#larger than the machines should be able to make them go

[suckinitup]

something something tide and mark got tides powers back by makin waves. what kind of waves? dw about it

[nerdvanaxi]

Especially on my mind after this last episode, one of the nicest things I've noticed while watching Dimension 20 is how the GMs play off each other or seem inspired to develop their craft across the seasons. The obvious example, of course, is Matt's insight-check trick getting adopted by both Brennan and Aabria. But, I also think it can be even a little subtler.

For instance, the social scenes with NPCs this current season feel just a little more Aabria influenced than they were in prior seasons of FH. I've noticed that Aabria's really good at crafting this underlying weightiness to the social interactions. So often while watching her seasons, it feels like a "this action will have consequences" or "this character will remember that" message should pop up when PCs mess up or do bits. Prime example of this is her use of physical props and tokens and counters to help represent relationships and reputations in game. But even without adding explicit game mechanics there's a social weight she's really skilled weilding (the whole Rue and Wuvvy command scene in Court, but also just the stoats in Burrow needing to contend with Last Bast's complex mix of cliques and ideologies if they want to survive). Her PCs don't just have to interact with other characters, they also have to contend with the larger systems that motivate/manipulate those characters.

This isn't to say social interactions of Fantasies High past were shallow or lacked meaning. To the contrary, Brennan has always been able to make fun and compelling NPC interactions for his players. I think he's really good at making even the most ridiculous characters have a thread of believability and personhood to them. But with his use of stress tokens this season and all the additional piling on of academic/social/financial responsibilities, bureaucratic machinations, and taking favorite/ultrapowerful NPCs off the board he's giving the Intrepid Heroes' relationships and choices a more palpable weight of consequences to them in a way that seems devilishly Iyengarian, in my opinion. This also feels especially appropriate for Junior Year given that this season's main antagonist is kinda looking more and more like it's going to be the American Solesian education system at large, rather than some singular nasty dragon or scarecrow cultists.

It's just really fun to watch D20 and see the cast and crew collaborating. Even when they aren't at the table, their influences can be felt.

[chick-with-wifi]

Meta: Root as the Chosen One

One thing I love about Root's arc is that it's a subversion of the traditional 'Chosen One' narrative.

The Chosen One is usually born with special powers or featured in a prophecy, making them the only one capable of saving the world. Root, however, strong-arms her way into it as an adult by seeking out the Machine for a chance to serve Her ("I don't want to control your Machine. [...] I just want to set it free." 2x01). 

The Machine then chooses her as Analog Interface, likely both because of the abilities and loyalty she demonstrated and out of a desire to help her, which Root eagerly accepts ("The Machine offered me a job. She never said it would be easy." 3x17).

This position gives Root special powers through access to the Machine's omniscience. Including real-time updates about her surroundings ("Twelve US Marshals guard the building, plus our friend over there who was scouting the perimeter that we're now inside. Air support is ten minutes out." 3x10), information about people posing a danger to her ("2 O'CLOCK. 2007 ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT TORN." 3x12, via Morse Code) and being told where to aim when shooting people, which she demonstrates to great effect in 3x10 and 3x17.

Being the Analog Interface comes with the job of "trying to save the world, of course. By preventing the emergence of a second machine." (3x17), then later ensuring their survival when Samaritan comes online ("We had to settle for protecting the seven people who might be able to take it back." 3x23) and working to defeat it ("Because this is war. And the thing we're up against, it has virtually unlimited resources." 4x01). Which, as the one person the Machine speaks to directly, only Root can do.

The typical Chosen One is a reluctant hero, who struggles with the pressure thrust upon them or the idea that they are special. Root steps into the role with ease and enthusiasm, immediately considering herself one of the heroes ("I know it seems weird, but I'm one of the good guys now." 3x17). She feels secure in the idea that she's special ("The truth is that She's chosen me." 3x01) and carrying out her job brings her fulfillment, as demonstrated by her blissful expression when being retasked in 3x19.

She has no problem accepting that this mission, which she takes very seriously, means that her fate is no longer hers alone:

Shaw: Wait, Root, is that all? Where are you?

Root: Right where I'm supposed to be. (3x23)

Despite their doubts, the Chosen One is committed to defeating the Big Bad because they want to save the world. Root is immediately dedicated to the cause ("Like I said, we have a larger fight ahead of us. I think we should be together when that begins. Don't you?" 3x10) and willing to do anything, even give her life in service to it ("If I don't see you, Harold, it's been a fun ride." 4x05). However, this hinges on her desire to serve the Machine and protect Shaw and Finch, rather than any concern about the world as a whole:

Root: In the first thirty minutes after Samaritan comes online, a lot of people are gonna be killed. But they're gonna start with four: you, me, your helper monkey, and Shaw. And there won't be a damn thing anyone, including your Machine, can do to stop it. You think I don't care about people, Harold? I'm doing all of this to save you. (3x17)

Therefore, it is only when she loses these three tethers that her doubts show themselves. After Samaritan comes online and her contact with the Machine is severely limited, she begins to struggle ("She was supposed to remake the world. Now God's on the run. I have to keep going. [...] Even without Her, I can still see the edges of the tapestry." 4x05). She sought out this position because she wanted to be the Machine's Chosen One, now she has all but lost that connection yet remains a key player in the fight.

Shaw is then taken by Samaritan (4x11) and Root's devotion to the cause falters for the first time. She begins to disregard what the Machine taught her by preparing to kill Control (4x12) and torturing Leslie Thompson (4x13). When the Machine tells her to stop looking for Shaw, she walks away both from the team and the job that has been her purpose for so long:

Finch: The Machine is asking us to stop looking for her. Perhaps the Machine does know, perhaps it has a plan. But for our own survival, our sanity, I believe we must reconcile ourselves with never knowing the truth. Otherwise, our pursuit of it will consume us entirely.

Root: Goodbye, Harold. (4x13)

The next time we see her, she saves Finch's life and smiles at a security camera, then tells Reese "there's a lot that's new." (4x15). This indicates that she and the Machine have renegotiated and, while Root is working with Her again, she no longer holds the same unwavering faith.

When Finch has a plan to strike a blow against Samaritan that will likely cost his life, Root directly disobeys the Machine:

Finch: My value to the Machine is irrelevant.

Root: You're too important to me.

Finch: The Machine didn't tell you to do this.

Root: She told me not to. I thought I could sacrifice everyone, I really did. Win some, lose some, right? It's for a good cause. But it turns out I can't lose you, Harold. Not you and Shaw. (4x18)

For the first time, she puts her own needs ahead of the 'good cause' she was willing to give everything for and sabotages a chance to defeat the Big Bad, because she found the one thing that matters more to her than her duty. Finch then tells her "I don't want to see you for a while." (4x18).

Despite all of this, she continues to carry out the Machine's instructions and comes to Reese's rescue in 4x19, then goes back to working with the team.

In 4x21 she gets a call appearing to be from Shaw and instantly regrets stopping her search when Shaw has been alive all this time. Prepared to walk into a trap for a chance to save her, Root uses her own life as a bargaining chip to manipulate the Machine into helping them. Once again, she prioritizes the life of her loved one over everything else.

While following this lead, Root learns that Samaritan is close to finding the Machine and her goal expands to protecting both Her and Shaw no matter what:

Root: They're close to finding you. I don't care what happens to me.

Finch: What did the Machine tell you?

Root: She says it's too dangerous.

Finch: I'm inclined to agree.

Root: This isn't just a rescue mission to save Shaw. The Machine needs our help too. If we don't save them, who will? (4x21)

When Samaritan threatens her to get the Machine to reveal Her location, Root begs the Machine not to do it ("Don't do it. Please. Don't give yourself up. Harold was right. We are interchangeable. You can replace us. You can keep fighting." 4x21). All she wants is to protect her loved ones.

The Machine agrees to Samaritan's bargain, then gives the team Her own number to warn them of an imminent system shutdown and directions for how to help Her. When it looks like they won't be able to get there in time, Root gives the Machine an ultimatum - "No more standing on the sidelines. You want us to save your skin? Get in the game." (4x22). Ever since becoming the Analog Interface, she has been helping with the Machine's mission. Now she wants the Machine to help with her mission.

Root and Finch then save the Machine and work tirelessly until they restore Her. Root is also focussed on protecting her loved ones, which has expanded to include Reese and Fusco ("John needs our help now. You have to give us something to work with." 5x05. "An exit strategy. For you and your son to disappear off the grid, just in case." 5x07).

The priority of finding Shaw never leaves Root's mind and eventually she once again forces the Machine to help her by threatening to withhold her cooperation ("I refuse to do one more mission until I know that what I'm doing is going to lead me to Sameen." 5x07). Together they send a message to Shaw, which gives her the motivation she needs to escape, and Root is so desperate to be reunited that she would have given herself up to Samaritan if Reese hadn't intervened.

Throughout all of this, Root remains dedicated to the war against Samaritan and vehemently advocates for them to take a more offensive stance ("We have to be willing to do whatever it takes now, or we've already lost." 5x03). She then adds to the Machine's code to give Her an edge in the fight ("What if I said I hard-coded a little something extra into the system before you closed it for good? I gave Her the capacity to defend Herself." 5x10), thus fulfilling her duty as the Chosen One by using the abilities and loyalty the Machine chose her for to ensure Samaritan's defeat - but for her own reasons: protecting the family this role led her to.

[mysticwolfshadows]

Taken - Zutara - Part 53

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They land just outside of a river town of Jang Hui. It was a small town, poor and slowly falling into ruin. There wasn't even a proper school, the island devoid of one in fact. They had stopped here, almost purely, to spy on the military factory that was on the river.

They spend time in the town, just to see how things are going. It's... not good.

The factory is pouring its waste directly into the river. The pollution is making people sick, mutating fish, and causing the foundation the floating village is on to start rotting. When they get back to their campsite outside of town, it was serious discussion time.

"It's awful," Suki said, looking over her shoulder at the sickly brown-green water. "That the Fire Nation would do this to their own people."

"It would have been the Fire Lady's job to make sure it didn't," Katara said, glancing at Zuko. "When Ozai became Fire Lord, it should have been Lady Ursa, but..."

Zuko turned his head, jaw tight. "My mother vanished the same night my grandfather died. So it left my father in charge of everything."

There was silence for a moment, before Toph breaks it. "Your dad sucks. And my dad sent mercenaries to drag me home in a metal box."

They all laughed, mostly because Toph and Zuko did, and Aang brought them back to topic.

"Can we do anything before we leave?" he asks. "To help the village?"

Zuko glanced at Sokka, who was returning the look.

"If we destroy the production, it could slow down the Fire Nation on the war front," Sokka suggested.

Zuko hummed. "If they're a factory here, they're making something important that's used here. They'd send someone to repair and redouble production to catch up on lost time."

"Could we move the village somehow? Or clean the river?"

"Both would take too long, and cleaning the river would only be temporary."

Suki leaned over, whispering to Katara. "What's happening right now?"

"Sokka's the idea guy," Katara whispered back. "Zuko makes sure the plans actually work."

"What if we got them to abandon the factory?" Sokka suggested. "Like, the towns got that river spirit? Pretend to be her and destroy the factory?"

Zuko winced. "It... might work. But it would depend on how important the parts they're making are. If the soldiers abandon the factory, and they really need whatever is being made is in high demand or essential, a new crew will just be dispatched to fill in. We don't have time to wait around and keep repeating the same performance until it becomes superstition."

"And wouldn't we risk the military retaliating on the town?" Suki threw in.

Zuko blinked, turning to look at her. "That too." Shaking his head, he turned back to study Aang. "There isn't much we can do right now. We just have to hope that the village can survive long enough for the war to be over and the factory be removed entirely."

"He's right," Sokka sighed. "We don't have time to be here longer than a day or two. We need to move on to Shu Jing. Their local outpost is larger, and could have more specific information. Plus, if we hear about more facilities we didn't know about, it'll take longer than we planned to get to the Black Cliffs. And of everyone in the invasion force, we can't be late."

The silence that followed was grave, heavy and weighty. It was a sad truth, that for the moment, there was nothing substantial to do for the people of Jang Hui at the moment.

"When the war is over," Katara said, voice thick with barely held anger and grief. "When it's over, I'm going to make sure this factory is removed first."

The rest of the group didn't argue with her, but Sokka and Suki did share a look. Wouldn't that be the Fire Lady's job?

Katara, Zuko, and Suki, as the stealth team, sneak into Jang Hui factory that night. The things the papers and reports they bring back are horrifying.

The factory was a metal processing plant, making parts for various war machines. Zuko was able to recognize some of them, pointing out the ones that he knew were for ships or tundra tanks. The rest, however, were parts that made Sokka's stomach roll.

"It's for air balloons," he said, going pale as he stared at the spread of papers showing the shapes and dimensions of the parts.

Katara frowned, leaning over her brothers shoulder. "Really? The air balloons are so small though. These look really big."

"That's because they are big," Sokka said, waving the papers. "If I'm guessing right, a single baloon with parts this size... It could carry a crew twice- no, three times as big as the Wani."

"It's for the comet," Zuko guesses. He points to one of the part schematics. "That looks like a platform. And the shape... They'd be fireing downward. See how the front is curved like that?"

"They literally plan to make it rain fire." Suki was staring in horror, one hand coming up to cover her mouth. "They'll destroy everything."

Aang was clutching his staff, hands shaking. "If the invasion... If we fail-"

"We can't let this distract us," Zuko interrupted. Everyone turned to him. "We already knew the comet would be used for another genocide. Now we just know how. So we keep moving, like we planned."

No one had the will to argue, as they quickly climbed onto Appa and left Jang Hui and the factory behind.

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[beatthegame]

I just beat the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. It's a direct sequel to it's predecessor, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is a first for the franchise? Perhaps Hyrule Warriors? Or Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link could be an exception but even that was a huge pivot from the original Zelda. But I digress...Storywise, Zelda games typically occur generations apart from each other. But this game is unique in bridging two games together within a couple of years. Nowadays, good sequels are rare. We usually go backwards through the prequel route but this game takes place just a few years after the events of BOTW. Not many sequels live up to outshine their originals. Often falling short in certain aspects. And Breath of the Wild, as a stand alone game, is an absolute masterpiece. One of the greatest adventure games I personally experienced. So when the developers announced that there would be a direct sequel to one of the greatest adventures ever made? It left a LOT to be desired. But does TOTK truly live up to the hype? Let's try to fuse all these elements together and try to make sense of it...

In a nutshell: It's like Minecraft in Hyrule! You take the same open world template from Breath of the Wild. Triple down on the map & add heavy emphasis on crafting abilities. Combined with hundreds of side quests, treasures, characters and challenges sprinkled across the largest open world in gaming history. (If you can find a larger open world in a game, please let me know.) When you boil it down, Tears of the Kingdom should be considered tears of joy!

The Good: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a BEAST of an adventure game! The cel shaded anime inspired graphics are simply gorgeous. These screenshots would be good enough for the artwork inside the 8-bit game manuals of years past. Trying to imagine those details on a 8-bit platform was great for the time. But being able to control those stillframes now like a beautiful moving painting is like a dream come true. Most open world games are pretty rich in terms of a playable area with missions sprawled across the land. But I don't think I've played a game world this deep? And I mean that literally. You have the vast continent of Hyrule to explore. Same map from BOTW. All of it's valleys, lakes, mountains, islands and more. And when I say more, I MEAN MORE. Because now you have islands hundreds of feet in the sky to explore. In addition to the underworld depths hundreds of feet below the surface. The deepest bowels of a planet you can think of? And it goes DEEPER than that! I find it difficult to express myself through words, how packed this game map is. But you have the freedom to explore it all, however you like! And boy, does this game offer a rich variety of CHOICE. Something I feel is an gift AND a curse in this game? For now, let's talk about how AMAZING it is to create almost ANYTHING your imagination can handle...based on the items scattered throughout the land.

Your Sheika technology from the previous game has been replaced with new Zonai fusion technology that will allow you to combine all sorts of objects, monster parts and broken vehicle pieces to construct all sorts of cool contraptions. From simple suspension bridges to complex flying automatons with rocket launchers! There's a bit of a learning curve to manipulate pieces and placing them in functional spots. But once you get the hang of it, it becomes 2nd nature. You can even save your creations to quickly assemble duplicate machines, which is convenient at times. But that is only ONE fraction of your creative capabilities. You are also able to create custom weapons, armor and arrows to expand your arsenal. You will need these abilities to explore the land, skies and depths of Hyrule. It's an experience that can grow beyond your imagination. Which sounds amazing. And it is, in so many ways. However, it also one if this game's many problems...

The Bad: I hate to say it, but this game is the very definition of "trying too hard". Breath of the Wild is off the charts fantastic! Almost a perfect game. So when you're tasked to make something great even better? Sometimes adding more ingredients to a stellar dish ruins the meal. Like, imagine the best 5 layer cake in the world...perfectly frosted, with sprinkles and a cherry on top...and now add a tomahawk steak, and a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, and nacho cheese fries with frosted flakes sprinkled on top of that? A bit much, right? That's how this game is... You have an entire world of objects and machine pieces and monster parts. But there's only so much you can do to actually function well in the game. What's the point of building an elaborate hovercraft when a crude assembly of logs & rocks can get the same job done? Which leads to the weapons. One of the main things I hated about BOTW are the fragile weapons that break after a few swings. This game not only brings back the shitty fragile weapon system, but now you have the burden of crafting your own weapons. Which is FUN... for about 5 minutes. But when you are in the heat of battle? Quickly assembling weapons or sifting through my entire inventory under durress was more annoying than it was fun. And don't get me started on the Blood Moon. A couple of times would have been ok but like every 10 minutes?! Give me a fucking break! Let me build this wooden helecopter in peace LOL!

But refocusing on the positive, overall, this was a fantastic gaming experience! But even though this play-thru was satisfying. There were too many flaws that effect the final score. Tears of the Kingdom would have been a decent spin-off game. Like, focus on the Sheika Lab team and have them rebuild Hyrule and deal with the Ganon threat with building gadgets. Harvesting minerals underground. Rebuilding towns devastated by the Calamity. That would've been cool. But as a Zelda adventure? It falls short when you compare it to the other masterpieces throughout the years. But when you put aside the competition? Tears of the Kingdom is a stellar game experience!

A-Class

[elumish]

What Medical Stuff Feels Like (Scans and Stuff)

Content warning for general medical stuff, mention of IVs.

Also strong caveat that all of this is exactly one person's experience (mine) and so 1) may not be what you experience, 2) may not match up with other descriptions you've read, and 3) is not being written by a medical professional.

Ultrasound: For an ultrasound, they take an ultrasound wand (a one-handed thing with a smooth end and a wire attaching it to a machine), stick a bunch of goo on it, and then press it to whatever they're looking at and then have the machine collect images. The goo is usually cold, and they will usually apologize for it.

All of my experiences with this have been below the neck and above the pelvis. Depending on where they're pressing, it can hurt quite a bit--imagine having someone press something hard into your breast tissue or your ribs. How much it hurts definitely depends on what they're pressing on--things like the sternum and ribs hurt a lot more than places with a lot of fatty tissue.

You may or may not be shirtless for this--it depends on what they're looking for. For breast tissue or things in that range, you're generally in a patient shirt that you have either open over one breast or over both, and the other will sometimes be covered with a towel. For the rest of the abdomen, I've done it with my shirt pulled up and my pants down low enough for them to get to everything.

Once you're done, you wipe the goo off, but it also doesn't stain clothing (at least from my experience) and it doesn't irritate my skin. it just feels kind of weird.

I had to fast before an abdminal ultrasound but not a breast ultrasound, so it really depends.

My extremely hot take is that getting an abdominal ultrasound is my least favorite form of scan.

Echocardiogram: This is basically an ultrasound of your heart. That means the focus is on your left breast area, and if you have a lot of breast tissue, it means the tech is going to be awkwardly maneuvering it around/pressing on it pretty hard to get to the heart. I've had these twice--once, the tech was with a couple of doctors (or other techs? it's been like 8 years since then) and they were all making comments that I didn't understand about various parts of my heart. The second time, it was just the tech, and we occasionally made awkward small talk while he mashed an ultrasound wand into my breast.

Both of my echocardiogram techs have been men, and I will say that this is basically the least sexual experience you can have with a man while shirtless having them touch your breast. I think basically everywhere in the US you should be able to have an advocate in there with you, but I've never personally felt uncomfortable re: the shirtless in front of a male tech situation.

3D ultrasound: I once described a 3D ultrasound as if a dentist lamp was also a scanner and hated you. At least from the ones that I've experienced, they're essentially this weird giant thing that looks a lot like a dentist light on one of those moveable arms, and they cover everything with goo and then squish it against what they're taking scans of and then take the scans. It's less targeted than handheld ultrasounds but can get larger areas. I think there are also live 3D ultrasounds for things like pregnancy but I've never had that.

MRI: My favorite of the scans (unironically). For an MRI, you basically lie on a slab in a giant tube that makes horrible clanking noises for 45 minutes to an hour. Because they work using magnets, you can't have metal in or on you, so you have to take off all jewelry, earrings, etc. and then they ask a gazillion questions beforehand to make sure that there's nothing the magnets will disrupt (e.g., pacemaker) or will pull on (e.g., magnetic eyelashes). Twice, they had me change at least partially out of my street clothes; the last time I did it in my street clothes minus my bra, which felt vaguely illegal.

It's decently cold, so they generally offer a warmed blanket. At least for MRIs of the abdomen, there is a heavy thing that gets draped over your abdomen to basically make it pick up the images there (I don't really know how that works). To me, it feels kind of like a weighted blanket.

All of my MRIs have been since COVID started, though the first one was pre-masking; I wore a KN-95 in the MRI for my last one and had no issues re: the magnet.

Once you go in the tube, you basically just have to lie still for as long as the MRI goes. They will ask you if you are claustrophobic beforehand. It doesn't set of my claustrophia, but I imagine it happens a lot. They stick a ball in your hand for you to squeeze as basically an emergency stop/to notify them that you need out before it's done. They're also really bright, and at least from my experience, sometimes the paint is peeling a little. That doesn't matter, other than as something to stare at.

There are also headphones so they can give you instructions. For two of the three MRIs, they also played music (I listed to Taylor Swift for the last one). The headphones are kind of noise canceling, but nothing can block out the clanking, of which there is a lot, of various types, very loudly. The instructions will vary; one of the things they have you do for abdominal MRIs is hold your breath out, which feels very weird and is actually surprisingly hard--basically instead of inhaling and holding your breath, you exhale and then don't breathe back in until they tell you to. I can never hold it for as long as they say to, but it's never been an issue (at least as far as they've told me).

For some MRIs, they use contrast. Generally (maybe always?) they say that it's "with and without contrast" which means that they do the majority of it without contrast, and then they put the contrast in and take some more images. To get contrast, you need an IV, which they put in before you get in the machine. They attach the IV to a coil-y tube, which extends when you get moved into the machine. They generally hook it around your hand so it stays in place/doesn't pull against the IV site.

Contrast feels very weird. Someone mentioned this in one of the reblogs for the stabby stuff post, but basically it gets processed by your body really quickly so it goes to your bladder really quickly and also feels warm so it sort of feels like you've wet yourself. They warn you before they put it in.

Unironically, I find MRIs kind of relaxing, because you just lie still for like an hour under a weighted blanket. 4/10 would pick over the other options.

I have had a CT scan done but don't really remember it so would love someone to weigh in on those.

[misseviehyde]

GOING DEEPER

"Come on nerd, you're meant to be smart," sneered Mia, impatiently tapping her long acyrllic nails against the desk. She leaned forward threateningly. "Fix my fucking skin ray rod and hurry up."

Sarah gulped and turned back to the twisted mess of wires sticking out of the strange wandlike machine she held in her hands. Where her bratty Asian bully Mia had acquired such an object she had no idea, but she didn't dare ask.

"Make it work again and I won't bully you for a few weeks. Isn't that worth it bitch?"

Of course... Mia was lying. As soon as Sarah had fixed the rod - Mia was going to blast her with it and wear the little dweeb for a few days. She would generate more than enough blackmail material to ensure the loser was fully under her power. Having her own private repair and homework service would be useful.

One blast of the rod and anyone could be turned into a wearable skin. It allowed perfect access to memory and flawless impersonation of the victim. Another blast would turn them back to normal... except now the damn thing had stopped working.

Sarah squealed as the rod suddenly sparked and a beam of light blasted out. It struck her mirror and she screamed as it ricocheted around the room. She ducked and the beam JUST missed her head. "That was close," she gasped turning round to speak to Mia.

But Mia was gone... or at least the surprised looking pile of flesh within her clothes looked like Mia, but she was no longer able to move or speak.

"Oh no," squealed Sarah as the device in her hand suddenly sparked and she tossed it into the fire bucket full of sand she'd put to one side just in case. The rod burst into flames and she desperately stamped them out, hearing circuits crunch and components snap.

In moments it was over and the rod was a ruined mess of twisted metal - totally unrepairable. Smoke was rising from the bucket and moments later the firealarm went off.

"What on Earth is happening in here?" coughed Janice, Sarah's kindly Mom as she pushed open the door.

She gawped at the empty skin on the bed and her teary daughter. "You better tell me everything."

*******

Comforting her daughter Janice held the now cool ruin of the rod. "So this is completely broken? Well - in that case you need to find out where Mia got it from originally."

"But how Mom? Without the rod we can't turn her back, and when her rich parents find out she's missing they'll get the police involved. I'll be arrested for murder!"

"But Mia isn't dead right? If we can get another rod we can zap her back to normal. We just need to access her memories right? Well - why don't I put her on and then I can search her mind for answers."

Sarah hesistated. Something about her Mom climbing into the body of her bitchy bully felt wrong but she guessed she had no choice.

"Okay, but be careful."

Janice took off her clothes and picked up Mia's skin. It should have been impossibly tight and small for her much larger middle aged body to fit inside - but the skin was stretchy and once it snapped tight - it began to squeeze and reduce Janice's body until she was somehow the same dimensions as Mia.

Smooth tanned skin replaced aging flesh as Janice struggled into the suit. "Oh my goodness," groaned Janice as Mia's tighter younger pussy snapped into place over her own and Mia's perfect bottom tingled pleasantly. She hadn't realised putting on the skin would actually feel this good.

A feeling of youth and power was flowing into Janice and as she pushed her hands into Mia's arms, she wiggled her manicured fingers and admired how hot they looked.

Mia's breasts were smaller, but they were perter and in proportion to her tiny body they looked plenty big. Janice groaned in pleasure as she pulled them up and then grabbing Mia's bitchy face pulled it over her own.

She felt soft pink lips merge with her own as the skin snapped fully tight around her and the seam merged together invisibly. The skin tightened and all sensations of her own body faded as she now fully inhabited Mia's tight young body. The transformation was complete.

"Wow... you look just like her..." breathed Sarah slightly fearfully.

"I feel AMAZING," grinned Janice - her voice now bratty and condescending. She turned in the mirror admiring the flexible tautness of her body and her perfectly toned physique. Every ache and pain from her forty year old body was gone, she felt lighter... stronger... more confident.

"Can you remember where she got the rod?"

Janice squeezed Mia's eyes shut... but her memories were a fog. She could remember some things, especially recent ones.

Like how I was gonna take total advantage of that fucking loser Sarah. What a pathetic sadsack she is.

Janice gasped. The flavour of Mia's memories were vile and toxic - yet somehow enticing and addictive. Hearing her own thoughts echo with such meaness sent a thrill of exhiliration through her. She decided not to tell Sarah what Mia had had planned for her, there was no reason to upset her.

Older memories though were proving harder to pin down. It was like Mia's mind was resisting hers... or she wasnt enough in tune with it yet to fully understand those thoughts.

"I think I need longer inside her," mused Janice. "It's still very confusing. I'll spend the night as Mia and hopefully by tomorrow I'll know more."

"What do you mean? Who is going to cook dinner and look after us then? Are you staying over as Mia?"

Janice felt an uncharacteristic flash of annoyance and the words came out before she could stop them. "Of course not you fucking dummy - I'm going back to Mia's house and you can sort your own dinner. Tell your father I went out and won't be back for a few days."

Gawd, she's so fucking dumb even if she is a nerd. What a loser.

Janice groaned as a feeling of pleasure pulsed through her. It was like Mia's skin was approving of her outburst and rewarding her. Accepting her.

New memories swam into focus and Janice suddenly understood. The skin was fighting her - recognising that she was alien, but the more like Mia she acted - the more it would accept her and allow her to think and feel just like Mia.

She decided to keep that secret from Sarah too. There was no reason she had to know everything.

Turning to the bed and ignoring the look of anger on Sarah's face Janice began to dress in Mia's clothes. She would never have worn an outfit like this before - it barely covered her body and was little more than a few pieces of material that somehow prevented Mia from being completely nude. With a giggle she slid in the sexy belly button ring that had come lose when Mia deflated. This was all kind of... fun.

"Awwwww don't pout," laughed Janice mockingly as she saw Sarah was still angry. "I'm just being in character. Look I'll find out where to get a new rod and then we'll put everything back to how it used to be. Don't worry."

Grabbing Mia's handbag and iphone, she slid her feet into the bullies high heeled shoes and clopped out of the room like she really was Mia.

*******

Janice had worried that Mia's parents would notice something was wrong, but she needn't have concerned herself.

"Hello Princess," smiled Mia's doting father doing the dishes still in his work tie, as her Mother drank a cocktail and had her personal manicurist work on her fingers.

Mia's memories told Janice that her Mom was a rich trophy wife and her Dad owned his own businesses. In the outside world he was a powerful dominant business man, but at home he was enslaved to his trophy wife and bratty daughter. Mia and her Mommy got whatever they wanted and never had to lift a finger.

It was no wonder she'd grown up to be a spoiled bully.

Walking into Mia's bedroom, Janice was surprised how tidy it was. Then she remembered they had a maid. Mia usually just threw her clothes on the floor and left them for someone else to tidy up. She was used to being waited on.

I'm just better than other people. This is what I deserve.

Janice opened drawers of neatly folded panties and bras. Mia had a personal stylist and beautician and there was a bewildering array of different colours and styles. Clothing racks loaded with dresses, skirts, pantsuits and blouses were stacked up against one wall, where a cubby system held hundreds of pairs of shoes.

A pair of cat ear headphones hung from a pink gaming chair in the corner, a professional microphone and lighting rig testsment to Mia's growing popularity as a streamer and e-girl.

A locked white cabinet stood in the corner. Walking over Janice remembered where Mia hid the key and unlocking it gasped at what was inside.

Sex toys of every colour, size and variety stood carefully arranged on the shelves inside. Suction dildos, vibrators, wands and even strap ons. Handcuffs, chains, whips and masks completed the set. There were two harddrives inside as well and Janice gasped as Mia's memories told her they were full of the amateur sex films she'd made with both boys and girls.

"Holy shit, she's only eighteen, this is crazy," gasped Janice - also incredibly turned on by what she was seeing.

She reached out and picked up a big black dildo as long as Mia's arm and gulped as a memory of having it deep inside her flashed up.

What's the matter bitch - can't take a little length?

Janice gasped. This was more than a memory - it was like Mia's mind was... talking to her. It didn't feel conscious - more like her memories and thoughts were trying to crowd into her own mind and make her think like they did. In the same way that Mia's body was beginning to accept Janice, so was her mind. The more like Mia she thought, the closer the union would become.

Janice put down the black dildo and her hand grabbed a well worn magic wand.

This is my favourite toy. I love how it makes me squirt.

The memory no longer felt like Mia's. It felt like hers. She could remember the touch and feel of the wand perfectly. She could remember it like it was her own memory. It was overwhelming.

Fuck I'm horny. I should play with myself

Lying on the bed Janice tore off her clothes and smiling began to play with herself. She felt so fucking hot young and bitchy. Switching on the wand, she felt it buzz into life and she brought it down to her shaved pussy.

"Ohhhhhhhh fuckkkkkkkk."

My clit is super sensitive today... doesn't it feel so deliciously nasty to play with myself. I'm such a fucking bitch.

Janice groaned and gripped the sheets with her spare hand. Her eyes rolled up in pleasure and she bit a pink lip. She hadn't ever felt this aroused and simulated.

I'm definitely going to squirt - ohhhhh fuck this feels so fucking good.

Janice grinned as she relaxed and let her bonding with Mia grow stronger and stronger. She loved how this felt. She could feel herself melting deeper and deeper into Mia's memories and desires.

Doesn't it feel so good to be a brat? I love being a bitch.

Mia's wicked memories began to flood Janice's mind and she groaned as she got even more turned on by the most evil and depraved thoughts her new body was giving her.

She embraced it totally - imagining herself as Mia, bullying nerds and acting like a spoiled bitch. It would all feel so good.

More memories flooded her mind... her skin felt more perfect, tighter and more comfortable. Her head span...

What the fuck are all these pathetic memories about being a Mom? I should drive them out so there's more room to be a bitch.

Janice drove the wand down harder on her clit and screamed in pleasure. "Yesssss I'm a bitch, I'm Mia and I'm a fucking bitch."

Memories were slipping out of her head now - useless pathetic memories about being a Mom and caring for Sarah.

Sarah is a fucking loser and I can't wait to bully her. I am a fucking Goddess and my name is MIAAAAAAA!

"Yesssss oh fuck yesssss!"

Janice screamed as she began to cum. Hot juices erupted as she squirted for the first time in her life. She squealed and moaned, wave after wave of pleasure pulsing through her body.

Janice? No... she was no longer Janice.

She was Mia now and it felt so fucking good.

**************

Mia smiled as Sarah hugged her and she walked into the house with her.

"Im sorry darling," purred Mia acting how she thought Sarah's pathetic Mom might act, "I still can't access her memories. I have no idea where she got the rod."

"It's okay Mom," sighed Sarah as she shut the door and walked forwards.

She screamed as the beam hit her directly in the back.

"Hahaha," laughed Mia as she watched Sarah collapse and deflate into an empty skin. "I can't believe you fell for that loser."

Hanging her former daughter on a coat hanger, Mia giggled as she hung Sarah on the back of the door and used a coat to cover most of her up.

"Sorry nerd but your Mommy is all gone. But we can still have fun together. Now I have all of Mia's memories I know exactly where she got the rod from and getting a new one was easy. Why don't you hang there and watch what happens next?"

There was a knock at the door and Mia grinned as she went to answer it. Bobby, the boy Sarah had a crush on was standing there.

"Mia - what the hell are you doing here? I thought Sarah asked me over."

"Don't worry Bobby. Sarah and I are friends now. She told me to keep you entertained whilst we wait for her to turn up. Come in..."

Bobby followed her into the house - his eyes rivetted to her ass.

********

Trapped as an empty living skin Sarah wordlessly screamed as she watched Bobby's strong hands on Mia's bitchy hips. He was pounding her hard, making her groan with every thrust.

"Fuck you're so tight Mia. I can't believe I'm fucking the hottest girl in school. You won't tell Sarah right."

Mia grinned and tossed her hair back.

"Don't worry about that bitch Bobby. Grab my hair and fuck the shit out of me. I'll even let you cum in me."

Bobby groaned and pounded Mia harder - grabbing her hair.

"Yessss that's it. Go deeper... deeper."

And throughout it all Sarah couldn't but help watch every second as she silently screamed and prayed Mia would turn her back to normal.

[nyaaamato]

idk it’s hard to think of team minato as separate characters when i really think about it.. to me they all represent aspects of a single experience, different angles of a reaction to to the traumas of war… kakashi is the guilt-ridden survivor, obito the burning, vengeful sense of justice (“that should never have happened”), rin is simultaneously the mourner and the mourned. it makes sense when you think about kishimoto’s original vision for the series, which was a war story exploring the generational trauma he was exposed to via his grandfather’s experiences and how the effects of that trauma touch everyone differently even if the root cause is the same. rin and obito manifest as martyrs to kakashi because he’s still a part of the machine and can’t see the shinobi world on a larger scale, as a place that will never not fail the people it was built to protect, and that’s why he can’t protect his “precious people”. that’s why he fails sasuke and why he struggles at first to understand obito’s motivations as bigger than an interpersonal failing (not being able to protect rin). to me, it reads directly like an internal conflict of someone who has to contend with years and years of working for the very knife that first wounded them and only realising when in many ways, it’s too late to take back your mistakes, but still having to try.

i think that’s why team minato is so compelling to me, even past the frustrating misogyny. it’s like the perfect encompassing story about failed people being failed, but still not giving up. obito changes, kakashi changes, in some ways the ghost of minato changes (although my feelings about him in the war arc are.. HAHAHA i think that was such a mistake in writing and it almost ruined Naruto’s character for me) and eventually rin and obito can finally be laid to rest properly. it’s such a short, closed soft of story but i can’t stop going nuts about it LMAO

[nonbinary-octopus]

so my current 3D printing project is this: I am making a giant lego man

not super huge, just 5x regular lego size. It'll be about eight inches tall when complete

the reasons for this are, primarily, because it’s cool, and also. I just bought legos with my own adult money for the first time, and it turns out that lego people are for some reason considerably more expensive than lego bricks. I had a whole rant about it earlier that I'm not going to retype here, but the short version is, I did not buy any lego people

but then I went on thingiverse and I found a model for a large-scale lego person! (with this remix for better arms)

and I thought, that is very cool. I am going to make a giant lego person, who can sit on top of the lego box and guard the bricks

and then, because it would take quite a while to print the whole thing, I did a miniature test print at regular lego size, which is 20% of the original file size

it took about an hour

and he is a pretty good little lego man!

His head's a little loose, but not too bad. I had to reprint the hands cause I originally oriented them stupidly and they broke immediately, but once I redid them in a smarter position, they just took a little sanding of support droopies before they fit great.

The shoulders took some effort to pop into place, but I had expected that. On the rare occasion an arm came off of a lego person when I was a kid, I remember it being extremely difficult to put it back on. Once I got the arms in place and wiggled them back and forth a few times, they moved perfectly smoothly

The legs were trickier to attach to the hips, and one of them keeps angling itself oddly, so that he stands a bit pigeon-toed. If you mess with it too much, it will fall off.

Also the hips keep springing back out of the torso, which isn't great.

Based on this, plus a couple comments on thingiverse which said several connections were not working great, I knew I might need to make some adjustments. And to know exactly how it needed to be adjusted, I needed to print it at full scale

but I didn't want to spend several days printing, only to have to make adjustments and potentially have to reprint every file

so, first, I made a connection test file

I cut the individual pieces up into just their connection points: a slice of neck from the torso, and the bottom of the head. the shoulder pin on the arm, and the shoulder hole in the torso. The hip pin and hole. the wrist, and the entire hand because it's the smallest piece and didn't make nearly as much of a difference if I printed the whole thing. Plus, it rests on the hand on the buildplate, and it would be tricky to get just the hand post to print without including the hand

the first printing attempt spaghettified

it slipped horizontally not far in, and I suspect that caused the spaghetti, when it tried to print over somewhere that should have been supported and now wasnt. Can't be sure, because nobody saw it happen. My husband called me down to stop the printer when he noticed.

this is the shoulder hole and neck post

it wasn't a total waste, however. I was able to tell from what little had printed of the neck and head that the neck hole was far too large for the post.

So, I made an adjustment to the torso file, making the neck post larger, and restarted the test print with the new version. Unfortunately, restating meant that it went into the evening rather later than I had initially planned, sparking a conversation about what times of day would be most convenient for me to print things so as to not render the living room unhospitible (no hard feelings in either direction, it's just. a loud machine. and it can get annoying to listen to)

That test print went fine, and I was able to test all the fits

conclusions:

the neck now fits perfectly

the hand post is much too small for the wrist

the hip and shoulder joints are both too snug. I was able to force them together, but they will not rotate (they also now will not separate, and the layers around the shoulder hole split when forcing the shoulder pin inside)

so, back to the modeling program to make more adjustments. The simplest of these was to thicken the arm post

for the shouder, I measured all the bits and discovered that part of the problem is that the wall of the torso around the shoulder hole was thicker than the length of the pin before the flared head

in short, the pin was not long enough to reach all the way through the hole and have the flared head pop out on the other side

so, I lengthened the pin, and also put the slit on the flared head on the top as well as the bottom, for extra squishability

For the hips, they have a different pin shape than the shoulder, so I decided to replace it with the same mushroom-shaped kind of pin the shoulder has. I also widened the hole in the leg piece slightly.

You may notice that I didn't mention testing the hip-to-torso connection, despite noting that there was an issue on my initial miniature print. This is because in order to test it, I'd need to print a large enough portion of both the hip and torso pieces that I might as well print the whole thing, so I figured it would be better to get all the other connections correct first, and then adjust that one as need be.

I did take a look at it in the modeling program, however, and discovered that when assembled, the posts in the hips and the sides of the torso attempt to be in the same location. So I trimmed the hip posts to fit.

Then I printed all the altered files in miniature again, because that's a pretty quick test print

As I had hoped, the legs clicked on much better and more sturdily, and the hips fit into the torso much more securely as well.

The hands and head no longer fit at all, but I'd figured that would be the case as well, considering their fit on my initial test and my subsequent adjustments. I'd printed four hands when reprinting them earlier, testing two slightly different positions (the difference in results was negligible), so I used the extras for the new figure. I sanded down the neck post a bit to get the head to fit, and perhaps I should have sanded a bit more but I didn't feel like it

With that promising test, I prepared a new test print file to test the fit of all the adjusted parts at full scale (save the neck, already tested, and the hip-to-torso connection, will test later as explained earlier - so, just the hip and shoulder joints, and the hand, since I didn't change the wrist and can reuse it to test the new hand)

That's printing currently. Will update when it's done.

[thoselethalarts]

𝒮𝓉𝒶𝒽𝓁𝒾 ℋ𝑒𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓇 - 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎

(SR) Ceremony Robes (Part 1): “Would You Be So Kind?”

(Mr. S’s Mystery Shop: Exterior)

Stahli: Thank you again, sir! Stahli: Okay, I think this should be enough materials… at least I hope it’s enough materials. Stahli: I can’t believe such a thing should happen, and so close to such an important event too…! I’ll need to work fast if I’m to get this done in time-

(Bump!)

Malleus: Hm?

Stahli: Ach-! Herr Malleus! Schönen abend, good evening. My apologies, I did not see you there!

Malleus: Good evening to you too, Heimer. Worry not, I’m not injured in any way. Malleus: Lovely evening though, is it not? I was just thinking of taking a nighttime stroll through campus to enjoy it.

Stahli: It is! Quite lovely, actually. I wish I could take a stroll and appreciate it too, but sadly I’m too busy to do so right now.

Malleus: Oh? Pray tell, what seems to be plaguing you? Malleus: Those bags in your hands are full of fabric and sewing materials… are you planning on some tailoring this evening?

Stahli: Something like that. Actually, there’s a bit of a story there…

(Flashback to earlier that day…)

(Pomefiore Dorm: Stahli’s Room)

Stahli: My fortune reading this morning… it was so full of bad luck and misfortune. Stahli: Unexpected people will come into our lives, people that should not be there. And there will be discord, like a blazing fire, erupting through the upcoming ceremony because of them. Stahli: Even the days leading up to it will be full of bad luck and misfortune. Things will not go as planned, and unexpected disasters will cause abrupt change in previously regular daily activities. Stahli: Well, my mother always told me, “The best way to combat poor luck is with good preparation.” I must do what I can to lessen the blow while I have the time to do so! Stahli: I could do a good luck ceremony, maybe burn some incense… Well, I suppose step one should be actually checking on my robes and making sure they’re alright.

(Stahli rifles through his closet to retrieve his robes)

Stahli: They don’t seem to have anything wrong with them on first glance. A little wrinkly perhaps, but I see no tears or any little holes that have been chewed through them by moths. Stahli: (Sniff sniff…) They smell a little musty from being in my closet, but that’s nothing a little airing out can’t fix. Stahli: Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve actually worn these… I think I’ll try them on, just to make sure they still fit.

(Stahli shuffles around as he tries on the different pieces of his Ceremony Robes)

Stahli: Yay~! The top still fits! I must’ve been worrying over nothing then~ Stahli: Now for the pants… O-Oh. They’re… a little hard to get on, actually. Stahli: My big butt must’ve grown more this year than I thought it did, I can’t usually tell because I’m always wearing my uniform skirt… Stahli: I think I can still make this fit though… I just need to pull them up a little more-

(Riiip!)

Stahli: Ach! Was war das? …Oh no!! One of my pant seams has ripped entirely up the side…! Stahli: Donnerwetter, poor luck indeed! I should have known better than to test the fates. Now what am I going to do…?

(Flash forward to the present…)

Malleus: I see… your robes were damaged while you were trying them on, and now you need to repair them. Malleus: Not only that, but you must also mend them to be slightly larger than they were before, so they may fit you more effectively.

Stahli: That’s correct. I thought I should collect these materials from the Mystery Shop before it got too late, so that is why I’m here. Stahli: I have everything I need to get started… almost.

Malleus: Almost? What are you missing?

Stahli: Well, the knowledge to do so! I’ve actually never done any sewing before in my life, save for mending a small hole in my jeans where I did not want one to be. Stahli: I need access to a sewing machine as well, and I don’t think Pomefiore has one. Stahli: I’m a little worried I’ll be able to get this done in time, to be honest. I only have about a week until I need these robes repaired and ready. If I try sewing them by hand, I fear I won’t have them done in time.

Malleus: Hm… Perhaps it was a stroke of good fortune that you stumbled into me this evening then. I happen to know a bit of mending, myself.

Stahli: R-Really?!

Malleus: Indeed. Spinning and tailoring are crafts well-taught in the Briar Valley, and the knowledge of which is passed down through generations to preserve it. Malleus: The imagery of the spinning wheel is associated with the Fairy of Thorns, so taking forth the craft is highly esteemed. Malleus: Fabric and clothing created in the Briar Valley is among the highest quality one could hope to obtain, as well, because of this.

Stahli: Oh, that is true! I didn’t think about that. What fascinating history~ Stahli: Herr Malleus, would you be so kind as to teach me some of your mending abilities?

Malleus: Oh? You’re asking me?

Stahli: If it’s not an inconvenience to you, of course! Stahli: Getting the chance to know a little more about the world-famous Malleus is such an honor to have~ Perhaps we could even be friends!

Malleus: Heh… hahahaha! You have such a bold spirit, Heimer. You dare to ask me for my assistance when most dare not to even look my way. Do you not fear being smote by lightning where you stand?

Stahli: Why would I ever be worried of that? I assume I can trust my fellow student, even if he is the next mighty king of his home nation! Stahli: Besides, death is not something I fear. It hasn’t been a worry of mine since I first glimpsed the Other Side~

Malleus: Hm~ I like your spirit, Heimer. It’s so rare to meet someone so pure and bravehearted. Malleus: Very well. I suppose I could teach you a little of what I know. It’s refreshing to have someone so willing to spend time with me of their own accord. Malleus: If you find yourself in Diasomnia tomorrow evening, call for me and I will teach you what you desire. Consider this my formal invitation to you.

Stahli: That sounds perfect! I’ll look forward to meeting with you soon~!

/ To be Continued…

[zenrobbins0021]

Across the Galaxy: Chapter 1

Hunter x OC

Rated: 18+ (warnings given before certain chapters)

Chapter One

I jumped slightly at the rumble that shook the rocky cavern, causing a few stray pebbles to roll and tumble at my feet. Through the small, crudely-cut opening in the mountain, I had been able to glimpse a group of Zygerrian’s dragging four figures into the circle of slaves before placing electric collars and chains on them. Before I could get a better look, the guard pushed me roughly back over to her station and blocked the window. Since then, the air had rang with the sound of blaster fire and chaos and although the guard shifted nervously, he had not left his post. 

The next explosion shook the ground and I braced myself, crouching behind one of the larger rocks I used as a supply table.

“Any idea what’s going on?” I called out, trying to gauge the guard’s reactions to the disturbance down below. 

“Keep quiet, rat.” The Zygerrian guard grunted at her, his grip tightening on the electro-whip at his side. 

Then the earth shook. My arms flew out, reaching for anything to grasp on as the crack of rock splitting sliced through the air. I felt a jagged edge of a falling stone against my cheek before the sounds of blasters and the Zygerrian guard’s cries rang. Two men entered, their dark helmets swiveling as they took in the small room, searching for signs of any more assailants. From what I had seen on her home planet, the armor resembled the clones used by the Republic in the Clone Wars but the red and white markings were different than any clone unit I had seen before. I kept my back pressed against the cavern wall, ignoring the warm trickle of blood running down from my cheek and I looked wide-eyed at the figures. 

“All clear.” The crisp, modulated voice of the clone on the left broke the tension, “All Zygerrian forces have been eliminated.”

“Easy,” The second clone made a soothing gesture with his arm and my eyes traveled down to where his hand should be. A droid socket had replaced his human hand and for a brief moment I wondered if it was a droid, not a clone. “Can’t you see you’re making her nervous?”

“Who are you?” I asked, some tension leaving my body as I watched the strangers lower their weapons, “What’s going on?”

“I’m Echo. This is Tech, we were sent here to retrieve Muchi.”

My eyebrows shot up, “The rancor?”

Echo removed his helmet and I met the brown eyes of the clone. He seemed more machine than man with a piece of metal banded around the back of his head but his eyes were kind. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Iona. But what-”

The beep of a communication device activated and Tech put his index finger on the side of his helmet, listening. 

“Hunter and Wrecker have acquired the rancor. We’d better get moving before reinforcements arrive.” 

“Follow us,” Echo turns back to me, herding me along as we head out of the cavern at a rapid pace, “I’ll brief you on the way.”

I blink at the harsh sunlight, my eyes adjusting slowly as I look around and take in the first time outdoors in months. My gaze falls upon the broken shackles and destroyed cargo boxes strewn beside the bodies of Zygerrian slavers. In front of me, Echo and Tech pause and turn back as they wait for me to adjust. 

“What is the matter?” Tech’s matter-of-fact voice has a hint of curiosity, “Is something wrong?”

“I just-I’ve been a captive for almost a year now. I never thought that I would be free again.” 

Echo’s eyes soften and he gives a slow nod, almost in understanding. Before he can respond, another explosion sets off and a clone larger than any clone I have ever seen comes sprinting from behind another boulder. 

“Run, run, run, run, run!” He shouts. It’s the type of shout that you obey without question and we follow him, sprinting around the bend as the ramp of an Omicron-class attack shuttle lowers. For a brief moment, I wonder if I’m making the right decision in trusting a group of the strangest clones I have ever seen but there is no time to second-guess myself. In the blink of an eye, the ramp closes up and the ship rumbles to life, climbing the atmosphere into the galaxy before jumping into hyperspace. 

Once the ship is steady on it’s course, the group of clones breathe a sigh of relief. Tech removes his helmet and moves away towards the cockpit but the larger clone turns to me. Once his helmet is off, I can see the entire left side of his face is covered in a spidery scar, slightly raised and angry looking. 

“You missed the detonation of a lifetime!” He exclaims cheerly, his face widening in an enthusiastic grin before his one good eye lands on me. “Whoa, who are you?” “My name is Iona.” I extend my hand, wincing slightly when he encloses it entirely with his and gives it a tight squeeze, “You friends Echo and Tech rescued me from where I was being held by the Zygerrians.” 

“Yes-” Tech peers, his right hand reaching up to adjust his goggle slightly as the light of the datapad in his other hand highlights the slight frown on his face, “You have yet to explain why you were captured and where you are from.” 

I look around at the faces in the cargo hold, glancing from Echo, Tech, and Wrecker. They’re waiting for my answer and I have the inherent feeling that I can trust them. After all, they were the ones who had rescued me from the slavery I had been forced into for over a year now. 

“My homeworld is Ando Prime but I haven’t been there since I was young.”

“Ando Prime is in the Mid Rim. It should not be an issue to drop you back on your home planet, if that is what you wish.” Tech clicks on his datapad, “However, I would recommend that you contact your family on the planet before arriving, due to it being quite inhospitable during this time of the year.”

“I have no family.” I reply, shifting my weight uncomfortably, “They were killed when I was taken. I was taken by a group of Rhodian travelers who sold me into slavery to the Zygerrians and I’ve been with them ever since.”

Compassion crosses Echo’s face and almost as if he could sense my hesitant response, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not the only one here who has been held against their will. You’re safe here with us.” He guides me gently through the cargo hold, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

The ship was rather untidy but not dirty; I noticed how there were various weapons and tools scattered about as well as clothing and pieces of armor. A warm, yellow light fell across the floor and I looked up, meeting the warm brown eyes of a girl as she pushed a sheer curtain back from the gunner’s mount. Spry and deft, she climbed down from the ladder and sidled next to Echo, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she raised her right hand in a small wave, 

“Hello,” Her voice, like her companions, had the same accent heard in most of the clone I had encountered during the prime of the Republic. She was probably between the ages of eleven and thirteen, her limbs long in the awkward growth spurt that I remembered going through. “I’m Omega. I heard you talking to my brothers, you’re from Ando Prime?”

I nodded, a small smile finding it’s way to my lips at her cheerful, inquisitive demeanor. “You’re a clone too?”

“Oh yes,” Omega beamed, “They rescued me from Kamino and I’ve been with them ever since.”

“Kamino, huh? It sounds like quite the story.” 

Omega opened her mouth but Echo hurriedly cut her off, shaking his head slightly in amusement as he ruffled her blonde curls affectionately. 

“We’ll be here all day if Omega begins that one. We’ve got a med kit somewhere on this ship for that cut on your cheek.” 

I smiled at Omega as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. It was clear that she had a strong bond with the rest of the clones, her brothers, as she had pointed out. Omega trotted alongside us as Echo began to rummage among various supplies, tossing objects here and there and I watched as bolts and bandages rolled on the dark metal floor. Echo finally produced a bacta patch and began to fiddle with it; I took it from him gratefully, 

“I’ve got it from here.” I opened it, reaching into my pocket for a piece of gauze that I always kept as part of my supplies on me, “I was trained as a medic.” 

“Really?” Omega exclaimed as she watched me carefully clean the wound and slip the patch over the broken skin, “How long have you been a medic? Are you going to stay with us?” I couldn’t help but be drawn to the girl’s enthusiasm and her sweet nature. I hadn’t been allowed to form any kind of attachment or relationship with the other slaves, since the Zygerrians preferred to isolate me and utilize my skills as a medic to ensure they received the most profit for their slaves. “I was trained as a medic when I was about your age. As for where I’m going to stay, I’m just grateful your companions rescued me.” 

The sound of somebody coming down from the cockpit made me glance and I watched the long, sturdy legs of yet another clone climb down the ladder two rungs at a time. Almost as if he could sense my gaze, he turned and walked towards where Omega and Echo were in front of me before facing me fully. Even though all the clones looked different from each other, this one stood out in a number of ways. A tattoo darkened the entire left side of his face, tracing his bone structure in a skeleton design that emphasized his sharp cheekbones. Longish dark hair was pulled back by a red bandana but a few stray curls had escaped, hanging slightly over the bandana and threatening to hang over stormy brown eyes. An eyebrow arched as he looked at me, surprise lighting in his eyes as he spoke, 

“Tech told me we had a new member of the crew.” His voice was deep, almost gravelly, “I see you’ve already met Omega.”

“Yes, we’ve been getting to know each other.” I reached out my hand and he took it, his fingers closing around my forearm in a sort of respectful salute. “I’m Iona.”

“Hunter.” He tilted his chin towards my other hand holding the bacta patch against my cheek, his brow furrowing as his eyes swept over the gash in my cheek, “Did the slavers do that?”

I shook my head quickly, the sudden urge to reassure him rising as I chuckled, “Ah, no. This was all me, I must have caught the edge of one of the rocks when I fell.” 

“I was thinking we could take her to that place after we drop off Muchi in Ord Mantell.” Echo said, “There’s nowhere else for her to go.” 

Hunter hummed thoughtfully, his eyes sliding back to meet mine as he studied me before giving a curt nod. “You can come with us to Ord Mantell then we’ll take you someplace safe. That is, if that’s what you want to do.” 

“I’m grateful for whatever help you can provide.” I reply, smiling as Omega sits down beside me. When I look up, Hunter’s mouth is upturned slightly and I note the softness in his eyes as he looks at the child next to me. He nods again and heads back to the cockpit, Echo following close behind. 

“Don’t mind Hunter,” Omega tugs at my hand, “He gets overstimulated after missions sometimes so he likes to be alone.” “What do you mean?”

“All of my brothers are defective clones,” Omega explains, “They’re Clone Force 99 but we call ourselves The Bad Batch.” She laughs a little, her legs swinging from the side of the bunk as her heels make little clicking noises against the metal, “Wrecker is really strong, obviously. Put Tech against any computer or encryption and he will win every single time. Hunter has enhanced senses and he’s a brilliant tracker; he said he’s going to teach me how to track but he won’t until I master my crossbow.” A thoughtful expression crosses her face as she adds, “We have another brother, Crosshair. He’s…not with us at the moment.”

I decide not to press the subject and return the squeeze she gives my hand, a sudden feeling of protectiveness and affection rising in me as I look down at her wide, brown eyes. “Your brothers seem like good people. So do you, Omega.” She gives me a grateful smile, her cheery disposition returning at the simple compliment. “So, tell me what’s on Ord Mantell.” 

Hunter leaned his head against the headrest of the pilot’s seat, basking in the silence of hyperspace as the Havoc Marauder hurtled towards Ord Mantell. Omega had been talking to Iona for the better part of three hours, last time he checked, and had finally slumped into an exhausted sleep with her head leaned against her newfound friend. Wrecker had picked Omega up and lifted her into her little room where she lay curled with Lula grasped tightly between her arms. Mindlessly, Hunter’s thoughts drifted to the stranger that remained below in the ship’s hold, his brain replaying the moment the two had locked forearms. He wondered what her full story was, but it seemed as though she was still figuring out who to trust and what to say so he opted for his usual patience. When Tech had informed him of the woman they had found in a separate holding cavern, he had not realized how young she would be. She was probably around their age, perhaps a year or two younger, with light brown hair pulled back into a hasty ponytail and wide, clear blue eyes. Ever observant, Hunter had noticed a smattering of freckles dancing across her nose underneath the dirt and blood dried on her face. The same protective instinct that surged within him whenever he thought of Omega had been on high alert when he locked eyes with Iona, settling in his chest like a heavy weight the moment her vulnerable face had lifted to assess his. It had startled him, especially when his eyes had fallen on the gash in her cheek and he had wondered briefly how much pain and abuse she had suffered at the hands of the slavers. It made it somehow more satisfying that he had put the Zygarrian prince out of commission as Wrecker wrangled the adolescent rancor Cid had sent them to retrieve. 

The sound of Wrecker climbing up the ladder shook Hunter out of his deep thought and he spun around, “Omega still sleeping?”

“Yeah,” His brother laughed, the deep sound rumbling out of his chest plate as he settled into the co-pilot’s chair, “It was a lot of excitement for her today. She really likes the medic.”

Hunter let out a chuckle, “I noticed. I’m surprised Iona didn’t get annoyed.”

“She seemed to enjoy the company.” Wrecker smacked Hunter on the back as he stood, a loud oomph escaping the sergeant’s lips as the wind knocked out of him, “Head on to bed, Sarge. I’ve got this next watch.”

Hunter slid down the ladder quietly, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the cargo hold before stepping around the various pieces of equipment scattered on the floor of the ship. Peering through the bars of the cage, he could see that Muchi was settled, droplets of drool pooling underneath her jaw as she snored. Tech and Echo were sleeping in their bunks as usual but Hunter searched for the figure of Iona as he walked silently through the ship. His eyes landed on her, sleeping curled up, leaning against the side of Gonky with her hands forming a pillow to cushion her cheek against the metal. Gently, Hunter touched her arm and she stirred, opening her eyes and blinking slowly at him in confusion before recognition flitted in her expression. 

“That can’t be comfortable.” Hunter kept his voice low, aware of his sleeping brothers, “Come, follow me.” 

Iona got up, grabbing the blanket from around her shoulders and keeping it wrapped around her as she tiptoed behind him. He opened the door to the fresher, the cool automatic light falling upon her as her gaze moved to his face. 

“You might sleep better once you’ve washed up.” He searched through some cargo before handing her a few pieces of clothing, “These are some of Tech’s old things. They’ll be big on you but it’ll have to do until we can find you something more suitable when we land. You can sleep in my bunk when you’re ready.” 

“But where will you sleep?” Iona whispered back, concerned as she took the clothes he extended to her.

“I’ll sleep just fine in the navigator’s chair. That’s usually where I end up anyways, I don’t mind.” Hunter reassured her, “You can get a few good hours in before we land on Ord Mantell and we can get this rancor off my ship.”

“Not a fan, are you?” Iona smiled at him and he chuckled, the feeling of warmth that expanded in his chest surprising him again as he looked down at her. 

“I’ll feel better about being around a rancor when I return her to where she belongs and we get paid.”

Iona shuffled into the fresher before turning to look back at him, her eyes soft as she whispered, “Thank you, Hunter.”

“Not a problem. Sleep well.” He moved to the navigator’s chair and settled in, removing a few pieces of his armor and double checking their route before closing his eyes again. As he drifted off into a restless sleep, the sound of water running and light humming filled his senses before darkness overcame and he fell asleep. 

[ruthlesslistener]

Game theory for why Ghost is short even though them and Hollow are the same age:

Hollow got snatched away to live in a palace, and while not all their needs (cough cough emotional) were being met due the PK thinking they're hollow, he still cared for them like one would maintain the machine. If vessels eat then they got all the good nutrients they needed. Either way, their environment was very safe physically and PK made sure they were always in pristine condition.

Meanwhile Ghost is first stuck in a pit of dead babies and then travels outside the kingdom, probably wandering some barren wastelands? Not a good place for a bug or a vessel to live. Insuffiecient resources, not safe to molt, growth: stunted. And upon entering Hallownest, well, Hollow is already sealed so there's the stasis.

Yep, that's basically why I believe growth is so stunted for Ghost compared to Hollow! Reptiles and insects alike will experience drastically stunted growth and retain juvinile characteristics if they are deprived of enough nutrients, which seems to be why Hollow is the only vessel who grew to their adult moult while other surviving vessels like Ghost and BV lagged behind. BV looked like they might have been approaching their preteen to teenage years, given that they were larger than Ghost and had a strangely long cloak (which I hc to be elytra), but they lacked the tapered muzzle present in all adult members of their family, and still had the soft-shelled body, indicating that they hadn't quite hit sexual maturity (which in bugs is their adult moult). This is probably due to them scrounging a living on the edges of Hallownest's society while Hollow was being fed soul and whatever they needed at a steady rate, and Ghost was just full on out there in eeby deeby for god knows how long

Add on, of course, that these are gods, and things become a little difficult. They appear to mirror biological organisms in function and reaction, so we can still claim that the loss of nutrients had an effect, but it could be that experience or wisdom helps a godling to grow as well. Hollow was reared in the heart of the kingdom, watching their father work and the people fall to ruin, so they were able to gain wisdom/knowledge and thus mentally mature as well as physically- perhaps even faster than they should, given how traumatic the circumstances of their life must have been like. BV would have had to learn things on the fringes, so they would have also grown in wisdom, but it would have been a longer and slower process than for Hollow, who was being outright trained as a godkiller. And then there's Ghost, who was out in an environment that canonically scours away the mind and memories of the mortals that venture through it, and even them being a god wasn't enough to fully save themselves from their mind being sandblasted. Going through Hallownest probably would have pushed them close to their first moult, but given which of the good endings you pick from, they either decided to return to the void or go the full-on ascend-to-complete-godhood route via becoming the Lord of Shades.

They still seem to be mentally a child though. A very taciturn, serious, and self-sufficient child, but still a child. Which again, makes sense with them being in the Wastelands and never experiencing the physical effects of growing up, but, well, shit's weird when you're the child of Wyrm and Root that got soaked in the melted viscera of a dead god turned-to-the-sea-of-nothingness. Can't exactly expect them to work like a normal kid, can ya.

[emilysidhe]

This is a plant runner:

I made it a few years ago. It’s double knit, which is a knitting technique where you cast on stitches that you intend to be on the front of the piece alternating with stitches that you intend to be on the back of the piece and use two balls of yarn in alternating knits and purls to keep some stitches in the front and let som drift to the back, so that you’re basically knitting a giant pocket. You can switch the front and back yarn to make a reversible color pattern.

It’s also felted. Felting is when you take 100% wool yarn and use agitation, heat, or friction to induce the fibers to fuse together, essentially shrinking it on purpose. This makes a much stiffer and sturdier fabric that holds its shape and is more watertight.

This happened because I wanted a plant runner and I thought, “Why don’t more people make double-knit, felted plant runners? I’ve never seen a pattern for one, but it makes so much sense! Double knitting is super flat even with color work, so the pots will be stable, and felted wool is so waterproof that water actually beads on it, so it’ll help with spills. Plus it won’t felt any more in a delicates bag with cold water on a delicate cycle, so I’ll be able to machine wash it. This is a great idea - I’m gonna try it!”

Well, I found out why more people don’t do this, because it was a pain in the neck to make. Because I was shrinking it, it had to be larger than I wanted the finished piece; because it was double knit, I had to do twice as much knitting to get the front and back done; and because of the color work, I had to pay attention to what I was doing the whole time. Most of the time when I’m knitting rectangles like this, I only have to repeat the pattern 3-4 times and it internalizes to the point where I start having an intuitive sense of what to do next and start only having to glance down occasionally to check where I am. I can do complex cables with the TV on and watch the screen most of the time - I’ve knit simpler stuff with an ebook open on a propped screen reading as I go. This thing I had to keep looking at the entire time. Between the double knitting and the leaf pattern, I had to constantly watch what I was doing. This thing took forever! If I calculated out the hours I spent on this as money, there no way I’d spend even a fraction of it on a *plant runner.*

And yet … I had barely finished it when I was already thinking about making another one. You see, I was right. This really does make a fantastic plant runner. It catches the dirt and dried leaves that fall off the plants and keeps them from messing my table, water does bead on it so it protects my table from spills beautifully, and the plant pots sit very stably on it. It’s great!

But I used a kind of wool that comes in several different colors, but is all undyed - it’s from white or brown sheep. I was worried the darkest and lightest colors - that cream that you think of when you hear undyed wool and a dark chocolate brown - would be too much contrast and I went with the second darkest and lightest (a heathered dark brown and an oatmeal off-white). But I forgot how fuzzy wool gets when felted like this and I want a second crack at it with the higher contrast colors to make the pattern pop more. (This is one of the rare cases where the pattern is actually slightly more distinct in photographs than irl.) There’s even a small voice that I think of as, “That is the craft-devil talking,” whispering that I should try it out again with wool yarn that comes in actual colors and see what it looks like as green-and-something.

Fortunately, everyone I know seems to be having babies at the same time, so it’ll probably be 3-5 years before I make anything for myself that isn’t a quick, weekend project between yet another baby blanket.

But every time I wash it, there is that craft-devil. Whispering.

[gremoria411]

Alright, so GBO2 was kind enough to drop a Kämpfer High-Mobility type for me the other day, so I figured I’d use this as a springboard to talk about the design, and by extension my feelings towards UC Engage’s designs as a whole.

I already went over the Kämpfer and its variants previously, but being able to compare the models in GBO2 changes things a bit.

There’s actually a lot of subtle differences that I hadn’t caught the first time around that distinguishes the High-Mobility type. When compared to the original Kämpfer; the chest’s larger and rounder, the head is wider, the armour on the arms is different and the legs have a feminine design closer to the Gerbera Tetra. It’s very good, the increased mass implies a more powerful reactor and the masses of extra thrusters do make it feel like a High-Mobility unit. The head incorporates Vulcan guns, and the suit itself also incorporates a beam machinegun, again implying an improved reactor. The thruster pack is similar to the Gerbera-Tetra’s but it feels much more like prototype, with its larger fuel tanks and holes for multiple large thrusters, as opposed to the Gerbera Tetra’s more understated look. The design has a much more rounded feel for it, typical of space-use units. It’s just rather annoying, because I’d written it off as “Kämpfer with Gerbera Tetra Thrusters”, so coming back to it and finding all these deign flourishes is…… just sort of odd. Like, yeah maybe I should’ve looked a little closer, or maybe it should’ve been a little more attention-grabbing in the first place?

See, I generally don’t like officialised “kitbash” designs - I typically find that there’s too many familiar elements, so the design doesn’t really have much of an identity of itself. Yeah, battle damage or repair’s fine, but when a designs’ just bits from one suit slapped on another it just feels rather unimaginative to me.

But then again, shared equipment between mobile suits typically speaks of an elegance of design to me - these are machines that are outfitted for war, so standardisation is helpful in that respect. I’m typically a big fan of seeing the MMP-80 machine gun or 90mm bullpup machine gun on one year war units, because they’re so ubiquitous that I don’t think of them as being part of any single design.

I think what I’m getting at is; I don’t think I like the concept of the Kämpfer High-Mobility type (i.e. fuse the Kämpfer and Gerbera Tetra together due to their shared design philosophies), even if the execution’s much better than I gave it credit for previously.

I’ve been meaning to do a post on UC Engage’s designs for a while now, so I figured I’d package it with my thoughts on the Kämpfer High mobility type. I’m not going to go through every design in the game, I just figured I’d cherry-pick 8 designs I’ve got strong opinions on - what I think works, and what I think doesn’t.

Disclaimer: I’m going to be looking at the UC Engage in-game models for all of these, simply because either higher quality models don’t exist, or I’m not inclined to wait around for GBO2 to supply them to me so I can properly look at them (honestly I tend to use GBO2 as a design gallery more than anything else, but because it’s gatcha I really don’t have much influence over what I get). If I ever receive the higher-quality GBO2 Models, then I’ll note any changes of opinion then. I also don’t really care about the plot or story of UC Engage, but I’m given to understand that it’s explicitly non-canon to the rest of UC (since they put Peche and the Engage Zero in Kamille and Rosamia’s final confrontation during Gryps, and introduce a new Doga unit during Chars Counterattack as a counterpart to the Jagd Doga and Psycho Doga), so I’ll only really be considering the mobile suit designs.

Engage Zero

Okay, nine designs, because I should probably talk about the Protagonist’s suit. The RX-78MS00Z Engage Zero. So -assuming I’m reading this right- the Engage Zero was a prototype/competing design to the Gundam Development Project - the GP series seen during 0083: Stardust Memory, that were developed by Anaheim Electronics. The Engage Zero incorporated magnetic coating technology and a prototype movable frame, which would make it cutting-edge at the time of its release. It and its pilot, Peche Montague, would be passed between various groups and upgraded throughout, eventually concluding in the Neo Zeon designed Engage Zero Yonghwavin, a fully psycommu-equipped mobile suit. The general design of the Engage Zero is that it was developed as a Newtype-speciality machine amongst the rest of the Gundam Development Project.

Design-wise…. Eh. I can imagine it’s difficult to “fit in” another Gundam unit in UC canon at any rate (which is why there’s so many Gundam’s and gundam-a-likes running around in the One Year War, since it’s an easy fit), so tying it into the Gundam Development Project is a smart move, but there’s very little to tie it in design-wise. Yeah, there’s some similarity in the legs, but the chest resembles the G-Self more than anything to me. The arms are what I’d describe as inoffensive - there isn’t anything wrong, per se, there just isn’t anything distinct either. The waist seems to want to suggest a Gelgoog influence with the skirt, but it just looks wrong on a Gundam, and it overshoots and makes me think of the Qubeley. The head’s fine, no real opinion there. It’s overall a very feminine design, which I’m not against or anything, it just again feels odd. Like, it’s a feminine design because the pilot is female, but ….why? It just seems a bit odd tonally, especially since it retains the original gundam’s samurai influences, which are typically rather masculine. It’s a feminine design, but in doing so, it masculine-codes every other design. So it’s a feminine Gundam that causes you to question why every other female Gundam pilot has just had (for want of a better term) a non-feminine Gundam. I just find it incredibly odd from that perspective. I imagine that’s why it makes me think of the Qubeley so much, because that’s the most prominent other feminine design we see in UC.

Dijeh Assault Package

Is the fact that there’s actual art of this one cheating? Anyway, the MSK-008S/A Dijeh Assault Package was an upgraded version of the standard Dijeh, and was used in a bombardment role. It’s essentially a Dijeh with additional weapons, armour and, of course, missiles. I like this one, not necessarily because I think it’s an amazing design (the artwork’s doing a lot of heavy lifting), but because I think it fits so well with Karaba as an organisation. They’ve got a fairly limited number of mobile suit designs available, but a lot of them are very good, so it makes sense to manufacture variants to those units for different mission types. A high-spec bombardment unit that can fight well after the initial barrage is always going to be attractive to a Guerilla organisation, hence the Dijeh Assault Type. Even the reused equipment works really well, since Karaba isn’t known for being well-funded. All-in-all, it’s solid.

Roswell Jegan

I’ve used this one as a punchline a few times, so I’m sure my opinion shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. I really just don’t like the Roswell Jegan. It’s basically a Jegan that was used to test fin funnel weaponry designed by Amuro, which would then be incorporated into the Nu Gundam. I’ve kinda got a lot of questions here - where did the psycho-frame come from? How’s the jegan got the reactor to mount all those fin funnels? How did they know it worked? Doesn’t the existence of the Silver Bullet (funnel test type) kinda invalidate this machine’s existence? Why Roswell?

And all that for a jegan with a little bit of additional armour and funnel rack backpack. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m no great Jegan fan, but I actually do like a lot of its other variants, so the Roswell Jegan just feels so plain and drab by comparison. A funnel-mounted or newtype-use jegan has potential, I just don’t think the Roswell is that.

Gelgoog Ls

Regrettably, this is the best image I have. The Gelgoog Ls was an upgraded form of the Gelgoog L, a Gelgoog variant designed for defending VIP’s, which was essentially a standard Gelgoog with a new backpack, large shield and heat lance. The only real difference with the two units is that the Gelgoog Ls incorporated more filigree and mounted Vulcan guns in its much larger head. It’s noted that Gelgoog L pilots were often young and barely-trained cadets, which wasn’t uncommon around the time of the Gelgoogs deployment. The Gelgoog Ls, meanwhile was apparently more geared towards the secret service.

The Gelgoog Ls is a bit of an odd one for me. I’m kind of a sucker for Lance units in general, and the Gelgoog seems to be an attempt to backdate guard units like the GAZ-L and GAZ-R into something that started with the principality. Only real issue is that there seems to be an awful lot of “Royal Guard” units running around. There’s the Gelgoog Ls, the Rick Dom, the Galbaldy Alpha, the Gyan Eos and so forth. That and that customising a mobile suit for the Secret Police seems overkill. What are they gonna be facing that requires that level of force, particularly a goddamn heat lance? (the Vulcans make sense, because they’re typically used against infantry or light vehicles, but the Lance is just overkill). The design itself is just…. Fine. Gelgoog with a shield and heat Lance probably didn’t *need* to be its own thing, but I like how the Vulcans are integrated. I am weirdly fascinated by what the backpack looks like, since I’m absolutely certain I’ve seen that design somewhere before, I’ve just no idea where. (I keep thinking it’s from the Gyan Marine from Gihren’s Greed, I know it’s not that)

Finally, I should note that the head appears to be based on contemporary police uniforms. My initial thought was of the “classic” Gendarmerie (the French police service), with the cylindrical hats, which spun out naturally to the Landespolizei (the German police service) and the Ordnungspolizei (the Nazi police service, which I was very happy to find no similarity to), but it seems to be based more on contemporary dress uniforms than anything else, which makes sense, considering the all of the filigree.

Gaza CZ

The Gaza CZ is a Gaza C that has been modified for use in an artillery role, it replaces the shoulder armour of the original Gaza C with missile pods, and the integrated Knuckle Buster with a belt-fed minigun. The Head and legs also appear to have been slightly remodelled - the head’s sleeker and more pointed, emphasising the monoeye (and likely its role in target acquisition), while the characteristic three-digit foot “claws” of the Gaza C have been reduced to a fairly standard looking foot, with the side thruster being enlarged.

The rationale of the Gaza CZ’s design is to up-arm the aging Gaza-C second-line units and use them as artillery support similar to the Zssa. I like this rationale, because it makes sense that Neo Zeon would want to make use of the massive amount of Gaza-C’s it had, and strapping some missile pods to it is a logical and practical approach to this. Even the Gatling gun is excellent, because it would enable more of the mobile suits generator to be directed to its improved thrusters and thus offset the weight of the heavier equipment, and as a second-line unit, it would typically be operating within easy reach of resupply. I just wish I could get a better look at the feet and see it transformed.

Gabthley B

As in “beta”. The original Gabthley is a design from Zeta I just love - it fits perfectly into my definition of a “mid/late-season weirdo”. So good. The Gabthley Beta was a redesigned and upgraded Gabthley used by the Titans. While the original Gabthley showed promise, the design was judged to be too complex and expensive for mass production, which led to the design of the Gabthley B. There’s only stated to be one produced but it really *feels* like a limited-production suit to me. The design’s just wonderful because it’s a just a hodgepodge of Titans mobile suits - there’s the Gabthley, obviously, but it incorporates the arm claws of Scirocco’s Messala, it looks to have a (single) wing binder from the Gaplant and the feyadeen rifle Mk-II is an upgraded form of the original used by the Gabthley and Hambrabi. The large arms and oddly-proportioned body even make this commenter think of some of the oddities of the Titans Test Team, such as the TR-6 Hyze’nthley and the TR-6 Kehaar II. I’d also like to note that the head’s been completely resdesigned - it’s this blend of the monoeye, visor, the original streamlined Gabthley head and it’s even got some Gundam-style protrusions near the collar. It’s a very commanding design, for a commander type unit, it what I’m getting at.

I do hope we see it in a better colour scheme at some point, however. I don’t typically dislike black-and-purple, it’s just that there’s quite a lot of obscure, bulky titans units with that colour scheme, and they tend to look rather similar (especially since it’s a rather busy design).

Nemo Bellator

The Nemo’s an interesting one, since it seems to have dodged the many, many variants of the GM and Jegan. It’s certainly got a fair few, but (with the noted exception of the Nemo III and the absolute superb MSA-003 Nemo Cannon from Aoz) none of them are really that exciting. A bit of armour plating here, a new backpack there, never necessarily setting the world on fire but being pretty solid “yeah, that’s a grunt mobile suit” throughout.

So the Nemo Bellator being just so boring is rather novel, in a way. A Nemo, with back binders and a mega launcher. No reworking of the body, no targeting equipment (like the Hyaku Shiki), no improvement to the generator. There’s just nothing going on here. And the name “Bellator” just sounds like the creator needed a name quickly so they could knock off for lunch.

Sliferail

The Sliferail was an upgraded Gundam Ground Type that was remodelled with the expectation of deploying in cover operations in forests and wetlands. It was apparently a custom job on behalf of the pilot, who specifically requested the addition of the beam javelin.

This is a design where I love the concept, but I’m ambivalent about the execution - we see a bunch of ace custom units in Gundam anyway, and there was a good amount of Gundam Ground Types around, making them an excellent opportunity for variant designs in different theatres. The Sliferail is essentially a counterpart to the Ez8, showing how another pilot adapted to the changing war situation. The design itself…. It’s not bad, I like the new fins on the legs, and the new head and chest are nice. The colour scheme’s nice, and it makes sense for a wetlands environment. To be honest, it’s probably that I’m quite fond of the “standard” Gundam ground type, and so the Sliferail just feels like a step away from that, and I feel if anything, it should have leant into the changes a bit more. Up-armour the shoulders, put a ghille cloak on there, maybe remodel the lower legs a little more to better distribute the weight or something.

Type 99 Assault

Last but not least, the Type 99 Assault. The Type 99 assault was an update to the Type 100 Hyaku shiki from the Gryps Conflict and was intended to be a competitor to the Formula Series. It was built around U.C. 123. Though it’s stated to be an upgraded to the hyaku shiki, the Delta Gundam Kai influences are obvious, what with the head and chest. Interestingly, the lineart appears to be drawing from Kazuhisa Kondo’s designs, with the larger wing binders and differently styled head (which reminds me of the rather obscure Hyaku Ichi Shiki), though the design seen in UC engage leans more Delta Kai.

I really like the rear arms and integrated leg thrusters on this one, it gives it a really unique feel. The Gatling gun and beam rifle are both nice touches, and it feels like a machine designed for extended operations. It’s a design I would really like to see more detailed illustrations of, since I’d like to look at it in more detail. The leg thrusters also suggest great agility and remind me of the Anksha from Unicorn, which is nice. I do rather like how Anaheim made the Delta Gundam, and just consistently failed to then take that any further. Like, yeah, it happens a lot with Gundam’s too, where they’re built and they perform well and then they’re just sorta never expanded on, but the way that the Delta line just keeps throwing all these great ideas at the wall with none of them sticking makes it fell like….. I dunno, the Sega Saturn of mobile suits?

Closing

And that’s the highlights for the U.C. Engage Design Series. This ended up being a lot more positive than I was expecting honestly, which is nice. Quick shoutouts to: the Giessen Doga for being so boring I don’t even want to talk about it, the Duffel Jegan for being another ace-use jegan to add to the pile, and the Delta Gundam Ans for not having any good images available.

[dollsonmain]

It was a non-chaotic day.

I felt very lethargic on the way to work like my feet were lead but got there with plenty of time.

The register was logged in so I was able to open the store.

Alt-Manager came in right around normal opening time which is still weird to me since I think all the opening stuff should happen like 10-30 minutes before opening.

We did run out of diesel for a bit but the delivery came pretty soon after.

I ran out of buns. It's 10 per sleeve, I counted, so the shipment was 50 buns and between Monday and Tuesday I used all of them. I don't know when the next shipment will arrive. Should be Thurs-Sat assuming more were ordered.

The card reader reset while a guy was trying to pay for his stuff, of course, but there was no line forming this time.

Finished sandwich refill by 9. Did cigarette and nicotine pouch refill.

Had time to go around cleaning a bunch of stuff. I clean stuff no one else pays attention to. Like the nasty crust around the bottom of the iced coffee dispenser, or the area around the front door that never gets dusted, up under and behind the chip displays, that kind of thing. I'd like to move them all outside and hose off the racks while getting a chance to clean the floors underneath because they're disgusting.

Walk home was agonizing and slow and I stress-ate a ton of sugar as soon as I got home. Applesauce pouch and V8 energy on the way, then got home and ate a TV dinner of teriyaki chicken, veg, and noodles, ate a mini blueberry english muffin, ate one pumpkin pie poptart, was going to eat the other one and then was like ok that's a bit much... So I made a coffee, which is also sugary but it's maple syrup which is better for kidneys than HFCS.

I've already showered because I was chilly and wanted to put on pajamas.

Doing That Guy's laundry in two loads because larger loads seem to make the washing machine smell like sewer gas. I don't know why.

I'm tired.

[phlve]

Sociotype Profiles — LIE

Ego

Leading Te

The most important thing for LIEs is that they fulfill their potential as usefully and productively as possible, thus ensuring real, long-term improvements to the world around them. LIEs possess naturally inquisitive minds, which they use to read up on whatever information is available. Such an approach allows the LIE to build up a bank of factual data to ensure they are informed on all relevant events they encounter. The point of such knowledge is so that the LIE is prepared to perform competently, possessing the know-how to work in the way that best aids long term progress.

Frequently, LIEs will be focused on increasing the amount of return for the effort put into something, looking at available statistics and data before seeing if any improvements can be made to the functioning of procedures and methodologies. As such, LIEs endeavour to improve working processes so that they lead to greater benefit over time. This extends to the LIEs themselves, who will try to transform themselves into machines of highly efficient output. With this comes a sense of initiative; these types know that, provided they put in the work and dedication, they can achieve whatever they set their minds to, applying themselves to solving whatever might be holding them back. Furthermore, the LIE feels obliged to impart knowledge to others. In doing so, the LIE is able to indirectly bring about improvements beyond themselves, giving others the information necessary to do things well.

Creative Ni

The optimisations and fixes provided by an LIE are regularly geared towards the long term. LIEs see the use or benefit of something in terms of what will help things for the years to come, rather than simply aiding daily life. As such, LIEs tend to conduct themselves with a sense of greater purpose than themselves, trying to utilise the limited time they have wisely for making statistically important differences to reality. LIEs usually have a certain amount of trust or faith in the methods they decide on, being rather confident that what they are doing will eventually lead to significant results, even if immediate improvements cannot be seen. This can also result in the LIE having a sense of what they should be doing to optimise things in the long run, being less satisfied with simply doing their current job well and more focused on doing the job that will make important changes on a larger scale. As such, an LIE may move between different careers and projects, going off on their own when they feel their potential is not being satisfied as well as it could be and the job they are taking is not leading anywhere greater. They may give up a secure position that they feel can be better filled by another person or similarly, they may apply for a less comfortable job that they think would be more worthwhile to posterity. Despite this, an LIE will not necessarily appear busy to others, as they are good at knowing when not acting is exactly what is required to do something properly. During these stages of patience, they may be quite dormant.

Super-Ego

Vulnerable Si

Relaxation and rest can be difficult concepts for an LIE to appreciate. Due to their desire to perform at maximum efficiency, LIEs are disposed to workaholism, cutting out daily concerns in their pursuit of creating long term benefit. Often, the LIE can look upon their body as an inconvenience, something that has to be dragged complaining through their day of productivity. This can sometimes come at the expense of health, with the LIE sometimes burning out from exhaustion or catching illness from a lowered immune system. In such situations, the LIE may end up overly worrying that the illness will slow them down than for the welfare of their body and might look up methods of suppressing the symptoms so that they can go back to being functional. Similarly, in making their improvements, the LIE may overlook softer details such as contribution to ease and comfort. The fruits of their labour may be ugly and tastelessly designed, fulfilling the necessities without being enjoyable or harmonic with the surrounding aesthetic. Despite being stereotypically associated with financial success, LIEs spend little on luxury, rarely thinking to treat themselves or indulge in luxuries.

Role Fe

LIEs tend to be very independent and can often be mistaken for introverts as they rarely put much emphasis on going out to see people or socialise just for the sake of it. While they are happy to see their close friends, just meeting people can feel empty to them. To an LIE, such actions are only worth doing if they serve some purpose or real benefit to their projects, such as an activity related to publicity, marketing or networking. However, should there be adequate justification for LIEs to spend their time this way, they will go about it with practiced competence, managing to make themselves more friendly and convey their ideas and initiatives to others with a catching enthusiasm. Similarly, when in a position of authority over a team, they can become charismatic leaders, reading up on tips and methods to better inspire people to perform to a higher standard. However, such attempts will often be reserved and exercised with caution. The LIE will be very reluctant to give false impressions or engage in hyperbole that may distort someone's factual understanding of the truth. As such, any strategic attempt to enthuse others will be tempered by intellectual honesty. Ideally, they would like to drop the act altogether. Similarly, when others come to them for help, they will approach the issue by coming up with objective solutions to problems. They may feel rather annoyed and feel their time is wasted if the person turns out to simply want to rant.

Super-Id

Mobilizing Se

More often than not, an LIE will possess a great deal of personal ambition, and desire to amass a certain amount of power or authority from their hard work and initiative. This is more something that they wish to prove to themselves via their accomplishments, usually avoiding status symbols or anything to show their power to others unless it directly benefits how they are treated by others. When pursuing a project for the greater good, LIEs can be ruthless in their actions and decisions, being capable of aggressively taking on competitors as a means to success. When angered or frustrated, LIEs may demonstrate a short, explosive temper, especially if people are not adequately following instructions and performing unnecessarily below par. Especially in cases of wilful ignorance or malice from others, an LIE may resort to planning their vengeance. However, LIEs are not naturally intimidating people, lacking the physical presence to consistently command through force of will. Instead, they are usually more cerebral and disposed to reflecting on the right course of action, rather than rushing into things blindly. They are more likely to succeed through their wits, rather than brawn, patiently devising strategies for success, rather than confronting others impetuously.

Suggestive Fi

LIEs are usually rather unsure with their personal sentiments and feelings, naturally paying more attention to the objective factual data and far less to subjective opinion. Although often rather interested in ethics and what can be demonstrated to be right and wrong, LIEs are rarely able to make these personal evaluations for themselves with confidence. When upset about something, the LIE is more likely to first notice changes in their behaviour, before taking the time to reflect and figure out what has been bothering them. Furthermore, in their personal dealings, an LIE may think a lot about the quality of the people they are working with, but fail to trust their evaluations of such people. This can manifest in difficulty with the assignment of trust to others in personal relationships, the LIE either trusting too easily and easily being taken advantage of by unsavoury individuals or trusting too little and avoiding letting themselves get close to people altogether. Ideally, the LIE would prefer it if everyone was intellectually honest in their communication of factual data. However, they soon realise that many people shade and twist their words, resulting in them not knowing who to believe on trust. As such, LIEs greatly appreciate help in these areas. Often they will desire a close, meaningful bond with a significant other, someone who accepts and values who they are on the personal level, with no expectation on them to perform, keep the conversation going or to be anything other than honest in providing helpful, accurate information. They will appreciate people who know their minds and are blunt in their opinions of others, validating the LIE's opinions on who can be trusted and who are the bad eggs, as well as vocalising their own feelings more lucidly.

Id

Ignoring Ti

LIEs are primarily concerned with getting things to work and will focus on the results of their efforts rather than consistency to principles. They may rely on broad principles to guide what they should do, but these guidelines are always going to be flexible and general, based more on trends and observations of reality they have always found to be true, rather than imposing a necessary structure. Although perfectly capable of logical reasoning and making coherent arguments, as well as spotting the contradictions of others in a discussion, the LIE will have little patience for any system or theory that is not applicable in some way. Similarly, they will be prepared to bend, flex or even ignore any ideology or principle unless its benefits have been empirically demonstrated, or if they think it will serve a good use. As such, LIEs may mix and match different approaches for different situations, making concessions that, while one sort of explanation works well here, for the time being, a completely different explanation works there. In such situations, they will act as if both conflicting viewpoints are true, not because they believe both are true, but because they are the most practical explanations currently offered by available evidence and will be subject to eventual change. In this way, integrity of approach is put aside for workable strategies that lead to the best results. Furthermore, LIEs like to apply their initiative to solve problems and may be critical of bureaucracy if it hampers how they are working.

Demonstrative Ne

New ideas and initiatives are often thought up by the LIE, who can come across as a risk-taking inventor or creative visionary to others. LIEs tend to be very capable of seeing an opportunity and leaping after it it if they feel it carries some practical merit. Similarly, LIEs tend to have a very broad range of interests, knowing much about different areas and fields as a valuable source of knowledge. However, LIEs see this more as a means to expanding the possible productivity of their projects and will disapprove of wasting time with useless speculation. The breadth of knowledge is instead targeted towards supporting more linear, prioritised issues. Rather than pursuing and exploring what is interesting, for its own sake, LIEs will try to optimise their thoughts towards greater purposes. As such, LIEs tend to be rather single-minded, willingly using ideas to serve their ends, rather than exploring them for their own sake.

Source: Wikisocion