#one of my goals for this new year is to post more about my f/os and the very specific scenarios i have with them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aobawilliams · 3 years

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First Line Tag Game!!

I was tagged by @idontonlytalkaboutdcmk

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line, then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

I’ll try to go from more recent to older (date of the creation of the doc will be written in MM/YYYY format), but this might not correspond to the time the sentence was actually written. (I might have missed some stuff but, oh well, whatever.)

1- (04/2021) Aizawa meets Izuku AU (MHA, OS in progress)

It was luck that brought Shouta here.

2- (03/2021) Vigilante Yagi AU (MHA, in-progress, either a long-fic or a serie of OS)

All Might has been a hero longer than he has ever been Yagi Toshinori.

3- (02/2021) Dad For All AU (MHA, various blurb on tumblr so far, most likely a longfic)

Izuku was trying really hard not to panic. One second he was fighting a villain with a still unknown quirk, the next he found himself __ years in the past, according to the news report currently going on TV.

4- (02/2021) Midoriya Inko’s Guide To Good Parenthood (MHA, in progress, probably a serie of OS?)

Midoriya Inko isn’t anything special. She's 30 going on 52, has a really bad case of anxiety, can and will cry for any reasons, and has gotten so many grey hair from her son's shenanigans its a wonder she still has green hair.

5- (12/2020) The Kids Will Be Alright (DCMK, spin-off of Sharpen Your Knives)

Ran was running. Fast, fast, faster, not fast enough. She put all her strength in her legs, went as fast as she could.

6- (11/2020) Before the coffee gets cold - The Sisters (DCMK, OS published on AO3)

It was probably foolish of her to come back to this place. But, on the off chance that the rumours were true, she wanted to give it a chance.

7- (11/2020) Sharpen Your Knives (DCMK, in-progress longfic, won’t be published for a long while)

Shinichi has no idea how things could have gone so wrong, so quickly.

8- (08/2020) The Time Travel Road Trip Case (DCMK, spin-off of Who The F- Is This) (technically not the first lines, but it’s the first part I’ve written)

Shinichi(Conan) felt someone lift him up from the back, he turned his face as he came level with their chest, one look at their face and…

Well, guess he found KID.

9- (06/2020) Who The F- Is This (DCMK, longfic in progress, the first chapters are on AO3)

Shinichi’s head was throbbing. He felt like someone was playing drums with his head. What has happened?

10- (06/2020) Harrinichi Kupotter (DCMK & Harry Potter x-over, longfic in progress)

Shinichi doesn't really believe in superior beings, gods or the supernatural. So far everything in his life could be explained by science and very human tricks.

11- (03/2019) Naobuza & Raphtaku AU (The Rising of the Shield Hero & Naruto x-over, an old baby I keep coming back to)

If you were to ask anyone to tell you about Naofumi Iwatani, those who remember him would tell you that he’s a weird kid. There’s something otherwordly about him, as if he was evolving in a totally different universe from them.

12- (01/2019) The self-indulgent FMA TT au (FMA, an old project that I should go back to, someday)

Somehow, sometimes, Ed felt like there was some being out there, out for him.

13- (01/2019) Nanadaime time travel AU (Naruto, will most likely be an OS, one day I will finish it enough to post it on AO3)

It was a late night In the Hokage office, one of many. As was usual by now, the Hokage was filling paperwork at his desk, his right-hand-man filling his own number of files at his side.

14- (11/2018) Baby Ed saving the world with hugs and punches (FMA, an old project that I will go back to)

On a warm night during the summer of 2005, as the sun left it’s place for the shining stars, Edward Elric went to sleep for the last time besides his lovely wife, in the house he has rebuilt with his own two hands.

15- (06/2018) The roadtrip 03Ed never knew he needed (FMA03/CoS & Fantastic Beasts and where to find them x-over, a serie of OS)

He wasnt sure what brought him back here.

Maybe he just wanted to make sure Envy was dead, one monster less in this world. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure there was no way between both world (no way to go home.)

16- (04/2018) Badass Women Roleswap AU (FMA, I still sometime go back to it, will most likely be a serie of OS)

Ed didn’t have many memories of his father. He could remember a tall man, who always looked sad. A giant who always had trouble when it came to holding him and his brother. A figure always working in his study. A person who always looked sad when teaching them alchemy.

17- (03/2018) FMA TT fic I wasnt planning to expend (FMA, old project, I will get back to it.) (it is, also, the first fanfic idea I got when I got back into writing fics)

Nothing happened as it should have been. No matter everything they’ve done to try and stop him, the dwarf in the flask still managed to bypass it all and, in some way, reach his goal.

And that’s pretty much it for any written stuff I got (anything else is too old)

Bonus: A la recherche du canard (Looking for the duck) - it’s an old assignment I had for french class, where we had to pick an article and write a short story based on it. (When I say old, I mean it’s from 2012 - it’s a good way to see how far I’ve come). It’s honestly really bad but I did have a lot of fun back then. (This is a translated from french version btw) (yes I stole names from Hetalia I was always terrible at finding names for characters)

The sun shined upon the sleeping man face, who opened his bright blue eyes. He got up suddenly, throwing his blanket on the ground. Today would be the day where he, Alfred F. Jones, Yorkville police officer, would accomplish his mission: keeping an eye on the annual fair set-up.

So, observations: You can very clearly see me go through various fandom phases it’s funny. Also my naming skills for the AUs got slightly better (but not that much.) I do tend to drop a name (usually the person from whom the POV is) in those first sentences. The first paragraph tend to get shorter with time (which might simply be because I realised I tend to lose focus when it gets too long.) I also never start on dialogue, generally I go for the POV’s thought uh.

I do quite like the ones for the Vigilante Yagi AU and the Midoriya Inko’s guide, The Kids Will Be Alright too. Badass Women I like it but also am not 100% happy with it.

This mostly made me want to share even more about these stories to y’all.

Anyway! Tagging @whoever wants to do it! I’m not sure whom I follow has already done it/been tagged or not, uuuuhhh, maybe @artistfingers ? If you’re a writer and wants to do it then go for it and tag me I guess.

#cro shouts into the void #tag game #i accidentally lost the first draft and had to do it again and I Am Not Mad #(it's a lie i am a little bit mad)#also if you want to know more about any of those please send me an ask

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wintaejk · 4 years

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Jungkook’s FIC REC | OS 2

I had too many links on the other post. Here is the second part of my Jungkook’s fic rec but with others themes.

Again, all those fictions belong to the amazing authors who wrote them, not me. I want to thank them once more.

(f) = fluff

(a) = angst

(m) = mature

magical au

— Trick or Treat: Howling for You (F) (M) — by @fortunexkookie

The way your Little Red Riding Hood costume lured over a fuckboy in a half-assed werewolf costume was a little cliche, but god damn was he beautiful. He promised he had plenty of big things to show you, and you took him up on the offer, not realizing that you might’ve bitten off more than you could chew.

werewolf au | established relationship | +14k

— rottenfolk (M) — by @junqkook

a look was as hazardous as chemicals, a kiss as perilous as poison; his eyes and lips felt akin to a cure, but he was purely venom.

faerie au | royalty au | +13k

Commentary - If there’s only one one-shot I could recommend you to read of all tumblr, it would probably be this one. For me, it is rare to acheive such a level of mastery in fantasy fictions. Writing is already complicated, but when you have to place the readers in an unknown universe, it is even harder. However, the real brilliance of this story is the end. Because the end is supposed to satiate the reader in a way or another, it is supposed to offer what all the reader craved: a sort of closure. But here we all are, waiting for a sequel, because this story will make you want a next episode. And that is the brilliance, because you will surely never forget a story with that kind of power. So those are some of the reasons why this fiction is for me a mix of art, smartness and excellence ; and also why you would be missing something huge by not reading it.

— overdrive (M) — by @junqkook

you thought meeting jungkook was just a coincidence, but the universe didn’t deal in coincidences.

vampire au | soulmate au | enemies to lovers | +13k

— Crescent Bound - Jungkook (F) (M) — by @parkhabits

A pact bound by the moon. A secret kept only amongst themselves. Each of them experiencing their own cycles of heat.

werewolf au | friends to lovers | +12k

— Room 109 (M) — by @lavishedinjimin

Having Jungkook as your apartment buddy was a lot to get used to. But with one early day, your heat comes up much stronger than usual, and you were desperate for an alpha’s touch.

werewolf au | roommate au | alpha!jungkook | +6k

— after dark (M) — by @seokoloqy

Jungkook has served the royal family for generations, seen them live and die countless times. When it comes to you, he can’t watch you wither away too, but your lust for one another makes it harder and harder to stay apart.

vampire au | royalty au | knight!jungkook | +8k

— Life’s Blood (F) (A) (M) — by @littlenoona

You produce blood cells at an increased rate when blood is lost, effectively, you cannot bleed out. This ability has served you well so far, even gaining you a rare friend, and you’ve made it your source of income, but it also has its downsides, one of which you’ve managed to avoid successfully, until now.

vampire au | +13k

— you come in waves (A) (M) — by @angelguk

if jeongguk had a choice, he would destroy the sun. it’s not like he needed it for warmth due to his werewolf abilities making him a scorching radiator. it would also help his heart. because you look delectable in that stupid bikini.

werewolf au | friends to lovers au | 4k

— tell me your secrets (i’m all ears) (F) — by @jinpire

You’re not afraid of Jeon Jeongguk. Even if he’s probably some kind of bear or giant cat shifter, and just a hint of his irritation had your instincts vibrating beneath your skin like a live wire. Your thumb brushed over the plastic dome of mini-Levi’s head, taking comfort in the cartoon scowl and dead eyes, the tiny grey sticks of his 3DM gear. Small could be pretty fucking powerful too.

shifter au | college au | bunny!kook | +6k

drabbles: nooks and naps - foxie moxie (don’t pull my tail) - look before you leap - fluffles and kerfuffles

— Pomegranate Seeds (M) — by @taetaebaepsae

Jungkook thinks he’s found the perfect new roommate, but little doesn’t he know you’re just aching to corrupt him.

demon au | roommate au | virgin!jungkook | +4k

other themes

— Every Kind of Way (F) (M) — by @taehyungforreal

{Three little vignettes, three completely different experiences, same perfectly wonderful boyfriend JK.}

strangers to lovers | established relationship | +14k

Commentary - I remember when this fiction was posted. I read the teaser a few days before, and I was waiting for it. I remember the exact date of the release of this story, and let me tell you it never happens to me. But this is how much I liked this story. This masterpiece. This fiction is 95% made of smut. This is a warning if you don’t like that. However, what I like about Ashley’s works is that smut is not only smut (okay, sometimes it’s just pure filth but whatever). It’s not the first time I’ve read a piece of work of her and that I’ve been so thankful of reading her. Because the stories she writes are realistic. Sex is not always perfect. Sex is not always like in porn. Sex can be embarrassing. And this is why I love what Ashley writes, because she always have that realistic point of view on life. And sometimes it’s also nice to not turn everything into porn. What is very likeable - I said likeable? I meant loveable, sorry - about that story is also the three different stages of the relation of Jk and reader. This is also something I like about her writings. Life evolves, relationships evolve, and so does sex. So in this story, you will experience three different Jungkook. And it’s three reasons why you should read this fiction, three reasons why you will probably love it. One thing is sure, this chef-d’oeuvre will leave you wondering if your eyes have been burnt by the smuttiness or blessed by all the talent of this writer.

— tattooed two (ft. kth) (F) (M) — by @httpjeon

your boyfriend’s best friend joins you for a night you’ll never forget.

tattoo artist au | established relationship | poly au | +8k

— Inkling (A) (M) — by @gguksgalaxy

Jungkook is your brother’s boyfriend’s co-worker, they own a tattoo and piercing parlour. In other words, he’s tall, gorgeous, has his passion literally etched into his skin, looks incredibly good in a man-bun, and is semi-unattainable for you. Why? Well…you’re not entirely sure but him ditching right after a very heated make-out session sure isn’t a good sign. His extremely poor mood the next week sure isn’t either, but the only way to fix it is to face the beast head-on. Right?

tattoo artist au | +17k

— Freak-quency (M) — by @taehyungforreal

His eyes sparkle and he fights back a smile when he asks you why. “Is it because I didn’t give you something else to swallow like I said I would,” he questions, halfway through a much less subtle adjustment of his growing erection. Yoongi was right, he wants to be in trouble.

rockstar au | established relationship | +8k

— Boots (M) —

3000+ words of Ashley kinking on Jungkook’s boot. That’s it.

rockstar au | established relationship | part of Freak-quency | +3k

— Heartbreaker with a Heart of Gold (A) (M) — by @filmflowersbangtan

It was around this time almost three years ago when Jungkook moved to LA after his band got signed to a famous record label. He told you that he’d keep in contact with you. That he’d visit as much as he could. That he loved you. But about a month after leaving, he stopped texting and calling as much. And then a mere week after the band’s first EP dropped, Burning Rabbit was a sensation.

rocksatr au | ex lovers | +3k

— Brother’s best friend (M) — by @lavishedinjimin

In which Y/n owns a smut blog dedicated to her crush and brother’s best friend, jungkook. it was all fun and games until he finds out about it and acts it out with you.

brother’s best friend!jungkook | +5k

— Sugarplum Elegy (F) (A) (M) — by @bymoonchild

You know no bounds nor depth with Jungkook. While your fuck buddy loves sleeping in your bed and doing laundry for you with his favourite fabric softener, you are in love with a mysterious honeyed, velvety voice on Soundcloud. All’s fine, until you find out that the voice that metaphors your heart to a sweet sugarplum melody actually belongs to the boy who has been taking up a special spot in your bed and in your heart, strumming at your heartstrings all this while.

friends with benefits | college au | idiots to lovers | +17k

— The Kids Aren’t Alright (F) (A) (M) — by @sketchguk

Sneaking around with Jeongguk during your Christian retreat is complicated when you’re both dedicated to your jobs as co-youth group counselors at your father’s ministry.

friends with benefits | pastor’s kid!reader | +10k

— Gym (F) (M) — by @hobiwonder

Jungkook has a crush on you and has been watching you work out at his gym. One day you finally confront his obvious crush.

business woman!reader | fratboy!jungkook | older reader | +8k

— Gravity Check (M) — by @gimmesumsuga

The one where Jungkook is your oh-so-handsome climbing instructor.

climbing instructors!jungkook | strangers to lovers | 14k

— The Monogamy Monologues (F) (M) — by @kpopfanfictrash

The year? Some point after college. The occasion? Namjoon is getting married and the Rich Man’s Crochet Club has convened once again. Somewhere between the drinks and the laughter, everyone has the same realization: Jungkook has never been in a serious relationship. In the name of all that is holy (Overwatch and booze), the club’s mission is revived. Now though, their goal is much more perilous. Now, they aim to find Jeon Jungkook a girlfriend. (Part of The Rich Man’s Crochet Club series)

fuckboy!jungkook | wedding planner!reader | strangers to lovers | +42k

— The Virgin Volume (F) (A) (M) —

This fic exists in the RMCC universe. It takes place before RMCC and is the story of how Jungkook lost his virginity. To quote Seokjin/Namjoon: “What Jungkook doesn’t know won’t hurt him and – let’s be honest – his story is hilarious. One pump,” Seokjin laughs, sounding like a hyena. “One pump and he’s done.” // Ducking his head, Namjoon tries not to smile. “It was a rookie mistake,” he protests, defending their friend. “Jungkook was overexcited and couldn’t control himself. He got better.”

college au | friends to lovers | prequel to TMM | +6k

— everlasting (A — by @kimvvantae

being able to love the same person forever is a blessing given from the heavens. to you, however, eternity has become a curse.

reincarnation au | 18k

— Performances (M) — by @littlenoona

The same handsome guy has been appearing at your performances and you become more and more interested in who he is - now you’re dancing only for him, despite a hall full of people.

strangers to lovers | professional dancer!reader | +6k

— Matching Hearts (F) (A) — by @gukwluv

a drunk call to your ex boyfriend leads to a night of fun adventures that make you wonder why you even split in the first place.

exes au | +3k

— locker room talk (M) — by @minnpd

You end up having a rather heated talk with Jeon Jungkook in the locker room when he announces he has been chosen for the audition you both participated to.

dancer au | enemies to lovers | fuckboy!jungkook | +5k

— not quite lovers (M) — by @junqkook

hiring jeon jungkook as your personal assistant happens to have more than one perk.

workplace au | friends with benefits | ceo!reader | +15k

— By Its Cover (M) — by @gimmesumsuga

The one where Jungkook makes a very bad first impression.

workplace au | enemies to lovers | 21k

— Mind in the Gutter (F) (M) — by @kpopfanfictrash

Starting over is never fun. Especially not when you decide to take the phrase fully to heart; new job, new city, new coworkers and new relationships. When you are dragged to a happy hour by your new co-worker, Taehyung, you end up sitting beside a (very) cute, (very) shy IT worker named Jungkook. Several drinks later, he mentions he is in a professional bowling league with his friends and you rather enthusiastically invite yourself along. As time passes and you begin to grow closer, you still find it impossible to read Jungkook. Working in the same company and seeing each other so often, it is only so long before one of you snaps. But who?

workplace au | bowling au | strangers to friends to lovers | +18k

#fic rec #jungkook fic rec #bts fic rec #jeon jungkook

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queswipocalypse · 5 years

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My name is Que and I’m a stitchaholic

So I figured I might as well make a blog for the 2020 WIPocalypse. I’ll be posting to the FB community as well, probably.

This is my intro post.

Hi, I’m Que and I’m a stitchaholic. I got this curse from my mother. It’s generational now. I participated in WIPolcaypses a long time ago, but I found it again and I thought I would participate in a better way.

For those of you off Tumblr, you can find my stuff on Instagram, quetzalzotz. Also, if you do want to follow me here, I follow back from my main, @perilsperil and my more active F/O blog, @quesselfships where you can see all my Pokemon cross stitch thus far.

Anyway, I have a whole Excel sheet of projects I want to do. I tend to pick based on my mood at the time, so I don’t have a list of “goals” exactly. But I’ll list one or two from each category I’d like to at least start this year.

However, I do have 6 projects on the go currently. I have 5 categories, based on my 5 needle minders, plus one year long SAL. These are the latest pics of I have of them, and might not be the most up to date, but close enough. I’m fighting off a cold, deal with it.

1. Religious Art...well, really anything kinda pagan. Currently this slot is filled with my Egyptian Gods Sampler by Clouds Factory

Start wishlist: Alcyone of the Pleiades, Mother Maya, Forgotten God

2. Pieces that use a few flosses. I Was running out of categories ok. This slot is filled with a piece by @shitpostsampler about Economics. As an accountant who took two years of economics, it is a true statement.

Start wishlist: Alien Ouija board, Lying on the Floor Spiritually

3. Pokemon! I am making a pokemon for each of my f/os. Currently I’m working on Snorlax. This one doesn’t have a wishlist, as going forward I’m going to letting followers of my F/O blog pick next projects after successfully guessing which Pokemon and for which F/O they are for.

4. This slot is for pieces that are in a series. This is the piece I worked on for my new years stitchathon as well, The Water Goddess by Joan Elliott.

Start wish list: Probably my Pagan holiday wheel of the year pieces and I can swap them out on my altar.

5. Other largeish projects. Again, low on categories. This is my latest start, the Chonker Chart!

Start wishlist: Game of Thrones sign, despite how bad S8 was. Circle of Friends, Mermaid of Atlantis

And finally, my weekly SAL, which updates every Wednesday, the Peppermint Purple Blackwork sal. This is the first motif and I’ll post each one here every week as I finish.

#2020 WIPocalypse #cross stitch #art #embroidery #intro

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universal-kitty · 6 years

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So! Today’s the positivity day and... Well, I was almost content with kinda keeping up my hide-y nature right now and sticking to my RP blogs, but then I saw that some people were already tagging me, so-!! I can’t just not pay back!!! That ain’t me!! So... Let’s do some positivity today.

I would first like to start with a general, big thank you to the entire community. As soon as I could figure out what a crush was and romantic feelings, I’ve been self-shipping and doing self-insert. It’s a natural sort of thing for me, someone who’s felt very outcasted from other people and needed another place to mentally go to feel better. Fandom and self-insert was my perfect spot.

And it’s fun! But what’s made it even better is the community at large. I started this blog for myself and my love of fictional guys, gals, nb pals, and monsters/aliens/robots of all kinds. It was never meant to be anything more than that, but now I’ve been making friends. I’ve had people who’ve supported me and who I’ve supported back the best I can.

My F/Os can only do so much, but with the little positive imagines people post and the assurances from my fellow self-shippers, it’s really put me into an unrivaled, comforting spot that feels a bit like home. You guys have made an online community a home and there’s no way to thank you guys enough for that.

...With all this out of the way, here’s a few shout-outs to the people I’ve talked to/seen around enough that I want to send them a little positivity~ Beneath the cut!

@robotarmjokes- D, you were my very first follower when I learned about the community. I didn’t know why you followed at first or who your F/O was, but I enjoyed the energy you put out there. And now lookit us! I know Rhys like he’s a longtime friend, you’re my buddy too, and just-!! It’s such a blast knowing you.

@selfinsertheaven- YOU!! First of all, an icon. So many great self-ships?? Probably will be me in a few more years, if I keep getting into fandoms like I’ve been doing. (And stop being in denial about liking said chara in the first place, but I digress.) But everything you do is just? So lovely?? I admire your dedication to draw your self-inserts and how adorable they turn out to be~! Plus, I’m just....really glad about you dating Ryuu~ He deserves all the love and I’m glad he gets that with you. U v U <3

@maggotships- I know you said you were likely going to ditch your blog, but I wanted to give you a shoutout anyways, because I love your art. I love seeing your enthusiasm with your self-ships and the art you put out for them!! Seeing someone ship with Eduardo is really sweet, too, imo.... We didn’t really talk a lot, but I enjoyed the mutual support thing we had going on a lot~

@selfshippiez- YOU TAG ME, I TAG YOU BACK!!! Also, uuhhhhhh Sans’ Lovers Unite? No matter which Sans we datin’??? Hell. Yis. You two are cute as heck, I love the art that comes out for this ship and generally, just... I hope we talk a lot more; you seem super cool~!

@queenieships- I can never gush over your art and ships enough. I adore your art and defo wanna get a comm from you someday! We also haven’t talked a whole bunch, but just... You’re really cool and I like the stuff you do aaaaannnndd am always guaranteed to be quietly supporting you cause I’m awkward!!!! You keep being your awesome self, Queenie~

@tearofaeons- Also a super cool person I don’t talk with enough!!! It was SO COOL to see another self-shipper for OFF and Batter definitely deserves the love, so like... Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh~ I like your art a lot, hope to see more of it in the future, and-! Thank you sm for asking about my OFF SI!

@iselfshipnerd- I’ve seen you on my dash a lot, but I don’t think we’ve like...ever actually talked? But I love the art you do and how you dabble in all sorts of things (like AUs of other media) for your art! And seeing that same-ship positivity on my dash was so heartwarming!!!

@violets-self-shipping-blog- My awesome cousin!! Stellar art, wonderful self-ships...an all around, cool person. Wish I could’ve seen you more during the summer trip..... ; w ; Maybe some other time, hopefully...!

@madames-sweethearts- AKA my best buddy ever?? I would live for you??? Bless?? You give me confidence, gurl. Your art is wonderful, the stuff you come up with? Amazing. Fantastic. You are just so damn relatable and I’m so glad we met. <3

@shippin-in-the-rain- We don’t talk a lot, but I love your art. Your platonic ships? Super valid. We should talk more sometime, yee.

@limey-blue-arty-do- YOU!!!! Another super cool person!! With absolutely fantastic art and just-?? We should talk more???? Cause I’m still debating Obi-Wan thanks to you and also I’m p sure my F/Os are your BFFs and I also nudged Heimdall at you so-????? Yes, super cool, knowing you is awesome, and just. Wow...

@atmospheric-light- You’re like...a little ray of sunshine in this community, you know that? You post wonderful stuff, I love your presence on my dash, and just.... Gosh, I don’t know. You’re just really great and I hope you know that. Also, you’re ships cute af.

@empressdrega27- YOU’RE SO VALID!!!! I never thought I’d see someone ship with Ahk, but first you! And then I got to learn more and it’s amazing how you’ve worked everything into this wonderful, connecting realm of worlds??? It’s so amazing and reminds me of my Anime Worlds days, so it brings a little bit of past nostalgia into my present day life... I’m really glad to have met you and I also think your voice is super cool, tbh.

@insomniasqueen- We don’t talk a lot anymore, but to my memory, you were one of the first people to come charging up like, “Tell me...about you and Alphonse. I must know,” and it’s a little thing like that which sticks out in my memory, you know? I hope you and Ichigo are having a blast today~!

@gamzeeismyboyfriend- I mean... C’mon. An icon of the community, cause you know where your boundaries are and stand by ‘em. Someone tells you shit? LMAO, wow, sucks for them; now you’ll just draw MORE of whatever they said to not do. You’re a sort of inspiration in that way, you know? (Also, your art is super pretty and Goals.)

@myrainydayloves- You and Sho are adorable as heck and I cackle as you drag people into loving Sho with you. Another icon for those that share F/Os in the most delightful way...and can never hail you enough for the Takeovers!! It’s such a simple little thing that brings happiness to us all and just... Wow, thank you.

@hardcoresshippingmyself- ANOTHER CUTE ARTIST!!! I love your art! So much!! And also seeing your self-ships and just... Ooph, if I wasn’t such a nervous bean, I’d talk your ear off, but I’ll just be sittin’ in my corner here. [finger guns] You stay awesome, though!!! I love seeing the content you make!!!!!

@meldaciohq- YOU ARE WONDERFUL, YOUR SELF-SHIPS ARE WONDERFUL, YOU MAKE GLORIOUS ART, AND I LIKE TALKING TO YOU!!! THAT’S THE TEA, BUDDY!!!!! You can tell I consider you a friend cause you’re getting this nonsense, slfghjfdks.

There’s probably more, but my memory is not bueno and also this is a lot of people already, so!!! Heck!

Thank you to everyone I’ve met so far and I look forward to seeing what next year will be like... What I’ve created, how this community has grown and strengthened themselves, and all the new friends we’ll make...!! It’s already been a wonderful time here, so I look forward to what else could happen~!

#self ship positivity 18 #self insert #self insert community #self ship #self ship community #Aki speaks #Positivity Post #YES HULLO HERE IS A THING #back into hiding I go

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ciathyzareposts · 5 years

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Game 322: Nemesis (1981)

Hey, it was a bare-bones era.

Nemesis

United States

SuperSoft (developer and publisher)

Released in 1981 for CP/M

Date Started: 24 March 2019

Date Ended: 24 March 2019

Total Hours: 4 Difficulty: Moderate (3/5) Final Rating: (to come later) Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

In 1977, the innovative first-person dungeon crawler Oubliette appeared on the PLATO mainframe system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Two students, aspiring programmers, became convinced of its commercial potential. Taking various elements from the game, they reprogrammed it for the microcomputer and released their version in 1981, offering no credit or acknowledgement to the Oubliette authors. The game was a smash hit and launched a dynasty of sequels and imitators, influencing the genre down to the present day.

The last sentence makes it clear that the above paragraph was about Wizardry, but take it out and you also have a description of Nemesis, one of a very small number of RPGs released for the CP/M operating system. The CP/M was a popular OS for Intel 8086 and 8088 computers in the 1970s, and based on most accounts, it would have been the OS of choice for the new IBM-PC if some issues hadn’t arisen over a non-disclosure agreement, leaving the door open for Microsoft to sell IBM on PC-DOS, which ironically took some of its elements from CP/M. If things had gone another way, Nemesis might have been one of the first RPGs for a booming OS rather than one that died the same year.

A mix of D&D, Tolkien, and Donaldson in the race list was an early clue.

Like Wizardry, Nemesis isn’t an exact copy, and has plenty of its own innovations, so we shouldn’t go too far in making accusations of plagiarism and such. In fact, in making their adaptation, the authors–Michael A. Pagels and Michael Q. Hiller–changed enough of the elements (in particular getting rid of the 3-D interface) that I might not have noticed the association. What tipped me off was the use of “ur-vile” (from Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant series) as a character class. I knew I’d seen that before, searched my blog, and came up with my entry on Oubliette. From there, I noticed that the list of races for the two games were exactly the same, in the same order, excepting the replacement of “Eldar Elf” with “Grey Elf.” Then I got hold of the game manual and noted that the address for SuperSoft was a post office box in Champaign.

Getting the game running was no picnic. The only reliable CP/M emulator that I could find (Simeon Cran’s MicroFast) was for DOS, which put me in the weird position of running an emulator within an emulator. The game then requires you to create a configuration file for the terminal you’re using before you can run it. It has configurations programmed for numerous terminals, but none of them seemed to overlap with the various options offered by MicroFast. Actually, one did–the D.E.C. VT-52–but I overlooked it for a while, wasted a lot of time trying to define my own terminal type, and nearly gave up before I figured it out.

Nemesis is necessarily dumbed-down from Oubliette. Microcomputers of 1981 had nothing like the resources of the PLATO mainframe. Oubliette‘s explorable “town” level with numerous shops, inns, and so forth was (like in Wizardry) turned into a menu town. Instead of a party, a single character adventures alone. Combat is rendered considerably easier as a consequence.

But the basic rules, logistics, and statistics come directly from Oubliette, which itself drew heavily from Dungeons & Dragons and a few other sources. Character creation has you choose first from 15 races: human, elf, dwarf, half-dwarf, half-elf, hobbit, orc, uruk-hai, ogre (misspelled “orge”), pixie, goblin, hobgoblin, kobold, ur-vile, and grey elf. The game then randomly rolls for your strength, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, constitution, dexterity, gold, and (weirdly enough) sex. The rolls are modified by your race choice. You also choose an alignment from lawful, neutral, or chaotic, which was also used by Oubliette but goes back to original D&D.

Choosing a class after rolling attributes.

You can re-roll as many times as you want before accepting the character, at which point you choose from a list of available classes, with those that don’t meet your minimum attributes filtered out. There are 15 classes, and they again match Oubliette’s list in names and order, except for the substitution of “rogue” for thief and “featheror” for courtesan. Nemesis‘s full list is cleric, demondim, featheror, hirebrand, mage, minstrel, ninja, paladin, raver, peasant, ranger, rogue, sage, samurai, and valkyrie. After a few false starts with boilerplate characters (e.g., an ogre hirebrand), I decided to aim for a “minstrel” because it amused me to think of an adventurer pratfalling his way through a dungeon while belting a tune about his mammy down in Alabamy.

The menu town has an armory for buying and selling weapons and armor, a hospital, an inn, and Archives. Hospitals and inns both let you restore hit points. Hospitals cost money but heal you a lot faster (in game days) than inns, which has implications for your longevity. The Archives is where you go to pay money to have unknown items identified. New characters have no equipment, but they also have so little gold that you usually can’t buy anything. Even a “pointed stick” costs over 100 gold pieces. So you enter the dungeon and take a chance with your hands.

Visiting the store. I have no idea why I’d need a hanky, brick, or beenie.

Visiting the hospital after a rough dungeon trip.

Gameplay consists mostly of wandering the 21 x 23 dungeon levels, picking up equipment as you find it, and killing monsters as they attack you. The items you find almost immediately outclass what’s available in the store, so you mostly use gold for healing and identifying items in the archives. You want to stay near the entrance until you gain a few levels and extra hit points; although combat is relatively easy on Level 1, the game still features permadeath, and you can always get unlucky.

The dungeon is rendered in roguelike fashion, with ASCII characters representing the walls and doors, rather than in the 3D graphical fashion of Oubliette. It’s possible that the developers were exposed to Rogue but equally possible that they came up with the idea independently. In addition to stairs, players can encounter chutes and pits to lower levels, teleporters, anti-magic rooms, anti-cleric rooms, “melee rooms” (every square has a combat), and special treasure rooms. You maneuver with the URLD keys.

Making my way through the dungeon. The character is a flashing underscore, so don’t ask me to find it on this static shot.

Combat is drawn largely unchanged from Oubliette. When you encounter an enemy party, you’re taken to a separate screen. Where you can see your own statistics and inventory and the enemy groups that you face. Your options are only (F)ight, (C)leric spell, (M)age spell, and (U)se a special item. There is no fleeing or parrying. Even worse, the point of most of the character classes is nullified, as the authors failed to adapt any of their special abilities. Courtesans/”featherors” and minstrels can no longer charm enemies; rogues and ninjas can’t hide; clerics cannot dispel undead; paladins cannot lay on hands. There is a suggestion that some of these abilities were intended for a sequel.

I believe the primary party I’m fighting is orcs, but I caught this in the process of refreshing the screen. Two mediums (priestly classes) have joined the battle.

Other monsters may appear to join a battle in progress. As you kill them, you see your experience and gold increase. Leveling happens when you leave the dungeon, and it’s accompanied by increases in maximum health and spell points.

Nemesis offers 55 different monster types, and all of them appear in Oubliette with a few exceptions, and those exceptions are all simple substitutions. For instance, Oubliette‘s giant spider and giant ant become “huge spider” and “large ant” in Nemesis. Oubliette has a lot more monsters than Nemesis; those that didn’t make the cut tend to be the higher-level monsters like dragons, medusas, and advanced spellcasters, and I suspect that the Nemesis authors didn’t know how, or didn’t have the space, to program those enemies’ special attacks.

The game’s town. Oubliette had stores, hospitals, and inns, but I think the Archives are original to this game.

There is some overlap in the games’ spells, but on the other hand, the 13 mage spells and 11 cleric spells offered by Nemesis are common enough that they could have come from anywhere. Nemesis doesn’t require you to know a spell code name to cast its spells. They are separated into travel spells (“Light,” “Protect,” “Levitate”) and combat spells (“Damage,” “Sleep,” “Fireball”), and each depletes a number of magic points from the character’s pool.

There’s no main quest or winning condition in Nemesis. The manual encourages you to set your own goals, such as a certain experience level or treasure level. Survival isn’t very hard if you can live past Level 0 and if you play conservatively, for instance returning to the surface when you’ve lost half your health. The game earns only a 12 in my GIMLET, with no element rising above a 2. It is particularly hurt by the lack of any backstory, NPCs, or quests (all 0).

Ironically, one of the monster types that the game did not adapt from Oubliette was dragons.

The manual indicates that Nemesis II was already under development when Nemesis shipped. The creators intended to bring multi-user capabilities to the sequel. Players were invited to join the “Nemesis User Group,” which met at Hiller’s residence, to test the new adventure. Alas, it was never finished.

Pagels, Hiller, and SuperSoft issued at least two other products: a multi-player science fiction game called StarJump and a dungeon level and character editor called Nemesis Dungeon Master. The latter came with the edition of Nemesis that I downloaded, but it must have been a late addition because the manual doesn’t mention it at all.

The Nemesis Dungeon Master character editor.

On a Google Group about a year ago, Pagels indicated that he and Hiller “had a great time writing this game, and it helped pay for grad school.” Neither continued in the gaming industry. I reached out to both for comments but didn’t get a response.

If we ever get hold of OrbQuest (1981), we may have a challenger, but until then, I’m willing to call Nemesis the best CRPG issued for the CP/M operating system. I’m glad we had a chance to check it out.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-322-nemesis-1981/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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lightandmatter · 6 years

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About a year and a half ago, I bought the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary lens. I don’t photograph wildlife very often these days, but I wanted a lens handy for those occasional times when I needed some extra reach. I ended up keeping it in the trunk of my car, permanently, for those times when I’d spot some wildlife from the road, but I also got some use out of it for shooting sports. It’s cheap, at about $999 (or even less).

Above Photo: Frank Clark, #55 defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, shot with the Sigma 150-600mm lens at 600mm at 2018 training camp.

Just months after I purchased the lens, though, Sigma announced a new lens: a more compact 100-400mm f/5-6.3. With a similar price tag (about $700, now) and identical aperture range, I was initially surprised that anyone would consider trading the extra reach for a smaller lens, but I quickly started hearing from readers that this was the kind of thing that they were looking for, so when Sigma sent me one to test out, I was intrigued to find out which one I’d prefer using myself. This is what I found.

Size and Weight

The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary lens (top) and Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary lens, without their hoods.

Size and weight are the only reasons that I’d consider going for the smaller lens, here, though for some people, especially APS-C camera owners, the reach of a 400mm lens is sufficient. You’ll have to decide based on what kind of work you shoot, but when it comes to bird and wildlife photography, I find that more reach is always better.

There is a significant size difference. The 100-400 is actually smaller than a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II/III lens, weighing 2.55lbs compared to the Canon’s 3.28lbs, and the Sigma is 7.2″ long while the Canon is 7.8″.

The Sigma 150-600, on the other hand, weighs 4.3lbs and is just over 10 inches long, with its hood adding another 3.5″ to that length. It looks pretty impressive, if you’re the type of photographer who cares about that sort of thing. Sometimes looking the part is important, after all.

It’s worth mentioning that both lenses are compatible with the Sigma dock, but only the 150-600 ships with a tripod-mount collar. The 100-400 is just small enough that you can probably get by without one, which is good because you’ll have to…. there’s no accessory collar available.

Telephoto Reach

Let’s start off with the basics: how big a difference is there, really, between a 400mm and a 600mm lens? Is 400mm enough? I can’t answer the second question for you, but I can give you an idea of the difference.

[/media-credit] Downtown Seattle from Queen Anne Hill at 100mm with the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 C

Here’s an image I shot with the 100mm end of the 100-400mm zoom lens from Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, with Mt. Rainier in the background.

I re-framed and shot the mountain peak, and also the top of the Space Needle at 400mm and 600mm. The differences can be seen here (click to enlarge).

At 400mm with the 100-400mm zoom lens.

At 600mm with the 150-600mm lens.

Again, at 400mm with the 100-400mm.

And finally, at 600mm with the 150-600mm.

Similarly, I shot the downtown scene at 100mm and at 150mm, the near end of each zoom. In this case, the wider lens offered a much more attractive field of view, being able to capture the skyline and Mt. Rainier at the same time, but of course, the practicality of a particular lens depends entirely on your goals and location.

At 100mm

At 150mm

Image Quality

Here we have a couple of shots of the top of the Space Needle (again), one from the 400mm end of the 100-400mm at f/6.3 and one shot at 403mm (according to the metadata) with the 150-600mm lens, also at f/6.3, where there is most likely to be a difference in image quality.

These are 100% crops. [2. For these to be 100% crops, you’ll need to view the images on a screen large enough to display 900px wide images].

150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary 015

100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary 017

150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary 015

100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary 017

The differences are minimal at this resolution and are confounded by the slight difference in focal length[3. This is more than the 3mm difference; likely the 400mm end of the 100-400mm lens does not quite reach a true 400mm focal length, as is the case with most zooms.] and the mile of air between the lens and the subjects.

Out of curiousity, I decided to see what the image quality from the 400mm lens would look like if it were scaled up to match the resolution of the 600mm. Does it play out as expected?

As expected, the 400mm image upscaled to an equivalent of 600mm doesn’t look great.

Zoomed to 600mm, the lens resolves a good amount of detail. Compare the grates on these vents to the ones on the upscaled image.

Yes, the scaled-up image quality is really quite bad compared to the native 600mm, as expected.

Autofocus

It was mid-winter when I started testing these lenses, and I wanted to check their autofocus capabilites, so I began by looking for some winter wildlife. Unfortunately, even with a 600mm lens, the harbor seals in Port Gardener Bay stayed beyond of my reach.

[/media-credit] Even at 600mm, it’s hard to tell what we’re looking at, here… it’s a harbor seal, I think.

Football season was long past (for the Seahawks and local schools, anyway), and long telephoto zooms like these are no use for indoor basketball. So, I headed up to Stevens Pass to see how things looked on the slopes.

[/media-credit] Shot with the 100-400mm lens, this snowboarder was catching the last rays of the setting sun for some nice highlights.

And there, I had better luck. With the reach of these long lenses, I didn’t have to hike too far up the mountains to catch the action. I took several hundred shots, and had no trouble with either lens tracking skiers and snowboarders as they shot down the runs. Autofocus performance was very similar between the two lenses, and they both did well after achieving initial focus, which was sometimes slow.

[/media-credit] Moments later from the same location, the sun had dropped below the surrounding peaks.

I was hoping that I’d find a major difference in autofocus speed or tracking capabilities to give me a good reason to recommend one lens or the other, but with my Canon 5D Mark III, the tracking was quick and reliable with both, even in poor light[5. I misjudged how much daylight I’d have at the time of year in the mountains, and the northern slopes where I was shooting were in deep shadow for most of the time that I was shooting, which forced me to use an ISO of 3200 or higher to get decent shutter speeds.].

General Shooting

As a general rule, I was always happy to be carrying around the lighter 100-400mm lens while I was moving, but there was rarely a time when I was shooting that I didn’t wish I had a little more reach.

[/media-credit] Seahawks DB Justin Coleman joking with Delano Hill at practice, shot at 600mm with the Sigma lens.

In fact, when shooting with either of these lenses, I found that I shot overwhelmingly at the long limit of the zoom range, either 400mm or 600mm. Shooting at sports events with the 600mm end gave me the freedom to capture more intimate, portrait-like shots of players. On this particular day at the Seahawks practice facility in Renton, WA, I shot 496 shots with the 150-600mm lens. Of those shots, 306 were at 600mm, and another 88 were shot between 500 and 600mm (mostly just below 600mm).

[/media-credit] Shot with the 150-600mm at 600mm

Similarly, on the day at Stevens Pass, I took 504 shots with the 100-400mm lens. Of those, 261 were shot at 400mm (with 368 between about 300 and 400mm). These numbers would have been even higher had I not been testing the autofocus by shooting subjects that were closer to me (and, thus, harder to focus).

Just a pigeon. Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm

Another pigeon. 100-400mm at 400mm.

Both lenses are excellent for providing sharp, close-up details of small or distant subjects, but more importantly to me is their ability to compress distant backgrounds into a frame and to isolate interesting shapes and patterns for better compositions. Of course, that’s true of any long telephoto lens.

[/media-credit] Shot across Jetty Island in Everett, WA, we see the peaks of the Olympic Mountain range compressed with a tug about 100 feet away.

Conclusion

Where the coverage of these two lenses overlapped, I didn’t find any significant difference in image quality; they were both sharp and moderately contrasty, without too much distortion, though there is some pincushion at the telephoto ends that needs correcting. And while they are sharp, they do not have the vibrance and contrast of a Canon “L” prime telephoto, which is to be expected, since these Sigma lenses are about 1/10th of the cost. However, a modicum of judicious post-processing brings them very close.

Autofocus was also accurate and moderately fast, though achieving initial focus can sometimes be slow.

[/media-credit] Shot with the 100-400mm lens at 400mm, across the Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula.

So, should you get the 100-400mm or the 150-600mm? Since there are no major differences in image quality, you can safely make the decision based on your knowledge of yourself as a photographer. The 150-600 will give you better zoom range and, thus, more detail when shooting distant subjects, but only if you’re willing to carry it. If you’re the type of photographer who is going to leave it behind because you don’t want to deal with the size and weight, it won’t do you any good… of course, the best telephoto lens is the one that you have with you.

If you’re going to be traveling light with your equipment and have limited space in your luggage, then the choice is obvious: the 100-400mm is an excellent choice and gives you great image quality and reach.

However, if you’re not absolutely constrained by size restrictions and you think you’ll be able to force yourself to carry the extra weight, I recommend going with the 150-600mm lens. It covers almost the entire range of the smaller lens but gives you enough more to really make a difference, particularly with skittish wildlife. Incidentally, I bought the cheaper (about $810) “international version” and purchased a 3rd party warranty with it that gave me broader coverage, and still ended up paying less.

Questions? Comments?

As usual, I’m happy to answer any questions that you might have about these lenses and their use. Just let me know in the comment section below.

Sigma 100-400mm or 150-600mm: Which Should You Buy? About a year and a half ago, I bought the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary lens. I don't photograph wildlife very often these days, but I wanted a lens handy for those occasional times when I needed some extra reach.

#100-400 #150-600 #sigma #telephoto #zoom

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jamiekturner · 7 years

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How I, a designer, learned to code and released an app in 4 months

Okay, I’ll be honest with you right away. The title is a little misleading.

I started learning Swift 4 months before and I knew some coding before that.

But I have never created a native app for any platform. Thinking about it now, I had no idea what I was up against…

For you to understand the how I did it, first I must tell you the why.

Traveling back in time

I always loved computers. My father bought our first machine when I was around 8 years old, and I became hooked in a second. It had a blurry CRT screen and it was running DOS, but it did what you wanted it to do.

That thing was pure magic for God’s sake!

Of course I mostly played games on it but I fell in love with the whole environment. I learned about how a PC worked, turned all the knobs and switches in the programs and became the guy others came to for tech-advice.

Fast forward to 1999. It was the time of 56k dial up modems and ADSL lines. I was still into computers as the Internet started gaining popularity in Hungary. I spent most of my afternoons in the school’s IT room visiting Geocities pages.

It was the beautiful era of <frame> based websites with the dancing baby animgif and I wanted a part of it.

I started learning HTML and created my first website. And since it was ’99 I appropriately named it Zolee Site Millenium. It ran on our school server and was only accessible via a Frankensteinian URL, something like www.kkt.piar.school.gov.hu/~hosszu2 (notice the nice tilde character in there). But I was online, I conquered a little bit of the new promise land called the World Wide Web. It felt amazing.

My love for gaming stuck with me in the following years: I was playing a lot of Counter-Strike. As it became the most popular game, I always had a chance to create a website for my current team.

I loved designing and building pages, but after a while started focusing my efforts on the visuals and usability. The latest trends of web development passed right by me as I learned more and more about pixels and user-experience.

Today I work as a full-time UI designer at a Hungarian agency. I have no experience with the current top frameworks like Node, Angular or Bootstrap. And I’m okay with that.

But I’ve been keeping an eye on HTML, CSS and JavaScript goodies, because I always work on personal projects on the side.

The idea for GAget

In 2011 my website got a huge facelift. The layout got featured on DeviantArt and I felt excited about new users checking it out every day. But I also was really frustrated.

Not because of the number visitors, but because there was no quick way for me to check them. There were two options. I either had to keep fiddling with Google Analytics, or I needed to find a simple app to do the trick for me. That’s what OS X Dashboard widgets are for, I thought, so I started looking around.

But the solutions out there were either too nerdy and ugly or just didn’t give me enough data. So being a designer, I drew up a mockup of what the best solution for me could be and posted the design on Dribbble.

A couple of dozen likes made me dig into the topic a bit more. I found out that widgets were essentially HTML + JavaScript apps, so I started taking it a little more seriously. I mean, these were the two languages I was most familiar with.

The working prototype was running on my Dashboard in a couple of days. I named it GAget [pronounced the same way as gadget] as an acronym for Google Analytics widget. A silly name, but it stuck.

The widget was released about 2 weeks later, in August of 2011.

I stopped updating the bookmarks featuring GAget after a while…

The amount of feedback was stunning: MacStories, SwissMiss and tons of smaller blogs featured GAget. I even had my name printed in the Hungarian version of PC World magazine.

I knew I had to keep working on it.

What to do next?

Today the widget has over 84 thousand downloads and it is being used by thousands weekly. With a friend of mine we even created an iPhone version. So when Apple released Yosemite and discontinued the development of Dashcode, GAget’s future started looking pretty grim.

But as one hand took something away, the other gave something back: Apple opened up the Notification Center for developers to display widgets there. Hope! Maybe the success story of my small widget could continue!

My Instagram post about the new design.

I started reading Apple’s documentation on Today extensions (this is what they call widgets). But it was all native Objective-C code. Ugh! Dealing with a compiler, memory leaks and multi-threaded processes was not what I wanted to do. It sounds scary if you’ve never done it before. But I made up my mind, GAget needed to become a native widget!

My biggest problem was that I had no idea where to start.

The Objective-Struggle

I purchased a book about iPhone development in Objective-C, but gave up after a couple of sections. To be honest, for someone familiar with front-end languages and a bit of PHP, Objective-C looked way too complex. Look at this code:

@interface ReminderViewController()

@property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UIDatePicker *datePicker;

@end

What could an interface, a property be, what does nonatomic or weak mean and what the hell are @ and * doing in there? I understood end though!

https://fat.gfycat.com/DifferentGivingFunnelweaverspider.mp4

The swifter way to code

The tutorials in the book were leading nowhere. After a few weeks of struggle, I didn’t get any closer to a native widget.

Then I remembered that Apple introduced a new programming language called Swift alongside Yosemite. It was new to everyone, so a lot of gurus started writing about it, discussing why it sucked and how you should learn Objective-C before even thinking about touching Swift. All this buzz made me take a look: I downloaded and started reading its documentation.

It felt like a breeze. The code started looking familiar, something like a little complex JavaScript! I fired up Xcode and started copying what people were doing in tutorials.

My main goal was an OS X widget, but most tutorials were focused on Swift itself or iPhone apps so I had to keep searching. I still had a lot of unanswered questions, like:

How can a widget and a containing app communicate? (Core data and app groups)

Can I use hover interaction? (No)

How do I open only one row of the widget while closing the others? (Auto layout and some manual height hacking)

Apple’s one page long documentation on widgets forced me to dig up source codes on GitHub and Stack Overflow and it took me countless hours to figure out the answers.

I collected and published the links I found useful along the way. They might be relevant for you too, in case you’re starting out with iOS or OS X programming.

I managed to find everything I needed and started moving faster than I expected: GAget for Yosemite started to take shape.

MVC, multi-threaded processes, app targets, view controllers and core data meant nothing 4 months ago. But thanks to the tutorials, Stack Overflow and a lot of sleepless nights I managed to learn the bases of Swift and OS X development.

Thanks to 800 people the beta testing was a blast. GAget is now available in the App Store as a designer’s first native application.

What I learned — besides a new programming language

I knew that working on a personal project is awesome long before Swift came along. You get to do whatever you want and you don’t answer to a boss or a client. You can add and remove features any way you like and you work in your own pace.

Deadlines

However, I found that giving yourself a deadline can be extremely motivating. Every New Year’s Eve my wife and I sit down and make a list about the things what we want to achieve in the following year. This time I listed that I want to release the new version of GAget by the end of January: this was my deadline.

Even though I ended up missing it by a month (thanks to Apple’s review process and a few other projects), I was working the hardest in January to check this thing off my list. Having it written down on a piece of paper is a powerful motivator.

The circle of learning

I also discovered that while learning something new there are three phases you cycle through: excitement, struggle and solution.

Excitement phase:you alway start here. You have a new idea and start learning things, everything looks promising and you wonder what you can do next. You feel motivated and you’re experimenting with the stuff you know. But you eventually reach a barrier in your knowledge.

Struggle phase:as you encounter the first real problem your excitement and motivation levels start to plummet. You have no idea what could help you or what to search for. You are desperate: even checking out the 3rd results page in Google for an answer.

Solution phase:Finally! You find the solution to that nasty problem. You move faster than before, and start to feel excited and motivated again. You go back to phase 1.

So next time you start out, remember: the struggle phase might be long and frustrating but the solution is out there. Finding it is part of the fun.

And don’t forget to check out GAget ☺

The post How I, a designer, learned to code and released an app in 4 months appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing http://www.designyourway.net/blog/user-interface-design/designer-learned-code-released-app-4-months/

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unilifeonline-blog · 7 years

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Five components iOS ought to take from Android We have a couple of thoughts for what Apple ought to duplicate. Do you?

If you've come anyplace close to a tech site in the most recent year or thereabouts, you've heard everything some time recently. "iOS is getting stale contrasted with Android! It needs some new thoughts!" Whether that is in reality genuine is up for (warmed) wrangle about, however those with a receptive outlook are typically ready to recognize that Apple and Google could bear to swap a couple of thoughts with regards to their portable OSes.

So in a dreamland where we could bring over a portion of the better Android components to iOS, which elements would those be? Among the Ars staff, we once in a while have energetic "discussions" about what perspectives would be the best for each organization to photocopy. Along these lines, we thought we'd pick a couple that may run over well with iOS clients. Try not to stress, we have a sidekick post of elements that Android could bear to take from iOS. The duplicating can go both ways.

Nobody needs iOS to end up Android or the other way around. This is about perceiving how to enhance iOS with components that would be valuable to individuals contingent upon their cell phones for more than the infrequent content or telephone call. We perceive that Apple tries to keep an eye towards exquisite usage, as well. So which elements would we say we are discussing? Happy you inquired...

Google Now-style relevant administrations

For the individuals who aren't acquainted with Google Now, it can be somewhat mind boggling to disclose because of its extensive variety of administrations. (Look at Ryan Paul's writeup about it keep going August here on Ars.) On one side, Google Now does Siri-like voice activities, however that is not the part we need Apple to take from Android. The part we need is Google Now's capacity to give notices and different administrations in light of a scope of logical data, for example, your area, regardless of whether you're physically moving or not, your timetable, et cetera.

"Google Now can show comparative directing and activity notices for spots that the client expects to go, by checking the up and coming arrangements in the client's timetable. At the point when the client approaches a mass travel station, the product shows transportation plans. It can likewise illuminate the client when they are near purposes of intrigue—however living in the inconceivably dull rural areas outside of LA, I still can't seem to see this element in real life," Paul wrote in his piece.

Be that as it may, Google Now can do different things as well, as inspect your past pursuit history with a specific end goal to discover which sports groups you take after consistently or whether you've looked into a flight as of late. The administration will then begin offering you warnings with updates about this data. Or, on the other hand, as Ars Technical Director Jason Marlin called attention to, Google Now can advise you that guests are nearby in light of sent agendas in your email, or caution you that a bundle is out for conveyance—all without you setting up those sorts of warnings.

There will unquestionably be clients who don't care for the possibility of Apple consequently sifting through their email or continually perusing their GPS area. Yet, it ought to be something you can pick all through effortlessly. Furthermore, for those of us that are more alright with such an element, wouldn't it be pleasant if Siri could play out these same (or comparable) capacities?

Snappy settings in the Notification Center

There are some gadget settings we outright utilize more than others every day. For me, it's the Wi-Fi on/off flip on my iPhone, in light of the fact that my exceptionally Comcastic home Internet association can't remain up when I require it. For others, it may be the screen brilliance control, the Do Not Disturb switch, or the Personal Hotspot flip.

Android clients can get to specific settings by means of their own adaptation of the Notification Center, permitting them a brisk and simple approach to flip these without jumping such a distance out of an application, into the Settings application, and back. As surveys proofreader Florence Ion stated, "It's baffling switching back to the settings to deal with the splendor in case I'm really busy watching something on Hulu."

In the event that you could pull down the Notification shade while within an outsider application, you could alter the brilliance (or kill Wi-Fi, or turn on Do Not Disturb) without leaving the application in any case. No less than, a component like this would incredibly diminish the quantity of taps required keeping in mind the end goal to complete an errand, along these lines streamlining the convenience and making the iOS encounter a great deal more pleasant.

Autocorrect and spelling proposals

Its a well known fact that Apple's strategy for offering spelling recommendations and autocorrect can be an enormous disappointment for iOS clients. You're simply writing alongside your thumbs when iOS chooses something you've composed—maybe road names or out and out darken words—isn't right. Now, iOS starts to disclose to you what word it's going to autocorrect to on the off chance that you don't tap on your unique word to let it know "no." If you're similar to me, you tap on your unique word again and again and over with your fat fingers, however iOS autocorrects to its own particular word at any rate. At that point you need to delete over the whole thing and begin once again—normally doing combating with iOS once more over the spelling of your unique word. Wash, flush, rehash.

What's more, obviously, there is no specifically client editable word lexicon in iOS. You either need to enter your dark words as content macros (which is not precisely the first expectation of that component), or essentially trust the application being referred to in the end makes sense of the spelling you needed subsequent to entering it a thousand times.

There must be a more rich method for doing this, correct? Android clients appear to have the better end of the stick with regards to taking care of autocorrections and spelling. When writing out an irregular word, the OS will offer exchange spellings as catches over the console. Be that as it may, all the more imperatively, on the off chance that it figures out how to autocorrect your oath to something you didn't need, a solitary delete will reestablish the first spelling. Furthermore, it will inquire as to whether you need to add that word to your lexicon to boot. For all our rational soundness, Apple ought to embrace this sort of autocorrect conduct, detail!

The capacity to set default applications

You know the bore: maybe you favor Chrome over versatile Safari on your iPhone, yet every time you tap a connection from email it opens in Safari at any rate. Or, on the other hand maybe you like Google Maps or Waze, yet whenever you attempt to get headings from another application, it compels you to utilize Apple's Maps application. There's no real way to change which applications are utilized by the OS as defaults for these activities—you're held prisoner with Apple's own particular applications as the default.

Do iOS clients know how to continue on pointlessly on this theme? Yes. Be that as it may, that doesn't make this component any less alluring, particularly since our Android-utilizing companions get the chance to toss it in our confronts constantly. When they dispatch another program, the OS inquires as to whether they need to set it as the default—on account of the way that Android can perceive when you have numerous applications introduced to perform comparative capacities. On the other hand, they can change their default applications in their settings by going into an application director to pick whether that application dispatches of course for specific capacities.

"The decent thing is that with pictures, for example, I can choose which application to alter in without going into another application and finding it in the exhibition," Ion said. Undoubtedly, while maybe not each iOS client needs this element, enough of us think about it to make it a beneficial expansion to iOS.

Home screen alternate routes to places inside applications

iOS enables clients to set home screen symbols that go about as fast bookmarks to Web applications or other Web pages in Safari. This is quite advantageous, however you can't utilize that same usefulness to set an alternate way to a "page" or usefulness inside local applications. Our Android companions can, however, giving them simple access to certain data without navigating there unfailingly.

"I can set an easy route in Google Maps Navigation as a symbol on my landing page. For example, in case I'm lost in the auto and need to return home, i should simply press the symbol that I made and it dispatches the Navigation to my street number," Ion said. "I realize that iOS has this for bookmarks and so forth, yet I like having the capacity to do this with particular applications."

Without a doubt, there are various iOS applications I use all the time that compel me to explore completely through a few screens before getting the data I need. On the off chance that I could make another home screen symbol that connections straightforwardly to a specific usefulness inside an application—outsider or else—it would essentially eliminate taps. (Also, in the winter when it's 11°F outside, that implies less time with my poor, revealed substance being uncovered.)

This might be the most outlandish of the considerable number of proposals here, yet it's one that could be possibly helpful to the best number of clients. Simply think: what number of you have no less than one iOS home screen alternate way to a Web page? Precisely.

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lesterwilliams1 · 8 years

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