#Ultra Impact cases

[brother-emperors]

hey! hi! the cartoonist cooperative has an e-sim drive for gaza, offering art for e-sim donations (instructions etc in the link)

[dbphantom]

Hate having adhd went to go work on my fallout modpack, got distracted while going to disable the steam overlay, ended up in the points shop, went to go edit my profile, decided to change my pfp, found a buried folder I forgot existed, found some old Veneer art I forgot existed, spent 45 minutes looking at all the old photos, STILL HAVE NOT TOGGLED ONE SIMPLE OPTION THAT SHOULD'VE TAKEN 30 SECONDS AT MOST

[buttercupshands]

just played some Case Files with LoV part in it and just thought about a giant project like "every LoV filler ever in ANY media"

like games, manga (including those SMASH!! pages) or irl events (like ONE of LoV seyuu playing as LoV without any real footage of it) and most importantly - Ultra Impact events, but sadly I don't have ALL of them of at least I can't share jp server events that I know at least one happened before global started

I'm not that good with knowing what Ultra Rumble has as something special other than emotes, some phrases or outfits and I don't exactly play it

One's Justice 2 (the one Horikoshi named chapter with Hawks and Twice after) on the other hand has literally tons of interactions from just battle things and recruit talks that depend on your trust of something level to Arcade where defeat and a win give you a mini dialogue and LoV has levels with each other

the only problem with the latter is that I either did level them all up too much already and it would be a pain to lose progress or I'm not really interested in doing already hard to make screenshots one by one FOR EVERY SINGLE LOV FIGHT twice.

But since I've never found actual archive of those things aside from occasional video of Plus Ultra attacks or voicelines without any subtitles for jp vers or again Plus Ultra attacks only for the new characters... that's either worthless or it doesn't matter as much

Still! While 1-A class fillers and stories are so easy to find - literally in the novels or 90% of SMASH!! and Team-Up Missions (and I saw one thing that suspiciosly had LoV in there but still looking through it) while anything semi-canon or at least that can be considered such with LoV is either serves it's purpose in the final arc of the manga now or is actually hard to find since wiki doesn't actually keep up with the official games

maybe it's just an excuse to show little things that Ultra Impact keeps as it's canon for events like Tomura being good at poker and it first was in his "holiday story" and then it appeared in the event much later chronologically with MLA already working with LoV

Also if I remember correctly there are multiple vids with LoV somewhat main point of focus and there are still cool (like that one part of Peace Sign with villains suddenly being there for couple of seconds)

but meh... it's still just 1 am thoughts mostly

[plinkcat-gif]

need a new phone case...

[makethiscanon]

He's such a baby. I love him.

[shitakimooshrooms]

Throwback to when I dropped my phone onto the floor of my kitchen and my home button stopped working so until I could figure out how to get the little thing on my screen that people without home buttons use I had to get a bunch of notifications.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: F.L.U.D.D. (Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device)

Debut: Super Mario Sunshine

F.L.U.D.D. was Mario's first ever Platforming Buddy! Unless you count the Lakitu Bros. from 64, but they just operate the camera and don't affect Mario's platforming moveset, so I do not. So really, F.L.U.D.D. is- hold on, I really don't want to write every individual period each time I write its name. I'm just going to leave all the periods at the end of the post and you can put them where they belong yourself, or anywhere else you think is funny. Or you can keep them, I don't mind. Put them on a bagel and tell a friend they're poppy seeds!

FLUDD is a big deal. A landmark for the series in terms of mechanics. Not that these specific mechanics returned, but the concept of a buddy granting Mario some new abilities has become a recurring thing. FLUDD even talks, and is fully voice acted! In a robot voice! Like mine! A cute and silly little robot buddy for Super Mario.

So then... why don't I absolutely LOVE it? I feel like I should! But I'm just not getting that urge to imagine it driving a kart or playing tennis like I do with far less important characters. Does it work so well as a Tool that I have a hard time viewing it as a Character? Let's See!

I think FLUDD's design is honestly kind of perfect. The two massive screws that evoke eyes are really clever, and especially great is that they give it + shaped "pupils"! Aside from that, the nozzle's funnel shape is an extremely funny shape for a mouth, and FLUDD does indeed speak out of there. Excellent head! Though I feel like the excitement fizzles out once you look past the head, because the rest is much more "equipment" than "character". That's fine, this IS a piece of equipment! It just makes it feel less like a character, when I'd like it to have a bit of a balance of both. Maybe if the handles also functioned as little feet that it could walk around on? I don't know. Maybe that would be stupid... but I do love when creature designs are stupid!

FLUDD was made by E. Gadd, but that's all the backstory we get. We never learn why it was just there on the Delfino Airstrip, and that's really weird! The perfect tool to combat the game's main conflict is just there immediately when Mario arrives. It could have been a cool little mystery, but I guess the reality is just that some Pianta ordered it when the Goop Incident happened and got express delivery. Or maybe someone already had it and was just waiting for a calamity like this to happen, to justify the purchase!

I don't need to go over everything FLUDD does, right? I'm not the Super Mario Wiki, it's not my job! I'm here for the Weird. And a weird thing is that FLUDD freaken dies.

During the final boss against Bowser's Hot Tub, FLUDD starts stuttering, as if breaking down. And then in the final cutscene... it Dies! Mario goes to it, it tells him it hopes it was of assistance, and it dies. And Mario is sad, because this was his friend. But then in the very next scene FLUDD is back! Some Toads fixed it and it's fine now. So this ends up having the emotional impact of Mario needing to change the battery on his TV remote.

Even though it's our and Mario's friend, FLUDD is still an object, a product. It's technically not just FLUDD, but A FLUDD, one of many, mass produced. I have to wonder if it actually formed any bond with Mario, or if it was a one-sided friendship. Is it even capable of friendship...?

Whatever the case, the others absolutely consider FLUDD a friend, and well, that's just so sweet. During the credits we get to see some extremely compressed pictures of Mario and friends enjoying their real vacation, and FLUDD is there with them! It's not even on Mario's back anymore, or always WITH Mario, for that matter. Sometimes it's hanging out with Peach and some Toads, sitting there independently. I think it is safe to say FLUDD is a real true friend, and likes to just Hang Out sometimes! Even better, maybe it wasn't originally sentient, but learned how to love over the course of the adventure. Such a wonderful robot thing to do!

As expected, thinking in depth about FLUDD has absolutely endeared me to it. Hooray! It's about time. Well, it's too late for FLUDD to be relevant again, probably. I'm not saying it should be a driver in Mario Kart, but I AM saying there should be a kart based on it, and I'm also saying that this kart should canonically be the FLUDD, now upgraded. This feels like something that should have happened long ago!

This has been a long post, but it is far from all FLUDD has had to discuss! So next time, I will post about FLUDD once more, and its various appearances during the GameCube days and beyond! There is milk involved at some point. Get excited to learn what milk has to do with any of this!

Here are all those periods you were promised! I hope you like them.

....................................................................................................

[hard--headed--woman]

"I had to fight to be myself and to be respected. I'm proud to say I'm a lesbian. I don't talk about it too much, but I don't deny it. I've had to confront society and the Church, which says that homosexuals are condemned. It's absurd! How can they judge someone who was born that way? I didn't learn to be a lesbian, nobody taught me to be the way I am. I was born this way. I've never slept with a man. I've never slept with a man. Yes, I'm a virgin and I'm not ashamed. My Gods made me this way"

- Chavela Vargas

Chavela Vargas (María Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesús Vargas Lizano) was a Mexican singer of Costa Rican origin, born in 1919 in Costa Rica and died in 2012 in Mexico.

She is considered a leading figure in ranchera music, which she sang with strength and emotion. Her voice, rough and warm at the same time, served her theatrical, passionate and human interpretations of standards from the traditional Mexican repertoire.

"And since I have to say it almost everywhere, I'll say it: my parents didn't want me. I suffered for it".

She has an extremely difficult and conflicted relationship with her family, who do not accept her in any way. As a teenager, she left her country and her family for Mexico. The young woman rejected and criticised the ultra-conservative society in which she lives. Once in Mexico, she began singing in the streets.

In the 1940s, she became friends with the painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, staying with them for a while and becoming Frida Kahlo's lover.

At the age of 30, she was noticed on Mexico City's Avenida Insurgentes by the composer and famous rancheras singer José Alfredo Jiménez, who became the author of her main hits. With his help, she performed in the cabarets of Mexico City in the mid-1950s before embarking on the road to success in Acapulco, an international tourist destination, where she sang at one of Elizabeth Taylor's weddings.

Chavela Vargas rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, touring the world. She became a well-known figure in ranchera song, to which she gave a new lease of life.

Dressed like a man, smoking and drinking like a man, carrying a pistol, "the lady with the red poncho, silver hair and brown flesh" as the Spanish singer Joaquín Sabina described her, is characterised by her red sarape.

In a television interview in 2000, she came out as a homosexual woman. This is where the text at the beginning of the post is from!

Chavela's career reached its peak from the recording of her first album (Noche de Bohemia) in 1961 until the end of the 1970s. This was followed by a long period of fifteen years, during which the singer, suffering from a heavy addiction to alcohol, interrupted her musical career, which she did not resume until 1991.

Encouraged by her friend, the director Pedro Almodóvar, who compared her to Édith Piaf, Chavela embarked on a world tour, performing at the Olympia in Paris and Carnegie Hall in New York. Among her most outstanding performances was Tú me acostumbraste by Frank Domínguez in Pedro Almodóvar's film Babel. Being a close friend of Pedro, she has appeared in several of his films, including The Flower of My Secret.

Following a final concert in Madrid on 10 July 2012 to present her album (La Luna Grande), she was hospitalised in the Spanish capital with serious respiratory problems. She died on 5 August 2012, aged 93.

I am sure you know at least one of her song, La Llorona !

In any case, Chavela was an immense artist who had a profound impact on music, and I'm delighted to have discovered her, or rather re-discovered her. I listened to some of her songs and they're amazing if you like that kind of music ! And please look her up yourself, she was such an interesting person, I couldn't talk about everything in this post or it would have been too long !

[quirkwizard]

My Hero Academia is officially over. Ten years, four hundred and thirty chapters, forty two manga volumes. After all of that, it's done.

I find myself... empty might be the word. Not sad, angry, disappointed, elated, or anything else the rest of the fanbase seems to be going through. More in that I find myself lacking any real feelings about it. Which is odd. Maybe because I don't get as emotionally invested in media as other people. Maybe because I've had time to prepare myself and come to terms with it being over. Maybe I'm still processing what happened, and it will just hit me all at once someday. 

Because I feel like I should have more to say now that everything is said and done. I think the real reason why is because My Hero Academia isn't truly over. I'm not talking about any of the sequels or spin-offs that may come after this, but I'm sure they are going to happen. My Hero Academia made a massive mark. It captured and inspired so many people in so many ways. It's impact is going to be felt for a long time, whether it be in any published material or fan-made works. 

And for that, I have to thank Horikoshi. The life of a mangaka is never an easy one. It's long, hard, and undervalued for how much work they put in. He sacrificed a lot of time and effort. The man pushed through his terrible health and plenty of other setbacks to try and get the manga out. And regardless of what you think of the final product, I still find myself respecting and commending him for being willing to put himself through all that for his art. Because without him, we'd never have this series.

I have him to thank for this blog as well. If I hadn't found this series, I would have never made this blog. I would have never gotten to make all of these fun powers. I've never gotten to get deeper into analyzing media and have a creative outlet for myself. And most importantly, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to make something that so many people have enjoyed. To me, that's one of, if not the best, achievements with this whole blog: that what I've done has made anyone happy by reading it. 

I guess the real question is, what's going to become of this blog now? I mean, that story is over, isn't it? I'm sure that all of you are going to move on to whatever you want to do next, aren't you? Shouldn't I be doing the same? After all, I've been running this blog for over six years now. Whatever the case may be, know that I will give my thoughts on the epilogue like I said I would. I want to give myself some time to think about it and put my thoughts together. So be on the lookout for that.

So until then, Plus Ultra!

[codenamesazanka]

Story really should've forced Aizawa and Mic to grapple with the fact that Kurogiri/Shirakumo seemed to have genuinely cared about Shigaraki Tomura. Not just 'oh, that's just Shirakumo's caring nature' and dismiss it as a general benevolence that was manipulated to babysit some kid, but really have them consider that Kurogiri/Shirakumo likely developed a special relationship with Shigaraki and that the well-being of the kid Kurogiri/Shirakumo watched over and nurtured for years mattered to him.

Like, Aizawa and Mic are teachers. They would understand feeling responsibility and care towards children - even if not their own, even if complete brats, even if they personally dislike a kid - feeling the duty to protect them and guide them toward adulthood. That's what Kurogiri/Shirakumo did as well - was given the job of guiding a spoiled 'knows nothing but the impulse to destroy' kid into someone more mature and thoughtful, a future leader.

But more than that - and albeit this is implied in canon and only shown in semi-canon things like the Ultra Impact game - Kurogiri/Shirakumo was partly raising Shigaraki. Making him meals, tending to his injuries, helping him train, etc. Also something Aizawa would understand well, since he's all but adopted Eri as his own. Aizawa started off only taking care of Eri as a charity case for UA, but before long, he was basically considering her like his own kid. Yeah, Kurogiri/Shirakumo's situation was much more complicated and shady than that, but you can't tell me he wouldn't have developed some real care towards his charge, especially since such a big deal was made of his Shirakumo core.

If Aizawa and Mic considered Kurogiri/Shirakumo still their friend - a ghost of one, and only partly there, but undeniably their friend - then they at least have to consider Kurogiri/Shirakumo's wants and needs as real in some way, even if they disagree or question them, and respect that. And if that includes real care for Shigaraki Tomura, to the point that Kurogiri's last act was making sure Shigaraki Tomura can be happy with his friends, Aizawa and Mic would've had to acknowledge Shigaraki as well. See what Kurogiri/Shirakumo sees in Shigaraki that's worth protecting. At the very least, they can't just help kill off the guy without hurting Kurogiri/Shirakumo.

But it feels that Shigaraki Tomura had to have stayed a unknowable, scary villain to everyone but Deku (and even Deku seemed to have considered Shigaraki and The Crying Child as separate entities for the most part). Rather, it's weird that a story about saving Villains ended up largely avoiding having anyone other than the designated Saving Hero consider a villain a person. Made sure that only one Hero can claim the majority of the effort and the victory. Essentially - did not consider Heroes having a collective responsibility toward the idea of saving in this aspect.

I think obviously, storytelling-wise, it's about chronicling the particular Hero's journey and development, celebrating their success, and it's more effective if the focus is centered on them. But theme-wise, in-universe-wise, imo, it ends up kinda saying that only one special Hero could've saved the Villain, and thank goodness that special Hero was there. Otherwise, no one would've helped. Otherwise, no one else - no other Hero, even - wanted to help. Which is bleak.

[van-yangyin]

Bennett's Outfit and Hairstyle (Genshin Impact) [Male frame]

没有传说中那么夸张啦，不过就是走路经常会掉进猎人打猎用的坑里，或者被突然倒下的树干砸到脑袋，都很平常嘛，对吧？ ～ It's not as bad as the legends say, but it's normal to fall into a hunter's trap on a walk, or to be suddenly hit in the head by a falling tree, right?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENNETT! 🥳🎂🎁

Sul sul, today is his birthday and to celebrate it with all of you, here you can download his outfit and hairstyle to do him in The Sims 4!

【Everything shared below, has been tested by @lea-heartscxiv and me in Ultra quality (non HQ) following our needs, if you find any problem let me or him know. ⚠️Also we don't have the game updated, Lea and me are on version 1.102.190.1030 (October 31th, 2023), so I can't assure that it works correctly in higher versions. Use it at your own risk. Thank you⚠️】

I'm back from the darkness! Since Simblreen I got burned too much with so much CC I did for that same event and it made me stay away for a while together with a pain I have in my arm where is my skilled hand. Now I'm more recovered and also I know how to control the pain in my arm (literally when it hurts too much I stop doing everything I was doing), so without further ado I leave you with CC I've been preparing for today.

Download under keep reading ↓ 

If you download my CC it means your agree with my T.O.U (English/Español/日本語).

General Info:

one piece outfit (clothes)

gloves (2 versions, HQ and non-HQ)⁽*¹⁾

boots with socks

arm bandana (upper right bracelet)

body scars drawn on sim by me from scratch (two types, real scar and painted scar on scars or tattos) [Painted scars is for those who want a more drawn style, like original color of Bennett's model]

band-aids on face and left forearm

hairstyle with glasses (24 EA Swatches + Bennet swatch) [Male and Female Frame]

hairstyle without glasses [⚠️ Not avaliable yet. Coming in a week or so due to time constraints. I'll reblog this post with update if you follow me here and/or you download from SFS. In case you're following me on Patreon, my Patreon will notify you that is update⚠️]

Bennett eyes recolor

all LOD's

normal, specular and emission maps included

custom thumbnail

HQ compatible (only gloves have non-HQ version)⁽*¹⁾

~⭐️~

~Bennett's outfit~

Outfit Info:

one piece outfit (clothes)

boots with socks

gloves (Painted and adapted on hands with Blender. Left bracelet is disabled since a part of gloves uses that texture location)⁽*¹⁾

arm bandana (upper right bracelet)

all LOD's

normal, specular and emission maps included

custom thumbnail

HQ compatible

All is opposite frame compatible tho there are deformity on Female Frame

Compatible with higher and lower game sliders

There are small bugs with some parts of clothes

⁽*¹⁾ Only download HQ version of gloves if you have "HQ mod" if this isn't the case, download non-HQ version. Gloves in non-HQ version have less pixelation than when use HQ version without "HQ mod" that I don't know how to avoid (if someone know, feel free to tell me)

LODs Info: Complete Clothing: LOD0: 11229 poly LOD1: 5827 poly LOD2: 3003 poly LOD3: 1457 poly Gloves: LOD0: 930 poly Boots with socks: LOD0: 2136 poly LOD1: 1214 k LOD2: 733 poly LOD3: 470 poly Arm bandana (Upper right bracelet): LOD0: 264 poly LOD1: 210 poly LOD2: 168 poly LOD3: 83 poly

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

Lower and higher game sliders:

~⭐️~

~Bennett's body scars and band-aids~

General Info:

body scars drawn on sim by me from scratch (two types, real scar and painted scar on scars or tattos) [Painted scars is for those who want a more drawn style, like original color of Bennett's model]

nose face band-aid (placed on Left Nose Piercing) and left forearm band-aid (placed on Socks) with mesh made by me from scratch and texture used from Bennet's model [Original + 84 swatches from Crystallum Palette]

custom thumbnail

HQ compatible

Opposite frame compatible ※except for left arm scar which I've disabled as it's misaligned with UVs female frame, if you want me to do it also for female frame don't hesitate to send me an ask on my Tumblr, I mainly don't need this scar specifically for any of my female frame OCs for that reason I've put it aside.※

LODs Info: Left arm band-aid: LOD0: 152 poly Nose band-aid: LOD0-1: 236 poly LOD2-3: 118 poly

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

~⭐️~

~Bennett's Hairstyle with Head glasses~

Hairstyle with Head Glasses Info:

24 EA Swatches + Bennett swatch

Texture located on Head accessory, so hat cuts are disabled for this hairstyle

Base game compatible

Hat not compatible

All genders and agender

Teen to elders (Child, Toddler and Infant version eventually)

Texture hair and hair mesh made by me from scratch

normal and specular maps on glasses included

Split hair compatible (Patreon/SFS) [Extra info: I'm currently making changes in this option and expanding considerably the offer of colors and palettes (besides placing it in other places so that it doesn't cause problems as it happens with version located in piercings, although this time it won't only be for split hair color, but it will have many more options available. I will also make a special palette with all Genshin Impact hair colors of characters that I made and will make (as I'm doing with eyes) so that all my hairstyles can use those colors too.]

Custom Thumbnails

LODs Information: Hairstyle with glasses: LOD0: 10108 poly LOD1: 5053 poly LOD2: 2525 poly LOD3: 1261 poly

※Choose download only one version of each frame or choose download between "M-F_Merged" where two frames files are together.※

!!UPDATE!! ⚠️Fixed a bug in CAS swatch 25 for Female Frame Hairstyle that made it impossible to change color because it had the same swatch value as number 16, if you have this version or the Merged version, please re-download it so you can use the last swatch of Female Frame.⚠️

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

Preview in CAS:

Split hair color:

~Bennett's Hairstyle without head glasses~

24 EA Swatches + Bennett swatch

Base game compatible

Hat compatible

All genders and agender

Teen to Elder

Child, Toddler and Infant version eventually, this post will notify you that is update if you're following me

Texture hair and hair mesh made by me from scratch

Split hair color compatible [Extra info: I'm currently making changes in this option and expanding considerably the offer of colors and palettes (besides placing it in other places so that it doesn't cause problems as it happens with version located in piercings, although this time it won't only be for split hair color, but it will have many more options available. I will also make a special palette with all Genshin Impact hair colors of characters that I made and will make (as I'm doing with eyes) so that all my hairstyles can use those colors too.]

Custom Thumbnails

LODs Information: Hairstyle without glasses: LOD0: 10848 poly LOD1: 5372 poly LOD2: 2684 poly LOD3: 1341 poly

※Choose download only one version of each frame or choose download between "M-F_Merged" where two frames files are together.※

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

Preview in CAS:

Split hair color:

~⭐️~

~Genshin Impact Eyes~

color eyes of characters as non-default

color eyes of characters as make-up face

!!NEW CATEGORY!! color eyes of characters as occult eye lid [YOU NEED THIS MOD TO UNLOCK THIS CATEGORY CAS]

⚠️ Important: At the moment both only have swatch of Razor and Bennett's eyes, but I'll add more as make other characters, which in that case will be notified in corresponding post so that if you wish you can download or re-download it with new swatch (if you downloadi it from SFS), for those on Patreon I'll simply modify the file and make it notify the update of that post

※Choose the one that best suits your needs or choose the three of them with MERGED file.※

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

~⭐️~

Let me know if you find any problem. 🙏❣️

IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE CONSIDER BECOME A PATREON OR TIP ON KO-FI. ANY HELP IS ALWAYS WELCOMED BUT ALWAYS OPTIONAL. YOU CAN ALSO COMMISSION ME HERE OR FROM TUMBLR, IF YOU WANT ME TO DO SOMETHING SPECIFIC FOR YOU.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

👀👉MORE DOWNLOADS

Next Genshin Impact character will be 珊瑚宫心海 (Sangonomiya Kokomi), soon I will share a WIP. As general information, from now on I will upload content at least once a month, but without a fixed date. So that way at least once a month you will have content, and in this way I will also have a regular schedule, because before I used to publish everything I finished at the same time and left you with months without content due to I get burned.

Happy simming! 🍀

💛

🛹 You can find me also on Patreon | Pinterest | Ko-Fi | Blogger (Shared with Lea) | Instagram | X (Twitter) | My F.A.Q. | My T.O.U. | MORE DOWNLOADS 🛹

[rawmeknockout]

We got Ultra Magnus as a fatherly figure to newly cyberformed reader, right?

How about one with Megs, this time? UM is away for something, so he got Megatron to look after liason, in case any mechs thought they could have a go with them.

//i apologize but Megs will never be just a Normal fatherly figure. this bitch is fucked all the way up.//

It wasn't a responsibility he was thrilled to uptake. Not that he was disgusted by you, not anymore, he had long moved passed that feeling into something more akin to... acquaintanceship, but that didn't mean he was totally comfortable in your presence. Megatron is well aware of what he's done, the things he can never take back, and he feels that no more acutely than when he's in your presence. But Ultra Magnus had been clear that this was a duty that could be handed to no other, no one more trustworthy for this task, and Megatron did feel a certain sense of pride at that. He may be irredeemable but, in a sense, that also makes him the most aware of his wrongs. The most aware of just how much impact he has on others.

It was easier, all things considered, now that you look like something he is more familiar with. You may not have all the behaviors or mannerisms of a full-fledged Cybertronian, but he is able to help you navigate your frame all the same. In fact, now most of your problems seem to manifest in the physical. Something he could tangibly describe and aid with, as opposed to finicky human pains and aches that arose from nothing. Problems that came with grief and anguish put on the backburner as you try to navigate the world in a new body. And perhaps he grew to like it, even, that he could help someone so young learn about the world of being a mech. He hadn't been able to one-on-one teach someone in a long time.

Like plunging into freezing water, Megatron had no choice but to succumb to his complex feelings regarding your situation. And perhaps he has become sentimental with age. There is no other way to describe the fondness that wells in his chassis when he is around you. He is no saint, not the savior he so wanted to be for his own. He does not deserve redemption for all the lives that have perished due to his actions. But he would happily die for his principles. Would die for those he holds close. And that, unfortunately, extends to you as well. The spark of a mech is a tender thing, his more so now than ever.

Cybertronians are his brethren, a species that have long suffered under their own oppressive rule. They have crushed each other down based on nothing more than frame and function, sought to create hierarchies that would benefit only the exclusive. He had once hoped to bring every mech into his embrace, so to speak, and lead them into a new way of living, a gentler way. He can't help but see you in the same light. He knows intimately the type of mech that would like to take advantage of your curiosity and confusion. How his own kin would turn their unfortunate experiences onto you, if only because it is an opportunity they cannot bring themselves to pass on. And though he loves his people, Megatron can't help but see you as his own just as much as the mechs who died fighting Functionalism.

There is a tender new Cybertronian life in you, the burgeoning of something beautiful. Perhaps, one day, you will be returned to your human frame, but can Megatron return to the same dynamic? The thought makes his tank roil with something akin to revulsion. Age has slowed his ability to adapt, has made him ornery and stubborn, and he despises being told things must change even if it's for the better. He sees in you fragile mechanical life, something beautiful beyond words. Perhaps you cannot see it that way, confused and afraid of what this means for your life and your sense of normalcy, your sense of beauty dominated by your human experiences, but it is beautiful all the same.

Looking after you has turned from responsibility and pride, to privilege. To obligation. To something he must do to protect his very spark. You two are connected by something deeper than frame, deeper than spark or energon. The more he leads you, molds you into a mech, the more he knows that you are his. And he is yours. He would die for you, take punishment for you. This is deeper than mere human family connection, where blood binds and frames are passed. This is deeper than can be ascribed to frame or function. All mechanical life are his brethren, his to look after and defend. You are no exception.

You are his to protect, his to raise and nurture. Despite your previous life, there are no blood connections he must honor. Not with a frame so new and alien, so similar to his own. So alike to his own experiences, as someone 'unnaturally forged'. He must protect you from those that would seek to use you, to oppress you for your frame, to 'study' you as Brainstorm seems so keen on. As if you were but a tool instead of a newly-born mechanism.

As his own, Megatron must honor the mechanical life within you. Something bestowed by Primus even despite your origins. No matter where your frame originated, you are his own metal and his own energon. One and the same as every Cybertronian.

[genshinresource]

Genshin Impact KR x Galaxy Store Collab: Galaxy S23 Ultra Accessory (Genshin Edition) Overview

Details under break

Galaxy S23 Ultra Accessory (Genshin Edition) Gift Box Details:

Price: 352,000 Won

Galaxy S23 Ultra accessory case: collab dustbag, Nilou handbag, ribbon magnet, feather keyring)

Nilou acrylic desk board

LED wireless charger

Nilou phone case (2 types) (Smart Talk-only case, strapped case & phone strap)

Nilou SD Emoji Smart Talk

Acrylic key ring (2 types)

Galaxy theme pack

Nilou illustration card & 150,000 Won coupon code

Bixby support with Nilou's KR voice

[pictureamoebae]

your post about ReLight is really interesting! I wanted to try it out but I understand nothing lol would you share some tips/tricks/little tutorial for dumbs like me on how to use it/setup for The Sims?

Hi anon!

It's not a massively involved shader, it's really simple, so a full tutorial would probably be a little over the top. Using it in TS4 is no different to using it in any other game.

The first thing I'd do is look at the preprocessor definition section at the bottom of the shader settings and change number of lights to 4 and hit enter. It'll reload and then you'll have 4 different lights to play with.

For the settings at the top, you want Use Smooth Normals turned on, and then all the boxes under Shadows ticked. For Shadow Mode you'll get the best quality with Trace All selected, and Ultra for Shadow Quality, but you can play around with these if your performance suffers (bear in mind I'm using a 980ti and hotsampling to larger resolutions and I'm fine with those settings).

Leave Shadow Sharpness at its default unless you want to go for a specific look, and you can keep Z Thickness at default too. You can play around with Z Thickness if shadows look like they're starting or ending in weird places. They're never going to be 100% accurate anyway, but you can sometimes coax them into not being truly awful.

One of the most important settings is down at the bottom: Visualize Light Position. Turn this on and it'll show you a round dot where your lights are positioned. This is really useful for lining them up exactly where you want them. Then, when you're done, you can turn them off (although they will disappear when you close the ReShade menu anyway, but this setting is useful for people like me who sometimes keep the ReShade menu open when taking screenshots so I can keep tweaking).

You'll see 4 sections that each start with a checkbox that says Active. Those are your 4 lights. Tick the ones you want to use. Then you can start moving them.

Next to Position there are 3 boxes, and they each represent respectively: left-right, up-down, backwards-forwards. Play around sliding each of them and see where your dot of light goes. You'll quickly get the hang of how to move the lights around using those position numbers.

Below that is Tint. It's easiest to click on the box of colour and colour pick than it is to manually change the RGB numbers. This controls the colour of your light.

Below that is Intensity. I think by default the lights are set up at the maximum level of 1.00 but that's super super bright, so bring that down considerably. You can use this to fine tune exactly how much illumination you want once you've set up the position.

And that's really it. You can use the lights to add more accurate light fall-off and shadows from in-game light sources like lamps, streetlights, windows, etc. You can also use it to just brighten a character's face a bit more for a clearer picture. Or you can really go to town and add completely fake and dramatic lights. It's up to you.

If you find that 4 lights isn't enough, you can't add more without editing the actual shader code. However, you can just duplicate the shader, so then you can have 8 lights, or 12, or 16, however many times you duplicate it.

To duplicate ReLight, create a copy of the shader in your shader folder, and give it a unique name (for example, qUINT_ReLight2.fx). Then, open it up in a text editor (I use Notepad++) and scroll all the way down to the bottom. You'll see a section that says

technique qUINT_ReLight

edit that so it matches the name you gave your copy, so in this case

technique qUINT_ReLight2

Then you can use them both alongside each other. I do start to experience a performance impact when using a second version, so bear that in mind.

I'm sure the better option would be to edit the shader code to add the ability for more lights directly in the first shader, but you'd need to be semi-knowledgeable about what to change. You're not often going to need more than 4 anyway, so it's overkill.

[mariacallous]

Even Israel’s friends overseas often have trouble understanding its conduct in the Israel-Hamas war and its ancillary conflicts with Hezbollah, Iran, and the Houthis. While some may be forgiving about the high numbers of civilian casualties as an inevitable part of urban warfare, it is harder for many to swallow Israel’s reluctance to allow enough humanitarian aid to reach Gaza or its seeming indifference to the massive collateral deaths involved in rescuing hostages and targeting Hamas leaders. Many are mystified by Israel’s willingness to risk what could be a devastating war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah or Iran. The back-to-back assassinations at the end of July of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were unusual displays of state violence by the standards of any government, much less one that regards itself as a liberal democracy.

Israel has traditionally taken an aggressive military stance toward its enemies. But in the 10 months since the outbreak of the war in Gaza it has become more lethal than ever—killing some 40,000 people in Gaza alone. Israel’s harshest critics assert that its purpose is to destroy the last vestiges of Palestinian nationalism—or worse, to commit genocide against Palestinians. But the real explanation for the change is more complicated.

The aim of Israel’s ultra-nationalist right is, in fact, to make life unbearable for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. However, only a small minority of Israelis hold such extreme views, and the far-right ministers who echo them have little or no say over war policy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been careful to keep that under his personal control with a handful of like-minded officials.

Where the extreme right does have an impact—and mostly an indirect one—is on humanitarian issues. Far-right leaders don’t have so much a war strategy as a desire to see Palestinians suffer and for the war to go on. Anxious to ensure that the extreme right remains in the governing coalition, Netanyahu has bent to their will by taking a tough line on cease-fire negotiations and has only enabled sufficient humanitarian aid to reach Gaza when international pressure left him no choice. As Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the rightist Religious Zionist Party, told a conference of rightists on Aug. 5, he would have no problem allowing the people of Gaza to starve. “We bring in aid because there is no choice,” he explained by way of an apology to his audience.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has allowed inhumane conditions at the Sde Teiman detention facility for Palestinians arrested in the war to fester by refusing to move inmates to the civilian facilities under his control. He called nine soldiers suspected of sexually abusing a prisoner at Sde Teiman “our best heroes” and may have told police to back off when rightist extremists tried to block their arrest by military police last month.

To a degree, a desire for punishment and revenge is shared by the troops in Gaza, including the vast majority who have no use for the extreme right. The atrocities of Oct. 7, which remain very much alive in the Israeli consciousness, have inevitably left many soldiers at best indifferent to Palestinian suffering and at worst out for revenge. The military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said in June that she was investigating some 70 cases of alleged wrongdoing, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Some observers contend that Israelis have become more violent, or at least more tolerant of violence. Certainly, among extremist settlers violence toward Palestinians has grown and is regarded as a legitimate tool to further their political ends. But even among settlers, they represent a small minority. Overall, the rate of violent crime in Israel is low by developed-country standards and until last year had been falling.

In all events, the actions of soldiers on the ground in Gaza don’t explain what is clearly a change in Israeli policy at the top. Here, the decisions made by Israel’s political and military leaders to order assassinations, bomb the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah at a cost of 80 Yemeni lives for one Israeli, or risk war with Iran reflect a new realpolitik.

In the wake of their momentous victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israelis had gradually come to feel that their country’s existence was no longer imperiled. It was a gradual process that developed as one Arab country after another either reached peace agreements with Israel and acknowledged its existence (Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco) or lost the capability to mount a war (Syria). Normalization with Saudi Arabia looked to be on the horizon. The rise of the high-tech economy, growing foreign investment, and two decades of buoyant economic growth that turned Israel into a powerful and prosperous economy seemed to confirm that. The talk turned into how to “contain” the Palestinian conversation because no solution was needed.

This Weltanschauung had practical effects. From the early 1990s, defense spending as a share of gross domestic product declined. Of the three pillars of its defense strategy—victory in war, deterrence, and intelligence—Israel abandoned the first, allowed the second to erode, and therefore became overly reliant on the third. From the 1980s, Israel’s wars with unconventional forces never ended in decisive victory. With that, Israel’s ability to deter its enemies waned, as evidenced by Hamas’s willingness to repeatedly go to war with Israel from 2008 on. In place of decisive victory and effective deterrence, Israel came to rely more and more on defensive measures—walls, fences, and high-tech early-warning systems.

Israel paid a steep price for these policies on Oct. 7. Even if it quickly turned back the Hamas attack, Iran and its proxies appreciated the magnitude of the intelligence and organizational failure. Hezbollah began attacks over Israel’s northern border just a day later and the Houthis were soon firing missiles and drones at Red Sea shipping and Israel itself. In April, Iran crossed a red line in its long-running conflict with Israel by staging for the first time a direct missile and drone attack rather than using proxies.

The “total victory” that Netanyahu promises is unlikely to ever be achieved against Hamas, much less against Hezbollah or Iran. Restoring Israel’s deterrent ability is a more realistic goal, but not a painless one. Facing non-state actors with an ideological commitment to ending Israel’s existence, it is not enough to demonstrate effective defensive capabilities. It requires a willingness to strike out even in response to relatively small provocations and to go on the offensive.

For policymakers and public opinion in the United States and Europe, Israel’s recent actions seem dangerous and disproportionate, and there is no denying they risk sparking a regional war. But Israel doesn’t have very good choices. Despite its image as an always-triumphant military power, it is worthwhile remembering that Israel is a small country in terms of population, geography, and economy. It cannot afford to be taken by surprise, fight long wars, or maintain a heightened defense posture indefinitely. Israel now fully appreciates that for every new friend it has in the region, it has an implacable enemy. The Middle East remains a tough place.

The ordinary Israeli isn’t party to the calculations behind restoring deterrence. Public opinion nevertheless backs the country’s newly aggressive stance for more existential reasons.

The Hamas attack of Oct. 7 did not pose a fundamental threat to Israel, but its psychological impact was profound. For Israelis, the images of terrorists engaged in an orgy of murder, rape, and kidnapping were a tangible reminder that the threat to Israel’s existence was not idle talk by its enemies and that the consequences of even a brief moment of failure to secure the country’s borders would be severe. The months of pummeling of the country’s north by Hezbollah rockets, drones, and anti-tank missiles and the Iranian missile barrage in April have given Israelis a taste of how the end may come.

Yossi Klein Halevi captured the new national mood in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed: “Even as we maintain the pretense of daily life, a part of us is permanently alert. We tell ourselves that we’re steady and joke about the apocalypse, because that’s the Israeli way. But during one recent sleepless night, I literally jumped when a passing motorcycle sounded like an explosion.”

Opinion surveys bear that out. An Israel Democracy Institute poll found that those expressing optimism about the future of Israel’s national security had dropped from close to 47 percent in November 2023, when the war in Gaza appeared to be going well, to 31 percent in June. Another recent survey by the Institute for National Security Studies showed that just a quarter of Israelis have a high or very high sense of personal security.

Israel faces a unique threat among nations at war or threatened with it. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping would like to erase Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively, from the map, but neither wants to destroy or expel the Ukrainian or Taiwanese people. Not that life would likely be pleasant under their rule, but the Ukrainians or Taiwanese would be allowed to remain in their homes and live their lives, albeit as Russian and Chinese citizens. These are (or will be) wars of empire and conquest. Israel faces the threat of existence. For a time, Israelis thought otherwise—they no longer do.

[pareidoliasys]

I love ZZZ and I love Hi3, Part 1 and Part 2, can we please stop comparing them and also stop shitting on Part 2 I'm so tired, I have so many thoughts and I'm tired and sleepy and might! Delete this in the morning who knows, maybe my thoughts will change by then. I'm just. So exhausted of this

Positivity at the end regardless. It's not all hurt and doom and gloom

- A story that is life changing and completely stunning with some of my favourite characters of all time

Things Honkai Impact 3rd is:

- An 8 year old game with a structure originally built to run on the mobile devices of the time which does make it stiff to play at times but still makes it an absolute wonder

- Doing it's best building off the clunky original code base of the game

- Continuing to make great stories with Part 2 while trying to make it's own identity as a new Era of Honkai Impact

Things Honkai Impact 3rd is not:

- Failing to live up to its past with the new part, there's been 3 chapters and most of the people I see complaining about it haven't played more than the first chapter and even if they have they look at it with such a clouded and negative lense, the part 2 story is WONDERFUL and it just gets better with each chapter

- The Worse ZZZ, Honkai Impact is and always has been its own thing in comparison to EVERY Hoyoverse game to come after it, even Honkai Star Rail is not like Honkai Impact at all.

- Deserving of being completely shit on constantly, criticism is fine but I've not seen any good cases of that in months, I actually do have my own criticisms of hi3 part two even if it's been my entire life since it came out but nobody approaches it critically nowadays because they're too stuck in part 1

Things Zenless Zone Zero is:

- The best combat I've played in a while for a gacha game

- Full of really fun characters and designs with amazing and fluid character animation

- A game that came out around two days ago and barely has given us enough to make a proper judgement on the quality of the story.

Things Zenless Zone Zero is not:

- A HONKAI IMPACT 3RD REPLACEMENT

- A GAME THAT SHOULD BE COMPARED TO AN 8 YEAR OLD GAME CONSTANTLY JUST TO CLOWN ON THE OLD GAME

Can we please. Judge ZZZ on its own merits without making people feel shit for enjoying Honkai Impact 3rd and especially for liking Part 2. I don't even want ZZZ to be in the same category of games as the other Hoyoverse games, please, let it be it's own thing so we can just enjoy it for what it is, super ultra fun.

I hate continually seeing people I Look Up To in the Honkai Impact 3rd community using part 2 as a punching bag for not immediately having the most engaging first chapter ever when we ALL know how bad Hi3 was before Chapter 9, so many people go out of their way just to explain to newcomers that it gets good by chapter 9 and how the early chapters suck and you have to read several Manga just for anything to make sense.

Give Part 2 the love it deserves, stick with it for longer that one or two chapters, play through the third chapter and wait with the rest of us for chapter 4 through 6 and beyond, if it continues to disappoint you that's fair but please stop thinking of it like Part 1. It's not Part 1, it's not Part 1.5 and definitely not something like Part 1.5 the second, it's a new story that has its own characters and its own dynamics and its own story to tell with characters who have an incredible amount of depth to them, like Thelema and Songque.

I love Honkai Impact Part 1, I love Honkai Impact Part 2 and I love Zenless Zone Zero. Can we just enjoy our own things without constant negativity with all the comparisons. It's so so so tiring. These are amazing worlds that touch the hearts of so many and that.. Is what should be focused on.

We should focus on the lives that these stories change, the people who were made better by the experiences these games gave them. Focus on the amazing artists in these communities that feed everyone amazing works of all kinds and focus on the passion behind both the people working behind the games and the passion of the people playing them. That's what deserves the focus here, not lashing out with negativity when there's good in the world like this.

I wouldn't be where I am in life without Honkai Impact 3rd. And I am forever grateful that I now get to be here to experience ZZZ with the people I love who I met because of Hi3.

That's what's most important to me in the end.