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#i want to illustrate these problems somehow i just haven't figured out how
monty-glasses-roxy · 30 days
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Ya know, current setups are real fun, but I've been playing horse games again lately and I've noticed some things...
If Roxy were to find the horses in storage and decide to keep them as her own, her only knowledge of horses up to that point would be horse games. I'm trying to think about the other ones I've played because I can't say I ever really looked for accuracy before, but depending on the games, Roxy would have a surprisingly hard time with this.
To my memory, none of them have the saddle positioned correctly. I don't remember any that used martingales or chest plates which some of the Plex horsies have. Horse games are designed in such a way that you can visibly see where the budget and time was put in, meaning you have some games that tell you a little about what you're doing, and some that are very detailed about certain aspects of horse care, but completely fuck up the rest of it. It's fascinating to me.
If Roxy played Bella Sara for example, she would know you can't ride until you've cared for your horse, but she wouldn't know about any sports outside of show jumping. If she played Pony Friends, she would know about trail riding, that racing is a thing and that horses get sick if not cared for properly, but may not understand that you can't ride a sick horse. Sick horses aren't really relevant here, but you see my point.
Like the standard sports tend to be show jumping, cross country and the chronically under-explained dressage games. They also all have a mechanic for brushing the horse and cleaning the hooves out, with most of them having you clean out the stable too. BUT none of them are consistent outside of that. So even if she played a bunch of them, she's not going to know what she's doing at all
Brushing and combing is straight forward enough. There's a method to doing hooves and stuff she'd not know but if she can figure out how to lift their foot up, she'll be fine. She may also know about leg wraps from some games and would find it pretty easy to do simple hairstyles with them, though the tail would be a bit harder.
But that saddle is not staying on that horse. She may get a basic bridle right but probably doesn't know what the bit is. The horses are literally built to help in teaching this stuff and they're struggling trying to find ways to help her but they're fucking horses man. What are they gonna do? All they can do is kinda give her a nudge, make loud noises, move out the way, steal shit and bite her. The Minis are trying to help but they also don't know what they're doing at all so that's not working either
The absolute relief when Roxy finds Foxy's bird and reactivates her. They've never been so excited to see a duck before. Things get easier at least, but lack of information is only part of the issue for Roxy so uhh... Yeah it's not the biggest improvement ever, but hey! At least the saddle's staying on this time!
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littlewalken · 1 year
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Mar 13
Another day another tiddy bot liking something and having to be reported.
How about this? How about a section of Tumblr or a sister site run by them just for tiddies and dicks and adult activity posting? It helps keep the kids from seeing it and give the adults the choice. You can link to your regular blog. Just give me the choice, that's all.
We looked at two apartments yesterday, could not find the third but then again we weren't 100% they'd let me in, one had 300 extra feet but was somehow no bigger than what we're in, the other was...
Weird, unsettling, not quite right doesn't quite describe it but I have no other words. Aside from being on the north side of the complex and dark along with being at the end of a walk by a grassy area where you know all the dogs will be going potty the layout ad corners cut off things and triangle shaped rooms.
And it wasn't even like haunted someone died in there, which ain't a problem, it was just a general feeling of nope.
The first one, aside from feeling small even tho it was staged, had a pool and patios full of kids bikes and people parking where they aren't supposed to and...
This time at least we have a place we can stay as long as we need to.
Still haven't opened the new scanner I bought so I can scan books instead of having to move them but I need to be home to do that and now that my neck isn't throbbing I can do the physical motions of scanning. Don't tell my neck.
Looking at a story I've been working on for a good 20 years. It just can't make up its mind if it wants to be a CYOA or not and I keep trying to figure out where I want to have the choices and other things. It's a fan fiction so it often gets shoved in the trunk when an original work needs attention.
There's no stress tho, maybe like the fun self imposed how can I make this to the best of my abilities kind, but nothing pressing.
There was a time that the CYOA part was getting mixed up with my website coding abilities and the thoughts of having random links so you didn't know where you'd end up but I had to make sure the gimmick didn't outweigh the story.
Now it'll probably be a batch of PDFs on google drive, to preserve formatting, or I might have to bite the bullet and get an AO3 account even tho I don't want to because it would cause me to have to have more screen time that I don't want.
If I can make hyperlinks in pdfs then I'll probably do it like that so I cna have page breaks and illustrations.
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justrandomselfships · 3 years
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Little steps- my self insert Fic (S/I POV) with a bunch of silly illustrations! Oh did I mention that this involves Kaeya? Well he's the main focus here even though Lisa is mentioned shit ton of times! Might write something for her focus too someday.
I finished it ages ago but I was afraid to post it- I'm not anymore and also✨ it's my birthday ✨
~~
Ever since I joined the knights I decided to write in a diary, it helped me keep track of time. Lisa told me that it can help me in various ways, like for example remembering names of the other knights, or checking my personal progress. Now that I think about it, it was long since I checked my old entries. Nothing interesting happened today anyway so I might as well read some. I don't really remember anything that was going on when I started so I suppose I could refresh my memory.
Today Lisa wanted to introduce me to someone- she probably wanted to help me by looking for training partner for me, however I had to refuse. You probably remember why was that, I got scared of meeting someone new again. I couldn't get that mess on her shoulders when she has so much to do as it is! And there was no way I'd meet them alone it'd be too akward for both of us!
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I remember the exact moment I tried to come up with an excuse for future me... It kinda made me giggle how stupid I am sometimes, but let's look at something else...
I've never felt as lonely as I do now, I don’t even know why. I don’t miss anyone nor I ever craved any interactions... But to make that feeling go away I thought about talking to Amber but when I left the house she was talking to Noelle and I got scared to approach them... Instead I decided to sketch something and stay inside for the rest of the day.
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I immediately looked at my sketchbook, I don't even have to look inside, I was drawing what's outside my window like always. Maybe I'll find some better memory if I keep looking?
During my patrol I got a bit lost... It was scary... But I wasn't alone, an Adventurer found me... However he got lost too. It was a bit unlucky day since I picked the wrong maps, we also got attacked a few times by monsters. I kinda feel bad for him since he tried his best to cheer me up but I stayed silent. It should've been other way around a knight shouldn't le
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Bennett! How could I forget his name when I was writing this? He was such a sweetheart I obviously had to mess it up and make him feel uncomfortable... But I did make up for it! Maybe I'll finally read something positive? I somehow can't remember how exactly that went... Or if I was daydreaming about apologizing?
I decided to bake something for Bennett as thank you and apology for acting so cold towards him. But I had no idea on how to find him... Or what to say... So after thinking for few minutes I decided to talk to Katherine and ask her to give it to him. After "talking" to her I locked myself in my room out of embarrassment, I messed up again. I just said "Bennett" placed my pastries and left. Now I probably won't be able to face her for at LEAST two months.
I cringe at the memory... Gosh now this will keep me up at night for sure... I finally forgot about it and now it'll haunt me.
Wait a second... Did I really not made any progress at all!? I was trying so hard to socialize with others and get out more but I seem to still not be able to do it right. No, it's impossible. I'm good friends with Lisa! So I definitely made any progress... Or is she just so easy to talk to? Time to take a final look at something recent for a change...
Capitan Kaeya Alberich wanted to talk to me outside work... It might not sound like a big deal but somehow I just froze... I wasn't able to respond properly and he probably guessed what I was going to say, not that he ever can't do that... I might be too predictable. Either way I feel bad, my behavior was really disrespectful and I knew better than that to just ignore someone like him. I still have much to learn and I'll need to properly apologize for staying silent.
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I only ever failed... There is no mistaking it. Great way to note down progress huh? Too bad there is none.
Think, what do I need to do to finally do better? I am the problem for sure but what do I really need to change? Maybe I should just start observing how others act... After all I never bothered to do that. It might help in one way or another...
Obviously there's only one place where there is a lot of people and I won't look like a total creep if I'll just listen in the conversations and look at random people... It's no other than the tavern. I'm scared to go there alone... But I don't have to!
Lisa would be willing to go right?... Then again I rely on her a bit too much and going out like this could be an opportunity to break the ice with someone else...
Jean is always busy, Amber will be way too distracting and we might end up somewhere else, Eula is too scary, Venti... I don't even know why I'm considering him.
Maybe that offer from capitan Kaeya still stands? It's from bearly 2 weeks ago so maybe if I get lucky and he happens to still be interested, I can actually go...
What am I even thinking!? I didn't even apologize for the last time... But being around so many drunk people is terrifying... However I can't bet on the fact that he won't drink too much... On the other hand he seems to handle people and I'll definitely learn something.
Screw it. It might be scary but I need to do it. Tomorrow I'll ask him! That's for sure! He's the most respectable and trustworthy person who isn't always busy and will not distract me.
~⏳
I'm scared to do it but I have to! I need to... Did I really say that I'm gonna do it today? Or should I just pretend that I never thought of it. He's probably busy today. Yup definitely that no need to feel stressed.
I haven't seen him back at the headquarters nor did I see him around town when I was coming back from my patrol- that's a good sign. It's still pretty early but I don't think that I'll see him today... What a relief!
Before I left the headquarters after finishing some paperwork I hear a voice that belongs to a beautiful librarian I am lucky to be able to call a friend.
"Hey there cutie, are you okay?"
"Just a little bit nervous that's all, nothing new haha"
"Do you need me to pass a message again?"
"No need! It's something I need to say myself..."
"I see..."
"But if you happen to see capitan Kaeya it would be nice if you could tell him that I was looking for him" out of habit I grab my hair and begin to play with it. Lisa's warm soothing voice blessed my ears as she said "No worries darling, I'll let him know" before she left and giggled to herself...
Wait... Oh no.
Why did I say anything!? Is she that magical that I can't say anything but what's on my mind.
If she happens to meet him my request will be unavoidable! Even if I tried thinking of something else Kaeya will know that I'm lying. I can't avoid him either... Can't waste his precious time...
How do I even ask him!? Do I need to change from my work clothes before I go? What should I do...
I didn't realize that I started walking in circles before someone approached me.
"Heather?"
I turn around and see the man I was thinking about all day. Dammit... I have to say it. I can't think of an excuse and staying silent is now unacceptable.
"Oh-uhm... Greetings Capitan Kaeya"
"Lisa informed me that you were looking for me"
"Oh right!... That... Haha..."
"I don't want to rush you, however I do have some business to attend to"
"I'm so sorry! I mean- since you're busy then my silly request is irrelevant"
"Come now, I believe that I should be the judge of that" his smug look made it ever so slightly more challenging to say anything.
"I just... Ugh..." I took a deep breath "Look as you know I was trying to loosen up recently and well I realized that I wasn't making any progress at all. So I remembered that one time you asked me to go to the tavern with you and I refused... I mean ignored you, which I am VERY sorry about but now I think that it was a mistake and today I wanted to ask you to accompany me but since you're busy let's just forget about everything" I felt relieved getting that off my chest.
"I don't think that will do, in fact I was heading towards the tavern so if you really want to I suppose you can join me" Oh right... I forgot about him gathering some information there from time to time. So it might work after all! He won't pay too much attention to me and I could investigate without tons of distractions.
"Let's get going then capitan" I say before he smiles softly in response "Wait do you want to get going now or-"
"Yes" he cut me off, which was fair and I'm glad he did it before I said something dumb.
We're almost there. Before we get closer I suddenly stop.
"That reminds me!" I realized I spoke out loud, as he looked at my direction my confidence dropped dead "I've never actually tried any alcohol so would you be so kind to recommend something for me? I figured that since I'm already getting out of my comfort zone might as well try something new" I said under my breath but he definitely understood what I meant judging by his facial expression and well... response.
"Absolutely" my heart skipped a beat. I desperately tried to start a conversation topic... But choosing alcohol might be something I'll regret...
Kaeya started listing few drinks I could enjoy his words were poetic as he described the beverages, however the names of the drinks went over my head. It wasn't that bad but I just felt stupid over how clueless I was. He definitely knew what he was talking about and I'm more than interested in hearing more. The more he talks the less likely I am to say something I'll regret.
"Obviously since I don't know how much you can handle I won't be forcing you to try too much too soon" he paused "Your father probably wouldn't be happy either if you returned drunk" he said teasingly. It invited me to respond less seriously.
"Oh no! This means that we'll have to do it again, how awful"
"We didn't enter yet so you can feel free to leave now before you regret spending time with me of all people" his voice was now suddenly much more hostile... Did I mess it up!?
He laughed softly "I'm sorry did I go too far? While I don't want to force you to do anything, I won't lie... I'm a bit curious to learn something new about you tonight"
We were still outside standing right in front of the entrance to the tavern if not for chatting we could hear from the inside there would be total silence.
"I'm sorry for being quiet again! It's just that you caught me off guard haha" I look away "There isn't much to know about me so I feel like I'll only disappoint you"
"I'm not so sure about that part"
"Wait... Did my father tell you anything about me!?"
"Look let's just get inside, We'll discuss it later"
Nervously I followed him yet again. The atmosphere was warm and I could see different kinds of people all over the place. We sit down.
"So did he tell you anything?" I ask immediately.
"Relax, he didn't" he seemed amused by my desperation to know. It's understandable... And I'm probably overreacting anyway. I collect my thoughts "I'm sorry"
"What are you sorry for?"
"I'm just making this into some big deal for no reason. Maybe the reason is the huge amount of respect I have for you that makes me freak out"
"I see, well I don't see the reason to be so formal now. We aren't working after all" his soft smile was enough for me to calm down.
"Thank you" Maybe it was all I needed to hear, after that everything went smoothly.
I start feeling proud of myself... Maybe I can change after all? Either way it only shows that I have to write it down! And once I was back home I did just that.
Today I had enough courage to take a step in right direction! I went to a tavern with capitan Kaeya. It was fun and for the first time in years I wasn't that scared. It wasn't totally perfect but it was definitely worth it.
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elenajohansenreads · 3 years
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Books I Read in 2021
#45 - Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray
Mount TBR: 43/100
Beat the Backlist Bingo: Chapter title page has art (illustrated by the author, no less)
Rating: 3/5 stars
I haven't had an experience quite like that since I first read Les Miserables in eighth grade. It took me just over a month of steady, dogged reading, and I carried that book with me everywhere--to every class in school, every time I was sitting in the backseat of the car while running errands with my parents, every time I read before bed.
Vanity Fair reminds me a lot of Les Mis, not in tone or subject matter, but in my sheer determination to get through it, even when it's slow going. Because I started this book in February. The wit and charm and lively characters carried me through the first two hundred pages fairly easily, but then I began to lose steam. I took what I thought was a short break to read something else before going on, and when I went back, suddenly it was hard to read more than a chapter or two at a time. I told myself to keep going. After all, I was still enjoying it--it wasn't the same feeling of epic struggle to stay interested that I had with War and Peace last year. I liked this book, yet somehow, I couldn't motivate myself to read it.
Pretty soon it became clear the problem wasn't Vanity Fair itself, or at least, not mostly. I was just in the worst reading slump of my adult life, because nothing I read could hold my attention long. I took almost an entire month off reading, but when the mood struck to try again, I'd either try a new book and set it down after five pages, or nibble at the edges of Vanity Fair. When I declared (to myself) that my reading slump was over, I was just past 400 pages in.
Like magic, once I'd warmed up with a few light reads, the pages began to fly by again. I could finish several chapters in a sitting, and genuinely want to read more.
But this is a book review, right? Not the story of my reading slump. So what was it that was giving me difficulty, specifically, about this work?
The names. Formal name etiquette in British high society is just the pits. Our main character, Rebecca, probably showed up in the text under about a dozen different names or epithets throughout the course of the story, because she's got her first name, her full name, her nickname, her married name both formally as Mrs. Husband's Name and Becky/Rebecca Husband's Name, and of course any given description posing as a person that Thackeray wanted to attach to her. Eventually at the very end she's mostly Mrs. Becky, which I didn't recall being used much before. On top of that, there were other instances when a change of status caused me some confusion, because first we have Pitt Crawley, no title attached, son of Sir Pitt Crawley, but when the elder Crawley dies, of course Pitt becomes Sir Pitt because the title passes on, even though that's also the name of the now-dead character. Any male character in the military might be referred to by his rank rather than his name, and when multiple military figures are in the same paragraph (as they often are) they are all referred to by an inconsistent mix of their names and ranks.
And all of this is happening constantly through the entire nearly-700-pages of the novel. It's exhausting.
When this was published, I have no doubt this was common enough that readers had little issue with it. Now? I often had to stop to parse who was who because of the constant flux of designations.
If I could strip that stylistic inconsistency out, that would fix a lot of my problems with reading this right away. However, there were still others. While the core cast of characters is relatively small compared to some epic classics of this length, Thackeray does like to veer off on tangents frequently and spend a chapter or three detailing the life and situation of a minor character. That's something I remember loving in Les Mis, which, again, is the thing I have read that is most like this book; but here, somehow I was never as fascinated by these little portraits as I was when Hugo did it. Here I was invested in Becky and Amelia and William Dobbin (in fact, the resolution of his story is the primary reason I finished this book at all--I was hanging on for that happy ending.) But I did not find myself particularly interested in Lord Steyne or Mrs. Major O'Dowd or the Gaunt family. The minor characters were not completely without charm to me, as I particularly liked the single-page tale of Becky's little French maid abandoning her. What the girl took, what became of her, how she fared after Becky's tyranny, that was all grand. But it was also short, and seeing as it came immediately after we read of Becky's downfall, it felt timely and appropriate. Many of the other, larger tangents from the main story line left me scratching my head about why I was suddenly learning new names or jumping to a different country. I admit to skimming some of the side bits that seemed less relevant or interesting, in order to get back to the "good" parts.
How do I feel three months later now that I'm finally done? It was a long walk to that happy ending I was 95% sure was coming. I'm pleased to be finished but not particularly eager to try any other Thackeray works, because while I liked many things about his style--the wit and humor, the insertion of himself as narrator into the story (occasionally) as a character, the biting satire--there's also simply too much dead weight to carry in order to get to all of that. I'm glad I read it, but I never need to reread it. It's rare for me to find myself finishing a classic novel without either loving it to pieces (My Antonia, Les Mis, Jane Eyre) or hating it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns (too many to name.) But I found this book simply good--not great, not terrible.
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ms-loki-loves-nikki · 6 years
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(Lane from your association! Hi! It was hard to talk over SC and I really want to have a convo with /someone/ about this. If you'd rather not, ignore this!) Out of curiosity, do you think there's no merit to the boycott at all? I don't agree with any of the methods being used, but the idea of not spending money on things during the event isn't too bad an idea in my head. My issue isn't anyone getting the suit (I haven't wanted any ranking suits so far) but the people who might be spending (/p1)
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Okay so first of all thank you so much for being so polite and civil because I’ve gotten some.. less than savoury asks about the subject lol And I’m all for discussing this! 
So guys, if you read this, please keep things civil or I will delete this post. A lot of us are adults here, let’s act like them.
Below a read more because of length
BOYCOTT MERIT:
To answer your first question, I actually DO think there is SOME merit to the boycott. It’s not rude or violent or abusive and it’s an organized stand for something you believe in. 
To a point.
I guess I could say if someone is boycotting because they genuinely believe the events to be harmful or such (as you seem to) there is merit to it. However, on various medias (Reddit, Tumblr, Facebook, etc) I’ve seen a lot of people who... don’t seem to actually care about that. I’ve seen a lot of jealousy towards the people who could potentially afford the exclusive suit, and they grab on to the legitimate arguments as a way to justify their jealousy.
I’ve been actually discussing thing with another member of our association who wishes to remain anonymous, but they brought up the point that many of these protesters are showing no concern for those who DO have spending or money problems, and are only arguing for themselves or things that apply to THEM. 
As I’ve stated before, I strongly DO NOT believe that “I can’t get it so nobody should” is a valid argument. 
I don’t care if 2 people on the server get it, it just.. isn’t. Fair? No, definitely, but I mean... prizes like this are not uncommon, in mobile games OR real life! We can’t have everything, and in the world we live in “exclusive” items are desirable. Is that right or fair? ..No, not really. 
But I don’t see protest against any of those things. Nobody brings them up when they’re arguing against these events. No examples.Just Ranking Events.
OVER-SPENDING
As for the spending, here’s some direct quotes from my friend that puts it, I think, perfectly:
““People spend hundreds of dollars and might not get the full suit!!” Then treat it and think of it as a $4,500 recharge suit (which is very unreasonable) so that it will deter any urge for spending. You don’t have to get the suit if you don’t want it and if you don’t agree with it’s price point. But if you do want it, I’m sorry but there’s plenty of other nice and pretty suits in the game aside from the ranked one. ”
“In the game there are plenty of ways for people to go overboard with spending all the events, all the recharge suits, packs, temptation from the pavilions, the way to obtain the Crystal Rose dress and yet those things have caused people to spend more than what they should, but some how people have not protested those things as intensely as this. With those things listed there’s even the issue that people don’t realize that they are spending so much either. It can be predatory for those with poor impulse, addiction, gambling issues. If you are one of these people or you know someone who is, seek professional help! But even so, the people who have those issues had them even before the ranking event. Yet somehow this issue wasn’t as hugely and thoroughly brought to attention as it is now ” 
So if you have poor impulse control, there are ways to help protect yourself. And this is coming from someone who HAS AN IMPULSE SPENDING PROBLEM: 
Don’t save any of your payment info on your phone, if you have to input it separately each time it gives you more time to think about what you’re doing. 
Talk to someone you care about and trust before buying anything. Someone who will talk it through with you. The cost, the reward, the longevity, your financial situation. It’ll help you figure out if you REALLY want it, or they can help talk you out of it if that’s what you need. Again, this delay can also ride out the impulse to buy.
Use gift cards exclusively. You have to go out of your way to get them and again, they take longer to get and it can ride out the impulse. You can also physically see what you’re spending when a giant “$50″ is staring you at the face when you look at the card, or if you look down and you have a hand full of thin plastic nothing.
If you still have a spending problem you probably shouldn’t be playing a game with microtransactions OR you should find a way to disable your ability to purchase them entirely. I say that in genuine concern, it’s the same as a gambling problem. Take care of yourselves, please.
OTHER
I don’t believe that just because most people can’t get the suit they have the right to take it away from EVERYONE. 
First of all people need to stop saying “just 300 people” no, that’s with the background, and it’s even MORE people if you don’t count the POSED version.
In the end there will be a few thousand people with the full suit (counting the unposed version) and a few thousand more with pieces from the suit.
But it becomes 0 when the suit is taken away forever. 
Also I’d like to add that there are several hundred suits in the game, as I’ve learned from ripping them.
5 are ranking. 
On top of that, another great point my friend and I discussed:
ALMOST NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT HOW TO MAKE RANKING EVENTS MORE FAIR, OR HOW TO OBTAIN THE SUIT BY OTHER MEANS.
Some are, most aren’t. Almost everyone jumped IMMEDIATELY to “remove the events from the game completely” and, ya gotta try and understand, it leaves a really bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people who aren’t for that. It just makes it sound more like jealousy and less like arguing for a valid reason EVEN IF THEY ARE arguing for a valid reason.
We should be telling the devs to bring the events back annually, or increase the tier sizes, etc. before we call for a hard stop.
Also, just a general thing, and not applied to you, some people (mainly seen on Reddit) have been expressing guilt over spending money on Cosmos Tide (several people seem to have gotten that pack today/yesterday) or on wanting to buy Alice Spacetime/the St. Patrick’s Day suit. That.. that’s just not cool, guys, c’mon. 
TL;DR
I see more arguments against Ranking Events born out of jealousy and anger than out of genuine concern for the game and/or the financial situation of others, even if those are the arguments they are using, and it makes the whole “cause” seem tainted. The unwillingness to compromise and hate messages to devs also are not helping. I do not agree with taking beautiful illustrations that artists spent a lot of time on out of the game completely just because they are exclusive/expensive.
However, I see and understand your point of view and do believe there is merit to it.
Everyone please calm down.
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