#anything rated 6 or higher is still a decent game

[sniperct]

acquired starfield and put about an hour into it so far, finished the first research outpost with the pirates then rescued a little outpost nearby

love the music, looks good and plays well on my PC

it still feels like fallout, but the combat and movement is a bit better. enemies feel spongey

spaceship flying kind of sucks and is very simplified but I wasn't expecting anything complicated or simmy, this isn't star citizen.

And I found a program to map my joystick and we'll see if that helps. I'm okay with arcadey flying in games but it's waaaay more fun with a flightstick. (I play war thunder in arcade battles with one, lots more fun than using a mouse and keyboard. One day I'll graduate to more realistic battles)

Anyway first impressions a solid 7/10, but we'll see how long I go before I get bored like I do with almost every one of bethesda's games. I'm intrigued by the story but they aren't known for solid main story telling

[clarktooncrossing]

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW!

IT'S ME, CLARK!

For the last twelve years peeps have asked me if I was opened to commissions. I had only offered services like that once, resulting in a weird transformation comic where some dude gets turned into a sexy duck. Hey, guy's gotta pay for pizza somehow, folks. Especially when Pizza Monster keeps stealing mine! At this rate I should stop spending my moola on deep-dish and use it to fortify my home. Luckily I might be able to do so now, thanks to all of you out there! For you see, it was during those twelve years that a few of you kept coming back to my deviantART page to see what crazy new things the Clarktoons and I were up to. Whether it was to see how many characters I could cram into one Sketch BOOM, hear my thoughts regarding Christmas Specials in Giraffe's Eye View, or simply to witness whatever cute crap Bumper was up to, 500 of you weirdos liked whatever I was doing. I couldn't be more grateful to those 500 peeps. I've always said my purpose in life was to make people happy, so knowing I've done so for that many people helps remind me that I'm doing something right. You all are truly the best and there's nothing I could do to express my immense appreciation. Or is there? A few of you may recall my promising something whenever I reached that many followers. While I've been distracted with my recent hacking incident or preparing for the upcoming Holiday seasons, I didn't forget about said promise. At long last, I have opened myself up to commissions! If anybody out there wants me to draw some silly silly, I'm ready to do so [within reason]. Details and prices will be posted in a journal sometime soon, but for now let's get to a commission paid for by my friend The Bargain Bin Hobo.

Horrible things hide in the dark. Be that the darkness of the woods outside your cabin door or the darkest corners of your own subconscious. From these blackened pools come creatures with little regard to those puny fleshbags known as humans. People don't matter to either of them. All that counts are the amount of bodies dropped. It's like a sick contest. Who can acquire the higher fatality rate? How quickly can they murder every hapless, horny teenager in sight? Which of the slashers reigns supreme: Hobo Voorhees or Freddy Dudeler? Doesn't really matter either way. No matter who wins, we all lose! It's nothing but a sick game. One developed my LGN if their colors are any indication.

I know what you're thinking: Clark, this is a perfect picture for Halloween! Of course it is, silly! When Hobo first approached me to make this particular pic, saving it for Christmas Day was the obvious option. After all, it's not like I wanted to post this for his birthday or Halloween or anything. Nah, that would've been stupid and made actual sense. Saving this poster depicting a battle between two undead serial killers for the day most associated with the birth of Christ makes way more sense. I'm an idiot. Still, I'm an idiot who made a decent poster-style picture anyway. Hobo approached me with this commission specifically asking for the two monsters to be given their NES color scheme. Foolishly he wasn't very specific beyond that, hence why his Jason is based on the one from Part 6. What can I say, the belt and glove look is dope. Drawing the dual dueling monsters itself was easy, taking me two days to finish. The hard part was the background. I suuuuuck at drawing those, having to use some Illustrator trickeries to pull this off. Hopefully my perspective skills improve in the future. For now, I hope you all enjoy this as much as Hobo did! Have a Happy Christmas devoid of machetes or murder gloves! 

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[fruitcoops]

Could we please have a prequel to the praise kink fic? Because i really want to know why were Sirius and Remus not together and what did Remus send him. I really need context

I was hoping somebody would ask for this!! The aforementioned fic is here for any curious souls (18+ please) and SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for spicy texts (not exactly nudes), and smutty feelings with nothing explicit

The bus went over a bump and Sirius winced as his shins knocked against the back of the seat in front of him, connecting with the metal brace inside. “Fuck.”

“You sure you don’t want to switch?” James asked next to him. Sirius glanced down at the veritable wall of gear and empty snack bags between them, then back to James in disbelief. He shrugged, then set his headphones back over his ears. “Worth a shot.”

“Merde,” Sirius hissed as a pothole nearly took off his kneecap. He gritted his teeth and readjusted, drawing his legs closer to his chest. I want to be home, he thought, allowing himself an internal moment to whine.

He checked his phone—not even ten in the morning. It was a Saturday, so Remus would probably just be rolling out of bed, still sleepy and soft with his hair sticking up like a disgruntled cat’s. Sirius sighed heavily and stared out the window at the small town rolling past in the distance; there was little he wouldn’t give to be back with him instead of on the way to a full week of conferences.

“Why did we have to win the Cup?” he grumbled.

James lifted one side of his headphones. “What?”

“Nothing.”

It wasn’t like they had had much time to themselves before that, either—Sirius’ schedule was packed with interviews that felt more like interrogations, and Remus had been running the PT department mostly by himself while Moody took a well-deserved vacation. They were dead on their feet every night, worked to the bone with little energy left to do more than cuddle and fall asleep. Still, Sirius was grateful for every second of it.

He waited ten more minutes before giving in.

New Message To: Re

Bonjour mon loup <3

There was no immediate response, which made sense, though he was a little bit disappointed. Sirius closed his eyes and tried to make himself relax; it would be at least another six hours before they arrived at their destination, and the bad weather gathering overhead didn’t bode well for quick travel.

His phone buzzed gently and he scrambled to answer. Don’t be Reg, don’t be Reg, don’t be Reg—

New Message From: Re

Morning love!

Thanks for the bagels <3

“Fuck yes,” Sirius said under his breath. The bagels had been a last-minute decision as he crept through the house in the early hours of the morning after carefully detaching himself from Remus with a final half-asleep farewell kiss. There was no guarantee he would remember breakfast with everything going on, so Sirius figured it was a safe bet to toast them and leave them on the countertop before heading out.

Message To: Re

Pas de problem

Sleep well?

Message From: Re

Decent

Missed you :(

Sirius rested his temple against the cold window with a soft sound. He hated leaving at different times, but that was just how their life worked at the moment.

Message To: Re

Missed you too <3

Three small dots appeared for a long moment before vanishing without a trace just as his heart rate began picking up. Where’d you go? he almost wondered aloud. Something bumped his arm and James raised a quizzical brow. “Loops,” Sirius said by way of explanation.

“I figured. He okay?”

“I think so? He just…disappeared on me.” Sirius was well-aware of how plaintive he sounded—James’ teasing smile was completely unnecessary.

“Aw, Cap,” he laughed, reaching over to mess with his beanie until Sirius slapped his hand away. “It’s alright, buddy, it’s just a couple days.”

Sirius jammed his hat back on his head and flicked James on the unprotected bit of his ear, making him yelp. “Fuck off, I know you’ll be a mess as soon as Lily FaceTimes with my godson.”

“He has a name, you know.”

“Sorry. You’ll be a mess as soon as she FaceTimes with Pocket Pots, who happens to be my godson.”

James rolled his eyes. “I regret giving you that title.”

“Nah, you don’t.”

As if on cue, his phone lit up again; Sirius ignored James’ snickering as he quickly unlocked it.

New Message From: Re

When will you be at the hotel?

“That’s it?” he muttered.

Message To: Re

That was a lot of typing for one sentence

6-7 hrs, if the weather holds

Why?

Message From: Re

Sorry lmao Reg came in for a bit

Just curious :) Keep me updated?

Message To: Re

Will do <3

Tell Reg he needs to wash his sheets. It’s been over a month.

A small thumbs-up emoji was his only answer, and he tried not to be too bummed. Remus liked having things to do; sitting there and texting Sirius while he slowly got further and further away was probably not his preferred way to spend a morning. With a sigh that was likely a bit too dramatic for the situation he was in, Sirius faced the window once more and buckled in for a long ride.

He chatted off and on with the others when they stopped for lunch, but everyone was exhausted from the combination of a packed week and an early morning. Even Talker stayed fairly quiet, and James kept his headphones on for most of the trip.

Sirius finally succumbed to his tiredness and put some music on, then dozed for an hour or three while they traveled through yet another field. A few halfhearted calls of “cows” made their way around the bus, though nobody seemed particularly enthused about being packed in with double the gear due to a broken storage compartment. Donuts and gas station coffee could only do so much.

“Just crossed the state border,” Arthur called from the front of the bus as Sirius tried to ignore the cramping in his thighs. Three hours. Just three more.

His music was interrupted by a soft jingle alert and he pulled his phone out, hoping against hope that Regulus hadn’t caused a fire anywhere. It was unlikely given the…well, everything about him, but with Sirius’ luck it could happen.

New Message From: Re

How far?

Message To: Re

About 3 hrs. Ran into some detours

Good day?

Remus remained silent on the other end and Sirius frowned. That was rather rude, and highly unusual. Between the two of them, Remus was the one who kept conversations going past the initial question to be answered.

Message From: Re

Attachment: 1 Image

Love you! Call me when you get there : )

Sirius opened the attachment and almost threw his phone in utter shock. Skin. Bare skin everywhere, its smooth edges broken up only by tight black fabric that may as well have been painted onto the curve of Remus’ ass. “Oh my god,” he whimpered, voice barely audible even to his own ears. It had been taken in their bedroom mirror; Remus looked over his shoulder, and Sirius caught the corner of a devious smirk on his lips. “Oh, you fucker.”

Message From: Re

Thoughts? They’re cozy

Message To: Re

Did you miss the part where I said three (3) hours

Message From: Re

Nope

Second one is a guessing game and u get a prize if u get it right : )

The second photograph was more zoomed-in than the first and Sirius wracked his brain, running through his mental catalogue of Remus’ body to figure out the answer. It did absolutely nothing to calm the situation in his pants.

He had no idea what the promised prize was, but anticipation made his hands shake slightly as he carefully scanned the picture. The shadows caught it at an odd angle—it wasn’t the steady slopes of his face or neck, nor was it the strong curve of a shoulder. Not enough freckles, either, he thought.

A lightbulb lit in the back of his mind.

Message To: Re

Right hip

Another thought connected half a second later.

Holy fuck you took them off

Is that my prize?

Re?

Remus Lupin I swear to god

TEXT ME BACK

Message From: Re

Bingo!

Christ you’re impatient, I was gone for like 2 mins

He chanced a look toward Pots, whose head lolled to the side as he snored.

Message To: Re

Hey quick question why are you like this

It’s a good thing Pots is out cold bc this bus is too small to hide anything

Message From: Re

Haha sux to be you

Sirius’ cheeks heated with a whole cocktail of different emotions as he furiously typed a response.

Message To: Re

‘Sux to be you’???

Are you 13 yrs old????

Message From: Re

Do you want your prize or not u horndog

Message To: Re

YOU MADE ME THIS WAY

He took a deep breath through his nose and flexed his fingers.

Yes please

A simple smiley face—Sirius would never see those things the same—popped up, followed by an audio file. He triple-checked that his headphones were plugged in before tapping ‘play’ with an unsteady thumb.

His face went very, very hot before all the blood went straight to his groin and he closed his eyes, covering his mouth with his hand. Breathy sounds came through the heavy earphones, a little more crackly than they would be in-person; he heard Remus’ gasp catch in his throat and crossed his legs as best he could in the too-small seat, torn between thanking and cursing any higher power. He could practically see Remus’ face in his mind’s eye as the noises continued, intermixed with fragments of desperate words.

The file came to an end after what felt like the blink of an eye and a hundred years, and Sirius did not look away from the violently red seat cushion in front of him for a long moment as his brain came back online. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so turned on.

He took a few deep breaths, though it did nothing to erase the poorly-muffled whines that still rang between his ears like church bells. Sirius huffed and turned to grab his waterbottle out of his duffel, only to make direct eye contact with Finn across the aisle.

Sirius froze.

Finn grinned.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he hissed, too low to wake James but just loud enough to carry over the four feet separating them. Finn’s smile widened. “Stop it. Stop it right now.”

“How’s Loops?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“That good, huh?”

“O’Hara, I swear to god—”

“Oh, is Cap spilling secrets?” Kasey asked, poking his head over the back of the seat.

Finn opened his mouth, but the force of Sirius’ glare must have been enough to at least intimidate him a little, because he shook his head. The smug Cheshire grin remained. “Nah, just having a chat about our plans when we get home.”

Kasey groaned. “You’re a lucky man, O’Hara. Both your people get to come with you. Nat sent me a promise, like, twenty minutes ago and I can’t stop thinking about it. I won’t be available tonight from six to eight if anyone was wondering.”

“Did she really?” Finn looked back to Sirius, who bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep his cool. Two and a half hours, and then he would be safe. Just two and a half more hours.

[butterfrogmantis]

I finished Vileaf this morning! I didn’t 100% it but there’s always stuff to go back to XD Bit of a review below, I’ll try not to give too much of the individual plot/surprises away but slight spoilers for a couple levels so I can talk about gameplay ^^

Poet’s Storybook: 10/10 everything in that was cute as all hell <3 Some of the rhymes were a stretch but idc I forgive him

Visuals: An honest 8/10! It looks stunning! All of the different levels had amazing unique scenery which was fairly detailed for this kind of game, and not as many invisible walls as I thought there might be, the game is very clever at hiding invisible walls with actual scenery such as crates and logs so I only ever ran into a couple :) The character lip sync animations looks a bit clunky in cutscenes but it’s video game so I get it, that’s hardly important and almost unnoticeable during walkie talkie scenes since you’re moving about

Characters: 7/10. I was somewhat sad that Clumsy didn’t appear, save for being mentioned once - I do understand the gameplay relies on precision so he would have been a bad choice to be trusted with the Smurfiser but he could have been a quest character XD I mean he’s iconic 🥺 Apart from that though, I loved the different characters! I’ve grown an entirely new outlook on Chef, he’s amazing <3

Voice Acting: 6/10 for English. It was mostly the NTOB cast, which I’m pretty used to so similar complaints to that. Farmer had a different voice that definitely wasn’t as cool lmao XD Random Smurfs will have anything from the lowest voice on the planet to sounding more feminine than Smurfette which is honestly a bit jarring to hear at times, since a lot sound like amateur actors attempting a deep voice. Main characters had some excellent dialogue with interactions that got a couple genuine chuckles tho ^^

Length: 7/10. The story was a bit short for me, but since I’m not the target audience and therefore a higher rating because I think it’s about right for kids :) you basically do sort of an intro chapter and then 4 main chapters with a decent amount of exploration and options to return with upgrades. I could have gone around collecting more upgrade parts though, so if people want to extend their gameplay or 100% it then that’s fairly easy!

Combat: 5/10. Not because it’s particularly difficult on the surface but because there’s absolutely no defence mechanism. You can dodge and jump out of the way but some enemies require standing still to spray/suck them up so if you’re doing one of the battles with a neverending vile critter spawner it can become a hassle since you can neither block nor dodge those. Overall though the basics are a good intro to these 3D platform games, and I liked how the main 4 types of enemies utilised 4 different features of the smurfiser effectively :)

Controls: 4.5/10. I was not having fun on certain parts but maybe it was just me ��� I was using a standard controller on my pc so this is obviously going to change if you’re playing via keyboard or switch. I did get several upgrades from Handy but honestly I couldn’t see much difference? That was annoying to be honest because some of the timed puzzles are genuinely hard. Especially on levels that really require absolute precision to land on mushrooms perfectly or you fall/get caught. I had some serious difficulty with a couple of the sections on levels since the checkpoints were a bit far back and I kept dying due to being unable to perform perfection, so that I think could do with another look over but everything is possible with patience and practice. That being said, everything is super straightforward to get the hang of and the puzzles are fun to work around, and the sense of satisfaction is extra rewarding :)

Additional: I would have loved some extra shops! I think a Tailor based shop with outfits would have been super cute <3 Maybe Papa potions too for temporary bonus’ like defence or speed.

Overall: 7/10! It was a genuinely fun, exciting game! I went into Mission Vileaf with absolutely no expectations, so I have been more than pleasantly surprised! The best way I can think to describe it is an intro to games like Spyro. So if you like 3D platforming, puzzles and a bit of a challenge it’s about right! Honestly some parts are pretty adrenaline full, which was surprising but welcomed for what I thought might be a more childish game, so that makes it better for us older fans ey XD I positively recommend it ^^

[baconpal]

pokemon rant time

this one’s about the 2 new things, and is at least slightly intended for people actually excited/interested in them, click keep reading or perish

Gonna try and keep stuff short cus there's a lot of topics this time and I've already gone off about how pokemon Isn't meant for me or meant to be a good video game anymore, but gamefreak is right back on their bullshit, so I feel I need to at least point it out.

I'd like to preface all this with, if you are a fan of pokemon still, please realize you can ask for more out of this series. Expect perfection, even if you don't think you'll get it anytime soon. Pokemon won't go anywhere, the old games won't go anywhere, and gaming is a hobby, not a necessity; don't accept low quality products from a company just because you feel like you're supposed to.

With this next wave of pokemon games, gamefreak is clearly testing how little they can put in to a $60 game while still keeping the 2 major audiences they've cultivated. By responding to the most obvious and vocal complaints from the community, gamefreak is aiming to make games that seems like what most players want, without having to put in the work on quality products.

GEN 4 REMAKES Pokemon BS (I am not calling this shit BDSP) is intended for the audience that put up with let's go and RS remakes. The most vocal and obvious complaints for these games is their failure as definitive versions of the games they are remakes of, such as missing features/content, or drastically changed story/dialogue/style. In a way, the recent remakes are inferior versions of incredibly old games, which shows a lack of improvement in pokemon as a whole.

To address these issues, BS is very, very, VERY clearly aiming for a more 1-to-1 recreation of the DS games, but with fully 3d graphics. Clearly the map layout has been transferred exactly, and gen 4 already had mostly 3d environments to begin with, and everyone knows about the future-proof pokemon models at this point, so the amount of effort required to create something like this is absolutely minimal. Assuming dialogue, trainer teams, move lists, etc. are also lifted directly from DP, then this game could be developed in basically no time at all, leaving the team time to ensure the product is of decent quality and includes ALL of the content of the originals, if not more, like the earlier pokemon remakes did to ensure they were truly definitive versions of the games. That being said, it is unlikely the team behind BS has been making use of this saved time to improve the game.

One failing already clear is that the quality is not very good, at least graphical quality. The footage we have shows environments lacking in color compared to the original, with messy, unpleasant textures that contrast poorly with the simplistic environments. The characters especially do not work. As cute and fun the fanart of tiny dawn has been, BS dawn and all other characters look awful. They have gorilla arms that reach down to the floor and lifeless faces, as well as incredibly stiff/simplistic animations. As it stands, BS is a visually inferior game to DP, though most consumers will simply see it as 3D>2D without any understanding of what an artstyle is, so this might not be a problem for many, but that doesn't mean you should accept it.

What remains to be seen is what content will be added/missing from pokemon BS. It is very possible that massive parts of the game, such as the underground, variety of online modes, postgame areas, and content from platinum could be missing entirely. We also do not know if pokemon from after gen 4 will be worked into the region, or even supported. Gen 8 still currently does not support a large number of pokemon, and the remakes may continue this limited dex trend.

Even assuming the remake includes everything from the DS games and doesn't add anything that slows down the story or harms the experience, it will still only be an exercise in forced obsolescence. The main reason people can't really play DP still is that the online isn't supported anymore. If BS turns out to be exactly the same as DP, then you're buying the same game for at a higher price, only to play it until the online service goes away again, or the next game comes out, if both don't happen at the same time.

Don't let yourself buy a 13 year old game at twice the original price.

GEN 4 NOT-REMAKE KIND OF NEW THING On to legends now, gamefreak is targeting the people who put up with sun/moon and sword/shield. The obvious problem with those games to most people was simply a lack of change from the standard pokemon formula. Even when changing the gyms to trials or stadiums, most people still understand that the format and story structures are mostly unchanged. Of course, this problem has seemingly been addressed by changing the game structure a fair bit, but almost entirely by removal.

Trainer battles, and by extension, gyms and tournaments/elite 4 have been confirmed to be absent, meaning all battles are only vs single pokemon, in spite of the player likely having a team of 6 pokemon. Even if battle difficulty is increased to compensate (doubtful), this will still drastically increase the simplicity of combat and make it even less likely for the game to include any meaningful challenge. Exploring towns and meeting NPCs is also seemingly missing, as the game is confirmed to have only a single village, which frankly looks incredibly boring and we've yet to see a single NPC inhabiting the village.

Battles now use an ATB format instead of a turn-based format (for those of you who don't know what that means, it basically means nothing, it's still turn based, it just means the speed state determines who gets more turns instead of who goes first, that's it), but beyond that there seems to be no noteworthy changes, pokemon learn 4 moves with limited PP, type advantage will still definitely be the most important aspect to battle, and the player being able to walk around during battle provides no meaningful impact. While the little dash the pokemon do to approach each other is cool, it is already a sign that gamefreak will not be addressing the issue of lacking animations for pokemon battles, as they can't even be assed to animate and program pokemon walking around the environment during combat, and lucario doing 1 kick for a move described as a series of punches isn't a great sign either.

On the topic of lacking animations, the new "pet simulator feature" for legends seems to be an advancement on the ride system from sun/moon, which presumably people missed from sword/shield. Being able to ride on your pokemon to do stuff sounds cool, but in all likelihood, this system will be limited to only a select few pokemon who will each do a select few actions, and is not a reasonable replacement for all the other pet raising features that have been removed in the past. Similar to BS, the total number of pokemon included may also be limited arbitrarily, in spite of the fact that no new pokemon need to be added, as these games are not claiming to be a new generation.

The largest issues I personally have with this new game is the horrible technical quality and gameplay quality shown in the initial trailer. Unfortunately, these types of problems seem to be difficult to explain to the average consumer, even though the issues seem incredibly obvious and inexcusable to people like me.  Most people were able to understand the problem with the berry trees in gen 8, because it was easy to explain, "this tree doesn't look like the other trees, and it sticks out, isn't that weird?", and so gamefreak has eliminated any immediately obvious issues like that, sticking with a very consistent artstyle for legends, making it almost impossible to easily explain its faults to the average pokemon fan.

People have been really quick to compare legends to BoTW; the game that invented grass, trees, and mountains. In spite of these comparisons, nobody seems to point out that legends looks dramatically worse than that almost 5 year old game from the previous generation. Plants are stiff and lacking in energy, draw distances are poor, colors are drab, and textures are messy. Many parts of legends seems to ape BoTW on just the surface, essentially just following market trends. Even the controls seem to follow after modern 3rd person shooters/stealth games, including a seemingly pointless roll and a clunky looking ball lobbing arc that feels unfun before even getting to play it myself.

The largest issue, painfully obvious to some, and impossible to explain to others, is the framerate. The trailer clearly was ran on actual switch hardware, and not prerendered, which would be a good mark for gamefreak if it didn't result in a trailer that never once hit 30fps. Even with empty fields, with only 1 or 2 characters on screen, the game was incapable of meeting the target speed, and had to resort to optimizations like reducing the frame rate of pokemon only inches away from the player to stop-motion levels of choppy. If situations with almost nothing going on result in slow-down, how will the game perform during actual gameplay? Even though slow-down is something everyone can feel, many people aren't capable of identifying it.

The major things to wait and see for legends is if the removed aspects of the series are made up for by some additional systems or content, and definitely wait to see if the performance improves. As with BS, preordering a game like this only shows that gamefreak only has to market the game by saying it's different, not improved, like they've been doing for years now.

TL;DR FUCK GAMEFREAK One major thing of note is that gamefreak is releasing 2 games based on gen 4 at the nearly the same time, meaning they have no obligation to design new pokemon or even include pokemon not from sinnoh, and also that the sales of each game can be used as an indicator for which of their 2 audiences is more loyal to them. Both BS and Legends are in a position to be pushes aside if they fail, but if either succeeds, gamefreak can continue in the direction of the more successful game and reap the benefits, without any need to innovate, improve, or adapt to criticism.

The last thing I feel I have to remind people about is that gamefreak is a company; you don't need to be "grateful" to them. I've seen that word thrown around far too much by people who seem to buy pokemon games like its a tax, and not something they want to do. You don't have to suck up to a company that made games you liked as a kid if the games aren't what you want anymore. Pokemon is so wildly successful that it can't possible die, so don't buy the games out of pity, or out of some feeling of obligation. Buy the video games you want to play and nothing more.

Basically, if you are considering getting any of these new games, please wait until the games are out before purchasing them, and decide for yourself if they are worth your money, and more importantly, your time. Preordering these games only lets gamefreak know their audience will buy and put up with anything. They have no real competition at the moment, so the only thing the audience can do to encourage improvement is show some of restraint.

[manicdragondreamgirl]

I haven’t had chemistry since like 2008, and I’m also an idiot who likes to make my friends upset, so I rated the periodic table in order to tilt my friends:

Hydrogen - this is like your childhood friend who has always been with you more or less and always will be down to get a drink and chill even tho you haven’t spoken in years. Solid bro imo 7.5/10

Helium - always down for a good time, even if probably created Alvin and the Chipmunks which in some places is considered a war crime. 4/10

Lithium - Gives me bitchy vibes and is flammable as fuck if I remember. Skinny bitch with an attitude 3/10

Beryllium - idk this sounds like a sailor moon villain lol for that it can have a 6/10

Boron - more like BORONG amirite ha ha wait no seriously I have no idea lol 5/10 clean neutral rating

Carbon - *screaming* 2/10 I will not be taking questions

Nitrogen - cool cool cool tight tight tight 9/10 Nitrogen just is the cool hot chick you wish you were

Oxygen - kid who takes up all the glory for the group project even tho you did all the work, 4/10 for natural charisma

Fluorine - lol what are you knockoff chlorine lmfao bitch 3/10 reminds me of the dentist

Neon - I can vibe with this boy for his contributions to signs which cause my eyes to scream 8/10 modernized Art Deco thanks you

Sodium - 10/10 this is me and I won’t be taking questions next element

Magnesium - magnesium is a close relative of magnificent and therefore I think the case is closed folks 9/10

Aluminum - 10/10 for providing a home to my Diet Coke addiction I’d be dead without you

Silicon - 6.9/10 :smirk:

Phosphorous - This has a very soundly name and it’s welcome to do that but idk, not a fan, seems like he’d be smelly, 2/10

Sulfur - 1/10 pretty sure that dog farts are purely comprised of this and as such if I was leaving negative ratings I would

Chlorine - 7.8/10 for being in pools so we could swim without brain eating amoeba in the south you a champ

Argon - he seems like a nerd jk this guy has a good color 9/10 for just being himself

Potassium - I hate bananas and this word gives me the physical sensation of biting into one but only by thinking of abstract letters and making them into something which we can nutrientise from bananas and to me that shit is bananas, b a n a n a s — 3/10 for making me sing hollaback girl thru adhd word association

Calcium - hm my brain went to mega milk so you get a 2/10 today bud I don’t make the rules

Scandium - pretty sure this is fake lol what’s next faxdium, e-Mailite and copinium? 5/10

Titanium - this song’s a banger and also is the only thing that lets me wear earrings 10/10

Vanadium - if your erection lasts for longer than like idk it’s supposed to then don’t take vanadium wait what do you mean it’s not an ED treatment 4/10

Chromium - decent bloke shame the browser eats all your memory 5/10

Manganese - if a weeb tries to tell me how to pronounce mayonnaise one more time... 1/10

Iron - excellent tool against the fey, in your blood, what a bro, 10/10 this bitch slaps

Cobalt - has a powerful energy; I respect him. 8/10

Nickel - if I had a nickel for every time someone made this joke lol 5/10 he’s doing his best

Copper - taste bad 3/10

Zinc - isn’t that the dude in the green tunic and white tights who saves premcess Lelda or something lol 7/10 those games are good

Gallium - seems like a prick 4/10

Germanium - sounds like a child pronouncing geraniums which are superior 3/10

Arsenic - bad vibes coach 1/10

Selenium - isn’t this just sailor moon lol 10/10 love this bitch

Bromine - farmine wherever you aremine - 9/10 I love a good bro

Krypton - he’s okay I guess 5/10

Rubidium - yet another Steven universe villain who will be redeemed I imagine 4/10 seems a bit dull

Strontium - I feel nothing when I see this lad’s name and that seems like a shame 1/10 I don’t like it

Yttrium - this is an atrium in Yharnam, or something 8/10 would love to sit in one and make contact with higher beings

Zirconium - oh wait THIS is the sailor moon villain from the dead moon circus! 9/10 I enjoyed that arc

Niobium - seems sassy, I like that in an element 7/10

Molybdenum - I hate this one, rancid. 1/10 for making me have flashbacks to difficult Ancient Greek vocabulary there is no fucking way that sound combination is anything but Beta and Delta borking and then Latin being like oh imma steal that

Technetium - 6/10 decent name but seems a bit forced

Ruthenium - 5/10 kindly old lady element I guess lol

Rhodium - 10/10 this ain’t my first rhodium babee this lad has good vibes what a name what a king

Palladium - 10/10 for making me think of paladins

Silver - 12/10 I’m breaking the rules for this silver is the best it is so cool and also it is the other best tool for dealing with supernatural creatures when iron has failed you highly suggest Even if I am extremely allergic to it going into my ears...wait hold on

Cadmium - 2/10 sounds like a total douche

Indium - 8/10, i just think it’s independent and neat

Tin - 10/10 good ear sounds when involving rain and roof shapes and automatically reminds me of Nora Jones’s come away with me album which is also 10/10

Antimony - 7/10 decent protagonist good name all around seems rad

Tellurium - tell ur mom what? That’s so early 2010s league of legends humor bro 2.5/10

Iodine - strikes fear in my soul from having it poured on my wounds but this is why I have more pain tolerance than god 5.3/10

Xenon - I think this is a declension of Xena warrior princess which is a win in my eyes, 8/10

Caesium - kind of has a cunty Latin name, 4.5/10

Barium - yeah boss, bury’im! 7.5/10 I love a good mobster gag

Lanthanum - A bit pretentious on the Tolkien spectrum sorry bud 3/10 sounds like you’d be the dickwad elf everyone hates

Cerium - 6.5/10 I like this one, gives me a clean vibe

Praseodymium - the fuck who sneezed all their alphabet soup onto the paperwork and called it an element Christ we can’t keep doing this 1.5/10

Neodymium - oh my god what did I just say 1/10

Promethium - thank Christ we’re back to greek 9/10 Prometheus was a Chad I could get behind

Samarium - 5/10 gives me boring wizard vibes

Europium - 4.5/10 don’t rename opium chrissake can’t take these nerds anywhere

Gadolinium - 5/10 it’s a starship knockoff but it’s trying to be bold with the G sound

Terbium - 2/10 I don’t vibe with this one

Dysprosium - sounds like an antidepressant that has a lot of shitty side effects 3/10

Holmium - sounds like someone anxious asking their beloved to hold them 8/10 I like hurt/comfort fics

Erbium - you can’t just describe something as herby you daft bastard 2/10

Thulium - sounds like a spell I like it 8.5/10

Ytterbium - macguffin in a shite sci-fi show that gets highly overrated because BBC produced it and superwholock stans emerge and go utterly feral 1/10

Lutetium - bards are an element I agree 10/10

Hafnium - sounds like a river (my dog) sound and has a cute vibe, I’d offer it head pats 7/10

Tantalum - noooo you can’t be sad yuor so sexe haha 6.9/10 tantalizing

Tungsten - 10/10 this is a lad with history

Rhenium - 5.5/10 it’s ok

Osmium - 4/10 I wasn’t a big wizard of oz fan

Iridium - 9/10 sounds like iridescent and that’s in my top 10 favorite words and concepts

Platinum - 10/10 best Pokémon game

Gold - 7.9/10 all that glitters and all but it’s still pretty on some people, silver is better tho

Mercury - yikes 8/10 so it doesn’t kill me

Thallium - sounds like the brother character in a ps4 exclusive western rpg that oddly falls under the radar in terms of reviews and gets shafted at awards for no reason 7/10 I’ll support you tho

Lead - 2/10 that’s gonna be a no from me dawg pretty sure I still have lead in my hands from stabbing myself with my mechanical pencils

Bismuth - 6/10 sounds good in mouth and reminds me of biscuits for some reason, I’ll take it

Polonium - to thine own self be true so stop trying to act like the arts don’t influence science jk pretty sure this is named for Poland but hey that’s where we get the Witcher so you get a pass 6/10

Astatine - 1/10 I don’t even know what you are

Radon - 7/10 this motherfucker knows his shit and how to party, rad is right

Francium - I bring you francium...and I bring you myrdurdium... 7/10 for a good vine

Radium - killed the video star probably 9/10 I can get behind her

Actinium - as opposed to passtinium I prefer actinium in the voice of writing 8/10

Thorium - overrated Norse god 5/10 because lightning is still cool

Protactinum - sounds like some pretentious condom brand 4/10 wouldn’t do it with a dude who bought these

Uranium - I always thought she was a hot sailor scout 10/10

Neptunium - same for her I knew they weren’t cousins you couldn’t lie to me 4kids 10/10

Plutonium - sounds like a macguffin unfortunately 5/10

Americium - I read this with a pivotal letter missing and nearly died, 7/10 for the laugh

Curium - 10/10 gives me Curie vibes and also reminds me of curiosity which reminds me of—[old yellered before the association could set in]

Berkelium - what I shout when I want Burke (fam dog) to slaughter innocents and raze territories 2/10 world was not meant to know his commands

Californium - 1/10 California is cool with geography but probs could stand to chill with the ego sorry to my friends in Cali

Einsteinium - 6/10 it’s alright but we’re really running out of ideas huh

Fermium - 3/10 this one is porny

Mendelevium - 1/10 my brain didn’t like parsing this and I stand by my earlier statement of running out of good names

Nobelium - 0/10 you didn’t name any noble gases this cowards this gas can’t be a noble oh wait it’s NOBEL I take it back 5/10 seems an alright chap

Lawrencium - fear the old blood my sorry dead hunter’s ass I’ll never get back my life from the hours I spent trying to beat this lava shitting bastard 2/10 for being a boss who eats Taco Bell specifically before being challenged to have fresh lava shit with which to punish you for having the audacity to exist in his space

Rutherfordium - my god what a snob 4.2/10 I respect him a little but only because he sounds like a right lad

Dubnium - DROP THE BASS 10/10

Seoborgium - not sure about this one but it can have a 7/10

Bohrium - as an American English speaker this sound combination makes my pathetic throat become a black hole as I try to properly create the sound of it 10/10 I love when my body becomes a massive void in the universe

Hassium - lazy 2/10

Elements 109-118 can go fuck themselves I hate them all, collective 6.66/10 for their general demonic vibe

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen X’s Gacha Rules for a ‘Good’ Gacha Game (Featuring Arknights)

Hey look, that Arknights essay came quicker than I thought.

Continuing on my goal of finishing up all my years-old drafts by the end of February, I think it’s pretty damn convenient that I glanced over this half-finished opinion piece just in time for the next limited banner for Arknight’s CN server to be announced. This is a topic I’ve been wanting to cover for awhile now. If there was anything that was a decent marker for Allen X’s gaming experience these past 4-ish years it was the fact that he got real into Gacha Games. I’ve dipped my toe into quite a few different Gacha phone games over the years. AFK Arena, Granblue Fantasy, Girls Frontline, and even an Ikkitousen gacha game at one point. And of course Arknights, which is my current main gacha game at the moment.  

Honestly, the only thing I didn’t play was Fate/Grand Order, and for damn good reason, but one thing at a time.

Anyway, with all that time I spent playing these games I’ve slowly given myself a ruleset and mindset for how I handle these gacha games. And I figured I’d talk about how I go about playing some of them, some of the experiences I’ve gained, and what I look into when it comes to the money portion of playing a ‘free-to-play’ game. I’ll mostly be talking about Arknights since it’s the main gacha game I’ve been playing for the past year and I don’t play two of these at once for damn good reason. 

So, with that all said, let’s start off with... 

Point 1: Methods of Ten-Pulls

For those new, the typical loop for most gacha games is to roll for rare characters and use them to complete segments of the game, whether for their looks, stats, or playstyle (but mostly looks). The characters themselves are usually drawn in an attractive and appealing way, along with having abilities and statistics that are desirable from a gameplay perspective, at least those of a higher rarity. The more you pull and buy into the gacha, the higher the chance you get for a rare character. Some games have deals where you pull can pull for free with some in-game resource like Girls Frontline, and more commonly the game encourages you to pull 10 at a time to increase your chances. 

For any good gacha game, I feel you should be able to pull for free at a fair rate. That varies a lot depending the game mechanics at play, how the game handles duplicate pulls, the rarity rate of gacha pulls, and so on, but in general if you can pull 10 times every two weeks I’ll consider the game fair, at least on that front. 

Arknights is actually a pretty good example of this. Headhunting aside, you can pull 4 times a day using in-game resources in the recruitment section of the menu, but those pulls tend to be a lot more common and not viable in the endgame like some of the ones you get in headhunting. And even without the recruitment section you can usually ten-pull about twice a month if you do the daily and weekly missions plus the weekly Annihilation missions. When I first discussed Arknights in this regard I had some confusion about how Annihilation worked and assumed it reset monthly. I apologize if I misled people with that statement. 

Anyway, by doing all the activities and missions that give you Orundum, the gacha currency, you should be able to collection about 10,000 Orundum every month, which is one guaranteed ten-pull a month. This is a little under what I would had preferred for Arknights and there’s a good chance I’m missing a free source of Orundum somewhere (and I’m rounding down to play it safe), but... it’s fair enough. 

But onto my second point.

Point 2: Premium Currency in Relation to Real-World Currency.

In short, I should have a clear idea how much it cost to pull a character if I was going to whale. Typically, in most gacha games you can purchase a premium currency in order to pull characters with real world money. The amount can vary from game to game, but there should be a clear idea of how much it cost to pull for a character. 

As a free-to-play game, most gacha games do need some kind of reliable income. Let’s be real here, this game doesn’t run on happiness and sunshine and I don’t mind giving money to products I want to see succeed and continue, but if it takes 20 bucks to ten-pull I’m going to find that ridiculous unless the gacha rate is in highly my favor.

Arknights uses Originium Prime as it’s premium currency, an item that can be transferred into 180 Orundum per unit. One Originium Prime costs one dollar. You need about 33 Originium Prime to get the 6,000 Orundum needed to pull ten times, or a little over 3 Originium Prime to pull once using 600 Orundum. This means on average it costs around $33 to pull on command.

This is absurd for a tower defense game.

Now, Originium Prime does a lot more than let you engage with the gacha, but the brass tacks of this is that for every ten-pull you do you could just as easily get 3 games off a Steam sale, maybe more. I also think I should note that Arknight’s store lets you buy 40 Originium Prime for $30 as a bundle, cutting that cost to about 75 cents per Originium Prime. There’s also an option for 66 Originium Prime for $50, but that for just a little over 75 cents per Originium Prime if my math is correct. Either way, Arknights is asking for quite the price to engage in one of its main mechanics. 

And yes, you can gain Originium Prime in game by perfect-clearing stages and clearing the challenge modes, but there’s a finite a moment of those stages and events maps are pretty scarce in Arknights, coming around once every two-ish months with about 15-20 chances for Originium Prime. As a casual player this is... fine, but for folks that rush the endgame this is... a tad much. 

Now, I’m a casual player. I don’t rush to the latest content and I don’t try and min-max a gacha game of all things. As much I mostly just buy a monthly pack that grants me about 300 Orundum for free daily for 30 days and 6 Originium Prime upon purchase. This makes the grind a little easier and it’s a cheap way to show monetary support to the development team. However, I do recognize there are people that do these min-max and rush content and my opinion of these folks aside I think those folks probably spend the most money as well, undeservedly so. But this is more a discussion of the individual person and not the gacha community as a whole.

So... moving on...

Point 3: Late Game Viability as a Free-to-Play

To me, it should never feel like you need the gacha to finish the game or get to the endgame content. For a free to play game, you should be able to at least finish the initial pre-update content without needing to try and a pull a rare character to get you through a hard segment of the game. Events and Post-Launch stuff have a bit of wiggle room, but overall I don’t think you should need a team of the rarest characters to just beat the game, at least not a meta-team. That doesn’t mean the desire to pull can’t be there, but at least for the launch-content, you should be able to finish it out as a free-to-play player. Thankfully, most games (most good games) will give you a pretty decent team to work with if you truly have bad luck with rolls. Girls Frontline is a good example of this.

Arknights... isn’t as generous as I’d like it to be.

In Arknights, by the end of Chapter 4, with limited engagement of the Gacha, you’ll have handful of 4-Stars that can be leveled to the late game with decent stats, Amiya, and an assortment of 3 stars that can technically get you through those first four chapters if used and placed wisely. But some four stars like Gavial, Courier, and Dur-nar are time-limited if I remember correctly, so as of me typing this there’s no reliable way to get some of those characters.

Meanwhile, in Girls Frontline you got most of team Anti-Rain by the mid-game pre-updates, a group of 4-star guns that had already great utility and with half of their members being in the meta of the pre-update endgame content, and are still viable to this day if I remember correctly. 

This is a major point of contention I have with Arknights. I think they’re fairer than most gacha games, but I’ll admit they don’t like giving handouts, not as many as I’d prefer anyway. Even the stingy AFK Arena gave you more stuff after maintenance updates and the like, and I hate the fact that I complimented AFK Arena on anything.

But onto my last point.

Point 4: 5-Star/SSR Rates Must be Around 4% or Higher.

This is the main reason I’ll never touch F/GO (along with other reasons). Every gacha game should, statistically, guarantee a five-star/SSR/highest-tier rarity after 30 pulls. Any more than that and you’re playing with a rigged slot machine by my standards. Like I said, the main goal of most gacha games is to get you pulling for these are fancily drawn jpegs and pngs, and while those characters technically have gameplay function and even limited animation in certain non-gameplay settings, they’re still pictures nonetheless. And if I have to dip more than 30 times to get something good then what’s the point.

Again, using Arknights, their 5-Stars are at a rather generous 8%, but their 6-Stars being at a tad crueler 2%. By all accounts, I shouldn’t be touching Arknights because of this, but due to the nature of how busted Six-Stars are and a few other details like base functions, potential levels, and some other factors in Arknights gameplay, I let this slide for the moment.

Regardless, I shouldn’t take more than 20 pulls to get a highly rated unit of some sort. The details of the specific unit can be discussed at a later date, but my point remains.

Also, any gacha game that mixes accessories and characters in the same pull pool is equally unplayable. Characters have utility and gameplay functions that can be used for multiple strategies and methods, along with out-of-game benefits ala the base mechanics of Arknights depending on the game. Accessories and items are stat buffs in game where grinding levels is already purposely tedious. Anything making that act more of a hinderance is honestly trying to rob you blind and should be avoided like the plague.

Now... one more thing to talk about. 

About Arknights Specifically

You know... between me bitching about Chapter 7, bitching about Chapter 6, bitching about 7-18, and bitching about Code of Brawl I get the feeling you all think I hate Arknights. 

Trust me, I only whine and moan because I love this game and the people who made it, I wouldn’t waste my breath or keystrokes otherwise. 

That said, I would like to see some things change about Arknights on a foundational level. I’ll try and keep this short, but no promises.

Endgame Team for Free

This is the team you have to work with for 6-7 because of story reasons and I think this team should gained for free to by the end of chapter 6, everyone in this squad should be in your rooster by the end. Even Blaze, her kit is good, but not as busted as Silverash so she wouldn’t shatter the game’s difficulty. This team overall is very well balanced for end game content and has all the essentials to get through it. E2 medics and guards, cheap vanguards and defenders for last minute placements to stall, a good sniper that can do solid burst damage, some specialists just in case you need to manipulate enemy movement and path detection. I believe you can get Rope, FEater, and Myrrh free, but Blaze and Greythroat for reliable lategame damage feels like a must. And I see nothing wrong with giving out those two for free anyway, especially for what was near endgame content at the time and how pivotal Blaze and Greythroat were to the storyline of Chapter 6. And yes I feel the same way about Rosmontis in Chapter 7 too. She’s actually a pretty niche unit and a 6-Star that’s expensive to upgrade, just having her in your pocket wouldn’t shatter the game like it would be if you gave us, again, Silverash.

Gacha Rates

I think arguing for cheaper prices with the Originium Prime is a fools errand because corporations will never listen, but I’ll at least say this. The rules of the gacha that followed the WWE Banner should be for all future banner. You should get a banner-specific currency that lets you outright buy the rare units on said banner if you have bad enough luck. You needed to pull 300 times to get W or Weedy and about 50 times to get  Elysium. I feel like both of these should be cut in half. Going by the math I previously did counting that requirement in half would mean only doing 15 ten-pulls, about 495 Originium Prime (89,100 Orundum) or a little over $370 for a limited operator.

This is still absurd for a tower defense game, but it is a far more fair than the original system.

Other Small Quality of Life Changes

A quick pull for recruitment operators so we don’t have to see the bag animation 4 times over. Girls Frontline had something similar by the time I left and it was all the better for it. 

A similar form of auto-play to Girls Frontline where you can send in one of your 4 squads to auto play a map off screen a number of times and come back later when they’re down for materials at the cost of extra sanity. 

Have a Orundum be a log-in reward. Again, something Girls Frontline did and I think coughing out 1,000 Orundum once a week wouldn’t kill anyone.

Buff Amiya goddammit. Either remove/shorten the stun on her S2 to make her have reliable (if random) magical burst damage or remove the instant retreat on her S3 so she can become a hard-hitting damage unit at the cost of a high SP cost and cooldown timer. Don’t give major drawbacks to your only non-event free 5-Star when Silverash exists. When Click and Haze has more viability than your main character you have a problem.

Anyway, that’ll be it for me. Next time... I talk about something that isn’t me bitching.

[sushiandstarlight]

Cookies: Chapter 15

This chapter contains today’s prompt “expectation,” sort of, if you squint. lol

Previous Story: Of All The Beds In All The Hotels In All The World

Chapters 1-3 / Chapter 4 / Chapters 5 & 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14

Read this chapter on AO3

Rated G, Light Teen for suggestions but nothing explicit

Personal note: I’m somewhere in the realm beyond tired from working over night.  What day is it? What year is it?  Here, have some fluffy husbands.

That afternoon it began to snow in earnest, flurries turning to flakes that worked together to blot out the grey landscape. They traveled in the whirling winds, sticking to the trees and the garden and the walls. Inside the inn it was still cozy and warm, perhaps more so than before. Edie and Gladys spent the afternoon in the kitchen doing prep work for the inn's Christmas feast. Two days away, there were already foods they could prepare ahead to be popped in the oven in time for dinner. Crowley was given reprieve from this, though he offered to help.

“You should spend some time with that boyfriend of yours, dear,” Gladys was being particularly nice to him and it was making him even more nervous than he had been- and he'd been getting pretty keyed up as Christmas approached anyway.

“It's allllllmost time,” Edie was absolutely no help as far as anxiety went, but she only giggled when he glared at her.

So, they wiled away the snowy afternoon playing with a chess set Aziraphale had found on a bookshelf in the sun room. The pieces and the board itself were wooden and old, polished to a shine by decades of games. Crowley cheated which made him happy. Aziraphale noticed, and let him with a small amount of squawking, but still managed to win which made him happy, too.

Edie brought in a tray of coffee, pastries, and sandwiches later in the day. The two of them were curled under a blanket on the love seat, lights out but for the tree, watching the snow swirl outside the window as the sun set. Edie winked at Crowley before she left, earning her a tongue stuck out in response and then she was gone back to the kitchen.

“Really, the pair of you.”

“She's riling me up on purpose.”

“She wouldn't do that.”

“Oh, she would. She is!”

“Over what?”

Crowley shut his mouth with an audible click and looked back out at the snow.

Aziraphale's hand crept up his thigh, just a tickle of fingers.

“Getting handsy with me, Angel?”

“I have ways of making you talk.”

“Do you really want to spoil Christmas?”

“Is that what has you so tense?” He was gently stroking Crowley's thigh now and even Crowley could feel one kind of tension trading spaces for another in his body as he leaned towards Aziraphale, “Darling, I'm sure whatever you've picked out of me, I'll love it. It's from you.”

“That's what Gladys said on the phone when we first talked,” Crowley chuckled.

“Well, it's true.”

“Are you nervous about what you're giving me?” Crowley could play this game, too, and he moved his hand to rest near the angel's knee, barely tracing it with a finger. He delighted in watching a small shiver quiver through Aziraphale's shoulders.

“The thing itself, no. Not really. The presentation, maybe.”

“Gonna put on a show for me,” Crowley leered at him, leaning in closer and squeezing his thigh right above the knee, “Might scandalize the ladies of the house.”

Aziraphale laughed and it was a high and precious thing, shot through mostly with joy but a little bit of nervousness of his own.

“Hardly. I doubt there's anything that could truly offend them at this poi-int,” Crowley's hand had crept higher, “Except maybe the thoughts I'm having right now.”

“Having randy thoughts? Pssh, naughty angel,” Crowley's fingers were most definitely teasing him through his trousers, “I think we'll have to put you to bed early for those kinds of thoughts.”

“I think I'll need supervision,” Aziraphale was staring at him with rapt attention now, color rising to his cheeks and ears, down his throat, a lovely shade of pink, “To be sure I behave myself, stay put.”

“Oh, I would be the wrong one of that,” Crowley pressed into his side, slithered into it, really, “I'll only encourage misbehavior.” He stood, offering his hand and Aziraphale took it, following him to the hall and up the stairs.

-

The first thing Crowley noticed the next morning was that Aziraphale was wrapped so completely around him, he couldn't possibly escape even if he wanted to. He didn't want to, though. For anyone else, it might have been uncomfortable warm under the blankets so wrapped up in a radiating angel, but for Crowley it was just right. He was perpetually cold, it was the snake in him, but especially so in the winter. The snow was beautiful to look at it, but the very vision of it made his body shiver and lock up. Some part of him wanted to find a burrow and sleep until it was over. His current situation was a perfect burrow.

The next thing he noticed, and he felt stirring in the arms around him as he did, was the smell of cinnamon and fruit.

“Someone's baking pies,” the words were slurred against the back of his neck and the lips moving there sent a delightful jolt down Crowley's spine.

“You're not even awake yet,” he stifled a laugh so as not to jostle his angel and possibly make him move.

“I know things.” The words were slightly more coherent.

“You can sense baked goods at 50 paces.”

“Damn right I can,” Aziraphale's arms closed in more around him, his legs, too. The angel hummed happily. Crowley echoed back with a happy little noise.

“Alright, smarty pants, what do you smell?” He felt Aziraphale take a deep breath behind him, let it out, then take another.

“Apple pie, surely. Crumble topping. Oh, that'll be divine.”

“Blasphemy!”

“Cherry,” Aziraphale ignored him, sniffing some more, “Mince? That might be mince. It's been ages since I had a decent mince pie. Maybe I should go have a look.” He made to release Crowley, but Crowley wanted none of that. He rolled over and pinned him down, hugging him around his chest.

“Nope, no can do. Sorry.”

“Why not?”

“Because you've been tempted to the burrow of a demon snake and you're not going to be used as a warm body for the rest of eternity,” his words, he knew, were muffled into the skin of Aziraphale's chest, but the angel would get the jist of it.

“Is that so? No way to vanquish the demon? Save the day? Be rewarded with tasty treats in compensation for my good deeds?”

“Afraid not. I don't make the rules. You're just stuck here now.”

“Well, the pies aren't done yet anyway.”

“I see where I stand.”

“Yes, on a timer,” Aziraphale chuckled, combing his fingers through Crowley's hair, “I'll know when they're done.”

“Because of your special magic sense?”

“Sure, my sense of smell. They'll smell even better when they're done.”

“What ever will you do to while away the minutes?” Crowley placed a kiss on his chest and then another before smiling up at him.

“I think I'll have a snack.”

“You did not just call me a snack.”

Aziraphale laughed and Crowley felt it in his whole upper body, splayed as he was across him.

“Where on earth did you learn that?”

“I talk to people!”

“When? Who? Who explained snacks to you?”

“Gladys' grandson,” Aziraphale sniffed, “He helped me find the Christmas lights the other day. Oh, you really should come outside and see them tonight.”

Crowley shivered at the thought.

“I'll warm you back up when we come inside,” Aziraphale wheedled, “It's Christmas eve, you should see how pretty the inn is with the lights. Besides, I want to see what it all looks like in the snow. We won't be long.” Puppy eyes, his angel was giving him puppy eyes.

“Yeah, alright,” he grumbled, “but you are responsible if I wind up sleeping in a hole somewhere until spring.”

Chapter 16 is now up!

[lcgacyofages]

Ok who has the best to worst ass, rank them now hurry

An Ask because I reblogged a post | ALWAYS PESTER ME

I did not hurry bc no one tells me what to do. I went to bed instead. But it’s kind of hard to rank that, especially since I’m ace. I mean, people have different ass preferences the best I can do is just explain what kind of ass the muses probably have and then attempt to rate them on societal standards. It’s really up to you if you agree with my ratings or not after these brief descriptions but if you wanna throw in your two cents based on my descriptions, go for it! DISCLAIMER: I have never touched anyone else’s ass in my life so this is all speculative guessing from what other people have told me.

Eliana Mahariel

Eliana has a small frame and athletic build. What that means for her ass is it isn’t necessarily a wide ass because her hips are slender but it’s a very firm and slightly perky ass. 

My interpreted Rating: 6.5/10 (if it was 2005, it would probably be closer to an 8/10)

Atena Hawke

Atena is tall with a solid build, a lot of muscle from her warrior training. She does have slightly wider hips, a good center of gravity and base for her stance with her two-handed sword. The main issue is the lack of fatty tissue for her.

My interpreted Rating: 7.5/10

Rajmahel Lavellan

Rajmahel’s ass is that of someone who uses the muscles in it, not just for appearance’s sake. It’s very toned and his hips are set every so slightly wider than his frame, helping to give it a balanced width to go with the perk from the constant walking/climbing/going into old ruins.

My interpreted Rating: 9/10

Alric Hawke

A far more academic personality, but also having done work on the family farm and lots of walking in general, he’s got a slightly toned but soft ass, very good for grabbing because it has a little give to it. Has very straight hips, though, so doesn’t give any extra width to it.

My interpreted Rating: 7.5/10

Antoinette de Ghislain

She’s had two children, so her hips, which were decently set before, are a bit wider now, adding to her ass’s width. Being a married noblewoman keeps her from a lot of physical exertion, as well as her profession as a writer, but she does try to keep her skills from her bard years at some kind of proficiency, so there is some toning underneath the fatty tissue. A very fine lady’s ass, if I would say so.

My interpreted Rating: 8/10

Arik Tabris

An elf on the taller side, he still has a more slender build than a human, but a bit more than a typical elf. A high amount of muscle, which creates a lack of fatty tissue. He’s got a perky ass for sure but without much cushion from fat.

My interpreted Rating: 8/10

Aurora Amell

An honest-to-goodness little academic and having spent much of her time in the Circle, she hasn’t had much in the way of physical training of any sort. The best she’s got is the stairs in the circle. She’s got some decently set wider hips to her slender frame, though, which helps accentuate her soft ass.

My interpreted Rating: 7.5/10

Dalineva

The high priestess for the Evanuris if the Hunt, Andruil. Definitely athletic build but with high femininity to it. So she definitely got those hips. Still slender because elf, but still a good ratio to her waist. Her ass is pretty damn perky with a good balance of fat and muscle with it. She’s based off of a siren, though, so, there’s no surprise here.

My interpreted Rating: 9.5/10

Dazbo Amell

Another who’s spent a lot of his years in the Circle, but he has a certain point of vanity that would make him be concerned with his ass. There’s definitely some fatty padding to it, but it’s toned as well and definitely of decent volume. His hips are actually a little narrower than his shoulders, though, so points off.

My interpreted Rating: 7.5/10

Dimetrea Brosca

Very thick, definitely leans more towards muscular than fatty but does have some fatty cushion to it. A bit of a perk to it, but not anything that’s too much in relation to her small, broad build.

My interpreted Rating: 6.5/10

Emrys Moysten

A nerd, what kind of ass do you expect? He’s got a soft ass, with only some muscle tone from walking, to it. Despite being soft, it’s decently defined and his hips are set parallel to his shoulders. If you like soft asses with a little bit of perk, he’s got the ass for you.

My interpreted Rating: 6.5/10

Etienne de Rousseau

Another academic, but an academic with connections that enabled him to learn some martial skill and thus have physical exercise to tone that ass. His hips are decently set in ratio to his frame, helping to give some perk to the ass that has a layer of fatty tissue over toned muscle.

My interpreted Rating: 8.5/10

Falon’Din

A deadass. 0/10 A vain Evanuris with a lot  of magical and martial skill is definitely a threat in the ass games. Despite spending his time sitting on a throne, Falon’Din actually was a highly active individual, helping to tone that slender ass. Got some perk to it from muscles and weight from affluent feasts.

My interpreted Rating: 9/10

Fenvir

A tall, slender boy for sure. But also has been trained in magical and martial prowess from a young age, enabling him to have a good tone to his ass. It’s a little narrow for sure, but it’s got the right tone to give it some good perk to it.

My interpreted Rating: 9/10

Hildegard Cadash

Heavy muscle woman, who’s got to show her stuff to keep the cartel in line. She’s affluent in the cartel, giving her some fat to offset the muscle she builds with rigorous training. Her ass is wide set, as is the frame for dwarves, but it’s got some perk and volume to it.

My interpreted Rating: 8.5/10

Idrilla Lavellan

Idrilla has an athletic build from being a hunter for Lavellan clan. Her martial training gives her grace, though, and tonality to her ass. A wide set hip and with clan Lavellan having decent ties to human settlements, a bit more wealth than other clans, giving her some fatty volume to match with the muscle perk.

My interpreted Rating: 9/10

Inatar Adaar

Narrow hips and high muscle tone doesn’t make for a lot of volume but a decent amount of perk. Her ass doesn’t have a single point that sags and it is a tight ass indeed. If this was a decade or so ago, she’d get a higher rating.

My interpreted Rating: 6.5/10

Katarina Anhalt

This lady has some decent hips on her. With that, plus her vigorous exercise and training as a templar, adds to the perk of her ass. There isn’t too much fat, just a small layer of cushion there to give a little more volume to it.

My interpreted Rating: 8/10

Lir Cousland

Lir’s got some cushion to his ass due to being a noble and having a stable food source that may have higher fat in it. That being said, he is a fighter like any Fereldan so has intensive training regiments he keeps to, which helps with physical prowess. His hips are slightly narrower than his shoulders, removing some volume to his ass, but not in a bad way.

My interpreted Rating: 8.5/10

Mathras Myriani

A soft build, not a fighter at all. His physical skillset is that of someone who walks a lot and knows some self defense martial skills. He’s got a very slender frame, but his hips are a little bit wider than his waist but narrower than his shoulders. He’s got a little bit of perk, and a little volume. But it’s a nice little ass to grab.

My interpreted Rating: 7/10

Sasha Fitz

He’s got a standard human male frame, with the wider shoulders coming down to a point at his waist and then going out slightly at his hips. He’s not wealthy, so not too much fatty tissue. He’s very athletic, though, and does a not of acrobatic type stunts on the buildings of Kirkwall, giving his ass a nice perk to it.

My interpreted Rating: 8.5/10

Seigfried Trevelyan

Seigfried is a stocky man with broad shoulders and a rounded belly from too many times in the local tavern. He’s still got muscle, though, having a fair amount of training from his many years. His ass, though, is a little on the flat but toned side. A little perk, but it’s not the best aspect of his frame.

My interpreted Rating: 6/10

Selena Porter

Selena has a narrow hip structure but her athletic tendencies from her job as well as the wealth she gains from her work affords her muscle and fatty tissue to build up perk and volume to her ass.

My interpreted Rating: 7/10

Sergio di Vasco

This guy has a gymnast’s ass. Very well defined muscles and a good perk to it. His diet, though, lacks the fatty foods to add additional volume to his ass, but overall, a good ass to look at.

My interpreted Rating: 8/10

Shalelan Amalasis

A very athletic individual with hips about as wide as his shoulders. Poor diet, though, robs him of the volume to go with the perk and width. Please don’t talk to him about his ass, though, you’ll make him stutter.

My interpreted Rating: 7.5/10

Shamut Adaar

A big nerd. His hips are about the same width as his waist and narrower than his shoulders. He’s not as athletic as other qunari, but he still has muscle mass that qunari have, along with fatty tissue to give some perk and volume to his narrow ass.

My interpreted Rating: 7.5/10

Vincentius Titus

Relies heavily on his strong magical gifts and he does the necessarily physical exercise to keep himself in some shape to offset his rich Tevinter diet. He has the average muscle mass and his hips are just a little narrower than his shoulders. This gives his ass only slight perk but okayish volume.

My interpreted Rating: 6.5/10

Zoria Amell

Widely set hips give width for her ass. The stairs of the Circle helped give her muscle to tone the perk for her ass, but she’s got fat that sticks around her body, giving a nice soft, rounded volume to her ass. A very fucking nice ass.

My interpreted Rating: 9.5/10

[angelofrainfrogs]

A Recollection

Fandoms: The Bartimaeus Trilogy 

Description: Upon finding a book about unexplained events in human history, Bartimaeus recalls one of the many times he and Faquarl were forced to work together towards a common goal.

Rating: K+

Genre: General/Humor

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28322109 

Note: This fic is dedicated to rat man and was written for the 2020 Holiday Secret Santa in the Bartimaeus discord server. The request was to write something including Faquarl and as I was thinking of historical events to write about, the one included in this fic came to mind and wouldn't leave and, well... here's the result! Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

A Recollection

“So, Nat… any pressing tasks I need to take care of?” I asked, leaning on the corner of the boy’s desk and resting my chin on my palms, staring up at him with wide, imploring eyes. “Would you like a cup of tea? A shoulder massage, perhaps?”

A noncommittal grunt was the only response I got, Nathaniel’s eyes glued to the stack of papers in front of him.

“Maybe you’d like me to go fetch some fresh water from the Thames? I’m sure it only has a few hundred toxins that could kill you.”

Another grunt, this time accompanied with a vague hand gesture to go away. I sighed, annoyed.

“Or maybe, you’d like a kick in the—”

“Bartimaeus, will you shut up?!” Nathaniel snapped, finally acknowledging my existence for the first time that afternoon. “I don’t need anything right now; just go read a book or something and stop bothering me. I have a lot of paperwork to review about these recent Resistance attacks.”

“You know, you could always dismiss me if you have no need of me…,” I suggested, a hint of false hopefulness in my tone. I knew full well the boy would do no such thing, and the withering look he gave me proved as such.

“Ugh, just…” He paused, then pointed to a bookcase on the other side of his fairly large office. “I charge you to go read a book from that shelf over there.”

“Doesn’t work if I’m not in a pentacle,” I said smartly, but he merely rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

I sighed again, deciding to it not worth the effort of my waning essence to harass him anymore[1]. Instead, I walked to the other side of the room and looked at the decently-sized bookshelf, wondering what sort of texts a young member of the British government read in his nonexistent free time.

I pulled one out at random; the title read “Unexplained Phenomenon of the Americas” and had a grainy black and white picture of a forest with some unidentifiable, luminescent creature on the front cover. I opened it to a random page, curious to see what sort of things were in here that could easily be explained by magic. My eyes widened as they scanned the page.

“Unbelievable,” I murmured, reading the heading and date of the event. Instantly, my mind drifted back a few decades, remembering a time I’d been working with an all-too-familiar djinni…

***

“So… where exactly are we meant to be dropping this stuff off?” I asked, one beady vulture’s eye trained on my companion.

“We weren’t given a specific place; it’s up to us to make sure that whatever we do with this, it’s ‘untraceable.’” The other, slightly bulkier vulture[2] said, metaphorically rolling his black eyes. “Weren’t you listening to the instructions?”

“Eh… not really.” I attempted a shrug, a difficult gesture to do with wings, let alone ones that were currently being used to fly. “I was more interested in trying to figure out what in the world this stuff is…”

“It’s none of our concern, is it?” My cohort let out annoyed sigh. “Let’s just find a place to dump this and get back; the sooner we can be rid of this charge, the better. My essence is starting to ache.”

I hummed in affirmation and focused forward, scouring the ground for a perfect spot to release our mysterious packages.

As most would surely have guessed, we only appeared as vultures on the first plane. The packages we were carrying were a bit too bulky to conceal with magic without some complex maneuvers that, frankly, neither of us had the strength for.

Faquarl and I had been summoned together a few months ago, an unexpected surprise[3]. The magician was some shady man living in rural America during the 1870’s. He seemed a bit mad, honestly, but to our dismay had at least enough wits about him to perform a summons with all the correct seals to keep us from escaping our bonds. Thus, we were once again forced into servitude by the will of a human.

He had some sort of nasty hobby that I tried not to speculate about, but I never actually got to learn what it was[4]. Our main assignment was to constantly transfer mysterious packages to and from the man’s farmhouse in rural Kentucky. I hadn’t spent much time in the Americas and was curious to explore, but the constant travel was exhausting… not to mention the company I was forced to keep.

Faquarl and I had never gotten along at the best of times, but being the only two spirits around for miles and connected by the same magician forced us to spend much more time together than either of us would like.

“Can’t we just drop this and be done with it?” I asked, debating whether to just go ahead and let the mysterious package fall to the ground. I didn’t need Faquarl’s permission to do anything, of course, but our mutual charge meant it was best to be on at least somewhat of the same page[5].

“Just wait, Bartimaeus,” Faquarl snapped, and I could hear the snarl in his voice. I glared at him as best I could.

“I’m trying to suggest an easy solution, but you just don’t care what I think, do you?”

“No, not really.”

I gasped dramatically, affronted. “Well! Excuse me for trying to make our lives a little less difficult. You’ve always been so stubborn.”

“I’m stubborn?!” Faquarl barked a laugh. “Remember that time in Indonesia when you had to-”

“Hey, hey, we agreed never to bring that up again!”

“You agreed with yourself; I made no such promise.” The vulture’s face remained passive as stone, but I caught a glimpse of Faquarl’s snide grin on the 7th plane[6]. I grumbled something under my breath, and then a brilliant idea occurred to me. If Faquarl wouldn’t go along with my plan willingly, maybe there was a way to make him follow along unintentionally.

Still keeping partial focus on my wings to assure I stayed in flight, I skillfully reached into the sack hanging from my claws with a talon, took out a chunk of undistinguishable meat, and hurled it directly at the djinni beside me. It missed him by a mile[7], but the gesture had certainly been noticed.

“Oh, really? Now you’re going to throw a fit?” Again, Faquarl rolled his eyes on a higher plane. “How childish.”

“I’m not ‘throwing a fit,’” I retorted. “I’m trying to add some entertainment to this incredibly dull task.” I quickly grabbed another piece of meat and threw it, this time hitting Faquarl in the side. He squawked indignantly as I let out a gleeful laugh.

“Alright, two can play at this game!” he responded, and I managed to dodge as Faquarl lobbed a chunk of meat at me. It broke into two pieces as it fell to earth, and I jerked my beak towards them in a huff.

“No fair!” I exclaimed. “You can’t throw two at once!”

“I don’t recall there being any rules to this challenge.” I could hear the grin in his voice and suddenly a soft, wet sensation hit my right wing. I nearly lost my balance in the sky but managed to right myself just in time.

“Alright, that’s it!” I yelled, and thus the battle commenced.

I’d like to say it was a brilliant affair, full of wild tricks and subterfuge, but it was hard to do much when your only weapon was various chunks of mystery meat[8]. The fight lasted only a few minutes, stopping when we both realized that our sacks were empty. We glanced at the ground far below to see it littered with pinkish-grey dots. Some pieces had landed on and around a little house, outside of which a woman was currently standing with her husband and looking quite frazzled.

“Oh, now look what you’ve done…,” Faquarl groaned, surveying the damage. “Now we have to go clean all this up!”

“Do we?” I asked, and he trained a questioning beady eye upon me. “I mean, our charge was to dispose of the contents in the sacks, correct?”

“In an untraceable way, yes.”

“We’re miles away from our master; I doubt the humans would be able to trace this back to him. Besides-” Faquarl looked about to speak again, but I continued. “Have you been able to tell what this stuff actually is?”

“Well… no,” the djinni admitted reluctantly. I knew he always hated when I was right[9].

“Then do you really think mere humans will be able to distinguish it?”

“…Probably not.”

“Exactly!” I did a summersault in the air, one of the only flashy gestures I could make in my avian form. “So, technically, our charge has been complete.”

Faquarl remained silent for a few moments, desperately trying to think of how to prove me wrong. I did realize that my logic regarding the situation wasn’t rock-solid; I knew a particularly clever human could probably figure out the type of meat, and maybe enough investigation would eventually trace it back to the magician. Faquarl could easily bring these things up, but I knew he was just as tired as I was and presumably wanted go back to the Other Place equally as bad.

“…Fine,” he relented with a sigh. “We’ll go back and tell our master that our charge is complete. But if this comes back to bite us, you’re taking all the blame.”

I made an astonished noise as we simultaneously turned around and began flying back towards the magician’s house. “Now, now, you were a big part of that fight; you can’t go blaming me! I thought we were in an equal partnership here!”

“Only in your dreams are you in any way equivalent to me, Bartimaeus.” I heard the sneer in Faquarl’s voice and wished I’d saved one last piece of mystery meat for a surprise attack. As it was, I merely grumbled back something that I shall not be repeating here, then quickly sped up as my fellow djinni let out a screech of rage and dashed towards me.

A few days after we returned to our master’s house, we were dismissed. I bid Faquarl a not-so-friendly farewell and blissfully returned to the Other Place, not knowing when I’d see my unwilling compatriot again.

***

“What in the world are you smirking at over there?!” Nathaniel’s shrill voice cut violently into my reminiscing. I glanced at the boy to see him staring at me with a pinched expression on his face.

“Oh, just remembering the old days,” I said, sighing wistfully. “The days when I had masters who knew how to buy clothes that fit properly, and to wash their hair more than twice a year—you really ought to take a shower, though, Nat—and who—”

“Be silent, demon!” the boy hissed at me, and I placed a hand to my heart in mock horror.

“Goodness, someone’s in a bad mood today!”

“I’m trying to work and you’re over in the corner giggling and grinning like a maniac. If you can’t be silent, I’ll send you out on your rounds earlier than usual tonight.”

“Alright, alright,” I grumbled, not in the mood to go out into the dreary streets of London any sooner than was necessary. “For the next few hours, you won’t even know I’m here.”

“See to it that I don’t.”

I rolled my eyes as Nathaniel focused back on his papers. I closed the book in my hands, lingering over the cover for a few seconds before slipping it neatly back into its place on the shelf. Then, I flopped down on the rather uncomfortable couch and waited for night to fall, casting my mind back to my most recent encounter with Faquarl a few years prior and wondering what, if anything, the djinni was up to now.

***

[1] At the current moment, that is. I’d be back at it again by suppertime.[Return to text]

[2] Though he would never admit it, I knew the slightly more formidable appearance was an unnecessary but very deliberate attempt to ruffle my feathers. It didn’t work, of course.[Return to text]

[3] Yet surprisingly not unwelcome. Though we considered each other nemeses by this point in time, it had been so long since I’d seen a familiar face during a summons that it was a welcome relief to be around someone I knew, even if we did hate each other’s guts.[Return to text]

[4] I was quite happy about this, mind you; most humans are weird, but some are just plain depraved. I had a feeling this man fell squarely into the latter category.[Return to text]

[5] I don’t need permission from anyone to do as I please, but the threat of a magician’s crippling fire can be quite convincing at times.[Return to text]

[6] Though it was hard to tell exactly what expression his true form was wearing, what with all the writhing tentacles and other assorted bits.[Return to text]

[7] What can I say, I was out of practice. I hadn’t tried to physically fight Faquarl for decades, since the last time nearly ended with my ear being sliced off by a wayward kitchen knife.[Return to text]

[8] Although I did perform some particularly stellar acrobatics in midair in my attempts to dodge.[Return to text]

[9] I, however, rather enjoyed watching Faquarl fume when he was proven wrong.[Return to text]

Notes: The Kentucky meat shower was a real event that happened in on March 3, 1876. For a few minutes between the hours of 11 and 12 in the morning, what appeared to be chunks of red meat fell from the sky in a 100x50 yard (91x46 m) area near the settlement of Rankin in Bath County, Kentucky. There are several explanations as to how this occurred and what the "meat" was, the most popular being the vulture theory, in which a group of vultures regurgitated their meals; and the pieces fell to earth from a reasonable height. The exact type of meat was never identified, although various reports suggested it was beef, lamb, deer, bear, horse, or even human.

[bestelliptical77]

Best Elliptical Under $500: Benefits Of Elliptical Trainer

Looking for your greatest suspension for smaller areas? You might have a little workout space or you need a crosstrainer that may easily fit into a condo or apartment.You can acquire modest elliptical trainers at most malls these days. However all these usually are pretty inexpensive models that will crack (or get started squeaking) over the first month that you get them home.How do you really find a well-made, yet high-quality elliptical that still does not take up a lot of room? Here are 3 elliptical coach alternatives that are large in price, however small in size that you think about:The ACT elliptical it unique since it isn't a rear drive elliptical (where in fact the flywheel is supporting the pedals) or also some Frontdrive trainer (where the flywheel is at front pedals).It's actually a centre drive barbell - where you now have two bigger fly-wheels on each aspect of this pedals.This has got the effect of shortening that the footprint of the barbell and also giving it a much more square footprint rather than the typical long rectangle.While there are a couple different ACT types, the major ACT elliptical is only 3 1 x 54 inches, which is bigger compared to most conventional elliptical trainers.Another gain for the ACT is you stand longer upright over the pedals and also lean less on the handrails, which for most individuals feels convenient overall.And lastly, as long as we are speaking about small spaces, the ACT includes a lower step-on elevation compared to many routine ellipticals as well - which makes it perfect when you get a minimal ceiling height.This can be a fresh sort of elliptical trainer - greater of a vertical climbing device that unites a barbell having a stair-climbing motion.This works by using more lower body and helps you burn more calories compared to a regular elliptical trainer.According into producer, you also can burn off up to 2.5 times longer calories on the Max trainer than a normal elliptical, which usually means that you notice results extremely fast.Plus the Max coach is about half of the size of a standard elliptical coach. There certainly are a couple different models however the most important M5 version has a footprint of twenty five x ray 46.1 inches - much more compact compared to the ACT above. Proform now has a couple of unique sensible Strider elliptical models, each with differing features and consoles. But the chief thing you need to know is that all of these coaches have been assembled and that means it is simple to fold up them and store them away.In simple reality when folded, they are easily able to be rolled out of your work out areas and kept away. They'll even fit on your closet!It might be hard to obtain a folding barbell nowadays of course, should you do, many of them tend to be made and brittle, because of the constraints of a folding design.However the Smart Strider ellipticals are created using heavier flywheels and also a steel indicator framework to provide them with far much additional weight and also stability.Plus you get incline onto most types - that many folding coaches don't provide you (all over once again because of the constraints of some folding design).So you may alter the incline of your elliptical running path with incline and find an improved crosstraining workout.However it is reasonable to be aware that they have a normal footprint (not even a compact one) when in use - approximately 3 2 by sixty five in.. They're really only little when wrapped up. So this may well not be the best choice if you are just looking to get a tiny elliptical overall.So those are just 3 of the most useful elliptical trainers to get small distances - which still give you nicely constructed, stable-feeling devices. Each one has its benefits. Don't rush, do your research and then go along with a coach that is suitable for your room - and also your own fitness goals!Finding best elliptical for the amount of money is an issue of personal impression. If you are 5 ft tall and purchase an elliptical with a 20" stride it simply wouldn't work for you personally as the long motion would be too muchbetter. However lots of unique sources rated that elliptical trainer as the greatest from the earth it just would not do the job for you. Choosing the finest elliptical to the amount of money isn't only about saving some money on the purchase price , but finding a system you could work with.There certainly are a lot of features to consider to get an elliptical trainer that fits with youpersonally. Listed below Are Some items to Take into Consideration before you go any farther to Obtain the Finest elliptical to the cash: Most funding ellipticals and distance savers possess a highest weight capacity of 200 lbs. In the event you weigh a hundred lbs soaking wet which wont be an issue for you, however if you're a larger man you have to place this into consideration.How tall are you? If you are a taller individual a 1-3" stride will be overly constricting and take away lots of the health-benefit's a very decent elliptical workout supplies. About the other hand in the event that you are below 5 feet 5 inches an 18"-20" are overly much.How many men and women will probably use the equipment? When you've got 5 people at home that are all interested in using the elliptical machine you will need an even durable heavy duty equipment. In this event a larger flywheel as well as also a reputation of durability is equally vitally important. In the event your home is alone or will soon be the only one using it chiefly you won't need a frame that is that rugged.Keeping these things at heart that the pro-form 10.0 ze elliptical coach can be a very good match for some body forms. There clearly was a 275 pound weight limit that will be higher than the standard 200 pounds. To be reasonable in the event that you're more than 250 you may want to check else where to get overall longevity, but anything less than will get the job done only fine.The adjustable stride is also an equally great feature which does not just accommodates anything height you're comfortably (stride adjusts from 13", 15" and 18"), but lets you focus on different muscle bands since well.There are several great fitness grade perks to the particular system like the enthusiast built into the console, I-Fit card accessibilityand cross platform training arms for upper body work out and 16 electronic resistance degrees for lots of variety.If you weigh 300 pounds or more you will need to devote a little further to receive yourself an even stronger machine having a higher maximum potential. Horizon makes a great elliptical for around $1000 that will support 300 lbs and for any greater you need a more expensive health quality elliptical.The pro-form 10.0 ze sells for £ 799 on the Proform web site (you are able to conserve a couple hundred dollars by buying around online) helping to make it a bargain elliptical. In the event you weigh less than 250 lbs, usually are more shorter compared to 6 feet 5 inches and also like a few incentives to acquire you determined to work from that the pro-form 10.0 ze will be the perfect choice for you personally as well as the best suspension to your own capital. Elliptical trainers are frequently utilised in skilled fitness centers and home gyms. These coaches provide diminished effect on the legs, muscles and joints that makes them right for practically any person who wants to exercise, enhance heart rate and burn off calories. Deciding upon the best elliptical trainer is all about more than looking in the purchase price . Listed here are 11 suggestions to create the decision procedure easier.Resistance Coaching - Some elliptical trainers offer flexible resistance to rise the power of the workout. Resistance may be used to switch a work out regime once your human body get used to a common routine. Trainers offering onthefly resistance affects are just the best. That is absolutely no requirement to get off the system to up the resistance whenever you are in the center of the workout.Dual movements - Working out by proceeding forward is what most people are acquainted with, however going backward works a whole new set of muscle tissues. You may well not want to have the power to change direction on your own hands now, however after a few months on your system, that reverse motion may be considered described as a welcome switch to working precisely the exact muscle groups each and every day.Clear Consoles - This games console is still where the user can see just how far into this app they are, how many calories they've burnt and how much more they consumed to the machine. Some elliptical trainers additionally record heart rate, weight and age. The console needs to be easy to read and padded for multiple users.Choose your personal Body Part - The programmed placing for function outs on the elliptical may possibly be fine, such as now. However, think about if you want to work on a specific area of the human anatomy. Your barbell should possess the choice to produce your own workout with precisely the identical tracking as the programmed settings.Fluid movement - Obtaining about the barbell prior to purchasing the equipment is a must. The longer fluid the pedal motion, the higher your product quality of the machine. Do not be afraid to have a 10 minute jog on your system to find out if the movement satisfies your walking / running style.To find supplementary information on this please go to Homepage. On the Move - Not everybody wishes to exercise in an identical place all the moment; point. Even a decent elliptical will include wheels that make going the system easier.Heart charge Monitoring - Even though the calorie counters like gym are not precise, one's core rate monitors are extremely accurate. Possessing a heart rate monitor included in the system makes it possible for an individual to monitor how effectively your job outside is moving. Too highthey could down a little. Too lowthey can rate up.Incline Adjustment - The incline may be adjusted on several elliptical to modify the muscle groups being worked. The more complicated the incline, the more targeted the movement is likely to be on the gluts and hamstrings. Lower slopes are excellent for quads. The best machines will enable the incline to become changed over the go.Shaky devices - Many low-end ellipticals may shake off and also jar during movements. The shaking only grows with an increase in speed. This isn't just a great option for working out. The equipment needs to stand firm and maybe perhaps not jar when used.Knee Stress - front-drive ellipticals have a tendency to perform more like a stepper compared to the usual running device. This can raise the stress on the knees. For those who have trouble with knee pain, some rear drive elliptical could possibly be considered a superior selection. Also, entry level machines generally own the handle pubs directly over the base pads. This can also make for an uncomfortable function out.It's All from the Stride - Stride span is important if picking an elliptical. Front driveway pedal coaches generally have shorter strides. The more complicated an individual, the longer the stride should be. Fundamentally, using a barbell needs to feel like running on atmosphere with 0 stress on almost any joints.Working out will not have to be quite a job. Using a good grade elliptical, the workout can be a breeze using those thirty to 45 minutes flying by with very little if any pressure physically. The point is to burn off calories, not to make the gymnasium feeling worse for the wear.

[flameontheotherside]

Learning Disabilities

Like my Twin Flame (Erik) I dealt with a learning disability. I saw a speech pathologist and took a separate reading/English and math classes than other students my age. Also been called stupid or retarded and bullied all through high school because of it. Go team...😑 I failed kindergarten nearly 2x and had to make up 9th grade classes in my 12 year.

I'm not a good student. My attention span is at nearly 0 unless it's a subject I'm passionate about and I start showing off or get real bored. My confidence also 0 because of bullying.I need to see pictures in front of me and I need to be able to concentrate harder to follow along to understand what I just read.

I'm a visual learner 100%.

I learned how to play bass like it was nothing through a video game and continue to use visual aids to learn other things like Spanish and other languages, watching documentaries sometimes with the subtitles helps me comprehend what they are saying while I see the videos.

YouTube saved my life.

I watch several channels that explain social behavior and how to do just about anything. I could be a cosmetologist in spite of no traditional training. I've had people ask me to do thier hair several times and I get compliments on my hair too.

I learned everything I know on YouTube and Google. But my memory is kind of jacked up probably from previous partying years shortly after Erik's death and giving up on relationships. When I play trivia I'm decent at it. Rick is way better because his memory is impeccable. I don't do well under pressure anyway. Unless I'm singing on stage.

English is my second language.

Its common for twins (biological) or any set of babies within the same age in the same home to develop a "language". I forgot what study it was. Dont be lazy, look it up! There are twin babies on YouTube who do this as well. Kane and I had a language. It sounded like a legit language where we kept calling our dolls who I regarded to be my children, "monas" which is kind of interesting considering a mona is:

monas - a singular metaphysical entity from which material properties are said to derive

We had specific names for objects. Mona was the only one I can remember. And we had an alien friend name Wasii. Me and Kane spoke to Wasii in this same language.

Kane grew out of the language faster than me.

I was developing at a slower rate and spoke in that language even into kindergarten. Kane understood what I was saying and I rode on his coattails through my first round of kindergarten. So on the second time, I was forced to speak English. But that came with its challenges.

I remember being frustrated with my mom not understanding me and why its was important for Kane not to help me. I understood yes and no and sounds as good or bad sounds. Certain sounds a person makes especially when they are angry still fuck me up. I completely shutdown. Crowds and crowded places are exhausting without headphones or someone to talk to for distraction.

Music became my "thing".

It still is a tool I use to remember things. Especially phone number way back then. Like 8675309 I turned my home number into a similar song. Theres a song for everything. To get me in the mood to clean I would sing the barney cleaning song. I still use music to do it...just not the barney song. Chop Suey would have been my cleaning song if it weren't for what Erik did.

When I wanted to say something, I would sing a song when I was little. My mom and I would play patty cake and sing along to music popular in the 90s. I learned how to tie my shoes with song. I would sing the stranger danger barney song when I would walk to and from school.

Talking didn't happen until I was about 4 or 6.

Even when I did eventually talk, I spoke quietly or with my friends when I figured out having friends was a good thing. Before that, I'd get into fights with others. I was kind of an asshole 😆 🤣 lol I got suspended for locking a boy in the bathroom and telling on him. Got sent home for getting my finger stuck in my wooden recorder. I slammed my hand shut on the car door when a cute boy walked past us and I blamed him for it.

My bipolar didn't show until middle-high school.

My grades were shitty, I was loud and annoying. Back then all I did was talk and it as mostly about boys, food, anime, and Manga. Kind of like Usagi and Miyaka, typical nutcase with a sweet tooth and with a crush or too. I was an animated freak who got rejected and bullied most of the time.

I picked up a culinary degree.

Already knew how to cook, I'm hands on and visual. The easiest way and the only way to higher education (even without a GED) was in culinary. I took an equivalency test and got into the school. I failed one class. Only because the teacher in meat fabrication was a hot punk kinda dude who listened to Incubus.

Buwahaha.... I'm dumb. Lol 😆 I wasn't perfect but I made sure to pass on the bare minimum because I had no real desire to cook professionally. I just wanted to not get yelled at for being a loser. I don't regret it. My internship was the best 3 months of my life! I was away from home for the first time, worked and played at a ClubMed resort, had a few flings, and it was just fucking great.

I'm like Linda and Tina from Bob's Burgers

If you ever seen the show Linda likes to break out into random songs like as if the show was a musical and Tina is a weirdo. More like a Tina is me as a kid and grew up into a Linda. Lol 😆 thats kind of why I love the show. Its relatable. My family is sort of crazy like that. I always thought spirits were laughing at us. It makes me excited to see them in January. I hope we will!

😆🎼🎶🎵 Tra la la la la la la...

[abonlineboostup6]

Smartphone Buying Guide - Buy Best Mobile Phones

There are a couple of belongings you got to confine mind while buying the proper smartphone for yourself. You must identify what does one use your smartphone for. This guide takes you thru the entire process of choosing the simplest mobile .

Smartphones have snaked their way into almost every living moment of our technologically-fueled lives. More people are buying smartphones, and therefore the number of options is additionally increasing. Choosing a smartphone from such an awesome list of options might get confusing, so we made a guide that helps you choose the simplest smartphone for your needs.

You can check our extensive best smartphones buying guide for starters, but we recommend you to see out our guide the way to pick the proper smartphone in 2020.

WHAT to think about BEFORE BUYING A SMARTPHONE?

SMARTPHONE PERFORMANCE: PROCESSOR AND RAM

Your smartphone processor, also referred to as the chipset or the SoC, is that the component that's liable for almost everything working on your smartphone. it's essentially the brain of the system, and most of those processors also come equipped with AI capabilities that essentially make your smartphone as ‘smart’ it's today.

A capable processor not only allows your device to function seamlessly but is additionally capable of enhancing other factors. One example is image processing. Samsung phones, as an example, comes in two variants - one hosting the Snapdragon chipset (the latest one being Snapdragon 865+). In contrast, the opposite one employs Samsung’s in house Exynos processor (the latest being Exynos 990). Some reviewers have explicitly stated that there's a tangible difference in not just the processing power of the 2 variants, the Snapdragon being much snappier, but also the image-processing abilities.

So, once you choose your smartphone, it's integral to understand what processor you’re getting along side it since the performance directly correlates with it. Popular ones include Snapdragon, Apple A13 Bionic, Exynos 990, and Kirin 990. Apple processors are known for his or her raw computing power, and Snapdragon processors are the closest equivalent within the Android realm. you furthermore may have lower-powered processors for mid-range and budget devices like the Snapdragon 730 and 730G, Snapdragon 675, MediaTek Helio G90T and G85, and more, that are commonly found in lower-priced 2020 smartphones. If you’re on a budget and don’t mind sacrificing some power to save lots of money, consider buying phones with one among these processors since they drive down costs quite bit. Buying Guide

Coming to RAM, this refers to system memory that smartphones use to carry data that active applications are using. some of your smart- phone’s RAM is usually spent by the OS , to stay it run- ning. We’re not getting to get into the nitty-gritty of RAM usage during a phone since it involves explaining terms like kernel-space which can find yourself taking tons of room during this article. Having sufficient RAM can allow you to possess a bigger number of apps running within the background, which significantly affects your multitasking experience. However, some smartphones are breaking all barriers and installing a whopping 12-16 GB of RAM in their smartphones. That’s definitely overkill for smartphones, especially if you don’t plan on switching between 10-20 apps at an equivalent time. If you’re a light-weight smartphone user, someone who only uses their phone for calls, texts, What- sApp and lightweight browsing, you'll easily escape with 3-4 GB RAM. For power users, something round the ballpark of 6-8 GB is perfectly fine.

CHOICE OF OS

It boils right down to two options - Android or iOS. the selection is really more complicated than you imagine since both operating systems have a large list of pros and cons. If you’re someone who enjoys tinkering around together with your device and customising it to your heart’s content, you’re Team Android. If you wish an easy , powerful OS which gets constant software updates and is supported for a more extended period, you’re Team iOS. Nevertheless, Android is additionally almost as powerful but almost as simple, although the present Android version has become much simpler to use than the times of Gingerbread. Just know that iOS, as an OS, is sort of limiting, in some cases. as an example , you can't sideload apps from the web if they're not available on the App Store, the split-screen mode still isn’t a thing on iPhones (just iPads), you can't customise your home screen (although iOS 14 may include widgets), and you actually cannot use launchers to completely change the design of your phone. However, iOS comes with a plethora of benefits also , like iMessage, FaceTime, regular software updates, and therefore the biggest of all, minimal bloatware, and no adware! We’re watching you, Xiaomi!

PREFERED interface

You also need to confine mind that numerous smartphones accompany their own skin or UI (user interface) smacked on top of Android. OnePlus has OxygenOS, a clean skin that's quite on the brink of stock Android, Samsung comes with One UI 2, which has improved by leaps and bounds from its TouchWiz days, MIUI on Xiaomi phones, which is an ad-fest but is well-optimised, ColorOS on Oppo and Realme smartphones, that's heavily inspired by iOS.

Remember to undertake and knowledge the UI before buying the device to ascertain if it works for you.

A GOOD DISPLAY

Smartphone display sizes seem to be ever-increasing and are continually pushing the boundary of what we’d expect a smartphone display size to be. They’ve reached the ‘phablet’ realm with displays even reaching up to six .9-inches!

However, within the age where content is being consumed increasingly on our pocket devices (hard to call them that now), this might not be a nasty thing. we propose anything above 5.7 inches so you'll really immerse yourself into games and media. As far as display types go, you've got LCD and AMOLED displays. AMOLED displays have variants like OLED or Super AMOLED (in the case of Sam- sung) and have better contrast and darker blacks. They also assist in saving battery since they close up all the black pixels on the phone to display ‘true black’. Buying Guide

Next, you furthermore may have various resolutions like Full HD, Full HD+ Quad HD. While QHD does provide crisper images, the difference between FHD and QHD isn't too jarring, especially to the untrained eye. you ought to also check the screen protection on your device. Gorilla 5 and 6 are usually utilized in current-generation smartphones, and that they provide reasonable protection for your glass sandwiches. However, we still recommend a case strongly.

THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF STORAGE

The current standard is 64GB on lower-end models and 128GB to 512GB on flagships. With swift sharing apps and technologies, most folks import every single GB of knowledge from our previous phones to the new ones. So, adequate storage is important . We recommend that you simply don't go under 128GB since it'll offer you enough breathing space to stay your data also as download apps to your heart’s content. Also, keep an eye fixed out for phones with expandable memory storage. Buying Guide

BATTERY LIFE that matches YOUR DAILY REQUIREMENTS

The golden standard of battery life in flagship smartphones is 6+ hours of screen on time. Anything with higher capacities can mostly allow even heavy-users to power through. Flagship phones, also as some mid-range phones, also can reach 8-10 hours of screen on time, which is brilliant. The goal is to urge a phone which will a minimum of pull through one whole day of intensive usage. So, ensure to see battery tests online before purchasing a tool . Also, attempt to research if the phone you’re planning on buying features a decent power-saving mode. Buying Guide

CAMERA QUALITY THAT JUSTIFIES the worth

In 2020, multi-cameras are the norm and phones with only one rear camera are extremely rare now. you always get a primary lens which sports the very best MP count, a camera lens , and a wide-angle shooter. And then, you furthermore may have a couple of extras that some manufacturers add like the ToF (Time of Flight) sensor, macro lens, and colour filter lens. We, at the Digit Labs, are fans of the fisheye lens due to the magnitude of images you'll now combat phones. Capturing sprawling scenes isn't a drag anymore! The camera lens , when done well, can produce spectacular bokeh shots too. However, if this trend just isn’t for you and therefore the growing camera bumps enrage you, it might be best to shop for older phones with one primary lens or newer ones like the iPhone SE 2020. Also, don’t go MP hunting, higher megapixel-count doesn’t always mean better images since the sensor size is far more integral to producing good photos.

Smartphones have also been employing pixel-binning, which essentially turns four or more pixel into one big pixel, that adds clarity and detail to the image. Also, for now, attempt to stray faraway from the 108MP sensors since they’re pretty rough round the edges at the instant plagued with image fringing and autofocus issues.

MISCELLANEOUS THINGS to think about

Wireless charging

Gaming Mode

Fingerprint sensor vs Face Unlock

Bluetooth version

IP Rating

Dual sim

Reverse wireless charging

Stereo speakers

NFC

Dual-band Wi-Fi

WHAT to not CONSIDER?FOLDABLE DESIGNS

While the planning evolution is innovative and smart, it's just too early to be completely reliable. Our verdict? Hold off on buying foldable phones for a couple of years .Buying Guide

5G SMARTPHONES

In a country just like the US which is slowly but surely seeing widespread 5G integration (low band or mmWave), sure, choose 5G phones to futureproof. However, 5G integration in India remains a ways away, and therefore the proper rollout is years away. So, it makes no sense paying more to get a 5G phone.

[justlightthefirstspark]

United vs Chelsea - Conti Cup Semi Final - 29/01/2020

So the line up and bench for this one was interesting. Aimee Palmer was cup tied for this one, having already lined out for Sheffield United earlier in the season, Ella Toone is currently serving a 3 game suspension following a (questionable) red card vs Spurs, and both Kirsty Hanson and Leah Galton are out injured, which led to a very sparse bench, and pretty much the same XI as vs City. Lauren James started in place of Jane Ross, which was very clearly a good idea.

First half:

This game was a little cagey to start with, but ultimately a lot better than Saturday’s showing vs City. LJ had a decent shot around 6 mins, after some great build work from Groenen.

Abbie’s constant back passes to Earps returned, as did my anxiety. To be honest, Earps never looks completely comfortable to be on the receiving end of back passes so I don’t understand why the majority of that back 4 insist on playing that way so often?

Aside from those back passes, I though Abbie had a really good game. At least until she was forced off injured deep into the second half. She played an absolute stormer from the first whistle, and she was literally everywhere. Had a decent chance to get the first goal too around the 25 minute mark, very unfortunate to have that header go straight at Telford. She really, really redeemed herself after that performance vs City at the weekend.

‘27 - some Wales on Wales crime. Sophie Ingle booked for an almighty challenge on Hayley Ladd. Fair enough, the way Hayley fired herself into Ingle may have made it look more than it was. Entertaining tho. I’m also gonna take this opportunity to confess that I may be a little bit (a lot) in love with Hayley Ladd. I gotta be honest, I didn’t really know much about her before she signed in the summer, but she’s really, really great. I feel like she’s kinda underrated a little bit? Anyway, I genuinely don’t think this girl feels any pressure, like at all. A little bit like LJ I guess. She just gets her head down and does her job - calm and cool 100% of the time. I would very much like her to stay forever. I’m definitely gonna have to start watching more of this Wales team aren’t I?

‘34 - Earps with a cracking save. I feel like she’s more of a shot stopper than anything else, her distribution can be a little off sometimes, but she did really well to deny Chelsea there.

I think James and Arnot linked up quite well last night, especially around the 40 minute mark, unfortunately Lizzie was called just offside. She’s really impressed me (whenever she gets a shot) this season tbh, I hope she manages to get herself in the XI more often from now on.

‘42 - Jess Sigsworth pulling double shifts again. She’s constantly down around that back four, helping out and sometimes doing other people’s jobs for them and I’m kinda terrified that she’s gonna run herself into a brick wall at some stage? Like I think it’s fairly clear that we need to reinforce and add depth and quality defensively but I also think it’s pretty clear that Jess isn’t the answer to that particular problem, as impressive as her drive and her work rate is.

‘43 - United should have been clear and away on the counter there. There was an earlier challenge from Ladd (I’m pretty sure) that the ref took an age to make up her mind on, and by the time she decided to call it back, Groenen (again, I’d have to rewatch to be 100% certain) was up and over the halfway line on the break. Annoying af.

Halftime:

Tbh I thought United did really well to not have conceded and to still be in the game at the half. The first half as a whole was pretty decent, Chelsea ultimately had the better chances and were the slightly stronger team. I just wish we could have taken the few chances we had in the first half and made something from them, Telford isn’t the world’s best keeper and I feel like we could have tested her more and I was kinda disappointed we didn’t.

Second half:

‘47 - a fairly decent (surprisingly. It’s no secret we’re pretty piss poor at set pieces) from Zelem resulted in Amy heading just over, which hurt my soul. (I wanted her to score so bad youse have no idea)

‘52 - Arnot had a decent chance, and was 100% in cause Telford came about 82739 miles off her line, but unfortunately it was cleared away. (Sidenote: I HATE when keepers come off their line and out of their box like that, even opposition keepers. It just really shits me out. Anyway)

‘53 - a decent Chelsea opportunity goes wide. I saw somewhere (twitter probably) that it took a deflection, but I’d have to rewatch to be certain. FA Player get your shit together and upload the game so I can double check challenge 🙄

The game really started to come to life around the 50 minute mark. Both teams had decent chances within about a minute of each other, and United’s intensity really stepped up - they came out guns blazing in the second. Both teams pressing and passing really cleaned up around this time too.

‘61 - decent chance for Sigsworth. Angle was just too tight, but I think the build up was massively overworked. She passed it off the Zelem who held it for a little too long imo, before sending it back to Jess who lashed it into the side netting. Think Jess could have made something of it first time but hey, what’s done is done now.

Game started to get a little scrappy heading into the last 20 mins - back to the rushed and mismatched and intercepted passes of the first half.

‘70 - Chelsea free kick saved well by Earps.

‘71 - Goal - Chelsea. Really tight angle, just about squeezed home. Really good work from Mjelde in hindsight but I feel like Earps could have saved that one. I hate to blame her entirely but she really should have done better with closing that one down.

‘72 - almost an instant response from United. LJ had a fantastic chance to equalise but unfortunately scorched it over the bar. I’m not gonna lie, I expected a little better from her there, but I understand the urgency.

‘73 - pretty soft yellow for Sigsworth

‘74 - Ross 🔁 Arnot.

Seemed like all the wind was sucked out of United after that goal, approaching the 80 minute mark. Most of that intensity and urgency was still kinda there and evident in small bursts, but was mostly lacking.

‘80 - United forced into a change. Harris (don’t talk to me) 🔁 McManus. Abbie took a bit of a blow around 20 minutes in, committing a challenge she was ultimately booked for. Fair play to her, she played through it, but she was definitely struggling for a while there. Apparently she was on crutches after the game, so I hope it’s nothing too serious. Also interested to see what Casey does with that back 4 if she’s out for a while. Amy obviously goes back in and CB but it would appear Martha is higher than Ökvist in the pecking order, which is annoying. I get that Casey is more defensive minded and might not want to play two more attacking FB’s at once (Ökvist & Smith) but Martha... 🤐

‘84 - James had a great ball in that forced a corner that - you guessed it - nothing came of

‘85 - Earps had a great block to deny Chelsea a second (and really and truly kill me off)

‘88 - Harris decides to try her luck from a little way out. It was a decent shot to be fair, given the circumstances, just couldn’t get the dip it needed and never really troubled Telford on it’s way over the bar.

4 minutes at the end of the 90 but United couldn’t get anything to stick, which was massively unfortunate.

Two semi final defeats in a row is absolutely gut wrenching, and very hard to take, but last night taught me a lot about this team. I personally thought that this game was miles better and such an improvement on Arsenal away last season. They were much better all round, in every position than last weekend vs City. To come so close against the 3 best teams in the league 5 times now and walk away with nothing is hard, and I feel so bad for those girls. They give their all everytime they step out on that pitch, and they deserved more. This week in particular. Seeing them all in literal bits at the final whistle nearly broke me tbh.

But it’s becoming more glaringly apparent as the season goes on that we are in desperate need of a more clinical, stone blood killer up top. I’d also be open to giving Mikalen a run in goal to prove herself - I think Earps has been a bit off lately.

Galton and Hanson were massively missed last night, and I think we could have done with Toone as well, but oh well.

I had my issues with the ref as well last night, I have to say. I thought she handled the knocks and (most of) the bookings correctly, as well as the penalty shout (which was not a penalty, sorry Jess) but she missed a clear foul on Jackie (59 mins) as well as a clear tug on Arnot (64 mins) in the second half. I also thought LJ was very lucky to get away with just a yellow for her foul on Ingle at the end of the first half, looked a little more like a red to me 😬

Hopefully Galton will be back for Sunday - she absolutely tore Reading to shreds the last time out and I would very much like to see more of that 🔥, but I’m kinda worried about that midfield trio too. The last thing we need is three defeats on the bounce, but they must be dyinggg cause they literally never, ever stop.

I know this one is a little later than usual and the format is slightly different too, but I was watching the men (for some reason) as well, and it was kinda hard to keep track of two games at once lol. Plus I just wasn’t really in the mood to try and to this last night. Also - if anyone has critiques or corrections or questions about my opinions or anything else pls don’t hesitate to drop them in my ask and I’ll edit things and answer whatever as best as I can ✌🏽

[laptopsnursingstudent-blog]

How to consider the Best Laptops for Nursing Students

Fortunately, nursing understudies don't have to have some particular prerequisites for a PC which make practically any PC a suitable choice for the course. Simultaneously, absence of clear rules makes it hard in case you're resolved to get the best laptops for nursing students, you can visit our blog.

In this post, I've taken up the assignment of exploring and looking at a mess of most sizzling PCs (more than 400!) to locate the most elite. Basically, I've aggregated all the significant data out of a lot of blog entries, articles, gatherings and college rules with some EXACT necessities for a PC that are seldom discovered on the web.

Most importantly, I'll start off by looking at what a normal nursing understudy needs, depicting to the T what you ought to get, what isn't significant and where you should settle on choices all alone in the event that you need the best PC explicitly for you. Toward the end, I'll drill down the best workstations for nursing understudies and what are their qualities and if there are any "gotchas" that you ought to know about.

How about we start by characterizing what we mean by "best PC for nursing understudies".

What is significant for a nursing understudies PC?

Medical attendant filling a reportAs a nursing understudy, you'll have to manage office applications, research on the web and, potentially, some space explicit programming (for instance, measurable projects). There are some fundamental prerequisites web based illustrating what PC you'd requirement for the course:

Windows 10 Pro or higher (not Windows RT) or OS X

Intel Core i5 or higher

14" HD show or bigger

Incorporated webcam

6 GB memory or higher

250 GB hard drive or bigger (strong state suggested)

These are not especially requesting specs. How about we experience them individually:

Windows workstations and OS X PCs are both fine. That implies that Chromebooks are not feasible (as per this specific school which may not generally be the situation for different universities/college). Likewise, expressly barring Windows RT implies that working frameworks found in tablets and some 2-in-1 PCs are insufficient.

Processor

ProcessorNursing understudies for the most part need to manage essential word preparing/exceed expectations spreadsheet work, email, web-surfing and at times some measurable programming. That kind of work needn't bother with a decent processor. Be that as it may, there are a couple of sorts of processors I'd maintain a strategic distance from still. For one thing, all Windows PCs with Celeron and Pentium processors ought to be disregarded for acceptable. No one but Chromebooks can work appropriately on these moderate processors yet and still, after all that I'd propose going for an Intel Core i3 CPU

It is very simple to know whether a PC has one of these moderate CPUs. To put it plainly, any Intel processor that isn't in Core arrangement (doesn't have a prefix of i3, i5 or i7 before its model name) – is in all probability either a Celeron, Pentium or Atom CPU.

With these processors impossible, there are 3 classes of processors to consider:

Low-end Core i3: i3-6100U, i3-7100U, i3-8130U

Mid-run Core i5 and i7 U arrangement: i5-6300HQ, i7-7500U, i5-8250U

Very good quality i7 HQ and HK arrangement: i7-6700HQ, i7-7700HQ, i7-8750H

Any processor of those will be OK, however except if you have some particular needs or a limited financial plan – staying with the mid-run processors is your smartest choice.

Workstations with i5 CPUs are essentially quicker than i3 CPUs and they're not such a great deal more costly: normal cost for a PC with i3 CPU is $400, with i5 – $580, and with i7 U – $800.

Simultaneously, nursing understudies should abstain from getting the quickest i7 HQ processors in the event that they need to routinely take their PC to addresses. That is on the grounds that these processors can empty a great deal of juice from a battery. That is the reason there are just a bunch of workstations that have first in class execution and a long throughout the day battery runtime. Also, these PCs as a rule cost around $2000 – 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro is a genuine case of that.

Capacity

SSDs are the best approach with regards to workstations for nursing understudies. Their fundamental disadvantage – cost per Gigabyte of capacity – isn't as significant in clinical fields. A 32GB Chromebook or 128GB Windows/MacOS PC is sufficient for every day use and studies in case you're not a gamer. What's more, if your financial plan permits it – you could go for 250GB to ensure you're not coming up short on space for records at any point in the near future.

Who could profit by more stockpiling?

On the off chance that you have a huge assortment of music/films put away on the PC and you don't have a quick web association for putting away that in the cloud. Important, on the off chance that you are gushing your music or recordings on the web (through Youtube, Netflix, Spotify and so on.) – you needn't bother with extra stockpiling.

Non-easygoing gamers with huge Steam assortment or only a huge assortment of most recent realeases that can occupy ~10GB of extra space.

Anybody effectively working with sound/video – in the event that you like to make music or potentially particularly recordings – 500GB would be a superior beginning stage.

I would not exhort going for standard turning HDDs – they're a ton more slow, less sturdy, not as impervious to harm as SSDs, less force proficient and they delayed down after some time without legitimate defragmentation. Yet, for spending workstations (that are not Chromebooks) – a HDD is an OK alternative in case you're tight on financial plan and you're sure that you need more than 120GB of extra room.

To put it plainly, stick to 120GB to 500GB of SSD stockpiling – anything over that isn't fundamental for nursing understudies.

Smash

You ought to keep away from 2GB workstations similarly as I encouraged to maintain a strategic distance from Intel Celeron processors. 4GB is sufficient for the spending models and it must be a beginning stage regardless of what kind of PC you're scanning for.

8GB has been the RAM sweet spot throughout the previous 5 years. It's as yet the ideal measure of memory for nursing understudies.

Shouldn't something be said about 16GB? Except if you're an extremely substantial multitasker (20+ program tabs, ~10 applications open) – there is no rhyme or reason to go past 8GB. Obviously, on the off chance that you extravagant a PC with 16GB – there are for all intents and purposes no disadvantages to having more memory.

Lightweight

PC in a purseWill you be conveying it to class? For the most part, it isn't essential. What's more, there's nothing incorrectly to take takes note of as it was done in the good 'ol days.

However, in the event that you'd prefer to take to the talks – go for a lightweight PC since you'll be conveying substantial books as of now.

A long battery life guarantees we can utilize it for an entire day nearby. Normally, 8 hours or more while running WiFi at ~30% screen splendor would be perfect however even somewhat more fragile battery of ~6 hours can get the job done since there are chances to charge the PC between addresses.

What might be pleasant to-have?

Quality showcase

PC displayOut of all screen measurements, 2 are generally significant for nursing understudies and day by day PC use when all is said in done.

To begin with, IPS Panel ought to be high on anybody's rundown. It is one of only a handful not many PC characteristics that can be effectively spotted by a non-master. So, IPS (and IPS-type) boards are urgent for acceptable survey edges or more normal difference and precise shading portrayal.

IPS boards are found at any value point yet workstations that have at any rate an i5 processor + 250 GB SSD + IPS board cost at any rate $800.

Second, great screen brightness< is another enormous also, particularly when working outside or other than a window on a radiant day.

Shockingly, screen splendor is seldom referenced in item depiction – for the most part, this must be made sense of by means of a Google search with model name and "screen brilliance". Some top to bottom surveys have different showcase benchmarks and a presentation brilliance is the most widely recognized out of them. You should search for <~300 nit normal brilliance (~315 max splendor). However, this is seldom the situation for less expensive PCs as the showcase is one of the main things to endure when producers fabricate a spending PC.

What isn't significant

Illustrations card

Except if you're an enthusiastic gamer, there aren't any motivations to go for a devoted video card. These days, Intel's incorporated alternatives that accompany each Intel processor are sufficiently quick to deal with video gushing, easygoing gaming and work with rock solid programming like Photoshop. They despite everything can be an advantage for anybody expertly working with sight and sound however that is unessential for our situation.

We hope you have learned some important points and if you are looking to buy the best laptops for nursing students here we have gathered a list https://trickyfi.com/best-laptops-for-nursing-students/

[harusha]

What are your top pokemon games??

Official or fangame? I’ll just list both. I will say Pokemon Reborn is my top-rated overall if we combine both lists (with HGSS and Collesseum/XD following as 2 and 3 respectively.)

On Official, it’s 

1. Heartgold/Soulsilver (My favorite region is Johto, and Ethan is my favorite Pokemon protagonist so…unsurprising. The games are still genuinely good though imo because of the massive amount of content and post-game and QoL stuff like following Pokemon, auto-run, etc.) I also love the nostalgic feeling of the region. Lance is also here, and I like him and his design a lot, not as much as Volkner though. Also Proton is here, and I love the dude so. Pedometer is included here.

2. Pokemon Colosseum/Pokemon XD; I include this together since they’re a duo set in terms of story. XD is the better one gameplay-wise because of the new additions of Shadow moves, more Pokemon choices, QoL changes like saving, etc. but Colosseum is the harder of the two games imo b/c of the sparsity of Pokemon–if you can play it on laptop, mod XD with Pokemon XG for massive QoL changes (Fairy Type, more shadow Pokemon, upped difficulty, etc.)

I like how this set tries new stuff and it honestly showcases how if you the Pokemon IP to a third-party, you end up with something that tries to be different and actually plays pretty well.

3. Pokemon BWBW2; included as a set because of joint story line. Honestly, I feel like BWBW2 are objectively the last great mainline series additions. Even if you didn’t care for the story, they at least tried with it and the rivals. You had the nice rival in Bianca and the “focused/ruder” rival in Cheren, and both encompassed the themes of the game (Truth with Bianca as she realizes her ineptness as a trainer and Ideals with Cheren who strives to overcome his boundaries and the player even if he never can). N is pretty awesome, and I think Ghetsis is a better Lusamine (sorry, idc for how Lusamine’s actions are brushed over and blamed on the space jellyfish). There’s a lot to enjoy in Unova imo.

Also massive post-game stuff like Join Avenue (which encourages one of the main tenets of Pokemon, interacting with others and trading; ex. “Magnemite Coil”), half the region opening up for Post-game (White Treehollow, Kyurem’s abode, etc.). The Legendaries also have home locations for the most part, and their items aren’t just given to you by random people. A lot of stuff to do that isn’t just breeding mindlessly for shinies (I mean I love doing that, but options ya know?) or online battle.

4. Pokemon Conquest; Fire Emblem (or more accurately, Nobunaga’s ambition) meets Pokemon. I like turn-based grid tactic games, and this one’s actually pretty fun. You’re encouraged to roam around and give people different Pokemon to see which ones they’re compatible with. Also another example of what can be done if Pokemon is given to a another developer.

5. Pokemon Explores of Sky (and to a lesser extent since it’s the base, Time/Darkness); you can swap this with Colloseum/XD, BWBW2 or Pokemon Conquest depending on if you prefer Pokemon’s style of play, tactics games, or dungeon crawlers. I like this one since the story’s actually pretty good, the difficulty’s nice, and especially the post-game dungeons and content.

6. Pokemon Platinum and Diamond+Pearl to a lesser extent– the region that actually has a reasonably difficult Elite Four and champion. I love the additions they have like distortion world, the melancholic feel you get at times in the Chateau area and snowfields, and the post-game Battle Frontier. However, the games run so slow without Drayano’s mods. In terms of husbandos, Volkner’s pretty nice as well, and he’s pretty high-tier for me. Cynthia’s here as well, so I guess she counts since she’s a feature every time she shows up.

7. Pokemon FRLG-The definite version of Kanto for me. Sevii Islands, callbacks (callforwards?) to the Johto games with the Rocket Admins, decent difficulty and ability to sequence break somewhat, etc. It gives new experiences for those who’ve played the OG versions, but doesn’t change them drastically. The “you can’t evolve anything outside of the OG 151 before post-game” is stupid though. Lance is here as well, but his half Dragonite/Dragonair team annoys me b/c of how repetitive it is, but product of the time as well and the HGSS first battle had that as well but at least they’re all evolved.

8. Pokemon Red/Blue Rescue Team-I like this one since the story’s still good and incorporates the idea of a human being transported to a Pokemon world, but I just feel like Sky’s gameplay improvements and portraits for everyone trumps this one. I like Gengar a lot and his team. I also think the difficulty on this one (depending on starter and partner) is fairly good at times (The Moltres fight is actually pretty difficult if you don’t have Pikachu or a water type partner).

9. Pokemon Emerald and to a lesser extent Ruby/Sapphire–Battle Frontier, Scott and Smeargle cave (ie. post-game content), beautiful promotional artwork (including ORAS’s), fairly difficult battles at time if you aren’t prepared/going in blind with no excessive grinding (2nd May battle, Flannery, etc.), hidden secrets like Regis and Secret Bases. However, the latter half is so boring with the excessive surfing and lackluster variety. Steven’s here, and he’s a dreamboat even with the sprite graphics.

10. Pokemon Channel and Hey you, Pikachu!-Weird I know. This would be higher if I didn’t think this was a niche pick. It’s just really relaxing, and I want another one, especially if you can get more Pokemon to raise. It’s a lot more fun once you play it. I like exploring with Pikachu and it offers a look into the world of Pokemon as a non-trainer. I really want another one tbh.

11. Pokemon Rangers series (Ranked from favorite to lowest; Shadows of Almia–>OG–>Guardian Signs; all are good but that’s my preference) The gameplay is actually pretty fun, and I wish we got another one. They could use Joycons as a styler. Spencer, Sven, and Lunick are also pretty cute

12. Pokken Tournament- What battles should feel like in mainline if they injected millions of dollars into the mainline, so unrealistic expectation. I think Pokken is a decent fighting game. The moves are nice, and the music is good. This can go lower if you don’t care for fighting games.

13. Pokemon Battle Revolution and Stadium games-They’re mostly battle simulators with some mini-games. The animations are actually pretty lively and fun compared to SWSH’s. I would like to rank this higher, but there is no story mode sadly. It’s great if you want to see what Pokemon would look like in-scale.

14. Pokemon X/Y-I think these are actually pretty nice if only for the fact there isn’t excessive handholding; it’s there but it doesn’t force me to put down the game out of boredom. The outfits are genuinely pretty cute. However, the rivals are ridiculously terrible, difficulty is either too low or unbalanced if you use/turn off exp. share. Let’s put ORAS here as well b/c I think the lack of Battle Frontier and mediocre post-game, getting Lati@s early, etc. drops it down from Emerald. The PSS system is amazing though.

15. Pokemon Trozei and Pokemon Pinball series-Yeah, I’ve played these. Trozei’s actually pretty cool as a match-3 game, and pinball is pinball. You also get slightly more lore into the Pokemon world with Lucy Fleetfoot. I like match-3 and pinball so very much a YMMV. Pop Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon here as well. Idk, they just lack the magic of the first two entries.

16. Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Dash, all the other spin-offs I didn’t talk about-they all offer something fun, but I just wish it was either updated for modern times and not released again (like with Snap) or a bit more (in the case of Detective Pikachu and Pokepark series). Pop Puzzle League games here as well. I like them, but they aren’t much besides Tetris games. Same goes for the Pokemon Trading Card games; they’re nice, but not super great imo.

???. Pokemon Box/Ranch/all the other storage games and stuff like Dream Radar-Idk what you’d want me to say since they’re storage space or gimmick games to catch HA Pokemon. You do get Extremespeed Zigzagoon which I love since the little buggers are very adorable.

Bottom Tier. Pokemon SM and USUM. I hate these games. They’re cash grabs (more so than usual) with being $40 a piece and the updated versions being barely changed (and actually feeling like what should have been released first). Incredibly handholding, areas feel half-baked, lacks areas to explore for the most part, Lillie is kinda annoying for me tbh (which hurts because you’re supposed to feel for her and the game’s story hinges on that), and the player is an actual detriment to what they’re trying to achieve story-wise. A big shame b/c Alola is a pretty region and Team Skull is great in concept, but execution is awful. Stated as someone who has bought all 4 versions to keep, and 2 extras for gifting.

Absolute Bottom Tier- Pokemon Masters, incredibly terrible mobage game coming from someone who plays FGO, FEH, etc. lack of meaningful content, grinding but meaningless b/c of said lack of content (ex. FGO gates you with mats but it makes you feel like you’re growing with your servants and offers a story and events to compensate; basically, a sense of achievement). CO-OP is pretty bad when you can just hop over to GBF or something if you want guilds and group content. I’m still gonna wait for Ethan and Volkner to appear though.

Unrated-OG RBGY and OG GSC (the remakes are superior outside of nostalgia factor imo so I think it’d be unfair for them to take a spot), LGPE (didn’t buy them b/c pricing but the colors are vibrant and I love that), SWSH (didn’t buy them because I have opinions on the cuts and stuff and price point doesn’t look appealing for what’s offered), Pokemon Mini (these were included with Pokemon Channel), Magikarp Jump+Duel (Duel was a cash grab and Magikarp Jump is cute but no real opinion on it), Pokemon Go (weird spot where I like it, but I don’t live in an area with safe walking areas so very much area-dependent), Arcade games (I don’t live in Japan for that), Perdue Farm games (they’re flash games made to promote so…), Pokemon Rumble (enjoyable but not memorable for me imo) etc.

Fangames-

1. Pokemon Reborn-150+ hours of content, visible themes that permeate the story and characters, beautiful spritework for some of the areas, intuitive usage of TMs/HMs and some logic (ex. Field Effects that emulate anime battling in turn-based rpg such as Corrosive Field; using Rock Smash to break the glass in some areas to solve puzzles, etc.), actual difficulty that hinges on how much you understand Pokemon (ex. IVs, stats, EVs, etc.) that’s fair but still difficult, puzzles and rewards for exploring and coming back to areas, etc. Fantastic game that I wish Gamefreak had attempted to emulate (perhaps not the darker themes but the ambition basically). Has some kinks with the revolving door of characters and such but still fantastic. Also offers custom shiny sprites, custom egg sprites, and online play like Wonder Trade and battling.

2. Pokemon Rocket Edition-Not done but I think this is a fantastic hack so far story-wise and how it implements its mechanics. You’re a Rocket Grunt, but you aren’t OP. It deals with the politics behind Kanto and Team Rocket. Still being worked on.

3. Pokemon Viridian Version-Another “play as a Rocket” game. Funny yet still can be serious; it takes the tone of the anime and understands when to be serious and when to not be. It feels like it would fit into the canon tone-wise, and deconstructs the “it’s cool to be a Rocket!” thing.

4. Pokemon Gaia-Excellent and a huge callback to classic Pokemon in story. It’s an OG region and offers a lot to do.

5. Drayano hacks- QoL updates but his work actually adds a lot to the games+new events.

Anyways, that’s my list. There’s a lot of Pokemon content, but this is how I feel for the most part.