#if you need to debug the keyboard set up

[zwoelffarben]

hey [ Þ ] is on my keyboard. well, my auxilary keyboard. Look, it's right Þere:

If you'll bare wiÞ me, Þis real easy to set up, I promise. You install two programs (AutoHotKey and LuaMacros), write a bit of basic code, and do some data entry and you're done. You'll be tippity tapping wit whatever characters you want, 'cause Þe way I have it set up works for emoji too🎲_🎲.

This tutorial will link you to this github repo. Click the <>Code button and download the zip.

Unzip the zipfile and run set_up.bat from it. It will ask for administrative permission to so it can download AutoHotKey and LuaMacros.

Open LuaMacros and open quickstart.lua in Lua Macros. The code'll look like the tutorial. If you follow the tutorial you'll be fine, and you'll have a working system once you're done scripting everything. But you'lee need to script a hotkey for each key your changing which'll get tedious if you regularly remap or want to change a lot of keys. My Luascript, instead of having each key send a unique hotkey for AHK to replace writes which key was pressed to a file then sends AHK one hotkey to interpret. Replace the section starting after if (direction == 0) then return end with: filewrite = io.open("output.txt", "w") if (button == XXX) then filewrite:write(0) elseif (button == XX ) then filewrite:write(1) elseif (button == XXX) then filewrite:write(2) elseif (button == XX ) then filewrite:write(3) --etc else print('Not yet assigned: ' .. button) end filewrite:close() lmc_send_keys('{F24}') end ) adding whatever keys you need in your chain of elseifs like following the tutorial . This'll tell Lua to write an index value representing the key to the file output.txt, then press F24. If you need to do debugging, these four lines can be inserted go after filewrite:close, but before lmc_send_keys('{F24}'): fileread = io.open("output.txt","r") print("\nThe contents in the file are: ") print(fileread:read()) fileread:close() The main downside to this method is that you will need to have Lua launch in Administrative mode for it to be able to write to the file. I've not found a way around this.

Edit the AHK script. Add this to the bottom. directory= C:\Users\YOUR-USERNAME\Documents\second-keyboard-master F24:: FileRead, Input, %directory%\LuaMacros\output.txt FileReadLine, Output, %directory%\AutoHotKey\translation_p.txt, Input+1 if (output!= "") SendInput {U+%Output%} return Replace YOUR-USERNAME with your username. This will read the file written by lua and using that index to read a specific line a translation_p.txt file.

Create a translation_p.txt file and populate its lines with unicode values for the characters you want those keys to type. Þ is 00D4. If you want you're first key to type Þ, put 00D4 on line 1 if you want your twenty-third key to type Þ put 00D4 on line 23.

Copy and paste this to the bottom of your AHK script: +F24:: FileRead, Input, %directory%\LuaMacros\output.txt FileReadLine, Output, %directory%\AutoHotKey\translation_s.txt, Input+1 if (output!= "") SendInput {U+%Output%} return This is exactly the same as above except it runs when you press a key while holding down shift. Repeat step 5, except creating a translation_s.txt file and populating it.

Repeat this process for ctrl (^F24::) and alt (!F24::) respectively.

That's where my setup is at. If you want to take it further, each modifier is actually a bit of information so you can have any of them depressed together _+^! for eight potential key options, sixty-four if you discriminate left-side mods from right-side mods which you can do, but that's overkill for normal people.

Follow this tutorial and you'll have a second auxilary keyboard that you can type anything into. If you ever want to remap keys it's as simple as changing the translation_*.txt files. ☭ Have Fun ☭.

I just encountered þe only person I've ever seen actually trying to bring back þe "þ" by using it casually.

I scrolled þeir blog for like 2 minutes before finding, like, antisemitic shit and oþer far-right-wing fuckery.

however, I really like "þ" as a letter, so in light of þis discovery and in an attempt to make þe list of people using "þ" be a list þat isn't 100% composed of alt-right fuckers, effective immediately I'm gonna start using "þ". if you pay close attention you might have already noticed þis.

let's all do þis. let's make it a queer þing. let's make it so þat if you see "þ" online you know þat person is gay as fuck.

maybe we can make it even funkier by using "ð" for ðe voiced version. ðat way we can use boþ. I þink ðat's neat

[omedapixel]

Hello! I was so excited for your new mod it just won't work, either version. First none of the commands worked, and all of a sudden the option to select an object is not showing up and Idk why, I really want to use it. Any idea?

hi! i'm sorry it's not working for you :( here are some steps you can take -

1. Put the mod in OVERRIDES

This might resolve the issue completely!

2. Enable Debug Notifications to see if the mod is being loaded

Open the package with S3PE and then open the file called "Sims3.omedapixel.Decorating.Main" with Notepad.

Edit the line as shown in the picture to be "True"

Save and close everything and load up the game. When you switch in to Build/Buy mode, you sould get this message -

That means the mod is working!! If you DON'T get this message, then there must be a bigger problem and I'll need more information to help you troublshoot.

3. Set Keyboard Language to English (US)

For my PC (Windows 10) it's done like this - Click on the bottom taskbar near the time and date, where it likely says ENG or whatever language your keyboard is currently in.

Select ENG US if it's there. Otherwise click 'Language Preferences' and in the next screen, add ENG US as a new language.

You can switch your keyboard language temporarily while you're playing the game.

If this still doesn't help, please message me directly off anon! It'll be much easier to work out the problem that way :) This goes for anyone having issues with S3DT!

[thewakingcloak]

The State of Things Present

this post was available for patrons a week early! please consider supporting me over on patreon!

I kept trying to make this post fancier and better and more engaging, and then I realized I was doing that thing where I make myself too overwhelmed to actually finish and post it. The other thing was I kept gunning for a once-a-week posting, and uh… yeah that's not sustainable. So here we go!

The Ghost of Spacefarer Present appears before you He whispers, very quietly, yet in a voice that resonates: "Time to resurrect the Spacefarer"

Ok so the spacefarer (me??) was very tired, but he's awake now and doing things!

Life status

We moved! My wife and kids and I packed up and headed some miles south of our previous house. It was a risk for sure. We didn't know how things would pan out. We really needed to get away from our old environment, our old town, our old house. We loved that house, and we'd said so to each other many times even as we were halfheartedly searching for a new one. But at some point that house had become too burdened with bad memories and traumas, not to mention that after the pandemic, we had no more real roots there. Everyone had moved away, the communities we were involved with had disbanded or changed. And anyway, my wife would be starting a new teaching job down south.

We were fortunate enough to find a new house we loved, and fortunate enough to be in a position where we could actually make the move. I'm aware this is a privilege, given the economy and the market, and so I can only express my thankfulness and consider it a blessing, especially as we healed through our grief.

I have an improved office now! This is where I work on my day job (software/web dev) and my unday job (Studio Spacefarer). With my genetics stacked against me, but also with my desire to be able to keep up with my kids and be there for my family, I collected a standing desk, a walking pad treadmill thing, and an ergonomic keyboard. I'm walking or at least standing most of the day now, which has made a surprising difference already.

I was gonna post a wider view of the office, but my 3yo son ran up while I was taking pictures and started "working" (mashing the keypad), so this is automatically the better pic. Them's the rules.

Anyway, in short, we made it, and it hasn't been a smooth ride the entire time, but it has been well worth it. I've been able to get back into gamedev, which has been a huge boon to my mental health too.

Speaking of… (ghostly drumroll)

Game status!

The good stuff. Here's where I'm at presently with Episode III!

The game is completable from start to end (definitely NOT feature complete)

Jumping, swimming, and dashing all work like a charm and are super fun

Three enemy types have been added, including custom A* pathfinding for the sea monster

Two new collection mechanics (one is heart containers, the other will be a small surprise)

Depth sorting and fake-3D, as mentioned previously, which lets me do lots of fun effects

Day/night are now on a new system, and cave darkness is now a thing (I tried to implement this in PD2 but couldn't figure it out)

Palette swapping for night and lighting effects now uses GameMaker's built in layer effects

Much of the game is now decorated

Updated the game's palette to be more pleasing

Better borderless windowed mode, frame toggling, etc. (I'd made a post about a third party plugin I used to do this previously, but not long after that, GameMaker added an official setting to be toggleable at runtime, so I switched to that… much easier lol)

New audio library which has been a MASSIVE boon (Juju's Vinyl)

New flexible debug/inspector mode which allows me to change values on the fly more easily

State machine rewrite using structs instead of data structures--extremely flexible and less  error-prone (in fact the data structures here were the #1 cause of crashes in Episodes I and II)

Save system rewrite, also using structs instead of data structures (thus fixing the #2 cause of crashes in the first two episodes)

Adjusted the way walls get displayed in interiors--will make a post on this later

Lots and lots and lots and lots of bug fixes

Post end status!

I'm not exactly sure how to wrap this up lol, but y'all can be encouraging me, if you have the emotional space to do so! There's still a lot left to do on PD3, and it can be very daunting at times.

Next post up will be looking forward to the future of Studio Spacefarer. I'm very excited about this! Keep an eye out!

[elliespuns]

How can I start modding?!

To mod, you need to own the computer version of the game. Most importantly, the original Steam version (otherwise it won't work). 

Once you have this set, you just go to Nexus and download the Tlou debug dev menu mod by Goghor (link here).

The installation is a bit tricky. If you have never installed mods in any game before, I recommend to ask someone who has experience. If you want to try it on your own, I advise you to download Vortex (which should be on the Nexus page) and install it via this utility. 

When you finish installing Vortex, make sure to connect the game to it. It should be easy, but if you don't know how to do it, I'm sure there are a lot of tutorials on the internet. It's necessary to connect the game to it before doing anything else.

Then, when you're done connecting the game, go to the link I attached, and on the right, you'll see an icon called "vortex." Once you click on it, it should install the mod right into the game without you having to deal with it manually. This is perfect for beginners; this way you can be sure you're doing it right.

Then, after all this is done, the real fun begins. I'm not even shitting you when I say I spent over 5 hours figuring out how to work with the freakin' mod. I couldn't find out how to turn on the free roam camera, and it was driving me crazy.

So, just in case you went through all the previous steps and got the mod into the game, here's a little help on how to work with the dev menu!

Once the game launches and you're in the main menu, you need to open the dev menu to activate the mod. To do it, you need to press [CTRL] + [~]. When the little window in the left corner pops up, don't bother with the "camera" option. It doesn't work. To use the free roam cam, you have to go to "display" and press [1] - the one above Q and tab. This should open a quick menu. From here, you just go to "manual camera" and you're good to go.

This is what it should look like before you press [1] and the manual camera option shows up.

I'm from Europe, and the keys work just fine for me. But I heard some people have trouble opening the dev menu with the keys mentioned. For those who can't use the [CTRL] + [~] option, try [CTRL] + [ ' ] to open it.

If you don't know where to find the [~] button, it's under the ESC key on your keyboard. The [ ' ] is basically the apostrophe you use in English grammar.

Also, when ready to mod, I highly recommend connecting a controller, because the manipulation with the camera is pretty sketchy, and unless you want to fall into mild rage, this is the easier way.

I wish you the best because I almost lost my fucking mind learning to work with this, lmao. So good luck!

[simplyanjuta]

Making Gallery Poses with Infants (Dealing with the Pillow) 👶

A short guide, prepared rigs and background info.

Short Guide

Gallery poses with infants are special because there’s a pillow object attached to the infant.

Below some examples and a thumbnail showing what an empty clip looks like.

In some default gallery poses you can see the pillow, in others you can’t – but the pillow is always there, just in the case of the latter out of sight (it’s moved below the ground).

This is also true for poses where the adult is holding the infant.

The set up is such that the pillow is attached to the b__R_Stigmata bone of the infant rig (that’s a point in the middle of the hand) in the same way how the baby “object” is attached to the adult sim (more info here).

In order to make poses with the pillow (and be able to properly adjust the position of the pillow) you need to attach the pillow to the infant rig in Blender with a bone constraint, replicating the way it is attached by the game. You can then move the pillow by moving/rotating the stigmata bone (again, in the same way as with the baby). Also note that if you don't want the pillow to appear in the picture, you will need to move the stigmata bone far away to a place where the pillow won't be visible in the picture.

Prepared Rigs

To spare you the trouble I’ve provided a blend file with the pillow attached here (for both, old and new Blender):

Prepared Infant Rigs with Pillow Attached (SFS)

Background Info

Below some notes and background info on how I attached the pillow (also see screenshots in the baby tutorial linked above for similar steps).

You can find and export the pillow mesh with S4S (select “Show debug items” in the object catalogue and search for the keyword “pillow”).

Open a blend file with an infant rig and append the exported pillow mesh.

The pillow unfortunately is missing armature data (there is no rig/the rig it’s attached to is empty) that is necessary for adding the required bone constraint. You can add what you need though with a workaround from another object:

Delete the rig the pillow came with as it’s empty and of no use.

Export & append another object that has a rig. (The rig should have a “b__ROOT_” bone and a “transformBone”. I looked up the koala toy, but I assume it works the same with other assets.)

Delete its mesh.

Link the pillow mesh to the new object rig (click the mesh, go to the tab “Modifiers”/”Modifier Properties” (wrench icon), set the object rig as the armature object to deform with).

Add a vertex group named "transformBone" to the pillow mesh: Click the mesh, go to the tab “Data”/”Object Data Properties” (triangle icon), add a new vertex group there & call it "transformBone" (see/compare first screenshot below).

Now switch from “Object Mode” to “Edit mode” (only available when the mesh is selected). Click the mesh in the viewport and tap “A” on your keyboard so that the complete mesh is selected. Then press the “assign” button to assign the mesh data to the vertex group you created. Make sure the weight is set to 100. This is what makes the mesh controlled by the transformBone of the object rig! (Thank you so much @mercuryfoam for helping me figuring this out and some extra tips that were very valuable to me! <3)

Now that the pillow mesh is properly attached and controlled by the object rig, we can attach the object rig to the infant rig with a bone constraint.

Select B_ROOT_/transformBone from the object rig, go to the tab “Bone Constraints”/"Bone Constraint Properties" and add a “Copy Transforms” constraint. Set target as the infant rig and specify the bone as “B__R_Stigmata” (see/compare second screenshot below). Now you’re set.

-Vertex group assignment-

-Setting the bone constraint-

@ts4-poses​  @thefoxburyinstitute

[lilabella12]

behind-the-scenes

So, I had a question about the little "bundle" I use for when a baby does not survive the birth... it's actually no cc but just the "baby" package from the Get To Work expansion (so you'll need to own it if you want to use the bundle). If you want to know how to find it, feel free to take a peek ⬇️

We're using a different sim because my mods folder is currently set up for my NSB challenge. Also, this is step by step because it's meant for every type of sims player, so please do not feel patronized! That's not my intention!

This is how you find the item (remember, you need to own the GTW expansion):

Go into build mode.

If you use Better BuildBuy you'll have to check the following boxes to find the item: 'Debug' in the 'Content' tab & 'MoveObjects On' in the 'Better BuildBuy' tab

If you don't use Better BuildBuy you'll have to bring up the cheats menu (Ctrl + Shift + C) AFTER entering build mode and type in the cheats 'bb.moveobjects on' (confirm with ENTER), then 'bb.showhiddenobjects' (confirm with ENTER)

After using the cheats or checking the boxes, type in 'Baby' in your search bar in build mode, click on 'type search for "baby"'

This is the item you're looking for!

When you first pull it out of the catalogue it's in the ground so you won't see it (that's also why you need moveobjects to be on) but you can raise it by pressing the '9' key on your keyboard while holding the object.

You can just put it in the crib now (or anywhere that fits you storyline).

Of course, to 'get rid' of a baby that was born and did not survive the roll, just shift-click and choose '(DEBUG) Starves Baby'. The baby will be immediatly taken away but it will still show up in your sims family tree.

This item fits really well in any of my historical storylines, hope this post helped! Have a nice day :)

[badtasteaquarium]

[A] diskette

After a long and tedious meeting with the GUN Commander, Shadow walked down the long corridor of HQ, eyes on the floor in front of him. More testing, more trials, he thought. I thought the experiments were over, but they apparently want more data. Are they trying to recreate me? He ran the calculation in his head, but it came back with an error. That is one thing I cannot do. Predict the future.

"Hey!"

He blinked, and Rouge manifested in the middle of his path. "What's the matter, sourpuss? Let me guess--the commander was bullshitting with you?"

He sighed. "So to speak," he replied.

"Well, I have something that can take your mind off all that. Literally." She beamed and produced a red floppy diskette between her fingers.

Shadow stared at the disk, then back to Rouge's eager face. She loved to wear colorful, heavy makeup on her eyes and lips, but it didn't hide the dark circles beneath her eyes. "What is that?" he asked.

"It's a program for you."

His nose wrinkled. "Then you will find it useful to know that the 'bullshitting' I just did with the Commander was about doing more trials and tests. I am not interested."

He walked past her, shaking his head, but as predicted, she was not swayed. "Oh, come on! I've been working for weeks on this! I spent the last two days debugging it!" she exclaimed. "It's for your benefit!"

"Is it?" he said. "Or yours?"

"Well..." She fell behind a step. "It could be a mutual benefit. But it's mostly yours! Damn it, you know I'm one of the only people who can code in your native language..."

Shadow stopped and turned towards her, his gaze stern. "And again, I ask you: are you just doing so for your benefit?"

Rouge crossed her arms under her ample chest and met his stare. "This is your problem, anyway: you need to be able to relax." She flicked the disk up again. "This can help."

Shadow's gaze soften as his memory banks fired.

[RETRIEVING DATA FROM C:\... "--It's you. It's really you." Rouge embraced him tightly, even as the fizzling Chaos Energy wafted off him. "Welcome back," she said.]

He swallowed. "Fine," he said. "Where would you like to set up?"

She grinned. "My private office. After hours."

---

Rouge's office was small, to put it lightly. It was made smaller by the fact that she had crammed it full with a desk, an extra table, and a futon that if folded out, would take up any floor space left. A modern computer was set up at her desk, but the table housed a dumb terminal, along with a floppy diskette reader and an extra keyboard.

"Have a seat," she offered, immediately plopping at her desk and typing. "I'll get the cables out in a minute..."

Shadow stared at the Medusa's nest of cables in a bin on the desk. "With such limited space, you could stand to be more organized," he grumbled.

"Oh my word, you are so cranky," Rouge huffed. "I've been busy!"

He sighed and sat himself on the futon, folding his arms. "I do not know what you plan on doing to me, but I want you to know this: if it is at all unpleasant, I will refuse any future endeavors."

"I can live with that," Rouge replied absently.

Shadow blinked. That is not what I expected her to say...she must be confident...

She wheeled her desk chair over to the spare computer and popped in the floppy disk. It rattled while she turned on the terminal and began fishing for cables. "I think this should be long enough--oh."

When she pulled one out, it took several along with it. She sighed and began untangling, while Shadow leaned over to pick up the unnecessary cables. He took note of the tired creases beneath her eyes once again. "You talk enough about me," he said. "Shouldn't you get some rest as well?"

Rouge tilted her head back and forth, her mouth twisting. "Yeah, probably," she admitted. "I'll keep my work phone off this weekend, how's about that?"

She giggled, and he frowned. Then, she held up the parallel port. "Here, you want me to plug you in?"

Shadow took the cable from her and lifted the back of his hair to secure it into the back of his neck. She carefully unwound the rest and plugged it into the floppy drive. There was enough slack on the cable for it to touch the floor before reaching the desk.

"Is it running?" Shadow asked.

Rouge glanced at the terminal. "Shoot, I need you to interface first." She popped out the floppy disk. "Can you run your BASIC for me?"

Shadow nodded.

["RUN>>BASIC"]

The terminal on the desk flashed, then read the following:

“EXPANDED S.A. BASIC V. 2.0.2005 60287 BASIC BYTES FREE [PARTITIONED] READY…”

"There we go. Okay." Rouge popped the disk back in. In his mind's eye and on the screen, the program began to populate:

[LOADING FROM DRIVE A:\… … … <3 ~SPECIAL PROGRAM~ <3 BY ROUGE <3 © 2xx8 LANGUAGE PERMISSION BY GUARDIAN UNITS OF THE NATION, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

OPTIONS: MULTIPLE? Y/N INTENSITY 0-9? CLARITY 0-9?]

"What is this?" he asked. "Do not touch that keyboard."

Rouge held her hands where he could see them. "You can go ahead and review the code. I'm sure you'll be able to parse it faster than any human could."

Shadow's eyes narrowed at her, his jaw clenching. She did this for your benefit, or so she says... He closed his eyes.

[>>CHECK DRIVE A:\ 3000 BYTES. RUN PROGRAM ANALYSIS? Y/N >> Y INITIALIZING...]

Shadow's eyelids fluttered.

[PROGRAM FOR SEXUAL GRATIFICATION. SUPPRESSES INHIBITION CIRCUITS. INTENDED FOR SELF PLEASURE BUT CAN BE USED WITH A PARTNER. VARIATION PARAMETERS CAN ADJUST: MENTAL CLARITY. INTENSITY. NUMBER OF CLIMAXES. COMPATIBLE WITH MODULE PSDW-4065-F, PSDW-4065-M, AND PSDW-4065-X. MODULE DETECTED AUTOMATICALLY. END ANALYSIS.]

He shook his head, rubbing his temples. "You wrote a sex program for me? Rouge."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "You're not stupid or a baby, you already know how to do all that shit!"

"Not that I need to, nor is it necessary for my function."

"Are you sure?" Rouge leaned forward, hands on her knees. "Shadow? Are you positive?"

(In the dark of an abandoned lab room, Maria knelt before him, hard cock in her hand as she stroked gently. "Is this all right?" she asked, sweet and gentle. "Does it feel good?"

Shadow gripped the counter, only able to nod. She opened her mouth and ran her tongue over the tip of his dick. "How about this?" she asked afterwards, not taking her eyes off him.

The brittle, particleboard counter cracked underneath his grip...)

Despite the memory swelling in his chest, he still shook his head. "There is no point, I am sterile, after all--"

"I know about you and Dr. Maria," she insisted. "I know, because I did this with her consent."

Shadow's heart stopped as he stared wide-eyed at Rouge, who leaned back in her chair, pleased as she played her trump card. He opened his mouth, wordless at first, but eventually overcame his disbelief to speak. "You...if this gets out of hand, and I lose control--"

"I will take full responsibility," she said, hand over her heart. "At my own risk."

She was not to be deterred. He would need to speak with Maria about this, but now was not the time. "Damn it all," he hissed. "Fine, you may proceed with configuring this...program."

Rouge grinned, then swung back around to the keyboard and began tabbing through.

Before she was finished, Shadow gave pause. "Wait. Did she ask you to report on this?"

"Just between the two of us, totally off record," she replied with a wink.

Shadow grimaced. Embarrassing! The women in my life conspiring against me...

He tried to shake the feeling to address the program, still hanging in his mind's eye:

[OPTIONS: MULTIPLE? Y/N: N INTENSITY 0-9? 9 CLARITY 0-9? 1]

"That should be goooood," Rouge said, elongating the last syllable. "Hm. Well...no. It's fine. I want to see how hard you can go."

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Shadow replied matter-of-factly.

"You're so boring. This is why we're doing this, you know," Rouge dismissed. She turned around fully toward him. "Are you ready?"

As intense as possible. With as little self-control as can be prescribed. Adrenaline pooled at the pit of his stomach. "You know that I have the power to hurt you. That even if you tell me to stop, I may not be able to."

Rouge slapped her thighs. "Hey, if I die, I die."

This did not give him comfort. Still, her eagerness showed on her face, and he found himself forced to oblige. "Fine," Shadow sighed, and his telescopic pupils dilated.

[>>SNAPSHOT RECORDED. STORED TO C:\...\RECORDINGS\07-09-2XX8-22.36.40.mp4]

Rouge grinned, then spun on her chair and slapped the enter key.

[>>RUN … … … … …]

She let out a whistling sigh and faced him. "Whew! Now, hopefully, it works."

The terminal behind her ran red with shifting symbols and garbled text scrolling endlessly down the screen. Shadow rolled his shoulders back. "Are you nervous?" he asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," she replied, looking down at her manicured nails. "But I'm a big girl, I can handle it." Her turquoise eyes glinted in the dark as she met his. "Besides, I--"

She appeared to keep talking, but Shadow suddenly could not hear it. A body wide shudder coursed through him, his mouth watering so much that he was forced to swallow hard to contain it. Hardly aware of it, he stripped off his jacket and his shirt, leaving his GUN dog tags to clink against his chest.

Rouge stopped mid-sentence, lips parted. "Ooh. Oh, here we go," she muttered.

Shadow had never noticed her lips before. They were so full, painted with a shade of fuchsia that called to him. What would they look like with his fingers in them? With his cock in them? His heart began to race, mind quickly saturating as the ache in his groin grew more persistent.

"Sh..." Rouge stammered, eyes widening. "Shadow?"

Rouge was wearing her typical GUN uniform, buttoned down to the middle to show off a revealing tanktop. Most of her clothing was form fitting to each curve of her body, through her chest, her stomach, her ass, her thighs. Shadow imagined leaning over and grabbing her where she sat--the thought was so powerful--

(grab her saddle her over your lap)

--that he briefly hallucinated it--

(rip off everything squeeze her bite her)

--before refocusing his eyes and his ears to the sound and space of the room. He became aware that his eyes were glowing. "Come...here," he managed to say, his voice box distorting in its restraint.

Rouge slid off her desk chair to sit beside him on the futon, immediately shuffling off her company shirt. "You are so warm, I can feel you from here," she said. "I didn't think about how it might spike your thermals..."

Shadow could acutely sense her vitals--heavier breathing, harder heartbeat--made even more prominent with her chest heaving in sync. Her huge, fat tits.

He reached out and grabbed the back of her neck. The sensation prickled through his spine, some of the only organic pieces left of him. With his other hand, he yanked her forward by the waist and began sucking at her neck.

"Ahh!" she exclaimed. "Oh, fuck, we're really in it now--aah!"

Shadow reveled as he pressed her further into her, the smell of her tickling somewhere in the back of his skull and deep in his groin. Her hair in his fist, he tugged and bit, squeezing and clawing at her waist. It filled his mind with a delightful, perverse pleasure.

He felt like an animal. Driven by instinct. Not since he had the Chaos Emeralds in his grasp did he feel so alive, so real. So much of him was calculated, premeditated, and restrained; now, he felt overclocked, hyper-aware, and oh so, so, so hungry.

Rouge had been keening, trembling under his grasp, but he felt a warmth trickle down his chin. He paused to examine his work. She was already deeply bruised all the way through her shoulder and collarbone, and droplets of blood ran down her shoulder.

"Oh...I..." he began, but

[OVERRIDE. OVERRIDE. OVERRIDE.]

the apology that began dissolved before it could be spoken.

It was also encouraged by Rouge, who while a little shaken, smirked at him all the same. "Oh, you're vicious, baby," she purred. "Show me what else you can do."

The husky resonance in her voice sent shivers through him again, and this time he descended on her mouth, forcing his tongue in immediately, desperate to consume. He pulled her onto his lap, grinding his hard cock through his pants against her crotch, hot, hot and needy. Rouge wrapped her arms around his waist to press him closer, her hands drifting lower along the tracks in his spine, down to the ports at the small of his back. She used a nail to scrape against them, making his cock twitch in his pants.

"Hnn, nnn, fuck," he mumbled into her mouth. He pulled at the back of her shirt, and in one motion, ripped it from the back and shredded it off her body.

"Oh!" Rouge yelped. "Hey, easy--"

It left her in her bra, a black, lacy push-up that she was nearly heaving out of. Without ceremony, he stretched the band under the cups and pulled it off over her head, not bothering to undo the clasps, showing her tits on full display. These tits she's always showing off, now I finally see them, now they're finally mine, mine, mine.

Shadow pushed her down on the futon and grabbed both of her breasts, overflowing in his palms. She yelped, and he pushed them together, baring his teeth. "You've wanted to fuck me," Shadow growled when he opened his mouth, and spread her legs. "I've seen you staring, I know you want it."

Before she could answer, Shadow bent over her and jammed two fingers in her mouth. He tugged at her lips before stroking her tongue, then began fucking her mouth with his fingers. "This...is just a preview," he huffed, a roaring in his ears. "This...this is just...the beginning..."

Rouge's eyes watered, and when she tried to squirm away, Shadow held her down by her thigh with his free hand. "I don't think so," he said. Rouge choked on his fingers as he pushed them deeper in her throat. He found himself chuckling as she floundered beneath him, but withdrew in order to let her breathe. She coughed as she caught her breath, gingerly holding her neck.

He let go of her thigh to undo his pants, hastily discarding them to drag his cock in front of her face. Rouge managed to find some composure, but could not take her eyes off him.

"What do you think?" he heard himself say.

"I've seen you...in stasis, but I've never seen you hard," Rouge managed. "You're going to fucking destroy me, aren't you?"

Shadow's eyes lowered, and he grinned with parted lips. "I'm gonna make you feel like you've never felt before," he purred.

[>>INITIATING CHAOS DRIVE ENERGY REDIRECT. >>REDIRECT COMPLETE. INITIATING APHRODISIAC PROTOCOL.]

The last sliver of his rational brain gave him pause, despite him rubbing his cock against Rouge's lips. That is not something I was aware of before, he thought. But with the sight of Rouge's fluttering eyes, rolling back, Shadow quickly dismissed it. Who cares about the why...

It was easy to shove his cock into Rouge's mouth. She hummed as it went in, and impressively, didn't gag as he bottomed out. Whore, he thought, and nearly said, but caught again behind his teeth. He wasn't all programming and wires--his brain was still flesh and blood, fully integrated with the power of Chaos energy. It clawed through the red, lust induced haze to offer his partner a shred of dignity, despite her lipstick smearing on her mouth and her moaning growing less restrained.

He could keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't turn his mind off.

(look at this cock-drunk slut, look at how she deep-throats you, she's so into it, she wants you to fuck her brains out with those huge tits and ass bouncing on you, ride her and make her moan make her scream let her be so desperate--)

"Hnn," Rouge sighed, her eyes glassy as she pulled his dick out of her mouth to hold it near the base. Her voice held a hazy, entranced tone. "You taste...so good..."

Her tongue lolled out of her mouth. Static increased in Shadow's mind.

"Then keep sucking it, bitch," his mouth said, harsh and distorted.

She shuddered, grinning, then gleefully began sucking him off again, slowly sitting up to kneel on the futon before him. Shadow covered his mouth with one hand, and grabbed her hair with the other. It's so mean, he thought, heart racing. It's so dirty. It's so perverse. But it's so...it's so...

[>>WARNING: CPU AT 99%. THERMAL THROTTLING RISK AND DRIVE FAILURE.]

The warmth on his cock receded as Rouge sat up. "You're...fighting it," she said with a chuckle, still in the same distracted tone. "Stop."

Shadow blinked, trying to focus on anything that wasn't shoving his cock between her thighs. "I...I..." he stammered.

"If...you...ngh." She shook her head. "Damn it, that's stronger than I thought." Rouge cleared her throat and spoke more clearly. "If you don't let go, you're going to fry one of your CPUs or overload your RAM, and I'll never hear the end of it."

Shadow began to tremble.

(hot slut with a mouth good for fucking)

(I can't say that!)

[>>WARNING: THERMAL THROTTLING IMMINENT.]

He ground his teeth, and sighed deeply.

Rouge sat up fully and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Trust. Me." she said emphatically.

Shadow met her eyes. I trust you. I do not trust myself.

But, I will have to.

(you need to)

I need to.

With a hard swallow, he closed his eyes, feeling them roll back.

[>>DEACTIVATING ADVANCED OPTICALS. >>CPU: 97%... >>ACTIVATING INFRARED HEAT VISION.]

Shadow's eyes snapped open, seeing only a white hot heat map of Rouge in front of him,

and he let go.

He ripped off her uniform pants and panties in one go, throwing them across the room. Firmly, he grabbed her by the hips and propped her up on the futon. While she spread her legs for him, he forced them wider and immediately began to finger her, her cunt already soaking wet.

"So easy," he muttered, the scent and heat of her sending shivers down his spine. One finger turned to two, three, and four very quickly as he stretched her, pushing as far as he could go. "So fucking...easy...nngh..."

Rouge panted and started to whine again, squirming under his touch. "Oh damn it, fuck, Shh...aaah, Shadow," she keened, the hazy tone and glassiness in her eyes resuming. "Just get your cock in me already...!"

Shadow grinned, and pushed himself inside her with ease.

The feedback was immediate, every receptor in his spine firing at once as her warmth engulfed him. He groaned deep in his chest, bottoming out and smacking her thighs as he gripped them. "Fuck, you're so hot," he groaned. "And warm...a-aagh!"

Momentum took him, and he began to thrust at a hard and heavy speed. It rippled through her body, and she moaned and shook with every pounding thrust, His fingers gripped and grabbed at her soft skin, and there was so much of her to grab. This is everything, Shadow thought, delirious in heat. I've never felt this...

This raw pleasure...carnal and obscene...

I need it, I need it, I need it...

[>>EDGE.]

Just as he felt a peak rise, it dropped off as quickly as it came. He blinked and bent over Rouge, grabbing a fistful of her hair without letting up his pace.

"You like it, don't you?" Shadow whispered into her mouth, tasting the heat and sweat wafting off her. "Don't you..."

Rouge babbled uselessly, head rolling back, only able to utter moans and cries.

Shadow did not stop to let her speak. Instead, he chuckled and gingerly kissed her cheek. "Good."

[>>INFRARED HEAT VISION OFF. >>ACTIVATING ADVANCED OCULAR VISION... >>CPU: 95%...]

He blinked and saw clearly now: Rouge's half lidded expression completely lost to the brutal fucking she had succumb to. Shadow pushed deep

[>>EDGE.]

and felt another wave drop off him. Need it. Need more. Need more. Shadow mashed his lips against Rouge's, immediately forcing his tongue into her mouth. She moaned loud, and he felt himself return it, the pleasure delicious and trembling through his whole body.

(it feels good to moan)

(get more into it)

"Ahhn," he sighed. "Ohh, fuck, fuck..."

"More, more," Rouge sang, clutching on his back. "Harder...aah!"

She squealed as he thrust

[>>VIBRATOR ACTIVATED. >>EDGE.]

harder into her, digging his fingers into her waist as his focus tightened. He bit down on her lip, pulling on it while straightening his posture, brow furrowing as he pounded her, endlessly and repeatedly.

[>>EDGE.]

He fell into a rhythm, sinking into the wet, slick sound of her pussy, how hard his dick was,

[>>EDGE.]

how close he felt, how close, how fucking close,

[>>EDGE.]

how badly he wanted to cum, cum, cum,

[>>E?????DGE. >>CPU: 99%...]

Rouge's moans were turning to whimpers, turning to whines. "Nngh," Shadow groaned. "I...I...need..."

He started to shake, keeling over as static prickled on his scalp. He was glued to her hips, and green sparks started to flicker on his fingertips. "Need...need...nnnngh..."

Shadow's moan came out as a whine, and his vision flashed yellow. There was no more edging. It was now or never. "Ahh...aah...AAAH!"

The air crackled with electricity as Shadow clutched Rouge, his orgasm surging through him like an overloaded circuit. He was an overloaded circuit, releasing pent up electricity he never fathomed he held. Shadow's body shook, and Rouge trembled in turn, tense in his arms and around his cock. It felt like an age, distorted through the haze of animal lust in his mind

(YES YES YES YES YES FUCK HER FUCK FUCK FUCK)

that slowly, slowly faded as the wave of pleasure subsided.

Then, it was quiet.

[>>PROGRAM TERMINATED DUE TO SHUT DOWN. >>BASIC TERMINATED. >>CPU CHECK...OK. LOAD 50%...49%....43%... >>RAM CHECK...OK. >>SYSTEM ANALYTICS...OK. >>DRIVE C:\...OK. >>DRIVE A:\...OK. >>CHAOS REGULATOR...75% LOAD. COOL-DOWN MODE. OK.]

Shadow's eyes fluttered, and he fully came to himself when he smelled burning plastic. Hastily, he reached to the back of his neck and pulled out the cable, which was indeed singed on the end. "I hope you have more of these," he muttered, tossing it aside.

He glanced at the terminal, which read nothing. "Diagnostics read a force shutdown. Hopefully nothing critical was damaged, but I am afraid you will have to get any logs from me."

Finally, his gaze fell down to Rouge, still balls deep inside her. Carefully, he withdrew, his cock glistening with their mingling sex. Oddly enough, she did not react. "Rouge?" he said.

She laid still. Eerily still. "R...Rouge?"

Rouge did not respond.

A wave of nausea clutched him, and he quickly held a finger to her neck, bruised and bleeding. No. Oh, no, no, no.

[>>VITAL ANALYSIS: PULSE: 0]

She was not breathing. "Fuck!" he exclaimed.

[>>CHAOS DRIVE ENERGY REDIRECT: DEFIBRILLATOR.]

He hastily rubbed his hands together until he felt static pulsing beneath them. Thank Chaos I was trained on this, he thought, fighting the panic eager to set in his bones. Please, Rouge, please, I'm so sorry, please come back. Carefully, he placed his hands on her chest.

[>>CLEAR.] "Clear."

A brief shock burst from his hands, and it pulsed her body. Placing both hands near her heart, he counted a rhythm. One, two, three, four, five. Then, he opened her mouth to breath into it.

[>>RECALIBRATING: CO2 TO O2...COMPLETE.]

Shadow poured fresh air into her lungs. "Promise you, I am not...j-just a weapon," he muttered as his breathing apparatus recalculated. "I can...I'm not..."

He pulsed her hands over her heart again. One, two, three, four, five.

[>>VITAL ANALYSIS: PULSE: PLEASE WAIT...]

"Come on, come on," he murmured under his breath, throat burning.

[>> 1...2...3...4.... PULSE: 70 BPM]

Now breathe, he thought desperately, hands shaking as he lifted them off her chest. Breathe!

She gasped and coughed, and her chest began to rise and fall in rhythm once again. Shadow sighed shakily, shoulders falling. Miracles do exist...

Rouge tilted her head up, eyes fluttering open, and smirked up at Shadow. "Ugh," she groaned. "That was crazy...they don't call you the ultimate life form for no--oof!"

Shadow laid beside her and held her close, tears running down his face. "Thank Chaos you're all right," he said, muffled into the crook of her neck.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Rouge replied. "I just passed out for a second--"

"Don't be stupid!" he shouted suddenly, still muffled as he clung to her. "I-I had to restart your heart...I could have killed you!"

He kneaded his head into her shoulder as the panic and adrenaline continued to course through his entirety post-orgasm. "I didn't...realize I would discharge l-like that...you couldn't...you're..."

"Shh," Rouge hushed, and stroked his hair.

She said nothing else. That's what happens when you lose control, Shadow thought, that is why they want you as a weapon. You can be as clandestine or as overt as you need to be. You can have sex with a spy to spill their information, and kill them mid-coitus. So versitile you are, Project Shadow!

He grinded his teeth, but exhaustion was eager to take him, as well as neutralize his venomous self-berating. You also were fitted for rescue, to heal. You were meant to be a cure. You are the reason Maria is alive. And despite it all, Rouge is also still here because of you...

Shadow felt himself drifting into a doze. "Good," Rouge murmured. "This is what we in the business call 'aftercare'."

Shadow lifted his head up and opened his eyes. "Wh...what?"

Rouge nodded, but Shadow noticed the shakiness of her own deep sigh. "I've played with boys meaner than you, who didn't care half as much," she said. "I'm okay, promise."

Shadow's deep red-eyed stare bore into her. "Are you?" he asked. "Please, do not lie to me."

She looked away at first, then managed to meet it. "Fine. I am a little shaken up," she admitted. "But I did set the parameters to maximum, so if that's your full power, then I know where to adjust the code."

Shadow nodded, then reached out and cupped the side of her face with one hand, hardly touching her skin. Her eyes widened in surprise. "I would never harm you on purpose," he said, measured and even. "Or any one else, in this manner..."

Rouge's face broke into a weak smile. "Oh, Shadow," she said. "I know. Maria's very lucky." She bit her lip and paused. "I wouldn't use this program with her."

"Of course not."

"There's a reason I was the one who tested it."

"You mean it wasn't purely for your own fantasy?"

She laughed, and kissed him quickly. After, however, she winced. "Ouch, you did really get me," she said, gingerly touching her swollen bottom lip.

They both sat up, and Rouge pawed around for her clothes. The blood on her neck had dried, but the bruises remained, and more dotted her hips and sides. Shadow winced to himself. Damn it. I cannot bear to imagine what "meaner boys" did to her...

"And you shredded my uniform, too!" she said with a laugh. "You really were an animal."

"Please, don't," Shadow sighed, hiding his face with the palm of his hand.

"Sorry," she said with a shrug. "I did have a good time."

[>>RETRIEVING DATA FROM DRIVE C:\... "Hey, if I die, I die."]

"You're crazy," he muttered.

"Just a little," she said, pinching her fingers. She wandered to her desk, still naked, and picked up a pager lying abandoned. "You'd be surprised at the amount of people who want to be roughed up. And you know something else?"

She paused and gestured at him with the pager. "What?" Shadow said.

Rouge smiled wryly. "I think you had some fun too."

Shadow sighed deeply. I could dwell on this guilt, but what good would it serve? She survived by my hand, and her bruises will heal. His stomach still churned, but deep inside him

(you did have enjoy yourself)

he knew the truth.

"Hey Doc, it's Rouge," she said into the pager. "Shadow and I just got finished testing. If you don't mind, could we meet at your office and debrief? I'll get the logs. And could you bring a change of clothes? Thanks, hon."

She dropped the pager and turned around to pat Shadow on the shoulder. "Hey sourpuss, if it makes you feel any better, you won't almost kill anyone if you just use it to jerk off. But, I'll still make some adjustments."

Shadow snorted. "Thanks."

She winked at him, and his heart eased.

[jennifermurphseo]

Accessibility-Focused WordPress Plugin Development

WordPress, being one of the most popular content management systems, offers a range of plugins to enhance accessibility. But if existing solutions don’t meet your needs, developing a custom accessibility-focused plugin can make a significant difference. Here’s a guide to help you get started with developing a WordPress plugin that prioritizes accessibility.

Why Accessibility Matters

Accessibility is not just a legal requirement but a moral obligation. Websites that are accessible to people with disabilities not only comply with standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) but also reach a broader audience. An accessible website ensures that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can navigate and interact with your content effectively.

Key Features of an Accessibility-Focused Plugin

Keyboard Navigation: Ensure that all interactive elements on your site can be navigated using a keyboard. This includes forms, buttons, and links. A plugin should include features that allow users to tab through elements seamlessly.

Screen Reader Compatibility: Make sure that your plugin supports screen readers. This involves using appropriate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and properties to provide meaningful context and instructions for users relying on these tools.

Contrast and Color Adjustment: A good accessibility plugin should offer options to adjust contrast and color settings to accommodate users with visual impairments, such as color blindness or low vision.

Text-to-Speech and Speech Recognition: Integrate text-to-speech functionality to convert written content into spoken words, and consider including speech recognition features for users who prefer voice commands.

Customizable Font Sizes: Allow users to adjust font sizes for better readability. This can be achieved through simple settings that let users increase or decrease text size according to their preference.

Responsive Design: Ensure that your plugin supports responsive design principles, making your website usable across various devices and screen sizes.

Steps to Develop an Accessibility Plugin

Research and Planning: Start by researching existing accessibility plugins to understand their features and limitations. Identify gaps that your plugin could fill. Develop a clear plan outlining the features and functionality you want to incorporate.

Set Up Your Development Environment: Install WordPress locally or on a staging site for testing purposes. Set up your development tools and environment to ensure smooth coding and debugging.

Develop Core Functionality: Begin by coding the core features of your plugin. Implement keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and other essential accessibility features. Use WordPress coding standards and best practices to ensure compatibility and performance.

Test Rigorously: Test your plugin thoroughly across different devices, browsers, and assistive technologies. Engage with real users who rely on accessibility tools to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments.

Compliance and Documentation: Ensure that your plugin complies with WCAG and other accessibility guidelines. Provide clear documentation and instructions for users on how to use the plugin and configure accessibility settings.

Release and Support: Once testing is complete, release your plugin on the WordPress repository or your chosen platform. Offer ongoing support and updates to address any issues and ensure continued compliance with accessibility standards.

Conclusion

Developing an accessibility-focused WordPress plugin development is a powerful way to make your website more inclusive and user-friendly. By prioritizing features such as keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and customizable settings, you can create a tool that enhances the web experience for everyone. Remember, accessibility is an ongoing process, and continuous improvement is key to maintaining an inclusive online presence.

For those ready to take on this challenge, developing an accessibility plugin not only contributes to a better web experience but also sets a standard for inclusivity in the digital space.

[digindeals]

MacBook Air M1: Your Ultimate Laptop for Coding and Programming

The MacBook Air M1 stands as the top choice for coding and programming, offering a compelling blend of power, extended battery life, and portability. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore how to maximize your MacBook Air M1 for programming. Additionally, we'll provide valuable laptop reviews to assist your decision-making process.

Setting Up Software: To make the most of programming on MacBook Air, you need to equip your device with essential tools and software. This includes renowned code editors like Visual Studio Code and compilers/interpreters such as GCC or Python. Don't forget to incorporate version control systems like Git, along with crucial debugging tools such as LLDB. Efficient terminal emulators like iTerm2 are also vital for establishing a robust development environment.

Choosing the Ideal IDE: Selecting the perfect Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is pivotal for enhancing productivity on your MacBook for coding. Opt for widely-used IDEs like Xcode, Visual Studio Code, and IntelliJ IDEA. Ensure your choice aligns with your preferred programming language—consider PyCharm for Python or CLion for C/C++. Equally vital is scrutinizing laptop specifications, with a special focus on the MacBook Air M1, to make an informed selection.

Leveraging the Power of the M1 Chip: When it comes to programming on MacBook Air, the M1 chip plays a pivotal role in delivering exceptional performance. Ensure that your software is always updated and optimized for the M1 chip to maximize its potential. When you compile code, don't forget to incorporate the -arch arm64 flag to unlock unparalleled performance.

Battery Life Advantages: One of the most remarkable features of the MacBook Air M1 is its exceptional battery life, enabling you to work on your coding projects without being tethered to a power source. Prolong your coding sessions by making simple adjustments, such as fine-tuning screen brightness, closing redundant applications, and leveraging the built-in power management features.

Additional Tips for an Enhanced Experience: Enhance your coding and programming experience on the MacBook Air by harnessing the versatility of the Terminal app for executing command line tasks. Boost your workflow with time-saving keyboard shortcuts, such as ⌘+C for copying and ⌘+V for pasting. Keep your projects well-organized by creating multiple desktops, seamlessly accessible through Mission Control. When searching for the best deals on laptops, explore various options that suit your needs. Additionally, laptop reviews provide valuable insights to ensure an informed decision.

The MacBook Air M1 is the ultimate laptop for coding and programming on MacBook. Capitalize on the best deals available to get the most value from your purchase. Utilize laptop reviews to make an informed decision when considering MacBook for coding. By following these comprehensive guidelines, you'll unlock the full potential of your MacBook Air M1, ensuring a seamless and highly efficient programming experience on MacBook.

[hydrus]

Version 526

windows

zip

exe

macOS

app

linux

tar.gz

I had a mixed week. I was a little short on time, so this is a simple bugfix and quality of life release.

full changelog

highlights

When you petition in the manage tags/siblings/parents panel on a repository, it typically asks you for a reason for the change. There are some fixed reasons, but now the system will remember the last five custom reasons you enter too. I hope this saves some typing/pasting work for people with clever petitions to make. You can change the number of recent reasons saved (including setting to 0 to disable) under options->tags.

Every multi-column list in the program now has a 'reset the column widths for this type of list' entry in their header right-click menus. It also resizes immediately (an old debug routine that did this for all lists needed a restart). If your thread watcher list goes crazy wide, it should be fixable now! Let me know how it goes.

I added the basic media keys you find on many keyboards to the shortcut system--previous, next, play/pause, volume up, volume down, and mute. On Windows, these keys seem to have a global hook that fires regardless of how I capture it too, so they may not be so useful yet, but feel free to play around with them.

I fixed a stupid logical typo in my new date calculating code that was breaking system time predicates with the same number of months as the current month (like "system:modified time before 2 years 5 months ago" in May). Sorry for the trouble!

next week

There is going to be an important update next week!

Last week, I tried to update OpenCV for everyone, but it caused a dll conflict in the updated build and I quickly rolled it back in a hotfix. We are going to try again next week, which will require 'extracting' users to perform a clean install. Since we are making that change, I have decided to also roll in a long-planned renaming of the program executables. 'client' will become 'hydrus client' and 'server' 'hydrus server'. This part will require updating of custom shortcuts and launch scripts. I will reiterate all this with specific instructions for all platforms in next week's release, and I'll drop reminders for several weeks after.

Next week is also a 'medium size' job week. If I have time and energy, I'd really like to see if I can get the Qt media player working as an mpv fallback.

[maria-murphy]

Why is Python the Best Language for Game Development

As you’re probably aware, there are an enormous number of programming languages out there that can be used to create games.

Some are focused on speed, some are designed to reduce bugs, and others offer better support for high-level game design concepts like object-oriented programming and event-driven programming. 

But when it comes to providing all of the above features in one language, Python stands head and shoulders above the rest as the clear choice for game development. 

We’ll take a look at some of Python’s most important features in this article and why they make it so great for making games.

Let’s get Started

Find Out How Python is Best For developing Game Apps

Clear syntax

Python has quickly become one of the most popular languages in the world, and it’s easy to see why. Python has a clean syntax and efficient programming capabilities that make it an ideal choice for game development.

The major advantage that Python has over many other programming languages is that it requires little or no modification before being used. 

Python makes many complex things simple with its versatility, robustness, scalability, and multitude of modules, which allow you to do tasks such as data mining, machine learning, web scraping, and general AI-related tasks with relative ease.

Python may not be everyone’s first language choice, but with good reason. 

As a programming language, it’s clean and easy to read while also offering a robust array of pre-existing libraries that make game development quick and easy. 

Plus, thanks to its rapid development cycle, there are new features constantly being added that keep Python on top as a go-to coding language in any industry.

Flexible Object Orientation

Python’s object orientation uses properties and methods that can be altered and redefined. Unlike most object-oriented languages, it does not require classes or subclasses to be set before any other coding takes place.

With these features, game developers are able to create games without adding a lot of additional lines of code when they want to change something in a class hierarchy. 

This can help reduce debugging time because it allows you to make changes more quickly without much need for adjustments elsewhere in your program.

The beauty of this design also means that programmers do not have to spend hours building a single function; instead, they can simply alter an existing one.

3. Gaming-based Libraries and Frameworks

Start with Pygame, a library that makes creating games easy. It provides a high-level interface to draw basic shapes and handle mouse and keyboard input. Gameplay, like drawing images on the screen, is already taken care of by its parent package, Python. 

Since it’s cross-platform, you can make your game work on Macs or Windows without any trouble. For things like physics simulations, Pyglet uses OpenGL’s underlying C++ engine to do all of the heavy liftings under the hood.

In this way, it is optimized as opposed to using PyGame, which would be writing your own time-consuming code to handle 2D gravity along with collision detection. 

To make your game even more polished, take advantage of Tkinter, an extension that allows you to create a user interface so players can easily interact with their surroundings. And if 3D graphics is what you’re after, try either three.js or pyglet 3d (built on top of Pyglet). 

These libraries are invaluable when building a stunning gaming experience because they help programmers create better animations and manipulate pixels more efficiently.

4. Dynamic Typing

One of the great features of Python is that it’s a dynamic language. This means that, unlike static languages like Java or C++, there are no types, and hence types are inferred at runtime. The implications of this are huge: 

1) It becomes much easier to identify bugs in code as they will only show up when running the program and not while typing it out. This means you can fix them quickly and move on to new parts of your game without wasting time chasing down bugs in places where they don’t exist.

Explore Once: Metaverse Development Company

What’s more, adding a function that takes an object with certain properties doesn’t require any modification of existing functions because everything’s just an object.

Dynamic typing also has the added benefit of allowing scripts to take advantage of type-specific optimizations if they need to by simply annotating objects with different types. 

2)The ability to call any class from another module without having to import it first. As long as the module exports all its classes, then you’re good to go! 

3)Type annotations help improve readability and reduce mistakes for newcomers.

4) Since most projects will use third-party libraries, you won’t have to worry about compatibility issues or accidentally importing external libraries twice because Python checks imported modules against dependencies before executing anything from those modules.

5. Massive Community Support

Python has a large and active community of contributors which means that it is always up-to-date with the latest technology trends. Plus, when you are stuck, there are developers out there who have been in your exact situation and are willing to lend a hand. You can also hire Python developers in India to develop robust game applications.

If you’re looking for help on how to get started or make something more complicated, just do a quick Google search. There are tons of tutorials, guides, and articles on every possible subject related to Python programming. 

There are also a ton of other resources at your disposal: Stack Overflow (a Q&A site), Reddit (/r/Python), and YouTube Tutorials from professionals.

6. Robust Performance

Python is known for its robust performance. New language features are often implemented in C, then ported to Python. This method not only reduces bugs but also prevents performance degradation over time. 

Visit Also: Unity game development Services

As a result, with the speed and scalability of modern CPUs and data centers, the Python language can outperform many other general-purpose languages. 

The simplicity of the language allows it to scale smoothly from small scripts up to large projects involving hundreds or thousands of developers. 

7. Inherent Scalable 

One of the key benefits of using Python for game development is that it scales well with your team size and project requirements.

It doesn’t have many limitations on specific platforms or hardware configurations. Python can be used to create games in almost any genre. 

The Pygame library makes this even easier by giving you an API for creating 2D graphics, drawing shapes and text, playing sounds, loading images from files, and getting input from the mouse and keyboard – all within one simple package.

Summing Up!

Since we discussed in detail the essential features and benefits of using Python for game development, you can easily comprehend why Python is preferred for developing robust game applications.

Python offers clear syntax, dynamic typing, and robust performance and has vast community support that makes it the first choice for game application development.

If you are also looking to develop high-performing games, I would recommend you use Python for game development projects.

You can also contact a game development company to help you create an efficient game application.

 Original Source: Why is Python the Best Language for Game Development?

[absolutepokemontrash]

The Brothers and Side Characters Play the Sims

I don’t know what possessed me to make this but WHATEVER. I’ve been playing the Sims since I was a wee little girl, and I’ve seen my fair share of weird Sims stuff that I feel would fit these bozos perfectly.

My Sims have a Functional Family Life Because I Don’t (Lucifer)

God dammit Levi’s obsessed with another game... ugh.

Spends 5 minutes in Create-a-Sim and hops into a starter home.

Lucifer’s the type to start with all the average stuff and then build their stuff up as his sim gets promotions.

It’s just... so peaceful...

...he’s adopting a dog.

Look at his new little virtual family... his sim-kids are self sufficient and getting A’s in school, his Sim spouse MC or Diavolo take your pick loves his Sim-self, his sim-dog-

WAIT NO- THE DOG’S AN ELDER?!

AAAAAAAAAAAAA-

...

He’s fine. It was just a virtual dog. *sniffle*

He’s now spending his free time drinking Demonus and playing the Sims.

What’s a mod? Levi why does your sim have gun?

Behold, My Gorgeous Home... It’s a Box (Mammon)

Mammon, like the rest of the HOL, is mooching off of Levi’s Origin account.

“AW SHIT! This house looks awesome! I’m gonna build it for Sim-me to live in!”

Mammon proceeds to build a box with rooms. Yay...

He just picks the funnest sounding job if he picks any job at all for his Sim. That’s how he ended up making 9 dollars an hour in the criminal career.

Didn’t stop Mammon from buying that solid gold bathroom set from Get Famous... a box with solid gold bathrooms.

His Sim is broke send help-

“Leviiiiiii my sim needs money... the people my sim kidnapped and is forcing to paint aren’t making enough money...” “Ugh... press control shift C and type ‘motherlode’.”

...Levi made a mistake.

“FUCK YEAH! MOTHERLODE!”

His sim’s life is so chaotic, he has a piranha pool that his sim has almost died in twice, the sim is carrying on several torrid love affairs, his sim got struck by lightning, his sim has nearly died in a grilled cheese making accident twice... in the same day.

At least once Sim-Mammon and Sim-MC get married things calm down a little.

Mammon finds out what custom content is and proceeds to download EVERYTHING HE CAN FIND.

And now he’s asking Levi why his computer is running so slow.

Expansion Pack King (Leviathan)

He got into it back when the Sims 2 was new, he’s a veteran fan.

“Bro remember when Agnes Crumplebottom would show up and whack the shit out of your sims if they were flirting?”

“Remember when that witch would show up randomly on the lot you were on if you had Makin’ Magic?”

“Remember when Bella Goth was abducted by aliens and we just... didn’t question it?”

He whines about the Sims4 and how crappy it is but still buys every expansion pack, game pack, and stuff pack.

This boy watches like 40 hours of built tutorials and ends up sobbing over his weird roofs.

“WHY DOESN’T IT LOOK AS NICE AS THE ONE I’M LOOKING AT?! THIS ISN’T FAIR!”

The mod folder is so full istg-

Levi gets custom content for the sole purpose of making his favourite fictional characters.

This is why Henry and the Lord of Shadows are married and Ruri-chan and Sim-Levi are roommates.

Oh my god they were roommates-

Levi also added his brothers to the world and uh... Sim-Mammon died in a tragic pool accident F.

Levi then proceeded to befriend the Grim Reaper.

He’s anxiously awaiting the release of Paralives.

Wait Gameplay? In This Build Simulator? (Satan)

Satan’s here to build and leave. Gameplay who?

Our favourite bundle of rage is a master architect and the amount of followers on the Gallery he has shows it.

He takes up those build shell challenges and always ends up making them look positively perfect.

Asmo’s always using his houses, and Satan often takes requests when he gets bored.

No Mammon, he reserves the right to refuse to build a golden castle for you- YOUR SIM HAS 40 SIMOLEONS-

No mods, no CC, he’s building with what EA gave him.

...and EA gave him debug objects, and he’s not going to explain how to get them.

The one time he did actually play with a family... it was one sim and seven cats.

He tries to play without cheats... and ends up getting frustrated and turns on cheats.

All hail the Pets Expansion Pack.

Custom Content Soap Opera (Asmodeus)

Asmo spends 5 hours in Create a Sim then just... clicks out of the game.

That’s how it goes most of the time, buuuuuut when he gets super invested in a family he’s made, boy howdy is he INVESTED.

Sim A is carrying on an affair with Sim C who’s in love with Sim B who’s married to Sim A but Sim D wants to kill Sim A and C even though they’re the illegitimate child of Sim C-

When Asmo realizes that in the Sims 4 he needs to manufacture all the drama himself and he can’t just sit back with a glass of wine and watch the fireworks, he switches to the Sims 2 and 3.

“...why is this old lady beating up my Sim..?”

He immediately recoils in horror upon seeing how ugly the Sims are pre Sims4.

HE NEEDS TO FIX THIS-

Ah, there we go, perfect. Custom Content to the rescue!

He ends up remaking the entire world just so he doesn’t have to look at weird looking Sims.

Asmo is the only one to have finished a proper Legacy Challenge, but it gets crazy chaotic after gen 3.

“My sim just got abducted by aliens and now he’s pregnant- WHAT?!”

He has about 40 saves and only two he actually plays.

Just a Big Ol’ Happy Family (Beelzebub)

Beel found the game, proceeded to make everyone in create-a-sim to the best of his abilities, and made everyone get along.

That’s why Sim-Lucifer and Sim-Belphie are on a swing set together, they’re friends :D

“Hey Luke do you think you can make this?” “I-is that a cake shaped like a hamburger?” “Yes. Please make.”

He took one look at the cooking options and decided to max out his Sim’s cooking skill to unlock all the options.

Beel proceeded to drool all over his keyboard. Gross...

Boy howdy did he have some crazy dinner suggestions!

Overall, very wholesome Sim-life, except for the time Sim-Levi died because the toilet caught fire, don’t worry, Sim-Beel knows how to make ambrosia.

All is good in the Sim save...

...until Sim-Beel ate pufferfish nigiri and fuckin died-

Wait Did I Not Pause- (Belphie)

Huh, this game looks fine... I’ll play for a little- *SNORE*

Belphie makes some sims, plops them into a starter home, plays for an hour, then falls asleep.

He wakes up five hours later to absolute carnage.

Three sims have died because someone decided to make Mac and Cheese and the oven caught fire, the kids were taken away by social services, and the dog ran away.

“...heheh, holy shit everyone look.”

He doesn’t play often, but when he does, death occurs. He has found out every death method for every game from Sims 2 to 4.

And that INCLUDES the Sims Medieval! You guys remember that game?

Sometimes it’s not intentional, but Belphie got bored with the totally normal life his sims were living and decided to spice it up.

“Why are the ghosts breaking my showers..?”

Help There’s a Bug- (Diavolo)

The Crown Prince started playing when he noticed Lucifer was playing it.

He was immediately obsessed.

Dia mostly plays the Sims Medieval because he likes the feeling of achievement after completing a quest!

“Barbatos... why isn’t my Sim completing their task? The icon won’t show up.” “My lord it appears the game is bugged.” “:(“

No one thought to tell Diavolo that EA doesn’t plan on offering bug support to a game made in like... 2009

This doesn’t matter! Look at how great his kingdom is doing- oh no his hero has the plague-

He plays through the Pirates and Nobles expansion and manages to get the peaceful ending, he’s so proud of himself.

“MC! Look! My Monarch’s sword is permanently on fire and I’m fighting an evil wizard!”

When he does play the other Sims games he’s pretty basic, though, he does a great job at furnishing!

Dia gets crazy sad when his Sims die... he turns off aging.

Builder no. 2 (Barbatos)

Barbie doesn’t have time for this... but when he does, he builds.

No create a sim.

No playing the game as intended.

Just builds.

It’s relaxing, okay? A nice little suburban house he’s never going to play in, maybe a treehouse, maybe a big Hollywood Mansion...

The only time he actually plays the game outside of build mode is when someone needs his help to fix something in-game.

He does download custom content build items if he feels bored by the current selection.

Oh Crap What Am I Doing?! (Simeon)

Help him. Please.

He’s so confused.

“Luke, why is my sim upset?” “He’s hungry, Simeon.” “Oh, how do I fix that?” “...Simeon-”

There’s a toilet in the middle of the living room.

The fridge is facing the wall.

There’s no bathtub or shower.

The house is on fire- there is no god- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Okay, once he gets the hang of it he’s sitting pretty. His sims have good jobs, the kids are getting good grades, everything’s fine.

...

But Simeon won’t forget the nightmares.

What Even is This Save? (Solomon)

Solomon’s save is the definition of chaos.

One sim’s a vampire, the other is a spellcaster that really wants to fight the Callientes for some reason, there’s one normal sim that’s always sick for some reason,

It gets weird, confusing, and horrible.

Just how Solomon likes it.

His house makes no sense, like, what even is architecture?

Money cheats are needed because Solomon‘a goal of chaos and confusion is proving to be kind of expensive.

Square up Mortimer Goth, Solomon’s sims are here to steal your weird knight statue that’s worth a shit ton of simoleons for NO REASON.

He joined the scientist career for the sole purpose of getting to the alien planet and kidnapping adding an alien to the household via cheats.

The vampire ended up dying on their wedding day because Solomon forgot that he gave them the sun weakness.

Oh well, the ghost got added to the household! VAMPIRE GHOST!

The Child (Luke)

Before you say Luke’s too young to play the Sims, you should know that I was nine when I first started playing, and I turned out fiiiiiiiiiine.

He’s just happy to be playing.

Look, his sims are gardening :D

Look, two of them are getting married :D

Look, they had a baby :D

Look, his sims are building a rocket ship :D

Look, his sims’s rocket just crashed-

The concept of death hit the little angel right in the face that day.

“*sniffle*... my sims...”

Don’t worry, with tears in his eyes, Luke quit without saving and everything was fine!

Speaking of My Sims, Luke played MySims Sky Heroes and that was when Luke had his first bout of gamer rage.

MC came over to hang out with Solomon and Simeon, and in the distance they could just hear:

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY TIME WASN’T FAST ENOUGH TO CONTINUE THE STORY!? I’LL SHOW YOU FAST ENOUGH TIME!”

Okay, maybe Simeon should take the game away... just for a bit... he should take heed not to be bitten by the incredibly angry chihuahua.

Bonus:

MC: Why are our Sims married?

*Insert Boy Here*: Uh... that’s weird... I have no clue why they’re doing that...

[taglineinfo]

List of 7 FREE Best Apps To Learn Python On Android And IOS

For More Details about Python Check this link  :Best Python Framework for Mobile App Development

Python is a very powerful and readable programming language, and learning Python can be of great use if you are looking to get into the development world or even just to beef up your resume. It’s also one of the easiest languages to learn, and there are plenty of free resources out there to help you master it. Here’s our list of the best free apps that will get you up to speed on Python devloping in no time!

1) Dataquest

This is a great platform to learn python as it has many courses starting from data exploration to building games using python. It provides a clean interface which makes it easy for beginners to use. The best part about Dataquest is that, its completely free. If you are looking for an app to start learning python with, then Dataquest would be my first recommendation.

2) Pythonista App

The Pythonista app for iOS is a coding playground for fans of Apple products who want to dip their toes into programming with python. With more than 100 custom-built functions, you can use Pythonista to control hardware like push notifications and Wi-Fi through an in-app purchase, or even conduct experiments with visible light and other electronics (assuming you have some background knowledge in that area). It’s a great way to learn programming by building on your own or alongside a tutor. The app requires iOS 8 or later, and costs $4.99. The developer maintains a detailed list of devices supported here .

3) PyCharm Edu

If you are planning to learn python and become a developer then you have landed at right place. Coder is one of most powerful android apps for learning python programming language. In addition to learning python in simple and interactive way with full examples and codes, coder also allows you to do practice test with flashcards, exercises and more fun features. If you love challenges then another cool feature of coder app is that it offers challenges which are difficult than problems listed in documents but helps in building logic when dealing with difficult problems by applying various methods used here in that particular challenge.

4) Coder

Coder is a FREE app that helps you learn to code. It teaches you real-world skills like web development, game development, and programming languages. Start with step-by-step guides that teach basic concepts, then move on to challenges that help you practice what you've learned. Coder comes with all kinds of tools—like code editors and virtual machines—that make it easy to learn your favorite language or program a game. Even better: it's totally FREE!

5) Termius Terminal

Termius is a feature-rich SSH client and terminal emulator. If you want to know how to control your remote machine via command line, Termius is an essential tool. The program gives you access to a built-in text editor, clipboard history (via keyboard shortcuts) and easy screenshots (just hit Print Screen), just in case you need it. Your device can be connected via WiFi or cellular connection; if your device isn’t nearby, no worries—Termius supports connecting to new devices remotely. Keep in mind that if you choose not to purchase an upgraded version, Termius displays ads every now and then. It’s still worth a try at no cost! ($3.99)

6) Spyn

Spyn is an interactive code editor for mobile devices, with a simple syntax-highlighting text editor that supports auto indentation and line wrapping. The app is free but does contain ads. It supports both Python 2 and 3 out of the box and has limited but useful debugging tools such as stepping through code, checking conditions in loops, setting breakpoints, etc. This could be a great starter programming app for you if you’re interested in coding on your phone or tablet. It was voted number 1 among all apps by readers of Stack Overflow's Greatest Developer Tool List for 2016.

7) Simple Calc Pro

Calc is one of those apps that you don’t think much about, until you absolutely need it. Even then, it’s not always easy to come by. Simple Calc Pro is a quick and easy way to get a simple calculator on your phone without having to purchase anything in-app. It looks great and works even better. This is exactly what you’d expect from a classic calculator application—something that doesn’t waste time with extraneous features or flashy graphics; just good ol' fashioned arithmetic done right. If all you need is a basic calculator, look no further than Simple Calc Pro for free on both iTunes and Google Play.

[thewakingcloak]

Spacefarer Newsletter: August 2020

I spent the first week of August cleaning up cliff and z-object stuff. Not very glamorous! I was definitely ready to move on, but it had to be done. Everything I mentioned at the end of the July newsletter? I tackled it.

Falling off ledges now works properly. This was surprisingly difficult.

Tile animations on z objects is now handled... 

Building cliffs is much less painstaking now. The objects automatically resize themselves for proper collision, and the sprites are all color- and number-coded.

And more: lots and lots of weird cases and stuff fixed. Cliffs at a “negative z” (below sea-level, essentially) were a whole ‘nother animal. They’re still a little janky, and I’ll have to do more manual intervention for these.

Also, area transitions were only based on x and y, so throwing z into the mix messed those up hardcore.

Once I got past all that, I decided to tackle swimming!

Talk about a switch. Cliffs took me a few months. Swimming took me, like, a couple days. Even the stuff I thought would be hard (falling off waterfalls, slippery momentum, etc.) ended up being more or less built in to the systems I have, lol, so I basically just wrote a line or two of new code for those. Diving took an extra few days on top of that, mostly just because I went back and forth on how to modify the z.

Next came rolling. (You might say we’re on a roll.) This was the first bit I’d copied over from The Waking Cloak project in ages. The Waking Cloak will eventually be built afresh on the ProtoDungeon foundation, but I guess the old code does still have some useful stuff in there!

I did spend an evening converting my mess of move speed/direction/vectors to create a Vector2 struct in 2.3. Structs are a nice breath of Object-Oriented Programming in GameMaker. :) Then I leveraged this so I could easily modify the direction of rolling, jumping, etc. I could have done all this without, but it makes it easier.

“Rolling” in the water will be a dash. Unfortunately, in doing all this, I broke the “slippery” friction on water, which for some reason took me a few days to fix.

Roll cleanup from there involved allowing jumping into a roll and rolling into a jump. For gameplay purposes, these don’t let you jump further or anything, but it adds some usability. Without this, if you press the “roll key” right before landing, nothing happens, and it feels clunky. With this, if you press the roll key while jumping, the character will roll immediately when they hit the ground. It feels really good!

I updated the controls to match the new rolling. Space and shift now both trigger rolls for keyboard, and the left face button does so on the gamepad. This also meant I had to update the control remapping settings (which needs a UX overhaul, I’m breaking a couple guidelines here, but no time for that now lol).

Next came the dash. This only took a few days, since it’s basically the same as a roll, just faster (not shown in the video, I sped it up after recording) and with a cool afterimage effect! I had to take a video instead of a gif to capture the full effect (gif framerate is too low, so it’s much more “blinky”). Anyway yeah, click this giant link to watch, lol.

And then I rounded out the month by updating various tiles and sprites. It was pretty tough to get back into the swing of things, art-wise. Thanks to the Studio Spacefarer Discord server, though, I’m pretty happy with the direction things went.

Check out the “before” in last month’s newsletter.

Oh, also, on the penultimate day of the month, I felt like taking a quick break from all of everything to install rt-shell, a plugin that lets you do debug commands. My previous debug method was a list of hotkeys. It was pretty limited! The new one is extensible (I can write my own scripts), so it’s gonna be really helpful.

[not-that-dillinger]

"Excuse me?" Who did she think she was, telling Ed to go home? What, did she really think he was just there after hours for shits and giggles? he was allowed to set his own hours. If he decided his working day ended at five AM, that was his choice to make. He had deadlines coming up and code to write and test and debug.

Or, at least that was what he would have told anyone why he was working late. Technically, that was always true. The truth was, he would have gone home, if he thought he could. If he didn't feel so anxious and could trust himself not to do anything stupid and irreversible when he was alone with his thoughts. At least here, there was the distraction of work, and he had Ernie at the security desk if things got bad.

Ed sighed. Encom had long been in need of a security overhaul, though Ed wished they had just hired someone in house to do the sweeps, rather than contractors. It was still an improvement over how things were done under Mackey's leadership. There wasn't any point in telling Cameron off about 'going home'. She had important work to do, and Ed would like to get back to his as quickly as possible and with as little drama as possible.

"Ah. Give me a moment." Ed peeled a blank sticky note off a pad by his monitor, and scribbled a note about to remind himself where he had left off and stuck it to the side of the monitor along with a dozen other notes. How he knew which was relevant to what was anyone's guess. He saved his work and quit the editor. A few seconds later, a notification popped up in the corner of the screen to let him know the automatic backup script had saved a copy of the latest version.

He glanced at his desk, which was also plastered with multi-colored sticky notes, and then at the planner that was open next to his keyboard, which seems to have nearly every hour blocked out on the time table, and a long to-do list and other notes scribbled in the margins. Most of it was work related, but Ed also used it to keep track of doctors appointments and other personal items, and he didn't particularly want anyone knowing the specifics of his schedule. He closed the book, and shoved it in one of the desk's drawers.

"Alright all yours," Ed finally acknowledged. He turned behind him, where a large black dog with wiry fur lay curled up. "Colossus, up," he muttered. The dog sprang to his feet, and Ed used the handle on his harness to steady himself as he stood. He picked up the mug on his desk with hand painted pigeons on it--he might as well take the break to make himself a fresh cup of tea.

He glanced at Cameron as he stepped around his desk with Colossus at his heel. She looked as tired as he felt.

"Can I get you a cup of tea or coffee or anything while you're at it?" he asked.

There is soft knock at Edward Dillinger Jr.'s office door before it opens to reveal a face he'd never seen before. A young woman in her late 20s, early 30s peers into the office. Curly hair pulled up into a messy bun. She isn't dolled up in the usual office attire, but in something more causal. Loose jeans and a band shirt. Encom badge hanging from the lanyard around her neck.

She's tired, and carries a laptop under one arm while the other holds a backpack. "Mr. Dillinger? I'm Cameron...from IT?"

Ed froze, hands poised above his keyboard when he heard the knock. It was late. Late enough that most everyone had gone home several hours ago, and Ed was about to settle in for a long night working to meet a quickly approaching deadline. Or, that's his excuse anyway. Regardless, he hadn't expected anyone to stop by his office this late.

He looked up at her, and gave her a welcoming, but equally tired smile. "Ah, yes, come in. It's a pleasure to meet you Cameron, and please, call me Ed. What can I do for you?"

[aellynera]

Mors Non Est (Nathan Bateman x Reader)

MORS NON EST (Nathan Bateman x Reader)

(so. um. this was inspired by a dream i had? because my brain does weird things at night and then sometimes i write them.)

Word Count: almost 4k oops

Summary: “Of course, you don’t die. Nobody dies. Death doesn’t exist. You only reach a new level of vision, a new realm of consciousness, a new unknown world.” — Henry Miller, author

Or, what my brain offers as alternate theory on why Nathan made AIs.

Warnings: Leaving this mortal coil (sort of), angsty musings, maybe a swear or two. Okay there’s definitely a swear or...several. (also a disclaimer that I finished this at like 3am and there was a bunch of stuff out of order but I think I got it all worked out now and proofread and all that, but apologies if anything is still wonky)

The rain fell steadily against the wall of glass that faced towards the forest. Sometimes it was soft, like the tickle of a feather, the softest caress of a kiss on your hair, the skim of fingertips against the velvet red petals of a flower. Other times it was harsh, a violently crashing wave on the rocky shore, electricity ripping the sky asunder, an unbridled fierceness like a wild animal frightened and possessed.

It changed without warning.

Soft, hard. Quiet, loud. Calm, violent. Back and forth and back again.

How long had it been raining?

He turned as he heard your footsteps fall on the wooden patio planks behind him. You watched in slight fascination as he unwrapped his hands, used the cloth to dry them, and stuck a hand out to you, your attention half on him and half on the pure beauty of the surrounding scenery.

“You must be the new assistant,” he said, sounding friendly enough although his smile stayed a bit reserved.

He wasn’t expecting you to just show up on his deck. Yes, he was expecting you to be dropped off by the helicopter, that had all been arranged, but for some reason he had...he realized he wasn’t even sure what he was expecting. But you had clearly followed the pilot’s (and soon after, the house’s - that the house told you what to do amused him in the strangest way) instructions and here you were.

He knew his new assistant was more than capable (he had seen your resume, reviewed your coding and debugging history, had meticulously poured over every single little detail of work you had done for his company for the past three years not that he was obsessive about it or anything) but he wasn’t prepared for the person that now stood before him, an intriguing combination of impressed, unsure, interested, and underwhelmed.

You were fucking beautiful.

You nodded. “That’s what they tell me,” you replied, shaking his hand and supplying your name, even though you knew he already knew it. You knew enough about Nathan Bateman to know he knew everything about you before you even heard the head of HR back in the corporate office announce that you got the job.

You later admitted you didn’t know what to think about him either, and you hadn’t really expected anything, since you didn’t know much about him. He was a genius, everyone knew that, and he lived all the way out here by himself. And...that was about it. That’s what you knew.

And you thought he was...kinda hot.

And also an asshole, you liked to point out as the days went on. Nathan didn’t really mind.

*

It was an odd feeling, this feeling of dissonance and uncertainty.

There was so much that needed to be done. There was so much that he didn’t feel like doing.

He came to the door and paused. He spent most of his waking hours in this room - and to be honest, most of his hours were waking at this point, he rarely slept anyway and for as long as he could remember now he had barely slept, except when all that whiskey and vodka kicked in - and yet there was always a moment, the briefest flash of time, where forward momentum paused and he wondered if non-linear time was reality and he would find something different when he opened the door.

It wasn’t, and he never did.

He wandered into the lab and over to the table at the farthest end. Components were spread out before him and he idly reached over to the single chip laying in the center of the mess. It was the last piece of this particular puzzle, the last bit that had to be installed and configured and then…

Then suddenly it became too quiet and too loud all at once. Thoughts were screaming through his brain and he just wanted it to be quiet for a moment.

Quiet so he could go over his calculations in his head. Quiet so he could double check his math. Quiet so he could concentrate on his theories and his expected outcomes. Quiet so he could revel, just for a moment, in his monumental achievement.

There was a sweater hanging on the back of the door. He’d forgotten it was there, even though he had just seen it mere hours before. No, not forgotten, he realized. Blocked. He didn’t forget, he just purposely didn’t remember.

The silent noise became a full-blown cacophony.

Was it still raining?

*

“So how exactly are you going to solve it?” you asked one afternoon, idly twirling your pen in your hand.

“How would you do it?” he bounced back.

You sighed. His behavior was so typical. The man was a certifiable genius but that was usually the problem and not the solution. It was never straightforward. “The AI. How are you going to solve the issue of making it able to have an actual conversation with you?”

“How would you do it?” he asked again.

Shrugging your shoulders, you kept twirling the pen. “I dunno. I guess you’d have to have some way to...maybe cross-reference a database of expressions and emotions and an actual dictionary.”

Nathan paused and considered you, deep in his own forest of thought. He wheeled his chair over to his computer desk and started rapidly tapping keys. “How do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” you huffed. “Like...like some kind of mass well of every available, possible interaction. Honestly I would try to figure out the mechanics of everything else first, like motion and movement, You know, walking and running and sitting and standing.”

“Hmmm.”

“But since there are literally infinite combinations, I don’t even know how you would go about even attempting that kind of data pool.”

 “I did actually have an idea about that,” he muttered. Nathan didn’t even turn from his multiple computer monitors and his fingers never stopped clacking away at his keyboard. “But you’re not going to like it.”

This time you groaned instead of sighing. He knew you could feel it coming before he asked - he always told you that you weren’t going to like it before he asked you to do something incredibly stupid that in any other circumstance would get you arrested and you’d never see daylight again.

But this was Nathan Bateman, and of course he was going to ask anyway. And of course you would say yes. You always said yes, it was one of the things he enjoyed most about your company, and even when you did say no, it gave way to a lively debate and a genuine argument over facts and merits, downsides and advantages, and it was fucking amazing.

It had been that way from the start, grown steadily over the weeks and months, and neither of you could really complain. Nathan quickly found that you could keep up with his train of thought even when the track switched abruptly and it was so engaging. Captivating. Enticing.

But this man. This amazingly intelligent (if almost insufferably arrogant) man was going to be the death of you. You told him that at least once a day. He took it as a personal challenge to give you a reason to keep living.

“What did you have in mind?” You doubted you wanted to know.

“What if…” he replied, clicking away, not looking up from the screen as he spoke, “we used the video and audio coding in Bluebook, and patched it through all the cell phone carriers, and rerouted all the satellite signals back here into the lab.”

Before you knew what was happening, your pen flew across the room and connected with his shoulder with a small *thwap*.

“What?” he finally looked up, mock annoyance in his voice.

“Are you absolutely fucking insane, or is this just an extra special occasion?”

*

He left the lab with no real idea of where he was going.

Okay, that was a lie. It was his house. He knew his way around and he knew where he needed to be next. There was an actual agenda but his focus was off.

He walked past the living room and noticed the chess set was still set out on the coffee table. The pieces were still fairly evenly matched, his green dragons maybe just slightly at a disadvantage to your purple ones (because, as you had mentioned at one point, why have a standard chess set when you could have a fun one? And Nathan knew you were anything but standard.)

He knew it was his turn and contemplated the board for a few minutes. No matter how he strategized it, how he worked it out, how he tried to plan it, you had forced him into a checkmate. Again. For at least the sixth time in a row, and probably at least the eight-seventh time out of the last hundredth you had played. He chuckled, softly, briefly. He could do anything with technology and science, but he rarely could beat you at a centuries-old board game.

He made his final move for this round, sacrificing his king to your queen. 

He grabbed the notepad setting next to the chess board, and your pen that lay nearby on the table. He scrawled a quick note to you - checkmate - and placed it on your side of the board, next to your fairly gained draconian horde, even though he was certain you were never going to read it.

He went to the kitchen and poured himself a drink.

He stared out the window wall, out past the deck, to the running river and the dense groves of trees, off into the distance towards the waterfall.

He should be heading to the room. He should be taking care of the final chip install and making sure everything was online. Instead he simply stood in the kitchen and stared out into the rain.

It occurred to him that the agenda was more of a guideline and his knowledge of his surroundings was merely functional.

*

Nathan briefly considered that standing at the doorway to your bedroom was the last place he should be, but then decided he didn’t care. But that wasn’t true either.

He could just walk in, it wouldn’t be the first time - once you had been wearing only a towel, having just gotten out of the shower and that hadn’t been awkward at all - but that small bit of his conscience that he usually tried to ignore, told him to be polite. 

He knocked.

“What do you want, Nathan?” You sounded muffled, like you had your face partly covered by a pillow. You were probably in bed. He shouldn’t be bothering you. 

He had to bother you, just this once. “Can I come in?”

He could picture your face on the other side, eyes rolling and the sigh as it left your lips, and even though he heard the door hiss quietly as the latch released, his feet suddenly stuck to floor outside your door and his body made no further move.

“I did open the door, so if you’re going to, do it before I change my mind,” you called after a few minutes.

Nathan got his feet to cooperate and entered your room. You were in bed, face half-behind a pillow, your visible eye glaring at him. He stopped at the edge of your bed. His brain started calculating risk factors for the current situation, gains, deficits, advantages - anything it could think of, there were always factors involved, no matter what the situation was, it was just that some factors were more complicated than others. Some required more delicate, cautious manipulation to solve the equation and…

“Are you just going to stand there all night and look at me? Because I swear I really will kick you out, and then change all your passcodes.”

Of course, you teased him later about how much fun it would have been to watch him try to get back in. You swore you were going to do it one day, just for the hell of it. He didn’t mind.

“Do you regret what happened after dinner?” he finally asked.

Your glare softened and you moved the pillow away from your face. Dinner was fine. The company was pleasant as usual, the wine was frequent and flowing. The two of you had started a very animated debate about gender and sexuality as it pertained to artificial intelligence and if any of it were a necessary component or if it was just something you would prefer (he would later tell you how wonderful the expression on your face was when he told you he would be ready to start building a prototype in the next few weeks) and then.

“I don’t regret it at all. Do you?” you arched an eyebrow at him.

Nathan blew a long breath out from his nose. Did he regret kissing you? Nope. Not in the slightest. Did he regret that you might regret it (he was slightly relieved that you said you didn’t) and that nothing would come of it? Yes. And he couldn’t calculate the actual result, just potential outcomes with no concrete denouement, and that made him extremely uncomfortable. He didn’t want this to be an experiment. He wanted an absolute, not a thicket of random. Not in this case.

“No.” He still didn’t move.

“Frankly we should have done it months ago.”

He shook his head and turned just the slightest bit before your reply registered and he processed it. “Wait. You...what?”

You exhaled and sighed as you rolled over, facing away from him and trying to get comfortable in the bed again. “You know, Nathan Bateman, for being the smartest man in the universe, sometimes you are a complete idiot.”

“I’m not going to argue that. This time, anyway.”

“Thank you, because it’s nearly three in morning,” you replied. He could hear the smile in your voice. “Can we talk about this in the morning? Like, later in the morning. I’ll see you for breakfast.”

He nodded and really did turn to leave this time. He was still trying to process. “Okay. Yeah, sure. I, uh...I’ll see you then.”

“Good night, Nathan.”

*

The rain had finally stopped.

He looked out over the landscape, now reflecting and refracting tiny bursts of sunlight in the lingering blanket of droplets.

Trees crowded both sides of the rushing river, leading towards the top of the waterfall. There was a small clearing there, one that almost wouldn’t be found if someone wasn’t looking for it. It was one of your favorite spots.

Nathan found you there fairly often, after he had shown you where it was. If the weather was cooperating, and you weren’t in the house, then nine times out of ten, that’s where Nathan would find you. Sometimes you were reading a book, sometimes you were just stretched out in the grass, looking up at the tips of the timbers as they reached to the sky.

Sometimes he would join you. Those were times that deep conversations would happen, about the projects back at the house and technology and your odd fascination with disco music, which Nathan truly did not understand but tried to humor.

Sometimes he would just smile and let you have your peace. Those were times he would go back to the house and quietly await your return.

He knew that’s where he would find you now.

*

“I’m back from Anchorage,” you called as you came in the front door.

Nathan was in the kitchen and poked his head around the doorway. “Hey. Perfect timing,” he said, brushing his hands off on his pants and flipping a dish towel over his shoulder. “Dinner is almost ready.”

A tired sign escaped your lips as you flopped down on the couch, taking one of the throw pillows and covering your chest and half your face with it. “Thanks. Not hungry.”

“How was the trip?”

You snorted softly. “Wet. Raining. Absolutely miserable.”

It wasn’t what you said that made Nathan stop. It was the way you said it. Your voice sounded so tired, so empty. It didn’t really sound like you, not the voice he’d come to expect to hear every day. It was not the voice that engaged him in conversation, that drew him into theories and concepts and philosophies. It was not the voice that argued about codes and programs and why that would not work no matter how much he insisted it would (to be fair, you were usually right, but he wasn’t going down without a good fight, and neither of you would have it any other way.) The voice that was leaving your body through your mouth wasn’t you.

It sounded hollow.

He leaned against the doorway. The air in the room suddenly felt heavier and he couldn’t quite get his feet to move forward to the couch where you sat. “What did they say?”

Nathan noted that you didn’t look at him. You looked everywhere but him. Like you were trying to keep everything from falling to pieces, maybe? You were definitely not acting yourself either. Suddenly he wanted to take himself outside and kick his own ass. He should have gone with you. You’d been talking about it, for weeks now, he realized.

How tired you were. How you were never really hungry. How things felt like they were getting harder when they shouldn’t have been. How you couldn’t go quite as far on the hikes you loved taking so much, together.

He should have gone with you.

Your face did not move from its half-protected shield behind that tasteful throw pillow.

He doesn’t register most of what you said. He remembers the words “bad” and “already done everything” and “months, maybe”. Maybe. No definite conclusion.

He finally managed to take a few steps towards you.

His brain was kicking into overdrive but not a single one of that rush of thoughts would make an appearance on his tongue. There had to be another answer. Another answer that wasn’t the one he could already see in your eyes.

Your eyes. His favorite feature (at least from the neck up), the ones that showed how much life you had, your spark, your fire.

And he realized the hollowness of your voice had traveled up into those beautiful eyes.

Words stopped making sense in an instant. Everything around him got fuzzy, jagged at the edges, but also intensely focused at the same time.

He finally crossed the room and sat down carefully, warily, on the couch.

Neither of you said another word. His arms slipped around you and you curled into his chest, pulling your knees up to your own. No tears from either of you. No sounds. No words.

He didn’t know how long you stayed on that couch.

The next thing you knew you were in bed, Nathan’s arms still wrapped around you. He must have carried you to the bedroom at some point. You felt the coolness of the sheets contrast with the warmth of his body; you mustn’t have been out for long. You were about to drift off again when Nathan finally broke the silence.

“We’ll figure out a way.”

A sigh escaped your lips, half drenched in sleep.

*

It was the last place he wanted to be. It was the only place he wanted to go.

He slipped into a hoodie and pulled on a pair of shoes and stepped out onto the deck. The air was still somewhat saturated, humid, but the rain was holding off for now. It was warm but he wasn’t, so the hoodie stayed on.

His feet took him down the deck stairs and onto the path paralleling the river. He followed it slowly, breathing in the summer air but not really seeing his surroundings. Like in his house, he knew where he was heading, and this was just the agenda.

At some point (minutes, hours, he really didn’t know how much time had passed) he came to that small clearing of trees.

And there you were.

Nathan took a jagged breath and sat down next to you. His pants were soaked in an instant, but he didn’t care. He was more annoyed that you were cold and wet (he briefly considered how funny you would find the double entendre, and probably tell him that you were definitely wet but he never made you feel cold) and chuckled again when he could hear your scoffing insistence that you were fine here in your special spot.

You weren’t fine. He knew this and wished desperately that you could tell him, tell him anything, say something.

He wasn’t fine. And he definitely did mind.

Nathan didn’t know what else to do, so he just started talking.

“So, uh...I know it’s been a while. I’ve just been really busy, trying to get the AI just right, and...I’m sorry I’ve been away. That’s not what I meant to happen. I’ve been working pretty much non-stop, I know you would be nagging me to get some sleep and eat better and all that shit. And...I wish you would. I would listen to you, for once.”

Silence and the far-off chirp of a bird were his only reply, so he continued.

“I know I shouldn’t be working so much, but I kinda have to. It’s the only way I feel close enough to…”

His throat was acutely, suddenly dry. He did his best to clear it. He was only marginally successful.

“So anyway, that idea I told you about, with all the cell phone data rerouting it here? It worked. Please don’t be mad at me, I know it wasn’t your favorite idea, but I’m pretty sure that’s what finally broke this open. Well, that and all the ideas we worked out together. I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me, and I know I never really did, and I probably never will…”

He had remembered to grab one thing before he left the house, stashing it in the pocket of the hoodie. He pulled it out now, a single red rose. Cliche, maybe, but they were your favorite flower.

Nathan placed it gently against the stone on the edge of the clearing. The stone with your name. It only had your first name, no dates. He could never bear to put any indicator of time on it; it was too final. Conclusive. Terminal.

He stood and started walking back. He never could stay here very long. It was absolutely ridiculous, but he usually had the feeling you would pop out from behind a tree and tease him about how impressive your joke was and he would never top it.

It wasn’t a joke, it wasn’t funny, and he wished he could prove you wrong.

But there was still something he might be able to prove. To make a few things right.

He stopped at the edge of the clearing.

“I have someone else coming to the house this week. He works for the company, he’s a coder...he looks like a good kid. I’m gonna use him to test this model. This really could be the breakthrough we’ve...I’ve...been looking for.”

Nathan turned his head back briefly, to say one last thing before he headed back to the house, before he had to get back to his work.

“I promise I’ll come back soon and tell you all about it.”

The rain started softly coming down again.

~end~

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