#Why would a master builder do that??

[janadoesstuffwrong]

Thinking abt the air nomads:

What if, after the war, once the dust has settled a little, Aang goes back to travelling, hoping that maybe he can find at least some trace of surviving airbenders. As an added bonus, he gets to do more of the exploring and wandering that he had to put on hold.

Toph goes with him ofc. She only just got a taste of real freedom and it was overshadowed by ever-present impending doom. While she's on speaking terms with her parents, she isnt quite ready to be back under their roof on a permanent basis. The rest of the gaang have their individual homes and responsibilities that they get back to, though they join for the odd field trip or adventure when they can.

So anyway, they're touring all over the world and over the years they notice just how displaced so many people have become. EK citizens who barely escaped the blaze but lost everything; FN military now decommissioned with no idea how to carry on; people looking for a new start in the hard-won peace. Maybe it starts with Toph heading back to Earth Rumble, where a group of young runaways scrounge for cheap fights to make a little money.

At each turn they find more and more people with no homes to return to and no family to protect them; runaways escaping the roles the war forced them into. Gradually, Aang and Toph start to see that they aren't so different from themselves. They just want a new start.

So they decide to give them one. They clean up the temples and set up villages in the surrounding areas (helps to be master earthbenders), where people can arrive and stay as long as they need. Travellers and refugees pass through in droves, sometimes choosing to stay and rebuild their lives there, sometimes continuing in their wandering with a guarantee that they'll always have a place to return to should they have the need.

Over time, the lemurs grow in number and even some flying bison calfs (hybrids with a relative species maybe?), can be seen in the skies. Whenever the founders visit, it isn't the same but Aang feels a little more at home.

The first time someone asks Aang to teach him his philosophies, and expresses his desire to become a monk, how can he refuse? Maybe it's a former soldier, somebody who's done terrible things, looking for a path to redemption. So Aang teaches him, and then he teaches others. And though they may not be airbenders, they are as earnest and faithful as any nun or monk Aang knew before. The temples become filled with new faces: Firebenders, Earthbenders, Waterbenders and non-benders all wearing Air nomad orange and yellow.

Aang always feared that it would be his responsibility to have airbender children, and the idea of forcing that on someone he loved terrified him. Maybe that's why he waited so long before acting on his feelings for his best friend, his travelling companion, his fellow-village builder and temple-restorer. How could they have a truly happy relationship with this pressure hanging over them? He wishes he could be content with the new way of things that he and his friends have created. But he knows that he can't be the last airbender forever...

Nobody knows why some children can bend the elements and others can't. Is it blood? Is it blessing? Is it the land in which you're born? Or is it the simple allocation of fates decided by the values and norms you're raised believing in? Is it enough to be surrounded by the culture and beliefs of the Air Nomads? Nobody knows...

All they know is that nobody sees it coming when the six-year-old daughter of two non-bender villagers from the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe sends herself flying twelve feet into the air with a sneeze.

[sa1808fi]

Lucy's character development throughout all the Lego movies is interesting, mostly because she's spent a long time hiding her personality in different ways. Despite talking about being different and not conforming to Lord Business's ways, she ended up conforming in a different way to another group of people instead.

I mean if you look into it, originally she worked for Business and wrote 'Everything is Awesome', which ended up being used as a way to manipulate the population so that they would follow all of the rules that Business made without question. Once Lucy found out about those plans that would ruin thousands of lives (Including hers), she ran away from everything that reminded her of the life she used to have working for a dictator and unknowingly helping his plans.

She tried so hard to change herself from who she used to be (she did succeed), but ended up trading her individuality and what actually made her special for a completely different persona that really didn't make her as happy as she pretended it did.

I think that's why she hated Emmet so much when she first met him.

Lucy probably spent years training her skills to defeat Business because she felt so guilty for unknowingly helping the evil overlord.

So seeing all of her efforts to redeem herself be thrown away, because the universe deemed this random unqualified construction worker (who really didn't seem all that different compared to the other people under Business' thumb) more worthy of the piece of resistance has got to hurt.

But then as the movie progresses, she slowly starts to realize that while Emmet is your stereotypical worker drone, he doesn't let that drag him down. He doesn't change himself because he's happy the way he is, despite how everyone else tries to change him.

Going back to my original point, despite preaching about everyone being special in their own way, the second movie starts with everyone building a new society from the ground up, where being tough and gritty is the norm and expected.

But this time instead of having a whole other community of master builders who have been challenging the norm for years (Since now the master builders are also following the social expectations), it's just Emmet challenging everyone's worldview.

Lucy keeps trying to make him listen to her, and teach him that to protect himself he has to change the way he is. It worked for her, it's how she escaped from Business, so why can't he do it too?

I don't think she realizes how she's acting. She's spent a long time forcing herself to be tough and it's normal for her. She pushes down every part of Lucy down to become Wyldstyle (Only really letting Lucy out around Emmet), so that's what she expects of Emmet.

It really isn't until the end does she finally let her be herself.

Just been having Lucy thoughts lately.

[ikealoki]

old order headshots + headcanons because hell yeah

i dont really have a hc for soren but the idea od him being missing is so interesting. its confirmed that ivor (and harper?) were on a mission to find him but obviously havent. the easiest answer is he went back to the end, but thats obvious meaning he/they probably looked there and he clearly isnt since they havent found him. so where the hell is he? theres no chance that hes in the portal network because of jesse being in posession of the flint and steel and hed have to way to get around without it, but considering hes a master builder and knew where ivors lab and enchantments are maybe he made his own?? i dunno. but its interesting. i wish that if there ever is a season 3 (highly doubt) we’ll get some closure on him. the only reason he wasnt in s2 is because the team said they wanted new characters, but considering how sparse soren was i feel like it couldve worked. but like i said i really want to know where he actually went and how his books got everywhere, its a fun concept.

gabriel!!! i dont know why he doesnt get more love hes amazing. but id like to think he lives near beacon town, not near enough to know about the admin shit but near enough to where jesse could get to him if hes needed without it being a whole ass journey. i think hed like to be more involved but feels too much guilt about the old order’s actions and feels like a fraud despite the fact that he is actually capable.

ellie my beloved. i understand any and all soregaard shipping but i like to think of them as having a sibling dynamic, like ellegaard has the older sister role whos exhausted by his “quirks” but will defend him with her life if anyone was judgemental. nerd club!!! also i feel like theres like a really intricate baroque style painting of her somewhere, maybe soren made it and its tucked away somewhere in his base. i know thats oddly specific. but it just feels right.

magnus!! (this is the one im most proud of)

i dont have many thoughts about him but i think hes bald on purpose. like his hair is too much of a fire hazard and his paranoia drives him to shave it off, even though he has his stupid ass fishbowl helmet its his way of staying on guard.

ivor!! this one isnt actually done because the filed corrupted while i eas working on it :( so i just did final editing on a separate application after screenshotting what i could

but as for hcs id like to think if he ever did/does find soren that hed encourage his work with endermen after learning what he was really doing. maybe making enchantments or potions to help him work among the endermen more freely or things like that. id ljke to imagine thered be an instance where jesse would have to go to the end for something and among the end cities theres a little cottage style structure and ivor and soren are just in there sharing their recent adventures over tea or slow dancing to one of sorens records. theyre in love JUST TRUST ME PLEA

and thats it! if u want to use any for anything feel free jusg credit meeee @ ikealoki 🗿

[the-named-anon]

Dungeon meshi x Minecraft thoughts

(Assuming it’s a modern au and everyone knows how to use a computer…)

Laios

Laios would get the achievement for eating everything edible without even trying. Loves exploring caves, but often falls to his death because he forgets there’s fall damage.

Is trying to speedrun to the dragon, but dies so often it’s pointless… (dude. You’ve lost so much diamond armor Chilchuck isn’t going to give you any.)

He lives in a dirt hut until Marcille or Falin build him a better one

Wants everyone to live nearby, and eventually everyone does

Had a self-made skin, but it looked horrible so Falin made him one

HOARD of dogs. Used to be individually named, but then after the fourth (Name) fell to their death/burned in lava/shot by skeleton, he collectively calls them buddy

Tried to have hardcore worlds, died within the first hour on each.

Is part of a separate server with loads and loads of monster mods (run by someone called LordOfTheDungeon, who made most of the mods)

Gamer tag is xXMonsterSlayerXx

Falin

Is the dragon /j

Master of potion creation, figures them all out very easily.

Lives in a pretty build that her and Marcille built. (And they were roommates 😳)

Is the supplier of ores for the group, is decked out in pretty trimmed diamond armor (enchants courtesy of Chilchuck)

Practically made all the skins that the party uses, based on how they actually look

Has a big farm of animals (is trying to get two of each passive mob in there… tropical fish are the only thing she’s missing, and she has a in-game book to keep track of which ones she has)

Yes, she does have a strider, skeleton horse, and a sniffer.

Has named all her animals, and has a strict “no weapons on the hotbar” when people visit.

Has a separate hardcore world that she’s sunk hours into.

And is part of two other servers, a cosy animal filled cottage core server and another one she won’t tell anyone about

Gamer tag is FlowerFalin

Marcille

Tried desperately to learn potions, but also doesn’t want to step on Falin’s toes…

Is the builder of the group, grows the biggest trees she can. Master of bonemeal.

Went out of her way to grab two mooshrooms for Falin (one red, one brown) under the guise of “I needed mycelium anyways”

Wants to get all of the achievements, but also refuses to eat rotten flesh or poisonous potatoes

Named her sword “Ambrosia two” (and then “Ambrosia 3”, “Ambrosia 4”… she doesn’t loose/break Ambrosia four)

Uses potion tipped arrows. (Realized too late that she probably should’ve named her bow Ambrosia, since its usage with the potion tipped arrows is more similar to her real Ambrosia.)

Falin made her skin based on Uriale

Also plays on a server that has a mod for The Daltian Clan

Gamer tag is UrialeOfDaltian

Chilchuck

Under his quaint little house is a MASSIVE villager trading hall. Has every trade imaginable, at the lowest cost it can be. Lets “no one” in there (Laios has a bad habit of accidentally hitting villagers… and was banned before it was made)

Has the best enchants, and actually successfully speedran to the dragon. (First to have an elytra, and HOARDS shulker boxes. Wants the other party members to pay him for them.)

Has lots of beacons, and has unlocked all the end teleporters… (wither sounds are common on the server)

Most skilled at the game (dad of three girls… what did you expect? (Gamer girl-dad))

His girls made him his skin. (Big anime eyes, but everything else is akin to him) ((begrudgingly uses it))

Has a separate server with his girls, that they modded (custom biomes, more enchant options, fun tools and weapons)

Gamer tag is ChillsChuck

Senshi

Makes food. Only wants to make food… big farm of meat animals, and actual crops.

Is disappointed that there isn’t more monster-based food in the game. (What do you mean you can’t eat enderpearls? Why don’t more mobs drop meat?)

Ate rotten flesh once, and then decided against it. (It’s too bad you can’t use it to make food. This game is seriously lacking culinary options.)

Prefers to play modded, with loads and loads of food options. (The party server is straight vanilla, so he’s part of another one where he’s more active on… modded with food.)

Is confused why they’d think he’d be interested in mining… he makes food irl?? (Can’t differentiate any stones. Even though they’re different colors)

House was made by Marcille, skin by Fallin. (Previously default Steve skin)

Has a horse named Anne (really crappy… like, he tamed the first horse that looked like her so it’s only slightly faster than running and can barely clear a two block jump)

Gamer tag is ChefSenshi402

Izutsumi

Falin made her skin a cat girl (previously one of the default skins (can’t remember any of the other ones, but not Alex or Steve))

Doesn’t really understand Minecraft, or why people want to play it.

Has a hoard of cats, but only the tuxedo ones. (Because they look like her)

Master of the horse-stats trade, and has had luck with llamas.

(Sorry… I don’t have many ideas for her because I’m not at the part of the show where she’s at)

Gamer tag is Izutsumi1 (Izutsumi was taken for some reason)

Bonus:

Thistle

Moderator and owner of the monster-filled server.

Made 90% of the mods in the server, the only mods he didn’t make are the mods he uses to have his mods to work (like geckolib)

Has two accounts, LordOfTheDungeon, and ThistleThorn

Uses LordOfTheDungeon as his moderator one, and ThistleThorn is for the cosy cottagecore server he’s in.

Had a raffle for the players with the longest time in-server to come up with a monster for him to implement

Laios won, and it’s taken Thistle a while to make his “Ultimate Strongest Monster.” (Multiple heads and attacks are time consuming.)

Falin is also a moderator on his server, with a fake gamer tag of “Chimera” (Laios doesn’t know that, but she thinks it’s fun to watch the custom mobs roam around.) Has a custom game mode where the monsters don’t attack her, so she can make a little sanctuary for her favorites. (Also uses a different skin for the server, per the request of Thistle)

There’s an unknown person who’s a moderator that’s skin is lion-like, who’s gamer tag is “BeastWishes”

[bonefall]

ITS SNAKE O' CLOCK!!! yay yippee wahoo! have you decided what you're doing with him or are you just thinking abt him :O?

Rotating him in my mind for my own sanity because I got to the part in Path of Stars where they've just. Completely retconned everything about him for the sake of forcefully making everyone of value forgive Clear Sky. The only person who stays mad at Clear Sky forever actually just liked One Eye better

Even though we saw him, on screen, looking at the camera and being like, "I Do Not Like Clear Sky Because His Bad Judgement Caused Us To Be Permanently Branded By A Tyrant Like We Were A Herd Of Texas Steers."

They did him SO dirty, man!! SO SO dirty!!!!!

On that note though, I HAVE decided on a few things!

So, on the note of defectors, Snake is going to be one of the very last ones. While I absolutely adore him, I think it's very important and meaningful that he is one of his most loyal cats.

Snake is a Mountain cat, and it's looking like he is going to be part of the Claw Family.

The Claw Family consists of Fox Claw and Petal Claw to begin with. I have an inkling of an idea that Petal Claw actually leaves while pregnant-- possibly escaping someone unsavory back at home.

I feel like she doesn't really enjoy romance. She's ambitious and ferocious, and whoever her lover was, was quite controlling.

Unfortunately it's a big reason why she's so committed to Clear Sky. She has that sort of unaddressed mindset that abuse often leaves you with.

"No, I know what an awful person is because of what I went through, and I'm telling you, Clear Sky is not that. YOU'Re actually the problem."

And, in turn, Clear Sky rewards her a lot. She is one of his favorite cats, she gets a TON of benefits for her loyalty. Tyrannical, terrible two of them.

Besties (threat)

Snake Claw and Red Claw would have been the first births in the forest, but Bright Storm gave birth early because of the stress and thus Thunder Storm came first.

So Snake and Red were brought up by Petal Claw and Fox Claw, in early Sky's Clan.

Fox and Petal were ADAMANTLY loyal to Clear Sky. They remained behind in the Shadow/Sky split, hissing and spitting at those who chose to follow Tall Shadow.

I feel like Fox was actually their primary parent. They call him Uncle, but he acted a lot more like a dad. It gave Petal more time to go do bad bitch things.

When Clear Sky murders Misty, much much later, Petal is given the kittens as a reward for her loyalty. Having more kits is a point of status, and she's very happy to accept the reward.

So, the Claw family becomes "huge" in a short period of time on this evil action. Petal Claw, Fox Claw, Snake Claw, Red Claw, Alder Claw, Birch Claw.

For Snake, he's raised accepting all this as good and normal. At some point, Fox Claw is killed in some kind of frighteningly violent, unnecessary, bloodthirsty skirmish that Clear Sky aggrieves, and Snake Claw doubles down right along with Petal.

He also does a lot of the WORST things on behalf of Clear Sky. He IS going to have a body count-- though he will no longer be killing BB!Frost (now Sunlit Frost), he does bite him on the good paw during The First Battle.

This bite goes septic, after Sunlit REFUSES to sit out gravedigging, helping to bury his friends and family with an open wound. He already has nerve damage in the other arm from his severe burn.

This choice, because he wouldn't take a break when he was told to, ends up MASSIVELY disabling him. Once a master builder and inventor, he loses his dominant paw and has chronic pain in the other one. He can't build anymore after this.

After Snake Claw defects, I actually really want them to struggle with this. Snake doesn't feel like it's fair to blame him for what Sunlit did to himself, but he's also NEW to Thunder's Clan later, and there's not a lot of people on his side.

And Sunlit is a person who holds grudges... but it's also true that it's kinda not fair, since Snake Claw is trying to apologize for it.

Somehow it's unsatisfying and frustrating, knowing that Snake Claw is only apologizing because everyone wants him to. But how can you expect him to be sincere about something the BOTH of you feel is not entirely his fault?

It's like Sunlit wanted to have him to blame, but that's hard when he's not Clear Sky's Minion anymore.

In the past, I'd gone back and forth on if Red Claw or Snake Claw defected, and now I'm realizing.... por que no los dos? Por que no los TRES?

Since I've committed to adding a third group and expanding on the Forest cats, this is going to mean that Snake's younger "adopted" siblings NEED to have full arcs with this.

While one of them will remain with Clear Sky, becoming a cultural "justification" for the practice of Kitten Stealing, which will plague Clan culture for generations, I think something is fascinating in the idea that they're the ONLY Claw to remain with SkyClan.

Petal Claw and Fox Claw die in battle, "honored" for their sacrifice.

Red Claw defects for ThunderClan first, after falling for the charms of Acorn Swoop

Alder Claw likely follows later... reconnecting with Misty's mate, Milkweed, who has been fighting for MOONS for this very moment

And, lastly, Snake will follow.

(It is also bitterly funny to me that it means Milkweed loses Misty, but then ends up gaining all of Petal's biokids. Never speak to me or my daughter or my son or my son or my daughter or my daughter or my daughter-in-law ever again)

Because Snake Claw will be the very last of the Claw family to defect, I'm thinking it's after the end of BB!DOTC, and over in Thunderstar's Justice.

KEEP the fact that Snake Claw leaves because of Skystar bringing One Eye into the Clan. Even keep the fact that most of SkyClan is loyal to their tyrant-- Snake Claw has woken up to the truth, and realizes he has family elsewhere who loves and misses him.

Well.... hopefully they still do. After everything.

Snake Claw should have a ton of fights with Red Claw and Alder Claw, I think, before the First Battle. Have them all be covered in scars

Because the whole family defects, it's easy for it to become a sensational story about Nepotism/Scabforming. Other Clans probably don't hold Snake, Red, and Alder in high esteem in their myths-- but until Darkstar's Commandment which bans Kitten Stealing, Birch Claw was easily the most venerated.

Aaaand that's it so far! I know for a fact now that Snake Claw is going to be a member of the Claw family, and that he is going to be a MAJOR antagonist through BB!DOTC. In Thunderstar's Justice, he's going to join his living family after finally being able to realize that Skystar is not worth following.

I want to keep that he is a villain for most of the story, because that's what I like best about the way he turns on Clear Sky from canon. He was everything Skystar ever wanted, he did every awful command, the blood is already dried under his claws forever and he was rewarded only with a permanent scarring.

Then, told it's "MY way or the HIGH way," he chooses the high way.

[tiredfoxtf]

No, Minecraft haven't gotten "worse" over the years. No, new updates haven't "killed" Minecraft. No, Minecraft itself didn't become "boring".

If it was a case, everyone would be still playing on idk a 1.12.2. But no one does that. With every update it gets more painful to play on old versions. I could never reverse to playing without gorgeous mangrove wood, new beautiful terrain and ever useful elytra. And I am not alone. There's a reason people play on newer versions of the game, why modders continue to update their mods newer versions. There's a reason why people are excited for Trial Chambers and new wolves variants. Minecraft only gotten more fun.

I'm sorry to be the one who breaks it to you, but if you think Minecraft is boring now it's one of the two: 1) You're playing Minecraft wrong or 2) Minecraft is not a game for you.

1.You're playing Minecraft wrong. Which is, admittedly, a pretty hard thing to do in my opinion. Minecraft is a game about getting resources and using them to create your own world. It's a sandbox of which you are the sole player (or not, if you are in multiplayer), where you challenge yourself on what next amazing thing you can create. You can be a builder, making castles and spaceships, you can be a redstoner be it a practical redstone or logic redstone, you can be a modder making your own little elements, adding them to the game in a way you would like (a bit of a more advanced hobby than the others). You can join public servers to play entirely vanilla mini-games. Become a parkour master or pvper on the different public servers. Call your friends and make a private multiplayer world, where you race each other in resources or work together to create something, prank each other, build elaborate traps, escape rooms anything and everything.

The goal of the game is NOT to kill the Ender Dragon. The goal of the game is NOT to get maxed out netherite gear. The goal of the game is NOT to get every achievement even, but achievement hunting CAN be a fun game to play with your friends. Or speedrun all of the achievements/to kill end dragon, trying to optimize your skills.

Otherwise killing the ender dragon, getting a full gear and equipment are just part of the experience. Just like fishing, mining, getting wood. Minecraft is Not an rpg, where you go on quests to finish a main plotline, where you level up and monsters get harder, no. All hard content is Optional. That's the point. Not to say irrelevant when we talk minigames servers. Minecraft is a sandbox, survival is just one of the gamemodes.

2.Minecraft is not a game for you.

And that's OK! Although Minecraft is a beautiful game, it may not be for you. The games that are for everyone, are for no one. Not all games born equal in the eyes of a player. You probably like other games! Like Terraria or Starbound, maybe you enjoy Zelda games, maybe you are a Genshin player. They are very different games, if you bored playing Minecraft, it's time close it and to play something you enjoy.

[warioreal]

That one villager post got one like so I will now fulfill my promise.

I know I said Villager but this is mostly just Illager stuff so ermmm yeah

The ancient builders were masters of technology and magic and the illagers clearly wanted some of that, given their repeated attempts to create wool replicas of mobs and builder-exclusive items like end portal frames and beds. But why would they need to create wool replicas of beds when Villagers are shown to be able to make them no prob? Well, in the woodland mansions, none of the rooms have crafting tables (they also don’t have any other similar blocks like furnaces or anvils but that’s not important), sure, they have chests and other blocks that require crafting, but who’s to say the ancient builders didn’t do it for them? After the disappearance of the Ancient Builders, the Illagers begun to study magic more in an attempt to make up for the loss of their only source of crafting. The villagers learned to live off the land and respect the world around them while the illagers became so accustomed to power that they lost touch of themselves and crumbled away the second their benefactors died off. Their raids on villages are now not just to show off their power and tear them down to build pillager outposts, but also an attempt to figure out how to do those things that the ancient builders used to do, like brew potions or craft items. Ironically, their quest for power has left them powerless, desperate, doing whatever it takes to get on the same level as the Ancient Builders who once aided them.

[superpeeboy]

Top five reasons Good Cop Bad Cop are the best characters?

Oh man! You knew what would happen when you asked that. Here goes!

(lots of text below)

1. Concept

GCBC’s concept has always stood out to me. Even before I was obsessed, I looked at his design, and I thought it was cool! The combination of the Good Cop Bad Cop trope and a dual-sided minifig head is really smart! Those ideas combine so well, and without that idea as a basis, GCBC wouldn’t be GCBC.

There’s also subversion of how split-personality characters tend to act! Obviously, Good Cop is the good one and Bad Cop is the bad one, but its more complicated than that. Good Cop is still willing to melt Emmet, and he still works for Business and participates in the policework, he is still a villain despite being nice! And Bad Cop, while it isn’t quite as noticeable earlier in the movie, 100% redeems himself in the end! (And I think he still has moments where he isn’t just full-on evil earlier on, I’ll get back to that later.)

A peculiar fact I know is that they started GCBC’s design with the Good Cop Bad Cop trope, NOT the dual-sided minifig head. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like the natural progression would be starting with the LEGO feature and turning that into a character. But they didn’t do that. Originally, he was just going to flip glasses up and down from his hat.

The highlight of GCBC’s design is obviously their head. I love their outfit (maybe not so much when I’m rendering something), but there’s not that much to do about a police outfit. I only wish it was actually purple. BUT I’m getting distracted. I was trying to mention how GCBC’s faces contrast so much! Good Cop’s large glasses highlight his eyes, and his eyes show how nice he is, they’re round and soft and cute! To contrast Bad Cop’s sunglasses block out his eyes, and all you get to see is his big ol’ mouth. He usually has his teeth shown, with each tooth lined out. You don’t see outlined teeth on Good Cop. Outlined teeth are something I always got told not to do in art, because it makes characters scary. But of course, Bad Cop is supposed to be scary! So he has that trait! And I love to see it!

I’ve always been interested in character design. It’s not something I myself can do very well, but I love to see interesting characters. And GCBC’s design and concept are exactly that! Interesting! (And this whole thing is about GCBC, but I think a lot of the other characters also have really good designs.) What I especially love is how all TLM designs are interesting despite the limitations of being a LEGO. In fact, I think they’d be worse if they weren’t LEGO! The artists had to put a lot of effort into making these designs look good, even as minifigs. I think that’s awesome.

2. Story

Ough! It already hurts and I haven’t even typed yet! But of course, GCBC’s story is important. GCBC is given the most tragic story in TLM. They are forced to keep working for a corrupt boss, and they are the only ones (outside of robots) who are aware of the corruptness. But that is exactly why they have to just go with it, they know Business has the power to kill them and everyone they care about if they went against him.

And even then, even when they’re working for him the best they can, knowing far more than anyone else and having to act normal about it, well you know what happens. GCBC loses everyone. They obviously do not have many people that support them to begin with, but Bad Cop loses his parents and Good Cop! And that leaves him with one person, Business.

It’s implied Business has been so terrible to GCBC for a while. Good Cop is so scared of Business that he avoids the guy as much as possible, to the point Business needed to specifically ask for Good Cop, and even then he would keep switching out. And GCBC’s helmet is mostly for protection from Lord Business, not master builders. But what can GCBC do about their situation? Nothing! Business is the damn president, they can’t do anything about it. And they can’t join the master builders, they’re murderers, they can’t just join the good guys! GCBC is a victim of such unfortunate circumstance.

Isn’t that crazy!? They just add the most horrific abuse on GCBC to this movie!? It’s a movie about LEGO! And you can even see how this affected Bad Cop, if you look closely, and have worms eating your brain! But again, I want to get to that later!

3. Personalities

IT’S LATER! Obviously GCBC is two guys in one. I love that. I love it so much that it feels wrong when people seperate them! I’m getting more and more into my own interpretation and outside of what is actually shown/implied in the movie, but I think GCBC just wouldn’t work seperated. I feel like Good Cop and Bad Cop exaggerate each other’s personalities. Good Cop is really nice, which leaves Bad Cop to have to be the mean one. No matter how nice Bad Cop might try to be, he isn’t going to be able to match Good Cop. And their names are no help anyhow.

If they were to be seperate people, Bad Cop wouldn’t be as aggressive. He wouldn’t HAVE to be! And if he was, then he would just be a complete jerk. But when they’re connected, they both balance eachother out and contrast more. Good Cop allows Bad Cop to be mean and Bad Cop allows Good Cop to be nice.

Good Cop is the nice one. But he isn’t THAT nice. I think I said this earlier, Good Cop was totally okay with killing Emmet and he still works for Business. But he is less violent. He is the Good Cop, so he must be the sympathetic one, or else he wouldn’t BE that! He certainly is evil, but he also certainly is kind.

Bad Cop is the antithesis. He is the bad one, duh. But he also is not entirely terrible. He can be a little nice, as a treat. Especially after the loss of Good Cop. Now that there isn’t a Good Cop to be the good one, that leaves Bad Cop. And if you’ll notice, he does start acting a little nicer. He offers an easy way to Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Vitruvius in that Old West scene, he says thank you to what he THINKS is a robot, and obviously he brings back Good Cop at the end, he’s not entirely evil. But he definitely is a little bit.

During the movie, Bad Cop has a running gag where he beats up chairs. Aha, I’m really going into headcanon territory right now, but I see that as him taking his anger out on chairs instead of PEOPLE! Wouldn’t that be sweet? He tries not to hurt people! Amazing! He also melts people but I forgive him for that!

I love GCBC’s personalities. I love them on their own, but especially how they work together, as ‘one’ character. I love how despite being a Good Cop and a Bad Cop, they’re both more complicated than that. Man these guys are great!

4. Family

GCBC is the one LEGO character given a family. Obviously the story is about the Man and Boy upstairs, and they’re family, but no other LEGO gets that. Emmet and Business aren’t exactly related, even if they’re the LEGOsonas of Will and Finn. In a draft of TLM, Emmet did have a mom, Doris, but she was removed. GCBC gets parents though. And also, eachother, as brothers!

GCBC is a villain. But they have a family that they really do care for. Good Cop can’t bring himself to kill his family, when he’s entirely willing to kill Emmet. And Bad Cop is ‘willing’. But it’s more like he knows that if he doesn’t do it, Business is going to do it instead, and he’ll be punished. And he’s clearly apprehensive anyhow!

I already mentioned how Bad Cop reacts to losing his family, the only people who care for him, but there’s more! Bad Cop sings the song ‘Danny Boy’ after losing Good Cop. An old irish song about losing someone (usually by death) and wishing to be reunited someday. Cool man! I’m not crying! My eyes are sweating!

The fact that GCBC is given a family is very special! And the family really helps with their character. And everyone comes back in the end, but does that change how terrifying it would be to lose all your family, family who Bad Cop was especially close to?

5. Love

And now I talk about what might be the best part of GCBC. The love! Theres so much to GCBC, clearly the creators loved him. I love being able to see that. Despite being the villain, and not even the main villain at that, GCBC is included on lots of merch. GCBC is also included in lots of extras. And he’s included a LOT. GCBC is given so much by the creators!

Liam Neeson didn’t have to voice GCBC in single takes, but he did. Because he thought it fit the character. Because he cared about the character! He improvised that darndarndarnydarn thing because he cared about the character! He added all sorts of weird noises because he thought it fit GCBC! He didn’t HAVE to do that! He wasn’t getting anything from doing that! But he did it because he felt like it made the character better.

Isn’t that just darling? GCBC is not just a fan-favorite, I think he was a favorite of the people who worked on the movie as well! And I think those guys know a lot about TLM, ha ha! So, that’s 5 reasons why GCBC is the best character, in my opinion.

[shirefantasies]

hiiii, just wanted to say i adore your blog, and i hope you're having a wonderful day! i don’t know if im late to requesting a matchup, but if you’re still doing them, im 5’9”, bi, ace and female. I’ve played the viola for almost a decade now, even though i hate performing due to stage fright, i LOVE to read, mostly fantasy and mystery, and am a massive art history and architecture nerd. i collect house plants and knit and crochet for fun. i’m pretty shy but once i get out of my shell i am extremely sarcastic yet cuddly lol.

-🪴

Nope, they’ve been opened up! Hope you like The Hobbit because I match you with…

Bofur!

Performing your viola in a tavern, you can’t help noticing the eyes of one particular patron stuck to you like glue. Puffing on his pipe thoughtfully, he maintains an intense, beckoning gaze your entire performance. When the keep tells you you’ve a drink from a guest, there’s not a single doubt in your mind it’s from the bloke in the hat. A spike of nerves runs through you- that had been one of your first performances with an audience, and having any sort of reception only heightens the self-awareness you're trying to avoid.

Accepting your drink, you nod a thanks at the hatted patron, who naturally heads your way. "Never seen you here before," he remarks. "And you may not much still," you shoot back, "I needed a spare bit of coin, but I did not visit this town to perform." "What did you visit it for?" "To study some of the neighboring towns and help repair them. What I have always really wanted to be is an architect." Whistling, the dwarf gives a big smile, one that tells you exactly how blown away he is. "By my beard, I didn't know I was in the presence of a genius. Well, here's hoping I'll see your designs one day!" "Oh, I have some with me, did you want to-" "Bust 'em out, lassie!"

Bofur, as it turns out his name is, ended up being quite the fun company. Perhaps, you consider, you will return to that tavern after all. As it is, your work carries you deeper into town, or rather you should say its ruins. Burnt as the buildings are, though, your scans and sketches give you a good sense for the overall style and structure of the place once called Dale. A team of dwarves awaits your sketches of one of the larger complexes, accepts them, and you move on. One structure stands out to you immediately, the cutest, coziest little place tucked away at the side of a dilapidated marketplace. "Whose is this?" You ask the dwarf builders. One sets aside one final stone on the cart he is loading to reply, "That would be one of ours, actually, lass. Three fellas from the Lonely Mountain bought that one. Plan on putting in a toy shop, they said." Your heart is beyond moved. "I want to design it." "What?" "I want to design it. Can I speak to them?" Nodding, the dwarf shrugs. "Why not? Not sure what they have in mind. I'll send for them."

What are the odds that they bring forth Bofur? Grinning and still in that hat, the dwarf introduces you to his cousin Bifur and his brother Bombur. No strong family resemblance, but the three of them are clearly thick as thieves. Bofur himself begins talking up your skills immediately, calling you a master architect and a viola virtuoso to boot and making you giggle. He shows you some of their little pull-alongs and wind-ups, bringing further smiles to your face and compliments to your lips. “See?” He says to the others, shooting you a wink. “She’s even got good taste.”

They all unanimously love your vision for the shop and even help out with rebuilding, so you get quite close to the entire plucky little trio. You almost refuse all the payment they offer, giving you money for your design efforts as well as a cut from the crocheted dolls you’d let them sell. Your shelves were getting full from your hobby, after all. Each dwarf gets a handmade gift as well: thick, warm gloves for Bombur’s mining trips, a bag for Bifur to carry his supplies in, and a new scarf for Bofur, who throws his arms around you and swears he’ll never take it off. You take it as a joke, but he always seems to have it slung around his neck from then on…

They often let you work quietly, take your time to recharge and just pull you into the occasional question or joke. Thus, you’re certainly not expecting Bofur to sit at your side one day while you work, hemming and hawing and wringing his gloved hands before he finally asks if you’ve ever put much thought into settling down. “Not that a toy shop is all that much excitement, but-” Grinning, you cut him off. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Taglist: @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @mossthebogwitch @ibabblealot @kilibaggins @joonies-word @stormchaser819 @pirate-lord-of-narnia @datglutengoblin @letmelickyoureyeballs @mossyskinn | Reply/Ask/Message to join 🥰

***MATCHUPS ARE CLOSED***

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello, I am just curious do you have any good advice or resources on worldbuilding? I am a beginner when it comes to worldbuilding so I would like to get more information before starting.

Beginner Tips for World Building

The number one tip I have for beginner world builders is: if it doesn't make an appearance in the story, don't worry about it.

Details in your story should accomplish at least one of the following:

-- play an actual role in the story -- inform the reader about nature of world/character/plot -- create ambience

If a detail doesn't accomplish any of those things, you don't have to flesh it out in pre-writing world building, and you don't have to include it in the story.

So, let's say your protagonist's village, and setting of Act I, is hemmed in by a dark and ancient forest. It might be tempting to spend hours researching and planning all the flora and fauna to be found in the forest, but if your character never sets foot inside the forest during the story--and if no one in the story talks about being in the forest--why does any of that matter?

Instead, go for a targeted approach. You want to create ambience and inform the reader of the nature of the forest, so you could describe a few of the flora and fauna that can be found there. Like, you might say the forest is filled with blackthorn and siverbirch, and patches of belladonna. You might also mention that sometimes bats fly out of the forest to feed on insects swarming in the light of the nightly bonfires. Maybe your character goes to the apothecary for some medicine and is told about a healing mushroom that grows among the spleenwort and rowan. This is just enough detail to color your world and help the reader get a feel for the magic that might come from such an old and mysterious forest, but you're not wasting hours upon hours (or paragraph after paragraph) fleshing out this forest that ultimately has little bearing on the actual plot.

The second most important tip I have for beginner world builders: use real world places as inspiration/models for fictional places.

Building a world from scratch is a lot of work, so using real world locations as inspiration and models for your fictional world can not only cut your work load significantly--it can help ensure cohesion and believability in your world. My post Setting Your Story in an Unfamiliar Place has tips for researching real locations for your story. You can also have a look at my World Building master list for other tips and ideas.

Happy world building!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[ask-good-cop-bad-cop]

Care to share some of your GCBC headcanons?

🔸️ I'm going to be pulling a lot of these from previously answered asks. It'll be nice having them in one spot.

✮ Their full name is Garrett William Copp. They developed as a "they", but Ma and Pa didn't realize it until they were a few months old and began to show two distinct personalities. So Good ended up getting called Garrett, and Bad ended up getting called William. He vastly prefers his name to be shortened to Liam. Don't ever call him Will. Especially don't try calling him Bill.

✮ Their birthday is October 31, 1969. (Yes, I am aware that would make them 54 now. It's still 2014 for them.)

✮ Bad has always enjoyed physical activity and played many sports when they were kids. His favorites were baseball and track & field. He also took up boxing in college. Good had more of an interest in theatre- Bad gave up sports their senior year of high school so Good would have the time to do something he enjoyed for once.

✮ They had difficulty controlling their switching when they were younger- Good especially. He's always been the stronger of the two of them that way and can easily take control from Bad, no matter how hard Bad tries to resist. Unfortunately this, paired with Bad's need to be active, often led to injuries.

✮ Existing as they do also led to a lot of bullying and fights throughout school. Bad was always quick to switch in to defend Good- but he never threw the first punch.

✮ Bad prefers savory flavors, while Good prefers sweet. This played a large part in why they chose their particular culinary skills.

✮ Good has always been better at things like math and chemistry, which helps a lot with his interest in baking. Bad, with his long-standing love of reading, is remarkably good at things like spelling and grammar- to the point he turns off spellcheck and autocorrect on every device they use because it just drives him crazy.

✮ They both have specific emotions that they feel very strongly, and specific emotions they have a very difficult time feeling at all, and often need the other to either bring them back down or help them process it. Good's strong emotion is joy, and the emotion he is incapable of feeling on his own is anger. The most he can feel without Bad's help is annoyance. Bad is pretty much the opposite. He often needs Good to help keep his quick temper in check, and without Good's help, the happiest he is capable of feeling is 'content'. They both feel sadness/despair the same; Good is just much more comfortable with and capable of crying. Bad has to reach some pretty extreme limits before the tears will finally come.

✮ They dream together! Not always, but about 90% of the time. Sometimes they still share a body, sometimes they're separate. They especially like the dreams where they're separate and have been practicing lucid dreaming because, even if it's only a dream, they enjoy having the chance to do things together like normal brothers. They know they wouldn't be able to function if they really were separated though.

✮ Bad's tastes in music are pretty much limited to classic rock, traditional Irish, and ambient/atmospheric (think movie/video game music). Good, on the other hand, will listen to just about anything- especially if it's loud, upbeat, or both. His favorite genre is symphonic metal, and Bad often tells him he sounds like Fabio (former lead singer of Rhapsody of Fire) when he sings, just with a different accent.

✮ They very likely have the creative spark needed to be a Master Builder. No one's ever bothered to try training them to find out though.

✮ They're both mainly coffee drinkers. Bad prefers his black (maybe every once in a blue moon with just a touch of sugar), while Good prefers lattes, usually mocha but sometimes with other flavor shots, depending on what he's in the mood for. They're the same way when it comes to tea, as rarely as they drink it. Bad prefers hot herbal teas (specifically mint or chamomile) to unwind in the evenings, also very rarely sweetened. Good likes tea lattes (London Fog is his favorite so far) or milk teas for a sweet caffeine boost that's different from his usual fare. The only iced tea either of them will drink is their mom's sun tea, which she sweetens with honey and adds fresh crushed mint leaves to.

✮ Aside from seasonal allergies, they're allergic to mosquito bites. It's not life-threatening but any bites they get do swell up to be at least the size of a golf ball.

✮ They are what some would call "sensitive" or "intuitive". They have been able to see ghosts since they were young. Bad Cop in particular tends to get surprisingly accurate gut feelings about situations (not 100% of the time, but definitely more often than not).

[ineffablymischievousscamp]

Michael Sheen - Master Storyteller

In today's digital world, celebrity interviews are in abundance - especially when you consider newer mediums like podcasts that have skyrocketed in popularity over the past decade. You can find panels from conventions, access talk shows from other countries, read magazine articles from across the pond. There are so many one-dimensional, disconnected, or just plain boring celebrity guests in this oversaturated market. Michael Sheen is NEVER one of those guests.

Storytelling is an underappreciated skill. In this realm, it becomes obvious that Michael has harnessed this skill exceptionally well. As a master storyteller and world-builder, he captivates with the effortless ease of a raconteur, transforming an ordinary interview question into immersive journeys that leave you utterly enraptured.

You can't help but be drawn in by his passion. It's not just in the words he chooses or the exact experience he is relaying, but the ebb and flow of his narrative voice - a voice that exudes warmth and conviction, vulnerability and authenticity, humor and hope.

Like an artist crafting an epic, he makes it so that you feel like an active participant in the tale - present in the narrative being woven - instead of just a listener. Each story feels like a memory being created in the moment with you, rather than just a mere recounting of events.

I absolutely love when he takes a seemingly simplistic interview question that one would assume would result in a stale, depthless answer, and somehow delivers a story so engaging that you are now on an unexpected adventure alongside him. It doesn't matter the topic - he is just that magical and skilled. Michael must be a dream for interviewers. In a lot of ways, the man practically interviews himself. His tangents are so entertaining, refreshing, and enriching - delivering delicious opportunities to dive deeper into his narratives should the interviewer find themselves brave enough.

Outside of his masterful storytelling, Michael truly just seems like a wonderful human to have a conversation with. He is insanely charming, marvelously chaotic, unabashedly honest, perpetually curious, intensely thought-provoking, and deeply caring.

Do yourself a favor and listen to some Michael Sheen content this week. You might laugh until you hurt. You might sob uncontrollably. You might find yourself impassioned over a new topic. You might leave with a fresh perspective. You might find your faith in humanity restored. You will not regret it.

In closing, we all know that age-old ice breaker question - If you could have a dinner party with any 5 famous people (dead or alive), who would they be and why? Well if it isn't obvious yet, one of my answers would unequivocally be Michael Sheen. He'd be riveting in his own right, but can you imagine the stories he'd draw out of the other guests too?

Bonus Content:

For all of those that made it to the end of my TedTalk... enjoy this instant serotonin boost brought to you by Sheenie's Smile!

And yes, at my dinner party I'd 100% tell him "You've had such a profound effect on my life!"

[patchwork-crow-writes]

What Is Magnificus's Endgame?

Heavy Inscryption spoilers under the Read More - you have been warned.

The four Scrybes of Inscryption are all after the OLD_DATA, and each has their reasoning for trying to gain access to it. P03 wants to spread itself across the internet and ensure its domination over the other Scrybes somewhere; Grimora wants to erase the entire game along with the OLD_DATA, to ensure it can never fall into the wrong hands; and Leshy just... wants to chill and play an immersive card game in his cabin.

But we are never given a reason why Magnificus wants the OLD_DATA. The only hint we are ever given is by Rebecha, the bridge-builder NPC in Acts 2 and 3, who mentions that his intentions are "too terrible to say", and never elaborates on that, or even brings it up ever again. Everything surrounding the Scrybe of Magics is intentionally cryptic and ambiguous, from his abilities of precognition, his randomly disappearing mid-sentence, and the... questionable treatment of his pupils.

But we can discern clues from these scattered fragments, along with a few secrets unearthed in the Console ARG, to piece together a possible motivation.

Let's start with Magnificus himself. As mentioned previously, he is the Scrybe of Magics, and his inscryption tool is a paintbrush, with which he can apply and remove sigils from existing cards. We can therefore understand him as an artistic soul, with a flair for the dramatic and producing the maximum possible impact from his works. He holds high expectations of those who would study under or challenge him, as we can see by the harsh treatment of his pupils.

Magnificus has three mages under his tutelege, who we know as Goobert, Amber and the Lonely Wizard. Each of them are vying for a coveted place in their master's deck, and have been subjected to various trials to prove themselves worthy, with Goobert being turned into literal goo, Amber existing as a head impaled upon a pike, and the Lonely Wizard deprived of all sensory experience. In each case, their suffering is commented upon and is demonstrated to be very real. On top of this, the three of them have been sealed away in their own pocket dimensions, completely isolated from the rest of the world.

You would expect Magnificus himself to comment upon them - to at least congratulate you for besting his students. But he never mentions them at all. You might be forgiven for thinking he had forgotten about them entirely, or even for holding them in utter contempt. His treatment of a picture painted by Goobert, where the two of them are happily embracing, is indicative of this attitude, with Goobert being completely whited-out from the picture.

The question is, why does Magnificus treat his pupils this way? What possible reason could there be to subject them to such horrific treatments, other than to ensure that they suffer in the worst possible ways? Could that suffering actually be integral to his process - his way to ensure that the "best" art is created? Much is said of the relationship between art and suffering, with the trope of the "tortured artist", and numerous quotes attributed to different artists linking the two. Of particular note is this quote attributed to Aldous Huxley:

"Perhaps it's good for one to suffer. Can an artist do anything if he's happy? Would he ever want to do anything? What is art, after all, but a protest against the horrible inclemency of life?"

Perhaps Magnificus believes it is a necessary precondition to suffer in order to produce the best art, the best cards, the best possible creative output. The greater the suffering, the greater the resulting work... and in fact, thanks to the Console ARG, we know this suffering is exactly what Magnificus is after.

The "Console ARG" is a secret exclusively found in the console releases of Inscryption, where through a series of puzzles players can discover the existence of a character called James Cobb. Further delving tells us that he was once a pupil of Magnificus, and that his trial involved his body warping and changing into different forms. But Magnificus was displeased with his protegee and got rid of him... which we discover is because Cobb actually seemed to enjoy what was happening to him. He wasn't suffering, so the Scrybe of Magics found him wanting. This tells us that the suffering of his pupils - who it should be remembered are to become the subjects of his paintings - is absolutely vital for his method of inscryption.

So then, all that remains is to link this knowledge with the OLD_DATA, and then try and discern what Magnificus wants to accomplish with it. So let's look at what the OLD_DATA actually is... or rather, what it's rumoured to be.

The OLD_DATA is intrinsically linked with the Karnoffel Code, which was supposedly a sequence of Karnoffel cards found in Adolf Hitler's breast pocket after his death, which contained the activation key for some sort of doomsday device. According to Kaycee's notes hidden in her Mod, she reckons device could potentially have the power to wipe Europe off the face of the map. And this doesn't even touch on the data's more supernatural aspects, including its seeming ability to grant sapience to the digital inhabitants of Inscryption, or that it may very well be an aspect of the Devil himself.

Consider the sheer scale of descruction that could be unleashed by the contents of the OLD_DATA, should it fall into the hands of someone willing to utilise it. Consider the sheer amount of suffering such an event would cause. Consider Magnificus's seeming devotion to have his subjects suffer for the sake of his art...

And so, we come to our answer. The reason that Maginificus has for pursuing the OLD_DATA, the reason that's "too terrible to say", is so that he can cause an event that unleashes untold suffering upon the world... for as his past and present actions show, there can be no true art without suffering.

And the greater the suffering... the greater the masterpiece.

[doomed-to-be-obsessed]

Give me your best pitch on why I should ship coppernauts.

I think Benny would be one of the most accepting people to the cops when they switched sides. Emmet of course too, but when scribble cop allowed Benny to build a spaceship I feel like that moment between them was likely more impactful on Benny then any other interaction with the others, which i feel like would strive him to befriend the cops. And Benny is a huge positive force which bad cop would (at first) not like, but gradually get use to and be fond of. The cops can also keep Benny grounded when he gets too excited, which Benny will probably need in some scenarios. With Benny’s help, the cops can feel more at ease in his new found place after Takos Tuesday, and Benny could use a friend that can keep him down to earth as well as let him be excited and build. The ship can also be a parallel (kind of) to Lucy and Emmet. Emmet fell in love at first sight while Lucy took a while to warm up to him, which can be similar to coppernauts (the best part about it is most likely they wouldn’t realize they’re in love). It kind of patches the bridge (metaphorically) between the master builders and those who worked with business, just like how emmet and Lucy’s relationship (can’t remember the ship name) bridged the gap between regular people and the master builders. It wouldn’t just be good for fun, but it can have a lot of benefits to stories lines that could’ve happened after the first movie if the second movie didn’t happen. The relationship could prevent the cops from going back to their ways (which they would never do, but still) or hiding from the others (which would be more likely to happen), and it could prevent Benny from being swept under the rug as just the 80s something spaceman who is obsessed with space ships. Not only that but, the tropes for the relationship also makes sense in the grand scheme of the Lego movie’s tropes. (ie, guy falling for a cool girl who has a douche boyfriend, who leaves her boyfriend and goes with the guy that makes her feel like she can be herself with him, the ‘veteran’ who is old and grizzled and doesn’t believe in the hero’s cause, but actually does and comes back to save him, the wise old mentor who is strange compared to what is the standard of the world, etc.) An excitable sunshine blue character who comes from the hero side, and a grumpy moon red character who is a former antagonist fits right into the “cliche but is really not a cliche because of (insert genius writing that subverts the audiences expectations)” pattern of tropes that the Lego movies commonly use.

Coppernauts (whether platonic or not) is a very good relationship that helps build on character growth, recognizement, and story development. :)

[racfoam]

Okay, poll time regarding an important purchase in my day-to-day life.

In short, I am ready to upgrade from my (glances to the Acer laptop that's been dead for a year) laptop...

I now have a very big budget (it's considered big in my country) that I got over the summer to finally spend it on an upgrade.

I need a poll because now I got an idea to buy a PC, which is dangerous territory for me for numerous reasons. Some background: I haven't had a PC since I was 14, I got my laptop (which is dead now) right as I entered high school, and it was a cheap one, it couldn't even run Minecraft without lagging which at the time pissed off my gamer childhood self.

But, as a functioning, employed adult, I finally did it. I finally saved up enough money to buy a new device.

The accesibility & portability of laptops is def what I need overall for my professional life. They're not a MUST at my work place at all, but it would be NICE to be able to access my documents on laptop & edit them there or during the way home rather than go to the office again for the PC.

Here’s the thing. The laptop I can afford is not better by performance against the gaming PC I can afford.

Why a gaming PC?

Because I am a whimsical little shit. I see a program and I want to master it for hobby's sake, or just cus I'm that curious. What if I one day want to pick up Blender or 3D sculpting or some shit just to try it?! It's happened before, and it continues happening. I jump from hyperfixation to hyperfixation like a ping pong ball. A laptop at the price range I want to buy won't be able to run complex games or Blender.

The childhood me, in my soul, wants that freaking PC. But my basic normal thought process is also aware if I get a gaming PC it may distract me from my work bcs... Well the PC will be able to do EVERYTHING. At least I'm self-aware enough of that.

Another thing is...

Durability & longer-life & upgradability

I can always upgrade the PC, I know my way around PC hardware. The PC will last me longer than the laptop probably will, and I can't upgrade the laptop.

But then I have no portability & always-accessibility the laptop offers, and if I get the laptop it will be for work, Photoshop & fic writing if I get used to it (I won't, I hate writing on laptops). Which is perfect, I'll be able to do my work even on the go, I can carry it with me, etc etc and I WON'T BE DISTRACTED.

So! I guess, vote bcs at this point I'll toss a goddamn coin! And before anyone asks, no I won't put the Macbook on the list, I like having my liver, thank you.

My biggest fear is that I've grown so used to the laptop interface if I buy a PC I'll just take time re-configuring my brain to use it, so what if I hate it? I have so many fears, and I don't want to waste my money and then go like "ugh, I'm disappointed". I'm used to reading on the laptop, typing on the laptop, working on the laptop, etc. I have all PC peripherals except a monitor but the IT stores are having huge discounts & sales now I can grab one from anywhere at this point so that doesn't concern me a lot.

This is a purchase I'll treat myself with for my birthday. I've spoken to friends, some say laptop, some say PC. Anyway, here is the poll. I'll put it for today.

I just love both but I have to pick, but I can't. Laptop is more familiar to me now than a PC 🤣 a PC would be dangerous cus I will def get the urge to play games instead of WORKING, but on the off hours it'd be a party 🤣

For info, the

PC would be

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600

GPU: RX 6600

RAM: 16GB

That is the overall idea and I even found a custom pc builder in my country, too, if the prebuilt ones are too expensive, haha.

Laptop Models:

Lenovo Ideapad 3 with Ryzen 5, 16Gb RAM, Integrated Intel GPU

Lenovo V15 G5, also Ryzen 5, 16gb ram, integrated Intel GPU

[kabillieu]

This is a very long and rambling post about our house-buying process in Alabama, so here's a cut for courtesy.

We are in the process of buying a house in Prattville, AL which is a suburb of Montgomery.

We flew into Atlanta on Saturday, rented a car, and drove to my parents' house, which is an hour from Montgomery. We spent all day Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday touring houses. I had no idea what to expect. Unlike when we bought our previous two houses, we didn't really have a favorite going into this process. We also had many more constraints and mismatched desires, as well. And the market is much more expensive. We also think that we might be in this house for many years, maybe forever. There was just so much pressure to make the right choice, but I didn't even really know what would be right for us. I *did* know we couldn't buy a historic home in Montgomery because Montgomery public schools are too dysfunctional and underfunded to accommodate our ASD kid. That left the suburbs, and we have never lived in a suburb before.

I've been having a low-key identity crisis about all this for a while because for 20 years I've defined my adult personality based on living in urban and walkable communities. I had to ask myself if I would be okay living in "the country" or in a new-build community with an HOA next to a strip mall. I asked myself why I had constructed my identity the way I had. What was wrong with living in a brand new house? Why couldn't I be okay in a small neighborhood 15 minutes outside of town? I'm still not sure I know the answers to these questions, especially the question of why I don't like brand new tract housing, but it became clear to me while we were touring all these houses that I absolutely needed to live in a neighborhood that is big and safe enough (by which I mean it has sidewalks) to walk for 45 minutes or run for 30 minutes. So that ruled out country houses. We saw a lot of nice and very expensive tract houses in giant new neighborhoods, and although these houses do not feel like they're *for me* that is honestly just a matter of not liking their vibes rather than any real reasoning of logic or consequence.

Dominic and I also had differing values and desires going into this house hunt. He wanted something newer and much bigger. He wanted a bonus room and four bedrooms. He wanted a big master suite with a big shower and big closets and lots of storage space. He had even gotten really close to building a new house, and we did a test build with builders and had a house, floor plan, and everything picked out. I wasn't super comfortable with this, which I know is crazy because it's such a big commitment, but I went along with it because it was difficult for me to articulate what *is* important to me. Dominic was just a lot more certain about what he wanted, and I trust him, so I decided to be okay with trying something new. But then at the last minute he decided he didn't want to build with this company in that specific location, and that's when we realized we were going to have to fly down here and house hunt.

We saw so many houses. Most of them looked the same. They were all expensive and nice. We looked at a lot of properties with pools because that was one thing we agreed was important to us. We also looked at a couple of rambling old ranches near the historic downtown. They were both intriguing but too much of a project, especially at their price points. We also looked at a newer house near downtown as well. The owner was there for that tour, and she talked about how cute downtown Prattville is (it's just an L-shaped strip, but it *is* very cute). She said there were a couple of nice parks nearby and her family was always walking all over the neighborhood and walking downtown for parades and festivals and even tubing in a nearby creek. I didn't like her house very much, but I loved the idea of living so close to the historic downtown area, and the neighborhood is big and mixed with newer and older homes. The landscaping is established with trees and bushes and grasses and flowers.

I was interested in this house based on the location, but Dominic didn't really care for the house, and it really was just okay. I didn't feel great about it or bad about it. It was just a house built in 2012 or so, and it looked like every other house we had looked at except slightly smaller. So I let the idea of living near downtown go, and we kept looking.

But the very last house we looked at was another 70s ranch in the same neighborhood. I was certain it would be weird or need a lot of work or be too small for Dominic. And then it was kind of perfect. It was updated enough with new paint, appliances, and granite countertops, had original hardwood floors, a formal sitting room with glass French doors, a living room with a fireplace, a dining room, an eat-in kitchen, four bedrooms, three full baths, and a pool in the backyard. It even had a built-in wet bar in the living room, a period detail which I found hilarious and charming. It was also priced dramatically lower than the other houses we had seen, and it was one hilly but walkable mile from the historic downtown, which is comparable to our house in Omaha.

To me, it immediately felt like home. Like, this was emotional logic, not rational logic. It was not Dominic's first choice, and not nearly as big and updated as he wanted, but he agreed to it, and now we're in the process of buying it. Of course, it could fall through, but our offer has been accepted and we've put earnest money down and have a closing date. And I genuinely love this house. I was not expecting to feel anything but acceptance about this move. To feel genuine excitement about the very last house we looked at is amazing. This 70s ranch would be nothing special to many people, but to me it's wonderful. I hope we're able to close on it in May, and I hope my family and I will be very happy there for many years.