#tumblr to stop making images blurry challenge

[synesthesiakalaka]

[cramberrytea]

How Could an Angel Break My Heart?

Characters: Kaidan x Kimiya (Original Character)

Summary: Doesn't absence make the heart grow fonder? For Kimiya's sake she hoped that wasn't the case. She hoped that those several years apart would assist her in forgetting about their shared past. However, upon seeing her childhood friend chained and shackled in an abandoned prison those hopes were turned to ash.

Word Count: 1,716

Warnings: Slight Angst, Kimiya being slightly hungover. (am i doing this right?)

A few wee notes:

first off i'm ngl this is my first time posting on here. Please give me grace while I try to be aesthetic, and learn tumblr etiquette.

second, the main character is a redguard woman (she's black y'all). while i describe her in detail please feel free to envision her however you'd like.

first few chapters are on the shorter side! sorry!

title is from the song "How Could an Angel Break My Heart" by toni braxton and babyface

Chapter 1 (Kimiya)

⋆｡‧˚ʚChapter 2ɞ˚‧｡⋆

───✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧────✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧────✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧────✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧───

　

With trembling hands, she gripped the parchment. The words were blurry from the tears in her eyes obscuring the image. But that didn’t matter, as she read the letter five times over. She knew, even through blurry eyes, exactly what each word said.

Even when the tears began to fall onto the words, smudging them beyond recognition, she knew what they said. She slid down the wall, her naked body trembling. Her cheeks and neck wet with fresh tears. Her wails bounced off the wood walls, as she clawed at her chest. The pain was so deep, too deep to get to. That didn’t stop her from trying.

She looked back down at the letter in her hands. It was torture reading this over and over again, but she had to understand. There had to be something she missed. So she read it again…’Dear—‘

“Kimiya” A loud voice with an accent called out. At the sound of her name, the said woman jolted up out of her modest single bed. Her voluminous hair slanted into the shape the pillow forced it into. Several loose pieces of hay protrude outwards from her curly tresses in various locations. Under normal circumstances she would have applied her moisturizer and oils and braided her hair back. However last night was anything but a normal circumstance. Well, it actually was.

The soft clink of empty bottles of mead colliding helped remind her of the events from last night.

“By the Nine lass, this place is a sty. You really oughta clean up around here” Kimiya pried her eyes open. Crust from the intense sleep she had, and the tears she let out while unconscious, made it hard to finally open her eyes. Her eyes turned directly towards the red headed figure at the door to her room.

She whines, throwing herself back onto her pillow, attempting to go back to sleep.

“Fuck off Brynjolf. It’s your fault.” She grumbles out, her words muffled by the pillow covering her entire face.

“How so?” He teased leaning against the doorframe. “I don’t recall doing anything.”

“You were the one who challenged me to that stupid…hhhuhhm…challenge!” Kimiya tiredly argued. “You claimed you could drink me under the table! No way was I gonn…a let that slide! That’s defamation of character!” She continued pointing at him lazily.

“Speaking of, I believe I am owed 20 gold.” He says walking closer into the room. Stepping over the several bottles of Black-Briar Mead, and the occasional Honningbrew. Kimiya slaps a small sack of 20 gold into Brynjolf’s calloused hands, with way more force than necessary.

“You can add it to the grocery fund.” She says venomously from the same position on her bed.

He retraced his steps, over the empty bottles and back to the doorway.

“Great idea, I’m running to the market. Need anything?” He asks before he exits the room.

“More sleep.”

“It’s past noon, lass.”

“What that got to do with me?”

Brynjolf nodded. “Noted.”

Everything was quiet once Brynjolf left the house. As much as Kimiya tried her best to drift back off to sleep, her eyes remained locked on the wooden beams above her head. Another dream. Her eyes drifted down towards the wall, and her eyebrows furrowed as images from her dream resurfaced. The dream was closer to a memory than an actual dream. It makes sense that it would manifest in such a way, she thinks about what happened every day.

She hadn’t realized she’d been laying in bed so long until she heard rapid footsteps coming closer and closer to her room. Her door swung open, slamming into the wall beside it. At the sound of the collision Kimiya bolted up in her bed, her hand sliding under her pillow and grabbing her dagger in one fell swoop. She was ready to attack, until she saw her roommate.

“Maven’s here.” He says basically hanging on the doorknob of Kimiya’s room, before running back out.

At the realization that her employer was present at her house she jumped out of bed. Immediately running to her dresser, grabbing a pair of brown pants. She haphazardly stepped into her pair of pants, flopping onto the corner of her bed tugging her pants up to her waist. However at the sound of Brynjolf’s voice she stopped halfway.

“Maven, it’s a pleasure to see you—“

“Cut the pleasantries Brynjolf, where’s Kimiya?” Maven’s icy voice replies.

“She’s—“

Kimiya comes hastily jogging down the steps, into the dining room, where Maven and Brynjolf were located. The sound of thumping and colliding against furniture could be heard by the two in the dining room. Finally Kimiya bolts straight into the dining room. Her pants were hanging just below her butt, however her long flowy shirt covered it completely. Kimiya kept her legs wide in an attempt to keep her pants from sliding down her legs.

“Right here.” Brynjolf finishes.

“Kimiya,” Maven starts, turning her attention towards the woman who just entered the room.

The raven haired woman eyes Kimiya with a raised brow.

“Your stance is uncomfortably wide this morning.” She finishes before continuing on as if it was beneath her to notice. Brynjolf looked at his roommate with a look that read “what are you doing?!”

“I need you in Whiterun.” The air in the room grew stale as Kimiya’s heart dropped at the command, it would be a surprise if anyone didn’t hear it. “Sabjorn has once again declined my generous offer for a merger. I need you to gather information and report back to me. Do you understand me?”

Kimiya nods, soaking in the information.

“Loud and clear, ma’am.”

Maven nods in acknowledgement before turning towards the front door, however before she exited she turned towards Kimiya.

“And, do clean yourself up. You smell like the inside of an empty bottle of mead.” She finishes, glancing over at Kimiya with a quirked eyebrow. She didn’t miss the way Kimiya’s nostrils flared and the corners of her lips turned downwards into a slight scowl. Maven directed her brief attention which was on Kimiya back towards the door before gracefully exiting the home.

Kimiya bore into the door where Maven was previously, attempting to shoot a laser out of her eyes and into the unsuspecting skull of said woman. Sadly such things were impossible, so she had to use her imagination.

Kimiya let out an exasperated sigh once so tired herself out with the mental image of frying Maven’s head off, she leaned back onto the wall beside her. The slight shift in her body caused her loose hanging pants to slide down to her ankles with a plop.

Brynjolf watched as the pair of pants pooled at her ankles, he stared for a moment before looking up at his roommate with a deadpan look on his face.

“You couldn’t even put your pants on right, lass?”

Kimiya scoffed, stepping out her pants. “I was in a time crunch. Would you rather have me come down with no pants at all?” She grabbed the pair off the ground.

The lack of an answer from Brynjolf, was an answer within itself.

“Stop that.”

“I mean three years ago that would have been a definite yes.”

Before he could finish his sentence Kimiya was already walking up the steps back to her room

“I’m not listening to you!” She yells back. At the sound of her door slamming he let out a snicker.

Kimiya fell on her bed with a grunt. Maven’s words “I need you in Whiterun.” echoed in her mind, almost tauntingly. Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought of being… there. There’s no way to get around it, negotiating with Maven is futile and a waste of energy. She stared at the wood walls beside her. Memories flooded her mind and her lips crinkle into a frown, however she sits up and pushes herself up off the bed, stone faced.

After about 2 hours Kimiya finally came back down. She plopped her brown and gold pack on the table next to where Brynjolf was eating. She grabbed a few apples from the table, stuffing them in the bag.

“Headed out already?” He asked looking up from his plate, and towards the woman in light leather armor. A corset hugged her torso, not tight enough to be uncomfortable or anything. Her sleeves came down to her wrists, however the front part came to her knuckles. The sleeves were split down the middle and bound together by string, from her shoulders down to her wrists. Her boots came up to her mid thigh, stopping before her harness which sat on her upper thigh. Her voluminous hair was parted into several braids, which ran down her chest.

“Yeah, pretty sure Mavens orders weren’t to be done at my leisure.” She sighs, shrugging her bow over her shoulder, and shoving a dress in her pack with unneeded force. Brynjolf nods knowingly, attempting to take her mind elsewhere he starts on his list.

“Health potions?”

“Yeah, got five.”

“Stamina potions?”

“Also five.”

“Change of clothes”

“Yup.”

“Water skin?”

“Got it…wait.”

Brynjolf gave Kimiya a knowing look as she jogged upstairs to her room to grab her empty waterskin. Once she finally came down the steps she hooked the water skin onto her belt. “Got it.” She says with a triumphant smile.

“I see that.” He nods with a small amused smirk.

After the two had finally finished up their impromptu checklist Kimiya swung her bag over her shoulder.

“Well, roomie, I’m off.” she says as she extends an arm out towards Brynjolf. The redhead stands up from his chair wrapping his arm around her waist bringing her into a side hug. However before she could pull away, he put his hands on her shoulders holding her steady. His emerald eyes looking into her brown ones.

“You’ll be fine, you won't be there for long.” He says looking into her eyes, as if he was trying to force what he was saying into her brain. Kimiya pressed her lips into a firm line as she recalls her job, the task ahead, and the strenuous emotional regulation ahead. Brynjolf squeezes her shoulder as he looks down at her despondent expression. He exhales through his nose, rubbing her arm in comfort.

[mimicmew]

Ref Sheet for Tumbleweed! Tried some regular digital art for once.

[aaami-art]

Now that I can make stickers it's all over for y'all

[sdyneysage]

+54 misc&doodle icons (100x100px)

please like/reblog if using don't claim as your own or use as base credit isn't needed but appreciated, enjoy! ~

[mmikmmik2]

If you were to sort the Infinity Train cast(s) into the Major Arcana a la the Persona games, which Arcana would you give everyone?

anon I had SOOOOO much fun thinking about this, thank you so much for sending me this. I sorted all the major characters, plus a few other entries, based on a mix of Arcana symbolism, Persona series character archetypes, and general vibes. I came up with answers I feel pretty good about for all but four of the Arcana. (Was really tempted to say Strength is every human character who doesn't board the train because they can handle their problems on their own lol.) This is going to be a long-winded post, so I thought I’d post just the list as an image (which hopefully won’t be too blurry!) rather than wrestle with Tumblr formatting trying to make a short list, and put a big text wall under the readmore talking more about my picks.

If this list does end up illegible, the same info is under the readmore as text! Plus some characters for Magician, Strength, Justice, and Death that I didn’t want to add to the “official” list because they’re more based on headcanon. (Although my reasoning for some of the “official” picks is pretty weak lol.)

One-One as 0. The Fool

Oh my gosh, what am I?

IT is great at fleshing out character backstories and families, so One-One at the beginning of S1 is one of the few characters who really feels like a blank slate. He's got a lot of his baggage back by the end of the season, and I think One and One-One are more similar than they seem at first glance, but S1 does seem to have been very formative for One-One and how he thinks about what he's supposed to be doing and how he relates to other people. So it does kind of feel like his fool's journey.

Alrick Timmens as I. The Magician

The magician begins the journey... by beefing it on a dirt bike, dying, and sending his wife flying off the deep end. Rip.

Alrick was an engineer like Amelia, so I could see him suiting some of the themes of the Magician, like conscious thought and manifesting ideas. His apparent playfulness and insecurity are similar to the Magician characters in Persona.

Kez as II. The High Priestess

“We can’t make this decision for you, Kez.” “You know what to do.”

I thought really hard about making Kez the Magician because just like every Magician since Persona 3, she's dumb, horny, and insecure dlkjasfdkl

(and also her showing up at the start of the story arc and being helpful but also super needy is very Magician)

But the idea of "intuition" really does suit Kez. Sometimes her intuition is as bad as her conscious reasoning, but I think that's a lot because she's so confused about what happened with Jeremy, and Morgan making Kez feel like she did a bad thing by helping him.

Tuba as III. The Empress

She made me feel like I was warm all the time.

Tuba's a mom. Sorry, this one's not that deep, haha.

Simon Laurent as IV. The Emperor

Highest number! I'm the leader now.

Simon has a lot of issues, but the one that felt the most prominent to me was his unhealthy relationship with power, authority, dominance, and rules. Another quote I considered using here was what he said in Grace's memory of meeting Amelia: "I never thought I'd get to see the Conductor with my own eyes. He's perfect! Everything finally makes sense again." In his emotional crisis, he thought everything could be fixed just by the existence of a huge, scary, powerful, male authority figure, even if they weren't doing anything helpful or informative.

Atticus as V. The Hierophant

I like to think that our stones are sturdy and handsome, like the Corgis that crafted them.

Atticus is a figure of traditional authority who deeply loves the history, society, and culture of his people. He often provides spiritual wisdom and encourages Tulip to get out of her own head and engage with the world around her. Also in Persona, Hiero is the Dad Arcana so it's very funny to me (a) to make the little dog be Hiero and (b) that the little dog really does have the strongest Wholesome Dad Energy of the whole cast.

Jesse Cosay as VI. The Lovers

Don't tell me what to do. I'm not going to be a part of anything like this, on or off the train.

This was my first and easiest pick lol, Jesse is sooooo Lovers. Like, the focus on choice and personal values and relationships? Yep, that's Jesse. It works on an "actual meaning of the Arcana" level and a "vibes with the Persona characters" level lol... popular, upbeat, and having such an identity crisis.

Lake as VII. The Chariot

I'm my own person, who is getting off this train!

I don't know if Chariot captures all the ways Lake grew over the course of S2, but I feel like they had the most externally focused conflict of all the IT characters, which suits Chariot. They've been fighting to stake out their personhood from start to finish, and they took action and used their willpower to achieve that goal. Also they have at least a little jock energy which is a prereq for Chariot tbh.

Frank as VIII. Strength

I dunno, I kinda imagine him as a simple man and easily underestimated, but with a lot of heart. The Cat may say they're keeping things casual but I don't think she'd take him with her on her private vacation unless he had some kind of inner toughness that would let him stand toe-to-toe with her.

Morgan as IX. The Hermit

I need to be alone right now. Kez... maybe... we can talk later.

I like that Morgan embodies toxic self-isolation and stonewalling and rejection, but that she seems to be moving towards the positive aspects of Hermit and taking some time to calm down and process and think. I like it when characters can embody the best and worst of their Arcana.

Tulip Olsen as X. The Wheel of Fortune

We have to adapt to the changes in our lives. It's the only way things can get better.

Tulip has a lot of themes and conflicts, but this one is a clear standout as the most important. I also like it for Tulip because, while she has to handle a lot of difficult and even traumatic situations, some of the change that challenges her isn't as unambiguously bad as e.g. the death of a loved one. It really is just change itself she's struggling with, and that's Fortune babey. Also, from the perspective of the train itself and lots of other characters, by reversing Amelia and One-One's positions again and changing how One-One administrates the train, Tulip is the one giving the wheel a spin. That's fun.

Lucy as XI. Justice

One of my friends once described the Justice characters in Persona as "the ones the player character is ultimately accountable towards", and I like to think of Lucy as kind of being that for Grace (...since Hazel has excused herself). Lucy is the Apex kid we see Grace interact with the most, the first Apex kid Grace admitted to herself that she had harmed (see Grace very briefly showing distress and then regret when Jesse points the harpoons at his face and she stops him), and the first person to confront Grace when she came home in The New Apex.

Min-Gi Park as XII. The Hanged Man

I don't know if we'll sell a single album, but we'll figure that out as we go.

Min-Gi sacrifices his "realistic", "sensible" goals for a more personally (spiritually, even?) enriching life that's beyond his control and outside of the expected norm. Like the Hanged Man, who dangles foolishly upside-down, but as a deliberate choice and in a state of serenity and enlightenment. I also think this arcana suits a reading of Min-Gi's character development as starting off going slower as a way to stall and live in denial, but then going slower with deliberation. Compare his arrogant insistence on refusing to act in The Astro Queue Car to his patience and care in The Castle Car and The Train to Nowhere.

Jeremy as XIII. Death

This isn't about the death of his family - I'm thinking of his reluctance to admit his number was going down. He cared about Morgan and Kez, and it's possible both that he may have really wanted to stay with them despite his exit and that that might even have been a healthy choice - they're real ass people with feelings and everything, not holodeck characters. But I also think Jeremy was using his life with them to avoid moving on out of that fog (because it was hard and it hurt and he didn't want to think about what that would mean for him and Morgan) and Morgan was enabling him.

Ryan Akagi as XIV. Temperance

Maybe the experience is the point. I wasn't just rushing you. I was rushing myself.

I think this one speaks for itself. Also, the other quote I considered putting here, from The Art Gallery Car: "You told me I can't appreciate the song without taking in the rest of the album. I need the whole package."

The Cat as XV. The Devil

I always do the right thing.

Honestly, this is one I really wasn't sure about. The Cat isn't a great pick for a lot of the meanings of Devil. She is definitely consumed by material comforts, and the short-term rewards of ignoring her issues at a long-term cost, though. This is more of a "vibes with Persona characters with this arcana" pick... Devil characters tend to start off being somewhat exploitative or even antagonistic towards the player character, and gradually showing a more conflicted and genuine side.

Amelia Hughes as XVI. The Tower

There's a hole in the universe where Alrick used to be.

Amelia's life is defined by catastrophe and upheaval - both those she's suffered and those she's inflicted on others.

Hazel as XVII. The Star

I'm going to keep loving you like you're still here.

When I think of "The Star" as a small but inextinguishable light in the darkness, Hazel seems like the obvious choice. Although we left her deeply wounded, I think she still has a flicker of her hope, faith, and purpose.

Grace Monroe as XVIII. The Moon

But it's unfair for me to tell you how to understand yourself. I mean, I don't even fully understand me.

Grace is probably the most complex and dynamic character on the show and hence one of the most difficult to place. I considered Empress, Strength, Devil, and Judgement for her... I think ultimately, lies and illusions are the most unifying theme of her character arc. Also, from a Persona angle, her pursuit of status out of a lack of true self-worth reminds me of Ai and Mishima.

Alan Dracula as XIX. The Sun

Brought together by the majesty of a superpowered deer!

I'm sorry dkjasfklads this is largely because I thought it was funny to have this completely inexpressive dead-eyed deer as Sun akfk but also... like... it kind of works okay!!! Think about the genuine joy and comfort and positivity he brings to Lake and Jesse (and me)!

The New Apex as XX. Judgement

"Then what are we gonna be?" "Guess we'll have to figure it out?"

This is kind of a Persona mythology gag again because of Judgement being a group social link near the end of the narratives of P3 and P4, when the protagonists have pierced through the lies and actually figured out who the villain of their game is and are ready to really start making progress.

0 as XI. The World

Ah, train does it again!

It's an ending and the completion of a journey, but also the beginning of a new one. And the world is literally what the passengers receive at the end of their train journey. Welcome home.

[mellz117]

Hi! I’m Mellz and I’m starting up Kingdom Hearts 2 on the PlayStation 2! 

Just below are links to the first parts of my previous Kingdom Hearts plays.

[ KH1 ] _ [ Re:CoM Sora ] _ [ KH Re:CoM Riku ]

It’s been a hot minute, like 3,155,763 smoldering hot minutes, which would be 6 years including leap years. Yeah it was 01/27/2014 last I touched this game, exactly 6 years ago to this day (01/27/2020) as of me starting up again. This was an accident.

Guide thingy: Things like long gaps between commentary and days will be separated by a line of dots like that ->  ……

Text relating to an image posted will have a blockquote either above and/or below the image

Dialogue exchanges will also be separated by a blockquote

Ok I'm playing on standard difficulty, if I'm having a hard time, then I just suck. If you’re reading this and haven’t experienced KH2 for yourself, why are you here? Go away, there’s spoilers for things that aren’t revealed until later.

SO LET’S JUST JUMP INTO IT

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I always liked this fancy CGI opening. There’s a lot of things I missed last I saw it.

IT’S HIM. Look how cute he is! 

So we start off with a recap of Kingdom Hearts via a dream it seems and our protagonist, my precious boy Roxas, wakes up his own home all alone because apparently DiZ didn't create a digital family for him. But KH is notorious for forgetting parents, so maybe they did. I’m not Cinema Sins so I wont ping this game for not giving Roxas fake parents lmao

In the next scene Roxas is more interested in his own hands than he is in his friends' conversation. 

blurry ring textures, blurry checker pattern. Not everything holds up well on a flat screen TV

He hasn't been paying attention so he's just as confused as the player is at this point when he finally takes his attention off his hands.

This dialogue is so early 2000's. KH1 and CoM avoided this but with the urban setting of Twilight Town it's DEFINITELY noticeable and outdated. So rumors have spread about Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette that photographs are being stolen, and THEY'RE the theives. Who is the operator of the rumor mill? Seifer and his posse. Also the actual WORD is gone too, they try to say “photo” but it just DOESN’T EXIST. This is where the game gets a bit odd.

TUTORIALS GALORE. I JUST WANT TO PAUSE AND CHANGE THE CAMERA CONTROLS STOP TELLING ME ABOUT MY NEXT OBJECTIVE but no no it’s telling me how to lock on, control my camera, context sensitive buttons, etc 

This girl’s dress looks like shes wearing a bra over it 

I like how the animal AI hasn't changed at all in this entire series. And by like I mean hate, KH3 doesn't change that. Sven is as boring as this cat we have to look at.

The gang heads to the sandlot where Seifer, Fuujn, Raijin, and Vivi like to hang out I guess? Vivi is a little, solid black, wizard dwarf amongst all these regular humans and no one bats an eye. This shit is normal. Seifer with his stupid Seto Kaiba jacket, shows up to further accuse Roxas and his friends of stealing photos, one specifically of Roxas flat on his face and Seifer standing triumphantly over him (which we’re actually shown later). "That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers" he says in regards to it and challenges Roxas to a rematch.

A+ dialogue

Seifer. My dude, ya dumb-dumb. If you think for one second that I'm gonna let my boy lose to you, you are sorely mistaken. 

“If you get on your knees and beg, maybe I’ll let it slide.” Seifer says and Roxas plays it slick, taking a knee and looking through a convenient selection of foam weapons. Battle ensues.

So of course I win because Seifer is a pleb, and Pence takes a commemorative ______ of Roxas's sound victory, but oh no! Something stole the camera right out of Pence's hands! Roxas gives chase, because apparently he's the only one who cares enough to do so, and confronts the actual thief, a Dusk type Nobody. Roxas is taking this creature encounter rather calmly. Like mild confusion at most.

I hate these things, they're creepy. When you do a reversal on them they like, plant their hands on the ground behind them and their legs wrap around their arms while they spaz out. Ughghdhahh

Of course Roxas's foam bat doesnt cause any damage to the Dusk, and suddenly a familiar giant key digitally manifests in his hands. DiZ is installing mods I see. I have a Keyblade mod in Skyrim, so we have something in common.

After we defeat the thief the next scene shows the gang at the usual spot with the recovered photos. Ok ok so was "photo" the only word deleted from the vocabulary or were any other alternative words taken away too? Like, if they could have said "picture" this whole time, they would have had much less stupid sounding dialogue exchanges. Whatever lmao.

“Tell us about the picture thief.”

“Not much to say. The pictures were just lying there.”

You liar. Tell them about how you fought a wormy, white boy.

Pence notices all the pics are of Roxas and speculates the picture thief wanted to take the REAL Roxas and Hayner is like

The best friendships are ones where you can take jabs at each other and know there’s no malice intended.

 In the scene thereafter, the kids go their separate ways, the evening(?) sun assaults Roxas's eyes, and whenever he closes them he gets another vision? Idk what time of day it is it always looks the same.

God ok as someone who hadn’t played CoM before playing KH2 for the first time, I must have been SUPER lost regarding who DiZ and Namine were and why Sora is in the pod. More recaps of KH1: I don’t know why they found it necessary to redub over the old voices with the new actors in these flashbacks.

Moving on. Roxas learns what the Keyblade is through his dreams. On his way to meet up with his friends, he tries summoning the Keyblade with a stick, when that doesn’t work he carelessly throws it aside and it hits this cloak clad man behind him. This dude is either completely unfazed by that is or so offended he can’t even say anything and walks away before he goes all Karen on Roxas’s ass.

We’re back at the usual spot and summer vacation is nearing it’s end. Hayner wants to go to the beach before school is back in session! You poor fuckers...

Same, dude. I’m waiting on my tax returns, looking forward to that.

SKATEBOARD

“TO DEFEAT THE HUNSSSSSSS!”

Pretzels at the beach? Salty and not refreshing. I got you fam, I’ll make enough money for a watermelon. Roxas is so poor omg... How much is 150 Munny in American currency?

Just BEAT the cargo with a foam bat. What’s IN the bag? Is it trash? Clothes? Is it potentially breakable? Next. Time to beat some bees!

So Poster Duty was my go-to job in this game in the past because you could get 100 Munny if you did well. But now that I’m older I realized how annoying it is. I had an efficient route planned out, hit as many of the 3 poster placements in that route, and be over and done with that in about 1:10....

But then Roxas goes aND DOES THIS!

FUCKING SKIPS THE ONE DIRECTLY NEXT TO HIM, DEFYING GRAVITY IN FAVOR OF THE POSTS BELOW

HE DOES THIS CONSISTENTLY!! I do have a live reaction to this but it’s too big for tumblr. I’ll have it up on youtube one of these days

Eventually I stopped sticking posters to walls and became a mailman until the game made me stop.

Black-clad man is back with his own stick! Oof, Roxas eats the pavement and is manhandled by cloaky boy. WAS THIS ROUGH TREATMENT REALLY THAT NECESSARY? You might wanna treat Sora's Nobody with a little more respect. AND YOU STOLE HIS HARD-EARNED MONEY! YOU BASTARD!

The gang is on the clock tower, very dangerously high up. Wtf what if someone falls?! Roxas feels so guilty about what happened and Hayner gets over this little fiasco pretty quickly and the next day he already has another fun plan.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

On his way to the station, Roxas crosses paths with Pence and Olette, the latter two freeze and Roxas meets Namine. Is her interest in Roxas linked to her desire to be Sora’s friend? A strange girl tells Roxas she wanted to meet him “at least once” and he doesn’t know what to do lol. Namine doesn’t stay long, leaving Roxas with his confusion. What is going through his head? A girl he doesn’t know seems to know him well enough to want to see him. Pence and Olette unfreeze after Namine is out of the shot. Pence and Olette have such a cute relationship, I’d love for them to be siblings. Pence goes shopping with her even if he might not want to. I can relate, I hate clothes shopping.

These Dusks don’t seem like too much of a threat tbh, they just kinda swagger slowly towards Roxas and grab his hand. Roxas hardly struggles to escape to the sandlot.

Chicken wuss

WE FINALLY GET SOMEWEHERE, we end up on the stained glass pillars in the Station of Serenity (?). Time to grind for like 5 minutes because this giant noodle boy already killed me once.

This thing really unsettles me. All the creature Nobodies do! They’re all twitchy and stretchy. DISGUSTING

DAMN THAT IS A HIGH FALL HOW DO YOU SURVIVE THAT?!

Upon defeat, this big noodle boy falls on top of Roxas and Namine saves him from being enveloped by darkness.

Namine really seems to like to silence him. First she shoves her hand in his face but that was too forward. This time she daintily places a finger over her lips and says her part. Black-cloak guy shows up, rough handles Namine a little bit but not as roughly as he did Roxas. AND SHOVES ROXAS INTO A PORTAL

SEIFER IS AN OPPORTUNISTIC SHITLET POSING IN FRONT OF HIS UNCONSIOUS BODY. Bitch you didn’t earn that. Hayner, Pence, and Olette see Roxas with Seifer’s gang, Hayner feels betrayed thinking Roxas ghosted him in favor of Seifer. He stays pretty salty about it for a good while

IM NOT WORKING ON THIS LIKE I SHOULD. ITS ALMOST A MONTH SINCE STARTING. In my next post we'll be "Struggling" to progress. Eh? Eh? Get it? Like the tournament?

I'm not funny.

Here’s the next part: [ _2_ ]

Below is a compilation of my live reactions and comments throughout this point of the game.

[just0nemorepage]

Welcome to my monthly book photo challenge!

There is no right or wrong way to interpret any of these prompts. Let your mind explore, and just have fun with it!

January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December

What Some Challenge Terms Mean

AF - “as f*ck”

ampersand - the “and” symbol - &

archetype - a common and recurring character type; ex. the mentor, the mother figure, the villain, etc.

BROTP - similar to OTP; a platonic, best friends relationship you are destined to ship forever

endpages - the paper fixed to the inside front and back cover of a book

extra - over-the-top excessive

freebie - a free picture; post whatever bookish picture you want that day

intersectional - intersectional feminism - feminism that includes everyone who is affected by oppression, not just straight white cisgendered women

LGBTQIA+ - the non-heterosexual / non-cisgender community acronym - “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, and more”

non-binary - a gender that does not fall under the gender binary of exclusively “male” or “female"

ombre - a gradual blend from one color hue to another

OTP - “one true pairing” - a romantic relationship you will ship until the end of time

#ownvoices - a hashtag created to highlight books that are written by an author that shares a marginalized identity with the protagonist

PoV - “point of view”

shelfie - a picture of your bookshelves

squad - a group of friends

TBR - “to be read”

transgender - an individual who identifies as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth

Please note: I keep prompts vague on purpose! But if you are stumped about the basic definition of any other term you may see on my challenge, please let me know so I can include it on this list.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: So how do you participate? A: It’s very simple! For a given month, each numbered prompt corresponds with the date, so there is one prompt for each corresponding day. When that day rolls around, take a look at what the prompt is, pair that with anything bookish, take a picture of whatever it is that popped into your head, and post it! There are no right or wrong interpretations of any of the prompts, and really, the only rule is that it has to be book related. There doesn’t even need to be a book in the picture! :)

If you find you’re stumped on what you want your post to look like, click here to look through the general #book photo challenge tag on Tumblr, and see what other people have been doing with their challenge posts. Let them inspire you for how to set up your own!

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Q: What happened to your Just One Word BPC? Are those prompts still usable? Do you still track those tags? A: In October 2017, I decided to stop making new prompts for that BPC, and just recycled its old prompts for the time being. Starting June 2018, with the new BPC (“JOMP Book Photo Challenge”), the Just One Word BPC is no longer active. I will no longer be reblogging the prompts, they will no longer linked here, and I will no longer be following the tags associated with it or deliberately reblogging challenge posts made from it. Everything is brand new and redesigned, and only the new prompts and the new tags will be active. If you still have the Just One Word prompts or still manage to find them, you can of course still choose to use them, but it’ll just be for your own enjoyment. They will no longer be part of a community challenge.

-

Q: How can I see the prompt graphic better? It’s kind of small and blurry. A: I know, sorry about that. :( If you’re on your dashboard, click the prompt image from the post, then right click and select “view image” or “open image in a new tab,” or whatever variation of the command your browser gives you. If you click the image again after that, it’ll enlarge itself to full size.

If you’re viewing the prompt post from a blog instead of your dashboard, all you need to do is click the image once. You can enlarge it to full size from there.

Alternatively, right click the prompt from the post, select “save image as,” save it where you want it, and view it from your computer.

-

Q: When do you normally try to post the next month’s challenge? A: Usually, within a week or so before the first of each month.

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Q: What are the tags to use? A: ’#justonemorepage’ and ’#jompbpc’. Make sure you put them within the first five tags of the post, otherwise it won’t show up on Tumblr’s tracked tags page, and I won’t see it!

I do also track ’#book photo challenge’. I check all three of these tags on a daily basis, and like and/or reblog any post I especially enjoy!

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Q: Can I post and participate in the challenge on places other than Tumblr (Instagram, Twitter, etc.)? A: Of course you may! I don’t actively use any other website other than Goodreads, so unless you also post on Tumblr, I am not likely to see the posts. However, I made it a point to make the new challenge prompts Instagram friendly, so please, go right ahead and do so!

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Q: Is it ever too late in the month for me to join in? A: Never! It could be the last day of the month, and you could still join! You can play catch up and make posts for all the days you missed, or you can start on the day you decide to jump in. Whichever you prefer!

-

Q: Is it okay for me to skip prompts, for any reason? A: Of course it is! If you joined late in the month, if you’re too busy, if you’re uninspired, if you don’t own or can’t get to what you want to take pictures of, if you don’t want to, if you just plum forgot, etc etc etc. Any reason is perfectly acceptable to skip a prompt, and in no way are you required to post every single day.

-

Q: May I work ahead and post the prompts before the corresponding date is hit? A: Absolutely, you may work ahead. However, I would prefer if you waited to actually post until the corresponding date. A good way to do this is to make the post ahead of time, and draft or queue it for it to be posted on the appropriate day.

-

Q: Can I @ you in my post? A: Please don’t! I understand the thought behind it, and it’s really very sweet of you to want to! But, if you use the proper tags, I’ll see the post anyhow when I look through the tracked tags pages, and @‘ing me bogs down my notifications and makes it harder to see other posts I’m mentioned in that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Please be considerate of this, and just use the tags!

-

Q: May I use someone else’s picture for my challenge post? A: I appreciate you coming to ask me about this first, but no, you may not. This is the only thing I am very, very strict on: you are required to take the pictures yourself. I would rather you skip a day’s prompt than use someone else’s photo.

If you absolutely must use someone else’s work for any reason, you are required to obtain explicit permission from the owner to repost their picture, and you are required to say so in your post alongside the proper credit. You may not do one, and not the other. You must have both. This may be done as often as you would call off work or miss going to school with no repercussions, e.g. no more than two times in a 2-3 month period.

PLEASE NOTE: If I find you’ve reposted someone else’s picture without permission and / or credit, I will contact the original owner so they may report you to Tumblr for copyright infringement. This is something you may lose your blog over. Theft is not worth the risk. Do not do it.

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If your question wasn’t answered here, then do feel free to message me! ♥

[wincestisasincest]

Murder in the Blue Morgue -- Part 7

Y’know, every three months is still a technically consistent update schedule.

Also, this chapter is super long, and was an absolute doozy to write, so enjoy. Be on the lookout for poorly written character development, that’s kind of my specialty. 

Also, it’s summer, so maybe I can actually write more of these now. 

Tag: @saturnsocoolioyep​

If y’all wanna be tagged(I still think the above is how you do it, so do correct me if I’m wrong) just ask. 

Also, here’s the masterlist, for 1-5: https://twincestforthewincest.tumblr.com/post/181757211705/murder-in-the-blue-morgue-masterlist

I’m updating Tumblr first, but shortly after this goes live, the whole thing is also on my Wattpad and Archive. God I hope this happens quickly because I am so tired.

Here she goes.

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Josephine's breath shifted the dust particles around the dank hallway. Well, they couldn't exactly be called dust, but whatever particles had popped into existence due to all of the drama that had happened in the hallway, and had decided to remain there afterwards to haunt the building and the conscience of anyway who had passed through it.

Inviting.

The light blinked ominously. No person in their right mind would've stayed to sleep in this hallway after someone had been murdered in one of the neighboring apartments, which made it perfect for late night revisiting.

The thought had occurred to her that if they noticed that she was missing from the police station this would definitely be the first place that they looked, but the officers on duty seemed to have a "give her space" attitude, which was perfect for scheming. The cameras would catch her, of course, but only as an afterthought. All she needed now was to see the scene. Perhaps for her own closure.

The door was already open, the shadowy interior flooding into the hallway. Of course, it was blocked to hell with police tape, like everything else in this damn building, but the easy part about that is that you can always just bend under it.

Jo shoved her hands in her pockets, entering the apartment as though she had just gotten off of school.

The dead body of her mother was sprawled across the floor, with very obvious stab wounds sprinkled all over her body. Blood had pooled into the cheap carpet, as well as the cheap t-shirt and under the tacky nails of her mother. The light from the hallway crept around the nooks and crannies of the corpse, casting angular shadows that made her look like a character from a comic book.

Jo fished the lighter out of one of her pockets and flipped it open, flicking the light with the calloused tip of her thumb. The last thing she'd need was someone calling the cops because she'd idiotically turned the lights on.

The tiny flame danced about the remains of the apartment, everything either wrapped in some sort of crime-scene plastic, or taken and placed god knows where as if her goddamn used, unwashed fork in the sink was important evidence.

Jo held the light above her in a mock statue of liberty, and observed the ceiling, the only thing that seemed to have remained untouched. Her reflection in the lightbulb was like that of a bathroom mirror, with every one of her grizzled and tired features coming to center stage. The reflection of the light was interrupted by a small, spiraling shadow.

Jo put out the lighter and pulled her jacket sleeves over her hands, navigating by touch and instinct to the bathroom, where she retrieved the footstool and returned to the base of the lamp, reigniting the lighter.

Her fingers reached out and plucked the obtrusion off the lightbulb, returning her complete reflection. It was a spiral of red hair that did flips around her index finger and pinkie.

"Figured you'd be here." A husky voice sliced through as Jo shut off her lighter. A corpse-like silhouette occupied the door frame.

"Figured you wouldn't. They're looking for ya, y'know."

"Love, if you think this is my first time evading the law, you'd be sorely mistaken."

"Thought as much. But your friend might not be as experienced."

"That's what I'm here for."

"Again, though, he was deft enough to kill a person, so maybe I've underestimated him."

"You seem like a smart girl. Smart enough to know what you're saying is bullshit."

"Well call me a Devil's Advocate, but I'd challenge you to look at the evidence."

"Hm. Challenge not accepted. It's not him."

"I'm not the one you need to tell. You'll probably be confronting the judge in a few months."

"Maybe, but that'll be separate from Dents."

"You seem like a smart girl. Smart enough to know what you're saying is bullshit."

"Well, this isn't going anywhere." The figure shifted forward in the door frame before it was consumed in the darkness of the apartment.

"Nope, but I am." Jo shoved the hair into her pocket before darting to the backroom, throwing open the window, and flinging herself onto the fire escape.

Worming her way around the stairs, she dropped to the lower level, before determining herself close enough to the ground to jump off. She crash landed before bending her knees to make her landing somewhat more graceful, just like she was 10 again and wanted to fulfill an in-poor-taste dare. She pulled herself up and began to sprint around the corner, not stopping to look behind her.

The block passed in a blur, and the corner store's neon lights came into full view. The small mom-and-pop shop was not only a keystone of the street, but also her ticket to possibly escaping the madman that had advanced at her a few seconds ago.

She pushed the door open and the bell flipped over itself, its ring sailing through a vacant store. Caleb, the bored college dropout tasked with watching the place in the evenings, took a rather large hit, fresh from his personal stash, before facing her.

"Hey, man. Can I use the back door?"

"Whatever you say, just do it quick before that other customer comes in."

She whipped her head around, still on high alert. The street was bathed in a large shadow overcast by an even larger man across the street. And to think. She'd taken them to the diner earlier.

The man began to approach the stop in a way reminiscent of the Hash Slinging Slasher, though she got the sense that there would be no comedic conclusion to follow. Not pausing to test her theory, she crawled under the counter, ripped open the door to the slightly stalling door to where they kept all of their supplies, and pushed herself through the large, unlocked, double doors that they would use to unload trucks.

The night was crawling on her again, and the alleyway let some bare moonlight flow through the clothes lines coming out of the windows to spill on her face. She continued to sprint under the clotheslines before taking a brief excursion on another alleyway, this time undercut by the steps up to a makeshift rooftop garden.

The world around her had gone quiet. Like it was a point in a movie where she would meet her old nemesis, hiding in the corner, waiting to let go of their blanket of shadows and shoot her down. But instead it was just her.

You can't really see the stars on any given night in New Jersey, even in the South, but occasionally, on a super clear night, some divine force's toothpick pokes through the sky and you can see the stars glaring down at you. Of all nights that this were to happen on, it had to be this one.

She continued her gait, though it had somewhat slowed. She doubted that she had actually successfully eluded them, but perhaps they would find her more out of their persistence and not their own skill in tracking. That gave her time for the moment.

The next stop would, of course, be the police station. Maybe she could even act like she never left, if no one had noticed her or bothered to check the footage. She'd gotten her closure, and perhaps the rest of the night could fall into place like that had.

That being said, the police station would be where she was expected to go. There wouldn't be any harm in waiting everything out in an equally safe place, where perhaps the location and the night could play equal parts in hiding her. No harm at all. This is her city, with her people, and the safest place that she could've been at the moment.

She hadn't stopped to notice that her feet had stopped carrying forward as she had become lost in her thoughts. The city was all hers, and yet there was nowhere that could guarantee her safety.

Noodle darted off the roof of a building and grabbed her. Her hand stifled a scream.

"Look, look, I know this is sudden and everything, but we need your help. I promise we're not gonna hurt you or anything, but you are coming with us."

A white van, like the kind that children disappear into, pulled up from behind the corner. Before Jo could even attempt to bite her attacker's hand, she was flung into the back of the shady van. Just another great way to keep the chase moving forward.

Okay okay okay. Calm calm calm. You're so goddamn fine. Everything is peachy. Don't look worried. Don't look worried. Don't look worried.

Her vision had gone slightly blurry due to the force of the impact, but nothing that a few quick blinks couldn't handle. Slowly, the image of the lanky, blue haired guy that had haunted her thoughts for the last few hours focused into view. Never in her life did she think that he would look menacing.

"Okay, I know this looks bad," Normally, it was easy for her to take his voice seriously, but with all the bitter resent seeping in, it sounded so much more annoying, "But you need to help me find out who killed your mum."

He was smoking a cigarette, which, if Jo wasn't already intensely used to the smell, she wouldn't assumed to be weed instead. But nope, just more classic stuff they tell you not to do in school.

"Um, no, I don't think I will actually."

"Please."

"Nope."

"Noodle, it's not working."

"'D, you gotta try a little harder than that. I'll go find Mudz and Russ."

"Wait, Noodle-"

The van shook slightly as she hopped out the back. Very stable. The smoke lingered longer than the eyes of the pair in the van, both refusing to look directly at each other.

"I'm really sorry about all this, okay? But, I'm innocent, I swear, and I need to find out who it was."

"This ain't a goddamn movie. You're rich. You can hire a lawyer and pay off the jury. You'll get out unscathed, and maybe with a little bit of Chicago and a little less of OJ, it might even work out for ya. AND, I don't need to be involved with any of this."

"You knew your mum better than anyone else."

"Yeah, and I think you did it, so I suggest you find someone else."

"I didn't fucking kill your mum!" Jo didn't think that he had it in him to raise his voice. Though, she also didn't think that he was capable of murder. The scratchiness of his throat was really brought out in the yell, and she could tell that it still wasn't something that he did too often. He could tell too. It was quickly replaced by even more silence, this time with the two making perfect eye contact.

"I thought I told you that I didn't want to be involved in any more shit. I don't know anything. I won't tell anyone. I just wanna fucking go home." Her voice was also a lot smaller than she was used to.

"I- look, sorry I yelled, you're clearly freaked out, I-"

"I'm fine, but I'd be even better if I were out of this van right now."

"I don't," he sighed, "I can't do that."

"You mean you don't want to."

"I just, I didn't do it. I really didn't."

"If it makes you feel any better, that's what I told the police."

"Really?"

"Yeah, before they convinced me otherwise," his face dropped, and she knew she shouldn't be feeling bad for him, but she recoiled, somehow feeling like she had gone too far, "But, what I believe wouldn't have changed what I told them. They, uh, already knew most of it anyway."

She was sitting face up, with her legs stretched apart in a mock half-straddle, her hands resting in the middle. 2D rubbed his eyes with one of his hands in contemplation.

"Well, I guess-"

"STRAP YOURSELVES IN KIDDIES, WE'RE HITTIN' THE ROAD!" Murdoc and Russel swooped into the front of the van while Noodle hopped in through the back slamming the doors shut. Murdoc man-handled the car into starting before either 2D or Jo could sling out a retort or question. The van lurched forward and 2D topped to the ground, joining Jo, while Noodle remained, standing tall.

"Russ, can we have the live feed." Noodle politely looked over the seats in the front.

"Sure thing, catch." Russel flung a clunky, 90s looking TV from the front seat over the heads of the pair on the floor, which Noodle caught gracefully and plugged into one of the outlets that was, for some reason, in the back of the van. The television whizzed to life and filled the car with static.

"Where's the remote?" Noodle announced to the van as she took her place on the floor in front of the TV.

"Oh, I fink I'm sittin on it, hold on..." 2D searched under his ass for the remote, while Jo was still struggling to comprehend the spectacle.

"Okay, it's definitely local news..." Noodle flipped through the channels on the television while both 2D and Jo crawled up next to her.

The camera zoomed in on a shot of the van, the camera courteously going a few blocks up as well to show the cops on their tail.

"-popular band Gorillaz is currently on the run from the police, as their lead singer 2D is suspected of murder. The band currently-" the voice of the newscaster cut swayed in and out, in time with Jo's consciousness, as she dared to not be too light headed.

"-on the lookout for Josephine Powell, daughter of the deceased, snuck out of the police station this morning, and will be charged as an accessory to the murder as new evidence comes to-"

"Wait, what?!" Jo leaned in to the TV, the images of her face that had been taken when she arrived at the station flashing clearly and proudly on the screen.

"You're a part of this, now, kid! Keep up!" Murdoc shouted from the front, his tongue sticking directly out of his mouth and curling upward as he swerved, half focused on the drive and half focused on the escape.

"No, no, oh my god, I'm an accessory?!" Jo pushed herself into the back of the van.

"Yeah, you have to help now!" 2D did a joyous fist-bump to the air, though it didn't match his slightly accusatory tone.

"I still think you did it, asshole."

"Aww, really?"

"Really really."

"Well, you can believe that as long as you like," Russ cut in, "Your name is another that's gotta be cleared though. And that ain't gonna happen if you go back to them cops. So help us in the meantime."

"I don't even know where to start with that. Like, help with what?"

"Help us find out who did it. If we have definitive proof that it was someone else, which it was," 2D added slightly resentfully, "then we can prove that I'm not guilty."

"No, I got that part, but what could I possibly tell you that would help with that. Everyone's either fucked my mom, had it out for her, or both."

"Not a soul you can fink of?" She found herself not being able to look him in the eye again.

"Well, the only people that she liked slightly were the other moms. Like, y'know, with your kids. And I'm pretty tight with their kids as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we have a group chat."

"Well-"

"I don't know if it's a good idea to show up with the guy who murdered one of their friends asking for help. They might even be expecting you."

"Nah, they wouldn't think we're that stupid." Murdoc interjected from the front, lingering on the first syllable of the word 'stupid'.

"Yeah, and we're good at getting away with stuff. We'll figure something out." Noodle didn't even look away from the TV.

"Well, okay I guess. The closest one is in Minneapolis. So, we can go there, I guess."

"Don't count on it being too soon. I'll need at least a few hours to loose these cops." Murdoc's tongue had retreated into this mouth.

"Ah, see, everyfin is gonna work out." 2D took another hit and leaned all the way back, forgetting that Jo was there completely.

Jo scooted herself all the way into a corner and went back to focusing on her consciousness. Not only had it been one of the most trying days of her life, but the hour was transitioning into four in the morning, and she had been up since five. She wasn't one to get sick on car rides, but the sway of the van made her very nauseous. Her eyelids seemed heavier with each creak that the van gave.

But she couldn't sleep. Wouldn't sleep. As uncomfortable as her house was, that place was still where she made her bed. And this wasn't.

Murdoc had managed to pull some smokebombs and real bombs out of god knows where, and, with the help of Russel, had a clearly laid out strategy for launching them in the air at their attackers. His gangly fingers had chucked one of them out of the now open left window of the car.

The van swayed a final time before everyone was plunged into complete, smoky, darkness.

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Another fun fact, I’m also thinking about releasing another 2D series, so I can keep myself motivated and work on both at the same time. This one might be actual 2D x reader though. Don’t worry, same style, just different ship, and less road trip murder adventure. But yeah, that’s all for now.

[vaanibct]

Curiosity Guide - Method

Roles

Carol: App developer, Augmented Reality Researcher and Implementer, 3D Model Designer, Film model, Map Designer, Concept Developer

Shades: Story researcher, Narrator (Queen st), Location scout, Scriptwriter, Camera, Sound editing, Initial Concept, Concept Developer

Vaanipriya: Graphic Designer, User Interface Developer, User Experience Designer, Visual Designer, Film Director, Video Editor, Sound recording, Concept Developer

To design and build ‘Curiosity Guide App,’ our group followed an iterative design process, which consisted of ongoing research, physical and digital prototyping, getting constant user feedback, implementing augmented reality, voice recording, visual design iterations and app design, in order to showcase our concept of ‘Auckland Identity.’ As a group, we worked on different aspects of the Project to ensure that everything was completed to the best of our abilities. 

Curiosity Guide involves work from many disciples and allowed us to follow several techniques and methodologies to constantly develop and improve the final product. We have individually worked on the methods we undertook...

I worked on many aspects throughout the course of this project, including Filming and Audio Recording and App Design. I believe the best way to explain the techniques and methodologies I undertook is to divide them into these three parts.

Video Making :

At the beginning of this Semester, we were informed to create a short video to explain our concepts. During the film-making process, I was appointed as the Cameraperson, which allowed me to demonstrate my videoing skills. For this process, I mainly looked at my previous video-making experiences to improve from my mistakes. I had learned to video in many different ways, as it allows for better footage. I was sure to record different camera angles and movements, as well as video extra footage, to ease the process of editing.

Closer to the end of the Semester, we had decided to shoot our final video, to showcase the functionality of our app in the outside world. During this shoot, I was chosen as the Director, while Shades as the Cameraperson and Carol as the Actor. Since I previously had no experience in this role, I was excited to learn during the process. Something I had learned through watching a lot of movies, is that it is better to record in continuity. For this reason, I directed Shades to video certain camera shots, and Carol to act in a particular way. As the Director, my job was to envision the video in my head, in order to understand how it would flow together. Although my Direction could have been better, I believe that I learned a lot through this experience, because I faced a few issues during the editing stage of process.

As the video editor, I firstly went through an elimination process, which consisted of deleting any unnecessary or blurry videos, and choosing the ones that are properly recoded. To edit the videos, I decided to use Adobe After Effects, a program that I am quite familiar with, which allowed me to work smarter and faster. While editing, the main issue I faced was adding the Augmented Reality model in the real-world location, as could be seen on the mobile screen. To achieve this, I had to edit the model in Adobe Photoshop and import it into After Effects to animate its position. The video recording done by Shades was a little shaky, which lead me to move the model when the Camera was moving. It was a little difficult to animate an object placed between the user and the location, because in reality, the image of the AR was on top of the video, which was hiding some of the user and creating an unrealistic effect. During this process, I also realised some of the videoing mistakes that we could have avoided with the help of better Direction from me. Nevertheless, the overall result well reflected the concept of our App.

Audio Recording:

Audio was a key aspect of our App and required close attention. To complete the recording and editing process, Shades and I worked together while testing different techniques, including recording with all voice actors present at one time (as was done in the ‘Barmaid’ story), and recording with only a couple of voice actors present at a given time (as was done in the ‘Queen Street Riot’ story). Both of these methods involved differing atmosphere and recording levels, because the Barmaid story was recorded in one place, while the Queen Street Riot was recorded at several locations separately. This lead us to also capture each room’s silence, in order to remove the noise from the stories during the editing stage.

Furthermore, Shades and I recorded our own foley and sound effects required for each story. This was a unique experience for me, and entailed different techniques to create a particular sound. We used the Mechatronics Lab and its components to test what objects sounded like. We tried a few different surfaces (table, wall, ground) as well as items (mannequin, hammer, moon-boot) to produce and record the necessary sounds.

Using the Zoom recorder was also a new experience for me, as I had to learn how to use it first. I learned to easily change settings according to the particular recording, as each scenario was different and required alternating sound levels, mic position etc. Transferring the sound files was an easy task, and was assigned to Shades (due to technical issues with my Laptop). Most of the audio and sound editing was also completed by Shades, using the Audacity Software. I helped Shades with the sound effects in the ‘Barmaid’ story, though she had the difficult task of cutting and positioning the audio, as well as removing the noise from the overall Sound File.

Curiosity Guide App:

I was the visual and user interface (UI) designer for this project, as well as the user experience (UX) researcher. These tasks allowed me to improve my existing skillset as well as learn new methods of working. Firstly, my job as the visual and UI designer for the app encouraged me to produce a variety of designs, using different colour palettes and common themes. The main Software I used for this process was Adobe Illustrator, as I was very familiar with it and was able to work efficiently. In the beginning, I used to create designs as one layer, in order to save time, however, as we reached the final concept, I started to work with layers in the Software. This allowed for quick exportation of the page as a ‘png. file’ and worked well when exporting separate parts of the design, for example, buttons and body text etc.

There were many challenges that I faced throughout the design process, however I aimed to create a consistent design each time. As my research had suggested, the user needs an “intuitive interface and patterns to cognitively learn the meaning of the icons, the content provided and easily navigate the app.” UI and UX are closely related and need attention to detail. For this reason, I developed and tested icons that were “obvious” to the users, as well as kept a recurring theme and fonts throughout the App pages. I was also required to create more pages, than we had initially thought of, as key feedback from the users emphasised on Narration and Story text pages for them to read along.

As part of this project, I was involved with many user testing and playtesting sessions. This required qualitative research methods including conducting interviews, asking for specific feedback and observing the user’s reaction to the operation of the app. In terms of techniques, we decided to test a paper prototype, app functionality and user experience on the phone, experiencing the audio play and interacting with augmented reality separately. The playtests were conducted on students presently studying Creative Technologies. These sessions provided differing but useful feedback for us to make changes and refine the current version.

Geolocation is one aspect of this Project that required ongoing research and testing. Together, Carol and I had spent a lot of time to nail this part of the app, however we were unable to include it in the final version. At some point, I was able to work the geolocation in Unity using the Mapbox SDK, and same with Carol, however we had problems with combining different SDK’s in Unity. As we are amateur coders, we decided to stop our efforts in order to work the geolocation, due to the lack of time we had left. We also trialled Unreal Engine Software to build the app with geolocation and AR, but were left with a similar outcome.

Overall, the methods and tools we have used to develop ‘Curiosity Guide’ have been beneficial, in terms of designing and producing a functional and aesthetic prototype. We performed user testing to inform our design choices as well as check the feasibility of our app. The feedback we received from the experiments and interviews allowed for a more refined design, which guides the user to specific sites in Auckland City in order to interact with an Audio Play and Augmented Reality experience, while allowing them to think about their identity as an Aucklander.

Further insight into our development processes, methodologies, tools and content not included in the final artefact, can be found in our Tumblr Blogs, which we used to document our progress and research: ultra-oh-carol, haunted.market, vaanibct.

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