#oh to just snap and change from 2D to 3D

[mudanonaito]

TO BE HERO X OP1 || SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Rei「INERTIA」

[neospokenworld]

SPRING SEASON ANIME 2025 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Spring season has arrived... around last week lol, but no matter that, these will be the 5 anime I'll be watching this season and my impressions of them after only one episode! let's get started now

ROCK WA LADY NO TASHINAMI DESHITA

This just dropped a new episode I'm yet to watch so I'm basing myself from E1 only, and with that I mean this seems pretty good!! honestly the premise already had me from the start (like come on, girls in a rock band normally is something that piques my interest at minimum, plus I've seen it being promoted in some yuri/gl parts I follow so that makes me more interested too lol) and yeah this seems like a really good one. The animation for when they have the rock off was pretty accurate in my eyes and outside of that the music was good and the characters were nice and funny. Definitely a watch for the season

GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS

So lemme say this right away: I don't know anything about Guilty Gear outside of a few character names and appearance (Bridget being the only one I know the design but other than that, I knew Sol Badguy from name and Jack-O due to the pose that was kinda viral before. Oh and also there a girl I think? who has a giant key and talks with it iirc) so I'm going pretty much blind here

With that said, it was a pretty entertaining story and set all in all. Neat action and animation which I say it kinda look similar to what I've seen on the very few clips I saw before of the game. 'this was mainly an introductory episode so I'll expect to see more of this world 'll be on the watch to see how good it can go (also this anime being on could open a very small possibility for a Skullgirls anime which I would be so hyped about please let it happen lol)

LAZARUS

Shinichiro Watanabe the GOAT

It's kinda funny how around the time I finished my first Cowboy Bebop watch the trailer for this anime was released, and lemme tell ya I've been super hyped about it since then, patiently waiting until the anime finally released with only a slight shade of worry thanks to Uzumaki and, while I'll still have my guard up in case it goes to shit after this episode, I'll tell ya that it definitely was an amazing start!

From the animation to the set of the story and the characters; the music and the action choreography, everything was pretty much amazing from start to finish. Even though I know this is from the same creator and (likely) shares the same universe as all of his creations (still need to see Samurai Champloo and Carole & Tuesday btw) I could feel some slight Cowboy Bebop vibes coming from it, but modernized and also going on it's own flow which I really like.

I'm gonna wait to see how it develops but for now this has to be my favorite anime of this batch.

TO BE HERO X

So from my understanding I've been knowing about this anime's existence ever since it's first trailer dropped years ago but being honest I saw it and forgot about it until now lol.

Still, went to see it and it really has some arcane-ish vibes coming from the 3D animation and the switches to 2D were also pretty nice. The premise of the story so far looks very interesting since something tells me that Nice... Wasn't very nice behind closed doors lol, but really something tells me there's more going on with Nice seeing some reactions and some pieces of dialogue thrown here and there.

The opening was the thing that got to me when I first saw it in the credits, with the one I assume is the villain snapping their fingers and making the animation changes. I was like ''OOOHH IT'S THIS ONE!'' when I saw that lol, literally forgot about it until now lol.

Anyways pretty neat introduction so I'll be on the look for more.

DEVIL MAY CRY

Oh look, another game franchise that I don't know anything about it's lore that now has an anime

To be fair this one is on me. I had a PS2 pretty much all my life and in my 20+ years of existing I've only played the first game like once a couple of years ago (and that was only for a few minutes, didn't get any of the story made) and also the DmC game for the PS3 with the black haired Dante, which ngl it was pretty fun to play although I didn't retain anything of the story since the console wasn't mine lol

BUT, I know Dante and Vergil plus the fact that they're both brothers and their last name is Sparda, also the ''Jackpot'' line, so that must count for something right? (it doesn't lol)

Now, getting into the anime, the first episode was fun and interesting, nothing like really crazy but pretty entertaining all in all. It has the whole season already out so I'll probably put this in a separate ''final thoughts'' post since it'll take me like a week to go through it but the characters are neat and the soundtrack is nu metal heaven lol.

The animation, while I'll consider it an anime, it has an artstyle that can get roped within the ''anime-esque'' style that some western shows have like Pantheon; Harley Quinn; both the Tomb Raider and the Ark series, and the precursor of them all that is the Avatar shows (ATLA and LOK) but this isn't a diss to the style nor the shows, it's just something I wanted to point out lol, the animation was nice looking so it isn't a complain at all. Good start all in all

HAITE KUDASAI, TAKAMINE SAN

Listen, I'm a MahoAko fan, love both the anime and manga the same, and you wanna know how that started? by the fact of my wanting to see how far the anime will go just being an ecchi lol.

So with that in mind I went here and it was kinda fun. I'm gonna say here that this one feels MUCH more like an ecchi than MahoAko, like here the most we got were boobs and ass shots but over there episode 1 and there was already tentacle play lmao, but that aside the fun came seeing how absurd the plot was and well, not much else lol.

Honestly this one I don't think I'll finish but rather I'll probably watch it every once in a while to see how it goes, but if you look for an ecchi then this is one you should watch lol.

[misc-obeyme]

Nightbringer: Initial Thoughts

I have a lot of thoughts about Nightbringer, but I don't want to have one massive crazy post, so I'm gonna break it up a bit.

This first post is about the general gameplay, nothing story related. So there aren't any spoilers, just my thoughts on the app and updates.

Ruri☆Tunes

I LOVE IT. Listen, Ruri is adorable. I am right there with Levi. Like if this was a real anime, I would absolutely watch it. She's so cute! Did you guys see the background for Lesson 7 where there's a Ruri themed Miss Em doll? The cuteness nearly killed me.

The rhythm game itself is HARD. At first I didn't realize that you need to tap the actual objects. So by switching the controls to up and down, then turning my phone, and tapping the actual objects as they hit the line, I got WAY BETTER. I reblogged a post about this I think yesterday? It explains it better and thanks to that, the levels are now pretty fun.

I love the songs, of course, though some of the remixes are a little funky. But I loooove all the graphics! The lil donuts! And the lil demon chibis! And Luke's chihuahua! Oh yes and my favorite thing ever is Asmo's little "hai!" when he jumps over one of those green puddles. It's so cute.

Overall, I much prefer this to the dance battles. That being said, the levels are not really any easier than the OG. I was hoping we wouldn’t need to have a bunch of crazy high leveled cards to get through the story, buuuut it’s really looking like that might still be the way of it. I mean to be fair, the whole point of this is to make money so...

I don’t really hold it against them. I mean I do but I also don’t lol. The story is good enough that I can look past the money making motives. However I will say that this is just the case for me personally. I am lucky enough to have a little bit of disposable income to spend on apps, but I know a lot of players don’t.

Moving on before this becomes a rant about the evils of capitalism…

Wanderers Whereabouts

It sure is… something… Aside from the horrors of 3D models, I don't understand why they're playing sports in MC's room. Would it have been that much of an issue to give us an outdoor space as well as an indoor one? At least let them play sports in a field or something, you know?

My favorite ones so far have been when there's multiple demons in there, though. The way they interact with each other is so cute. And even though I find the whole thing a tiny bit weird, I DO like hearing their voices and seeing their interactions. Plus they do some really cute things when you give them an MC plushie.

But I think we all agree that the best part is watching Levi chase Mammon around on the map.

Fab Snap

This is supposed to be like TikTok, right? Once again I'm not a fan of the 3D models, which is probably due to the whole uncanny valley thing. However, I do still enjoy the shenanigans because what the fuck are those guys even doing? I'm sure you've all seen the musical chairs situation. I did like the one with Luke doing the snack test thing and you can hear Simeon who is recording the video. It's definitely cute to see them doing fun little things like that.

Everything else...

... seems to be the same except for some updated graphics and such. The story interface still has the 2D sprites thankfully and as far as I can tell, it works exactly the same as the OG. I've seen some people saying they're worried about the options changing the story, but they don't anymore than they did before. I think that's just their way of saying you get intimacy points with different characters depending on the options you choose. As far as I can tell, nothing seems to be any different on that end?

I love that they have entirely new special guest and home screen dialogue. The special guest dialogue especially seems more lovey and flirty than the OG. Solomon straight up says he loves you if you get the full heart reaction. You can still get annoyed reactions, though. From what I can tell, the reactions are the same as the OG app. If you get an S, it's the same as if you got three stars in the dance battle. I'm not sure about if you get lower than a B... but the three star reactions seemed to work for S, A, and B.

Also, I looooooove Karasu. I hope we get more Karasu beyond the tutorial, but I don't know if that's actually going to happen. I'm sure many of us will now refer to Mammon as Noodle Boy, though, because c'mon, that's excellent.

Okay there’s more I could talk about, but this post is already long lol. I like the mix of familiar stuff and new stuff. So far, I’m enjoying all of this. Stay tuned for posts about the story itself because there are so many thoughts.

I am also happy to receive any asks about your opinions on all of these things or if you have actual questions or anything else, of course.

[obeyme-kaidii-writes]

Bath

Leviathan x gn!MC

Words - 3713

Content Warnings - some angst, lots of anxiety, LOTS of comfort

Prompt/Inspiration - none

Summary -  You and Levi decide to take your first trip together, and you’re excited about the possibility of finally getting to be intimate with your favorite demon.

AO3

This weekend was going to be amazing. You had planned everything down to the last detail, and there was absolutely nothing that was going to dampen your spirits.

A couple weeks ago, you and Levi had FINALLY started dating. Your confession had been the result of a really awkward text exchange, but it all worked out in the end. Levi was still his shy, introverted self - but he was slowly opening up to you more and more as your relationship became more intimate.

Your current excitement was due to the fact that he had suggested that the two of you go on a trip together - alone - for the first time. He had really shocked you by making such a suggestion, but his reasoning was that if you were alone, he’d be better able to relax since he wouldn’t need to worry about his brothers meddling (especially Mammon). And you agreed - it made a whole lot of sense.

After talking with Lucifer, you had also managed to get permission to turn this into a human realm trip as an extra layer of privacy. Lucifer understood all too well how determined his brothers could be at interfering, so it didn’t take much to convince him that leaving the Devildom was a necessity.

And now the day of your trip had finally arrived and you had just finished checking into your hotel.

Ever the dutiful partner, you had even gone so far as to arrange for your stay to be at a traditional Japanese hot spring inn. The cherry on top being that you managed to reserve a room with its own private open air bath too. You and Levi would get to enjoy the entire inn experience without a single worry in the world about your time together being interrupted. It was perfect.

“This is so amazing!” Levi said, as he bounced around the room, carefully examining all the details, “I never thought I’d actually get to go to Japan! And be here in person!”

You smiled as you watched how enthusiastic your boyfriend was. He was just beaming, and you loved seeing him like that. That smile alone made this entire trip worth it.

When Levi finally managed to pull himself away from his exploration of the room, he saw you had been staring at him and flushed in embarrassment. He knew he had let himself get carried away, but he was so incredibly happy right now he couldn’t help it. Not only was he finally getting some quality time with you, he was living out every otaku’s fantasy date.

The sight of Levi blushing just made you laugh, which of course, only made him blush more. You decided to show him some mercy and slipped your arms around his waist for a hug so he could hide his face if he wanted to. And he didn’t hesitate to either.

“Thank you, this is amazing. YOU’RE amazing,” he said as he pulled you closer and buried his face in your shoulder.

“That’s what I should be saying to you. It was your idea, you know. Thank you for asking me.”

Levi didn’t say anything in response, but instead tightened his grip on you as you did the same. It was such a sweet, quiet moment between the two of you, and you honestly didn’t want it to end.

“Well, I guess it’s time for the main event then, huh?” you teased.

“Th th the what?” Levi lifted his head to look at you, blushing even harder than before.

“The bath silly. You said you wanted to take a bath together,” you laughed.

“Oh. Ha. Right.” You felt Levi relax in your arms. Even though you wanted to tease him a little more about what he had been imagining, you decided to hold off for the time being.

Up until now, your physical relationship had consisted largely of cuddling, kissing, and some very heavy petting. But you had yet to go further than that since Levi seemed to need to take things slow. You were more than happy to accommodate him, of course. You knew how hard he was trying and how much he wanted to be closer to you - he just had a lot of insecurities and a lack of experience to contend with. Just knowing that he wanted to get there was enough to make your heart sing.

Tonight though, was going to be the first time the two of you were naked together. Levi had thought it might be easier since he’d be partially submerged in the water, so it wouldn’t be like you were looking directly at each other. Plus water itself relaxed him. Since you didn’t have any objections, you agreed.

You finally let Levi go and opened up your nearby suitcase, “Here. I’m super picky about towels so I packed my own. I brought robes too.”

You handed Levi a large, fluffy towel and a lightweight, oversized bathrobe, before picking up your own and heading to the bathroom to get changed. While you were gone, Levi quickly did the same.

It wasn’t until he started picking up his discarded clothing off the floor that the reality of the situation finally started to hit him. He was actually naked under that robe. And you were in the next room. Also naked. Maybe even more naked. You might not have even put your robe on yet.

Levi felt his pulse quicken, and his anxiety started to rise. He didn’t have long to think about things however, because you returned just then, bundled up in your robe, and shoved your clothes back into the suitcase.

“Alright, you ready?” you asked, trying hard to contain your excitement. You just couldn’t wait to be able to wrap your arms around Levi and rest your head on his shoulder. You had so much affection you were waiting to give, and now you were finally getting your chance.

Levi didn’t answer you right away, so you took a step closer and took hold of one of his hands, giving it a gentle squeeze, “Hey, why don’t I go ahead and go first? Then you can have a minute to relax, yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” Levi grunted as he nodded his head. Yeah that’s all he needed. Just a minute to take a few deep breaths and to clear his thoughts and then everything would be ok.

“Ok, great.”

You pressed a quick kiss to Levi’s cheek and made your way out of the room to the private bath area outside, leaving Levi alone.

But as soon as you left, his thoughts started to race. Was this really a good idea? Was he actually ready for this? You’d be so close to him. What was he even supposed to do? Hold your hand? Hug you? Could even touch you? Or would that be too creepy? Would you be grossed out if he tried to move closer? Where was he supposed to touch you anyways? Would an arm around your shoulder be too friendly? Would a hand on your thigh be too pervy?

And even if he could figure out what to do with his body, what about you? What were you going to think once you saw him? Would you be disgusted by him? What if he didn’t measure up to your expectations? Were you going to want to touch him too? Would you be fine if all he could manage was holding your hand? What if he disappointed you because he didn’t let you as close as you had hoped?

What was he going to do?

————

It had been 10 minutes since you had come out and removed your robe and climbed into the bath. But you had been prepared for that. You knew how anxious Levi could get, and you saw that he was starting to get a little worked up after changing clothes, which is why you decided to give him a bit of space to collect himself.

But as the minutes continued to tick by, you started growing concerned.

15 minutes had passed now. Maybe you should go check on him? You didn’t want to walk in on him when he could be naked (for his sake), but you were more than a little worried now. After weighing your options, you decided to chance it, and just keep your eyes down low while you walked as a precaution. So you climbed out of the bath, bundling yourself up again in your robe, and headed towards your room.

Once you were standing outside your door, you realized that it was still slightly ajar and hadn’t been slid shut yet. Through the crack you were able to hear what sounded like heavy breathing and the occasional choked back sob. Your stomach instantly fell: something was wrong with Levi.

“Levi?” you called to him, as you stepped inside the room. You didn’t notice him at first, but it didn’t take you long to finally find him with his back to the wall, just beside the doorway. His knees were drawn up to his chest. And he had his head buried in his arms, as he tried desperately to calm himself.

“Levi…” He hadn’t acknowledged your presence when you entered the room, so you weren’t even sure if he was aware of it. Seeing him like that made your heart ache, and you carefully sat down beside him, wrapping your arms around him as best you could.

You sat like that for awhile before Levi finally started talking.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I ruined everything…”

“Hey, Levi, that’s not true. That’s not true at all,” you said, sitting up a little so you could get a better look at him. You started to run your fingers through his hair, something you knew he liked and he found relaxing.

“Yes I do. I did. I am. I ruined this.”

“Why do you think it’s ruined, babe?”

“Look at me. I’m such a loser I can’t even get into a bath,” he said, his voice starting to waver again. He had just got himself to stop crying long enough so he could talk to you, and now he was about to start up again. Why did he ever think he could do this? Why did he think this was a good idea? Or that he could make you happy? He should have just stuck to 2D. He wasn’t cut out for 3D. He’d never be able to make you happy at this rate.

“Hey, we don’t have to do the bath. This was supposed to be fun for you. If you’re not having fun, we don’t have to do it,” you said, speaking softly and gently as you continued stroking his hair, “It’s ok Levi. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”

“How can you say it’s ok?! How is any of this ok?!” he snapped. He had never yelled at you before, and even he was surprised at the sharp edge to his voice. Just another thing he had messed up, he thought.

“Because it is. I promise you it is. I’m not upset with you,” you said.

You then pressed a kiss to the top of his head, resting your brow against him for a moment as you tried to figure out what else you could say to reassure him. When you felt him move slightly beneath you, you sat up, watching as Levi turned his head to the side to look at you from under his bangs.

“How can you be ok with this? This isn’t what we planned.”

“I planned on spending a weekend with you, Levi. That’s all.”

“...but the bath…”

“Was a nice perk. But not more important than you,” you replied. You rested your head on his shoulder and continued to comb your fingers through his hair, your arm draped along his back. He was still so tense, but at least his breathing had evened out some and he was no longer crying so hard.

“Would it help if we kept the robes on?” you suggested after a while.

“....could we?” If he was able to do that, it would eliminate a lot of the very things he was so stressed about. He still felt guilty that his own inadequacy was ruining all your plans, but at least he could do something with you this way.

“Yeah, of course we can.”

You stood up first, then offered Levi your hand to help him up off the ground too. He kept his head down, hiding behind his bangs, so you couldn’t see how awful his face looked. But you weren’t having any of that, and you stepped closer and brushed his hair out of his eyes, before giving him a soft smile.

“That’s better,” you said, cupping one of his cheeks with your hand before kissing the other, “I like seeing your face. You ready?”

Levi gave you a small nod before taking the hand you offered him. You led the way to the bath, careful not to walk too fast and to match Levi’s slow, nervous pace. He was still apprehensive about all this, and hadn’t figured out what he was supposed to do once he was IN the bath. But you would occasionally give his hand a light squeeze as you walked, and it reminded him that he was here with you and that was really the most important thing.

Once you reached the bath area, you carefully climbed in, taking a seat, and then waited for Levi to join you. Very cautiously he climbed in as well, being extra careful to make sure his robe didn’t float up as he got in, and then sat very stiffly a few feet away from you.

“Can I come over there?” you asked.

Levi nodded again so you scooched over until you were next to him. He flinched slightly when he felt you up against him, and then instantly felt ashamed of himself for doing so. But you either didn’t notice or just chose not to say anything about it, and instead raised your hand out of the water, palm up, and offered it to him.

“Can I hold your hand?”

He carefully took your hand in his, as you snuggled up next to him and laced your fingers together. The familiar feeling helped him relax just a tiny bit.

“I don’t know what to do,” he finally admitted, in a small voice scarcely above a whisper.

“That’s ok. You don’t need to,” you replied, resting your head on his shoulder, relaxing and leaning into his side.

Your response left him confused. What on earth was he supposed to do if he didn’t even know? But before he could even try to imagine you what you meant, you continued…

“All you have to do is ask. It’s not like you get bonus points for figuring it on your own,” you said with a laugh, “Just ask me what I’m ok with. Just like I asked you.”

Oh. That...made a surprising amount of sense. But even if that was true, it didn’t solve the problems he was having about wondering what was appropriate and what would creep you out. Was it worth the risk to ask about something when it might just upset you and make you want to never see him again?

“How are you feeling? Is this ok?”, you said, checking in with him. You could tell that he was still anxious with how his leg was gently bouncing next to yours, but at least he didn’t seem quite so freaked out at having you close, which was a win in your book.

“Yeah...I think so.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said, giving your hand a small squeeze and resting his head on yours.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel pressured.”

“It wasn’t you. It was me. I’m the weirdo that couldn’t even take a bath.”

“You’re not a weirdo because of that, Levi,” you said, lifting the hand you had been holding out of the water so you could press a soft kiss to the back of it, “You have a lot of other things that make you weird, but this is not one of them,” you teased.

Levi laughed softly to himself. Why were you so understanding? He gave your hand a soft squeeze, before finally relaxing and leaning into you. Sitting with you like this wasn’t so bad. Sure it wasn’t the fantasy date he had imagined, but it was still quiet and peaceful all the same. No one there to pop in and surprise you. Nothing around to distract him. Just you and him.

Feeling reassured, Levi decided to take your advice and ask you for something, “Do you...umm...can I hug you?”

“Of course. You can always hug me,” you said, releasing his hand and wrapping your arms around his waist in a sideways hug as he wrapped his arms around your shoulders, and pressed a kiss to the top of your head.

That was surprisingly easier than he thought it would be. He felt some more of his anxiety melt away as he held you there, just enjoying the feeling of having you in his arms.

It wasn’t long after that that Levi was finally relaxed enough to talk like normal. The two of you exchanged jokes and laughs. He was smiling again, and your heart warmed at the sight. You had been worried that maybe this entire thing had been a horrible idea after you found him too worked up to leave the room, but he was much more like his usual self now and that gave you hope. All you really wanted was for him to enjoy himself. It wasn’t often you managed to drag him out of the House of Lamentation and you wanted to make the most of it. And even if you may not have grown physically closer during this trip, you knew you had definitely gotten closer emotionally and that Levi trusted you just a little bit more.

After a while, you had started to grow drowsy so you knew it was time to get out and prepare for bed. You still had two more days left of your trip, so you really needed to rest now to make sure you had the energy for all the sightseeing Levi had wanted to do tomorrow.

As you snuggled into your futon, you felt Levi climbing in beside you. You rolled over on your side, tucking one arm under your head as you watched him with a smile on your face. Once he had settled he also turned to lay on his side facing you, and his hand soon found yours, twining your fingers together. Even though it was now dark in the room, Levi couldn’t bring himself to look at you from so close. You wiggled a little closer to him and curled your body towards him until your forehead rested against his, eyes closed.

Despite all the other anxieties he may have, cuddling up to you at night was not one of them. Something about the darkness and the warmth of the blankets made the whole thing so soothing. There wasn’t that fear of feeling like he was being watched either - so even if he was a little flustered it wasn’t as obvious, allowing him to pretend that he was a bit more confident and less of a nervous wreck than he actually was. He wondered if maybe next time he could try things like this...in the dark, next to you, under a blanket.

“...are you sure you’re ok with this?” Levi asked, finally having found his courage. He had been hesitant to ask you again, scared that you might have changed your mind, but he also really did want to know if you were happy right now.

“Yeah, I am,” you said as you lifted your joined hands and kissed his, “Very happy,” you continued, kissing his hand again.

“Even though this is all I could give you?”

That question made your chest tighten. Did he really think this was something you were settling for?

“Levi…” you gave his hand a gentle squeeze, before rubbing your thumb along the back of it, “Cuddling you isn’t some consolation prize,” you said, finding his legs under the covers and tangling them with your own. You couldn’t see it, but he was blushing now.

“I’m really happy I get to be here with you. We have time to figure out all the other stuff later. I’m not in a rush. I just want you. Just like this.” You shifted your body once more so that it was a little closer to his, and unconsciously he did the same, pulling you nearer with his legs, holding your hand just a little bit tighter.

“I know how hard you’re trying, you know. Don’t think I don’t notice it. I do. And that means more to me than anything.”

Levi pulled your arm to his chest, holding it there, feeling your warmth seep into him. You were so warm. As much as he wanted to be ready now, and wanted to impress you, he also truly enjoyed moments like this that made everything else seem so trivial. Why was he even worried so much earlier? You understood him. You didn’t pressure him. You were happy with him how he was. You never asked him to be something he wasn’t. He was safe with you.

“...I love you.”

“I love you too, Levi.”

As Levi started to drift off to sleep, he felt you give him a gentle kiss on the lips and he couldn’t help but smile. You were always so sweet and kind to him, even though he didn’t think he deserved it. He wished he didn’t doubt you, and himself, so much sometimes. And it wasn’t that he was scared of being intimate, he was just so concerned about making himself look foolish or worse, making you uncomfortable. He was still learning where that line was between “ok” and “not ok”, but the more moments like this he had with you the more confident he became. Soon, he was going to make this up to you and show you just how much he loved you, in a way that only he could.

[the-blind-geisha]

How do you suppose the mc would behave if demiurge asked to do a nude photo shoot of her for a project in class (supposing he’s an art major)

A/N: It's funny you would ask that since I debated on an IRL Demiurge being a college art professor at some point. (2D/3D art—the works).

He took a moment, snapping a few photos of you with your clothing on first. He didn't want to rush to the actual undressing part. You were told he would need you later without your clothing on as it helps him understand anatomy when it comes to his paintings, but you were timid. Demiurge was well aware it was better to ease you into it. He wouldn't force it.

“Are the clothing ones going to even help you?” you asked, striking the next pose that he suggested.

“They will do just fine on their own. I just need to find the right poses and angles to submit for my project." When he felt he took enough, he lowered the camera. “Now, how do you feel about removing your clothes for me, y/n?”

Moving your mouth to the side, you brought your hands to the outfit you were in. Being on display? For him? That was a bit intense. “Promise you're not going to judge me?”

Demiurge's brow furrowed. “I never judged you before, y/n. Why do you believe I'll do so now? I'll tell you what.” He took your hand and escorted you off of the small platform he had set up in the room. Grabbing a folded up white gown, he offered it to you. “Why don't you get changed into this robe while I redecorate the scene? If you don't wish to undress for it, you don't have to, but I would like to change the backdrop with a few props I have.”

It would give you a moment to breathe and collect your thoughts.

As you sat in the dressing room, you thought about what to do. He wasn't forcing you to, but you wanted to help him with his photos when it came to the female figure. He had this all planned out with you in mind, and even if he didn't sound like he would be disappointed if you didn't go through with it, you still would feel a bit guilty.

Swallowing your guilt, you decided to at least try it for a few minutes. That couldn't hurt, right?

The moment you slipped into the robe, you walked back out to find that Demiurge had moved two fake alabaster pillars that appeared Roman in design near a rather beautiful looking loveseat. He even had a red, satin fabric draped over the headboard of the sofa with a small table adorning fake fruit in a bowl. He hadn't heard you enter, but the moment he turned around to check the lighting, he noted you standing there with your hand gripped firmly on the robe.

“Oh, are you ready, y/n?”

You nervously nodded, taking his hand and finding your way up to the loveseat. He offered you to sit down first.

Demiurge ran his fingers through your hair a little bit, trying to fix the strands that were a bit out of place after you took your shirt off. “No need to be scared, y/n,” he cooed, touching the tips of his fingers just under your jaw line. “You were born with this body, and it is perfect no matter what you wish to tell yourself.” When you didn't respond, he cocked a brow at you. “Are you ready? Do you want to do this?”

Taking a deep breath, you nodded and finally removed the robe to hand to him. The moment you did so, however, on instinct you had closed your legs and moved your arms closer to your body.

“Shh, shh.” He guided you to your side, trying to get you in a lounging pose. “Here, we can reach a middle ground,” Demiurge said softly as he directed your legs to where he wanted them positioned. He made certain that one leg was on top of the other, bent to encourage the idea of a sexy and confident pose. With your legs so firmly together, of course, nobody could see what was between them at least. There was that. “Now, your hands... Bend your right arm and curl your fingers against your cheek but in a relaxed pose.” Upon finally getting that hand down correctly, he moved the other to have it resting upon the loveseat but still away from your breasts so he could get that. “Perfect. Just stay like that for a moment.”

Taking back up the camera, you watched as Demiurge shifted to different angles to get the shots he so needed. It all made you a bit anxious in the beginning but, as time went onward, you relaxed.

“When you feel more comfortable, we'll do another more daring pose.” He took to one knee, trying to get a picture just slightly from behind the fruit bowl. “How does that sound?”

You nodded steadily. “I think by then I should easily have my courage.”

[bluerosewritings]

Gamer Hugs | Idia x Reader

How Ignihyde had managed to have so many students who were good with technology and machinery yet were all seemingly incapable of creating some decent A/C, you'd never known. Shrugging off your school blazer and unbuttoning the first few buttons on your shirt seemed to do nothing. You were pulled out of your lament at the sound of an enraged yell. Idia had already entered rage gamer mode, unfortunately. Souls of Dark must really be living up to its 'hardest game ever' reputation.

Laying out on the dorm head's bed, you mostly tuned out Idia's rants on the absurd difficulty level of the first boss. Idia had invited you over to his room to test out games with him again - since the newest one was a solo game, the two of you decided to alternate every half an hour or so. You'd mainly spent up your first lot of time designing the avatar. You pursed your lips in regret, doubting you'd get the controller any time soon, if at all for the rest of the night.

That was only the first half of the downfall of Idia's gamer rage (the upside being the amusement of watching your usually awkward friend turning into someone who could rival an Overblotted person in anger). The second half was how his flame hair would unfortunately quickly shift from a calm blue to an enraged red the angrier he got, heating up the room the two of you were in. You hadn't minded during the autumn/winter season - if anything, you egged him on for more warmth - but now it was rolling into summer. Add that to the already ridiculous heat of Ignihyde and the lack of windows the dorm room had to open and you were in one of the most painful situations of your life.

It wasn't like you could just ask Idia to chill either. Last time he'd gotten annoyed over a game - weirdly enough being over Cooking Papa - and you'd told him to calm down, he'd given you a minute long high-speed lecture about how he couldn't do that because of this [beep] of a [beep] cooking instructor that couldn't [beep] even [beep] do his [beep] of a job right, like a [beeeeeep]. You'd had to concede defeat to make him stop - and if that was his reaction from Cooking Papa, how bad would it be from Souls of Dark?

At least when he was his awkward self Idia would somewhat listen (even if he usually misinterpreted what you said). Not that there was any way to make him switch back...

...or was there?

It was a bit of a gamble, but hey, you'd try anything at this point. Swinging your legs round, you looked at Idia's hair. Weirdly enough, even when it was slowly heating up like right now, it never seemed to be able to actually burn anything (learnt from a somewhat traumatic experience that Idia still gives you apology candy over). Still, you didn't want to take any chances.

"Idia?" You called.

The dorm head whipped round, eyes glowing in annoyance. "What- EH!?"

The squeal of surprise that came from the dorm head was, you thought happily, entirely your fault. Once he was facing you, you'd pushed yourself off of the bed and wrapped both your arms around his neck, your sleeves now rolled up so it was skin touching skin. Your knees were either side of Idia's, looking somewhat like you were straddling him.

"(y-(y-(y-(y-(y-(y/n)!?" Idia stuttered, somehow both frozen and shaking in surprise. "W-W-What are y-y-y-you...!?"

"Have you calmed down now?" You asked, keeping your chin on his shoulder to hide your growing smirk.

"C-Calmed down...?"

"Last time you went rage gamer mode, you chewed my ear off when I tried to calm you down." You told him. "I figured this would be more effective."

"O-Oh..." Idia's shocked expression turned into a sad one. "Of course... not like you'd want to hug me normally..."

Your smile instantly turned into a frown. You pulled your head back to look at him properly. Well, as properly as you could - the second the two of you made eye contact, he looked away in either shame or embarrassment. You moved you head again, straining your neck so you were at least somewhat looking him in the eye. He closed his eyes instead.

"Why wouldn't I want to hug you?" You asked him.

"Eh?" Idia finally looked you in the eye out of surprise. "Well, because no one really does... except from Ortho, but..."

"I wouldn't mind hugging you, Idia. I don't - I wouldn't be hugging you right now if I didn't want to."

"But you were just doing it to get my attention... it's fine, you don't have to spare my feelings... 2D hugs are all I need, after all..."

Guessing that words wouldn't convince him, you took your arms away from around Idia's neck. Idia breathed a momentary sigh of relief - momentary being the keyword, as his heart rate immediately began spiking again once you started unzipping his jacket.

Red spread across the pale boy’s face, reaching all the way up to his ears. "Wait, wait, wait! (y/n), this is too fast! Please, if you continue, my heart might...!"

Idia desperately tried to figure out a way convince you not to do what he was expecting. Apologise for raging? That was what got you angry in the first place, right? But then what if they were angry because Idia had sounded rude about the hug? He'd appreciated it! Really! Hugging someone 3D instead of clicking the option to hug his favourite character in an otome game or even hugging his body pillows had somehow felt amazing for a change! He'd even say he loved it! But, if (y/n) moved things on this fast, his heart might - no, it would definitely explode! So...!

"Idia?"

Idia didn't even notice you'd moved closer to him. Looking down, he saw you looking up innocently at him, sitting on his lap inside of his jacket and laying your head against his chest.

"I was gonna take your jacket off, but your arms were too stiff to take the sleeves off." You said, poking the top of his arm.

"O-Oh..." So you weren't going to do what he thought... wait, why was he disappointed!?

"You're really comfy, by the way," you continued, "What's your shirt made of?"

"Uh, I don't know..."

Then again, taking another glance down at you... this situation was kinda similar to one from an otome game, wasn't it? Where the love interest would accidentally trip into the MC's chest and stay there for a time longer than what normies usually would, or the love interest would snuggle into the MC for a hug for one of the standout cheesy moments accompanied with a CG... the more Idia thought about, the more his disappointment evaporated. Now the idea was in his head, though, he really wanted to hug you back...

"Oh, you dropped this." Your words snapped him out of his second trance.

You handed him his controller, then turned your attention towards the modified screen he'd built for his gaming sessions. Idia took the controller with a mumbled thank you. He turned his attention to the screen too, then blinked and looked down at you.

"Um... (y/n)...?"

"Oh, sorry, am I blocking your vision?" You shuffled down in his lap, resting the top of your head just below Idia's chin.

"Er, no, that's not what I... a-aren't you going to move?"

You shook your head, hair tickling Idia’s neck. "Nope."

"N-Nope!?"

You looked up at him with determination in your eyes. "You said I wouldn't want to hug you, so the rest of the time we're hanging out together, I'm gonna hug you. Okay?"

"O-Okay... wait, no, that's-!"

"C'mon," you pouted, "I promise not to backseat game too much!"

You let out a little laugh. Though Idia’s cheeks had somewhat cooled down, the happy noise escaping your lips was enough to dust them pink again. Well, it wasn't like he got to experience such otome-like scenarios frequently... letting just one scenario play out wasn't going to hurt him, was it?

"Fine..." Idia mumbled.

You let out a hum of approval and made yourself comfortable as Idia reloaded the checkpoint.

...

"YOU MOTHER-"

"Idia, you're going to give me heatstroke."

"S-Sorry...!"

[shylittlemoss]

Could I request some bayverse autobots visiting s/o at work as a surprise to take them out on a little mid-day date?

Bayverse Optimus and Bumblebee Visiting their S/O at work

Optimus Prime:Working at a popular bar was relatively easy for the most part if you don’t count the drunkards and men and women that grope you that is. I’ve been working in the bar since I was young since it was a family-run bar that was to be expected. However, when I first started when I was 14 to get some pocket money I was behind the till mostly or helping out in the kitchen. As I grew so did my role in the bar, now here I am working either behind the bar making drinks or serving people their drinks and meals. Today was especially busy due to the bars anniversary, all the regulars came in to celebrate — which was most of the locals — while some tourists and people who just so happened to read the sign that advertised how we had nearly half-price on most drinks visited now and again. To describe it as hectic would be an understatement.All-day I was either rushing about serving people, behind the bar or helping out in the kitchen, everyone was all over the place. I had skipped all my breaks to help keep on top of everything, by the end of my shift was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep for hours. Since I stayed behind until closing time as I finally bid the rest of the remaining workers a farewell and walked out into the fresh air the sky was pitch black. Sighing while looking at the sky, a cloud of condensation escaping my lungs as I did so, I wrapped my coat around me tighter and began the walk home in the dark and cold winter night.I was only a few steps away from my workplace when a loud horn sounded behind me, jumping I spun on my heel to glare at whoever it was that honked at me, as I did so I recognised the person as non-other than my Significant other, Optimus Prime. Instantly my glare changed to a bright smile He pulled up next to me and opened his cab door to allow me to climb in. “Hey Optimus, you scared me.” I giggled a little as he shut his door and began to drive down the streets.“Sorry, my bad. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He apologised I settled into the seat and was almost lulled into a peaceful sleep, Optimus drove around town while we had a nice conversation. I snuggled more into his seat while yawning. “Do you want me to drive you back home? I can see how tired you are by your one-word answers.” His voice was soft and soothing.I sat up and tried to look more alert, “No it’s fine, I’m awake.” I spoke with enthusiasm in my tone however the little yawn that followed betrayed me. I smiled straight after, however. Optimus didn’t reply, rather instead he decided to sigh.Finally, after a little more driving he came to a halt, too busy trying to stay awake I didn’t bother taking in my surroundings, I soon realized that I had shut my eyes sometime during the ride which prompted me to snap them open. Taking in the scenery I found that we had arrived at the top of a hill overlooking to the small town I lived in, the stars lit up the sky while the moon coated everything in a pale soft light.I smiled knowing he had taken us out to our little hideaway. We spent quite a while there just ranting about work and letting all our worries out. We took turns to listen to each other ranting before we finally had to end our sacred alone time due to Optimus being called back to base we both sighed and smiled at one another before heading back to base.It was nice to relax with him for that little while before going to sleep and then make my way to work once more in the afternoon the next day.BumblebeeIt’s been that was just a normal day at work, rushing about trying to make sure everything is organised and in the right place, working on my work while also trying to organise other peoples work that was sent to be to clean up and finalise the work being sent. I worked at a studio that specialized in 2D and 3D animation. I was the head of Storyboarding for a few shows the studio works on due to directors knowing me personally and liking my work. While it was hectic and I was either trying to find panels that had been lost or had been mixed up, which happen often and needed to be put back into order before being sent off to be animated. However, I adored this job and loved the work and it paid well which was a massive plus. I sighed after finishing the work I needed to complete for today. I packed up my things and headed towards the staffroom to gather the empty food containers that I used to bring in treats like homemade cookies and muffins I got from the leftovers from the party my family had last night. I baked the cookies and maybe made a little too many so I brought the leftovers for my coworkers to enjoy.Gathering my containers, I noticed I had two left, Smiling I went to my director’s office and offered him them, he took one while thanking me for thinking of him and I left his office with a smile on my face after having a little chat with him over both work and personal issues. Waiting for me outside was certain yellow Camaro I was all too familiar with. My cousin Sam got out and greeted me with a hug. “(Y/n)! Long time no see!” He cheered while grabbing my shoulders to pull me into a hug.I shrugged him off, we’ve been super close since we were toddlers and constantly teased each other, yet were both protective over each other because of our close bond, like a sibling kinda love, “you saw me just a few hours ago, how could you have missed me so much already?” I teased while sliding into the Camaro while Sam did the same, “Hey, Bee hows it going?” Bee responded through the radio in a flirty way, I rolled my eyes, typical Bumblebee.“Hey, Bee what have I told you about flirting with my cousin?” I just barely concealed a giggle.“Why, do you feel left out?” I pouted at him in mock sadness while bee sped off down the street.“No! I just feel uncomfortable hearing you two being all lovie dovie with each other after finding out what you two have been doing together, especially while you were in my garage the other night.” Sam pulled a face. Confused I tried to think of what we’d done that Sam knew about. “I wanted to talk to Bumblebee one night and heard you two together instead.”Suddenly realisation dawned on me, “Oh, OH! Ew Sam! What did you think we were doing?” I hit Sam a few times, Bee seemed to chuckle but did nothing besides that. Sam tried to stammer out his excuses but was just digging himself deeper in the hole he created himself. “Bee and I were having a movie night when he thought it’d be a good idea to start a tickle fight! Seriously, Sam?” I pulled a face and looked away from him and out the window.“Hey! Does taking our relationship further really disgust you that much?” Bee whined through his radio, I gave him a pointed look begging him that we not have this conversation while my cousin was in the car with us.“Not now, Bee.” I simply replied with a smirk lingering on my lips, meanwhile Sam just got more weirded out from our conversation, “Sam just drop it.”“You’re going to sleep with my car! I can’t just drop it - not like I’m saying you can’t sleep with him-it’s just-OK I need to stop thinking about this so much-how would it even work anyway-you know what? I don’t want to know-wait Bee you can ha-”“Okay! That’s enough! Conversation over!"My face felt like it was on fire, "Way to make things awkward Sam.” I giggled a little. The rest of the car ride was filled with the normal conversations we had after a few seconds of awkward silence.Finally, after dropping Sam off at his house, Bee took us to my garage which was big enough for him to transform and not have to hunch over as to not hit his head. I flopped onto the couch that was down there and sighed since this place was where I do any personal work while working at home it became a place where Bee and I hung out often due to the nice and easy atmosphere.“So.” Bee tried to start a conversation, I raised an eyebrow while looking over at him, I hummed to let him know that he had my attention, I rested my arm over my eyes while Bee continued to look at me and sitting on the floor beside me. “Do you want to take our relationship further?” He asked through his radio, doing his best to sound gentle.My heart leapt out my chest at the question, I removed my arm from my face and propped myself up on my elbows, the emotion in his eyes told me everything. He was curious but also tried his best to remain eye contact. “Bee,” I whispered his name tenderly.At my lack of reply, he deflated and looked away from me “nevermind” I sat up fully and called his name to get his attention again.“Hey, I never said no. It’s just, I’ve never gone that far with anyone before.” My voice got less confident and more secretive. “I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever been with before so if I were to go that far with anyone I would love for it to be with you.” I shyly caught his eye and give a timid smile.“I didn’t know. Sorry.” Bee apologised, I told him it was fine while climbing to be level with his face. Catching his optics once more I gave a warm and sincere smile before kissing his cheek tenderly. Bee let out a happy and soft whir while leaning into my touch. “I love you,” Bee whispered with his own very quiet and rough voice that he saved for tender moments like these since it was a struggle for him.“I love you more.”“I don’t think that’s possible.” Bee carefully moved me so I was cuddled into him while we got comfortable.

[merryfortune]

Day 5 / Dreams

All The More to Love You With 2021

Event: @aiballshipping

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Ship: Ai/Yusaku

Word Count: 1,389

Tags: Alternate Universe – Modern, Gambling Addiction, Surrealist Elements, Ambiguous Ending, Meta Comedy/Commentary

    Yusaku stared dreamily at his phone, keeping it loosely propped up in one hand and in the other, the side of his face. He probably could have spent all of the lunch period just staring at his phone like that but, fortunately or unfortunately, Takeru had to come along and disturb that.

  He was such a noisy teen that Takeru, how he sat down and put his lunch box in front of him, how his chopsticks clacked against the desk and how he leaned into Yusaku’s personal space and gasped.

  “Please tell me you didn’t whale last night?” Takeru asked.

  “I didn’t spend any real money if that what’s you mean.” Yusaku assured him. “I got lucky last night, I barely had to spend forty gems on free premium to get this.”

  “I don’t think that’s any better.” Takeru replied.

  “I can’t help it,” Yusaku said, “he’s my comfort character. He makes me happy.” He probably could have said more the topic given how his heart raced whenever he managed to have a moment of vulnerability and admit something like that to his closest friend, but he opted not to. It was kind of embarrassing.

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s healthy.” Takeru sighed.

  “Whatever.” Yusaku replied.

  As much as it pained him – almost, sort of, kind of – Yusaku put his phone in sleep mode but when he closed his eyes, he still saw his so-called comfort character – the love of his life, really – amid the phosphenes on the back of his eyelids. Ai.

  Ai was the first Ultra Super Rare that Yusaku had ever pulled in this game. Ai was a Dark Attribute and happened to use Yusaku’s favourite weapon: a sword. He had a good personality: equal parts fluff and angst. And that was to say nothing of his face; he was an utter bishounen. Yusaku was helpless, always having a secret infatuation with the Gothic and the like and Ai very much tickled that fancy he buried beneath his shapeless clothes like hoodies and such.

  At first, he hadn’t thought much of Ai or the game but somewhere along the line, Yusaku got hooked. For better or worse. At the best and better of times, Ai had come to mean something very important to Yusaku, helping him pull away from the darker brinks of loneliness and the like, imagining him pressed up against Yusaku’s body, in a tender embrace, helped on bitter nights of coldness. At the worst of times, it meant that Yusaku sometimes spent a bit too much money trying to pull his seasonal variants and additional weapons and special memento cards and the like, putting him in serious financial situations where he had to choose pick between Ai and groceries but that’s totally fine. Yusaku doesn’t mind eating frozen tv dinners, even if they sometimes made him gag…

  Ai made Yusaku really, really happy. Using him in combat; admiring the collection of items associated with him; Yusaku was a proud whaler when it came to Ai’s promotions and he had even plus ten’d him and given him all the other bits and bobs that he could so Ai could be Yusaku’s best unit. Ai was worth every penny: in-game or not.

  Takeru… didn’t really get it. Maybe Yusaku was just bad at explaining but it was very genuinely love. He could swear that on his heart and how it raced whenever he thought of Ai as though he were a real person. Listening to his voice lines with his eyes closed, Yusaku could swear it was something more than just a para-social melding of the 2D and the 3D.

  So long as it didn’t get in the way of school, he supposed. And after school and going home club, there was nothing quite like the incentive like doing his dailies to get through his homework and doing things which sometimes bordered on wastes of time, liking meal preparation and laundry and other stuff like that.

  It was all such sweet leisure at the end of it all, Yusaku lounged on his bed in the dark. It was already so late, and he was a bit sleepy, but he wanted to get through that grind. He only had some pittance towards units that weren’t Ai, Ai was his ace and the love of his life. Yusaku yawned himself as he absorbed all that wonderful blue light through his eyes, and he turned the volume on high.

  If he closed his eyes and rolled onto his belly, holding his phone close, some of those combat noises – the grunting and moaning – that Ai made could be interpreted very deliciously otherwise.

  “Enjoying yourself?” Ai asked as Yusaku sighed to himself as he began to get lost in flights of fancy in the middle of this grind.

  “Yeah.” Yusaku replied with something of a sigh to his exhale. It was contented.

  “I enjoy it too,” Ai replied, “you make me very happy as well, Yusaku-chan, my master, my summoner.” Ai giggled.

  “We make a good team.” Yusaku replied.

  “We do.” Ai agreed.

  Yusaku opened his eyes, bleary with these unravelling thoughts of his place inside the role-playing game, and he had to blink. His mouth ran dry.

  “Oh.” he exclaimed. “Um, er, are you comfortable.”

  He tried to keep his hand steady. He wasn’t sure how solid Ai was. Was he even here at all? It was just a normal gacha game. It absolutely did not have holograms; holograms were barely real at all beyond virtual reality or things of wonder and riches.

  “Totally.” Ai replied with a chirp to his voice. But he titled his head, batting his eyelashes, his golden eyes gleamed in the dark of Yusaku’s room. “But are you?”

  Yusaku wriggled up a bit, so he could better see Ai in all his glory. He glowed, blithely illuminated by a slight violet colour. He was magnificent: tight pants, a handsome coat with epaulettes, high heeled boots. He lounged in the air, like he was sitting upon some seat or throne, the base of which were the planes of light which shafted in an upwards position from Yusaku’s phone screen.

  Yusaku licked his lips and swallowed. He was a bit confused by Ai’s question. But he was greatly intrigued by it as well. “What do you mean?” Yusaku asked.

  Ai shrugged and looked around Yusaku’s room. It was old with cracks in the walls; no carpet; the barest amenities.

  “You know,” Ai began, “for one hundred gems, you can upgrade your barracks, if you wish. All it takes is a snap of my fingers.”

  “Oh, well, um, sure.” Yusaku said.

  And with that, the transaction was complete and all around him, Yusaku’s room was transformed. Became luxe and a little bit more themed a la Ai. The very bed underneath him became a double from a single with rich doona covers and high-quality silk sheets.

  Yusaku glanced at his phone. He noticed that his balance of gems had changed but he didn’t even care. He had a good stock of it and other resources after all from playing the game devotedly.

  Ai giggled. “Much better, don’t you think, my summoner?” He winked at Yusaku.

  Yusaku was unable to muster a reply. He just nodded dumbly, thinking more with his rushing blood and the emotions that came with than any other sense of logic.

  “Well then, shall we begin the master-unit bonding event for ten stamina?” Ai asked.

  “Y-Yes, that sounds great.” Yusaku beamed, his heart pounding his head.

  That appeared to be the correct answer as Ai looked sultry and pleased with his smile. Yusaku couldn’t look away but he had to, he had to check his stamina bar and sure enough, it had changed but he was willing to spend it all especially for time with Ai.

  Ai who came down off that throne-like perch in the hologram and joined Yusaku on the bed. It was almost like all the nights previous that Yusaku had dreamed for Ai to join him. His touch was gentle on the side of his face, leaning in, following through with a tempting kiss and Yusaku kissed back. Hard and fast. He couldn’t believe that all his dreams had come true like that, all whilst holding his phone like it was equally as precious as the very Ai before him.

[marvelalpha]

DELL notebook keys

Remove DELL notebook keys If you spill things on the keyboard, use a lint-free cloth to remove the remnants. Moisten the cloth with a little rubbing alcohol and gently wipe the sticky area. Leave the button off until the cleaning alcohol evaporates completely and the area is dry. A brush is also a good help. Especially if you work with a vacuum cleaner. Plus 2 gearbox Get into the gearbox of the extruder assembly to clean any debris that has built up and replace the extruder gearbox if necessary. In theory, you can insert the entire keyboard (or the entire notebook) in permeate, let the whole thing take effect, remove it after a certain time, ideally put it in fresh permeate again and then let it dry for several days. The safest thing is still to keep a safe distance between drinks and the notebook. They'll never be real friends. If your keyboard is supplied with a driver CD, you should also always install the drivers from the optical data carrier after connecting. Over time, dust, dirt, hair and other particles accumulate on the surface of your notebook, which can also get into the keyboard from there. There you then hinder the movement of the button or disrupt the switching paths to the mainboard. A dusty or greasy display not only looks ugly and worsens the view, depending on the type of dirt, it even gets damaged. For cleaning you should definitely use a special TFT cleaner and a microfiber cloth. Check this in the settings. A combination of the Fn key and one of the F1 to F12 keys usually releases the lock again. 3 Mix one part of detergent and three parts of warm water in a container. No water requests so cloth drips. Now it's almost time to mount the new GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics card with dual heat pipe. My notebook's original graphics card, a GeForce Go 7800, had only one heat pipe. Optionally, you could now remove the CPU cooler and replace the processor. Next, the laptop is unscrewed.

Make sure that you do not lose any sub-components.

Your laptop still doesn't work despite go tips and tricks?

It is easy for the cables to stretch or damage the connector if you do not disconnect the cable before trying to remove the component.

In order for the keys to snap back in, some force is sometimes required when pressing the keys.

What to do if the laptop keyboard stops working?

div >

On most laptops there is a function for this with a key combination. Find the "Fn key" on the keyboard and a "keyboard symbol" (often crossed out) on the F1-F12 keys. Press both keys at the same time and then check whether the keyboard works again.

Since there is little space in laptops, there is very little scope for the cables. It is easy for the cables to stretch or damage the connector if you do not disconnect the cable before trying to remove the component. The best way to clean the notebook keyboard is to remove it beforehand. After installing MobileForce 97.92 M4 drivers, you can change the clock rates for 2D and 3D graphics. Regardless of the driver, this is nothing special, but I was surprised that it was possible to reduce the clock rate for 2D to 15MHz for the core and 100MHz for the memory. Maybe these are just wrong slider settings. With the old GeForce Go 7800 graphics card I was able to reduce the 2D clock speed to 25MHz for the core and 400MHz for the memory. Now the keyboard is removed.

Where is the Shift key on the laptop?

As a rule, the Shift key, called the Shift key in German, is located twice on a keyboard , As can be seen in the picture, the key is located at the bottom left above the CTRL key (circle 1) and in the middle of the keyboard below the ENTER key (circle 2).

div> Open the Device Manager by right-clicking the Windows icon and selecting it in the menu. Otherwise you can buy a new keyboard from Dell, or if you absolutely have to at the oh so popular eBay, and then replace it. Why do you want to buy the notebook in the USA at all?

[creativesplashpune]

Types of Animation

Animate- adj. Origin- Latin Stem- anima, animare Meaning- to give life to

The languages change, the words change, but the emotions stay the same- giving life to our imagination! Animation is an art, a skill and a science that plays a strong role in touching the masses, subtly. In today’s age, digital media has emerged as one of the most versatile mediums of communication. Entertainment, education, e-commerce, engineering, and many such sectors benefit from animating the content. A visual delight, isn’t it?

Animation makes your content a proper example of ‘beauty with brains.’ For this, several still frames need to be moved at a given speed in a second, causing a continuous motion. The term used for knowing the frames injected in a second is ‘FPS’, meaning frames per second.

Did you know?

Studies say that the human eye can perceive 30-60 frames in a second. But, the fastest camera in the world can hold 10 trillion frames per second. Jaw-dropping, isn’t it?

Previously, animation was stereotyped for entertainment purposes. One shouldn’t challenge the range and power of it. It brings an unmatched rise for animation in the business and entertainment worlds. A trove of types has been introduced in animation. Here are a few of them-

3D Animation

What is 3D? When a model is designed in a 3-dimensional style, it’s built in such a manner that it caters to the real-life characteristics of the object. An animator follows 3 steps for creating a 3D The animator uses a digi-doll to make a character rig. The first step is modelling.

What is 3D modelling now? When a series of the polygon is determined using some points or vertices, it classifies to be a raw model. A mesh is then put in use to manipulate and give the object a form.

What is 3D Layout and Animation? The objects are now ready to be positioned. Here, you can animate the object frame by frame or by dedicating a path to the object. Composing of 3D shots, animating the camera, creating a set and placing objects are a few pages of the 3D book.

What is Rendering? The process of generating a 3D output of the artwork done is called Rendering. A good render eats time but as an output, it gives you a clear detail of all the objects and lights placed in it. If you wish to render a great one, ensure that your PC is a beast and can take the load cause boy, oh boy, rendering is all about quality!

Avatar and Toy Story looked fun so every day is a nice time to applaud the artists, eh!

2D Animation

We now know that 3D imitates real life. What is 2D animation then? When you go 2D, you go flat based. Flat drawings and artwork take place on a 2D platform. With a low depth and subtle shadows, we move the objects on horizontal and vertical planes. 2D characters usually fit themselves in heights and widths, and are adorable! The process starts with simple sketches, outlining the background, creating elements in the frame and then comes the detailing of the same. A character performs activities as the elements and backgrounds groove to the timeline. To enhance a 2D animation, sound effects come in the scene! After adding a dash of emotions and communicating through facial expressions, devoting an eye specifically to the gestures and movements, your 2D animation is good to go for a render! Let’s get nostalgic remembering the good ol’ days when Tom and Jerry and Mickey Mouse Club House enticed us with their animations and stories. 2D is a delight!

Traditional Animation

What would be more of an endeavour than actually drawing every single frame? Well, artists did this for years before technology kicked its way in. The journey started with storyboarding the content and followed by that, soundtracks were recorded and put to play. Now, the artists scratched their heads and drew the characters on transparent paper. With each frame, the shape of character had to change. And while all this drama decorated the stage, the background artists found their watercolours being used for painting sets. After immense cleaning and polishing, these drawings were transferred to acetate sheets, also coined as cels. As these cels were dressed up with the sequence, special cameras were loaded with batteries and the final film paved its way towards development and processing. Remember Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? The oldest version was hand-drawn and it still is a spectacular and fine example of art.

Stop Motion Animation

If you think you have high patience levels, try stop motion. It’ll redefine patience for you. With a list of variants like claymation, cut-out and rotoscoping, stop motion turns out to be a nitpicky yet fun job. For this, you have to move every object, frame by frame. Meaning, You move every object bit by bit in a way that when compiled or played back to back, it’d evoke an animated feeling. Snap snap, oh snap! Traditionally, stop motion was a demanding task. A bit shake to the set or shift in the lighting would schedule a redo of the sequence. But now, as of the time we are writing this, DSLR’s have won hearts and live cameras have bought relief to the artists. As long as we are talking about this quirky method of animation, let’s take a moment out to appreciate the makers of Wallace and Gromit. They just did it perfectly, didn’t they?

Motion Graphics

Animation is such a vast sea. So vast that every time you set in an anchor, you find a new technique. One of them is motion graphics. Now, what is motion graphics? We also refer to it as ‘animated infographics.’ The content, concept and visualization walk hand in hand when motion graphics is playing in the tab. Let’s simplify this. If you think of planting some graphs in your video, using motion graphics is the way to go! With motion graphics, you directly get to communicate your thoughts and with good content and catchy music, motion graphics paves its path to perfection. It’s a great tool for branding, creating awareness amongst and keeping their eyes on the screen.

Such a variety to choose from! You have the types of animations on your desk but who will do them? Worry not. Creative Splash is an 3D Animation Studio in Pune, which will help make your brand shine using all kinds of animation. We specialize in 3D Animation, 2D Animation, Motion Graphics, Logo Animation, VFX Animation for various genres like Product Videos, Explainer Videos, Tv Commercial s, Advertisements and many others.

Check out our YouTube channel to have a glance of the animations. Feel like getting one done for yourself? Call us at 8554982761 or say hello to us at info@creativesplash.co.in. Let’s animate our world and make it just the way we like it!

[vtori73]

Just recently watched Promare for the first time and honestly I was expecting more. I mean it was alright but I do feel people have overhyped it. It's pretty visually like all of studio triggers animations but story wise it's what I expect of trigger which... isn't great which is why I'm surprised about people's overall opinion of it. Also people really made it sound like it's more gay then it was, I could have sworn I was told by some people it was actually gay but honestly it's about as gay as a LOT of other mainstream work which isn't really much. MAYBE more so then most animes but... not at all compared to anime with even the most miniscule of decent REAL gay rep.

Honestly, as much as I love the animation & think that whatever the animation studio makes is beautifully rendered and amazingly done I do think story-wise they could really use a lot of improvements. Tbf I've only seen, I guess three things by the studio & only finished 2 BUT I think my point still stands. The only thing I've actually enjoyed a lot that was by them was the Little witch academia series that's on Netflix. I actually liked it and thought it was cute and interesting with a few... let's sum it up to "questionable" things within the plot of the series but overall it was very cute. Too me is also had some gay subtext to it... honestly I feel like it had a bit more compared to Promare (but I could be biased so don't hold me to that if you check it out & don't feel the same way because when I say SUBTEXT I mean it so something I may interprete as such others may not).

Another movie I saw recently was Earwig & the Witch which I decently liked and enjoyed for the most part. It's funny because my opinions of this & Promare are the OPPOSITE of how critics/fans feel about each of the said movies. While people give Promare high reviews I was very... unimpressed overall (except for the animation, which is to be expected considering the studio) while I actually liked Earwig and think people are being kind of... overly harsh to it. Do I think it's on par with Studio Ghiblis other movies? No. But, do I think it was bad? Absolutely not!!! I do agree that it definitely comes off more as an introduction to a series or something and should have had more plot wise & has some unexplained questions that make it a little... I don't think "confusing" is exactly the right word but it's the closest I can come up with, at times BUT I think it still did a good job of telling an entertaining story, with interesting characters & was decently animated/rendered... Or at least to me it was.

I feel most people were going in with unrealistic expectations for the movie expecting what Studio Ghibli does 2D to magically work/crossover into 3D *snaps finger* just like that! It's their first movie using this form/type of animation, give them some time to work on it! And even if they can't find ways to translate all of the 2D magic into 3D then oh well! Doesn't mean that what they made or may continue to make is completely devoid of value because of it!

I do however admit that SOME of the backlash could be due too the main characters as well, I do think they aren't exactly the likeable characters we find in the other movies and while they do change/grow to being a tad more likeable/better they overall don't change a lot or really learn/improve compared to the characters in their other movies which I feel just reinforces my and many others opinion that the movie did feel unfinished/ended at the most climactic part.

Overall I give Promare 7/10, I wasn't impressed by the story and lost interest at various points when watching and some... "questionable" things within the plot also made it harder to enjoy and none of the characters really stick out or grow on you or really grow in general but the animation is beautiful and has some interesting design within it so that keeps the score from going lower.

For Earwig I give it a 7.- actually you know what I give it an 8. Overall the animation is good, nothing compared to Ghibli's normal movies BUT that's a high bar AND those are 2D films so don't feel it's fair to compare the two. For 3D films in general though I think it's visuals are above average. The characters are likeable not so great people with interesting back stories who sort of grow but could have done more in this regard. The main thing holding the movie down however is the fact that it does feel like its missing an actual ending because the current ending feels less like a cliff hanger and more like the movie was cut off for time or something! Also more exploration outside of two settings could have helped this as well but still overall enjoyed the movie more then Promare personally!

[oneddashone]

Games of the Year 2020

Given that I don't think anyone reads this, especially since I've largely stopped using it for anything other than these lists, it feels silly to write an intro on "what a weird year 2020 was" or whatever. It is worth mentioning, however, that in a "normal" year, it's quite possible that my GotY would have been different.

I think every game on this list was played on the Nintendo Switch, which, aside from FIFA, is really the only device I play games on these days. I've waxed poetic about this in the past, so there's no reason to talk much more about this now. I'm really hoping a "Switch Pro" comes out next year—to me, that's much more interesting and desirable than either a PS5 or X-Box Series Whatever.

Anyway, on to the list.

***RECOMMENDED*** What the Golf Minecraft Dungeons Bubble Bobble 4 Friends Mr Driller DrillLand Carrion Panzer Paladin A Short Hike Part Time UFO Immortals Fenyx Rising

I kept a list of all the games I played this year, and more than half didn't make the cut at all, so the games in this lowest category are all still extremely worthwhile games, in my opinion. What the Golf was originally a mobile game, but I played it on the Switch and had a blast. Very funny and inventive, and more than enough "game" there, in case you were wondering. I played through and beat Minecraft Dungeons with my daughter, which was a blast. She knew all the lore, and I knew the genre, so we were genuinely able to help each other out throughout the game. The new games in the Bubble Bobble and Mr Driller franchises were largely carried by my nostalgia for them—neither was perfect, but absolutely worth the investment if you care about the series. DrillLand in particular had some surprisingly inventive takes on the established formula.

Carrion and Panzer Paladin were nice surprises when they came out. A lot was written about the former when it debuted and I don't have much to add to that conversation, but I didn't see nearly as much love for Panzer Paladin. It's a fun little retro platformer, something like a "12 bit" art style, and you play through levels in any order you want, a la Mega Man. The most interesting part of the game to me is actually the weapon management system—you get a ton of weapons throughout the game, and the real strategy lies in choosing when to break certain ones, maintaining a steady supply of good ones, and even in using them to trigger checkpoints.

I watched my friend Ben stream A Short Hike when it first came out on PC, and I was excited to finally play it myself. It didn't disappoint, and I loved the relative short length, combined with the overall carefree and relaxed vibe. My daughter played through to the end too, which was nice. Another short-ish game this year was Part Time UFO, which, like What the Golf, was a originally a mobile game. Part Time UFO was made by HAL, and it shows throughout—most obviously in that Kirby shows up in the background from time to time, but also in the overall craft and polish.

The last game in this tier is Immortals: Fenix Rising, which nearly ended up being a tier higher, but in the end it just felt better here. This is a great take on an Ubisoft BotW clone (which I mean in the nicest way possible), and the setting is fantastic, but ultimately there are some key flaws that hold it back for me. Ubisoft's seemingly insatiable appetite to Get More Money Out of the Player, even after they've purchased the game, comes to mind immediately. Requiring a login and creation of an Ubisoft account is another. You don't really think about these things when you're playing the actual game, which is great, but it ended up being enough for me to dock it a little bit in the end.

***ESSENTIAL*** Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition One Step to Eden Streets of Rage 4 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

Kentucky Route Zero is another game that I feel like has already been written about and discussed a lot, and I don't know what I have to add to that. I'm so glad it ended up on consoles—it always seemed to me like the kind of game that would be trapped on PCs forever. The one moment that will always stick out for me was when I was playing it in bed one night with the kid. We found something in our inventory that had a phone number written on the back, so, in effort to kind of indulge her and be a little goofy, I decided to actually call it. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't the fully realized "Guide to Echo River" (voiced by Will fucking Oldham!) that we got. It was an incredible experience, one of many in this extremely beautiful, thoughtful game.

One Step to Eden introduced me to a game genre I didn't know I needed—basically, "what if deck-based roguelite, but with an action-based real-time dexterity component?" It's all well and good to create a perfect deck in something like Slay the Spire, where any nerd can take as long as they need to run their perfect calculations or whatever during their turn, but it's really something else to try and do it while dodging complex enemy attack patterns at the same time. I feel like I read that this was based off a Mega Man spin-off, but to me it felt like a breath of fresh air in the increasingly oversaturated roguelike genre (oh, but more on that later).

Streets of Rage 4 is the perfection of a genre that I thought I was completely done with, and one that I think a lot of other people were done with too. Belt-scrollers made a certain amount of game design sense when they were first introduced in arcades, what with the goal being to collect as many of your quarters as possible—but the gameplay hook suffers tremendously when there's no tangible cost to failing. And yet the team behind SoR4 breathed new life into the genre, via incredible art, animations, and music. Most importantly of course is how it feels, and the deep combat system allows players of all different skill and interest levels to get exactly as much out of the game as they put into it. A friend played this in a much deeper way than I did, chaining combos across entire levels at times—whereas I just played through twice—and yet we both came away from it completely satisfied. This is a masterpiece of the genre.

Clubhouse Games is a sequel of sorts to the DS game of the same name. The first thing I think of when recalling this game is just the incredible amount of craft that clearly went into making it. From the heavy thud of the Hanafuda cards being forcefully plopped down to the sound of marbles jostling in Mancala, every little detail of this game has been thoughtfully executed. Sure, there's a few games I played once and never wanted to play again, but mostly this collection is just an outstanding bang for your buck. It also succeeds as a kind of virtual history lesson/tour of the best and most-loved tabletop games from around the world; and, especially during a pandemic, who could say no to that?

Sakuna snuck up on me towards the end of the year. Apparently it was first announced as a PS4 exclusive, but Nintendo saw it and rightfully made a big effort to get it on its platform as well. The gameplay mostly consists of an incredibly satisfying loop of starting the day by tending to your rice field, in full 3D life sim style, and then going out and exploring levels in fairly fast-paced 2D action/platforming levels. During the 2D parts, you'll find supplies that help your rice field, and by completing tasks there you'll unlock better equipment and weapons for the platforming levels. On top of all of that, there's a night/day cycle as well as a seasonal one, which vastly changes the type and amount of work you need to do in the field each day. That might sound like a lot, but it all snaps together wonderfully, leading me to quite a few "well I'll just play one more day" long nights. Oh and I haven't even mentioned the clear reverence shown towards the surprisingly complicated act of actually growing rice—every step of the way is a different kind of mini-game, essentially, and I ended up taking a lot of pride in making the best rice that I could. This is one I'll definitely still be playing into the new year.

***RUNNER UP*** Hades

Everyone's favorite horned-up mythological roguelike ensnared me pretty deeply when the full version was released on Switch this year. I had seen snippets of it on Early Access, which was enough to pique my interest, but I was still caught pretty off-guard by just how incredible this game actually turned out to be.

I haven't talked much about story in these write-ups so far, but it's clearly the first place to start with Hades. If I had to pick one thing to set it apart from similar games, it would be how perfectly the notion of dying and restarting is to the central story of Zagreus. Every time you die in an unsuccessful run, which will be a lot early on, you're encouraged by NPCs to try again—and not only that, it makes thematic sense with—and in fact is central to—the story of the game. This completely removes the sting of feeling underpowered and kind of helpless in your early runs, and to keep playing and powering through it.

The pantheon of gods in this game will show up and offer to help by way of boons. These grant you temporary new abilities, which not only vary depending on which weapon you've picked, but will also combine with and modify other boons that you pick up in the run—not unlike the weapon synergy of Binding of Isaac, for example. The gods have their own agenda, of course, but with some experience you'll start to favor certain builds over others, and to try to and build towards a fully-optimized set of skills to tackle the underworld. Then again, sometimes you'll get something you've never seen before, and change up your tactics on the fly. It's all very rewarding and incredibly replayable.

As with a lot of roguelikes, you do carry some things forward from run to run. As you unlock all of the weapons, purchase upgrades and new abilities, and naturally start to learn how the game works and improve your own strategy, you slowly begin to feel much stronger and eventually, well, god-like. The near-perfect difficulty curve gives players of all skill levels complete control over how hard or easy to make the game for themselves. This carries over perfectly into the "Pact of Punishment" system that's unlocked after your first successful run, which lets you dial up the difficulty to frankly fiendish levels in order to, first and foremost, keep skilled players engaged, but also to provide a ton of "end-game" content for those that want to keep playing.

And really, you'll want to keep playing. The first ending is just the beginning, as the story compels you to keep playing and see how everyone's stories pan out. The NPCs are incredibly well-written and the voice-acting more than lives up to the lines they're given. I was completely invested in these characters and the fates they would have to reckon with by the end.

I got my tenth clear—the first one to roll credits—fittingly enough on attempt #69 (nice). This seemed like where the game naturally "ended," and I put it down—even though there's still a ton of previously mentioned end-game stuff I could do in the game if I wanted. But the end of Zag's main story felt so pitch-perfect, and so earned by the experience with the game overall, that I decided to leave it on that perfect high note.

***GOTY*** Animal Crossing: New Horizons

This wasn't my first Animal Crossing game (it was, I think, my...fourth?), but it was the first Animal Crossing game that a lot of my friends played, and that alone made for a different experience than I've had with the series before. In the early days of quarantine, we were visiting each other's islands every day, trading items, sharing insider tips on the Stalk Market, and just generally enjoying the game in a social way that was suddenly not allowed in day to day real life.

For the most part, that lasted for about a month. Maybe two. But I kept playing, every day, for a few reasons. First was that I have a lot of time with this series, and more or less knew what to expect going in. I didn't get disappointed when Nook's Shop was mostly just stocking items I already had, for instance. But more importantly, I knew not to burn myself out on it early on. And look, I know there's no "right" or "wrong" way to play a game, but Animal Crossing (at least to me) seems unique in that the gameplay is so clearly designed to be enjoyed in 20-30 minute, daily chunks. There's just not that much to *do* after a half hour or so, but I was seeing friends' hours totals in triple digits after just a few weeks.

Two other things unique to this entry helped keep it persistent for me, I think. One, Nintendo committed to and delivered on a regular update schedule, which kept things fresh (and safe from the naughty time travelers of the world, even). Pretty much every month, something brand new happened, and it was enough to keep my interest even after I'd donated every fossil to Blathers.

The second, and much bigger thing by far, was that my daughter started playing. She named our island ("Turtlerock") and moved in on day one. We'd talk about villagers—which ones were our favorites, which ones we wouldn't mind seeing move away—and collaborated on the city-planning of our island. I played first, and was therefor the "primary resident" or whatever it's called, but I never made a big decision without checking in with her first. We're both invested in it, and it's been a fun experience to share together over the course of the year. Hell, we even counted down the last seconds of 2020 together in local co-op.

Sure, my house is paid off, I have two million bells in the bank, and my museum is roughly 95% filled out—but I still play this pretty much every day. It's become a ritual. Usually right after work, which happens to be the best light on the island; sometimes later at night, especially during a meteor shower; and on the weekends frequently in the morning—but no matter when I'm playing, the remarkable thing to me is that here we are, nine months later—still in quarantine, and still playing Animal Crossing.

[geektified]

New Post has been published on http://www.geektified.com/2017/04/21/nintendo-switch-overview/

Nintendo Switch Overview

By Patrick Hawes-DeFrias

A bit over a month into the Switch’s life, I’ve had plenty of hands-on time with Nintendo’s latest console… handheld? Let’s just go with “game system” for now. Today we’ll take a look at the Switch’s design, compare it with control styles of other systems, and analyze its features. Let’s begin!

The first question most prospective buyers of the Switch will have is “how small are those controllers?”

The answer? Pretty darn small, actually.

Here we have the right Joy-Con compared with (from left to right) a 3DS cartridge, a Switch cartridge, and lastly a PS Vita cartridge. Thus, you can see how small the Joy-Con is- about 3 1/2 3DS carts long. Interestingly, the Vita cart is actually a bit skinnier than the Switch cart, while the thickness of the 3DS and Switch carts is about the same. Though, Vita carts are a tiny bit wider than Switch carts. Here’s a comparison with my hand:

As you can see, I’ve got fairly chunky hands, but my fingers aren’t all that long. I was shocked to find out that the controllers didn’t feel too out-of-place in my hands, but I can tell that it’d be incredibly awkward for anyone with hands even a little bigger than mine. Most users, I’d imagine, will want to use the Pro Controller, or the Joy-Con Grip … speaking of which:

Here we see the Joy-Cons in the Grip next to a PS4 controller. The awkward shape of a square on top of a normal controller grip initially looks like it’ll be a nightmare, but in practice it works fairly well. Buttons being used as a d-pad allows for good precision, though the triggers are really just buttons, which makes games that utilize them such as Breath of the Wild feel a bit strange until you get used to them. Near the bottom of either Joy-Con, you’ll see a button- on the right is the home button, which just like the PS4 and Xbox One, brings you back to the home screen. On the left is the capture button, which I didn’t even know the Switch was going to have. Pressing it takes a screenshot, which is added to a gallery in the home screen for viewing or sharing. The Joy-Cons/Grip are a tad slimmer than the PS4 controller, and they’re noticeably lighter, making them a bit odd to those used to contemporary controllers, but not a bad showing all-around. I’d guess that either handheld mode or this controller layout will end up being the most widely-used option Switch users will operate the system with going forward.

Of special note: the Joy-Cons charge by being attached to the Switch. Meaning, you CAN’T charge them while using the Grip, or just while using them apart from the Switch. So, if one or both Joy-Cons runs out of power, you’ll either need to play in handheld mode, change controllers, or stop playing for a while. There is a version of the Joy-Con Grip called the Joy-Con Charging Grip, which can be plugged in. I haven’t felt the need to get one yet because the Joy-Cons do last for several hours before needing a charge,but it is something worth considering for a new customer.

Here, we see the Switch in comparison with the Vita, which I thought was the most comparable with the Switch’s handheld mode in terms of design and size. The Switch is definitely bigger, screen included. It’s also here that we see how asymmetrical the Joy-Cons are, similar to the Xbox line of controllers. This leads to a problem for certain multiplayer games, but we’ll discuss that more later on. One final system comparison:

Now, I never got the New 3DS, 3DSXL, or New 3DSXL, or a 2DS, so the final comparison I have for tonight is my original 3DS. Here we see just how much bigger the Switch is over its handheld predecessor, which makes sense as this system is no longer using a clamshell design or dual-screen technology. This does, however, bring up a problem- the Switch is far less portable-friendly than the 3DS. With a screen as big and as powerful as the one used by the Switch, you’ll want to invest in a screen protector and/or a carrying case if you plan on bringing it out and about. This, of course, is a necessary compromise to make the Switch a true visual upgrade from the 3DS, which by now is well-known for its “meh” resolution, and certainly a change had to be put in place to make the Switch powerful enough to be usable as a home console. Thus, less protection from the elements in exchange for an overall more powerful system. This change I understand, but the next… well, you’ll see in just a moment.

Here, we see the Switch’s kickstand, which allows it to stay upright on a table or other flat surface. Notice that port inside it? That’s the slot for a micro SD card memory expansion. So, if you want to use the kickstand, which will likely be in an outdoor environment, you’ll also be exposing the SD card slot to the elements, so be careful where you put it. This decision baffles me, to be frank. What’s more, the kickstand just doesn’t feel good. It’s made out of a very thin plastic, and you have to push it a bit too roughly for my taste to get it to snap into place. Every time you use this stand, you’re going to feel as if it’s about to break. One last thing about the kickstand- for some reason, the stand is on the right side of the Switch, rather than in the middle as you’d expect it. Meaning, on top of it feeling flimsy and exposing your micro SD card, it ends up being pretty easy to tip the system over anyway. Unlike the console being rendered less portable in exchange for sheer power, I feel like this was a compromise where nobody really won out.

Let’s take a closer look at those Joy-Cons. Here, you can see that since each Joy-Con is a controller in and of itself, they each have little bumpers at the top. Now this is a bit awkward, but that’s where these attachments come in:

These are the Joy-Con Straps, which extend the controllers a little bit, make the bumpers less awkward, and of course give the controllers safety straps just like the Wiimote. They slide on using the same rail system that attaches the Joy-Cons to the Switch and Grip, and they also have a white tab that helps lock it in place. Here’s a picture of one close-up:

So as you can see on the right, there’s the white tab conveniently labeled LOCK. Now, I would like to use these attachments, because sometimes I feel like using the Joy-Cons without the Grip, and the added size the straps give makes them feel better in my hand, but there is a slight issue with the lock. When you push the lock in, it causes the two pins in the strap to move in, locking it onto the rail. Problem- the pins never fully retract even when unlocked, meaning that you kinda have to force them off, and again, I end up feeling like I’m going to break something. Two final things to note about the Joy-Cons. The controllers are, of course, asymmetrical, in order to work as both one combined and two separate controllers. Well, unfortunately this leads to an issue with the right Joy-Con. The analog stick is in the middle of the controller, so if you’re playing a multiplayer game, whoever gets that controller will have an awkward time. Lastly, the Switch, as you probably know already, has an NFC reader just like the WiiU. But the reader is in a very bizarre place, the right analog stick. So for all you Amiibo collectors out there be warned- it’s incredibly difficult to use the reader if you keep your Amiibo in the box. You’ll have to bend the bottom of the box and line it up just right. Now, if you’re using a Switch Pro controller, thankfully the NFC point is right in the middle of the controller, so there’s likely far less hassle.

The final thing I wanted to discuss was the charging port, which uses standard Micro USB 3.0. I can’t confirm this, but I’ve been told that the Switch has been known to brick when using a charging cable other than the one included. So just to be safe, if you take the Switch out with you DON’T use a phone charger. Unplug the Switch power cable from the dock and bring that with you. Of course, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo starts selling them individually, so if you felt like dropping the cash for it I’m sure you could grab a spare eventually. Oh, and one more thing- as you can see here, the port is on the bottom of the Switch, so charging while playing will be awkward, and charging while using the kickstand is basically impossible.

The verdict? The Nintendo Switch is a fascinating and revolutionary piece of hardware, but being the first of its kind has also rendered it quite awkward. There’s several design decisions that work against the system, but this is balanced by the fact that the base concept is just so strong. Is it worth getting the Switch right now? I personally don’t have any regrets getting it day one, but there’s merit to holding off. If you don’t have a WiiU and want to play Breath of the Wild, I’d say sure, go for it, since you’ll get so many hours of enjoyment from that game it’ll be time for the next Switch release before you know it. Otherwise it would probably be a better idea to wait until more games come out, because by then I’m sure the Switch will start being sold in bundles, such as with Super Mario Odyssey, and you’ll be able to get a better deal.