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peaches2217

peaches2217

Give me Gackpoid AI or give me DEATH 26 From Arklahoma
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  • peaches2217
    I freaking love my Imaginative Writing class. I feel deeply inadequate being around so many people my age who are so good, but because of that, I'm starting to be able to pinpoint my flaws.

    A flaw I figured out today: I have no distinctive voice. Nothing I write sets me apart. I'm technically skilled; my grammar's generally great and I can crank out one hell of an academic paper. But anyone with that level of basic writing skill could replace me and you'd never know I was gone. Find someone, anyone else who made a 36 on the writing portion of the ACT, familiarize them with Vocaloid, and tell them to write OliLen fanfiction, and it would be no different from what I write. It's dull, bland, utter shit, a pain in the ass to any reader who wants substance. I offer nothing.

    I'm... not at the point of realization where I could say for certain how to fix that, but it's nice being able to put words to what my problems are, if nothing else. And everyone in my class is very supportive, and the professor is encouraging, so I hope I'll be able to figure it out by the end of the semester.
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    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    @mobius017 That's true. Not a lot of writers really have a loud, bold voice, but when I've noticed they do it's more icing on the cake than a necessary part of the story... I guess I'm just miffed that there's really nothing that sets my stuff apart. The people in my class, they craft compelling narratives while also adding their own little stamp: one guy invokes the devil as a muse, another's narratives always end with fights - I have no author's stamp, on top of my general lack of decent ideas. I have a lot of passion in what I write, but I don't think that passion ever comes through, because it just reads as technically well-crafted but emotionally bland, no matter what I try.

    @Leon in that respect, my main issue is that I can't write plot. Characters? Sure. They're boring and barely two-dimensional (my only saving grace is that, as a fanfiction writer, people already love the characters too much to realize just how poorly I write them), but I can write them and make them intermingle. Really my grammar is the one good thing about my writing... a while back I published a chapter with a glaring grammatical error at the beginning, and My Sole Reader pointed it out and then confessed that the whole chapter was just awful, probably because my grammar is the only thing that made it worth reading.

    I'm sorry. It's just deeply frustrating, knowing there's stuff wrong with my writing but not knowing 1.) exactly how to pinpoint it and 2.) how to fix it.
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    mobius017
    mobius017
    I had a quick look at the short story you included in your last journal post. I personally don't think there's really anything wrong with your writing as-is. But it seems like maybe you want for it to have more emotional impact. Does that sound right?

    If that's the case, and you're ok with what's hopefully non-presumptuous but definitely unsolicited advice, I think you could maybe develop that by getting closer to the main character.

    I'll go ahead and use the Vocaloid names for convenience. You're writing from Kaito's perspective. But while you talk about what he's feeling, you do so in sort of a digest form. You say he feels nothing, and that he's worried about it. But it would help the reader to empathize with Kaito better if you step-by-step showed instances where he was looking inside himself and found nothing there. Describe exactly what happens. What exactly is he thinking? How does he express (e.g., what words does he use in his head?) his reaction to feeling nothing but numbness when he thinks about the fact that the woman he loves is dying?

    A digest format would work well if you have length restraints, and I think you've done really well in the emotional impact department considering that you're working in that form. But to really make your audience feel what Kaito feels, I think you need a longer, more specifically detailed format. That would still be the same POV you were using, but it would take full advantage of the fact that you ARE Kaito and know everything that he thinks and feels from his perspective.
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    Thank you so much for the feedback!! Yeah, the whole thing had to be under a page, and I baaaaarely managed (by way of choosing a small font and making it even smaller). If we're given a chance to expand on it, I'll definitely dig deeper and really get into what he feels. The majority of the story was also supposed to be second-person, which is why Kaito gets so little focus in spite of the whole thing being from his POV.

    Thank you again! As an exercise, I'll try to rewrite it with your notes in mind.
    peaches2217
    This... this took three hours.
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    Leon
    Leon
    YESSSS

    idk if you did any phoneme edits (if not, possibly ignore this?). BUT if you'd like a small Sonika tip, she (like many Zero-G loids) has some aspirated vs non-aspirated consonants switched around. So her default [I t s] sounds a little choppy, but if you change the t to [th] then the T to S transition is much more natural. However, for some reason [I th s] sounds more like [i: th s] so if you change it to [e th s] then it sounds like a normal "it's".
    And, as with any Engloid, I strongly recommend muting most if not all ending-of-word T's that aren't followed by a vowel (even then, some of them. Like "put it away" I'd argue a human speaker wouldn't use a hard T sound for either put or it) to a [d] or [dh], or [4] if applicable, and possibly using [Sil] sometimes for a better "glottal stop" imitation :)

    She's really hard to work with, but I think you did well!! A problem child for sure ;;v;;
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    Yup, I actually did all of the above! As I love making Vocaloids sing in languages they weren't made to sing in, I frequently edit phonemes, and I'm very familiar with the nuances of English Vocaloid phonemes since I've made Oliver sing in Japanese and Russian more than I've made him sing in English. Thank you for the tip though! I hadn't thought about using [Sil] to imitate glottal stops before... I usually just turn the velocity of the next note down.
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    Leon
    Leon
    Awesome!! I wasn't listening with headphones so I wasn't super sure but I know Sonika can be a bitch if someone's not familiar with that stuff. I'll have to try the velocity bit, thank you! :0
    peaches2217
    Did they record Sonika in a busy office or something? She has a lovely tone, but every other note there's something that sounds like a telephone tone in the background. Thankfully this song utilizes her lower notes, so it's not as noticeable... actually she sounds quite nice so far.
    • Haha
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    Twillby
    Twillby
    Between this and the Skype noise Chorva found, I would not be surprised rofl

    Sonika is easily in my top three "I would magically update this bank if I could" banks because her tone is so nice but I Know in My Heart I would not be able to wrangle with her quirks unless a miracle occurs
    DefiantKitsune
    DefiantKitsune
    Funny mildly related story:
    One of the Metal Gear Solid games had it's entire voice track recorded for the GameCube version for this exact reason

    it was recorded in an apartment and the GC's audio was good enough you could hear the traffic
    peaches2217
    After angsting the past few days, I've got some good news!

    IA ended up selling for $46. I charged an extra $5 for shipping, and her shipping amounted to $5.56, so good call Peaches. I shipped her out two hours after her buyer paid for her and then sent said buyer her tracking number immediately, so I'm hoping that earns me a good review!

    My mom needed me to pick up a Walmart order a few hours after, so I figured I'd kill time rather than go back home. I somehow ended up at the mall. Two weeks ago, I applied for a job in my favorite store there, and I couldn't find a phone number or email for them, so I said "Fuck it," crossed myself a few times, and went in myself to ask. While I was talking to the manager about my application, one of the workers said she recognized me - we went to the same community college together, and I graduated last May, so while the manager was writing down contacts we caught up. The manager took my name and thanked me for coming in and said to call back in a week if I hadn't heard anything. I'm hoping showing up in person, as well as being on good terms with one of the workers, gives me an advantage!

    Tomorrow's my six week post-op checkup. I've mostly regained mobility in my left hand/arm, though I still can't lift a whole lot. My cubital scars don't match, which is a tiny bit annoying given how large and hard to miss they are, but they're both healing over well, so all I can do is keep them moisturized and thank God everything went off without a hitch. (As for my carpal scars, you can't even see the one on my right wrist unless you hold it up under light, and my left one's slowly reaching that point as well.)

    Aaaaaaand Buyee successfully bought that Miku V2 box! Once she hits the warehouse I just need to pay shipping, and I'll have a neat collector's piece!
    peaches2217
    Dang it. The super-cheap messed up copy of Miku V2 sold overnight. orz

    Nevrertheless, it looks like her box is still available. Since I wanted her as a collector's piece anyway, I'll take it!
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    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    I could never ask of them. I don't want to take advantage like that. 😅 Anyway, how many people would look in the box anyway? I can just put a blank DVD in. All is well!
    • Haha
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    Leon
    Leon
    Fair enough!!
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    Box procured! I've got a coupon for $5 off international shipping that expires on the 6th, so I hope it hits the warehouse before then.

    Getting a new card ended up being a bit of a wild goose chase... my home bank is in the town my dad lives in (where I also lived after I moved home and before starting my bachelor's program), and it's the only branch of that bank in town. Here, there's like five different branches, and the only one that could print cards ended up being on a ridiculously high-end side of town, where my worse-for-the-wear 2007 Honda Element got lost in a sea of 2020-model Lexus and BMWs and Range Rovers. But I managed, and now I've got a card with a little goat on it (´▽`ʃƪ)♡
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    peaches2217
    Anyway! On a less frustrated note:

    There's a person on Mercari selling Miku V2's CD, though it doesn't come with a code. As such, they've been steadily lowering the price. Someone else is selling Miku V2's box with nothing in it, but the box itself is in great condition... and half the price of the V2 CD.

    Tomorrow I'm going to the bank to get a new card issued, and then, if both are still in stock, I'm gonna get Miku V2! She probably won't be functional, but for how cheap she'll be she'll make an excellent collector's piece.
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    I
    inactive
    I bought my Miku V2 from an online store that charged me once yet shipped two copies. They arrived separately, and the second copy is still in its bubble wrap. My hope is that one of these days it'll be worth a million dollars or something.
    I
    inactive
    I still have my opened copy if you're interested. It has the slip cover, the DVD case, the CD, and all the instruction booklets, pamphlets, warranty information, etc. The only problem is I don't know if I deactivated the serial number or not, or deactivation is even necessary. (It was installed on an old hard drive that was pilfered for magnets.)
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    That's amazing! I'm tempted to take you up on that, but I'd hate to take advantage. I'll probably just get her through Mercari. Thank you though!!
    peaches2217
    I don't really mind not having a room of my own. I get to live with my mom rent-free while finishing my degree. It's just the exchange I make. But my sister had a sleepover this weekend while I was at my dad's, and what do I come back to?

    The house is trashed. My Vocaloids are knocked off of their shelves and the corner of Gakupo's box is caved in. Every last copy of my resume is torn and crumpled. My skincare has been tossed into the tub to make way for tons of open tubes of glitter. My makeup brushes are coated in said glitter, as is literally everything in the bathroom. All of my Dr. Pepper is gone. They got a party platter of Popeyes biscuits and just left half of them to harden and ruin.

    So I guess that's the one downside of not having a single designated place to my own here: everything I own is at the mercy of a gaggle of eight-year-olds, and I'm permitted to do nothing more but suck it up and pick everything up and wait for it to happen again.
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    ___
    ___
    That's what I was thinking but didn't wanna say out loud gyhuj, it was a mess she and her friends made and she should have cleaned up after herslef to learn a lesson, not you.
    cafenurse
    cafenurse
    asdfgh I feel this hard I let my boyfriend move into my old room when I moved across the country to go to college and when I came home for Thanksgiving I found he ripped posters I had in storage and completely crushed and destroyed more than half my figure boxes :kaito_lili: :kaito_lili: :kaito_lili: and he doesnt even get to use an age excuse he's just a very clumsy grown man
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    @Leon don't worry! I adore my baby sister and have put my life on the line for her more than once... but damn if she hasn’t reinforced my childfree status. I’m almost a second mom to her, and it’s helped me realize I never, EVER wanna be a “real” mom to anything more than her and my cats.

    I brought it up with my mom, but she’s deeply apathetic. It basically amounted to “You didn’t lock your stuff up, so it’s your fault your shit got fucked up”. I spent three hours cleaning the house, and all I really got in response was “Aww, you didn’t have to do that” (never mind that if I DIDN’T do that, my mom would have bitched endlessly at me for never doing anything but sitting on my laptop... and I still got bitched at for not cleaning the litter box).

    Disciplining my sister is hard, because our mom doesn’t do it and she thinks I hate her if I even gently scold her, so I don’t have the heart to do it. orz
    peaches2217
    Anyone wanna hear Haiyi singing in Japanese? No? Too bad.

    (The song's really, really loud, and I spent way longer fiddling with the phonemes than I did tuning it, so it sounds pretty rough, but still.)
    peaches2217
    Haiyi's Japanese accent actually isn't bad at all! She has trouble pronouncing "ki," as that mix of phonemes isn't present naturally in Mandarin, but I'm finding work-arounds.
    peaches2217
    Making a Chinese VB sing in Japanese is much less infuriating/more fun than making a Japanese VB sing in Mandarin.

    Anyone up for a Haiyi cover of Check Check Check One Two?
    ___
    ___
    ooh that could be interesting, that song is a bop
    Scarlet Illusion
    Scarlet Illusion
    Never heard of that song, but I'm all for synths singing in languages they're not intended for!!
    peaches2217
    On another note, I've had GimmexGimme stuck in my head for the better part of a week now. Like, it just keeps playing on repeat. I can't get it out. I'll be driving down the road and suddenly I can't fight the urge to just yell "SU-KI-NI-SA-SE! TE!" at the top of my lungs. Help me.
    peaches2217
    Hey Google I'm trying to find the album art for a Quadimension album why are you showing me images of my Ultimate NOTP their names are nowhere in my search I never asked for this

    I am an innocent stranger on the internet what did I do to deserve this
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    Scarlet Illusion
    Scarlet Illusion
    Maybe you could try putting your search term in quotes to force Google to find results that have that exact phrase? :luka_move:
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    Yeah, I did, but then fanart will still come up, and my eyes happened to be cursed with That Pairing this time. It's random, but it happens. :LOL:
    peaches2217
    Can you not comment on Bilibili videos without being a premium member? There's a guy who did a really good cover of Wings of Phoenix and I tried expressing my love of it, but it keeps saying "账号未转正".
    peaches2217
    For Christmas 2018, I asked for Gakupo's V4 Complete. It was nearly $300. The exchange was that it would be my only Christmas present, as well as a good chunk of my birthday present for the next year; I was fine with that, because Gakupo was a Vocaloid I'd wanted since I was a teen, right up there with Rin and Len.

    Seeing his V4s sell for $30 a pop on Mercari, with someone selling his Complete for $80... I feel like I owe my dad $200.
    peaches2217
    Ah, what a good day to discover your card's been hacked and you now have $300 in fraudulent charges!
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    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    I performed one (1) Questionable Activity earlier today, and I accidentally downloaded a trojan as a result. That was the source of the hack. Thankfully, my dad was up, so he was able to track down some numbers and get my card cancelled while I contacted Amazon and PayPal and ran a disinfection; Amazon cancelled all of the pending payments (which amounted to nearly an additional $800), the trojan is gone (and I'm running another scan just be sure), and I doubled down on security for my PayPal account.

    I had a few charges on some prepaids I never deleted from my PayPal, so I'm positive that's how they got hold of my active card. I'm going to contact PayPal later (as it's 2:30 AM here) to see if it's a better idea to just close the account and start a new one. Luckily all I had on there was my card and my address; if I'd had my SSN on there, I'd be royally fucked.
    ___
    ___
    This type of stuff is really scary! Hope you're alright.
    peaches2217
    peaches2217
    Thank you! Because my address was the only other thing on there, we think it'll be fine. They just wanted my money; lacking it, they'll leave me alone and try someone else.
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    peaches2217
    Hand-compressing (I still don't know if that's the right term for it) has become outright therapeutic to me. I never did get the hang of using compression plugins, and doing it all manually, though time-consuming, gives me more desired results, and it's very gratifying.
    peaches2217
    For how complicated I've made my endeavors these past 24 hours, I think I've come up with a pretty solid plan moving forward: stick with Studio One for mixing, and if I need to use the denoiser, use the FL trial and just do it in one sitting. That'll save me headaches in the future.

    And that brings an end to the "Peaches Gives Herself an Illness Trying to Find a New DAW" saga. Thank you for tuning in, and watch your step on the way out.
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