#and getting 1 video game to feature complete status

[sniperct]

Ah, because I'm a nerd and I find this stuff fascinating, my favorite time of year, when star citizen releases their financials for the previous year (in this case, for 2022)

Some numbers of interest by the end of 2022

headcount: 860 worldwide

Salaries and related costs excluding the publishing/marketing teams: 56M

Other Game Dev (overheads,studio rentals, travel, etc): 18.4M

Contracted Game Dev ( external services and dev teams): 9.5M

Publishing/community/marketing: 29.9m

Accounting/Admin and legal fees: 1.4 Million

Capital expenditures (hardware/software, fixtures, offices, server upgrades etc): 12.9 million USD

All told they took in 130.7 million and spent 129.5 million or thereabouts.

In other words, they're spending almost as much as they bring in.

[animal-jam-shitposting]

COMPILATION OF EVERY ANIMAL JAM CLASSIC INTRO

(thank you to @toneinaflat for finding the first two videos!)

0. Beta Testing

i don't know what introduction (if any) was used during beta testing! (beta testing happened from ~march 2010 (closed beta) to september 8, 2010). i think it's probably the introduction shown in #1, but if you have any more info, please let me know!

1. Liza in Jamaa Township (original)

video posted october 1, 2011

started: either beta testing (march 2010-early september 2010) or the official release of the game on september 9, 2010

ended: some time between october 18, 2012 and december 14, 2012 (likely closer to december 14)

this is the original intro to animal jam! it shows liza around the mira statue in jamaa township, where she explains some background lore of jamaa (about mira especially), and some in game functions: moving, changing animal colors, getting achievements, and checking your gems. it's the earliest version of the lore, where "alphas" are called "shamans".

2. 3d Liza in Jamaa Township (update)

video posted december 14, 2012

started: some time between october 18, 2012 and december 14, 2012 (likely closer to december 14)

ended: february 6, 2014

this is an edited version of the original intro. it uses a new, jarringly 3d looking, model for liza, and has an updated introduction to the lore. liza's beginning explanation of mira is replaced with the "return of the alphas" cutscene also shown in the blue heron intro, and the "shamans" were renamed to "alphas". otherwise, this intro is identical to the previous

3. The Blue Heron

video posted february 6, 2014

started: february 6, 2014 (jamaa journal announcing it released on this date)

ended: january 23, 2015

this is the first major change in introduction! the player spawns in on a ship named the blue heron, that is modeled after mira. liza is piloting the ship, and gives you an introduction to jamaa. she introduces you to some in game functions: moving, changing color, checking your gems, and buying from shops. she also gives the option to "Learn about Jamaa's history", via watching the "return of the alphas" cutscene. at the end, the boat pulls in front of jamaa township.

fun fact: this was the only introduction that you could access without making a new account! when this introduction was released, they added an option in the settings to do this tutorial! (shown in the video, i actually couldn't find a video of this tutorial that started from the create an account screen). this option was removed an unknown amount of time later

4. Peck Intro

video posted january 23, 2015

started: january 23, 2015

ended: never 👍 (this is the current intro)

this intro changes the alpha greeting you from liza to peck. the player spawns into a long, forest-y room, and is greeted by peck. she takes you over a bridge to see a bunch of randomly generated animals that are spamming emotes and bubble chat phrases. she introduces you to some in game features: moving, changing color, using emotes, and checking your gems.

fun fact: from november 2016 to march 30, 2017, completing this tutorial would send you to the welcome party, an edited version of the jam session party that has other new jammers whose accounts were just created (if there were any online then....). this party had a singular clothing shop, the same "Clothing Shop" (literally its name) as the one on the blue heron. the end of peck's dialog in the main room is slightly changed to reference this party

BONUS: WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE TUTORIAL?:

after almost all of these intros, you spawn in jamaa township.

at first, completing the original intro would just spawn you in the middle of jamaa township and open up the jamaa journal and daily spin

but then, sometime before october 18, 2012*, the ending was somewhat changed. now it showed the avatar walking from the mira statue area to the middle of the town, and then the player was given this screen:

* why this date specifically? because this video of someone being mean to liza during the intro shows this new ending, and was posted on that date

however, i am almost certain that this was actually implemented on march 1, 2012; because that was the date that the loading screens were changed to their new (and current) format (date gotten from the animal jam wiki)

this end screen stayed for a while, but was minorly changed for the blue heron intro, and stayed that way for the first few years of the peck intro— "explore jamaa" was changed to "go on an adventure":

also, in the blue heron intro you're seen running up from the bottom of jamaa township (from the body of water where the boat dropped you off!). this is kept for the peck intro, although that direction doesn't make as much sense from that one.

when the welcome party existed from november 2016 to march 2017, the peck intro would lead to that party, but then the party had a path leading to jamaa township, in this same fashion. (video of this)

however, once the welcome party left on march 30, 2017, it seems this screen did too. because now, after the tutorial, the player automatically spawns in their den, where peck's den tutorial starts... guess our choice is made for us! (video of this). this date also marked the change in the items that a new jammer has from the get-go: originally new jammers got a sturdy table and a blue rug, but past 3/30/2017, new jammers get a rug, table, small window, chair, couch, lamp, and houseplant

speaking of den tutorials, a brief note:

ever since the peck intro, peck has always done the den tutorial. but i did read somewhere in my research that liza did the den tutorial beforehand— but i haven't found any pictures or videos on it, so you'll just have to take my word on that (if any of you have any pictures or videos of the liza den tutorial, or even a post talking about it, please send it to me!)

this has been information on every animal jam intro, thanks for reading 👍

[rathologic]

biggest disconnect in pathologic's reception has kind of always been a divide between "patho is driven by mechanics" and "patho is driven by story" camps where opinions only ever come from one of these extremes... around p1's development and release the developers considered it exclusively a survival challenge sim, not a game marketed for its story (despite story representing a huge fraction of the time and thought put into it). In The Society Of Dead Poets goes into so much detail about this. and it WAS a stunning technical work under the circumstances, but the complex story was what gave the franchise cult appeal, or at least enough so for it to get a sequel... reviews from the period tend to go along the lines of "this game looks and plays like shit but it's extremely thought-provoking". there's a little to be said about the mainstream view of a "Gamer" in 2005 and what they would be interested in marketing-wise not tracking with story games yet; anyway, the one-dimensionality here was consistent with the studio's approach to games as a whole (cf BoneHouse.ppt).

so IPL's perception of their work was what informed p2's priorities, which turned out to be A Way Better Survival Challenge at the expense of things like characters having complex motivations (expansion on this has been omitted; iykyk), and they did an incredible job with that & basically perfected what they had been going for mechanically. which created this weird divide where p2 fans think 1 isn't worth playing because it's less engaging as a gaming experience, and p1 fans (me included, to be clear) see 2's story changes as a spit in the face of everything that made the series work. like, neither of these are fundamentally incorrect, but they refer to completely non-overlapping paradigms of engaging with the material. when hopefully it can be agreed that a Video Game is comprised of Both a narrative aspect and an interactive aspect, and that they need to work together to create the player's transformative experience (again, premise of BoneHouse.ppt).

Anyway. that helps explain a lot of hbomb's stance on the franchise, particularly that he can endorse patho2 without comment as an ostensibly leftist youtuber when even the most cursory playthrough is enough to let players in on its gleeful centering of ecofascism... that game's representation of colonial relations as an unfixable divide employing the racist trope of reciprocal violence, its obsession with maintaining status quo, and its completely tasteless approach to MMIW are all elements of Story and thus all secondary to p2's huge improvements on the survival system. in the same vein, his discussion of p1's changeling's route is limited to the constant reputation decrease and the repeated quests because those are the only mechanical features introduced over the previous routes, even while clararoute text is fundamental to understanding most characters... his video isn't like Bad for getting the interactive experience p1 would present to you, but it sucks for engaging with the story because it's not about the story. and unfortunately, on discussion posting websites, we do usually post about story

[maspers-reads-subspace]

So, as previously stated, before we get truly started on the behemoth that is The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest...

Speedrunning The Bond of Aura

We're going to be covering the entirety of The Bond of Aura, the prequel to Worlds Conquest, in one post, so try to keep up, this is gonna go fast.

First thing's first: this is, unfortunately, not the original version of The Bond of Aura. After being somewhat dissatisfied with the original work and noting the attention Worlds Conquest was getting, AuraChannelerChris decided to start rewriting it, to expand on some scenes and otherwise do some cleanup. His plan for the remade Bond of Aura was 19 chapters... the 17th of which was published in November of 2020. Yeah. I was surprised too, I didn't even know about this until like. A couple days ago. But the fact remains that this fic, like its sequel, is incomplete and dormant if not dead. Good thing that doesn't matter to me!

The Bond of Aura has a pretty simple premise: regular high-schooler Chris is a Pokemon Fan whose DS gets hit by lightning, and this results in the Lucario from his game being brought into the real world. Shenanigans ensue. All the shenanigans. All of them.

An Aura Sphere, the artwork that is cropped to serve as The Bond of Aura's cover image on FF.net. Lucario is on the left, Chris is on the right. This and a ton of other official artwork was made by the author AuraChannelerChris himself, and they all can be found on his DeviantArt page! ...So go check out his art, if it's not a public fic cover I'm not going to repost it for you.

Chapter 1: A Fateful Event

A recurring theme in both Bond of Aura and Worlds Conquest is the narration framing itself as if it actually were a visual medium like a video game or movie, even though it's fully prose. This can be a little difficult to get used to (For example, any time a character has an internal monologue they use parentheses as if it were a visual novel) but once you adjust it's not so bad. Since Worlds Conquest really leans into the video game theme, Bond of Aura is more like a movie, starting with first-person narration as Chris provides the exposition introducing himself, before the narration switches to third person for the remainder of the work.

Chris doesn't introduce himself in full so that later chapters can reveal stuff about him, but seeing as I have the power of knowing all that stuff, I can just tell you everything straight-up. Our protagonist is Chris Garcia Bennett, an 15-year-old lad living in Los Angeles, California. He's of mixed descent (he later explicitly identifies his mother's family as Mexican and his father's family as Native American), and his parents are extremely talented freelance computer technicians. So talented, in fact, that their family is able to own a pretty large house with a pool and other luxuries, at the cost of the parents being away for work pretty much non-stop since Chris was in kindergarten. He was mostly raised by his uncles, and now that he's preparing to start high school he lives completely alone.

Yup. Chris is a lonely rich kid. Yes, it's convenient for the plot (especially that of Worlds Conquest), but Chris's parental issues are one of the main driving features of Bond of Aura. The other two being Lucario's identity crisis and (most importantly) dealing with the fact that Lucario is there to begin with.

Chris is a huge geek, and he's excitedly starting his summer vacation by playing Pokemon Diamond Version on the Nintendo DS. We're given a brief insight as to how his game is progressing, and he specifically makes note of the Pokemon he currently has in his party. Including a Lucario which just received a Burned status condition. Noticing that it's late and stormy outside, Chris saves his game, closes his DS to put it in sleep mode, then goes to bed.

Pokemon Diamond Version and Pokemon Pearl Version: The first set of games in the Fourth Generation of the Pokemon video game series, released in Japan in 2006 and in the US in 2007. Pokemon is a franchise based around collecting magic creatures and training them to engage in epic battles, and is the most lucrative multimedia franchise in the world. Diamond and Pearl were also some of the first games in the series to introduce deeper plotlines into the Pokemon series, with an overarching plotline about the in-universe mythology and what it truly means to have a perfect universe. The enhanced version of these games, Pokemon Platinum, was the first mainline Pokemon game I ever played!

Naturally, what follows next is an epic Pokemon reverse isekai! Lightning strikes through Chris's window and hits the DS, then the DS also starts emitting lightning, and then BOOM. Cue a Poke Ball sitting in Chris's room. He opens it, and out pops his Lucario. The same Lucario from his game. Including the Burned status condition.

The rest of the chapter is tense. Chris is able to help Lucario get better, but not only is Chris scared out of his mind with no clue what's going on, Lucario is also panicking and is also a giant bipedal jackal with magic powers. This does not a calm situation make. Not in the slightest.

Chapter 2: A Fateful Encounter

Eventually, Chris and Lucario are able to sit down and have something resembling a civil conversation. Lucario just wants to know what's going on, and Chris (being the geek he is) puts things together pretty quickly. Lucario is from another world based on Chris's video game, Chris explains, and Chris doesn't know how to send Lucario back, so for now Lucario needs to stay with Chris. This is also when Chris explains his living situation to Lucario, and the fact that Pokemon don't exist in this world. Lucario takes it surprisingly well, considering how much he was panicking earlier.

The two of them (somewhat reluctantly) agree to be friends for the time being, and then the two of them go eat a late-night meal and Chris introduces Lucario to anime. It's sorta fluff, but not quite. The author makes it very clear through the characters' words and actions that the two definitely are NOT comfortable with each other yet, and even when they go to bed Chris's internal monologue is split between "oh gosh there's a Lucario in my house this is so cool!" and "oh gosh there's a Lucario in my house what the heck".

We also get the first glance at Lucario's main problem for this story: the fact that he's from a video game, and the resulting identity crisis. While Worlds Conquest will eventually reveal that the game worlds ARE real to some extent, and Lucario isn't just some kind of artificial construct, Lucario's own understanding of his history in the Pokemon world is primarily based on Chris's own playthrough of the games. Lucario knows all the stuff a Pokemon would be expected to know by default, but he doesn't know his own personal history (since he's based off of an in-game Pokemon egg given to the player) and while he feels intensely loyal to his trainer he can't remember anything about her (since she's not really a person, just a player character controlled by Chris).

Spoilers, but eventually Lucario and Chris will become the bestest of buds, reconcile their differences, and grow to view each other as partners, with Lucario explicitly identifying Chris as his trainer. But for now, he needs to get over his attachment to his previous trainer first.

Lucario, the Aura Pokemon. A Fighting-Steel Type that can and will beat you up. Imagine a monk from D&D crossed with an anthropomorphic jackal and that's Lucario in a nutshell. Their "Aura" powers and the lore connected to them is something that Pokemon fans have taken and ran with (you name it, Aura's done it in a fanfic), but it does have explicit canon abilities. Conveniently, one of those abilities is established to be the usage of human speech, something most Pokemon are unable to do.

...This is taking too long. Time to pick up the pace. Things get much smoother, simpler, and fluffier for a while, so it should be easy to rush through the next couple of chapters. You all should know what a slice-of-life story is, right?

Chapter 3: A Very Calm, Relaxing Approach

After waking up and slowly getting to know each other better, Chris abruptly remembers hygiene exists and very sternly instructs Lucario on how to use a shower. Lucario, being a Pokemon, has no idea what a shower is. Shenanigans ensue.

Once all that's dealt with, the two of them have breakfast, and then go to water the flowers in Chris's garden while discussing Lucario's Aura powers. There's a very deep discussion about the ability to sense life and what it means to Lucario, as well as how cool Aura is in general. I'm beginning to suspect the author is a huge Lucario fan or something.

Chapter 4: A Carnivorous Aura Pokemon

Chris realizes that the animal Lucario's design is based off of is, in fact, a carnivore. So he makes steak! Lucario greatly enjoys the steak. I don't blame him, steak is fantastic. Afterwards Chris remembers ANOTHER aspect of hygiene and instructs Lucario on how to brush his teeth. Something something very wholesome moving on.

Chapter 5: A Gamer is Born

While Chris is asleep, Lucario does some very serious pondering about the posters in Chris's room and the frankly absurdly large video game collection the boy has, wondering if his entire reality was just being puppeted around by human children. But then Chris wakes up, introduces Lucario to his game collection, and explains how much his games mean to him, how he enjoys living vicariously through the game worlds because his real life is so dull.

Then he gets Lucario addicted to video games. VERY addicted.

Chapter 6: An Unbelievable Strength

Okay time to slow down a bit again. This chapter is pretty short, but its contents carry some pretty important backstory that WILL matter in Worlds Conquest. Namely, Chris and Lucario realize that the latter is way larger and way more powerful than a normal Lucario is supposed to be.

Regular Lucario are around four feet tall. Chris's Lucario is 6 foot 7 inches, a head taller than Chris himself is. He's way stronger and tougher than the average Lucario as well, lifting Chris's bed like it's nothing and doing push-ups under it, and chopping wood essentially with his bare hands. His Aura senses are stronger too, being able to detect stuff within multiple miles as well as a couple other tricks that usually fall within the range of psychic powers, such as telepathy or being able to see out of another person's eyes. And as for his Aura Sphere projectile attack... we'll get to that.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it: Lucario is overpowered. Greatly. I find it amusing how the author is very defensive of Chris and OCs in general, adding a disclaimer at the start of Worlds Conquest talking about how he's going to great lengths to ensure Chris doesn't fall into the trap of becoming a dreaded "Mary Sue/Gary Stu", yet he seems to completely overlook how if anyone's going to get accused of being a Sue it's not going to be Chris; it's going to be Lucario.

I don't think either of them are a "Gary Stu", for the record. Not only is the term extremely subjective to begin with, but with a story as massive and multifaceted as Worlds Conquest there's only so much you can really do with raw power. There's plenty of situations where it doesn't matter how strong you are, it won't help you win. If I were to guess, I'd say that the depiction of Chris's Lucario stems disappointment. The idea of the Pokemon Lucario is rad as heck, but when you compare its epic marketing to the actual in-game Pokemon it's rather... lacking? It's cool, but it can't normally go toe-to-toe with gods the way the marketing makes it look like it's capable of. I suspect Lucario's absurd Hercules-level strength in Bond of Aura and Worlds Conquest is a "correction" for this, bringing Lucario back in line with its public image.

For the record, there is a reason why Chris's Lucario is overpowered. His backstory (which at this point is unknown to him) is revealed more in full later on in Worlds Conquest. But hilariously, as of the game Pokemon Legends Arceus released in 2022, there doesn't need to be a reason. Lucario's drastically increased size and strength is a perfect example of an Alpha Pokemon.

An Alpha Lucario positioned next to a human for scale. Chris's Lucario is likely to actually be a bit shorter than this one, if you can believe it. Image courtesy of ShackNews's article on Alpha Pokemon.

Alpha Pokemon are exactly what they sound like: Pokemon that are significantly bigger and tougher than most examples of their species. Considering the existence of Chris's Lucario predates the existence of Alpha Pokemon by over a decade, it's entirely coincidence, but I still find it amusing.

So yeah, Chris and Lucario figure out that Lucario has insane stats. Moving on.

Chapter 7: A Very Odd Team

Chris and Lucario go back to gaming. Specifically, this time they're playing Wii Sports! Annnnnd Lucario keeps breaking the controllers with his absurd strength. Fortunately Chris has copious amounts of wiimotes but it still takes a while before they're able to find a game Lucario can play without getting so distracted he crushes the controllers. Eventually they settle on Wii Sports Baseball.

Along the way they discuss the possibility of Lucario becoming a "Renaissance Pokemon". Like a Renaissance Man, who's good at everything, except as a Pokemon. Spoilers: Lucario is not going to become a Jack of All Trades, Master of All. Sure, at this point he starts aspiring to become one, but once Worlds Conquest rolls around he'll mostly settle into the role of providing raw muscle and being Chris's main confidant, if I recall correctly.

Chapter 8: A Reading Experience

Chris decides to teach Lucario how to read! It's... pretty slow going. While Lucario presumably used Aura to learn how to speak properly, knowledge of reading and writing is entirely different. This poor 'mon is illiterate and does NOT have a brain that adapts to reading easily. Fortunately we have Chris there to help Lucario out in a way that's quite wholesome!

Unfortunately, Lucario's identity crisis acts up and he briefly panics and attacks Chris in the confusion, so they go for a week of things being tense between them before Chris relents and forgives Lucario for it, and goes back to teaching Lucario how to read.

Chapter 9: A Hot Summer Day

Exactly what it says on the tin! It's hot, and it's Southern California so it's dang hot. So Chris and Lucario get the pool set up, and then there's the usual sort of pool party shenanigans that happen in fluff fics involving pools. There's discussion about how a Pokemon with steel literally grafted into their body deals with heat, and cool experimenting with underwater telepathy.

Lucario also brings up the fact that he doesn't know how to use Aura Sphere yet, a move heavily associated with the Lucario species, and resolves to try and learn in. Spoilers, he'll get it down before the fic is over.

Chapter 10: Movie Night

Okay this one's kind of funny. As the title implies, Chris and Lucario watch a movie together. Their choice of movie?

The eighth Pokemon movie, premiering in July of 2005. As part of the advertising for the soon-to-be-released Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, the movie featured the debut of various Pokemon from those games, including Lucario. If you listen closely, you can hear all the Pokemon fanfic writers hurriedly taking notes on everything in this movie that involves "Aura" and "Ash Ketchum".

Rather an appropriate choice, I'd say. Chris and Lucario spend most of the chapter just commenting on the movie and raising questions about the way the Lucario in the movie uses Aura, but eventually all the plot holes are ironed out ant Lucario is satisfied. The movie's Lucario isn't what I find funny about this chapter, though, what I find funny is Chris and Lucario's discussion about Ash Ketchum and Pikachu. Chris describes Ash as "the face of the anime" who will "never, EVER leave the position". He and Lucario also complain about how Ash never wins any big tournaments, and how if the trend keeps up then Chris is planning to stop watching the Pokemon anime entirely. Modern fans know that while it took a while for him to get there, Ash eventually became a Pokemon Champion in 2019, and eventually left the show entirely to give rise to a new Pokemon anime with a new cast.

Lucario also calls out Ash for not evolving his Pikachu, insulting Pikachu for choosing to stay in a weaker form. This is already funny, because at the time this chapter is written, Worlds Conquest has already been chugging along steadily, and Lucario and Pikachu have met and become pretty good allies. Guess I'll have to look into that when we finally catch up on the reread, and see if Lucario and Pikachu actually talk about it at some point.

Chapter 11: A Pokemon Cook

After learning that Lucario doesn't know what fireworks are, Chris and Lucario briefly chat about what Lucario's childhood was like, and what Lucario's previous trainer was like. As I've previously established, Lucario's "previous trainer" wasn't really real, and he doesn't remember them at all. So he makes up stuff and lies about it. Deciding that Lucario needs to have more happy memories to look back on, and realizing that Lucario's going to need to be able to feed himself while Chris is at school once summer ends, Chris decides to try teaching Lucario how to cook.

A knife gets destroyed in the process.

Chapter 12: A Day of Training

ALSO exactly what it says on the tin. Lucario does some more exercise, including doing push-ups underneath Chris's bed. While Chris is still asleep. This leads to a funny moment where Chris wakes up and mistakes the push-ups for an earthquake. A little bit more Lucario angst happens as he realizes how attached he's getting to Chris.

Reading this fic in the year AD 2025, my brain is seeing all these scenes of Chris and Lucario enjoying each other's company and going "wow, there is a hilariously unintentional gay subtext here". Like, the bond between Pokemon and Trainer is completely different from romance for VERY OBVIOUS REASONS, but the way Chris and Lucario are written has hilarious levels of "Does This Remind You of Anything?" in hindsight. Definitely not intended by the author in the slightest, and definitely shouldn't be interpreted that way. But once you see it it's really hard to unsee it.

Chapter 13: An Aura Sphere

Frustrated with his lack of progress with Aura Sphere, Lucario (with Chris's help) decides to focus on honing his Aura detection skills specifically so he can better understand what he's doing wrong. Eventually he's able to get it to work, and since it's his Aura, he's even able to temporarily hand the ball of energy to Chris without harming him! It's a very cool and powerful moment, ending when they decide to dispose of the Aura Sphere by launching it into the sky.

Big mistake. Lucario's overpowered-ness comes back to bite them when the Aura Sphere explodes and the neighborhood is put under lockdown in fear of a terrorist bomber. This would be a hilarious scene, except Chris has to explain to Lucario why everything is under lockdown, which includes a brief discussion about terrorism that... really hasn't aged well. It's a small moment, but it serves as a good reminded that Bond of Aura and Worlds Conquest were primarily written in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with a lot of the unintended biases that come with that era.

Chapter 14: A Day at School

Summer vacation has finally come to an end, and Chris has to go back to school, leaving Lucario at home. Alone. And not coping well. I haven't mentioned this yet, but pretty much every time Lucario has his identity crisis about his origins, he ends up arguing with himself. Lucario staunchly believes he needs to be loyal to his original trainer, even if he doesn't remember them at all, and that by getting too close to Chris he risks "betraying" his original trainer. Arguing in favor of fully accepting Chris as a "new trainer" is an imaginary Riolu that's taken form in Lucario's mindscape and pretty much acts like a very needy puppy whenever Chris is around, trying to annoy Lucario into caving and fully being with Chris. This causes Lucario to react badly and push down any positive feelings he has towards Chris, leading to some of the chaos in earlier chapters.

Riolu, the Emanation Pokemon. A Fighting-type. Look at this precious little baby fella. More huggable than you'd expect! Can also beat you up! Evolves into Lucario, hence why Chris's Lucario's subconscious seems to manifest as one; he WAS a Riolu when he was young.

So now Lucario is trapped, at home, by himself, with Riolu driving him crazy in his mind. He tries to distract himself by using Aura to see the world through random humans within his Aura perception radius, but soon he ends up fixated on Chris again. A couple hours later, Chris walks outside for lunch and finds Lucario in a tree, and gives the latter a very stern-yet-kind talking-to.

Chapter 15: A Birthday

...Oh frick um

[Content Warning: Attempted Suicide and Self-Harm, and discussion of topics????? Skip to the next red text if you want to avoid it.]

Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. Genuinely! I hadn't read this chapter before! I'm not even sure it existed when I last reread Worlds Conquest, or maybe it did and I just didn't bother to check if Bond of Aura had new chapters. Either way: what the heck?

Well, apparently, "the heck" is "Chris does not cope with parental abandonment well". The main lead-up to this chapter is that Chris's Birthday is coming up, and his parents are planning on coming home to visit. Chris hasn't seen them in over a year. Then a couple days before his birthday, they call to tell him they'll miss it again because another job came up. Chris snaps, yells at his parents, and hangs up, which is extremely jarring because Chris has been pretty much an endless beacon of sunshine up to this point. Lucario even notes that Chris's Aura is WAY out of wack. And it's a good thing that Lucario notices because Chris then proceeds to make a dash for the kitchen knife to try and stab himself in the chest. Lucario stops him just in time, and Chris completely breaks down in tears, explaining how he feels worthless and unvalued by everyone in his life, and that this isn't the first time he's snapped like this, though the last time he tried to kill/seriously maim himself was when he was in Kindergarten and his parents left the first time. Lucario helps Chris calm down and reassures him that his life has value, and that even if his family can't be with him, at least he has Lucario with him instead.

This caught me completely off guard. As you've noticed, the tone of this fic has been pretty light-hearted and fluffy so far. There's been a bit of angst on Lucario's end, but mostly his mental arguments with Riolu have been played for laughs. Suddenly shifting to suicide prevention came completely out of left field. And from what I can recall of Worlds Conquest, this is a pretty jarring contrast to that work too. Don't get me wrong, there are gonna be some dark moments, but... nothing like this. Worlds Conquest usually stays on the side of comedy.

I don't think I really like it, from a writing standpoint, but I don't know if I'm supposed to? The author clearly is trying to handle the subject with utmost seriousness, and it really puts a lot of Chris's behavior both in this story and Worlds Conquest into perspective in a new way for me. This scene will probably be in the back of my mind going forward, when before I didn't even know it existed. But because this is a rewritten version of the original Bond of Aura, I don't even know if I should take it into account. What if it was just added for additional shock factor, or to give Chris some depth the author felt he was lacking? Regardless, it's here. I think the author handled it the best he could, but I genuinely question if he needed to handle it at all. I think I need more context here.

[Okay we're done with the content warning stuff you're good now]

So Chris's Birthday finally happens, and after spending the morning visiting relatives he returns to spend the rest of the day with Lucario... and he brings gifts! Turns out that Lucario's theoretical birthday (the release date of the game he's from) was a couple days ago, and Chris realized that he didn't get anything for Lucario. They then agree to celebrate their birthdays together, Chris briefly calls his parents to apologize for snapping at them (while still respectfully calling them out for their neglect), and then the two of them have tacos.

Chapter 16: A Few Memorable Holidays

And by "a few", I mean "Halloween and Thanksgiving". Halloween has a funny moment come to pass when Chris dresses up as a Lucario for Halloween, and Lucario briefly panics and wonders if the costume is made from authentic Lucario fur. Chris has to once again reassure Lucario that no, the fur isn't real, because Lucario is the only real Lucario in the world. Then they eat a lot of candy. And steak.

Thanksgiving is exactly what you'd expect Thanksgiving in this fanfic to be. Lots of the warm fuzzies, with Chris and Lucario being appreciative of each other and eating some really good food, including Turkey (if you're not from the US and aren't somehow arne't familiar despite us Americans having a tendency to loudly broadcast everything we do, traditionally turkey is eaten as part of the thanksgiving dinner). The fic once again shows its age when Chris shares the story of the so-called "first thanksgiving" with Lucario (I can't tell if Chris being part Native American makes it better or worse) but thankfully they don't linger on it too long.

Chapter 17: A Christmas

It's Christmas! Which, like the Halloween and Thanksgiving scenes, is about what you'd expect from this fic's fluffy slice-of-life vibes. Chris gets to educate Lucario on what Christmas is, and they go about setting up the tree and decorations in a festive manner. There's a bit of a humorous-turned-cool moment when Chris accidentally gets jumpscared by a small spider (big mood, spiders are the worst) and is about to be crushed by boxes of decorations when Lucario manages to use ExtremeSpeed for the first time to catch the boxes. Very nice. Then Christmas proper rolls around and Chris give Lucario a scarf. Lucario doesn't have money to buy a gift, so he just promises Chris his eternal moral support. Which then turns into an absolutely delightful scene of them hyping each other up.

And then there's also THIS:

Mister author are you SURE you know what kind of relationship you're writing here??? Are you SURE??? Please tell me I'm not the only person seeing this, I haven't even gotten to the fic this blog is actually supposed to be about and I'm ALREADY going mad-

The chapter closes with the promise that New Year's Day is coming, and with it, a final challenge that only Lucario can overcome, to determine whether his future will truly involve him becoming Chris's Pokemon or not...

And then that's it. No more chapters. I did warn you! But figuring out what happens next is kind of easy to determine. Considering Chris and Lucario are still best bros living together by the start of The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest, my guess is Lucario has his final emotional crisis where he finally learns to accept that Chris is his trainer (and in a sense has always BEEN his trainer), and they resolve to be a Trainer-and-Pokemon partnership from here on out. Possibly with a guest appearance by Chris's parents so that side of the plot drama can be wrapped up before Worlds Conquest too.

My personal verdict on The Bond of Aura: Eh. It's not bad. The writing is consistent with the general quality of what I recall Worlds Conquest being like. Not necessarily up to my usual standard nowadays, but I've grown to become exceptionally picky with fanfiction I read, especially when it comes to grammar and formatting, to a level that I am well aware is pretty unrealistic. It's probably better than most fanfics, tbh. The story is very good at keeping its focus on the two main characters and only them (unless you count Imaginary Riolu as a separate character), which makes sense. This story is their backstory, at least in part. It solidifies who Chris and Lucario are, and why by the time of Worlds Conquest they've become so devoted to each other. Their relationship is then used as a bedrock for the network of relationships they'll then form with the other members of the Smash Bros. cast, which becomes a self-sustaining engine of character dynamics.

But for me, starting with Worlds Conquest way back then, and then coming back to this, I have trouble getting the vibes, I guess. I really like Worlds Conquest as a kid because it was action-packed, and because it was full of so many characters who would interact with each other and have their own arcs. Just focusing on two of them is a drastic change in scale for me, and while I think the quality is good, I don't think pure slice-of-life fluff is where AuraChannelerChris really shines in his writing. I know it's going to get better than this.

Which is really unfair to The Bond of Aura, which is pretty charming in its own right. That's part of why I've gone out of my way to include a summary of it before diving into Worlds Conquest proper, instead of just going "by the way here's the basic gist Chris is lonely rich kid and he has this extremely powerful Lucario in the real world don't worry about it". Backstories are important, and if I want to judge Worlds Conquest objectively I need to take The Bond of Aura into account. I know you don't have the time to read Worlds Conquest, seeing as you're here, but if you ever do... make sure you read The Bond of Aura first.

Alright. Obligatory predecessor work summary done! Now let's dive into The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest. For real this time.

Starting here.

[capyquest-logs]

DFX452 | Post 1 | 2/7/25

New semester, new class, same project! I can't believe it's already time for the first graded blog post.

To quickly summarize what I accomplished last semester, I created a 3D explorable environment with capybara characters that you can interact with. They each have unique dialogue, and some of them will change their dialogue based on things you do. For example, finding the purple flower would make the capybara named Aglet take it from you and wear it on her head when you talk to her. I made the whole game from the ground up in Unreal Engine - every tree, flower, blade of grass, and character is original content!

Alright, now let's see what I've gotten done so far this semester. I...

Studied C++ (a lot)

Planned multiple puzzles

Planned multiple parkour areas

Created concept art

Began the graybox

Now, I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but that's due to the amount of prep work I've been doing. So, just for fun, let's take a look at my C++ studies.

C++ Studies

Now, being a computer science minor, I have a very good grasp on basic OOP concepts, so I could speed through learning a new language. All that's different is the syntax. That's why it only took me 4 days to complete Codecademy's C++ course!

Unreal Engine has a lot of its own original C++ functions and features. So, I started learning that through this video before switching gears to this course that's created in collaboration with Epic Games themselves. Awesome! I skipped the first project and jumped straight into C++, but I still have a lot to learn.

Concept Art

Alright, into actual content! Here's a piece of concept art I threw together to help me visualize and experiment with the style of one of the puzzles.

It isn't polished at all, and I'd say it's... pretty bad. But I like the general vibe, which is all I need.

Then, I created a reference of a statue asset I need to make later on.

I actually finished it earlier today as of writing this post!

Grayboxing

Now, for the real meat of what I've been working on! If you don't know what grayboxing is, it's basically just using basic shapes to get a sense of scale and proportion for your game. That way, it's easier to plan out what each asset should look like and how they relate to each other. I have a few screenshots in my most recent daily log of the hand puzzle that I'll put below, and in the meantime I got the first two puzzles blocked out, along with some parkour action.

It doesn't look like I've gotten much done, but that's about to change drastically once I start working on the landscape. And once I finish the graybox, I'm going to convert the project to C++ and get cracking on some more complex mechanics! I'm hoping to not stretch myself too thin, but I think it'll turn out great in the end.

[emblemxeno]

Xenoblade 1 DE Main Story/Game Thoughts

Finished the main story! I didn't go full completion but I got full affinity for all areas and saw every Heart-to-Heart. More detailed thoughts-including spoilers-under the cut!

-For starters, DE is a great update to the original. Many QoL improvements trims the extra menu time down a lot (inventory management, art books, equipment/gems, etc.), especially swapping gems. Also hell yes to including the appearance feature from X, as someone who prefers the default outfits for everyone!

-Same applies to battle stuff and general gameplay. Quest tracking, gauges on things like Break and Topple, clearer status effects, chance arts being highlighted, even something as small as the scroll between Talent Arts/Running/Chain Attacks being more streamlined had many great returns on me not pressing the wrong thing.

-However... why did they not just go all the way with more changes? The two big ones that come to mind are trading and Colony 6 collecting. First, why can you not bulk trade? It is such a time sink having to constantly open the menu again and again. And since trading and skip travelling share a button, I clocked probably over a hundred instances of opening the damn map menu instead of trading since there's a second of cooldown before the option appears for the NPC again! It's an annoyance that is easily ignored once or twice, but absolutely brutal after the tenth time.

-Jumping ahead a bit, but I speak not just criticizing DE but XC1 as a whole. It's probably an unpopular opinion but I don't like the ongoing Colony 6 reconstruction sidequest. The first time I completed it-about half a decade ago I think-was magical! Seeing a ruined home blossom into a lively city due to my hard work was something I'll never forget as an RPG fan. But I don't have that kind of time on my hands anymore (or I simply have better management of time now that I don't stay up til 4 am playing video games anymore lol). Exploring Bionis and Mechonis is an undeniably wondrous and beautiful experience, but only when doing normal quests (well most of the normal quests) and progressing the story. Jogging around places trying to find each item is incredibly unfun and tedious. The big offenders are typically Ice Cabbages (luckily I got all the ones I need by playing through the Valak portion of the story), Rainbow Slugs (I spent an entire hour on the Fallen Arm ugh), and the Black Liver Beans. The last one was the breaking point, I can't stand the Bionis Interior and after an hour in there just trying to find one, I said fuck it and did the Time Attack trials to get them that way. It was just not... good! I don't like it a bit.

-Last thing on DE specifically, I found that the graphics are apparently controversial among fans? I'm understanding of the position, as there's definitely a charm that the original artstyle had, especially being on the Wii. But to me the original has more issues in its visuals than just being a different artstyle. Poor resolution, blocky models, souless faces when not in an important cutscene, absolutely diabolical pop-in. And some say that the original gave its characters more personality during cutscenes, which... I don't get whatsoever. Did we watch the same scenes, cuz it's very hard to distinguish emotion in the original, whereas DE has better mouth, eyebrow, and facial movements. Certain scenes may "look" more emotional in the original, but things get exaggerated all the time to compensate for poor resolution or graphics.

-Now on to the just XC1 in general! Holy fuck the main cast is better than I remember. Shulk, Fiora, and Melia were already my favorites, but honestly... Dunban is probably my absolute favorite out of all of them now. His story is just so succinct and he's just so cool and hot and kind and just ughhhhhh!

-Egil is still best villain in the game, no surprise. Revisiting this game honestly made it really fucking clear why I loved Dimitri from 3H so much cuz the two are so similar (to the point where you can pull line's from the game about Egil and put them in 3H). The others fair less well. Metal Face/Mumkhar is delightfully hammy and an amazing threat for the first half of the game, but is as deep as a puddle. Dickson and Lorithia I found I dislike even more, for the wrong reasons; they lack charisma, and it's noticeable in places where the game gets really anime in its hammy villainy, but they're written and played a bit too straight for it to come off as anything other than lackluster. Though at least Dickson has presence as Shulk's caretaker and the guy who everyone knows and respects; Lorithia though? Throw her away. Honestly if Yumea took her place and retained the bigotry against Homs it'd be much more entertaining IMO.

-Zanza himself is a definitive mixed bag. Were I ignorant to Klaus' entire story from XC2, I'd honestly write him off as a by-the-numbers arrogant (but secretly imperfect and prone to "human" folly) god figure that happens in many, many RPGS. But I can't dislike him because I do know the entire story, and Zanza being an utter dickwad is explained in great detail and makes sense. Honestly, he does work for the story that XC1 is telling without playing XC2 as well, but ehhh. I guess it's just really difficult to be the main villain after Egil does such great things in a limited time.

-Narrative is great, just as it was the first time I played. Highlights for me:

Singlemindedly fighting for revenge is destructive not just to your enemies, but to yourself and your friends. Ignorance and unwillingness to look beyond your own world or history means you may be hurting innocent people without realizing it. Chaining your life to the deaths of others rather than supporting the survivors is unhealthy and can lead you down a path of misery and disaster.

Ether is not just analogy for carbon/other base elements in our world. Philosophically it's analogous to light and fate as well. Shulk unlocks the Monado's powers when he stops treating it as a tool with functions, but rather as an extension of his will. He wills his wishes into his heart, and they are made manifest. He protects Reyn with Shield not cuz the Monado lets him, but because he desired it. Same with Sharla and Speed, and it's how Alvis taught him to unlock Purge. It's how he resists Apocrypha, and later gains Cyclone once the Apocrypha is destroyed. His will is so strong, it becomes resistant to Zanza's influence, hence why he starts suffering the more he learns of Mechonis' history. The truth being brought to light is painful internally and externally, as Zanza physically rejects anything that challenges how he sees the world. Shulk brings himself back to life, begins having visions without Zanza, and gains his own Monado-which looks purely made of ether and light-through pure willpower and the desire to create his own future.

Shulk's duality and inner turmoil when he realizes his yearning for revenge is destructive; Fiora's endless strength of heart when dealing with a machine body and carrying on Meyneth's wishes; Melia going through hell and back trying to find a balance between her sense of self and sense of duty (I imagine Future Connected is gonna touch on that more as well); Dunban grappling with his moniker of being a hero and mentoring the party despite being imperfect and lamenting his disability; Reyn's goal of being a protector developing into being a supporter once he becomes insecure over his strength and character compared to Shulk; Sharla trying to keep hold onto a sense of hope that her love is alive before coming to terms with the fact that she needs to cherish her life and love those within it; Riki just being the fucking best dad and friend in the world.

Having played XC2 and XC3 makes all these things even richer as well.

-Last but not least, gameplay:

-Most quests are good. Most. The generic quests weren't ever fun for me, and they cause significant bloat that could've been trimmed IMO. Especially since lots of quests ask you to kill monsters and collect items anyway.

-The method to get quests started though? Awful. I know that things like Community in Torna and Field Skills in XC2 are hated, but man I can't stand having to change the clock and track the damn NPCs in XC1. Especially since there are many areas separated between towns/villages and "wild" areas (Colony 6 and Bionis Leg, Frontier Village and Makna, Alcamoth and Eryth + Valak), it just makes things so drawn out. Going back and forth, changing time and all that, is a sour point on this game.

-Like I said a few weeks ago, the Xenoblade series as a whole is unmatched in gameplay story telling. Beautiful and large environments make curious exploration a treat, especially as you start getting pieces to puzzles that can get completed later. I payed a lot more attention to the High Entia and Giant related sidequests due to the fascinating lore, for example.

-The fights are great, if a bit centralizing. Shulk, due to Monado arts, is the best character to have in the party and is sorely missed when switched out. I have pretty standard opinions on the rest of the characters, so no need to speak on each individually. I will say though, holy fuck is the AI just as bad as I remember. Shulk wastes his Monado gauge, Sharla is terrible at using arts and always puts herself into cooldown, and Melia for the love of god, stop firing elementals as soon as you summon them you're made of tissue.

Topple locking is deffo the prime strategy, cuz there were fights I wouldn't otherwise have won were it not for it, and thankfully Reyn and Dunban have pretty good AI.

Two major gripes though. Spikes are a terrible mechanic, gross. Second, I hate that the enemy tags affect accuracy, it makes certain quests extremely brutal to complete without grinding. And I just hate having to fight tough/overlevelled enemies as a whole, it becomes routine and simple after a while.

As a whole, I like the gameplay still, but it feels very restrictive going back to it after seeing all the crazy tricks I could do in 2 and 3. And also auto-attack arts > timer arts forever and ever.

-Overall a very great experience getting to replay this game like this. Though more rough points than I remember, and with certain things that have not aged well whatsoever , XC1 is still a good game that I'm glad introduced me to this series. I'm taking a break before playing Future Connected.

[sansevierias]

i love doing a second playthrough of a video game and going oooh! aaah! at things that suddenly make a lot more sense and remembering things i had already forgotten lol. i'm going through this with wotr right now and there's so many little things referenced in act 1 that come up later. you can find a letter from berenguar to his brother (burning building in market square) and a book written by nurah (blackwing library). i had completely forgotten that you find out that zacharius' wand has been stolen (tower of elrod) and when you eventually find the wand, you find out what happened to the thieves. when talking about zacharius, daeran mentions that he read some books about the lost chapel recently, which may have been his powerless prophecy at work since he gets kidnapped by the gargoyles and ends up there. also you meet all of the angel path side characters in the museum and they are also featured as statues in gray garrison.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 02/01/2024

Bidoof's Big Band

Season 6 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume Ruby

Ripped by Monkeylordz

There's always such a sincere feeling I get when I'm reminded of just how much SiIvaGunner is driven by its community. Sure, it's status may to outsiders look a bit imposing, a monolithic-in-size music arrangement channel with 600K subscribers and a now eight-year history of ripping....yet, it's not ran by executives, not ran by anyone aiming to appease stockholders, not ran with a vision so narrow that it'd exclude anyone from doing what they love whilst contributing. And I feel a huge part of that communal aspect the channel has is the clear respect its creators show toward other creators on YouTube. Put simply, Bidoof's Big Band is nothing short of a four-and-a-half minute loveletter to the music arrangement channel InsaneInTheRain.

If you listen to video game music on YouTube, its damn near impossible to not have stumbled upon InsaneInTheRain's vast library of jazz arrangements. Carlos Eiene has passion for music flowing through every part of his body, and is likely an inspiration for many smaller artists who work closer to the VGM side of music. It should thus perhaps not come as a surprise that he's collaborated with SiIvaGunner a few times in the past, doing jazz arrangements for the channel alongside wolfman1405, such as Countdown for the King for Another Day Tournament. These few instances were but small guest appearances though, a wink and a wave from a fellow creator before going their separate ways.

As it turns out, the SiIvaGunner team would find a very personal way to thank him later on, both for his contributions to the channel and his contributions to music YouTube in general. Akin to rips like Banjostruck and Kirby Joins the Circus!, what we have with Bidoof's Big Band is an incredibly authentic, near 1:1 accurate recreation of InsaneInTheRain's cover of the same source track the rip uses, Route 201 from Pokémon Diamond, Pearl & Platinum. Effectively, its the bouncy, jazzy, lively re-rendition, featuring the original game's distinct set of instruments.

The result is an incredible arrangement in so many ways, yet most important on all, it succeeded at catching InsaneInTheRain completely off-guard. To quote the comment he left on the rip's YouTube upload - "I think this is seriously one of the most incredible honors you can give to a musician… nearly cried while listening to this. Thank you.". Six Seasons into SiIvaGunner, it may have been easy to miss that the team of creators have long since proven they're so much more than just shitposters looking for collaborators, or that they only occasionally put out genuine hits when they need to. Creators like Monkeylordz were never under any obligation, not under any sort of event or commemorative occastion whilst making Bidoof's Big Band, or the other InsaneInTheRain tribute rip he'd done a year prior in Season 5. Because SiivaGunner's rippers are but people like you and me - and I think we as people just like that feeling of making others smile.

Happy 2024, everybody.

[samthecookielord]

CURRENT LAYTON STATUS: AL done! onto plvspw next. at some point.

That's right, I'm dedicating a post to all the Layton content I've consumed and will consume. Wish me luck gamers. (I'll also add the status of my gameplay videos!) (And a list of layton AUs at the end)

Mainline Trilogies

(note: i call the games by which version i played (UK or US) but i tag by US titles)

(note 2: we only record towards the end of the game because my computer space will CRY and also i do not want to edit all that hope this helps)

PLAYTHROUGH PLAYLIST

CURIOUS VILLAGE: 100% completed

(not recorded)

DIABOLICAL BOX: 100% completed

Uploaded---

Chapter 7: (Part 1) - (Part 2) (fun fact: part 2 features the first instance of me using animated sprites for me and my friends!)

LOST FUTURE: 100% completed, all uploaded!

Uploaded---

Chapter 9: (Part 1) - (Part 2) - (Part 3) (fun fact: part 1 is the first time i use game sprites to give visuals to our improv bits, as well as generally being the start of me putting a lot more effort into editing and trying new stuff!)

Chapter 10

Chapter 11: (Part 1) - (Part 2)

Chapter 12

Chapter 13: (Part 1) - (Part 2) - (Part 3) Epilogue: (Part 1) (Part 2)

LAST SPECTRE: 100% completed

Uploaded---

Chapter 8: (Part 1) - (Part 2) - (Part 3) (fun fact: from this point on, our playthrough group has increased from 3 people to 4!) Chapter 9: (Part 1a)

Planned---

Chapter 9 -> 2 parts (IM STUCK IN EDITING HELL)

Chapter 10 -> 2 parts

Epilogue -> just one

MIRACLE MASK: 100% completed

Planned---

Chapter 6 -> 6 parts left (HELP)

Chapter 7 -> 6 parts left Chapter 8 -> 1 part left Epilogue -> 2 parts left

AZRAN LEGACY: 100% completed

Planned---

Chapter 5 -> 6 parts left

Chapter 6 -> 5 parts left

Finale -> 3 parts left

Spinoffs & Extras

ETERNAL DIVA: Watched :]

Improv Fandub will come out soon. Probably

LB MYSTERY ROOM: completed

(not recorded)

PLVSAA: not started (will play after mainline)

will probably record? perchance? (NO SORRY MY BACKLOG IS EXPLODING ME 😭😭😭)

MYSTERY JOURNEY: im on case 3 lmao

The anime: not started (will watch after mystery journey)

Cheerful Mystery: i saw the lost future one lol ill go check out the rest later probably. I also read up to ch28 of the lbmr manga

Layton AUs

i have a lot of clive aus. here's a slideshow. here's their interaction tag

Puzzles Gone Wrong AU: (belongs to pastel-player) A take on "evil Layton" where we ask what if he wasn't evil evil, but morally dubious. Basically he's a dictator now but he hasn't really done much harm to the city of London. He's making some questionable decisions, but... he's still the polite gentleman Layton who cares about his loved ones. Said loved ones have many conflicting feelings about him. Takes place at least 1 year after main trilogy, unclear when exactly. (Ao3 series)

Pastel wasn't doing anything with Clive in this AU so I picked him up and ran off then came back with a whole new design and stuff. Anything I make with PGW Clive that doesn't involve Timeline Hopper Clive's shenanigans is proobably canon to the AU. Basically I'm the ceo of this one guy within this AU and nothing else <3

(PGW Clive's tag)

Layton Assassin AU: (belongs to snekatiemainy and thia-quiche) Layton but he kills people with swords. And also Luke beats people to death with shovels. And Flora also sword. Yayy!!! Initially inspired by our jokes from playing Curious Village, mainly Luke saying the phrase "this man is being VERY RUDE we should KILL HIM" (Ao3 series)

Assassin AU Variant: (belongs to me and snekatiemainy) A variation of the assassin au where Clive is adopted by Layton. Clive picked up a gun and has never been the same since. Guy who loves his 20 guns and is sooo annoying about it <3 Honestly 90% of my assassin au tag is just the variant instead of the actual original au hdtdhdhrfd

(Ao3 series)

(AV!Clive's tag)

Timeline Hopper Clive: (belongs to me, inspired by a-queer-kitkat's post) Post-canon Clive that starts getting tossed across dimensions at random intervals due to an abandoned machine prototype left by one of Dimitri's scientists. Often crosses over with Puzzles Gone Wrong and Assassin AU. He gets worse but then he gets better. Then there's a version where he gets worse again and weird buggified.

Clive Triton AU: (belongs to me and snekatiemainy) what if clark adopted clive. Send post

The BEHUH??? AU: (belongs to me and snekatiemainy) ???? goddamnit timeclive what did you DO (BEHUH??? stands for Butterfly Effect HUH???) (two guys chilling in the river 5 feet apart because get pitted idiot)

CSAU: (belongs to me and snekatiemainy) clive is adopted by descole. I encourage you all to ask us what CSAU stands for several times.

Little Hershel and the Curious Playground: what if it was all elaborate playground roleplay, and targent is a group of school bullies? (some ideas come from conversations with friends on discord)

Commander Cardinal AU: mackintosh takes over targent while layton & friends are busy procrastinating on getting the last egg back by going puzzle searching

Apprentice Nils AU: (belongs to me and snekatiemainy) that random miracle mask npc's parents died so layton yoinks him

Randall Possession AU: (belongs to snekatiemainy) what if he became a ghost and hung out with his best friend Layton forever now

Layton Object AU: based on those silly object show things. They're living objects with limbs and faces etc etc and the only real changes in this au right now is just names, designs, and minor things that come with those design changes. i make this kind of au for almost anything i touch loll

Vampire Layton AU: what it says on the tin. One of my earliest tagged AUs. It didn't really go anywhere but it's fun to think about sometimes. Based on a joke we made while playing Diabolical Box.

[winterfireice]

Sophie and Keefe get to watch two of their best friends fall in love

this first chapter is mostly background info and set up for the rest of the fic but I hope you enjoy

Taglist: @frizzle-mcshizzle @amandayetagain @doodle-do-wop

(special thanks to Doodle for helping me with this idea and for infecting me with Copper Mare thoughts)

rest of the fic under the cut

“All it really took was adding a couple of extra wires and then I could make the device transmit holographic images,” Dex says, talking about his new invention. One he created after a very long discussion between team Vailent trying to describe what an odd statue looked like after Sophie and Biana found it during a search of an old Neverseen hideout.

After thirty minutes of back and forth of glitchy videos and awful descriptions, not to forget the repeated sound of someone banging their head against a table on the other side of the imparter Dex had decided to make something to help them for the future. 

“Now if we carry these I don’t have to worry about Stina getting a concussion. I’m trying to figure out how to add the feature to our imparters but I need to find a way to size it down and I didn't have time last night because the triplets would not stop adding me into their games against my will.”

“Wait, you made this in a night?” Stina asks astonished, “C’est incroyable,” the last part is under her breath and in French so not many people hear it except for Sophie who happens to be sitting next to Stina. The corners of Sophie's lips turn up a little bit when she realizes that Stina has completely forgotten about her Polygot ability. 

“Yeah, it was pretty simple after I figured out that one of the transmitters that make the image 3D was too far to the left and it was skewing with the transmitters that were next to it,” Dex adds, “And technically I made six, one for each of us and an extra in case one breaks or if the counselors want one. Oh! This is actually pretty cool, the shell is programable so you can pick the color of it, this way we won't get them mixed up and Biana may not lose hers if it's a bright color,” 

“I don’t lose things that often,” Biana says in a scoff that is most likely in a joking manner, 

“Biana you almost missed a meeting yesterday because you lost your imparter,” Wylie chimes in from the couch on the other side of the room, 

Team Vailent had a routine meeting to discuss some problem the counselors were concerned about but the team solved the issue in record time and then decided to hang out for a little while longer especially since Dex wanted to share his new gadget. 

Right before the majority of the group’s seventh year, Master Cadence had shown them an older building on the edge of Foxfire’s property that would work for a lounge/office if they needed an extra space away from both the Black Swan but also the Councilors offices, since then they had been using the two-room crystal building for after meeting debriefs. 

It was perfect, far enough away from their classes that no one would overhear them but still close enough that they could get to their classes in time. The Vackers had some extra living room furniture that they brought over to make it comfortable and the building had a bathroom connected. Dex had found a mini fridge no one was using in his house and after hooking up a water feature it was the perfect hang-out. Sometimes even being used for studying or a quick place to get away from everyone else.

“I did not lose it! I simply forgot to turn it on hence not getting your call,” Biana says pulling Sophie out of her thoughts,

“That is unfortunately not a better excuse Bee, the only reason you made it was because I called your brother,” Sophie says closing her history book, “Speaking of not getting to places on time I have to go, Keefe planned a date night for me and I don’t want to be late,” 

“Ooo, have fun,” Biana squeals,

“Any idea where he’s taking you?” Stina asks as Sophie is grabbing her stuff,

“Nope, he said he wants it to be a ‘super secret surprise’” Sophie says in response,

“Correct me if I’m wrong but isn't a secret what makes a surprise a surprise?” Wylie asks her as he gets his own things organized, he doesn't always come back the the team hangouts since he’s a bit older than the rest of the group but every once in a while, he brings a book and some advice that the rest of the team sometimes take,

“You would be correct but I ignore that because I love him,” She says as she heads towards the door, “Hope you all have a good night see you tomorrow,” 

She steps outside and brings her leaping crystal out and leaps home, where Keefe had instructed her to meet her.

When she gets home she is greeted by Keefe with a bouquet of flowers and a nicely wrapped gift box. He is also wearing an alicorn onesie that Sophie did not know he owned,

“Happy late third year anniversary!” Keefe cheers, “I know we said not to make a big deal out of it since we both have been so busy but I wanted to get you a little something plus a fun night, so be prepared for food I definitely didn't make and star gazing,” he laughs,

The two of them had been mostly together for the last three years ever since they kissed after he came back from the forbidden cities. There had been a brief separation right before their first full year together because of poor communication but after a lot of long and deep conversions, they got back together and have been ever since. They even survived Keefe giving them both food poisoning on their second anniversary which is one, why he didn't cook for them anymore and two, why they had decided to stop making a big deal out of their anniversaries.

“That sounds amazing, please tell me there is chocolate in there somewhere,” Sophie says while she reaches past the gifts to give her boyfriend a hug,

“It's in the box, right above the matching onesie,” Keefe smiles,

~~~

One clothing change later the two of them are sitting on a big fluffy blanket near where their first kiss was and eating a bunch of baked goods and some gnomeish dish that tasted remarkably like pizza.

“Mm, this tastes amazing I thought when I first moved here I would miss all the human food I was used to but so many dishes here taste so much like the stuff I grew up with just with super different textures,” Sophie says after finishing her second slice of a foamy cake-like substance,

“It is amazing, there is also some mallowmelt over there. I tried to get the majority of your favorite foods I also tried to make custard bursts but they just seemed to melt when I took them out of the oven,” Keefe tells her with a small laugh, which then causes Sophie to laugh especially because he has mallowmelt covering his face while his head and hair is covered by the hat of the onesie that not only has a horn and ears but big cartoon eyes. 

“I love you so much right now, I mean I love you every day but today you brought cake and comfy clothes with pockets,” Sophie says reaching out to wipe to clump of frosting off of his nose,

“Ok very important question, how much food do I have on my face?” Keefe asks,

“Oh, I see more butterscotch than I see your face Keefe,” 

“Perfect,” He laughs using a napkin to wipe off half a slice of mallowmelt off his face, “Oo, look up there! Shooting star you have to make a wish now, it is the rule,” 

“I don’t know if I have anything to wish for right now,” She says smiling, “We’re happy, my parents are safe, the Neverseen has been really quiet, and team valiant is doing great, and right now my amazing boyfriend created a literal picnic from my dreams,” 

“Well then wish for all that to stay the same, or just keep watching the pretty lights with me,” 

“That sounds amazing,” Sophie replies, she moves the boxes of food to the side and snuggles closer to Keefe letting his lips brush over hers for a moment before settling on his chest. They spend the next few hours watching the stars until they get so tired they are falling asleep and decide to move into the house. 

~~~

Sophie’s eyes start to open because of an insistent buzzing sound coming from somewhere in the room. And shuffling awkwardly and still half asleep does not help her find her imparter.

“What’s going on?” Keefe asks rubbing his face,

“The council is calling me, Dex added specific ringtones for emergencies. I need to find my imparter, I threw it somewhere last night but I can’t find it!” 

“Ok, ok I’ll help you look,” Keefe says getting up still in his onesie, he almost comically drops to the ground to search under the bed. As he does this the little alicorn wings flap up and down like a weak attempt the fly,

“Got it!” Keefe cheers and throws it to Sophie and she would not have caught it if not for telekinesis,

“Hello, it’s Sophie what’s wrong?” 

“A bunch of scrolls have been damaged because an intern put them next to a water fountain, we need you guys to re-write them. Also, why do you have a horn?” Bronte says through the apparent video call Sophie had answered,

“Oh, I don’t know how to answer that in a way that will make sense to you,” Sophie responds as Keefe tries to stifle a laugh from the other side of the imparter, “I’ll let the rest of the team know we’ll be there in like twenty to thirty minutes,” 

“Good, sorry to take up your Saturday,” Bronte hangs up and Sophie flops back onto her bed groaning, 

“Ugh, I do not want to go!” she wines, “And I can not believe I answered Bronte in this outfit,” 

“Are you saying that these amazing clothing pieces are not the top fashion possible?” Keefe jokes,

“They are amazing and I plan on this being a new favorite of my pajamas but it’s not great for calls with my kind of boss,” 

“Fair, now you should get ready for your very important and very cool job even if it is boring sometimes and takes up your Saturdays,” 

“Fine,” Sophie grumbles “You should probably go though, because I will definitely get distracted if you are here,” 

“Ok, but can I have a kiss before I leave?” 

“Of course,” 

~~~

“How do we live in a place that can where we can literally teleport because of magic crystals and we have basically superpowers but we don't digitalize our files?” Sophie says, 

It was almost three in the afternoon and the majority of the team had been in Atlantis since ten in the morning and they were all bordering on death by boredom. Sophie had let Wylie go home after his dads called him for help with a bunch of old boxes they were going through. 

The more time passed, the more irritable Stina got, the more Dex talked to himself, and the longer Biana took to finish reading a page. Sophie was hanging on by pure desperation to go home.

“Items found, two boxes of unknown containers of fur - origin unknown,” Dex reads aloud, apparently not only did they have to rewrite reports but also go back over the inventory of a Neverseen hideout which seemed to be Team Vailents main job for the last couple of months, “Why did the Neverseen have or need this much fur! If they are going to be weird it might as well make sense,” Dex complains, 

“I don’t care about the why, I care about when we can put these scrolls in a box far away from any possible water damage and leave,” 

“I appreciate that we have this job but at this moment I hate it,” Biana adds to the conversation,

“You are not alone in that thought,” Sophie says, “How about we take a break, if we keep going like this none of our work is going to be as good as it should be,” 

“Good idea, plus I can show you this,” Dex says pulling out a small cube and attaching it to his imparter. In Sophie’s eyes, it looks like it’s levitating but after knowing Dex for so many years she knows there is probably a more logical explanation. 

“It’s a compacted holograph gadget, and it can plug into your imparter. It's not as great quality as the bigger version but it should work in a pinch if we don't have space to carry the full-size one,” Dex starts he goes on to talk about how he made it but Sophie gets distracted by Stina who cannot keep her eyes off Dex,

“I should not find this cute,” Stina says, and it takes a moment for Sophie to realize it was said in French 

“Ok you need to stop making fun of me in languages you know I can’t speak!” Dex says all of a sudden to Stina who only replies with a simple,

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” 

Sophie smiles a little to herself but luckily no one notices. The rest of the day continues in boring forms and the occasional balled-up paper being thrown around the room. Not many interesting things happened for the rest of the day except Dex somehow falling asleep while still sitting up,

“Je crois que j’ai envie de t’embrasser” Stina whispers to Dex while Biana is out getting food,

While Sophie does find it hilarious that Stina has completely forgotten her friend is a Polyglot, she also is definitely starting to feel like she is intruding on a big secret, especially if it includes romantic feelings for people that are not Sophie,

“I’m flattered but I think you should be telling Dex you want to kiss him, not me,” Sophie responds in French to make her point,

“Wait what,” Stina quickly turns horrified, “Oh no, you're a Polyglot. How did I forget that?” 

“I have no idea, I’ve been trying to figure it out for days. By the way, you talk to yourself in French a lot,” Sophie laughs which causes Stina to throw one of the couch pillows at her,

“I have never been more embarrassed in my life,”

“Well as someone whose life has basically been on display since I moved here, I promise you it can get more embarrassing than having a crush, but as someone who went through the same thing I get it. If you ever want to talk let me know, ok?” Sophie says as Biana walks in,

“You two know you're speaking a different language right?” Biana says as she puts down a couple of boxes of food on a table near us, “Because you both do that sometimes and I’m not super sure you notice,” she laughs which somehow earns a glare from Stina to both of them.

“I do not do that regularly,” Stina grumbles, causing Sophie and Biana to laugh even harder waking up Dex,

And Sophie does not miss how Stina’s annoyed frown turns a little bit more into a smile when she hears Dex’s voice,

[misterborax]

My Game of the Week #1 - HUMANITY

My first Game of the Week will be HUMANITY! It's a challenging puzzler where you play as a dog, guiding humans to the light. In this thread, I'll explain some more, and give my thoughts. 1/15

You may have seen this game before in a PlaySation State of Play. The game is availible on PS4/5, PSVR, amd Steam! Well deserved advertisement for an amazing game. So what's this game all about? 2/15

So what is this game? Well, you have to create a path for the humans using your commands and the environment. I've heard comparisons to Lemmings, though I'm unfamiliar witht hat series. To me it's more like Mario vs Donkey Kong series with the mini robots. 3/15

At the start, you have the "Turn" command, which as simple as telling which way the humans should go. Things get more complicated from there, and the game gives even more commands for you. It should be noted, what commands you have access to depends on what the map allows you to have. 4/15

It's a straightforward puzzle game, but then they throw Goldies into the mix. Think of these as collectibles for 100% completion. On the path you create for the humans, they need to run into the Goldy to "collect" them, and they need to be escorted to the goal. 5/15

Goldies can unlock bonus things like cosmetics and other features. Some levels may even requiere you to collect a Goldy to unlock the goal. It's a very nice bonus for those wanting do more than what's requiered. 6/15

This game has an awesome feature that I haven't seen another puzzle game implement yet - Solutuion Videos! Feel like looking up a guide? You can view this video in the pause menu that'll help you complete the level - no guides needed! 7/15

My favorite part of these videos is that they never reveal how to collect the Goldies (unless requiered). Even if you follow the video 1-to-1, there's still room for you to use your brain! Every puzzle has more than one path to the solution. 8/15

There's also no punishment for watching the videos, meaning this game is one of the most accessible puzzle games out there. There's a stat counter that shows how may times you watched solution videos, but that's it. 9/15

Spoliers - Towards the end of the game, they throw combat into the mix! While it's satisfying to watch thousands of guys shoot each other, I feel the puzzle implementation is a bit lacking in the final quarter of the game. 10/15

Spoliers - You gain a command where the humans will directly follow you. Combined with combat, the puzzles place more emphasis on timing and precision rather than planning. Perhaps a welcome change of pace for some, but it was lacking for me. 11/15

It's not all bad though! Even if you struggled with the last quarter like me, the solution videos got your back. I was able to complete all puzzles and (almost) collect all Goldies with no YouTube. 12/15

Don't think a few hard puzzles at the end make the game bad - this is a very satisfying puzzle game that I recommend to all puzzle fans, and especially newcomers to the genre. 13/15

Almost forgot, the custom stage builder! There's plenty of great puzzles made by the community and staff members, and you can build your own puzzles. I expect to find some hard ones out there! 14/15

The game is on sale for $23 on Steam, and is free on PSN Plus Extra! Perfect time to jump in and check it out. Fantastic puzzle game for everyone to enjoy. 15/15 (End of thread!)

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1581480/Humanity/

PSN: https://playstation.com/en-us/games/humanity/

Check out the Twitter version of this blog! https://twitter.com/Eman59x/status/1677369555495051271

[anim8oryash]

Contemporary Animation Analysis : Here, Tomorrow | THE LINE

Here, Tomorrow is a cinematic trailer for an event called Spirit Blossoms in League of Legend, a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) from Riot Games

Despite it being a Cinematic trailer, when this was revealed the audience were under the impression that this was a feature film or a series like Arcane.

This Animation is created by THE LINE studios which is based in London. The Production value seems on par with a full length feature film. For good reasons

In its core its a musical video which is meant to promote an upcoming expansion/event. The theme and the song clearly hints it in an asian setup.

Backgrounds from Here, Tomorrow | THE LINE

The Background art is extremely serene and vibrant in some shots. While dark and mysterious in others. The style used for background looks quite realistic but has just diversion from reality to make it feel believable and part of a parallel realm of existence.

The Character Design reflects the style that is similar to Netfilx animated series like Castlevania (2022)

Tera Castlevania Character Sheet

Character Design from Here, Tomorrow | THE LINE

Animation-wise It has a fluid animation with a lot of camera movements which is a lot like anime sequences. I personally find it being inspired from Genshin impact Story Teasers as well as some Sailormoon transformations.

Genshin Impact (left) Here, Tomorrow (right)

Its stylizations and shot-making decisions look very inspiring and fresh to me. The use of colors from one shot to the other keeps you wanting to see more.

Here, Tomorrow | THE LINE

Theres also some very smart transitions in the video. The shot goes from a living character to a statue which probably shows the passage of time but the way they did is extremely clever while also time efficient.

Here, Tomorrow | THE LINE - Transition

The video successfully creates a hyper and curiosity around whats the event about especially for audience who are familiar with the League of Legend franchise. One thing it doesn't do is tell enough about the story to a complete stranger to the franchise It feels like a great video but for someone who doesnt know much about the universe it doesnt provide a lot of details. Despite that, its very exciting and one of the best 2D work Ive seen surface recently. I hope they also get to make this into a Netflix series like Arcane is!

References:

Castlevania Character Sheet (2023). https://x.com/kakimari/status/1711133675759243653/photo/1.

Genshin Impact (2022) Story Teaser: The 'Divine' will | Genshin Impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDQ7m2L9sK8.

THE LINE (2025) Here, Tomorrow: Teaser | THE LINE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeCVNanqrrw.

[inventcolabsoftware]

What Are the Essential Features of a Tinder Clone App?

Dating apps like Tinder have completely changed the way people meet and connect in today's fast-paced digital world. Understanding the key elements is essential if you want to develop a Tinder clone to succeed in this cutthroat market. This post will review key features that will help your app differentiate itself and meet user expectations.

1. Registration of Users and Creation of Profiles

Attracting people to your app starts with a smooth onboarding process. Important components consist of:

Various Ways to Sign Up: Permit people to sign up with their phone number, email address, or social network accounts (like Google or Facebook).

Configuring a Profile: Give users the option to establish profiles by adding images, writing bios, and indicating their hobbies, age, and gender.

Features of Verification: Use email or photo verification to minimize phony profiles and guarantee authenticity.

2. Matching Based on Location

The location-based matching algorithm is the foundation of a Tinder app clone. Using GPS technology, the application is able to:

Determine which users are inside a given radius.

Make dynamic recommendations according to proximity.

Permit users to specify their preferred match distance.

3. Swipe Feature

When it comes to developing a dating app Tinder's well-known swiping functionality is revolutionary. Combine these elements to replicate that success.

Swipe right to like: Swipe right to show interest.

Swipe left to pass: Use swipe left to reject a profile.

Favorite option: Assign special tasks to users to show more interest.

4. Algorithm for Matching

Users are guaranteed to find important combinations with a robust matching system. The most important things to keep in mind are:

Filters for settings: Users are matched based on hobbies, geography, and age.

Behavior analysis: Instead, analyze user behavior using machine learning to make better recommendations.

Competition between two people is: Notify users when two parties show interest in each other.

5. Chat Now

After users are paired Communication is therefore important. Integrated, feature-rich and secure chat system where:

Teaching: It facilitates smooth communication using text messages.

Share media: Allows users to post audio, video, and image comments.

Check your receipt: Includes read status and message delivery indicators.

6. Push Notifications

Push notifications are important for maintaining user engagement. Examples include:

Information for the competition

Notifications for new messages

Stay up to date with the latest features or exclusive offers.

7. Premium Subscription Model

The secret to maintaining your app is monetizing it. Use a freemium business model:

Ad-free experience: Premium users should remove ads.

Endless Swipe: Provides unlimited swiping access.

Swipe to go back: Allows premium users to reverse accidental swipes.

Increase your profile visibility: Add light for a specified period of time.

8. Security and Privacy Features

Users must feel safe when using your software. Important privacy aspects include:

Blocking and reporting: Allows users to report or block inappropriate profiles.

Personal method: It gives users the opportunity to browse the web anonymously.

Data encryption: Protect user data to prevent security breaches

9. Social Media integration

Social media platforms can be integrated to increase user engagement. It has the ability to:

Simplify the registration process

Allows users to show common friends or similar interests from Instagram or Spotify.

10. Gameplay Features

Gamification can improve app user engagement. Some considerations include:

Daily Swipe Limit: Limiting the number of free swipes will encourage users to return each day.

Reward system: Award badges or points for completing certain tasks, such as completing your profile.

Challenges: Create a quiz or mini-game to help people get to know each other better.

11. Admin Dashboard and Analytics

Provides an admin panel with analytics to manage the program effectively. Key features include:

User view: Monitor user preferences and behavior

Performance criteria: Track your app's engagement rate and performance.

Material handling: Review and accept reported profiles or inappropriate content.

12. Multi-language Support

Make your app multilingual to increase your user base. In addition to providing services to a diverse user population, This also ensures integration.

13. More Complex Search Filters

Matching can present complex filters for those looking for special features, such as:

Education level

Business

The purpose of the partnership (e.g. long-term partnership casual dating)

Conclusion:

Creating a Tinder clone app requires attention to user experience, innovative features, and robust security measures in dating app development. By integrating the essential functionalities outlined above, you can build a competitive app that attracts and retains users. Remember, the key to success is balancing user expectations with unique value propositions that set your app apart from the competition.

[karsianjenifer9015]

How to share my Rice Purity Test results with friends?

The Rice Purity Test is a fun and lighthearted questionnaire often used as an icebreaker or a way to reflect on life experiences. Originating as a tradition among college students, this test is now widely popular on social media and across the internet. Sharing your results can spark engaging conversations, laughter, or even nostalgia with friends. But how exactly do you share your Rice Purity Test results in a way that's both fun and meaningful?

This guide will walk you through various methods of sharing your rice purity test results, tips for making it a positive experience, and ways to keep the fun alive. Let’s dive in!

What Is the Rice Purity Test?

Before sharing your results, it’s essential to understand what the Rice Purity Test is all about. The Rice Purity Test is a self-graded survey consisting of 100 questions that assess one’s life experiences. It covers topics like relationships, habits, and social activities. The score ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 being the "purest" and 0 being the "least pure."

The test is not a competition but rather a fun way to reflect on personal growth, shared experiences, and sometimes hilarious anecdotes.

Why Share Your Rice Purity Test Results?

Sharing your Rice Purity Test results can serve several purposes:

Break the Ice: It’s an excellent way to start conversations in a group setting.

Bond with Friends: Comparing scores can bring out funny stories and strengthen friendships.

Spark Nostalgia: For college students or young adults, it’s a trip down memory lane.

Social Media Fun: It’s trending on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Now that you know why sharing your results is fun, let’s explore how to do it.

Step-by-Step Guide to Sharing Your Rice Purity Test Results

1. Take the Test Online

Before sharing your results, you need to take the test. You can find the Rice Purity Test on many websites by searching "Rice Purity Test" on your favorite browser.

Answer all 100 questions honestly.

Note your score (out of 100) once you’ve completed the test.

2. Decide How You Want to Share

There are several ways to share your results, whether in person, on social media, or through private messaging. Consider your audience and choose a method that feels comfortable and appropriate for you.

Ways to Share Your Rice Purity Test Results

A. Share Results in Person

Sharing your results face-to-face is one of the most engaging ways to discuss the Rice Purity Test. Here’s how you can do it:

Group Hangouts: Bring the test to a party or casual get-together. After everyone takes it, compare scores and share funny stories behind certain questions.

Game Night: Incorporate the rice purity test into a game night for a fun twist.

Study Break: If you’re in college, it can be a great way to bond with dorm mates during a study break.

Tip: Encourage everyone to take the test without judgment. The goal is to have fun, not critique each other's life choices.

B. Share Results on Social Media

Social media is a popular platform for sharing Rice Purity Test scores, especially among younger audiences. Here are some tips for each platform:

1. Instagram

Stories: Share your score using the "Add Text" or "Poll" feature. For example, post your score and ask followers, "Can you beat my score?"

Reels: Create a short video showing you taking the test and reacting to your score.

Close Friends List: Share your score with a select group of friends for a more private experience.

2. TikTok

Create a trending video using a popular sound or hashtag like #RicePurityTest. React to your score in a humorous or dramatic way.

Show your "Rice Purity Test Journey" by comparing your current score to a previous one.

3. Twitter

Tweet your score with a funny caption, such as "Apparently, I'm not as pure as I thought... #RicePurityTest."

Engage with others by asking followers to share their scores or compare them.

4. Facebook

Share your results as a status update or in a group discussion.

Encourage friends to comment with their scores for a group comparison.

Tip: Use hashtags like #RicePurityTest, #PurityScore, or #FunQuizzes to reach a larger audience and connect with others taking the test.

C. Share Results Privately

If you’re not comfortable sharing publicly, private methods work just as well:

Group Chats: Share your score in a WhatsApp, iMessage, or Discord group with close friends.

Direct Messages: Send your score individually to friends who might find it amusing.

Email: For a more formal approach, you can share your results via email and even include a link for your friends to take the test.

D. Turn It Into a Challenge

Gamify the rice purity test by turning it into a challenge among your friends:

Lowest Score Wins: Compete to see who has the "wildest" life experiences.

Highest Score Wins: Compete for the title of "Most Innocent."

Themed Groups: Take the test with themed groups, such as college buddies, childhood friends, or coworkers, to see how scores vary.

Dos and Don’ts of Sharing Rice Purity Test Results

Dos

Be Respectful: Not everyone may feel comfortable sharing their score. Respect boundaries and avoid pressuring anyone.

Keep It Fun: Remember, the test is meant to be lighthearted. Avoid turning it into a serious competition.

Set the Tone: If you’re the first to share your score, set a positive example by being open and non-judgmental.

Don’ts

Don’t Overshare: Be mindful of privacy. Avoid sharing specific questions or answers that might embarrass others.

Avoid Public Shaming: Never criticize or make fun of someone’s score.

Don’t Take It Too Seriously: The test is for entertainment, not a measure of someone’s character.

Creative Ideas for Sharing Your Rice Purity Test Results

Memes: Create a funny meme about your score and share it online.

Illustrations: Use graphics or infographics to represent your score creatively.

Short Stories: Turn your experience of taking the test into a humorous short story or blog post.

How to React to Your Friends’ Scores

When friends share their scores, your reaction plays a vital role in keeping the atmosphere fun and lighthearted:

Be Supportive: Acknowledge the courage it takes to share.

Laugh Together: Share jokes or funny stories without being judgmental.

Stay Neutral: Avoid comparing scores in a way that makes anyone feel uncomfortable.

Conclusion

Sharing your Rice Purity Test results can be a fun and engaging way to bond with friends, whether in person or online. The key is to keep the experience lighthearted, respect everyone’s comfort level, and focus on creating joyful memories. By following the tips and methods outlined in this guide, you’ll be well-equipped to make the most of this trending activity.

Take the test, share your score, and enjoy the laughs and connections that come with it. Who knew a simple questionnaire could bring people together in such a unique way?

[dovesoftltd]

A Practical Guide To Using WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp Business API has transformed how businesses communicate with their customers. Offering a scalable solution, this API empowers organizations to manage customer interactions efficiently and provides a comprehensive platform for automating communication, delivering notifications, and offering real-time customer support. Let’s delve into the key aspects of WhatsApp Business API and how businesses can leverage its potential.

Key Features of WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp Business API brings several powerful features designed to enhance business communication and customer experience:

1. Automated Messaging: The API allows businesses to send quick replies, greetings, and away messages. By automating routine interactions, businesses can save time and improve response times for customer inquiries.

2. Rich Media Support: Beyond text-based messaging, the API supports multimedia content, allowing businesses to share images, videos, PDFs, and more. This feature makes it easier for businesses to provide detailed product information or share promotional content.

3. Analytics & Reporting: With built-in analytics, businesses can track message status, such as whether it was delivered or read. These insights help companies optimize their messaging strategies and improve customer engagement.

4. Customer Support: The API supports real-time assistance, allowing businesses to manage customer inquiries, complaints, and requests through messaging. Integrated ticketing systems make the process seamless.

5. Multi-Agent Support: Businesses can assign multiple users to manage a single account, ensuring customer queries are handled promptly, even in high-demand periods.

Acquiring WhatsApp Business API: Steps to Follow

To utilize WhatsApp Business API, businesses need to partner with a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP). The process generally involves:

1. Choosing a BSP: Depending on your business’s size and location, you’ll need to select a BSP that fits your needs. Pricing and support levels vary by provider and region.

2. Business Verification: You’ll need to submit official business verification documents to ensure authenticity. This is a critical step for businesses seeking to build trust with their customers.  

3. Pricing: The cost of WhatsApp Business API depends on the BSP, volume of messages sent, and your region. Generally, the monthly cost ranges between ₹4,000 to ₹8,000.

Integration Process: How to Set Up WhatsApp API

Integrating WhatsApp Business API is straightforward, especially with the help of a BSP. The typical steps include:

1. Account Setup: Create a WhatsApp Business account with the help of your BSP and verify the business.

2. API Integration: Follow the BSP’s instructions to integrate the API into your business systems using REST APIs.

3. Configure Webhooks: Webhooks enable real-time automation of responses, streamlining communication with customers.

Promotional vs. Transactional Messages

WhatsApp Business API supports both promotional and transactional messaging:

Promotional Messages: These are marketing messages sent with customer consent, offering discounts or announcing new products.

Transactional Messages: Used for critical notifications such as order confirmations, shipment updates, and OTPs. These require pre-registered templates to avoid being marked as spam.

WhatsApp Blue Tick: Enhancing Credibility

The WhatsApp Blue Tick is a verification badge that appears next to a business's name, signaling that WhatsApp has verified the business. To get this badge:

- You must have a WhatsApp Business API account.

- Complete business verification.

- Submit a request for verification to WhatsApp.

- Only businesses that meet WhatsApp's standards for reputation and authenticity receive the blue tick.

WhatsApp Chatbots: A Game-Changer for Customer Support

A WhatsApp Chatbot is an AI-powered tool that allows businesses to handle customer inquiries without human intervention. By integrating a chatbot with the WhatsApp Business API, businesses can provide 24/7 support, automate order processing, and improve customer satisfaction.

Chatbots can be configured using predefined rules or AI for natural conversations, and pricing varies depending on complexity, ranging from ₹1,500 to ₹10,000 per month.

Estimated Costs for WhatsApp API Usage

- API Subscription: ₹4,000 to ₹8,000 per month.

- Message Charges: ₹0.20 to ₹0.70 per message in India, depending on the type of message (session or template).

- Blue Tick: Free but requires approval.

- Chatbot: ₹1,500 to ₹10,000+ depending on features.

In conclusion, the WhatsApp Business API offers powerful tools for businesses looking to enhance customer communication, automate processes, and build credibility through features like blue tick verification and chatbots. By leveraging these solutions, businesses can streamline their operations, provide better customer service, and engage audiences through personalized and scalable messaging. Although the costs associated with WhatsApp API, messaging, and chatbots can vary, investing in these tools offers significant potential for growth, especially in the Indian market. 

There are many service providers, however, with careful planning and choosing the right service provider, businesses can unlock the full potential of WhatsApp business API. It is worth nothing that Dove Soft Ltd, a leading cloud communication solutions provider is known for its trusted & dynamic whatsapp platform for both transactional and promotional communication.

*the pricing mentioned in the article is only indicative, however, the actual prices may vary.

[halcyon-digest]

2005

Art Klaudt: Massive storm that destroyed many houses

Anonymous 1: moved house

ava: my sister being born, and maybe my love for the show kim possible

kate: This would've been 6th grade so probably sitting in the computer labs waiting for my mom to get off work (secretary for the science department) and drive me home. This is where I would absorb internet culture. I learned of weebls-stuff via the popularity of badgerbadgerbadger.com and would watch a lot of those videos, I watched the Numa Numa kid for the first time here, the Emo song, the Llama song, and there was this geography game everyone in my social studies class had become obsessed with that also had a chatroom feature. I would go on there and pretend to be a girl from Ireland for some reason. The same usernames would be there often and I would be different people each time and collect information about them for fun. It turned out one person went to a nearby highschool and one day I DM'd her with everything I'd collected and she said "what the hell" to which I responded by telling her I had pretended to be all these people and finished by saying "be careful what you say on the internet" or something and then never logged onto that site again. I felt edgy and hackery at the time but in retrospect it was all really silly superficial info so maybe her response was less one of shock and horror and more like "wtf yeah and? why are you telling me this"

Anonymous 2: getting mad at a kid for shutting me down when i tried to play pretend & going to tell the teacher

Lucas: None

Anonymous 3: I was 14 in 2005. I think this was the year I injured, perhaps broke my coccyx, from hitting it on a tap in the bath, which I think is the worst physical pain I can remember. It was perhaps my first experience of pain in a way that was more like an adult experiences it (with attendant anxiety about not being able to complete future tasks, instead of existing in the moment of the pain).

Anonymous 4: Birth of my sister

superswag: N/a

v0w0v: My older neighbor took me next to her garage and showed me a dead squirrel. I thought she was very cool and mature because she told me she watched "Child's Play" and wasn't even scared. In the kiddie pool underwater looking at bugs struggle against surface tension while the other neighbor kids played.

Anonymous 6: Stealing an angel statue from my local church and being struck for it.

Anonymous 7: false memories of an easter spent down in albany.

binnie: Kirby Air Ride

Anonymous 8: Moving to a new house and a better area for me and my family. Going into first grade.

April M. Mildew: I cannot attach a memory to this year.