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thecrimsonshadow · 1 year

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ONE PIECE FILM RED: CONTAINS SPOILERS

Hi everybody! I'm excited to finally be able to talk about this movie. Originally I planned to post my thoughts in two weeks, but I couldnt hold back. I had went to see it on the 5th of November and honestly I did not expect I would be able to see it.

My country doesn't really do anime movies, so I usually wait till after the movies are out online to watch them and had originally thought I would have to wait till next year to see this one too, but luckily in October I had google searched upcoming films in my country and saw that One Piece Film Red was coming, so I quickly booked two tickets.

I wanted my friend to come along and she was excited. (she's currently in Whole Cake Island arc) but sadly she couldn't leave because she kept forgetting to plan properly and ask for a day off weeks prior so instead she asked like a few days before the show and her work place declined so I went alone.

I got my family to drive me to the capital city and they dumped me there almost 2 hours before the premier. So I wandered there like a sad sheep.

I was certain there won't be any cosplayers there, because Estonian people don't really like getting attention, but I did wear my Law hoodie.

I saw like two people with similar one piece merch and one brought a straw hat, while the rest were just dressed nicely.

The actual movie started at around 17:45

When Uta started signing it felt like I was at an actual concert! The effects, the dancing, the volume was great!

Uta and Luffy

Starting from this, previously I mentioned how I thought of them as just best friends with a chance of romance, but after the movie I wanted to go deeper.

I'm fine with them being either romantic or platonic, but you can't deny that they love each other. Love comes in different forms and some people think that deep love can only be between romantic partners, but no, you can love a person with you're whole heart and wish for their happiness without it being romantic.

Some people say Luffy wasn't acting in character, but I think Luffy was being Luffy. Uta was Luffy's first friend, rival and somebody who understood his dream, his real dream. With the way the flashback about the symbol on Uta's wrist was explained it seemed like Luffy had told her his dream and their dreams both were aimed to make the world happier. They seemed to be like co partners with their shared goal.

In Luffy's case I think his dream has something to do with freedom, equality and happiness, while Uta's was more towards fun, happiness and peace.

So their dreams came together and they had a deep understanding. I think Uta was also the catalyst to help Luffy realize his main dream and that is why he had such respect for her and just couldn't hurt her, because Uta was working towards a dream she believed would achieve her wish and she was willing to die for her goal like Luffy is.

It could be that Luffy also loved her as a crush or as somebody to admire, either works. It's not that far fetch for a kid to have a puppy crush even if it's Luffy.

Some get mad about the hat ripping, but again Luffy was in a dream world and knew it, I think he believed Uta would never actually rip the real hat and he was right, so he did get mad but he was more confused as to why Uta who loved Shanks so much would rip Shanks's precious hat even in a dream world.

The ending with Gear 5 I think came from Luffy's strong desire to save Uta. I think if Luffy was more experienced before Marinford he would have gone Gear 5 to save Ace too. But that's just a theory.

The ending between Luffy and Uta just made me want to cry, because when Uta placed the repaired hat back on Luffy you could see a tear fall down, because Luffy knew he wasn't able to keep Uta alive and that this was goodbye. (honestly I wish Uta would live, she was such an interesting character)

UTA

Uta was a complex character and I would love to see the movie a few more times to study her behavior, but this is so far what I understood.

First off Uta grew up on a Pirate Ship, BUT it doesn't seem that she saw too many bad things, most likely because the crew wanted to keep her innocents so they protected her from too much bloodshed.

Shanks wanted to give Uta an education in music, because she was talented and reaching her dream with them would have been impossible. As I see it he did plan to take Uta, after she didn't want to stay in Elegia, but because of ToT music he realized Uta wouldn't sing ever again if she found out she was the reason of so much death.

He trusted her safety and her dream to Gordon and decided to leave her there with her, hating them, even if it hurt them and her. (understandable but still dumb, she would have healed better if she stayed with people she loved)

Uta clearly has a big fear if death. Of blood. She wants people to be safe and I doubt Gordon alone quickly got rid of all the dead bodies on the island.

Uta grew up surrounded with dead bodies, blamed the death of the people on Shanks and herself because as Gordon put it she was used as a distraction to get access to the island.

Uta clearly was depressed and cut off from the outside world; she was isolated. Gordon was just one man, he did what he could but Uta's mental state was in shambles.

She held onto the memories of Luffy as a coping mechanism to live in hopes of one day seeing him again, because they shared the same dream and he was her first real friend.

When she found out the truth about the incident she blamed herself but at the time she had finally connected to the outside world for a year and the people relied on her and if she were to shut down again she would hurt them and she couldn't do that. So she rushed to think of a way to create a world they wanted.

She most likely had only started healing, really healing for a year before finding out the truth that broke her again and put her into a fragile state of mine, because not only did she have a body count, her father left her and her new adopted dad had lied to her for years.

Clearly she would start thinking she was something to be afraid of if her dad left her and Gordon kept her isolated and lied to her.

Also the fact that even if she knew the truth now it didn't delete the facts of the civilians who would tell her about what horrible things pirates have done, since pirates are in fact selfish.

She was clearly suicidal and thought of a way to create a world for everybody, but at the same time punish herself by killing herself in a "noble" way.

When Uta saw Luffy she was overjoyed and wanted him to stay, she even kept ignoring the pirate comment for so long until Luffy wanted to leave and she couldn't lose her friend again.

Her mental state kept snapping; you could practically see the strings snap with each of her expressions.

Eating that mushroom only worsened her emotional state.

Shanks appearing only made her even more unhinged, but at the same time saved her.

Uta honestly deserved a happier ending. But the whole story was indeed good.

Additional characters

Loved every single one of them. Law coming to the show because Bepo wanted to was hilarious especially when he turned little and Law had screamed "BEPO!?".

The whole theater was laughing.

Barto being there was also great, I love him so much! I'm not actually surprised he is a fan of Uta, but nothing can beat his love for the strawhats.

Coby and Helmeppo was the one that got me really excited. I loved to see them fight with the strawhats and how Coby was the tactician during the fight!

Brulee was fun to see too and the moment between her and Sanji was cute. I loved that.

Sunny being there was adorable and I kinda hoped Franky would carry Sunny around because Sunny is his baby.

The moment between Usopp and Yasopp was really great! I loved the insynch moment!

Last notes

I'm really hoping to see Uta in the manga with a sub role, because I loved her a lot.

When I saw the end of the movie I hoped that maybe Uta isn't dead but it's hard to think that when everybody saw her eyes becoming dull.

Also those who say there was too much singing. It's a musical. And me being a musical lover I can say right away it wasn't even that many songs, there are a bunch of musicals that pretty much have no dialog just singing.

The amount of fight scenes was nice too. No complains here.

The only thing I can complain about is that the pacing seemed off to me. Like the movie went too quickly. I think if Oda will make an actual arc involving Uta and maybe with a different ending or pacing than it would come out really well, because even though the movie covered everything it still felt kinda rushed.

Also yeah the strawhats had minor roles, but the main characters of this movie were Uta, Luffy and Shanks.

Before the movie I was actually pretty sad. I have seen a lot of tik toks or comments of people disliking the movie and I was so confused, because it seemed like such a fun movie. But I was lucky enough to see positive posts too and realize that most of the haters were those who.

1.Didn't understand that this was a musical. I legit saw so many argument of there being "too much music" its a musical people.

2.Thought Shanks would be like the main character but we all know this man will have an active role only at the end of one piece almost no canon stuff would be in the movie.

3. They didn't like Uta, because they didn't understand her mental state or just wanted the strawhats to be more active then her. Eh, thats fine as an opinion to have but that also shows that the main point of the movie wasnt understood.

4. Are Uta x Luffy haters so they hate her just because of that ship. Which is silly to hate a character just because of a ship.

Having you're own opinion is fine and dandy, but talking badly about the movie and just ruining the fun of other fans is a jerk move. If you have a negative opinion please make a valid argument with those who already seen the movie. And have a civilized discussion.

#one piece #one piece film red #film red #one piece uta #shanks #one piece red

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sparkletastic-cookiedough · 2 years

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I'm Pretty Sure My House is Haunted- Part 1: October 15th

Beetlejuice Fanfiction. SFW, but some horror vibes.

Preludes and Warnings.

Look, I know what you might be thinking. If I read this kind of post online, I’d also think it was a total joke or something. But I really need advice on this kind of thing.

I’m pretty sure things started at the funeral. October 1st, overcast, a pretty terrible day to be honest. It was a semi-obscure relative that died, which meant my presence in the whole ceremony was more to support people who were actually more emotionally affected.

Anyway, I was standing there, half-listening to the speech, when I see some movement out of the corner of my eye. A girl has entered the cemetery- some incredibly goth teenager with a camera.

What caught my eye, however, was the really strange guy following her. He wore some dingy overcoat- the kind where you know from a glance that it smells bad- and seemed to be wearing some sort of zombie makeup. It was impressive, the detail and all that made him actually look dead. The pair were an interesting sight. I expected the zombie-looking guy to start posing for pictures, but instead I watched as he just kind of followed the kid around.

Creepy, right?

It gets weirder. At some point, the guy casually looks over in my direction, and notices me staring. We made eye contact for an uncomfortable amount of time. I glanced away for a second, and the guy disappears.

I didn’t believe it either. Some guy dressed up like a ghost shows up, only to completely vanish. It sounds crazy, and at the time I thought it was just a… sleep-deprived hallucination or something like that. But after everything that’s happened since then, I’m not so sure.

For a few days after that, I kept getting the strange feeling that I was being watched. At first it was just walking near specific areas- the graveyard, the old house that was rumored to be haunted, the large covered bridge. Then it got worse. I had this really strong feeling that someone was following me as I was walking home one night. I kept turning around, only to find no one there. It continued all the way to the outside of my apartment building. Every now and then while walking around town, I’d feel a random cold spot. It would last a moment or so, and vanish as suddenly as it arrived.

If that was it, I’d blame it on paranoia. But of course, things had to get weirder. On October 5th, it rained. I was walking home from work, this time given a strange reprieve from the usual “I’m being followed” feelings I kept getting. I noticed a set of muddy footprints leading into my apartment building. Not all that out there, considering the fact that I’m not the only one who lives there, and it had been raining all day. But then the footprints continued down the hallway, round the corner, and right in front of my door… where they abruptly stopped.

I was quite a bit scared by that, but when I turned the key and opened the door, the tracks were gone. No trace of anyone having entered the room, no trace of a person turning and leaving.

I thought, “hey, maybe this is some sort of dumb prank” before accepting that I was far too tired to deal with this nonsense, and just decided to wait until morning.

The footprints were gone the next day.

When I returned home that night, all of the posters and papers I kept taped to the wall had fallen onto the floor. The next day, a day off for me, I kept noticing strange things. I’d set something down in a room, leave, come back, and find it moved ever-so-slightly over. The lights would flicker every so often. On top of that, I felt like I was being watched- this time even within my own apartment. So I decided to speak to my friend Ross about it.

Ross has always been a bit odd. We’re kind of similar in that way. So when I told him about the strange things I’d been experiencing, he offered two ideas: I either had some sort of ninja stalker following me around, or I was being haunted by a ghost. I didn’t believe him at first, but I was willing to look into some unusual solutions.

So that night, I burnt some sage in my house, and continued to do so for the next few days. I didn’t do anything to prevent ninjas, because to quote Ross “If you’re being stalked by a ninja, you’re screwed. Happened to my cousin Davey a few months ago, now he’s in the hospital with all of his bones shattered”. To my surprise, the sage worked.

So maybe the supernatural wasn’t as out there as I originally thought. That or my ninja-stalker really hates the smell of burnt sage.

It was mostly quiet for a few days. Then yesterday, things started… occurring again.

I kept getting phone calls. I don’t usually get a lot of scam calls, but I also don’t pick up the phone for numbers I don’t recognize. I got a few voicemails from numbers I’d never heard of before. Most of them were nothing but silence for a few seconds. One was a faint buzzing noise. One sounded like radio static, but every few seconds a low gravelly voice would cut in. Combined with the other things that had happened, they were a little off-putting. I blocked each number that had sent me a voicemail.

On top of that, I think a few of my things went missing. Nothing important- junk mail, some empty cans I had yet to take care of, a few pens. It was just… strange.

Then there was today’s incident.

I returned home late after a pretty long day at work to find my apartment had been trashed. Stuff flung out of drawers, my chair toppled over onto the ground, every bit of clothing thrown onto the floor. It certainly wasn’t fun to need to clean up a whole apartment after a really frustrating day at work, but I managed to check all of my things. Unlike yesterday, nothing had gone missing. But… I’m worried. I don’t want to call the police or anything. I used sage yesterday, and it didn’t prevent this mess. Things are escalating, and I’m worried they’ll get worse.

I’m scared for what tomorrow will bring.

What do I do?

#beetlejuice #beetlejuice the musical #fanfiction

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system76 · 3 years

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Behind the Scenes of System76: Sales Team

The System76 Behind the Scenes series aims to give readers an inside look at the people behind our mission. This week, we spoke with VP of Sales Sam Mondlick about the challenges of conducting business during a pandemic, and how long it’ll take the Sales Team to make a certain blog author a millionaire.

You know. The important things.

Take a moment to describe the different functions of the Sales Team.

The Sales Team itself is currently made up of two different positions. The Customer Experience Specialist (CES) is the first line of conversation with System76 with regards to anything order-related. Their job is to make your process from purchase to shipment as easy as possible and provide you with as much information as you might need, such as giving status updates about orders or answering questions that may have arisen.

The other position within Sales is Account Management. They’re the people you talk to from first inquiry to System76 about products. These guys help anyone, from my 80-year-old grandma who’s looking to transition from Windows to Linux, to Fortune 50 companies. They deal with a wide variety of customer base, so they’re pretty much experts in getting the customer what they need.

Then there’s the Product Management side of Sales. The Product Manager stays up to date on all-new technology, and then informs and directs the team. The position was built to ensure System76 is at the forefront of new and exciting technologies, whether that’s within the Thelio product line or in the form of updates that come to our laptops. And that could be as simple as tracking memory updates from DDR4 to DDR5, or with PCIe 3.0 updating to PCIe 4.0. For things like that we’ll track and update products throughout their lifetime.

What is the guiding principle for how the System76 Sales Team operates?

The Sales Team philosophy we push is what I call, “Consultative Sales.” We’re here to be an assistant to the user in order to get them the right product for the job; we’re not going to upgrade you for the sake of upgrading. The team is there to understand what you want to accomplish so that they can get you the right machine with the optimal performance for your use case.

What factors into the decision to introduce a new product?

There’s quite a few factors internally that we’ll go through. Looking at our product line we ask ourselves, is there something that’s missing from it? And if we do find something, what are the benefits to it? How is it going to make us as a company better, and us as a provider of Linux-based technologies the right fit for our customers?

For the Lemur Pro, battery life had always been a high-value item for our customer base. Before the Lemur Pro and Darter Pro were introduced about 2 years ago, the average battery life on a System76 computer was about 3-5 hours. The ability to introduce a product with a higher battery wattage allowed us to extend battery life almost threefold. That value is really what drives a product forward.

What is your team’s background with Linux?

A lot of the team members have a background in Linux as users. That’s what we tend to typically hire and bring on. They are apt in review and understanding, and helping customers that have specific tasks and needs within the Linux environment. Charles was using Raspberry Pis in order to do some cool things, and Bradley used Ubuntu even before he was hired. The same can be said for Jeremy and John. They all believe that Linux is the right tool for people, and they showcase that for incoming customers. Even if they’re not tech-savvy within Linux, there’s a background there with using it and seeing it in the wild.

What challenges did the pandemic present when it first started?

I think at the very beginning, the biggest challenge for us was the loss of the team camaraderie. A lot of Sales is personal relationships, and the team feeds off of each other, so having everyone in the same area was a huge benefit pre-pandemic.

In the first month or so after it started, there were definitely challenges with productivity and communication because Sales works a lot with Engineering, Support, and other departments in order to give the customers the information they need to make an educated decision, or to update them on the status of their order.

But, I think one of the best tools we have is our employee messaging client. That was already ingrained in us as something that was used pre-pandemic that really started to show its value post-pandemic, especially with the team members being in different homes—and in some cases, different states. It allowed us to provide our staff with as much as they needed to make their environment feel like they were still in an office, still able to get the camaraderie, and still able to get almost the same instantaneous response as they would in the office, but now done remote.

Our ability to put tech first, especially within Sales and Service, is one of the things we do really well. We never throw people at a problem. By that I mean we don’t delegate a problem up the chain to solve it. Instead we work for a solution, and our people evolve into that solution. From my viewpoint, we’ve established that a remote environment is as productive as an in-person environment, which has opened up the door for System76 to grow. Instead of working within a local pool, we’ve now moved to the ocean. Whereas you used to have to hire and work to provide resources for new hires to move to Denver so they can work with the team, now we can bring on team members from pretty much anywhere on the globe to come help make System76 better.

System76 has seen steady growth in the past year despite drastic political and economic changes. What do you attribute the success to?

I think we’ve matured as an organization. We have introduced products and product lines that are meeting and exceeding a lot of different customer requirements. When I look at our desktop line from when I started seven years ago, our options were the Ratel, the Wild Dog, the Leopard, and the Sable. With production moving in-house and the introduction of Thelio in the last two and a half years, keeping in mind both Intel and AMD, we’ve gone from offering a four-desktop solution to nine.

Laptop and desktop quality has also increased in the last seven years, and a lot of that has to do with what we’ve done in our new manufacturing facility. We have made leaps and bounds with regards to what we’re doing with software engineering now. There’s a huge demand for what our Software Engineering Team has done, driven by Jeremy and our open firmware/open EC that speak to a lot of people. Companies are looking at an open source solution instead of proprietary because they want more control over what their team and their organization are doing.

One of the things we’ve noticed is that our business clients have grown. There’s significantly more support and drive from both the end user and the corporate side to make it so Linux is a valued and desired solution for their teams. Today, I can probably put a Windows 10 machine next to my Pop!_OS 20.10 machine and accomplish everything in the same amount of time or faster. Maybe I’m not using the same applications, but anything I as a businessperson could do within Windows, I can now do with Pop!_OS or Ubuntu. The Linux ecosystem is continuously changing, and that only helps us as a company.

You’ve been at System76 for quite a while. What’s it been like watching the company grow?

It’s amazing. When I started at the company, I was really the first Sales-oriented person. I was the 8th employee at the time, and now I’m the 5th-oldest employee of System76 out of over 50 employees. So it’s huge, man.

When you look at a lot of big corporations, change is hard to make happen. It’s looked at as too different, too risky. But here, change is really something we strive for. We work to be different, to be new, to figure out new ways to help our customers or create solutions to help them, or figure out ways that can change us for the better that you just typically wouldn’t see from a corporation.

What was your favorite moment?

When I first looked at System76, back when we were only offering Ubuntu, I saw the beginning of something very similar to another major player. Very grassroots, very much specialized and hardware-specific. They also created their own operating system, so when I interviewed in 2014, I made comments during my interview with Carl that I expected us to probably produce our own operating system as well. I thought that would be our endgame as a company. At that time, and Carl might contradict my memory on this, but I remember he didn’t think that would ever happen. And then in October 2017, we released the first version of Pop!_OS. That made everything come kind of full-circle for me.

The following year, we brought hardware inside in order to make it the best that we could. So in three short years from me starting, we took what we were doing and elevating it to something that only a handful of companies do, and do well. Our potential is really limitless from what I’ve seen so far, and it’s very apparent with what we’ve done with Pop!_OS since its release, as well as where we’ve taken Thelio. I bet you we never thought we would’ve implemented something like i3 tiling into Pop!_OS. I really goes back to how we view change. We embrace it. We see it as trying to do something better than we did before. Carl and the Engineering Team view software as always being about revision, and we bring that philosophy back to hardware and back to the company as a whole.

#system76 #s76 #76 #linux #computers #hardware #software #firmware #STEM #engineering #gaming #science #sales #behind the scenes #bts #Pop!_OS #Thelio #laptops #desktops #servers #manufacturing

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caffeinated-chaos-bean · 3 years

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Mid-2021 Blog Update

Hey guys.

So... It’s been a while. Quite a while... and I want to lay some things out as to why I’ve been gone and the blog has practically been dead in the water for half a year, if not for a whole year.

I want you to know that what I’m going to say will be in heavy detail. I’m comfortable speaking on it, and what information doesn’t just include me will be using either public details that I know I can share or will be put in a short and sweet manner.

This is your trigger warning: If you need to click off or scroll past due to the mention of extremely bad mental health, toxic relationships and households, the mention of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, please do so now.

. . .

First off, I’ve lessened the amount of time I’ve been online due to my mental health. I was put on antidepressants as well as told to take anti-anxiety gummies in November and will be weaned off of those starting this October. A lot of my family and relationship drama on top of the world practically shutting down and going into chaos thanks to COVID-19 just took a major toll on me. With so much on my shoulders, stress from living with said things on my shoulders, unsupportive family members, and an emotionally distant partner, I was at one of the lowest points in the life. I’d never had to be on mood-related medication in my life until last November. I’d always been able to handle what was thrown at me, but mid- to late-2020 was what knocked me down that low for the first time in my life. Suicidal thoughts came and went (they weren’t often, only when I couldn’t bottle my emotions up any longer but didn’t have a way to express them either), but even when they did, I knew that it was just in my head. I never once chose to act on them, because to me, that is not a way to solve a problem or escape your inner demons. All it does it put your personal suffering onto those around you -- your friends, family, and those who cared about you even when you don’t see it -- and it doesn’t do anyone any good. When my doctor asked me about suicide, that’s the very explanation I gave her. Yes, they happened, but I’d never act on them; it’s not a way out and it puts your pain onto others and only worsens the situation for the long-term.

Aside from that, though... I move on to other personal reasons for my absence that helped trigger what was mentioned above. Mid-August of 2019, my then fiancé's mother was murdered by two 17yr old boys of whom she and their family knew. Going off the information that was made public, one boy had mixed meth with marijuana prior to the killing. He claimed that my fiancé’s mother mouthed off and made a derogatory comment about his deceased mother, thus sparking the incident. While he claims to have only stabbed her once, the autopsy report shows that her head/face and upper torso were “hacked, slashed, and chopped” repeatedly with “various sharp, bladed objects”. Not only did they murder her, the two individuals also set the grass around her body on fire along with her home. When we found out about this having happened, I had no idea how bad it would have turned my relationship upside-down. My now ex-fiancé didn’t come from a great childhood, there was abuse and CPS, among other things. But he had managed and was a good person. He could make me laugh and tear up at his jokes, sang beautifully, and did everything to make those around him happy. When he lost his mom, it broke him. It shattered his very being, because not only did he know the two who caused it to happen, he also was unable to reconcile and make amends with his mother for what he went through as a child. He was robbed of being able to forgive and be on good terms with her, and it broke him. He stopped communicating with family, he took bereavement after being pulled from work by family the day it was confirmed to be his mother only to to fired 3 months down the line when he tried to go back (fuck Walmart for that btw), and was slowly becoming a hypochondriac. He stopped talking to me, he would cry in his sleep, and grief made him lash out as was expected. But as the days dragged on, his motivation and care towards finding a new job dwindled. He and my mother would fight endlessly and I was caught in the middle of it, as we all were in one household. There were times in which I would keep my phone on my leg and record for my own personal documentation should I need it due to how bad my own mother would belittle me, belittle my ex behind his back, and just scream and go off. When I’d turn to my ex for comfort, he wasn’t much help due to his own deteriorating mental health. He took to discord, specifically the Vampire the Masquerade community, as his escape from reality. He eventually would hardly talk to me at all, show no compassion, and at times I tried to speak with him about getting a new job or suggesting part-time ones that I felt would be easy and as stress-free as possible for him, I would be shooed away without a word; if I tried to further my attempt to have the conversation, he eventually got an attitude and would just say “Bye!” over and over again while shooing with his hand to get me to leave. There were many days where I’d get off work and sit in the bathroom for an hour and cry because of my frustration and how I felt stuck between two people I cared about deeply (ie. my ex and my mother).

My ex has since moved out and no longer lived with us. He and I are no longer together, and he has cut off all communication to me along with his family. He isn’t living in California anymore, really. He met up with discord friends and is in another state. That’s the last I heard from him. That’s the last his family heard. He doesn’t talk to us or attempt to reach out or respond when his family reaches out. I still very much care about him and want him to get better, but if he has to do so by being away from everyone, then so be it.

While I was letting - or shutting out, rather - the emotions I was feeling once he officially moved out, I relapsed with my anxiety tick; with my trichotillomania. I have a good number of smaller, thinned out spots in my hair from unconsciously pulling out strands of hair when my emotions didn’t know how to regulate. I’m still fighting to get this under control, as I do still catch myself doing it and so does my mother. It currently is not as bad as when my ex first moved out and I had to adjust back into sleeping alone and without someone next to me, but I do still pull. I am looking into trying to get my sister to order me a HabbitAware bracelet for me this Christmas in order to help get my tick back under control. I know its something I will live with forever and go in and out of doing, as there is no cure or medication to curb trichotillomania, but its something to help me be more aware of how often I do pull and to train it to no longer be a muscle memory response.

Most recently, I’ve had to stop taking melatonin. I’ve had bouts of insomnia since my ex left, and eventually I took enough melatonin to not only build an immunity to it but also a slight dependence. I was taking more than I should have been, and I noticed the signs of it and have stopped taking melatonin altogether. Due to this, I have switched to hempseed oil gummies. I take 2 before bed and they have helped wonderfully. But, due to how easy it was for me to become dependent on melatonin, I do plan to take brief breaks from the gummies to avoid a similar situation. I also do not plan on seeking an insomnia medication due to the same reasons. I knew what I was doing was wrong and I knew i was becoming addicted, and due to this I do not wish to risk it happening with a prescription sleep medication. I will deal with my bouts of insomnia as they come.

I also am conquering my insecurities towards others knowing I am a fan of Michael Jackson; a moonwalker. In elementary school (5th grade, 2009), I went through a heavy obsessive phase when he passed. I’d never heard of him, and when I listened to his music that firs time I was instantly hooked. I was ridiculed at school after I performed “Thriller” during a talent show; I had classmates going as far as saying that I must want him to kidnap and r*pe me if I enjoyed his music so much. I didn’t understand the gravity of those comments back then the way that I do now that I’m 23, but I still knew to an extent that what they were saying was in now way a good thing. I shut out his music from mid-6th grade all the way until this year. I hadn’t listened to a single song aside from hearing “Thriller” on the radio during October. For my birthday this year, I had a friend take me out of town and get away for a day. The entire time, she surprised me by playing hours of his music when in the car with her. It has since reopened that connection to his music and I’ve been listening to his songs with a fresh take, with the mind of an adult who can comprehend his words and understand finally what he’s saying for each song. As such, I’ve become more comfortable with others knowing I’m a moonwalker. You can have your opininos of the man, you can choose to believe the tabloids and junk media or make your own conclusions after assessing the details and documents of his life, but I will enjoy the same freedom of opinion.

I know this is getting pretty long, but I wanted to fill those who still might be checking up on this blog for any sort of update or spec of life coming from it in on what’s practically killed the blogs for a good chunk of time.

I do plan to slowly start doing stuff again after Halloween. I have a video made that I plan to post for Halloween and I look forward to letting Kikumi and the others be open for asks again. Until then, may the wind guide you all. I hope everyone can have a safe and wonderful rest of August. I will see you in October.

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bunnymcbunnister · 4 years

Text

SPN Season 15 Spoiler Sheet Update 10/19

I put the general spoilers at the end because it was bogging the whole thing down, so if you are looking for those, keep scrolling.

DISCLAIMER: This is gathered info from various sources. This is not confirmed information. Stuff in this WILL be wrong. Don’t take this too seriously. This is for fun. Also, if you use this info for another publication, please let me know as a courtesy. Don’t be a dick. It's all out there, but it hurts to see my same phrasing on other publications after all the work I’ve done to consolidate it…

Episode 15x16

Title: Drag Me Away (From You)

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: FLASHBACK TO A YOUNG SAM AND DEAN – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are asked to investigate the murder of a childhood friend, calling them back to a motel from their past and perplexing the brothers with a case they thought was solved a long time ago. Amyn Kaderali directed the episode written by Meghan Fitzmartin (#1516). Original airdate 10/22/2020.

Written by: Megan Fitzmartin

Director: Amyn Kaderali

Filming Dates: 2/6-2/17

Airdate: October 22nd

Photos:https://www.thetvaddict.com/2020/10/16/supernatural-photos-s15e16-drag-me-away-from-you/

Promo: https://youtu.be/ayOy8gEr4wo

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? I’m starting to think no? Jack ? not sure either.

Guest stars: IMDB credits Lisa Berry (Billie/Death) as well as Young Sam, Young Dean and both grown and young Caitlyn

Other Spoilers/info:

Alex got a cast of his face around the filming of this- so this ep or the one after

They filmed at Rooster’s Sunrise Hotel for 3 days/nights

From TVLine- “It worked not only as a case right now, but also as something that informed the journey Sam and Dean have taken, where they started as kids, how they kind of came together and then how that has [led up] to the point that they are, emotionally, when the episode airs. So it ended up being a really good reflection of our guys now, telling a story about our guys then, which, to me, are always the best versions of those types of flashback stories.”

From EW- "We see the case that kind of brought them together as hunters," Dabb says of the episode, "the first case young Sam and young Dean worked together to a conclusion."

Episode 15x17

Title: Unity

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: ONE WAY OR ANOTHER – Dean (Jensen Ackles) hits the road with Jack (Alexander Calvert) who needs to complete a final ritual in the quest to beat Chuck (guest star Rob Benedict). A difference of opinion leaves Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Castiel (Misha Collins) behind looking for answers to questions of their own. Catriona McKenzie directed the episode written by Meredith Glynn (#1517). Original airdate 10/29/2020.

Written by: Meredith Gylnn

Director: Catrion McKenzie

Filming Dates: 2/19-2/28

Airdate: Oct 29th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? yes

Guest stars: Rob benedict and Emily Sparrow IMDB credits Robert Wisdom (Uriel)

Other Spoilers/info:

Chuck and Amara trailers were seen on set when filming in a garden

Jensen was in NOLA Friday, possible Monday

“Uriel” was around for filming (Post COVID update: Misha seemed to indicate that this was because the actor was nearby filming? Not sure if this is to cover up the spoiler or the truth)

Alex and Jensen filmed in the impala

Episode 15x18

Title: Despair (it was The Truth at some point I think)

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: RICHARD SPEIGHT, JR. DIRECTS – With the plan in full motion, Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles), Castiel (Misha Collins) and Jack (Alexander Calvert) fight for the good of the common goal. Richard Speight, Jr. directed the episode written by Robert Berens (#1518). Original airdate 11/5/2020.

Written by: BOBO

Director: Speight

Filming Dates: 3/2--3/11

Airdate: Nov 5th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? yes

Guest stars: IMDB credits Billie

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha and Alex filmed near the impala. J2 showed up later that night. This was the source of the “last time they all filmed on set” photo

A really emotional scene was filmed with Misha and Jensen. Jared was definitely not there, but Alex was on the flight they took with Rich, so its possible he was too. This was revealed at a con in which the four of them were on a plane that had an in-flight problem.

Filming watchers saw a bro hug

Tape Ball posted a shot of field that looks like where dean came back from hell

Misha indicated this was his “favorite episode” in a recent interview

From EW- Ackles, having recently done ADR on episode 18, says he had forgotten how "monumental" the hour is.

Episode 15x19

Title: Inherit the Earth

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: bucklelimg

Director: John Showalter

Filming Dates:: 3/12-3/23/cancelled for COVID and then 8/18-8/27

Airdate: Nov 12th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? unknown Jack ? yes

Guest stars: Jake Abel (Micheal), Mark Pelligrino (Lucifer)

Other Spoilers/info:

Production shut down as a precaution for coronavirus on 3/13, two days into filming. It is scheduled to start again on Aug 18th.

Jensen indicated there might be some re-writes for this ep to account for COVID protocols.

When they started filming, they indicated they were on day two. So maybe they could only use some of the scenes they shot? Then they added an extra day all called it day 9. COVID protocols makes things take longer

AlCal was definitely on set.

Jake Abel was definitely on set, and he posted an instagram story with his trailer and Lucifer’s (Mark Pelligrino)

Some filming was done at a gas station called Showalter’s (name of the director) with Jared, Jensen, and Alex

Jake “Spoiler King” Abel filmed a video showing chairs for Jared, Jensen, and Alex as well as Rob Benedict (Chuck/God). They were filming near a lake with a mountain view (that looked similar to where Cas died in season 13)

Rob Benedict posted it was his last day in Vancouver, indicating we won't see Chuck past this episode? Or very very briefly in 20? Jake Abel posted a similar message, also baiting fans about Misha’s whereabouts

Scene “28” took several days and seemed to go across both 19 and 20? So they might have done some combo filming?

Episode 15x20

Title: Carry On

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Written by: Dabb

Director: Bob Singer

Filming Dates: 8/28- 9/10

Airdate: November 19th

Photos:

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? maaaaybe? Jack ? maaaaybe?

Guest stars: Jim Beaver

Other Spoilers/info:

Jensen indicated filming would take two weeks, longer than usual (looks like a 9 day shoot, with a day off for Labor Day)

According to Superwiki, 9/3 was the last day on the bunker set, the final days are on location.

Scene “28” took several days and seemed to go across both 19 and 20? So they might have done some combo filming?

Filming locations seemed to include a barn (pic with a stunt guy showed wooden walls and straw) and a lake (not the mountain lake from 19), and a forest. Filming signs spotted at Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

Jim Beaver confirmed his appearance on Twitter

There was a pic of J2 with baby on a bridge. Baby had her original plates. They seem to be wearing the same clothes they were in the pilot. There may be grey (??) In their hair, but that could be lighting

Misha posted some creation videos, saying he had been on an impromptu camping trip. He was back in his house. They were posted on the last day of filming and he had pretty decent scruff. He also mentioned that it was the last day of filming and he wasn't up there.

The show officially wrapped at 6:25 on 9/10

Jared said “the last time Sam and Dean see each other is the last time Jared and Jensen film together” but seem to imply that was not the final scene? It was a confusing answer to a question about filming the final scene.

IMDB credits a vampire?

General Info (oldest to newest). This is a blend of pre-COVID and post COVID, so some might change.

Misha will be in 15 out of 20 episodes this season (he’s missed 4 so far. Unclear about 16, 19, and 20).

JaxCon/Vegas Con spoilers:

Misha said the ending was “happier than he expected” but also had some sadness. He later used “sad and redemptive”

Dean says the line “stop killing my people” (to god?)

Jensen said he doesn’t see how the story could continue past this season, but Jared said its more of “a see you later” (in more recent interviews, Dabb seems to shut that down completely)

Al Cal posted a pic of a “thrown away” call sheet that seems to indicate Micheal, Lucifer, and a character named “Betty” interacting in the bunker. Unclear as to the validity, could be from 19 based on casting

Charlie (original flavor) will return

Filming resumed on Aug 18th. Per Canadian policy, they must quarantine for two weeks. Those quarantining seemed to include:

Fairly Clear: Jared, Jensen, Jake Abel (Micheal), Rob Benedict (Chuck/God) Mark Pelligrino (Lucifer), Al Cal (didn't need to quarantine, but he is definitely on set), Jim Beaver (Bobby)

Unclear/Rumored: Misha (he is being deliberately cagey), Osric Chau (Kevin- but likely for another project, he was a week ahead of everyone else)

Reasons Unlikely: Sam Smith (chemo treatment), Kim Rhodes (working at a camp during quarantine), Ruth Connell (posted from Malibu the entire time)

No idea: Shoshannah Stern

Jensen said sp 19 is more of a season finale, while 20 is a series finale. Repeated in interviews/livestreams.

Jensen indicated that the ending did change per COVID protocols. Later interviews confirmed this, but it seemed to indicate the changes were in regards to how many people filmed at once (crowd scenes, recurring characters returning)

Misha is being very, very cagey about where he was. Some live streams seem to indicate he is not at home, but he has yet to confirm- his presence in 19/20 is hard to track. In an interview with Metaverse, he was in bed in a hotel looking space and you could see mountains in the background. He was not on set for the first week of filming, so he could be a week behind.

Misha has thrown around the words “final” and “what he <Misha> would have wanted” per Cas’ ending. “Sad/Proud” and “poignant” were also used. His latest line is “sad but satisfying”

The finale will air Nov 19th in conjunction with an hour long special.

Dabb confirmed to TV line the episode 19/20 explanation Jensen’s mentioned- For the most part, we wrap up a big chunk of our mythology in Episode 19,Episode 20 is more character-based and is more concerned with Sam, Dean and this family they’ve built around them than it is with figuring out the Case of the Week.

When talking about the lightheartedness of returning on ep 14, Dabb said deeply depressing and upsetting episodes are coming (USAToday). He also said we would see “new sides” of Jack, Cas, and Billie. A revisit of Chuck and Amara’s “sibling issues” as well is on tap. Jared said sacrifices are coming.

From TV Line- re the battle with Chuck. Allies will return, but was repeated several times in the article that is comes down to Sam and Dean. Jack will struggle with getting his soul back but will be helped by Cas.

It was confirmed there will be no appearances by mamma and papa Winchester, possible due to COVID. (TVLine).

According to ET there will be lots of “Easter Eggs” in the finale from early episodes. TV Line furthered that by Jared confirming Sam and Dean “in the way they began”

One singular interview asked about Cas and Jack (SyFy) and we got this “Cas has had a very long evolution on this show, but an evolution to an emotionally healthy place, which is generally speaking not something we do a ton. It means someone is at least emotionally healthy on this show.” Jack will be dealing with having a soul and the mistakes he made, particularly Mary.

A trailer was released on 8/27. Scenes included (taken out as shown to save space

A moving speech from Sam to Dean

A teary conversation between Dean and Cas

Injured Dean being helped by Cas in the bunker

Ghost Dean? Little Sam cutting off a hand

Some intermixed scenes from past episodes

https://youtu.be/d5AzUa5zABI

A second trailer was released on 8/31. Scenes included:

A monologue from Billie about god coming to destroy the planet plus her banging on a bunker door (with her hand all gooey) and striking someone with her scythe

Jack continuing his speech about killing god but expanding that he has a ritual to do

Chuck in the bunker/Chuck saying he doesn't believe Sam and Dean can kill him

Young Sam and not ghost Young dean

Dean angrily driving the Impala then saying “its time”

More Dean tears

A surprise appearance from Bobby

Some of the same scenes as before

https://youtu.be/mBTwCWkOFKw

A third trailer was released on 9/24. It was a rehash of the other two, but a new new scenes included: ttps://youtu.be/7oVO9BdADnQ

A Shaving People, Punting Things trailer was released on 10/2. Scenes included:

Dean in a bar with a blond woman

Sam by the mountain lake with facial wounds

Team Free Will 2.0 in a bunker corridor, Jack looking injured (?)

Sam, Dean, and Jack walking down a street/later in a church/in the Impala

Sad Dean in the dungeon/Sad Sam drinking and knocking over a book

Sad Jack and Cas leaning on the Impala

Scattered shot of Sad Sam and Dean (drinking in the bunker, learning against the Impala)

Sam/Donna hug

Dean entering a motel room

Amara looking blissful

Dean giving Sam an encouraging face pat

Billie choking Cas

Sam in Death’s library, hurting

Billie swinging a scythe

Many behind the scenes shots, including one of Felicia Day (Charlie)

https://youtu.be/yex3jbuf8Mo

#supernatural #spn spoilers #spn season 15 #spn 15x16 #spn 15x17 #spn 15x18 #spn 15x19 #spn 15x20 #supernatural spoilers #spoiler sheet

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lixis-sin-cauldron · 3 years

Text

My 2020 Fics In Review

As a new smut fanfic writer who started posting Oct 2020, I was curious what type of results my various fics got and what certain things can do for a fic’s results. I post to both Ao3 and Tumblr at the exact same time as so I’ll be using data from both.

I’m sure a lot of people don’t care about this but I did it for fun and to see if I could learn anything to improve myself. It will be a mess.

I’ll keep everything under a Keep Reading since it can be a bit long and also has my commentary on the results. Results will come first with my thoughts on the bottom.

Note: I checked all these stats right before 2020 turned to 2021 in my time zone.

Fic Stats:

You can find all the fics listed on my Master List here ☚

I wrote and posted a total of TEN fics between October and December. NINE if you consider two of those posts were part one and part two of the same story.

Total Word Count for all those combined (according to Ao3): 48,264 words.

Tumblr Results

Most Popular Fic for 2020: The Perfect Gift [Hawks | Keigo Takami]

I’m not surprised by this while also being surprised.

Being my last fic of the year, my own following I had more to build on than my other fics. I also had a TON of reblogs for this by other fic authors with a following of their own and I posted on Hawk’s birthday. So, results occurred.

However, the fact that it blew up that much in fives days shocked me.

Interesting note Second place goes to my one and only dark fic: Father Figure: Punishment [Eraserhead | Shouta Aizawa]

This fic is my entry into the darker content scene and it takes second place for popularity!!! Goes to show... dark content is both enjoyed and supported by many people. So, all ya keep at it. I plan to.

Least Popular Fic for 2020: Oh Raven (Sing Me A Happy Song) [Present Mic | Hizashi Yamada]

Sadly, I’m not surprised by this result. Not only was it my first fic into the scene it is also a OC story rather than reader.

Total Results for Each Fic:

1st: The Perfect Gift 279 Likes, 27 Reblogs, 0 Commenters 2nd: Father Figure: Punishment 204 Likes, 15 Reblogs, 2 Commenters 3rd: Shouta’s Present 146 Likes, 12 Reblogs, 0 Commenters 4th: My Favorite Listener 110 Likes, 10 Reblogs, 0 Commenters 5th: The Princess and The Hawk: Part One 97 Likes, 11 Reblogs, 1 Commenter 6th: The Princess and The Hawk: Part Two 71 Likes, 9 Reblogs, 1 Commenter 7th: Trapped 42 Likes, 3 Reblogs, 0 Commenters 8th: All Grown Up 41 Likes, 8 Reblogs, 0 Commenters 9th: Taking Care of Number One 32 Likes, 5 Reblogs, 0 Commenters 10th: Oh Raven (Sing Me a Happy Song) 26 Likes, 3 Reblogs, 0 Commenters

Note: I list commenters instead of comments because some people make several comments. I also remove counts for reblogs I did for myself and comments asking for tag list.

Archive of Our Own Results

Most Popular Fic for 2020 by Kudos(Likes): The Princess and The Hawk [Hawks | Keigo Takami]

I was so shocked by the amount of love this got on BOTH platforms. I’m not even a big Hawks fan but I’m glad it came out so well and made so many people happy. Wish I hadn’t had as much trouble getting part two done as I did though.

Most Popular Fic for 2020 by Hits(Views): Father Figure: Punishment [Eraserhead | Shouta Aizawa]

Y’all nasty.❤ Keep going.

Total Results for Each Fic (By Kudos):

1st: The Princess and The Hawk (One and Two) 203 Kudos, 1707 Hits, 25 Comments, 32 Bookmarks 2nd: Shouta’s Present 125 Kudos, 1429 Hits, 7 Comments, 23 Bookmarks 3rd: Father Figure: Punishment 114 Kudos, 2675 Hits, 7 Comments, 32 Bookmarks 4th: The Perfect Gift 82 Kudos, 832 Hits, 5 Comments, 27 Bookmarks 5th: Taking Care of Number One 68 Kudos, 833 Hits, 3 Comments, 10 Bookmarks 6th: My Favorite Listener 44 Kudos, 374 Hits, 6 Comments, 8 Bookmarks 7th: All Grown Up 39 Kudos, 311 Hits, 3 Comments, 10 Bookmarks 8th: Trapped 33 Kudos, 514 Hits, 3 Comments, 6 Bookmarks 9th: Oh Raven (Sing Me a Happy Song) 11 Kudos, 134 Hits, 2 Comments, 5 Bookmarks

Note: Comments are ‘comment threads’ started by a single person. There are a lot more individual comments since I try and reply to comments when I can.

My Thoughts

Let’s start with Tumblr.

My first take away is, sadly, OCs get a lot less love than Readers. I understand that it can make it easy to insert yourself into the story mentally but I’ve always preferred a good OC story.

There is just some stuff that a reader fic can’t cover. I have stories with OCs because they need personal names or physical descriptions for the plot of the story. I wish OC had more love like it did when I was younger.

However, I am also very willing to do Reader stuff - as you can see - and will do so. I just hope that when I do another OC story it will get more love.

I’m so sad about how little love ‘All Grown Up’ got, it’s personally my favorite fic from the year. I could probably remake it as Reader and 2nd person, I just made it OC/3rd because it felt like a better choice for the plot at the time.

My next notice is, and this one is well known, REBLOGS matter. All my top ranking fics also had a ton of reblogs. I love seeing a like, knowing someone enjoyed the story, but a reblog can make such a difference in getting noticed.

Timing Matters. My top fic got a lot of notice because it was reblogged but also because it was posted on Hawks bday. Same goes for Shouta’s Present. Use special days to your advantage.

Lastly, no one comments. Please, please feel free to talk more. Just a little <3 in the comments area can make an author smile. Or a keyboard smash or a *scream* or anything. Personally, I LOVE hearing what your favorite line or scene was. I know these are often sent via asks as well, but I love seeing them in the fic’s comments as well.

Next, Ao3.

First, I was surprised at the ranking differences between the sites. I think this is due to how much easier it is to find a fic on ao3 with their searches. This isn’t a huge surprise, it is a site made for fanfics so of course it’s easier to find something than tumblr but I still expected a similar result.

Next, People don’t like as much compared to viewing the fic itself. I tend to see a 1:10 ratio for kudos to hits. Some people don’t like looking at hits due to this, thinking people don’t enjoy the fic after reading.

However, my take is that I like hits as well as kudos since I’ve been told by a few of my readers that they come BACK to read stuff so kudos doesn’t always show the real love.

There are plenty of re-reads but I also think some people just don’t hit kudos because of their own reasons. I see the hits number as what it is, someone read the fic and that makes me happy.

Again with comments, it’s better but I think that is only due to the fact I have a big chuck at the bottom of each fic asking the reader to comment. LLF Comment Project to thank for that.

In the end though

I’m just overwhelmed and happy that ANYONE paid attention to me among all the other amazing authors that transverse both sites.

#lixi speaks #no real point #just interesting data and my thoughts on it.#I wont be doing this next year cause i had to go through each fic and tally stuff #not easy #2021 will be better #2020 in review #worst and best fics of 2020 for me

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fear-is-nameless · 5 years

Text

The First Phase

A Timeline of random hints, clues, and cryptic stuff starting from August of 2018 til the very end of that year.

Buckle up (yet again- 4th time’s the charm).

Here we go!

August 1st

We see that Jack changed the title of FNAF Sister Location from “SOMETHING DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT” to “THE START OF THE NIGHTMARE”.

With that very video being the 1st canon appearance of Anti (along with Jack being in a coma, said by Chase earlier in the year), this is pretty significant.

August 3rd

It’s the 1 year anniversary of Kill Jacksepticeye, one of Anti’s biggest and most iconic videos to date.

Jack uploads HOW DID HE GUESS THAT!? | Akinator, and for the last round, he decides to have Akinator try to pick JJ.

The question “has your character killed people?” Jack responds “ah no- now I’ve dug myself in a hole. Now this is where everyone-e i-is” the video glitches and moves to the next question, with us never seeing the response.

We also never got the answer to “is your character a puppet?”.

However, it’s the after-outro scene that gives us a lot to talk about, with strange audio (that is Anti’s laughter slowed down) and the same broken septic tank from October outro the previous year.

In the actual audio files, this (a familiar word) is found, and Jack also reblogs;

Also, the day Jack originally recorded this episode was the same one where he changed the FNAF SL title.

Jack also likes a list of hints we have deciphered thus far.

August 5th

Jack uploads WHAT AM I EVEN PLAYING?! | Eggs For Bart, nothing happens in the video, but- once again- after the outro we have some more weird audio.

Rather, it’s reversed audio saying “I will return when you least expect it”. But its’ spectogram (which Jack reblogs) has binary code which translates to “DEATH”.

We go into a hiatus. Granted, Jack completed a tour run, so videos (let alone more ego content) needed a break too.

September 21st

But then Jack uploads THE DEMON LINGERS | Transference - Part 1. The glitches (or rather, the game leaking into Jack’s webcam) return.

In the description, he links back to a familiar Anti game.

September 24th

The 2nd episode of Transference is released. The original title/ thumbnail seemed to be a mistake, one we’ve seen a few times before with other videos;

but then it changes, and gets worse and worse.

In the actual video Anti appears several times, with some clips taken directly from the ending of Dark Silence and put in a very similar “red hallway” scene in the game.

The final title is “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? | Transference - Part 2”, with the thumbnail showing a glitchy green eye (similar to a Simulacra thumbnail, which Jack also links back to in the description) and red glow in the top corner.

We note how it was impossible to watch both the video (and see the glitches) and the constantly changing title at the same time.

Jack likes one post during this entire fire. Afterwards, we have another break.

But Jack also likes another post talking about fears, past and present.

October 14th

3 SCARY GAMES, 1 VIDEO #7 is uploaded.

The thumbnail may be slightly suspicious, and we got more glitches, including one (bottom left) where he says “time to take off the masks”.

October 15th

The very next day, we get-

We Are All Puppets!

.... Yeah.

Jack loves a youtube comment, we talk about the title/ description, a familiar red arrow, and find out the original name was “Drunk Puppet”- which Jack reblogs.

Later on Jack also likes another post comparing the red arrow and Chase’s poses also seen in other thumbnails.

Aaaaand he reblogs/ agrees how we need Chase’s backstory too.

October 20th

We then get THIS GAME SCARED THE **** OUT OF ME | Watson Scott Test - Part 1. A game full of questions, text distortions, and 4th wall breaks. When it congratulates him for making it this far, the webcam glitches with “Jack?” appearing on screen just above his cursor.

Later it asks him “are you playing a game right now?” Jack replies with “yes”, and is immediately followed by glitches again both in the webcam and game.

Notice the “Wake up Ja” and “Ch@s3″.

Jack reacts with “Holy fuck. Can you fucking hear me or something?”, and for a single frame, “yes” appears on the screen.

November 3rd

ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO TAKE THE SECOND TEST? | Watson Scott Test - Part 2 Nothing happens (surprising, after the previous episode), but after the outro he asks us “are you playing a game right now?”

Jack likes a post pointing out some altered text, and familiar Chase poses.

December 1st

We get a video with a title word for word from a past Anti quote.

Where the facecam glitches after a jumpscare, and after the outro, as Jack asks us “do you remember?”

Though both the title and last question said were HEAVILY reflected by the game, ensuing fire still rages, and Jack clearly enjoys with a reblog.

December 7th

A week later we get WAIT FOR THE ENDING! | Sally Face - Chapter 4 - Part 1(Full Game). Earlier, there’s bulletin board in the game, and Jack says “this is what Antisepticeye theorists’ boards at home must look like“. Ha-ha.

Then, true to the title, we have a full-blown glitchy Sam outro, which is later compared to the “there are no strings on me” scene from Kill JSE.

December 15th

It’s the one year anniversary of Overnightwatch; a 20 hour community sleepover filled with spooks between a 2-day Charity Christmas Livestream. On such a day, Jack posts this to his instagram story;

Jack likes a single post acknowledging his story.

Later that night...

Jack posts another story. It’s nothing but a black screen with the song Silent Night directly from ONW playing. We all react very accordingly.

December 16th

The next day, Jack uploads QUIT THE GAME TO WIN. The last game he plays is exactly what the title is named after- and how you win.

But after finishing, he says “OK, well, I guess that does it for this video, uhm, there’s no real way to end this other than, like, you HAVE to quit this video...

... I’m just gonna be here all the time. Staring. Watching. Waiting. You haven’t met me in real life, how do you know I even exist? Or if I’m just existing here, on youtube, on the platform; forever. How do you know I’m a real person? You don’t. The only thing you know, is how to quit the video. Right now.”

He then stares at us.

Before his right eye twitches.

And he continues to stare more ominously.

After almost a full minute, Jack says “still here I see. Very good”. Then, “can’t do it can you? You can’t just end the video. You HAVE to stay, you HAVE to watch- you HAVE to know what happens. Just in case; something’s hiding, something’s lurking. Just in case you miss something, you have to be in the know. You have to know what’s going on, don’t you? You can’t just let it go. You can’t just move on- otherwise it will always be in there; scratching at your brain. What happened when I clicked off the video, was there more?”

Some more silence. Then-

“You passed the test. Now let’s move on to the next pha-” and the video ends.

Observations fly all over the place as we try to figure out what that ending meant- including comparisons to Monika from DDLC, and overnightwatch (one of which Jack likes).

Jack likes a post pointing out the right eyeball specifically, how when we exit any video we literally do “win”, and reblogs a theory.

December 18th

Jack plays a spin-off game of Simulacra with a worrying description. Sometime after it’s upload, the title changes. We note a strange green glow in the eye noticeable in the thumbnail.

Later in the game, when Jack says “trying to have an adult conversation here”, there are some worrying glitches.

Immediately afterwards, Jack says “OK that was weird- my entire audio cut out and the game wouldn’t play any sound, and my mic stopped working. Weird.”

Later, we realize the thumbnail changes (which Jack likes), there is a “20″ hidden faintly in the top corner and we guess spells out “2019″.

Jack likes how it’s the right eyeball we should be worried about that with a face overlay from “quit the game to win”, and a later post also pointing out the “20″. And that did it for anything ego-related for the rest of 2018.

THE.

END.

Check out all the other JSE timelines!

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #septicegos #timeline

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rareshipcreationschallenge · 6 years

Photo

What is it? A creations challenge (which includes fics, art, vidding, giffing, and any other form of art used for fan creations) just for the Rare Ships (“rare” is anything that isn’t the two main ships). So come and show your love for the ships that never get enough!

What is this month’s theme? This month’s theme is “Working Out the Kinks” You can expect prompts that are, you guessed it, kinks! Special Note: This round will have two levels Mild and Spicy. Mild prompts will be, well, mild vanilla kinks and the Spicy will be the more sex focused, intense kinks. As always, you’re welcome to interpret the prompts as you see fit.

How do we sign up?

- Sign ups are open until August 31st. - Please reblog this post. - Please make sure your ‘submit’ page is turned on or we will not be able to send the prompt. - Send an ask to the page telling us your choice for ship. (We are allowing you to sign up for up to 3 ships, however this will give you 3 sets of prompts, so please be sure you can complete all of them if you choose to sign up for more than one!) Special Note: Please specify whether you would like a Mild or Spicy prompt(s) - You can follow the page, but it’s not required.

What happens when we sign up? - Around September 5th we will be sending you a submission with your prompt and your partner. - Remember this is not a collaboration challenge - the partners are simply to get a few different takes on the same prompt! - You have until October 1st to create your art piece based on this prompt. - When you post it, be sure to tag #spnrareshipcc, your partner’s url, and your ship in the first five tags, or we won’t see it! (Please tag NSFW if you have any nsfw material). - Please also make sure to list any warnings and tags using something similar to the suggested format on the blog page. - We will reblog your creation to the challenge page for everyone to enjoy!

What if I have more questions? -If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to check out the FAQ page , the rules page, just send us an ask or if you’re a part of our shiny new Discord, come on by and chat!

#spnrareshipcc #spn rare ships #round 21 #sastiel #denny #sabriel #dcj #samifer #dean/michael #claire/kaia #dreamhunter #kevin/claire #donna/jody #all the ships

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theonyxpath · 6 years

Link

Hi, everybody!

It’s good to be back after a week away post-Gen Con. So I’m going to tell you a little bit of what went on there, from my point-of-view, of course, but I’m also going to intersperse some quotes from some of our Onyx Path folks who were there helping us.

Of course, the first big thing we announced there was that we’re publishing Chicago By Night for Vampire 5th Edition!

We actually did feel kinda bad that we couldn’t tell you about it sooner, in that we do try and keep our inner workings pretty transparent for all of you. This was one of those times where the nature of working with White Wolf on this made it impossible to reveal it until the con. Their efforts and emphasis had to be on getting V5 out as promised, so we put our efforts towards getting V5 Chicago By Night written.

And as you see it mysteriously appear already in Redlines in the Progress Report below, you’ll realize we’ve been rolling on this for a while. Right now, we expect to have the text ready for editing in time to have a Kickstarter for it in October.

Kind of a fitting month, actually.

One of that Kickstarter’s goals will be to get this traditionally printed and into stores, where it can join V5 on the shelves. So, that’s a cool thing for us to try out with a WoD book, and we’re looking forward to how that will work out.

“It’s so refreshing to interact with fans in person and hear about all the games that excite you! Every one of our games got some love in conversations I had with you folks, and that was awesome to see. Thanks especially to all those Changeling: The Lost fans who came to chat with me. :)” – Meghan Fitzgerald

Like I mentioned in a previous blog, our booth was across the aisle from White Wolf‘s this year, and they, of course, were selling Vampire 5th Edition like fanged and bloody hotcakes. Or maybe just “bloodcakes”.

Besides V5 Chicago By Night, they announced several other projects from other licensing partners, including V5 Makeup, which was a huge hit with some of the folks I talked with. Others, who seemed to have missed WW‘s whole “we’re going to license all sorts of things for all sorts of fans” stated intentions, felt like this “cheapened” V5.

Back in the day at WW, we licensed out VtM zippos and license plates. Action figures. Just sayin’.

Scion: Hero illustration by Michele Giorgi

The gang at the WW booth were also fantastic at directing the throng buying V5 over to our booth where Mighty Matt McElroy had arranged that entire side of our booth with our 20th Anniversary WoD books on display. That worked really well, and further illustrated how the current team from WW are both gracious and fun to be next to for many, many, hours!

“I really enjoyed talking to fans about Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Fetch Quest, and Dystopia Rising: Evolution! I love watching people have fun around a table, and this year I got to see that directly, which is always wonderful. I just wish I had more time to talk to everyone and do everything!” – Eddy Webb

Our demo tables in the booth were really well attended, particularly on Saturday, and we were really glad to be able to walk folks through different games. I think this is even more important with games like Fetch Quest which is very much a card game, or They Came From Beneath the Sea! which adds a bunch of fun extras to the base Storypath System in order to create an “enhanced” TTRPG experience. It really helps to play through them a bit.

We’re used to getting gasps and excitement with a lot of our demos, it’s great to hear that both of these two games also had demo players laughing, as well.

PtC Tormented illustration by Tilen Javornik

We shared our booth with our friends from Eschaton Media, the Dystopia Rising creators, and not only were they great booth-mates who really helped make booth tear-down a breeze, but we were able to trade some fantastic ideas about rewards and stretch goals for our Dystopia Rising: Evolution RPG Kickstarter coming up next week. We think fans of our RPGs and fans of their previous DR projects like the LARP are going to find this Kickstarter pretty interesting!

We were also able to talk about the challenges of running a “franchise” business model for their LARPs, which is similar to licensing each venue out (as opposed to the “fan club” method used by old WW), and how they continue to evolve that system.

Since I am always trying to find ways for Onyx Path to evolve and improve, it is really good to be able to compare notes with folks who are also able to clearly look at how they did things in the past and actively try and improve on them. Maybe more on that at a later time.

“It’s always wonderful to interact directly with our fans and customers. I found myself answering a whole load of questions about They Came From Beneath The Sea! and V5: Chicago By Night, but also being able to just chat away about all our other games and roleplayer experiences is a joy. I had the chance to run several games, including They Came From, Pugmire, and Wraith 20 at the booth, and even Werewolf: The Forsaken in the hotel bar! In all, I had a fantastic, busy convention.” – Matthew Dawkins

We also announced our latest license, Legend Lore, based on the comic book world of “The Realm” and “Legend Lore” from Caliber Comics. The system is going to be D&D 5e based, and we’re sorry if an early press release said something different, but there is one key aspect of Legend Lore that we think will make it a very unique game.

The primary setting plot point is that the protagonists are people from our world transported to the fantasy world of Legend Lore. Now this is a pretty common trope in the fantasy fiction genre, but less so for TTRPGs. And pretty much the basis for that translation that I’ve seen in other games was to look at things like your Strength stat and ask how many weights you can bench press, or your real world IQ translated between 3 and 18.

We’re not doing it that way. More on how we are doing it as the book begins to be previewed. We’re also keenly aware of not minimizing anyone’s real-world challenges and disabilities. More on that too, in the months to come.

“As always, fans are why we do this Con, whether it was meeting fans of our stuff for the first time, making new ones out of interested folks, or seeing old friends after yet another year.” – Neall Raemonn Price

Our “What’s Up With Onyx Path?” panels went really well (although I had to miss most of the second one on Saturday), with some really excellent Q&A after the big points announcements. That was where we could delve deeper into the specific projects folks in the audience wanted to hear about. Both the “Freelancing for Onyx Path” panel and the “Developer Bootcamp” were super well attended and folks seemed really engaged.

Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy recorded both the “What’s Up With Onyx Path?” panels and edited them together into a semi-coherent whole that went up on the Onyx Pathcast last Friday. As always, you can hear them on PodBean or your favorite podcast venue.

They had to edit them, though. Even though we didn’t have whole swathes of the recording drowned out by trains like in previous years, we still had some outside noise break through, and I’m sure I talked away from the mic plenty of times!

“It’s always such an amazing feeling to get to interact with new and old fans, as well as my peers in the gaming industry I don’t get to see often. I love how excited everyone was! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to chat or say hello.” – Dixie Cochran

Like every year, there’s never enough time to talk with everyone on a business level – nevermind all the friends and members of our community who want to chat and catch up. Like last year in particular, I think you’ll be seeing some amazing results from a bunch of the meetings and chats I did have as the year progresses. But there’s not a lot of details I can share.

In general, I talked with several translation partners about pretty much all of our game lines, sat down to hear a bunch of pitches for new games or licenses, discussed our upcoming art needs with several of the illustrators in attendance there. I had a very quick but very focused meeting with Jaunty James Bell, our Kickstarter Concierge in order to be sure that he was still loving his job. He is.

I counseled way too many creators with Imposter Syndrome, a different depressed artist, and let an old and dear friend know that I was going to be a grandparent like she has been for a few years already. “Any tips?”

I was sitting in the Indy airport finishing my last blazing shrimp cocktail and wondering how that thing we had planned for for so long could have gone by so fast. It is just so packed with sights and conversations and games and late nights and early mornings.

It’s Gen Con, baby!

Monarchies of Mau art by Pat McEvoy

Here’s a handy link list from Impish Ian Watson, who set up the blog last week. Thanks, Ian, and also to Matthew Dawkins who wrote the texty part.

Onyx Path’s 2018-2019 Publishing and Storypath Brochures are now available

Onyx Path is publishing Chicago by Night for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition

Onyx Path is publishing a Legendlore RPG in partnership with Caliber Comics

Onyx Path and Pugsteady are collaborating with iThrive Games and the Bodhana Group to create the Critical Strengths Engine, a ruleset based not on physical strength, but emotional resilience, motivation, understanding, and communication. The first published adventures will be written by Eddy and will be officially licensed Pugmire products.

Check them out and see the proof of our motto:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Mark Kelly

Our next Kickstarter will be for Dystopia Rising: Evolution starting on Wednesday the 22nd at 2pm EDT.

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

SPECIAL W20 and M20 SALE! Huge savings on our Deluxe printing overruns until 8/31!

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This Wednesday, we will release a series of Wraith: The Oblivion Journals on RedBubble!

CONVENTIONS!

From Fast Eddy Webb, we have these:

Eddy will be speaking at Broadleaf Writers Conference (September 22-23) in Decatur, GA. He’ll be there to talk about writing for interactive fiction, and hanging out with other writers who have far more illustrious careers. http://broadleafwriters.com/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference-speakers/

Eddy will also be a featured guest at Save Against Fear (October 12-14) in Harrisburg, PA. He’ll be running some Pugmire games, be available for autographs, and will sometimes accept free drinks. http://www.thebodhanagroup.org/about-the-convention

If you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Redlines

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Jumpstart (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Fetch Quest (Pugmire)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval:

Editing:

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

Dog and Cat Ready Made Characters (Monarchies of Mau) (With Eddy)

Post-Editing Development:

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – KS finals rolling in.

VtR: Guide to the Night

M20: Gods and Monsters

Geist 2e

The Realm

Trinity Continuum (Aeon and Core)

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Ex3 Dragon Blooded

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Scarred Lands Trilogy Novels – Converting to PDF and PoD.

PTC: Night Horrors: The Tormented

Fetch Quest

Cav cards

Proofing

Scion Hero

At Press

Changeling: The Lost 2e – incorporating errata and getting it ready for indexing.

Monarchies of Mau – Press proofs signed off… now printing.

Scion Origin – Out gathering errata.

Cavaliers of Mars – Printing.

Wraith 20th – Prepping the Deluxe files.

Monarchies of Mau Screen – Printing.

Cavaliers of Mars Screen – Printing.

Wraith 20 Screen – Printing.

Scion Dice – At fulfillment shipper.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: And we’re back! A bunch of us got some down time after/during Gen Con, and we’re feeling gooood.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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mikegranich87 · 3 years

Text

Surface Laptop Studio and Pro 8 hands-on: Fresh designs with 120Hz screens

youtube

At its annual hardware event today, Microsoft unveiled a new family of Surface devices ahead of Windows 11’s launch on October 5th. Refreshes of the Surface Pro and Surface Go aren’t surprising, and the company did show off the latest in both of those series. But the Surface Laptop Studio is the most intriguing. It’s meant to replace the Surface Book, which was a detachable 2-in-1 laptop. The Laptop Studio, meanwhile, is more like Microsoft’s Surface Studio all-in-one desktop, in that it features a pull-forward screen that can lay flat on top of a table or be propped up at a slant. It also has a 120Hz display, as does the new Surface Pro 8, which got a sleek redesign.

I was able to check out the Laptop Studio, Surface Pro X and a slew of new Surface devices at a recent (COVID-safe) demo event in New York and I have to say, these Windows 11 PCs are looking very promising.

Surface Laptop Studio hands-on

Let’s start with the Laptop Studio, which a Microsoft rep told me at the event will replace the Surface Book line. Like I mentioned, its new easel-style design is similar not only to its namesake Surface Studio, but also to notebooks from Acer and HP. I was very impressed with how thin the Laptop Studio’s 14.4-inch screen is, and it popped out of its frame without much force. The hinge connecting the display to the keyboard is sturdy, and kept the screen up at a variety of angles in laptop mode.

When I flipped the screen to face outwards, though, I had trouble trying to push the lid away from me to get it to stand at a gentler angle as the panel popped out of the frame. But in every other configuration, such as a conventional laptop mode or laid down flat like a tablet (which Microsoft calls Studio mode), the Surface Laptop Studio behaved as expected.

When the screen is pulled forward and propped up in front of the keyboard in what the company calls Stage mode, it’s great for digital artists. It’s easier to draw on, and you can use the new Slim Pen 2 to create your masterpieces. The new stylus offers haptic feedback with an onboard motor and also mimics the resistance you’d get with pen on paper. I did feel a sort of drag across the Laptop Studio’s screen when I started doodling on it with the Slim Pen 2. It felt odd at first, as I’m accustomed to other styli like Samsung’s S Pen. But I got used to it quite quickly, and kind of liked feeling the mild vibrations that served as an indicator that something had been enabled.

The Laptop Studio has a magnetic strip under the keyboard that lets the Slim Pen 2 attach easily and remain flush with the rest of the machine. The magnets were strong enough that I only had to roughly place the stylus along the edge and it flipped into place. I don’t feel like I’d need to worry about losing the accessory with this setup, which is nice.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Microsoft also offers a 120Hz screen on the Laptop Studio, and a company representative told me at the demo that the touch sampling rate is 100Hz. This should make for a smooth drawing experience, but also make scrolling and animations look super buttery. There’s no adaptive refresh rate available in the system — you’ll just get the option to choose between 120Hz or 60Hz in settings.

For all the detailed specs on the Laptop Studio, like its new Full HD webcam, its screen resolution, dimensions, processor and memory configuration options, I encourage you to check out our news post. For this hands-on article, I’d like to focus on my initial impressions of the devices I got to try out. On that note, the last thing I’ll say about my experience with the Laptop Studio is that its keyboard and trackpad were spacious, and though its buttons were cushy and responsive, I prefer the keys on the Surface Laptop 4. For things like battery life, performance and other real-world observations, though, we’ll need to wait till we can test out a review unit.

Surface Pro 8 hands-on

Another device that got a visual overhaul this year is the Surface Pro 8. It’s not the only new Surface Pro unveiled today — there’s also the Surface Pro 7 Plus, which received a typical minor processor upgrade and looks very similar to older Microsoft tablets. The Pro 8, meanwhile, looks a lot like the ARM-based Pro X. But it uses 11th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7 chips and is therefore noticeably heavier. It also has a different ventilation design around its sides compared to the X, which was sealed.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Still, the Pro 8 is impressively thin, with a 0.37-inch profile, and its built-in kickstand is even sharper. Its 13-inch screen is surrounded by an attractively thin bezel as opposed to the approximately inch-wide border around the Pro 7 Plus. The Pro 8 also features the same 120Hz refresh rate as the Laptop Studio, running at a 2,880 x 1,920 resolution.

Out of the box, though, the Pro 8 runs at 60Hz, and you can go into settings to bump this up to the higher rate. Meanwhile, the Laptop Studio refreshes at 120Hz by default. This difference is because the Pro 8 is designed to be a more portable device, and Microsoft expects people to want more battery life on the go. If your priority is smooth scrolling and inking (Slim Pen 2 is also supported here), then by all means go faster. But if you’re trying to squeeze every last minute out of the Pro 8, you might prefer to stick to the lower rate.

When you’re out of juice, you can charge the Pro 8 back up with Microsoft’s own connector or through one of the pair of USB-C ports. These support USB 4 and Thunderbolt 4, and can stream out up to two 4K displays at once. We weren’t able to test this during the limited time at our preview, and I can only really tell you that in general the Surface Pro 8 felt very much like a heavier Pro X. They use the same Signature Type Cover with the same comfortable keys and responsive trackpad, as well as onboard slot that holds and charges the Slim Pen 2.

Of all the other Surfaces Microsoft announced today — the Go 3, the new Pro X, the Pro 7 Plus and the Duo 2, only the last one is different in a significant way. The rest of the systems basically got incremental updates while maintaining a similar look to their predecessors.

Surface Adaptive Kit

I did want to call out the new Surface Adaptive Kit, though. It’s a set of labels and stickers that are designed to make Surfaces easier for people with different needs to use. There are translucent keycap labels to make buttons identifiable by touch, bump labels that add visual and tactile cues to keys or ports, as well as colorful indicators with matching cable wraps to make it more obvious which wires go into which sockets.

The colors I saw at the demo area were neon peach hued and I’m not sure if they’ll be appreciated by people with certain visual impairments (a pattern might be better for those who can’t distinguish between colors). But at least the keycap labels I saw came in different shapes and overall I appreciate the effort here.

Microsoft led the way for accessibility tech in gaming with the Xbox Adaptive Controller years ago and though the Surface Adaptive Kit seems like a small product, it shows that the company is thinking in meaningful ways how to cater to people with different needs.

Though most of the new Surfaces that were unveiled today feel like incremental updates, the Laptop Studio, Duo 2 and Pro 8 at least bring a low-key level of excitement. Plus, these machines (Duo 2 aside) will all run Windows 11, which is already bringing new life to a stagnating PC industry. As always, we’ll need to test all these devices out for ourselves to see if they’re worth spending your money on, but you can already pre-order all of them today.

Follow all of the news from Microsoft's fall Surface event right here.

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-laptop-studio-hands-on-surface-pro-8-pro-x-go-3-adaptive-kit-price-specs-160005455.html?src=rss

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 6 years

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First Look at Drew Goddard’s BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE

He’s baaaaackkkkkkk. After dabbling in writing for TV (Daredevil, The Good Place) and Oscar nominated pictures (The Martian), Drew Goddard returns to directing feature films with Bad Times at the El Royale. This will be his second film as writer and director; he previously helmed the excellent Cabin in the Woods back in 2012. The cast is already stacked with impressive names such as Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman, and Dakota Johnson. The seasoned vets will be joined by British singer Cynthia Erivo and relative newcomer Cailee Spaeny.

To whet our appetites about his mysterious new movie, Goddard shared some exclusive first look images with Empire and Entertainment Weekly. EW also scored an interview with the director, where he shed a little light on the themes and setting of Bad Times. We can see from the photos that shirtless Chris Hemsworth features prominently, and that the movie is set in the late 60s (one of those facts may excite you more than the other, personally I love a good period piece.)

Goddard shared that Bad Times takes place in 1969, a tumultuous time in American history; and that we can expect “certain characters who were alive at the time” to show up. He wanted to make a love letter to film noir, and the gaudy, neon color palette of the 60s; that palette shows up for sure in the photo of Hemsworth standing in the rain. Like Cabin the Woods, Bad Times takes place over the course of one night, but that’s about it in terms of similarities. While Cabin in the Woods was a meta look at the horror genre, Bad Times at the El Royale will be a more straightforward narrative, but don’t expect it to be devoid of intrigue. The characters that check into the rundown El Royale each has a secret they are desperate to hide. The priest (Bridges), vacuum cleaner salesman (Hamm), singer (Erivo), young Southern sisters (Spaeny and Johnson) and charismatic cult leader (Hemsworth) are all looking for a shot at redemption, but everything quickly goes to hell.

The ensemble film should give the actors lots of room to play; Goddard shared with EW that the idea behind Bad Times was largely character driven:

“Rather than starting from an idea and a logline, this started from a basic premise: A bunch of characters check into a hotel on one night in 1969, and nobody is who they appear,” explains Goddard. “I started with that very simple concept, wrote the roles, and then let the characters dictate the story.”

A character driven film noir, set in the 60s and featuring cults in some capacity? It’s like Goddard literally invaded my dreams and made them a reality. I can barely contain myself, but I’ll have to wait until October 5th for the film to hit theaters. Should be a nice little appetizer before horror fans everywhere flock to theaters on October 19th for the newest installment in the Halloween franchise.

Knowing that historical figures will pop up in Bad Times at the El Royale, my money is on Charles Manson featuring in the film somehow. Perhaps a rival for Hemsworth’s cult leader? Who else do YOU think might show up? Let us know on Twitter or sound off in our Facebook group.

The post First Look at Drew Goddard’s BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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punkrockpolitix · 4 years

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Strategy or Delusion?

by Mitch Maley — By the time Donald Trump returned to the White House from Walter Reed Medical Center, made a grand gesture of taking off his mask despite still being contagious, and was caught on video struggling to catch his breath right after resuming his "this is basically the flu" line, it seemed as if every one of the Trump 2020 train’s wheels had jumped the track. With only a month to go until the election, regaining momentum seemed implausible, at best. But this week’s campaign reboot suggests that the president is going into the final weeks of this election intent on doubling down on his 2016 strategy. Only time will tell, whether this is a brilliant tactic, the sad default of a malignant narcissist, or both.

Elected in 2016 with just 46 percent of the vote and on an Electoral College coalition that consisted of just 70,000 votes spread across Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Trump has been unable to hit even one 50 percent approval rating since taking office nearly four years ago, and he’s been as low as 35 percent recently. As such, it’s hard to argue that he’s not the most polarizing and divisive president in modern history, if not the entire history of our nation. That said, he’s remained among the most popular presidents in terms of his approval rating with those who identify as Republicans. Because that number has dropped to just 25 percent of voters, however, it’s still problematic from a strategic standpoint, especially since his 6 percent average approval rating from Democrats is the lowest ever recorded (for perspective, an average of 14 percent of Republicans approved of the job President Obama did over his two terms).

I think we can all agree that the first debate between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden was a shitshow wrapped in a hot mess, tossed into a dumpster fire. However, Trump made the mistake of setting the bar so low for Biden that all he had to do was appear to be conscious and he’d exceed most expectations. For his part, Trump slipped right into his usual stick of firehosing the dialog with misinformation and then interrupting his opponent incessantly. This isn’t a terrible tactic if you hold the inferior position in terms of factual accuracy and/or your opponent is just a better debater or is more informed on the issues. There were rumors that perhaps it was a deliberate tactic to play hell with Biden’s stuttering problem and you could see the former Veep closing his eyes and steadying his mind at such times, a tactic often used in those circumstances by those who suffer from the affliction.

But while that may have allowed Trump to shift away from subjects he wanted to avoid or toward others he wanted to exploit, it did not seem like it was done with a lot of situational awareness. Right now, about 31 percent of American voters identify as Democrats. As noted, 25 percent identify Republican and 40 percent claim independence, with the rest belonging to third parties. Trump’s fragile, patch-quilt 2016 victory included success among independents and even Democrats, which made up for the fact that a sizable group of Republicans refused to support their party’s nominee.

Known as the Never Trumpers, there’s scant evidence to suggest he’s won a meaningful number of them over during his first term. Polling also suggests that many more Democrats who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton or thought that she was destined to win and that they could send the party a message or deny her a popular mandate by staying home or voting third party, are poised to vote blue no matter who after four years of Trump. That means Trump will either have to do even better with the white, upper-middle-class and affluent suburban independent voters who helped him win in 2016, or expand the voting base.

Option one has likely passed him by. White suburban voters of all stripes, but particularly women, have been hurling themselves off the Trump train for months. Any chance of wooing them went out the window with his debate strategy. While his core 30 percent "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters" bloc likely loved the schoolyard bullying tactics, female moderates and independents were revolted by what many described as petty, childish antics and a disturbing lack of basic impulse control.

Vice President Mike Pence may have been somewhat more reserved when he employed similar tactics against Senator Kamala Harris in the Veep debate, but there was a rub. While there were only three men onstage during the presidential debate, Pence was the lone male among two females. The way he constantly interrupted, spoke over and ignored both the moderator and his opponent made for a bad look and likely reminded many female voters of the worst male figures they’ve encountered—misogynistic egomaniacs who found their thoughts cute but unnecessary and were always willing to explain things so they’d better understand. If you listened closely, you could hear more bodies hitting the ground as they hurled themselves off the Trump train.

Trump’s worst polling metrics have come on both his logistic handling of the coronavirus outbreak and whether or not he’s taken the pandemic seriously, so by the time he finally went and caught the virus himself before seemingly spreading it to dozens and dozens of other people while not exercising recommended safety precautions, too many Americans were already questioning his ability to lead for a repeat of that razor thin 2016 coalition to seem plausible. I honestly thought the election was over.

But when Trump tweeted two videos from Walter Reed, things got a little weird. If you haven’t seen them, you can watch the first one here and the second one here. The president seems humbled and a bit shaken. He’s adopted grandpa pesona that’s choc-full of folksiness, along with words and body language completely out of character with the Trump we’re used to. He was an optimistic cheerleader and, for the first time in his presidency, made no effort to divide his audience. I admittedly thought to myself, if he stays in the hospital and maintains this posture through Election Day, he could definitely pull this off.

Then Gramps got ahold of the keys to the hermetically sealed SUV and decided to spread some love to supporters waiting outside the hospital—and perhaps some COVID to staff and Secret Service forced to join him on the foolish stunt that would come to rival his infamous bible photo op taken at a church near the White House, but only after hundreds of peaceful protestors were hit with tear gas to clear the way.

Whether it was the outraged response piercing his paper-thin skin or just the effects of the cocktail of expensive, experimental drugs they were pumping into his system, Trump wound up right back on twitter playing his hit list. But things really took a hard turn on Monday night when Trump gave his first post-hospital stump speech at a rally in Sanford, FL. There were few masks and no social distancing at the massive event (Governor Ron Desantis was even caught on video high-fiving a long receiving line of attendees, then rubbing his nose in what will become a classic Flori-duh moment should he test positive). Trump—presumably hopped up on his go-to trifecta of KFC, Diet Cokes and Sudafed—was bursting with energy and bragging about the possibility that he was permanently immune to a disease he continued to downplay. If you listened closely, you could hear the bodies of even more independent suburban voters throwing themselves from the train.

Clearly, Trump does not possess the discipline to stick to a strategy—any strategy. He’s only got one act and rather than reinvent himself or even work out some new material, he’s content to play to friendly audiences who just want to hear the same tired one liners: Lock her up, Build the Wall, something, something, Benghazi! For good measure, Trump even promised a post-election surprise. Fans of democracy (the ideology not the legendary Sarasota reggae band), were up in arms the week before when Trump suggested that Attorney General William Barr should have already indicted his opponent for the "greatest political crime in the history of our country."

While a sitting president calling for the arrest of an opponent he’s losing to, just weeks before an election, does stink of banana republic (the political term for a backward country with a rudimentary political system, not the retail clothing chain that sells overpriced Gap chinos to the same voters Trump is hemorrhaging), it seems he may have been seeding his pitch. During Monday’s speech, Trump promised that Biden, Clinton and many more would be indicted … after he wins the election. Now, while adhering to an actual strategy would have been much better in terms of his chances for reelection, it’s clear he can’t do that. And since the post-COVID personality transplant only seems to have lasted a single day, doubling down might actually be his best bet.

The vote of those who pay attention and participate tends to harden at this point in a contest. Given that polling shows Trump is still losing supporters, his only chance is expanding the electorate. The challenge with that is that swing states like Florida and Wisconsin have already passed their voter registration deadline for this election. Pennsylvania and Michigan voters can only register until October 19. But there are also a lot of registered voters who don’t typically cast ballots. The numbers make it clear that a majority of current American voters are even more repelled by Trump’s policies, platform and/or personality than they were in 2016. But one metric that’s been consistently impressive for Trump has been voter enthusiasm. Those who love him, do so dearly, and the strategy between now and November 3 seems to be to get everyone of those sort out to the polls, especially the ones who didn’t vote for him in 2016.

Given the massive advantage Democrats hold in vote-by-mail requests, Trump likely only has to get within 5 percent of the total votes cast to wind up ahead on the evening of November 3. Even though there will likely be millions of votes still to be counted and it looks all but certain that Biden will have most of them just because he’s not Trump, the president has already telegraphed his next move: stop counting the votes and hope Republicans in Congress and the conservative majority on the Supreme Court can find a way to keep him in office without blood being spilled in the streets and the nation devolving into something close to a civil war.

Sure, it’s entirely possible that enough people have had enough of the Trumps that Biden will win by an unexpectedly wide margin on election night and the whole thing will be over, but the prize for that will be a cadre of NeoLiberal corporatist warmongers descending on Washington while under the delusion that they’ve earned some sort of historic mandate. I know, none of them are attractive options, but given that we’re cueing up for the final act of a year that’s been nothing short of the personification of human misery, it’s the presidential election we should expect.

Dennis “Mitch” Maley has been a journalist for more than two decades. A former Army Captain, he has a degree in government from Shippensburg University and is the author of several books, which can be found here.

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jlfmi · 6 years

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2017 Charts Of The Year

As 2017 draws to a close, we again take a look back – in chart form – at the noteworthy events and conditions that defined the year in the financial markets. These charts aren’t necessarily our most popular ones. Consider these our “editor’s picks”. The charts range from those that had the most impact on the markets in 2017 to those that may have the most impact on 2018. They don’t necessarily include after-shots of the big movers of the year. However, you will see “before” shots of many of the big movers. After all, we are money managers and the objective behind these charts is to identify potentially profitable moves before they happen. Finally, there is our chart of the year for 2017. We would love to know which charts you feel should have been included so feel free to send along your feedback. We thank you again very much for your viewership this year and wish you all a very healthy and prosperous 2018!

So, without further ado, here are our 2017 Charts Of The Year (in chronological order – click on the titles to visit the respective posts):

Is Bond Market Entering A New Regime? – January 11

The early-2017 rise in bond yields lifted 10-Year Yields out of the post-2007 “extraordinarily low-rate” regime -- and back into the "regular" post-1981 falling rate environment.

Are Large-Cap Growth Stocks Set To Surge? – January 20

While the post-August stock rally has been broad-based, the first 8 months belonged solely to large-cap growth stocks. A bullish chart pattern foreshadowed the ~25% rally in the S&P Large-Cap Pure Growth segment of the market.

Global Stocks Breaking Decade-Long Resistance – January 27

It wasn't just domestic stocks breaking out this year; the Global Dow Index broke above its post-2007 downtrend on its way to a 20% gain to all-time highs.

Will Record Short VIX Position Backfire On Speculators? – January 30

No...except for very brief moments. A record low year for volatility expectations prevented VIX futures Speculators' largest net-short position in history from burning them too badly.

Indian Stocks In Position For Next Big Advance? – February 24

A bullish cup-&-handle formation propelled the Indian stock market to a new up-leg in its long-term bull market -- and a 28% gain for 2017.

Is This Country Poised To Be The Next Big Global Breakout? (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - March 17

If the persistent low-volatility ascent by U.S. stocks was the story of 2017, the underrated runner-up was the re-emerging emerging markets. Among a sudden glut of attractive looking global equity markets early in the year, Indonesia stood out based on a potential cup-&-handle pattern as well. The pattern would play out by the book as Indonesian stocks have jumped by 18% to close the year at all-time highs.

Stock Leadership Being Tested - March 28

In late March, Amazon and Alphabet – 2 important generals of the market rally – underwent similar, technical tests of their uptrends. Like every other test in recent years, these 2 leaders (and others in the tech space, e.g., Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidea, etc.) would ace the test and resume their respective ascents to over $1000.

SPECIAL REPORT: Brazil Crashing (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - May 18

On May 18, Brazil's stock market was sent crashing with the benchmark Bovespa Index down some 10%. That brought it right down to a key support level, however, as we noted to TLS members. The Bovespa would bottom that day -- and 5 months later, it was up 25% to an all-time high.

Unlucky (Year) Number 7? - July 13

With stocks near all-time highs and hitting on (almost) all cylinders heading into the 2nd half of 2017, identifying causes for immediate concern was a challenge. One candidate, though, pertained to seasonality. Specifically, we discovered that the 2nd half of years ending in “7″ historically exhibited the stock market’s worst semi-annual performance -- by a lot. With a median return of -9.29% and an average drawdown of over -20%, we wondered if this historical tendency might be the thing to finally derail the stock rally. Nope. Along with every other bearish data point, the stock market rolled right over this trend, rising by double digit percentage points in the 2nd half.

Breakout Barrage – Part 2 (PREMIUM) -July 21

In late July, a myriad of indices broke out to new highs. But, as the chart shows, the phenomenon has not always been a sure-fire bullish sign as several occurrences actually marked significant tops. In this case, while it did not lead to a major top, the breakouts did end up failing in the near-term, leading to some weakness prior to a successful breakout a few months later.

Off The Charts: Bitcoin (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - July 27

While the cryptocurrency craze will go down as one of the (if not THE) market stories of 2017, the phenomenon really meant very little to us. However, as we shared in late July, from a technical perspective, the chart of Bitcoin actually presented a potentially very attractive setup from the long side. Now, we were looking for, what we thought was, an aggressive "target" of a 100% rise from its 2500 price at the time. There was no way to know that the cryptocurrency would increase seven-fold to around 20,000 before the end of the year.

Are Investors Running Out Of Cash? - August 2

The AAII allocation survey finds the lowest investor cash position since the stock market top in 2000. At some point, this, and other longer-term "background" indicators, will have a detrimental impact on the stock market. Obviously, that point has not yet been reached.

More Cracks Showing In Rally Foundation? (PREMIUM) - August 3

By late July, one legitimate concern in the stock market was the deterioration in the market internals. Despite the new highs in many indices, the majority of stocks were not keeping up. For example, for just the 5th time ever, the Dow Jones Industrial Average unbelievably hit a new high with less than 40% advancing issues and volume on both the NYSE and Nasdaq. This would lead to a temporary retrenchment, especially among the broader market, prior to a durable run to new highs.

SPECIAL REPORT: Germany (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - August 10

While some softness in the U.S. stock market was just getting started, European equities had been dropping for several months. As we reported to TLS members, this presented an attractive opportunity in the German DAX as it had reached a substantial cluster of support levels on its chart. It would bounce immediately, rallying as much as 13% over the next 3 months.

Did Volatility Traders Freak Out Enough To Bottom? (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - August 11

During the mid-August stock market selloff, we saw a huge spike in stock volatility expectations — but was it enough for a bottom? The answer would be a resounding "yes". Following a bit more testing the following week, stocks would be back on their way to new highs once again.

Key Indicator Signals Huge Score For Bulls (PREMIUM) - September 5

While there were assorted red flags along the way in 2017, major stock market concerns were kept at bay. This includes the September new high in the NYSE Advance-Decline Line which suggested that THE top in the S&P 500 has yet to occur.

After 10-Year Wait, Global Equity Gauge Hits Record High - September 13

In the post-August rally, stock market milestones continued to register around the world, including the Global Dow Index breaking above its all-time highs set 10 years ago.

Broad Breakout For The Market Of Stocks - September 29

Among the plethora of major stock market breakouts in 2017, perhaps the biggest was the Value Line Geometric Composite, i.e., the “median stock” in the U.S. market, finally breaking above multi-decade resistance.

The Most Important Level In The Stock Market (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - November 9

Following its historic breakout, the Value Line Geometric Composite would return to test the vicinity of the breakout level. We deemed this level a clean and clear line in the sand delineating the business as usual “BTD” environment from one that is more vulnerable to a sharper decline. The BTD crowd would be victorious once again as the level held flawlessly, producing another impressive bounce to all-time highs.

A Sweet Setup In This Hot Emerging Market (PREMIUM) - November 21

In addition to the Value Line Composite, important tests were conducted among a swathe of emerging equity markets. This included Chile, one of our favorite markets, technically, over the past few years -- and maybe for years to come? In late November, Chile’s benchmark stock index tested a major confluence of support, including the former 2010-2011 all-time highs. It would pass the test in spectacular fashion, rallying as much as 7% in a day back to its October all-time highs.

Great (Stock) Expectations - November 28

As demonstrated by the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers, expectations for stock market gains have never been higher, or more assured, than they are now. This is another example of a longer-term "background" indicator that hasn't had a deleterious impact on the market -- yet.

Everyone In The (Stock Market) Pool? - December 8

Yet another longer-term concern is that the percentage households’ financial assets currently invested in stocks has jumped to levels exceeded only by the 2000 bubble. Again, 2017 could care less about these background metrics -- we'll see about 2018.

Active Managers Throw Caution To The Wind (PREMIUM-UNLOCKED) - December 15

Active investment managers also jumped aboard the rampant bullish express as demonstrated by a survey indicating their highest level of equity exposure on record. Now, to their credit, these folks have been consistently bullish for awhile. However, this recent reading suggested that, at least temporarily, there may be a few too many managers on one side of the boat.

2017: A Record Smooth Ride For Stocks - December 27

2017 will be remembered for its historic volatility readings -- specifically, its rock-bottom readings. That's because, as measured by the S&P 500 Volatility Index, a.k.a., the VIX, the market has never enjoyed a less volatile year than 2017.

The 2017 Chart Of The Year:

2017: Stocks Experience Record Little Adversity - December 28

Hand-in-hand with historically low stock market volatility is a historically low level of losses. That fits the 2017 stock market to a tee and is best illustrated by our final Chart Of The Day for 2017 -- and our Chart Of The Year. As it reveals, based on cumulative losses on all down days during the year, stocks endured less adversity in 2017 than any other year on record, going back more than 100 years. In fact, the paucity of losses in 2017 smashed all the historic records.

Will next year be another walk in the park for the bulls? Don't count on it. Though, we would not have guessed that, 8 years into a bull market, we would witness its smoothest year yet. Plus, for now, it still appears to be all systems go on the current rally. At some point down the line, however, the bears will finally emerge from hibernation. And considering the alarming array of concerning, longer-term, background indicators, the reckoning may indeed be fierce.

Thank you again to everyone for reading. Here’s to another interesting and prosperous year in 2018!

What will 2018 bring? Nobody knows. But we do know that we'll be scouring markets around the globe every day, hunting opportunities for our clients and members of our “all-access” service, The Lyons Share. Join us on the journey and find out what investments we're looking to buy and sell -- and when. Also, sign up by January 1 and save 20% off an Annual Membership during our Holiday Sale. There has never been a better time to reap the benefits of this service! Thanks for reading!

_____________

Disclaimer: JLFMI’s actual investment decisions are based on our proprietary models. The conclusions based on the study in this letter may or may not be consistent with JLFMI’s actual investment posture at any given time. Additionally, the commentary provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as a recommendation to invest in any specific securities or according to any specific methodologies. Proper due diligence should be performed before investing in any investment vehicle. There is a risk of loss involved in all investments.

#$^GSPC #$^DJIA #$^VIX #$^VALUG #$AMZN #$GOOGL

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yridenergyridenergy · 7 years

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History of Dir en grey’s tours

The title may sound presumptuous as this post is nowhere near complete, however I just studied Dir en grey’s whole timeline section and made some interesting discoveries. Some of them might already be common knowledge, especially among Japanese fans, but I doubt the full scale of the connections between older tours and the recent Tour 2016-2017 FROM DEPRESSION TO ___ [mode of X] shows has ever been highlighted.

My curiosity was piqued when the host of the guesthouse I stayed at in Kouchi this summer mentioned that he had remembered that the local newspaper had covered Dir en grey’s concert many, many years ago and that that was why the name rang a bell. I had found Kouchi to be quite a weird place for Dir en grey to tour, not to mention that the tour started there of all places. And then, that MC Die did at the last show in Iga apparently, a place that was very isolated, it seemed; the weird seated venues Dir en grey was playing at in the [mode of MACABRE] tour; those perfect 8月3日木曜日 and 8月5日土曜日 shows; the random locations Dir en grey would visit besides the regular cities; etc. It seemed like too many coincidences.

It turns out that someone among Dir en grey’s team might be doing their best to drop easter eggs from the past within these tribute tours, because:

[mode of MACABRE]

August 26th 1999 - Kouchi Caravan Sarai → July 15th 2017 - Kouchi Prefectural Hall, Orange Hall

Not the perfect example, but Kouchi was first visited around GAUZE - MACABRE, and Dir en grey missed the opportunity to go there again during Tour 2014 PSYCHONNECT -mode of GAUZE?-. The island of Shikoku in general was visited a few times back then, but more rarely in the recent years, if my memory serves right.

January 14th 2001 - Ueno Municipal Hall → August 5th 2017 - Iga City Cultural Center

Thanks to Die for that precision that they came 16 years ago to Iga (and kyotakumrau for reporting his words), otherwise somehow I had not found this hah. The one time Dir en grey went that far, in that remote location, was in 2001 for the tour 00>>01　MACABRE　brain gain(er) brain drain(er). Again, too weird a location to end a tour, if there are so few people who travel there that the train only has two wagons. This show was affected by a transfer, in the past.

August 17th 2001 - Grand Cube Osaka → July 17th 2017 - Grand Cube Osaka

August 18th 2001 - Grand Cube Osaka → July 18th 2017 - Grand Cube Osaka

Immediately following the release of 改-KAI-, which contains remixes of MACABRE songs, Dir en grey played twice literally at Grand Cube Osaka. Sixteen years later, they play twice at that venue too, and on the same days one month earlier. Osaka is a very common Dir en grey stop, so I was not expecting to find such a glaring evidence of the connections here. Wow. This was one of the venues I found weird for Dir en grey to be playing at.

[mode of 鬼葬]

Chinese tour 2002 → October 28th 2016 - KITEC Rotunda Hall 3

From what I recall, Hong Kong fans remembered in 2016 that Dir en grey had visited them for 鬼葬 too. On top of that, it was literally in the same venue: Kowloonbay International Exhibition Trading Center. They went out of their way to emulate the 列島激震行脚 2002　-亜細亜- (Archipelago Fierce Episode Gang 2002 - Asia-) The Japanese Fxxker Family tour in at least one venue.

March 6th 2002 - Club Citta Kawasaki -a knot only- →

March 7th 2002 - Club Citta Kawasaki → November 7th 2016 - CLUB CITTA’ [MALE LIMITED] -｢a knot｣ & ONLINE only-

October 29th 2002 - Club Citta Kawasaki -a knot only- → November 8th 2016 - CLUB CITTA’ [FEMALE LIMITED] -｢a knot｣ & ONLINE only-

October 30th 2002 - Club Citta Kawasaki -a knot only- →

The abundance of CLUB CITTA shows following the release of the 鬼葬 album (for tours 列島激震行脚 2002 The Japanese Fxxker Family and 列島激震行脚 2002 5 UGLY KINGDOM) has translated into at least two concerts at that venue again for the [mode of 鬼葬] tour, following the tradition of having them be a knot only for the most and going one step further by dividing fans into male and female groups. It was not the first time Dir e grey did this, back in 2002, but they missed the opportunity to replicate that during Tour 2014 PSYCHONNECT -mode of GAUZE?-.

[mode of VULGAR]

October 21st 2003 - Kurashiki City Art Tribe Museum → June 19th 2016 - Kurashiki City Art Tribe Museum

Dir en grey staff is good at publishing banal messages like: “It’s been x years since we played in this venue, wow! Hope to see you all rock out with us again!”, but they do not make you realise exactly when and for what occasion Dir en grey played there. In this case, this is no coincidence: if I remember correctly, this was the only time they went there at all, and it was the first time they had gone to Okayama at all, back in Tour03 OVER THE VULGAR SHUDDER. So, you connect the dots and it makes so much sense that they would return to that location exactly during the tribute tour to the same album.

[mode of THE MARROW OF A BONE]

September 18th 2008 - Miyazaki WEATHERKING → April 29th 2017 - Okinawa Music Town Sound Market

Not that Dir en grey had never before traveled that down south in Japan, but during the tour THE ROSE TRIMS AGAIN in 2008, Dir en grey visited Miyazaki for the first time. As if wanting to push even farther, they went further south in 2017 and played in Okinawa for the first time.

Overall, it really looks like they realised that they missed some occasions during Tour2014 PSYCHONNECT -mode of GAUZE?- and that they tried their best to catch up on that in the tours for albums released close to GAUZE anyway. It makes you wonder if they had planned for the tribute tours back then or if they thought the GAUZE tribute tour would be all and quickly done with.

I know that some of those things are a stretch sometimes, but you do have to take into consideration that booking venues is not easy, and this could be why some regions were ignored or they had to improvise and go with the closest alternative, like in that Miyazaki - Okinawa case. People definitely sat down at a table and agreed to do their best to revisit areas they had ignored for many years, and to reproduce what had been iconic about some of the old tours.

Hopefully not too much of what I mentioned is already written and announced in the Dir en grey fan club magazines, which I have not had the opportunity to translate for myself yet...

Key points for Dir en grey’s tour history globally:

We are so lucky that Kyo has stopped having medical issues. Years 1997 to 2004 or so are punctuated by frequent tonsillitis, hearing loss and other similar illnesses, and Dir en grey had to postpone so many concerts back then. Kyo’s surgery also dates back to so many years, wow.

It was in 2007 that Dir en grey started playing a lot less across Japan. Before that year, the majority of their tours had easily double the number of shows as their current tours do. In 2007, it was due to committing to play across the world, in Europe and in North America, but I do not know what is stopping them from playing in all of Tokyo’s surrounding regions again like in the old days... Hopefully not age hah.

What a journey.

Let me know if you find other parallels!

#Dir en grey #fromdepressionto #tour #history #analysis #Kyo #京 #mode of MACABRE

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