#let's watch him find something that requires its user to be pure of heart and think about the moment of hesitation when he just...

[smallblueandloud]

wow, i have so many thoughts about so many fandoms right now that it is inevitable that i will forget all of them before i can write them down.

anyway, let’s do jenkins immortality headcanons!

i haven’t actually read any arthuriana and i MEANT to but like. who the heck cares. not me. we’re going OFF THE RAILS of canon right now.

okay so finx @aethersea suggested that camelot was a magical kingdom and has lost its tether to reality in the same way that the library lost its tether to reality (...frequently) and i LOVE that so we’re going with that.

camelot was a kingdom of magic, one of the only of its kind, and then it fell. her king was wounded and sent off onto the lake and her knights stayed behind to guard her and she was broken from the world until the day when her king returned (in england’s hour of greatest need) and summoned it back.

the three left outside were: galahad, morgan le fay, and the exiled lancelot. they three are immortal. don’t ask me why. i GUESS the holy grail is supposed to make people immortal, but lancelot never got ahold of it, so like, don’t ask me. maybe they’re immortal since they’re of the magical isle and therefore they’re inherently magic. whatever.

galahad (i’m gonna call him jenkins now for the sake of clarity) sees that magic is running rampant without camelot to organize it, direct it. he watches the rise of the library. when the first librarian starts to collect artifacts, he offers his services. who better to deal with artifacts than a knight of the round table? besides, he is noble, and good, and full of justice, and this is something he can do to help.

lancelot watches the library grow, too. but he craves the power for himself and bides his time, growing his resources. jenkins tries not to think about him too much. this is his wisest decision and his biggest regret.

(morgan le fay, of course, entertains herself. jenkins runs across her about once a century. his reaction depends entirely on his loneliness at the time. he knows she’s evil, he knows, and he hates her for it, but he just... he can’t shake the comfort of being with someone who knows him and knows who he is and has seen the magic isle. the years that he tries to kill her, he fails. he can’t forgive himself for the years when he doesn’t try at all.)

here’s my biggest headcanon: jenkins isn’t a fictional, sure, but it’s a similar process. the stories of camelot live and grow and flourish and jenkins feels it. at first, it’s minor - the styles of clothing he remembers change with the fashions of the time. but then it gets more extreme. he can’t remember how formally his king spoke. he wakes up one morning feeling the clank of spurs on his horse’s side, despite spurs not having been invented for another four hundred years. and one day he realizes that he’s unsure what lancelot looked like.

here is how jenkins is similar to a fictional. jenkins belongs to a place that is more myth than fact, and its image changes to fit the times and the popular versions. jenkins’ memories are changed with them. he gets into the habit of writing down every change he experiences. those records are the only things he keeps, throughout his very (very very) long life. books and books’ worth, crammed into his desk in the library and spilling over into the shelves. his favorite versions - the ones that feel closest to the fact he can no longer reliably identify - are sometimes ones that have been lost to history.

(“in no version!” he hears jake insisting angrily one day, “in no version was the outcast knight kind! that never happens, it ruins the- the- the INTEGRITY of it, and the STRUCTURE of it, and NO one’s EVER argued-”

“actually, mr. stone,” says jenkins as mildly as he can. “actually, there was a mildly popular version in the early 1400s that said something similar. it never got out of germany, or well, it wasn’t germany at the time, but they didn’t like writing things down much. i’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it before.”)

yes, jenkins has annotated copies of every version he can find, and yes he DOES have strong opinions about adaptations. isn’t it hilarious? enjoy it for the moment, because--

it’s not just the facts of the story itself that changes in his mind. the faces shift, too. guinevere always matches the beauty standard of the time, or later the most famous actress to play her. while dulaque’s face doesn’t change, jenkins’ memory of it does, depending on who’s been illustrating him recently.

(most of why he is so grumpy in the early 21st century is because he keeps seeing merlin as this skinny child. he doesn’t know who’s in charge of bbc casting but he is SICK and TIRED of visualizing this MORGAN person every time he thinks back to the great and terrible wizard that introduced him to court.)

arthur, though. arthur’s face changes the most. sometimes he resembles the best and most beloved leader of the time. sometimes he is from a painting, or he looks like jesus, or he is simply a famous actor. whatever it is, his face has changed in jenkins’ mind more times that he can count, and jenkins knows in his heart that he has absolutely no recollection of his king’s true face.

he worries, sometimes, that arthur will return to save england - and he won’t recognize him at all.

[greenninjagal-blog]

Does Virgil from Weightless ever find his skin? It’s one of my favourite fics from you and I’d love to read what happens after!

Oof, okay so in Weightless, Virgil does find his skin! I won’t write it, purely because I don’t have the time :/// but I can give you some run downs of what would happen!!

((This is still longer than I meant it to be oh my god))

First order of business is Patton uses some of his djinn magic to locate a magic shop which is run by a pixie who calls himself Deceit and whom absolutely abhors Patton. He’s sympathetic to Virgil’s cause but he runs a business so in exchange for an actual locating spell that works on people from memory he needs something just as powerful in return.

Logan steps up and offers a bit of his blood-- him being part gorgon gives him potent blood that is definitely is rare. Deceit eyes him warily but accepts it and he gives Virgil the spell. 

((Deceit also reveals the secret that Patton’s been hiding while they’re there: as a Djinn he can’t disobey any order. Which is why he’s always being so helpful and when the others ask him to do basic things he drops whatever he’s doing to complete the task. It also includes things such as “Don’t listen to this conversation until I snap my fingers” while Deceit does just because he’s petty and can.))

While they were out though, their house got broken into and its no longer safe at home, so Roman cashes in a favor with his brother in order for them to have a place to crash. Logan and Patton go over the spell with Virgil which requires the user of it to fall to sleep before its activated. Remus and Roman have a heart to heart which turns into Roman coughing up blood and his own secret being revealed: the reason why Roman acts so scattered brained and often has a hard time thinking about the others is because he quite literally can’t stop thinking about having sex, and if he goes too long without engaging in it his body starts breaking down. He was cursed as a young adult by a vengeful witch who thought they were dating when he thought they were just friends....who sometimes slept together. 

((He knows its not an excuse for him acting like that, which is why he never mentioned it to anyone, but also why he’s always seeking out partners and even though he’s an incubus, he thinks if he never had sex again he’d be okay. ))

Virgil sleeps and the spell works and when he wakes up Logan hands him a map and in a trance-like state marks with a pen where his attackers are.

Remus is really excited to see an opportunity to beat up people so he comes with them to confront the guys. The attackers turn out to be a from a low level gang so there are a lot of them and turns out there were people watching them when they left Deceit’s place, the gang over powered him and dragged him out to their warehouse where they were were in the process of ripping out his wings.

And Remus completely ignores any “don’t kill” suggestions and goes right to ripping out some throats the second he sees any magical creature being tortured like that. Roman isn’t far behind them and Patton uses his magic to help free Deceit and try to heal the places where his wings were damaged. Virgil breaks the water pipes and use his water manipulating ability to defend Patton and Deceit. 

((Patton reveals here that the reason why Deceit hates him so much is because he knows Deceit’s true name, which gives him absolutely control over the pixie, but Patton uses it to make Deceit stay awake through the pain, as he lost a lot of blood and if he fell unconscious now he probably wouldn’t wake back up))

Logan curbs enough of Roman and Remus’s rage to save one of the gang in order to ask him what happened to the selkie skin they stole, (and the gang member looks around at all his dead friends and asks “a skin was worth all this?” and Logan asks him, “Did you not think you were ruining lives by taking things that weren’t yours? Did you truly think no one was hurt by your actions?”)

The gang member admits they don’t have the skin, but that they sold it to these collectors: the Ackroyds, who paid them really well for it, you see? They had all sort of freaky things in their collection and he’d take a skin but he wouldn’t like kill the things and put them on display like those humans do.

And Logan freezes up at the name, noticeably, but the man is hysterical with trying to prove that he’s not really that bad, and before anyone can do anything, Logan takes off his glasses and turns the man to stone.

He puts them back on immediately but steps away from the group and refuses to look at them. He tells them that the skin is a lost cause and that they should give up.

To which Virgil is audibly horrified and angry because they got this far!! And Logan promised him--!! and Logan whips around and tells him that he never made any such promises and that if Virgil doesn’t let it go he’ll turn Virgil to stone as well, because he won’t like Virgil drag all his friends to their dooms.

At which, Deceit laughs brokenly, and asks if Logan go to attempt to make his own collection just like his parents--

And Logan’s secret comes to light: he wasn’t always part gorgon. He was actually human and his parents are mythical creature collectors but they collected creatures like butterflies: killing and pinning them in glass cases. But they often found that some creatures were immune to dying in ways that didn’t desecrate their bodies. Their solution? Find a way to make them ever lasting statues, using their son and a very expensive, unrepeatable experiment.

Logan admits that he remembers the faces of every person that his parents forced him to kill, of everyone who meets his eyes. Its his curse, and he’s always been afraid of it, because one day...he always knew that he’d join their collection too. He ran away as soon as he could, but his parents had people track him down and he was dragged back to them and they began to lock him in his room, and he was not allow out of the house at all anymore. Logan managed to escape by chance just before his sixteenth birthday.

By the time he’s finished talking he’s shaking and his knees give out but Remus is there to catch him and no one knows what to say about anything. 

“I can’t...” Logan whispers, “I can’t let you go there. I can’t... please... anyone who goes there doesn’t.....get out...”

And surprisingly its Roman who speaks up, strangely blithely about it all, “Well, they were always alone, weren’t they? Hey, Specs, don’t you know you aren’t alone, anymore?”

And it turns into a rallying thing where the six of them agree that they have each other, and that they can work together to take down Logan’s parents and keep any more mythical creatures from dying at their hands. I don’t have the actual final battle thing planned out so the rest of this is really but scratched out notes and concepts that if i were actually writing this, would be subject to change according to where the plot goes.

They infiltrate first by using Virgil’s selkie rareness to draw the attention of the Ackroyds.

Unfortunately the Ackroyds are expecting them so they kinda all stumble into a trap and Logan is taken back by his parents for-- and what great timing this is! They have a new rare species!! An archangel who would look magnificent next to the Avians! 

((The archangel is like eight. His name is Thomas and he’s sobbing because he doesn’t know how to use his powers yet.))

But first, its a good thing to take care of the meddling monsters that Logan had first become friends with. Starting with that selkie! And because they want him to look picture perfect even as stone they get his skin and tell him that if he cooperates they’ll let the djinn and the incubi go free (the pixie has to stay though. Its another rarity). 

And well.

Virgil has been holding on to a secret too.

He’s actually the goddamn Prince of the entire fucking sea and his power is linked to his skin. 

Which means that when they put the skin back on him, his abilities increase about 100fold. We stan OP Virgil in this house. Remind me how much of humans is water again? Yeah. Virgil drowns them in their own bodies and frees everyone else.

The Ackroyds have like a lot of people working for them though, so theres a battle that happens and in the middle of it Logan’s glasses get knocked off and broken and Thomas throws himself in front of Logan. Which, because Logan’s gorgon eyes are the same as staring into someone’s soul, leads to Logan staring into Thomas’s divine soul and it literally burns and blinds him.

((Thomas is really sorry, but Logan just starts sobbing thank yous to this eight year old, because now he’s never going to be forced to kill someone else.))

Our heroes win!! The Ackroyds are finished. Patton and Deceit put aside their differences in order to take joint custody of babey archangel Thomas and they, along with Roman and Logan end up living in a beach house together while researching how to remove the curse that’s on Roman. Remus comes and goes, bringing back exotic podcasts for Logan to listen too and bringing news from other locations about monster hunting.

Logan broke into his family vault and took all the money that his parents made off of selling and exploiting creatures and used it all to finance mythical creatures safehouses all across the globe. He trusts Remus and Roman to help watch over them.

Virgil returns to the ocean, just like Logan said he would at the very beginning of the story, although its because he has prince duties to adhere too. And he still sneaks up every once in a while to have dinner with all of them because I’m weak and soft for found family.

[contrivedcoincidences6]

Obstacles

Continuing in my Dirty Hands series! Thank you as always to @otterandterrier​ for being my beta! And huge shout out to writer sprints aka the reason I finally was able to write. 

Han tossed and turned in his bunk, unable to get his fight with Leia out of his mind. The evening had started out so well. Leia’d had dinner with him, Luke and Chewie on the Falcon and it had been nice. Even nicer was how she left with Luke but circled back a few minutes later, jumping right into Han’s arms.

It was a rare quiet night for the rebels and she’d been giving him eyes all day. The foreplay of hidden looks had lasted all day, from the moment she’d greeted them at the Mako-Ta docks and until she’d snuck back onto the Falcon and finally climbed him like a tree. 

He’d been away for a week and seeing her made Han’s heart beat faster than he’d admit. The whole time they were away he’d missed her, which was against her very strict rules. 

She’d set the rules hours after their first time sleeping together, writing them up and handing them to him on a datacard to make it as impersonal as possible. He’d agreed, of course. No matter how infuriating he’d found the interaction after touching her, kissing her, being inside her, he couldn’t say no. 

She was worse than spice and twice as powerful. 

Han loved that he knew things about her that no one else did, that there were parts of her that would always be his. He wanted to find out all those hidden little secrets and collect them just for himself, to know Leia better than anyone; every scrap of information he found, he hid away for himself. 

Leia would have never admitted to missing him but he could feel in the way she held him. It was a big night in Han’s opinion—she’d surprised him by letting him be on top, which put them face to face for the first time. Han couldn’t get enough of watching her face as they moved together, unravelling so close up. This time, she hadn’t pushed him away as soon as they were done, either. 

Afterward she’d laid in his bunk with him and they’d actually talked. Han had asked her about what she’d done while he’d been away and she’d filled him in on some hilarious stories of the exploits of Luke and the other X-ing pilots. She’d been laughing at something he’d said when a lock of her usually neatly done up hair had fallen into her face. Before he could think about what he was doing, Han had pushed her hair back behind her ear. 

Something expanded in Han’s chest as she looked up at him with her large liquid eyes. He’d traced his thumb along her cheekbone and moved his fingers into her braids. Han had kissed her then, and she’d hesitated for just a moment before returning his affections. 

Their kisses had remained sweet and slow. Han’s fingers had moved on their own accord into Leia’s hair and he’d begun to undo her braids. 

She’d frozen and, after a moment, Han had stopped. 

“What?” he’d asked when she pulled away from him.

“Don’t touch my hair. Ever.” She faced away from him, holding her hair in place. She’d covered up her half-done hair the way most people would cover their nakedness. 

Han was without words while she’d dressed, but found his voice before she left. 

“Yeah goodnight to you, too, sweetheart,” he’d grunted out snidely. 

“If you can’t follow the rules I’ve set out, then this is over.” 

She hadn’t looked back before leaving the room, and a baffled Han, behind.

Hours later, he still couldn’t sleep. He rolled over and buried his head into his pillow before quickly throwing it to the ground and pounding a fist onto the bunk. 

It smelled like her. Stang, how did it still smell like her? 

Leia haunted him like a ghost. 

Knowing he was in for a long sleepless night, Han decided to take a walk, maybe train with his blaster for a bit, shooting something might make him feel better. 

Mako Ta was the fanciest base the Rebellion had. It was state of the art, fitted out with a gymnasium that catered to all manner of sentients, and Han, though not usually the most athletic type, decided he wanted to work off some energy. The simulated battle course would suit him nicely.

Despite how late (or early really) it was in ship time, the gym had a good amount of beings using its facilities. A pair of Mirialans jogged past him on his way in and he could feel their eyes on him as they passed. He looked back over his shoulder and one of them was still admiring him. She was pretty, with yellow skin and dark matching tattoos on her cheek. She smiled at him in a knowing way and he took a moment to admire her, wink, and pretend he was interested in anyone but Leia. 

He’d just passed a large swimming pool where all manner of aquatics were gathered when his attention was drawn to a growing crowd over by his planned destination. Han had no interest in running or swimming but he liked the obstacle courses that filled the back of the gymnasium. They required use of his mind, body, and blaster in concert, and exhausted him thoroughly. On this night, though, a small crowd was gathered around watching two people leaping and shooting in one of the holo simulations designed to look like a jungle from Yavin IV.

The course was set to look like the jungle planet and it featured holo Walkers and Stormtroopers, making the participants run through the simulated landscape while under attack.

Han stopped in his tracks when he identified the two humans as Luke and Leia. They worked perfectly together, almost like they were reading each other’s every thought. There were no words between the two, but they covered each other from the fake blaster fire as they ran on the fast treadmill turned jungle. 

The courses were beautifully done, created to feel truly real. The user could even add heat, cold, precipitation, and adjust the pain level for the blaster fire. Leia’s brow was covered in sweat, flyaway hairs plastered to her face, which was filled with intense focus, but also a type of exhilaration he’d come to look for in her. 

The Leia Organa who always acted so serious actually craved adventure and excitement. It was the look she wore when they were sneaking around, but here she was wearing a similar look as she ran the course with Luke. Han wanted to walk away, but the strange battle dance that she and Luke were performing was difficult to look away from. 

Leia in particular was a wonder as she leapt over surprise barriers and dodged oncoming hits like a born warrior. 

Force, he was falling for this woman. 

The end of the course was signified by two X-wings waiting in the holo hangar, and when they reached their goal the small crowd cheered. Luke and Leia waited for a score to come up and, unsurprising to all who’d been watching, they took the top spot. Leia let out an uncharacteristic whoop and launched herself at Luke, who spun her around. 

The onlookers moved forward to talk to them as Han decided it was time he left. 

She looked happy; he didn’t want to ruin that. 

He was so deep into his own self-pitying thoughts that he hadn’t heard the running footsteps behind him. 

“Hey, Han.” 

He was so shocked to hear Leia’s out of breath voice that he stopped fast. 

“Good performance out there, Your Highness,” Han spat out as she came into his vision. 

Her face transformed from curious, to irritated, to forced calm in a matter of seconds and he watched her take a deep breath to calm herself. 

“Listen, Han, I’m sorry.” 

Convinced he’d not heard her right, Han just gaped at her. 

“Did you hear me? ‘Cause I’m not saying it again.” 

After that he was sure he’d actually heard her and he rolled his eyes. 

“Look I’m trying to apologize, it’s just—” her voice lowered and she looked around, “Hair, specifically, unbraiding a woman’s hair, is very… intimate… on Alderaan.” 

When she realized she’d referred to her home planet in the present tense, she flinched. 

“Was intimate on Alderaan, and it’s still that way for my people. I realize that you were not aware of that custom, so, I’m sorry for getting angry.”

Her face was red from the running but he could tell the apology was also contributing to the blush, and hearing her actually talk about her lost homeworld caused a pang in his chest. 

“It’s alright, Princess, thanks,” he waved it off, as if he hadn’t been losing sleep over the whole thing. 

“Right, um, thank you.” 

They stood there distinctly uncomfortable for a few seconds, Leia still catching her breath, until Han hooked a thumb back over his shoulder, indicating the course she’d just finished. 

“I meant it, by the way, nice work out there. You guys are a good team.” He really hadn’t meant for the last part to sound bitter but somehow it left his mouth that way.

If Leia noticed the slight venom in his voice, she didn’t show it. 

“Yeah, well, it’s not really fair when I’m teamed up with a Jedi in training; of course he’s going to win.”

Han shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve seen Luke run that course with others and even alone, he’s never done so well.” 

He didn’t know why he persisted; it was like the need to push on a bruise or pick at a hangnail, he couldn't help digging his grave deeper. 

Eyebrows drawn, Leia looked away and said, “I guess.” 

They were silent again for another moment until Luke’s excited shout broke them out of their awkward spell. 

“Han, old buddy! How are ya? Did you just see that? Leia and I broke the record!” Luke’s face was pure joy and Han couldn’t help but return the smile. 

“Yeah, good work, kid, they’ll have to invent a new level just for you two!” 

“Join us next time! I bet with the three of us we can beat the trio round too!”

Han chuckled and didn’t meet Leia’s eyes. “Sure, next time.” 

Both Han and Leia noticed Luke’s eyes trail away to see Wedge entering the gym. 

“I’ve got to tell Wedge, he’ll be so mad! Night guys!” Luke looked down at his chrono and shrugged. “Or morning I guess,” he corrected, and jogged off. 

Han and Leia’s eyes met then. 

“I better….” 

“Yeah—” 

They nodded at each other and hurried off in random, opposite directions. Han looked back over his shoulder for just a moment to catch her retreating back, but he turned away before he caught her own last look. 

She’d be the death of him.

[drmedicsgamesurgery]

Danganronpa Togami Volume 3 Part 7 (Summary)

Sorry for the short summary after 2 weeks, i have been very busy and this part required a lot of hard reading and research to translate. Good news is I will be much more free soon, so if you are lucky you might get 2 summaries a week.

Thanks to @enoshima-pyon @shockersalvage​ @jinjojess​ @hopeymchope​ for helping out!

One more thing:

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ KIRIGIRI SOU, DO SO NOW OR YOU WILL BE SUPER CONFUSED AS TO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. LINK HERE.

5.

This feeling. 

Why, why is it that when I learn more about the K2K system in this place, I feel completely confused? 

This may all be fake. Maybe, I already knew that things would be like this? From the time when Borges’ anomalies became more and more obvious, I had begun to have already noticed it within my own heart.

My own story. 

Originally, I was just an item belonging to Byakuya. 

However, I also had my own story and I was destined to confront it at some point. 

And that is now.

I drank cold coffee and K did the same. The old man just talked about the tragedy of Don Quixote. [1] He said that the scene in which all the main characters had arrived into an inn had become unreadable due to the language. He said even Kafka and Sōseki [2] still resisted like this.

Speaking of which, there are also very exaggerated incidents in the books of authors like Banana Yoshimoto [3] and Haruki Murakami. [4] People feel like these can be too coincidental or contrived. Is that also a kind of resistance? Or is it that an exaggerated incident is an indispensable element for an interesting story?

Anyway, the old man who was drinking coffee in front of me, by pure chance was also something of a long shot. I just so happened to meet him and just so happened to listen to him. He just so happened to be an alumnus of Hope Peak Academy. He just so happened to be related to the Bible Plan. He just so happened to have participated in the development of Borges. It's almost like just one big joke.

I don't know if K knows my inner monologue. He has been talking in the calmest tone since then.

"It was not long after the end of the 'The Worst Incident in the History of the Togami Family. A person who claimed to be an insider of the Togami Family found me. Presumably, the superiors had already learned of the 'Bible Plan' to some extent. The insider was begging me: 'Can you write a dictionary for us?' What a charming invention!’ Still, I wanted to find a safe place to hide Borges. The Togami’s wanted to learn the techniques behind the 'Bible Plan'. Although I don't like the phrase very much, it was a win-win relationship for both parties."

Shinobu, naturally, has grown quite distrustful from these explanations but K assures her that he only provided the dictionary aspects of Borges, and points out that while any ‘missing pages’ were on the publishers fault, it was on the ‘reader’ in how they used the dictionary. When K was called on by the Togami’s, Borges hardware was already complete and he had installed the K2K system in it. However, complications arose because instead of using Borges as just a dictionary Shinobu used it as a way that K describes best as someone “watching the Raiders [5] while playing the game at the same time.”

That was a very modern metaphor, but thanks to it, things have become easier to understand. Indeed, I have always been obsessed with “Journey Under The Midnight Sun". Writing "Journey Under The Midnight Sun" is my only value in life.

Since Shinobu kept using Borges to search things related to Byakuya in order to write his biography, the K2K System inside it became specialized in Byakuya. And just like it led a person into committing murder by showing him a particular book, it started showing to Shinobu a book recommended to her. It started showing only the reality she wanted to see.

Shinobu responds that she had no chance to learn about the Hasegawa Research Institute or the Ketouin Conglomerate but K compares it to that of the ‘Anna Karenina’ [6] translations and how Nabokov [7] commented on how many times the word ‘home’ appeared throughout them all compared to the original text. Eight in the English version, once in French and no more than twice in the Czech version. He ponders how many times the word appears in the Japanese iteration before saying that reading those translations can be touching, but there will always be an inability to grasp what the original was. This causes Shinobu to think about her conversation with Hiroyuki on the talk of translations and he encouraged her to read the original.

It’s like singing karaoke without seeing the lyrics. It should be alright, but it seems that there is something wrong with it, which makes people feel uneasy and fearful.

K sums it up with this: “In a nutshell, no matter how many correct explanations I make, your dictionary will not translate them accurately to you.”

Shinobu demands to be told what the actual names of the Ketouin Conglomerate and the Hasegawa Institute...only to become exasperated when she thinks K is joking when he says they are the SkinSkin Conglomerate and Clark Kent Research Institute. K points out as long she had Borges, what she said and hears really can’t be guaranteed. It has mostly to do with the dictionary installed in it. Because the multiple editors are different, the content is different as well. Like how the concept of love varies between definition and cultures and philosophy.

“Just like an analogy. In addition, because of their different levels of knowledge, their understanding ability is different. After reviewing the dictionary, different users will have a considerable degree of understanding of the meaning of a word. The dictionary thinks that it understands 'A', but it may be misunderstood to understand 'B', and when it is described in language, it is 'C', and this may happen."

Shinbu comments she doesn’t want to misunderstand the world, though K points out people are misunderstanding everything throughout their lifetime, like how someone made Gulas by following a curry recipe or how people have turned to terrorism because of watching “Island of the Evil Spirits”[8]. Shinobu, horrified, wonders how she has been talking to people. However, K explains it that as long as people get the gist of her actions, communicating with others should be fine. Even though her reality is twisted in distorted, her unreality is still set within the bounds of reality.

Yet, even still...

"I just want to see the real thing."

"This feeling is actually normal, but it’s impossible. Borges is like a mother who overprotects her child, hides everything that is not good for you, and only provides you with what you want to see."

"I don't have Borges in my right eye, so why is it impossible? Haven't I gotten rid of its influence?"

"Even if the child is independent, it is impossible to get rid of the influence of the parents immediately. A person who has necrosis of the right side of the brain due to cerebral infarction will replace the right side with the function that has been lost. The same is true for you as well. Now all the organs in your body are running at full speed, instead of Borges continuing its work."

"How hopelessly despairing."

"Don't say that. If it lets you see the truth all at once, you will certainly collapse. It’s because this work is still in progress. It’s so you can still see the world you want to see.”

The world I want to see?

Shinobu soaks this in and starts to lose it, repeating her belief that Byakuya Togami is God. K tries to snap her back to reality by reminding her that Byakuya is human and is destined to grow old and die. Shinobu, however, still continues her silent freak out as she comes to grip with this information.

With or without Borges. I am still myself. 

This is irrelevant! Byakuya is God! It’s not that I put a sparkling aura on him or anything, but he is just is so shining! He was born to be the North Star! That old man doesn't really know what he is talking about when it comes to such a God! Byakuya is unbeaten, and Byakuya is invincible! 

At this time, he still plays the world in the palm of his hand. Since then, the world has always belonged to Byakuya. This fact will not change, even if the sun expands and swallows the Earth. The universe is coming to an end, yet Byakuya is still God! I wrote "Journey Under The Midnight Sun" to let this truth pass on to the future, and wrote a completely true biography with Borges... 

Ah, but Borges has been full of lies...hey? The reason why Borges lies is because I want to see such a world, right!? What I want to see is Byakuya as the world's God? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! 

I need to drink Bufferin.

I seem to be in a mess and I can prove that this is why K that was so eloquent before. However, he did not say a word, but was quietly watching me. I don't know if what he is thinking is either "this would be the crash after a person knows the truth" or "it’s hard to keep faith now". Regardless of the case, all this really teaches people how to be angry... 

No, actually, I’m not. This feeling...this is not how I actually feel! Honestly, I would like to use Borges to search for vocabulary related to feelings.

In fact, I want to let Borges manage me, just like before!  Ah, no, that’s not right! Because I have neither hope nor despair. Since Otsuki was present as my brother. Since Kazuya became my younger brother. Since the day I was born into the house of the Togami family.

That’s when that moment started. 

Hope won't make me feel splendid. 

Despair won't make me depressed. 

I don't need to use these things to spur myself!  

Yes, I will get the approval of Byakuya Togami and I will get to work on writing the biography given by him!

...But if these memories are also just illusions that Borges have been showing me...things are going to get quite confusing.

6.

"The picture."

After a while, K whispered. I stared at the painting hanging on the wall with my left eye, the weird creature that stood on the ground with a big nose.

"It's scientific name is the “Hopsorrhinus aureus”. This creature uses a jointed nose to jump like a kangaroo," K explained. "In 1941, this creature was found on the island of Hy-yi-yi in the South Pacific. This is a special sub-type of mammalian animal called the Rhinogradentia. [9] So far, 14 subjects have been discovered.”

K lists off the types of Rhinogradentia that have been discovered, including the species that has tentacles coming out of its nose that they use to walk with.

"How is it possible for there to be such creatures?”

“BAU UND LEBEN DER RHINOGRADENTIA was published in 1961 by Professor Harald Stümpke. [10]”

“Is there a book about them?”

“Yes, and it was translated to all over the world, causing there is a huge response. There should also be a Japanese version. You can check it out after you return to Japan."

"Then, what kind of book is it? Is it like a fake book?"

"The Foreword and Afterword are actually written by a real and famous zoologist. A review of this book was even published in scientific journals, and there are many related books too. How would you doubt an academic book on all the issues that modern zoology deals with from Morphology, anatomy, ontogeny, physiology, actions, diets, and phylogenetic evolution? With such an academically sound book, do you think you are qualified to doubt it?"

"There is no more direct evidence than images."

"I don’t have any."

"Why?"

"This creature is extinct."

"Extinction?"

"In 1957, due to a nuclear test conducted nearby, the islands where the Rhinogradentia flourished sank."

“It's a super-perfunctory ending.”

"Don't say what the ending is."

"So there are no photos? Since it was in the 1950s, there should be photos, right?"

"All the information sank with the island."

"I’m really speechless. There are no photos, anymore? If you can't investigate on the spot, there is no way to prove that this creature actually exists. This is really not credible."

"Do you know the Dodo?"

"A bird that is already extinct?"

"Because of that, do you think ‘Did this bird really exist?’"

"Of course it did."

"How can you be so convinced? The Dodo did not have any photos survive. The Dodo had once thrived on the island of Mauritius. This is only the testimony of the sailors at the time that can be proved without any other reliable information. Dodo, like the Rhinogradentia, are impossible to verify what kind of creature it was and what kind of life it lived."

"I remember seeing specimens..."

"There is a sample of a Dodo stored in a monastery in the Czech Republic. However, there is no evidence to prove that the terrible thing that is covered with charcoal is the real thing.”

“Therefore, the Dodo is a bird like a dove and a seagull, but the creature walking on the nose is looking for it. There is no such thing in the world, that is to say, common sense can prove that it is contrary to common sense, is false, can be judged by common sense."

"No, believe that the Dodo is real, but doubt the authenticity of the Rhinogradentia. This is not based on common sense judgment made, simply because you lack the logic to accept the existence of a real Rhinograde.

“You mean to say my lack of knowledge?"

"Reality and unreality are indistinguishable from the experiencer. I believe that a real person can see the existence of the Rhinogradentia it even if it is fantasy, and will also write an article to prove its existence. If a third party believes in the article, then the fantasy will be shared by them and become their common fantasy. By the way, when the book was published, most readers completely believed that the Rhinogradentia existed."

Shinobu cant laugh even if she thinks its too stupid. These people at the time had no real way of knowing the Rhinogrades were made up. Shinobu thinks about the Kudan, and thinks to herself that the Kudan definitely exists, like the Dodo. 

People who don't believe that the "Kudan" exists makes me laugh.

“People are only willing to see the reality they want to see,” K said calmly "No matter how convincing a certain argument is, as long as people are unwilling to accept it, they can't understand the meaning of it. This pathology is similar to the story in Don Quixote.”

K then gives another example similar to the previous one before continuing.

“No matter how much we experience, how much knowledge we learn, it is impossible to have the same sense of reading as the readers at the time. That is absolute.”

“Absolute...” murmurs Shinobu.

K says as long as Shinobu believes that Byakuya Togami is a God, Borges would do everything it could to strengthen that position, even if what is happening is different. To sum it up, “The sacredness of Byakuya Togami, if you couldn’t find it, you would make it.”

What?

I...understand.

Now I understand. If Byakuya Togami is not God, then my world will end.

The only purpose of my existence is to write "Journey Under The Midnight Sun", and I couldn’t let that weakness and fragility of Byakuya be exposed to my eyes.

So I made up and fabricated the storyline.

I built the story I wanted to see for myself. Not on purpose, but because of Borges's interference. In order to make Byakuya Togami become God, I have created a lot of lies so far. I made people who didn't exist, created a group organization that didn't exist, and looking back I think I even falsified the past. 

I now understood all of this and was mentally prepared. Although I can't say that I was awake...I have accepted the uncertainty of my brain.

I have accepted the fact that life has only just begun today.

With this realization, Shinobu stares at the painting and asks for the name of this animal and finds them cute. The Snout Leaper is what it’s called. Shinobu says that it would be nice if the Snout Leaper really existed, but believing in something and it actually being true are two different things. K says that belief is just enough.

“I still want to hear the truth, I want to know the truth."

"Although I don't know if I can't do it, it's worth a try."

"I didn't expect you to say that too."

"I didn't mean to tease you," K said shrugging. "At present, there is no Borges in your right eye. Then you have to look at the real things with your own eyes and update your reality. Although the information falsified by Borges will not disappear easily, but since you have found a path that convinced you, no matter how difficult it is, you should follow that path."

"I think so too."

"Then I’ll tell you something, maybe it can help you. Although it's just a hypothesis, the Despair Disease is more than likely a lie made up by Borges” he begins...only to be cut off by a piercing sound.

Just then, countless bullets penetrated the window and the kettle in the kitchen was riddled with holes.

 Translation Notes: (I highly recommend reading these this time if you don’t normally.)

[1] Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. A founding work of Western literature, it is often labeled "the first modern novel" and is sometimes considered the best literary work ever written.

[2] Natsume Sōseki was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, kanshi, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note. In Japan, he is often considered the greatest writer in modern Japanese history. He has had a profound effect on almost all important Japanese writers since. 

[3] Banana Yoshimoto is the pen name of Japanese writer Mahoko Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto says that her two main themes are “the exhaustion of young Japanese in contemporary Japan” and “the way in which terrible experiences shape a person’s life”. Her works describe the problems faced by youth, urban existentialism, and teenagers trapped between imagination and reality. Her works are targeted not only to the young and rebellious, but also to grown-ups who are still young at heart. Yoshimoto's characters, settings, and titles have a modern and American approach, but the core is Japanese. She addresses readers in a personal and friendly way, with warmth and outright innocence, writing about the simple things such as the squeaking of wooden floors or the pleasant smell of food. Food and dreams are recurring themes in her work which are often associated with memories and emotions. Yoshimoto admits that most of her artistic inspiration derives from her own dreams and that she’d like to always be sleeping and living a life full of dreams.

[4] Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally, with his work being translated into 50 languages and selling millions of copies outside his native country. His work has received numerous awards, including the World Fantasy Award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Franz Kafka Prize (yes really), and the Jerusalem Prize. Another notable feature of Murakami's stories are the comments that come from the main characters as to how strange the story presents itself. Murakami explains that his characters experience what he experiences as he writes, which could be compared to a movie set where the walls and props are all fake.

[5] The Raiders can refer to either The Los Angeles Raiders or the Canberra Raiders. Both are sports teams.

[6] Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Many writers consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger.

[7] Vladimir Nabokov was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator and entomologist. His first nine novels were written in Russian (1926–38), but he achieved international prominence after he began writing English prose. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945. It should be noted that a novel of his titled “Despair” (Novel), is about a man who meets a homeless man in the city of Prague, whom he believes is his doppelgänger. You can't make this stuff up, I’m serious.

[8] Island of the Evil Spirits is a film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. I honestly can’t find much about it.

[9] Yep, you Kirigiri Sou fans should be very blissful now. Interesting how K explains the non-canon routes of Kirigiri Sou to be based in “unreality”.

[10] Gerolf Steiner was a German zoologist. Steiner is best known for a 1961 book authored pseudonymously as Harald Stümpke on the anatomy and habits of the rhinogradentia, a fictitious order of extinct mammals whose nose evolved in unusual ways.

To Be Continued

https://drmedicsgamesurgery.tumblr.com/GameSurgeryDRTranslations

[coolgreatwebsite]

Guest Article: Wheel Able's Video Games Post of 2019

Wheel able is an avid computer user and Game Boy Advance owner. Do not follow him on Twitter. Gamer's. Lately, I have been doing a bit of self reflection, which has, surprisingly, led me to realize some things: - It is the end of the year - I have played several video games - I am more or less literate - At this point, I have two options: try to realize more things, or type a bunch of words about video games.

10. Kingdom Hearts III

This game is so stupid. This whole series is so insanely stupid. For some history, I had only played a bit of the original Kingdom Hearts, and all of Kingdom Hearts II before jumping right into this one - so I definitely understood about as much as one possibly can when it comes to this series. For me, this meant that I knew to expect some great music and I guess some idiots wearing trench coats who like to sit in a stupid circle of thrones that are entirely too high off of the ground. No person could reasonably sit on them - they're too tall. Suspension of disbelief only gets you so far, and Too-Tall-Chairs are where I draw the line. Make them smaller.

9. Little Town Hero Contrary to what the previous entry may lead you to believe, I tend to care most about gameplay when it comes to JRPGs. That's not to say I will ever turn down a nice soundtrack or some ridiculous horse shit story about killing Anime God, but when it comes to your battle system, please just give me something that requires the use of my two remaining brain cells. Please, for the love of god, make me feel smart for once.

The battle system in Little Town Hero is something like a mashup of Mario Party and Magic the Gathering. I have never played Magic, but I know it has something to do with cards - which is essentially what Little Town Hero's mechanics boil down to (underneath a pretty JRPG exterior). Throw on top of that a board game map with environmental gimmicks, and you've got a battle system which makes me feel like I am actually thinking. And learning. And in the end, that is probably what every game should do (make me feel like I'm improving myself). 8. Pokemon Sword & Shield

I think Pokemon games are at their best when they're not trying to be anything more than what they are - simple adventures that make me feel like a dumbass kid again (as opposed to a dumbass adult). Conversely, I find these games to be at their worst when they force you down tunnels to ensure that you're laser focused on some overzealous Save The Galaxy From Evil story line. That's not to say SwSh (pronounced "swisshh" btw) isn't guilty of that to some extent, but for the first time in a while, it seems like the Pokemon team had the confidence (or lack of time) to not get in the way of the classic, grounded goal of becoming the very best Pokemon Master, like no one ever was (because they were all too busy trying to get the online features to work). 7. The Outer Worlds I don't usually have nearly enough awareness to realize that almost no Role Playing Games actually encourage Role Playing, but The Outer Worlds managed to have me paying attention to the decisions I make - which is just not something I ever do in any situation. At a certain point, I found myself actually thinking about how my character would handle certain situations, rather than myself (Role Playing?????).

To be fair, I have played basically no western RPGs, and a smarter man than me would point out that other western RPGs have had similarly good writing for years. But this "smarter man than me" sounds like a complete nerd, whom I definitely plan on bullying. 6. Link's Awakening

The original Link's Awakening soundtrack is one of my favorites due to its charm and earnest goofiness, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Nagamatsu's arrangements were able to maintain that character. My favorite tracks of his were the underground dungeon and Mabe Village tunes. Anyway the game is still good. 5. Trials of Mana I played this game when it was still "Seiken Densetsu III", but now that it has an English title, that means I can put it on a list. I don't make the rules (citation needed).

This game is easily among the SNES's greatest offerings, and I'm pissed off NOW, knowing that I should have been pissed off back in like 1995 when they decided to not localize this game. No amount of anger I have in 2019 will ever make up for the pure fury I was clearly entitled to as a child.

4. Sekiro

The original Dark Souls is possibly my favorite video game, and I have yet to come across a FromSoft "SoulsBorne" entry that I don't like (there are plenty of """"souls-likes"""" from other developers that I don't care for, though!!).

Being a total Shit Coward, it took me all the way until Bloodborne to play these types of games without a shield - and I only did so because that game encouraged a more aggressive play style through its mechanics. Sekiro essentially requires that same approach, along with doubling down on the necessity of parrying. The result: Man It's A Hard One. While the gameplay in Sekiro is likely my favorite of the SoulsBunch, the setting and lore unfortunately didn't really do much for me - landing it at 5th place on my Souls Ranking List (please look forward to my upcoming video on WatchMojo dot com). 3. Resident Evil 2

I was too scared to play the Resident Evil series as a kid, so I just watched my brother play them instead. Now that I am a powerful and wise adult, I can play these games for a full thirty minutes without even crying once. 2. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night I've waited years to battle Dracula again, and it looks like I will have to continue to wait for more years, because Dracula is not in this game. What a disappointment (10/10).

It's a good thing I can't get enough of these Samus Belmont style adventures, because it seems like at least a handful of them are released every year. However, this one was at least twice as important as the others, because it was made by a man in a cowboy hat. Anyway, don't forget Dracula in the next one, Mr. Vania. I'm guessing you just forgot since it has been a while. 1(a). Ori and the Blind Forest

Like I alluded to earlier, I am indeed following the arbitrary GOTY guidelines and only including games that were released in 2019. BUT with the release of Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition this year, I think I can include this one?? Please do not call the police.

1(b). Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbrongus

Hey can you include expansions in a GOTY list? Somebody please email the president of games journalism and let me know. I am posting this list in five minutes and I don't want to fuck this up. Help 1. Outer Wilds Being fairly unintelligent, I am both terrified and curious when it comes to things I don't understand. Space is one of those many things.

I booted up this game on a complete whim while looking around on Game Pass one day, and I'm convinced that's the best way to experience it. Since Outer Wilds is a game based entirely around exploration and learning, it'd be silly of me to say a bunch of stuff about what's in the game - and I am definitely not a clown, from the circus. When so many games are carefully crafted to make the player feel big and strong and important, Outer Wilds constantly reminds you of your insignificance. I can only hope that this game teaches others what I have known all along: it is actually good to be/feel small. Well, that's it. I've played all the video games. Unless they, for some reason, decide to make more next year?? That seems like it could potentially be bad.

[barbaraboatright]

Giving your product a soul

After a few years of designing products for clients, I began to feel fatigued. I wondered why. Turns out, I’d been chasing metric after metric. “Increase those page views!” “Help people spend more time in the app!” And it kept coming. Still, something was missing. I knew that meeting goals was part of what a designer does, but I could see how my work could easily become commoditized and less fulfilling unless something changed.

I thought of how bored I’d be if I kept on that path. I needed to build some guiding principles that would help me find my place in design. These principles would help grow and would shape my career in a way that fits me best.

What I’d like to share here is how I found my principles and regained a sense of fulfilment. I’ll also discuss one of them and hopefully convince you that it’s worth considering when we design products. Speaking of convincing, I’d also like to help you convince your boss that these things are important.

One small string that began to tie it together was watching Bret Victor’s talk “Inventing on Principle.” The first half is mostly a code demo; then, he gets philosophical and talks about how goals and principles help you. I believe that living by principles can lead you to some really interesting places — for me, they’ve helped me to find the right ways (and places) to work and the right projects to take on (like designing a typeface), and they’ve helped me to identify which areas of my life need to be nurtured so I don’t burn out.

Advocate For Design Having A Soul Link

I’ve worked on projects whose goals varied from increasing email signups by 10% to boosting ad impressions by 30%. It was honest work, to be sure. It’s important that our designs meet the needs of the product owners and our clients — this isn’t art school, and there are real constraints and requirements we need to address.

However, it’s not enough to do metrics-based design. That in itself is a bit too clinical and detached, and where’s the fun in that? We need more.

Validating and then meeting a project’s requirements should be the minimum of what we set out to do. Once we set those metrics as our baseline, we’re allowed to be more impactful and thoughtful as we get to the root of a design problem.

What we need to shoot for is to help people fall in love with our products. That means pushing to give our designs a soul.

Here’s what “emotionally connecting” means: It means you’ve created a product that stands out in someone’s heart. The product becomes what people reach for because it’s the most helpful. People might not be able to understand what you’ve done, but they’ll perceive that it’s better. This is one way to make a product that’s indescribably good.

I usually ask these two questions, which get at part of what helps people fall in love with a product:

What’s going to help someone really find this useful?

What’s going to make them care about it?

For years, we’ve focused on making our websites and products be functional, reliable and usable. These qualities are the bedrock of any good product, but it’s when we add a soul to a product that it really comes alive.

My first hint of a design having soul came back in 2005 when I logged into Flickr for the first time. Sure, Flickr has undergone many, many changes since then, but I’d like to explain how it helped me, as someone who hadn’t shared much online before. I wasn’t sure how to share something, but I noticed right away that the website greeted me with a friendly “Hello.” The website helped me breeze through the process, and the friendly tone was really assuring.

My Flickr experience was like a pal gently leading me through the process, making it easy to succeed. It was a warm experience that made me want to return. Incidentally, I can say “hello” in a lot more languages now, thanks to what Flickr taught me.

Moving forward to newer examples, we can also consider Slack, its competitors and email. All of these options help people communicate, but Slack has a personality that helps you feel more connected with it. Slackbot helps you get started by asking you questions in a conversation, much like a real human would when you meet them for the first time. The makers of Slack eschewed the standard idea of filling in a registration form in favour of something more conversational — this makes other services feel stale and unfriendly by comparison. Slack has soulful flourishes everywhere: from smooth animations to a cute little emoji that is shown when you’ve scrolled all the way to the newest message in your group.

To be fair, Slack and Flickr (which, by the way, share co-founders) weren’t the first to try for something more human — that desire has spanned centuries. Lovers of typographic history may recall that Gutenberg wanted the movable type he created to mimic the look of handwriting. He used blackletter-style letters, which were similar to the bible manuscripts that monks illuminated.

These examples makes a strong case for design having a soul. The personality that develops from having one is what wins someone’s heart and makes competitors feel like poor (or, at best, passable) copies. Consider this statement by John Medina in “Brain Rules“:

Emotionally arousing events tend to do better remembered than neutral events… Emotionally charged events persist much longer in our memories and are recalled with greater accuracy than neutral memories.

In other words, we’re wired to remember products with a soul. Let’s use that to our advantage.

Next, let’s get a little more specific and see how that can play out.

FIDDLE FACTORS

One example of a way to give a product a soul is by adding a “fiddle factor.” A fiddle factor is a playful part of a product that imparts a sense of joy or playfulness when used. I first heard this term in Jony Ive’s unofficial biography, Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products. Ive had a new take on, of all things, a pen. Noticing that people tend to fiddle with their pens when not writing, he added something to his pen design to give people something to play with when they were idle. Of course, Ive started by making the best possible pen, then added the fiddle factor.

According to Clive Grinyer, Ive’s once-boss:

This was a new idea back then, to put something on a pen that was purely there to fiddle with. He was really thinking differently. The pen’s design was not just about shape, but also there was an emotional side to it.

Fiddle factors invite people to idly toy with them and form a deeper connection with what you’ve made. They become that warm little blanket that wraps a product around your heart and makes you want it more.

I’ve described one already with Slack and its emoji use, but here are a few more digital fiddle factors:

That pull-to-refresh spinner with the really cool spinning animation? A fiddle factor.

That fun animation you click to like something on Twitter? Fiddle factor.

In MailChimp, when you find out that Freddy’s arm can extend almost forever when you’re testing an email’s responsive breakpoints? That’s a fiddle factor (albeit a cruel one).

ONE WAY TO ADD A LITTLE SOUL TO YOUR PROJECT

To give a project a soul is to cultivate a relationship with it. You need to know what it needs and understand its nature. In this sense, this relationship is the same as a potter with clay or an architect with wood and steel. Once you understand the nature of your materials, you will know what it can become and what its limits are. This will help you to mould a soul in the right ways. Not doing this will ultimately cause your project to feel inauthentic and fail.

Let’s say you’ve built a playful iOS app. It’s meant to send short, fun replies to friends. In the app, you’ve got an overview page showing the latest emails, and the user can go into a detail view to read a particular message. You could go the standard route of sliding in the email from the right — it’s a simple thing to do, and it’s built right into iOS.

The drawback with built-in transitions is well covered: Anyone can use them. Sure, there are definite benefits to them (namely, that they’re cheaper and faster to implement), but it’s difficult to build something that’s soulful if you only use stock components and animation.

Instead, consider an alternative kind of transition. Think about it like this: Consider the personality you think the app should have. Think about the people who will use this app. I use this chart to help me determine the tone of a project:

Back to our email app. Let’s say it’s a fun email client. In this chart, it shows most strongly in the casual, energetic and easy-going categories. If we think about the animations we’ll use here, it makes sense to be more playful.

So, let’s animate the email message to come up from the bottom of the screen with a little spring in its step. When you’re finished with it, you can swipe it away or pull it back down.

Let’s take that even further, based on the chart and animation:

Maybe the animation could be the basis for how you approach other animations in the app. Your other animations could be similarly fun (but don’t overdo it).

Maybe it will affect which typefaces you choose.

What’s important here is to avoid forcing something in where it doesn’t belong. Don’t be different just for the sake of being different, and don’t overdo it. If we saw the President of the United States deliver the State of the Union address in a Hawaiian shirt, we’d probably feel like something’s amiss and might not take him as seriously as we should. Same here — what we do has to feel natural.

OTHER IDEAS

Any interaction, be it with a button or a scroll, is a perfect place to explore adding a fiddle factor. Explore what might happen when the user scrolls to the bottom of the content. Or perhaps you could come up with something unexpected when the user hovers over a photo for a long time. Maybe you could make a neat hover or focus animation.

Adding soul isn’t limited to animation, either. It goes much deeper!

How does it sound? Each person’s voice is totally unique, and your product’s should be, too.

How does it look? We need to stand out and be ourselves; so do the things we make.

How does it act? Could your product know the user on a deeper level and anticipate their needs? That would be deeply soulful.

Convincing Your Boss And Team

It’s all well and good for designers to talk about giving their products a soul, but here’s where it gets real: You have a deadline, and a budget. Your boss might not want to go for it, and your engineers might be resistant because it would take them extra time. Let’s talk about a framework for those conversations.

The framework I use to have these discussions centres on the effort required to implement an idea and the idea’s impact on the customer and the business.

While there will inevitably be high-impact, high-effort items in a project, the sweet spot is low-effort, high-impact ideas. These types of ideas help the user in meaningful ways, without significantly affecting your timeline and budget.

This way of looking at ideas also helps me to let go of ideas that might be a little too egocentric. Those usually have low levels of impact and high levels of effort. Mapping them out in this way helps me to focus on what matters most.

I’ve found this approach effective because it enables us to differentiate our products, while making the most of our time.

Let’s go back to custom animations for a moment. If we’re talking about adding fiddle factors and animation to our email app, we can’t build something great by assembling it entirely from off-the-shelf components. If we use only basic components and built-in animations, the product wouldn’t be memorable enough to matter to people. Plus, it will make it difficult for us to fall in love with what we’re building and to give the product a soul.

One additional framework to keep in mind is the Kano model, which was developed in the 1980s by Noriaki Kano.

There is a great explanation video, but, in short, this model covers three areas:

basic needs (Does the product work?),

performance needs (How efficient is it?),

attractive needs (What makes me love it?).

The soul of a product lives in the attractive needs. The Kano model invites us to think of one or two features that set the product apart from its competition. Framing your high-impact, low-effort ideas with this model will help you make a strong case for soul.

At our core, we’re people who care about our craft. We want to build great products, and the products need to have those nice touches. Being able to fully ply our trade also helps with employee retention. We’re happier when we’re able to do our best work. If we’re able to fully stretch ourselves to make something great, we’re going to keep giving our best in future. Conversely, if we’re prevented from doing our best work, we’ll become disconnected and disinterested, motivating us to go elsewhere when the opportunity presents itself.

If your boss or company doesn’t give you this freedom and you think it’s important, it might be time to plan your next transition.

Wrapping Up

It’s not enough to simply design something and meet a goal. This is a surefire way to burnout and boring products. We’ve got to do more for ourselves, our products and our industry. Finding our principles will help us find the right place to work and to do our best work.

Giving our products a soul will make them better, more engaging products. The next time you’re designing, ask yourself what would make someone find your product useful, and what would make them care about it more than another product? Once you do that, you’ll be well on your way to cultivating a healthy relationship with your products and building things that people really love.

Also, it’s not enough for us to have these ideas; convincing our team members and bosses to come along with us is important. Once we test and articulate the value of what we do, we’ll have a much easier and more rewarding time.

  By Joshua Mauldin.

This article first appeared in Smashing Magazine.  |  Image credit: Pixabay

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