#PastebinMonday 04/21/2025 Transition and Happiness Edition

Transition and Happiness Edition

'Sup, doods!

In trying to write this update, there are two words coming to mind as to how I consumed this week in the world: transition and happiness.

I witnessed people pursuing happiness by going through one form of transition or another. I have been preparing to transition from living in one place that I have called home for nearly 20 years to another that I can call my own and truly be happy in. No more reaching behind my desk chair and placing my hand on my bed. No more relying on an air conditioner window unit to stay cool while trying to stream. No more paying money to someone else for the privilege of occupying their property. (Shelter should be an absolute right for public safety, but I shan't digress.) I'm probably paying a mortgage for the rest of my life, but this next place I'm going to will be mine and I expect to be better off for it. I got the inspection report this week, by the way. My agent told me that it was one of the cleanest reports he and the inspector had ever seen. Another major hurdle cleared.

As a Hololive fan, I witnessed another fanbase grieving over having to say goodbye to another talented entertainer. These next two weeks are going to be problematic for die hard Hololive fans, doods. With the departure of Murasaki Shion, Nanashi Mumei, and Gawr Gura to pursue happiness elsewhere, fans will be transitioning to a new era where the talents that they look up to will primarily be in the business of being idols, as in by singing and dancing, not necessarily by streaming. I think I'm part of a significant set of fans who “fell into the rabbit hole” because of the streaming and don't necessarily care for the idol stuff. I prefer to watch FUWAMOCO play games rather than perform on stage. They are very entertaining at both. Things have been changing at Hololive for multiple years now. I've been told that things are starting to settle down. Well, at least Nijisanji announced another EN graduation (Fulgur Ovid). For those talents' mental well-being, I hope Niji gets out of the EN market sooner rather than later. The management just does not care.

As a fan of another online entertainer that has influenced my presentation style for a while, ProtonJon, I also witnessed a somewhat open secret being made public. “Jon” pursued his own happiness by transitioning in the most modern sense of the word, coming out as trans, and becoming “Claire.” S/he will go by both for a while and still identifies themselves as much by “he/him” as “she/her.” I understand why transitioning gets confusing to the normies.

All this talk about “transition” has me going back to the word “happiness.” The lesson that got hammered home this past week should be made clear to everydood reading this. You will usually be better off as a person if you wish for everyone to be happy, especially those that you love. If you truly love someone, you should want happiness for them above everything else. Personally, I would not sacrifice my own happiness to do such a thing, but you take control over how you live your own life, dood.

Now if you'll excuse me, doods, my next tournament match got delayed to Saturday and I still have to prepare to train for it. I also have to finish the post-tournament credits sequence. That transition isn't over yet.


Today's (permanent) extra streaming goals:

Goal #1: record footage for my Puzzle League tutorial series. The scripts are done! I am now challenging myself to find time amidst my tournament duties to work on recording the gameplay. I would then need voice-over on top of that. In a perfect world, I would have been done with all of that this month, but in light of the home situation, I have ZERO time to start this.
Goal #2: release the Puzzle League tutorial series YouTube shorts once a day until they're all done. I really do think I need to time the release of the series with a ramping up of my streaming schedule so that I can take advantage of whatever there is to gain from releasing the shorts. The home situation keeps pushing this date further and further back.
Goal #3: clean up my own stream layout. Most of the framework necessary for a semi-proper stream is done now thanks to streaming the process, though I'm not currently motivated to stream any other part of it at the moment. Next major objective is to make alerts. I have stream reaction clips to put in. Emotes, one or two alternate overlay themes, and alternate timer themes would come soon after. As soon as I think of things to put in, I will add them to the list. I added a list in a dedicated channel in my Discord server. If you have any time to kill and want to contribute, check it out.
Goal #4: catch up on video archives that I have yet to upload since I restarted streaming. I may put them on a separate channel.
Goal #5: edit personal best videos in Tetris Attack Easy – V-Hard (post commentary recorded) and Normal (post commentary recorded)—and everything I did in Pokemon Puzzle Week—and that S-Hard PB—and that V-Hard WR—and that Easy – S-Hard WR—and that TA Easy PB—and another Easy – V-Hard PB (twice). Standalone archival videos are already attached to my speedrun profile. I'm hoping to make eye-catching productions from each speedrun. I'm considering it to be my personal test to be a YouTuber. I was failing miserably even before this moving thing became a thing.
Goal #6: finalize the tournament layout once and for all in a way that I can adapt for every game we might play. I have a volunteer to help broadcast the matches in my stead, but I need to get settled in my new place before I engage in too many projects.


This week's schedule:

Wednesday @8pm-10pm ET – TA2025 Training – Glad I Didn't Have to Play Last Week Edition, Doods!
Thursday @8pm-10pm ET – TA2025 Training
Friday @8pm-11pm ET – Friday Night Salt Mines – Preparing for the Rematch For Real Edition, Doods!
Saturday @2pm-4pm ET – twitch.tv/puzzlespeedrun – TA2025 Losers Finals
Sunday @2pm-5pm ET – twitch.tv/puzzlespeedrun – TA2025 GRAND FINALS


That’s my life story for the week. Until next time, everyone, be decent to each other. Later, doods!

--Cards