#but whenever I tried to tweak it it was meh

[titenoute]

Somewhere in Hidden City's outskirts... *Insert Jurassic Park's theme in the background* Next (more later, hopefully)

[razieltwelve]

For the Princess (Final Rose)

“Shall I purge these heretics, dear sister?” Sigrid drawled.

Eira twitched. The mental changes that came from her sister’s use of Saviour could be disturbing at times. She knew all about the extremely ruthless outlook her sister’s Semblance possessed, but Saviour had become increasingly good at hiding its murderous impulses behind a veneer of civility.

“And by purge you mean…?”

Sigrid’s smile was as sharp as a razor. “Why, sister, you are the princess. They have defied your simple orders and sought to subvert your authority. The only fitting punishment is death.” She lifted her sword with careless ease. “How many pieces each do you think? I think five would be best. After all, there are four limbs, and we can leave the heads attached to the bodies.”

The would-be rebels looked like they would throw up in terror. Two of them actually did.

“Sigrid…”

The younger woman turned her attention back to the people in front of them. “You are the crown princess. In principle, your authority is second only to that of our beloved parents. In theory, Arendelle is an absolute monarchy. Your word is law to these people, or it should be.”

“You can’t just execute everyone who defies me.”

“And why not?” Sigrid raised her blade to kiss the cheek of the closest rebel. The Faunus woman went completely still. Like everyone there, she knew the weapon was sharp enough to cut reality itself. “You are a fully qualified huntress who was born and raised in Arendelle. When you give orders regarding the deployment of forces to combat the Grimm, they should be obeyed. To question your orders is one thing - a suitably intelligent subordinate can offer useful commentary. But to defy them outright without informing you until after the fact? Why, if I had not noticed the discrepancies, we would have lost at least three villages to the latest attack.”

Eira bit her lip. Her sister was, of course, correct. Despite Saviour’s desire to simply exterminate the problems it encountered, its logic was sound. The only real issue was the nature of the punishments it wished to dole out.

“We will take them into custody,” Eira said. “As the law dictates, they will be tried in a military court for insubordination, dereliction of duty, and treason.”

“The law also provides for battlefield executions when necessary,” Sigrid pointed out, blade skimming the Faunus’s throat. “We could start with this one. She is the commanding officer of this little rebellion.” She smiled thinly. “If you’re worried about the mess, I can make it quick and clean.” The air around her hummed. “A little tweak, and I can erase her from existence. It’ll be like she was never here.”

“Sigrid.” Eira’s voice cracked out like a whip. Her sister usually had better control over her Semblance, but the potential harm these rebels could have caused meant that Sigrid and Saviour were both eager to punish those responsible. “I gave an order. They will be taken into custody.”

Sigrid turned to her, and Eira met her gaze. The Semblance stared out at her through Sigrid’s eyes, a combination of eerie, inhuman calm and unbridled, inhuman rage. She inclined her head gracefully. “As my sister commands.” Her lips curled. “You’re not afraid to meet my gaze?”

“Should I be?” Eira asked. She wasn’t stupid. She had absolute confidence in her sister, but if Sigrid ever turned on her, she was dead. Saviour was simply too powerful for her to beat. 

“Of course not.” Sigrid put one arm around her. “You are my dear sister. You need but say the word, and I would gladly slaughter all of your enemies or drag them before you in chains. You need never fear my sword.”

“That is… not entirely reassuring.”

Sigrid’s eyes gleamed as she turned her attention back to the rebels. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

X     X     X

Sigrid closed her eyes and let Saviour’s power slip away. She was normally a much gentler and calmer person, but the thought of how many lives could have been lost because of the rebels’ insubordination was enough to make her jaw clench. It would have been so easy to defy her sister’s order and simply execute the rebels on the spot. Yet she had obeyed not only because it was Eira who’d given the order but also because she’d known she would regret it later.

Still, her anger only lingered until they were once more in sight of the palace. Home. It was a welcome sight after a bad night like this, Arla had most likely stayed up to wait for her. Her lips curved up into a smile at the thought of the other woman. It had taken a while for the shepherdess to bring all of her flock over, but the sheep had adjusted well to Arendelle’s cold climate. After all, they were Yun sheep, and the Yun mountains could be incredibly cold at times.

There were some who questioned her choice of spouse, but Sigrid had only needed to let the leash of Saviour loosen just a little to make them see the error of their ways. Her Semblance approved of her choice although she had been forced to create a new directive forbidding the use of an army of Semblance-enhanced super sheep against her enemies. Given the effects Arla’s Semblance had, her flock was basically equivalent to an entire division of seasoned infantry, possibly more once she took the stronger sheep into account.

When she arrived back in their chambers, she was only mildly surprised to see Thunder Horn there. The Ancient Sheep was a mighty warrior in his own right, easily the equal to entire teams of skilled huntsmen and huntresses. It put her mind at ease to know that he was rarely far from Arla’s side. The flock was lucky enough to have a trio of Elder Sheep, as well, and they could hold any foe off long enough for Thunder Horn to return if he was needed.

The great ram nudged her and then inclined his head at Arla who was sprawled over the couch in an ungainly heap.

“Yes. She fell asleep again waiting for me.” Sigrid patted the ram on the head. “Thank you for looking after her. I can take it from here.”

The ram nodded and then leapt out the window to go rejoin the flock. He had known Arla from the day she’d been born, and Sigrid was one of the few people he trusted enough to hand her safety to. Even the royal guard had been forced to earn his trust, and more than one of them had ended up in the hospital after failing to meet his rigorous standards. It wasn’t a surprise at all that the ram and Fury got along wonderfully. Her uncle’s chocobo had most certainly approved of his methods.

“Hey…” Arla opened her eyes and smiled at her sleepily. “You’re back.” She paused. “Not good, huh?”

“It could have gone better,” Sigrid replied before she bent down to lift Arla into her arms. “I’ll carry you back to bed. You always complain about your back when you fall asleep on the couch.”

“Well, the couch might look nice, but it’s not as comfy as I’d like.” She huffed adorably. “We need to break it in more.”

“And by break it in?”

“Oh, get your mind out of the gutter,” Arla grumbled. “Not that I would mind, though. But you know what I mean.” 

“How is the flock?”

“They’ve settled in nicely,” Arla replied. “And we’ve got some more lambs on the way too. I think they’ll really do well here. The conditions are just right for them. Compared to the Yun Mountains, there aren’t as many crazy things here that want to eat sheep.”

“My mother did a wonderful job of reining in most of the local wildlife,” Sigrid said. “Most of the dangerous animals keep well clear of people and settlements because whenever they did cause trouble, she turned up, and they, well, died.”

“Saviour does that.” Arla sniffed Sigrid. One of Arla’s grandparents was a Faunus, but the only things she’d inherited from the old wolf Faunus was a slightly enhanced sense of smell and better than normal night vision. Still, the irony of someone who was part wolf Faunus being a shepherdess was not lost on either of them. “Did you have a bath before you came back? You don’t smell like a battlefield at all.”

“Ah.” Sigrid chuckled. “It was necessary to use Saviour immediately to prevent unnecessary casualties.”

“And Saviour prevents you from smelling?”

“Yes. Its defence is all but absolute. Blood, muck, grime, none of those can interact with someone using Saviour. By the time I turned it off, I was already on the transport back with Eira.”

“You know that seems horrible unfair. The last time I was on a battlefield, I ended up smelling awful.”

“I would prefer it if you weren’t on a battlefield without me,” Sigrid replied. 

That had happened several months ago, before Arla had moved to Arendelle. A large host of Grimm had advanced on Oerba, and the shepherdess had directed her flock to aid the warriors of her clan in repulsing the threat. Since her Semblance was basically an area-of-effect ability boost, her presence had turned what should have been a close battle into a rout. However, that hadn’t stopped the Grimm from noticing the threat and trying to eliminate her. Thankfully, a cadre of Yun warriors, along with her most trusted sheep had been able to repel any assassination attempts.

The next time Arla took to the battlefield, Sigrid would be with her and no threat would get anywhere near her. 

“I’m not totally hopeless, you know,” Arla replied. “I can take care of myself even if I’m not a walking apocalypse like you or your sister… or your parents… or your cousins… or well… basically everyone in your family.”

“I know.” Sigrid’s lips twitched. Arla was a skilled fighter. Being a shepherdess in the Yun Mountains meant knowing how to defend herself and her flock. She would have been solidly in the A Tier of huntresses if she ever got ranked, but Sigrid, her older sister, and both her parents were EX Tier huntresses, and she was confident her younger sibling would achieve an outstanding rating in time as well. “We are a bit odd, I suppose.”

“Meh.” Arla yawned. “My best friend is an Ancient Sheep, and my Semblance lets me turn my flock of sheep into an army. I’d say I’m pretty odd to.”

“Then you’ll fit right in.” Sigrid’s mind drifted slightly. She had proposed and Arla had accepted, but they had yet to set an exact date with the recent increase in Grimm activity. Perhaps she should let Saviour out a bit more, so they could be done with the Grimm and get married sometime in midwinter as was usually the custom for Arendelle’s royalty. Then again, Arla might prefer a different time, and Sigrid wasn’t particularly attached to a midwinter wedding. “Arla…”

She trailed off and smiled. While she’d been thinking Arla had fallen back asleep.

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Some more Sigrid, but older this time. She is gentler than both Averia and Lightning, which has led to her version of Saviour being somewhat more bloodthirsty than theirs (i.e., it defaults to extermination as a method of dealing with problems more than theirs do). I can only imagine how happy Saviour would be to end up in WH40K. So much evil to slay. So much corruption to extirpate.

Arla is an easy going person too. One of the things she does to win Lightning’s approval is to get along really well with the flock of sheep Lightning once saved. Indeed, they eventually get brought over and join her flock. To Diana’s aggravation, the sheep that is her mortal enemy actually quite likes Arla. Sigrid’s choice of spouse helps set a trend that persists throughout history. Despite being related to the royal family, bearers of Saviour marry for love. Choosing a suitable spouse is vital for their mental health, and an insane or otherwise mentally compromised bearer of Saviour would be devastating. 

And, yes, Sigrid and Arla do have a combination attack. It involves armouring and arming the sheep with Saviour-made armours and weapons. It looks absolutely ridiculous, but it is incredibly effective. Also, Lightning will never admit it, but Saviour-enhanced sheep look adorable right up until they start killing everything.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

You can find my original fiction on Amazon here.

[fieryrondo]

my top 25 favorite programs from the 2017-2018 season

So. We survived Olympic season. (Or did we?)

A few lessons gleaned from the past ten months: 

the season is indeed long

momentum is fleeting

in the wake of disaster there will always be skaters who shine (thank god)

eating pineapples and writing prayer fic is extremely therapeutic

Olympics hype really is all that

being an fs fan is equal parts suffering and reward, though often times it seems more of the former and less of the latter.

See below for twenty five of my favorite programs from what has been a most tumultuous season, roughly in order of enjoyment. There is no rhyme or reason to this list as it is purely subjective based on my taste, which is already questionable to begin with. To avoid cluttering the top spots with skaters I absolutely stan and would gladly die for, I have limited myself to one skater per program.

Re: performances from Olympics. It was notoriously difficult to find footage for many of these skates. Thanks ISU I’ve done my best to link to broadcast footage whenever possible but have resorted to a few fancam links for some of these performances. Please do not manipulate fancam footage without permission from the uploader; I’ve been guilty of reblogging gif-sets made from fancam footage (which 99% of the time have the watermark removed and are clearly uploaded without consent and credit to the fancam creator) and am now trying to be careful with what I reblog.

Without further ado, here are my top picks:

25. Jimmy Ma’s SP, Propaganda/Turn Down for What, 2018 US National Championships

A guilty pleasure but something this fun can’t be bad right? This is the kind of skating program I’d show to friends and family in real life who dismiss figure skating as a dated sport characterized by heavily used classical warhorse music almost everyone recognizes but can’t actually name.

24. Ross Miner’s FS, Queen Medley, 2018 US National Championships

While Nathan skated a very technically strong program at US Nationals, the free skate of the night for me went to Ross Miner, who roused the crowd into a roar when he had the skate of his career and made a convincing bid for the Olympic team. Fun and electric, this program sparkled with energy from start to finish.

23. Moa Iwano’s SP, Asturias, 2017 JGP Austria

I generally don’t pay much attention to the junior skaters (so much skating, so little time!), but this talented lady from Kobe caught my eye during the JGP series. There were quite a few tangos this season but this one was by far the best one (that’s right, the best tango this season came from a 13-year-old). While her jump technique is not the best, Moa has an impressive sense of musicality beyond most skaters her age. I’ll definitely be following her more closely in the seasons to come.

22. Keegan Messing’s FS, Chaplin Medley, 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics

Thanks to a certain Spanish skater, I’ve developed a soft spot for Chaplin programs and while Keegan didn’t manage to skate this program clean, I really enjoyed it. It’s cheeky, charming, charismatic and full of fun choreographic details that bring the program to life. With an exodus of Canadian men retiring this season, Keegan will be among the oldest. He really hit his stride this season; here’s hoping he snags his first Canadian title next season!

21. Patrick Chan’s FS, Hallelujah, 2017 Skate Canada

Enjoyed...is not quite the right word to describe my feelings when I saw this particular skate via live stream. Shocked to pieces was more like it, and perhaps an overwhelming sadness to see him struggle so much. This skate would set the tone for the rest of Patrick’s final competitive season--a mentally, physically and emotionally taxing end to a competitive career most skaters can only dream of having. While this skate was a technical disaster--he skated a total of only two clean triples--it is nonetheless beautiful in the way a withering flower is; a remnant of elegance, an echo of years of skill, a lament for what could have been.

20. Yuna Shiraiwa’s FS, Pictures at an Exhibition, 2017 Internationaux de France

I had a hard time with this one because I adore both of Yuna’s programs this season, set to two very interesting pieces of music. Her FS, “Pictures at an Exhibition” won by a slim margin mostly because I love Mussorgsky and “Pictures at an Exhibition” is one of my favorite suites of all time--I also realize now that it’s really really difficult music to skate to because of the million tempo changes, key changes and the fact that half of the movements are very slow and not at all suited to skating. It’s a highly ambitious program for a 15-year-old and choreographically there are a couple of abrupt music changes that break up the flow (it’s mostly variations of the Promenade theme with a few other movements spliced in) but I really appreciated the challenge she took with a riskier but interesting piece of music. Looking forward to more exciting programs next season!

19. Nathan Chen’s FS, Mao’s Last Dancer, 2017 US International Classic

Super early in the season when skater after skater hopped onboard the recycling train like there was no tomorrow, I was ecstatic to hear Nathan bring forth two brand new programs. While Nemesis proved to be an instant hit, I was drawn to the free, an intriguing blend of Chinese music and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (avant-garde eargasm!!!). Mao’s Last Dancer had the potential to become a truly memorable and complete program. While the strategy to strip down the choreography in favor of hitting the technical elements later in the season was a practical choice, alas the performance I enjoyed the most happened to be its debut. 

18. Cheng Peng/Yang Jin’s SP, Assassin’s Tango, 2017 Finlandia Trophy

What a rough season they’ve had :/ But I loved their short program, which they only managed to skate clean internationally exactly once this season. For some reason, after Finlandia, this short never really clicked for them (missing the cutoff for the free at Olympics was tragic) and they ended up returning to their tried and tested short from last season for their post-Olympics redemption in Milan. It’s a cute and fun program and they skated it best here.

17. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres’ FS, The Sound of Silence, 2018 World Championships

After a strong start to the season led to a lackluster 4th place finish at Europeans, James/Cipres scrapped their initial free program to return to a program they were much more comfortable with, a strategic move that paid off when they rebounded at the Olympics and at Worlds with season’s bests and a shiny Worlds medal :) While it is not a technically perfect performance (see their 2017 World Team Trophy for a clean skate), there’s a lot of power and passion in it.

16. Carolina Kostner’s SP, Ne me quitte pas, 2018 World Championships

Simply divine! I have nothing else to add except that this was a breathtakingly exquisite performance, and I’m glad Carolina was able to perform this program to perfection in front of her home crowd.

15. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani’s FD, Paradise, 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics

I admit I wasn’t immediately sold on the Shibutanis’ final program to their self-proclaimed “Trilogy”. “Fix You” was an amazing program, the best program of their career so far, and as with all sequels, it was tough to imagine “Paradise” could be better. But somehow things started to pull together once they made a few tweaks midway through the season and they pulled off a magical performance in Pyeongchang. Technically brilliant but also brimming with emotion, a performance absolutely worthy of Olympic bronze.

14. Elizabet Tursynbaeva’s FS, The Prayer, 2017 Internationaux de France

I fell in love with Elizabet last season (particularly her free skate to “Princess Mononoke”) and was very excited to see what programs should would do next. And she did not disappoint. Besides having the only acceptable Carmen this season, I also loved her free skate to Celine Dion’s “The Prayer”- it’s light and lyrical, a good fit for her. She still rushes through the choreography and some of her spins look really weird to me but she has made enormous strides in her presentation despite being hampered with a serious hip injury midway through the season. She’s lovely to watch, so floaty and quick over the ice.

13. Adam Rippon’s FS, Birds, 2017 NHK Trophy

What can I say? I loved this program last season and seeing it again this season was even more spectacular. The attentiveness to the music, the choreographic touches with bird movements, the meditative atmosphere. It’s just a very beautiful program. Adam has such a vibrant personality that obviously shines in his more “showy” programs, but I think I enjoy seeing his softer, lyrical programs best. 

12. Wenjing Sui/Cong Han’s FS, Turandot, 2017 NHK Trophy

As a fairly new fan, I don’t have the same level of distaste for warhorses as veteran fans do (I imagine this will change once I have more years of figure skating watching under my belt). It’s not as poignant or as memorable as “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” from last season, but I admit I still very much enjoyed this skate, if only because Sui/Han were the ones skating it. Did I wish they had picked something a little more interesting? Yes, but they’re Sui/Han. They can make anything look good.

11. Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed’s FD, The Last Emperor/Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 2018 World Championships

Kana is the best thing that has ever happened to Japanese ice dance (Chris, you’re cool too.) I’m so weak for this genre of music and ever since I discovered a certain tiny queen skated to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, I’ve been waiting to hear it again. I’m a sucker for nature imagery and you really get the sensation of the passage of time and the movement of the seasons. Watching this is like taking a breath of spring air.

10. Boyang Jin’s SP, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2018 Four Continents Championships

Meh movie, great music. My favorite Boyang program to date, it was really exciting to see him attempt something more serious, a heftier program that would expand the emotional range of his skating. His short program was brilliant at Olympics, but I enjoyed Four Continents a little more because it was such a comeback after an injury-filled first half of the season. Out of the new generation of rising quadsters, he’s made the most improvement and I have no doubt he’ll continue to grow over the next quad. Onwards and upwards, Boyang!

9. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue’s FD, Across the Sky/Caught Out in the Rain, 2018 US National Championships

My favorite free dance of the season! You can always count on Hubbell/Donohue to do something a little offbeat. Blues is a bit of an unusual choice of music for a free dance (which tend to be either lyrical or warhorsey drama) but it fits them like a glove. After building some good momentum earlier this season, a few fatal errors in the free including an invalidated choreographic sequence left them trailing in 4th, just shy of the podium at the Olympics. They rebounded to claim their first Worlds medal a month later, which was a special moment to witness but I felt their Nationals performance was the most passionately skated.

8. Tatsuki Machida’s EX, Swan Lake: Siegfried and His Destiny, 2017 Carnival on Ice

Go big or go home. The time and technical requirements of amateur competition are clearly too restrictive for Tatsuki’s genius :) Why cram the greatest hits of Swan Lake into a paltry two-minute program when you can really do it justice by skating to it for almost eight minutes instead? Tatsuki spares no expense for his epic-length programs. Every moment is meticulously thought out and is as extra af. We’re treated to almost a minute of dramatic music and a skater-less spotlight before Tatsuki appears. The star of Swan Lake is typically the swan (or the black swan) but no, that’s too conventional; let’s make Siegfried the guy everyone’s talking about instead. Drama hands! Floofy hair action! Seven straight seconds of twizzles in time with the tempo change! Dramatique feather posing because why not. Did that twenty seconds of absolute silence between movements make you uncomfortable? Good, because it’s all eyes on me! Skating so gorgeous you wouldn’t even notice there are only two jumps (both amazingly timed to the music), this is a visual and aural feast for the eyes. It’s a Swan Lake to outclass all other Swan Lakes that have been, that are, and that will be.

7. Akiko Suzuki’s EX, O, 2018 The Legends

[inserts crying emoji] A regret I have is not becoming a fan when Akiko was still skating competitively. I love this program soso much and seeing it brought back again was a real treat. The choreographic sequence still sends shivers down my spine <333

6. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir’s FD, Moulin Rouge, 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics

Scintillating. Flawless. The pinnacle of ice dance. It’s the kind of performance that just sears into your mind for a long, long time. Though they didn’t get perfect marks here, it’s as perfect a skate you’ll find.

5. Wakaba Higuchi’s FS, Skyfall, 2018 World Championships

Such a cool and sleek program. I like the blue dress more than this one but this was easily the free skate of the ladies in Milan for me. A passionate and powerful skate, it was really nice to see Wakaba come back strong after a disappointing Nationals finish and hit it at Worlds. Reigning World Silver Medalist! (now please give her the PCS she deserves)

4. Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot’s FS, La terre vue du ciel, 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics

Wow. Just wow. I went in as a Sui/Han fan but wow, this free skate is gorgeous and sweeps me away every time I watch it. And they performed it to perfection at GPF, Olympics, and Worlds. The choreography is amazing and unique, and apparently full of little touches to previous programs (like the star catching moment from “The Lighthouse”, their free program last season). Dominant, majestic, and absolutely exhilarating to watch. I can watch this again and again and never tire of it.

3. Satoko Miyahara’s FS, Madame Butterfly, 2017-18 Japanese National Championships

While her short program is more loved (as it should be, it is an amazing work of art, Lori really outdid herself, you should go watch it ^^), I think I enjoyed her free skate more simply because it’s given her so many Moments this season. Coming back from a slew of injuries, including a serious hip injury from last season, it was highly questionable if she would even be able to make it to the Olympics at all. But Satoko silenced all doubters again and again, at Skate America and then at Japanese Nationals, where she gave the free skate of her career with an emotive and stunning performance that carried her to her Olympic dream on butterfly wings ^^. Triumphant, mesmeric, spectacular-it is a Madame Butterfly that rewrites the tragic ending into one of hope, a story that is entirely Satoko’s.

2. Javier Fernandez’s FS, Man of La Mancha, 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics

(password to video link: man of la mancha)

A skater from a small federation, from a country where figure skating barely exists, Javier has written history again and again. And what a journey it has been! From finishing 35th at his first Worlds appearance in 2007, Javier would go on to qualify for his first Olympics in Vancouver and become the first Spanish skater to win Europeans, to win Worlds, and ultimately, to win an Olympic medal. It feels appropriate that “Man of La Mancha”, an unapologetically Spanish program that perfectly captures the essence of Javier’s career--”to dream the impossible dream”--is to be the program to stake his Olympic dream on, And his Olympic dream truly seemed almost impossible in the months leading up to Pyeongchang. An uncharacteristically disastrous free at the Cup of China disqualified him from making the Grand Prix Final for the first time since 2013. And while his Chaplin short clicked for him (also excellent, highly recommended), he struggled with the free all season long. Unabashedly romantic, with just the right amount of earnest cheese (the best kind) and aged whimsy, “Man of La Mancha” is my favorite Javier free skate and I’m so glad he was able to skate it to its fullest potential at the competition that mattered most.

1. Yuzuru Hanyu’s FS, Seimei, 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics

What makes a skate great? Legendary? Memorable? It’s easy to jump to the pristine “Seimei” in Barcelona, the ethereal cleanliness of “Hope & Legacy” in Helsinki, or even the world-record breaking (again) “Ballade No.1″ in Montreal. While all of these skates are indeed great, legendary, and certainly memorable, I find my thoughts turning instead to a young seventeen-year-old Romeo in Nice, unleashing his battle cry after a dramatic fall as he fought through a sprained ankle to win his first Worlds medal. Clean performances are definitely great, but great skates don’t need to be clean. At the end of the day, what makes a skate great is in the struggles overcome, hardships endured, fears mastered, doubts silenced; in spite of it all, to manage to find joy and fulfillment in not only what you have accomplished but also in the thorny path that has led you there. It’s not as perfect as Barcelona, but the Seimei in Pyeongchang offers a different kind of magnificence, a triumph in more ways than one.

[impurelight]

iOS VS Android

I recently got an iPhone and with WWDC come and gone I thought I'd reflect on some of the differences between the two devices. Because I've seen a lot of comparisons between the two devices and they always talk about the superficial things that no one really cares about.

Like this phone has a 120 Hz display. This phone has feature X. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what is it like to use?

Things I Like About The iPhone

In short the iPhone is just nicer than Android. Things are just designed a little better. Things work a little better. Like the bottom navbar. It's a complete joke on Android.

I wrote about it here. On my custom rom all of my complaints have been addressed. But it is a highly tweaked rom so I'm not sure if this applies to the base Android 11.

But still there is a black spot under the navbar in most apps including mine. I haven't figured out how to remove it in Flutter just yet.

Taptic Engine

OMG. The Taptic engine is amazing. And going back to my previous Xiaomi phone; that phone's vibration is complete trash. And apps know the taptic engine is amazing because they'll use it all the time. Android apps will never use vibration. Probably because they know it feels just meh.

Although I think I tried a Samsung phone once and it had similar haptics. Only the flagship. Apparently the A-series still has the garbage haptics that most Android phones have.

This begs the question though: why doesn't the default iOS keyboard support keyboard haptics. Instead you get this terrible tapping sound. What year is this? 2005?

I installed Gboard to try to get around this problem and it has an option for haptic feedback on the keys but it doesn't work that well.

Raise To Wake

This is a pretty neat feature. On an Android phone to wake it you need to press the power button. On an iPhone it just wakes up whenever it senses that you lifted the phone up basically making the power button redundant.

It took a little time getting used to. I'd turn off the phone's screen just for it to wake right up.

So I guess you're supposed to just let the phone's screen time out to turn it off. It's really weird. It's a nice to have but I don't think Apple really thought this one through.

Oh, yeah, you can also wake the device just by tapping on it. Which is cool I guess. Some Android phones let you wake them by double tapping. It's just a single tap here though.

Truetone

I love truetone. It looks so good. Although to be fair you can't really notice it unless you're comparing the iPhone to an Android phone. But then you really notice it.

FaceID

I'm filing this one under the things I like category although I don't really have that strong feelings for FaceID.

Android phones usually have a fingerprint reader. Most of the new phones have an under display one. It's alright but if your finger is wet it won't work which can be annoying.

So FaceID will work with a wet finger. But now you have a new problem. If you're wearing a mask it won't work (although I think they might have fixed that). And if you're not looking a the phone it won't work.

I'm talking about when the phone is on the table and you power it up while it's still lying flat. It won't be able to find you. Not the attention feature which you can disable in settings.

Lack Of Back Button Wasn't A Problem

I thought it would be, I even enabled the back shortcut where you slide from the left. But every time you need to go back there's a context button in the top left. So you really don't need that button anymore.

Things I Don't Like About iOS

So I really think iOS is beautifully made. But it's also flawed. In my short time with iOS I'd have to conclude that ultimately iOS is a beautiful toy. It looks nice but it's not really intended to get any serious work done. So I will not be using it as my primary phone OS. And here's why.

The Notifications Are Terrible

OMG. How do you make notifications this bad? And in 2021 too! I would have thought a mobile OS would have figured this out. But no. Android's notifications were lightyears ahead of Apple's... 5 years ago. Now they're even better and Apple is stuck in the stone age.

OK, where do I begin. Well for starters your notifications only appear until you unlock the phone. Then they go to this weird limbo you can only get to by swiping down from the top left.

Oh, that's another thing I don't like. The quick pull down. I always hated it when some Android roms did it by default and I hate it here too.

Then what's next? How do you close notifications? By swiping? No! That's how you open the notifications. You have to press on the X button. One by one.

And notifications don't work that well either. I think I'm not receiving notifications while I'm using the phone. I'm not exactly sure that's the reason but that would explain why I don't receive a notification for 2 factor code messages.

Too Many Notification Badges

OK, I don't need to know I have over 3000 unread RSS stories. I'll get to them when I have time.

And yeah, sure, you can disable them. But then you have to go through them app by app which is annoying.

No Battery Percent In Status Bar

Now on Android it's more of an afterthought with only one small option which screams that some developer put it in for debugging and no one bothered to take it out. But I still wish it was there.

Some Apps Don't Allow IAP's

I opened the Audible app excited to be able to see the daily deals. Nope. Not on iOS. Sorry.

The Notch

OK, look. My previous phone was a Mi 9T which had a pop up camera and no notch or cutout of any kind so I may be a bit spoiled. But the iPhone's notch is really big and annoying. Not really in portrait. But in landscape games you really notice it.

You sort of learn to live with it, but it's still annoying.

Long Pressing The Power Button Doesn't Turn Off The Phone

This opens Siri instead which maybe I might get used to. But every other phone brings up the power down option when you long press the power button so this is very weird.

Even old iPhones brought up a power down slider when you held down the power button. I mean, it is called a power button y'know.

Square Corners On The Phone

OK, I have a case so this is a non-issue for me. But if you don't have a case it's very difficult to pick up from the table.

Square Corners on a phone are nice, but impractical.

Doesn't Have Android's Rotate Button

Android recently introduced this option that brought up an icon when you rotated the phone while you have rotation lock on. And I really love this feature.

Too bad Apple doesn't have it. How do you rotate the device? Go to the settings and disable rotation lock and then re-enable it again later. Like a barbarian.

Oh, well, at least the rotation animation is prettier than Android's. It seems to be the same animation though. Maybe it's played slower or something.