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skekheck · 3 years

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Theory: UrVa’s Arrows Were Originally Meant To Incapacitate, Not Kill, skekMal

Maybe this is common consensus, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. On the surface, it seemed like urVa had wanted to put an end to skekMal at the Circle of the Suns and the Hunter escaped before he could finish the job. But then there was this line in episode 10 that always felt odd to me:

urVa: I had a dream that I was one that became two that became one again. I looked through my dark half’s eyes and knew Aughra was right. [...] ...The Hunt must end.

It’s just “but urVa, weren’t you doing just that a day or so prior?”. But then after rewatching their standoff again it hit me: maybe urVa’s intentions were not to kill skekMal but to incapacitate him.

Let’s look at the scene again

SkekMal was shot a total of three times: the first one through his upper arm, the second around the bottom right of his torso, and the last through his upper leg (possibly thigh?).

(Sorry couldn’t find a better pic of his leg shot)

Weird places to aim for if urVa had wanted to kill him, right? Wouldn’t he have gone for targets that would more likely result in death, like the throat or through the eye sockets? It’s not like he would miss: urVa’s a master marksman. Instead, all three shots prevented (or at least was an attempt to stop) skekMal without taking his life.

The first shot prevented skekMal from harming Rian. The second was retaliation for ignoring the Archer’s warning. UrVa flat out told him to not approach the Gelfling but you see the Hunter take a step forward anyway, prompting him to release the second arrow. The final one was an attempt to stop skekMal from escaping with Brea. Seeing as how urVa immediately collapsed after firing that arrow, it would have worked. However, he underestimated how committed skekMal was to the Hunt, considering he pushed through the pain to get what he needed done.

Those arm and leg wounds aren’t inherently life-threatening. The arrow in his torso, though, is more concerning. It’s possible it could have had or at least be at risk of damaging his organs. Now, the Skeksis have weird-as-fuck anatomy (that goes without saying) so we have no real way of knowing if it was endangering him or not. But considering the nature of his other two wounds, I don’t think it was a kill shot. A more serious wound, but not deadly if tended to. And that’s probably what urVa intended: he aimed for that spot in the hopes skekMal would stop to take care of his wounds.

But Weren’t Both skekMal and urVa In Critical Condition?

Oh yeah, they still were and skekMal’s partially to blame for it. It’s not a great idea to move around too much with arrows lodged in you. The arrow heads and shaft could move around and cause more internal damage. SkekMal moving made what would have been minor to moderate wounds way more serious. Not to mention, he never stopped to pull them out and heal himself: he kept those things in.

And let’s not forget how far of a distance between the Circle of the Suns and the Castle is. There are multiple versions of maps of Thra that have some siginifcant differences, but the main point is those two locations are pretty far from each other. Even if he used Bennu to fly all the way over to the Castle, skekMal would still have to deal with Brea thrashing around on his back. And it looks like he took a detour to grab a cage for her, which he then dragged through the Castle’s corridors. Baiting Rian and his friends just so he can fulfill his Hunt was apparently more important to him than his well-being (which is ironic if you believe skekMal’s philosophy surrounding the Hunt is his own way of self-preservation).

EDIT: Wanted to add that skekMal was in a difficult position in terms of what he wanted. He would know that if he’d pull those arrows out he would have to treat them right away otherwise he’d bleed to death. At the same time, he would also had to keep Brea from escaping. I think he weighed his options and found that he’d had more success just pushing through it and keeping them in then treat them later. SkekMal might had also thought the other Skeksis would be able to treat him if it was serious enough?

And SkekTek Made It Worse

SkekTek is no doctor. He can cut up and research on animals all he wants, but that doesn’t count as medical knowledge. It’s painfully obvious he has no idea what he’s doing: his diagnosis and treatment of skekMal’s condition is enough proof of that. And speaking of which, skekTek’s diagnosis is full of nonsense:

Skektek: Subject suffers severe exsanguination. Extreme distress to the humus. [...] Imbalance of intrinsic fluids. Manifold ruptures in corporeal morphology. [Checks for a heart beat] Ah. Ah... . Expiration... is... [dramatic pause] inevitable.

Literally he’s saying skekMal has multiple holes in his body and he’s bleeding out. You know, pointing out the obvious. Also, I tried finding out if “humus” related to anything biologically, but all I could find was it’s a term for... soil made of organic matter. I’m not sure what he was trying to refer to, I think he was just misusing it to make himself sound smart.

EDIT: I have been told by a few people that skekTek might be referring the humerus, which is a bone found in the upperarm that’s forms joints at the elbow and shoulder. This would make more sense and would mean skekTek made a proper diagnosis. However, at least to me, it still sounds like he’s saying humus. Another skeksis repeats him and they also say humus, not humerus. Turning on the captions also has it as humus. This could either be a typo or skekTek did mean humerus, but said humus instead.

And how he actually treats skekMal is atrocious.

He pulls the arrows out without making any attempts to stop the bleeding, clean the wounds, or apply stitches. He’s letting him bleed out and he should at least know they need blood to live. Do you know what happens when someone loses too much blood? Among other side effects, organ failure and falling into a coma. SkekTek did eventually made an effort to heal skekMal by giving him essence, but it was too little too late. SkekMal’s condition was so far gone at that point he really needed Aughra’s essence to survive.

UrVa’s Intentions

And now we’re going right back to urVa. While thinking over on urVa’s actions, I started wondering if he anticipated skekMal wouldn’t stay put and that the Hunter would do his own self in by moving around with the arrows lodged in him. I mean, urVa is a mystic, an indirect kill would make sense. But giving it more thought, I don’t think that’s the case. A lot of his actions during the series suggests otherwise.

UrVa was very contemplative, even saddened, about having to end the Hunt for skekMal. He is not like his other half: he respected and appreciated all life on Thra. He also sees the cycle of life as well as the wilderness as something untamable. This is implied while he was talking with Aughra in episode 4:

urVa: We do not get to decide when our part in the song is finished.

While urVa is one of the more proactive Mystics, he still is... a Mystic. He doesn’t believe he should manipulate or control what goes on around him and let things be. The Bestiary book points to the fact that while urVa did keep tabs on skekMal, he never interfered with his hunts. So it was a big deal when Aughra quested him with the task of stopping skekMal.

Also I’d like to point out urVa and Aughra’s final conversation because it’s also important for this discussion:

urVa; And where does my path lead? Aughra: Into the sands to face the Hunter. urVa: [sighing and looks away from Aughra for a moment] I cannot defeat my dark half. Aughra: You will find a way. But not without sacrifice. urVa: And if I fail? Aughra: The heroes of Thra will be lost. urVa: Mm... [pauses and takes a deep breath] I will end the hunt. Aughra: Good. Get a move on. You Mystics are not known for your swift speed. We have much to do. [...] urVa: [pauses and looks at Aughra] Will we meet again, Aughra? Aughra: [stops walking, saddened] Hm... [faces him] Some things... even Aughra cannot see, old friend. [urVa pauses and then groans, walks away from Aughra as they both parted ways for the final time]

He shows a lot of hesitance in completing this task. I’m sure he knew what Aughra was implying: that he may have to take skekMal’s life away but he still went and asked if they would meet each other again anyway. I think he was hoping for a positive answer, that it wouldn’t have to come to that, and seemed disheartened by her answer. But he still tried. He tried to stop skekMal in a way that, while not exactly peaceful, was not meant to be life-threatening. UrVa even pleads for him to stop... twice! The first time as skekMal was making his get-away and the second time while urVa helplessly watched him go after Rian again through the Hunter’s eyes.

These two only had one scene together so we don’t really know the extent of their relationship. But if there’s one thing that’s clear was the conflict between them. I mean, during their whole duel, the characters were purposely placed on opposite sides of the room while making sure to show that skekGra and urGoh, a pair who were able to find harmony, were always side by side. It’s also in the way they address each other: while urVa does refer to him as his dark half, he also called him by his name. SkekMal, meanwhile, only ever referred to urVa as his title and nothing more.

But I don’t think urVa had any ill-will towards his Skeksis. He seemed understanding of him and valued his life as much as he valued all living beings on Thra. I think if they both didn’t end up in a near-death situation, he’d try incapacitating skekMal again. However he understood and accepted his situation towards the end: with skekMal on an essence high, incapacitation method was no longer possible. If he allowed it to go on, all of Thra would be at risk. It was a desperate situation, but he knew Aughra was right. She gave up her life for the preservation of the world and urVa knew he had to do the same: for her and for Thra. The Hunt had to end and in order to protect the world he cherished he had to make the ultimate sacrifice.

#the dark crystal #skekmal #urva #I might go back into this and edit/add things but HERE YOU GO

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annakie · 3 years

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So I decided to squeeze in a ME3 (only) playthrough to finally do MShep and an Engineer in ME3. I started this guy many years ago and never went very far with him, despite really loving the character design. BTW, I captioned all the screenshots above if you wanna clickthrough. So (re)meet Aldis. I tried to do his initial facial design off of Aldis Hodge, though I’m bad at creating/mimicking faces I think he still turned out as one of the most attractive mSheps I’ve ever seen, if I can say so mysellf without sounding too braggadocios. :) When I made him, there were a couple of goals I wanted to accomplish... Obviously, just finally do ME3 with a MShep. I did ME1 and ME2 with one even longer ago, but I romanced Liara in those and I really wanted to see a MShenko romance, to see the more gradual “Hey let’s get together” in ME3 instead of the “let’s reaffirm our relationship” like with my FemShep. I also wanted to do a more renegade playthrough, since it’s been many years since I did my Femshep Shakarian Renegade playthrough. He is still the “I’m nice to my crew, and I’ll try a diplomatic approach but my tolerance for bullshit is near zero.” And last, I’m just gonna wear a bunch of the dumb armors I almost never wear and just try and do things different in other ways than my main FemShep. Since the next time I do a full trilogy playthrough, it’ll be with my canon femshep in the Legacy and there may not be the possibility of mods then, I wanted a heavily modded run to see all the mods again, plus the improvements since my last ME3 playthrough about a year and a half ago. So this time I’m playing with:

Lights Effect as the FX mod

Girl Plays Game Hair Mods as DLC (Maleshep’s ”Macho” is the specific hair mod.)

Project Variety, which, btw means no Thanemod or Backoff. because they’re incompatible. Project Variety adds SO MUCH to the game, several of which are highlighed in the screenshots above.

Expanded Galaxy Mod (I have no idea how I can ever play without this mod again, gonna make the LE playthrough so hard and bland.)

Spectre Expansion Mod... also one I don’t ever want to live without in the future.

I have MEHEM installed because... yeah. I still don’t feel like not having a happy ending.

So of course Citadel Epilogue Mod to close out the game.

ME3 Recalibrated to fix all the lore and errors that need fixing.

And Better Journal to make quest descriptions better.

Casual Outfits for MShep. There’s also other new casual outfits installed for MShep and I don’t know where they came from, but I do love them. (See pics for more.)

Priority Earth Overhaul Mod to make the endgame even more epic. The creator also made Immersive Thessia which is sadly incompatible with Project Variety so for now I’m not using this... maybe a future playthrough will swap out PJ for Immersive Thessia, ThaneMod and BackOff again.

Omega Hub for extra Omega content post Omega-DLC, really looking forward to seeing the improvements in this one. It was just a fun 10-minute diversion last time I played through.

Ark Mod for extra missions that bridge the gap between ME3 and Andromeda.

Better Dreams for awesome and non-annoying dreaming... getting rid of The Kid as much as possible.

Alliance Warpack for more Companion outfits.

Citadel DLC Redone so most companions wear unique casual outfits during Citadel DLC

ME3 Opening Remaster to make those few seconds of the opening a little more epic.

Miranda Mod to have Miranda on the Normandy and give her cool stuff to do after Horizon. Also if you’re a Miranda Romancer gives her a better ME3 romance. Also better clothes.

Respawn - Mission Overhaul IDK why it’s hidden on the Nexus, but I had an old download I’m using. Makes combat more difficult by giving the bad guys more varied powers. A nice change of difficulty without making it crazy on normal.

Allers Redone to put Allers in a decent outfit. Still don’t know if I’m going to bother talking to her, though I did put her on the ship.

A Lot Of Videos 4k - I’m a 4k gamer finally.... I want what I can make look good... look good.

I’m NOT using ALOT this time -- I didn’t want to not be able to easily fix things should some mod installation be wonky. I figure the Legendary Edition is gonna be my big “Take ALL THE PRETTY SCREENSHOTS!!” time... this one is just for fun, and enjoying the mods and my pretty, pretty mShep.

Hey the new post editor SUCKS because I’ve run out of space for new paragraphs but I can add new bullet points. Anyway, I’ll probably make a few more screenshot posts as I progress through the game.

#mass effect #mass effect 3 #bioware #video games #mshep #mass effect mods #david anderson #james vega #kasumi goto #kaidan alenko #liara t'soni #annakie's mass effect stuff

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reneesi · 4 years

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i never would have thought // CH.09

WRITTEN PORTION

“Pic-nic! Pic-nic! Pic-nic YAY!” (Y/n) chanted out in glee, practically floating as she skipped atop the gravel path. Yachi giggled at the display, linking her free arm with (Y/n) and shooting her a toothy grin.

The three Karasuno volleyball managers had been planning a girls day for a couple weeks, and this was the first free Saturday since (Y/n)’s photoshoot. They had set out on a quest to have a sunlit lunch beneath the trees. Yachi, carrying a blanket under her arm, had dressed up in a white sundress and left her hair down. In contrast Kiyoko was sporting a long brown patterned skirt and a black tank top, her slender fingers were wrapped around the handle of a round picnic basket. (Y/n) had been charged with bringing the drinks, hence the kitty cat backpack draped across her shoulders. She’d brought ramune and completed the trio’s aesthetic with a midi dress and white t-shirt underneath.

When they’d found a quiet spot under a large tree that provided some semblance of shade, the three worked together to set up their picnic. Ten minutes later they sat on a soft pastel checkered blanket, drinking cold soda, and relaxing under the shreds of sunlight peeking through the leaves above.

“I should have brought my camera.” (Y/n) sighed longingly, a content smile splayed across her features.

“We can always take pictures on our cell phone Hinata-chan!” Yachi piped up.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just so beautiful here.” (Y/n) sung, leaning back into her arms which were placed out behind her, providing support. She let the lids of her eyes fall shut as her head tipped back lazily, enjoying the weather which felt absolutely divine.

The heat was starting to become more bearable given that fall was right around the corner, but the sun still shone just as bright, leaving a warm residue in the afternoon air. Gentle breeze blew through the grass, running its slick fingers through the field and up to (Y/n)’s hair, cooling the sweat that threatened to build at the nape of her neck. As (Y/n) sat there, eyes closed and listening to the grass blades jostle against one another, Yachi and Kiyoko launched into a quiet conversation about club duties and then Sugawara and Daichi’s relationship. It was calm and easy, both speaking only words of kindness in low peaceful tones.

“How long have they been dating?” (Y/n) asked, cutting in as her feet finally touched back down to earth.

“About three months I think, but they’ve both had feelings for a long time,” Kiyoko smiled.

“I'm so glad they finally did start dating, they make such a good couple!” Yachi gushed, clasping her hands together “But I can't imagine what the confession must have been like, confessions have always made me too nervous!”

Yachi’s hands flew up to hold her cheeks as they flushed red at the mere thought of such confrontation, Kiyoko giggled along.

“Yeah, confessing sounds stressful.” (Y/n) pondered aloud, tapping at her chin.

“Is there someone you have in mind?” Kiyoko inquired innocently, cocking her head slightly to the side. (Y/n) looked back in confusion.

“In mind..?” she repeated, still perplexed.

“Someone you ‘wouldn’t’ want to confess to!” Yachi giggled, scooting closer to (Y/n) and shooting her a suggestive smirk. (Y/n) felt her cheeks grow warm, sure that the pink on her features would only spread if the conversation continued.

“I-I.. well not, I mean-“ (Y/n) tried. She kept her gaze lowered towards her hands, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

“Aww it’s okay Hinata-chan! We were just teasing, sorry!” Yachi laughed, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

“No, no! I mean, what I was trying to say before is that there isn’t anyone that I’m interested in right now! At all!” (Y/n) finally spluttered out, a little louder and a lot more aggressive than she’d intended.

“What about Tsukishima?” Kiyoko asked evenly, soft tones failing to cushion the bluntness of her sudden inquiry.

(Y/n) paused for a moment, thinking back to the conversation of the previous night. Even if she had somehow started to develop any sort of feelings it didn’t really matter since she couldn’t tell if Tsukishima actually even wanted to be friends. He was always so confusing..

Finally, (Y/n) shook her head.

“We’re just friends.” She assured, face calming back to its gentle rosy cream. Kiyoko studied her for a moment before nodding.

“You guys seem to be getting along much better lately.” Kiyoko smiled lightly, easing herself down to lay on her side.

“I hope so... the truth is I can’t blame you guys for thinking there might have been something there on my part.” (Y/n) laughed diffidently, “I was just always so nervous that he’d hate me so I ended up getting all tense and acting weird around him.... hopefully he didn’t notice.”

(Y/n) let out a long sigh.

“Why would you think he might hate you?” Yachi asked, confusion dotting her words.

“He’s just so far away from everyone. Back home things were so different, and I guess I got accustomed to reading people a certain way. So when he was all cold I thought I'd... I dunno, done something wrong..?” (Y/n) shrugged, Kiyoko nodded thoughtfully.

“That makes more sense, and you really don’t have to tell us but what exactly was back home... like?” Kiyoko questioned hesitantly. She’d taken her time to ask the question in a way that was sweetened and less direct, hoping to create the least amount of discomfort. Regardless, (Y/n)’s shoulders tended slightly.

“It was...” She trailed off, as Yachi reached over and placed a comforting hand on her thigh.

“It’s okay, you really don’t have to say,” Yachi said softly. (Y/n) shook her head and continued

“No it’s okay. It was just a completely different world. I’ve never really talked about it, and I’m not sure how much Shoyo has told you guys, but I grew up in a really... wealthy... family.” (Y/n) paused, averting her eyes.

She always hated talking about that part of herself, the part that made people uncomfortable and the environment shift into a stiff stillness that never had the room for friendly connection. The same type of air that suffocated her to near death back home. The silence began to weigh down into her spine, so (Y/n) continued.

“The culture, it’s j-just really different.. and well my parents wanted me to be something.. someone that I wasn’t. They wanted me to dress a certain way, act like I was perfect, and just let people walk all over me. And I just didn’t want that, so I kinda took every opportunity to show them that.” (Y/n) laughed to herself reaching up to touch her long brown locks instinctively.

“That’s actually why I dyed my hair brown,” she continued “in rebellion. And I did a bunch of other stupid things like rip up clothes and wear make up I knew they’d hate. Mostly though, I would argue with them... and one day they kind of realized I wasn’t gonna give up and I think my Mom.. she realized I was really unhappy..”

“I-i’m really sorry (Y/n)..” Yachi said quietly. (Y/n) looked up and met her eyes, forcing a smile.

“It’s okay, don’t be. I’m here now and I’m really really happy! Happier than I’ve ever been!” (Y/n) smiled wide and held up a thumbs up

“We’re glad you’re here too.” Kiyoko said softly as Yachi leaned to lay her head across (Y/n)’s lap. (Y/n) stroked through the stands of blonde lovingly.

“That’s why I wanted everyone to like me so much. I never really felt like I fit in back home.. everyone wanted that lifestyle of fake smiles and champagne.. I..” (Y/n) furrowed her brows,

“I just wanted to be free.” She said definitively, looking up to find Kiyoko’s approving smile still beaming her way.

“How did you convince them to let you come?” Yachi asked suddenly, pulling (Y/n)’s eyes back down to her lap.

“We made a deal. They agreed to let me stay here through highschool as long as I go to the college they choose and marry the person they want me to.” (Y/n) explained, light disappointment visible through the cracks of her syllables.

“(Y/n)...” Yachi whispered, big teary eyes peering up at the brunette as Yachi reached up to touch (Y/n)’s face. (Y/n) smiled placing her own hand over Yachi’s which now rested against her cheek.

“It’s okay,” (Y/n) said, glancing up at Kiyoko who was giving her a similar look of sympathy “Really!”

“I've never really believed in love much so it’s not like I was waiting around for my soul mate.” (Y/n) reassured.

“But what if you meet someone and-“ Yachi spoke up

“I just wanna have fun while I’m here and try to make the most of it.” (Y/n) cut her off, smiling softly in such a way that Yachi and Kiyoko quickly understood the topic wasn’t open for discussion. Kiyoko began talking about college applications and careers and the weight of vulnerability finally began to wear off of (Y/n)’s shoulders. As the trio fell back into their easy jokes and conversations they pulled out trays of sushi and dried seaweed, giggling in unison as they shared light hearted memories.

Eventually, when the sky had turned into a sea of warm colors and fluffy watercolor clouds, (Y/n) felt a buzz in her pocket. She was forced to pull away from the conversation and check her text messages.

“Who’s it from?” Yachi asked, leaning over (Y/n)’s shoulders to peer at her screen.

“It’s Noya-senpai he said to look behind-“

“KIYOKO!!!!” A bellow erupted over the outstretched field behind (Y/n), as stampeding footsteps grew louder. The three managers snapped their heads towards the sudden noise, eyes wide, as three figures came into view.

“HINATA-CHAN!!” Nishinoya screamed, a geeky smile splashed across his lips feeding up to the crinkles in his eyes. Faux tears were streaming from Tanka and Nishinoya as they ran towards the trio at full speed, arms outstretched before them. Behind them Yamaguchi was carrying a volleyball looking sheepish, a light blush tinting his cheeks as he waved a small hello.

(Y/n) began to stand only to be tackled to the ground by both Nishinoya and Tanaka. She screamed as they trapped her in an overbearing hug.

“You idiots that hurt!” She laughed, pushing them off of her as she sat up and bonked both their heads simultaneously. They immediately wrapped their arms around her once more.

“We missed yOU SO MUCH!!” Nishinoya cried.

“We were just too jealous of your picnic, we couldn’t help but crash it!!” Tanaka wept, pulling away and leaning back to look at Kiyoko.

“Please don’t be mad~” He said to her, giving the upperclassmen puppy dog eyes. Kiyoko bit back a smile and maintained her aloofness, even if barely so.

“Don’t look at me, this picnic was Hinata-chan’s idea.” She said matter of factly, Tanaka turned back to (Y/n).

“C'mon please leT US STAY WE JUST WANNA BE WITH OUR PRECIOUS MANAGERS!” Tanaka bawled, throwing his arms around (Y/n) yet again. She sighed in feigned annoyance.

“Hi hi Hinata-chan, Kiyoko-senpai, Yachi-san.” Yamaguchi cut in, finally catching up to his friends under the tree. He placed the volleyball down gently before taking a seat next to Yachi, bumping her shoulder lightly with a smile. (Y/n)’s heart surged and she bit her lip to conceal the smile threatening to burst out.

“Fineee, you guys can stay.” She sighed, drawing it out a little too much. Tanaka and Nishinoya rejoiced, jumping to their feet as they chanted on about being accepted into the “managers only” hang out. The six team mates sat under golden sunlight, cracking jokes and chatting mindlessly until the sun set.

That is until Nishinoya’s energy got the best of him and he and Tanaka insisted on showing (Y/n) how to receive and serve. Which might have been a great idea if Tanka and Nishinoya weren’t such terrible teachers. In the end Yamaguchi went home with a bruise on his head and (Y/n) vowed to never touch a volleyball again. She swore everyone to secrecy over Yamaguchi’s injury, praying that Tsukishima wouldn’t find out and kill her over it. Too bad Yamaguchi was a terrible liar.

CH.09 II pic-nic date!!

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MASTERLIST

Tagslist: @domtamaki @kodzu-ken @clowninfortodoroki @kageyamasbabygorl @miya-yume @chaelysian @kittyddandnyla @chaseyui @it-was-just-a-ship @melanie09astrid @naorii-chan @chaoticalybiased @saltyteefff @aristatrois @iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire @raineedayze

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chappybird · 4 years

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How to Get Roleplay on F-List: A Guide

Hey all. So I’ve had a few people ask me how on earth to get RP over F-List, or for those that have tried, say its too confusing. While F-List is a much different format than I think a lot of people are used to, it’s a pretty reliable source of RP once you get used to it. So I’m going to walk you through, step by step, how to start from nothing and get a profile set up to start RPing. F-List is 18+ Only and is a Restricted To Adults® Verified website. You can learn more about it by clicking the RTA logo at the bottom of f-list’s main page.

F-list’s main landing page can be located at https://www.f-list.net/.

Note that my f-list may look different from yours because I’m using dark mode (which can be set in the account tab) and I’m a subscriber, so I don’t see ads.

Step One: Make a Profile

Making a profile, or as they’re known on F-List, a character, is your jumping off point for getting started. There are three main factions on F-List: Anthro Characters, Canon Characters, and Original Characters, with subcategories of each. You also have hub profiles. There is a right way to make a hub profile, but that’s not something I’ll be talking about on this post. Hub profiles are pretty universally disliked on F-List and are often seen as a mark of laziness, and I do not recommend making one to look for RP on. You should make a separate Profile for each character you want to play as. If you have a normal account, you can make up to 150 different characters. If you’re a subscriber, you can make significantly more than that depending on your tier.

Choosing a name for your character is very important! You want something attention grabbing, but since each character has to have a unique name, this can get a little tricky. Today I’m choosing to create a Link from the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. As this is a popular character, it can be difficult to track down a good name. You can be clever with naming conventions, while making it obvious who you’re playing, or you can add in underscores, hyphens, numbers, etc. It’s really up to personal preference. I advise not getting too abstract with your character name. Just pick something easy to read and to the point. Once you’ve decided on a name, click the create character button to open up the character editor.

Step Two: Holy Fuck Dude That’s a Lot of Shit To Fill Out

Take a deep breath. The character editor is very intimidating to those that haven’t used F-List before. Perhaps you have used F-List for it’s old intended purpose, just to list your kinks to link people to when RPing on other sites. Your first instinct might be to scroll down there and start picking kinks willy-nilly. Stop. In the grand scheme of things, this is not as important for getting Roleplay and if you do it incorrectly you might actually hurt your chances.

Now that we’ve calmed down you’ll notice two things at the top of the page. A big white text field, and this guy:

This, more than anything on your profile, is the most important thing. If you have this on profile, you will almost never get any roleplay. This is your character icon, and it’s the first step on your journey to doing this whole thing correctly. All you need to do is find an image that’s 300x300 pixels or smaller and upload it with the Choose File button. Then scroll down to the very bottom of the page and hit save. Search on google, and if you have a hard time finding something of that size, A great site to use is https://lunapic.com/ to edit pics if you don’t have Photoshop or Gimp. Choosing or creating an image with some sort of transparency layer is recommended because it makes your icon look more polished, but you don’t really need to do that. This isn’t an image software guide so I’ll leave that to you to figure out. If all you can do is crop an image into a square, that will do perfectly. But you need to have something here. Besides your character name, it’s the first impression you’re going to give to people when using the site. I have honest to god had people message me on empty profiles that having nothing but a character name and an icon.

Sourcing your images is a bit of a grey area on f-list. It’s not really an art sharing site, but if you choose fanart that someone doesn’t want to be reposted, it can be removed by the mods if you’re reported for it. So we’ll just use some official art that already has a transparency channel and crop it using Lunapic.

Step Three: How To Set the Profile Up

If you’re following along, you should have something like this by now. This already gives us an idea of who you’re playing, and what they look like, and while you might get a couple of weirdos messaging you already, there’s still a lot to do. So let’s go over what to do next.

Now that you’ve already created a character, it will be listed under the character tab. Further characters will be listed in alphabetical order. Navigate to your character and click the “Edit” button underneath their icon.

We’re back to the big scary page. Remember that big text field? We’re going to ignore everything else and focus on this first.

F-List uses standard BBC code tags with [square brackets.] You can find some buttons that will give you tools like bold, italics, color, hyperlinks, and quote blocks. There are many different ways to create eye-catching descriptions. I would say the three basic ways are minimalist, inline based, and heavy BBC code. We’ll go through the first option in detail but if you’re interested in the the latter, there is actually a few F-List profiles that teach coding and even have a few templates to use. User beware, though. Many F-List users use these templates and they can sometimes look a bit generic as they are overused.

Templates: https://www.f-list.net/c/profile%20templates

Coding Help: https://www.f-list.net/c/profile%20references

If you want to make an inline based profile, having access to software like Illustrator, Photoshop, GIMP, and similar content is good to have as well. You can also make a blend of the three styles of profiles. I’ll link some examples of my own profiles for reference. Some of these have text included in the inline. Some of them just have an image with the text written out underneath. Again, it’s really up to your personal preference.

https://www.f-list.net/c/Rival%20II/

https://www.f-list.net/c/Lion%20Heart/

https://www.f-list.net/c/The%20Fire%20of%20Tamaran/

Now would also be a great time to familiarize yourself with the rules. Keep an eye on these, especially if you play contentious content.

https://wiki.f-list.net/Code_of_Conduct

Some big things to look out for and not to do: Photographs and realistic images of animals are not allowed. Even Nonsexual ones. Photographs and 3D renders of minors (even nonsexual images or nonsexual profiles) are not allowed. If there is even a hint of the character being a minor, do not use photographic or 3D renders. (For example: Tom Holland’s depiction of Spiderman. Even though Tom Holland was an adult when he played the role, the character is a minor.) Sometimes these can run into a lot of grey areas, but it’s better safe than sorry!

Step Four: Creating A Minimalist Profile

We’ll start with a short description. It’s really important to make sure your character’s name is present in your descriptio, especially if it’s not the profile name. If you’re feeling particularly lazy, you can copypaste something from a wiki or official description. Let’s start with something like this.

Link had humble beginnings as a boy that lived in the forest with the Kokiri. Known as the boy without a fairy, Link led a simple life until one day, the dying Guardian of the forest, the Deku Tree, set him upon a Quest to save the Kingdom of Hyrule from darkness. Arming himself with the elemental powers of Hyrule and the legendary Master Sword, Link journeyed through time to the Dark Era of Hyrule to challenge the evil Ganondorf and save his Kingdom from evil.

Shoving this into the Description box and hitting save will generate something like this.

You might notice that this looks like crap. And it does! however, we can very easily fix that with the power of just three simple BBC tags. Those being [center], [color], and [sub]. plus a little something extra I’ll explain in a moment. Let’s add those in like so.

[center][color=green][sub]Link had humble beginnings as a boy that lived in the forest with the Kokiri. Known as the boy without a fairy, Link led a simple life until one day, the dying Guardian of the forest, the Deku Tree, set him upon a Quest to save the Kingdom of Hyrule from darkness. Arming himself with the elemental powers of Hyrule and the legendary Master Sword, Link journeyed through time to the Dark Era of Hyrule to challenge the evil Ganondorf and save his Kingdom from evil.[/sub][/color][/center]

Instead of hitting save at the bottom of the profile this time, we’re going to click “Preview BBC Code” to get a look at what our coding has done.

Fancy.

But it could use a little work. When I’m making minimalist profiles, I like to make the lines of text a little shorter so it’s a little easier to read and looks nicer. Make sure each line of text is about the same length as the previous (minus any BBC tags)

[eicon]blank[/eicon] [center][color=green][sub]Link had humble beginnings as a boy that lived in the forest with the Kokiri. Known as the boy without a fairy, Link led a simple life until one day, the dying Guardian of the forest, the Deku Tree, set him upon a Quest to save the Kingdom of Hyrule from darkness. Arming himself with the elemental powers of Hyrule and the legendary Master Sword, Link journeyed through time to the Dark Era of Hyrule to challenge the evil Ganondorf and save his Kingdom from evil.[/sub][/color][/center] [eicon]blank[/eicon]

You’ll also notice that I placed an eicon tag with a “blank” body. Eicons are essentially image macros that can be used all over the site. Using the blank one here is a good way to put a block of empty space on the top and bottom so the text isn’t too crowded by the frame of the description box. Another couple to keep in mind are [eicon]under construction[/eicon] or [eicon]WIP[/eicon] if you want to save your work now and get right to chatting and exploring the site. This signifies that you’re still working on your profile and more will be added later. You can create your own eicons by going to Account > Icon gallery. Keep in mind each eicon must have a unique name across all users. Inputting this into the description and checking how it looks in the preview, we end up getting something that looks like this:

Looks like we got a bookmark while we were setting the profile up. That means someone saw us while browsing new characters and decided they want to keep an eye on our profile and are likely interested in RPing! If you like, you can disable bookmarks per character in the character editor under settings. Generally speaking though, bookmarks are your friend and it’s how people will find you to RP later.

Optionally if you want to add an inline, just upload an image of your choice in Account > Inline Images. You can then add it in the character editor using this button.

This isn’t a tutorial for creating inlines, but a general rule is to make sure it’s sized well, and transparent images tend to look better than non-transparent images.

Step Five: Character Details

Opening the Character Editor once more, a couple basic things should be filled out. We will take this section by section.

Settings: Some general tweaks to change and edit. Personally, I like to turn my timezone off, and besides that, I like to have my Guestbook and Bookmarks turned on as well, but all of these settings are up to you. A big one a I suggest turning on is “Custom Kinks Sort First.” This will come up later but it’s good to turn it on.

Character List: For now, you can ignore this part. You can use this to have certain characters grouped together and will show up in the sidebars of these characters. I haven’t run into any limits for how many character lists you can have, but keep in mind a character can only belong to one list at a time.

Images: If you have any images you want to upload, this is the place to do it. Headcanons of body types, additional art you’ve drawn or found, can be added here. You can add descriptions to each image that will appear when a user hovers over the image. Keep in mind, again, that usage of fan art is a grey area on F-List. It’s not an image posting site, but some artists do not want their art reposted at all.

Profile Info: You don’t need to fill out every single detail here. Bits that aren’t filled in will just not appear on your profile. It’s a good idea to fill out your gender, and in many cases, your orientation. Both are under General Details. Filling out RPing preferences is also a good idea. It’ll keep people from approaching you IC using first person posts if that’s not your thing.

Step Six: Kinks and Custom Kinks

This is probably one of the most overwhelming parts of the process. My first tip: Ignore the Kink section for now. Instead, skip ahead to the Custom Kink section.

Custom Kinks are a good way to tell people what you really want. Click the Add +1 Custom Kink button to make a new custom kink. You can fill out the basic title of the kink, and a description. Or if you prefer to leave the description blank, just press the spacebar. Select what category you want the kink to appear in (Fave, Yes, Maybe, No.) Try to avoid using inflammatory language against different races, genders, identities, and don’t kinkshame. This is a site based primarily around finding rpers that have the same interests and kinks that you do. Save the profile when you’re done and we’ve got something like this.

And really, you can probably start roleplaying like this. Maybe add a couple of images, and tweak a few things. So if you like, skip to the next step. But for now, I’ll go over the kink list.

The most important think to remember is you don’t have to add every single kink to your profile. Try to select the most relevant things, and avoid redundancies.

For example, I’m not interested in Vore of any kind. So I can put the kinks Vore (Being Predator) and Vore (Being Prey) Into my No category. Or, if I want to make it even more simplified, I can add a custom Vore kink and put that in my No category. Likewise, if I don’t want to do any sex driven play, I can probably go ahead and just put sex driven there and ignore most of the kink list. Kinks that are not relevant such as Vaginal Sex (Receiving) on a cis male can also be ignored. Kinks are broken up into sections, and while it is a lot, just take your time, go through it sensibly, and take a break if you want to. Remember you don’t have to add every single one to your profile. This will ultimately be easier on you and make your profile easier to read.

After a bit of editing, this is what my kink list ends up looking like:

You can try exploring the Subfetish editor but it’s a little confusing to navigate and isn’t very necessary. And now, your profile is done!

Step Six: Using F-Chat

So now that we have a profile set up, it’s time to find some partners. Regardless of what way you want to connect, if you prefer script or para, the main place you’re going to find RP is through F-Chat. There is currently both a desktop and mobile client. if you select Chat you’ll see the option for both, and clicking on them will take you to instructions on how to set those up. We will however be using the Browser client in this example. Go ahead and select F-Chat 3.0.

You will be taken to a landing page with a drop down of your characters, with the first character you created selected as the default. (You can change your default character in your account settings.) You can have up to three characters online at once. Keep in mind this goes by IP address, so if you have a roommate that also uses F-List, those will count towards your total number of online characters. If this becomes a problem for you, just use a virtual machine or connect to the internet via a different method, such as with data. (F-List is not that much of a data drain.)

Here is what you’ll see when you open F-Chat. You’ll see I already have people in my friends list and my bookmarks (that I’ve blurred out for courtesy.) These will appear the same on all the characters you sign in as. I will be notified whenever one of my friends signs in or sets a status. You can set these notifications to show only on the console if you’d like to in the settings. Let’s set a status first.

Here, you have the options of selecting from the default Online status to Looking, Away, Busy, and Do Not Disturb. These all do what you’d expect, with Do Not Disturb turning off the sound that would play when you get notifications from personal messages or pings.

The Status Message is an optional addition, and it’s great for if you’re looking for specific things or want your friends and bookmarks to know what you’re doing. Be careful not to post anything that breaks F-Lists code of conduct. F-List does have an aggregate of every status you ever posted logged on their server, so throwing a temper tantrum and posting something inappropriate and then taking it back later might still get you in trouble.

While the Character Search Option is available to you, I’ve personally never found it very effective. You can search users by kinks, but keep in mind it doesn’t search by gender or orientation, or what species or even if they’re canon or original. Instead, we’ll go right to the settings tab.

General: Just your general settings. You have a few options here to tweak and while most of it is personal preference, I’ll highlight a few to keep in mind.

Disallowed BBC Code Tag: good for if you find a particular colour particularly garish as a text colour, or if you find an eicon that you no longer want to see anymore. Enter Sends Messages: I have this set to off so I can avoid accidentally sending a message for when I post. When this is enabled, just press the send button on screen to send messages. Otherwise, if you want to linebreak in one post, just press Shift + Enter. Animate eicons: If you’re running a slow computer, or have a slow connection, turn this to off. Eicons are used as memes a lot in F-Chat, and some of them can get a little ridiculous. (Someone has compressed the entire Shrek movie into an eicon and uploaded to the site in very poor quality for example.) There can also be bright flashing colours or even nsfw images. In general these eicons are all 100x100 pixels in size, but some users like to tile them together to create bigger images so it can sometimes get out of hand. This is something up to personal preference, and while I have Animate eicons turned on, I can see why some people wouldn’t like it. Idle Timer: If you are the kind of person that walks away from your computer without changing your status, or you have fallen asleep with F-Chat open, it’s good to set this to a reasonable time. If you’re in Online or Looking, after you’ve been inactive for the depicted number of seconds, your status will be set to Idle. This is so other users know that you’re not ignoring them if you don’t respond to their messages. A downside to this is if you’re tabbed out or multitasking, it’ll set you to idle when you may not intend it to and going back to the window switches you to Online again. It can be a little spammy if you’re constantly switching between Online and Idle. Font Size: If you find F-Chat’s font too big or too small, you can edit that here.

Notifications: While this section is pretty self explanatory, I’d like to specifically go over the Custom Highlight Notify Words.

Now, because each profile has to have a unique name, you might want to select additional pings. For example I might want to add Link,Zelda,Hyrule,Hero,Hero of Time to my list. Everything is comma seperated and not case sensitive. There are a few things to keep in mind.

Common word pings: If I add Link to my list of pings, I might get pinged whenever someone talks about a url link, or a chain link, or any other common use of the word link. It therefore might be better to not use the word. If you have a profile name that is a common word, it might be better to also uncheck the option for Notify Messages Containing your name.

Similar Profiles: If there’s another Link in chat, then I will be notified everytime someone refers to him by name as well. This is less of a problem on more niche characters, but it’s something to keep in mind! You can set pings by room, so perhaps a solution to this is using Link as a highlight word in the Canon Characters room, but not using it as a highlight word in the Nintendo room. More about how to do that later.

Hidden Users: Pretty self explanatory once click over. If you keep seeing an ad you dislike, you can hide all advertisements from said user (re: character) going forward. Keep in mind this is not your block list.

Import: If you make two profiles and want to have these settings copied from one to the other, just log into the profile you want to import to, and select the profile you want to import from. Make sure to go back to change your pings if needed.

Lastly, we’ll be looking at the channel section.

You might be starting to be overwhelmed again, and that’s okay. There are a lot of options, but most of the time, you’ll only want to select the options that are relevant to us. Check off the list of rooms you want to open a tab for. These will begin to be added to your sidebar. the number in brackets signifies the number of users thats joined that room. By default, this list is most popular to least popular, but I personally prefer alphabetical. There may be some channels that you find inappropriate, offensive, or contentious, but your best bet is to ignore those parts of the site. It’s an Adult site that is heavily moderated by a mixture of paid and volunteer staff. Every effort is made to ensure that no real people get hurt, but it is understood that as an adult, you are responsible for curating the content that you consume. This is one of the fundamental principals that F-List is built upon.

For now, I’m going to go with Canon Characters and Canon Characters OOC from this list.

You will also notice an Open Room tab. Unlike the Official Channels which are moderated by F-List staff, Open Rooms are chat rooms created by the userbase, and moderated by the userbase. While the standard F-List code of content is applicable to all areas of the site, special rules may apply in these rooms, and you’ll find things like rooms dedicated to certain kinks, species, and fandoms. I can try searching for a few things I think might be applicable to me, such as Hyrule, Zelda, Nintendo, and Elf. Some of those get hits, and some of those don’t. I can also check them off to add them to my list. (Note that search terms have to be entered one at a time. I cannot search for multiple things at once.)

Once you’ve selected the channels and rooms you want to join, you can click and drag on the tabs to reorder them on the sidebar. If you’d like to pin a chat, You can just press the little push pin symbol, which will then turn green. (You can do this for User Messages as well.) This means when you sign out, these chats will still be there when you sign back in. Note that settings and pinned chats are device by device only, and furthermore, channels and logs will not carry over between characters.

Make sure to read the description of each room you join. There are often specific rules (such as no ooc talk in the canon characters room, and no male characters in the lesbians room.) Clicking the gear will allow you to change settings on a per-room basis.

Step Seven: Actually Finding some RP

Now, after all that effort, we’re finally ready to find some RP. You have a few options on how to do this.

You could just join a few rooms and set your status to looking with a status message on what you want, but this is considered very passive. You may get some people that reach out (As you saw, someone had bookmarked my Link less than an hour after I made the profile before logging into f-chat.) But your best bet is one of three options.

Look at the Ads: Whenever you’re in a room that allows ads, you will sometimes notice a differently coloured message fly by looking for roleplay. This is an ad. If you see one that seems to fit what you have to offer, you can right-click on their username and select “Open Conversation.” A chat window will be open under the PMs section on your sidebar. You can view this conversation like you would a channel. Keep in mind that users are not notified if you open a conversation with them, only if you send them a message.

Create an Ad: Make sure you are in a room or channel that allows ads by checking the description, you can select the ad tab in the lower right hand corner above the text input box to write an ad instead of a chat message.

Making a normal chat post saying “hey does anyone want to roleplay with me” is considered spam and could result in the mods having a word with you.

You have similar tools to what you do in the character descriptions, and clicking each one will automatically place the tags in the text box, with the eyeball being a preview and the question mark being a how to. You want your ads to stand out, but you don’t want them to be too obnoxious. Take a look at what kind of ads other people are posting to get an idea of what’s expected.

Talk to Others: And lastly, you can just play in public rooms or chat with people in ooc channels. This is a great way for others to sample what you’re like to play with and vice versa, or even just to get to know potential partners. In my general experience, you’ll have more luck finding people to play with long term in the user created Open Rooms than in the Official Channels, but ever case is different. There are a vast number of styles, methods of RP, and types of partners you can find.

That’s basically the ins and outs of F-List! The more you’ll use it, the more you’ll understand how it works and the social etiquette on the platform. Like many sites, it certainly has it’s share of dark corners and flaws, but all in all it’s a pretty good website to find people to play with! Have fun!

#cherp #mxrp #rp #tumblr rp #flist #no tea no shade for tagging other RP sites #just giving people more options and I've been asked about it a few times

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dashboardcat · 3 years

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I Try One of Everything at Salt City Market (Part 2)

Remember like 3 weeks ago when I did a write-up of a food hall in my hometown, guaranteed to attract the attention of like, 2 people? Well, it’s time for more of that!

Attempt #1

While there wasn’t a line outside this time, the market itself seemed just as busy as it was the day after the grand opening. I also tried to make a point to take in more of the decor, but I don’t think I really have anything new to add other than the fact that I watched not one but two people struggle to stuff the big paper bags their food came in into the trendy, tiny-opening trash cans. More importantly, I forgot that like, half of the stands are closed on Mondays, meaning I would have to come back another time to finish my quest.

ERMA’S ISLAND- Jerk Pork (half portion)- $10

I want to say right off the bat that of all the things I’ve tried from this market, this was hands down the best smelling. And thankfully, the pork pretty much tasted as good as it smelled. It was tender and juicy, and the sauce was complex, with a good amount of heat that didn’t overpower the other flavors. The rice and beans that it came with, on the other hand, was a little bland, but that’s nothing that mixing the sauce into can’t fix.

Unfortunately, I can never show my face there again, because when the cashier asked me if I wanted the half or whole portion, I said “Yeah,” and made her repeat herself like 3 times.

MAMMA HAI- “Marco Polo” Banh Mi- $10

Yes, that’s pepperoni on a banh mi.

The roll was nice and crusty, and to be honest, that’s like 90% of what makes a good sandwich for me. Unfortunately, the pickled veggies and cilantro (and this blog is pro-cilantro, get over yourselves, haters) sort of overpowered the pepperoni and the char siu pork, which is a shame because I wanted that pepperoni to shine. If this was a $5 banh mi, I wouldn’t have a problem with that, but at $10 I would have liked a little more meat, or at least for the already existing meat to make its presence felt. The pate and mayo kinda also get lost, but do present a bit of richness in about every other bite (and, for another controversial sandwich opinion, I don’t necessarily think that every bite of a sandwich has to have an even distribution of everything, otherwise the flavors sort of just blur together after a while). Overall, it’s a fairly decent sandwich, but left me longing for something more. They also have a curry chicken banh mi, maybe that one has a better balance of flavor.

CAKE BAR- Locus Cake- $6.50

One thing about Cake Bar that isn’t made apparent by looking at their stand is that, according to their website, it’s meant to resemble a Vietnamese cafe. In hindsight, this kinda explains the wide variety of specialty teas (specialteas, if you will) they also had available.

The chocolate cake was moist and had little crispy bits running throughout it. At first, I thought it was eggshells, because I’m an idiot and always assume the worst. After picking out an especially large chunk, I realized it was broken up bits of Biscoff cookies! (Further research has shown me that the parent company that makes Biscoff cookies is called Locus, thus, y’know, the name of the cake. Probably should have put that together sooner, it literally says “Locus” on the cookie, one of which was lodged into the top of the cake.) The buttercream was surprisingly light, and the caramel on top had the perfect consistency, gooey enough to stay put but not so gooey that it turned into a stringy mess after running your fork through it. The only negative thing I really have to say about the all-around experience was that the box they used made it kind of difficult to get the slice out of it (as you can see, I ended up just tearing the sides up).

Attempt #2

Since the market is relatively close to my work, I figured I would drop by after work one day to bang out the rest of the list.

BAGHDAD RESTAURANT- Beef Shawarma- $6.99

At first, I laughed to myself upon seeing it in one of those gas station sub bags. The laughing faded pretty quickly, though, upon seeing it was, in fact served on a sub roll. I'm not a shawarma expert. maybe that can be an acceptable way to eat it? The beef was well spiced and that perfect sweet spot between tender and still having something to sink your teeth into. Unfortunately, that’s more or less where my compliments end. What little sauce the menu promised (just called “sauce,” don’t ask me what it is) has soaked into the bread and completely disappeared, making the whole thing somewhat dry and lackluster. Also, they didn’t cut it, which was fine with the heartier banh mi’s baguette but with the softer sub roll didn’t have the structural integrity to be picked up whole without a struggle. My biggest gripe with it is mostly on me, though, as the juice from the pickles tainted most of it with pickle stank, which could have been avoided entirely if I had just ordered it without.

SOULUTIONS- Mustard and Berbere Fried Chicken ($6) and FIRE MAC ($4)

(Note- the $6 order of chicken comes with 2 of these chicken cutlets, but I carelessly ate one before taking the picture.)

I do want to clear the air here and say that yes, I did accidentally order fried chicken and mac and cheese from both of the soul food places. I was originally going to get the burger, at my friend’s recommendation, but the menu board by the register suspiciously didn’t have the burger on it, so I panicked and ordered the fried chicken again.

While the breading was stained yellow from mustard, the honey mustard taste was very subtle. I also have to admit to not knowing off the top of my head what berbere (I had to google it, it’s an Ethiopian spice blend) tastes like, so i can't tell you if this tasted like that. But, despite not being especially strong in either of the namesake seasonings, it definitely is a flavorful piece of chicken nonetheless. Flavors work that way sometimes.

The Fire Mac may not have delivered as strongly on cheese as I may have liked, but it definitely did deliver on the fire, drizzled with a tangy buffalo-esque sauce. And Topped with crumbled bits of fried chicken skins? Can’t go wrong with that.

JUICE AND FLOWERS- “Root | 12” Juice- $8

Misleading name, I didn’t see any flowers anywhere. Zero stars.

The beet and lemon were the most pronounced of the flavors, with the ginger lingering on the palate and, unsurprisingly, the apple and carrot mostly being there to round the whole thing out. The employee that waited on me was very passionate and knowledgeable about the juice, informing me that 2 pounds of produce had gone into this little bottle, and that it’d have a shelf life of 3-5 days. Which is good, because I put it back in the fridge after I got home to chill it back down, and then proceeded to forget about it for 3 days. It’s also a very thick and hearty juice, so it doesn’t feel that weird to only want to drink half a bottle in one sitting and, y’know, make this $8 bottle of juice last a little longer.

Attempt #3

Knowing fully well that I was going to have a long night shift ahead of me, I decided to check out the Coffee Bar side of the market for what would be my third trip over the course of 5 days. I feel like I should also point out that the Coffee Bar, as its name literally breaks down as, serves coffee during the day and a full bar at night. I also noticed during this visit that the Coffee Bar has a patio seating area under construction, cheesy string lights and all, that I am looking forward to.

Fruity Pebbles Latte- $6

Against my best judgement, I got it “for here” for the sake of the pic, even though a.) I had to break my rule of not eating in places because this fucking pandemic isn’t over yet and b.) I was nervous about being late for work the whole time (I did, in fact, get there on time). As I waited, I could see their secret recipe fruity pebbles milk sitting on the counter. It was, in fact, fruity pebbles and milk.

I didn’t really think the Fruity Pebbles would work with the espresso, having had been burned before by places that just dump them onto things with no regard of the flavor profile just for the sake of the burst of color. But, somehow… it did work. Maybe it’s because cereal milk is never quite as strong as some might hope, but the subtle fruitiness of the milk played well with the chocolatey notes in the espresso. The espresso itself probably also had the best crema on it that I’ve ever seen on a latte (and yes, I had to google the pretentious espresso-snob term for the foam that floats to the top).

Also shoutout to the pour over, which on their menu board is priced at "4-ish"

I’m so glad I’m living with my parents again at the moment. Otherwise, this whole thing would’ve been like, a month’s worth of my food budget.

#food #restaurant reviews #salt city market

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smartguyreviewed · 4 years

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2x4 - Dateline

Original air date: Oct 1, 1997

Anyone who was holding their breath for me to get back to this, thank you. Been going through a lot like most people right now but I had to remember this blog is a good distraction because I get to write about one of my favorite shows growing up. Anyways, enjoy. :)

Let’s talk about cock-blocking or to be more gender inclusive...actually, I can’t think of a term similar that utilizes both a male and female part. Anyhoo, let’s talk about it.

I’ve done it (unintentionally). You’ve done it. We’ve all had it done to us as well. Like the night you finally got a chance to be alone with your dipshit crush and your annoying friend tried to insert herself until she finally realized what was going on and left you two alone so you could have your first kiss ever at age 19.

TJ is an extreme cock blocker. He will break your shit up and then pout because he’s still just a kid. Normally, TJ only wants to punish Marcus by enacting this cruel tactic but in this episode, he shifts gears to the person who is both a mother and father to him: Daddy Flody.

We begin this episode at a supermarket. Tj is checking out cereals and Floyd is checking out dat ass.

TJ catches Floyd staring and in his precocious little way, starts asking him questions about women. It kind of reminds me of Frank from Milk Money. which is a horrible movie that I adore and you should watch it because despite a little kid befriending a prostitute, it’s still a decent 90s coming-of-age tale. And Alex DeLarge is in it.

After TJ makes his dad sweat further by asking what body type gets his penis erect, TJ comes to the conclusion that Floyd is lonely and could probably benefit from some female companionship.

Cut to TJ on an unrealistically chatty PC barking at TJ to fill in the boxes for Floyd. I don’t know about you, but if my computer kept talking to me, I’d throw it out of the fucking window. I am so glad websites that talk at you are obsolete. Apparently, this computer is also sentient because TJ pauses for just a moment too long when Marcus comes in and this impatient computer bitch asks for the rest of the info in a more demanding tone.

But because TJ was distracted, he inputs his own height instead of his dad’s and the computer announces that she’s transferring him to their little people’s section. Hey, they gotta find love too!

Marcus is skeptical of why TJ is trying to set Floyd up. Just then, Yvette walks in and asks who is using her eyeliner to write down phone messages, which I totally expect a straight man to do. After fessing up, Marcus asks Yvette to dissuade TJ from setting up his dad. Yvette then uses her soon-to-be psychology degree on Marcus and reasons that he might be a little salty because he doesn’t want another woman to replace his mom. But no, Marcus is a teenage boy and completely lacking depth until certain episodes call for it. Instead, he says he just wants the car on weekend evenings so he can try to bang his latest girl of the week. Of course, he could just be deflecting to avoid a heavy conversation but I’m gonna go with the former because Marcus is the horniest boy on the show.

Yvette decides to help TJ since Floyd has few dating options. Her plan is to beef up his personal ad by making him younger and a fan of soul food and Maya Angelou. Marcus is still not with the shits and says that nobody wants to date an “old guy with three kids.” Completely forgetting about the fact that his dad is an attractive man, this happens instead:

TJ and the gang are now making final cuts on the 130 prospects Floyd had. I mean, that’s great and all but I’m sure at least half of those women were catfishes. Then again, in the 90s, maybe there was more legitimacy since there wasn’t enough technology to hide behind? I dunno. But Floyd definitely has some options.

While deliberating who will receive the clock from Floyd, Marcus makes what would be considered a transphobic comment questing if some of them really are women and how he doesn’t want Floyd to end up like Eddie Murphy. Mo, on the other hand is questing if this is even legal. Mo is a teenage boy and is probably likening it to what Tinder now is: a place to meet horny individuals.

Yvette thinks the ladies are good picks but then begins nitpicking their flaws, among one of them being that one of the ladies has breast implants. Because women who get surgeries to help boost their self esteem apparently don’t deserve love? Yvette is such a hypocrite as we’ll see in the future. Mo then begins taking the rejected pics because he loves older women, especially ones with perceived low self esteem. Just then, Floyd comes in the room and the gang has to cover up their dirty work. Floyd makes a bad joke and then dips out.

They eventually settle on a light-skinned natural woman named Jamie. They agree to meet at the grocery store, sot hat’s where we end up. Marcus is acting like he’s never seen pretty girls outside of school and leaves to spit game at women who just wanna be left alone so they can buy their frozen pizza and wine in peace.

Jamie sees who she thinks is her suitor and immediately is pissed because she, you know, thought she’d be meeting Floyd and not a little boy. Yvette comes over to smooth things over and convinces Jamie to meet Floyd. Well, TJ’s cute face convinced her after she was understandably freaked out. They go to meet Floyd.

Jamie shows up and explains what happened and that she was pre-screened to make sure she wasn’t a guy. Floyd actually even gives her an up and down look before she says she passed! Pretty sure this also wouldn’t go over well today. Jamie and Floyd, however, hit it off and leave to go on a date. When they get back, Yvette and TJ are spying on the new couple to see how it went. Floyd was actually bigging up TJ and talking about how smart he is to Jamie when they got in. Aww. Floyd is proud of his son for hooking him up. Yvette is noticeably annoyed at how he gets all of the credit, but I mean, it was his idea. Yvette just helped him out.

Upon completion of this totally selfless act to get his father some love, TJ is happy at first. Yay TJ! You’re on the right track to becoming a thoughtful human be--

Sike! TJ immediately regrets this decision once he realizes that his father having a personal life means that he won’t see him as much. TJ has a basketball game coming up that Floyd won’t be able to attend now. Yvette offers to take him but it’s not the same because Yvette is a girl and girls aren’t fun. And just like that, TJ the petty, cock-blocking asshole comes back.

The next day, TJ and Floyd are playing basketball when Jamie comes home. Floyd invites her to play but TJ is all like “bitch, wait your turn” and then Floyd puts her on TJ’s team. She then bribes TJ with the food she’s about to cook for them. He agrees but then Jamie and Floyd start flirting because duh. TJ leaves in a jealous fit, upset that this woman he hooked his father up with has the gall to want to spend time with him. He simulates what he wants to do to her body on a bag of Funions.

I have to say though, how long was the frame of this episode? Days? Weeks? Jamie has essentially become their stepmom. She’s even giving Marcus advice on how to treat a girl like a human being instead of a meat popsicle with titties. Yvette and Marcus then leave, allowing Jamie and Floyd their Blockbuster and Chill time with The Preacher’s Wife.

But TJ is a boner detector because as soon as Jamie and Floyd are about to mash faces, TJ whimpers for his pa because he doesn’t feel good. We think Floyd banished him to his room but then TJ comes over and pushes the two would-be lovers apart so he can ruin their night. Jamie eventually decides to leave, even though it’s clear she was holding out in case she could get a piece of Floyd but TJ completely squashed that possibility. Floyd actually whines when Jamie says she’s leaving. Aww. Floyd is lonely. Does TJ care? Of course not.

TJ sounds perfectly fine when he says he’s sorry he ruined the night. Father and son decide to just watch the movie together instead.

The next day at school, Marcus is spitting his game at the girl he went on a date with. Turns out, treating women like actual people has been working well for him! He’s even going on a second date. Yvette comes by to let TJ know that she’s picking him up again. TJ is, of course, pissed because Jamie had come over to the house the night before, albeit dick-less. Yvette has to explain to TJ that when you date someone, the goal is to see them frequently and that he’s the reason their last date sucked. She then shatters Marcus’s dreams by letting him know that Floyd is taking his car on his date. Guess Marcus is gonna have to make out on the bus.

TJ’s lips are all puckered because he’s losing his father to another woman. He’s so distressed that he actually picks a fight with a senior. Mo steps in and literally drags TJ home. No, seriously. He carried TJ like a bag of groceries all the way to the Henderson house during school. Then he transformed into a therapist to get to the root of TJ’s outburst. This is during school hours. Mo skipped school to bring TJ home and give Floyd advice. Mo is amazing.

TJ is playing basketball with himself when Floyd comes in and then he spills that he’s sick of Jamie. Floyd reminds TJ that he’s the one who set them up and I guess TJ didn’t know things would actually change. Now would have been a good time to mention if he feels some way about another woman besides Yvette playing a maternal figure in the wake of his mother’s never explained death. But Floyd does a good job as usual and says this is temporary because when TJ is a teenager, he won’t want anything to do with Floyd. TJ finally stops being a prick and Floyd offers to be careful about how he schedules his time and then continues the basketball game he let Jamie interrupt previously. Aww Floyd. Too bad TJ is probably going to hold onto this for a while because he was giving his dad a lot of shit in the end credits. This isn’t even the last time he does this to Floyd and we never see Jamie again, so I guess it’s safe to assume that TJ killed Jamie.

Things I noticed:

- Can we just take a moment to appreciate how hot Floyd is? How could Marcus ever think his dad wouldn’t be able to attract women?

- This brilliant cover for the gang if Floyd came in during the date deliberation:

- Marcus doesn’t want Floyd to go out on dates because he wants the car to himself on the weekends. He says if Floyd starts going out, he’s making out in the back of the bus. Yvette then says, “No, thanks to Rosa Parks, you can make out anywhere on the bus.” Brilliant retort. I really hand it to the writers of this show.

#smart guy #floyd henderson #tahj mowry #marcus henderson #jason weaver #essence atkins #Yvette Henderson #disney #mo tibbs #omar gooding #TJ henderson

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epicstuckyficrecs · 5 years

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Post Endgame Fic Rec!

So at the time I’m making this post, I haven’t seen Endgame yet (but it’s out in certain parts of the world), but I imagine that what everybody will want after watching it is either 1) to pretend it never happened, or 2) some fluff (I tried to keep it to fics posted in the last year since I already did a fluff fic rec after IW). So here goes! Enjoy!

(* besides the ones I’ve read)

Infinity War fix-it

*still here by wearing_tearing (1,8K): Steve wipes the dust off his face.

*To Never Have Loved At All by hitlikehammers (3K): Steve will say they had work to do, and a universe to put to rights. They had people to find and hearts to unbreak. They had a mission. There was no time for any of them to mourn. Steve, as it turns out, says a lot of things that are mostly bullshit.

Beyond the Burn by eyres (7K): Steve saves the universe - but it takes him awhile to be okay again.

This is the Perfect Time to Panic by Brokenpitchpipe, emij1s (8K): Finding the infinity stones and restoring half the universe is the boring part. The fun part comes next.

*watch them rolling back by napricot (17K): Bucky was just here, he was right here. This can’t be all that’s left. Well, it’s not all that’s left, not quite. There, in the pile of ash that used to be Bucky Barnes, already drifting to scatter across the soil of Wakanda, to dissipate in the air, to be nothing but dust on Steve’s hands and in his gasping mouth and in his lungs—left there, in that ash and dirt, are his gun, and his left arm, gleaming dully in the sunshine.

Realignment by amethystkrystal (24K): After assembling their own Infinity Gauntlet, the Avengers defeated Thanos and brought back everyone who disappeared. But their victory came at a great cost: in order to take the Soul Stone, Steve had to sacrifice the Captain America mantle and all the super-soldier strength that came with it. Small and sickly again, Steve’s poor health soon reaches a breaking point and his last option is a difficult surgery only Shuri and her team can perform. But not all hurts can be fixed with medicine, and the real healing begins after the operation -- when Bucky asks Steve to stay in Wakanda with him.

*Endless War by Nonymos (27K): There is always something more to lose. (Which means all is not lost.)

At Times I Almost Dream by LadyC (29K): When Thanos snapped his fingers, he split the universe into two – one where half the population had been erased from existence, another where the other half had. As both sets of Avengers will learn, the divide between the worlds is thinner for those who share a particular type of connection…

*might never be normal again (but who cares) bynapricot (WIP, 3/4, 36K): All things considered, Steve thought he’d handled the whole Thanos killing half the universe thing and the ensuing bitter, desperate quest to defeat him pretty well. Sacrificing his super soldier serum to use one of the Infinity Stones wasn't a problem either, not when it meant getting back the half of the universe they'd lost, and especially not when it meant getting Bucky back. But retirement and finally confessing his feelings for Bucky? Those were proving to be more challenging.

Dismantle The Sun by hitlikehammers (WIP, 19/20, 56K): This is the way the world ends: with a bang, and a whimper, plus a snap. And yet—between realities and quantum vagaries and heartbreak and that foolish not-just-human penchant toward hope—even that wasn't the end of their stories. Not even close.

Fluff

*I [Heart] You by writeonclara (1,1K): “Steve’s been hit with a curse,” Natasha said. She said it calmly, so Bucky didn’t immediately go flying out of the apartment to tear apart the Tower in search of Steve. “Of course he has,” he said. He felt, abruptly, exhausted. “What is it?” “It might be easier just to show you.”

*Boeuf Mystère by galwednesday (1,2K): “Quick question,” Bucky said. Steve looked up, but didn’t stop moving passports and stacks of cash into a nondescript blue duffel, his mind busily ticking through logistics. He’d grab the glock taped behind the hidden drawer in the desk on their way out, and they could buy new clothes once they got across the border into neutral territory, so they didn’t need much else, apart from whatever Bucky wanted to bring. One duffle should be enough. “Yeah, honey?” “What the fuck.”

*Blank and Silent by Kellyscams (1,6K): Without any words on his wrist, Steve Rogers is sure he'll never find his soulmate. But fate might have some different plans for him.

*Check, Mate? by talkplaylove-art (talkplaylove), wearing_tearing (2K): A notification from Check, Mate? blinks back at him. Steve’s heart speeds up when he opens the app and then his face breaks into a blinding grin when sees what’s waiting for him. James likes him back.

*Just About Half-Past Ten by rohkeutta (2K): But as he reaches Madison Avenue, Stark Tower a mere block away, the skies open with a whoosh, and he barely manages to duck under the construction scaffolding perched over the sidewalk. Thunder rumbles overhead, and Bucky frantically checks every compartment of his bag for an umbrella he knows is there. It’s not. He does find some loose glitter, though, and a lipstick he wore for Pride and had thought he’d lost, plus a spare Metro Card he can’t remember buying. He also gets a crystal clear flashback of leaving the umbrella under his desk to dry yesterday morning, and never picking it up again.

*One for Fiction by thepinupchemist (6K): In the heart of a modern library, children's librarian Bucky Barnes meets his match in the form of the new barista: Steve Rogers. He doesn't think there's any way his crush could be requited -- but sometimes librarians don't know everything.

*A Little Sparkle by roe87 (7K): "What about that guy in accounting?" Natasha mused. "Billy, Buddy, or...?" "Bucky," Steve said, knowing who she meant. "Lip piercing, right?" "Yeah! He's cute." "Yeah," Steve agreed hesitantly, then added, "but I'm not ready for that."

*A World That Makes Such Wonderful Things by stevergrsno (noxlunate) (8K): In which Steve is a mermaid, Bucky's a werewolf, and as always, they fall for each other.

*Found: One Bicycle by gracie137 (8,7K): Bucky Barnes posted in Overheard at Middlebury College: Hello fellow students! Basically in my drunken stupor last night I came across a bicycle. Being rather intoxicated and far from home I decided the logical thing to do was ride it back. I can assure you all that both me and the bike survived this adventure and are in perfect condition!! I now however have no use for for said vehicle and have realised that someone is probably pretty upset about having lost it. Anyway, if you can correctly identify the bike’s make and colour, slide into my DMs and I promise to return it to you!! Thanks for the ride xoxo

*Kiss me and take off your clothes by steveandbucky (10K): Steve Rogers is dared to send a dick pic to a blog which critiques dick pics (run by none other than Bucky Barnes). Hilarity ensues.

*before we can breathe easy by belovedmuerto (22K): No one touches Steve. Bucky sets out to do something about that.

*Roll Out the Red Carpet by Lorien, Quarra, talkplaylove-art (talkplaylove) (29K): The premiere for Steve Rogers' newest Captain America movie was just around the corner, and Steve knew it was going to be a hit. The big downside was that he had to have a date. The last several times he'd brought someone to an event like this, things had ranged from unpleasant to disastrous. In a last ditch effort to get out of taking someone that might make his night hell, Steve went on Twitter and invited the Winter Soldier to be his plus one. The Soldier was an international fugitive, and currently wanted for a series of high profile attacks on corrupt businessmen. Since every person the Soldier attacked was involved in some truly vile criminal activity, the public loved him, despite his crimes. Inviting him to the premiere was the perfect cop out. There was no way he was ever going to show. Right?

*The Twilight Bark (And Other Things Bucky Has To Deal With On A Daily Basis) by spacebuck (36K): Steve Rogers: I couldn’t say no to this little guy, so I guess he’s coming home with me! The picture below it is an overexcited looking dog, barely older than six months, shoving its nose through the bars of a shelter gate. The tweet already has twenty thousand retweets, a few thousand more likes, and nearly three thousand comments. Bucky can’t help himself, leads in hand, and he leans a shoulder against the doorjamb and taps the comment field. bbarnes: if you’re ever in need of a walker I’d be happy to take the lil guy on, nyc based and rescues are my thing!

#stucky #stucky fic #stucky fanfic #stucky fanfiction #stucky fic rec

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bedlamgames · 4 years

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Q&A #103

Today we have the Twine conversion, lesbian training mantras, social lube, a bunch of random stuff from the discord, and a whole lot more.

[Anonymous said]: I'm really curious what the tally means for your twine conversion posts. Can't seem to figure out what its suppose to represent progress wise...

- Answered this last Q&A. Because of you asking I’ve now also added the explanation to what it’s about to every stream post so I hope that helped with understanding what’s going on with that.

[Anonymous said]: Suggestion: For races that start with a random corruption (ie: Succubi), have an option in full custom to spend points to either narrow what that corruption is (to be one of the four types, for example) or to outright pick one (for a much higher cost).

- That’s a good idea. Being able to pick specifically I think would be too much. There are ALOT of corruptions so that would mean many many menus to be able to select everything. Being able to pick one of the four types seems fair to me as something to spend points on in Full Custom. Added it to my notes.

[Anonymous said]: Have a succubus slaver who used to be a lamia. On level up, she had the option to get the Fleet trait, which I thought was off-limits for Lamia due to their body shape. I think it's a bug?

- Good spot and should be fixed as of the last update.

[Anonymous said]: Noticed a bug with No Haven 0.903: If you select a human (or once-human) for your character, and then quick restart, your next character will keep the human's Racial aspect Social Lube. On the topic of that Racial, it says " includes one human, and three other different races/subtypes gain an additional Success" Does that mean one human and three non-humans, or one human and three slavers each of a different race from each other?

-Took me awhile to work this out as going from human to human seemed fine. However you’re right that those with a heritage like demi-angels or succubi will incorrectly keep the previous racial.

The second so as long as you have at least one human you can get the buff by say having a northerner, noble, wastelander, and convent.

[Anonymous said]: hi bud, xfto/x421 here, its been a long time i guess. wanted to ask about the status of the no haven/twine conversation. i joined your picardo lately but couldnt post some reports since you dont allow guest-posts. well anyway, the report is about something ridiculous i have found after some restarts, the chosen main charakter (lamia) starts as male with the hard carry aspect(immense shaft) and different description than the ones the perks would give. 1/2

another question, feels like i asked something similiar in the past, how about the integration of different artpacks/access to older pics, or deletion of those that never get used? i guess that would requiere some more access to the game than you allow atm. maybe with twine? do you have a roadmap on tfgames or somewhere for the future of no haven? i know there are some more races you want to implement and improve some systems, but thats it, hope you are doing well in these times. 2/2

I do an update on the patreon every two weeks which is linked on the twitter. You do not need to be a patron to read these and is the best way to stay informed about what I’ve been up to. That includes the status of the conversion. To quickly sum it up;

It's at a stage where all the RAGS to Twine code conversion is basically done. What I need to do now is translate all that work into something playable and there's currently big logic issues with a bunch of the conditions and passages. So what I'm currently doing is trying to tidy up the visual look of the code with a bunch of idents with the theory that will make finding the errors easier.

Alas it’s not me disallowing guest posts... Picarto had some massive stonking issues and so they locked things down hard due to that preventing guests from chatting. I suggest a throwaway email site to get around that.

I don’t think there’s any art in the game file that’s not used as I try to keep on top of deleting the old ones. Not really down for doing art packs of the old ones as due to that not being my art so I see them as placeholder only until they can be replaced by commissions.

I probably do need to do some kind of roadmap sometime. I’m less keen as it’s kind of a dirty word these days as due to the miss-use of them by others it’s got some bad connontations, but I’m also aware the alternative which is me randomly mentioning stuff on discord/picarto streams leaves the vast majority of my audience in the dark which is also really not ideal.

[Anonymous said]: [no haven 0.903] [Crit no longer grants Bimboborn] okay, but how do I get bimboborn now?

- It’s a corruption. Specifically Blessings of Perversion.

[Anonymous said]: With the change to training where hypnotic slavers can fully embed the relevant mantras for blowjob, bimbo, and sissy training, could we also get that for lesbian training?

- Yes that’s the plan when I do the third part of lesbian training. Got a set of commissions planned just got to sort the funding and work out who I’m getting to do it.

[Anonymous said]: hey bud, x421 here, again, might be already fixed because thats from no haven .903, but i recently had the witch queen super rare quest, you might want to proof read the quest and results, there are a few typos. i really did enjoy the writing nonetheless, just a quick question about that quest, as far as i understood this one, you only change your odds of the final result depending on how good you do on your way to the final, but the reward in the end only depends on the final result? 1/2

2/2 it just dawned on me that its been a while since you made an Q&A post so i guess i ll go and lurk on the tfgames forum in the next days, just one last question: i asked early in development about camp upgrades and you were not that convinced about that stuff, i understand you want the slaver camp as some bandit camp and not some castle/bastion or whatever, but since you added camp upgrades, maybe add proximity to a certain region? or something to spend supplies and gold in a 13month+ run?

- Hah! Okay will give it another read through.That’s correct yes. There’s also rewards on the way if you Critical those parts.

There is a new gold sink coming soon in an upcoming update. I’ve also got plans for more camp upgrades coming later.

[From the Patreon]: I'm that guy you replied to about the patch notes in Q&A 101. Solid updates. Bugs in the outfit system has driven me nuts since like, 2015, has it been that long already? I think it has. I like collecting them and something always blows up. This time, I ended up with a slaver wearing both the ooze outfit and ponygirl outfit. So there's that. Also I was disappointed the new Quicker then You'd Like wasn't interactive. Solid in any case though, thanks!

- I'll get them all one day I swear! Don't suppose you remember the chain of events that led to that? New QAYL was a patron requested one with the idea of having a big pay off for playing submissive which often involves playing sub-optimally.

[From the Patreon]: 1-ive been noticing when you choose to repick choices for an slave training assignment the slave gets added to the list of choices 2-also just how rare is the post-slave princess city assignment, cause i can never seem to get it even after selling multiple slave princesses 3-another thing is that the nightly puppet-leader stat is almost impossible to get again(either that or i have bedwarmers incapable of usurping me even thought i my current stats mean i couldnt win against even the subbiest slave)

- Will check 3 as you've not been the only person to mention that. 2 I know exists for sure as other people have definitely got it. Should be no rarer than any other rare City assignment, and thanks for the spot on 1.

[From the Discord]: Top 3 Animes of the 2010 to 2020

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica the series was staggeringly good. Just redefined what anime could be to me. Film is a... well it was a thing. A beautiful thing with an ending which I still quite know how to feel about.

Shirobako. It’s about creativity, craft, and about how people can come together to make something. It might not be something good, but dangit it’s been made and that’s worthwhile. It’s also from personal experience by miles the most accurate depiction of working in an office I’ve ever seen.

Oh man this is very very hard deciding on the third so pick one of the following and I could probably make a strong case for it.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, Darling in the FranXX (yes really, yes even the ending), Lupin III: Part 5, Kill la Kill, Monster Musume, Flip Flappers, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, Zombieland Saga, or Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai.

Also while I was taking the question to mean series both Your Name and Promare are absolutely phenonemal films.

[From the Discord]: Best recent Eurovision Act

Lena. Always Lena.

[From the Discord]: What's the agricultural technological level of No Haven like

It’s not hit industrialization yet. What makes the difference is and allows cities like Aversol and even bigger to exist is that the organization of the human empire is far better than it has any right to be for the other levels of development being able to keep an incredibly complex supply chain constantly flowing even if on the ground level it barely seems to be moving at all. There are also some much, much larger farms both on the Great Plains and further to the north compared to the much more isolated single/couple of households ones that your slavers raid.

[From the Discord]: What have been some of your all-time favourite assignments, both in terms of working on them and how they turned out?

Love When Week’s End Comes for a recent one. Writing all the results in colour commentary (and all the variations for weather, events and outcomes) was a real challenge and I do like how it came out.

Witch-Queen and Arisin’ for being the first times I tried to go for a different, more potentially disturbing/freaky mood, and I’m pleased with the results.

Sable Masquerade as I really like the ‘bad end’ I came up with. Actually I like the whole thing as while the pitch from the patron obviously helped, a lot of it was inspired by a random superhero bondage party picture I saw on HF, which I decided to run with, and had a bunch of fun exploring.

[From the Discord]: Weirdest bug and most difficult bug

The one that resulted in a male wisp riding a griffon was a fun one.

Most difficult has to be the clothing management which as a previous question suggests I’ve still not entirely solved.

[From the Discord]: If No Haven was an MMO, what race/class would you play?

Kreen rogue mainly as I really like the edit I did for the portrait which MidnightonMars later translated into a commission.

If not definitely a lamia.

[From the Discord]: Knowing what you do now about the design of the game, are there any game mechanics you wish you'd have implemented differently?

Clothing management. So very much clothing management. I’ve redone it entirely twice now, and it’s still not where I want it to be.

[From the Discord]: What was your inspiration for creating the setting of No Haven? Has the direction the game has gone varied from your initial idea? If so what has been the biggest change?

- It started off with adapting the chan game Deeper Dungeons which was basically a certain popular mmo with nothing different about it outside of it being porn along with some possibly unwise options of personal abuse. I first changed it by ditching gnomes for neko which to my mind was a clear upgrade. There even used to be an examine refference in the RAGS version to suggest they’d been in the region of the dungeons before being driven out.

Then it was a gradual process of adding with the occasional subtractions to get it closer to a more Warhammer feeling setting which has always been a major love of mine when I was still doing Whorelock’s in RAGS.

With No Haven it was a case of building on what I’ve done there and expanding upon that with the race lore and assignment descriptions. Biggest was probably when I did the favoured/unfavoured stuff and added a ton of extra backstory to various races to justify the choices made there.

#Q&A

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memorydragon · 5 years

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Another Eden - The Cat Beyond Time and Space

aka Chrono Trigger 2.0 For those of you unaware, it’s a phone game from the people who made Chrono Trigger (and boy, do some of those characters look suspiciously familiar *cough*Cryus*cough*). I highly recommend giving it a shot, especially if you enjoyed Chrono Trigger.

And well, time travelling cats. What more do you need?

Some thoughts under the cut.

I won’t lie. I saw the ad for it, and was like, meh, generic fantasty game with scantly clad female characters. Not impressed. But then I saw the whole time travelling cats thing, and it was like, sure why not? I’ll give it a go. I’m easily sold, what can I say?

I was expecting a cute phone game. I got a full length jrpg that’s only on the first season with siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide queeeeeeeeeeeeeests. So many side quests. Also, I love my android wifey and cyberpunk wifey. AND KYROS IS THE BEST KITTY. Though I’ll admit, it took me a while to get there, because the whole time travelling cats thing is actually very under-developed for the majority of the game, until Plot Twists happen. But more on that in a separate post.

I approached this game with one thought in mind. If they were going to have scantily clad female characters, I was going to collect a harem full of them and dub them all lesbians. Honestly, this works great.

Lesbians all of them. That’s just how this game is going to work from now on.

Anyway, I’ve tried other random rpgs before, and I wasn’t expecting much from this phone game, even after finding out it was from the people behind Chrono Trigger, because phone game. Yeah, that’s a terribly wrong assumption right there. I’ve been binge playing since the 13th because life sucked, and I only just finished the game. Well, what’s out of the game at the moment, supposedly there will be more soon which is good. XD Which, honestly, it’s at a great stopping point anyway with the first main quest completed. World saved, and all that.

If you’ve played Chrono Trigger, you can probably guess at the time travel shenanigans they get up to. It’s not a terribly original fantasy plot (before amazing balls plot twist, at any rate), but it’s fun.

Aldo is your main character, who I’ve headcanoned as an aro/ace cupid. He’s really adorable.

He’s had some trying experiences, I won’t lie. And yes, guys in the future apparently wear booty shorts and thigh highs.

It’ll never happen Aldo.

The other characters are fun as well. My android wife being one of my favorites.

See how cute she is?

Then there’s the cyberpunk “Synth human” wifey.

I actually have not used her much in the game itself because at the point she comes in I already had a strong party going for me, but I adore her character. She also randomly speaks French.

Then there’s my pirate queen, who is not one of the main characters, but she was the first one I randomly decided upon and I’m quite fond of her.

And her words to live by:

Anyway, Aldo has some great adventures. He even poses for statues.

He’s also goes on a date with my guy healer who’s like, let me take you out for a steak. And Aldo’s aro/ace in my head, so obviously they had some discussion going on, but it was a good date.

Also, he’s cupid, because there’s always a love-love side quest and he ends up getting people together. And calling out guys on their behavior.

He encourages guys to stop stalking and actually talk to girls. Because it’s a concept to some of them. He’s all about telling them to stop being creepers.

And if you don’t believe me that this is Chrono Trigger 2.0, have a pic of Cyrus.

Verily.

And Aldo’s general attitude towards life:

It also has deep moments at times.

But really, it’s a fun rpg. I highly recommend it. Also, it has one of the single best plot twists of all time. I’m talking Luke, I am your father level plot twist. And it’s brilliant. Like, I honestly did not see that one coming and it’s the single best thing that’s ever happened to me. I won’t spoil it here, but it’s just so brilliant.

And the art work for the game is just gorgeous. Seriously, some of the backgrounds are breath taking. It’s a beautiful game.

So if you liked Chrono Trigger, or just rpgs in general, check it out! I mean, you can’t go wrong with time travelling cats, right?

#This is Mem's life #Another Eden

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praphit · 5 years

Text

Batman, Cults, and me in Red Latex

Getting back to my roots of writing here! No movie to speak of; just pure rambling!

I started writing way back in the MySpace days. I'd get insomnia, and so stay up and ramble about stuff while drinking rum - which in retrospect is prob a lil reckless:) I found that was the way to go for me - maybe that could be the way for some of you as well, if you ever struggle with such a thing.

Writing and rum, baby!

And if you're under the legal drinking age, just tell your parents that the praphit says it's ok.

And if the police somehow get involved, tell them...

Nah, wait, don't mention me... say some random, rambling, black dude said it was ok. And if they ask "Was this "random black dude" the rambling praphit on Tumblr, tell them "Noooooo, he actaully said to... NEVER DRINK... EVER. And that you officers are doing an ok job out there."

Writing and rum!

It works!

Like I said, I don't have a movie this time around; I'm not even sure how I started writing about movies.

I guess I could have gone with "The Lion King"

Which btw can we talk about this scam Disney is running? - telling the same story in a live-action package. And with this one it's still animated; it's not like it's done like one of those "Planet Earth" type shows - THAT would be interesting. I remember watching a clip of a lion eating a zebra, while the zebra was STILL ALIVE! The zebra wasn't even fighting back or crying out anymore... it had totally given up, as if the lion was devouring the zebra's soul and will to live with each juicy, bloody bite. Hey, Elton John, sing a song to that. #circleoflife

What if they followed real wild animals around in Africa, and watched the true circle of life. You could have the actors/team improvise the script depending on what's happening, and due voice-over. I feel like with real animals, the "Hakuna Matata" scene might go differently.

I'm not shaming anyone for going and enjoying these movies. I had a plan to see "Aladdin", but somehow ended up seeing "Child's Play" instead

(funniest movie I've seen all year btw).

I might still go see Aladdin. BUT, it's still a scam. Toss in a lil controversy every now and then with the casting to inflate numbers... that mouse knows what he's doing. It's a good scam! What's next? - telling the same stories, but using puppets... sock puppets; that would be a new low.

But, somehow I feel like we'd still flock to the theatres. We love that Mouse!

I don't blame him. Kinda makes me want to run some type of scam within in music (my industry). What would be the music equivalent of what Disney is doing? I don't think that there is one. Anytime you change a song a lil bit, it's totally changed.

If I decided to do a cover set of Miley Cyrus songs, exactly the same way that she did them, it would still be totally different. Btw, if I ever do that, please stop me. It'd be clearly a cry for help. Imagine if I started mimicking every vid she ever did as well - same choreography and outfit.

Don't imagine that.

I guess artists put out remastered stuff sometimes, but I feel like those never sell.

...

Sorry, I'm distracted... still thinking about redoing Miley's vids.

I DO have a wig that matches what she has going on there (you don’t need to know why:) , and red sunglasses.

And how about me rockin some red latex??! Yeah!

Nah, I wouldn’t do it. Only cuz I think that the chafing would be too intense, OR maybe I’ll like the way it looks and feels too much, and decide that’s simply going to be my regular look from now on... making everyone around me uncomfortable... with my intense sexiness. Don’t imagine that either; it may be too sexy from some:)

Ugh... is the fact that I'm even joking about it a cry for help?

The industry for an artist is the real scam. The music industry always wins. The game is rigged. That's why I've been thinking that we musicians should all go on strike. Everyone in music would have to be in on it though.

Imagine your life with no music:

- no playlists (though that would have to involve some serious hacking, but imagine road trips without them) - no music in movies or shows - no sexy music to get into "the mood" - y'all would have to sing to each other - Though I guess Aladdin and Jasmine got down like that, so y'all might be ok. New mating ritual.

- no background music anywhere you go (festivals, restaurants, strip clubs:) - we won't even sell any instruments NOTHING! Gotta go extreme sometimes to make people listen.

Maybe we'll toss people a song every now and then out of mercy. But, we'd only allow annoying songs - "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls

"My Humps" by BEP :)

It would take true power to make that happen.

I had thought about ruling the world once. I had a plan to take over the world; it was actually in motion. Yep! It would have worked too, cuz no one would have seen it coming. You would no longer call me your rambling praphit, but OVERLORD!

Like I said, no one would have seen it coming.

Thanos... and whoever tried to dominate in Justice League in that movie. What was his name? Idk, no one cares, he was terrible. Those guys went too big. You've gotta Keyser Soze it! Play chess, not... Idk, professional wrestling.

I stopped my plans because I figured that I'd just get bored. I get bored easily. Ask anyone I work with - there are times when I'll just leave and go to the movies, or the mall, or the bar, or... on some sort of quest:) Sometimes, I'll dump a project all together cuz I'm simply not feeling it anymore.

Now, DESTROYING the world, THAT seems like it'd keep my attention. Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt the people... unless they stood in my way.

I'd make sure to ship them off to... Saturn or something... can we live on Saturn? Hmm... maybe I'll need to get help with that part of my plan. So, maybe I WILL still take over the world. Once I'm bored ruling after like a week, I'll get my man Elon Musk to ship y'all off to a planet safely, and then the fun begins!

I imagine that there'll be some resistance, though Idk why. Let's be honest, this planet is doomed anyway. We can fight about how and why, but... c'mon we all know it'll eventually burn out. So, just let me have my fun! I'll make sure that there's plenty of big screens wherever Elon sends you to for my big show:)

But, if people want to fight their first and last Awesome Master Overlord on it (I think the "Awesome Master" in the front is better, don't you?), then we can go.

You won't stand a chance though. I'll have all of the best action stars fighting by my side. That's right MY SIDE. They're used to winning; what you think they're gonna fight with you? Psssh, I'll have all of the weapons and tech... plus I'm sure I'll be some type of cyborg, mutant... wizard as well.

But, I'll also have Keanu, Statham, Denzel, Liam, The Rock... I'm realizing that the action hero world is very male dominated. I'll fix that once I'm your Awesome Master Boombastic Overlord. Which woman can I put on my team?

How about Rihanna?

Yeaaaaaah...

I know what you're thinking - that I could have found a more... suitable pic. Annnnnd you're right.

JUST LET ME HAVE THIS! I mean look at her... DAMN!

FINE!

Scratch that. Rihanna’s not really an action hero anyway, I guess... at least not that type of action. Ooooooh! Haaaaaaa!

No?

C’mon, that’s funny

Whatever. I’ll move on.

The strongest woman in many respects that I can think of off the top of my rum filled brain is Serena Williams. So, we'll say her,

Amanda Nunes ( who doesn't get enough credit for how awesome she is btw)

Megan Rapinoe? I don't know if she can fight or not, but she's tough. I feel like if I put the arsenal of Rambo at her feet, she could save the day all day!

Annnnnnd Alyssa Milano? Idk her stance on violence or guns (though I'm sure she'd have no problem letting me know:) So Idk about her fighting, but she's resourceful though... maybe use the power of sex strikes or something.

(She’s like “Keep on joking and see what happens.”)

Where was I??

I don't remember.

I did want to address those chants from a week ago though "Send Her Back!" I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while, but those chants brought it back fresh to me.

Don't worry, I won't be getting into the politics surrounding it. - I mean what's the point? We never listen to each other anyway. I just want to say this, I have a lot of experience when it comes to cults (I know this seems like it's irrelevant, but stay with me) -

I know cults (don't ask, why let me horrify you:)

But, there are a handful of things that are foundational in cults. I'll bring up two of them:

1) Having a leader (or leaders) who is more concerned with their vision than they are about their people. So, the individuals pain, loss, abandonment, etc means nothing in comparison to their plan.

2) Having people who are all in on a person, ideal, or cause, to the point that they no longer care about the details of what leaders say, do, or sometimes don't do.

Now, the people described above aren't always meaning to be malicious. For example #1 - I've known many pastors who are good people, pure hearted, I might even call them friends in some respects, but they're blinded by their own vision (or "God's vision for them"). They're not trying to hurt others, but they do.

And #2 - they're are certainly people of admirable zeal in a variety of areas (ex. patriotism). They might not be "bad people", they might even think their position is righteous, but when we start to ignore facts, harmful behaviors... when we make ANY person (all of us being imperfect) a symbol of our "righteous cause", we've lost our way.

It's scary (especially being a minority) to see a whole nation exhibit these tendecies. And this is me being gracious (prob due to the rum I keep drinking).

BUT, enough of that... there's something else that is heavy on my heart - BATMAN (our next one that is)

Cuz... I mean... really?

Robbie P?

That's a damn shame! Nobody else wanted to play Batman? We've got the pretty boy, emo, glittery, vamp? What has he done since then? What has he done that has ever been intimidating? Even as a vamp he was lame.

And the Winter Soldier wants to play the Riddler? I don’t think that’ll happen or if the Riddler will even be in the next Batman. But, let’s say that it did. Wouldn’t it feel like they got those two roles mixed up?

I don't even think Robbie P is intimidating enough to play The Riddler honestly. Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier) is kinda ripped right?

He's gonna have to lose some of that muscle before he goes up against Robbie P. I can see right now - The Riddler planning out an elaborate puzzle/trap for Batman, then seeing that it's Robbie, and being like "what do I need theses riddles for?" and then beating the living snot out of Batman. It'll be a worse beating than Bane gave him.

Filled with rage cuz he knows HE would make a much better Batman.

Now, to be fair, I was wrong about Ben Affleck. I actually liked Ben's take on the role. It made me long for a more old, grizzled, out-of-touch Batman - hear me out:

I'm thinking old Batman, but kinda hulked out. Is Stone Cold Steve Austin still around and kickin to play this Batman?

Gimme a hell yeah!

But, this Batman I'm envisioning is stuck in the old wmindsets of misogyny and racism - stay with me, cuz this will be an awesome Batman... well, movie... and awesome Batman MOVIE:)

To balance Batman out and keep the angry Twitter mob away from him, he'll have a team of "wokeness". Batwoman will be played by AOC.

Robin will be played by Jimmy Kimmel (you know you want to see him in those tights).

And Alfred's last wish in his will (after being mauled to death by a pack of bunnies... in the first scene of this movie) was to have his brain put inside of the body of a black woman. And that black woman will be Beyonce (cuz this movie will need a kick ass soundtrack).

Think about THAT sitch!

Annnnnd Ben Carson will play himself - he'll be Batman's token black friend/informant.

Already, the best movie ever.

I could see a scene going down like (Bats and the Woke Gang are in a bar... cuz my Batman will be an alcoholic... this Bats has a lot of problems, but he'll be real and raw... YES!)

Batman (after having the waitress bring him two more shots of whiskey, slaps her on the butt and says "Thanks, Sweetness.")

WokeTeam: "Batman! You can't do OR say that!"

B: "What?! Why?!"

WT: "It's ...just awful."

B: "What? If I don't smack her on the butt, how will she know that she did a good job? I'm being helpful!"

WT: (lots of arguing)

B: "Ok, ok, I won't do that... or call her that I guess... how about lil lady? is that ok? or Sugar Plum?"

WT: "Her name is Lisa"

B: "I got it! BIG BOOTY"

WT: "What is wrong with you? - that's ridiculous! Look, we'll deal with that later. Let's hurry up and get to the crime scene. And on the way we want to talk to you about the confederate flag on the Batmobile...annnnnd the Kaepernick sticker that calls him a Son of a Bitch"

B: "Why? He hates America. And there's nothing wrong with that flag!"

WT: "Bu, Batman..."

B: "No, no, I know there isn't, let me call Ben."

Sooooo, there are scenes like that, BUT he's also out there kicking major ass! It'll be like "Matrix" action meets "Sin City" action. And we'll update the villains -

Bump N Grinder

Fyre Man

and his side kick “The Sucker”

“The Comedian?” (that question mark is part of her name)

Keep the classics of course

Annnnd his arch nemesis Iggy Azalea

- ruining Hiphop wherever she goes.

And in the end asses are BRUTALLY kicked, sure, but Batman also learns some important lessons... or... or simply blows his brains out. Cuz let's be honest, some of us would rather blow our brains out than try to change.

Hey, DC... call me.

My next movie will prob be "Once Upon a time in Hollywood"

cuz of my main man Leo! - though idk about the premise. Now, if they were making "Fight Club 2" with this cast, then definitely! What if Leo and Margot Robbie (who’s also in this) are also in Edward Norton’s head; duking it out. YES! Imagine if Quentin Tarantino directed Fight Club with his typical bloody style; we’d all still be horrified).

So maybe "Hobbs & Shaw"

- those two of course, but Idris Elba is in that too! I love him!

He would have been a great Batman! I bet he could have gotten that role if he had tried. He def could have gotten that James Bond role if he had tried. But, nope, instead he decided to do "Cats"

I'll leave y'all on that thought.

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axispheydra · 6 years

Photo

Don’t recognize these screenshots? I don’t blame you. Maybe they even seem a little creepy, since they’re utterly devoid of life. Well, that’s because they all come from Dreadmoor, one of the game’s unfinished zones. This particular one can be found south of Illium and Auroria, and is absolutely huge. I heard some people talk about how it was meant to be an alternate levelling zone, maybe an alternative to Whitevale? I noticed some Exile areas that seemed a little too large to just be areas to fight mobs in...

The first chunk of Dreadmoor is mostly a boggy area, with hazy skies and sickly-looking grass. Like the Chua’s fault. There’s lots of water running through the zone, which eventually leads to more lush areas, though the sun never seems to shine brightly. There’s tons of Nexus natives and Eldan ruins in the zone, and even a Protostar area. There’s lots of stuff that looks like it was recycled to and from other zones, so it begs the question of how far along was development before the whole place was scrapped? It’s mostly done, with some models missing pieces, some geometry that doesn’t quite connect, and a few areas with awkward texture, but for the most part, the aesthetics of the zone are about 95% done. Wonder why they got rid of it?

Even though there’s no NPCs, no music, no map, and no lore, it’s not too tough to figure out what the areas around the zone were meant to be, and some areas are even named on the map. Starting in Illium, you run into a bunch of Chua communes doing what they do best: making science and destroying the environment. There’s a Pell encampment not too far from there, perhaps they would strike against the Chua? From there, you’d run into some Terminites and Moodies before continuing into the rest of the zone There’s tons of screenshots, so I’ll put them under a cut before explaining what I think the intent was.

Venomgrass Field is a small warzone between the Dominion and the Exiles. It’s interesting to see the Exiles right at the doorstep of Illium, though it’s nowhere near the scale of the Dominion forces outside Galeras.

Another Chua collective, though this one isn’t quite drowned yet. Early parts of the zone feature lots of Chua collectives mucking up the environment in the name of science. Makes you wonder why the Dominion lets them muck up their new planet?

There’s a couple of Dreg areas in the zone, this larger one is called Fleshbarrow, while there’s also a smaller one called the Creature Cult Caravan. The latter one is an odd name, perhaps it wasn’t Dreg after all? The architecture definitely was, though.

This small island sits in the river that divides the two halves of Dreadmoor. Someone’s made their home here, wonder who?

Opposite this Exile camp is a Chua camp, which leads me to think that this might have been a zone for both factions. If I had to guess, these were quest hubs for the next area...

Which was a big ol’ Torine encampment. High walls surround all sides of the camp, which means the area is only accessible though a tunnel lined with traps and jumping puzzles. It’s oddly well-kept for a Torine space, maybe more props were to be added later? There’s a cave on top of the mountain that’s an exact copy of the final boss chamber from Sanctuary of the Swordmaiden, complete with a tiny Strain pool. Wonder which came first?

There’s a Lopp village not too far from the Torine, and it looks like they’ve been raided by their neighbors...

This Skeech area looks the same as the one in the Northern Wastes. The cave at the top leads to a much larger complex, however, one I didn’t bother to explore all the way. It was big!

There’s a couple of Aurin camps not too far from the Dominion areas, including a much larger village I couldn’t get a good screenshot of. It makes sense; Aurin want to protect the environment, while Chua couldn’t care less about it. It’s hard to tell if these areas would’ve been quest hubs for Exile players or questing areas for Dominion folks.

There’s a large Eldan space in the zone’s Southern area, including this Temple of Logic, which shares the pictured structures with Containment R-12 in Malgrave. This part of the zone isn’t quite finished, and other props in the temple are missing chunks of their anatomy.

This Bio-Complex sits next to the Logic Temple, and is a comparable size to the one in Celestion. The large structure in the middle seems like it was recycled for the Eldan complex in the Defile instead.

This arena is on the outskirts of the Bio-Complex, and screams “World Boss fight.” The boss could’ve been an augmented creature, or perhaps a large Eldan machine. We’ll never know.

Further from the complex is this smaller Eldan/Pell camp. Were they going to be friendly Pell, or enemies? The shape of the structures remind me of places where we typically see Augmentor machines, maybe the Pell would have fallen victim to them?

There’s a small Draken camp some distance away from the Pell one, and its layout looks more like a questing area for Exiles. Aside from the typical Draken amenities, it also looks like they’re harvesting a number of large, red crystals that we’ll see later.

This Exile base is across from the Draken village, and is juuuuust detailed enough to lead me to believe it’s meant to be a quest hub, maybe the starting area in this zone for Exile players. What are the Exiles and Draken fighting over? Wellllll...

This odd crystal formation sits between the two camps. The Draken are harvesting it, for some reason, and logic dictates that if the Dominion wants it, the Exiles must want it too.

This Protostar area is absolutely huge. It also features some structures we don’t see in other zones, these massive warehouses you can wander inside of. It looks like Protostar was attempting to do some kind of farming here, though like the Chua, it seems like they weren’t always considerate of the environment.

You can kind of see that the place isn’t finished in this screenshot, as the building on the right is floating in the air.

It’s no surprise that with all this equipment, they’d piss off their neighbors...

Oops! That’s how you start a war. We’ve seen Protostar and the Falkrin come into contact before, perhaps their proximity in Malgrave was inspired by this area? Or did Malgrave come first? Who knows?

The Falkrin area isn’t especially large, probably comparable to the one in Deradune. There’s a large nursery area, however, and you know that can’t end well for the Falkrin once the players roll through.

This massive Darkspur prison camp-type area sits at the zone’s North-Eastern tip, on a small island. The camp is lined with high walls and cannon emplacements, and has lots of grinder bikes and Darkspur logos outside the inner prison yard. Everyone loves a good prison break, right?

While I’ve tried to capture as much of Dreadmoor as I could, the zone is massive, and there’s plenty of pics that didn’t make it into this post. Whatever secrets the zone might have held are now lost to time, unfortunately. Here’s to what could have been.

#wildstar #screenshot

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aquarianlights · 5 years

Text

Where are you?

I’ve looked everywhere for days now to try to break our year(s) of silence. I really don’t know how long it has been since we last spoke, but the last time you spoke to me was here in an anonymous message. I haven’t heard from you since.

The only trace I could find of you online was a Facebook profile which was either unused or private with a profile picture of your dog. It didn’t look like it was in use. Even private profiles have more than yours showed. I wonder when you were last on it?

I’ve searched high and low for your phone number or a way to contact you through any app I use to no avail. I’ve asked friends if I ever gave them your number in hopes they didn’t delete it all those years ago when we so gruesomely parted ways.

You know I never stopped loving you, right? You’re one of the few people I’ve met who I fell in love with instantly and never fell out of love, even in the midst of a tumultuous break up.

Hell, even when I was cleansing myself from you entirely, my love for you still burned deep down in the depth of my very being.

I’ve chosen to be single for a while now for good reason. You were my last. I needed to learn how to stand on my own two feet without anyone holding my hand along the way. I needed to learn how to love myself and walk my own path. I needed to dig deep and learn what I wanted from life without the influence of others. I needed to discover who I was and what I wanted to do with my life to make myself happy without having to think of anyone else along the way.

But, I’ve done that now. I’m happy now. I’ve learned to walk my own path with others alongside me and by myself. I finally have my own somewhat successful life and I know exactly where I want my future to go. I know exactly how I want my future to look. And I am working towards that future every day. I wake up happy and excited for what the new day will bring me and the fact that I can continue to progress further in my quest to make my dream future a reality. Everyday, I’m pushing myself further and further and discovering that I can break the limits that I set on myself all those years ago.

For instance, I’ve always just accepted the fact that I couldn’t cook and never really tried to learn. Over the last two years or so, I’ve fully re-conditioned my thought patterns to happen in a different way. Instead of “I can’t/shouldn’t do this” it is now “But what if I did?” and “I can if I want to”. Now, at 26, I am slowly learning to cook.

I no longer think in self depreciating, negative, self-limiting ways. It took years to fully recondition my neuron firing patterns, but. . .it has finally worked. There are fewer and fewer days each month where I wake up wanting to die.

Instead of allowing my BPD to manipulate others into bringing them down in light of my own successes, I now try to bring people up and celebrate their successes and help them with things I do that they idolize. I’ve formed so many wonderful positive bonds with people who I had formerly been in a gas-lighting style of relationship and I’ve made so many new friends who I have purely positive relationships with.

I’ve changed. I’ve changed into an entirely different person. I can guarantee that you would not recognize me, in my personality, the way I dress, my speech patterns, my movement patterns. . .the only way you’d recognize me was by my face.

I’m healthy, happy, motivated, and have a clear sense of direction. I live every day to the fullest and go to bed feeling satisfied every night. I love studying medicine and I love being in the premed program I’m in. I love how almost all of my time is devoted to my studies. I wouldn’t have it any other way, honestly.

But something is missing now. . .

You see, I’ve been single for literal years now. Like I said, you were my last. Every time I got asked out or presented with the opportunity to date, I continued to turn people down saying I wasn’t ready. Even when I very much so wanted to date someone who asked me, I have said no every single time. I won’t even do an LD relationship.

But now I feel like I want to slowly dip my toes in the water of the dating scene again.

When I did begin to dip my toes in, all I could think of was you and Tiffy. I’ve got Tiffy in my life. I would just about die without her. She is bae, after all. My #1. Always has been.

But then there’s you. . . someone I have been deeply in love with since before I even knew Tiffy. You and I have such a deep bond that I thought no matter what happened, we would never not be in each others lives.

Getting that second chance from you when you found me again after our first breakup when I was in high school was like a breath of fresh air. It was like I had been seeing everything in black and white and suddenly you had come along and granted me the gift of seeing in colour.

I was so happy.

Leaving you was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

Granted, it was the right thing to do for both of us, but it was still the hardest.

I often relive my days in that house with you in my mind. I’ve been having such intense nostalgia since the Fall weather descended on my apartment. Everything around me everywhere I go is reminding me of you. I can’t even escape you in my dreams now. You’re everywhere and my heart aches with your absence.

I want to talk to you because I want to know if you’ve changed as much as I have. Are you a whole new person, too? Would I recognize you? Have you dated anyone since me?

I hope you are a new person. I hope you have dated since me. I hope you’re happy and full of life and no longer hindered by the deep mental scars you’ve endured all your life. Maybe you finally managed to have a child. Maybe you’ve finally managed to adopt. Maybe you’re happily married somewhere with a kid and that’s why you’ve decided to not ever get in touch with me again.

To be honest, I was not only surprised, but disheartened when a year had passed and we still hadn’t spoken to each other. I missed you so much, but I thought it was for the best because I will admit, my addiction to you rivaled my addiction to drugs. I had to wean myself off of you just like I did with the pills.

Like I said, I’ve searched everywhere for you. I’ve asked around. I’ve spent cumulative days searching on every social media site and every app I ever talked to you through. I couldn’t find a damn thing except that FB profile that I don’t even think is active. It killed me seeing your dog. . . Is she still alive? I hope so. I know how much she means to you. I think she means to you just as much as Echo means to me. It would have killed me more to see a picture of you, though. I deleted all your pics a long time ago. It took forever to delete your pictures. Even deleting my ex-fiances pictures didn’t take nearly as much effort and heartbreak and time as yours did. I had to wait years before I could bring myself to do it. I’m sure there are still pictures of us on my Instagram that I missed. I cried all night curled up in my friends lap as he helped me delete your pictures that one night. I loved you so much that I couldn’t even press the delete button myself. Deleting your pictures felt as though I was deleting a piece of my soul.

Where are you? Are you safe? Are you happy? Do you have the life of your dreams now? Did you go back to school? Are you a veterinarian or a vet tech now, maybe? Do you have a kid? Are you married?

...have you forgotten me?

Being apart from you has killed me all this time. I won’t hide it any longer. I’m terrified to break the silence. . .I’m terrified of what I will learn. I’m terrified that you will continue to hate me and want our contact to end forever. I’m terrified you would respond to my breach of silence by lashing out at me. I’m somewhat scared you haven’t changed and blossomed into the positive, happy person I know you have inside you. You were an amazing, strong, resilient, loving, caring and aesthetically gorgeous person as I knew you in the past, but you were haunted by your demons and showed no sign of surpassing them. They were engulfing you. . .dragging you down into a deep pit of despair and anguish. Have you managed to climb out? Did you manage to escape? To be honest, I’m also terrified that I will message you and you will be married again. And have a child. On one side, I want that for you. I want you to be happy and have everything you ever dreamed of with a person who treats you like the queen you are. But on the other side, I want to be selfish and hope that you’re single and would consider me. But on a completely different side, I don’t want you to consider me at all because there’s a little voice in the back of my mind telling me that we just don’t work together and that we never will no matter how much either of us change.

Can I just be friends with you? I don’t know how I would handle that. . .especially when you would talk to me about people you love romantically or are crushing on. I don’t know if you’re still poly. . . but if you are and I were one of your partners, I wouldn’t be jealous for a second if you were to talk about who you love romantically or are crushing on. But in this hypothetical scenario, the two of us are not romantically together and are just friends. In this scenario, you don’t love me anymore, but I still love you. Being friends, we talk about friend things. We share secrets and gush about who we love and how wonderful they are and our interactions with them. Knowing how badly I want you but how horrible of an idea it would be, I would be seething while listening to you because I would feel as though I’m only second best, no matter how true or false that may be. I would feel like I lost since I had my chance with you not once, but TWICE and lost you quite dramatically both times.

If I got one more chance, you can bet your damn life that I wouldn’t lose you again. I’d hold on to you like the prize you are and I’d be there to support you through all your hardships and be there to cheer you on through your successes. You deserved that the first two times around. . .but I was too weak and depressed and not nearly self-aware enough to realize that I was doing the exact opposite both times and doing nothing but tearing you down piece by piece. I had no idea my own mental disorders were sabotaging me. Now that I’m medicated, gone through enough therapy to be my own therapist (so to speak), and am more self-aware than I ever have been (allowing me to check myself when I fall back into old habits), I would be able to adapt in a positive way to complement the person you have become. It may take some practice because old habits die hard (I learned that while living with Chelle for the second time in my life while both of us were getting acclimated to the new person the other had become), but that practice would so be worth it if you were the prize.

I don’t know if posting this and hoping beyond all glimmers of fading hope that you’ll see this and contact me is a good idea. . .but I’m going to do it anyways.

I don’t know that us being in contact again is a good idea, either. My friends are all strongly advising against it, but, well. . .love is blind, right?

Maybe we can beat the odds. Maybe I can have one last chance at the best partner I ever had. No one ever compared to you, which still rings true to this day.

I hope to be starting off this New Year with you in it. I hope to make amends for the horrible things I did to you and you make amends with me for the horrible things you did to me. I hope to leave all the negatives in 2018 and start with a fresh slate as the people we are now. I hope to leave the old me and the old you in 2018 and begin a new relationship of exploring each others new selves as if we were meeting for the very first time.

Maybe I’m being too optimistic. Maybe I’m being naive, maybe even stupid.

All I know is that I’ll never stop loving you. I will die still loving you. I will think about you every day for as long as I live like I have done since I first met you in high school. There hasn’t been a day gone by so far that I haven’t thought about you, missed you deeply, and loved you wholly. I doubt there will ever be a day in the future when you are far from my mind.

I miss you. I’ve thrown the ball to you.

I will now live in a world of waiting. . .hoping one day to wake up to a message or text from you.

The ball is in your court.

What is your decision?

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geek-gem · 6 years

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Crossover Head Canon: Gems and Predators

I'm finally gonna make it. The head canon post. I've thought of this for months or something. Before this I tried to look for my old Knight Predator with Pearl pic with the Gem Predator but it's gone where I first talked about of how this would work.

Basically even though I have other posts it almost feels like I'm starting over luckily I've talked about this before. I don't wanna make this too long. So be warned in case if it does go a bit long.

What goes along with this head canon is that Predator 1 and 2 are in the same universe as Steven Universe is. While I know the Earth in Steven Universe is a different kind of Earth because of what the Gem war did. I'll try to make sense of it. Especially it might seem weird combining probably, "The most manliest film ever made" with what I consider it's true sequel that's still manly in ways, with a show while deep and dark is quite feminine or whatever else.

I want opinions on this and you have the right to be critical about what could be wrong with this. Even though such a idea like this is crazy where I've said I feel Rebecca Sugar would slap me for making this or meh. I adore the Predator franchise and Steven Universe.

Including the first AVP I've been thinking about but it might clash with the Alien series. But back to the point. Especially no Robert Rodriguez's Predators in this or Shane Black's The Predator 2018. Let's get started.

The history of Gems and Yautja.

For as long as time went on ever since the Gems first came into existence as well as the Yautja probably. Gems were considered to Yautja as their greatest prey.

While they respected humans and the Xenomorph's. The Gems were something else. Unlike humans who were slowly involving, and the Xenomorph's who while the most deadly species in existence probably had a hive mindset and both species weren't as advanced as the Gems.

The Gems were basically in some way a weird form of equal to the Yautja. Even before they advanced more in technology as time went on. They had a civilization, technology as amazing and strong as the Yautja's own. Especially as intelligent. But what also matter the most were their abilities and powers. They were beings who can take weapons out of their Gems, shapeshift into different things, and fuse with other Gems to form even more powerful Gems. This made the Gems worth prey in the eyes of the Yautja.

But they are different. Especially their beliefs. While the Gems expanded on colonizing other planets expanding their species. The Yautja were much more ritualistic in nature despite their vast and powerful technology.

It was mainly during the Gem war on Earth between the Gem home world and the Crystal Gems. Which went on for thousands of years. This conflict was basically a gold mine for the Yautja. Especially with two warring factions of Gems. Plenty of trophies.

While it would be less messy to kill a Gem since they had no blood or organs. They were just poof if stabbed or blasted at. But the Gem was the main target. Yautja would shatter Gems and keep the remains as best as they can.

Most Yautja would wear shatter Gems as trophies on them to show Gems and other Yautja of their achievement in killing Gems. To the Gem species themselves when they ever saw this. This was as if seeing actual corpses being worn by such creatures.

Even during this era clan leaders would take their unblooded Yautja during this war. Not that similar to the whole Rite Of Passage when killing a Xenomorph but it was similar. When a young Yautja kills a Gem. They would be officially considered hunters.

But even so death by a Gem wasn't necessary a bad thing to the Yautja. If a Yautja was killed by a Gem of any kind. It would be considered the greatest honor. Especially during this time when Jasper, Bismuth, Garnet, and all other sorts of Gems kill a Yautja. They would some times see the face of their foes smiling as if they were ready for their death blow.

Including during the war between the Crystal Gems of Earth and the Gem home world. Crystal Gems Pearl, Garnet, Bismuth, and their leader Rose Quartz would face a group of young bloods who were ready to kill a Gem or die by a Gem. Who wanted to shatter who could be some of the most dangerous Gems on the planet Earth. It was a messy battle but the Crystal Gems won as they killed the determined young bloods who fought with skill and brutality.(I thought of it like Celtic Predator fighting an Alien for the first time or anything you want)

But if their was one thing the Yautja would dare not try despite their determination. Is the idea of attacking the Great Diamond Authority. Consisting of Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, Pink Diamond, and the worst of off White Diamond.

While maybe Pink Diamond might not be much of a challenge to the Yautja she was mainly ignored and considered not a threat. It was Yellow and Blue that were the ones Yautja set their sights on. But despite all they could do. Each attempt would end in Yautja being killed. Whether they be young bloods proving themselves as great hunters, elites, clan leaders, the females even as well, not even elders could kill them to take them as trophies. Eventually they stopped trying. It was mostly massacres when trying to fight the Diamonds.

But White Diamond is a different story. Especially after the incident with one young blood who thought killing White Diamond would make him the greatest hunter who ever lived.

While on the Gem home world a young blood and his clan were hunting. Even though the young blood killed multiple Gem warriors. His main sight was on White Diamond. It was considered suicide in a way despite their beliefs to even try to do that. The young blood made his way towards the place where White Diamond remained. She was just standing there, welcoming the young Yautja intruder into her room. As the young blood ready his weapons for the fight of his life.

A Yautja roar in pain was heard that was so loud that many Gems and Yautja heard it across the land. As if White Diamond wanted everyone to hear it. It was a cry of agony and pain like no other, almost unnatural.(think of Ghost Predator's screaming in pain in the final battle before he dies in Predator 2 it's just heard across everywhere)

Because of this the clan left, worried for their lives and realized it wasn't worth it. They already had their trophies so they no longer needed to be there. The young blood never left the planet, his clan never saw him again.....until the next time they visited the Gem home world.

What happened to the young blood was unknown at first. Many thought he was completely destroyed and White Diamond made him ceased to exist....but his real fate was far worse.

His clan and other Yautja hunting on the Gem home world have caught glimpses of something. It actually horrified them to their core, it was against everything they stood for.

Basically what the Yautja saw. Was in a similar vain as White Pearl....the young blood Yautja was what White Diamond considered to be her way of, "fixing" him. He would be mostly sent on certain quests if their were any Yautja's around on their home world. But nothing else much mainly a servant similar to White Pearl.

When Rose Quartz supposedly shattered Pink Diamond. The Diamonds attacked the Earth and anyone caught within their blast was killed, or corrupted. For Gems most or all were corrupted. But also their some Yautja caught in the blast radius. They were all killed. Their were luckily plenty of Yautja survivors.

It was the end of the Gem war. After that conflict between the Yautja and Gems were smaller now. They hunted them on their own colonized planets. Especially once a group of Yautja hunted on Pink Diamond's human zoo. Two were killed by Blue Diamond when she was visiting before the remaining three escaped with their lives. Especially the Famethysts while putting up a good fight were terrified because hearing stories of the Yautja. Especially Holly Blue while trying to maintain her cool was terrified the most. Considering these group of Yautja have killed Gems especially quartz's like Amethysts on other colonized planets.

As the Crystal Gems went on through life especially with Amethyst joining the group. They found Yautja who dared tried to take them as trophies but lost. In Beach City it was mainly rare. Because of how peaceful Beach City is a Yautja would mainly make a trip there to see it's beauty in certain parts but it wasn't a place of so much conflict. But when their were corrupted Gems that was perfect. Yet also the remaining Crystal Gems Rose Quartz, Garnet, Pearl, who were all considered legends to the Yautja. With Amethyst being considered worthy despite her being the youngest yet very unpredictable. It would usually be one Yautja or more but it was rare and they were always defeated which is why they kept coming back.

Back on the Gem home world after the Gem war. Yautja would be marked killed on sight. If we're to spot one you would have to inform every Gem on the planet. Yautja were now seen basically in a way similar to how Diablo Predator was seen in the original film. They were seen as intergalactic demons who would shatter Gems for sport and the thrill. Feared by Gems of all kind yet many willing to take a stand for their lives.

The Yautja try to keep themselves hidden from the Gem home world like they would with all species. But this time it's a bit more serious. If the Diamonds ever discovered their planet Yautja Prime. It would be possible they would colonized their planet or even worse considering the how much hunting they had against Gems and still hunting them to this day. But it's the idea if beings like the Diamonds would to ever find them especially God help them if White Diamond ever found them. While the Yautja had the power to fight back. They don't wanna risk it. Because of how much they would be at stake. For their race, and them exposing themselves to more races. It was better to keep their planet a secret.

Especially just in case all Yautja tech was designed to stop working if a Gem ever tried to hack into their systems. In case if a Gem tries to locate their home.

Even after the defeat of Diablo by Dutch Schaefer in 1987 and the defeat of Ghost by Mike Harrigan in 1997. Which gained the respect of the Yautja even more. The Gems will always be held in high regard.

Especially because of the events in 1987 and 1997 the OWLF organization we're learning more. While the Gems were considered aliens but because their were rarely any these days that we're non corrupted. Humans never cared to try to make more contact with Gems. Especially when OWLF especially Peter Keyes tried to make contact with the Crystal Gems they were mainly ignored.

Gems were considered normal these days and people these don't give a damn about what the Gems are. Especially of how their war changed history. But the Yautja was a whole different story.

Throughout this whole time, after Steven's birth and as he grew up. Including the unfolding events happening more and more especially everyone learning Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond. Steven hasn't been told about the Yautja.

While he has matured and learned more things. The Gems think to themselves even after everything that's happened. What could Steven react and deal with the idea of a species like the Yautja whose main goals all to hunt other species for sport, the thrill, and honor.

Dear God that took me forever especially other stuff was being with family twice a bit. Sorry that it's long but I hope you enjoy this.

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bearpillowmonster · 6 years

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Spider-Man PS4 Review

I just finished the game so here's my official review. I've been taking some notes throughout playing it so don't think I didn't have time to think it over or anything. This will be a long post so bear with me. (NON SPOILERS)

I started by wondering if I should get this game, E3 looked hype from the trailers but it never stood up front the crowd, losts of speculation from me. A few months ago I watched a video where these guys got to play it early just to share game mechanics (I think it was GameSpot or something) I know what they meant in a lot of things they were talking about now. Now here's the kicker, there's DLC. I hate DLC, never get it despite a lot of it looking cool, however I saw Black Cat as one of the DLC. I have a soft spot when it comes to Black Cat, I just have to check it out when she's involved...leading me to not only buy the game but the deluxe edition as well.

Let me start from the intro of the game. It is actually very visual oriented and easter egg filled. It explains the story of Spider-Man, where we are, and the timeline in less of a minute without saying a word. A spider drops down from the window (Pete getting powers) There's a pic of Uncle Ben and May and Peter then one of Mary Jane and Harry (they've met, been friends, graduated) Next picture has only Peter and May (Ben's death). There's a notebook with concepts for a web shooter (throwback to the 2002 movie sketches) A magazine with Norman Osborn that's labeled "Secrets" with some green nerf darts (Green Goblin is the secret (hence green darts) so not yet introduced) There's a wall of newspaper clippings with some of the villains on them (The big ones that have already been fought in this timeline) Next is a series of post-it notes but the most visible says "RENT DUE". (Peter owns his own place and is struggling) Now that's what I call an intro (it gets more epic right after but i wont spoil)

One complaint I see is the graphics. "They aren't as good as we saw at E3" or something along those lines. BOI this game has great graphics for starters and second How noticeable is the texture on a wall or a puddle compared to the actual character models? This game has a perfect excuse for toning down some ever so slightly. It runs better. It's an open world game and there's maybe one small loading screen and then this bad boy of a town is all yours, If these cutscenes were prerendered (a select few are but for the most part) then it would seem weird going from that to a loading screen. THERE ARE NO LOADING SCREENS AFTER CUTSCENES! It's straight into the action. Seamless. Having the graphics of both cutscene and gameplay match each other just enhances the experience for me so good on them! Also you can look in most windows and actually see stuff in there like computers or if the light is on or chairs/tables etc. That's next level! There are tips on the few loading screens you have (such as if you start a side mission, which I'll get to here in a minute) and they go by so fast you can just barely read the tip, it's that quick for me.

Next complaint I don't see much at all anymore but saw when this game was announced was the voice cast. Yuri Lowenthal wasn't the first pick for a lot of Spidey fans but he does an excellent job in this game like I mean they all do but you can really tell that the cast went all out for this game, it's great. Yuri even shares a name with one of the characters so yay. Also he voices older Ben from Ben 10. Even though it would be cool to have different voice actors for different suits such as Tom Holland for the Homecoming suit, Yuri does a nice job. Jameson is in this and he hosts a podcast that plays sometimes while you're swinging, that's a good modern take on him but nobody will ever beat JK Simmons just saying.

The Spiderman juggernaut that was Spiderman 2 (preferably the GC version for me) was a big game to stack against, nothing has beat it until this game in my opinion. Spiderman 2 I could get lost in just doing side missions, I would literally spend my time saving people hanging from roofs, getting mugged and car chases and still be satisfied with that game, it was that good! (also I wasn't too good at knowing what to do in games as a kid so eh) The swinging, the jumping, all felt natural and fun. This game can perhaps even beat that even with nostalgia, the web swinging is the best we've seen, it applies parkour and acrobatics and gravity and momentum to define what I say is the word to describe this game "F-L-O-W". Everything has a flow and it feels good for it to flow. It does a good job of trying to keep what everyone liked with SP2...even a few character chase sequences, which I've always hated and still do but it's still nostalgic and would probably be missed if it wasn't in there. Wallrunning is a lot simpler and easier, web shooting is a lot more fun and gives you control, lots of different variety, lots of different unlockables. Also you can actually unlock that super jump like in SP2 and I love it! You don't get stuck nearly as often, if you're swinging, you don't lose momentum if you run into stairs or a building, he goes straight into wall run mode or just swings around it, feels so good. There's actually a throwback to the Spiderman 2 train sequence where he mentions "That worked last time" when trying to use his webs to stop a train.

I made sure to give a fair amount of effort to do as much as I can in this game. I did all the landmark missions, backpacks, black cat stakeouts, collected most of the suits, unlocked every skill, tried different play styles with webbing and such. (I can actually recognize how someone's play style is different than mine when I watch because I've played it so much) You don't like the white spider suit? Well you can unlock others and play as those instead, you barely have to use the white spider suit but doesn't go without saying each suit interchangeable quirks but not making any more powerful than another. Use the environment to your advantage, there's some stealth involved here but you don't have to use it, it's actually pretty fun. You can throw trash cans and concrete mix and shock people with stuff. You can crawl in vents.

Side missions and side stuff. Are they fun? I'd be lying if I said every single one was great but there are a lot of really good ones, some even bring in certain characters that I shuttered when I saw. Backpacks were awesome because it's always a mystery where they'll be as well as what's in them, plus it unlocks a certain suit. Black Cat missions, obviously I love, get a suit out of that too. Landmarks are kinda fun, I didn't think I'd like it much but I just did it and was like "Wow that's actually a really cool shot" it makes me feel like a photographer (Have yet to try Photo mode though). But here's something cool. If you go to a side mission, it will take you out of your current situation so you don't waste time or get distracted by certain elements and puts you in a separate but same version New York and if you're in a phone call with someone and you go to do a side quest during it, Peter will say something like "Sorry about that, continue" and it will either pick up where you left off in the call or rewind a little bit so you remember. Here's something I didn't think I would see though. Minigames. Yeah...so apparently you can scan an element for it's components and you have to match the lines and then there's one for the neural interface which has you making a path from one side to another, and it's not the best but whatever, it does what it does.

The story is on par. If it were separated into a movie, it might actually work, it's of that quality. The characters are great as well, each being unique to this story without breaking their comic origin too much. Spidey actually got me to laugh quite a few times with his quips. I want to go in depth with the characters because I really like how some of them are handled but I don't want to spoil who all is in this game. The AI is pretty good, I like that it tells you if an enemy can see you and can highlight where all the enemies are by pressing R3. I even had the final boss dodging some of my attacks, I had nothing but respect for that though, no salt.

Now this game is among the greats but that goes without saying there are some aspects that could be improved upon. People complained about Quick Time Events when this was revealed and I didn't blame them but now I do because I see a few scenes that look like "Aww I wanna play that" because it was probably a scene meant for QTE but they took it out because of fan backlash (QTE is still in there but not a lot fyi). At the end Peter is faced with some decisions and that's what Spider-Man is about, we even see it at the end of the first Spider-Man movie and done masterfully. This one is done really well but I almost wish we could've played that, and made the decision for ourselves just to see what the outcome would be then go and play it again to do the other route. The problem with that is this isn't a "Mary Jane will remember that Telltale/Detroit" kind of game so putting that in right at the end would feel a bit cheap. Just like the Marvel movies, there's a post credits scene so stay tuned for that. Overall a really good game, highly recommend it and await the the DLC/sequel?. I'm over 80% done with the game after finishing the story so I might as well just 100% it and complete all side missions and stuff.

#spider-man #ps4 #review

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iguana012 · 7 years

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Why can’t Satoko Miyahara jump high(er)?

So ever since Satoko Miyahara came back from her long injury caused hiatus in which everyone was wishing her good health, speedy recovery and fast comeback, that comeback turned out to be a bit too fast for some people. It’s not a stretch to assume that some were clearly counting her out in the Olympic spots equation (including journalists and commentators). And now that she’s back, it’s become a bit of a race to find all the reasons why it’s not a real comeback. She didn’t compete in a strong field, she didn’t get the UR calls (I actually agree here in the particular case of Skate America), or just going to the real problem - she shouldn’t be competitive with those jumps.

Everything else becomes an excuse. That is the actual problem. No matter the field she competes in, no matter how hard she tries to get those jumps around, people will say she has no place competing with - quoting actual posts I’ve been reading - “those cringe worthy jumps”, “the worst jumps ever” or “that disgusting technique”.

The more competitive she becomes, the more critical comments she gets. I remember people who used to say “her jumps don’t bother me so much because everything else she does is high quality” that are now ripping her apart because she’s been beating their personal faves. Sometimes that’s what it all boils down to. And there are people who can still give her a chance and see beyond her jumps and discover that what she does beyond her jumps is close to perfection.

But why are her jumps like that? One of the most common reasons people can think of is because of her small height. But that’s not the correct reason, and critics will show you how there are skaters just as small (or smaller) who have some of the biggest, most powerful jumps. “Midori Ito was smaller and yet she could jump through the roof”. Or “Wakaba Higuchi is also small but her jumps are twice the size of Satoko’s.”

Midori Ito and Wakaba Higuchi have twice the muscle strength Satoko has.

I’m not claiming having strong muscular legs is the only reason why skaters like Wakaba and Midori can jump so high but it is a reason. Having strength in your leg muscles can sure as hell vault you up in the air. But what happens when your leg muscles are just strong enough to help you walk but nothing more than that? After the cut, I will list all the reasons that Satoko and/or her team have been discovering in their long quest to improve Satoko’s jumps.

This is not an attempt to excuse bad judging, nor Satoko’s technique in any way. It is an attempt at looking at the bigger picture and taking into consideration all the potential variables that come into play when talking about Satoko’s jumps.

1. Very poor bone density

This is something Satoko and her team have discovered when she was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the hip joint. The original question was, how did that stress fracture happen? Stress fractures happen in figure skating, but in the hip joint? That’s a bit rare.

Sure, factors such as overtraining and multiple attempts to correct her toe picking technique have played major factors but why is that toe technique relying on her completing half a revolution on ice to begin with?

Having poor bone density usually means osteopenia or in worse cases osteoporosis. Both are very less likely to happen at Satoko’s age, so she’s basically dealing with a problem that’s not common among fellow skaters. Bone density problems are sometimes hard to diagnose and the signs may be extremely subtle or not present at all in the beginning.

I’m not an expert but a bit of research has helped me understand maybe just a bit what happens when you lose bone. From what I’ve read, people with small frames are more likely to develop osteoporosis at a younger age. That means every time Satoko jumps a triple, she is at risk of getting fractures and had she jumped higher or used more power than she uses now, the risk of getting fractures would have automatically become higher.

2. Very poor leg muscle strength

By definition, muscle weakness happens when your full effort doesn’t produce a normal muscle contraction or movement. It’s sometimes called reduced muscle strength, muscular weakness, or weak muscles.

There are many possible reasons or conditions that can cause muscle weakness. Satoko’s personal trainer has mentioned that she barely uses her leg muscles when she jumps. She’s known for not using much of her upper body either so how she manages to jump at all is sometimes a mystery to me.

3. Jumping against her dominant direction

I’ve talked about this one before and many people know about it already. Satoko was supposed to be a clockwise jumper, just like Carolina Kostner, Kaetlyn Osmond and Ashley Wagner. That’s how she started jumping when she was living in the USA as a young kid.

But when she came back to Japan, the rinks were extremely crowded and jumping in the opposite direction to that of the majority of the other skaters increased the risk of collisions and accidents. So she started jumping counter-clockwise, against her dominant direction.

The advantage of that has been developing the ability to spin in both directions and her multi-directional skating. But as far as jumps go, it was just another factor that’s been preventing her to use full power. As a consequence of training in the non-dominant direction, the dominant direction was left undeveloped so she can’t jump clockwise anymore even if she tried.

I read a very interesting quote in this article that said “a concert pianist demonstrates superb skill with both hands, but this mastery is complementary rather than competitive”. I think this applies to Satoko’s skating as well.

4. She could use the help of her upper body to vault herself up in the air, but she doesn’t

You might have heard of the expression “to muscle one’s jumps”. It’s when skaters use their upper body to vault themselves up in the air and it’s sometimes noticeable when you look at their mid-air posture. Their shoulders are raised up to the level of their ears as opposed to making a 90 degree angle. Muscling jumps is not anywhere near a good technique but it can help some skaters get more height on their jumps and avoid underrotations. The judges won’t look at your shoulders but they will look at how you land.

Every time I see a picture of Satoko, her mid-air posture looks as flawless as her posture on ice, which is something that she’s been praised for. I guess there is no other way to highlight her good mid-air posture other than comparing with skaters who have the tendency to raise their shoulders up.

That’s not to say the skaters who tend to raise their shoulders do it all the time. But they’re more likely to do it.

You can also see it in the way they prepare their jumps. Skaters who rely on their upper body are more likely to look like they’re using more force when swinging their arms and their arms will end up looking tense in the air, as can be seen in the pics above.

Some conclusions

Her toe picking technique is questionable in that she completes half of rotation before her blade leaves the ice. This is called “prerotation” and it’s something many other skaters do, but other skaters don’t lack height like Satoko does. The ISU guidelines say a clear forward take-off should result in the jump getting downgraded but I’ve barely seen this happen at all and I’ve never seen it happen with Satoko’s jumps. Which means the judges have okayed Satoko’s jumps as far as the forward take-off rule is concerned. I’m not arguing whether what they’re doing is correct or not because no matter how varied opinions can be and people will always have their version of the ISU guidelines, the reality is that Satoko’s jumps have never been flagged for prerotation and unless the rule will become more specific or the judges will start using it for her, she won’t get dinged for prerotations.

Speaking of prerotations, I’ve always wondered what the ISU considers as clear forward take-off. Is it picking the toe and rotating on it until the skaters face forward, or is it the toe picking directly forward like in Mai Asada’s case here?

(source for the gif)

See, Mai Asada is simply picking forward for that double toe, no rotating on the toe pick no nothing. She completes at least half a rotation simply by pointing her picking foot forward. So why aren’t the judges punishing Satoko (or any other skater that we think prerotates)? Is it because the clear forward take-off rule was actually meant for jumps like the one above?

Back to Satoko, she usually does get punished for underrotations. She didn’t at Skate America. I thought at least 3 jumps looked UR but the technical panel disagrees. In skating competitions there will be lenient panels and there will be strict panels and every skater will benefit / won’t benefit off them at some point in their careers. What actually makes people angrier in Satoko’s case is the fact that they think she already gets away with prerotations so she should actually be getting downgrades on all of her jumps. But I ask again, what does the ISU actually mean by taking off forward?

It’s very easy for Satoko to become the #1 target for critics whenever panels get too lenient. But the reality is that she usually does get punished for underrotations when she underrotates. Skate America was a bit of a fluke. Rest assured, I don’t believe Satoko will win anything other than Nationals in the near future. She usually doesn’t. Her last international win was in 2015.

Critics will also say that it’s easier for her to jump than it is for other skaters who jump higher. I believe any kind of technique has its advantages and disadvantages and in Satoko’s case, fast rotation and timing are everything. If the timing is off then she will also pop her jumps (see NHK Trophy) but the thing with her is that she will practice that timing over and over again until the margin of error will be reduced to nothing.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I am not an ISU judge. I’m just a fan with biased point of views (like many others here) attempting to speak my mind on issues regarding my favorite skater.

#Satoko Miyahara #figure skating #personal #there has been so much debate for the past couple of weeks #i needed a place to get my thoughts off my mind #feel free to disagree

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