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wildlyminiaturesandwich · 5 years

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G’day everyone!

Thanks to the EA Game Changers Program, last Sunday SimGurus Jill, Morgan and Geoff hosted a super secret private live stream for those of us in the program who weren’t able to attend EA Play and I am so excited to finally be able to share all the information I learned about Island Living and the upcoming free patch with you guys!

I don’t have any new screenshots or gameplay to show you but I did take pages and pages of notes so I’ve spent the better part of today trying to condense those down and put them in order so that you guys can have a look over them and read about some of the amazing new stuff that’s coming in this pack.

Just be aware that because we weren’t able to take screenshots or record the stream, all I had to refer to while putting this all in a post is my own notes and while I did my best to simultaneously listen carefully, write everything down, fend off my cats, and stop myself falling asleep... I could have easily missed something or some information could be wrong because it was 4am in the morning and my cats get bitey when I don’t pay attention to them lol You should definitely check out some of the other Game Changers posts and videos to see if they have any information I missed too!

SO! All that being said, I’m going to put this all under a cut because it’s long and also because spoilers!

If you have any questions about Island Living, I can’t promise that I’ll know or be allowed to tell you the answer, but my inbox is always open and it never hurts to ask anyway 😊

ENJOY!

New World - Sulani

🌴 The beautiful tropical Sulani contains 14 lots spread out over 3 island neighbourhoods: - Ohan’Ali is a town/commercial area containing 6 lots. Festivals/Events take place every day in town, keep an eye out for balloons to find out where - Lani St. Taz is an upscale residential area containing 5 lots - Mua Pel’Am is a Natural Island containing 3 lots. There is also a beautiful (and useful) waterfall and possibly a hidden cave but shhh, it’s a secret!

🌴 All lots are fully editable and can be changed to any lot type you want 🌴 There’s a new Beach venue type 🌴 The weather in Sulani is generally pretty mild, but if you have Seasons installed you may get the occasional tropical storm

Traits + Aspirations

LOT TRAITS

🌴 Volcanic activity - Can be used on any lot - Causes lava bombs to fall on the lot - Lava bombs can catch your sim on fire if they touch them too much while they’re still hot - Once cooled lava bombs can be broken open and looted or turned into decorative objects

🌴 Off the Grid - Free base game trait to be added in an upcoming patch - Your sims bills will be lower BUT most electronics will not work on lots with this trait and you will have limited internet access - Objects in the buy catalogue will display “Off the Grid Functionality” if they can be used on this lot. Eg there is a new sink in Island Living that looks like a sort of natural spring water pump, it’s perfect for off the grid lots

🌴 Clothing optional - Free base game trait to be added in an upcoming patch - Sims will react differently depending on traits. Eg. Self-assured sims will be more willing to strip off than sims with other traits like Childish

ASPIRATION

🌴 Beach Life - This sim wants to take it slow and enjoy the beach life

SIM TRAITS

🌴 Child of the Ocean - Answer the call of the ocean! Sims with this trait will prefer water related activities and feel closer to their denizens of the sea. 🌴 Child of the Island - These sims experience a spiritual connection to the islands of Sulani. Honor the islands by partaking in their culture, summon powerful elementals and reap the rewards of their blessings — or the consequences of their disfavour. 🌴 Sim trait randomization will also be added to the game in a free upcoming patch!

Careers

🌴 Fishing/Diving Career - Fishing will also be getting a big update (I think in the upcoming free patch). There will be new fish to collect, a fish trap, a high skill cast, re-tuning and new fishing spots in lots of worlds

🌴 Lifeguard

🌴 In an upcoming patch, all teen part-time careers will be made available for all ages

Gameplay + Activities

MERMAIDS!!!

🌴 Sims can become mermaids via gameplay or you can make one in CAS (they are under the occult life states menu) 🌴 There are a ton of new customization options for mermaids in CAS, including eyes, tail shapes and textures, teeth, tops that match the tails. 🌴 Instead of a hygiene bar, mermaids have a hydration bar that will slowly drop the longer they are out of water 🌴 Mermaids who spend too long out of water might get a cramp, or a sudden chill, or get very tired if their hydration becomes too low 🌴 You can raise their hydration by having them drink a glass of water, take a shower, go out in the rain, splash about under a waterfall, or have a bath 🌴 If your mermaid decides to have a bath (even a bubble bath) their tail will reappear and hang over the side of the tub! 🌴 There was no mention of whether or not mermaids tails reappear when they’re in a pool but I would assume so? 🌴 Mermaids can give birth to Merbabies! 🌴 While Merbabies can be born, Merchildren won’t manifest into their tales and power until they’re teens 🌴 Mermaids have some pretty cool powers - Siren Lullaby - Sing one of the four different siren songs to a human sim to provide them with a moodlet… for good or bad is up to you - Summon Ocean Threat - Will drag a sim underwater and drain the needs of a human sim to a dangerously low level. If done on a sim with already low needs, this may lead to death - If you have Seasons installed, your mermaid can summon a thunderstorm - There are more but they didn’t have time to show us them all

🌴 Using powers will drain your mermaids hydration quicker 🌴 Mermaids have their own cool little plumbob, similar to aliens and vampires 🌴 If you’re sick of being a Mermaid (we can’t be friends anymore), you can find some special kelp to help you with that

OCEAN SWIMMING

🌴 Sims can now swim in the ocean! 🌴 Ocean swimming is only possible in Sulani, not other worlds BUT the Gurus did say that extending ocean swimming to the rest of the worlds is not off the table just yet and may come at a later date. They just really wanted to nail it for Island Living before even thinking about making it possible in other worlds. 🌴 Toddlers can’t swim (obviously) but there are little shallow areas of the ocean they can sit in and splash around 🌴 If you have Cats & Dogs installed your pets will also be able to swim in the ocean 🌴 Sims will receive moodlets depending on what’s happening while they swim. Eg. If they see a shark, or a beautiful sunset 🌴 Sometimes while your sims are in the ocean, they might think they see a shark… they might be right, they might not. Either way, I wouldn’t stick around to find out!

SNORKELING + SCUBA DIVING

🌴 Sims can snorkel around Sulani’s reefs and shallows 🌴 Snorkeling is fully animated 🌴 Sims can also scuba dive by clicking on a buoy and paying the fee for scuba gear 🌴 Scuba diving is a rabbit hole activity, there a no animations 🌴 Sims can take photos underwater whilst snorkeling and diving and keep them as souvenirs 🌴 There may be treasures and a secret area to be found whilst diving as well but don’t quote me on that, I was distracted by my cat jumping on my keyboard at the time lol

DOLPHINS

🌴 Your sims can now befriend a dolphin! 🌴 Dolphins can be found playing around buoys (possibly only twice a day?) 🌴 Sims can work on friendship with dolphins by feeding them fish, playing with them, and teaching them tricks. 🌴 They can even be renamed so you know exactly which dolphin is your friend

BOATS

🌴 Outrigger Canoe - Sims can fish off the edge of them, nap in them, and they are able to be dragged into your sims inventory

🌴 Aqua zip (jet ski) - Sims can do tricks on the Aqua Zip. The higher your sims fitness skill, the better tricks they can do. Aqua Zips can also be dragged into your sims inventory

LOUNGERS + BEACH TOWELS

🌴 Your sims can now relax and sunbathe on the beach (or at home) in lounge chairs and on beach towels 🌴 One lounge chair will also be available for free in an upcoming base game update 🌴 Floating loungers are also coming with Island Living. They have similar interaction to regular lounge chairs but sims can also sunbathe nude on floating loungers and can be splashed by other sims in the water. They can also be used in pools! 🌴 All loungers, floating and non, and towels are able to be dragged into your sims inventory and taken with them

TANNING + SUNBURN

🌴 Tanning and sunburns are exclusive to Island Living 🌴 You can “opt-in” to have your sim tan or sunburn using a float lounger, lounge chair or beach towel 🌴 Tans and sunburns will take into account what your sim is wearing at the time 🌴 Mischievous sims can also “sabotage” sims who fall asleep in the sun with some strategically placed lotion. These “sabotaged” sunburn patterns are completely random and there may be some funny little easter eggs in there

VOLCANOES + WATERFALLS

🌴 The natural island of Mua Pel’Am is home to an active volcano and your most adventurous sims can even live right next to it if they want 🌴 There is also a gorgeous waterfall on the natural island of Mua Pel’Am that is not only very romantic (wink wink), but also can be used as a shower by sims living off the grid

CONSERVATION

🌴 Your sims will be able to clean up the beaches of Sulani, which will impact the rest of the islands 🌴 At max level conservation the scenery of the islands change to be more beautiful, more wildlife (butterflies, turtles etc) will show up, and you might even see some bio-luminescent algae floating around in the ocean 🌴 There was mention of a special turtle hatching event but I’m not sure if it has to do with the conservation level or not

HARVESTABLES + COLLECTABLES

🌴 Coconut 🌴 Pineapple 🌴 Taro 🌴 Kava 🌴 Several new fish

DEATHS

🌴 Lava bombs are hot 🌴 Look out for sharks 🌴 Mermaids are beautiful but accidents happen

WOOHOO

🌴 I hear the waterfall over on Mua Pel’Am is a very romantic spot…

FANS

🌴 Coming soon with a free update, ceiling fans will now not only be able to be switched on and off, but they will also cool things down on hot days and dry off wet sims

Create-A-Sim

I think most of what’s in CAS was covered in the trailer and during the announcement from EA Play, and we really didn’t get much of a look at it during the private stream, but from what I did see there’s a lot of amazing stuff!

The only thing I can say for sure is that as per usual, the male options are lacking and a little lackluster compared to the female options. I also don’t think there’s much in the way of clothes and hairs for kids and toddlers either 😟

Build/Buy

There is TONS of beautiful new Polynesian and Pacific Island inspired build/buy stuff, some of which I’ve already listed above, so I can’t list them all but here’s a few that don’t really fit into any other category but were specifically mentioned by the Gurus during the stream or just plain caught my eye

🌴 A beautiful new island-themed wedding arch made with palm leaves and tropical flowers and urgh! Just trust me, it’s beautiful! 🌴 Sandcastles! 🌴 A grill pit, that gets covered with palm leaves while it’s cooking 🌴 So many new island plants (hopefully they’re in debug 🤞) 🌴 A new island speaker (for community lots I assume) with all new Island Living music 🌴 Glass floors! They’re not actual flooring like carpets and tiles though, they’re more like the Get Together dance floors where you just place them on the floor and you can see through them. 🌴 Stilted foundations! FINALLY!! They can be placed on any lot, not just ocean lots! 🌴 There was a ladder shown in the trailers that I know many people were very excited about, however it acts more like a diving board than an actual ladder you can use between house floors. If you place it on the edge of a deck, your sims will jump off the deck straight into the water. But that doesn’t stop you from pretending it’s an actual ladder 😉 🌴 This isn’t an object but I didn’t know where else to put it - Pools can’t be built on the ground floor of lots built on the ocean. I didn’t catch why but I’m assuming it would interfere too much with the ocean itself. I also assume they can be built on any floors above the ground floor though.

Animations

This is probably not that interesting to a lot of people but I’m fascinated by a lot of the animations that are created for this game and with this pack it’s really clear the team put a lot of effort into even just the smallest of animations so I wanted to point out some of my favourites that I saw in the stream

🌴 There is a new walk style/animation for when your sims are entering/exiting the ocean. Just like real life they will slow down and kind of struggle to move through the shallow water until they’re deep enough to swim or walk up onto the sand 🌴 There are different swim styles if your sim needs to get somewhere faster (similar to jogging instead of walking) that also use less energy than the standard speed 🌴 There is a bunch of cool new animations added for when sims are multitasking swimming with other things, like talking, flirting, and even kissing in the ocean! 🌴 The mermaid tail animations in general are so smooth and organic, it’s beautiful! Whether they’re swimming in the ocean, jumping in and out of water, or just lounging in a bath tub; the team really outdid themselves with the animations for the tails! 🌴 Speaking of mermaids, there’s an option whilst swimming to “Mermaid Kiss”! I don’t know if it’s available for human sims but it looks very cute and sweet when performed by two mermaids! 🌴 Not only do the floating loungers float, but they also drift! They slowly move around and drift back and forth with the waves just like a real floating lounger would!

#TS4 #The Sims 4 #The Sims 4 Island Living #EA Game Changers

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lattetata-blog · 7 years

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BTS Reacts to S/O Being a Gamer

You were sitting in his studio, waiting for him to come back from dance practice with the boys. Usually you would keep yourself occupied with your gameboy but tonight you had left it in your spare bag at home. You groaned as you sat in his chair and rose a brow when you finally came to the idea. His studio had so many monitors that it was absolutely perfect to play Overwatch. You turned around in his chair and opened his door, peeking outside in the hall to see if anyone was coming and turned on his computers, signing in with his password -- which was your anniversary -- and downloaded the game onto the hard drive.

Namjoon had just finished showering after practice and was headed to his studio to finish a track that he had been working on earlier in the day. He rose a brow as he heard shooting and screaming coming from his studio. He raced to the room and opened the door to see you curled up in the chair in the dark, in the middle of a tournament.

He sighed with relief knowing you were okay, but then he turned the lights on, making you turn around to face him, eyes wide open.

“Joonie~” You said with a small smirk, your voice small. “You’re back early…” You let a shaky laugh leave your lips and Namjoon just rose a brow at you and shook his head.

“God, you’re just like Kookie, Jagiya.” He smiled and kissed you on your forehead. “Teach me how to play!” You took the controller from Namjoon as your eyes widened.

“Sorry Joonie, I don’t want you crashing the server…”

It was your day off from working nonstop all week at your job and all you wanted to do was play Super Mario while you lazied around the dorm. Jin on the other hand who hadn’t properly had a meal with you all week had another plan. You were so delved into your game that you didn’t even notice the aroma of Jin’s home cooking.

Jin had gathered all the boys into the kitchen and looked around the table.

“Where’s Y/N?” He asked the maknae line and they shrugged.

“Last I saw her was when she left your room to go pee. She still might be in there…” Taehyung said and Jin sighed and didn’t even bother taking his apron and mits off and trudged to your shared room.

“YAH JAGIYA!” He yelled slamming your door open. He found you glued to the TV screen as you were bundled up in all your plushies and blankets and looked at Jin in his cooking attire. “IT’S FINALLY YOUR DAY OFF AND BECAUSE I’M A LOVING BOYFRIEND I DECIDED THAT I WAS GOING TO COOK YOUR FAVORITE MEAL! AND NOW I COME IN HERE TO FIND YOU SLUMPING AROUND! DO YOU NOT NEED FOOD? FRESH AIR? WATER?” Jin rambled on and on and you just groaned, leaning into the pile of plushies. You realized that Jin kept rambling on and on and probably wouldn’t stop until you got up.

To save the ears of everyone at the dorm you pushed yourself up and walked over to him, pulling him by his apron and tiptoed up, placing a long kiss on his plump lips.

“Thank you Jinnie. I’ll pause my game and eat with you and everyone.” Jin relaxed in your hold and looked over at the screen, noticing you passed the level he was stuck on.

“YAH DID YOU PASS THE LEVEL I WAS WORKING ON???” He yelled again and you just giggled and jogged to the dining room to eat your favorite meal.

You and Yoongi were known among the boys as the couple that never sleeps. And if you did sleep you both passed out at your designated areas in Yoongi’s studio or on his couch together.

However one night the pale skinned boy had finished his work early and decided to actually get some proper sleep. You on the other hand were still on your desktop playing a new horror game that was released early in the morning. You were determined to finish the game in one go and then post a review on your blog about it.

Yoongi sighed and rolled his eyes looking at you and how far gone you were into your game and although he knew you wouldn’t give up your game he was determined to get the skinship he deserved after working hard all day. He crossed his arms behind you and pulled your headphones off. You jerked your head back and frowned at him.

“What the hell babe.” You whined, meeting your pout with his blank stare.

“Bed.” He said, his lips pursing together (which was Yoongi’s failed attempt at a pout).

“Babe, I am almost done with this game -- I think. I need to post a review about this tomorrow and I was planning on finishing this tonight.” You slid your headphones back on and he took them off again, swirling your chair around to face him properly. His face was only a few centimeters away from yours, making your heart skip a beat.

“If you get off that damn computer we can cuddle all night and maybe even more.” He whispered, his breath sending tingles on your skin. Your eyes widened and you shut your computer off and threw your headphones onto the chair, dragging Yoongi out of the room with you. Your game could wait. Besides, you were going to be playing a different game with Yoongi.

You were Hoseok’s number one supporter, well, next to Yoongi. You were sitting on a chair in the practice room as Hoseok went over the new choreography he was supposed to teach the guys the next day. You looked up from your phone every now and then making sure he didn’t overwork himself or hurt himself.

You were playing YG’s new rhythm game and you were addicted. But it also meant that your attention was always averted from Hobi. You hadn’t even noticed that he turned his music down and was calling your name. Your thumbs danced across your screen hitting every beat perfectly, making sure you could pass the level.

He approached you, wondering why your nose was buried in your phone and pouted when he realized you haven’t been paying attention to him he entire time.

“Jagiya~” He whined in front of you, causing you to pause your game and raise your brows at him. You had to admit that you loved seeing Hobi sweaty after dancing his heart out.

“Oh, yes Hobi?” You said with a smile and he reached over to your phone and realized you were playing YG’s game.

“If we released a game like this maybe then you would be more excited to learn the dances with me.” You stood up to grab your phone from him but he smiled deviously, holding it high above you.

“Oppa~” You whined, jumping up to try to grab your phone, causing you to trip and hold onto Hobi. He smiled and held you close to him and spun you around the room, making you giggle, which he loved hearing.

“Play with me instead Jagiya I’m more fun that that game~” He then placed you onto his feet and continued to dance around the room with you.

If there was one thing Jimin enjoyed doing on his days off it was watching you play your games. He always thought that you looked so small and cute when you’d cuddle up on the floor with a bunch of pillows to play your video games. He would often sit on the floor with you and watch you play, cheering you on if you died in the game or just make noises and comments saying how good you were at playing your game.

“Aish -- my baby is so talented. You just took down that guy so fast!” He’d find a way to hold onto you while you played your games, whether it was wrapping his arms around your waist to laying his head on your lap as he watched you play.

Once in a while you would teach Jimin how to play your games and he wouldn’t be too good at it, but when he defeated a boss or made progress you would praise him. (Because let’s be honest Jimin has a fucking praise kink. FITE ME ON THIS.)

He would also keep track of time in case you forgot to eat a proper meal and leave the room and bring you back some food, making you pause your game to eat with him. Overall Jimin would be super soft for you and loved seeing you happy.

You would be gone for the day at work and you had accidentally left your Sims game on the desktop. Tae would have noticed that all of your characters could easily be turned into you and him. That’s when he got the idea to work on your Sims all day to make them look like exact replicas of the two of you. He even went as far to make sure you children looked like mini versions of you.

When you finally got back to the dorm he pulled you to your computer and placed you on his lap. You were a bit confused as to what he was doing until he turned your game on and you realized that everything in your Sim’s house had been rearranged and even your Sims family looked different.

“Jagiya look! It’s us!” He boasted and you giggled and snuggled up to him on his lap as he gave you a full tour of your virtual home.

“I love it Tae.” You said, placing a kiss on his lips. Then you noticed something on his Sim. “Tae?” You said with a snicker. “How the hell did you get your Sim to wear Gucci?”

“Ah…” He flashed you his box smile and chuckled. “I got a code online.”

“You dork.”

Loud. You and Jungkook would be loud. You two would constantly be yelling at one another as you played Overwatch. You and the golden maknae would always challenge one another to a match, keeping track of who won how many times to determine who had to buy lamb skewers next time you went out.

“YAH JUNGKOOK-AH. DID YOU JUST FUCKING SHOOT ME?” You yelled, huffing at the screen and your boyfriend who had been cackling beside you.

“Sucks to suck!” He retorted and you narrowed your eyes at him for a moment making sure not to lose focus.

“That was a dirty play! That’s totally not fair! I thought we decided you wouldn’t use that combo during our games?” You groaned and tried your best to catch up in the match.

“Yeah but if I let you win then I’m going to have to buy hella lamb skewers! Not today Jagiya! Not! Today!” You growled and furiously pressed the buttons on your controller to hit combos.

“JUNGKOOK I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU KEEP PLAYING DIRTY I WON’T SUCK YOUR DICK FOR A WEEK -- NO, A MONTH.”

“WHAT? BABE NO ~” He whined, making you smirk. “DON’T BE LIKE THAT. IT’S JUST A GAME!!!”

Needless to say, Jungkook bought you as many lamb skewers as you wanted.

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mittensmcedgelord · 7 years

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Cobalt

Another day. The same day. It's hard to tell.

A follow up to "Good Morning, Again". Awareness is setting in and questions are coming to the surface. Who am I? How many of me have there been? And how the hell do you even eat udon?

( Alternate Title: The Noodle Incident )

Previous: https://mittensmcedgelord.tumblr.com/post/161414852605/good-morning-again

“Good morning, Morgan. Today is Monday, March 15th.” The alarm clock starts its routine, but doesn’t finish before it hits the kitchen counter with enough force to break the case. I didn’t lay a finger on it. The implications should worry me more than they do.

The illusion crackles as I sit up. The TranScribe tells me it’s closer to midnight than 7 AM. Something somewhere glitches. My room, empty of everything but a few pieces meant to make the simulation feel real, comes into view. I wonder if I’ve seen it like this before. I pick up the broken alarm clock and turn it over in my hands. It’s an easy fix. Ten minutes, maybe. I can figure out why it went off at midnight while I’m putting it back together, too.

Except that isn’t what I do. I put the clock on the counter, get dressed, and head to the cafeteria. I realize halfway down the grav shaft that I haven’t bothered to shave or brush my hair and laugh. I’ve never needed to shave. I never will. I catch my reflection in the glass, red eyes and stubble and hair in all directions. This is either rock bottom or the apex of my efforts. Either way, it’s exactly right for getting instant udon at midnight.

I’ve never actually had instant noodles. I’ve eaten it before in the simulation. It’s one of my—well, Morgan’s—favorite guilty pleasures. So, it seemed like an important thing to try. Lucky me, the cafeteria is nearly empty at this hour. One or two people who look less awake than I do are sitting at a table near the coffee pot, completely absorbed in paperwork. The cook doesn’t even seem surprised that I’m asking for instant udon, which either says a lot about Morgan or about the crew in general. What greets me is a nest of long, tendril-like noodles writhing in unnaturally colored broth, which I now have to eat with a pair of tapered wooden utensils that seem wildly unsuited to the task at hand. Nonetheless, I am not daunted. I am determined to consume this meal. This is, as my memories serve, one of the most quintessential Morgan Yu meals that I can find. I even have a can of Kafe Karsk to go with it, just to ensure authenticity.

A few minutes pass as I stare down the plastic bowl, willing it to divulge its secrets. None are forthcoming. Before I completely give up and take the armload of rations to my room, I see Sho sit down with a tray of unagi rolls. I grab my food and sit down across from her before she realizes I’ve even moved.

“What the fuck?” She drops the chopsticks onto the table and starts to stand. Her hand moves to her hip for a minute before she sits back down. She looks like she wants to punch me. Wouldn’t be the first time if the reports are any indication. “You shouldn’t do that. There’s a shoot on sight order for anything Typhon-like.”

“I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happens.”

“Phantom shifting just happens. Sure. You are really creepy. You know that, right?” She picks up a roll with the chopsticks and pops it in her mouth. I move closer to inspect only for her to shift a seat over. “Seriously, between that weird stretching thing you did between chairs and this, I’m pretty sure you’re not convincing anyone that you’re actually human.”

“I was trying to see how you used the chopsticks to eat. I would have installed a mod for it if I could have.” I poke at a piece of dehydrated eel floating in the broth. “Trust me, I searched the entire company directory of recorded skills. There’s nothing there.”

“Of course there’s not a neuromod for eating noodles, Mim. I don’t think anyone’s ever needed it. And before you ask I am not going to help you make one. Just do what everyone else does. Swear at the cheap useless chopsticks and slurp it out of the bowl.”

“Mim?”

“Yeah. I mean, we need something to call you. So, Mimic Morgan. Mim for short. It’s even on your official classified files.”

“Why not just ‘Morgan’?”

“Because you’re not Morgan, not to the people who know better. I know Alex programmed you to think you are, but you aren’t.” She snaps the chopsticks together and points them at me. “And before you ask, that’s a good thing. I can guess what you’ve been told, but contrary to what Alex and Igwe say, the station wasn’t exactly falling over itself worshipping Morgan’s brilliance and charm.”

She leans closer and almost knocks over my soup. I sit rigidly in place, trying to pretend I’m not thinking about shifting into a more innocuous object. She’s looking for something, somewhere that I’ve cracked open and the darkness is seeping through. I’m not sure if she sees it or not, but she leans back. “Do you actually think of yourself as him?”

“Yes.” My answer is too immediate, too emphatic. She snorts. “Why wouldn’t I? I know I’m not the same person, but how does that make me any less Morgan than he was after so many neuromod removals?”

“Because I’ve seen the recordings of your simulation. The real Morgan wouldn’t have done half the stuff you did.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he didn’t.” She slams her hands on the table and my noodles spill. I start sopping up the broth with the bundle of napkins the cook gave me. She doesn’t seem to notice. “Because he didn’t do one single thing you did, especially not destroy the station to buy Earth some time. If he did, maybe we wouldn’t be here still studying Typhons on Humanity’s Last Resort.”

“What did happen?” I reach into the bowl with my fingers this time, pull out a piece of dehydrated eel, and eat it. I’m pretty sure this isn’t the texture food is supposed to have. It’s possible that I’m wrong, but the way Sho is laughing says I’m probably not. I’m starting to think that instant noodles, as a whole, might actually be an elaborate joke that I’m not in on yet. “You said Morgan didn’t do the same things I did in the sim. No one’s felt the need to fill me in on what actually happened yet.”

“This isn't a great time for this.” ”Why?” My voice crackles. I see Sho’s face contort at the sound. I take a breath, put my hands on the table in front of me, and try to relax my posture. I try to look as non-threatening as possible. She heard a Typhon; I don’t want her to see one. “Sorry. It’s just that it would mean a lot to me to know. We're the only people in the cafeteria at this hour, so you don’t have to worry about anyone overhearing. And I don’t think you’d accept an invite to my dorm to tell me about it in private.”

“Okay. Fine.” She sits back and crosses her arms. Her mouth is pulled into a tight line. Pain is written across her face. I get an image of Abigail in the freezer. Of the escaped volunteer and his brain decorating the walls of the malfunctioning escape pod. She doesn’t make eye contact. “So, what happened on Talos 1. It was close to the simulation you were in. I nearly died, but you knew that. I got through a hatch before I actually did die. Barely. I ran into a weaver and some cystoids on the way in. My suit was so damaged it read my vitals as deceased. But I had to get back. I had to make sure the bastard that killed her paid. There was never a volunteer named Ingram to be saved. The fabricator in deep storage never got up and running to make any turrets. We had to make do. Only six of us survived. You've met five of them, either in proxy or in person.”

“Alex, Mikhaila, Igwe, Elazar, and you. Who was number six?”

“Morgan.” She waits, watching my expression. The name was acid coming out of her mouth. There was no love lost there, in spite of the familiarity she’d shown me so far. “He survived. For a while. Turns out after all those tests he was almost as much Typhon as human. When he triggered the null wave generator it wiped out all the Typhon on the ship instantly, big one included, but with him it worked slower. It wasn't pretty, let's leave it at that. I didn't like Morgan, but he deserved better. Sure as hell didn’t deserve constant reincarnation as different Typhon.”

“Where do I come in?”

“After the world went to hell.” She pushes the last couple rolls aside. Any hunger I felt is gone too, replaced by something cold and heavy. Sho opens a can of Duck beer as she continues. It seems to do something for the hesitance she had earlier. “We didn't know a shuttle with a mimic on it already landed earthside. We tried to keep ourselves quarantined until we realized it wouldn't do any good. We fought. We ran. We mobilized. And once we were out here playing sentinel by the original breach, Alex started forming a plan. He used Morgan's memories of the outbreak as a base. Said that disaster response was the best way to judge actions. Project Cobalt started. ‘A human Typhon hybrid to bridge our species.’ It was Morgan’s idea, even back before the containment breech, but we’d never been desperate enough to try it before now.”

“How many were there before me?”

“Too many. We were going to scrap it soon. The mirror neurons weren't activating, not without a lot of intervention. And then you came along. You used all the Typhon mods you could find. You helped everyone you met. You tried to save us all. In a way, you were too human to be a real human. Alex said one of the variables was changed, but they changed every test. So, who knows. Maybe we just got lucky.”

“What was changed for my test?”

“Beats me.” She sighs and throws her hands out in front of her. The universal sign of ‘I’m done with this conversation’. The night shift is getting off pretty soon and the morning shift is getting ready to go on. Sho gives her now warm unagi rolls an annoyed look and pushes them to me. “There were a lot of variables. All classified. You’d have better luck asking Dr. Igwe.”

“Thank you.”

“Nothing a quick trip through the station’s history wouldn’t tell you.” She knows that isn’t the truth, but she shrugs it off like nothing anyway. I start to say something and swallow my words. There’s a shield around Sho’s mind like the kind a psychoscope generates, only this one’s not solid. It’s a mile of empty, unforgiving, airless space. She didn’t die outside the station like she did in the sim, but something did. Someone did. The woman talking to me is as much Danielle Sho as I am Morgan Yu. Finally, she breaks eye contact and grabs the half full beer can. “Last word of advice? Try to keep the Typhon powers low key. I’m not sure how many people actually believe the bullshit official story behind Morgan’s miraculous reappearance.”

Somewhere a chime sounds and the graveyard shift starts. She heads off to her station, beer still in hand, and doesn’t look back. That leaves me with her advice, her leftovers, and my now cold udon. Not to mention the host of new questions.

Alex never told me how Morgan died. Or when. I never really thought about how everyone accepted that I was here. The ones who don’t know about Project Cobalt just think I’m the second Yu sibling, a little worse for wear but not dead or inhuman. Sho knew. The survivors of Talos 1 know. I guess the better question is how no one else does.

The TranScribe beeps at me and shakes me out of my daze. The clock rolled back. The scheduled messages for 7 AM have are queued. The date is March 15th, 2032.

I hit the calendar button for the first time since I got it and tell it to synch with the station’s clock. I don’t know what date it finally registers. It’s forgotten in one of the pockets on my uniform by the time the update is done.

The udon is cold. It tastes like how eating instant noodles and a can of coffee alone at 1 AM feels. It isn’t good, but it’s familiar.

#prey #prey 2017 #fanfic #spoilers #dear god the spoilers #mimics and eels and coffee oh my #does this count as an au?#thank long suffering tauren for the alt title

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travelguy4444 · 6 years

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Life in Paris: One Month Down

Posted: 3/21/2019 | March 21st, 2019

It’s been exactly one month since I moved to Paris.

During that time, it’s been nonstop wine, cheese, brasseries, influencer meetups, fashionable social events, writer salons, museums, picnics, and late-night jazz concerts.

It’s been a whirlwind of adventure and romance.

Just I imagined it would be.

Actually…

It hasn’t been that way at all.

I just made that up.

Life here has been the exact opposite of that (though that kind of fabulous lifestyle does sound like fun).

I arrived after a much-delayed flight, plopping my jetlagged self into bed and not waking up until the following day. From there, I met my one Parisian friend and her friends for some wine and cheese. That little outing to a park turned into a late-night wine fueled bar crawl that ended at some ’50s-style American sock hop. (Seriously. I couldn’t believe it. Here I am, in a bar in Paris, and people are dressed up and dancing like it’s 1953. It was kind of incredible.)

But, after that wild night, life slowed to a crawl.

I spent my first week here settling in: I got a SIM card, saw a plethora of apartments (and finally picked one), signed up for French classes, and tried to catch up on work. (I thought about joining a gym but, in paperwork-loving France, you need a doctor’s note saying you’re fit enough to join. I’m told most people don’t follow that rule but, for now, I can’t be bothered.)

After that first week, I moved into my new apartment, went to some meetups in hopes of making friends, and flew to Berlin for ITB, the largest travel conference in the world.

Upon returning to Paris, I came down with a terrible cold and spent the last week inside my apartment trying to recover. Just when I had hoped to hit the ground running, life had other ideas.

Now, as I hit my first full month here, I’m finally feeling better (and thanks to spending so long inside, I’m fairly caught up on work).

The timing couldn’t be more perfect. The weather is getting warmer and sunnier again. Over the next few weeks, I start hosting a plethora of visitors, which will finally get me out of my apartment and exploring the city more. (I’ve lined up a lot of activities, which are basically the museums, tours, and shows I’ve yet to see, so my friends are going to get a very off-the-beaten-path look at Paris.)

Life here is very different than what I imagined it to be.

In my head, I imagined hitting the ground running. I imagined perfectly scheduled days balanced with work and play, including regular French classes, meetups, sightseeing, food tours, and nights out. I imagined myself like Owen Wilson’s character from Midnight in Paris where I just wander around town and stumble into this action-packed life.

But, instead, my time here has been similar to when I moved Bangkok where I spent much of my early weeks there alone playing video games, discouraged that life just didn’t “happen” to me.

It took a long time to find my groove in that city.

But living in Bangkok taught me two things:

First, life just doesn’t happen. Sitting at my kitchen table doing work isn’t going to show me life in Paris. Neither is going to the same co-working space.

This first month has gone by the in the blink of an eye, and, with only three more left to go, I know I have to make the most of every single day.

I need to go out and make thing happen. I need to be more proactive in doing things.

But, when I think of some of my motivations for coming here — to escape the fast pace of New York City, to write more, to relax, to sleep, to be healthier — I realize that, by those metrics, my first month has been a success.

I’ve done all those things.

Yeah, it would be nice to live this life I imagine in my head. But what I really want is exactly what I’ve been doing.

Now I feel settled in and ready to take on the city.

So, though, I’m 25% of the way through my time in Paris, I still have plenty of time left to accomplish the other things I want to do.

I didn’t come here in hopes of establishing a new life.

I came here for a fresh start and to try out what it’s like to take a really extended holiday to one of my favorites cities in the world. To no longer be just passing through but rather to peel back some of the layers of the onion that is Paris.

No move to a new place is ever going to be easy.

Because the second thing living Bangkok taught me? If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere.

Bangkok showed me that I could be self-reliant and independent. It showed me that I could adapt to anything.

I’ve done this before.

And I can do it again.

***

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my time here, so here are some answers to for anyone wondering:

1. How did I find an apartment so quickly? I got lucky. Someone on Twitter connected me with someone who rented out apartments. And having a decent budget allowed me to find a place quicker. I was going through some agencies and looking at Facebook groups and Le Bon Coin (French Craigslist), but that personal connection made it a lot easier.

Finding an apartment here in Paris is hard even for the French. It’s a long process filled with a lot of paperwork. The way New Yorkers talk about the price of an apartment is the way people here talk about finding an apartment. It’s the first topic of discussion, as a way to bond with strangers.

2. Are you studying French? If so, where? I was taking French classes at Alliance Française but, disliking the classroom teaching style, dropped out and hired a private tutor. I’m also learning via podcasts and Duolingo.

3. How are you meeting people and making friends as an expat? There’s a bunch of expat meetup groups I’ve joined, and I started hosting my own meetups. I am also reaching out influencers based in France. But if you know of any cool Parisian locals, let me know!

4. I heard you’re running walking tours. Is that true? Yep! I started running my own historical walking tours. You can sign up here. I have put up the schedule through the end of May. I do them once a week and they’re free. Come join! If a date is full, join the waitlist. A few people always end up canceling!

Book Your Trip to Paris: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. Some of my favorite places to stay in Paris are:

St. Christopher’s Canal – Comfy spot on the canal. During the summer months, the terrace is hopping!

3 Ducks Hostel – This hostel has one of the cheapest bars in the city, and it’s just a 10-minute walk to the Eiffel Tower.

Les Piaules – Fantastic chimney lounge, a cool bar, and a rooftop space. It’s a great place to meet people!

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!

Looking for more information on visiting Paris? Check out my in-depth destination guide to Paris with more tips on what to see, do, costs, ways to save, and much, much more!

The post Life in Paris: One Month Down appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

source https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/life-in-paris/

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