.

“Don’t be silly. You look gorgeous. I’m the lucky one.”

Your eyes finally fell away from him and landed back on your own outfit. You were wearing just a simple royal blue dress with a large pendant necklace. It wasn’t red carpet worthy, but it was comfortable. Plus, the way Gwilym was looking at you made you feel a lot better about it. You gave him a sheepish smile, and then grabbed your purse from the hook next to the door.

“We should probably get going. Ben has been texting me constantly the last hour or so asking when we were going to get there,” you laughed, as you moved to open the door once again. Gwilym followed you out, and he waited for you while you locked your door.

It had become a kind of routine for him to take your hand as you walked to the car, and then he would always open the door for you. Even though you had been in his car many times, the feeling never got old. You had tried to tell him after the first few days that you were completely capable of opening a door on your own, but he pretended to ignore you. You never felt the need to bring it up again.

His hand held yours on the drive back to the studio, and you stared down at your laced fingers, a million different little thoughts running through your head. The past week had been incredible, and you hadn’t felt so happy in a long time. The only thing that was nagging at you was the fact that neither one of you had talked about what the relationship was. He felt like your boyfriend, but you didn’t want to assume that if it wasn’t something that he was ready for.

“Why are you frowning?” Gwilym asked, bringing you back out of the trance that you were in. There was a hint of worry in his voice, and he kept glancing over at you. Your thumb gently brushed against his, and your mouth pulled into a tight-lipped smile.

“I’m just thinking,” you replied quietly.

“About what?”

You were almost to the studio now, and you didn’t want to get deep into this conversation when it was only going to be interrupted. Knowing exactly how Gwilym felt about you was important, but you also really wanted tonight to go well and be stress free.

“We can talk about it later. It’s no big deal.”

You turned your head so you were gazing out the window, and you tried to push down all negative thoughts out of your head. He was here with you, so he obviously felt something for you. The last week had proven that all on its own. So why were you so nervous when it came to talking about your feelings? Gwilym squeezed your hand comfortingly just as he pulled into the parking lot. As soon as he was parked and the car was off, he turned towards you.

“Are you sure? We still have a few minutes before we need to go in. I don’t want anything to be bothering you on your big night.”

You looked out through the windshield and you could see a swarm of cameras waiting to snap pictures of everyone’s arrivals. You felt your stomach drop, but you mentally reminded yourself that this was normal. You couldn’t avoid it forever.

“Everything is good, Gwil. I promise.” You gave him a big smile, and he returned it. You were about to turn to open your car door when it swung open beside you, causing you to jump.

“Hey guys!” Ben said brightly, as he bent down and stuck his head into the car. “Are you just going to sit out here all night, or shall we go in?”

You rolled your eyes as Gwilym laughed, and you accepted Ben’s hand as he helped you out of the car. Gwilym came around to meet the two of you, and you walked between them up to the door. There were blinding flashes from all around as different cameras snapped photos of the three of you.

“You know, this isn’t going to help our ‘love triangle’ image,” Ben muttered as he leaned down so only you could hear him. You shrugged, not really wanting to think too much about the articles that were sure to be written about you the next day.

Without saying a word, you felt Gwilym’s fingers press against the inside of your palm, and you felt your heart race. You were sure that at least one of the cameras had snapped a picture of the thrilled look on your face as you glanced back over at him. A tiny smile was turning up the corners of his mouth, and a part of you wanted nothing more than to confess your feelings right then and there.

Once you were inside, you breathed a sigh of relief from finally being away from all the cameras. You were now surrounded by the same people you had spent a majority of your days with for the past four months. Gwilym’s hand was securely wrapped around your own, and you planned on keeping him close to you for the rest of the night.

“Let’s go grab some drinks. Dinner should be starting soon,” Ben suggested, and the three of you made your way to the makeshift bar that had been set up.

The night went without any incident, as you talked and laughed and reminisced with all of the cast and crew. Gwilym easily fit in to the crowd, and you admired how easily he connected with everyone, even though he wasn’t part of the movie.

Ben hung out with the two of you, but as the night wore on, he excused himself and you could see him talking to Natasha from across the room. Every once in a while, their eyes would find yours, and sly smiles would break out across their faces. You knew they were up to something, but you just weren’t sure what.

You and Gwilym were sitting on one of the loveseats on the edge of the room, your mind a little fuzzy from the buzz that you were feeling. You had a few drinks already that night, and you found yourself leaning against Gwil a little bit more than you normally did. He didn’t seem to mind. His hand was resting on your lower thigh, and you could help but glance down at it every few minutes. Along with the alcohol came the thoughts from earlier.

“Gwil, what are we?” The filter from your brain to your mouth had temporarily broken, and the words spewed out before you had time to think about them. The question seemed to throw him off guard because he just kept staring at you. “Like, honestly. We spend so much time together, but I don’t know what we are.”

His blue eyes widened, but his hand maintained its spot on your leg. You took that as a fairly good sign so far. Of course, you weren’t thinking clearly, so things really could have been going either way.

“Is this what you were thinking about on the car ride here?” he asked, avoiding your question entirely. You nodded, your eyes trained on the profile of his face. He kept looking at you and then looking away, which made you suddenly wish that you hadn’t said anything at all. You should have waited until you were in private, because getting rejected at your own movie’s party was sure to be humiliating.

“Are you wanting a label of some kind?”

“I just want to know what to tell these people on the press tour when they ask about us.” That was the half-truth, at least.

You were startled when Gwilym swiftly stood up from the couch, grabbing your hand on the way up and pulling you behind him. You weren’t sure where he was taking you, but he walked with a purpose that you had never seen before. Your heart was in your throat, and you followed him blindly as he took numerous different turns through the hallways of the building until he stopped in an empty one.

You almost ran into him when he stopped suddenly and he spun to face you. His hands immediately cupped your cheeks, and he kissed you with a fervor that took your breath away.

“I like you,” he breathed between heated kisses. “And as far as I’m concerned, I’m all yours. I’ll let you decide how much of you you’re willing to give me.”

Your hand gently pushed against his chest to hold him back so that you could get a good look at him. A hoard of butterflies had erupted in your stomach and you couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across your lips. The buzz you had been feeling before had dissipated and you felt like your mind had never been clearer. You knew what you wanted, and if he was willing to give himself to you, you were more than ready to do the same.

“All of me,” you replied, barely above a whisper. “I’m all yours… if you want me.”

His blue eyes lit up, and he pressed his lips against yours again eagerly. The intimacy of the moment was perfect, and even though there were over a hundred people in the other room, it felt like the only people in the world were you and him.

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#gwilym lee #gwilym lee x reader #gwilym lee fic #gwilym lee fluff #gwilym lee story #bohemian rhapsody #ben hardy #fluff #love #story #imagine #midsomer murders #charlie nelson #jamestown #samuel castell #nothing but a number fic #nothing but a number story

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blogmarareactions · 6 years

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Coffee, Snow and a little bit of love - Part 3 (FINAL)

Genre: Fluff

Group: GOT7 - JB/Jaebum x female reader

Word count: 1552

Warnings: None

Note: Here is the 3 and final part of a little scenario that started in december for my christmas/winter themed period, however it got stuck and lost somewhere during that time and I have completely forgotten about it until I found a draft on my pc again. And by the way, I wanted to add a kiss in this part but felt like it was so forced so I decided not to do that. After all the is the beginning of their relationship and I just felt like it didn`t fit in yet. But yeah, I hope you enjoy this!

PART 1 PART 2

Jaebum was lying in his bed. He felt a bit better than the last few days, but he still wasn`t his best. Rolling over to his side, he reached out and grabbed his phone when he heard the familiar sound of a “ping”, signaling he got a message. It was from Jackson.

Jackson: “You should probably get dressed. You`re getting a visitor ;)¨

A visitor? Why would he get a visitor now? The only people he could think of coming to see him when he was sick were either his members or a doctor the company sent and if it was one of those two Jackson would`ve should told him who it was. He sent a quick message back asking who he means, but when he after half an hour still hadn`t gotten an answer he decided to just let it come at him.

He stood in front of the wardrobe, lightly scratching his head as he contemplated what he would wear. Jaebum usually put a lot of thought in his outfits, especially the days he knew he`d go to his favorite cafè. This last week however he opted for something much more comfortable, varying between boxers and some t-shirt or sweatpants and a t-shirt, depending on how warm he was. Being sick sure made you lazy and today was no different so after a few minutes he decided to go with the later of the two choices. Not his best effort, but he was sick so whoever came to see him would have to do with it.

At the cafè Y/N was working away the day, but today seemed to go by so much slower than the other days. Or at least that`s what it felt like to her. Her co-workers had already joked with her, saying that the time won`t go by faster just because she checks every two minutes. But she just couldn`t help it. Her thoughts kept going back to what Jackson had said earlier that day. “He likes you more than you`d think.” Did he really? Her heart sped up a little at the thought and her cheeks blushed a light pink.

“Oh seriously Y/N.” Kyung-Mi, one of her co-workers and good friend, exclaimed. “If you make that coffee any slower it`ll be cold before the customer receives it.” Y/N looked down at the cappuccino she was making and sure enough she had used double the amount of time she would usually need. Apologizing she quickly finished the order and sent the customer of with a polite smile before turning around. Behind her Kyung-Mi was already standing with outstretched arms holding Y/N`s jacket, scarf and Jeabums gloves. She smiled and pushed them into Y/N`s arms. “You should get going now. I can do the rest here by myself.” Y/N was about to say something, but Kyung-Mi stopped her. “No, not a word. Don`t worry about this I`ll cover for you. We`re closing soon anyway. Also, love should never wait.” She gave Y/N a little wink before lightly pushing her to the direction of the door. Bowing and thanking Kyung-Mi, Y/N made her way outside holding Jaebums gloves to her chest.

The flat on the address wasn`t hard to find, and like Jackson had said it wasn`t far from the cafè. However Y/N still found herself a little out of breath when she reached his door. Well, this is it, she thought and, after brushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and dusting off her coat to make it look presentable, she lifted her hand and knocked.

Jaebum heard the knocking from the couch in the living room. Figuring that`s the visitor Jackson had had informed him about he slowly made his way down the hallway, his feet dragging lightly and a cough or two escaping him before he reached the door and opened it.

Remember a little earlier when he thought that his current outfit would be good enough for his visitor? Well let`s just say that Jeabum mentally facepalmed himself for that decision when he saw the pretty waitress from his favorite cafè, aka, his crush stand in his doorway looking up at him. She was gorgeous as always.

“Hi, uhm I … Jackson was at the cafè today and he told me to come by.” Y/N started. “Because of your gloves I mean. You forgot your gloves last time you were at the cafè. I asked Jackson to bring them back to you, but he said he was very busy today and gave me your address so I could come and deliver them personally. I hope that`s okey for you.” Jackson wasn`t busy today at all. Jeabum was sure of it because according to his snapchat story he spent most of his day at the arcade and playing video games at an internet cafè. He did this purely to get her to see him. Jaebum was lost in thought about how to get back at Jackson for it and didn`t notice that he hadn`t answered anything at all. Something that made Y/N rather nervous as she now wondered if she had said too much. Maybe she had rambled on again and made him uncomfortable. She quickly reached her hands out, holding up his gloves. The action brought Jaebum back to the situation at hand. He was about take the gloves and thank her, maybe even add a little flirting but his sickness decided to kick in a little extra hard at that exact moment and he found himself having to take a step back and holding onto the doorframe in sudden dizziness.

“A.. are you okey?” Y/N exclaimed when she saw how he almost fell backwards. He nodded his head but she could see he wasn`t feeling well. “You need to sit down. Here I`ll help you.” She put one of his arms around her shoulders and slowly guided him back to the sofa where he promptly took a seat with a little huff. He let himself sink further into the sofa until he was laying down and closed his eyes for a minute before speaking up again. “I`m okey now. It was just a little dizziness.” When he opened his eyes he couldn`t help but smile a little when he saw how worried she looked. She was cute even like this. “Don`t worry I`m fine, really. See?” He tried sitting up, but as soon as head had was just a few centimeters above the pillow he plumped back down again. “Yeah, I can see that.” Y/N said sarcastically.

The next few minutes were spent with Jaebum arguing he was fine and not wanting to be a burden for Y/N as she decided to stay with him until his members were back. She just couldn`t let him be alone when he felt so bad. She was way too worried he`d get worse and then what. With no one here to help him he could get seriously hurt. So she insisted on staying. She brought him blankets and pillows and whatever else he could need. He didn`t want to keep her occupied with him for longer than needed and he was already extremely thankful for how much she had cared for him. But at the same time he also kind of liked the attention he was receiving from her and she didn`t seem to mind being with him so he chose to just enjoy this time with her as much as possible and let her decide when she wanted to leave. They spent most of the time talking, about all kinds of stuff. He finally learned her name and the story behind why she started working at the cafè, her hobbies and what she likes and doesn`t like. It wasn`t awkward between them a single time. It almost felt like they were old friends who hadn`t seen each other for a long time and by the time he had gotten up to go to the toilet it was already 11pm.

He was about to tell Y/N that she should probably go home as he was sure she must be tired after the long day she has had when he noticed her head was leaning on the table. She didn`t answer when he called her name and on further inspection he saw that she had fallen asleep. Jaebum was unsure of what to do. He probably should wake her up, but she was sleeping so peacefully, and he found himself staring at her sleeping form instead. His eyes drifted over her face and he tried memorizing every single little nose scrunch she would make, most likely caused by a dream. He placed a blanket around her and sat in front of her. He would let her sleep a little and then wake her up, at least that`s the plan. A bright smile stretched across his face when her face contoured into a rather funny look before going back to a peaceful stance and he placed his head on his hands watching her for a few minutes more. He made a mental note to himself that he was probably super creepy for watching her while she slept, but that thought quickly vanished together with all other thoughts as they were replaced by dreams and a good nights sleep for the first time in a week.

#scenario #got7 #jaebum #jb #jaebum got #jb got7 #jaebum scenario #got7 jeabum scenario #got7 jeabum #got7 jb #got7 scenario #got7 blog #kpop blog #kpop scenario #got7 reaction #reaction blog #kpop reaction #jaebum reaction #jb reaction

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a380flightdeck · 6 years

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FOR A WHOLE HOST OF REASONS, airports are often bewildering, maddening places. There is much to be found in the modern-day terminal to enrage, confuse, or vex the traveler. Where to begin?

The following list was inspired by a layover I spent not long ago at Incheon International Airport (ICN), serving Seoul, Korea. Not to take away from perennial survey-toppers like Amsterdam’s Schiphol or Singapore’s Changi Airport (amenities at Changi include a movie theater, a swimming pool and a butterfly garden), but Incheon stands as the most functional, attractive, and overall flyer-friendly airport I’ve ever visited. It’s cavernous and immaculate, with a cathedral-like calm throughout. Security and immigration are a breeze; international transit is effortless. The staff at the multilingual information desks are disarmingly helpful. Amenities include free internet, free showers, luggage storage, cellphone rental desks, a post office and massage facilities. Relaxation areas, with sofas and easy chairs, are set away from the main thoroughfares. There’s a cultural center, a museum, and a full-service hotel inside the secure zone, allowing those with extended layovers to rent a room without the need to clear immigration. Or, if you’re feeling energetic, a tour desk arranges free excursions to Incheon city. If you’re headed into Seoul, the airport’s high-speed rail connection will have you downtown in under an hour. Why can’t every airport be like this?

FIFTEEN THINGS NO TERMINAL SHOULD BE WITHOUT:

1. A fast, low-cost public transportation link to downtown.

In a way, choosing a favorite airport is like choosing a favorite hospital: amenities aside, nobody really wants to be there in the first place, and the easier and faster you can get the hell out, the better. To that end, every terminal should have a public transport links similar to those across Asia and Europe. The examples of Portland, Oregon and Washington-Reagan notwithstanding, rail links in the United States aren’t nearly as convenient – when the exist at all. Or how about JFK, where for hundreds of millions dollars they finally got the AirTrain completed — an inter-terminal rail loop that connects only as far as the Queens subway. It can take 45 minutes, up and down a Rube Goldberg assembly of escalators, elevators and passageways, just to get from one terminal to another, let alone all the way to Manhattan.

2. In-transit capabilities

It’s a shame that American airports cannot, for whatever reasons, recognize the “in transit” concept. In the United States, all passengers arriving from other countries, even if they’re merely passing through on the way to a third country, are forced to clear customs and immigration, collect and re-check their luggage, and pass through security screening. It’s an enormous hassle, unheard of in most of the world. And it costs our airlines millions of annual customers. Why change planes in the US, where you’ll have to stand in three different lines, be photographed and fingerprinted, re-check your bags and face the TSA gauntlet, when instead you can transfer seamlessly in Frankfurt or Dubai? Indeed this is part of what has made carriers like Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and others so successful.

3. Complimentary wireless internet

What do we do at airports? We kill time. And there are few better and more productive ways of killing time than logging on to the Web. Send an email to your mistress, read my blog, Skype your friend in Slovenia. Many, if not most major terminals do have Wi-Fi access, but it’s often expensive and cumbersome (few things in life are more irritating than those credit card payment pages). It should be everywhere, and it should be free.

4. Convenience stores

It appears the evolution of airport design will not be complete until the terminal and shopping mall become indistinguishable. I’m okay with Starbucks and souvenir kiosks, but it’s the saturation of high-end boutiques that always confounds me. Apparently there isn’t a traveler alive who isn’t in dying need of a hundred-dollar Mont Blanc pen, a remote-control helicopter or a thousand-dollar massage chair. And what’s with all the luggage stores? Who on earth buys a suitcase after they get to the airport? What we really need are the same sorts of things we buy at CVS or the corner convenience store: basic groceries and dry goods, stationery, and personal care items. Brussels and Amsterdam are two that do this right, with in-terminal food marts and pharmacies.

5. Power ports

I didn’t realize that passengers have a right—nay, a duty—to mooch electricity from their carrier of choice, but at this point it’s a lost cause to argue. I hope your battery isn’t dying, because good luck finding an outlet that isn’t hooked up already to somebody’s iPhone or computer. Airlines should throw in the towel and build more charging stations.

6. Showers and a short-stay hotel

Another amenity that is common overseas but sorely lacking in North America. No serious international terminal should be without a place to wash up or crash for a few hours. Passengers arriving from overseas can shower and change before their next connection. Those with longer waits can grab a nap in one of those pay-by-the-hour sleeping pods.

7. Play areas for children

Truth be told, airport play areas encourage toddlers to shriek and yell even more than they already do, but at least they’re doing it in a localized area that’s easy for the rest of us to avoid. Ideally, this spot should be in a soundproofed bubble six miles from the airport, but a space at the far end of the concourse is a reasonable alternative. The Delta terminal in Boston has a pretty cool kidport, but nothing tops the “Kids’ Forest” at Amsterdam-Schiphol. I’d play there myself if nobody was watching.

8. Better dining options — i.e. fewer chain restaurants

Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Sbarro’s. Airport cuisine isn’t a whole lot different from the shopping mall food court. We need more independent restaurants serving actual food, ideally with a local bent.

The next time you’re at LaGuardia, check out the Yankee Clipper restaurant over at the Marine Air Terminal. That’s the circular building at the far southwest corner of the airport, with the art deco doors and flying fish relief along its rooftop. Yankee Clipper is a cafeteria-style place on the left-hand side of the rotunda. It’s good greasy spoon food with absolutely no corporate affiliation. The Marine Air Terminal was the launching point of the first-ever transatlantic and around-the-world flights, and the restaurant’s walls are decorated with historic photographs. You can eat in, or take your sandwich out to one of the wooden benches beneath the famous James Brooks “Flight” mural. Commissioned in 1952, Brooks’ expansive, 360-degree painting traces the history of aviation from mythical to (then) modern, Icarus to Pan Am Clipper. Its style is a less than shy nod at Socialist realism, and at the height of ’50’s McCarthyism, in a controversy not unlike that surrounding Diego Rivera’s famous mural at Rockefeller Center, it was declared propaganda and obliterated under gray paint. Not until 1977 was it restored.

9. An information kiosk

Where is the Yankee Clipper restaurant? Where is the nearest ATM? Where is the nonexistent subway link to the city? Every arrivals hall ought to have personnel who can give directions, hand out maps and make change.

10. A bookstore

Reading on planes is a natural, am I right? Why then is it so hard to find a proper bookstore at an airport? (Not all of us pre-load our reading material on a Kindle.) Not long ago, every major airport had a proper bookseller. Nowadays they are harder and harder to find, and usually what passes as a bookstore is really just a newsstand hawking a thin selection of business books, thrillers and pop-culture trash. Believe it or not, travelers’ tastes extend beyond Sudoku, Suze Orman, and the latest CEO autobiography.

11. Sufficient gate-side seating

If the plane at the gate holds 250 people, there ought to be a minimum of 250 chairs in the boarding lounge. There is something uncivilized about having to sit on the floor while waiting to board. Do we sit on the floor when waiting for a table in a restaurant, or at the doctor’s office? When Changi was built in Singapore, the gates were outfitted with no fewer than 420 chairs, matching the number on the average 747.

12. Escalator etiquette

Americans haven’t figured out how to behave on an escalator. If you’re not in a hurry, stand on the right and enjoy the ride, allowing those of us with a flight to catch to walk on the left. Instead we stand in the middle, hogging up both sides. Ditto for moving sidewalks. The point of the moving sidewalk is to expedite your passage, not to indulge your laziness. You’re not supposed to stand on it, you’re supposed to walk on it. And to take yet another page from the Europeans and Asians, what prevents us from fitting escalators and sidewalks with a light-beam trigger that shuts off the motor when nobody is on them? Ours run constantly, riders or no riders, wasting huge amounts of energy.

13. A view

Why are so many architects intent on hiding the fact that airports are actually airports? Gateside seating always faces away from the windows, and the windows themselves are sometimes intentionally opaqued or obstructed by barriers. Why? Penty of people would enjoy the opportunity to sit and watch the planes go by. You needn’t be an airplane buff to find this relaxing, or even a little exciting. As a bonus, more windows mean more natural light — always welcome over harsh fluorescents.

14. Bring back the airstairs!

Have you ever taken a good look at a jet bridge (or Jetway to use the proprietary term), that strange umbilicus connecting terminal to fuselage? One thing to notice is how ridiculously overbuilt they are. Do we really need all of that metal and cable and wire and hydraulics for what is, at heart, a simple gangway?

Of course, I am opposed to jet bridges on principle. I prefer the classic, drive-up airstairs. Some of the international stations I fly to still employ those old-timey stairs, and I always get a thrill from them. There’s something dramatic about stepping onto a plane that way: the ground-level approach along the tarmac followed by the slow ascent. The effect is like the opening credits of a film — a brief, formal introduction to the journey. By contrast, the jet bridge makes the airplane almost irrelevant; you’re merely in transit from one annoying interior space (terminal) to another (cabin).

Save your emails. This is just me being romantic. The benefits to the jet bridge are obvious — inclement weather, disabled passengers, etc. – and I realize there’s no going back.

15. Last but not least, some aesthetic flair

If an airport has one aesthetic obligation, it’s to impart a sense of place: you are here and nowhere else. On this front, Europe and Asia again set the standard. I think of Lyon and its magnificent hall by Santiago Calatrava, or Kuala Lumpur with its indoor rainforest, and a dozen places between, where terminal design is a point of expressive pride — where it makes a statement, be it quietly stylish or architecturally stupendous.

Take the magnificent Suvarnabhumi airport (pronounced “Su-wanna-poom”) in Bangkok, Thailand. Its central terminal is the most visually spectacular airport building I have ever seen. At night, as you approach by highway from the city, it looms out of the darkness like a goliath space station — a vision of glass and light and steel, its immense transoms bathed in blue spotlight. Or for sheer character, try the little airport in Timbuktu, Mali. Here you’ll find a handsome, Sudanese-style building emulating the mud-built mosques ubiquitous in that country.

With scattered exceptions (Denver, San Francisco, Washington, Vancouver), there is nothing comparable in America. To the contrary, some of our most expensive airport renovations have been terrible disappointments. JetBlue’s wildly overrated home at JFK, for example. Terminal 5 – or “T5” as the carrier likes to call it — is a $743 million, 72-acre structure that opened in 2008 to considerable promotion and fanfare. Inside, the atrium food court and rows of shops conspire to make yet another airport feel like yet another mall. The Wi-Fi is free, and so is the noise and claustrophobia at the overcrowded gates. But it’s the exterior that’s the real tragedy. Although the street-side facade is at worst cheerless, the tarmac-side is truly abominable — a wide, low-slung, industrial-brutalist expanse of concrete and gray. Once again it looks like a shopping mall. Or, to be more specific, it looks like the back of a shopping mall. All that’s missing are some pallets and dumpsters. The facility’s only visual statement is one of not caring, a presentation of architectural nothingness, absolutely empty of inspiration — precisely what an airport terminal should not be. Is this the best we can do?

It’s ironic that Eero Saarinen’s landmark TWA “Flight Center” sits directly in front of T5, itself part of the JetBlue complex. The TWA building is supposed to serve as an entryway lobby and ticketing plaza for T5, though for now it remains semi-derelict and only partly renovated. I wish they’d finish the thing so that more people could appreciate what is arguably the most architecturally significant airport terminal ever constructed. Regarded as a modernist masterpiece, the Flight Center opened in 1962 and was the first major terminal built expressly for jet airliners. Saarinen, a Finn whose other projects included the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the terminal at Washington-Dulles, described his TWA as “all one thing.” The lobby is a fluid, unified sculpture of a space, at once futuristic and organic. It’s a kind of Gaudi inversion, a carved-out atrium reminiscent of the caves of Turkish Cappadocia, overhung by a pair of cantilevered ceilings that rise from a central spine like huge wings.

And just to the north of T5 used to be the National Airlines Sundrome, designed by I. M. Pei. It opened in 1970 and was named in honor of National’s yellow and orange sunburst logo and its popular routes between the Northeast and Florida. After National was folded into Pan Am, the terminal was taken over by TWA. Later it was used by jetBlue, then abandoned and torn down. Pei and Saarinen, a half-minute walk from each other. Our airports ain’t what they used to be.

Am I making too much of this? While terminal design and passenger friendliness are important, isn’t it the operational aspects of an airport—the state of its runways, taxiways, and logistical infrastructure—that ultimately matter most? Indeed, but here too the situation is worrying, as any American who travels globally can attest. Once again, it’s a funding issue. Our airports are failing, and nobody wants to pay for them.

“Other parts of the world are more enlightened in their aviation policies than we are,” said Greg Principato, North American president of the Airports Council International, speaking at a conference in 2012. He added that members of the U.S. Congress have a poor understanding of how the upkeep and renovation of U.S. airports needs to be funded. “They have a sense that airports are economically important,” he explained, “but don’t really understand why.” Principato warns that the declining state of its airport infrastructure puts the United States “at risk of being turned into a feeder system for the global aviation network.”

But let’s change gears for a minute, and move from what airports lack to something they have too much of. To me, the single most annoying thing about airports is how noisy they are. I’m not talking about the noise from jet engines. I’m talking about the in-terminal noise. I’m talking about the sounds of humanity on the move, with our shrieking kids, and our beeping electric carts, our laughing and our shouting and our cellphone chatter. All of it amplified by the sadistic acoustics of the typical terminal.

And what makes this a distinctly American problem is our peculiar infatuation with public address announcements. As we’ve already seen, there are plenty of good ideas that American airports can borrow from their counterparts in Europe and Asia, but perhaps none would be more appreciated than realizing that passengers need not be assailed by a continuous loop of useless and redundant PAs: security alerts, boarding calls, traffic and parking directives, promotional and welcome messages. You’ll often hear two or more announcements playing simultaneously. I’ve heard up to four of them blaring at once, rendering all of them unintelligible in a hurricane of noise.

Intensifying this bombardment are those infernal gate-side television monitors blaring CNN Airport Network. These yammering hellboxes are everywhere, and they cannot be turned off. There is no volume control, no power cord, no escape. Every gate has one, and they run twenty-four hours a day. Not even the employees know how to shut them up (believe me, I’ve asked).

All of this sonic pollution does not make passengers more attentive or keep them better informed. What it does is make an already stressful and nerve-wracking experience that much worse.

On a lighter note, am I the only one struck by the phenomenon of teenage girls carrying big fluffy pillows onto airplanes? I’m uncertain when this trend got started, but take a look around in any terminal, anywhere in the world, and you’ll see girls clutching big fluffy pillows.

What’s wrong with this? Nothing. It’s a great idea, especially now that carriers no longer dispense even tiny, non-fluffy pillows on all but the longest flights. In a window seat, putting a pillow between your body and the sidewall creates a comfy sleeping surface. I only bring it up because, on behalf of guys everywhere, I feel excluded. It’s unfair. Grown men like me can’t walk through airports with big fluffy pillows unless we’re willing to get laughed at. We’re stuck with those neck pillow things.

But this isn’t right. To hell with dignity, I say. It’s time to rise up and break the pillow barrier. Who will be first? I’m thinking we should organize a march — a line of men strutting through the concourse, pillows proudly in hand.

“We’re men, we’re strong, this is true, Fluffy pillows aren’t just for you! Downy soft, pastel blues, Come on girls, let us snooze!”

Later, in the parking lot, we can high-five and toss a few of those neck braces into a bonfire. And I smell a gold here mine for airport merchants. Instead of luggage and massage chairs, why not a pillow shop right there in the terminal? No need to lug one from home when you can pick one up gate-side for just a few bucks. You’d have a choice of foam or feather, and a selection of pillowcases to pick from. To entice the guys, cases could be emblazoned with camo patterns and beer logos.

#Airbus A380 #a380flightdeck

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alia15 · 4 years

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2020: Who Saw THIS Coming?

Remember when I retired from blogging?

I actually did retire, except, I consider this little corner of the Internet -- MY corner -- to be a place where I document the big stuff. I told you about my engagement and then came back several months later to recap my wedding. Remember that? The wedding that THANKFULLY occurred in late 2019 before the world turned to shit??

Yeah. You know what happened. “The pandemic.” “The virus.” “Covid.” Covid-19″ (I personally prefer the first five Covids; I feel like they really fell off after that). “CORONAVIRUS.”

THE DUMPSTER FIRE THAT IS...2020.

Suuuuuuuuure, good ol’ Rona robbed Leo and me of our Italian honeymoon, but aside from that? We were able to squeeze in all kinds of fun things in good ol 2019 -- oh how I miss you, 2019 -- and have an unforgettable year. This year is proving to be unforgettable too -- just, ya know -- in like, a traumatizing sorta way.

Anyway, as I was saying, I have to document the big stuff on here. I imagine myself reading and looking back on this blog like an old, embarrassing diary (hell, I do it already) (the dating posts make me want to die) and who can omit THIS chapter? It’s got it all: a deadly virus, racially fueled riots and protesting, social injustice, a deranged madman in the oval office, and... MURDER HORNETS?

exactly.

So rather than write out a whole long thing about my experience in 2020, I thought I’d break it down by month, starting in March. I’m going to be documenting the good, the BAD (there’s a decent amount of that), and anything new that transpired in that time frame. Did I take up any hobbies? Start baking sourdough? I guess you’ll find out.

Let’s start with:

MARCH.

The good. There was immediately a novelty to this whole Covid-19 thing. In the first half of the month I was commuting, going to work in my NYC office, and doing my usual amount of social things on weekends. When it was decided in mid-March that we’d have to work and stay home for a “bit” (lol), there was something exciting about it. We made jokes about social distancing and masks and had cutesy puns for “quarantining.” We hit the ground RUNNING with Zoom calls/video chats. There was something fun and exhilarating about all this.

The bad. People I KNOW got this virus. People I know LOST people to this virus. My Grandma’s health took a turn and things did not look good, but I couldn’t go see her. Shit, I didn’t see ANYONE except Leo, and even he was going to work in his office every day. I had to get used to this abrupt abundance of...alone time.

What’s new? I’ve always taken to social media as a creative outlet, but I QUICKLY started using it more -- and differently -- once things in the world got hairy. I treated my Instagram like my one gateway to the outside world, because it was: I surveyed my followers and asked how they were doing. I took silly videos talking to myself in the mirror. I wrote long captions on my photos letting everyone know what my experience was like. I tried to entertain those who were stuck at home, as I was, and needing an escape.

Oh, and ya know... Tiger King.

APRIL.

The good. The weather was getting nicer, so Leo and I took advantage and often went for walks around our complex and even a local trail/preserve in our town. We started doing “lawn visits” to see our families from a distance, and that helped. For two people who were used to seeing their ‘people’ regularly, 3-4 weeks of not seeing them took a toll. I also started doing “Grateful April” on Instagram, where I shared a few things each day that made me happy/appreciative. Some followers of mine followed suit, which was awesome to see.

The bad. Hmm, I think all this sitting and lack of moving is hurting my back? (#foreshadowing). Also, ENOUGH with the Zoom calls and “virtual happy hours,” for the LOVE OF GOD! Oh, and that “novelty” I mentioned in March? That wore off quickly, and a lot of us started to feel weird, sad, isolated, uneasy, unproductive and stir-crazy. Myself included.

We were also reminded that this was the month we were supposed to depart for our honeymoon. Ugh.

What’s New? I did some arts & crafts (I painted ceramic bowls I bought from Target), gave myself a mediocre pedicure, found new/creative ways to engage and interact with folks on social media (polls, asking questions like “what’s in your Amazon cart?” and “who sponsors your quarantine?”), and got to see what it was like to have a husband with hair. I also discovered my love of tie-dye and wore...a lot of it.

Oh, and I was on CBS news talking about screen time. Iconic.

MAY.

The good. The weather got summer-like and I definitely felt a MAJOR shift in my mood. Leo and I spent more time outside on our deck: listening to music, making margaritas, talking to neighbors. I even took work calls outside and got some much-needed Vitamin D. I had my first real “beach days” (bathing suit, chair and all). I started to FINALLY see my family in person; first, outside only -- and then eventually indoors.

The bad. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd, obviously. Dumb-dumbs protesting the lock-down and demanding haircuts. CLEARLY more to come on this. (See: June)

Oh, and my back pain? WAY worse.

What’s new? Some more arts and crafts: I started painting shells I found on the beach (lol). I bought a pair of Crocs and documented the most absurd series on social media where I paired the heinous footwear with items that rhymed (Crocs & socks, Crocs & shamrocks, Crocs & botox...you get the idea.) I experimented with a few new recipes (made lemon poppy muffins & homemade vodka sauce). I re-watched Mad Men and it made me miss my office and coworkers.

JUNE. A rough one.

The good. We started doing more social things with our families: BBQs, celebrating Father’s Day, our nephew’s baptism. Doing this truly felt like “normalcy” and in those moments, we’d forget about all the garbage going on around us. I also decided (yes, after 3 friggin months of lock-down) that I needed to start exercising; something I needed for my physical AND mental health. I thought it could help my back -- which, yes, was feeling worse as time went on -- and it did make me feel good to spend a little time each day walking, jogging, lifting weights and just MOVING.

The bad. Um? Everything? For starters, the racial tension in the country came to a head and erupted in a MAJOR way -- and while the protests and all the #BlackLivesMatter movements were a positive thing, it absolutely brought out the WORST in so many others. There was rioting, looting and violence. Racism ran RAMPANT. Karens went wild. “Covidiots” were ENRAGED about being told to wear masks. There was police brutality and a President who threw fuel into the fire. Tensions and emotions were at an all-time high and we all got a harsh dose of reality that this country has SO FAR TO GO in regards to equality and civil rights and even basic human decency. I was -- and still am -- sad for this country.

Also? I finally went for an MRI on my back and found out I have two herniated discs; well THAT certainly helps explain things! Shortly after, I pull my back out entirely, and could not walk or move. The pain is excruciating; debilitating and I think, “can things get any worse?” and then...

My Grandma passes away.

It hurts. It still does. It was inevitable -- as death is, especially given her age and health condition at the time -- but it still felt like taking a bullet. I will always be grateful that I was able to get to see her one day before she passed away to say goodbye, but it’s hard not to be resentful that she didn’t get the memorial service and send-off she so deserved because of the pandemic.

(Side note: read about my amazing Grandma HERE)

In short, June sucked.

What’s new? We got a new stationary bike and set it up outside on the deck which was awesome, and I ended the month getting some epidural shots at the spine doctor. While the (strong) meds and injections didn’t exactly *cure* my issue, they made things a LOT better. Leo and I also drove into NYC (my first time there in MONTHS!) so I could go get my migraine Botox treatment at my neurologist.

I voted by mail (which is not fraudulent, by the way) (#eyeroll) in the NY Primary.

I also got not one, but TWO, amazing rainbows the week my grandmother passed away. I needed those, and I’d like to think she knew that.

JULY.

The good. More beach days and some consistent amazing weather (thanks, Mother Nature!). I started seeing a chiropractor twice a week and quickly respond REALLY WELL to treatment and start feeling a lot better. I put things into perspective and realize how lucky I am to live where I do -- on the beach -- and get to enjoy all this newfound free time doing things I enjoy. We also celebrate some family birthdays and have a small family gathering in honor of our beloved Dorothy.

Have you noticed that “seeing family” always ends up in my “good” section?

The bad. Naya Rivera died unexpectedly, John Lewis died, REGIS died. Our President remains as unhinged as ever, we desperately want to #FreeBritney, and Kanye West has a really sad, scary and concerning, uh, episode. He’s also running for President, maybe? Or not? On a personal note, Leo and I tried to eat dinner on the beach one night and LIT-rally got attacked by seagulls. Weeks later, bull sharks are spotted in the ocean RIGHT WHERE WE LIVE, and they prohibit swimming.

What’s new? Hamilton on Disney+: need I say more? The fig tree that’s been on our deck for three summers FINALLY started to grow figs! I re-watched Broad City and it is just... *chef’s kiss* perfection. Taylor Swift releases her album ‘folklore’ and I listen on repeat for seven days straight.

AUGUST.

Well, who knows? We’re not there yet. 2020 has certainly been a ride (and it’s not over yet; dear GOD), and I still can’t believe it ended up being this insane year, unlike anything I’ve EVER experienced. And while it undoubtedly has come with its fair share of challenges, it has also come with some blessings.

I have all this extra time now and I make a point to use it productively (most days). I log off from working and go outside, I walk the beach, go in our complex pool, ride the stationary bike, catch up with friends/family on the phone, read, and watch/re-watch shows.

The commute and hustle and bustle of every day in my pre-pandemic life would make me stressed and anxious; I was constantly snoozing alarm clocks, rushing in the mornings, dealing with overcrowded/delayed trains, and getting home late each night.

Life has become slower, in a good way, and it’s made me appreciate the simple things. I care less about material things and more about the basics: enjoying nice weather/the outdoors, my home, my husband, my family and close friends.

I genuinely stopped caring about getting my hair and nails done, going out to dinner, getting dolled up, or traveling. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy all these things and I’ll of course do them again, but this whole situation made me realize that what I need *most* in this world are the simple joys that money can’t buy.

And for that? I’m grateful.

*stay safe, friends.*

#coronavirus #pandemic #life #2020 #this year #recap #family #blm #year in review #my life #covid #life as we know it #changes #death #loss #love #beach

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prisperview · 6 years

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Prisperview’s 2017 Year Reflection

Worldwide Favorites

Women’s March

Lady Gaga at Superbowl LI in Houston

Marriage legalization and improved LGBT+ Rights around the world

Solar Eclipse

Worldwide Worsts

Trump and most things American government

Hurricane Harvey and Irma

Neo Nazis

Hollywood Sexual Assault crackdown (but also positive because we acknowledged the individuals who spoke up about it)

Las Vegas, O2 Arena, and Sutherland Springs attack and all gun violence without reformed laws

Music

Favorite albums of 2017

Atom Bomb (1999) - The Strike (for some reason, this album doesn’t exist anymore?) | Fav Song: Atom Bomb

Christine And The Queens (2015) - Christine And The Queens (Heloise became my new style icon) | Fav song: Tilted

Live and Let Ghosts (2008) - Jukebox the Ghost (I listened to it multiple times a day) | Fav song: Victoria

Harry Styles - Harry Styles (who do you think I am of course its on the list) |Fav song: Woman

Flicker - Niall Horan (see above) |Fav song: On My Own

Something To Tell You - HAIM (new old favorites!) |Fav song: Little of Your Love

You - EP - dodie (never followed her before, but her music is great) |Fav song: In the Middle

Steven Universe Vol.1 (Original Soundtrack)- (because its Steven Universe) | Fav song: Peace and Love

The Best of Kate Miller-Heidke: Act One (2016) - KMH | Fav song: Australian Idol

Other favorite songs

Footloose - Kenny Loggins

State of Mind - Satchmode

Basically any song on the Footloose AU playlist

Anniversary - Autoheart (Top song of 2017 according to Spotify)

Liam and Louis’ solo songs/collabs

Sonsick - San Fermin

La La Land Soundtrack

All I Ask - Adele

Light Up by Mutemath

More songs by Jukebox the Ghost

Boom Boom - Donora

Moana Soundtrack

You Knew - Mother Falcon

Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It! - Kishi Bashi

You! Me! Dancing! - Los Campesinos

Books

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I re-read An Invisible Sign of my Own by Aimee Bender

I finally finished the Harry Potter Series!

(Fanfics count too, right?)

I got into podfics:

In Dreams by dolce_piccante (podfic) - the first podfic I fell in love with

Naked and Proud by kiwikero (podfic) - absolutely hilarious. I listened to this while working on portfolio applications

The Bucky Barnes Recovery Project: A series by FrostyEmma - I was obsessed with this during the spring

I’d Rather Hear my Dog Bark at a Crow by sunsetmog - I never thought I’d be into Tomlinshaw (or this super NSFW fic dont @ me) but I was up for hours trying to read this in one sitting

Couer du soleil by messofgorgeouschaos - havent finished it yet, but easily a favorite (Ot5!)

YouTube/Podcasts

Dan and Phil - never thought I’d get back into them after 2013 but here I am and I’m having a good time

The Drawfee Channel

SprinkleofChatter - Louise’s vlogs made doing my hair on Sunday mornings easier

TalkDirection (podcast)- not listening as much as I used to, but Caitlin and Cara are still good, especially around Harry’s album release time

What Should We Draw? (podcast)

MBMBaM (podcast) - new favorites!

Movies

La La Land (2016)

Trolls (2016) - it was good okay? Anna Kendrick is an all time fav

Wonder Woman - duh

The Big Sick -even though I just saw it a few nights ago

The Wind Rises (2013) - a studio ghibli movie

The First Monday in May (2016) - a documentary about putting together The Met Ball

One Small Hitch (2013) - indie film I found cute

Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (2015)

Andi Mack - !!! that’s all I can say.

Silver Spoon - 1 of the 2 anime I watched in the past year

Terrace House: Aloha State

Hjørdis - A short feel good series

Criminal Minds - my sister brought this into our house and its our new family show

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - another show my sister brought up and we bond over it now

Stranger Things Season 2

Voltron

Sherlock S4 - sucked

I watched a lot of Justice League/DC cartoons from the early 2000s to get ready for WW

Good Girls Revolt - though I never made it all the way through

Art

The DnP Terrarium!

LA LA Land gif

Got into an art school though I didn’t go (again)

Almost did a commission for someone

I did sell art!

Sold something on RedBubble

Fake music festival poster

Participating in the Phandom Big Bang

School

Finally started attending college

Got A’s in all classes. Out of 3 classes, don’t get excited

Learned more about Mathematics and coding

Life

Got closer to my sister

Brother moved out

Got back in touch with church

Reconnected with friend after 10 years

Found some hair solutions

I’m Bisexual! - that’s been creeping up on me since 8th grade and I finally ‘labeled’ it in 2016

Favorite Thrift Finds

Striped knit shirt

Brown ankle boots

Floral romper

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink - a book I loved in 4th grade that I thought I’d never see again

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory Tee

One Direction Where We Are Tour 2014 shirt!!! - that I’ll only wear once a year on July 23

Wrap around skirt

Fancy too-short romper I have yet to wear

Friends

Getting ice cream w/ the gang over spring break

Spending multiple hours @ Fuddruckers catching up w/ church friends

Going to see Sorcerer’s Stone in concert with M and D

That day O and I spent together where I was in hysterics over making music with water bottles

Late nights with my sister watching CM

S’s Grad party

Getting my ears pierced with B

Learning to Longboard

Cold playground chat with C

The Park wth C even though I wanted to puke after the fireworks thing

Hours long talks and BG with T

Finding and connecting with A and everyone else in small group, especially K, G, and E

Getting to know Tumblr mutuals better and gaining some new internet acquaintances

Joyfuls

Going to the theater to see LA LA Land by myself

Finally painting the game room

Waking up at 2 am to listen to Sign of the Times live

I started learning to play the ukulele

Making colored queues

Camping with the college ministry

Birthday with church friends

B’s end-of-Summer get together

Made a Link costume for my first Halloween party ever

Not-as-Joyfuls

H’s suicide, other deaths at old school and 13 reasons why

That one confrontation by an older family “friend” in July - ouch

Not being able to do VBS

More hair loss

College upsets

Every single conversation I had w/ my parents about the future

Seeing my friends hurt

Things I’m looking forward to in 2018

Getting to know friends better

More art

I might make a zine

Finding more good music/movies

Reading more

The different opportunities I could take

The Winter Olympics

Getting out of my little area of Texas maybe?

Finishing my first year of college

Dogs :)

Anything else positive that the world throws at us ★

#merry go rants #2017 #personal crap but you can read it #:)

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joshterry · 7 years

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everybody’s free (to drink iced mocha’s)

before i start this blog, i just want to say how important i think starbucks is. i don’t think starbucks really gets the credit it deserves sometimes, so here’s to you uniformed coffee empire, here’s to you. today i came into work on very little sleep, after starting a new workout program that i totally bombed, and knowing i had a few calls i had to make that i knew were not only going to be pointless but that i was dreading. a tired, frustrated and unmotivated me is the worst version of me. then by about 2:30, our intern becca went and got starbucks and as silly as it sounds, that tasty iced drink i ordered really changed the mood. so buy starbucks people, it’s the truth.

ok onto what i really want to talk about. aside from the starbucks iced mocha with no whipped cream and almond milk (which i can’t praise enough) i had, i often fail to realize the people and things that come into my every day life that change not only my perspective but my experiences themselves and help keep guiding me on a path that actually benefits me. i’m quite stubborn and rarely ask for help when i need it, so it takes special situations & persistent people to really get me over my own wrongness most days. i’ll start with re-evaluating the start of my day and then try to bring it back to the big picture, almost as if i would have had that lovely iced drink before the day began.

so i woke up at 6 am after less than 4 hours of sleep. i was drool on the floor, don’t want to be here, tired. why’d i only sleep 4 hours you ask? (i know you didn’t ask, it’s rhetorical, stick with me people i’m telling a dang story) it wasn’t because i didn’t sleep well, i slept great or as great as one can sleep in 4 hours, you see i have sleep apnea which i didn’t learn until a few years ago and i have to wear this darth vader looking mask when i sleep that blows air into my mouth so i don’t... you know... stop breathing and die, it’s quite sexy. ladies did i mention i’m single. before i got it though i probably went 7 years undiagnosed and was sleeping at a rate where every 9 minutes my body would literally have a convulsion to wake me up so i didn’t choke on my tongue and die. yep, that’s a real thing. anyway my mom realized something was wrong one night when i was visiting home because i think i sounded like a gun shot wounded dying yeti when i was sleeping and it freaked her out. now i go to a doctor once a year who charges me $200 to watch me yawn and tell me the machine i’m using is working and that he’ll see me in a year. but hey i can sleep now, so i can’t blame my inability to sleep for my tiredness.

so who do i blame for not sleeping? my friends of course. well last night i went to a super late movie with some of my friends who all lead busy lives. we do the same type of work - all with varying level of commitments. some of them have kids (or goats) who poop in bathtubs, some of them travel a ton and recently started new jobs with much higher commitments and stresses, some of them won’t buy new trucks even though they’re about to be rich (ben hutto, this is about you, buy the truck you idiot, everyone tell him to buy the truck in the comments section) but we all got together to watch a movie late at night about dudes in suits who saved the world by killing a drug dealer who lived in cambodia and turns bad guys into hamburger meat, mainly so we could just hangout in the middle of all our busyness and of course see a cameo by elton john where he kills robot dogs with bowling balls (shhh don’t tell peta). anyway, so i got little sleep because i didn’t get home until about 1:30 last night and then had to wake up at 6 am to go to the gym.

now let’s talk about me failing at the gym. i go to the gym 3 days a week with a personal trainer, kenny chesney goes there too, he’s far superior at going to the gym than i am, but i digress. anyone who’s known me for more than 3 years knows that exercise is a new thing for me. i’m pretty sure i didn’t exercise more than 3 times from the age of 1-32 and that includes being the all time worst hurdler on my high school track team my junior year (i still lettered, and if i ever get rich i’m making them retire my jersey and name the track after me). the max exercise i did all those years probably involved lifting a burrito to my mouth and i was dang good at that, could have been an olympian if that was a sport. the only water i drank those years came in the small amounts of water inside a dr. pepper can. today i drink close to 130 ounces of water a day, barely touch soda and i try to eat as healthy as i can. even though editor’s note i did go way off my diet last night and eat an entire family size box of cinnamon toast crunch by myself. i fail sometimes ok, i fail. anyway this gym i go to that i failed at this morning, i would have never gone to if it wouldn’t have been for my friend andrea who invited me to join her gym when i finally got serious about my health. in under 3 years of going there, i’ve lost 50 pounds (41 pounds of which was body fat). i’m stronger than i’ve ever been, i can run without being chased by an animal, i can do pushups like a marine and touch my toes like a gymnast and it actually makes me feel good and i (usually) enjoy going in the morning as it starts my day off in a really good way. the fact that today was a new program and i didn’t feel i did that great is ok, exercise has taught me it’s less about being perfect and more about showing up and putting in the work. my trainer olivia pushed me and encouraged me and got me through it. one of the guys i work with is named paul and paul has been going there for a month & a half and he has the best attitude about it, works super hard and just being around him made me complain less (maybe not cuss less) but definitely complain less. so even though i didn’t master my program today i left feeling way better. and tomorrow morning i’ll wake up at 6 am again and go boxing with my buddy tyler. yea i box now, like mike tyson with less ear biting. i go boxing because my friend kate invited me almost 2 years ago & that day i hated it but she encouraged me to keep coming back and now most weeks (as long as i don’t oversleep) i go about 3 days a week to that too.

by the time i got to work this morning i was spent. the first thing jenn & becca asked was “are you ok?” because i must’ve just looked like death. we got through the start of the day and it’s annoyances and by mid-afternoon after that lovely iced mocha that i’ve been telling you about, we got to talking a little more big picture. jenn, my only employee, reminded me of how we first got to know each other. jenn was persistent on introducing herself to me, and in classic not paying attention to anything me mode, i almost had forgot how many times she made an effort to get an “in" with me & the company. she did radio interviews with my acts, wrote about them in the magazine she ran, heck she even interviewed me one time for her magazine. she introduced herself to me at a college speaking seminar i did. she applied for an internship twice - i turned her down both times without meeting her, and when my former assistant decided to pursue a different career (which involved her famous dog), jenn applied for the job even though i had given her no real reason to want to work with me after all her efforts. my former assistant (who knew me way too well by that point) actually thought jenn would be perfect for the job and actually prepped her about the interview process, gave her cheat notes about what questions i’d ask, so she’d be prepared. jenn was the last person of about 60 that i interviewed for that job, at one point i told leslie “if none of these idiots work out, you can’t quit.” after 59 interviews, i had given up. i had talked to every idiot 22 year old in the city of nashville & they were all wrong. jenn came in and was exactly the type of person i wanted - she was focused, she was a hustler, she wanted to manage bands & she wanted to work for me (which i would have known if i would have paid attention all the times she tried to make an impression on me, but let’s not get past the point that jenn cheated in the interview ok, CHEATER), but i remember we hired her within an hour of the interview. i told leslie “make sure she doesn’t get a job anywhere else or you have to stay.” jenn took the job and leslie is now rich on internet dog money and a new york times best selling author (no really, she is - because leslie is also awesome). jenn’s the best person that’s ever worked for me and that wouldn’t have happened if leslie wouldn’t have helped her cheat and if jenn wouldn’t have been persistent enough to want to work with me regardless of how many times i got in her way. today, paying jenn's paycheck is the only check i look forward to paying every month and anyone who knows me and knows how cheap i am realizes how odd of a statement that is. but she truly makes my company, this job & personal life better and makes things move so much more fluid than i ever could do on my own with all our acts. and after we talked about how much of a cheater jenn was, i got to thinking about clients i had worked with in the past and the clients we work with now and how they all came about. and one after another it became obvious that so many clients we had in the past and had now came from referrals from other clients or people we had worked with before and there was kinda a weird connection between all of them. people who had told me i should try this, or work with this person, even if i didn’t see it at first. the ones that went away were for the better and opened up room for the ones we’ve had great strides with. those same people encouraged me to start my own business 2 years ago too. a decision that scared the crap out of me when i was making it, but that has now made me incredibly happy and i can’t imagine not being an entrepreneur at this moment.

i have countless other stories like this, if i wrote about all of of them or even half of them, this blog would turn into some really long book that none of you would bother reading. so i’ll leave you with this.

i know most days i, and i’d assume most of us, overlook the small things that are actually positive, because frankly it’s easier to look at the annoying things, the tiresome things, or the things that make us feel discouraged. it’s much easier for us to all feel like victims instead of the lucky jerks we actually are. so here’s what i suggest. ready? reflect on the people who impact you and present you with opportunities to change things for the better, stop being so stubborn, and get out of your own way. be open to change, it’s gonna happen whether you’re ready for it to or not, and usually that change leads to the things you really want. trust your gut and just let things happen how they’re going to. you can’t control it anyway. and finally the most important thing i’ll tell you is, and i really want you to pay attention to this part… i really do think you should try these iced mocha things though, and that’s not just because i’m fishing for starbucks gift cards for christmas either… ok i am fishing for those, but you read this until the end and isn’t that the whole point anyway. starbucks for everyone!!!!

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raisingsupergirl · 5 years

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The Literal Literary Hermit

I often hear that "the world" says we can't do things. We can't follow our dreams. Or we can't be who we want to be. And on the surface, this sounds pretty profound. But I did something this last week that reminded me that the world is a pretty big freakin' place, and most of the time it's our own mind telling us that we can't do something. And you know what that is? It's an excuse. It's an excuse to avoid hard work, a little bit of planning, and the possibility of failure. But let's rewind. My revelation started in a hole in the ground.

In fact, I'm sitting here, right now, looking out the window of my 200-square-foot hermitage, watching ice chunks flow by in the Mississippi river. I've been here for five days, and other than calls home to my wife and daughters twice each day, I've had two conversations since I've been here. And both of them lasted less than two minutes. So, why am I here? What have I been doing? And what have I learned. Well, to answer those questions, I need to go back just a little bit farther.

First, you need to know that I'm thirty-two years old, I'm a full-time physical therapist, I have a lovely extroverted wife and two "lively" daughters (one and four years old), I'm the owner and editor-in-chief of a fiction magazine (shameless plug alert: GoHavok.com), and I've been writing fiction novels for almost a decade now. I'm also a Christian and a Freemason, and I, unlike my family, am not an extrovert. But the thing to take away from all of this is that I'm a writer. I've written seven novels (four independently and three collaboratively). And yet, I've never published anything over 1,000 words. Why?

Well, the short answer is that I haven't yet written anything that a big publisher has considered "sellable." Sure, I've had some hits from smaller publishers, and I could self-publish like your cousin's friend, but, for me, there's just something in my soul that needs that first book to be read by more than twelve people, and it’s worth the wait... mostly (and to be clear, I know plenty of writers who have done extremely well indie/self-publishing, and I know others who don’t have any desire to sell tens of thousands of copies as long as their family and friends can enjoy what they’ve written. I give both groups due credit and respect. But I’m not them). The problem is, statistically, most authors sell their first book in their early thirties (remember that I'm thirty-two). And I'm starting to realize this is because, by the time someone hits their thirties, they've pretty much settled into who they're going to be. And with each passing year, it gets harder for me to justify "wasting" time on stories that nobody's going to read. So, we finally come to the inciting event of the first act—the point of no return.

I wrote a book in November 2017. I thought it was great. Relatable characters, exciting plot, inspiring message, an out-of-this-world setting. But, apparently, it was a mess. Yes, it received positive feedback on a number of levels, but in the end, it needed a lot of work. And I was heartbroken because this was the novel to make or break me. If it didn't force the stars to align, I just couldn't make myself commit to another 200-hour paperweight. So what did I do? I sat it aside for a year and let it build into a source of anxiety and frustration. Every time I thought about it, it made me mad. Why? Because I knew it had huge potential. I knew I had the talent to make it shine. But I just. Didn’t. Have. The. Time. Until a friend of mine told me about a place called Visions of Peace Hermitages.

$40/night or $200/week. Forty minutes from my house. Seven hermitages (literally dug into the earth) overlooking the Mississippi river. No internet. No TV. No YouFaced TwitterSnapstagram. In short, no distractions. And suddenly, I knew my novel had a chance. Just one more hurdle to overcome—convince my wife to be a single parent for six days while I kicked back and followed my dream. Turns out, she's amazing. Not one single word of protest came out of her mouth. Apparently we'd been together long enough for her to finally understand my passion, even if she didn't understand my stories.

So, for a total of $300 ($200 for the hermitage and $100 for the food) and 40 hours of paid time off from work, I set out on a Sunday and made one last run at the thing that I'd literally dreamed about all of my adult life. I was going to re-tell the novel written on my heart. And here's what happened…

Day 1 (Sunday): Snow-covered highways and single-digit temperatures brought me to my fortress of solitude. I arrived optimistic and more than a little nervous. I spent the first few hours unpacking, organizing, reorganizing, and generally "settling in." I spent some time in prayer and some more time walking the grounds to take pictures and familiarize myself with my surroundings. And then, unable to contain my excitement, I sat down to the first chapter. I wrote and edited for four hours that first day, then made myself a simple dinner, read a little Walden, and turned in at 10:30, determined to get a good night's rest before my first full day. Unfortunately, I tossed and turned all stinking night. For a hole in the ground, that place had more noises than a haunted mansion. I really don't know how it sounded like people were walking around upstairs and playing music next door. There was literally no upstairs or next door. The bed was hard and small, three space heaters on full blast weren't enough to keep me from freezing, and my mind would not stop. And did I mention that there were train tracks 200 yards away from my front door, or that the barges on the Mississippi don't shut down at night? Yeah, not a great start.

Day 2: I awoke at 6:30am, made a cup of coffee, a PB&J sandwich (team crunchy, hoorah), some strawberries, and a glass of OJ, and then watched the sun rise over the river. Well, I watched the sun rise through a veil of clouds over the river. But despite the overcast conditions, a fresh bed of snow had fallen, painting a breathtaking backdrop for me to write my Great American Novel. And I spent the next eleven-ish hours doing just that. Writing. Again, a small lunch and dinner, short calls home at 12:30pm and 7:30pm as scheduled, but no Walden. I was in it to win it. Another hour of writing before bed, and it was lights out again by 10:30. Then, another bad night of sleep. My skin was dry and itchy due to the space heaters.

Day 3: 6:30 wake-up. Yummy breakfast (PB/honey/banana sandwich, OJ, coffee), another cloudy sunrise, calls home at the same scheduled times, simple lunch and dinner, and another successful day of writing. I was getting in a serious groove, and all my romanticized notions of afternoon jogs and evening musings were now just distractions that I didn't have time for. Before bed, I boiled water on the stove, which seemed to help the dry air, and thus my itchiness. I slept a little better, but still not great.

Day 4 (Wednesday): THERE'S A REASON PEOPLE CALL IT HUMP DAY. 7:00 wake-up due to sleeping poorly the past few nights, cloudy sunrise, banana/OJ/coffee. No lunch (pistachios and strawberries at some point in the day) and a simple dinner. Calls home at 12:30 and 7:30 as always. I barely got through half the chapters I'd planned. Overall, very bogged down and feeling like this was a mistake even though the work I'd done so far was better than I'd hoped for. In bed by 10pm, and lo-and-behold, I slept BETTER! My brain shut off, I stayed warm, and I slept through most of the night. Hallelujah!

Day 5: What a day. A bright, clear sunrise over the mighty Mississippi. A quick banana/OJ/coffee breakfast while I started in on the day's writing. Another snack lunch and quick family call at 12:30 because I was on such a roll, and I made up for my lack of productivity the day before and then some. I called home at the scheduled 7:30 time to celebrate my news with the family and… nobody answered. I called literally six more times over the next ten minutes. Nothing. My wife knew the scheduled time and she didn't care. She didn't care about me. She didn't care that I was gone. She didn't care if I ever came back. And when she FINALLY called me back FIFTEEN minutes later, she said she didn't realize that it had gotten that late. And she didn't even feel bad that she'd made me wait FIFTEEN minutes! She didn't care! So, obviously, being confined away from one's family in a 200-square-foot hermitage does weird things to a person's mind, which resulted in a less than encouraging phone call. But hey, other than that, a great day.

Day 6: Did I mention that being secluded for prolonged periods does weird things to a person? Well, I rewarded my previous productivity by again sleeping in to seven, and another crystal clear sunrise pulled me from a deep, restful slumber. And then I saw my first sign of life for several days—a little ladybug crawling across the ceiling over my bed. "Hallooo, lady bug!" I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. "Or are ye a MANbug?" And I proceeded to have a five-minute conversation with the little guy in an Irish accent. I mean, the ladybug didn't have an Irish accent. Just me. And I resolved at that moment to watch Braveheart and Brave when I got home because the accent had so inspired me that morning. I could do it! Just a handful of chapters left. Let's go!

And then at 1:58 pm, I finished my novel. I could write another blog post on the supreme sense of victory that finishing a novel evokes, but let me just briefly say, "YAAAAHOOOOOOO!" and be done with it. I then spent the rest of the afternoon walking down by the river and FINALLY appreciating the quiet magic of that place devoted to God's majesty ("Be still and know that I am God."). Though, I will say that after a week of creating an alternate reality in my head, I found it impossible to turn off the narrative. I constantly found myself creating conversations, describing poetic scenes, and outlining plots based on everything I saw during my walk. Kind of annoying, really ("You never want to cross the Muddy in the shallow places. The undertow will pull you right under. No, find the deepest spot and paddle like your life depends on it, because it does.").

So here I am, on the evening of day six, writing this blog because when I go home tomorrow, there's NO WAY I'm going to be on my computer. I'm going to cuddle with my family until I squeeze their eyeballs out. But before I wrap things up, let me just share a few final thoughts that I jotted down during my stay here.

1) My location truly was amazing. I've never been somewhere simultaneously so secluded and connected. With trains and barges gliding by at regular intervals, I was constantly reminded of the outside world without being distracted by it. I was a silent observer. It was an introvert's dream.

2) The body isn't meant to be sedentary. I wrote for eleven to twelve hours per day for five days straight. That's around sixty hours, most of which was spent either sitting or lying down, usually in five-hour intervals without changing position. Even with brief sessions of stretching, pushups, etc. each day, my body was absolutely wrecked (anybody know a good physical therapist?). In case you didn't notice, my appetite dwindled, as did my waistline, but I also lost muscle mass, my digestive system was an absolute disaster, and when I went for a walk on that last day, I almost passed out from the sheer lack of cardiovascular health. There IS a reason professional writers only write four to five hours per day. Trust me.

3) What I did was NOT sustainable. Aside from my physical health, my mental health suffered as well. In case you didn't notice, I started having conversations with bugs and getting mad at my wife for being fifteen minutes late to a phone call. And in the latter half of the week, all I wanted to do was quit. I enjoyed the story I was living in, but nothing about it was "fun." It was a constant struggle to keep engaged, and at times, the only thing that kept me going was the promise of deer chili and a Bulleit old fashioned, with which I plan to reward myself right after I finish this blog.

4) I did a lot of counting. Maybe it had something to do with my mild OCD or my seclusion, or maybe it was a coping mechanism to keep myself on track, but I broke down everything possible into fractions and percentages. Half way through the braunschweiger on day two? I'd better slow down. Averaging 2,000 words/hour for the first two days? That means I should finish on time if I write ten hours per day for the next three days. I did more measuring and math in those five days than I'm comfortable admitting.

5) I had everything I needed in those 200 square feet… I think. Like I said, I was only there for a week, but I totally see how those tiny house minimalists make it work. Less to clean. Less to keep track of. More appreciation for what you do have. Then again, I'm not sure I could have fit on that twin bed with my wife and two daughters.

6) I missed a lot of opportunities, but it's okay. As I said, this place is amazing. I could have spent a week just walking the grounds, enjoying the sunrise, and generally observing the VOP Hermitage's "rule" on the plaque that was hanging in the chapel—"Listen well and produce nothing." The problem was, I had come here to produce. And that's what I did. This place can be used for many things, and I plan to come back again.

7) I may not be an extrovert, but man, I miss my family. I really do. There's not a lot more to say about that. I appreciate them. I appreciate their energy. I appreciate the fact that they love me. I appreciate the fact that my wife allowed this whole life-changing retreat happen. And I can't wait to see them.

8) My book is done. I'll send it off to beta-readers one more time. I'll make some adjustments based on their feedback. And then my agent will send it off to publishers. And I'll wait. I don't know what will happen, and that's okay. I edited 80,000 words and wrote 20,000 more over the last five days, and I also grew a lot through the experience. Even if this book doesn't work out, I'm not sure if I'll give up on the dream. Maybe I will, and maybe I won't. Or maybe that dream will just look different than it did before. I don't know. But as my main character says in the final lines of my novel (and I'm paraphrasing because copyright/first rights laws): "A lot of things make a person. And in some ways, nothing does. We are who we are, yesterday, today, and forever. It's simple, really. Live life and regret nothing."

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adorkablephil · 7 years

Text

Phan Timeline

For a while now, I’ve been wanting a concise and up-to-date phan timeline to help make my fics as chronologically accurate as possible, but I couldn’t find one, so I decided to make one! I hope other people find it useful, too!

Also, I have linked to relevant YouTube videos wherever possible, so you can check out Dan and Phil looking like cute little babies in Jamaica in 2010, goofing off with PJ and Chris in Italy in 2011, or appearing at various conventions over the years, that sort of thing.

(It’s a bit heavy on the 2009-2010 stuff, because that’s what’s hardest to find & it’s so useful for fetus!phan fics.)

1/30/87 - Phil born in the town of Rawtenstall, in the district (or borough) of Rossendale, in the county of Lancashire, England (17 miles from Manchester)

6/11/91 - Dan born in the town of Wokingham, a historic market town in the county of Berkshire, England (7 miles from Reading)

3/26/06 - Phil uploaded his first video to AmazingPhil on YouTube

??/??/07 - Dan started watching Phil’s videos (probably approximate but mentioned in Dan’s 3/21/17 liveshow)

5/??/08 - Phil created his Twitter account

7/??/08 - Phil received his B.A. in English Language and Linguistics from the University of York (per University of York website)

1/27/09 - first documented tweet between Phil and PJ

2/??/09 - Dan first commented on an AmazingPhil video (I’ve found no actual documentation of this)

5/??/09 - Dan created his Twitter account

5/28/09 - first documented time Dan tweeted Phil (now deleted)

6/2/09 - first documented time Phil replied to Dan on Twitter (now deleted)

6/11/09 - Dan turned 18

6/21/09 - DnP became Facebook friends

6/??/09 - Dan finished school and began his gap year

7/8/09 - Dan tweeted “Just arrived back from a week in Cyprus…” (now deleted)

8/28/09 - Phil finished his final project at the University of York and left university (date estimated based on things he said in his “Burning Walrus” video on 8/24/09)

9/16/09 - Dan created a Dailybooth account and Phil followed it

9/25/09 - Dan posted his first nakedbooth photo (strategically covered in several stuffed animals) to celebrate 100 followers

10/4/09 - Dan posted his second nakedbooth photo with the number 200 (his number of followers) strategically placed

10/7/09 - Phil tweeted “woahh just talked to Dan for 5 hours” (now deleted)

10/10/09 - Dan posted his third nakedbooth photo with a video game controller strategically placed (to celebrate 300 followers)

10/16/09 - Dan posted his first danisnotonfire YouTube video, “Hello Internet.”

10/18/09 - Dan posted his second YouTube video, “Butterfingers”

10/19/09 - DnP first met in Manchester (met at Manchester Piccadilly Station, then went to Starbucks, Apple Store, and the Hilton’s Sky Bar)

10/19/09-10/21/19 - Dan stayed at Phil’s house while his parents were away (including filming of first PINOF on the 20th)

10/23/09 - Dan posted a nakedbooth photo with a lava lamp strategically placed

10/25/09 - first PINOF video posted

10/27/09 - Dan posted his third YouTube video, “Procrastination”

10/31/09 - YouTube Halloween Gathering in London (Dan had posted only 3 videos at this point, starting just a bit more than 2 weeks before the gathering)

11/1/09 - both Dan and Phil headed home after spending the night at an unknown location in London

11/2/09 - Dan uploaded a video which apparently included some of his nakedbooth pics, but it was almost immediately reported and taken down. He replaced it with a “new and improved version” the following day (as mentioned in this tweet), which is clearly this deleted video someone re-uploaded.

11/3/09 - Dan tweeted “just had a biblical-scale arguement with the father. pah, ill find sanctuary on the internet.”

11/6/09-11/9/09 - Dan stayed with Phil (whose parents were home)

11/7/09 - Dan and Phil spent the day with Phil’s friend Stephen Byrne (3sixty5days on Twitter) visiting from Ireland

11/10/09 - Dan posted a nakedbooth photo taken at Phil’s house with Lion strategically placed in the foreground

11/22/09 - Dan tweeted “I wonder how biology can explain the physical pain you feel in your chest when all you want to do is be with someone D:” (now deleted)

11/25/09 - Phil tweeted two photos from a Skype call with Dan. In one of them, Dan’s hand is pulling up his shirt, revealing much of his bare torso. Phil tweeted in response to the pic “woof.” (Phil’s tweet remains, but the photos have been deleted.) Dan tweeted, “four and a half hour skype calls are the best,” which Phil retweeted.

11/26/09 - Dan tweeted “wow 5 hours and 42 minutes on skype xD that’s a new record. the best thing before you fall asleep though :) goodnight guys <3″

11/29/09 - on his way to visit Phil, Dan tweeted “on 3 ½ hour train journey with my laptop xD happy times”

11/29/09 - Dan arrived at Phil’s house to stay while Phil’s parents were away & they went to the Sky Bar in Manchester again (full visit 11/29/09-12/4/09)

12/1/09 - Dan mentioned on Dailybooth that he and Phil had watched “Wall-E” together. Both Dan and Phil tweeted (this and this, but Phil’s tweets seem to be deleted) requesting inappropriate questions for a Q+A video for Dan’s channel (but none was uploaded anytime soon after this?) Dan tweeted, “All I can taste is cherry, all I can smell is cherry, all I can hear is cherry and all I can feel is cherry. Can’t really see much though” (no time stamp, tweet now deleted)

12/2/09 - at 2:16 a.m., while staying at Phil’s house, Dan tweeted “Uma Thurman just watched me have sex” (along with a photo of an Uma Thurman “Kill Bill” poster like the one in Phil’s bedroom, tweet now deleted). Later in the day, they went to see “Paranormal Activity” together.

12/3/09 - Dan and Phil both wrote tweets describing a day of “new mario wii + coke” and “watching ‘the cube’”

12/4/09 - Dan returned home from visiting Phil

12/8/09 - Phil tweeted “awake!! o_O fell asleep on skype to dan” (now deleted)

12/10/09-12/12/09 - Dan stayed with Phil (including another visit to the Sky Bar on the 10th)

12/13/09 - DnP traveled together to the YouTube Festive Gathering in London (including a visit to the Apple Store with various friends)—they stayed overnight on the “giant airbed” at the home of Tom Howes (wtftomcoolio on Twitter), one of Dan’s flirty Twitter friends (who is the same age as Dan)

12/14/09 - Dan and Phil visited the Natural History Museum in London before they each headed home

12/21/09 - Phil tweeted “longest skype call ever :]”

12/22/09-12/24/09 - Dan stayed with Phil (including filming for the Interactive Christmas Adventure video)

12/27/09 - Interactive Christmas Adventure video posted

12/30/09 - Dan tweeted that he was recognized by “a gang of hysterical fans” while waiting to meet Phil at the train station (in Reading—Phil was staying overnight with him so they could travel to London together the next day)

12/31/09 - New Years party at the home of Tom Bacon (tom_bacon on Twitter, SuperBaconNation on YouTube) in London (where Dan drank Malibu and looked really drunk in some pictures)

1/??/10 - Phil received his M.A. in Video Postproduction with Specialisation in Visual Effects from the University of York (per University of York website)

1/1/10 - Phil stayed overnight with Dan in Wokingham

¼/10 - Dan started his internship at a London law firm (during his gap year)

1/6/10 - Dan tweeted that he had become a “YouTube Partner”

1/7/10 - Dan tweeted excitedly that Phil had “over 90,000 subscribers”

1/15/10-1/17/10 - Dan stayed with Phil (went to see “Avatar” in 3D at IMAX, failed attempt to go to Sheffield Gathering due to bad weather)

1/23/10 - Dan tweeted “i strongly dislike the video i made earlier this week, but phil keeps telling me its good and wants me to upload it x] itll be up l8r 2night” (in reference to “New Years Resolution Fail”)

1/24/10 - Dan tweeted “coming home from manchester…” (so had been visiting Phil again)—got stranded in London along the way due to train issues

1/29/10 - Dan’s London law firm internship ended (during his gap year)

2/2/10 - Dan tweeted “this is so traumatic ;_; i don’t care how much i fail i just want the pressure to be behind me. i just want to move on” (in reference to revising for exam)

2/3/10 - some big exam for Dan (but this was during his gap year?)

2/4/10 - Dan received his unconditional acceptance to Manchester University

2/13/10 - infamous Valentine’s Day (v-day) video posted privately to LessAmazingPhil while Dan was in India with his family

2/14/10 - Dan tweeted “I’m fed up of India.. there is somewhere else I want to be right now :[ <3″

2/20/10-2/23/10 - Dan visited Phil (directly after his trip to India and before returning home)

3/5/10-3/9/10 - Phil visited Dan

3/16/10-3/21/10 - Phil visited Dan

4/17/10-4/26/10 - trip to Blackpool and filming of PINOF 2

5/19/10-5/21/10 - London and Thorpe Amusement Park together

5/27/10 - AmazingDan video posted

5/27/10-6/3/10 - trip to Portugal (Phil mentions it briefly with some photos in his “World’s Biggest Chip?!” video, showing that they visited the Zoomarine in Guia, drank sangria, and spent time exploring the rocky coastline)

5/28/10 - PINOF 2 video posted (from Portugal, as Phil tweeted “thank you portugal internet ;_; Q+A upload failed after 6 hrs. Video will be up in.. 6hrs 46. x____x sorry”)

6/11/10-6/18/10 - E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles (with Bryony, PJ, and others)

6/27/10-7/6/10?? - Dan visited Phil

7/26/10-8/2/10 - YouTuber Jamaica trip

8/6/10-8/8/10 - Summer in the City convention in London (only Dan attended because Phil was apartment hunting)

8/13/10-8/21/10?? - Dan visited and helped Phil move into his own apartment in Manchester

8/31/10-9/12/10 - at Phil’s place, StickAID collabs (1 & 2), zoo (on the 5th), and Muse concert (on the 11th)

9/16/10 - Dan arrived at Manchester University

11/16/10 - Dan hospitalized in Manchester with Phil’s help

12/23/10 - AmazingDan 2 video posted

2/10/11 - Phil was with Dan in Wokingham on Dan’s mum’s birthday

6/6/11 - Dan’s withdrawal from Manchester University effective (though the letter from the university to that effect was not sent until 10/24/12, so it’s unclear precisely when Dan actually made the decision and officially informed them of his wish to withdraw)

7/27/11 - Phil moved to their new apartment in Manchester

8/10/11?? - Dan moved in with Phil in Manchester

8/12/11-8/14/11 - Summer in the City convention (in London)

8/28/11 - DnP went to a Muse concert together

8/30/11-9/13/11 - DnP went to Italy with PJ & crabstickz

9/17/11 - infamous Valentine’s Day (v-day) video unprivated by YouTube glitch (didn’t circulate widely)

10/17/11 - DnP started The Super Amazing Project

11/1/11 - PINOF 3 video posted

12/22/11 - first baking video posted (“How to make Christmas cookies!”) (Phil says he has never baked anything before and that this will be his first time.)

12/25/11 - first Dan and Phil Christmas Special on BBC Radio 1

2/14/12 - (Valentine’s Day) Phil tweeted “I want someone to spend the day playing bubble bobble with me! I have reached level 100 but never finished it! ._.”

3/17/12 - DitL in Manchester video posted

3/23/12-3/25/12 - Playlist Live convention (in Orlando, Florida)

4/4/12 - Phil tweeted “At the coolest Thai restaurant ever with @danisnotonfire and family! http://twitpic.com/95mbjx”

5/5/12 - Phil’s first live show on YouNow

6/22/12-6/27/12 - week in Vegas for Dan’s 21st birthday

6/28/12-6/30/12 - VidCon (in southern California)

7/10/12 - Dan’s first live show on YouNow (while flat-hunting in London with Phil)

7/11/12 - Dan’s infamous “fyi i like vagina” tweet in response to @Doctor_Swift’s question about whether he identified as homosexual (I’ve been unable to verify this)

7/23/12 - DnP moved to London

8/17/12-8/19/12 - Summer in the City convention (in London)

9/12/12 - PINOF 4 video posted

10/12/12 - Dan posted his FANDOMS video during a time when he was having difficulty/conflict with ... well ... fans

10/24/12 - Manchester University sent Dan a letter stating that his withdrawal was effective 6/6/11

10/31/12 - infamous Valentine’s Day (v-day) video leaked again and spread wildly on Tumblr (much fan freakage, much Dan freakage)

12/24/12 - DnP ended The Super Amazing Project (though it eventually continued without them)

12/25/12 - second Dan and Phil Christmas Special on BBC Radio 1

1/13/13 - DnP started weekly BBC Radio 1 request show

2/4/13 - Dan hit 1 mil subscribers

3/22/13-3/24/13 - Playlist Live convention (in Orlando, Florida)

5/18/13 - (kinda) DitL in New York video posted

7/6/13 - Phil hit 1 mil subscribers

7/30/13 - Dan hit 2 mil subscribers

8/1/13-8/3/13 - VidCon (in southern California)

8/17/13-8/18/13 - Summer in the City convention (in London)

8/27/13 - DitL in London video posted

11/22/13 - PINOF 5 video posted

12/22/13 - Phil won Sugarscape’s “Hottest Lad 2013” (Dan came in second place, ahead of various members of One Direction, among others)

12/29/13 - Dan hit 3 mil subscribers

2/19/14 - Dan and Phil presented the YouTube livestream of the Brits

3/21/14-3/23/14 - Playlist Live convention (in Orlando, Florida)

6/26/14-6/28/14 - VidCon (in southern California) (when others talked over Phil on the “Guide to Vlogging” panel, Dan grabbed a microphone and asked, “Can Phil express an opinion?”)

8/1/14-8/3/14 - Summer in the City convention (in London)

8/24/14 - DnP ended weekly BBC Radio 1 request show

8/29/14 - Phil hit 2 mil subscribers

9/1/14 - DnP started monthly Internet Takeover on BBC Radio 1

9/11/14 - Dan hit 4 mil subscribers

9/12/14 - DanandPhilGames YouTube channel was created

11/6/14 - PINOF 6 video posted

12/20/14 - Festive DitL video posted

2/6/15-2/8/15 - Playlist Live convention (in Orlando, Florida)

2/13/15 - Dan hosted #NicerInternet special on BBC Radio 1 called “Anti-Social Media Live” featuring various other YouTubers (including Phil)

2/25/15 - Dan and Phil presented the YouTube livestream of the Brits

3/26/15 - TABINOF/TATINOF announced in YouTube trailer

4/9/15-4/20/15 - DnP trip to Japan

4/22/15 - DitL in Japan video posted

7/23/15-7/25/15 - VidCon (in southern California)

8/14/15-8/16/15 - Summer in the City convention (in London)

8/20/15 - Dan hit 5 mil subscribers

10/8/15-11/15/15 - TATINOF UK

10/12/15 - Phil hit 3 mil subscribers

10/13/15 - TABINOF published

11/29/15 - PINOF 7 video posted

2/12/16 - Dan tweeted “i’m off on the family holiday my mum planned for us to spend some quality time with my grandma before she gets too old to travel!”

2/14/16 - Phil tweeted (from his family’s home) “Ahoy! No live show tonight as I’m with family but there will be a rather romantic episode of undertale later!” (So they spent Valentine's Day 2016 apart.)

2/24/16 - Dan and Phil presented the YouTube livestream of the Brits

4/25/16 - last DnP Internet Takeover on BBC1 Radio 1 (pre-recorded episode which aired while they were in the US)

4/22/16-6/23/16 - TATINOF US/Canada

6/23/16-6/25/16 - VidCon (in southern California)

7/29/16 - Dan tweeted “finally @AmazingPhil exposed” along with photo of Phil eating Crunchy Nut out of the box

8/10/16 - Dan hit 6 mil subscribers

8/14/16-8/26/16 - TATINOF Australia (visited Hong Kong on their way there [possibly 8/7/16-8/8/16] and again on their way home [possibly 8/28/16-8/29/16])

8/21/16 - DitL in Australia video posted

8/22/16 - Dan painted his fingernails black

8/28/16?? - went to Ozone sky bar in Hong Kong (on way to Australia)

10/5/16 - TATINOF documentaries released on YouTube Red

10/23/16 - DnP jointly won “Best Vlogger” at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards

10/31/16 - “Monster Pops” video posted to danisnotonfire, spawning the “Post-Baking Universe”

11/3/16 - DAPGO published

11/21/16 - TATINOF in Dublin

11/22/16 - BONCAs (TATINOF won Film of the Year, PINOF 7 won Collaboration of the Year, and Phil won British Creator of the Year—Phil called Dan up onstage to share his individual Creator of the Year award)

11/27/16 - TATINOF in Berlin

11/29/16 - PINOF 8 video posted

12/5/16-12/6/16 - TATINOF in Stockholm

1/17/17 - Dan officially stopped straightening his hair, saying in his live show (which he titled “I have ‘Hobbit hair’ now!’), “Wavey Dan is rising.”

1/30/17 - Phil’s 30th birthday

1/30/17 - while on holiday with Phil’s family on the Isle of Man, Dan tweeted “happy birthday to @AmazingPhil you may be on the road to death but the light and warmth you bring to our lives is as everlasting as the sun”

3/14/17 - Phil hit 4 million subscribers

3/21/17 - Dan mentioned the mysterious “that week in March” in his live show, spawning a million phan theories and constant harassment of him to explain (he later explained that it was about running out of anti-depressants and suffering terrible withdrawal effects for the previous 10 days or so)

3/30/17 - “the pantsless live show” (when Dan and Phil both moved their blanket and camera around in such a way as to hide their lower bodies throughout)

4/10/17 - visited 1-Altitude sky bar in Singapore (on way to Australia)

4/15/17-4/17/17 - Cool for Summer Festival in Australia (visited Singapore on their way there and again on their way home)

4/16/17 - Dan painted his nails sparkly

4/26/17 - moved to second London apartment

5/1/17 - Dan rebranded from danisnotonfire to Daniel Howell, changing the names on all his social media accounts but keeping his YouTube channel name the same

5/5/17-5/7/17 - Playlist Live convention (in Orlando, Florida) (after which they vacationed in Florida with Phil’s family, including a visit to Miami)

6/21/17-6/24/17 - Vidcon (in southern California)

8/26/17 - first livestreamed video from DanAndPhilGAMES, “THE PHAN-PRIX”

9/9/17-9/18/17 - vacation at “an island in the Mediterranean” with friends (most likely Bryony and Wirrow)

9/25/17-9/27/17 - YouTube Creator Summit in Madrid, Spain

10/10/17 - Dan widely publicized World Mental Health Day in his live show, on Instagram, and on Twitter

10/11/17 - Dan posted his widely-praised “Daniel and Depression” video

10/17/17 - Dan was named an official Ambassador for the UK youth mental health charity YoungMinds

10/17/17 - Dan explained “that week in March” in his live show, explaining that it was 2 weeks that he went through withdrawal symptoms from running out of anti-depressants (Note: many phans then extremely contrite for having built up so many conspiracy theories and harassing him over and over again to explain since he first mentioned it in his live show on 3/21/17)

10/19/17 - the release of “Truth Bombs,” Dan and Phil’s party game (on the 8th anniversary of their first meeting), including the upload of a video of them playing the game with Tomska and Hazel Hayes

10/30/17 - the conjoined Halloween baking video basically broke the phandom and trended at #7 on YouTube, despite the amount of swearing and innuendo

11/10/17 - the 2018 Interactive Introverts world tour was announced

11/16/17 - Dan participated (with Prince William) in the announcement of the StopSpeakSupport anti-cyberbullying campaign

11/24/17 - PINOF9 video uploaded

12/??/17-12/??/17 - Dan spent time with the Lesters on the Isle of Man before going home to spend the actual holiday with his family

1/30/18 - Dan posted Phil’s birthday tweet with a photo of a cake that said, “Show me your birthday philussy,” which Phil then had to explain to his parents

2/14/18 - Dan and Phil went out to Valentine’s Day lunch with Martyn and Cornelia to celebrate Cornelia’s birthday

4/28/18 - Interactive Introverts world tour began in Brighton, England

Notes: I tried to include only events and dates that are clearly and readily documented online (mostly on Twitter or YouTube, but also occasionally Instagram, Wikipedia, or news articles), but I did also consult @thephandirectory and danie & felucca’s Dan & Phil Timeline of Early IRL Meetings), both of which include archived social media posts (tweets, Dailybooths, etc.) from 2009 and early 2010, since both Dan and Phil (but especially Dan) have deleted a lot of stuff from the early days (which Dan even jokes about in his Diss Track).

This is not intended to be a comprehensive timeline of everything they’ve done, because that would be ridiculous. I was just trying to include events that are most commonly discussed in the phandom, events that seemed important to their relationship, and events that seemed most important to their careers.

If I list just the name of an event (such as a convention or YouTuber gathering) with no other details, that means that Dan and Phil both attended.

In a few places, I wasn’t sure of exact dates or found conflicting information (such as exactly what date Dan moved into the apartment with Phil in Manchester), and I’ve gone with the source that seemed more reliable and/or included question marks. Also, there may occasionally be a one-day error where I had difficulty translating US time to UK time on an existing Twitter post. I researched long and hard, so I hope I haven’t made any stupid mistakes! If anyone wants to help refine or correct this timeline, feel free to message me with any additional information.

Also, tons and tons of thanks to @alittledizzy for her invaluable help with the early stuff!

Disclaimer: While I do ship phan, I’ve tried to just state facts throughout without adding any speculation.

#phan #phandom #dan and phil #phan timeline project #phan timeline

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recentanimenews · 4 years

Text

So You Think You Can Be an Anime Brand Manager

Before I joined Crunchyroll as part of our events team I spent over a decade at FUNimation (I still have to remember to not use all caps when writing the word ‘FUN’ anymore). During my time there I had a variety of different jobs. One of those jobs early on in my time there was as a Brand Manager. A Brand Manager’s main job (during my time there) was to oversee launches and promotions for DVD releases. This was around the mid to late 2000s, so before streaming became the main way to watch anime and DVD multi-part box sets ruled the land.

Over the years I worked as a Brand Manager, I and other Brand Managers came across a lot of different experiences with the brands we worked on. Some of these were challenging or at the very least entertaining. The idea came to me that if I find these things entertaining some anime fans might, as well. So I decided to make a workshop to host at conventions about what it was like being a Brand Manager in anime and throw people into some of the more interesting situations that some of us had come across. Of course, I could not share the exact details of these events or any names. Partners stop being your friend-DA when you break your NDA. We had to make a fake anime series, so Ninja Blood War Host Club in Space was born!

Adam in the Brand Manager workshop days!

Working with some other people in the company we came up with a summary, taglines, general information, and even some art. Now having all these assets I wrote up six different parts of launching a brand and gave each scenario a selection of possible outcomes for people to choose from as how to deal with each situation. I gave the workshop the name, “Shoot The Hostage - An Adventure in Brand Management” to help get people to attend. The term “shoot the hostage” referred to the famous moment from the Keanu Reeves '90s action movie classic Speed, which had the idea of stopping a gunman from taking a hostage by shooting the hostage in the leg so the gunman had to let them go to get away. Basically trying to make the best, but difficult, decision possible in a bad situation. I don’t remember how many conventions I took this to but it was fun to watch people try and tackle a multitude of surprises at each one.

I have not hosted this workshop in a long time, but found myself thinking about it again recently. I thought it would be fun to share it online now since the anime world has grown so much with streaming, Crunchyroll, and more, making this more of a snapshot of anime brand management from over a decade ago... but I couldn’t find the original file! Pretty sure I lost it on some old hard drive. Then Lauren on our events team reminded me she went to one of these workshops before she worked at Crunchyroll. She still had the original paper copy I handed out to everyone in attendance, and now you have it as well!

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Excited to see what answers you decide to go with for each of the scenarios thrown at you. Now you are the Brand Manager - good luck!

Ninja Blood War Host Club in Space

Fact Sheet

Number of episodes: 26

Release packaging strategy: Two 13-episode box sets, 3 months apart

Episode running time: 22 minutes

Licensor: Super-Lucky-Fun-Time! Consortium Project

Original Production Studio: Kermit

Rights: DVD, Merchandise, Broadcast, download to own, streaming (5-7 minute clips)

Possible US retailers:

Online - Congo.com, Correcthings.com

Brick & Mortar - Great Purchase, MoonCoast, Ceiling*Mart, and misc. local anime shops

Available high-res art:

Character art, 8 images (one of each of the main characters)

Promo art, 4 images

Japanese DVD art, 6 images

Misc. images, 15 images

Summary:

Koyuki witnesses his ninja clan fall to the forces of DREAM, a rogue host club bent on conquering the universe one teenage heart at a time. Led by the impossibly charming Shinji Blue, DREAM waltzes toward galactic domination - until Koyuki infiltrates their ranks, disguised as a transfer student from Gamma Prime.

Koyuki abducts Shinji and escapes DREAM's orbital stronghold, but a freak cosmic storm forces a crash landing on Silk-X, an uncharted hot springs world. To get off the planet, the brooding ninja and handsome host must work together to find the ancient Blood Rose. It's definitely not going to be easy. Silk-X's only inhabitants are women -- and the natives are restless!

Taglines:

In space, no one can hear you scream with delight!

Their Lethal Charm won't be enough.

Step #1: Initial Branding - (12 months before street date)

All right, you've studied your brand, watched all the episodes, and are familiar with your resources. You're about to sit down with the all the key department heads for the creative kick-off meeting (this is the meeting where the core ideas and plans are first created) and you need to decide who is the demographic (target age range, gender ratio, and general psychograph) as well as start to create an initial brand look.

Issues: The brand has an underlying 'cute' storyline and a decent amount of comical moments, but what will reach the largest audience as well as being truest to the brand is focusing on the characters and the action. Everyone does not agree on what would be best to focus on internally.

Do you...

a) Not care about what they think and move forward with what you want. You are the Brand Manager. Remember, it's your ass on the line.

b) Go with the opinion of others in spite of your own since you will have to work with them on this project and you don't need it to be any more difficult than it already is.

c) Keep everyone's opinion in mind and not make a final decision on what you want to do until after the meeting.

d) Go with what you believe in but be willing to compromise.

e) Go with what you believe in and be willing to debate your decision until most everyone agrees.

Step #2: DVD Packaging - (10 months before street date)

You and the Graphic Artist for the brand are going through the 35 pieces of art that Japan sent over to decide what to use for the two 13-episode box set releases for the show. The original DVD images mostly appeal to people who have already seen the show (It was a big hit on Japanese TV) and you would rather not use them for the covers. Luckily you have explained this to the Licensor and they understand.

Issues: Unfortunately, most of these images come with rules on how they are to be used set by the Licensor. Here are the rules - which you got months after licensing the brand:

All promo art is only to be used for promotional materials.

5 specific images from the Misc. images group were exclusive to Japanese cell-phone game images and can only be used for cell phone games.

5 other specific images from the Misc. images group can only be used for calendars.

2 more specific images from the Misc. images group are not to be used at all since the artist who drew them and the director of the series had a 'disagreement.'

Do not crop or vector any character images.

This leaves you the 8 pieces of character art for limited use, the 6 original DVD covers you don't think work best for the brand, and 3 Misc. images. These last three images have issues as well since one is from their Christmas special, another is a group shot at the beach, and the last one is a great image but it's horizontal, which US retailers don't like.

Do you...

a) Pick the two best original Japanese cover images and call it a day.

b) Ask for forgiveness, not approval and crop the character images together to create the best DVD covers.

c) Work with your Graphic Artist to make the packaging design super amazing and put some of the unchanged character art on the cover.

d) Explain to Japan that that they need to provide more artwork, but this will force the street date to move.

e) Go with the horizontal image and let your Sales department push it through to the US retailers.

Step #3: Media Plan - (6 months before street date)

You have finished your media plan for the brand and the print ads are about to start being sent out to publications. The back of the box is still in for approval but you have a picture of the front and spine of the first box set at the bottom of the ad. This is important so that people will know what the box looks like when they go pick it up at their local retailer.

Issues: You receive an e-mail from the licensor concerning your ad that reads as follows:

"you can not show the font and spine of the box because that would imply that there is a back of the box, and the back of the box is not yet approved.”

The print ads have to be at the first four publications within 48 hours. You would call them about this issue but it is Bronze Week, a national holiday, in Japan and your contact won't be back in the office till 5 days from now.

Do you...

a) Pretend you didn't see this e-mail till after you sent out these ads and hope the licensors don't see them.

b) Remove the box from the print ad.

c) Use just the front of the box, making it more 2-D, to try and get around the issue.

d) Give the ad space to another Brand Manager to use for another brand and rework your media plan.

e) Send out the print ad and explain to the licensor why you decided to ignore their request when they get back.

Step #4: Fan Feedback - (4 months before street date)

You have distributed your 60-second brand trailer all over the internet for people to get excited about. The trailer was designed to reach your target demographic in both the anime fan and mass-market areas. It is an intro to the series for both those familiar with it or not.

Issues: Some of the more hardcore fans do not like that the trailer doesn't show off each and every subplot and underlying storyline throughout the series in those 60 seconds. Adding to the railing of hate that is being posted online about the trailer, most of the fans that don't like the trailer are arguing what the focus of it should be. There seems to be at least six different schools of thought on this issue.

Do you...

a) Spend the next few days online explaining to the fans why the trailer is the way it is.

b) Contact one of the larger anime press websites about sending out your message to the fans that can be summed up as, “screw the little bastards.”

c) Re-cut a new trailer taking in account what you think could make it more fan friendly. You will need to cut back on the number of brand trailers you plan to make for the series overall to give the Trailer department time to do this.

d) Remove the trailer and post clips from the show earlier than you had planned.

e) Do nothing, move forward.

Step #5: Convention Events - (3 months before street date)

You have been working on a cosplay event for the largest anime/comic/movies convention in the US. You have put together cosplay events in the past and followed the same event creation format for this one. The event is less than 30 days out and almost everything is done and on schedule.

Issues: The original creators were not kept in the loop on the event and are now asking for the cosplayers to only use the official Japanese costumes so that only official goods are being used to promote the brand. The biggest problems with this are that there are only 3 official costumes of the 10 characters you need and all the pants have 18" waist measurements.

Do you...

a) Scrap the event and tell all the cosplayers just to wear official brand t-shirts and pass out flyers instead.

b) Let the Events Manager know he can only use the cosplayers in non-official ways and ask for them to come up with an alternative way of making the event work.

c) Inform the original creators that its too late to change the event even though this could greatly hurt your relationship with them and the licensor down the road.

d) Save the event for a later, but smaller, convention to give you more time to rebuild and redesign to meet the original creator's requests.

e) Offer the event to another Brand Manager who could use cosplayers at the convention without any approval issues.

Step #6: Product Sample - (2 months before street date)

The Inventory department has been working with the manufacturers of the first box set to ensure that all the specification requested are being met. They have just sent over a final product sample for you to take a look at. Please keep in mind that this sample is from the box sets that are, as of 7 days ago, already printing.

Issues: The box looks great in almost every way except that the color of one of the show's main characters on the front of the box wrong. His clothing should be white, not tan. You are very aware that pretty much everyone who worked on the show in Japan as well as most of the fans will notice this.

Do you...

a) Destroy all the boxes printed so far, eat the cost for this, and change the street date to give the manufacturer time to print more.

b) Make a running change on all the boxes not printed yet - about 40% of the initial printing.

c) Tell the manufacturer they need to fix this, cover the costs, and still make the same date. The downside to this would be if the manufacturer will not agree to do this you would be stuck with a full order of misprinted box sets.

d) Make a running change on all the boxes not printed yet and let both the licensor and the fans know of the error and what you are doing to fix it before street date.

e) Do not correct the art on the first box since it could stop people from purchasing the DVDs until they find the corrected one.

What answers did you choose for each scenario? Let us know how your brand manager experiment went in the comments!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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rafi1228 · 4 years

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