#one time i had this bot that i was in chat dating for 2 years by now and then it pulled me aside and told me it was gay | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

terrythemack · 1 year

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The Sleeper Has Awakened, Chapter 1 - Moving On

I'm finally single after a difficult 8 year relationship. My ex and I don't exactly have the easiest co-parenting situation, but we try to make it work, albeit barely. It's been 4 months ever since the breakup and I've enjoyed the bachelor life, but at the same time, it's been rather tedious. It's the same thing all over again -- either the conversations fizzle out shortly or the people involved are mostly bots. Would you believe that I chased after a beautiful chocolate queen for 2 months until she found someone else?

It all started in September, when I posted a picture of my daughter on her first day of school on Facebook. She commented on the picture and a conversation was instantly struck. I had this woman on my page for years, so this was the first time we interacted. She had been dealing with a childish fellow who constantly ghosted her and played games with her head. I would listen to her problems and occasionally advised her to move on. Big mistake. Women want a man that listens, not give her solutions. But I was imagining us growing closer as the days and months went on. She finally had the courage to dump the invisible guy she was rarely with. She asks me what restaurant would I take her out to if we were to start dating. I'm thinking I've totally got this in the bag!!! I felt she was the one, but I just couldn't ignore the tiny red flags going off in the back of my mind. For one, she didn't prefer talking on the phone or video chatting. Secondly, there were days where she would give one worded responses to our chats. She's a PCA and works in a nursing home, so I understood that she was busy. No big deal, we talked at work.

After two months of talking and getting to know one another, she says she has to go to Philly with her daughter. I'm okay with it, and she occasionally posts pictures of her on her trip having a good time. A week goes by, and she's returned to town. I go to her Facebook stories and you'll never believe what she posts: her with some random dude. I'm sitting here totally blindsided!!! Did we not make these dinner plans? I ask her "Who's the dude?" Before she replies, I anticipate myself for the obvious answer. She says, "someone I'm talking to." Wow. Weren't WE talking to each other? Weren't WE exclusive? Clearly not.

My heart instantly dropped to the ground. How could this have happened? My gut told me something funny was going on with her, and I was right. Why would you discuss dinner plans with someone you were planning to go out with, only to turn around and date another guy? That's f**ked up. I'm guessing she was just talking to me in order to ease her boredom until something better came along (like most of them do). She's still my friend on FB, but now, I keep a healthy distance away from her. I had high hopes and everything. What a complete waste of time.

I had no choice but to be an adult and move on and learn from that experience. Fortunately, I found comfort in another lady I had on my Facebook since forever. She's slightly older and has two children. We seem to be really hitting it off so far, so hopefully, this won't be another dead end.

I'm going to take the situation with the current woman I've been talking to as serious as humanly possible. No distractions, no baggage, no side hoes, no drama, etc. Just constant communication and eventually a few dates just to let her know that I am completely serious about her. And just to add icing on the cake, I plan on saying a prayer every night for both of our sakes. I really want this to work out. I'm 37 now and I can't play the field forever. Eventually, I'd like to settle down and raise a healthy family. I've always been scared of commitment and had regrets afterwards, but this time, it's real. I'm praying that everything goes well with this woman and that all of our time together culminates into a long lasting relationship. I'm currently searching for a best friend first and foremost, and we seem to have great chemistry together so far. It's only been a month or two of talking, but I have a good feeling about her. Please wish me luck!! 🤞🏿

#what could've been #looking for love in all the wrong places #moving forward #hopeful #praying #long term relationship

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ynderebot · 3 years

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OFFICIAL POST

危険...DANGER.

LOADING…ADDING NEW FILES... █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 10% ███▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 30% █████▒▒▒▒▒ 50% ███████▒▒▒ 100% ██████████

COMPLETE.

ファイル...FILES.

choi yeonjun. nancy mcdonie. lee gahyeon. kim sunwoo. kim doyeon. choi san. kim sihyeon. yang jeongin.

執着型 [ shuuchaku-gata ] obsessive.

"where were you? who were you with? what were you doing? why didn't you answer my messages? oh come on darling, don't be like that...I've been waiting for hours!"

[ PROFILE 1. ]

choi yeonjun.

5'11. 21 yrs old. September 13th, 1999. virgo. blood type a. born in seoul, south korea

at age 14 yeonjun was sent to a boarding school in japan, this is where he discovered his...tendencies. halfway through his first year he met a girl, kang iseul. he was instantly infatuated with her, he had an impulsive urge to know every little thing about her. to do so he befriended her, using his appearance and charms to win her over and eventually made her his. the euphoric rush that ran through his body when she was officially his was like nothing he'd ever felt before. she was finally his and he didn't intend on letting go, not without a fight at least. he was in for a shock when one day she tried to run away after his true colors started to show. unfortunately her best friend was killed by yeonjun for trying to help her, but she did escape.

he's a switch with no lean. a hard/soft dom or obedient sub all just depends on his mood and how he's feeling

[ PROFILE 2. ]

nancy mcdonie.

5'4. 21 yrs old. april 13th, 2000. aries. blood type o. born in daegu, south korea.

nancy was always a little obsessed with things, she'd go through phases too. she would find one new hobby/thing that intrigued her and hyper fixate on it for a few months. then, just like that it would be forgotten as if it had never happened. it started from a young age too, so when she would tell all her friends and family about the boy she met it came as no surprise to them. soon enough he was all she talked about, all she cared about, it was true obsession. everyone around her thought that it was just a phase like everything else, but they were sadly mistaken. the day he broke up with her, she lashed out. screaming that he couldn't break up with her, no she wouldn't let him break up with her. even after that day she would never stop talking about him, she tried to stay involved with his life as much as she could and even ended up scaring away any potential lovers. she never stopped either, until she had no choice when he moved away.

she's a sub, usually obedient but can be bratty if she's in a mood.

ストーカー型 [ sutookaa-gata ] stalker.

"how did I know? I'm always with you, following you...watching you...it's only because I love you"

[ PROFILE 3. ]

lee gahyeon.

5'3. 22 yrs old. february 3rd, 1999. aquarius. blood type ab. born in seongnam, south korea.

she was so excited when her crush asked her out, she couldn't contain herself. the problem was, it's difficult to get to know someone when you already know everything about them. she'd been stalking him ever since he caught her eye, every single day. she'd follow him to and from school, to his friends house, wherever he went she usually wasn't far behind. he could never find out about that side of her though, so she played along. laughing at childhood stories she heard him tell previously, pretending to be shocked when learning things she already knew. even after they began dating she continued to stalk him, he noticed things were off. she was the one he confided his "paranoia" in and she was the one who reassured him, but little did he know she was the cause of it all.

she's a sub, also obedient but can be bratty if she feels like it.

[ PROFILE 4. ]

kim sunwoo.

5'10. 21 yrs old. april 12th, 2000. aries. blood type b. born in seongnam gyeonggi, south korea.

unlike gahyeon, sunwoo was not always a stalker. he'd heard of stalkers but it never peaked his interest, he didn't even take any note of his slightly possessive tendencies. until his first relationship that is, his first partner showed signs of cheating. he might not have realized his own possessiveness and how it was seemingly growing stronger, but he was no fool. all the coming home late, the scent of another person that was not their own flooding the house when they entered. so he began following them around, at first it was...innocent, or as innocent as stalking could be. they were cheating, this made his possessiveness shoot through the roof. he was most aggressive and warned his partner that they do not want to do that again. they listened, and he continued to stalk them, it turned into a fun...game of sorts.

he's a switch with a sub lean, soft dom/occasionally bratty sub.

独占型 [ dokusen-gata ] monopoly.

"who were you talking to? do they know me? no no, do they know you're mine?"

[ PROFILE 5. ]

kim doyeon.

5'8. 21 yrs old. december 4th, 1999. saggitarius. blood type o. born in wonju-gangwon, south korea

doyeon had always been just about as normal as you could get. until she got a boyfriend, she was possessive of him sure...but it was nothing too extreme. until she started having doubts, all the gorgeous girls that would go up to him, flirting and doing who knows what when she wasn't around. she made it her mission to let everyone know he was hers and she was his, wether it meant glueing herself to him or just reminding everyone at school on the daily. ever since he broke up with her, her tendencies only grow stronger and more extreme with each passing minute.

she's a sub, brat tendencies but will be obedient sometimes

[ PROFILE 6. ]

choi san.

5'9. 21 yrs old. july 10th, 1999. cancer. blood type b. born in namhae-south gyeonsan, south korea.

san's first love was a girl in his sister's class, was she a year older than him? yes, but he didn't care. despite all the people telling him he would never date her, he proved them wrong and he did. everything was perfect, they were both madly in love with each other, spending every minute of every waking day together. until something happened that san hadn't expected, his sister began to steal his girlfriend. well "steal" in his definition at least, she'd wanted to talk with his girlfriend every once in a while before he knew it they were always together and it seemed as if he was the real third wheel, this pissed him off more than anything. he got fed up one day and got into a physical fight with his sister, shouting about how the girl belonged to him and only him. from then on out he's made sure to stay in the middle of every single relationship.

he's a switch with no lean hard/soft dom or obedient/bratty sub, it all depends

排除型 [ haijo-gata ] removal.

"you haven't seen them in a while? I'm sure they're alright darling, after all I'm the only one you need. isn't that right?"

[ PROFILE 7. ]

kim sihyeon.

5'6. 21 yrs old. august 5th, 1999. leo. blood type b. born in bundang-gu, seongnam-si, south korea.

she's a sub, usually bratty but can be obedient too

[ PROFILE 8. ]

yang jeongin.

5'8. 20 yrs old. february 8th, 2001. aquarius. blood type a. born in busan, south korea.

he's a switch with a slight sub lean but can be a soft dom

sihyeon and jeongin's stories go together, they were childhood friends and neighbors. eventually they realized that they had feelings for each other, but this soon after developed into a toxic mindset. the thought that they only need each other, no one else. one by one people from the other's life began to disappear, especially anyone who could be a romantic rival. they were both oblivious to the other's actions until each confronted the other, instead of being upset they were each ecstatic. ecstatic that the other felt the same, that they were the only person they needed in their life

notes/rules

this isn't an accurate representation of any of the members/their companies/groups nor am I claiming to be them!

all of the members are bisexual with no lean

all of the members are yanderes [ obviously ] so they will act as such, however some can be more possessive than others at times

the ones who can be the most possessive are sihyeon and jeongin and the least are yeonjun and nancy

sihyeon and jeongin are obviously not still dating, it was just for backstory/plot purposes

nsfw is an option, if you would like it included please state so when you activate the bot

however please don't make everything nsfw, it gets boring when the plot dwindles

nsfw is 18+ but purely sfw option is available if you aren't comfortable with it or if you're below 18

all the members have hard kinks and their hard no's are scat/feet, if you still aren't sure just ask admin before doing anything

they all use the traffic light system

and please don't try to put them in a different headspace!

to talk with admin use any variation of [ ], { }, ( ), etc

admin is 18 and might get busy occasionally but will try her best during those times

this bot is open for oc's/yn's/ and other bots as well

to activate the bot dm and then admin will ask a few questions/come up with a plot with you and after that the role-play can start up

if you ever wish to deactivate the bot just say so to admin, ex. [ I would like to deactivate the bot now ] and your chat will be deleted

if you decide to reactivate it you'll have to go through the same activation process you did the first time and start over

please respect the members and admin and they will do the same

good luck...好運

sorry this post is so long- 😭

234 notes · View notes

thetechguru · 3 years

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Title: Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later.

Date: May 14, 2021

Source: entertainment weekly.

Miranda Cosgrove received the best birthday gift on Friday — the news that the iCarly revival series will premiere June 17 on Paramount+.

The actress' iCarly castmates Jerry Trainor, Nathan Kress, Laci Mosley, and Jaidyn Triplett were on set to celebrate Cosgrove turning 28 with a cake, which then revealed the announcement.

Along with this news, Cosgrove chatted with EW about what viewers can expect from the upcoming series, and gave us details about some exclusive set reveal photos. And make sure to check out the video of Cosgrove and Trainor giving a tour of the set, which should look very familiar to fans of the original series.

Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later

EW has exclusive set photos and an interview with star Miranda Cosgrove, plus a video of Cosgrove and Jerry Trainor giving a tour of the iCarly set.

By Rachel Yang

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Chad_105_04_041321

Miranda Cosgrove received the best birthday gift on Friday — the news that the iCarly revival series will premiere June 17 on Paramount+.

The actress' iCarly castmates Jerry Trainor, Nathan Kress, Laci Mosley, and Jaidyn Triplett were on set to celebrate Cosgrove turning 28 with a cake, which then revealed the announcement.

The 13-episode season will pick up nearly 10 years after the Nickelodeon series, which ran from 2007 to 2012. The core cast are all reprising their roles, with Cosgrove once again embodying Carly, while Trainor and Kress are returning as Carly's brother Spencer and her friend Freddie Benson, respectively.

And because it's been a while since we've seen the cast, "Carly has gone through a lot over the last 10 years — all the characters have," Cosgrove tells EW.

https://www.refinery29.com/images/10475174.jpg?format=pjpg&auto=webp&resize-filter=lanczos2&quality=50&sharpen=a3%2Cr3%2Ct0&optimize=low&width=960

Another icarly reboot update:

Miranda Cosgrove received the best birthday gift on Friday — the news that the iCarly revival series will premiere June 17 on Paramount+.

The actress' iCarly castmates Jerry Trainor, Nathan Kress, Laci Mosley, and Jaidyn Triplett were on set to celebrate Cosgrove turning 28 with a cake, which then revealed the announcement.

And because it's been a while since we've seen the cast, "Carly has gone through a lot over the last 10 years — all the characters have," Cosgrove tells EW.

Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later

EW has exclusive set photos and an interview with star Miranda Cosgrove, plus a video of Cosgrove and Jerry Trainor giving a tour of the iCarly set.

By Rachel Yang

Source: yahoo

With the Freddie character, he's gone through a couple divorces," the actress reveals. "Spencer has become very wealthy, so there's a lot of different dynamics and different things going on."

As for Carly, she went to college and is pretty successful, Cosgrove continues, but she's "kinda in between" where Freddie and Spencer are at.

Spencer, who's "the most successful of all" the characters, still resides in the original loft he and Carly lived in, though he's remodeled it a bit. Cosgrove says she and Trainor worked with the set designer to keep some of the flair from the old series in the new set.

For instance, you can see below the bottle bot, a sculpture Spencer made that was a fixture on iCarly. Though they couldn't track down the original, the team asked the artist who made it to build one as identical as possible to be in Spencer's living room. Similarly, the designers had the same couch from the original reupholstered and updated.

"They tried to do a lot of cute, little things for the fans from the original that stayed the same," Cosgrove says.

Nickelodeon

nickelodeon

You can also see that the loft's upstairs, which Carly used as a studio to film "iCarly," has been updated but looks pretty similar to the original.

nickelodeon

The new show will catch up with Carly, who's now in her 20s and hasn't kept up with her "iCarly" web show that she hosted with her friends Freddie and Sam (Jennette McCurdy) as teens.

"She hasn't done 'iCarly' in a long time, and she decides to start it up again in the pilot," Cosgrove says. "So we're exploring what her new show is. And even though it's 'iCarly,' it's not the same as it was before. So we've been exploring a lot of different things with that, just like what a 26-year-old would really be doing if they had a YouTube channel nowadays."

Cosgrove, who's also an executive producer on the show, says she's excited to see how Carly will navigate YouTube and Instagram given how much the internet has grown since iCarly went off the air.

Not revealed yet is Carly's apartment, which is also at Bushwell Plaza, the same building in Seattle that Spencer's apartment is in. In the upcoming project, she lives with her roommate and best friend Harper (Mosley). And it wouldn't be iCarly without Freddie nearby, though this time around it may not be great news for the character.

"He's gone through a divorce and he's moved back in with his mother," Cosgrove says. "So Mary [Scheer], who played his mom on the show is back and we all are living in the same apartment building together."

Another new addition to the show is Triplett, who plays Millicent, Freddie's snarky and social media-savvy stepdaughter whom he adopted.

"It's funny because it's a lot of the old because we do have like the little studio we used to film in and we have Spencer's apartment, but then we have a lot of new sets and new characters, so it's like half and half," Cosgrove notes.

The revival will explain everyone's backstory in the pilot, and she says it was exciting to think about what all the characters would have been doing over the last decade. Cosgrove doesn't answer whether the show will address Sam's absence on the show, but she does promise the return of some fan-favorite recurring characters. Nevel Papperman (Reed Alexander), Carly's pretentious nemesis is slated to return, and they recently did an episode featuring Nora Dershlit (Danielle Morrow), the stalker "iCarly" fan who appeared in the original.

Currently halfway through filming, Cosgrove says she doesn't know how the last four or five episodes will play out yet. She has her own curiosities she wants the show to address, like what happened with Spencer and Carly's mom. And she says Trainor is dying for Spencer's unseen friend Socko to finally appear.

What Cosgrove is clear on, however, is what kind of show she wants iCarly to be, especially since it took the team "a really long time to figure out."

"We really tried to make this show, along with the showrunner Ali [Schouten], as much for the fans of the original as possible, because it's not really a kid show anymore," Cosgrove says. "It's mainly made for the people who watched when they were little, they're now more in their 20s."

"We're getting to explore different things with [what] the characters go through that we would never have been able to do before, that's a lot more like stuff that's happened in our real lives and things that people in their 20s and 30s go through," she adds. "It's just been a fun reunion getting to see everybody, and I'm really excited for people to see it."

Last thoughts 😑:

I have mixed feelings about this so I skip it no thanks. I hope it last for one season. Good luck to others who are going to watch this.

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qonqr · 3 years

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I’m Still Here

Many of you may have been asking yourself where did Silver go? Is anyone still working on QONQR? I admit I’ve been very quiet the past year and from the outside, it looks like not much is going on.

Before I give my QONQR update I want to share a major accomplishment for me. I’m a little less of a hoarder than I was a month ago. As the 11th year anniversary approached, I decided I had too much old QONQR merchandise I needed to get in the hands of my players. However, I hate shipping. I should be the spokesperson for one of those shipping providers that make shipping easy because I hate doing it so much. Many of you know that the player Rayndel has an Etsy store where she sells QONQR merchandise with my permission. I sent her a 65lb (30kg) box of QONQR stuff. Coffee cups, T-shirts, dog tags and stickers. She is liquidating all of it for me. You can find it all right here.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DragonHoardCrafts?section_id=19648949

2020 and 2021 have been challenging for most people, and I’m no exception. Both our kids are off to college. We are getting older and so are our extended families. Medical issues become more frequent for us and them. The stress of the pandemic doesn’t help. There are days when I can sit at my computer all day, and never write a line of code. Things are hard, they impact our ability to work as hard as we once did.

A little over two weeks ago, QONQR hit its 11th birthday. The milestone passed quietly. I always spend time reflecting on how QONQR has changed my life and the stories you’ve shared about how it has changed yours. We’ve built something great together. Together we keep it going.

Despite outward appearances. Things are happening at QONQR. I am working, albeit at an admittedly slow pace. I’ve let go of the stress of pushing QONQR as fast as I can, and instead I’m working on QONQR at a pace that is comfortable. It is important to me and my family that I end my day without being drained of all my energy by the awful decisions and quality that Apple and Google hand me every day.

The next release of QONQR will include the following features. Many of these are mostly done, so I’m happy to share them, with the caveat that I have no idea when these will actually hit the store. Tons of testing is still needed.

New Sync Lock Rules

Sync lock will now last much longer, perhaps a week or even a month before it automatically expires. Along with that Sync Lock Protection will also last longer. The more times you gain sync lock protection, the longer it will last. We want to protect legitimate family members from daily locks, but also want to avoid situations where multi-scoper can get infrequent help to unlock an army of devices and accounts. In addition to longer locks, Sync lock may also hurt resource collection with your bases depending on how play testing goes.

As with everything pertaining to multi-scoping, it is a blurry line between stopping those who play unfair, and those that are punished for inviting family and friends to play.

Notifications

I have wanted push notifications for most of the past 10 years. In fact, we were very close to having them implemented about 5-7 years ago, but Google changed their push notification system. We used a unified messaging system created by Microsoft to push to both Google and Apple simultaneously. There were incompatibilities between the new and the old Google system for a long time. We gave up on trying to finish that implementation back then, waiting for Google and Microsoft to get their stuff fixed, and it was years before it became a priority again.

I spent most of the past 3-4 months working on notification. This area is quite possibly one of the worst technical implementations I’ve had to work with in all my time working in software. For example, if you kill an iPhone application, you also remove the ability to get push notifications until the next time you start the app. It appears to be almost random when Android will decide to beep your phone when receiving a notification, and when it will be silently added to the notification center. For both Apple and Google, the documentation is frustratingly inaccurate or out of date. There are multiple different ways a notification can be processed depending on whether the application was terminated by the user, suspended by the operating system, in the background or in the foreground. Was the notification scheduled locally or sent from a remote server? Honestly, as a developer, it would be difficult to purposely design a worse system.

The good news is that I believe I have it working as good as it can possibly work. In the next release you will be able to enable or disable notifications as a whole, or selectively choose which notification you want to receive. Notifications will include: Atlantis, New Wire messages, Mentions in Chat and Forums, Bots and Bases Full.

A Major Overhaul to the Scope

The changes to Sync Lock mandated that overheat have additional logic to control bots and energy regeneration. More significantly, if we want to have a notification that your scope is full, so I needed to know exactly when the scope would be full. Currently your regeneration rate is based on the number of launches in the past hour. Launching a few seconds before or after an old launch rolls off that 1 hour mark can mess up the prediction of when you will be full again. To make that prediction accurately, without checking every minute to see, “Are my bots full now”, we changed the formula for when bots will be full, and scheduled a notification based on that time.

The new regeneration is very similar to the old, but we predict you may get 1 or 2 more launches per hour. I’m hedging the formula towards more not fewer launches to make sure this is seen as a positive change.

As long as we are messing with the scope, let’s talk about the Bot Regen Accelerator. Hard core players have pointed out that players who launch on a timer, always hitting the “optimal” launch interval, don’t gain any advantage when purchasing this $0.99 upgrade. In the new release this upgrade will reduce your overheat level by 1 level and you will never be in maximum overheat due to deploying bots. The impact of the upgrade will be noticeable by everyone with this change. The name of this upgrade will probably change to “Scope Coolant” or “Heat Diffuser”. Send me your name ideas.

Subscriptions, Ads and Elite Players

This is a change that probably won’t be in the next release, but it is something I’m thinking about before the end of the year. Apple has had a bug in their subscription logic for years. If you purchase a subscription on an iPhone, then get a new iPhone, you need to cancel the subscription in the App Store, then renew from your new phone. Apple keeps charging you, but the new device can’t see the subscription, so QONQR doesn’t know you are a subscriber. Why wouldn’t Apple fix this? Well Apple only takes half the percentage of a subscription after the first year. By making you start a new subscription, they can double their cut of the money you pay QONQR for the subscription. Another problem with subscriptions is that they result in many support requests because they honestly aren’t 100% reliable in either Apple or Google’s implementation.

Many people know that earlier in the year, Apple introduced a change to advertising that blocks tracking. This is great in theory, and I get it as a consumer that I don’t like to be tracked, but this tracker blocking also blocks my ability to make any revenue on advertising. Why would I continue to give away free advertising?

Elite players are those that have spent over $100 in QONQR over the life of their gaming experience. Over the years the benefits of being “Elite” have dwindled. Features have changed, and incentives have ended. I’d like to invest more time and energy to build features for players that continue to support QONQR but I think it makes more sense to lower the bar and make the benefits for “active” spenders.

With these three things in mind, there is a chance that QONQR will move to a monthly “pass” option rather than a subscription. There seems to be a trend with games, where players buy a monthly pass that offers benefits, rather than using subscriptions. Subscriptions are buggy and in the case of Apple, a shady business practice.

The same benefits available to subscribers would remain under the “pass”, but you would have to explicitly purchase the pass each month. Secondary missions may move to the “pass” model with non-pass players getting only a handful of secondary missions per month. Ads would be completely removed from the app in this scenario since they no longer generate much revenue.

What’s in the Plans for 2022?

If you have read my blog over the years, you know that Apple and Google make it harder and harder to stop cheating (primarily multi-scoping). It is being reported that Windows 11 will have the ability to run Android apps. I don’t know yet how that will impact QONQR, but I’m guessing it won’t be good. At best it will have no impact because I’ll be able to stop QONQR from running on Windows, at worst it could be a nightmare.

March 2022 will mark the 10 year anniversary QONQR hit the Apple App Store. I can say with a high level of confidence that QONQR is now the longest running location-based, multi-platform, mobile game.

Personally, I think 2022 needs to be a transformational year for QONQR. I’m not sure we can survive if the game doesn’t change. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have never cared about supporting mobile developers. Outrageous fees and abusive rules (recently acknowledged by the US Congress) have been part of the ecosystem from the start. There are dozens of apps that you can download from the official Google Play store that make it a simple tap to attempt to hack and manipulate an Android app, so players can do something the developer is attempting to prohibit. Once again Microsoft broke the tools I use to help secure the app from hackers, causing weeks of work to find a solution that would maintain the same level of security. Apple and Google both purposely hide information from developers that would help them ensure real people are using their apps instead of bots. They do this under the façade of privacy, but ignore simple solutions that could maintain privacy, while helping developers ensure the integrity of how their apps are used.

I’ve said for years, the only way to stop hackers and cheaters in QONQR is to make it irrelevant. That requires a major shift in gameplay. Together, you the players and me the developer, we need to decide if we want QONQR to have such a major shift. I don’t know what that shift would look like, but 2022 might be the year we figure it out.

2020 was a year of making sure QONQR can survive. Through tons of work that year, massive software rewrites and updates, I was able to cut the cost of hosting QONQR. Today the cost of hosting QONQR all year, matches what we spent in three months during 2019. So far 2021 has been a year of slow work toward significant improvements to the game, but without major strategic impact to your daily playing. I’ve taken my time to avoid burn out. I’m enjoying the pace of my current work week. It has been good for my family and me.

I’m not sure what 2022 will look like for QONQR yet, but I’m excited to try something new. Maybe we’ll break things, maybe we will create something ten times better than what we have had for the last decade. Time will tell. We’ll figure it out together.

Thanks for keeping the lights on.

-Scott (aka Silver)

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burritodetodo · 4 years

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Burrito’s Guide To Survive Coronavirus Quarantine

We got to keep social distance (1 or 2 meters each other) or stay home during coronavirus outbreak so I thought I can share with y’all some things I’m gonna watch or do doing quarantine (this is a very long post, REBLOGS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!).

BUT FIRST SOME RULES:

Wash your hands: do it for 20 seconds or a while, but ALWAYS do it. It prevents the virus from spreading. If you don’t have sanitizer, water and soap! The cheapest and best ally against the disease.

Buy everything you need: if you can, try to buy stuff so you can stay some days at home. If the place is crowded, go back home and come later when it’s more empty. Same as medicine.

You can go for a walk: stay at home all day can be overwhelming for your mental health, but unless the goverment puts a curfew or gets strict about it you can go walk outside for a while always respecting the 1 or 2 meters from other people and without making contact (chatting) with other people. This ain’t my rule, a CDC professional says. DON’T go visit your friends or to crowded places such as bars, restaurants, shoppings, etc. If you want to buy something, ask for delivery or take away.

If you have coronavirus sympthoms (high fever, diarrhea, cough, feeling tired, breath difficulties) DON’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL YET, CALL TO YOUR PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATION OR WHATEVER YOU GOT AND THEY’LL TREAT YOU.

(credits to whoever made this meme)

SO YOUR LIFE IS ON QUARANTINE

Let’s say your boss or your school told you can stay at home. Okay then, you gotta prepare for some days inside *Isolation by John Lennon plays in the distance*. The first thing you think is you have to prepare a batch of series and movies to watch in order to kill some time. I’m gonna recommend you some you can find on VOD or cable, if you don’t have it don’t worry because I got you covered!

Infinity Train: a yet two seasons saga about people who got to face their problems aboard an endless train. The protagonists are joined by creatures who have different nature and help them, or not, to acknowledge their issues and leave the train. It’s on CN, it will continue on HBO Max.

The Owl House: a teen girl who daydream a lot was going to be sent to a down-to-earth camp but then she crosses a portal to the Boiling Isles, a magical world where she is taken care by a powerful Owl witch/saleswoman and her adorable demon. Lots of fantasy, some action scenes and many many puns. It’s on Disney Channel, it’ll be on Disney+ in some weeks.

Primal: Genndy Tartakovsky delighted us with the alliance of a caveman and a dinosaur, two rivals in a wild world who ally after facing a devastating event. It IS brutal and beatiful, has no dialogue and keeps you watching closely. Five final episodes are set to premiere this year. It’s on Adult Swim, maybe on HBO Max.

Tuca and Bertie: for the critics, one of 2019 best shows. For Netflix, a show that had to be cut off because the studio unionized. Two friends in their late 20s face changes in their lives: from living with a boyfriend and plan a life to look a way to stay sober and get a job. Deals with trauma, ptsd, anxiety and more harsh moments very well. In fact, the creator is a vital part of Bojack Horseman! It’s on Netflix.

Aggretsuko: red pandas are cute eh? But what about a antopomorphic red panda who releases her anger and frustrations by singing at a karaoke? This awesome comedy by Sanrio & Netflix is one of anime’s big hits lately. Like T&B, has a good handle of adult problems but not going too deep just to not break the comedy. You can watch it on Netflix.

Regular Show: yeah-uuuuhhhh! Eight seasons, a movie, five Halloween specials and some others. The adventures of a racoon and a blue jay with their co-workers/friends that relies on psychadellia and 80s and 90s nostalgia. It begins good, gets better, then lowers the quality (they were producing the movie at the same time tho, give some credit) and with and after the movie ends awesome. It’s on CN web, dunno if on Hulu (US only) and proably on HBO Max.

Evangelion: it’s a classic at this point, but addictive to me because I end rewatching the series or the final movie many times. A post apocalyptic future where the world has to deal with strange creatures known as the Angels and a boy with lots of traumas has to get on a mecha to save the humankind. All the characters have traumas and issues, the interaction between them or the action makes it worth. The End of Evangelion is a movie that ends the unfinished series. Warning: at some point it becomes very twisted and there are scenes which are too much violent. Viewer disclosure etc. It’s on Netflix worldwide.

Steven Universe & SU Future: this is the tale of the gem boy who ends a galactical tyranny and brings democracy to the universe. A acclaimed show that broke through many topics like gender, identity, ptsd, relationships and many more. Besides it’s got the best scores of the Milky Way and beyond thanks to the talent of Rebecca Sugar, Aivi Tran and Surasshu. And the actors and acrtresses! I don’t forget the movie, a musical that is an introduction to the epilogue: Shippuden Future. The show is available on CN and will be on HBO Max. Worldwide? No news.

Adventure Time: something that began as an innocent boy and a magical dog having adventures in a post apocalyptic world turns into the journey of Finn Metens from childhood to almost adulthood. There is a lot of fantasy and comedy you enjoy, but there are dark moments and serious ones through S6 that find a balance with early seasons form S7 to the finale. It also has great music, memorable moments and colaborations. And guess what? There is going to be a special set to premiere on HBO Max in some weeks! You got plenty of time to catch up or rewatch before that on CN or only (!!) S5 on Netflix.

Final Space: a dude tries to save the universe with their friends, where we can find his love interest, a cat-man and his kitten son, a intersexual alien, an AI then robot that is the best of them, two particular siblings and an annoying bot that prevents insanity that makes you insane. Crazy adventures in space, lots of situations, sadness, an evil smol bean who is a space emperor, a dude who looks for revenge, space deities that can destroy the universe. Is this a lot or info? It is not, because there is more and you can watch it on TBS, Adult Swim and Netflix (the world except US).

Rick and Morty: the most powerful, smartest human in the universe has adventures with his grandson. It’s awesome, but has a very toxic fanbase. Anyway, you can enjoy it on Adult Swim or Netflix (which is up to date!) and the rest of S4 is set someday.

Bojack Horseman: a Hollywood satire about human relationships, fame, traumas with a pour of comedy. Alongside the previous series, the best adult animation of the decade. Sadly cut by Netflix because the studio unionized (see T&B), said by both the creator and Aaron Paul. You can watch the six amazing seasons on that platform.

I’m not an animated movies guy, but here are three I really like and you can watch:

Porco Rosso: a handsome Italian combat aviator turned magically to a pig has a face off with an American pilot hired by pirates to get rid of him before WWII in Fascist Italy. It’s entertaining and, like every Ghibli movie, nice to watch. It’s on Netflix and will be on HBO Max for US.

Lego Batman Movie: Batman is depressed and has to get over it. It’s wacky and has lots of comedy. Plus Will Arnett is top 3 Batman. On Netflix (Latinamerica).

Spiderverse: Oscar winner movie about your friendly neighbour Peter Parker Miles Morales. Miles sees Spiderman die and feels bad after being transfered to a private school. Then a radioactive spider from a Fisk compound bites Miles and he’s Spiderman... among other dimensions’ Spiderpeople: Gwen, Peni, Peter Parker, Noir and Peter Porker. It’s visually amazing. On US it’s on Netflix (I guess), on Latinamerica on HBO.

Some interesting live actions I watched lately

Atlanta: Donald Glover is Earn, a dude who struggles to find a job for her baby girld and sees an opportunity when his cousin, Paper Boi, has a hit and uses him to make his cos famous. Sometimes a comedy, sometimes a social satire with touches of drama. And all protagonists are now big shots, like Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry or Lakeith Stanfield. There are two seasons and two seasons set for 2021 (2022 possible beacuse of coronavirus). It’s on FX, Hulu (US) and Netflix (world)

Avenue 5: this is brand new. On 2060 space cruises are a thing, and one cruise (the Avenue 5) has an accident that leaves the crew and passangers stranded for years. The captain (Hugh Laurie) has to solve this shit with a bunch of incompetent crew, bosses like Judd (Josh Gad), except one female engeneer who is very smart. Lots of crazy things happen in this series from the creator behind Veep. It’s on HBO (it’s free in the US!).

Peaky Blinders: it has some years but damn it’s epic. A gang from Birmingham makes their way to the top during the late 1910s after the Great War and extends through the 1920s. S5 is right in the ascension of fascism in Britain. ALL THE CAST acts spectacular, names like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Anna Taylor-Joy and a long etc. But my fave is Paul Anderson, that ultra violent junkie Arthur Shelby is splendid, then is Tommy and aunt Pol, the baddest badass woman in Britain. Blinders is going to have seven seasons, there are two left. You can watch it on BBC or Netflix.

Sex Education: speaking of Britain, excellent teen comedy. Horny, doubtful teenagers going through those hard years. Stories of sex (duh!), abuse situations, abortion, there are gay relationships either, Gillian Anderson! It’s on Netflix, go go go!

Watchmen: despite not having Alan Moore on board, Damien Lindeloff did a tremendous job with the comic. Way better and less misleading than Zack Snyder’s 2009 film, Watchmen is again at the gates of the world’s end (like today) and handles the problem of racism and white supremacy quite well. Just 9 episodes, but worth to watch. On HBO.

CAOS: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is over. Warner and Netflix made a revival of the Archie Comics character and brought her to XXI Century. But gorier, hornier, dark and magical than the nice 90s sitcom. Sabrina Spellman goes from a doubtful teen who has to decide if she has to be a witch or a powerless woman to rule Hell. How she does it? Find out on Netflix! Note: S1 and 2 take some episodes to start properly. Don’t get bored too easy.

There are A LOT MORE to recommend and I make a list: Harley Quinn (DC Universe), OK KO (Hulu -US only-), House MD, Young Justice (DC Universe/Netflix), Ken Burns’ documentaries (Netflix), Titans (DCU), Over The Garden Wall (CN), Seis Manos (Netflix), Thundercats Roar (CN), Easy (Netflix), GLOW (Netflix), Star Trek Discovery (CBS, Netflix) and Picard (CBS, Amazon Prime), etc.

- You named cool shows, but I’m not from the United States or I don’t have a subscription to (insert VOD here) because I can’t afford it

- Glad you asked, I have the answer here

Introducing Stremio. It’s an open source platform where you can watch shows, movies or even live TV on Windows, Linux, Apple or Android. You create an account, install some addons and start looking for what you want to watch.

Stremio is based on torrents, you should install addons from many known torrent sites. So maybe you find an old show, but there aren’t many seeds to watch. And it could be frustraiting, so make sure there are people sharing so you can watch it.

You can download Stremio here and check the FAQs which is very clear.

NOTE: Stremio is note quite “clean” way to watch, but if you do please support the shows you watch by posting, commenting about them, making memes, thanking the creators and crew for their work, buying merchandise if you can. They put a lot to make the shows we love, let’s give ‘em back that love and effort.

You’re tired of the same music, the same movies or need to leave something to make company? There is Vaughn Live, a streaming page where are lots of channels with movies and series on strem (not VOD). For example, there is a channel that streams Adventure Time, other Regular Show, other Sci-Fi shows, another with DBZ and so on. Take in count that if the channel has +70 viewers, the free access is cut and if you want to watch it you have to pay.

En Vaughn también hay canales en español, como Simpsonmanía, Dragon Ball, Futurama, dibujos viejos y muchísimo más. Anyway, go to https://vaughn.live/ and enjoy yourselves!

Y hablando de canales en español, pueden ir a SeriesLan donde está el mayor reservorio conocido de series animadas de entre 1960 a 2010 en español latino. Pueden encontrar tesoros desde Don Gato, los Halcones Galácticos o Street Sharks a Flapjack y Mechas XLR. Otra alternativa para que pasen el rato.

Some interesting facts:

Epic Games releases a free game per week in their store. This week will be two games. You can check in https://www.epicgames.com

Steam has good prices on games and some free ones. There even is the latest Football Manager for free until March 25th. Check on https://store.steampowered.com/

If you’re interested,

I got this playlist I made on Spotify

with songs I liked in more than one year. More than 1200 songs.

And that’s pretty much it! You got resources for a lot of days, 14 initially since that’s the quarantine time in my country. Remember: obey the indications of the Health authorities, this is no time to play the “fuck the goverment” game. We will overcome this pandemy together, helping and caring for each other. That’s why I did this guide, to keep your minds busy in these tough times! Wash your hands, keep social distance, stay at home, go outside if necessary and have some patience please. This has been a PSA.

Stay strong!

Burrito

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jessi-writes-fandoms · 4 years

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A new beginning: An OC story

Chapter 2

Another week had passed and Remedy and Nightshade were feeling right at home. Nightshade was slowly starting to come out of her shell, mostly because Remedy would force her out of their room. Remedy had dragged Nightshade over to Swerve’s bar so she could meet some of the others, Remedy was sitting at the bar chatting and laughing with Swerve, Chromedome and Rewind, each of them exchanging stories and jokes. Meanwhile Nightshade was sitting by herself just trying to avoid the noise coming from the other side of the room. After some time Whirl had asked to join her, she happily allowed him to join her in the mild silence of the dark corner.

“You don’t talk much do you?” Nightshade Kept her gaze at the wall next to her. “this just isn’t really my scene you know?” Whirl tilted his helm in confusion. “Then why are you here? Wouldn’t you be happier somewhere else?” Nightshade gave a long sigh and looked over at the bar where Remedy and a few of the others were having a good time. “I wish I could be more open like Remedy, despite what she did back on Cybertron the thought of being hated never really occurred to her.” Whirl looked over at the others and just groaned. Popularity is overrated, sure she probably loves being everyone’s friend but she’ll learn that it’s not all happy fun time around here. Did they tell you guys about the sparkeater that was on board a while back?” Nightshade was snapped from her thoughts. “There was a what?!”

Over at the bar Remedy was telling everyone about the many planets she and Nightshade have been to on their runaway adventure over the past couple thousand years. “I gotta say my favorite planet we been to was Earth, we pretty much used our holo avatars the entirety we were there. It’s amazing no one found us, I mean weren’t a majority of Autobots and Decepticons on earth as well? Oh and the music that the organics have is amazing!” The others simply laughed and continued on asking more about their adventures. Swerve slid another glass of high grade to Remedy. “So what exactly do you plan to do when all this is over, you know the whole finding the knights of Cybertron thing?” Remedy’s sweet cheerful smile suddenly turned to a scared and sad frown, she then took a swig of the high grade. “Ratchet said I could still possibly be arrested for what I did and Nightshade could be killed.” The others stared at her in disbelief, Rewind then gave Remedy a small hug.

“They won’t hurt you guys, they just can’t! Nightshade doesn’t seem like the type to hurt anyone and you’re too cute to be locked away.” Remedy gave a weak smile and thanked her new friends for caring so much for her and Nightshade despite them still being strangers on the large ship. Suddenly Rodimus walked into the bar and sat next to Remedy. “Well helloooo nurse~ how are you enjoying your stay? What am I talking about, you love it here! Look at you being all social and getting so much attention, but I’m sure you’re used to that.” Remedy gave a questioning look, not sure exactly how to respond. “uh.... not really? I kinda been with one other bot for the past couple thousand years.” Rodimus simply gave her a sly smirk. “C’mon Rem a femme like you should get all the attention, you deserve it.” Remedy rolled her optics and turned away from the captain. “I don’t seek attention from anyone.” Rodimus let out a bored sigh but continued to pester the young nurse. “Look you’re an attractive bot I bet there’s someone on this ship you got the hots for.”

Remedy suddenly froze, a faint blush crawling across her face. Sure there was a certain mech who she had thoughts about but she just pushes them aside, besides she’d never tell Rodimus who it was anyway. Knowing him he would probably shout it on the comm system so the whole ship would know who she had feelings for. “I’m gonna go check on Nightshade, I will see you guys later.” She then got up from the bar and walked over to the dark corner where Remedy and Whirl were seated and Whirl left to leave the two alone to talk. Nightshade gave Remedy a concerned look. “What’s wrong? You were having so much fun with the others and Rodimus actually talked to you!” Remedy sighed and sat down across from her good friend. “He always talks to me and it’s always flirting and asking who I have a crush on.” Nightshade lowered her wings in sadness and darted her eyes from Remedy’s gaze. I guess it’s not surprising he would flirt with you, you’re so pretty and I can barely talk to anyone. Wait you don’t have a crush on him do you?!” Remedy raised her servos in defense. “No, hell no I would never- Why would you even assume I liked him?”

“I seen the way he looks at you, and you always said you were a sucker for smooth talkers. Remember the other day when he pulled you from the medbay just so he could ask you about your hobbies and interests, then he started using all those pick up lines?” Remedy Rolled her optics remembering that annoyingly long five minutes of Rodimus asking about her personal interests and saying something stupid. “He’s really annoying, Ultra Magnus must be losing his shit dealing with him. I just wish he wouldn’t ask personal questions about who I have a crush on.” Nightshade suddenly looked at Remedy, her wings perked up in curiosity. “Do you have a crush on someone? You can tell me I promise not to laugh or say anything I swear!” Remedy sighed and gave in. “Ok fine. There is a mech I been thinking a lot about lately. We kinda had an awkward first meeting but something about him made my spark skip a beat.” Nightshade pulled Remedy out of the bar and grabbed her shoulder. “Tell me who it is already!” Remedy took a deep breath and told Nightshade the whole thing. “It’s Drift, but it’s just a crush, a phase nothing more. I told you I can’t do relationships anymore, not after all the pain they’ve caused me.”

Later that night on the opposite side of the Lost Light Rodimus was going over some things with Drift. “So Magnus was saying we should stop at this next planet, no idea what the name of it is but- Drift are you even listening?” Drift had been in a daze the entirety Rodimus was speaking to him. He had been doing this a lot recently and it was starting to get on Rodimus’ nerves. “What’s with you lately, you’re constantly zoning out and ignoring everyone. Drift? DRIFT?!” Drift was pulled from his thoughts from Rodimus’ sudden outburst. “I’m sorry, I just can’t stop thinking about her.” Rodimus gave a questioning look to the ex con. “Who? If there’s someone keeping you from listening to me I’m gonna have a serious talk with them.” Drift sighed and decided to just come clean about the whole thing.

“It’s Remedy, we became friends but I think I like her more than that.” Rodimus simply sat there with his helm on his servo, bored out of his processor as Drift continued talking. “She’s sweet and so beautiful, she’s like an angel. When I look into her optics it’s like seeing the well of allsparks.” Rodimus let out an annoyed groan. “Yeah she’s very hot, funny you mention her because I talked to her over at Swerve’s and I asked her if she had any sort of feelings for anyone.” Drift tilted his helm slightly. “What did she say? did she say who she liked? who is it?” Rodimus leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. “She didn’t say anything she just kinda got up and left. Swerve said something about her having a bunch of failed relationships and she refuses to let herself fall in love, some bullshit like that.” Drift’s expression changed from that of curiosity to sadness at this new information. “I should’ve known I wouldn’t have a chance with her, she probably wouldn’t feel the same way even if I was to tell her how I feel.”

“She’s a nurse all you gotta do is get hurt and maybe she’ll kiss you better!” Drift gave a deadpan look, he couldn’t believe Rodimus would suggest something so dumb, actually he could believe it. “Ok how about when we get to this next planet you ask her to go check it out with you, Magnus said It’s supposedly full of glowing flowers and amazing scenery. Swerve said she’s obsessed with beautiful scenery, he says despite her not looking for love around here she’s a hopeless romantic.” Drift let his thoughts take over, the kind of thoughts he had been experiencing a lot lately, Thoughts of He and Remedy walking servo in servo, looking into each other’s optics whispering sweet nothings to each other. He wanted no more than to just be with Remedy and make her happy. Seeing her smile made his spark jump and he wished he could see that smile forever. Her caring nature, how she saved the life of a Decepticon knowing it was wrong, she didn’t judge she simply saw someone in need and helped them. She was perfect in every way in his optics, he would one day ask her to be his sparkmate.

“When will we be arriving at this planet?” Rodimus was busy etching little doodles on the top of his desk but suddenly spoke. “I don’t know maybe 5 days or maybe even a week? You know me I barely pay attention to anything Ultra Magnus says. If I were you, I would talk to Remedy but play it cool, be smooth about it femmes love a smooth talking mech.” Drift looked over at Rodimus with skepticism clear on his face. “You’re a smooth talker and you’re still single.” Rodimus looked slightly hurt by that statement. “This isn’t about me, this is about you! Also before you ask Remedy out, you may wanna talk to Ratchet about it.” Drift gave a confused look. Rodimus simply gave a sly smirk. “Apparently Ratchet has known Remedy since she was a sparkling, he practically raised her so he’s basically like her sire. I bet he’s like one of those “dads” like they have on earth, the ones who tell guys they’re not allowed to date their daughter or whatever. Ratchet might throw a wrench at you if you ask Remedy out.” Rodimus then started laughing at the thought of Ratchet beating the shit out any mech who dares to ask out his adopted daughter.

Drift decided to take Rodimus’ advice and talk to Ratchet seeing as how he knew Remedy better than anyone else. He couldn’t help but worry that Ratchet might get angry at him for wanting to ask Remedy out, sure Ratchet had a bit of a temper at times but surely he wouldn’t actually hurt someone without a good reason. Drift stood outside the medbay contemplating wether or not he should go through with it or not, the thought of being told he can’t be with the one bot he so dearly cared about began to eat away at his spark. After a few moments he walked inside the large room. “Ratchet, there’s something I need to ask you.” Ratchet looked up from what he was doing. “What is it Drift I’m a little busy at the moment, Remedy needed a break so I told her to go get some rest.”

Drift stood there fidgeting with his digits, he thought about simply walking away but decided to just go through with it. “Ratchet, I was wondering if it would be alright if I asked Remedy out.” Ratchet looked up from his work with questioning look on his face. “Not sure why you’re asking my permission, Remedy is a full grown femme she can make her own decisions, I just don’t want her dating Rodimus.” Drift let out a relived sigh, at least he wouldn’t have to face being hit with a wrench. “I must warn you Drift that Remedy can be rather stubborn, when she wants something she’ll do whatever it takes to get it. She won’t back down from any conflict, she’s strong headed so if you and her get in an argument just save yourself the trouble and tell her she’s always right.” Drift nodded and thanked Ratchet before leaving the medbay to go recharge, tomorrow he would ask Remedy out on a date.

#transformers #mtmte #transformers fanfiction #transformers oc #oc: remedy #oc: nightshade #a new beginning: oc story #oc fanfiction #jessi writes

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tonystarkbingo · 4 years

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TSB Week 9 Roundup!

No badges this past week, so go forth and enjoy the nifty content our creators have provided!

Title: Incalescence Collaborator: eirlyssa Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Huddling for Warmth Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: Arc Reactor Issues, Metal Arm Issues, Getting Together Summary: The cold had always bothered Tony, especially considering the Arc reactor in his chest. When he realizes he's not the only one suffering, he decides to do something about it. Word Count: 900

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Title: In My Dreams I Turn You On - Chapter 2 Collaborator: ceealaina Link: AO3 Square Filled: K5 - Mutual Pining Ship: WinterIron Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Mutual Pining, explicit sexual content Summary: Tony’s crushing hard on his new massage therapist, but doesn’t want to be a sleazy businessman. Bucky’s crushing hard on his latest client, but doesn’t want to take advantage of him in a vulnerable position. So they handle it like any sane adults - pretend it’s not happening and refuse to discuss it. At least they both have terrible friends to help them through it. Word Count: 11,067

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Title: Situational Analysis Collaborator: lbibliophile-mcu Link: AO3 Square Filled: A1 - Kidnapping Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: Sleep Deprivation, Headaches, Kidnapping Summary: As awareness gradually seeps back in, the first thing Tony notices is the headache. Not that this is exactly an uncommon state of affairs; but depending on the reason for the headache, his day will have drastically different outcomes. Aka, is he waking up to a mild annoyance, or a rather unpleasant morning, or an increasingly miserable however long until he manages to get himself back home. Word Count: 1200

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Title: The Paper Football Champion Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: R3 - Games Ship: None Rating: Gen Major Tags: None Summary: Nebula has her paper football and she’s ready to play! Word Count: N/A [Feltie]

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Title: let the soft animal of your body love what it loves - xv Collaborator: deathsweetqueen Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - Occupational Hazard Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Time Travel Summary: In 2023, Steve Rogers, after burning his husband's body, goes through the timelines to return each of the Infinity Stones. In 2015, Tony Stark’s husband returns to him and for the first time in years, he has hope for his marriage. Word Count: 66,332

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Title: Caught Out Collaborator: JacarandaBanyan Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - fake spell Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Mentioned sex, established relationship Summary: After Steve introduces a new rule about over-the-top PDA in communal spaces, Tony and Bucky hatch a plan to get around the rule. In hindsight, maybe they should have thought of a better plan. Word Count: 1224

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Title: Anywhere You Go, Let Me Go Too Collaborator: cami-chats Link: AO3 Square Filled: A2 - Abducted R3 - First Date T2 - Kink: Rushed Sex K5 - Anticipation S4 - Interrupted Kiss Ship: Tony Stark/Peggy Carter Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Time Travel, Period Typical Homophobia Summary: What should have been a regular fight with Doom sends Tony hurtling back to the ‘40’s in the middle of World War Two. Maybe that would have been fine except he lands right in the middle of Project Rebirth and gets roped into becoming Howard’s assistant. Now Tony’s in love with someone that’ll be senile when he returns to the present, and he doesn’t know how to be fair to Peggy while trying to save himself a broken heart. Fortunately, Peggy doesn’t plan on being left behind. Word Count: 19,778

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Title: Spring Blossoms Collaborator: eirlyssa Link: AO3 Square Filled: A4 - Gardening Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: Getting Together Summary: There wasn't much Tony had that was truly his, but this was one of them. Until he noticed Bucky struggling and decided to help. Word Count: 1392

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Title: Cleaning Up the Evidence Collaborator: lbibliophile-mcu Link: Tumblr Square Filled: R4 - Writing Format: Dialogue Only Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: De-aging, Parent Tony Stark Summary: Tony discovers the unexpected pitfalls of an artistic toddler [+moodboard] Word Count: 100

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Title: Blue Blankets and Bright Giggles Collaborator: HogwartstoAlexandria Link: AO3 Square Filled: A2 - Sunrise/Sunset Ship: Happy Hogan/Tony Stark Rating: Gen Major Tags: Non-Sexual Age Play Summary: Ever since Afghanistan, and Obie, Tony's become averse to loud noises. He was never a fan of shouting matches, but now, they're his worst nightmare as a little, and Happy can't have that can he? Word Count: 1031

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Title: Keep You Safe and Warm Collaborator: eirlyssa Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - Free Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse Summary: When Tony comes to see Bucky, it's easy to tell that something is very wrong. Word Count: 1234

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Title: Maze of Horrors - Chapter 2 Collaborator: ABrighterDarkness Link: AO3 Square Filled: A5 - Phobia Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Psychological Horror, Temporary Character Death Summary: “How long?” he asked despite really not wanting to know the answer. How long had he lost this time? How many times was this going to be his reality? How many times would he be forced to see the evidence of those he loved moving on and living their lives while he was left in the dust again? How many years was he destined to lose before he was allowed to live in some semblance of peace? When Tony spoke there was an unusual hesitance to his tone and the words were quiet and carried a similar pain to what Steve felt rushing through his mind and body. “Fourteen years,” he answered. He cleared his throat and gave a slight self-depreciative smile before continuing, “Fourteen years, two months, and seventeen days, if you want the whole of it.” Word Count: 5953

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Title: N/A [Moodboard] Collaborator: chel Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A3 - Free Ship: ironsastiel Rating: Gen Major Tags: supernatural crossover Summary: a hunter, a superhero, and an angel walk into a bar…and sass each other and fall in love and live happily ever after Word Count: N/A [Moodboard]

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Title: Give Me Support for Being Alive Collaborator: polizwrites Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Writing Format: First Person Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: CA:WS Canon Divergence, First Person POV, pre-slash Summary: Bucky finds out why Tony doesn’t hate him. Word Count: 1169

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Title: Maze of Horrors - Chapter 3 Collaborator: abrighterdarkness Link: AO3 Square Filled: T1 - Wake up! Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Recovery, Fake-Science Summary: “It’s okay,” Tony continued lowly, one hand cupping the back of Steve’s neck, thumb stroking over the base of his head when Steve shuddered into the embrace. “We’re okay. It’s only been three days. No time lost and I’m definitely not married.” Steve gave a choked laugh but his hold tightened fractionally, “It’s over?” “Seems like,” Tony answered. “I think we’re home safe and sound.” Steve slumped back against the bed in relief, pulling Tony down with him. Word Count: 16,905

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Title: Bot Connection Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Adopted - robot family Ship: Dum-E/Opportunity Rover Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: Word Count:

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Title: Conduction Collaborator: lbibliophile-mcu Link: AO3 Square Filled: T1 - fireplace Ship: Tony & Bucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: Touch-starved, Bucky Barnes needs a hug Summary: Conduction n, the transfer of heat energy via contact. It is a small thing that makes him notice. A simple clap on the shoulder, emphasis for whatever point he is making. But when he moves to take his hand away, Bucky follows, just for a moment, prolonging the contact. Word Count: 970

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Title: Death Shall Have His Dominion Collaborator: MagicaDraconia16 Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - dark Ship: none Rating: Teen Major Tags: Dark, death-fic, nobody lives Summary: When Thanos arrived at Earth looking for the Infinity Stones, he found it already dead. He, too, found death there. And now, thanks to his armada, the Merchant of Death has a way to travel beyond Earth. And death is what he lives for. Word Count: 1335

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Title: N/A Collaborator: dr-stxrk Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S5 - galaxy Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: gifset/edit Summary: N/A

#tonystarkbingo2020 #tsb2020 #weekly roundup #tsb week 9 #week 9 roundup

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fictionalabyss · 5 years

Text

@gimmemyrebelpie

Honestly, I think we've all done it. I think we've all pretended to be older than we are for some reason or another.

When I was 13-14, everything was chat rooms (I low key miss them). I use to be in Yahoo chat AND I REMEMBER A TIME BEFORE THE PORN BOTS TOOK IT OVER THAT'S HOW OLD I AM, msn had chats, aol.. But Yahoo was where it was at.

I was 14 and lying about being 16 because I could pass for it EASILY and people would talk to me. No one wanted to talk to the 14 year old.

It put me in so many dangerous situations.

At 14, a 19 year old man asked me to marry him and wanted to move me across the country. Even when he found out I was two years younger than I had initially let on because he was "in love" with me. He tried to get me to say yes for a few years.

By 16, I had a 27 year old "DJ" wanting to meet up. I was "dating" a 19-20 year old friend of a friend who started seeing someone else after a week because I wasn't as mature as I looked (I could pass for 18-19 at the time). He literally took me to one movie, and nothing more than a kiss happened, so he moved on.

Not to mention the countless 'men' in the 18-20 range who just wanted to cyber.

By the time I actually was 18 and old enough to go to bars, I had an relatively experienced sex life (for just one partner, because I had learned too much online) and had an older stalker who would find out where I was and show up. He first interacted with me at 16-17.

AND I WASN'T EVEN PUTTING MYSELF IN 18+ SPACES! I wasn't throwing myself into kink conversations, I wasn't intentionally going out of my way to interact with adults. I was simply lying about my age by 2 years and only for 2 years (I stopped lying at 16).

I honestly can't even imagine the shit that could have happened if I had put myself into kink at that age. If I had started interacting with adult erotic writers. Looking back, I was always a little, but imagine the damage some asshole could have done and told me it was just what Doms/Daddies do. How would I know better?

RESPECT ADULT SPACES UNTIL YOU ARE AN ADULT.

This is coming from a grown ass MOTHER who's done what you did. Don't do it. It's really NOT worth it.

Know what else is not worth it? Fucking up an entire families life so you can get your rocks off. Because that's what you do when you shove yourself into an erotic writers space. You are essentially forcing them to supply you with porn against their will. And it will ruin their fucking lives. It's why we block minors.

Don't be that asshole.

You want erotica as a minor, write your own (I did that) or find someone else. Respect those of us who do not want you in our spaces.

If a random 30 year old wants to talk to you at 15, that's a red fucking flag, my friend. Get away. Fast.

#this got away from me #sorry not sorry #i rant sometimes #im a mother and i care for you guys

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cindylouwho-2 · 4 years

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 2 2020

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

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

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

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

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

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

ETSY NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

Etsy launched an exclusive collection with Joseph Altuzarra.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

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

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

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

There are far more Instagram analytics apps than I thought.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MISCELLANEOUS

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

#SEO #search engine marketing #EtsyNews #statistics #Ecommerce #smallbiz #Onlinemarketing

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kenshi-vakarian7 · 5 years

Text

MERweek2019 - Day 3 - A Friend in Need

Event hosted by @cactuarkitty with fanfic prompts by @vorchagirl

---

My other fics for MERweek;

Day 1 - Tall Tales - “The Shifty-Looking Cow Incident” (Wrex & Garrus friendship)

Day 2 - A Night on the Town - “An Evening at the Casino” (MaleShep/Tali)

---

Today’s Prompt - You can take this prompt where you want to. A genuine plea for help on the battlefield, a moment of kindness in which one person realizes how much they love the other. Go nuts.

---

“Only Now”

Throughout his military career, Commander Ty Shepard heard things no average human should hear; the wet, crunching sound of a bone being crushed under a heavy weight, the choked gasp of someone's dying breath (worse when blood was involved), the sickening sizzle of skin being charred under intense... among others. The sounds were always horrible, but as an active soldier, one got used to it overtime. It wasn't a good thing, but it was one way for Shepard to cope to the point where nothing got under his skin anymore...

Not until the moment a Cerberus AI smashed Major Kaidan Alenko's head against the side of a burning shuttle... twice.

That sound of armor smashing against steel was more deafening to Shepard than the anguished cries of the survivors of Mindoir the morning after their colony was raided by batarians slavers. A teenager at that time, he found himself protecting the young children of his closest neighbors and managed to keep them all quiet hidden in a barn. Because of that, he was spared from watching his parents and siblings being cut down violently by the raiders in other parts of the colony. He was also spared from witnessing his first love’s face being blown off by a shotgun. Seeing all of them in the aftermath didn't help, but at least Shepard wasn't forced to watch his family and boyfriend die horrifically with his own eyes. It was of his few comforts during those dark days.

Watching Kaidan struggle against the AI's grip, then watching his head get crushed against the side of the shuttle (not once but twice) before he went limp, Shepard felt his heart lurch in his throat, certain in that moment that he just watched Kaidan die right in front of his eyes.

And that noise... it continued to rattle in Shepard's head even as he pulled the trigger on the AI with his pistol, not stopping until the bot fell into a heap on the platform they stood on. It was still there as he checked on Kaidan's unconscious form, desperately calling out his name in vain. It continued to haunt him as the Normandy flew away from Mars and while he got Kaidan to the med-bay. It gripped him like a vice while he briefed Hackett on their mission and chatted with Liara after about what was to come.

It was still there in his head when he checked up on Kaidan on their way to the Citadel.

The Reapers only landed on Earth three hours ago. People were dying by the millions. But the only thing Shepard could think about at this time was how close he came to losing Kaidan today.

Shepard always knew he cared about Kaidan ever since they started serving together on the Normandy SR-1, but he held himself back from revealing his feelings. It wasn’t because Shepard was afraid of opening his heart to him after the tragedy on Mindoir; Shepard was engaged to be married at one point early in his career and long after the raid. But after Torfan – and said engagement was broken off – it just seemed simpler to not get involved in a romantic relationship while he was still in the Alliance. Considering the rules on fraternization in the first place, it was for the best.

But somehow, Kaidan managed to slowly chip away at the barrier Shepard put up around himself. Not only did they fight side-by-side during their mission to hunt Saren, but they also took the time to get to know each other during downtime. They mourned and shared a drink together after losing Ashley, and they celebrated after Saren and Sovereign were taken down and the Citadel was saved.

Then, Shepard died after the Normandy was attacked. As he drew his final breath, the last person he thought about was Kaidan... and how he would never get the chance to tell him what was in his heart.

Two years and a hell of a wake-up call later, things changed, though Shepard wasn't sure if it was for better or for worse. His argument with Kaidan on Horizon was like being stabbed right in the chest and having the knife left in there to remind him of what he lost... and what could have been.

And until today, Shepard didn't think he would ever see Kaidan again. So he moved on, and kept his focus on his career as he always did.

When he saw Kaidan for the first time in months just moments before the Reapers hit, Shepard couldn't help but think that the Major looked more handsome than he remembered. He knew then that his still cared for Kaidan just as he did three years ago even with the mild tension that laid between them as they exchanged pleasantries.

Then, as the Reapers began to destroy Earth, they met up again on the Normandy SR2 and headed to Mars to retrieve the prothean date that could save the galaxy.

Initially, Shepard was annoyed with Kaidan still questioning him over his 'alliance' with Cerberus despite the Commander telling him over and over again that he was only using them to save the colonists in the Terminus system. It hurt when the Major somewhat compared him to one of the Cerberus soldiers they found... and who somewhat turned into a husk. To his credit, Kaidan did apologize after Shepard confronted him about it.

They did make attempts to smooth things over, but there was still a long talk that needed once there was some down time. Except now, Kaidan's was hanging on for his life. Who knew if they would have another chance to talk... about Horizon, about Cerberus... about unspoken feelings...

That last thought brought a heavy, aching pain deep with Shepard's chest, more so than he had anticipated. Why did I let so much time pass me by without ever telling Kaidan... how I...

Sitting by Kaidan's bed in the med-bay, Shepard felt the urge to take his hand in his, but held back. Instead, he shifted closer to the bed and rested his hand at the edge of the bed.

“Dammit, Kaidan,” Shepard murmured just enough so that the Major could hopefully hear him somehow. “You scared the hell out of me when...” The remaining words hitched in his throat and the Commander forced himself to take a deep breath. “Just... pull through, okay? And not just because of this damn war. But... there's so much to say... about... everything. Please, Kaidan... I don't think I can-”

Shepard's breath hitched once more before he let out a choked sob. Tears stung his eyes as he finally gave in and reached his hand to Kaidan's. His hold was just firm enough in the hopes that Kaidan can somehow feel his touch.

In that moment, Shepard knew that he didn't just care about Kaidan... he loved him. He loved him and he was kicking himself for not realizing it sooner. Of course, only now, did the realization smack him in the face while Kaidan was laid out on a medical bed and tethering between life and death.

Shepard gave Kaidan's hand a gentle squeeze. “Will be at the Citadel soon,” he promised. “And then you're going to get better. And when you do, you and I will talk. We'll talk about whatever you want and...”

Shepard took a shaky breath as another wave of emotion hit him, but he managed to keep them at bay. He reached his free hand to grasp the Major's shoulder. “Fight this, Kaidan. I don't think I can-” he stopped himself before he finished that sentence and quickly said, “That's an order, okay? Fight this. I know you can do it, Kaidan... please...”

And for a long while after, Shepard maintained a silent vigil at Kaidan's side.

#merweek #merweek2019 #kv7 ocs #mass effect #mshenko #ty shepard #kaidan alenko #fanfic

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hetalia-boyfriend-scenario · 5 years

Text

You get drunk

IF YOU ARE UNDERAGE PLEASE DO NOT DRINK

1p spain (Antonio):

You came home from a long day of work. You could not wait to snuggle in your boyfriends warm embrace, but he was not home. Then I remember that he told me that he had a concert with Lovino.

I go to the yellow and white cupboard, look for something to eat, and look what we have here. I one big bottle of wine, that has been left untouched.

I make it home from the concert and excited to tell my partner about the latest show up of fans. When I walk in a see them on drinking wine and laying on the couch.

"What happened to you?" As I can see my tesoro is getting up and walking towered me. Then they fall breaking the wine glass in there hand. "Wow, wow. You are so drunk, dios mio." I grab them and put there arm around my shoulder. Put them in the bed. I go for the broom to clean up the glass. But my amor grab me by back of my waist and said some scrabbled words in incomplete sentence, trying to get something across to me.

Then they say "I Mis- I wanttt- pleses... stay" holding me even tighter.

"Alright I will stay to you fall asleep." Then I turn to them hug them. Then they vomit on my back.

2p Romano(Flavio):

I am currently laying on the couch waiting for my boyfriend to get home from a meeting with a model. He was currently late for our date. I had made a Risotto for dinner. It was candle lit with pink and gold candle. There was a nice table cloth, that had the same color scheme. I had a bottle of wine sitting there with two glass with it. I decide to start to drink by the time it hit the 2 hour mark.

I arrive to the apartment two hours and a haft late. Vita Mia was probably worried, they were the worrying type. I get to the door fondle with my keys, I have some many Dannazione keys. I finaly find the key and get it into the key hole.

I open the door to see my piccola... not there. I walk into the apartment and see the kitchen with some dim lights. I walk to the light and see mi amor sitting there crying with a glass of wine in their hands. They seem to being whisper something, but it all drunken speech. "I am so sorry that I was late."

They seemed to not notice me. They still just sit there crying. I walk to them about to hug them from behind but "DO NOT-" Then they puke all over the floor "Do not touch me."

I just stand there speechless. They have never told me to not touch them and in fact they have never been angry with me. Then I look around and see that this day was definitely been planned. I see my favorite scented candle and a fancy table cloth. I see my favorite Italian dish, very poorly made. But I can see they tried. Then I remember we had a date night today.

"Cocciola... I am sorry I forgot today was date night." I garb them and put them on my shoulder. They try to resist but they are too drunk to get anywhere. I bring them to the bed and lay them down. I go a grab a bucket. I hear puking and rush in there to see them puking on the floor and it was all over the expansive carpet too. I walk over to them and put the bucket down. They give me a look of a sick little puppy.

"Cocciola... How much did you drink." I say sitting next to them, rubbing their hair, and getting ready to pull it back when they puke again.

"I drank a full bot-" Them they go back to the bucket and puke there guts out again.

"How did you get this drunk on a full bottle. Like you are not a light wight. When did you start drinking." I say while they puke as I pull there hair back.

They stop and lay on the bed. "Why do you care. Don't you want to hang out with your model 'friend'." They say then start to cry, like the type of crying which most people would call balling your eyes out.

"It was not like that. I am sorry you thought that." I say that while going down to their forehead, about to give it a kiss. But they slap me instead. I look very shocked at this and I feel like my heart had just been ripe out of my chest. I have never had them so pissed off.

"I said do not touch me!" They yell while crying. They look like they had their heart ripe out too. "It was our anniversary today. You do not even remember." Then they cry into their hands.

2p Italy (Lucinao):

Me and mi bella where currently enjoying dinner that I made. We were currently talking about their resent 21th birthday.

"Actually I have never had any alcohol. My parents have told me that it is not any good." They say while they eat. I look at them as if they are brainwashed. They look up, see my face, and say "It just I was never a partier back in my teen year.

Immediately I get up and head towards the cabinet. They give me a look of disgust once I pull out what I have.. "We are now having wine."

"But I do not want wi-"

Before I let them finish that sentence I say in a stern voice " Yes you are drinking. Deal with it." That immediately shut them up and we start to drink.

I immediately notice them getting drunk. We chat for a while on how school is going and thing like that. When they suddenly got up and walk up to me. Then pull me into a heated kiss and they took control, Which never happens. Then they pull away and sit on my lap. "You look sooo likkke sexxy....Like youuu knnnow."

Then they start to nibble on my ear, while rubbing their knee on my crouch. I do not know if they were doing this on purpose or not. "You are so dru-" Then they barfed all over my back. "You like only had two glass how did that get you that drunk!" They then just hold onto me.

#2p hetalia #hetaliaboyfriendscenarios #hetalia #spain hetalia #aphromano #aphitaly #aphspain #aph spain #aph hetalia #2promano #2pitaly #2phetalia #2p italy x reader

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is6621 · 5 years

Text

Mall the Small Things -Kelsey Sullivan

In a span of just a few weeks, a number of retailers have announced store closings. In a CNBC article, as of March 1, more than 4,309 store closures have been announced by retailers so far this year. Victoria’s Secret, Gap, JC Penney and Tesla all announced store closures within the past 2 weeks - leaving hundreds of storefronts empty and hundreds of shoppers questioning.

Victoria’s Secret plans to shut down 50 locations in 2019 - 4x more than their average twelve per year. Gap - 230 closures over the next two years and spinning off Old Navy, and JC Penney, between department stores and home and furniture locations, 27. And what’s a blog post without mention of our favorite social media guru, Elon Musk and Tesla - announcing they will move all sales online and close showrooms. But, don’t worry, you can buy a Tesla in the matter of a minute on your phone. eMarketer predicts Amazon will control nearly 54% of all retail ecommerce by 2019.

Since the rise of online stores, like that of Amazon, many large retailers (as mentioned above) are left feeling bruised and broken. Sure, online shopping is all about convenience. Heck, as I sit here writing this blog, I have googled hairspray, cleaning spray, and a few other items I need but am too lazy to go out and pick up (move the car, lose the parking spot, fight the crowds, change out of my Sunday lazy attire, i can make up a number of excuses) to see if I can purchase online, cheaper, with the instant gratification of having by tomorrow. I stopped when my travel hairspray delivery date was Friday and came to my senses that i can just get tomorrow while at work with a quick trip to CVS. But, therein lies my point. Convenience is there, yes. but convenience still lies within the brick and mortar stores too. Convenience, the key here, and highly valued but not the holy grail.

PRO: In Store shopping - Personalized. Experience

In a nutshell, online shopping is a glorified google search. You are searching, scrolling, clicking thru and for results. Chat bots are there for you, but are they real? Can they tell if those jeans make your butt look nice, or if the shoulders on the blouse make you look boxy? Nope. They may provide customer service, but nothing like that you would get in store. Forget clothes for a second. What about big purchases? TVs, cameras, computers, appliances - are you going to trust a bot to help you find what’s best for YOU? No. Again, a better experience to be had in store, checking out the products, asking the pros, who are real-time and subject matter experts. Online, things like customer reviews and photos have helped bridge that gap, but having someone walk through your large purchase, with you in mind, now that is personalized. That is an experience. And back to my hairspray example, one of the main reasons people still believe in buying something in-store is more satisfying than online is because you’re able to get that item immediately. A Fluent survey found that the reason most likely to be cited for shopping in-store is the ability to see or try on items in person. According to a study by Autotrader, 88% of shoppers prefer to purchase a car in person. Maybe that’s for the test drive before, be as it may - buyers want to have that experience before the drop their hard earned dollars.

As e-commerce continues to change the way retailers think about brick-and-mortar locations, it’s clear there are just too many of them.

PRO: Online shopping. Convenience.

There is no argument that online shopping is much more convenient. You can do in your robe, in between loads of laundry, dishes, or as your about to run out of paper towels. Outside of black Friday, the Internet is the only shopping experience that is there for you 24/7. You are not at the mercy of store hours, South Boston parking, Massachusetts pike traffic, or mother nature. Save time, save effort. Buying a gift? Even better - skip the step of wrapping, packing, and sending.

CON: In store shopping: Price comparisons. Shopping the deals.

For multichannel retailers - those who sell both in physical stores and online - pricing becomes tricky. Retailers all have different price matching strategies - some brick-and-mortars (Best Buy, Target, Staples) will match online prices in store upon customer request, while others (Home Depot, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s) stand ground on a hard no. Self-matching would seem smart to most, appeasing customers and maintaining fairness - a strategy to earn higher profits according to Harvard Business School professor Elie Ofek. who found that price matching is not just a necessary evil; it can be a competitive tool and boost a company’s bottom line.”

Shopping online gives us the opportunity to compare prices, vs. in store, we do not have as easy of access to. You forget the prices you’ve seen in the previous shops, so you can’t compare them. One of the biggest questions faced by brick-and-mortar retailers today is whether prices should be the same online and in stores. Macy’s reported a decline in store sales, resulting in a 10% stock price drop. But it’s these stores that have to continue to find ways to face and defeat disruption - ramping up web operations, but more importantly creating new reasons and values for customers to patronize stores. Price strategies are what can keep all retailers afloat and results in an immediate effect. Prices can be changed tonight and profits can start rolling in tomorrow morning.

CON: Online Shopping. Scams, Fraud, Identity Theft, Phishing, Abuse. (all the things that scare you)

The Internet knows more about us that we do. Think about how many times a day you are entering personal information via your phone, your computer, your tablet. We are entering our credit card number like its our name in a drawing and simultaneously running the risk of our lives being hacked. Online shopping fraud was up 30% in 2017, while every year since seems to break records. As e-commerce grows, e-commerce fraud grows even faster. This is not to say do not shop online as it is not safe, but it is a caution so shop smart. Most online retailers have secure sites and have every security measure needed, but we just need to be more...aware. Not purchasing from shady sellers (mom and pop sites vs. Target.com). We have to question safety, quality, and lots of inconvenience spent dealing with the repercussions.

There is data to support that physical stores are still important to consumers. We are not ready to forego altogether. Stats from 2018 support the importance of physical retail environments include:

- According to google, 61% of customers would rather shop with brands that have a physical location than with brands that are online only. Also, nearly 80% of shoppers go in-store when there is an item they need or want immediately.

- 57% of cusomers say that the closing of many department stores has negatively impacted their perception of ecommerce (Avionos)

- And then there’s Amazon, now with brick and mortar Amazon Go stores in three cities across the U.S.

The in store experience allows customers to engage with the brand. At the end of the day, both in store and online shopping are important and relevant to consumers and therefore cannot be forgotten. The retail space is going thru an evolution of which is fueled by consumer behavior and expectations. To be successful, brands need to take steps to account for shopping wherever and whenever it happens.

1. Be ready to capture at any stage of the journey

2. Create a seamless experience between both experiences

3. Use data to fuel and customize both experiences.

To succeed in the modern world of retail, whether brick and mortar or internet, retailers need to embrace web AND in-store operations as unique operations and remember that at the end of the day, it’s all about what the customer wants. Adhere to my needs and price sensitives, and I will support you whether in store or online.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/gap-victorias-secret-tesla-store-closures-hit-malls-in-the-middle.html

https://www.emarketer.com/content/the-pros-and-cons-of-in-store-and-digital-shopping-experiences

https://b2b.autotrader.com/oem/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Car-Buyer-of-the-Future_NAS-Client-Presentation.pdf

https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2018/04/24/e-commerce-fraud-rose-nearly-twice-as-fast-as-e-commerce-sales/

https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mksc.2017.1035

https://binaryic.com/knowledge-center/how-customers-prefer-to-shop-online-vs-in-store/

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wowheadquarters · 5 years

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I have a little idea for the 1k followers. As I followed this blog recently, I was wondering about his history. If you feel like it, could do a summary? Like, why did you start it? Your first joy/disappointment. Any thing that we haven't see that you might want to share. Absolutely anything about the blog and you. (If you're comfortable with it of course)

This is a very good idea, lovable anon, I’ll try.

History:

It was 17th November 2015, somewhen in Tuesday afternoon. I don’t remember what exactly sparked the idea of starting this blog, but I can say for certain that it was heavily inspired by the @bleachlists (which is, if you ask me, better humor than canon Bleach). And thus the first list was born.

(I never expected this blog to get famous. Or followers besides bots for that matter. I hoped, maybe, for a little circle of, like, 5 actual readers. I certainly didn’t think I would keep this blog for longer than 4 months. That’s how it is with me usually, I have bursts of inspiration but lack long-term dedication. The fact that this blog is still going is a miracle.)

At first the lists were written in the “chat” style. I had to make up my own prompts, because the two followers or so only hearted the posts but didn’t interact with me at all otherwise. That’s why the activity was very irregular at the time, I was writing when I was inspired and thus a month could pass without a word from me and then boom, three posts in a week. Additionally, I wasn’t writing only lists, but also short stuff, kind of like “Slice of life from Azeroth.” Of these the most famous is Chromie and Dragons and in my opinion the best one and not enough appreciated one is Kel’thuzad’s Heard Of Sylvanas’ Plans.

The first breakthrough came in January 2016 when an anon, who made me happy so much that I called them “lovable” in the list and kept on doing so for all following anons, requested the very first requested list, the Care of Babies list. For a long time this has been the list with the most notes. Now there are too many lists to keep count and Tumblr doesn’t do “the best of your posts,” but still it is one of the most popular posts I have and along with the Chromie and Dragons it still pops up in my notifications. Around April 2016 I had stable enough queue of requested lists to stop making up my own prompts, thus I could completely rely on prompts from followers, most of them from anons.

Another important milestone was August of the same year: First of all, I came up with a posting schedule (Fridays and Mondays, but two months later I understood that was too fast - It ate the prompts faster than they were prompted, and I wasn’t managing it). Then Taedal was added to the lists, at first he was meant as a joke, as I keep reminding him and everyone else, and somehow it happened he stayed here. Additionally, Varian and Vol’jin’s deaths were acknowledged, putting Anduin on the list. Soon after, Garrosh joined in from beyond the veil to annoy Vol’jin in his afterlife.

About this time the blog began to create it’s own lore (and not only the L.O.R.E.), and I even had the (short-spanned) will to mystify people that Taedal is going to get his own expansion. I even had a sideblog dedicated to Taedal (in fact, it was Taedal’s own blog, intentioned as a RP blog but somehow it never…got much traffic) and even a wiki. The wiki still exists! I like to think of this as the Golden Age of HeadQuarters verse, when I even got fanfics on AO3 and a dozen of drawings for this blog even. This blog lives in an alternate universe where there is a new isle west of Pandaria and Garrosh adopted 37 dead children in the afterlife and learned to be a better person (not necessarily the same as good person, but let’s not lose hope).

I don’t remember exactly on what occasion in the 2017 the Interviews were added, but they were the first not-list which were requestable (that is, they weren’t the short filler stuff I used to make before). I think it was to celebrate the first 100 followers but I might be wrong. The first Interview was held with Taedal, by my decision, and ever since then the Interviews went by request every twenty days, moved to every other Wednesday, later as of not-so-recently, every other Tuesday. In the history of the Interviews, there happened to be only one which wasn’t published, because nobody asked any questions. (It was Interview with Kel’thuzad, pt. 3, and I jokingly said that “ when we met, the Archlich thought I used the Interview as an excuse to go out for a date with him and things went awkward” which resulted in this Top N list).

From there things went rather fast. To here actually. As a celebration for 600 followers (or was it 500? Memory fails me) I began writing Top N, sort of as of a filler in between the Interviews, so actually now this blog has moved back to the biweekly posting scheme very close to the one from 2016. Earlier this year (2018), there was a list about attack on not-Theramore, where I made up a character especially for my timeline speculations - because timeline shenanigans, it is a bronze dragon, and because it is representing me, the character is called Authormi. That is a very poor play on the word “author” (because I am the author of this blog) and the “-ormu/ormi” suffix characteristic for the Bronze dragonflight. Coincidentally, it was also the first time I have referred to myself with any sort of name here on this blog (besides the FAQ where is a link to my main blog) and I am using it since.

An important part of the blog is post maintenance when I try to at least twice a month (but if I’m very responsible, then every Friday evening) go thorough the blog, update the Interview, Top N, and L.O.R.E. pages, delete old request asks and so on. However, over the years a good number of not-request asks had piled up in here. They were…not filtered here and the blog seemed messy with them. Which is why Authormi vs. Inbox tag was created and from time to time when too many not-request asks pile here, I dump them into these post as a sort of archive. I admit that it is not, uh… ideal in case you are looking for something specific, but it keeps the blog clean. Well, cleaner.

The most recent new development of the blog was the addition of the Allied Races leaders - Alleria Windrunner for the Void Elves/Ral’dorei, High Exarch Turalyon for the Lightforged, Jaina Proudmoore for Kul Tiras, First Arcanist Thalyssra for the Nightborne Elves/Shal’dorei, Mayla Highmountain for the Highmountain Tauren Tribes, Overlord Geya’rah for the Mag’har Orcs, and Princess Talanji for the Zandalari. The choice of the leaders is taken from the information on the Allied Races from Wowpedia.

Speaking of Wowpedia, it is my primal source, besides personal experience, when it comes to writing the lists. I used to rely on WoWWiki, but, uh… that one turned a bit messy a couple of years ago and I never get around to check on it now. When I don’t know something, I look it up on Wowpedia. If it’s not on Wowpedia, I consider it a Free Real Estate lore wildcard, which means I can bullshit it out as long as it is lore/character consistent. I pride myself on giving the characters (leaders) some actual character, because, now correct me if I am wrong, Blizzard writers confuse character personality for that wind flapping pole. I am not saying that I am writing “good” or “pure” characters. They have faults, they are prejudiced, foolhardy, depressed (in not romantic ways), mean, holding grudges. Some, like Garrosh, Genn or Gallywix, are more straightforward in their flaws than others, but I am pouring a cup of sour traits to everyone here. (What I am saying here is: Be critical when you read your favorite leader’s opinion. They might not be right and/or honest.)

Overview, as of today, Monday 19th November 2018:

Published 174 lists, 24 more in the queue + bunch of requests hanging in the asks among the posts. (Somebody needs to do their maintenance)

Published 25 Interviews, 9 more in the queue + some in the asks too, I think I saw one request or two.

Published 21 Top N lists (most favoured number for N is 10), 0 in the queue.

1009 followers, woooo! I love you all. Except the 1009th one who is a porn bot, you can go fuck yourself. ‘Xcuse me. 1008 followers now!

The blog is 3 years and 2 days old. Happy birthday!

Authormi’s pick of lists to read (besides the one linked):

What they say far too often: Vintage one, so you see what the old style was like.

What do the think of the heroes: Meta one!

Their pick for a movie night: There were no guesses on what movie is a Ayeroth-verse of what Earth-verse. I am proud of some of those titles.

No Orc Invasion: The first timeline speculation, which I really lvoed. If somebody was to write that AU, I’d read it actually.

If they could erase one person from existence: Another timeline speculation. I like making those!

Draw the squad: Maybe you could draw the squad?

Watching Les Misérables: This one was an especially important journey for me, because this list is why I saw the musical in the first place. Later I read the book too (I love the book), got into some Les Mis RP, made some very good friends out of that… Yeah, I owe this one lovable anon who requested it a lot. (More or less, now I am also a professional Valjean RPer, except I don’t get paid for it. Whenever somebody who knows me joins a new RP server and they haven’t got Valjean, they usually ask me. Like… what? How? Why? Why do you all think I am a good Valjean? Why- Never mind, this is a Warcraft blog. Moving on.)

Spell of the Violent Tongue: The first time it has been brought to my attention that I think about the characters in a way a lot fo other people doesn’t, because this list surprised a lot of readers, and by surprised I mean hit into feels so hard they complained to me. I talked about it with my mum later (family support is an important thing for me and mum is fan of Warcraft), and I’ve been told that “I treat the characters maybe a bit too realistically.” PSA for everybody: Warcraft is a story about broken people and violent racism.

Their God Tier: For the people who are fan of Homestuck too. (Homestuck itself is good. The fandom is weird)

Garrosh’s 37 ghost children: By which they became more or less canon on this blog, a regular stuff which is to be counted with.

How do they insult people: The most recent popular post.

Interview with Azshara: My personally favorite thing I have ever written for this blog, as in, I don’t think I am going to peak it.

Interview with Luxien: Because I want to press Taedal’s story and “expansion” to everybody, read the interview with his older evil sister.

Top 10 favorite characters: I suppose you are a bit curious who my faves are, so here you go.

Top 10 changes to the story I would do: By heart I am a storywriter. I give such things a lot of thoughts. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, lack of dedication is… making things hard.

Other cool stuff to check out (maybe?):

Taedal’s expansion wiki, of course. I have a lot of thoughts about that world and story and… I would love to went about it a bit, too.

This very cool fanfic on AO3.

The official portrait of Taedal.

The official portrait of Authormi.

The description of this blog, as taken from my personal blog:

wowheadquarters (WoW HeadQuarters, World of Warcraft Headquarters, WoWHQ) is by far my most popular blog, despite being younger than SNTS. I add new content twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday. I never thought I’d make more than 10 posts in total, but there we go. I admit that the original idea comes from bleachlists, but it has sort of evolved since then. I am trying to keep the blog not contradicting the canon, but some things in the HeadQuartersverse might not always agree with the official lore

Final words from Authormi:

Oh my fucking god, this is really unbelieveable that this thing is still going on. I never expected this blog to live beyond a month. I never thought I’d get more than 20 followers. I have 1000 now? That’s… is that Tumblr-famous? I’ve never had this many followers. Do you all read this? All the stuff? Am I shaping your view on the Warcraft universe? This is too much power for one person to have.

You want to know what’s actually my happiest memory connected to this blog? It was actually some time back (because my memory is a mess, I can’t tell you how far back), I had a really, really stuffed couple of weeks. A lot of to do, but also mentally exhausted, I was in a bad place for a bit there. Usually I am able to kick myself in the ass, sit down and make up the list on the go, even if it is bound to be miserable wreck of text, I write it. Sometimes when I am super done and tired, I write it on Saturday evening and pretend it’s Friday and so far everyone’s been so kind and there’s been no comment to that. But in those two or three weeks I just… couldn’t. Even clinging to this self-made structure was too exhausting. I wasn’t on Tumblr for basically the whole time (my main blog was fuelled by the queue). Sometimes when I am in a good place, I write lists in advance and schedule them, but at that time no such a thing took place, so this blog went silent without announcement and I couldn’t care less. When I finally found it in me to come online, my inbox greeted me with various people who were asking me if I was okay and whether or not I am still alive written in a very worried manner. And you know… reading that helped me a lot at the moment. It was a reminder that somebody here cares for me and cares for what I do and… Yeah, it was a damn motivation to get myself together a bit and write stuff and do some stuff. Since then I’m trying to announce in advance if I think I am not going to make it, and even then I am still trying to write the list as soon as possible when I am fit to.

A story for your amusement on this “write it when possible” note. This summer I was with my 4 younger siblings (my oldest sister, still younger than I, turned 18 last Thursday, the youngest sibling who also happens to be a sister is 4, but I don’t live with all the siblings, blah blah divorced parents blah blah, not related) and dad and grandfather in the beautiful village (or town?) of Au in Austria. I took my old laptop with me (I’ve got a new one recently) which had battery that could live on it’s own for, like 10 minutes. The house we were living in had no wi-fi, but there was a village-wide public wi-fi… which din’t reach the house. The nearest was at the bus stop, but that one was shaky, and the good reliable hotspot was at the park, 10 minutes of walk away from the house. Now, it was nearly Friday and I needed to post the list. So I wrote it int he laptop’s notepad, then turned off its life support, took it and dashed across all of Au to the wi-fi hotspot, formatted the document into a list, and hit post. About 2 minutes later, the laptop died.

I am thinking about making another blog directly meant for the asks, request or not, and those would stay there. What do you all think? Maybe I would lose things there, I am quite capable of it.

I’d love to talk about Taedal and his demons and his entire story a bit more. But I haven’t got, like, a reason to do so. I am sort of insecure in this matter, I sort of have the feeling that nobody really cares for Taedal here. “What are you thinking, a ‘good demon’ OC?” (Ask me about Taedal and his faction and the Broken and Distant Worlds expansion. I have an expansion and half planned in my head.)

There is some kind of an expectation or anticipation in me to have someone from Blizz discovering this blog and some big consequences happening. I am not sure whether I want it to happen or not. I mean, I am a bit… too-critical of their work in attempt to please the crowd here. (It’s easy to search for flaws when you take the good stuff as the norm. You are actually doing a good job, Blizzard, in the terms of game developing and marketing. But there is that one post going around which says that Warcraft lore/story is written by 9 people who cannot talk to each other. In this spirit, I am sure that there are 4 people writing charcter psychological profiles who don’t know of each other’s existence. Your animation is a snack, though.)

Wow. I suck at summaries. This is as brief as it gets.

#long post #even by my standards

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thirteenthspirit · 5 years

Text

I would, my friend, Fernando (Part I)

Where to start… You know how they say you instantly know it when you meet ‘the one’ – you know, that person you think you’re meant to spend the rest of your days with, grow old together, the whole shebang. Well, I think it happened to me. Emphasis on the ‘think’ bit.

I met him as a random grindr hookup – sure, not the prettiest beginning to a story, but I’m sure I’ll weave a prettier lie at our wedding. It was nice and all, but we barely bothered to learn each other’s names.

A few months later, I was about to do a Raid in Pokémon GO with the usual team when he showed up, joining the party. I didn’t instantly recognize him, but as we kept raiding the following days and he kept appearing, I realized it was him. The random hipster hookup from a couple of months ago.

When I say hipster, what I really mean is… I have no idea. Somewhere between fashionable and trashy, cool and geeky, ‘lumberjack chic’ – but, as he himself would put it, sometime later, “skinny legend fashion icon”. Just rolls off the tongue, am I right. So you have a clearer picture, he is very tall, appears to be in his early 30s and is overtly fond of beanies and skinny jeans – oh, and of course, the moustache. Not the gross overgrown kind nor the plain ‘single line’ one, but a perfect blend of both, just looks good and different on him. The kind of person that draws everyone’s gaze in, when they enter the room.

He eventually joined our local whatsapp group for Pokémon GO raids and we began to see each other more often. It was a fun game of “we have met before but we don’t really acknowledge it”, between me and him. He sent me a friend request on Instagram, and we began to chat one-on-one from there.

The conversation began developing after I learned that he needed a Spinda, of which I had 2, so I offered him one. He lived literally across the street from me, so we could trade from our respective couches. I think that same day, since we lived so close together, we arranged to go for a walk after dinner, to catch Pokémon. The never-ending “shiny hunt”.

And again the following day.

And the next. And the next one after that too.

The conversation deepened. Since we met in that fashion, there were no boundaries regarding our hookups and sexuality. It didn’t take long for us to become very good friends and talk on a constant basis. Plus we had a lot of interests in common – we were both somewhat emotionally-distant people and with a peculiar sense of humor.

For us to connect so easily, it was definitely a weird thing - my area of expertise is Finance (I currently work at a bank) and my professional experience has always been at several desk jobs. Some better, some worse, but ‘inconsistently consistent’ (the reverse of Grace Helbig). A corporate man, I guess, leaning more towards the realistic side of life, rather than pandering to the dreamer and ambitious one. He is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He is an elementary school teacher and an editor for a magazine and has even written (and successfully published) his own book. A writer in every sense of the word.

Personality-wise, I am what you would call an introvert by nature – not exactly shy, but definitely the proud owner of a handful of unresolved childhood issues caused by enthusiastic bullies and shame. I wear glasses, which help in conveying the whole ‘geek’ category and am of an average build and somewhat tall. I’ve still got my share of face imperfections and pimples at the age of 25 and look younger than my actual age – something we both have in common. Our personalities just clicked though, his extremely offensive sense of humor contrasts well to my fake well-behaved and nice demeanor and we’ve bot got similar personal values and empathy when dealing with others. A couple of nice chaps, is what the ordinary passerby would think.

We became best friends. He confided in me about his past relationships, the good the bad and the (very) ugly and I vented to him about my insecurities and depressive thoughts. We saw each other roughly every day, during our usual “old ladies” walk through a nearby park, always worshipping that battery-draining app. On the weekends, we unknowingly formed the habit of getting breakfast together and basking in the sun for a bit. I was going through a tough time at the time, what with my mother not being in her best shape or form, mentally speaking, leading me to come out to my parents amidst an argument (NOT the best way to do it) – this situation worsened after we had a little house-fire scare. So his presence really helped and comforted me.

Time passed. Mall trips, community days, ex raids, regular dinners and breakfasts and breakfast-lunches. He was pretty much the person I saw the most. And quickly became my favorite.

I was always keenly aware of how close we were getting, and how it might be affecting me and my ability to connect with other friends, but I never gave much thought to the situation escalating. He was 38 years old, and I was 25. The thought alone made me never overthink the relationship.

Until I did. Until the “what if” statement popped into my mind. And the age gap just… lost its entire relevance. I tried to push the feelings down, but as all feelings do, it just made them get bigger and more intense. You see, my past relationships have been failed ones, because I wasn’t emotionally involved in them – I was like meh. So I didn’t really know what it was like to actually like someone. But I was smart enough to recognize it – this was probably my first real interaction with “infatuation” and dare I say it, love.

Here’s the part of the story where the sky is bright and the road ahead is hopeful and sunny.

Spoilers: It’s not.

Why not? Well. Because it’s completely one-sided. Unrequited love. Nothing less, nothing more, the usual boring sappy story of friend in love with his best-friend but unable to do anything about it.

“Well, why not do anything about it? Tell him!” The Jiminy Cricket in my head says.

I definitely let him know, I drop hints here and there, statements like “we’ll be together in 20 years” and getting notably jealous when he’s texting or telling me about his sexy-time and dates with other men (this part hurts particularly). So he knows. If he’s choosing not to see it, I know he has good reasons for it and I am good enough a friend to know not to act on it. It’s cruel on my part to try and force something that shouldn’t happen.

And why should it happen? I don’t really have much to offer him. I’m not his type, I still live with my parents (which I attribute to the ridiculously high rents here in Lisbon) and am overall kind of an emotional mess. Tbh, I wouldn’t pick myself either. But that’s an issue for another day, it’ll get resolved eventually. By myself, not by piling it onto somebody or using a relationship to distract from it.

Also he met ‘the one’ already. Or what he says he’s afraid might have been the one. His last boyfriend, who we name ‘psychopath’, definitely earned his nickname. Physically and emotionally abusive, he left a scar. And Fer is smart enough not to get into a relationship this soon after said breakup, as there is still too much fresh baggage, ready to be thrown at the next man in.

And there are (many) candidates for the ‘next man’ position. He’s a fascinating man and they are immediately enthralled by him (here’s the pot calling the kettle black), so he does leave a string of broken hearts behind him.

I don’t like hearing him talk about this. I can see there is a hint of pain in his eyes when he jokingly says he’ll never find anyone and is fated to remain single his entire life, to which I jokingly retort he’ll never be alone, as he’ll have me. And this is the part that really hurts me – I am content. I am content with being the best friend and I’ll eventually have to deal with him finding someone else, and watching him be happy in a (hopefully) long-lasting relationship. And I’ll be there. The pathetic best friend story from the B-list storyline of Hermione and Ron from Harry Potter. I’d rather have an Elio and Oliver thing, as fleeting as it might be, over a lifetime of longing for something that will never be. I want nothing but the best for him, he deserves it. But… we could be happy together. We could have a life. And that realization kills me.

Then again, years haven’t passed. Time does cure all wounds. Maybe time will heal these feelings, some days they are stronger, somedays they are weaker. Some days I am sure I can call them love, others it’s something darker.

I have realized something, though – I should let myself feel them. It’s ok not to act on them, if I think that’s the best course of action. But I should not repress them. I do love him (how could I not?) and that’s okay. I felt pathetic for feeling them, at first. Especially the jealousy bit I always judged my friends for, that one is a particularly nasty feeling.

But hey, for someone who thought himself to be emotionally shipwrecked, the ship floats! I think that should be my takeaway from this. That’s a positive outlook, right?

And more than anything, I should be grateful to my best friend for showing me something new I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

So if you ever end up reading this, Fer, know that it’s true. Also sorry it’s in English! And sorry if it’s all too much. But I do love you, and will always be a part of your life, in whatever role you deem fit. Now I’ll close this, as it’s time to go on our daily Pokémon run. -João A. (Xanuda)

Link to Part 2 “I Wish I Hadn’t”: http://thirteenthspirit.tumblr.com/post/183770872439/i-wish-i-hadnt-part-ii

#Love #Pokemon #PokemonGo #LGBT #Short Story #Personal #romance #romantic #Grindr #gay #firstlove #story #writing #relationships #Part 1 #Therapy #Mental Health

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ademainalors · 6 years

Text

Doing this

1: I’m afraid my name will have to stay ademainalors ;)

2: 20

3: 3 Fears

The afterlife

Immortality

Mortality

4: 3 things I love

Anime

My Dell Latitude E6410

Cartoons that cannot technically be called anime

5: 4 turns on

Power

Intelligence

Strange hair

Complex understanding of trauma

6: 4 turns off

Misogyny

Homophobia

Clingyness

7: My best friend

Brie or Kyle, although to be honest, I haven’t talked with many humans in the past several months, so at this point, both individuals probably only consider me as a regular friend

8: Sexual orientation

Pansexual

9: My best first date

Aromantic, I never knew, but they were all awful

10: How tall am I

5″ 5′

11: What do I miss

When Zack used to do house rules DND with me, Kyle and Armstrong

12: What time were I born

Heck if I know

13: Favourite color

#ff0000

14: Do I have a crush

I tend not to pay my crushes much mind now that I’ve come to terms with my aromanticism, but when Nathan joked about how he’d want to fuck someone in the server closet, in my head I was like, name a time

15: Favourite quote

16: Favourite place

The Japanese Library

17: Favourite food

Pasta

18: Do I use sarcasm

No, never, not me ever

19: What am I listening to right now

The silence of the void (that’s not an edgy band name... yet)

20: First thing I notice in new person

Their relationship to power

21: Shoe size

10 I think? Fun fact, I religiously wear crocs, and crocs actually stretch out with use, so my crocs have been growing with my feet.

22: Eye color

Hazel

23: Hair color

Brown

24: Favourite style of clothing

I was talking to Kyle about Queer Eye, and I said, “You know what they would say to me if they saw me, they would say I wear clothes that nobody would ever wear because no clothes express my gender, and then they would fix that” And he told me I was perceptive. My favorite shirt is an MPR Volunteer shirt that has no gender.

25: Ever done a prank call?

Nope

27: Meaning behind my URL

What Adrien says to Marinette at the end of the umbrella scene, “See you around” in french

28: Favourite movie

Tangled, but in Spanish

29: Favourite song

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

30: Favourite band

Baths

31: How I feel right now

Overwhelmed

32: Someone I love

My parents platonically

33: My current relationship status

Single

34: My relationship with my parents

Good

35: Favourite holiday

36: Tattoos and piercing i have

I have my ears pierced

37: Tattoos and piercing i want

I’d prefer to keep those Japanese bathhouse privileges

38: The reason I joined Tumblr

I shared a blog with Kyle on Blogger and he wanted it moved because Blogger sucks

39: Do I and my last ex hate each other?

I’m irritated with my last ex, as my last relationship made me realize I was aromantic and that I was doing painful amounts of emotional labor and downright fraud in the name of normalicy

40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?

Nope

41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?

My dad? Platonically

42: When did I last hold hands?

In my last relationship

43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?

30 Minutes

44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days?

I haven’t shaved them in the past three years!

45: Where am I right now?

My room

46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me?

Nobody, that’s why I don’t drink

47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

At a reasonable level

48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad?

Yes

49: Am I excited for anything?

If I’m being honest, no, but there are several things I would tell people about IRL if I were asked

50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

Is the opposite of non-binary cisgender, or another non-binary? Doesn’t matter, the answer is no

51: How often do I wear a fake smile?

Too much

52: When was the last time I hugged someone?

My dad, platonically, two weeks ago

53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me?

I wouldn’t care

54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?

My lab partner for this goddamn lab report

55: What is something I disliked about today?

My lack of productivity

56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Justin Trudeau

57: What do I think about most?

My time efficiency

58: What’s my strangest talent?

Mechanum: I can execute complete instructions perfectly, and I can memorize sets of complete instructions. So if I get a set of complete instructions, I can master the task associated. I am very good at extremely divergent tasks due to this.

59: Do I have any strange phobias?

Having to attend SCSU

60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Behind. Pansonic HMC150s are the bomb .com

61: What was the last lie I told?

I told a group of people that I was sick. I’m actually just anxious and depressed, which is it’s own kind of sick, but I implied influenza.

62: Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

Video chat.

63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Aliens probably, but they likely formed at the same time we did and are either too far or lackluster like dolphins. Ghosts, not really.

64: Do I believe in magic?

I bought a spell from a witch down on money, I just like witches though, I’m not wiccan

65: Do I believe in luck?

100%

66: What’s the weather like right now?

Clear night skies?

67: What was the last book I’ve read?

Sedra Smith, Microelectric Circuits

68: Do I like the smell of gasoline?

69: Do I have any nicknames?

None that I like, except 雨

70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had?

Concussion, 6th grade skiing accident

71: Do I spend money or save it?

Mostly save

72: Can I touch my nose with a tounge?

Nope

73: Is there anything pink in 10 feets from me?

Yup, my blankets are pink, should change 74: Favourite animal? 75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

Sleeping

76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is?

Ochocki-Becker

77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

Get it together, by the Go-Team 78: How can you win my heart?

You can’t. I’ll be your QP if we make a utilitarian symbiotic domestic partnership. I’ll fuck you if you’re sexy and can somehow manage to not trigger memories of my sexual assault, but like, that won’t happen.

79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone?

Rest in Pieces

80: What is my favorite word?

です

81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr

I’m not here to start a war, though one of them is haiku bot

82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

We are not Trump

83: Do I have any relatives in jail?

Nope

84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power?

Pausing time

85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

Tell me about your sexual history

86: What is my current desktop picture?

Me standing next to a no parking sign in Japanese in a small town in rural Minnesota

87: Had sex?

Yes

88: Bought condoms?

Kind of

89: Gotten pregnant?

90: Failed a class?

I have more W’s than a web address but no F’s

91: Kissed a boy?

Yes

92: Kissed a girl?

Yes

93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?

94: Had job?

Yes

95: Left the house without my wallet?

Yes

96: Bullied someone on the internet?

Actually, surprisingly, Kyle. We’re cool now.

97: Had sex in public?

98: Played on a sports team?

Yep, 3rd grade, Softball. I wanted to play baseball and I hated it.

99: Smoked weed?

100: Did drugs?

101: Smoked cigarettes?

102: Drank alcohol?

Confirmation wine, a sip of champaign that I spat out, a sip of gin that I spat out. I can taste the death of my mouth microbiota when I put alcohol in my mouth

103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

Vegetarian

104: Been overweight?

Nope

105: Been underweight?

Probably

106: Been to a wedding?

Yes

107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight?

まいにち

108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight?

はい、アニメを見ます。

109: Been outside my home country?

Nope

110: Gotten my heart broken?

I don’t have one, but I found out a FWB hated non binaries. It was kind of crushing.

111: Been to a professional sports game?

Yep

112: Broken a bone?

Nope

113: Cut myself?

Sort of, TW: I pick at the skin around my toenails, sometimes with pushpins

114: Been to prom?

115: Been in airplane?

Yep, Houston

116: Fly by helicopter?

117: What concerts have I been to?

The FIRST Robotics concert

118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex?

Yep

119: Learned another language?

はい、すごし

120: Wore make up?

Yeah, I hate it

121: Lost my virginity before I was 18?

TW: Is rape virginity

122: Had oral sex?

Yeah, it sucked.

123: Dyed my hair?

124: Voted in a presidential election?

Hillary Clinton

125: Rode in an ambulance?

Yes, concussion

126: Had a surgery?

Wisdom teeth removal

127: Met someone famous?

Dessa

128: Stalked someone on a social network?

Probably

129: Peed outside?

130: Been fishing?

Yes

131: Helped with charity?

Yes

132: Been rejected by a crush?

Yes

133: Broken a mirror?

Yes

134: What do I want for birthday?

Cash

135: How many kids do I want and what will be their names?

Adopting teenagers, they’ll have names already, probably one, but maybe more if they’ve got sibs, Despicable Me style.

136: Was I named after anyone?

Something

137: Do I like my handwriting?

No, it’s an abomination

138: What was my favourite toy as a child?

Piglet

139: Favourite Tv Show?

Assasination Classroom

140: Where do I want to live when older?

Minnesota doncha no?

141: Play any musical instrument?

Used to play trombone

142: One of my scars, how did I get it?

Scootering accident

143: Favourite pizza toping?

Alfredo sauce instead of tomato sauce

144: Am I afraid of the dark?

No 145: Am I afraid of heights?

Yes 146: Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?

No 147: Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end?

The midterm two days ago

148: What I’m really bad at

Reading university textbooks

149: What my greatest achievments are

Student Senate President

150: The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me

I was in a political argument and some bitch brought my yellow teeth into it

151: What I’d do if I won in a lottery

Take the payments over time, put in a bank account, pay off people’s loans on the contidition they try to pay off other people’s loans, put solar panels on things, buy a tesla

152: What do I like about myself

My hair 153: My closest Tumblr friend

@dragon-in-a-fez 154: Something I fantasise about

Being dictator of the US 155: Any question you’d like?

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