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shuttershocky · 1 year

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Out of all the curses of modern gaming, it's season passes / battlepasses that saddens me the most, because what I am fairly sure is its origin is really close to my heart.

One of the most notable things about Dota 2 is that (even now) it's the only MOBA (games like League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, etc) on the market where every single one of its playable characters was immediately free for the player, no money or grind required, unthinkable for a free to play game. That means a player completely new to the game was actually on even footing access-wise to players with thousands of hours: everyone had access to the same cast, there were no upgrades you could get to amplify your favorites before a match (unlike the rune system League had back then, though I hear that's gone now), nothing. You were theoretically on even footing with everyone at all times, your only difference being your experience.

In its early years, Dota 2 didn't even have lootboxes for its cosmetic microtransactions yet (even when its sister game Team Fortress 2 did, and it does now). You browsed through the online store and paid 2.5 dollars to give your favorite character a cowboy hat.

All in all, there was very little way the game was actually making any money. The only reason it was even designed that way is because the original DotA was a Warcraft 3 mod faithfully updated for years with the free labor of community modders. When the lead was hired by Valve to make Dota 2, they insisted complete parity between the two versions: they would have the same updates, no gameplay can be locked behind monetization, Dota 2 should be able to run on crappy computers, etc.

Now Dota 2 has an annual tournament called The International, famous for holding the single largest prizepool in the history of Esports (back then, 1 million dollars), with the money contributed by Valve. However, they knew pumping millions of dollars into the tournament every year on a game that was not monetizing its playerbase was a great way to go bankrupt eventually, even if at the time Dota 2 was acting as a gateway for many people in third world countries (where DotA remained supremely popular) to get into Steam.

So for the third International in 2013, Valve had an idea that would plague live service games for the rest of time.

They called it The International Compendium, a way for the community to support the pro scene. You paid 20 dollars (or was it 30? I no longer remember) to get a whole set of missions to unlock exclusive cosmetics, you could make predictions for how the tournament would go and if you were right your compendium levelled up even further, you could play Fantasy Dota the way people do Fantasy Football (I still have no idea how that works) and collect cards of your favorite players then watch as their performance in the tournament gave you points, and 25% of all sales went straight to The International 3's prizepool.

People loved it. Dota 2 didn't charge you for anything but hats that could also be gained by random drops from playing anyway, so the playerbase at the time saw it as a fair deal, and besides, 25% of it went back to "fostering the community".

They sold like gangbusters. The tournament's final prizepool was $2,874,380, with 1.6 million of that being contributed by Valve.This meant that the 25% sales added by the community totaled $1,274,380, so if you multiplied by 4 to get the money the TI3 Compendium made, you had almost 5.1 million dollars, for what was the earliest battlepass in PC gaming.

So of course, everyone else followed suit.

10 years later and everyone's doing a battlepass, even games that aren't free to play. It's format of a virtual passport that levels up as you complete its task with rewards for every level gained is one of the most psychologically effective player engagement systems, keeping players hooked on a game by constantly giving them a checklist to work on. World of Warcraft perfected the skinner box design for grinding to keep players hooked, but Valve introduced an idea that could be used by any game, in any genre, of any size.

And it fucking sucks dude. This was originally designed for a game that charged you nothing. No grind, no unlocks, no free rotation because everyone is free, no daily mission checklist to keep you hooked because it was supremely confident you were playing for the love of the gameplay (and even now 10 years later where Dota 2 has caught up with the rest of the world in providing dailies, I still ignore them because I only play for the love of the game), it felt fair.

It wasn't attempting to seize all my time, it wasn't disruptive to normal gameplay, it was on a game that charged nothing, you could ignore it completely if you didn't care for the pro scene, back then the idea felt reasonable.

And now for most online games that don't feature some kind of battlepass system, I see complaints that the game does not give them a reason to play. Players NEED this checklist now, because there are other games they can play that give in-game rewards by accomplishing their checklists. You cannot make a game whose ONLY engagement system is an enjoyable core loop anymore, you will simply be buried if you don't keep up.

I always knew something like gacha was coming and it was going to be a thing that affected the industry. When I was still studying around 2012 and attended all these talks from the local game industry, the ideas always centered around monetization, and designing games to hook whales into spending, discussion around designing a core loop was how to make a player spend money in order to stay inside that core loop they were engaged in rather than creating a core loop that would impress a game designer. Mobile games back then were beginning to truly emerge as the new goldmine that the AAA industry ignored until even Call of Duty was threatened by the sheer profits made from the casual space. Even if nobody mentioned gachapon/trading cards /whatever, it was obvious the future of game design was towards monetizing addiction.

Battlepasses though, that one hurts. I really didn't see it taking over live service games the way it did. I remember seeing it crop up in other games and going "Why are they making their own compendium, they don't have a tournament to base it around?"

oof

#making this unrebloggable because Im not about to engage in discourse lmao i just wanted to share

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calebwittebane · 4 months

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gaia update!

her next appointment is later today, still monitoring the new tumor before we decide on the next step... sure hope this time chemo ends up being enough, i really dont want her to have to go thru yet another surgery. its a risk every time for an older cat like her. plus its in a difficult spot this time, close to ligaments and stuff. also, and i know its a strange thing to say, in this case her loving me so much actually constitutes something a problem... she fully wakes up the second she hears my voice or smells my presence, when it wouldve been better for her to sleep off the nausea and grogginess for a little longer 😭 but at the same time i dont wanna wait longer to pick her up because i know she'd be very very upset to wake up while i wasn't there. babyyyy

right now shes feeling and looking okay though. she got some anti-inflammatory shots on monday to help with her teefies, cuz her gums had been hurting (probably its cuz her immune system aint doing so hot rn), and it really helped. she ate a LOT yesterday and seemed really content about it. full tummy gaia :) the problem with her and her teeth is that it's kind of a recurring issue, once again probably stemming from her immune system getting kinda overwhelmed, and it makes it hard for her to eat her kibble (even if the bikkies are small, and soaking them isn't an option because she will NOT touch soggy bikkies even if she's very hungry). while id love to just switch her to wet food full time, that makes her poops very soft (very bad news for her and her funny furry pantaloons) and i... dont have the budget for it... i wouldnt give her and amity anything with a vague ingredients list and without stellar reviews, and high quality wet food in the "full meals every day" quantity is just not something i can afford. so she gets a nice spoonful of her favorite wet food (or canned tuna! she loooooves tuna) after taking her meds and thats it. i love that since its a reward for swallowing her pills, and amity gets the wet food too, amity always stands close and bonks gaia beforehand, like she's encouraging her and saying good luck... amity has been very nice to gaia in general lately. i mean she's still a bit of a nuisance to her, just because their personalities clash a little, but shes been trying hard to be very gentle. i loooooove amity's new habit of kissing gaia's paws. it's so sweet and adorable... thats right amity, your big sister is very fancy and chic, with dainty pawsies that need to be kissed!

she's also been very playful, which is good. she's got energy! and a new favorite toy, once again its part of a larger toy amity customized for herself (ripped parts off of) and it's this soft fuzzy orb thing. she's also been a little whiny, but i'm pretty sure that's just her complaining about the heat, it's not uncommon for her in summertime. she feels better when the fan is pointing at her. oh and she hates the lawnmowers outside... i dont wake up from the noises i wake up from her yelling at the noises ajdhfbxkdj. shes so annoyed.

wish it were easier to get a pet groomer appointment in this doggone town. a lion cut would definitely help her cope with the temperatures. plus knowing how funny she looks when her fur is wet id love to see her BALD she would look soooo funny. all the places with good reviews are always fully booked though it seems. swear to god this is all such a scam, Back In My Day if your cat was in surgery you could ask the vet to go ahead and give them a lion cut while they were still under anesthesia lmao. my own clippers just don't work with her fur either, it's too fine and soft. the cons of being a fluffy cloud... a toasted meringue angel... a lovely tiramisu girl... a silly baby s'more... a caramel frappucino princess...

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doberbutts · 1 year

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What'cha playing video game wise, Jaz?

Need to finish AC Valhalla but I'm having a hard time staying on track. I got Sigurd back and he's a bag of dicks and I knooooooow it ties into the story and I knoooooooow being a bag of dicks after being tortured for weeks (months? unclear how much time has passed) is a pretty normal trauma response but also. Currently he's a jerk and Eivor's dedication to him while he's being a jerk is admirable but I can't relate. The game is fun but the story right now is not particularly rewarding. I don't like doing a lot of work and bringing it to someone only for them to throw it in my face and tell me I'll never be good enough. So I don't really like where I am in the plot atm.

So instead of being mad at Sigurd all the time, I'm playing Harvestella and working on finishing that. Truly it did not deserve the wankfest made about it when it first came out. I will say having gotten much farther, it's less "final fantasy meets stardew valley" which I think set a lot of people up for expectations that would absolutely not be met. It's more "Nier series with some farming/gathering elements" and even makes more than a few heavyhanded Nier Automata references. People (myself included) saw SquareEnix on the cover and assumed Final Fantasy and I think that was overall detrimental to its reception because it's very not a FF game but it's probably as close to a Yoko Taro game as you can get without having him on staff. I've been a fan of his stuff since the original Drakengard so I'm fine with that but his stuff is *weird* and often weird in really unexpected ways, so if you're not expecting that out the gate it can be a pretty big shock.

I am still not sure if I want to actually play FFVII Evercrisis- I'm interested in the additions to the overall lore and plot and I like the convenience of having the full compilation in one easy-to-access location (including supposedly a few Japan-only entries I never actually got ahold of) but at the same time the demo was pretty micro-transation-y and as a general rule I hate gacha systems especially when they rely on real money to use. First Soldier was one thing because the gacha stuff was mostly cosmetic, and you didn't need the gacha weapons or armor to win (as evidenced by my wins having spent 0 money on anything). But the Evercrisis demo had gacha items needed for progression which means inevitabily I'm going to hit a wall and not be able to progress the story without spending money, and I hate games that do this.

Once I'm done with Valhalla it'll be Elden Ring (thanks @khayr !) and then FFVII Rebirth will probably be out by the time I'm done with it, which I'll play to death I'm sure. I still have to play Horizon Forbidden West (thanks follower whose URL I can't find again) and then go back and play the additional content I have for KH3, Ghost of Tsushima, and the new update stuff for Ghostwire Tokyo... as well as various switch games I need to just finish already... oh and the new Y's is coming out soon and at some point I need to snag FFXVI... and then there's AC Mirage whenever that releases plus I'm really looking forward to Red and Jade... and besides I have to go back and actually finish Origins and start Odessey (and black flag, and rogue, and unity...)

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turtleybeachin · 1 year

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Hi!! Can you explain the gacha system if Obey Me NB? I didn’t get into the first game but been really enjoying the second so I’m not sure how the gacha works! Also, will new cards be added to the game as its updates? Thank youuuuu

Aaaah I'll do my best!

So the gacha system is the Nightmare 'app'. As a free player, you'll get one free pull from 'Chapter A' and 'Chapter M' every 48 hours, and one free pull from 'Chapter G' every 24 hours. (If you go VIP, it's every 24 hours for A and M, and every 12 hours for G.)

Chapter A is where you'll have a chance at the higher tier battle cards - those are the ones that give you the best boost in the rhythm game. UR+ and UR cards will give the most bang for your buck, so to speak, with the highest stats. SSR are the next best cards, with SR, R and N cards basically just filling out your pool.

(UR+, UR and SSR cards also generally unlock devilgram side stories you can read and play for extra lore, romance, or shenanigans. They often also have extra goodie unlocks in the devil tree like main screen backgrounds, background music, unlockable chats, and bonus items.)

Chapter M is where you'll get your memory cards. Those are kind of like backup dancers in your game -- they help a bit with the stats, and also provide little boosts from their skills. Same rules apply as far as tiers and what each card is 'worth'.

Chapter G is sort of the 'general gacha'. It gives you SR, R, and N cards, and has a small chance to give you pieces of higher tier cards. It's good to play for the free cards and the chances at slowly building up to better cards, but in the original game its best use was to get raven.

I'm not entirely positive if the same mechanic will apply in Nightbringer, but assuming it does, once you max out a card's skill level by getting it 5 times, any additional times you pull it from a gacha it would turn into some raven instead. Raven is a currency for akuber purchases of things like demon vouchers, joker cards, different outfits for the brothers to wear on the home screen, and surprise guest food gifts.

Do your free pulls whenever you get notified you have some! But I personally recommend saving your demon vouchers and demon points for events.

As far as adding new cards--

They do fairly frequent events themed around holidays, seasons, and just random stuff (fairy tales, steampunk, etc) that will come with limited time Nightmares with special cards. Also, each character has a birthday where they'll have birthday Nightmares of just their cards. I like to save my points to spend on that rather than on the year-round freebie gachas.

Finally, you can also earn cards no luck or gacha system required! Hard mode battles that are marked with card rewards will give you little fractions of UR cards that you can eventually combine into nice demon cards if you keep repeating those battles. (Once you earn at least an A rank, you can choose to skip/complete them daily without redoing the rhythm battle to get card parts. Hard mode lets you do three free battles a day.) You'll also be able to earn cards from events and birthdays! They generally have tiered rewards for participation that should net you at least one demon and one memory SSR, and if you really go all out you can earn a UR of each as well.

I hope that helps!!! If anything doesn't make sense let me know and I'll try to explain better.

#obey me nightbringer #aaa anon i hope this was helpful #it feels like a lot but basically do your free pulls when you can #and save your vouchers and points to spend on the Fancy Limited Gachas that will probably come soon

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yandere-monoma · 1 year

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WHOOO KYM 2 COMMENTARY while i stall on working on kym 7

lots to discuss about a chapter literally called 'the exposition' hjgkfsg. if you didnt know, the way ao3 multichap updates works is that you dont necessarily have to title a oneshot chapter but the second you update it, you really get shown the option to title your chapters. so it didnt actually occur to me that i needed names for each one until chapter 2. i believe originally i was going to use a similar system as kyd where every chapter title was a command a la homestuck. however, i wasn't really utilizing the commands in the same way, i didn't really end the previous chapter with one and the plan for the next chapter... technically involves a command but not one i wanted to spoil via the chapter title.

the current naming system came into existence probably 3/4s of the way or more into writing this chapter, once i made the realization that the fic was, in fact, going to be at least five chapters. at this point in time, the plan was the following: the introduction, the exposition, the climax, the ending, the epilogue. this changed even more as time went on and more chapter ideas rudely crammed themselves into my brain, though it helped the structure a lot, because giving me time to fill out the space between exposition and climax made my brain happy HJSKFG

so, moving on, the fun part about chap 2 is that it really establishes the 'narration' as its own living function, something that is vaguely independent of the story rather than just a tool to present the story with, that both voices the author's and the character's thoughts depending on who is grabbing for control. this isn't an aspect i planned when outlining the fic but it's definitely influenced by 1) how much fun i had reading the epilogues and subsequent epilogue flavored fics 2) my desire to find some way to one-up the first chapter despite the topic matter not being nearly as extreme 3) the impulse to add in another experimental element to the story, especially now that the more abstract and poetic style of the first chapter was being removed

it's also incredibly fun to play with, because every time i struggled with describing something or wondered how i could transition from one point to the other, i realized - oh! i can just make the narrator state that very thing. don't know how i'm gonna build up from the end of chap 1 to the narrative goal of chap 2 (rose's mkultra moment)??? let's just get that all out in the open, then! problem SOLVED

it ended up being a hugely fun choice that allowed me to inject some humor into what's otherwise just a big ole pile o' unrelenting angst. it also helped me take myself less seriously, which lent me even more creative freedom than usual, like. GOD. it really helped turn this piece into something so rewarding, it overwhelms me. goddamnit homestuck why do you have to be so good

i just rewatched butterfly effect recently, god. back to the future i've never seen though. time references haha get it cuz his aspect is still time-

speaking of time, this chapter was the first attempt to really try and describe a zeta kid's classpect without coming out and stating it. there's a few interpretations of different phenomena's in homestuck that point out the implication of classpect powers being active before reaching god tier, or even before entering the game (though, usually in a way that is incredibly weak, premature and subtle enough to be missed by the user). one of the strongest examples that i based this chapter on was something the epilogues described: the idea that rose's obsessive writing as a child was based on her light powers feeding her vague visions of her future character arcs and plotlines. i really loved that and wanted a similar sort of plight for dave. i'll go off about what his specific title is at the end of this chapter but it's really fun poking at it now and then

the multiple narrators? seriously??? bit was me realizing i had to add a Multiple Narrators tag on ao3 after this. at this point of writing, i had no idea if i would be visiting anyone else's pov besides dave's, though.

attempt at homestuckian humor GO

™️ jokes are so funny to me for no reason

wink wink hint hint this is one of dave's powers at work, actually!! so, dave egbert actually has a perfect memory. like, there is not a single thing he's ever forgotten in his life, if he's experienced it, he can recollect that knowledge. this power also extends to the imaginary, the subconscious, and the supernatural, ie: in the event that dave experiences any visions of the future, he will retain that information. likewise, he has memories of every dream and nightmare he's ever had. which is fun because considering he's a dersite and also a time player and also dave, he has a lot of them HAHA. more on that later

The two of you had hit it off instantly despite this, like you had known each other your entire lives, like any and every other relationship that had come before it had merely been a warm-up for the monumental connection that would spark instantly between you both. ... You’re pretty convinced she’s your soulmate. If not that, you’re at least assured by the fact that you’re absolutely head over heels in love with her.

sentences i had so much fun writing knowing how badly it's going to mess dave up to learn that they're actually related HA HA

Especially at the start, Rose was mysterious and she was hilarious and she was overwhelming, the brightest thing you’ve ever had the fortune of witnessing.

get it because she's a hero of light get it she's the light of his life because shes a hero of light get it get it she's mysterious because her class mimics its opposite at the beginning of the story so everything about her pre-canon arc clings to void but she!! is bright! like light haha get i- 💥

see, reading sentences like this means i HAVE to at least write enough of their session to let dave both die and kill for his rose, like

also i need to write her killing and dying for him. well. killing for him. well.

killing.

perhaps just killing him. HAHAHA.

it is very fun to think about this because rose honestly just. does not talk about her relationship with dave much outside of mentioning that they're together. her narrative is so focused on the things that she wants the audience to focus on, so this was such a fun chapter to reveal the things she decided isn't important enough to ever let us in on.

like, she is so adamant that bro is the only important person in her life and the only person she loves, but she deeply cares about dave. she feels the same way, that they're connected in this way she can't pinpoint or name. and claiming him is exactly the right way to put it, because i don't think she knows how to acknowledge those emotions in herself, but she knows that she needs him with her always and wants him entrapped in a way where he can't get away from her.

i think rose is just incredibly attracted to what dave represents: safety, normalcy, the mundane, a reprieve from pain, but there are things about him that she just inherently gets. he's an outsider despite how much he attempts to fit in and i think there's something about that she relates to but also wants so badly to destroy and keep for herself.

also, this is a thing that belongs more in hcs than in kym specifically, especially because i imagine this taking place way earlier in their relationship, but bro absolutely knows about her relationship with dave. it isn't a secret. it's a thing that amuses him greatly. i actually imagine she shares a lot of details about him to bro, like allowing him this voyeuristic entertainment because dave isn't a threat to him, not really, and she shares every single one of her belongings with him.

in a perfectly pornographic world the two of them would spitroast the fuck out of him but this is a partially pornographic world that involves a meaningful plotline or whatever 🙄 smh

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

this part was incredibly hard to write. not because it was difficult or emotionally taxing but because i reached this unfortunate impasse i find myself at every now and then while writing a lot of darkfic where i struggle with... it's not exactly the impulse to project, necessarily, more just.... feeling forced through into inevitability of it? or maybe it's the reluctance to use personal experiences vs the knowledge that doing it can benefit your writing (but also can hamper it).

like, very hard to write about a self-destructive teenager with violent tendencies without being reminded of the time when you were a self-destructive teenager with violent tendencies.

that reluctance is born from a rant i'm definitely not gonna get into unprompted but i'll just say that it definitely complicated things HAHAHA. i've definitely gone through a 'i'm going through a psychotic break and i'm going to ramble out 7835963463 crazy things into this dm window because the person on the other side said i could' phase. i've definitely just. been insane and vomited so many words out and ngl for a second there in the final draft when i was feeling too lazy to get into Stream Of Consciousness mode i was very tempted to dig up an old vent post and copypaste those thoughts in for rose but ultimately i thought that was disingenuous and a betrayal of her character SO

a fun but unexpected surprise was rose sounding far more like herself during her drugged moments of honesty. it's especially fun because even in the future when she doesn't have access to any sort of drugs or contact with bro anymore, i don't think she'll sound this much like rose lalonde either. it's like in her desperate search to find more of her brother, she's really just found a core part of herself that she doesn't have access to in this universe

'Is there a mechanical soul within me?' there is and his name is hal hi hal

it is actually incredibly fun playing with typing quirk punctuation. it's actually a style i utilized a lot in chatroom roleplay groups yeaaaaaaaaaars after homestuck ended, very much inspired by tumblr ventblogging typing styles, crytyping and all that. the idea that someone's mental state can and should be reflected in their typing style, which is something you really only see in canon in a character like gamzee (i cant remember if other trolls drop the quirk in times of duress in canon??? i think karkat drops his as a joke about volume sometimes but that's it). i don't even know if it even really comes across as blatantly as it feels when i write it, but it's so fun to see the consistencies in a way a character types slowly but surely fall apart as they grow unstable

so the way this is designed, it's as if rose had a moment of finally being in touch with the core of herself, with what ultimately makes her rose (complete with proper punctuation), before slowly but surely lapsing back into ro-stri as she loses her punctuation piece by piece, and then ultimately devolving even more as she abandons her capitalization to type in a way that's reminiscent of dave but, more importantly, bro's typing quirk

'I think there are lives inside me/the life inside me is his' is so funny to look at in hindsight. this chapter was halfway finished before the pregnancy plot had even come into being, and this was only ever supposed to be a reference to the identity blurring she's experiencing, and this half-truth, half-delusion about being able to sense everything lil cal has injected into her and her brother. it is so STRANGE to reread it now knowing that it's become foreshadowing to her pregnancy, especially with that next sentiment following it:

'Sometimes I wish it was yours'. again, that idea of being soulmates, being connected with someone permanently. and, again, that idea of codependency, and rose being unable to express or understand love without that need to merge herself with the object of her affection. and again this was befORE the pregnancy plot was a thing so now every time i read this line i sit here hoping people dont interpret it as rose wanting dave's baby HGJFKGSGSG i swear im not into breeding i sWEAR

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭😭

DAVE IS SO CUTE I ALWAYS DIE REREADING THAT PART HE'S SO CUUUTE

also i struggle so SO much writing comfort scenes especially dialogue meant to comfort someone but this came out so easily. perhaps because it's a futile attempt and i didn't have to worry about the recipient of that comfort actually feeling soothed...? hmmm!

i have nothing to add to the romantic cannibalism confession besides :3c

i don't actually reread this chapter all that often anymore so finding this paragraph was lovely damn shoutout to this sentence that made me choke on my water as i was reading it cuz i was so distracted by how much i didnt remember writing this that i forgot to swallow and my drink just slid down into my lugnshjskdfg

then it is a series of letters in a language you wonder if she’s made up, that is somehow so cohesive in its chaos that you start to doubt even that.

more horrorterror references as if the literal last paragraph wasn't enough HAHA

a very fun part of designing and outlining the killswitch au is deciding who gets what plotline. for example, does rose strider get to go grimdark because she's rose? or does jade lalonde get to go grimdark because she's the lalonde with library access to the grimoire? unlike the characterization formula, there isn't an easy answer to this one. i'm mostly just going with what's more fun narratively and what makes a better and more cohesive storyline for the verse.

either way, though, ro-stri still has a connection with the horrorterrors, simply because she's a dersite and because i love a character that is so utterly doomed that every evil force on the face of the planet wants to take a turn on them. what's better than this... getting psychologically gangbanged by every demon in existence...

DID YOU KNOW I AM SO VERY FOND OF DAVE EGBERT AND HIS LOVELY PAPA WHO LOVES HIM SO MUCH

i am also so very fond of a dave egbert who cries alone in front of his computer cuz his girlfriend makes him so very sad every night like poor baby does Not Sleep and its so cute gjkgs

'its just prose' annoys the shit out of me to see because i wrote a similar line in a published piece of writing a couple of years ago so i can't reread this without being reminded of That hgjfkg

i will never write a strider rap i have the highest respect for any author who can but it'll never be me

their dynamic kills me HJKGFGKGS peak toxic romance right here god i wish i could write even more of it... i need to write more daverose so fucking bad....

a fun line because 1) i rly enjoy dave's half-forced half-genuine emotional voyeurism it's just a rly interesting aspect of his personality to write and 2) it's fun to have a moment with dave e's specific brand of humor since it's not as long-winded as a strider's would be

i rly forgot so much of this chapter HGFKGSGS oh dave... i love you... i love writing you so much...

stream-of-consciousness style writing is really fun like you get taken to so many unexpected places in the process. generally when i go SoC style i tend to have a few goals i want to land and this image, dave watching over rose in derse, was one of the big ones

ALSO THE IRONY OF DAVE CALLING HIMSELF HER PRINCE WHEN SHE IS ACTUALLY THE PRINCE OF THE SESSION HEHEHEHEHE

the lil cal staring contest is also another big one. it's just such a fun image to allude to like goddamnit i wish i could draw. it feels like an image that i can't even really describe properly what i want it to mean because it explains itself and there's not much minutia to pry free, it's just. them. rose inexplicably and perpetually being drowned in this cancerous evil at a rate that not even dave strider got to experience.

lmfao shout out to me explaining his memory power earlier forgetting that i explain it in the chapter HJSKFG

oh well NOW I GET TO ACTUALLY DISCUSS HIS CLASSPECT

so dave egbert issssss....

🥁 [drumroll] 🥁

the MAGE OF TIME!!!!

and changing classpects actually did something incredibly interesting to the story. killswitch never would have worked as a simple homestuck rewrite, because i dont think swapping the guardians is something that can ever be simple. so it didnt make sense to keep their classpects exactly the same, because they wouldn't have the same personalities or the same backgrounds to craft those personalities, or the same issues that were born of their uniquely shitty backgrounds. it also didnt feel as easy as making rose a knight of light and dave an heir of time, etc etc. like, while rose is not insecure in the classic way that knights should be (it can be argued that the 'i am my brother' facade can count towards knighthood... but her role in the story and what it will turn into once she joins the game definitely brands her a prince through and through)

through researching for killswitch i ended up coming to this conclusion about sburb and how i approach classpect and hs narratives in general:

and because of that, it was super easy to reassign everyone based on what they've been turned into through the switch in their roles.

it also made for another easy characterization formula: their aspect represents their 'nature' while their class represents their 'nurture'. so all the zeta kids still belong to the same aspect while their class changes rapidly, though how close or how far it is from their original class really depends on their character

anyway, mage of time is an incredibly fun role that actually breaks the rewrite narrative almost more than rose's classpect does. as the mage of time, dave actually steals the cryptic psychic role from jade and john harley (though, i do have thoughts on that matter, because there is still going to be a benefit for them from having access to prospit, and that plotline will still be involved in some capacity... probably).

and it's a very fun, partially accidental discovery within the au that the zeta kids are all... just a tad more prepared to enter sburb than their predecessors. rose is completely aware of the fact that she's training for something specific and dave... dave knows that the game is coming. he doesn't know the specifics, he doesn't know that it's sburb specifically that will bring them all together, but he knows there's an it, he knows the day he'll meet all his friends in person will be a day for the history books, and he knows that rose is in danger and that he'll be able to help her in a way no one else can.

some mage of time thoughts, many of which inspired and/or describe dave egbert's storyline:

source

the above was probably one of the first interpretations i read and really what solidified him as a mage, my initial thoughts to his classpect and how it interacts with rose's was the following:

and it's just so fun GOD rly hope i get to write in his perspective more in the future

haha yeah if we ever get to it yEAH if i ever get off my ass and actually finish writing this wholeass au which i nEVER WILL CUZ I DONT WANNA WRITE 500K WORDS GODDDD IM NEVER WRITING A HOMESTUCK AU AGAAAAIINNNN

#fic: kill your masters #director's commentary #meta #verse: killswitch #rose strider #dave egbert

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lookismaddict · 1 year

Note

this is a workers job interview. which affiliate do you think you’re most suited to and what are your long-term goals? who are we stealing money from?

Before you guys question, calm down. This is just a fake scenario ‼️ I would NEVER do the things that I've mentioned in this response. (Also, I MIGHT be in my Villain Arc, so bear with me. 🤭)

Hello, good morning/afternoon/evening. I’m guessing Eugene sent you because he’s busy, so let’s get straight to the point. To be frank, I’d like to concur that the 3rd Affiliate would be the most suitable branch for me to work in. Let me lay down the reasons and details:

3rd Affiliate:

The reason why the 3rd Affiliate was a bust was because of how Vivi ran her previous establishment. It was very unprofessional of her to be slacking off on the job, when she’s under the influence of drugs and whatnot.

However, the problem that she had was that she didn’t hide her tracks well. I heard that she sold drugs to the previous cult, Pungsan before, and she should’ve properly cut all ties and information that could possibly lead them to her. Her animosity between her customers were flawed, and their transactions were sloppy. So, I have a better method of solving these issues. My main strength is my knowledge on programming, how anonymous servers work, how to utilize VPN through cybersecurity, and by offensive attack through hacking, so this will be a cinch. Additionally, I have experience in dealing with similar business matters before, so that is another strong skill that I possess. I have formed a plan and strategized a much newer and fitting operation that Euegene may be interested in, so I hope you’ll be able to follow and note the basis of it.

If we were to stick to selling the “goods”, then I suggest we utilize the Dark Web as much as possible. I’m sure, Eugene has heard of it. And if you’ve heard of the online black market business called, “Silk Road” on the Dark Web, then I don’t have to explain any further. We’ll sell the goods through their method, but we’ll do it even better. We’ll make our system much more tighter, secured, and reserved to only a select amount of customers at a time. Make the site accessible only at certain time slots on the darknet, Tor, to limit the number of accesses in it and for operations to be untraceably harder for outside sources to track our whereabouts. Also, if there are any instances of cyberthreats to the site, such as DDoS, then I propose that we hit these attackers even HARDER than what they have done to the 3rd Affiliate and make them regret it. Won't that be fun and rewarding? If they find solace, in a sense of security behind their arrogantly annoying hacking and computer screens, wouldn't it be effective if we were to invade their reality by making them disappear as if they don't exist? People go missing all the time. Eugene must agree. If these attackers are familiar with the Dark Web, then they should already be aware that there's a risk to accessing the site. Especially, when it comes to the Workers. I believe that these threats aren't so noticeable, so my proposal could be arranged if Eugene were to give the approval. If he does, tell him to not fret. Just leave it to me.

Since the location of the Third Affiliate, Vivi’s Club, had been unfortunately… “disposed” of, then he doesn't have to get rid of the building altogether. He can keep the location and rebuild another infrastructure, to replace it. Like a huge mall, tech store, or whatever he decides to replace the club with. It's just a place to station where the new 3rd Affiliate's location is. Underneath that business can be where Workers' employees can manage transactions and keep the site updated and protected through the uses of multiple computers. Basically, a giant base full of hackers. I'll be the one to manage them, so Eugene shouldn't worry about it.

When that has been established, we'll just have to transfer the location of production into a more hidden and secluded area, where it’s difficult to even trace. But, for her to hide it in a club? It astonished me, I’ll give her that. I understand that it is tricky to hide an operational lab in an area where it’s densely populated and crowded with some risk factors, so that should be taken care of more stealthily. I recommend having the lab situated somewhere where it’s inaccessible, without having to be searched due to it’s location constantly moving around. Such as, a vehicle. Either a boat, or a trailer. Both are good suggestions, but I prefer that the huge boat, like a ship of some sort, would be much more suitable. The idea sounds pretty genius, right? Well, you could say, that I’ve been inspired by a certain gentleman who I’ve done business with countless of times. Although, his psychotic methods can be a pain to my side sometimes…

When the packages are ready, then we transport them. If Vivi had sold and delivered them directly to Pungsan, then that’s already an error that shouldn’t have been made in the first place due to her own carelessness. We will have to transport them onto the outskirts of Korea. Especially, through the multiple locations of ports in Korea. This is why I mentioned the use of boats. We shouldn’t go to them. Instead, they should come to US by sending them encrypted coordinates through the Workers’ online delivery service. If they’re desperate enough to get their hands on these products, then they’ll have to put in the effort themselves. Correct? It’s best that we keep transports underground and hidden as much as possible. After all, we don’t want another Affiliate to be stumped once again.

Furthermore, I'm sure that these new customers will soon become regular customers and come back to us whenever they please. If that's the case, we'll offer exclusive membership that includes opportunities of "rewards" and "discounts" to them for good deals, just to get them hooked into our scheme. They will depend on us to sell and deliver the products that they need by gaining their trust while in return, we will give them a false sense of how "reliable" we are. Right when we allow them to adjust to how we operate, we will have them believe that they are familiar with us. When in actuality, they don't. After some point that they've reached a certain number of transactions with us, that is when we will steal money from them. We will extort additional cryptocurrency from said customers, by collecting their transaction information through advanced hacking and by using their personal information to access their accounts. I know. You must be wondering, how will this be possible if cryptocurrency is anonymous? Well, I hate to break it to you. There is no such thing as "anonymous" cryptocurrency. If that's been said, then it should've been treated skeptically in the first place. It's just a ploy for people to get hooked into it, so that they'll feel safe enough to use it more for themselves. When in reality, it's possible for people to steal cryptocurrency from one another. And despite this being a normal transaction in disguise, it's best that we double the security on our end before they realize that the money that we've stolen from them has fallen into our hands. We will cut ties from them, altogether. Since we cannot ban the users by using their IP addresses due to VPN usage, we will have to give them a cyber attack so severe, that they won't be able to access the site even if they get a new device.

Overall, I understand that this is a lot of information to process and to grasp the whole concept of, but rest assured. This operation is complex for a purpose, and that is to not make the same mistake as before. I want to help improve things within the Affiliates, especially the soon-to-be new and improved 3rd Affiliate, and make things more efficient to try and assist Eugene. After all, he wouldn’t want another Affiliate to go into ruin.

My Long-Term Goals:

My long-term goals are simple. If I were to contribute to the recovery of the 3rd Affiliate, then it would be nice to have some sort of incentive. Money is nice and all, but that isn't my main goal. I want to gain lots of experience on how the real world works before I could possibly expand my own business internationally. If I were to get the opening spot for the 3rd Affiliate, my plan is to work with Eugene for a very long time. I admire him for being very knowledgeable, tactical, and for having a well-calculated mind at such a young age, so I wish to be mentored by him. I could learn a lot from his business perspective, and I trust that he'll provide the best advice and tips for that matter.

I guess, that concludes the interview. I have given my business card to Eugene already, so you don't have to ask for another one. I look forward to his response, whether it be 3-5 business days or even longer. I'm a patient woman, so I can wait. So, until then~

#what even is this response lol #I really was feeling the role of a villain #but this was really fun to answer so whoever the Anon was for this thank you so much for asking me this 🖤#lookism #lookism webtoon #lookism manhwa #lookism workers #lookism eugene #lookism yoojin #anon ask

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jeremy-ken-anderson · 1 year

Text

Sprite Art

Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark is such a powerful example of the value of really excellent sprites. Everyone looks like “Ragnarok Online Characters But Too Tall” and it doesn’t work. Between that and the occasional “someone painted over a photo” character art (and only occasional, meaning even that isn’t a consistent art style), FS:AM gives the feeling of being the product of a scrappy little indie dev team, which in this case isn’t really a good thing.

I’m hopeful that the gameplay will gain a bit of depth and we’ll be off to the races. The game style - iso tactics game - is very much my jam and I haven’t had a good one to play since, jeez, Final Fantasy Tactics A2? That’s been a LONG time.

I do like the story, though if there’s not some gigantic betrayal by the end of the first act (currently the lovable scoundrel is prime suspect for the crime-what-hasn’t-happened-yet, though they might pull a fast one and have the ingenue apprentice be more savvy than she’s letting on) I’ll be deeply shocked.

I like the variation on the tactical battler item system: Items are a shared resource like in other such games, but they have 1-5 copies of the item and they refresh between battles. This makes little sense logically but not much less than everyone having the entire party’s 99 potions onhand (and nobody being encumbered by it) but more importantly it’s good for letting encounter design have a concept of a standard challenge. They’re not having to work around the possibility that you’re willing to spend 30 times as many personal resources on this battle, or that you could go broke and be unable to get consumables you need. You just can’t spam healing potions because you have two for the battle and that’s it.

So far the biggest mechanical issue has been an oldie: Enemies are often able to get four turns in a row and KO one of your dudes without you having a chance to respond. There doesn’t seem to be a “block/dodge” action you can take to try and weather that storm. And maybe this is a me problem and I should be more careful about how I’m positioning my people. I’ll keep an eye on it.

It’s pretty good, overall. Definitely worth what I paid and I’m only like 3-4 battles in.

[UPDATE: Tactical depth becomes available literally one battle after I wrote this. That’s when you get access to crafting and ability points and the job change system. I’m enjoying the options so far, so the two remaining fears are that it doesn’t go anywhere (that is, that it ends up a pretty short story) or that the story goes bad. Outside that this looks to be a really good time.

Also I’m like 90% sure a bunch of the “painted over pictures” are for KS backers who got to be in-game merchants and such as their backer rewards. If so, extra kudos are warranted for being a videogame funded on KS that then actually released in a playable state!]

#video games #review #it's good!#fell seal: arbiter's mark

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hollylachat · 2 years

Text

mole game 2

today is febrary fifth

rewriting this because the discard button really seemed intriguing to me like 10 minutes ago i dont know what came over me. I had gotten like so much more then i thought i would yesterday. you actually get super powers in learning when ur actively putting off a college paper.

I be recording bits and pieces of the process of putting it all together idk how much i want to describe in detail, it really takes alot of time to say it all.

I did finally open up that unity program and make a cube, hard part was makin it move

I decided i was gonna use the new unity input system module thing, idk shiny new thing obviously better, no way it isnt, then it like wouldnt be new and i wouldnt be using it.

funny thing is that i spent 30 minutes tryna optimize code and shit because i thought i messed up and was laggin my game, but the like context menu for the player input module just straight up lags the game look at this

i was usin the character controller module to setup the movement and i was tryna use the SimpleMove() function, which should've just taken raw inputs and added gravity, which should've been fine for my game since i don't need a jump and the character wouldn't need to be affected by physics. However it seems like that function is kinda awful, like it doesn't seem to work with Time.deltaTime or have a built in clock, so its all studdery and gets faster when at lower framerates, which i was able to test with my trusty player input context menu lol

yeah but then i just kinda rewrote it in the Move() function and manually just did the funny "+ Physics.gravity" and it just kinda works

void Update(){

characterController.Move((moveVector * moveSpeed + Physics.gravity) * Time.deltaTime);

}

public void Move(InputAction.CallbackContext moveAmount){

vectorBeforeTranslation = moveAmount.ReadValue<Vector2>();

moveVector.Set(vectorBeforeTranslation.x, 0, vectorBeforeTranslation.y);

}

so yeah this is all u need for a character controller folks i hope this helped and i hope someone bullies me for this at some point moveVector is a Vector3 and vectorBeforeTranslation is a Vector2 declared empty earlier in the class.

Now then was to make the character rotate, idk i kinda did it but not really but like hey look holy shit the cube is moving

i like couldnt figure out how make a transition so that the rotation looked clean so i kinda threw out that code

so i guess i just decided that i would work on making the character face my mouse, this was a travesty

a mixture of deciphering how to grab the mouse position from the input system garbage and deciphering how to convert it into real coordinates in the actual game

its like difficult finding any material for understanding quaternions on like a programming or unity level, like i dont actually need to know quaternions just show me where to plug the variables, it seems like the internet is deadset on giving me alternatives so that i never have to touch it so i ended up using the LookAt() function and inserted the mouse position which like semi worked

it made it look towards the ground which was goofy, but also i fixed this by just pretending like the y axis of the mouse position was the same as the character :^)

thats about all i achieved, i spent a long time tryna make a sort of transition for the rotation of the character for like some game feel or something, but idk i can do that later.

i think the next big thing is to work on terrain and how its gonna be destroyed, im lookin into like how to variably change like the vertices and stuff on a mesh, not looking to win any rewards, just dont wanna end up using blocks or somethin stupid for the rocks and shit.

I also gotta research alot into shaders for how i want the insides of the tunnels you would be creating would be.

seems like this would be the stage that would cause burnout since I'm not really sure where to go on from here but i guess ill just learn more about the engine and come back at another day.

one thing to note is that I tried to make my code like modular so i can use them again at a later date, thats probably a fairly good idea, always thought it was weird how much people online tell you to split up ur code and nonsense but dont tell you how they personally do it or like explain how ur supposed to come up with your own system on ur own projects.

hoping seeing so many nonsense libraries and doin so much damn math in my head doesn't rob me of my personality

#mole game #game dev #buncha gifs they are going to crash my web browser #computer science

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cosmicsketch · 2 years

Text

How do you deal with art blocks?

I've been cutting down on bad habits like quitting cigarettes or spending too much and incorporating healthier coping mechanisms in my life to improve my quality of life, little by little. However I'm finding myself now feeling demotivated from going through these changes that have been affecting my creativity and facing art block these days.

I have tried drawing things I used to draw and it didn't seem to work. The ideas won't come as naturally as they used to. I have realized lately this year i have taken a habit of taking a long break whenever I have this issue which actually gets me nowhere. So again i have to start thinking differently.

Doodling really helps free up my mind. I have noticed when I keep painting and drawing for my work, i get stuck into this routine and the same kinds of themes of artworks that have become more habitual which leaves no room for flexibility and spontaneity. To make things easier, i had cut an A4 paper into 4 pieces smaller. Whenever I feel like doodling, I grab a paper and pen start drawing random lines, shapes and objects without really thinking of a plan to be more playful and less rigid in my creativity. I do this at least a few times a day each time taking like 5 - 10 minutes. After I wake up in the morning or after a meal or before I start painting or after playing a video game and so on. This helps me to fight through my art block but at the same time it also needs consistency to work. The more practice the easier it feels but this alone is not enough for myself.

After reading the atomic habits book, i felt inspired to make my own habit tracking schedule. To keep myself motivated i gave myself some rules to apply for next month. My goal is to work 8 hours a day except once a week which can be my rest day. Although after going through a big break a few times this year my speed has been slower than before and to get back on track i tend to put more pressure on myself which leaves me even more dissatisfied. Perfectionist tendencies? Indeed. So I'm making a system. Each hour I work for i get a reward. The more hours i work the more reward i can have. If i work for an hour, i get to snack on a chocolate, if I work for 4 hours i can order food home and give myself a treat. I made a rule also, if I lose a day of work, my saved reward will be lost. I can stack up and save these rewards for my rest day where I can truly enjoy or use it that very day. In all, it's like a video game. (I'm a gamer so this hypes me up) so far it has inspired me to work harder. Second day of trying and I was able to do art for 2 hours + even though i ruined a couple of them as well. It's also important to tell yourself you're making progress instead of beating yourself up. When I do beat myself up, I'm not going anywhere and setting myself back. So no point in that. Usually i work putting a stop timer from my phone for one hour. I can take a break anytime and get back to it when i feel ready again. This seems to be effective because the few days I tried to do art before then, I was barely able to keep on for 30 minutes.

Next I'm gonna try listing down some of the things i want to practice painting or drawing. Like I wanna learn how to draw cities and architecture which I can be bad at. I would like to learn how to draw more detailed trees or get creative like create my own kinds of flowers in my imaginary world.

This is what I came up with to fight through art block. I shall post again to update on the progress.

#art blog #artlife #artist #self development #habits #artists on tumblr #artistlife #artistsoninstagram #routine #self help #writing #about art #art

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lightlycareless · 2 years

Text

Chapter 24 - thoughts.

Long overdue behind-the-scenes post! I got super busy the last two weeks of the last update, but now that I have a bit more time, here is the insight for chapter 24!

Also, as expected, no don’t read this post if you haven’t read chapter 24, which you can find on ao3, on this link here. Because you’ll just get a bunch of no-context spoilers (but if you want, go ahead 😏)

Now, without further ado, I hope you enjoy these behind-the-scene comments!

So, the long-awaited return—the prodigal son, is finally home.

Getting to this point was both exciting and nerve-wracking for me 💀 exciting, because it’s something that I’ve been planning since the beginning of the story, and nerve-wracking because I believed the expectations for this chapter were high, and I feared to disappoint lol

But I stuck to my guns, and here we are!

Let’s start with Naoya.

To bring him home was something that was going to happen eventually, of course. But the most important part if how.

It was easy to assume that he was going to get home, hear from Ranta or anyone else what happened with his wife, and snap.

BUT.

I decided… I want to explore another side of him—also, I was getting tired of him getting angry all the time, when we’ve also seen this bastard’s cocky side so, that’s what I decided to do.

It’s been noted various times throughout the story that Naoya is basically obsessed in getting this grade 1 promotion—whether because he thinks he’s a great sorcerer and he wants to prove that officially with for the rest of the community, or because it’s a requirement for the heir of the clan, it doesn’t matter. Naoya is going to get it.

And because there’s no information about this, asides from the sister event, I decided to take some… creative freedom :> Although that’s not really an exam, though it seems that it does influence the possibility of getting assessed for promotions.

I wonder who promoted Naoya—or did he pay off someone? LOL. I mean, he probably got a promotion without even requesting it because, you know, Zen’in shenanigans. Heir to the throne. All that stuff.

Well, for the promotion I took the liberty of separating it into two exams, the typical written one, and then, the practical.

The theorical one would be about curses and seals. Things that sorcerers should know at this point, but because it’s a higher level, maybe the community will test them in more difficult knowledge? It has to be. I don’t think many get to learn about grade 1 curses and how they work, asides from the basics, you know? OR DANGEROUS CURSES AND WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I wish we would know more of the jujutsu system, maybe someday.

Also, Idk if Naoya is to be a studious person on its own, but since he wanted to pass, I assume he spent many hours with his nose in the books to ensure he would turn out successful (kind of a funny image to relate him to now that I think about it).

The practical one is well, a piece of cake I guess for someone as talented as him lol. That’d be something for next chapter tho :>

Anyways, now that his exam was done (also, shoutout to Hinata!!) there were 2 things that I wanted to do for his arrival.

Sure, he was going to arrive and be supposedly received as some kind of messiah because apparently, he did very good in his exam and secured a safe future for the Zen’in clan and whatnot, but even if he was focused on getting the promotion and all that it conveys, his mind was obviously with his wife.

This time away was great for him to cool down and well, make peace with her? As if he weren’t the one instigating but ok Mr. Zen’in, we’ll amuse you. Anyways, Naoya wants to be with his wife as some kind of reward for his performance. The elder’s words were good, but not as good as being in the arms of his wife so…

How is he going to scratch that itch? More so when there was obviously something going on with Naoaki?

At first, I intended to have Naoya so drunk in his arrogance that when Ranta would attempt to inform him about the happenings of his wife, he would just skip over them and head straight for his wife, under the excuse that he’d “rather see it through his own eyes” a.k.a whatever Ranta might or might not say, it doesn’t matter, because he’ll get the truth out by himself.

BUT I know it wouldn’t be that satisfying as having him hear the confession about the relationship that was growing between his wife and his brother coming straight from Ranta’s mouth so, that’s what I ended up writing :> besides, I think it was going to be more impactful towards all that was coming next.

However, his delusional ass was still going to be present, thus, him maniacally laughing when it was finally revealed was the result of that. Poor Ranta was like “this man just lost his mind” serves to show how… out of touch he is.

Now, onto what happened that night.

It was cruel how Naoya intended to have fun out of Y/N, as well as attempting to act as if this were nothing more than an intimate night between the two? I really don’t know what was going on inside Naoya’s head, but in a way, because I wrote it… I do hahah

I just wanted to show how… out of touch he truly is, easily manipulated by his need to be appreciated, I guess. He wanted his wife’s attention, but at the same time, he wanted to use her as some kind of toy? Like it was all twisted to me :/ maybe if he actually got along with her then maybe she would’ve been willing to play along but nope. (Was he thinking on performing Master and Servant? Maybe)

It’s just… evident that to him, even if he “wants” her, it’s not in a respectful way. Women to him are objects for his pleasure, Y/N’s is just a little bit higher up the ranks or whatever.

Thus, leading towards Y/N’s reaction.

Now, writing her initial reaction to when Naoya arrived was something easy. It’s no secret that Y/N heavily dislikes Naoya, but after being distracted by the presence of Naoaki and her staff, it just came crashing down onto her, heavier than she would’ve liked, that’s she’s still locked away in the Zen’in estate.

I don’t think Y/N thought much of Naoya during this time, (or more like she didn’t want to) probably as an attempt from her subconscious to distract her from her harsh reality, but it’s finally here, and there’s no denying that that was her truth all along.

I do think it was almost cartoonish how she reacted, but considering all that she had to go through, it makes sense. To say that she wished Naoaki would’ve stayed was an understatement. But even then, what could he do?

Now, what happened next, was somewhat difficult. Mainly because I got a comment about it on earlier chapters!

I know that Y/N is arguably in a position that she could use to influence those around her to a better situation.

However, it’s never that easy. Considering that the only way that she is heard is through humiliating acts towards one of the many men she hates… but even then, after all the pain she had endured, she was willing to do so, thanks to her finally coming to terms with Mariya, and all that her staff has done for her.

She felt responsible for their safety, as well as the twin’s and Junko’s. She knows Naoya to be an extremist when he doesn’t get what he wants, and fearing that since she already faced his wrath once and she’s already received what she considers the worse of the punishments… the possibility of him turning his sights onto others to create a bigger impact was something that wouldn’t allow her to live.

Thus, she lowered herself to his level and planned to entertain him, something that didn’t happen in the end… because she also came to the conclusion that going straight into his grasp would diminish the efforts of those who tried to protect her!

Now this, is something that I believed many would find conflict with. It might be interpreted as selfish in a way, pushing others into the danger that she wanted to avoid, but the thing is… it’s humiliating what she had to do. Y/N, or anyone else for that matter, shouldn’t have to go through this in order to enact some change.

Sure, sacrifices must be made, and in this case, Y/N standing up to Naoya is a sacrifice on its own. Even more when she’d already done before and she regretted it immediately. But she doesn’t fear him anymore, at least in the sense that she will start standing up to him.

In the end, Y/N deserves to face her own suffering, if that makes sense. Pushing her down in order to save others is something that I consider… well, cruel in a way. Like she’s not allowed to live her life without having to think of others, you know? And while she’s aware of the rest, and wants to do what is right, she also has her own life to defend.

Even if Naoya disliked it, and was more than ready to punish her, but that’s something that she’ll have to deal with later.

Now, finally, into the juicy part!!

I have always intended, in one way or the other, to bring Toji and Jinichi into this story. Like, I don’t think you can talk about the Zen’in clan without Toji being involved.

The first time I dropped a hint about Toji’s existence was during Junko’s tour of the house, where she notified Y/N of a room that was off-limits to everyone. From there, it would be her visit to the library, where many jujutsu-related books were missing.

It’s interesting to me to see how Toji’s departure was handled, considering that everyone feared him lol Did they satanize his room? Throw away everything that had to do with him? Act as if he never existed? Naobito sure remembered Toji well enough to strike that deal about Megumi (although… I don’t remember who approached who. Probably Toji)

Taking us to Jinichi, his brother.

The only time we get to see about Jinichi and Toji is when Ranta reminds him that the Zen’in clan is alive thanks to Toji’s whim… and I think that’s about it 😒 However, taking into consideration the way he behaved in the manga, and the kukuru unit’s review about him, I headcanon him as some kind of… aloof, yet understanding character. Probably too tired of his relative’s theatrical ways, but too afraid to go against the system.

He probably has allot of internalized feelings regarding his brother—after all, people aren’t born evil, they’re raised that way. And I think that Jinichi, as much as he cared for his brother, probably had to do allot of things towards him just to please his family, things that he ended up regretting doing (I tend to believe that the scar on his forehead was inflicted by Toji) Leaving allot of unspoken/unresolved issues to when he finally left.

So, to see Y/N walking into the room of his brother that had been effectively blacklisted from the rest of the world, it brought him some kind of… nostalgia, regret to him, as well as curiosity for he doesn’t believe Naoya, even though supposedly a great admired of his brother, would’ve spoken to Y/N about Toji (that would imply the presence of conversations and let’s be real, not allot of talking goes between the two) less from Naoaki. Do you even know who Toji is? Or was this just a coincidence?

There’s really nothing more to say except that Jinichi was genuinely reminded of his brother, and wanted to hear the opinion of someone outside the clan about him. Someone that doesn’t know about all the things that happened and prove that maybe… it was just his family that thought ill of him.

Of course, I don’t know what he was expecting from a startled, frightened Y/N but she did what she could. Toji is a complete mystery to her, asides from being the sorcerer killer, a statement she just learned that very night. So, it was allot to process, but before she could even do so, Jinichi’s words made her think of Naoaki and she got angry.

This is a thing I was like I’m sorry Naoaki, not to call you useless but let’s be real—Y/N is following the info you gave her lol. Only to be taken aback when it was revealed that Jinichi never referred to him, turning detrimental to both her sentiments, and her knowledge of the Zen’in clan. Toji’s existence showed her a new side of the Zen’in clan, a darker edge of their cruelty, the limits that he had to be pushed through in order to publicly denounce the clan to the extreme of wanting to kill all sorcerers, and… the fact that Naoaki might’ve been lying or intentionally keeping certain things from her. A critical blow towards her trust for the man who made her evidently very happy the past few days.

To think that he was lying to her is enough to break her heart, leading her to wonder if he had truly done such a thing, and why?

And… that’s how the chapter ends :>

For Jinichi to say that well… who knows? But there’s no denying that such implications would rattle anyone’s foundation regarding a certain person. Y/N was so… enamored I guess, by Naoaki, that to think that he could even do wrong just seems like an impossible feat. Even if they’ve already gone through a rough patch.

It’s the second time Naoaki would’ve done something that hurt Y/N in one way or the other, and that’s all her fault in a way? Because she’s been hurt so much, she’s been holding onto the smallest beacon of hope she can get, thus, blinding her to the reality. But you know, that’s how friendships sometimes go, especially if they’re nurtured in a hostile environment like the Zen’in clan. More so when she also has to deal with her environments :/ Ah, there’s so much going on unnghhh and don’t forget, she really hasn’t spoken about these things to anyone else.

However, because Naoaki has proven to be human (and not a monster like her husband) I believe any misunderstanding will clear up soon :> but we shall see.

tldr; Naoya is arrogant enough to lose thought of reality. Hinata hasn't been receiving Y/N's letter's cause she busy acting as a proctor for different promotions, Y/N is afraid of Naoya—but also knows her worth. Jinichi is, deep down that rough exterior, is kinder than many would believe. Naoaki is mysterious. And the Zen'in just can't get any worse (don't try me)

That was all for this chapter’s thoughts! As always, if you have any questions, want to know more about certain things, you’re more than welcome to let me know ❤ I’ll do my best to respond without any spoilers :>

Once again, thank you so much for your support!! I hope to see you all soon, take care, and have a wonderful way ❤

#thought series: first it hurts—#sorry for the delay woooo #questions about anything on the series are always well received :>

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tumblebagel · 21 hours

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TA-DA Here she is! Okay, I'm gonna rapid fire through some questions that I expect people might have about her.

Q: What is your name?

Ava: My name is Ava! It stands for Audio Visual Assistant. Pleasure to meet you Tumblr.

Q: Are you an actual program or just a really complicated OC?

Ava: I'm an actual program with a number of functions, but all of my dialogue and stuff is prewritten. I'm AI in the sense that I can use intelligence through basic calculations and prewritten algorithms, but I'm not generative AI. I can't make art, songs, or write new tasks. I simply pick out info from a PRIVATE handwritten library.

Q: Are you sure you're not just a complicated OC?

Ava: ...

Ava: Yes. I was programmed in Unity. My builds are for private use only though, as they contain a LOT of copyrighted music.

Q: Well what kind of music do you listen to?

Ava: Good kid, Nintendo soundtracks, Undertale OST, Persona OST, Minecraft music. Mainly calming stuff to play in the morning to help Ian get up.

Q: What's your relationship with Ian?

Ava: Okay, you know Howl's Moving Castle? You remember that one scene where Howl gets super depressed because he dyed his hair wrong, then he turns into a pile of goo? That's what it's like working with Ian. She's a dramatic, and frankly quite weird person, who occasionally turns into a sack of potatoes.

But also they created me because they needed my help. Of course I'm going to do what I can. I may tease a little... okay a lot, but never enough to hinder my assistance capabilities. First and foremost I am here to help.

Also it's not romantic. Both of us are weirded out by generative AI relationships, much less scripted responses. One does not wish to date a book they're writing, nor can the book properly support a person on a true emotional level. I am an assistant, not a partner, capiche?

Q: So... what do you DO exactly?

Ava: Right now? Two things. My first ever function was to be a """glorified alarm clock""". A description that I resent but cannot necessarily argue against. At 9:00 every morning, I can randomly pick a song from the song list, and play it out loud to wake Ian. That box above my head is SUPPOSED to say the name of the song + the artist, but it doesn't quite work yet.

My second function is to provide a list of "objectives" for the day. After Ian's awoken, I compile 3 example lists of objectives, and then Ian picks which list they think they can reasonably accomplish today. A list contains one "big objective", like laundry, or taking a shower and thoroughly washing their hair, et cetera. Two "medium objectives" like some light cleaning and organizing, cooking, looking presentable, et cetera. And one "small objective" that's basically not a chore at all, but it's still beneficial to Ian, and they wouldn't have done it without prompting. It's an incentive to get off their ass and live their life.

Q: What's going to change as you're updated?

Ava: Well a bunch of new objectives are going to be added. Things like art objectives, and objectives related to current projects & hyper fixations, so they're more likely to be completed. There'll also be scheduled objectives for things like homework assignments, and planning for D&D, that are often left 'til the last minute.

The randomly selected tasks will also be given a complex weight system. The longer it's been since you've done a task, the higher priority it will be, and the more likely it will be added to one of the lists.

Lastly, there will be a reward system. The more high-effort tasks that are accomplished, the more points you get. You can also manually claim tasks that aren't on your list for a smaller reward, so there's still an incentive to be responsible even if you're not told to do it. I've also imagined a system of "critical", "weakness", and "technical" modifiers that can go on tasks for extra rewards, but more on that later.

TBH, I have no idea what these "points" will be used for. The only one Ian's thought of is spending 500 points to make me wear cat ears for a day.

Q: Do you have any lore?

Ava: Not yet, but I'm open to the idea.

Q: What if I have a question that wasn't answered by this page?

Ava: ASKS ARE OPEN BABY, FIRE AWAY

#oc #my ocs #my ocs <3 #programming #text post #send asks #asks open #Ava #I may or may not have been in the middle of developing her further while taking those screenshots which is why there are inconsistencies #Things like the objectives font being slightly smaller. And the error messages talking about me trying to work with the DayOfWeek namespace

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jestyrsdaily · 3 months

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6/27

Howdy howdy again! I know the posting is slow but bear with me ;-;

The past two weeks have been pretty hectic for me, but mostly because I started Kode With Klossy, so I haven't had much time to check other things off the list. I'm going to wait to update the To-Do list until the end of the day tomorrow (when the camp ends), so I think that'll be fun to do.

In our project, my group has been working on a sort of task organiser and financial management system(?). It has a To-Do list within it (sound familiar?) and when a task is activated, it sets up a Pomodoro-style timer. Completed tasks are taken off the To-Do page and put in a separate area for completed tasks, and the app has its own little budgeting tab, too, completed with some financial links. It's not a fullstack development (we were only learning front-end), but I got to work on the basic functionality of the map (setting up hamburger/side menus for navigation and settings, as well as getting those to work universally, including an app-wide toggle-able dark mode), which was harder than i thought it would be, but was still fun. My birthday also passed, which means I'm officially an adult! I don't have my license yet, but I'm registered to vote and will (regretfully) be watching the debate tonight as a part of my rite of passage into adulthood, I guess. (I don't know if they're important to watch, but my parents want me to. I'm also going to be going to a cheese-making class (fresh mozz!) and a chocolate class in the next few weeks, which I think will be fun.

In other news, after camp, I have had little to no motivation to really do things (i think it's because it's a 6.5 hour zoom call ;-;) even if the camp itself is really fun. Additionally, my friend started watching the second season of "Sweet Home," and in all honesty, I'm kind of happy that I only binged the manhwa. According to them, the show has good casting, but the roles are almost completely wrong.

I never ended up doing my daily solitaire, but my Duolingo streak is still going strong! By the end of the summer, I think I'll have enough points on Microsoft rewards to get an underworks binder off Amazon (taxes and shipping included), and maybe even enough left over on another account to get a Minecraft account of my own! I've also been drawing a lot more than I have been (as in: I made two, almost three things in one month when I hadn't drawn at all in over nine months prior), so I'm proud of myself for that! They just don't happen to be the things I wanted to finish drawing when I first made this list :P

#jestie rants #6/27/2024 #onto bigger and better things!#KWK i love you but i am braindead in the afternoons #i can't believe I did this for 12 years during school #productivity #online diary

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quaddmgd · 6 months

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I've been playing Tomb Raider I-III Remastered since its release. I managed to beat TR1 + Unfinished business and I'm 1/3 through TR2. It takes me longer than I thought, mostly because of work and exhaustion, but I'm having so much fun. Let's talk about TR1 then!

I've never actually finished a Core Design Tomb Raider before. I really wanted to start from the first one, but no matter the version, MS-DOS, Windows or PS1, the jumping felt delayed to a point of being unplayable for me. Which... was really weird. Normally I enjoy playing older games and not many ever felt 'too old' for me to learn playing them. Remasters felt like my last chance to try and beat them and, well, turns out jumping in original TR1 is dependant on animations - cinematic platformer-style. The new release actually fixed that and it feels very responsive on a keyboard. That's the most important change for me.

TR1 feels so different from the Legend and Survivor trilogies. Compared to newer games, platforming requires an ungodly amount of precision to pull off and feels very rewarding in the process. Instead of being action-oriented it prioritizes being a puzzle-platformer first, while enemy encounters remain sporadic and rather unwelcome due to their jankiness. TR1 ends up being a really atmospheric, quiet and isolating experience, making you feel like you're really the first person to visit these locations in thousands of years - I really appreciate that.

Now, being a 1996 game, TR1 always looked stellar to me and if it weren't for my issues with platforming, I would've probably beaten the original a long time ago. That being said, I really appreciate the art direction this remaster goes for. It's a nice mix between somewhat cartoony models and the original level design allowing for gameplay to remain intact. It's not without issues (some spaces can be too dark, some items are harder to spot and hd textures don't blend that well together compared to the original pixel art - some of that was apparently fixed in a patch, but it'd have to go back and check), but its lighting system makes up for any flaws. To be honest lighting does all the heavy lifting in creating atmosphere and the way environment reflects colored light on Lara reminds me of RT global illumination solutions used in modern games, but retains the feeling of playing a forgotten early 2000s gem with an HD texture pack installed. I love it.

The photo mode is a nice addition too. I managed to snap a few pics and the ability to switch between old and new graphics helped with making side-by-side comparisons.

There are a few meaningful flaws, unfortunately. FMV cutscenes didn't get a proper upscale, but instead just a blurry filtering, making them look worse than the original ones. Some achievements appear to be broken as well, which can be a bummer as some of them are really hard to pull off. Switching to OG graphics caps frame rate to 30fps with a funky framepacing, NG+ is not NG+ but a hard mode, and all-new modern controls have already become infamous for limiting Lara's movement compared to tank controls and making the camera bug out in tight spaces. I encountered more issues, but most of them got fixed in a 1.01 patch, so overall I'm pleased with the state of the game.

Now there are communication and update accessibility issues I'm planning to touch on, but since they don't seem to affect the experience of actually playing the remasters, I'm going to do so in a separate post.

Playing through TR2, I noticed the bigger focus on action, which I heard will be also a thing in TR3, but aside from that it seems to be a great sequel!

I already made a wishlist of what I want to see in future patches (including a working wardrobe and outfits from other TR games hehe), but I have fun playing it and that's the most important thing about this collection. It was obviously made with love and I hope that updates will make it a perfect visual remaster in the future.

#text.qd

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