#almost as pretty as an incredibly long jpg

[triflesandparsnips]

what are your thoughts on the sky?

I hear the color of it is super pretty.

[zawazawanightmares]

Yang Xiao Long & Niki

You, Yang Xiao Long, are connected to Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP) Your partner selected the 18+ server. Your partner has a starter. Type /starter or tap here to see it.

Yang Xiao Long: /starter

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): 34 DD cup, wide hips, bubble butt https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/783759403026874388/797887768201134090/1957487964e93ca5f387ae3d8292ae59.jpg Kinks (optional): Casual nudity, Exhibitionism, Excessive cum, tribalism, outercourse, aftercare, spanking, choking (Hard)Limits: rape, gore, vore, degradation, humiliation, toilet play, hyper, shota, underage, musk Starter(optionally): Niki took the opportunity of a nice summer day to bathe in the warm eat her of the nearby lake. Her naked figure sits near the shore of the water while her water coated dark skin glistens under the sun, her almond coloured nipples hard from the passing breeze while she hums to herself as she bathes, her curvy body's lower half hidden under the water leaving off only her supple waist

Yang Xiao Long: "Ugh, finally..." A heat-exhausted Yang came upon the lake after spending a few hours trekking under the blistering sun, almost ready to pass out. She paused when she spotted the partially submerged satyr bathing. "Hey! You don't mind company, do you? I'm just trying not to die."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): "hmm?" the satyress turns to look at her guest, unconcerned by her own nudity "Oh! please, I know how hard it can get traveling in the summer. Feel free to cool off" she says with a soft tone and a warm smile, her dimples accentuated by the beauty mark on her cheek

Yang Xiao Long: Oh, she's a cutie...but there are more pressing matters to attend to. Yang thought as she stripped down, revealing her built form underneath her clothes, and removing her prosthetic arm to get into the lake. Besides, two incredibly hot ladies can be professional about beating the heat together. She walked into the cooling water, slowly feeling revitalized.

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki can't help herself but to watch the young lady undress, her eyes lingering on her chisel figure. They shift between her bust and bottom until the blonde would take her first step into the water. Niki leans on her back and strokes slowly towards her "The water is amazing isn't it?" she asks looking up at her, her large breasts floating above the water

Yang Xiao Long: "Yeah...better than I expected." Yang looked upon Niki's massive chest, her eyes lingering for a long while before she tried to remember her manners. "Oh, I didn't even introduce myself before I...introduced myself. My name is Yang."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki could tell where Yang was looking, not that she was complaining about it, she herself has a great view from where she is now. "Niki, nice to meet ya Yang" she says as she stands up facing her "So, I take that you had a long road Yang?"

Yang Xiao Long: "Yup. Got sent here on an assignment and got lost when the evac spot told me I had to meet them in a different spot." She sighed, her hand on her hip. "It was just annoying at first but when the sun got high up, I thought I was a goner. Good thing I found this lake...and the good company."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): "You're fun to hang around too." she says with a smile "Say, how about you lay back for a while? I could guide you around when it's cooler at the sunset"

Yang Xiao Long: "Really? I'd appreciate it!" She smiled warmly. "I honestly can't thank you enough."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): "aww shucks, you don't have to thank me, you look like you need to relax a little " she says, although her minds wonders about a certain way how the pretty blonde could repay her. Her body gives her intentions away as her tail begins to wag and eyes drift lower every now and then

Yang Xiao Long: "I mean, I don't want to come off as ungrateful..." Yang smirked, her hand reaching out to touch Niki's chest and slowly trail down...

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): "is that so?" Niki can't help herself but grin when Yang began to touch her, goosebumps growing on her skin while she's being caressed "In that case I know a fun way to repay me that I think we'll both enjoy" she giggles and leans closer. Niki bites her lip and reaches a hand over to squeeze Yang's breast gently, teasing her nipple with her thumb. Her other hand reaches over to caress her hip and thigh, massaging her way to her ass

Yang Xiao Long: "I mean, if you don't mind a fair trade..." Yang joked as she leaned in closer, her nipples stiffening from the contact. Now pressed against Niki, she pressed her lips to hers, her hand softly rubbing the satyr's submerged pussy.

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki returns the kiss with much passion, moaning softly as she nips at Yang's lips. She shudders from her touch and in return she slides her leg between hers, grinding her hip gently against her pussy while she toys around with her nipple, rubbing and tugging on it gently

Yang Xiao Long: Yang felt herself getting hot in a different way now, her tongue pushing its way into Niki's mouth as it proceeded to tangle with hers, her fingers slowly sliding into the satyr's pussy as she felt her own practically pulse against Niki's fur.

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki eagerly sucks on her tongue while she begins to moan loude grinding her hips against her hand. She releases Yang's breast and leans closers, their breasts grinding against each other while her leg moves with the same eagerness as Yang's fingers

Yang Xiao Long: Yang's kiss got rougher and more passionate, moaning into Niki's mouth as she rubbed her nipples against hers. Her fingers darted in and out of Niki's slit as she felt herself getting close...

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki runs a hand trough her blonde mane as her breath grows heavier. She smacks her ass with the other hand and gives it a squeeze as she lets her tongue to coil and dance around Yang's. She could feel her new friend growing close and begins to rub her more aggressively, her own pussy squeezing around the blondes fingers

Yang Xiao Long: Yang broke the kiss to let out a raspy, "Fuck..." as she came against the satyr's thigh, continuing to finger her as she felt Niki's nails dig into her asscheek, clearly enjoying the sensation.

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki buries her face into Yang's neck panting and moaning into her ear "yeah...that's it....just a lih-little more" she whines and bites her lip while she feels herself getting close, her hips moving in tandem with her hand

Yang Xiao Long: "I'll give you as much as you can take..." Yang kept going, her fingers pushing themselves in and out of her. "Hey, mind clutching my throat a little? It's fine if it's too weird..."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki complied with her request, her hand quickly wrapping around Yang's throat, squeezing on it a little until she could feel the air passing trough and fro. She continues to ride her fingers for a couple more minutes until she found herself screaming in pleasure, her hand tightening around Yang's throat instinctively when she found herself squirting in the water

Yang Xiao Long: Yang let out a choked gasp, groaning in delight when she felt Niki practically strangle her as her pussy clenched around her fingers. "Oh fuck..."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Her grip slowly loosens up while she catches her breath, hand shifting over to hold the blonde close while she basks in the afterglow of her orgasm "mmm~....that was a really good hand work from your part Yang" she mutters with a raspy voice

Yang Xiao Long: "You should see what my better one does." Yang bragged before leaning in close to Niki's ear. "It vibrates."

Niki (F, bi, Satyr, opt futa, Fantasy SRP): Niki giggles in return, a wide smile growing on her face "You don't say. I have a few tricks under my sleeve too, depending on her much you're into experimenting" she let's go of her and take half a step back regaining some of the vigour

Yang Xiao Long: "Then I guess my guide has a few more paths to show me..." Yang flipped her hair, moving in on her new friend...

Yang Xiao Long: (Thanks!)

You left the chat

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #195

Brought to you by a marine biologist and the biggest, baddest reptiles alive right now...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

By the time you read this, I will be out at sea, but I wanted to do these guys because I just did an educational program about crocodilians on Saturday and I guess I wasn’t done? Yeah, so, let’s talk about the Alligator Villagers, okay?

This is going to be a long ass post because I’m about to share almost everything I know about crocodilians and show lots of pictures, because I absolutely love them. 

Now, just to get this out of the way, two of the Alligator Villagers are not really crocodilians - Drago is a Dragon and Del is a robot. And unfortunately, none of the Alligator villagers look like any particular species of crocodilian, which is a damn shame. In fact, they don’t really resemble Alligators as much as they do Crocodiles (and, in fact, in the Japanese version, they are called Crocodiles). 

But I hear you asking “how the hell can you tell?” Glad you asked! See, there are actually 4 major kinds of Crocodilian - Alligators, Caimans, Crocodiles, and the Gharial. They all belong in the Order Crocodilia, which is a group of animals that were actually incredibly diverse in the distant past. Back then, crocs didn’t just wallow around in the water waiting to ambush prey - a good lot of them had strong legs allowing them to hold their bodies off the ground and *run* after prey. They filled many niches and some were so big they preyed upon dinosaurs. Of course, like many animals at the end of the Cretaceous some 66 million years ago, many crocs went extinct, but this tried and true playbook of ambushing from the water stayed around. 

Today, crocs are found primarily in tropical areas around the world. There are 2 species of alligator, 14 species of crocodile, 6 species of caiman, and 2 species of gharial. Quite a few of them are endangered due to habitat loss, harvest for their tough skins, and people generally being afraid of them.

By LittleJerry - derivative work:File:SaltwaterCrocodile('Maximo').jpg Molly Ebersold of the St. Augustine Alligator FarmFile:American Alligator.jpg User:PostdlfFile:Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) male.jpg Charlesjsharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75191082

Okay, but back to the original question - how to tell these animals apart? They all have the same general body plan - a thick, muscular body, a big flat tail for swimming, eyes and nostrils at the top of their heads, and four splayed out legs they clumsily use to drag themselves around on land. So, when telling them apart, you want to look at the shape of their snouts! Alligators have a very broad snout (pic to the right), and most of their teeth, especially the lower jaw set, are hidden. Meanwhile, crocodiles have longer, pointier snouts and many of their teeth, top and bottom, stick out of their mouths (which makes the Alligator villagers actually Crocodiles with those teeth protruding from the lower jaw).

 After that, it gets more simple - Caiman are the smallest of the crocodilians and have short snouts, and, although they are more closely related to Alligators, they are more crocodile-like with their sharper teeth and pointier snout. Last but not least is my favorite, the very strange Gharials, with their very skinny snout and long, needle-like teeth perfect for catching fish. 

By Clpramod - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78302378

Okay, so where do Crocodilians fall on the tree of life? Are they just really big lizards? NO. In fact, crocodilians belong in a clade called the archosaurs, a separate lineage of reptiles from the lepidosaurs, aka the snakes, lizards, and plesiosaurs, etc. Archosaurs include not only crocs, but also the pterosaurs and all of the dinosaurs. That last bit means that crocs and birds are more closely related to each other than they are to snakes and lizards. We’re also pretty sure turtles belong in archosauria, but that’s still considered tentative, though there’s been more evidence to support it. So, yeah, crocodiles and birds, cousins.

Now, let’s talk about the business end of a croc - those teeth! All croc teeth have one function - to hold onto prey and basically get abused as the animals use them to drag larger animals into the water to drown. The teeth are sharp, but they are also thick and robust, perfect for this purpose. They are also built to withstand the incredible power crocodile jaws have to offer - the absolute strongest jaws of any animal alive today belong to the saltwater croc - allowing crocs to not only bite and hold onto prey, but also crush it, really. In that way, the teeth are more like spikes than teeth, since they do not slice or help the animal chew. Crocs swallow their prey or prey chunks whole. The only slight deviation in this plan is the gharial that has thinner teeth for a specialized diet of fish, but it still stands - the teeth are for holding onto prey. 

I think I’ll stop there, but yeah, crocs are cool af!

See ya later, alligator!

[faunaflanaganarchive]

mean girl | faunsette

Who: Fauna Flanagan & Lisette Gilbert What: Bingo: Drop a bunch of pennys on the floor and have someone count them When: 07/08/20 Where: Sawyers Suite Warnings: None

Fauna had dropped off a copy of Cady Herons outfit for Lisette that morning, and had spent much of her classes that morning perfecting the Regina George look that she was currently rocking. She was glad Sawyer had once again let her use the suite to do this since her own room would have been a little small. Once Lisette arrived and she welcomed her in, she gave her a little nod. "You ready?"

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/d7/66/9fd766429459108e5dce39ece68dd255.jpg

Lisette hadn't played dress up in a long time.  Her outfits were often chosen for her by her Mistress, but the intent of those wasn't to be someone else - just herself.  This outfit, which she took her time putting on to get just right, gave her a chance to take on another persona entirely.  She was still Lisette, though, and when she met up with Fauna she couldn't help the giant smile on her face - the scene was going to be a blast.  "Ready!" she promised, allowing herself a moment to get out of her own head and into Cady's.

Fauna gave Lisette a wink and then, changed her posture the way she always did when she was playing Regina with Sawyer. "You realise that skirt is just like the one that I bought from Macys last week, right Cady? I can see what you're doing.. you're copying me. You know it doesn't matter how many times you copy me, I'm always going to be the Queen of this school.. and you'll just be the girl from Africa who I made cool."

Lisette was immediately impressed by the way that Fauna's whole posture and attitude changed.  She was clearly comfortable playing other roles, and that was a talent Lisette knew she didn't possess.  But she would give it her all, as she did with everything, and try to make it work.  "Regina," she protested, "you've never worn this skirt.  How would I know you even had it?"  Lisette's expression was slightly browbeaten, arguing something she couldn't win.  "I could have been cool without you," she protested weakly.  "It just...would have taken longer."

Fauna cocked her head with faux sympathy. "Cady please, as soon as I take something off the rack basically invent that piece of clothing.. just like I invented you when I took you off your sad little I'm the new girl who doesn't know anything rack." Fauna purred. "You think you could be cool without me, don't make me laugh. You have to jump through whatever hoop I tell you to avoid sliding right back down to the bottom of the heap and you know it."

The cutting words made Lisette's face - convincingly, she hoped - crumple a little, and her gaze flicked toward the floor while she tried to recover.  The nice thing was that she didn't have to fake not being good at a war of words - she wasn't anyway, and she just had to lean into that as much as she possibly could.  "You didn't invent me - I am me," the comeback was completely pathetic, and Lisette almost broke character and smiled at how sad it sounded.  "I...I've always done what you told me, Regina, you know that."

Fauna gave the other girl her best Regina smile, it was weird being allowed to just rampage without getting pulled in line like when she usually played this character. "Yes.. you do what I tell you Cady and that's how it's going to stay no matter how cute the skirt is that you're wearing." Fauna opened the little pink purse that was over her arm and picked out a coin purse. Unzipping it and emptying the money on the floor. "Count them." She ordered. "Prove I shouldn't kick you out of my clique."

Fauna's smile was perfect, and Lisette made a mental note to compliment her when she scene was done.  Watching with a slightly horrified expression as she coins hit the floor of the room, her teeth worried at her bottom lip for a few moments as if she were deciding whether to resist or give in.  "I...but..." she stammered.  That lasted for only a moment, and Lisette sank to her knees.  "Yes, Regina."

Watching Lisette get on her knees, Fauna folded her arms with a triumphant smirk. "How many pennies are there Cady? Enough to save your reputation, we'll see." The blonde tapped her heel as if she were impatient, brushing the wig off her shoulders while Lisette counted. Honestly if surgery didn't work out, maybe she should consider becoming a Regina George impersonator.

Lisette grumbled under her breath, but it was all in character and all in fun.  She counted the pennies as she stacked them into small piles, wanting to take just long enough to push her luck without taking so long that Fauna/Regina would have a reason to be upset with her.  It took a few minutes, but she finally counted the stacks one more time.  "One hundred and seventeen, Regina.  There's a hundred and seventeen pennies.  Are we good now?  Are you going to kick me out?"

The blonde watched the little stacks and then gave then rolled her eyes a little when Lisette announced she was done. "We're good for now Heron, but I'm watching you. One false move and you're right down to the bottom of the social pyramid." She warned.

"Of course, Regina," the resistance had drained from Cady, and she knew that she needed to play along if she had any hope of surviving the rest of the year.  Gathering up the coins in both hands, she offered to put them back in Regina's purse.  "I'll go and change, too, I've got another skirt in my locker."  Anything to make peace.

"Well done Cady, see I knew you could learn how things have to be. Happy Regina means a happy non ruined life for you." The blonde promised. Nodding to herself and looking to Lisette to check that she felt done with the scene too.

With the money back in the purse and Regina's grudging approval, Lisette nodded and kept her gaze on the floor just long enough to signal an end to the scene.  Only then did she look up with a huge grin pulling at her lips.  That had been entirely too much fun, and the moment Fauna was ready she was getting a huge hug.

Fauna grinned back at the girl. "You were totally amazing Lisette!" She giggled. "Thank you ever so much for agreeing to help me out like this, honestly you're a total life saver." The girl gestured for Lisette to follow. "Let me get you that lemon cake that I promised."

Giggling, Lisette got to her feet and stole a hug.  "You are like...the most incredible Regina George ever.  I was going to try and stand up to you for longer but even the fictional me was intimidated!"  She bounced on her feet.  "Is it okay with you if I wear this for the rest of the day?  I love how good it looks on me."  And it would allow her to stay in her head a little, which would be fun.  "You honestly didn't have to give me cake, but I'm so not turning it down."

Fauna hugged the girl back easily, her and Lisette should spend more time together she decided internally. "Thank you ever so much, I have a lot of practice. My boyfriend has a kink for me dressed up as her. It's like my secret brat persona, so it was kinda odd not being stopped from acting up. You were a very cute Cady, my inner Regina almost felt bad about being mean to you!" She complimented, producing the lemon cake stored away in the tin. "Honestly keep the outfit! You look great it in." She encouraged.

Lisette considered that for a moment.  "That's a good kink, I think - lots of Dominants like that kind of bratty persona.  I'm glad you could exercise her without getting shut down this time, though!"  The compliment made her smile, and she was glad that she'd been able to put out the sort of vulnerable vibe that Fauna had seen in her.  "Really?  Thank you so much!  We'll do this again one day or something like it so we can dress up together."

“It’s a fun way to do it, because I kinda always felt like being a brat was a bad thing.. but Regina has no qualms. Eh I think Regina probably deserves to be shut down 90% of the time.” She laughed and then nodded. “Of course, what’s the fun in buying pretty clothes if we don’t share them? That sounds like a good time, we should definitely hang out more.”

"It really is amazing what role play can do for your confidence, isn't it?  You can try all sorts of things you've never done before."  Lisette was touched by the gift, and she would make sure to wear the outfit many times in the future.  "I'd love that!  We haven't hung out nearly enough."

“Absolutely! I’m pretty sure I’m going to kidnap my boyfriend later this week, which obviously I would not do on your average day.” She giggled. “Come and sit with us at lunch soon okay? I think Lex would like that too.”

"Kidnapping, huh?  That's a bold move, but I like it.  I bet he will too, because who wouldn't want to be kidnapped by a beautiful woman?"  Lisette nodded eagerly, leaning in for another hug.  "I'd love to.  Just give me a day and I'll make sure I'm properly dressed for the occasion!"

“It started as a joke.. but then I got knifeplay so now it’s happening. Oh he’ll enjoy being kidnapped by me, my torture is very nice.” She joked. “Any day you fancy, just grab a tray.” She encouraged returning the hug.

"I love knifeplay," Lisette confessed.  "I've only tried it once, but it was amazing."  She hoped for it again before too long, honestly.  "I just bet it is, Miss Regina."  She nodded, already planning it out in her head.  "I will.  I'm really looking forward to it, Fauna - thank you so much for today, I had so much fun!  Now I get to eat my lemon cake in front of everyone and make them jealous in my Cady outfit."

Fauna nodded. “I’ve not done it in a long while, but it’s been a while.” The brunette explained. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.” She smiled and started to walk the girl to the door. “Thank you so much again for your help.”

[paulineguillouzichnd1]

TRIPTYC

 Project

Without the use of words produce a series of connected images that visually illustrate who you are?

Exploring the work of other photographers and/or artists will help you develop a ‘visual story’ for your own work.

Give some thought to the things that are important to you. Everything you have ever done, the places you visit, the music you love, the stuff you keep, the memories and mementos carefully stored away are all part of what makes you unique. Consider how you might best illustrate who you are?

Produce:

1. Relevant research, planning and development of your work in your blog page.                                                                

2. One A3 ‘triptych’ portfolio quality print (A self-portrait, a place you’re connected to, an object significant to you).

3.Three Individual full res 300ppi jpg files uploaded to My City.

Research:

A bit of history...

Triptych is a kind of painting, or rather a surface where to paint. The first triptych that I could think of was the one by Jérôme Bosch, with his painting called The Garden of Earthly Delights (painted between 1490 and 1510) that I studied back at university in France when we were working on the Renaissance period (XIV-XVI). It mostly means that this period was a clear turning point from Middle Age in Art, Humanism, Science, Religion and generally in life (the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg, exploring the world, trade...) and really, the idea of creating my own triptych was very scary at that point.

I kept on doing some research, googling “triptych painting” “triptych photography” and was extremely surprised when I found out that triptych were actually a lot older: Middle Age where

“Les premiers exemples de polyptyques apparaissent en effet entre le Xe et le XIIe siècle, qu’il s’agisse encore de petits objets – essentiellement des diptyques et triptyques – voués à la dévotion personnelle, ou bientôt de grands retables placés sur les autels [dans les] églises et des chapelles.”

(’The first examples of polyptychs appeared between the 10th and 12th century, whether small objects -mostly diptychs and triptychs, destined for personal devotion, or soon great altarpiece, placed on altars [in] churches and chapels’) 

page 1, Du triptyque, ou d’une forme entre tradition et modernité

These 3 panels were, then, not just a biblical reference (Holy Trinity?) but also a practical choice to have your painting standing and seen by the audience from their seats. Easily moved as well from one place to another (I know well enough that kings at that time were packing and moving their furniture, clothes, important stuffs with them from one castle to another-secretly thanking my parents for having me visiting that many castles in France when I was a kid :P)

But then, again, the more I got to see paintings, photographs described as triptychs, the more I came to realise that triptychs had lost their ‘practicality’, being hang on walls, looked at but soon forgotten. It somehow made me feel a bit sad: why should paintings be statics as objects that are going to stand there? It surely is difficult to take your paintings/photographies with you once they’re finished (Ryanair would charge you a lot of money for that...) but in any new place where I’ve lived, my books, photographies and paintings have always been there to remind me of who I was, where I was coming from and I usually have with me a selection of the ones I like the most.

This reminded me of Byōbu (Japanese screen), how you get to use art in your everyday life, hiding/privacy... or worshipping?

Back to History...

During the 19th Century (and especially around 1880-1890) in Europe, painters used this form of canvas as a sort of commemoration of tradition and modernity: religious subjects, structured as the ones produced during the Middle Age, but with far more bigger dimensions (the one example underneath, Saint Cuthbert by Ernest-Ange Duez (1843-1896), was exposed at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français in 1879 and was more than 6 meters long.

19th Century, resurgence of TRIPTYCHS !

It’s very funny/ambiguous  to see that painters would choose that type of canvas to paint, and especially at that time in History. The 19th century in France (beginning of it - until 1850, roughly) saw the birth of Romantic writers (I’m thinking of Victor Hugo in France, William Wordsworth and John Keats in England, E. T. A. Hoffmann in Germany) or painters (Caspar David Friedrich with his Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Francisco de Goya, Eugene Delacroix with his self-portrait where he paints himself as Hamlet or his painting called La liberty guidance le people (Liberty leading the people). Romantics like the Bible as it is an endless source of inspiration for them, dramatic stories to paint, or write about (no judgment intended!).

However, at the end of the 19th century, most artists would claim themselves as Realists (or Naturalists) which implied a true-to-life style which involves the representation or depiction of nature (including people) with the least possible distortion or interpretation. It sought to portray real and typical contemporary people and situations with truth and accuracy, and not avoiding unpleasant or sordid aspects of life. The movement aimed to focus on unidealized subjects and events that were previously rejected in art work. Realist works depicted people of all classes in situations that arise in ordinary life, and often reflected the changes brought by the Industrial and Commercial Revolutions.

How comes that in this particular time of History, painters would choose on purpose a type of painting whose main connotations were ‘Middle Age’ and ‘Religious subjects’? when one of their main subjects was real life: working class, farmers, factories, coal mine and that this period is also somehow related strikes, popular movement and the rise of socialism/anarchism?

Life is full of contradictions :) 

L'Oeuvre de la goutte de lait", Jean Geoffroy (1903)

Le bon marche (The good market), Felix Vallotton, 1898.

La Mine: La Descente ; Le Calvaire ; La Remonte, (Mine: descending, the calvary, climbing up)

Other paintings:

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, Francis Bacon, 1944

Three Studies of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, 1969

Bacon, as a painter, is someone I deeply admire. He’s not afraid of what most people would find scary or shocking. 

Although he was declared as unfit for active wartime service, lots of his paintings remind me of what we call ‘the broken faces’ (Les gueules casses) in French), disfigured soldiers from WW1 and WW2. Looking at his paintings is discomforting, unsettling. You want to look away but it’s also hard to do so. It’s powerful, in your face, disturbing but also hypnotising somehow?

It reminds me of the Motion blur in photography, as a representation of both physical and mental issues or simply this continuous mental conversation people have with themselves. Personal problems that are unresolved.

OR

Edward Honaker

Kyle Thompson

General:

When I started looking into what triptycs were, I loved this one example and the use of lines and the characters’s way of looking at each other and guiding the viewer into the paiting:

I also felt slightly claustrophobic about the idea of having so much details and stuff going on in my triptyc so I thought that the best way for me to give the viewer some space would be to make it as straigthforward and empty as possible but I wanted the “place” to be the same on the three pictures and be my link between the different photos as in the example above (cathedral?).

I came up with this drawing which was a first idea of what I wanted my triptyc to look like in the end:

On the left side, OBJECT, in the middle PLACE and on the right side SELF-PORTRAIT.

I would have to be very careful with the left and right pictures that were meant to be taken at a specific angle and match each other. The central picture would have been a family portrait. The table was meant to be the element that the 3 pictures had in common, guiding the viewer into the photo.

Black and White: I didn’t even really concider using colour pictures as I think Black and White Pictures give a better sense of what I wanted to express in my triptych.

OBJECT: Memories.

I chose to use my diary as an object because I’ve been journalling since I was roughly 8 or 9  and still have my notebooks from that time. It’s an incredible experience for me to open and re-read these journals. It feels like I’m back in the past at that exact moment and I almost see the younger version of myself, sitting on a chair and recording her memories. It felt a bit cheesy and cliché at first but it then became a cathartic exercise. It has now become a daily habit, 20 mns of writing, no lie, just the plain truth, my truth as it is (and its not just pretty and beautiful!)

PLACE: Rest[e]. In French, Reste means stay. I have always found funny that this particular word was so close to the English word Rest which involves an idea of settling, relaxing and peace of mind. For me staying and relaxing have long been two words that were almost like enemies: I needed to travel, I needed to go to the next place, I didn’t want to stop because that’d have been the end of me. But the older I get, the more I realise that I need to rest[e], I just don’t know where. Home is where I grew up, and more than a place, home is a composition of people that I have always had around me: parents, brother, sisters and friends. I wanted them in my pictures: memories of birthdays, Christmas and laughters . These endless meals sitting at the table and time stops.

SELF-PORTRAIT: I personally find it hard to deal with emotions and have had mood swings since a young age, experiencing panick attack and depression since I was a teenager. As many of us, I have learnt to put a smile on my face because that’s easier. I felt that having a static self-portrait would be a lie as my personality is so changing. When I found out about Picasso. I remember watching some of his paitings and seing them moving (face, places) and fet impressed. I also wanted to use where I was looking as a way to ‘direct’ the viewer in the tryptic, looking back at my PLACE and OBJECT, living with memories. The outside photos are black and white and could be anywhere. The central picture however is home, or a memory of home, one of the numerous ones recorded in my diary.

First attempt self-portrait: I was working with a shutter speed between 3 and 6 seconds. The 2 main challenges were to find a shutter speed that would have my faces standing and lying on the table with the motion blur in between.

One thing I didn't really consider was the angle of the table because ideally I wanted my triptych to have a symmetrical effect between the picture on the left (my object) and on the right side of the middle picture (family table).

This is my second attempt: same shutter speed but now, the table has a different angle. I made sure the left angle of the table was visible (I wanted the table to be on each picture, almost as a timeline/virtual line to give a sense of unity.

Last week, when we critted each other’s tryptic, one o the comments that was made was about the corner of the table (self portrait) that wasn’t visible enough, so I also worked with photoshop (shadows, highlight and exposure + brightness) to change it. It still isn’t perfect but the photos were taken one week apart in different studios.

The way I sit is also an echo of the middle picture (the one where I am sitting at my table back in France). Memories, and sometimes the sadness of being apart from your family can be heavy at times.

I am looking towards the first picture, looking back (at my memories?).

OBJECT:

As mentioned earlier, the object I chose is my diary. I almost wanted it to look like a still life picture: the viewers can see that someone has just left and was writing at that table a few minutes ago but has now left. What they need to focus on is this page: Why is that open? That’s the end of a diary. Why has the person gone?

I made several attempt at taking that picture: with a different pencil, with a hairdryer (and the pages being blurred). I also thought about being on the picture a bit like a ghost but then it just ended not having a good effect, there was too much of me in the 3 pictures.

OR

FAMILY PORTRAIT:

The place was meant to be an echo of my living room back in France (food, family or friends, wine, laughter), and opposed to the two sides of the table, that aren’t home to me. The table clothes, the mess, the framing that looks more of what my dad would take as a family picture isn’t even correct: the lady on the left is off-frame, and so is her plate. What we see here is someone just grabbing a camera and shooting without really thinking about composition. Spontanous, recording a good moment. I think this triptyc talks a lot about recording, remembering, not forgetting as well.

I used two ladies to help me (their matching clothes and hair is pure coincidence) as I live in a family of women and women are extremely strong in my family (men too!!).

The two students were super patient and we tried different head movement (up and down, left-right). Grant played my part while I was framing the photo and then I sat in the middle.

The way I sit is meant to be an echo of the way I sit in my self-portrait, as a memory kept in my mind, a version of myself I used to be but that has partly gone now. It’s also a triptyc about moving on but being stuck in memories as well

Material I use : a tripod, my DSLR, a 24-105mm lense set at 70mm, the school studio and a few people to help me with the PLACE.

FINAL TRIPTYCH:

Evaluation:

I have been surprised from the feedback I got from the other students who, I thought, got it very well. I feel that I would have wanted to try to have the tables not on a straight line but rather with an angle, as first plan but I feel that I didn’t have the technique (studio wise) to achieve it in a rather short period of time (studios being available only on certain days). I think that if I was to redo it, I’d probably make sure I’d have a better control over the light (first and third picture) and plan my second picture a little bit better (models, position of my models). I am really happy about my third picture and to have attempted to try the motion blur, as it is a technique that is widely used amongts photographers (I’m thinking about the exhibition on portraits with Francesca Woodman!)

[fahrhaus]

The Price of Performance:  Do You Really Get What You Pay For?

WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG POST AHEAD.  SKIP IF YOU DON'T HAVE ABOUT EIGHTEEN HOURS TO READ IT.  

:)

For those of you who shoot Fuji or Nikon in addition to your Leicas, you may find this very unscientific or unfair and very practical (some say amateurish) rendering comparison to be of interest.  

It just so happens that I ...umm, just happened...to find my old Nikon D80, with a Nikon 35/1.8 G lens.  With a crop sensor and a CCD chip, it's a pretty interesting camera.  I bought it new in 2008 and used it solidly for 5 years before getting my first digital M (rarely shot my M3s those days, and I regret it now that I can't get film easily).

I had been planning to compare the  Fuji X-E2 output with the Fujinon 35/1.4 vs. my Leica TL2 with Summilux-M 35/1.4.  When I found the Nikon, I figured I'd add it to the list for giggles.  I mean, what could a decade-old camera possibly do better than a current one?To make it all more confusing, I decided to try the Leica Summilux lens on the X-E2 (Fotodiox adapter) as a way to get some clue into the sensor and software differences between a (when new) $700 camera and a $3,250 camera.

The results may or may not speak for themselves, depending on your aesthetic senses or ocular abilities.

The full-res image files (or at least the maximum Facebook allows) are attached, with corresponding watermarks describing the lens manufacturer and body (Fuji Fuji = Fuji lens and Fuj body, Fuji 35 Lux = Leica M lens used with an adapter for X-to-M).  The Nikon was used only with the Nikkor lens because I didn't have an adapter for that camera.

Now this is by no means a scientific comparison. But I promise I tried.  I kept the environment the same, and the shots were taken within a span of about 10 minutes, so lighting is roughly the same.ISO ranged from 320 at the lowests (on the Leica) to 1600 at the highest (I set that as the max for all 3 cameras, set it at ISO Auto, and limited shutter speed to a max of 1/60th).  Funnily, the Nikon's highest setting IS 1600 - the CCD sensor, I'm guessing.I'm sure others would have used tripods, and perfected focus, and flash (I have no idea how, or why, to use those things) but I was shooting manual lenses on the Fuji and Leica.

At my age, I probably missed tack-focus a few times, but it doesn't really matter - something, somewhere in each image is in focus.  I was most interested in the color rendering, bokeh, clipping, and flaring.

ALL PICTURES were shot in their RAW equivalents, and converted to JPG via Exposure 3.5 with NO ADJUSTMENTS made to any of the sliders other than White Balance because the Fuji was rendering very dark blue.  The Leica was perfect, and the Nikon a tad too warm.  I left everything else, including exposure and contrast, alone, as I really wanted to see what out-of-camera RAW looks like.

My thoughts:

The CCD sensor, as dated as it is (2007ish) has spectacular color rendering and pop.  To me, it's arguably better than the CMOS sensors on the Leica or the Fuji, but the Leica does come pretty close.  I saw similar differences in the M9 vs M 240, but some post production sorts it all out.

The dynamic range of the Leica is significantly better than the Nikon (14 stops vs 10 stops), and somewhat better than the Fuji (12 stops).  This is clearly seen when you examine the images in Lightroom or Exposure.  The TL2 uses almost the entire Histogram range, whereas the Nikon skews to the right-side highlights and the Fuji skews to the left (heavily)

The Fujinon glass is spectacular, and is noticeably sharper than the Leica but nowhere near as creamy.  Lovely bokeh, but not Leica boke.  I prefer the Leica by a large margin, because for street photography sharpness is meaningless (at least to me) and "attitude" is more important.

The Leica Summilux still holds its own against the Fuji and Nikon in terms of light gathering and overall rendering/color.  The lens I use is  47 years old (!) and is neither aspherical nor apochromatically corrected.  It has some haze and scratches, and its coating is probably deteriorated. The Nikon lens is 11 years old, and the Fuji lens is 4 years old.  And yet the Summilux kills it every time.  It was also once the smallest fast lens made by anyone.  

The X-E2 is a damn good clicker, even though mine is 5 years old and there's newer tech.  I'm pleasantly surprised by that.  This is a camera I bought as a stop gap whilst waiting for my M-P 240 to arrive, and I've rarely shot it since.  Given its light weight, good autofocus, and great X Trans sensor, I may start taking it out again.

The combination of the Fuji sensor and Fujinon lens is more pleasing to me than the Fuji with the adapted Leica lens.  The Nikon with Nikon lens is similarly great.  But the Leica with Leica lens is certainly more interesting and more "3D" than the others.  Seems like the OEM lenses work best on the respective bodies.  That makes sense, given that the sensors/software are optimized to OEM lenses rather than 3rd party ones.

Conclusions?  Very few, actually.  As I said, OEM Bodies with OEM Lenses seem to work best and/or make the best out-of-camera images.   I'm guessing this has something to do with tweaking sensors and software to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the related glass.  The TL2 is spectacularly good.  High ISO performance is better than my M.  The Fuji is a great buy for the money.  The X-E3 and 35/1.4 Fujinon lens will set you back about 1400 bucks.  The TL2 with the equivalent Leica lens would be about 7500.  

The Nikon D80 has no skin in this game.  Firstly, it's out of production, as is pretty much anything with a CCD sensor.  That's a shame, because studio work with decent lighting where you don't need to go above 1000 or so ISO is a great place to take advantage of a CCD's incredible depth and vibrance of color.  Secondly, I used it simply because I was curious about how it looked next to [the CMOS] Fuji and Leica images.  I am so pleasantly surprised that I think i may start carrying it around (in the daytime, of course) once in a while.

And so the chapter ends.  Next time I want to throw my M-P into the mix to see how the APS-C and Full Frame compete.

Hope this will be of interest to a few folks.  As I said, not a scientific comparison by any means, but rather, a real-world side-by-side that the pixel-peeper types will probably hate.  In which case, please keep scrolling

:)

[hgfstreamchats]

Pokemon Yellow Nuzlocke: Part 1

Hello! Greetings. This website seems determined to change how it works every week or so. It's revolting. I still haven't gotten around figuring out how to archive. Assuming there is a way to do so. Soundwave's apparently worked something out, but nothing for the long term. Until they stop fiddling with the site itself, then there's no figuring out a permanent system. Eugh. Any hints as to what this is? A short film that should have won at the Oscars and didn't. And I've been incredibly surly over this. I see... Unattended children die in a clay mire? And how! hello! Hello there! Hello. what is happening here Bad decisions. good times, then In an asbestos mine -- nobody's favorite mineral to eat. Too late then. He died as he lived -- choking on lungs full of cold, wet, sucking asbestos and groundwater. how very existential A cautionary tale in not allowing children to wander. It's very Cybertronian!

Alright. Now let's see if we can get this emulator working. Flawless paragon of its kind, truly Oh, there we are! Is the sound alright for everyone? No problems? It seems to be working fine. coming through perfetly clear and 16-bit Fantastic! What to name your rival? Oh, so many possibilities. and only seven letters to do it in Let's see, who do I hate? and, if the name is too long, do you have a demeaning nickname Fair enough. True, and cutting his name short probably WOULD annoy him more Oh, immensely. The hardest part of this game is apparently thinking of names. I'm having fun so far! it's almost like it didn't stand a chance against a rodent that literally stores lightning in itself Your rat is displeased. Look at that face! We'll get along perfectly! Alright, here are the rules of the game. First pokemon encountered in any given area is the one we catch, fainting means death, and we get one Mulligan on Lambo because he's my special, darling little boy. Seems straight forward enough. Do you have to name all the monsters you catch? Every single one. So you get attached Absolutely. If we're not all crying before this project is at an end, I've failed as your master of ceremonies and you can point and laugh at me. I promise to point and laugh if you get all your monsters killed before reaching the next city. That's reasonable. Oh yes, back to the naming screen! Scrap. That was an accident. I thought you could only catch the first pidgey you encountered in this area? We're cheating a little because it's the first area. Tsk tsk. yeah, aren't we basically still in the forced tutorials bit? Game hasn't properly started yet Exactly. Hence The Rat With No Name, whom I'm sure we'll all grow to accept regardless. Unless it dies. then we'll accept it as The Rat That Lasted Less Than An Hour UI'm here! What did I miss? Hello! We watched a child drown in a mire, and now it is time for imaginary monster catching. Nuzlocke edition Ahhh I'm just seeing the rabbit loading screen If I'd known we were starting at the old time, I would have been here! Also, hang on while I reload Night human! Welcome! So, I hear the game music, but there's no video. Can anyone else see... anything? It is working for me. Same Gosh! This is exactly what I wanted to deal with. If I'd known we were starting at the old time, I would have been here! Also, hang on while I reload Night human! Welcome! So, I hear the game music, but there's no video. Can anyone else see... anything? It is working for me. Same Gosh! This is exactly what I wanted to deal with. Yeah, Rabbit's been... just stellar tonight Let me save and then try something. .............................. Son of a glitch. Well, that's why we save often. I'll try a different browser. I'd be lying if I said I din't fear for the Rat With No Name's Future. Eh. To be fair, you probably should. He's very delicate. He probably cries a lot. I think I need to reboot. brb Look at them clearing out those harmless, low level wild mice and rats. That's my team! Devastating the local ecosystem. The perfect hobby for ten year old children. pff, wait 'til we start catching the ones said to be responsible for the weather Assuming we get that far. I do not think the Rat is going to make it that far along. Don't you talk about my Rat that way. It's not his fault he's good at nothing. Time to move out of the baby field. And start playing with the rules properly? Yes nd I'm still not getting any video. Very odd... I'm using Rabbit Share. Does that make a difference? I don't know Hold on. Let me try rebooting it. After I name the new bird. If it's working for other people, then the problem is on my end yeah, best guess? Video drivers are acting up. wait! there it is! woo! Okay, so, Chrome works, Opera no longer does, I guess. So are we permanently back to starting at 6-6:30, or is this a one-time thing? A one time thing, at least until spring. I was feeling under the weather, so no newspark wrangling tonight." Ahhhh If I'd known I wouldn't have stayed late at work, and then run errands, and then gone out for takeout... Hmm, name suggestions for the bug? Or at the least, not those last two things "Twinkie" Ha. Now, who shall die Two mons enter, one mon leaves! And then you take the loser's money. ...it lets you JUMP OVER short hedges! well, yeah, I mean that's just general death match rules regarding money, right? So are they GIVING you the money or are you looting it from their dead/unconscious body? Mostly throwing it at you so you'll let them rush their monsters to medical aid Ah, so you're mugging them. Though, I guess they start out trying to mug YOU, so... You've killed their monsters. It is a bribe to avoid being slain as well. and this is a Nuzlocke, so they WILL kill you given half a chance It's a dangerous pokeworld out there I never knew bullying children could be so much fun! I find that statement highly suspect. Indeed, I am fairly certain you've enjoyed bullying children before this. Those were human children, they didn't count. These are Pokemon universe children. Very different. Aah, I see. *raises eyebrows* So... Pokemon universe children aren't human? .... According to the lore, they are also Pokemon. What, really? Ew. It is a strange universe That would explain why they all look the same, I guess. Or, uh... you know what I mean. The Nurse Joy lore is actually FASCINATINGLY weird Oh help me, that's adorable. I'd like to make it through the gym without casulties. *casualties It is going to be a challenge. Ooooo! A new one! Okay, rules be scrapped, I want her! We won't tell. In the name of gender diversity. Who needs rules, anyway? Besides, poison is pretty much the most fun type to play with Woohoo! Oh, it has horns? "Horny" No. "Spiky" Also vaguely inappropriate. Shoot, I was going for VERY inappropriate. Moonbeam. Very inappropriate would be something like Valveula'. Ooo, nice. I should have named my rival Valveula. You should have. You could do that next time. She's blue and thorny. I should have called her Arcee. /me hurriedly disguises a laugh as a cough A PURPLE one! Nice. In the interest of not cheating quite so much, I won't use him. I'll tuck him away and use him if worst comes to worst. Maybe the name should reflect that? Hmmmm. No room for "There's Been An Accident." exigency? "Whoopsie"? Ooh, I like that. 😃 Another! She's having none of it. If little Alpina/Arcee's going to survive the gym, she's got to learn to kill everything she loved. yeah, I've seen this first gym break the teeth of the unprepared LOTS of Nidorans all of a sudden Where were they when catching one wouldn't have been cheating? Hiding from you. And how did that work out for you, Nidorans? Have you caught all the pokemon you're allowed to before the gym? I have. There's mankey in the forest, but that's more cheating than I'm willing to do. Ahhhh. Well, would you look at that! Look at what? Little Twinkie's growing up. Oh! : ) Soon he'll be a full grown twink. Honestly, if I'd realized he was green and not yellow, I would have suggested, like... Bean It worked out this way. I guess it did! Maybe he's, like, an Easter twinkie That he is! My god https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513t76TJEVL._SX355_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513t76TJEVL._SX355_.jpg images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com Oh, I thought it would actually show the image. Whoops Silly question, but does that... cost anything? To heal them up? not a cent Nice! Yeah! Take on Brock! Kick his ass! I'm at least going to get some experience off his little lackey trainers. Well now. That was too close a call for the Rat With No Name. You could just call him Boy. Time to face the first gym leader I just realized this is Zelda music Or nearly. Time to die. Rock hard defense. Pfffhehehehe Nice. *cheering* The cheating to get her was not in vain. See, children? Cheaters always prosper. We'll go to the moon cave, then pack up for the night. Nice. Oh no! You let that monster die. RIP Lambo. Ah, ah, remember! Lambo gets one mulligan! I remember. Just as he shall remember this death. Oh, well, that's alright then. He's seen what's beyond. He'll never be the same. You monster. On the plus side, the upcoming Gym has plenty of targets for his traumatized wrath That should stop him from murdering us all in our beds. Yes, that's right; have him murder other pokechilds instead. There's nothing behind those little eyes of his. Now that's not true. His death has placed the void of oblivion within his gaze When you gaze into the void, Lambo gazes back. He knows there's nothing watching out for us. Hmm. What to name the pig monkey? Witwicky. Ha. That's mean. I like it. I've been told I'm a mean individual. Probably by jealous people. Anakin. It's small and fat and full of life, like Lambo was until about 15 minutes ago. I love it. And it LOVES sand. : ) : D my children. I'm so proud. They're in the news! And I think that's where we'll wrap it up for now! This seems like a good point. Aww. Well, it was fun! Thank you for hosting tonight's nonsense. you survived, you got a badge, and there was only minimal cheating! It's the best scenario we could have hoped for! And for our traditional parting high note... A for effort. I'm sure it tastes fine. PFFF Why is he dying I like the cookie lodged in his head. His life is pain. I like the expression oh my god I called it. That's his dick. ... A very high note to end on. I'm glad you think so! That was great. Good night, everyone! Thank you for coming and enduring all of that level grinding! Goodnight! thank you, good night! Thanks for the stream, and goodnight!

[livingcorner]

Gardening 101: How To Tend A Thriving Garden | Whitney Blake@|how to tend a garden@|https://whitblake.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_5114.jpg@|21

Through the Gardening 101 series, I’ve walked through planning your garden and picking what/where to plant. Now, it’s time to help your new plants thrive!

I truly believe that anyone can have a green thumb as long as you set yourself and your plants up for success. Your plants need adequate sunlight, consistent water, and food to thrive. It really is that simple!

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Watering your garden

My very first garden was a patio garden in Lakeland, FL. I constantly forgot to water the little pots and my poor plants got scorched. When we built our raised beds here in North Carolina I knew that we needed some sort of irrigation system if we were going to succeed. I just couldn’t rely on my memory or spend an hour a day watering the giant space!

Most gardening blogs or books will tell you that the average veggie/flower garden needs around “1 inch” of water a week. I always found that to be incredibly vague since I don’t measure the rain or how much is being watered. Instead, I did some trial and error to see how fast my specific soil dried out! It’s so simple, just stick your finger in the dirt and if it’s dry past your first knuckle it’s time to water. Eventually you’ll see a pattern that your soil is dry roughly X number of days after rain or watering.

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Garden Watering Tips & Tricks:

It’s much better to water deeply, less often (excluding the peak of summer) because it encourages the plant’s roots to grow deeper where water is more consistent instead of shallow. If watering with a hose or watering can, water until it pools up then let that sink in, and then do it again!

Water early in the morning or in the evening. This will help maximize how much is absorbed into the soil and less evaporates from the sun.

If watering with a hose or watering can, water the soil not the leaves! Water on the leaves of plants (especially in the evening) can lead to a whole list of fungi/bacterial problems.

Automation is your very best friend! We use a timer and soaker hose to keep our garden watered. The only time I hand water is when adding liquid fertilizer!

During the spring/fall we have this timer set to go every 3 days for 45-60 minutes. We switch to every 2 days or daily during the peak of summer. If it rains, simply hit the rain delay on the timer to have it start again in 2-3 days!

You’ll want to set up your soaker hose after you have everything planted. It’s gloriously easy! We used a short regular hose to connect the soaker and spigot (so we weren’t “soaking” the lawn). You’ll want to run the soaker hose very close to the plants, but not touching them. We typically aim for 1-2 inches so the plants have some room to grow. Some plants like water more than others (cucumbers and melons especially) so I loop the soaker around those plants to give them extra!

These are the soaker hoses we are planning to switch to this season. We kept having issues with the standard round ones breaking in storage and I like how durable these seem!

Feeding your plants

Even with amazing soil, your plants will benefit from a little extra food here and there! Most fertilizers list the three primary nutrients in the standard N-P-K number format. This stands for Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Potassium. Nitrogen promotes good leaf development, Phosphorus encourages root growth and blooming, and Potassium also encourages strong roots.

I have some specific fertilizers I use for different plants, and different times of the year. Here are my favorites:

Alaska Fish Fertilizer. You’ll notice that this one is high in nitrogen (5-1-1) so I love to give it to my baby plants… although fair warning, it stinks to high heaven! At that stage in growth, encouraging leaves and roots is a great thing, and this fertilizer can help minimize transplant shock. I recommend not using this during the flowering or fruiting season unless the plant is showing a nitrogen deficiency (yellowing leaves).

Fox Farm Grow Big Fertilizer. This is my favorite tomato fertilizer because it does exactly what it says, the plants and fruits grow REAL BIG. I only use it on my tomatoes but I’ve read that it works great on others.

Fox Farm Big Bloom Fertilizer. I use this fertilizer on almost all of my fruiting and flowering plants! Some plants (zinnias, hydrangeas, poppies) do better with less food however, so I just don’t feed them as often.

Dr Earth Rose & Flower Fertilizer. This is what I use for my roses throughout spring/summer, and my peonies once in early spring. Unlike the fertilizers above, this one is granular so I sprinkle it in a circle around the base of each plant and then water it in.

Garden fertilizer schedule

I think one of the hardest parts of gardening for me is remembering to do things, or when I last did it. To tackle those memory issues last summer I started a garden planner/journal and it changed the game for me!! I created a color coding system to quickly mark when it rained, when I fed the plants each type of fertilizer, and when I applied any disease treatments. I used these color coding dot stickers, and this is the weekly/monthly planner I’ll use for 2020!

This system is SO helpful because most things are done every 2-4 weeks and it gets tricky to remember specifics. I also jot down things like when I planted or started seeds, when I transplanted into the garden, and when something started fruiting or flowering. It’s nice to look back and see that it took X days from seed to bloom, or remember when my roses/peonies flowered.

Plant Feeding Method

I simply use a watering can and a designated garden measuring spoon set to fertilize my plants (you don’t want that fish fertilizer making it’s way back into the kitchen – trust me!). The beauty of buying a concentrate is that it lasts a pretty long time!

Pruning and harvesting

Pinching young plants

While your plants are tiny (usually under a foot tall) most all benefit from what’s called “pinching”. To do this, you simply cut the top of the growing stem off above a set of leaves, which encourages the plant to grow bushier. This usually leads to more flowers or fruit. To get specific details on pinching each variety of plants (some plants, like peonies should NOT be pinched as you’ll lose the flowers!) I would google it just to check that the plant will benefit. You don’t want to accidentally ruin your whole plant!

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Pruning your garden

Once your plants are well established, they often benefit from a little pruning. I tend to do light pruning almost weekly as I pull off any leaves that look potentially weird. About once a month when the plants are really established (so, July-October) I’ll break out the clippers and do a serious pruning. I clip off branches that are touching the ground, branches that are drowning neighboring plants, and just generally keep the plant shaped well. This is also when I’ll do a big harvest of flowers (aka cut every single flower!), because the more you cut the more they bloom!

Harvesting

Harvesting is pretty straight-forward but something you want to keep on top of. I’ve found that my plants are much happier when I harvest things regularly, probably because they can then put energy into the other fruits. You really don’t need any fancy equipment for harvesting most things, but these snips are my all time favorite!

Have questions?

Feel free to leave me a comment (with your zone info!) and I’ll try to help you out!

Read more gardening posts here!

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source https://livingcorner.com.au/gardening-101-how-to-tend-a-thriving-garden-whitney-blakehow-to-tend-a-gardenhttps-whitblake-com-wp-content-uploads-2020-01-img_5114-jpg21/

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Hi! I love this blog. One idea: Modern!Bucky is an engineer, maybe working at SI, who comes up with a really good idea or solution to a problem. Tony is so excited when he sees what Bucky's come up with, he decides to email this person right away. Unfortunately, this is at the end of Tony being in the workshop without sleep for way too long, so the email is ridiculous and rambling and hilarious. Bucky loves it. He prints it out and it becomes his favorite possession.

(I took a little artistic liberty with the prompt but I still hope you like it!  This was so much fun to write!!!)

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Attached

From: Tony Stark Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 3:10 AMSubject: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: James Buchanan Barnes

Barnes,

Been staring at the proposal you sent over for the last three hours.  At first I thought someone was punking me because this reads like MacGyver and Wil E. Coyote had a bastard lovechild who really likes explosions and lacks all common sense.  Chemistry 101 says no to pretty much this entire concept from start to finish but... I started running the math and this shit could work.

Could really work.  I’ve pulled in Dr. Banner.  We’ve got ideas.

I’m attaching-- 160 pages of notes?  That can’t be right.  Well, the attachment says 160 but just assume that however many notes you receive are the notes that are there.  We were using the holoboard and

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

From: James Buchanan Barnes Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 3:15 AMSubject: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: Tony Stark

Dr. Stark,

There’s no attachment.  Also, if you said anything after ‘holoboard and’ I didn’t receive that either.

James BarnesEngineer Class IIIResearch and DevelopmentStark Industries

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From: Tony Stark Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 3:16 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: James Buchanan Barnes

Should be attached now.

Tony

Attachment: You’ve-got-to-see-this

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From: James Buchanan Barnes Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 3:18 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: Tony Stark

Dr. Stark,

This attachment is a jpg of a piglet wearing rain boots.  Is this some kind of continued employment test?  I thought they only did that at Google.

James BarnesEngineer Class IIIResearch and DevelopmentStark Industries

(Watch out for the break!)

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From: Tony Stark Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 3:38 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: James Buchanan Barnes

Yes.  The pig was a test.  You passed.  The attachment was not at all the result of me being up for 44 hours straight working on this piece of shit government oversight paperwork to get it out in time.   Or me forgetting what I named the piglet file when I saved it to send it to the guy I’d been seeing but who was really after my money or the spotlight or something.  I don’t know.  He was fucking someone else so he couldn’t have been that into me, right?  

Anyway, Jarrod had about the same reaction as you to the pig.  Unimpressed.

It was an employment test like you said. Got it in one.  Excellent work. I’ll pass your Piglet Identification Exam score along to HR.

Numbers and notes should be attached.  For reals this time.

Tony

Attachment: You-have-got-to-see-this

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From: James Buchanan Barnes Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 3:46 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:  Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: Tony Stark

Dr. Stark,

The numbers came through.  I’ll look at them now.

James BarnesEngineer Class IIIResearch and DevelopmentStark Industries

P.S.   I was not unimpressed by Porkchop.  What kind of soulless jerk is unimpressed by a smol pig in rainboots?  Pig’s just doing his thing, trying to keep his feet dry.  I AM unimpressed by your ex.  You can do better.

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From: Tony Stark Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 4:02 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: James Buchanan Barnes

James,

Look at the math in the morning, at your desk, when I’m paying you for it. Don’t feel pushed because I’m an insomniac.  I’ll feel like an ass.

Tony

P.S.  Porkchop?  You’re naming our pig Porkchop?  You’re going to give him a complex.  What if I named you-- shit, I guess there’s no name for a piece of a human that you eat, is there?

P.P.S  The ex was a Nobel prize winner.  You think I’m going to do better than that?

P.P.P.S.  Stop calling me Dr. Stark.  You’re creeping me out.

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From: James Buchanan Barnes Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 4:08 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: Tony Stark

Tony,

I don’t mind looking at the numbers now.  I was running my own numbers when you’re email came in.  Don’t  need much sleep.  I’m pretty sure at this point my blood’s mostly caffeine.  It’s fine.

Like you said, it seems like there’s got to be some kind of flaw I’m missing in the work I turned in.  Logic says explosions should be imminent but the math says they’re not.  And between logic and math, math always wins.

James BarnesEngineer Class IIIResearch and DevelopmentStark Industries

P.S.  Guess that depends on how you define ‘eat.’  Think outside the box and you can probably come up with something.  Just nothing you can call me without getting into trouble with Human Resources.

P.P.S.  What about Hampton?

P.P.P.S  I’d rather be with a nobody who likes me than a somebody who doesn’t.  Just sayin’

P.P.P.P.S.  Most people call me Bucky.

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From: Tony Stark Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 4:10 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:  Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: James Buchanan Barnes

Bucky.  Seriously?  Who’d you piss off to get a nickname like that?

Tony

P.S.  This might be the first time someone’s ever told me, King of Thinking Outside the Box, to think outside the box.  But Pepper will yell at me if I type any words in this email that would embarrass the company if I had to read them out loud in court, so just assume I called you an incredibly clever nickname related to being eaten.  Blush accordingly.

P.P.S.  Hampton will do.

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From: James Buchanan Barnes Date: Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 4:11 AMSubject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Resonance in FTL Magnetometer from Fused Zirconium Connected by Indium SolderTo: Tony Stark

Tony,

That’d be my friend Steve.  But we were 4 so I’ve had some time to forgive him.

Bucky

P.S.  It takes more than that to make me blush.

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

Bucky waits up almost another full hour but there’s no response.  Hopefully Dr. Stark got some sleep.

The next morning, he reads over the emails again on the way to work.  He can’t stop smiling.  He doesn’t think anything’s gonna come of any of it.  Not a chance.  But it was still a fun way to spend the evening and he knows that’s a side of Dr. Stark that hardly anyone gets to see.

So he takes it for what it is: a one-off sleep-deprived nonsense fest between himself and the owner of the company.  He’ll look at the attached notes when he gets to his desk, fire off a totally professional email, and get on with his life.

But first, coffee.

Once he has a huge cup, he sits down and opens his laptop.

“What’s that?” Peter asks from behind him.

Of course it’s the picture of the piglet in rainboots, displayed full screen.

“Jpg from a friend,” Bucky says.

“You should print him out!” Kamala suggests.  “Cheer up your cubicle a little.”

“Then people will stop asking why you’re depressed,” Riri chimes in.

This is what Bucky gets for making friends at work.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Peter and Kamala and Riri. They’re actually great kids.  But that’s the problem.  They’re kids, fresh out of college, and early graduates at that.  Peter’s the oldest at 21, and Riri’s only 17, making her 11 full years younger than Bucky.

Engineer Class III is where all the newbies go, and he’s the oldest of the newbies since he went into the service first, and is only at Stark Industries because of a Veteran’s Hiring Initiative that they’d started up a few months before.  He was the very first veteran to be placed.

At first he was wary of so much as speaking to the other three R&Ders who shared his cubicle pod, but they were all so damn insistent on making friends that it just kind of happened.

And now here they are.

Bucky’s got his hand (his only hand) on his coffee and he doesn’t swat Peter away when he reaches over to press the print screen command.  

Kamala’s the one to walk over to the printer to get the little colorful pig, and take scissors to it to trim it carefully into something that can be displayed.  Riri uses a thumbtack to place it up front and center in Bucky’s cubicle and Bucky knows he could take it down, but he’s not really inclined to do so.

It’s like an inside joke that’s only inside to him.  Well, and Dr. Stark, but he’s not ever going to see it, so really it’s just there for Bucky.  And Kamala wasn’t wrong... it does cheer the space up considerably.  The three of them have all kinds of pictures of friends and family and comic strips and motivational sayings hung up in their walls.  Hampton is Bucky’s first and only.

With coffee in him, and his coworkers finally on to their own projects, Bucky can focus on the task at hand.  He opens the notes attachment and starts to wade through.  It’s a fascinating read. The notes are pretty much just screenshots of the holoboard, taken every few minutes, and done in two distinct handwritings.  It’s easy to tell which belongs to Dr. Banner because it’s neat and orderly and all laid out in a way that makes sense.  Tony’s (wow, that’s going to be a hard habit to break) is chaotic.  There are slashes and doodles and smileys and smudges but the math

Holy shit the math.

It’s the most beautiful thing Bucky’s ever seen.

Tony hadn’t been lying when he said he was King of Thinking Outside the Box.  He’d taken Bucky’s idea and just... launched it into space.  All of the variables were there, and the tensile strength calculations and the load bearing adjustments and some calculus that Bucky understands but that’s definitely being applied in a way that he’s never thought possible.

Bucky takes in a deep breath and holds it.

He’s got a mad crush.  On Tony’s brain.  He’s actually a little hard, which is-- all kinds of inappropriate and awkward.  And he has no choice but to continue on wading through the notes until he has enough information to work on his own calculations and finally then he stops sporting nerd wood.

What has Stark Industries even done to him?

Once he’s put together a response that sounds intelligible he sends his thoughts back to Dr. Stark, and again, he doesn’t hear back.  That’s fine.  That’s not even unusual for their line of work.  He has other projects in the backlog and he moves on to those.

Days pass.

A picture of Steve and Natasha joins the Rainboot Piglet on his board. Then a hilarious fortune he got out of a fortune cookie while he was out to lunch with the Class III Engineers.  Then a postcard his sister sent him from Spain, and an autographed picture of Bill Nye that Sam gave him out of the blue.

Still, Hampton stays in the place of honor and when Bucky looks at him he smiles every time.

It’s a Monday in mid-December when Bucky gets to work early and sees someone hovering near his desk.

“Can I help you?” Bucky asks.  “The rest of the team won’t roll in for another half an hour or so.”

“No,” the man says.  “I was just-- just dropping something off.”

“At my desk?”

That gets the man’s attention and he turns to look at Bucky and oh god it’s Tony Stark, looking disheveled and sleepy and so so much more attractive in person than he looks on company memos or in that giant picture that hangs in the lobby.

Bucky’s mouth falls open.

“You kept the pig,” Tony says.

Bucky nods.  “I told you I liked him.  And I still maintain your nobel-prize-winning-ex was a dick if he didn’t.  What’d you bring me?”

“Oh-- that.  Well, come look.”

Tony gestures to Bucky’s desk and Bucky walks over to see a stack of papers.  “My recommendation for making the changes you suggested to the FTL Magnetometer.  With full credit to you.  Bruce and I worked on a few prototypes and the math held.  No explosions.  I also recommend that you should be brought in as the engineering consultant on the project.”

Now it’s Bucky’s turn to go silent.

“Is that okay?” Tony asks.

“That’s... incredible,” Bucky says.  “More than incredible.”

“I thought all the Class III Engineers were kids,” Tony says suddenly. Nothing Bucky’s said would make those words make sense in that order.

“Well, the other three are,” Bucky says slowly.  “I came in through the Vets program so I’m the odd one out.  Is that a problem?”

Tony shakes his head.  

“Only the part where I stopped emailing you because I thought I was chatting up a kid young enough to be my son and felt like a complete creeper. You said you still had a friend who knew you when you were four.  I figured that meant you were under twenty.   Who keeps friends that long when they’re-- however old you are?”

So that was why the emails stopped so abruptly.

“Pretty sure HR doesn’t let you ask,” Bucky says with a smile.

“There’s a lot of things HR won’t let me do,” Tony responds.  “And some that they will.”

“Like what?” Bucky asks.

“Like take you out for coffee.”

“To discuss the project?”

“And other things,” Tony says.  “I’m not your direct supervisor.  There’s some ummm... paperwork.  And I know this is sudden and I’m not gonna lie I have not had sleep in a while.  For-- some amount of time that would make you wince.  But coffee’s allowed.  Not mandatory.  Say no if it’s a no.  You’re still on the project.  You’re still brilliant.  Maybe batshit, too, but the math.  It’s kept me warm at night.  Wishing you were ten years older, and now here you are...”

“I saved our emails,” Bucky says.  “And--” he gestures toward the pig, “Hampton’s what made me finally start feeling like maybe SI is where I belonged. And I haven’t had that much sleep either.”

“So coffee then?” Tony asks hopefully.

“Coffee,” Bucky agrees.

And paperwork.  In the end there is so. much. paperwork.

---------------- Two Years Later ----------------

From: Tony Edward Barnes Stark Date: Wed, May 13, 2019 at 9:10 AMSubject: Legit work related email about v important work thingsTo: James Buchanan Barnes Stark

I wish I was your project notes for the model imperfections in variational data that I know are due by end of day.

You know why?

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From: James Buchanan Barnes Stark Date: Wed, May 13, 2019 at 9:12 AMSubject: Re:  Legit work related email about v important work thingsTo: Tony Edward Barnes Stark

I can’t even venture a guess here, doll.

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From: Tony Edward Barnes Stark Date: Wed, May 13, 2019 at 9:10 AMSubject: Re:  Re: Legit work related email about v important work thingsTo: James Buchanan Barnes Stark

Because I’d be ridiculously hard and you’d be doing me on your desk for the next 6 hours.

P.S. I love you.

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From: James Buchanan Barnes Stark Date: Wed, May 13, 2019 at 9:12 AMSubject: Re:  Legit work related email about v important work thingTo: Tony Edward Barnes Stark

I love you, too.

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[little-klng]

Baldi’s Basics Theory

I’m sure everyone by now has heard of this new indie game called Baldi’s Basics due to the fact that almost every popular Youtuber has played it, including Markiplier. Markiplier, as far as I know, is the only major Youtuber to have gotten all endings and has played quite so much of the game as many like to reference in theory videos. I’ll cut to the chase, this is a theory post about something i developed in about 15 minutes. I spent a long while debating on whether or not to even post it due to the nature of the game. I wondered if people would make fun of me for making a whole theory on some silly game about a horror-filled schoolhouse that looks so thrown together, but my dear reader, strap on your seat belt and pull out your notebooks because this here is gonna be a bumpy ride

Now that you’re here, you’ve shown interest in what I have to say. Thank you for that.

On to the theory. Now, what is it that i have to go on here for any theory? Well, everything! This isn’t gonna be another ‘it was all a dream!’ theory because thats tired and worn out and completely erases all the work gone into the game (and any story for that matter), but understand it’s going to delve into a concept of that vein. Let’s lay out what we know;

-The game takes place in a bad CGI/2D schoolhouse setting from those old learning games in the 90′s. -The main antagonist is Baldi -All other characters look like horrible caricatures of what could have/should have been better modeled/rendered people/students -All characters in the game exist solely to harm or distract the player in some way -At the end of the game when you win, you’re met with a distorted voice asking you to do worse next time because they need to- That’s that. The end of the dialogue devolves into static there. But that gives us a hint of what to do next

If you just play the game as normal. you’d never really come across some pretty major points and plot. The game just dumps you in this setting of a weirdly laid out school and lets you run wild. But if you didn’t know any better, you would miss out on the fact that the only reason the player is in the school is to get your friends notebooks that he left in the school. Weird that no character, not even you, makes any mention of that. The whole premise of the game is that you collect notebooks, but you have to solve math questions for them that you always have to fail due to some questions being glitched out and unsolvable.

With the addition of update 1.3.1, the game now has a Secret Ending that you can only get by beating the game after getting 100% of all questions wrong (meaning Baldi chases you faster than ever. Go watch Markiplier do it, it took him 9 hours). But once you beat it, you’re met with the screen telling you to go to the principals office for tips on how to do better. Once there, you’re met with a long distorted Baldi in one end of the room and a mysterious character on the other. His name is Filename2 and he looks like this

Look at this dude T Posing out here. An absolute icon.

Filename2 is just what hes labelled as in the files, and his name is never actually spoken. Some theorize him to be the players friend from earlier, and honestly so do I! When you enter the room he says the following;

"Oh jeepers, you found me. Good job, I'm glad you found me, because I have something kind of important to say. *beep* It's about th-the game... Don't, *beep* Uh, Eh. Don't *beep* Don't, just, *laughter* this is.. This is probably looking pretty ridiculous *beep* Don't tell anyone about this game. You wanna.. Don't, don't bring attention to yourself. Destroy it, destroy the game. Destroy the game. Before, it's too late. *beep* What I'm saying is... is get out of this, while you still can. *beep* Just, don't.. don't know that you probably know I'm not saying that I'm trapped inside the game, no, that would be ridiculous. No I'm.. *beep* I can't... this is... I'm not... the game was... kind of...*beep* I got really corrupted. Yeah, I... *beep* I don't know what to say. Just... Just trust me. We gotta... *beep* * This isn't... This seems... I me-I mean it seems... ohh. *beep* They'd know I.. They intentionally... that's...I guess... I can't- They can't tell you, and some... stuff is classified. I can't say it. *beep* I wish I could say more. I can't talk normally. I-it's corrupted. There's...*beep*...Yeah...*beep* Just... close the program. Destroy it. Never come back. *long beep*"

...Yeah

There are a few things to take from this

-Filename2 is not ‘trapped in the game’ like most horror cliches. that would be ridiculous -He needed you to fail every single math question and still beat the game just to say all this. Weird. -He REALLY wants you to just delete the game and pretend you didn’t see it -He REALLY wants you to escape the game while you can -The game is ‘corrupted’ somehow, but he can’t really get into it because its ‘classified’ and ‘they’ would know he told you

There is something/someone preventing Filename2 from telling you anything more important than ‘get out of here while you can, don’t worry about me’. Throughout the audio, theres a constant stutter and some laughing, but more prominently the sound of shuddering and heavy breathing. It sounds a bit like crying to me. (warning to anyone about to go listen to the audio themselves, the beeps are REALLY loud and the speech is REALLY quiet)

Lets put him to the side again while we analyze the rest of the school

This doesn’t really look like any school I’ve ever been to, how about you? The weird hallways made to look like the stretch on and on and the actual classrooms being so far away from each other makes it feel less like a school and more like a hellscape prison.

About the schools inhabitants, they also feel like a hellscape prison.

We already know about Baldi, so lets see the other antagonists;

Aside from Baldi, Filename2, and yourself, there are 6 other characters that roam the halls. Each one has a simple description of themselves in the Principals Office.

Gotta Sweep;

What do you do when the school opens in 7 hours and you haven't hired a janitor? Hire a broom! It sweeps everything!

As you might imagine, Gotta Sweep is a badly condensed jpg image of a green and grey broom that spends its time, once released from the broom closet, roaming the halls loudly proclaiming its need to sweep. It moves quickly, sweeping everything in its path in the same direction it is. It stops for no one and nothing.

It’s A Bully;

Here at Here School, we believe every good school needs a good bully! That's why we have this kid!

It's a Bully appears as a poorly-modeled humanoid figure with an orange ellipsoid for a torso, blue cylinders for limbs, and small, peach-colored balls for hands and feet. He has an incredibly distorted and malformed face with dots for eyes, a gaping mouth with orange lips that clips into where his neck would be, a wide asymmetrical nose and brown hair. He doesn't wear shoes, and he has a brown text floating next to his head that says "THIS IS A BULLY" in all-caps. His pose appears to be in the middle of a run cycle. He spends his time blocking hallways and demanding that, in order to pass through, he must take one of your items. He can, however, be sent to detention should the principal wander by.

Playtime;

Despite her poor eyesight, she's always looking for a playmate! "Let's play!"

This character is a poorly drawn animated little girl whos eyes and hair are animated scribbles. Her poor eyesight has nothing to do with her characters mechanics, as she spots you easily and traps you in a game of jumprope. You can cut her jumprope with safety scissors to escape the game entirely, but doing so is considered bullying and you can be sent to detention for it.

1st Prize; 

Won 1st Prize at the Science Fair! Loves hugging people, rushing towards anyone it sees. Sadly, it turns super slowly.

If you liked Gotta Sweep you’ll definitely like this character. Hes a robotic hugging machine that barrels down the hall towards you, and pushes you until the hallway ends. He, unlike Gotta Sweep, turns very slowly. He can occasionally accidentally push Baldi into you if you’re not careful, but you can use the safety scissors to cut his wires and make him spin in place for 15 seconds to buy time. Dunno why you’d do that though.

Principal of the Thing; 

If I see anyone breaking the school rules, I'll make sure justice is served! It tastes good and fills my tummy!

Now, the interesting thing here is that when you start the game, Baldi refers to Here School (the school you’re in) as ‘his’ school, even though there definitely is a principal. There are posters in the school listing off the rules, and all are pretty standard like “no running” and “no students in the faculty rooms” and being caught breaking these rules by the principal sends you to detention for increasing seconds. An interesting thing to note about this character is that his name is a play on words for the phrase ‘It’s the principle of the thing’, though I have no idea how to fit that into a theory. This guy is a mostly average looking guy, except that his face is slightly contorted and his legs are partially erased

Arts and Crafters;

Shy, and tries to be avoided. Doesn't like being looked at, and gets jealous at people with more notebooks than him.

This guy is the final character, and he’s only important once you have all 7 notebooks. This guy is a sock puppet that, when looked at, will dart back behind whatever wall is closest and out of sight. However, once you have more notebooks than him (7, as he has 6), he turns hostile. He runs at you with his cardboard mouth agape and teleports both you and Baldi back to the starting position, ruining your run almost instantly. 

And that’s everyone!

The most intriguing thing about all of them is that they all share one quality; some part of them is horrifically malformed. Something about them is just... broken or stretched or erased. The only one in one piece and animated is, albeit poorly, Baldi. Everyone, however, has a function and could definitely be described as real cliques and people. All of these characters read as how you imagine a person you’ve only ever been told about, but never really met. Especially if the person telling you about them was only telling you about the newest drama going around or the latest experience the person talking has had with that person if they’ve only had bad experiences with them.

And here’s where the theory begins.

These characters are all fragmented and poorly animated because thats sort of how it works in your head when you’ve never actually seen someone in person. How many times have you heard about someone over and over only to meet them in person and realizing they look nothing like how you imagined, or that they dont act the same as you’ve been told. But that’s because often times you’re only ever told about the bad someone else has done, and very rarely the special good things someone does. 

These characters are not real people, but they are based on the real people your friend knows.

Your friend told you about the little girl in the school with bad eyesight but loves to play jumprope. Your friend told you about the bully that steals his stuff. Your friend told you about the principal and how he gets people in trouble so much. Your friend told you about his science fair project that won first place. These people are not people you know, but you’ve heard about them. You probably don’t know their names because your friend didn’t refer to them with names. Just with minor descriptions.

Why do they look like that? well I don’t imagine that, if one were to look at how your brain pieces images together based on description alone and makes them a real thing, they would look so good either. 

Every single character makes sense in this context. All but one- Baldi

Baldi, unlike every other character, is a whole animated character with lines that hint not-so-subtly that hes in charge of Here School, despite the principle. He’s an entity that is almost entirely immune to most things and hes the first thing you see as you enter the game. He’s also the last. But despite this, his weakness is the rules he follows. He tries to answer the phone, he abides by the walls of the school, he moves at a pace synonymous with the whacks of his ruler- if you’ve ever been to an old catholic school, you know that sound well and truly means power over others.

Baldi is a malicious entity that has trapped you in his Hellscape Prison constructed entirely from your subconscious memory. Personally, I think the map looks that way because the Player has been homeschooled and hasn’t actually seen much of the inside of a real school, but that’s up for interpretation. Baldi has manifested this area to fit the descriptions that your friend has fed you of this area you were already thinking about on your way to gather your friends notebooks. You were meant to be dumped in this world having forgotten your initial quest and forced to work on bare instinct. That’s why you don’t think to question the fact that, despite the fact that school is over at this time (”your friend forgot his notebooks and he needs them back before ‘eating practice’...” supposedly an after school activity Actually revolving around cooking and food prep. Maybe your friend works at a restaurant after school and Baldi doesn’t quite understand what that means due to his demonic or fae nature?) you’re still expected to finish all these math assignments just to leave. 

Now, why doesnt our brave and ultimately doomed protagonist just leave? Well, my dear reader, I’m sure you’ve heard of those old tales of Fae that trick wanderers into eat fruit or taking things that aren’t theirs to trap them for eternity? That’s right, the notebooks are what trap you in the game.

From the first moment you finish the first notebook scot-free, you are trapped, having taken a fae-world item to fulfill your own quest. Now Baldi can give you those impossible-to-solve questions and the notebooks regardless of anything else. You’re trapped and theres nothing you can do about it.

No matter how many times you get a Game Over, you’ll keep trying. And you’ll keep going. You won’t ever really escape

“But the, where does Filename2 come into play, Mona?” I hear you dejectedly cry into the night, “You didn’t forget about him, did you?” Oh you naive little thing... he’s what ties this whole thing together!

You see, Filename2 is you! Well, maybe not you but, he’s what remains of you. While you spend eternity trapped in a world built from your subconscious, your conscious self remains, though glitched out and corrupted. You aren’t fully there, and if you knew that you might be able to escape, but if Filename2 told you that, Baldi would know. Filename2 is your door to safety and salvation...  but unfortunately...

Baldi hears every door that you open.

[noredinktech]

Artisans at Ikea: why we built (and threw away) our highest fidelity prototype

In Q4 of 2017, one of our technical leads shared a tension she noticed her team was experiencing: “It feels like we’re asking artisans to assemble Ikea furniture.”

The backstory

NoRedInk was founded with the vision of being a comprehensive writing product, aiming to help all students to better express themselves in writing. Since launching in 2012, we’ve focused more on grammar and conventions than composition and craft. Last year, we finally were ready to turn some of our focus toward building a new writing platform.

We started by creating a new type of assignment called a “Writing Cycle” (TM), which leveraged anonymous peer review and our adaptive practice engine to help students write essays. The cycle consisted of four steps. Students would:

draft their essays (the “Write” step)

practice relevant skills, like building a controversial thesis statement or removing wordy phrases (the “Practice” step)

rate their peers’ writing along criteria they had mastered during Practice (the “Rate” step)

set goals and revise their own writing based on feedback from their peers (the “Revise” step)

Writing Cycles were our first collaborative assignments, whereby students were relying on the feedback of their peers to complete their work. This model was rooted both in personal experience (our founder had prototyped something similar in 2011 when he was a teacher) as well as research into pedagogy and instruction.

Before launch, we tested the assignment in several local classrooms. Our initial users praised the quality of the practice and the depth of reflection the steps encouraged. We leveraged user feedback to define an MVP and ship our first version of Writing Cycles just in time for the start of last school year.

The problem

Once we built and released Writing Cycles, however, we saw that our MVP wasn’t able to fully support the wide variety of states and edge cases users could enter. Students were getting stuck at various steps in the cycle because they were dependent on their peers’ submissions and feedback to move forward. The assignment took longer than many teachers had planned for, but they didn’t have sufficient controls to move things along.

Upon reflection, it became clear that our user testing model hadn’t drawn sufficient attention to the impact complicated logistics would have on Writing Cycles. Here’s how testing had looked:

We visited multiple classrooms to test prototypes and early versions of the Writing Cycle. In some tests, we took over for 2 days to run the full four-step cycle with students.

Team members—PMs, designers, engineers, and curriculum designers—interacted with 60+ students and collected survey and usage data along the way.

Between visits, we iterated, implementing changes like making the revision process more structured and making peer commenting anonymous.

So many parts of this process had felt right—we had crafted a set of hypotheses and a controlled experiment to test them. The problem, though, was just that: control.

In real classrooms, not only do students move at different paces, but there are absences, fire drills, assemblies, and countless other events that make it difficult to predict how long students will take to do their work.

None of these delays or edge cases were news to us—our team is composed of former teachers and long-time education advocates well acquainted with the challenge of supporting diverse learners—but our testing process had made the outcomes of delays seem less detrimental than they ultimately turned out to be. With ample quantitative and qualitative feedback on our MVP, we knew it was time to revisit how Writing Cycles would work.

The design sprint

The question at hand felt pretty clear: How might we build a more flexible version of the Writing Cycle? To find an answer, we chose to conduct a design sprint, a process we’d used before to tackle complex problems.

We composed a cross-functional team of product managers, designers, engineers, and a user researcher and hunkered down in a conference room. We took our first day to refine our core question, listen to “lightning talks” from various members of the company, and summarize the feedback and insights we’d heard.

We ended up going through two rounds of design review and voting, ultimately arriving at a set of new ideas that we wanted to prototype. Some highlights:

Give teachers a “start” button and an “end” button so they can have maximum control over when the assignment is active

Give teachers the ability to “skip” students forward if students ever get stuck, overriding the site’s algorithm for calculating when a student can move to the next step

Offer students more clarity into what’s expected of them, whom they may be preventing from moving forward, and how their feedback is being received

The prototype

A core element of the design sprint process is building a lightweight prototype that allows for quick learning. This is something we value and use in our standard product development process. That said, we also knew that, this time around, we needed a prototype that would hold up in real, unsupervised classroom environments.

Enter the Ikea furniture. We needed to build a functional, free-standing product with only two weeks of engineering time, so we opted for a cheap, lightweight build that took advantage of existing functionality wherever possible. To do so, we had to quickly iterate on designs, skimp on testing and code reviews, cut scope, seek “hacky” ways to mimic ideal functionality (e.g. leaning more on modals and tool tips than ideal flows), and invest some good, old-fashioned elbow grease.

Meanwhile, our user researcher was working to recruit a group of 70 teachers to test the new prototype in classrooms all over the country. The group was composed of a mix of NoRedInk power users, casual visitors, and teachers who had never used the website. They committed to trying out the new Writing Cycle in their classrooms twice between Thanksgiving and winter break.

Here’s how our next five weeks looked:

Our engineers and designer worked at breakneck speed to release and then tweak the prototype, ultimately deploying over 50,000 lines of code and redesigning 54 screens.

We tracked usage data to visualize user flows, dropoff funnels, and behaviors.

Our user researcher conducted 1-on-1 interviews with over a third of the pilot teachers and led one classroom observation. She also fielded questions and feedback from teachers via email, surveys, and diary-style check-ins throughout the process. This resulted in over 500 tagged “insights” in our qualitative data tracking system, ProductBoard.

Our team met almost every day to discuss preliminary feedback and make quick decisions on how we wanted to adjust designs and functionality.

Along the way, our prototype stood on the web development version of wobbly screws and cheap cardboard.

This approach, of course, wasn’t without some serious pitfalls. Teachers and students encountered more bugs and error screens than we’d ever feel comfortable with in our real product. Our engineers had to manually reset two teachers’ accounts because we hadn’t anticipated certain edge cases. That meant they had to delay their lesson plans and make adjustments on the fly. Knowing how valuable teachers’ instructional time is, we didn’t take that lightly.

Our immediate strategy when bugs came up was to provide the best possible customer service to make sure the teachers knew how much we valued and appreciated their participation in the pilot. The whole product team monitored emails from the teachers and prioritized responding as fast as possible. Engineers were there to fix high-pain bugs within hours of issues being reported.

From a longer-term strategic perspective, we weighed the tradeoffs of an imperfect product against the wealth of knowledge we were gaining about how Writing Cycles worked in the real world. We were incredibly grateful to have recruited a group of teachers who were excited about contributing to our product, flexible in the face of interruptions, and honest in sharing both positive and constructive feedback.

The results

Positive feedback started to roll in within days of releasing the prototype, but it wasn’t until we compiled and analyzed all of the data that we understood the impact of our changes.

Of the teachers who had used the original Writing Cycle, 100% of them (26/26) said that they preferred the new version.

We asked teachers their likelihood of recommending the tool, and calculated an NPS of 62, a statistically significant 158% improvement from our baseline score of 24.

We analyzed our usage funnel, finding a significant improvement in the percentage of Writing Cycle assignments that classes were able to fully complete, suggesting that notable blockers had been removed in the new version.

Qualitatively, the excitement pouring in from classrooms was palpable. Several teachers asked us if they could keep using the tool after the pilot period was over, sharing that their students were excited to work on the assignments and showed marked improvement in their writing. Here are some quotes from our teachers:

“This is pretty amazing! I keep talking it up to my administrators. Students loved it, and when I told them we'd do one more Writing Cycle this month they were actually excited!”-Jervaise Pileggi

“A lot of the [students] have much better body paragraphs as a result. When teenagers tell you that something that’s work is actually helping them, that’s a pretty big win.” -Michael MacLeod

We also learned of various areas of the product that still needed improvement. For example, teachers needed the ability to preview the assignment in advance; students still weren’t fully clear on the status of their assignments; our grading UX made it cumbersome for teachers to grade many students in a single sitting.

Next steps

At the start of 2018, we turned the prototype off and tore out the code. We organized and summarized our learnings and developed an action plan, with the ultimate goal of releasing the new Writing Cycle in time for the 2018-19 school year.

With a wealth of learnings and much greater clarity on our path forward, we felt confident that our investment had paid off. But that’s not to suggest that this rapid build/rapid teardown system will become everyday practice. We’d worked our team hard. Our engineers relished the opportunity to start the new quarter with time to refactor code and lay a stable foundation for the impending new Writing Cycle. Our designer was able to take the time to deeply explore designs, rather than needing to produce new solutions daily. Our user researcher happily watched her unread message count decline, and was able to turn her focus toward summarizing learnings. Rebuilding morale and energy was critical.

The decision to conduct real-world, unsupervised prototype testing should not be taken lightly; it requires a careful weighing of the potential costs and benefits. In the end, even the teachers who experienced the biggest glitches with the prototype shared that the benefits to their students’ writing still outweighed the frustration.

Our product team came away with an important lesson on the why and how of field testing: while not every feature should be tested as rigorously as we did for this prototype, there’s value in turning a skeptical eye toward testing plans and questioning whether a controlled testing environment is always the best one.

Christa Simone is a User Researcher at NoRedInk, and Jocey Karlan is the Director of Product.

[pixie-skull]

# 12 Post, part 2: FINALLY Top Ten 2D Animated Women’s List

Update August 12th! Updates in bold.

So I am behind on my promise and seeing this net neutrality could happen here my top lady crushes. I try to go into detail. I have to admit number 10 going to be confusing see her movie has different animation styles, so I try find a picture of which one I like more. ON TO THE DELAYED LISTED. Reminder none of my new crushes can be made after 2016, when I graduate high school. Warning lots of breasts. Hey I am Pan, as in pansexuality, so yes I am mostly romantic, yet I want to clarify, I am not liking the characters for that. Also, I tried list movies from animated companies, or else this be Disney mostly. XD Here the RULES https://indigo-psyduck.tumblr.com/post/167091245072/post-12-part-1-rules-for-animated-crush-list

10. 2010′s Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic Beatrice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1C9WtnOr7Y  So now I  said I have two styles I really like, yes this movie has 5 or 6 styles. O.O 

So I chose this design of ALL other, maybe has a close second, yet this (due to it enhances the Souls and Demons)

 Now on to the reasons she wins number 10. Her personality, hopeful, positive, loyal,  patient (still annoyed at Dante for what he did), honest, and just an embodiment of virtues. So besides being someone who so kind to have what happened to her is heartbreaking. Plus her overall appearance was attractive too. I am not sure why women’s almost naked I feel more comfortable seeing, yet men’s and non-binary I feel my demisexual side bit more antsy. Yes middle school me was both freaked out and at the same time enjoyed the film. Helps also I was figuring out my sexuality and came out in mid high school.  Oh and she stands ups for herself and tries not to be a prize. Unlike the video game, she is not a pushover. D: XD Also I am now sure I am asexual.

9.  2000′s Titan AE, Akima. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmcVV3WJWwEven though this movie was hard to watch(the CGI :( ), the characters and their designs are very fun to watch. Now besides being voiced by the attractive Drew Berrymore (fun fact is bi), the haircut, and those eyebrows, there more to Akima.  I like she reminds of (the stunning) Zoe from Firefly due to both pilots (in a sense) so have the voice call the shots, she can take care of herself, knows how to fight yet be not a killer, and more. I do personally headcanon her as bi. She very low on the list for I admit I saw the movie sooner than I like to admit, so she not as much a childhood crush, as a new one. Only her animated style was constant, unlike 10. Sorry, the gif changed her appearance a bit, I know in the movie she of Asian descent.

8. Now nine was tempted to put Gwen from “Total Drama Island”, first two seasons (I have a soft spot for dyed hair and punk and goth look), until I saw this movie. (I do plan do a maybe top five of TV 2D women)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVbX1NeWY9s&t=3s1992 Cool’s World Lonette.

 (I like how her hair so cute and messy here^ A sweet, short, messy, haircut. Also yes her body also quite nice XD ) I really find her kindness endearing such a negative world. Even though I like all eye colors, dark green eyes I am a sucker for. Also she was loving to Frank, makes hope for someone as affectionate as her. I know she Holli look very much in common, but Holli I felt lacked in such romance tenderness.

This smile ^ so adorable.

7. 1999′s Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost  Luna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92jw0fxXca4

(in Violet and short red hair)I could have easily put this whole band down, yet I wanted pick their second singer.  The fact she sings, plays an instrument, in an eco goth band, dyed hair, her parent helped give the band their fangs, and more, is why I like her so much. Also she drawn in this movie she more drawn with details and for that she is more attractive.https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/8/8c/New-ghrfh-the-hex-girls-24106229-720-480.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110909113258&path-prefix=protagonist < - - -  Close up on her.

6. 1993′s The Thief and the Cobbler, Yum-Yum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZibUpH-AME&list=PL18B0CA620B61D076 and https://vimeo.com/88602144 

Shocked how few royals are on this list, especially for being a 90′s kid. So why Princess Yum-Yum, even though she a weird blend of Aladdin (I bring this up to claimed Disney and if they or if they did NOT steal from this movie) Jasmine (I also have a crush on her too) of having a voice and using her power, but sometimes seems underdeveloped in comparison. However to me that is only when compared, so she to me is still fleshed out. I am happy to see her make the band of thieves due what she says, she merciful, she helps Tack and does her fair of saving the day. Not just a pretty face, she actual does something.

5. ANY DC comics Batman adaptation of Selina Kyle also known as Catwoman.

(^ Not to stereotype, yet this “gay” haircut I love so much on her)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjQPXvQ7ZPQ

Now on to why I like her. First bonus is she cannoned as Bi as bisexuality. Now to the rest, she a character who in the grey waves of morals. She is either a villainess, anti-hero, or whatever. I enjoy also how much a tease she can be to Batman (thanks to her I can be like to my relationships too sometimes), she loves animals, she inspires me with her self defense and flexibility. Catwoman also she makes me comfortable being her dominate power force. I want to clarify I am waiting till marriage. XD I also like she kinda an example of a character, who can depicted with different racial background, body types, and more. I am aware some characters can not have such changes, yet Catwoman a positive example of done right.

4. 2003′s Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Marina. 

Shout to @animagix101and @thenamelessdoll edits of her, if from a racebend to giving her more muscles, thank you.Now why do I like this short haired ambassador? One she stands up for what she believes in, she a quick learner, she gives off vibes like she could be bi, poly, or pan, and is fearless, yet gives mercy. Her relationship is shown on screen to grow, not just boom love, yet (I do not like Sinbad by the way, I much more like Proteus). I was tempted to give this spotlight as a tie to Moses Tzipporah, yet I know ties are not fun for most people.

3. Sailor Moon (90′s version), Michiru Kaiou AKA Sailor Neptune. 

Now I know I am making this my 2D animated ladies from MOVIES, but she did make appearances in film. Sorry too the gif makes more pale (yes the characters in the anime are suppose to be Japanese). Shout out she also in the LGBTQ+ Community, cannoned as lesbian. Now on to why I like the Sailor Guardian of the planet Neptune? Besides having colorful hair (I am sorry dyed hair a bonus for me, like how accents are a bonus for other people), she has a colorful personality. XD She very artsy (I like people who can have a passion in something that is like theater, music, etc), romantic (like dang she and Sailor Uranus are soooooooooooooooo cute), funny, clever, and more.

2. Okay this rule is broken of only MOVIE ladies, yet this  a childhood crush since my elementary school years. 1996′s The Incredible Hulk animated Series and any other Hulk/Marvel product, Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MStHVaHNf_Y

XD Yes that scene beyond suggestive and yes her voice by the stunning Cree Summers. So what makes a delight, she can be funny and serious, an amazing lawyer (I believe the comic staff did this be part of the second wave of feminism [no hating for this, okay to be a feminist or have the ideas of one to want equality with men), confident in her body and mind, she has colorful hair, she so strong that I be happy be held by her, and more. XD It is kinda takes to her women of any height (she is “5'10" (in human form) 6'7" (as She-Hulk” according to http://marvel.com/characters/51/she-hulk)  because tall Titanesses need some love. Also yes sucker for either her She-Hulk green eyes or her Jennifer’s form with brown eyes and this cute haircut. So Bruce Banner or Hulk, can you give me your cousin’s number please? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2j4_C4cvSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbVnnImJOYc

1. 1996′s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmeralda. 

So I like Disney a lot to choose ONE woman is not easy to do, yet I chose to one who I know for the fact I can say just has more to crush on. For starters her personality (seeing beauty from within a huge trait I love), spreading mercy, standing up her others, her sense of Faith (I am Spiritual, so her song to me a great representation of faith - - - > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEEpavnk7Uw ), her voice (both speaking and singing <3 <3) rich (I thank real life cutie Demi Moore, in Ghost her haircut is something I want to mimic on day), and more. Looks, well as long you are not a woman who is straight and a man who is gay, I find it hard to believe you can not understand how she is a jaw dropper. I personally head cannon her Pan as in Pansexuality.

So before you assume anything, yes there one more cutie after this, why, because I like to count zero. XD

Honorable Mentions: 

X-Men: 

Raven Darkholme  AKA Mystique (fun fact I believe she is cannoned as Bi, even though I heancanon as Pan)

Ororo Munroe AKA Storm  (XD the Pan flag I love it)

Disney:

2001′s Atlantis: The Lost Empire Kida

1991′s Beauty and the Beast Belle (I love her hazel eyes and dimples)

1999′s Iron Giant: Annie 

0. 1982′s The Last Unicorn, Lady Amalthea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-TioQfT-jg

Even though yes she barely seems happy, just something about her that so stunning. If her indigo eyes, silver hair (I want to maybe dye my hair like her’s one day, when my hair longer), or moment of smiling.

Okay now I looked at her physical appearance, how does Amalthea win by personality. With light spoilers (not going into detail) she starts and end the movie on a quest for herself and it is empowering to see her just do this for she wants to. Not out of love, a prophecy, nope just wanted to save more like her. She is does not give up, she goes on. Amalthea strong in her morals, she helps her friends, her arch is powerful, and so much more. PLEASE READ THE BOOK TOO! =D So I like to point out (because my sibling and I had a debate) I liked her when HUMAN and she call herself human, not sure why this confused my sibling.

*Please anyone name what traits stick out as reoccurring in my named character crushes.*

I challenge @thenamelessdoll @sailorzelda94 @myhollie1911 @cereittanyprincess15 @deanscourse ANYONE else to make their top animated women’s, men’s, non-binary, or your top animated crush list.

I want to clear up that listing women easier because men tend be less developed. So my top 10 men list be BOTH movies and TV, so I make a top 3 tv cartoon ladies.

@theghostlightison

So since I made this, I am making a top five different, details of why I like them stay the same, yet different spots

5. Maria

4. Sailor Neptune

3. Catwoman

2. Amalthea (I kinda like this “mad” gif looks more like checking someone out. XD ^*_*^ )

1. Esmeralda (I still hope to use this quote one day)

0. She-Hulk

[littlecadyshue]

Three’s a Date || Devyn/Quinn/Cady

Quinn and Devyn make use of a very eager girl.

(unfinished)

@dommequinnfab @devyncbeiste

Cady was nervous but delighted for the night to come. She had been looking forward to her night with Devyn and Quinn for a while now, and she hoped everything would be as amazing as she imagined it could be. Coming up to Devyn’s door, she bit her lip before kneeling and knocking. Devyn hadn’t told her to wear anything specific, so she was just in jeans and a tight t-shirt, one of her only pretty sets of lingerie hidden under the plain clothing. Navy blue lace barely covered her breasts under the cotton, a skimpy matching thong already slightly damp in anticipation of what was to come.

(https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1M2GrKXXXXXXLXXXXq6xXFXXXd/Wink-Gal-Strap-Underwear-Lace-Lingerie-Set-Series-Bra-Thin-Bra-Navy-Blue-Sexy-Ladies-Underwear.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7c/b9/dd/7cb9dd35fd8e27b9e731a1b04f7c71a0.jpg for reference :D )

Devyn was super excited for her time with her girlfriend and the beautiful submissive that she’d been spending time with a lot lately. She was hoping that it would go well, because if she was honest, she was hoping that Cady would fit in well between them. Hearing the knock on the door, she dropped a kiss to her girlfriend’s lips before moving to answer the door. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a black tank top, her hair pulling up in a pony tail. “Hey, pretty girl.” Devyn said with a smile at the kneeling submissive. “Come on in.”

In truth, Quinn was equal parts excited and nervous for the night that they were going to be spending with Cady - she knew how important the submissive was becoming to Devyn, and the chemistry between all three of them was important if she was going to be a part of Devyn’s future.  Quinn would be disappointed if things didn’t go well, but she was determined to avoid that line of thinking and just enjoy herself.  Accepting the kiss from Devyn, she waited as her girlfriend met Cady at the door and greeted her.  “Good evening, Cady,” she smiled as the girl entered the suite to join them.

Cady got to her feet and walked in, offering both of the Dommes a smile. “Hi Miss and… Miss? Misses? Something like that?” She shrugged and hesitated for a fraction of a second before leaning in to kiss Devyn’s cheek. The redhead glanced shyly at Quinn, then leaned in to kiss the former blond’s cheek as well. “So um… are we just… jumping right in or…” She couldn’t wait to see both of them naked, but she wasn’t sure if the Dominants had something else in mind to start off with.

Devyn smiled at the kiss to her own cheek and then hummed pleased as Cady also kissed Quinn's cheek. She took a deep breath and settled her mind, at the end of it all just wanting to enjoy herself. “We’ll be jumping right in, pretty girl. But I'd like for you to state your limits and your safeword before we truly begin.” The brunette stated, pressing her own kiss to Cady’s cheek.

“I think Misses probably works,” Quinn grinned, running a hand through her pink hair.  She watched with a smile as Cady pressed a kiss to Devyn’s cheek and hummed as one was pressed to hers as well.  She was content to let Dev set the pace, as she knew Cady better and would be more adept at reading her needs and desires - besides, there was nothing planned for the night she wasn’t going to enjoy, so the order was far from the most important part.  As Quinn waited for her to answer the question, she reached out to toy with red hair.

Cady opened her mouth to state her limits, only to pause when fingers ran through her hair. A little shiver tickled down her spine at the touch, and she took a moment to enjoy it before stating her limits and her safe words for the Dommes. Devyn knew them, and she didn’t think Quinn would want to do anything to violate them. She trusted the two women to keep her safe and enjoying herself. Her body was practically vibrating in anticipation, green eyes dancing between Quinn and Devyn.

She nodded her head as Cady stated off her limits, knowing them pretty well at this point. “Good girl.” Devyn murmured before gesturing towards her bedroom. “Follow us to the bedroom, Cady.” She said before leading them both to her bedroom where she'd done her best to lay everything out accordingly. “First things first, Cady. You're to undress Quinn and fold her clothes, putting them on the dresser before doing the same for me. Once you've done that you're to undress yourself and then move to the left side of the bed and kneel.”

Following Devyn into the bedroom, Quinn didn’t fail to put a bit of extra wiggle in her hips knowing Cady was following after them.  She wanted her to enjoy herself as much as possible, even if she wasn’t going to be allowed to really enjoy herself, and so a bit of showmanship didn’t hurt.  Once she had her orders, Quinn stepped a little bit closer to allow Cady easier access.  Getting undressed wasn’t the fun part, it was what came after, but she didn’t want it to be any more work for Cady than it had to be.

Cady couldn’t help but smirk when she saw Quinn wiggle her hips like she did. Oh tonight would certainly be interesting. “Yes, Miss,” she murmured when she was given her orders. Stepping up to the pink-haired Domme, she carefully stripped off her clothes, fingertips skimming over her skin as much as she could manage. Once Quinn was naked, her clothes folded, Cady did the same for Devyn, and then herself, pausing once she was just in her lingerie. “Should I… keep going, Misses?” she asked, looking between the two Dommes.

“Good, baby doll.” Devyn murmured, watching her with heated eyes as the submissive removed her girlfriend’s clothing. They were both just so fucking gorgeous. It was almost overwhelming. She hummed as fingers skimmed over her own skin as Cady removed her clothes too, biting down on her bottom lip. “Fuck.” She murmured, moving to drag her fingers along Cady’s body, moving over the top piece and dragging her thumbs over her nipples. “What do you think, babe? Think we should start off with her like this?” Devyn asked shooting a look at the former blonde.

Quinn was hardly about to protest if Cady wanted to take the opportunity to touch while she was undressing her - in fact, she’d have been much more disappointed if she hadn’t.  “Thank you, Cady,” she praised once she was naked, watching the process repeated on Devyn and grinning at the sight of her girlfriend’s body.  This was going to be a fun night.  Licking her lips, she tried to clear the lust from her brain long enough to answer the question.  “I think that’s an excellent place to start.”  Stepping up behind Cady, she reached down with one hand to cup her gorgeous ass and knead it gently.  “Gorgeous.”

Cady sucked in a breath through her nose as Devyn started kneading her chest, and then Quinn’s hands landed on her ass, and she felt herself melting under the warm, hungry way the Dommes were touching her. “Mm… I hoped you would like it,” she murmured, leaning back into Quinn while also arching as much as she could into Devyn’s touch. One hand landed on the brunette’s hip, the other going back to grip Quinn’s, trying to urge the naked women closer to her.

Devyn hummed softly, leaning in closer to trail her lips along Cady’s neck, her fingers continuing to play with the girl's nipples. If she opened her eyes she could see Quinn standing behind the redhead and it was an incredible sight. One that sent a jolt of arousal through her but also sent a jolt through her heart. “We’re going to have you begging and pleading by the end of the night, baby doll.”

“By the end of the night?” Quinn smirked behind her, hand still gently squeezing her ass.  “I plan to have her begging and pleading in the next...oh, fifteen minutes or so.”  She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt - everything that had happened had really rattled her domme persona, and she was working hard to get it back again.  Reaching around, she put her hand over Devyn’s where it was toying with Cady’s nipple and gave her fingers a firm squeeze to put more pressure on it.  “Maybe ten, if we’re really good.”

She shivered under the gentle pressure of Devyn’s lips on her neck. Four soft, demanding hands worked over her body. Eager lips kissed her skin and warm skin brushed her own. “Mm… maybe… less than ten,” she murmured, arching into the added grip on her breast. Her flimsy panties were getting even more damp under the treatment. She couldn’t help how her hands slid down on either Domme’s body, palming over their asses, the feeling of their bodies under her touch turning her on even more.

A heated chuckle fell from Devyn’s lips and she nodded her head. “Of course, what was I thinking?” She mused playfully. It would definitely be a lot of fun to have Cady a needy mess their entire time together, that was for sure. She moved to slip a leg between Cady’s legs, groaning softly at the feeling. Devyn sucked a new mark into Cady’s neck, pressing a kiss to it afterwards before pulling back slightly to offer a smirk to Q.

“It’s really too bad that she’s going to be left wanting, though, isn’t it?” Quinn chuckled.  Inspired by Devyn’s smirk, she reached around Cady and pulled the other Domme flush against the redhead even as she pressed against her back, giving Devyn a slow kiss with Cady pinned in between them.  She’d long ago stopped keeping track of where her hands were, just letting them roam the girl’s body at will.

Cady couldn’t help the way her hips shifted, all but humping against Devyn’s thigh. A helpless sort of sigh spilled from her lips when she felt teeth on her neck, her hand tightening on Quinn’s hip as she was marked up yet again. “Miss…” She whimpered as the two Dommes pressed in closer, loving the sight of them kissing so close to her, their soft lips moving together. Her head bent back carefully, her own mouth pressing to Quinn’s jaw and neck, sucking gently at her skin.

She groaned softly as Quinn’s lips captured hers in a kiss, more than happy to let herself simply fall into the moment. Nothing mattered in the moment expect the other two women in the room and Devyn was happy to keep it that way. She pulled away from the kiss to watch as Cady sucked along her girlfriend’s neck. “Fuck…” She pressed her leg more firmly between the submissive’s legs and hummed softly. “So beautiful...both of you are just so fucking gorgeous.”

Quinn’s concentration on the kiss slipped as Cady’s mouth began to work up her neck toward her jaw.  Reaching out blindly, she tangled her fingers in red hair and tugged gently.  Turning her head slightly, she moved her lips from Devyn’s to Cady’s and drank her in.  “Right back at you, babe,” she gasped in Devyn’s direction.  “There’s a whole lot of gorgeous in this room.”

Cady gasped when fingers wound into her hair, her lips working more determinedly against the Domme’s neck. Her hips rocked harder against the welcome pressure, her panties tangling between her thighs. The heat in her belly got even worse when Quinn’s lips landed on hers, kissing hungrily. Her breathing was rather hard when the kiss ended, eyes wide with desire. “Mm… two gorgeous Misses for me to please,” she whispered, looking between Quinn and Devyn, more than ready for them to use her as they pleased.

Devyn could almost feel the way that her eyes darkened as she watched Cady and Quinn kiss, feeling the shot of arousal in her core. “Mhm, and please us you will. But first...there’s nothing I want more than to work with Q and make that pretty ass of yours nice and red.” The brunette murmured with a smirk, dragging her fingers up and along her sides before she pulled away. “What do you think, Q? Want a shot at smacking Cady’s ass?” She questioned, moving to allow Quinn to set Cady up however she wanted.

Quinn enjoyed the effect that she was having on Cady, visible all over her face as the kiss came to an end.  Devyn did have a point, though, that cute ass wasn’t nearly red enough.  “Mmm, I’ll definitely say yes to that.  Maybe next time I’ll bring my paddle along, but I think for the moment I just want to feel her under my hand.”  Taking a gentle hold of Cady’s hair to steer her, Quinn bent her over the end of the bed with her ass on full display.  “Now that is a tempting sight.  No need to count, Cady, I’m just going to warm you up.”  She began bringing a firm hand down, the slap of skin against skin loud in the quiet room.

She thought Devyn spanking her couldn’t get any hotter. But Devyn watching her get spanked? Cady could only whimper softly as Quinn led her over to the bed, bending over and spreading her legs. It was obvious how aroused she was. “Mm… yes, Miss,” she murmured, arching her hips up in anticipation of the Domme’s hand on her ass. Every stroke of her palm made the redhead moan, her fingers clutching the sheets on the bed. “F-fuck… that feels so good,” she whispered, turning her head to hide the way she was smiling.

Devyn straightened up, knowing that she was absolutely going to love what was about to happen. She watched as Quinn led the submissive to the bed, holding back a groan as Cady’s ass was put on display for them both. “Beautiful.” She murmured heatedly, licking her bottom lip as Quinn began to spank Cady. She could feel the wetness growing between her thighs and she moved to stand a bit closer, humming. “Look at you, baby doll. So needy already.” She glanced at Q, watching contently at the way she moved. “Fuck, Q. She’s fucking loving the way you’re spanking her right now.”

For the first time in a while, Quinn felt quietly confident.  She might not be a great domme right now, but she was always good at giving a spanking.  The fact that Cady was reacting so well, paired with Devyn’s encouragement, let her settle into her Domme persona a bit better.  “She really should, I do give an excellent spanking.  Such a needy little thing, isn’t she?  I don’t know how she’s going to cope with all of the times we get her close tonight and then say no.  But we’ll just have to find out.”  With Cady’s ass turning a warm red, Quinn turned to Devyn.  “Don’t let me keep you from joining in, Dev.  I think she needs a spanking from you too.”

Cady was aching to be touched. From the heat in her ass, to the way Devyn and Quinn were talking about her… fuck. “Mhm, so good, Miss,” she whispered, confirming Quinn’s statement about the spanking. She felt incredible, even with the knowledge that she wasn’t going to be allowed an orgasm any time soon. Her head turned, wide eyes looking at the pair of beautiful, naked women. “Please, Miss?” she begged, wiggling her hips again in the hopes for more.

She quirked an eyebrow at Quinn’s words, more than happy to join in but also enjoying the fact that she could just watch the way the other two were interacting. She couldn’t help the slight smile on her face at Cady’s words and the way that she moved her hips. “Such a pretty girl.” Devyn murmured, stepping a bit more closely to playfully tap her fingers along the submissive’s ass before bringing her hand down in a quick swat. “Mmm, I can’t wait to see how red your ass is going to be after this, pretty girl.” Devyn mused, bringing her hand down again.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, pretty girl,” Quinn’s term of endearment was picked up from Devyn, but she didn’t think Cady would mind too much.  “It’s such a pretty ass, after all, and it looks even better when it’s almost as red as your hair.”  As Devyn stepped in for a few swats, Quinn took the chance to run a hand up and down Cady’s back with an occasional side trip around her to play with her breasts.  “I think Devyn’s almost as good a spanker as I am, so I think I’ll enjoy this nearly as much as you are.”

She giggled, trying not to squirm as Devyn just tapped on her ass. But she she let out another cry when her hand came down on her stinging ass, just adding to the wonderful heat under her skin. Quinn’s wandering hands only added to her pleasure, the Domme’s touch over the soft lace driving her insane. “Please… I’ll be good, Misses, please use me?” Cady was dying to get her mouths on one - or both - of the gorgeous women sometime soon, to prove she could be a good little doll for them.

The giggle was super adorable and had Devyn chuckling a bit as well before she slipped into a content rhythm of her hand meeting Cady’s ass. She glanced at Quinn with narrowed eyes, shaking her head slightly. “Maybe Miss Quinn over there wants a chance in your position, Cady.” Devyn teased, throwing a slight wink in her girlfriend’s direction. Hearing Cady’s plea, Devyn brought her hand down a bit harder against her ass twice more before letting her fingers tap along her ass once again. “What do you think, Q? Should we try and let this girl prove she’s worthy of an orgasm?” She questioned, grasping the flimsy material and beginning to draw them down the submissive’s legs.

Quinn laughed twice, once at the sound of Cady’s giggle and a second time at Devyn’s threat.  “Maybe she would, but probably not today.”  The narrowed eyes was so cute that it was hard not laugh all over again, but she managed to focus on Cady’s plea instead.  Licking her lips as Devyn removed what little the submissive had on below the waist, she tapped her chin thoughtfully.  “We could do that.  I mean, she sounds almost desperate enough...I’m feeling generous, so I think we could.  How’s she going to prove that to us?”

Heat plunged through her again, knowing her drenched sex was on perfect display now for the two Dommes. On display and vulnerable and she couldn’t even think about how badly she needed to be touched - only how badly she wanted to be used. Cady whined and licked her lips, biting the bottom one. “My mouth… you could use my mouth, Misses, please?” she begged, squirming on the bed where she lay, hoping they would indulge her.

She brushed her fingers through Cady’s soaked folds, a soft moan falling from her lips. “So wet, baby doll.” She mused, lifting her fingers to her mouth to suck them clean. “Lay on your back up near the pillows, Cady.” Devyn ordered softly before moving to her girlfriend to draw her into another heated kiss, her nails lightly dragging across her lower abdomen. “Go sit on her face, babe. She’s so fucking good with her mouth.” She mused, pressing a kiss to Quinn’s neck and then her shoulder before moving to grab the strap on thoughtfully. “I do remember a promise of you using a cock on me, pretty girl. Have to see if you’re as good as you say you are.”

“What an excellent idea,” Quinn smirked as Cady begged for her mouth to be used.  The heated kiss between her and Devyn left her feeling even needier, and it didn’t take much prompting for her to clamber onto the bed and wait for Cady to settle beneath her.  “Now that she’s talked you up, I’m going to be expecting something special,” she warned in a joking voice.  “Think you can do that for me, gorgeous?”

Cady eagerly clambered up to lay on her back, her body tingling in anticipation. Said anticipation only got worse as she found out what would be happening. “Please yes, I’ll be good, Miss, promise,” she whispered, lifting her hips so Devyn could get the harness on for her strapon. Looking up at Quinn, she stroked her hands along the Domme’s thighs and nodded, licking her lips. Instead of answering verbally, she leaned up, tracing her tongue over Quinn with a low moan, before closing her lips around the Domme’s clit.

As Cady’s hips lifted, Devyn slipped on the harness and adjusted everything until it look right. She hummed softly at the sight of her girlfriend and the submissive she had grown to care about, chewing on her bottom lip before she moved to rock slowly against the strapon, not slipping it inside of herself just yet though. She reached to brush her fingers through Quinn’s shorter hair, tugging on it gently with a slight smirk.

“I should hope so, if you want to prove that you deserve to cum tonight,” Quinn teased.  As Cady’s tongue found her she let out a low moan and settled against her, not wanting Cady to have to strain her neck.  There were a few moments of adjustment as Devyn got the harness on her, but to her credit Cady’s lips and tongue never ceased their motions.  Quinn reached out to steady herself, grinning as Devyn ran her fingers through pink hair and gave it a little tug.  “Fuck,” she murmured.  “She really does have a good mouth, doesn’t she?”

She tried to keep from squirming as Devyn put the harness on her, instead focusing on pleasing the Domme currently sitting on her face. Her fingers curled around Quinn’s thighs, tongue and lips working almost lazily, but hungrily against soft, slick lips. She couldn’t help the way her hips moved though, aching to bury the toy deep inside of Devyn and show her she was just as good at fucking as she was at getting fucked.

“She really, really does. Gonna make sure her mouth has had quite the workout by the end of tonight.” Devyn stated, her free hand gently scratching along Cady’s stomach. She smirked at the rock of Cady’s hips, humming softly before she adjusted the toy and began to sink onto it. She let out a groan, her grip tightening on Quinn’s hair as she let out a shaky breath as the toy filled her. “Oh...fuck.”

As hard as it was to open her eyes, Quinn wanted to see Devyn riding the toy - it was too good a sight to miss.  She only managed a moment, though, as the tug on her hair and the way that Cady was everywhere at once leaving her breathless.  “So fucking good,” she groaned, eyes squeezed tightly shut.  Devyn hadn’t at all exaggerated her prowess, and Quinn knew that a good portion of their night would be spent using Cady’s mouth - just as she’d asked for.

She hummed in delight at that plan. Giving her mouth a workout would be the best night she could imagine. Feeling Devyn’s weight shift, Cady groaned against Quinn, holding a bit tighter onto her slim thighs. Her hips shifted, moving as much as she could with both Dommes on top of her, trying to pay Devyn the same amount of attention fucking her as she kept licking hungrily at Quinn’s slick pussy.

Devyn breathed out shakily as she bottomed out on the toy, beginning to roll her hips to the slightly sloppy rhythm of the submissive's movements. She knew that her attention was split in half, but she was definitely excited to see how well she was going to do. Devyn adored fucking Cady (and Quinn for that matter) with the strap on and she was excited to see if she loved Cady fucking her with it just as much.

Quinn could only imagine what Cady was feeling, because for her it was already close to sensory overload.  Between the submissive’s tongue against her core, the slight shake of the bed as Devyn rode the toy, and the occasional glimpse she could manage of Cady fucking her, she was riding high.  “Such a good girl,” she murmured, knowing Cady probably couldn’t hear her anyway given the thighs around her head.  “Just like that.  Fuck…”

Her legs shifted on the mattress, struggling to get her feet underneath her for some sort of leverage - all without not pausing the attention she was giving Quinn. Finally she managed to get a good position, her hips rolling to thrust up into Devyn as best as she could. Focusing on the other women helped her ignore how incredibly turned on she was. The noises and words she heard were muffled, thanks to Quinn’s gorgeous, slim thighs, but she heard enough to know they were praise, her tongue only working more vigorously, shifting to press into the Domme properly.

“Oh fuck.” She gasped out, her legs trembling slightly as Cady thrusted up into her properly. her hands moved to rest on Cady’s lower stomach to give her some balance as she rocked her hips, her eyes fluttering shut. Man, did it feel good. Her nails lightly dug into Cady’s skin, a soft gasp of her name being pulled from her lips as Cady continued moving her hips. Her toes curled at a particularly well-timed thrust and she whimpered quietly.

Her breath hitching in her chest, Quinn sank down completely onto Cady’s face - it would keep her from being able to breathe, but she was so close that it would only take a moment.  Rocking slightly back and forth, she whispered Cady’s name and Devyn’s in alternating moments until she came with a loud cry.  Taking just a moment to relish her orgasm, she lifted herself up once more to allow Cady room to breathe.

Cady grunted in surprise when she felt Quinn drop down on her, but she stiffened her tongue as much as she could to keep the Domme’s pleasure going. She was soaking the sheets under her, between the rocking weight on her face and over her hips. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought, not cumming under the treatment of both these gorgeous women. She inhaled deeply, licking her lips, the taste of Quinn’s release making her shudder. “Oh fuck, Miss,” she whimpered, thrusting up harder into Devyn.

Hearing and watching Quinn fall over the edge was never going to get old. It was something that Devyn loved because she looked so beautiful and so free in the moment as she came. “Ca-dy, Quinn, fuck.” She muttered, her hips rocking harder and faster with the urge to cum. “So close.” She gasped, her gaze moving downward to catch sight of the submissive still lying underneath her girlfriend’s thighs. One of her hands moved to her clit to rub it in circles, falling over the edge soon after.

Quinn caught her breath as she watched Devyn cum, grinning at the sight - it never got old, and it was even better when both of them were using Cady the way they were.  Sliding off of the submissive, Quinn reached over to tug at her nipples.  “Good girl,” she praised.  “You really do have a good mouth on you.  And it looks like you’re pretty good with that toy, too.”  Leaning over, she planted a long kiss on Devyn’s lips.  “I wonder what other ways we could use her, babe.”

Cady gulped in a breath, her stomach tightening as she watched Devyn fall over the edge. God, that sight was so beautiful. She knew there was a damp spot under her ass from how incredibly aroused she was, watching and being used by the two gorgeous Dommes. She whimpered when fingers tweaked her nipples, arching up into the touch. “Thank you, Miss,” she whispered, watching hungrily as Quinn kissed her girlfriend. “Anyway you want, Misses, please?”

Hearing Quinn's words and then Cady’s response, Devyn smirked slightly. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. “Mmm, well she used a strap on on me...and now I definitely want to use one on her.” Devyn muttered, carefully slipping off of the toy and whining as she did so.

“Any way we want...well, that’s a dangerous suggestion,” she chuckled softly.  “But it’s a very good one.”  She watched as Devyn slid off of the toy, leaning over to slowly lick her juices from it - keeping eye contact with Cady all the while.  Once it was clean, she looked over her shoulder at Devyn.  “All ready for you, babe.”

Watching Devyn move, hearing that noise she made… it was enough to make her whimper. But then of course, it hit her that Devyn was about to use that toy on her. To fuck her. Cady groaned, toes curling as she watched Quinn suck the cock still resting between her thighs. “Oh god,” she whimpered, hoping she would be able to keep herself under control and not disappoint the two Dommes.

“You two are so fucking beautiful. I am so lucky.” She murmured, looking between the two of them with a slight shake of her head. It was amazing how much the two affected her. She removed the toy from the other girl and then adjusted herself to slip the harness onto her. She smirked at both of them once she had settled leaning over to press her lips to Quinn’s. “You know...i think I would really like to see you in the other strap on I have.”

Quinn didn’t mind one bit being called beautiful, not by either of them.  “I’m pretty sure everyone in the room is lucky,” she countered, taking Devyn’s kiss and smiling against her.  The suggestion made her raise a curious eyebrow, wondering what her girlfriend might have in mind.  “I’d say that can definitely be arranged, babe.”

Her eyes widened as Devyn suggested the other strap on. Immediately her mind raced. Would she fuck Devyn while Devyn fucked her? Would both Dommes use both of her holes? Cady squirmed on the bed under them, her hands smoothing down her stomach without thinking, but she stopped before she actually touched herself.

Devyn glanced over at the submissive, noting her wide eyes, but also noting that they seemed to be wide in awe and not in horror. She winked at Cady softly and then leaned  over her to press their lips together, moaning softly at the taste of Quinn on her lips. She pulled back and slipped off the bed to go and grab another strap on before handing it off to her girlfriend.

[magzoso-tech]

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/the-flux-beamo-is-a-1500-laser-cutter-with-simple-but-powerful-software/

The Flux beamo is a $1,500 laser cutter with simple but powerful software

Laser cutters are in a fun place right now. Gone are the days when the cheapest machines were tens of thousands of dollars, and when the “compact” models were roughly the size of a freezer. They’ve gotten affordable enough, and small enough, that a DIY home hobbyist can add it to their toolset without taking out a second mortgage or needing much more than some desk space… but they’re still a rare enough machine that saying “I’ve got a laser cutter!” makes people look at you like you’re a friggin’ wizard.

One of the latest entries into this space is beamo, a compact, 30W laser cutter and engraver built by Flux — a Taiwan-based team you might remember for raising $1.6 million on Kickstarter with its Flux Delta 3D printer/scanner/engraver back in 2014.

As with Delta, Flux is turning to Kickstarter for the launch of beamo. They sprinted past their goal of $25,000 pretty quickly, currently sitting at roughly $350,000 raised with a little over a week to go. The early-bird models are going for $849, with the company pinning the final MSRP at $1,500. Shipping/taxes aren’t included in those prices, and can cost a couple hundred bucks, so factor that in to any purchasing decisions.

While I tend to be a bit hesitant when it comes to crowdfunded hardware (having been burned too many times by products that either never arrived or did arrive only to be total garbage), Flux has been down this road before; in addition to Delta, it also crowdfunded and shipped Beambox (a slightly bigger, pricier, but more powerful laser cutter) just a few months back. In the case of beamo, it seems like the Kickstarter is primarily meant to help get the word out, rather than literally “kickstarting” the process. Production is already underway, and units are already rolling off the line.

Flux sent me one of those early units to check out for a few weeks. I haven’t had it long enough to do what I’d call a “review”; with things like laser cutters with their myriad moving parts and… you know, lasers, new issues can pop up months after you open the box, as components wear and maintenance is required. So consider this more of a “first impressions” kind of thing.

My first impressions, though, are good.

For reference, I’d classify myself laser experience as… moderate. More than most people you’d randomly ask, I’d wager, but less than if it were my job. I’ve put a hundred hours or so into training/creating with those aforementioned freezer-sized pro lasers, making everything from custom etched pint glasses, to bespoke Christmas ornaments, to personalized rubber stamps over the years. I tend to look for excuses to shoot lasers at things.

Getting it running

My beamo unit came ready to go right out of the box, mirrors aligned, moving parts all lubed up. I plugged it in, set up some basic ventilation, ran through about 10 minutes of software installation and configuration and started firing away. It all just worked on the first shot.

Speaking of ventilation: you’ll need it. Laser cutting is basically a tiny, super controlled fire… and that means smoke. Depending on what you’re cutting, that smoke can be super noxious. Cutting wood? It won’t smell too bad, but it’s still not something you want in your lungs on the regular. Etching a logo into felt? It’ll smell like you’re burning a trash can full of hair. Beamo uses a 200CFM exhaust fan to pull smoky air out of the machine, dumping it out through a 4″ exhaust hose that you’ll need to run through a window (or, if you’re feeling extra fancy, a dryer exhaust-style vent through a wall.) Expect to need about 8″ of clearance between the machine and any wall behind it for the exhaust hose and its bends, unless the path to the window is a straight shot.

The exhaust system is decent, but you’ll probably need to fiddle with how the hose runs to get it just right. If you’re venting through a window, you’ll want to figure out a way of sealing up the open gaps around the hose to limit any fumes that might float back into the room. Put time into getting it right. If the room still smells smokey hours after you’ve cut, you’ll want to keep working on your ventilation. You don’t want to breath that stuff in, especially if you’re running the laser more than occasionally.

Beamo’s built-in touchscreen. You’ll mostly control it over Wi-Fi, but you can access some basic functionality and monitor job progress here.

If you’re new to laser cutting, you should also put the time into learning what you shouldn’t put in these machines. Some materials are safe to laser cut, but tend to catch on fire easily. Some materials will just melt and screw up your machine. Other things (PVC!) will straight up emit chlorine gas when you hit them with a laser. If you’re moving beyond the basics of cutting thin wood/acrylic/cardboard or engraving glass, research it.

So what SHOULD you cut? Woods are a good go-to (though you’ll want to limit it to less oily stuff — because, again, fire). Cardboard is fun to cut for things like spray paint stencils. Leather is good, with practice, and you can do all sorts of really neat stuff with acrylic. You can’t cut glass, but you can engrave it; same goes for rubber, though that’s one you’ll want to source from a place that sells materials known to be laser safe.

The thickness of the material you can cut tends to be limited by a laser’s wattage, while height/width is generally limited by the size of the work area. At 30W, beamo’s laser can slice its way through wood about 1/8″ thick; its work area, meanwhile, comes in at 11.81″ x 8.27″. You can make a lot of cool stuff within those bounds, but be aware of them — buying a bunch of material only to get it home and realize you’re a few watts short of a complete cut is a bummer. If you foresee needing deeper cuts or bigger pieces, beefier lasers exist without too massive a leap in price. As examples: Flux’s other laser cutter, the $2,500 Beambox, bumps the laser up to 40W and the work area up to 15.7″ x 14.7″; the $2,500 base model from competitor Glowforge comes in at 40W with a work area of roughly 11″ x 19.5″.

(One potential advantage of beamo over the company’s previously released Beambox: whereas Beambox requires you to regularly fill up a water cooling reservoir to keep it running, beamo’s water cooling is closed-loop, so the same water just keeps circulating. I’m interested to see how this holds up over time.)

Fire the lasers!

Got everything plugged in, ventilation set up and your materials purchased? Time to cut! Well, almost.

You’ll mostly be controlling beamo through Beam Studio, a free piece of software provided by Flux for Windows, macOS and Ubuntu. As far as laser cutting software goes, I’m really quite pleased with it so far.

Beam Studio is super straightforward, but darn powerful for a free companion app. If you’re looking to cut out basic shapes, etch text or lay down some bezier curves, it can do it. Want to etch a picture of your dog into some wood to make a keychain? Just drop an image onto the work area, scale as desired, then move a slider to tweak the black/white threshold until it looks right. You can work in layers, setting up a raster layer to be etched and then a vector layer to cut it out immediately after.

Beamo has a built-in camera system, allowing you to quickly scan the work bed before dragging and dropping your designs wherever you want them. The first time you connect to beamo, you’ll be asked to calibrate the camera — a process that was considerably simpler than I expected. Put a piece of paper on the work bed, and beamo will fire a quick test pattern into it. Beam Studio will then snap a picture of what it just etched, projecting an overlay of where it thinks the test pattern is versus its scan. Nudge the overlay around until everything is perfectly stacked, and you’re set. You’ll want to re-run this alignment process every once in a while (it’s quick) if you need precise placement.

The camera system here really is incredibly useful. After about 30 minutes with beamo, I was doing things that are at best annoying on camera-less cutters — things like etching a design, cutting it out, then immediately flipping the cut piece and etching on the other side without worrying about precarious placement. I just rescanned the work bed, dragged the image where I wanted it on the freshly cut side B, and fired away.

The camera is quick, but not instant. Scanning the entire work area takes about 60 seconds. If you only need a certain area scanned (like, say, the top half of the work area, or the rough area around something you’ve already cut), fortunately, that’s an option. Just drag the scanning boundary box accordingly.

If you need to do something beyond what the free software can handle (or if you just prefer working in apps like CorelDraw or Illustrator), Beam Studio can import JPGs, PNGs and SVGs.

While more capable than I expected, the software isn’t without its quirks. Beam Studio will try to keep you updated with a progress ticker, but don’t rely on it too much for predicting timing. I’ve had projects shoot up to 40% in the first 30 seconds, only to take five minutes for the rest to complete. There was an occasion or two where the software threw out an error in Mandarin that I didn’t want to dismiss without a quick pass through Google Translate… but for the most part, it was solid, stable and fun to use.

In its base configuration, beamo’s laser is manually focused, meaning you’ll need to focus things by hand each time you place new material inside the machine. Fortunately, focusing it is super straightforward: put material in, rotate a piece of acrylic attached to the laser head, lower the laser head until the acrylic is just barely touching the material, then lock the laser head back in place and lift the acrylic out of the way.

Flux says that it’ll ship a $250 add-on module that introduces autofocus to the mix, but I didn’t get to test that. They’re also working on a $499 rotary add-on that will let you etch designs onto cylindrical items (think shot/pint glasses), but out of the box, it’s flat stuff only.

As with every single laser I’ve ever worked with, working with a new material — or even, sometimes, the same material from a different source — requires some fiddling. You’ll be tweaking the speed at which the laser moves, the power of the laser and how many passes it makes over the same path; you want to keep the power low enough to minimize scorching and maximize the life of the laser, while making sure you’ve done enough repeat passes to cut completely through. Beam Studio comes with a bunch of presets for different materials that can get you pretty close (and you can save your own favorites, once you’ve found them), but expect to experiment a little when you’re working with a new material for the first time. Buy extra material.

As for noise: operating with fans running full force, it’s not what I’d call “quiet,” but it’s not so loud that it’s uncomfortable to sit next to. The company’s specs pin it at around 65 db — louder than your average conversation, but a bit quieter than, say, a vacuum. The fans do whir endlessly when the machine is idling, so you’ll probably want to cut the power between cutting sessions.

If for some reason you need to open the lid while the laser is operating, beamo’s built-in automatic kill switch will cut power to the laser to protect your eyes. Close the lid again and the job can be resumed right from where you left off. While the company says that the acrylic lid provides sufficient eye protection for beamo’s 30W Class 1 laser (though they note that you shouldn’t stare right at the laser beam, lid or not), I absolutely recommend picking up and wearing a pair of CO2 laser safety goggles, especially when it comes time to pop the machine open and do any maintenance. Speaking of…

Foreseeable maintenance

Maintenance is an inevitable part of owning a laser cutter. As noted, I’ve only had the laser set up for a few weeks and everything came well configured, so I haven’t had to go digging under the hood yet. If something suddenly breaks on me during my time with the cutter, I’ll update this post accordingly. But either way, maintenance will be part of the process for owners.

Even if nothing breaks unexpectedly, some of the parts involved are “consumable” and thus expected to wear down with use. The lens, mirror and laser tube, for example, are expected to last about a year with regular use, according to the company’s estimates. The team says those parts should cost about $19, $9 and $139 to replace, respectively, and you’ll be able to buy them through their online store. Plan ahead for those recurring costs, and make sure you’re comfortable with the idea of eventually tearing the machine apart before you dive in.

You’ll also need to keep things clean to keep them operating well. Burning stuff dirties the optics, and dirty optics lead to weaker cuts and faster wear. You’ll want to pop the work bed out regularly to get rid of any debris, and keep all the moving bits lubed. There’s more to keeping a laser cutter working well than say, an inkjet printer.

Overall, though, so far so good. The machine looks pretty great on a table; it’s not quite as shiny and Apple-y as a Glowforge, but it should blend into a home office or studio pretty easily. It’s light enough to be easily moved by two people, and took me all of a few minutes to get up and running. If you don’t mind the occasional software hiccup, can figure out sufficient ventilation, are mostly working on projects that fit within beamo’s wattage/work area capabilities and are down to get under the hood for maintenance, beamo seems like a solid machine so far.

[starcrossed-sky]

A man with two arms - a Tentacl retrospective

So today on a discord server dear and precious to my heart, I got a bit wistful about a site I fondly refer to as Gaia for Grownups. Transcript under the cut, w/ others’ comments removed. WARNING: Contains discussion of nsfw subjects. I don’t know what you’re expecting.

ANYWAY. it's 5 am and so while I chop the last of this chicken and so on, I promised you guys the story of Gaia for Grownups. It is a Story.So some years ago, GaiaOnline, as a company, finally gave in to the pressure to make an adult version of their site. 100% 18+ users. They called it tentacl, and it was a hot mess.

Being a member of the Gaia Online Brand, it was, of course, an avatar site with an anime aesthetic. However, unlike the regular Gaia, it had more "realistic" proportions

please note the finger quotes. The finger quotes are intensely relevant.

As you can guess, the girls were Boobs on Legs and the dudes were Muscle Chumps.

They had three body types for each, which was somewhat nice! ... Except that the thinnest girl body type looked like this:

http://68.media.tumblr.com/847661ffffda02e323891cd059e0cfaa/tumblr_na2wzqVEO01qjb2vmo1_400.png

and none of the others were much better

content warning for that link: Critical Body Horror Proportion Error

So! That was a thing. Also, as you might imagine from an adult-oriented site, 75% of the clothes you could buy with the gold currency of the site were in some way stripperific. (Again, see the Horrifying Image.) I did not wind up taking a cap of my avatar, which is a shame, but she was the most dressed you could manage on the site, and it boiled down to "sexy librarian, minus glasses."

Did I mention that every single item on this hellpit of a site was gender locked? Because they were, and the vast majority of them did not have any corresponding item for the opposite gender.

One of the top items on dude avatars... Well you can probably already guess, with the kind of audience that was being catered to.

"Was it a fedora, Nai?" You bet your bottom dollar it was. 

And let me tell you. There is no more disappointing feeling in the world than getting into a discussion with a dude-avatar who seems like a reasonable human being, only to come back the next day and discover that he's bought and donned one.

There is not a word in English nor any other language.

Anyway! That's not even the messiest thing about the site. It was, put simply, a hot mess thrown together by someone without any eye for graphic design in the slightest, for a start. Again, I wish I had taken screenshots, but thankfully google can provide!

https://kakinohana.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/tentacl-share-stuff-meet-people-express-yourself.png

http://68.media.tumblr.com/b7fd32ea510a914bb44a6983f1dacbb8/tumblr_n4tqroXCvS1qezyfdo1_500.jpg

This doesn't quite get across the full concept of how badly designed the forums, in particular, were - they showed the entire first post of a thread on the landing page for that forum, regardless of length, and it was criminally painful to try and scroll through for anything.I don't think there is a screenshot that could express how truly horrific it was.

But anyway! That was, while incredibly unfortunate, still not even the worst example of how poor the quality control was.

because tentacl had this... "get to know me" quiz system that seemed almost like it was borrowed from dating sites.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HRfp7NWkKBc/maxresdefault.jpg

as you may be able to guess from this screenshot, users put their answers in, and other users could take the quiz in order to get to know each other, earn gold (one of the only profitable ways - unlike Gaia, tentacl had no minigames), and unlock each other's Personal Information, whatever the person chose to provide

Making the "your face" image some form of meme was extremely popular.

In spite, or perhaps because of this, one of tentacl's major advertising phrases was something along the lines of being an "anonymous adult hangout." Yeah, okay, sure.

Anyway, this quiz - and I am so glad [Pokemon-obssessed friend], in particular, is here to be offended by this - had some serious errors in it. Usually fairly minor spelling and grammar errors, but nonetheless persistent. My absolute favorite question, however, asked which of three Pokemon you would choose to start your journey with  -

 Charizard 

Squirtle 

Bulbasaur

And that is without even getting into the user generated comment. Because hoboy, the user generated content.

Take your typical teenage Gaia Content, and make it ~adult~, and that's pretty much what you'd expect.

Straight up dick pics in the forums? Check. Everyone you know getting creepy PMs? check and double check - several friends went into the cesspit with me, of varying genders, and we all got at least two, including one of us being straight up asked for tit pics.

A few highlights -

http://68.media.tumblr.com/5bef1ec70df103e2320562d94c986979/tumblr_n9k2p5diLN1qjb2vmo1_500.png from the RP forums

http://68.media.tumblr.com/da3f7239d116f2340f49ca7036481400/tumblr_n9k7dqTraP1qjb2vmo1_500.png

http://68.media.tumblr.com/dcdea2ce7948b21dedde4f4bf1a63632/tumblr_n9kbotUjDP1qjb2vmo1_500.png this fine example of tentacl's ability at keeping minors out.

http://68.media.tumblr.com/374677c99684cc0d7668bee74cf7d5ec/tumblr_n9m6lqB7821qjb2vmo1_500.png this (nsfw/not safe for life text) from a "What's your weirdest fetish" thread, which routinely produced gems of substantial quality (and the occasional gag post such as "sex in the missionary position for the sole purpose of procreation," quite possibly my favorite post from the site and definitely my favorite from the Fedora Herd)

http://68.media.tumblr.com/11f3f5427de47dae028b8c18a494f85a/tumblr_n9qb9t62zS1qjb2vmo1_500.png this (sfw) from the "why do people have kinks" thread

http://68.media.tumblr.com/41fd1d1df08e9e1ea796b519b17ff954/tumblr_n9vlotdu8O1qjb2vmo1_500.png and this, featuring cis dudes being cis dudes and therefore gross.And a variety of other nonsense which I will leave you to discover at your leisure, via my liveblog tag from my time on the site:

http://starcrossed-sky.tumblr.com/tagged/tentacl+with+nai/chrono/

Roughly a year after opening, tentacl closed its doors and vanished from the internet, presumably because it wasn't profitable. By then I had long since gotten bored of it and moved on, but I will never forget the saga of my experiences there. After all, it provided my favorite RP starter line of all time - "Though, it was night, and it was crowded, hopefully no one would notice a man with two arms."

Thank you my friends, and goodnight.

[jackleveledup]

Game of the Year 2016: My Top Three

It's been a long road for Game of the Year and 2016 in general, but we finally made it to the top three! In case you missed it, there were a ton of other games I loved this year that I wrote about in a post I called "Very Good Games".

And one last thing before we close this out: thanks for reading!

#3. Hyper Light Drifter

This year, no single moment compared to the rush I got from my first chain-dash in Hyper Light Drifter. There's a primal satisfaction to the accelerating timing it demands, as each flash of pink and teal raises the pressure of the impending button press. Eventually I learned that it's not that good in combat and it's only one of many means of survival, yet it was at that precise moment that the game won me over.

I say this without exaggeration: Hyper Light Drifter is a visual masterpiece. Fans and Kickstarter backers have been drooling over screens for years now, and the reality seems to have even exceeded expectations. Environments overflow with lightly muted colors and all kinds of mystery, like enormous Evangelion-inspired beasts, esoteric symbols, and ruins of a civilization long since past. Animation is beautifully handled frame-by-frame, highlighting the tension in each action and closing off with a shimmer of vibrant neon.

It's not an easy game by any means, but success becomes its own reward. Every battle is a fury of bullets and blades with far more dead bodies than dead air. I found myself often getting lost in the chaos, only realizing a room was clear when my darting eyes couldn't find anything new to shoot at. What's unusual, though, is that I didn't find the boss fights to deliver the same sense of exhilaration as the average encounter along the way, but as a capstone to a difficult journey, they work well enough. Maybe I should just be grateful I was never tempted to chuck a controller.

Hyper Light Drifter is enthralling, both in its hectic gameplay and its unwordly atmosphere. I know without a doubt that I'll be back for another shot at deciphering what the hell happened to this world.

#2. Kirby: Planet Robobot

If you've ever daydreamed about what you'd do with your own giant super robot, Kirby: Planet Robobot is a game you need to play. I mean this in the best way possible: it seems like the game was designed by a 6 year old with complete creative authority.

"Give it a giant drill! No, saw blades! Give it flamethrowers! Make it transform into a car! AND a jet!"

Yep, those are all things you can do, and it owns!

The heart of Kirby games has always lied in their diverse power-ups: fire, ice, spark, hammer, bomb, and dozens of others. This time, the sizable set of abilities is doubled by applying not just to Kirby, but his huge, face-shaped armor suit. If Kirby gets a sword, his mech gets two massive beam-sabers. If Kirby gets a jetpack, his mech transforms into a jet! Discovering all of the ways these forms could be used was a joy that lasted me the entire length of the game.

With so many power-ups there's a staggering number of game mechanics at play, which HAL Laboratories take full advantage of in the level design. Whether its a puzzle requiring a certain power-up, a rare boss or ability, or simple visual flair, each stage has some kind of "gimmick" to separate it from the last. Ideas reappear only seldomly, and not without being somehow altered and built upon. Sometimes the game even pretends to be something else entirely, like the shmup style stages that utilize the "Jet" version of the robot armor, or the auto-scrolling stages in the "Wheel" armor. All of this leads to a collection of stages that feel memorable and worth revisiting.

Between its game design and its vast possibility-space, Planet Robobot executes on its concept almost as perfectly as I can imagine. I know Kirby isn't the top Nintendo franchise for most people, but given the run the series is having right now, I'm starting to seriously question how long my little pink creampuff will go underappreciated!

#1. VA-11 HALL-A

VA-11 HALL-A is a visual novel that sounds extremely good in theory - just read its tagline: "cyberpunk bartender action." You play as Jill, who works at a bar called Valhalla in a futuristic city of perpetual darkness, poor people, robots, androids, and most of all, strife. It operates pretty differently as a video game, though. It's often assumed that gameplay exists for the sole purpose of fun, but even for a visual novel, VA-11 HALL-A's simple mechanics took me more than a few drinks to warm up to. Kinda' like in real life, the process of mixing "Brandtinis" and "Bleeding Janes" isn't especially exciting after the first few times, and almost everyone visiting the bar seems to have way more going on in life than you. I just wasn't seeing how it came together. It took some time and careful thought, but by the end of the game it had shaped into something incredible.

It's all thanks to the bar's atmosphere that I stuck around at all, and man, did they nail it. First and foremost, this soundtrack is phenomenal. What woud otherwise be your average cyberpunk setting becomes a wondrous dystopia thanks to Garoad's deft, moody composition. Its implementation is sharp, too. Instead of having music set to match each scene, you're handed complete control over the playlist while on duty. There's a palpable realism to incidentally having serious talks over loud, upbeat music, or joking during an ominous buildup. It helps to give Jill some believable agency as a bartender, too. You can always decide what drink to serve, how strong to mix it, or what music you want to play, but not who comes in that night or what to talk about. Details matter, and the developers at Sukeban Games were paying careful attention.

While Jill herself doesn't seem to bring much nuance to the story (...at first), the rest of the cast handily pick up the slack. The pixel-based character portraits are surprisingly expressive and go a long way in realizing the game's zany, reference-loaded dialog. Dorothy is a definitive fan favorite - she's an android that was specifically engineered to have weaker emotional responses to things that humans often find traumatizing. This trait colors every one of her conversations with typical humans, especially once you figure out that she's a sex-worker. Her career is almost completely inconsequential to her and she LOVES to tease people about it, so the scenes that ensue whenever she meets someone new at Valhalla are pretty entertaining, to say the least. In general, though, Sukeban Games have a firm grasp on how to both play into tropes and subvert them, which allows them to hit their punchlines without compromising any drama during more serious scenes.

My favorite part about VA-11 HALL-A is how much of the narrative the player is trusted to piece together. For a visual novel there's suprisingly little exposition - almost none, actually! It's basically all conversations, and not even ones explicitly about current events. Your only glimpse at what's happening outside of the bar is limited to what you happen to hear, what you choose to read in the news or on shitty forums, and most importantly, what connections you can draw between them. It's amusing to talk to some of the bar's customers, for sure, but your impression might completely change when you realize what they're up to before they stop in or finish their last drink.

The way in which VA-11 HALL-A dismantled my first impression continues to impress me. As the credits rolled it made perfect sense that the bartender would feel less interesting than the guests she serviced. Maybe it shouldn't feel "fun" to Jill when she mixes a drink for a grumpy customer. Maybe it makes sense that a struggling bartender wouldn't have the clearest picture of the "what's" and "why's" of her city's politics. None of that is crucial to finding happiness anyway. VA-11 HALL-A highlighted aspects of life that I don't usually give a second thought to, in a way that feels uncommonly literary for a video game. It's probably not going to be a game for everyone, but to those that seek it out, the narrative at work is nothing short of intoxicating.