#and this was the only overhaul that added some consistency

[solvicrafts]

I feel slightly bad about the fact that I installed a mod that makes Garan look less like this

and instead like

THIS

but listen I have at least some standards

[mejomonster]

To get good at telling stories... writing stories... one must... practice by writing stories ;-;

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

[officialclangen]

CLANGEN: POTATO UPDATE

Clangen has updated! Cat and Sprite Changes: - New sprites for paralyzed, sick/injured, and newborn cats. - Separated vitiligo and points from white patches. It's now possible for a cat to have all three! - New vitiligo patterns: PHANTOM, MOON, and POWDER - New white patch pattern: PETAL - New eye colors: SILVER and BRONZE - New accessories: Nylon Collars (in all colors), and INDIGO and WHITE collars of all types! - New mask-based tortie system! Tortie patches can now be any color/pattern. - New tortie patch patterns: REDTAIL, DELILAH, MINIMALONE, MINIMALTWO, MINIMALTHREE, MINIMALFOUR, OREO, SWOOP, MOTTLED, SIDEMASK, EYEDOT, BANDANA, PACMAN, STREAMSTRIKE, ROBIN, ORIOLE, BRINDLE, and PAIGE. - Rare "Wildcard Torties", which bypass the normal rules for tortie patch color/pattern to allow for wacky combinations. - Smoke pelt colors have been slightly tweaked for consistency. GHOST smoke has been given lighter points. - New separate tint that is applied only to the white patch and point markings. - You can now favorite cats! You can toggle favorite cat indicators on the list and patrol screen. - Pregnancy is now a condition that may prevent cats from patrolling. - EXP limit has been increased, and the EXP levels have been renamed. - Apprentices now graduate based on EXP, rather than age. This can be turned off in settings, if desired. - Cats can now retire any time between 110 - 140 moons. - New prefixes, suffixes, and loner names! - Some prefixes and suffixes are now specific to your biome. - You can now override special rank suffixes for particular cats. - New randomize buttons on the change name screen. - Moved list of possible names to a .json for easier customization in compiled versions. - The code handling relationship events have been rewritten, and new types of relationship events are now possible. Relationship and Moon Events Changes: - New system for accessory moon events, alongside many new accessory events and possible "congratulatory" accessories after a cat gives birth. - There is now more variation in relationship initialization, which allows cats to have more varied relationships with their family. - Lots of new relationship events! - Group relationship events have been added. - Affairs have generally been made more common. - Lots of fun new moon events, including special events for medicine cats and elders with certain skills. Thoughts Overhaul: - Thought code has been reworked to be way more specific. - Cats can now have thoughts based on their status, age, backstory, and even permanent conditions! - This should also have fixed those pesky bugs where cats would think about dead or lost cats as if they were still around. - In light of this update, A TON of new thoughts were added. Other Significant Changes: - New auto-updater! The game will now alert you when a new version is available, and will update without the need to re-download. - New re-designed family page! More family relationships are now shown, and it's easier than ever to browse through a cat's lineage. - Save files are now stored in an OS-specific data directory. You will no longer need to move save files when updating. - Added a button in the settings menu to open the save data location in your file-explorer. - New backgrounds: Shipwreck and Crystal River - Revamped background: Gully - Overlapping cat sprites on the clan page has been reduced. Once two cats are on a single spot, that position is considered "full." - You can now choose the starting season when creating a new clan. - Most backgrounds have unique cat placements. - The appearance of the allegiances page has been changed, and descriptions have been updated to flow better. - On the allegiances page, kits will now be listed with their parent, if they have one. - Lots of new patrol artwork! - New error screen when saves fail to load, which gives more in-depth failure messages. - New custom cursor (it's a little paw!) - Lots of bugfixes and QOL tweaks!

[storm-driver]

hi, i have feelings about cartoon nostalgia and the audience perception of them 20 years on

this is gonna read hyper-specific, but bear with me

i refuse to credit butch hartman for the way danny phantom came out during it's first two seasons, at least outside of the initial pitch and the idea of the protagonist having white hair. i know the majority of enthusiasts for this show are more than aware of hartman's antics at this point. these anctics, i won't get into. other people are far more suited to explain that stuff vs me, a random guy on the internet. but there's very specific topics that i don't often see get brought up in detail, like the production and staff behind this show.

i'll get into it below the cut so as not to clutter your dashboard. but if you're not familiar with the actual production history of danny phantom, this might be interesting to read.

it's common knowledge these days that stephen silver is the one who developed the design for danny based on hartman's original rough sketches. the similarity between each drawing is apparent, but you can see clear as day which design was gonna be more apt for animation and overall audience allure back in 2003.

he also did character designs for hartman's other poster child, Fairly Oddparents. the trend is similar, though far from a huge concern. character design overhauls happen all the time in media production. designs might be too complicated for animation, so they get stripped down. or maybe things aren't complex enough and more nuance needs to be added. that's normal stuff, and i am not dunking on hartman for not nailing danny's design right out the gate. i'm pointing this out in case you've ever looked at butch hartman's recent work and wondered "how are these done by the same artist?"

the answer is they weren't. hartman had to adapt to stephen silver's conceptual designs in order to work on the storyboards. take from that what you will.

onto the actual writing.

butch barely wrote a single episode for this show's first two seasons.

steve marmel helped write at least 28 episodes of the original two seasons, with writers like sib ventress and marty isenberg bringing a good amount of episodes to the table, as well.

butch hartman is credited primarily for directing and storyboarding this show. the episode pitch and writing was by other people almost entirely. the ONLY episodes in the first two seasons that hartman is credited with having written are mystery meat, one of a kind and splitting images. and he's credited with co-writing these episodes alongside steve marmel and mark banker. ie, he did not write these episodes on his own. and allegedly, butch hartman had a tendency to be credited as a writer for an episode, even if he only wrote a few lines of dialogue. again, take from that what you will.

past that in season 3, he wrote infinite realms, torrent of terror, forever phantom, urban jungle, and ofc, phantom planet. which a lot of people know, these episodes in particular weren't the most enjoyable, nor was the overall direction of them very good.

a director's job is to make sure that the overall tone, feel, and message of the show is being kept consistent with intent. that means meeting with producers, who are the ones managing the, y'know, producing part of the whole project. it may sound like the director is the one heading the project if it's their job to keep things in check. which, i will not deny, hartman must've put in a good deal of work to make the show come out as well as it did.

but pile that with some of the off things per episode. the mean-spirited way that characters tend to be taught lessons, the voice direction getting a drastic change in season 3 (you can hear it explicitly with david kaufman suddenly going for higher pitches instead of the usual one he's done so far). there's really only one consistent motif in the entire show's OST. which isn't a bash against the music producer. it's a concern that the director of the show never asked him to change things up, and ONLY stuck to this one motif.

to briefly touch on the mean-spirited thing. there's multiple instances in the show where danny or someone else is seen fighting back against whatever has given them trouble, or they're taking matters into their own hands to ensure they won't be hurt ahead of time. and repeatedly, the show likes to kick these characters back down for trying to stand up. it's a trend in all of butch hartman's shows, and it's treated more like comedy than anything else. it's up to audience perception on how to view it. but for me personally, it starts to feel like an overused gag and turns into something more malevolent after seeing it overused almost every single episode.

okay besides that, i actually wanna look at specific examples of episodes that steve marmel wrote for. again, this is the guy who's more or less responsible for the show's serialization.

the complete list of episodes is as follows:

Mystery Meat, Parental Bonding, One of a Kind, Attack of the Killer Garage Sale, Splitting Images, What You Want, Bitter Reunions, Prisoners of Love, My Brother's Keeper, Shades of Gray, Fanning the Flames, Teacher of the Year, Fright Night, 13(Thirteen), Public Enemies, Memory Blank, Reign Storm, The Ultimate Enemy, The Fright Before Christmas, Secret Weapons, Flirting with Disaster, Micro Management , Kindred Spirits, and Reality Trip.

multiple episodes listed here are from the first season, which a lot of people consider the show's best. and of the handful listed for season 2, he wrote all of the hour-long specials.

i would be here for hours talking about how steve marmel tackles all of these characters and concepts significantly better than hartman does in season 3. but that's a topic best praised elsewhere. point is, if you watched any of these episodes and thought to yourself "wow, that was actually kinda clever," steve marmel is more or less the guy responsible.

butch hartman was in charge of direction, but that does not give him exclusive credit for every single line of dialogue or plot beat. there could be a LOT we just don't know because people on production staff don't want to comment. but the writing consistency taking a dive off the board by season 3, which is the same season that steve marmel departed from the project due to conflicting direction in the story? you might deduce that butch hartman was not the prized writer and artist behind this otherwise beloved cartoon.

to dredge up an easier-to-tackle target, season 3.

my criticisms are 18-year old echoes at this point, you've heard them all. from otherwise pointless episodes that don't develop the characters or world, to completely out-of-touch writing (looking at you, phantom planet) that juxtaposes the characters with everything we've been told about them so far. it became a slog of a season that didn't have any build-up to it's finale. the occasional gem of an episode like frightmare helped in some aspects. or the promise for something later with d-stabilized. but it all gets swept under the rug thanks to a rushed finale with poor build-up, bad writing direction for the characters, and most importantly, an unlasting effect on the viewer. (or a negative lasting effect, which is arguably worse)

for a season that knew it was on its last leg before inevitably needing to give up, there's seldom few episodes dedicated to advancing an overall narrative, and thus give a slimmer of hope for a satisfying conclusion. instead, the show goes all in with villain-of-the-week stories, and even the returning villains are hardly taken seriously or given more to do besides just being there.

of course, we know the reason steve marmel had left the project was because hartman wanted the show not to taken a more story-focused drive. it almost starts to feel like spite that kept the show so horribly grounded, letting it become stagnant before eventually being forgettable.

all this is in service of letting people know, it really wasn't butch hartman that made the show, not alone. death of the author and all that nonsense aside, he pitched the concept. and it takes a lot of love and dedication to make a concept something you can physically see and adore. don't let him swath in all the credit. recognize the others who made the work you can still enjoy.

[ashleyloob]

Hi!

From someone who is disorganized and discouraged, I would love advice on weight-lifting/building muscle. Would you share your understanding of building muscle and the breakdown of diet?

If possible, could you share how you apply what you know to yourself? If you use any tools to help you?

Struggled with working out, gaining weight, and eating my whole life. Thanks!

prefacing this with some important info for fellow disorganized scatterbrains!!!!

the main reason why ppl have trouble sticking to a lifestyle change is because they try to make very drastic changes too quick, and you get overwhelmed and it becomes unsustainable. this is especially an issue for neurodivergent folks, and since it's Tumblr I assume a good chunk of y'all are (me too dw)

DON'T immediately overhaul ur diet and hit the gym 5x a week from day 1!!! hitting tiny goals consistently is also more rewarding than working towards one very large arbitrary goal that you might not reach, esp when it comes to working out. start veeery small if u need to, such as only 10 bodyweight squats per day like i did and go from there. you wanna program ur brain into feeling accomplished to keep you motivated. patience is key!!!!

ok!! now onto the more detailed info below

Disclaimer: I'm still a newbie myself!! only consistently lifting heavy for about 3 months as of this post. I did a good deal of excessive info diving on lifting using the power of Sheer Autism, and my main gym buddy is very experienced & taught me a good chunk of this shit so shout-out to my pal for making all this possible xoxo

so good news!! "building muscle" is very easy for beginners starting from zero. newbie gainz are absolutely real. at this stage you can do just about anything at the gym and get stronger bc u can only go up. BUT!! if you structure it, you can make the process enjoyable and much more efficient. if you're goal oriented (lookin at u ADHD menaces), you'll love the concept progressive overload.

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD & SETS/REPS

wikipedia defines progressive overload as: a method of strength training and hypertrophy training that advocates for the gradual increase of the stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous system. in layman's terms, it just means gradually adding more weight as you work out to increase the difficulty as you get stronger. progress is VERY easy to track because of this, and you'll be hitting PRs pretty much every week for the first couple of months and that shit feels fantastic because you physically feel yourself getting stronger so rapidly. I use the app Strong to track my workouts. so, how do we structure progressive overload? that's through sets/reps. A rep is a single execution of an exercise. 1 squat is one rep. 2 squat is 2 reps. and so on. A set is a collection of reps. The format is Sets x Reps, for example: 3x5 means 3 sets of 5 reps. You will rest between sets, and it's typically anywhere from 1 minute all the way up to 5 minutes depending on the level of exertion/type of training you are doing. Heavier weights mean longer rest periods and vice versa.

WHERE DO I EVEN START??

For those interested in barbell training: the r/fitness beginner routine is pretty good! I also recommend 5x5 stronglifts. both are very straightforward, but also note the typical olympic barbell is 45lbs. If this is a weight you struggle with, you can begin with bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, or machines at the gym which are all very BEGINNER beginner friendly. especially when it comes to legs you're probably much stronger than you think. Most people can squat 45lbs first try. don't be afraid -- you're standing on those things all day, they can support hella weight. Like I mentioned earlier, don't be afraid to start veeeery small and work your way up from there. I started at home with doing only bodyweight squats without the barbell, then added on benching with light 7lb dumbbells after a week, then impulse signed up for a gym membership a month later and began to go there to use equipment and now i'm deadlifting over 100lbs as a tiny girl that previously was too weak to even lift a 40lb dog. it snowballs quicker than you think once you gain confidence in your own body and its abilities!

WOAH I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SQUAT/DEADLIFT/BENCH/THIS IS SCARY AND IM FUCKING UP

If you can, i highly recommend getting a personal trainer to assist you, or tag along with a gymrat pal to show you the ropes. This page is also a good resource to learn specific lifts. otherwise, youtube is your best friend. you can record your sets and compare your form to form tutorials on youtube, and actively take notes on what to change the next time you work out. Be an active learner!!! be aware of what muscles are engaged when you lift and how your body feels. almost NOBODY gets it right the first time, esp with barbells. we've all made fools out of ourselves at the gym as beginners it's chill. i find people at the gym are very nice and willing to help you out if you're struggling, and people don't judge at all-- it's very easy to get in your own head in these spaces but most humans there are supportive and want you to succeed, especially since it's a hobby they are also passionate about. the more you do it, the less anxious you get. exposure therapy is very effective!! Also, almost all the barbell exercises can be replaced with smaller dumbbells, and you can do them at home if you get your own set + a workout bench (pretty cheap if u get secondhand, check facebook marketplace/craigslist). i got mad social anxiety myself so i understand sometimes you just can't, and this is an option for those that find public spaces overwhelming.

DIET

I personally don't think specialized diets/precise macro tracking is super duper important for newbies/casuals, only moderately important (spicy take for some but whatever). but you probably naturally will take an interest in diet once you realize it'll help you perform significantly better in the gym. the only macro i track is protein. You can use a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator to roughly estimate the amount of protein you need for maximum gainz. it's usually around .7-1g of protein for every pound of lean body mass (weight that isn't fat mass). Imma be real it's pretty hard for me to hit the recommended protein goal and most days I don't because my appetite just can't kick in for the amount it demands, and protein is super filling. I found that if i decreased the amount of carbs i eat, i am able to consume more protein bc i guess there's more room in my stomach lol. i eat a fuck ton of greek yogurt, chicken, fish, and tofu. when i started working out, i begin cooking a lot more and found i naturally craved less processed junk foods and snacks because the protein was keeping me full all day which is a plus! Even when im not regularly hitting my protein goal my gym progress is still going well and I think it's simply because my diet is A LOT better than what it used to be in my gremlin days. I also eat a lot more now that i've gained a bit of muscle, so do be prepared for food costs to go up as your metabolism increases and demands more energy to upkeep your gainz.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR ME TO LOOK LIKE A MUSCLE MOMMY????

a whileeee. over a year, probably, unless if you're on anabolic steroids (dont ever do that u will quite literally die). and physique is mostly from diet since it's dependent on your body fat percentage, the saying "abs are made in the kitchen" is true. its why you see hyper skinny terminally indoors gamer dudes with abs, even if they'd snap in half if you farted in their general direction. those mfs barely eat they too busy being gamers i am no longer interested in lifting for aesthetics personally since i get more joy from hitting PRs and i'm pretty content with my body image, but ik physique is the reason why most people get into lifting so i'll touch on it. Weightlifting on its own will not make you lose weight or fat. Again, it needs to be supplemented with a healthy sustainable diet (DO NOT DO CRASH DIETS THAT SHIT IS GARBAGE) and a form of cardio. I actually gained 8lbs since I began lifting from water retention & new muscle mass (muscle is more dense than fat, your body retains water when repairing muscle after a gym sesh) but my measurements and pants size have remained the same. I'm short, so something as small as a 5lb increase usually bumped me up a pants size but it didn't this time bc im gettin swole :') if you want to track physique changes, measuring your waistline & progress pics is a better way to do so than the scale. If you want bigger muscles, look into hypertrophy training. it's a tad different from strength training, mainly because you do higher reps at a lower weight.

[mayfay]

Hardening Analysis

To preface this, this will be my first proper analysis of a canon character, so be patient with me here. Also Kirishima Did Not cooperate on this one. 2 days and multiple hours of digging and research for Just this.

To start with a brief overview, Kirishima has a transformation quirk called Hardening that allows him to “harden” his body. This is usually indicated by his body becoming a series of flat edges, with incredible durability and strength added on. When pushed to the extreme in his “Unbreakable” form, sections of skin rise up and overlap each other as well as gain “cracks” all along his body resembling the metamorphic cleavage lines of some minerals. Another aspect that should be brought up is that his quirks limit is based on stamina drain. The “harder” he becomes over more area, the greater the drain on his stamina. Damage to these hardened areas also eats into his stamina pool, though it seems like by training his quirk he becomes more efficient and has a larger stamina pool to drain from (as evidenced by his growth between the Sports Festival and the Overhaul arc).

Now this all seems like it lines up very well. No inconsistencies, no strange happenings to pick at, just a simple consistent transformation quirk. Well Guess What! I Got his ass! There is More to Hardening and I have Found it!

First off there are some minor inconsistencies. For one Kirishima's Unbreakable form has raised skin all over his body, and yet this doesn’t cause him any damage and goes away after de-transforming. Also the lines that appear during hardening aren’t given any explanation, they’re just there and act to highlight how far hardening has spread. More damningly is the Overhaul arc though. In it Kirishima fights Rappa, who severely damages him, to this point that he’s missing a large section of arm. However that section doesn’t experience Any bleeding, whereas the wounds on his slightly hardened face do. And after the fight ends? Kirishima Just had a large section of arm torn off and doesn’t have access to Any healing quirks, and yet he Lives. He lives and doesn’t have Any physical therapy afterwards. No lasting damage, no bleeding out, Nothing.

So how? How does he do it? Well the only explanation I can think of that doesn’t require a bunch of coincidences is if “Hardening” comes with an extra healing aspect to it. But wait! How the hell does “Hardening” = Healing?! Well what if Kirishimas quirk Wasn’t Hardening. What if it was something incredibly similar but with far different mechanics? What if he had, for lack of a better term, “Crystallization”. More specifically what if Kirishima's quirk allowed for some measure of control over the atoms in his body. The ability to change them into a more crystalline pattern and Keep them there.

This would certainly explain some things. First off keeping everything together would cost energy, which his quirk processes his stamina to produce. And as crystalized sections are hit? As an outside force tries to Shatter him? His quirk would fight back, Forcing the atoms to stay put and unbroken. This kind of power would take energy, energy that would need to be taken by the quirk in the form of his stamina. If Kirishima had simple hardening this likely wouldn’t be the case, damage simply hurting him rather than eating away at his limit. His healing is in a similar situation. Regular Hardening wouldn’t grant any form of recovery, but if his quirk is forcing everything into predetermined shapes then inconsistencies would need to be patches, inconsistencies like wounds. Of course this would eat away at his stamina pool and we can’t risk the damage from outpacing his healing. If that were to happen then sections of Crystallization would need to be dropped or the whole body might fracture. How to combat this? Well if the body is forming crystal structures, it would be ridiculously easy to simply shave off sections if too much force to counter is applied. By shaving off sections of damaged tissue the underlying sections would be exposed, but could be quickly crystalized in specific areas to limit bleeding until de-transformation when the stamina pool can be safely drained for emergency healing. Of course this implies that Crystallization also redirects damage across crystalized sections to prevent internal damage, but considering the hits Kirishima takes throughout the series that’s not really up for debate (barring his Whole body crystalizing, but that would take stupid amounts of energy and the lack of blood from the arm wound during the Rappa fight indicates crystalized sections don’t operate as fully as they do when de-transformed).

Crystallization also explains some more minor inconsistencies, specifically his strength and overlapping skin in Unbreakable form. The strange skin formations could be Crystallization increasing the area's volume, but not having the required space. This could be handled by “lifting up” and overlapping over other sections of skin, creating the effect seen in Kirishima's new form. The strength aspect has ties back to the “reset-healing” aspect of Crystallization. By “resetting” his muscles they would spring back, causing the associated movement. This would cause a massive increase in speed and strength at the cost of potentially damaging the muscle. However, when combined with the healing portion of Crystallization this damage from hysterical strength would be healed up without trouble, and potentially even leave the muscle Stronger than before seeing as micro-tears in muscles cause an increase in their strength.

Now of course while this Seems like an upgrade from Hardening, and it certainly Is, there are some weaknesses Kirishima's quirk brings with it. The first one would be that Crystallization offers little protection against more elemental powers. Don’t get me wrong, he would certainly be better at taking a hit than a random passerby, but powers like electricity or mental quirks would still have some level of effect. This is actually supported in canon as the One(1) non-physical quirk Kirishima goes up against is one called Meatball, which immediately incapacitates him. Now this isn’t Entirely fair seeing as this was meant as a moment to make Bakugo shine and Meatball directly counters Crystallization (even more than it would Hardening), but it’s worth bringing up.

The second and equally important weakness is that the body was Not built for straight edges, and that has consequences. The first one is very hypothetical, seeing as I don’t believe Crystallization goes to far below the skin when possible, but if the lungs were to crystalize they would be Far less effective at delivering oxygen. Specifically the alveoli are a small circular portion of the lungs that’s responsible for oxygen distribution to the lungs, and that circular shape is to maximize how much is distributed. By crystallizing they become all sharp edges, reducing oxygen efficiency. At first this low oxygen would simply cause cells to produce energy without oxygen, known as anaerobic respiration, which produces lactic acid. Lactic acid sets off nerves like Crazy, which is that burning sensation you feel when exercising. As things intensify though Kirishima would begin to suffer from oxygen deprivation, which has a variety of symptoms but most notably includes wheezing, disorientation, and confusion. Very similar to his state after the Rappa fight, though that’s explained by the adrenaline crash and likely concussion.

Now the second major body weakness due to Crystallization I found was in the eyes. See, the eyes are circular for a reason, mess with that and light reflection gets wonky. More specifically, while flattened (as seen in the Rappa fight) the outermost sections of eye, known as the cornea, would reflect light further back instead of where it’s supposed to, leading to farsightedness. And the cornea isn’t the only part away from the iris, you also have what’s known as the anterior chamber. Flattening this chamber causes its own issues, but most notably its been found that prolonged flattening of this specific region causes damage to the organs in the eye. Now this Would be handled by Kirishima's healing aspect (further supporting its existence), it does mean that prolonged transformation risks worsening vision if healing can’t keep up.

Now every quirk comes with natural mutations to better handle it, but Kirishima is quite lacking in this department. The only major mutations I could think of is potentially thicker skin to give Crystallization more to work with, a larger mouth/lungs to more efficiently take in oxygen when fighting (especially if Crystallization affects the lungs), and some sharper teeth. Now the teeth could very easily be a vestigial mutation from a family member, but it could also be an expression of his Crystallization, with his teeth being permanently crystallized. This would result in them being far harder and sharper than average teeth of a similar shape, and potentially slowly train his quirk over time as it keeps up the mutation.

Some quick side notes that didn’t easily fit in elsewhere. Thanks to how hardness is measured, how much flakes off when scratched, Kirishima's quirk keeping everything together when possible means that he would have a Much higher hardness than his skin would naturally have, even while transformed (so “Hardening” in a sense) (he would also be highly resistant to fire for a similar reason, as heat wouldn’t be able to vibrate the atoms to damage or melt him as planned). He also displays some control over his hardening on the bus to USJ when he sharpens his fists rather than bulks them up, something I never caught him doing in battle when it might harm someone. It’s also worth pointing out that higher Crystallization levels might be an indicator to the quirk to up the healing in that area, rather than being an automatic process. This is most supported by the fact that while the arms were heavily crystallized and suffered no bleeding, his face was only lightly crystallized and Did bleed.

[missy-hissy]

This is a fair-sized update with a lot of fixes for LE’s, a small overhaul for the Fear of Death and other changes.

Fixes ~ Fixed a BetterExceptions Conflict report. I’d accidentally left a duplicate High School Years want in the Base Game file. I was consistent however and made the exact same changes to the files. ~ Edited the Toddler want for ‘Ask For Food’ which was being persistent even when the toddler wasn’t hungry. Now the want will only come up when a toddler is actually hungry. ~ Reinstated some whimsets that had been deleted by Maxis. ~ Reinstated some whims Maxis have deleted. These are commonly whims that Maxis Left Behind when upgrading to Wants. Originally they left them in the code but lately they’ve taken to deleting them. Now I’m reinstating them. ~ Updated the ‘Had A Bad Workday’ whimset to show up a bit more intelligently instead of when it feels like it. ~ Updated the ‘Unemployed’ whimset to be reactionary so your Sims will be more likely to want to get a job if they don’t already have one. (make sure to grab the newest update for Custom Wants for this to work). ~ Changed some Wants to be more Reactionary and appropriate; eg Fertilise Bush will now only come up if the Sim’s bladder need is low. ~ Removed the new liked music whimset (Growing Together).

Fears ~ Tweaked the Fear of Death so Vampires and Immortal Werewolves do not get this fear. Also, Sims should now only get this fear if they actually get electrocuted when repairing an electrical item; not just because they’re repairing it. ~ Added interactions from the following Fears to the correct social context sub-categories: - Fear of The Dark - Fear of Unfulfilled Dreams - Fear of Commitment ~ Added implications of re-gaining a Fear of Commitment.

Read More and Download Here

[dnalt-d2]

(Alright, it's long post time again, this time about the Admin Drama)

So we're hearing a lot about some behind-the-scenes drama, and unfortunately, it's making a lot of things make a lot more sense in retrospect

For example, the fact that French Creators have been consistently overlooked makes sense when you learn that there have apparently only been 2 French Admins on the team, with one of them being fired recently, and the other one being potentially removed from the whitelist for the server, for reasons that are likely not even true

Throughout big events, there's always been a sense that people weren't 100% sure what was going on, and if I'm being honest, I found that at least somewhat excusable at the time

This is a big project, bigger than any other Minecraft-Related project I know about, with over a dozen different content creators and at least 5 different languages. I can understand at least to a certain point, that trying to balance that many different storylines, and keep the overarching storyline intact, can be a challenge, that I doubt many people would have the sufficient experience to deal with properly, especially with all the other added hurdles of managing the language/culture barrier. I was willing to chalk it up to Growing Pains, that they were realizing the mistakes as they happened and would hopefully not repeat them in the future

(Basically, to me it felt like a DND Campaign, where each player does have the choice to make their own stories and character arcs in said Campaign. However, it's up to the DM's discretion on what they can use, since they still have to keep the overarching plot going. While they should try as hard as they can to include what makes each player happy, there might be a point that what the player wants to do isn't compatible with the current plan, and it's up to the DM whether or not they can actually do it)

However, to at least some extent, that is clearly not the case. It's been made very apparent that someone, likely multiple people on the Admin Team, is horribly mismanaging things that we aren't able to see fully. From manufacturing drama, to taking advantage of passionate people who simply love the project, to outright ignoring some of the Content Creators that are also keeping this project alive and therefore being actively detrimental to this communication-based project

As of now, I'm hearing that Quackity himself doesn't seem to have much to do with this directly. And once again, if that's true, I can understand it, at least a little. Running a project and participating in that project can be difficult, and be actively detrimental to their enjoyment. So to a certain point, I can understand not being SUPER heavily involved in every single thing behind-the-scenes and leaving some of it to other people. However, this is clearly not working. If he really didn't know much about what was going on, then he either needs to find someone he can actively trust to make sure this sort of thing doesn't continue, or take a much heavier role in the management to keep it from happening again

He's said before that he's been losing money because of QSMP but doesn't care because it's his passion project, and I would like to believe that. From what we've seen, he does actively love doing this, and seems to be really passionate about breaking down these communication barriers, and he has done a lot to that end. But it can't come at the expense of others, who are the backbone of these sorts of projects. I really hope he does something to take care of this, even it it means shutting down QSMP temporarily to do a complete overhaul of Admin Management

(I would also like to say that if Pomme's admin really gets permanently fired for all of this, I'll be actually seriously upset. She's put way too much time and effort into the server (FOR FREE, WE NOW KNOW) and has been playing alongside numerous CCs and boosting the enjoyment of them as well as the people watching them. Not to mention that she's now the ONLY French Admin at the moment that we know of, and not having ANY French Admins would be a serious problem)

I've loved QSMP almost since it started, and I would love to see it continue. But it can't be at the expense of peoples' health, mental health, and livelihoods. If people are doing work like this, they deserve to be compensated appropriately, and treated right. Otherwise, there isn't a point in this. Here's hoping that these problems can be properly addressed and resolved, and I hope everyone is alright during whatever happens next

[cindylouwho-2]

Etsy Deletes the Reselling and Gift Baskets Legal Policies In Favour of New "Creativity Standards"

This morning (July 9, 2024) Etsy released several announcements regarding what can be sold on Etsy, new categorizations for items sold on Etsy, and a new ad campaign. You can read my early thoughts on that here.

As part of this overhaul, they abolished 2 longstanding site policies, namely the ban on reselling in the handmade category, and the ban on almost all gift baskets containing commercial goods. Since they deleted those pages and didn't even mention those rules in any of their announcements, I have preserved those now-dead policies below. Thanks to Bing for still having caches of deleted pages!

First , the Reselling policy (text follows the screenshot)

text of screenshot:

"You have reached the cached page for https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/reselling/239324376512

Below is a snapshot of the Web page as it appeared on 2024-07-08 

Reselling

“Reselling” is selling an item that you, the seller, did not make or design. Etsy's marketplace includes handmade items, vintage items, and craft supplies. Reselling is only allowed in the vintage and craft supplies categories.

Everything listed in our Handmade category must be made or designed by you, the seller. Reselling is not allowed in Handmade. Read more in our Handmade Policy.

Examples of prohibited reselling include the following:

Creatively repackaging commercial items (for example a gift basket consisting of non-handmade items)

Curating a collection of others’ handmade goods that you did not design or make

Selling items made or designed by another seller who is not part of your shop

Selling traditional handicrafts or fair trade items that you did not design or make

Offering personalization as optional, or featured as a separate item (i.e. an add-on card, gift tag or written note), without altering or changing the commercial item.

Etsy reserves the right to remove listings that do not follow our policies. Sellers remain obligated to pay any fees incurred in listing such items.

Last updated on Jul 25, 2023"

And finally, the policy Etsy outright ignored for many years, the Gift Baskets policy:

"You have reached the cached page for https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/gift-baskets/239976666926

Below is a snapshot of the Web page as it appeared on 2024-07-07 (the last time our crawler visited it).

Gift Baskets

Repackaging or creatively curating commercial items for resale as a gift basket or set is not allowed in the Handmade category, unless it is part of a new structure (see below).

You may not group new items you did not make into a basket or set even when based on a theme, idea, or life event.

For example, a care package for new parents, a college student, or somebody experiencing an illness containing any new items you did not make is not allowed, no matter how caringly curated it otherwise is.

DO: Include only qualifying handmade, vintage, or crafting supply items. DON’T: Include any mass produced item in a gift basket, unless it is part of a new structure.

If you wish to sell an item that contains some commercial components, this may be possible only if the commercial items 1) have been used as components that form a new structure or sculpture and 2) are physically attached to one another.

For example, a diaper cake is an item where components are creatively attached to each other to create a new item.

DO: Creatively use mass-produced items to form a new structure where the items are physically attached to one another. DON’T: Include newly-made, mass-produced items in a gift basket unless they are part of a qualifying structure.

Last updated on May 3, 2022"

I will have more thoughts on this on my main website blog soon, but yes, this means that many commercial items are now officially allowed to be sold on Etsy, as long as they are listed correctly.

[feudalconnection]

Feedback Form

Earlier this year, we had a Feedback Form open to hear some of the fandom's thoughts on how FeudalConnection should be run, issues they've run into in the past, as well as what the mod-team can do better moving forward. Some of those issues and concerns we wanted to address publicly in case others had those same concerns.

What happened to the LGBTQ+ categories? When FeudalConnection was in its infant stages, Best LGBTQ+ Romances were staples in the list of categories people could nominate into. However, as the years passed, nominations for those categories began to dwindle. The mod-team then decided to bring them back as Roulette Categories one time per year around June to honor Pride Month and those creations. Even still, there isn't as much participation for those categories. That being said, the mod-team is very much open to continue trying to work those categories back into the fold to honor those relationships. Please note that LGBTQ+ pairings are always welcomed to be nominated into Best Romance.

Why are stories being nominated into Best Romance categories that don't seem to fit? Determining what is romantic is a subjective viewpoint, meaning that it is different for everyone and can be interpreted by everyone differently. Although one romantic/sexual relationship is not portrayed well to one person, it does not mean that same relationship isn't being portrayed well to another. The mod-team respects the subjectivity of romantic natures and will continue to do so moving forward.

What is the fandom's opinion on AI as a whole? The mod-team heard you loud and clear. At this point in time, AI is not widely accepted by the fandom and thus will continue to not have a place within FeudalConnection. Moving forward, AI will not be allowed within FC in any media, and the mod-team will do their best to filter it.

Would FC consider collections on AO3 where nominations or winners' fics could be added/bookmarked to? Absolutely! FC actually already has AO3 collections where past winners have been added to individual term collections. However, the mod-team hasn't done a great job with keeping it updated. We hope to give it a major overhaul in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled!

It felt like in the past that there was favoritism shown with categories or nominations. We hear you and understand your concerns. However, FC is not built on favoritism, as much as some people seem to believe that. The moderators have no control outside of the parameters in place as to who is nominated or wins in each category. The fandom as a whole are the ones who nominate works/creators and vote for their favorites. The moderators will continue to do our best to make FC as diverse as possible, but it ultimately is up to those within the fandom on who is being recognized.

I don't feel comfortable participating in FC because the mods don't bother to ensure the integrity of the event with things like AI art and there's no category management. It's clear you're here for the attention and fame, and not at all for an event with integrity and honor. We're sorry that you feel that way. Since FC's inception, it has always been run on the premise of integrity and honor. AI art has only recently become a hot button issue. Within FC, there has only been one issue that regarded AI, and it was dealt with swiftly and accordingly. The only reason further discussion of AI continues to happen is to obtain a better understanding of the fandom's position on the issue, nothing more. As for category management, they are mostly set in stone except for the Roulette categories, and the nominations are consistently held to the definitions of the categories in which they are nominated into. Your definitions of those categories may not line up with the definitions that are in place, but those definitions are what FC is abiding by at this time.

There seems to be favoritism and a popularity contest within FeudalConnection, as the same people are nominated each term. It has been said many times in the past that FeudalConnection is *not* a popularity contest, nor will it ever be. There are many creators within this fandom and many who create more content than others. Creating more content means more opportunities to be able to get your work noticed and recognized. That being said, the mod-team has no say over who is nominated or who wins outside of the parameters we have put in place. The fandom is responsible for how the awards turn out. FC was never created to see "who is the most popular". It is a place for creators to be recognized - those who are well known and those who have only created one piece. The real prize of FC is not "winning" but being recognized by your fellow creators and fandom lovers, who adore a piece so much that they need to share it with the rest of the world. It's a place to show gratitude for all the hard work our fandom creators put into fandom because without them, there wouldn't really be a fandom.

Several other concerns were brought to the mod-team's attention within the Feedback Form, and these did not go unnoticed! We are tucking away those tidbits to mull over further and perhaps implement in the future.

Thank you again to all of those who gifted us feedback! Remember, our inbox is always open, and if it feels as if it's needed, we will have another feedback form in the future.

Much love, - FeudalConnection

[morningstargirl666]

When is The Big Bad Wolf Act 2 coming out?? Are you going to release monthly or all at once?? (I just finished the series and I’m in love 🩷🩷 no rush to write, just wondering if you have an idea because you have loyal readers waiting to love it!!! Have a great day <3)

Hello! Lovely to meet you and thank you so much for reading, that fic is a BEAST. So glad you enjoyed it!

So. When is the next update coming out? [nervous laughter]

Thing is, I told myself now I'm halfway i'll go back and edit, smooth things out before this fic literally becomes too long to tackle and that kinda...turned into a full rewrite?

I'm not changing the plot. That's exactly the same. But my ideas for the lore have changed since I first started writing and I wanted to add in a whole lot more of characterisation and set up for the chapters to come. I rewrote The Little Wolf back in December and recently did some tweaking to chapter 5 of it just this last week (I couldn't work out how to fix it when I first did the rewrite but I had an EPHIPHANY okay). So The Little Wolf is around 35k now, which is a huge difference to the 11k it was in November when I posted chapter 35 of tbbw. It's got tons of new scenes, a sharper forcus on the Mikaelson siblings not just Klaus and two whole new chapters. Of course, you've probably already read that as it is posted and you're a new reader, but that's what I was doing before Christmas, essentially.

As for The Big Bad Wolf itself...boy, where do I start. I'm approaching 85k on the rewrite...only on chapter 7. Which technically used to be chapter 6, because I got 5 chapters in before I added a new chapter. I guess that's a record for my restraint, at least.

So, in terms of what's happening: I'm re-writing tbbw. The plot isn't changing, but new scenes are being added, conversations are being tweaked, the lore is being more consistently fleshed out. Grammar for dialogue is being given a complete overhaul because that was a mess. But. Listen. It's so much better. It's so fucking better. I re-read the chapters I've done and in some places, the drafts aren't quite finished yet, like my writer brain is like fix this later BUT omg it's like, THE shit. It's so good. I've very excited.

I'm not sure how long it will take to finish. I might be able to stop halfway and post the rewritten/edited chapters I've got so far but I make no promises because I feel more inclined to keep going and get it all done in one. Some chapters won't need much work at all as they've been more heavily edited in the past (chapter 8 and 9 should be done pretty quickly, just giving them a facelift), while others I'm really ripping into. There's one chapter I know I'll either delete or delete scenes from to be replaced with something else (don't worry, the scenes will go into my deleted scenes fic on ao3, it's not gone forever).

So yeah. At the rate I'm going, I'm not gonna lie, it may take till the summer before I get all this editing done AND finish the new chapter 36 update - and you may get two new chapters at once, because it might be a long one and I might split it. But by the end of it, tbbw won't be 378k anymore. It'll probably be closer 450k. So you'll get a 50k+ update (along with some bonus stuff) to the whole fic and then a week later I'll post the new chapters (I used to post fornightly, a chapter every two weeks, and I'll go back to that when I'm done).

But yeah. I've written like, 110k since December, which for context is is closing in on the equivalent of the second book of TLOTR trilogy: The Return of the King was 137,115 words. That's an epic novel's worth. In three months.

An arguement could be made that I'm making this fic way too long but I don't really care? I love writing this. It makes my head spin and makes me tear my hair out but...it's so much fun too. And I get to rewrite canon, the way it should have been (we were so ROBBED 😭😭😭), so hey! It's free therapy too! I'm not going to stop as long as I'm loving every second.

Thanks for reading, and thank for listening to my insane plans! Hopefully, I'll see you there on ao3 when this fic is back for business!!

-And it WILL be back.

[retphienix]

I won't harp on it after this because overall the update looks "fine" and honestly, why bother. The community has a very vocal (generally) shithead core sharing their discontent, my own discontent just blends right in so why bother.

I guess to vent half about HD2 (like 40% serious 60% "It's not that bad, I still like it") and PD3 (90% serious, 10% "It had potential and I wish they'd pull their heads out of their asses and actually do something about it")

but spoilers to my read more. This is emblematic of helldivers balance philosophy and I think that's ill-advised.

It's still a lot more of a "Here's a handful of nerfs, a couple lore-based buffs which are nice, and then we added more content" update than the "Here's a complete balance overhaul because balance is in a BAD state right now" update that I desperately wanted it to be,

(At least it's not a "We dropped massive patrol changes with zero testing and nerfed everything good again" update)

but I will be a little immature shit and just point at this as a flashing red flag / beacon of "Misguided balance philosophy / misplaced priorities in the face of a game that continues to nerf players and buff enemies with a complete disregard for what's FUN" - it's frankly, emblematic of how Helldivers gets balance adjusted.

Reliability is a negative trait.

Alright, I guess.

At least they are being consistent. If there's anything you can reliably (heh) say the helldiver devs think is a core issue and major problem in their game, even with the old CEO stepping down to "adjust the mentality" of the balance decisions, it's that "Reliability" is a HUGE problem and should NEVER be in their game.

Just look at the Quasar nerfs or (along with a HEFTY dose of completely misunderstanding their own game and punishing a weapon for a BUG instead of fixing the bug) the old railgun nerfs.

If it works and it works well, nerf that shit. No questions asked.

The worst part is on paper with zero context, yeah fair!

Same with the other nerfs I mentioned- "Railgun one shots the boss enemy? Nerf it" "EVERYONE is using Quas as anti armor? Nerf it that's too one note" but the refusal to ask a single question before doing so is just so fucking frustrating and draining.

Like do I care so deeply about the incen nerf to be like "It's all over", no, I don't even use it much since I prefer bot fights lately, but I do feel complete disinterest in playing because the nerf didn't come alongside other weapons being brought up- and this is consistent.

What is there to be excited about?

Not to draw a silly comparison but this is the same exact problem I had with the proposed and then cancelled nerf Payday 3 was gonna get.

PD3 (don't bother playing it) has a skill system where you can make a custom build to play the game with.

It is considered ATROCIOUSLY stripped down and uninteresting compared to PD2's skill system- with an over-emphasis on micro-managing pointless buffs in order to get pointless tiny little payoffs that overall make every build feel tedious and unfun to maintain and lacking in impact.

It also had one combo of skills that was actually fun and good.

Something that gave the illusion of an actual "build" with impactful gameplay and a unique feel- that being a build that effectively let you have an infinite clip on your weapon so long as you kept getting kills at a good pace.

The devs said "That's overpowered" and proposed removing it.

Everyone shouted and bitched and groaned because YES. ON PAPER it is overtuned. It's ALSO the ONLY FUCKING FUN THING LEFT IN THE GAME, so maybe you should focus on bringing "up" everything else FIRST before you go worrying about the balance of this one combo.

Bringing down the only good things to match the median power level, when that median is fucking boring dog shit, is not good "balance". It's also the exact philosophy HD2 has been maintaining pretty much since launch.

We find something that actually works- that actually lets us live some power fantasy, that actually accomplishes what the weapon claims to be made for-

(REMINDER THAT THE FUCKING RAILGUN AND QUASAR ARE WEAPONS **MADE** FOR BIG ENEMY KILLING AND THEY WERE NERFED FOR DOING THEIR JOB [and because of the crossplay bug which took months to fix in the railgun's case]- AND THE INCEN IS MADE FOR SWARM CLEARING AND GOT NERFED FOR DOING ITS JOB)

-and the devs go "Hey now, wait a minute, that thing is popular because it does the job it's supposed to do, it's outperforming the standard issue pistol no one uses, make it worse. Slightly at first, more if necessary, by the end make it so baseline and uninteresting that the best anyone can say is that it "shoots"."

And did halving the ammo and doubling the recoil make the incen garbage? Nah.

But why the fuck is that on their priorities instead of buffing literally any of the countless garbage options we have, like fuck off already man.

Anyways.

[brightatmidnight]

The Chaser’s Voyage Starmap for 2024

Hello everyone. Cameron and I are back from our winter break and ready to continue our work on (and hopefully finish up) The Chaser’s Voyage this year. So first, let’s go over what we’ve accomplished last year by looking at the Starmap for the game.

Last year, we revamped the tutorial, we added in a new client type, the aligned cartographer, and we updated client stories to improve randomization and fall more in line with our game’s lore. We also made other client tweaks such as highlighting mentions of factions in the client stories, so that you, the player, can really know which clients are good and which will lead to a horrible death.  Along the way, we made plenty of little updates, including making some UI changes to improve the experience for gamepad users. When we first made this Starmap, we put the biggest obstacles and challenges first, but we didn’t anticipate some unexpected challenges, like prioritizing implementing gamepad support and making a full performance overhaul. Now though, we are happy with how these things have come together and we’re ready to tackle the final parts of The Chaser’s Voyage before launch.

So what are those parts?

They’re the fun little extras that we’ve been dying to get into the game for a long time now. The first is our lore, which takes the form of our Crew Journal. We’ve talked a bit about it before, but to reiterate, it’s pretty much where a bulk of our game universe’s history and character backstories lie. They’ll take the form of various in-universe pieces of media, such as news articles, private messages, or non-voiced character interactions. It’s all extra stuff, but we’ve made a huge effort to ensure that the galaxy you’re flying the Chaser through is a reflection of a consistent world full of other stories to tell or have yet to be told.

With so much lore though, all together it’s the same amount of words as a short novel, one of the first problems we were encountering with the Journal was how it affected the startup loadtime. We actually had all the lore in the game for a while in outdated UI, but since it was inaccessible we removed it for the Early Access builds. Luckily, Cameron seems to have found a promising solution already. At the time of this writing, we are now exploring how we want to present the Crew Journal visually. So, fingers crossed that we’ll be able to get that into an early access build soon.

After that, we’ll only have one more major feature to work on, which is the inclusion of our training mode, the Flight Simulator. This will allow players to create their own scenarios that they can use as practice for the main game. For instance, if pirates chasing you through minefields are always giving you a hard time, you can set the simulator to those same conditions and practice until you master the encounter. You can also adjust your starting health and choose which systems are already damaged upon entering the encounter. The cool thing about implementing this feature is that we already have it in the game, it’s just inaccessible. The reason for that is that is two fold. 1: There are options only intended for our use (to make it easier to capture exactly the footage we want for trailers since so much of our game is determined randomly). And 2: We are planning on overhauling the visuals for the Flight Sim UI, since the ones we have now are fairly bare bones.

After the Flight Sim, it’s a matter of cleaning a few things up, maybe adding some features we didn’t think of at the time, and bug testing before finally launching out of Early Access. Some of these features we’ve already implemented, such as the Voyager+ and Captain+ modes, which lets players play the Ace mode’s encounter randomization on lower difficulties. One of the big things that needs to be cleaned up is our options menu, which is not finalized since we don’t want to set anything in stone while we’re still developing the game and adding new options and setting.

Now, you may have noticed that we also have a “Milestone” between “Phase 1” and “Phase 2”. We wanted to reach a more polished state before we started really using VoxPop’s platform. We are still definitely hoping to collaborate with streamers in order to get the word out there, especially after last year’s updates. Neither Cameron nor I are really into marketing, but we’re determined to do everything we can to make The Chaser’s Voyage succeed.

I have a lot of high hopes for this year. We’re gonna keep working towards making The Chaser’s Voyage really soar and we’re hoping you’ll be with us when this voyage finally takes off!

For more updates on The Chaser’s Voyage, be sure to check back on our blog, follow The Chaser's Voyage and Bright at Midnight on Twitter, or join our Discord! If you wish to play The Chaser’s Voyage, you can buy it while we’re in Early Access on Steam.

- Eos//G

[feekins]

aha! super-fun Happy Days! such a great time we're about to have as I go over my thoughts and things and whatever translation weirdness I find re-reading ch 1 of Trigun Maximum vol 7! happy fun! nothing traumatic, that's for sure! wheeeee haha 🥲

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

oklikeso! the focus on Knives' POV and reactions continues in this chapter, as we only directly see HIM in his room, and only a video feed of Vash (which is an interesting thing to note for any fellow writers out there: by 1yo, the twins have separate rooms in trimax)(oh and also they both have their own lil tablet/communication devices! that's neat!)

and again! Conrad runs up to Knives specifically! I forgot about that detail!

...also...holy shit, Conrad's outfit looks strangely familiar... 🤯

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

not a translation discrepancy, but something I noticed in how the speech bubbles here were arranged and attributed. it's such a tiny difference, but. idk. the Overhaul's way of going about it feels more natural/intuitive to me. which isn't to say there's anything wrong with the way Dark Horse did it! I just particularly admire the Overhaul's approach here =u=

Knives is so! nervous! about how the second human he's ever met will react to him and Vash! and it ends up going so well!!! 🥹

and again, the way the Overhaul handles the dialog in this bit is more natural/intuitive

here, we see perhaps some basis for why Rem immediately suspected Knives for causing the emergency this chapter starts with. he's so curious, just...making a beeline for the computer. I've never paused to give that much thought before.

also, I wanna note - in both translations, her name as it appears in that bottom panel is spelled TESSLA. Dark Horse goes with this spelling in the dialog (at least in this chapter), and I noticed that the Overhaul, meanwhile, goes with TESLA. that's interesting. my only comment is idk why I thought it was "Tesla" up until now, considering all my previous readings of this series were only Dark Horse's translation (...actually, I probably mentally linked it with Nikola Tesla...)

BUT ANYWAY.

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

no comment here - just another area I noticed some variation in dialog choices and thought I'd put them up for comparison =u=

...interesting. Dark Horse uses her name JUST THIS ONCE in the notes Vash and Knives find, otherwise they do what the Overhaul does and consistently uses "the subject" when referring to her - the ppl experimenting on her not even recognized her personhood. 😬

(also, I like the Overhaul's added specificity with "sapient" species!)

and something critical I wanna note here: Knives is the one who continues searching for info, who triggers the mechanism that brings up Tessla's remains.

interesting, considering his association with Adam in tristamp... 🤔

again - the Overhaul's translation is more nuanced/specific

YAAAAAAY HAPPY DAYS? 🥲

[elithesia-autem-danguarde]

Pokémon Month

Day 5: Larry

Personal Opinion: Oh, Larry. The character that no one saw coming but who has stolen everyone’s hearts because of the realistic notion of being a job-hating workaholic. And that includes me. I love this guy and he’s a goldmine of potential for both comedy and the narrative.

What was kept: Larry’s Gym Leader team is the first time that we start seeing the need for an overhaul of change, as only three of his five original members were kept for the final cut. These are his Komala, Dudunsparce, and Tera Staraptor, being solid and diverse members to put some respect onto the name of the Normal type like what Larry himself preaches.

Substitutions/Replacements: Braviary isn’t a bad choice by any means, but I do believe that it is better suited to another certain team (which may or may not also be Larry’s), so I replaced it with another Unovan Pokémon in the form of a winter Sawsbuck. Oinkologne is definitely something of a letdown with it being a weaker, early-game normal type with not a whole lot to offer. So I replaced it with a Maushold, which I think better suits Larry given its deceptive appearance and the hidden power behind the mice. Persian is then the added member to make his team a full party of six, as I feel it’s a simple and straightforward cat Pokémon that’s still able to pack a punch, which is all a guy like Larry would need.

Favorite Sandwich: My chosen sandwich for Larry is the Peanut Butter Sandwich, which consists of Peanut Butter, Jam, Bananas, and Butter. One of Paldea’s simplest sandwiches that would help any normal man get through the daily grind, and therefore perfect to be Larry’s absolute favorite of the bunch at the end of the day. Even if his rate might be more varied from time to time in contrast to his simplistic battle typings, he’ll more than likely always come back to what’s familiar and predictable.