Tag: Change

The Great Change: A Paradise Story

My dear little lights, the story I have for you today is a new adventure set on Paradise Island, while based in fiction it is also based in reality, just not a whole lot. For the most part this story is just a figment of my imagination..  a springboard for what is to come next. A teaser.. for season four?!  I hoped we could get a few famous guest stars but unfortunately all of them are still locked in their houses due to Covid. Brian Cranston told me he would do it.. but that guy is so overused!  So I passed!

The Beach

The manager of Paradise Island woke up, making some awful wake up sounds, wiping some drool from the corners of her mouth, apparently she bit on her plushy in her sleep again.  Groggily she got up and noticed a feeling of pain and nausea in her system. The dull experience of either a to low blood pressure.. or that sense of uncomfort you get.. just before you get really carsick! Not the  actual sick part.. but that bad feeling you get before. That was her new normal now.  No matter how many vitamins she took, no matter how much walks she would go on and no matter how healthy she ate.. the feeling stayed and it wore her out so often. For days the manager could not get out of bed and she cried. She wanted to make the guests of Paradise happy with all the content cocktails she used to serve before. Yet there simply was not enough energy! Could it be the poison from her own mothiness that kept her down? Unlikely! This problem started slightly more recently.. around the time she started YouTube.. but that dream also gave her so much energy? So what could be wrong.

Doctors could not tell her and explained to her that this might be an advancement of prior conditions. They were trying to help her but no immediate help could be offered, and so yet another day without content cocktails passed on Paradise. The Manager got so frustrated by it that that very frustration made her even sicker. She tried to work.. but for the first time  since she started it all did not sound good enough either. This could not be her glorious return.. and the frustration got bigger and bigger… and because the manager was such a worrywart.. that frustration made her sicker and sicker. Eventually she just lay in bed.. with some lemon tea beside her when she started hallucinating a beach where you encounter all sorts of familiar people…because Grey’s Anatomy did it and it’s really popular now!  So we are doing this.

The sound of the waves were different from that of Paradise island.. and they sand grains weren’t star and heart shaped…which is an actual thing,  no this was not her beach.. this beach was something more akin to that Train Station where Harry Potter met Dumbledore  after he was killed.  As the manager walked on the beach she noticed her footprints left no impressions in the sand.  “The Fudge”  she said.. when someone pulled on her dress. It Design 1 Pinkie.. the Chibi Maker one. “Hi” she said.  “I am the ghost of Paradise past”. 


The Manager patted the O.G. Pinkie on the head but then said sternly. “No!, we are not going to do that, I love you and respect you but we aren’t going the Scrooge route with this story it is so overplayed” Chibi-Pinkie sniffled a bit. “Aren’t you glad to see me then?”  The manager smiled. “Of course I am glad to see you, you are always welcome here and if you chibi maker was still thinking I would use yours more oftenly”. She paused for a moment and hugged the chibi. “Look, I know I had less fun with blogging then when I just started okay, I have become disillusioned with a lot of stuff and might be a bit bitter, I am not striving for the community anymore, and in a way that is wrong but realise this, that is not because I do not want to give these amazing people my attention, I just really lack the energy”.

The Revelation

Chibi Pinkie looked sad and asked “But they are your friends, surely they deserve your time” to which the manager nodded. “Of course they are.. but writing and making content is also my hobby, right now when I am done writing something, I need to lay down that’s how easily fatigued I get, I want to try to be there for these amazing people but it is hard to balance it all and I am looking for the balance, as much as I appreciate you, my sweet Chibi self.. I think I need to  find that balance myself, I do not need a vision of how I changed. So tell me who the ghost of Paradise present is okay?”  Chibi Pinkie nodded and said “It’s Periwinkle.. you used to spend so much time on images and now he isn’t even added to the banner yet”  The Manager chuckled.

“Yes.. I was planning to do a new banner.. but this whole story is kind of the reason why that new banner isn’t there yet, there are more things changing so he’s gonna be on the banner that is coming soon, I promise” The manager smiled looking at her former self.. and then had a thought! “Why don’t you stay around for a little.. I might have a job for you if this story is going where I think it is going.. and I should know cause I am writing it. “Soon we will reveal your thing too”  Chibi Pinkie cheered! 

“So who is the ghost of Paradise future” the manager asked after the celebration was over. “It is your best friend in the whole world,”  Chibi Pinkie said.  The manager smiled. “Ah I haven’t seen him since just before christmas”.  She then looked up at the sky and called out it’s name “Tamago Tomodachi, come on out I know you are there” Please come down from the sky and bestow us with your wisdom”. Both Pinkies looked up to the sky as a fried egg descended, smiling.. and smelling. “Yay it is I the ghost of Paradise Future, come with me Pinkie I have to show you a vision of….”  The manager waved it away “Yeah yeah yeah.. we are skipping that part, we know I have to change.. but how… but let me ask you first.. how did you become the ghost of Paradise Future?” .

The Egg pondered a bit and then began it’s tale. “Well You see, this is a Christmas Carol spoof, and when the three ghosts are brought up the third ghost usually is some obscure cameo of a character you saw in whatever franchise does the spoofing”.  Pinkie nodded as it made sense! “And how do I change.. I mean.. the moth stuff kinda seems wrong to me know”. The Egg shook it’s yolk. “It was not a mistake Pinkie, it was a step you needed to take to find your true self, anyway to find out how you become the new you, you first must discover what you are”.

“Find out what I am? I am a Kaijuman , I went over this a few times”. The Egg nodded while closing his eyes looking all smug and wisey. “While this is true, it would  narratively  prevent the development you have commissioned that will arrive in the near future. So nay you are not just a Kaijuman”. The egg spilled some yolk into the ocean as  giant eggplants grew from  that spot. Just to remind the audience this was a fever dream of sorts… maybe?!  “I am VTuber and VBloggger does that have to do anything to do with it?” asked the manager. “Yes , you are a virtual being, only existing in the online atmosphere.. So what would be an other word you could use for this” said the egg, while trying to look like a japanese Kung Fu master, which isn’t easy if you are just egg whites and yolk. 

“Fake”? asked manager Pinkie. “You are to sincere to be fake” the  egg said. “Digital?” Asked Chibi Pinkie. “Correct little one” the egg now said. The manager pondered and then gasped. “Wait , I am a digital life form that over my nearly two years of blogging has evolved three times… each form bigger and more powerful than the other… am I a Digimon?”.Tamago Tomodachi smiled and said “I can not imagine we would be allowed to use that trademark..but you are basically exactly the same” The manager then shivered. “Does that mean I have to be shot by my family to achieve my Mega Form?” . Her best friend laughed so hard more yolk fell and  the ocean almost became entirely obscured by eggplants. “No, that final evolution needs something different each time, you need to find an item this time”

The Item

Pinkie was very confused by this revelation, so I am something like a Digimon, but not quite…. because of copyright stuff and such.. and I have been trough my Rookie, Champion and Ultimate form.. and to find my perfect form I need an item?  What is the logic behind that?” The rich buddy of the manager finally stopped laughing  and said “Travel to fictional Japan and it will be clear”.  The manager got annoyed and crossed her arms. “If I leave here Periwinkle will let everyone piss in my pool! Indigo has been gone for  while now, Kuro likes to drink from her own bar and Sunny is Sunny. I can not leave this place alone! I am the manager!” The egg nodded compassionately “And there-in lies your problem, you are to weak right now to work every day… you need to become a ruler of this island that doesn’t need to be here every day, so you can recover and get your strength back” . Both Pinkies crossed their arms “And what type of boss would not need to take care of her staff all the time” they said. Tamago Tomodachi  replied sternly. Go to Japan inside your imagination and find out.  Once you are there you will be given your final clue.

“Guess I can finally use these wings for something,” the manager said while picking up Chibi Pinkie. “Let’s go little one” As the two zoomed across the ocean they both realised they were lucky that the fictional Island of Paradise was located somewhere between Fictional Indonesia and Fictional Japan.. and though the power of Imagination and fueled by laziness and limited energy it turned out that this island was a heck of a lot closer to Japan.  Chibi Pinkie and Manager Pinkie did have a bonding moment though where the little version enjoyed flying on the big version. I Imagine you should imagine something like that scene from the Never Ending Story movie, with the song Bastian’s Happy Flight being covered on the Kazoo.. with just enough difference to not be deemed the same song. Landing somewhere in Tokyo the pair immediately spotted a green little turtle. “Oh look it’s our friend Mallow” Chibi Pinkie said.  Manager Pinkie nodded “How convenient, he is always willing to help, I am sure it will be no different this time”. Chibi Pinki, Mallow and the manager shared some takoyaki together.. because… when in Rome and all that. Mallow had revealed to them that the item they would need was at Sony’s headquarters.

Making their way through town the Pinkie’s wondered why it was Sony’s headquarters. Sony is more a Periwinkle thing.. maybe Kuro and even Indigo. Pinkie rarely even touched her PlayStation… was it that? Was she catering to a wrong audience and tapping into the playstation crowd would save her?!  She still felt more like a Nintendo person and most of the content she had planned for the future would be Nintendo as well!. Inside Sony’s headquarters everything seems odd.. as if everything was a really bad anime. Everything looked a lot cheaper. “Have we run out of budget?”  Pinkie wondered to herself?.  They took an elevator up and Manager Pinkie promised to find a place for Chibi Pinkie by her side as a mascot of sorts. Rantan , her current mascot, kept floating off. When the elevator doors openend the delegation of Sony was ready for Pinkie.. they bowed to her. “Weird? Why are you bowing to me?” The Sony delegation cracked a smile at her. “Periwinkle..puray… baaaad peeeeee -eeesss tuuuuoooo game-uuuh, he spenda… lot of money on.. Pee-essss tuooo. So.. if Paradisuuuu remain…….we…..get money….. so we helpuuu. 

Pinkie pondered and then figured, they could be right. Her “employing”  Periwinkle did lead to someone buying American Chopper on PS2, not many people of sound mind would do that , so in a way she was helping Sony get rid of a lot of unwanted stock, maybe he could tempt people into buying these.. like their own Angry Video Game Nerd.. but.. ..with a lot of urine in her pool. But what item could PlayStation have to make her Non-Copyrighted-Digivolve into something beyond a manager?  Did they have some magic power?!  Was it because they have the best Digimon games? When the president came out with a mysterious box it suddenly dawned on Pinkie… as he bowed in front of her and opened the box and a smile appeared on her face and a sparkle returned to her eyes as she uttered the words. “Yes, I think that will do nicely’ 

Adapt don’t change: OWLS May Blog Tour

Hey Island guests, it has been a while since I partook in an OWLS tour! I skipped the last three. February and March featured themes that did not match up with how I see the world. April’s theme while beautifully themed around hope came at a bad time for me. There was a lot on my plate.. but now that I have adapted a bit better to the new situation I feel stronger than ever before.. and adapting is this months topic.

OWLS

While I am sure that most of you know who the OWLS are, in fact most  of you reading are OWLS I bet a little reminder for all those marketing blogs that follow me or mysterious passerby’s in the future. The OWLS are the Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-respect. Basically it’s a bunch of people who do not care about your skin colour, disabilities or how you identify yourself. If you are an Otaku or Geek you are one of us. A message that Pinkie very much supports.

In May we talk about adapting. Covid-19 has altered the world, it has brought us closer together in some ways but also put us further apart. Little things like shopping can now be a lot more anxiety inducing. We all need to recalibrate ourselves to a new lifestyle and constant uncertainties Through our favorite anime we can show you how hard it can be to adapt but to give you tips and insights! Words like.. Subaru  handled it like this.. be like Subaru.  So obviously… I am going to take a slightly different approach..because that is the type of OWL I am.

Hacking Through the Gate

Today I will talk to you about adapting to a new world compared to changing. I believe these are two very different things, and we should never allow a new world to change who we are nor can we expect the world to change for us. Adapting is needed.. but also a slippery slope.
If we change to much we risk losing ourselves and if we try to change external factors to make the world adapt and change to our bidding we are oftenly in over our heads. It’s a balancing act. In the anime Steins Gate, we can find a lot of of stories on how NOT to adapt. Yet also a few on how it is done correctly. So prepare your flippy phones as we take a trip into the past.

For those who don’t know what Steins Gate is about. A guy is Microwaving Bananas and more or less discovers a way to time travel through that. We all pretty much know what Steins Gate is about though. Okabe Rintarou can send messages through time and he uses it to change things in the past that he does not like.. including preventing the death of Makise Kurisu. As it turns out things are not that easy. You can not just change without consequences . As his life spirals more and more out of control we see him clutching for straws to keep his friends safe from the CERN organisation and to unravel what is going on.

The reason I chose this anime is because it highlights Okabe being unable to adapt. He can not accept things the way they are and tries to change the world rather than adapt to it in order to be happy. For those who have seen the show, those endeavours usually do not end great and in a way the solution was to adapt to a situation rather than change it. While it all may sound a bit flimsy I hope you keep on reading as I try to explain. As Steins Gate teaches us that the only thing we can truly change is us. 

Adapt yourself

Now note that this post has nothing to do with our current situation. I assume plenty of people will have talked about it and have talked about it better than me.  So think of these words more as advice in general. While I am all for adapting I am very heavily against change.  Take for Example Urushibara Luka, the character that looks like a girl but he is a guy, smells and dresses like a girl.. but he is a guy.. you know that scene if you saw this show. Luka is tormented by gender dysphoria and always wanted to be a girl. Okabe’s answer to solve this for Luka  is to convince her mother to eat more vegetables in the past. Which works and Luka is born female. We see change. However this completely invalidates Luka’s personality.  Changing magically like that would create a completely different person, as we are made by our highs and lows. 

While I get their plight, this is not something we need to change. Luka regardless of her body is a girl, she identifies as a girl and was molded by that. Changing that means Luka never existed in the new timeline, the new girl is someone else. While it is easy for society to say, you are born like a male.. act like one, for transgender this would not be adapting, it would mean changing. It is to big. The person we know and see would stop to exist and become another. Imagine changing physically that much each time you have to pretend to be another person.. forced to put on a mask.. pretend you feel your bones shifting and you got a good idea what mental agony change like that invokes.

This is NEVER the way one should adapt. What we can adapt though is stuff like , our location, what people see of us and who we interact with. We can move to a town or city that is more open minded, usually city cultures are much more tolerant towards the different than small town, we can adapt the way we dress so people might not even see the physical wrong gender  and we can replace who we interact with. One can call it fleeing, but I ‘d say it is not. It is finding hapiness elsewhere. Don’t dig in a dry well.

Okabe’s reaction to Luka is rather toxic, calling her a guy while everything about her is female except for some chromosomes. Rather than asking for change in such a definite way, Luka should ask to be referred to as a girl by her friends. They are close enough and will do it for her, it’s not a complete road to happiness but it is a first step. If they don’t she should find friends who would.. It isn’t easy but adapting never is. Don’t adapt for others follow your heart and instincts for this one.

Same goes for those who have a “undesirable” sexual preference, you can pretend to be different but that doesn’t bring anyone happiness. Adapting.. is about making things work FOR YOU. While change is making things work regardless the cost. There is a gravitation on being standard.. but being like others never made anyone happy in its core. Do not change yourself… only change within the confines of yourself.. that to me is what adapting means.
Don’t change so others can live with you! Adapt so you are happier with yourself.

Deal with pain

To adapt let no one tell you, your fear, anxieties and pain is not real, or over exaggerated. Only you know how you feel inside. Real men don’t cry is a stupid statement and I am sure many would agree. In the same vain, you are over-reaction is also ALWAYS wrong. While it serves a purpose and can make you look back.. that feeling you initially feel is genuine. That is never taken away.. if you feel so much pain that you overreact.. it must have really hurt you. Never change the pain to go away, accept that it hurts and adapt to it. “My friend said a nasty thing.. . I better suck up and pretend that I do not care because it’s guy talk” is wrong. You pretend to be someone you are not which means you slowly lose yourself. I have lost myself in the past adapting into the person others wanted me to be.. in time it will just feel miserable.

 At the same time you can also not expect your friends to completely change. Nowadays we want to ban so many words because if offends somebody but that is not the way either, you can not expect the entire world to bend to you. It would force others to change. To ask them to change is just as unreasonable. Your friends might hurt you at times by being different, they might be stubborn and be unable to relate. Don’t demonize them for it. Instead you reach out.. so all can changes within the confines of themselves.  You tell your friend “I was really hurt by what you said, could you please not do that when I am around” Your friend doesn’t have to suddenly not find his jokes funny.. because they are not PC, he just has to tone it down in front of you.  Or give you a heads up he is going to make such a joke… two adapt so neither has to change.

Okabe SUCKS at this. He can not accept the death of Kurisu so he changes it.. which sets in motion a counter movement, which ends up hunting Mayuri. He can not accept the world he now has created and has to change it again. And Again and Again. Okabe refuses to accept things the way they are and suffers greatly for it. He changes things.. even himself to an extend but never adapts. His blossoming love with Kurisu make sure that regardless of what he chooses he always loses.. and he is unable to adapt to it. Up to a point where it is nearly driving him mad. He gets his happy ending.. not by changing the world..but accepting what he sees. There are facts he has to deal with! However what those facts means is where he can adapt. Just because he saw something.. and assumed the worst doesn’t mean the worst actually happened. He saw something.. and now has to make the best out of that. He adapts. Yet it was a lesson that does not come easy to him.

Alter Ego

We see this inability to adjust amplified by his alter ego Hyojin Kyoma, he in a way changes himself to another person. Someone he is not. The fact that Kurisu falls for Okabe and not Hyojin once more shows that you have to remain yourself. You can not just change everything and expect to be happy. That just doesn’t happen, we have to accept things in order to make them work. Okabe learned that lesson which is important in order to adapt and we have to do so to. 

Yes if you are not a straight-cis person some people will think poorly of your sexuality, yes people can be racist if you have a different skin color and no we do not have to accept that. We can make other people adapt, make them see there is much more than a binary spectrum of right and wrong. What they see doesn’t always have to be true.. like it was for Okabe.  We can show them they make false assumptions and enlighten them. Allow them to adapt… we can NOT change them. They have to be the one the instigate this within themselves.  We can just help them along their way.  Just like we can not allow them to change us. We can adapt, but we should not change.  Like how Rintaro can step up to save Kurisu or Mayuri, yet his alter ego his change is useless. Happiness can only be achieved if adjustments come from the real self.

Because we are forced to stay inside doesn’t mean you change into a recluse that is isolated from their friends. Send them them a postcard a gift or put on a webcam. Hang out with them on your Animal Crossing island perhaps.  Stay yourself and allow them to stay themselves and just tweek the way you can meet.  If you have trouble being accepted because of who you are, find a common ground from which you can be accepted rather than change others into accepting that one aspect they approve of, and certainly make sure you don’t change and take on an alter ego of yourself.

In that spirit the OWLS set a good example in adapting. Yes we are all very different, yes at times it can be polarising and no we will not always agree. We can refuse to accept this and refuse to adapt.. but it would end up driving us apart. We accept.. some things aren’t easy as we want them to be.. and instead of projecting this ideal world we accept that it’s not.. so we adapt.. to find that glimmer in the dark. We adapt to not see each others as those labels that set us apart but the label that we all share.. We adapt to bearing our Otaku badge as a symbol of togetherness while still being our true selves. 

Check out these amazing other OWLS Posts as well!

Hikari went before me and you can check out her certainly amazing post right here!
Aria will do the next one , three days from when this post releases… so if you read this after the 19th you can click here to check more adapting goodness! Or if you read it before you can click here to visit the blog in advance.