#btw recommend me good mobile games to play i have very little games to play

[kaykishi]

so i played underworld office and weeelllll you could tell i enjoyed it

(if it excludes the ads)

klug and eugene are both very nerd-like extreme insecure

[marismoments39]

:-0 no problem if you're not an avid yuri gal! I'd say not a lot has been animated anyway lol. Dragon maid is. Uh. -_-. And I would say adachi n shimamura suffers from "adapted from a light novel so its kinda weird" so I'm not surprised you didnt hook onto those.

If you ever want suggestions you might like slow start or demon girl next door, both pretty fun slice of life comedy affairs. For more action akuma no riddle is still solid.

Enough about that though, we can see you like genshin, but do you play a lot of other games?

Ah, I see! Thanks for the recommendations! It'll probably take me a long while to get around to them (as you can see with my.. very slow ask-answering....) but I'll bear them in mind for whenever I wanna start something new!

anyways, as for games? I'm in a bit of a situation here!! my computer.. SUCKS. it has like NO SPACE!! I only have FOUR GAMES on it!!!!

those being (in order of when I first played them:)

-Minecraft (bedrock) (this computer can't run java and honestly I blame minecraft itself) -Terraria -Genshin Impact -Honkai: Star Rail

I LOVE all of these games SO VERY MUCH!! well, maybe star rail still needs to grow on me, but ALL THE OTHERS I LOVE THEM! this list probably doesn't give you a good idea of what I am as a gamer lol, these are all extremely popular games, I do have a NINTENDO SWITCH!! THOUGH!!! ISN'T THAT COOL??? I still don't believe I have it

here are the games I have on there (in order of hours played)

-Hollow Knight -Hatsune Miku: Project Diva: Mega Mix -Sonic Frontiers -Sonic Mania (plus) -Pokemon Scarlet -Deltarune -Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S -Hatsune Miku Jigsaw Puzzle -PuyoPuyo Tetris 2 -Rain world (mainly got it cuz of pow but GOD is it hard) -Everhood -Ace Attourney

-I also tried out games like A Hat in Time and Stardew Valley, though they were fun to watch, I didn't have much fun playing them. which is sad. I don't know how to refund on switch lol

some of these games only have low hours because I just got them. like ace attourney? under an hour of gametime lol

I'll tell you a little anecdote about each game!!

Hollow Knight: I first played hollow knight at my cousin's house in 2018(or 2019?) I sorta sucked at it. I remember saying "this is just swordigo but, like, better" and I guess I was right? swordigo's a mobile metroidvania I used to play btw lol~ anyways in 2020(??? or 2021?????) one of my favourite youtubers (merg) started playing hollow knight and I was like huh..! this is actually sorta fun?? I didn't have an income nor allowance at the time so I couldn't BUY the game for myself.. so I watched his ENTIRE series before I bought the game for myself!! still, it was fun!

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva: You may not know this game, but there are two modes! arcade mode, and mix mode! arcade mode is like the mode where you hold the joy-cons vertically and use like motion controls and uh it's complicated but basically I LOVE THAT!! I LOVE THE MOTION CONTROLS SO MUCH!! LITERALLY THE ONLY GAME WHERE I LIKE THEM LOL!!! Also! Project Diva is what got me into vocaloid! not the other way round! isn't that cool!!!

Sonic fron... wait. I'm gonna. I'm gonna be typing this post forever

obviously this isn't every game I've played ever, I mean how can any list of moon's favourite games be complete without min hero?? uh, but, I don't wanna be typing this list forever! how about this, if any of those games sounded interesting, say so! I'll give you stories! I have a TON!!

Thanks for the ask!

[misterrockett]

This is actually a good time to give you guys a little piece of advice that may be necessary for younger gamers out there. Let me tell you a story about a gaming experience I had very recently about The Final Fantasy Legend/SaGa 1.

SaGa is a spin-off JRPG series that started on the Gameboy with mechanics inspired by Final Fantasy II. Final Fantasy II is infamous for having a hilariously bad Oblivion styled level up system where your stats were based off use. So your health would only go up by taking damage, your attack stat would only go up by using your basic attack and specific spells would only increase in potency with constant use.

SaGa is meant to be a refinement of those systems with games in the series releasing even today and about a year or two ago SquareEnix released the trilogy of original Gameboy games on modern consoles, which I am playing as my introduction to the series right now (btw, mobile phones are actually a fantastic place to play classic RPGs like this. Pick this or the original Dragon Quest games up on mobile if you're interested)

To say the first game drops you in with no guideline is an understatement.

This is the first screen you are greeted with after the short intro cutscene, which throws you into the game's class system with no explanation of what it is and that you're really only looking at 3 different classes with three unique level up systems. The first thing you're expected to do after being dropped in is to go to the guild and fill out the other 3 slots in your party with other choices.

It's explained at no point in the game and do you know why? Well I decided to check online for a scan of the manual and...

It's because the original game came with an EIGHTY PAGE INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

Detailed explanations for the difference between the game's 3 races.

Recommended and unrecommended party compositions

Details about weapon types and the detail that some weapons scale with your agility rather than your strength (this, the book actually kinda gets wrong since some melee weapons do scale with your agility too).

The only place where you can get an explanation for what the items do and last but not least filling out the last half of the manual,

A story driven walkthrough of the first part of the game.

All this to say this book is not provided in the Saga collection SquareEnix released despite the fact that it is incredibly obvious the game was designed with the assumption that every player would have it. Being able to guide the player to a game's mechanics through an instruction manual eased the load on programmers and designers and let them put more complex mechanics into their games without having to feel the need to EXPLAIN said mechanics within the game itself. And while this isn't a common practice anymore and was disastrous even at the time for anyone who dipped into the re-sell market it also has to be something that's considered for the future preservation of games. The original Legend of Zelda game has a reputation of being esoteric and hard to get through because it doesn't provide information but THAT game had a full world map in it's manual. The manual was so integral to the full experience of the game Nintendo officially provides support for it's PDF themselves with an HD upload of it's art assets.

So if you're dipping back into an older game, especially one from the 90s and it seems like a lot of details about it goes unexplained, check for the manual. It may be more integral to the experience than you had assumed.

not to sound like a boomer but I miss when video games included manuals with maps and some small trivia about the characters

[blazehedgehog]

Hey Blaze, what are your thoughts on the Sonic Storybook gameplay formula, both in concept and execution? If they were to reapproach this gameplay style, how do you think they should go about it? (Btw, I know you've stated you don't really remember the Storybook games' stories and don't really think Shiro Maekawa is a good writer. However, I highly recommend rewatching SatBK's cutscenes because Sonic's personality and philosophy really shine through and SatBK is among the best Sonic stories imo)

I don’t mind the way Secret Rings plays. Like I guess it’s the sort of thing where modern 3D Sonic is this weird half step where it doesn’t give you enough control.

But Secret Rings says, “No, the entire game is literally on rails and all the gameplay is based around the fact you’re running non-stop.” The worst levels in the game (Levitated Ruin, for example) are ones where they actually do force you to stop and lock you in a room with enemies or whatever, because maneuvering in that space is extremely awkward.

Obviously, I don’t like the grindy gameplay of Secret Rings, to be clear. Having replay each stage 10-20+ times doing different objectives and filling up an EXP meter sucks. Maybe if the objectives were better, but the classic example is “Break all the pots!” followed directly by “Don’t break any pots!” Just the cheapest, easiest, fastest-to-implement stuff they could think of, because they had a small budget and very little time.

I’ve often thought Secret Rings would probably work really well if they ported it to Android and iOS. Mobile platforms are getting powerful enough now that you can probably run that game just fine on the average phone or tablet, and they support gyro so you could have all of the tilt and thrust stuff, too. Different d-pad abilities could be mapped to swipe gestures real easily (swipe up for time break, down for speed break, tap to jump, etc.). It’d work very well, in my opinion. One of the things that’s annoyed me about Sonic Dash is that it actually didn’t inherit more from Secret Rings.

I don’t like Black Knight’s gameplay. The sword play is absolutely pointless and the whole game has a vibe to it that doesn’t feel very Sonic-y. They got all these American musicians to contribute music, so the tone of the soundtrack is super weird, they got rid of or changed a bunch of common Sonic items like rings, and the art style is this very odd generic fantasy setting with extremely forgettable orcs and stuff. It’s a game that makes me wonder why Sonic has to be in it at all. Feels like it would be better suited to having an original character and was just using Sonic to bank on brand recognition.

The story to Secret Rings is very unmemorable to me (partially because I never finished it) but I do remember the plot for Black Knight pretty clearly because it’s so weird and it takes such a turn. I actually kind of enjoy Black Knight’s story, because for the first 75% it feels like a very standard “Sonic fights the big bad and saves the world” plot, but then the final chapter twist goes unexpectedly dark and suddenly you’re in The Never Ending Story.

That’s the kind of stuff I like. Like a Kirby game, right, where 99% of the game is this bright, cheery thing, with cute characters just having fun.

But then you get to the final boss and it’s something legitimately kind of scary. The normally innocuous cutesy game suddenly has a credible threat, this moment of having to get serious and stop playing around because you were secretly fighting for something that was real and deserves to be protected. It gives weight to the cutesy stuff earlier on. That’s rad, to me, and Black Knight’s story kind of taps in to that energy a little.

[pochapal]

rank every year of the 2010s from best to worst i want some pochapal lore

[warning for discussion of my fucked up mental health and my myriad traumas. we’re really opening the pandora’s box here gang]

ok time for me to overshare on the internet again! super long post because i can’t shut up and you asked for it. anyway, by objective ranking: 

#1: 2012 - halcyon era, my personal peak. spent the whole year writing hunger games oc fics with my deviantart fanfiction besties whom i still think about all the time and always hope are having the best possible day. if you were here for this era understand i still hold you so closely and dearly in my heart <3. 

#2: 2013 - god i was such a good example of a human being back then. was the year my writing like actually took off and i had a healthy balance between creative stuff and a social life (said social life consisting of spending lunchtimes at school breaking into classrooms and discussing fandom shit with five other people. reading homestuck updates in the music room on one person’s really shaky mobile data...legendary). highlight of the year and maybe my life was in the april of 2013 when i got out of failing to submit a hard deadline essay by telling my english teacher i wrote a whole novel over the two week break and then producing said novel. god i wish i had that level of like. fucking confidence back me back then knew what i wanted and how to get it. 

#3: 2010 - the last year of childhood. i was 12 and played pokemon all the time with my friends and went places and had a moderately successful youtube channel and it didn’t matter that i was bullied so badly at school because i was basically high off life. summer of 2010 was so good specifically. i’d used to get the bus with a friend and go see movies and break into historical sites and get into normal childhood mayhem and maxed out my pokewalkers twice a month and i was buzzed because i had two (2) whole friendship groups to choose from and that was such a huge deal to me the terminal social outcast. it was so simple and carefree and even though everything and everyone involved in this era grew up to suck except for one specific person i kinda really miss it.

#4: 2018 - this was the first year i wasn’t depressed to the point of nonfunctioning. it was 20gayteen, i was on antidepressants, i was as close to thriving as i got at uni (going into town with people once a week, attending art and culture events, getting good grades across the board), i started to write for fun again, i got my cat whom i love dearly, i was exhibited in my uni’s city’s literature festival, GOD i actually nearly attended a pride event that year can you imagine. this year was basically my life’s second peak. miss getting the 8am train and daintily sipping on a cherry coke to keep me from passing out. wish this time could have lasted longer.

#5: 2019 - kinda absolute middle of the road year not for lack of anything happening but because the overwhelming amount of good and bad things cancelled each other out. so like there’s the fact that i was at the top of my uni game this year, was basically making the first steps into a professional writing career (covid i will never forgive you for killing all that dead </3), finally saved up enough to buy myself a gaming pc, and the summer after the homestuck epilogues, but equally 2019 was the start of the Pochapal Gender Fiasco which is by far the most horrible thing i am still currently undergoing and i burnt myself out mentally about halfway through the year (being stuck overnight in a hospital for a panic attack absolutely horrible horrible irredeemable) and then got like super death plague flu that i was sick with for three months (literally recovered less than a month before rona hit. god’s cruel karma.). so like...it kind of averaged out? the good shit was good but not as great as other years and the bad shit was awful but nowhere near as terrible as it could have been. gotta give a shoutout to 90% of my current mutual cohort for following me in 2019...omelette route gang make some noise !!

#6: 2014 - oof. this year essentially marked the start of a four year long downward mental health spiral because everything fell into awful alignment. i’d just turned 16, finished secondary school, had all my friends up and ditch me at once, was home alone for a whole summer, and was hit with Sudden Intense Body Image Issues that i couldn’t explain until uh. after very recent developments lmao. this one goes out to the me of july 2014 who did nothing but lay in bed and listen to the same two marina albums on a loop because fuck i’m attracted to men and also my facial and body hair are really starting to come in and if i think about this for too long i will literally kill myself because oh god i can’t handle getting older which is clearly and definitely the issue going on here. my brain fucking broke super hardcore and it’s a miracle that an overeating disorder was like the worst thing i walked away with. 

#7: 2015 - downward spiral year two!! i was so volatile this year it was such a mess. i was totally socially isolated after a brief stint of falling in with a group of people at the start of my first year of sixth form until january where in quick succession a) it turned out every single one of these people was friends with the person who sexually assaulted me whom i obviously had a lot of complicated feelings towards and b) baby’s first crush came out as bisexual but in the “women and also trans women” kind of way which tore me up so terribly in ways i couldn’t begin to understand. no words for the experience of seeing a girl kiss a boy and crying so hard at night you threw up because you could never be her no matter how much you wanted it. actually kinda get the sense what was going on there was bigger than just some crush lmao. then after that i was so mentally ill i basically attended school less than half the time and it was the only year in my life i failed my exams. i ended up having to resit my entire set of first year a level exams because jesus christ was i in such a bad way it was a miracle i even showed up to them. all i did was either have anxiety attacks or enter bedbound depressive slumps for weeks at a time. but it’s okay because it gets worse.

#8: 2016 - downward spiral act iii: the spiralling. prefacing this by saying that i actually had two whole good months (april - may) in that i was functioning enough to do my exams and finish school with decent grades. the rest was super extra mega terrible. my school attendance for year 13 dipped below 65% and literally the only thing that kept me from being kicked out was the fact that i was naturally smart at the subjects i took and also because the school would have a lot to answer for after letting me get to that state despite having a hefty file on how damaged i was. keep in mind every single part of this was fully untreated btw - i was just floundering around and letting it all fester. i spent three solid weeks going to school but locking myself in the bathroom all day every day and having mental health episodes then going home like nothing else happened only to continue the breakdown that night. then things got kicked into fucked up overdrive when i moved out to uni and was cut off from what little support structures i did have. it was so bad all i did was cry all the time and never went anywhere to the point where three separate sources recommended me to the wellbeing and crisis counselling service that i stopped going to after two sessions because i was fucked up in ways cbt techniques could not even touch. at least i tried to make an effort for the first two months of uni which like. good for me?

#9: 2017 - what lieth at the base of the spiral. helltrench year. i was at literal rock bottom. i stopped going to class, i didn’t hand in a single piece of work. i lied to my parents and would book trains each day only to go back to my student flat and sit there and contemplate suicide. like i would just slump on the floor in a catatonic state and vividly contemplate one of four or so ways i could end my own life. i only didn’t because i wanted to wait until the summer to collect my last student loan and transfer it to my parents as an apology for my death which obviously didn’t end up happening. honestly i can’t remember much of the first half of 2017 that’s how bad it was. i remember taking a gender studies class and the teacher made it Weird that i was the Only Male Student in the room and then she sent me a scolding email after i walked out halfway through a class and never returned. apparently i got into a lot of online discourse in this year but i don’t remember anything other than being put on a blocklist by the milkfic author over ace discourse which is funny if you have the context. mostly i just baited terfs and weirdo freaks to get them to say horrible things to me as what i guess amounts to some kind of digital self harm. anyway breaking point came in late august when i got kicked out of university and then nobody could ignore it any more so there was no choice left but for me to seek out help and recover enough to function which luckily i did. i really Do Not remember 2017. you could tell me anything about that year and i’d probably believe you.

#10: 2011 - extra circle of hell for this little fucked up gem of a year. on the surface it wasn’t actually that terrible, until the Summer 2011 Domino Effect Of Bad Shit. up until like may/june it was a pretty all right year! i was 13 and had a surprisingly successful youtube channel uploading pokemon soundfont remixes to an audience of i think ~350-400 subscribers at my peak? anyway then i got hit with the early summer triple combo of childhood friends moving away, cute and quirky sexual assault at the hands of a person in my friend group, and then having some Really Great and Super Appropriate interactions with adults on deviantart. like obviously there’s the actual ptsd-inducing event which totally disrupted and killed the person i was right up until that moment and reshaped every facet of my life for better or worse (there’s an alternate timeline where that didn’t happen and i got into electronic music and/or coding instead) but really it’s the events that followed in its wake which were kind of more fucked up. so like all of a sudden i was super aware of my body and me growing my hair out and being mistaken for a girl in class suddenly became this Less Innocent thing and i ended up spending hours overnight going to transgender questioning forums and looking up hrt timeline videos and having the wikipedia article on tracheal shaving saved because it was a life raft to me whose voice was imminently gonna deepen and i was simultaneously reeling with constant trauma flashbacks and the whole thing was so so fucked up. then i was on deviantart and i don’t remember exactly how but a small group of furry guys ten to fifteen years older than me started messaging me and encouraging and requesting me to produce nonsexual fetish stuff for them and talking to me about stuff like if i’d ever thought about growing up to be gay and i didn’t think anything of it for a long while because they called me a very talented writer and it felt so good to have someone be nice to me after being so alone and isolated for months on end. anyway the only reason i got out of that before it got bad was because they invited me to one of the big furry sites and i was weirded out because i thought it was a porn site and thinking about sexual stuff was a huge trauma trigger so i just ended up blocking them all and pretending like it didn’t happen. at the time half this shit didn’t bother me but in retrospect holy fuck 2011 was such a damaging year. to think if like three events didn’t happen i wouldn’t be the fucked up mess you see before you today.

god fuck this turned out super long but i’m not apologising because this was a therapeutic exercise for me and also constitutes as one of the biggest pochapal lore dumps of all time. come get your food or whatever.

[graciousgamefowl]

75 Gaming Asks: 2, 3, 7, 8, 19, 24, 25, 38, 47, 51, 60, 70, 74.

2. First game you played?

I’ve been playing computer games as long as I can remember. I guess the first one I remember playing is the My Little Pony CD rom game from 1999. In that one, you got to raise your own pony until she was ready for...pony college, I guess? Anyways, I had a whole adoption center thing. I’d print off their jumping certificate and put a picture of them on top of it and pretended to try and find them a good home. 

3. Favorite childhood game?

The Nancy Drew series! I still remember beating Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon with my best friend in middle school. The joy was just so pure. 

7. Most disappointing game you’ve played?

I think it’s a tie between Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Octopath Traveler. Xenoblad had good gameplay mechanics but a god-awful story, whereas Octopath Traveler had a wonderful story/atmosphere but there’s a huge level curve that either requires lots of grinding or some ability that some random character has. 

8. The game with the best atmosphere/scenery?

I’m going to cheat and pick two again. Stardew Valley has amazing scenery and atmosphere. The distant train horns, the thunder, the beautiful trees and butterflies, and frogs! And the game just keeps getting better. Also the atmosphere in Nancy Drew: Ghost of Thornton Hall, is spooky and sad and perfect for the case. Haunting music combined with mysterious sightings of ghosts and other supernatural things. And the fact that even Nancy, a skeptic, is scared of the ghosts adds a layer of creepy. 

19. Hardest game you’ve ever played?

I’m not very good at games lol so almost every game is kind of hard for me. I guess the hardest one is Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! In the second game, I was a perfectionist. But not only was I not able to maintain that in the third game, I can’t even beat the last levels because of how tough they are. Some of it feels a little unfairly tough, but I won’t get into that. 

24. Ever cried because of a video game? Which one(s)?

To The Moon is about an old man at the end of his life, and an agency that specializes in fulfilling wishes. They do this by going into someone’s memories and altering them so that they remember doing their life wish, even if they didn’t in reality. I won’t spoil the ending but I cried a lot. A happy cry, btw. 

25. Proudest accomplishment in gaming?

I have 100% completed Skyrim. Every achievement on steam. Done. No mods, no unofficial patches or anything. At one point I had to reload my game because it glitched out and I couldn’t do an essential quest. But I did it son!!!

38. Have you tried a game, hated it, then tried again, and loved it?

When I first tried Skyrim, it was on an old laptop, and I didn’t really understand the first person perspective, or the combat. I died in Helgen Keep, quit, and thought I’d never play again. Until my then boyfriend (now fiance) insisted I try again, on a better PC. And I haven’t stopped playing since. 

47. First person or Third person?

First person was always kind of confusing for me. It’s not so confusing to me now, but I still prefer third person. I spent all these resources making my character look good. I want to see it!

51. First character you’ve had a crush on?

There was this free dating sim called Re: Alistair. It was about an MMO player who falls in love. The dorky love option was my favorite, especially since he turns out to be a mod of the game and kicks out your antagonist lol. 

60. The game you are best at?

Again, I suck, so that’s hard. I guess Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! is a game that I’m pretty good at. At the very least I have a lot of ‘gold’ medals on it. Another game is Pikmin 3, which I’m currently playing on Ultra-Spicy mode to get a challenge. 

70. Do you play any mobile games?

Yes, all the time. I didn’t have a console for a while, so that was my only way to game. I recommend any game by NimbleBIt, if you don’t mind the whole free to wait mechanic. 

74. Which game has the best lore?

That’s a hard one! I love story-driven games. I guess maybe Skyrim? That might be cheating, because Elder Scrolls games already have so much lore in them. But that’s my choice. 

[ask-thefiftystatesofamerica]

Hey, so while we're in this situation (corona), and my state's probably gonna get shut down soon, I kinda came up with an idea. Have you been on Twitter the last couple of days and seen the map?? If so, you probably know what I'm talking about. I was thinking about making maybe a roleplay or DnD or something where each of us play that scenario. I just... Have absolutely no idea how to start something like that. Do you know how to do something like that (heta blog is @ask-louise-breaux-jones btw)

Hi there! Well I have never been involved in any mass scaled Roleplay on the Internet tbh (and I myself haven’t really played DND or any other RPGs either) so my advices will be hhhh very much untested and should be taken with a grain of salt :’)

Anyhow - I think to begin, you should reach out to the mods of other oc blogs to confirm they’re onboard and you can plan out what you’d like to write and what events you’d want to go through beforehand. I recommend setting up a discord server (or tumblr groupchat if you know how that works!) and then go from there!

After you guys planned on what’s gonna happen, I suggest you or someone you trust write a short starter and let people reply. If tumblr is your preferred platform then reblogs would do nicely! Unfortunately I barely have a Twitter and I’m not sure what exact events you’re talking about, but I’m sure that once you set up the server/groupchat, someone would be able to provide you with more inspirations on how the starter should be written!

Aaaand that’s about my two cents 😂 good luck, my friend! Have fun & stay safe!

——

As for me Veni, I have played mass RPGs and have experience as a Dungeon Master in DnD. I’ve played it for five years now? And mmorpgs are my favorite games as long as they have extensive customizable characters (the most recent I like is the mobile game Dragon Raja).

Annnddd Twitter has many maps and I am not in Twitter. So I have no clue what you are talking about exactly and therefore have little to go off of since I don’t know the scenario you speak of.

So here is my broad advice-

Do whatever. Like you are God, you are the Dungeon Master, make it hell for your campaigners, do not offer mercy.

Makes the campaign more interesting the more curveballs you toss because hey the hell not? You are God. This is your creation. Also, if a player asks if they can do something always say yes. Even if it’s the most ridiculous thing ever.

Can I seduce the demon lord who is gay, even though I’m female?

CAN I T-POSE AS CAMUFLAUGE AND PRETEND TO BE A TREE TO HIDE FROM THE ENEMY? (Actually happened I cANT)

Tell them - yes. Because you are God, but the judges are the dice you use in DnD.

They Roll a nat 20, it’s a moment of hilarity for the campaigner. Roll a nat 1, it still can be an amazing moment as you watch this person’s action fall apart.

It adds more to the campaign and makes it more extensive because they’ll realize there is no limits and become more creative. So will you as you go along.

So be god, fuck physics and every social norm, do whatever, and let the dice judge cause there is no limit. The only limit is if you limit yourself and campaign.

[holocron-inthe-restrictedsection]

Okay it's a lot but: 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, and 19 for Lethaa and Naras? (Feel free to substitute/add any questions you'd like to answer!) 🌺💕

Yesssssss I was so excited to get this! Thanks, Mercedes! 💛

So, this got reeaaaally long and rambly. My bad. I just have a lot of thoughts about these two, and I’m excited to share. Click “keep reading” to see my response! 

(also, sorry if it formats weirdly - I copy-pasted from a word doc, and tumblr mobile doesn’t like that for some reason)

*

Ask me questions about creating my OCs!

*

 1.      What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 

For Lethaa, it was her name and position. For Naras, it was the descriptor “the Togruta senator’s wife” 

They popped into my head at about the same time. I created them to be throwaway characters in a short story I wrote called “Shall We Dance” (I may someday go back to it and add a few chapters. No promises). There was some dialogue between Anakin and Obi-Wan about different controversial viewpoints in the Senate, and I just needed a senator or two to mention in passing. – 

“But these are some of the most outspoken public figures in the Republic. Take Senator Lethaa Daal.” [Obi-Wan] flashed a smile in the direction of the Togruta senator and her wife as they passed. The women returned the smile and made their way arm-in-arm into the grand hall. “She has been very scornful regarding the Senate’s tendency to dedicate resources to systems that are strategic to military movements, as opposed to who needs it most.” 

It might have ended there, but I received feedback from a few different readers saying how they appreciated the mention of Senator Daal’s wife. There seemed to be an interest, so I sat on the idea of them for a while. 

 2.      Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind? 

Since Lethaa was fully fleshed out first, I made Naras with Lethaa in mind. I knew I wanted her to have her own objectives and life – she couldn’t continue to just be “Lethaa’s wife”. So I tried to give her a profession that was critical in its own way, which is why I went with healing, so that their “importance” (for lack of a better word) was equal to each other.

I guess Lethaa was partially created in response the frustrating politics of the galactic senators. They all make their alliances, play the game to get the upper hand, all while gaining very little ground. I wanted to make a character that found the subtly of politics maddening, and wasn’t afraid to get in someone’s face and tell them exactly why their policies or views were dumb or harmful. I wanted to make someone who could be aggressive without calling into question their moral alignment. 

And while it’s not a character, I really really wanted to design or add to a culture that doesn’t get explored much in the Star Wars universe. I took what elements I could find about Togruta culture from Wookipedia, but it was rather lacking, so I made up the rest. I already loved Togruta designs, and wanted characters that could interact within their own culture.

 3.      How did you choose their name?  (Added this because it was Relevant)

If my memory is right, Lethaa Daal’s name came from combining a few names I found on the Togruta name generator (which I HIGHLY recommend btw). I decided to keep it after I finished her design because the first name reminded me of “lethal”, and by that point I knew that was a good descriptor of her. ‘Daal’ came about because I tend to put way too many A’s in my togruta names, and I was for some reason thinking about Roald Dahl at that time, but I also found that I liked how it could be mispronounced as “doll”. I was highly amused by the idea of a “lethal doll” – woe unto anyone who looked at Lethaa and only acknowledged her for her beauty.

Naras Tyn came about because lots of my female ocs tend to have names that end in A or E (IE/I/Y, etc), and I didn’t want to do it again. I wanted a short last name, and I just liked how “Tyn” sounded – it was concise and melodic. ‘Naras’ I think also came from the name generator. I remember being bummed when I realized it sounded so similar to Barriss and Maris (already existing characters), but by that time I was attached. Her first name just sounds calming, and it just sounded right imagining Lethaa calling for her.

 11.  Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation? 

       Heck yes I did. There really wasn’t any hesitation. The thought process went: Senator –> Togruta Senator –> female Togruta Senator –> has a spouse –> a wife, cuz why not. And that was that.

 12.   What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

       Everything.

Lol, jk. I mean, as much fun as I have with all the colors and markings of the two, my own drawing ability is kinda limited in terms of body positions. So some things I’d love to draw (Lethaa vs. the rancor, Naras on a medical mercy mission during the Clone Wars, etc.) are taking a long time for me to sketch out. It can be frustrating, but it’s a work in progress.

       And writing is hard too. The story ideas in my head play out as nice little movies. Getting it all down on paper while conveying emotion without overloading, describing setting, and making it engaging – that’s all trickier. 

But overall, the most difficult thing is trying to figure out what exactly I’m going to do! I have other OCs I want content for, and canon characters I want to explore – and then I have to decide between drawing and writing. There’s not enough hours in the day for me to draw and write everything I want, so I have to pick and choose.

 13.   How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? 

       Still a work in progress. I jump from one event to the next without writing it in chronological order. I’ve started their story before the start of the Clone Wars, sometime between episodes I and II. Might write some earlier snippets about their childhoods (though they didn’t meet until they were adults).

I’ve got some ideas for what they do during the Empire era (some of which was influenced by one of the Star Wars D&D games I play), but I haven’t written any of that out yet. I do know they live to see the fall of the Empire, and the emergence of the New Republic. They pass away peacefully of old age on Shili.

 19. What is your favorite fact a fun fact about your OC?

I had to change this from “favorite” to “fun” because I like everything about them and I’m still developing them. So I thought I might drop a little trivia that I haven’t managed to work into any stories or art yet.

Lethaa was on a hunting trip with her father – Barin – and a few others in her twenties. After her cousin killed their prey, Barin asked her to prepare the meat for dinner. She did her best with it but waaaaaaay overcooked it, and when Barin asked about it, she said, “I… never actually learned how to cook meat.”

Bewildered, Barin said, “But we’ve been on dozens of hunting trips! How could I have never taught you??”

And Lethaa’s just like, “I was the one to kill the prey on most of those trips.”

And Barin and the others can’t help but laugh, because according to tradition, the one who kills the prey while hunting in a group is served the first piece, but never is the one to prepare it. So it makes complete sense that she never had to cook it, because she was always served the first dish. Her cousin actually liked his meat overdone, though, so he was perfectly fine with his meal.

Also, I just came up with this so I have no idea of the context, but there is a 100% chance that there was an instance or two where Lethaa – tall Amazonian though she is – couldn’t reach something. Unable to climb to retrieve it and without a stepstool, muttering darkly, she would disconnected her prosthetic arm and used it as an extender to pull it towards her.

 *

Naras can fall asleep anywhere. Even before she became a physician/healer, she had the uncanny ability to close her eyes and be asleep within minutes. Lying down, standing while braced against something, sitting, lounging between skyfaring silks (she’d gotten bored waiting for her Gatalentian friend to come back from the holocall he’d had to take). No nap is too short – she wakes feeling rested even if it’s only been five minutes. She wakes easily, fully alert.

 Naras sings and hums to her plants and patients. It’s not uncommon to walk into her clinic and hear her singing a folk song or a current hit. She definitely encourages sing-alongs anytime nervous children are brought in, and at night broadcasts spiritual songs important to Togruta culture over the PA system – at a very quiet volume, of course. Naras has a garden at home – a singfruit tree surrounded by flowers and bushes, some of which are not native to Shili – and the plants routinely get hummed and sung at as she tends to them. Lethaa loves waking up in the morning to hear her wife’s singing voice drifting in from an open window. 

*

Thank you again so much for the ask!! This was a lot of fun!Also, I really do appreciate your interest in my OCs (especially these two). It means a lot to me 🌺🌷

[studytist]

Hey, everyone! I’ve been planning this post for a while since I’m an app addict and wanted to share mine with you guys! I divided things in two: the first part of each section is the overall info on the app and then my personal review of it. Without further ado, here are my favorite apps. Hope you enjoy it~

FORTUNE CITY (Free with in-app purchases) Expense Tracker Available for iOS/Android Fortune City is my absolute favorite expense tracker. It’s from the same developer as Plant Nanny! In the app you’re the mayor of your very own city, each expense you insert create a specific type of building depending on what kind it is (shopping, food, transport, medical etc.). You can level up buildings by merging them and also merge parks (that are built automatically from time to time). It has the option to track card expenses differently and also a balance. By upgrading (monthly $3,99 subscription) you also have a few more options such as setting a budget etc. Besides being extremely useful and fun to play, Fortune City is beautifully designed, bonus points!

VANTAGE (Free with in-app purchases) Calendar and to-do list Available for iOS Here’s something you need to know about me: in order for me to like and actually use an app, I need to like how it looks. I’ve been searching for a nice free calendar/to-do list app for the longest time, but either it was too simple or too crowded or simply not for me (a.k.a “ugly”). Or at least until I found Vantage. Vantage is gorgeously designed and brings a totally innovative way to look at your calendar. In it’s free version, you can add events and use your calendar in general, with the upgraded version (a one-time $9.99 purchase) you can use the to-do list section which is divided by notebooks (reminds me of Paper 53), add tags, change the background, use schedules and much more. What I love the most about Vantage is how its super customizable and minimalistic yet equipped with a variety of options that’ll surely support all tastes, besides all that, it’s very nice to see an app with a one-time purchase (totally worth the price btw) instead of monthly memberships (yikes).

ANY.DO (Free with in-app purchases) Calendar and to-do list Available for iOS/Android/Web Any do is a great, simpler option for calendar/to-do apps that also has a web version so you can keep track of your day anywhere! Any.do is very user-friendly and has a very minimalistic interface that focuses more on to-dos. There are many subscription plans with different options (not that worth it in my personal opinion). I used it for a long time and it suited me just fine, the option sync it with other calendars is also very useful. A great option for those who want an easy application to get them through the day.

YOUPER (Free) Mood tracker and anxiety reliever Available for iOS/Android I have anxiety and depression so tracking my mood is kind of a big deal for me. Youper changes the whole experience tho, instead of a simple chart with moods or anything like that, Youper is an AI that is designed to help you track your mood more efficiently and, in case you’re feeling down, it helps you relax with breathing techniques and other little activities. It also has an anxiety/depression tracker you take every 15 days to help you get an overall idea of your progress! It also has various articles and videos on different mental illnesses to help you understand them better! It’s definitely one of my favorite apps for mental illness and has helped me keep track of myself without making it seem like a burden. !!NOTE!! No mood tracker or app designed for the mentally ill replace the help of professional medical assistance. If you’re feeling unusually down or showing signs of any mental illness, please reach out for a psychologist and never medicate yourself before that. It’ll be okay.

WYSA (Free) Mood tracker and anxiety reliever Available for iOS/Android Wysa is very similar to Youper, but it’s a bit more talkative and friendly, it also has a variety of activities depending on your mood (anxious, sad etc.) that’ll help you get focused, relaxed, create to-do lists and etc. Wysa also has the option to contact a professional coach for $29.99, I have never tried it tho. It’s surely a great application full of cute gifs and a very relaxing interface. !!NOTE!! No mood tracker or app designed for the mentally ill replace the help of professional medical assistance. If you’re feeling unusually down or showing signs of any mental illness, please reach out for a psychologist and never medicate yourself before that. It’ll be okay.

COGNI (Free with in-app purchases) Mood tracker Available for iOS/Android Cogni was an app indicated by my personal psychologist and also my psychiatrist, both of them said the report chart used in this mood tracker is very similar to the one used, for example, to recognize bipolar disorders and you’re able to share your chart with your therapist. It’s very simple and easy to use. Personally not my favorite since it bugs in my phone and always log out and it’s not that aesthetically pleasing either, although it’s full of options such as thoughts and what situation triggered your mood. It has a free version and a few other subscription plans with some other options such as a full chart of all the moods and some sharing options for your therapist as well. !!NOTE!! No mood tracker or app designed for the mentally ill replace the help of professional medical assistance. If you’re feeling unusually down or showing signs of any mental illness, please reach out for a psychologist and never medicate yourself before that. It’ll be okay.

TAYASUI SKETCHES PRO ($5.99 with in-app purchases) Drawing Available for iOS/Android Tayasui is an app very similar to Paper by 53, but with more customizable tools and options. I personally like to use it for my comic journal. The textures from the brushes are very realistic and nice and the option to creates notebooks is very great. A simple yet complete app.

QUIP (Free) Documents Available for iOS/Android/Web Quip is my favorite writing and document storage app. You can create folders and many different types of documents. It has a very clean design and user-friendly interface as well as many business tools such as synching between different accounts and layouts to choose from that’ll surely be helpful. It also syncs automatically between mobile/web and has an in-built chat. Definitely recommend it.

TIDE (Free with in-app purchases) Focus & sleep Available for iOS/Android Tide is a Pomodoro app with many included ambiance sounds (rain, library, cafe etc.), it also has the option to track your sleep or quick naps. It’s very beautifully designed and easy to use. Its free version is pretty complete but you can also purchase subscriptions and more sounds. A cool bonus thing is that it also has a daily quote (and they’re usually very nice and inspiring).

MERRIAM WEBSTER (Free with in-app purchases) Dictionary Available for iOS/Android/Web I doubt anyone doesn’t know about Merriam Webster but I decided to include it anyways. Merriam Webster is one of the most complete English dictionaries out there and now it also has some games and quizzes. You can purchase the 1-year ads-free version for $1.99. 

PAPAGO (Free) Translator Available for iOS/Android/Web (extension) I’m crazy about learning languages and the last one I’ve been trying to learn is Korean and because of that, I was looking for a good translator. Google Translate kinda sucks, we all know it by now, Papago, on the other hand, seems to be one of the best Asian languages (and a few others) translators I’ve ever seen. It can translate up to 11 languages (English, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese) and it’s very user-friendly. Its speech recognition is also pretty good and it has a built-in phrasebook for Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese! There’s also a kids version for young learners out there. 

CLUE (Free with in-app purchases) Period tracker Available for iOS/Android Clue is, in my opinion, the best period tracker out there. I love that you can input other data besides the flow of your period, such as pain (cramps, headaches, tender breasts etc.) or your energy (energized, exhausted etc.) and many other things as well as create your own tags! It also gives you a prevision of when your next period is going to be and, for me at least, it’s pretty accurate. It also gives you plenty of info on the period overall and specific aspects. The free version is pretty complete but you can purchase some subscription plans if you want some more tools. 

MEDISAFE (Free with in-app purchases) Med reminder Available for iOS/Android Another thing you need to know about me: I forget absolutely everything all the time. Hence, if I have no one (or anything) reminding me of taking my meds, you bet I’ll forget about it. I went on the search for some med reminder apps and MediSafe was the best find in my opinion. It’s super complete and fairly easy to use, it also has many customization settings and you can even set a reminder to refill your meds! You can add reminders for medicine you need to take periodically or just meds in general, just input a dose whenever you take it. Depending on the medication, it also gives you some info (and sometimes even a video of a doctor) explaining a little bit of it. You can also add a friend or doctor so, in case you forget to take your meds, it sends them a notification. Its free version works wonders on its own, but you can also purchase subscription plans to change the design of your pillbox or even have Obama’s voice remind you to take your meds among other things! Amazing, right?

GOOGLE PHOTOS (Free) Photo/video storage Available for iOS/Android/Web If you’re anything like me and have trouble deleting your pics (a.k.a memes) because “I might need this sometime!”, Google Photos will be your holy grail. You can store an unlimited amount of photos and videos in the app and delete them from your phone. They’ll be safe and sound and you can see them again anytime you log in anywhere! Pretty neat right? It also organizes the photos based off who’s in it, date etc. You can also create a shared folder, send them to anyone and even search for specific places and dates. A must-have for any photo junkie out there.

So those were some of the apps I use the most! Hope you could find something useful in this list. Feel free to add other apps you use and think people should know about or your own reviews on these. Sharing is caring!

[i-read-shitty-comics]

Digimon Survive

Genres:

Adventure, Drama, Isekai, Fantasy

Average Rating (Imdb): 8.2

Synopsis:

Takuma and his friend are on a historical extracurricular activities camp during spring break. Later they are discovering another world when being attacked by a Digimon.

My Rating: 2

Recommended to:

Digimon fans who are starved for new content, but everyone else should never even touch it.

Instead, here is a list of thing you can read/play instead:

If you want a visual novel/tactical rpg, Fire Emblem is always good or at least better than Survive.

I'd even recommend the really bad ones over Survive because at least they are so ridiculous at times that it becomes funny.

If you really want a visual novel tactical rpg with monster tamer elements then go for Devil Survivor. I haven't played any besides 2 but at least that is a million times better than Digimon Survive can ever even dream to be.

If you want a monster tamer game in general, there is Pokemon, Spectrobes, Monster Rancher, Pokemon clones on mobile, the Dragon Quest Monster Joker games, Monster Hunter has that now as well and there probably are a lot more titles I don't even know about.

If you really want a Digimon game, go for the old ones you can get for cheap or play them on an emulator on your pc. Replay a Digimon game you already have.

The only thing you get out of this game you can not get from anything else is if you really want a tactical rpg visual novel mix with Digimon in particular.

Alternatively you could grab Pokemon Conquest for a less edgy for the sake of being edgy vibes experience but if you really want Digimon in a tactical rpg, Survive is sadly your only option.

My Opinion:

This will include A LOT of spoilers, which is why I put the recommended to section first this time. I just really want to rant about how awful this game is so I will not hold back on spoilers.

Shout out to ma boi Scared btw, for letting me rant about the game to him while playing it.

Now believe it or not but I actually really wanted to like this. Espacially because I like both visual novels and tactical rpgs so this should have been right up my alley. The prologue was pretty fun to play as well. Sure the pacing was pretty slow but nothing that really bothered me. If anything I appreciated this slow approach to getting you into the game because with a slow pacing like that I thought it would put a lot more emphasize on the characters and really gets you to know and feel for them before they may or may not face their death.

At least that's what I was hoping.

The first time I started to have some doubts in the game was when they encountered that "mysterious" woman. You know, the woman that acted as if she was just taking a walk out in the wilderness where monsters could attack her at all times and acts as if she had never seen a monster before. She only stops pretending that there are no monsters when Takuma's Digimon, Agumon, talks to her directly, even though all human kids have their Digimon with them and she had seen them the whole tike while they were talking. Like encountering a yellow dinosaur that can talk is just something you do on a saturday morning.

The kids just didn't question that because, listen, it's really important that they get kidnapped for the next level ok? There was definitly no other way to get to ... whatever the developers were thinking of, I dunno, tbh.

Another thing is that the dialogues often go on for way too long for the little substance they offer, which I would be fine with if the characters would just make it fun or interesting to talk about essentially the same thing for 10 minutes.

You can probably already guess that they don't. The characters are all pretty boring. They really don't go further than the surface level. They have they are one note characters and that's it. Funnily enough I saw the same archetypes executed way better in Devil Survivor 2. There are two characters with a very similar role in that game to two characters in Survive.

Those are Daiichi who is, just like Minoru from Survive, your easy going, always joking, laid back best friend. Meanwhile Io is very similar to Aoi. Both are new to the friend group of the MC and their friend but fit right in as the more shy but very smart one that is always there for moral support.

The difference is just that Minoru and Aoi do not go any deeper than that. They are just that character archetype and that's it.

Daiichi and Io, while they aren't the deepest characters ever, are a lot more interesting than them.

Daiichi first greets you in his usual laid back and friendly, even joking manner when he picks the player up from his class. He seems to be just a nice person you'd be friends with but when you are on your way home with him you see another side of him. You see that he is scared about his future because high school is almost over and he will probably work in some miserable job that he hates soon. His future is uncertain and full of potential misery, which scares him.

The years he lives currently will probably be the best of his life and yet he doesn't really value them as much as he feels he should. Daiichi asks himself if he should even look forward to adulthood and if the system they live in is worth it if it makes so many people miserable by just trying to live their lives.

You can see something similar in Io as well. She is very shy in the beginning not thinking very highly of herself or her opinions. Before the end of the game you even find out that she had suffered from mental health problems. Over the course of the game she grows a lot more confident and relies less and less on others. She loves helping the people in need as much as she hates seeing them suffer and even seeing someone that resembled her at the beginning of the game a lot. She gives them words of encouragement and even stops them from ending their life and giving them hope.

What I wanted to say with this example is that Minoru never becomes more than a simple person who likes to joke around or reveales that he is more than that over the course of the game. Sure, he becomes more serious after one of their friends died but that's it.

Daiichi already showed in the first 10 minutes of the game that there is a lot more to him than you would see on a first glance and that he is very smart a good critical thinker despite his grades not being the best.

Same is true for Io and Aoi. Io changes a lot over the course of the game. She changes from someone who needs help from others to being the one that helps others in need and inspires changes in them. Aoi is nothing but a nice girl. Sure, she is quiet most of the time but can get loud and brash if she has to but that's all there is to her. You find out a bit more of her backstory before she dies but even that doesn't give her that much more dimension.

Now extend what I just said to every single character in the game. The only exceptions being Ryo and Shuuji, who are assholes, one more than the other, they are scared of or hate their Digimon partner. This is a thing that has to change about them to even make the game work. However that is reserved for new game +, since both have scripted death's you can not prevent in your first playthrough.

Of course not every character has to be deep, needs a tragic backstory or even character developement to be a good character. A good example would be Jungo, again from Devil Survivor 2. He enters the game as a too dumb to function himbo and leaves the game as a too dumb to function himbo. But you know what still makes his conversations interesting? That he is one of the kindest people you have ever seen. He doesn't always understand what is going on but he tries to help and protect everyone to the best of his abilities. Hell, he risks his life to safe an injured cat and help her recover.

You repeatedly see other humans be selfish and fight for themself in the game, which makes his selfless and unending kindness stand out even more.

His dialogues are also often very humerous, which is a nice bonus but the emotional core is still Jungo's endless kindness he gives even to the rudest and most selfish person in the group, though he is not unable of hating someone.

The character writing in Survive gives the characters no appeal other than their inital role and character designs, which are great. Espacially Miu and Saki's desings look fantastic and Kaito and Aoi's designs both give a really good feel for the kind of person they are. It's just sad that this is the only thing that stands out about them.

They don't really have any opinions on something or philosopies or interests to talk with them about which makes their conversations incredibly boring and flavorless.

There are a lot of smaller things I could point out now.

Like that they know that Digimon can disguise themself and yet the kids still fall for obvious illusions every single time.

That the protagonist, 14, hides from a girl, 12, that's changing her clothes, getting the clostest to a fanservice scene you have in that game with the second youngest member of the group.

That said second youngest member gets groped and it is not treated as the traumatizing thing it is but instead it is just a thing that's annoying and happens sometimes. That despite as being advertised as a game in which you can safe your characters from dieing, you are locked out of doing that until you unlock new game +.

That I encountered a bug in my playthrough that made it impossible to progress and it took me three hours to find out how to work around said bug. How Aoi is the only one cooking even though there are three 14 year olds and one 16 year old boy who could help her with it.

That the girls were the only ones that needed help from the protagonist to figure out which is a fake and which is their real partner, while the boys were all able to do that on their own. Gender and age being weirdly important to the characters without having any pay off.

The incredible amount of repetivity in certain scenes like helping someone figure which is the fake and which is the real Digimon three times after already having gone through that yourself.

Miyuki having magic for some reason.

The characters only getting their backstory explained before they die just to get some cheap reaction from the player.

And on the wrath ending, which I got, Aoi suddenly turning evil just for extra drama. That when Takuma finds out that Haru/Renamon doesn't go outside the room when the girls change you have three options to chose how to react: You either, tell him that that's not cool, which is weird 'cause Haru doesn't even appear to be 10 years old.

Other than that you can chose to let Takuma tell Haru that he is jealous of him, which is fucking creepy or you can chose to not think about it ... which is followed by a boner joke.

May I remind you that Takuma is 14 and three girls in question are 15, 12 and 11.

This game is absolutely horrible. I only played through it so I can rant about it properly and it made me want to experience almost anything else than the game itself. Without exaggerating I screamed out of joy when I finally saw the credits roll.

The worst is that this game doesn't really make me angry. Sure it's really stupid at times but I'm not angry. I'm just sad and disappointed. I love Digimon. I really do. This game however took this franchise and took everything out of it that made it stick with people in the first place. Sure the monsters are a big part of it, but what made Digimon different from Pokemon, Monster Rancher, Spectrobes and other monster tamer franchises was it's emotional core. It was mainly a story about kids with their own problems and learning to be better people who learn to deal with said problems through the adventure they go on with their Digimon.

Survive doesn't have that emotional core, despite wanting to be basically a darker version of the original Adventure season of Digimon. It tried to imitate what it thought appealed to people but completely misunderstood why it is such a beloved season and that is the true tragedy of the game.

[attract-mode-collective]

Nothing Sez “Student Game” More Than The Dinosaur Evening News (that’s a good thing, btw)

The above is Mediazoic, which takes place in an alternate reality in which dinosaurs have come back to rule the earth and they've hired you, puny human, to make sure their televised broadcasts are dino family safe.

You moderate comments left on message boards, censor full frontal dino nudity, and so on. It's a student game alright, and one of my top picks from the NYU Game Center Student Showcase2018!

I was also fond of Dreams For Your Computer because CRTs, magnets, and cats...

... Here's what it looks like in action, btw.

Though the one game that I liked the most, and which would actually fare well on the marketplace, would have to be Static...

And honorable mention goes to an updated take on Flight Simulator, which recreates a 6 hour long commercial flight as a passenger...

... The best part was the look on Stephen Totilo's face, who kinda didn't get it.

When was the NYU thing btw? Over two weeks ago, and it’s been even longer since the last update. Sorry about that. You know the deal: a million, billion things going on. As usual.

Hence why it’ll take not just one, but two bursting at the seams posts, to cover the second half of May! So onto part one…  

Please, please, PLEASE let these Game Center CX Blu-rays have an English language option (via miki800.com)...

Not a day goes by in which I don’t wonder how that guy who appears in the instruction manual for Bomberman B-Daman is doing these days (via videogameartarchive & videogameartarchive)...

I really love the “are you for real?” vibe that Samus gives off in the instructions for the original Famicom Disk System release of Metroid (via nintendometro)...

If you’ve ever wondered what a pair of bosses from Mega Man 9 & 10 would look like with 8’s 32-bit sheen, well here ya go (via mendelpalace)...

A print ad for the Famicom adaptation of Akira that wasn't all that hot (via videogameads)...

Though whenever anyone hears the words “Akira video game”, this is basically what immediately comes to mind. Anything else is a disappointment, no matter what (via aaronkraten)...

Welcome to the rabbit hole that is the Memorex VIS (via @ColinWilliamson)...

Is the soundtrack to some ultra-obscure home banking software for the Mega Drive worth a listen? You goddamn right it is (via mendelpalace)...

… The accompanying article is also totally worth a read.

It’s the Battletoads X Blue Swede mashup that you can’t believe hasn’t been done yet (via SiIvaGunner)...

Replace Link with myself & Navi with my iPhone, which I use as an alarm clock, and you have earlier this morning in a nutshell (via nintendometro)...

“So where you going?”

“Down a road. A low poly road…”

“Where you headed towards?”

“Whatever’s at the end of this street. This low poly street...”

“If you look up, what do you see?”

“Low poly buildings, under a low poly sky. Who knows, maybe there’s some low poly birds up there, behind those low poly clouds…” (via pmpkn)

From looking at low poly skies to soaring high above them, but what a difference an arcade board makes huh (via kazucrash)...

This is what Metal Max 2: ReLoaded on the DS looks like, at its normal resolution...

And this is what it looks with the resolution bumped up (via gaucheartist)...

Is this sprite of a BMX biker animated unusually well or am I just out of touch when it comes to 2600 software? Granted, it does come from a game made in 1989 (via segagenesisevangelion)…

According to the law: “NO JUMPING” (via vgadvisor)

“Hi guys.” (via beowulf-ultra)

Such a heartwarming scene (via @PicturesFoIder)...

This is what VR looked like many years ago, which is basically how it still looks today as well (via peazy86)...

It’s Yuji Horii, from way back in the day, presumably before he had created Dragon Quest (via videogamesdensetsu)...

Why yes, I have heard of the Ocelot Arcade System, by virtue of it being Quality Simon Carless content...

... BTW, “Quality content” is in reference to this. Moving on: yes, I've also heard of VecFever. It plays games that you might be familiar with, since it emulates old vector MAME titles...

Meanwhile, am only just learning that Tiger released their handhelds in Japan under the Game Vision label (via segacity)...

The Sega Dreamcast: it's thinking... about you, cuz it cares about you (via posthumanwanderings)...

"Wait… was he always there?" asks the official Sonic the Hedgehog Tumblr (via sonicthehedgehog)...

And the final nail in the coffin for this gag came courtesy of the official Sonic Tumblr as well (via sonicthehedgehog)...

"Good news everyone skyrim has been ported to the Bethesda offices carpet" 

"Who the fuck designed support pillars to obstruct a quarter of the hallway?" 

"Bethesda" (via mysteriouslypeculiar)

Yet another "it's funny cuz it's true" (via highlandvalley)...

So annoyed that I only find out about this Games Glorious shirt on the very last day of kylefewell‘s Japanese extrusion (via miki800.com)...

Not a fan of the game (don’t hate, I just don’t find it very enthralling), yet for whatever reason, I REALLY want this vintage Mappy sweatshirt (via namcomuseum)...

When video game attire looks plausible IRL (via @cvxfreak)...

Much like with regular attire, with cosplay, sometimes it’s all about the accessories (via frankiebalboa)...

Don’t think I’ve ever seen this piece of Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter art before (via segacity)...

For those who dig POC, as well those who dig VF, and also those who dig FV... that last one's Fighting Vipers, BTW (via fightersmegamix)...

It’s a crying shame that Fighting Vipers is such an unknown commodity these days (via kazucrash)...

Virtua Fighter vs Virtua Fighter… Kid (via segacity)...

It’s a crying shame that Fighters Megamix is such an unknown commodity these days (via segacity)...

So hyped for RPG Time, based solely upon the headline image used for this 10 ten list of BitSummit games (via @indiegameweb)...

Please enjoy yet another thing that I originally posted on a Saturday late at night, whatever time it might on your end right this second (via contac)...

Been a while since I’ve seen the handiwork of Joe Bleeps, largely since it’s been a while since I’ve been collecting Game Culture Snapshots; the man has certainly stepped up his game (boy mods) since way back when (via kotaku.com)...

Am also very much impressed by the Game Boy Macro, though once again, am super irritated that GBA games do not rest flush with the DS Lite’s body...

An example of function over form I guess (@gamesyouloved)...

Familiar with Line Wobbler? Ever wished you could play it on the go? Are you into demakes? For the Game Boy Advance? (via @diskmem)

Today’s corrupted GBA boot up sequence is (via corruptionasart)...

Can anyone tell what Famicom game we’re seeing that’s all glitched out? (via mendelpalace)...

My fave part of this NES 2 print ad is how, in order to truly drive the message of “EVOLVE OR BECOME EXTINCT” home, whomever felt it necessary to include a little picture of a dinosaur (via nintendometro)...

Was this an ad for the SNES? I ask because it’s considerably more sophisticated when compared to what you usually encountered in gaming rags at the time (via nintendometro)...

This ad for the GoldStar version of the 3DO, hailing from Korea, makes me so proud to be (half) Korean, you have no idea (via notablegamebox)...

This Space Invaders tribute piece is like the cover art to some 80s heavy metal record (via shmups)...

Meanwhile, the album art for the Metal Black soundtrack feels more Pink Floyd-ish than anything else (via reportal)...

As amazing as it would have been to attend a ZUNTATA concert 20 years ago, I desperately wanted to see them perform various Darius cuts live just the other week (via miki800.com)...

This cover art for a tribute album celebrating 25 years of Mega Man is still quite good, 31 years after the fact (via rnn-draws)...

My recommended reading this time is a comparison of all the various Mega Man sprites that have been, including a few that you may not be familiar with (via retrovania-vgjunk.blogspot.com)...

Apparently there was a Mega Man boss that was part arcade machine, but he only appeared in some mobile game, for f's sake Capcom (via mendelpalace)...

Guess now’s a good time to share another random game canter pic (via gogopri)...

Pathos at the game center, even among Sailor Scouts (via funnysailorm00n)...

A pride & joy of my personal collection is both the original retail Japanese release of Jet Set Radio & the available via Sega Direct only edition: De La Jet Set Radio (via videogameartarchive & videogameartarchive)...

Here's an alternate take on it’s alternate cover star (via @Drooling_Demon)…

Putting together the necessary gear to properly grind the streets of Tokyo-to (via kiroziki-cosplay)...

JSR tales place in a fictionalized, idealized interpretation of Japan, whereas this gif is a very realistic take, yup (via dehtyar)...

Meanwhile and elsewhere, somewhere in the United States of America it would seem (via behexagusthegreat)...

There's still dinner time in the future (via kirokazepixel)...

My contribution to #WorldGothDay (via it8bit)…

From dark & dreary, to warm & fuzzy, yet still black & white (via this old post from a few years back)...

Old photos of a Japanese school kid obsessing over the Famicom are somewhat dime a dozen, but the PC Engine? A very rare treat (via gamingremembrance)...

From black & white photographs of Japanese 80s kids playing consoles, to a full color animated gif of US 80s kids at the arcade (via tvneon)...

Time to wrap things up by touching upon something that kept me awfully busy over the past few: Death By Audio Arcade X Dreamhouse II. Here's a rather mysterious image that appeared on the FB event page, and which was utilized in my promotional push...

... Did it work? You’ll have to find out in my part 2 of my Attract Mode X Tumblr: May 2018 recap! Due tomorrow. Maybe.

[dangoghz]

legitimate advice for new phandom blogs

hey !! so i know sometimes posts like ‘RULES FOR THE PHANDOM XD’ are made and they’re all like “numba one. dan is a squishy bean respect this uwu” but this isn’t gonna be like that lol. im just going to list a few actual things that might help people new to the phandom learn about and become integrated into the community! of course these aren’t ‘rules’ and u dont have to listen to any of it ofc,,, im not here to control ur blog, just here to say what people normally do. feel free to rb whether u are a new blog or not, ill appreciate it either way!

(NOTE: PLS TELL ME IF ANY OF THE LINKS DONT WORK AND ILL FIX THEM PERIODICALLY!)

italicized text is defined in the glossary at the bottom!

1. be interactive! 

here, unique to our corner of timmy darn communism, we have a lot of like virtual traditions that everyone knows. these help you to make friends and also grow ur blog with some new mutuals. here are some examples.

networks: networks, or nets, are a sort of selective gc, usually with a theme or concept that it’s based around, in which all who wish to be part of fill out an application form that determines whether they get in. this is kinda the one with the most work, as u also have to make a group blog and info post, but it’s definitely worth it. i have made my closest friends in nets (such as @phleurnet which i birthed), and a lot of people on here would say the same. if you want to know more or apply, my friend diana runs an update blog @phandomnets! (examples, these are all open btw: x x x)

meetups: meetups are not in real life, don’t worry. a meetup is when someone organizes a specific time at which we all post thing around a certain theme! for instance, on halloween on tuesday, my friend milo hosted a halloween meetup. usually people post selfies but if u are uncomfortable with that, u can post art, music, or anything else related to the theme. a blog called @phandommeetupwatch keeps track of these! (examples, all happening soon/just happened: x x x)

follow forevers: a follow forever is a big celebration post when u reach a follower count milestone, no matter 50 or 5k. u tag all of the blogs you love, and they reblog it to appreciate u! it’s really positive and shows people how their work has paid off. usually people are tagged in alphabetical order, and sometimes people bold their favorites but the stylization is up to u. (recent examples: x x x)

milestone activities: sometimes people do things for their followers when they reach a follower count that involves their followers requesting something! there are many many forms of this type of thing. a common one is blog rates, in which there is a set template and the blogger rates each blog that sends in an ask using the template (info post ex: x; rate ex: x). there are also url edits (x), name/url moodboards (x), and more. u can certainly come up w an idea of ur own, being creative is great!

talk to people: that’s right dude!!! ye!!! u can message a blog u think is cool, or send an ask if u think something they made or are talking about is interesting, or add something sweet in the tags (more on etiquette later) when u rb their post. additionally, sometimes people stir up discourse, and u should participate in it if u want (past discourse examples: x x). u can also send asks when people reblog ask games, which are a list of questions with a theme (new one of mine ex: x). 

2. play around with your blog!

customizing your blog can start giving you what we call a branding, making you distinguished from other bloggers. this can include everything from as simple as using an icon to coding your own about page. 

themes: a blog can be way more appealing if it is aesthetically pleasing. admittedly, i often follow people just because of the smoothness of their mobile theme. a mobile theme is rather easy to construct as u can do it on ur own with a phone. it is how ur blog looks on a phone. although u don’t have to do this, i recommend sticking to two to four colors on ur theme and avoiding stuffing it with a lot of bright things because it can distract from content. additionally, bloggers often make their descriptions short and succinct. (my fav mobiles: x x x.) on a pc, your blog theme can be customized completely on html, meaning there is a lot of freedom. u don’t have to learn to code for this, bc u can find free themes anywhere, just search ‘free tumblr themes’ on google. once again, be creative, but u shouldn’t overload. (my fav pcs: x x x.)

about pages: in order to avoid chunky descriptions but still let people know the key deets about themselves, bloggers create about pages. sometimes these bout pages are uncoded but u can also use html code if u want to. some common things in an about page are interests, maybe personality types/horoscopes/hogwarts houses, original content, and links to other social media. (examples: x x x)

urls: urls are a key part of your blog’s brand. ‘rebranding’ is what people say if they change their url! if u are tired or bored with your url, changing it is an opportunity to change your theme and other parts of ur blog as well. (url change ex: x). 

saved urls: saved urls are basically when bloggers hoard sideblogs in order to reserve the urls used for them. if you ever encounter a blank blog that has ‘saved’ as its title, that’s probably it. sometimes people like to give away their urls, either as a constant thing (ex: x) or by doing a url giveaway (x). either way, it’s a good opportunity to change it up!

tags: in order to keep their blog cleancut and organized, a lot of bloggers have special tags for certain people, certain topics, and/or certain types of media. many people in the phandom particularly have tags for dan and phil that match (strawberries and cream, lune and sole, etc). if they have many of these tags, there can be a page for their tags on their blog. this page can be coded with special html or just a regular tumblr page, it doesn’t really matter. but it’s very useful for those who visit your blog, and makes it easy for u to navigate older posts as well! (examples: x x x)

3. learn to make og content!

producing original content helps you establish what your strengths are and why people should follow you. it also allows u to contribute to the fanbase, and gives u a chance of being noticed by dnp! and the validation is lovely. there are many options if u want to make something. 

gifs: gifs are an ART here in the phandom, and its mechanisms still perplex me to this day bc ive never tried it. u probably already know what a gif is, but if not, its essentially a short animation made in photoshop that repeats. gifmakers are often distinguished by a unique coloring (example gifmakers: x x x), such as my friend emily’s smooth dark blue tint (x). it can be a long process to learn how to gif but it is very rewarding in the end, from what i’ve heard. (tutorials: x x)

art: there is a very wide range of phanartists, all with such talents, either digital or traditional, that you can draw inspirations from for your own work. you can make cartoons, comics, realism, abstract, nsfw even, or any mix (or none) of the former. artists on tumblr definitely deserve more attention than they get here on tumblr, so be sure to show appreciation towards them! (my fav artists: x x x)

edits: edits are the Graphic Designs of our community and are usually very aesthetically pleasing. they can be centered around a certain event, like a video or something dnp made, or just for fun. the more practice you get making them, the more dexterous u’ll become. they can be a great tool if u like the design aspect of art but don’t want to actually draw. (edit makers: x x)

icons: icons are just the little profile picture that u can insert for ur blog. it’s really easy and fun to make them, kind of like a lazy version of edits. you can make them using photoshop or an app like picsart or medibang, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. more on how to use icons in section 4. (examples: x x x) (my lil tutorial: x)

moodboards: moodboards are nine pictures arranged 3 by 3 that have a certain color scheme. it’s kind of like a collage except the photo feature here separates the pictures for u. there are a lot of innovative moodboard makers that stun me w how pretty it looks or how they arrange the pics. moodboards are also an easy and fun option! (moodboard tags: x x x)

textposts: this is by far the easiest and more common form of content u will find. it’s just writing about dnp in a textpost! if a textpost isn’t very serious, people also call it a meme or shitpost. shitposting is defs on the rise here so its a good business to get into. it’s also a great outlet for ur emotions or personal connections to what dnp do! (example talk tags: x x x)

fics: by far the most famous media to come out of here, phanfiction is a popular form of phan indulgence. u have probably heard of the most scarring ones (list: x), but there is actually a really vast range of it, not just creepy smut! some other genres are fluff, angst, and slow burns. u will discover that, despite the sterotype, not all fanfiction is bad. you can find lovely fics on @phanfictioncatalogue by genre, au, or topic. and, if u need help writing something, many writers would love to help. (a few well-known fics: x x x x x)

4. tumblr etiquette!

i know tumblr might seem like a simple social media (or perhaps not after u’ve read all the above?) but there’s a lot of things that u just....u just don’t do. it’s sort of like virtual manners, and if u don’t follow them, then it’s unlikely that people will like ur blog. once again, this is by no means me forcing u to run ur blog a certain way. it just happens that the types of ppl who break these rules are who we mock in gcs :////////. so yea, here’s some advice.

credits: if u decide to use someone’s art, edit, gif, or icon on the theme of ur blog, check what they require of u before u use it. most content creators strongly ask for credit in the description of ur blog, either by link or like ‘icon/header/art by ____’. it is just a common courtesy to the person who spent time on that, and if u think credit will ruin the aesthetic of ur blog, a) u probably don’t have an aesthetic in the first place and b) learn to appreciate art, binch. 

anonymity: anon asks can be very powerful either negatively or positively depending on how u yield them, so make sure that u are careful with what u send. compliments are always welcome and criticism as well, but blatant rudeness or hate will do nothing. u will only make someone feel bad about themselves and it will not accomplish anything. also, u face the threat of all their friends turning u into a meme. 

sensitivity: a lot of people here are way too easily offended by harmless jokes, a common example in the phandom being when we insult dnp affectionately and people take it way too much to heart. please don’t start drama over something w no real meaning. however, there are times when it is indeed necessary. if u want to criticise a blogger, be respectful of them simultaneously. by all means, if u spot someone being racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist, or the like, feel free to call them out on it. but beforehand, make sure that u have done ur research and are educated on the topic, or u could turn out to be blatantly wrong. 

adding to posts: everyone makes this mistake when they start out here and that’s totally okay, but adding to every post u reblog is incredibly bothersome. a rule of thumb would be don’t add anything unless what u say will actually improve the post significantly. if ur additions are along the lines of ‘LOL’ or ‘i relate!!!!’ or ‘philly is a smol bean XD’, learn to use the tags for heaven’s sake. they’re there for not only organization but also for commenting. some exceptions, though, would be if u are mentioned in the post or the op is your close friend. 

respecting privacy: this should already be obvious to u, but respect dan and phil’s boundaries. do not tag them or their main tags (#daniel howell, #danisnotonfire, #amazingphil), in any phanfics, phanart (like specifically with them as a romantic ship), or phan edits. do not talk to their family members, expose their personal info like address or phone number, and do consider that they are real people just like u. we may make things based around phan, but it is kept in a community for us and not for dan and phil’s eyes. this is very important.

5. have fun!

sorry if this is all overwhelming, but i tried to make it as simplified as possible. and also sorry for the sass, i’m kinda tired of all the ding dongs on here and want to prevent further ding dongs from being created. thanks so much for readin and be sure to send me an ask anytime if u have questions! welcome to hell!

glossary

timmy darn communism: me being my usual weird self and replacing ‘tumblr dot com’ with random words that start with the same letters

mutuals: someone who you follow and who follows you; usually who u interact with most

rb: shortening for ‘reblog’

discourse: when theres is intense discussion of a certain topic, sometimes phan-related sometimes not, sometimes serious and sometimes silly

branding: the word ‘branding’ kinda started as a joke, but it’s generally what we use to call what someone’s blog reminds them of, whether it be a certain color or a discussion topic; my branding, if u asked a mutual, would probably be impressionism, tea, and baguettes (dont ask ab that one)

html: a simple type of coding used for designing websites! u can learn basic html here or here, it’s way easier and funner than it looks

dnp: dan and phil; we also say ‘deppy’, ‘dip and pip’, ‘the boys’, ‘the rats’, and more

coloring: basically the stylization of a gif, shown through filters, textures, contrast, brightness, etc. 

talk tag: a tag in which all of the textposts that a person makes are sorted into

phanfiction terms

smut: porn fic :/ 

fluff: just what it sounds like, a type of fic that usually has a lot of soft stuff like cuddling, flirting, and looooove

angst: a fic with a lot of drama, usually sad or very emotional

slow burn: a fic where a pairing, in this case phan, slowly falls in love

au: stands for ‘alternate universe’, a fic in which dan and phil are written not as youtubers but in a completely different scenario (ie. bad boy and new guy in high school, university students, space exhibition, anything u can dream up really)

anon: short for ‘anonymous’

op: short for ‘original poster’, aka who made the post

[briteboy]

WHO is Santi and WHERE is his face?

i am LIVING for your warm & colorful posts right now!! your editing is so amazing and it brightens my day everytime i see a new post of yours *.*

THANK YOU!!!! <3 i am so happy/relieved to be using warm colors once more, i feel like myself again. don’t get me wrong, i do like evoking different moods, but sometimes (a lot of the time, especially with santi) too much is too much. today’s posts were HOPEfully my last emo edits..............for now

LOL I actually made a comment about Fiona naming a cat/dog (once Pets comes out) Rodrigo. I'll go back underground now haha (still a great story, cant wait to read more) -Runaway NONY

OH I DIDN’T EVEN SEE THAT wtf. either tumblr ate it or i accidentally scrolled past it i’m sorry. i always enjoy seeing messages from anons who return to my inbox! but lmAO that’s a good idea. i actually met the most perfect dog today and now i know the breed and name of dog santi needs immediately

Hii! If you dont mind me askin, how do you edit your darker screenshots? I always end up making them too light or too dark to see a thing :( Thank you!

hmmm idk what to tell you about making them too light or too dark, because that’s a very specific thing that really depends on the picture. BUT i know that the dodge tool is my bff for brightening up dark pictures while still retaining some of the darker elements you want in them (aversely, the burn tool will help darken parts), messing with the exposure can also really help, coloring can also help too, selective color is my bff especially with blue shadows and orangey skin...this is kind of a broad answer, i’m sorry, but if you needed help with something specific, let me know!

I remember you answered an ask and said you drew tears when you edit right? Is there a reason you don't use CC tears?

i answered this like two weeks ago but i can’t find it so whateveR i’ve used cc tears a few times but there’s only like three of those in existence and my characters have cried a LOT. i feel like it would be kinda weird if they had the same tears every time. also there are just some variations that i like to customize myself by drawing, like sometimes they’ll be full on sobbing, sometimes just one single tear...it just depends on the situation, that’s why i draw ‘em.

Santi is my favorite Harvest Moon character.

idk shit about harvest moon so idk how to respond to this :[ here’s a small picture of michael cera with a cactus

Would you recommend buying a macbook for playing sims?

if a macbook is what you already have, then yeah, i’d say it suffices without many problems. if you’re specifically going out and buying a computer with the knowledge that you’ll be playing sims on it, then mmmmmm i’d probably say no...but it also depends on if you’re like gonna get REALLY into storytelling and cc n shit or if it’s just casual gameplay with a mods folder that’s like 5 gb or less...if it’s the latter i think it should also be fine. but yeah it just depends on what kind of gaming you’re planning on doing.

How can I read your story from the beginning? Is there a link or something? I keep seeing it on my feet and it looks so great!

thank you! there’s a button at the top of my page that says “story directory” but if you’re on mobile you can just go here or copy this link: http://femmesim.tumblr.com/tagged/story/chrono

I've talked to u like once before and I'm to shy to talk to u again... Why am I like fish?

This**

we are all like fish if you really think about it lmao but really just reach out my dude! if we talked once then y’know you already broke the ice so just go for it!! i am here and ready to talk about all the things under the sun

Do you use Topaz Clean?

yep

hi hello so maybe I am just a blind bean but may I ask how in god's name do you get your images to be so crisp? I have everything set up, but it seems as if when I do my thing in Photoshop, everything turns out lookin like a blobfish. I'm not sure if you use another person's topaz settings or if you have your own. Thank you so much if you do respond bc I was too much of a wuss to message you *cries in Spanish*

OMG well it’s mostly just resizing, smart sharpening, and most importantly topaz clean (see above) that makes them so crisp. i also use the sharpen tool on sims’ faces, and the smudge tool when something is particularly pixelated or whatever. everything i do is listed in here! UR NOT A WUSS *hugs you in spanish*

youre my inspiration to be a better writer. I know i'm good and giving characters depth and backgrounds and coming up with a rough story idea. but i rush things and i'm not great at putting it into a good story so ya. My story on simblr started out as casual gameplay but i wanted it to be more and i'm trying to get better @ everything

OMG ;_________; it sounds like you are a good writer already, and it’s awesome that you recognize your strengths while also acknowledging that you need to work on some things as well. i try to do the same and i think that’s what keeps me level headed. it sounds like you just need to dedicate some time to planning, that way you start to realize all the nuances of your story that come together to flesh out that initial rough idea. you seem to have a positive attitude, so that’s great!! you’re already getting better and better, i know it <3

now Santi's song is Post Malone - Congratulations

OMF LMAO u sent this when santi finally got to mexico and it’s fitting

sos i was listening to the song fight song by rachel platten when i saw the photoset of santi making it to mexico and now i can't stop ugly crying please make it stop

omG i see it TAKE BACK UR LIFE SANTI U GOT THIS

This is so random but like, can I just say that you're so amazing like?? Why?? You're so sweet and funny and I love you very much ok

AKJSKJDFKJS THANK YOU THIS IS SO NICEEEE ;-; i try but a lot of the time i feel like a sarcastic asshole lmao thank u for thinking otherwise <3

Am I the only one who's like... really mad about pets being NPCs? I just feel like being able to control them was the best part. I don't really feel like the EP is worth it without them. Like, don't get me wrong, I understand that the team worked really hard on it, but I feel like they didn't do it as well as they could have.

hmm i’m kind of meh on that front because like on one hand i did like controlling pets and the novelty of the fact that you could just see their different interactions firsthand, but ultimately i think i’m okay with not controlling them because it makes it more realistic for me and honestly they’re probably more likely to take care of themselves a little bit more if they’re automated, because i’m just thinking about ts3 pets and how i literally had to make them go pee outside otherwise they’d pee in the house...even if they were well trained and stuff lmao. plus there might be a cheat or mod that lets you control them, like there was in ts2? so don’t lose hope yet.

hey your blog is AWESOME, i read through your stories in a day and am obsessed (kind of in love with gianni) ❤ what are some of your favorite ts4 blogs? i'm trying to find more awesome blogs to read through during my miserable journey of trying to get the game to work on my computer lol

heyo here’s some! thank you btw, and i hope your miserable journey ends soon :{

(I really need to get this off my chest) ok so my aunt is currently in a critical condition after having a kidney failure and she's in desperate need for a new one and I'm the only one in my family that's a match (so far) but I'm not allowed to donate bc I myself have severe health issues affecting my day to day life that would make it extremely dangerous for me to remove a kidney. I'm so fucking frustrated you don't understand like I just want to cry most of the time

first off i’m so sorry that this is even happening to you ;__; and you’re an amazing person for being willing to help out your aunt like that, so just know it isn’t your fault that you’re unable to. don’t guilt yourself for it okay? is there any other possible donor at all? i wanna know how this situation ends up. i really hope your aunt will be okay. just stay close to your family for support and don’t blame yourself.

how did you get photoshop for free? I'm trying to find a link that won't give me a virus, but I had no luck yet

the pirate bay is ur friend

Ok I gotta rant. GoT does NOT deserve the hype/amazing ratings. Like, sure the cinematography is pretty great and they have ok actors but the freaking script is so mediocre I actually think I could write a better one. Me. A 16 y/o tiny child. There are so much better shows out there! Hell, even Supernatural has a better script than GoT

whenever ppl agree with me about how much GoT sucks i grow stronger and stronger even the actors are iffy at this point. watching daenerys act is painful, jon snow is wooden as hell, it’s just bad. ur 16 yr old self has more potential than these writers tbh. it’s just completely mediocre; it started out as something great because it followed the same layered storytelling pattern as the books, but it’s diverged from that completely because the writers got too caught up in the hype. and you’re right, it doesn’t deserve that hype! omfdkjsgkj i’ve never watched supernatural but i haven’t heard good things. that’s a low bar

[impurelight]

Mi 9T

When the OnePlus 7T came out I distinctly remember posting 'Oh, it's the double priced Mi 9T'. Because it is. The Mi 9T is one of the best phones you can buy for 300 USD. So I bought it and here are my impressions using it.

The first thing I noticed when I powered on this phone is the display. It is gorgeous. Just, it looks painted on as you'd expect. But also I can actually use the autobrightness mode. This is my first AMOLED phone. All the rest were LCD's and on LCD's if you lower the brightness the colours also get washed out. Perhaps this has to do with impurities in the red, green, and blue filters. But whatever the case I'd always leave autobrightness off because in dark modes it was too difficult to see anything.

This AMOLED fixes that. In fact it looks even better at night when there's no other light because the colours just pop that much more.

Also about the display there is an oversaturated colour mode turned on by default. I turned it off because although it looks good in most circumstances, if you have a colour that's already really saturated the extra saturation can bump that colour into uncanny levels of saturation.

Oh, and AMOLED displays are not as sharp as LCD panels. It's probably due to the pentile subpixels but if you look closely you can see some diamond stuff going on. Not the actual pixels and in normal use it looks fine but if you stop and stare at it it does look a bit off.

A post about the Mi 9T would not be complete without a talk about MIUI. I really like MIUI. So browsing MIUI discussions the 2 big problems with it are the task management and the notifications not showing up.

First the notifications. Yeah, they don't all show up on the lock screen. But I don't really care about that. When I look at the lock screen it's usually only to control my music as there is a fingerprint icon that displays over the fingerprint sensor. More on this later. So I can unlock my phone without ever seeing the lock screen. Pretty nifty.

And all the notifications show up in the shade so I'm not really sure why people are talking about that. It doesn't bother me that much.

And second there's the task management. MIUI is brutal about killing tasks that are eating battery life. Certain apps will run in the background as long as you opened them manually like the clock. But the official instructions to get something to run in the background are to:

Go into the battery settings and select no optimizations.

Go into the permissions and allow the app to autostart.

Go into the multitasking view (which looks really weird, not worse, just weird. In fact it might even be a bit better than that waste of space multitasking UI stock Android uses. Why they ever moved from the cards UI is beyond me.), long press on the app in question, and select the lock icon to keep MIUI from killing it.

And then I realized there are additional steps no one tells you:

Restart your phone.

Start the app after your phone has restarted.

So it's a bit of a pain. I wouldn't even know this if I didn't have a Mi Band 4. They even put the instructions in the Mi Band app. You'd think the Mi Band would do this automatically given it's made by the same company but I guess not.

I'm not sure if all these steps are necessary but they are recommended.

The upside of all this is that you get fantastic standby time. Like I can go to sleep and my phone won't drop in battery life overnight. There are times I'll go to sleep with my old Android One phone around like - I don't know - 40%ish battery life and wake up with 15% and a low battery warning. It's pretty annoying. I don't know if this trade off is worth it but I mean it's not so bad if you follow all the steps.

As for the rest of MIUI it's pretty amazing. Oh, yeah, people also complain about the launcher not having an app drawer. I don't mind, on my old phone I put all the apps on my home screen anyways. Although I now use Nova just because the default app drawer does not support adaptive icons and some of the icons in the default launcher are pretty bad. But the default launcher has a better swipe animation. When you swipe up the app goes back into its icon. I wish Nova had this but unfortunately not. When you swipe up the app just shrinks into the middle of the screen.

Speaking of the swipe gestures they're pretty cool. Up to go home. Up and hold (not up and to the right like in iOS) to access multitasking (which causes a vibration. BTW the vibration motor on the Mi 9T is really loud). And right or left to go back. Sometimes they do conflict with other things. Especially in Nova launcher (this is more probably due to not being able to go home again if you're already home) and in games but it's not that bad.

My one complaint is you still get that stupid swipe up twice to go home in full screen apps. That means when you're playing a game and you swipe up instead of going home you get a message "swipe up again to go home". It's pretty annoying and I don't know why they do it. But it doesn't bother me as much as having to swipe up to get to a button so I could go home because you're doing the same thing twice. That annoyance of having to swipe up twice is actually what made me never want a phone with on screen buttons. But now all the phones have edge to edge screens so I guess I have to move on.

Also some more notes on MIUI: it doesn't whine about mobile data. On stock android it's like "Oh, you don't have mobile data. Do you want to enable it?" And it's just so annoying. I don't know what sort of fantasy land Google lives in where everyone has unlimited data all the time. Also the clock text is really nice. I mean, it's just a clock but I still really like it.

It only displays like this if you don't have notifications though. It displays the boring normal text if you have a notification. Too bad. I would have perferred it if it always displayed this clock.

Also the battery icon text is too small.

And there's a lot of notification spam. Especially the app updates. Some update through the Play store but others don't. I don't understand why they can't all just update through the Play Store. Oh, well, at least the app update ones can be blocked by the cleaner ones cannot.

And there's this nifty feature called fingerprint shortcuts. Basically once you unlock your phone with your fingerprint you can slide your finger to one of a few shortcuts. This could be really useful if you could customize the shortcuts at all. Oh, well.

Speaking of the fingerprint sensor it's not what I expected. I saw tons of videos and they all had the fingerprint being really fast. And yeah, it's about that fast. But only if you have your finger in the same position you normally unlock the phone with. As soon as you start moving around or you're holding your fingers at a weird angle it can take about twice or even three times as long to unlock and the sensor will occasionally stutter for some reason. And if your hands were recently wet (even if you dryed them) it can even refuse to unlock entirely. I'd still say the fingerprint sensor is pretty good and way better than a back mounted one but I don't like how all those 'reviewers' lied to me.

So I briefly touched on the light up fingerprint icon. Basically there is an icon right over the fingerprint sensor so you know where to press. It's pretty nifty. It's easy enough to know where the fingerprint sensor is as it's usually marked by an unusually oily spot on the screen but it's nice to know explicitly. It's not always on, it appears to light up whenever you move the phone. Also the brightness of the icon doesn't use the ambient light sensor. So in dark locations it'll be fine but in bright locations you can hardly see it.

Also the Wifi is insanely good on this phone. Much better than my previous phone. The connection appears to be much more reliable and the connection is faster.

So let's talk about the camera. I keep on touching it when holding the phone. Because there are three cameras and a flash module. Anyways, it's a fine camera. In a comparison with the stock camera app the Google Camera app gave me much more details so I'm using that even though the HDR isn't as aggressive in that.

Also there is this sky replacement effect in the MIUI gallery app. It is so convincing. It makes the random dual exposure thing Google's doing this year look like a joke. The only problem is that if there's something that looks too much like sky, like a white house in front of some white clouds, it'll try to replace that too.

The last thing I wanted to talk about is the default case. It's really nice. I originally thought it was too thin but it appears to give the phone enough protection. Just be a little careful with it. I love how the buttons are so easy to press unlike other thick cases. Also it's very tight so you won't have to worry about it falling off.

So those are my thoughts on the Mi 9T. I love it. The only question here is, "If I had an equivalent phone running stock Android would I take it?" And to be honest I'd have to lean more towards the 'no' end of the scale. I don't really care about notifications, the closing apps issues is solvable and greatly improves battery life, and the fingerprint icon is a godsend. My biggest problem with MIUI is probably the battery percent in the top right is way too small.

Oh, and PS. Google's migration assistent is a complete joke. Contacts and stuff transfer fine but as for apps it basically use reinstalls them all one by one from the Play store. What a pain.

[richigneven]

Buenos Aires Calling!

The signs could not have been much better: My first ‘vacation’ lasting more than a week since the awesome festival so called “gneven im grünen”, three concert tickets for my more or less favorite band ‘die toten hosen’- a band I have followed along down the road, which not only makes good music but also supports smaller bands, ethical correct NGO´s and sometimes even play in your living room if you are lucky AND the promising city of Buenos Aires, which goes as the Berlin of South America, or not even Latino American anymore. So my expectations were quite high as well, still they s were exceeded...

My hostel was great, although I arrived way too early they welcomed me with breakfast and showers. As I did not take the first internet recommendation I ended up in a 100% spanish-speaking community, from which a few studied and others sadly escaping war in Venezuela and some others doing whatever. Crazy those two things, first I could never do my exchange semester out of a dormitory, as I already troubled falling a sleep when not completely wasted- how do people snore louder than a airplane taking off? Second why have we reached the point that people need to escape their homes again and shouldnt we welcome them a little more than given them a bed in return of work? You find Venezuelans everywhere in South America right now...

Anyway, I wanted to get to know this European city, which at first glance showed off with nice facades, broken sidewalks and a walkable traffic situation (remember Im used to Lima at the moment, I actually got quite a cultural shock when people actually followed traffic rules and not everyone looked quite similar). I did a walking tour, and right away I saw it at its best, stunning buildings and cemeteries everywhere(at least in the right suburb..) Btw the popularity of their steaks is based on the flatness of the countryside of Argentina, cows actually do have some space to walk around and not need to be cooped up in some stall. Afterwards, I stumbled around myself, and by this is into a huge demonstration. All kinds of human protested in favor of rights for everybody, especially Woman and the LGBT scene. Every of the last ten years more than 200 women has be mudered by their husband or partners, I have heard about it before, but seeing the demonstration showed me how serious the issue is and how many must have suffered domestic violence. I followed along and was quite impressed by the creativity and number of participants. It seems like still the authorities dont really care, as this has been run for over a year now...

it really was endless...

I bet a better photografer would have made a good pic out of that!

Rushed from the energy of the protests I had a buncher Spätibeer (cerveza de ciosco) and decided to go see my friend from my old exchange semester in good old fresno..So we met 9 years ago and havent seen since. Ines were just working in a restaurant and I already had a few beers too many. So after she invited me for two more I tried too call it a night, which is always hard when you in a foreign city for the first time 10km away from your bed and trying to go by public transport. AllI know, I woke up in my hostel the next day and some blurry memories sitting in some other bar with some Germans, but I dont know why. Alright lets face it, probably the craving for more beer.

In the morning, I realized today would be the day I have never really imagined to become true. Seeing “Los Hosen” in Buenos Aires is said to be special. I always wanted to know what´s about it, because special is also sitting one hour in the” Berlin Ringbahn” and drink beer or the Chinese Wall, but neither gets a lot of my attention. After another day of enjoying various parts of the city I went in front of the venue, Museum, a buncher years ago crashed the stage in the second song and the concert was over. The first guys I approached were already a win in the lottery and I could not have asked for more. Spätibeer here and there and talks about everything what my Spanish has to offer. The show was crazy, a venue like SO36, long and narrow. A small terrace all around from which Campino (singer) jumped into the crowd and somehow mad his way back, totally red, as people did not want to let him go...A few punch were needed so he reached the stage again. 

The crowd of 800-1000, of which maybe 100 were German, freaked out at pretty much every single song. Decent singing along but even harder dancing along. Everybody full of energy, led by a Band which noticeably enjoyed to be part of it once again. After the concert I went further to a few more Bars or you could call it Club even, energy for those after concerts partys I usually do not have after concerts in Germany. This night, I got a ride home, across the entire city, letting somebody out at the bus station apparently is no option when you their “guest”.

Party people

The same reason, the next day, I was invited to a match of one of the biggest football teams over there.. Boca Juniors, it was really interesting to see such a steep stadium which shacks because everybody jumps and how fascinated all the players and fans are. But I certainly have friends which can analyze those events way more. Side note: Argentina has stopped to allow fans of the visiting teams for all league games, in order to prevent violence. A working approach, but defiantly not in the sense of the sport.

A couple more or less boring hard working days for my uni were interrupted by a Cover concert and even more interesting of a Concert of the Magic Mystery tour show in a house in Buenos Aires. You can apply ahead and if you lucky the Hosen come to give a show and the fans possibly destroy all you have. I talked to many people who at least once tried it, but these gigs are quite precious. Getting inside this house was not possible, but through same delays in my taxi I arrived for the last few songs of the concert, which was totally sufficient for me. Except the drummer, everybody got outside of the house once and of course Campino climbed every fence there exist on the premises. Afterwards, a little party in front of the fence took place and once again a intercultural understanding with hands and legs. Knowing a few words of Spanish certainly made the situation even more fun and allowed me buying beer in the cioscos around, which was hard as for some reasons they only wanted to sell cold beer, but to understand this I almost failed.

Campino not only gave its best during the show, the aftershowparty he won against everybody!

In front of the fence, it was still cleanable afterwards, nobody know about inside

Wow Wednesday already, but still two more official shows to go! The German Hosen fans, organized a bus tour to the town of the next venue, La Plata, which is 1-2 hours down south from BA. Ive almost missed the bus, due to lets face it: Hangoverness but also Credit Card issues, during which I kind of realized how screwed you could be in a foreign country. But all worked out and with 1 hour delay and a busdriver who ask after 1 hour ride where he actually supposed to head we were almost at our first stop: The barbeque party in some Argentina´s house. The owner just decided to through a party for everybody who wanted to come and as it was somebody´s birthday the owner bought beer and steaks for the most of them. (unluckily no grilled cheese, but this time people were at least to buy warm beer in the Späti next door) So i tackled my hangover from last night with a few beers and it become a really nice get-together with people from all parts of society, ages and regions of Germany and Argentina. The good bye was a kiss for the woman living there for everybody and the last existing steaks as “Schnittchen” for later. When was the last time you invited 70 unknown people to your backyard and when it comes to cleaning up they all get in a bus and you give them food and beer for the road?  Arriving in front of the venue the people once again couldnt even wait to party on and sang along the sound check inside which was with the song “Reisefieber”, so an old and popular one, this was promising. I dedicated myself to socialize and to the Späti´s around so once inside It starts to be more of a blur...I remember a few songs, some crowdsurfing, an amazing venue as very wide, once again energized Hosen, more beer(in cans btw) and a few special acts. Is there anything more to ask for? Claro, afterparty, but this is even more of a blur...With many more beer and whatsoever for everybody who was tired or just wanted to be sure to make it a good night we drove through la plata and some other parties over there...At some point i recall 7 people, from which I knew 1 slightly before but good times. At some point at 6 or 7 we returned to BA, I was already sleeping in the car for a while. But the others were still going strong not being tired at the moment. Such a day, no shower, one more sip of beer and straight to bed. I reckon I will never get closer to Punk rock than this before.

Days with the most drinks, usually the ones with the fewest pictures for me ;)

Next day started slowly, ended slowly but again a Coverband concert, Peru tied Argentina, so know it´s very interesting who is going to qualify and another day I made a nice tour through the party area of Palermo with two new friends. The show on Saturday was in a huge venue of 5000-7000 people. The living room of the Ramones, they said. Many other guest, setlist switched again and At least the first third of the concert everybody went crazy once more. With forgoing time, people got more relaxed and only half of the stadium jumped along..I mobilized my last strength and had an amazing time. Meeting people in the crowed I have met during the last week and giving them a possible last high five or smile.

Los hosen more or less announced the location of the aftershow party: the club we went the week before but I called it a night in some bar close to my hostel. A friend gave me his sweater to show once more how welcome I am here. Lots of promises of reuniting in whatever part of the world were mad and at some point I went home to my Hostel. I´m not sure if or when I will see this city and especially all those nice people again. But the times, friendlyness and in all kinds of situation and circumstances they gave me here will always be reminded in my brain and my heart. I now understand when los Hosen say they do not come for the music, they come to meet the people, I seldom received such a warm welcome of different people in various situations in several forms. As always I hope to be able to return the favor in a place where I can show people around and gave them a good time, but for now I can just say thank you!

rocknroll

last beer, this time for sure!

more impressions:

there he is!

street art

subway art

maybe next time Ill tell you about my first Spanish interview! ;)

[gunnermhwo267-blog]

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