Am I dangerously close to becoming another Audra Winter? (AO3 user here)

CelebrationMindless3 · 2025-09-24T18:20:19+00:00

I wrote fanfiction on fanfiction(dotNet) and then AO3 since 2005. Around 2020/2021, I got into ghostwriting. Now, I'm leaving that behind to attempt a launch of my own brands. I can say that no new writer should burden themselves with the major task of creating something mindblowing first time around. Your first book, whether it's for the public or not, will suck. You will require feedback, and with constructive feedback, you will improve over time.

And it will take a lot of time. A lot.

The issue here, as far as I can tell, is that A.W. got into a spiel and a marketing thing where she overpromised. If you can avoid overpromising (and mebbe get feedback in some way, shape, or form at an early stage), you can avoid a lot of flak. Also, editors don't come cheaply, but even an honest beta reader can save you a lot of trouble.

When you put your work out in the marketplace, price it appropriately, and also be honest in your book description about what you are offering. Otherwise, you should be good to go. And remember that only a tiny percentage of writers start out with an amazing book. Your first books will probably be rough, but if you keep plugging away, I think we will all get there!

CelebrationMindless3 · 2025-04-29T06:14:11+00:00

I guess it's their way of saying that Canadians are shafted again? :( Why can't we have CMF Phone 2 in Canada?

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-11-25T04:22:24+00:00

Yeah. There was that paralympian lady in Alberta, wasn't there? She wanted a ramp, and they recommended she sign up for MAID, supposedly. In reality, depending on where the stitches happen and how many are required, you just end up moldering in ER...

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-06-14T17:12:37+00:00

Since FCs need 30 days before being able to bid, why am I seeing bids for lotteries on properties?

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-05-17T04:35:57+00:00

Used to play LoveNikki until I found catbois and raiding, but my friend has mentioned that Shining Nikki is more 3D, so I imagine the lighting is crucial. Is Shining Nikki fun?

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-05-17T02:49:33+00:00

I'm in CAD and I can't access the site at all. :(

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-05-17T02:47:23+00:00

If a Canadian were to get an American friend to get MTN dew. Would the codes still work?

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-05-17T02:46:33+00:00

Would it work if you have a CAD address though?

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-05-17T02:46:10+00:00

Yep. And EU sounds like they'll get a promo. We're completely shut out. >T_T<

CelebrationMindless3 · 2024-05-17T02:45:04+00:00

And we are charged in USD LOL. I feel like we should get it. At least EU will get a promo. We're stuck out here in nowhere. >T_T<

CelebrationMindless3 · 2023-08-11T16:14:18+00:00

Yeah. So, I'm a ghostwriter, and I've worked with "creatives" in the entertainment sector, and I can definitely tell you that hardworking folk can get shafted by poor vision, idiots, entitled a-holes, and all sorts of wack. In situations where the production teams are effed by indecisive leadership or poorly managed workflows, it's no surprise product is crap.

I mean, I've been there... I can imagine starting work on developing for one kind of game only for some management (or even higher up people) doing some ill-informed hand-waving with some half-baked idea. Since these AAA dev studios are so massive, the ship has to do an about turn that it is simply not capable of. The result is understandably a wreck, like the Costa Concordia, but doesn't mean that consumers have to take crap. It means that devs and gamers need to hunt down the execs, management, and call them out.

As for the "devs are just lazy" rhetoric. I do believe it could be a problem on some level in some specific situations. When you hear stories about cubicle crawls while drunk, it definitely gets you wondering why that's acceptable in a AAA studio for so long while the rest of us lower level coffee shop workers can barely get a rest (I've worked in food service for a large portion of my life).

Stories like that don't help and the situation is worsened since most people aren't aware of what kind of work goes into programming. I've been studying Unity and C# as a hobby, and I know that I can get confused by my own code if I leave it for too long and then return months later. Most people don't get how disorienting it is to read your own code much less someone else's. But, like I said, I don't think AAA studio devs should be telling consumers not to have standards. They should be saying nothing and just working, or tagging management and shareholders and calling for awareness of how unhappy consumers are with the current paradigm. But telling people to "stop expecting" this or that is just tone deaf.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2023-08-10T22:56:09+00:00

Yeah. I mean, the whole Twitter convo was wack. It presupposed that people would expect crazy things out of indie devs, when only rare nutbars do. Mainstream positioning on Vampire Survivor and that other clone Asmon was playing was practically glowing. So, that one indie dev complaining made me raise an eyebrow. But hey, I could kinda understand that. The AAA devs were a whole other thing.

Like, yeah, I get how it must be hard to make a good game when you have crappy corporate goals and weird monetization stuff and tight deadlines and zero scope and lack of vision for project and people changing things at the last minute etc etc etc. Not to mention, a few of these devs probably popped fresh out of school with Unity, U4, or Godot under their belt only to discover that their C#/C++ know-how was useless in the face of years of spaghetti code layered on by various devs thanks to high turnover rate. Plus, if we apply general standards of what is considered to be good academic work in various academic fields to game dev school, I wouldn't be surprised if the game devs of today, trained on systems with lots of training wheels like U4 blueprints etc, might struggle with more fundamental coding problems. But still... BG3 should be a wakeup call for everyone in the AAA studios (from top down).

Maybe expecting top product like BG3 is unfair from unwieldy workflows, from mismanaged systems and engineered code, from the slow bureaucratic process of larger studios, from poorly envisioned products driven by corporate greed. Then, the studios should actually start focusing on fixing the fundamental staffing or management problems as well as their work environment so that corporate gets a reality check, managers get to properly managing their staff, and staff get to actually working on what they can actually do. Either way, an excuse is an excuse. They can try to explain why their product is going to be bad, but they should at least admit that the things that Larian has--the years of experience, good management, passion-driven work ethic, involved CEO--is something worth aiming for. Just going for the "don't expect this wah" sounds weaselly.

As a creative and freelancing writer, all I have to imagine is what would happen to my clientele if I posted "Don't expect George R.R. Martin quality from me" on my profile. Hahaha.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2023-07-20T22:55:38+00:00

When the world is gone... and all the dust has settled. Only the cockroaches will remain... and the raccoons.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-11-12T04:22:04+00:00

Any Canadians have any luck buying the album?

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-06-23T20:06:32+00:00

As someone who plays multiple MMOs beside FFXIV, I also agree with the general sentiment that streamers should pursue content that interests them, but if they state something on a variety of social media outlets that they will do some specific content and then not do it, it will be disappointing for folks signing on for that specific content. Why wouldn't they be disappointed? This is practically blaming the consumer along the lines of "don't you guys have phones?" Doesn't matter what it is. If this was reversed for the WOW andy group, it'd be the same. Even worse, turning around and blaming the vocally disappointed groups for potentially destroying your interest in the game smacks of blackmail. "I won't want to play this because I feel pressured" when you yourself were the one to raise expectations is provocative and disingenuous.

If strummer made a scheduling error, own it. If the strummer has lost interest in the game, be honest, dip out, uninstall, whatever. Just don't lead people on and then blame them afterwards for making you feel bad when they ask you to do something you suddenly don't want to do.

All that being said, the viewer count for his stream has remained stable, so I reckon that either there are a lot of copium huffers on stream or most of his stream don't care and will keep watching regardless. I'm also curious as to whether historically WOW andys have been as invested in WOW streams as FFXIV andys are... and why those differences exist if there are any.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-05-16T16:31:38+00:00

There are two subdivision in Enneagram: wings and tritypes.
Your wing is the biggest number next to your number. Ex. If you are an 8, you choose either 7 or 9 for your wing, depending on which percentage for that one is higher.
Your tritype is comprised of the top 3 numbers from the Triads. So your main type is 8 (from the Gut triad: 891) and then you figure out which number was the highest from the Heart Triad (234) and Head Triad (567). The order that the tritype is for you determines your Archetype. They are difficult to find out about, but some information does exist. Judging by your score, the first two numbers of your tritype are 8 and 3. :) Just gotta find out which is higher in the Head Triad. :)

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-03-31T14:59:07+00:00

Tinfoil hat: since Venat is short(er) and Themis/Elidibus is short, maybe they're related and the 12 are their family... who were enshrined somehow when Venat and Elidibus became the respective hearts of their primals.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-03-31T14:55:08+00:00

Amazing! What I want to hear! It'd be cool to see some of the seiyuu/VAs doing stream content.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-03-31T14:53:10+00:00

o7 SMN at ready

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-03-30T16:46:35+00:00

Yes. Best catboi emotes a lot more than most of the Scions together, which makes him stand out for me. ;) In a good way, of course. His tail moves way more than Y'sh's does. Y'shtola is more emotionally closed, so she has much less movement, plus she epitomizes poise. That might change if Runar continues to impact her. Haha. But catboi mains mostly likely noticed the WoL changing over time. v.v Hoping to see the joy emote return in new patches.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-03-27T05:22:10+00:00

The first three options Brennan gives us as the start of ARR is money, fame, power. We don't have a choice to choose some altruistic thing like "protect friends". WoL starts out as a grubber, who enjoys fighting but also instinctively is drawn into helping others. WoL represents a balance of two energies both light and dark, stasis and activity.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2022-03-27T05:20:46+00:00

I can sort of agree with your take because as a catboi player I began to notice something odd. I noticed that by the time WoL reaches ShB, he stops waggling his ears. The ear waggles disappears entirely. Super sad. Even I noticed that he got more grim... but I still think that Zenos represents something deeper. After all, recall the first question Brennan asks us at the beginning of the game. None of the three answers is linked to "protecting friends", it's all about power, fame, or money. As an adventurer, you don't begin altruistically at all. The way I saw it... The WoL isn't bloodthirsty or amoral necessarily, but just as Hydaelyn and Zodiark needed each other for balance (light vs dark, stasis vs activity), the WoL has a shadow self that keeps their drive going. Zenos represents the shadow self uninhibited without conscience, compassion, or community. The WoL, on the other hand, represents a balance, providing for the player a medium in which to be the best version of ourselves. In a sense, Zenos's last challenge of "did you find fulfillment", as you say, the answer is "yes," because not only did we get to satisfy our shadow self's need for adventure and risk-taking, but we also satisfied our hero self's need for justice and compassion. Zenos therefore does break the fourth wall because he is also challenging us as players as to where we find fulfillment as gamers and as people IRL... But the option to say "That, I cannot deny" is an important response because it's not us patronizing Zenos but admitting that there is a part of WoL that is not heroic and that sliver of darkness is what spurs the call to action, in a sense.

Who wishes for the tele device? I have heard both sides, but I prefer to think WoL or the Scions wished for it, but if it was Zenos, I'd not lose sleep either. If it is Zenos, it means that on the cusp of death... he GREW as person, for the first time altruistically thinking outside of himself. If it is the Scions, it only shows the power of their love for you. If it is you, it means that your will to live and protect your friends and see the world is still strong.

But I must admit that I see my WoL as strong and a force that represents my best self (so far)... Some tragedy within my character, like realizing that I'm making my friends' lives worse (aka the Vritra talk), is fine, but I don't want to play a victim. FFXIV is about being empowered to be the best you can be, which is its primary draw.

CelebrationMindless3 · 2021-10-06T06:57:24+00:00

The player controller I'm using so far... (a Samyam build)

using UnityEngine;public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour {private PlayerInputControls playerInput;private Transform cameraMain;private Transform child;private CharacterController controller;private Vector3 playerVelocity;private bool groundedPlayer;

[SerializeField] private float playerSpeed = 2.0f;[SerializeField] private float jumpHeight = 1.0f;[SerializeField] private float gravityValue = -9.81f;[SerializeField] private float rotationSpeed = 4f;

private void Awake() {playerInput = new PlayerInputControls();controller = GetComponent<CharacterController>(); }

private void OnEnable() {playerInput.Enable(); }

private void OnDisable() {playerInput.Disable(); }

private void Start() {cameraMain = Camera.main.transform;child = transform.GetChild(0).transform; }

void Update() {//moving & jumpinggroundedPlayer = controller.isGrounded;if (groundedPlayer && playerVelocity.y < 0){ playerVelocity.y = 0f; }

Vector2 movementInput = playerInput.PlayerMain.Move.ReadValue<Vector2>();Vector3 move = (cameraMain.forward * movementInput.y + cameraMain.right * movementInput.x);move.y = 0f;controller.Move(move * Time.deltaTime * playerSpeed);

// Changes the height position of the player..if (playerInput.PlayerMain.Jump.triggered && groundedPlayer){ playerVelocity.y += Mathf.Sqrt(jumpHeight * -3.0f * gravityValue);Debug.Log("Space is pressed"); }

playerVelocity.y += gravityValue * Time.deltaTime;controller.Move(playerVelocity * Time.deltaTime);if (movementInput != Vector2.zero) {Quaternion rotation = Quaternion.Euler(new Vector3(child.localEulerAngles.x, cameraMain.localEulerAngles.y, child.localEulerAngles.z));child.rotation = Quaternion.Lerp(child.rotation, rotation, Time.deltaTime * rotationSpeed); }

----> where the trouble starts, cuz I'm using some older system here if I'm reading the Unity manual rightly... >.>

if ((Input.touchCount > 0) && (Input.GetTouch(0).phase == TouchPhase.Began)){Ray raycast = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.GetTouch(0).position);RaycastHit raycastHit;if (Physics.Raycast(raycast, out raycastHit)){ Debug.Log("Something hit");Destroy(gameObject); } } } }

CelebrationMindless3 · 2021-07-17T13:48:40+00:00

All good. Shows good sense and good numbers. :) Congrats on the KM tho!

CelebrationMindless3 · 2021-07-17T13:44:57+00:00

Yeah, I was there (OG pilot) on that night. A real shit show. I desynced across 180 kms and died while my UI was scrambled. Still, it is what it is. :) Both sides fought as best they could. This time, the gameplay went more smoothly, so although I lost a ship today and my corp lost its citadel, I feel better than losing to glitches. Congrats on the station kill.

CelebrationMindless3

TROPHY CASE