#hmds ruby

[kinokoshoujoart]

30 days of Harvest Moon day 21 — your otp / candlelight

surprise! i’ve drawn a lot of my otp already, so i wanted to highlight my favorite rarepair!

hmds ruby is implied to be a widow, so… i want the two widows to find love again (with each other)

[gus-dix]

my favorite character in harvest moon is Ruby (and thru her, Rock) she’s such a lovely lady... that i once wrote a fanfic all about her every day life and relationship with the villagers. the kid drawing and making sure Nami feels at home comes directly from it!

do not erase the caption, use or rePOST my art (reblog ok)

[durotoswrites]

For the writing meme thingy: 🍄how do you get yourself in the mood to write? 🍑 do you/would you write smut? 📒 any fics planned?

🍄 How do you get yourself in the mood to write?

Getting in the mood to write and actually wanting to sit down and start writing are two very different things, but they're connected, so I'll explain both.

To set into “creative mode” it helps me to do these things:

Listen to music that makes me think of a character/situation in my story/stories. I've got playlists separated by character and pairing. Sometimes I also just work on curating those playlists for fun and get my brain going.

Bounce overall ideas off of my friends and husband/editor (but he's my best friend, too 💗)

Reread old chapters or recent ones and future snippets based on what I want to do.

Once I actually want to put words down, I get a little more strict with myself. I get distracted verrrry easily sometimes and I have to fight the urge to open a million more tabs when researching a small detail.

I move to instrumental music (I have playlists for different moods like “emotional”, “soft”, “sad”, etc. I usually listen to “soft” as a general soothing background sound, as I can get pretty dang emotional when I write, especially with the stuff I've been churning out lately.

So, yeah, I need tissues within reach if I get upset. (Wow, I'm not making this sound fun at all, lmao)

After sound has been established, I like to eat a snack (something with protein) because I can be under for hours, lol. Eat it and finish it. Otherwise, I get distracted.

I also like to have drinks available. I always have a bottle of water, but I also like having a hot cup of tea. I think it's the time of year for me to switch to cold barley tea.

I write while seated on a recliner with my feet up. I have my laptop on a lap desk and it's a pretty cozy setup.

I basically try to remove any excuse I have to get up once I start writing, because I am the worst procrastinator I know.

🍑Do you/would you write smut?

Heheh... heck yeah, I do. Waaaaay more than most people realize. Stuff I've actually posted? It's pretty limited. I posted a couple pieces (Let Me Love You and You're Like the Sunshine) a few years ago, but I've been practicing ever since. One of my planned stories literally has what I refer to as a “smut dump” in the draft where I've been experimenting with writing different moods. I like the intimate scenes to play a role in the overall plot or have it be a bonding experience.

Despite that, I do have a shameless Gray x Mary story I should just get out there that has zero plot, just two cuties in love. In my mind it's so naughty and kinky and I get flustered thinking about it (Mary is hot, okay?), but it's probably hella vanilla, lmao. I really am grateful that people have been really supportive about my writing smut despite what I usually write, and they've been so encouraging, too! I honestly feel like the smut I've posted is really stilted because I was so self-conscious about it. I don't feel like they are terrible for first attempts, but I have definitely grown more comfortable writing it.

Will The Shy Newcomer become explicit? I kinda really want it to, but I might separate the chapters for those who don't care for that content. Overall, I'd like to write more and post more, and I want to write more than just male x female smut as well. I have some of those in my planned pieces (more about them later).

📒 Any Fics Planned?

Firstly, I'm super tickled more than one person was interested in this. I copied the answer I wrote earlier.

Short answer: Yes. I also plan to bring more of my stories over from ffn to Ao3.

Long answer under the cut, heheh. I rambled quite a bit.

Ask me about my writing processes and stories!

I have so many WIPs that haven’t been touched in years that I’d like to finish, so new planned fics aren’t posted yet. Some of them have more adult themes than most of the stuff I’ve been writing, so I get flustered sharing them. I’ve been at a crossroads, as I feel that you can’t have growth without changing things up. On the other hand, I feel like a lot of my readers associate my works with a specific “wholesome” feel-good mood. It’s kinda nice to be known for something, although that might just be my ego talking, thinking that people recognize my work as a “type”.

Regardless, in the end, I feel growth is necessary.

I don’t want to leave a lot of unfinished WIPs waiting because they stress me out and I have too many of them already, so I’d like to have a bulk of my new stories with a good chunk written before I decide to post them.

Among those include:

A longfic featuring Pete’s farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley (A blend of HMDS with the FoMT plugin and AWL). It takes place in the same universe as The Shy Newcomer (Claire in Mineral Town) and there are a few overlapping moments, although Pete’s story starts first. Pete’s personality is verrry different from Claire’s, and his story was kind of supposed to be the yang to TSN’s yin. Pete’s best friends in his story are Ruby (not sure if I’m adding Tim yet), Nami, and Rock. Readers will be treated to a poorly-socialized pre-Mineral Town Cliff (if you think he was bad at the beginning of TSN, well… heh… he’s a wreck here).

Another planned unpublished story is a crossover of Harvest Moon and the movie “In This Corner of the World”, based on a manga of the same name by Fumiyo Kouno. It was written as a gift for a friend. I have the entire outline figured out and have slowly been filling it in. My friend asked for an AU where Claire and Cliff have an arranged marriage and live with his family in Akiyama, the hometown I had created for Cliff in The Shy Newcomer. I took the opportunity to expand the characters in his family. I have it written during the same time period and society as “In This Corner of the World”, but had decided to write a spreading disease as an allegory for war, but then COVID happened and some parts of it just got really hard to write. There are also a lot of sexually explicit content as Claire slowly grows and learns from her spouse that it’s okay to express what she wants despite sex being a taboo issue. If there’s enough interest in the story, I’ll post it, but I worry it’s a little too niche for there to be many people into it.

Pastor Carter and Doctor Trent are one of my favorite rare pair ships. I’ve had a partial draft for a story about them for a few years now, especially focusing on Trent growing up and acknowledging that he has an unhealthy addiction for things that he knows he can’t have. There are some more adult/sexual themes in this piece, too, including the main character lusting after a married woman (who also happens to be his patient) and some lemons. (Does anyone call it that anymore or is it just referred to as “smut” nowadays? Haha) I always feel so bad for neglecting the folks at the clinic in-game and wanted to write a piece that focused more on them, Trent specifically. It’s a multi-chap fic, but I don’t think I’m going to let it get as long as some of my other pieces.

I also really want to write a short romantic oneshot for every marriage candidate in Mineral Town, around 1,000 words each. So far, I have one for Cliff and one for Gray. I want to write Claire with everyone, because I think it would be fun to explore all the different personalities.

I have more installments planned for A Single Day, including a day in the life of the following characters, all with drafts in varying degrees of progress:

Anna

Doug

Nora (yes, I’m writing from the point of view of the cat living at the inn)

More to come – I think Lillia and Thomas would be especially interesting to explore

I do still have that Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask piece I’ve been pondering where Link befriends the soul of the deku scrub child while possessed by the mask. I don’t have much written about it, but I really love the world of Majora’s Mask. Such a fun game.

I also think about the lead carpenter’s son in Ocarina of Time and that weird side quest involving the blue chicken and the son being lost to the forest. Then that unique-looking kokiri girl explaining that all who get taken in the lost woods become stalfos. Like, did the guy die? Was he sick? Did he want to die? There’s just so much going on there that would be fun to explore.

I also have played OMORI recently and have like… A LOT of feelings about it. I don’t know what I’d write, but I’m still damn impressed at how well the characters are developed in such a short game.

Other games I’ve had vague ideas about writing for include the following:

The Flame in the Flood: I’m thinking a survivalist/action story fleshing out Scout’s backstory a bit more and her thoughts as she’s traveling. I feel like she’s a very lonely person, but isn’t given the chance to really dwell on it.

Night In the Woods: I’d love to write more about Mae’s dreams and what they mean to her. She doesn’t really talk to anyone about them openly, so it’s really hard to tell her feelings about them in some regards. We know that she’s distressed about them, but I’d like to dive a little deeper. Do the nightmares end after the games does? What about Bea’s new nightmares?

Hades (Supergiant Games): I think it would be fun to write more about the events that take place before the game starts, like Zagreus’s duties in the house of Hades, and expand on the strained relationship with his father.

[animal-moon-harvest-crossing]

AWL remake maybe?

Seeing this post by @moon-dumplings has got me thinking about one!! Obviously, this isn’t concrete evidence that AWL will be the next game to remake, but seeing Forget-Me-Not Valley get name dropped within the game is exciting all the same!

So now it makes me think, what would I personally like to see in an AWL remake? And here’s what I’m thinking right off the top of my head:

The same marriage system as present in SoS FoMT, but with the inclusion of the bachelorettes and bachelors of HMDS and DS Cute. DS Cute gave us Griffin, Carter, and new character Skye as bachelors for Forget-Me-Not Valley alongside Gustafa, Marlin, and Rock. I would love to have them back again, as I think having a set of mostly older men as bachelors would actually be really nice to have again! And on the girls side, we’d see the return of Flora, the mermaid Leia, the mysterious Kiera, and the Witch Princess as returning bachelorettes. And then make them allll bisexual af. As it was meant to be anyway!! (And give us an in-game sprite for Mason, the hidden bachelor you meet on the phone.) I feel like the Mineral Town crew wouldn’t be included in this game as Mineral Town would then finally share a console with Forget-Me-Not Valley.

FoMT and AWL connectivity! Again, since both games would now share the same console, swapping data between them would be much easier, I feel! Maybe Lou/Ruby and Van would be able to bring back and forth more exclusive items to the games?

An open world again! AWL stands as one of my favorite HM games because there are no “grids” and invisible barriers to pass through to get from area to area. We know the switch is more than capable of pulling this off, and if Marvelous stays true to their mission of remakes being 1-1 recreations, we could truly see Forget-Me-Not Valley in full in beautiful HD. One of my favorite features from AWL was pressing the Z button and looking around the world from a first person perspective when outside. I would love to be able to do the same inside as well, BUT IN HIGH DEFINITION!!!!!

If the same crop system were to return, then I would hope to GOD that they make the hybrid system much, much easier to use. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than finally getting crops to grow, only to waste them and get a seed bag of the crop you just put in. And I would wish for a better way to befriend Tartan and make ways to influence a better outcome when hybridizing seeds with him.

A recipe book for the kitchen would be very nice so I don’t have to constantly remember/look up which ingredients I need and in what order to put them in when cooking.

More animals for ranching! But also some fixes to the ones already existing! Like, the goat continuing to produce milk after her first year, or duck eggs being distinctive from chicken eggs. Other than looking real cute...There wasn’t any real reason to have the ducks, especially since the hens would sit on their eggs for them. I would love the ducks to have some more purpose than just looking cute (but I still love them lol). And for the goat, maybe she too could have her own breeding system?? Multiple goats perhaps??

Okay so the big question would be- How to handle the aging system with your child. Would it be the same, having you influence your child interests to push them into a certain career as they (and you, and everyone else) get older? Or would it be like DS/Cute where they grow into being a teenager and then stop?

Assuming the former on the previous bullet point, I would love to a more in-depth system. Things that just kinda make it clear where your child is heading, and maybe more cutscenes within chapters that show them learning from their chosen mentor, as opposed to waiting for the between chapter cutscene. But also, a way to push your child towards farming/ranching without having to basically forsake everything else in the game to achieve that lmao.

In DS/Cute, there were rival marriages! I know we’re probably never going to get these back, but if they could for this one game, I would want the ones they introduced in DS, and maybe those couples could also have children of their own! So say you marry Muffy at the end of ch1, and then Marlin and Celia, and Rock and Lumina, and Nami and Gustafa (so on and so forth) all have respective, unique children together (ala Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade). Their kids would grow up alongside yours, maybe becoming rivals with one another based off their interests?? It’s a stretch of a wish, but I feel like it would really make Forget-Me-Not Valley feel more alive, especially as since the Valley is already full of older folk who realistically shouldn’t have outlived you (like Ramona and Sebastian). It would just be nice to know that F-M-N Valley gets left in younger hands once the protagonist passes away.

Whoof, that post ended up way longer than I anticipated! What do you think so far? What other features would you like to see in a possible AWL remake that I didn’t mention here? I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts and ideas!

[backtomineraltown]

So, I saw this article today and I actually thought about the possibility of more remake while I was playing my SoS: Mineral Town game.

I was thinking about AWL/DS remake specifically, because Doctor suddenly mentioned about 'the weird but capable doctor he knows about' in Forget Me Not Valley and Brandon asks me if I have ever heard about a place called Forget Me Not Valley and how he wants to visit it one day.

That could probably just a random lines they mutter as Van and Ruby are indeed in this game, yet I can't help but still feel a bit curious if they are hinting for something more....

Personally I would rather a new game or other game to be remake, like AP, ToT, GB, MM or even better my beloved STH. But I won't be surprised if they will actually go with HMDS/Cute.

[harvestmoonconfessionsv2]

So this is a bit random but sometimes, especially when I play some of the older HM games like FOMT and HMDS, I wonder what it would be like to be able to play as all the other characters and get to know them as well as the main character. It would be cool to have a HM game a bit like Fantasy Life, where we could mine and run a Blacksmith with Grey, run a supermarket with Karen, cut wood and construct buildings with Gotz, be a botany expert with Basil, run an Inn with Ann or Ruby, create cool artworks with Cody, make scientific breakthroughs with Daryl, be an archeologist with Flora, look after patients with Dr Trent, Dr Hardy or Elli, make music with Gustafa, and so on. And the decisions they make impact the game as much as the main character’s decision, and their success helps other people’s success in their jobs. E.g. Basil could find medicinal plants to help the doctors, or if the Inn does well, the supermarket does well because there are more tourists, etc. Even if it was just as a minigame, I think it would be a cool concept.

[shropsnews4u]

Shrewsbury + Local schoolpupils help Holocaust Memorial Day cherry tree orchard to grow across Shropshire

Shropshire Council is thanking local schoolpupils at Onny Primary School and Lydbury North Primary School in south west Shropshire, and at Mereside Primary School in Shrewsbury, for their particular efforts in helping the cCouncil and interfaith forums in Shropshire to grow a Holocaust cherry tree orchard of remembrance across the county.

Onny Primary School tree-planting. Adults, left to right: Vicky Reynolds, Headteacher; Imam Sohayb Peerbhai; Reverend Justin Parker; Councillor David Evans; Lois Dale; Mark Michaels. Pupils, left to right: Megan Law, Ashley Holdsworth, Felicity Homer, Henry Carter.

This year, for which the theme is “Stand Together”, saw national Holocaust Memorial Day marked with the planting of the 11th and 12th trees with the two schools in the south west, and the measuring of the first tree, planted at Mereside in 2015.

Onny Primary School. Left to right: Olivia Simms, Robb Morgan, Vicky Reynolds (Headteacher), Lois Dale (Shropshire Council’s rurality and equalities specialist).

Mark Michaels, for the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, said:

“This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. As we lose the last survivors who can give a first-hand account, it becomes even more important that we continue to communicate this essential message to future generations.”

Local Shropshire Councillors David Evans and Ruth Houghton helped to plant the trees at Onny and at Lydbury North respectively, with four pupils helping in each case. This followed school assemblies, where the councillors, Mark Michaels and Imam Sohayb Peerbhai spoke to the children, and at which the children sang a song they had learnt for the occasion. The youngest and oldest children lit a candle of remembrance at each school. Prayers were also said by the interfaith forums.

Lydbury North Primary School tree planting. Adults, left to right: Lois Dale; Councillor Ruth Houghton; Vicky Reynolds; Mark Michaels; Imam Sohayb Peerbhai. Pupils, left to right: Ethan Terry, Harry Jones, Ruby Newton-Geddes and Milly Pearce.

Ruth Houghton (Bishop’s Castle) and David Evans (Church Stretton and Craven Arms), are local Shropshire Councillors for the areas in which the schools operate, and said:

“The children at Onny and Lydbury North were an absolute credit to themselves and to their schools as the St Michael’s Federation, very much living up to the theme of “Stand Together”. Letters of thanks will be coming out to them from Shropshire Council, in which we will include how impressed Imam Sohayb Peerbhai and Mark Michaels were as well, and how much they enjoyed talking with the children.

Lydbury North Primary School. Left to right: Imogen Carter, Lois Dale (Shropshire Council’s rurality and equalities specialist), Erin Bills.

Councillor David Evans added:

“Where the Onny tree has now been planted, in the field near to St Michael’s Church, used to be allotments that the children tended to back in the day when I was at school here. It will be grand to see this tree growing and being looked after by this generation of children. The tree planting at Onny was absolutely fantastic, and the way the children conducted themselves was great. The singing was out of this world and it was a pleasure to take part. Well done Onny.”

Councillor Ruth Houghton said:

“The tree at Lydbury North is the first tree that I have been privileged to plant as a Shropshire Councillor, and it was a pleasure to be involved. I am particularly pleased about the Syrian refugee family involvement in the successful South Shropshire Interfaith Forum art project around the cherry tree motif, given my role in supporting and placing refugee families whilst I was an officer at the council. I will be back to visit the tree as well as the children, as a lifelong resident of this beautiful rural part of Shropshire, and I will enjoy watching it flourish.”

Local Shropshire Councillors Jane Mackenzie and Tony Parsons (who both represent Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton) took part in a ceremony at the Mereside tree, where children had individually prepared narratives about personal experiences of the Holocaust and what it must have been like. Reverent Ken Chippindale, for the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum, read the prayer at this ceremony, where Mr Michaels and Imam Sohayb Peerbhai also spoke with the children.

Councillor Jane Mackenzie said:

“It is lovely to see that this first tree we planted together here at Mereside in 2015 is now clearing three metres in height, and that it has lots of buds coming.  It was a pleasure to hear from the children, and along with Tony Parsons I must commend the children on showing how important it is to think of the individuals who lived through the atrocity as well as those who did not. I am sure they will continue to look after their tree.”

Lois Dale, Shropshire Council’s rurality and equalities specialist, said:

“We have been very fortunate in the support we continue to have from the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum and the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum, alongside local Shropshire Councillors, in working with primary schools since 2015 on this initiative. Our joint efforts are very much focused on helping local schoolpupils to learn about the Holocaust and other genocides and to learn about the importance of faiths working together.

In planting these trees, our aim is to provide a fitting memorial for those who survived the Holocaust and other genocides, and for those who did not, which will grow with the children and spread a message of peace. I echo the words of Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for communities, place planning and regulatory services, before these ceremonies, whose stated hope is that: ‘every child involved in the 2020 ceremonies in the south west, at the first tree planted at Mereside in 2015, and in any other ceremonies in schools across the county, will take these lessons to heart and grow up to help make this world a better place.'”

The two cherry trees were planted on the morning of Monday 27 January 2020, one at Onny School and one at Lydbury North School: one from Shropshire Council and one from the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum. The schools together form the St Michael’s Federation and take trees as their theme, growing together, making it a very apt choice for 2020.

The council was once again supported by Mereside School, where the first cherry tree was planted in 2015, and returned to Mereside in the afternoon for a ceremony with Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum, South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, and Jane Mackenzie and Tony Parsons, local Shropshire Councillors for Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton. The Mereside tree was measured by the children in 2019 as being 2.9 metres at that time.

Further information

In addition to the ceremonies a display in the foyer at Shirehall in Shrewsbury ran through from Wednesday 22 January to Wednesday 29 January 2020.

The local background here is that Shropshire Council is continuing efforts to grow a cherry tree orchard of remembrance across Shropshire, working with primary and secondary schools, with Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum and South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, and with local Shropshire Councillors. We identify a primary school each year, and are seeking to spread the orchard across the county and to cover all points of the compass in so doing. The schools for 2020 represent the south and west of the county.

The orchard had a growth spurt in 2016, when we were also able to provide for five secondary schools to have trees as well, through the Incredible Edible project running that year. Having begun in the centre in 2015, with Mereside C of E School, we have planted in the north at Woodside Academy in Oswestry, and in the south at Bishop Hooper School in Ashford Carbonell, where a second tree, kindly donated by the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, had to be planted in 2018 after rabbits ate the first one. The tree for the centre and west of the county was planted at Trinity CofE in Ford in 2018. The 2019 tree was planted at St Peter’s CofE School in Wem, representing the north and east of the county.

South Shropshire Interfaith Forum was successful in a bid to see artwork selected for a national exhibition to mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, held in London as part of the national service of remembrance on Holocaust Memorial Day, Monday 27 January 2020.

The artwork was produced by local children from Syrian refugee families settled in Shropshire, at a family event held at the mosque in Craven Arms. It takes the cherry tree leaf as its motif in recognition of the work that the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum and the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum carry out with the council and local primary schools to plant a memorial cherry tree every year in Shropshire. It comprises painted leaves that together form a flame, over a map of Shropshire.

Schools that are planning or have carried out commemorative activities, now or later in the year, are asked to contact the council, in order that a full round up might then be possible to share at national level. Schools with cherry trees have also been asked to measure them in order see how they are growing in each locality. Activities do not have to be confined to around the date of national Holocaust Memorial Day.

For more information about the 2020 theme, please see resources on the HMD Trust website at www.hmd.org.uk

The post Local schoolpupils help Holocaust Memorial Day cherry tree orchard to grow across Shropshire appeared first on Shropshire Council Newsroom.

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[takachan]

富士通のノートPC工場に潜入!　「富士通パソコン組み立て教室」参加レポート・後編

先日の記事（富士通最軽量ノート組み立てに小学生が挑戦!「富士通パソコン組み立て教室」参加レポート・前編）で、島根県で開催された「富士通パソコン組み立て教室」体験レポートの前編をまとめましたが、後編では、組み立て教室の後に行われた島根富士通の工場見学や、Rubyプログラミング教室、メディア対抗デザイン対決などをお伝えしていきます！ ご当地キャラも参加した工場見学 パソコン組み立て教室が無事終わったのち、訪れたのは島根富士通のノートパソコン製造工場です。精密機器を扱っているということで、全員が髪の毛をヘアーキャップにおさめ、さらに大人は白衣着用。スタッフの案内で富士通製ノートパソコンが作られている現場を案内してもらいました。しかし、この工場見学、単なる案内では終わりません。途中には「ネジ留め大会」をはじめとした工場ならてはのイベントを用意されており、参加者たちを楽しませてくれました。 最初に紹介されたのが、工場で実際に使われているネジ留めの電動ドライバーシステム。ネジをどんどん留めていく"匠"の鮮やかな手つきは、思わず見入ってしまうほど。さらに、島根富士通がある出雲市斐川町のご当地キャラ「湯あがり美人姫 やがみちゃん」も登場し、子供たちといっしょにねじまわしコンテストに挑戦してくれることになりました。 ▲ネジ留めに挑戦するやがみちゃん。その表情は真剣（？）です。 ▲組み立てですっかりネジ回しに魅了された小学生男子。放っておけば、延���とネジ留めを楽しんでいそうでした。 ▲初めて見る大型機械に興味津々。ひとつひとつの役割を現場のスタッフの方が説明してくれます。 ▲白いテープのように見える部分に、微細部品と呼ばれるごくごく小さいパーツがついており、高速で基盤に実装していく「高速マウンター」。 ▲工場の真ん中にお菓子の自動販売機が!?　と思ったら、なんと半田ペーストの品質と在庫管理のために自社で作成したという���販機マシン「貯蔵君」でした。 工場の中には、普段目にすることのない大型機械が並んでおり、改めて「一台のノートパソコンができあがるまでには、さまざまな工程を経ている」ということを実感できます。子どもはもちろん、大人にも非常に興味深いものがありました。 ▲できあがったノートパソコンのタッチパネルの性能をチェックするコーナー。 ▲組み立て教室に参加した子供たちが、大会形式で性能チェックを行いました。ゲーム感覚で楽しめるので、みんな夢中です。 子ども達が好きなデザインを選ぶ「メディア対抗デザインコンテスト」 楽しい工場見学が終わった後は、会場に用意された富士通製品のタッチ&トライコーナーで試遊。 小学生向けノートパソコン「LIFEBOOK LH55/C2」や「LH35/C2」をはじめ、最新のVRが体験できるコーナーも用意されていました。 ▲発売されたばかりの、小学生向けパソコン「LIFEBOOK LH55/C2」では、「ふくまろタイピング」を楽しむ子どもが多かったです。 ▲HMDを装着してのVR体験も用意されていました。ただし、年齢制限あり。 そして、開催されたのが「メディア対抗デザイン対決」。 前編でご紹介した、会場で実際に組み立てたノートパソコン。実は、メディア3社の分だけ、それぞれのオリジナルデザインになっていました。これは事前に各メディアが考えたデザインを当日公開し、参加者に投票をしてもらい、人気デザインを決めるという企画だったのです。 ▲取材に参加したメディア3社のデザイン。手前から、出雲にちなんだイラスト満載のインプレス「PC Watch」、自社のかわいいキャラクター"マイナビベア"をデザインしたマイナビ「マイナビニュース」、一番奥が、我が「Engadget」です。 ▲Engadgetは、黒いボディに金や銀の模様をあしらった大人っぽいデザイン。 投票は、3社のデザインを見た子供たちが、好きなデザインのところに集まるという方法をとりましたが、なんと男子の圧倒的な支持を受け、我がEngadgetが僅差で1位という結果になりました。 個人的には、マイナビニュースのかわいいデザインも、出雲の特産物や名所が描かれたイラストが並ぶPC Watchのデザインもとても素晴らしく、甲乙つけがたいものがあったと思います。 1位になったEngadget日本版の矢崎編集長が、自ら手掛けたというデザインのポイントを語りつつ、しっかりEngadget日本版も宣伝してきました。 Rubyを学ぶプログラミング体験 そして、最後のお楽しみはプログラミング教室。島根にちなみ、島根在住のまつもとゆきひろ氏が手掛けた「Ruby」を学びました。 「Rubyなんて難しそう......」というイメージがあったのですが、今回使われたのはRubyと互換性のある「Smalruby」です。「Scratch」などと同じようにブロックをつなげてプログラムしていくビジュアルプログラミングのため、小学生でも簡単にゲームなどを作成することができました。 ���Rubyプログラミング少年団が開発した「Smalruby」。開発者である高尾宏治氏が、講師を担当しました。 ▲プログラミング大好きな小学生は、食いつき気味にRubyを楽しんでいました。 他ではできない体験が詰まったパソコン組み立て教室 こうして昼から4時間にわたって行われた「富士通パソコン組み立て教室」は終了しました。 振り返ってみると、初めてのパソコン組み立てに始まり、工場見学、プログラミング体験と、機械やモノづくりが好きな子どもにとってはたまらない、実に内容の濃いイベントでした。そして、組み立てでは子供たちに丁寧につきそい、工場見学でも参加者を楽しませるためのたくさんの工夫を凝らしてくれた島根富士通のスタッフの方々の心遣いも十分に感じられました。 「富士通パソコン組み立て教室」の対象は、小学5年生から中学生。毎年夏休み期間に開催されますので、興味のあるご家庭は、ぜひ今のうちから来年の参加をご検討してみてはいかがでしょうか。ほかではなかなかできない経験が得られるので、夏休みの自由研究にもおすすめです。ちなみに、我が家では今年の夏休みは、今回の体験をもとに、「パソコンができるまで」を自由研究としてまとめる予定です（ただいま、絶賛制作中）。 ▲パソコン組み立て教室でいただいたおみやげ。マウスには記念のロゴも入っています。子どもが一番喜んだのは、名探偵コナンとふくまろくんのコラボグッズでした。 http://j.mp/2P5ZpuH Engadget Japanese

[vrheadsets]

EVE: Valkyrie Wormholes Update Coming Next Week

Over the past few months CCP Games has been busy pushing more features and head-mounted display (HMD) support for its online shooter EVE: Valkyrie. Since October the studio has released to big updates Joint Strike and Gatecrash whilst adding support for PlayStation VR and HTC Vive for cross-platform warfare. Today the developer has announced its next major update, Wormholes, featuring some exotic game modes.

Wormholes – the fourth free update for EVE: Valkyrie – will see a new wormhole appear every weekend. Venturing inside, players will find new gameplay opportunities, from mined control points to Supermissiles and more, with the combinations possibly endless.

The update will bring a new Leagues alpha feature to increase the competitive spirit of the videogame. In this early version players earn points toward League status by playing competitive multiplayer matches. Beginning at Emerald, they’ll then be able to progress to Sapphire, Ruby, and ultimately Diamond, for the lofty few.

Also included is HOTAS (hands-on-throttle-and-stick) support for PlayStation 4, improvements to Com Alerts based on feedback from the community, plus various enhancements to performance and stability.

EVE: Valkyrie Wormholes will go live for PlayStation VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift on 15th February. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2kHPuxg

[durotoswrites]

For the Ask Game! 🧑 favorite character to write? And/Or 📒any fics planned?

Sorry for the delay on these - my heat exhaustion has left me knocked out for a while.

🧑 Favorite character to write:

Short answer: Harvest Moon's Cliff (all incarnations)

Long answer: I don't think it's really any secret that my favorite Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons characters to write for are the ones that reside at Doug's Inn. I see Doug, Ann, Gray, Kai, and Cliff as a large, dysfunctional family – AKA Doug and all of his children, haha. There are so many different personalities in one small space playing off of one another, and there's so much fun to be had. I loved how all the guys in shared a room in the GBA version of Mineral Town. It kinda reminds me of those cheesy sitcoms where clashing personalities all reside under the same roof. That being said, there is a particular shy, reclusive young man who blossoms with confidence as he finds purpose in his life. Bonus: he comes with a vague, tragic past that has tons of potential for exploration. I have a hard time resisting woobie-type characters.

📒 Any Fics Planned?

Short answer: Yes. I also plan to bring more of my stories over from ffn to Ao3.

Long answer under the cut, heheh. I rambled quite a bit.

Ask me about my writing processes and stories!

I have so many WIPs that haven't been touched in years that I'd like to finish, so new planned fics aren't posted yet. Some of them have more adult themes than most of the stuff I've been writing, so I get flustered sharing them. I've been at a crossroads, as I feel that you can't have growth without changing things up. On the other hand, I feel like a lot of my readers associate my works with a specific “wholesome” feel-good mood. It's kinda nice to be known for something, although that might just be my ego talking, thinking that people recognize my work as a “type”.

Regardless, in the end, I feel growth is necessary.

I don't want to leave a lot of unfinished WIPs waiting because they stress me out and I have too many of them already, so I'd like to have a bulk of my new stories with a good chunk written before I decide to post them.

Among those include:

A longfic featuring Pete's farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley (A blend of HMDS with the FoMT plugin and AWL). It takes place in the same universe as The Shy Newcomer (Claire in Mineral Town) and there are a few overlapping moments, although Pete's story starts first. Pete's personality is verrry different from Claire's, and his story was kind of supposed to be the yang to TSN's yin. Pete's best friends in his story are Ruby (not sure if I'm adding Tim yet), Nami, and Rock. Readers will be treated to a poorly-socialized pre-Mineral Town Cliff (if you think he was bad at the beginning of TSN, well... heh... he's a wreck here).

Another planned unpublished story is a crossover of Harvest Moon and the movie “In This Corner of the World”, based on a manga of the same name by Fumiyo Kouno. It was written as a gift for a friend. I have the entire outline figured out and have slowly been filling it in. My friend asked for an AU where Claire and Cliff have an arranged marriage and live with his family in Akiyama, the hometown I had created for Cliff in The Shy Newcomer. I took the opportunity to expand the characters in his family. I have it written during the same time period and society as “In This Corner of the World”, but had decided to write a spreading disease as an allegory for war, but then COVID happened and some parts of it just got really hard to write. There are also a lot of sexually explicit content as Claire slowly grows and learns from her spouse that it's okay to express what she wants despite sex being a taboo issue. If there's enough interest in the story, I'll post it, but I worry it's a little too niche for there to be many people into it.

Pastor Carter and Doctor Trent are one of my favorite rare pair ships. I've had a partial draft for a story about them for a few years now, especially focusing on Trent growing up and acknowledging that he has an unhealthy addiction for things that he knows he can't have. There are some more adult/sexual themes in this piece, too, including the main character lusting after a married woman (who also happens to be his patient) and some lemons. (Does anyone call it that anymore or is it just referred to as “smut” nowadays? Haha) I always feel so bad for neglecting the folks at the clinic in-game and wanted to write a piece that focused more on them, Trent specifically. It's a multi-chap fic, but I don't think I'm going to let it get as long as some of my other pieces.

I also really want to write a short romantic oneshot for every marriage candidate in Mineral Town, around 1,000 words each. So far, I have one for Cliff and one for Gray. I want to write Claire with everyone, because I think it would be fun to explore all the different personalities.

I have more installments planned for A Single Day, including a day in the life of the following characters, all with drafts in varying degrees of progress:

Anna

Doug

Nora (yes, I'm writing from the point of view of the cat living at the inn)

More to come – I think Lillia and Thomas would be especially interesting to explore

I do still have that Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask piece I've been pondering where Link befriends the soul of the deku scrub child while possessed by the mask. I don't have much written about it, but I really love the world of Majora's Mask. Such a fun game.

I also think about the lead carpenter's son in Ocarina of Time and that weird side quest involving the blue chicken and the son being lost to the forest. Then that unique-looking kokiri girl explaining that all who get taken in the lost woods become stalfos. Like, did the guy die? Was he sick? Did he want to die? There's just so much going on there that would be fun to explore.

I also have played OMORI recently and have like... A LOT of feelings about it. I don't know what I'd write, but I'm still damn impressed at how well the characters are developed in such a short game.

Other games I've had vague ideas about writing for include the following:

The Flame in the Flood: I'm thinking a survivalist/action story fleshing out Scout's backstory a bit more and her thoughts as she's traveling. I feel like she's a very lonely person, but isn't given the chance to really dwell on it.

Night In the Woods: I'd love to write more about Mae's dreams and what they mean to her. She doesn't really talk to anyone about them openly, so it's really hard to tell her feelings about them in some regards. We know that she's distressed about them, but I'd like to dive a little deeper. Do the nightmares end after the games does? What about Bea's new nightmares?

Hades (Supergiant Games): I think it would be fun to write more about the events that take place before the game starts, like Zagreus's duties in the house of Hades, and expand on the strained relationship with his father.

[shropsnews4u]

Shrewsbury + Shropshire schoolpupils commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 with cherry tree ceremonies

Cherry tree ceremonies have been held with four primary schools across Shropshire to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), which this year fell on Saturday 27 January 2018. This links in to efforts by Shropshire Council to grow a cherry tree orchard of remembrance with local schools, with a different primary school hosting a tree planting ceremony every year since 2015.

The ceremonies involved schoolpupils from Bishop Hooper CofE School in Ashford Carbonell, Mereside CofE School in Shrewsbury, Trinity CofE in Ford, and Woodside Academy in Oswestry, in a week of activities covering the county. Members of the South Shropshire and Shrewsbury interfaith forums, and local clergy, supported the events with Shropshire Councillors and officers.

The main focus was two ceremonies held on the morning of Friday 26 January 2018. The first of these took place at Mereside CofE Primary School in the east of Shrewsbury, where the first tree was planted in 2015, and where it was measured by the pupils to see how well it was growing.

Mereside School’s tree, Back row (L-to-R): Imam Sohayb Peerbhai, Mark Michaels, Reverend Ken Chippindale, Nicola Toms. Front row (L-to-R): Ruby Hudson, Imogen Gwilt, Charlie Loughnane, Ross Dale-Patteson, Ethan Morgan.

Pupils at Trinity CofE Primary School in Ford then took part in a special assembly involving the whole school, where one of the pupils lit a candle, before the 2018 cherry tree was planted there with the help of Roger Evans, local Shropshire Councillor for Longden and chairman of Trinity CofE Primary School governors, and four of the pupils from the school.

The Trinity School tree in place. Back row (L-R): Councillor Roger Evans, Mark Michaels, John Rowe, Imam Sohayb Peerbhai, Nicola Toms, Sue Mann, Sue Gaulton. Front row (L-R): Revd Val Tait, Rory Ali-Maclachlan, Jasmine Tomlins, Charlie Thomas, Rhys Emberton.

Ceremonies took place alongside work within the schools focused on this year’s theme of “The Power of Words”, with pupils from both schools sharing the special letters and postcards that they had written to a Holocaust survivor as part of a national project focused on the theme.

The candle lighting in the Trinity CofE Primary School assembly, with Lois Dale from Shropshire Council, pupil Isabel Price, Mark Michaels, Imam Sohayb Peerbhai from the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, and headteacher John Rowe.

Roger Evans said:

“It was a privilege to be able to hear what the children have been doing in the school here in Ford to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, and a pleasure to share this with Nicola Toms from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. I know that the school will take great care of the 2018 Tree, along with the whole community here. I will certainly be taking a keen interest in its progress myself, and looking forward to the first flowers.”

Reverend Ken Chippindale from the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum read a special prayer and helped to light a candle at Mereside, whilst local vicar Val Tait read the prayer at Trinity. Mark Michaels from the Jewish community and Imam Sohayb Peerbhai from the Muslim community talked with the children at both ceremonies.

Nicola Toms, the West Midlands Regional Support Worker for the national Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, was a welcome guest at both ceremonies.

Nicola said:

“I am so glad I was able to visit Shropshire this year and see the work you are developing year on year. Tree planting is a wonderful act of commemoration. Hearing primary school children express their thoughts in response to a survivor’s testimony was a real highlight. I look forward to 2019.”

The Friday ceremonies ended a week in which a tree planting ceremony was held with the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum and Councillor Viv Parry at Bishop Hooper School in south Shropshire on Monday 22 January. The tree in fact replaced the 2017 tree, which was dug up by rabbits, and was kindly donated by the South Shropshire interfaith Forum. The new tree is in a different spot at the school.

Joyce Barrow, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for communities, then took the lead in a ceremony at Woodside Academy on Tuesday 30 January. Mark Michaels travelled up to talk with pupils there, whilst Reverend John Chesworth read the special prayer and helped the four pupils to light a candle by the 2016 tree.

Joyce Barrow said:

“I am delighted to have been able to be involved in this approach to helping local children to think about the Holocaust and other genocides in a way that is age appropriate. It has been lovely to spend time with the children at Woodside and to see their tree growing so well. I hope that all the children involved at the schools will look out for their trees, and really think about the positive ways in which they can show care for each other and for the environment in everything that they do.” 

Further information

The background here is that the council is continuing efforts to grow a cherry tree orchard of remembrance across Shropshire, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

The council works closely with the South Shropshire Inter Faith Forum and the Shrewsbury Inter Faith Forum on this project, having been delighted to benefit from the input of members of both forums in previous years. Local Shropshire Councillors and officers from across the council are involved in the ceremonies.

A display ran from Wednesday 24 January to Friday 2 February in the foyer at Shirehall about the HMD trees that have been planted to date across the county. It featured a map to show the HMD trees, including the five planted with secondary schools last year, and the traditional orchards already recorded in Shropshire. The display also featured information about the 2018 theme.

For more information about the 2018 theme, please see resources on the HMD Trust website at www.hmd.org.uk.

A round up of previous HMD cherry tree planting activity by Shropshire Council is available on the council website at shropshire.gov.uk.

The post Shropshire schoolpupils commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 with cherry tree ceremonies appeared first on Shropshire Council Newsroom.

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