#and the sound design!!! i really miss the texture and added feeling it all adds to the setting and what's happening it's just. so good

[ddarker-dreams]

Comfortably Numb. Yan Chrollo x Reader [COMM]

warnings: mentions of anxiety, just general uneasiness. word count: 2.6k.

Home is where the heart is. 

It’s meant to be the sanctuary where you can unwind after a long day of work, dress in your most comfortable pajamas, and feel no qualms for the opinions of others. A safe haven of your own making. Granted, there was a time that you felt this way, no matter how long ago it seems. A coveted period of your life that you wish you could return back to. On a surface level, any onlooker might take a glance at you and think you are as normal as they are. If only that were the truth, you bitterly lament. 

Now, what do you need to check on next? Milk is in good supply, not set to expire anytime soon. Hm… can’t say the same for the fruit. You jostle down some of your favorites onto the ever growing grocery list. What else is there? You’ve got to be missing something. Standing on your tiptoes, you open the overheard cabinet, that is now noticeably more barren than it used to be. The bags of tea that had once populated this area have vanished, all but a lonesome pack of matcha. Huffing, you close the cabinet doors, ready to voice your irritation.

Pivoting on your heel, you look over the kitchen counter and towards the occupied living room. “You drank all my tea?” 

“Not at all of it,” your unwelcome guest corrects, much to your displeasure. “Besides, you never said I couldn’t have any.” 

You raise an eyebrow at this conjecture. Who would’ve thought him a stickler for semantics. “Yeah, well, I never said you could have it either.” 

“That’s a fair enough point. I’ll be sure to reimburse you for it later.” Chrollo ends the conversation before it even begins. His attention returns to his original activity of reading, freely helping himself to yet another one of your belongings. An exhausted sigh leaves your lips at the sight. If you somehow make it out of this situation unscathed, you may take on a more pious lifestyle, having survived way more than you should’ve. It’s a wonder that Chrollo hasn’t seen fit to strike you down where you stand. Where you lack self-restraint in the verbal department, you make up for it in your overall composure. Surely anyone else would’ve been crushed under the immense pressure of having a murderer crashing at their apartment. 

That’s just about the best way to describe it, you think. How desensitized do you have to be to no longer shiver at the thought? In all fairness, Chrollo himself is treating this as the most ordinary arrangement in the world. At his own leisure he’ll start conversations with you, inquire about your day, and even offer insight that you never asked for. It’s gotten to the unfortunate point that you’re even starting to do the same. Treating him more as a peculiar roommate than the threat he truly is, though it could be your way of coping. That’s the explanation you’re going with.

Chrollo puts a bookmark into his read, and places it aside. “Is there anything you’d like for dinner?”

He asks the question as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Your normally schooled expression is broken, lips parting and eyebrows furrowing together. Is he being serious right now? There’s no way to tell for certain. Not on a lack of trying from your behalf, his countenance never hints at his innermost thoughts. You get the feeling what little Chrollo does reveal to you is intentional. How creepy. 

“I was just planning on warming up leftovers,” you accentuate this by opening your fridge. On the shelves sits lentil soup, apples, and some protein yogurts. Shit. “Scratch that. I’ll be settling for yogurt instead.” 

“You had that for breakfast, if memory serves.” Chrollo points out, as if you’re incapable of remembering that yourself. It’s odd that he feels the need to pay attention to every detail about you. How often is Chrollo observing you without you taking notice? You push the thought aside with a frown.

“What are you, my hostage-taker and nutritionist? Besides, this is what I like to call a struggle meal. Or, meals, technically. I’ll go shopping tomorrow to make up for it.” You grimace while picking up the gourmet cuisine for tonight. Strawberry cheesecake flavor. It’s better with stuff added to it for texture, but this’ll have to do. It’s doubtful someone who is hiding a stolen merchandise worth hundreds of thousands can empathize with your position. Not that it matters if Chrollo Lucilfer holds you in high regard, with all the blood on his hands. He’s got no room to judge.

“Hm, in the time we’ve spent together, I never considered you as dense,” he gets up from his seat, making his way towards the kitchen. You don’t get a word in edgewise before your dinner is plucked from your hands. Chrollo places it back in the fridge, while you stare at him with a slackened jaw. “I’m offering to buy you food, [First].” 

How considerate of him to spell it out for you. 

“Appreciative as I am for your gesture of goodwill, I’ll pass. I don’t want to be indebted to you.” You make for the fridge once again, scowling as he holds it shut with unnatural force. Damn, he’s strong. Maybe you’re playing with fire by provoking him, considering the power imbalance, but your tongue is faster than your brain. Both a blessing and a curse. Leaning more towards the latter, you muse.

“I insist. It’s only right that I repay you somehow, for allowing me to stay here. You wouldn’t be indebted to me.” Chrollo’s smile never reaches his eyes, you notice. Standing here in close proximity to him, there’s a lot more you can pick up on. Every little detail of his disposition is intentional. From his even keel tone, to his polite speech, and way of acting like you have any say in the matter. You’re all bark and no bite. Both of you are keenly aware of this, and still he talks to you as if he’s none the wiser. It’s demeaning in its own right. 

“I guess it is sacrilegious to turn down free food. Alright, you win.” You throw your hands up in mock defense. This uncomfortable interaction helped you remember the position you’re in, how every breath might be your last. He’s broken into your residence, forced you to hide him from encroaching hunters, and made your past ten days a living hell. It was the threats to your loved ones that ultimately earned your compliance. 

You can’t help the self deprecation that’s followed since that day. The law is what you’re supposed to be protecting, not protecting criminals from. Going to the station everyday with the knowledge that you’re harboring such a dangerous criminal is weighing heavily on your soul. Life sure is full of the worst ironies. Had it not been an A class bounty, you may have stood a chance. 

Chrollo reaches into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out one of his many burner phones. “You’re being more agreeable than I expected, if I’m being honest.”

“What can I say? I become a bit of a yes man when my life is being threatened.” You respond with an empty smile of your own. Instead of earning any ire from him, he lets out an airy chuckle, of dubious sincerity. Whether it’s at you or with you is difficult to decipher. He pulls up a food delivery app, showing you the options. This was all prepared in advance, he must’ve taken the time to download it. So it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision to mess with you? 

“Y-you’re really letting me pick?” There’s no hiding your incredulous tone of voice. This series of events is far too bizarre to fathom, like a nightmare stepping into reality. Just a week ago you were contemplating how to poison Chrollo without him taking notice. Now you’re ordering food together. There has to be an ulterior motive lurking around, your gut won’t tell you otherwise.

He tilts his head at your apprehension, and repeats himself. “That’s what I said, yes.” 

Fuck it. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, or so the saying goes. You’ve suffered enough at Chrollo’s hands, it wouldn’t hurt to make the most of it. You take the cheap phone from his hands, scrolling through the options, and realizing now just how wonderful the variety of food sounds. Working up an appetite hasn’t come naturally with your uninvited guest skulking about. He has enough prepaid visa cards to cover what you want, so you hold nothing back. 

After returning his phone to him, you can’t help but throw an additional sarcastic comment in. It’s second nature at this point. “Happy now?” 

“Very much so,” Chrollo doesn’t mention your indignation, eyes raking over your expansive order. It’s not until he gets to the end that he quirks an eyebrow. “... A one hundred dollar tip?” 

“Feel free to add some extra zeros to the end of that. It’s not binary code for ‘help me, there’s a criminal in my apartment’, if you’re worried about that.”

He hums in consideration. “I can’t say that came to mind.” 

“Shit, looks like I went ahead and busted my own master plan.” Your response is notably dry. A headache is already in the works, courtesy of speaking to Chrollo for too long. He never fails to keep you on your toes. For all the sardonic remarks you make at his expense, anxiety has never stopped plaguing you. It’s a miracle that your heart is still functioning properly. You don’t even know why you ordered the absurd amount that you did, other than from pure spite, since your stomach is churning too much to want to eat. Maybe that’ll change when the food shows up. If not, your co-workers are going to be in for quite a treat tomorrow. 

You return to your newfound favorite activity of ignoring Chrollo, busying yourself with anything that comes in sight. Watering your plants, putting mugs from the dishwasher away, menial stuff that keeps you busy. A new feat lies in your wake. Whoever designed this apartment didn’t do so with you in mind, your larger plates just barely out of reach. Not willing to concede to using a chair just yet, you keep up the gallant attempt, stretching as far as your body allows. Your fingertips graze just over the prized handle, only for you to fail again.

That’s when you feel an over looming presence behind you, a shadow encompassing your figure. Chrollo gets the plate you were reaching for with ease, his chest brushing over your back in the process. You feel your face flushing, your body going taut, standing still as a wooden plank. He sets it down beside you with a knowing smile. That bastard…! He’s doing this on purpose. Damn him. 

“It looked like you could use some help.” He tells you. It takes every ounce of your self restraint not to lunge at him, instead taking a deep breath and nodding your head. Why is he so intent on getting a reaction from you? It’s exasperating, serving no practical purpose other than his own amusement. Inundated with your thoughts, you don’t realize how sour a look you’re sporting. This is what he wants, you remind yourself. To get you riled up. You refuse to play into his hands, and manage to get a grip. 

Time passes by at a lethargic pace. After around forty minutes, your front door rings, and you pick up the order. Sitting at your counter, you help yourself to the meal, grateful that Chrollo has seen fit to leave you alone. There can never be anything good in this world, as he eventually joins you. You try not facing him as an act of defiance. The plan that seemed ingenious in theory has a rockier execution. Sitting in silence feels worse somehow, like a ticking time bomb. Shifting in your seat, you decide to strike up a half baked conversation.

“So, uh, about the whole being hunted down thing,” your voice wavers and you hate yourself for it, “Do you have an idea of when it’s going to be over? I’m starting to run out of excuses for why my friends can’t come over.” 

This is true. There have been no more lively gatherings at your apartment since Chrollo’s unwelcome appearance, and you’ve been pestered about it. In between the lines is the prospect of your friends finding this reclusive behavior suspicious. In your optimism, you hope he takes it as a hint to get out of here faster.

Chrollo takes on a pensive appearance, his chin resting on his hand. “I’d been meaning to talk to you about that, so I’m glad you brought it up.” 

How nice it is to be on the same page. This could be the light at the end of the tunnel, the last page in this awful chapter of your life. Ten days seems like a reasonable amount of time to lay low. Maybe he’s already packing his bags, planning to leave you far behind, so you can forget any of this ever happened. Maybe you’ll treat yourself to a vacation. From the gut wrenching anxiety Chrollo has inflicted on you, you feel deserving of one. 

“They’ve stopped searching for me a while ago.” 

Wait, what?

You look at him, silverware dropping from your lax hand. He’s never been into joking around. Does that mean he’s being serious with you? That all this time, you’ve been holding out for something that already happened? Fists balling by your side, you don’t bother hiding a sharp glare directed towards him. There’s no playfully wry response, no comeback, only disbelief and abhorrence. The bountiful meal in front of you is forgotten. 

There’s no point in asking, but you still do, voice low. “... How long?” 

“According to my sources, about a week.” comes Chrollo’s response, hammering the final nail in the coffin of your patience. His motivations have never been any less clear. You know you shouldn’t have taken the word of someone like him seriously -- you’re so painfully aware of this that it hurts -- but now leaves a final question. Why? What does he get out of this? You feel sick to your stomach, knowing that it’s going to bad no matter what. Your breathing has picked up, eyes dilating and body threatening to crumble under the tension. Everything feels out of place. 

He responds as if he was reading your thoughts. “You’re an interesting person, [First]. You never cried, pleaded, or anything of the like. Instead you accepted the situation for what it was, all while staying true to your values. I find that admirable. I’d like to learn more from you.”  

“Stop talking to me like I’m a -- a fucking -- science experiment, instead of a human being. How does any of that shit even matter?” You feel the blood draining from your face, every word coming out more forced than the last. Getting riled up here is the last thing you should be doing, but you can’t control yourself. All your negative emotions from your time with him are regurgitating into a final mess.

“I don’t know, truth be told.” Chrollo checks the watch on his wrist, and you gulp at the smile that forms on his lips. It feels like a sentencing, a foreboding omen. There’s bile rising in your throat, and you scramble away from your chair. You need to get out of here. You need to run, to scream for help, to alert your family, this is not going to end well, what is he planning-- 

There’s a hurried knock at your door.

“However, what I do know is that I have no intention of leaving this place without you by my side.” 

#chrollo lucilfer #chrollo #chrollo x reader #chrollo lucilfer imagine #chrollo imagine #HunterXHunter #Hunter X Hunter #hunter x hunter imagine #yandere hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter imagines #hxh #hxh x reader #yandere hxh x reader #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere scenario #my stuff #commissions #yandere chrollo lucilfer #chrollo lucilfer x reader #yandere chrollo #yandere chrollo x reader

[burlveneer-music]

Campbell-Mallinder-Benge - Clinker - missed this EP last fall; the Cabaret Voltaire legacy continues

Crépuscule presents a brand new collaborative project by Julie Campbell (aka LoneLady), Stephen Mallinder (Wrangler, Cabaret Voltaire) and Benge (Wrangler, John Foxx). Titled Clinker, the first 800 copies of the album have been pressed in turquoise vinyl.

'The project began a couple of years ago,' explains Julie. 'Benge had these great sketches that were beats and synth patterns, so those were the starting point. I really went to town adding lots of guitar layers and experimenting with different sounds. On some tracks the guitar is deft and rhythmic, as if mimicking sequencer patterns. On others it's a deconstructed noise-based approach - scratching strings, making fitful, heavy chunks, howls and scrapings of noise and texture.'

Due to competing solo commitments for all 3 members the tracks disappeared into hard drive exile for a couple of years. Julie continues: 'Last year we revisited the mixes and Stephen added his trademark mysterious and menacing vocals. Now we find ourselves with a finished piece of work. I thought of the name Clinker as I love its meaning: "stony residue from burnt coal". This seemed liked an apt description of both industrial and creative processes, and a nice nod to the industrial North of England.'

Stand-out tracks include Camouflage and Condition Collapsing. 'I'd forgotten how liberating it is to play bass guitar on something,' enthuses Mal. 'It compliments Julie's beautifully angular guitar, and Benge and me ripping up live percussion onto the sound of machines... As a collection of tracks these benefited from a lengthy gestation, as they follow no particular trend and were allowed to twist and turn to develop a life of their own. After successive cycles we suddenly drew it all together so the tracks have a sense of completion and identity.'

'The real fun for me was during the mixing process when Mal and I looked at each other as the rawness of the tracks hit us on the big studio monitors,' adds Benge. 'We knew we had something untameable, and wanted to preserve that feeling of edgy rawness in the mixes.'

The cover image is by Julie, with overall design by Twilight. Vinyl edition includes digital copy (MP3).

The CD version features 4 extended remixes, 2 by Gabe Gurnsey of Factory Floor, and 2 by Pete Morgan (UXB).

#lonelady #julie campbell #cabaret voltaire #stephen mallinder #benge #uk #2021 #les disques du crepuscule

[baconpal]

pokemon rant time

this one’s about the 2 new things, and is at least slightly intended for people actually excited/interested in them, click keep reading or perish

Gonna try and keep stuff short cus there's a lot of topics this time and I've already gone off about how pokemon Isn't meant for me or meant to be a good video game anymore, but gamefreak is right back on their bullshit, so I feel I need to at least point it out.

I'd like to preface all this with, if you are a fan of pokemon still, please realize you can ask for more out of this series. Expect perfection, even if you don't think you'll get it anytime soon. Pokemon won't go anywhere, the old games won't go anywhere, and gaming is a hobby, not a necessity; don't accept low quality products from a company just because you feel like you're supposed to.

With this next wave of pokemon games, gamefreak is clearly testing how little they can put in to a $60 game while still keeping the 2 major audiences they've cultivated. By responding to the most obvious and vocal complaints from the community, gamefreak is aiming to make games that seems like what most players want, without having to put in the work on quality products.

GEN 4 REMAKES Pokemon BS (I am not calling this shit BDSP) is intended for the audience that put up with let's go and RS remakes. The most vocal and obvious complaints for these games is their failure as definitive versions of the games they are remakes of, such as missing features/content, or drastically changed story/dialogue/style. In a way, the recent remakes are inferior versions of incredibly old games, which shows a lack of improvement in pokemon as a whole.

To address these issues, BS is very, very, VERY clearly aiming for a more 1-to-1 recreation of the DS games, but with fully 3d graphics. Clearly the map layout has been transferred exactly, and gen 4 already had mostly 3d environments to begin with, and everyone knows about the future-proof pokemon models at this point, so the amount of effort required to create something like this is absolutely minimal. Assuming dialogue, trainer teams, move lists, etc. are also lifted directly from DP, then this game could be developed in basically no time at all, leaving the team time to ensure the product is of decent quality and includes ALL of the content of the originals, if not more, like the earlier pokemon remakes did to ensure they were truly definitive versions of the games. That being said, it is unlikely the team behind BS has been making use of this saved time to improve the game.

One failing already clear is that the quality is not very good, at least graphical quality. The footage we have shows environments lacking in color compared to the original, with messy, unpleasant textures that contrast poorly with the simplistic environments. The characters especially do not work. As cute and fun the fanart of tiny dawn has been, BS dawn and all other characters look awful. They have gorilla arms that reach down to the floor and lifeless faces, as well as incredibly stiff/simplistic animations. As it stands, BS is a visually inferior game to DP, though most consumers will simply see it as 3D>2D without any understanding of what an artstyle is, so this might not be a problem for many, but that doesn't mean you should accept it.

What remains to be seen is what content will be added/missing from pokemon BS. It is very possible that massive parts of the game, such as the underground, variety of online modes, postgame areas, and content from platinum could be missing entirely. We also do not know if pokemon from after gen 4 will be worked into the region, or even supported. Gen 8 still currently does not support a large number of pokemon, and the remakes may continue this limited dex trend.

Even assuming the remake includes everything from the DS games and doesn't add anything that slows down the story or harms the experience, it will still only be an exercise in forced obsolescence. The main reason people can't really play DP still is that the online isn't supported anymore. If BS turns out to be exactly the same as DP, then you're buying the same game for at a higher price, only to play it until the online service goes away again, or the next game comes out, if both don't happen at the same time.

Don't let yourself buy a 13 year old game at twice the original price.

GEN 4 NOT-REMAKE KIND OF NEW THING On to legends now, gamefreak is targeting the people who put up with sun/moon and sword/shield. The obvious problem with those games to most people was simply a lack of change from the standard pokemon formula. Even when changing the gyms to trials or stadiums, most people still understand that the format and story structures are mostly unchanged. Of course, this problem has seemingly been addressed by changing the game structure a fair bit, but almost entirely by removal.

Trainer battles, and by extension, gyms and tournaments/elite 4 have been confirmed to be absent, meaning all battles are only vs single pokemon, in spite of the player likely having a team of 6 pokemon. Even if battle difficulty is increased to compensate (doubtful), this will still drastically increase the simplicity of combat and make it even less likely for the game to include any meaningful challenge. Exploring towns and meeting NPCs is also seemingly missing, as the game is confirmed to have only a single village, which frankly looks incredibly boring and we've yet to see a single NPC inhabiting the village.

Battles now use an ATB format instead of a turn-based format (for those of you who don't know what that means, it basically means nothing, it's still turn based, it just means the speed state determines who gets more turns instead of who goes first, that's it), but beyond that there seems to be no noteworthy changes, pokemon learn 4 moves with limited PP, type advantage will still definitely be the most important aspect to battle, and the player being able to walk around during battle provides no meaningful impact. While the little dash the pokemon do to approach each other is cool, it is already a sign that gamefreak will not be addressing the issue of lacking animations for pokemon battles, as they can't even be assed to animate and program pokemon walking around the environment during combat, and lucario doing 1 kick for a move described as a series of punches isn't a great sign either.

On the topic of lacking animations, the new "pet simulator feature" for legends seems to be an advancement on the ride system from sun/moon, which presumably people missed from sword/shield. Being able to ride on your pokemon to do stuff sounds cool, but in all likelihood, this system will be limited to only a select few pokemon who will each do a select few actions, and is not a reasonable replacement for all the other pet raising features that have been removed in the past. Similar to BS, the total number of pokemon included may also be limited arbitrarily, in spite of the fact that no new pokemon need to be added, as these games are not claiming to be a new generation.

The largest issues I personally have with this new game is the horrible technical quality and gameplay quality shown in the initial trailer. Unfortunately, these types of problems seem to be difficult to explain to the average consumer, even though the issues seem incredibly obvious and inexcusable to people like me.  Most people were able to understand the problem with the berry trees in gen 8, because it was easy to explain, "this tree doesn't look like the other trees, and it sticks out, isn't that weird?", and so gamefreak has eliminated any immediately obvious issues like that, sticking with a very consistent artstyle for legends, making it almost impossible to easily explain its faults to the average pokemon fan.

People have been really quick to compare legends to BoTW; the game that invented grass, trees, and mountains. In spite of these comparisons, nobody seems to point out that legends looks dramatically worse than that almost 5 year old game from the previous generation. Plants are stiff and lacking in energy, draw distances are poor, colors are drab, and textures are messy. Many parts of legends seems to ape BoTW on just the surface, essentially just following market trends. Even the controls seem to follow after modern 3rd person shooters/stealth games, including a seemingly pointless roll and a clunky looking ball lobbing arc that feels unfun before even getting to play it myself.

The largest issue, painfully obvious to some, and impossible to explain to others, is the framerate. The trailer clearly was ran on actual switch hardware, and not prerendered, which would be a good mark for gamefreak if it didn't result in a trailer that never once hit 30fps. Even with empty fields, with only 1 or 2 characters on screen, the game was incapable of meeting the target speed, and had to resort to optimizations like reducing the frame rate of pokemon only inches away from the player to stop-motion levels of choppy. If situations with almost nothing going on result in slow-down, how will the game perform during actual gameplay? Even though slow-down is something everyone can feel, many people aren't capable of identifying it.

The major things to wait and see for legends is if the removed aspects of the series are made up for by some additional systems or content, and definitely wait to see if the performance improves. As with BS, preordering a game like this only shows that gamefreak only has to market the game by saying it's different, not improved, like they've been doing for years now.

TL;DR FUCK GAMEFREAK One major thing of note is that gamefreak is releasing 2 games based on gen 4 at the nearly the same time, meaning they have no obligation to design new pokemon or even include pokemon not from sinnoh, and also that the sales of each game can be used as an indicator for which of their 2 audiences is more loyal to them. Both BS and Legends are in a position to be pushes aside if they fail, but if either succeeds, gamefreak can continue in the direction of the more successful game and reap the benefits, without any need to innovate, improve, or adapt to criticism.

The last thing I feel I have to remind people about is that gamefreak is a company; you don't need to be "grateful" to them. I've seen that word thrown around far too much by people who seem to buy pokemon games like its a tax, and not something they want to do. You don't have to suck up to a company that made games you liked as a kid if the games aren't what you want anymore. Pokemon is so wildly successful that it can't possible die, so don't buy the games out of pity, or out of some feeling of obligation. Buy the video games you want to play and nothing more.

Basically, if you are considering getting any of these new games, please wait until the games are out before purchasing them, and decide for yourself if they are worth your money, and more importantly, your time. Preordering these games only lets gamefreak know their audience will buy and put up with anything. They have no real competition at the moment, so the only thing the audience can do to encourage improvement is show some of restraint.

#juvenile rant #pokemon #if you read all that then good job cus jesus that got long #please just respect yourself #you deserve better games #you arent weird for wanting things to be good #anyway have a good night

[maxismatchccworld]

To keep it short. All wishes are under the cut. 

You have a wish? Read here how to get it added.

ryttu3k

Thank you for doing this! I would love to see solar glass - the glass roofs from basegame, modded to act like the solar roof tiles from Eco Lifestyle.

Anonymous 

I would love to see a mesh edit of the fireplace from EL, with the weird rocks replaced by the wood from the SE fireplaces! Bonus points if there's also a version without the weird box and shelf (so just the main fireplace body and chimney).

oi-matey

Hi there! First off, I love your blog and I think the Super Secret Simblr Wishlist is a really sweet idea! I’ve got a build mode submission for the wishlist that I’ve been looking for for a long time; I’d really love a wig stand with some hairstyles that can go on top if possible. I’ve seen it done by alpha creators but the only MM one I found, the download link no longer works and it broke my heart

fleurlibelle

Fantastic idea. Let's give it a shot! I would love to see if a creator could and would be able to create a maxis-match classic Ballet Workout Set. Including two simple Tutu's one classic short the other one long. A classic leotard, wrap top, wrap skirt, ankle leg warmers as well as a pair of thigh high ones. All in classic ballet colors black, white and pink. ;) Nothing fancy! If the creator wants some examples what I mean I could provide pics. But that would be so dope! ❤️

Anonymous 

#SSSWish I'm half Filipino, but I hardly see any Filipino content in the Sims Community. I would love to own a Maxis Match Barong or Maria Clara dress for formal events in the game. I think it would be a great way to add more representation in the game, especially when I know there are a handful of PilAms and Pinoy players. Thanks for hearing me out, and thanks for all the work you do to make this games playable. I really enjoy all your hard work!

helmud

i love this idea! i’ve been wishing for a long, straight hair for male sims - like a conversion of CfHair LongStraight. thanks for reading n__n

Anonymous

#SSSWishlist hello! I would love if cc creators can consider making more patterns for Kimono/Yukata (traditional Japanese clothing). I find the in-game versions kinda bland, and there are not many floral Kimonos even though its commonly seen in Japanese festivals. Would appreciate if there's Japanese hairstyle cc with big flowerly accessory to pair with the Kimono too! Same for the male Yukatas, just not floral print maybe. If it's not too much, children's version is also appreciated!

Anonymous 

#SSSWishlist Thank you so much for doing this! I've a small request for a mod that allows every destination (specifically the newer lots like Onsens and/or Rental lots) to be an option for dating location under "Ask XX on a Date"

Anonymous

For the SSS Wishlist, I would Love to see a set of three to four hairstyles, all with the same texture. Something like long hair down, a ponytail, and an updo, all with the same wavy or curly or straight texture, all with the same bangs or whatever. Just something that could be used to look like my sims change hairstyle now and them.

Anonymous 

I would love to see some moth cc? Like wings and antennae? any colors are fine but I just think it'd be really cool!

sortofasimblr

#SSSWish: deco fidget toys like cubes and tangles (at4s has a great fidget spinner but there are so many more types out there)

t-aeddie

Sorry I wasn’t to sure where to put the hashtag #SSSWish or where to submit the wish.

My wish is to have more swatches for the snowboard and skis. If there could be more LED designs, interesting designs and the swatches for kids for T-E boards. It would be great.

The other wish would be to have more Kimono designs in Maxis Match and/or recolors with more patterns. There are so many patterns that I have seen while looking at real life kimonos and there are so many patterns, styles and colors that are missing in the game.

autumnmoon-sims

#SSSWish Hi! And thank you for this great and sweet idea! I wish for a special piece of CC: a long wavy ginger hair based on LoL's Miss Fortune character. I have a pic to send to show exactly what i wish for... It's my dream hair for my sims! Thank you again for this idea. That's super kind ^^

Anonymous 

This seems like a fun idea! What I have been wanting for ages (like since TS2 era ages) is a hair style that completely covers one eye, like Violet at the start of The Incredibles. Most of the peekaboo bangs hairs I've seen are a little *too* stylish and I mostly just want one where someone is clearly trying to cover up half their face with it.

utanozomi

That sound like a great idea! It’d be great if someone was interested in a more fantasy/medieval recolor of joliebean’s after dark top. I really like it by most of the colors are very bright. #SSSWish

Anonymous

Hi! I never send asks so I hope this is the right way to do #SSSwishlist . I would be over the moon if someone could create the Zimmermann 'Carnaby Embroidered Bird Dress' in black. I've had my eye on it for such a long time but I'm too poor to commission it lol. Hope this is ok! :)

saphireeyes9875

Hello, not sure if I'm sending this the proper way, but I have a request for the SSSWish? So, there's still no ways of writing books off-grid that I know of, so I think a journal or typewriter or, I don't know, even a magical computer working on batteries would be great, I would just really love to write and publish books off-grid... Also, I think this is a very sweet idea, and thank you for this chance to make requests!

Anonymous 

I would love to see snowy escape kotatsu recolors ! #SSSWish

Anonymous 

I love this wishlist idea! I'd like to see the Miles Edgeworth suit by Lunar Eclipse on MTS for Sims 2 converted for Sims 4 very much.

unitedkingdomofsimsland

I would love to see more horse poses with tack. Severinka’s horses are beautiful but it drives me crazy, posing sims on horseback with the illusion of tack (bridles, saddles, etc) I would love to see some Severinka shaped tack be made. Poses would be a bonus!

lunarhobbits

SSSWishlist: cc hair inspired by marlo thomas' iconic hair from the 1966-71 tv show That Girl. or really any cc of her wardrobe on that show

vexingcosmos 

 #SSSWish I would love the more door from GF without the windows and maybe in a few more neutral swatches.

simsmores

The Simblr Wishlist is such a sweet idea, thank you for this! I would love to see a cc hair based on Osamu Dazai’s from Bungou Stray Dogs! It’s such a pretty hair and I think it would translate perfectly into The Sims ♡

Anonymous

#SSSWish This is an amazing idea! I'd love to see some powerpuff cc, like HIM's dress or Mojo's hat. There are lots of dresses and hairs for the girls (and the rowdyruffs) but I can't find anything that really fits with the other characters. Thank you!!

Anonymous

For the wishlist, any sort of Sailor Scouts themed stuff! Not like stuff from the show but stuff that a fan would have!

Anonymous

#SSSWish - I would love to see a someone put together clothing that accurately reflects the Starfleet uniforms seen on the television shows, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (collar version), "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (colored shoulders) or the later movie uniforms (grey shoulders w/ colored undershirt). I've seen people asking for these uniforms for quite some time now, and I think, if done well, they could be a popular download. A separate chest combadge accessory would be nice too.

Anonymous

#ssswish this is such an amazing and fun idea! I’d love to see some cut pixie hair cuts (especially with an undercut)!

zoragraves

Hey there, that #SSSWish thing is a super cool idea! I do have a wish too - I would love to see the EL utility jumpsuit converted for male framed sims. It can be unlocked by creating an override and unchecking the frame restrictions in S4S, but then the body changes to a female frame. So if anybody out there could do that properly, I'd be extremely grateful :3

Anonymous

#SSSWish i've been looking all over for a version of a torc to use in my historical plays-- it's an old celtic type of necklace, made of iron, sort of twisted into a collar around the neck... i've seen sims 3 versions of one floating around, so if someone would even be so kind as to convert one of those to the sims 4 i would be so happy!!!

Anonymous

#SSSWish I would love to see any kind of MM D&D adventurer type clothing. Literally anything like top, pants, accessories, shoes. There is so much of it in alpha but so rare in MM. <3

Anonymous

#SSSWish Thank you for this awesome idea that brings the community closer during these not so good times :) I wish someone could separate the skirt from the Snowy Escape school uniform and make it stand-alone !

Anonymous

#SSSWish id love to see some tanline cc?

Anonymous

Hello im a jennifer lopez fan, and i was wondering if someone could make cc clothes (like a dress, two piece suit or whatever) with her iconic jungle print pattern?? Like in green swatch and red swatch and maybe plain black / white?? Hope it's not too much to ask! #SSSwish

ashenspectre

Hi, for the SSSWishList I would love it if someone were to either convert or create a more dainty engagement ring type ring for the masculine frame, kind of like the rings glitterberrysims has made for feminine frames, like her pearl antique ring for example. I’ve always wanted more pretty and delicate rings for my male sims but i can never find any that truly work with the masculine frame without most of the ring being absorbed by their fingers lol

leshaybean

Super secret simblr wish! This is such a cool idea. I've been looking for Some haircuts with a mix of curly/wavy- epically mid-length ones. Also A decades challenge- appropriate camera. It feels a bit weird to have my sims whip out there cells to take a picture- I mean I did all this work to make you look like your in the 1910s and now THIS? Sorry for my rant lol. Thank you if anyone actually does any of these!

an0nymousghost

requesting some recolors of the toddler sp clothing! specifically that butterfly top hehe

Anonymous

I love the idea of the SSSWishlist! I can never find a counter/island set that matches the wood tones of ATS4's Irish Pub bar, I'd be so happy to have some.

assimblyrequired

I'd love to see more high-waisted, 1950's style clothes like circle skirts for SSSWish!

Anonymous

I hope someone can make a small mod that allows sims to browse for baby names on the computer. And maybe they could gain moodlets from it, like "I love these names" or "All these are terrible names for a baby"? #SSSwishlist

myheartsimblr

I’d really like to see some more MM earrings that feature multiple earrings. Maybe with some mix and match or something, I only know some basic like ringlets that have several so I’d really like some different kinds.

Anonymous

#ssswish I would love to see Fire Emblem: Three Houses inspired CC, primarily hairstyles! There are some really unique looks in that game and it would be great to have something a little different to give our Sims.

Anonymous

Hi! I'd love to add to the #SSSWish for any cc creator to maybe make a few more frames for our ingame photos, maybe some frames where we can put more than one photo like the Moschino frame, I love having a wall full of photos of my household but there aren't many options. Thanks for having this adorable idea!

Anonymous

For the #SSSWish I'd love to see some eyebrow piercings that look like small naturally growing horns/spikes, kind of like the spikes the Zygerrians in Star Wars have but over the eyebrow rather than on the chin/forehead. Been looking for CC like that and just haven't been able to find any yet, so would be really thankful if anyone could make it.

Anonymous

#SSSWish I'd love to see anything women's wrestling related. Hairs, poses, attires, a small wrestling lot or merchandise. It'd be fun to see what people come up with.

Anonymous

SSSWish - I would love to see some feminine cc made for the masculine frame! For example skirts, dresses, blouses and make up:)

Anonymous

HI! I'd love to see a heterochromia skin detail/tattoo of WildlyMiniatureSandwich's little sad eyes! They're my favorite! I'd do it myself but it comes out a mess. I'd prefer it in the acne skin detail or dimple skin detail if possible!

wishmaker

1. A new Maxis Match sofa or sectional set with a high backrest that people could actually lean on huhu. (or at least a recolor of RAVASHEEN’s Sofa, So Good Sectional.) 2. A Maxis Match version of Wondymoon’s Titanium tall wardrobe with mirrors attached to it. This is my dream wardrobe.

Anonymous

#SSSWish I really would like some more basic clothes for toddlers

Anonymous

#SSSWish I'd like more modest wedding dresses where the arms are covered.

ShyLilPlatypus

I’m not sure that I have done this right and I hope I have. If not, I am very sorry. First off, I love this blog and thank you for doing this. I would really like it if someone did a MM hair for Lisbeth Salander (the style from the Rooney Mara version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). I think that it would be a super cool piece of CC! Thank you so much again for doing this! Happy holidays!

classically-atomic

I am always looking for more kids/toddler CC. and would love if there was something similar to the 7785 pattern by simplicity! This pattern is from the 1970’s.

Here is a link to the pattern i have in mind!

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b4/77/65/b4776583d8f20a28fda5f508f924111f.jpg

mandarinklyftor

I wish for a lightning scar for my sim, like lightning hit on his neck and left a Lichtenberg figure

Anonymous

#SSSWish Hi! Something I would really like in my game is little mannequins with unfinished/already finished clothes on it (kind of like if your sim was working on making clothes for themselves and wanted to put it around their workshop)

Anonymous

#SSSWish I would love to see super glamorous toddler/child cc. Kind of like if they were a part of a super rich and famous family and had to go to a gala or something.

sparkleweedthesimblr

#SSSWish -- I would absolutely die for some D&D build/buy items. For example: dice clutter, DM screens, maybe even a map? I'm not sure how intensive that kind of thing would be. TIA!!

Anonymous

I would really like some more island living inspired cc! Or poses with two women, a toddler, and a baby (newborn, older, whatevs). Either or is absolutely okay!

silverliening

#SSSWishlist i know i already saw some people here ask for more yukata/kimono swatches here and i would like the say i really do think we need them (not just for the adults but the younger ages too, id like for the toddlers kimono not to have the hifu? vest as well but that sounds more complicated). 

BUT for my wish i would like to see some proper tabi socks in the game, for all ages + genders, and also for the geta sandals to be made available for children and toddlers. Im not sure how difficult that would be for the tabi + geta but i think they would be a good to have since the kids always get left behind.

simtrospective

AF to CF Conversion

Hello. Wishing for a conversion of this dress…

…from AF to CF. Here is the link to the original. There is already a Toddler version, too!

Thank you!

simtrospective

1950s Style Hair(s) For Men

Wishing for some 1950s style hair for male sims, not as exaggerated as typical sims style. I’ve included four examples. What you choose to make (if anything) is creator’s choice. Thank you!

Anonymous

I was wondering if anybody could make a structured corset top that has a v shaped lower torso, kinda like the ones you would see on tiktok? and if possible, maybe a tonya harding inspired ponytail with the puffy bangs? thank you!!!

Anonymous

I saw a request for feminine cc for masculine frames so I'm going to ask the opposite, so uhh feminine frame suits. I do not like seeing the crunchy chest from the base game suits. 😂

thormurielsev

I would love anything dark academia for the chillier months- maybe a turtleneck sweater with a pinafore or plaid dress on top, or a blazer/sweater combo, etc. Obviously these are just ideas, but I think it would be so nice to see more of this kind of thing in custom content!

Thanks for reading (’:

Yasmin

I’d like someone to make a few generic maxis match tattoos, any styles but that looks more comicish than the ones I see around, that even claim to be MM. EA gave us very few choices and they don’t exactly go together (like using the ones from IL with BG ones just don’t quite work). Thanks in advance if someone picks out. ♥

inkydoc

Hello there! this idea is amazing, thank you :3 my request for the #SSSWish would be some cute cat and/or mouse ears for human sims that are not on a hairband or part of a hair. I’m thinking a hat or an earring accessory thing that goes on top of the sim’s head anime catgirl style :D I hope it’s not too much to ask :)

Anonymous

Hey there! Could somebody make some more long male hairstyles, like 80s rocker type ones? One of my favorite sims is supposed to be like an 80s rocker dude, and I have a really hard time finding hair for him. Long mullets would be welcome, and long rocker hair would be welcome too. Thanks!

mrpinksalmon

#SSSWish A dress similar to this would be so beautiful and versatile :)  I also think it would go really well with the new snowy escape aesthetic. If its possible I think it would look best with the same back, but a plain/simple front instead of the collar and detail shown on the front in the image. Merry Christmas!!!

saphireeyes9875

So, there's still no ways of writing books off-grid that I know of, so I think a journal or typewriter or, I don't know, even a magical computer working on batteries would be great, I would just really love to write and publish books off-grid... Also, I think this is a very sweet idea, and thank you for this chance to make requests!

Anonymous

Hi SSSWishlist! Burberry CC! Skirts, scarves anything! For adults or kids or even pets, just all things Burberry!

jade-basicity

Maxis Match Sweater Vest Acc/Top Inspired by House of Sunny's Suburban Knit

or anything kind of close/inspired by House of Sunny (maybe the Hockney dress/landscape knit?) bc I cannot afford it on my own, so putting it on my sims would be a sense of wish fulfilment. However, just in general, a maxis match accessory sweater vest

Anonymous

Hello :) I hope a CC creator can make it happen. I would love to see some maxis match eyelashes that are laptop friendly. I know pikypikachu already has created it but the final product it's not my cup of tea. I just want more designs if possible.

deskhole

Hi! Thanks for hosting the SSSWishlist! My wish is a little vague, but I'd really like to see some feminine clothing tailored specifically to the male frame. I know there aren't hard limits on what sims can wear most of the time, but I just wanna see some catering to gnc/trans sims! 🧡

Anonymous

 I'd love to see more decorative kawaii plushies to put around my sim's room! The only ones I can ever find are for toddlers so I'd love to see some non-function ones that just look cute!

Peachy

My wish would be for a recolor of https://www.patreon.com/posts/marcia-by-40546842 this hair in a peachy pink color for my sim self! Thanks so much!

luckiselki

More dance mods that aren't just poses. :D

ultranightmarecake

I’d really like some ballet outfits for children through ya. A leotard with a simple wrap chiffon skirt in various colorways would be amazing!

calenmirielsiannodel

I’d really really love a set of witcher school medallions - the versions from the games, not the series.

simtrospective

US-Style Military Uniforms

HI. Hoping for the US military dress uniforms incl. hats, maybe based around the StrangerVille dress uniforms. Since it’s MM anyway, I’m not looking for anything elaborate or “patriotic” just something to evoke the Navy and Marines, esp., primarily for storytelling purposes. If anyone has concerns this would not be used to depict or celebrate war nor as a political statement, etc.

Anonymous

My Super Secret Wish is a mod, or even a tweak of an existing mod, that stops toddlers from shying away from hugs they ask for during the “Check Toddler” interaction. It is *so* irritating to see a toddler respond to a❓with a ❤️ and open arms then step back, often with a 💔, and push the adult away. I’ve tried to stop it with MCCC but no luck.

Anonymous

One of my favorite parts of the game is creating a restaurant or a vet clinic, but the employees are impossible to keep satisfied and they all eventually quit. It would be nice if there was a way to keep them permanently satisfied, or at least make it easier. There is a mod for this but it is extremely outdated and doesn't work anymore. If anyone could update it or make a new one that would be great! 😁

onlythewatcher

I would LOVE for someone to edit the Get Famous button down female 3 quarter sleeve shirt with headphones around the neck and remove the headphones and ID badge. I don’t make CC so maybe this is too big an ask?

therudemustbeeaten

Edits of the eco lifestyle windows without those chunks of metal. i know it’s been done, but the version that i’ve saw online has a weird shadow. :(

Anonymous

Hey, it's about the #SSSWishlist , i don't know if it's possible but a mod that makes cats and dogs stop meowing and barking would be nice beceause i like using the kalino animals for exemple but the barking and meowing ruin the immersion. Thank you in advance if someone is doing it ^^

clairetoile

Hello, thanks you for this good idea.

I would like a mod that allows to rent a house instead of buying it.

It will be great if is not just for vacation or students in University.

Thanks

Anonymous

#SSS Wish: I don't think I've seen much hanfu sims4 cc so it would be cool if someone can make some! ziseviolet is a tumblr with a lot of hanfu designs and could serve as a great resource.

redruby0321

Hi there! Thanks for doing this, it’s a wonderful idea!! I was hoping someone could create an edit of the Snowy Escape female shirt with the turtle neck underneath and open/unbuttoned shirt, here is a link. If they could make it so that the turtle neck and shirt can be different colours, like having the turtle neck have an option under accessories to change colours that overrides the original turtleneck’s colour would be amazing! Maybe they could throw in more colours and designs, like 90’s or plaid, that would be perfect

Thank you so much!

anonymoussimblr

I would love to see more CAS stuff with simlish logos/writing! T-shirts (especially with the moschino tee mesh), sweaters, sweatpants, accessories… anything you’d like as long as you keep it simlish. Maybe even make more Harnocks stuff with the Henry Puffer logos that MLys released?

Anonymous

For the SSWishlist, could I request some more clean and chic looking booths? I absolutely adore putting in booths as many places as possible in my builds, but I don't come across much CC using it. Some bench like booths for lil cafes would be ideal <3

Anonymous

#SSSWish I know it's very specific for a wish, but I hope someone can manage to create a long silk nightgown or wrap dress, with an orange stylized koi fish pattern on a light green background. I can't find the tile (at storytiles) I've seen it on, but it was just so gorgeous.. I wish I had one irl.

Anonymous

#SSSWish I hope I'm not the only one, but I wish for some more clothes for my elder sims, cozy-looking grandma & grandpa clothes.

Anonymous

#SSSWish it's such a good idea, thank you! I really wish for a high waisted A-line skirt, with only une button placed on the side, with denim and coloured w polka dots swatches <3

Anonymous

#SSSWishlist I would love Padme's lake dress from Episode II of Star Wars, it's so flowy and beautiful and it would be so pretty to see in game!

Anonymous

how about more enby clothing, hairstyles??? we lacking

Anonymous

Dear #SSSWishlist, I think we need more hairstyles for alternative boys, specially more dyed short hairs, or at least masculine dyed hairstyles. I think our eboys, soft boys, scene boys and all the rest are lacking soooooo much... :(

mudkipsonice

#SSSWish- Rings that work for guys that also aren't super bulky. Most I'm finding are huge or don't work on guys at all/well. Thank you❤

k8ecatt

modthesims.inforecolors for plasticbox's functional tea pot

hi! I love this little tea pot, but I’d love to have it in a variety of more vibrant recolors, including pink, aqua and yellow <3 thank you!

Anonymous

#SSSWishlist I like to give my aliens sims that space suit (that came with gtw?) in all their outfits but I would like more variation. I haven't found any recolours or different style space suits that match the in game ones so I would really like if someone made some. Thank you!

Anonymous

#SSSWish Recolors of CrypticSim's Maddy Palette eyeshadow!

Anonymous

#SSSW: So you know how some creators of CC hairs include an accessory with multiple swatches to better match the outfits you put your Sims in? I'd love to have an overlay like that for EA hair accessories too. No particular hairs in mind, I'd be happy with anything that comes up. If any creator decides to do this-- thank you so much!!

Anonymous

#SSSWish i would love a version of the snowy escape masc frame snowboarders sweater (the first swatch is red white and black with some text on it) that works for femme frames - i am dying to put my femme frame sims in it but the distortion around the neck ruins it for me T.T thank youu!!

Anonymous

#SSSWish - My wish is for any kind of run-down, beat-up, grungy, punky, build/buy items. Wallpapers/floors, items, anything! Everything I find is alpha, and having it in MM would be *chef's kiss*. Thank you in advance, so so so so much!

oswanily

Hi ! There is quite a few things I’d like, but I narrowed it down to three “small” things:

- An accessory top with a high neckline and no sleeves - just to hide cleavage - maybe with some lace at the edge ? and several grey and pastel colors please.

- Some accessory prints for shirts, like those tukete has, maybe some aimed at kids and toddlers too ?

- Makeup for kids. Some people let their kids wear makeup in real life, but adult cc makeup don’t look right on kids, so if anyone is interested in trying… I’d like eye-shadow and lipstick, with some discreet options (but you can go all out too of course).

There you go, thanks everyone and happy holidays !!! 😊💕

Anonymous

#SSSWish (I think this is where I request things??) A high waisted conversion of those base game rose jeans. They’re super pretty, but I never use them bc of how low riding they are 😭

negasim

I would be eternally grateful if a posemaker could make a CAS pose very similar to Shai Hulud’s ‘Profound Hatred of Man’ artwork (image link below), only with the hands further apart on the chest. I’ve had an edit in mind for ages but haven’t found a pose that looks even remotely similar to that. Thanks in advance if anyone decides to grant this wish! https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61HuYY-zJBL._SX342_QL70_ML2_.jpg

greatsuperwoman

Hello! I found your blog a while ago and fell head over heels in love with it, so let me say thank you for all this wonderful hard work you do! For my wish I would love anything maxis match Attack on Titan but if I could only have one thing it would be a maxis match version of Levi Ackerman's hair since we have nothing like that in game. Thanks in advance, and happy holidays!

Anonymous

I would love some recolours of the Nifty Knitting knittable Cable Knit Rug. It’s one of my favourites but the colour swatches in-game are limited. Thanks a whole bunch.

divinus-erus

I really want a pair of a-bit-over-the-ankle boots that are slightly open around the leg with a relatively thick, medium length heel. Much like the ones Korean female idols wear during their performances. I have searched everywhere but haven't found a pair that look right. Glittery ones would be perfect but I can easily recolor them myself. Thank you! 😊

nie-moj-cyrk-nie-moje-malpy

My #SSSWish would be a wedding veil that is not in the hat accessory section! I’d love to be able to have my sims wear eg a flower crown and a veil at the same time; but with the beocreations veils (which are the best ones I’ve found) you can’t do that because they are part of the same category. Thank you!

Anonymous

Now that Snowy Escape is out, I'd love to see some Japanese street fashion, hair styles, and accessories! There is a fair amount of stuff out there, but it's almost all alpha, unfortunately #SSSWish

mortallythoughtfulballoongirl

Thanks for doing this, I really hope for more Lolita styles clothes / clockpunk oufits that are maxis matches and even more male fantasy outfits!

badlyplayedtrumpet

Love this blog and this idea! I'd like to submit a request for a set of cool-neutral eyeshadows, opaque, matte, covering the top lid. I wear this daily IRL and haven't quite found a dupe :)

Anonymous

#SSSWishlist - Oh hello! I hope I'm doing this right!! I would just be tickled pink if someone was able to make a MM picture of the Stanley Cup. I have a hard time finding any hockey CC and I would just be over the moon if someone was able to do this. Thank you! Best wishes! Happy holidays! <3

haylamonster

Hello! i’m not sure if its just my game bugging but the male child tiny living hair is broken and i don’t know where to start on fixing it. i tried to find a fix online but found nothing. in my game the hairline for that hair is so bad and its unfortunate cause it used to be my fav child hair. if someone that mods or makes cc could fix it or make a default replacement, i would forever be grateful.

Anonymous 

This is such a nice idea, thanks for thinking of it! I really love the toddler bed that came with Eco Living and would love it if it were made into a single bed for children, preferably separated. Thank you!

usemagnetsgetlizards

Well then, may i bring in a #SSSWish of a very odd hairstyle... A high, side ponytail, with messy bangs if possible? Just one of those weird things i can do in real life, but seems near impossible ingame! Thanks to anyone who even considers making it, because i feel it's kind of an absurd idea in the first place.

TDae

I would love to see some creative and cool alien CC, specially genetics CC. <3 Thanks for doing this.

Anonymous

Hey!!! I have a #SSSWISH!!!! so is it possible for anyone to make more floor futons for sleeping? especially for toddlers? they really should have come with snowy escape!

kaiwrysims

#SSSWish I love to take family photos of my sims to put up around the house but I hate that I have to add a random sim to my household to take the picture. My wish is for a mod that allows you to select a sim that's in a pose and make them take a picture without having to come out of their pose and go to the camera. I would be forever grateful for whoever manages to pull this off!

Anonymous

#SSSWish thank you for doing this! I'd love to see some recolours of the tiny living rug, w different patterns too

Anonymous

#SSSWish I really need some simmer make this true: "Feminine" clothes for males. Dresses, skirts, make ups... I dont really care. I just dont want to skip the "masculine" label in the CAS to put them some cool clothes that doesnt fit good enough. Also, the clothes that are done for women, to do swatches for all genders. That would be amazing, thanks for this.

Anonymous

#SSSWish. First of all, thanks for all you work, this idea is brilliant. Second thing, I've been searching for Suits inspired in Harry Styles x Gucci like fancies with flower and all, and most important, FOR WOMEN. I will be really pleased if this idea comes to reality. Thanks!

Anonymous

Hello, I'm from Spain and I think we have a super rich culture so, maybe a Spanish simmer (or worlwide) would be please to do some Flamenca dresses, os something related tu Andalusian Aesthetic. Thank u! I love ur content #SSSWish.

catu11us

Hi, first of all I love this idea and your blog! 💕 my request is an override for one (or more) of the super ugly City Living blouses - I haven’t seen one and they’re just the worst haha.

Anonymous

Could someone make a mod that gives all base game and DLC showers the option to chose "sing in the shower" like the City Living shower has already? Thanks so much!! #SSSWish

Anonymous

i do the wishlist thing here, right? i guess the thing i'd want the most in the game is ferrets, but that's probably very unlikely haha. the next thing would probably be more trait slots. there are mods that let you add traits in-game, but i'd like to just have that option in CAS, yknow? anyway, cheers, have a good one #SSSWish

strawberries-n-sims

Hi!! this is a long shot but i was hoping someone could make the bb missed opportunity #39? It’s a little stuffed puppy with a sweater and I’m distraught it wasn’t included in nifty knitting. Thank you!! <3

thesimmingowl

Hi!

I have a wish which is very specific, but I’d be so happy to see it done. I would really love to see Ransom’s coat with a scarf from Knives Out recreated in sims (it’s this one, I’m not sure on how to add the picture here: https://www.pinterest.ru/pin/76350156171255013/). I really hope someone will like this idea. And thanks for creating such an amazing event!!!

Anonymous

#SSSWish I'd love to have pandasamacc's rocking horse retextured (and recolored if possible) so they'd look more maxis match!

Anonymous

#SSSWish I's like to see a wall art that is just a handle bar on an angle so you could out it in stairway walls. Metal colors, black and white and light, medium and dark woods.

fiftymilehighclub

What I would really like is just something cute for boys! Toddler or child is fine, but little boys get so little love in the community – it can be a hairstyle, an outfit, some bedding recolors with trucks and animals and such, even just a set of a few ‘boys getting into trouble’ poses. The sky is the limit!

Anonymous

Hello! This #SSSWish is such a fun idea~ Personally, I'd love if someone updated the Plantsims mods that have broken over the numerous updates. Like, G1G2's Revamped Plantsims, Triplis' Plantsim Interactions, and Simonch8's No Cooldown & Trait mods. I've always loved Plantsims since Sims 2 & 3 days, but my knowledge of modding (and especially updating mods) is near nonexistent, so I can't do this myself. It would be awesome if someone could do it so the community could enjoy Plantsims again~!

Anonymous

#ssswish i use both alpha and maxis match but im lacking on maxis match clothes that are really my style, is it possible for anyone to make like some really trendy tik tok clothes????

maybetaryn

#SSSWish I'd love to see a subtle body blush in the skin details section that also tints lips slightly! 🥰 I feel like body blushes really makes the sims look more alive but they're so difficult to find in maxis match!

featheredphantom

#SSSWish My wish is deco objects, anything from paintings to plushies, of Kirby the Nintendo character. I’m trying to make a Sim home for me and my sisters, one of whom adores Kirby, but I can find almost nothing Kirby-related. Other characters from the franchise such as Waddle Dee would be great too.

Danielle 

Anything The Outer Worlds related would be cool! The characters outfits, hair, traits, furniture, really just anything lol

Anonymous

I wish for weerbesu to add an option to UI Cheats mod to right click on a collection in the collectables tab to complete it. #SSSWish

Anonymous

#ssswish more like victorian cc for the decades challenge for categories that are neglected like kid, toddlers, swimwear, cold weather, etc.

berthagh

#ssswish i would really love if someone could convert the snowy escape kids outfit with the blouse and pants to adult.

ladyfausta

I would serious love if someone could make a flipped version of the Luxury Party Rectangles Bracelet for the right wrist! (It's the one that looks like staggered bars wrapped around the wrist and reminds me of a gauntlet.) #SSSWish.

Anonymous

#ssswish  i have 2 wishes if that is ok. first, i was hoping someone could make some nature prints like the framed botanical prints from cottage garden stuff, but with butterflies? or fruit/veg, birds, other bugs, anything really. my second wish is for someone to make a windsor style rocking chair out of the cats and dogs bench, if that is possible. i know that brazenlotus made an armchair from the bench if that helps?

fcc56

I’d like to se a no-jealousy lot trait. A no-jealousy club perk would be nice too.

Thanks!

6666sims

i’d love to see some demonia trinity’s or thigh high chunky platforms! 

Anon 

#SSSWISH HAIR for MALE

How about an Elvis pompadour style or similar male hair that are short on top but longer in the back (not slickback long like Get Famous, just not tapered or shaved)?? :)

Alessia

SSSWish

Hello! Thanks for this beautiful and sweet initiative! I have 2 requests: 1- Shop/selling/store cc that is a real maxis match. I’d like store furniture, packaging and proper showcases for selling goods, or clothes, or food that really match maxis content (think about a herbalist store, tech store or a country fashion store)

2- Start thinking about translate mods: I am an italian simmer and i really love how maxis turned the game in my language…it’s sooo funny!! they did such a great work and I really would like to see some awesome mods in other languages. I offer my help with italian translation to everyone!!

willoweesim

#SSSWish I will love a messy up bun without bangs ! ❤️ and a full body kawaii tattoos in colors, balck and with too 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Thanks!! Hope someone will be interested!!

Anonymous

#SSSWish I am a major occult fan and would absolutely die for new functional cc wands for my RoM Witches! I have heard they are hard to make but I figured I would see if anyone was willing to try.

Anonymous

I would love some cc for Journey to Batuu. I know most people hate the pack, but I'm a Star Wars fan so I love it. I would love some recolours of the clothes or some new Star Wars themed clothes that could be worn in Batuu. Thank you :)

Anonymous

Hello! It would be amazing if someone can update GrayCurse's Sims RANDOM TRAIT & ASPIRATION MOD or make something similar. #SSSWish

kissalopa

Hi! This is probably not a small ask, but can someone please update teanmoon's Darker Loading Screen Mod V2 wich includes darker launcher, loading screen and world selection screen. #SSSWish

Anonymous

#SSSWish Hello! I would really love it if a talented someone was able to make a Twilight werewolf shoulder tattoo ^^ Thank you!

Anonymous

I really love the new kotatsu table, and while not surprised, I was disappointed to find out that toddlers couldn't use it. It got me thinking, what if someone could make a floor cushion that functioned as a high chair? #SSSWish

Emily 

Matching unisex high school sports (jersey/shorts) uniforms for teens. Can maybe use red & white spa day shirt as base for shirt?

katanubis

#ssswish This is such a lovely idea! There are so many fun wishes! What I’d like to have (and I think would also be useful for other Simmers) is a wedding themed recolor of the “large pile of presents.” I usually put one of those piles in my wedding venue so that the bride and groom can “open presents” together. But the colors that are on the original are not what you usually see on presents at weddings. (I usually opt for the one that is mostly purple, since purple and lavender are my favorite colors.) What I’d like to have are recolors in white, white/gold, and white/silver. Maybe some white/pastels (especially lavender, pink and blue. The white/pastel recolors would also be nice for having a party that you call a “baby shower” especially if yellow and light green were also available. That kind of party isn’t in the game, but it should be!)

Anonymous

#SSSWish... Floor tiles that match the sidewalks!

lisa-sims4-simblr

#ssswish I love this idea and I appreciate you coordinating it! I would like to submit a wish please. I would like to ask if someone can convert the geta sandals from Snowy Escape to toddler and children please. Thank you to those who attempt it!

Anonymous

i LOVE THE IDEA OF A HOLIDAYS THEMED WISHLIST. I think it be nice to have a kids/nursery cc pack, with a toddler bed wivh look like a crib.

Anonymous

I would ❤️ love ❤️ a messy bun/pony tail with roots/compatible with a roots accessory; I’m obsessed with grown out hair 🙈

Anonymous

#SSSWish Hi! this is a great idea and i'd love to make a wish - i've been looking for a preset of full lips for male sims, specifically for Black male sims, that dont have that little bow in the middle of the top lip, if that makes sense! i've seen many of that sort for women, or for more 'white' looking sims, but never quite for black men! thank you and happy holidays!

Anonymous

#SSSWish I would really like it if someone could convert the floor-length dressing gown from Vintage Glamour for masculine frames!

in-wonderment-of-winter

Hi, hope I’m doing this right! I was hoping for something Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps themed, something to get over how the games completely broke my heart. Maybe some plushies of some of the game’s characters I can put into rooms? I’d be fine with whatever, this is just a really cool thing you’re doing! <3

Anonymous

could someone make a short wall height version of the curtains from cats and dogs please?

Anonymous

I'd love to see anything based on Native American culture(s). Representation would be nice 💖 Thank you!

Anonymous

For the #SSSWishlist, I really just want to see someone recreate Geordi La Forge’s VISOR from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I think it’d look great and we can never have enough futuristic (and nerdy) cc!

Anonymous

I don’t see the #SSSwish I submitted on your public list (I forgot to use the hashtag before) so I’m submitting it again. I would love to see a mod, or tweak of an existing mod, that stops toddlers from pulling away from a hug after they asked for one in response to a Check Toddler. The toddler will hold up its arms with a ❤️ in the speech bubble then step back and refuse the hug, and the relationship takes a hit. I tried MCCC’s tuner to stop it but it didn’t work.

aestian

i would love some…chinese cc haha! With snowy escape there’s more build items that can be used, I’ve noticed there tends to be a lot of Japanese inspired cc even before that pack, but not a lot of things from other parts of Asia, especially ancient cultures or cultural items like instruments (decor), clothing, furniture (lohan beds), etc. I’ve gone looking but most of what I’ve found is locked behind chinese-only forums and is usually alpha…I just think it would be cool to see some mm stuff from other places esp as fandoms get more globalized

Anonymous

#SSSWish oh, please, i really want to see the "EA-faces replacement" that random townies get.. i'm from the sims 2 community and it's very strange to me that you put up with THESE faces.. ;; i want them (faces) to be more.."beautiful"?.. so yeah, it's my wish. i hope it's ok?

thereddreadedbaroness

hi! #SSSWISH for a Carmen Sandiego (the 2019 netflix version) triangle choker? would love to see it in form!

arsenicandtealeaves

#SSSWish I would love a down hairstyle using the same textures as either the rainbow ponytail from Get Famous or the rainbow top knot from Snowy Escape.

unasyns

I just want a maxis match ragnarok loki’s hair

hellohellohello124

 #SSSWish

Just the Snowy escape bangs as accessories.

currentlyquang

For #SSSwishlist, I would love to see someone recreating the Ikea’s Odger Chair in Maxis Match style, as it is one of my favorite chairs and it’s a shame that it’s not available in virtual form yet!

fiavenice

#SSSWish 🤗Thank you for implementing this idea, I'd been hoping that someone would do something like this for a long time. I wonder, would anyone like to try their hand at making a maxis match feather boa or a fur wrap around? They would be perfect for classy elderly (or sims in general).

macthekat82

I would love to see a conversion of the "Rustic stool" from Jungle Adventure from arm chair to dining chair.

I have a historical save, where I would love to use this.

Anonymous

#SSSwish I don't know if you're still taking these, but I really want a neck tattoo of feathery wings wrapping around the neck like a choker. That sounds specific but any style is really okay. Neck tattoos are so difficult to make!

Anonymous

Hi all i have in my sims4 wish list it more traditions for holidays! specially if they’re could be some snowy escape holiday traditions like visit a shrine or go skiing or something. really any new gameplay mods i love thank you all for your beautiful hard work #SSSWish

Leeds

#SSSWishlist it would be really awesome to see a creator make a maxis match version of Urban Outfitters’ Joaquin sofa and armchair set, I think those look fantastic and will make a great addition to the game

Anonymous

#SSSWish: CC inspired in violet evergarden (anime) like Violet Evergarden or Luculia Marlborough hairstyles or even some of the clothes used on the anime. Merry Christmas!

cidira

#SSSWish I’d love to see a TS4 conversion of an old fave or two from TS2 – the tennis dress that came with the Apartment Life EP and the women’s nerdy cute sweater vest over untucked blouse from FreeTime (just the top preferred over the full outfit with the skirt) are the things I’ve been missing most, but anyone who wants to convert clothes from either of those two EPs or H&M stuff will make me super excited, they all had a lot of nice things.

pxmens

This is an absolutely fantastic idea! I haven't been able to look around lately but I noticed that most rings/hand accessories aren't compatible with SkinDetail eyelashes. My wish is exactly hand accessories, specifically wedding rings, which don't conflict with SkinDetail eyelashes. It may be helpful to know that plumbobteasociety managed it in their RRS pack. Lastly, you guys rock!

Anonymous

#SSSWish If anyone is also interested, maxis match recolors of the folowing would be awesome!: Peace Maker's rockers with canvas seating like the Bamba rocker and Ddaeng Sims' Contemporary Pergola

jorwayblacknight

For the SSSW, as a disabled simmer, I would like to see either a trait if possible or even just some CAS or Build/Buy items that are for disabled sims so I can that aspect into my save.

Anonymous

#SSSWish: I think it would be amazing if someone converted some of the YA-elder clothes from the sims 3 store ragtime in the big easy set (especially the vieux carre and big band swing dresses). Thanks :)

Anonymous

#SSSWish I'd like to see a deco pair of crutches that lean against the wall, if someone wants to make them :)

caelestisims

#SSSWish, Hello thank you for doing this! I would love to see more school uniforms. Particularly K-drama style uniform tops that have variations, such as blazers and the types of ties ( e.g. ribbons, bows, regular ties, loose ties, no ties etc. ), cardigans, vests, half-zips, blouses, button downs and crewnecks ( just some examples ) for sims that like to show off their own style at school, despite the uniform.

Anonymous

#SSSWish I'd love to see some riding pants ( jodhpurs ) and competition blazers for my equestrian sims.

Anonymous

#SSSWish: hey ho! my wish isn't all too specific but it would be awesome to see more maxis match historic or traditional clothing from all over the world (although preferably asia - varrying from everywhere) as well as build objects. please, remember, asia does not only consist of the east. thank you for your time!

dollybonamy

Hiii thank you for doing this! Here are my two wishes:

1) This curly Rey hair from the lovely Shellanin on Twitter 

2) A maxismatch bow necklace where it’s like a choker with a big bow at the back of the neck….Think Marie’s bow from Aristocats, but for humans!

Anonymous

#SSSWish a lip overlay or face overlay with specular mapping?

Anonymous

I would love to see a lobster claws accessory for hands made from Larry the lobster mascot from the Discover University Pack. Similar to HIM from the Powerpuff Girls.#SSSWish

just-ennie

Hi, I know this may be a super longshot because the venn diagram for the average simmer and this particular thing is probably two circles, but… it would be kind of neat for someone to make some MMA-styled gloves, for example here:

https://www.combatsports.com/combat-sports-traditional-mma-fight-gloves-1.html

and here

https://www.combatsports.com/combat-sports-mma-amateur-competition-gloves-1.html

Anonymous

#SSSWish I'd really like a hair based on Ardyn Izunia from Final Fantasy ❤️

Anonymous

#SSSWish i would love to see the tray from tiny living separated :) also i just want to say thank you for coming up with this secret santa!

Anonymous

#SSSWish, I would like more Star Wars cc, especially if it’s for Padme, Anakin, or Obi-Wan!!

Anonymous

Hello! Thank you for doing this! Something I am wishing for this year is a mm edit of a hair with a different colored underlayer (kinda like simpliciaty-cc's salem hair). I would love to have something like that in the game! #SSSWish

beckyh2112

#SSSWish: Deco books with Simlish covers. Please and thank you if someone fulfills this. ^_^

pxmens

I have another #SSSWish (if you don't mind). I don't know if it already exists but a mod which adds more family relationship options to CAS or the Sim menu. Like grandparents, cousins, step- and half-siblings, step-parents, etc. It would be easier instead of having to create additional Sims just to create diverse relationships.

Anonymous

#SSSWish Hi this is such an amazing idea! I would love a skintone set in s4simomo's V2 hair palette.

bloodluvingirl

I would love to see some more truly alien clothing options for the aliens, the males especially. I sometimes like to dress mine up in complete different outfits for their alien and disguise forms. When I want to give there alien form a totally authentic feel, but a different outfit in every category, I have so much trouble dressing up the males. So some new alien options would be wonderful.

Anonymous

#SSSWish Ballerina outfits/clothes. SOOOOOO many ballerina poses but I can't find a lot of black swan type ballerina dresses (tutu dresses or skirts).

Anonymous

#SSSWish - Pet based holiday traditions would be wonderful! 'Take dog for walk', 'Adopt a pet', 'Brush your pet' for something like a 'national dog/cat day' :0c

Anonymous

I would love to have the "Easy Machine from Fred's PC Hut" computer from TS3 for Sims 4.

Anonymous

#SSSWish - hello! i would like to wish for a mod/fuctional lot trait which makes live in restaurants possible without the need of an additional lot. just everything packed into a single lot like littlemssam's live in business mod. that would be absolutely fantastic. best regards!

joltiklover

I wish for a formal dresses that looks good on plus size sims.

Anonymous

dear #ssswish i'm hoping for a family inspired poses. Maybe something like two parents, 1 or 2 children and a toddler. i'm unable to post links sadly, but if you look up @moonlitmjn on pinterest they've got a board called 'pose inspiration' that has a lot of inspiration for poses. happy holidays!

honeyedflapjacks

#SSSWish It would be amazing to see either teen/university age clutter items: open book stacks, piles of highlighters, simlish monster drinks, boxes of cheese-its that fell over cause you fell asleep at your desk…

dreamylunette

Hello, I’ve found so many talented builders in this community (sadly not including myself) and I’m really wishing for a 30x20 lot to go on the island in Windenburg that’s sorta a tiny house cottage (?)… one to two bedrooms would be awesome, I’m personally okay with both cc usage and cc free builds. Thank u so very much in advance (:

cloudifinds

#SSSWish i would love to see the little toy that’s on the eco lifestyle toddler beds as a stand-alone item :~) thank you for making this opportunity possible btw! happy holidays !!

addieboo98

Hi! Could someone please make more long messy male hairstyles, preferably curly or wavy? Think rocker/grunge styles. Its for my favorite sim and I would really appreciate it! Thank you in advance and I can’t wait to see what you come up with

Anonymous

Can somebody make some maxis match dreads for male sims? I see a lot of shaved sides for men or female dreads with clips and baby hairs, but I would love for some regular full head male dreads not too short and not to long!! #SSSWish

pyxie-peach

Ok so I hope this is the right place to ask my request on the wishlist? I read all the instructions and here but I couldn't find anything specific... I'm sorry if I'm too dumb... so what I want is a conversion of this from TS2 to TS4 modthesims. info/ download. php?t=324116 it is a window... thank you!

#SSSWishlist #s4cc

[another-dr-another]

insert those coins babey! no point in holding onto them if they aren't used !

You Now Own:

001 - Mineral Water (x2)

Drawn from the ocean depths and rigorously purified. Ideal for a modern on-the-go public unsatisfied with tap water.

002 - Sea Salt

A basic seasoning produced from the evaporation of seawater. It also sees use as a preservative.

003 - Ration

A set of canned and vacuum-sealed foodstuffs. The taste isn't bad, and a certain snake that wants to play hide-and-go-seek is just crazy abou- wait, what?

005 - Ramune

A sweet, lemon-flavored carbonated drink. A marble plugs the opening of the uniquely designed bottle. The bottle can also be reused if you bring it to the ramune store.

010 - Ship In a Bottle

A intricate creation, a model ship within a bottle. Made with time, love and care.

012 - Envy-Enducing Envy CD

A CD of songs by Japanese band Envy. Full of unreleased tracks/first recordings.

014 - Children's Book

A children's book about family and forgiveness! The plot is about a sister who can't get along with her younger brother, but they find common ground and bond over causing trouble for their parents.

016 - Sour Soda (x2)

No flavor is listed on the bottle other than sour, which may just be a flavor in and of itself. It's a near black shade of blue... I think.

017 - Gentleman's Guide

A book that's meant to help shape you into the perfect gentleman. However, it's rather demeaning towards the reader, which doesn't feel very gentleman-ly.

018 - Masculine Cologne

Very masculine, can only be used by masculine people. No weaklings allowed, or people with the common sense to smell it before purchasing, and realize it smells really bad.

019 - Fancy Sword

True to it’s name, it looks very fancy, and very intimidating. However, it's only for show, and rather blunt- perhaps inexpensive?

022 - ??? Alcohol

It's something alcoholic. This is a school, it should be confiscated, and you won't be receiving any more information.

024 - Hair Cutting Scissors

Snip snip snip, meant for hair-cutting at home, as these aren’t professional grade. Still though, try and make it even, okay?

025 - Purple Hair Dye

Pretty purple hair dye guaranteed to not come out of hair for weeks! More of a pinkish-purple than the box advertised, but still pretty.

028 - Constellation Skirt

With patterns matching actual real constellations. Despite matching the night sky, it almost seems sun-rise themed, with its pink background and pale gold stars.

030 - Bottled Tea

When heated up, it's meant to help soothe upset stomachs, and muscle aches. Popular among student athletes.

031 - Alarm Clock

It's a digital alarm clock. One of the few normal and functional things here, and it's the thing that screams at you to wake up every morning.

032 - Broken Stopwatch (x2)

It won't stop running, no pausing or restarting. You can however make it record different laps.

034 - Baseball Cap

Perfect for keeping the sun out of your face! This one is all black though, so it'll retain a lot of heat.

038 - Card Game (x3)

One easy to play, and popular among kids. The front side of the package shows a family of four playing.

039 - Reminder Booklet

A small pamphlet that gives reminders for daily things, such as eating, drinking, taking meds, etc. Also has room for you to add in unique personalized reminders.

041 - Tiovita

A Japanese energy drink sold at most convenience stores. Pretty inexpensive, and with a nice fruity flavor- but hey, only one per day!

044 - Lie Detector (x2)

Fun for the whole family! Though not incredibly accurate... wait, how do you know that?

045 - Evidence Encylopedia

A book focusing on evidence found in crime scenes. From most overlooked to most common, this book talks about it all.

049 - Track Award

A award from a middle school track and field award. The recipient of the trophy seems to have come in second in two events, and first in one.

050 - Plane Tickets (x2)

Anywhere, anytime, round trip tickets. Probably given as some sort of thank you for volunteering to get off of a accidentally over-booked flight.

051 - Therapy Advertisement (x2)

Some therapist endorsing themselves. Upon looking at the services they offer, I don't feel very inspired to go there.

056 - Soulmate Sweatshirt

A sweatshirt that supposedly brings the most comfort not when you wear it, but when holding someone wearing it. Currently smells strongly of... lavender?

057 - Scrap Metal x3

Seems to be broken bits and pieces of some sort of engine. Could be repurposed, or simply a cool trinket.

059 - Old Journal

It seems to be from the late 80s, and kept being written in up to the early 90s. There's a entry on the last page, synopsizing the birth of the owners son, and how proud the owner is of his now five year old.

060 - Paper Boat

A piece of paper that's been folded into a boat. Apparently you can fold and tear it as you tell a story to provide a visual aid for the story, but no one here knows how.

061 - Calendar

It's got pictures of internationally famous towns on it! This particular one has been written on with a note on almost every day.

064 - Face-paint Kit.

A professional face-painting kit. However, it’s missing it’s red, yellow, blue and white paint- those colors have been all used up.

065 - Life Quote Sign (x3)

A sign with some stereotypical life quote written on it in flowery lettering. Most likely to be seen hanging in a kitchen.

066 - Throwing Rings (x2)

Meant for fair games. If you have good enough aim, maybe you'll win a prize!

067 - Pleasant Savior

Seemingly a CD filled with various performances by the same person. I haven't played the CD, so I don't know what kind of performances he does though, and the name is off-putting.

069 - “Fresh” Bouquet (x3)

Somehow still smells sweet with flowers that look flawless. It's comprised of roses that have been dyed rainbow, all of them.

070 - Hair Ribbons (x3)

They come in a variety of colors, but the Monomono Machine only dispenses yellow. Guaranteed to make the wearer feel a certain sense of self-satisfaction.

071 - Girls Profile

A student profile from a all-girls academy. The paper is water-stained and some of the ink has run, so it's hard to make out what's on the paper.

073 - Baby Doll

It seems to be from around the 90s and... not quite well-loved, but well-played-with. Doesn't come with the original clothes... or hair.

075 - Dream Catcher

Made by a past SHSL. It's actually been pretty effective, and is part of the reason they got scouted.

080 - Retro Game

It's handheld, old, and extremely broken. The screen has been shattered so it displays wrong, all cracked and distorted.

081 - Blackout Curtains (x2)

Completely block out any and all light. Strong enough to plunge a room into darkness.

084 - Noise-cancelling Headphones

They completely block out all sound! Also come with the ability to adjust the size of the band, and will stay on your ears even if you pull the band down to your neck.

086 - Wall Decals

Stickers you can put on your wall. They do a decent job of covering up holes in said walls.

087 - Antique Stuffed Animal (x2)

It seems to be bunny themed, and dressed in clothes you'd see on babies in the 1930s. It's in pretty good shape, other than a few tears where the lace trim at the end has had it’s stitches removed.

088 - Embroidery Kit

Or rather, a needle and thread to be used for embroidery. There's only one needle, and one spool of thread, but hey, it’s something.

090 - Scented Markers (x2)

A full rainbow set, all with their own unique smell! Be careful though - it's hard to get these out of clothes.

092 - Fake Christmas Tree (x2)

Too plastic to be a real tree. It's also incredibly small, but real trees can be small too, so that doesn’t really mess with the realism.

093 - Hair Gel

Top of the line hair gel, and completely unopened! Helps you style your hair and keep it in place, but doesn’t give it the nicest texture.

095 - Instant Noodles

Just add water to get something hot, salty, and/or spicy! A nice meal if you're looking for something that's quick and easy, you can dress it up some too.

097 - Drink Mix

A powder used for ??? warm drink, made with milk, tastes like... something? You try it and tell me, but it smells good at the least.

099 - The DSM-I

Self-explanatory, it's the original version of the DSM, from 1952. Index cards have been slipped in-between most of the pages, talking about what happened with the information listed there.

100 - Collection Of Old Ads

Dating back to the 1920s. A magazine full of ads from a different time, it’s somewhat of a miracle the paper held up while the ideas in it didn’t.

101 - Wooden Ruler

It's a wooden ruler. Used for measuring things, nothing else- why do you ask?

102 - Building Blocks (x3)

Stacking and stacking, and sending it all crumbling down. And then you rinse and repeat.

104 - Cutesy Hair Clips

Snap clips in pastel colors and covered in designs. Oddly enough, there isn't any non-pastels, unless you count the few white clips.

106 - Newspaper Collage

Seems to be a collection of snippets from newspaper articles. There must be hundreds in here... it's a big collage.

107 - Cropped Sweatshirt

Cropped specifically due to a parent saying not to. The sweatshirt seems to be related to some organization, with the big fancy emblem on it.

109 - Pins And Patches

A mix-and-match bag full of enamel pins, buttons, and iron-on patches. Good luck finding something to do with them all.

110 - Origami Paper (x2)

Simple origami paper, in a variety of colors and patterns! Comes easy to tear out of a book, which includes instructions on basic origami types.

112 - Colorful Band-Aids.

They come in many colors, designs, even different sizes. Some seem to be made to cover up paper cuts, others meant to help skinned knees and scraped elbows.

Thank you for visiting the Monomono Machine!

~*~

Maeda, narrating - And I thought the coins were kinda heavy...

Maeda - What now?

[Free Time Event - Uehara]

{Head to Your Room}

#dra #au #fangan #fanganronpa #yuki maeda #chapter 2 #daily life

[woodelf68]

Mornings

A loosely connected series of scenes throughout Loki’s life, from infancy through a future diverging from The Dark World.  9118 words. 

(Note: Loki’s age in each scene is as follows, with the years being the Midgardian equivalents -- scene 1, less than a year old. Scene 2, 5 yrs. old. Scene 3, 10 -- picture kid Loki from the movie flashback. Scene 4, about 15. Scene 5, close to 20, canon Loki as seen in his cell in The Dark World. Scene 6, between 25 and 30, it’s reader’s choice as to how much time they wish to have passed between the last two scenes.) 

                                             ---------------

The querulous cry of a newly awakened baby rang out in the quiet of the room. From her position with her head comfortably pillowed on her husband’s chest, Frigga held her breath, hoping. Perhaps he -- The cry came again, more demanding. She huffed a resigned laugh and started to push herself up. “At least he waited until we were done.” Odin slid out from under her. “Stay; I’ll fetch him.” Pulling on the robe draped over the end of the bed, he padded across to the cradle on the opposite side of the room and smiled down at his seven month old son, who immediately reached for him. “Hello there,” said Odin, ridiculously pleased, as always, when Loki quieted as soon as Odin picked him up, laying his head against Odin’s shoulder and putting his fingers into his mouth to suck on them. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” He pressed a fond kiss to Loki’s silky black curls, cradling the boy against his chest as he automatically checked his diaper. “Yes, you are. You don’t keep fussing once you’ve got someone’s attention. Now Thor -- well, let’s just say that your brother was always a bit more fond of the sound of his own voice.” While he was more than happy to leave this particular task to Frigga or the servants during the day, Odin was not so incompetent that he could not make quick work of changing Loki into a dry diaper, as he did so now. That taken care of, he picked Loki back up and returned to the bed. “What do you say? Are you hungry? Do you want your amma?” He sat down on the side of the bed and passed Loki into Frigga’s waiting arms. “Hello, my sweet son,” Frigga cooed, bringing Loki under the fur with her and guiding him to her breast. That first day, when a hungry baby had been placed in her arms, there’d been no time to look for a wet nurse, and when Loki had taken the goat’s milk she’d sent for without any problems, she had been reluctant to seek out one, selfishly not wanting to hand him over to another woman every couple of hours. If he was to be her son, she wanted him to look to her for his needs, for comfort and nourishment both, and she knew well enough that there were herbs to bring in a woman’s milk, and had soon found a spell to hasten their effects. They had told the court that she had hidden her pregnancy with magic, lest word of her vulnerable state reach Laufey’s ears and make her more of a target for foul play with Odin and most of Asgard’s warriors away fighting in the war. It had been easy enough to add, to those in her retinue close enough to express concern, that the magic had delayed her milk coming in. She could still remember the fierce rush of satisfaction a few weeks later when she had been able to nurse Loki herself for the first time, her heart whispering “mine ”, that feeling of him becoming really and truly hers. Not born of her body, but nourished by it, and he had thrived and grown apace ever since. If there had been the inevitable whispers that Odin had brought home a war bastard, most died away quickly enough as all saw how she doted on Loki, and Odin had, fortunately, come home for a brief visit around the time that Loki would have been conceived. Loki turned into her now and she felt her milk let down as he began suckling hungrily, his eyes fixed steadily on hers. She relaxed into the comfort of the pillows and furs, running a gentle finger down his snub nose and smiling as his eyes crossed as he tried to focus on it. Odin lay back down beside her and gently took hold of one of Loki’s feet, smiling as the tiny toes curled in response to his stroking thumb and Loki’s eyes cut briefly to him before refocusing on her. “Who’s that?” she asked softly. “Is that your pabbi?” She glanced at Odin and Loki followed her gaze, his small hand starfishing against her. “Yes, it is! And do you know how you can tell, hm? Because you called and he came. There are not many who can command the king of Asgard like that, you know.” Odin chuckled and slid back under the fur, coaxing Frigga’s head onto his shoulder so he could wrap one arm around wife and son both and use the other to run his hand through the long, heavy waves of her hair, shining golden in the gentle early morning light that illuminated the room. “Very true. And two of the three people who can are in this room.” 

Frigga made a contented noise and relaxed even further, letting her eyes drift half shut in pleasure. The duties of the day would claim the king soon enough, but in that moment, he was simply her husband, and a father, and she cherished every second of such times. 

                                                 --------------- “We’re about to be invaded,” Odin murmured, hearing the patter of four small feet and the whisper of hushed voices outside their door. It was his favourite time of the day, that early morning hour when he lay relaxed and comfortable with Frigga and they talked about their plans for the upcoming day. 

“One of the perils of having children.” she said, smiling. 

“But perhaps also one of the pleasures?” he suggested, smiling back. “Admit it, you will be sad when they have grown too much to come tumbling in like overexcited puppies at the break of day on occasion.”

Frigga laughed. “You are quite right. I shall no doubt be proud of the fine young men they grow into, but I shall miss my little boys.” 

"Should I knock? Maybe they’re still sleeping.”

"Knock softly!”

A subdued knock sounded on their door, and Frigga called “Come in!”

Thor and Loki burst into the room, still in their sleep clothes. “Happy Name Day!” they chorused. Thor held up the jar he was carrying. “We got you some flowers.” 

“And we drew you some pictures,” Loki added, coming over to the bed with some papers clutched in his hand. 

“Oh, thank you, the flowers are lovely! Place them right there on that table, Thor, and come show me your drawings.” She took the papers from Loki and patted the mattress beside her.  Promptly Loki climbed onto the bed to snuggle into her side, a small, soft warm presence, while Thor scrambled up next to him and crawled over her body to plop himself down on her other side. Odin sat up and leaned over Thor to see the drawings as well. The top one was done in coloured chalk, perfect for capturing the texture of fur, and Frigga smiled as she recognised the black and orange patches on the rounded white shapes in the center, one large and three small. 

“It’s Runa and her kittens!” She’d taken both boys to visit the barn cat and her litter a few days ago, instructing them to sit still and quietly and let the kittens approach them if they wanted to. Thor, ever boisterous, had kept fidgeting and whispering, but Loki had sat perfectly still, enraptured by the three small shapes, and had been rewarded when one of the exploring kittens had wobbled over on unsteady legs and had determinedly pulled itself up onto Loki’s lap, where he’d gently stroked it until it had started purring remarkably loudly for a creature of its size.

“Yes!” He beamed proudly. “Do you like it?’“I do indeed, and I love the flowers you drew around the border; they’re very bright and cheerful.” She moved his picture underneath the other one and saw what Thor had drawn. “Oh, Thor, this is really very good.” She admired the dragon rendered in Thor’s careful pencil work. “I should have you design a tapestry for me.”

“Really?” Thor sounded delighted by the idea. 

“Why not? Where is this dragon flying to, for instance?”

“His cave, in a mountain,” said Thor. “And it’s filled with his treasure horde.”

“I hope he’s a peaceful dragon,” said Frigga. “I’d hate for anyone to want to hurt him.” 

Thor’s face fell at that, as if he’d already been dreaming about slaying the dragon and winning some glory for himself. “I suppose he could be, if you wanted.”

“I do,” said Frigga firmly. “And perhaps he could have a younger dragon brother to fly by his side?”

“Me and Loki!” Thor enthused. “We could be the dragons! And we live in the cave together and go out and have adventures.”

“That would make a very nice tapestry,” agreed Frigga. “You boys could have it for your room.”

“I’ll start sketching it later today,” Thor promised. 

“What about us?” Odin asked. “Can your mother and I live in your cave while you boys go out flying around on adventures?”

“Yes! I’ll draw you two lying at the entrance with just your snouts sticking out. You can be a gold dragon, Father, and you a blue one, Mother. What about you, Loki?”

“Green,” said Loki promptly. 

“Well, I shall look forward to this epic picture,” said Odin, ruffling Thor’s hair. “It’s a very good likeness of a dragon, Thor. And I like yours as well, Loki.” 

“How big should I make the drawing, Mother?”

“We’ll figure that out after breakfast. Speaking of which, why don’t you two go get dressed and ready for the day and we’ll do the same, and we’ll come collect you for breakfast when we’re ready.” She leaned first to the left and then the right, kissing the tops of her sons’ heads.  “Thank you for the presents; they’re beautiful.” 

“You’re welcome.” Loki knelt up on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing tightly. “Happy name day, Amma.” 

Frigga hugged him back, smoothing a hand over his tousled curls. “Thank you, my darling.” She released him and he slid off the bed, giving Thor room to climb over her and follow suit. He leaned over to give her his own hug once he was on his feet.

“Happy name day,” he echoed. “I’ll help Loki get ready.” 

“Thank you, my sweet.” She gave him a squeeze and let him go, watching as he took Loki by the hand and led his little brother from the room. She turned to Odin, beaming. “I think we have the best boys in the entire Nine Realms.”

The skin around Odin’s eye crinkled up. “I’ll remind you of that the next time Thor lets his temper get the better of him or Loki’s curiosity leads him into trouble.”

“I didn’t say they were perfect ,” Frigga said. “Perfect would be boring. And we both know who Thor got his temper from.” She looked at him pointedly. 

“I feel like I should be offended but I know you’re right,” Odin admitted. “But if he can learn to channel it, it’ll prove a great asset in battle one day. And at least he got your sweetness of heart to counter it.” Odin leaned over and kissed her.

“Flatterer,” she said fondly. “And what of Loki? What does he have of us?”

“He has your sweetness as well, and your cleverness, and your sensitivity to magic.” Odin looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure what he has of me. My eyes, perhaps,” he joked. “Or my eye; he only ever saw the one.”

“He has your watchfulness,” said Frigga, after a moment of thinking. “He knows how to sit and listen quietly, and remember what he hears. And how to choose his words with care.”

“If he picked that up from me, then I am well pleased,” approved Odin. “Let us hope that he grows up with a taste for politics; those traits will serve him well.” He rolled out of bed. “Come, we had best bestir ourselves before our hungry young dragonlings decide to go foraging for themselves and leave nothing but crumbs and wreckage in their wake.” 

Frigga laughed -- but she could picture the scenario all too well. She bestirred herself.                                                   ---------------

Loki woke with his heart pounding. Just a nightmare, he told himself, but telling himself that and truly believing it were two different things entirely. It would have been easier if he had been able to simply look to his side and see Thor asleep in his bed, but they had recently been given separate rooms, and he wasn’t sure, at the moment, that he liked it. He sat up, throwing back the covers and swinging his feet down onto the floor. He slipped from his bedroom and made his way across the common room that connected his and Thor’s chambers, the sky outside the windows lit with the brilliance of the stars, and quietly looked into Thor’s bedroom. Thor lay sprawled out on his bed, motionless, but Loki could hear his soft breathing from where he stood and was reassured. He retreated and made his way out into the hallway, and crossed over to his parents’ rooms, feeling the light tingle of the wards that, he knew would permit no one other than himself or his brother to enter once his parents had retired for the night. He passed light-footed through his mother’s weaving room and paused, hovering in the doorway of their bedroom, looking and listening. His parents lay back to back, his mother nearest to him, and after a minute he was sure of the slow rise and fall of the blanket covering her. He moved further into the room, just needing to be sure that his father was all right, too, before he could go back to bed. 

“Loki?”His mother’s voice was quiet, sleepy, but Loki nearly jumped out of his skin and couldn’t help letting out a squeak of alarm. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Are you all right?”

“Nightmare,” whispered Loki back. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“Want to come in?” Frigga held up the blankets invitingly, scooting back away from the edge of the bed to give Loki more room. She bumped back against Odin’s solid form and he grunted and woke. 

“Hmphm?” he murmured, still half asleep. 

“Scoot back.”

Odin obliged, but lifted his head, confused, when Frigga followed after him and spied a black head silhouetted against the dim light of the room. “Loki?”

“I’m sorry, I just had a nightmare and needed to make sure you were all right before I tried to go to sleep again,” Loki apologised again. “I’ll go now.”

“Are you sure?” Odin moved back further on the wide bed, putting space between him and Frigga, and wished all parenting decisions were as easy as knowing what to do when your child came to you upset in the middle of the night. “You could come in between us, safest place in the Nine Realms."

Frigga smiled and moved back towards the edge of the bed, creating a perfect Loki-sized space in between them and lifted the covers higher. “Come on, sweetheart.”

Loki hesitated a second, then his feet carried him forward and he scrambled over his mother’s body. Up close, his father looked strange with his eyepatch left off for the night, but he had seen the scarred socket before, and he only glanced at it for a moment before nestling down between his parents and feeling his father’s arm drape comfortingly over him.

“That’s it,” Odin pressed a kiss to Loki’s hair. “I’ve got you; you’re safe.” 

Frigga turned over and curled around Loki from the other side, letting the covers fall back down over them and reaching out to rub his shoulder. “Do you want to tell us about your dream?”

“I wasn’t in any danger ,” said Loki.  “I was just...alone, here in the palace. It was completely empty; I couldn’t find anyone. But then finally, I found you. Except you were lying like you were laid out for a funeral boat, and I knew you were dead.” He took a deep breath, filling his nostrils with the scent of her, and felt the lingering dread from the nightmare dissipate. “And then I woke up.” 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Frigga stroked his hair soothingly. “I’m sorry, what a terrible dream. But I promise you that I am very much here and alive and have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.”

Odin’s heart ached for his son. It was a common theme that ran through Loki’s nightmares, that of being alone and abandoned. Sometimes he was someplace cold, and crying for help that didn’t come, and Odin knew the source of that one. Sometimes Loki was surrounded by fire, and Asgard was burning around him, and that one worried him. This one...well, he knew how close Loki was to his mother; his mind probably couldn’t think of a worse scenario. “No more do I,” said Odin, hugging Loki just a little bit tighter. He thought of saying something serious, about how he still had a good many years left in him yet despite his age, but decided instead on levity. “You won’t get rid of us that easily.” He tickled Loki’s stomach. 

Loki giggled and grabbed at his father’s hand. “Good,” he said firmly. His father turned his hand, slotted his larger fingers through Loki’s own, and left his hand there, covering Loki’s reassuringly. Loki relaxed, feeling warm and safe and most definitely not alone. “You don’t think I’m a baby for not wanting to be alone after a nightmare?” he asked hesitantly, just to make sure. 

“Of course not, sweetheart,” Frigga reassured him. “I expect you’re still getting used to waking up alone in a room of your own, aren’t you?” She had often enough, through the years, looked in on the boys at night to find them snuggled up together in one bed to suspect that they had found comfort in each other after bad dreams. Certainly Loki hadn’t sought their bed in a while. 

“Yes, exactly,” said Loki, grateful that she understood. “I used to be able to wake up and see Thor sleeping in his bed and know that it had just been a dream and that everything was all right.”

“Your mother and I are lucky,” Odin pointed out. “If we have a bad dream, we have someone right here next to us to say that everything is all right and that it was only a dream.”

“I never thought of that,” said Loki thoughtfully. “Do you have bad dreams, Father?”

“I do, sometimes.”

“What about?”

“The usual, I think. Losing someone that I love, being lost. Finding myself in front of a crowd of people and realising that I don’t have any clothes on.” 

Loki’s eyes widened and he lifted his head, twisting around to look back at his father. “You have that one, too?”

Frigga laughed. “I think we all have, at one time or another. I used to have that one when I was younger, but no more. I seem to have grown out of it, thank the Norns.” Odin had handled that question well, she thought. Loki didn’t need to be burdened with the details of his father’s nightmares. She heard the first birds begin to call outside, but since the birds had gone to bed hours before she had, she felt justified in ignoring them. “Go back to sleep, little one,” she told Loki softly. “Morning will be here soon enough.” 

Loki closed his eyes obediently, and she began to sing softly, the words of the lullaby unforgotten through the years. Frigga watched him, his lashes lying dark against his cheeks, his breathing growing slow, and even, until she was sure he was asleep, and quietly finished the last verse. She glanced at Odin then, to see him watching her, the expression in his eye soft. “I half wish Thor were here as well,” she confessed in a whisper. “Perhaps he’ll come hunting down his brother in the morning. Then I could have all my boys snuggled in safe around me.” 

Odin looked amused. “Are you implying that I am one of your boys as well?”

“You are.” Frigga’s tone of voice dared him to say otherwise. “Mine to love, mine to care for.” 

“Good,” he said with satisfaction, sounding remarkably like Loki had but a short while earlier, and closed his eye, a contented smile on his face.  

Frigga watched her husband and son with a heart full of love. She should suggest that Odin spend some time with the boys tomorrow; both Loki and Thor were always hungry for more of their father's time and attention. And they were old enough now to learn more of the behind the scenes work of ruling the realm; perhaps if she framed it as an educational opportunity, Odin would agree it was worth carving out the time from his schedule. She found Odin's and Loki's joined hands under the covers, and laid her own atop them. falling asleep to dream of the day when her sons would stand side by side and lead Asgard into a bright and prosperous future.

                                                        ---------------

“Loki! Why are you still abed? Did you forget that we were going to go hunting this morning?” Thor came bursting into Loki’s bedroom with all of his usual exuberance, undeterred by the fact that his brother was still, obviously, asleep, or had been up until a moment ago.

Loki groaned and buried his head under his pillow. “Changed my mind. Tomorrow’s better. Go away. I’m sleeping.” 

Thor spied a familiar-looking book on Loki’s nightstand, the same one he’d been reading last night at supper. “Were you up all night reading?”

“What if I was? Some of us wish to improve our minds.” Thor was quiet for a moment, and Loki had the vain hope that Thor would go away and leave him in peace. Then he felt his covers yanked back, and squawked in protest. 

“And some of us wish to go hunting with our brother,” said Thor cheerfully. “Come on, the fresh air will wake you up.” He took hold of Loki’s legs.

“Thor, don’t you dare, I’m warning you --”

Thor pulled. 

There was a flash of green. It was followed by a startled croak.

Loki peered over the edge of his bed at the large green frog sitting on his floor. It looked back at him mournfully. “I warned you. Now hop along and stay out of trouble and I’ll change you back this afternoon. If you want to go hunting then, fine, if not, I promise to go to bed earlier tonight and we’ll go tomorrow morning.” 

The frog tried to walk, one webbed foot at a time, towards Loki’s bedroom door, before figuring out how to manage his long legs and gave a short hop, then a longer one, and presently disappeared from sight. He was going to be in so much trouble when he changed Thor back, Loki thought, but some things were worth it. He wondered if Thor would brave going to their mother, or if he would have the sense to simply wait the morning out in his rooms. The first option would restore him to his own form faster, if he made it into Frigga’s presence and could convince her of his identity, but it also risked him being seen by a member of the staff and deposited outside in a pond. Grinning at that mental image, he pulled his blankets back up and let his head sink back into his pillow. He reclosed his door with a wave of his hand and sank happily back into slumber.

                                                ---------------

Loki lay in bed and watched the dim lighting of the cell brighten. Morning, he assumed, though really he had no way of knowing, would never see the sky again. How early was it? he wondered. Was the sky still pink and gold from the sunrise, or had it already turned to blue? The constant white glare of the cell bothered him more each day, made him long for the shaded green places in his mother’s gardens (he could not think of her as anything else in his heart), or the dim recesses of the library, lit by the warm glow of lamps, or the muted light filtering in through the curtains in his rooms. At first it had been enough to have a place where he knew he was safe, where he could simply let down all his defenses and rest without fear or pain. He had slept for long stretches of time, those first weeks, while his body healed, waking only to eat ravenously of the food that was delivered to him. He heard the rattle of a meal tray being delivered now, the curt “Breakfast” spoken by the guard before they disappeared again. He rose and went to collect the tray. 

It had not escaped his notice that his meals weren’t standard prison fare, that there was usually at least one thing on his tray that was something that he particularly liked. There was always fresh fruit and juice for breakfast, and today, a veritable feast of a mushroom and cheese omelette and hot buttered toast and the spicy sausages his mother knew he liked, because of course it was her doing, he knew that much. There was even, astonishingly, a bottle of elven wine. the explanation for which was in the new book that had accompanied his breakfast tray. He opened it and read the inscription on the flyleaf: 

My dearest son,  

It seems cruel to wish you a happy name day, but I hope these small tokens of my affection will give you some pleasure on this day nevertheless. I tell myself it is better than last year, when I still thought you dead, and if you are kept apart from me, at least I know that you are alive and well. And I let myself hope that next year will be better yet, that something will have changed, for I refuse to believe otherwise. I will find a way to force it to change myself, if I have to. If you would only tell us what happened to you, give your father a reason to trust you again -- But this is not the time or the place to chide you for that, only know that when you are ready to talk I will be here to listen. And know that I will never stop loving you, nor celebrating the day you arrived in our lives, for you are one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given. As always, I remain

                                                            -- your loving Mother

He cried bitter tears then, tears of longing to feel her arms around him again, and tears of regret for his lost life. He wanted, desperately, to see the sky, to breathe fresh air, to walk without coming up against a wall after more than a few paces. Would it change anything if he told? He tried to remember why he hadn’t, that first day when he’d been brought back and paraded before Odin in chains. Spite? Anger? Shame? To show his parents how it felt to have a secret kept from them? Yes, all of those, he knew, but were they worth it? Did he want Thanos to come upon an Asgard unwarned, and unready? He thought of the palace littered with bodies, of the palace empty of life save for the slaughtered bodies of those who had had the chance to fight, and remembered, with a sudden chill, the nightmare that he had had more than once as a youth. He thought of his mother dead, and not knowing until one day a meal tray arrived with plain prison fare, no special treats. No more books. Of never seeing anyone again except the guard who delivered the meals, of never being able to have an actual conversation with anyone again. Alone, forgotten. Except no, Thanos would not forget him. Panic rose up and engulfed him, and he reached for the wine, uncorking it and taking a healthy swig. 

The wine helped a little, but he couldn’t truly relax until his mother’s projection appeared in the afternoon and the relief that swept through him almost made him giddy. He thanked her for the gifts, and was ashamed at how the basic courtesy made her face light up like the sun. 

“I only wish that I could do more.” Her hand rose, as if she would cradle his face. Loki fought the urge to turn into the touch, lest the contact shatter her illusion, and allowed himself to imagine he could feel the warmth of her hand upon his skin. “Tell me what it’s like outside today,” he said impulsively. “Is the sky blue?”

“It is, clear and blue with a few puffy white clouds floating around. It is just past midday, and the garden is full of the scent of the roses in bloom.”

She seemed to know what he craved, and painted a picture of the gardens with her words that invoked all his senses. And when he didn’t stop her, she continued on with all the everyday details of life in the palace lately, what she was doing to fill her time and then what was going on in the greater Realm, slowly expanding his world. She took it as a good sign, that he was finally expressing an interest in the outside world. 

Loki knew her time for him was up when she glanced behind her, as someone obviously came into the room where her body stood. 

“I must go now, but I’ll be back tomorrow,” she promised. “Imagine me giving you a kiss and a hug, and I swear that I shall one day do so in fact.”

“Mother,” Loki said quickly, before she could vanish, the careful “Allmother” that he sometimes used never having become easy or comfortable on his tongue. “Thank you for coming. And what you asked of me -- in the book -- I will consider it.” 

Her face lit up again. “I am glad to hear that. And I will never, ever stop coming to see you, not until the day that you are able to come and see me .” She held out her hands to him, letting him be the one to dispel her illusion in the little ritual they had developed, and reluctantly, he brought his hands down on hers, an almost physical pang running through him when there was no solidity of contact and she vanished in a shimmer of gold. 

“Husband,” Frigga said cooly, turning to face her visitor. “What brings you here at this time of day?” 

“Do I need an excuse to come see my beautiful wife?’ Odin asked, a challenging glint in his eye. 

“Well, if you have no matters to bring to my attention…”  She trailed off, then squared her shoulders and lifted her chin as she faced him. “I wish to see Loki.”

“Do you not already see him?” he countered. 

Frigga froze, had he seen or was he only guessing? His face was that inscrutable mask which served him so well as king but which she hated to see on her husband. 

Odin sighed. “I know you send your projections to him, you need not worry about that.”

Frigga relaxed. “Ah. I had wondered, but it seemed better not to bring it up if you were willing to overlook it,” she confessed.

“After that first time, when you didn’t press me further to allow you to visit him, I surmised that you had found your own way of seeing him. I know your abilities, and I know you would not let anything keep you from either one of your children if you thought they had need of you.” 

“I would not,” she agreed, steel in her voice. 

Odin dropped his head, half turning away from her. “I had no right to forbid you from seeing him in the first place. It was wrong, and it was cruel, and I am sorry for it. I wish that I had a better excuse, but in the moment, I was simply angry that he, too, had chosen to attack what he had sworn to defend. Jotunheim I could understand, to some extent, but Midgard?” He closed his eye briefly, feeling the weight of his years, and admitted the ugly truth about himself. “And I spoke what I knew would hurt him most.”

“Yet not sorry enough to take it back once you had spoken.” 

“It would have been seen as a sign of weakness.”

“It would have been seen as a sign of compassion!” Frigga snapped, then shook her head. Anger would not get her what she wanted, she knew that much. “So alike, the two of you are, always knowing the words that will wound deepest."

Odin fiddled with a paperweight sitting on a table, a simple, smooth stone with a design on it that had once been painstakingly painted by a young boy. “I remember asking once, what of me you saw in Loki. I had hoped for a better legacy than ‘cruel’ and ‘obstinate’.”

“It is not too late to fix things, Odin,” she urged. “A wise king knows when to admit he is wrong, and to correct his mistakes instead of letting them continue unchecked because he is not man enough to face up to them. When has Loki ever responded well to harshness? Perhaps he would not have stayed so recalcitrant in his refusal to speak of what befell him if you had showed some sign of kindness when he was returned to us. Who knows how long he spent in the Void, unable to think of anything but the fact that he no longer felt that he had a family? That his entire life was a lie? Small wonder he emerged mad, if that is all that happened, but I do not think it is. He did not just stumble onto an army of Chitauri and decide to invade Midgard because he wanted a throne. You did not see his face when I had Gungnir handed to him; he did not expect it, he did not want it.  He did not desire rule, only respect, to be seen as Thor’s equal, to make you proud. Would it have killed you to have welcomed him back as his father before you pronounced judgement as his king?” Frigga could not help her voice rising again in condemnation. 

“Invading another realm was not the way to gain that respect, nor trying to completely obliterate one!” Odin protested, turning back to her in anger, then his defiance dropped away. He did not want to turn this conversation into a fight anymore than Frigga did. “Never mind Jotunheim, not now. As I said, I understand something of what drove him to attack it, and though I do not condone such an extreme action, it was within his rights as ruling king at the time to retaliate for Laufey’s attack on Asgard. But it is what followed after that complicated matters. I could not simply banish him to another realm to learn a lesson as I did with Thor because I do not know what lesson he needs to learn, and I do not know if that realm would be safe, and most of all, I do not know whether Loki himself would be safe, or whether he might attempt to end his own life again.” Odin looked at her bleakly, the memory of Loki’s face as his son let go of Gungnir and let himself fall into the Void one that still haunted his nightmares. “What else could I have done, other than what I did?  And what would you have me do now?”

“It was not what you did but how you did it,” Frigga allowed, for Loki had been a threat that needed containing at the time, even she had to acknowledge that. “But as for now -- be his father! If you want to get him to trust you again, you have to show him that you deserve it. And you can start by letting me visit him, in person.”

“Why now?” he asked, stalling a bit but also curious. “Why have you waited this long to ask again?”

Frigga pursed her lips. “To be honest, until today, I have not been sure if he would welcome my actual presence,” she admitted. 

“And today?”

“It was a good day; he was quieter, more settled.”

The corner of Odin’s mouth turned up. “Perhaps we should have sent wine long before this.”

“Do you know everything?” she demanded in exasperation. 

“I wish I did. I would give much to know what happened to Loki in the year that he was gone. But do you not think I look in on my son every now and then? I know what today is as well as you do.”

“I don’t think it was just the wine. It had been opened when I arrived, yes, but not enough was gone to influence him in any way. I think he is just...coming back to himself.”

Odin thought of the way Loki had sat quietly and listened to his mother today, as he had watched from Hlidskjalf for a while before withdrawing his Sight and giving them their privacy, no longer the ranting, rage-filled man who had come back to them. It had been a slow change, but a steady one, and he thought longingly of the possibility of one day having his son back. Loki was not Hela, he reminded himself, despite their remarkable physical similarity. The Norns must have been laughing at him when they had sent him Loki’s way. A second chance, to raise a raven-haired child right. And he thought he had done so. Loki had not been molded for war, had not grown up without the softness of love. A succession of memories flashed through Odin’s mind. A baby, smiling and quieting as soon as he was picked up. A small body nestled against his. A boy trustingly slipping his hand into Odin’s. A young man walking with his mother’s hand tucked securely through his arm, love and pride in every line of his bearing. A son grown tall and strong, a son any man would be proud of. Had he told that to Loki often enough, or had he simply assumed that he knew, that that was what Odin had been saying whenever he laid an approving hand on Loki’s back or shoulder, whenever he trusted him with some matter of state, some diplomatic mission? Somewhere along the way they had lost that closeness which Loki and Frigga still had, and Odin had never regretted it more than when Loki had learned of a heritage which did not matter in the slightest to him, but had driven Loki to such despair that he had no longer seen a reason to go on living. 

“Odin?” Frigga’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

Odin cast back to the last thing she had said, and remembered, Loki coming back to himself. “I pray that it is so.” He paced across her room, thinking. He was going to agree to Frigga’s request, he knew, but he wondered if he could get something more out of it. Loki’s refusal to talk of what had happened to him during the year he was beyond all their sight irritated him in more ways than the simple defiance of it. Nothing about Midgard made sense; was that simply because Loki had not been thinking rationally at the time or was there a huge puzzle piece there that they were missing? His instincts said the latter, and he wished not for the first time that Thor had managed to bring home the weapon Loki had wielded along with his brother, wondered if there might not be a clue there. If the Bifrost had not been shattered, he would have gone and demanded it of the mortals himself, and not taken no for an answer. Or was he simply looking for a reason which would justify Loki’s actions, that he might give him a chance to redeem himself, as he had given Thor? He nearly growled in frustration as he came up once again against his complete lack of knowledge.  

“How much do you think he wishes for your company?” he asked. “Enough to finally tell us what happened to him in exchange for it?”

“I don’t know,” Frigga admitted. “But he did say he would consider talking about it when I mentioned it again today.” 

Odin brightened at that. "Considering" was not "agreeing to", but it was the first time that Loki had even given them that much. “Then perhaps we should wait until he comes to that decision. If we give him something that he wants before he does so, it might remove the impetus to give us what we want." 

“Odin,” Frigga pleaded, allowing all of her yearning to come through in her voice. “I have not been able to hold my son in over two years. Have not been able to offer even the comfort of a single touch.”

Odin hesitated, then gave in. “A week. We will give him a week, and if he does not say anything more about it, then I will go to him with my offer.” It was hardly any time at all, when Loki had held out this long, but he was tired of being at odds with his wife, and hoped this would help mend the rift between them. 

“And if he refuses it?”

Odin looked at her face, saw the fear that she would be further denied the chance to visit her son, and felt shame that he was the cause of it. If Loki scorned him as weak for this, then so be it. He would make this one thing right. “Then you may visit him anyway.” 

Frigga’s face lit with joy, and the next thing he knew she had her arms around him. He tried to get his arms up to embrace her back, for he had not been favoured with such attention for a long time, but she was already stepping back, her hands lingering on his shoulders for a moment while she beamed at him. 

“Thank you,” she said with heartfelt fervour. 

“Am I forgiven?” he asked hopefully. 

“Ask me again when I have held my son in my arms,” she said, but she was still smiling, and Odin’s heart felt lighter than it had for a long time.

As it turned out, they didn’t even have to wait a week.                                       ---

                                                       ----------

As if thinking of the old dream conjured it back into existence, Loki was haunted by it again that night. Running through the empty palace, looking for someone, anyone, only to find, at last, Frigga, laid out and lifeless and waking to his heart pounding in panicked dread. And for the first time in his life, he could do nothing to reassure himself of her safety other than wait for her visit. When she arrived, he took a deep breath of relief. Only a nightmare, he told himself. But it was harder to dismiss when he woke from the same dream the next morning, except this time he had heard Thanos’s laughter when he had come upon his mother’s dead body, and impossible the third. He was too agitated to eat breakfast and paced restlessly until Frigga finally showed up. 

“Tell the Allfather,” he said, having made up his mind that he had to do something, that if the Norns were sending him a message he could not risk ignoring it. If he could not be free to guard his mother’s life, then he must give up what knowledge he had that would allow her to be best prepared to defend herself if and when Thanos broke into the Nine.“That I will answer any questions he may have in return for you being allowed to visit me in person.”

Joy swept through Frigga. “He will be hearing petitioners now,” she said. “Shall I interrupt him or wait till he breaks for the midday meal?”

“Better wait." He didn't want his mother to leave when she had just arrived, and it would give him time to prepare what he was going to say, how much he needed to reveal. "But do it today."

“I will,” she promised.                                     

                                                     ------------

A couple of hours later, Loki came to his feet as he heard approaching footsteps and stood facing the front of his cell, his hands clasped behind his back. He tensed as he saw Odin, but his heart leapt when he saw his mother following behind him. 

“Loki,” Odin greeted. “I understand you wish to strike a deal.” 

“I do. I will answer any questions that you have in exchange for mother being allowed to visit me whenever she wishes. Inside my cell,” he stressed. When Odin didn’t respond immediately, he swallowed his pride and added “I swear I will not hurt her, nor attempt to use her in any way to escape this place.” 

“I never thought that you would hurt her,” Odin admitted after a moment, and glanced at Frigga, then gestured towards the cell. “Very well. Go ahead.” 

Two long strides forward and Frigga was deactivating the energy barrier that formed the front of the cell, one more and she was pulling Loki into her arms. “Loki,” she breathed out fervently. “My son.” 

It had happened so fast, Loki hadn’t been prepared for it, and flinched back for a second, from the shock of being touched after so long without it, and because for so long before that, touch had always meant pain instead of comfort. He didn’t know what to do for a moment, but then her scent hit him, the smell of herbs and flowers and fresh air, that whispered ‘home’ and ‘safe’ and ‘loved’, and his arms came up instinctively as he wrapped her up tight in his embrace and buried his face against her neck. “Mother,” he said desperately, and then quieter, for her ears alone, “Amma .” 

“I’ve got you,” Frigga whispered, burying her hand for the first time in the new length of his hair. “You’re safe.” 

Odin heard them both, and relief and remorse swept through him in equal measures. Their son was still in there, still reachable, but looking at Loki’s face was almost painful. Whatever happened today, he vowed he would not keep them apart again. Belatedly he realised he had not reactivated the energy barrier and stepped forward to do so.

Loki heard the faint hum crackle back into life and glanced up, a faint smirk on his face. "A bit slow there, weren't you? I could have teleported right out of here in a second."

Frigga tightened her grip on him. "If you had tried, you would have had to take me with you."

"What an excellent idea, Mother," Loki said brightly. "Where would you like to go?"

She gave him an admonishing shake. "Don't tempt me, you."

"And yet you didn't," said Odin. "Perhaps I am simply choosing to trust my son to keep his word, that he will not try to use his mother's presence in an attempt to escape. Am I wrong to do so?"

Loki shook his head, and raised his chin a notch. "You are not."

For the moment, the mask was gone from his son’s face, Loki’s eyes wide and vulnerable in a too gaunt face, and Odin was reminded of just how young Loki still was. "Good,” he said approvingly. “In return, I ask you to trust me, Loki. Tell me what happened to you. Let me help you, if I can." 

“I will save you time and tell you the only thing that you need to know. Thanos the mad Titan seeks the Infinity Stones, and a way into the Nine. Asgard must prepare her defenses and stop him from finding them all.”

Odin's mind instantly flashed back to the conversation that he’d had with Thor on his return to Asgard, when he had grilled him about everything that he could remember Loki doing or saying on Midgard, seeking some clue to his youngest son’s behaviour. 

He had a sceptre, with a blue stone, with the ability to control the minds of others.

 He was not like himself at all. He looked unwell, and afraid at times, and the manner in which he attacked was so unlike his usual style that I thought he must be in league with someone else.

I thought I was reaching him, when I asked him to stop and come home. For a moment I could see the brother that I knew in his eyes, but then he said that it was too late to go back, and he shook it off and went back to the attack. 

A picture was coming together in Odin’s mind, and it was not one that he liked. Loki, his mind already broken, falling into the hands of a being of incomparable power, one who wished to escape his exile outside of the Nine. Thanos discovering that Loki had the ability to walk the shadow paths between worlds. Had the scepter truly borne a blue stone, or had it been a yellow stone concealed in a blue housing? Were the mortals the only ones it had been used upon?  The Tesseract. Mind stone and space stone. One risked to gain a second, a ploy that had failed. If Thanos could break into the Nine, it would not only be the Stones he came after, Odin guessed, it would be Loki, for failing to deliver what he had been sent for.  For he had no doubt now that Loki had been sent. A year gone, beyond Heimdall’s view.  How much of that time had been spent in the Void, how much being broken until his proud, powerful son had been turned into a tool to be used?  Had Midgard been offered as a reward for service, or had Loki wanted it as a sanctuary, a bulwark against the Mad Titan when he felt he no longer had a right to claim Asgard as his home? 

Oh, Loki, Odin thought, his heart clenching for his son. What did he do to you?  He reached out and deactivated the force field at the front of the cell again, and walked in to join his wife and son, meeting Loki’s startled gaze steadily. He had failed his son once, he was not going to fail him again. 

“On the contrary, I think I’m going to need to know a great deal more than that.” 

Loki, still standing within the circle of his mother's arms, stared. Odin had set the barrier to re-form behind him, effectively trapping him inside the cell with Loki. He would need to call the guard now to let him out. "Was that wise? Locking yourself in with a dangerous criminal? I only promised not to hurt Mother, you know."

"if I have been so poor of a father that I need fear attack from my own son, then perhaps I deserve it." There had been no threat in Loki's voice, though, merely a pointing out of facts, and Odin grinned mischievously. "You can try, though." 

Unexpectedly, Loki felt the corner of his mouth quirk up, feeling oddly reassured instead of offended that his own strength and skills were being dismissed. He wanted his father to still be strong, he realised, wanted to feel that childhood certainty that Odin could fix anything, that he could handle any problem brought to him and make everything all right again. He knew that wasn't the case anymore, but still, if Asgard were to stand any chance at all against Thanos, she would need the strength of all her warriors, led by a strong king. And that king needed to be armed with knowledge as well as weapons, knowledge that Loki was tired of bearing alone. If nothing else, Odin could share that burden.

"I would not wish to upset Mother," he said diplomatically, and heard Frigga huff beside his ear. 

"No more would I, yet I fear I have done so for far too long. But I am trying to make amends. To you and to her," Odin stressed. "Talk to me, Loki, please. Let me be the father I should have been when you first returned." 

For a change, Loki did not feel the need to deny that Odin was his father, knew he could not do so with any conviction at the moment. If not Odin, then who? Certainly not Laufey, who had left him to die. At least Odin had been there, and was here now, apparently still willing to call Loki his son. Perhaps one imperfect father willing to admit his mistakes was better than none. The anger that he had nurtured for over a year fizzled out, and he swallowed hard. "What more do you wish to know?" 

"Everything."

His mother's hand gripping his tightly, grounding him, Loki took a deep breath and began to talk.

                                                                                                    -------------------

“Amma.”

Sif woke to a small hand tugging on the sleeve of her nightshirt. A pair of clear blue eyes beneath a head of tousled black curls peered at her from just over the top of the mattress. 

“What is it, Ullr?”

“I had a bad dream.” 

Sif yawned sleepily. “Do you want to spend the rest of the night with us?”

Ullr nodded. “Yes, please.” 

He held up his arms to her, and Sif saw that he had his much-loved stuffed bear with him, a present from his Aunt Jane. She sat up and reached down, lifting Ullr up onto the bed and scooted back. Loki, who was always a light sleeper, woke with an inquisitive noise as she bumped into him.

“Mhm?” He rolled onto his side, automatically reaching out to drape an arm over her and draw her close, and came up against an unexpected shape. He woke a little more. “Sif?”

“It's just Ullr. He had a bad dream.”

“Put him between us, then.” He moved back, making room.

“Go on, Ullr.” Sif held the covers up. “You heard your father.” She smiled as Ullr promptly scrambled over her body and was instantly gathered in close by Loki.

Loki nuzzled Ullr’s hair, breathing in the sweet scent of his son and wrapping an arm securely around him as Sif turned to face them, letting the covers fall back over them, enclosing them in a soft, warm cocoon. Ullr didn’t seem visibly distressed, so either the dream hadn’t been too bad, Loki thought, or the memory of it was already fading. Still, there were words which had to be said.

“I’ve got you,” he said softly. “You’re safe.”

#ficwoodelf #loki #frigga #odin #thor #sifki #a bit at the end #marvel fic #mornings

[murasaki-murasame]

After a billion years of waiting, the 2nd anniversary digest is out, and even though it didn’t talk about quite as much stuff as I expected, the stuff it DID show off was extremely good on just about every level, and oh boy do I have some thoughts about it, lol.

I’m not even sure where to begin with this one, lmao. There’s so much stuff they talked about, and so much stuff they DIDN’T even talk about. Like how they didn’t talk about the October events and banners even though they’re teased at on the 2nd anniversary website, which I guess means we’ll have to wait longer for info on that.

we also didn’t get any info on a collab, but I assume they’re going to announce that at the start of November and have the collab itself release a few weeks later.

I’m kinda sad that they accidentally leaked out the existence of guns, but I still got to experience all the shock and surprise about it, so that was fun. I’m really surprised that they’re adding a new weapon type so late into the game. Especially since they don’t seem to be planning to retcon any old adventurers into being gun units, which means that they’re going to make up a super tiny portion of the pool. But I still really like how they work, from what we’ve seen of them.

It’s great that Joe got a new gun alt who everyone gets for free, but it really feels like they screwed him over by making him a 3-star, lol. He’s probably gonna get immediately replaced by any light gun units they introduce after this point. But it’s still nice to see him get some love. He was the perfect unit to go for to showcase the new weapon type.

All the changes to weapon and wyrmprints are extremely overwhelming, so it’ll probably be a while until I have an actual opinion on them. But thus far I think it’s fine, but we REALLY need the ability to save wyrmprint set-ups so we don’t have to spend so much time shuffling them about again and again.

It’s kinda sad that it’s such an eldwater sink if you want to equip the same print to multiple units, but it’s much cheaper to do that with event prints, so you can still fill your team out with some good prints. And on the other hand, this is actually why I’m fine with the fact that so many prints are almost identical now, since it means you have way less of a need to actually spend eldwater to get extra copies. There’s like 4+ different prints that all give 30% skill damage, so you’d never actually have a reason to bother getting extra copies of any of them, if you at least already had all these prints before this update. It does make it harder to keep track of if you end up using like 15+ different prints across a whole team, but still, the eldwater cost is more or less avoidable if you just use different prints with the same effects.

I think the weapon bonus thing is going to be the most grindy, long-term part of this update, but I’m cool with it. It gives everyone something to slowly work towards, like when you’re at the stage of leveling your dojos. The issue is that people will want to max their weapon boosts as quickly as possible, but it’s clearly not designed to be rushed like that.

It’ll all take a lot of getting used to, but I’m happy that they’ve drastically cut down on the amount of weapons in the game, and made the progression system more linear. Once everyone gets used to it and more people start playing the game after this update, it’ll become more natural.

We also got a bit of an overhaul to the textures and lighting/rendering for all the 3D models, which still feels like a really strange decision to me. It gives them a really different sort of aesthetic, and I have mixed feelings about it. I think if they made it a bit less ‘harsh’ I’d really like it, but at the moment there’s a bit too much contrast between the lighting and the shading, and the black outlining just looks a bit odd.

We also got the big adventurer balance change, and even though it’ll be a while before we’ve got all the new numbers and stuff for everyone, I already get the feeling that Vice is gonna end up way worse than he was before this. Which is sad, since outright nerfing people always sucks, but I get why they did it. It messed with the balance too much to have a 3-star be in like the top 3 for DPS units across the entire game. At the very least they gave him poison on his S1 so he can afflict that more often now, instead of it just being on his S2.

Just going by what they’ve said, and what we can see in-game, one of the really big changes seems to be how basically all of the healers except Grace now have strength buffs on their S1s, which basically all seem to be 15% for 60 seconds. Which is a really interesting way to make healers more relevant, but I like it. I think it doesn’t stack, so you won’t get as much buff uprime as with dedicated buff units, but it at least means they contribute SOMETHING to the team’s DPS.

One other notable change is how T-Hope now has a 15% strength buff on his S1, which makes it pretty much exactly the same as Patia. So that should make auto eCiella a lot faster, with how often he gets that skill off, lol. This was something I expected him to eventually get via a spiral, but in general a lot of stuff in this balance patch feels like mana spiral upgrades in all but name, which is neat.

Lots of characters also got more status punisher stuff, which should hopefully at least make more units stronger. Most of it’s all pretty self-explanatory, but it’s kinda interesting that Norwin is now a poison punisher unit. I guess it’s one way to make him somewhat relevant to the shadow meta, lol.

They also buffed the older gala units, which is great. At least this way they can put off on establishing the precedent of gala mana spirals, by just directly buffing the old ones. We’ll see how it turns out when all the exact numbers have been datamined, but it seems like they’ve addressed the main isseus with G-Mym, G-Sarisse, G-Ranzal, and G-Euden. 

I also noticed that they added defense debuffs to a fair amount of units, and made a lot of existing defense debuff moves land more often, so that’s interesting.

I’m also pretty excited to try out Pipple with this balance patch, since he now gets a 30% strength buff for himself with his S2. It at least makes it so that it’s always worth using whenever you can.

They didn’t announce anything about new endgame bosses like we expected, but it does sound like we’re still getting some eventually, and it’ll just come up later. Which is a good idea, probably, since we need some time to keep focusing on Agito stuff.

And on the note of the Agito fights, and current endgame content in general, I really like the addition of solo versions of all of them. For one thing it means a new wave of first clear bonuses, but it also means that you can pretty much entirely avoid co-op if you want to. The solo fights seem to give less rewards, but hopefully still enough that you can just stick to doing them exclusively if you want to. I haven’t tried any of it out, but it sounds like they’re all balanced around solo play, which should make it way more easier to do them than it was to try and solo fights that were designed for co-op.

It’s also kinda funny to me that even though they said we’re getting another tier of difficulty for the Agito fights, the only thing we know that we’re getting from it is fancier skins for the Agito weapons. They’ll probably still get stat boosts, but I could see them pretty much just being cosmetic upgrades.

They also upgraded the amount of weekly chests for HDTs and Agitos to five, and it sounds like we’re gonna start getting double drop events for them soon, so that’s great. In general I think this whole update will make it way easier to actually do endgame grinding, especially with the solo fights.

And then there’s the elephant in the room, which is the new battle royale mode. I haven’t tried it yet, but honestly I actually like the sound of it, lol. I absolutely never expected that they’d add something like this, especially since it’s effectively PVP, but it actually sounds perfectly fine. It’ll probably get tweaked as time goes on, but it sounds like you barely even get any extra rewards from it by winning compared to just dying immediately, and the whole mode is designed to have you start from a blank slate where you and everyone else are at the same playing field, so it’s basically entirely skill-based, and you don’t even need to be good at it to get rewards.

I wasn’t even sure how they’d handle PVP in an action RPG like this, but I think this is a good way to go about it.

We’re also getting a return of the time attack mode, which is . . . worrying, but hopefully now that people are much more familiar with both HDTs and Agitos, it’ll go by a lot more smoothly.  I’m surprised they’re even touching this concept again after how badly it was received the first time, but I’m curious to see how it goes. I know a lot of people really liked it, so hopefully it’s balanced so that you can ignore it if you want to, without feeling like you’re missing out on too much.

They also finally got around to adding sparking, which is great. I honestly wasn’t really expecting it at this point, but after the patch notes got revealed yesterday I figured this was probably gonna happen. I know some people would wish it had been introduced earlier, but I’m glad it’s finally a thing. I still don’t think it’s as much of a make or break issue for me as it is for others, but it’s still pretty much an objective bonus over the old/current system. My main concern with sparking, though, has always been that it might lead them to notably tanking the amount of summons we can do each month as F2P players, which would cancel out the good parts of sparking, but I doubt they’d do that.

Either way, it seems to work in exactly the same way as GBF, in that each summon gets you a unique bit of currency, and when you get 300 of it, you can trade it for a featured unit of your choice. But also like with GBF, your sparks reset after each banner and turn into different items that you can exchange at a store for regular in-game items, so your 300 summons all have to be on the same banner, and you can’t just accumulate a spark by summoning across several banners. Though one thing that seems to be different to GBF is that summons done with diamantum give you twice the amount of sparks, which is really interesting, since it really cuts down on the amount of money you’d need to spend to get a spark that way. It’d still be super expensive to do an entire spark just through diamantum, but 150 summons with diamantum is still way cheaper than 300, lol.

If they keep our monthly summon income about the same as it’s been thus far even after they add sparking, I think that we’d be able to do a spark every 6-8 weeks just from event and log-in bonus rewards. At the moment we get around 150-200 summons per month just from all that, so it seems like it’ll be WAY faster to save for a spark than it is in GBF [where outside of specific holiday periods that have free summon events you’re probably looking at 4+ months of saving to be able to spark].

This at least means it’ll be way easier to plan out my hoarding, since I know that as long as I have 300+ summons saved, I can at least spark a new unit I want. And there’s always the possibility of just getting them early and being able to quit while I’m ahead.

And on the note of summons, we’re also getting 330 free summons total between the anniversary and the end of October, which is absolutely insane. Sadly you can’t save up sparks across banners, so you won’t be able to do a spark JUST from that, but it’d go a long way to helping supplement a spark on a specific banner.

It looks like we’re gonna get a short pre-gala of sorts soon that’ll contain all the previous gala units, but I’m probably gonna skip that, outside of the free pulls. The only one I don’t have from that set is Gala Alex, and at this point I’d rather just chase her when she’s in a future gala remix. If it’s anything like the same type of bonus gala we got for the first anniversary, all the featured units on this banner will probably have lower than normal rates to make up for how many of them will be on the banner, so it’d just be a really low-value banner for someone like me who already has all but one of them. I’m also not even sure if I’d be able to get all the way to 300 summons that quickly.

Either way I’m more interested in saving for stuff like Halloween, Christmas, new gala dragons, and New Years.

We’re also getting Gala Zena on the anniversary itself, and I think everyone saw her coming, lol. She’s not a gun unit, though, which is actually a bit lame, even though I figured it wouldn’t happen. Her being an attack-type light staff unit is really interesting, at least if she ends up working like Heinwald, but I’m still not sure if I’d be interested in actually spending resources to try and get her.

The gala banner is also going to have the new girl from the anniversary event, and a Midgardsormr alt. Though it sounds like he’s going to be non-limited, so he’s not our wind gala dragon.

The anniversary event also sounds extremely interesting. It sounds like we’re time-traveling back 1000 years to when Ilia created her religion, and she seems to basically be a punk biker girl, which is extremely cool on so many levels. It also kinda looks like Zethia is going to be the MC of this event, and it might not even feature Euden and co, which would be a nice change of pace.

I thought Ilia might be our new welfare unit, but going by the preview image for the event it looks like it’ll be Mordecai, who looks like he’s gonna end up possessed by Morsayati or something, since he looks a lot like Morsayati’s human form we’ve seen a few times. I hope he’s a gun unit, just so we can get more of them, but we’ll see how it goes.

I’m guessing that Ilia will eventually be playable, but maybe just for the 3rd anniversary event or something.

We also got a tease at the next three main story chapters, which all look really interesting. It seems like the Archangels event is going to pretty immediately become important to the story, and now we’re heading off to North Grastaea. We’re also going to be going to the fairy kingdom eventually, which is cool, especially since the teaser for it heavily implied that Notte will become a playable character then.

Which also reminds me that we’re probably eventually going to get a gun unit from the main story, since we have all the other weapon types already, but I doubt Notte will be a gun unit, lol.

Going by the teasers, I also get the feeling that Leonidas and Chelle will be our next two gala adventurers, and at least one of them, if not both, will probably be a gun unit. I think one of the shots of Leonidas had a gun visible in it, but Chelle’s also apparently the one who introduced guns to the world, so who knows how that’ll turn out. At the very least they did say that we’re gonna start getting new gun units soon, and we might get a lot of them really quickly to help fill out the pool. Which also means that some of the new holiday units might end up using guns, so that’s also worth saving for.

I also get the feeling that we might take a break from gala dragons for a while, since we’ve basically run out of good options for them. But who knows. We still need ones for water and wind.

Hopefully with the spark system in place I’ll be able to spark on at least the Halloween and New Years banners, since those are my top two priorities, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s always scary to enter limited holiday banner hell season, but at least they introduced sparking right before it all starts. At the moment I think I’ve got like 150 summons saved up, but I’ve still got most of my reset co-op rewards to go through, and I haven’t touched the Halloween event they added to the compendium, so that’ll add a lot. I think the anniversary log-in bonus will also give us like 2k wyrmite, and if the retweet event succeeds we’ll get an extra 1.2k wyrmite. So as long as they don’t tank our monthly summon currency, I should be able to spark on Halloween if I can commit to saving for it. Which is much easier said than done, lol.

All in all I think I really love this update, but it REALLY changes the entire game, so it’s gonna take a long time to get used to. And thankfully even with the introduction of stuff like sort-of-PVP, it doesn’t look like they’re going in any sort of P2W direction with the game.

Also, there’s still the 45-minute Game Live presentation set to come later tonight, but I’m not expecting that to tell us much, since it’ll probably be targeted at new players. I’m still holding out hope for a Switch port announcement, though.

#murasaki rambles #dragalia lost

[shakenbakebdm-blog]

Me Help Make A VR Experience

Hello, I am Bryce-D Marsh, I’m a Game Dev student at SAE Quantm and I am in my 4th trimester. This trimester we were challenged to make a VR experience for a client in which I handled a lot of the design and building of the environment. I am going to take you through what I have done this trimester.

Restrictions

We were given a free choice as to what the idea could be about as long as the VR experience gave the user the feeling of Awe. But for this project we had to use Unity as it was a requirement from the client. We were free to use any assets as long as they were appropriate for a commercial product. The other constraint was time, as we could not make an experience that exceeded 10 minutes and was a minimum length of at least 1 minute. Now the last restriction was that the VR experience was for a portable VR system, that being the Oculus Quest & Go. Meaning we have to be more cautious about optimisation for the experience. 

The Idea

For me the idea for the experience came from thinking about nature and things that create Awe within it. My mind went to natural phenomena such as storms and tornadoes. I ended up coming up with an idea that the user would be engulfed by a supernatural glowing tornado and transported to a magical version of the same environment. Yes after hearing some feedback it is quite reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and I realise that now, but I still really like the idea. 

So once the idea was settled I began to make an art bible with key images that convey the idea. Ones that could also be used to help inspire and build the environment. I also needed to put some more thought into what the magical version of the scene would look like as that was going to be the second point the user experiences Awe.

Grey Box

Now since I had key reference images I was able to picture what the environment would look like so I began to make it. For this I was going to use Unity's terrain tool. As I want tall mountains around the user that encapsulates them on a lake in the centre of it. I was also planning to put a tall mountain in the centre of the lake so that the tornado could come out from behind it. But first I had to learn how to use the terrain tool as I had never used it within Unity. I ended up using this video to help me learn the common functionalities of it, whilst it also provided some handy references to free assets that would help start making the terrain I envisioned Brackeys. (2019, June 24). How to make Terrain in Unity!. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/MWQv2Bagwgk. With this video I was able to make the terrain that was desired for the experience. Having tall mountains fully surround and enclose the user.

Texturing & Colouring

The next section was to texture the terrain and lucky me as that same video mentioned before also covered texturing your terrain. Providing once again a reference to very handy assets that you can use to texture your terrain. Once I had textured the terrain I saw that I was not completely happy with the results. As the textures did not exactly fit what I had envisioned. So to fix that I simply took them into Photoshop where I edited them to fit what I wanted planned in my art bible and mind. Firstly I wanted to fix the moss/grass texture as it had too many rocks and sticks in it. So to cover them up I used the stamp tool and layered over the grassy/mossy parts. Until a majority of the texture was covered in grass. One thing to consider when I was completing this was I still needed this texture to be tile-able. So on the edges of the texture I also tried to keep them the same tone as when there is a big patch of a different colour or something very noticeable at the edge such as a rock or branch it becomes very apparent that the texture is the same all over. Plus it does not look nice. The other texture I fixed up was the rock texture as the colour I was going more so forwas grey rocks. While the texture provided was a mixture of brown grey and black. This was really simple to fix as all that needed to be done was adjusting the colours of the texture.

Later on in the creation of this project I also needed to create a different colour scheme for the Awe scene that the user gets transported to. This was achieved just by a simple colour change to the original texture. Changing the grass to a purple colour, and tinting some dark orange into the rock texture. During this period of time my group also had to do this to the models that we got from our animators. For example we had two variants of trees. We already had the normal green leaves, so for the Awe scene we made one of the trees have pink leaves and the other blue. We also had other assets at this point such as rocks and mushrooms. All of which had variants for either scene. The mushrooms were emissive and huge in the Awe scene, and the rocks had emissive pulsing cracks in them. This was all key in trying to make the Awe scene more vibrant and colourful compared to the tornado scene. 

Modelling

Even though we did have animators on our team who predominantly did our modelling. There was a point in this project where I had to step in and fix the tree models provided by one of our animators. The models were not importing into the terrains tree painter properly and overall was buggy with its textures as half the leaves on the model were missing when I applied its textures. The issue was apparent once I took it into Maya. Half of the tree’s leaves UV's were gone. So based on the assets our animator provided I made new tree models. I took the leaf planes they had and surrounded the tree of the trunk, I then also adjusted the size of the trees and reset its pivot point. Which was essential as otherwise the model of the tree would be placed wherever the pivot was. Lastly it is always important to delete the history of the model as it takes that into the engine and causes issues. So although I did very little actual modelling, I was there to provide assistance for when things went awry. 

Scene Dressing

A huge part of my job for this was set dressing the scenes. I was mainly in charge of the tornado scene where I would place models and try and fill the environment. This took many iterations and weeks as our work pipeline had incoming new assets just about each week from the animator. Once the models got to us one of my other group members would usually set them up in a separate scene to see if there were any issues with the model. Then once they were ready I would go about and integrate them into the tornado scene, and sometimes into the Awe scene. The biggest struggle with this section was trying not to add too many models into the scene that it would hinder the performance of the experience. 

Testing

Now with performance issues a huge part about fixing this was testing. Unfortunately for my team half way through this trimester our Uni was closed due to isolation for COVID-19. We had to switch to only online where we had to still finish the experience but without VR hardware ourselve. Luckily one of our group members was able to test the VR side of things, but it was a headset hooked up to his PC so it did not help with testing [performance. Only how it looked. So the only way to test performance was to send APK’s to our client who would give us very helpful feedback on things wrong with the experience. One recurring issue we had was that the experienced frame rate was too low. To combat this I was always trying to reduce models in scene, take models back into Maya and cut out tris and lower texture resolutions. I think this helped a little bit in raising the frames. But it did not ultimately fix the issue. Testing is a super important process to find bugs and issues with a game. As a group we did our best to better the experience, but without the hardware ourselves it made it a lot harder to fix these optimization issues we were having. As we could not directly test what was causing the issue. We could only just make cut backs to help try and improve performance.

Music & Audio

Half of this experience was the music and sounds. As for VR the user is only able to see, listen and interact with the digital space. So for my experience the music and sounds were super important. It was important to get someone on board the project that understood the music we were going for. Now I wanted to try something a little different for the music and went with a more EDm track. Taking inspiration from a couple of tracks from the artist Flume. In which I used to head our audio person in the right direction. I wanted to go with this type of music as I feel it will give the experience a new flavour and can inspire Awe quite well. I also wanted to divert expectations with the natural setting of the experience but have electronic based music. Creating a unique feeling for the user.

Submission

With the trimester coming towards the end the team was mainly focusing on optimisation and adding any last touches. Just to try and make the experience as close to a finished product as we could. This was my first time making a VR experience and it was a blast. It did not all go to plan mainly due to things out of my control but I was proud of it!

#gamedev #student #vr

[dramallamadingdang]

Time for replies!

These be for @princesspiratecat, @jennamaxon, @criquette-was-here, @nimitwinklesims, @eulaliasims, @greatcheesecakepersona, @alienbirthqueen, and @niamh-sims...

princesspiratecat replied to your photoset “Tree’ing a bit. :) Mostly to break up the monolithic terrain texture...”

This actually reminds me of where I live, Lake Arrowhead in Southern California when it's dry. Except I don't see a lake.

alienbirthqueen replied to your photoset “Houston, we have a terrain. :D FINALLY! OMG, what a ginormous pain in...”

this is so gorgeous!! it reminds me a lot of northeast california/nw nevada, which is where i grew up of course haha

Yeah, it’ll work pretty much for any desert-y place in North America. Like, anywhere from the Okanagan Desert in Canada, to the less mountainous parts of Montana down to New Mexico and west to the more interior parts of California, Oregon, and Washington in the US, and then down into interior northern Mexico. Mostly my inspiration for the look of the place is the Great Basin (so Alienbirthqueen is right on!) and Chihuahuan Deserts, though. Not so much the Mojave or the Sonoran because those are generally flatter (and lower in elevation and therefore much hotter/drier) and the vegetation is different. Like, there’re no saguaro cacti, which is the signature plant of the Sonoran, of course. But the Lake Arrowhead area (or the Lake Tahoe area) can work, too, given that I’m adding pines to break up lot-view textures. :) In that, it resembles my home turf in SW Colorado, as well.  

Except yeah, no water. The place may or may not have some on-lot water, though, which wouldn’t be big enough to be a lake. I’ll imagine it/them to be springs magically stocked with fish. But I haven’t decided on that yet. I mean, I DO like to build my fishing spots, but I’m trying to go for some authenticity here, trees notwithstanding. ;)

Anyway, basically any higher desert area that’s not a “sandy” place will do, at least with the season set-up I’m giving the place. (Which of course can be changed to make it whatever anyone wants.) It has spring and autumn...mostly because I like to use season-enabled trees/shrubs so that there’s a visual change with the seasons. I get kinda visually bored, if you will, otherwise. :) 

jennamaxon replied to your photoset “Tree’ing a bit. :) Mostly to break up the monolithic terrain texture...”

Rest rather green - much better in the second pic. For a moment, I thought you were frowning at the rubbish cart

Well, if we’re being all green and environmentally-conscious, rubbish is bad, right? :) But no, just frowning at the uber-green trees, I’m afraid. 

criquette-was-here replied to your photoset “Tree’ing a bit. :) Mostly to break up the monolithic terrain texture...”

Oh, this neighborhood makes me want to create this type of climate setting too! Somehow it feels like a place from a good old 90's road movie. Love the new texture for the pines. Looks way better!

Well, that would certainly be different for you! All your neighborhoods and pics are so green and European and pretty. Which isn’t a bad thing, of course, but I’d be very interested to see what you’d do with a more desert/wasteland sort of environment....

nimitwinklesims replied to your photoset “Houston, we have a terrain. :D FINALLY! OMG, what a ginormous pain in...”

Cool cool cool! It looks so much like your photo!

That’s what I was shooting for. But I tell you what, it was hard! I couldn’t figure out how TS2 decided which terrain images from the terrain default to paint where. It just seemed kind of random, and in some of my attempts, when put into TS2, the terrain was only using 2 (of the four) images in the terrain default, which looked really weird. So in the end, I put in an existing terrain, and then redid the road structure and resculpted most of the hills and such. Then, I still had to edit the terrain default to rearrange the images to suit this particular terrain to get it to look how I wanted. So it was more complicated than I’d envisioned. I could’ve probably put more time into figuring out what was going on with all that, but I just wanted to get ‘er done so I could start building.

eulaliasims replied to your photoset “Aw, c’mon, you didn’t really think I wouldn’t do rocks, did you? :)”

oh, this looks fantastic. I love the scrub--that's always something I've felt some desert neighborhoods need. it adds a lot!

niamh-sims replied to your photoset “Houston, we have a terrain. :D FINALLY! OMG, what a ginormous pain in...”

That looks fantastic! I love the scrubby scrubs- perfect for that environment!

Yeah, for this kind of desert -- the American kind, as in all of North and South America  -- there’s gotta be scrub. Pretty much the only American desert that doesn’t have scrub is the Atacama in S. America, since it’s like the driest place in the Americas. :) But even it has some scrub in places. I mean, this ain’t the Sahara or Arabian deserts! 

The lack of scrub really, REALLY bothers me in Strangetown, since that’s obviously supposed to be inspired by Roswell, NM. I am still going to play that neighborhood one of these days, but it has to undergo major terrain/deco renovation before I’ll be able to look at it without screaming bloody murder. :)

greatcheesecakepersona replied to your photoset “Houston, we have a terrain. :D FINALLY! OMG, what a ginormous pain in...”

Lovely! Now all that's missing is the Breaking Bad van :)

HAH!. Yeah, I’ve never watched that show (though it’s on our list to watch), but I know that it’s set in New Mexico, though I don’t know if it’s actually filmed there, so...yeah. :)

nimitwinklesims replied to your post “You sound like such a cool person! It's really nice to hear about...”

I often have a hard time keeping the classical composers apart (I'm embarrassed to admit), but Smetana's Ma Vlast always makes me cry -- it was played at my Czech grandfather's funeral... It's heartwarming to read that you like the Czech composers a lot. I'm Dutch but because of my děda I have a fondness for Czech things as well. Also, sort of related, I have played Händel's Harp Concerto at one point (when I was still taking harp lessons).

Yes, Ma Vlast is one of the best pieces of music ever written. IMO, at least. :) I’m not a person who’s into patriotism/nationalism, but I do tend to love music that has a concrete feeling for place, both physically and emotionally, and Ma Vlast has both. It’s why I love stuff that incorporates folk music from a particular country or area, because of that sense of place and time, and the Eastern European composers tend to do that really, really well, which is why I find myself drawn to them. Aaron Copland did that well, too, for American themes. Appalachian Spring (with its incorporation the Shaker “Simple Gifts” song) and the Billy the Kid and Rodeo ballet music and whatnot. Great stuff. I think that this is why I was ultimately drawn to film/TV scores, both in terms of performance and my own compositions. Film scores are designed to have a sense of place and character and sometimes history about them. So I guess it’s not surprising that that’s where I ended up spending more time, professionally speaking.

That said, for all that I am a classical musician, I’m not a walking compendium of knowledge about all of classical music. Certainly not now that I’ve been away from school/academia for *cough* like 30 years now! I have forgotten much of what I did once know, but frankly my knowledge was always pretty specialized. I know much about the body of work of specific composers in whom I have an interest, but much of the rest...I don’t care to know about it, frankly. All the baroque stuff? Meh. I mean, there’s bits of it that I like -- Handel wrote lots of good stuff, for instance -- but much of it just sounds all the same to me, and I’m just not interested enough to know more. Like, while I appreciate his technique and innovations and all that, I just don’t much like Bach’s music, for instance, and I took/take a lot of ribbing for that, but...I like what I like, and the rest of it I’m content to ignore. Which is pretty much my attitude in general, when it comes to music. *laugh*

jennamaxon replied to your post “You sound like such a cool person! It's really nice to hear about...”

The Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis is an outstanding piece of music. Real hair on the back of your neck stuff. If you like 20th C English choral - my recommendation would be Holst's The Evening Watch. I heard (and sung) it first at college. I was breathless after the first listen.

You know, Holst has a lot of good stuff that no one seems to know about. :) If the average person knows any Holst at all, their knowledge tends to begin and end with Mars and Jupiter from The Planets. Which is a shame. I need to listen to more of his stuff, myself, now that you mention it.

#princesspiratecat #jennamaxon #criquette-was-here #nimitwinklesims #eulaliasims #greatcheesecakepersona #alienbirthqueen #niamh-sims #replies

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 26

I know the last few chapters have posted earlier in the day, but I’m excited I at least got this up on the right day. Yay!!

Life has been going on over here, and it keeps happening... Which is a hazard of living, right?  Better than the alternative.

As always, feedback is a glass of wine and dark chocolate for me (which I love, sincerely), so please leave any feedback you may have!

After a mild panic, the Council was able to calm down everyone who heard Tyche’s exclamation of poisoned food.  Grumbles were still plainly audible, but any rioting had been averted for the moment.  We had no choice but to clarify and explain what we suspected, but begged everyone not to let the information out until an official statement had been released.  Huynh had suggested blocking everyone’s communications access, but the idea was – thankfully – shot down immediately.  

Once all the food and drinks were tested, Miys was able to determine that anything not sealed had been tampered with.  It was no surprise that nearly everyone on Level One had traces of the drug in their systems, the only exclusions being Derek and Maverick.  Derek, I knew all too well, had severe aversions to food textures and mainly lived on what amounted to granola bars and room temperature bottled water, so the fact that he didn’t have any hydrocodone in his system was almost expected and confirmed that it was only being put in the food.

I motioned for Maverick to sit down with me and Antoine.  After some debate on what amounted to a criminal investigation, Eino had pointed out that I had the most experience of the people present when it came to interacting with anyone on the autistic spectrum.  Antoine was with me in his capacity as a companion, as he would be the least threatening back up I could have with me while still being more than capable of intervening if it became necessary.

“What did the short you say about poison?” Maverick asked almost immediately, eyes wide with mild panic.

“Someone put Vicodin in most of the food and drinks,” I explained.  I didn’t see any point in sugar coating it, having noticed in the past couple of days that Maverick was nearly impossible at picking up on subtlety. “Most of us have had symptoms, and Miys tested us.  They say the majority of us have enough in our blood to affect us.  You don’t, and I need you to explain why.”

He relaxed immediately, to my shock. “Is that all?  I’ve only had bottled water and black coffee since I came up here,” he shrugged like it was no major deal.

Antoine’s eyebrows furrowed.  “You are saying that, in nearly forty-eight hours, you have not eaten a single thing?”

“Well, yeah,” came the response, as though it should be obvious. “I didn’t like any of the food that was brought in, so I didn’t eat.  I’ve been taking supplements!” he declared defensively as I started scowling when I found out he hadn’t eaten.  “It happens, like, a lot, so I always carry them with me just in case.”  He took the bottle out of his jacket and rattled them for emphasis before handing them to me.

A glance at the label gave me the impression that they were just robust multivitamins. I handed them to Antoine, knowing he would have a better idea of what he was looking at.  He nodded and confirmed. “They’re just vitamins, but these are for geriatric patients?”

With a shrug, Maverick stated matter-of-factly, “Those are designed for people who don’t eat enough to meet their basic requirements.  Usually, yeah, it’s old people, but I end up missing meals pretty frequently, so those are the best ones.  That’s what the doctor told me back on Earth.”

To say I was horrified was a dramatic understatement.  How long had he been just skipping meals because he had what sounded like food aversions?  “Maverick. Jake. You can just tell me what you like, and I’ll make sure we have food for you. I do it all the time for Derek, and for his friend Sam.  Hell, I do it for anyone just about.  You don’t have to starve yourself and live on multivitamins and water.”

“Nah, I know I’m being a pain in the ass about food.  It’s fine, really. But please top calling me Jake.  It’s legally Maverick.  I changed it.  I earned the name Maverick.”

I was so confused.  “But you introduced yourself as Jake?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Terran Defense never updated my records, so they are all under that name. I wanted you to be able to find them. But it’s not my name.”

Oh.  I was starting to get angry, not at him, but at the people who made him so nonchalant at the sheer level of fuckery people had used in regard to him in the past.

“Can you go get Derek?” I asked Antoine quietly before looking back at the pilot on the opposite side of the table. “You aren’t being a pain in the ass.  I believe that you’ve been told that for a very long time, but that doesn’t make it true, and it certainly doesn’t make it right.  I am the one who will be deciding what food is brought up from now on, and Miys will be testing it.  So, if I say you can ask me for whatever you will actually eat, no one else gets a say in that.  Does that make sense?”

“Whatever,” he grunted.

I was saved by the arrival of Antoine and Derek. “Maverick Okima, I would like to formally introduce to Derek ‘That Guy’ Okafor, scourge of sysadmins everywhere. Derek, I am trying to convince Maverick that it’s okay to ask for different food if he doesn’t like what we are bringing in.” I focused on using Maverick’s own term – don’t like – rather than calling it a food aversion, mainly because I wasn’t sure he had ever had the difference explained to him from what few clues I was able to pick up.

<Sophia’s okay> Derek signed. <She likes feeding us food we like.  She says if we don’t like it, there isn’t a point in having food to begin with.>

Maverick looked very confused.  “My father said something like that before he died.  It’s a very Japanese thing to say.”

I pointed at my face. “Cajun, among other things.  I do not believe in ‘eating to live’. In my family, we live to eat.  The short me, as you call her, is gluten intolerant, some of my family doesn’t like spicy food, I love spicy food, so does Antoine.  I still manage to make one meal a week for all of us, cooked by hand I might add, and try to include Derek as much as possible when he feels up to.”

Derek snapped to get Mavericks attention before adding, <No spicy, no sour, no squishy.>

“He likes food with firmer textures,” I clarified on the ‘squishy’ comment. “Nothing mushy, or creamy, no cake, ice cream, or gelatin, that kind of thing.”

“Don’t you get mad that they’re picky?” Maverick asked, still suspicious.

I shook my head vigorously. “Absolutely not.  It’s a challenge, and if they don’t like it, that’s a failure on my part, not theirs.”

“She makes very good turkey,” Antoine mused before smirking. “Although her sister makes amazing doughnuts.”

<The mushy fish was gross.> Derek wrinkled his nose in an exaggerated fashion.

I just rolled my eyes. “I literally told you that you wouldn’t like it. I don’t like poached fish because of the texture.”

That seemed to be the comment that Maverick needed to hear. “Wait. You cooked something you don’t even like for someone else, because they wanted it?”

“Kind of?” I squeaked uncertainly. “Arantxa over there.  She didn’t ask for it, but as a holiday gift from me to her, I learned how to make one of her native dishes. I had no clue that it was poached fish when I made that decision. But she mentioned it the day I met her, and also that she didn’t know how to make it….” I trailed off and shrugged. “Personally, I like my fish seared, grilled, baked, or sashimi.  Poached is just… too weird for me.”

Antoine nodded very seriously. “It was very good, as a person who does like poached fish.”

“Rants seemed to like it,” I shrugged again. “All that mattered.”

“So, if I wanted mochi, because I didn’t get any the first time, that would be okay?” Maverick asked tentatively.  “Even red bean mochi?”

I moaned, “Oh my gosh, absolutely yes.  If there were any red bean mochi last time, I am sorry to say I didn’t get any.  You and I can just hog them all.”

<Hide them from Zach,> Derek joked. <I think he ate most of the gross dumplings last time.>

“Heathen,” I muttered jokingly.  It was really no surprise that Derek didn’t like mochi.  Glutenous foods definitely fell in the category of ‘squishy’.  I patted Maverick on the arm gently. “Okay, I’m pretty convinced you didn’t drug the food, mostly because you’re a terrible liar, which is something to be proud of.  On the food thing, please just make me a list of foods you like, or at least a list of stuff that makes you not like certain foods, and I will happily make sure to take that into account.  Real quick, though, I’m about to put in the request for tomorrow, so other than mochi, what do you want? Try to give me as many things as you can think of off the top of your head, because I want to be sure it’s in the system.”

“Miso soup, for sure.  Boiled eggs? Scrambled eggs are weird, but I don’t know if the consoles can do boiled eggs, and I never asked. Savory crepes are good, though. Ooo! Pizzza!  I love pizza, especially anchovy.  I know a lot of people think it’s gross, but it’s really good, I swear. Fried pies are good, too.”

“So, strongly flavored, savory and/or salty dishes.  Got it,” I murmured as I made a note in my data screen. I flicked my wrist absent-mindedly to dismiss it before musing “You probably would have liked the bacalao al pil pil.”

“Is that the mushy fish thing?” he asked skeptically.

“Yep.”

“Nope. I can’t do mushy fish. Mushy means it isn’t cooked right, which means I’ll get sick.”

I chuckled. “I totally agree.  The good news is, at least now I have someone other than Tyche to share pizza with!”

“No one else likes pizza!?” he gasped. “No way! That’s sacrilege!”

“Oh, tons of people like pizza,” I assured him. “But Tyche is the only other person I met who likes anchovy pizza.”

“They’re stupid. It’s awesome!”

I shot him a look. “Please don’t call people stupid because they don’t agree with you. It’s rude, and I can’t stand rude people.” It was a slight exaggeration; I had a pretty flexible definition of what was and wasn’t rude, but calling someone names because they disagree with you definitely fell firmly in the rude category.  “A lot of people don’t like fish, or can’t have too much salt, or just don’t do well with really strong flavored foods.” I nodded toward Derek, who flipped Maverick the bird.

“Okay, okay,” he apologized. “That was wrong of me. I didn’t think of that. Still, it’s really good.”

“Well, you have two other people to eat it with now,” I smiled.

Rather than celebrating, Maverick looked like he just realized something. “Wait.  Who is Tyche?”

“My sister.”

“You – Wait. That’s short you?”

“Yes, and for the love of whatever your favorite body part is, do not call her that to her face.”

“Noted,” he nodded seriously and gulped. “She’s scary.  Like, scarier than you, scary.”

<Be nice. They own the cat.> Derek warned him, slapping him lightly on the arm.

“I like Mac,” he considered. “I guess that makes you less scary.  I’m still pretty sure your sister could kill me, though.”

By this point, Antoine looked completely confused. “Why is everyone afraid of Tyche? I don’t understand.”

<Why aren’t you afraid of her?> Derek rebutted.

I shot Antoine a dirty look before he could reply. “I have absolutely zero desire to hear whatever tooth-rotting, fluffy nonsense is about to come out of your mouth,” I told him flatly.  The last thing I wanted was him to accidentally de-fang my sister’s well-earned reputation.

He balked slightly before straightening his shoulders. “Fine. I will let them be afraid of her. I was just going to say I’m not afraid of her because I am her partner, just like you are her sister. And Maverick has three other people to eat the anchovy pizza with.” He pointed to himself. “You never asked me, Sophia. Do you really think Tyche would not have me try it?”

I held my hands up placatingly. “Fair, fair.  I didn’t know you had tried it since the last time I mentioned it.”  I turned back to Maverick. “So, now that we’ve established your alibi - can’t consume drugs when you aren’t consuming anything at all - I’ll have Grey and probably Pranav fact-check it, just to completely rule you out as a suspect, okay?”

“Yeah,” he exhaled in what sounded like relief.  “Do you think it will take long? I have to pilot the ship to Meenie pretty soon, and I don’t know if they’ll let me while they’re doing all that?”

“That’s honestly Xiomara’s call, since we decided the flight crew fall under her jurisdiction.  It shouldn’t take more than a day, but I understand that we only have a couple hours before we’re done at Eenie, right?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Can you check with Councillor Kalloe, please?” he begged. “I don’t want my flight privileges revoked.”

“You bet. Antoine, are we done here?”

He gestured affirmatively. “I don’t know what else we can do right now, so yeah, I would say we are done. You,” he pointed sternly at Maverick, “will eat.  I will send Noah for the food myself. It is not safe for you to do something as important as piloting a ship when you have been starving yourself, but I also do not want to make you sick. You said you like miso soup, yes?” When Maverick nodded, Antoine stood. “I will ask our host to get miso soup, and I will watch you eat two hundred milliliters before you pilot. Sophia, if you could relay this to Councillor Kalloe when you speak to her, please?”

“Absolutely,” I agreed.

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#the miys #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #earth is space australia #fiction #original fiction #aliens #apocalypse #science fiction

[eb-the-gamer]

BEFORE YOU READ, KNOW THIS REVIEW POST HAS SPOILERS FOR BENDY AND THE INK MACHINE!!!!

@bendysstudio @themeatly--official

I have played Bendy and the Ink Machine in full now. What do I think?

Well...

The game was good, for sure, you can tell they put a ton of love, especially now with the polish added by updates, the incorporation of fan music, and the attempts at keeping everything engaging throughout the chapters. 

However, It could be really improved upon...

STORY - By far the strongest of Bendy’s points is its narrative, old cartoons are Organically creepy in a lot of ways because of a few factors, among these are the contrasting aspects of the imperfections of movement and the oftentimes unnoticed details in things like wrinkles and textures (as examples, Pete chewing Tobacco from Steamboat Willie, and the infamous cab colloway dancing ghost from Betty Boop.), so it makes a ton of sense to utilize that as a horror concept. The game throws us a steady stream of questions from almost the start of the first chapter, but while a lot is answered, there is a lot unanswered or not followed through on and it can be hard to ignore when you think about it ESPECIALLY by the end. Were the employees really all corrupted by the ink, what is Henry’s purpose, why did henry not know about his own messages if he’s written them while looping everything over and over, and how could he see or write them without the glass tool (and what with?), what is up with the animatronics and cages you set up. the game kind of shrugs at a lot; its by no means a dealbreaker because of what the story does explore about the studio, but it is noticeable.

9/10 - Amazing - The game’s big draw, though some questions are not all answered in a meaningful way, what the story does cover is still really interesting and worth playing through.

 DESIGN - Bringing actual life to something like a cartoon but failing so hard is a really great idea, and a lot of the time the game shows us the hubris in the want vs. the reality of the consequence; the monsters and places the game creates reflect it well. Everything looks like its made from the sunbleached, aged paper artists used and everything is a wonderfully messed up reflection of life at the studio and the cartoons within, particularly with the projectionist, butcher gang and the unnamed giant hand (I’ll call him Lil’ Handful). the world of Joey Drew productions is a really cool, realized one. simple but slightly barren and “off” work offices giving way for the bigger, detailed and mysterious places in the lower levels. I will however knock some of the update decisions, particularly with Sammy and Bendy himself. they originally looked blobby, as the updates came, they both got more defined in shape - respectively looking more muscular and emaciated looking, which took away from the toonish aspect of the it. Where once were feet that looked like strange melted stubs going into the floor, are just...solid feet and where once was something that looked like a melting candle trying to retain a shape is what is more or less a thin ink zombie (complete with limp). Bendy’s final form is also lackluster for me, I love the Muggshot (Sly Cooper series) tiny dangle-legs and walking around on hands thing; but its threatening, not as scary or horrifying as something that's stopped trying to be likable could’ve been taken. Everyone else is pretty good though especially the butcher gang and boris, who stayed pretty much the same and kept design elements in all forms through the production. Text for audio logs could have been bigger at times too. all in all, design is solid, but something was definitely lost as more polygons and detail were added for certain characters.

9/10 - amazing!- a great use of elements from animations of the past used in a 3d space, just the right amount of cartoon goofiness and uncanny details, though some designs were fixed when they weren’t broken.

CHARACTERS - Not much to say, I like em all, (Henry is delightfully levelheaded to the extreme, Boris is a cutie, Bendy is a threatening silent presence...) except maybe that one obnoxious guy in recordings, Wally Franks, and even then, he’s not AWFUL (I’d compare him to Fleem from Smallfoot, intentionally made to get on a nerve at least a little), the most interesting character for me Bertrum, the architect who calls Joey out on his bullcrap, and Alice Angel, both versions of her - but the manic first variant you meet first is interesting to listen to and learn about in particular. Boris is kind of lackluster, while he is nice and the reveal of him and other toons being made en masse is awesome, it also means we don’t get much time with them. Sammy sort of just comes and goes twice, and Tom!Boris and Allison I felt got the shaft and should have been established earlier for a connection. Joey is a jerk who suddenly becomes somewhat good in the last acts, which confuses me - since there was no in between those two points that's explained...

7/10 -  Good - characters are great to listen to and watch, and if the game had had more time to focus on a lot of them, that might have made them feel more complete.

SOUND - sound, music and voiceacting is well done, lots to appreciate from the creepy gurgles, to the odd stuttery sound of a projector. though there are occasionally some bad bits of soundmixing and audio. some recordings that you can find in the game stand out, there’s one that's really hard to listen to in chapter 5 because the character speaks in a really gravelly voice, in addition to the fuzzy audio effect and the ambient noise surrounding it.

8/10 - Great! - I only wish there was more! aside from one or two recordings, everything and one sounded nice, and the unease of silence is used equally well.

CONTROLS AN’ GAMEPLAY - They’re standard first person fair, responsive for sure, though sometimes the sensitivity of the controls can raise by themselves (I don’t know if that's by design, since it was at the same point as markiplier, right before a section involving being stealthy is taken on, which might actually be really clever if its true. Combat can also be wonky, but Its passable since its not a main focus, except for one REALLY obnoxious enemy gauntlet in the last chapter, if there were defined checkpoints between each wave, I’d be more inclined to let it go. Puzzles are pretty standard as well, lots of fetching, but other stuff such as playing minigames and stealth crop up to shake it up. Stuff is unlocked after everything is said and done in the story, and while it is cool narratively (messages written by henry on previous loops) and as a view of the progress the game (though, the Archives are missing a lot of info on characters like Alice and Bertrum), it just feels like its not enough for a repeat playthrough, difficulty settings and maybe achievements for unconventional but creative actions in-game, working towards something big at the end might’ve helped in that regard (here’s hoping that's the case for the console releases next month)

7/10 - Good! - its standard stuff with an occasional misshap, but there is variety to it and its simply fun for me to play.

OVERALL - The gameplay is serviceable, and aside from the main story there’s not too much reason to play the game again, but its still a solid experience the whole way through, and the time and effort of the people who made the game really shines and makes it worth playing. maybe wait for the console release, in case they add anything to that, but theres not one excuse not to play it.

#bendy and the ink machine #bendy #batim bendy #review #themeatly #the #meatly #video game #horror

[transformationstuck]

More commission work, same commissioner as the last one. It’s an inanimate tf story about Aradia becoming, well...  I guess you can check the tags for spoilers if you want.

“It’s… a carousel.”

“Yep! That’s the one!” Aradia confirmed, practically climbing over the fence as she leaned up as close to the old ride as she could reach, her eyes and smile competing to see which could widen the most.

“I repeat: A carousel. That. That’s what you wanted us to see.” Vriska said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, not entirely convinced that Aradia wasn’t just pulling her leg, but growing impatient with this seeming waste of her time.

“I-I-It could be a… r-really fast… carousel?” Tavros suggested, holding up his hand as if trying to ask for permission before offering his advice.

“I’ll ask.” Vriska grumbled, “Aradia, is it really fast?”

“Nope!” Aradia answered, not even a bit of her excitement lost to Vriska’s cynicism, “But it is a really GOOD carousel! I ride it every solar sweep!”

“Ah… Not this sweep… I’m afraid.” Came a low voice, its owner standing right behind Vriska and Tavros and breathing very heavily, “The old girl is… out of order… she won’t be ready… until we get some new parts.”

“GOD fucking DAMMIT Equius! I told you not to do that!” Vriska yelled, suddenly whipping back around and glaring up at her old neighbour, jabbing a finger against his chest and quickly regretting it. She wasn’t sure what was soaking his vest more: Sweat or motor oil.

“Sorry… Vriska…” Equius said, nodding his head, acknowledging the three. He sounded out of breath with how often he was pausing to inhale, but to Vriska this was just how he knew Equius to talk. “You three… may want to go find other rides… I don’t know if this one…”

Equius trailed off a bit, suddenly gulping, his STRONG throat ensuring that the sound was enough to turn heads, “They don’t make her parts any more …We may have to put her out to pasture.”

“WHAT!?”

 “Well, you heard the man.” Came Vriska, patting Aradia on the back, a little more firmly than was absolutely necessary, but still meant to be comforting, “Sorry about your musclebeast ride, or whatever… I’m gonna take Tavros on one of the cullercoasters. You can join us if you want.”

Aradia didn’t reply, still smushing her face against the bars that kept her from joining the line to her once favourite part of the entire park.

“…I’m taking him on the one for weenies that switches tracks to the Deathnado at the last second.” Vriska added, figuring Aradia might at least snap out of it if it meant helping Tavros, but received no response from her one way or the other. “Well…….. BYE!”

 “Not fair…” Aradia muttered, finally pulling her face away from the bars, feeling her skin pop away after having spent an hour stuck up against them, “They didn’t shut down the Voodoo Train when it started leaking curses… or the beecups when the bees stopped stinging… There’s just no damn justice any more…”

Aradia let out a sigh. It was her last time to ride the musclebeasts that had been with her since pupation. The joyous little ride that crackled out its nostalgic tunes through those well-worn speakers and the colourful little cartoon equines had entertained her for these past eight sweeps, but she supposed she was an adult now… maybe it was time to grow up.

…Or maybe that time could wait until tomorrow.

Today was a time of reflection. A time of sorrow. A time of jumping the fence when no one was looking and making a mad dash over to her most cherished of all attractions.

 “Ponilo! I missed you!” Aradia cried, wrapping her arms around the plastic animal’s neck as she rubbed her cheek up against its face. The thing may not have physically returned her affections, but Aradia was content to believe that it would be saying ‘I love you’ just as it always would if only it could move its mouth. “And I love you too!” She giggled, petting its head gently as she began to wander about the tiny little ride and examining every little bit of its brightly coloured interior.

“Horzzi! Houfer! Saudle! Buccoe! Pegaus!” Aradia chimed, petting each of the familiar musclebeast ponies as she went. They were all just so pretty and unique and full of character! Not like the seats in the other rides. They had their own hairstyles, colour-schemes, and even poses, like Houfer, who looked like he was in the middle of leaping, and Buccoe, who was appropriately in the middle of trying to kick the imaginary foe behind him. To Aradia, they were all her best friends, and if she could just find a way to start things up to give them one last ride…

Ah, but she’d never be able to figure it out. These rides were designed to be tamper proof just in case of people like her, and even a tiny ride tucked away in an obscure corner of the park wasn’t just going to have the keys in the ignition and the controls readily labelled where any idiot could start playing with them.

But then again, a broken-down ride that was days away from being retired was bound to have some loose wires.

Kzzt!

“Ah! Ow.” Aradia pulled her hand away from the decorated pole that she’d just brushed her hand over. It was the same as any of the other long, golden poles that held the horses in place and caused them to bop up and down, only with one obvious part missing. “Did there… used to be seven of you?” Aradia asked, now suckling upon her electrocuted fingers as she looked around the carousel. She only remembered there being six musclebeasts, and yet here was a gap in the ride that seemed to indicate there was a seventh one unaccounted for.

“Horzzi, Houfer, Saudle, Buccoe, Pegaus, Ponilo…” Aradia repeated to herself, trying to think if there was a name she’d missed. It just didn’t add up! There were only meant to be six of them, yet the pole coming out of the ground and its twin hanging from the ceiling above would say otherwise. Was that just it? Had the machine broken down because they’d tried to add a seventh pony and it fucked the whole thing up? Why mess with perfection?

Aradia suckled harder upon her fingers as she pondered the problem more and more. The shock hadn’t been that painful, but it had certainly made her hand feel a little numb. More than just a little numb, actually, as Aradia soon had to pop her fingers out of her mouth just to make sure nothing was wrong.

Her digits glistened from the saliva coating them, and while there wasn’t a burn mark or other sign of damage, Aradia had to gulp as she realised that she couldn’t move them an inch. The other two fingers were still moving alright, albeit a little stiff around the joints, but not a single one of her shocked knuckles would bend, no matter how hard she willed them to close or split apart.

Okay, that was probably enough hanging around condemned amenities for today! This probably wasn’t serious, but she’d rather not risk losing a hand to a stupid electric shock! But… she felt she should at least get a picture with Ponilo before the poor beastie was gone for good. Slipping both hands into her skirt pockets, she dug out her phone and squatted down, posing next to her favourite plastic animal as she held her fingers over the button.

And… nothing happened.

“Oh, come on!” Aradia groaned, pulling her phone around to take a look. At the very least, the problem was solvable. The device was scanning her fingerprints, and it seemed that holding both fingers so close together was preventing it from reading properly. At least it was an easy fix, she thought as she shrugged, reaching over to pry apart her two paralysed fingers and… accomplished absolutely nothing. Even bringing her teeth down to wedge them apart only left her with a sore mouth. What was going on here? Had the shock been so bad that it locked up her finger muscles? Was that even a thing?

With a bit of struggling to angle her rigid fingers just right, Aradia finally managed to snap the picture, and even with recent events weighing on her mind, she couldn’t help but grin as she turned the screen around to see her photo. …and promptly dropped it to the floor. “Awhoops!” Aradia went, quickly moving to snatch it back up. Only… she didn’t pick it back up. She tried to use her thumb to brace her phone up against her immobile fingers, but when she went to lift it, her thumb’s grip failed her. “Oh hell…” Aradia grumbled, giving her hand a hearty shake as she reached out with her still functional hand to finally inspect the picture.

That was… odd. She thought there was just a mark on her screen, but when it didn’t rub off, she thought for a moment she must've gotten some of the peeling paint on her nose, because on her otherwise grey face, there was a nice big splotch of a deep, dark red that just barely didn't match her blood.

Aradia gave her nose a rub, and while she definitely felt something there, it was a something that didn't seem to want to come off, even as she upped her efforts, attempting to scratch it away, only to find no gap between the smooth substance and her skin. Well, that ruled out dried paint... maybe something splotched her earlier in the day and Vriska just didn't tell her. That bitch, embarrassing her in front of her inanimate pony friends!

Turning off her phone, Aradia squinted into her dull reflection, the miscolouration on her face a little hard to make out, but it was at least visible enough for her to know where to aim. Good hand holding the phone, she awkwardly twisted about her paralyzed hand and aimed her middle finger right at the edge of the weird blob. "Hrrgh... Come on..." Aradia grunted, able to feel the difference in texture between her soft skin and the smooth paint, even through what should have been dulled senses. She could even feel that the red spot was slightly raised relative to the skin around it, so it should have been a simple matter of finding the gap and getting a nail under it, but no matter what she tried, her fingers seemed to slide right over it.

...And that was because Aradia's hand didn't seem to have any nails on it left.

The shock of seeing her equally red fingers in their new, deformed state was enough of a shock to make Aradia practically throw her phone as she recoiled in shock. Her hand had become engorged, the gaps between her fingers reduced to tiny little bumps between her fingertips, bumps that she could see gradually smoothing out with each passing second. "No no no no N0!" Aradia cried, gripping her hand tightly around the base of her wrist, hoping it would stop or at least slow down if she cut the circulation.

It did not. In fact, it only seemed to speed things up!

Aradia gulped, screwing up her face a little as she swallowed, and feeling a slight resistance in the skin on her nose. She had to assume it was linked, for what good that did her.

"Nnnngh!" Aradia grit her teeth, shuddering. As the swelling sped up, what had formerly been a numb sensation was starting to become anything but. She could feel her hand twisting around itself, the individual senses of her fingers merged together into an unfamiliar tube shape, even her wrist starting to lock in place as a burgundy redness took to welling up under her skin and subsuming it into the same hardy substance as her face.

"Stop! Suh... ST0P!" Aradia cried, striking her fist into the ground, not even caring about the potential pain. "HMMmmmngh!" She bit her lip, immediately regretting the decision. While the stumpy, flat underside of her fist had been unharmed, the point where the solid parts connected with her flesh immediately felt the impact, enough for tears to well up in Aradia's eyes. At least until she felt the effects trickle on over the injury, almost making Aradia shudder in relief. It was like having someone trickle a viscous fluid over her, only it permeated through her entire arm, flesh, bone, and all.

 CLONG!

Aradia struck the metal bars that covered her exit, careful this time not to inflict herself any more undue pain, “Hey! Heeey!” She called out, praying someone would find her in this deserted corner of the park. “Equius! Tavros! …Vriska!?” She shouted, striking the bars again with her almost completely tube-like forearm. She wanted to climb the fence, but with her useless appendage, she didn’t want to risk leaping over the spike-tipped metal bars.

“Oh come on… this is the best part of the entire park…” Aradia grumbled, looking around at the desolation that was the surrounding picnic area. Even the bathrooms were completely abandoned as people ignored the carousel in favour of bigger, ‘better’ attractions.

Aradia sighed, bumping her head back against the metal pole, hearing a ‘tink’ noise as the swelling on her face bumped against the metal bar. She couldn't feel anything from the splotch on her nose yet, but it was only a matter of time before it too began to accelerate. Even if the effects wore off and Aradia’s hand returned to normal… could she survive having the same thing happen to her face? Would she be able to breathe?

A shudder ran down her spine as she felt the molasses-like sensation reach her joint. Aradia cursed as began to bend her arm rapidly, hoping that by keeping her elbow moving she’d be able to resist the paralysis. But even as she tried with all her might to hold off the encroaching anomaly, it still forcibly slowed her movements down to a crawl until all she could do was watch as the swelling covered her arm, one red splotch at a time.

“W-Why is it so… smooth?” Aradia asked herself, shaking a bit as she dared to run her hand across her ‘skin’. She knew touching it was stupid. It had seemingly migrated to her face just from suckling on her fingers earlier, but she was in such dread that all she could do was admire the source of her potentially upcoming demise.

One thing she hadn’t noticed was that around where her wrist should have been, there was a slight kink, curving her nubby hand into a strangely familiar shape.

“Oh my fucking god.” Aradia blurted out, taking a big step back, her eyes widening as she stared at her arm—no… her HOOF. Her big, plastic, cartoon-pony hoof!

 “Not a word!” Aradia snapped at Houfer, pointing her entire arm at the mini musclebeast, albeit with the kinks at her wrist and elbow ensuring that her aim was more than a little off. This plan was stupid. Desperate, even! But if the shock was turning her into a musclebeast, then it couldn’t have been an ordinary shock! And if it wasn’t an ordinary shock, then that couldn’t have been ordinary wiring!

Aradia let out a heavy breath as she lowered her arm to her side, who knew plastic could be so heavy? Aradia rested her bad arm against the inner wall of the carousel as she peaked into the pole, careful to keep her fingers away from the ends of the wires as she fiddled them about, just trying to see if there was anything behind them.

"Nnngh..." Aradia winced. Suddenly feeling as if something was pulling upwards on her nose. She'd been afraid of this. The changes to her face were getting faster, she could even see before her eyes as the bridge of nose was pulled up, bulking outwards as splotches grew outward, replacing her skin with more shiny plastic.

She gulped, trying to shake it off, pushing the wires to one side to peep down the entire pole, hoping she might be able to make something out further down, but barely able to see a thing. Nothing except for her other fingers starting to merge together!

"No no no no no N0!" Aradia yelled, striking her arm against the pole. The plastic was growing so fast now that the pain went away as soon as it started, redness now approaching her shoulder, the sensations now sickeningly wet, like someone was coating her in fresh paint. There had to be something else she missed! She couldn't meet her end becoming a plastic pony! She just couldn't!

"Mh! Hggh!" Aradia let out a sharp whine, suddenly feeling the plastic on her face reaching up to her eyelid. Immediately she went to try and rub it, but had to stop herself as she felt the way it forced the lid to open past its bounds, her eye coming with it, stretching out so much her vision was starting to become lopsided. Another sudden sensation around her eye was enough to make Aradia forget herself and attempt to rub away the irritation.

That... should have hurt. She couldn't fully close her eye, and clumsiness with her paralyzed fingers had made her jab herself right in the pupil. It was plastic. Plastic... and absolutely huge! She closed her other eye, perhaps the last time she ever would, and gulped as she realised she could still see.

Aradia laughed, her warped nose turning it into a snort. As a lover of doom in all its forms, this sure was a unique one. She’d be a fake musclebeast in less than twenty minutes at this rate. “Hooray, I’m gonna die!” She cheered, a crooked smile on her face as the hopelessness of the situation started to weigh on her, “I-I’m gonna be a ponyyyyy.”

 Aradia felt a shudder down her right leg. Oh, goodie. She must have brushed her arm against it while she was walking. She tried to take a step away from the pole… and felt a familiar stiffness in her knee. Looking down at it, splotches of red were making their way up and down her leg from there. For a few moments Aradia stared off into space, wondering if she’d at least be as pretty as Ponilo, until she heard a familiar voice.

“No, I bet you she’s still fuckin’ moping about her damn musclebeast ride.” Grumbled Vriska, though at a volume that hardly counted as grumbling.

“I-I didn’t say anything a-about Aradia…” Tavros whimpered, clutching at his head as he stumbled around dizzy.

“Vri-hhhhka!” Aradia cried, only to clutch her partly hoof-ified hand around her throat. Her voice was hoarse. She tried to swallow, only to feel her throat not quite properly constricting. “Ta-avrohhh…” She cried again, desperate to make herself heard.

Whatever! She didn’t need a voice! One look at Aradia and her friends would try to help her in a heartbeat! Her right knee was a rigid block, but she could still limp over to the fence! “Ahhhm cohhhhming!” She called, making a hobbled step over to the gate… and immediately feeling something tugging at her belly.

“W-Whuh…?” Aradia almost hit herself in the face as she brought her hoof up to her mouth in shock. All four of the pole’s wires had slipped under her shirt and embedded themselves right into the middle of her stomach.

Aradia tried to strike at the wires, but her semi-transformed limb was doing no damage, while the other could barely even move. She tried to take another step away, but felt as they instead tugged her in the other direction, forcing her to fall belly first on top of the pole.

“N-Nuhhhh…” Aradia squirmed, kicking and squirming about with every part of her that still could. Her right arm hung at an angle, the fabric of her sleeve seemingly being chewed away as the splotches made their way over her collarbone. Her left arm faired better, but her elbow was less than a minute away from going rigid. She could still freely move her hips, but the plastic on her right leg was reaching down to her ankles faster and faster. She could just barely scrape the ground with her left leg, but there was nothing she could do to get herself free from the pole.

“Vrihhhhhhh…” Aradia tried her best to scream, but her voice was becoming fainter and fainter. She could feel the plastic making its way up and out of her throat, solidifying the back of her tongue as her jaw felt like it was being compressed and stretched at the same time. She couldn’t even bend her neck! She was losing it! Even her hair was starting to change! Her luxurious curls stopped blowing in the wind, and instead stuck to her neck and back, gradually becoming heavier and heavier as the strands became nothing but texture on a big blob of sculpted plastic.

And then the music kicked in.

“D-D-D-Doo-wapwap-dooooo-wapwap-doooooble-dooble-wapwap!”

It crackled and buzzed as the tune came ringing out of the speakers as it had done a thousand times before, Aradia squirming ever harder as she felt the wires come to life inside her. One last gasp escaped Aradia’s lips as she felt the ceiling-mounted part of the pole come slamming down into her back, sinking a half inch deeper into her flesh than it should have. Thw two sets of wires met inside her, letting out a shock that caused Aradia to squirm even harder.

And then… the spinning.

Momentarily Aradia got some better footing on the floor, only to lose it almost immediately as the ride bobbed her back up again. She wanted to foam at the mouth. There was a new sensation hitting her now, it felt like her soul or some other ethereal part of herself was being twisted up around her midsection. She clenched down, trying to keep herself together, yet feeling like her insides were being sucked into a drain of some kind. She could no longer breathe, and now she felt like she could no longer think.

Each upward bob briefly gave her a moment of lucidity, only for it to then be crushed as it went back down again. Each time she felt new thoughts popping into her head… her fears of being stuck like this, or just thinking back to her old hobbies and memories. She’d feel a brief euphoric sensation as those thoughts became her entire world… then want to groan as it all came crashing down, shattered into pieces and crushed into dust, never to enter her head again.

When the ride went up, she kicked her legs with joy, practically prancing through the air, only to flinch and go rigid as she came back down again. The plastic hadn’t stopped spread, either, and soon more of her clothing was being burned away, or being moulded into the shape of saddles and bracelets and other manner of decorations.

 By the time the ride finally came to a stop, the girl-come-pony realised all she had left was a barely twitching left leg, and a pupil that could only shiver and shake. Still she tried to squirm her way free, but she couldn’t even contract her stomach muscles. She was… She was a… p-pony? …What was her name, again?

“So, you actually got the missing piece?”

That voice… it sounded familiar.

“Y-Yes… seems some anonymous benefactor dropped it off. She is a fine specimen.”

That voice… no, she felt nothing for that voice.

“Uhhh… do you think we should go look f-for Aradia?”

That one… she liked that one, at least. More than the other two, especially the first one. Did she… maybe… hate the first one?

Aradia suddenly felt a heavy weight on her back as some bitch’s ass landed right upon her saddle. For some reason that didn’t make her very happy. She wanted to tell her mean words, but wasn’t really sure how she’d even do that. Why would a pony even need to do that?

#Mod O #Aradia Megido #inanimate tf #pony tf #carousel tf

[mikegranich87]

Pixel 5a review: The 4a 5G wasn't broken, so Google didn't fix it

The Pixel 6 is just around the corner. But before Google brings it and its Tensor mobile chip to market, the company is updating its entry level offering with the $449 Pixel 5a. The whole point of the “a” family is to offer the basics at a reasonable price without sacrificing too much of the Pixel experience in the process. That means a relatively clean version of Android with a bunch of AI tricks and a heavy focus on photography.

But apparently Google feels like it more or less nailed that formula with the Pixel 4a 5G because the 5a is basically the same phone. (Note: The Pixel 5a is not a direct successor to the 4a, which was a much smaller device.) There are some differences — notably the addition of IP67 waterproofing — but most of the tweaks are extremely minor. Even the processor and RAM haven’t changed. So, if we said you could do better way back in October of 2020, what does that mean for the 5a in the fall of 2021?

Well, it makes the Pixel 5a about as unexciting as a phone can be, for one. But look, boring isn’t necessarily bad. Especially when you’re talking about the mid and lower tiers of the smartphone market. For one, keeping things staid allows Google to focus its efforts on battery life and performance optimization. And just like the last generation of Pixels, the 5a feels pretty responsive despite the aging Snapdragon 765G inside. That said, the 765G wasn’t exactly top of the line last year, and it’s starting to show its limits. While scrolling through the UI and doing simple things like reading email and sending text messages, the 5a is indistinguishable from any flagship device. It even handles most mobile games without a hiccup. I spent some time playing The Elder Scrolls: Blades and Wild Castle and the phone barely broke a sweat.

But, I did notice it stutter a few times while navigating YouTube, editing photos and jotting down my thoughts for this review in Evernote. The latter I could easily chalk up to Evernote’s questionable development over the last few years, but the pauses while switching to fullscreen in YouTube and swapping filters in Google Photos are a bit more concerning.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The plus side of going with something a bit older and lower-powered (not to mention with an integrated 5G modem) is power efficiency. The 4a 5G was already something of a beast, lasting over 17 hours in our battery drain test before our reviews editor Cherlynn Low simply gave up and moved on with her life. That device had a 3,885mAh battery. The 5a has a 4,680mAh cell. It took 22 hours and 56 of playing a video on loop at 50-brightness before it finally powered down.

After 24 hour of heavy usage — playing games, repeatedly running 5G speed tests, installing apps, watching videos on YouTube and even letting it play sleep sounds overnight — the battery was still at 40 percent. It didn’t finally crap out until almost 2AM on day two. And if you turn on Extreme Battery Saver, things could get even more absurd. I’m fairly confident that under normal use you could get a full 48 hours out of the Pixel 5a before needing to find an outlet.

Battery life isn’t the only difference between the 5a and 4a 5G: The new phone is also IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. At a time when many smartphones have at least some form of water resistance the Pixel 4a 5G was sort of a disappointment. In fact, the lack of waterproofing was one of the big cons called out in our review. But the Pixel 5a should easily survive getting caught in the rain or if you drop it in a toilet. It can withstand being submerged in water up to one meter deep for 30 minutes, but I wouldn’t push this to its limits. Definitely don’t go swimming with it in your pocket.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The last difference between the Pixel 5a and the 4a 5G is in the size and construction, but it’s subtle. The 5a has a metal unibody as opposed to a polycarbonate one. The texture is still matte and similar to the softtouch of the previous models, though, and the upgrade to Gorilla Glass 6 from Gorilla Glass 3 is notable, but you’ll never notice the difference in daily use. The 5a comes in one finish: Mostly Black. Some might find the look a little dull, and it’s certainly on the utilitarian side, but I quite liked the feel of the phone. The finish is a nice contrast to the seemingly endless sea of smooth glassy surfaces and the heft is just right, too.

The 5a is ever so slightly larger and heavier, but you’re talking about a few millimeters and grams. Even if you had a Pixel 4a 5G in one hand and a Pixel 5a in the other you’d be hard pressed to figure out which is which.

The change in size mostly comes down to the slightly larger screen. The OLED panel on the 5a is 6.34 inches, versus 6.2 inches on the 4a 5G. Otherwise, though, the screens are basically the same. The increased resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 makes up for the size difference so they both have a density of 413 ppi. Both also sport a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and support HDR and are stuck at now outdated 60Hz. And both are just bright enough to use in direct sunlight, though high brightness mode is definitely a necessity if you’re watching a video outdoors.

Even the holepunch for the front-facing camera is in the same place. That said, I appreciated Google’s “for fun” wallpapers that camouflage the hole by incorporating it into the design. My favorite is the record player where the camera becomes the hole at the center of an LP.

That 8-megapixel front-facing camera, by the way, is one of the weak points of the 5a. It does the job in perfect lighting and for video calls. But details can be a bit soft, in low light it gets noisy and portrait mode is hit or miss. Overall, I found Google’s portrait feature to be a bit too aggressive even on the main camera. You can easily adjust the blur and depth after the fact, but the default settings could stand to be more subtle.

The selfie cam, though, is the same one found on the Pixel 4a 5G, so none of this is a surprise. In fact, all of the cameras are the same. The two sensors around the rear, however, are much better than the one on the front. There’s a 12.2-megapixel main shooter with optical image stabilization and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens. They have a somewhat “moody” vibe when compared to shots from an iPhone or a Galaxy device, but they’re not obviously inferior. And even though images taken with the wide-angle lens can get a little fuzzy if you start zooming in on details, Google’s processing does an admirable job of minimizing barrel distortion. Google isn’t at the top of the smartphone camera heap anymore, but it’s not far off and photography is still an undeniable strong suit of the Pixel family.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

There’s nothing new to report, though. It’s the same set of excellent photography features that you got last year: Portrait lighting can help clean up and add some contrast to photos of people (but sadly not pets — the option only appears if a human face is detected). Night Sight turns on automatically in dim lighting and at times produces mind-blowing results. And the video stabilization modes are excellent. Cinematic Pan, which combines slow motion with super smooth movement, is especially fun.

Also, just like every other “a” model Pixel, this one has a headphone jack. All I can say is: That’s great, now please bring the headphone jack back to flagship phones. I know I’m not the only person clamoring for it. And it drives me nuts that the only way to get an old-school 3.5mm jack on my phone is to go down market.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

One last thing to mention: The actual full name of the phone is the Pixel 5a with 5G. So, guess what, it supports 5G connectivity. That’s not really surprising since the Snapdragon 765G has an integrated 5G modem. Unlike the Pixel 4a 5G, however, there is no mmWave variant of the 5a. And, although technically it’s capable of C-Band support, it’s currently not enabled and Google wouldn’t commit to adding support in the future. That’s not a huge deal at the moment since there are no active C-Band networks in the US yet. But it might irk some when AT&T and Verizon start flipping the switch, likely sometime later this year. That said, full C-Band rollout isn’t expected to happen until at least late 2023.

Those caveats out of the way, 5G still seems stuck in a state of arrested development. I tested the Pixel 5a using Google Fi, which essentially means I was on T-Mobile’s network and speeds were all over the place. In my home, it was often slower than Verizon’s LTE network, averaging around 35mbps down. (Note: Verizon is Engadget’s parent company… for now.) But two and half miles up the road at a local Subaru dealership I was routinely getting over 300mbps down, topping out at 370mbps.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Of course, 5G and excellent cameras aren’t a rarity at this price any more. Mid-tier phones have come a long way over the last few years. The problem for Google is, it no longer clearly “owns the midrange.” Part of that is down to price. While the 5a is $50 cheaper than the 4a 5G, it’s not the obvious bargain that the 4a was at $350. If it was even just $50 cheaper still, the 5a would be a much easier sell at $399.

The Samsung A52 5G is slightly more expensive at $500 (though regularly on sale for less) and has a slower Snapdragon 750G SoC. But, its Super AMOLED screen clearly outclasses the Pixel’s and has a 120Hz refresh rate. Plus, its camera system is much sharper and feature-packed (but that doesn’t necessarily mean “better”). In addition to a primary camera and ultra-wide shooter, there’s a macro lens and a depth sensor that helps with portrait mode. While both the A52 and 5a ship with 128GB of storage, the Samsung has an advantage in that it has a microSD card slot.

Then there’s the OnePlus Nord N2 5G. It has a trio of cameras around the back, including a 50-megapixel primary sensor, an AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, and up to 12GB of RAM. Then again, it has a MediaTek processor, which you rarely see in phones in the US and with good reason: They’re not exactly known for their high-end performance. But perhaps more importantly, you’re highly unlikely to be making a choice between the Nord N2 and the Pixel 5a since the former isn’t available in the US, and the later is only available in the US and Japan.

Of course, if you’re more of an iOS fan, the obvious comparison would seem to be the iPhone SE. It’s the same price as the Pixel 5a for a 128GB model, but it does feel quite a bit dated. It still uses the old iPhone 8 form factor with a Touch ID home button instead of Face ID, it's positively miniscule at 4.7 inches and doesn’t support 5G. Frankly, if you’re dead set on iOS, I might suggest saving your pennies and springing for the $699 iPhone 12 mini.

So, no, Google doesn’t “own the midrange” any more. The Pixel 5a is almost aggressively boring, but it’s not bad. If you want the Pixel experience and don’t want to break the bank, this is the way to go. But if you’re just looking for the best bang for your buck, the choice is far less clear.

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-5-a-review-android-midrange-5g-smartphone-160051630.html?src=rss

[bloggerjoedoe]

The new iPad Air.

Ever since its launch in late 2015, the 12.9” iPad Pro has been my primary computer. The combination of a large display – the largest Apple makes for iPads – with software that properly takes advantage of it (see: Split View, multiwindow, multicolumn) makes the 12.9” Pro an ideal blend of laptop-like usability and tablet modularity. If you’re looking for power and flexibility, the 12.9” iPad Pro is the ne plus ultra of the iPad line.

Before the iPad Pro, however, it was the iPad Air 2 that convinced me the iPad could be a suitable replacement for a MacBook. In my review of the iPad Air 2 in early 2015, which I published just a few months before the iPad Pro’s debut, I called the device a “liberating” experience, noting how it struck a balance of high portability and versatility that enabled me to get more work done from more places. In spite of the iPad Pro’s superiority – especially in terms of display size – I’m always going to have a soft spot for the iPad Air as the device where my modern iPad journey began.

For the past few days, I’ve been testing Apple’s latest iPad Air, which comes out this Friday starting at $599 for the 64 GB, Wi-Fi model. While the 10.9” Air won’t replace the 12.9” iPad Pro as my primary machine, I’ve been impressed by this iPad for a different reason: the iPad Air democratizes the notion of “pro iPad”, bringing key features of iPad Pro to more customers, while at the same time looking ahead toward the future of iPad with hardware not seen on the current iPad Pro lineup. The iPad Air sits at the intersection of old iPad Pro features trickling down to the rest of the iPad line and new ones appearing on this model first. This makes the iPad Air a fascinating device to review, as well as a compelling alternative to another iPad of similar dimensions: the 11” iPad Pro.

Five years after the iPad Air 2, I’m intrigued by an iPad Air again. Let me explain why.

Exclusive Wallpapers and More

Wallpapers for iPad and AppStories Episode

By subscribing to Club MacStories, you’ll gain exclusive access to a selection of wallpapers specifically designed for the iPadOS 14 Home Screen, including the new iPad Air.

Created by our designer Silvia Gatta and modeled after the iPhone wallpapers we shared in my iOS 14 review, these wallpapers feature colorful gradients and a special area dedicated to widgets. The wallpapers are available in five different color variations for the new iPad Air, iPad Pro (12.9” and 11”), and iPad mini and they’re optimized for the iPad Home Screen in landscape mode.

You can find screenshots of my Home Screen with these wallpapers in the story; if you’re a Club MacStories member, you can download the wallpapers in your member area at macstories.memberful.com.

We also recorded a special episode of our podcast AppStories all about my thoughts on the iPad Air. You can listen to the episode below.

Touch ID

The 2020 iPad Air experience starts with a contradiction: Apple has adopted the same industrial design of the 2018 iPad Pro with a Liquid Retina Display that extends into all four corners of the screen, replacing the physical Home button with a virtual Home indicator; however, the iPad Air doesn’t support Face ID authentication, which in 2018 was widely regarded as the reason for dropping a physical Home button and Touch ID. In fact, the iPad Air doesn’t come with a TrueDepth camera system for the front-facing camera, period. Instead, the iPad Air offers something that only certain MacBook models have offered so far: a Touch ID sensor built into the top button.

This implementation of Touch ID is a first on iOS and iPadOS devices, which never offered a fingerprint sensor in the top button that is used for shutdown and/or Siri. On the new iPad Air, the Touch ID button is located in the top right corner of the device when held in portrait (with the USB-C port – also new in this generation – at the bottom). Compared to the iPad Pro model that this device most closely resembles – the 11” iPad Pro, which I’m going to cover below – the Touch ID button is thicker and elongated (it’s nearly twice the length of the top button on the 11” iPad Pro), features a glossy finish based on the device’s color (my review unit has a Sky Blue finish), and has a very slight bump compared to the same button on iPad Pro.

The new Touch ID button.

From a merely tactile standpoint, the longer shape and bump help in identifying the button by feel: on the 11” iPad Pro, I often find myself sliding my index finger up and down for a second to make sure I’m clicking the top button; on the iPad Air, the different texture, shape, and bump make the button impossible to miss at first touch. Speaking of clicking the button: the sound the iPad Air’s Touch ID button makes is more muted and less clicky than the top button on the iPad Pro; I’m guessing Apple went for a more muted sound signature given how many times people are going to click the button on a daily basis.1

The iPad Air’s Touch ID experience begins at setup with an updated onboarding flow that features new pages for Touch ID configuration. If you’ve ever configured Touch ID on an iPhone or iPad before, you won’t find anything revolutionary here: you’ll be asked to place your finger on the sensor for a first scan of your fingerprint, and after that you’ll have to repeat the process for a more granular scan that captures the edges of your finger. Besides the updated graphics showing the new placement for Touch ID on iPad Air, what’s different this time is that iPadOS’ setup process will prompt you to add a second fingerprint right away so you can more easily unlock the device in either orientation.

Setting up Touch ID on iPad Air.

When I set up my unit, I added both my left and right index fingers since I knew I was going to unlock the device with different fingers based on whether I was in reading mode (portrait, right index finger) or writing mode (landscape, left index finger). I think offering the option of multiple fingerprints at setup is a nice touch, and it shows Apple thought about how folks are going to be holding and using their iPad Air.

In terms of performance, I’ve found the Touch ID sensor fast and reliable in my tests and in line with the accuracy and speed we used to have in older iPhones with the second-generation Touch ID sensor a few years ago. The iPad Air unlocks in a fraction of a second when your finger is placed on the Touch ID sensor and works as expected. I haven’t run into any issues when using Touch ID authentication with the App Store, 1Password, and other apps that required my fingerprint.

I also tried using Touch ID in a different orientation from the one I used when I originally set it up, which is something I assume people are going to do since iPad can be used in all four orientations. My fingerprints were recognized in both landscape and portrait regardless of how they were initially set up, even after I rotated the device by 90 degrees. Touch ID only failed when the iPad was upside down, with the Touch ID button at the bottom and the USB-C port facing up. In that case, neither my left nor right index fingers were recognized – but I’m never going to use my index finger when Touch ID is facing down, so I think this is fine. If, for whatever reason, you want to use your iPad Air this way, I suggest adding your thumb as a Touch ID fingerprint instead. In everyday usage when working on iPad Air with the Magic Keyboard, Smart Folio, or holding it in my hands in portrait, Touch ID has worked well.

As happened before with similar biometric transitions on Apple devices, third-party apps worked with Touch ID out of the box without requiring a specific iPad Air compatibility update. The system automatically embeds a Touch ID indicator at the edge of the screen near the button’s location to suggest where you need to press; this is a UI element similar to the one we’ve seen before with Face ID on iPad Pro.

The Touch ID indicator displayed by iPadOS onscreen.

There are two different ways to unlock iPad Air while on the Lock Screen: you can either wake the display by touching the screen (or pressing the space bar on a connected keyboard) then rest your finger on Touch ID, or you can click the Touch ID button and rest your finger on it for a split second to wake and unlock the device. In either case, a ‘Rest to Open’ message is displayed onscreen near the Touch ID button, and the iPad unlocks as soon as your fingerprint is scanned successfully.

What makes the iPad Air’s new take on Touch ID interesting isn’t necessarily how well it performs (again, based on my tests, really well), but how the experience of using it compares to older iPad models with a Home button and the iPad Pro line with Face ID. This is where I’m torn on my judgement of Touch ID in the iPad Air, and why I believe it ultimately comes down to what you expect from an iPad in 2020.

If you’re coming from a previous-generation iPad Air or other iPad model with a Home button, the new iPad Air lets you keep the ability to unlock your device quickly while adding the fluid gestural interactions originally seen on the iPhone X and iPad Pro. You’re gaining a larger screen with a modern interaction vocabulary that doesn’t sacrifice the convenience of Touch ID. This is especially useful in 2020 if you’re planning to use iPad Air while out and about and wearing a mask. I don’t see any advantage to Touch ID in a Home button. The new placement takes minimal adjustment and you’re getting the real iPadOS multitasking experience entirely based on gestures in return.

It’s a different evaluation if you’re considering this iPad Air as an alternative to the iPad Pro with Face ID. I’ll cut right to the chase: I prefer using my iPad Pro with Face ID. As I wrote in my previous coverage of iPad Pro, the addition of Face ID removed the need to think about unlocking an iPad in the first place. These days, I mostly use my iPad Pro as a stationary device connected to the Magic Keyboard. When I sit down in front of my iPad Pro and open the keyboard case, all I have to do is press the space bar to leave the Lock Screen since Face ID authenticates me automatically. I don’t have to touch anything else. Here lies the aforementioned contradictory nature of the new iPad Air: it looks like an iPad Pro, and it works like an iPad Pro, but it still requires you to lift your fingers off the keyboard to press the Touch ID button. If I had to choose between Face ID and Touch ID for my usage of the iPad on a daily basis, I’d still pick Face ID.

However, my iPad usage isn’t representative of the iPad Air’s potential market, nor do I think existing iPad Pro customers are going to switch from a Pro to the new Air. For this reason, I consider the redesigned Touch ID an improvement over older iPad generations; more importantly, I’d love for Apple to bring this hybrid top button with Touch ID sensor to the iPhone line as an option in addition to Face ID next year. The new Touch ID works great, is well integrated with the device’s chassis, and it feels good not to worry about face coverings again.

The 10.9” Display and Comparisons to the 11” iPad Pro

At first glance, there is virtually no difference between the new iPad Air and the 11” iPad Pro. Both devices share the same rough physical dimensions, weigh basically the same, and look nearly identical when compared side-by-side or when held in one hand. If I didn’t know where to look, and if it weren’t for the different color of my iPad Air review unit, I’d easily mistake the 11” iPad Pro for an iPad Air, and vice versa. They look and feel like the same iPad, and, aside from performance (more on this later), the experience of holding and using them with iPadOS 14 is eerily similar.

The 12.9” iPad Pro (top), 11” iPad Pro (bottom left), and iPad Air.

The iPad Air (top) and 11” iPad Pro.

The iPad Air Home Screen.

The iPad Pro features an 11” Liquid Retina Display with a resolution of 2388 x 1668 pixels. In comparison, the iPad Air has a 10.9” Liquid Retina Display with a resolution of 2360 x 1640 pixels. The iPad Air’s slightly smaller display comes down to the fact that iPad Pro is 0.02 inches wider in landscape (7.02 compared to 7.0 inches) with slightly thinner bezels. The thicker bezels on the Air are noticeable upon a close inspection, but they’re not that much thicker, and they don’t make the Air feel like an old product. Everything about the iPad Air’s build quality feels as premium as the 11” iPad Pro; the increase in thickness (0.23 inches on the Pro; 0.24 inches on the Air) isn’t perceptible when using either device. Holding the new iPad Air feels like holding an 11” iPad Pro; the thicker bezels are the only factor that may break the illusion for the most attentive iPad owners.

The iPad Air (blue Home Screen) has slightly thicker bezels.

iPad Air (left) and the 11” iPad Pro.

As far as iPadOS 14 goes, the iPad Air behaves exactly like the small iPad Pro. As I noted in my review of iPadOS 14 and explanation of multicolumn, built-in apps such as Notes and Mail do not support three concurrent columns in landscape mode on 11” iPads. This is as true on the new iPad Air as it was on the 11” iPad Pro. While developers can code their apps to always support three-column mode in either landscape or portrait orientations, Voice Memos is the only pre-installed Apple app to support three simultaneous columns on smaller iPads such as the 11” iPad Pro and iPad Air. As a result, everything I wrote about iPadOS 14 and its implementation of multicolumn and sidebars in my review applies to the iPad Air, and I recommend reading this section if you’re curious about the technicalities involved. In terms of multitasking and multicolumn, the iPad Air, despite its slightly smaller display, lays out UI elements precisely like the 11” iPad Pro.

The principal display differences between the iPad Air and the 11” iPad Pro come down to the technology used in the high-end iPad Pro: ProMotion. The iPad Air does not offer a ProMotion display with a high refresh rate of 120Hz, and this is one of the areas where, in comparing the small iPad Pro to the iPad Air, a line needs to be drawn. Pitted against the iPad Pro’s ProMotion display, the iPad Air’s standard Liquid Retina Display feels sluggish and old. It feels like the past. Again, I don’t think most people will care about this comparison since they likely won’t switch from an iPad Pro to the Air, but if you’re in the market for a new iPad of this size and care about display fluidity, this needs to be mentioned.

The iPad Air’s display features colorful, vibrant tones (with support for True Tone and wide color) and extends to all four corners of the device, but animations on it aren’t as smooth as on a ProMotion display. If you’ve ever upgraded from an old iPad to a ProMotion-enabled one, you know what I’m talking about.2 The iPad Pro is also slightly brighter thanks to its extra 100 nits (600 compared to 500 on the Air), but, in my experience, this isn’t as noticeable as ProMotion.

In addition to the fluidity of animations and UI transitions (which you can notice right away by simply swiping across Home Screen pages), ProMotion also makes a difference in terms of Apple Pencil latency. As you can imagine, a high display refresh rate equals lower latency, which means that when using the Pencil in apps like Notes, virtual ink will follow the Pencil’s tip more closely. The ability to use the second-generation Apple Pencil with the iPad Air thanks to its flat sides and magnetic pairing is a victory in and of itself, but if you’re an artist or creative professional who wants to buy a new 11” iPad for drawing and sketching, you should keep in mind that ProMotion grants superior Apple Pencil performance on the iPad Pro.

The other differences between the iPad Air and 11” iPad Pro revolve, unsurprisingly, around the technologies and options included in the iPad Pro line that justify its higher price point. Let me break them down and make it easy for you:

Both the iPad Air and iPad Pro have the same 12 MP wide camera. The iPad Air does not offer an ultra-wide camera.

Due to its lack of Face ID, the iPad Air doesn’t come with a TrueDepth front-facing camera, which also means no Portrait selfies or Animoji/Memoji.

The iPad Air doesn’t have a LiDAR scanner.

The iPad Pro has a four-speaker audio system; the iPad Air features stereo speakers in landscape mode.3

The iPad Pro features the A12Z Bionic chip; the iPad Air comes with the A14 Bionic chip (the first built with a 5-nanometer process as opposed to the iPad Pro’s 7-nanometer process).

The iPad Pro’s USB-C port supports data transfers up to 10 Gbps; the iPad Air is limited to 5 Gbps (unless you’re a pro photographer or video maker who transfers heavy assets on a daily basis, you’re not going to notice any difference). The iPad Air supports mirroring to external 4K displays via USB-C as well, which I was able to test with my existing LG UltraFine 4K monitor.4

The iPad Air starts at $200 less than the 11” iPad Pro, but for half the storage: you can get a 64 GB Wi-Fi iPad Air for $599, while the cheapest 11” iPad Pro starts at $799 for 128 GB of storage. At the same storage size (256 GB), the difference between the iPad Pro and Air goes down to $150 ($899 for the Pro and $749 for the Air).

The iPad Pro offers up to 1 TB of local storage; the iPad Air maxes out at 256 GB.

The 2020 iPad Pro comes with 6 GB of RAM; the iPad Air is limited to 4 GB.

As you can see, even though the 11” iPad Pro and iPad Air look similar, there are a handful of differences between them that involve the additional technologies and power available in the iPad Pro line. This shouldn’t surprise anyone since iPad Pro is a machine designed for professional users, whereas the iPad Air is the new mainstream iPad for everyone.

Performance

Those who have read my hardware reviews know that I typically don’t care about benchmarks and raw numbers since they’re not representative of the experience of using an Apple device. I’m making a brief exception in this review because I find the performance story surrounding the new A14 Bionic chip interesting enough to warrant some additional comparisons with the iPad Pro’s A12Z Bionic chip.

The A14 Bionic is a new SoC built on a 5-nanometer process, which is a first for Apple this year on the iPad Air and iPhone 12 lines. The A14 Bionic is packed with 11.8 billion transistors (compared to the A12Z’s 10 billion) and has been touted by Apple with numbers such as “16-core Neural Engine that is twice as fast”, “10 times faster machine learning calculations”, and “40% boost in CPU performance”. I have always trusted Apple with these numbers, but I honestly have no idea what they mean. I’m more interested in the practical advancements that the company’s machine learning improvements have delivered in apps, such as faster indexing in Photos over the past couple years or intelligent photo adjustments powered by Core ML in Pixelmator Photo.

Numbers don’t tell the full story, particularly when it comes to tasks that are challenging to measure in everyday workflows. What I do find interesting, however, is how the A14 Bionic comfortably beats in single-core performance (according to Geekbench) both the 2018 A12X and 2020 A12Z SoCs. As you can see in the table I compiled below, the A14 is behind in multi-core performance, but not by much.

iPad Air, A14 2020 iPad Pro 12.9”, A12Z 2018 iPad Pro 11”, A12X 2018 iPad Pro 12.9”, A12X Single-Core 1583 1128 1118 1118 Multi-Core 4279 4720 4647 4561 RAM 4 GB 6 GB 4 GB 6 GB

I also ran some tests to measure performance of the A14 Bionic in a notoriously CPU-intensive task: exporting 4K video. First, I created an iMovie project on the 2020 iPad Pro 12.9” and iPad Air with a video that is 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. Here’s how long it took both iPads to export that project as a 4K video to the Photos app:

2020 iPad Pro, A12Z: 2 minutes and 33 seconds

iPad Air, A14: 2 minutes and 50 seconds

A 17-second difference isn’t too shabby for a device that doesn’t have ‘Pro’ in its name. I then doubled the project and attempted to export a 9-minute video in 4K:

iPad Pro: 5 minutes and 7 seconds

iPad Air: 5 minutes and 39 seconds

This is an example of a common task people may find themselves performing on their iPads, and I’m sure other users will find more accurate and creative ways to measure performance differences between the A12Z and A14, but these numbers sum up the iPad Air’s performance story well. The A14 is a beast, and I have to wonder about the kind of performance we’ll be able to squeeze out of the (inevitable?) A14X in future iPad Pro models (or upcoming Apple Silicon Macs?).

In terms of everyday usage, the iPad Air (lack of ProMotion notwithstanding) feels just as responsive and fluid as my 2020 iPad Pro. I haven’t yet run into any scenarios where the two extra GBs of RAM on the iPad Pro enabled functionalities that weren’t possible on iPad Air5, but this is still something you should be mindful of if you’re someone who leaves complex shortcuts running for long periods of time or cares about keeping dozens of Safari tabs preserved in memory. Generally speaking, the only difference I notice when using the iPad Air in a normal workday (browsing Safari, chatting in Slack, writing in iA Writer, programming in Shortcuts, etc.) is the lack of a high display refresh rate. Considering this isn’t an iPad Pro, this says a lot about the performance provided by the A14 in real-life scenarios.

Accessories

Apple provided me with the following accessories for iPad Air: a Magic Keyboard, second-generation Apple Pencil, and “matching” Smart Folio in the Deep Navy color.

There isn’t much to say about the Apple Pencil that I haven’t already covered in previous stories on my experience with iPad Pro. This is the same second-generation Apple Pencil that attaches magnetically to the side of iPad Pro, which can now be paired the same way with iPad Air thanks to its redesigned chassis and inner magnetic configuration. As I noted above, the only difference between using the Pencil on the iPad Pro and iPad Air is the performance granted by the ProMotion display on the Pro line. In any case, as I also wrote in my iPadOS 14 review in the Apple Pencil section, I primarily work on my iPad with the keyboard and my usage of Apple Pencil is very limited, so take my advice with the proverbial grain of salt.

The Magic Keyboard for iPad Air isn’t really an iPad Air version of it. Because of the physical similarities between devices, the iPad Air uses the same Magic Keyboard model of the 11” iPad Pro – it’s not a new version of the keyboard introduced last March. It’s literally the same product: on the Apple online store, it is listed as Magic Keyboard for iPad Air and iPad Pro 11”. The label on my review unit says ‘Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro 11-inch’. Since the iPad Air doesn’t have the same rear camera module as the 2020 iPad Pro with an ultra-wide lens and LiDAR scanner, the single rear camera looks as lonely inside the Magic Keyboard camera slot as it does when using an old 2018 iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. You can tell the case was designed for a later generation of iPads, but it looks fine.

The iPad Air, Magic Keyboard, and Apple Pencil.

Sometimes, it gets lonely in there.

As for typing on the Magic Keyboard itself, the same considerations of the 11” iPad Pro apply here: I personally prefer typing with a 12.9” Magic Keyboard because I have relatively large hands and I find the wider keyboard more comfortable to use, but I know plenty of iPad users who are absolutely fine with the 11” form factor. Whether you’re going to enjoy typing on the Magic Keyboard for iPad Air depends on your relationship with 11” tablets and the ergonomics of this keyboard for your hands and wrists. Since Apple reused the same Magic Keyboard introduced a few months ago for this iPad, I suggest reading my story about the Magic Keyboard here and my thoughts on the system-wide iPadOS pointer here in case you missed them.

You may have noticed the quotes I put around “matching” color for the Smart Folio above. In short, I’m not a fan of the color options for the iPad Air’s Smart Folio models since there’s a clear color mismatch between the iPad Air’s hardware and the cover. The iPad Air’s new Sky Blue color is bright, fun, and subtle; I find the Deep Navy Smart Folio, well, navy and somewhat boring. That’s not to mention the cool, fresh, minty ‘Green’ variation of the 2020 iPad Air and the utter disgrace that is the ‘Cyprus Green’ version of the Smart Folio.

The Deep Navy Smart Folio.

Why are the iPad Air colors so fun and the Smart Folio flavors so dull and uninspired? Why couldn’t the iPad Air also have the same Pink Citrus, Cactus, and Surf Blue colors for the Smart Folio for iPad Pro? The Smart Folio gets the job done, and I don’t think there’s anything I need to say about it in 2020 that I haven’t already shared several times before; however, I wish the available color options matched the iPad Air’s fun aesthetic.

Everything Else

Here’s a collection of miscellaneous notes and tidbits about the new iPad Air based on my experience with the device.

Four-speaker audio vs. the iPad Air’s two-speaker system. Unlike the iPad Pro, the new iPad Air comes with a two-speaker system that doesn’t sound nearly as good as the iPad Pro’s four-speaker one. This isn’t surprising, I guess, but sound coming out of the iPad Air’s speakers isn’t as full or rich as the iPad Pro. The best way to describe the iPad Air’s audio is that it sounds washed out. These aren’t bad speakers per se, but while I would easily recommend using an iPad Pro as a decent-quality portable speaker around the house, I wouldn’t say the same about the iPad Air’s speaker system. It sounds okay, but I wouldn’t listen to a full album on it.

The iPad Air comes with a 20W USB brick. Apple didn’t remove the USB adapter from the iPad Air’s package like they recently did for Apple Watch and iPhone. Inside the box, you’ll find a 20W USB-C adapter and standard USB-C cable. Alas, as with previous iPad Pro models, this is a “thin” USB-C cable that doesn’t support fast data transfers or mirroring to external 4K displays.

The iPad Air’s USB-C port.

The Sky Blue color. I received a Sky Blue review unit from Apple, and the blue tone is more subtle than I expected. In broad daylight, it is light blue, but it doesn’t look nearly as blue as the two blue tones of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, for instance. It’s more like a light blue/grayish color. While I was testing the iPad Air indoors with standard fluorescent light bulbs illuminating my living room, my friends thought it was silver. I’m curious to see if the green model looks greener in practice.

Apple’s Sky Blue color.

Which version of iPadOS was it running? My review unit was running iPadOS 14.0 out of the box. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t able to restore from the backup of my primary iPad Pro since that was already running the iPadOS 14.2 developer beta, and there was no iPadOS 14.2 restore image for me to download from the Apple Developer portal for the iPad Air. I set it up as a new iPad and updated to iPadOS 14.1 yesterday.

The 2020 iPad Air

The 10.9” iPad Air is a fascinating new entry in the iPad lineup. On one hand, this iPad clearly resembles the 11” iPad Pro but lacks some of its more advanced features and options to hit a lower price point; on the other, because most iPad users aren’t going to require those extra niceties, the iPad Air feels like an ideal mix of mainstream and pro – a distillation of what makes the modern iPad Pro experience great, but offered in a more affordable package that covers the essentials, from support for the second-generation Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard to the Liquid Retina Display and gesture-based multitasking. And the iPad Air does all this while looking forward at the future of iPad as a computer for everyone, with new technologies such as the A14 Bionic chip and Touch ID embedded in the top button that I would like to see find their way to more iPad models soon.6

The iPad Air raises the baseline for what we should expect from iPad as a portable, versatile computer for everyone.

Using the new iPad Air begs the question: what does the future hold for the 11” iPad Pro?

As I’ve noted multiple times in this review, the comparison between the 11” iPad Pro and iPad Air is probably an unfair one given the different markets the two devices are targeting. However, it is a comparison I wanted to make because these iPads look so similar, and because I feel like a lot of readers will ask themselves whether they should purchase the new iPad Air rather than an 11” iPad Pro. Arguably, the options still exclusive to the iPad Pro are nice extras, but unless you have precise requirements in terms of performance, display quality, and size, I think the iPad Air is a better deal than the 11” iPad Pro for most people.

It’s important to note how, in relaunching iPad Air as a device inspired by the iPad Pro’s fundamental traits, Apple didn’t use the 12.9” iPad Pro as their template, but they started from the smaller, and more manageable, 11” iPad Pro. At its core, the modern iPad experience is all about striking a fine balance between portability, power, and modularity. The iPadOS experience in 2020 is rooted in the idea that you should be able to hold a screen in your hands and use it with multitouch, or scribble on it with a Pencil, or dock it in a Magic Keyboard and use it as a laptop. The inherent flexibility granted by a compact form factor made the 11” iPad Pro the ideal blueprint for a reimagined iPad Air, which, on balance, is a more flexible, accessible iPad than a 12.9” iPad Pro for all kinds of tasks, contexts, and workflows.

I wouldn’t be surprised if making the iPad Air so similar in specs and feel to the 11” iPad Pro is a way for Apple to further differentiate the iPad Pro line in the future with even larger models and additional pro options. Right now, I believe the most important consideration as to whether you should buy an iPad Pro isn’t about the technical differences between the Air and 11” Pro I highlighted in this review: it’s about whether you need a 12.9” iPad Pro in your life. Ultimately, this is why I find Apple’s new iPad Air a forward-looking device: it gives us a glimpse of what to expect from the future of the iPad family (more iPad Pro-inspired models), but it also gives us a hint at where the iPad Pro line may be headed next. With the arrival of iPad Air, I feel like the market for the 11” iPad Pro just shrunk considerably.

The iPad Air raises the baseline for what we should expect from iPad as a portable, versatile computer for everyone. If you’re looking for an 11” tablet and think you can live without ProMotion and larger storage options, this is the iPad I recommend.

Or maybe it’s just the byproduct of adding a Touch ID sensor to the top button. I’d love to know. ↩︎

When I did, I wrote about it in my coverage of the 10.5” iPad Pro in 2017. ↩︎

There’s one speaker at the top, and another at the bottom of the device. The iPad Air featured stereo speakers before, but sound was always coming from one side; now, the two speakers can properly output left and right channels in landscape mode. ↩︎

In theory, as I covered a while back, the iPad Pro supports mirroring to external 5K displays. However, I’ve never been able to find an external 5K display that supports iPad Pro mirroring over USB-C. ↩︎

But I’m also not an animal, and I clean up all my Safari tabs on a daily basis. ↩︎

Imagine an iPad mini with an A14 Bionic, Liquid Retina Display, and Touch ID. That’s the dream. ↩︎

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[iwantunique]

Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019

Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019: It’s quite possible that you’re not quite sure about what to fill in her stocking with? Well, there are several occasions when our mind goes on a walk and we are unable to pick up the best stocking stuffers for our special woman; and we result in a dilemma of what cool things to get for Christmas this season! So, while you’re busy shopping for Christmas, make sure you don’t miss out on the Stockings! The amazing stockings are the best and most joyous things to search right on Christmas morning; both for adults and kids.  Whether looking for stocking stuffer ideas for girlfriend or home gifts for her or best Christmas gift ideas for wife, or cool Christmas gift ideas for mom; every single stuff of ours suits every personality. Along with uniqueness, these presents hold the tag of affordable too! These cool gift ideas from our picks guarantee you to put a priceless smile on your special woman. These gifts will make her fall with you all over again when she opens these presents. There are both expensive and cheap stocking stuffer ideas too and we promise that each gift is ideal for every woman. So, see our gathered list of the best stocking stuffers for women 2019! About Best stocking stuffers for women 2019 1.Thick Heat Trapping Thermal Neck Warmers About this Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019 Product: 2 Men's neck warmers, women's neck warmers keep your neck warm and dry way better than a scarf; Each winter neck warmer has high-quality thermal yarn for max heat retention; Polar neck gaiter set comes in the colors Grey, Black, Blue, and Purple, or BrownSoft yet breathable fleece interior of neck warmer is warm and cozy; Men's neck gaiter, women's neck gaiter slips overhead to cover neck, mouth, ears, and faceNeck warmer has moisture management and thermal properties for winter; Neck gaiter winter is great for men, women, cold weather; Ideal for skiing, snowboarding, sledding, toboggan, running, and other outdoor activitiesSnow Neck Warmer Shell: 100% Acrylic, Lining: 100% Polyester; 8” H x 11” L; the Adult warmer neck is one size fits most; Neck warmers also fit teens and some juniors; Neck warmers made in China(2) Unisex Arctic Extreme Neck Warmers, Choose Color Of Neck Warmer Set From Dropdown Menu: 2 Brown, 2 Marled Gray, 2 Black, or 1 Blue and 1 Purple; New In Retail Packaging

Promising review: " Oh my gosh I can't stop telling people about these... I'm newish to the neck warmer game, but regardless these are so amazing! My bf and I each have 1 in black and 1in gray now, so we can still wear 1 when we're washing the other. He works outside a lot doing Carpentry work in Philadelphia, so he deals with nasty weather, for hours straight, on a regular basis. He said these keep him so warm that sometimes he has to take it off to cool down! I use mine every day too, I have to run in and out of places a lot, so it's awesome to have an easy slip-on slip-off type accessory. "--Rebecca McNulty Get it from Amazon for $14.99 2. Safe Personal Alarm Keychain for Woman SAFE PERSONAL ALARM: 🔊 Safesound personal alarm for women, men, kids and the elderly. Feel safe with the personal alarm for women's keychain!PERSONAL ALARM: 🔊 Take the safe sound personal alarm keychain for hiking, joggers, self-defense, personal protection, emergency, and your safety.PERSONAL SAFETY ALARM:🔊 Pull the pin of the safe personal alarm and the loud high decibel 130db siren sound will scream.EASILY CARRY: 👜 Safe sound personal alarm is mini-sized and portable to be attached to your keychain, backpack, ladies' bag, belt loops, schoolbag, suitcases.LED LIGHT: 🌟 This personal alarm for women features a bright led flashlight which will be helpful in low to no light situations.BONUS:🔊 We added a seatbelt cutter window breaker to the personal safety alarm and self-defense, vehicle emergency tool. Safety personal alarm and self-defense.RISK-FREE GUARANTEE:🔊 If for any reason you are not satisfied with the personal alarms for women purchase, contact us. safe sound person alarm

Promising review: " I got these for my 87-year-old father in law, his neighbor's dogs bark literally non stop, he pulled the pin right out his back door and those dogs remain quiet for several hours, he loves it, it is definitely loud"--Patty Get it from Amazon for $16.99 3. LE EMILIE 5 Toe Moisturizing Gel Socks Minutes of daily pampering is all it takes to turn dry, rough skin on feet and heels into radiant feeling and looking skin. Just slide on our refreshing moisturizing gel socks enriched with premium therapeutic oils Lavender, Jojoba and Vitamin E essential oils, and let the socks do the work for you. Each pair can be used up to 40 times. Save yourself time and money by doing this luxury spa foot treatment at home. For a more intense treatment, use with a skin moisturizer. These make the perfect stocking stuffer, Mother's Day Gift or anytime present for friends or family! About Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019: DEEP MOISTURIZING: Unlike many similar products on the market, the Le Emilie 5-toe gel socks with our NEW and IMPROVED comfort-fit elastic ankle band are made with premium therapeutic oils that moisturize and soften feet, heels, and toes that are dry, cracked, rough or splitting.PREMIUM GEL LINING: Our specially formulated solid gel lining developed to use over and over again while maintaining its healing properties. Each pair can use up to 40 times.VITAMIN ENRICHED: Lavender essential oil known for its relaxing and healing effects on the body along with its pleasant scent. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps slow down aging and adds extra moisture to the skin.

Promising review: " I really like these socks. I wear a size 8 and they fit well. The toes are really long, but it doesn't cause a problem. I haven't had any problem with the heal sliding off. I put them on yesterday right after a foot mask and slept with them on. They keeping my feet well moisturized and soft. They are also very warm. I've been walking around with them on and haven't noticed a problem. "--Robin Get it from Amazon for $12.95 4. Pro Beauty Sponge Makeup Blenders THE BEST MAKEUP BLENDER SPONGE YOU WILL EVER USE! Tired of cakey, stubborn foundation? Want a more natural, airbrush finish? This is what your makeup routine has been missing! It's not the makeup; it's how you apply your makeup.SOFTER, SMOOTHER LOOKING SKIN: Use wet or dry, Latex Free makeup blender sponges apply an even, flawless face. Foundation, concealer, setting powder, blush, bronzer goes on beautifully. Great for prepping the skin with moisturizers, primer, and BB creams.BUILDABLE COVERAGE: Get lighter or heavier coverage depending on how you apply. It absorbs very little makeup so it saves you money.EASY TO USE & CLEAN: Pro or a novice, these makeup blender sponges are easy to integrate into your daily routine.

Promising review: " Okay so I purchased these ready to throw in the pile of all the other unused fake beauty blenders that I own. However, this one fooled me. The first thing I notice that sets this apart from the others was the texture, they hit this on the head. When you wet them they grow one half the size of a BB which to me is a PLUS!. They are really soft and easy to work with. I got a flawless finish each time with these. There is a downside to these sponges, you can't wash them with soap as you do a BB. Once you put any type of soapy product to clean them the texture changes to an almost clay-like texture. They won't look or feel the same after you do this."--Antoinette Huff Get it from Amazon for $14.97 5. Hair Drying Towels Wrap GET 4 HIGH-QUALITY HAIR DRYING TOWEL - Microfiber material: absorbent (300 GSM) and fast drying. Great for people who wash hair daily and want to reduce hairdryer use, perfect product to help hair dry naturally While you do Makeup or Get Dress or Whatever. Good for curly hair and Very Convenient to Use!REDUCE HAIR FRIZZ AND SPLIT ENDS - as the hair dries without rubbing your hair gets dries gently thus reducing the hair frizz.DRIES YOUR HAIR NATURALLY AND EFFECTIVELY - take care of your hair gently and with health in mind. This wrap towel designed to DRY hair without RUBBING and so helps reduce postpartum hair loss as wellAVOID DAMAGING YOUR HAIR WITH OVERHEATING - hairdryer can damage your hair in the long term and also cause frizz. Using this towel eliminates the use of a hairdryer.COMFORTABLE AND CONVENIENT USE - Wrap your Hair in the Towel When You Get out of Shower or After Hair Washing, secure the towel with the button and you are free to deal with anything. A button and a loop at the back that stops it from unraveling.

Promising review: "This hair wraps work just perfectly! I get done washing my hair and wrap my hair up in these towels while I finish washing my face, etc and they keep my hair out of the way. And I used to use a towel wrapped around my head but the towel would always fall off as I moved around but these keep everything wrapped up in this pretty colored towel wrap. I would definitely recommend. In fact, I am going to buy more for the other women in my family."--CA Get it from Amazon for $10.45 6. Hair Scalp Massager Shampoo Brush Hair Massager Scalp Suitable for all kinds of people: For women, No need to worry about your long nails. For men, Deep clean and reduce stress. For kids, Be the first lesson to learn how to clean hair all by themselves. (children love it) Make a game-changing addition to your shower routine. About Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019: Shampoo brush with a perfect grip handle to fit your hand comfortably (Manual with no battery required & Waterproof)Massager with soft thick silicone bristles stimulate blood flow to the scalp and oil glands (Deep clean and exfoliate the scalp)Relax the scalp muscles and reduce stress (Wonderful Feeling)No need to worry about your long nails or sensitive scalp (as well as all hair types)

Promising review: " At first I thought this wouldn't be comfortable cause it looked so... spikey... but god it's so relaxing! Especially after a long day at work and you're trying to wind down in the tub. It feels great to use this to rub shampoo/conditioner into your scalp. I do it with a face mask on at the same time and it seriously feels like a DIY spa."--E.M. Get it from Amazon for $5.99 7. Women Girls Fuzzy Slipper Socks Cabin Soft Fluffy Warm PACKAGE INCLUDE Slipper fuzzy socks for women or girls.SOFT & FUZZY & COZY: The fuzzy slipper socks are blended of high-quality materials, super-soft coral velvet inner design, It's very soft, comfortable and breathable, no itching issue. It's a great gift and also perfect socks for women or girls.MICROFIBER & HIGH ELASTIC: This cabin socks designed with high elastic microfiber fabric, the soft-touch features will make your feet feel comfortable and keep the feet warm.ONE SIZE FIT MOST: These Women / Girls fuzzy socks come is a standard US SIZE that fit shoe sizes from US 5 - 9, so everyone can enjoy these colorful, fashion, funny socks. Please do not iron them and suggesting wash them by hand, Great quality socks require the proper care!FIT MANY OCCASIONS : This fuzzy socks are suitable for any situation, you can wear them as cabin socks, sleeping socks, school socks, outdoor socks, home socks, Christmas socks, slipper socks, boot socks, funny socks, thermal socks, microfiber socks, house socks, cozy socks, sherpa socks, novelty socks,fleece-lined socks in Spring, fall, winter season or in any cold weather or snow areas!BEST GIFT CHOICE: These unique fuzzy socks come with a creative bag, luxury, high-class looking will be a perfect present for Christmas gift, white elephant gift, birthday gift, gag gift, mother's day gift, Christmas stocking stuffer, valentines day gift or Halloween gift.

Promising review: " My Sister-in-law call and said they were great socks and very comfortable!"--Carlos H. Davila Jr. Get it from Amazon for $15.99 8. Female portable urination device teal with case Do you know what's fun about squatting to pee in the great outdoors and baring your rear to bugs, strangers and the cold? Nothing! Have you ever sat down on the toilet in a public restroom to realize that the seat is moist from the previous user? Eww! Never again! Now you can go on long road trips and not be afraid to drink your coffee -because you can GO anywhere! Plan your next big adventure without worries, The Tinkle Belle has you covered! You will quickly discover using The Tinkle Belle provides you freedom and convenience with ease. About Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019: USE IT FULLY CLOTHED No need to bare all of your assets! The Tinkle Belle is specifically designed with a hard shell portion so that you can use it with all of your clothing without it collapsing! It doesn’t overflow or collapse like silicone funnels. Just insert it into a fly or move to clothe down in front, point the spout down, and you are good to GO!NO NEED FOR TOILET PAPER Yes, we know when you are out and about that you may not have extra tissues or wipes with you. No problem! The Tinkle Belle is designed with a soft wiping "squeegee" lip so that you can remove any remaining drops. No wet clothing for The Tinkle Belle!COMPACT & FOLDABLE The Tinkle Belle is LONG when unfolded and being used, but compact when you are out and about! We know that #sizematters. This longer spout allows you to pee further away from your body. No more peeing on your feet and clothes! You can now have the longest pee distance contest! When you're done being victorious, you can fold it in half to make it compact and be a discreet champion!ANATOMICALLY SHAPED The Tinkle Belle is anatomically shaped to fit you! Pee in confidence without leaks or overflow. The anatomical shape allows for the correct seal against your body and our built-in thumb-rests assure proper placement. The aim with precision!

Promising review: " I ordered 2 of them. I do have a go girl and a Venus to Mars. I do really like the Venus to Mars and the tinkle belle set up a lot better than the go girl. And I really do like how the tinkle belle is longer, it folds up and comes with pouches."--Sarah R Get it from Amazon for $27.50 9. Compression Running Socks for Men & Women Unlike normal athletic socks, Physix Gear Low Cut Stamina Socks are designed with gradient compression, The perfect performance running gear designed for any activity where Feet are pushed to the limit. Physix Gear Stamina Socks are engineered with the latest arch to below ankle compression technology, offering targeted foot support unseen on lesser quality socks. About Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019: STYLE AND CONFIDENCE ON YOUR FEET – Finally! A Durable Compression Running Sock designed to last without compromising quality or Comfort. Double-stitched Fabric your Feet will thank you. Feel the immediate Comfort and remarkable design of your new Low Cut Running Socks. Premium Quality stitching for Running, Working or Cycling, Easy to get on even though they are a compression sock!BECAUSE PUSHING YOURSELF THAT EXTRA MILE MATTERS! Get your blood circulating in style! Great for relief of foot swelling, sore feet or increasing foot endurance. Wear Physix No Show socks with flats or running shoes. Prevent Blood pooling in the foot on long journeys & Fits well unlike other Stiff varieties. The compression support spreads evenly midfoot heel to ankle & won't squeeze your aching toe joints. Some more Feature about Best Stocking Stuffers for Women 2019: TAKE YOUR GAME TO THE NEXT LEVEL with Comfortable breathable material & careful construction. No stitches in places where they'll rub or rip together. Stay put Cuffs Soothing feeling at the bottom and sides of foot & no pinching seen with lesser quality socks without ankle support.GRAB CONTROL OF YOUR WELLBEING IN STYLE – An Excellent Non-Slide No Show compression Sock that's durable with a fashionable look & variety colors available. Washable designed with Quality Lycra Fabric built for durability. Customers agree the comfort is amazing.GET READY. TO BECOME A RAVING FAN! – We cut no corners in our product and will cut no corners in our support of you! You are making a very intelligent decision for doing business with our company. We know you're a big deal and we'll only provide you with the finest product and service around or your MONEY BACK! Add your Physix Gear Sport Running Compression Socks to your Cart and experience the Physix Gear Sport customer experience phenomenon!

Promising review: " A bit of history is required to explain why. A little over a year ago, I twisted both my ankles. I had twisted my ankles much worse in the past and recovered fine within a couple of weeks. But I’m older now, and I did not heal. I stopped all sorts of physical activity – hiking, treadmill, elliptical, and weight lifting. I went to the doctor, who found only soft tissue damage (no fractures or breaks), and told me to keep doing what I had been doing. So a year later, my ankles were still swollen, still tight, and still prone to soreness if I wore heels or walked too much at my mostly sedentary desk job, all while 15 lbs. heavier from lack of physical activity. "--Adriana in Los Angeles Get it from Amazon for $9.74 10. Headbands for Women Sweat Wicking Scarf Bandana Elastic Headband QING headbands feature moisture-wicking technology that allows them to keep you dry, feeling clean and also makes them an ideal sportswear option. Each headband has an elastic band in the back part so it can stay in place without adding extra pressure around your head. They have a comfortable fit with back elastic so they don’t slide off. These headbands can be opened up and wear as a bandana or push together and wear as a headband. They also can be used as ponytail headband. These will work and look great with any style of hair. Keep your hair out of your face during workouts and runs! You can hardly remember that you have them on. Made from smooth and soft microfiber, a breathable material that wicks away moisture faster than the leading alternatives. Six colors you can match a lot of outfits

Promising review: " These are the BEST headbands for someone who sweats a lot. There’s no need to look like someone in the “Let’s Get Physical” 1980’s music video with those thick fluffy sweatbands. These can be scrunched to be thin or spread out to cover your whole forehead and effectively soak up the sweat there. I wear this EVERYDAY as I spend a lot of time cleaning and cooking (as a stay at home mom in TX). And I also have really thick hair so these were a great purchase. I also wear them to do yoga and Zumba."--E. Loar Get it from Amazon for $10.99 Read the full article

[angelpriorarchive]

a comprehensive character creation guide

by kate (aka angelprior) 

hello all! this is going to be a very very long post, so i’ve put the meat of it under the cut, but recently i’ve embarked on a journey of severely in-depth characterization for the book i’m co-writing. i thought it would be helpful to both myself and any fellow writers out there to construct a complete and comprehensive set of questions by which to flesh out a character. this guide has over 200+ questions to help you get to know your character better, and to keep your character consistent throughout the story. it’s a great guide to save and come back to throughout your writing process; i’ve organized it into 10 categories (some with sub-categories for better accessibility) and have included some awesome resources that will hopefully help you along the way. this has been constructed with some assistance (i’ve done my best to give credit where credit is due, but if you find the source for something in this guide that is uncredited please let me know so i can give proper credit or take it down) and based off of some help i’ve gotten from past teachers in high school. this guide is solely based on characterization, so if you’re looking for some plot development guides you might have better luck elsewhere (although i have found that a deeper understanding of your characters helps a TON with plotblock). this guide can be used for original characters, both fantasy and real-world based, as well as rpg characters or helping you understand a character better for a fanwork. it can also be used to help you study a character you may be playing as an actor! (there are not necessarily too many fantasy-element based questions, but there are places where you can use whats applicable in your fantasy realm in place of real world alternatives, its all very open ended.) 

tl;dr, here is a guide of over 200 questions to help you become one with your characters, i hope you find it helpful and educational. thank you for your time. 

Character Basics & Physicality

okay, its time to flesh out the basics. knowing exactly who your character is will always begin with their very first formation. when you picture your character in your head, what do you see? you see their body, maybe their aura. likely you already have a name picked out. the vision you first get is their essence. mapping out a characters basic information and body structure is really only the skeleton of what your character can be. getting beyond these basics and adding more to their existence will make them more dynamic and relatable. humans, after all, are much more than we see on the surface. but that surface impression is a great place to start. think of this section as the “what my coworkers know about me” section, facts that can be gleaned through observation or light questioning. things someone would include in a bio, or put on an official document. a great resource for a quick bio page (one that was a HEAVY influence on this questionnaire) was this no-effort character sheet pdf by justsomecynic. i found it amazingly helpful, and they made an awesome printable pdf, so you can have a quick guide to your character ready when you need it! 

the following is split into two categories, basics & physicality. if you feel the need to add extra sections to cover something i missed, throw them in!

Basics

1. Full Name (this one is simple. be sure to include all names your character might have, and if you want, look up definitions of those names, or add what significant events led to your character having said names.)

2. Past Names (this is where you would include any names your character has been known by, either in previous points of your story or before it officially starts. think maiden names, names before transitioning, titles they may have lost, etc.)

3. Ethnicity (heritage is key! if you’re a boring mystery white american like me, your ancestry may have little to no influence on you, but for many others their ethic identity is in credibly influential on how they lead their lives, and how they’re treated. keep in mind: if you are writing for a character of a differing ethnicity from yourself, please do the proper research on what it’s like to live in that culture. obviously this applies to real world cultures, i’m sure none of us know any elves or mages that we could talk to, but if your character is real world based and does not share your cultural experiences, please make sure to connect with people who are actually of that ethnicity and reflect their narrative of living. it will save a lot of hurt, and your work will magnify in quality. please remember general human kindness when constructing any character.)

4. Age (again, straightforward, but if we see your character at multiple ages throughout the story, give a range.)

5. Sexual Orientation (if your character is written to feel a certain way but identify as a conflicting sexuality, write both what your character may be and what they think themselves to be. for example, i have a character that is written as asexual and has textbook asexual feelings, but never comes to terms with her asexuality and continues to identify as heterosexual. again, keep in mind your depiction of groups you do not belong to. my character is ace because i am ace, and i’ve written her to match the narrative of my experiences. but when it comes to my bisexual character, i’m constantly drawing advice from my bisexual friends and other resources to help form a more accurate narrative. be mindful, y’all.)

6. Gender Identity (same as above)

7. Employment Record (include any jobs your character worked both before the story and during. write it like your experience record on a resume!)

8. Criminal Record (character ever got caught breaking a law? served time? minor infraction? accomplice to murder? parking ticket? put it all here!)

9. Birth-date, Time, and Location (you may want to orchestrate this based on your characters birth chart, which we will get to, but make sure to include all circumstances under which your character came to be. not a natural birth? how did they come to exist?)

10. Professional Affiliations (this is a very career oriented segment, but basically this is where you would list some significant professional achievements. an md if they’re a doctor, a certified judge, minted military, ceo status, anything of that nature. the kind of stuff you’d have on a fancy plaque on a door.)

Physicality

consider this section the body basics. these are all things you would notice upon first glance or further study, things a doctor would learn in a routine checkup, things to look for in an actor or faceclaim. 

11. Build (what is your character’s body type & build? this heavily affects diet & exercise.)

12. Height (range if it changes)

13. Weight (range if it changes)

14. Eye Color (here’s a cool chart if you want to get technical with your selection!)

15. Hair

15a. Color (natural and artificial)

15b. Length (range if it changes)

15c. Style (put together a folder of some reference pictures on any styles your character has)

15d. Texture (not all hair is the same consistency! ethnicity plays a role in this. make sure your characters hair type/texture matches their heritage.)

16. Markings (this can be any number of things. tattoos, scars, birthmarks, skin conditions, etc. map them all out on a body model and keep a reference of the design & location of any tattoos, and what they mean to them! tattoos are purposeful & tell a story, write it.)

17. Physical Disabilities (if your character is not able bodied, what is their diagnosis? please do not write characters with disabilities if you have not researched the disability itself and gathered a narrative from folks who have it! with proper research, characters with disabilities are amazing and dynamic and bring representation we sorely need, but without accurate portrayals they become tokenized or stereotypical, and often written in a very ableist fashion. please! be! mindful!)

18. Posture (how does your character sit or stand and what affects this? for example characters with huge boobs will have horrible posture because of all the extra weight. characters raised in high society might have had excellent posture ingrained in them. keep in mind why your character is constructed the way they are, there’s a reason for everything.)

19. Gait (gait is a person’s manner of walking. is it confident? wonky? quick? slow? describe what it is and why.)

20. Vocal Quality & Tone (what does your characters voice sound like and what is their general tone? do they have resting bitch voice? do others find their voice high pitched and annoying?)

21. Volume & Speech Level (are they generally soft spoken or abrasively loud? does this change depending on their environment or remain the same?) 

22. Exercise Regimen (does your character keep their body in shape? how so and how often?)

23. General Health

23a. Diseases (has your character ever contracted/been diagnosed with a disease? research & accurately portray! mindfulness!)

23b. Eating/Weight Disorders (does your character have an eating disorder? an issue gaining or loosing weight? research & accurately portray! eating disorders are real, painful issues that deserve to be treated with respect. mindfulness!)

23c. Dietary Habits (what does your character consume? if you want, design a meal plan for a typical week in their lives. do they try to be healthy or eat whatever they want? any food allergies?)

23d. Allergies (anything your character is allergic to?)

24. Body Language (what does your characters body language look like in the following situations?)

24a. Upon First Meeting

24b. When Discomforted

24c. When in Love

24d. Average/Resting Behavior

24e. Type of Laughter

24f. Type of Cry

25. Appearance Through Physicality (on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the first word and 10 being the second, highlight the number that most accurately represents what your character would present through their physicality. for the first one, for example, just by looking at your character, would they seem more unkempt or meticulous? maybe they fall somewhere in the middle, perhaps a five or six.)

25a. Unkempt 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Meticulous

25b. Timid 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Confident

25c. Harried 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Callous

26. Physical Traits Developed Through Customary Activities (does your character have a physical action they’ve done so many times it’s become an integral part of their physicality? for example, when i was in elementary school other kids used to make fun of me for being short. so to make myself seem taller, i started walking on my toes. i did that so much for so long that now i walk wrong. when you step, you step with your heel first, but because i spent so many years walking that way, i step with my toes. it’s changed the makeup of my body! there are other things that have similar effects. for example, my character is a dancer, so she moves with much more grace and fluidity than others. a character also could have had a past injury, that caused them to be tender with certain movements, have a limp, etc. include all these kinds of things and why they came to be.)

Personality & Social Status

this one gets a little more complicated. here we’ve got 8 subcategories, because personality really can’t be fit into something so small. the full complexity of human beings will always be a fascinating study, and it is my belief that it’s why we create art. i believe that characters are written to show us things, reveal parts of ourselves, and help us gain a higher understanding of what it means to be human. this philosophy shines its brightest when characters are written with full fledged unique personalities. they become human to us when they have likes and dislikes, successes and flaws. personality is what helps a character become real, instead of a plot device wearing the clothes of a human being. your story will have ten fold its intended impact if it contains characters audiences can care about, and we seldom find time to care about two dimensional people. put as much as you can into this section. the more things you can think about, the better. make huge lists in response to these questions, especially about specific things! trying to decide what music your character would listen to? make a damn playlist! gather photos, come up with stories to add reason, put in as many little details as you like. every anecdote and arbitrary preference brings your character one step closer to the truth of being real.

Personality

27. Comforts (what things in life make your character feel comfortable and safe? people? places? textures? sounds? media? smells? anything! bonus: vividly describe their “happy place”.)

28. Vices (what are things your character can’t live without? any real and chronic addictions, like drugs or alcohol? unhealthy obsessions? things they can’t stop fangirling over? can’t go to work without a mocha?)

29. Personal Awareness (how well does your character know themselves? do they know exactly what they like? are they aware when they’ve made a mistake? do they have clear goals?)

30. Confidence Level (how confident is your character in their identity? presentation? behavior? choices? abilities?)

31. Temperament (how quickly are they angered? and by what? are they generally angry?)

32. Career Goals (in a perfect world where everything is achievable, what would be the one thing, or many things, they would want to do in their preferred line of work? what would they like to do in their imperfect world?)

33. Preferred Area of Study (what types of education are they enthusiastic about? have they done much in those areas?)

34. Educational Background (describe their entire schooling and education. list special achievements.)

35. Mental Disabilities (has your character ever been diagnosed with a mental illness? are they concerned they might have one, or have been written to have one, but not received an official diagnosis? describe and portray accurately. again, i cannot stress this enough, even if it is for a piece of fictional, fun writing, it is never okay to disrespect marginalized groups of human beings that you do not belong to. as i said before, representation is fucking important, but if you are not a member of the group you are not of the authority to portray their existence in any way you see fit. there is nothing wrong with having disabled characters. we need more of them. we need to bring visibility to them. but we cannot do so without their voices. it’s their lives, their narrative. do your research. talk to people. do everything you can to get feedback on your character and portrayal. be an advocate for representation, not a voice for stereotypes and bigotry. it is not hard to get assistance. again, your quality will magnify. lastly: please remember that folks with disabilities of any kind (i have seen this most commonly with mental illness but it happens frequently for others as well) are just as human as any able person. their disabilities (or rather our disabilities, i do belong to this group) do not make us any less human or real. don’t use us as a plot device. don’t use our illness as a plot device. we are human, we deserve to be written with clarity and respect. (okay i think this is the last time i will rant about this but NO GUARANTEES))

Inclinations

describe your characters behavior, both in physicality and activities, when in the following situations in detail.

36. When Content

37. When Aggravated

38. When Inebriated

39. When Insulted

40. When Attacked

41. When Praised

42. When Concerned

43. When Suspicious

44. When Trusting

45. When Ecstatic

Affectations

46. What They Lead People to Believe About Themselves (what kind of behavior does your character take on to present a certain image? what is that image? why is it important that they uphold that image?)

47. What They Do To Preserve Their Integrity (how do they act to keep up with their moral beliefs? what do they do to make it known to others that their integrity is intact?)

48. How They Hide A Lie

49. How They Present The Truth

50. Wardrobe

50a. How They Dress

50b. What it Signifies to Them

50c. What They Wish To Communicate Through Their Wardrobe

51. Possessions

51a. What Prevalent Possessions are Owned

51b. What it Signifies to Them

51c. What They Wish to Communicate Through Possessions

Preferences 

feel free to get super detailed here! make extensive lists of specific things, compile photos, booklets, anything. make moodboards! make playlists! archives, anything! have fun with this bit. give your character if somewhat unnecessary flair. you may never end up putting much about these facts in your stories, but you never know what might come up! these are the kind of things that make people people. we’ve all good random interests we’ve gathered along the years. if you want to go even more in depth, come up with anecdotes about how your character came to love these things. if you feel there’s something in one of these categories your character would despise, or more than one thing, list those out too!

52. Activities (both to observe and perform)

53. Genres and Art Types 

54. Food and Drink

55. Colors and Aesthetics (do they prefer warm tones or cool tones? designs with grecian influences? just really into things that remind them of clowns?)

56. Locations (both to be and to visit briefly, big or small scale)

57. People (both in their life, famous, or fictional)

58. Music

59. Literature (not restricted to “fancy books”, just writing pieces)

60. Media (films, television, comics, other)

61. Method of Transportation (both as a passenger and as a performer)

62. Method of Relaxation 

63. Sights 

64. Smells

65. Sensations (touch, motion, textures, i.e. skin to skin, roller coasters or swings, soft velvet)

66. Humor (what style of humor do they find the funniest? i.e. dry, political, situational, slapstick etc)

Distastes

a bit different than preferences, these would be categorically things that your character would find very difficult to put up with, instead of generally disliking. for example, when it comes to things like colors, we often have likes and dislikes based purely on opinion. i hate the color red. there’s no reasoning behind it, i just don’t like it as a color. so if your character dislikes a certain band because they find them annoying, or doesn’t want anything to do with circus themes, it would fit better above. but as with the following categories like archetype of person, there is usually very much a reason behind having disdain for a certain grouping of behaviors, so it would go below. 

67. Situations (whether it be social or physical)

68. Phobias

69. Archetype of Person (to clarify with this one; the purpose here is to profile, in essence, a grouping of behaviors that together are upsetting for your character. archetype means embodiment, so basically here you would describe the “embodiment” of what your character’s “nightmare human” would be. there are common archetypes in fiction, so you could bounce off of some of the established ones, or you could build your own from scratch. this isn’t intended to open up prejudice, although if your character is for example a prejudiced villain this could be the section to put those details in.) 

70. Interpersonal Behaviors (what are some behaviors your character sees happening between other people that they find deeply reprehensible?)

71. Sensations (any feelings or experiences to do with the senses that cause your character extreme discomfort and why)

72. Miscellaneous (any other things that are really upsetting to them!)

Social Environment

fill out the following seven questions for each of the three stages of life for your character. once for childhood, once for adolescence, and once for adulthood.

73. Residences (be exact. describe the buildings and situations in as much detail as possible, right down to floor plan and the neighbors.)

74. Familial Unit 

75. Familial Dynamic

76. Social Class

77. Significant Events

78. Relevant and Recurring Behaviors

79. Development of Maturity

Economic Class & Power Placement

unless your character happens to exist in some magical world where economics and social class are nonexistent, its likely you’ll need these next couple of sections. while they might not constantly bear relevance to the plot line or even be mentioned, it’s very important to know where your character stands when it comes to money and power. where we are in the social ladder so to speak has a very important role in our personal development, and can reveal quite a lot about your character. make sure to keep in mind any events or situations that might change where your character lies economically, and that actions have real world consequences. for example, if your character owns an expensive car, they need both the money and the time to purchase and maintain it, which is less money and time they have for other things. make sure to keep a realistic balance of what your character gains and what your character spends.

Economic Class

80. Average Annual Income 

81. Tax Bracket (what income bracket does your character fall in and how much are they taxed? is there special taxation depending on the area they live in? i.e. oregon has no sales tax but high property tax, california has lower property tax and sales tax)

82. How Income is Earned (what kind of job do they have & how are they paid? how often? is their job taxable? do they have dependents?)

83. Bills & Debts (amenities cost money. water, heat, food, electricity, rent, garbage, maintenance, transportation, phone, etc will all cost your character money to have. map out a required budget for your character including everything they need to survive and how much they spend monthly on it. include any debts owed, like student loans or credit card payments.)

84. What Their Money is Spent On

84a. For Purpose (what kind of larger, big ticket items would they save up for and then purchase? a car, computer, new house/home improvements, college fund, pets, children, investments, etc)

84b. For Pleasure (what are things they like to get for personal enjoyment? chronic shopper? new dvds every week? vinyl fiend?)

84c. Unnecessarily (gifts for others, frivolous extras, things bought solely as retail therapy, etc. different from pleasure because purchases made specifically to bring you happiness can be more impactful than purchases made with the mindset of “eh, why not.” think treat yo self vs convenient at-the-mall-smoothie)

84d. saver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 spender

85. Monetary Goals (sort of the preliminary for 84a. the things they set their sights on economically, trust funds, etc. think big, give purpose. they want a sports car? why? what does it mean to them?)

86. Form of Assets (what form does their money come in? usd? euros? mythical money? barter system?)

Power Placement

87. Political Capabilities (what political powers do they have access to? i.e. the right to vote, right to protest, freedom of speech etc.)

88. Legal Rights Available (what legal/political powers are available to your character’s specific demographic? do they have access to all or some of them?)

89. Aspects That Give Them More Power (what aspects of their demographic may give them more power than others?)

90. Aspects That Give Them Less Power (what aspects of their demographic may give them less power than others?)

91. Activism Work

92. Destructivism Work (think the opposite of above. does your character carry a political agenda that works against human rights?)

93. Prominent Actions (led a march? murdered a president?)

94. Legal Battles (anything taken to court? can also be personal if not political, i.e. child custody battle or injury lawsuit)

95. Other (anything else? non real world specific?)

Types & Alignments

this one is mostly here for fun. these are a few extra ways of getting to know your character through personality tests, nerdy associations, astrology, etc. if you don’t know to what the question is referring (not in the fandom/don’t care to answer) just replace or skip it. 

Types

96. MBTI Personality Type (this one is an obvious starting point. take this test in character, and keep the descriptions in mind! i’ve found they’re scary accurate.) 

97. 9 Alignments Type (otherwise known as the dnd alignments, here’s a good test to see where your character is aligned.) 

98. Four Temperaments Type (the greek types, as you may have heard before. here’s a simple test.)

99. Keirsey Temperament Sorter Type (sort of a cross between the mbti and the four temperaments, this test is a bit more in depth info.)

100. Birth Chart (a persons astrological birth chart can reveal a lot about their personality & how they approach certain aspects of life. depending on what you have already established in your character, you may want to orchestrate their birth chart to match certain traits you’ve already given them. check out some of these guides for interpretation to help you decide how you want it arranged.)

101. Hogwarts House & Patronus

102. Starfleet Position

103. Middle Earth Race

104. Shadow-world Race (TMI series)

105. Superpower (if your character has a cannon one, or one they would have if they could)

106. Fictional Characters They Identify With (if they exist in our world, any characters we may know or be familiar with, if in a fictional world, someone there that could be prevalent i.e. in an old folk tale or something in that vein)

Alignments

in the same 1 to 10 rating format as previous

107. sinner 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 saint

108. passive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 aggressive 

109. introvert 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 extrovert

110. isolated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 friendly

111. unlikable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 appealing

112. lazy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 motivated

113. illiterate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 intellectual

114. oblivious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 perceptive 

115. fight 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 flight

116. disloyal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 dependable

117. honest 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 deceptive

118. consistent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 flaky 

119. uninspired 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 creative 

120. modest 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 boastful

Morality, Spirituality, & Culture 

depending on how deep of an attachment your character may have to these aspects, the following beliefs can often be huge influences on a character’s motivations and actions. being in touch with your characters beliefs and ethical climate will help make your character more in-depth and believable. it will give your character choices reason, and will help you avoid out of character moments.

Morality 

121. Greatest Motivation in Life (what is the number one most important thing your character must achieve that takes precedence over anything else? does your character even have one? why or why not?)

122. Objectives (other large goals/intentions that are pervasively prevalent)

123. What They Value Most (basically, what is their definition of success?)

124. Ethical Code (what do they define as good and evil? be specific)

125. Awareness of Own Morals (how well are they in touch with their moral beliefs? have they ever crossed a line they didn’t think they could and been okay with it? are they more of a goodie-two-shoes than they thought?)

126. Events That Have Shaped Beliefs (what significant events have caused them to believe the way they do about good and bad?)

127. Influential Persons (who has shaped these beliefs and how?)

128. Valued Behavior in Close Relationships (what are some of their most valued behaviors when it comes to their interpersonal relationships?)

129. Behaviors Taken to Uphold Morality (what do they do to prove to themselves they really do believe the way they say? not necessarily behaviors to make others see their morality, but to prove it to themselves.)

130. Challenges Made to Beliefs (what events or people have challenged their morals? did it cause permanent change? or a crisis of character?)

Spirituality 

131. Religion Or Spiritual Code (if they subscribe to an existing religion, please portray it with accuracy and mindfulness. remember when you’re writing that a stereotypical representation of a demographic does not make you a good writer or a good person. use your head.)

132. Relevance of Spirituality (how much does their spiritual beliefs play into their every day life?)

133. Daily Practices (anything they do regularly? i.e. prayer, celebrate a specific holiday, ritual behaviors, etc)

134. Evangelism (do they do any work to spread their beliefs?)

135. Influences of Spirituality (has their beliefs severely influenced anyone around them or made palpable change in their life/the life of someone close to them?)

Culture

136. Ethnic Culture (describe the culture of their ethnicity, both old age and now)

137. Social Culture (describe their current social culture)

138. Generational Culture (describe the culture of their generation, including the differences between theirs and others)

139. Relevance of Culture to Everyday Behavior (how much do the previous answers directly influence their behavior and in what way?)

140. Connection to Culture (how connected do they feel to those cultures?)

141. Desired Cultural Changes (in what ways do they wish to see things changed in their cultures? what would they like to change about how the rest of the world views their cultures?)

Obstacles and Shortcomings 

it’s always important to bear in mind how imperfect your characters are. not only to avoid encountering a mary sue (if you’re curious what that is, read here and take a test here to see just how much you’re doing it) but also to maintain the humanity of your character. people fuck up, a lot, on lots of things. characters will be more realistic and relatable if they have flaws. these can be flaws of a hero or very serious issues that make a character a villain. the previous sections are a great place to explore the mind of a villainous character, and here we can see a lot of the reasons why. failure pushes people in a lot of different and unpredictable ways, and these can often be why a character is driven to be the antagonist. (tips when writing an antagonist; if they are intended to be truly evil, and serve as an antithesis for your hero, they are often more dynamic and interesting if they have a motivation other than ‘being evil’. it could be an innumerate amount of things; maybe they want money, respect, revenge, absolution, need to prove themselves, etc. it does not have to be a noble or redeemable cause ((and imo they’re more evil and dislike-able if it isn’t)) but having some sort of shameful, immoral, human cause behind their acts will make them all the more vile.) on the flipside of this, having flaws in your hero makes people like them more, plain and simple. a perfect protagonist holds no connection for audiences, and we always have the desire to root for someone who has to work harder to overcome what they’re after. make your character earn their success. not just in giving them many plot-based challenges, but in challenges from themselves. overcoming your worst fear is more satisfactory than slaying the dragon. both are badass, and if you can do it in one go, go for it. but always bear in mind the truth of humans; we are not good at all of the things. make your character suck at some stuff!

Obstacles

142. Biggest Weaknesses

143. Biggest Fears

144. Economic Obstacles Preventing Goals

145. Societal Obstacles Preventing Goals

146. Interpersonal Obstacles Preventing Goals

147. Natural & Unavoidable Obstacles Preventing Goals

148. Self-Inflicted Obstacles Preventing Goals

Shortcomings

149. Biggest Failure (what is the one thing your character views as their biggest fuck-up?)

150. Consistent Failures (what are behaviors that they’re constantly kicking themselves for doing?)

151. Instances of Inaction (when are times that they’ve been able to stop something bad from happening and didn’t?)

152. Reasons for Inaction (why have they decided not to act/continued not to act?)

153. How Shortcomings are Internalized (how do they deal with their failures internally? what does it do to their psyche?)

154. How Shortcomings are Externalized (how do their feelings surrounding their failures manifest in their behavior?)

155. Corrective Behavior (what actions have they taken to combat their failure?)

Interpersonal Relationships

in the interest of ease and organization, this next section is a short mini-questionnaire that you can use to help keep your character’s relationships in order. the best way to utilize this section is to fill out the following 11 questions for every character yours interacts with. 

156. First Contact (describe the very first interaction the two characters have)

157. First Impression (what does your character initially believe about the other? be specific)

158. Anticipated Behavior (what actions does your character believe the other will take based on their first impression? what do they predict their behavior to be like?)

159. Informed Opinion (what is your character’s opinion of the other after getting to know them deeper?)

160. Nature of Relationship (what kind of relationship do they form? a quick wiki overview)

161. Value of Relationship (on a scale of 1 to 10, how important is the preservation of this relationship to your character?) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 

162. Conflicts of Nature (what conflicts between the characters occur because of unchangeable ‘natural’ obstacles?)

163. Conflicts of Nurture (what conflicts between the characters occur because of morality/belief differences?)

164. Changed Opinion (what is your characters final opinion of the other at the end of their story?)

165. Final Contact (the very last time they interact)

166. Legacy of Relationship (what lasting effect does this relationship have on your character?)

Character to World

this section is a bit small but includes some relevant questions. it’s important to keep in mind that your character is a part of a bigger world than just themselves. this may not be entirely relevant to them or your story, but it is something to bear in mind. 

167. Are they universally oriented in thinking?

168. What keeps them in their head?

169. What aggressions drive them over the edge?

170. What do they view as injustices in the world?

171. How far are they willing to go to affect change?

172. How large is their sphere of influence? 

173. How large do they believe their sphere of influence to be?

174. What events have they participated in that have had a positive impact on a large scale?

174a. small scale? 

174b. organized themselves?

174c. negative impact?

175. Actions taken to improve their world?

176. Actions taken that are inconvenient to themselves but help improve their world?

Your Character and the Monomyth

the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is a broad open-ended template many stories can easily fit in. while it’s imperative to do your best to be fresh and avoid cliches, it is a great way of exploring the way your character fits into your plot plans. its not a bad thing to fit into the monomyth, its very easy to do. but don’t think of it as requirements or a checklist; you don’t have to hit all of these points. if something is not applicable to your character, just skip it!

177. Call to Adventure (how does the character receive the call to adventure?)

178. Refusal of the Call (does the character accept the call immediately?)

179. Answering the Call (what motivates the character to accept the call?)

180. Supernatural Aide (who or what helps the hero on his journey & why?)

181. Guide/Mentor (is there a specific character that helps the hero understand the life situation or provides the hero with special training?)

182. Talisman (is there a particular item that has special significance to the hero?)

183. Companions (who is with the hero on their journey? how do these companions help the hero face challenges?)

184. Crossing the Threshold (at what point in the story does the hero leave the familiar world and move into a new, unfamiliar world?)

185. Threshold Guardians (are there characters that try to prevent the hero from crossing over into the unfamiliar territory or circumstance?)

186. Road of Trials (what specific challenges does the hero face?)

187. Brother Battle (does the hero battle physically or mentally with someone who is a relative or close friend?)

188. Meeting the Goddess (does the hero meet with a character with a special beauty and power?)

189. Abduction (is the hero kidnapped, or is someone close to the hero kidnapped?)

190. Night or Sea Journey (where do their travels take them?)

191. Dragon Battle (do they battle some kind of monster? do they face their inner demon?)

192. Ritual Death or Dismemberment (is the hero injured and thought to be dead? do they mistakenly believe someone close to them is dead? do they suffer an injury in which they lose a limb or use of some other body part?)

193. Sacred Marriage (does the hero have a special emotional bond with another character? including but not limited to actual marriage)

194. Atonement with/Recognition by the Father (in the hero reunited with the father in some way?)

195. Entering the Belly of the Whale (is there some point in the story where they must face their deepest fear or the darkest evil in the story?)

196. Apotheosis (is there a point in the story where the hero is held up as an ideal or where they are worshiped?)

197. Magic Elixir (do they find some sort of special solution to the problem they are attempting to solve?)

198. Refusal of the Return (does the hero initially refuse to return to the homeland or the place they began?)

199. Magic Flight/Pursuit (is there some point where the hero is being chased or otherwise trying to escape something?)

200. Rescue from Without (is there some point in the story when all seems hopeless, when it looks like the hero is going to die then is suddenly unexpectedly rescued?)

201. Crossing the Return Threshold (is there some point where they return home?)

202. Master of Two Worlds (does it appear that the hero has conquered life in both the familiar and unfamiliar worlds?)

203. Freedom to Live (has the problem they set out to resolved been repaired enough that all can live peacefully?)

Arch and Alteration: Character from Beginning to End

last but not least, all of this information is useless to both you and your audience if it doesn’t come with a story!! odds are your character has a plot planned for them, and they’re already moving forward in your mind. but in order to keep your plans cohesive and interesting, you’re gonna need some structure. using basic plot structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, you know the one) as your guide, design not only your plot structure but your character’s emotional arch as well. once you have them both, they should overlay to create a complete structured guide for the direction of both your character and the story. imagine it as a line graph, in fact, create one if it helps you! the x axis being the flow of time, the y axis being the increase of action/emotion. one line will follow the plot, and others will be your characters. this will help you know where a characters head is at during certain points in your timeline. if you know how your character is doing mentally, you can provide a clearer more accurate response from them due to the events at hand. be as detailed as possible in this to help you keep all your characters and events in order. thank you for reading, and happy writing!!

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